Sans still wasn't entirely sure what to make of the kid but he'd give her this... She was something alright. Cuz man had he never in a million years expected to ever have Undyne show up on his and Papyrus' door step, carrying The Human. Who had apparently passed out in her arms, absolutely exhausted. Undyne had been exhausted too and while Papyrus had tucked the kid into his bed, Undyne had crashed on the couch despite the fact that she loathed it with an undying passion on any other occasion. It had jangled beneath her with all the coins and she had let out the loudest groan before passing out herself; mumbling something about Papyrus and this punk but also something about a fire. Which Sans figured had to be the reason for her and the kid's condition. They sure as hell smelled like it.

Soon he had learned a bit more about what had happened.

But the thing that surprised Sans the most remained: the kid had truly gotten Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard, to befriend her.

She had gotten Papyrus to back down from their fight. She had gotten past Undyne. She had gotten Undyne to accept her. She had made Sans feel...

Well, he still wasn't entirely sure what to make of her. He wasn't.

But she was at it again, making her way through Hotlands. He had just seen her pass his illegal hot dog stand, but she hasn't seemed to see him.

Well, she'd looked at him. Played along. But her thoughts had seemed unfocused. Her mind had been somewhere else.

Understandably.

But Sans felt like he had something important to say. He wasnt sure what, but... it was there. Something was just nagging him.

"hey. i heard you're going to the core. how 'bout grabbing some dinner with me first?" The girl shrugged, not looking him in the eyes but at her very interesting shoelaces. "great. thanks for treating me."

She came after him through his short cut, not having taken the time to Save.

Sans had noticed... She had been doing that less and less. He wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. If it meant her confidence was up on its own or... Or if... It had fallen a bit through on her. Her stance said...

Well it said some very conflicting things.

But perhaps that was because.. she herself was conflicted.

She'd done the impossible with Undyne, but that meant nothing with.. what was coming.

The end of her journey. She'd had almost made it. Again.

"you must really wanna go home." Sans stated, but his voice wasn't fully into it. Both of them knew there was a lot more going on. This wasn't just a scared child working her way to get back to where she had come from. She had gotten to the surface before. No, there was something. Something she had come back for.

"though... maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you."

She head lowered, her fingers were gripping tightly together.

"is what you have to do.. really worth it?"

She flinched.

No. It hadn't been. That was why she'd come back. But now that they were there... she seemed lost.

Sans chuckled emptily.

"ah, forget it." He said. "I'm rootin' for ya, kid."

That only seemed to tear up at them more. The distress was evident. It yanked on his Soul painfully. And Sans realized... what it was he had wanted to say. Why it was so important.

"hey. let me tell you a story."

She looked up uncertainly but offered him her saddened attention.

Ah. She knew, well she thought she knew, what he was going to say.

And for the most part, she did. About the door to the Ruins. The old lady. A promise...

Sans hesitated and he could see the pain slipping into her darkening expression even as she tried to hide it.

"ya know," Sans began again, "that thing you asked me? at grillby's? about... killing to protect?" She looked up finally, her eyes alert. Yes, she remembered. The question was part of what seemed to be consuming her mind. And Soul. Chipping away at her determination...

"well... if it weren't for that promise, if the old lady hadn't said anything, you know what would have happened? you'd.. you'd be dead where you stand."

To protect Papyrus. To protect against the anomaly taking one step further...

"so yeah. i think it is alright to kill to protect. at least i thought." He hesitated, the expression on her face.. he couldn't read it. It was a tearing mixture of too many things. And Sans found he couldn't just leave it at that. Because.. "but getting to know you, i'm glad i didn't."

Her eyes widened briefly in surprise even more, her lips parted in an o. "and i'm.. sorry. that dilemma was taken from me. i'm sorry i can't take it from you. but just that you.. know; i really am rooting for you. and also that you need to take care of yourself." He met their gaze for the first time in minutes as he gave her a half-hearted shrug. "alotta somebodies really care about you."

And maybe.. even... Sans.

Her face did not flood with reassurance or warmth like Sans had anticipated but instead there was a wave of pain in her features. As if some new problem had settled on her shoulders as the tears gathered in her eyes.

Sans smiled apologetically.

But what more could he tell her?

What did she need him to tell her?

He just wished he could say.. it was okay.

But he really didn't think it was.

He didn't think she thought it was...

He just wished... he could think of something more to say.

But there was a reason nobody ever gave straight answers. There simply weren't any.