A/N : Disclaimer here before I start. I do not own Undertale or any of these beautiful characters. Everything that's going to happen in this fanfiction is just fiction and none of it should be taken to be canon. ^^ Now, without further ado, please enjoy my first Undertale fanfic, REWIND!
"Sans …"
Grillby looked at him with a look of realisation. Sans gulped, feeling self conscious although he was in such a familiar place. Then again, the last customer had left, leaving the two of them alone.
Sans averted his eyes from Grillby and glanced at the CLOSED sign hung in front of the double glass doors to "Grillby's (Up-grub!)"
"Looks like it's been pretty successful, huh," he said nervously.
"Sans …" Grillby put down his towel on the chair next to him and started advancing slowly, while loosening his bowtie.
"Err … Grillby?" Sans hesitated and took a step back. "Can you just forget what I said?"
"Sans!" Grillby looked offended and his flames rose higher as Sans started to perspire from the heat and his embarrassment.
"Wait! I take it back … I'm sorry! I said it on impulse!" Sans stammered, "I didn't mean for you to take it in that way - it's not a confession, I'm just saying we - uhhh … we're great buddies and I -"
"SANS!"
"AARGH!" Sans shot up to a stinging on his left cheek. Breathing heavily, he realised it was night time and he was in his room, sitting up on his bed. He noticed a dark outline sitting beside his legs and scrambled to the side to switch on the night light.
"Frisk?!" He stared at them in confusion as they stared sheepishly back.
"I'm sorry …" Frisk whispered, "I was trying to wake you - did it hurt?"
Sans touched his left fingers to his cheek. The sting of the slap had gone; he guessed Frisk had tried to hold back. "Nah, kid. But you shouldn't be here at 1am in the morning. How did you get in?"
Frisk swung their leg over and hopped off the bed before pointing to the open window by the side of San's bed. "I climbed through the window."
Sans frowned. "Uhh. My bedroom is on the second floor. Are you trying to kill yourself?"
"Sorry …"
He sighed, "Welp, no harm done I guess. What do you need, kiddo?"
Frisk looked away and twiddled their thumbs. After a slight pause, they looked at Sans with a serious expression, "I … I want to save Asriel."
"Everybody does, kid -"
"But I actually mean it. I want to try!"
Sans was taken aback at the forcefulness of Frisk's tone but he regained composure. "Why the sudden desire?"
Frisk shuffled their feet from side to side and looked down, "I couldn't sleep very well at night. I kept seeing Asriel in my dreams … He's so lonely, Sans. It's been 3 months … but I still hear him calling out to me so …" Their voice became even softer, "... I came up with a plan."
"C'mere, kid." Sans extended his arm and Frisk moved over to sit beside Sans on the bed. "You should have told us sooner. Does Toriel know?"
Frisk shook their head.
"And I suppose she doesn't know about this lil' midnight adventure, either." Sans chuckled as Frisk scratched their head sheepishly.
"Don't tell her."
"I won't, kid. But for now, I'm gonna walk you back home," said Sans gesturing for Frisk to stand up. He too, stood, grabbed the house keys and crossed the floor to open the door. "We can all hear about this plan in the morning, okay?"
Frisk nodded wordlessly and followed Sans as they exited his house. The walk home was silent but not uncomfortable. Sans didn't know how Frisk was feeling at this moment but he himself, was reflecting on how things ended after getting to the surface. Everyone was elated and had a blast of a time settling in. Over the months, the humans and monsters had really managed to integrate and live together harmoniously so that was heartwarming to see.
But he guessed Frisk always felt someone was missing, that someone had been left behind, and that's why they kept getting dreams of Asriel calling out to them.
Sans suddenly felt a tug on his jacket and looked down to see the kid gesturing they had reached Toriel's.
"Oh. Uhhh ... goodnight then, kid," Sans said a little disoriented from being snapped out of this thoughts. "No more sneaking around, yeah?"
"Okay," Frisk nodded and went up the steps to the door. They turned the knob quietly and pushed it open. Then, Frisk stopped and looked back at Sans.
"Yeah?"
"Sans, why were you saying Grillby's name in your sleep?" Frisk cocked their head to the side in genuine curiosity.
Sans, caught off guard, panicked. "Errr ... I was hungry. Wanted some Grillby's … dreamt of food."
There was long pause before Frisk cheerfully said, "I see! Goodnight and thank you, Sans."
He waved as they slipped into the darkness of the house, the door closing behind them. Then he let out a sigh of relief and wiped the perspiration off his forehead, glad that Frisk couldn't see he was blushing in the dark.
