Epilogue: Chains

Toriel did the best she could, but Sans used both magical and physical attacks on Frisk, so she did end up having to go to the hospital - they chose an integrated one, just to be safe - and they even had Asriel be admitted as well, just in case (he was checked over and pronounced healthy, and was immediately discharged).

The first person that Frisk saw when waking up alone in her section of the room was not her parents, nor even Alphys. No, it was sans. She had opened her eyes after what felt long an incredibly long sleep to find him sitting in one of the chairs, flipping through the joke book he had pilfered from Home. The moment her eyes opened, he looked up, closing the book at once.

Frisk couldn't put a name to how he looked. She wanted to say ashamed, or sorry, but there was more to it than that, and she couldn't place it. Not with so fuzzy a mind after such a long sleep and IV pain medication.

For a moment, they stared at each other, Frisk at first feeling a wave of fear, not at all her usual reaction to seeing sans. But she remembered with a sudden chill the way he had looked the last time she had seen him, and couldn't help it.

sans was smiling again, though it was obviously strained, especially when he saw her reaction. "heya, kiddo," he said carefully.

"Hey," she said softly, her voice still scratchy. She clutched at the thin bedsheet tightly. Her heart raced, her memory not helping matters.

"you're scared of me," he observed. When she bit on her lip, he looked away. "i can understand that. i guess if i were you, i would be afraid of me, too."

A bubble of anger burst within her chest, and she snapped out, "Well, maybe because you practically killed me, sans."

He nodded slowly, the smile flickering a bit. "true. i did. i'm glad i failed, though. probably the first time i've ever been glad of failing."

"Can't say I disagree with you there," she muttered.

There was a pause at that, sans looking down at the book in his hands. After a moment, he said, not looking up, "can you ever forgive me, frisk?"

"Well, let's see. You lied to me about Flowey being Chara. You lied to me about Flowey having a soul. You then killed me and ran away..." She pretended to consider it. "Gee, I dunno, sans, can I?"

He winced. "yeah, i deserved that, for sure," he agreed. "but my only explanation is that i screwed up. it happens."

"Even for you?" she wondered, her voice as cold as Snowdin. "You the infallible sans? The one who knows everything at all times?"

sans shook his head. "i only wish that were true. the fact is, i'm actually kind of shit at that. i think it's obvious by the fact that my actions directly led you to lose your soul, anyway."

For whatever reason, she laughed at that. It was a small laugh, sounding more like a cough, but he knew it for what it was. "Well, at least you have hindsight, don't you?"

"maybe it's all i have," he replied, his smile a little more real now. "not a bad thing. i just have to try to think harder, i guess."

"Or at all?"

sans winced again. "wow, frisk, you're on a tear, aren't you?"

Frisk narrowed her eyes. "You try being killed by someone you love and get back to me on how you feel about them after."

"you'd be surprised," he muttered darkly, confusing her. "i seem to recall being on the wrong end of alphys's fist one time."

"Oh, it was a slap, and don't be such a baby," she sighed. He had never let that go, ever. "And you deserved that, too. Implying that Undyne was a user. Golly, sans, how do you have us around you, still?"

He stared at her, then laughed, a genuine, loud laugh that surprised her. "i dunno," he admitted. "but i'm a damned lucky bastard for it."

She eyed him for a moment. "How did Papyrus take all of this?" she wondered. "Not well?"

"oddly well," he corrected. "he defended me in front of everyone. then, the moment they went to find you, he lectured me for an hour on how to be a proper friend and a decent skeleton." He grinned. "Isn't he amazing? I learned a lot, i have to say."

Frisk laughed softly again, imagining it all too well. "He is amazing. You'd do better if you actually bothered to listen."

"i did listen. it's why i'm here."

Frisk raised her eyebrows. "And why are you here?"

"to beg forgiveness, of course."

"And do my parents know you're here?"

"i'm still alive, aren't i? so obviously not."

