Disclaimer:

I do not claim to own the original game nor its many AUs, but this plot and possible original characters belong to me. Any famous songs, TV show/movies/books and manga names, and brands that are mentioned in this work belong to their rightful owners. This is purely for fun and my inner fangirl.

© Willa Field

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1:

A Thousand Years

Sans
(Third Person's POV)

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Sans the skeleton was tired, so fucking tired, of this. Being reborn, meeting his beautiful Frisk, just to have to kill them or lose them to their sacrifice. He was tired of losing the biggest part of him.

He knew that they both had a part to play, but Sans was done. However, the skeleton knew he would never be free from this endless hell. He would never have the true ending he wanted, he would be alone and without them forever. This will never end, he mused with a dulled amusement while the ancient skeleton popped a cigarette between his sharp teeth as his footsteps echoed throughout the semi-empty towns and tunnels of the Underground. The sun, peeking through a hole in the ceiling of the cave, tinted on his sole golden fang as the male took in the rotting version of his former home:

Almost every monster left the Underground, even himself, so happy to be freed. But, Sans was just faking his giddiness for Flowery; knowing Frisk's death affected him too, he didn't need his depression to deal with as well. He just smiled for him, but after he dropped the flower off at the King's house for the day, Sans welcomed the sadness as he walked the familiar path to the Ruins. This was his daily routine, smiling until alone and then frowned until he was with them again.

He watched as more and more monsters disappear from the Underground to the surface over the three years since the Angel of Monsters came and went, but no matter what Papyrus or Flowery say or try to do, he couldn't leave them behind. Sans doubted that he ever would, they were his everything.

He sighed around his lit cigarette, chuckling at the thoughts, as he stepped into the small open field, the lonely headstone peeking through the small patch of buttercups. Seeing their name caused the burning sense of unshed tears to return while the frowning skeleton knelt and traced the imprint lovingly, gingerly:

"Flower you today, sweetheart? I'm sorry that I'm latte, heh, I was bone tired and needed coffee." Sans cracked a small smile, shifting into a sitting position and moving a hand to his skull, a few red tears disobeyed him as the crushing weight of the hole Frisk always leaves every single time came rushing back.

He always wondered when his feelings for the sweet, naive human changed. At first, Sans loathed them for killing all the people he ever cared about. But, he soon found out there was two different people in one body: the twisted and broken soul of the second royal child dubbed Chara, and the warm and kind soul of the Angel. The latter was the one he slowly grew to care for deeply.

Even when Frisk caved into Chara's influence and let them do the Genocide Run through Frisk's body, he glimpsed the true sweet creature they were. He hated them for it, but he wasn't blind. He wasn't blind to their pain, to their humanity.

For a few timelines after the Genocide timeline, he was just a good duncle, always there to protect them and keep a smile on their cute little face. But then, things started to change. It was slow, but the skeleton couldn't ignore the changes.

At first, it was just Frisk's age, something he never thought about really, it was such a minor detail in a sea in much more important details. He didn't have time to notice the small changes in his sweetheart:

However, Sans soon saw their cute face slowly matured into a beauty he would be a fool to not notice, and their mind matured from the childish innocence he adored to a more matured kindness he was always surprised by and admired, with every new timeline. And soon, he noticed how he would blush every time they would reach for his hand. Every time they would call his name.

And that grew to be a problem, especially when they didn't always turn to him, but Papyrus in one and Asriel in another.

He hated the heat of jealousy, knowing it wasn't fair to anyone, especially when he dated Toriel in one timeline, faltering under the loneliness from Frisk's choice to turn from him; but seeing them smiling at the other men and being held by another made his non-existent blood boil and he wanted to throw a white-hot blue/red magic ball at their head and steal Frisk away.

And then Underfell happened, the twisted and cruel version of the Underground, but even in that world; Frisk still managed to warm his and everyone else's hardened souls. Their smile became his favorite view in that time. Sans finally knew the lingering truth he tried to ignore.

