"I believe you will have quite the green thumb, my child," Mom said while crouching next to Frisk's small plot in the garden. They were having a hands-on lesson today, since books could only teach so much about how to grow plants.

"But nothing's even growing yet." Frisk frowned. All they'd done was dig a little hole and press some seeds into the cold soil.

Water sausage seeds. Mom said they could actually be quite tasty if they were cooked right. The ones Mom kept in the vases inside had dried out ages ago, and they tasted terrible. (Plus Mom didn't like it when they ate her decorations.)

Anyway, Frisk was going to have the chance to eat a fresh one—if it actually grew.

Mom chuckled. "Clearly you do not have a light blue soul…"

"Huh?"

"Nothing, little one. I am only teasing. Surely plants still take time to grow on the surface, do they not?"

They dragged their stick through the dirt, making swirling patterns. "I guess."

Toriel frowned, then shuffled so she was kneeling across from them.

"Is something the matter? Have you exerted yourself too much today? Would you like some water?"

They shook their head quickly. Sometimes it seemed like Mom didn't notice anything, and then sometimes she noticed too much.

Chara hadn't come back since last night. It shouldn't have scared them so much. Chara… wasn't very nice. And they might not even be real.

Still, they kept Frisk grounded when their worries spiraled out of control. Chara trusted and respected Mom, no matter what they'd said when they first met. That made them a better influence than Flowey.

Maybe Chara just wanted a mom too. But Frisk had been stupid enough to scare them away.

"My child…?"

"I'm okay." They forced a smile, though their eyes stung a little. How could they tell Mom that they were upset over a monster who might not even exist? Besides, if they told her, they were sure Chara would never come back.

"I just got some dirt in my eye," they said more confidently when Mom didn't look convinced. "I'm good now."

"Ah. You are always good, are you not?" She smiled fondly and ruffled their hair. Dirt flaked off of her paw pads, but in the garden, there was no rule against getting messy. It was one of Frisk's favorite things about the place.

"I try to be," they replied in a not-quite-mumble. Mumbling was rude. But so was bragging.

Besides, they weren't good. Not really. They'd upset one of their few friends, and then they'd lied about it to Mom. Good people didn't lie.

Good people didn't break promises, either. And they'd promised Chara they wouldn't tell Mom… or, well, close enough to promised.

How could Frisk be good to both of them? It was all so confusing.

Playing in the dirt wasn't confusing. They dug another hole with their fingers and gently placed a worm from their bucket. Worms were good for plants, Mom said. And the spiders wouldn't eat them here.

"I am not very good at gardening, myself," Mom said with a soft sigh.

She looked out over the small stretch of soil. Even outside of Frisk's section, not much grew. A few hardy sprouts that marked potatoes. Some mushrooms. A little blanket of moss. Two short water sausage stalks. The rest was just hard-packed dirt.

Was the garden not supposed to look like that?

"Most of what I grow doesn't last long enough to… well. The potatoes are enough, and the vegetoids are always happy to sell the fruits of their labor." She chuckled at her pun. "My hus… someone else was always better at making things grow."

Frisk's spine straightened. Did Mom almost say…? Would it be rude to ask?

There were so many things they wanted to know. Not just about this world—which Mom was always willing to teach them—but about Mom herself. She wasn't just a silly lady who worried too much, like she'd told them over the phone. She was their mom. Their real family.

She would tell Frisk more if they asked, right?

The thought of knowing more about Mom… it filled them with determination.

"You have a husband?" They asked in a quiet voice.

Mom's face changed immediately. Harder. Scarier. Frisk flinched back, almost instinctively reached for that spark of determination they'd just felt—

But then Mom softened again.

"No, my child. It is just me."

Frisk bit their lip. They were so close. And if they really upset Mom… they could go back so it never happened, right? That's what Chara would tell them to do.

...They hadn't even thought about going back to bring back Chara. It was hard to wrap their head around the fact that they could "change fate," or whatever Flowey called it. They still didn't want to risk messing with that power if they could avoid it.

"Did you have a husband?" Frisk asked, pushing those thoughts aside. "Is he dead?"

There was probably a better way to ask that. But they weren't going to go back and find out, even if Mom's reddish-brown eyes looked steely at the question.

"He might as well be," she said in a low tone. "I prefer not to think on him. However… it is hard to avoid here." Her shoulders slumped; her long sleeves dripped into the dirt. "This was his garden. I wish that you could have seen it when he tended this place… it was truly beautiful."

Frisk swallowed. That was more than they'd ever gotten out of Mom before. She had a husband! Frisk had a dad!

Or… they'd almost had a dad. He was gone, one way or another.

They tightened their grip on their stick.

"What was his name?" They barely dared to ask.

For some reason, that got a laugh out of Mom. She still didn't sound happy, though.

"I pray you will never have to hear it, innocent one." She stood, dusted off her paws on her tunic, and extended a hand to Frisk. "Come. There is no more we can do for these typha today."

Frisk stared at the soil for a long moment before taking Mom's paw. They wouldn't pry. They'd gotten more answers than they'd really expected. And she wasn't mad at them, which was the most important thing.

They cast a last look over their shoulder, but there was nothing to see but dirt. Still, the smell of fresh soil filled them with determination.

Asgore.

The word shocked through them. What was—?

Chara! Frisk could barely stop themself from grinning. You came back!

…

Chara?

…

…

Toriel's husband. His name is Asgore. He… he was…

"Frisk? Am I walking too fast for you? I am sorry, I suppose I still have a boss monster's stride..." Leaves stopped crunching as Mom paused on the path back to the house. "Would you, um… perhaps… like me to carry you?"

This time, Frisk did grin and nodded eagerly.

Chara was back. Mom loved them. Everything was going to be okay.

They nestled deep into Mom's arms, and blocked out Chara's dread that everything was wrong.