It had been a year since they first entered the town of Gravity Falls, met Grunkle Stan, Soos, Wendy, and the rest of the town, here they had fought off a giant Gideon-bot, Gnomes, a Shape-shifter and countless other monsters, and, of course, it had been a year since they had saved the universe from a top hat wearing triangle demon by the name of Bill Cipher.
As the bus sped past the water tower, Dipper dug into his backpack and pulled out a note he received when he left. It was signed by nearly everyone in town- even Robbie, the mascara-wearing teenager that caused Dipper a lot of problems. Dipper also pulled out a card that the Corduroy's sent him and Mabel around Christmas time, it was signed by Manly Dan, Wendy, and her three brothers Seth, Anthony and Benjamin. Dipper couldn't help but grin at the idea of finally being able to see Wendy, his best friend and crush, again.
Mabel was excited too, she did have friends at home in Piedmont, but none were as close to her as Candy, a geeky Asian girl, and Grenda, who was stronger, tougher, and generally more manly than her brother Dipper, despite being a 13 year old girl. This fact always angered Dipper, and whenever she was mentioned he would try and change the subject.
"I can't believe we're finally going back to the Mystery Shack, Dip! It felt like I was waiting forever!" Mabel squealed.
"Yeah, I'll be able to see Soos, Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford, and-"
"Wendy, you'd never miss the chance to see her again." Mabel teased, cutting off Dipper.
"Shut up! I don't have a crush on her!" Dipper snapped, he new that blatantly lying wouldn't change what his sister thought, she knew him more then he did.
"Come on, bro! You've turned down every girl that asked you out! And I've seen you hiding that 'Do not open!' box under your bed!" Mabel laughed, she always found it fun to tease her brother about his crush.
"Mabel, that was ONE girl that asked me out! And I'll have you know that that box is none of your business!"
They were so caught up in their argument that they didn't notice the bus approaching the Mystery Shack, and it surprised both of them when the vehicle stopped and the driver announced their location.
What was more surprising, though, was the fact that the siblings' favorite red-headed lumberjill was not waiting for them at the bus stop. They were both very curious. After everybody had said hello and some hugs (and noogies) were exchanged, Dipper took the first chance to ask about Wendy.
"Grunkle Stan, where in the world is Wendy? It's not like her to not be there to see her best friends' return." Dipper asked, you could hear the worry in his voice.
"Don't worry, kiddo, she's fine, she went to work at her cousin's logging camp over the summer, she said she wanted to get better at doing what the rest of her family does." Stan answered, meekly.
The young boy was visibly distraught, and started to well up a bit, he told everyone that he was "going for a walk to get back into the swing of this place", and made sure that no-one saw him quietly weeping as he power-walked deep into the woods. Mabel could tell in Grunkle Stan's eyes that he was lying to Dipper, and confronted him. He gave the same answer, so Mabel asked Soos. He said the same, but motioned for Mabel to look at Melody, Soos's girlfriend, who was signalling for Mabel to come inside.
Once she was sure no-one was looking, she whispered to Mabel the truth.
Wendy was NOT at her cousin's logging camp, in fact, she wasn't anywhere that anyone knew of, she had simply vanished without a trace...