{Handplates chapter references: out and about, Don't turn back now that we're here, It's for the best i know it, Our house now}

"While I do enjoy having the two of them around the house, I know they must learn the limits of our prison eventually."

Asgore had decided that Papyrus and Sans were ready to explore the rest of the Underground. He showed them the snowy ambience of Snowdin, the blazing heat of Hotland and the mesmerizing caves in Waterfall.

"I thought at first the smallness of our world would weigh on them, but instead they find each place enormous and new.
They are enjoying our outings at least but...I still don't understand how nothing is familiar to them...how can that even be possible?
If only they could remember more of where they came from!

They're more willing to wander off on their own than they have been in the past, which is good.
They spend so much time together, sometimes I worry they don't know who they are when they are apart."

Footsteps echoed through the hall as both Papyrus and Sans entered the hallway that led to the throne room.
Light shone through the enormous windows, giving the entire room a soft golden glow.

As soon as they were further inside, Sans stopped. He just stared at one specific spot in the room, his eyes completely dark.

At first, Asgore had assumed it was pure awe and fascination but as soon as he had seen Sans's look on his face, he wasn't entirely sure.

"Sans seems particularly taken with the hallway outside the throne room...
He was very reluctant to leave after he saw it. I'll have to take him back later again."

Sans was still quietly staring. The shadows of the windows stretched across the ground and walls and he swore he could see a shadow of himself.

It felt so familiar.

So...unsettling.

And he desperately wanted to know why this room stirred so many strange feelings inside of him.

As quickly as the shadow appeared, it disappeared again.
It could have as well just been Sans's imagination, a trick of light but he knew it was real.

Whatever it meant...

"....I did not show them the basement...maybe another day.

Today I thought I'd give the two of them a surprise...it's almost Gyftmas, and I was sure it'd be their first (as far as their memories are concerned) so I thought I'd make it special for them..."

"Here we are, little ones, Snowdin Town!", Asgore exclaimed, stretching out his paws and presenting the town to the two skeleton brothers.

The snow crunched beneath their feet as they kept walking. Papyrus had a strange, almost dumbfound expression on his face:

"SANS...SANS WHAT'S THE WORD FOR SEEING SOMETHING THAT DIDN'T REALLY HAPPEN AGAIN?"

"uh, déjà vu i think."

"I AM VERY DÉJÀ VU RIGHT NOW."

That statement caused Asgore to turn back to the two skeletons, a puzzled expression on his face: "What do you mean..? Have you two..."

Did this place trigger some memories? Was this where they came from? Asgore almost didn't dare to believe it.

"SANS... SANS! SANS THIS IS IT!", Papyrus suddenly exclaimed and started sprinting into a specific direction.

Sans just looked after him, attempting to grab and stop him: "hey, wait! where are you going!"

They reached an abandoned, wooden house. Papyrus beamed with excitement: "SANS, LOOK! THIS IS IT! THIS IS OUR HOUSE!"

"our..."

"Oh...? But...", Asgore was even more confused than before.

This house had been abandoned ever since...he didn't want to think of it.

But Asgore could remember distinctly that [Y/N] occasionally stayed here. He didn't remember why, it wasn't your home, but there was something about this place that constantly seemed to draw you back to it.

Was it them? Did you know about them and never told anyone?
No, you would have never done something like that.

You would have told someone, anyone, at least on your deathbed, that there were two skeleton children that you were looking out for because no way you would have let them survive on their own.

But you had never mentioned them so was what they said actually the truth...?

Asgore had never visited this house personally before.
He knew you talked about it from time to time but when he tried to recall what you said, it was as if the words you said were drowned out.

It probably wasn't anything important.

The king was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard the rattling of the doorknob.

Papyrus was desperately trying to get in, pulling on the door but it wouldn't budge: "WE HAVE TO GET INSIDE. HOW DO WE GET INSIDE, IT'S LOCKED!"

"Well, it's been abandoned for as long as I can remember... Hmm...it should be..", Asgore's eyes instinctively wandered to the ceiling of the porch.

Almost naturally he reached up, his fingers feeling the wood until he finally grasped the item he was looking for.

As he withdrew his paw, he held the key to the front door in his hand, smiling down at it: "Yes, there it is."

The satisfaction of his find turned into confusion: "...How did I...?"

How did he know about this?

He had never been here before and he definitely would have searched any other place first before checking there.

It was strange, almost scary.

Asgore could not ponder much longer as Papyrus eagerly snatched the key from Asgore and unlocked the door.

Papyrus was more than confident as they entered the house.

It was surprisingly warm and welcoming inside, the furniture untouched with no dust or dirt to be seen.

It was weird, almost unsettling, how well-kept this place looked despite the time that had passed since it was last...in somewhat use by you.

Asgore looked around, a small frown on his face as he tried to make sense of anything yet again.

Were they the reason why it looked so lived in...or does someone else live here without his knowing?

