Kris took me by the hand and started leading everyone back out of the Dark World. I felt a strong urge to apologize to Kris every twenty or so steps, and though he didn't ever get annoyed, he did tell me not to feel sorry after each of my apologies. I heard Noelle giggle after each instance, and I'm sure Susie was rolling her eyes to go with.

A lot of the other Darkners seemed happy to see us and came up to say hello or just give us a smile. Kris told them that we were sort of in a hurry, and though disappointed, they seemed to understand and let us head on. Noelle made a comment on how it was like we were famous heroes here, and that got all three of us to laugh.

"That's because we are," Susie said.

"W-wait, what?"

"I think we'll let Ralsei explain that one," Susie smiled to me.

Noelle turned to face me and had a curious expression on her face.

"W-well, um… basically there's a legend spoken in this land of three heroes that would come together and help save the world in its time of destruction. I believe that Susie and Kris are the two heroes from the Light World, and I'm the one from the Dark World."

"...Okay. And I'm guessing you've already done some things if this is the kind of treatment you're getting."

"We helped overthrow the chaotic king that used to control the lands. And we helped control the balance of both worlds, at least until it gets thrown off again."

"That's great and all, but you're telling me all that happened in a few hours? Or have you snuck off here some other times, Susie?"

"My guess is that time works a little different in both worlds, which is a bad sign of how long we've been separated. The Sun nor the Moon shine here anymore, either. I wish that our worlds would rejoin; the two halves wouldn't have so many problems that way."

"This is all a lot to take in, you know," she said. And here I thought she was totally with what we were saying, so I chuckled a little to that answer.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"Kris! Control your boyfriend, he's saying sorry to me now too!"

Everyone laughed at that, though Kris did come to tell me to stop apologizing for everything.

Before we knew it, we were at the Card Castle. This was where we took a short break; Lancer seemed too excited to see Susie to let us go just yet. Noelle appeared to be quite confused by his behavior and probably had no idea how he managed to be the new king, but we all assured her that this was how he normally was and just about anything would be better than the old king.

We talked and we laughed and then we talked some more. Lancer told us about how the Dark World was coming along, and specifically made mention that nothing seemed to be going wrong. Susie offered to let him come to the Light World, but he surprisingly rejected it, saying that he had too much to do and didn't want to put it off on anyone else. It was kind of good to see that shift in Lancer, further reinforcing my notion that he was a good king. I did tell him that maybe he should try to find someone he can trust like Susie or Kris that he could leave his duties to and come to the Light World every once in a while. He said he'd been trying, but no one seemed as great as either of them. Kris didn't really have much to say, I think he wanted to get back as soon as possible.

"Good seeing you, Lancer," Susie said.

"It was um… nice to meet you…" Noelle managed to say.

"Keep up the good work!" I smiled.

"We'll come back and visit again, I promise," Kris said.

"Bye friends!" he shouted after us.

After arriving back in the Light World, Kris told Susie and Noelle they could go enjoy the Festival, if it were still going on. He wanted to talk to me alone for a minute and would be right behind after he was done.

"Yeah, sure. You two do whatever you need to do," Susie said, turning to leave.

"See you back at the Festival!" Noelle said cheerfully.

Kris waited a moment, almost as if making sure they were totally gone, then turned to me.

"...Ralsei," he spoke, "what caused all of that?"

"Um…"

"Please, tell me. If something's bothering you, I want to help you."

"...It wasn't just one thing," I said.

"I never said it had to be. Just please, start from where it began."

"O-okay… Well, I think the first instance was when Asriel appeared to visit. Nothing had happened, but… his presence sort of worried me. And then, um… and then…" I trailed off.

"Ralsei…? You look like you're about to cry again. Listen, it'll be okay-we can deal with this together."

"...Asriel tugged at my arm that one time, and kept me in our room, and he started asking me a few questions about you, or maybe it was more about him than you, but I got them all wrong and he made me feel like I wasn't good enough for you… He told me to go apologize for it."

"So he was involved in this…" Kris put his head down.

"W-what?"

"I had a suspicion Asriel did something then. Did he say something about how he was the 'best brother' or whatever?"

"Yes! He did do that, actually."

Kris laughed, "He was the best brother. Did anything else happen after that?"

"Um… well, Berdly called both of us losers when I went to go get the pies… and I could've sworn I heard Monster Kid say that I stole you from him."

