All around her was white. Or maybe it was gray. There was no telling if she was in a room or a never ending expanse. She had a interesting perspective in this dream. She was bodiless. There was only air when she looked down.

"How curious." A lilting voice of a child spoke.

She turned around to see a kid standing in front of a little girl around the same age. The girl was curled up and crying. The other kid was the one she saw in the mirror house. They crouched in front of the girl and tilted heir head.

When the girl lifted her tear stained face, she saw that is was her younger self. "W-who are you?"

"My name is unimportant." They reach out and cup her face. "So strange. It's like looking in a mirror."

"Your eyes…. Their red like mine!"

"I suppose they are. I wonder…" One small hand drifted to young Krissa's chest. A faint glow emitted. The child chuckled. "It seems we are different here."

"Your going away!" Krissa gasped once noticing the child's body was fading.

"Because it's time to wake up… my reflection."

Krystal opened her eyes to see her bedspread. The plain white cover blanket dotted with purple flowers stitched into the material. Her eyes blinked a few more times to clear the haze that sleep had cast over them.

What happened last night? The storm…. Sans came to her house. The memory made her sit up quickly. Was he still here? She hoped he….left? Stayed? God, she didn't know. Krissa dragged herself out of bed and looked down at her clothes from yesterday. There was no way he was still here. She changed into a large grey t-shirt that went to the middle of her thighs. Just in case, she slipped on some knee length denim shorts.

She combed her tangles out and put on her new hat that rested beside the pillow she was hugging. Hey, she was a cuddler. Sadly she couldn't sleep without something in her arms. Her preference was anything soft or squishy like a pillow. She kicked off her shoes to let her feet be free before she walks out into her living room.

No skeleton in sight. She sighed, feeling almost disappointed. It's irrational. It wasn't like they were together. She passes the kitchen archway. "mornin'."

"Sweetsexybaritone!" She shouts, putting a palm over her chest and one over her mouth. Sans was standing by the stove, fidgeting with the dials. A pan was over the fire and some mix on the side next to a plate with one pancake already there. "Why….. are you cooking?"

He shrugged and used a measuring cup to pour the batter onto the pan for the new pancake. "i would go home but after looking around, i saw you had a bunch of stuff in the pantry. didn't know when you were gonna wake. wasn't sure how exhausted you'd be when you did."

Why did he care?

She shook her head and opened a cabinet and grabbed a pill bottle when she was sure she wasn't looking. Walking to the bathroom, she fills a small paper cup with water, using it to down the dose. Her issue wasn't bad. It controlled the depressing thoughts that always force their way into her head.

Placing the pill bottle under the sink, she walked back and saw that the pancakes were all done and sans was helping himself to a stack. She tears off a piece from her plate as a sample. She shudders. "Indescribable!"

"hey!" He placed a hand over his chest in mock offence. She laughs and turns on her radio and T.V. She was comforted by the sound of music and voices immediately. "hey. i can't help but notice the lack of photos. aren't humans big on personalization?"

She had forgotten how curious he was. She didn't want to go deeper into her past so she walked to a bookshelf and pulled out a scrapbook. Friends were safe. She sat on the couch where Sans flopped down over the cushions. "I keep some in here. I guess I didn't want anything on the walls. Nail holes are not attractive." Krissa turned to the first pages. There were pictures of her as an eight year old with Dayna.

Her friend was chubbier and her long black hair was a frizzy pink streaked mess. She had her edgy style even at that age. The two were standing there arm in arm in front of a school. Krystal however had her shoulder length hair unevenly cut as if she did it herself and bangs covering her eyes. One can barely make out the reddish brown orbs peeking through the strands. Everything about her screamed SHY. A blue ribbon was tied around her neck just like her choker.

"huh. you and her are such opposites. edgy and blunt versus pastel and quiet." He traced the blue ribbon on her picture, obviously wondering. She turned past a few more elementary photos until she came across one she didn't remember putting there.

She moved to shut it but Sans grabbed her wrist. He gently slid the book into his lap. There, standing in front of two mounds of fresh dirt with twin stone slabs, was her. A girl with her back turned to the camera. It was a pretty day and yet the picture held a sense of sadness. She doesn't remember who took the picture. Very few showed up that day.

Sans' eyelight lifted to look at her face. "how old were you?"

"Almost nine. This house was meant to be mine once I turned eighteen. They left me their house too. It's where I left our photos and anything reminding me of them. Any time I can live there. But the silence this place has is suffocating enough. I don't need another empty house." She curled her legs up to hug them.

