When She Loved Me

I've been on a Hopes, Dreams, And DELTARUNE kick lately, and as Chapter 3 still isn't out yet, I thought it might be fun and sweet to explore Frisk and Ralsei's childhood friendship and their lives together before they were separated. While this is a prequel and probably can be read alone, it's directly connected to the revelation that Frisk and Ralsei were actually childhood friends in Hopes, Dreams, And DELTARUNE, Book 2- Cyber World.

This will be a series of oneshots all set in the two year span of Frisk and Ralsei's childhood(5-7 years old.) This will contain both fluff and some childhood trauma from both Frisk and Ralsei as Frisk's parents were highly neglectful and Ralsei was lost and abandoned with little memory of his life before the Great Divide.

Chapter 1- First Meeting

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When Ralsei came to awareness, finding himself on a store shelf filled with stuffed toys and children's books, he knew only two things for certain about himself. His name and his purpose. He was meant to bring a young Lightener joy, to be their best friend, their comforter.

That's what he was meant to do, and in return, the Lightners would bless him with form, give him movement and joy and life.

He was one of the few who knew what the Lightners saw him as. A toy, a plush goat monster with bright green robes and a pointed hat. He was small, the perfect size to fit comfortably in a Lightner child's arms to be held and cuddled.

But he knew in his optimistic little heart that one day he would find the one whose soul would awaken him. Allow him to run in the Light World in his true form alongside his new best friend. And he couldn't wait. He wondered what they looked like. What their name would be. What games they liked to play, and if they'd love the colorful books on the store shelf as much as he did.

He couldn't wait. And he made a silent promise that he would be the bestest best friend.

So he put up with it when the elderly Lightner that purchased him put him in a box and taped it shut. When he had to sit in the darkness for what felt like forever as his box was moved and jostled by both people and vehicles. It was very scary, but it would take him to his new best friend, so Ralsei kept a smile on his face.

After what felt like years, he could hear the tearing of paper, and then bright light nearly blinded him as someone ripped the box open and small hands lifted him out. As his eyes adjusted, he saw he was in a big room with a pretty tree with lights and bulbs on it, and that there was colorful paper scattered over the white carpet. He still couldn't move yet, but he was still excited. This looked like such a fun place to play!

But when he was turned to face the one holding him, and looked into the green eyes of a blond haired boy of around ten, dressed in a black T-Shirt with a logo of some character he couldn't recognize and black jeans, he was met not with joy, but with disgust and annoyance.

"Aww, Aunt Margie always sends the lamest gifts!" the boy complained. He tossed Ralsei to the side amid a pile of wrapping paper. Ralsei wanted to cry, but he couldn't. He couldn't even move; the boy's callous orange soul giving him no spark of light.

"Come now, Bradley, she means well." a blond haired woman, probably Bradley's mother, scolded weakly.

"Yeah, but why does she always give me dumb stuffed animals? I'm not a little kid any more! Or a girl!" Bradley argued.

"She did it because she loves you." his father, a portly man with brown hair scolded. "She knows you love fantasy, she wanted to make you happy."

"I know. I wish she'd sent me a fantasy VIDEO GAME like I ACTUALLY like though." Bradley grumbled.

"Well, if you don't want it, we'll throw it out, but you still need to thank her. It's the thought that counts."

"No! Please! Don't throw me out! I can be cool! I promise! I know a lot of great games! We can do whatever you want!" Ralsei pleaded, but Bradley and his family couldn't hear him. Instead, Bradley just tore into his next gift, whooping when he found a video game.

Ralsei was left alone, ignored and forgotten.

...

The next day, he was unceremoniously dumped into a cardboard box without care on top of some clothing like he was an object(and he knew to them he was), and carried to the side of the road, his box set down next to the trash can despite his cries and pleading to be back inside.

It was bitterly cold, and the snow soaked his fur, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't crawl under the clothes for shelter. He couldn't even move. No one believed in him, no one loved him, and in the Light World, this was the only way Darkners could take form. He was filled with despair and heartbreak as he waited to be taken away by the garbagemen like he had seen happen to the damaged toys in the store.

And then something else took him, but it was no better than them. A big brown dog was running loose wildly up and down the road, and mistaking him for a doggy toy, grabbed him in its mouth and shook him roughly as it ran down the street like a maniac. Ralsei cried out as his robes tore and the teeth sank through his leg, but like the others, the dog didn't hear him.

Just as he expected to be torn to shreds, a blue van came rolling up. The dog dropped him, and Ralsei landed on his face. He could hear the dog's footsteps run away from him, nails clicking on the road, and the voice of a male Lightner.

"Bowser, you had us scared! I know there was probably a squirrel or something, but you still shouldn't have jumped out the window!" Ralsei could hear the dog panting happily as the man cooed over him. "Now c'mon, let's go home."

The van soon drove away, and Ralsei was left alone again, cold and hurting facedown on the edge of the icy road. Despite what the dog had done, he was glad it was getting to go home, that it had someone who loved it enough to come looking.

But it hurt even more that he didn't.

He faded in and out, praying desperately for someone to help him. To no longer be alone.

And someone came.

"Oh no, you're hurt!" a little voice gasped, and gentle hands lifted him up off the ground, one tenderly cradling his injured leg. Warmth and energy flowed through Ralsei, bringing him back to awareness. He looked into the kind brown eyes of a little girl around his age with wild brown hair that just touched her shoulders. She wore a tattered dark blue jacket that swam over her tiny body, and a worn out bright pink scarf that blew in the wind like a hero's cape. She had a brilliant soul, bright red, the color of love, shining like a guiding ember in a dark night.

