The lost child sat in the patch of golden flowers, staring up at the weak beams of light filtering down from a cave opening far above him. He idly twisted a flower he had picked in his hand and sighed. This wasn't where he wanted to be. But there was no point in just sitting here feeling sorry for himself. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, then stood up. It was time to go.
Frisk broke into a trot as he crossed the cave floor and passed into the deeper cavern on the far side. His arm still hurt from where he had hit the ground, but he could handle the pain until he found help. It felt good to run, and he picked up his pace.
As he entered the room, an unusually large golden flower twisted on its stem to face him. In the center of the flower, three black splotches resolved themselves into a cheerful face.
"Howdy!" said the flower as Frisk approached. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" A sly look appeared on its face. "Say, you're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Someone ought to teach you how things-"
Frisk didn't even slow down. He raised a hand as he jogged past.
"Hey, Azzy! I'll be back in a while to catch up with you, OK?"
The flower's face warped into confusion.
"What did you call me?"
Frisk just waved over his shoulder, missing the flower's face as it distorted into rage.
"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?" it screamed. A hail of bullets raced towards the distant figure. But the boy turned a corner and was gone.
The lost child sat in the patch of golden flowers, staring up at the weak beams of light filtering down from a cave opening far above him. He idly twisted a flower he had picked in his hand and sighed. This wasn't where he wanted to be. But there was no point in just sitting here feeling sorry for himself. He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, then stood up. It was time to-
"Azzy! Hey, Azzy!"
The furry boy's head snapped up. He blinked in disbelief. There, running through the distant cave opening, was the human. The human he had tried to kill in malicious glee, then malicious rage, then in a twisted, desperate attempt to have a friend for a little while longer before he descended into madness again. The boy who surely hated him. Who ought to have hated him. Who ought to have killed him. He was right there. Running towards him, with his arms outstretched.
"F-Frisk? Frisk, why have you come ba-"
His words were cut off in a choking bleat as the boy threw his arms around him. For the second time in a single day, and in countless lifetimes, he found himself being hugged tightly. Almost immediately his eyes began to grow wet. His arms needed no prompting; automatically they reached around the boy and squeezed back.
For a few moments the two children stood there in the flower patch. Asriel could almost feel as if his nonexistent soul was filled to bursting. His tears flowed freely down his furry cheeks and soaked into Frisk's shirt.
"Frisk-" he stammered. "Frisk… t-thank you for coming back. B-but you shouldn't be here! I can't stay like this for long. I-I-I'm gonna turn back into a flower any minute! I don't want you t-to see me like-"
Abruptly, Frisk pushed back from the hug. His cheeks were also wet, but his overbright eyes and smile radiated joy.
"Not for the next 48 minutes!"
Asriel blinked.
"W-what?"
"We've got 48 minutes - well, 47 now - before you turn back into a flower. So, c'mon!" Frisk grabbed Asriel's silky paw and started trotting towards the cave he had just come through. Asriel stumbled along, bewildered.
"Frisk, what... how…how do you know I have 48 minutes? And where are we going?"
"47. I've gotten pretty good at how quick I can get back here after the barrier breaks, and Gerson had a stopwatch in his junk collection. I still get lost a little in the vent maze sometimes, so I might be able to save a couple more minutes if I can memorize it better. But I don't think I'll have to much longer! Doctor G. remembers the resets, and I know how to find him now! He says that every time I do this, he figures it out a little more, and it shouldn't be too much longer now. We're going to get it back, Azzy! Maybe even one for both of you! But that's all gonna be later. Right now, we've got 47 - oops, 46 - minutes to do stuff back at Mom's house. Let's go!"
He picked up the pace, still dragging the confused goat prince.
"Frisk," he whimpered, "I don't understand. What are you talking about? Every time you do what? What about vent mazes? Who is Doctor- and what are we getting back? I don't und-"
Asriel stumbled into Frisk who stopped suddenly and whirled around. His eyes were shining as he clapped his free hand onto Asriel's shoulder.
"Your soul, Azzy! We're going to get it!" And as Asriel's eyes grew wide, he added quickly "But not just yet. Not on this run. But soon! But for right now, I've got your and Chara's old Nintendo 64 hooked up at Mom's house, and we can get in a few rounds of Mario Kart while you're still you.
Asriel's saucer-sized eyes continued staring at Frisk. His soft muzzle dropped open.
"So, c'mon!" Frisk said, tugging on his paw. "I'm pretty sure there's still some butterscotch-cinnamon pie left from earlier when Mom-"
Frisk stopped in mid-sentence. A slight frown settled on his face as he addressed the air next to Asriel.
