And Flowey Makes Five

Frisky blinked, feeling herself come back around. She didn't remember anything, but she was standing right in the middle of the ceremony again. She looked toward Sans and Papyrus. They seemed fine. What did King Asgore ask? What do they know about me?  

Undyne was in the front with Alphys and Asgore again. She was looking at papers. "Okay. We're about done. I need to give you some papers and we'll do affirmations in a second." 

Affirmations? What was that? Did I say anything at all? Toriel looked fine, and she figured if anything fell out of her mouth, she wouldn't look half so calm. Maybe it wasn't really that bad. They never asked Chance the right questions. They must not have asked the right questions. Thank goodness. She felt her whole body feel so much better. 

"Alright," Undyne answered. "Affirmations?" 

"I got this, no worries." Sans stepped forward. He looked toward Papyrus knowingly, throwing his hands up in a shrug. "I promise not to pun her to death. No more than fifty puns a day." Papyrus gave a thumbs down. "Twenty puns? Not twenty puns every single day?" He finally got a thumbs up and looked toward Undyne. "I promise to bring in the GOLD needed." He looked at his bony fingers. "I promise to follow all the rules on the do and don't list. I promise to keep them at a safe temperature. I promise to try and balance their nutrition thing."  

While Undyne wrote that down, she gave him the do's and don'ts lists. "Alright, take these and it's time for the last part." 

"Oh. That's a lot of papers." He picked up the papers and brought them over. "Almost done, Frisky. Just one more thing." 

Okay. No problem. No big deal. Frisky probably didn't know a thing. But hang on, does Undyne? He looked toward Papyrus who was shrugging his shoulders too. There were so many types of Monsters, maybe she didn't know either? Sans just leaned over to Frisky and gestured toward his bony cheek. "I need a quick kiss." Frisky kissed him real quick. "Great, we're done." 

Undyne looked nonplussed at that. She looked toward Asgore and Alphys. Both of them knew it too. "You think we didn't know?" Undyne walked toward Sans. "Come on. A little bit of humility never hurt anyone. It isn't over until you do this, so get it over with."  

"Hey, this'll be interesting, Sansy-boy!" One of the regular patrons yelled. "How does a Skeleton kiss? Does anybody know?" 

"I don't know, but go Sans!" 

"Umm." Papyrus moved over to Undyne. "Can I have a brief word?" 

"Can't change this," Undyne warned him.  

"No, no, obviously, but a small word?" Papyrus went over to the corner with her. 

Chance blinked his eyes, slowly waking up. He felt a lot better. 

"Look, the rules are clear, Papyrus. Sans is going to have to deal with it. This is Monster tradition." 

Have to deal with what? 

"That is true, but tradition never said it had to be in the public, just in front of the leader of Guards or King Asgore? Um, Sans is . . . well, he's not very used to girls any more than I am. This is tough enough on my brother." 

Sans and girls? Why are they talking about Sans and girls? Chance looked over Papyrus' shoulder where he saw his mom and Sans standing right next to each other with a big crowd surrounding them at Grillby's. Beforehand, he had been hurting too much to know what was going on. 

"Besides which, conjuring is a delicate issue. I don't think we've had much practice." 

"He's conjured plenty, Papyrus." 

"Yes, when it comes to certain things, but not, um . . . this? This is return conjuring. We haven't played this kind of conjuring for some time. It only crops up every once in awhile, and we aren't very good at it. So, it could take awhile for him to get it. Please?" Papyrus asked. "Just let him and Frisky kiss in front of you as witness in the back? And, uh, don't rush it?" 

Wait, what? "Sans is going to kiss my mom?" Chance asked surprised. "Hey, what's going on?" 

"Ah?! Oh, you're awake?" Papyrus wiggled his bony fingers at him. "Nice nap?" 

Chance was ready to get down though. What was going on? Why was Sans going to kiss his mom? Why was everyone surrounding them? 

"Nice distraction," Undyne complimented him. "Let him down, Papyrus."  

Papyrus let Chance down where he went running toward his mom. 

"Momma, what's happening?" Chance asked as he looked toward Sans. "How come you want to kiss my mom?"  

