If We Never Were

Chapter 1

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See You Again

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The tale of people in the underworld has been told, a new fate written on the pages of the universe unfolds. Only a couple years short to a decade after the end, on the surface where the life from the darkness have seen the light again, our story begins...

-t.t.

"David, can we talk outside for a moment?"

Toriel said to the man sitting beside her daughter's hospital bed. She just came in with a bag full of food and necessities. A bag under her eyes and a weight on her shoulders.

The man hummed in acknowledgement and gave his wife a small peck on her forehead. Despite his weak legs and heavy heart, he mustered all the strength left in his body and stood up. He held his breath for a moment before letting it go and he walked away from her for the first time since the break of dawn.

He opened the door for his mother-in-law, both of them stepping outside the intensive care unit. Their footsteps echoes through the empty white hallways of the hospital as if they're the only people in the building.

They sat at the nearest waiting spot, on the blue guest chairs. David stared at the floor blankly with his arms crossed leaning on the backrest for comfort. Toriel tried to smile, awkwardly tugging on the strap of her shoulder bag willing herself to speak.

"Forgive me dear, I don't even know where to start," she spoke reaching out her hand to pat his shoulders. "I can see it in your eyes..."

David turned his gaze towards her and they met eye to eye as if urging her to continue. Both are tired and bloodshot from crying, both full of sympathy and love that which is needed for this very moment.

"I can see that you blame yourself for what has happened, and I understand. But this-all of this, was unprecedented."

"No, Toriel. I should've seen it coming," he snapped back with all his frustration. "I should've known all along! But I'm so stupid-so ignorant to even notice. She wakes up at night, spends hours in the bathroom and I-" David broke down in tears sobbing on his sweaty palms. "I should've been there."

Toriel pulled him into the tighest hug she can give. She wholeheartedly understands what he's going through. It was the same torturous feeling she felt back in her days at the Underground. The guilt, the shame, the remorse of letting her beloved child walk straight to the face death.

"Shhh, calm down my dear. I know it's difficult. I know. That's why you need to be as strong as you can be. You have been nothing but a wonderful husband to my daughter. You love her. You have done more than enough for her."

Toriel soothed David as if he's her own son. Caring for him not because he's married to her daughter, but because he grew up with no mother of his own. She cares for him as much as she cares for Frisk. And seeing the two of them in this kind of devastating situation is testing her motherly strength. But she has been a mother for as long as she can remember, and she has learned so much. There is nothing in this world that she wouldn't do for her children. In the name of love.

"W-what should I do?" He mumbled between sobs. "I don't know what to do without her. What if... the worse comes to worst, Toriel?"

"Nonsense! Frisk is a strong girl David," she broke the hug and stared directly into his eyes again and with a mix of sterness and tenderness in her voice she said. "Don't you loose your hope on her now. Not today. Not. Ever."