"Don't worry about Berdly, nobody likes that arrogant attitude. It's best just to not pay attention to him. As for Monster Kid, that sort of surprises me. But you say you only thought?"

"Yeah… when I said that I didn't he said that he asked how I was enjoying the Festival. He got really confused."

Kris gave a short laugh, "I'm guessing when Asriel went up and repeated that bit about 'best brother' that's when it all went south?"

I nodded.

"Well then, I think I need to have a word with him."

"Oh, please don't be too hard on him, he just wants to protect you and-"

"If that's what he wants, he's going about it all wrong. You can protect me just fine; your magic is just as potent as his, maybe better."

"But…"

"And he's not going to protect me by breaking my shield."

"...Okay. Just don't do anything violent."

To my surprise, when we got back to the Festival the town erupted in a cheer for a moment. Toriel and Asgore came to give us both a hug, and Asriel trudged behind. Susie and Noelle also came forward, and so did Alphys and Catty and Bratty and a few others I didn't know. The mayor herself also approached us, welcoming us back.

"I'm sorry, we could not entirely stop the festivities-most of everyone else already has said their dreams for the new year," Toriel said.

"But the magic show certainly couldn't go on without the best judge!" Asgore exclaimed.

"The rest of us have to tell the town our dreams first, Asgore," Toriel sighed, "you may go whenever you feel ready, Kris."

I got a feeling that Kris ignored most of what was just said, because he was focused entirely on Asriel and was staring him down viciously.

"Before we get to that… Asriel! This is your fault!" Kris shouted.

"What? Me?!" Asriel pretended to be confused.

"Don't play dumb! You know what you did-you said all those nasty things to Ralsei and made him feel inadequate! Then you continued to make him feel more uncomfortable until he eventually broke!"

"I did nothing of the sort!" Asriel yelled back.

"Yes you did, Ralsei told me everything-he'd never lie to me!"

"And I'm telling you I didn't, I'd never lie to my little bro and you know it!"

"Hold on, hold on!" Toriel yelled. "Kris, or Ralsei, what is it that Asriel did?"

"Remember when you asked us to taste-test the pies?" Kris asked, Toriel nodded. "Well, neither Asriel or Ralsei followed after me, and Asriel said it'd be a moment before they got down. During that moment, Asriel gave a mock quiz to Ralsei that was entirely designed to hurt him!"

Toriel gasped, the entire rest of the town seemed to join in.

"Asriel, is this true?" Toriel asked.

"Of course not! What good what it do me?"

"Is that the truth, son?" Asgore asked.

"Are you all seriously taking his side?! Fine then, we'll prove who's right in the magic contest! And when I win you'll stop blaming me for stuff I didn't do!"

Asriel stormed off to right before the lake, clearly ready to start the competition.

Toriel laughed for a moment. "He always acts this way when he's guilty but doesn't want to admit it. I believe you, Kris, and Ralsei."

"Seems he still hasn't fully grown up yet…" Asgore sighed.

"...I have no idea what just happened, but… it would seem that this matter will only resolve with the contest, so if we may please begin it now and get back to your dreams later…?" the mayor said.

"Oh yes, of course. Go right ahead, Mrs. Mayor," Toriel answered.

"Um, so I have to participate and beat Asriel, right? Is that how he wants this to go?" I asked Kris.

"Yeah, I guess so. Sorry you have to do this."

"Oh, it's okay. I kind of wanted to participate anyways, but can I ask how it works?"

"Well, it's divided into three rounds. Round one is a magic display, each participant gets one minute to show off whatever talents they feel they should, and points are awarded based on how flashy it was and how technical it was, stuff like that. Competitors are allowed and are encouraged to watch the others-they might learn strategies for the next round. The top eight of round one move on to round two, which is a battle between randomly selected pairs. You lose when you yield, but all forms of magic are allowed-your healing abilities could be great there. And finally, round three is a final show off between the four that moved on from round two. It follows a similar grading scale that round one did, but much more harsh on the technical scale because now they expect you to really show off what you can do," Kris explained.

"So basically it's a display, then a battle, then another display. Okay, got it."

"Because I can't use magic of my own, I get to be one of the judges. The mayor obviously is a judge, and usually the priest and principal are the other two judges."

"All I ask is that you don't be biased to me, okay? I want to win fairly."

"That's why I love you," Kris gave me a hug.

