I'm...Not...Dead...Yet ! Finally I got rid of the exams's pressure to get back to one of my favorite hobbies. I really should do something about all that laziness I had since summer came... Well, enough talk, enjoy the chapter I have wanted to write since I began this story !

Chapter sixteen : House Of Memories

Unlike Undyne, Toriel doesn't use violence when she gets mad, but she is still scary enough to make Asriel want to escape from her wrath. The latter tried to escape from Frisk's grip on his ears, even giving her the puppy eyes to beg her to let him go without much success, Frisk just maintained her neutral face and tightened her grip on his ears making him flinch in pain. When Toriel asked one more time without calming down a single bit, Frisk reached for Sans' hood and pushed him and Asriel in front of her.

"On my left we have the idiot who destroyed the wall and on my right here is the big idiot who got the idea to do a wake up prank by using a firecracker." She announced letting go Sans's hood and Asriel's ears. The blue light on the skeleton's left eye socked faded away as he stared at Asriel, unable to believe that Asgore and Toriel's kid would've wanted to do a single prank. Toriel too was astonished when she heard that Asriel, her son who never liked pranks, had the idea to do such a prank without thinking of the consequences.

"Since when you bother to prank people Asriel ? According to my memories you despised that kind of thing when Chara was pranking you before." She said crossing her arms and staring at Asriel, the latter trying to avoid his mom's stare. "And where in the world have you found those firecrackers ?"

Asriel gulped, doing the puppy eyes trick at Frisk hoping she would at least help him but she just shook her head meaning he was on his own this time. Defeated, he stared at the ground, feeling ashamed he disappointed his mother and Frisk, just after he reconciled with her.

"Y-you see, these firecrackers… I got these from Papyrus, he told me to use these if Sans was asleep…" He muttered, joining his fingers. Toriel groaned and facepalmed. Papyrus is a very kind person but sometimes his ideas get very questionable. When Asgore was in his period of madness before their fight, she heard him calling him an idiot when the skeleton asked him to trim another hedge of him cooking spaghettis, thinking that would attract new students. At that time, Toriel would have shouted at him for insult Papyrus but before she could say a single world, Asgore shot her a threatening glare unnoticed by the skeleton. Now, she was sure if she wasn't fond of Papyrus, maybe she would agree with Asgore. Thinking about Asgore and how he was that time made Toriel's heart aching and threatening her to cry.

Frisk, Asriel and Sans were confused when they saw tears on Toriel's eyes, she was on the verge of tears. Thinking it was his fault, Asriel slowly went to her "Mom, are you okay…?"

Toriel noticed the guilt in Asriel's voice, he was thinking she was crying because of his prank but that has nothing to do with her mood. Sure she was angry he did such a stupid prank but when she thought about Asgore, all her anger faded away and her sadness came back with all its might. Even if they already saw her tears, Toriel hid her face with her hand, trying to make them believe she was tired.

"Don't… don't worry Asriel, I'm just…tired… Even though I want to ground you I'm not in the mood to do so… Don't get me wrong but because of what is happening to you father… I…I can't take care of other things at the same time like I was used to. Your father's breaking point, his isolation, my fight with him followed by his death and survival, him being in a coma… It just happened so fast and I didn't do anything to prevent any of those events… If Asgore became the opposite of what he was supposed to be… it's because I pushed him to the edge, because I let him in the darkness… In front of me all of you were here bathed in the light eager to begin a new life, except him. Asgore was always behind me sitting in the dark hoping for me to forgive him, to help him… but I didn't do any of these. I just pushed him away denying him one single ray of light, just like a prisoner locked in a cell… "

Frisk, Asriel and Sans were silently watching with a frown on their faces Toriel blaming herself for everything Asgore has gone through. They wanted to tell her she wasn't the only one to blame in order to comfort her, but what could they say ? Toriel wouldn't believe anything, she was convinced she was the only one responsible to blame. Even if that was the truth, she shouldn't see herself as the worst person of the world, even Asgore in his right state of mind wouldn't want that, they were sure of it.