She sighed, leaning back in the bed and rolling her eyes. "sans..."

"i'm serious, frisk," he said suddenly, his voice sounding the most serious she'd ever heard it - even moreso than when he had fought her. "i'm here to beg you to forgive me."

"Why does it matter so much to you?" she snapped, angry all of a sudden. "You're the one that tried to kill me. You're the one who said I had to die. You're the one who still fought me when I refused, who still watched my soul be stolen, and did nothing. Clearly I mean little to you. You had me fooled. So why do you care so much?"

sans had stayed quiet the whole time, growing more and more hunched over the longer she spoke. By the time she was done, his head was in his hands. "you asked me once," he said now, his voice barely above a whisper. "if i was in love with your mother."

She stared at him. "Are you kidding me?" she cried. "You're only here to make good with my mother?!"

His head jerked up, looking shocked. "no! of course not! i want to make it up to her, yes, and i imagine i'll spend my whole life doing so, but..."

"But?" she pressed sharply, when he wouldn't continue.

"i'm here to apologise, frisk. do you think, someday, you'll ever be able to forgive me?" he answered, his eyes searching hers, looking almost desperate.

Frisk glared at him, wishing she could yell that she would always hate him, that she wished he were dead, that she wished he would disappear. But they would be lies; the truth was that she didn't want sans out of her life. She loved sans, he was like a beloved older brother to her - better, because he was independent of parents, and had the tendency to try and corrupt her. She had shared so much with him, laughed so much with him, even cried. She couldn't just discard him. But she couldn't completely just forgive him, either. She still felt that fear of him, and though she fought against it, it persisted. She wondered if she would ever be able to fully trust him again.

"I..." she said softly, looking down at her hands. "sans, I really, really want to forgive you. But... I'm going to need some time, okay?"

sans nodded slowly. He did look disappointed, but he also seemed to understand. "that's much more than i expected, frisk. hell, it's phenomenally more than i likely deserve. so i'll take it."

he stood up and held out his left hand to her. (She once asked him why he used his left hand, instead of the traditional right, and he admitted that he knew she was left-handed, and had wanted it to be easier for her.) "i'm truly, truly sorry, frisk," he said the moment she took it with her own. "i look forward to the day that you forgive me. until then, i'll keep trying."

Frisk bit her lip, squeezing his hand, the bony fingers cold and sharp, but familiar. "Thank you, sans."

He let go and nodded. With a slow wink, he turned and walked back towards the other side of the room, where another person rested. Once he reached the curtain, he vanished. She leaned back and shut her eyes, her hand to her chest, over her racing heart.

She looked forward to it, too.

As they waited for Frisk to wake up, Asriel told his parents everything. The three were alone in the waiting room - Undyne and Alphys had gone home for now, planning to return first thing in the morning to see Frisk, as by now it was very late into the night. Asriel held his head in his hands, his eyes shut, as his parents, flanking him, listened. By the time he had finished, he was ashamed again, deeply afraid of their reaction.

So when Toriel hugged him to her side, and Asgore placed a hand atop his head, he opened his eyes and stared, first at her, then at him. "Why...? Why are you being so... nice to me?" he wondered, bewildered, especially when Toriel smiled at him through her tears. "I've... done unspeakable things..."

"Yes," Asgore agreed, his voice thick. "And you spend eight long years atoning for it."

"It's not enough," he snapped, frustrated and not knowing why. "I was a coward, a liar. Conniving and vindictive. Eight years is nothing."

"Are you sorry, Asriel?" Toriel said, her voice carefully calm.

His face fell instantly, and he looked down at his feet. "Yes," he whispered. "So much."

"Then we don't care," she concluded, her voice a little sharp. "Asriel, my dear," she hugged him again, and he rested his head on her shoulder, unable to help it. "You have no idea how miraculous this is for us."

