It took you off guard to see this stranger cling to you so readily, like he immediately trusted you. His body trembled like a brittle, autumn leaf left to dance over the wind. His eyes seemed to shrink with fear as you hurriedly brushed his hands from your skirt, gazing snapping quickly towards the door in hope your mother wouldn't return to investigate his cries. "Be silent!" You ordered, sounding more cruel than you intended. 

He seemed scared of you as he shrank back, hands curling against himself as he looked at you. "No... you're just like them too, aren't you? You're gonna turn me into a solider aren't you?!" He accused, making your stomach lurch. 

You rolled a tight fist in your hand and sighed, knowing if he was harmed the punishment would be dealt on your head. "I'm not my mother." You said quietly. "I won't have any jurisdiction over your fate. I just... accepted my fate. You should too, before they beat it into you. Or if you can't, learn how to act like it. Weakness is only punished here." 

Your tone was matter of fact and cold as you looked down at the young boy. He shook, tearful eyes seeming to become worse by the second as you watched his heart break. "Please..." He plead. "I-I don't want to hurt anyone. I was just practicing when those people snatched me. I-I didn't see it, but I heard screaming and crying. The men that took me kept screaming about the future of humanity, about the 'first line of defense when the others returned.' I didn't choose to be here! Please... Please help me..." 

"Snatched?" You wondered aloud, tone softening with a mixture of curiosity and sympathy. "You weren't... sent here. As a student?" 

"No! Why would I ever want to be a murder-" His gaze met yours, quickly realizing who he was speaking to. His mouth snapped shut, eyes glued to the floor. His body crumbled, soft sobbing beginning to echo through the room. 

"A murderer." You finished. "You mean, who would want to be a murderer?" 

He seemed to stiffen at your cold words, but he almost seemed scared when instead of a blow or a sharp snap of the tongue, laughter filled the  air. He looked up at you as you fell back on to your mattress, rubbing your palm into your eye as laughter filled your mouth. "No one!" You answered. "But for us unlucky few we never got the choice in the first place." You confessed in a haunted tone. 

His expression changed, becoming sympathetic and soft as he crawled over to you, propping himself on the bed as his small hand lifted to brush your face. Behind your ironic laughter and wide grin, guilty tears fell from your eyes. Behind your eyes you saw the many portraits of your victims, permanently engraved in your mind as their final fearful moments. A chorus of pained cries and chilling screaming echoed in your memories as crystal tears slid down your pained expression. "Did they take you too?" He asked, wiping the tear against his over-sized sweater. 

You shook your head. "No, I'm heir to this palace of sin." You said bitterly. "A factory of bloody mistreatment of dance." 

He gasped. "That's your mother! She did this to her own daughter?!" 

"We do not raise the weak to be weak! Prove to me your worth or die a pitiful death." You quoted. "No daughter of mine would present such a hideous excuse of a performance as dance." 

You hung your head and sighed, wiping your eyes. "I'm no daughter of hers. I'm a useless excuse of flesh, not worth anything. My dancing is sloppy and sinful. I can't forget their faces, no matter how she tries to make me. I don't grow numb to this demonic practice, like a good little heir. I'm nothing but a failure..." 

He furrowed his brow and huffed. "Stop that." He ordered, surprising you. 

You raised your weary eyes to his as he found determination to share. His smile was gentle as he grabbed your arm and lowered his voice. "You're not happy are you?" 

"My emotions mean nothing." You said bluntly. "My fate is set in stone." 

"Your fate is what you make it to be." He refuted. "Only you can decide." 

"Well I can't!" You snapped. "I've never had the luxury of a free will, and soon enough you'll loose that privilege too, just accept it." 

He stood from his spot, stamping a foot on the ground. "You're wrong. I'm not letting that happen! I'm going to escape and leave this place tonight!" 

You laughed. "You're an idiot. You have no home. If you had family they're either dead or clearly don't care about you. You have no where to go and a child like you can't care for himself. Just give up!" 