"Undyne is right… I should've stopped when I had the chance… If I wasn't so selfish, Asgore wouldn't have to suffer anymore…!" She cried turning around and heading to the basement, unable to resist her aching heart making her cry more and more.

"Mom, wait !" Asriel reached to her and began to follow her, but Sans stopped him by holding his shoulder. When Asriel stared at him, the skeleton shook his head. "it's useless kid, no matter what you're going to say to her, she won't listen. you two may be more mature than most of the children of your age, you shouldn't interfere in their business. the only thing we could do is to make sure they won't get any harm and let them fix things."

"We tried the same thing last time and look where they went : they argued one more time and after that they were fighting with each other in Hotland. If we're just watching, who knows what they'll do next ?" Frisk argued crossing her arms. Sans turned to her and sighed. "do you really think they're gonna fight again frisk ?" He asked without expecting an answer, Frisk just looked down. "the reason why it didn't work last time was because they were not in their normal state, they could hear you but they didn't listen : asgore and toriel were each of them convinced they were right and that the other was in the wrong. and if you ask me that fight in hotland couldn't have been avoided even without chara. they were angry, frustrated and for them the only way to settle their differences was to use violence against each other, even if that's a childish way of thinking." Sans shrugged.

Asriel and Frisk sighed sadly, they were seriously tired of all of this. The only thing they wanted was for Asgore and Toriel to move on and reunite once again. Neither of them noticed that Asgore was listening through the door of his room since he heard the very loud noises of the firecracker and the Gaster Blaster.

His mind was a mess, now he regained every memory he lost before. He remembered everything… When Asgore saw himself killing the six humans, he hated and blamed himself considering he got to blinded by his anger which made him think the entire humanity was responsible for Asriel's death, and now… He just couldn't believe he let his emotions get the best of him one more time, hell he couldn't recognize himself : he became violent, unsociable, feared, full of hatred, he threatened to hurt his friends, he nearly killed one of them. In short, Asgore became the perfect opposite of himself, just like when he declared war against the Humans to avenge Asriel.

He couldn't believe he did the same mistake one more time, hadn't he learnt anything from the past ? Had he forgotten the prices he had to pay for being blinded by his negative emotions ? Was he so desperate for seeking peace in his heart that he had to abandon his morals for some new, dangerous and useless powers ?

Right now, Asgore was broken, afraid of himself, of what he has done, afraid of what he tried to do, and afraid of what would happen to him right now. But what broke his heart, was seeing Toriel crying and blaming herself because of him, this morning they were having good terms but that was because Asgore didn't remember anything about his previous difficult relationship with her. And when he did, he told her to leave him alone… Even if he didn't mean it, even if Toriel understood his wishes, Asgore could see he hurt her feelings. He knew he had to do something, he had to talk to her before she couldn't look at him in the eyes anymore, just like him before…

His mind set, Asgore came out of his room and walked across the hallway. When he came just beside the stairs towards the basement, he realized Sans was staring at him without making Asriel and Frisk know their father was here, they were trying to clean the mess of the destroyed wall with Asriel complaining and Frisk just ignoring him with her unimpressed face. After staring at Asgore right in the eyes, Sans broke his eye contact and stared at the stairs leading to the castle before looking at the boss-monster once again, like he was telling him Toriel went there. Asgore thanked him by a nod with a smile and headed to the basement, determined to follow Toriel. When Asgore got out of sight, Sans let out a relieved sigh knowing things are getting better starting now. When he turned around he saw Asriel and Frisk having a « what the hell » look staring at a tiny MTT robot holding a destroyed camera on its hand.

In the throne room :

The two Knight Knights supposed to guard were sleeping peacefully. They just got back from the capital eating some food, when they came back they were shocked to notice Asgore's trident wasn't in its place in the pedestal anymore. At first they were confused and were at the edge of panicking and starting to search for the trident but then they realized it couldn't have been stolen : the weapon was Asgore's creation, a summoned weapon, and only the creator of the weapon could move it otherwise, the trident would be too heavy for a stranger to even move it. So they concluded Asgore has finally awoken among them.

