The day at Waterfall had come to an end, and me and the skeletal family quickly wrapped up and headed back to our home in the capital.

When all of us got home from out fun day, it was pretty late. I helped Gaster out with cleaning up everything from the picnic, the entire thing an event of blushing and talking, teasing and giggling. I had never been more happy. Even though the entire time I was in the underworld, I missed Frisk dearly, Gaster always provided the right distraction.

"Did you enjoy today, my dear?" Gaster asked as I washed the sandwich container.

"Of course, I got to relax and spend the day with my favourite skeletons." I teased and smiled.

"I... I'm very much looking forward to our date.." Gaster spoke, a glow over his cheeks, which I knew was his blush materializing through magic.

"I can't wait either." I replied, placing a kiss upon his cheekbone. How I was able to do that without lips, I wasn't really sure. I put the container away, and finished up, before heading to Sans's and Papyrus's room. However I was stopped by a bony hand around my metacarpals.

"Let me read to Sans and Papyrus tonight..." He said, pushing some of the pseudo-hair out of my eyes.

"Alright, sleep well, my sweet scientist." Was my response. "Just let me give them a good night kiss." I said softly.

"I think Sans is right." Gaster said as we got closer.

"About?"

"You should be their mom." He smiled. I chuckled, blushing my own violet blush now.

I kissed each skele-bro on the forehead, before leaving Gaster to read the story. I watched from the door for a little while, but once my eyelids could hardly remain apart, I knew sleep was necessary.

You would think the night after a out day at Waterfall would be happy, wouldn't it. That would be what you'd expect, and that's what I had expected too. What I didn't expect was a night of horrible nightmares.

Everything has gone wrong.

Gaster hadn't ended up in the void, he died. Everyone I knew and loved were dying, some at the hand of Flowey, who I remembered briefly meeting before this mess started, some from the demon Chara became after death. Chara's torment within my dream reminded me of my predicament. I'm not a monster, or at least I'm not supposed to be. I'm supposed to be a human child, not a skeleton working for the queen.

This life wasn't real...

And as I thought this, the dream got worse, feeding on my own traumas from my past, my own fears and anxiety. Everything that could cause me trouble had been causing me trouble. To the point where I could feel cracks within my soul starting to form.

I struggled, trying to break free, to just wake up.

"ARIAL!" A distorted voice shook through and snapped me out of my slumber. My vision was blurred, and as a hand landed on my shoulder I couldn't tell if it was friend or foe. I slapped it off, scurrying away, only to tumble to the floor, landing in a trembling, sobbing lump. I was disoriented, still unable to decipher between the dream and reality, as I was grabbed again, I tried to fight, but the grasp was not trying to cause me harm, in enveloped my very being in such a warmth that my struggling ceased. My brain registered that the danger had passed, and my vision finally cleared.

Gaster.

He was holding me close, his arms wrapped around my shaking form, his grip strong for one without muscles. He rocked me as I had seen him rock a crying Papyrus, just holding me to his chest as we both sat on the floor.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I was hoping you'd tell me that..." His voice shook slightly. I could tell I had frightened him, or at the very least worried him.

"You first, please..." I mumbled. I wasn't quite ready to talk yet.

"W-well. I had finished putting the boys to bed, when I heard you crying. I was walking to your room, when you started screaming. What I saw... I'll never be able to unsee... Your soul was floating above you, cracks were appearing on it. It was if you were being tortured by your own dreams... I managed to wake you but, well, I'm not surprised you pushed me away. It was quite clear you were indeed very frightened. I... I just held you until it stopped." He said calmly. I looked at him.

"How could that have happened?" I asked.

"I wish I knew, We'll have to do some tests, see if we can figure out what happened. However, it's not unusual that your dream had an effect on your soul, the well being of monster souls is tied very heavily to emotions, so it makes sense, your dream just must have been horrible..." He said, and I could hear the sympathy in his voice, his arms still protectively wrapped around me.

"It was... It was awful... I relived things from my past, saw things involving the demon, and Flowey... Everyone was dead... I... I couldn't take it, I tried to keep going, to push through, but I couldn't get out of it. I felt my heart breaking, and I guess, my soul also cracking..." I said softly.

Gaster's hold tightened. He didn't say anything. I knew he couldn't tell me my dream wouldn't come true. Neither of us knew what was to befall this new timeline, but genocide was not unlikely.

"Dad...? Is... Is mom okay?" We both looked up to see Sans in the doorway his worry face decorated with the expression of one who wanted to go back to sleep was so adorable.

"I'm fine sweetie, did I wake you?" I asked, and he nodded. "I'm sorry, I had a bad dream, but everything's okay now, I'm with my family." I said, moving to hug him.

"Come on, back to bed with you." Gaster's kind but warbled voice spoke. He gently released me, giving me a look that told me he would be right back. He put Sans back to bed, before returning to hug me again.

"You should try to get some more sleep too. You have work tomorrow." He said, helping me back to bed. I could tell he was reluctant to release me. As he finally did, I grabbed his hand.

"Wait... Perhaps it would be... Logical, if you stayed with me? Until we figure out a way to stop these dreams... To prevent my heart from... You know." My hand grew more limp the more I spoke, and I had been sure my fear was more evident on my face. His smile was all I needed to feel better.

"I'll return in a moment dear." He spoke before leaving. When he returned. He was dressed in his sleep clothes, I had seen them before, and just the sight of how cute he looked was enough to save my mood. That tied with just how adorable Sans was when he came to check on me made me feel a lot happier. The bed dipped as Gaster sat down on it. "You're sure my dear?" He asked, seeming nervous about the idea of us sharing the bed, but I pulled him down, holding him snugly against me.

"I'm sure, I need you, Gaster..." I said softly.

As my eyes slowly closed, and a much calmer and happier sleep overtook me, the last thing I saw was Gaster's warm and loving smile. I knew I would be alright.

Boy was I wrong...

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And there you go! I'm so sorry for the delay. As I said to a commenter on the last chapter, these past few weeks have been busier then I had anticipated, and I had massive writers blocked. I think I have planned out all the chapters at this point though, so that should help. And now, onto the question of the day!

What other AUs do you like besides Underfell and Underswap?

Mine are Underkeep and Undermafia.

I love vintage stuff if you couldn't tell.

Anywho, updates hopefully will start to fall in a pattern soon. I'm afraid I'm quite busy trying to get my portfolio done for job applications, but once I've got that figured out, we should be good :)

Anywho, until next time :)