Frisk woke up and glanced at the clock. Still half an hour before eight.

They felt hot, and noticed that they had pulled all the blankets around themselves. Quietly, Frisk uncurled the blankets wrapped around their body and threw half of them over Chara. They inched closer to Chara until their face was nearly buried against Chara's shoulder.

Chara turned over and opened an eye lazily.

Without saying anything, Frisk raised their arm and wrapped it around Chara's back. Chara appeared complacent about this. A little smile spread across Frisk's face as they nuzzled their face up against Chara's, getting close enough to feel Chara's warmth.

"...Your hair is in my face," Chara whispered suddenly.

Frisk brushed their hair aside.

"You're so warm," Frisk whispered back into Chara's ear. "I want to use you as a blanket."

"...What?"

Something that Frisk had realized recently was that their own body temperature was unusually low, especially in the morning after waking up. If they stuck even a single limb out from under their blankets, they would end up sneezing and getting a stuffy nose. In order to avoid this, they usually had to get dressed – putting on a jacket and pants – while they were still in bed.

But Chara was like a furnace. It was one of the reasons why they liked sleeping together so much. Chara's body temperature felt significantly higher than their own, and that made them that much better to cuddle with.

"I want to have you as a blanket," Frisk repeated.

"Are you flirting with me?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

Frisk wrapped their other arm around Chara's back. The feeling of warm, soft skin against their own was so comforting. They closed their eyes and began to drift back to sleep.

When they awoke again, they found all the blankets around themselves...again. Even though they were hugging Chara, their sleeping self apparently still couldn't get enough warmth. Chara was already awake, but they looked drowsy. Frisk threw the blankets over Chara again before going back to hugging them.

"Frisk," Chara whispered. "I don't mind you hugging me. But...don't you think we should get up now?"

"What time is it?"

"Eight fifteen."

Frisk rubbed their face against Chara's, relishing in the touch of someone so warm. "I just want to keep sleeping with you."

Chara smiled and kissed Frisk on the cheek. "What's with you this morning?"

"...I can't get enough of your warmth."

A slightly confused expression came over Chara's face. "You stole all the blankets from me last night."

Frisk's smile disappeared. "...Sorry."

"That's fine." Chara squeezed their hand out from under their blankets to give Frisk a soft pat on the head. "If you need to feel warm, have the blankets...and as much of me as you want."

"Wow. Didn't know you were so easy."

"...Easy?!"

Frisk kissed Chara on the lips. A blush came instantly over Chara's face.

"It's too early in the morning," Chara said in a tired voice. "I w-want to kiss you, too, but..."

"But what?"

"...I don't have the energy for it."

Of course. Chara was a night owl, and they often stayed up past midnight playing games and browsing websites.

Frisk moved their hand up Chara's back, then sifted their fingers through Chara's hair.

Chara was so pretty, and their hair always smelled so nice. They had an androgynous face, which Frisk found gorgeous. Sometimes, they just wanted to stare at Chara forever, especially when Chara's eyes were open. Their eyes were so charming, with that enticing redness. They probably wouldn't admit it to them, but they thought Chara was the most beautiful person that they knew. If only they could look into Chara's eyes forever, and have that moment be frozen in time, like a painting – that would be bliss.

Gently, Frisk lifted their fingers out of Chara's hair and caressed their cheeks. Chara smiled again. They leaned forward to return the kiss-

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Both Frisk and Chara turned around to see Alphys at the door, red as a tomato, squealing and hyperventilating simultaneously. Frisk threw themselves off Chara and hid under the blanket.

"I'M SORRY!" Alphys shouted, hiding her face behind her hands, before promptly dashing out of the room.

Today was a special day. It was the last day before winter holidays began, during which campus would be closed. Frisk went to the university and wished happy holidays to their tutors, and urged Chara to do the same (Chara was still a little bit shy around other humans). It took a bit of convincing, but, eventually, Chara acquired the courage to do it.

Upon seeing Chara say something nice for once, their tutors gave a warm smile and offered them a hug. Chara refused, and ran away to the cafeteria with Frisk.

This being the last day before winter holidays, most of the students had finished their exams, and the cafeteria was fairly empty. Frisk occupied a corner table, still preferring the quietest spot in the room. From here, they could read their books in peace.