"Oh, Chance. Sorry, I know this is not something normal to wake up to." Frisky bent down toward his level. "You feel better?" 

"Yeah. I remember someone asking me about something about pain though?"   

"That was me," King Asgore said as he approached. Chance pulled himself onto his mom's neck. "Oh, I see you're more awake now. Don't worry. I know not every human is bad." 

Sans bent down next to Chance. "No worries, kid. You're never going back to your ship again. You're staying snowed in in Snowdin forever." 

Chance looked toward Sans awhile before looking back at his mom. "Snowdin forever?" That would be awesome! But, they were supposed to go back home. Freedom. "Oh, I get it. We didn't earn our freedom and you didn't want Conner touching you again, so you ran away?" 

"Not exactly. Uh." 

"Heh. Hey, Chance?" Sans sounded funny. "What do you mean by again?" 

"Ah, he liked to sneak up behind her and grab her or kiss her. He likes to make girls squeal." Why did Sans care about that though? "So come on, what's true and what's not here?" Chance begged his mom. 

"We're staying in Snowdin with Sans and Papyrus," his mother answered. "Sans isn't lying about that." 

"Are you sure? For how long?" Chance touched the flowers on his mother's head. "What are these for?" He touched his own head, realizing he had some on him too. "Are these the same? Why am I wearing girly flowers?" His face went red and he crossed his arms. "I'm a boy, not a girl!" 

"It's for the ceremony," his mom said softly. "Just bear with it a bit? We're almost done." 

"What ceremony?" Chance looked all around. "I'm confused." 

"See?" Papyrus said to Undyne. "It's confusing enough for him. What do you say?" 

"Alright, fine. You can't wiggle out of anything else, Sans," Undyne warned him. "In the back room. You, Frisky and me. Come on." 

"Where are you going?" Chance asked. 

"Just stay with Papyrus a second, okay? We won't be long," Sans said as he and his mom went toward the back away from everyone. 

I don't know what's going on, but, well, at least we get to stay longer. Except that his stomach was starting to hurt again. "Papyrus." He held onto Papyrus' femur. Snow, Sans, home, what? 

"It's okay. This will all pass." Papyrus picked him back up. "Soon, very soon, you'll never feel any kind of a stomach or fever sickness again." He sighed as they looked toward where Sans and his mom went. "Oh. Poor Sans." 

--------------------------------- 

"Okay, you've got your privacy," Undyne said. 

"Kay. Frisky, close your eyes." Frisky gave him a funny look. "Just trust me, and just wait. A few minutes. Maybe more." She gave a small sigh and closed her eyes. Hmm. I never do this by myself, it just comes with an extra tasty burger. Although, the last one lasted awhile. It didn't disappear until this morning. Maybe that will make it easier? A return conjure used to be kind of a fun thing, but there was no reason to continue doing that. Especially after he learned how to conjure up attacks. Now, if he could return conjure up something like a Grillby burger, it would have been worth the practice.  

Sans wiggled his hands, trying to get his magic to make the most simplistic thing. A simple skin around a finger. It wouldn't look anything like a human, and translucent, but it would be a good start. He'd practiced a bit that day, but the whole day was a rush of things to do. There was always something he had to do. Undyne watching him didn't make it any easier, but there wasn't a choice there. She had to be witness. At least Papyrus did his part and gave him a lot of privacy. Because people would probably be laughing at him trying to do this. 

Okay. First step, visualize. Remember, you already have it. You just don't ever use it. That Skeleton book he'd read with Chance popped back into his mind. He'd got that to help Chance understand when he started to change, but he found himself working backward in the book too. Come on. I can do a simple trick Skeleton kids loved to play. He moved his bony fingers around as he started to see swirls of blue forming around his hand. Yeah, translucent but real enough. He felt the muscle and skin around his bones. The room felt cold. Oh yeah, that's why we never use it, who wants to feel cold? Geez, this is what Frisky felt? And it's supposed to be warm in here. Wow. 

Undyne didn't rush him. Papyrus must have warned her it'd been awhile since he did it. He swished his hand around slightly, feeling the air around it. Cold, cold, cold! Still, it was a step in the right direction. 