Their sleep was disturbed when they heard someone was coming in the throne room. The two Monsters kept their pose pretending they were still sleeping. It was a surprise for them when they recognized who was standing right before them.

Toriel. Their queen, their former queen… The Knight Knights couldn't believe their eyes, it's been so long since last time they saw her, when the royal family was whole before the dark era. They were very curious to find out what she was doing here in that place she left behind to hide in the RUINS carrying Chara's body with her. It's not that they were displeased to find Toriel but they couldn't forget the fact Asgore died because of her. Thanks to Frisk, the two Monsters didn't feel any resentment against Toriel anymore, but unfortunately most Monsters refused to do the same...

The Knight Knights have heard from the others that Toriel acted very differently towards Asgore, very... spiteful. But the Toriel they were seeing at that moment didn't match that description everyone gave her :

Toriel seemed very sad, her eyes were irritated from crying too much and the fur on her face was still wet from all the dried tears. Even where they were standing, the two Monsters could see that Toriel nearly reached a depressed state, but why they wonder, why is she like that ? Toriel continued her way towards Asgore's throne staring at it like she was seeing his ex-husband sitting lifeless on his throne.

A few minutes passed away before Toriel fell on her knees completely tired from this emotional day, she couldn't cry anymore with her eyes hurting her. She desperately wanted this day to end taking all the negative emotions she and Asgore felt so they could move on, but it would still be difficult and painful to forget the past. She wanted so bad to reconcile with Asgore, but he doesn't want to see her, and it would be hypocrite for her to think this was unfair because she did the same thing with him before, but with much more aggressively.

When she's thinking about it, Toriel couldn't recognize herself when she recalled the times when she treated Asgore poorly : the scowl on her face, the absolute rejection with the denial of forgiving, and the ferocity on her voice she showed every time Asgore tried to reason with her. When she realized she wasn't herself, Toriel understood Undyne's grudge against her when Asgore nearly died. At that moment, she recalled what the one who considered Asgore as her father told her without hiding her disgust towards her past behavior.

"You think I'm going to forget everything you have done to him and forgive you just because Asgore is still alive ? Well I'm sorry but... no in fact I'm not sorry to disappoint you but you are very much mistaken. When Asgore will regain his memories back, he would also remember all the things you have done to hurt him, physically and emotionally. Knowing him, Asgore would forgive you even if you certainly don't deserve it... Until that night, Asgore always forgave you without blaming you for anything, but you pushed him to his breaking point and you can see how that ended. Asgore forbid me to tell you this but at this point it doesn't matter anymore : do you realize what kind of trials he had to endure without you to comfort him ? If you tried to understand, you would've find out he tried to kill himself several times before and after the barrier broke...it was always me who stopped him, who did everything possible to make him give up his suicidal thoughts, but that wasn't enough...

Toriel I don't blame you for being angry with Asgore, I blame you for rejecting him like he was trash and for not trying to understand him ! If you did, all this crap could've been avoided without Asgore nearly having a death experience, and he wouldn't have to endure all this pain you put him through ! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU HEAR ME ?! YOU DESTROYED THE LIFE OF THE ONE WHO ALWAYS HAD FAITH IN YOU, WHO LOVED YOU THE MOST !"

Toriel clutched her head which was hurting her with Undyne's words resonating within her mind, they were painful but not full of lies, she knew Undyne was telling the truth : Asgore really did try to kill himself, and she saw the references through his diary. From what Asgore wrote, he tried to kill himself three times by eating buttercups, which got him seriously ill when Asriel and Chara trying to bake a butterscotch pie with them adding buttercups. He never succeeded since Undyne stopped him each time he tried.

"Oh Asgore..." She cried. She got afraid of losing Asgore since that day in Hotland, but her fear grew much more when she learned he tried to end his life. When she imagined a life without Asgore, she always saw a pitch black world where she couldn't breathe, when she was alone, when she couldn't love anymore. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know... You already suffered a lot and I made things worse... If only I tried to understand your point of view, maybe I could've done something to help you..."

