* VIOLET TORMENTOR.

If they bit hard enough, maybe the pain would be enough to distract them, get their head back in the game.

They wanted to help people with her. Like they always did.

But it's so hard to think of anything but Susie and—

Her arm is around them, their face pressed against her shoulder and her hand in their hair and her chin on the crown of their head. The warmth and pressure is all it takes to push them over the edge. It isn't just her being gone that the tears start falling for.

It's years of pressure and guilt, longing for true and genuine connection, wishing they were worthy of that kind of comfort.

"I..."

"I missed—" Their voice comes out a weak croak. Kris wraps their free arm around her, grips the back of her shirt and presses their face as close to her shoulder as they can as broken, muffled sobbing escapes their lips. It feels like a floodgate's opened, so many pent up feelings bursting out of them. "I missed you— damn it... *hic*... I thought you were never coming back."

Shame is the only thing that they can sort out from the mess of feelings spiraling through them and spilling out in the form of sobs and choked out, broken pleas that make them feel like a fucking child.

"I'm sorry—"

Susie is probably uncomfortable. They need to get their shit together.

When they were alone together, it always felt like.. Kris was a little more open than they were when other people were around. They laughed, they made stupid jokes-- even howled like a damn dog. It always felt like.. an honour, she guessed. To be the person they could let their walls down around. To be whoever they wanted, without having to worry about anyone else..

As much as it hurt her to hear them sob as they were, now.. Susie felt the same as she had those other times. Honoured, that they could be this raw and honest with her. Knowing how much they trusted her, how much they relied on her--

How much.. they really, really cared about her.

She pulled Kris as close as she could, now leaning her whole face into their hair; letting them cry for however long they needed. She felt her lip quiver against her will, her closed eyes now squeezed shut; trying to keep her own breathing steady, as the hand on the back of Kris's head moved to wrap around them, too.

"Don't apologize. Okay? I don't want you to be sorry."

Because she understood. She felt the exact same way when they disappeared from this place-- even though they came back so much quicker than she did. What was the point of being here, of enjoying her life.. if Kris wasn't in it? What was the point.. of any of it?

"Kris.. no matter what happens.. I'm never going to leave you. Doesn't matter if it's here, or if we both manage to get back to Hometown.."

".. you're never gonna lose me. Because.. I don't want to be without you, either. Even if shit happens, if we get separated for a bit.. you know I'll always find you, yeah? Just like.. how you always find me. When there's danger, in the dark.. you're always there. You.. don't ever let me be alone."

The hand now resting on their back gently gripped into the folds of their sweater; taking another breath in, then out.

".. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I scared you. But I'm here now.. and I'm not going anywhere ever again. I promise."

Alright, maybe this was serious. Gently, he places a heavy hand on her back keeping her close without having to shift to crouch down.

"Easy, sweetheart. Take a couple deep breaths, remember where your feet are. There..."

Without picking something to put on in the background, emotional intelligence wasn't Tenna's... strongest suit. But he'd coached a lot of his crew against freezing on stage (nicely, at least for the first few years,) and that's the next best advice he could give. When her eyes peek up at his screen, he moves his hand. ... This sounded familiar. A few months ago, something jogged his own memory from the past, despite not being there. Did it work the other way, too?

"You suddenly remember something happened, sure, but I promise you haven't popped out of the island or anything. Which I guess makes it more confusing, huh..."

There's a pitfall feeling in his core...

Yeah.. she was safe, here. It was okay to relive everything-- even though..

There were other people.. who weren't safe.

".. not the first time it's happened to me," she managed to finally say, her voice hoarse and quiet now as she willed herself to open her eyes again. "When you first got here.. it was only, like. A couple days before that I.. remembered meeting you. Before then, we'd just gotten out of Queen's place.. but this is--"

.. at his question, however, Susie immediately went silent. A look of horror struck her face, maybe even one of guilt-- before she suddenly let Tenna go. Instead, she reached for his hand; guiding him back to her room as she walked backwards, before moving past him to shut the door.

She didn't know if Kris was home. If they knew yet. She had to find them, but first--

It wouldn't be right to keep it from Tenna. From either of them. So as she turned, back pressed against the wood.. Susie managed to choke the words out, one by one.

".. Asgore.."

"The Knight.. they took Kris's dad, Tenna. Just like.. just like how they got Undyne.."

It happened so fast, but she remembered every second of it. Every horrifying, sickening second.

"Someone.. opened up a Dark World in his flower shop. And the flowers, they.. they were amazing. When Kris sealed the fountain.. the Knight was there, and opened up another one right away. One of them tried to stop them and save Asgore, but he.."

...

".. he told us.. how fragile flowers are, and I.. I tried to help him.. but I don't know if he's.."

✧ - "Susie! I'm glad to run into someone that I know! There are a lot of humans around here, huh?" From Susie's point of view it might have seemed like Ralsei had just appeared (even though he'd totally walked there on his own two feet). But the boardwalk was crowded and she was a lot taller than him, so she tended to tower over the crowd while he blended into it.

Well, it was kind of Ralsei's thing to show up unannounced by this point.

But for the last couple of days, with how many times she replayed her new memories over and over again.. well, it kind of already felt like he was around. Her last memory was being back in Castle Town with him and all the other Darkners, preparing for when Noelle would finally get to join them-- so, maybe she was still just thinking about him a lot.

... but maybe she should turn around and look, just in case. And when she did..

"RALSEI?!?!??!?!?!?!!??"

Her first instinct was to reach out and grab the Darkner by the shoulders, shaking him around with all the force she could muster. "DUMBASS!!! The hell're you doing, sneaking up on me like that?! You scared the shit out of me!!"