Knowing what cold felt like would make the inside of his mouth easier. It was the opposite, but to help remember the warmth, he had to remember the cold. Loose lips sink ships. There's no way I can manage that yet. Come on, no cheating with a burger. I just had that tongue for awhile.  He remembered the funny, bobbing little thing. Weird feeling little thing. Then, he felt it. Yes, I did it without a burger! 

And Undyne was just giving him a strange look. What? It's just a glowing blue tongue. What did she expect?  He stuck his tongue out at her, startling her slightly since he never even bothered to open his mouth to talk. Heh, never get to do that. Have to remember that one later. It'd really freak Monsters out. Undyne glared at him but gestured toward Frisky. 

Sans came over toward Frisky. If he just thought of it as a joke, maybe it'd be easier. Like a hand buzzer, or a whoopee cushion in the hand. Something entirely unexpected. "Okay, Frisky, open your mouth." She opened her mouth.  

It was supposed to be a quick thing. Just touch her tongue for a second or two. She'd be surprised. Like a joke. Easiest way to deal with it. That's what it was supposed to be. 

That's what it was supposed to be. But, once his tongue felt the warmth on her tongue, his judging instincts kicked in. It was that feeling again, that feeling that he couldn't figure out or find again. Instead of seeing it in her face though, he felt it. Something familiar but new. But, what was it? What was it? Powerful like LOVE, but good. So good. What was it? He probed her mouth deeper, feeling everything he could, trying to figure it out. 

He knew emotions. He lived emotions. He could tell any kind of emotion except this one, what was it? And why did she have to be so soft inside too? There wasn't a single hard spot on a human and the mouth was even softer than the outside. What was it? What was it? What was the emotion that he felt surging from her?  

He could feel confusion, some humility, a lot of surprise, but what else? The feeling felt almost drowning. Energetic, powerful, but not evil. What was it?! Friskarino's last words echoed in his head. 

You take damn good care of Frisky. Because she is DETERMINATION, has a lot in store but it comes from massive amounts of love for the kid. 

She is DETERMINATION . . . massive amounts of love for the kid. 

 massive amounts of love . . . 

Love, not LOVE? Powerful but good. Really good. An emotion that he didn't recognize. How could someone be made of love though? He loved people. Papyrus loved him, but he didn't . . .   

Undyne tried not to turn red as she watched the two. What the heck?! She thought this would be a relatively simple thing. Embarrassing maybe, but he even seemed to treat it like it was a joke at first, even sticking his tongue out at her. But, uh, Frisky was basically nailed against the wall, trying not to move, and definitely not understanding what was going on. Her body was rigid. At first at least.  Geez, for someone who's content to have a lazy life, Sans likes exploration. Let her breathe! Maybe it was never having a tongue or something? Shy my scaly butt, Papyrus. I feel like I'm being forced to watch Alphys special anime. 

Still. Knowing him, he'd say she was the one who said how long the kiss had to be and how it had to go to get out of the jam he put himself into. "That should be long enough?" 

Hang on, what am I doing?! Realizing that was way more than a simple touching of tongues, he let go. Then, when he let go, he saw it in her face. She quickly looked away and touched her mouth. 

How could anyone be made of love? That wasn't anything he ever sensed in anyone. And surely, he would have sensed that from someone he loved, or who loved him? Like Papyrus. Why are my thoughts repeating? Didn't I try to come up with something before? It was hard to finish his thoughts. 

"Okay, that was long enough I suppose," Undyne said, figuring she owed him a little for the accidental poison and back scratching. "Barely. I guess I'll count it. You're done." She stood up and walked away. 

Sans held his tongue back in right away, and went back to talking with his teeth closed like he usually did. "Told you it wouldn't be that bad." The work he did on his hand had faded away some time ago, but his tongue was too stimulated to disappear yet. Really stimulated. In fact, every bone in his body felt nothing but good vibes in every corner. "Look at that, so, the thing, this marriage, you know? It's over. We're married, we're done, we just need to see uhhhh . . . the King. Yep, the King guy. He'll just give us our official things. So, let's go." 

When he came out, King Asgore held a paper for him. He grabbed it real quick but headed straight for Papyrus. "So, it's done. Things and stuff." 

