They had to calm down, introduce themselves again, remember the whole situation, but it all happened without any more conflicts. People don't always know how good a fit of laughter can be to lighten the mood and bring people together. At this point, Toriel, with her love for puns and complicity with Sans became almost automatically a sister to Papyrus. For best and for worse. Introducing her to Undyne was slightly more difficult, especially when they had to tell the former queen about the conflict they had earlier. Thankfully, Alphys vouched for her, and when she apologized properly Toriel decided she'd let it go. The whole time, in the background, Papyrus was giving his best shot at getting Sans to stand after the skeleton decided to pretend he was sleeping again.

Alphys gave Frisk back to Toriel who received her with tears of joy and relief and held her close. "I examined her," the scientist informed her. "Y-you were right about the buttercup, the symptoms are clear : her mouth and throat are irritated, and even burned at some places, and her digestive system is still very sensitive, b-but she must have not consumed much, otherwise the damage would have been a lot worse!"

"Can I do something for her?" Toriel asked.

"No, no, you just have to wait, she will get better soon. Her life isn't in danger anymore, you can thank Papyrus for this."

And the skeleton bragged about his culinary talent. Good thing he hadn't tried making spaghetti. Toriel profusely thanked everyone for taking care of Frisk and protecting her, not knowing how she could ever pay them back. "I do have an idea," Sans whispered discreetly. Toriel turned to him.

"Yes?"

"You could stay with us."

Toriel raised her eyebrows, looking slightly surprised, but to be completely honest, she had already thought of this. She looked at Frisk who had fallen asleep in her arms – it was already late night by now – and shook her head. "Nobody can know where we are, frisk and I. Are only home are the ruins."

Everybody was silent. If Toriel stuck to her decision, they wouldn't see her in a long while. Papyrus looked sad. Sans talked again. "Are you sure that's a good idea? Taking care of a baby alone is already daunting, but in the ruins you wouldn't have anyone to help you if something went wrong."

"T-that's true!" Alphys cut in. "Frisk has all her chances of being i-ill again! Or hurting herself! There are no doctors in the ruins. No children her age either. Actually, there isn't anything."

"I'll manage," Toriel assured. "I lived there for so long, I have tricks, habits. And someone has to keep an eye on the entrance, in case other humans fell down."

"That's true, you're right," Sans conceded. "But nothing would keep you from going there to do so. While if you locked yourself up again…"

"Not to mention Snowdin is a wonderful place!" Papyrus added, eyes shining with hope. "People are lovely and they love us! There are many families with children and a school and if you need to go somewhere you can just ride the Riverperson's boat! And if anyone bothers you, I, the GREAT PAPYRUS, and my brother, we'll be there to protect you!"

"It's very nice of you both, thank you Papyrus. But if Frisk is seen and someone tells Asgore about her…"

"Oh, right, about that…" Undyne said, looking slightly awkward. "When it comes to Snowdin monsters, there are no risks; they don't know what a human looks like, trust me. Even less a baby. And the ones that could eventually find out would never hurt a little girl. However, uh…" She clenched her fist and unclenched nervously. "I'll have to tell Asgore myself."

"What?!" Toriel exclaimed, astonished, ready to snap at her. "I thought you were on our side!"

"I'm still head of the Royal Guard!" Undyne protested. "I wouldn't hurt Frisk but I have to intentions of betraying my king! Alphys said she had nothing to worry about anyway, right?"

"R-right," Alphys confirmed. "King Asgore can't hurt her. N-n-not yet, at l-least," she added, looking a little unsure. Toriel send her a dubious look and Alphys scratched her neck. "Maybe I should explain again?"

Toiel nodded. Alphys walked up at her computer screen and set up a group of documents, including a graph and a series of charts full of numbers.

"One could compare the evolution of soul power according to age with the evolution of a natural logarithm," she explained. "The power is infinitely small at birth but grows exponentially for about a year. Then growth slows down with time and evolves in different ways, depending of the type of monster. Uh…" Alphys scratched her neck again. "I-I don't really have enough data on humans to give exact results b-but their souls assuredly follow a similar evolution. All this to say Frisk's soul isn't powerful enough yet to break the barrier, and the king would never hurt a child without a good reason. There is no immediate danger."

Toriel still seemed dubious. "How much time?"

"What?"

"How much time before it is powerful enough?

"I-I-I can't be s-sure b-b-but…" Alphys stopped to take a deep breath and averted her eyes. "Four years? Maybe five. It depends on how old she is exactly."

"That's not enough," Toriel said. "She'll be in danger as soon as she'll be of any use to that… To Asgore."

"It won't happen, Toriel," Sans said, calmly. "People in Snowdin love nothing more than they love their children. In the ruins, you'll be alone, you and Frisk, but if you come live with us, the whole town will support you. We will support you. Isn't that better than hiding for the rest of your lives?"

Toriel silently gave it some thought, weighting the pros and cons, thinking only of what would be best for Frisk. She was scared, both for the little human and for herself. She had spent so many years alone in the ruins, with the Froggits and Whimsuns, watching as time went by, as humans came and left. Going back to a real town like Snowdin. Would people recognize her? If Asgore ever learned she was there, would he come meet her? He had better not. Toriel had decided never to forgive him.

But she was an adult, she could choose to live alone in the ruins. Frisk was going to grow up, she was going to need to meet new people, to learn, to live. Toriel had no right to take that away from her. And the one who would convince her to give up on her child had yet to be born.

"I'll stay," she whispered, and an unexpected smile stretched her lips. She felt her eyes sting. She hadn't realized she was so moved by her new friend's concern. "I'll stay with you if you'll have me."

Papyrus let out a scream of joy and Alphys cheered. Undyne's smile was reaching her ears, ans as for Sans, when she turned to him, he was thanking her from the bottom of his eye sockets. Frisk wiggled in her mother's arms, bothered by the noise. Her little heart was beating like a drum, to the rhythm of her dreams.

When she opened her eyes, the next day, she was still in her mother's arms as she slept on the couch, in the skeleton brothers' living room. Papyrus was already doing something in the kitchen. Sans was probably still in bed.

The sun was rising, somewhere. It was the start of a new day, but more importantly of a new life.

There was a child in the living room. Frisk smiled at them.

And that's the end of Act 1! Thank you for reading so far, peeps, and stay tuned for the second part : Frisk actually living with their newfound family!