"sorry."

"You didn't do anything. I knew my parents for one year. That was the happiest time of my life. I'm thankful for those memories." She reached over and turned the page on her scrap book for him. "High School is when I started making memories again. "Dayna brought me back to reality. Bailey saw me looking in at the shop a year later and gave a part time job. I've been waiting ever since." She leaned back, picking up her remote and flipping on netflix. Sadly the current selections were all oldies for some reason.

"for what?"

"Don't know yet."

Sans bumped her with his shoulder. She felt oddly comforted by it. "do you hate all things red?"

"No. I like red foods. Autumn has pretty leaves and… uh…." She looked to the side. "Why do you ask?"

"found a neat place while exploring the forest. you showed me the ruins-"

"Technically you found me."

"now it's my turn."

He stood up from the couch and held out his gloved hand. She took it, allowing him to pull her up. Her face ignited once he pulled her close. A shortcut. That's all this was. It didn't help her heart though. It was beating so hard, he could probably feel it against his ribs.

She closes her eyes and the floor drops from beneath them. Her feet landed on crinkling grass. When her eyes opened to see that they were standing somewhere in the woods. The sight was extraordinary. All around them were red leaved trees. The color so rich, it looked like there were hundreds of apples. A leaf fell into her hands when she reached out.

The name of the tree came to her after seeing the oval shape if the leaf. The red and deep orange colors were like stains of paint. "Black gum tree. You'll get crimson, orange and even purple leaves growing on this tree during the fall. If it's a Wildfire, then the colors will remain in the start of spring." She scratched her neck sheepishly after speaking.

"nerd."

"Shut up!"

"do you have work today?"

"Bailey gives me time off after a storm. Loud sounds make me jump too easily when i'm rattled-" She glares lightly when his grin grows. "No, that was not a pun simply because I'm talking to a skeleton."

"okay, okay. i'll leaf you alone." Krissa groans, throwing some dirt at him. "awe. did someone rake up on the wrong side of the bed?" She growls and shoves hims by the shoulder. "hey it's rude to shovel people."

"Sans….."

"watcha gonna do pal? ground me? that's pot a bad idea actually, skeletons take dirt naps all the time."

"I'm leaving."

"let me take ya home at least."

Sans ended up staying longer than expected. Looking back at where she was now, crouched in the fresh mud by one of her bushes and getting her hands coated in earth, he snaps his fingers to take his shortcut home.

The house was mostly empty around this time with Asgore running the embassy in the city, Frisk being schooled, Paps at his new job, Alphys working in the new labs, and Toriel was teaching. Undyne was a security guard at the embassy where the labs and monster archives were.

He should be working his hotdog stand in the park today but after the visit, his exhaustion took over.

It was a few hours later when Toriel woke him up. "Sans. I believe we need to talk. Come to the study." She walked to the room that was out off the way from all the others. Sans followed quietly, the serious expression on Tori's face was making him anxious.

Was something wrong with him.

When the door shut behind and the lock clicked, the goat woman held out a book with a page corner turned. He flipped to it and skimmed over the words. Te more he read, the tighter his ribs felt. None of this should be possible.

He decided to voice just that. "this isn't possible for me tori. not for me and paps."

"Sans…"

"no! this is wrong. the book is outdated o-or something!" He frantically swings his arm, throwing the old book. "it isn't possible."

"And how is it not possible? You and Papyrus are monsters just like everyone else." She rose a brow, placing her paws on her hip as her long tail flicked in agitaion behind her.

Sans turned away, lights flickering out in his sockets. A flash of a memory plays in his mind. "it just isn't tor. trust me…. i know."

He leaves the study and his friend alone by taking a shortcut.

Krissa was confused. It was a week after the outing and storm. She hadn't seen Sans around a all. When she goes to their spots in the woods, he never shows. He hasn't dropped in at the shop and when she goes to the manor for tea with Asgore and Toriel, he was always not around.

Every day she would go on her walk to the buttercups (which were now all gone in this weather) or the ruins. She thought she may have missed him or he was in the other location so she mixed up the pattern, still no Sans.

During her alone time at home when she watches T.V or reads a book, she was always expecting him to just pop in at any moment. He was one of the friends she has grown closest to.

At first she thought he was just busy. But one day Frisk told her that he just left when they said they saw her coming. Her chest ached at the realization that he was avoiding her. Had she done something wrong?

She would normally ask her best monster friend Undyne but she was away for some kind of vacation with Alphys since two days ago.

