First things first, I'd like to sincerely apologize for the wait for this chapter. Between working at my job at the casino and working on two or three other fics at the same time (one being an Ed, Edd, n' Eddy fic that's been kicking my butt throughout all of May), I didn't have a chance to finish up most of this chapter for the longest time…

Still though, Chapter Four is at least finished up, albeit very slightly shorter than the first two chapters. Today, Dipper and Mabel will be going on a little tour with Rosemary and Sage, while Oak continues to have his doubts about having humans in his home. Enjoy, gals and guys! :D

Gravity Falls is owned by Alex Hirsch and Disney. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun).

THE FAERIES OF THE FALLS

CHAPTER FOUR: MUCH ADO ABOUT FAERIES

"Come on, Snapdragon, keep that stance nice and levelled! Ivy, careful where you aim that arrow of yours! Valerian, please tighten those shoulders of yours!"

As Rosemary and Sage were busily showing Dipper and Mabel around the main village to talk about the faeries' culture and mannerisms, Oak, the clan's bold and stony-faced leader, was off at another section of the village training a small group of three other faeries in the art of archery. He had given them some handmade bows and arrows made from sticks and carved stones and was busily coaching them to make sure they were fully prepared to protect themselves for when disaster should strike.

Or trying to coach them anyways…

With the benevolent and doe-eyed faeries not having a single violent bone in their bodies, they weren't as combat-ready as Oak was, nor willing to be as such in that case. Oak, in question, had been practically defensive archery for many years, a trait he had picked up from his grandfather years ago, and by now, he was considered as a precise and skillful archer amongst his fellow faerie friends and he was exceedingly proud to be seen as such.

They were all practicing their bow-and-arrow skills close by the village's old watermill, up on a grassy knoll close by the edge of the forest, but not too close towards the outside of said forest as not to warrant any incoming predators. Their practice area was close by a thick wall of colorful sycamore trees, and Oak had set up target boards to help his students to know where to aim.

Unfortunately, the other faeries proved to be lousy shots; some arrows would aimlessly fly over the target, some arrows wouldn't even reach the board itself, and should an arrow actually hit the board, it was far off from the center where it hit. Oak groaned in irritation as his students continued fumbling about with their old-fashioned weapons. They were all tired and nervous to be handling such weaponry.

"Come on, you lot! It's not that hard, just steady your stance and keep your eye on the target!" Oak reminded again, doing his best to goad his crew into succeeding, but with little to no avail.

One particular faerie amongst the group, a lithe, male with poofy, orange hair, gold eyes, peach-colored skin, and a pink Greek tunic-and-skirt combo seemed to be struggling more so than the rest as he tried his hardest to properly hold his bow and arrow. His sweaty palms were apparently the reason why he was handling his bow so sloppily, and his jittery, nervous demeanor didn't seem to make anything better.

Suddenly, the peach-colored faerie shot his first arrow...but at the worst possible time. He had just been in the middle of trying to position the trajectory of his arrow, but his sweat-covered fingers slipped away his bow, causing him to let go of the arrow unexpectedly.

The spring-loaded arrow shot straight up in the air, barely reaching up towards the branches up on the tall trees. Oak certainly noticed this and gasped; should that arrow fall back down in the path of an unknowing faerie, that could only spell harm.

"Wayward arrow! Everyone, get under the canopy!" he warned hastily with a shout. Soon enough, he and the other faeries immediately flew away from the targeting area and towards a nearby small hut made from broad leaves and twigs. It was built to act as a protective shell in case of any falling items that could potentially harm any of the faeries.

The arrow flew and lingered up in the air for a while until it then fell straight back down to Earth again. The faeries watched from the safety of their canopy as the arrow struck back down on the ground, the arrowhead dug firmly into the ground upon impact. Oak and the faeries breathed a sigh of relief; luckily, no one had been hurt.

But still, Oak couldn't help but to give the faerie who shot said arrow a rather agitated expression.

"Snapdragon, for the love of Gaea, be careful when shooting that arrow! You could have stabbed some faerie's eye out with that!" Oak shouted, giving the peach-colored faerie his most serious tone and his most disapproving face yet. Snapdragon recoiled and gulped in fight. He was usually a nervous, lily-livered, and clumsy kind-of faerie, and he really didn't like confrontation, especially when it involved Oak.

