Chapter Text
Clover squirms in his bed as the bright sun of the surface pierces through his curtains and shines directly into his eyes.
Today marks the start of July, the second month of summer, and the second month on the surface ever since the barrier was destroyed.
This is also Clover’s second month after he was brought back to life.
Despite it all, despite how hopeful the future looks for Human and Monsterkind alike, Clover is unable to muster up any motivation to rise from his bed. Instead, he turns his head away from the window to face his dresser. To the right of it hangs a large photo. It was taken in New Home towards the tail end of Frisk’s journey through the underground. From right to left, the photo consists of Clover, Frisk, and one other human. Clover, like this human, was a ghost at the point of this picture. This other human remained that way for reasons unclear to him.
This other human was Chara, one of Frisk’s two companions during their journey, and Clover’s best friend.
Clover could stare at her in that photo for hours-
Suddenly, there is a knocking at the door.
“Clover? You’re not going to sleep all day are you?”
It’s Martlet. Ever since the two reunited, Martlet has been Clover’s guardian on the surface. Luckily, she was available, as he would otherwise have to live with Toriel, but she already has plenty of mouths to feed.
Clover groans, “What time is it?”
He can hear Martlet’s voice grow more impatient as she states “Twelve o’clock.”
“Twelve o’clock?!” he thinks to himself, “What kind of cowboy sleeps in that late?!” Clover hastily jumps out of bed and shouts, “I’ll be right there!”
Clover rushes himself faster than when he had to run from Axis in the Steamworks, slipping into a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. As he slides on a pair of sneakers and sprints to leave his room, he suddenly thwacks into the door, forgetting to open it first. Grumbling, he eventually rises to his feet again and slowly turns his doorknob, pulling the door open with ease and plodding out of his room.
Martlet, already at the kitchen table, looks over at the young cowboy with extreme concern in her eyes. “Are you okay? I heard a loud noise from your room!”
Clover, holding his forehead in pain, responds, “Y-yeah, it’s nothing.” and makes his way to the table. For lunch, or really brunch for Clover, Martlet prepared something special.
Clover inspects the sandwich on his plate, hesitating to ask what it is, when Martlet proudly states, “It’s a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich!”
Most of Martlet’s meals have been much like this one. Just yesterday, Clover ate chocolate-covered broccoli for lunch. He doesn’t complain though. After all, a kid his age would love all these sweets, but he now tends to eat more at Ceroba’s house when he gets the chance.
Picking up half of his sandwich, Clover sheepishly replies, “Uh, th-thanks.” taking tiny nibbles as if he were a bird.
Martlet notices his disinterest and asks “Is everything okay Clover? Is something on your mind?”
Clover, thrown off, looks up from his sandwich to face Marltet, but simply responds, “No, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong...”
As Martlet is about to speak, the doorbell rings. Martlet, confused that anyone would come over today, skeptically creeps over to the door, swinging it open to see Starlo standing before her.
“Starlo?!”
“Howdy Martlet!” Starlo grins, “Is Clover home?”
“Yeah,” Martlet motions for Starlo to come inside, “We’re just having lunch now.”
A smile escapes Clover’s face. He didn’t expect his fellow gunslinger to show up today. As Starlo and Martlet walk towards the table, Clover notices a plastic bag in his friend’s hand.
“Deputy,” Starlo grins, placing the bag on the table, “I got ya something at the store today. Thought you might need a proper weapon!”
“Weapon?!” Martlet intervenes, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea!”
Starlo ignores Marltlet’s plea and eagerly shouts, “Take a look!”
Clover shrugs and peeks into the bag. His face suddenly beams with excitement as he pulls out a giant water gun. “Wow!” Clover exclaims, “I love it Star!”
“I knew ya would, partner.” Starlo pats Clover on the back, “Now you can show everyone who the sheriff of the beach really is!”
Clover almost forgot how close the beach was to his neighborhood. He has only been there a handful of times over the summer, and every time he goes, his mind is too clouded to focus on anything going on.
As he inspects the water gun, he notices its foggy yet transparent shell, finished with fiery red spirals on each side. This only distracts him even further. Despite everything that has happened this summer, he cannot stop thinking about her...
Martlet, noticing Clover’s expression, quickly attempts to break the silence.
