Frisk sat in Grillby's, pondering long after Sans had left.

Save him. But don't change anything else.

Does that mean ... does that refer to all the other things Frisk did for their friends along the way? Like having Undyne meet Alphys, recommending Papyrus to Undyne and helping Ghost-Mettaton with their dream?

Ah. So that's why they kept messing up. The time wasn't right. There was a reason why these people haven't met or become friends with each other at this point in time. But they foolishly went along and "played God", determining what should or should not happen even if they had done it out of good intentions.

Even though they had the ability to reset, save and reload, they had abused it too many times. And they had no right to decide how things play out in a timeline.

Speaking of timelines, has Sans finally trusted them?

Recalling the conversation they just had, they realised that although they had confided and admitted to Sans their purposes for coming here, he never revealed whether he trusted them, although it was certainly implied. Come to think of it, he also never gave them his reasons for his actions towards them the last few runs. And Frisk never found out if he had lied about not believing in time travel or only just realised its existence.

Well, in any case, at least they have reached some sort of mutual understanding of each other now. Frisk felt a little lighter, knowing that.

Closing their eyes, they let go of all their mistakes and everything they've been through the last few runs. It's time to begin anew. And this time, they thought opening their eyes again, they won't mess up.

Suddenly they felt a tap on their shoulder. It was Grillby, indicating that it was 1 in the morning.

Thanking him, they got up and left Snowdin with newfound determination.

Heh. That certainly confirms things. The human child was indeed a time travel. And it took at least two ... uhh time travelling incidents and a death for him to realise it.

Now, knowing their intentions, Sans was feeling guiltier than ever for being so harsh towards them. Although he couldn't remember what happened, he can recall emotions. Feelings of suspicion, doubt, anger, animosity. Although, these feelings were gradually ebbing away into a hesitant trust, the rage he felt when Papyrus got hurt led him to kill them without a trial.

Poor kid. He sighed in his bed. He almost crushed them. He could feel it.

It seemed like talking to them had made them feel better though. Although they were still whispering when he left, at least they got a little more audible. That was something, right?

However, the knot of uneasiness continued to remain in his stomach. Still, he could have done more than talk to them. Perhaps he should tell them his reasons for being so cold previously. He kinda felt like he owed them an explanation.

And if he was lucky, maybe the kid could forgive him too.

Meanwhile, Frisk had just met Napstablook and Ghost-Mettaton, although they were a bit late at arriving in Waterfall. Before that, they had gotten them Christmas gifts from Gerson's shop (after helping him clean up the place). A new CD with spooky tunes for Napstablook, and a working microphone for Ghost-Mettaton. The pair were delighted to receive the presents and like the two previous runs, warmed up to Frisk quickly. Although they were still worried about doing something wrong, they told themself to relax and enjoy themself.

And gradually, as they helped out on the snail farm together, they did.

"Wow ..." Napstablook spoke up as they finished off. "You're really good at farming snails ..."

Frisk glowed warmly and it wasn't from toiling on the farm.

Ghost-Mettaton laughed as they entered Blooky's house. "Aww ... Blooky's just happy to have so much company today!"

As they lay on the floor watching the cosmos, Frisk was genuinely happy to have met the both of them.

"Hey, Mettaton?" Frisk started softly. They were starting to get their voice back again.

"Yes, darling?"

"I think you, Blooky and Shyren will make a great band," Frisk giggled.

Napstablook turned to Ghost-Mettaton. "Can I really perform with you?"

"Why, of course my dear! We're going to be amazing in the future!"

Then, Frisk stood up, asking Napstablook for a favour. "Could you please help me deliver this to my friend, Papyrus? He lives in a house on the edge of Snowdin."

Blooky received the wrapped gift which was the lock-picking set that Frisk also bought from Gerson. "Y, yeah ... Anything for a ..."

"Friend?" Frisk finished, then nodded to assure him that they were in fact, friends.

They thought that the smile that Blooky gave after hearing that was the most beautiful thing they had ever seen.

Frisk left the house feeling the most happy they've felt in a while. They were doing just fine! They told themself. They hadn't mentioned Alphys and let things take its course. They were definitely on the right track.

They bid goodbye to Napstablook who had followed them out after trying to give him a hug. Then, they waited for Undyne.

When they heard her approaching, they headed towards the sound. They waved as soon as they were within sight.

Undyne stopped in her tracks and removed her helmet. "How can I help ..."

Frisk started to get nervous but they told themself to calm down. "Please, I accidentally fell into the Underground ..."

Undyne looked a little annoyed. This human child was so soft. It took a while to make out what they were saying. Good thing she can lip read. Undyne let out a long sigh. "I suppose you want to get home. You're lucky, punk. If the Royal Family hadn't adopted a human child before you came, I would have killed you on the spot right now."

