This awakening was among the easiest she had upon falling into the underground. She hadn't woken up with any starts or confusion, and as a bonus, she felt well-rested. What a rarity; if only it could have been like this all the time, especially when she needed it. She shuffled and grumbled, raising her frame to stretch out her spine while her arms straightened above her head. A few vertebrae popped, as did a couple of joints. She released a relaxed sigh, relief spreading throughout.

"Yikes, Kid," chuckled a deep, familiar voice. "Sounds like ya slept like a log if you're wakin' up that stiff." She had no need to turn; he already knew she was rolling her eyes. He approached her further holding a very full plate, setting it down beside her mattress. "Paps is kinda worried about ya, so he made you a pretty big breakfast. I told him there's no way you could eat all this, since this plate weighs more than you do—" Cue a very upset pout and glare from the child. "—But, eh, he insisted. And don't worry, I sampled some of it; it's actually edible."

A curious glance cast upward to the skeleton before a small hand reached to pull him down, a sign that she wanted him to stay while she ate. He could only shrug and accept, knowing she wouldn't stop pouting all day if he didn't do as requested. The child was stubborn in that regard, but she was a kid who knew what she wanted, and that he could appreciate. While unsure of her reasoning, he could only assume she desired company, which wouldn't be unheard of. Papyrus wouldn't mind if he spent a little time with their guest, after all – he could just make up that he wanted to be sure she was eating enough, or something to that effect.

Unsurprisingly, there's silence as Katie digs into the provided meal. She's smiling, which is a very good sign. She appears to be liking it. Looking at her framework, he figured she could use a few extra pounds; the kid was skinny as a twig. Most children were small, he knew, but she appeared almost sickly small. There was a story to that, surely, but it wasn't as though he was going to outright ask about that. Even he knew when to not be rude, although he would admit that the silence was somewhat stifling. Something had to be said, even if it was just toward simple small talk.

"So," he drawled. "Are you planin' on goin' back to Waterfall anytime soon?" This provoked a perplexed look from the brunette, her cheeks fully stuffed with food. He gave her a few moments to allow herself to chew and swallow, despite how she really can't give a verbal reply. As her answer, after a pause, she shrugs. Truthfully, she isn't quite sure if she'll return to Waterfall to give Undyne's fight a try. She'd already died to her plenty of times, and she felt no need to re-experience the bitter grip of death.

Sans' head tilted, intrigued, "Really? That mean you're staying here with me n' Paps?" Watching her movements, he noted a tint of pink fading into her cream-colored skin, along with her eyes avoiding him. He assumed the bite of food she stuffed into her mouth was a tactic to further steer clear of the topic. Without gesturing or saying anything, he knew the response. He chuckled, removing a hand from his pocket to pat her gently on the back. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need, y'know. I don't think Papyrus will mind. And, hey, might be nice to have a pet around that'll actually remind you of its existence." Seemingly able to read her like a book now, he expected the jab in his ribs, courtesy of the girl's elbow. She could be so predictable. "I'm just joking. No need to get so pushy." She shifted her weight and continued eating. Not even a quarter of the plate had disappeared, but she was already looking full. A small girl meant small meals, he supposed.

When she finished, she gently pushed the plate forward, telling him she was done. While she didn't eat a lot, she ate a decent amount for her size, so Sans stood to pick up the plate. Giving her a "see ya later", he turned to leave, only to be stopped by a tiny hand reaching for the bottom of his jacket, preventing him from going. Of course, he peered behind him to see what the child wanted, only to be met with a pleading look. He couldn't quite translate simple looks, but he took it as either she wanted him to return after dumping the plate, or she wanted to come with him. Although she made no movement to stand, he tugged on her arm, requesting she stand up with him. She did as asked, bringing herself to full height. It was slightly embarrassing for a child to be taller than him, but Sans didn't entirely mind. Humans, like monsters, came in all shapes and sizes; she was no different.

The two entered the skeleton's home, finding Papyrus seemingly preparing to leave. Once he laid sockets on Katie, he brightened, and jumped at the chance to meet her. She looked much better than she had in recent days, which he attributed to his wonderful care-taking.