Sans turned around and walked back down the path reminding himself to advise Toriel to lock the doors at night from now on.
It was the next morning and instead of heading to school, Toriel was hastily making her way to Sans' and Papayrus' house, feeling glad they all lived on the same street which was convenient for emergencies like this.
She thought back at what Frisk said at breakfast this morning and wondered if she should have just called the brothers over instead of going to their place and leaving Frisk alone at home.
Toriel had noticed something wrong immediately when Frisk sat down for breakfast. They looked far away and hardly touched the pancakes (which they absolutely love) so she had thought at first, the child could be sick.
"What's wrong, dear? Are you unwell?" She asked.
Frisk looked up from their plate and shook their head slowly.
Toriel frowned, "is everything okay then? You can tell me anything, child."
Frisk hesitated and put down their fork. Then they said something that almost stopped Toriel's heart.
"I want to save Asriel."
Toriel froze. She wasn't sure she heard Frisk correctly until they repeated themself, this time adding on extra information about a plan they had thought of. Frisk asked if she wanted to hear it.
"Child, Asriel … Asriel is - he, he is no longer …" Toriel struggled to find her words. Asriel … her son, he has gone a long time ago. What could Frisk do?
She realised she had asked this question out loud and quickly covered her mouth. But Frisk, unfazed, replied, "I think … I'm planning to reset everything and save him … somehow."
Toriel stared at them. She vaguely recalled Frisk admitting to everyone a few days after getting to the surface that they had this queer … ability to reset the timeline? Frisk couldn't quite explain it and Toriel didn't understand much of it but she knew she was wary and skeptical of this … ability.
She still is.
"Child. I love you very much. With you here, I can finally start anew and leave my past behind. There is no need for you to change anything," Toriel said, hugging Frisk.
"I don't know much about your special ability but please don't use it, okay? I'm happy like this. Aren't you?" Toriel pulled away a little, searching their face.
Frisk couldn't help but be overcome with love for her adoptive mother and gave a small smile, nodding in reply. Toriel sighed and pulled Frisk back into the hug, kissing them lightly on the forehead.
A minute later, after Toriel made Frisk promise they'd finish their breakfast, she said she had to leave for work, bidding Frisk goodbye. She made sure she had left slightly earlier so that she could drop by at Sans' and Papyrus'. Despite Frisk appearing to be genuinely happy about the way things are now, Toriel just couldn't shake off that feeling of worry.
Arriving at the house, she rang the doorbell and knocked.
"Who's there?" Came a voice from inside a few seconds later. It sounded a little hoarse but it was recognisably Sans'.
A memory flashed in Toriel's head and she grinned, "Dozen!"
"Dozen who?" There was a note of anticipated delight in the voice now.
"Dozen anybody want to let me in?" Toriel finished and then broke out in laughter at the same time the voice did.
There was a click as the door unlocked, revealing Sans in his shirt and shorts. His grin spread wider seeing Toriel and invited her in.
"What brings you here so early in the morning?" He asked.
Toriel's smile faded slightly as she thought of breakfast. Taking a deep breath in, she started, "Frisk was telling me about saving Asriel in the morning …"
"Asriel?"
Toriel nodded. "Yes. I fear they are planning to use their, their … reset ability to do that."
Sans lifted a non-existent eyebrow, "I see …"
"I don't know what I can do … Frisk seems to be happy here now, but I can't help but worry," Toriel continued. "Sometimes I feel I'm a bad mother because I don't understand them completely."
Sans patted Toriel's back. "Nah. You're doing a fine job as it already is. Kids grow up and come up with interesting ideas all the time. Don't let it get to ya."
Toriel nodded but turned towards Sans. In a sombre tone, she said "I still need your help though." Then she quickly added, "You seem to understand Frisk better than I do at times. Please, will you and Papyrus keep an eye out for them today?"
"You mean an eye socket?" Sans grinned wider. "Sure. Count on us."
When Toriel left for her work after thanking him, Sans thought about what he had just promised.
Does that mean they had to babysit Frisk for the whole day?
Sans sighed, walking down the same path to Toriel's. She said she had left the door unlocked so he could let himself in.
And he thought Frisk was too trusting of a person.
Papyrus had wanted to come along as well but he actually had work to do (as a law enforcer) so he couldn't make it. Instead, he made some spaghetti for Sans and Frisk both.
"So you and the Human can think of me while you are eating!" Papyrus said with pride as he handed Sans the packaged spaghetti he put in a bag.
