#at!toriel

Toriel shifted slightly in bed, letting out a soft yawn as her curtainless window only barely allowed the light of the outside from come in. Another day had come and gone up on the surface, and yet, she still refused to get up. Now, many monsters would refuse to waste just a day up above on sleeping in, but a goat needed her rest, especially after a long day of…. okay, you got her there. Still, no one was bothering her. Sans wasn’t shaking her in order to wake her up or literally pulling her out of bed and carrying her downstairs, so as far as she knew, she was in the clear. The only thing that really bothered her was the uncomfortable feel of her mattress and how hot her pillow had gotten. Not wanting to open her eyes and thus break the illusion of sleep, she simply turned her pillow over to lay her head on the cool side. Speaking of cold, she brung her giant ball of unwashed blankets closer to her. She grimaced to herself slightly, telling herself she should really unravel the ball. It was starting to get co-

Wait.

Sans was too tidy. He’d never let Toriel bunch up the blankets like that.

No.

Her eyes shot open, her soul beginning to race as fear overtook her. She sat up quickly, looking around.

God no.

Mattress with no blankets. Blanket grease ball. Treadmill she never used. Self sustaining trash tornado.

Oh god please no.

The familiarity hit her like a baseball bat. She was immediately hunched over, trying to calm her own breathing as she felt she was going to have a panic attack.

This couldn’t be happening.

She burst out of her room, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she quickly scanned for her brother. He was nowhere in sight.

Frisk had promised. Frisk had promised to her that there would be no more resets, and for the slightest fraction of a moment, she had actually believed them. She smacked her forehead repeatedly at her own stupidity. As she struggled not to break down right then and there. And they had been going for so long, too.

However, something wasn’t right this time. She usually didn’t remember most of the resets. Sure, the overwhelming familiarity whenever she met her friends each and every time was always a tip off, and the reports only confirmed it, but this was the first time she remembered a full reset. Memories of everything she had done came rushing to the forefront of her mind; breathing in fresh air, meeting new friends, going on dates, actually feeling hopeful and happy for once in years; it was all gone. It was all gone with a single reset. Was this the universe’ way of torturing her? Had she done something to deserve this?

Toriel called out her brother’s name repeatedly. She didn’t care if he didn’t remember, for she just wanted someone to hold onto. She couldn’t take this by herself anymore. However, when Asgore didn’t answer back, fear sparked within her. She tried telling herself it was only because she had slept in, but her breathing began to hyperventilate before she knew it.

“Asgore!” she tried again, going up to her brother’s room and opening the door. “Bro! You here?” There wasn’t a single response, and the room was left empty of life. He was probably outside or something. A quick shortcut later and she was walking on the streets of Snowdin, calling for Asgore relentlessly as her tears threatened to spill. But there wasn’t a response from Asgore. In fact, there wasn’t a response from anybody. The monsters that usually crowded the streets and hung around outside of their homes were nowhere to be seen. Her voice gave out while trying to just call for anyone, but nobody came. Not a single soul in sight.

It was the anomaly. That goddamned human. Her mind was only mocking her, telling her she shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. She shouldn’t have even tried. The surface, her life, her friends; what were they all worth now?

Wait. Her friends.

Toriel felt another fear come to mind when her panicked thoughts switched to her other friends. Undyne, Alphys, King Papyrus; it didn’t matter if they didn’t remember anything. She had to make sure they were okay and that the human hadn’t gotten to them, too. Now knowing what was going on, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she didn’t at least warn Undyne or Alphys of the oncoming danger.

However, a quick search of Undyne’s home turned up nothing. A quick trip to Alphys’ lab later, and she was sickened to find just a pile of dust where the doors opened. No luck with the king, either. Dust littered the flowers, small bits of soul just barely visible within the scattered ashes. Everyone was gone.

