Waterfall

Sans was waiting for Frisk at the telescope, though she had no idea how he managed to appear so quickly. He was appalled at the sight of her: soaked to the skin, covered in scratches and bruises, her clothing disintegrating. Crying.

"…pal.. what happened to you? did somebody do this to you!?" he said in disbelief.

"Please. Take me to Toriel. The Ruins. Please…"

Sans saw that Frisk was trembling. She looked so small and thin without her plush woollen sweater. He took off his fleece-lined jacket and wrapped it around her tiny frame.

"c'mon kid.." he encouraged her, taking her hand and leading her through the Waterfall trail towards Snowdin. As they got closer, the air grew chilly and the child started to shiver violently. Sans was cold too, without his jacket. He had to hurry. He didn't think humans could withstand the cold as well as skeletons.

"buddy, c'mere. ..you're slowing down, but we gotta speed up, see? cos i'm worried about you now. i've never seen you this bad, not even when i broke up you and papyrus.."

Sans lifted Frisk and carried her in his arms. He did something he almost never did: he started to run.

"kid, you weigh nearly nothing… maybe if you live with us a bit longer, you might become a skeleton yourself."

The human said nothing, but hugged him gratefully.

Sans sprinted all the way to the ruins. If it hadn't been in the dead of night, he might have tried knocking on a few doors to see if the Snowdin villagers could help. He thumped Toriel's door as hard as he could until he heard a voice answer from inside.

"Who are you? It's after midnight!" came Toriel's voice. She sounded angry and sleepy all at once.

"this is an emergency!" called Sans. "the human's in trouble.. so open up!"

Toriel burst through the doors in her nightgown. She squinted into the dark, and then her eyes went wide and her hands went to her mouth. She pulled them both into her home and out of the cold, closing the door firmly behind her. She rushed Sans into her living room, still carrying Frisk, and lit the fire. Sans laid Frisk on the rug in front of the fireplace.

Toriel felt Frisk's face and hands, and checked her breathing and pulse. "Get her out of those wet things", she commanded, "If we don't warm her up, she will catch hypothermia." She rushed to the kitchen and Sans heard the clank of a kettle being filled.

"…buddy.. snap out of it… hey. don't sleep. you gotta get outta these wet clothes.."

But the human seemed barely conscious. Her eyes weren't focusing and she hardly moved. Sans unwrapped his blue jacket from Frisk. Underneath, she was wearing a dark top that seemed to be coming apart all by itself, the rags held together poorly with safety pins. Her arms were covered in scratches and bruises. Sans pulled the sodden fragments of fabric away. With a squelchy noise, he pulled off one boot, then the other, letting the water trickle onto Toriel's floor.

"…. kid. you're gonna have to take it from here. y'see, socks are… ah.. it wouldn't be proper. i don't even like touching my own socks after i've worn 'em, sounds strange, right?"

No reply from Frisk. Sans realized he'd have to do it himself.

Already deeply uncomfortable, Sans started to peel off one of Frisk's purple socks, using the very tips of his bony fingers. He couldn't do it. Socks were such an intimate article of clothing.

It was at that moment that Toriel came in with a mug of tea and a fluffy towel. She saw Sans' bashfulness and handed him the towel. Sans wrapped the towel around Frisk. He tried not to look as Toriel calmly removed the child's soaking underwear.

Sans held Frisk gently to sit her up, while Toriel held the mug of hot tea to her lips and coaxed her to drink. After a few sips, she seemed to revive.

"…Mom.."

"My child.. you're awake! Keep drinking. That tea will restore your health and warm your body."

Frisk obediently drained the mug, then held out her tiny hands to Toriel. They nuzzled noses.

"Sans? Are you here too?" asked Frisk.

"..right here, kid." said Sans from her shoulder, still holding her upright.

When Frisk was strong enough to stand, Toriel gave her a bath and treated her wounds. Sans was too shy to help, but he told a funny story to lighten the mood.

Once Frisk was washed and dressed, Toriel tasked him with wrapping the child's torn nail with surgical tape, so it wouldn't catch and bleed. The kind gesture reminded Frisk so much of Chara that she started to sob all over again.

Frisk couldn't bear to sleep alone – she begged Toriel and Sans not to leave her, and they all slept in Toriel's bed, Sans on one side of her and Toriel on the other.

Frisk woke from her fitful sleep. Toriel was making breakfast. Sans was sleeping soundly next to her. Frisk rubbed at her puffy eyes and tried to piece together the events of last night.

I.. killed Chara. I tricked him and murdered him. Sans brought me here.

She burrowed into Sans' bony shoulder, wishing she could hide from the world.

Nobody knew what she'd done. Toriel and Sans treated her as if she were the victim of some terrible attack, not as the perpetrator. They would surely despise her if they knew the truth. Better they didn't know.

Toriel came to shake Sans and Frisk by their shoulders. "Breakfast is ready. Come and eat while it's hot!"

They ate a breakfast of fried snails and roasted bugs on toast. Sans unleashed his best bad puns and made Frisk laugh. Frisk did her best to act as normal. Indeed, her wounds had healed, thanks to Toriel's healing ointment.

After breakfast, Frisk helped clear the table and wash up. She took Toriel and Sans by the hand. "Please talk to me. I have something to tell you."

Toriel and Sans listened patiently.

Frisk explained that she had to leave the Underground for good. She didn't want to, but she had to go. It would be for the best.

