It Filled Him With Determination

Silence.

A silence only permeated by the occasional faint whistle of a breeze finding its way through the small hole in the cavern ceiling above. That was the only sound that had broken the quiet found within the now-empty Underground after the barrier had been broken. The monsters that had been imprisoned for countless years had been freed. They had all escaped, left for the sunlit surface world that they had for an eternity yearned to see again.

All except for one.

Amidst a small bed of golden flowers, illuminated by the faint sunlight trickling in from that opening above, was one special flower, one that could move and talk, but did not seem to be doing so at the moment. The flower's stem hung somewhat limp, his head tilted slightly towards the ground, and his eyes staring at the buttercup blossoms that surrounded him. A solemn expression was frozen on his face, the plant having remained quiet ever since the last being had abandoned the Underground.

Within his mind, the events that had transpired since his rebirth into his current form played out again and again. He still remembered everything that took place in every timeline he had created. He remembered every useless attempt to care for the people he had once loved so much. He remembered every act of experimentation he had taken with those people as he grew bored and empty, taking it further and further, crueler and crueler. He remembered every book he read. He remembered every book he burned. He remembered every life he saved. He remembered every life he took.

He remembered everything. And not once did he feel guilt for any of it.

At least... not until that child appeared.

He had never looked back on his previous actions and choices with any remorse, not until that human child entered the Underground, plummeting from the very hole that allowed light and air into the room the flower now occupied. After all the events that had transpired since that moment... following the child's adventures through the Underground, observing him making friends with every monster he came across, sparing their lives despite their initial intentions to end his own, bestowing mercy wherever he went... even unto a being such as himself, a true monster in every sense of the word... the flower now had the capacity for regret.

And so the sentient plant stood motionless and limp, having condemned himself to a life of solitude and exile away from the people he had once held dear and yet had pained over and over, from the person he had seen so much good in and never wanted to let go, in order to save them all from himself. His capacity for compassion had once again faded away, but the memories and regret remained, and he imagined he would continue to revisit and contemplate those memories in silence for the rest of his unnatural, lonely life...

But then, abruptly, something unexpected occurred. Out of the darkness, far down the corridor leading out of the room, a noise that had been unfamiliar to the usually tranquil Ruins for some time emanated forth. The flower perked slightly, his first movement in what seemed like ages, as the sound reverberated gently off the walls. It repeated itself again, and again, slowly, getting louder with each successive resound, until finally, it ceased. The flower remained motionless once again, listening intently, feeling a presence behind him that was both familiar and unwelcome. The room returned to silence, only the faint wind above breaking it every few moments. Finally, the corners of the flower's mouth curled upward slightly, before he broke the stillness of the cavern's quiet.

"Why are you back?"

There was no response. This didn't surprise the plant.

"I'm pretty sure I told you not to come back. To let go. So why are you here?"

Again, no response. The flower's lips curled upward more as he let out a small scoffing snicker.

"What, you have some sort of perverse sense of sentimentality? Think you're gonna get more of that sob stuff?"

The flower shivered slightly, grinning as he continued to avert his eyes from the being that had invaded his self-imposed prison.

"I told you to leave and not come back. To not remember me as this. And yet here you are, back where it all started... You really know how to keep promises, don't you?"

The plant gave a more defined snicker, his stem and form straightening but his gaze still fixated ahead of him.

"Is it pity? Did you want to come cry some more with Asriel? Tell him everything will be okay, that you're here now and that you'll keep this poor, pathetic creature he's turned into company in the dark??"

He shook his head from side to side, his laughs becoming louder and more prolonged, his teeth shining through his wide smile.

"What a joke! Even after all that happened, you've thrown it all away to come back here, hoping for that pathetic little monster child to give you another hug! You really ARE a braindead IDIOT!! HAHAHAHA!!"

The cavern echoed with the volume and ferocity of the flower's raucous laughter, the little plant becoming overwhelmed with the audacity of the being's actions and presence. After a few moments, the flower's cackling began to die down, his breaths becoming somewhat strained, it having been the first excessive use of his voice in some time. He was visibly shaking at this point, a tear having formed in the corner of his eye, but the same wide smile adorned on his face.

"Hahaha... so what? Not going to say anything? Not going to admit I'm right? Don't even have some lame excuse to feed me? 'No it's not like that at all!' "

At last his stem began to swivel, his head finally turning to face the intruder.

"Let me guess, you've just come to help me tend to the flow..."

Flowey's voice trailed off as he now looked upon the human child, Frisk, standing silently and stoically as always before him upon the grass. The flower's smile began to fade as he took in the details of the human he was certain he would never see again. That same stupid haircut, that same striped shirt, and those same eyes staring at him, with eyebrows slightly furrowed in an expression of sadness. The plant's gaze soon trailed downward and focused upon the child's hands held out towards him. Within Frisk's grasp was held two things: a brown paper bag, and a cell phone. Flowey's smirk had all but disappeared at this point as his own brow furrowed out of confusion.

