Chapter Text
Frisk was curled under their sheets, but they weren’t asleep. They rarely were, these days. They knew and wanted to tell their friends what was going on, they really did, but they couldn't bring themself to. Sans was the perfect candidate to tell - he knew about resets, he knew about everything - but Frisk couldn't rid the thought that he'd be angry at them for something they couldn't control, even though they knew the irrationality of it.
Slipping out of their blankets, Frisk's feet padded on the wooden floors, on their tiptoes to try avoid freezing their feet more than strictly necessary. Slipping on a purple and blue robe patterned exactly like their favorite jumper (a gift from Mettaton) and worn magenta slippers, the child snuck downstairs and out of the house, quietly opening the door and closing it as lightly as they could behind them.
Frisk walked for a bit before they reached their favorite spot. The cliff overhanging the sunset, the first sight of the sun they'd seen when leaving the underground.
Sitting down after taking their slippers off so the shoes didn't take a plunge off the cliff face, Frisk stared out at the night sky, debating everything. They wouldn't reset. They couldn't reset. They couldn't spoil everything they'd - all of them - had worked so hard for. There's no way in heaven or hell they would.
Chara thought otherwise.
Frisk had no idea why Chara was trying so hard to ruin everything, but they knew he was getting desperate. They had no idea what he was going to do next, and it scared them. It scared them more than facing the monsters Underground did. It scared them more than anything, but Frisk held on. Chara was not going to ruin their happy ending. Humans had just accepted the monsters, and while anti-monster groups still existed, they were few, as most people accepted that the monsters were back for good.
"Look who it is. It's the Ambassador." A high-pitched voice interrupted their train of thought. Turning around, Frisk saw someone they certainly didn't expect to see.
"Howdy, it's me. Your friendly neighborhood Flowey! Although, you knew that already," the flower grinned, face distorting as a manic grin settled on his face.
Frisk sighed silently, turning away from the flower that had tried to destroy them all. Sure, he was forgiven, but that doesn't mean what he'd done was forgotten. If he was back to share some other evil plan, Frisk was just going to block him out. They weren't in the mood.
It was silent for a few moments. Flowey was left wondering why Frisk had reacted the way they did, and Frisk was left to wonder why Flowey was there. Finally, Frisk replied.
'Yes, Flowey?' They signed, face unreadable. Flowey frowned.
"Frisk, what the hell's gotten into you? You know everyone is worried, right?" The flower said, before scoffing. "Well, apart from me, of course. I don't care."
Frisk didn't reply, just let their head drop forward and their shoulders bunch up to their ears. Flower sneered.
"So pathetic. If you can't even bring yourself to tell your 'friends' about your problems, how do you expect them to trust you?"
Frisk again said nothing.
"Wow, you're not even gonna say something in defense, eh? Humans really are pathetic."
Nothing. No reply. No sign that Frisk had even heard what Flowey had said.
"Listen to me, damnit! You're such a disappointment! How do you even live with yourself!?"
Frisk raised their hands.
'I know I'm a disappointment.'
With a start, Flowey realized what they had said. "No, I meant- agh!" A high pitched groan of frustration later, Flowey slumped over. "Fine. If you're not gonna rant to your dumb 'friends', rant to me. It physically hurts to see you all moping around, avoiding each other. Gah."
Frisk was silent for a moment before they turned around, looking straight at Flowey.
Now that they thought about it, it wasn't Sans that would be the best person to tell about their predicament, it was Flowey- well, Asriel. Frisk bit their lip as their fingers began moving.
'I have a bit of a problem.'
"Well, no shit, Sherlock. You look like death itself." Flowey scoffed. Frisk ignored him.
'I don't know what to do, and I need help, but no one would understand.'
Flowey finally seemed to get it. "Are you gonna reset? Hah, finally bored of this timeline? Good for you! Just reset, it's not like they'll remember, anyway." He chucked darkly, smile twisted.
Frisk's head snapped up.
'No!' They signed, face a stormcloud of emotions. 'I'm not going ruin all of our hard work!'
Flowey paused, face back to an innocent flower. "Then...what?"
'Flowey, I need Asriel for a moment. Can you please, please do that for me?' Frisk's head lowered again, hair shielding their face.
"Wha- Asriel is gone, smarty-pants. You can't ju-" 'Please, Flowey.'
The flower sighed.
"Fine. I'll try to understand and be 'empathetic'. Bleh." Flowey gagged, before straightening up, albeit reluctantly. "So, lay it on me."
Frisk hesitated a moment before they seemed gather their resolve. 'It's...Chara.'
Flowey's eyes widened in surprise, but he said nothing, just listened.
'Chara's been in my dreams, every single night, screaming at me to reset, that I'm getting bored, that they won't remember anything so there's no harm in doing so. But I don't want to do it. I don't want to tear them from this timeline. They're happy, I'm happy , and I don't want to ruin it.'
Frisk paused as they tried to find the words.