For the holidays, Frisk had checked out numerous books of world history. They were trying to find some mention of monsters in these history books in order to determine the period of time during which the war between monsters and humans had occurred. Unfortunately, their search had so far been unsuccessful. Most likely, it must have been that the war had occurred before the invention of human writing. Monsters had their own ancient writing system, which was potentially older than that of humans', but no trace of it remained on the surface world.

"Why do you like history so much?" Chara asked. They were busy eating their lunch, while Frisk had barely touched their own food.

"I want to understand people," Frisk replied. "If there's one thing that people need more of, it's empathy. And the best way to understand others is to understand their past."

Chara sighed. "But history is so boring."

"Everyone has their own interests, Chara."

While they were unable to find anything on monster history, they found the study of human history by itself to be a fascinating topic. One of their reasons for choosing to journey the world had been to see all its different people. If there was one thing about human beings that Frisk found admirable, it was the sheer diversity of ideas, attitudes, and values that distinct societies could create.

They read about the ancient civilizations in the Mediterranean, like Greece. They read about the Roman Empire, its conquests, and its wars with the Persian Empire. They read about the dynasties of China, and the recurring revolutions that toppled them. They read about the societies of the peoples that lived in the continents across the oceans (the Aztecs, Mayans, and Inca). They read about the middle ages, the renaissance, and the rise of imperialism. Then, the industrial revolution, the devastating wars and regimes of the twentieth century, the invention of a scientific weapon that could annihilate sentient life on the surface world...

Sometimes, they thought that monsters had been spared the worst of it, simply by disappearing from human history early enough. There was no period of human history untouched by war or conflict. Had monsters returned to the surface at a time when humans weren't even tolerant of each other, how would they have survived?

Nevertheless, there was hope. Humans had determination, and the will to change. From reading history, Frisk could see how things had progressed – and often for the better. Not every problem had been solved, but nothing could be accomplished by being cynical about it. With everyone's determination put in the right place, in kindness, and empathy, and mercy – perhaps the world could become peaceful one day.

"I'm done," Frisk said at last, putting down a book that they had been reading on ancient warfare.

"Frisk," Chara said, "You seem troubled by something."

"Why?"

Chara leaned towards them, placing a hand beneath their chin. "You look like you're kind of...zoned out."

"What?"

Frisk brushed away Chara's hand, and then a few strands of hair that had fallen in front of their eyes. "I'm not."

"Are you sure?"

Their eyes turned upwards, looking at their own hair, which had grown rather long. Often, when they lowered their head to read, their hair would fall in front of their eyes. It was becoming annoying.

"I'm fine," Frisk said again.

"...All right."

After lunch, they met up with Alphys and went home with their chauffeur. Alphys looked a bit more worried than usual. Frisk asked her if there was anything wrong, to which she responded with a very defeated smile.

"I...I suppose I ought to t-tell you about how much research on the timelines is g-going."

"How is it?" Frisk asked.

"It's disconcerting," Alphys said in a troubled tone. She raised a claw to scratch her head. "More and more timelines are d-disappearing. We've lost nearly another thousand."

Chara made a slight gasp. "What?!"

"I don't know what's h-happening," Alphys continued. "Sans says he's started d-doing his own research, but he hasn't reported to me on any of it yet."

"Do you have any way of finding out what's happening in every timeline?" Frisk asked.

"Well...no," Alphys said, sighing. "But, it seems like our simulation files are becoming c-corrupt, and the only cause of that would be if...if our s-signals had disappeared."

"What about technology malfunction?"

"Still a p-possibility, but it's strange that certain timeline files are corrupting, w-while others are still intact."

Frisk leaned back in their seat.

They looked out the window as people, buildings, and streets zoomed by. The first snows of winter had started falling. They were light snows, forming only a white fuzz on the ground. It was nothing compared to Snowdin. But, unlike Snowdin, the snow actually fell from the skies, in the form of pretty little flakes. All the monsters looking outside right now were probably fascinated by it.

Chara, sitting beside them, was looking out the window as well. There was an indifferent expression on their face. Frisk thought they looked beautiful. Chara wore the spider silk scarf that they had bought from the monster supermarket months ago. It looked so pretty on them.

"...I see," they said at last.

"I need a haircut," Frisk said after dinner. They were in their room, sitting on the bed, while Chara was in front of their computer at the desk.

"Huh?"

"My hair is too long, and it's getting in my eyes," Frisk said. "Know any good barbers around here?"

"I can cut your hair," Chara said suddenly.

