Wow. It's been... Almost a year. I am... So sorry for the delay. Things happened and my life kind of hit the fan for a while but now I'm back! I'll be trying to post on the regular from now on.

For all of those that have stuck by me and kept waiting for this chapter, thank you so much.

Also for a little clarification, Gaster and Skelly are literal soulmates. Things will be explained in later chapters. Please don't comment stuff about how unrealistic it is.

This is a story based off of a role-play that I'm in with a wonderful human being.


Three Weeks before Her Appearance

When he had exited the Void—while he did have faint memories of that dark place, he'd rather not talk about them—he assumed everything would go back to normal. He couldn't have been in that horrid place that long. He'd be with his Firefly and they could raise Sans and Papyrus together, maybe they could even have more children not made from science. But first he had to speak to Asgore about getting his jobs back.

He pulled himself together, the Void taking its toll on his magic. It took a few moments for him to regain a physical form and even then, the first few steps caused black goop to plop onto the floor from a massive gash in his chest. His clothes manifested slowly, the lab coat appearing last on his tall, thin frame.

He took a deep breath, leaning against the wall and resting his skull on a single palm-less hand before heading off towards the castle. He walked into the castle gardens, looking around and finally leaning down to pick a flower to sniff. "One moment please." Asgore spoke as Gaster walked in, his footfalls making a soft sound as he walked up behind Asgore. He leaned down, gently tapping the King on the shoulder.

The mighty king dropped his watering pail—the water spilling from the open top and flooding the flowers—once he turned around to see who was visiting him. He froze, tearing up. "G-Gaster... Y-you..." Gaster simply smiled as Asgore stood and raced to pull his 'brother' in to a hug, crying into his shoulder. "W-we had a funeral an-and everything..."

"...I am... Terribly sorry... That cannot have been easy... But you had Toriel to get you through that." Asgore simply stayed silent, tears rolling down his cheeks and into Gaster's sweater. "Asgore... What happened with..."

"She left me... At your funeral..." Gaster's eyesockets went wide and a rage blossomed in his chest, wrapping long arms around Asgore.

"God what a bitch. I knew the marriage was not working out but to leave you at my funeral? How insensitive do you have to be? Where is she now? I'll go kick her ass." Asgore couldn't help the small chuckle that came from him, pulling away to wipe at his eyes.

"I have missed you my friend... Your home is still open to you; I made sure that it was kept cleaned and dusted... And all of your instruments are still there... I made sure no one broke in and harmed them... And I have paid your bills to make sure none were damaged by the cold. But you should talk to Sans... He was really upset at the funeral." Gaster's heart broke at that, tears lining his eyesockets.

"...How long... Have I been gone?" Asgore pulled away, looking at his brother. Asgore knew the answer wouldn't be one that his friend liked... Or wanted to hear. After a few moments of silence, Gaster looked at him. "How long Asgore?" The skeleton's voice shook a little as Asgore looked down, frowning.

He really didn't want to tell him; he didn't want to break his friend's heart.

"...Twenty years..." Gaster's eyesockets went wide, looking at his brother in shock. How had it been twenty years? He had felt like it was only a second or maybe an hour... Although, he supposed time didn't work the same in the void... That meant Sans and Papyrus had grown.

He had missed their entire lives.

The royal scientist teared up and clutched his chest, heart-wrenching sobs coming from him as he collapsed to the flowery ground, Asgore immediately calling for Alphys to come to Gaster's aid. The stuttering and shaking dinosaur monster raced in as Gaster sobbed, tears rolling down his cheekbones.

His sons were grown.

He had missed EVERYTHING.

His firefly was probably heartbroken.

Alphys did a preliminary check on him, taking his pulse and checking to make sure he wasn't hurt too badly. Asgore was the first to notice the black liquid staining his brother's white sweater, spreading outwards as Gaster's sobs only grew louder in volume and in pain.

"S-sir! W-wh-what should we d-do?" Alphys asked nervously as Asgore frowned and scooped Gaster up into his arms, standing up and carrying the much taller man out of the room and towards the hospital.