"And what are those supposed to be?"

Frisk took a few steps closer, entering and wading through the bed of buttercups, the plant shirking back instinctively as the child approached and held out the hand containing the phone. Flowey suspiciously stared up at Frisk's face as the child stopped and stood over him, shadow cast upon his yellow face and petals. After a brief stare-down, the admittedly-nervous flower's eyes slowly looked back down to the phone held out to him, and was surprised to see upon its large glossy screen... a photo.

"Wh... What is this?"

Flowey's face stiffened as he fully took in the picture presented to him, one of many familiar sights: a group photograph of all the beings he had come to know and torture for so many cycles of Saving and Loading, all standing together in rows. His eyes darted slightly from face to face, from the two annoying skeleton brothers to the loud and abrasive fish woman (face frozen in one of her typical boisterous laughs), from the feeble and weak lizard that had revived him long ago to the ridiculous robot that she had crafted, and to all of the other many former inhabitants of the Underground, all of their faces painted with happiness and relief. Finally the flower's focus found its way to the center of the picture. The child that stood before him now was positioned there, standing between two large, white-furred monsters that were adorned in light blue and purple robes, their hands resting upon the child's shoulders.

Flowey stared at this picture, his mind trying to process it completely and just what the human was trying to do, before suddenly the photograph vanished and was replaced as Frisk's finger flicked across the screen. The new picture presented had the skeletons standing in front of what looked like vehicles, a bright red car and a scooter, the metal sheen shining from the sunlight of the surface world. Flowey's brows furrowed further, but before he could react, another picture replaced the previous with the swipe of a finger.

A photo was now displayed of a sandy beach under a clear sky, the fish and lizard shown prominently next to each other in the foreground, arms wrapped around each other, and with what looked like dogs throwing flying discs at each other in the background. Then another photo appeared, one of the robot built by the lizard, having been repaired and now posing dramatically on a stage in front of a crowd of clapping humans and monsters. Then another photo, a large, trimmed topiary, apparently cut into a certain recognizable shape, with the large white-furred king standing beside it with a thumb's-up (and, upon closer inspection, a familiar skeleton hugging the hedge). And then another photo, this time of a large building adorned with a sign proclaiming the place to be a school, with that familiar motherly being standing in front, glowing with pride.

The flower had become more and more perplexed with each new photo presented to him, unable to piece together why he was being subjected to them and what the human child's motivation was. However, eventually, a grin began to cross Flowey's lips once again. His eyes shut and a snicker began to escape through his teeth.

"I get it now... You're trying to torture me, aren't you?"

The flower shook its head, petals fluttering slightly with the motion, his chuckle slowly elevating in volume as he continued.

"You're showing me how much fun all your new friends and family are having up above in order to try and make me feel bad! How wonderful it is and what I'm missing, what I'll never get to experience!"

The cavern once again trembled as the echoes of Flowey's laughter resounded off the walls.

"Oh that is sick! That is really sick! I KNEW you had it in you! I knew you were capable of being a sadistic monster like I am if you just put your mind to it! Hahahahaha!!"

The little plant's cackling ebbed after a few more moments, straining slightly as he struggled to catch his breath, until the ruins once again returned to silence. There was no verbal response from the human standing before the flower, but this was still as expected as he kept his broad grin plastered on his face, his eyes still shut.

"Boy... honestly, though, I'm really surprised! After all that happened, after that whole big sappy ending, I really believed you were as big a wimp as you made yourself out to be! But here you are, coming down here just to rub all that in my face!"

Flowey let out a sigh as his breathing regained its normal pattern, his posture relaxing and his head swaying.

"Still quiet, though, huh? Can't bring yourself to admit it?-"

The flower's eyelids opened up as he spoke and the corners of his mouth drooped ever so slightly. Frisk was still holding the phone out in Flowey's face, but a final new photograph had been revealed on its screen. It was a simple picture, a field of familiar golden flowers, their petals glistening with dew under the morning sun. Within the center of the field was grouped together three individuals, one human standing between two white monsters. The larger monster was on one knee to the right of the human, a hand raised in the air in a waving motion. To the human's left knelt the smaller monster, one arm wrapped around the human's waist. They wore smiles, but their expressions looked... pained. Eyebrows furrowed, eyes shimmering slightly almost with tears. And in front of all three, held aloft by the two monsters' free hands, was a simple paper banner, with six words painted messily upon it.

"We Love You"

and

"We Miss You"

Flowey's face softened slowly as he took in the picture, staring deeply at it, fixated upon it. He began to tremble as his smile completely vanished, the outer corners of his lips and brows lowering further and further. The room sat in silence as he fully absorbed the captured moment held in front of his face. Finally, the flower's lips quivered gently as he broke the quiet once more.

"You... really are a sicko. You know that, r-right...?"

Flowey's eyes continued to be focused upon the phone's picture, a new smirk building, but one of disbelief rather than amusement.

