A surprise was waiting for Frisk outside of the restaurant.
"FRISK! There you are!"
Toriel was standing there in the lobby of the hotel, by the 'fountain', if you could even call it that. It was modeled after Mettaton, but the thing was spouting well out of the pool and onto the lobby carpet in front of Frisk. Whether this was intentional or not was unknown but Frisk carefully walked around the soggy carpet to the other side of the fountain, where Toriel was waiting.
"Mom! How did you know where I was?"
A look of surprise and shock came upon Toriels face for a brief moment, followed with a shy smile.
"You...you called me Mom! You really think of me that way after all that has happened?"
Frisk simply smiled back at her. She didn't need to say anything for Toriel to understand. Her face said it all.
"Oh, my child...well I saw Sans a moment ago. He told me you were here. You had been gone a little while and we didn't really know where to look."
Had it really been that long?
The last 24 hours or so, even though it had been FAR more than that in retrospect, had messed with Frisks perceptions of time and the world around her. It couldn't have been more than an hour at most, but...
I don't have much time left.
"Y...yeah. No idea what happened. Time flies, huh?"
Toriel nodded.
"Yeah, I know the feeling."
She followed it up almost immediately.
"Well, then. Shall we go join the others?"
Frisk hesitated upon hearing the question.
"Um...Mom..."
Toriel looked a little concerned now. Frisk was terrible at bringing things up without getting everyone else worried.
Ugh. I've got to do a better job of hiding my feelings.
But in truth, that's one of the things that made Frisk so special. She was so open with herself, so honest, and no doubt that's one of the many things everyone liked about her so much. That kind of quality was rare in anybody, human or monster, and it did her great credit at times.
It wasn't helping this time though. Toriel picked up on it immediately.
"What is it Frisk? Are you okay?"
Come on, Frisk. Don't lose it now.
"...Do you want to go for a walk outside the hotel? Just the two of us?"
Toriel gave Frisk a curious look at first, but it soon turned to cheer. Neither one of them really had much of a chance to get to know each other throughout this adventure, after all. This was a pleasant chance for the two of them to catch up.
"That sounds very nice, Frisk. Let's go then."
And they left through the front doors of the MTT, hand in hand.
The outside courtyard of the MTT was considerably warmer than the interior, which wasn't a surprise considering that the MTT was established in Hotland territory, the hottest place in all of the Underground.
Sure wish I was wearing a short sleeve right now.
A thought Frisk would probably regret in Snowdin.
They walked hand in hand towards the overlook, seeing over much of the Hotlands. There really wasn't that much to see, it was mostly rock and magma with some rudimentary wooden bridges and paths. The CORE was the most ominous sight from Frisks earlier journey through the Hotlands, but that was pretty much where they stood now, and about the only notable area that was even visible from here was Alphys Lab. Maybe she was on her way there now, picking up some research notes or other scientific things.
Or her Anime...
Frisk had to stifle a burst of laughter from that thought. There was something more important on her mind at the moment.
"So, um..."
Toriel looked at Frisk now, who was leaning with her back against the overlook railing.
"...I know this probably isn't the most happy topic, but...do you remember when we first met?"
Toriel gave Frisk a nod before sitting on the nearby bench.
"Of course I do. It was only a day ago, after all."
"Right. Sorry."
All these resets had really messed with Frisks sense of time, but it also felt like she had known Toriel much longer as a result.
"Hehe, it's alright. Well, I was heading into the ruins to tend to the...well, the flowers. Someone has to, after all. And..."
Toriel gestured with a wave of her arm, as if setting the scene.
"...and there you were. Just laying there."
Wait, what happened to her memory of my encounter with Flowey? Asriel...again?
"You were so lost and didn't seem to know where you were or what you were doing. So I guided you through the ruins and brought you home with me."
Frisk nodded.
"Yeah, I never would have been able to figure out any of those puzzles without you."
That, of course, was a lie, but if Toriel was aware of it, she gave no indication.
"You even gave me a cell phone to communicate with you."
She pulled the cell phone out of her napsack to show Toriel.
"Oh, those phone calls. In hindsight, I think I may have called you a bit too much at first, but I shouldn't have left you alone so long when I went to run my errands. You even called me 'Mom' for the first time too. I didn't know how to react to that, it was so out of the blue, so I just went along with it."
Toriel smiled, reflecting on what Frisk was openly calling her now.