She bit her lip as she scooped up dirt from a back and buried a lily seed inside a pot. Was he leaving her just like her old friends? Her eyes stung and the soil gains a few dark dots where tears fall. Bailey stepped into the greenhouse. Seeing the state of her friend, she knelt down. "Honey?"

Krissa flinched and placed the pot on the shelf while wiping her eyes. "S-sorry. I have a few more…"

"Go home dear. You are in no condition to be working. I doubt tears is a good choice to water plants. Visit Toriel. She's usually a good counselor. I'll drive you."

And she did. Her chest hurts even more just by looking at the familiar building. She shuffles to the front door, raising a hand to knock weakly. She waits while her boss drove off. She didn't say a word when Asgore led her inside, afraid that her voice would crack. She was sat down at the dining table.

She fidgets with the tablecloth. "Hello Krissa!" Toriel called out as she walked into the kitchen. She hummed quietly and nodded her head in response, her fingers still twisting the material this way and that. Asgore set down a cup of tea for each of them before sitting in his large chair.

The monster woman grabbed a half eaten butterscotch pie from the fridge. She smiled kindly towards her. "Would you like a slice?"

"Y-yeah. That would be nice."

"Asgore?"

He lifted his head to his wife. "Yes Tori?"

"Would you like some pie as well?" Toriel asked while gesturing to the pie. He smiles softly and nodded.

"I would never pass up the offer. Your pies are the best treats to have among friends."

Krissa took a sip from the tea. The warm magical drink filled her aching chest and the floodgates opened. She covers her face, curling up as she sobbed.

"My child? Are you alright?" Toriel placed a comforting paw on her back.

Sniffling, she looked up with dull burgundy eyes. "I...I don't know what I did wrong!" She cries as Asgore moved to place his paw on top of her head. The usual gesture she loved so much. "He was so nice and showed me a pretty place and made me pancakes. He kept bad things from going on in my head. He's my anchor." Krissa knew she was babbling. Se blamed the magic food for making her spill.

"He? Who is 'he' child?"

"S-sans...it's been a week and he hasn't spoken to me. He's always gone right when I arrive." Her chest hurts just thinking about it. "I like him but I didn't think it would hurt this much to be ignored. I-I was used to being alone." She rubbed her dripping eyes furiously, trying to stop the flow.

"Ssssh it's alright. It's alright." She spoke softly in her motherly tone. "How about I call Sans and get him over here so you can talk about this. Or you can stay with us for a while." Her paw continues to comfort her.

Krissa closed her eyes, taking a deep shuddering breath. "I think...I need to take a walk. I'll eat the ie later. Sans lives here so…. I don't want him to feel troubled by me being around." She got up, leaving the building.

Her feet carried her into the woods. By a struck of good luck or cruel irony, she found the red leaved trees. More tears fall and she decides to simply cry her heart out into the bark of one of the beautiful masterpieces of nature.

When there weren't any more tears left, she slid down, curling up between the large roots. She hummed to herself. The sound croaking like a rusted door hinge. Her hum manifested into soft words.

"I sense there's something in the wind
That feels like tragedy's at hand
And though I'd like to stand by him
Can't shake this feeling that I have
The worst is just around the bend

And does he notice my feelings for him?
And will he see how much he means to me?
I think it's not to be

Her hand traced the wood, thumbing over the rough bumps and shallow crevices. She changed the tune.

Under a tree at quarter three, I had some hope in me
But life was taken from me, but I did not feel peace
I made a vow within my gown that love will come to me
but then he came and seemingly I had been found

What will become of my dear friend
Where will his actions lead us then?
Although I'd like to join the crowd
In their enthusiastic cloud
Try as I may, it doesn't last

What is this, a painful twist, is this a bitter kiss?
There's so much life left in his eyes, it should not end like this
My dreams were slain, my face was stained with memories of my pain
But peace still came, I'll give him the same, and I will be okay

And will we ever end up together?
No, I think not, it's never to become
For I am not the one"

Her eyes drifted closed. The grass was so comfortable, she didn't want to leave. A final tear escaped her eyes as they shut completely. She barely registered a sky blue butterfly landing on her hand. The bright color in the dark was almost like a glow.

Sans sat at his stand, mind far away from him as was the case for some time now. It was impossible. There was no way he could have one. It went against logic. He and Paps weren't like the others. Every time he saw her, he felt conflicted. He hated it.

Chalking it up to trying to protect a new friend is what he's been doing up till this point. She was always attracting trouble on her own. Krissa was far from being able to defend herself.