After a few minutes more, Kris was called over by the other judges and the first contestant was signalled to go.

I watched carefully, but most of the competition didn't seem to be too fierce. It seemed to be more fun for them than an actual competition, and how I wished I could be right there with them. After each contestant was done, the judges held up a number ranging one to ten and the total was how much they scored-many of them barely got above twenty.

That was, until Asriel went up. He used many flashy attacks, but none of them seemed to be too technically advanced. For instance, he waved his arm to the side and then a few stars appeared in the distance in the shape of how he waved his arm. Or maybe he'd summon a small ball that would burst into color upon release from the palms of his hands. Overall, I had to give him credit, he had to have practiced a lot because there was definitely a pattern to his casts and it showed. Unfortunately for me though, a lot of what he did seemed to be only flashy magic-nothing that would do any good in battle. I barely learned anything from watching him.

His score was an impressive total of thirty-two.

What I did learn from him though was that I didn't have to be revealing at all. I was last to go, and when it was my turn, I performed a similar strategy, using magic that wouldn't be very effective in battle but still magic that required a decent technical mastery. But I didn't want to directly copy Asriel, so I tried to avoid using stars and flashy colors. Instead, I used fire to light up the area around the lake, like the fireflies would if they were out.

I ended up getting a thirty. I know I heard Asriel laugh for a moment when he saw my score was less than his. But I definitely made it to the next round, having the second highest score out of everyone.

I was in the second pair to battle during round two. I didn't recognize who I was up against, but it was an easy matchup. They scored well in the first round, but a lot of their magic was only flashy-they didn't really practice much for fighting and so when they saw that I could heal myself, they quickly yielded.

Asriel had already gone, and won the battle, of course. This time instead of a scoff, I heard an annoyed grunt come from him. Clearly he was hoping I'd be out by now, but I was just as determined to win as he was.

When the final battle had ended, the judges called for a quick break to let the finalists recover a little energy. Kris came up to congratulate me on getting this far, but warned me that Asriel wasn't going to be pulling any punches.

"Don't worry Kris. I won't be, either," I smiled.

He smiled back for a moment. Then he told me that this round works a little different-no one can watch the others nor can they know the scores until after the final act. I sighed, it was an unfortunately good way of building up some tension.

"May all judges return to their booth and may we have Asriel come up to the lake! All other contestants are to exit the lake area or be disqualified!"

I obviously couldn't risk that. Since I didn't know how far to go, I just followed the other two until they sat down hidden behind the trees and before the road.

It felt like it was forever until it was my turn, though I was the third to go up. Maybe it was because Asriel came back and made the whole atmosphere just feel tense. No words were shared the entire time.

"Ralsei, you're up," Kris told me.

I followed him to the point he wanted me to stand at right before the lake. He took a seat and told me I had a minute to show off any and all techniques I feel I should, focusing on the technical side just as much as the flashy side.

"You may begin whenever you're ready."

I immediately began with a technique I was sure would appeal to the judges. With my hand I made water lift from the lake in a sort of geyser, and I jumped on top of it. For extra measure I made it so my landing would release a few stars along with a bit of a splash of water. I did this three times more until I was directly at the center of the lake, each in quick succession to save on time. After standing in the center for a moment, I released all the water and let myself fall into the water below. I heard the audience gasp at the sudden move-they thought I did something wrong. And that was exactly the effect I wanted. Once submerged I used light magic to create a swirling beam around me that lifted me up, then created a ball of light around myself that stopped my ascent. With the wave of a hand, the light ball shattered around me and burst out toward the edges of the lake, with little glimmers of it floating down like tiny falling stars. I kept myself floating in the air this time, and using the last of my minute, I used my ability to sing coupled with my abilities to summon stars and let the stars light my figure while I sung one of my lullabies.

After all that, the minute ended and I was asked to go back to the outskirts. The audience applauded and cheered loudly, but they had done that for every act so far so it didn't tell me much. I looked to Kris, who only wore a look of seriousness on his face. I couldn't tell if he just didn't want to smile and give away how good I did, or if I did really poorly and he was disappointed.

Eventually we were all called back, and told to stand equidistant apart from each in front of the lake.

"A marvelous show tonight-one of the best in years. Each of you should be incredibly proud of what you've done," the mayor congratulated, "but of course, there can only be one winner. The competition was extremely fierce this year-and second and first place were only separated by one point."

