He'd gotten through to Chara, a little bit. But who better to get all the way through to the child than the family they clearly still loved? He had to admit, that even the great Papyrus could not provide the comfort and healing with the strength of a mother's love. Well, maybe for Sans he could. But that was different. It was all a matter of family.
Chara's voice drew everyone's attention. "But how? How can you just… forgive what I've done… what THEY'VE done?!"
Undyne stepped forward. "I see where you're coming from. Hearing the stuff Frisk did? It makes me feel like an idiot for falling for their tricks, and makes me feel determined to go back to plan A!" She yelled the last bit, and for some reason, Frisk took a timid little step back away from her.
Perhaps the human had already forgotten that they had their powers back?
"But…" Undyne rubbed her arm, and gave a frustrated hiss. "Even though I don't think I'll ever be able to trust them as much as I did, well… having the guts to come back and fix everything was pretty hardcore. And they turned to the right monster for the job."
He felt tears welling up in his eyes. Sans didn't even look up, he just gave a deep chuckle, and reached out to pat the back of his hand.
Alphys stepped forward. "Y-yeah. S-sometimes, good i-intentions go wr-wrong. B-but real fr-friends are there f-for you. N-no matter wh-what."
The kind, gentle former queen was still rocking the little child, but she had a sad smile for Frisk. "It's all in the past, my children. You're forgiven. No matter what you chose from this point forward."
Asriel broke into new tears at this, and Asgore stepped forward to loom over the child in the former queen's arms. "Chara, you are the hope of all monsters and humans. Stay determined."
Undyne glanced at Frisk, and rolled her eye. "So… I'll be watching you, but… for what it's worth, fixing everything at least a step in the right direction. So we might never be BESTIES anymore, but…"
Frisk nodded, and ran over to hug her leg. Undyne stiffened in barely contained fury for a second, then sighed, and grinned, and petted Frisk's head. "Yeah, sure Punk. We'll keep trying things the Papyrus way, huh?"
They all blurred behind welling tears as he reached out to the side and yanked Sans off of his feet, hugging him close around the waist like a skele-teddy-bear. There was no way Sans could hug back from this angle, so he just hung there and chuckled some more.
Chara stared at them all, and burst into broken sobs, turning to hide against the former queen's shoulder. Asriel came running, and the kindly lady stooped down to hug him in her other arm. Asgore stooped down, and hugged all three of them.
They were still pretty blurry, but there was healing going on, he could tell. He rocked Sans back and forth, resting his cheekbone on the back of his brother's skull.
Chara was trembling when they were finally set down. The child in front of him was broken, and confused, but filled with determination. They turned to Frisk.
"Fine. You win. They all forgive you for what you've done, s-so keep t-toying with them. W-what do I care? I.. I…."
Frisk stepped forward, and hugged the child that looked so much like them. "No. No you stopped it. You showed me that I'd gone too far. But it's okay. You don't have to trust me. I have my determination back, but it's different now. I'm DETERMINED to see what the FUTURE holds for us all. A future with no resets. Papyrus gave me my determination back, but he held it so long, I… I'm just determined to protect my friends. I couldn't reset any more if I wanted to."
Chara choked up, but didn't start crying again. "It's… over? It's finally over?"
"No. It's not. But the resets are. And I'm pretty sure we can still get them back to the surface."
A single tear escape. "Just… take good care of them, this time. Alright?"
The child turned back to their family. "I'm… I'm sorry for what I put you through. You just meant… SO much to me. I…"
They slowly started to fade away, a contented smile on their face. "I love you."
Toriel smiled until they vanished, what was left of the little soul finally being allowed to move on, then she buried her face in her hands. Asgore tried to rub her shoulder, but she pulled away from him, putting distance between them.
Asriel was crying, too. "Come on, Frisk. I can feel what needs to be done. Let's take care of that barrier."
The little boss monster slowly rose, and started to glow. Soon, everything was too bright to see what was going on.
When he opened his eyes again, they were back where they'd been, in a room that was no longer blocked by a barrier. Frisk was lying on their back in front of them, a peaceful smile on their face, and everyone looked like they were struggling to remember something.
He held Sans a little tighter, then set his brother down. The great Papyrus's tears were running down Sans's cheeks, too, but his brother didn't seem to care. His eyes were shining with enough pride to make even the coolest of brothers embarrassed.
He smiled back. Lacking a tissue, he started to use the back of his glove to wipe away his tears, but Sans pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and held it out. "OH… THANKS."
He used that instead, grateful that it smelled and felt clean. Then he mopped his tears from Sans's face, too. If he was not very much mistaken, there were a couple of Sans's own tears mixed in, too.