"Golly, I'll say," Asgore agreed, brushing away his tears and smiling. "I thought it was supposed to be Frisk's special day, but then we get the biggest, best present of all."

Toriel and Asriel stared at him, wearing identical expressions of dismay. "Gorey, ugh," Toriel said, wrinkling her nose. "That was much too corny."

"Then I'm cornbread," he replied cheerfully. "It's how I feel."

Asriel smiled at him, but Toriel sighed. "Well, your sentiment is correct, if your syntax is not." She placed a hand to Asriel's cheek and pulled his face up to look closer at him. "It's almost like a dream," she admitted. "The sweetest dream that I've ever had - because both of my babies are safe, despite all odds."

Asriel stared at her, still confused, but the way she looked at him, the way she kept smiling at him and searching his eyes, it made him feel... better. Somehow, he felt as if... this was almost normal.

"Me too," he admitted softly, and Toriel gently rubbed his cheek. Asgore squeezed Asriel's hand, nodding. "Mom, Dad, I'm... I... can I..." he hesitated. "Can I... come home?"

Asgore and Toriel exchanged glances of disbelief. "Asriel, why would you even ask that?" Asgore wondered. "Of course you can!"

"I wish you had, sooner," Toriel admitted. "I'm sad we missed so many years."

"Are you the- oh, of course you are!" They looked up and saw Frisk's doctor standing close to them, wearing a cautious smile. Immediately, Asgore stood up, though for whatever reason, Asriel shrank back closer to Toriel, averting his gaze. He was too afraid of the judgement from others at the sight of him, but he needn't of worried. "Your daughter, Frisk?" When Asgore nodded, the doctor went on, looking at his notes. "She's awake, now. We checked her vitals, and she's doing fine. The magical damage should be gone by tomorrow night at the latest, but the physical damage will linger for much longer. She will scar, but not badly, and we should probably keep her here for a day or two, just to be safe."

"Can we... see her?" Asriel spoke up softly.

The doctor smiled. "She's been asking for all of you, practically nagging the nurses to get you. I decided to go in their place. It would be doing us a favour if you visited for a bit, but I don't recommend staying the whole night; she needs more rest. Does an hour sound good?"

When the three of them nodded, the doctor said, "Follow me, then, please."

Asgore immediately did so, but Asriel hesitated, and as a result, so did Toriel. "Asriel," she said gently, looking closely into his face. She still couldn't believe she was able to do so. She had thought she was dreaming, until she picked up one of the waiting room magazines and read it. When she could understand it, she knew for sure she was awake.

"Mom," Asriel was saying, his eyes searching hers, now. He looked scared. "Do you think... Frisk is angry with me?"

Toriel smiled kindly. "Of course not. I think she's going to finally be happy, truly happy, now."

Asriel bit down on his lip, hard, but he still sniffled a bit. "Should I... come with you?" he wondered, and when she nodded, he swallowed. "Okay."

Together, they stood, following Asgore at a slower pace, Toriel's arm around her son's shoulders.

"Papa-Gorey!" Frisk exclaimed, sitting up to reach for him and wincing a bit, but still he hugged her close, and she hugged back, grinning so wide it hurt. "Papa, I'm so glad to see you..."

Asgore held her closer, shutting his eyes. He couldn't speak, too choked up. He hated how small and sick she looked, but he could also see real happiness within her eyes. "I'm glad to see you too, Frisk," he murmured finally. When he felt Toriel's hand on his shoulder, he drew back reluctantly, in order to give her his place.

Toriel also hugged Frisk tightly, and Frisk tried to hug just as hard, but found she was still too tired for it. "Mama-Tori..." she whispered.

"My dear child," she answered softly. "You've truly outdone yourself, today."

"Well... it is my birthday. Might as well make it memorable."

Toriel smiled, giving Frisk a gentle pet of her hair briefly before she backed away, allowing room for Asriel - who looked ready to sob.

