Chara threw away the fake flowers and blood and chose a new costume for themselves on the day of the celebration, a simple black maid's dress. Still, Asriel's face refused to appear, even after Chara had apologized.

On the next day, Chara came home and asked Frisk to accompany them to their room. There was an unusual pensiveness about Chara's mood, and Frisk wondered what was going to happen next.

Inside their room, Chara asked Frisk to sit beside the desk on their chair. Asriel's flower pot was still placed on top of the desk. Then, Chara stood in front of both of them. They appeared, for a moment, to be lost in thought, as if they were ambivalent about what to do next. Chara made an expression like a cringe, and then, folding their arms, they slowly knelt down onto the floor.

"I'm sorry," Chara said in a voice so soft, Frisk could barely hear them.

"I'm really sorry, Asriel." Their voice steadily grew louder. "I'm so sorry about what I've done. It was horrible, cruel, and insensitive. I don't deserve your forgiveness. But, please, Asriel, just come out again. I want to see your face. I want to know that you're still here."

Frisk was surprised. It wasn't often that Chara spoke so solemnly, or displayed such an immense amount of guilt and remorse in their expression. They could tell that Chara's apology was genuine.

However, Asriel still did not respond, and Chara started to seem desperate.

"I'm sorry!" they yelled loudly. Closing their eyes, and trembling, they lowered their head and remained kneeling. "I'm sorry about everything, Asriel!"

"Chara, I think we get it," Frisk spoke up at last. "I understand how bad you feel about you did yesterday. To be honest, I'm ready to forgive you. Just give Asriel some ti-"

Suddenly, a face appeared on the flower again. It was a familiar face, with a nasty expression, full of malice.

"Is that all you want me to do?" Asriel said, his tone full of anger. "You want me to forgive you, Chara? Well, if you really felt guilty about what you've done, maybe you should've thought about how I'd react before you put on that atrocious costume!"

Briefly, Chara appeared amazed that Asriel had actually come back. But they kept their head lowered as they spoke. "I know, Asriel! I'm so stupid! I'm always like this – I don't think my plans through before I carry them out. I'll never do something like this again!"

Asriel seemed conflicted. A second later, he bared his teeth angrily again.

"The last time one of your plans went wrong, you got both me and you killed!" Asriel said, pointing a leaf accusingly at Chara. "I wasn't angry at you. I wanted to forgive you, and in my heart, I really did. Even when I was Flowey, I was never mad at you. I really thought you understood that what you did was wrong, and, because of that, I was content. Even as a flower, I was able to feel some degree of happiness – because I believed that you had changed. You've gotten a second chance, and I believed that you were going to live your life fully this time. And then you just show up one day in the most insensitive costume I've ever seen, convincing me that you had killed yourself again, and you expect me to still believe in you?!"

Chara remained strangely silent after Asriel had finished scolding them.

"Oh, and don't forget that I'm still just a flower, spending every day rotting in this pot!" Asriel continued. His frown grew malicious. "Why did you even take me with you out of the underground? So that you can mock me, with your human body – with your ability to feel again, while I'm stuck in this form, unable to move, unable to really have emotions?! If you had left me back in the ruins, growing in the soil over your old grave, I'd at least have had the pleasure of living with the belief that you've moved on and become a better person!"

"Asriel, please," Frisk spoke up. "I know that what Chara did was wrong. But, even still, they aren't the same person that they were before. They know that they've been insensitive, and all they want is for you to accept their apology."

"Why should I?" Asriel retorted, before giving Chara another furious look. "I'd probably have been better off if they never showed up in my life!"

An odd expression came over Chara's face. Frisk didn't know how to describe it, but it made them feel rather uncomfortable. A very uneasy smile seemed to be spreading across Chara's lips, and their eyes slowly grew wide. Then, Chara put their hands on top of their head. Tears started to appear their eyes. They sniffed and lowered their head again, this time to what looked like a very uncomfortable level.

"I'm so sorry, Asriel," Chara whispered. They seemed frozen, and didn't even move an inch. "I...I don't know how I can make up for this...for anything that I've done to you. To your family."

"Are you really sorry?" Asriel said. "Or are you just trying to manipulate me into giving you what you want again?"

Chara began to tremble. Then, gripping their face, they suddenly tore at their own skin.

"It's my fault. It's all my fault! I've always been nothing but a bad child! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'M SORRY! Forgive me! Don't hurt me, please, I'll never do it again! Please, don't hurt me! PLEASE!'

To Frisk's horror, Chara banged their head against the floor, which even caused Asriel to flinch in reaction. Blood pooled onto their fingernails.

"I'm sorry! Don't hurt me! Don't yell at me! Don't hit me! I admit it, it's my fault! I'll never do anything bad again! I'll behave! Please, just stop! STOP! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The door opened, and Toriel rushed into the room.

"My child, what has happened to you?" Toriel asked as she knelt beside Chara.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Chara screamed, so loudly that Frisk flinched.

Chara was lying in Toriel's lap. They were still shaking, and their eyes were red (or even redder than usual) with tears. Toriel was patting Chara gently on their back, a sad expression on her face. Chara sniffed.

"I'm sorry, mother," they said in a choked voice. "I'm s-sorry for p-putting you through everything. "

"My child, what do you mean?"

Chara buried their face against Toriel's dress. "Because of me, y-you, you – you lost your children, you lost your family, you – y-you had to bury me, and you've g-gone thr...through so much..."

Toriel's expression grew more somber. "That was very, very long ago, my child," she replied. "And it is not at all your fault that you grew sick. We should have taken better care of you. I should have been a better mother."

Chara couldn't stop sobbing.

