...(Start)...

"SANS! IT'S TIME FOR PATROL! I CAN FEEL IT THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL FINALLY CAPTURE A HUMAN TODAY! I SHALL BE SO POPULAR!"

These words woke Sans out of another dream. This one was extremely vivid and had to have been real. He could remember a human, another skeleton, and….

Then he remembered everything that happened and how it ended.

"STOP BEING SUCH A LAZYBONES, SANS! WE WILL HAVE A GREAT DAY CAPTURING HUMANS AND BRINGING THEM TO UNDYNE! I CAN FEEL IT!"

Sans slowly opened his eyes and barely reacted as his brother lifted him up over his shoulder. He could hardly believe that he was the only one to remember any of this. He looked up at the stars. The "stars" that always filled their sky caused Sans great despair. It seemed like he could never see those stars the same with Frisk.

No point in caring now. Semi was defeated and Frisk was not the same. The Frisk Sans knew will not be the same.

A chill breeze hit San's bones, but it felt unpleasant.

"SANS! WAKE UP! OUR GLORIOUS DAY HAS BEGAN!"

...

Sans reluctantly opened his eyes at Papyrus. He must've fell asleep as Papyrus carried him to his sentry station in the Snowy Forest and placed him on the desk of the station. It was better than being awake at this point. His heart sank as he remembered his father doesn't exist anymore. Why did everything had to go?

He knew he had to respond with, "tibia honest, papy-"

"SANS! STOP THAT THOUGHT RIGHT THERE!"

"i believe…"

"SANS!"

"that…"

By this point, Sans was already snorting at his own joke and Papyrus was stomping the ground in a rage induced fit. However, it was really just an act. Sans was filled with grief and he did not want Papyrus to know anything. It was better to hide while Papyrus currently does not know anything.

"SANS! I WILL NOT MAKE SPAGHETTI FOR YOU IF YOU CONTINUE!"

"it'll be…."

Papyrus shook his fist at Sans and glared at him with horrid anticipation. Sans remembered the rest of the pun. He jumped off the sentry table and willingly let himself to tear up slightly.

"DON'T."

"filled with pasta-bilities of human knee-capturement!"

Sans was laughing to himself as Papyrus threw his hands in the air and yelled at the twinkling sky.

"I HATE YOU! THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Sans continued his forced laugh.

"oh my g-"

He was forcing his joke so much that he didn't noticed a tear escaped his eye.

"SANS? WHY ARE YOU CRYING, YOU FIEND!?"

"that… was the most… beautiful thing i've ever uttered." He said with a smile on his face.

"STOP IT. DON'T SAY ANYMORE! WE HAVE WORK TO DO! I AM GOING TO CALIBRATE MY PUZZLES. YOU STAY AND CHECK FOR HUMANS, DEAR BROTHER!"

Sans regained his breath and stood up as Papyrus stormed past him. The last thing he saw on Papy's face was a smile. Sans couldn't even keep his up the moment Papyrus left. Papyrus has always tried his best to keep Sans happy, but right now, he wasn't sure if that was possible again. He spent so much time with Papyrus, Frisk, and Aster as a family that he didn't know he could handle his loss.

Feeling obligated to, Sans reached in his inner jacket pocket and pulled out an emergency bottle of ketchup and drank it slowly.

Sans laughed softly at an old pun and stood up from his post. He walked towards the door at the Ruins, caring little for anything at the moment. He paced slowly across the bridge and towards the large, looming door.

He stopped in front of it and cleared his throat.

"knock, knock!" He said as upliftingly as possible as his knuckles performed the same action on the door.

A gasp and "Who's there?" reached Sans. He envied at how she sounded happier than him.

"figs."

A small pause. Sans knew instantly that the woman would have been excited for a plant related joke, not because he knew her, but because he has been through this before.

"Figs who?"

Sans tapped the door lightly.

"figs this doorbell! it's broken!"

The woman laughed, but it seemed to be repressed, as if something was on her mind. A certain child.

"Nice one, friend," she sighed.

"you seem to have something on your mind."

Sans waited impatiently as the woman took a near minute to respond.

"Doorperson."

Her voice felt closer, as if she was leaning against the door. Sans walked closer and listened for her words.

"If... If a human ever comes through this door…"

Sans said nothing.

"Could you please, please promise something? Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?"

He gave a firm "yes."

Sans took a step back. He felt a shiver go down his spine as he turned on his heel and paced himself to the side of the trail and into the forest, where he knew he could see Frisk or Chara come. He had met humans in the past before. The first human, Chara, was a devil within the body of a child, not because they could help it. Semi corrupted and poisoned them and while his influence was gone, Chara still held his poison. He technically still lives in Sans's eyes.

