Chapter Text
Her hand fit around yours like a fluffy glove and you already felt 10x better than you did when you were walking alone. You hadn't been with her for very long at all, but you already knew Toriel was the kind, sweet, caring figure to look up to you'd been missing your whole life. It was slightly concerning; you were too old to be holding someone's hand, especially someone you'd almost called 'mom' about eight times in the last fifteen minutes.
You were surprised to see how much taller she was than you, she towered over you like a fluffy lamppost- yet again adding to that feeling you were just a child in her presence. There was a strange sense of comfort behind being a child, you had naivety and innocence, and in your opinion, you thought that a single human child could understand the world better than a thousand philosophers. Toriel had a soft face, full of warmth and compassion and...fluff... It was great. She looked troubled behind her eyes and you felt the urge to ask why, though you knew you had no business asking such an intrusive question. You still had no idea where she was taking you.
The path was smooth, and you didn't feel tired even though you thought you'd never walked as much in your life. You tugged on the goat woman's hand in a such a childish way, you cringed internally at your behaviour. "Toriel, where are we going?" She smiled warmly at you, and any doubt you felt about her kindness was replaced with trust. Toriel seemed the type to put her all into everything, and you knew she had no intention of hurting you, so you asked the question with only curiosity and no fear.
"It's not much further my child," you didn't believe that, "I shall be taking you to my house in the ruins, you'll like it there very much." You were sure you would too. Her mumble made you furrow your eyebrows in her direction as she bitterly cursed a flower. It was so uncharacteristic of the monster you thought that she had temporarily transformed into another person, but you kept her hand in yours, knowing the being she was cursing could not be of the good kind. You somehow trusted her judgement, which was strange as these days you didn't trust many people with anything. You wondered what the 'flower' had done to Toriel to make her act so bitter towards it. It was just a flower, was it not? What could a flower do? You were knew to this world, you weren't exactly sure what anything could do.
Toriel's eyes had glazed over with what seemed
to be nostalgia and you watched her face in interest. Though peaceful, she appeared to be guarded, but you weren't sure why. The smile that graced her fuzzy face was not fully happy, this long corridor held no obvious things that would trigger memories, but maybe it was just the corridor itself. There were multiple switches on the wall that had already been flipped, with notes stuck next to them that you thought may have been left by Toriel. It made you think of who she could have been leaving the notes for. She didn't stood, and it seemed as though she was avoiding looking at the switches, confirming for you that they triggered memories for her. You desperately wanted to know what memories she was thinking of.
There was a wall with a doorway that said 'Welcome To The Ruins' on and you strangely did feel immensely welcomed. Toriel came to a halt outside and knelt down in front of you when you turned to ask why she was stopped. She placed a sweet hand on your shoulder and you thought maybe she was rejecting you from
the comforting home you had been anticipating in being in. Her words spoke otherwise. "My dear child, I hope you were not put off by my strange behaviour in some areas. This place holds many memories for me, both good and bad and someday I will share them with you as I'm hoping you will come to love this place and stay with me,
"My only concern is a certain monster inside my house. It takes the appearance of a golden flower, and it truly does not mean to be the way it is, but it has no choice, and this is the place where it has the best chance of staying grounded. You'll understand when you come across it, but please do not take anything it says to heart."
Toriel spoke and you nodded along at the appropriate parts of the lecture. You felt comforted and also like you were going to cry. This monster did not know you or your personality but had taken you in as if you were her own and you felt incredibly grateful. She truly was an angel, and you felt in that moment you would have given your soul to repay the kindness she had showed in such a small amount of time. She had shown you more warmth in an hour or two than your mother in her whole life. Instead of speaking, you rushed forward and threw your arms around her, giving her the answer that you wanted to stay and you understood the situation. A simple flower could not bother you too much, right?