Man, love you guys. Like seriously. I want to kiss you all. Stay beautiful! And sorry for the wait. I know I never gave a set time to update (at this point I'm thinking every other week), but I felt guilty after Saturday passed. Steven Universe and KND were happening, and the whole Alex and Bill thing on top of school and speech… I am a mess.

"Are we- Are we there yet?" Dipper asked.

"We're nearly to the yard, kid." Stanford mumbled. Dipper sighed heavily, rearranging the tarp slung over his shoulder. Mabel sat in the middle of the two, suspended in the air by the tarp they had found by the ravine. She held the sides down, keeping water from spilling over the sides.

Dipper panted heavily. His face was drained and covered in sweat. Stanford stole a glance at his great nephew from the other side of the tarp. He sighed.

"Do you need to stop?" Stan asked. Dipper hit the ground before the words were out of Stanford's mouth.

"Hey!" Mabel protested, pulling up on the tarp to keep water from pouring out.

"Why does this weird stuff always happen to me?" Dipper mumbled into the mud. His front was laid out flat against the earth, while his back legs remained in the air. They were less wobbly than before, but they still remained twitchy and unstable.

Stanford picked up the other half of Mabel's tarp, moving it into a knot of fallen trees to keep it from spilling over. He sat down beside the trees, setting himself up so he could see the pair of kids.

Mabel poked her head out of the water. Her hair swirled around her in a tangled mess. She stroked it, pouting as her finger snagged every so often.

"Grunkle Stan?" She asked, peeking over the tarp edge. "Do you still have my shoe?" Stanford looked up, blinking dully at the girl peering down at him.

"Mmm… right here kid." He mumbled, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the small footwear and handed it up to Mabel. She snatched it up excitedly.

"Thanks Stan!" She grinned. Stanford mumbled something unintelligible and nodded off. It seemed he needed a break just as much as Dipper.

Turning her attention to the shoe, Mabel tugged at the lace. It slid out of the shoe with ease. Tossing the shoe aside, Mabel pulled her hair back, tying the string tightly against her head. She pulled it once for good measure.

"Nice." She grinned. Now what to do with the sweater? Mabel thought to herself. She pulled the soaked shirt over her head, revealing the tank top underneath. Mabel gasped. Without the sweater on, she suddenly found breathing much less strained than before. Mabel rubbed her neck where the damp wool clung to her skin a moment before.

"Gills," Mabel stated, rubbing her fingers against the slits along her neck. She could feel them open and close with each breath. "Freaky. Dipper! Dipper, look!"

Dipper groggily lifted his head from the mud.

"Yeah Mabel?" He murmured.

"Come and check this out!"

Dipper pushed himself up, using his arms for balance. His front hooves pushed off the ground first, followed by his backside. He made his way over to where his mer-sister sat.

"What is it?"

Mabel pointed excitedly towards her neck.

"Look!" She dunked her head under the water, took a breath, and resurfaced. Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"You can swim?" He guessed. Mabel shook her head, again pointing to her neck. She opened her mouth and exhaled, which caused her gills to open up, letting water from her lungs pour down her neck.

"Whoa!" Dipper exclaimed. He reached out a hand to touch his sister's neck. Mabel promptly swatted it away.

"Watch it! I don't touch your breathing hole."

"That's so weird though…" Dipper stated, awestruck. "Did you notice anything else?" Mabel swung her tail over the side of the tarp.

"You know, I just can't think of anything. It's not like anything out of the ordinary is going on."

"Hardy- har Mabel." Dipper side stepped, careful not to bump into Stanford, who had feel asleep against the tangled tree roots. He looked eerie in the fading light, arms crossed and face down, like a disapproving judge. "Can I touch it?" Dipper inquired. Mabel shrugged.

"Knock yourself out. It's kind of weird."

Dipper reached forward and gently poked his sister's scaly limb. The muscles in her tail tensed at his touch, but otherwise remained still. Feeling more confident, ran his fingers up and down Mabel's tail tip.

