Texting hadn't lost its appeal, not by a long shot, but the 'nyehs' of disapproval coming their way was enough to prompt both Sans and Toriel to put away their cellphones. It was kinda rude to keep doing that right now, Sans guessed, but the temptation was too hard to ignore.

"YOU TWO ARE SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER!" Papyrus shouted. He gestured quite erratically with his arms, threatening to smack anyone who got too near (which would be all on accident, of course). "WHY DO YOU STILL DO THAT?"

Toriel answered him gently. "I suppose we're both just set in our ways."

Sans shrugged. "it's tradition."

"IT'S LITERALLY ONLY BEEN THREE WEEKS SINCE YOU BOTH STARTED!"

"yeah, ancient tradition."

Papyrus gave up, and went back to cooking his masterpiece. They were all gathered in the expansive backyard of Asgore's new home on the surface, ready to celebrate the coming of the New Year. Both Papyrus and Undyne were at their respective barbecue grills, heating up some dogs, some burgs, and spaghetti. Papyrus was handling the spaghetti, which he turned over the heat with care, getting the noodles a crisp, charred black. It was to be his new signature recipe that all would enjoy. In the dim moonlight, one could just barely make out the apron he wore, etched with the words, "Bone-afide Chef." Obviously, a Christmas gift from Sans. Even though Papyrus had groaned quite loudly at it, he still wore it because he was nice like that. And he had to admit, the message was true.

Undyne was still in the process of dumping even more lighter fluid in her barbecue, squeezing the bottles so hard that they ripped from the pressure. She dumped another empty bottle to her building pile, and started to work on her eighth one.

"Um, Un- Undyne," Alphys stuttered, tapping a worried claw-tip against her girlfriend's shoulder. "I think you were only supposed to use just… just one!"

"No way! We gotta show this grill who's boss!" She squeezed another bottle with renewed vigor, her sharp teeth gritted. "And we're going to make the best dog-burger buns in the known universe! Right, Your Majesty?"

Asgore, who was holding said hot dogs and burgers in his large hands, their frozenness now transformed to a lukewarm state, simply nodded. "It, um, seems like you have it all handled. Although, I think I may have gotten freezer burn by now." Which wasn't out of the realm of possibility. It had been twenty minutes of him smiling and standing with the incredibly cold condiments. "But I'm fine."

Alphys shifted her glasses. "You know, you could have put those down if you needed to…"

Meanwhile, Mettaton was lying on the grass nearby, groaning with a dramatic autotune, while posing with just as much drama. His humanoid form was still a little damaged, so he was forced to remain a rectangle, though now with the addition of some fabulous new legs. "Such a dull New Year's Eve special this was! Where is the action? The tension? The constant barrage of paid advertisements?" He placed a hand on what might have been his forehead, and sighed harshly. "My ratings have never been much lower! We need conflict!"

"DO NOT WORRY, METTATON! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SAVE YOUR SHOW WITH MY GRILLED SPAGHETTI CUISINE! WHO HERE WANTS TO SAMPLE MY NEW FINEST DISH?"

At that, everyone pointed to Frisk, who had been standing near the tall skeleton, watching him burn his noodles to ash with a neutral stare. Frisk said nothing, already accepting their fate. Mettaton groaned again, kicking his long legs in the air.

From several yards away, both Sans and Toriel watched their friends and family, seated next to each other on the freshly-cut grass.

"It is so nice to see everyone having such fun," Toriel said softly. "Especially your brother."

"yeah, haven't seen paps this excited in a while." Sans stretched his arms, cracking an aching bone or two. "like a whole two hours."

Though to be truthful, Sans kept focusing more on the sky then everyone else. It was a clear night, the stars set against the black curve of the sky, just like those stones back in Waterfall. Except these were actual stars, with actual orbits, with actual lifespans. Frisk had told them about the constellations, and how people would use the stars to tell where they were in the world. It was like the greatest puzzle ever made. Papyrus was still trying to solve it, with his usual enthusiasm.

Toriel hugged her knees, following his gaze. "It is quite amazing just how many holidays the humans have. I look forward to the rest."

"major coincidence that we share christmas though. kinda makes you wonder why we didn't follow through with new year's."

Toriel didn't answer him. But it was obvious though, wasn't it? Why celebrate another year of being trapped Underground, their lives wasting away in the dark?

Yeah, that had been a stupid thing to say. Sans shifted his gaze back to Papyrus, watching him pour a jar of marinara sauce onto the grill with a scorching sizzle.

"But now we have something to hope for."

"eh?"

Toriel turned to him, her face lighted up in a smile. The moonlight made her eyes shine, just slightly. "We have a new future now. Now we can start dreaming for better things, with all of our loved ones. I think that will be my, um, my New Year's Resolution. To keep dreaming and hoping with everyone."

She said it so earnestly, it was enough to make Sans feel a little guilty.

"What about you? What's your resolution?"

