"CHARA!" Asriel exclaimed, eye wide and still watering. Sans raised an arm in front of the boy on instinct and felt his blue magic flare to life.

The human girl stood in the darkness. Eyes glowing red. Face flushed just as red. Her brown bangs hung over her eyes, throwing them into their shadow just to emphasize their glow. Her small, pale, fists were clenched to her sides, her shoulders up and trembling.

She glared.

Frowning.

Sans and Asriel watched cautiously, waiting for her to say something. To do something. Something.

She spoke. And her voice was broken. Strangled.

"WHY!?" She sobbed out. She threw her head up, angry tears streaming down her cheeks. The girl took a step forward "WHY!? IT'S NOT FAIR! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Sans blinked his confusion "what…?"

"Chara, what are you talking about?" Asriel asked gently, pushing Sans's arm aside and slowly approaching his sister.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Chara snapped. She wiped at her eyes roughly with the edge of her sleeve, taking several steps back. Asriel stopped, staring confoundedly. He looked back to Sans for some morsel of guidance. The short skeleton was just as lost as he was. Asriel took a breath and tried again.

"Chara, please. Tell me what's wrong." He begged.

Chara stared at him a moment. Then she began to laugh. It was soft at first. Quiet. Then it quickly became louder, broken and cracking with sniffles and tears. "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" her voice dropped suddenly to a growl "You have NO idea?"

Sans aimed his gaze elsewhere, trying to gather his thoughts. Asriel said something else, trying to get through to his sister only to be ridiculed some more. His SOUL reacted to his desires, reaching out to the girl without his knowledge. He tensed a moment when their SOULs connected, but quickly calmed himself as he recognized the feeling. As he did when Asriel was in possession of his SOUL, he felt the girl's watered-down emotions.

Rage, annoyance, bitterness, despair, frustration, betrayal-

His memories recalled a snippet of a conversation he had with her before.

"I killed myself for nothing!"

Sans sighed, turning to look at the two. Chara spat at her brother, teeth bared and poison in her glare. Tears laced Asriel's eyes.

"you're jealous." He said is as a fact.

"What?" Asriel blinked and Chara hissed.

Sans put himself in between them, craning his neck to look down at Chara. His grin seemed flat.

"you're jealous. of me and pap."

"WHAT!?" Chara yelled in disbelief, glaring at him "What the hell do you mean by that-"

"you're jealous we're both alive." Sans clarified "you're jealous we're still with each other. you're jealous that we'd do anything for each other."

Chara opened her mouth to respond. Then closed it. Then opened it again. She settled for turning her gaze away from his, clenching her fists until her knuckles were white.

"Chara?" Asriel blinked "I-is that true?"

She didn't respond immediately. When she did, there was enough venom in her voice to kill.

"Six." Was what she said "You only needed to get SIX SOULS, ASRIEL!" She suddenly turned, closing the distance between her and the goat child. "WE MADE A PLAN AND EVERYTHING! YOU JUST NEEDED TO USE MY SOUL, THEN GET SIX MORE, THEN EVERYONE COULD'VE BEEN FREE! THEN NO ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN TRAPPED IN THE DARK ANYMORE!"

Asriel recoiled from her voice, flinching. Tears filled his eyes. "I-I'm sorry-"

"SORRY!?" Chara laughed at that "OKAY, SORRY! Yeah, that'll BRING ME BACK FROM THE DEAD!" She broke off, sobbing. Throwing one arm up, she indicated Sans "HE'S killed people for Papyrus! HE'S killed ME for Papyrus!" She snarled, wiped at her eyes quickly, and then jabbed a finger into Asriel's chest "HE'S killed YOU for Papyrus!" Tears overflowed, unchecked, from her dimming eyes. "Why is it HE can do all THAT for HIM but you couldn't do ANYTHING for ME!?"

Asriel cowered away from her, not meeting her eyes. Sans interrupted.

"pap didn't kill you for me."

Neither of them had an immediate response. Asriel fidgeted with his claws in between wiping away his tears. Chara's shoulder shook as she tried to conceal her sobs. Her arm dropped limply to her side.

"Doesn't that make you mad?" she said softly.

Sans chuckled a moment, then shook his skull. "not at all. my bro's too cool for that." He winked at her "that's why i do all the dirty work."

She chuckled "Like killing me?"

"like killing you. yeh." Sans agreed. He knelt in between the children, putting his arms around their shoulders. He addressed Chara "listen kid, i've fought him as a weed since forever. every time, it was 'chara would like this' and 'chara would like that'. even soulless, you were always somehow on his mind." He smiled "your bro really cares for you, kiddo."

Chara didn't meet his eyes, but rather looked at Asriel. Their eyes met shakily. "…Azzy…." She teared up, her smile spreading across her lips "You big crybaby."

"Look who's talking!" Asriel sobbed, throwing his arms around his sister. Chara tensed as it was she wasn't expecting this. But then she threw herself into the hug as well.

"…Azzy…." She sniffed, nestling her face into her brother's fur. "I missed you…."

Sans grinned, content with himself. He let them be and took to wandering around the void for a while. At a brisk pace, he amused himself with the thought of his feet somehow touching ground that wasn't there. His strings flowed loosely, trailing after him as he walked around. RESETing now probably wouldn't affect the two. They existed outside of the loops now.

He took a deep breathe, focusing on summoning his new ability to RESET.

…

*Determination