The flowers on the dining table were wilted, a sign that whoever made sure there were no cobwebs around and the surfaces weren't covered in layered in dust either did not care about his flowers or hasn't been around for a while to take care of them.

"SANS, THIS IS IT! THIS IS REALLY IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! AFTER ALL THIS TIME!!"

Papyrus was entirely unaware of the strange circumstances surrounding this place but Sans was just as suspicious as Asgore.

"uh i'm not saying you're wrong but, if this place has been abandoned a real long time, then...why is there all this furniture in here?"

Sans watched Papyrus as he entered the kitchen, tearing open the fridge: "OH, THERE'S FOOD IN THE FRIDGE EVEN!"

Asgore brought a hand to his chin, thinking: "I...I never thought about it. Now that you mention it...that's strange..."

Papyrus was pretty much all over the place at this point.

One could hear his footsteps eagerly echoing through the rooms and up the stairs. Eventually, he returned, leaning over the ledge of the upper floor.

"OH, SANS, UPSTAIRS! COME UPSTAIRS!"

Sans did not waste a moment, heading up to join his brother.
He was standing in front of a giant canvas. It had a green background and one big white bone drawn on it.

Papyrus motioned towards it: "SEE, LOOK, THIS HAS TO BE OUR HOUSE! JUST LOOK AT THIS BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF ART! ONLY SKELETONS COULD APPRECIATE SOMETHING THIS MAGNIFICENT."

"i mean...a dog could live here too. they like bones."

Papyrus frowned at Sans's words, still looking at the picture: "NO, THIS IS OUR HOUSE, I'M SURE OF IT! ...WHAT'S A MEMORY BUT BACKWARDS?"

Papyrus wondered, trying to explain the feeling this house was giving him. It just felt right but it seemed like it only felt right for him.

"your riddles are getting really good, bro.", teased Sans, glancing at his brother from the corner of his eyes.
At that remark, Papyrus put his hands on his hips, frowning even more.

"SANS, I'M BEING SERIOUS."

"...i know..."

Papyrus reached out towards the canvas and carefully ran his fingertips across the surface: "...MAYBE THIS WAS WHERE WE USED TO LIVE. BEFORE.
OR WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO LIVE FROM NOW ON. ONE OF THOSE. I KNOW THIS IS IT. EVERYTHING TELLS ME IT IS."

A small sigh escaped Sans as he looked down to the ground. "i mean, sure, but...we...kinda, sorta..."

He raised his head again to look at Papyrus: "live with asgore, don't we?"

Their conversation was suddenly disrupted as Asgore called from downstairs: "Children, may I speak with you please..?"

.

.

.

It was silent in the giant, gold-ish yellow hallway.

Sans stood in the middle of it, the light shining down on him and casting a long shadow onto the ground.
He seemed to be in deep thought as Asgore approached, his footsteps echoing quietly as he came closer.

"I got the feeling you would be here..", Asgore started quietly, looking out of the window. "You really like this place, don't you?"

Sans's eyes immediately darted back to the spot where he saw himself standing, an unreadable expression on his face: "...i don't know if that's how i'd put it, but...something like that, yeah."

Sans sighed, kneeling down on the ground before fully sitting. Asgore joined him.

The silence between them felt heavy, as if both of them had things to say but neither really wanted to start.

Asgore finally spoke up, his gaze fixated onto the ground and his voice carrying a hint of sadness: "...I don't suppose you've changed your mind...?"

Sans did not respond right away, trying to find the right words: "look...somewhere, you gotta know that this isn't where we're supposed to be, right?
i'm not sayin you wouldn't keep us forever if you could, and that's really cool of you and everything but...i don't know if we ever did anything just by ourselves. you know what i mean?
i get this feelin that even before you found us, there was always someone or something...in the way."

Sans lifted his hand, staring at the plate that was attached to it before he continued: "and, i don't want to leave an attack lying around by accident and end up really hurting you, so, you'll be safe without us around anyway."

Sans closed one of his eyes, winking at Asgore and trying to somewhat ease the mood.

"Sans, I'm not worried about such things..."

Sans sighed in response, lowering his head: "i know, i know. but, it's not just one thing...that's what i'm trying to get at. i want to try doin stuff by myself for once...you know, see if me and papyrus can stand on our own two feet, and...
no offence, but...you know he can get curious sometimes, and i don't want him walking into any basements he shouldn't.
and if another human falls down here...i don't want him around when you find em. and you don't want that either, am i right?"

Asgore flinched as Sans spoke.

So he had entered the basement...and he had...god, did he open the coffins?

Asgore was shocked that he would go so far, his heart aching as he was reminded once again of the horrible things he had done.

"I-I should have known you-..." Asgore choked on his own words, trying to bring the turmoil in his mind under control and explain it to Sans.

"..I...What I've done...I had to do-"

" 'what people need me to', right?"

This sentence slipped off Sans's tongue almost too casually.
They almost sounded bitter as he spoke them and Sans found that he also...did not like this explanation at all for some unknown reason.

"...sorry, déjà vu again."