He tapped his bony fingers against the ground, eye sockets shifting back to the sky. "i dunno. guess i don't really have one."

Toriel looked surprised. "Oh? Why is that?"

His voice got a little softer. "don't wanna get my hopes up." Wait, he hadn't meant to say that. "uh, i mean, heh, resolutions are hard. i'd have to like start something and, yeah…"

Though still a little confused, Toriel tried to contribute. "Starting something new would be exciting, would it not? Like taking off on a long journey, learning new things along the way…"

Yeah, but why bother when that journey would be set back to zero? He didn't say that though.

"i just like to go with the flow. way easier." He winked. "like i always do every year."

She took his hand.

He hadn't expected that. He froze, gaze shifting down to the large paw over his skeletal hand, then back to her face.

Her eyes were very kind.

"I understand that the future can be frightening. Very frightening indeed." Her hand tightened over his slightly. "But life has ways of surprising us. Look what it has done for us now. Out here, under the stars, with all the ones we love. And I can't help but wonder what else life will bring us."

If Sans listened close enough, he would have heard Undyne shouting about needing to lift something and hear metal creaking dangerously. He'd have heard Alphys worrying loudly about her girlfriend getting crushed by lifting up Mettaton, for he was quite heavy. He'd have heard Mettaton complain loudly that he was not fat, how dare Alphys spread such lies. He'd also have heard Papyrus' nyeh heh heh's get even louder, signaling that his finest culinary spaghetti was close to being done.

But Toriel's voice was kinda drowning all of that.

"If you would like, I can share whatever life brings with you. So you needn't worry! Even if there are certain troubles, it's always easier when there is a good friend to hang onto, is it not? But, only if you would not mind having an old lady like me tagging along." Then, shyly, "It is okay to hope for new and better things."

Sans wasn't sure what she meant exactly, yet even so, it was…

It was exciting.

He wasn't sure how to tell her that hoping for things kinda paved the way for disaster. He'd experience that firsthand, more times then he could count. Heck, he didn't even understand much of it himself.

She was waiting for an answer.

He'd be blushing if he had any skin. "well, uh…"

Thunder clapped overhead.

Everyone jumped, Papyrus most of all, who had impressively jumped five feet in the air, bones rattling. "THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS SCARED AND CONFUSED!" he stated.

In a calm voice, Frisk told everyone that it was going to rain.

"Is rain usually this loud!?" Undyne shouted. She was glaring at the sky, at the dark clouds that were rapidly gathering. "Is this the rain's way of challenging me?!"

"I, um, I d-don't think weather has a, uh, a conscience…"

"I accept!" Undyne pumped her fists in the air. "Bring it on, rain!"

Asgore's smile looked pained as the first few droplets fell, tapping loudly against his horns. "My hands are very numb."

"Let's do this! Fire versus water!" Undyne held up a fire lighter, shielding it from the increasing rain as she looked at her barbecue grill with glee. The smell of fumes was quite strong at this point. "Take this!"

The resulting pillar of fire that erupted was pretty much expected.

"That's what this bore of a New Year's special needs!" Mettaton stood up on his shapely legs, pointing a camera at the vicious flames. "Some fireworks! Work it, darling!"

Undyne was laughing maniacally as the fire rose ever higher, her face covered in soot. Alphys and Asgore, also covered in soot, were bit too stunned to join in. But at least the hot dogs and burgers were well-done by now.

"Oh my! That looks quite dangerous!" Toriel stared up at the fire, though with how the rain poured down, it was fast dying out. She shifted against the now wet grass. "If only I had brought an umbrella. Should we head inside?"

Sans felt the rain plunk against his skull, crisp and cooler then Waterfall's rainfalls could ever do.

"Sans?" A small pause. "Why, you're smiling!"

He looked at her, blinking. "uh, yeah, that's what i do."

She shook her head. "No, I mean, you are really smiling now." She gripped his hand more. "It looks very nice on you. You must love the rain."

It surprised him, honestly, that she noticed that. "heh, yeah, guess so."

As Undyne tried desperately to start the fire once more, as Alphys tried to shield Mettaton from the rain due to water getting in his circuits, and as Asgore did nothing but smile, his hands dangerously needing some medical attention, Papyrus and Frisk were doing their best in ignoring the commotion next to them. The skeleton watched in anticipation as the human child took a bite of his charred spaghetti, which looked much like dried up worms drenched in blood at this point. Frisk's face scrunched up, lips twisting, and tears coming to their eyes. Even so, they gave a thumbs up, setting Papyrus into pure joy.

Sans watched it all, and couldn't stop smiling.

"you know, tori," he said, gripping her hand back. "think i'll take up on your offer."

"Really?" She shifted closer to him, sounding quite happy.

"yeah." He looked back at the sky, at his family, at his friends. "it'd be nice to start something else."

No one noticed it was past midnight for a while, but that was fine. He'd already made his promise for the future.