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“Sans? Sans, come down!”
“Yeah, just a sec, Pap.”
“Sans! Now! Miss Toriel even baked a pie for the occasion!”
“Hold on…”
Sans continued rummaging through the open drawer, groaning every time he had to push something to the side. He could’ve sworn he left it in here…
His hand brushed it. He circled back on himself.
“Ah ha!”
He pulled out a notebook. It was small, with a pencil slotted in the rings hooking it together. Sans held it up, then got to his feet from where he was kneeling. The book may have been tiny, but it was important.
Because it was filled with memories.
Weirdly enough, the kid had stayed in the Underground for a long time before they finally freed everyone. They lived with the skeleton brothers in Snowdin, but used the transport that the River Person provided to explore the kingdom. They helped so many people, and who would’ve thought. A human would be the one to free everyone. The kid saved the monster race.
And the bond they’d shared with everyone never left.
When the kid admitted they had places to go, no one was surprised. Frisk had their own life. Their own family, friends, they had their own world. The group would be lying if they said they weren’t upset.
They had all hoped, deep down, that Frisk would stay.
But no one blamed them for leaving.
They were still the ambassador for the monsters, after all.
Unfortunately, Frisk had just disappeared after everyone was freed. No one had seen them since they had walked away from that sunrise.
So Sans thought it was right to do atleast one thing for them.
He took the notebook and placed it on the desk in the house they were throwing their celebration in. Moving the open computer from earlier studying, he pulled the chair back before taking a seat.
He slid the notebook infront of him, opening it to the first page.
And the dedication written in the front appeared.
THE BOOK OF MEMORIES
-by: PAPYRUS!! Undyne, Alphys, sans., Ms.Toriel, Asgore Dreemurr, Mettaton,
Each person had signed the front page themselves, all making the decision that if Frisk ever returned, they’d give it to the kid. Papyrus had thought of the title, and everyone had pitched in a little.
They’d started the book way back in the Underground, keeping it out of Frisk’s prying eyes in order to make it a surprise. None of them had thought the child would leave.
Sans flipped through the notebook, looking through the photos that had been stuck in place, and the quotes underneath them.
-The kid joined me n Pap for a cooking lesson. I think they liked it. -Undyne
-The human came to help me recharge Mettaton. -Alphys
-THE HUMAN TAUGHT ME A NEW PUZZLE!!!! -THE GREAT PAPYRUS
-I am glad to hear you are all taking care of the child. -Ms.Toriel
-How did Sans get the queen to sign this??? -Undyne
-skills. -Sans
-I asked Mettaton if he wanted to write something. He almost told the human. -Alphys
-The human can fight~ -Mettaton
-The kid feels just as disgusted as me about that robot. -Undyne
-DO NOT SPEAK SO ABOUT METTATON!!! -THE GREAT PAPYRUS
-I showed the human Mew Mew Kissy Cutie. I’m glad they wanted to. -Alphys
-Alphys set up an account online for the kid! -Undyne
-The child joined me for some tea this morning. -Asgore Dreemurr
The next quote was a while after the rest, sitting below one of the most important photos in the book.
-the kid broke the barrier. we’re free. -sans.
The picture above it had been stapled in rather than glued like the rest. Sans found himself running his hand across it.
The image had yellowed with age, but the depiction was still visible.
It was a photo of everyone, all gathered together with Frisk in the middle. It wasn’t the same as the others, even though the group had taken pictures all together before. Because the sun was in the back.
Everything had just felt more… cheery. So the group cherished that image.
The quotes continued, all talking about the new life on the Surface, all with a new photo taped or stapled above it.
-Had to stop dogs from chasing Sans and Pap. -Undyne
-Sans joined a science lab. He isn’t writing in this anymore… -Alphys
-MISS TORIEL SHOWED ME HER PIE RECIPE! – THE GREAT PAPYRUS
-Asgore spent too long trying to beg Toriel to marry him. She said no. -Undyne
-Gurl boss -Mettaton
-Alphys get your robot away from the book. -Undyne
-WE WENT TO A BEACH! UNDYNE AND ALPHYS ARE THE CUTEST COUPLE!!! -PAPYRUS
-They kissed! -Ms.Toriel
-How many times have you written about us??? -Undyne
-Not many, do not worry. -Ms.Toriel
-Toriel opened a school for humans and monsters! -Alphys
-I have decided to hire Alphys to work at my school, if she’ll agree. This is how she will find out. -Ms.Toriel
-SANS IS STILL RUNNING HIS HOT DOG STALLS… -PAPYRUS
-Saw Sans working with that BurgerPants guy from the hotel. -Undyne
-And the nice cream guy. -Alphys
-Asgore tried to give flowers to Toriel after school. She accepted them, then threw them on the ground. -Undyne
-TORIEL’S HIRING ME???? -Alphys
The quotes had slowed down in the past years, no one thinking of anything new or important to write.
