Saying Goodbye
Papyrus sat under the flowering tree in Toriel's yard. He had been enlisted to cut the grass again, and had decided that he would take a short rest before moving on to the front yard. He had retrieved a notebook from inside, and gnawed a pen for a moment before writing.
He had picked up the habit of writing his thoughts down from you, and while he was not always as diligent about it as you had been, he usually got something written at least once a week. Today had been a quiet day for everybody. It had been a year now, and nobody had really wanted to do much. It was worse on your birthday, but today would be a solemn day for a long time.
He had been scared at first. Your parents had withdrawn into themselves for a long time, avoiding all things that had been connected to you. As far as he knew, your old room still was as it had been left, kept clean by Toriel. He remembered seeing Asgore standing outside the door with his hand raised like he was going to knock.
For about two weeks everybody was looking over their shoulders, half expecting to see you come around a corner or through a door. Undyne had almost jumped out of her skin when she thought she had seen a human who looked like you. She had chased behind them until they turned to say something to their friend, showing a different face. She shook the rest of the day.
He had worried about Sans the most.
He had never been good with handling loss of any kind, prone to sudden violent mood swings. He picked fights with his friends and even with Papyrus, pushing them away when they tried to get close. More than once he had heard the muttered words of anger aimed at himself. Things like "This is why I shouldn't care" and "Happens every time". He had left the apartment that the two of you had shared, asking for help only when it came to going through your clothes and things. Papyrus and Mettaton had helped, though the singer had gone home in a snit after a very explosive argument over...
He couldn't remember anymore what the argument had been about. It was something small that the robot had done and, true to form, Sans had flown off the handle. Papyrus had tried to mediate the fight, trying to appease both sides before both stormed off, leaving the tall skeleton standing alone among the boxes.
They were doing better now, though Sans' moods were still a bit unstable. Papyrus had almost danced for joy the first time that his brother cracked an unintentional joke about a week after your passing, then felt guilt when he saw Sans cover his mouth and look down. He looked shocked and angry at himself, like he had said something horrible.
Papyrus sighed and looked up at the flowers, smiling to himself. They were all healing, slowly, but none of them expected it to be fast. He hoped that you were alright wherever you were, and slowly stood, his hand on the rough bark behind him. He gave the tree a fond pat and went inside, putting the notebook and pen back on the table.
Someday they would stop seeing you out of the corners of their eyes. Someday they would not hear your laugh in the sound of birdsong. Someday they would not imagine you dancing when it rained. Someday they would think of you without pain, and instead only with happiness.
Not today. But someday.
AN: Alright, I guess there was another. Now it is over. I hope that you enjoyed it. If you would like to suggest things to me, I would gladly write things for you. I hope you all have a wonderful day. 3