"Are you saying you should've tried to see a murderer's point of view ? It's useless, it doesn't change my sins..." Someone called behind her.

Toriel jumped when she heard this familiar voice she didn't except to hear right now. When she turned around, she saw Asgore standing right behind her like he was here for a long time. The look he had in his eyes was caring, pure but also sad. Did he listen to everything she said ? "Asgore..." She called softly, receiving a nod with a warm smile from the latter. The wind was blowing softly, making Asgore feel his hair blowing, this scene was a pure beauty for Toriel's eyes, Asgore looked like a fallen angel with his wings missing. If he was still an adult, she would've think she was seeing a god.

"May...may I sit with you Tori ?" Asgore asked a little shaky. He was a little worried how their talk would be : if one of them would be angry followed by the other like before. But for some reason deep inside him, Asgore felt there wouldn't be any anger or cold stares anymore, that time was over, became a long forgotten past. Their conversation would be very soft. "Oh, sure...! To be honest, I needed your company but I thought you wouldn't want to see me after...what happened earlier..." Toriel agreed, still sad but a little alighted since Asgore showed up.

If you're a lover, you should know
The lonely moments just get lonelier
The longer you're in love
Than if you were alone
Memories turn into daydreams become a taboo"

"I already told you that I didn't send you off because I was angry with you didn't I ? After you left I immediately went to bed, and believe me that wasn't easy to fall asleep after I just got out from a nightmare." Asgore replied with a bit of tiredness in his voice before yawning a little.

"A nightmare you say...? About what ?" Toriel asked guessing he was dreaming about the humans he killed or about his life on the surface.

"That was a strange nightmare, I couldn't see anything : I was in a dark place without any light and I could only hear your voice insulting me, tormenting me with a tone of hatred...like you wanted me to disappear from your life..." Asgore sighed looking down, there still wasn't any resentment in his voice like he supposed to have before when he was recalling this subject. Toriel looked away guiltily, knowing she has many times tormented Asgore with words in the past, then she felt his hand on her cheek turn her head at his direction.

"I don't want to be afraid
The deeper than I go
It takes my breath away
Soft hearts electric souls
Heart to heart and eyes to eyes
Is this taboo ?"

"No Toriel don't look away, you may be guilty but you have to be brave enough to face your mistakes, like that you can find the will to move on. Don't try to run away from the past like I tried to do before... you're just gonna make you suffer even more..." Asgore explained to her by looking at her in the eyes.

"B-but... That's the problem Asgore...! I have been avoiding my past since I kept myself in the RUINS, all my past, every memory of you ! When you declared war to the Humans to avenge Asriel, I was devastated thinking the man who I have fallen in love died at the same time as our son and replaced by a tyran who desired Humanity's fall ! During my exile I forbid myself to recall all the good memories I had with you, hell I even sealed your former room, because I was afraid if I remembered you as the perfect husband I would let my love for you cloud my morals... So, I forced myself to see you as a bloodthirsty murderer, a coward, and every other negatives names I gave to your image... I was convinced I was doing the right thing, until now..." Toriel whimpered to him, shaking from the confession.

"Baby we built this house
On memories
Take my picture now
Shake till you see it
And when your fantasies
Become your legacy
Promise me a place
In your house of memories"

Asgore nodded slowly as he let go of her cheek. He was beginning to understand Toriel's motives back then. So inside of her she still loved him all this time, but she felt her feelings for him were a burden so she sealed them inside her heart so she could see him as what she saw in him. That was during her exile, so why did she continue that attitude ? "But when we started our new life on the surface, I did everything I could to make you see I became myself, that my anger really faded away... But you acted like it didn't matter to you and you were being more and more aggressive to me... Why didn't you stop ?" Asgore asked, urging her to continue to justify her past attitude. Finally everything would be crystal clear.

