Quick note to Obitzurama: I gotta say, I love reading your reviews. It's always interesting to see your theories on how things in the story work, and compare them to what I actually have set up. Though I have to admit, you're usually pretty close to the mark on most things, if not spot-on.

You guys have no idea how excited I am for this. The concept of this chapter is the reason Armless Embrace is even a thing. Hope you enjoy!

The usual thing that goes here.

Chara dove to the side, narrowly avoiding Kid's flames before hurling two orbs of red energy at the boy. He stumbled as he tried to dodge them, causing both to crash into his body. Fortunately, he'd been toughened up a lot since they had started sparring, and he only let out a grunt of pain at the impact.

Kid narrowed his eyes at her, and spat out three long gouts of flame. Chara froze, not even daring to breathe.

The blue fire swiftly passed her, then collided with the ground behind. Each flame exploded into smaller, orange fire, chasing her down. She ran, her metal feet pounding into the hard earth beneath her.

But Kid was not done. Even as the orange flames came towards her from behind, he fired three more bolts of blue flame at her. She had to move through the orange magic, but she couldn't move through the blue.

The robot dropped, tucking herself as small as possible and rolled, passing under a bolt of blue. She rose swiftly , already moving before the orange fire could hit her.

She grinned at Kid as the attack faded.

"You're really getting better at this, babe!" Kid let a smile broaden across his muzzle before he widened his stance, bracing himself.

"Thanks! Hey, I've been working on a new attack. You wanna see it?"

"Go for it!" Chara enthused, crouching low and watching Kid's movements carefully.

Kid inhaled deeply, then breathed out, his mouth opening wide.

Stars flew from his open maw, starting small, but quickly growing until each was the size of a basketball. They flew at Chara in a haphazard pattern, each one surrounded in an aura of either blue or orange.

Chara's eyes widened, her attention caught by the stars. Kid had never managed anything more than orange or blue magic, which was more limited than the normal kind. And while each star was surrounded by the weaker magic, the stars themselves...

She was forced out of her thoughts, as the attack came upon her. She moved swiftly, trying to stay close to the orange magic. If she got caught in the blue, she wouldn't be able to evade the attacks.

The haphazard pattern of the stars made it difficult to stay near the orange ones, and she quickly found herself caught in a blue aura. On impulse, she moved herself into the stars path, wincing as the blue flames licked at her.

The star impacted her full on, sending her staggering back. She gave a grunt, and quickly twisted her body to avoid the next star, making an note to avoid trying that again. That star… that had hurt almost as bad as Undyne's spears. In her Undying form.

At last, Kid closed his mouth, and the last of the stars passed Chara by, fading into nothingness not far past her. Kid was panting heavily in the aftermath of his attack, the glow of magic fading from him, leaving him shadowed in the dying light. Chara looked over at him, her eyes shining brightly in the dark.

"That was… incredible." She breathed, taking a few steps towards her boyfriend. "I've never seen you do anything like this before, how did you do that?"

Kid stood straight again, a happy gleam in his eyes and a grin spreading across his muzzle.

"That, was my Special Attack!" he said proudly, though his tone conveyed exhaustion as well as triumph.

Chara's eyes widened and she let out a tiny, involuntary gasp.

"You… have one of those? What… how?"

Kid sat on the ground, shaking his head in an effort to dislodge the sweat now dripping down his face. Chara walked over and sat beside him, awaiting his explanation.

"You know how Monsters have to discharge their magic buildup, right?" Kid asked as he got his breathing slightly more under control.

"Yeah, Monster bodies generate enough magic to sustain your form, and give you enough left over to fight," Chara replied. "Since you generate more than you need, if you don't discharge the build up every couple of days, you overcharge, and lose control of your magic. I don't have that problem, since the magic I use to fight is separate from the magic that helps power my body."

"Exactly! And if someone overcharges, their magic's a lot more powerful… except you can't control it."

"What are you trying to tell me?" Chara asked carefully.

Kid started bouncing excitedly.

"Special attacks are really rare, they're even more rare than soul effects! But they're also uh… kinda dangerous," his grin turned sheepish. "I uh, got a little too close to overcharging a couple weeks ago… and when I went to discharge… that happened." He gave a short laugh. "Good thing no-one else was around!"

"So, wait, you have to be close to overcharging to use it? How's that useful in a fight, when you could lose control of your magic?"

"Well, Monsters can also deliberately try to overcharge themselves! We just don't do it, cause it's only good if you have a Special Attack. While we were sparring, I was building up my energy to the point where I could use it!"

"Is that why when I fought Papyrus a-" Chara paused, just catching herself. "Papyrus, he didn't try to use it until the end? He was building up his energy that whole time?"

Kid nodded vigorously.