His hero smiled reassuringly, taking off her scarf and wrapping it around him, cradling him in her arms. "Don't worry, it'll all be okay! I'll take you home and make you all better!"

Still too cold and tired to try to see if he could take his Darkner form yet, Ralsei simply snuggled into the warmth of the scarf and his savior's soul as she carried him down the street, and after about ten minutes, to a run-down two story house.

"Here we are!" she said cheerfully as she brought him inside. It wasn't as warm as the other house, or as fancy, the furniture worn and the floors wooden and scuffed, but it felt so much more like home.

The little girl set him on the couch and took off her jacket, revealing that she was wearing a pink shirt with a big gold star on it. Ralsei noticed she was rather small and thin, but it didn't dim her bright, reassuring smile as she tucked her jacket around him. "There, all warm and cozy! Now just wait and I'll get some stuff to fix your leg and clean you up!"

With that, she disappeared into another room and Ralsei, feeling warmer and stronger from both the girl's kindness and her warm clothing, experimentally moved his arm, lighting up when he found he could finally move. Now it was time for the ultimate test.

He concentrated, his whole body glowing and growing to his true size, only a little taller than the girl who saved him. He grinned widely. This wonderful Lightner, with her soul filled with Love, had given him his form, given him movement and hope and joy. He knew she'd still likely be the only one who could see him like this rather than his Light World form, but now he could run around and play with her! He just hoped she could see him like this.

The little girl returned, smiling. "I'm back! I got the-" Her eyes went as wide as saucers as they met the pink ones of the little goat boy with glasses that was now sitting on her couch in the place of the little stuffed toy she had left, and Ralsei was now worried. Had he scared her?

"H-Hi." he said shyly. "I-I'm Ralsei."

She jolted when he spoke and her eyes somehow got even bigger, and Ralsei feared she'd scream or run away, but instead she beamed and bounced excitedly. "You can talk! And you're as big as me now! That's so cool! How'd you do that?" She then blushed. "Sorry, um, that was rude. I'm Frisk."

"Don't worry! It wasn't rude! And this is my real form! This is what I really look like, but most people can only see me as a stuffed toy." he told her.

She frowned. "That's really sad. Why can't they see you as you really are?"

"I dunno." Ralsei admitted, then winced as he moved his torn leg wrong.

Frisk hurried over to him. "Here, I'll fix it! My mommy taught me to sew, so I can make your leg all better!" She pulled out a needle and thread, and a damp cloth. Tenderly she cleaned the mud and snow off his fur and robes before tending to the gash. She pushed the cotton back in as gently as possible and then sewed up the gash, fumbling a bit, but being as careful as she could. Soon she had it fixed, the stitches a little ragged and uneven, but sturdy and strong. She also fixed the rip in his robes, though had no green thread so had to use the same white thread she had used for his leg. Ralsei didn't care and was just happy and grateful to be so tenderly cared for, to have someone who was so kind and saw him for who he was.

"There! All done! Do you feel better?" Frisk asked as she put the needle and thread away.

Ralsei moved his leg experimentally, realizing it didn't hurt any more. Taking Frisk's offered hand, he got off the couch and took a few steps. He grinned. "Yeah! Thank you so much!"

She grinned back. "You're welcome! Would you like to play?" She then frowned. "Or do you have to go home?"

"I-I don't have a home." Ralsei admitted softly.

"I'm sorry." Frisk said sadly and gave him a hug. "But you don't have to worry any more. You can stay with me!"

Ralsei teared up, leaning into the hug and hugging her back tightly. "T-Thanks, Frisk."

Frisk held him close and stroked the back of his head comfortingly, and when he felt better, she smiled. "Wanna go see my room, well your and my room now? Or are you hungry? I can make you macaroni and cheese! Mommy taught me how to make it all by myself so I wouldn't have to bother her when I was hungry!" she offered.

Frisk talking so candidly about her mom teaching her to cook so she wouldn't "bother" her when she was hungry struck Ralsei as wrong, as from the short time he had been in Bradley's house, he had seen the boy's mom cook for him, but Frisk seemed so proud of the fact that she could cook all by herself that Ralsei didn't comment on it. Instead he smiled. "Can we see your room first?"

"Sure!" Frisk took his hand and happily led him upstairs, taking him to the first door on the right. She opened it with a flourish. "Tada!"

Frisk's room was fairly small with worn out carpeting and beige walls, though Frisk had made them much more bright and colorful with little drawings and clippings from magazines of cute animal pictures taped on them. She had a single bed, a closet with a few sets of worn out clothes in it, and a wooden table with some small books, some papers, and a little dingy lamp on it. A small backpack sat by the bed. As Ralsei walked in, he also noticed a little handmade sign reading Frisk's Room in a childish scrawl surrounded by little stars. It was a warm and comforting room, except for the fact that Frisk had barely any toys, only a ball sitting inside the closet and some little paper dolls that it looked like she had made herself. He remembered how Bradley had gotten many action figures, and games, and right before he had been thrown out, he had seen into Bradley's room when his father had taken him to be thrown in the box with the rest of the unwanted items, it had been jam packed with even more toys and games. Frisk barely had anything.

But Frisk didn't seem to mind. She just grinned and grabbed the ball from her closet. "Wanna play?"

Ralsei grinned. "Sure!"

...

I hope you guys enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think!