Resilience (Undertale: Sans x OC)

Ch17-Healing

A month after his confession, Amelia and Sans found themselves much closer. The initial awkwardness between them had faded away as Sans opened up about his struggles with trust due to his conflict with Frisk. Amelia, being the only one privy to Sans's secret about the resets, shares a unique bond with him. Despite the lingering trust issues, their newfound understanding of each other had deepened their connection into something truly special.

Not only has her bond strengthened with Sans, but she's built strong relationships with all of her friends. Amelia especially loves to spend time with Papyrus, who she has been teaching how to cook. She's made spaghetti with him so many times, Papyrus is actually beginning to cook edible meals.

Amelia is currently teaching Papyrus a new spaghetti recipe, called "million dollar spaghetti".  This meal consists of meat-sauced spaghetti, cream cheese, and ricotta cheese layered like lasagna, finished with Italian mixed cheese on top. Papyrus is in charge of the noodles while Amelia mixes together the cheeses and creates the meat sauce. Sans is simply sitting on the countertop, a blue aura surrounding both his hand and the spoon as he stirs for Amelia and Papyrus occasionally.

     "A life without noodles is im-pasta-ble for Papyrus." Sans sneaks in a sly joke, earning a groan from his brother. Amelia laughs at his pun, before coming up with one of her own.

     "I think Papyrus is spaghetting tired of these puns." She says with a cackle as Papyrus immediately slaps his face in disappointment.
Still smiling about their quips, Amelia uses the spoon and scoops up a little of the meat sauce, giving it a taste. "Yum, the sauce is good."

     "Lemme try." Sans beckons Amelia towards him. She walks over to him, standing between his legs as she holds out the spoon expecting him to take it, but he's too lazy to remove his hands from his pockets. He leans forward to taste the sauce. "Hmm. Yeah, that's good." Amelia smiles at his approval.

     "Wonderful! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus smiles at the success of the meal.

     Amelia and Papyrus then work together on layering the spaghetti, topping it with cheese and throwing it in the oven.

     As dinner is served, the three of them gather around the table, eager to dig into the delicious meal they've prepared. The spaghetti, a delightful mix of savory meat sauce, creamy cheese, and perfectly cooked pasta, offers a symphony of flavors and textures that excite their taste buds. With each mouthful, their faces light up with joy, savoring every bite of the flavorful meal.

     "I must say, I have become quite the chef!" Papyrus announces proudly with a smile on his face. Amelia and Sans exchange a small grin, happy to see how enthused Papyrus is.

     "You sure have, bro." Sans encourages his brother, earning a Nyeh heh heh! Out of him.

     The three watch TV for the rest of the night until it's time for bed. By now, Amelia has invested in an extension of her wardrobe. She has her own pajamas now along with a few extra outfits to wear, but her favorite shirt to sleep in is still the white T-shirt Sans offered her. She's sleeping on the couch in her white, comfortable shirt along with spandex. She's sound asleep, until a loud thud startles her awake. She looks around her surroundings, and notices there's a blue, glowing light outlining Sans's door. She knocks on his door, but doesn't receive an answer. She gently peeks open his door, and finds Sans on the floor having a nightmare.

     With a sympathetic sigh, she closes the door behind her and approaches Sans. She gently shakes his shoulder to wake him up, which results in his eyes sockets shooting open. One of his pupils turns blue, a sight she's never seen before. Still disoriented by his dream, Sans grabs Amelia with his telekinesis and throws her against the wall, holding her up with his magic as her soul turns blue when it leaps out of her chest. Her eyes widen in horror as an animalistic skull materializes in front of her.

     "Sans! It's me, Amelia!" She calls out for him, hoping it will snap him out of his nightmare. The blue light in Sans's left eye socket fades out, returned to his usual white pin-pricked eyes. He lets out a gasp of regret as he retracts the gaster blaster, releasing Amelia.

     "Oh god, I'm so sorry." Sans feels himself nearing panic from both the nightmare and almost hurting his friend. Despite how terrifying that encounter was, Amelia quickly composes herself for Sans's sake. She gets up from the ground and approaches him softly.

     "Hey, it's ok. I'm fine, see? Are you alright? That must have been a difficult nightmare, I'm sorry." She gently guides him to sit on the bed, but is careful to give him some space to feel comfortable. "Just focus on your breathing right now. Remember to take slow, deep breaths." She reassures him. Amelia has had panic attacks in her past, so she knows how difficult they can be to manage. She sits with Sans for a while, taking deep breaths with him to help calm him down. Slowly, he starts to recover from his night terror.

     "Thanks." He mumbles with a sigh, ashamed she witnessed that side of him. "I'm sorry that I did that to you."

     "It's ok, you weren't fully conscious yet. You didn't do anything wrong." She gives him a small reassuring smile, letting him know everything is alright. "I'm guessing your nightmare was about Frisk... And what she did."

     "Yeah. It still haunts me, I hate it." His eye sockets grow dark as he recalls the horrific events.

     "Are you comfortable with talking about it? It's alright if you don't want to, but I don't think bottling it in is healthy." Sans doesn't want to talk about it, he just wishes he could forget it. But he knows she's right, the only way he can start to heal is by confiding in someone else.

     "It was the same as every other nightmare. I'm in the judgment hall, fighting Frisk, trying to get her to quit. But she doesn't. Every time I kill her, she comes back. Getting stronger and faster each time. That kid just refused to give up." Sans looks away, uncomfortable with talking about his trauma. He's never told anyone this story before, so he's still getting used to it. Amelia takes his hand soothingly, bringing comfort to him as he speaks. It helps, so Sans squeezes her hand a little tighter as he goes on. "I still remember the pain I felt when she finally landed a hit on me. Both the emotional and physical pain. It haunts me. I remember how it felt losing Papyrus, desperately fighting to avenge him. Those nightmares don't feel like I'm dreaming, they feel so real. Like I'm back in those timelines. Like I'm stuck in the judgement hall, anticipating death."

"I'm so sorry, that must have been so terrifying and heartbreaking. I just can't believe anyone would do such a thing." The two of them sit there, crying together at the story. Sans can't stop the tears from falling as he recalls the tragic events, and Amelia's cheeks are stained with tears as she witnesses the pain Sans is left in. "Just know that I would never even consider doing that to you. I can't even comprehend the desire for it." She gently tilts Sans's face up to look at her as she notices his eyes are wandering away. "Both you and this timeline are safe with me. I promise. That kid is gone now, it's just us." Sans visibly relaxes at her words. He gives her a weak smile before pulling her into a hug.

Sans holds her tight, dragging her into his lap and not letting go. Amelia is surprised that Sans put her in this position, but quickly returns the hug wrapping her arms around his neck. She's happy Sans trusts her enough to be this vulnerable with her, it's a drastic change from how they used to be a month ago.

Sans releases his tight hold on her, grasping her gently as she sits on his lap. She looks down at him with a small smile and holds his face softly as she runs her thumb under his eye socket to wipe a tear that falls. Normally, she would likely be flustered from the position she's in with Sans. But in a moment like this, it feels so natural.

"Yeah. It's just us." Sans finally replies in a quiet, hopeful voice.