The warm glow of a heart long gone.

Write Frisk on their deathbed, and Toriel and Asgore there for them, being ageless and all. Frisk feels the need to tell them the truth about Flowey/Asriel before they die. Everything sucks.

The warm glow of a heart long gone.

The sounds of the ventilator permeated the small plain white hospital room, enhancing the heavy atmosphere. The only competing sounds were the small breeze flowing through the room from the window surrounded by brilliant white curtains and the shuffling noise of many restless feet. Surrounding a small bed with a stand next to it was a group of monsters. Some were skeletons, others were lizards, two of them were even large unidentifiable fluffy creatures. Perhaps akin to some sort of goat with long ears and horns jutting from their foreheads. A robot, some sort of fish lady and many more variations you'd think to find in some fantasy story in a far away land, not standing in a hospital surrounding a bed, tears in their eyes as they watched the fragile old man lying there. Even a ghost was present. Floating ethereally in the air, suspended by nothing and wearing some transparent headphones. You'd think it was some sick joke having a ghost visit a hospital bed of someone who was attached to breathing apparatus, but the old man who was surrounded by these weird and wonderful creatures counted them as his friends, and some of them as very close family. Everybody was here for one reason and one reason only. The small man on the small bed.. no, Frisk, he was.. Frisk was..

Frisk was dying.

Lying on his death bed, surrounded by all the friends and family he had made in his long life as a human comforted him. A warm smile grew on his lips, wrinkled with the ravages of time as he looked around the room.  He could remember all his adventures and times spent with each of the people present. The Young boy with bouncy brown hair and pale yellow skin was now a very old and sickly dying man. Pale white hair spindled out of the drawn back flesh on his skull, flecked with liver spots and other blemishes that old age brings. His skin wrinkled in sagging patterns that sunk into his face, bringing his skull to the visible forefront. Sans, the smaller of the two skeletons had made sure to comment on it in his special way when he and Papyrus had entered the room earlier than the other monsters.

"Hey kid, I know you said you wanted to grow up to be like me, but I didn't know you wanted to copy my good looks too."

Winking and holding the largest grin Frisk had ever seen, he knew from years of being friends with him that Sans was only putting on a show for him. He laughed anyway. Sans always brought the mood up, even at his own expense.

"SANS, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO JAPE! FRISK NEEDS US HERE NOW!" Papyrus, the taller brother was always scolding Sans for his terrible humor, but Frisk and Sans both knew he secretly loved his brothers ability to lighten up almost any situation with a well timed pun.

"Well, tibia honest, paps. I just couldn't hold back from stretching out a few loose puns I had hanging around my head."

"SANS!!!"

Pulling off his mask, Frisk laughed. The brothers always brought happiness into his life. The least he could do is make sure they stayed that way. It was why he swore off ever using his determination to save/load and reset ever again. Even if it meant living a painful life full of mistakes, it also meant each decision mattered. Frisks laughter soon turned into a fit of coughing, hacking and spluttering that silenced the two skeletons immediately. " Hey, kid, I'm sorry, please calm down. Paps, go get a nurse, hurry!" The skeletons grin never wavered, but Frisk could see the worry plain as day sketched across his eyes. The tiny white beads that were his pupils shivered in their sockets and sweat began to drip down the side of his hollowed out cheeks. Shaking his head, Frisk wove raised his hands to stop them and slowly came back to breathing in his normal ragged breath when not using the ventilator.

"Please Sans, it's ok." Frisk croaked.

"Somehow I find that hard to believe, kid. But I'll stay here and make sure you don't get any worse. Don't you dare think of goin anywhere at least till Tori gets here." The slight threat coming from the skeleton made his pupils disappear. Frisk had seen that look too many times to count in his youth, when he had reset with abandon to try out many different ways of saving the underground and one certain individual especially. Even though Sans was the funniest guy Frisk knew, he was also one of the most terrifying when he wanted to be. Smiling to himself Frisk nodded briskly.

"Don't worry Sans, I'm not going anywhere just yet. You need to stop worrying, I won't do it. Promise."

Sans smile seemed to stretch even further around his skull, plastering the sides of his face with giant rectangular teeth.

"Say, kid, where is everyone else? I got your text but I thought you'd want everyone here."

"I did" Replied Frisk.

"But I wanted to talk to you first, if that's ok. I just needed to tell you.. one last time, Sans. I can see it etched your eyes deep through  the back of your skull you silly old skeleton. You're trying to hide it and.." Sighing, Frisk stared deeply into Sans hollowed out sockets, trying to find the determination to tell him and make it sink in this time. "I'm not going to reset when I die, Sans. I promised you years ago I would never use that horrible power ever again and I've stuck to it, so please, believe me when I say I will NOT reset. Not when I die in this bed, not when I decide to. I won't do it. I couldn't. Not to you. Not to everyone else who deserves to live their lives. I just hope that whoever this power passes onto.. well. I'm sure he's learned his lesson by now." Smiling to himself Frisk looked at Sans, seeking some sort of sign that the skeleton would finally relax and not fear that he'd end up back in a town covered in a fine layer of snow, the wind howling past his window as his alarm clock went off.

