Chapter 5

"I'm going to get you!" Chara shouted as he chased after Asriel. Just a few minutes prior, Chara had been lying on the floor in the bedroom in which he had been staying and drawing on one of the many sheets on which he and Asriel were allowed to doodle. Then Asriel snuck up on Chara and shouted at him, startling Chara so much that he jerked the crayon across the paper and ruined his drawing. When Asriel began laughing, Chara turned on him and said, "When I get my hands on you, Asriel, you're going to regret that."

On his feet as quick as he can, Chara lunged towards Asriel. The goat monster had just enough of a reaction time to jump out of the way and begin to run. Now the boys ran around the house, Asriel running quickly but Chara not too far behind.

"I'm sorry!" Asriel shouted, still laughing at how much Chara jumped.

"No, you're not!" Chara shouted back. "You just want to escape the consequences of your actions!"

The boys ran down the hall, past the front door, and into the living room. Toriel, who was reading in her chair, snapped her head upright when she heard the children shout as they ran into the room. She yelled at them to be careful, but the kids did not listen.

Asriel nearly cornered himself in the kitchen, yet he got away at the last moment as Chara reached out to grab him. As the laughing monster fled the kitchen, Chara gritted his teeth and resumed the chase. They ran out of the kitchen and through the living room a second time, this time Toriel standing and flutily trying to calm down the excited boys.

"You can't catch me!" Asriel taunted as he again sped down the hall.

"We'll see about that!" Chara replied, but he made it no further.

Too focused on Asriel to pay real attention to where he was going, Chara kicked the desk in the hallway as he ran past. The pain of stubbing his toes was numbed only by the pain of falling face first towards the ground. His nose slammed against the wooden floors, and Chara was sure he heard a crack.

Yet before the child could fully process that he was hurt, something crashed just behind him. It sounded as if something had broken beyond repair, the pieces too small to ever hope to be made whole again. Chara's heart sank. He knew that sound. The last thing he wanted was for his eyes to confirm what he already knew to be true.

Pushing himself upright slowly, Chara looked over his shoulder and sucked in a sharp breath. The vase that had been sitting on the desk was now broken on the floor. Chara had kicked the desk so hard the force knocked the vase off. The pretty, floral vase was now hundreds of little pieces on the floor. It was all Chara's fault.

Fingers curling into tight fists, Chara's heart began to race. Ms. Toriel is going to yell at me. She's going to throw me out. When she sees what I did, she's going to bea—

"Chara, are you okay?!" No longer fleeing, Asriel rushed to Chara's side and dropped to his knees. Paw covering his mouth, Asriel exclaimed, "You're bleeding!"

Hearing Asriel say the words reminded Chara that he was hurt. His toes were on fire, and his nose felt smashed into his skull. It was hard to breath, but Chara had to push all the pain aside. He couldn't cry. It would just give Toriel another reason to give him something to cry about.

"Oh my!" Toriel gasped, and Chara felt his heart fail him as his lungs collapsed.

Refusing to not look behind him, Chara kept his eyes on Asriel as he heard Toriel quickly approach. Chara could almost imaging Asriel's face paling under his thick fur. Tears welling up in his eyes, Asriel began to stutter.

"We're so s-sorry! I—We—Uhm, this is all my fault! Chara—I mean, I scared Chara and began running away! He—they were only chasing-ing me because I made them! It was an accident!"

Toriel, however, ignored her rambling son. From the corner of his eye, Chara saw Toriel drop to her knees. When her hand reached out towards Chara, he jerked back so hard he slammed his body against the wall.

Here it comes! Chara squeezed his eyes shut, expecting the worst. Then his eyes flew open when her felt a gentle paw pinch his nose.

It didn't hurt. Actually, Chara found that his nose slowly began to stop hurting. Soon, he wasn't even sure if he really had broken it when he landed face first onto the floor. Then Toriel's paw moved to his foot. Fingers wrapping around the toes that slammed into the desk, Toriel gave them a soft squeeze. As with this nose, Chara found that the contact didn't hurt. If anything, he felt better.

