The next morning, Sans woke up to Aldyr making breakfast in the kitchen. Nearby, Kiro was chowing down on a bowl of his own food. It was strangely satisfying to watch the wolf eat, his bushy tail wagging slightly every now and again.

"Hi, Sans," Aldyr said when he noticed Sans was up. Aldyr looked cheerful. "I'm making pancakes."

"sounds nice," Sans replied. Things seemed brighter this morning. A night's rest had helped a bit.

Now that he'd had the chance to think about it, he realized Rose's real soul never really matched up with Chara's. Her eyes were kind. She'd been very intentionally trying to stop the fight without hurting him.

After a day of watching his friends and family die yet again, he hadn't been willing to believe it yesterday. But today was different. He was willing to consider the possibility she meant no harm.

He helped Aldyr with the food, like a good guest. Aldyr was impressed by the gentleness with which Sans moved, and the precise care he took with the task, despite a feigned casualness. It added to his overall impression of Sans, which had changed considerably since they'd first met.

The pancakes were excellent, hot and with berry jam.

"So, Rose is awake," Aldyr said as they ate. "We kinda had a chat about things this morning."

Sans stared down at his plate, much of his good mood gone. It was too much of a reminder of the fight in the hall, and everything else.

"She wants to see you," Aldyr told him.

"oh?" Sans muttered.

"But we're having a disagreement on that. I'm not feeling safe with having you around her after what you did, but she wants to trust you anyway. I'm acting captain at the moment, though, so what I say goes."

Sans didn't say anything, his eye sockets dark, and his face conflicted.

Aldyr spoke into the silence. "So...I guess I want to ask you...which one of us is right?"

Sans' left eye flared cyan with magic, and he said chillingly, "That depends on whether she's innocent or not."

Kiro noticed the difference in the crackling air and lifted his head from his paws with concern from where he was lying crouched on the floor.

Aldyr sat stunned for a moment, not only by the tone, but also the size and shape of Sans' words, which seemed to change when he was in a particular mood. He finally mustered the words to speak. "She's not a murderer!"

An edge of panic crept into his voice. The last thing he wanted was another fight between his captain, who he cared deeply for, and the friend he was starting to make in front of him. Right now, he just didn't know what to say to make things better.

Sans examined him carefully, seeing how freaked out he was by the situation. He spoke more kindly, leaning back and stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets.

"dude, her level of violence is over 1000. that's a lot of kills. not only that, something is wrong in her face...or her eyes. can't you sense it?"

Aldyr sighed, relaxing slightly, trying to gain strength from the solidity of the table in front of him. This was crazy. But he realized Sans was giving him a little bit of trust by even telling him this much. He would try to listen in return.

Aldyr replied thoughtfully and evenly, "I didn't see anything wrong myself, but I know she'd never hurt anyone. You can't tell me you could fight her, not get injured at all, even when she could've killed you at any time, and not sense that yourself. There's a lot of good in her."

"i'll admit, i can feel that too," Sans told him seriously. "i do have a way to prove what the truth is...but it's a special attack of mine. you'd have to let me attack her with it. if she's not guilty, she won't get hurt."

"You want to attack her? You seriously think I'd let that happen?!"

Sans met his words steadily. "like i said. there's something wrong, and if it follows the pattern, even if she hasn't killed anyone yet, she will eventually. i may not know your captain well, but i know the person behind her eyes. it's the same one i've been fighting over and over."

Aldyr contemplated the idea. He didn't like it at all, but he felt that Rose should be told about this. If something was really wrong with her, then he had to help her find out the truth.

"All right," he agreed finally. "I'll trust you enough to take you to ask her about this, and we'll see what we can do," he said, standing up with a resolved expression.