"But hearing you call me that now, after everything...oh, you don't know how happy that makes me, Frisk."
Frisk was blushing a little bit, shyly kicking the dirt beneath her. The first time Frisk called Toriel by that name was more of a joke than anything, pointing out the way Toriel treated her when they first met. But now, having spent so much time with Toriel, accumulated over numerous resets, Frisk felt so much closer to Toriel than ever before. In reality, Toriel was now the closest thing to a mother that Frisk had, the relationship the two of them shared, so Frisk embraced it for what it was. It brought the two of them even closer together...
...and made what was coming even more difficult to face.
"Well, anyway, when we got home, you were so enthusiatic, you investigated every inch of the house, every last nook and cranny. I practically had to pull you off the walls. I even made you my specialty when we got home, but you had worn yourself out and fallen asleep before it was finished. I didn't want to wake you at the time so I just left it on the floor."
She suddenly remembered. The pie.
"Oh yeah!"
Frisk pulled out the leftover Snail Pie from her napsack to show Toriel. Though it was big enough to feed at least three people at first, there wasn't much left of it, but the plastic wrap was still intact, keeping the pie fresh, and what left was still enough for one person.
"Oh, you ate that much of it? Even though you didn't like it?"
Frisk reeled back in surprise.
"Y-you knew!?"
Toriel smirked.
"The face you made just now as you looked at it."
Damn it...
Frisk felt guilty for trying to hide it, but she felt worse for being open to Toriel about it, knowing how much it could hurt her feelings. But Toriel responded with genuine amusement.
"I think it was very nice of you to do something like that just to please me. Now I know not to make it for you in the future, but...thank you for making me feel appreciated. It means a lot to me."
Hearing that put another smile on Frisks face, but it wasn't to last for very long.
"Hehe, yeah, I was so happy, and you seemed to be too. But then..."
Frisk became curious when Toriel suddenly stopped herself, as if she was embarrassed herself or something.
"What is it?"
"Well...you wanted to leave."
Now Frisk walked over to the bench and sat next to Toriel. This was obviously a difficult topic for Toriel and Frisk was starting to regret even bringing it up in the first place, opening old wounds, but she had to let Toriel have her moment of catharsis.
"I was just so...I can't even describe what I was feeling. I thought I had found someone I loved again, someone I could take care of. I thought I was being given another chance, and everything was great for a while."
Another chance?
Toriel looked happy for a moment, but her look of joy sooned turned to pain as she now began to recall the more painful moments of their first meeting.
"But, when you wanted to know...when you asked me how to leave the Ruins, I..."
And suddenly Frisk felt a heavy wave of guilt and regret.
"I just didn't know what to do or say. I didn't want to let you go. I wanted to lock you in your room and keep you here forever. I even thought about destroying the only way out. I wanted to protect you, keep you safe, no matter what it took..."
Toriel brought herself to look at Frisk now, and it was so difficult for Frisk to maintain eye contact, because the pain she saw in Toriels eyes was real, and Frisk was the one responsible for it.
"...but I knew this wasn't your home and you wouldn't be happy here if I forced you to stay against your will. I knew you had to find your own way...so I let you go."
Now Frisk was finally able to speak up and reassure Toriel, taking her much larger furry hands into her own.
"I know. Sans told me everything, how you made him promise to look after me. I..."
Toriel looked ashamed again and started crying.
"I'm sorry, Frisk. I was so cold to you when you left, telling you not to come back. I just...I've lost one child before...TWO, in fact."
Two?
Immediately Frisks reassuring expression crumbled, flashing a look of heartbreak in its place, because she knew exactly who Toriel was talking about now, and it was something she couldn't bring up for fear of causing more pain if she did. She simply let Toriel continue talking.
"I couldn't bear to lose another. I just couldn't go through that kind of pain again. That's why I told you not to come back..."
Mom...
Toriel looked away from Frisk again.
"...but I couldn't just let you fend for yourself out there, and...well, it was more then just Sans. I still kept in contact with you on your phone, or at least I tried to."
Now Frisk looked very surprised.
"Wait, you did? I never received any calls from you since I left."
"Well, Sans taught me how to send text messages. I was too ashamed to call you directly so I sent texts instead, hoping that you were still alright, hoping you might respond. But you never did. I figured you didn't want anything to do with me by then..."