"...Really?"

Chara smiled. They searched around their desk drawers and took out a scissor. "Frisk. When I was young, I learned how to cut my hair on my own."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. That was good, because Toriel – umm, mom, I mean – didn't know how to deal with human hair at all!"

"Would you really give me a haircut?"

Chara's smile turned sly. They got out of their chair and pushed it in front of the mirror in their room.

"I'd love to," they said. "I could make you look so cute! Ummm, if you're willing to let me, I mean..."

To Frisk, 'cute' simply meant keeping their hair neat, even, and at a long enough length to preserve the fairly androgynous look that they had for themselves. They didn't like having their hair cut too short, which would make some people think that they were male. A barber could accidentally do that. It might be interesting to take their chances with Chara instead.

"Okay."

"You will? Great! Thanks, I'll do my best!"

They sat down in the chair and looked at themselves in the mirror. Chara stood behind them, scissors in hand, still smiling.

...It was actually a fairly disturbing sight.

"So, how short do you want it? In the back? At the sides? In front?"

"Do you remember my hair length when you first met me?" Frisk asked. "Something like that would be nice."

"This much?"

Chara took strands of Frisk's hair and pulled it up, showing the length that they planned to cut.

"Yeah. That's fine."

"Okay!"

Frisk braced themselves. They didn't know how forcefully Chara would cut their hair, and they expected a bit of pulling, a bit of pain. But, to their surprise, Chara was extremely gentle. They cut very slowly, measuring each cut meticulously before taking it. Frisk started to grow bored.

"...Chara. Could you maybe do this a bit faster?"

"No!" Chara replied, becoming flustered. "I have to do this perfectly. I can't allow myself to mess up your hair, Frisk!"

"It's okay. I just could go to a barber if yo-"

"No, it's not!"

Frisk sighed.

They closed their eyes and tried to rest a little. For some reason, they were feeling a little tired today. Maybe it was because they had read too much. Their book today had been on ancient warfare, which was a heavy topic, after all. Reading about all the different ways that people back in the day killed each other (often sadistically) was hardly something to make their day feel better.

Their thoughts began to drift towards everything that had happened in the past few days, from their learning about the troubles with the timelines to the creepy adventure that they had had down in the tunnels. That adventure seemed so far away now – far enough to almost seem like a dream, or a part of their imagination. Perhaps it was. Perhaps, because they had been tired, or because they had been in those tunnels for too long, they had started to see things. Maybe there wasn't another version of themselves down there. Maybe there hadn't been that giant shadow.

...That was just wishful thinking. They still remembered what Chara had recounted of the night terror that they had had the other day, and what Alphys told them later of the genocidal Frisk. A Frisk who killed everyone in the underground rather than befriended them. A Frisk who potentially caused their own timeline to go dark. A deranged Frisk.

There was, in their distant memory, an event that had always left them feeling unsatisfied, a little unhappy with themselves. It had happened long before they went on their journey up Mount Ebott. Somehow, the current state of things reminded them of this event.

"Chara," Frisk said, "Do you want to hear a story?"

"Huh? Well, sure."

Frisk's eyes closed. They took a deep breath and tried to refresh their memories. To understand it, they wanted to put into a narrative. And the best way to create a convincing narrative was to make a story out of it.

"Long ago," Frisk began, "A little child was on a journey. The child was journeying across the world. They just wanted to explore places, meet new people, experience new things. They wanted to see everything that the world had to offer for them."

Snip, snip.

"One particular journey took them to a poor part of the world. It was a place where people lived in poverty, and there was constant war. No one liked it, and every day was harsh. Yet...the child realized, as they went across this place and talked to people, that the people weren't necessarily unhappy. Sure, there were lots of problems, and no one knew if they were even going to live to see the next day, but...everyone had something. Something to keep them going."

Chara was silent.

"The child made friends with a teenager who was the eldest in his family. He was someone who had to take care of his mother and four siblings. His father was dead, lost to the war. They had little to no money, and he had to work very hard every day to even have enough food for his family to live by. The child pitied this family, and moved in temporarily with them to help them out. Together, they could work to earn just a little more food, to make everyone in the family's lives just a little bit easier."

Snip, snip.

"The child's friend loved his family. He loved his siblings, and his mother, and he did everything to make sure that they were happy, that they would survive to see each new day. That was the reason for why he lived. He worked tirelessly, often putting his own health at risk. On many days, he did not even come home. He would only return when he thought that he had worked hard enough, when he thought that he had earned enough food so that his siblings would be full and smiling at him, instead of crying from the pain of hunger."