"Please...forgive me. It's my duty." Asgore's face scrunched up in pain and he closed his eyes, not daring to look at the skeleton in front of him.

"i'm not really who you should be apologizin to. but it's not really any of my business anyway.
my brother, though....he's my business, you know what i mean?"

"I understand...and you are right. I did know somewhere, that this couldn't last.
With what I've done, I knew...
And, I suppose....if you stayed with me, you would not find who you are really looking for."

"who we're...?"

"Your real parents. Who you really are, and where you really came from. I know there must be answers, even if I do not know where.
And I cannot in good conscience keep you from discovering the truth about yourselves, whatever that may be."

Sans's eyes narrowed as he listened to Asgore, his head turned away from him.
There was another moment of silence as he considered the king's words.

It was true.
They did want to know who they truly are but it also felt cruel to just leave Asgore behind like that.

Asgore sensed Sans's conflict, reaching out towards him and placing his paw over Sans's hand: "But even so...I am glad you allowed me to be a part of your lives, even for a little while."

Asgore's gentle touch caused Sans to look back up at him.

He turned his hand in Asgore's grasp to hold his paw, smiling at him: "....yeah....me too."

.

.

.

"asgore packed this journal with a note sayin that writin things down can help you figure things out. maybe even help us remember what happened to us. i don't think that's ever gonna happen but its worth a shot i guess."

Sans was sitting on the green couch of their new home. He had already raided one of the closets, now wearing some red shorts, a blue Y-shirt and a black jacket.

Sans had also found some pink fluff slippers that happened to be almost exactly his size.
They were comfortable and it didn't take much effort to put them on or get out of them so they were perfect.

He buried his face in his purple scarf as his eyes read once more what he wrote into the journal.

"i asked papyrus if he wanted to do it but he said no. i think writing for too long hurts his eye sockets or somethin.

so i guess i'll do it.

we're in the house now. asgore said its been abandoned a long time but it doesn't really feel like it.
a few months maybe but not years. there wasn't a lot of food though i guess.

asgore left some money in my bag, so we went out and got some. everyone here seems real nice so far.

they all talk the same. me and papyrus are the only ones that look different."

Sans stopped for a moment, pondering what else he could write. His eyes drifted to the coffee table, immediately making him think of when Papyrus and him went to sort through the things in this house.

Sans remembered how confused he was about the amount of mugs that were on the table and in the cupboards.

"we've been goin through all the stuff here. papyrus is having fun cleaning the place.
whoever lived here had so many mugs.

they also had a lot of scarves, that made papyrus happy. he really likes this old red one.

it's a good color on him.

papyrus also found these things you can put on to cover your hands. gloves i think.
so he's been wearing those a lot lately."

Sans's eyes fell on his own hands. He was wearing black gloves himself.

It somehow made him feel better not to look at the plate on his hand so he followed Papyrus's example.

"there's a lot of papers here. what i can read seems pretty technical. mostly it sounds like someone asking someone else for money, but in really fancy ways.

there's a lot of journals of monster science or something, tons of em and they all look the same even though they're dated differently, and they're total gibberish.

maybe whoever lived here collected them?

they take up a ton of space so i think we're just gonna toss em."

At his feet, a stack of books was placed neatly on the couch.
It was books that Sans had handpicked.

Among them, was a journal...or something like a journal that peaked his interest because it was about humans.

About [Y/N] specifically.

It didn't seem to be just pure research or reports, however, but partially...more personal descriptions of her.

Logs of things she did, interests and hobbies...

It raised a lot of questions.

Sans had learned from Asgore that [Y/N] had spent her time here from time to time so perhaps it were her own notes?

Or whoever she saw here or has spent time here with had everything documented for unknown reasons.

Asgore probably wasn't aware of its existence.

As Sans had quickly flicked through the pages once to get a small overview of what this book was about, a picture fell out of it.

It looked old, the edges slightly crumpled and torn.

Maybe she took that picture herself. Perhaps it was a memory of...something.

Sans could not bring himself to throw it away, even though he did not know why he felt that way.

He had tugged the picture back into the pages and added it to the pile.

He would read it eventually, when he felt up for it and had enough time.

"next to that journal about [Y/N] that i found, there are some cool looking books here though.

i definitely want to read those.

there was also this weird machine in the bedroom that's connected to the wall and its got a lot of buttons. not sure what that thing does.
i bet there's directions for it around somewhere.

the other room was just full of broken junk and probably things that seemed to belong to [Y/N].

we found a shirt that looked exactly like the one that she wore in the photograph. we've been tossing the junk out but there's a lot of it.

it smells like smoke in here. papyrus says it makes him feel tense but in a good way?
i just feel tense, but it does smell familiar.

papyrus was right, this is our house. i didn't even need to see myself either. i'm not sure exactly when i knew...maybe when he did.

but last night when we were fallin asleep it really felt real.

we've cleared out enough stuff that there's finally starting to be room for us.

how it's supposed to be.

that sounds dumb.

this journal thing will never work."