A/N- This chapter is part of a multi-chapter arc that discusses mental and emotional trauma and the effects there-of.

Alphys accompanied Frisk to the house of the skeleton brothers. Although Toriel's house was a little way apart from any of the others, Undyne and the brothers had ended up being by far their closest neighbours- although Undyne didn't spend much time in her own house, often either with Papyrus or Alphys.
She was with the brothers now; she and Papyrus rushed over to them, clamour for information. Frisk tried to discourage them, by hinting that it was personal; then said it was all just boring legal stuff and stuff about how humans worked, which seemed to disappoint them. But they left the subject alone after that, and they dragged Alphys into their plans. Since Frisk had the day off from studying, they'd all taken the day off from helping with the building too, since they hadn't all had a day together for a while.

Frisk couldn't relax, though. The discussion with their counsellor kept going through their mind, as did the idea that Sans might be able to understand, maybe even help them understand. They waited until the other three were grouped around the DVDs that Papyrus and Undyne were collecting before going over to him.
"How's it goin', Frisk?" He looked laid-back, relaxed. For once, he wasn't having to worry about them; they felt a pang when they realised they were going to ruin his relaxing afternoon, before remembering their session and pushing it away as best they could.

"Hey, um, can I talk to you? In private?"
"Sure, kid." He nodded towards the door and Frisk headed out, Sans behind them. Alphys noticed and nudged Undyne; they whispered and giggled together (well, Alphys giggled and Undyne snorted.) Frisk and Papyrus didn't notice; Sans did, but didn't respond.
They walked towards the nearby stream. It was quiet here- most monsters gave their group of houses a wide berth out of respect for Toriel- but Frisk didn't say anything, keeping their hands jammed into the jeans pockets. They stopped at the stream.

"We should build a bridge here," they said suddenly.
"Really, kid. You brought me out here to tell me that," Sans said dryly.
"No, just... Thinking."
"You wanna get across?"
"Um, sure, but- eep!" Before Frisk could prepare themself, Sans lifted them and levitated them across the stream, planting them firmly on their feet. They took a deep breath and turned to berate him, only to find him standing next to them, that grin on his face.
"Sans! D-don't do that!"
"Huh. Thought you wanted to get across."
"W-well, I... Okay, don't do that without warning me, okay?"
"Sure, kid." They set off through the trees. "What did you want to talk about, anyway?"

Frisk stopped by a tree. There was a sturdy branch, low and strong; and they pulled themself onto it. Sans leaned against the tree and Frisk did likewise, one leg hanging off the branch.
"I... this is going to sound insane. Sometimes I think it is. But, um. Do you remember when you came into the ruins after me?"
The air between them suddenly felt heavy with tension. "Sure."
"W-well, that flower... Um, he's called Flowey, he-"
"Wait, Flowey? His name is... Flowey? You're not having me on here?"
"I didn't name him!" Frisk said, heatedly. Sans shook his head.
"Never said you did, kid. Heh, Flowey... Okay, go on."
"Right, well, um... No, wait, I should start, um... Okay. When I fell down, he tried to kill me. Toriel defended me, but when I went to leave her house, he showed up again... Said some weird things, about relentless killers, and called me a monarch? And then disappeared, and he didn't show up until I... fought Asgore."
"You fought Asgore." Sans' eyes were narrowed, focused on Frisk, but he didn't correct them.
"I... Do you remember before I went to him, you talked to me about, uh, about killing, and... All of that?"
"Yyyyeah?"
"You were right. I'd heard it before. I- did fight him. And he- Sans- he killed me. I tried not to fight him, I tried to talk him down, and he listened at first, but then- then he killed me. I... remember dying, and then I came back. I think it's because of magic in the underground, but I came back... To before we had that conversation. I could've gone back later, but..." Their composure started to crack. "I w-wanted to, to get a chance to... say goodbye again. B-because, I knew, I... I had to f-fight him. And I did. But I didn't kill him."
They sniffed and took a deep breath, collecting themself. Sans was silent, listening and waiting. Finally they continued.