Paw slowly traveling away from Chara's foot, Toriel cupped Chara's cheek and slowly turned his head so that he could face her. Not wanting to see the anger reflecting in her eyes, Chara stared downwards. He saw Toriel's fist pressed against her lap.

She's going to start yelling at me. She's going to hurt me. I deserve it This is what I—

"Chara, look at me."

Although Toriel said the words kindly, Chara would not look at her. Perhaps if he didn't look at her, he could put off his punishment. Maybe he could postpone getting hit, even if for just a few seconds.

"Chara," Toriel firmly repeated, "look at me."

Deciding not to anger her further, Chara took a deep breath and shifted his gaze upwards. His eyes met Toriel's. He was shocked by what he saw.

Brows furrowed, Toriel looked at Chara with nothing concern as she asked, "Are you okay, my child?"

Not sure how to respond, the stunned Chara could only nod.

"Does anything else hurt?"

Chara shook his head.

"All right. Go wash the blood off your face. I shall clean this mess."

Slowly standing to his feet, Chara warily watched Toriel as he walked away. When he arrived in the bathroom, Chara looked into the mirror to see blood trailing from his nose and dripping from his chin onto his shirt. Toriel must have healed a broken nose, because despite the blood, Chara's nose appeared to be all right.

As Chara washed away the blood, Asriel stood by the doorway and said, "I'm so sorry, Chara. I shouldn't have scared you like that. I didn't mean for you to get hurt!"

"It's okay, Asriel," Chara said as he dried his face. "I should not have been running in the house in the first place. I'm the one who broke the vase, not you."

"Well, Mom did take the broken vase pretty well," Asriel stated, a small smile forming on his face. "I was so sure we were going to get in trouble. Dad gave Mom that vase for her birthday a few years ago."

Although he tried not to show it, Chara's hands were shaking. He didn't understand why Toriel had been so nice to him. This wasn't the end of it, Chara was certain. Toriel may have healed him, but she was bound to have some punishment in mind. There was no way apologizing could prevent the hurt that was coming Chara's way.

Now that he was clean and dry, Chara followed Asriel out of the room. Against his will, Chara's eyes shot to where the vase had broken. The pieces were cleaned away, and Toriel was not there.

Before Chara could breathe a sigh of relief, Toriel's voice came from behind to say, "See? This is why I tell you to not run in the house."

Chara turned around just in time to see Toriel reach her paw towards Chara's head. Without thinking, Chara put his hands on his head so that Toriel could not grab his hair. Yet what the monster did was pat Chara on the head, her fingers doing nothing more than rubbing his skull between his fingers.

Pulling away, Toriel added, "If you are not careful, you can get hurt. Chara's injuries were very easy to heal, but things could have easily been much worse. Please, no more running in the house."

"Yes, Mom," Asriel replied. After a moment, Chara was able to say, "Yes, Ms. Toriel."

With a warm smile on her face, Toriel pat Chara once more before walking away. All Chara could do was watch Toriel's retreating figure. Suddenly he wasn't sure if Toriel planned to punish him at all.

"Hey, Chara, are you okay?" Asriel asked after the two had stood in place for a minute or two. "You don't look all right. Are you still hurt?"

"I'm fine, Asriel," Chara answered after he found his voice. "It's just . . . I thought Ms. Toriel was going to punish me."

"I think you getting hurt was punishment enough." Asriel laughed. "Reminds me of the time I tried to cook by myself for the first time. I set the food on fire. I was so scared, but Mom rushed in and put out the flames. After talking with Dad, they agreed not to punish me because I was scared enough into not doing that again. They were right."

Forcing himself to smile, Chara said, "Well, I definitely won't be running inside again, that is for sure. By the way, what were you trying to cook that you set the food on fire?"

Asriel looked away, and it appeared he was blushing under his white fur as he muttered, "A peanut butter and jelly sandwich."