For Frisk, it was an extremely uncomfortable to watch. They knew the truth about what Chara had done, and they knew that, even now, Chara had to hide it from their mother out of fear of ending up being hated by her. She did, however, understand how Chara had come back through Frisk (and it had been extremely bizarre to explain).

After Chara had been carried out of the room by Toriel, Asriel became sullen, and he admitted that he had gone completely overboard in his rejection of Chara's apology. Frisk was hardly pleased with him, so he decided to create an apology as well. He clipped off both of his leaves and some petals, which shocked Frisk, and then used magic to cut them up and arrange them into certain words.

It would take months for those petals and the leaves to grow back. Asriel requested to be put back onto the balcony, where he hid his face once more.

For the rest of the evening, Chara continued to cry into Toriel's lap. Frisk stayed beside them the whole down, comforting them with Toriel. At first, Chara kept saying nonsensical things, shouting that they didn't want to be hit anymore, but they slowly started to calm down.

When Chara was able to sit by themselves again, Toriel made them a late dinner of noodles and stew, with chocolate pudding. Eating seemed to make Chara feel better again, and the scars on their face were already fading (due to Toriel's healing magic). They still could barely speak, and they continued to shudder every once in a while. Throughout dinner, they sniffed as they ate their food.

After they were done eating, Frisk accompanied Chara back to their room.

"I don't want to go back," Chara said in a soft voice. "Asriel's going to..."

"Asriel has something to say to you," Frisk replied.

Chara tensed up, and their face became full of worry again. "What is it?"

"Let me show you."

Frisk opened up the door, but Chara remained standing behind them, hiding their face from view. They crouched down as Frisk stepped into the room, as if to try to avoid being seen.

"Don't worry. Asriel wanted to be put back on the balcony, so he's not here," Frisk said.

"Frisk...I just don't want to see him or let him see me right now."

"He won't."

"Can I...can I sleep downstairs tonight?"

"Sure."

"No, wait...Frisk, is it all right if I sleep with you again?"

Frisk nodded and smiled reassuringly. "Of course that's all right, Chara."

Nodding in response, and taking a deep breath, Chara walked into their room again. They glanced around, as if looking for Asriel, and stopped for a moment upon looking at the balcony through their room window. Frisk held their breath, hoping that Chara wouldn't break down again. Then, Chara sighed, and they walked towards Frisk's bed.

Something seemed to catch their attention as they looked towards the desk. They walked towards it.

On the desk was written the message:

"Asriel forgives you, Chara. Maybe you can forgive him."

Chara woke Frisk up in the middle of the night. They seemed much more comfortable now, though their face still showed a bit of sadness. They turned to face Frisk, who was lying beside them, and – to Frisk's surprise – they gave them a tight hug.

"I'm...me, and Asriel, we're both kind of ridiculous," Chara said. "We fought a lot back then. I mean, not as badly as we did today, but really, it was my fault that this whole fight started. I guess – I should've been more mature."

"It wasn't your fault that he said those things, though," Frisk replied.

"No, I mean I should've been more mature in how I handled it." Their tone became somewhat shaky. "I'm older, now. I shouldn't have broken down and started screaming like that."

"...Chara. That wasn't your fault either."

"Maybe it wasn't, but, still." Chara's eyes closed. "I must've frightened you and mother so badly. It's all right if I kind of make a fuss by myself, but, with you around...for your sake, I don't think I should've done it."

Chara turned their eyes up at Frisk, and they moved their arms over Frisk's shoulders.

"You're always the voice of reason," Chara continued. "I don't know what I, or Asriel, would've done without you there."

Frisk was silent for a few moments.

Perhaps that was what they tried to be, a voice of reason. To Chara, and Asriel, and probably many other people, it was what they seemed. But they were many other things on the inside, things that they wanted to keep hidden, things that they wouldn't dare to reveal. If they did, they would no longer seem so reasonable. They would no longer be the kind, gentle child who tried to make friends with everybody that everybody seemed to think that they were.

So, in a self-denying, bittersweet sort of way, Frisk simply smiled in response.

"Well, anyways," Chara said, suddenly loosening up the hug and turning away, "there's...something else that I wanted to say."

"What is it?"

Chara grew quiet for a second. Then, they turned back to Frisk and smiled widely.

"You know, I also couldn't take you seriously, when you were in that costume while I was trying so hard to apologize." Chara giggled. "I thought you would take it off! You were just standing there, in that sailor suit, with that giant ribbon on your head..."

Chara reached up with their hands to pinch Frisk on the cheek.

"You are the cutest person I have ever met."

"Ah, stop it!"

"Frisk, I really don't know what I'd do without you." Chara's expression became a little melancholic once again. "You're just...there, for me, every day. You always care so much about me, I just want to, I..."

"Yeah?"

Chara closed their eyes. "Frisk. I think...I have a proposal for you."

Frisk listened carefully.

"I...want to be just a tiny bit more than your friend," Chara began. "I know I'm a bit young to say this, but, ah...Frisk. Maybe, you can be my datefriend? Like, go dating with me, regularly?"

Frisk had to try to stifle their giggles. That was hardly a proposal. They had already dated Chara once before, and it definitely wouldn't hurt to do it again. Plus, Chara was pretty cute, too.

"Yeah. I'll be your datefriend," Frisk replied.

"Okay!"

Chara gave Frisk a quick kiss on their lips.

Then, they turned away, seemingly out of embarrassment, and pretended to be trying to go back to sleep.

Author's note: I actually can't stop writing this story. I like the Charisk pairing too much! Even though I said back on chapter ten that the main plot had ended (as far as I had planned back then), I actually have a lot more to write, so - yeah, this story isn't going to end anytime soon.