The others were trying to wake Frisk.
Sans grinned up at him, looking happier than he had in a long time. *heh heh… ya did it, bro.
"NO, BROTHER. WE ALL DID. I ONLY PLAYED A SLIGHTLY LARGER ROLE THAN THE REST OF YOU."
Frisk suddenly sat up straight. "Do you all remember what just happened?"
Frisk really hadn't needed to ask. One look at the king and former queen was enough to know that they just been through something no parents should ever have to go through… and for the second time, too.
His soul ached for them, but he supposed that at least this time, they'd been able to say goodbye.
Frisk turned to him. "Papyrus, should I tell them this time?"
He nodded. "OF COURSE YOU SHOULD! FLOWEY IS VERY CONFUSED AND EMOTIONAL. HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE NEEDS RIGHT NOW."
"I think so, too. Come on, everyone. I think we need to take a walk."
…
sans's pov
…
His bro had always been cool. It was a simple fact of life. But for the first time, everyone in the entire Underground was more aware of how true this simple fact was. A lot of them had been watching Mettaton's show. And the news of the barrier being broken spread ahead of the them like wildfire. Papyrus was getting just as much credit as the human.
The queen was big news, too. It took quite a while to traipse back across the Underground, talking to every single monster on the way, but he wouldn't have shortcutted past this for all the ketchup in the world.
The resets were gone. Gone! They'd made it. At long last, they were going to the surface, and everything was finally out of the kid's hands. Best of all, the kid really and truly looked like important lessons had been taken to heart. They were going to be able to learn to trust eachother, and it's wasn't likely they'd be murdered in their sleep.
He felt giddy, and all the pride being showered on Papyrus was making him feel lightheaded. Maybe EVERYTHING was making him feel lightheaded. They'd need more time, more healing, but everything was gonna be just fine. He could feel it in the depths of his soul, and he captured the feeling, and held it there, because it had been a long, long time since he'd felt that way.
He blinked when the kid led them all back to the door of the ruins, and they walked back through. He glanced over at the lady… at Toriel, but though she seemed to be feeling the same joy as all of them that the barrier was finally down, she was grieving. He felt bad for being so giddy when she must be hurting, so much.
They walked through the ruins; such a lonely place. No wonder she'd been so eager to swap puns at the door with a totally weird stranger.
Finally, they made it to where the kid was taking them. That had been… a long walk. But he still didn't regret it.
Toriel gasped in shock.
Asriel was standing there, smiling down at flowers. He turned, and his eyes widened in shock and horror. "Frisk! I was hoping you might come to say goodbye… but…"
Frisk cut him off. "You can't stay down here by yourself. We can come back to take care of the flowers. They don't care if you change back. You need to be with them."
Asriel started to cry again. "You've heard every objection I have, haven't you?"
Frisk nodded. "I could never convince you to come back to them. So, I brought them to you this time."
"Oh, my child!" Toriel rushed forward and scooped him up into her arms.
"Mom… you don't understand. I can't stay like this. I'm going to turn into a flower soon, and…"
"Hush. Please do not worry, my little one. I will love you no matter what form you are in. We will make this work. Will we not?"
There wasn't much to lean against, so he leaned against Papyrus as they watched the reunion. Frisk was practically bursting with joy. The barrier was down, the resets had been conquered, Chara had moved on, Asriel was going home, in one form or another, and Papyrus had the fame and admiration he'd always wanted and deserved.
With everything he knew, it was hard to believe in the happy ending, but from now on, he was going to take a page out of Papyrus's book. If Frisk's manipulation of the time-stream proved anything, it was that mistrusting everything was a sorry replacement for believing in the potential goodness of the world.
He chuckled as he was yanked off of his feet again, front to, this time, so that he could hug his brother back.
The past was finally in the past where it belonged.
The future stretched before them, ripe with possibilities. The thought was as wonderful as it was disconcerting, but in time, he'd learn to be positive, like his bro. He'd come a long way, already.
Papyrus boinked his forehead lightly against his, and set him down, as they exchanged a heh for NYEH HEH HEH!.
Frisk grinned at at them all, filled with determination. "Alright everyone! Let's go to the surface!"
A/N: So I got delayed again, because I have been playing with a bunch of different endings for this AU, and this chapter needed to start it down a certain path. Thanks again for you patience!
I guest as much: 'Tibia' honest, I wasn't expecting them to show up either. But I felt it was the right call. Thanks for letting me know it worked for you, too! And... while we're close to the end... we're not QUITE there yet. ; )
Thanks for all the reviews and support guys! It's really, really appreciated!