Entry # 7, the final "official" entry of "Cheer Up The Skeleton" week on Tumblr. The prompt was "Winding Down." After this was a bonus prompt that I felt compelled to do.

The evening dragged on into the night, and the skeleton household was still dimly lit by a lamp in the loving room. Two brothers sat on the couch, with no distractions to speak of.

"SO...IT WOULD'VE LET YOU TRAVEL BACK IN TIME?" Papyrus asked.

"yeah. well, kinda. more like, i could've gone back to a moment in my life, so i could make a different decision. to change things, but..."

"BUT YOU DIDN'T WANT TO BECOME ANOTHER...FRISK, RIGHT?"

"i guess that's one way to put it. frisk couldn't control their resets, not entirely, and i don't think it would've been fair for me to just...throw everybody back into that situation again. grillby's right, i have no idea what would happen if i started to change things. there's no perfect answers, and...if i kept on trying to fix problems that i caused, i'd just keep resetting, i suppose."

It smelled like a skeleton who finally grew up.

"IT'S STILL REALLY COOL, THAT YOU BUILT A MACHINE THAT COULD DO THAT! TIME TRAVEL IS SOMETHING THE HUMANS DREAM OF BEING ABLE TO DO!"

"yeah, well, they don't know what it's like to be stuck in that kind of loop. if they did, they'd abandon the idea entirely."

"SO JUST DON'T TELL ANYBODY. I WON'T."

"thanks, pap. i won't either. and i'm sorry."

"SORRY?"

"for being such a bonehead. it was a dumb idea."

Papyrus placed a gloved hand on Sans' shoulder. "THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH TRYING TO FIX THINGS. YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO...ERASE THE PROBLEM INSTEAD, AND YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT'S WHAT YOU WERE DOING."

"i guess."

"AND YOU DIDN'T DO IT. THAT'S THE IMPORTANT PART. YOU COULD HAVE. YOU COULD HAVE FLIPPED THE SWITCH OR WHATEVER AND JUST DONE IT, WITHOUT ANY REGARD FOR ANYBODY ELSE'S WISHES. YOU DIDN'T, BECAUSE YOU CARE ABOUT US, RIGHT?"

"of course! i care about each and every one of you! that's why i...couldn't go through with it."

"BECAUSE YOU WERE SCARED OF CHANGING THINGS TOO MUCH?"

"well, yeah, but i was also scared of...y'know, not being able to come back."

"WELL, YOU COULD HAVE JUST MADE THE SAME CHOICES AGAIN."

"not exactly. the knowledge would still be there, and it'd affect things. take that electricity maze puzzle that you had frisk run through. remember how it zapped you because you were holding the orb? so you gave it to frisk but left footprints in the maze so they solved it immediately. if you'd gone back, you would know not to get zapped, because it hurt. it's instinctive, y'know?"

"I SEE."

"so you already changed things by not even thinking about it. that was the last straw for me. i knew i couldn't just stand there and get hurt again, i'd have to move. i'd have to change, and it could be really bad even if it's minor."

"HMM...WELL THE FACT THAT YOU'RE STILL HERE, THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH FOR ME!"

"thanks, papyrus."

"THAT REMINDS ME," Papyrus said, standing up and walking toward the kitchen. He returned with a letter in his hand, holding it up to look at the front. "YOU GOT THIS IN THE MAIL. SANS...WHY ARE YOU GETTING MAIL FROM NASA, OF ALL PLACES?"

"nasa?"

Sans jumped up and snatched the letter, tearing it open and perusing the document inside. Rapid eye-movement began to slow, and the smile he had began to shrink just a bit.

"hah...they said no. budget reasons. that...makes sense i suppose."

"NO? NO TO WHAT?"

"asgore had to give the government a list of monsters and their magical abilities. he told them about my ability to manipulate gravity, and about how i'm an...out of work scientist. they passed that along to nasa, and they invited me to work with them on projects."

"SO...WHY DIDN'T YOU GO?"

"i wanted to! ...but..."

Sans gave a sigh of relief.

"i told them i wouldn't go if you couldn't come with me."

"ME? SANS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BRING ME ALONG..."