Frisk twiddled their thumbs. "A, actually ... I need your help with something first ..."

Undyne narrowed her eyes. "What is it?"

They reach over their shoulder for their haversack and opened it as the soldier took a step back. This kid wasn't going to pull out something to attack her right? Yellow eyes followed the child's hands as they pull out a ...

"- diary," said Frisk stretching out their arms to show Undyne the green diary. "This is my diary ... I lost the key and was wondering if you could ... uhh, help me break the lock?"

Undyne narrowed her eyes. Well, it didn't look like an explosive. Again, a long sigh escaped her lips. She supposed, it couldn't hurt. After all, it'll only take her about five seconds.

"Put the thing on the ground and stand back, kid."

Frisk did as they were told and watched as she summoned a long blue spear. Undyne took aim, and with a confident smile, hurled the spear right at the centre of the lock. As it shattered, the diary flew into the air from the impact and landed back down at Frisk's feet.

They pick it up excitedly. "Wow! Thanks so much, Undyne!"

The gratitude was so pure it took her aback. Then, wiping her brow, she smirked at the human. "Heh. Well, get your ass home soon, punk."

And then, Undyne put on her helmet and marched off.

Frisk hurried to a quiet part of Waterfall near the Wishing Room. It was where they had found an abandoned quiche under a bench the last time they had been here. Only now, there was no quiche to be seen. The queer mixed feeling of excitement and uneasiness Frisk was feeling was compounded by the eerie atmosphere. Waterfall always had a serene, mysterious presence to it but today, it took on a more unearthly feel.

They sit on the bench, took out the diary and flipped to the first page with bated breath.

The taunting got worse and I got myself labelled some new names. Whatever. I got them sick bastards back by throwing some new punches. Of course, the teachers just happened to catch me in the act. They said they were worried. Well, I don't need their fake concern. Anyway, I strangely miss Mum but at the same time, I don't. She has never acknowledged my existence but sometimes I think she gives me a pitying stare as Dad hurls things at us. I feel like perhaps we may have somehow bonded mentally through the pain.

Haha. But who am I kidding? I'm still the illegitimate child that forced Mum and Dad to marry.

Frisk was shocked at the entry. Chara ... Chara was born to a family like that? They turn to the next few pages with a quivering hand. The scribbling looks more untidy, with ink spots all over the yellow pages. It looks as if it was written hastily, furiously.

My drunk father brought home another woman so now I'm forced to spend the night in the friggin woods. I absolutely loathe it when he does that! I can never sleep at night. I'm skipping school tomorrow. Hell if anyone cares! I doubt they'll even notice.

Update: HAH! I friggin knew it! I came home to steal some money for food today and Dad was so drunk, he barely even recognised me. Humans are truly disgusting.

Then, on the side, was a scrawled phrase. They should all die.

They bit their trembling lip. They were feeling so pained for Chara. But in spite of their strong desire to close the book right there and then, Frisk willed themself to turn to the next page, and the next. Then, they come across one that stood out. It was a relatively short entry.

I'm leaving this wretched place for good. If I were God, these people would be burning in hell.

They flip to the next page. What does that mean?

It's been a while ... I'm living with monsters now. I accidentally found the entrance to the Underground and now their Royal Family has taken me in as their second child ... I was surprised nobody killed me on the spot when they found me. Their firstborn son was the one who heard me fall. He's starry-eyed and simple. His father the King, is a pushover and his Mum is too-trusting. They're all naive. But I can use this to my advantage.

Frisk sucked in their breath as they turn to the last entry Chara wrote, though the diary still had a couple more empty pages to go.

I've got it. I've got a sketchy outline of a plan to destroy humanity. During my stay here, I've learnt that when a monster absorbs a human soul, they become unstoppable, their powers unparalleled. I just have to figure out a way to take my life ... But putting that aside for now, I've just found out we're moving. All the monsters want to move deeper into the Underground. Toriel and Asgore are going to have us live in a new castle. So, I'll leave you here too. I probably won't be writing anymore for long anyway. I'll be busy with my plan. It sounds like genocide, but it really isn't. I'm going to become God, and enact my own justice on those cursed beings. Humanity will fall.

Frisk cried quietly as they closed the book. The emotions from this book felt were so raw, so undisguised. Chara must have been hurting for a long time. So this was why they had become so filled with hatred. How is Frisk going to change that though? There was no way they could undo the years of suffering Chara went through. So how are they even going to come up with a plan that will persuade them to change their mind when it's already been made up for years? Feeling depressed, they put the diary back into the haversack and noticed that there was an unopened present in it.

They pull it out. It was a red box with a silver ribbon around it. Of course, Papyrus's gift. Although Frisk already knew what was inside, they undid the ribbon and opened the present anyway.

The book full of Junior Jumble puzzles stared at them silently. Frisk flipped through the book, remembering Papyrus and Sans arguing over which was the harder puzzle: Junior Jumble or Crossword.