"S-S-Sorry, Mr. Oak! I-I didn't mean to, h-h-honest…" Snapdragon gasped, flinching away from Oak's stern face. One of Snapdragon's friends who was part of Oak's archery team, a female faerie with light green skin, brown eyes, brunswick green hair styled in a pixie cut, and had a short, brown Greek dress that reached down to her upper knees, then floated up beside her upset friend, annoyed by Oak's brash harshness.

"Hey, Oak, calm down!" she chided at him while rubbing Snapdragon's back comfortingly, "Snapdragon just made a mistake was all! It's not like we're as good with using this dumb arrows like you are!"

Oak rolled his eyes at the young, green friend's snappish nature. Ivy was the kind of faerie to not take any guff from anyone, especially from himself. Sure, she was as kind-hearted and helpful as the rest of her clan, but she would be very defensive should any of her friends would get hurt (physically or emotionally) by anyone, especially that hurt faerie was Snapdragon, her closest friend.

'Always a spitfire, this one…' he grumbled to himself before he turned back to her. "Ivy, that is precisely why I'm training you guys in archery! So that when a predator arrives in our home, we'd all be prepared to save ourselves from harm!"

Ivy scoffed and suppressed the urge to roll her own eyes as well. "You act as if we have a predator come by our home every day…" she snarked. Oak groaned tiredly as he put away his bow and arrow inside of his quiver.

"It's just as a precaution!" Oak reminded, "Anything dangerous could easily pop up in our village? Remember when that angry raccoon came in and nearly ate all our rations last spring?"

Ivy still wasn't convinced, as well as Snapdragon as he bravely looked up at Oak. "W-Well...the raccoon was only angry because it had a thorn stuck on his paw. He did calm down once Sage helped to heal him and he did leave us alone afterwards…" he added matter-of-factly. Oak sneered.

"Well, be that as it may, I still don't see why Rosemary would simply allow two humans to parade around our home like this! For God-knows how long, I've been protecting this village from humans trying to pollute or smash up everything and then suddenly, one of our own kin easily lets two of them in like we're a youth hostel!" grumbled Oak.

"Oak, I doubt these humans are like the ones you keep describing...these ones seem much more innocent to me…" Ivy insisted rationally. The third and final faerie from the group, a hazel-eyed male with light tan skin, and wavy, sky blue hair, wearing a matching, dark blue-colored toga joined the group as well.

"I side with Ivy as well, Oak. There really should be no reason to fear most humans, especially towards these two humans visiting our home." he reminded calmly with a light, soothing, almost-sleepy voice.

"Valerian, I don't fear humans, I just want us to be extra cautious is all! Having two humans nearly as tall as trees simply waltz around basically spells nothing but disaster to me..." Oak corrected towards the blue-toned faerie, whom in return, simply gave Oak a patient nod.

"Oak, I understand you want to protect us all from potential danger and we do appreciate your actions…" assured Valerian, trying to avoid the loud scoff Ivy gave out afterwards before continuing again, "but you must trust us. Those humans are not menaces nor are they violent in any fashion."

Oak still didn't seem too sure. "Maybe they aren't intentionally violent, but still, these two humans are children. And last I checked, many children tend to be clumsy and way too curious for their own good." he stated.

Ivy, Valerian, and Snapdragon each raised an eyebrow at Oak; the irony regarding his declaration about "creatures being too curious for their own good" was not lost on them, considering the faeries weren't really any better..

"So, what're you planning to do about it then?" asked Ivy curiously. Snapdragon grimaced worriedly beside her.

"You're not going to hurt those humans? A-Are you?" Snapdragon queried nervously. Oak sighed softly, having just packed up his belongings off the ground.

"Of course not! Even I wouldn't murder a human like that, I'm not a barbarian!" he admitted sharply and seriously, "And even if I wanted to, Rosemary would have my head on a stake if I did something to harm her new friends. Regardless, their presence still puts me on edge and I'm not too sure what to do for now…"

Ivy snidely frowned at him. "You can get over it and go about your day like a normal faerie?" she suggested sarcastically. Valerian shot Ivy a disapproving frown, causing the snarky creature to settle down before he spoke back up to Oak again.

"Oak, if Rosemary has trusted her own heart and instincts that these twins are harmless," Lotus wisely advised towards the burly faerie, "then I feel it's best that we respect her wishes. Simple as that…"

Ivy nodded and smirked. "Agreed. And who knows, Oak? Maybe you may get to like these humans in the end?" she offered with a knowing chuckle, Snapdragon nodding alongside her.

