Sometimes kindness is enough

Chapter 10 : Whose fault is it?

Morning came slowly, seeing the awakening of few monsters. Sans was probably the only one who saw the morning came, as he he didn't sleep a lot. He heard the others slowly coming out of their rooms. "Good morning." "GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO." "Morning." Papyrus proceeded to prepare breakfast, as Red sat close to him. He didn't know why, but Sans didn't mind it at all. Quite the opposite in fact. Sans leaned subtly in the touch, which seemed to surprise both Red and Flowey. "Wh...What are ya doing?" "Nothing." "To be honest, Sans wasn't sure himself, it just felt...right. Red didn't pry more. Papyrus came back with breakfast, pausing at the doorstep at that sight. Then he shook his head as he slowly lowered the trail with their meal on the table.

"SO...WHAT NOW? WHAT'S THE PLAN?" Papyrus asked, sipping his coffee. Sans looked up from his mug of hot cocoa, seeming surprised by the question. "You...don't plan on reporting us to the guard, do you?" "NO. IT DOESN'T FEEL RIGHT TO DO IT. BESIDES, IF I DO THAT,BOTH ME AND...RED WOULD BE IN BIG TROUBLES." "Yeah, boss's right. Soooo, we thought that we could help ya." "And we should accept because?" "Because we're the only one who can help ya right now. And, I know some shortcuts. I can take ya ta the king within few seconds. So, what da ya say?" Sans was silent for a moment, processing the info. For some unknown reason, he knew he shouldn't accept the offer. It wasn't because he didn't trust Red, no. It was...something else. Flowey, on the other hand, seemed ecstatic! "Really?! That would be-" He stooped suddenly, and it's expression hardened. "Wait a minute...How can we be sure it's not a trap?" Red sighed, looking annoyed. "When will ya finally stop doubting me?! Yeah, I made mistakes, like everyone, but ya never don't even try ta at least let me help ya!" "It's not that!" "Then what is it!?" "It's...it's...GAH!! You know what? Fine! Take us to the capitol right now, if you're so sure you can help us!!" Fine!!" Before Sans could say anything, Red grabbed his hand, as Flowey was already on Red's arm,  and the three of them disappeared in a red flash.

They appeared in the capitol, near the castle. "We're...we're really at the capitol?" "Of ourse we are! See, I wasn't lying!" "Ugh...Alright, you were right." "And?" "And what?" "Not gonna apologize?" "I still don't trust you." "Why, ya little..." But before they could continue their argument, they noticed something strange. "Sweetheart?" "Sans? Why don't you say something?" They turned, focusing on Sans, who was standing still. Until he fell. "Sans!" both monsters exclaimed as they rushed to his side. They gasped as they faced him. The golden flowers were shining faintly, contrasting with the pale face of Sans. "Waht's going on?" "I don't know!" "What should we do??" "I DON'T KNOW!!!" Red screamed at Flowey. He was panicking; he was at a loss. He fucked up, once again, he screwed it up, what should he do, what should- "Back..." Red looked at Sans' face, his eyes half closed. "What?" "Back...Snowdin..." Red didn't think twice : he teleported them back to his house, in Snowdin.

A few hours later...

They were back at the house. Luckily for them, Papyrus was already gone to work. Red was pacing back and forth in front of the couch were Sans was resting. He regained consciousness minutes after they get back, and since then, no one said a thing. No one talked about the facts that Sans' right wrist was covered in golden flowers, or the fact the neither Flowey or Red noticed it before, too busy arguing with each other. Or the fact that, for the first time, Sans looked mad. And his anger seemed to be directed at both of them. "I thought you understood it." Flowey and Red looked up to meet Sans' gaze. "I thought you both knew it : cooperation is the key. It seems that I was wrong. Red." The skeleton shivered. " *sigh* listen, I understand. I'm not mad, just upset." Oh, that's SO much better. " I understand that you want to have our trust. But... you also know that it will be hard, don't you?" "...It's because of our 'first' meeting, isn't it? When I killed ya over and over." "...So you do remember..." "Of course I do...and I'm sorry." "Red-" "I killed ya over and over, just because it was funny. But the last time  I did...it was out of pure anger. Because...looking at ya reminded me of who I was before. Before I had to kill. And it made me mad : what did I fail ta do? How could ya stay that pure in this kind of world? How could ya be that strong while having only one HP? Why was I a failure? And I lashed it on ya. And I killed ya. And I regreted it ever since. Because, no matter what I did ta ya, how mean I was, ya still looked at me with a smile, without hatred or resentment." "...To be honest, the first times you did it, I was mad at you. Because I couldn't even trust myself in this world. Then Flowey reminded me that we weren't the same monster. We looked alike, and it stops here. But we aren't the same. So you shouldn't feel that way towards someone who isn't you, alright?" Red looked at his lap, a little ashamed of his past-self, but also...relieved? He couldn't explain, but he felt lighter than ever.

"And now Flowey..." Flowey gulped, "Could you stop being so wary of Red, please?" "But-" "Please. Red is the only one who can help us." "Really?" "Yes , because I trust you, and because if your brother come with us as well, everyone would know it. Not onlu he isn't...erm...secretive? And also, he's the vice-captain of the royal guard, so..." "Yeah, ya got a point there." "And I know that you're scared he might betray us, but I can promise you, I know he won't." Flowey stayed silent a few moments. "*sigh* I can't trust you." Sans was about to say something, but Flowey cut him before, "But I'll try to make an effort." "Deal." Red responded with a mischivous smile.

"Now that it's settled," Red said seriously, "Can someone explained me what happened ta ya?" "... We can't broke the rules. Fate didn't appreaciate our little trick, and this is the punishment for trying to 'cheat'." "What da ya mean?" "Flowey explained me what happened with Frisk here. How they got away from this world and how I somewhat take their place. How they played with the universe's law. Everything got a price. Every action has a consequence." "So, ya're saying that ya're paying for their action? That's impossible." "Not that much: I took their place, so in a sense, I'm their replacement. So this," Sans showed the golden flowers on his wrist, " Is a punishment meant to "the Angel" for trying to cheat, to warn others to not mess around in the way they did. That's the only explanation I got. And each time I died, this punishment grows more and more, because I refuse to play by the rules, because I refuse to harm others." Sans stayed silent some seconds, as he finally accepted this fact. "And about what happened at the capitol, it's because we tried to 'cheat' once again." "So, you mean that we'll have to walk through the whole Underground, right?" "Yes. And it won't be easy at all." "Unless I stayed with ya, right Sweetheart?" "Are you sure that's what you want Red? You might get hurt." Red chuckled dryly. "It was already the case before ya came, ya know? Please, let me help ya.Let me protect ya." Red was sincere, he really wanted to help them. "You don't have to ask me twice!" Sans answered cheerfully.

They were standing in front of Waterfall entrance, looking at each other." Ready?" "Yes, let's go." And they disappeared into the cave.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Hi everyone! I hope you're all doing ok! First, I wanted to apologize, I won't be able to post another chapter today. I know I said I would post 2 chapter Saturday and Sunday, but I stayed up late last night because I wanted to finish the chapter and today I had to take care of my niece, so I couldn't wrote more than this chapter. I hope you won't get too mad! Anyway, I hope you liked that chapter! Please tell me what you thought about it! I aslo hope that you aren't too frustrated with the slow burn of Sans and Red relationship! But  I want to build it slowly, so I hope you'll be patient! Well, that's all! Have a nice day or night!!