But there was still one more monster. Her hope was almost depleted at this point. Her only question now was why had she been spared? Was this just the human’s version of a cruel joke? Were they just experimenting, laughing in the shadows as she scrambled around to find anyone at all, knowing she wouldn’t remember a thing the next reset?

She rushed to the Ruins, appearing before the doors, stopping to calm herself. Tears had already fallen, and she barely paused to wipe her eyes as she began to shove the doors open. And sure enough, unlike every single time before, they actually opened this time. The double doors split, letting a bit of dim light into the dark corridor. She saw no one and looked down on the ground, and sure enough, there was a pile of dust, robes spilled on the ground carelessly, as if they hadn’t once contained someone she’d loved.

Toriel collapsed onto her knees, her sobs ringing through the dark hallway, echoing softly. No one was there to help her. No one was there to assure her it would be alright. No one was there to give her a reason as to why.

No one was there.

She was alone.

…

..

.

“Tori…”

...

“Toriel, wake up.”

...

“Wake up. You’re having a bad dream.”

Toriel’s eyes creaked open slightly, her eyes bleary from tears that spilled onto her pillow. She could now feel someone gently shaking her, trying to rouse her from her sleep. With a quick intake of breath, she sat up, taking in her somewhat unfamiliar surroundings as her breathing only started to speed up in pace. Upon feeling a thin hand wrap around hers, her immediate instinct was to pull away. A fearful sound left her mouth for hand a second as she felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her back into a hard mass. Her hands placed flat on the uneven chest of the unknown person, she immediately began trying to push herself away, but whoever it was held her there. That’s when she realized someone was talking.

“Tori, calm down, it’s me,” the voice whispered, sounding deep and soothing and oh so familiar. This caused her to halt for a moment and look up at the man who had her held back. It took a second to recognize such a distinct face: a wide permagrin stretching a white skull as two dark, yet soft sockets looked down on her, the eyelights looking almost lovingly down back into her eyes, all of which was lit by the lamp on the nightstand beside their bed. It was Sans, her boyfriend, alive and well again, much to her disbelief. Her mind wanted to believe it, but her subconscious was only telling her it was all fake and she was still in the underground. She brought a shaky hand up, her fingers brushing against the smooth bone of his cheekbone, her thumb feeling every rounded edge. This was real.

“Sans?” she whispered, her voice cracked and almost unusable. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Sans’ grin was soft as he lifted a boney hand to gently cup her cheek, the familiarity of the touch bringing back memories of dates and late night snuggles and kisses during comedy movies together. “Hey there cottontail. It’s me,” he breathed, closing his sockets. Toriel’s walls broke down as more tears began to spill. “Oh my god,” she sobbed, immediately wrapping her arms around him as her body jerked and shook with uncontrolled wails into his chest. Sans wasted no time in comforting her, rubbing her back gently and whispering soft words to her to assure her she was alright, like he had done so many times before. “Shh… it was all just a bad dream,” he mumbled. “Everything is alright. We’re here now. Everything is real.”

This small sobbing session lasted longer than usual, with it going on for a good twenty minutes. Sans didn’t mind though, and made sure Toriel calmed down completely using several comforting gestures and words that had worked over the months. Eventually, Toriel calmed down completely, drying her eyes on the sleeve of her pajama top. She had crawled into Sans’ crossed lap at this points, laying her head against his sternum. “Feeling better?” her boyfriend asked softly, rubbing her back with a gentle hand. “Yeah,” she croaked, her voice sounding weak. She could recall more times like this now. She would wake up in tears from dreams of coming back to the Underground being left alone with no way out. Sans would always be there to anchor her down to reality and lull her back to sleep. While these dreams had become less frequent and her panic attack had grown less of a worry as time went on, this one was particularly bad. It wasn’t the worst, but it was still pretty worrying.

“Sorry,” Toriel apologized, looking up at Sans as she did. He only shook his skull, pressing his teeth to her head as he closed his sockets. “You don’t have to apologize,” he told her, his small back rubs slowing. “It’s completely fine. Now, how long have we been here?”