Oak frowned in uncertainty. Admittedly, while there actually was a tiny part of him wished that he was truly wrong about all humans being violent and uncaring, another part of him still advised to continue keeping a sharp eye upon Dipper and Mabel, regardless of what his friends may say.

"I'm not sure, you three…" he sighed, "I do trust Rosemary, but having these humans around just doesn't sit right with me…" He then finished packing up his stuff and slung his archery gear over his back, sighing tiredly.

"If it's all the same to you, I'm heading back to the village for some rest…" said Oak towards the others, "We'll continue training tomorrow afternoon." And with that, Oak fluttered away from the practicing area and down towards the lane that led back to the village. The other faeries sighed in relief as Oak finally left; archery training really wasn't their strong suit.

"Maybe O-Oak is right...we're all due for a little rest…" Snapdragon piped up softly before Valerian yawned softly in response.

"Same here, I wanna get a nap in before…*yawn*...the day is through…" Valerian added with a commonly-expected yawn. He always had a knack for sleeping throughout the day, only out of habit. Ivy shrugged alongside her male comrades.

"Works with me...whatever gets me out of this dumb archery stuff…" she sighed. And soon, Ivy, Valerian, and Snapdragon packed up the rest of their things before the three of them flew back towards the village together, all hoping that Oak would soon settle down about this whole "humans are bad" nonsense.

Elsewhere, Rosemary and Sage were continually and happily showing Dipper and Mabel Pines all around their beautiful village home, all taking in the wonderful sights of Mother Nature during their little jaunt. Mabel was taking as many photos she could take for their Journal (which wouldn't deal as much of a problem seeing as she and Dipper packed at least eight extra rolls of film for their camera just in case) and Dipper was excitedly and quickly jotting down as much information about faeries that Rosemary or Sage would spout during their tour in a small notebook.

Right now, they had just finished touring around village center and were passing by the local food gardens where the faeries would grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables for them to eat. There were strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and cherry plants, bushels of carrots and potatoes growing within the fresh soil, and there was even stalks of wheat and corn growing high in the fields. Everything looked so ripe and fresh and delicious!

There, the twins could see a few faeries buzzing around the gardens, either planting new food seeds in the dirt or digging up any fruits or vegetables that were done growing or were simply watering or tending to any baby plants that needed nourishment. Some faeries were even seen harvesting flower petals and stems to be used for food, making clothing, and building a faerie would spot Rosemary, Sage, and the twins, they'd give the group a sweet smile and a friendly hand wave towards them, which the group would return kindly back at them.

Next, after touring around the gardens, the two faeries took Dipper and Mabel towards the village's watermill, which help supplied and purified fresh water from the local stream for the village. There, the twins saw Snapdragon, Ivy, and Valerian there, the three of them fluttering back to the village after finishing their archery lesson. The trio of faeries beamed brightly and waved happily up at the twins, even going as far as to greet them with a cheerful "Hello!" as well. The twins smiled and jovially returned the gesture afterwards.

Soon, the twins and their faerie friends reached back to another section of the village, which housed many of the faeries' own homes. One of these wooden-made homes also belonged to Wattle, a yellow-painted home sprawled around one of the trees' trunks. The decadent scent of freshly-cooked vegetables and spices wafted around the home, indicating that he and Bluebell were still busily cooking up Dipper and Mabel's welcome lunch. The smell of the food was already enough to cause the twins' mouths to water, but they didn't have time to dwell on that as their little tour continued on.

They all even passed by Oak's home, which looked only slightly bigger than the other faeries' houses as it was perched strong and securely around the trunk of a large, orange-leafed sequoia tree. Oak was too busy storing away his archery items inside his safety of his home to bother to greet Rosemary or the humans. The gentle footsteps the twins were making weren't enough to cause any tremors, given how small he was compared to them, but he still couldn't help but to frown unsurely to himself as the group walked and flew past his home, chattering merrily all the while.

Oak felt the humans waltz by his home and couldn't help but to let out a soft groan afterwards. He still had a bad feeling in his gut about these humans parading around his home, in spite of Rosemary's assurance. Even since of what happened to his grandfather many years ago, he still couldn't bring himself to trust humans...at least, right now anyways. He didn't initially want to distrust humans, but experience and past incidents with his other faerie friends caused him to be more protective over time.

But still, Oak didn't want to upset Rosemary either, in spite of his wariness. She already had taken a strong liking towards Dipper and Mabel, and should Oak wind up doing something that might cause the humans to be scared or run off, he'd surely receive the lecture of a lifetime from Rosemary, that he knew.