.. until, she pulled him into a great big hug; her roars of terror quickly turning into uproarious laughter.

"'Guess it's worth it, though.. I can't believe it! You're really here..!" the hug lasted for maybe a second longer than what was normal for Susie, but she eventually let her friend go, absolutely beaming at him when they parted. "I bet it feels damn good, huh?! There's lots of humans, but tons of Darkners, too! I can show you all the good stuff around, if you want! But, uh.."

Oh, okay. That's interesting. Flowery had been working on some different theories, but if Susie's here- well, they can't be true. Not that it matters. What matters is now.

"Susie. Why so glum? Smile's suits a hero."

She hadn't heard him coming, and she probably couldn't have even if she actually was listening. He puts a hand on her shoulder, flashing his own smile.

"See? Flowers bloom in the sunlight, right? Let sunlight into your heart, too."

She's not smiling.

"Flowery..! But.. but how..?!"

It was the first time Susie had uttered his name since her new memories came flowing in-- even though she remembered their adventure with him, the Dark World he belonged to.. seeing him, feeling his hand on her shoulder, just made all of that information so much more real.

It also made the realization of what happened to him create a deep, sinking pit in her stomach.

She was agape as she stared at him, eyes wide, mouth slightly parted.. until she looked down at the hand on her shoulder. Until she glanced at him, at his torso, unable to help herself from visibly flinching.

"..."

"...Susie?"

Teenagers were temperamental creatures; that was a simple fact of life. And unfortunately, he missed a lot of the kids' teenage years while he was unplugged. He usually doesn't go into their rooms; he's not really their parent. He still doesn't know if he's even taking care of them both properly, like Toriel would have.

However...

"You've been in your room a lot today, kid... Just, wanted to know, um..."

Sure, she wasn't home all the time--neither was he. But the monster was usually around lounging (or at least making noise!) when she was.

"...Is everything okay?" He asks through her door, still lined with the KEEP OUT! ZOMBIE OUTBREAK! tape from last Halloween.

It had been, for what felt like days; but it was probably just.. a few hours. Since the start of her day. Honestly, she couldn't even tell anymore; she was still trying to really understand everything she suddenly remembered, like a whole other part of her life hadn't drastically changed again. So much of it was for the better-- at least, for a moment.. until..

At the sound of Tenna's voice, the girl suddenly jolted from her bed; that same stunned look on her face ever-present, as she listened to the soothing sounds of her guardian. As much as she needed time alone to process everything, to not have to do it alone was a blessing-- she'd been in a haze for a while, not even sure if Kris was going through the same as her. Of course she'd figure it out with them too eventually, but for now..

For now, she rushed straight to her door; opening it up and hugging Tenna without an ounce of hesitation.

The grip around his torso was as tight as she could muster, shoving her face into his shirt. She remained quiet for a moment, until she caught her breath; craning her head back to look at him through her mess of bangs.

"Tenna.."

"It's.. home. When I went back, everything.. everything was the same there. Nothing was different, but now.."

Where should she even have began? Her date with Noelle, the Dark World? Or..

Or that bastard, the same one who hurt him? The one who was trying to take everyone away?

"I remember.. all these different things.. like I was there. Like another day went by, but I.."

It's the realization that Susie really was, for a time, gone.

She was gone enough to be back there, see Toriel, see the mess of back home.

The pressure of her finger curled around theirs is what actually cracks their poorly constructed mask of normalcy. Kris's mouth tenses, lower lip quivering slightly even as they try not to, and their eyes are burning.

I missed you.

The words are so hard to get out. They don't feel like they deserve to say them. I missed you, please don't leave me again. Don't take her away again...

"That's.... good." Kris's voice is too quiet, and they tighten their grip on her finger. Then, fully lace their fingers with hers, with both hands, like they're trying to physically root her in place. They're not going to be able to stop the tears from coming, their throat is too tight and the world feels like it's condensed down to just her hand in theirs. They let go with one hand, reaching up without lifting their head to push their palm over her eyes.

The tears fall easily now.

Almost as if they were.. like it was taking everything in them not to--

"Kris..?"

But as she turned back towards them fully, Susie's face met the palm of their hand; blinking against it as the world became dark, obscured. She could feel their other hand now fully holding onto hers, fingers intertwined with one another; and that, coupled with the one over her eyes rendered her cheeks with fluster, for just a brief moment.

Until she heard the hitch in their breath. How their voice sounded so small, so quiet, as they pleaded in their own way for her not to look. Her shoulders stiffened, the beat of her heart skipping as she stood; almost like she didn't know what to do. What to say, if she should move..

.. no. She knew what to do. And even if it was a different approach.. it would still be what Kris was asking her to do.

Behind their hand, Susie closed her eyes; before gently pulling it away from her face. Instead, she reached behind their head; guiding them into the safety of her shoulder as she wrapped her free arm around them, resting her chin atop their mess of brown hair.

She could smell their shampoo as she let the weight of her head rest there, bringing a little smile to her face. Even here, they still used the apple scented stuff.. everything here should have been different, but so much of it.. wasn't.

Even though she'd left, Kris was still the same. Susie was still the same. They were just.. two dumb kids, who had an entire world of adventure waiting for them whenever they managed to go home; but for now.. this was their home.

Because they were here-- together.

"..."

If she opened her eyes for even a second.. damn, she'd probably be crying, too. But Kris needed her right now-- to know she was there, to know she wouldn't leave them again.. and she'd stay there holding them until they could believe that, with everything they had.