You decide to wait a little while before asking Sans more questions. Thinking about things does cause him nightmares, after all, and you are trying to help him, not hurt him.

Small steps, he said. Nice and easy. Taking it slow.

So you give him a little while, a few days to prepare himself for the next question. To make sure he's ready for it. That he's okay, and can still answer you.

To make sure he still wants to answer you.

Because you know how Sans is. Well. No, you don't. You've realized that you really don't know hardly anything about Sans, but you still know that if Sans doesn't want you knowing things, then... well...

Well.

Everything you know about Sans, you only know because he let you know. If he doesn't want you to know something about him, then you won't know. Sans is a lot smarter than he lets on, and he knows how to hide things.

Regardless. You decided to give Sans some time before you start asking questions.

... Not that that's easy. You really want to know this stuff. Your curiosity is still a bomb. And you're still a mostly-thumbless cat.

Mostly-thumbless because now Sans is answering your questions, but you can't get any answers in between questions. So. Mostly-thumbless cat. Time bomb.

Luckily, for at least a little while, you have something to distract you from your curiosity. Apparently, a little while before you fell into the Underground, Alphys had loaned Undyne some anime or other, and then, when the Barrier was broken, in the rush to get to the surface, the DVD had been left behind. Now, the pair wanted to watch the anime again, but it was still in Undyne's house in Waterfall. So you're accompanying your friends back into the Underground to retrieve the anime.

Because yes, according to them, the anime is worth the day-long expedition.

Honestly, you're glad to go with them. Aside from just providing a distraction from your curiosity, you haven't been in the Underground in a long time, and you kinda like the place. It's so strange and exotic and beautiful, and you have so many good memories of the place.

As you trail behind Alphys and Undyne through the blue-lit caves, you can't help but be struck by an immense wave of nostalgia. Even with all the resets, you were never able to acutely recapture the emotions you felt on your first True Pacifist run. Just that sudden feeling of importance, the realization that you were needed, wanted, loved.

That feeling that you could do something. That the power to make a difference was yours. And that you had used it to do the right thing.

The right thing to help everyone you loved. That finally, everyone has a shot at happiness.

"Frisk?"

You stop and turn around, then realize that, in your musings, you've walked past Undyne's house. Undyne and Alphys are looking at you.

You look back in the direction you had been heading.

That feeling hasn't dissipated. In fact, it's grown. It's not nostalgia anymore. It's longing. Calling to you. Something is calling you. Something needs you, pulling at your Soul.

You look back to Alphys and Undyne. "... There's something strange." You say. "I need to go... investigate."

The monsters share a glance. Then Undyne flashes you a toothy grin. "Count us in!"

With Undyne carrying you and Alphys, you move through the bioluminescent caverns much faster than your own legs could carry you. She even leaps swiftly over the disproportionally small gap, since the little bird long since started carrying people over an even bigger river on the Surface.

And then--

"STOP!!" You shout. "Stop here!"

Undyne obliges, stopping on a dime. She lowers you to the ground, and let's Alphys climb off her shoulders. Then she looks at you. "Well, Frisk? What's here?"

You stop and look around for a minute. It's so normal-looking, so very camouflaged, so incredibly obvious that it takes you a minute to figure it out.

"... There's a hallway there."

Alphys and Undyne both look where you're pointing, and you can see it takes them a minute to notice the hallway. When they do, the expression of shock registering on their faces is indescribable.

"T-there shouldn't be a hallway there..." Alphys murmurs.

"Yeah." Undyne adds. "I used to come through here almost every day. There was never a hallway here."

"Not never." You reply softly. "Once. One reset, this was here. Just one, though, and after I walked out of the doorway, it all just... vanished."

"Doorway?"

You walk up to the nondescript grey door that no one noticed until you walked up to it. Scarcely daring to breathe, you reach up to the doorknob and twist it, pushing the door open.

Inside is the same nondescript grey room, with the single strange occupant.

The tall figure is turned away from you now, their shoulders hunched, figure bowed. A sound like the hissing and spitting of static emanates from them, and, if you listen closely, you can just hear a voice, like words whispered over a staticky radio.

"ⅰﾓ иơɬｻⅰиб ∑ﾚʂ∑..."

The voice sounds like it was powerful once.

"℘ﾚ∑∆ʂ∑."

Authoritative.

"Я∑㎡∑㎡๒∑Я ㎡ყ и∆㎡∑."

Now, though, through the haze of static, it sounds sad. Broken. Despondent.

It makes you want to help. Desperately want to help.

So, you decide to do what the person asks.

You take a slow step towards them. "Okay," you say softly, "I will. Just tell me what to remember."

The person's head snaps up, and they twist around to look at you, expression of surprise on their scarred, cracked face. They take a step back (well, kinda- you think they do. It's hard to tell, what with the way their body doesn't exactly seem to have legs.) and you can tell they're about to fade away, just like they had the last time you were here.

"Wait!" You plead. "I just want to help!"

The figure freezes. For a long moment, you are both still.

Then, slowly, the person lifts their hands, their shaky, trembling, mutilated hands with the holes in the middle. "ｻ∑ﾚ℘..." comes the staticky, broken voice. "ｻ∑ﾚ℘... ㎡∑...?"

You smile a little and nod. "Yeah. Help you."

The figure blinks their less-scarred eye. "ｻ∑ﾚ℘..." they murmur, almost as if they cannot believe you would offer. "ყơU ∆Я∑... ∂ⅰﾓﾓ∑Я∑иɬ..." That sounds a little strange to you, but before you can ask, they're looking at you, a new spark of light in the one eye. "... ყ∑ʂ, ｻ∑ﾚ℘! ｻ-ｻ∑ﾚ℘ ㎡∑!"

You nod. "Okay! I will! What do you want me to do?"

That wide grin, like a huge crack across the monster's face, widens, twisting grotesquely upward, hope practically radiating across their face. "ʂ∆иʂ-- б-б∑ɬ-- ﾓⅰи∂-- ʂ∆иʂ!! ๒-๒Яⅰиб ʂ∆иʂ-!!"

Before you can even respond, you feel a tugging in your chest, and you find yourself being forcibly removed from the room, along with Undyne and Alphys, who had entered the room behind you. You hit the ground, back in the hallway. As the door silently swings shut, you hear one more burst of static:

"๒Яⅰиб ʂ∆иʂ ﾓơ ㎡∑!"

And then the door is just gone, like it had never been there in the first place. There's just solid cave wall, and you, Undyne, and Alphys.

You look at the two monsters, grinning. "Let's go find Sans."

§

A/N

You all have no idea how long I've been waiting for this.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Comments and votes are my Favorite Things, and every notification I get makes my day!