Sans's Dream
I stood in the snow, outside the door. The icy wind blew, freezing my bones and shaking the trees slightly. I shivered, pulling my jacket closer to me.

I didn't know what to do. I simply stood there, watching the trees sway.

Then the voice from my other dream started up again. But this time, her voice seemed much more familiar...

"Hiya, tree. Hiya, snow. Hiya, wind."
"Hello?" I called out. She ignored me. "Hiya, sign. Hiya, Christmas tree. Hiya, door." She sighed, and began singing to herself. "What's the difference between sad and lonely? In one, you feel like you're all alone. In the other, you actually are."

Attempting to mimic my earlier dream, I Checked my soul. The health, unlike the first time, was a full 90/90. The stats were both zero. The name was still glitching between mine and...Y/N.

Realization struck me. That's why her voice and name sounded so familiar when I met her! She was in my dream! Or, at least, the universe connected us through the dreamscape.

I had a million questions, for either her or the universe. Unfortunately, I felt something tugging me, beckoning back to reality. I reluctantly let it, being dragged to the real world once again.  One thought still rang in my head as I woke up. Why?

Y/N's Dream
I was standing in front of the door to the Ruins. The bitter cold breeze stung my skin where it was exposed, and I hugged myself tight to conserve body heat. I did nothing for a while, just looking around.

After a minute, I couldn't stand standing around with nothing to do. I started saying hello to all the things I could see. "Hiya, tree. Hiya, snow. Hiya, wind." I thought I heard a vague noise but I ignored it. "Hiya, sign. Hiya, Christmas tree." I couldn't see the entrance to Snowdin, but I knew they existed. "Hiya, door."

I sighed. I was bored out of my mind, and very lonely. Then I got an idea. Taking inspiration from around me, I sang slowly and sorrowfully, "What's the difference between sad and lonely? In one, you feel like you're all alone. In the other, you actually are."

I sat down in the snow, burying my face in my arms and starting to silently cry. I was rather good at that. Even though my face was in my arms, I could still feel the frigid wind freezing the tears to my face.

I hated being alone. I hated it with a passion. The silence was unbearable. Even when I talked or sang to myself, it didn't give me comfort. Or, if it did, it went away as soon as I stopped.

Even though I hated it, I let myself wallow in it back home. Even though I hated it, I forced myself to be alone and apart from everyone else. I don't remember why now.

Suddenly, I felt a shadow sitting next to me. I looked towards it.

It was a young girl, maybe nine. She had short mahogany hair. Her eyes were like rubies. She wore a green sweater with two yellow stripes at the bottom, brownish shorts, and black sneakers. Her smile was bright and kind.

"Hello, Y/N. I'm Chara."

I was unsure of what to do. So I just answered, "Hiya, Chara. What are you doing here, in my dream?"

"Well, first of all, you should know that I mean no harm to you, Frisk, or any monster here in the Underground. Frisk saved my life back in the pacifist run. I owe them my soul, which they restored to what it once was. They also revived Asriel's soul. However, we are still not free. Their soul is strong, but not strong enough to break the barrier. Yours likely is."

I tilted my head. "My...soul...can break the barrier? What's so special about my soul? What makes it so different?"

Chara nodded towards my chest. "Take a look."
"How?" I questioned. She sighed, and said, "Put out your dominate arm and say, 'Check.' That will bring up your stats, including your soul."

I did as she told me. Putting up my left arm, I said to the air, "Check."

A black rectangle with white text and a heart appeared. I looked at the stats first. My 'LV' and 'EXP' were at zero, and my 'HP'—health, I guessed—was a full 90/90. Chara noticed this, and her eyes widened. "Your health...why is it so high? Most humans have 20 health. You surpass them by miles."

I could guess why, but I kept my mouth shut and shrugged.

Chara's attention turned to the heart, and her jaw went slack. "Whoa..."

I finally took notice of my soul. It was upside down. Around the edge and a bit inward was rainbow, while the center glowed white. The whole thing was made of crystal.

"I've never seen a soul like that before," Chara murmured in awe. "You must be really, really special. Could you be..." She trailed off, watching me with a look of wonder on her face.

"Could I be what?" I asked. She looked at me, and whispered, "The one to break the barrier."

I looked down at the snow, and realized that snowflakes had started to fall onto the winter wonderland. My empathy and moral honesty filled me with INTEGRITY. "I don't know," I answered honestly, still staring at the snow. "But...I'd...I'd like to try."