Sans let out a small chuckle. Papyrus still calls Frisk, "Human" despite being surrounded by so many other humans on the surface. Papyrus addresses everyone else by name, but with Frisk, he never changed their nickname which everyone found to be adorable. Even though Toriel had initially frowned upon it, thinking Papyrus was ostracising them. However, she quickly realised he was subconsciously calling Frisk, "Human" out of affection.
Speaking of which, Sans wondered if he did the right thing, not telling Toriel about last night. Then again, it wasn't like she didn't know what Sans knew now. Frisk had after all, dutifully told her what they had told Sans in the middle of the night.
But, he was still slightly troubled by Frisk's plan, and it was in this state of mind when Sans reached the door. He knocked on it, just to be polite … but he heard no one reply. Convinced Frisk was perhaps upstairs in their room, he opened the door and went inside.
"Kid? It's Spaghetti Delivery with your order that you never placed."
He paused, hearing his echo off the walls.
Boy, he thought. This place needs some furniture. The living room had only two maroon armchairs, a coffee table, a medium-sized bookshelf and a rug.
However, he wasn't here to inspect and judge Toriel and Frisk's taste in decor so he started on the stairs to Frisk's room. No one replied just now; perhaps they were sleeping? If so, would it be right to wake them? A memory of what happened last night flashed in his head and he thought wryly, well, they certainly don't care about waking monsters up in the middle of the night …
He knocked on the door gently but it swung open on the first knock. Sans peered inside. No one. Feeling a little confused, he pushed it wider open to poke his head in.
There was a bed, a lamp, a drawer, a wardrobe and even a poster of Mettaton holding his Best TV Personality of the Year Award. Yet, there was no sign of Frisk.
"Hey, kid. If you are hiding and planning to scare me. It ain't funny," Sans warned lightly, inspecting once again, all four corners of the room before looking suspiciously up and down the hallway he was standing in.
Five seconds of silence later, he dropped the pasta and started to go on a search for the human child.
Well, isn't this nostalgic?
Frisk was silently making out shapes with the clouds, a usual morning routine before lunch.
Lunch, they thought. It would be nice if I could have some of Papyrus' spaghetti.
His cooking has really improved under the patient tutelage of Undyne.
Then Frisk spotted, in the midst of the passing clouds, a plate of spaghetti. They smiled. At first, upon reaching the surface after so long, they could only make out shapes of sheep, flowers and fish. Now they're getting better at spotting other things. Other more … surface-related things.
They stretched out on the grass, closing their eyes and feeling the soft soil on their skin, the gentle breeze on their face and the warm of the sun. Oh how they had missed the surface!
Yet … Frisk also missed the charm of the Underground. It was definitely the friends they made there that added to the magic and beauty of the place.
But most of all, Frisk missed Asriel.
They opened their eyes, looking back up at the fluffy clouds. All of them were drifting to the right. They wondered, as they imagined the clouds rewinding and moving leftwards instead, if they could reset to when Chara was still in Mt. Ebott and save Asriel.
So far, Frisk had only been able to reset to the beginning of their journey through the Undergound. Do they have the ability to reset all the way back to Chara's journey? Was that even possible?
Suddenly, a shadow fell across their face. "Heya, kid."
A voice pulled Frisk out from their thoughts. They sat up, realising that Sans was standing in front of them.
"I forgot you guys had a backyard. Looked out of the window from the second floor and saw you there. You really had me worried for a sec …" Sans trailed off, noticing Frisk eyeing the bag he was holding.
"Spaghetti. From Papyrus," said Sans, holding out the bag to Frisk.
"Thank you," they happily accept, reaching into the bag for the pasta and cutlery (which Sans had grabbed before heading to Frisk).
Sans watched as Frisk ate Papyrus' spaghetti in contentment. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Kid, you like the surface, don't ya? You don't want to reset because you want to live in the Underground, right?"
Frisk looked up at Sans, pausing in mid-bite and shook their head.
Sans sighed and sat down next to them. "So … it's really because you want to save Asriel?"
They nodded in reply.
"Then, why did you enter the Underground in the first place?"
Frisk stopped eating, looking stunned by the directness of the question. They slowly set down the spaghetti, unsure of how they should answer. They pretend they don't see the penetrating gaze from Sans, awaiting their reply.
Deliberately looking at the grass, they finally answered, "I fell … by accident. I was being chased … and I slipped and fell. I wasn't looking where I was going."
"You were being chased?" Sans pressed.
