"Hey, Frisk. Can you let Pap know I won't make it home tonight? I think his phone's dead… Yeah, no worries. Asriel's gonna keep me outta trouble… Nah, we're good. Just gonna relax, y'know? Thanks babe… Love you too. Bye."

…

January 9th, 213X

…

The low rumble of the pickup's engine was almost soothing to Asriel as they coasted down the road toward Echo. It was familiar, a safe place that, despite being enclosed and small, was comfortable even with his severe claustrophobia. The truck smelled like old leather and a pine air freshener, and while it was fairly clean, there were some old wrappers from straws, and crumbs here and there. Sans' coffee and Asriel's hot cocoa cups sat empty in the central cup-holders, and Asriel was wrapped up in Sans' hoodie as the heat in the truck wasn't working too well at the moment. Sans had insisted he was just fine with his white sweater.

The truck slowly rolled to a halt in a gravel lot near a wooden fence. The town of Echo was visible further down the road, but they'd come far enough. Asriel hadn't even had to ask or say a word after they'd finished eating dinner at a little café on the way. Sans knew where he needed to go.

Opening the door and slipping from the truck seat, Asriel pulled Sans' hoodie a little tighter about his thin shoulders. The park was beautiful even in winter with all the green covered up and frozen. But the distinct blue of the echoflowers still stood out here and there, the tallest coming from the many frozen ponds. It was the lowest area in Waterfall, called Echo Valley. The town had been named after it and the flowers, and it was half water, half raised grassy paths with boarded walks to keep people from slipping on the eroding land. The great waterfall at the north end of the valley ended in a massive, deep lake the likes of which just didn't exist anywhere else in the world, but a few streams ran off of it. The largest and longest ran through the park and carried water across the continent.

This very stream, named Yule River for only ever freezing over on or around the Solstice, had an ancient tradition that only few ever observed anymore. Back when Delta was young over seven-hundred years ago, it had been customary for the bodies of fallen warriors to be cremated and let loose in the river at the end of a war. The last person to have been laid to rest there was none other than Captain Lucida Sansa Skjallar after a cargo plane she'd been on, delivering supplies to a struggling town in a poor country, went down over the ocean east of Delta. The day of her funeral, it had seemed as if at least once person from every family in all of Delta was in attendance. Even Asriel had come. He'd loved Lucy like a second mother, and she was one of very few people who took the time to understand him and was able to calm him and bring him back to himself when his other half took over.

Sans and Asriel came to a halt at the riverbank, and Asriel sat quietly on his knees after a long moment. Sans simply stared at the flowing water, the occasional small chunk of ice obliterated by the waterfall drifting by. He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see Asriel pull a small metal cylinder, about the size of a film canister, from his pocket. It was roughly etched with the letters 'LSS.' Sans had seen it many times. He had given Asriel a pinch of Lucida's ashes in a little glass bottle, and Asriel had put that inside of a metal case to protect it until he was ready to let it go. With how rough his life had been, Sans wasn't surprised that Asriel still wasn't ready. In truth, Sans had never given his own up either, nor had Papyrus or their father. Papyrus was planning to loose the ashes along with her favorite scarf which he still wore, once he became a royal guardsman like her. Gaster and Sans, on the other hand, would probably never let theirs go.

"Do you think she'd be mad at me?" Asriel finally spoke up after a long silence.

"What for?" Sans raised an eyebrow, giving Asriel a concerned but kind grin.

"For not getting better? For running away so much?"

"Nah, kiddo, if anything, she'd be proud of you for never giving up. And you have gotten better, Az. You're the zen master at this point."

"No, that's Frisk," Asriel chuckled weakly.

"Okay, zen junior master. I've seen you lose it and pull yourself back without help, buddy. That's amazing. I certainly can't do that."

"But you never lose your cool."

"I do. Just not in front of anyone," Sans murmured, his smile fading a bit. "Well… Frisk and Pap catch me sometimes, and they always pull me back even when I don't want to be okay again. We all lose ourselves sometimes, kid. Maybe not all in the same way… but it does happen, a lot more than you'd think."

"I never saw her break down."

"Ma broke down a lot, actually… she had a big heart and it would break all the time. Dad could usually help her pick herself up again if she couldn't do it alone. Though I remember a few times that it was only me and Pap that could get her to get out of bed in the morning. Even the happiest people can hit rock bottom. That's what she always told us, because she wanted us to know it was okay to be sad or hurt, as long as we didn't let those feelings rule us forever, and we tried to make ourselves happy, even if 'happy' wasn't the easiest or the most profitable."

"You're a lot like her, you know. Always spouting off wisdom like that," Asriel murmured with a smile, earning a chuckle from Sans.

"Heh. If I can be a fraction of the person she was, I'll consider my life well-lived, squirt."

…

Vzzzzzzt. Vzzzzzzt. Vzzzzzzt. Vzz-

"Wagner here… Oh, Sans. No, it's fine, my alarm was about to ring in a few minutes anyway… Okay… Yeah, I'll let him know. How's the kid? …Cool, good. Just try to get him home tomorrow, if only for Asgore's sake. Toriel's on the warpath… Gotcha. Bye."

