Chapter 20
Another Chance
Frisk wasn't exactly sure how long she had been asleep. She was able to figure out that it wasn't for very long, however, as she was still laying on the ground, a ways away from the ruins of the building. Hothead, Neptune's Hound and Illusionist were still digging through the rubble, trying to find where Chara was, but it didn't seem like they were having any luck at the moment.
"Any luck yet?" Hothead called to the other two as he picked up the remains of a completely trashed couch and tossed them to the side. Both Neptune's Hound and Illusionist looked at Hothead and shook their heads as they continued looking. Hothead gave an irritated growl and continued looking. "Body's just don't disappear like that. Keep looking. He's gotta be under here somewhere."
Deciding that she would be better off just leaving those three to continue their search, she looked around to see what all of her friends were up to. Sans and Papyrus were standing by a tree, talking amongst themselves. Curious to hear what exactly they were talking about, Frisk listened in as best as she possibly could.
"...It was nothing, Pap. Really." Sans said as he looked up at Papyrus. "I... just had a bit of a bad dream last night, that's all."
"Undyne said that you were acting all weird, and your eye was glowing orange and blue." Papyrus said. "Sans, if there's something wrong, you know you can tell me, right?"
"Yeah... I know..." Sans gave a sigh and looked up in thought. "...You know... I finally came to a decision about you asking if I could teach you to fight like I can." he said as he looked at Papyrus. "I'll teach you how to fight some time after we get home, ok?"
"Really? You will?" Papyrus questioned. "Wowie. You're actually going to teach me... what made you decide that you wanted to teach me how to fight like that?"
"Oh... it was... nothing." Sans said with a shrug, obviously reluctant about giving a straight answer. "I was just thinking while Frisk was fighting Chara, and decided that it would be best if you knew how to fight like me, just in case something like this were to happen again."
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea... but I don't see anything like this happening again any time soon... do you, Sans?"
Sans was silent for the longest time, looking down as if he was trying to think of what he was going to say. Frisk found herself leaning just a little bit closer, waiting for Sans to speak again. She knew it from the first moment of Undyne and her waking up Sans earlier in the morning, but Sans's hesitation to speak now was making it clear to Frisk. Sans obviously knew something that they didn't, and he didn't want any of them to know it.
"Well... not really... but... you just never know." Sans answered after some thought.
Frisk wanted to listen in more on the conversation, see if she could find out what was on Sans's mind, but she decided that they wouldn't like it if they ever found out she was listening in on them, so she instead looked away from them to see if she could find any of her other friends. She looked and saw Alphys and Undyne sitting together on the ground, Undyne quietly wiping down her sword while Alphys nervously twiddled her thumbs, watching as Chara's creations continued to search through the rubble.
"...Y-you know... w-w-we should probably... thank them sometime..." Alphys said as she looked down, knowing that Undyne wasn't going to like the conversation she was bringing up.
"...Who?" Undyne questioned as she looked away from her sword at Alphys.
"Ch... Chara's creations." Alphys said as she looked back at them. "...I mean... Frisk, A-Asgore and his family wouldn't have gotten out i-if it weren't for them... you know?"
Undyne looked back at Hothead, Neptune's Hound and Illusionist for a few seconds before giving a little sigh and getting back to wiping her sword down. "...Maybe." she answered after a few seconds. She clearly wasn't yet over how she was beaten back at Alphys's lab. "...I'm not very good with thank you's."
Alphys gave a nod and looked down and nodded. "Y-yeah... I... guess you aren't, huh?" she said nervously.
Undyne looked at Alphys quietly for a few seconds before giving a sigh and putting her sword away, deciding that she had spent long enough tending to it. "...Speaking of which... I never did properly thank you yet, have I?"
"Th... thank me?" Alphys questioned. "...For... for what?"
"...For saving me back at your lab." Undyne answered. "...As much as I hate to admit it... had you not given Hothead that fake device back there... there's a good chance he would have killed me."
