I sat outside on the porch of Sans's house, staring up at the sparkling ceiling.  The emptiness was eating away inside of me, but I ignored it.  Sans's words echoed in my mind.

"The emotions fade first, then the memories.  The last thing to fade will be the color.  The color will takes years to completely leave, but the old memories will be gone in a day or two.  Soon the only things left will be from the True Lab onwards."

The memories were already leaving.  I could feel them vanish, like snowflakes on a hot day.  I didn't mind much.  But it was interesting to watch.  Sans had made me promise to try to hold onto them, but I found myself getting sidetracked watching them leave.

"Frisk?  Frisk?" a voice called.

"Here," I answered.  I heard the scraping of claws on wood before Alphys appeared on the porch beside me.  Her hands were shaking in the snowy air, but I was sure it wasn't because of the cold.  I had noticed that whenever Alphys was around me, she became incredibly nervous.

My presence affected all of them in one way or another.  Most monsters avoided me entirely, like a cloud of bad luck.  Alphys became very anxious and would start wringing her hands or fiddling with her lab coat.  Undyne seemed to pity me, or be disgusted, or even sometimes she almost pretended I wasn't there.  Papyrus, on the other hand, was the opposite.  He tried to include me in everything.  And Sans?  Sans was sadness disguised by happiness, and anger thinly concealed beneath.

"Oh, good," Alphys said.  "I hadn't seen where you were, and I started to worry-"

"I'm fine," I told her.  Alphys stopped talking, choosing instead to fiddle with her hands again.  I kept staring up at the cavern roof.

"Well, I guess I'll go inside.  Since you're safe, and . . . yeah," Alphys mumbled.  I heard her go inside, closing the door behind her.

I don't know how long I stayed there, staring at the ceiling and thinking.  Undyne and Sans came back at one point.  Undyne went inside without saying a word to me, but Sans hesitated as if he wanted to say something.  Then he continued inside.  Still I stayed outside.

"You're going to catch a cold," Sans finally said from behind me.

"I don't mind the snow," I answered.  A sweater dropped on my head.

"Seriously, put it on," he told me.  I glanced back at him.  He looked the same as always, but something in his eyes told me he wouldn't take no for an answer.  I put on the sweater.

"Are you trying to keep your memories?" he asked.  I shrugged.

"It's pretty distracting, watching them disappear," I admitted.

"You have to hold on.  You promised, Frisk.  Remember?"

"I remember."

"Then keep your promise.  Pick a few memories.  Remember them.  While you do that, I'll track Chara.  Deal?"

I shrugged again.  Sans shook his head, sighing.  He turned to go inside.  I started to pull off the sweater.

"Keep the sweater," he told me.  "Maybe they'll help you remember.  And besides, it's cold out."

As Sans went back inside, I puzzled over what he had said.  They'll help you remember?

I reached into the sweater's pocket, feeling my fingers wrap around a box.  I pulled it out and opened it.  Inside was a heart-shaped locket and a note.  I read the messy handwriting.

I don't know if you remember or not, but you got this locket in your original timeline when you were about to fight Flowey.  I saw that you always had it in the other timelines, so when I saw you never got it in this one I went and picked it up from Asgore's Castle.  Maybe it'll help you remember.

I slipped the locket over my head, wondering if it would make the memories stop disappearing.  After waiting for a moment, I decided that nothing had changed.  I stood, stretched, and went inside.  Sans was right.  It was cold out.