Before I knew it, I was at the garbage dump, on the most awkward and rather unwanted date of my life. I mostly stayed quiet, not wanting to make anything worse. Soon Alphys was gushing about Undyne and how she truly liked her and how I was essentially a pity date. Really, though? Really? I thanked my stars when Undyne showed up, but before I could point her towards Alphys, she was gone again.

"Listen, if you're so scared to talk to Undyne, then I guess we can, I dunno, talk it out?" I suggested.

"Like a roleplay?" Alphys asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure," I nodded, "I'll be Undyne."

Alphys, pretending I was Undyne, began to spill her soul, which was uncomfortable enough but when Undyne showed up, I felt like facing Flowey again would be easier. After a moment of talking, though, things were cleared up and Papyrus, who appeared from a pile of garbage, was suddenly training Alphys.

"Hey, she was kidding, right? Anime is real…right?" Undyne asked, clearly distressed.

"Uh, no. It's not. There are anime based on real events and history, but it's almost pure fiction," I shook my head.

Undyne was clearly crushed, but bounced back pretty easily before leaving. I was left alone in the garbage dump…again.

"At least I'm not running for my life?" I said aloud to myself, wading through the water again.

Finally out of the dump, I got a call from Papyrus, who requested I go see Alphys at her lab. Obliging his request, I made my way back to Hotland again. Entering the lab, I noticed Alphys wasn't anywhere to be found. Instead, on the ground, I found a note. It was difficult to read but I got the general idea.

"Shit, Alphys, what did you do?" I bit my lip, entering what I thought was the washroom, only to find myself in an elevator.

As I waited patiently for the elevator to reach whatever floor I was being sent to, the elevator suddenly lost power and plummeted down. Screaming, I clutched to the walls, staying in the corner. The elevator, thank my stars and moon above, slowed down and finally came to a halt. The second the doors opened and I was guaranteed a clear path, I jumped out, terrified of what else might happen.

"Fuck," I groaned, my heart in my throat.

I felt like I was going to vomit. Shakily, I made my way through the lab, reading Alphys' notes left behind as I did so. I had to gather keys based on barely legible clues to unlock some shitty door to turn the power back on. Cursing heavily, I walked through what I could only equate to a horror movie. Looking in the sinks, hoping to find the key, I let out a small scream, falling back onto my butt. Three…THINGS crawled out of the sink! Frantically I tried to think of something to do. Grabbing my phone, I hoped that somehow Alphys had put another app on it that would help me. The creature, though, was gone by the time I looked back up. Standing, I saw the red key in the sink. Cursing again under my breath I took it into the room, fitting it into the slot, and quickly leaving. Things continued much like this, running into these creatures and somehow ending up doing something that ends up making them vanish. I found some solace in reading Alphys' entries, though all they ended up making me do was become deeply sympathetic for the creatures, who I learned were formerly monsters who had died. Near tears, I plugged the final key into its appropriate slot. It crossed my mind to check out that room with the videos, but I opted out of it, wanting to get out of here and fast. Once in the power room, I flipped the switch, comforted a bit by the sounds of the working machine. Turning around, I felt that comfort fly right out of me as more of the creatures approached. Sure, I felt great remorse for them, but that didn't change the fact they scared me senseless!

"Hey! Leave her alone! I got you guys some food," I heard Alphys.

As Alphys approached me, the creatures retreated.

"Alphys…I have never felt so happy to see you," I said, my voice shaking as much as I was.

Alphys began to apologize, explaining to me the situation and how she wasn't going to run from her problems anymore. As she spoke, I felt my respect for her rise. I was glad to hear what she had to say. Leaving ahead of me with the Amalgamates, I took a moment to breathe before walking out of the room. Before I could leave the elevator, though, the doors slammed shut and I found myself hurtling up. When it stopped, I quickly exited before vines grew over and around the elevator, preventing me from leaving.

"I guess I have no choice now," I said, noticing I was in the castle.

Making my way back to the barrier, I took a deep breath.

"I can do this. Something has to have changed…right?" I bit my lip, entering.

After the same short chat with Asgore, I got ready to fight, hand reaching for my machete once again. Before I could grab it, though, a magical attack knocked him back. Looking over, I saw Toriel, Frisk behind her.

"Hey!" I grinned.

Yes, things were changing.

"Don't you dare touch this wonderful young woman," Toriel threatened Asgore.

"Tori…" the king spoke.

"Don't you Tori me!" Toriel began lecturing him.

Frisk ran up to me as she did so, the two of us hugging tightly.

"Were you good for Toriel?" I asked, petting his head.

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Good," I smiled, kissing the top of his head.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Undyne walked in, followed my Alphys.

Then Papyrus, as well as Sans. Everyone was here and there was no sign of that disgusting flower.