"O-oh... that... y-you know it was nothing, Undyne... as I said, I-I would have done a lot more if I needed to, if it meant saving you."
"I know, Alphys... I know... but that still doesn't change the fact that I owe you for saving my life... and I hate having favors that I don't repay." Undyne put her hand gently on Alphys's shoulder. "If there's anything you want me to do for you, let me know, yes? I'll be more than happy to do it for you, whether or not I owe it to you."
"Th-that's ok, Undyne, r-really... you don't have to do anything for me. I-I'm just happy that we're all alive and still together." Alphys said. There was a few seconds of silence between the two monsters before Alphys sheepishly looked down, a bright crimson blush appearing on her face, her hands starting to get clammy. "...W... well... there... was... something that... I would like to... d-do with you... b-but... it's... not necessarily something you would normally think o-of doing..."
"Oh... really?" Undyne questioned with a raise of her eyebrow and got a little closer to Alphys, which only made Alphys more sheepish, her entire face becoming red with blush. "And what would that be, Alphys?"
Frisk gave a little quiet chuckle there. As much as she would have liked to have listened on to hear what exactly Alphys was about to ask Undyne, she figured that it would be better to let whatever it was be between the two of them. Instead, she turned her head a little further to see Asriel in the hold of both Asgore and Toriel. From the look of how Asriel had his hands over his eyes in the hold, she didn't have to listen in to know that whatever was being talked about there was a very emotional conversation. Nevertheless, she started listening to what was being said between the three.
Asriel was crying, and from what he was saying, Frisk could only assume that Asriel had just told his parents about everything that he had done. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry that I took your souls... I'm sorry that I tried to kill you all... I... I'm sorry that I started all of this." he sobbed. "It's all my fault... if I had just tried to talk Chara out of it, then none of this would have ever happened."
"None of this is your fault, my child." Toriel said gently as she petted Asriel's head to comfort him. "...You don't need to apologize for anything."
"Whatever happened in the past doesn't matter now, my son." Asgore said. "...The only thing that matters now is that you're here... Chara brought you back to us... he brought you home..."
Asriel just silently wept and hugged his mother and father close, as if afraid to let go. Frisk gave a soft smile. It really warmed her heart to see Asriel be back with his family again. It brought her some piece in mind, to think that Asriel, Asgore and Toriel could finally be a family again. Deciding that she had spent enough time just laying down, she slowly began to get up. Her bones and muscles were still sore, but to the very least, any serious physical damage from the confrontation with Chara had been healed.
Asriel was the first to notice Frisk getting up. His crying immediately came to a halt and he gave a little gasp as he saw her stand up. "Frisk!" he called out in surprise as he got out of Asgore and Toriel's hold. He ran to Frisk and hugged her, almost tackling her back to the ground. Frisk just gave a laugh and hugged Asriel back, laughing a little bit from joy of seeing the young Dreemurr again.
Hearing that Frisk was finally up again, everybody ran up to her to make sure she was ok. Asriel gave a little smile and let go of Frisk as Toriel ran to her and hugged her close. "Hey, Mom." Frisk said happily as she hugged her back. "...It's great to be with you again."
"Frisk... you are one tough kid." Undyne said as she gave Frisk a friendly slap on the shoulder, which made Frisk grimace a little bit. "I don't think even I'd be able to take a beating like you took."
Papyrus gave a nod. "You did it, Frisk." he said in his usual cheery attitude. "Of course, there was never a doubt that a friend of I, the Great Papyrus, would be able to defeat him, but still."
"I almost can't believe it after everything that's happened these past couple of days." Asgore said. "Frisk... you did it. You saved everyone... again."
