Last time

Meanwhile Sans sleeps away, deep in sleep and unaware of everything around him.

And now

The next morning

Sans wakes up with a dull ache in his bones and feeling warm. Opening his eyes, Sans sees Red and the others hovering over him worriedly. "What happened, why are you all staring like that?" Sans sleepily slurred. "Well, you started having a fever this morning and it just broke now. Toriel is fixing some soup now that you've woken up and we were just worried." Undyne informs Sans, doing a hand wringing motion with her candlesticks.

Once they are sure he's ok now to be alone, they leave to prepare for the day. Sans makes his way to the dining room once he dresses in his usual clothes. In the process of getting dressed, Sans kept getting flashes of some kind of dream. Shrugging it off for later thought and reflection, Sans got dressed and headed out the bedroom door. Breakfast being the usual affair other than it being soup, Sans and Red go out onto the balcony to admire the grounds from up high.

The two of them sit on the ledge of the balcony. "Sans, are you happy here with me?" Red asks Sans nervously, clutching the other's smaller hands within his claws. "Y-yeah I am happy" Sans answers hesitantly, looking off in ton the distance at the forest. "What's wrong?" Red inquires, brushing his clawed hand gently across Sans' skull. "Well, I miss my brothers so much. If only I could see them again, even for a moment, just to see if they are okay" Sans replies, looking up at Red with desperation and love. Red looks back at Sans for a beat with a sad disappointment in his face, then excitement. "There is one. Please, follow me" Red jolts up, taking Sans' hand and running to his room where Rose is.

A jolt goes through Sans' soul when Red takes his hand, almost taking the breath from his non-existent lungs. Thankfully, Red doesn't notice and Sans files it away in his mind to investigate later. Once the two arrive in Red's room, they stop in front of the frowning rose, where a mirror is laying front down in front of it. Once Red lets go of Sans' hand, Sans' soul stops pulsing in the odd manor that it was before, magic settling into an odd tingling sensation in his bones. Nothing too bothersome, just like he was wearing itchy clothes.

The rose glances at them sadly then nods, somehow rotating to look the other way, outside the open window to the balcony. Picking up the mirror, Red hands the mirror to Sans, who takes it. Just the brushing of philanges to claws as the mirror is exchanged sends another jolt through Sans' magic and it takes all Sans' concentration not to gasp. "This mirror will show you anything, just wish to see it and the subject will appear in the mirror." Red explains shyly.

"Please show me my brothers, Papp and Paps" Sans asks hesitantly, knowing the two have never been apart a day in their life if they could help it. The mirror shines to life in magic and Sans has to cover his eye sockets as it fills the room with light. The light fades to reveal Papp and Paps in the woods. Paps is helping Papp stand from what appears to be a heavy wound that isn't fully healed. Both are coughing and stumbling from the snow and cold weather. Seeing this, Sans gasps at the sight and Red looks over at him in concern.

"Oh, no they're sick. They might die out there with Papp's wound and the both of them looking sick. And no one else is there helping them; they're gonna die like this." Sans panics, magic stuttering out in his eye sockets, leaving dark caverns in his skull. Red turns to the Rose, who looks back at Red as he stares deep in thought. "Then, you must go help them." Red decided with a heavy soul, sad at losing his chance to have love.

Looking up from the mirror at Red's words, Sans stares wide eyed at the declaration. "W-what did you say?" Sans asks the much larger being. Sighing sadly, Red turns to Sans. "I'm saying you are free. No longer my prisoner; I release you." Red tells the smaller skeleton. "Y-you mean I'm free?" Sans asks, eyes lights glittering in happy unshed tears. "Yes" Red manages through his sadness at letting his one true love go. Not that Red thought Sans truly loved him back though.

"Oh, thank you thank you!" Sans excitedly gushes, hugging Red, causing a much larger jolt to course through Sans' magic. Letting go because of the jolt, Sans looks down at the image shown in the mirror. "Hold on, bros. I'm on my way." Sans murmers into the mirror as he goes to hand the mirror back to Red, turning to leave. Red pushes the magic mirror back to Sans, who dutifully ignores the now-familiar jolt.

"Take it with you Sans. You'll always have to look back and remember me with." Red informs when Sans looks at him with confusion written on his skull. "Thank you Red. For understanding how much they need me" Sans tells Red before he leaves. Touching his hand to Red's cheek, he turns and blips out of the room. Red hunkers down next to the rose, whom looks down at him sadly, placing a hand-like leaf appendage to the glass.

Sans blips in front of Alph, who is standing at the front door. Alph looks around just as Sans rushes through the front door and away from the castle on Blastr. Shrugging her 'shoulders' as Alph didn't make out who that was, she makes her way to Red's room. "Well, your majesty. I must say congratulations for everything going swell. I knew you had it in you." She cheers, unknowing of the depressing atmosphere that permeated the room.

"I let him go" Red corrected Alph, looking increasingly more saddened by the second. "Ha ha ha, yes. Wond- - " Alph cuts herself off, finally catching on to what Red had just said. "You what?! How, why?" she asks, shocked. Red turns away from her to look out the window. "I had to" he simply says, falling silent. "B-but why?!" Alph all-but shouts the question, still not believing what her master had just done. "Because I love him, Alph" Red simply states, quietly shooing her out of the room with his gaze. Alph backs out of the room to inform the others.

Main hall

"He did what?!?!" The other's, except Alph, exclaim as she tells them what Red had told her in his room. "It's true I'm afraid" Alph informs them sadly. "But he was so close!" Undyne laments at lost chances. "After all this time, he finally learned how to love, the poor dear" Toriel coos sadly. "Then that should break the curse!" Undyne shouts, suddenly invigorated. "It's not enough, Undyne. Sans has to love the master back" Toriel corrects sadly. "It's too late now" Alph bemoans sadly. They all huddle together in mourning, knowing that there isn't much time left until the last petal falls.