Spoilers for "Not What He Seems". Crossposted to my new tumblr as well. Another drabble - this time, Mabel introspection during those final moments.
Shooting Stars
Mabel can't stop shaking.
Despite there being no gravity she had felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her brother told her to listen to her head, and all logic had indeed pointed to shutting off the portal thing. But –
"Look into my eyes, Mabel! Do you really think I'm a bad guy?"
But she was a creature of the heart. Mabel listened to her instincts, her gut, her emotions, because these things were hers. They could not be skewered by lies and false leads and misconstrued facts.
"But trust me, everything I've worked for, everything I care about, it's all for this family."
"Mabel, what if he's lying?"
She just knew that he wasn't. He couldn't be, with the way his voice wavered and broke, the way his eyes glistened with wetness, the way he implored her to please, please, Mabel sweetie please-
"Grunkle Stan… I trust you."
Mabel always trusted Dipper. They were twins – of course she trusted him, and he trusted her. She saw the way he broke, the way he couldn't believe her-
"Mabel, are you crazy? We're all gonna-!"
-and even though Stan had lied to them, even though she didn't know if he was even her grunkle, she had to. She looked at him and saw truth, and sincerity, and trust in her.
So she let go.
The world blazed.
And then everything fell, cracked and in ruins, but everyone was still alive and then the man - the strange man in a cloak with the six-fingered hand - stepped out of the portal.
"Who is that?"
"The author of the journals – my brother."
Mabel knew there was a reason. Grunkle Stan just wanted his brother back.
She would do the same for Dipper, to be honest.
(But now she wasn't sure whether Dipper would ever be able to do the same for her.)