HE'S JUST SITTING THERE. Harry could barely control himself. Everything in his body seemed to start buzzing with energy. An ecstasy he almost hadn't thought he could ever feel again. Something that pulled him out of the slump he had fallen into, after everything. "Is that-" Undyne's eyes were wide open. Her hand was still at the door, still holding it as if it would fall closed the second she let go. Harry didn't let himself stay to answer. His body set into movement before he could actively give it any instruction. His heart started beating hard against his chest, his breath burned in his lungs the second the fresh air hit him.
But his feet carried him quicker than he could let the exhaustion hit him again. Asriel looked up towards him, his hands still floating in front of him. And Harry threw himself into them. He wrapped his arms around Asriel's neck, dropped to his knees in front of them. The pain of his knees hitting the ground didn't matter.
The sting was nothing compared to the pressing warmth he felt when his chest was against Asriel's. When they were so close to each other that the halves of their soul came to touch each other. The force almost threw them both back to the floor. Asriel whimpered with the force of the impact, but his arms were wrapped around Harry quicker than he could tilt back, holding them both up. "You're here," Harry whispered, holding onto him as Asriel's face pressed into his neck. "I am…Frisk, what…" "Asriel?" Harry looked up when he heard her voice behind him.
He moved, let go of him. She was standing in the door, her eyes wide, her mouth dropped open. One hand clutched over her heart, the other at the door as if she had to catch herself. Toriel's eyes were glistening with tears, almost golden like the sun rays caught in them. Asgore was right behind her, his eyes wide in shock.
And his, too, filled with tears. "Mom…", Asriel whispered beside him, moved, tried to give up. He trembled, too weak to make it on his own, until Harry reached out for him, and helped him stand on shaking legs. Toriel broke into movement, slow at first, one step, more catching herself than making a proper move. Another step, her hand slid off the door, came to join the other at her chest and she let out a sob, her face twisted into something Harry couldn't identify. Desperation. Relief. Pain.
There was so much in every part of her expression. "Mom", Asriel whimpered again, his eyes filling with tears again as well. He reached out, let go of Harry's hand as he took a step towards his mother. THIS IS WHERE YOU LOSE THEM BOTH. Harry froze at the voice in his head. The voice always commenting on everything he did, on every decision he made, criticizing every step.
But one thing was certain. Chara knew these monsters before him. They know him when everything was still in place. They knew them when they were still a family. When Toriel was still a queen. And Asriel still their little prince. Toriel started running, almost tripped over her own feet, and barely caught herself. Harry could feel himself taking a step back, even if he didn't want to. He didn't want to believe them. But the voice in his head had become the closest thing to his own thoughts. She threw her arms around Asriel when she barely reached him, pulled her close to him the same second she broke into tears. "Asriel-", she sobbed, falling down to her knees in front of him to get on the same height as her son.
Asriel almost clawed to her back, pulled himself further into her. "How are you- what-", Toriel whined through a shaking voice, then pulled back from him, sniffed, and shook her head to get rid of the tears that must be obscuring his image. "Asriel" Asgore had made his way over to them, even if slower than Toriel. Still walking on eggshells around her. Asriel's eyes went from his mother to his father, his mouth hung open as he stared at them, not getting a word out when there must have been a million things on his mind. "You were gone", Asgore whispered.
Harry had never heard him so weak, so quiet. As if he was scared he could shatter the moment, the illusion if he spoke too loudly. Asriel slowly started shaking his head. "I…I was here", he said weakly, the crying straining his vocal cords, the voice barely more than a croak. "You…", Toriel sniffed, lifted one hand to quickly wipe the tears off her cheeks, and then got her hand on Asriel's side again. As quickly as she could. As if she was scared, he would disappear the moment she let go of him fully. "I was with you, for so long…", Asriel whispered, "As long as I could still remember myself, I tried to stay with you" "You were…", the last word stuck in her throat. Asgore stared down at him, his eyes widened. "The flower…" Asriel looked up and nodded.
