I had been trapped in a black void that I believed was a coma for a time period I didn't know the length of, and it just kept going on. I couldn't feel, see, or smell; I couldn't even tell how long it had been. All I could do was think, which I managed to do a lot of; I was in constant thought and hope for the entire time I was unconscious. I hoped my family was okay and Papyrus was happy. I couldn't stand not being able to see their faces or hear their voices, and I didn't know what would happen when I was conscious again, because I didn't know how much time had passed. I missed them, and I was homesick. I wanted to wake up from this accursed coma and see them again: I had to see them again. My wish came true. After what felt like an eternity, I opened my eyesockets, and saw the face of Killer; the amount of relief that overcame me was astounding.

"Dusty?" Killer asked. "Are ya awake for real this time?"

"What do you mean 'for real'?" I noticed that my entire body was in pain; I expected that. "Did I wake up playing pretend or something?"

"Ya mean ya don't remember?"

"No?"

"Oh! Um..stay here! I'll be right back!"

Killer then ran out the door, and I was left with Papyrus- 

Wait.

"Paps?" I would have hugged him if he wasn't a ghost. 

"Yes, brother, it is me! I was worried about you!" Papyrus replied.

"I missed you so much, Paps!" 

"I missed you too, brother!"

"You're the best, Paps. What exactly happened?"

"Brother, I would tell you, but I wouldn't do the story justice."

"That's crazy talk, Paps; you'd do anything justice."

"Nightmare also wrote a book about it."

"Oh. Don't want to spoil it for him, I see. You're the best, Paps."

"I am the Great Papyrus!" 

Before long, the door opened, and I saw the rest of my family, who looked more than happy to see me, and there was a large hug before any conversation was made; that was all I needed, and I was content. Nightmare began speaking first.

"You really had us worried, Dust." Nightmare stated. 

"What do you mean? Was I out for that long?" I questioned.

"Well, I really should start from the beginning. You were out for quite a long time: about seven months. When you woke up, there was an obvious problem, and, well..long story short, you were basically under the control of our enemies."

"My..soul?"

"Yes. I managed to remodel the magic restorer and add a safeguard against this type of occurrence after we saved you, and it's much more efficient now, as well; it was a good thing that you were asleep for that operation, because it would have hurt worse than the last one."

"So how long did that take?"

"About three months, then you were out for another, making this entire thing last about eleven months. Honestly, we were woried that you weren't going to make it."

"Did I hurt you?"

"That's not important."

"Dad. Did I hurt you?"

"Well.."

"What did I do?!" I was crying.

"Y-you nearly Killed Horror."

"I..I'm so sorry. Is he all right? Can I help him? No, no, why did I let myself get captured? I could have done something...I could have done anything..why didn't I do anything?"

"Dust, calm down. It's okay now; Horror's fine, see?"

"'M okay, Dusty. Perfec' bill o' health." Horror hugged me; I was still crying.

"Nothin' like this'll ever happen again; okay, Dusty?" Killer tried to console me.

"Yeah, you'll be all right. Everything's back to normal." Error said.

"Do you want some time? We can leave." Nightmare offered.

"N-no. Please, don't leave me." I had only just gotten my family back; I wanted to keep them.

"Okay, Dust. We'll stay by you."

"Th-thank you."

I couldn't stop crying; I had hurt my family. How could I have allowed myself to hurt my family? They kept telling me it wasn't my fault, but it was. I had hurt the only family I had in the entire multiverse, and they...they had forgiven me for it. I really did have the best family in the world, and that was a solid fact. I would never leave them, even if it meant my own death, because they were so much better than me; I would protect them, care for them, and help them when they needed it. They were my family, and nobody was going to take that away from me; I wouldn't let them. I would protect my family with my life, just like I knew they would for me; I would never force them into uncomfortable spots, or if I did, I would apologize; I would never stay mad, unless it was for fun; I would never stop loving them, because they never gave up on me; and I would never betray them, because they were the only ones who helped me when I needed it. I loved my family, and I would do everything in my power to keep it that way.

"I love you." I confirmed.

"We love you too, Dust." The others each said in their own ways. They really were the best.

"Not to get off topic or anythin,' but I have some questions." Killer jumped.

"Killer, you really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?" Nightmare sighed.

"It's all right." I chuckled, wiping my tears. "What did you want to know?"

"What'd they do to ya?" Killer wondered. "And more importantly, who beat ya up? Just for, uh, curiousity."

"Are you sure it isn't for revenge?"

"That might be a small factor. Ya had a lot of broken bones when we found ya."

"Really, though. Who did that?" Nightmare followed Killer's lead. "Was it the same one as last time?"

"Yeah..can we maybe not talk about it?" I didn't feel like recalling either of those events, visibly wincing at the mere thought of them; the others noticed that.

"I guess." Killer still wanted to know. "So what about before that incident?"

"They found out about the magic restorer."

"Anythin' else?"

"Not really. Pretty much just did that, then...y-you know."

"Try not to think about it. How do you feel now?" Error inquired.

"Other than hurting everywhere, I'd say I'm feeling pretty good."

"That would probably be an after effect of the operation; it was only a month ago, and you remember how you felt a month after the first one." Nightmare pointed out.

"Fun times, heh. So, what happened while I was out?"

"Pretty much the same stuff. We decided to wait until ya woke up to do some fun stuff, so ya wouldn't miss out." Killer smiled.

