Author's Note: So I was watching the second Peter Pan with my little brother one day and when it got to the part where an older Wendy meets Peter again I couldn't help but think of that situation with Mabel and Bill. What happens when she grows up and comes back and sees him again? Well that's what this fic is about. Mabel's grown-up life isn't a great as she thought it would be and so she returns to Gravity Falls to try to find the happiness she had as a kid and of course Bill will be a part of that, though warning you now that he won't appear until later chapters. Also think of this as like a spirit sequel to my other Mabill fic "But He Talks Like A Gentleman" (which you should totally read if you haven't.) A lot of elements of this fic come from headcanons of my friend Jaimie (lolitakaworu on FF) and she also beta'd for me and named Mabel and Dipper's spouses so THANK YOU JAIMIE! Finally, the title of this fic comes from the Florence + the Machine song Bedroom Hymns lyric "I'm not here looking for absolution because I found myself an old solution." which I believe perfectly describes this fic. Anyway, without further ado, here is Chapter 1: "Returning."
Looking out the window of the plane as it descended into the Portland International Airport, Mabel Pines couldn't help but smile. She hadn't been back to Oregon since her brother got married almost 7 years ago, and then it'd only been for about two days, and something about it just filled her with giddy. Gravity Falls awaited only about an hour away.
She closed the sketchbook she'd been working in and slipped it in her bag as the plane came to a stop. After hearing the all clear to unbuckle and unload, Mabel quickly made her way out of the crowded terminal and down to the baggage claim. She grabbed her two bags from the conveyer belt and then headed toward the exit.
She scanned the small groups of people gathered around, looking for her ride. There were people crying and hugging and laughing, just all excited to see those that they hadn't in a long time. Then, standing toward the corner of the room, Mabel saw her group. They noticed her about the same time she noticed them and they all started towards each other. Mabel was positively beaming to see her brother again after so long.
"Hey bro-bro!" Mabel shouted to the tall bearded man wearing a familiar blue and white pine tree hat.
Dipper Pines gave his twin sister a big smile. "Hey, Mabel." He held his arms out to her. "Awkward sibling hug?"
Mabel let go of her bags and smiled. "Awkward sibling hug." So they hugged, patted each other on the back, and let go.
"Daddy, that's what we do too!" rang out the voice of an excited little girl standing behind Dipper. The little boy beside her just nodded in agreement. They'd obviously gotten most of their looks from their dad because Mabel couldn't help but look at them and see little clones of her and Dipper.
Dipper picked up the little girl with a laugh. "Yeah, I know! I taught you two."
"So are these two my niece and nephew I've seen running around on Skype?" she asked. "Little Ruby and Forrest?"
"Yep," began Dipper, "my Irish twins. They've been excited all day about finally meeting their Aunt Mabel in person."
"Well I've been excited about meeting them!" she said. "I even brought presents!"
"Presents!" yelled both of them in unison.
"Ah- no presents until we get home. Your aunt probably would like to get to the house to rest. She's had a long flight from New York," said Dipper. He grabbed his son's hand and off the four of them went toward the parking lot.
"So Daddy says that you a fashion designer there!" exclaimed Ruby as they walked.
Mabel nodded. "Yep! I sure am!"
"Can you make me a dress that I can have adventures in but still look really cute? One that I can get dirty without Mommy getting mad?"
"Sure," laughed Mabel. "Have you considered wearing more sweaters though?"
"Your aunt was the queen of sweater making," Dipper said as he set his daughter down to pop the trunk of his SUV. "You should've seen 'em."
"I still make some sweaters," she said as she stuffed her bags in the back.
"Hey, what was it you recently made that got featured in that magazine?" asked Dipper as he loaded his kids up in the vehicle.
Mabel hopped into the front seat. "My umbrellas?"
"Yeah," began Dipper, nodding, "that was it." He started the car up and off they headed toward Gravity Falls.
Mabel thought back to her umbrella collection; not really what she had hoped to be designing but she guessed everyone had to start somewhere. And they did end up in a magazine with a model holding Mabel's favorite: one that looked to be made of yellow bricks with a single eye in the very middle. A tribute to an old friend.
She looked out the window as city asphalt slowly became woods. She wondered if she'd see him again. With how life had been going, maybe a little chat with him would be nice.
"So how's the, uh, August thing?" asked Dipper once Forrest and Ruby had fallen asleep in the back. He coughed a little as he spoke, trying his hardest to nonchalantly bring the subject up.
"You mean my divorce?" Mabel sighed. "Just another failed romance. I think I'll take Wendy's advice and give up on men."
Mabel could feel her mood souring as she thought about her soon-to-be ex-husband so she quickly changed the subject. "How's Lucille?"
"Good," began Dipper, "She wanted to make sure our house was presentable for you and then she went to the Mystery Shack to clean you a room out. Grunkle Stan and Soos have been using the extra rooms to store merchandise and stuff. Sorry we don't have an extra room for you with us."
"It's fine, bro! I've missed the Mystery Shack!" She then noticed a sign declaring "Now Entering Gravity Falls". She sighed. "I've missed Gravity Falls."
Dipper looked over at her. The thing about twins were you couldn't hide your emotions from each other. He knew that Mabel had come to Gravity Falls to essentially take a vacation from her life in The Big Apple. She wouldn't show it around anyone, she'd always kept up that happy demeanor, but he knew that she was getting down. Between a job that wasn't as a glamorous as she thought it would be when she joined it and a divorce with a man she thought she'd be with forever, it wasn't really surprising that she'd be feeling kinda depressed.
"We've missed you around here too. That's why we're going to the Mystery Shack first. Grunkle Stan and Soos would probably like to see you. Luci wants to take you out to dinner tonight, though."
"Will it be Greasy's?" she asked, excitedly.
"If that's what you want," he replied.
"Yup! Can't beat the local Gravity Falls food."
He smiled and turned back to the road. "You know maybe we can solve some mysteries while your here. There are still a lot of weird things that go on."
Mabel smiled. "That sounds fun." Maybe some mystery solving would be helpful in taking her mind off things; maybe it'd help her to feel like a kid again, happier, freer.
She stared back out the window as the Mystery Shack started to come into view. Maybe.
Ok so this is more like a prologue rather than a full chapter but I hope it got you all excited for more! I recently got a job and it keeps me super busy, especially paired with my summer college classes, so updates will be sporadic as I'll have to work hard to find the time to do them. Anyway the next chapter obviously involves them arriving at the Mystery Shack and we get a look at what's happened to some of our favorite characters like Soos, Stan, Wendy, etc. We also get to meet Dipper's wife Lucille and Mabel gets to catch up on what's been happening in Gravity Falls. As always reviews and constructive criticism are welcome! See y'all next chapter! ;D