Frisk gave a nod, but then looked down. She wished that she could say that she had saved everyone... but as of right now, she knew that wasn't true. She knew that there was still one person that needed to be saved. Her eyes went back to the ruins of the once tall building and watched on as Hothead, Neptune's Hound and Illusionist continued to search. Chara was in his demon form... he had so much power from his hatred and the other Souls, he should be able to have taken it just fine... but at the same time, he was weakened so much when the building came down...
"...Wh-what's wrong Frisk?" Alphys questioned. "You beat Chara... you saved all of humanity... why do you seem so sad?"
"It's nothing... I..." Frisk shook her head. "It's nothing, really... just thinking of some unfinished business I'll have to finish soon."
"...Speaking of business, my child... there's something we need to discuss." Toriel said with a sigh as she looked at Frisk. "...You see... our house took a lot of damage from what happened when Chara found you in there... a lot of the damages are beyond repair at this point... I... I don't know if the two of us will be able to safely live in that home, given the state of things."
Frisk looked down in thought. "...So... does that mean... we don't have anywhere to go?" she questioned.
"...No, that's not true at all." Asgore said, his eyes lighting up as he took a step forward. "You two don't have to go back to that damaged home if it's not safe, Tori. You and Frisk can come live with me at my house!"
Toriel, Frisk and Asriel all looked at Asgore as he went on, clearly happy about the idea. "My home may not be completely refurbished to be able to accommodate all of us at the moment, but I can easily have that fixed. You, Frisk, Asriel and I can live together, as a... a..."
He trailed off when he saw Toriel look down to the ground. Asgore was unable to see what emotion she had on her face, but seeing her look down immediately reminded Asgore of Toriel's anger to him of what he had done to the other children that had fallen into the Underground a long time ago. "...I mean... if you want to... at least... until you and Frisk can find a... more suitable place to live..." He gave a sigh and looked down and was about to back off, assuming that his offer wasn't going to be taken up.
"...I guessed that this time... would come eventually." Toriel said with a sigh.
"Time? What do you mean?" Asgore questioned.
Toriel was quiet for a few seconds before looking up to Asgore. To his surprise, her eyes weren't filled with hatred or the slightest bit of anger. "...The time... where I would have to forgive you for what you had done." she said.
Asgore, Asriel and Frisk all looked at Toriel with surprised expressions as she went on. "...What you did to those children... cannot be undone... and the consequences of your actions could never be forgotten..." she went on. "...But after everything that's happened now... seeing our children again... having our boy here in our arms now... I just can't stay mad at you anymore..."
"...Tori..." Asgore said softly. This was all feeling like a dream to him. Asriel and Frisk both looked at each other and gave little smiles. They were also happy to see what was happening.
"...I'll accept your offer... Frisk and I will live with you." she said with an agreeing nod. "...If for no other reason... we owe it to our children to give them a full family."
Asgore was completely dumbfounded. He really didn't know what to say about what Toriel had just said. All attention had turned to Frisk, however, when it was seen that she was looking down, tears streaming down her eyes. "Wh... what's wrong, child?" Asgore questioned as he took a knee to look at her, fearing that he may have hurt her with his words somehow. "...Are you not happy with the thought of living with me?"
"N-no... it's not that..." Frisk said through sniffs and snivels. "It's just... I never really had one before..."
"...Never had what?" Asgore questioned. "...A thought of living with me?" He didn't understand what Frisk was trying to tell him.
Frisk looked up at Asgore, and with tears still streaming down her eyes, she gave a happy smile. It was then that Asgore realized that she was crying tears of joy. "...I never had a real father before." she said before she ran to Asgore and hugged him tightly.
Asgore was struck completely silent at Frisk's sudden action. All eyes of Frisk's friends were on her and the King of the Monsters. With his arms shaking, Asgore hugged Frisk close, tears of joy of his own escaping his eyes. "...Child... I don't know... how I could possibly deserve... to be your father..." he said as he tried his best not to burst into tears. "...But I promise you... I'll be the best father that I possibly can be for you..."