"...Why would you do this..."

The bottom halves of his eyelids crept slowly upward.

"Why would you really do this? You... You AREN'T like that... I KNOW you aren't... s-so why..."

And then, at last, the flower's gaze left the screen of the phone and returned to the human child's face. A deep, heavy sadness painted the child's face, mouth frozen in a frown and eyebrows sunken with defined wrinkles. A very faint and quiet drip was heard as a tear had run its course down Frisk's cheek, landing on the petal of a buttercup between the two. Flowey's smirk vanished for a final time as he began to understand what was going on.

"... I... I already told you, Frisk... I don't have a SOUL anymore. I can't... I can't feel compassion for anything again. It wouldn't be..."

The flower turned his head and gaze away, staring down instead at the flowers around him, unable to bear facing the child.

"I... have to stay here. I can't let them see me like this. I can't... hurt them again. I hurt them so many times, Frisk. And I'll hurt them again. I don't want to take away their happiness."

Frisk's hand containing the phone slowly lowered to the child's side as the flower continued.

"So... please. Please leave and never come back this time, okay? Just remember how I was for that brief moment, and forget about this awful creature that-"

The flower stopped abruptly, interrupted as something unexpected occurred. His stem stiffened tight as he felt arms wrap around him, as well as a wetness as Frisk's cheek met his own. Flowey remained frozen as the child, on his knees, gripped him close as he could manage, holding him there tight in place. Flowey tried to resist, tried to force himself to move away, but found that he could not no matter how he tried, until finally the flower gave in and ever so slightly leaned into the human's shoulder.

They stayed there for what seemed like an eternity, the cavern having returned to the silence that usually pervaded it. It was a familiar situation, a familiar feeling, a feeling of deep sadness and regret. A feeling of not wanting to be let go.

After a few long moments, the human child finally began to loosen the grip on the flower, steadily leaning backward until the two were once again apart. Flowey stared at Frisk, the look of pain on the human's face having softened slightly, but not having vanished. They sat in quiet, looking at each other, studying each other's expressions and body language, enough to imply an entire conversation on its own, before Flowey spoke up once more.

"Frisk... I... this doesn't change anything... I still can't go back..."

Frisk's head and shoulders tilted to the side slightly, drooping in obvious disappointment and depression.

"...But..."

The human's head perked slightly.

"...I wouldn't mind if you... wanted to keep coming down here... a-after all..."

Frisk's eyebrows raised and his mouth actually managed to soften a bit from its permanent grimace.

"But don't say I didn't warn you! Don't get your hopes up that there's some solution to this, or that I'll ever go back to being Asriel! I told you what would happen, and it has, so... so..."

Flowey felt a touch upon one of his petals, the human having relinquished the grip on the phone to free a hand. The plant averted his eyes from Frisk's as the first genuine smile in a very long time graced his face, and in return he was given a smile back. However, the gentle peace of the room was interrupted by an unexpected crinkling noise. Flowey and Frisk both looked down as they recalled that the human had carried another item with him to this place.

"What is that?"

The flower watched as Frisk took the brown paper bag into both hands, gripping the sides of the top and pulling it apart, a sweet aroma lifting into the stale cavern air. Flowey's eyebrows raised as the scent reached him, a scent he was all too familiar with. Frisk lifted the contents of the bag out and presented them to the plant: a substantially large piece of pie, smelling fragrantly of both butterscotch and cinnamon, as well as a single fork. Both their smiles widened at the sight as Frisk crawled over and sat down cross-legged next to the Flowey, digging the fork down into the tip of the slice and offering it to him. Flowey laughed softly under his breath.

"I... th-thank you... Frisk..."

And the flower leaned forward and accepted the bite of his favorite food.

The two shared the dessert together until it was all gone, and they spent the next few hours in peace, feeling the slight breeze cause the petals of the blossoms around them to gently sway, watching the beams of sunlight streaming from above slowly fade away as day turned to evening. They would not speak again until the child felt he had to return to his home before night fully fell. They exchanged their goodbyes; goodbyes not of a permanent nature, but of a promise to see each other again soon.

Even as the human child gave a heavy wave as he turned and walked towards the room's exit, the flower's smile did not fade. Perhaps, he felt, there may be some room to allow hope back into his mind after all. Perhaps one day there would be a solution devised for his predicament, some scheme by that nervous and shy doctor, or maybe some impossible, magical miracle like the one that had foiled his foolhardy plans before.

And while nothing could erase the infinite wrongs he had committed upon so many people... yes, the flower now could no longer help but have a faint sense of hope within himself, a feeling of hope that he could rejoin the people he once loved and do everything he could to make them happy again. But even if he could not, even if he was indeed stuck in this eternal prison, he at least knew that he had at least one person who still cared about him and would make his lonely life a little more bearable.

Still... knowing that he might one day leave his hole and reach the sunlight above...

It filled him with determination.