:):

Thank you for all the reviews!

Yes, Flowey will most definitely be playing a bigger role in this story. As is his custom, he'll probably show up at the worst possible moment.

...

On a different note, it's true that the healing stars would most certainly pique Sans' scientific interest. If only he could see them.

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Believe Me!

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As his brother worked on creating a heating system for the house, Papyrus had been tasked with keeping an eye socket on the human. He didn't mind. It was a lot of fun showing her around the house, though he needed to carry her from one place to another. Her sore knee had gotten to the point where she didn't want to even stand. She was as light as air, so that wasn't a problem for him.

They had spent a few hours in his room where he had shown her all of his cool things, like his skull and cross bones flag, and his action figures; she really liked those. They spent some time reading some books, though she preferred the ones that consisted mostly of pictures.

After that, they had come back downstairs to watch more TV. That is when the tiny human had fallen asleep on the couch. Throughout the day, she had been getting progressively less energetic. It had gotten to the point where she even started speaking less, preferring instead to nodding and shaking her head in response to his questions.

Covering the small child with a blanket, Papyrus turned off the TV and left her to sleep. Maybe this was how humans got better. It worked for monsters after all. A little extra sleep couldn't be bad.

...

Finishing the final touches to his new heating system, Sans made his way back inside the house to recheck the ambient temperature readings once more. Right away, he noticed how quiet everything was. Spotting the bundled up human sleeping on the couch, he understood why.

After recording the house's temperature, he made his way over to the couch to check up on the small child. She was out like a light, drooling into the couch cushion. Sans smiled awkwardly at the sight. It was both cute and kind of gross at the same time.

Noticing her chubby cheeks were a little more flushed with colored than usual, the skeleton decided to scan her temperature again as well. He found that it was indeed a bit higher than it was a few hours ago. That meant she had a fever, right? And fevers were bad. Should he do something about it? If so, then what? What would Frisk do?

Ignoring the ridiculousness of what he was considering, Sans tried to place himself in the perspective of a human. After mulling it over for a minute or so, he finally came to the conclusion that the human body probably had a set temperature and anything above or below that became detrimental to their health. So, if the kid was too hot right now, then he just needed to cool her down somehow. He had just come from outside, so his bones were thoroughly chilled. Maybe that would do.

Sitting next to her on the couch, Sans reached down and placed a bony hand to her flushed cheek. He was once again struck by just how soft and warm humans were. They weren't furry or scaly, they were just soft. It felt strange but not unpleasant.

Grumbling something in her sleep, Fearia's brows creased at the sudden coldness to her cheek. That felt nice... Reaching up, she latched onto the source of cool comfort. Feeling it try to escape, she tightened her hold, pulling it closer to herself. Curling her small body around the object, the little girl relaxed into a more sound sleep.

Sitting there awkwardly, a good portion of his arm now enveloped by a tiny human, Sans found himself regretting the choices he'd made leading up to this very moment. The kid was grabby in her sleep. He should have remembered the jacket incident from the night before.

Sighing tiredly, the skeleton stared down at the sleeping child. Well... This was as good of an excuse as any to rest his eye sockets. He'd done more today than he usually did on a weekly basis and his energy reserves were starting to dwindle. Leaning back into the couch, Sans attempted to get comfortable and before he even knew it, he found himself nodding off as well.

...

Feeling tiny hands pushing at his shoulder bone, Sans felt his consciousness resurface slowly. Had he fallen asleep? What time was it? Hearing a strange sharp noise, he was forced to open his eye sockets.

"Sans...!" Fearia whined as she pushed at him in hopes of waking the sleeping skeleton. Speaking hurt her sore throat and made her feel like coughing but she had to try. Something was wrong. Her knee hurt so bad right now, she felt like crying. It was throbbing and prickly feeling. Coughing harshly, she pushed at him more urgently this time. "Sans!"

"i'm awake..." Sans finally said as he sat up, the half draped blanket falling to his lap. "what's wrong, kid?"

"My knee hurts!" Fearia exclaimed, her voice hoarse and cracking.

Sans took a moment to process her words through his sleep muddled nonexistent brain. Her knee hurt. Well, it should, she busted it up pretty bad the night before. She was complaining about it earlier too but he hadn't really thought much of it. Hadn't he bandaged it fairly well before? He'd said he'd help her find a healing star tomorrow. Couldn't she wait till then? "how bad?" He asked in hopes that this wasn't actually serious.

"Real Bad..." Fearia whined as she held back tears.

Finally realizing her distress, Sans turned to the small child and really studied her. She had that expression again, the one she used when she was trying not to cry. Holding onto her knee, she whined pitifully. Okay, yeah. This was serious. Pulling his tired bones from the couch, he stood up. "come on." He said as he reached down and carefully collected the small child into his arms. "let's check it out in the kitchen."

Unwrapping the bandage, Sans cringed at the sight. It was official, he was not good at treating human wounds. Her knee was red and swollen while dark squiggly lines were fanning out from the injury just beneath her skin. He didn't know what that meant, but he knew it was real bad. No wonder she couldn't walk. "jeez, kid. you should have told me sooner."