All of Frisk's friends smiled at the sight of Frisk and her new father hugging. They embraced each other for a good half a minute or so before they finally let go. Asgore and Toriel both got up and walked to each other, waiting a few seconds before hugging each other close. It had taken so much time, and so many painful events, but Asgore's dream had finally been realized. He was once again reunited with his wife and son, and now even had a new member of the family.
"Wowie... this is... so touching." Papyrus said with a sniffle as he took his scarf and wiped his eyes with it.
"I was wondering when this moment would happen." Sans said with a nod. "...Honestly, it took long enough, I think."
"Just look at him." Undyne said with a smile on her face as she held Alphys close. "...I don't think I've ever seen him so happy before." Alphys just gave a nod and watched on. She was tempted to bring up how she had asked Frisk if she thought Asgore and Toriel would get back together some time, but she kept it to herself.
While their parents hugged, Frisk gave a smile and looked at Asriel. "So... I guess now that makes you my brother, doesn't it?" she questioned.
Asriel gave a little giggle at the thought. "I had always wondered what it would be like to have a sister." he said. "...Thank you, Frisk... none of this would be possible without you."
Noticing what was going on between Frisk and her friends, Hothead and Illusionist stopped momentarily and watched what was going on from the ruins of the building. Hothead gave a little smile and a sniffle as he had tears welling up in his eyes.
Illusionist looked at Hothead and gave a little questioning, silent hum. "What? Me, crying?" Hothead questioned as he wiped his eyes quickly with his hand. "No I'm not. I just got some debris in my eye, that's all."
Neptune's Hound, meanwhile, gave a little irritated growl and a roll of his eyes on the fact that he was getting stuck with continuing to move rubble while Illusionist and Hothead took a break. If he could speak, he would certainly have quite a lot to say about it, but instead, he just kept moving the rubble out, searching for something. His searching came to a halt, however, when he noticed something that was under some rubble that he had just moved.
He wasn't able to see very much of it, as it was buried under a lot of rubble still. What he could see of it, however, was a little hand, covered in debris and slightly bleeding with several cuts and bruises. It clutched on to one of the pieces of debris, as if holding on for dear life. Neptune's Hound stared for a little bit, his eyes widening as he realized that the hand was weakly twitching.
Turning to Illusionist and Hothead, he began to give urgent barks. This got the attention of not just the other two creations, but also from Frisk and all of her friends. All of them watched as Hothead and Illusionist hurried to where Neptune's Hound was standing, and began to swiftly dig up all of the rubble there.
As all of the rubble was clear, the three creations' eyes were met with the sight of Chara laying there, badly damaged. His demon form was now gone, and he now laid there as a child once again. His clothes were torn and soaked in blood, and all parts of his visible flesh were covered in bruises and cuts. His entire body and all of his clothes were covered in dust and debris.
As soon as the rubble on top of him was moved, Chara began to gasp for air and cough furiously, clouds of dust shooting out of his mouth after each cough. He was badly hurt, but he was alive.
"Don't worry, sir. I got ya." Hothead said as he took Chara as gently as he possibly could and lifted him up. Chara tried to scream out in pain, but he couldn't. He just continued to cough and gasp.
Everyone stared in utter disbelief as Hothead carried Chara safely out of the ruins of the fallen building. "Christ Almighty, can nothing kill these kids?" Sans questioned. Between Frisk surviving getting stabbed and blasted in her fight against Chara, and now Chara surviving having a whole building collapse on top of him, he was beginning to think that those two human children could literally survive anything.
"Chara! You're ok!" Asriel exclaimed as he began to run over to Chara.
He didn't get far, however, as Frisk grabbed ahold of his hand and held him back. "...Not yet." Frisk said. "...I still have some business I have to take care of with him." Asriel looked at Frisk with a distraught look on his face. Frisk understood that his brother was in pain, and he wanted to help him, but she had to make sure that the job was finished first. "Trust me... everything is going to be alright." she said as she patted Asriel's shoulder and began to walk towards Hothead.