But Sans had an idea.
He flipped the pencil in his fingers, then flipped to the end page. When he found a blank one, he started to write.
So.
Been a while, huh.
Bit rude of ya to just up and leave at this monumental moment, huh, kiddo?
Nah, I’m just messin with ya. I get the feeling I know what face you’d be making, too.
Anyways, I won’t keep you long. You’re probably busy doing something in your own life. Plus, Paps has been calling me for, like, ten minutes. Don’t wanna hold him up.
To be honest, I don’t really know what to say. 10 years is a long time, and you might not even remember us. Eh, don’t worry if you don’t.
I guess this is like a reminder.
So, where to start…
Everythings going alright here. The humans have adjusted to us and all, but I guess they kinda had to. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, but then again it feels like its been ages. Who knows at this point. Time’s weird.
Paps is still the same, old goofy guy he was the last time you saw him, though I guess he kinda does the opposite to what he used to do. Instead of capturing humans, he tries to help them. Sure, not all of them are willing to accept his help, but most of them are now. Infact, even some of the (sorry in advance, Pap) nerdier humans enjoy his puzzles, and might even be able to consider him a friend. I’m happy if he’s happy. I think he probably misses you the most out of all of us. His cooking skills haven’t gotten much better, and this is the 7th apartment we’ve lived in since we came up here, and all of the others got severe fire damage from his and Undyne’s cooking attempts. Now they only cook with Toriel’s supervision. It’s safest, to be honest. It’s hard to explain to landlords that your apartment is on fire from when your brother tried to roast a salad. Yes, that actually happened.
Speaking of Undyne (And Toriel, I’ll get to her.), she’s changed quite a lot. Sure, she still has the anger management of an angry goldfish (heh) and, like I said, her cooking skills haven’t increased, but she’s atleast found better ways to spend her time rather than beating up human kids. I shouldn’t have to say that sentence. She found a human game, then basically begged Alph to let her have it. Being the pushover kind girlfriend she is, she agreed. To be honest, I don’t think you’d wanna watch Undyne play Super Smash Bros. She’s good, I’ll give her that. Her and Alphys are together, by the way, did you already know that? Oh yeah, it was you who set them up, wasn’t it? Very good couple, and a very good idea. Good job, kid.
Toriel and Asgore’s relationship is… rocky… to say the least. I don’t want to go on about it. Me and Tori are friends, but Asgore seems fully determined to get her back. It’s honestly kinda sad to watch. Does give Asgore reasons to grow more flowers, and it seems Paps is the main buyer. Apparently, he misses his ‘flowery friend’. I don’t have the heart to tell him it was just an echo flower. He fully believes in it, so why should I give him reasons to doubt it? Though, I do feel bad that someone’s been leading him on for all these years. I swear when I find out who’s been doing it then-
That’s unrelated.
Back to Toriel. She still bakes those pies you really liked. Do you still like those? Guess you wouldn’t have had one since you left, huh? She taught Pap how to make them recently, and I guess it was one of the things he was actually able to bake. It was the cause of our most recent apartments fiery explosions, but eh. It’s not his fault Toriel tried to light the oven with fire magic while an oiled-up pan was on top. Pap has started making them with ingredients that really should NOT be used in a pie, but I’m not gonna be the one to tell him no. He tried putting a piece of mouldy cheese he found in the back of the fridge the other day. ‘Extra nutrition!’ he said when I asked. Fair enough.
She opened a school a while back, one for humans and monsters. Inclusivity, I guess. Both her and Alphys work there, Toriel hired her, and, as far as I’m aware, she’s a science teacher. Alph would be a pretty good science teacher, maybe I should sit in and watch sometime. I dunno how old you were when you fell down, so would you be going to that school? How old do you have to be to go to that school? I know there’s different types, but what do I know.
Oh, right, Alph. Haven’t spoken about her much yet, have I? Uh, lets see… Oh yeah, she helps out at a science lab nearby when she has free time, which isn’t often with her whole teacher thing. Apparently the workers think she has potential, and to be honest, I agree. Alphys has no self confidence, its just sad. Especially when you’re able to see how much potential she has. According to those science geeks, she could make it to NASA. I dunno exactly what that means, think it’s something space-y, and I’m pretty sure she mentioned that I was more space-y then she is, but she’s the scientist out of the pair of us. I didn’t get much chance, but I’m too lazy to actually be any good at that stuff.
The stars are beautiful. You never mentioned that.
They’re brighter than the fake ones underground, though I guess we already knew that, or atleast we assumed as much. The amount out there will never cease to amaze me. Why’ve I gone so posh? But the idea that there’s alternate universes and timelines out there, I dunno, its kinda fascinating. Maybe there’s even a couple where we didn’t make it out. Glad we’re not in those atleast. I feel bad for the monsters that are.