"I told you yesterday." Fearia shot back in painful frustration.

Looking to the clock hanging on the kitchen wall, the skeleton's eye sockets widened slightly. It was already morning!? Had he really slept that long? Papyrus would be up pretty soon. Grin going flat, he turned back to the little girl. He'd have to leave a note for his brother, because right now, getting the kid to a healing star was his top priority. They better as hell be real. For her sake, as well as theirs...

Bundling the child up in a warm blanket, Sans opened the front door and stepped out into the snow. "hold on, kid." He said as he held the tiny human securely in his arms. Fearia simply nodded as she tugged the blanket closer to herself, trying to fend off the cold elements.

Making his way through the sleepy town of Snowdin, Sans was fully prepared to walk all the way back into the Snowdin wilderness to find one of those damn stars. However, as it turned out, he might not need to go that far after all. Because as he neared the Inn, the little girl had perked up excitedly.

"Sans! Sans, look!" Fearia chirped as she pointed towards the Snowdin Inn and Shop. "Over there! See it?"

"see what?" Sans asked as he came to a stop to look at where she was pointing. Did she want to go into the shop? "i don't think the shop's open yet, kid. it's real early."

"Not the shop!" Fearia protested in agitation. "The star! There's a star floating over there!"

The skeleton's grin wavered as he hopelessly scanned the area for her mythical healing star. Were they really just imaginary after all? He felt his own frustration build as he replied. "i don't see anything, kid..."

"It's right there!" Fearia insisted, still pointing. Why didn't he see it? It was so bright, it was literally impossible to miss!

With a heavy sigh, Sans decided to humor the small child as he walked towards where she was pointing. All the shouting she had just done had sent her into a coughing fit, which he had come to understand was another aliment of being sick. What was he going to do now? If her healing stars weren't even real what were his options then? He didn't know how to heal a human. Her knee alone proved this point. And from the looks of it, her health was heading in the wrong direction. She shouldn't be out here in the cold...

When her skeleton escort stopped a few feet away from the magical healing star, Fearia frowned and looked up to him. "Why'd you stop?"

"kid, i don't like being lied to." Sans replied, his grin flat and voice listless. "there isn't anything here. i'm taking you back to the house before you freeze to dust."

Fearia felt her stomach drop as the skeleton turned around. no. No! It was RIGHT there! Why didn't he believe her?! Why didn't he see it? "No! Stop!" She demanded as she began to flail about in his arms. "Put me down!"

Sans found out quickly that a struggling human child was difficult to hang on to when they didn't want to be held. After a few seconds of wild thrashing, he accidentally dropped the weak child. She landed with a light thud into the snow at his slipper clad feet.

He was at a loss as he watched the little girl wriggle out of the blanket and attempt to drag herself through the snow. He couldn't bring himself to be mad. That just wasn't how he felt right now. Shocked? Yes. Discouraged? Absolutely. But what he mostly felt as he watched the poor child, was sadness. He felt like he had failed her somehow. And it was probably already too late to change the outcome. This tiny human was going to turn to dust. Either today or maybe tomorrow and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it from happening.

Stretching out her small arm, Fearia reached for the star. She was so close! It was just a foot away but her body felt like deadweight, anchoring her to the ground. Why was she always so weak? Tears of frustration and helplessness rolled down her cheeks and fell to the snow beneath her. She hated this...

Bending down, Sans gently lifted the fragile child from the snow. She didn't struggle this time. She probably couldn't anymore. Even so, the little girl still held her hand out, reaching for something that obviously wasn't there. As an act of kindness, he decided to walk towards her imaginary star. How could he deny her that?

He very nearly almost dropped her again when a bright flash of light nearly blinded him. Just as it had come, the light faded quickly until all that was left was a dimly lit object floating in front of him. It was completely transparent and difficult to see, but he could see it. Was that a healing star?

Hope swelled within his soul as Sans held the small child into the previously nonexistent star-like object. Its gentle light wrapped around her tiny body, concentrating its intensity in some places more than others; her knee being the brightest area. Sans watched in fascination as the kid's injured knee mended itself before the wound disappeared entirely.

The healing star had taken longer this time. A lot longer. Like a few minutes instead of a few seconds. But once it was finally done, Fearia felt like a millionG! Turning her head as she lay in the skeleton's outstretched arms, the little girl smiled warmly up at him. "Thanks, Sans... I feel better now."

The small human hadn't expected to get a face full of jacket as she was pressed into the skeleton's bony chest. Was he upset? Lifting her face from the soft fabric, she looked up to him in worry.

"i'm so sorry..." Sans said quietly as he held the child close, arms wrapped gently around her small frame. "i should have believed you, kid."

Fearia smiled softly at the regretful skeleton before pressing her face back to his chest and wrapping her small arms around him, returning the hug. She forgave him, of course. He had just saved her life!

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That was really tense! Don't worry, it won't be that dramatic again for awhile.

In the next chapter, Fearia finally gets some warmer clothes to wear and Sans discovers that children are not only a lot of work, but expensive too!

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Thanks for reading!

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Sheii Bae~