"Hey Sans, how was it?" One of his old Grillby friends asked. 

"Total hit and a Mrs at once," Sans said. Damn, he felt like he was right on target today.  

"Great going, Sans. Keep a close eye on your human." 

"Yep, she's the apple of my eye and I'll stay right be cider," he winked at his friend. 

"Sans, really?" Papyrus complained. "Now? You're jokey now of all times? Ugh."  

"Come on, Pap, lighten up. Let's be happy the ball and chain isn't on the ball and chain anymore." 

"Sans!" 

"What? I thought that was rightly groomed for the occasion?" 

"Stop, no! Why are you getting so punny?" Papyrus groaned as he gave him Chance. "Here, here's Chance. He's feeling icky again." 

"Hey there, almost mini-me, how are you? Not quite a Skeleton yet?" Sans asked. He was just rewarded with a groan. He was spaced out. "Eh, two days tops ya think, Pap?" 

"Sans? Are you okay?" Papyrus asked. "You look relieved? Well, I suppose you would look relieved, but there's something else. Are you feeling well?" 

"Completely! It was only a matter of wife and debt, but it's over."

"No, Sans, Geez!" Papyrus covered his face. "Eh. Oh, here. Let me see Chance and I'll see if the Queen can maybe help heal him. You should get home and get the last things ready." 

"Hey, it's freebie day. Why not?" Sans waved and headed out. He heard more congrats on his way out, but it was lightening up as he walked. Just enjoying a nice walk alone.  He looked at his list of do's and don'ts. Nah, nothing too bad at all. 

"Hey, Sans!" Monster Kid ran up to him before falling flat on his face. He lifted himself back up and finished running toward him. "I was at your wedding. I was several houses down, but I was there! So, is Chance really staying?" 

"Yep, you bet." Sans jiggled a few wrappers in his coat. He really had a lot of energy in him. Funny. 

"Cool! Where is he?"  

"Chance isn't feeling well yet. He will be though." Sans winked at him. "Won't ever be sick again soon. Gotta go. I've got a couple more things to do." 

"Okay. Good luck with your new family!" 

"Yuh huh." Thank goodness life got more normal now. At least, a little more normal. Well, it wouldn't be as bad.  

He kicked some of the snow playfully. Him and Papyrus. Papyrus and him. That's all he remembered for some time. Now, there were going to be two more people in the family. I've got a brother who's beyond cool. I've got me, I guess I count. I've got a kid who can have people jump in him. I've got a . . .  He stopped walking in the snow as he saw Flowey. "I've got a flower in my way. What's up, Flowey? Flowey the Flower? Hey, that's kind of like Sans the Skeleton. We go S the S for F the F." 

"Are you making fun of me?" Flowey groaned. "You're extra smiley, Smiley Trashbag. Feeling good? Enjoying your last moments before you have to become Mr. Responsible? Personally responsible for two  humans?" 

Sans kept walking. "Sorry lil' seed of evil, you'll have to put the petal to the metal because I don't have time. Got to deal with some stuff, later." 

----------------------------------------

Frisky walked around outside, trying to grasp onto what happened. Sans kissed me. Well, I mean it wasn't really a kiss. He doesn't have lips, but um, it was . . . While she walked around though, she noticed a little rabbit hopping her way.

"Uh, hello?" A little rabbit came over with a little pot filled with soil. "Are you Frisky the Skeleton?" 

Oh, yeah. Name change. Frisky was going to have to get used to that. "Yes." 

"Hi. There was a little girl who said you'd like this for your wedding day." He smiled and showed her the pot. "She said to add happy stickers to it too, so I did. She said you'd need it." He gave her the pot. "Um, congratulations." He bounced away. 

Then, she heard a laugh. A child's laugh. She looked around her. 

"Hey there." 

That voice? She knew that voice. Chara?  

"Don't worry, I'm not in your head." She saw a strange silhouette behind one of the trees. "I'm everywhere." 

"In the barrier," Frisky said knowingly. "Are you okay?"   

"Completely." 

"Chara. I thought you would be able to move on finally. Are you stuck? Are you able to move on?" 