Snip, snip.

"But everything changed one day when the war came to his little village. He woke up one day, and his youngest sister was dead. His other siblings were injured trying to protect her. He grew enraged, and began to question his life, wondering why he and his family deserved this when they were all poor, when he had worked so hard to make sure that they were all happy. He decided that the only way to solve this problem was to fight back. He had to fight against the enemy that had attacked them, to avenge his sister...though, in his mind, he was just trying to protect them."

Snip, snip.

Frisk opened their eyes. "The child realized that, in his mind, it had become 'kill or be killed...'"

"He joined a group of people who had weapons and the capability to fight. They accepted him immediately and began training him. The only problem, however, was that this group was rather extreme. They believed in a certain ideology, and fought only for that ideology. Anyone who didn't agree with them was considered to be the enemy. The propagators of the war and the people that attacked the village were against this group and their ideology, which was why he found solace in siding with them, even if it meant taking in their extreme views as well."

Snip, snip.

"...Well, the child tried to talk him out of it. They tried to make him understand that what he was doing wasn't really helping his family at all, and that he should go back to work, go back to helping his family survive in the only way that he can. But he didn't want to go back. He was convinced that this was the only way to save his family. He completed his training, and was ready to go to war."

Snip, snip.

"However, on the night before he was to leave to fight, his mother went to talk to him. They talked for a long time, the mother and him and his siblings and the child watching them. They convinced him to give up on fighting, and to leave the group. He finally agreed and decided to go back to his old life the next day."

Snip, snip.

"Now, the group was still intent on fighting, and because of them, most of the people in the village were preparing for war, siding with that group. On the next day, news arrived that soldiers were returning to the village, intent on destroying this group. But, the family would not fight. No matter what, they would not engage in any side of the war. They would remain peaceful."

Frisk clasped their hands together. "It was getting dangerous. So, this child...they decided to leave the village. They had stayed for long enough, and they felt like their journey needed to continue. They said their final goodbyes to their friend, and their family, wishing them the best. Then, before the morning, they left the village. And so, their journey went on."

"Frisk..." Chara said, their voice almost as soft as a whisper. "You're...you are this child, aren't you?"

For a while, Frisk was silent.

"...The child sometimes wonders what would've happened if they stayed," Frisk said finally. "They often feel like they've abandoned their friend."

"...Frisk..."

"Hey, that looks good," Frisk said, putting on a bright smile. They turned their head to check the sides of their hair. "Your haircutting skills aren't bad, Chara."

"Frisk. Why did you tell me this story?"

"I thought it'd be nice to let you know," Frisk answered. "I'm not the nicest person. I left behind someone whom I cared about, even though I knew that their situation was becoming dangerous."

They shook their head slowly. "I...I wonder, often, about how their lives turned out. I never heard from them again. I just want a bit of closure, sometimes."

Chara sighed. "Frisk. I don't care what you did back then. What matters is everything you did after. You...you were kind to every monster in the underground. You helped so many people. You helped take down the barrier, and brought monsters back to the surface. And...you helped me, too, Frisk."

Frisk felt themselves beginning to blush. "Chara, I..."

Chara leaned down and gave them a kiss on the cheek. "Frisk. You're a lovely person. I know it's weird to hear this from me, but...don't hold on to the past, okay? It's hard to let go – I know that from experience. Still, I try, and–"

"I understand," Frisk said, nodding. "I probably made it more dramatic than it really was. All that did happen a while ago. I'm not too concerned about it anymore."

"Okay."

After making the final cut and brushing Frisk's hair, Chara stood back. "How does it look?"

"Perfect. Thank you, Chara."

Chara put their hands on Frisk's cheeks and gave them a soft pinch. "You are so ridiculously cute, now."

"Oh, stop that."

"Can I kiss you?"

"...Let me get up and wash my hair."

Chara kissed them anyway, on the cheek again. "So, after you take a shower?"

"Yeah."

Frisk stood up and stretched. It had been a relief to tell that story. It was a relief to take all of that off their mind. Somehow, they had felt like they needed to tell it.

"You know what?" Frisk said suddenly.

Chara looked at them curiously.

Frisk leaned towards Chara and kissed them on the lips.

"...Have a kiss, anyway."