"Set up a hospital room and then prepare a room for observation." Alphys nodded and called into the hospital, setting up everything that Asgore had told her to. Asgore laid Gaster down on the bed, Alphys hooking him up to many machines. Gaster barely flinched at the needle being prodded into magical veins, tears still rolling down his cheekbones in thick lines to stain the pillow underneath his skull. Asgore cupped his friend's cheek and wiped his tears away, frowning.

It took hours for the tears to stop falling. It took even longer for Asgore to lull his friend into a short nap, only to have him wake an hour later with widened eyesockets and a scream that broke the mighty King's heart. The nurses came rushing in when the heart monitor they had stuck on a scarred-up ribcage began screeching at the speed of his pounding heart.

A week passed before Asgore would let him leave the hospital and it was another week before Asgore even let him leave the castle and his own observation to return to his home. By then, news of his return had spread all throughout the Underground and as he stepped out of Asgore's castle, he was greeted by...

Nothing.

No one had even come to see him.

He hadn't expected Sans and Papyrus to be there... He had left them alone for their entire lives. His firefly had probably moved on. He sighed and began walking towards his house in Snowdin, staring down at his feet as he trudged on to Waterfall. He heard the whispers of the Echo flowers as he passed through Waterfall, sighing softly as memories of lifetimes past came to his mind.

He showed Sans the flowers here... He showed him the crystals that were nothing like the stars but... They were close enough for the monsters unable to see the stars before... It all happened. Before his life had ended. Finally, once snow hit his head, he looked up.

Nothing had changed.

The shopkeeper still ran their shop and there was still that wolf monster throwing ice into the river. Monster still gathered around the tree they set up for Gyftrot as a means of peace. They had been doing that for years ever since Gaster could remember. Teens always harassed the monster and dressed the poor monster up in the most humiliating ways.

Gaster remembered one time that Sans begged him to undecorate the monster while he held Papyrus. Papyrus had just been born—which in the skeleton brothers' case meant grown in a test tube from parts of Gaster's own body since he didn't have anyone in the world he trusted his soul with—when he was pushed into the dark consuming void that was The Core.

He sighed and—with a heavy heart—made his way to his home, unlocking his front door before slowly making his way in, shutting the outside world away with a click of the heavy wooden door. He immediately went into his kitchen, turning on the florescent lights with a flick of a switch and after a few moments, the bright lights flickered on. His shoes clicked on the tile floors as he walked over to the liquor cabinet, opening it and grabbing a bottle of Irish whiskey and a glass.

He settled into one of the chairs at the table, setting up a glass of whiskey. Just as he was about drink himself into a stupor to hinder the pain of everything he loved being lost and grown, there was a series of hard knocks on his door. With a deep sigh and a crack from his knees—that knee had never healed up completely after being shot in the Great War, he thought—he stood from his chair in the kitchen, making his way to the front door slowly.

Once he opened it, his eyesockets widened.

"listen. im only going to tell you this once. stay away from papy. and stay away from me. we want nothin to do with you." Gaster's very soul broke with those words as Sans teleported away, leaving him alone in the doorway. The scientist slowly shut the door, returning to the abandoned bottle and throwing the glass away, letting it crash and break against the tiled floor as he grabbed the bottle and began drinking straight from it.

At times like this, he wasn't thankful for all the timelines and failed lives hitting him. They only served as a reminder that he was a failure; that he hurt everything he touched...

That he hurt everyone he loved. Even them...

Even his soulmate.

They were the only reason he was even still alive. He had lived through countless lives of theirs and he couldn't wait to meet this life... They were bound to be beautiful... Just like always. But he doubted that they would want a monster like him... Someone who couldn't even make sure his sons were still okay...

Someone whose own sons didn't want anything to do with him.

He sighed and took another drink, sitting down at the table. He drank himself into unconsciousness that night and the following nights, easily draining the vintage whiskey bottle before opening a much newer bottle of scotch, draining that within the week.