"I will but not yet. This barrier is actually going to free me. Finally." The silhouette moved again. "My torture's ended. So has yours. You got your happy ever after, but, you don't even know it yet." 

"My happy ever after?" 

"Yep." 

"My? My happy ever after?" 

"Uh huh." 

"The whole FRISK is gone now." Frisky shrugged. "I'm trapped Underground, never to see the light of day again. Chance is going to change, and I'm kind of married to a Skeleton with apparently another one on the way in three months unless Toriel convinces the King otherwise. And if the humans find a way to get into the barrier and find me, I'm going straight to hell. Yeah, go me." 

"Ha! No, silly human. Silly, silly human." Chara's actual appearance graced itself beside another tree. "I'm tired of this whole thing, but, I'm not going yet. There are a few things I want to do before I finally leave." 

"I will help however I can," Frisky answered, "as long as it's not bad." 

"Definition of bad depends on who was controlling. Who was in charge. How much I was forced to feel. How much I got drowned in all you FRISK's bad memories and feelings. It's always been that way. Anyhow, before I go, I have to show you why. Why this is your happy ending." 

" . . . Why? Why would you care so much about me? I'm just, me. Just a regular human to despise like every other human." 

"Do you have any idea how long this game with you has really been running? Time and time again, I just wanted to erase everything. Without you FRISK's in between, I don't think there would have been an ounce of goodness left in whatever it is I am." 

"Oh." Frisky felt her heart beating strongly. "I did what I could. I am sorry I couldn't keep more control." 

"Trapped. All of humanity has been. That's karma. I'll stick around to help defend the Monsters and okay humans with my own DETERMINATION until I'm not needed anymore. But after that, I'll probably fade away. I don't have or want to have the energy to tackle the next beast coming." 

"Balancers." Frisky already knew. "Sans and all the Monsters. They still see humankind as the only evil. I've even told them, but they can't see it." 

"Humans are nothing but slaves to the Balancers. I know. What do you expect, they are part human. Only those who naturally mix should mix it up." She laughed again oddly, which Frisky didn't understand. "I hate humanity. I hated it when I was alive, and I hate it just as much now." 

"There are good and there are bad in all things," Frisky said. "I am human. I am full human. I've known other humans who were good. Haven't you ever known a single good human too?" 

Chara was quiet for a time. "We can't judge one by one, but as a whole. The consequences will be felt for all their crimes. It'll be lucky to survive. But, it really doesn't matter. I told you, you have your happy ending." 

"My happy ending?" Frisky still didn't understand. "My happy ending was being free. Being with my . . . my own family again. Knowing who I was. Who I'd been. Being with my son, in a civilian environment. But, I can't do that. I can't do that to Sans." 

"Really? Let me tell you something, silly Frisky. If the humans or Balancers had gotten a hold of Itty Bitty, they would have killed his mind with the insanity of all the timelines. He would be dead inside while souls that made PERSEVERANCE look like a friendly teddy bear make him kill everything. And you know what? That was your only other ending. Ever. The Balancers anger would have sent him on humans, or humans would have taken out the Balancers." Chara appeared behind her. "I admit, the teleporting out of here thing was a test. I wanted to see how much time had changed you. How much you were still Frisky instead of FRISK. You passed, congrats. Humans and Balancers have DETERMINATION, and there are still a lot of both of those kinds of rodents out there. Monsters expect to see Balancers with the old barrier gone, so I let a few in here and there. But, I'm not stupid either, Frisky. I've kept a large majority out. But, they'll find ways around my barrier. Humans and Balancers. Nothing's perfect. So, ya see? Happily ever after, Mrs. Sans the Skeleton." 

Kill his mind. Evil souls to flood my son? If that was true, Chara was right. This was the best ending she'd ever get. "I see. Well, I suppose believing any of that was selfish of me." She sighed. "I'm sure they will all find their way in. Hopefully later than sooner." Change of subject. The only thing that she was good at it. "What is it that you want me to do for you to make you happy?" 