Toriel scolded herself when she realized she was biting her nails. It was a bad habit she had since she was a little girl, and sometimes she was certain it would take one hundred years for her to truly break it. She was good at keeping her paws out of her out of her mouth until she went into deep thought and began to subconsciously chew.

Try as she might, Toriel could not stop thinking about the way Chara reacted when she walked in on their breaking the vase. They jerked so hard away from her touch, Toriel wondered if she should have gone through with healing them. Then she tried to pat them on the head, but Chara flinched away from that contact as well.

These were not the actions of a child fearing a deserved punishment. These were the actions of a child expecting abuse. Chara did not trust Toriel, and Toriel was starting to wonder if she could truly blame them despite their distrust hurting her.

When the phone rang, Toriel jumped and yelped. Good thing Asriel and Chara were back outside playing. After the broken vase, it seemed Chara felt more comfortable outside than in.

Without looking at the caller ID, Toriel picked up the phone. "Dreemurr's Home residence. This is Toriel speaking."

"Tori!"

"Gori!" Toriel nearly melted at the sound of her husband's voice. "How did the meeting go? How did the others take the news about Chara?"

For a moment, Asgore didn't answer. Then, "I would rather not think about the things that were said during the meeting."

Now Toriel nearly melted at the horrific thought of the things that might have been said. "No harm is to come to the child," she stated with enough force in her voice to make clear her intentions to fight anyone who would dare touch Chara.

"Absolutely not," Asgore agreed, "but that is not what I'm calling you about. You see, Gerson had an idea that I wanted to discuss with you."

Toriel straightened her spine. "What about?"

"First things first, how is Chara? Are they and Asriel getting along okay?"

Toriel's eyes shifted towards the window. It appeared that Asriel was teaching Chara a game of sorts. Chara laughed as they played along.

"Chara is doing much better, and they and Asriel are getting along rather famously. I wish you could see them right now, Gori. I don't think I have ever seen Asriel so happy."

"And how do you feel about Chara?"

Toriel pursed her lips. "I fear the child does not like me very much, but I am doing all I can to take care of them. Whatever life the child had on the surface has left them scared and untrusting."

Pressing her back against the wall, Toriel asked, "Why do you want to know these things?"

It took half a moment for Asgore to answer, "There's only one thing I agree is the right thing to do with the human, and I needed to speak with you about it first."


Asriel sensed that something was off the moment Asgore returned home. Dinner was tense, and Asriel knew it had something to do with Chara. There was something about the way Asgore kept looking at the human that left Asriel feeling uncertain.

After dinner was eaten and the dishes cleaned, Toriel pulled Asriel aside and told him, "Please, go to your room until we call you. Your father and I need to talk to Chara alone."

Swallowing back an argument, Asriel nodded and walked towards his room. However, he did not make it to the hallway. Whatever his parents had to say to Chara, they could say to Asriel too.

Asriel hid just around the corner and was careful so that even his breathing could not be heard. Sitting on the floor, Asriel leaned in. His mother was the first to speak.

"So, Chara," she slowly began, "you appear to be doing a lot better since Asriel found you. Do you feel any better?"

"Much," Chara replied, sounding as unsure as Asriel felt. "Thank you for taking me in."

"No need to thank us," Asgore replied, "but we do have something we need to ask you."

The silence hung in the air for so long, Asriel could feel his heart racing in his chest. When Asgore finally asked his question, it was as if something bigger than that vase came crashing to the floor.

"Do you have a home to return to? Do you want to go home?"

Asriel's heart skipped a beat. It never occurred to him that Chara probably had another home. A home on the surface, a home to where Chara might want to return.

When Chara didn't immediately answer, Toriel prompted, "I'm sure your family must be so worried about you."

Unable to take it another second, Asriel ran out. He didn't know he was crying until he saw how blurry his parents and Chara looked. They all stared at Asriel as he began shouting.

"You can't send Chara away!" he pleaded as he ran up to his parents and fell onto Toriel's skirt. "Chara is my best friend, and you wouldn't send away my best friend, would you?"

