Determination and Peace
Honestly, Harry wasn't even sure how he'd wound up in this situation.
One moment, he was running from Dudley while they were having a picnic - he had chosen not to question why he'd been brought on a vacation with them or why they were tolerating his presence - and the next, he was shifting to see someone staring at them with worried eyes.
He went to move before a whimper escaped his lips - the bruising he'd had before had definitely worsened and his already cracked ribs had broken on impact.
A moment later, there was a gentle hand on his shoulder, helping guide him to sit up, then stand. "Are you okay?"
Harry gave a slow nod, seeming slightly afraid but stubbornly deciding it was best to answer questions just in case.
"What's your name?"
"H-harry," he offered quietly, voice shaking and broken but audible - something he was thankful for.
A faint smile showed up on the other's face, seeming slightly out of place in Harry's opinion. "I'm Frisk,"
The ten year old gave a small smile of his own in greeting before looking down.
It didn't take long for things to go slightly south, and Frisk couldn't help but notice that it left the smaller boy a shaking mess.
Well, it sure beats doing this again alone, anyway. Frisk thought the day they left Toriel's home - they made sure to lead Harry out while Toriel thought they were asleep, because they weren't sure how Harry would react to her words otherwise.
Of course, they hadn't expected that when they ran into Sans, Harry would freak out and duck behind Frisk.
Normal greetings passed, and then Frisk managed to shift so Sans could see Harry.
"oh, new kid?"
Harry seemed extremely wary as Sans examined him, but didn't move.
Frisk watched with a blank expression, but their eyes were shining with a strange light.
When Sans looked over to them, he shook his head. "i see you picked up the one kid that'd never make it on his own in the Ruins."
Harry almost bristled at this, but then looked down in shame - he knew it was true. He was hopelessly lost in whatever Hell this was.
Frisk, however, gave a sage smile. "I think you're wrong," they commented. "I think Harry can hold his own,"
Harry's head shot up, green eyes locking onto Frisk in surprise.
Sans gave a knowing look to Frisk, though and he nodded, carrying on with normal procedure without another moment's thought to what was going on.
Honestly, at the age of ten, Harry should've been used to strange things happening around him.
But this was above and beyond anything he'd seen happen around him. As they made their way through the Ruins, encountering different Monsters, Harry began to understand that Frisk knew exactly what they were doing.
They didn't misstep at all, and even managed to help Harry along.
But the one thing that Harry knew was throwing Frisk off was the beaten and worn look of his Soul every time they encountered a fight - Harry had had no problems playing the game of show mercy instead of kill.
Frisk had struggled the first several timelines to do that, so it surprised them that Harry, a child that was so openly broken, didn't struggle at all with it.
The two were once again with Sans in an area when Frisk finally brought the topic up. "Harry?"
Harry glanced up warily from where he was staring at the ground, seeming interested in his surroundings.
"Why is it...you seem so at ease with showing mercy to those that try to hurt you?" Frisk questioned, trying to word it as kindly as they could.
Harry, who had been smiling faintly before, looked back down with a blank expression.
But Sans had seen the flicker of emotion in the bright green of the boy's eyes. "who hurt you, kid?"
Frisk seemed surprised before giving a small smile - they knew Sans was going to be protective. He usually wasn't, but everyone they'd met so far was protective of Harry, even those that were supposed to be capturing them.
Harry bit his lip and shook his head and then it all clicked in Frisk's mind. "Oh."
Sans glanced over at Frisk before his gaze went back to the raven haired boy looking like he was about to break down out of fear of the situation he'd found himself in.
After a long moment, Sans spoke. "won't happen again, kid. promise."
Frisk seemed surprised by this, but focused more on calming Harry back down rather than asking why Sans had made a promise - he'd never made promises before.
They just knew that it had seemed to settle a lot of Harry's fears. It was going to be different this time.
It all made sense all of a sudden, and Frisk couldn't understand how they hadn't realized Harry's past sooner. The state of his Soul was sorry, and it worried Frisk every time he took a hit during a fight by not being quick enough or them not being able to pull him away in time.
