Note: The first part of this chapter is highly inspired by the YouTube video "Undertale - The Aftermath" by xxTC-96xx. It's a short but wonderful animation! And now happy reading :)

We've entered the Last Corridor, a.k.a. the Judgement Hall. Everything is silent and peaceful. The special atmosphere has a clear impact on your mood, and to be honest, I'm quite affected too. A lot has happened since we fought Sans in a life-or-death struggle at this very place. With your help, I was able to change my mind about a lot of things and people. Now we're here with completely different intentions than then. When you start moving into the hall, each of your steps echoing into the ghostly silence, my remorse becomes stronger than ever. I never want to kill again. I never want to do any harm again. And I finally want you to get all the happiness you deserve.

You stop in the middle of the hall. Sans is standing right in front of us, and three loud chimes make the atmosphere perfect. It is time for judgement.

"so you finally did it", Sans begins, his poetic way of speaking contrasting his casual clothing style. "the end of your journey is at hand."

You stand there stone-still, carefully listening to every word he says. I don't dare to say a word into your mind, either.

"in a few moments, you will meet the king."

Something happens inside you while listening to Sans's soft, good-tempered voice. I can sense your desire to let everything out, to tell Sans everything you did. But you can't do that! He'll never forgive you!

"together... you will determine the future of this world."

I still find this a very euphemistic wording for an upcoming life-or-death battle with Asgore, but I stay silent inside you.

"that's then. now. you will be judged. you will be judged for every action..."

You look away. It seems you can't stand looking into Sans's eyes any more. "Please..." I beg you. "Please... stay strong."

"but... uhh... judging by your face expression... i'd say you probably heard this speech before, didn't you?"

This is too much for you. You're tearing up, and you fall down onto your knees.

"Please, Frisk... please don't... he won't forgive you... he won't forgive us..."

"I... Chara, I..."

"uhh... kid? what's going on?"

Appalled, Sans has made a few steps toward you and worriedly looks down on you. I've never seen him like that before. Maybe...?

For a few moments, nobody moves or says another word. Sans is standing there in front of you, obviously puzzled, and you're kneeing on the floor, looking down in shame and despair. Then the skeleton sits down on the floor as well, friendly looking at you. You're so surprised at this sign of loyality that you look up, sadly returning his look.

"ahh, i take sitting down over standing every day."

With this little joke, he manages to bring a short smile on your face. Then you sadden again, but you feel encouraged to crawl toward him on all fours and press your head against his chest. He surely didn't expect that, but after a short hesitation, he puts his arms around you.

It must be several minutes that you and Sans just silently hug each other. During this time, I can sense your desire to disburden your heart getting stronger and stronger. I'm still afraid of it, but...

"Well, Frisk... I think you wouldn't ever be happy otherwise. Maybe you have to try."

"Yes", you reply to me. Then you whisper outwards: "I... I hurt you, Sans."

"huh? you hurt me? in a previous timeline, you mean?"

"Y-yes... but I... I regret it so much."

Sans doesn't reply immediately. He carefully thinks about what you said before answering.

"well, kiddo...", he finally says, still in a soft tone but mixed with a tiny bit of sharpness, "the only way you could have hurt me was if we fought. and the only way that i would have fought against you was if you-"

You suddenly break out of the hug and move a few steps backwards. "I don't deserve your hug, Sans!", you shout at him, starting to cry. "I k...killed you! I killed you all just because I got curious what would happen! I don't deserve your friendship! I don't deserve anyone's friendship! I- I-hey, why are you still so calm?"

Sans is still sitting there in front of you, just looking into your tearful face. It seems he hasn't even moved a muscle while you cried out all your inner pain.

"well...", he says now calmly and friendly, "if you have killed us all, and now we're all alive, then you must have reset the timeline, haven't you?"

Obviously you're just as surprised by his super-cool reaction as I am.

"Er... yes, but... aren't you... mad at me at all?"

"well... having been killed in a previous timeline is surely not a nice imagination, but hey, i don't think there are many people who can say that they're talking to their murderer, especially after the murder.", Sans replies winkingly. "okok, that one was a bit morbid", he adds when he sees your guilty face expression, "but seriously, kid. how often did you die here in the underground at the beginning?"

"Ehm... it was... more than once", you reply hesitantly. "But that's not an excuse! After all, I had the power to reset, so I couldn't really die!"

"but nobody knew that, right? many of us monsters were willing to sacrifice another innocent child to break out of the underground. "

Ha! I feel confirmed. That's the very same argument that I used in our discussions.

"Y-Yes, but you monsters had at least an understandable reason to kill. But I, I was just curious!"

Your inner pain hurts me too. You seem determined to accuse yourself, no matter what.

"well, y'know, kiddo...", Sans replies and then makes a long pause before continuing, "i was actually hoping to meet you like that."

I've never seen Sans in such an earnest mood. He's not the same as usual.

"W-what?!" You're obviously completely perplexed. "What do you mean by that?"

Sans closes his eyes. He stands there as if he is... relieved? Is that the right word to desribe it?

"well... how should i start. i think it won't surprise you that i know quite a lot about timelines, determination and the power to reset and all that stuff, right?"

You weakly nod. You seem so confused that you forget to judge yourself further.