"Back then, kids at school bully me a lot," Frisk cast a sidelong glance at Sans before quickly looking away. "I didn't know how to deal with it. I just ran … That day, when I fell, they were trying to catch me to throw me into a lake."
Sans felt defensive. This kid did not deserve such horrible treatment from others. "Why did you not tell anyone about this?"
"I … was an orphan. I didn't have anyone to turn to."
Sans reached over to pat Frisk's back. That explains their social anxiety which Toriel and Frisk gave as their reason to have Frisk homeschooled at night when Toriel returned from work. Some trauma of school and interacting with other children must have remained … He guessed the only reason why Frisk was able to make such great friends in the Underground, was probably because they were monsters, not humans, and thus Frisk had no fear of them.
How this kid had so much compassion for others though, he could not figure out. Even for someone they had barely just met … like Asriel. Perhaps they can really save him after all. Frisk is definitely tougher than they look and possibly the most determined being in this timeline.
"I am going to reset everything," said Frisk suddenly, as if reading Sans' mind. "All the way to Chara's time."
Sans looked at Frisk with a mix of slight amusement and curiosity. "And how are you gonna achieve that?"
Frisk faltered, "I was hoping you could tell me …"
Sans chuckled. This kid was sharp too, picking up on his knowledge of the timelines.
"Hey, kid. I don't know how much you know, but I know that you don't know messing with Time causes huge anomalies. You resetting to the beginning of your journey into the Underground once or twice is enough to cause tiny ruptures in the continuum. But to reset all that way back?" Sans shook his head. "How are you so sure Time won't backfire on ya?"
Frisk bit their lip. "I don't know but … I have to try. I cannot leave Asriel behind without trying! He deserves every bit of the happiness we enjoy now, doesn't he?"
"Sure. But even if you could save him, how are you planning to reset that far back in the first place?"
"I've not attempted - but I probably could. If I put my mind to it and … go back …"
Frisk and Sans both looking at each other. But before he could say another word, Frisk stood up, brushing off the dust from their body.
Then they became completely quiet, completely still as they closed their eyes …
The backyard before them disappeared as they closed their eyes.
First, there was darkness. Frisk couldn't see anything. Frisk couldn't hear anything. It was as if they were underwater. Everything was muted to silence.
Focus. Frisk told themself. You cannot lose your concentration here. Usually a reset was much easier than this. The option would glow clearly in their mind and they'd reach out and … just do it.
But now, there was just emptiness. Frisk needed to remind themself why this reset was necessary.
Think. Think of everyone smiling, finally free and content on the surface. Everyone but Asriel.
Think. Think of Asriel born into the arms of Toriel and Asgore. How nice it would be to hear their laughter on the surface!
Think! Think of Flowey, an imprint of Asriel's memories. An echo of his being … confining himself to an eternity of solitude for repentance.
I need to save them. I must save them all.
Suddenly, an orange glow emerged in their mind. Faint, but discernable in the darkness.
Frisk held on to it, held on to the glow, representing their desire, and Asriel's too, to see the surface, to be saved.
The glow grew stronger. It started to gain shape, forming a box and some letters.
Frisk didn't let go.
Finally, the word "REWIND" appeared, glowing bright and pulsating with their heartbeat.
Frisk's eyes flew open, turning their head towards Sans as the REWIND option disappeared momentarily. They started breathlessly, voice shaking with both excitement and fear. "I see it. A chance to go back. Sans -"
At this point, Sans already knew what was happening and held his hands up in surrender. "I can't do anything to stop you, kid. I believe you can do the right thing. If this is the right thing to you, then go ahead."
"Sans …"
"Toriel's gonna kill me though …" Sans somehow managed a sad smile despite his cheery appearance.
Frisk, overwhelmed, threw their arms around the skeleton, hugging tight. Sans, though surprised at first, returned it sincerely.
"You know, there was a time when I lost faith in humans because of Chara," he said, still hugging them. "But ya know, kid, you helped me gain trust in them again. So I believe in you."
"I'm going to miss you and everyone else …" Frisk whispered, their throat tight. "… so, so much."
Then they both pulled away and Sans gave a small laugh. "You'll see me and the rest soon."
Frisk nodded and gave Sans a shaky smile.
He stretched out his hand and they shook it, reminiscent of how they first met.
"Welp. See ya soon, kid."
Then they both let go and Frisk closed their eyes, summoning the REWIND option once more. Back to Mt. Ebbot in Chara's time. Frisk firmly told themself.
And just after they reached out to touch the boxed word, they heard a distant voice fading away before blacking out.
"I'll miss ya, kid."