“Sans, I-”

“Come on, cottontail.”

She gave a sigh, clearing her throat. “Two years and two hundred sixty days.” She glances at the clock. “Two hundred sixty-one.” Her nerves began to calm down more. “And how many times did Frisk promise not to reset?” Sans coaxed, cracking open a socket to peer down at her. Toriel swallowed and gave another sigh. “Thirty-two. This is the longest run they’ve done.” “Exactly,” he breathed, giving her head another soft kiss. “They’re not going to reset this time, I promise you. Every day you wake up, you’ll be here in bed with me. Asgore will always be just a call away, and our friends will remember you each time you meet again.” Toriel gave a little nod. “Yeah… I know… I know,” she mumbled. She looked back up at Sans. “Thanks for… putting up with me,” she continued. “I swear, even Asgore got sick of being woken up at midnight for this.” She heard her skeleton give a small chuckle as his arms repositioned to wrap around her lovingly. “I’m always here for you,” he assured her. “Even if you do sometimes leave me bone tired in the morning. Understood?” That coaxed a small giggle out of Toriel. “Yeah, I goat you.” The two shared a small laugh, before letting silence take the room again.

“Ready to go back to sleep?” Sans asked after a few moments. She gave a more confident nod, moving off of his lap and resting beside him. Her boyfriend reached and turned the lamp off before resting beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. Toriel watched him for a few moments as he closed his sockets and fell back asleep. She felt a warm feeling well up inside her, something she could only equate to love and happiness. Everything would be okay, she reminded herself as she closed her eyes and snuggled up next to Sans. She would wake up the next morning, and everything would be just as it should be.

She felt herself beginning to drift off. “I love you,” she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper.

There was a pause.

“I love you, too.”

Sans was up early as usual, talking to Asgore over the phone about Toriel’s most recent panic attack. The goat sibling seemed worried, but was sure Sans could handle any problem that came his way when it came to Toriel. They talked for a bit as Sans finished up breakfast for himself and his girlfriend. Once he heard movement from upstairs, he said his goodbyes with Asgore before hanging up.

Toriel came down the stairs a few minutes after the call, though it wasn’t the usual trudging he’d normally see when her tired body somehow managed to wake itself. She seemed a bit more awake. And was that a smile he saw? If it was one thing he knew, Toriel wasn’t a morning person. “Hey, cottontail,” he greeted, already serving breakfast. “You’re up earlier than usual. Have something planned today?” Tori shook her head as she plopped down in her seat, sliding a few bits of bacon on her plate. “Nah,” she chirped, looking up at him with a slightly wider smile. “Just woke up early for some reason.” Sans looked back at her as he poured a cup of coffee. “Well I’m glad to have you down here,” he grinned, sitting down beside her.

Toriel donned a thoughtful look as she munched on her bacon. “I… have something to tell you,” she sighed suddenly, setting the piece down. Sans blinked and set down his coffee, a slightly worried look crossing his own face. “What is it, Tori?” he asked, crossing his arms on the table and giving her his full attention.

“I… checked my stats this morning,” she began, earning a more confused look from her boyfriend. Her smile only grew. “My HP bumped up to five.”

Sans sat back, surprised, before breaking out with a joyful grin. “Wait, really?” he laughed, reaching a hand to grab Toriel’s. “That’s amazing!” She couldn’t help but grin, happiness welling up within her. “Yeah, it surprised me, too,” she breathed, feeling herself get a bit bleary in the eyes again. “I… I just never thought it would happen, I-” She stopped, just stuck in the awe of the phenomenon herself.

“Well I’m happy for you,” Sans grinned. “I told you everything would be alright.” He leaned down and gave her a loving kiss, which she happily returned. “Yeah… I know,” she smiled. “I guess I just only now started to believe it.” Sans grabbed up his phone. “Let’s call Asgore. He’s going to flip over this.”