"Just take care of Flowey. When I finally go, I'm taking him too, but I'm not taking him like that. Experimentation. Souls don't need to be experimented on. DETERMINATION shouldn't be used like a liquid remedy. We're more than that, but that's what humans forgot. Even Monsters started falling into that pit. I mean, I think it was tough enough on Flowey before, but then he just had to go bug and trick Alphys during her DETERMINATION experiments. Wanted even more. Thought maybe that would help him gain the will to stop the resets. But, it didn't work. I mean . . . look at him. He's a flower!" She groaned. "My soul was way stronger 'cause I'm human. I was able to sleep and relax at least near my body, on top of the flowers. But I didn't become them. His Monster soul though. It's just so weak. If it can't expire but it can't go into a re-reset, then all he had was the flowers. And he's got thousands of years where he didn't die and he couldn't sleep, so he's going to need some help. You're the obvious Frisk for this job, 'cause he's not going to get it from me." 

Take care of Flowey? "Flowey moves as he wishes. I could be nicer to him. Do you want me to talk to him about the past? About kindness? Thousands of years of . . . insanity may be tough to tackle?" 

"Flowey is already slowly changing. With the humans interference gone, I can feel it. And Flowey holds the truths. Before I take him. Before I take my brother, Asriel, he'll help show you why this is your happy ending. Real happy. Like chocolate! Oh. I miss chocolate." Chara chuckled as she disappeared.  

But she already told her why it was her happy ending. Chance would be dead inside, fighting all across the world, probably for the rest of his life, for whichever side 'attained' him. Frisky didn't have time to think about that though as, right on cue, Flowey popped up out of the snow. "Well, well, Mrs. Sans the Skeleton." He chuckled. "How does that make you-!" 

"Flowey!" Frisky rushed to him as several lasers actually struck around him. He fell to the ground. All of him. The lasers had hit his roots. Looking at the pot, she quickly grabbed him while he was out and planted him in it. 

----------------------------- 

"No, no, no, no, no!" Flowey kept trying to bring himself back into the ground, away from the pot, but the barrier kept shooting lasers at him. "Not fair, this is so stupid! I was the Guardian of everything, I don't want to be in a pot like a houseplant, Chara!" 

Frisky just heard a chuckle from above. 

"Quit being a crybaby and take your medicine." 

"Why?" Flowey looked around the pot. "Why are there smiley stickers on this pot?" His face turned dark as he looked at Frisky. "What are you doing?!" 

"Following Chara's wishes," Frisky said. "Sorry, but, she isn't going to let you leave this pot. You have some kind of purpose, I suppose." 

"Oh, shut up!" Flowey tried to come out again, and was shot at by the barrier's lasers again. "Damn it, Charaaaaa!!" 

----------------------------------------------------------- 

Sans came back from his house. Everything was as ready as it could be. He heard children laughing though and he could swear he saw Alphys. Sans moved over toward the back of the bushes, into a clearing where the kids were all playing. Toriel, Alphys, and Papyrus were all standing around. He looked over toward Chance who was having just as much fun as the others playing in the snow. After being sick, really? However, the other conduits were playing too. As a Skeleton he wouldn't be able to sense the cold, but if they all seemed fine, the weather must have been more tolerable. Still. He didn't want him out there that long. "Hey, Alphys. Playtime, huh?" 

"Oh! Hey, Sans. Um, congrats, I think?" Alphys gestured to the kids. "The little ones I'm watching are uh, well, they never saw snow. We decided to let them play for a bit. I-I don't think between you and me they have gotten much playtime." 

Sans looked toward the other kids. Some of them seemed thrilled. Some of them looked confused. While one of them looked . . . borderline strange. "That one in the black striped shirt?" 

"That's, um, I think Toriel named him Matt." She bit her lip nervously. "She is healing him at least once a day. Out of all of them, he seems to be the most likely to become a . . . you know. She is really trying to help him, and keep him happy. But, he's hard to reach." 

"She can do it." Sans went over to Matt. "So you're names Matt, huh? I'm Sans. Good to meet you." He held out his hand. Matt lifted his eye toward his hand, tilting his head slightly before slowly grabbing his hand. "Shake?" Sans shaked his hand while Matt's head moved with the handshake.  

"Matt, Matt, Matt!" Chance came over and laughed with him. "This is Sans! He's cool."  

Sans watched as Matt smiled toward Chance and shook Sans hand back. Conduits must have a closer connection.  