He had fallen in love with the beautiful Angel on the way. Now, he fought the feelings as this new world was created and begun, but the skeleton knew it was feeble while the teen refused to hate them and didn't give up their determination to save the monsters that were determined to kill all humans. They were just hard to hate.

Sans stopped fighting when they still smiled at him after he killed them. He just didn't have the energy to fight against this sweet creature:

Sans breathed out a weary sigh through a sad toothy smile as his bony hand pressed against the cold stone, red tears running down his cheekbones now as his deep, booming voice rung around the cave.

"I miss you, honey. Why won't you come back to me?" Sans sobbed softly, hanging his head, and his eye sockets were closed.

His hand was still glued to the engraved name as he let his tears fall on the bright yellow flowers. He didn't want to be strong, he was tired.

"Hello, Sans. I was worried you wouldn't come today." Toriel's voice, soft as a mother's voice should be, sang out to him oddly cheerful as the sound of soft footsteps echoed off the Ruins' walls.

Sans quickly cleared his cheekbones, unwilling to show the queen his weak side, then he flashed the female goat monster a lop-sided grin, but the queen knew the grin was faked as she moved to the skeleton's side with a hidden frown:

"Your majesty, you know nothing could hole me back. Heh." Sans winked, gesturing to a hole on his familiar jacket's sleeve. Toriel gave a sigh before she chuckled softly, placing a tender hand on the closest shoulder:

"All jokes aside, funny bone, I was about to call you. Something happened." The goat said, looking to the small cottage with a smile before turning back to Sans, who now were raising a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Oh? What happened, your majesty? You peeked my curiosity." Sans grinned again, cocking his head as he stuffed his hands in his jacket's pockets.

The goat monster giggled at the skeleton's cool attitude, knowing it was about to melt away, even if only for a moment, at the mention of his precious flower's return.

Toriel didn't know how to think about Sans' love for her child, but she knew he would protect them to the bitter end, she saw it after all. They will be safe with this jester of a skeleton. Toriel was just worried that the bloomed flower wouldn't be ready for the wild stallion that Sans is. But, Toriel couldn't really keep Frisk away from him. She didn't want to hurt them any further than the journey already had. The goat knew the skeleton needed some good news after a three-year period of bad news and loneliness, so Toriel smiled wide while holding out a paw to the shorter monster:

"I came down to water the flowers, Asgore was away with Flowery for a few hours; so, I thought I would visit Frisk before you got here, since I know you like to be alone with them. But, when I arrived, I noticed something was lying next to the grave."

Sans frowned in curious confusion, his lone pupil glowed as he took the soft paw into his cold and bony hand, letting her lead him in the warm cottage. He wondered why a human would be down here, knowing how dangerous it still is with a few lingering trouble makers still lurking around. The skeleton doubted any monster would come here, knowing he was coming.

"A human? Why did they come? It's still dangerous here, not just 'cause the left-over yahoos who are refusing to leave, but the cave is caving into the loneliness." He mused, flashing the queen his fangs as they walked down the hallway to Frisk's room, slipping a joke to ease his soulache as they grew closer. Even their room caused him an amount of pain

With a roll of dark eyes, the mother goat smiled as she crossed her arms while they came to a stop in front of the room, her ears were moving with each shake.

"You and your jokes are tiring; do you know that?"

"Oh, your Majesty, I know you love them and my bony ass." The male monster jested, leaning on the wall with an easy grin. Toriel shot an annoyed look before she cleared her throat and spoke once more.

"Do you want to know who it was or keep jesting? If it's the latter, I can always—"

That made the skeleton behave, sighing as he nodded slowly. The goat smiled as she opened her mouth:

"It was a girl, a familiar girl. But, different."

At that, his pupil grew brighter, his soul was wiggling as a gasp escaped his teeth, his eye sockets widening. He didn't want to believe that she was back, his beloved flower returned to him, to them, just to be disappointed once more. She was back, but was she truly?

Many a time she was a he, but their gender didn't matter to Sans, all that mattered throughout all the timelines was that they were safe and free from the Demon. That was what worried him as he stared at the closed door, his phalanxes curling into a fist in his pocket. Who really was in the room?

