Early morning sunlight filtered onto the flowerbed, bathing it in a gentle, life-giving glow. The air was very still, being so far underground that wasn't really surprising; only the large caverns had weather, but that wasn't important. The sounds of footsteps echoed off the crumbling walls and pillars. They filled the empty place like a heartbeat. A lonely heart... so very alone.

"Hello, Toriel." He said from his place among the flowers, unmoving. "Nice day today, huh?"

The footsteps deadened. "Who is there?"

There was a long pause before Flowey spoke again; he didn't want to do this, but he needed to know the truth. "How many fell?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you-"

"From here. How many humans fell down from here." He added quickly, his gaze still unshifted from the high gap above.

There was another long pause, the silence felt almost deafening. "Where are you? I do not like talking to someone I cannot see."

He let out a long sigh. "Come to the flower patch."

The footsteps came light, slow and suspicious. Eventually, he saw her out the corner of his eye; it took all his willpower not to turn away.

"I know you come here every day to take care of the flowers." He said. "This is the only way into the Underground besides..." He trailed off, swallowing against the painful memories surfacing in his mind. "So, if any humans were to fall down... you would be the first to know."

"How do you know these things? Have you been spying on me?" She spoke slowly and calmly, but there was a dangerous edge to her voice.

He really wasn't in the mood for this right now... "We used to know each other, but it was a long time ago."

"I have been around for a very long time." She said, unconvinced. "Perhaps even too long... and in all that time I have never seen a monster who looked anything like you before."

"You wouldn't remember. It's... complicated." He said quickly through gritted teeth, then decided to backtrack before she could interrogate him further. "Did you find any humans who had fallen here?"

"... I would rather not talk about this." Her words were stern and came through tight lips. It was evidence enough in itself.

"So you did know them!"

Her body language became more rigid. "I said that I did not wish to talk about this right now. I think it would be best if you leave."

"How many?"

"Please leave."

"Were they the reason you left the castle? Were they why you locked yourself in the ruins and refuse to let anyone in or out? And why you come to this spot every day? Were you... trying to protect them?"

"The conversation is over."

"Please, just... just talk to me!" He bristled. "Why can't you talk to me?!"

There was silence, then Toriel started to walk away. Agh, why did she have to be so stubborn?!

"Wait!" The footsteps stopped, but Toriel still said nothing. "Did you... did you love them?"

He turned to face her. The posture of her body, though held proper, faltered slightly along with her breath; there was pain in her eyes, just for a moment, then it was gone. She started walking away again and soon vanished beyond the archway.

Distant footsteps echoed to nothing, Flowey's heart may as well have stopped... if he'd had one. He submerged underground and dug in no particular direction, just... just trying to process everything. The evening before had been a shamble, and he was still reeling from it. Soon the dry dirt and rock gave way to cold permafrost, then after a time of mindless digging, the sound of distant crashing water gave him pause. He surfaced to find himself on a cliff edge with a raging river coursing far below. He knew that river well, it'd flowed along its path between Snowdin and Hotland since before he'd even been born; one of the few things unchanged around here, it seemed.

"Hello." Said a voice Flowey had never heard before. "You look sad, is something wrong?"

He turned around, and found a snowman beside him. "Did you say that?" He asked it.

"Yes" It made no visible movements, but there was nowhere else the sound could have come from. "You seem surprised."

He attempted a non-committal shrug. "No, not really. I'm not sure anything can surprise me now."

"Oh." It said. "That's a shame."

A prickle of irritation passed through him. "What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, I just thought it was a shame you know so much already, that you don't think the world can surprise you anymore."

"No, that's not what I meant!" He snapped. "I just mean... I meant... ugh!" He bit his lip and took a moment to reorder his thoughts. "The things I thought I understood... I don't think I understand anymore."

"So something is wrong." The snowman said calmly.

Flowey huffed. "Yeah, okay, something is wrong. Why do you care?"

"I am a snowman and cannot move. When people come to visit me, I listen to their stories, as I have no stories of my own to share."

"You want to know my story?" He said, biting back the red-hot pool of emotion swirling inside him. "Okay, sure. Once upon a time there was a kid who made a stupid mistake and died."

"Oh, that's not a very happy story."

"Oh no, it gets better! One day, the kid gets brought back to life, but without his soul! He hates life so much he tries to KILL himself, but fails, and is too scared to end his existence for good. Being the hopeful IDIOT he is, he thinks he can solve his problems by making everyone ELSE happy instead..."

"He doesn't sound like an idiot to me."

"THEN he found out his dad was a murderer, and his mom replaced him... but even without knowing that, no matter how hard he tried, he COULDN'T LOVE THEM ANYWAY!" He gasped against the torrent of emotion released from his rant. It was strangely relieving, even as tears stung the corners of his eyes. "The end."

There was a long pause. As Flowey calmed down, the silence only became more and more awkward.

"I see." The snowman said finally. "But why does it make you an idiot for trying to make other people happy?"

"Because! I..." He trailed off, he wasn't sure how to answer that.

"It was not the happiness of others which led to you being unhappy." It continued. "You shouldn't judge yourself so harshly for trying to do the right thing."

"No... this was still my fault. If I hadn't died this never would have happened..."

"But you can't change the past." The words rang in his mind like an echo. He could, he could change the past! Just... not far back enough. So close and yet... he scrunched his eyes at the miserable thought. "I don't know why your parents did what they did, perhaps they had good reasons. Whatever they may have been, I think you should keep going down the path you chose. It is much more noble than the one I would have chosen."

It took a while for Flowey to speak again. "How is it you can be so positive when you can't even move?"

"There's no point in sulking when I cannot change the way I am. One day, a traveler will come by, and when they do they will take a piece of me with them, far away so I can experience the world for myself."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You can't be so certain of that."

"I have to have hope, everyone needs hope."

Flowey looked at the snowman for a long time, then let out a defeated sigh. "You're right."

Of all the monsters in the Underground, it took a snowman to put it all into perspective. There was more to the story that he needed to uncover, there were more monsters who's problems needed to be solved, there was still hope. For him, for everyone, there was still hope here. He needed it, they all did, because without hope... there is only despair.

"Thank you, for everything." He said graciously, then pulled himself underground once more.

He closed his eyes and called forth the time-frozen void; his little SAVE star twinkled in the distance. Flowey had forgotten the last time he'd SAVED, he approached slowly and peered into the star's otherworldly light, but it offered no clues. Not that it mattered. With one fell slash he tore the star asunder, it's glittering light fading as it shattered into a million tiny fragments, leaving nothing but darkness. This timeline was done, there was no saving it, he'd messed up too much. He was probably long overdue a RESET anyway.

Time to go back to the beginning. He'd do better this time, but first, there was one little detail he needed clearing up...