Seeing Frisk approaching, Hothead put Chara down as gently as he could, trying to get him on his feet. As soon as Hothead let go, however, Chara's legs immediately shook, unable to support his body. He fell to his knees with a grunt of pain, sweat coming down all over him and mixing with some of the blood he had on him. He gave a few more coughs, his lungs trying to get as much of the dust and debris out of them as possible before looking up, his red eyes watching as Frisk now stood before him.
"...Heh... heheheheheheh..." Chara laughed weakly as he looked down. "My, my... how you've turned the tables on me... after getting so much power from the souls and my hatred... I still wasn't able to beat you... heheheheh... I guess I underestimated what you were capable of... Frisk."
Frisk didn't say a word in response. She just kept her gaze firmly on Chara. She felt sorry for him, but at the same time, kept her guard up, just in case he wanted to try something again.
Chara just gave a laugh and shook his head. "...Well... you've come so far... you're almost at the end now... there's just... one last thing... you have to do." he said as he reached into the back of his khaki pants and pulled out a butcher knife. "...I'm too weak to fight against you anymore... too weak... to use this..." With a shaking hand, he gave the knife to Frisk, who reluctantly took it and stared at it as Chara went on. "...You know what you have to do... to put a stop to all this... strike me down... and end my terror forever..."
All of Frisk's friends stared, shocked by what Chara was telling Frisk to do. "...He... he's not serious." Papyrus said as he looked at Sans. "Frisk... Frisk wouldn't do that... right?"
"...We're about to find out." Sans said as he watched on quietly.
Frisk remained quiet as she looked from the knife to Chara, studying all of his features once again, particularly his face. She felt like it had been forever since she saw those rose blushed cheeks and red eyes of Chara's, even though it was only a short time since she had last seen them. "...I'm too dangerous to be kept around... with all of my hatred and my need for revenge... you know that it's the only way." Chara said. "...You said you wanted to save humanity from me... so go ahead... do what you have to do."
Frisk was silent as she looked back at the knife, contemplating what she should say. Memories of her long forgotten Genocide Run had begun to flash in her mind again as she stared at the blade of the knife. "...F... Frisk..." Asriel whispered softly as he watched on.
Frisk looked at the knife for a bit before giving a sigh and holding it to the side before dropping it on the ground. Chara looked up at her, confused as he heard the sound of the knife hitting the ground. "...No." Frisk said with a shake of her head. "...I won't do that, Chara... I'm not going to kill you."
Chara was obviously surprised by what Frisk had just said. He was quiet for a little bit before looking down to the ground, as if thinking of something to say. "...Heh... just when I was starting to give you credit for being stronger than what I thought." he said before looking at her with a smirk. "You once again prove that you're nothing but a coward. You're too weak to finish the job, and you know it."
Frisk didn't say anything in response, which made Chara's smirk fade and he looked down, trying to think of something more to say. It was obvious to Frisk that Chara wanted her to kill him for some reason, but whatever the reason was, Frisk had no intentions on finding out any time soon.
"If you don't kill me... I'll be back." Chara said as he looked up at her again, a pseudo wicked grin across his face. "If you don't kill me here and now, then I'll find all of the souls again... I'll kill you and take your soul, and then finish off what I started! Is that what you want, Frisk? You want me to be able to do that?"
"...You've lied to yourself for long enough." Frisk said with a sigh. What she did next was something that nobody there would have expected her to do. She fell to her knees like Chara, and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.
Chara's grin immediately faded and his eyes widened as he was suddenly being hugged by the girl he had been trying to kill all day. His body went warm and everything felt numb... he had felt this feeling before... a long time ago...
"...Y... you..." Chara started to say, but didn't finish the thought. Instead, he closed his eyes and frowned, trying his best to pretend that he wasn't feeling something from Frisk's sudden act of care. "...What are you doing?" he questioned. "...Do you really think that this is going to change anything...? Because it... it won't..."