"Yeah! It also uh… kinda takes a lot of magic to use. I talked to Undyne about it, and she told me that you're supposed to whittle down an enemy before using a Special Attack, cause if the attack doesn't beat them, you won't have enough magic left over to keep fighting."

"Huh." Chara's brows knitted in concern. "It does sound dangerous. What happens if you overcharge before you get a chance to use your attack?"

Kid's grin turned sheepish.

"Uh, then I'm in trouble," he admitted. "I have to be really careful with it. Undyne says I should only use it to practice, or when I don't have any other choice."

"Watch yourself, alright?" Chara said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want you to end up hurting yourself over this."

"Don't worry Chara!" Kid leaned closer and pressed himself against her. "I promise, I'll be careful. I wouldn't have done it out here if the park wasn't closed off today."

Chara chuckled, returning the hug, then standing. Kid swiftly got to his feet as well.

"Yeah, we've got the whole park all to ourselves. Though I think the skate park is a better place to spar."

"It's not as pretty though," Kid said, looking around the large forested area they stood in, smiling. "It was a good idea to come out here, Chara."

"When do I have any other kind?" Chara grinned, earning a laugh from Kid. "Come on," she continued, looking at the sky which was almost fully dark now. "We should get to that little hill over there, I want a good spot when the stars come out!"

The two walked side-by-side to the top of the hill, and sat down together, staring up at the stars. Chara leaned back, supporting her weight with her arms as she looked up. Kid, not being able to do the same thing, instead leaned against her shoulder, his warm body feeling nice against her smooth metal.

There were only a few stars at first, but they quickly multiplied. Here, in the middle of the city park, they were far away enough from the light pollution that far more of the tiny pinpricks of light were visible than usual.

Stealing a glance at her boyfriend, who seemed transfixed by the sight before him, she made a mental note to take him somewhere with no light but the stars on a night like this, so he could see the wondrous tapestries she remembered from the days before she had fallen into the Underground.

"It's so pretty," Kid whispered, an undercurrent of awe in his tone. Chara smiled softly at him, watching him crane his neck backwards in an effort to keep the entire skyscape in his vision.

"It never gets old, does it?" she murmured, and the yellow-scaled Monster shook his head in silent agreement.

"I can't believe we thought those glowing rocks in the Underground were actual stars," Kid continued. "This is so much better."

They sat in silence together for a while, each content just to be near the other, sharing the view of the glittering masterpiece laid out above them. Chara was certain that Kid was never going to take that sight for granted.

"I can't believe summer's already halfway over," she said finally. "It's only another couple years and then we're done with school."

"I guess so…" Kid mumbled, not lowering his gaze. "I hadn't really thought about it…"

Chara cast her gaze on him, enjoying how the light from her eyes reflected on her boyfriend's scales.

"You haven't?" she questioned. "Don't you have any plans for what you want to do after high school? I've never heard you talking about a job or anything… there must be something you want to do."

The boy shrugged, his soft shirt sliding against her shoulder.

"I don't know… I was kind of planning on being your husband."

If Chara still had a heart, it would have stopped.

As it was, she froze, blinking a couple times before turning her full attention to the teen beside her.

Kid didn't seem to notice her look. He had lowered his gaze from the stars above, and she could see light coming from the other side of his face, signalling he'd turned his visor back on. He frowned slightly and leaned forwards, then his eyes widened.

"Oh crap, is it that late already? Aw man, my parents are going to have my hide!"

He leaned back, turning his head towards Chara and planting a quick kiss on her cheek as she stared dumbly at him.

"I gotta go, I'll see you later Chara!"

He leapt to his feet and immediately began running away, strong legs quickly carrying him down the hill and towards the rest of the city.

Chara stared after him, blinking owlishly. As he ran out of sight, she slowly raised a hand to her cheek and traced the spot where Kid had kissed her, then lowered her hand so she could stare at it for a few more moments before turning her gaze once more to where the boy had disappeared.

Her mind was almost completely blank, but there was one voice in the back of her head that perked up with the rest of her completely out of commision.

Well. I'm in love. Huh.

By the time Chara reached her house, the parts of her brain that were working again had gone into overdrive. What had actually happened there? And how did she really feel about it? The moment of clarity she'd had right after the fact was gone, replaced by confusion and fear as emotions danced inside her, seeming to taunt her by staying just out of reach of her understanding.

Toriel looked up from the couch as Chara walked into the living room, removed her reading glasses and smiled at her daughter.

"How was your date?" Toriel's expression turned to a concerned one as Chara said nothing, slowly making her way over to the couch and settling into it. "Are you alright?"

"I think so…" Chara replied at last. "But… can I talk to you about something?"

Toriel put both her book and glasses to the side, then opened her arms to her daughter in invitation, smiling when Chara scooted in close, leaning slightly against her mother, who wrapped warm arms around her.