If those alternates do actually exist.
Mettaton’s still a stage hogger. I don’t get what Pap sees in him, but as long as he’s happy then I’m not complaining. Think that robot enjoys performing infront of humans too much. Plus he has too many simps.
…
I can hear the robot. He’s downstairs.
Oh, yeah. The whole reason I’m writing this, kinda forgot about that. I think I mentioned this earlier, but
It’s been ten years, Frisk.
Ten years since all of our lives changed for the better.
So I’m sending you this, even if you don’t get it, as a reminder.
We don’t look at it anymore, I think most of us forgot about it to be honest, but it was Paps idea to start writing in this lil’ book years ago. And I’m glad he suggested it.
Because this tiny book has memories.
I didn’t believe in memorabilia until now.
So here, Frisk, I think we’d all prefer you to have this over the rest of us.
I don’t wanna ramble for too long, you probably have better things to do than listen to me, and I think I’ve spoken about all of us enough. You had places to be, right? Things to do? You do those.
But I want you to know we’re thinking of you. We’re even having a mini party thing to celebrate the anniversary. Everyone’s downstairs already, they’re waiting on me.
We’re holding it at Alphys and Undyne’s place, mainly because Alph got a giant house-type thing along with her science job, so it’s the biggest. Plus, I remember we stored this at Alph’s lab, cos you didn’t go by very often, and Undyne’s house got burned down by her and Pap’s cooking attempts so often that we couldn’t really store anything flammable or fire-starter-y in there.
I guess the only person I haven’t spoken about is me, but I’m just the same old lazybones I was when you left. I started (Kinda) working in a science lab. I’m not the most useful, but I guess I have some attributes, right? Not that I’d be that good in an emergency or anything. Even worse a fight.
I guess the last thing to say, is…
Good bye, Frisk the Human.
And good luck.
Sans sighed, shutting the notebook with a soft click! Placing the pencil down alongside it, he pushed the chair out from under the desk, spinning on it with an expression of both upset and exhaustion. This was a good idea, it just was.
“Sans!” Papyrus stook his skull around the doorframe, leaning solely on it before shifting to stand straight with his hands on his hips. “What’s taking you so long, you lazybones?”
“Ah, sorry, Pap.” Sans said, crossing his arms and trying not to eye the notebook. “Just got distracted, that’s all.”
“Well, hurry up, brother! Everyone’s waiting!” The younger skeleton rubbed his nasal cavity, shutting his eyes in either mock or genuine annoyance and impatience. Sans couldn’t really tell.
“Yeah, yeah, coming Pap.” The shorter stood from the seat, sighing again.
Once Papyrus had left the room, Sans turned back to desk briefly.
He’d send the notebook tomorrow.
And hope Frisk receives it.
Grabbing his hoodie from where he had previously discarded it, he shrugged it on over his shoulders, before walking out of the room.
He had a party to attend to.
One that meant a lot to both him, and everyone else.
Frisk held the small, sealed box in their hands, staring down at it with pure surprise. They recognized the handwriting on the front, mainly the fact that it was fully in lowercase. Running their hand over the smooth packaging, Frisk took in a breath. Had the monsters not forgotten about them after all? They were almost certain that they had.
Frisk tried to ignore the breathing that swiftly appeared on their shoulder, followed by a quiet snigger. They sighed, before quickly whipping round and glaring at where they assumed the creator of the prior noises was hovering about.
“What?” The voice piped up, moving to see over Frisk’s shoulder again. “Just wonderin’ who that’s from!”
Frisk promptly waved their hand over their shoulder, smiling in satisfaction when they made contact. There was a small shout up of pain as the accuser darted backwards, swiftly making themselves visible.
“Ok, ok, I get it!” Chara snapped, crossing one leg over the other and folding their arms in mid-air. “Just, seriously, why are those monsters still contacting us? Think they would’ve gotten the message by now.”
Frisk glared at Chara, narrowing their eyes in annoyance, before starting to carefully tear at the paper covering whatever was inside.
Chara helped, but that was by impatiently staring at one side of the package, before the middle snapped open, and what was inside fell out onto the floor.
From their places above it, both leant down to check it out, Frisk picking it up. It was a small, teal notebook. It looked worn, as if it’d been out and used for years, and yet neither of the pair had ever seen it before.
When the younger of the pair stood up again, Chara rested a head on their shoulder in order to see properly, smirking when they saw what it was.
“A notebook? Really?” They laughed once, it was harsh. “Nothing more original, San-“
They paused when Frisk opened to the front page, landing to stand alongside the younger.
BOOK OF MEMORIES
“Oh.” Chara mumbled. “J-just look at it. Guess it isn’t that pathetic.” They crossed their arms, blushing slightly in embarrassment.