"You're not going to lie to me... not this time." Frisk said with a shake of her head as she didn't let go of Chara.
"...I never thought you'd be so stupid." Chara said with a sigh. "...You can't honestly expect to stop me by hugging me, do you? I'm never going to stop unless you finish me off."
He waited for a few seconds for Frisk to let go and finish the job, but she didn't budge an inch. "...Fine then... if you're not going to do what you have to... then I'll just take this moment to kill you and take your soul now!" His eyes glowed red, and red knives of energy appeared in the air behind Frisk, pointing straight at her.
"No! Leave her alone!" Undyne yelled as she grabbed her sword and was about to charge in, only to have Sans grab her hand and stop her.
"Leave Frisk be, Undyne." he said as he watched on. "...She's got this."
"But... she..." Undyne looked back as the knives in the air pointed at Frisk, threatening to come down on her once Chara gave the command.
Chara gave a growl as he looked at the knives. "You know what will happen if you don't kill me." he said. "...If you leave me alive, I'm going to kill you here and now!"
"...No... you won't." Frisk answered with a shake of her head, still not letting go of Chara. "...You can say you will all you want... but I know you won't kill me."
Chara looked down and gave another growl. "You've never been more wrong in all of your life, Frisk... allow me to prove it to you." he said as his eyes glowed red once again. "DIE!" On cue, the knives began to hurdle towards Frisk. Frisk could sense the knives coming, but didn't make a single reaction. She just held on to Chara, having no fear of his incoming attack.
Chara watched as the knives were coming down, Frisk making no reactions whatsoever. He gave a growl, and at the last second, just before the knives hit her, he had them stop just inches away from Frisk's back.
All of her friends stared at amazement as Chara's attack came to a stop. "H... how did she stop that attack like that?" Alphys questioned. "She didn't e-even do anything..."
"...She didn't... Chara did." Asriel answered as he watched on. "...You can do it, Frisk...I believe in you..."
Chara gave a growl and closed his eyes as he was trying to bring the blades down unto Frisk, but he couldn't do it. His chest began to hurt and his heart began to race as he tried to force himself to kill her. Tears began to stream down his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to do it. "...Wh... why..." he asked, his voice starting to break. "...Why... can't I... do it...?"
"...Because you don't want to hurt me." Frisk said as she held the boy tighter. "...You didn't take several chances to kill me during our fight... you're not taking your chance to kill me now... because you care about me... you care about what happens to me."
"No... I don't... I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING." Chara lied. "I AM A DEMON OF VENGEANCE! I EXIST NOW FOR NOTHING BUT THE DEATH OF THE HUMANS! I AM... I AM..."
"No... you are Chara Dreemurr." Frisk said. "...You love your mother and your father, and your brother... you care for all of the Monsters you've grown to love... you care for me..." She gave a smile as she went on. "...And I care about you too, Chara."
Chara didn't say anything in response. He no longer tried to force the knives down unto Frisk. Instead, he just knelt there, in her hold, tears rolling down his rosy cheeks as the truth of what Frisk was saying was finally starting to set in. All of Frisk's friends and Chara's 3 creations watched on, some unable to think of how to feel, while others smiled as they knew Frisk was getting somewhere.
"...Why... why can't you just... let me take your soul?" Chara questioned as he began to quiver in her hold. "...Don't you remember what the humans did to me? To our families... to you...? They won't accept you... they'll hurt you... they'll try to kill you... just like they did with my brother..."
"...What the humans did to Asriel... and what our parents did to us... were both inexcusable... but not all people on the earth are like that. There are some people who want to make the world a better place, despite all of the people like our parents." Frisk said as she gave a little sigh. "Chara... being a good person isn't about being a monster, or being a human... it's about being willing to be the few people who can change the world, regardless of what others say or do."