"No! Never!" He shouted, making you wince. If he was too loud mother would come, and then you'd be punished. 

"Give up Kid! There's no hope for you!" You snapped. 

"Maybe not me by myself, but I'm not going alone." He smirked. 

"What? Who would be crazy enough to come after you? Don't kid yourself!" 

"There's no question about if they'll come or not. I know they will. This is as much for them as it is for me." 

What the hell is he talking about? Did he arrange an escape plan already? When did he-

Your thoughts were cut short when he turned to the door and took the knob, swinging it wide open and running. You were stunned, eyes trailing after him as you propelled to your feet expertly. Instinct pulled you after him, though you couldn't find why. Images of your mother flashed in your mind and your eyes widened. If he escaped, mother would kill you. She'd have your head for incompetence and your torture would become even worse. Your heart jumped, hands shaking at the thought. "Get back here!" You yelled, racing after the boy. 

It didn't take long to find him, but he was halfway across the front yard of your estate/home/hell. Around the property stood a tall chain fence. The top was tipped in wicked blades, discouraging any climbing over it. But as you raced after Frisk, you noticed the shovel in his small hand. Under the fence a decent size hole had been left by something, most likely an animal. Or maybe the boy's accomplice? Bright lights filled the air as an ear-splitting siren shrieked. Warnings of escape deafened you as spotlights fixed on you and Frisk. Your feet sailed closer and closer, not taking but a few second to catch the boy. You grasped the shovel firmly in a hand and yanked it from his grasp in his surprise. "You idiot!" You hissed. "Now-"  

"You rotten, ungrateful whore! How dare you?!" Your mother's voice screamed. "After all I've done for you you repay me like this?! 

Your head snapped back towards the home, eyes wide. Spotlights blinded you, but you knew she was furious. "I knew it! I should've known a shameless, sloppy, slut like you would betray me as soon as you saw the chance!" 

"Wait, no!" You screamed. "Mother you don't-" 

"Catch those two!" She ordered the guards. "Bring them to me! Conditioning begins now!" 

You froze, horrified. 'Conditioning,' though sounding quite mild, was the most horrifying thing to behold in the facility. Pain beyond imagination as a lesson of obedience. Hours upon hours of endless torture until at last you result to pleading for mercy. She never listened. Mercy wasn't a word she knew. Mercy was only a fantasy you'd lost sight of long ago. 

You felt a small hand close around yours as you looked down at the boy. You didn't even know his name, but he smiled at you kindly, making you feel confusion unrivaled by anything in your memory. "Come on." He said gently. He ducked beneath the fence, appearing beyond the chained walls. "Come on!" He called again, more forcefully. "She's gonna punish you!" He cried. 

You were frozen in place. This was different. It was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time, the knowledge of knowing it would decide your entire life making it all the more additive. For the first time in what seemed like years, you had an option. Escape and risk everything with a child you'd literally just met, or stay and live the life planned of you, as you were expected to be. It was a choice between freedom and certainty.  A new life or a rehearsed one. It was your choice. 

Time seemed to slow as you looked at your home. Within it was everything you knew. Every tortuous moment held within those walls, but that also meant it was all you had to anchor you. Your eyes shifted, looking into the young boy's worried eyes. He represented what it meant to start over. He was what it meant to live life again in a new way, not caring for how in would effect the people that hurt you in the past. He was a chance... to be happy. 

In almost slow motion the guards drew closer. You moved like the wind, twist in their direction and squaring your shoulders as you looked past their immovable wall of muscle at your mother's cold, numb expression. Her eyes met yours and she raised a brow, acting as though she knew what you'd do. Your heart pounded in your ears as you bowed, making her smile. The guards froze as she moved forward, standing before you. The boy frowned, turning into the surrounding forest and slowly sinking into its timbers. Before you stood your mother. She began to speak, tone satisfied and and almost cocky. "That's a good gir-" 

You smirked, standing straight as you faced her. "Rule one: Take every advantage." 