Toriel looked back, at her ex-husband, then down at her son again, who she couldn't let go of, no matter how much she tried to get a distance, a clear eye on the situation. "I was there", Asriel whispered, paused with a trembling breath, "The last, tiniest bit left of me stuck in a flower…with no soul…" Toriel shook her head. "No…no, I would have noticed, if my son-", her voice cracked. Asriel reached up, took her face into his hands. "Mom", he put on a smile, "It's okay…It's okay, I'm back now" Toriel sniffed, dropped her head down to his, her forehead coming to rest against Asriel's.
She didn't even react much when Asgore put his hands on her shoulders, something she would have rejected in a heartbeat, shrugged off without a second thought if it wasn't for this situation. THEY HAVE HIM NOW, THEY DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE. I need him. Then she shook her head, looked up at Asriel. "How did you…what happened, that you…", she took a deep breath. Asgore squeezed her shoulder in comfort. She just shook him off. Asriel looked at them, then started smiling and turned his head to Harry.
He didn't have to say anything. Toriel's eyes followed his and filled with tears once more. "Frisk?...Oh…Oh, Frisk", she sobbed. Harry forced himself to a smile. Even though all he wanted to do was scream. He wanted to run. Because some part of him believed them. And then Toriel's hand shot out towards him. Her paw closed around his arm and he was pulled in, close against her. Harry's eyes widened, her arm came around his body and he was pressed into her chest, right next to Asriel once more. He started tearing up, sniffed, and moved his hands up to hold onto her. WELL… "Guys…I don't want to ruin the party, but…", Undyne had come up to them, the first of them to dare to. The others still hung behind, a small cluster of monsters all staring at a point beyond them. "You might want to have a look…" Toriel slowly looked up, slowly rose her head from the boys in her arms. And this time, her eyes caught the light of the sun, rather than the tears in them.
Her grip loosened, but never enough to drop them from her arms. Only when Asriel turned around and when Harry moved to mimic him did her hands drop from their backs to their arms, and then finally, to grasp their hands when she stood up. "That…" Undyne took a few steps past them, closer towards the light, until she was barely more than a silhouette, a thin stripe in the glow of the sun. "It's open", Undyne's voice echoed off the walls, "It's gone!" Steps behind them as the others closed in, and then moved past, to join Undyne in the light.
Alphys hung a couple of steps behind, shy, always turning back to glance towards the underground. "I think, maybe I should…" Undyne was at her side quicker than she could take another step, grasped her hand, gentler than Harry had ever seen her move before. "Not before you've seen this!", she insisted. Alphys stared up at her, eyes wide, cheeks flushing the second her skin touched Undyne's. "B-b-but- the other…" "They'll find out. We'll get them!", Undyne said with a bright grin.
Alphys looked up, then began to smile and nodded slowly. "Okay" Undyne leads them forward. All of them were behind her as she made her way towards the outside. To cross the barrier. Toriel's paws tightened around Harry's and Asriel's hands, took a deep breath, even if she was trembling. MOM… "Tori…", Asgore said quietly, but she stayed silent. Harry looked up at her, but a squeeze to her hand was the best he could give her.
She looked down at him, gave him a soft smile. "Tori…", Asgore said again and this time his voice cracked, "Please…let me hug my son" Harry could see her swallowing heavily. She closed her eyes, then her grip loosened. Harry's hand slipped out of hers, and he took a step back, gave her the space to turn to Asriel, to kneel down in front of him, her hands on his upper arms. She placed a kiss on his forehead, smiled. MAKE HER DO THAT FOR ME. I can't make her do anything… SHE SHOULD HUG ME TOO. "I'll only be a few feet away", she whispered. Asriel nodded when she got up, smiled, because he knew as well as her that she was more scared of letting him out of her sight than he was to lose her again. Harry looked at her when she turned again. She had her eyes closed, her head held up high as she took a deep breath.
