A Skeleton's Struggle

The Morning After

Warmth engulfed Sans' entire being, and he sleepily opened his eyesockets to see a sleeping Frisk beside him. They were still wrapped up in Toriel's blanket, and were snuggled up on her sofa. Sans lazily glanced at the clock opposite him. 9:24AM. He was glad he managed to get a few hours sleep without nightmares , and from the looks of it, Frisk managed to do the same.

Sans sighed as he remembered the conversation from last night. He wouldn't let Chara torment Frisk ever again. He'd protect Frisk with his life, if he had to. It seemed likely that Chara was going to visit both of them soon, and Sans mentally noted to talk to Frisk about that later on.

Suddenly he heard the clashing and clanging of pots in the kitchen, and he assumed that Papyrus was awake. He stretched, and carefully slid out of the cocoon of his fluffy blanket, and left a snoozing Frisk on the sofa as he slowly walked to Toriel's kitchen. He opened the door and was greeted by the aroma of butterscotch and cinnamon pie, and ( of course ) spaghetti. He saw Papyrus and Toriel sitting at the kitchen table, and they both smiled at him as he walked into the room.

"Good morning, brother!" Papyrus chirped happily. "How are you feeling?"
"Not bad, thanks bro. Thanks for the blanket, Tori." Sans replied, and slumped down onto one of the kitchen chairs at the table. Toriel patted his back comfortingly.
"It's no problem, Sans. Thank you for looking after Frisk, it must have been difficult for you, considering..." She trailed off.
"Yeah. I know. It wasn't that bad, Tori. I've had nightmares before, no biggie. I'm just glad I could support the kid, even if it's a little, you know?" Sans mumbled. Toriel nodded.
"Yes, that's true. My child told me about what's happened with Chara, when they went missing. It wasn't what I was expecting, and I'm afraid it was a lot worse than what I was expecting. Asgore was furious. He still is, and it pains us both that we cannot do anything about this situation." Toriel looked down miserably, and stood up to check on her still-cooking pie. Papyrus scooted over to Sans, and looked worryingly at him.
"Brother...? Your nightmares... Are they about this...Chara?" He questioned hesitantly, looking down at the table. Sans nodded.
"And...Chara is a bad person...right?" He said. Sans nodded again, clenching his fists.
"Chara wants to hurt everybody, don't they? They want to hurt you, and Frisk... They want to hurt you two the most, don't they?" The taller skeleton mumbled, frowning at the thought. The shorter skeleton nodded again.
"Look, Pap," he started "don't worry about me, alright? I've dealt with this before...we both have. Only Chara was alive back then, in another timeline..." He whispered, not wanting Toriel to overhear. "It'll all get sorted out in the end, I promise. If I can deal with an alive, murderous little maniac, then I can deal with a not-alive, murderous little manic too." He smiled. Papyrus still looked worried.
"Sans... You really do worry us... I want to help you. I'll do anything I can to help!" Papyrus insisted. Sans chuckled.
"You know, all I need is some time with you guys. Let's go out. How about a picnic?"

Later on, Frisk, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore, Toriel and Alphys were sitting on top of a rather small hill at the park, all of them munching on their treats that they had brought for the picnic.