He stayed away but that seemed to put him in a bad mood. The ringing of his phone jarred him from his thoughts. He picked it up and held it to the side of his head. "pun hotline." He answered.

"Sans." The normally warm voice of toriel ws icey cold. "Is it true that you have been avoiding Krystal?"

"dunno what you mean tor."

"You know exactly what I mean. The poor child came to the house and she broke down. She told us you haven't spoken to her at all."

"Krissa…. Broke down?"

She sighed on the other end of the phone. "Yes. She took one sip of tea and started to cry."

"...damn it. look, i'm sorry alright? I'm still not sure about all this. trying to get my thoughts straight ya know?"

"I think you should go visit her. She needs to see you. So pull yourself together and talk to her."

"..." He sighs. "fine….after my shift. i'm just...scared tori." He mumbled the last part under his unneeded breath.

"It's okay Sans. She'll forgive you. You don't need to be afraid of this." Her voice was much calmer now.

"bye." He hung up and sighed deeply. How was he going to make up for this mess? Buy her flowers? "tori you have no idea….." He continues his shift until the afternoon. Technically he could have left earlier but he was taking his time to think of what to say.

He packed up his stand before taking a shortcut to Krissa's house. The house was messier than it was when he was here last. He started searching for the human. She wasn't in her room or the kitchen. Not watching T.V in the livingroom. He noticed the trash can having a large amount of tissues. A book on the couch had dots of slightly darker paper, water spots.

His soul contracted at the idea of her crying in this house alone. Since she wasn't here, he checked the ruins next. She wasn't hiding in any of the fallen buildings so he checked the buttercup field. He still didn't see her.

Calling Bailey's number, he took a shortcut to the town to search more. The phone was picked up. "Hello?"

"is krissa at the shop?"

"No. I told her to go to the manor and not come back to work for a while."

"okay, thanks."

"You better make up with her." So many women were threatening him today. He still had one last place to check. He snapped his fingers and dropped into a clearing. The world was shrouded in moonlight. He walked around the many trees.

Something eventually caught his eye. A shocking splash of bright color. He walked towards the speck and found Krystal sleeping. The color he spotted were a few butterflies perching on her hand, hair, and shoulder. The image was serene and peaceful despite the tear stained cheeks she had.

He had no idea how long she's been here so he shooed off the winged insects and lifted her up in his arms. He shortcuts into her living room and brought her to her room. A sense of deja vu ran through his head.

The woman shifted when he laid her down. Her had was gripping his sleeve. "P-please…" She whimpered in her sleep. "I'm...sorry."

And if that didn't make him feel guilty as all hell, the tear that followed sure did. She was shivering from the cold. He looked around and saw a large shirt on the floor. It was a navy blue, plaid, collared shirt. It was male attire. He didn't like it.

He sighs. It's becoming increasingly evident that he liked her. Not because of the new information. He had gotten to know her. Krissa was quiet, patient, kind, and a nerd for flora. She loved the outdoors and didn't take the world and time for granted.

"i'm such a dumbass." I grumbled to himself. He pulled the covers over her with his magic as he positioned her head on the pile of pillows. Just like before, her hands found something to hug. This time it was the colorful stuffed bear he may or may not have used magic to get for her.

Sans walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch. He picked up the scrapbook that was still out on the coffee table. Flipping to the grave picture, he went to the next. There was a large gap in the ages. Skipping to what looked like eighteen years of age from just….she had said nearly nine.

Her hair was longer but her bangs were cut the same as they were now but hiding some of her eyes. It was tied to the side and draped over her shoulder. The next page had a picture of Dayne and Krystal again. Her hair was unevenly cut short. The two teens looked beat up and disheveled. Her hair was cut unwillingly. The rest of the pictures were more high school memories. Her hair had been fixed to look like a short little bob falling just below her ears.

Closing the book, he walked to the bookshelf. Her house was bare when it came to pictures but belongings can say a lot about a person. She had some interesting titles.

Flower meanings

Symbolism

Spirit animals

History of wicca

Animals of Oregon and Washington.

Plants and Purposes.

Herbalism.

Herbal remedies.

Dealing with depression.

Some of them he was expecting. His hand ghosted over the books. Spirit animals? Wicca? Depression? He knew she had some problems with people but not to that extent. He saw a smaller book tucked away.

Legends and Myths of old Ebbott.

Huh. Maybe monsters weren't all forgotten after all. He picked it up and started reading. The war was written in here. Sans was so caught up in reading that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching.

"Sans?" A soft voice croaked behind her.