Her eyes opened again and she looked down at Harry, offered him her hand as she stepped closer. He smiled, took her hand and followed her, while Asgore, behind them, knelt down to his son, taking him tightly into his arms. "Thank you", Toriel whispered, looking down at Harry again. Harry looked up, smiled gently before letting his gaze drop again. Asriel was holding onto his father, nodded gently as Asgore whispered something to him and then pulled back to look at him.
Harry watched them share one more hug, so tight it almost seemed like it was the last time they would see each other. Then Asgore let go, got up, and with one more look towards Toriel, started making his way towards the light. Harry smiled towards Asriel when he turned back to them. Toriel stepped forward, reached her hand out towards her son. She took a moment, stroked along his cheek.
Quite like she still had to convince herself that he was real, that he was more than just a figment of her imagination. JUST GO, ALREADY. Harry shook his head. He didn't want to listen to them. He never did. Nothing good ever came of it. And still, he stepped back, bit his lip, and lowered his gaze to the floor. They didn't need him. Not anymore. And it tore apart his heart, but he wouldn't overstay his welcome. And he knew when he wasn't.
He turned around, glanced towards the light. Towards the world, he always lived in. The world that only ever kicked him to the ground or tried to kill him. And then back into the darkness, to the underground, the world he had found love in, the world that had shown him things he never knew about himself. That would be so better a fit, especially now…now that he was a monster, too. He had already half turned around, half stepped back towards the door, when Asriel's voice stopped him. "Frisk, where are you going?" He turned again, saw the bright smile on Asriel's face, his head tilted questioningly. "Come with us" "Oh, I…", Harry mumbled, but Toriel's smile quickly silenced him.
Asriel quickly came towards him, almost skipping as he reached out to grasp his hands. "Come on! Let's go up together!", he said excitedly. The smile on his face was so wide. And his cheeks still held the dark streaks of the tears that had been spilling out of his eyes.
Harry felt his lips trembling, tried his best to keep them still. The smile he put on was anything but stable. "Come on, Frisk", Asriel chuckled, "We all wanted to go out together" Harry looked towards Toriel, the gentle smile on her face, the welcoming warmth in her eyes. And he couldn't help but nod anymore. He followed Asriel when he took him along, took Toriel's hand when they reached her. Her grip was so gentle, so much softer than any time aunt Petunia had ever taken his hand. She only ever did it in annoyance. In anger.
To pull him away, to make him stop, to make him obey. Toriel's grip was an offer, a request. She took him along instead of away. She lead him instead of pushing him along. And Harry wanted to follow her every step. Asriel looked at him from Toriel's other side, his hand firmly nestled in hers, too. The light was blinding when they first stepped out. But the warmth of the sun surrounded them immediately. So when Harry closed his eyes, it was more for the comfort, the life that fell onto his face, than to shield himself from the light.
His fur began to heat up within a matter of seconds. His nose felt dry, the sunrays tingled on it. The ground changed underneath their feet. Smooth, chiseled stone turning to gravel, to bare earth. He could feel every stone under his paws, every bit of uneven ground. Fine sand tickled his toes, stuck to his fur. He heard it raining back down to the ground every time he lifted his feet to take another step. His heart seemed to beat a little higher, spurred on by the fresh air that blew against him, the deep breaths he took to take it all in.
And he heard Asriel's, beating just as quickly. The same rhythm. He felt his excitement, how it itched his limbs to run into the light towards the light, towards the air. Almost simultaneously, they leaned forward, looked at each other, and Asriel grinned. He let go of his mother's hand, broke into a run.
It didn't take long for Toriel to give Harry a gentle nudge and he ran to follow him. Asriel laughed when he caught up with him, looked back over his shoulder with a wide grin on his face that Harry couldn't help but return. Toriel was smiling, watching them in content as they ran ahead.
