Authors Note: This one took me less time, but a lot more thinking because I needed to figure out Charas first reaction to Toriel/Asgore. She warmed up to Asriel right away, but I attributed that to "This kid just saved me and isn't being a dick like most people I know." Also I may move this down to a T rating because I realized that this won't have that much swearing/gore and is more angst and such. Thanks again to everyone who fav'd and followed!

Chapter Four

Limbo\\Healing

Asriel is normal, in all the ways that Chara thinks she is not. Perhaps, had she been given the chance she could have been like him...Or not, she can't exactly imagine being quite so cheerful. She just hopes his parents are the same as him. This has been a really strange - and really painful day for her. No need to stack on the stress.

"Wait here kay?" He asks, waiting for her to nod. Rushing off down a long hallway, returning moments later with a woman who...quite honestly looks like she belongs on the cover of a monthly cute animals calender. She and Asriel look so much alike that Chara almost has to do a double take. It still caught her off guard to see that she was goat-like, and furry, but that wasn't what most caught her by surprised.

The horrified look on the womans face was what got her the most. She looked more scared than Chara felt - fair, Chara supposes she is a pretty scary kid. Covered in blood, banged up as she is, she probably looks crazy - crazier than normal.

"Oh!" the woman breathes, kneeling down swiftly to Charas height. Chara congratulates herself on only recoiling a little bit. "Oh dear child, what happened?" Asks the woman, turning Charas head this way and that, examining the gash on her forehead.

"I...fell." Chara answers, knitting her brows in confusion. Was it not obvious? or was this family just fond of obvious questions. "Asriel, please go fetch some bandages and ointment," She says to her son, and then takes Charas small hand in her large paw. "Come with me dear," She says, leading Chara into another room with chairs, sitting her on one of the shorter ones that must have been made specifically for Asriel.

"My name is Toriel," The woman says, smiling now as she tucks a strand of Charas hair behind her ear, away from the wound so she can see it more. Chara nods, then realizes that shes supposed to say something in return. But shes honestly so dumbfounded that this woman is fussing over her so greatly that she hardly even remembers her own name.

"Here!" Asriel calls, dashing into the room like a madman, handing the roll of bandage and suspicious tube of green ointment to Toriel. Chara stares at it as she gets a glob on her finger, ready to smear it into the wound. She pulls her head back slightly, making a face as the smell of mint hits her - she isn't a fan.

"This will help keep the wound clean and free of bacteria," Toriel says softly, this time going slowly as she reaches out to touch Charas forehead. It only stings for a second, before cooling the affected area. Chara sighs, the burning hot pain in her head subsiding a little with the cool blast. She lets Toriel wrap her head without a fuss, frowning only a little when the woman insists on cleaning the dried blood off her face.

After its all said and done Chara isn't sure what to do. Shes fixed up, and shes obviously going to owe these people big time for saving her life. Toriel doesn't seem so bad now, but she has learned in her short life never to trust an adult that smiles this much. But, then again her experience was sort of skewed anyway - which she is aware of.

"Are you feeling better Chara?" Asriel asks. Hes sitting on the edge of the large wooden table, swinging his legs. He fits in so well with this place, the light walls, the cheery paintings and plants. Chara nods, "Thanks," She says, very quietly. Almost afraid to raise her voice too much.

"Mom, Chara is a human." Asriel says, after a few seconds. Chara looks up at him sharply, hadn't he told her not to tell anyone? Or had his parents not been apart of that plan. What if they got angry? Hurt her? Monsters hated humans...right? Toriel certainly looks shocked, "You fell from the top of the mountain?" She asks, voice strained. "Oh my dear child, thats terrible!" And...not what she was expecting.

"Oh dear...I think we may need to have a long talk children."

Theres no way home, shes stuck in some miserable little place called the ruins, and she got to experience something twice as terrifying as falling all in one day; Asgore, the hulking goat-man who Chara was sure would live up to the image of a bloodthirsty monster - and when she found out that he was KING? Yeah, not exactly her finest moment.

Of course they probably just thought her random outburst of tears was from stress, and Chara is willing to let them just believe that. If things are going to go well down here she can't act weak like that anymore.

After being terrified, they explained to her that she would likely never get out - great - and that she was welcome to stay with them while she healed and figured out what to do - double great - at least Asriel was good. They talked a lot that day, and let her share his room when she got too sleepy to stand it anymore.

And when she got up the next day she felt immensely better, her head no longer a throbbing mess and her fear had subsided enough to let her roam the house freely. Of course, she examined each and every exit carefully, if she needed to beat a hasty retreat.

She calmed down enough to talk to the adults of the house, enough that she started to actually - for a fraction of a second - believe that they weren't bad. Right, they all seemed that way at first. And then she spent the rest of her day following Asriel around, but he didn't seem to mind her.

Chara needed a plan of course, she knew that.

But while she waited for that plan to come to her, she decided to capitalize on the fact that for a while she is comfortable, fed, and appropriately taken care of.

Authors Note: This may be my shortest chapter...to be honest I wasn't feeling it when I wrote it, and just left it short. But the next two chapters are extremely long so it kind of makes up for it. Here have some badly written Chara feels I guess? Not at all what I had planned, but works alright I guess. Might do edits on this chapter later...