"SANS, WHAT IS THE HUMAN TALKING ABOUT?" Papyrus looked quizzically at Frisk and Sans, moving his comically large jawed head back and forth between them, obviously getting dizzy with the effort.

"It's.. it's nothing, Paps. Just an old game me and the kid used to play with each other. Looks like I finally win, huh Frisk?" Tiny beads of blue liquid sprang from the corners of Sans eyes. Reaching out, Frisk wiped them away with the corner of his old wrinkly hand.

"Yeah, paps. Sans won."

As the day went on, More and more monsters appeared at Frisks bedside, loitering around and sharing memories with the aged human. The sun had begun to set when Toriel and asgore eventually appeared. One after the other they entered the room, Toriel gracefully walking, swishing her robes. followed by Asgore, in his regal attire.

"I'm sorry we are late, my child. I had to attend to some business at the school and Asgore was just signing another of those treaties you set up for us." Staring at his foster parents entering the room Frisk grinned.

"Don't worry Mom, I know how busy you two always are. I'd be out there with you both if I could."

Frisk was very old, at least for human standards. Maybe it was his determination or something else but he had managed to complete his life's work as the human ambassador. Human and monster relations had never been better. Everyone had their happy endings. Asgore was set up as the Monster side of ambassadorial situations with Frisk being the go between humans and monsters. He had worked so hard to make sure that SAVING everyone wasn't his last great act. Everyone had their happy endings.

Except for one person.

Just thinking of it would always darken Frisks mood. He could never forget the image of a small boy lost in the darkness of circumstance wishing him the best and telling him to live his life. Which he had, for him. But it still cut deep that he could tell no one of the brave sacrifice of the prince of all monsters.

Until now, that is.

"Everybody, could I please.. have a moment.. with mom and dad?"

It was funny, calling the two seemingly immortal creatures who hovered over him Mom and Dad. They had raised him as best they could individually. Toriel could never forgive Asgore for the sins he had committed in the name of his kingdom underground. As for Asgore himself , he could never forgive what he had done even if it was in the name of all monsters. So it was that they never reconciled beyond Toriel mildly putting up with Asgore for Frisks sake. They Worked hard to help monster kind on the surface and taught Frisk so much. Lessons he'd took to heart again and again lovingly and carefully, enshrining his memories of his time with the Dreemurrs deep down. Just looking at them, with their large soft white fur, long ears and jutting horns reminded Frisk of their one big failure during a lifetime of success. Being unable to SAVE their son. He had never told either of him the truth. That their son was not dead, and that he was a hero. Thinking of all the lies he told just after the barrier came down made Frisk feel slimy and worthless, even though he had been asked to never tell them, it was still his decision to carry.  He could feel his sins crawling over his back.

"My child, are you sure you wish everyone to-"

Gently cutting Toriel off with a smile and a limp wave of his hand, Frisk nodded.

"Yes, mom, I need to talk to you and dad.. alone. There's something I've been meaning to tell you for a.. very long time. It might be a bit late but.. now is the only time I've managed to muster the determination.. no... bravery, to talk to you about this."

Motioning for his foster parents to come closer as the other monsters filed out of the small hospital room, Frisk breathed shakily and stared up at the ceiling. He couldn't bear looking them in the eyes. The shame burned deeply like hot pokers piercing his flesh.

"I need to talk to you about.. your son."

Both the Dreemurrs stared, eyes agape as Frisk took another steadying breath. The shock apparent on their faces only served to push him onwards. He had to tell them the truth. His soul couldn't bear another moment of holding this burden from them.

"Asriel.. isn't dead. in fact, he's very much alive.. just.. different."

"W..Why.. how do you know that name, child? I.. we.. have never brought him up I don't under-" Cutting her off yet again, Frisk pulled his gaze from the ceiling and locked it onto Toriels' deep eyes. Giant watery mirrors he could see the shell of himself in.

"He's alive, mom. He's just.. not been feeling himself lately. Turning to stare at Asgore, Frisk licked his dry weathered lips.

"Do you remember when.. Alphys.. asked..." Coughing abruptly, Frisk pressed on, trying to stifle an oncoming fit.

" Alphys.. * cough* *cough* Took a flower, Dad. Do you remember? From the garden where Asriel fell, in the throne room. *Cough* cough*" Rushing to a pitcher of water next to his bed, Toriels' hands were shaking as she poured her suffering child a clear glass of water.