"Of course, Chara. I am always here to listen to you, whatever it is."

The mechanical girl sighed in relief, pressing against the Boss Monster as she tried to get her thoughts in some semblance of order. Finally, she said;

"I think Kid's in love with me."

Toriel was silent for a moment, before saying carefully;

"And what makes you think that?"

"Well, he basically proposed to me tonight."

Her mother's body shook slightly as she tried to suppress a giggle, ultimately failing as the sound escaped her furry lips.

"Really?"

"Well, sort of?" Chara groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "I don't really know how to describe it. Like, the way he said it was… natural. It was like," she stopped for a moment, searching for the words. "Like he was just casually stating a fact. The sun rises in the east. Frisk's bad at math. I want to be your husband someday. Like there was no other way it could be."

"And how do you feel about this?" Toriel asked quietly.

"I don't know? I mean… I thought I did, but…" she let out another groan. "I know I've never cared about anyone the same way I do about Kid but… do I really love him? And what about him? I know he sounded genuine when he said that, but what if he only thinks he wants that with me?"

"Chara," Toriel's voice was soothing, and she began running her claws through the girl's hair, quieting her. "You know Kid, and he is one of the most genuine Monsters I know. He'd wear his soul on his sleeve for you… if he had sleeves."

"He still could be wrong about how he feels about me," Chara mumbled. "I don't think he's been in love before either."

"Monsters are not like Humans. We are far more connected to our emotions than they are. Anger gives us more strength, grief and sorrow deplete us more. And we always know what we are feeling. Some Monsters can hide what they feel, but Kid is not one of them. I've seen how he looks at you, Chara. He's been in love with you for some time now."

Chara was quiet, and Toriel continued after a moment.

"Love is an incredibly powerful emotion, Chara. Even more so for Monsters. It is not something to be taken lightly, either. We are not capable of passing it from one person to the next, as I have seen Humans do. If you have Kid's love, you will have it forever. Just as Asgore has always had mine."

Chara looked up in confusion.

"But… you left him!"

"That is because I could not agree with his actions, or his inability to keep his own promises. Just because you love someone, does not mean you agree with everything they do. Your father's actions made it impossible for me to stay with him, and I needed proof that it was worth getting back together with him before we married again. But throughout all that, he has always held my love, which is what made it all the harder."

"And… you think Kid's like that… with me?" Chara asked, her voice small. Toriel gave a little nod in response, and Chara lowered her head to stare blankly into her mother's lap, the red lights in her eyes dimming.

"I guess… that just leaves me, doesn't it?" She was quiet for a moment. "This is scary, Mom. Hah… out of everything… this is scary. I'm still not sure if I really love him… what if I don't? What if he cares about me this much, and I can't do the same? That would hurt him so bad!"

Chara began to cry quietly, and Toriel held her all the tighter.

"Even if I do love him… I'm not a Monster! What if I stop? What if I lose that? I would be damaging one of the most… precious things in my life, and I don't… I don't ever want to do that."

"You may not have a Monster soul," Toriel soothed, beginning to rock gently back and forth, mentally making a note that she needed to buy a rocking chair. "But your body is made in the image of Monsters. Listen to your magic. It knows the answer better than you do."

Toriel began to hum an old, familiar tune, the tune that had sent Chara and Asriel to sleep every night so long ago. Chara quietened quickly after that, wiping away the tears that had formed, and relaxing into her mother's hold.

Toriel brushed the girl's hair out of her eyes and smiled softly at her, giving her a brief squeeze.

"I believe that everything will be alright in the end, child," she whispered. "Your mind is brilliant, but there are other parts of you that I think already know the answer to your questions. You just need to listen to them."

Most of the next day passed by in a blur. Chara helped her father out in the garden, gave Frisk a hand with the summer catch-up work that he inevitably had, and spent some time walking through the park, stopping on the small hill where Kid had oh-so casually turned her world upside down.

"It's funny how, even when you know someone so well, they can still take you by surprise," she whispered to herself, her finger lightly brushing her cheek in memory. Then, she turned and walked back to the Monster district.

She did not head home, however, nor to Kid's house. Instead, it was at Alphys and Undyne's home that she stopped at, knocking on the door and awaiting a response.

It was not long before the door opened, revealing a casually dressed Undyne holding Alexander, who stared wide-eyed at Chara, his limbs moving slowly, and seemingly at random.

"Chara!" Undyne exclaimed in surprise. "You're here early? Usually Alphy has to get me to drag you out here for your check-ups!"

Chara shrugged.

"Might as well get it over with, right?"

Undyne chuckled, stepping to the side to allow the girl entrance into her house.

"Fair enough. C'mon in, I think you know where Alphys is."