"I think of you from time to time
More than I thought I would
You were just too kind
And I was too young to know
That's all that really matters
I was a fool"

Toriel closed her eyes as she hesitated, searching for the right words to say. That took a while but Asgore didn't mind at all, he knew from experience that kind of confession isn't easy to say. He kept his unwavering patience until Toriel gathered enough courage and continued where she stopped. "I did witnessed you were making efforts to make up for your sins, that you wanted to get along with me, but I kept persuading myself that someone who took someone else's life cannot be redeemed and doesn't deserve to be forgiven. My mind was in conflict each time I see your face, one part of me was telling me to never forget the blood you have shed and to make sure you never forget as well... while...w-while the other part was pleading me to forgive you and let my feelings for you resurface... Asgore... I forced myself to hate you...f-for the memory...of the humans I tried to protect, but did nothing to stop them from going... In fact, all I did was blaming you all this time without doing anything useful..."

"Baby we built this house
On memories
Take my picture now
Shake till you see it
And when your fantasies
Become your legacy
Promise me a place
In your house of memories"

"Don't push yourself Toriel, if you keep that up you're gonna faint. Please...take your time to calm down a little and speak your mind whenever you're ready..." Asgore told her softly as he joined Toriel's hands on her lap and put his on them. Toriel was starting to cry again telling Asgore she was sorry for everything she put him through. He didn't give any reply to her apologies but he assured her not to be afraid he would get angry at her. "I promise you Tori, whatever you're gonna say, whatever you're gonna do, I swear I will never be angry at you. All my anger faded away for good..."

"Those thoughts of past lovers
They"ll always haunt me
I wish I could believe
You'd never wrong me
Then will you remember
Me in the same way
As I remember you"

Toriel sobbed, her heart racing as she stared in Asgore's blue eyes. Those eyes had the same light, the same kindness... and his appearance was exactly the same he had the first time he saw him. She remembered the day she met Asgore, and she realized this moment was happening again with her crying and Asgore comforting her, she recalled that day in her mind and she knew that Asgore was doing the same right now. Now Toriel understood the meaning of history repeating itself.

"The day we fought each other, you blamed me for doing nothing for our people, you said I gave up to find a better solution to destroy the barrier... And you were right all along, I really did nothing to improve our situation, all I did was drowning in self-pity and accumulating more hatred towards you thinking you were responsible for everything that happened. As for the humans...I did nothing to stop them or to save them, I just tried to convince them not to leave the RUINS... but they wanted to return to their homes so badly they had to ignore my warning... I tried to use force only once, with Frisk... I let her go at the beginning, but I was scared what would happen to both of you, so I left my hiding place to stop you two from killing each other... And after the barrier's destruction, I did things worse : I acted like I tried to reason with you and I pretended to know everything about you during my exile while I was never interested to know... Undyne was right, if I tried to understand what you have been through, we could've avoided all these problems, maybe you wouldn't have done this pact with Chara... And you wouldn't have tried to commit suicide..." Toriel finished softly.

"Baby we built this house
On memories
Take my picture now
Shake till you see it
And when your fantasies
Become your legacy
Promise me a place"

Asgore's eyes widened when Toriel mentioned his suicide attempts. How in the world did she know about that he wondered, he never told any oh this to anyone, there were no way she could've known except... Except Undyne told her since she was the one who prevented him from ending his life. Asgore stayed silent at the revelation, he always reminded Undyne to never reveal to anyone let alone Toriel that he was suicidal though... "Damn it Undyne... I forbade her to tell any of this to anyone... I hope nobody else knows, I don't need all the Monsters to find out their king tried to kill himself..." Asgore growled in disappointment. Toriel noticed and raised an eyebrow.

"I understand you want to preserve your personal life but do you really except me to ignore that forever ?" She asked in shock recovering from her sadness a little bit. When Asgore opened his mouth to reply, Toriel interrupted him. "No Asgore I won't let that go, I've been ignorant enough for these past years and this time I won't allow myself to make the same mistake ever again so I would never risk losing you anymore ! Undyne told me you tried to commit suicide before and after the barrier's destruction, so it means you are still in a huge ill-being ! Please Asgore, I need to know, was it because of me you tried to do such horror...? It concerns me as well since I think I'm responsible for these attempts, and I'm not letting that go until you admit what Undyne told me was the truth. Please Asgore, please, you can trust me... I'm here for you remember ?"