Smiling a little now, Frisk mentally solved one of the first few puzzles of the book. They hoped Papyrus was proud.

Then, it struck them. Just like this puzzle, they should resolve conflicts head on.

Yes, it's always good to have a plan. But Chara, at the end, was just a hurt and bitter child who never saw the good in people.

They don't need a gimmick or some fancy idea to "take them down". They just needed to talk to them, and love them. Just like how Papyrus solves his puzzles. Just like what Toriel had taught them to do at the Ruins. Hasn't it always been that way?

Frisk put the puzzle book back into the haversack. They can do this. They just have to do what Papyrus does. Believe in themself. And belief in Chara too. Surely, even the worst person can change. Everyone is capable of love and kindness.

What if they lose though? What if they fail? Frisk shakes their head. No, they thought. They can't lose motivation just because of their fears. They don't care how many times it takes. They will save Asriel and Chara.

And if they win? Frisk frowned. Was it possible to jump timelines? If so, they can save other timelines too! They'll do it. For everyone's freedom, for everyone's happiness. Frisk is determined.

Seeing the whole situation in a completely different light, they stood up and headed straight for New Home. They weren't going to let anything or anyone stop them now!

"Sans?" Frisk stopped right outside a brick building where MTT resort stood the last time they came here. At this point in time however, it just looked like any old regular hotel ... with an additional skeleton leaning nonchalantly against the brick wall.

He grinned. "Heading to Asgore's? Why don't you grab some dinner with me before ya leave?"

It seemed like Sans really loves having life-changing, profound conversations over food. But Frisk wasn't going to question it. They were just glad he wasn't out to kill them or threatening their lives this time round. So they quietly settled down in the same restaurant that Sans had Frisk dine in while telling them about their promise to Toriel.

"I've never been here before but a friend of mine said the food's pretty good," Sans said, ordering steak for both himself and Frisk.

When it came, he lifted his glass. "Bone appetit."

Frisk who had been silent all this while, finally cracked and though they tried to hold back, the struggle to do so made it even funnier and the two of them started laughing.

Sans grinned wider. "Looks like I finally made ya laugh, kid. I'm glad."

They smile at him, finally feeling somewhat more relaxed around him even though it was still a little awkward.

Once again, there was that moment of silence where the both of them had their eyes anywhere else but on each other.

Finally, Sans cleared his throat. "Heya kid. Can I tell you a story?"

Frisk nodded, gesturing for him to go on.

"So. A long time ago. I met a scientist from the future, who managed to create a wormhole to the past. It caused quite the commotion in our small team of scientists back then, let me tell you. Though, to be honest, he was a weird guy and not many can get along with him. But he gained my trust and we became good friends.

"It was kinda awesome, ya know? We, the scientists of my time, learnt a lot, travelling back and forth. The war between humans and monsters, the progress of technology, and all that jazz. However, my friend as it turns out, was workin' on something else back then and needed me and my brother's help.

"So I agreed, because I trusted my good friend. Though, I did make him experiment on me first. It turned out to be a partial success. I didn't manage to see timelines then but I can now, probably because of the rifts you caused in the space-time continuum.

"But that's beside the point. My friend quickly fell into depression before he could experiment on Paps. This was after he had a nightmare. He probably saw a bleak future because he suddenly became obsessed with it. Wanting to cheer him up, I helped him with it. Or at least, I thought I did ...

"My friend ... he died. I lost all signals of him. The machine crashed and wouldn't revive. He had shattered across time and space and it was my fault. Now Papyrus and I were stuck in present time-Snowdin with no way back.

"Afterwards, with my enhanced magic, I erased my brother's memories. It was less painful that way. From then on, I never messed with Time again. I don't want to lose nobody anymore. All I want, is for those I cared about to be happy ..."

Frisk had nothing to say. It all made sense now. That's why Sans had been so guarded ... he didn't want anyone finding out about his history. He had only wanted to protect Papyrus and himself. It was only natural for him to be suspicious of Frisk who had arrived here unannounced, but somehow knowing mostly everything about them.

They reach out and touched their hand to Sans's which was placed across the table.

He gave a small jump, shocked at the act. But he didn't pull away.

"Heh," he said, his grin a little sad. "I'm sorry for takin' so long to warm up to ya, kid."

Then, Frisk wordlessly lifted their plate and smashed it on Sans's face. When they took the plate away, they watch as the steak slid down his face to his lap. Sans froze, shock and confusion written all over his face.

"You need some meat on your bones." Frisk said with the straightest expression.

Sans remained silent. His expression unchanged. They bit their lip. Did they go too far?

Then, just as Frisk was about to panic, he started laughing, and he couldn't stop. They giggle too and soon, uncontrollable laughter filled the restaurant.