Sans found a rock to sit on that allowed him to see the trail from a distance. He cracked his bony knuckles. He looked up towards the stars. They were the only lights in this dark world.

Sans sat there and observed the roof of the cavern as he waited for the doors to open. He could sense from the doorwoman's voice that a human was to come through again. Maybe he could lead them on the correct path and Chara (or rather Semi) wouldn't control them.

His heart dropped as he saw the child take tiny footprints through the snow. Sans's heart ached as he saw how tiny and innocent they were, just like he saw them.

Sans knew first impressions were everything in this situation. Perhaps he could get a joke in. He took giant steps as he followed the child.

SNAP!

He cursed himself again as he ducked behind a fallen log.

The child quickly turned around and to his disappointment, Sans could not see their face. He quickly began to move among the forest closer to Frisk. Gosh, he hoped Frisk was the same.

Sans quickly ducked again and cursed himself. The human saw him and quickly turned and began to pace towards the bridge.

Sans quickly jumped onto the trail and got an emergency whoopee cushion from his other inner jacket pocket. He had emergency supplies for everything.

Sans deepened his voice as he spoke, "human, don't you know how to greet a new pal?"

The human froze in their spot. Now that Sans had his chance, he took slow, large steps towards them. Their body and face was large and bony, just like Frisk.

"turn around and shake my hand."

The child reluctantly turned around. Their face was still Frisk, but not as innocent. It seemed like Frisk when they just woke up and were too tired to get out of bed. It was not the same face Frisk made when scared, but rather indifferent.

They reached out and slowly grabbed his hand. Sans smiled as the whoopee cushion FLUUUURRRRGHED.

The child was confused for a second and laughed quietly. They weren't completely genocidal, thank goodness. Sans, however, took noticed that Frisk's once missing tooth was now back in their mouth.

He laughed as well, "the old whopper cushion in the hand trick."

The child let go of Sans's hand and what they did shocked Sans.

"That was funny."

They didn't know sign language. This hurt Sans so much in the core of his soul, he didn't think he could continue on, but he knew he must.

"it's ALWAYS funny. anyways, you're a human, right? that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

They laughed a little bit harder. He was feeling a little bit more relieved.

"i'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… y'know… i don't really care about capturing anybody. now my brother, papyrus… he's a human hunting FANATIC. hey, actually, i think that's him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy. yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

And so Frisk walked across the bridge as Sans followed. They turned around one last time and they had eye contact for a brief moment.

Sans couldn't detect Chara's eyes in Frisk. He sighed in relief, but knew that deep down, Chara resided in Frisk. At any moment, Chara could possess Frisk and destroy everyone, before the entire world simply ended. He had to stop this from happening.

Wait, how did he know this? Sans tilted his head slightly. It seemed to him that a lot of new knowledge had entered his head, but he didn't know why or how.

Sans knew that he could never get close to Frisk again without first getting rid of Chara. He had to keep his distance and mystery so Frisk and Chara will never know how powerful and intelligent he actually is.

Oh, how he wished he could go back to his old family before it was erased from existence. He wished he could go back to a time where Frisk wasn't doomed to be possessed.

However, a small light lit up inside of Sans. The possibilities flowed through him of all the ways Frisk could be freed from Chara, the ways that Aster could come back into his life, and the ways their family will become one again. Maybe, in the future, he will gain a new family that not only included them, but more people he cared for.

On that final note, Sans could feel HAPPINESS fill his body once again as he looks forward for the future.

...(End)...

And that concludes Bone-ified Family.

I want to say thank you guys so much for being here on this journey. This was NOT an easy thing for me to do and to finish.

I want to apologize. I had planned for this ending in my head for a long time now. Yes, it was supposed to end like this, however, with my life right now, I had to condense it down or you will never have seen the ending. It's short, it's bittersweet, and it's probably not grammatically correct. I'm sorry if it doesn't live up to your expectations compared to my past chapters. I knew that at the end, everything must reset for a long time now and I knew how it were to be done. This was probably very sloppy and unsatisfying and I know it. I'm sorry.

Other than that, I feel very accomplished and I feel like a burden was lifted off of my chest. I'm sorry it had to end this short. I really planned to have this ending stretched out with multiple fights and characters, but, I don't have the time or motivation to do that right now.

And for the record, all writing on the Bone-ified Family has stopped (AKA no sequels). You guys feel free if you want to continue into your own sequels (or an alternative ending). I don't care. Right now, I have a lot of life stuff to focus on.

On a happier note, thank you guys for your support. I hope you guys have at least enjoyed the journey.

-slytherinsnow