Melody held up her hand. "Rock... Paper... Scissors-"

"It's paper scissors rock," Clover grunted, also holding up her hand.

"It is not," Melody grumbled.

Frisk stepped between the kids before they had yet another argument, their arms folded. They had dropped their stoic facade and returned to their previous one. They couldn't help themself.

"They're right," Melody sighed. "We really need to stop wasting all this time."

Frisk nodded, happy the girls were finally changing their mindset.

"Then what?" Clover asked, folding her arms.

Melody gasped. "How about we go out somewhere? It could be like, a girls' night out!"

"No." Clover grumbled. "First of all, just no. I don't do that stuff. Secondly, there's just the two of us - Faye ain't here. And plus... what about my bro? I can't just-"

"Clover your brother is fine," Melody sighed. "He's with Percy who definitely doesn't have a sense of adventure. Secondly, we're not going to do anything 'girly'. We're just going to, well... I'll figure it out. And finally..." She pointed at Frisk. "We don't need Faye. We've got the stick kid. They can be our honorary girl."

Frisk made a face.

"... fine," Clover sighed after some silent debate. She tilted her head. "Where are we goin'?"

"Hotland." Melody answered.

Clover cracked her knuckles. "Good. We can go and give that Muffet a talking to."

Melody frowned. "No, Clover. I know what she did, but it was partly Cody's fault. He made her very angry." She gasped. "I've got an idea! We should go and apologize to her!"

"... apologize." Clover ground through gritted teeth, her fists clenched. "No way."

"Oh come on," Melody grumbled. She pointed at Frisk, who was smiling. "They think it's a good idea, and so do I. It'll be better for everyone. We don't want to leave the underground with the nagging feeling of a monster's hatred on our backsides, do we?"

"There's no way I'm apologising to someone who nearly killed my brother." Clover growled.

"That's the hard part," Melody said. "But I think you can do it, Clover. You just have to try."

Clover scowled.

"Look, I get that your brother is very important to you," Melody said. "And so is bringing him justice. But sometimes, doing the right thing is more important than that. Why start up another fight when you can end it?" She patted Clover's shoulder. "Okay?"

Clover glared at Melody. She walked away, adjusting her hat. "... you got a point, I guess. But you can't expect me to instantly say sorry to someone who nearly killed my brother."

"Let's just go there and figure it out." Melody said.

And so, the three kids headed over to Hotland. They talked a bit on the way.

"I wish I was as close to my brother as you are to yours, Clover," Melody sighed. "He just annoys the cr- um... he annoys me quite a lot. I guess I annoy him back as well. We're not nearly as protective of each other as you and your brother are."

"... you still have both your parents." Clover mumbled.

"I... I guess," Melody said quietly.

There was a pause.

"... y'know," Clover sighed. "I'm not really surprised Cody made Muffet mad. He's always getting himself into trouble without realisin' it. That's why I gotta keep an eye on him. As well as that..." She paused. "... he's the only family I have left."

"Oh Clover," Melody sighed with sympathy. "You do well, you know. Looking after Cody."

"I do what I have to." Clover answered grimly. "You do a good job looking after Brayden and Percy. And just about everyone else."

"Who else will do it?" Melody replied, with a small smirk.

Frisk appeared in between the two, putting their arms around their necks. They had a big grin on their face.

"Heh," Clover ruffled the top of Frisk's head. "Glad to see you bein' happy again, kiddo."

Frisk felt a pain in their heart, but they kept smiling.

"Muffet's isn't too far from here," Melody said. "Come on."

The trio arrived at Muffet's. Clover felt her breathing tighten. Melody and Frisk both smiled reassuringly at her. She felt a little better.

The three entered the purple, cobweb-covered building. As soon as they did, a voice hissed above them.

"Well well well," Muffet appeared in front of them by hanging down from a web, an enraged yet curious look in her eight eyes. Clover gritted her teeth. Muffet was especially glaring at Frisk. "Look who's come back~"

"Yes, but for a good reason," Melody said, arms folded. "We've come to apologise."

"Apologise?" Muffet asked, tilting her head.

"On behalf of my brother and this kid," Clover said, stepping forward while glancing at Frisk. "I'd like to say... sorry. For... being a jerk to you and your business. He - they - we didn't mean any harm. We were just passing through. Yeah?"

Melody gave Clover an approving nod.

"Hmm," Muffet looked thoughtful. "Well, I did harm your brother and friend quite a lot, dearie. I guess I have a bit to be sorry for as well. I will forgive you..." Her eyes lit up. "If you buy one of my products~"

Clover made a face. "Like we have that kind of-"

Frisk interrupted her by holding up two large sacks of gold.

"... looks like we do have the money." Clover said, making a face.

"Why didn't you do that ages ago?" Melody asked, sighing. "You could've saved us so much trouble!"

Frisk shrugged, blushing. They wouldn't admit it but they had actually been mildly broke at the time. They had spent too much GOLD on that Temmie Armour...

The kids shared the wicked expensive spider donut as they headed back to Waterfall.

"Can't believe we're so close," Clover said, after gulping down a mouthful of donut. "Well... kinda close. I mean... you know, only one of us can leave."

"That's just life," Melody sighed. "But let's be hopeful. Whoever goes up to the surface will be able to shatter the Barrier and free everyone! Happy ending, right?"

Clover nodded. "True that."

Frisk kept smiling.

The trio made it back to Waterfall. They managed to find Percy and Cody, but not the remaining two. The boys reported that they didn't know where Brayden and Faye were. So the whole group searched for them.

... and they found them.

Brayden and Faye had fallen asleep while hugging each other. Some monster had put a blanket on top of them.

"Awww!" Cody smiled.

"Well well well." Clover folded her arms, smirking.

"Melody I don't know how to handle this." Percy said, breathing heavily. "It's... too... CUTE!"

"Well, I guess it is pretty cute." Melody sighed, shaking her head.

Frisk looked at the two sleeping. They felt their chest tighten. A memory played in front of their eyes.

Chara put their head on Frisk's shoulder. They looked content. They rarely looked content.

"You will always be with me, yes?" they asked, hope in their eyes.

Frisk smiled approvingly at them.

Frisk lowered their head. Their face was darkened. They remembered what they had to do.

"Papyrus... wants us to go to Alphys'..." Melody said, holding up her phone. Frisk hadn't even paid attention to the phone call. But it didn't matter. They were only worried about one thing now.

Without another word, they took off, heading towards the end.