Frisk continued forward, meeting Snowdrake again. Again. Again. Then the met Doggo for the first time. Again. Again. Again to Snowdrake. Again.

It felt like eons before Sans appeared up ahead. He told Frisk about blue attacks. A few feet later, Ice Cap.

It came closer to Frisk than normal. She swung a fist at it, wishing that it would go away.

It dissolved to dust.

Dead.

Frisk walked off a cliff.

Again.

Snowdrake. Again.

Doggo. Again. Again.

Sans and blue attacks. No again.

Ice Cap. Again. Again.

Forward. Ice Cap alive this time. Much better.

After Ice Cap left, Sans saw the kid let out a huge sigh of relief. She looked just about ready to give up, which he found a tad strange, after all she seemed to be doing so well. He walked up ahead to meet with his brother before the human came by.

The puzzle went by without incident, Paps did show her the way but he wasn't about to crush his cool bro's dreams. He could see her trying to hide a smile when she followed his path perfectly. When the human approached the short skeleton he had to thank her, it was only polite. But then, out of nowhere, he started telling her about his brother's battle body. He couldn't exactly tell why he was sharing this with her, why he wanted to make a connection, but still, he did.

When she left he lingered behind for a moment, thinking to himself. This child seemed different than the others, for more reasons than he could possibly come up with. She had a tired look to her, despite the fact that from what he's seen she hasn't done much but dodge a few attacks and talk to some monsters. He looked at the ground. Maybe he'd treat her to something if she kept being good.

Papyrus was the only thing that could break Frisk out of her haze anymore. Even when Sans was selling her fried snow, she just stared at him blankly, nodding at every price raise.

Junior Jumble. Not important. Keep going.

Dog marriage: again. Again. Solve the Jumble. Maybe Papyrus was right, crosswords seem easier. Again. Again. Again. Again. Again.

'Don't care. Can't stand this. It won't stop, so I just won't go forward.' Frisk didn't even pay heed to the tears running down their face.

'Cold. It's so cold out here. Maybe I can just take a nap, here in the cold. It's nice, even. Numb. Just a nice, long sleep.' Frisk knew she was being irrational, that sleeping in the cold would just cause another again, but she was just so tired.

She could only repeat the same few motions so many times before it got to her. And she was just tired.

Sans stared at the kid as she lied down on the snow. What was she doing? It's freezing out, she should get to Snowdin, sleep at the Inn. Ah geez, kid, what are you doing? The skeleton couldn't help but keep staring. The dog guard couple should be up ahead. She looked about to die. What's wrong? Why was he so concerned anyway?

He tapped his foot in the snow impatiently, waiting to see any changes. She looked like her eyes were drooping closed. If she fell asleep here in the snow, she was sure to die. He wanted to tell her to keep going, she was doing great for what he saw. Why was she all of a sudden so discouraged? So… defeated.

If he was going to be completely honest, for some reason, he felt the same way. Something just wasn't sitting quite right with him. Without a second thought, he stepped away from the shadows and walked behind her.

"heya, kiddo, you doing alright there?" The human nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, and he felt kind of bad. "don't mean to be rude or anything but… you look deader than me and i mean… look at me." She looked at him for a long moment, face sunken and cheeks stained with what he could only assume to be tears. He took off his jacket and handed it to her. "here kid. you need it more than I do."

Frisk took it, sniffling. She gently wrapped it around her shoulders, like a soft, warm, and slightly smelly blanket.

"I don't want to go forward. I-I can't get past them. It just happens again. Over and over, it happens again." Frisk started sobbing in earnest now, hiding her face in the coat so she wouldn't see his disbelief. No one else seemed to realize that things were happening again, and she doubted Sans would believe her. But why not try, when it would go back.

For a split second, Sans felt like he was about to pass out. Did he hear her right? No, he must have imagined things, surely… No… He heard her clearly, there was no doubt about it in his mind now. Just like that all his suspicions were confirmed. In that one moment, that child had just told him the reason for all the unbearable deja vu he'd been enduring.