"yeah i do."

"NO, YOU DON'T! SANS, PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU GAVE UP YOUR DREAM FOR ME! I'LL BE FINE! I CAN...MANAGE ON MY OWN!"

"i didn't want to bring you along because i didn't think you could handle it. i wanted to bring you because...i couldn't handle it. being that far away. i couldn't do it. i...couldn't go into space without you, it'd be so lonely."

"SANS..."

"and don't be so sure i'm giving up. if they really wanted gravity magic, they'd snatch both of us up without a second thought. no...i think they realized that i was on to them."

"YOU...THINK THEY HAD BAD INTENTIONS?"

"maybe? i think they were going to drag me along, test my powers, and ditch me, to be honest. or maybe i'd become some kind of lab experiment, not that they could hold me for long or anything. that was another reason i wanted to bring you along. because you'd never stand for it. i think they knew what i was planning and just canceled their plans."

"THAT'S...KIND OF TERRIBLE!"

"yeah, well, not everybody's great like you."

"OR YOU!"

"heh, thanks."

Sans looked back at the letter and gave a low chuckle before crinkling it into a ball and tossing it toward the garbage can. His eye flickered blue and yellow after realizing he was going to miss his target, and the ball turned blue, gently landing within its target area. The magic lifted again, leaving behind a small skeleton with slightly saddened eyes.

"...YOU KNOW."

Sans looked up at his brother.

"I HAD AN IDEA, BUT...I DUNNO."

"what's that?"

"WELL...EBOTT IS A...WHAT DID THEY CALL IT, A 'COLLEGE TOWN'?"

"yeah, there's a university here, fairly prestigious if i remember right."

"SO...DO YOU THINK THEY HAVE AN ASTRONOMY DEPARTMENT?"

"i dunno, why?"

"REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME ON THE ROOF? WHEN YOU STARTED TELLING ME ABOUT STARS?"

"yeah."

"YOU WERE REALLY EXCITED. REALLY REALLY REALLY EXCITED. IF I DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER, I'D SAY YOU WERE HAVING FUN."

"i guess i was. what, you think i could be a teacher or something?"

"YEAH! YOU COULD TEACH PEOPLE ABOUT THE STARS! SHOW THEM WHAT YOU KNOW! INSPIRE PEOPLE TO REACH FOR THEM LIKE YOU DO!"

"heh, sounds like a bit too much work..."

Papyrus put his hands on his hips and glared at his brother. "SANS..."

However, Sans' smile widened again. "...but i could always give it a shot."

"REALLY?"

"yeah, although...i'd need to become certified to teach, especially at a college, so i'd probably have to go through the hoops to get the degree and stuff. i dunno."

"WELL, JUST TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME."

"i also gotta practice teaching, since, y'know, i guess i'd want to do a decent job."

"PRACTICE TEACHING? THEN I SUPPOSE THERE'S NO CHOICE!"

Papyrus puffed out his chest and held his head high.

"THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE YOUR GREATEST STUDENT. YOU SHALL INSTRUCT ME, AND I SHALL PASS WITH THE HIGHEST OF MARKS!"

Sans chuckled again.

"then i, professor sans, no, doctor sans, will elect to give you a one-time discount on your tuition of one hundred percent."

"WOWIE! FREE TUITION!"

"...but we start tomorrow night. your first class is at 10 pm, are you prepared?"

"OF COURSE! I SHALL BE THERE BRIGHT AND EARLY!"

Papyrus thought about what he said for just a second.

"I SHALL BE THERE DARK AND LATE!"

"that's more like it. guess i'd better break out the telescope," Sans nodded, slowly becoming more and more happy with the idea.

"THIS IS GOING TO BE SO COOL!"

"you're forgetting something though, pap."

"WHAT?"

"it's bedtime. go get into your pj's and i'll come up for a story in a bit, okay?"

"OF COURSE!"

Papyrus bounded up the steps with a resounding "NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

Sans trudged toward the stairs stopping as he passed the nearby window. He gazed up at the almost-full moon, and gave it a determined look.

"i'll get up there. i'll find a way. we'll find a way."

It smelled like smiles and starting over.