“S-so Starlo,” Martlet blurts out, “What have you been up to lately?”
“Well,” Starlo starts, “I’ve been busy helping my parents with their new farm!” Starlo nervously scratches his head, “I-if ya aren’t doing anything, I can show you.”
“That sounds fun!” Martlet turns to Clover, “What do you think, Clover? Do you wanna come along?”
Clover shakes his head, “Thanks, but I’m supposed to meet a friend today-” Suddenly, he realizes, “Shoot! He’s probably been waiting for me!”
Clover attempts to jump from his seat, but accidentally bangs his knee on the table. As he sprints out the door, trying to suppress the pain in his leg, he hears Martlet in the distance yell, “Clover, your shirt’s backwards!”
As he hears this from outside, he quickly drops his head into his shirt, trying to flip it around while he continues to run, when he suddenly trips on something and falls face-first into the grass.
“O-ow...”
Pulling his head out of his shirt, he looks down to see that he tripped on a... vine?
“Ahem.” Clover suddenly turns to see Flowey in front of his head. “What in the world took you so long?!”
Flowey created a vine to help Clover onto his feet.
Clover sighs, “Sorry, I just lost track of time today.”
“Really now?” Flowey questions, raising an eyebrow, “That’s not like you ‘Gunhat’.”
Clover stares down at his shoes, desperately trying to muster up the courage to say something.
Flowey notices Clover’s lack of focus and rolls his eyes, yelling “What? What now?!”
Clover snaps out of it and turns to look at the walkway ahead of him, suddenly asking, “C-can we walk and talk? I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Fine, whatever.” Flowey bluntly responds, allowing Clover to pick him up and set him on his shoulder. “Go.”
As Clover starts to walk, Flowey constantly hides his face whenever he sees another human or monster close by. Growing impatient, he finally asks, “Well? Are you gonna ask your question or what?”
Clover still hesitates, but eventually asks “Wh-why was I the only human you brought back?”
“First of all,” Flowey hisses, “Asriel brought you back, not me, and secondly, haven’t you ever wondered why you and Chara were the only two ghosts watching over Frisk?”
Clover tries to think of a reason, but his mind only draws blanks.
“It’s because you and Chara were the only two with enough determination to do so. That determination is what brought you back.”
Clover’s eyes widen, “I-I have determination?”
“Every human does, but you have much more than most,” Flowey grumbles, “Believe me, you do...”
The two continue their walk, neither speaking a word, when Flowey notices Clover’s upset expression remaining.
Flowey dramatically groans, “What now?!”
“If my determination is what brought me back...” Clover pauses, “Wh-what about Chara?”
Flowey notices Clover’s pathetic attempt to conceal the pain in his voice, so he tries to respond with an in-depth answer.
“Good point,” Flowey starts, “Chara had much more determination than you, but her situation was... well, different.”
Clover, still unsatisfied, immediately asks “Different? Like how?”
Flowey, slightly annoyed by Clover’s pushiness, scans the surrounding area, when he eventually gets an idea.
“Go over there.” Flowey nods his head towards a distant playground, to which Clover shrugs and follows his request. Once they arrive, flowey motions for Clover to cover him from any bystanders as the flower hops from his shoulder and into the sand.
“Here,” Flowey creates a vine in the nearby dirt and uses it to draw a heart in the sand, “This is your soul. Notice anything?”
Clover shakes his head, so Flowey continues by drawing another heart next to it, “This is Chara’s soul. Now do you notice anything?”
At first, Clover still doesn’t follow, but he eventually realizes the difference. Flowey colored his soul in, but left Chara’s as a hollow outline.
“She doesn’t have a full soul?”
Flowey nods, “All she has is that ring. Even with determination, an incomplete soul isn’t enough to live.”
Flowey, feeling proud of his explanation, looks up at Clover, but grows even more impatient as the look in Clover’s eyes still doesn’t leave.
“Are you serious?” Flowey snaps, “You got your answer, didn’t you? Why are you still making that face?!”
Clover places his finger on the drawing of Chara’s soul, “I know that’s the answer, I just don’t like it.”
Flowey watches as Clover tries to color in Chara’s heart, but grabs his hand with his vine before he can finish, “You may not like the answer, but that’s just the way it is.” To Clover’s annoyance, Flowey paints an X over the drawing, “Be grateful that you’re even alive at all, cowboy!”