Was it his Frisk or was it terrifying Chara? That thought sent a tense shiver down his spine. He didn't want to fight anymore, the skeleton was tired of fighting anybody, but when the other attacker shared looks with the girl you loved, well it just complicates things.

"Don't worry, Sans, just go in." Toriel gently urged him, touching his arm before leaving him to think for a bit on his own, thoughts of Chara soon fading into hopes to see Frisk.

He sucked on his bottom set of teeth, a burning sensation started to dance through his bones as he pulled out a hand reaching to the door. He cocked his head while closing his eyes, breathing a soothing breath as he tried to figure out what to do.

But, the sensation soon became like a gentle embrace of fire, coaxing him. The skeleton closed his eyes, steeling himself before Sans slowly opened the door, revealing the simple room…

As he took in the familiar room, untouched since Frisk ran from Toriel's crazy attacks and after she spared her life, he smiled at the memories.

The sensation grew stronger as his eyes fell upon the sleeping figure on the bed, cuddling into the blankets. His breath caught as he saw a familiar soft shade of purple and strip of pink peeking underneath from the blankets. It was a sign that it might be truly Frisk, Sans thought in wonderment as he stepped closer to the bed and reached a bony hand out to stroke her soft, brown hair, causing the girl to stir a bit.

Sans panicked a little that he woke her too early, but she just nuzzled into his cold touch, smiling that heart-melting smile, sending his soul into a giddy swirl as she mumbled in her sleep:

"Sansy, I miss you. I'm sorry to leave you, don't be mad. I just wanted you to be happy." Her breath caught as loose tears fluttered down her cheeks from her fluttering eyelids, "But, I want to be with you. I'm sorry I'm so selfish. But, I can't help but wish for it…"

His own tears were falling now as Sans gently grabbed her arm; careful not to wake her, pulled her to him, and he cradled the body to his, wanting to soothe her guilt. He wanted to be with Frisk so bad that it hurt.

The skeleton was struck by how good it felt to hold the girl in his arms once more. It felt so good that he didn't want to let her go ever again, and as he wiped her tears away gingerly away from her beautiful face, that was what he planned on doing. She was going to be his:

"If that's selfish, sweetheart, then we both are in the wrong. We should be punished, huh? Heh." Sans smiled softly against her forehead before landing a gentle kiss to his smooth and warm skin, moving back an inch to take in the changes in his flower but, the male wasn't expecting the view he got. It almost blinded him.

The young woman has gotten breathtakingly gorgeous, so beautiful that it almost set his soul ablaze:

Her brown hair grew quite a bit, it now was held together by a bright yellow—almost as yellow as Flowery's petals—bow at the middle of the thick and long braid. Only a few of loose strands tickled Sans' arms as he held her.

And although it was half buried in his chest, it was easy to tell that her face has gotten sharper. It was heart-shaped with high cheekbones, her thick lashes fluttered against them as she dreamt. And there were her full rosy lips, which the skeleton had to fight the urge to kiss.

She was beautiful, truly heaven's lost angel was enclosed in his arms. Her inhuman beauty made the handsome skeleton feel the jealous rage towards other men looking at her and making her theirs surged through his bones. That thought sent his blood a boil and he just wanted to hide her away from the world, keeping her all to himself…

That thought scared him a bit, knowing that it might scare Frisk away, but the thought almost drove him to insanity.

"I always knew that you were going to be beautiful, Frisk, but you're…." Sans whispered to the sleeping girl in his arms, his voice trailed off as his burning eyes were trained Frisk's face, caressing the curve of her cheek before tucking Frisk back into the bed and turned to find Toriel standing in the doorway, smiling sadly as he stepped away from her for the last night.

The two walked to the door, unable to think of what to say.

Sans was still in shocked, thinking back to the feeling of having Frisk in his arms once again. The skeleton was so high from the touch that he barely got what Tori was saying until she snapped her fingers in front of his face. He gave her a sheepish smile, a bright red blush creeping across his cheekbones:

"Sorry, Queen Toriel, what did you say?" The goat monster rolled her eyes, a soft smile on her face.