Asgore finally came over after a week of absence from his jobs and from the visits that his friend normally did. When the king saw what state he was in, he simply sighed and frowned, helping the still skeleton get cleaned up and dressed, giving him water. Gaster didn't complain the entire time, the large black scar on his chest steadily dripping black ooze as Asgore washed various cuts and abrasions that Gaster had acquired in his week of drunken sorrow. Gaster didn't say much as Asgore called in someone to clean up the broken glass and fix the broken walls left in the wake of his anger turned to sorrow.

"My brother... What happened?.." Asgore whispered, looking down at the skeleton in his arms. The broken man didn't answer, a stain from the steady leak of the scar on his chest staining his now discarded sweater and the rag Asgore had used to clean his abrasions. He slowly took Gaster towards the bedroom, laying him down on semi-clean sheets before covering him up with the comforter and kissing his forehead. "Sleep brother..." He whispered, sitting down at the side of the King-sized bed.

It was there he stayed—watching—until the Royal Scientist was roused from his drunken unconsciousness, looking around before immediately leaning over, grabbing the trash can, and emptying his already empty stomach. Asgore sighed and moved to get the still sickened skeleton a wash cloth for his mouth. When he returned, the scientist was weeping, tears rolling down his cheekbones from empty, hollow eyesockets.

Asgore wiped the bile from his brother's lips, the skeleton looking up at him with a broken expression that struck sorrow into Asgore's very soul.

"He doesn't want me around Asgore... He told me that neither of them wants me around..." He whispered, Asgore sighing softly and continuing to clean Gaster's face and chin. "They hate me... Their own father. And they don't even want me. Even though I want them... I want them very, very much."

Asgore frowned and moved to sit Gaster up, piling the pillows up behind him to force the limp scientist to sit upright—even though he protested with a soft groan. "Gaster. You know Papyrus will love you...You just have to give Sans time... He's just upset... I would be too if my father had just disappeared and then reappeared 20 years later." Asgore spoke, his deep voice barely a whisper as the skeleton looked away from the King.

"...It still hurts Asgore... I know it's the correct response... But it still hurts... I know it is the logical response... But that does not help the pain of my soul breaking because my own children want nothing to do with me..." He whispered, Asgore sighing softly before nodding.

"You're right... The only thing you can do is change that." Asgore leaned up and gently patted Gaster's head, looking at the broken scientist. "Grillby's is still open. You should go. You always seemed happy to be at Grillby's." Gaster just nodded, slowly standing.

"Maybe he'll have something stronger than whiskey to drown my sorrows." He joked—although the king didn't laugh—before moving to grab a new sweater and pants, leaving the bedroom to get a shower. He spent a few hours staring at his reflection in the mirror, gently trailing scuffed phalanges along the new blackened scar on his ribcage. It took some time to get into the shower, the new mark stinging with every drop of water that hit the black goo. Soon after he managed to figure out a way to bathe without being in constant pain, he walked out of his home, locking the door behind him with magic.

He turned to head towards Grillby's but froze, seeing the flame monster arm-in-arm with his wife... The very wife he said he had left. He felt the crack in his soul get bigger and... Well he couldn't help but clutch his chest, the sorrow filling entire body. He couldn't do anything but teleport away, leaving a small flurry of snow kicked up by the magic in his wake.

When he arrived in Waterfall, he did nothing but sink to his knees, the joints cracking and protesting at the action. He let the tears fall—tears of sorrow and pain. First his sons and now his lover? What next? His very soulmate?

He had no idea where they were in this line—or rather at that specific moment—but he knew that they would probably have met Sans or Papyrus by then... They would have been filled with lies and hurtful untruths... Or were they truths? He did leave his children all alone. But that wasn't his fault.

Was it?

He moved his legs out from under him slowly, the pain in his kneecap too much to bear any longer. His legs straightened with snapping noises, causing a pained whimper to come from him. He sat there for a while, letting the tears roll down his cheekbones without much sound other than the soft sniffles echoing in the cave.

Soft footfalls alerted him of someone approaching him, but he couldn't even care to turn and look at the approaching figure, looking down at his reflection in the murky water. Undyne appeared over his reflection, armor hiding most of her features. She reached up to take the helmet off, looking at him with one yellow eye.