"Baby we built this house
On memories
Take my picture now
Shake till you see it
And when your fantasies
Become your legacy
Promise me a place
In your house of memories"

Asgore looked down to avoid Toriel's stare as he felt his heartbeat accelerate when he recalled those moments. He opened his mouth wanting to give her an answer but no word came out like he became mute. It was too painful to say he did tried to kill himself so he just gave a silent but sightly nod, earning a gasp from Toriel who just got her fears confirmed. It was really her fault Asgore tried to commit suicide during their life on the surface, she was convinced he didn't cut his wrists because she could've notice since he was always wearing a shirt... Was Undyne right again about the way he tried...?

"Buttercups... Were you eating buttercups to kill yourself ? Just like the time when you were sick by eating a cake which had those within ?" She asked even though she already knew the answer, confirmed once again by Asgore making another nod. His head was so low his eyes were hidden by his hair, it was obvious he felt very uncomfortable but Toriel had a last question about this subject.

"Why... Why have you done this...? It's not in your nature to do that kind of thing Asgore and you know it : you always said it was important to respect our own life by staying alive, and that destroying it would destroy the hopes of those who created it and cherished it when they were with us... What would you parents think if they watched everything from above, did you think about it ?" Toriel urged, forcing Asgore to reply with words and not with motions. It wasn't long before Asgore gave his new answer.

"In your house of memories"

"During those times my mind was too shattered to think about my parents' beliefs and my morals about suicide... In my eyes, I wasn't killing myself, I was punishing myself and I felt it was right...that I deserved it... And despite myself, I still feel the same way, I can't help it... I was deceived by Chara who told me I didn't kill any of the six humans, making me believe Undyne, Asriel when he was a flower and Sans were the ones who killed them. I don't know why but my memories involving the killing of the six humans got altered, and since then I always thought you accused me of a murder I did not commit. But in the end you were right all along... I did kill them all... When I recalled all those scenes, I felt like I deserved to suffer more than before and even... put an end in my life for good..." Asgore sighed when he finished. He just spoke every fragment of grief he had in his entire being, it was painful but at the same time it was...delivering. He was worried because Toriel didn't say anything but he felt her hands shaking under his and he knew she was blaming herself.

"I don't hate you Toriel, I never did... Maybe I acted like I did back then but I assure you that I have never ever hated you..." He declared as he got up and wrapped his arms around Toriel's neck, surprising the latter. But what surprised her more were Asgore's next words. "I forgive you Tori..."

Toriel's eyes widened when he told her he forgave her, but instead of making her happy, that only made her more guilty then before."Asgore... How could you forgive me that easily...? For so long I have been crushing your will to live, your HOPE... I have been taking everything out on you and I nearly caused your death...I-I have been acting like an hypocrite with you, I don't deserve your forgiveness... Why would you forgive me while I never tried to forgive you during those last months...?" Toriel cried softly as she shook her head.

"Ssh...Tori...calm down..." Asgore comforted her by nuzzling her neck. That act caused its effect as Toriel calmed down little by little. "Do you remember that Tibault never had problems about forgiving people ?" He reminded her, earning an nod from Toriel.

"Yes, I remember... He was very religious, christians have been taught to always forgive." Toriel recalled. It felt good in her soul to think about her first human friend who was as kind as Frisk.

"That's right. Despite not having the same beliefs as him, he told me to always forgive to those who caused me pain. And during our first years in the Underground, despite myself, I have learnt to forgive the Humans. Well, until the day Asriel got killed... But when Frisk saved us all, I realized that there are Humans like Tibault who doesn't consider the Monsters as ennemies or as heretics, and I forgave the Humans once more for Asriel's death which I consider as a misunderstanding. Of course, they should have tried to understand what he was doing with Chara's body, but now I think that if the same thing happened with the tables turned, we would have done the same thing, even if we wouldn't wanted to. Humans and Monsters weren't able to understand each other at that time, but thanks to Frisk, we have a new hope for peace. People can change, even if they don't change right away. No matter how long it takes, change is inevitable.