"you're the cause of all this…" He mumbled more to himself than anything else, trying to make sense of the words. His sockets were devoid of light. At the same time he felt angry, sad and relieved. It was a strange mix of emotions. Although, he couldn't quite pinpoint what caused which. "are you doing it on purpose? is this a game to you? are you just playing with our lives?" He felt like he was probably being a bit harsh, but he had to ask, he just had to. Everyone he loved was at stake.

"I want it to STOP!" Frisk ranted, upset. Her anger lasted for all of two seconds, when she realized that he remembered. "Y-you remember? I'm n-not the only one?" She asked, the hope in her voice almost painful.

He at least knew some of it! She wouldn't have to face it alone!

"Nevermind that, I guess I should tell you a bit more. I don't know very much about it, but this happened even before I fell into the Underground. I thought it was some sort of blessing, I got hit by a truck, then bam! Two minutes earlier and I ran the other direction from the bully.

"But now, I see this as more of a curse. I'm not very good at fighting, and I can't even dodge well. I just die, and die, and die.

"My parents made an enemy of someone powerful. Assassins were sent at me, and I'm not even sure why. I accidentally fell into the Underground while running from one. I die here even more often. At least it doesn't hurt when a monster kills me, just kind of a tug when they pull my soul away. But I can't stay dead.

"I-I guess you just have to tag along as I keep going through stuff again, sorry. You shouldn't have to deal with my failures. But I can't even get past the dog couple ahead. They killed me eight times!"

Remembering her most recent deaths brought the tears back full strength. She curled up, seeming small.

"wow… i'm… um… that's something…" Sans felt at a loss for words. Seeing the human curl up into a tiny ball his soul sunk. He sat down on the snow next to her and exhaled sharply. "i don't exactly remember what happened. i just get this weird sense that things are repeating themselves. like deja vu." He explained.

She didn't make a move to say anything else, just tugging the jacket over herself to hide within it. He rubbed the back of his skull. He was never very good at comforting people. That was Papyrus' thing, he was the happy-go-lucky ball of energy. He was just… His lazy brother who did a bad job of taking care of him. Sans sighed deeply, his eye lights now returned and shifting towards the sniffling child.

"i kind of made a promise to someone that i'd keep ya safe." He chuckled darkly. "guess i've been doing a bad job, huh? sorry 'bout that…"

He lifted his hand only to put it back down over his lap again. But when he saw the human just keep crying, now reduced to sobs he didn't know what else to do. He awkwardly put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her to him in a lousy excuse for a side hug. "i'll try harder from now on. if you want my help that is…" He offered quietly. It seemed to him like it was the only thing he could do.

Lost for words, Frisk simply shifted so she could hug Sans tightly, nodding into his chest. She took deep, shuddering breaths as she attempted to calm down.

"I-I'm So-sorry y-you were brought in-into this. S-sorry." Frisk trailed off into a quiet tangent of sorries, before Finally seeming to calm down. She took one more deep shuddering breaths before settling into Sans, not quite asleep, but not far from it.

The human finally settled down, holding onto Sans tightly. He sat there looking down at her, slightly uncomfortable. He wasn't much of a people person. Sure, he told his jokes, people laughed, the regulars at Grillby's liked him well enough, but he never got too close to anyone but his bro. And now here he was, with a human latched tightly onto him.

After a couple of minutes she seemed to relax completely, her breathing steadying but for the occasional sob that still plagued her.

He closed his eyes. A nap did sound like a wonderful idea…

His eyes shot open. Jacket or no jacket it was still far too cold for her to sleep out here. He looked around in a panic. He couldn't just leave her here. And he didn't want to wake her up either… What was he supposed to do now?

Eye sockets wide he gaped at the sleeping child. He groaned internally.

"just what did i get myself into?" He hugged her tighter to him, wrapping both arms around her. Then he eased the magic of his soul onto her. That ought to keep her warm, at least for now.

The human sighed, content and a light blue rushed to his cheekbones. He frowned realising he was growing fond of the child. Placing a hand on top of her head he pet her gently.

"guess i'll have to wait till you've rested."