"Matt, you are interacting so well!" Toriel said as she came over. "Good for you, meeting new friends. New adventures. New everything." 

"Yep. Everything is new." Sans looked toward Chance. "You better get your Uncle Papyrus and I'll get your mom at Grillby's. We're going home." 

Chance just stared at him. "Did you say Uncle Papyrus?" 

"Yeah. Look. I know we've kind of been ignoring you. You really shouldn't even be playing in the snow right now as sick as you've been." Sans looked over toward Papyrus who just waved. "It was all awkward. Basically though, your dad wasn't a forgotten creature." He gestured to himself. "It was me. You were a secret weapon, kind of, and if you went back up bad things would have happened. So, you have to stay down here." 

"Oh. That . . . I was a weapon?" 

"They wanted to use you that way, yeah. When you get older, I'm sure you'll get all the facts." Definitely older. "Since you're a Monster though without any claim, your mom and you were on the dinner plate for any Monster that wanted to claim you. So, um, I married your mom." 

"You married my mom?" Chance just stared at Sans. "Frisky, 95452, PACIFIST soldier, Ship 229? Seriously?" Chance scratched his head. "Wow. That's. Uh. Neat, but Conner's gonna kill you. He's been after my mom for years to break her DETERMINATION and win her." 

I wish he'd try it.  Huh. Where did that thought come from? Conner was supposed to just be the annoying one, not a bad one. Weird. "No worries though, it's nothing big. You just live with us without the shackles. That's pretty much it. Come on, kid." Sans shouted toward his brother across the open snow area. "Papyrus! Let's go!" 

"But what now?" Chance asked as he followed after Sans. "Do I have to start calling you dad? Do you keep calling me kid? What do dads and sons do? I don't exactly know, Sans." 

"I don't know either," Sans said as he grabbed Chance's hand and shrugged. "I think we're doing fine as is. Call me dad if you want. Don't if you don't want." 

"I am here! Sorry. I got busy with the other little humans. I mean, Conduits," Papyrus answered.  

"What about you?" Chance asked Papyrus. "Am I supposed to call you Uncle Papyrus?" 

"Uncle Papyrus?" Papyrus tapped his bony finger on his mandible. "I, the Great Uncle Papyrus, accept that name! Longer names, more importance." 

Sans wasn't the happiest Skeleton in the world when he found out Frisky wandered off. She was supposed to stay in where it was extra warm, but she wasn't too hard to find. Snowdin wasn't that big, and humans had distinguishable tracks. When Sans came over to her with Papyrus and Chance though, he stopped. 

Flowey was growling at him from inside a flower pot. The pot itself had words like Celebrate, Cheer up, happy faces, and other nice things that didn't fit him at all. 

"The barrier." Frisky's voice was even. "Chara's soul. I heard that from Friskarino, not you. Magic truth, huh?" 

Oh. She noticed that. "Um, it's way easier to deal with it in small doses. Not everything everything flows forward." 

"You could have said something about that." 

"What fun would that have been?" 

"That's not nice, Sans. Um . . . what did I tell you?" 

"Everything you ever wanted for Christmas?" Sans gestured to Flowey. "I don't think that was on the list." 

"You suck!" Flowey yelled at him. "You gave Chara all that power, what's wrong with you?!" 

"She is easy to get out," Sans said confidently. "I didn't push her in, she wanted in." 

"But look at me!" Flowey wiggled all around. 

"Chara won't let him back into the ground." Frisky held him toward Sans. "She wants him to stay in here. She said that without the interference of the other barrier that he would change, and I needed to watch him." 

"I'm not a child, I'm older than any of you!" Flowey yelled again.  

Sans scratched his cheek bone and shrugged. If it had been before the whole family ordeal, there's no way he'd say yes. Flowey was just plain evil. But. Without him, he wouldn't have Chance or Frisky. He also helped when Chance bottomed out, and he really didn't need to do that one. He even reminded him of Toriel's clothes which he really needed because his GOLD barely reached enough. Not to mention it was Chara's DETERMINATION that made their barrier extra powerful. So. "Chara's kind of helping the barrier a lot, so okay." He bent down to look at Flowey growling. "I guess it's a family adding kind of day, and Flowey makes five." Flowey hissed at him. "Let's get one thing straight though. You're a flower. Snowdin's cold. If you're a bad flower inside our house, you're going to an outside windowsill." 

