Saying Goodbye

Chapter 1

It had been nearly a year. Your life had finally been going well. You had moved out of Toriel's house and you had a job that while not the best thing you had ever done, was tolerable and paid well enough for you to live on your own without having to worry too very much.

A year. A year of peace.

One year of fun and happiness and friends finally not treating you like you were made of glass. You were not looking forward to the next few days. The first time that you and Toriel had to break the news to everybody had been hard enough, but this... relapse would be worse. As far as any of your monster friends knew, you were better. That was how a lot of other illnesses worked, so it stood to logic that the disease that had tried it's best to part you from them was also a thing of the past.

You stood in front of your apartment door, suddenly feeling lost. Everything felt so wrong now, and without even touching the knob, you turned on your heel and started to walk toward the home you had shared with your monster parents for 13 years. They needed to be the first ones to hear the news, but more than that, you needed them. The child that lived on in your heart cried for it's mommy and daddy as you broke into a run. You knew you would not be able to keep pace for long before the pain would force you to stop and call for a ride, but you felt that with this brief burst of activity, maybe you could forget.

…...

Toriel looked up from her book when the phone rang. She had been anxious all week, with today being the worst. Nothing in particular that she could put her finger on, but was so close to what she felt when Asriel had taken his beloved Chara to the surface that she could not shake it.

The phone rang again, pulling her from her mind and reached out to lift it to her head. She knew who it was already.

"My child, what's going on? Why are you not at work?"

She heard gasping and a cough, then you cleared your throat and started to explain your location and need of a ride to the house. She listened as she gathered her purse and cardigan, jotting a quick note to Asgore and taping it to the door as she padded down the porch steps. She knew that you needed her, and soon. The early spring air was chilly, and the sky threatened rain, so she decided that taking the car would be the best course of action.

"I am on my way now. I want you to go inside before it starts to rain"

"Okay mom. Thank you. Is dad around yet?"

Toriel turned onto the mostly empty street and headed toward downtown, her eyes scanning the street for her child.

"He is not. Where did you say you were, again?"

"I'm at Muffet's bakery. I will watch for you, okay?"

"Alright. I will see you soon."

"Hey mom?"

Something in your tone sent Toriel's maternal alarms off, but she kept her tone even and cheerful.

"yes, my child?"

"I love you."

She frowned slightly at the words. She knew you were a creature who did not always display affection in physical or verbal ways, preferring to let your actions speak for you as your small hands once had.

"I love you too, darling."

When you hung up, Toriel sighed. The tightness in her chest was back, and now she was certain that something was wrong. Something that you needed to tell her and Asgore alone, at their home. At a stop sign she closed her eyes for a moment and sent a silent plea to any higher power that may listen that it was nothing, that she was overreacting, that you had done something silly like overspent and needed money for food until your next check came through...

But nothing answered, and she continued to drive.