Beginnings Only Happen Once, Except When They Happen Twice

The sun.

He steps out of the cool cave, feeling the heat go straight through his bones. The brilliant light is causing everyone except himself and his brother to shield their eyes, cries of amazement ringing throughout the party, each in their own unique way. He casts a look at Frisk, who's smiling faintly at the scene. Toriel remained suspiciously close to the human, as if ready to catch them should they slip and fall... well, considering Frisk's entrance to the underground, he can hardly blame her.

He can't quite remember if he's seen this before or not. But the fact that he might have already experienced it dampens the initial shock, unlike the others, even if it is the first time.

"HEY, SANS..." Papyrus interrupts his musings. "WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?" His eyes narrow. Apparently the others' assessment isn't good enough. He needs to hear it from his bro.

"we call that 'the sun,' my friend," he chuckles a bit. This is still Papyrus's first time seeing the sun, so at least he can experience that initial amazement in his stead.

"THAT'S THE SUN?! WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!"

The rest continue to talk, their thoughts soon turning to the future. Frisk agrees to be the ambassador between humans and monsters. Papyrus gets it into his head that if Frisk is the ambassador, then Papyrus has to be the mascot, and runs off into the wild. Who knows what humans might think upon meeting a skeleton as their 'mascot'. Probably not good things.

"welp. someone's gotta keep him from getting into trouble," he winks. "see you guys." Instead of going after his brother, instead of exploring the new world that all his friends are dying to see, Sans returns to the underground. He's not in a rush to see the new world. Someone else can watch Papyrus for a bit.

i probably won't remember it anyway.

He's back in the tunnel, beneath the cool earth. Takes a deep breath of the familiar air. A few seconds tick by. Soft footsteps behind him. He turns.

Frisk. The human is expressionless, but with wide, child-like eyes.

"what's up, buddy?" At first he's surprised the human has returned so soon – after all, they'd been trying so very hard to reach the surface. Going underground now... seemed like the last thing they'd want to do. And then he remembers... "you said you wanted to talk, right?"

Frisk stops. "Why do you say that?" They tilt their head curiously, eying him.

It catches him off guard. Why does he say that. Frisk had never asked him to talk before... Sans had always been the one asking them if they could talk. But for some reason...

Frisk ran down the underground tunnel. They hurled themselves against Sans's chest, tiny arms wrapping around his jacket.

"whoa. calm down, kid."

Frisk was talking, but he couldn't understand a single word that's being said.

"slow down," he returned the hug, gently patting Frisk's head. "don't let whatever it is get under your skin, kid. nothin' gets under mine." The faintest of smiles crossed Frisk's face. Skeleton jokes never got old. Jokes were an indication of the condition of someone's soul – if they couldn't respond, then something was seriously wrong... but right now, whatever bad thing had happened, wasn't enough to make them immune to his jokes. Slowly they wiped some of the tears away, hiccups becoming less. "that's better. now what's wrong?"

"i dunno. thought you'd want to take a grand tour under the sky, not walk back here just to humor some old bones."

Frisk walks closer. More calculated, measured, than their previous mad dash in the same hallway, in another timeline. Their tiny steps, so quiet. They're looking straight at Sans with a strange expression. Sans can't remember if he's seen it or not, but... suddenly he's uneasy. Something's not right. He realizes that Frisk didn't even smile at his joke.

"I just..." Frisk's voice cracks. They stop, tears welling beneath their eyes.

Whatever doubt was in his mind immediately erases. Sans is at Frisk's side instantly. "kiddo... ya don't need to shoulder this by yourself. whatever's bothering you, i'm here to listen. that's what friends do."

Frisk nods, arms reaching up for a hug. But as their sleeves slip away, Sans spies the faintest glimmer. Metal. A knife.

Frisk's arm drops, the knife quickly swiping for an attack. They're impossibly close, and for a brief moment, Sans has let his guard down. No normal being could have dodged in time. Thankfully Sans could make more time. His eye glows blue, the room leaping back abruptly. He teleports a few steps away, where he'd been standing prior, just enough for Frisk's attack to meet thin air.

Frisk wiped the tears from their eyes. "I made a horrible mistake," they told him. "I thought... it would be like any other time. That I could go back, make it like it never happened. That... I was above any kind of consequence. There was a voice in my head... Someone like me but not me..."

"Chara," he hisses, remembering the other's name...

Frisk – Chara – doesn't look concerned at the other's ability to dodge. No frustration, no smile at the true name, nothing. Their arm retracts back, knife gripped tightly, void eyes slowly turning to Sans. "Calm down," they repeat Sans's words from another timeline. "I was just trying to get your attention. If I really wanted you dead, you would have died already."

"heh. just for me? i'm flattered," his smirk never falters. "so what d'you want, outside of my attention?"

"I only wanted one thing. Another chance to do it right... a chance to make everyone happy. So... I gave up my SOUL. But when we finally made it above ground, I realized there was no true reset. The voice was just playing with me... And now that I got the happy ending I wanted, they'll use me to kill everyone."

"Sans, you're the only one..." They say.

"Please, Sans, you're the only one..." They said.

"...Free from this never-ending rail of repetition."

"...Free to make a different choice each time."

"Just a little bit different each time, to curb my boredom of seeing the world repeat."

"You can save everyone."

"I'll kill all of them in front of you."

"wow, you really do know how to make a guy feel special," he chuckles a bit. Both Chara and Frisk have some kind of fixation on him. For Frisk, it's a loneliness factor; only Sans knows about the resets... but for Chara, it's simple entertainment. He's not like them, but he's the closest one they can find.

He actually had no way of knowing where the one ended and the other started. Maybe Frisk never existed at all – had never existed – and it was all just an elaborate game. Sans might not have made up his mind about Frisk/Chara, but he knew he wanted to save his friends. To save Papyrus. He would suffer through a thousand of their deaths, if it meant he could save them one time. And he'd make that one time count.

"...i made a promise," he knows, even if he hasn't made it yet. "i hate making promises, because i always keep them. so no matter what happens, no matter what you do or how much you think you've already won... i'll stop you."

Chara actually breaks their impassive staring to laugh. "Maybe you'd stand some small chance. If you can actually remember this conversation and who I am."

"I know you hate making promises that you can't keep. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything. I don't want you to remember that you fail. That's why..."

"I'm going to LOAD. This never happened."

He opens his eyes, feeling the sun on his bones.

"WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!" Papyrus blares so loudly it hurts his ears, and he doesn't even have ears.

Sans cast a look at Frisk. The human remains extremely close to Toriel, nearly glued to her side. Frisk seems to notice Sans's gaze, and smiles faintly. Sans smiles back.

too bad for you, kid. that's not how this works. i remember.

His gaze turns back to the sun. Yeah. There were times where he remembers the timeline, like it just happened. And other times, it's so fuzzy, he can barely make it out. He thinks it has something to do with when or how the human resets.

and i'll never forget. i'm keeping my promise.

He couldn't afford not to care. Not this time.