She expressed her heartfelt gratitude to Toriel and asked to stay for a few more days until she was strong enough to leave.

"Of course, my child. Stay here until you are ready to leave home. Please.. call me 'Mom' like you used to. I will still be your mother, even when you've gone." said Toriel tearfully.

"I love you, Mom.." Frisk cried. She hugged Toriel and nose-nuzzled her.

"Sans..?"

"don't worry, kid. i did what you asked me. you'll have a good send-off. we're throwing you a farewell party the day after tomorrow."

Later that day, Frisk decided she was strong enough to hunt down Flowey. She emptied the snails out of Toriel's bucket and took a trowel from the rack of gardening tools.

"Are you off to play in the garden, young one?" asked Toriel.

Frisk nodded and smiled, doing her best to look cheerful.

"Have a good time. I have some business to attend to. Call me on your cellphone if you need anything", said Toriel.

"Sure. Thanks Mom!" said Frisk.

After about an hour of poking around the Ruins, Flowey appeared. Frisk held out her arms to him.

"Flowey the flower! My first friend.."

Flowey's expression was skeptical for a moment. You idiot, he seemed to be thinking, I filled you with thorns last time we met, have you forgotten? Then he smiled.

"Howdy! Did you come all this way looking for little old me?" Flowey wiggled his petals appealingly. His eyes fell upon the heart locket around Frisk's neck. He stared in astonishment.

As swift as a striking snake, one of Frisk's hands grasped Flowey around his stem, just below his head. The other hand scooped up the trowel. Flowey writhed and squealed, but Frisk tightened her grip.

Frisk started to dig up Flowey's root with short stabs of the trowel. She levered up his root ball and dumped him in the bucket, then jammed her trowel into the ground beside her, letting it stand there. She sat cross-legged and watched calmly as Flowey hissed and spat. Enraged, he bit the edge of the bucket, but he couldn't get out. A strange feeling of satisfaction came over Frisk at seeing Flowey captive and in her power. She smiled.

This cruel smile of Frisk's seemed to unnerve Flowey even more.

"Stop making that creepy face!" he screamed. He struggled wildly. He thrashed around in the bucket until he was battered and exhausted.

Frisk's eyes widened a little, and her smile deepened. The tables had been turned on her would-be tormentor and she was savoring her victory.

Recognition dawned on both of them at once.

"C-Chara…?" stammered Flowey, who was now nearly insensible with fear.

"Golly, you must be so confused.." said Frisk, cruelly mimicking Flowey's voice.

That's right, she thought. There is some part of Chara lodged within my heart. Frisk would never delight in torturing someone, especially someone defenceless, someone very much weaker than herself. Frisk would show mercy to someone once they were defeated. She'd find something kind to say, and her opponent would lose the will to fight her.

But somehow, the taste of her foe's humiliation was delicious, and she couldn't stop. She reached out her hand towards Flowey. He cringed down into that bucket as far as he could, but he knew he was cornered. Frisk stroked one of his petals softly. It felt incredibly good to violate his personal space and make him feel vulnerable. To crush him further even after he'd been defeated.

With great force of will, she withdrew her hand. She would not lose control of her SOUL again.

"Be good, Flowey. I'm not going to hurt you", she said, trying to reassure him. But the words seemed to twist as she spoke them, and Flowey looked more terrified than ever. Disheartened, she picked up the bucket and the trowel and headed for home.

There, she stashed Flowey in a convenient Box.

Frisk spent the evening with Toriel. First they played a board game. Then Frisk showed Toriel some leaves she'd collected around the Ruins, and enjoyed a lesson in botany.

Sans had gone home, but he'd left Toriel well furnished with knock-knock jokes. He'd also attempted to bake some sort of egg-filled pie, but it was so strange that even Toriel couldn't eat it.

NIGHT

Frisk waited until Toriel had gone to bed before unpacking Flowey. He looked weak and desperate, but he'd managed to compose himself a little.

"How are you, Flowey? I thought I'd check and see if you needed anything." Perhaps Flowey was a little wilted. "Would you like some water?" she asked, holding up her water jug from her bedside table.

"Yes please.." said Flowey politely. It took a lot of fear to make Flowey polite. Frisk poured a trickle of water onto his soil.

"That's better, isn't it? No hard feelings about the 'Friendliness Pellets', right?" said Frisk.

"Ha.. ha.. Of c-course not…"

"You know, Flowey, we got off to a bad start. We should be friends. After all, nobody really understands us.. except each other."

"Ha.. ha.. yeah.. we can be.. friends.."

"The thing you hate the most… what was it..? 'Worthless pity', right? You won't get any of that from me. I know who you are and what you are. Just like me, you're a broken SOUL."

This discussion about his SOUL made Flowey look uncomfortable, but he literally was a captive audience. He had no choice but to agree.

"You've seen all this world has to offer, but you've only seen a fraction of me. I think life is going to be a lot more.. interesting.. from now on, don't you?"

"Oh yes.. interesting.. heh.." Flowey was so nervous, he could barely speak. Frisk felt one-sided conversations with her victim were delightfully empowering, but this one was getting dull.

"You're no fun today. I'll put you back for now" said Frisk. She picked up Flowey and lowered him into the Box. "Goodnight.. Asriel."

Frisk slept badly. Her SOUL had been returned her, but she felt none of its warmth.