Author's Note: Prompt suggested by PenNameArtist.

G is for Gardening

It was official. Lil' Dipper was becoming a permanent member of the team. She was going to a great boon to their firefighting power but bringing her on was also going to lead to some unique challenges…and the most frustrating challenge that Blade and Maru were currently trying to solve by meandering through the maze-like halls of the local Ikea.

Even though Blade was known for his icy exterior, anyone who had gotten to know the Piston Peak Air Attack Chief knew that the frozen exterior camouflaged a warm squishy center. The helicopter had a bad habit of picking up strays and was strongly protective of his team. This combination of traits was the reason why Blade was working so hard to make sure that Dipper would be able to turn the base into the home she so badly needed…even if it was only going to be her home for part of the year.

During her training year on base, it had become abundantly clear that Dipper was running away from a family that wasn't willing to admit that she wasn't the same aircraft she had been before her rebuild. As the Chief he had seen how that family had tried to use money to tether her, to trap her in a life that she no longer fit into. He knew that she was on the edge of being destitute and having balanced on that razor's edge in the past, he knew that in order to survive she must have jettisoned any hope of owning anything that might weigh her down. It was clear she needed a home, even if that home was only for a few months a year. But it was also clear that she didn't have any funds to decorate the hanger space she was assigned, so Blade took it upon himself to try to make her hanger more comfortable for her.

The one thing that Blade had quickly determined was that Dipper's style didn't match any of his other team members. She clearly preferred something more delicate than Dynamite's 'if it's not nailed down it isn't surviving me' method of decorating. The flying plane also seemed to crave something more modern than Patch's vintage preferences or Cabbie's army surplus aesthetic. Finally, he was pretty certain that Dipper's tastes didn't line up with Windlifter's tastes in interior design (even though no one was exactly sure Windlifter's decorating tastes were, because his wife had swooped in and had taken over and decorated his hanger to the nines).

Unfortunately for Blade, he had also determined that none of Piston Peak Air Attack Bases' winter residence were particularly interested in helping him figure out how he was going to make Dipper feel welcome. Maru seemed to assume that making sure that Dipper's hanger was swept out and assuring that her roof didn't leak before she arrived should be enough to make her feel cared for. Cabbie, on the other tire, simply gave Blade a Deere in the headlights look whenever the helicopter asked for advice.

Which brings us back to Ikea, and two frustrated vehicles trying to figure out sort of coherent interior design they could manage with the $300 dollars ($100 from each of the base's year-round residences) he had to work with. After meandering through the twists and turns it became pretty slagging clear, that even a basic sleeping mat or floor rug was completely out of their budget. Even putting in some fancy lighting or most of the knickknacks. Blade was almost to the point of spending their entire fund on cinnamon buns and admitting defeat when something caught Maru's eye.

"Blade." Maru looked up at his close friend with a somewhat sheepish look. "I think I have figured out what we are going to do for Dipper's hanger…but we are in the wrong store."

At this point, Blade was too tired to give more than a sigh as he allowed Maru to guide the helicopter to his favorite place to shop. Two hours later, fifteen rolls of duct tape, and $300 dollars later, the two vehicles left Home Depot with all of the supplies they needed to complete Maru's project. All they had to do was put in the elbow grease to get everything put together before Dipper flew in for the summer season.

When Lil' Dipper came in for a landing at Piston Peak Air Attack Base, she knew that something was different. She had a hard time putting her tire on what it was…but then as she scanned the hangers on the far side of the tarmac, it hit her. One of the hangers was now blue. A bright cheerful blue that made her happy just by looking at it. But that wasn't the only thing that was new about the hanger. Below each of the hanger's windows, there was a planter box.

Curious Dipper made a beeline to the newly painted hanger and peeked over the rim of the planter boxes…the only thing they were filled with was dirt. The flying boat hated to admit just how disappointed the lack of flowers made her feel. But she didn't have time to mope about that right now, she needed to check in with the Chief. She made a quick U-Turn…and found herself face to face with the Chief.

"I see you have seen the improvements to your hanger." Chief Blade Ranger spoke with a tone that Dipper didn't know how to interpreted, but he motioned her to follow him, so Dipper assumed that he wasn't made at here. With a nudge of his nose he pushed open the door of the happy blue hanger to show a collection of brightly colored little plants in little plastic pots. "We weren't sure which plants you would want to put in which planter, so we decided to wait until you arrived to plant them."

Dipper looked at the plants, then she looked at the Chief, then back to the plants. She tried to speak, but neither her brain nor her mouth could form the words she wanted to say. Luckily Cabbie rolled up and saved her.

"So, what do you think of your new home?" The old plane asked with warmth in his voice.

"I love it!" Dipper replied, no longer holding back her tears.

Most of the rest of the day was spent doing the normal onboarding paperwork, but all the annoyance of paperwork meant nothing because for the first time that Dipper could remember, she felt like she had a place where she had roots. And that feeling of being rooted only grew deeper every single time she water her little window gardens, until she, like the flowers growing in her planter boxes bloomed.