Frisk sheepishly checked her inbox, and sure enough, there they were, dozens of text messages from Toriel. She opened the first one on the list:
Dear Frisk,
Sans and Alphys are teaching me how to text. I am learning so much. For example: Do you know what a "smiley" is? Please look at this.
]: )
Now turn your head to the left.
It is a picture of me smiling at you! Can you see it?
L-O-L! (That stands for Lots Of Laughter.)
Sincerely,
Toriel
Frisk was laughing hysterically after reading the message.
"Hahahaha, wow. I can't believe I didn't see any of these."
But the laughter soon turned to pain, brought about by her own recollection of past events. And she said the only thing she could think of at that moment.
"I...I'm sorry, Mom."
Toriel gave Frisk a smile now.
"It's alright, at least I know now that you weren't ignoring me. I'm happy with that."
But Frisk wasn't. And she couldn't let it stay like that.
"...no, I mean I'm sorry about everything, the way I treated you. When you first found me and brought me home, I was just so confused about my situation, where I was, what had happened, I didn't know how to make any sense of it. It was all so sudden. You were only trying to help me. You opened you heart and your home to me and I threw it back in your face without even thinking about your feelings and how it might affect you..."
Toriel was floored at this point.
"Frisk..."
Frisk looked away now, utterly ashamed of herself.
"...when you told me not to come back, I didn't know what to think. I had no idea where I was going, no idea what I was doing, and I suddenly felt so alone. That was when I first met Sans, and he guided me from that point on as I started meeting more monsters, some of which were very hostile to me at first, but all of which I'm happy to call my friends now."
Frisk suddenly had a look of fear, contemplating the other possible outcome.
"But I wonder if things would have been different if I had never met you."
Toriel cocked her head in confusion, hesitant to inquire further.
"What do you mean?"
Frisk smiled at Toriel, shedding a few tears in the process.
"I think...it's at least partly because of you, the love and care you showed me in our short time together, that gave me the hope and the strength to make it this far. But even worse, I fear I would have done something terrible by now if it wasn't for you..."
Toriel was on her knees now, shedding tears of her own.
"Come here, Frisk..."
Toriel opened her arms, beckoning Frisk over for a hug, which Frisk happily accepted without reservation, clinging her little arms around Toriels neck as her mothers arms closed in around her. It felt so warm, so full of love, like when they first met.
"I was with you this whole time, Frisk. You were never alone."
"I know. I didn't then, but I know now."
Frisk said, and her tears were starting to soak a little into the fabric Toriel's robes now.
"I just...thank you so much!"
Toriel held Frisk even tighter now.
"You've made me so happy, Frisk. I don't deserve a wonderful friend like you."
"Yes you do!"
Frisk responded in sharp protest to that statement.
"You all deserve to be happy!"
And so does he.
Frisk finally pulled away from Toriel, not really wanting to let go, but she knew there was still one thing left to do before this show could hit the road, and she was happy to have made peace with the one person she needed to first.
...I've made up my mind.
Toriel wiped her tears away with one sleeve, and then Frisks tears with the other.
"Well then, our friends are waiting, Frisk. Are you ready to go yet?"
Frisk smiled, but shook her head.
"Not yet, Mom. There's one last thing I have to do before I can leave. Something very important to me."
Toriel nodded.
"I see."
Now Frisk looked down, not sure of what more she could say to Toriel without making her suspicious. But this was her last chance, so...
"I may be gone for a while, so please don't worry about me. I'll be back soon."
That was another lie, at least to a certain extent, but it was a necessary one to keep everyone from worrying more. Toriel kissed her forehead.
"Take as long as you need, my child. We will be here when you return."
Frisk nodded and began to walk off. And she stopped after a few seconds.
And almost immediately turned around and ran back towards Toriel, whom was still on her knees, reaching her tiny arms as far around Toriel as she could.
"I love you Mom."
Toriel returned the hug tenfold. Neither of them were crying anymore.
"I love you too, Frisk, with all my heart. And that will never change, no matter what."
They broke the embrace, and Toriel took Frisks hands into her own, giving them a gentle pat for reassurance.
"Now, off you go Frisk. We'll be waiting for you when you get back."
Frisk smiled and nodded, and without a word more, she set off, looking back one more time to wave at Toriel, who responded with a wave and a smile of her own, before finally starting down the rocky path.
Just hold on, Asriel. I'm on my way.
To the elevator leading back to Alphys Lab. To the River Ferry.
"To Snowdin."