Before Clover can react, Flowey climbs back onto his shoulder, and the pair continues their walk, neither speaking another word.
Chara floats around the room, dying of boredom as Frisk practices their clarinet on their bed. After their battle with El Balidor, Frisk realized they may have a knack for music, so they signed up for the middle school concert band and have been practicing ever since.
“Ya know,” Chara interrupts, floating down towards them, “I thought the recorder sounded bad, but you somehow chose an instrument that sounds even worse.”
Frisk shrugs, “When I get used to it, it’ll start to sound better.”
Chara, unconvinced, floats back up towards the ceiling, “I certainly hope so...”
As Frisk continues to practice, Chara floats over to look out the window, watching as Kris runs through the sprinkler while Toriel sits on the porch.
The day everyone made it to the surface, Frisk explained to Toriel that they had a little brother they needed to reunite with before settling down with their new mother. Frisk and Kris had been orphans their whole lives, and luckily for them, Toriel was more than happy to welcome the two under her care. In fact, when she found out that Frisk had a sibling, she was overjoyed to know she could look after yet another child.
However, unlike with Frisk, Toriel is still very much a helicopter parent towards Kris, but luckily for her, she was able to land a teaching position at the local elementary school.
Chara watches as Kris continues to run around in the yard. “That kid’s fast,” she thinks, grinning, “They’re pretty damn adorable too.”
“Hey Chara,” Frisk interrupts, “How do you think Asgore’s doing? It’s been like two weeks since we last visited him.”
Chara corrects Frisk, “You mean since you last visited him, but yeah, I hope he’s not too lonely. I mean, I’m sure he misses you and Kris whenever you’re not there.”
Frisk considers this, when they start to get another thought.
“I’m sure Asgore misses you too.”
Chara scoffs, “Why would anyone miss me? They already have you.”
Frisk frowns, “Well, Toriel misses you.”
“I guess you got me there-”
Frisk suddenly teases, “I know Clover misses you too-”
“Aaaaand goodbye.”
Before Frisk can continue, Chara quickly floats through the ceiling, performing somersaults in the air along the way.
Immediately, she makes it to the attic, which has acted as her secret room... with the help of Frisk, of course. There are only a couple of things in her room, but what matters most to her is displayed front and center. Thanks to Alphys, Frisk was able to print a copy of the photo taken in New Home that looks just as good as the original. According to Frisk, the quality of the copy was so good that they do not even know which one they gave to Clover.
Not that it matters. All that is important is that Chara gets to look at the photo as long as she wants, whenever she wants, and she spends a lot of time at night doing so.
After all, she could stare at him in that photo for hours-
“Chara?” Frisk’s voice is muffled as knocking is heard below, “Can you hear me?”
Frisk is standing on their bed, continuously knocking on the ceiling, when Chara eventually pops her face out in front of them.
“Boo.”
Frisk almost falls back from being startled, which Chara is quick to mock them for.
“Jeez,” Chara scoffs, “I didn’t realize you were so easy to scare.”
“Whatever,” Frisk grumbles, “I’m going to the park. Do you wanna come?”
Chara crosses her arms, “It’s not like I have a choice, do I? I can’t talk to anybody else.”
Frisk jumps up from their bed and walks towards the door. “Great,” they cheer as they swing the door open, “Let’s go!”
As Chara eventually follows Frisk out the door, a thought starts to invade her mind.
“What if they see Clover? What if they know Clover will be there?”
No matter what, she always ends up thinking about Clover. It was irritating not being able to think about anything else, but at this point, what else could she think about?
“Chara? Are you coming?”
Chara quickly looks downstairs to see Frisk standing at the front door. “Y-yeah, sorry.” She somewhat mumbles as she floats towards Frisk.
As the two begin their walk, Chara starts to grow skeptical, immediately asking, “So, why exactly are we going to the park?”
Frisk, beginning to skip, responds, “It’s a nice day. Why not?”
Chara nods, but still somewhat suspicious, she asks, “You’re not planning on meeting up with anybody?”
“What’s with all the questions?”
“Sorry, I’m just curious. Am I not allowed to speak until I hear ‘TALK’?”
