"You are home earlier than I expected!" Toriel greeted Frisk. They were sniffing the air. "I did not know if you would eat much, so I decided to make some pie. It is a new recipe- apple and pear."
"That sounds good." Frisk peeked up at it, sat cooling on the stove top. "I'm not that hungry, but is it okay for me to try a little bit?"
"Of course it is! Go and sit down, and I will bring you a slice, and some tea."
"Just a little slice please," Frisk said, leaving the room. One of their many sketchbooks was on the table- one of the less personal ones, rather than a journal sketchbook. They grabbed it and pulled a pencil out of their pocket, and flipped to an empty page.

The mayor's visit had been several days ago, but they hadn't really spoken to anyone about it. They felt a lot better for it- stronger, like they'd overcome one of Undyne's workouts. It was still hard to think about it- the things that had been said- but it felt like they'd closed a chapter of their life with what happened.
They hadn't seen their friends since then, though. Obviously Alphys and Undyne today- and Mettaton had sent them a message saying that they'd looked great. But of Papyrus and Sans, there had been nothing.
Of all their friends, when they didn't get to see them, they were the two that Frisk missed most. Papyrus' relentless enthusiasm and deep love for everyone always made Frisk feel better about themself, and they would never forget what he had said when Flowey had attacked them all, and he had defended them, despite being bound. "Just do what I would do... Believe in you!"

But if they were honest to themself, they missed Sans the most. They just put it down to him being their best friend- and a secret part of themself wanted desperately to believe that he saw them the same, despite his being known by just about everyone. With him, they could just... be. Everyone else had their own ideas and perceptions on who Frisk was; and they suspected he had started out kind of the same, from things he had said. But while the others still projected onto Frisk, he didn't.
It didn't bother them too much, what their loved ones wanted them to be. Toriel and Asgore wanted a child to love; Papyrus wanted a friend who loved the same things he did. Undyne saw someone who always did the right thing and never, ever gave up; and Alphys saw unceasing support. And those were all good things, but Sans just saw them, as they were; their joys and sadness, their triumphs and their terrors.
Frisk stared at their sketch. No wonder people thought they had romantic feelings for him. Here they were, drawing him; even if it was because they were thinking of him, it didn't exactly help go against their theories.

Toriel came in and Frisk hurriedly shut the sketchbook and pushed it away, taking the plate held out to them. She returned with a cup of tea for them both and sat with them.
Frisk poked at the pie. Their appetite had disappeared. Was it right? How would they even know? They loved all of their friends, and Toriel, and Asgore. Was it different?
"What is wrong, dear one?" Toriel's voice brought them out of their reverie.
"Oh..." Frisk sighed. Maybe she could help. "Mettaton and Alphys, um... think I like Sans. Like like."
Toriel didn't look phased. "Well, you do seem fond of him."
"I'm fond of all my friends!" Frisk jabbed at the pie with their fork. "How... How do you even know if you like someone like that, instead of as a friend?"
She looked very uncomfortable. "If you need to ask, you probably do not need to worry about it, dear. I think, when you feel that way, you will not be able to mistake it for anything else."
Frisk pulled a face. "Thanks, mum," they muttered, finally taking a mouthful of pie. It was good, sweet with a hint of spice, but they still didn't have much appetite. Her words had helped- but only a little.

"This really bothers you, does it not, my dear one," she said, softly. "Oh, I wish I knew how to explain it to you. When you want to be in a relationship with someone, it usually does involve them being your friend as well. But... There are definitely parts of your relationship which would not work with your platonic friends. Does that help any?"
Frisk thought as they chewed and swallowed their next mouthful of pie. "I think so."
"Do not worry, Frisk. I think, when you feel that way about someone, you will not be able to mistake it for anything else."
Frisk frowned as they took a sip of their tea. "Why don't you love Asgore any more?"

The range of emotions that ran over Toriel's face in the space of a few seconds were informative alone, and Frisk suspected they shouldn't have asked that particular question.
"He did terrible things, Frisk," she said in the end, her face carefully arranged to try to hide whatever the resulting feeling was. "Some things are so bad you cannot love the other person any more."
They frowned, dubious, remembering Asriel. Toriel saw, although she couldn't guess their thoughts; and when she spoke it was more heated.
"He was going to kill you, my child! Sometimes I fear you do not remember that!"

"I remember." They looked her in the eyes. "I won't ever forget that. But... So was Undyne, and Mettaton. You- you were going to lock me up in the ruins, so I could never escape, even though I wanted to be free." Her eyes widened in shock; but Frisk kept talking. "Alphys lied to me and put me in more danger because of it, and Papyrus was going to capture me and send me to the capital. But I don't think doing a bad thing- even doing a really, really bad thing- makes you a bad person, not if you can regret it, not if you can want things to be better." They remembered Asriel, and his guilt and his grief; and Flowey, robbed of that. "I don't want to ever hate someone if they're trying to be a better person," they said.
Toriel was still staring at them, shock in her eyes; her mouth open but no words coming out. Frisk felt awful. They just wanted to be able to see past what had been done, to see that everyone could be better, that they were trying to do the right thing- even if it looked bad to everyone else. They didn't want her to hate anyone. It was a stupid question, and they cursed their curiosity.

They got up and walked around the table, wrapping their arms around her neck and hugging her. There was a long pause.
"Do you really..." Her voice was just a whisper. "Do you truly feel that was what I was doing?"
"I feel like... You did something that maybe wasn't the right thing, even though you were trying to do what was best. And I love you." Finally her arms came up and wrapped around them.
"I am so sorry, my dear, sweet child, I am so sorry..."
"Me too. I- I wasn't trying to make you feel awful, mum." At the word, she hugged them tighter. "I just... I don't want you to hate Asgore. I want him in my life. And I want you to be okay with that, even if you never ever like him again. B-but... I don't want you to hate anyone else for what they did, either, if they're trying to be better."
Toriel's voice was muffled by Frisk's shoulder. "You mean me."
"Um. Partly?"
"You are... not as innocent as I first believed you to be, but you are far, far sweeter. Oh, my dear one." She pulled back, wiping at her eyes; Frisk was horrified.
"Oh, no no, I didn't want you to cry..." They reached for her hands, pulling them away from her eyes. She smiled at them.
"It is okay. You were right- you are so much wiser than we sometimes give you credit for. Forgiveness... It is hard, especially if you hold on to your bitterness for so long." She looked away. "For so long, I did not try hard enough. I thought I could keep you safe by never letting you out of the ruins, I finally wanted to try. All the others..." She lapsed into memories for a moment, before bringing her eyes back to Frisk's. She squeezed their hands. "You are right. Forgiveness, and trying to be better." She leaned forwards and kissed them on the top of the head. "What would we do without you? My sweet Frisk. Ah, but... But it is getting late. You should go to your room."

Frisk glanced at the clock and was about to protest- but glancing back at Toriel's face changed their mind. They gave her a goodnight hug and a kiss, and went up to their room.

Toriel stayed up very late, that night. She had a lot to think about.

And from fluff to more angst... I hated doing this to Toriel, but it felt like something that needed to be said sooner or later. And if it was said later, it would probably be said out of frustration, which would be more damaging.
I feel like Frisk's biggest fear is being trapped- and that is why they needed to try to escape the Underground, despite everything they had down there. And it's why they needed to leave the ruins. I knew from the beginning that a conversation like this needed to happen, for both Frisk and Toriel to really be able to move forwards.

It still felt horrible to write. Sorry, Toriel.

-Ren