Chapter 1

"Humans and monsters can get along!"

Chara's body all but froze its ascent as they recognized the voice behind them. "Asriel?" their voice called out, shaky. Chara's mind spun in a whirlwind of questions and emotions- elation, anger, melancholy, confusion, relief. But all too abruptly, their heart settled on shame and Chara suddenly couldn't face their brother. "I…" Their throat tightened as they remembered the moments leading up to their death, remembered the fighting their combined consciousnesses had during their last moments: the anger and confusion Chara held then as they were beaten and Asriel holding them back with all their might, the searing pain they both felt as the attacks landed but still, Asriel cried out in their soul not to fight back. Then, when all was over and they were dying, the sadness they both felt in knowing that this was the end, that they spent their final moments not trying to save Monsters, but fighting like in the legends of old.

As so, Chara couldn't bear to look at their brother as they sat on the bed of flowers. They opened their mouth, but no words passed through the thick lump of emotions in their throat. After a couple attempts, they just closed it.

A few heavy moments passed between them before soft footsteps sounded, and Chara flinched when they stopped a foot behind them. Did Asriel hate them? Would he berate Chara's actions? Would their brother—

"Hey, remember when we used to play around here?" Asriel's voice was peaceful as he sat down next to his adoptive sibling.

Chara was taken aback. It took him a couple moments to register what Asriel had said. "W-what?" The human finally turned around and sure enough, Asriel was peering at him with those large, green, innocent eyes. He still looked like his eleven-year-old self, except for what looked to be cuts and dust on his green-and-yellow jumper. In addition, the end of his left ear was clipped off and looked to be dabbed in dust. Right, one of the villager's swords lopped off part of our ear, Chara recalled darkly.

Asriel repeated himself, bringing Chara back to the present. "I asked if you remembered playing here. Don't tell me being dead affected your hearing; too much dirt in your ears?" Asriel lightly teased, giggling at the deadpan face Chara gave him. Instead of responding, Chara rolled their reddish-brown eyes and turned to look at their surroundings:

It was Home. Well, that's what the city was called when they were alive. Now it looked like run-down ruins and dilapidated buildings, ghosts of their former selves. A twinge of sadness filled the human as they recalled their time in the underground metropolis: playing with monster children of all shapes and sizes, laughing freely and forgetting the pain they experienced on the surface during years past. Currently, the two were on the outskirts of Home, on a balcony that overlooked the old city, their old house visible in the center of it all. Chara and Asriel would come here sometimes after playing in a nearby park and just look out. Chara would make a joke about how "everything they could see would be ruled by King Asriel" and they'd laugh as Asriel would grow flustered, stammering about how that was a long ways off.

Chara's smile fell as they remembered how that future would never come to be. "Sorry," they said suddenly to the goat next to them.

"Huh? For what?" Asriel seemed shocked at the abrupt apology.

"For what?" So many things flew through Chara's head at once that they let out an exasperated, "For everything!" The words continued to flow from their mouth. "It's my fault you're dead! If I was thinking clearly back then, I could have separated our souls so only I died, and then you would still be alive and…"

"Chara!" Asriel cut in loudly, effectively stopping his older sibling's ramblings. "It's okay, Chara. I forgive you."

"You… forgive…?" Chara could scarcely believe his own ears. After everything that had happened, Asriel still forgave them?

Asriel nodded. "I understand why you did what you did: with our plan, you were trying to free the Monsters from the Underground. And the reason you wanted to attack those humans on the surface is because you didn't want me to die. But they were scared too, Chara, and that's why they attacked us. So, in the end, even though you want my forgiveness, I think no one is really 'at fault,' and instead I should be thanking you for trying to protect me!" The monster finished with a huge grin on their face.

"No one's… at fault…" All Chara could do was echo their brother's words, dumbfounded at his kindness and forgiving nature, even in death. Chara then couldn't help but chuckle, shaking their head. Here they were, ready to accept Asriel's anger, thinking that was nothing short of what they deserved, and the goat was giving him a big, goofy grin as if they had just shared some silly joke. Chara turned back to the scenery, unable to keep the smile off their face too – Asriel's good mood was contagious. "You always were a giant softy."

"What?" Asriel scowled. "That's because you were always- wait." Asriel couldn't believe their eyes. "Are… are you crying?"

Chara quickly swerved their face away from the monster's stare. "N-no I'm not!" Though they vehemently denied it, their voice had cracked halfway through.

"You totally are!" Asriel got up and tried to walk around to see.

Chara got up soon after and turned, keeping their face out of sight. "I just said I'm not! Don't say s-stupid things!" Could you blame them though? The amount of relief that washed through Chara's body was overwhelming. It was the weight of his own brother's death, the guilt his soul had felt even past death, the fear of rejection from the sibling he held dear – with their brother's forgiveness, they finally felt free.

When they finally calmed down, the fourteen-year-old turned back to Asriel, all smiles. "Thanks."

Asriel feigned innocence, grinning cheekily. "For what? Not calling you a crybaby?"

"Oh, that's it! You're gonna get it now!" The two laughed as they ran around the small area overlooking the ruins of Home. The red leaves underneath Chara crunched as they bolted from the buttercup flower patch, running up and down the balcony's length. Finally, Chara grinned wickedly as they cornered Asriel. "You're in for the noogie of a lifetime!" They pounced.

"Wait, Chara! Don't!" Asriel cried, suddenly alarmed.

Chara's outstretched arms reached for their brother's torso, but instead they fell right through and slammed into the stone barrier of the balcony. Before they could even registered what had happened, the balcony's railing gave into the heavy impact, and Chara scrambled backwards just fast enough to watch the weakened stone break off and topple down to the cityscape below. Their heart raced a mile a minute upon realizing that they too could have easily tumbled over the side with it. But, but how could that be? They were trying to grab onto their brother, but then they passed through? What?

Chara finally turned to find their brother's head hanging low, pointedly avoiding their questioning gaze. The goat's voice came out quiet and apologetic. "Um, Chara? T-there's something we need to talk about…"