"...I... I can't accept that..." Chara said with a shake of his head. "...I can't... let them hurt any of you again... I can't... let them..." He went silent for a few seconds before shaking his head, his breath becoming hitched as he began to speak again. "N... no... that's... that's not the only reason... that's not... why I'm doing this..."
"I know." Frisk answered as she released him from her embrace as she looked at him in the eyes. "...You want to live again... you want to be with your mother, father and brother... and not have to worry about anyone hurting you again."
Chara gave a nod, and his lips began to quiver as he was trying not to cry. As he did, the knives that remained suspended in the air suddenly began to crack with a loud noise, which caused the flinching of everyone there except for Frisk and Chara.
"...I gave my life... to try to free all of the monsters... not just to potentially start a new war with the humans... they did so many nice things for me... took me in... loved me like I was one of them... I... I wanted to help them... just like they helped me." Chara said, pouring his heart out like the tears that came down his eyes. "I gave my life so that they could be free... and my brother died because of it..."
He looked up at Frisk, his entire body shaking in sadness and regret. "...I've been trapped by myself for so long... with nobody to help me... nobody to be there for me... with only my hatred and desire for revenge keeping me alive... I... I wanted your soul... so I could have another chance... to be with my family again... to not... have to live on just my hatred alone... I..."
Chara looked down again. The knives that remained in the air cracked again. "I... I don't care about revenge anymore... I don't want to kill all of the humans anymore... I don't care if I have the power of the souls or not... I... I just want to live again... I want to be with my brother... my parents... eat butterscotch cinnamon pie... and just... pretend that my death never happened..."
Frisk looked back as she heard the knives crack more. They were now completely cracked, ripe for breaking apart. "I... just want to live... I just... want to live..." Chara whispered silently. "I... I..."
It was at that moment where Chara's eyes were finally opened to the truth. He was filled with regret as the memories came flooding back of all of the monsters he killed and all of the people he had hurt in the past. At that very moment, the red knives shattered and dispersed into nothing, leaving not a trace as they disappeared.
All eyes were on Chara as the knives disappeared. Almost nobody dared to say a word as they waited to see what the child would do next. "...Did... did she..." Asgore started. Nobody was able to answer him yet.
"...Chara..." Frisk said gently as she put her hand on the boy's shoulder. She could feel it now. The hatred that infested his soul was now gone.
Chara looked up at Frisk and looked deep into those caring, friendly eyes that looked at him. His eyes were different now; the anger and vengeful fire in them was now extinguished, showing only pain and horror of the realization of all that he had done.
He tried to not cry, but he could no longer hold in his emotions. He began to cry and hugged Frisk tight, burying his face into her shoulder. Frisk was silent, but gave a smile as she held him close, letting him release all of his pent up emotions.
"I'm sorry, Frisk." Chara sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry."
"It's ok, Chara." Frisk said gently. "Everything's going to be ok... we're safe now."
Seeing what had just happened, Asriel, Asgore and Toriel walked over to the two of them. "...Chara..." Toriel said softly.
Chara looked up at his family with those same hurt, tearful eyes. Frisk released him from her hold, and he immediately fell to his hands and knees before his family. "Mom, Dad, Asriel... I'm sorry... sorry for everything." he said. "Please forgive me. If I could go back and undo all of it..."
There was silence among everyone for around a minute. After that minute, Chara gave a little smile and closed his eyes, as his breath began to slow down and his body began to go numb. "...It's happening..." he said as his body slowly began to become transparent.
"M-my child. What is this?" Toriel asked in shock. "What's happening to you?"
"...My hatred was the only thing that kept me alive." Chara answered. His soul became visible in his chest as his body continued to fade. The soul of Chara was merely a few fragments here and there, obviously whatever wasn't devoured by his hatred. "...When Asriel died... I was supposed to die with him... but the hatred I held for the ones that killed my brother held my soul together... now that I no longer have it keeping what's left of my soul in one piece..."