"Oh," he groaned, clutching his stomach. "Good one, kid."

They pass him a napkin and gave a mini bow. "Thank you."

"So uhh," Sans wheezed after the laughing had finally died down. There was a spark in his eyes.

"You were talking about kicking Chara's ass?"

The two of them ran to New Home. They both had no way of knowing if Chara's plan had already been executed or not so they decided that their best course of action was to get there as soon as possible.

Upon reaching the castle, they saw in the front garden which still looked so much like Home, a monster child with soft white fur picking flowers in the grass. He was wearing a green sweater and a heart-shaped locket around his neck. As he carefully picked his flowers, he hummed a soft, melodic tune. Frisk gasped.

His ear twitched and he looked up quickly. A gust of wind blew, carrying along flower petals and a sense of tranquility.

"I ..." Frisk took a step closer.

The other child tilted his head to one side. "Hmm ...? Who are you?"

"I'm Frisk ..." they say a little breathlessly.

"Oh! Hi! I'm Asriel!" he replied cheerfully, coming over. "And ... who's that?" Asriel pointed to Sans who was standing further back.

Sans waved casually, almost lazily even. "I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton."

Asriel looked excited. "Oh! You look like ... you kind of remind me of Dr. Ga -"

"Asriel?" Another voice sounded. It sounded like a chime.

Everyone looked to the child that had just emerged from behind the door. It was a human child who looked about Frisk's age. If one didn't know better, they might even have mistook the both of them for twins. Like Asriel, they were also wearing a lime green sweater and had the same heart-shaped locket around their neck. The child tucked a strand of hair behind their ear as they came forward.

"I heard you talking outside ... " they said, staring inquisitively at Frisk and Sans. "Who are these people?"

Asriel squeaked. "Oh, Chara! I just met them! This is Sans," he pointed at the skeleton. "And this is Frisk!"

Chara's ruby eyes narrowed. "They're human."

Asriel clutched the flowers to his chest. "They are? Come to think of it ... they kinda look like -"

"What are you doing here?" Chara hissed.

Frisk held their hands to their chest nervously. "Chara ... I -" Then they shook their head. They had to be brave and steady their voice. "I want to talk to you."

"How did you find me?"

"That's not important," Frisk answered. "I just want to tell you I know what you're plotting. And I want you to stop it."

Chara crossed their arms. "Stop what?"

"Your planned genocide."

A hush fell over the garden and suddenly, it wasn't so tranquil anymore. Asriel grew more and more nervous visibly. He ran over and tugged at Chara's sleeves. "H, hey, Chara, what's happening?"

"Shut up, Asriel!" Chara barked, shrugging the other child off. They took a step forward, smirking. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Frisk opened their haversack and held up the green diary before throwing it gently at Chara's feet.

Rage crossed their face. "You stole that!"

"Look, it doesn't matter -"

"It matters!" Chara shrieked suddenly. "You are naive! Just like all the monsters here! You think that by stealing and reading this you can stop me?"

Frisk clenched their fists. "Chara, not every human is bad!"

"You've not seen the cruelties of this world yet, dear," Chara twirled a lock of their hair. "But soon, you will."

"No ... I refuse to believe -"

"Let me tell you a little something, Frisk." They draw out the pronunciation of the name in a distasteful tone.

"When I was 5, I said the same thing to Dad. I said 'Daddy, I refuse to believe you are a bad person' during a fight between my parents. And then, before I knew what was happening, I was tied up and thrown into the pond to drown. Heh. I wish I did ..."

A moment of realisation dawned on Frisk. So it was Chara's voice! They had heard their voice from the future after waking up from a reset. Was it because of those rifts in the space-time continuum that Sans was talking about?

But they had to put that aside for now. Frisk needed to focus on persuading Chara to change their mind.

"This isn't the way to resolve things," they said more quietly but firmly. "Playing God will result in dire consequences."

Chara turned scarlet with anger. "Why, you conniving little sneak. I always knew humans just can't keep their nose out of others' businesses ..." Then, they pull out a glinting blade from the back of their pocket. "I guess I'll just have to cut it off then."

Bones shot up from the ground, inches away from Chara themself, forming some sort of bar. They stumbled back but catch themself as Frisk cried out to Sans to not hurt them. Glaring, Chara demanded, "What did you do?"

"Step back, kid." Sans spoke up, his left hand outstretched. "Brats don't get to play."

A soft snicker escaped Chara's lips. One second later, they had their arm wrapped tightly around Asriel and a knife to their throat. Asriel whimpered as tears welled up his eyes.

"Well this, is how I like to play."

A/N: Hey! So my internet was experiencing some problems the past few days and I apologise for not being able to update as quickly as I could have. This story is coming to a close soon. It'll probably take one more chapter. I'll try my best to finish it off well although I can't promise a traditionally happy ending ...