The room Chara stepped into was a large living room with various rugs scattered about the floor in vague organization. A couple of couches occupied one side of the room, while the large piano from Undyne's old home was set up on the other side, next to the stairway.. Directly across from where Chara stood was an elevator that Chara knew lead to the basement of the house.

"The basement?" Chara questioned, already stepping in the direction of the elevator.

"The basement," Undyne confirmed, adjusting her grip on Alexander, who had turned his attention away from Chara and was chewing on the fingers of one of his hands, while the other one attempted to grab at his own foot.

"Tell her to come up after she's done checking your systems, alright? We're supposed to bring Alexander to the beach with Sans and Papyrus later today, and I don't want to have to drag her out of there by her tail again because she needs 'one more minute'."

"Sure." With that, Chara pressed a button, opening the elevator doors, and stepped inside, hitting the button to go down. She still wasn't sure why Alphys had insisted on getting an elevator to go down to the small lab in her basement instead of stairs, and she wasn't about to ask. The explanation would either be needlessly complicated… or there wouldn't be one.

It was a very short trip, and Chara was quickly stepping out of the elevator and into the tight hallway with large metal double-doors at the far end. As she approached, she could hear the tell-tale sounds of Alphys muttering to herself as she worked.

"Hey, Alphys." Chara said, opening the door and stepping inside the messy lab. The reptile jerked in surprise, fumbling with whatever tool she had been working with.

"Oh! H-hey Chara, I wasn't expecting you for another hour or so!"

"Sorry, I just… had some questions for you today. Figured I might as well get this over with at the same time." Chara hesitated for a moment, eyes flicking to the full vials that were bubbling on the counter she had been working at. "I'm uh, not interrupting anything important, right?"

Alphys shook her head, wiping her hands off on her already dirty lab coat.

"N-nothing major… um, just take a seat in that chair over there, and I'll get the scanners."

Alphys hurried over to a large filing cabinet and began rummaging through it, while Chara went over to the far side of the small lab, pulling out a small brown chair from the corner and brushing the discarded papers off of it. She seated herself, and waited quietly for Alphys.

It wasn't long before Alphys scurried towards her, pulling a few different devices out of various pockets. She looked to Chara for moment, and the robot sighed, before pulling off her shirt.

Alphys placed several small machines on her, one on each shoulder, one just under her neck and three around her golden-flower shaped core. Each one clamped onto her with a small jolt before beginning to beep softly.

"Umm, so, what did you want to talk about?" Alphys asked, not looking at Chara and instead directing her attention to the scanner in her hand.

"Can I have children?" Chara asked bluntly, knowing there was no easy way to broach the subject, especially with Alphys, and wanting to get it over with as quickly as possible. Alphys froze, and slowly looked up into Chara's face before replying cautiously.

"W-why do you want to know?"

Chara shrugged.

"It… occurred to me recently that I didn't know. I figured that's something I should be aware of."

Alphys placed the scanner back in a coat pocket and began rubbing her hands together nervously for a few moments, and Chara could all but see the gears turning in her head.

"Yes… and no," was the eventual reply.

Chara just stared at her.

Alphys grew visibly uncomfortable under her gaze, her scales beginning to shine with sweat before she caved.

"I-it depends on a few things," she reluctantly explained. "Um, you couldn't have children with a Human, I, um, don't know how to replicate H-human reproductive process, and even if I could it would probably be, um… messy. But, you know how Monsters have children, right?"

Chara nodded slowly.

"Yeah, basically the same process, but it's their magic that combines to make a new Monster."

"Right! Um, the magic that helps power your body… isn't capable of anything like that, it only works on the most basic level. But since you have your own magic… theoretically, that would allow you to have kids with a Monster."

"Theoretically?"

"Well, your magic is different from Monster magic… a-and it stems from a different source. I think it would be compatible, and work the same way ours would, but the only way to find out would be, umm," her cheeks colored and she looked away.

"Practice?"

"Smooth, Alphys," Chara drawled wryly.

"Y-yeah, that sounded kinda bad, didn't it? Um, but when I made your body, I made sure you had the… necessary equipment to have and carry children! Um, that sounded even worse, didn't it?"

Chara stared at Alphys incredulously.

"You did? How did I not know about that?"

Alphys flinched.

"You… did say you didn't ever want to be mistaken for a boy again, right? And I made sure to keep those… closed off until you wanted them? I mean, maybe I went a little overboard on the whole thing, but I was just trying to helpandnowitsoundsreallycreepynowthatIthinkaboutit-"

Chara raised her hands placatingly, and Alphys shut her mouth with a snap and looked sheepishly up at the robot.

"It's fine," Chara assured. "I was just a little surprised, that's all." She let a smile slowly cross her features and she looked away into the distance.

"Only with Monsters, huh? I think I can live with that…"