Whatever his parents tried to tell him were lost as Asriel began to cry harder. Try as his mother and father might, they could not calm Asriel down. Asriel had taken only seconds to succumb to a tearful mess, all because he was afraid his parents were going to send Chara away. For the first time in his life, Asriel didn't feel alone. He couldn't go back to that, not now that he knew what it was like to have a friend.

So on and on he cried, and it wasn't until Asriel began to calm down that he realized Chara was crying too. It was in that moment Asriel realized how selfish he was being. Chara probably did have a family to whom he wanted to go back, and Asriel was trying to keep Chara here as if he was nothing more than a stray dog Asriel had found and was trying to convince his parents to keep.

"If, um," Asriel finally muttered, wiping his eyes, "if Chara wants to stay, that is."

As Asgore pulled Asriel in for a hug, Toriel frowned and again asked Chara, "You do have a family to go back to, do you not?"

Chara hesitated for a moment or two before he answered, "No, I do not."

It seemed Toriel opened her mouth to ask another question, but before she could get the words out, Chara lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Toriel's waist.

"I want to stay with you."

Asriel hiccupped as he sucked in a sharp breath. He could hardly believe what he had just heard. Chara wanted to stay just as much as Asriel wanted him to stay.

"Then it's settled." Smiling, Toriel pulled Chara away and held him at arm's length. "Your new name is Chara Dreemurr, and you may call me 'mother.'"

Saying nothing, Chara nodded and wiped his eyes.

"We'll announce it to the whole kingdom as soon as we return to the castle in New Home," Asgore said, showing Chara his own smile.

Although it was weak, Chara did smile back.

"Now that the matter is settled," Toriel then said, "how about we celebrate with butterscotch pie?"


Chara Dreemurr.

Somehow, it still did not process that this was Chara's new name. Unable to sleep, Chara sat upright in bed, stared into the dark, and thought about what had happened only hours earlier.

Asriel's family adopted Chara. Just like that. Even after Chara had broken a vase, alongside other ways he was sure he had been a thorn in Toriel's side while Asgore was gone, they took him in and decided they weren't going to get rid of him like Chara initially thought when the adults said that they wanted to speak with him privately.

This can't be right, Chara couldn't help but think. There's no reason they should be this nice to me. They want something from me, but what?

"Chara, are you awake?"

Chara jumped, but when he recognized the voice as Asriel's, he relaxed and took a deep breath. Smiling into the darkness, Chara replied, "No, I always talk back in my sleep."

"You're so weird." Without waiting for an invitation, Asriel walked into the room, slowly made his way to Chara's bed, and sat on the foot. For a while, nobody talked. Then Asriel asked, "Are you okay, Chara? You have been super quiet since Mom and Dad talked to you."

"I'm . . . okay," Chara answered, speaking the truth over his general emotions. "I suppose I'm still understanding what just happened. It . . . This doesn't seem real."

"Well, it is!" Asriel sounded excited. Even though Chara couldn't see the monster, he knew Asriel was smiling. "Do you know what this means?"

"What does this mean?"

"We're more than best friends now. Chara, we're brothers."

Too stunned to reply, Chara could only stare at Asriel's silhouette as he digested the words. Asriel was right. If Chara really was part of the Dreemurr family, then he and Asriel were—

"I better go back to my room before Mom or Dad know I'm here," Asriel softly said. "I just realized what you being part of the family means, and I wanted to share it with you."

"Thank you, Asriel," Chara replied after he found his voice. "I'm glad you told me. I'm . . . really happy to call you my brother."

Sounding as if puffed out his chest, Asriel vowed, "I promise to be the best brother ever. If you ever need anything, I will do everything I can to help you."

Chuckling softly, Chara said, "Thanks, Asriel, but you don't have to go that far for me."

"Hey, we're brothers now. That's what we do. I, uh, should go to bed now. Good night, Chara."

"Good night, Asriel."

After Asriel had left, Chara lied in bed for a few more hours before he fell asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about what Asriel had said. They were brothers now. It was the most beautiful thing Chara had ever heard.