Chapter 1

Frisk awoke with a start, a cold sweat already forming on her forehead, beading along her eyebrows before dripping down and stinging her eyes. She pushed herself up from her bed with shaky arms, mopping at her face with the sleeves of her pajamas, and glanced at the clock.

12:03.

It had only taken two hours this time, she thought with a groan, taking in great gulps of air in an attempt to calm herself down. It didn't work especially well. But then, nothing really helped. The nightmares always came.

Good, some small part of herself said. She pushed that to the back of her mind, instead looked around her room, letting the comfort and familiarity bring her back. It was much like the room that Toriel had given her, back in the Ruins, when they'd first met; when Toriel had built her new home on the surface, she had largely replicated her house (again). Frisk loved everything about it, but sometimes the sheer sameness of it would throw her off, make her forget where, or when, she was, if just for an instant.

She loved living with Toriel. Just thinking about her new life was helping to settle her down, and a soft smile began to form on her lips, looking at the dresser covered with pictures of her friends and family, at souvenirs from the Underground. They hadn't been on the Surface long, only a few months, and there were still many hardships in store, but they'd taken the first steps together. They'd gotten their happy ending. And Frisk would never let anything happen to it.

She got out of her bed, pushing aside the pastel-striped comforter and sheets and landing barefoot on the carpeted floor. A couple of stuffed animals sat on her bed, both gifts; the soft robin's egg blue of the big bunny matched the paint, while the bright yellow of the bear made a nice companion. She plodded over to her door, being careful not to make too much noise, and opened it with a slight creak. She used to wince at the various groans of the house before, worried that she'd wake Toriel, but eventually realized that she was quite a sound sleeper. That was good; Frisk didn't want to bother her. She was so busy; Toriel didn't need Frisk's childish problems placed onto her.

Besides, these were Frisk's burdens to bear.

She tiptoed up to Toriel's door, open just a crack, and placed her ear to the opening with a held breath; all she could hear was the steady rhythm of Toriel in slumber and the occasional squeak of the mattress. Frisk couldn't help but grin; she'd been so surprised, back at the cliffs when they'd first gotten out. The sun was blazing, casting waves of gold on the mountain as all of the monsters began heading down one by one, until only Toriel and Frisk were left. She'd been considering what would come next; and then Toriel had asked her. Asked if she had somewhere to go.

Without thinking, Frisk had answered, soft and hesitant, "I want . . . to stay with you." She hadn't meant to say it, hadn't planned it; it had just come out. She had always been a quiet child, never liked to talk much; speaking was dangerous, scary. When she'd first started to interact with everyone in the Underground, many had thought she was mute. But she'd said those words to Toriel. I want to stay with you. And it was true, so true. She had nowhere else to go. She'd never go back to . . .

Toriel's overwhelming joy had been a surprise. After everything that had happened, Frisk had thought that Toriel would go off on her own as well. Leave her there on the mountain and go live the life that she'd been dreaming of. Frisk wouldn't have blamed her. After denying her and leaving her there at the Ruins, Frisk thought that Toriel would never want to speak to her again. She never called or answered, after all. But she'd come at the end. And she wanted to share her life with her, and Frisk could only bury her face in Toriel's robes and thank her from the bottom of her heart, barely restrained tears threatening to pour from her eyes. She didn't know why she was so lucky, but she still felt that this was a dream, too good to be true; did she really deserve this wonderful life?

Whether she did or didn't, she would defend Toriel's happiness, along with everyone else's. Satisfied, Frisk tiptoed over to the bathroom, flicking on the lightswitch, eyes squinting at the sudden flash. She closed the door carefully and stepped over to the sink, head poking over the counter. Her wispy brown hair fell around her, tousled from rolling in bed, and her matching warm brown eyes were a little red from lack of sleep, but it was still her. Dark bags had started to form under her eyelids, and Frisk rubbed at them before turning on the cold water, splashing some on her face. The icy water made her tense a bit as it hit her face, but after getting used to the shock, it felt good to wash her face, and she cupped her hands together to get a drink. This was a ritual that had become all too comfortable lately, but it was better than troubling any of the others. It was just her and Toriel here, but the others all lived nearby; the monsters had build a small village near Mt. Ebott after being freed, many preferring to stay close by during these early days, and it seemed a good idea to Frisk. She was glad to have all of her friends and family close by anyway; Papyrus and Sans were next door, and Undyne and Alphys were a stone's throw away, relatively. Asgore lived across the neighborhood, and while Mettaton was often out touring, he visited Napstablook often down the block. There were still tensions with the humans nearby and at large, but Frisk had done her part as the monster ambassador (Asgore and Toriel did the actual hard work). She was honored that Asgore had asked, though the importance and weight of the position had not been lost on her. She felt that she'd done well enough though, and it gave her something important to do. Ever since coming out, she'd found it hard to concentrate on things, and she found many of the usual activities that would have normally captivated her simply . . . didn't. Her attention slid off of them like ice.

Maybe there was something wrong with her?

She snickered at the thought as she turned the water off.

Frisk grabbed the fluffy towel nearby to dry herself off with a sigh. She had a busy day in store tomorrow; she'd promised to help Monster Kid and some of his friends with some kind of construction project they were working on (a treehouse maybe?) and then she needed to make the rounds around Very New Home (or just Ebott, that worked too) and make sure everyone was doing all right. She had to make sure that everything was perfect; if anyone got hurt or killed, she needed to go back as soon as possible.

She began to get the aches and pains again, all over; grim reminders of past timelines and failed attempts at talking down the monsters. Sometimes it was just headaches that would blossom into migraines, and sometimes it was closer to phantom pains; she'd feel for her leg, just to make sure it was in one piece, check and make sure her arm wasn't broken.

These were her burdens to bear as well.

Turning the light off as she left the bathroom, she made her way back to her room, laying down on the bed and trying to will herself back to sleep. Uncomfortable images and scenes played in her head like an unwanted movie, endlessly repeating days with no happy end in sight. But Frisk was determined; this would be the happy ending. She could do this for them.

Eventually, she fell into a fitful sleep. It wouldn't be the last time this night.