"You didn't have to do that."

"It'll be more fun wi' ya." Horror grinned. "An' 'sides, we get ta do i' all at the same time, when yer ready." Horror rubbed his hands together. "It's gonna be fun."

"Take your time, though; there's no rush." Nightmare assured. "I also want to give you a checkup as soon as you're ready to make sure they didn't do anything else to you."

"Okay, Dad." I grinned.

The next few days moved by swiftly, and before I knew it, I was in the hospital room, ready to be checked by Nightmare. To my surprise, almost nothing had changed in the past year: Killer was still childish, Horror was still the older brother who loved us, and Nightmare was still the caring dad. Error seemed to be the most changed, having gotten over his fear of touch when the group was around and being more open with his feelings. The hospital looked exactly the same as when I last left it, with the familiar wooden table surrounded by familiar machines. I was seated on the table, and I prepared for my first checkup in almost a year, which felt like longer, having been in a coma. I felt safe when my family was around me, which they were, as Nightmare prepared the equipment. I kicked my legs back and forth in the fashion I always used to as I waited for him to finish; when he did, he turned to me and chuckled at my familiar motion.

"Are you ready, Dust?" Nightmare questioned.

"Yeah." I responded.

"All right, I'm going to monitor your soul as we check your magic; remember how to do this?"

"How could I forget?"

I allowed my soul to exit my body and noticed the new magic restorer in place of the old one; it looked rather similar, but with a few different parts scattered around. Nightmare turned on the devices that would monitor my magic flows and levels as he led me through the familiar motions. About two hours in, we were almost done.

"Well, everything seems to be functioning just fine." Nightmare began. "The only things left to check are the powers you lost due to your deficiency. Are you ready?" 

"Yeah." I returned.  

"Okay, then. Try to levitate this cup." Nightmare held up a cup, which didn't move. "No?"

"No. Still can't levitate."

"Try to teleport."

"Can't."

"Right..last thing. Can you summon a blue attack?"

"No."

"Then I guess we'll have to keep hoping."

"Yeah."

"I'll finish this up, then."

"Okay, Dad."

Nightmare began to collect the notes he had taken and turn off some devices while I resumed the kicking of my legs as I waited for him. Papyrus started telling me some stories about what happened while I was out which were very interesting, and I loved having his company back after so long; I couldn't tell him how much I missed him. Having Papyrus back was like the part of me that was missing was restored, and I loved him so much more for it. When Nightmare finished with the notes, he turned back to me and gave me a light smile.

"Apart from your lost abilities, I would say that you're in perfect condition." Nightmare hugged me. "Welcome back, Dust."

"Thanks, Dad." I returned the hug. "I really missed all of you."

"If you ever decide to give us the name of the one who keeps hurting you, don't try to stop us."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that."

"We love you, Dust."

"I love you too."

"So Dusty's okay?" Killer was ecstatic. "Can we play now?"

"Take it easy, but yes; if Dust wants to play, you can go ahead." Nightmare allowed.

"I'm fine with that." I grinned.

"Great!" Killer stood up.

When Killer reached me, I was met with the familiar feeling of being dragged by the wrist and led to a pre-prepared backgammon board - I supposed he hadn't lost his touch - which I was seated at promptly. Killer began to tell me the random events that had taken place in my absence while crushing me in the game, which I didn't mind. Apparently, virtually nothing had changed on the major scale, and it would be like I never got captured in the first place, which came as a great relief to me, since I didn't have to play catch-up with current events. Nightmare had planned to start educating us on the multiverse and other things we would need to know before I was captured, and they were just waiting for me to be ready to start, so I wouldn't fall behind the others; they really were the best family. Killer defeated me in over ten games of backgammon before confessing that he was tired - I honestly was too - and wanted to go to bed, which I certainly didn't stop him from doing. I took this opportunity to head to my room and get some sleep before anything else happened that required my attention, since I needed rest. 

I had spent most of the time in my room sleeping or talking to the others, so I hadn't paid much attention to the fact that my camera was there. I picked it up and began to look through the photos, noticing that it hadn't been used since I was captured, which was almost a year ago. As I flipped through the pictures, the memories behind them flooded my mind, and I smiled; I was glad that I took the pictures with the intent to remember, since I had forgotten some of the events that took place. I laughed when I remembered the time Killer thought it would be a good idea to play a guitar and a flute at the same time and failed in the funniest way possible, and I frowned when I remembered the state of Horror's universe before we found him. The memories I had recorded were special to me, and I took pictures so I would look back on them to recall the good times and the bad. I learned from my mistakes and expanded on my successes in order to be a good brother to those who deserve it. I loved my family, and I would continue to love them.

When I finally put my camera down and lay on my bed, I happily descended into a dusty nightmare, feeling calm and relaxed; I was with my family again, and I loved them with all of my soul. Paps was by my side again, and I loved him so much more after we had been separated. He really was the best brother, and he was an important part of me that I would cherish for the rest of my life. I welcomed the nightmare as it became clearer and clearer, and the screams never bothered me either; they were a refreshing comfort after that dark void I had been exposed to during my time in a coma. It looked like everything was back to normal, and I would continue my work with my family, loving and being loved, forever. I loved my family so much.

They were the ones I would always care for, and the ones I would always love.

~~~chapter end woot~~~

Dust bean okie now.

Thanks for reading my nostalgic writing!

Bye!