"Flowey did. He took the human souls that Asgore had, and he killed Asgore. And then... He..."
"He killed you."
"N-not at first. He. He took my power, my ability to go back, I don't know how, maybe just b-because having all those souls made him stronger, but I... I couldn't go back. And he... Changed. Into. Into what I have nightmares about. One of the things. And then I tried to fight back, and he killed me. And I came back... To before he killed me. And he did it again." Frisk was shaking, staring wide-eyed at nothing. "And I finally... I reached out to the human souls, and I managed to get them to break free, and I thought I could beat him, but he went back again- and he held my soul, and he killed me, over and over and over. And I- I didn't think I could hold on. I had to, I couldn't let him win, if he got the seventh soul, if he got my soul... Everyone... He would have destroyed everything he could. And then... In the end, the human souls rebelled. And they left him broken. And I... left."

Frisk leaned back against the tree, breathing hard. Sans stayed quiet, watching Frisk intently. Finally they started again.
"Then you left me a voice message. You don't remember that, do you?"
"Nah, this was all in a different time, by the sounds of it."
"Maybe? I don't know how any of this works. But... I never wanted to leave, I just thought that... I should. And Asgore, before he... He said that he'd give me a place, a family. I felt like... I felt so stupid for leaving. I had no place above, so I found the hole that I fell down before. And I was sat there, when I listened to your message."
"What did I say?"
"Things were bad, but... You didn't want me to give up hope, that if you guys were all holding on I had to as well. And Papyrus and Undyne both spoke, as well. Toriel had gone back to rule, and... And things were bad. For me, for you- for everyone. So I thought... If I fell back down, maybe I'd be able to go back, and try again. But- it's only ever happened when I died. So... Either I'd get to go back and fix things, or I'd fail and never know that and never have to worry about it again. So I jumped. And it worked."

Sans was staring at them, no longer leaning against the tree; but they couldn't look at him, couldn't stop talking. It was like they'd opened a floodgate and the words were pouring out, whether they wanted them to or not.
"So I didn't fight Asgore, not this time, I just left, and then... The stuff that happened, happened, with Alphys, and then I went to him and you all came. And Flowey. Maybe he'd been the one to pull me back, I don't know, but he had taken the human souls again, and you all defended me-"
"I remember that bit," Sans said quietly. Frisk continued as if they hadn't heard him.
"-And he took everyone. Everyone but me. I watched as you all disappeared. And I... I just held on. To my memories of everyone. But I felt myself slipping so I reached out, to your souls... This all sounds insane, doesn't it? You must think I'm nuts." Sans shook his head, and Frisk took a deep breath and continued.
"I had to... Get you all to remember me. And it... helped to stop me slipping. So I reached out to As- to who Flowey had been, long ago, and he... He thought I was someone else, all along. And he..." Frisk was finally crying now, trying vainly to wipe the tears away, but though their words became harder to understand they didn't slow. "He broke down, he was so broken, so terrified, so alone, and then he just stopped fighting, and he broke the barrier and brought everyone back, and then I woke up. And he turned back into the flower. And he's stuck like that. And, and that's what my nightmares are, of him, or of you- all of you, or any of you, and I can't save you, or you don't want me to, and I'm alone again, or I die again. And... I know it all sounds crazy, but I thought- you seem to know, I don't know, something. I thought you might believe me."

"I do believe you, Frisk," Sans said. They looked at him; he was staring at them with empty sockets, but they weren't afraid of that any more.
"Y-you do?"
"Yeah. It explains a lot, kiddo. And all that- it'd give anyone nightmares."
"I guess it would." Frisk leaned back against the tree, wiping their eyes. "I don't think anyone else would understand, though, would they? I don't even understand."
"Nah, they wouldn't. But you've helped me understand stuff I didn't before. That flower- that is the anomaly, isn't it? Screwing with timelines, jumping back and forth, until it all... Ended." He wasn't really speaking to Frisk, who had turned to look at him; rather, he was musing aloud. "It really did all end, didn't it. But we're past that."
"Y-yeah." Frist swung both their legs off the branch, facing him, and hooked their hands under it so they could lean forwards. "We are."
"I guess I'm the only one that can say it, then." He turned his grin on Frisk, his eyes no longer black and empty.
"Huh?"
"Thanks, kid. The others think they know what you did for them. But I got a good idea, now, and it's more than they could guess. So... Thanks."