"Please child, stop this nonsense and drink." Tears pooled in her eyes as water dribbled over the side of the glass of water. Shaking his head, Frisk pushed on, the sight of his foster parent suffering driving him to impart the information he had been longing to tell her since the barrier came down.

"Do you remember, dad, if Alphas ever returned any results on what she did to the flower?" As gores' face was a crumpled mess, torn between seeing his foster child slowly perish in front of him and the horrible memories of the past rushing to the forefront reminding him of the terrible things that had happened to the last person he had called son. Whispers of Mommy? and Daddy? Haunted his mind as he recalled Asriel falling to dust in front of his eyes, splashing out across the throne room floor covering the golden flowers.

Barely whispering, Asgore replied "No, son. She never did tell me what happened with the flower she took.. You can't possibly be saying that..." The implications of what Frisk told him brought a sweat to Asgores' brow, making his fur damp and slick.

"You're a lot sharper than I remember you being when I was a kid" Frisk was smiling, happy that his Dad would connect the dots so quickly. He could feel himself slipping, the less he had to explain the better. Toriels' face was clouded over. Asgore had probably never told her of the experiments he had Alphys work on. She knew of the amalgamates of course, them being the main reason she fired Alphys in the first place when she returned as queen of the monsters but she wasn't interested in the gory details, until now that is. Frisk was pained to put a further wedge between these two after all they'd been through, they didn't need more horrible secrets brought up to stir old emotions. But he had to tell them the truth. He had lived a lie and it had to end.

"Asgore Dremurr, what is the child talking about?!" Toriel growled, as she seemed to grow, or perhaps it was Asgore who shrunk. Staring at the floor, Asgore told her the whole sordid story of the determination experiments, and what Alphys had hoped to do with them then concluded with what must've happened to bring their son back to life, looking to Frisk to make sure he was correct who weakly shook or nodded their head in confirmation or denial of the details as he provided them.

Frisk knew he loved his parents, and seeing them work together to provide the truth for themselves with only a few prods from himself filled him with the determination to continue. It was strange, he had practiced his speech almost his entire life, for the perfect moment when he'd share the story of the best friend he never had. Only to have his parents mostly work out the entire affair themselves made him beam with equal amounts of happiness and sadness. Weakly turning back to stare at the ceiling, he continued and began to recall the story of a child who fate had thrust into obscurity with barely a how you do.

"The flower that Alphys worked on.. had Asriels' dust on it..*cough *cough* and when it was filled with determination it.. became Asriel. Or what was left of him." Another coughing fit wracked Frisks body, throwing it into convulsions. Red specks of blood spattered on the white walls making Toriel and Asgores' faces paler than their white fur could hide.

"My Child, we must get a doctor in here at once you won't make I-" Frisk cut her off again, he always knew how to calm his mother, using the same tricks she had used on him whenever he was hurt and frightened as a child. A winning smile and a calm hand caressing her soft fuzzy cheek, gently stroking it. She grabbed the wrinkled old hand in her oversized paw, dwarfing it and engulfing it, tears springing from her eyes running down her fur leaving a trail of sadness behind.

"Mom, I have to.. tell the truth. All of it."

"When he became a flower he lost.. all of his ability to feel for other people.. and he also..*cough* gained the power to.. reset. Until I came along that is.. Somehow, my determination overwrote his and allowed me to reset. I know you don't like it when I talk about those powers but he had them too and he used them to do terrible horrible things in the name of trying to feel something, anything. He'd lost his soul, Mom. He couldn't, and can't feel anything at all. But he's still him!" Frisk pleaded, feeling agitated, and angry with  tears pricking his eyes he continued.

"He did so many bad things but.. but he also did the most important  thing for monster kind ever. He gathered all the souls , the 6 human and every soul of every monster and broke the barrier. For a short while he could feel again. For a short while he was HIM again. He reset all your memories except mines because he knew that once he had broken the barrier and given up the power of the souls he'd gathered he'd return to being an emotionless husk again. He couldn't bare to put you through that after you've both been through so much."

"But Frisk, why did as-.. why did he ask you to keep such a secret from us? The burden you must've held onto all these years, the pain of being the only person to share in his grief..." Asgore sat stunned, his jaw slacked as he stared at his adopted son in a new light. He always knew how strong Frisk was but this.. to have held back so much for the sake of their happiness was too much.

Gently smiling, Frisk turned to his big goofy father and flashed a toothy grin. "It wasn't so hard with you two as my parents."

Tears were streaming down both the monarchs faces. Toriels' giant paws were holding her muzzle trying to stifle her sobs and Asgores' were against his eyes, trying futilely to hold back the sadness welling up inside him, threatening to pour out drowning him in a sea of turbulent emotions he had thought long buried.