"HUMAN KATIE, I AM SO PLEASED TO SEE THAT YOU ARE WORKING WONDERFULLY! I'M SURE THAT YOU ENJOYED THE BREAKFAST THAT I SO SKILLFULLY PREPARED FOR YOU!" The child giggled breathily, the only way she could, before nodding. It was actually rather enjoyable, even if she couldn't devour it all. Papyrus hovered his gloved hand above her head before patting gently, finding that the gesture left her content. "I AM AFRAID I MUST DEPART, HOWEVER! I HAVE TECHNICALLY CAPTURED YOU, YES, BUT I MUST CONTINUOUSLY TEND TO MY PUZZLES JUST IN CASE ANOTHER HUMAN APPEARS!"

"You do what you gotta do, bro." Sans encouraged, shrugging nonchalantly. Papyrus' sockets narrowed toward his brother, clearly displeased.

"YOU NEED TO DO THE SAME, SANS! I UNDERSTAND SPENDING TIME WITH THE HUMAN IS IMPORTANT AND VERY FUN, BUT WE NEED TO KEEP WATCH OF OUR STATIONS!" It wasn't unusual of him to scold his older brother for things of this nature, and by now, Katie was used to it. Actually, she even giggled occasionally, especially when Sans would just bypass just about everything that was said. Eventually, Papyrus parted from the house, dutifully heading toward his station outside of Snowdin. The girl waved him off, and he did the same as he disappeared into the distance.

Meanwhile, Sans chuckled as he watched her mood uplift tenfold just by being in Papyrus' presence. Just as the younger brother had, his hand raised to pat the human on the head, even ruffling her hair a little. She was taller, sure, but he could still reach. In response, she pouted, but the grin on his face stayed. "Hey, you are kinda like a pet. I mean, you like being pet, don't you?"

Katie pouted, brushing past the skeleton into the house. She knew he was joking, but that didn't mean she couldn't act annoyed with him. The unlikely duo somehow managed to gain a mutual understanding of each other's quips despite not knowing each other very long. Then again, he was of the very small handful of those who knew about her reset. He could be trusted, she decided, especially as he and Papyrus were allowing her to stay within their lodging. They were kind monsters.

"Hey, Kid," Sans beckoned from the doorway. "Would you be cool if I left you here for a little while? I gotta head to work." A mere nod was offered as her reply as she sunk into the couch, remote in hand. Asking was only a precaution, as he was aware that she had been by herself since the start of this journey. He was sure she could handle being by her lonesome, but still. Once she confirmed her allowance, he grinned, stepping out onto the doorstep. "Alright, don't cause any trouble. Y'know, make sure the house doesn't burn down, or anything." She signed a forceful "just go" while he laughed, and soon, he was gone, as well.

It was certainly odd being alone in a house that wasn't yours, even if you were considered a family guest. Absently sighing, the girl curled into the arm of the couch, and flipped on the television. The screen flashed sequences of a rectangular robot, doing various things and show-types. 'Mettaton'. His name was plastered all over the studio settings, and of course, the show itself. Curiosity held the human tightly and she settled for the program, watching it carelessly as the time ticked by. Neither skeleton noted when they would return, so she wasn't certain how long she would be by herself. Somehow, though… she felt safe. It could have been the town, or the house, or the fact that she was companied by two skeletons, but she felt safe and secure. That much could never be said when she's off traveling on her own, out to solve puzzles and progress through whatever this world throws at her. At least she knew she wasn't alone.

Lights shining brightly down unto closed eyes forced them open. Particles danced far above, obvious due to the illumination. A small body lifts from the ground, dusting off clothing to throw even more particles into the air. This place was familiar, and it never seemed to change, no matter how many times the world was reset. Again, they started with nothing, knowing they had to build from the ground up once more. Without any hesitation, they canter forward, meeting Flowey with no problem. The speech was the same, just as they remembered. Flowey disappears, Toriel arrives. It's all the same as before. Yet, they meet their goat mother with a large smile, more than joyful to see her. They felt it had been far too long.

