Kaya jolted awake from her nap, her eye opening as the van came to a stop. Her head rested on her mother's shoulder, with her mother's head resting on her own head. She carefully grabbed her phone and looked at the time.

It's almost midnight?! Kaya thought. She also had plenty of texts from her father asking where they were.

Oh, Lyra replied with a yawn, as though she herself had woken from her own nap. It is? Guess we both lost track of time.

Why aren't we home yet? I don't remember it taking this long when we went to the mall with the others.

Me neither. Are we even home?

The mayor turned his body to look at us.

"Oh, you're awake," he said.

"Shush!" Kaya quietly hissed, pointing toward Frisk, who was still sleeping.

"Sorry," he whispered back. He unbuckled his seatbelt and came to sit across from them. "I'm sorry to say, but they won't let us into the monster section. Even after me telling them I was the mayor and I was driving you two back home."

"So where are we?"

"In a parking lot nearby."

"You get yourself home. I'll take us home."

"Surely you should wait until you are more awake? Or until you are fully rested?"

Kaya sighed. "Alright. To settle your concerns, I'll text my dad to come get us. He's awfully worried about where we are. We're going to be so boned once he finds us," she added under her breath as she viewed her father's texts.

Kaya: Hey dad, can you come pick us up?

Sans immediately replied.

Sans: Where are you two!? It's almost midnight!

Kaya: The mayor offered us a ride home, of which Mom said yes to 'cause she said we needed time to take everything in. Unfortunately, there seem to be guards blocking the way into the monster section of town and they wouldn't let us by

Sans: Well why didn't you teleport home? And why wouldn't they let the ambassador or the mayor through?

Kaya: We both fell asleep. And the mayor doesn't know why they wouldn't let us pass. He even told them himself who we were but appearently they didn't budge

Sans: Alright, so where are you two?

Kaya: In a nearby parking lot

Sans: In the black van?

Kaya: Yeah. How'd you know?

Sans: Because it's the darkest place for anyone to fall asleep in and it's the only one I haven't checked yet

In an instant, Sans appeared in front of them, the blue light that had enveloped him when teleporting temporarily blinding Kaya.

"Too bright," she moaned quietly, her eye squinting until the light disappeared.

Her father chuckled. "what, am i too bright for ya?" he asked jokingly, his eyes going out for a second as he laughed at his own joke.

"Sans," Frisk moaned in her sleep. "Stop sleep punning for one night, please?"

The three of them burst out laughing, causing her to wake up from the noise. "Huh? Where are we? Are we home yet?"

"No Mom," Kaya answered. Her mother removed her head, but Kaya kept her's where it was, too tired to move it. "The people blocking the way won't let us by," she added with a yawn.

"Didn't you get any sleep, my little flower?"

"I did. But you know how people are when they wake up from a nap." She blushed lightly, knowing the mayor had been listening in to all of that.

"That I do."

"and how would you know?" Sans asked, sitting down next to Frisk.

"Because I'm your wife, silly," she responded with a kiss.

A passing car lit up inside of the van and Kaya almost let out a laugh when the mayor was illuminated in that small moment.

"uh...c-can we forget that never happened?"

"It's fine," the mayor replied. "Me and my wife embarrass each other and others in public a lot."

"Well, thank you for keeping us safe, but we have to go home now," Frisk said right before Sans teleported them home.

The familiar sight made Kaya relax. She felt a slight nudge and heard her father say, "get changed then head straight to bed. remember that tomorrow's thanksgiving."

"Yeah," Kaya responded, yawning. "I'm on it." She climbed the stairs, grabbed her pjs that she left on her bed, and went into the bathroom and locked it.

You napped, Lyra said suddenly, as though her host had never slept in her entire life.

What do you mean I napped? Kaya asked, struggling with her dress. Have I never?

No, I mean you napped without any nightmares.

I...did? she asked, her pjs top dropping, covering her belly.

Yes. That is most likely how I managed to fall asleep as well.

We can save the celebration for tomorrow. Right now, I need sleep.

Or as much sleep you can get when you're deep into your nightmares. Lyra appeared beside her as Kaya pulled up the pjs bottom. Her wild guardian picked up the dress and heels in her mouth.

Kaya unlocked the bathroom door and opened it, then walked back over to her room, picking up her kitten on the way.

Once inside, she closed the door while Lyra set the clothes on the ground near her closet. Kaya set Cookie on the bed, whom waited patiently as Kaya got under the covers. She then picked up the kitten and held her in her arms, gently rubbing her head, the kitten purring loudly with content.

Soon enough, they both fell asleep. And as usual, Kaya had the same nightmare that had been haunting since she was little. Well, it was more like a dream than a nightmare at that point.

The black void.

The thrown knives.

The mysterious killer.

What was really strange and really disturbed her was what she heard after the "little show."

"What do you mean this won't work out?" Kaya heard her mother's voice echo. It sounded as though she was on the verge of crying. "There has to be some way to fix this! Sans, please!"

With that, Kaya jolted awake, her body changing to bones and her magical eye flaring. Tears, started streaming down her face as she heard Frisk's plead echo in her mind.

She put her hands up to her head, trying to control herself. She didn't realize that her door was flung open. Didn't see her parents until after a little after she started calming down.

"Shhh," her mother said, pulling her close and running her fingers through her hair. "It's okay."

"we're here," her father said, pulling them both closer to him.

Kaya eventually calmed down and she could see her parents' worried faces past her blurry sight. She felt hands on both sides of her face, her parents wiping away her tears.

"Can you tell us what happened this time?" Frisk asked gently.

"It... it s-s-started off how it normally does," she responded, sniffing. "The black void, the knives be-ing thrown toward me. T-Then," tears formed in her eye sockets again. "I heard y-your voice, Mom. You were close to breaking d-down, and... and-"

"shhh, take your time."

She took a deep breath, trying to control her breathing. "It sounded as if you were on the phone with Dad. I... I heard you beg him to stay on the call. You said that there had a way to fix what was happening. He... h-he..."

"oh dear. what did I say?"

Kaya remained silent for a moment, tears slowly falling from her blank, empty eye sockets. "You said that this wasn't going to work out. That you were breaking up with her."

"i... you... you heard me say that?"

"No, but it was pretty obvious when Mom said, 'what do you mean this won't work out?'"

Her father hugged them tighter. "listen," he said calmly and steadily. "nothin' will break our family apart. there's no way i could leave your mother, or any of you. i need you guys, and you all need me. and more importantly, you need us."

"I really hope it doesn't happen. It was worse than any genocide run I've seen."

"Don't you worry," Frisk said soothingly. "Know we are never breaking up. Now come on. We've got food to prepare."