The Fallen could never imagine their mother coming to save the child. The others made it that far by themselves - mostly because they never met that wretched flower. Guilt burdened their very blackened SOUL at that moment, and even being ethereal did not completely erase the pain. They oh-so wanted to hug their mother like she was embracing the child right now. They knew they had no right to do so, but the only real mother they had was the Queen.
She was tall and imposing and had a distinct violet robe with a strange symbol marked in white on a blue shield. The friendly goat monster emanated a very welcoming aura, that was nowhere like the treachery Flowey had around them. She hugged the child while checking on them, and when she was confident they were alright, she presented herself:
" I am Toriel, my dear child, Guardian of those Ruins."
The child, apparently mute, answered with a nod, smiling at the motherly goat monster in front of them. They followed the Guardian along walls changing colors from pink to violet, while darkness covered the rest. They went through a double stairway and noticed a bright star they could only see. Approaching it triggered something in the red heart they know now is a SOUL. They were filled with some strange feelings. Surviving the earlier gruesome encounter made them eager to continue walking the way back home. They have not found a word that would describe that feeling.
Toriel thought she should start a friendly conversation, but noticed the child was not really answering. They understood they could not speak and thus went on explaining what the ruins are and practicing puzzle-solving. The child paused, however, took a glance behind him, and saw a child that could have been their twin, except for crimson eyes and a green sweater with yellow stripes. They smiled to them and spoke to the Fallen mentally, without realizing how they could do so:
"Thank you for helping me back then as well."
A pause neither Toriel nor the Fallen could understand, Toriel called up the child to continue their journey through the ruins, leaving the Fallen deep into thought. They sorted out what happened a few moments before, and concluded that child was worth experimenting - or toying with, depending on how they felt like. Yet, they could see them and talk to them, but what was surprising was their ability to soothe their dark SOUL, even by the tiniest bit they ever felt in their death sentence. The First Child decided to follow the Eighth, with the assumption that this one might do them some good - and were disgusted at the thought for a couple of seconds.
Toriel presented the child with a dummy to properly practice fighting monsters. She encouraged them to ACT in a friendly way, as in striking up a friendly conversation. The child nodded and obliged, they tried talking mentally to the dummy but they did not answer since well ... they were a dummy. Having pleased the friendly, the child smiled and happily followed the Guardian to go through a difficult spiky puzzle. Yet at one turn, Toriel spoke to the child:
"I am sorry, my child, I will have you walk by yourself for a moment, I am so sorry
The child was there left alone to proceed now that Toriel went ahead of him, thinking that nothing could harm them as long as they followed her. They were right in doing so, as she was hiding at the end of the long hallway the child had gone past. She emerged from a pillar and spoke:
"I am sorry to have done this, my child, but I needed to know if you could be independent, and trust me."
The child smiled again and went for a hug. Toriel was surprised by this little human, who was unable to speak yet willing to cuddle. She was happy to return the hug, and felt a warmth that she knew was about to disappear, but never showed a thing. Toriel told the child she had to hurry home for some reason, leaving them with a cell phone. She asked the child to wait for them since she had not fully explained how all puzzles worked down here. The child nodded in agreement, and sat down for a moment, glancing over his shoulder to see the Fallen once more.
"Your mother is very nice; I wish she could see you right now."
The First Child jolted at the thought, and more so when the child thought they could hug them. Suddenly, the Fallen was slowly going back to being corporeal, confusing them further. They hissed and pushed the child away, letting them fall on their arse:
"Do not ... ever ... touch me again!"
The child was surprised to be down, being pushed back by a ghost was not something he could understand. The Fallen child was even more shocked at the human's actions. They could bring them back to life with a simple touch and somehow heal their SOUL in the process. They were left in thought once when the child approach them again, motioning for a hug.
"Are you thick-headed? Did I not tell you not to touch me, filthy human?"
" I am sorry, I never meant to upset you, I just wanted to comfort you since you seemed so sad."
That human child could tell how they feel, when the others were simply too scared or wary of the Fallen. They have guided six children to their deaths, and none have ever thought of hugging them. Those humans usually discarded the idea that someone helped them and rather acknowledged they were talking to themselves in a way. That made the First Child almost SOULless until today. Mixed feelings crept over the Fallen child when they thought they could no longer feel a thing.
"Hmph, stupid child, are you not scared of ghosts?"
"Yes you do scare me, but I can't leave someone sad on their own."
"You should be, I could hurt you, or even kill you, without you having a say in it - "
" ... and I cannot hurt a child my age, I never could do that, so they picked on me."
Picked on them? That left the Fallen a bitter taste, recalling their life on the Surface. While nobody dared bully them, their parents did abuse them enough to make them full of hatred. they hated themselves for being powerless, so they inflicted that pain on their peers as if they were taking it on them. When the child hugged them once more with tearful eyes, they did not shun them, but awkwardly returned a hug they thought could never bear for more than seconds.