All four of us leaned forward in anticipation.

"Without further ado, in fourth place with thirty-three points, we have Sans!"

"Meh, I'm not one for this kind of stuff usually," he said.

"In third place, with thirty-six points, we have Alphys!"

"W-well, I tried," she said disappointedly.

"In second place, with thirty-nine points, Asriel!"

"What?! Second?!" he yelled.

The mayor ignored him, "And finally, in first place and making history by being the first contestant to ever recieve a perfect score of forty points, Ralsei!"

The crowd burst into applause-that is, everyone except Asriel.

Kris ran over and tackled me to the ground with a hug.

"I knew you could do it!" he yelled enthusiastically.

"T-thanks Kris, and everyone."

"Now Asriel, I believe you owe an apology to Ralsei. You did lose, after all!"

"I don't think I owe him an apology at all! Why should I? You should be happy with me and nobody else!" Asriel fought back.

"...Asriel," Toriel said, "you were away at college for a time, and Kris grew up without you. You can't and won't be there with him forever, I'm afraid. And I understand your fear as a mother."

"But mom! You're just going to let this happen?!"

"When Kris is with Ralsei, it's the happiest I've ever seen him. At first I was a little hesitant to allow such a thing, but I decided to wear a smile and try it, for Kris. And now I can see that this is how it was meant to be-I advise you to open your eyes just as I did."

"Your mother is right, son. If Kris wants to be with Ralsei, and if Ralsei wants to be with Kris, then nothing can stop that. Not you, not us, nobody. And clearly not the distance of being two worlds apart, if I understand the story correctly," Asgore laughed.

For a moment Asriel only looked to the ground, then up to the stars, then down at Kris.

"...Kris, are you absolutely certain about this?" Asriel asked.

Kris nodded slowly and resolutely.

"Then I suppose… Ralsei, I'm sorry for making you feel like you couldn't have Kris. But I only ask that you do a better job of keeping him than I did, okay?" Asriel smiled, and it was a smile to me. It was almost as bright as Kris', and it was one I wish I got the chance to see more.

"I love Kris with all my heart. I promise that's how it'll stay," I told him.

"...Let's put this fight behind us then," Asriel said.

The crowd began cheering again, happy to see the conflict resolved. The Dream Festival was clearly no place for ill feelings.

"Alright everyone, just a few more dreams to say! Toriel, you may go first," the mayor shouted.

She looked before everyone then calmly spoke, "I dream that this next year will be great for the youth of the village. I dream that they all will grow up to be as good as Asriel did or even better."

"Asgore, your turn," the mayor said.

"I only dream that I can repent for my past and maybe better my relations with the rest of the town," he said while looking to Toriel. She rolled her eyes.

"Ralsei can go first," Kris said.

"Um… I dream that I will love Kris even more this coming year!" I managed to get out.

Kris took my hand, "and I dream that Ralsei and I will be happy together forever!"

After speaking his dream, he turned to face me and suddenly gave me a kiss on the mouth. It was my first kiss and I wasn't ready for it, so I'm sure it felt awful for Kris but for me it felt entirely amazing.

With that, the crowd burst into another cheer.

"Alright everyone, the night is still young! Enjoy yourselves for as long as you want!" the mayor exclaimed.

Now the Dream Festival finally felt fun. I don't regret anything that happened tonight, because it all led to that one perfect moment just then.

Author's Note:

They finally did it!

Cheers to spatz for noticing my error in calling the mayor a "he," it's been a while since I've played and totally forgot about that detail. I went back and fixed the instances I noticed, though I probably missed more because frankly I wanted to get to writing this. Also, on the note of Toriel being against Kris and Ralsei being a thing, I totally forgot about that too. While yes I can kind of see her being like that, I think her "I want my kids to be happy" would override it and I tried to convey that in this chapter.

Honestly, living with a homophobic father makes me want none of it for anyone else, and that's one reason why I very specifically choose to portray Kris as a male. Love wins, it's a theme in so many stories (including this one) and it ought to be a theme in the real world just as much I think.

Unfortunately this probably is the end of my rapid-fire upload streak though, I honestly don't exactly know where I want to go from here. There's a chance, a very tiny and minuscule chance, that this might actually be where I choose to end this story altogether. Whatever the case may be however, I thank all my readers and reviewers and followers, and I certainly will be writing more romance sooner or later!