A Twist In Fate: Saving Chara
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I wrote this fic on AO3 a while ago, but decided to transfer it and the rest of the series over here as my friend wanted to read it. I hope you guys enjoy! This is set a few months before the second story in the series, Their First Meeting, where Chara and Sans meet for the first time. Chara and Sans will become very good friends and eventually fall in love in the series, but this oneshot focuses fully on the friendship and sibling relationship of Chara and Asriel, and how Asriel kept Chara from taking her own life.
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"Asriel, we need to do this for everyone. I have to do this." eleven year old Chara told her brother as they sat together on Asriel's bed, placing a hand on his shoulder with a determined look in her eyes. "You can use my soul to free everyone by going through the barrier to get six more."
"No! I'm not doing it! This is wrong!" Asriel protested, shaking his head violently.
"Don't worry; you won't have to kill anyone. I'm not going to make you do that! I already thought this through. The plaques said human souls linger after death and humans die all the time on the surface from all sorts of things. All you have to do is go to a morgue or hospital and collect the souls of humans who are already dead." Chara argued. "They're not going to be using them any more. No one has to get hurt."
Tears filled Asriel's eyes. "Except for you! If we go through this, you'll die!"
His voice was getting louder and louder in his anguish and Chara placed a hand gently over his mouth as she glanced pointedly at their bedroom door. "Azzy, shh, Mom and Dad will hear us, you crybaby. And my soul will still be with you."
"You know that's not the same! You'll be dead, and I won't be able to hug you or play with you, and I don't even know if I'll be able to talk to you! I'll be heartbroken if you die! Mom and Dad will be heartbroken! Breaking the barrier isn't worth losing you!"
"Yes it is! I'm one person! And don't you want to see the sun? To have everyone be able to visit the surface? Everyone wants to be free, Asriel, and all it will cost is me. And you'll all be better off without me anyway." This last part was whispered as Chara looked at the ground, but he heard it anyway.
He shook his head violently. "No we won't! You're my sister! You're my best friend! We all love you and I'm not doing this at the cost of your life!"
Chara burst out laughing, which she always did when extremely upset. "I almost killed Dad last week by somehow thinking I needed to put buttercups into a pie instead of cups of butter. How can you even say you'd be better off with me?!"
"Chara, Chara, calm down! It wasn't your fault." Asriel told her, making her laugh harder. He placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to help her calm down. "It was an accident! I was there too and I got mixed up too. We both made the pie. Neither of us knew they were poisonous and now that we know, it will never happen again, okay? I'm not letting you punish yourself for this! I'm not losing you, Sis!" Tears were falling down now and he hugged Chara tightly, afraid she would disappear if he let go.
"Asriel, stop being a crybaby!" Chara yelled angrily and wriggled to get free, though there were tears in her eyes. Not wanting to scare her, he reluctantly let her go but stayed by her side as she spoke again. "I have to do this. I'm supposed to be the hope of monsters. They all want to be free. This is the way to do it."
"No it's not, because I'm not doing it. I'm not letting you die for this!" Asriel sobbed. "We'll find another way, but you're not going to die! Not here! Not like this."
"Asriel..."
"Chara, I don't care if you call me a crybaby. I'm not doing it." Asriel said firmly, not wavering for a second, making sure she knew he meant it.
"...Fine." she finally muttered and left the room.
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Asriel was still very worried, fearing that even though he told her he wouldn't do it that Chara would still try to take her own life. He knew she would be upset if he told, but he'd rather have an upset sister than a dead one. He took a deep breath and went to the throne room where his mom and dad were working.
"Mom? Dad? I need to tell you something..."
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They found Chara in the garden, staring at the buttercups. She reached out to one and then drew her hand back, undecided. When she heard their footsteps, she whirled around. One look into Asgore and Toriel's tearful eyes and she knew they knew. She glared at Asriel. Then her face crumpled and she started to cry.
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Toriel and Asgore took Chara into their room and Asriel could hear their hushed voices and Chara's sobs. They were in there for a few hours before coming out. Asriel darted into his room when the doorknob started to move so he wouldn't be caught eavesdropping.
A few minutes later, he heard Chara's light footsteps. He looked up from his seat onto the bed, his worried eyes meeting her tearstained ones. He braced himself for her angry words, but they never happened.
She hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder, her small body shaking. He held her close.
She looked into his eyes. "Thank you." she whispered, and for the first time since the buttercup incident, there was a shred of hope in her eyes. A weight lifted off his chest.
He knew it would take a long time for her to heal completely and for her self-hatred to go away.
But at this moment, he knew she would be okay.
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Please review and let me know what you think!