Using the fence behind you, you launched yourself into the air above her, looking down at her as she froze, stunned by your decision. Planting your foot against her shoulder, you flipped off of her and clung to the top of the fence. Your hands slipped perfectly between the spikes. Twisting you body and swinging your legs upward, you twirled in the air and landed on the ground opposite of the fence. You held your middle finger against your old mother as you smiled. "Go fuck yourself." You hissed. 

As she processed the happenings before her, you turned and grabbed your friend's hand, throwing him on your back and disappearing into the foliage of the trees. Not too soon later shouting broke out behind you along with the sounds of gunshots and the sharp barking of orders. "Get the hounds! I want her found by sunset!" 

You shook your head, expertly weaving over the unfamiliar terrain as though you'd always known the way. Frisk was shocked to silence as he rode your back. You disappeared that night. The hounds never found you, nor did your mother. That night, a strange boy you didn't know the name of changed your life. Your entire life flipped, and it was the scariest, most exciting thing you'd ever done. 

"My name is Frisk." He said quietly. "I knew you'd come with me." 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You fell quiet, looking at Sans after finishing recalling your traumatic and scarring childhood. He sat speechless as you looked at you palms to avoid eye contact. "That's it really... I ran away from my home within nothing but the clothes I was wearing and a weird kid I'd happened to be thrown with after he was kidnapped. My life was so fucked growing up I thought living penniless and taking care of  kid was a better alternative to living under my own mother's roof. And truthfully, I was right. Running away with Frisk... It was the first choice I ever made of my own accord. " You muttered, wiping your eyes aggressively. 

Sans remained silent and your heart dropped. Voice shaking, you stood roughly and hid your eyes beyond your bangs. "I-I'm sorry Sans. It wasn't right to tell you all that. I'm nothing but a whining little-" 

You stiffened when you felt his arms lock around you. "Thank you." He interrupted. 

"What?" You asked, pure confusion consuming you. 

"Thank you for trusting me. I like to know these kinds of things, so I don't do or say anything that could upset you." Sans explained. 

You laughed shallowly. "That'd the exact reason I don't like to share my... past. I'm not a china doll. The entire point of escaping that he'll was so I could have the freedom to live by my rule. If it's ruined because the people around me are too scared of hurting me... then what is it even worth."

You sighed, stepping back from Sans and slouching against a tree. "Sans, you're right to assume that things can trigger me. Like what just happened. But that's my problem to deal with."

Sans frowned, facing you. "(Y/N) it's not okay to just bottle up that emotion and run away from civilization when it gets to be too much. I found you shaking for God's sake! You were crying about not wanting to dance again."

Your face reddened and you broke his gaze, clutching your fist and watching the ground. "That's how it is Sans. The world isn't fair. Some people get dealt a life that's what they deserve. I just happened to be the other half of those some."

"That doesn't magically make it okay."

"It's not like I change it now!" You yelled, "All I can do is accept the fact that I'm broken and live with the shards left behind!"

"(Y/N) just because you accept that doesn't mean you have to live with it!" He retorted. You flinched at this new emotion you saw in him and shrank back, reminded of the memories you'd just retold.

He saw fear dust your feature before you fixed the mask of numb over you, and fell back. A sigh escaped his mouth and he lowered himself to the ground, lifting the hoodie you'd left on the ground. He stroked the soft blue fabric as he began to speak, looking at you.

"(Y/N), I saw you dancing today. And I don't mean when you thought that douche bag. I mean I saw you really dancing. You looked happy! Comfortable even! You looked like you were finally satisfied for the first time since I'd laid eyes... well, eye sockets on you. There wasn't any fear or guilt in your expression."