"Asgore thought you might be out here. He saw you teleport away." Undyne said, sitting down beside Gaster and looking over at him. "You okay doc?" Gaster just shook his head, looking over at her with tear-stained cheekbones. "...You saw Grillby... Asgore didn't even know... His daughter's pretty happy though." Gaster just nodded, turning back and sighing.

"...He said he left her... For me... But... That was twenty years ago..." Gaster whispered as Undyne laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sans... And Papy... They're all grown... My boys... My babies..." He whispered, the very words sounding broken.

"Paps wants to be a part of the Guard... He... Asgore told him about you... When Sans wasn't around. He wanted to make you proud. And I'm sure that he'll ignore Sans's wants and make peace with you. If you want it." Undyne smiled a little as Gaster looked up at her, hope lighting his eyesockets once again. "But you need to get better before that happens. He won't like it if you come by reeking of booze and sorrow." Gaster laughed a little, wiping his face.

"Yes I... Suppose you're right on that Undyne... Thank you..." He whispered, causing her to smile and stand, offering a hand for him. "I... May need assistance back to my home... I do not think I can walk." He admitted softly, causing her to snicker and shake her head as he took her hand.

"I'll help you doc. We'll get you back on your feet. In both ways." She teased, causing the doctor/scientist to huff and shake his head. He was soon pulled upright, flinching at his knee snapping with a vicious pop which even caused the Captain to pale. "That sounded like it hurt."

"It did... Thank you for that Undyne." He mumbled, leaning against her heavily. "I need to bring my cane with me everywhere now... At least until I'm numb enough to the pain of a broken heart to not teleport away constantly." He joked, a small smile spreading across his face. Undyne tried not to look exasperated at the terrible joke, rolling her eye and wrapping an arm around him to help him back to Snowdin.

The walk back was quiet, filled with a comfortable silence between the two, and relatively uneventful—minus the small encounters with a few monsters along the way, who were shocked to see the mighty Royal Scientist and Ex-General of the Royal Guard so weakened. Gaster couldn't help but be ashamed; he had once been a true monster on the battlefield and now... He needed help to just walk. They arrived in Snowdin, Undyne opening his front door for the tall skeleton and helping him inside where Asgore was waiting.

"What were you thinking?! Teleporting to some random location, having no direction? What would happen if you were teleported back into the Core? What would happen if you had teleported somewhere where you couldn't get out?!" Asgore yelled, causing Gaster to tense up.

"That would be better than this pain Asgore! The aching broken pain of my very being! At least in the Core, I felt no emotional pain! It was only the constant pain of every molecule of my body being destroyed and repaired over and over. It's no wonder I felt it was only a moment in time; instead it was twenty fucking years!" He screamed back, Asgore glaring at the other.

"And what would we say to Papyrus? Hmm? What would we tell your sons? That 'daddy' vanished again? That he wanted nothing to do with them anymore?" Asgore roared, causing Gaster to summon a Blaster, the very action sending him to lean back against the door. Asgore pulled out a trident and the two seemed to be getting ready to start a fight before Undyne immediately stepped in between the two older monsters, holding up two spears.

"Both of you stop! You might be my elders, but this needs to stop. You're friends and you'll always be friends no matter what happens between you two. But you can't fight over this... Asgore, he had every reason to teleport away. Don't you wish you could have teleported away when Toriel left you? When Asriel and Chara died?" Undyne waited for the king to slowly nod and dispel his trident, looking down at the floor.

"And Gaster, when you had your breakdown after the war, who was it that stood beside you? Who made sure you lived even when you had yourself locked away and tried starving yourself? Who was it that took you in?" Gaster slowly closed his eyesockets and waved the Blaster away, slowly opening his eyesockets to look at Undyne. "You two are more than friends. You're brothers. And you are acting like it. But you need to stop. You both have been through hell and back together; doesn't that count for something?"

Asgore just nodded, looking up at Gaster who nodded with him, sighing deeply. "I am... Sorry old friend... I just... Did not want you to end up gone again... I do not think I could handle that, much less your sons handling it again." Asgore spoke, his voice calm and steady but Gaster knew the king was fighting back anger.