'Grandpa Quercus wouldn't approve of this...but I have to be strong and supportive for Rosemary…' he sadly noted internally. For now, Oak had to simply wait this day out until the humans were able to head back home at the end of the day.

"Rosemary...you better be right about this…" he muttered aloud softly. Soon, he felt his stomach rumble a bit. Apparently, archery class must've worked up an appetite for him.

With nothing else to do for the rest of the day aside from worrying, Oak decided it best to get a little something to snack on as he had his things packed on before exiting his home to head outside and fly towards the center of the village.

The tour soon ended a few more minutes later as Dipper, Mabel, Rosemary, and Sage decided to take a little rest underneath one of the tall oak trees that stood a few feet from the center of the village. It was around 4:00-ish right now, and it wouldn't be dark for another few more hours, so the twins were still able to mill around for a little while longer until dusk would arrive.

Fresh sunlight trickled past the tree branches above the two kids, bathing them with thin beams of warm light as they contently relaxed on the soft, moss-covered ground. Rosemary sat happily on Mabel's right knee, while Sage simply laid comfortably on her back upon Dipper's head, since the boy had decided to take off his (or rather formerly Wendy's) deerstalker cap to let the sun shine on his hair. The faeries were both so blessed to share Mother Nature's bountiful beauty with their newest friends.

Dipper breathed in a fresh, hefty amount of oxygen. The air in the village smelled sweet and clean, partially due to all the vast variety of flowers grown around the area. It made Dipper feel truly at ease.

"Rosemary, your home is something to be believed!" he complimented with a blissful sigh, "I've never felt this close to nature…" Mabel nodded happily in agreement.

"Yeah, everything here looks so green and beautiful!" she added. Rosemary blushed modestly and gave the twins a sweet, appreciative smile.

"Well, thank you, sweeties!" she giggled, "We certainly do keep a tight ship around here!" Sage nodded agreeingly as she was still lazily sprawled on top of Dipper's soft hat.

"Yep, nothing beats basking in Mother Nature's inviting and comforting glow…" Sage replied calmly, stretching her limbs freely as the afternoon sun beamed down upon her and her friends. Dipper smiled softly, looking down at a small patch of daisies on the ground below him, where a pair of bumblebees were seen buzzing about, trying to collect pollen for themselves.

"I gotta say, though…" he continued, "This may just be one of my favorite places here in Gravity Falls...I know we've only just been here for an hour or so, but this is looking already so beautiful and peaceful around here…"

"Same here…" agreed Mabel, "Even the town doesn't have beautiful sights like this…" Sage raised an eyebrow in thought.

"You little dudes have been, like, talking a lot about the Falls for a while, especially during the tour!" she commented with an interested tone. Rosemary chuckled warmly.

"I'm sure they have a good reason to, Sage..." she remarked, "Gravity Falls is pretty much their home after all and who wouldn't want to live here!?" Dipper cracked the two female creatures something of an awkward half-smile.

"Technically, not exactly…" answered Dipper carefully, "Gravity Falls is our home only for the summer, so while we're in Oregon, we'll be dorming with our Grunkles in their home close by the forest." Sage seemed to look a bit downcast upon hearing that.

"You're only visiting for the summer? Bummer, man..." she asked, disappointed. Mabel casted her a kind smile.

"Don't worry, this is only the start of our summer, so hopefully we can visit up back in your home again during our stay?" she offered hopefully. Dipper, meanwhile, seemed to be more uncertain than anything.

"That is, if Oak will allow us back here again…" he reminded demurely.

Rosemary and Sage looked back at each other sympathetically. Somehow, they knew Dipper might've brought up Oak again, but even so, he wasn't wrong. They both knew Oak wouldn't approve of having humans visit their home once, let alone on a daily basis. Despite of Oak begrudgingly letting Rosemary show the humans around, she knew this may only be a one-time thing for sometime.

Still, she didn't like to see Dipper looks so down in the dumps as she flew off of Mabel's knee and carefully went to Dipper's glum face, gently and motherly caressing his right cheek while looking him in the eye.

"Dipper, I understand you feel nervous with Oak around...trust us, sometimes we do too, but he's only doing it as a means to protect us…" Rosemary comforted, trying to give the twins an assuring aura, "I know Oak can be brash and intimidating, but he does have a heart of gold deep down inside of him. Plus, he really uses those bows and arrows for self-defense, so I'm extremely certain he's not going to be attacking you both all willy-nilly…"

Dipper, naturally, still looked and felt apprehensive, in spite of the small smiled he tried to give to Rosemary. He truly did appreciate the red-themed faeries' unfaltering sympathy and kindness, as well as the rest of the faeries clan's hospitality, but having to deal with Oak throughout the day since after their encounter began to send chills down his spine. Rosemary could still sense Dipper's fright and decided to put an end to that.

