{Asriel's POV}

I woke up in bed. I yawned, and glanced over at Chara's bed. She was still asleep.

I got out of bed slowly, and looked at the alarm clock we found in waterfall. It was 4:00 AM. I'm up seriously early, and I don't really want to go back to sleep. I got out of bed, and walked out into the hall. No one was awake, obviously, so I decided to go to the living room. I sat down at the table, and let my mind wander. At first, I thought about my drawings. Then I thought about that chest of toys mom got me when I was younger. I never really liked them. Then I started thinking about Chara. A human that fell into the underground. I only want the best for her, and I want to trust her, but knowing what she wants me to do... I don't know if I can. There are so many things that can go wrong...

I thought about that for a long time. So long, in fact, that mom, dad, and Chara were waking up. But now I've made up my mind.

I get up, and walk towards Chara.

"Morning, Azzy. How late did I wake up..?" She asked.
"...you woke up kinda early, actually..." I responded. "...and, Chara? Can we talk..? Privately..?"

She seemed a bit confused, but agreed. We both walked into our room. I stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how to bring this up.

"...so... about our 'plan'..."
"...you don't want to go through with it, do you?"

That question shocked me. How'd she know already??

"Asriel, we're in a relationship together. We've done everything together for a long time. I know you very well."

At times like these, I feel like Chara can read my mind. I sighed, and just decided to tell her my opinion.

"Chara... I don't want to ever see you in pain. There must be another way to free everyone. A way that doesn't include you having to give up your soul."

She didn't say anything. She just looked down. We stayed in silence for a while, but then she looked up to say something.

"Asriel. You know everyone wants to go back to the surface. They're all prisoners down here." She said, with a serious expression. "My life isn't as important as all of their lives."

"What are you talking about, Chara?! Your life is important!" I said, my voice raising. If the room wasn't soundproof, mom and dad would've come in by now. "You mean everything to us! To me!"

Chara went silent again.

"I'm sure we can find a way. We just need to keep trying. Then everyone will be happy!"

"........."

Chara sighed, which made me feel hopeful. If there was one thing I was good at, it would be convincing Chara to do things.

"...alright, Azzy. We'll try to find another way. But if we can't, you know we have to go with plan A."

"...yeah, I know. But it won't come to that! We're unstoppable when we're together, and that's all the time! Let's break the barrier!!"

At this point, I was smiling like crazy.

"You're so dramatic." Chara teased.

"I know."

Chara's happy expression slowly turned into a serious one.

"Now... how do we break the barrier..?" Chara asked herself quietly.

It's true, breaking the barrier is not going to be easy. Not in the slightest. And we don't even know where to begin. We both thought of some plans.

"Maybe there's a spell we can use."

"No. If there was, it would've already been used by now..."

"Maybe if we get all the monsters together, we could break it."

"That would only equal one human soul. We need seven. Besides, they can't all fit in that area."

"Maybe we could contact humans to help us."

"No. They would never listen."

It was around this time that I ran out of decent ideas. Chara couldn't think of anything either. I sighed, and looked down. I don't want to use Chara's soul to cross the barrier. I want Chara to stay with me forever. But for that to happen, we need to come up with something.

But then, an idea hit me.

"Maybe we can't think of anything... but someone else can!"

Chara tilted her head a bit.

"Who?"

"Dr. W.D. Gaster. The Royal Scientist."

"The guy who made our phones?"

"Mmhm!"

"...hm. You're right. He's probably been studying the barrier for a long time."

"Exactly! If anyone can come up with something, it's him!"

"It's settled then. Tomorrow, we'll ask Asgore if we can go there."

I nodded, and then we went to the living room. Mom had already made breakfast for us, and even dad came home for a day. We don't see him very often, since he has to manage the whole underground. It's a very important job. We spent the whole day playing with mom and dad. It was just a really fun day. We deserved it after all the depressing stuff we had to think about.

...

Although. I can't help but worry. I feel like it isn't going to end well. Like something will go wrong. And that thought terrifies me. Because if this plan fails, Chara will die. And that would break my heart.

But then again, I know Dr. Gaster well. I think he's really cool and really smart. He wouldn't let anything go wrong. After all, he is the Royal Scientist for a reason.

As for Chara, I know she isn't happy. She's never afraid of dying. It's almost as if she's waiting for it. Like she knows that it's gonna happen. Maybe that's why she likes knives so much. I just want her to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted. But since she isn't, I'll just have to try even harder.

Even if plan A is a failure, I'll still treat it like a success. Chara means so much to me.

I won't let her die.

{Author's note}

Well. I'm just gonna accept the fact that I'm super inconsistent. But here's an extra long addition to the story that doesn't involve any lemons.

Regarding the future of this story, no crossover. A certain comment convinced me not to do it (thx Jacob). I do want to tailor this story around what you guys enjoy, so keep that in mind if you dislike where I'm going with this story.

Also, comments are really amusing to read.