"Undyne…?" The quiet voice of a curvy, tiny woman beside Undyne made her pause after hanging up with Sans.

"Morning, babe," Undyne murmured, setting her phone on the nightstand before leaning over to press a kiss to Alphys' cheek.

"How's Asriel?" Alphys asked sleepily, rolling onto her side to lay a hand on Undyne's toned, bare arm. Both had worn dark tank-tops and boxers to bed as per usual, the one setting in which Alphys wasn't so self-conscious about her exposed skin. Undyne always made her feel beautiful even when she was in an unflattering, stained labcoat and rubber boots from field work.

"Sans just said Az was calm and he needed more time. But he sounded pretty chill, so I'm guessing it's alright. You know how Sans loves to give details." Undyne stretched her arms and back as far as they would go before turning on her side to curl up beside Alphys once more, her wild red hair fanned out around her head.

"I c-can't think of anyone b-better to be with Asriel right now th-than Sans," Alphys muttered. "Yesterday was p-probably hard for b-both of them, even if Sans likes t-to pretend he's fine. January ninth has always b-been hard on the Skjallars."

"Speaking of… how was Gaster yesterday?" Undyne questioned, but Alphys shook her head.

"I don't know. He c-came into the lab, but n-no one saw him all day. He d-didn't leave at the u-usual time, so I g-guess he must've stayed late."

"That's nothing new… He does that at least twice a week. But not even coming out of his office… I'm guessing he just wanted to drown himself in work and avoid the memories."

"He always d-does that this time of year… And again in April."

Undyne sighed, pulling Alphys in tight at those words. Lucy's death had been on January ninth in 198X, fifteen years ago. But it'd taken until April to find the body of the plane and bring up the bodies from the ocean floor, cremate them, and send them home to Delta. Those months of sadness without closure had just about ruined Dr. William Gaster and his older son, while young Papyrus had managed to find some solace in Lucy's ashes finally coming home and had ultimately been able to recover. Sans and Gaster had both once been very happy if somewhat serious people, but losing Lucy had taken away Gaster's heart and made Sans into a recluse for a year. When he returned from hiding, he'd become the lazy, laid-back person they all knew and loved, and there was almost no way to make him excited or upset about anything beyond protecting his brother. Gaster had never disappeared, instead drowning himself in work until he drifted apart from his sons and Sans took Papyrus and moved to Snowdin on their own.

Then, little Frisk had arrived and things changed drastically for the then-blockaded country, and the recurring conflicts with greater outside powers had ceased for the most part. Undyne still wasn't sure how Frisk, only nine years old then, had managed to be such a Pacifist and talk down world leaders from starting a new World War that might've ended Delta altogether.

Eventually Undyne and Alphys slipped out of bed together, and Alphys wandered to the kitchen while Undyne headed toward the bathroom to shower. The coffee was ready by the time Undyne came out in a fresh undershirt and her uniform pants, her hair dried and brushed out until it shone vibrant red. Just as every morning, Alphys met her with a kiss and a mug of coffee before going to shower herself, while Undyne made breakfast. Her incredibly… intense cooking had calmed down over time and she, like Papyrus, had become quite the home chef. When Alphys emerged again, Undyne was still waiting on the spinach, egg, and feta quiche to finish baking, but had fried up a few strips of bacon to tide them over a while.

Alphys came out in a light blue T-shirt and jeans, her job being one that never required a dress code under her lab coat, as long as she wore protective gear as needed. "C-can you meet for lunch today?" Alphys asked, glancing over her shoulder at Undyne while she pulled a carton of orange juice from the fridge.

"Will you be disappointed if I say Asgore and I made plans?" Undyne asked with a guilty smile.

"N-not at all," Alphys assured her, giving her a quick kiss to prove she didn't mind. "He probably n-needs a break from Toriel."

"That's exactly why he asked me yesterday," Undyne chuckled, bringing the plate of bacon to the table and sitting across from Alphys. "Why don't you try to get Gaster to join you? I know he likes to be on his own, but even he needs a little social interaction now and then, and I know he won't take the day off even after working too much overtime."

"He's supposed to b-be recalibrating one of the c-cooling systems with me this morning, so I'll ask then."

"Just try not to flirt too much with the old man, 'kay?" Undyne let out a deep laugh as Alphys suddenly flushed bright red. "Oh, I'm just messing with you, Alph. I know you're all mine, even if you used to have a huge nerdy crush on him!"

"Undyne!" She groaned, hiding her blushing face in her hands.

"Aww, you're so cute when you're flustered," Undyne practically giggled, coming around the table to take Alphys' hands away and make her forget everything for a few seconds with a proper, searing kiss. She felt Alphys tense, and then practically turn to jelly, draping her arms over Undyne's powerful shoulders in complete submission to her boisterous charms. When their lips parted, Undyne gave Alphys a little smirk that had the smaller woman blushing all over again. "See if you can get off work early today, babe. I think we need an extra-long date night."