'But Chara won't stop. He won't stop , he just continues, showing me their worst fears, telling me just how easy it would be to reset. Just press the button. That's it. I can't refuse, either. That's possibly one of the worst parts, that I can't say no, that I can't tell him to stop. My hands are always bound, he makes sure they are, and I feel so helpless. He seems to be getting desperate, and I'm so, so afraid of what he'll do to get his way.'
Flowey was silent, staring at the troubled child who had the fate of the future on their shoulders and refused to let anyone else share the burden.
'I don't know what to do. I want to tell my friends, I could easily tell them, but...my mind refuses. My heart refuses. I don't want to trouble them, not when they're so happy, so free. I've seen them hurt, crying, broken, but seeing them happy,' Frisk pauses to wipe away a tear, 'I would never ruin that. I don't want to ruin that. So much of our blood has been spilt to get here, and we finally made it. It makes me so happy just to see them happy.'
'But that's not all. The dreams have changed recently, from showing their fears to showing my own. Every single night I go through hell and back, ending with Chara telling me to reset. I won't, I can't, but he tells me I will, as if he knows. He seems so certain, and I don't know what he has planned and it scares me. It scares me so badly, but I won't give in. I just...I don't know what to do.'
Frisk had given up on trying to wipe their tears away, and instead let them drip freely, body trembling with silent sobs. Flowey was looking at the ground, deep in thought.
"I can see how that would be a problem." He finally mutters, face neutral. Frisk laughed slightly, choking on their sobs.
'I don't know how much longer I can last, Flowey. I'm so scared just to fall asleep these days. How am I supposed to protect everyone?'
Flowey scoffed. "Here's a thought, how about you don't protect everyone. They're not helpless, as much as I hate to admit it," Flowey's head tilted forwards as he looked up at Frisk, "and they certainly don't want or need you to protect them. In fact, they're probably trying to protect you. Like when mo- err, Goat Lady didn't let you out of the Ruins because she was worried you'd get killed? When that taller skeleton tried to stop that dumb Fish-guard from killing you by asking about your clothes, although he messed it up? And when Sans, Goat Lady and all your other stupid friends stopped Goat Lady's ex from fighting you? Well, for the second time, that is. Since your dumb ass hasn't realized it yet, everyone's been trying to protect you all along. It's been so sweet it makes me sick to my non-existent stomach. So how about letting them care for you, for once, instead of dealing with all this shit alone?"
Frisk was silent, like usual, but their fingers weren't moving. Their hands lay still by their sides as they listened to Flowey's impromptu rant.
"So, just drop the act and tell them, you idiotic human. Nothing is going to get better if you don't try to make it better in the first place. Also, about Chara? There's nothing, nothing he can do to physically hurt you. Mentally? Sure, but isn't that was friends are for? To support you? I mean, Chara can do jackshit to you or your mind if you don't let him do it in the first place."
There was silence for a moment before Frisk's shoulders started shaking with laughter, a tear dripping down their cheek.
"M-More crying!? How much water do humans store in their body!?" Flowey questioned incredulously, before yelping as Frisk scooped him into a hug. "Gah, watch the petals! Watch the petals!"
As Frisk hugged Flowey, they smiled into his petals. A few moments later, Frisk pulled away.
'Thank you, Flowey. You're the best.'
"Of course I am. Besides, if you ever find yourself unable to sleep, now you know you have a reluctant non-shoulder to cry on. I'm here for you, I guess, although I have better things to do."
Frisk knew what the flower was trying to convey. So they wiped their eyes, sat back on their knees and turned around, legs back over the cliff.
"Although, Frisk?" Flowey's was looking at the sunrise, not at Frisk when they turned to look at him. "Promise me something. Don't ever betray your friends, okay? If that means never resetting again, then so be it."
Frisk tilted their head in the universal sign of 'what.'
"Just promise me, okay? Never betray them."
'I promise.' Frisk signed, nodding at the flower. Flowey nodded at the child before both turned around to face off the cliff face again. Just in time, too, as the sun had just begun to rise.
Brilliant colors painted the sky, a picture so beautiful, so many artists and photographers had tried and failed to capture it's sheer uniqueness. Bright yellows blended with vivid oranges, soft pinks and pale blues as the night sky melted away to make room for the new day. Finally, the bright, beaming sun right smack-dab in the middle completed the picture. It was beautiful, and Frisk was happy. Flowey was happy too, although the stubborn flower would never, ever admit it.
Everything would turn out okay. It might not have been at the moment, and there might be times when it seemed like it wouldn't, but Frisk knew better. They knew everything would turn out a-okay, because they had all their friends and family with them, right by their side, forever in their heart, and they weren't gonna ever leave.
As the last of the display seemingly meant just for them melted away, Flowey turned their head to realize Frisk had fallen asleep. Smiling a little, Flowey settled down, too.
Everything was gonna turn out okay. But if for whatever reason it didn't, they had friends that would stick forever by their side to support them, and vice versa.
After all, that's what family's for.