It was chilly outside, a light breeze ruffled the hair of the small girl who trailed after Toriel slowly, steps tentative and eyes set on the cool concrete. She was scared, but she struggled her hardest to not show it. After all,. expressing fear was the same as expressing weakness: it was intolerable, vile. She shuddered at the thought of being yelled at again for acting out of line, for doing something she was not supposed to do. How she wished to push away those dark thoughts: they seemed like they were plaguing her mind more and more every since she had been awaken by Toriel in the morning. Every little thing fuelled a fire in her mind, one she detested badly. The voices that she had heard many times before - even though right now she was sure they could not be true as no one from her past was around her - were calling her out on just how useless, ugly, stupid, bad she was. How she did not deserve the affection, the new clothes... the food.

"My dear, are you alright?"Toriel's sweet voice shook the petite girl out of her thoughts. She nodded quickly, cheeks flushed a soft shade of pink.

"I am.." her voice was quite weak but the smile she mustered was almost genuine-looking. She was used to acting as if nothing was going on... If only people had known before."Shopping sounds nice."

"Of course it does, child!" Toriel went to gently ruffle her hair with her free paw. With the other, she was holding onto Frisk's little hand. The child had not met the girl a lot before, but they were sure that it would change eventually. They liked how pure - for a human - their guest was. It was hard to find anyone like her. Yes, she had a past, but who didn't?

Everything went swimmingly: they passed neighbours - of the monster kin as the area they lived in was filled mostly with them. Some humans lived around too, but it seemed like they were not out at the very moment. It was a little odd, but not necessarily a good or bad thing.- waved, introduced their new guest who seemed to smile more and more. It was clear that she enjoyed meeting the new faces. Her eyes would lit up like a child's and she would even clap sometimes. For once, her guard was down fully and it was beyond adorable. Asgore trailed after the three, eyes always on the young girl like a protective father's: were she to trip, he would be there to catch her. He always got attached to people very easily, but he could not blame himself this time. This young lady resembled someone he had known many, many years ago..

With a sigh smile, the girl looked up at Toriel. She felt at ease around the goat monster: it was now obvious that she meant no harm. If anything, she just wanted to help. Her gentle, motherly presence did just that. It was so easy to like her. As they reached the shopping mall that was filled to the brim with busy life, the young girl finally relaxed fully. Everything was alright, no one was going to hurt her.

They stepped into the enormous building through the glass doors and she looked away in infantile awe, lips curling into the brightest smile. She was just about to rush over to the large Christmas tree that stood in the middle when her eyes fell on something..someone. A human woman stood in front of it, typing busily into her phone. She looked to be minding her own business, but something was off about her.. She was familiar...and she seemed like a threat.

Everything sped up suddenly: Asgore saw the small girl stumble a bit, and then, she started trembling. Her lithe form was quickly turned into a trembling mass of skin and bones and her eyes were unfocused: she spiralled into a state of utter panic within moments. Toriel just stood there, gasp escaping her as she watched her ex-husband try to snap the tiny girl out of her attack, all his attempts futile so far.

And suddenly, Sans was there, left eye blazing blue. He, too, was panting, his hands a little shaky as he all but pushed Asgore away, taking the small human into his arms."I'm here," he crooned, his face losing its usual wide grin. He looked worried mad, his eyes filled with genuine concern and something else. Strangely, he acted as if he had done this before, and not once. He rocked, the gasping girl lightly in his arms, rubbing her back, nuzzling her neck. He acted as if he was calming a child, voice low and calming.

"She's terrified of humans, or so it seems." he muttered, glancing up at the woman that was staring at them. She seemed a little out of it, too. Of course...

Sans sighed a bit, shaking his head. This time, things were going to be different. He would not let anything get to the small girl he was still holding onto so tight. After all, he had a great advantage this time: he knew what to prepare for all too well.

"We should go." he decided."Let's just ask someone to get her clothes."

The goat-like monsters and a worried Frisk followed him without a word. They were all quite confused, but they dared not to say anything. After all, whatever Sans was doing seemed to work. The small girl had calmed down and slipped into an uneasy sleep, her tiny fingers grasping onto the skeleton's hoodie tight. It was clear that not even in dreamland did she have the intention of letting go.

"Just what have we got ourselves into..." Toriel whispered weakly to herself as she walked, her expression puzzled and so, so sad. She got no answer, just a squeeze on the shoulder by her ex-husband.

How could such a bright day turn so sorrowful?

Only Sans knew the answer...

And it was not pretty.