Some background on this story - it is a Reverse Pines story and takes place in the AU where the twins are essentially their worlds version of Lil Gideon, like in my other story 'Wrong Place, Right Time'. It makes no sense in normal continuity.
Only
Mabel looked beautiful in black. It was a sight that Dipper had seen only rarely since she preferred to wear the most garishly bright colors on stage during their performances- odd costumes covered in sequins and gems that shone with the weird metallic gleam of an insects wing. She was beautiful then as well, but it was a strangely artificial beauty, and in his own mind Dipper had always felt that the excessive glitter and gleam detracted from Mabel's natural charms rather than enhancing it.
There was none of that now though – her clothing today was comparatively sombre: a tight black sweater of fine soft material, a long black skirt of conservative cut and sensible shoes (also black, with dull silver buckles). She had also done away with her usual bold makeup for the day in favor of more muted colors, and Dipper was surprised to see that she wore a plain black silk ribbon in her hair in place of the headband which contained her aquamarine amulet.
He hadn't seen her without it for months now- she even wore it to bed, and Dipper was sure that it must have been having some effect on her dreams since she would twitch and moan oddly in her sleep beside him while it pulsed with an unhealthy green light. He reached up unconsciously toward his collar and found only the rough texture of a normal tie there – he remembered that he had left his own amulet up in a small chest in his room. He felt oddly naked without it, but it wouldn't have felt right to wear it today.
Even I have some standards, he thought unhappily.
Mabel turned her face toward him, snapping him out of his wandering thoughts. Mentally he was preparing himself for another one of their usual rounds of good natured verbal fencing, but at the sight of his sisters expression his mind immediately shifted gears. It had been a long time since he had seen Mabel cry, but he could see the tears glimmering in the corner of her eyes, poised to fall. His response was automatic, moving in close and wrapping his arms around her shoulders to pull her face to his chest.
She didn't cry out or sob loudly, but he could feel by the trembling of her shoulders that she wanted to. Dipper could feel Mabel's tears soaking through the stiff material of his black shirt, and he bent his head low over hers to murmur soothing sounds while he ran a comforting hand through her thick brown curls.
"He's not coming back." Mabel whispered, her voice heavy with all the words that the sentence had left unsaid.
"No. He isn't." Dipper replied quietly, feeling a sharp pang run through his own chest as he said it.
We made sure of that, he thought to himself savagely.
It had been necessary. Absolutely necessary.
That didn't mean that it hadn't hurt though.
Thunder rumbled low, shaking the heavy beams of the manors high ceiling. Mabel glanced up and out toward the window, her eyes widening at the sight of the heavy black clouds boiling out of the sky around the mountain, choking the sun from the sky. Heavy raindrops began to patter down musically against the glass panes.
"I'd thought the weather report said today was going to be sunny?" Mabel asked, a small current of curiosity running through her sad tone.
"Well, you know how unreliable weathermen can be…" Dipper said, his eyes carefully shifting to avoid her gaze.
He caught a faint hint of a smile turning up the corners of her mouth and she gave him a gentle poke in the belly, the sort of playful touch she hadn't done in years.
"C'mon, spill it- this has Dipper written all over it." she said, her voice sounding lighter.
"I may have looked up a few spells to control the weather last night after you went to bed." Dipper said sheepishly, running his fingers nervously through his hair.
"Wow… that's a pretty nice one. I didn't even know that was even possible." Mabel said, sounding impressed as a crash of thunder rumbled the windowpanes.
"It actually took quite a bit of effort – I don't expect I'll be doing any sort of conjuring for a while till I can regain my strength." Dipper admitted.
"Why?" she asked, her tone somewhat sharper.
"Because it didn't seem right to bury him on a sunny day. He deserved better than that." Dipper said, his voice flat.
"Making the entire sky cry at his funeral… he would probably have appreciated the showmanship." Mabel said, stifling a sniffle that threatened to shatter her fragile smile.
Dipper cupped her chin in his hands and brought her face up to his, bending low to plant a soft kiss on her coral pink lips. Her mouth was stiff against his at first, but after only a moment her arms flew around his neck and pulled his face against hers as she returned the kiss with savage heat. Even without his amulet Dipper could feel the raw pulse of emotion and energy thrumming under his sisters skin, currents of grief and desire and even a few faint threads of guilt writhing through her mind like serpents made of thought. He twined his fingers through the silken curls of her hair, tugging her face harder against his as he returned her energy in kind. The kiss ended all to soon, but it left him feeling somehow cleaner… as if he had doused his soul in fire and burned out all of its flaws and impurities.
"I love you." she whispered softly, making it sound half endearment and half curse.
"I love you too. Only you." Dipper replied firmly, his fingers twined tightly with hers.
"Only you." she echoed, reaching her hand up to stroke her soft fingertips gently against the line of his jaw.
A few years ago Dipper could have counted the number of people that he truly cared about on one hand. That was before the amulets… before the Change had come over him… before he and Mabel had become what they we're to each other. Time and circumstances had whittled that number down slowly and as of this week there was now only Mabel left.
There will only ever be Mabel now, he thought to himself. There was no anger or sadness in that thought… she had always mattered most to him, and that had not diminished at all.
Still, it had been a shame – he had loved Stan in his own way… killing him had been like putting a beloved pet to sleep.
"Shall we go? The service will be starting soon." Dipper said, shaking the maudlin thoughts out of his mind.
"Can we enjoy the storm just a little longer first? Its not like they can start without us… we're all the family he had left." Mabel said with a sigh as she leaned herself against Dippers arm.
"Alright… a few minutes more then." Dipper said as he pulled his arm up around her shoulder and squeezed her tight against his chest.
Yes, one by one the other connections had fallen away. Friends… enemies… family. Now there was only one. His sister, his partner, his lover, his queen.
In all of the whole wide world there was only Mabel.
