Bill felt weak coming down the stairs to the Hall of the Forgotten. Apparently entering the mindscape had taken its toll on his body. He clenched his fists, angry. He didn't expect the trip to take so much out of him.
Pinetree raced ahead of him to help Red, and Bill fell to his knees. Why couldn't he function?! He sat there in the piles of memory tubes, trying to regain his energy.
"Hey Bill!" A cheery voice came from above him.
Bill looked up to see Shooting Star smiling down at him.
"Hey there Shooting Star." Bill replied weakly.
"You look tired!" Shooting Star stated, and she sat crosslegged next to him.
"No," Bill said indignantly. "My body's just not used to taking orders is all."
Shooting Star laughed.
"No silly, you're tired and you're still recovering! See watch-" she paused here and poked his chest, causing him to laugh and then flinch in pain. "Boop!"
"Alright fine, yeesh." Bill muttered dejectedly. "No need to rub it in."
A strange look appeared on Shooting Star's face. What was it? Pity? Sympathy?
She put her hand on Bill's shoulder.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Shooting Star asked.
Bill frowned.
"Well-" he began, but he was interrupted by Pinetree yelling excitedly.
"Guys!" Pinetree yelled. "Guys look what Wendy found!"
Shooting Star smiled at Bill and zipped off to join her brother and friends. Bill heaved a heavy sigh and followed, exhausted.
Pinetree looked excited. He was gesturing triumphantly at Red, who was clutching one of the memory tubes, a smile on her face.
"This memory belongs to Mrs. Gleeful!" Pinetree was saying. "It'll have plenty of information about Gideon on it. Some of it might even be helpful!"
Pinetree's voice was almost a droning buzz to Bill. Why couldn't they all just take a break? It wasn't like there bunker was going to open before the full moon anyways. He began to sway on his feet, and his eye met Shooting Star's for a moment. She looked thoughtful and turned to Pinetree.
"Well that's great Dipper!" She said. "But I need to run home and work on my panorama."
Pinetree looked confused, but nodded.
"Er, okay Mabel." He said.
Shooting Star turned, grabbed Bill by the arm and started to drag him off.
"Come on you Isosceles Monster!" She chirped. "You need to take a nap!"
As Mabel raced off with Bill in tow, Dipper turned back to Wendy and Soos.
"Well," he said, excited. "Shall we test it out?"
Soos and Wendy nodded in agreement, and Dipper inserted the tube into the memory machine. The screen was fuzzy at first, but then the images of Mrs. Gleeful's memories filled the screen.
The first to show up was Mrs. Gleeful's wedding day. Her dark brown hair was pulled into an elegant bun. She looked ecstatic and calm at the same time. She was certainly not the nervous mess she was in the present.
"She's so beautiful," Wendy remarked. "I wonder what happened...?"
The next blip was of Gideon as a toddler. He was screaming and tearing at Mrs. Gleeful's hair.
"Dudes, I'd say Gideon happened!" Soos cut in.
Dipper frowned.
"So far, nothing..." He muttered.
They watched as Mrs. Gleeful suffered several more of Gideon's tantrums until one showed Mrs. Gleeful dangling a dust bunny over Gideon's head. Gideon was squealing in fear.
"Not so fast!" Wendy said, grinning. "This looks promising!"
"He's scared of filth!" The voice of Bud Gleeful exclaimed in the background. "Who knew?"
The next blip was of Gideon using his amulet against his mother.
"I told you!" Gideon yelled. "No. More. Filth!"
Then Mrs. Gleeful was vacuuming everything. She was frantic and obsessive about it.
"I guess that helps?" Dipper said, scratching his head. "I mean, we could just throw a bunch of dirt on Gideon?"
Soos laughed and Dipper rewound the tape, but as he rewound, it didn't stop at the wedding. It kept going until it showed she and none other than Grunkle Stan sitting together drinking coffee and laughing.
"Grunkle Stan?!" Dipper gasped.
He rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe it. Did Grunkle Stan love Mrs. Gleeful at some point?