They could hear the others. Undyne, Alphys, Sans, Papyrus, and Asgore, still waiting, just outside the cave, just outside what used to be the entrance to the underground. Harry's legs began to burn with the exhaustion of running. His lungs felt full, his face hot. He felt the ears flopping at the sides of his head with every step, his heart racing, pushing him on and on, to follow his friend into something new. Something different. He felt light. His feet didn't seem to touch the ground anymore, more he was flying through the cave.
He couldn't help the bright smile that tugged at his mouth, couldn't help the ecstatic scream that rose in his chest, so high it took him off his feet, he jumped up, let the air carry him for a moment. Asriel glanced back over his shoulder, laughed when his gaze met Harry's and then looked back forward, only to let out a similar, excited howl, his head thrown back into his neck. WHY WOULD YOU SCREAM? Harry ignored them.
Because this moment was for him. For Asriel. And the freedom right in front of them. The cave opened up, more light flooded the space around them, and then… the world unfolded before them. Asriel came to a skittering stop, slid across the ground for a good few feet, his chest heaving with his heavy breath. And still, he smiled, first looked at Harry, before he could see anything else, first checked on the friend that came to a stop right next to him, just as out of breath as he was. The sunlight took their sight, for a moment, blinded them, before it unveiled the world to them. Harry's lungs burned with the fresh air, from the run, with every breath, and he wondered if Asriel could feel it in the same way. If he could feel the tingling, in every muscle.
The kind that made you want to fall into bed and keep running until you couldn't anymore at the same time. Asriel turned his head to the outside first. It had been far longer since he had seen it than Harry's last time was. His eyes grew wide, the sun caught completely in them. Their friends had turned around to them, amused smiles on most of their faces. But Asriel's gaze went past them, out past the cliff they stood on top off.
They were far from the mountain, raising up in the distance. The countryside below them was covered in trees. A lush, green forest, a river snaking its way down past them. Water rushing leaves rustling in the wind. Asriel walked forward, almost like in a trance, stepped up beside their friends, at the edge of the cliff. They smiled, watching the young prince as he stuck his nose out into the air, let the fresh breeze waft across it. Harry could see why he stopped. Why he closed his eyes. He could feel it too. The wind brushing through his fur, the fine hairs moving in the breeze.
It was like someone drawing their hand across his skin in the softest possible way. A mother's touch. The one Harry got to feel for the first time when he stayed with Toriel. Asriel's ears moved with the wind, swayed as if unaffected by gravity. Harry could just stand there forever. Watch the soft, fuzzy silhouette against the setting sun. The monsters who had become his friends along the way lined up beside him. But when Toriel came up behind him, when her paw came to rest on his shoulder, he moved with her, to join the others.
She didn't have the same sense of wonder in her eyes. But he did recognize the same expression in them that his must have held. Looking over something that they had last seen a long time ago. Something they once knew, wondering if it had changed, or if the change had happened in them. It made him feel a little less lost to have her at his side, to see the way she felt, faced with the world above again. And Asgore, the soft king, turned his head to shift his attention from the human world he had been watching so intently before to his queen, stepping up to the edge to watch the sun set with them. For a moment, they all fell silent. For a moment, they all watched the same thing.
The sun, this big ball of light slowly sinking below the horizon, somewhere behind the city and its skyscrapers rising in the distance. "Oh my…", Toriel whispered above him. Harry looked up, saw the sun reflecting in her eyes, the happiness of seeing a long lost friend again. The grip of her paw around his shoulder tightened for a moment as she reached out to hold her son as well. "Isn't it beautiful, everyone?", Asgore had the same, longing smile on his face.
They had known this kind of sight, before the barrier. They had known this world, before the war. And it had been kept from them for so long. "Wow…", Alphys piped up, "It's e-even better than on TV!" She stood closest to the edge of the cliff, the claws on her feet digging into the soft ground. The sunlight reflected in her glasses. But Harry could still see her eyes behind. So wide at the new world that had just opened up to her. At the new possibilities, everything she could find here. "So much better! I could have never imagined…this!" And for a moment, her gaze wandered up to Undyne, standing so close beside her, to her hand, hanging right next to hers. "Frisk, you live like this?", Undyne didn't look at him, her eye too busy scanning the woods, the world below them, the city in the distance.