"It feels so smooth." Dipper commented. He lifted his hand, grimacing at the thin laying of fish slime that came with it. "Does your top half come with slime?" Mabel ran her hands across her body, patting each of her limbs.

"It don't think so. Just wet." She grinned. Then she squinted. "Oh my Gosh!"

"What!?"

"Your ears…" Mabel breathed, reaching forward. Dipper ducked as her finger curled around his ears.

"What are you doing!?" Dipper exclaimed, his voice cracking.

"Petting your ears." Mabel stated. She said it like it was a normal occurrence.

"Please stop it."

"Aw, come on Dip," Mabel whined. "You're adorable!"

"You didn't let me touch your gills!"

"Yeah, but I let you touch my tail!"

"Well, the answer's still no."

"Aw, come on! Don't be that way Dipper," Mabel complained, leaning further outside her plastic and wood container. "Stan will let me pet him."

And with that, she reached down, letting her fingers brush against her Grunkle's skin.

"Mabel, what are you doing!" Dipper whispered aggressively.

"I'm proving a point to you!" She whispered back, just as accented.

"You know what happened last time you were trying to prove a point? We all got visits by the sadistic Gravity Falls fairy and you grew a tail!"

"Yeah, so I was wrong the one time," Mabel sighed. Her hand had moved down to the top of Stanford's head, with she scratched carefully, as not to rub the horns protruding from his hair line. "But there is nothing wrong with petting. It's like a little massage! But for your ears."

"No." Dipper deadpanned.

"Dipper!"

"No."

"Please?"

"Mabel, no."

"Aw, come on. Pretty please?"

"No means no Mabel."

"Please with sugar on top?"

"No. Mabel, you're being ridiculous."

"You're the one being ear touchy!"

"Purrrrrr."

Mabel and Dipper stared dumb stuck at each other for a moment.

Did you…? Dipper mouthed. Mabel shook her head franticly. She had stopped rubbing Stanford when the sound started. It slowly died down, fading into the sounds of the forest.

"I'm going to look in the woods," Dipper whispered, making his way quietly to the tree line. He peeked under bushed here and there and found nothing.

"What do you think it was?" Mabel questioned when he got back.

"I don't know…" Dipper shuffled his hooves. "It was way too low to be a cat."

Mabel gulped, returning to rub the hair atop of Stanford.

"Purrrrrrr."

The twins met eyes again. Dipper nodded towards Mabel, who stopped petting. The sound stopped along with the movement in her fingers. Dipper motioned with his hand for Mabel to start again. She began the scratch the grey hairs on her grunkle.

"Purrrrrr."

"Dipper!" Mabel gasped, placing a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter. Dipper grinned back, barely able to contain himself. Stanford continued to purr. It was a low rumble, much like a cats, but lower, and less feline-like and more boulder-like.

"That's so cute!" Mabel whispered.

"Shh," Dipper motioned with his finger. "You'll wake him up."

"I'm not going to wake him up," Mabel reassured her brother. "He's out like a light! See?" She waved her hands franticly in front of Stanford's eyes, flicked his left horn, and patted his chin.

"Maybe you should leave him alone Mabel," Dipper explained after he quieted down his giggles. "Let him sleep." He padded off a few steps, then slid to the ground, curling into a small ball.

"Shouldn't we get home first?" Mabel asked, swimming to the top of her enclosure. Dipper remained motionless. "I thought you said monster's came out here at night." Dipper raised his head up. He said nothing, but his face said it all.

"Stan!" He called, pushing himself up quickly. His front hooves tangled, and his front came colliding with the mud.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

Dipper pushed himself up, slower this time, and shakily came to a stand. His front was covered in mud and water, which had puddled up in the earth. He shacking as he made his way over to his sister.

"Yeah," he mumbled. Mabel reached forward, rubbing some filth from Dipper's chest. She grimaced. Her cold hands only caused him to shiver more.

"Sorry," She apologized.

"It's not your fault," Dipper shrugged. "Let's just get home." Mabel nodded.

"Stan? Stan, it's time to get up." Mabel cooed, turning her attention to her other family member. She shook his shoulder gently.