"And before you say anything, Dipper…" she continued, her tone sounding much more serious, "yes, I know you and Mabel won't do anything to hurt us, nor that you both will try and send the location of our home to everybody in the universe, but just because Oak may not fully trust you doesn't mean the same applies to us. Me and the rest of my friends already think you two are very pure of heart, so we know you won't try anything funny while in our home…"

Dipper felt the corners of his lips twinge and curl into a smile. It was a faint smile, sure, but it still radiated shades of gratitude that was still able to be detected through the eyes and auras of their two faerie friends. Dipper chuckled ever so softly, his nerves slowly feeling much better.

"If only Oak was as understanding as you guys...the world could use more optimistic and hospitable creatures like you…" Dipper admitted with a sincere, though inwardly sad tone.

Rosemary tenderly smiled up at Dipper, so touched to hear such kind words from her friend that she buzzed up closer to Dipper's face and hugged him against his right cheek. Sage, whom was just as touched, simply rolled off her back and onto her stomach to give the top of Dipper's head a hug as well, burying herself in the boy's soft, chocolate brown hair in the process. Mabel couldn't help but laugh good-heartedly at the adorable scene before her, which even prompted Dipper, Rosemary, and Sage to join in as well. The laughter continued for a quarter of a minute until Dipper spoke up.

"Rosemary, Sage...thanks for all of this...you and the other faeries have just been so kind to me and Mabel...I don't know how we can thank or repay you all for this…" Dipper said, his voice quiet and profound. Rosemary sweetly gave Dipper a motherly smile.

"You both don't need to thank or repay us...we're your friends now and we're doing all this because we care about you very much. It's not terribly often humans come by in this neck of the woods, so having two young and kind dearies like you two visit up here was a delightful surprise…" Rosemary explained gracefully as she slowly let go of her hug.

The twins lightly blushed and felt truly at ease in their hearts; somehow, Rosemary seemed to know how to make their internal emotions feel better much better as she continued speaking towards them.

"And don't you two worry about Oak. Right now, you both just worry about having a good time here. Maybe having you two around might change his views on humans after today…" Rosemary added, her smile never leaving her face. The twins smiled appreciatively at the red-haired faerie, their eyes shining with gratefulness as Sage piped up into the conversation.

"If it helps you feel better, Dipper, we can talk about something else to, like, get your mind off of Oak…?" Sage offered kindly, still burrowed within Dipper's scruffy locks. Dipper raised a curious eyebrow and looked up at the peace-loving faerie nestled on his cranium.

"Like what?" he asked confusedly. But before the faeries can prattle off any topic, Mabel grinned deviously and playfully as she thought of a certain subject that she'd knew Dipper would love to talk about.

"Well...we can talk about Wendy if you'd like, Dippy?" Mabel slyly suggested, giggling herself to bits upon seeing a faint shade of red spread across Dipper's face, his expression looking embarrassed and subdued. The two female faeries each raised a confused eyebrow.

"Wendy?" asked Sage. "Who would that be, Mabel?" questioned Rosemary curiously.

Mabel waved off their bafflement. "Ah, just a girl in Gravity Falls that Dippy here has a crush on, is all…" she crooned matter-of-factly, still having a case of the giggles. Sage and Rosemary tittered and grinned with intrigue upon instance of hearing the word "crush".

"Oh, does he now?" Sage mused interestingly as Rosemary giggled delicately at the sound of the idea of Dipper having his own little potential girlfriend. Dipper, in the meantime, spluttered and nearly choked on his tongue upon hearing that, his face now glowing brighter than lit fireworks in the sky as he craned his head back towards Mabel.

"Mabel, did you seriously have to tell them that!? You could've just simply said 'friend'!" Dipper asked incredulously, trying to cover up the growing blush upon his cheeks. Mabel snickered playfully.

"Aw, c'mon, Dipperino!" she chortled cheekily, "It is the truth after all! You were the one who mentioned to me that night last fall that ya still might be pining for Wendy! You remember?" She giggled merrily at her little pun.