She closed her eye, the usual grin on her face now a content smile. "The sunlight…it feels so nice!", she looked up at the sun again, "How do you feel this alive, every day?" "Sans", Papyrus was squinting at the sun as he spoke, his arms crossed in front of his chest, "What's that giant ball that hurts my eyes?" Harry had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing. And he could see Toriel covering her mouth as well, the joy in her eyes obvious. It was the question of a toddler. Then again, maybe it was just the question of someone who had just come into this world. And as matter of fact, Papyrus just had. "we call that 'the sun', my friend", Sans answered, an amused smile shot sideways to his brother.
He seemed calmer than the others. Similar to Toriel and Asgore. Rediscovering something he knew more than finding himself in an unknown world. Papyrus' eyes widened, he straightened up more, almost as if he thought he needed to make a better impression. "That's the sun?! Wowie!", he exclaimed, "I can't believe I'm finally meeting the sun! I've heard so many things!" He took a step forward, probably would have walked off the edge if Undyne and Sans hadn't reached up, gripped onto both ends of his scarf at the same time to hold him back.
He didn't seem to notice. "Hello Mr. Sun!", he rose his hand high into the sky, started waving wildly, then paused, "Mrs. Sun? Ms. Sun?" His gaze turned distraught and he looked around, looking for help in the faces of his friends around him. WHAT AN IDIOT. But most of them just watched him with amusement. "…I could just watch this for hours…", Asgore mumbled. He slowly turned his gaze, from the setting sun over to Toriel and Asriel. But he didn't notice. And she was still noticeably ignoring him. "It's so warm", Asriel still stuck his nose out towards the world, still had his eyes closed, still stood in his mother's gentle grip. "Does it always feel like this? The sun?", he glanced at Harry. YOU FELT IT BEFORE… Harry smiled gently at him, took another step towards him, closer to his side. He had never really stopped to think about it. He knew, from the few years of muggle school he had had, how the sun worked.
How it warmed the planet, how the earth moved around it and how it turned sometimes away and sometimes towards it, creating night and day. But he had never lingered in its light. Never stopped in its warmth, just to feel it. Never felt the sunrays tingle his nose. Then again, England got a lot less sun. Louisiana was further south, got longer hours of sun, got more direct sun.
But he could remember moments, even if he didn't stop for the sun, he still remembered what it felt like. "Sometimes it's warmer, when it's high up in the sky", he said with a soft smile, "Sometimes it gets really hot. And sometimes we're further away from it, and then it's not quite as warm.
But standing in it always feels nice" Asriel tore his gaze away from the world below, looked over at Harry for a moment, this wonderful, thankful smile on his face. Toriel squeezed their shoulders again to get their attention, looked down at them. "It's gorgeous, is it not?", she looked up again, letting her gaze drift over the world. "But we really should think about what comes next…", she looked at the group lined up beside them, Asgore at its end.
And for a moment, she locked eyes with him. "Where do we go?" Asgore returned her gaze and seemed to catch on quickly. "Oh, right…", he straightened up, his posture more kingly, his head held high. "Everyone…" They turned to face their king. The monster who had kept them safe for so long, who had fought for them, against his own nature, even if no one really knew. "This is the beginning of a bright new future" Harry could feel the weight of his words, maybe as much as everyone else. Even if to him, the weight was paralyzing.
The beginning of their bright new future. And he wasn't sure he had a place in it. "An era of peace between humans and monsters", his gaze came to rest on Harry, and a gentle smile formed on his face, "Frisk…" Harry looked up again, his heart jumping. "I have something to ask of you…a favor, if you will", he smiled gently, almost apologetically, "But even after all we've put you through… will you act as our ambassador to the humans? You know this world as it is now. Those of us that know it at all only know its past.