But it made sense. In a way. There were still unexplained things about the boy's Soul, but it's state was easily explained away.
If he'd started to fear everyone, believe horrible things about himself due to abuse, then it must have been long standing enough to have affected his Soul, making it worn from him losing hope of ever being saved from those that were supposed to care for him and instead abused him like he was nothing.
Then Frisk's eyes hardened and they stopped comforting the boy. "Harry, tell me about your parents,"
"T-they're dead," Harry said, seeming confused by the sudden request and still left slightly cold from his earlier panic.
Frisk made a face, then spoke. "Then whoever you live with,"
Harry held Frisk's eyes for a moment before he looked down and started speaking.
He knew he wasn't getting out of it until they knew.
And with every revelation, he felt Frisk's anger increase, and he could see Sans' eyes change.
"How'd you get there?" Frisk asked finally, once Harry had finished.
Harry shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted, voice soft and broken. "I remember my mum...she sacrificed herself to save me...and then....waking up on the doorstep of my aunt's house to her screaming."
Frisk nodded in understanding.
"i don't like manipulative people," Sans mumbled, then disappeared.
Frisk sighed. "Let's go, Harry." they offered, giving a small smile. "We'll go get food and carry on our way,"
Ever since the revelation, Frisk was worried sick about Harry. The boy wasn't himself. He wouldn't talk or smile. He barely cared when they were caught in an encounter with someone - he'd show mercy, spare them, but he refused to move away from attacks.
What surprised Frisk was that, despite these attacks, the hits the boy took, he never took damage unless it was one powerful attack after another.
It all added up that afternoon as they watched Harry sit by the river, dragging his fingers through the water slowly every now and again.
Someone else's Soul was protecting Harry. Frisk gave a small smile - they'd be willing to bet it was a ghost of the protection that the boy's mother had given him by losing her life in place of his own.
Sans showed up right about then, nearly scaring both of them to death.
"Sans!" Frisk complained.
Harry stared at Sans for a minute before giving a small smile in greeting and going back to running his fingers through the water.
Sans spoke without hesitation. "we found another way,"
Harry may not have understood, but Frisk did. "Really?!"
Sans nodded in agreement, but didn't go on to explain. "we'll be free come morning."
"Does that mean I go back home?" Harry asked quietly.
Frisk was quiet for a moment before looking at Sans. They hesitated before speaking. "No. You don't have to go back to those awful people. You can stay with us!"
Silence fell, and the only thing Frisk was curious about was what was going to happen to Asriel. "Sans?"
Sans, seemingly knowing what they were going to ask, only spoke. "Asriel is already back with his family. They've said they'll be happy to take the both of you in as well,"
Frisk smiled fondly, then their eyes lit up. "Chara?"
Sans made a face, but nodded in agreement. "Chara as well."
"Who's Chara? And Asriel?" Harry asked, curious. Then his eyes went wide and he started apologizing.
Frisk smiled fondly at the boy they'd come to see as their younger brother. "It's okay, Harry. Asriel's like a brother to me! And Chara...Chara grows on you, eventually. He'll be a little...rough around the edges at first, but he'd never hurt you,"
"of course not," Sans offered.
Morning came with a calming light that washed over Frisk and Harry as they reached the surface again.
Harry smiled faintly at the brightly colored sky - it was just daybreak, and everyone was already settling into a village that seemed to have been set up overnight.
"Anything can be done with magic," Frisk said when they saw the wonderment on Harry's face.
But as soon as they had, Harry's expression closed off again and they sighed.
It'd take work, but they'd get there.
They waited for a little bit before a small goat-like child ran up. "Frisk!"
Frisk found themself engulfed in a tight hug and smiled fondly. "Asriel,"
Once they had been let go, they went about introducing Harry.
Asriel gave him a long look before smiling fondly.
"Time to go home! Mom and Dad are waiting!"
Harry seemed surprised, but Frisk just grabbed the boy's hand and drug him along as Astriel drug them behind him.