"Asriel," Frisk said, her smile bright, her eyes wavering at the sight of him. She held out her arms, and he immediately fell into them, clutching her close, like he had when she heard him calling for her. He was trembling, his face buried into her shoulder as he cried, and she held him close, gently rubbing his back and whispering that it was okay. When he shook his head, she repeated it sharper, and he opened his eyes, pulling away to look at her. She meant it, which meant he needed to hug her again - and he did.

Toriel suddenly put a hand to her mouth, her eyes flaring in shock. Asgore noticed and met her gaze, and she stared back at him, looking amazed. She flicked her gaze to Asriel, then to Frisk, then back to him. Asgore looked confused for a moment, shaking his head - before suddenly his eyes went wide and he grabbed her other hand tight, searching her face to see if she was joking with him. She was not.

Frisk said gently, "I'm okay, Asriel. I promise."

Asriel nodded, his fingers digging into her back a little, as if doing so would make sure she didn't suddenly disappear. "You have no idea how happy this makes me," he whispered, his voice broken. "Everything... my parents, my life... you... I can never repay you."

"I don't recall asking you to," she replied, smiling.

"Frisk," he murmured. "I..."

Toriel suddenly broke in. "Frisk, are they treating you well?" she wondered. Asriel pulled away from Frisk slowly, and both looked a little disappointed at this.

"Yeah," Frisk nodded. Asriel sat down on the edge of her cot, while Toriel and Asgore pulled up chairs to sit with them. Frisk still held Asriel's hand, their fingers laced together. "But they're so slow! I was asking for you for practically an hour!"

"Oh, you were not," Toriel teased softly. "They told us how much of a henpecker you were. You're just spoilt."

Frisk giggled a little. "Maybe," she agreed. "But only because I was raised that way."

"Aw, golly, Frisk," Asgore said in protest. "You make us sound like pushovers."

Asriel snorted suddenly, unable to help it. He was laughing silently, his whole body shaking with his mirth. "You are!" he choked out, lowering his head and laughing again, sometimes making sound, but more often just shaking silently.

Both Toriel and Asgore exchanged happy glances, remembering that so well. "Well," Toriel shrugged. "Maybe we have wonderful children, then."

"Ah, Mama..." Frisk blushed. Asriel rolled his eyes, still grinning, but Frisk was touched none the less.

For a moment, no one said anything, each of them looking at each other carefully, all sharing the same amazement at the situation they were now in.

"Mama, Papa," Frisk said suddenly, her voice serious. "Does this mean... are you...?"

"Are we what, dear?" Toriel pressed.

Asriel met Frisk's gaze, able to tell she was saddened by something. Eight years of pseudo-friendship had taught him much about her, and he found her emotions sometimes hard to read. But now, she was as open as a book, and it was both painful to see but also rather endearing.

"She wants to ask if you're going to start ageing again," Asriel said softly. Her eyes met his, and she nodded slowly, her eyes filling.

Asgore nodded. "Yes," he admitted.

Frisk shut her eyes, her hand clutching Asriel's tightly. "I had hoped... I wanted this to happen... long before you were both gone," she explained, her voice wavering. "I was... going to ask you before I died."

Toriel was shocked, but Asgore was angry. "Why would you do such a thing?" he demanded. "Why would you even think about doing it?"

"Truly, Frisk," Toriel added. "I don't think we would have been able to. We don't have the same brand of hope you do, dear. We're old and stuck in our ways; for us, we could never do that."

Frisk nodded. "Then I'm glad this has happened, even though I... I'll have to bury you."

"You don't know that," Asriel broke in. "What if you get killed doing something remarkably stupid? Like, say, fighting sans?"

Frisk blushed, and the tense air immediately dissipated. "I didn't mean to," she protested.

"Yes, about sans..." Toriel said slowly. "I would very much like to give him a dose of his own medicine."

"Tori..." Asgore sighed. "We talked about this."

"I know, but it doesn't mean my feelings have changed."