We have no way of bringing ourselves into this world…", he looked at him, "You do" Harry's heart started beating heavily again, this time with nervous excitement. Everyone's eyes turned to him. Everyone's eyes, full of hope, of love. Everyone, who still wanted him in their lives. And Harry felt his heart swelling, the warmth of all of them in his chest.
He didn't even know when he started nodding, but they all smiled and looked at each other in silent celebration. Relief spread on Asgore's face. "Frisk will be the best ambassador!", Papyrus exclaimed, pushing out his chest and putting on his brightest grin, "And I, the great Papyrus, will be the best mascot! I will go immediately to make a good first impression" Harry's smile dropped, but before he could say anything, Papyrus had already taken off, his bones clanking against one another as he ran down the path leading away from the underground. "I-", he started, glancing around for a moment, "I don't think that humans will react well to seeing a talking skeleton waltzing into town" Sans took a deep breath. "welp. someone's gotta look after him…", he looked at them, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his jacket.
Then he turned around, back towards the cave. And Harry already knew what was coming, had seen him doing this often enough. "see you guys", he winked, and then walked back into the underground, disappearing in the darkness. Harry bit his lip to keep down the smile that he felt coming up. Undyne, on the other hand, frowned, looking after the skeleton, then rolled her eye and took a step back already. "Man, do I have to do everything?", she looked at Harry again, winked and quickly saluted to him, before grasping Alphys' hand to take off after Papyrus, calling for him to wait. Alphys' cheeks flashed red, she stumbled, struggled to catch up with Undyne's speed, her legs much longer than the short scientist's. He watched them, disappearing down the road. The cave behind them was beginning to come alive.
Monsters, coming to see what the ruckus was all about. Monsters, maybe no longer feeling the pressure of the barrier, getting a taste of the freedom that had been kept from them for so long. But for a moment, they were alone. The royal family and him.
And he wanted to be with them. It was all he wished for. Still, he felt out of place. He felt like he didn't belong. Like they had what they needed, Toriel and Asgore reunited with their long lost son. Asriel finally in his own skin, in his own fur, with his parents around him, finally recognizing him. Where did he fit in in that? He was a kid, who turned up lost in the ruins. A kid who left Toriel behind, no matter how much she wanted him to stay.
A kid who made his way through the underground and to the castle, with the supposed only purpose of getting past Asgore. The only purpose to leave. A kid who had gone through this again and again with a flower following him around, a flower that stuck with him because it was as lonely as he was. And now that flower didn't need him anymore. SHUT UP. Asgore cleared his throat before Harry could say anything.
He had been standing at the other end of the group, and still stood, a couple of feet away from them. "Whoops… that… didn't quite go as planned", he laughed nervously. Asriel started to smile, looking over at his father. But Toriel looked on straight ahead. As if he wasn't there. "Uhm…", the king looked really small all of a sudden. He almost hid in his cape, his hands positioned somewhat awkwardly. "Tori, should I…" It was a gaze from her that silenced him, a side-eyed look, enough to make even Harry feel the cold in it.
Asgore took a step back, as if the look had physically hit him. Harry could see that he was about to turn, to leave. His eyes wandered back towards the cave entrance, back to the underground, his people that needed guidance. And down the path, after Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys, who needed his help just as much.
But he didn't get to choose, didn't get to go, because Asriel stepped forward, built himself up in between them. "You'll come with us, right?" "Asriel", Toriel stopped herself, almost halfway through, her hand already reaching out for her son, lingering open in the air. "We should be together", Asriel looked back at his mother. Harry could see the glow, coming from the young prince.
He could feel his warmth, his own soul resonating with its other half. Then Asriel's eyes turned to him and Harry's heart seemed to stop with the smile that he gave him. "All four of us" FOUR… Harry repeated the number silently to himself, just like the voice inside his head did.