Frisk did as they said, slowly flipping through, admiring the dedication the group had put into it, whilst ignoring Chara’s snarky remarks they decided to add every now and then.
All of the memories piled into a single book, even the more recent ones from the time on the surface.
But, at the end, there were pages without picture’s, just words scattering and filling the page. Chara had, prior, gone silent.
“So? The hell are you two looking at?” Another voice piped up. Both turned to face where a desk was. A pot sat idly on the surface, holding a very tired and agitated looking flower.
“Oh. Hey Az.” Chara quickly gave him a smirk. Flowey, as Frisk knew him, simply sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Don’t call me that.” He stated blankly. “Seriously, what’s that?”
The purple shirted human wandered over to him, a smile on their face. Chara filled in for Frisk’s silence.
“It’s a book the monsters put together. We’re not mentioned.” They started to float around Frisk’s shoulder again, giving a dramatic sigh.
Flowey eyed both humans. “Just read it already, Frisk. Then I can go back to sleep.”
Chara groaned, moving to hover above the desk where the pot was. “That’s all you ever do anymore, Azzy! Why can’t you be cool like you used to be?!”
The flower ignored them, instead looking at Frisk expectantly. The mentioned human smiled softly, sitting down on the bed nearby. They opened to the wordy pages, and gestured for Chara to come over.
They groaned again. “Nuh uh, no way am I reading that out. Whoever wrote that’s so wordy…”
Frisk placed the book down, still opened, before standing again to grab Flowey from the desk. They sat again, placing the pot on their lap before picking up the notebook again. They stabbed their finger into a line again.
“Ugh, fine.” The older sat down alongside Frisk, leaning over to get a better look at the words. “This was always mom and dads job.” They muttered.
Chara followed where Frisk was pointing, clearing their (non existent) throat. Then, they started to read.
They read the letter, taking small breaks to laugh or mock some of the phrasing, and their voice softening at the bits talking about the people they genuinely cared about. They took care to read it properly, seeming to understand how much it meant to Frisk. When the note ended, they sat back, the trio sitting in silence for a moment.
“…Do you ever miss them?” Chara managed, emotion filling their voice. Frisk nodded, refusing to meet their eyes.
“Didn’t think that Smiley Trashbag could write like that.” Flowey mumbled, though it didn’t sound like an insult, more just a statement of fact.
“Why did you leave, Frisk?” Chara looked at the mentioned, who still wouldn’t look up. “Didn’t you care?”
“Do you think they did?” The floral of the group asked, waving a vine. “Do you not remember the- hey!”
Frisk batted the vine gently, giving a shake of their head.
“Don’t wanna talk about it, eh?” He continued, smirking up at them.
“Just don’t, Asriel.” The older stated quietly. “Don’t.”
And the flower didn’t.
It was later in the night, both Flowey and Chara had since dozed off, but Frisk couldn’t fall asleep.
So they didn’t.
Instead, pulling a sheet of lined paper from a drawer and placing it on the desk, they pushed things away in order to find a pen, brow furrowing when they couldn’t.
“Over here, Frisk.”
When the younger turned, Chara was hovering over by the lamp that sat near Frisk’s bed, pointing down by a glass that was placed on the same surface.
Frisk gave a nod of thanks, picking up the pen from where it had been spotted before moving back to the desk. Chara quickly appeared next to them.
“Whatcha doin’?” They asked, resting their elbows on Frisk’s shoulder to look over.
The shorter nodded, smiling softly. They received a hum in answer.
A while of silence passed, neither doing anything, the room only being lit from the dim light of a study lamp. After a bit, Chara spoke up again.
“…Are you ever going to tell them?” They said quietly. “The monsters…? About the genocides?”
Frisk shook their head slowly, twirling the pen in their fingers.
“…You’re right. They don’t need to know. It’s better if they don’t.”
More silence arose.
“…Need a hand writing that letter?” Chara was smiling, though Frisk wasn’t sure if it was genuine or just a joking one. They nodded nonetheless.
And with that, Frisk began to write.
Hey, Sans…
“Brother! Brother! Come quick!” Papyrus shouted, his voice laced with excitement.
Sans poked his head around the doorframe. “Sup, Pap?”
The younger waved a sheet of paper, a wide grin forming on his face. “The human got the book!”
The shorter skeleton walked alongside his brother, looking up at the paper in his grip. Did they really…?
Instead of questioning it, he smiled.
“Does this mean we could all be pen-pals?!” Papyrus practically shouted. He shout-whispered something about how fun that would be, before handing the paper to Sans.
Upon reading the first few lines, he allowed himself to sigh.
“Yeah, Pap. Maybe that’d be a good idea.”
He ran a skeletal finger across the words.
“And… good. I’m glad…”
…
…
“Ten years, huh?”
…
…
“Who woulda thought.”