"Get in line, Mom," Asriel said. "I plan on killing him. You can kill him again when I'm done."

"No one is killing sans!" Frisk suddenly snapped out. "He doesn't deserve to die, and we all know it!"

"I don't know," Asgore answered. "I think anyone who hurt my daughter the way he did you is means for a death sentence."

"Papa," Frisk said. "You just said to Mama..." She sighed. "It's not. Just... give him time. He'll make amends. I think."

Asriel snorted again. "That bastard doesn't know how."

"Language, Asriel," Toriel chastised, and he blushed, forgetting about that. Asriel had become a bit of a smart-mouth (okay a great deal of one) during his bitter times as Flowey, and tended to let curse words slip out without thinking. He hadn't been corrected by anyone in so long, it was habitual, now.

"Haha," Frisk teased him. "You're in trouble."

"No teasing, Frisk," Asgore immediately replied, and Asriel grinned at her. Frisk laughed again, unable to help it. It all felt so nice, being able to talk this way, to be able to see her parents and, now, her brother, finally find each other. The happiness was so strong that she was still smiling, so much that it was contagious.

"Asriel," Frisk said now. "Are you going to live with us?"

He looked over at his parents, who were staring at him as if he had just told a dirty joke. "Uh..."

"Yes, of course you are," Toriel said sharply. "We would never, ever think otherwise! You're our son, Asriel, and always have been. Nothing has changed that. You belong with us."

"Well," Asgore added, clearing his throat. "Unless you don't want to."

Asriel shook his head at once. "I want nothing else!" he protested.

"Then you're already home," Toriel said gently.

Frisk squeezed his hand again, beaming at him. Her eyes, however, were drooping, clearly feeling her exhaustion catch up with her.

"Oh, dear," Toriel said, having noticed. "Frisk, I'm sorry. We should let you rest now."

"No, no," Frisk replied. "Stay, I want you to. I want you to stay with me, talk to me, talk to Asriel. I want... you guys to be a family again."

"We are, because of you," Asriel said softly, his eyes on hers. She smiled at him gently, her eyes wavering warmly, and he couldn't help smiling back, feeling his heart race. "And you're also a part of that family."

Frisk shut her eyes, her tears running down her cheeks, stinging a few of the cuts that remained. "That's all I've ever wanted," she admitted sadly, though she was still smiling.

Unable to help it, Asriel pulled her into a hug again, this time the one to comfort her, to rub her back and tell her it was okay. Again, that look passed between Toriel and Asgore, and Toriel took Asgore's hand.

By the time Asriel had let go, she was already half-asleep. She lay back down, gazing at her family, unable to help it. She was so happy. She had done everything she had ever wanted - and now could actually live to see the results.

"I'm so glad," she whispered, before she closed her eyes and drifted off. Asriel let go of her hand reluctantly, searching her sleeping face and happy to see it was a normal, healing sleep.

Gently, Toriel placed her hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at his mother, who was now standing along with Asgore. "We should go now," she said gently. Asriel nodded, and his two parents filed out, expecting him to follow.

Asriel did, but not before he hesitated. Before he lost his nerve, he leaned down and kissed Frisk gently on her forehead. She sighed in her sleep, relaxing a bit better, and he smiled, brushing the back of his hand on her cheek, before he followed his parents, hurrying to catch up.

A few weeks after Frisk's recovery, if one looked at the bookshelf in the living room, there would be a new picture to be found. In it stood four people, three monsters and one human, the Dreemurrs. Toriel stood behind Frisk, her hands on her daughter's shoulders, while Asgore stood behind Asriel in the same way. All four wore identical crowns of yellow flowers on their heads. Toriel was smiling so brightly her eyes were crescents, and Asgore was grinning in a silly way, unable to help it. Frisk held Asriel's hand in hers and was looking at him with a wide smile, while Asriel looked back at her, his smile so wonderful it was a treasure to see.

THE END