"Wait, Papyrus, I hadn't gotten the chance to call you! How did you know to gather everyone to come?" Alphys asked.

"Oh, a flower told me to!" Papyrus grinned proudly.

I felt my stomach tighten.

Letting out a scream, I suddenly was wrapped in thorny vines with everyone except Frisk, who was somehow spared. Fading in and out of consciousness, I watched as Frisk was attacked over and over.

"No! You leave him alone!" I shouted, somehow using my will to deflect the attacks against him with the others as we all faded in and out.

Then everything was white. I was floating in a bright, white abyss. Weightless. Where was I? Wait…who was I?

"Lyla!" a voice called.

It was so familiar.

"MOM!" the voice cried out louder.

"Frisk!" my eyes shot open, "H-how do you know?"

I was free, but that didn't matter to me now.

"I always knew," he smiled weakly, tears rolling down his face.

Standing behind him, machete in hand, I looked up, seeing the horrific figure. It wasn't Flowey, though, no…it looked more like Toriel and Asgore? Whatever! That wasn't what was important now!

"Okay, Sweetie, let's do this!" I said, determination flowing through me and my son.

One after another we called for everyone, pulling them back to us.

"ASRIEL DREEMURR!" Frisk shouted, calling for one more.

Looking down at him then up at the being, I held onto Frisk's shoulders and shouted with him for Asriel. Suddenly, in a flash, everything was white again, then black. Blinking, I sat up, looking around. Everyone was around me, also apparently knocked out. In the center of the room lay Frisk. Scrambling up to him, I took him in my arms.

"Frisk, Sweetie, please, come back to me," I sobbed.

His eyes fluttered open and he weakly smiled up at me.

"We did it, Mom," he said, "the barrier is gone."

I felt hot tears roll down my cheeks as I held Frisk close to me.

"Yeah, all thanks to you. You're my hero," I cried, petting him, "I love you, Frisk."
"I love you too, Mom."

.

..

…

..

.

Back on the surface, I took responsibility as ambassador for the monsters. It was a busy job, but it gave me more fulfillment than performing and the military combined. With Undyne and Alphys (who finally got together), I got a nice house near the beach. They mostly occupied the top floor while Frisk and I had the bottom. Next door was Papyrus with Sans and his new girlfriend, Toriel. Speaking of Toriel, she now teaches monster history at the public school, where Asgore also works as a groundskeeper. Mettaton had made it big, though we kept in touch still, texting quite regularly. Things were finally right.

We were all finally filled with determination.

.

..

…

..

.

"Hey, Mom, why did you keep me being your son a secret for so long?" Frisk walked up to me one day as I readied dinner.

I saw this question coming for a long time, ever since we returned to the surface. I was just thankful Frisk waited a while to ask as it gave us both time to adjust to our new roles.

"Uh, well to put it simply, your grandparents – my parents – were weird. And that's putting it nicely," I said, putting the lasagna into the oven and setting the timer, "C'mon, I'll tell you in the living room."

Sitting down on the couch, Frisk in my lap, I began telling them the PG rated version of my past and how they came to be.

"You see, when I got pregnant with you, I was only 13, 14 by the time you were born. My parents didn't approve of this, so after you were born we moved to the village you grew up in," I began, grabbing a brush and running it through Frisk's ever lengthening brown hair.

They had recently decided they didn't want to be a boy or a girl, they were just Frisk. I had always felt that Frisk was nonbinary, but my parents never approved so I continued to call them by male pronouns until Frisk told me otherwise. They also decided they wanted to grow out their hair to be longer – so they could do cool things like braids was the reasoning.

"Now, as you know, your grandparents didn't really like me. They belittled me every chance they got. But with you, they saw an opportunity to raise a better child, so as soon as we moved to the village, I took on the role of your big sister and my parents became your parents. I hated it, to be honest, but there was little I could do at the time. That's why I joined the Air Force, Sweetie, to try and build my own life so I could take you and ensure your happiness."

"Really?" Frisk looked up at me before straightening their head again.

They were so smart and kind, it made me so proud.

"Really," I nodded as I began to braid their hair.

"So everything you did was for me?" they asked.

"Always," I laughed lightly, "Now, can you answer a question for me?"

"Yeah, sure, Mom," Frisk agreed.

"Why did you climb the mountain? I knew we'd played on it, but we never went that high?" I asked.

"I don't know? Something drew me there one day…" they shrugged.

Tying the braid at the bottom with a blue ribbon, I thought for a moment.

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad you did," I smiled kissing the top of their head.

"Me too," Frisk grinned, jumping off my lap, "I'm gonna go play with Papyrus now!"

"Be back before dinner," I laughed as I watched them run out the door, Bones and Papyrus just outside waiting to play.

Life was good.