"Eh…" Stanford moaned, turning his shoulder away from the touch.

"Stan!" Dipper shouted. Stanford's eye's quickly blinked open.

"What?" He groggily asked.

"It's late," Mabel explained. "We should head back to the shack."

"No." Stanford disagreed, pushing himself off the ground. "No it's not. It's still light out." He held out his hand, gesturing towards the sky. Mabel looked up towards the moon, shining all alone in the sky. It was still early enough that the stars hadn't come out.

She turned towards Dipper, who instead of meeting her gaze, continued to look at the ground. He looked miserable standing there, shivering in the dark. She didn't think he heard.

"Are you sure?" Mabel inquired. "I can barely see." Stanford shook his head.

"Are you kids playing games?" Stanford asked, rubbing his face. "I don't think this is a good time."

"Games?" Dipper asked, looking away from the ground and up to Mabel. "Is he being serious? The moon's out."

"Moon?" Stanford looked up at the sky. His pupil-less eye's widened. "Holy Mackerel."

"What?" Mabel asked, swimming up to the edge of her make-shift tank.

"It was so bright…" Stanford mumbled, unable to take his eyes away from the moon. "I could have sworn…"

"Sworn what?" Dipper asked. Mabel gasped.

"He has night vision!" Mabel realized. She flipped her tail in excitement.

"Stan?"

Stanford turned towards the two kids before him.

"You two really can't see?" He questioned.

"Only a little bit." Mabel answered. "I can see up to that tree over there."

"Dipper? How about you?"

"The tree, I guess." Dipper back stepped carefully. "How far can you see?" Stanford turned, looking towards the direction they were heading before they had stopped.

"To the Mystery Shack." He concluded.

"That far away?" Dipper gawked.

"Yeah, all three trees and a yard. I wasn't kidding when I said we were close."

Stanford laid Mabel down in the tub, which had been filled to the brink with water. It was a little dirty, since they poured the water from the tarp in there with her, but they could clean that out tomorrow.

"Um, can I get you a towel or something?" Stanford asked, rubbing the back of his scalp.

"Yes please!" Mabel smiled, sleepily resting her chin on the tip of the bath. Stanford grabbed a towel from the bathroom closet, handing it to his niece. She laid it on the bottom oh the tub, curling on top of the towel to keep it from floating up.

"Good night sweetie." Stanford tried, awkwardly patting Mabel's back. She flung herself out of the water, wrapping her arms around Stanford's neck.

"Good night, Grunkle Stan." And with that, she resubmerged beneath the water. Stanford stepped out of the room, clicking off the light and cracking the door. He made his way up the stairs and into the attic. He found Dipper laying awkwardly across his bed.

"Hey Dipper," Began Stanford, sitting on the mattress beside him. "How are you taking all this?"

"My rear end is a dear's butt." Dipper deadpanned.

"Well, it could be worse," Stanford commented. "You could be stuck in the bathtub like your sister."

"I'm not joking Stan. I thought I got Mabel killed today. And it's all my fault. If I didn't go hunting for that stupid creek, Mabel would be sleeping in a bed, I could walk straight, and you wouldn't look like an exhibit from the gift shop." Stanford remained silent for a moment, unsure how to answer.

"Well, you should seen some off the stuff me and Sta- me and your grandfather used to get into." Dipper open his mouth to protest, but Stanford raised an arm to silence him. "But you know what was different between this and then? We did it on purpose. Or rather one of us did. But you didn't. You weren't trying to hurt anyone. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, none of this was your fault. And your sister doesn't think so either."

"…Thanks Stan." Dipper sniffed.

"Don't mention it kid." Stan pulled the sheets over on Dipper's bed, doing his best to cover the child up. He stood up and walked over to the bedroom door.

"Grunkle Stan?"

"Yeah Dipper?" Stanford turned, his hand held over the door knob.

"Goodnight."

Stanford smiled, turning off the bedroom light. The room was still illuminated by the light coming from the hallway.

"Goodnight kid."

AN/

Hope you guy's enjoyed the chapter! Expect a second one to come out this weekend!