Dipper grimaced, not just from Mabel's teasy ways, but from the very memory that she brought up. The previous autumn before summer, Dipper's desire to return back to Gravity Falls were enough for him to actually consider and attempt to escape from Piedmont to be with his own true family again in Oregon. Luckily, he was caught in time before he could commit such an act and while having a heart-to-heart with his sister later that night, at one point, he briefly mentioned that he may still harbor a tiny bit of affection towards Wendy Corduroy, one of the twins' closest friends in Gravity Falls and the apple of Dipper's eye.

Even though Dipper and Wendy had ultimately decided to remain friends after the twins' first summer in Gravity Falls, Dipper couldn't help but to still think highly of Wendy throughout the days. She was his one true crush; the one person to steal his heart when no one else did. Dipper wasn't exactly a ladies' man, whether in Oregon or California, so with him being an anxiety-ridden mess of emotions and social-awkwardness, the chances of him finding a proper girlfriend seems very slim in his mind.

Dipper could only sulk quietly at the thought of still falling for Wendy even after they both agreed to just stay as friends, the blush on his face toning down from bright tomato red to a light rosy pink instead. Rosemary did her best to cease her giggles, as not to upset the already-uneasy Dipper any further.

"Terribly sorry for laughing, Dipper…" she began, choking back the last little remnants of her laughs, "I wasn't meaning to poke fun at you...I just think it's kind of sweet that you have a little crush…" Sage nodded in agreement from her perch.

"Yeah, ain't nothing wrong with having a little crush, dude…" she added with a small smile and a nod, "Like, what does this Wendy gal look like, anyways?" Mabel raised her hand in excitement.

"Hang on!" she piped up, "I'll answer that for you!" She then brought over her backpack that was slumped onto the ground next to her and then zipped it open, shuffling inside for a bit before she picked up something in her hands amongst the bag's contents.

She then presented what she was looking for: her smartphone. She then turned it on and quickly scrolled through the camera's picture gallery until she found something that caught her eye, being a silly, but sweet selfie pic of Dipper and Wendy that they took a couple of weeks ago when the twins arrived back to the Falls.

She scooched over closer to Dipper and the faeries and held up the photo on the phone clearly for them to see, to which Rosemary and Sage gasped in awe, surprise, and delight upon Wendy's appearance. "Aw, Dipper! She's so beautiful!" Rosemary gazed wonderingly, her eyes twinkling with joy, "Just look at the brightness of her red hair! It really brings out the green in her eyes!"

"Yeah, man…" Sage gasped, still managing to act all nonplussed even when wrought with awe, "Though she does seem a bit older than you are, Dipper…" she then commented before giving him a playful grin, "Didn't think you were into older women…"

It was at this point Dipper wished he could turn himself invisible from how embarrassing and awkward this situation was, so much so that he barely even knew what else to say at this point. Rosemary clearly noticed (and felt) Dipper's discomfort and she certainly wasn't going to let her dear friend look and feel so glum as she flew down onto Dipper's knee, looking up at him with patience and understanding.

"Oh, come on now, Dipper...there's no need to be ashamed...plenty of people have crushes on older people out there…" she assured kindly, though Dipper simply replied with a soft sigh.

"It's not really that, Rosemary...last summer when me and Mabel were visiting, Wendy sorta found out about my crush on her and...well...she explained that it's probably for the best that we should stay friends for now…" he explained, downcast. Rosemary and Sage gasped worriedly in surprise.

"Oh, dude…" murmured Sage under her breath.

"You poor thing…" Rosemary sadly remarked, tiny tears about ready to form in her eyes.

Dipper sighed again, memories of that certain adventure last summer involving Wendy, Grunkle Ford's bunker, and an evil shapeshifter flooding back into his mind. "I've done my best to cope with this, I really did...but my mind still can't help but to still be fixated on her. Mabel here can confirm so herself…" he continued, gesturing towards his sister.

Mabel solemnly nodded in agreement. "It's true…" she added, "I've tried to help him get over his crush for some time, but it's been no use. I guess it's more serious than it sounds…" Rosemary winced in sympathy.

"I see what you mean…" she muttered pityingly. Still, this wasn't gonna stop her from helping Dipper out, at least. "M-Maybe there might be a chance in future where Wendy may want to be your girlfriend, Dipper? Nothing's more genuine than true love after all!"

Rosemary's statement certainly was brimming with hope and positivity, as much as someone as unyieldingly-sweet and understanding as Rosemary was, but alas, Dipper didn't feel that much better afterwards. Somehow, he knew it was an absolute long shot.