"I'll call you when she wakes. She probably will be asleep for a while, seeing she was weak from the journey and being away so long. I suppose we all will have a long day tomorrow."

Giving a small chuckle, he nodded in response, giving a half wave before he walked out of the Ruins, the smile still was on his face well pass the barrio. She was back and safe.

But, as he came down the mountain, he began to feel a pair of haunting eyes following him. Sans glowered as he stopped, searching the shade of the forest, his fists shaking at his sides.

"I know you are out there, bastard. Better just face me right now."

"Well, well. Looks like you're a lot smarter than I pinned you out to be, little Sansy 14."

The voice which responded sounded like it was coming out of a broken computer, stuttering as Sans watched the broken version of him step out of the shadows with a twisted smile:

"Hello, Error." Sans growled out, his eye was as bright as a raging fire. The black skeleton chuckled darkly as he leaned against a lone tree, playing with a ball of energy as he shot a playful glance at the scowling skeleton.

"Not happy to see me? I'm so hurt, 14, I'm just doing my job."

"Oh, I know, but Frisk isn't a glitch, and you are not going anywhere near her. I will protect her, Error. I will make sure of that, no one will hurt her ever again." Sans' voice grew even deeper, echoing around the two males, ready to fight at a moment's notice, knowing how crazy Error could get.

Error clicked his tongue, shaking his head at the white skeleton's foolishness and shrugged lazily before he grinned as his yellow pupil glowed brightly against the darkness of his eye socket. This is going to be fun, he thought with glee.

"Well, I did want a new game to play. Okay, then, I won't hurt your precious little sleeping beauty for now, but I'll always be watching. You better keep an eye on her. You don't want her to lose her head, now, don't you?"

After a mischievous wink, the glitchy skeleton disappeared in a poof of magic just when Sans growled loudly, sending a red-glowing bone to the wood where the black skeleton was once standing. He punched a close tree hard, cursing under his breath:

"Shit. Why can't this ever be easy for us? Oh well, if that bastard goes anywhere near her, we are going to have a great time. No one will take sweetheart away from me, not again. Ever."

With that vow, Sans turned back to Mount. Ebott and bolted back Toriel to grab Frisk. He hated he had to take her away so soon from her soon-adoptive mother, he will be damned if he'll be away from her after the meeting, he'll be damned he will fail again.

He needed to protect his sweetheart, he failed her too many times before, Sans will not give up.

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Sans closed his eyes and he sighed deeply, leaning against the living room's wall with Flowery sitting on the coffee table, listening to Frisk's steady breathing as she cuddled into the heavy jacket covering her small body and nuzzling into the couch. Just having her close soothed his nerves a bit, but while he still is out there, he couldn't rest well. And that wasn't Sans.

Thankfully, the others loved the girl as much as he did, even the hardened Papyrus, so he had help protecting Frisk. The young woman will be safe, even when he couldn't be by her. Sans smiled, reaching for her smaller hand while Flowery's voice brought him back to reality:

"Sans, what are we going to do? This Error guy sounds strong, not saying that you weren't, but do you really think we can beat him? I don't want to lose her again."

He turned to see Flowery's petals drooped in worry and a frown on his lips. It's true that at first, they weren't on the best terms the first day they met. However, after the days went on and they had a common goal—Frisk's safety—the males grew closer and Sans viewed the shy flower as a little brother.

Sans chuckled softly, pulling the plant monster onto his lap and carefully hugged him to his strong chest, humming a little lullaby to soothe the small male's worries. He remembered when this was Frisk while the young child used to have nightmares of her past. The memory filled the skeleton with warmth.

"C'mon, buddy, you know that I'll never let her go again. Error might be strong, but I have you guys on my side. We'll keep her safe from that bastard, don't you worry, Flowery." He muttered to the flower, falling into a dreamless sleep, holding Frisk's hand and Flowery in the other arm.