Frisk struggled but finally managed to sit up from the bed and reached out his hand to both his parents, beckoning them for one, final hug.

They embraced their son and each other, snot running down all their faces, tears sweat and fur intermingling into one giant mess of sadness.

Frisk could feel it, he could feel some weight lifting from him at last. He had one more job left to do, feeling his parents love for himself and their lost son filled him, for the last time with DETERMINATION.

Barely a whisper passed his lips but both Toriel and Asgore heard it, no, felt it, resonating inside their souls.

"He's waiting for you, at the golden flower patch in the ruins. Go to him. You've been so good to me these years, and I know that you can SAVE him too. Please, I couldn't but I know that you can.

I love you both so very much..

His breath slowing a huge grin plastered on his face, Frisk died in the arms of his loving parents.

A single red heart fluttered in the air, shining brightly engulfing the small room in the warm glow of love and a life spent being loved. Then slowly, almost unnoticeably faded away on the breeze.

No longer able to hold back, the regal boss monsters howled in pain and anguish, the bellows echoing down the quiet hospital hallways. The mournful singing of two parents who had lost so much.

A single red heart fluttered in the air, shining brightly engulfing the small room in the warm glow of love and a life spent being loved.

___________________


Frisks funeral was a simple affair. Just how he wanted it. Just close friends and family. Each paid their respects to a giant shrine of the one true friend to monsters everywhere. Many tears were shared but many more laughs were told in his honor.

In the distance, a lone flower watched over the proceedings, disappearing under the earth the moment the casket was lowered into the ground.

Even though the affair was private, many people and monsters had gotten wind of it and passed their respects to the family after the ceremony was over. Droves of people were waiting outside of the reception at Grillbys' with presents and warm memories they wished to share with all of Frisks family. It eventually turned into a giant celebration of the life of the ambassador of monsters. Even the Dreemurrs managed to crack some smiles in recollection of their child. He had done so much, and even though it had wracked him with guilt the last secret he had kept from them had freed them and him.

_____________________

"Toriel, I'm not sure about this, do you really think-"

"Asgore Dremurr I will not tolerate your whimpering for one more second!" Staring down the king of all monsters was a feat that Toriel had mastered long ago. Her hard features softened however as she laid a gentle paw on his shoulder.

"He's waiting for us, Asgore. We have to go see him."

Nodding and picking himself up mentally, Asgore marched towards the ruins as memories played in his head like a movie reel.

Going back through the underground brought memories both good and bad rushing back to Toriel and Asgore. The dust settled across the landscape since it was long abandoned, the core lay dormant, lit by the glow of magma but no longer pumping energy throughout the entire underground. The throne room gardens however, was blooming to the brim with the golden flowers Asgore took care of for so long. Anywhere they could have grown, they had.

"Asgore, I know you took care of these flowers but this.. they can't have done this on their own, could they?"

Grinning, Asgore simply stared in wonder. "No, Tori- I mean- Toriel. They couldn't have. I guess he must've remembered what I taught him.

The whole underground was littered with the beautiful things. Eventually, the regal monsters reached past the Hotlands, through the waterfall and into Snowdin, heading towards their end goal. Catching a sight of the entrance to the ruins made the back of Asgores' throat catch, he was sure he had seen a flower moving, burrowing under the earth as they approached. "Tori-.. sorry, Toriel did you see-" Cutting him off with a curt nod, Toriel moved forwards in something akin to a gallop, leaving Asgore behind in a flurry of dust and golden petals.

She stormed through the tunnel stomping meaningfully towards the place she had to get to. Barreling past the stairs and blasting through her old home door, weaving around the dead tree and ignoring the old ruin traps left to rot she arrived at the golden flowerbed in moments.

Covering the entire room was what had to be thousands of Golden flowers. They ran up the wall and made it seem like the world was on fire when reflecting the setting sun from the gap overhead, nearly overcrowded its' self with flowers, casting long shadows on the ground.

Walking to the center of the globe of gold, Toriel sat down near the beams of light dancing throughout the room.

"I know you're here, my child." She whispered. " We both do" she said as Asgore finally caught up. He'd abandoned his regal cloak and was sweating profusely. He hadn't trained in decades and was out of shape from all the gardening he'd been doing on the surface. "Tori- I mean, Toriel is he-" There, in the middle of the clearing directly beneath the shafts of brilliant sunlight, sat a flower with a face.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the-" Asgore dropped before the flower and embraced him, shortly followed by Toriel embracing them both.

"It's ok, my son" Whispered the giant King of the monsters. "We're here for you now." Tears streaming down their faces, the monarchs wept as they held their child for the first time in what had almost been an eternity of torment.

Almost.

The one highlight in their lives outshone it all. A Frisk shaped glow that enveloped all three Dremurrs basking in the twilight surrounded by golden flowers deep, deep underground.