Broken Souls

Chapter 12 - Stargazing

"I shall see you soon your Majesty!" Gaster called out the front door. Toriel gave him a wave with her free hand then turned and walked down the road back home. Gaster lingered by the door for a few more minutes, watching the last rays of sunlight fade from the horizon. He looked back inside, smiling when he faintly heard Sans giving Papyrus his bed time story. He would be alone for another half hour or so, which gave him a perfect opportunity to check his Soul; as he hadn't had the chance yet today. He placed one hand on his sternum and pulled out his Soul so it hovered just above the hole in his palm. The cracks were still there, a sign that he really did need to get on and fix them...

But, Gaster argued with himself, it hadn't hurt at all today. Maybe he was just overreacting and it would fix itself in time. Maybe, it was simply adjusting to existing once again. He grumbled to himself for a moment, then made up his mind and strode out onto the front lawn. Taking off his lab coat, he placed it flat on the grass as a blanket and laid down, facing up towards the rapidly appearing stars. Almost instantly, a sense of calm remembrance came over him and he sighed happily.

The moon had just come out from behind a bank of clouds, sending it's silver rays down around him. The noise of the monster city had gone quiet three hours before, leaving nothing but the occasional passing monster or animal. As Gaster gazed up at the millions of stars above, he remembered something a close friend had told him long, long ago, when they were just children.

"Night isn't a time for sleep, Wings! It's a time for beauty unseen by daylight."

His friend had been correct. Gaster was surrounded by a myriad of beautiful bright shadows, something that wasn't possible during the daylight hours. He wouldn't have slept even if he wanted to. To hell with his broken Soul, Gaster missed the stars and the moon.

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A soft chuckle brought Gaster out of his revelry. He flipped around so he lay on his front, glaring up at the short skeleton that had disturbed him. Sans waved, sitting down next to his father and giving him a thoughtful look.

"you always did like the stars." Sans remarked, "well, the ones in waterfall at least."

Gaster laid on his back once more, indicating for Sans to do the same.

"The gemstones in Waterfall are nothing compared to real stars... I'd forgotten how much I missed the night sky." Gaster corrected his son. After a moment of thought, he raised a hand and traced a constellation for Sans to see, "That's Orion's Belt, and over there is the North Star."

Sans followed his hand and let out a small sound of amazement. If he'd had eyes, they would be reflecting the stars, but as it was, only his eye sockets widened. Gaster chuckled,

"Long before the war, the North Star used to guide Monsters home. Humans used it too, but then they invented tools to do it for them. Humans left the stars for technology, but Monsters never did."

Gaster continued to point out constellations to Sans, always accompanied with an appreciative murmur for each new one they found together. But after a while, Gaster began to realise something.

"You don't seem used to them, even after four years." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Sans sighed,

"yeah, i was still gettin' used to the surface for most of it. and then i just lost the will to do anything like that. no point you see."

Gaster looked pensive, a small ache in his Soul for the torment of his son. Then, almost without thinking, he shifted closer to Sans and gave the short skeleton a hug.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there Sans." Gaster mumbled, then his expression became one of amusement, "But I didn't come out here to be sad. Come, let me teach you the ways of our universe."

Both skeletons laughed, settling back down into comfortable positions and never again taking their gaze away from the pinpricks of light dotted amongst the dark expanse of space. Perhaps it was silly, maybe even childish, to be fascinated by balls of burning gas. But in that moment, neither of them could have cared less. Monsters had wished for stars during centuries of confinement and now they had them...

Well...

It was something worth being fascinated by.

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A/N

Short fluff chapter because why not.

Meanwhile, Gaster better get on and do something about his Soul before it's too late...