A/N: okay! Minor spoiler warning. If you havwnt seen the later episodes of gravity falls season 2. This might not make a lot of sense...
A man named Stan
The phone call came late at night. Dinner had been eaten, pigs had been fed, and Pajamas had been put on. It was the worst time really. Yet the ringing sounded through the home loudly. It was a hollow sound when the pair thought back. The sound of the end. Their mother spoke for some time in the kitchen quietly whispering. Yet the news could not be left quite and it was with a tragic face that their mother returned.
"… Mabel… Dipper… I have to talk to you…"
"It's about your great uncle…"
"Stanford."
The afternoon bus rolled down the country road as rain skittered across the windows observing the views that the pair had once glanced at in horror, dreading a wasted summer, then with regret as the bus took them away. The pair said nothing to one another. Time had changed them but the sleepy town they were going to still held a place in their hearts. And yet… it wouldn't be the same. Finally the trees grew closer to the ground. If one looked closely they would see what appeared to be a fairy getting into an argument with a strange man in a red hat, or a unicorn drinking from a stream. As the bus rose over another hill the pair looked over the valley to the water tower that held the tiny towns name.
The Pines twins were back in Gravity Falls.
But it was not for another summer…
The bus screeched to a halt and the pair stepped out. Waiting for them at the station were several towns folk. There was a tall redhead withy a blue and white hat decorated with a pine tree. There was a large man with a red fez, an Asian woman wearing a pair of glasses, and a large female with a beauty mark. They were all dressed in black. The pair stepped out dressed in similar garbs and stared at their welcomers.
"Soos… it's nice to see you… how's the shack?" Dipper asked with a slight waver. Soos just looked at the ground.
"It's… different… that for sure… especially… well… you'll see dudes."
"It is true… the entire town has been different, …" the Asian girl said quietly
"Yeah… it's been tough, …" the large girl said gruffly
"Candy, Grenda… its great to see you guys…" Mabel tried weakly. The tall red cleared her throat.
"Um guys… well it's just… it's starting soon you know…" the group looked up at her.
"…Wendy's right… come on." Dipper said gravely and the group made their way to the gravity falls cemetery.
Stan stared out the window. He stared for a long time. He was now half of a set, like a bookend with no partner. He felt a cold sense of separation grow. He needed some reminder. Yet he could find none in this place. It was then he remembered and, entering the code, he slipped into the basement. Yet as he stood there, among the machines so loved by him, he did not find solace or connection but instead a bitter reminder of why he could find no reminder of him above. It was a reminder of the wasted years. So in the place of the cold emptiness Stan felt pure rage develop for the machine that had stolen his years away. With that he raised his eight ball cane and smashed the control panel in. On he destroyed, shattering glass as sparks and metal shrapnel flew everywhere. And then it stopped. A smaller, less aged fist was holding his swing back, between his own fist and the ball. The smaller hand wrenched the cane out of his hand and threw it aside. Stan stopped and stared at the figure before him. The young man was crying, staring at him with tears on his cheeks pleading in his eyes. He was calling out to the man and it appeared he had been for some time.
"-kle Stan… please…please Grunkle Stan just stop… just stop…" Dipper pleaded before he sank to his knees and sobbed into his hands.
Stanley pines sank to his ancient knees and held his great nephews shoulders. He stared at the boy, who was looking at him desperately, before pulling him in for a real hug.
The rain outside skittered across the windows. It dripped down the leaves on the trees. The people of Gravity Falls milled about under umbrellas. The many fantastical creatures and one strange statue felt it hit them. And in the Gravity Falls cemetery above a freshly filled grave an inscription could be read…
Here lies
Stanford Filbrick Pines
Beloved
Uncle
Friend
And
Brother
Below it, Sitting in the dirt, was a shooting star key chain, a blue and white hat decorated with a pine tree, and an eight ball.
A/N: just to be clear. It's the real Stanford that died...
And just Dipper and Mabel's ages the cause is unclear. But then that's how it's spoked to be...
P.s. thank you anxresi... I totally didn't see that... Derp. Ha ha ha... yes indeed, cheap carvers. .. and those chap carvers are me...