Frisk blushed and looked away. "Well, um. I just. It. Ohgod Sans stop looking at me." They let their head fall forwards until their hair covered their face. He smirked.
"All the praise you get for getting us out of there and you still can't accept someone saying thanks?"
"Th-that's different! They don't know. They don't know, they can't. But... You do and I, just. Argh. I don't know what to saaaay." They rubbed at their face with one hand.
"Don't gotta say anything, buddo." He leaned against the tree, looking back towards the monster village until Frisk composed themself. He glanced over once they sat back up- they were still red in the face, but less embarrassed than they were.
"Why'd you want to tell me all this, anyway? This have anything to do with your session?"
"Mmhmm." Frisk shuffled along the branch and jumped off, landing lightly in front of him. They sat at the base of the tree and leaned against it. "He said- my counsellor... Well, it doesn't matter. It just made me... Feel like I should, uh, stop bottling it all up. I just... didn't expect it all to burst out of me like that. Sorry."
"Did he tell ya to stop apologising all the time? 'Cause you should stop apologising all the time."
"I'll mention that to him next week."

Sans sat down next to Frisk. "Feel better?"
"Y-yeah. I do. It feels like, um. I guess like lancing a wound?"
"You're gonna have to explain that one to me, kid."
"Oh. Well, um, sometimes, when humans get hurt, the wound can get infected? I don't know if it's like that with monsters, since you're magical I think maybe it's different, but infection can spread, and it hurts. And uh, one way to deal with an infection is to, um, pierce it, so infected... stuff can come out of it, and it hurts a lot to do it and afterwards, but then it's a clean hurt."
"...Huh. You ever have to do that?"
"Yup!" Frisk held their arm out. "Just here. I uh, I got hurt, leaving the orph- the place they send unwanted kids. And there was no way to clean it, so it got infected. I hadta stab it with a stick and wash it every day in a stream, so it took ages to heal."
Sans took their arm, looking at it. It was just a raised patch of tough skin, edges rough. He pointed to another one, neater and shinier. "How about this one?"
"Burned myself cooking last winter! It was worth it," they confided.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
"Nope! Not even to touch them." He lightly ran his finger over it. "Uh, I don't feel much through that one though," they added.
"And how about here?" He pointed to the tip of one on their upper arm, sticking out from under their sleeve. They took their arm back and tugged their sleeve.
"That's... a story for another time." They rubbed their arm, then forced themself to give him a smile. "Guess you don't have to worry about scars, huh?"
"Nah. I mean- some monsters do, I guess. Not everything can be undone, you know?" Frisk thought about Undyne and her eyepatch. "But I've never heard of any monster having scars like you do."
"Mm. I guess it's a human thing." Frisk pulled a face. "A permanent reminder."
"I can think of worse things than a reminder of what you've overcome."
Frisk looked at him, giving him a genuine smile. "That's true."

They remained in comfortable silence for a few minutes, before Sans stood up, offering a hand. "Come on kid, we should get back. My brother will sulk if he doesn't get to spend enough time with you today."
Frisk went to take his hand; but instead, Sans' eye glowed and he picked Frisk up. They let out a yelp of surprise, before giggling and getting their feet under them. Once he had put them down they bumped into him. "I told you to warn me!"
"Where's the fun in that?"

They walked quietly to the stream; but when Sans spoke, he didn't mention getting back across. "Kid- you said you had to, uh, 'help us remember', when our souls had been... Absorbed or whatever."
"Yeah?"
Sans wasn't looking at Frisk; they cocked their head to one side, bewildered, as he didn't speak for a moment. Then, "What was it like?"
"Uh... It was like, I could... sense whoever I was reaching out to? And... I could talk to them, or kind of hug them, but I don't know if it was just my intentions. I don't know much about magic. And, uh, I don't... think there's much research on world-destroying gods."
"Good point. So you... reached out to me."
"Yeah. I'm guessing none of you remembers that, at all."
"I remember..." Sans paused, glancing at Frisk and then back across the stream. "Feelings, like a dream. I get that a lot- or I did, before we left."
"Like what?"
"Come on, kid. We've been out here long enough, I'm amazed Papyrus isn't looking for us." He looked at Frisk's pouting face. "'Another story for another time'," he quoted their words from earlier. Frisk smiled slightly, though still put out.
"Fiiiiine," they said in an exaggerated drawl. Sans grinned wider.
"Ready?"
"Ready! But, um- can I face you when you do it?"