Asriel seemed to wince at his own words, his eyes growing wide as he turned to Harry completely. "I mean- Frisk, if… If you don't have anywhere you want to return to-… I…", he looked up, at Toriel, glanced back at Asgore. Harry was frozen in place, long enough for his eyes to well up with tears, long enough for Toriel to notice, to step closer to him and look at him. "Frisk", she knelt down, brought herself to his eye-level, "Are you alright?" Somewhere to return to.
Harry thought of his aunt and uncle, the place he had grown up in. He thought of the "bedroom", they had put up underneath the stairs. He thought of the neighbors he was always denied to, he thought of the birthdays they never let him celebrate. He thought of the trip his uncle had won.
The drive they had taken up mount Ebott. Of the car that sped off into the distance with him still up on the mountain. He felt sick, with the thought of ever hearing their voices again, of ever seeing their faces again. He was sick of the smell of that place, sick of everything they never allowed him to do. But his second thought went to Hogwarts. The first place that had ever felt like home. It went to Ron, to Hermione, his very first real Christmas, proper meals, a comfortable bed, feeling like he was worth something. But then it also went to the way people looked at him there. Like they were expecting something of him.
It went back to the end of his last school year. To a three-headed dog on the third floor, to a deadly maze right in the school. To a room filled with flames and the cold spirit of the dark lord passing through him. Not that he could say he had never been afraid for his life before. Not that he could say he had never been here. The coldness in Undyne's and Sans' eyes still haunted him sometimes. And could he go back, even if he wanted to? Could he go back the way he was now – more monster than human, a furry beast that looked nothing like any of them, something that maybe Hagrid could take an interest to.
If they wouldn't try to change him back. He didn't know if they would take him, if they even could, whether he was still a wizard. But when he tried to think of home, anything he could see as such, what came to his mind was the armchair in Toriel's living room. The books she read to him, the smell of pie, the room, that was his alone and Asriel at his side. He swallowed, sniffed and quickly moved to wipe the tears out of his eyes. "I…" Within the last year, he had been told who he was so many times. That he was the chosen one.
That he would save them all, one day. SCREW THEM! But what, instead of being chosen, he could choose, for once. JUST GO ALREADY! What if he could look into the smiling face of the only person who had an idea of what he'd been through and take his hand. YOU EVEN REJECTED THE NAME THEY GAVE YOU. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! Harry didn't even know when he reached out, but Asriel quickly took the hint, took his hand into his, stepped close in front of him with a bright smile. "Do you want to come with us?" Harry's throat was too tight to talk, but he could still nod, even while wiping tears from his cheeks. And he could still fall into Asriel's arms and hold on tight. It felt safe there, and he didn't want to lose that security, not now, not ever.
Not the feeling of Asriel's arms, closing around him with no hesitation whatsoever, not the feeling of Toriel's hand coming to rest on his back, to support him in the only way she could right now. The sun fell down further, sunk beyond the horizon. When Harry looked back up, the low twilight had set in, and the sun had faded enough for the moon to be visible in the sky. Toriel had waited, for him to catch himself again, to make sure he was okay, before she gently stroked over his back one last time, stood up and faced Asgore, fully, maybe for the first time in years. "Okay", she said, finally. Asriel turned without letting go of Harry to watch his parents, to watch Asgore's eyes light up with hope. "Our son deserves access to you", she said, her hand reaching out to wrap around both Harry and Asriel, then she looked down at the two of them, a soft smile forming on her lips, "Both our children" Harry was about ready to cry again, his fingers buried tightly in Asriel's shirt, his lips trembled.
Asriel's closeness kept him up, his embrace gave him strength, to stand and to smile. "Thank you, Tori…" "I'm not Tori to you", she said firmly and Asgore winced into himself again. But she let him come closer, she let him join her hand at the boys' backs and at the very least, didn't ignore him any longer. "So, Frisk", Asgore looked down at Harry, a warm smile adorning his face. "Where do we go?", he asked. Harry looked at them, the monsters that he seemed to belong to, that he had taken to look like, now, and then down the path that the others had taken. "I think we should find a place to stay", he said, nodding, more to himself than anyone else.