"I want you to be happy." Is that an impossible ask? Is that an I'm always okay kind of answer? It's a lie that won't work, in a scenario such as this one. "I want you to know that you can't be replaced. That you never could be. I don't know how to make that happen, but..."

But that is what they want. No one ever said it had to be a realistic goal, really.

"I want you to feel like it's okay if you want to be something that isn't nothing. You don't just have to have an empty bed, or pretend that you didn't like the chemistry set Mettaton gave you. I want you to be able to feel like you can learn to use magic without being afraid of hurting anyone."

Maybe those goals, too, are unrealistic.

But they've always lived on a plane askew, haven't they? An optimism slightly out of phase. Too sanguine, too unnatural, too unobtainable.

"I don't know how, but I know that I want you to be...you."