"NO, Chara, I am not calling it that. Can you please be more mature than an eight-year-old?"
Asriel turned to look at the empty space beside him before refocusing on Frisk. His mouth moved, but no words came out.
"Anyway, let's go! It'll be fun!" Again, Frisk tugged on Asriel's paw.
Asriel pulled his hand away. He waved both paws in front of Frisk, flapping the sleeves of his sweater as he tried several times to start a sentence.
"Frisk!" he finally croaked out. "What are you talking about? What are you talking about resets? Have you been resetting? How many times? What did you say about my soul? What did you say about Chara? Why-why is there pie?" He began to get more agitated. "I don't understand what's going on! What are we doing? Where are we going? What about my soul? Did you- did you say that my soul…"
He slumped backwards, arms dropping to his sides.
"I'm so confused!"
Gently, Frisk put both arms on his shoulders.
"I know Azzy. I'm sorry, I got a little carried away this time. It's just that the doc said we're so close and I got overexcited. But you're right - it's too much. Forget I said anything. We don't need to worry about all that right now. Let me just ask you two questions, all right? And I already know you're going to get one of them wrong, but that's fine. So just two questions, OK?"
Asriel looked into Frisk's earnest eyes. His confusion hadn't dissipated, but he gave a small nod. "O-OK."
"Do you trust me?"
"Do- do I…?"
"Do you trust me, Azzy?" Frisk repeated, with an earnest, hopeful smile.
And Asriel found, in the midst of all the confusion of the last few minutes, of the last few hours, and the torments of multiple lifetimes, he knew with absolute certainty how to answer the question.
"Y-yeah. Yeah! I trust you, Frisk. I-I don't know why, but somehow even though I've only known you for, like, 15 minutes… somehow, I know I can I trust you."
Frisk broke into an even bigger grin.
"Thanks, Azzy. And I promise you, I am not going to give up on you. On either of you. Not ever. I will come back as many times as it takes. I swear it."
In the midst of the confusion still whirling in his head, the spark of determination in Frisk's eyes stirred something deep inside Asriel - something he couldn't fully understand yet, something he couldn't quite put his finger on, some meaning in the words he had just heard that he hadn't quite been able to fully grasp yet, but something that he hadn't felt in an eternity. Hope sparked inside him. Hope for what, he wasn't quite sure yet, but something the boy had said… hope that maybe - just maybe - his story wasn't over yet.
"So here's the other question. Do you think you can beat me at Toad's Turnpike?"
Asriel blinked at him. Frisk said nothing. He just kept smiling at him as he narrowed his eyes. A small smile broke out on the prince's face.
"M-mom really kept my Nintendo?"
"Under your bed. I found a TV and hooked it up just before I came here." He jabbed a finger into Asriel's chest. "So you think you can beat me, fur face?"
The pointed fangs on the prince's face jutted out as he broke out into a full grin. "Toad's Turnpike? I never lose on that one! You're going down, Frisk."
"Ha!" Frisk laughed. "I knew you'd get one of the questions wrong. C'mon!" He jogged off towards the cave mouth, turning and beckoning with his hand. "I'll make you eat those words. And the pie!"
With a sudden blooming of joy that he hadn't felt in decades, the goat prince laughed and took off after him.
Gently, Frisk laid him down in the soil of the flower bed. He sighed wistfully and settled his roots into the dirt.
"Thanks, Frisk. That- that was really fun. T-thanks for-for…"
Tears began to trickle down the flower's face.
"Thanks for coming back to say goodbye."
Frisk bent down and cupped the flower in his hands, gently rubbing his petals.
"It's not goodbye, Azzy. It's just 'see you soon'. And in a little while, I won't even have to say that either."
With a last affectionate pat, Frisk straightened up.
"We've gotta go now, but we'll be back really soon, OK?"
Confusion mingled with the sadness in the flower's face. He opened his mouth, but Frisk spoke first.
"Just trust me, Azzy. Please?"
Flowey closed his mouth. He looked up longingly, but nodded and gave a small but genuine fang-tipped smile.
"Ok, Frisk. I'll trust you."
Frisk smiled. "Thanks, bro. It won't be long now. I'll see you soon." He closed his eyes, and it seemed as though the weak sunbeam streaming down from above began to swell in intensity, flooding the walls and the flowers with golden rays. A moment later the entire glowing cave shimmered and dissolved into light.
Epilogue:
As the universe swirled and reformed itself, a ghostly voice whispered in Frisk's ear.
"I told you. Next time, do Yoshi Valley. He always falls off the track on that one, every single lap."
Thank you for reading!