"Thanks for saying that, Rosemary...but I know it'd be too good to be true…at this point, it'd just be simply hopeless..." sighed Dipper, lowering his head and crossing his arms over his arched knees (but very carefully enough as not to accidentally squish Rosemary) as he rested his head down on his arms and knees, his heart broken and his hopes dashed.

Rosemary almost felt the need to choke back an incoming sob. Seeing Dipper look so nervous and shy throughout the day was already disheartening enough to her, so to see him look depressed was really putting her over the edge. Should the chance she would see him cry at some point, she'd be straight-up inconsolable from here on out.

She was about to come up to Dipper to try and give him some more much-needed comfort when Sage, who was sporting a rather determined and thoughtful expression on her face, flew down from the top of Dipper's head and landed down on Dipper's other knee. She silently gave Rosemary a nod, almost as if to say "don't worry, I got this" to her. Rosemary looked puzzled but said and did nothing afterwards as Sage tried to give Dipper her undivided attention.

"Dipper, dude...can you look at me, please?" Sage beckoned in a tone that mixed gentleness and firmness into one. Dipper slowly brought his head back up, squarely looking into Sage's brown eyes, which was aflame with determination before the faerie began to address towards the human boy.

"Dipper, you should never think or say that anything is hopeless…" she reminded in her most serious tone of voice yet, "Thinking negatively won't get you anywhere in life, whether it involves finding true love or not…"

Dipper blinked in surprise at Sage's sudden change of tone. As of now, she was simply a calm and always-smiling kind of faerie with a constantly half-baked demeanor and expression, but now, here she was with a sharp, but fair voice and a disappointed frown plastered on her face. It greatly worried and frightened Dipper to bits, but he didn't dare say a word as Sage kept talking up at him.

"Now, Dipper, I may not be a mind reader, but I can certainly feel your emotional aura from within. It surges and pulsates out from love for this Wendy chick, and yet, it hurts at the same time because you feel she won't love you as a potential mate over time…" the hippie-esque faerie added matter-of-factly, "From what I can tell, you and Wendy both hold quite a strong connection with each other, correct?"

Dipper's eyes were glazed with sadness as he took in Sage's words to heart. She certainly wasn't whistling Dixie when it came to reading other people's auras.

"Indeed…" he agreed with a mild-sounding, humble voice, "She was one of my first true friends ever made. She's just so calm and collected, she's strong both in heart and in body strength, she knows how to have fun...let's face it, she's one of the coolest friends I have…"

He then let out another sad sigh. "But, what can I do, Sage? There's no way she'll fall for a scrawny little nerd like me…" he finished, hanging his head lower than ever. Sage, meanwhile, wasn't finished herself. She gave Dipper a confident smile.

"On the contrary," she began knowingly, "That is, like, far from the truth, Dipper. I can internally tell that you possess a heart of gold deep inside, as well as a loving soul…" Dipper's blush returned for the upteenth time that day as she felt an incoming smile lightly tug at his lips.

"You really think so?" he asked, a smidgen of hope returning in his heart. Sage nodded with a smile while she carefully brought Dipper's head up to eye level with her hand..

"I know so...it should be what's on the inside that should be cherished when it comes to love, not on the outside. And even so, you're a pretty adorable and sweet kinda guy...there's no way you'd be without a girlfriend in your life!" she added. Dipper's blush bashfully lit up even brighter at the sound of Sage's compliment.

"And listen, I may not be able to guarantee it, but maybe in the future," Sage assured optimistically as she finished up her speech, "Wendy might, like, decide to date you when you both get older; maybe not today or tomorrow, but someday in the future, it might happen…and even if that doesn't go to plan, at least you won't worry about losing Wendy as a true friend...here in our home, us faeries don't put a price over true friendship..."

Dipper managed to give Sage something of a half-smile, her wise and comforting words sinking into both his mind and heart. All he could do was sit there quietly, reflecting on what Sage had told him; while he absolutely hoped that there may be a sliver of a chance that Wendy may return his feelings one day, for now, he was simply happy to still have her as a friend.

After all, it could happen...maybe one day…and even if that wouldn't work out, he'd still had Wendy as one of his closest friends.

Dipper couldn't have felt more at ease even if he tried. His smile returned back to his face in full force and he looked down at Sage with utmost gratitude.

"I-I guess that make sense...maybe there may be hope for me later…" he murmured softly, smiling all the way, "Th-Thanks, Sage...I never thought

"If there's two things that I adore, Dipper, it's nature and love…" the little green faerie confirmed with a proud nod, "Just, like, try not to lose sight of things, okay, big guy?" she asked with a giggle, which Dipper graciously returned.