"No... Chara, you can't." Asgore said. "You can't die here... you just can't..."
"Sorry, Dad... there's nothing I can do about it now..." Chara said with a little chuckle. "...I know I don't deserve it at all... but... thank you... all three of you... for being here with me... before I fade away."
"Chara... please don't go." Asriel said. "...Please..."
"...Thank you... for never giving up on me... Asriel... no matter what happens to me... I'll always love you... all of you..." Chara whispered as his breathing was becoming more faint and his eyes closed. His body was almost completely faded.
"...How many times are you going to make plans just for me to put a stop to?" Frisk joked as she watched as the other Human Souls came from the rubble. As all of them formed in a circle around Chara, all of them took on the form of the people that Frisk had seen in her battle against Chara. Their bodies were misty and glowed the same color as their respective souls.
"By Jove..." Asgore said in shock of seeing all of the children there, right in front of his eyes. Aside from their misty bodies, all of them looked exactly like they had when Asgore had last seen them.
"...You really are one heck of a kid, ain't ya?" York asked as he tipped his hat. "Hats off to you, partner."
"I was actually getting a bit nervous when you took that knife." Grace admitted. "For a second there, I wondered if you might actually have done it."
"I told you she wouldn't have done it. Frisk is too nice to do something like that." Lila said with a giggle.
Frisk gave a nod and smiled. "I couldn't have done it without all of you." she said before looking back at Chara. "...If you don't mind... I think we have one last thing we have to do before this is all over."
"Well then... let's do it." Orlando said with a nod. All of them held their hands out, and their souls slowly floated off of their hands and circled gently around Chara. As they did, each soul began to gently heal Chara's soul, each soul giving their healing in certain forms. From Lila, green bandages, from Orlando, green thumbs ups, from Brianna, green eighth notes, from Paul, green positive words, from Grace, green eggs, from York, green four-leaf clovers, and from Frisk, green hearts.
Slowly as the souls continued to heal it, Chara's soul began to reform completely once again, and his body began to become opaque. It took around 30 seconds to fully heal him, but at the time they were finished, Chara's soul was fully restored, and his body no longer was fading away.
Once the healing process was complete, the souls all returned to their bodies. The sun shined brightly on the the other 6 as they all looked at Frisk. "...You did good, Frisk... you did real good." Brianna said with a nod.
Paul gave a hum. "...I'm afraid we are required to leave now." he said. "...I guess we'll be seeing you some other time... farewell, Frisk... and try not to need us again anytime soon."
Frisk gave a laugh and nodded. "I'll try." she said. All of the souls gave nods and closed their eyes as their misty bodies faded away, leaving their heart shaped souls, which slowly floated higher and higher into the sky. They kept going higher and higher, seemingly into the light of the sun until they were impossible for anyone on the ground to see.
"...H... huh?" Chara questioned weakly as he opened his eyes and saw that he wasn't fading away anymore. "...I... I don't understand." he said. "...My hatred is gone now... there's nothing more holding my soul together."
"Nah. There is." Frisk said with a smile. "The other Human Souls and I gave you hope and love to keep your soul together... I'm sure that they'll work much better than hatred."
"F... Frisk..." Chara looked down at the ground. He was happy to be alive still, but at the same time, he felt so guilty. "...Why did you do that? You know I don't deserve a second chance... not after everything I've done."
Frisk gave a hum and walked over to Chara and helped him up. "...A few friends of mine once told me that it isn't about whether you deserve it or not." she said. "...Besides... you gave your life away to try and free all of the monsters... I myself think you deserve another shot at life."
Chara said nothing in response and just kept his eyes down. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to what Frisk just said.
"...How about I introduce you to some of the others?" Frisk asked with a smile as she began to walk Chara over to where the rest of her friends watched. "I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you... now that you're not trying to kill me, at least."