"I messed up okay!" You cried, throat becoming sore as you resisted the urge to cry. "Sans I'm not aloud to be happy anymore. I'm too dangerous... I was conditioned as a child to react exactly as I did today at even the smallest sign of danger. I try to forget what I lived through every day, but as soon as I close my eyes all I can see is that hell!"

You met his gaze, eyes burning with unfamiliar and bitter tears. "I OUTLIVED MY WORTH. THE ONLY REASON I HAVEN'T ENDED MY PITIFUL EXISTENCE IS BECAUSE THAT CHILD, BECAUSE FRISK, STILL HAS A CHANCE."

The warm tears trailed down you cheek, the Phantom path of ice freezing instantly where they'd been. "It's my last wish..." You said with a raw tone, cradling your hands against yourself as you remembered the blood that would smear it. "I've killed people because I wasn't strong enough. I've watched life leak away from people's eyes as they beg me to stop. I'm. Not. Human. At least not anymore."

Your pressed your palms into your eyes as you released a shaky breath. "Good for nothing demon husk of a person. Useless garbage of someone's failure. Barely a person. Weak. Dangerous. Uncontrollable-"

"Hurt." He interrupted, silencing you.

You bit back the sobs shaking in your chest. "You're in pain." He said softly, "because your deadbeat, sad excuse of a mother put you there. You'd never had a kind smile to follow until Frisk showed up, right?"

"Of course not!" You snapped sarcastically. "You see, I'm a great actor! Frisk doesn't know about any of this! Because the sad truth about humans is that we're the easiest creatures to deceive. The smallest of smiles can hide years upon years of scarring."

A weight hit your shoulders and you felt soft warmth encase you. A first confusion hit you. Then you were hit by a wave if familiarity. "What?" You muttered. "Why did you give me this?"

You looked at the blue coat around you, holding it close and sinking into its warmth. "You'll get a cold." He said gently. "Then who will I tell jokes to? Toriel has already heard all of mine."

You tilted your head in confusion as you gazed at him. "Wh-"

"Then of course Paps would be really mad if I let our friend get sick while on my watch. And then Frisk won't have someone familiar to watch over them.  I think he likes us, but not nearly as much as he loves you." He cooed.

You blushed slightly. "Why are you saying these things?" You asked.

Sans smiled, bowing as he held out a hand in a formal dance invite. He waited for you to take it, remaining a quiet as he did so. Cautiously, you gripped his hand and looked at him. He smirked, twisting around you expertly as he kept a hold of you. Your body fell onto a dip before he yanked you upward and propelled you into the sky, making you shriek in laughter.

As you fell you expected to hit the snow beneath you, but instead your body defied gravity as you merely lowered gently into Sans' arms. He hugged you, catching you off guard as you almost tripped over your own two feet. "Kid, a lot of people need you at your best. Your past doesn't define you, so don't let it. Your name is (Y/N), and you don't dance. You don't perform either. You are a spectacle all in your own. Don't ever, and I mean ever, let yourself think otherwise."

A blush colored your entire face cherry and you wrapped your arms around him, hugging Sans as though your life depended on it. "Thank you." You said weakly, voice quivering.

He looked at you as he wiped a tear from your cheek. "Hey now, no more tears. You'll worry Paps."

You snickered, sniffling as you cleared the tears with your sleeve. "Not to mention Frisk."

"Come on. Let's head back. They'll get worried soo-"

As Sans spoke, a fun, quick Latino tune cut the air. He answered promptly and laughed. Muttering a few short words, he hung up the phone and laughed. "Speak of the devil. That was Paps. They want us home."

You smiled. "Yeah. That sounds about right. Speak of the Devil..."

"Shall we be off?" He asked, offering an arm.

You took it happily and nodded. You thought about what he said, and a light flickered in your chest. A new hope filled you with a new emotion you'd lost a long time ago. Grinning, you looked up at Sans and nodded. "Yeah! Let's go home."

(Y/N) is filled with determination.