The child had gone upstairs, just like she told them to, and they had yet to come back down. Which was good, of course. She didn't want them down here. It would take a great deal of destructive magic to seal the Ruins exit forever, and it would be safest for the child to remain upstairs until she was done. It was quite good, then, that they were so obedient.

Toriel sighed and put her back to the door, leaning against it.

Yes. Very good. That there would be no one to stop her.

Some time later she still leaned against the door, but now instead of standing she sat on the ground, weighed down by the task ahead. Funny how she felt so tired, when she had yet to do any work. It seemed every minute she promised herself she would soon get up and destroy the door, and yet every minute found her still sitting here, waiting for the next. This was ridiculous. Could she really not bring herself to do it? Was there really a part of her hoping the child would come try to stop her? It wasn't as if they could, even if they wanted to. And yet…

No. Enough of this. She stared down at her hands, watched flames flicker to life in her palms. It was too late for second thoughts. She had made her decision.

Knock-knock.

She sat up with a jolt at the rap on the door, but soon relaxed when it was accompanied by a familiar voice:

"Knock-knock!"

The fire in her hands died immediately.

Goodness, was it time already? She wasn't exactly in the mood, but she didn't want her dear friend to worry about her either. Best to play along for now, and, in a minute, find an excuse to leave early. And then… Well, best not to think too hard about it, for now.

"Who is there?"

"Arch."

"Arch who?"

"Gesundheit."

"Ha," she laughed weakly, "Danke."

"Heh. So Woshua robbed the shop in Snowdin yesterday."

"What?"

"Yup, and he made a clean getaway."

She laughed. Even if now was hardly the time, she just couldn't help it. He laughed too, and that was always a pleasure to hear. Her heart panged as she realized that if she truly blocked the exit off forever, destroyed the door and made the tunnel itself impassable, she may never hear that laugh again.

He'd gone quiet now, waiting for her to tell one. What had she come up with for today again? Oh, right:

"Why did the skeleton need a friend?"

"Beats me."

"Because she was bonely."

"Nice," he said with a chuckle, "Hey, what's a skeleton's favorite instrument?"

"The trombone, of course."

"Ya got me."

Womp womp wooooooomp!

"Wh-what?!" She scrambled to her feet and turned around, pressing close to the door. "Was that…? Did you just play a…?"

"Welp, like I said, it's my favorite." Wooooomp!

Toriel snorted.

Womp-womp?

She snickered.

Womp-womp wooowoooooooomp…

Tears crept to the corners of her eyes as she tried to hold it in. This was really too much!

Womp.

She couldn't repress it any longer. A giggle fit of epic proportions burst forth, so intense that soon she was struggling to breathe.

Wom—pfft!

Her friend tried to play more notes only to be overcome himself by a breathless bout of uncontrollable chuckles, and thus the vicious circle began: His laughter only made her laugh harder, while her laughter only served to egg him on, and on and on it went. By the time they finally recovered, her stomach hurt and she was panting like she'd run a marathon.

"I haven't… laughed like that… in years!"

"Heh, you say that every time."

"Do I?" This was the first time he'd pointed it out, but, now she stopped to think about it, he was right. It seemed every time they met he eventually managed to make her laugh like this, so hard she lost herself for a moment.

"Yup. 's why I keep comin' back."

Even though she couldn't see his face, she somehow knew he was winking.

"Heavens…" she murmured, shaking her head.

"…hey, can I ask you somethin' serious?"

She frowned. That was certainly a change of pace.

"Of course. What is it?"

"Is… is everything, like, okay in there? You seem kinda different today."

Oh dear.

"Different? How so?" Ha. How so, indeed. She heard herself how low her voice was all of a sudden.

"…I dunno, like…" He didn't finish his thought. Perhaps he was afraid of making her angry. "…eh, forgeddaboudit. Didn't mean to get weird on ya."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them, and Toriel's heart sank. She couldn't let them part ways like this, especially if this would be their last meeting.

She had to admit, she did not like that thought, that this would be their last meeting. Even though she was sure she'd keep herself busy looking after the human child, the Ruins could be very small some days, and losing her friend would only make them smaller.

It occurred to her that a place too small to make even an old woman happy would be hell for a child, but they couldn't leave. If they met Asgore…

Then again, there were monsters in the Underground who were not so cruel, and perhaps the child could benefit from meeting someone like that. Someone like…

"May I ask you 'something serious'?" she asked. She was still far beyond the point of ever letting another child leave through this door.

"Shoot."

Still, perhaps it was not too late to have second thoughts about destroying the door itself. A door was a useful thing to have, even if one had no intention of leaving.

"Could you wait here while I leave for just a moment? There is someone I would like you to meet."

"Huh? I mean sure, yeah, no prob. Not like I've got anywhere to be."

"Thank you. I will return soon."

Toriel smiled as she ascended the stairs. Her friend sounded quite surprised at the prospect of her bringing a new voice to the door. She suspected he'd be all the more shocked when she came back and unlocked it.