"i was... often kinda depressed about that, i can tell ya kiddo. knowing that whatever you do can always be resetted by someone else... it can make you feel quite... well, useless at times. and it doesn't get better if you can't talk about it with anyone, because no one else would understand what you're even talking about."

There it is. I can sense it again. This feeling inside you. The same feeling you had for me when I watched your tears in the mirror. It must be... pity?

"thanks for your pity, kid."

Yes! I identified it correctly! I'm getting really good at that being nice thing, am I?

"but then, i learned to see also the other side of the coin. if my actions aren't relevant, it also means that i can be a lazybones with a good conscience."

Sans winks at you as you smile weakly. Listening to Sans's story, feeling Sans's story, is a good deflection for you as it demands your full focus.

"And you decided to take it with humour?", you ask. "And be not only a lazybones, but also a funnybones?"

"oh kiddo, you still have to learn a lot about bad puns. that one was... more than hilarious." You laugh. Sans is really cheering you up a little. "anyway, i already told ya that i shared a lot of jokes with that woman in the ruins, did i? and that one day, she became unusually serious and asked me to take care of any child that would come out of the door?"

"Yes", you reply while giving Sans your full attention and interest.

"so... i started to wonder what might happen then if one day, a human child really came into snowdin town. that human... they'd probably be the most determined being down here in the underground. they'd probably have the power to reset. so... what would that child do with it?"

You swallow hard, but Sans continues before you can think too much about what you did with that power.

"and while thinking about that for hours, days and months, i came to change my perspective. so i also wondered... what would i do with such an unimaginable power? and seriously, i didn't like my results when i was honest to myself."

Sans's pupils vanish for a short time, which is enough to make you shiver. But when he continues to speak, his voice sounds even softer than before.

"so... i asked myself what kind of child could handle such a power. an innocent one, who would never hurt a fly? but even such a child could become curious. they might want to try themself out once they knew that they could undo everything. and then? what might happen if the child started to kill? would they stay determined enough? would they stay strong enough to reset? or would they be inwardly destroyed by their own bloodshed and lose all their determination? would they just continue killing because their conscience has been killed too?"

You shiver again, as if Sans has exactly described your feelings during your genocide run.

"well... these thoughts didn't lead me anywhere in the end. i just didn't know, y'know. but... i decided that if there was anything i could do, anything i could have influence on, then it was my behaviour towards a child who might come out of the ruins one day. a child like you."

Sans is looking into your eyes steadfastly while saying all this, but his look is still very friendly.

"so i came to a conclusion. i would have an eye on any child who would come through the door, as i promised the woman, but i would also observe their behaviour exactly. if i saw an innocent child, there would be good chances that they could make it right, although i wasn't sure if i could ever fully trust them. too big must be the temptation to abuse the resetting power sometime. on the other hand, if i would meet an evil child who killed one monster after the other... i would make sure they would have a bad time."

You swallow hard and look away in shame, but Sans continues in the same friendly tone.

"however, i wouldn't give them a bad time just for revenge. i would also do it with a gleam of hope. hope that the child might come to their senses again and find the courage to reset their genocide. because... what i was really hoping for all the time... was to meet a child who has already played around with their determination power. a child who has faced their own dark side. a child who has already found out what happens if they played the devil, and who has come to the conclusion that they never wanted to hurt again. so... if i would ever meet a child who was full of remorse, then i could be sure that this child has learned their lesson even if i couldn't remember any of their deeds. if such a child would then still have been determined enough to reset their genocide and decide that we monsters are worth a better treatment, then i could really trust them that they would never betray us again."

"I won't!", you shout out, as if you wanted to cry all your doubts out of your mind. "We will never betray you again! We've learned our lesson! We just- we just want to be happy again! We-"

You suddenly realize that you said we and bite on your lips. Sans, on the other hand, doesn't seem the least surprised. Does he know...?

"waana come out, chara?" he says in a super-casual voice. I feel completely frozen.

"I- I'm sorry, Chara", you whisper into your inside. "I didn't want to-"

"It's alright, Frisk", I respond quickly. I don't want you to feel bad for that. "Obviously Sans knows about me anyway. Maybe it's time for my judgement now. May I...?"

"Y-yes, of course."

You allow me to take over your body. The last time Sans and I met was when I gave him the final blow with your knife. Luckily he doesn't remember that. I wish I could say the same.

"hey, what's up? nice to meet you again. it's been a while, huh? and i'm not a big fan of hide-and-seek games anyway. i much prefer word search puzzles."

I don't know what to say. I'm just waiting for Sans to continue.

"well... for all i know, chara, and that's not too much, you probably have reasons to feel remorse too?"

"Ehm... y-yes, I do."

"then maybe we can help you two... whoops, now i blabbed too", he adds winkingly.

"What? We? Who do you mean? And how can you help us?" Now that I found a way to start speaking, I have a lot more questions. "And how did you know I was in Frisk's body? What is going on here?"

"well, as i said already... in a few moments, you will meet the king. but first, here's his welcoming commitee. Just wait here shortly."

Sans vanishes behind a corner, but returns a few seconds later. He holds something in his hand.

"here's the king's commitee: a flower from his garden. i don't have to introduce you, i guess?"

"Howdy!", says the flower as a face appears on his androecium, mimicking a pretended anxious expression. "Hope you're not gonna slice me this time, are you?", he adds with an exaggeratedly shaky voice.

My best friend and I are looking directly into each other's eyes.