Flowey didn't respond, but he continued to look annoyed. 

Sans just started to trot away. "Come on. Let's go home." Frisky and Chance were trailing behind with Flowey, having their own conversation, and Papyrus was by his side for support. 

That day could have ended a lot differently. It wasn't what he expected. And when Frisky disappeared, he thought that had been it. He'd lost them forever. 

But, it wasn't. Frisky had DETERMINATION, but he'd got it wrong. She wasn't just that. She was the part that wanted everyone to just be happy. And, he didn't figure it out until that day. And she somehow had the power of love inside her, instead of LOVE. No idea how, but it was there. 

She was good. She was so good. She was too good. And he tried not to think about all the things he learned during the Soul bearing yet. It was a good time. That confrontation would be later. 

"Papyrus?" Sans looked toward his brother. "This. It turned out okay. It did." 

"I know. I was surprised too," Papyrus agreed. "Why, I figured she would have headed as far away as possible. This. It's already over, and it wasn't bad at all."  

Sans looked back at Chance and Frisky, then back toward his brother, then back at them again. Then back toward his brother. 

"What is it, Sans?" Papyrus asked. 

"It's just that even if she knew she couldn't do anything, most people wouldn't just willingly do that." He looked back toward her again, still talking with Chance. He looked back toward Papyrus, and then back at her.  

"Sans? What is it?" Papyrus asked. 

"She. It just." Sans looked at their house coming up. He felt Papyrus pat him on the shoulder. 

"Perhaps this horrible, horrible thing that wasn't so bad . . . may actually . . . be good?" Papyrus asked. "Is that what you're thinking, Sans?" 

Sans didn't really know what to say that. He looked through the other papers and noticed it. It, it. "Whoa, Pap, she can really cook!" 

"She can?! More than Spaghetti?" 

"Way more, and it even says she'll teach you too if you want." 

"Really? I can learn more than one kind of spaghetti?!" 

"Yeah." Sans yanked out the papers. "Look at all this. Undyne marked down she could probably join forces with Grillby's later. It that's not hot news, I don't know what is." 

"Sans." 

"I mean, the competition won't be able to touch it." 

"Sans, don't start!" 

"The whole business will definitely start with a blaze." 

"Sans!!" 

"What?" Sans chuckled. "Come on, bro. Don't get overheated already." 

"Saaaaans!" 

----------------- 

"I don't know, Undyne. I don't think Con and Duit are the right names," Alphys said as they marched across the snow. In the distance, she saw Sans and his family walking. "Oh, look at that." 

Undyne curled her bottom lip. "Not them again. Wait, what's he doing?" She moved up closer. They were too far away to hear the dialogue, but she kept watching Sans look back and forth between the humans and his brother. "What?" 

"I know," Alphys whispered.  

"That's a human." Undyne shook her head. "I can understand the whole he needs to thing, but that's just . . ." 

"Sweet." Alphys folded her paws together. "I don't think he knows either. See how he just kind of looks back and forth? I wonder if Papyrus is going to tell him he's blushing." 

"A feat. Blushing without all the cheek stuff beneath." 

"Oh, yeah, but that's love. Can't hide love." 

"Yeah, but it's a human. It's kind of. I don't know, I mean." Undyne turned away, but looked back. "I want to look away, but I can't. It's intriguing." 

"It's romantic. Ah. Oh, and it's gone." Alphys shrugged. They were close enough to be within hearing distance now. 

"I mean, the competition won't be able to touch it." 

"Sans, don't start!" 

"The whole business will definitely start with a blaze." 

"Sans!!" 

"What?" Sans chuckled. "Come on, bro. Don't get overheated already." 

"Saaaaans!" 

"Hmm." Undyne cupped her hands to her face. "Yeah, Papyrus, he can't help it if he has a hot wife!" 

"Undyne!" Alphys squealed in a harsh yet strange whisper. "He's bashful enough, you know." 

"Pfftt," Undyne said, "You didn't see the kiss."