Chara grinned, not too dissimilar to Sans's signature one, and clapped her hands. "Great! I'm glad you want to help. If you ever need help, guidance, or just a friend, I'll be here for you."

"One last question, before I leave," I said. "Do you have a body or are you like a spirit?"

Chara looked at me strangely. "I am a physical being. I can interact with objects and people, and people can see me. On occasion, I can interact through the dreamscape, as Dream lets me have access sometimes. It's a perk of being his (friend/girlfriend)."

I nodded. "Okay, just curious. I'm ready to go home."

Chara nodded back. She closed her eyes, closed her hand into a fist, then opened it. A bright light shone from there. She touched her hand to my forehead, and I awoke from my dream.

Y/N's POV
I bolted up in bed, glancing instinctually towards the nightstand. I read the digital clock there—7 AM. Hm, not too bad. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching and yawning. I walked down the stairs, rubbing my eyes.

I smelled spaghetti. I shuffled into the kitchen, and saw Papyrus making the dish. He was just about to dump glitter into the batch before I distracted him. "Hiya, Pappy." His head immediately swung in my direction, and he put the glitter down, which was my objective all along. "OH, GREAT! THE HU—I MEAN, Y/N HAS AWOKEN! I AM VERY GLAD YOU DO NOT HAVE THE SAME SLEEPING PATTERNS AS MY LAZY BROTHER SANS. HE BARELY SLEEPS AT NIGHT AND TAKES FREQUENT NAPS DURING THE DAY TO MAKE UP FOR IT. IT'S A VERY BAD SYSTEM. ANYWAY, WOULD YOU LIKE SOME OF MY FAMOUS SPAGHETTI?" Papyrus gestured to the pot. The sauce was half red and half black. The spaghetti seemed charred. However, I was DETERMINED to eat at least a bite.

I nodded, sitting myself down at the table. He scooped a ladleful of both sauce and noodles and heaped it onto my plate, setting it down in front of me.

I first poked at it with my fork, before swallowing a bite. It tasted awful, but I knew it was edible and that it wouldn't kill me. I had the PERSEVERANCE and DETERMINATION to eat it all.

I cleaned my plate, and Papyrus's eye sockets grew to the size of saucers. "ZOWIE! YOU ATE IT ALL! MOST PEOPLE, EXCEPT FOR UNDYNE, TAKE ONLY ONE BITE OR EAT IT BY THE TRASH CAN."

I felt sorry for him, but I gave him a smile. "Well, I'm glad I could be a first."

Thinking of dinner made me think of dessert. From that, I got an idea. "Say, Paps, would you like to learn how to make a dessert?"

He cocked his head at me. "WHAT IS A DESSERT, Y/N?"

"It's something sweet, usually made with sugar, that you eat after dinner. I'll teach you how to make one if we can go get the ingredients."

He agreed, and we went to the shop together. I got all the ingredients I needed, then headed back to the house. I set out everything at the counter, then said, "Okay then, everything's ready. So, Paps, today I will teach you how to make brownies. First, we must get two bowls..."

Thus began the teaching process. I was delighted that Papyrus was eager to learn. Sometimes he messed up, but it only filled me with PATIENCE.

After we carefully made brownies together, I cut a piece for both of us and we tasted it. I thought they were delicious. Apparently, Paps thought so too, because a big grin was spread across his face. "WOWIE, Y/N! THAT HAS TO BE THE GREATEST THING THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS EVER MADE AND EATEN! I WILL MAKE SURE TO HAVE SOME MORE LATER, AFTER DINNER. THANK YOU FOR TEACHING ME. I WILL MAKE THIS ANOTHER TIME." I smiled back. "I'm glad I made you happy, Papyrus. We will have to make sure Sans tries some too, right?"

"RIGHT."

Right on cue, Sans decided to make an appearance. He shuffled in the kitchen, rubbing his eye sockets tiredly. "Morning, Paps. Hi, Y/N. What's that?" He was looking at the brownies curiously. I gestured to them grandly. "Help yourself. They're good."

Sans cut himself one and had a bite. He shrugged. "They're okay."

I glared daggers at him. "You better be joking, because if not..."

He laughed, and said, "I'm kidding. They're amazing. Good job."

"Thanks."