"Sure thing!" he replied. Then, without warning, he gingerly scooped up Sage off his knee and, very carefully, hugged her against his chest as a thanks for cheering him up. Sage was surprised but the sudden gesture, but she didn't feel the need to struggle or complain as she happily returned the hug, her arms spread across Dipper's frame due to how small she was.

Mabel and Rosemary both watched the scene play out before them and both tried to fight to urge to "squee" adorably at it, so proud of Dipper for finally getting some warranted closure after all. Soon enough, because of how happy they were, the two of them unwarningly joined in on the hug, both laughing up a storm that even Dipper and Sage couldn't help but to join in as well. The laughter and hugs lasted for about a minute until suddenly, they all heard a noise from afar.

"DIPPER! MABEL! SOUP'S ON, MATES!"

Soon, the sound of Wattle's voice was carried out from across the forest, coupled with the intoxicating smell of a freshly-cooked and delicious-smelling meal that filled the forest air within seconds. Rosemary beamed and flew up and away from the group, taking in the scent as her wings buzzed rapidly in excitement.

"Ooh, that smells positively scrumptious!" she sighed out, with Sage buzzing up and sniffing the air alongside her.

"Yeah, man...Wattle surely isn't kidding around with this one…" she commented with a lazy grin before she turned back towards the kids, "C'mon, you two...don't wanna miss out on this meal!"

Rosemary nodded and smiled brightly. "Indeed! Wattle's cooking is something to behold in our home!" she praised as she gave the twins an encouraging smile, "Trust us, you'll both love his meal!"

With Rosemary and Sage already fluttering away towards the village, Mabel and Dipper curiously looked at each other and shrugged before they each stood back up off the ground, packed up any belongings they had, and followed the faeries back towards their home, the delicious odor of fresh food getting themselves very hungry as well.

Along the way, Dipper was starting to feel himself become way better and more calm about being in the faeries' home. Sure, having someone as intimidating as Oak around would be a bit of a challenge, but he and Mabel weren't going to let that get to them throughout this little outing. Like Rosemary suggested, they should be focusing on having a good, relaxing time instead.

And regardless of what may happen during today, that's just what they were going to do...

TO BE CONTINUED…

Well, looks like Dipper finally feeling more comfortable about being with these faeries after all! But, will everything in the next chapter be as hopeful as it was in this chapter? We'll just have to see soon enough, but first, a couple more facts regarding this chapter!

-The new faeries introduced in this chapter (being Snapdragon, Ivy, and Valerian) shall return for the next two-to-four chapters with bigger roles; their introduction here was really meant to be a springboard for how they wind up inadvertently cause the climax a few chapters in (how they do that, I ain't tellin' ya yet! ;) ).

-The next few chapters will also heighten their personality quirks a bit more prominently, with Snapdragon being a skittish and clumsy trainwreck, Ivy being a protective big sister-figure who takes no guff from anyone, and Valerian being an always-sleepy peacekeeper (his name and persona being references towards valerian plants being used to aid sleep disorders).

-To any new readers, if you need proper context about that little tidbit about "Dipper running away", it's meant to be a direct reference to one of my last GF fics, "Saudade", which involved Dipper missing the Falls terribly and wanting to run away there to live there forever without Mabel knowing. The part about Dipper still holding romantic feelings towards Wendy is also a throwback to said fic, where I've decided to have one of the faeries decide to try and help Dipper through that situation (and considering I see all my GF stories as part of my headcanon, all connected and fitted in after the events of the show, I guess you can say Sage was right when she said that maybe Dipper and Wendy did manage to be a couple after all, eh? ;) ).

-And lastly, not to spoil anything in the last chapter, but let's just say that Mabel will be having a little bit of a one-on-one chat with Bluebell, the faerie that was involved with Grunkle Stan in "Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons", just to get something troubling off her chest.

Well, that's all I have to say for now, so until then, thanks for reading and sticking around so far, and I'll try and get the next chapter done before June is over, if not then early July!

EDIT AS OF 6/23/19: So, I've made a bit of a mistake regarding the name of Oak's grandfather. I've renamed him to Quercus, rather than Sequoia, due to sequoia trees tying into redwood trees rather than oak trees. That was simply lack of research on my part and I truly apologize for that. Chapter Five should be up before the end of June.

~Thunderbyrd