Things were going well thus far; nothing seemed particularly out of place. The puzzles of the ruins became easier with each run through, and they knew that, soon, they would have to prepare themselves for the battle with Toriel. It never failed to crack their heart, to have to leave in order to progress. Yet, it didn't seem possible to stay, and they had gone through many trial runs of that very idea.

The nap was pleasant, as was the pie slice they received upon waking up. The following actions pained them to go through, but it had to be done. Sooner than they hoped, Toriel was cornered at the entrance to the snowy land behind it. A fight was coerced, and the child dodged many a time in order to reach the end to spare her. Toriel's teary look always left them heartbroken, especially as she hugged their shoulders and motioned to walk away back into her home. Swallowing tears, they progressed onto the next location, which contained a spotlight shining directly onto the familiar flower. Dialogue proceeded as normal, and the child moved on, now reaching the outskirts of Snowdin rather quickly.

Meeting with Sans was always a highlight of a restart. The skeleton brothers always brought joy into their journey, and they loved the jokes and japes that both had to offer. Although things were proceeding as normal, Sans himself seemed slightly off, whereas Papyrus was the same as ever. They began to wonder if something was amiss in this timeline. Occasionally, something would stir and fuse into a separate save file, and something minor would change, but Sans' attitude was never much of a variable before. He joked, like usual, but his jokes seemed to fall flat, not that Papyrus noticed over the terrible pun placement. He wasn't offering the advice he normally would, either.

Going through the motions of Papyrus' fight was the least of their worries, and soon, they shuffled off to Waterfall in order to find Sans waiting at his sentry station just outside of the town's boundaries. As per usual, he offered a "break", and they were swept off to Grillby's by the use of the skeleton's magical shortcut. Taking their seats at the bar, the child ordered their food, and finally, they were able to chat. Something was definitely off about Sans, and they needed to know what it was. He was their friend, and if they could fix something, then they would be happy to do it.

"Sans?" they asked, their voice small as ever. The skeleton's pupil's drew toward the human child, his hand on his mandible. "Is there something wrong? You're not really acting like yourself..."

"Heh," he merely laughed. "Sharp as ever, aren't you, Frisk?" He tugged the cap off of the nearby ketchup bottle, downing it as though it were a drink. To him, it was considered one. "You've been through this route enough to know what's going on, haven't ya?" In response, the child nodded. "I guess I don't have to warn ya about talkin' flowers this time. I should probably tell ya about somethin' a little more troubling..." There was a pause in his words as Grillby presented the two with their food, and with simple nods, the two communicated, and Grillby left the two to talk by themselves. "Alright, I'm gonna lay it down straight: there's somethin' screwed up with the timelines, and I'm not sure exactly what, but... it's brought us another human."

Frisk's eyes widened, both in surprise and interest, which was also conveyed by their leaning on the counter. "Another... human? But, I thought-"

"I know, I thought the 'fallen human' shtick ended with you, too. But I guess some omniscient power decided that we weren't done with kids fallin' down this mountain." Sans sighed, even slumping ever so slightly. He was clearly dejected, and he had every right to be. "... I thought we were almost done, y'know? We were so close to the end, and before I know it, we're all snapped right back here, but with a different kid." The look on Frisk's face wasn't any cheerier. Neither had any idea how such a thing could occur, especially to a poor child who had nothing to do with anything. The skeleton immediately noted their crestfallen look, and nudged at them, making them look up.

"Hey, don't be upset, Frisk. She's a good kid. She's smart, quick on the draw, and downright determined." The human child stared, and blinked. So the human this time was a girl? "A lil' on the annoying side, sure, but she has good intentions." Frisk tossed a curious look, and from that, Sans understood what they were asking. "Oh, her name's Katie. She's a bit older than you, actually. And another thing – her soul's PINK."

"…? Pink? I've never seen a soul that color before." Tiny hands grasped upon the burger placed before them, and they took a bite, relishing in the filling food. "… She's not in this timeline, is she?"