"...I do not think I could handle it again... The Core, no the Void, was the most painful thing I have ever experienced..." He whispered, moving slowly to limp over to the stairs. "I am going to take a bath... A long one... To try and wash the stench of sorrow and depression off... Before I confront my lover and sons..." Gaster slowly went up the stairs, leaving Asgore and Undyne down below.

The bath was the same as the shower; over half of his time was spent staring at the scar—again—while the other half was spent trying to keep the painful reminder of his mistakes from aching and burning from the sting of the water. He laid under the water, his eyesockets open and looking up at the ceiling. How could he apologize to his son, to his baby Papy?

The poor skeleton had only been a year old when Gaster had disappeared... And he knew that Sans had probably tried filling his skull with hatred towards his father.

He brought his hands up, rubbing his face with the palm-less bones before sitting up to let the water drain from his skull. He drained the tub and climbed out, his joints protesting as he stood with a crack, popping his spine. Groaning he walked into the bedroom, sighing and gathering his clothes. He didn't get dressed right away, spending some time staring at his bones in the mirror.

How could they love him?

With all his scars and dings, he must be an ugly sight. He closed his eyesockets, willing those thoughts away again before taking a deep breath. He got dressed again after finally pulling away from the mirror, pulling a cream-colored sweater on with black slacks, sitting down on the bed to reach down to slide his feet into black dress shoes.

He walked downstairs, looking around for his brother and friend but upon finding them both gone, he grabbed his lab-coat, took a deep breath, and opened the door to walk outside in the snow. He was going to talk to Papyrus, attempt to fix things, and have his son—or sons—back with him. He was going to at least try to fix things with Sans; he still loved the other skeleton with all his soul and if it didn't work, he had at least tried...

Asgore couldn't fault him for that.

He turned to lock the door, but he stopped in his tracks after taking only one step off the porch, eyesockets wide at the image in front of him. Walking in front of his house and appearing to head back to their own, was Papyrus and a human girl—no, she was a woman—a human woman, who caused his very soul to ache.

It was Her.

She was here.

She was beautiful.

Gaster couldn't help but stare, watching the skeletal arm wrap around her body to keep her coat shut in the wind. He couldn't hear what Papyrus was saying but the girl standing next to him was laughing and Gaster could almost hear the angelic voice of his soulmate. He could almost feel the warm beating of her heart and the magic thrumming in her soul, calling him towards her. It made sense that her soul was calling him; they were soulmates after all.

He almost took a step towards them but caught himself, knowing that if he did so, he would teleport the rest of the way.

He couldn't believe she was down here, but yet—there she was, laughing and smiling at Papyrus's tales. What had happened to make her come down to their hellhole, their enforced prison? What hardships had she been through that made her flinch away from anyone—even his soft-hearted son—moving to touch her back?

He could hear her words, could feel her—even the old lives—touching his cheekbones in a soft caress. He could smell her hair, his nasal bone buried in it as they slept together, legs intertwined. He could feel her lips on his as they- He stopped that train of thought, looking down at his hands before looking back up at her.

How could someone like that love him?

He was a literally monster; more so than the rest of the monsters down here.

He had killed so many humans during the War that if she ever found out... She'd hate him. She'd curse the day they met, and she'd run back to Sans; he was assuming she was living with them since Papyrus was with her. He couldn't help but be saddened by the thought that... Maybe he was too late, maybe Sans hadn't even told her about him.

That did seem like something the shorter skeleton would do.

Speaking of the shorter skeleton, he soon joined Papyrus and his other half, handing her a single flower which caused him to frown. She just rolled her eyes though, handing it back to him and saying something quieter than the laugh. He tried not to look pleased by that reaction, watching them walk along the snowy road. Monsters walked around between them, but she was never once blocked from his view.

His soul knew where she was and that was more of a comfort to him than anything Asgore or Undyne could say... He knew that she was here, and he had a chance to be hers... And he had a chance for her to be his... If he didn't mess this up.

And then purple eyes met blank eyesockets, and she smiled a little; and he knew it would all be okay.