What I'm trying to say is that even if you don't forgive me for what I've done, I would always forgive you no matter what, even if it takes time. And both of us know why I would do that, it's because I love you Toriel. Always have, and always will."

Toriel gasped at that confession, she was right : Asgore always loved her and still does. She was so grateful to have such a kind and open-minded husband by her side once again. She hugged Asgore very tightly against her chest with one hand caressing his hair and the other on the middle back. She was hugging him so tightly that Asgore let out a gasp of breath, but didn't say anything, letting her get rid of all the sadness and guilt she built.

When she pulled off, both of them were smiling at each other, it was the brightest moment of their life since they went to live on the surface. The Knights Knights awed at that sight, they heard everything Asgore and Toriel said to each other. Before they were uncertain if they should forgive Toriel, but when they saw her collapse in tears with Asgore comforting her and forgiving her, they knew they have found their King and their Queen, along with their Prince. It was almost perfect, almost...

"Tori, when would I turn back as an adult ? I'm already tired of being a child." Asked Asgore when Toriel calmed down completely.

The latter raised an eyebrow playfully. "Why Asgore ? You're pretty cute if you ask me, it brings me back memories from the first time I saw you."

"But I don't have my beard anymore, and my horns are too tiny ! I looked more mature with those~!" Whined Asgore as he waved his arms up and down, making Toriel giggle.

"Well, I can't disagree with you Gorey, because right now you're acting like a real capricious child. I'd even say you look like Asriel when he was younger !" Toriel said, pointing at Asgore.

Asgore started whining and pouting more and more. Toriel burst of laughter seeing him acting so childish, but she knew he was doing it on purpose to make her smile, and she was thankful for that. It was hard, it was heartbreaking and dangerous, but they finally made peace with each other and themselves. Of course, they wouldn't forget their past mistakes, but they would consider their past as a lesson to avoid doing the same mistakes again and start a bright new future together for the rest of their lives.

At the place where the barrier was supposed to stand, behind the Knights Knights unnoticed by them, Chara was standing, watching Asgore and Toriel reconcile with each other. When they saw them laughing, they smiled. But it wasn't the same smile they used to show all the time, it was a warm smile, full of relief.

Chara sighed. "Finally. They finally reconciled... took them long enough. For a moment I thought it would be too late before they could make it, but looks like I got worried for nothing. However there are still a lot of work to do, those two are just the first step of the plan. It's done for Asgore and for Toriel it would be as well with time. I hope they will understand where Asgore's DETERMINATION comes from very soon, their survival depends on it..."

Chara closed their eyes, holding their necklace.

"After all you went through during those last months, I will allow you all some peace. But when tiles comes, I will come back to take care of you. Asriel and Frisk, you shall be next on the list..."

Finally... That took a lot of time but I finally made it : I have finished this story, but not the entire story I can reassure you. 'The King's Pain' is the first arc of my story. The sequel is coming soon, named 'The Path Towards Redemption'. I'm really sorry for making you wait for so long, I'm far, very far from being perfect.

The song I used in this chapter is titled 'House of Memories' from the group 'Panic! At The Disco (my favorite band !), yes the same title as the chapter. Coincidence ? I think not ! But I'm happy it coincides with Asgore and his need to regain his memories (you have no idea).

Finally those two made peace with each other ! Both of them are impossible I swear ! But starting now the romantic scenes will finally come, with AsrielXFrisk also, and maybe I will turn the rating to M for the next story, I don't know yet.

What is Chara planning ? Why are they happy for seeing Asgore and Toriel together while they made them fight and almost killed Asgore ? I already have my ideas, but I'm excited to know what you're all thinking about this.

Have a nice day, and don't kill and don't be killed. See you in 'The Path Towards Redemption' !