Sans shrugged and lifted them. They had a clear look at his face; his left eye, glowing as he concentrated. They were still so unused to seeing him do magic that they didn't pay attention to him putting them down, and stumbled, nearly falling over into the stream. Once they'd righted themself, he was already there, standing next to them. They were getting so used to that that they didn't even comment, and they set off down the street together.

Papyrus, Undyne and Alphys hadn't settled on anything to watch. Papyrus was easily bored, and Undyne only tended to settle long enough to watch something if it was anime. Papyrus was, in fact, in his room- Undyne and Alphys were on the sofa, and sprang to opposite ends when the door opened, faces red, looking at Frisk to see if they'd noticed. They giggled at their mortified friends; Sans didn't say anything, although Alphys quickly looked away from his face.
Papyrus thundered out of his room as soon as he heard Sans shut the door. "There you are! We were going to start searching for you!"
"Those two weren't," Sans muttered, glancing at the sofa; Frisk tried to hide their snickering behind their hands.

"Oh no! Is my brother telling awful jokes again?!"
"Nope," Frisk said, trying to straighten their face and save their friends from any more humiliation.
"Good! Now that you are back, perhaps we can find a DVD to watch! I wanted to watch one with a very dashing skeleton, maybe you can persuade the others!"
"No way, we should watch what I brought over! Tell him, punk!" Undyne bounded to her feet, thrusting a case at Frisk.
"Um! I th-think that Frisk should not watch that one!" Alphys leaned over the top of the sofa and tried to grab it from Undyne.
"Whaaat!? Come on, this looks great!"
"It- it says '16' on it!" Alphys whispered, her face flushed. "A-and it has- that was just for-"
"Hey, Frisk, you can watch this, right?!"
"I, uh, don't know exactly how old I am." Frisk fidgeted. "But I'm definitely not sixteen! I'm... maybe eleven or twelve? I, um, lost track. But-" glancing at the rather busty girls posing on the cover- "I think that is... not for me."
"See?!" Papyrus thrust his case at them. "We should watch this one instead!"

Frisk took it. "Oh! 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'? I've heard of this. It's old, but it's supposed to be pretty good. And, um, I think everyone can enjoy it, probably."
"Oh, come onnnn," Undyne whined. Frisk gave Papyrus an overly sincere look, with only a quick sly sideways glance at Alphys.
"You know, Papyrus, I actually don't think Undyne would be able to enjoy this. I don't think she's up for it."
"What?!"
"I don't think she has it in her to give it a chance. We'll just have to watch it without h-urk!"
Undyne shoved Frisk aside, grabbing the case. "FINE! We'll watch your stupid skeleton movie! I'll give it a chance! I'll give it more chances than anyone!"

Sans had magically dragged the old sofa from the far wall over to join their newer one, and Papyrus had happily seated himself in the middle of it. Frisk flopped down on one side of him, putting a cushion on his lap and resting their head on it; Sans sat on his other side, sprawled against his brother. Alphys and Undyne sat on the other one- although throughout the course of the movie, they slowly shifted position until they were cuddling together. Everyone got into the movie in the end- Undyne yelled louder than anyone at the villain's defeat, and cheered at the ending.

Afterwards, at Frisk's suggestion, they hooked up the computer to the television. (Upon reaching the surface, Alphys had, of course, been eager to ensure everyone had a decent PC, now that she had access to technology she could have only dreamed at before.) They downloaded more animated movies featuring non-human characters, and neither Papyrus nor Undyne ever claimed they were "kid's movies".

By far, the longest chapter so far. Thus ends the focus on Frisk's mental health! From here on there will be time jumps and character interactions. Hopefully less angst, more fluff.

I felt it was incredibly important to cover this stuff, though. Frisk needed to be in a place where they could get help dealing with their issues- no matter what your personal Frisk is like, I can't imagine them without issues. They've been through a LOT. They also needed to start getting to a place where they really felt able to open up to Sans- it's probably pretty obvious how important I think their friendship is, from both sides. I feel like Sans is the only person Frisk could ever talk to about some of this stuff- quite apart from anything else, everyone else would either be seriously negatively affected by the truth or would spill it to someone who would be.

I wasn't going to outright state what movie they were watching, but in the end it was absurd to dance around it. There's a few movies that I know of that would be perfect for the group to watch together, but The Nightmare Before Christmas is definitely on my list. What do you think?

-Ren