Frisk is thrown off by this sudden remark. “I-is everything alright?” They ask, turning to their friend.
Chara turns away, mumbling, “This just feels like a setup for me to see Clover.”
Frisk frowns, “Sorry, I honestly just thought it was a nice day for the park.” Frisk lifts their pinky finger, “I promise there was no other reason.”
Chara looks back, realizing what Frisk is trying to do, so she groans and responds, “Fine.” and the two pretend to do a pinky promise.
As the two continue to walk, however, a question lingering in Frisk’s mind accidentally slips out.
“Wh-why wouldn’t you want to see Clover?”
Chara’s heart skips a beat as she hears Frisk’s question. Staring down at the ground, she eventually replies, “It’s complicated...” and continues to float down the walkway.
After a mostly silent walk, Frisk and Chara make it to the park, when Frisk is immediately spotted by a familiar monster.
“Yo dude!” Monster Kid yells out, rushing towards their friend. As they reach the human, they suddenly trip on a rock, but Frisk thankfully catches them this time before they plummet face-first to the ground.
“Thanks dude,” Monster Kid laughs, suddenly remembering what they wanted to see Frisk for, “Hey, I got some friends I want you to meet. Come on!”
Before they can even think, Frisk quickly follows after Monster Kid, leaving Chara alone to observe.
Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't need to stick to Frisk like glue all the time, and she rather have some alone time than spectate as Frisk hangs out with their real friends.
Aimlessly, Chara begins to float around the area, observing all the life around her. Admittedly, it is nice for her to see that humans have accepted monsters into their culture, and it’s most prevalent in public places like this.
However, even then, it’s still nice to be able to escape all the noise, and after taking one last look at Frisk, who seems to be distracted enough, she decides to take a lone trip to the beach.
Chara does not travel separately like this often. However, after today, especially considering Frisk had gotten on her nerves more than usual today, she felt that today was a good day for each of them to get some space from the other.
Besides, she cannot focus on Frisk’s everyday life for too long, when a different thought is still ever so present at the forefront of her mind.
As she finally arrives at the beach, she takes a deep breath, fully embracing the silence and emptiness of the surrounding area.
Closing her eyes, all she can hear is the squawking of seagulls, the rustling of the waves, and... Flowey?
“Maybe it was just another seagull?” she thinks to herself, but suddenly, she hears the voice again. This time, she can tell without a doubt that it’s Flowey’s voice.
Not only that, but she swears she hears Clover’s voice as well.
Frantically looking around, she eventually finds where the pair of voices was coming from. In the distance, Flowey is talking to a... less than pleased-looking Clover.
“Are you serious?!” Flowey shouts to Clover as Chara floats behind the pair, “You’re mad about that?!”
Clover grumbles, “You made your point clear long before you drew an X over it.”
“Because you kept trying to change it! When are you going to realize that you don’t have the power to change anything! Especially something as ridiculously impossible as-”
Clover almost snaps, suddenly turning to face Flowey in a fit of rage, but he quickly stops himself before he can do anything he would regret.
Flowey, seemingly shocked that Clover would even think to do something to him, stares at the cowboy in disbelief and disappointment.
“She’s gone, Clover. You're never gonna see her again.” Flowey states bluntly, “The sooner you realize that, the better.”
Immediately after Flowey leaves, Clover breaks. Chara can’t bring herself to look away as her friend uncontrollably and audibly sobs into his shirt.
Chara, more determined and desperate than ever to comfort Clover, immediately tries to grab onto his hand, but she simply phases through him. The moment she realizes, her tears finally escape her eyes as she once again tries to grab him, once again failing miserably.
This is exactly why Chara did not want to see him.
In this cruel state of separation, all they can ever feel towards each other is sorrow.
Despite this, Chara tries again and again to grab onto Clover, clawing at his arms, then his legs, then finally his face. Nothing. Out of anger, sorrow, and pure determination, she aimlessly reaches out one last time, once again expecting the worst.
However, this time, the result is different. While she still phases right through, she thinks as if she had felt him for a moment, and looking up, she can tell that Clover thinks he felt her for a moment too. The sudden shock on his face says it all.
Realizing where exactly she had reached out her hand, there is only one conclusion Chara can come to.
For a very brief moment, she must have touched his soul.