"Nah, she's in another one. You started up a new one when you came back. Heh, if she were in this one, Papyrus would be freaking out even more than usual." He chuckled, taking another swing of the ketchup. "… Hey, Kid? Why did you come back, anyway?"

The food was set back down onto the plate while Frisk gazed thoughtfully to the floor. It took a moment, but they answered with a meager shrug, "I don't really know. I was sparing Flowey, but before I knew it, I was just… on the mound of golden flowers, looking up at the really bright light. Something must have happened… maybe Katie accidentally messed something up? I don't want to blame her for anything, but, maybe she just didn't mean to." Timeline shenanigans were always the hardest occurrences to figure out, especially as Frisk knew close to nothing about how they worked. Flowey and Sans were essentially the only ones who knew about them, aside from themselves. They supposed the new girl also knew about them, as she must have died at least once already. On one hand, they would love to meet her, but surely, there would be consequences to that. No one was supposed to mix and mess with the timelines – after all, Sans already did it quite enough. "Hey, Sans? What do you think would happen if… I met her? In either of our timelines?"

"Hm? You tellin' me you wanna meet Katie?" The sound of his voice accompanied by the look on his skull suggested he thought them to be crazy. Frisk only shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know how that would go down, Kid, but I wouldn't suggest it. I talked with her about this, actually. I told her she isn't supposed to be here, and that we were gonna figure out a way to get her back to the surface. Poor kid doesn't deserve to be down here, going through all the crap that you did. It was hard enough watching the first seven kids fall and fail… we don't need an eighth.

"Havin' her meet you might not be good for her chances of getting out of here. She's even more of an anomaly than anything I've seen down here; something that shouldn't be here, but she managed to slip through somehow. If the two of you were to be in the same place together, it could cause a lot of instability. She knows about you, but only that you're the kid that's made it through to the end." Recalling the speech he gave to Katie, he felt a tinge of guilt. He explained to her the entirety of Frisk's successes, but also the unspeakable route they went through the time before she just arrived. He had yet to approach Frisk about that, to ask about why they decided to turn on their heels and take a completely different direction.

"… Yeah," Frisk sighed after a considerable silence. "I know you're right. But what if I go through the whole route again and the same thing happens? It's kinda like I'm in a never-ending loop, and I can't break it."

"I… honestly don't know, Kid. I don't have experience with friskcle situations like these." The atmosphere dropped, and everything went dead. The human child stared toward the bar shelves, quiet for a long time, before a small snort uttered from them, and they burst into giggles. They could hardly believe that Sans would take such a serious moment to pull a ridiculous pun. Then again, this was the joke-loving skeleton they knew, and it would make sense if he wished to lighten the mood. The atmosphere was feeling awfully dank at this point.

"I know it's probably not something to push back, but, we shouldn't worry about that right now. What matters is that, yeah, you've started over, but this time, you're gonna do it. You're gonna get through this whole thing, and we're all going to come out of this just fine."

"Even Katie?" The question was minuscule and gentle, although it held drastic emotion behind it. Truly, the girl's fate was unseen at this point, as no one knew anything about her or how she even appeared here. Her presence is a mystery, and as much as Sans loved playing around with science fiction, this was perhaps too big a story for him to take on by himself. He had visited Alphys once in regards to this topic, but that visit hadn't lasted for very long due to time constraints. Another visit was in order, which he knew. Maybe while Frisk was running around in Waterfall, he could sneak out to Hotland and chat with the good doctor about this mess. She may not know much, either, but combined, Sans wasn't all too sure how they might be able to come up with a viable solution. One that would hopefully help Katie, and one that would let everyone rest with ease. His smile tensed, then softened at the thought, and he laid a hand on the tiny child's shoulder, consoling them the way he knew how.

"Yeah, even Katie, Kid."

By lying.

Author's Note: This one took a very long time, and for that, I apologize greatly. My muse for this chapter just somehow dwindled, and what with my wrist starting to act up, I wasn't entirely sure how to go about this one. I'm trying to figure out precisely how everything is going to roll together in future chapters, so they will likely be spaced out more over time. Thank you for your continuous support and patience.