No music this time, just an (admittedly shorter than usual) chapter.

Nightfall had come quicker than expected, which was bad news for the company on Bannock Hill. They'd planned to send Wendy and Ford to hunt for some food, but with only a small torch as a source of light, it didn't seem like a good idea. The Deep Forest was the most dangerous part of the woods, and nightfall was when the most terrifying creatures came out. Stan had come to the conclusion that they should stay the night in the castle, so they had to make do. The floor was hard and rocky, so getting sleep was difficult. Soos was dead set on keeping watch all night (just in case a predator ventured near enough to catch their scent, which wasn't exactly unlikely), but eventually relegated the role to Ford, who was a night owl by nature. They hadn't seen much of the twins since they'd arrived, namely because the two had said that they needed space.

"So what do you think they're doing?" Wendy asked Ford. They were the only two in the castle still awake, staring out at the pond, watching Dipper and Mabel as they sat on the edge.

Ford coughed slightly, the exhaustion from the previous day beginning to show. "I suppose…" he paused, shaking his head. "I don't know," he conceded. "I'm trying to imagine myself and Stanley being in Dipper and Mabel's places – respectfully – and I just… can't. I doubt I will ever know what that feels like." He pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, struggling to stay awake. "How are you not tired?"

Wendy shrugged. "It's called being a teenager, old man. You can stay up until stupid o'clock in the morning and get up two hours later and be totally fine."

"It may not be obvious," Ford said, ignoring Wendy's 'old man' comment. "But my age is catching up to me. I can try and hide it all I want, but eventually, I'll have to stare death in the face.

"We all will."

When the twins fell asleep, Ford picked them both up and took them back to the castle, letting them rest in a safer place. When morning came, Stan was nursing their wounds. Mabel's knees were in serious need of a plaster (or twelve), there was a small cut on the back of her head from where she fell, and she had managed to hurt her pinky toe pretty badly kicking that branch. Dipper was in no better condition; he had a cut down the side of his forehead and a slightly twisted ankle, as well as sporting knees with about as much skin on them as Mabel's. The two also sported some bruises from their fall down the stairs, but nothing too serious in that regard.

"Jesus wept, how'd you two fall down the stairs again?" Stan asked as he cleaned Dipper's head wound, completely oblivious to the weight of his question. "That's some cut."

Dipper quickly averted his eyes and bit his lip, his fingers shaking. This did not go unnoticed by Stan.

"What, are ya—"

Mabel quickly cut him off before he could guilt-trip Dipper even more.

"Oh, it was nothing," she said, reached over and grabbing Dipper in a tight, one armed hug. "We were just talking, and then this big bird thingy flew right over out heads—" as she spoke, she made various hand gestures to show how fast the supposed creature had been moving—"and knocked us down! Isn't that right Dipper?"

"Y-y-yeah, Dipper stammered. "It gave me a huge fright and I fell right into Mabel." After a quick pause, he turned to look at his sister. "Sorry about that, by the way."

Stan fell silent for a few moments, before letting out a deadpan: "Uh-huh." He grunted and went back to cleaning the cut on Dipper's forehead.

"You're welcome," Mabel whispered.

"Did you say something sweetie?"

"Nope! That must've been your hearing aid acting up again. You know how it does that sometimes.

Stan fell silent once more, before muttering something incoherent about 'those damn things,' and 'back in my day.' When he was done, the group set off, making sure to avoid the Deep Forest. It would only slow them down, and it wasn't like they were trying to shake a tail. They trudged through various terrains; from the Rocky Mountains to the yellowed fields, from the edge of the lagoon to the cliffside where Ford found Mabel after the fishing trip. They passed over a tall hill, and Dipper caught a glimpse of the Mystery Shack in the distance. He hadn't been there since he first woke up, but it called to him.

It felt like home, in a weird sense.

Which was weird, because he still didn't actually have much of his memory back. He had a few childhood memories, and one or two from his time in Gravity Falls, but most of his mind was still blank. He knew who he was to these people, but he didn't remember much of his time with them. There were many things he should know which he just… didn't. He didn't have any memory of his parents, or of his school life, he didn't even know what he liked to do for fun.

However, he did know two things: one, the dreams he'd been having with the shadowy figures were most definitely memories. The girl with the long hair was Mabel, without a doubt. The second was that he liked mysteries. Mabel had mentioned it before, so now he had a new mystery to uncover – his past life. What was it like? Who was he before all this?

He supposed he'd just have to figure it out.

By the time they got back to the hospital, it was nearing nighttime once more. Rambeau anxiously awaited their arrival, biting her nails nervously.

"Oh, thank god," she exclaimed. "I thought I was going to get fired."

The sight of Dipper asleep in a hospital bed was something Stan saw far too much of these days, but this time, he knew that he was going to wake up in the morning. That alone was enough to comfort him, but Rambeau's announcement that Dipper would be discharged from the hospital by the next evening lifted his spirits even higher.

"He'll have to come for weekly checkups," she'd said. "And let him get lots of sleep – no staying up late – oh, and try to keep quiet as much as possible."

Dipper was woken the next morning by Mabel shaking his shoulder violently. He groaned and snuggled further into his pillow, muttering something along the lines of "Five more minutes."

"Nope!" Mabel responded. "You need to get up, sleepyhead. It's three in the afternoon already."

Dipper's eyes shot open. "Three in the afternoon?" he exclaimed. "H-How long was I asleep?"

"Oh, only about eighteen hours," Mabel snickered. "Give or take."

Dipper sat up slowly and got out of bed, his hands once again beginning to shake. After he was on his feet, he yawned loudly.

"How are still tired?" Mabel asked.

"I just need my coffee, alright?" Dipper snapped, walking off in the direction of the cafeteria.

Mabel crossed her arms and huffed quietly. "The new Dipper's grumpier than the old one."

Dipper clicked his tongue loudly, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his grunkles. He was nervous about living with them again. He knew that they would never hurt him, but he didn't want to get that rush of emotions like he did at the cliffside again. It had felt like his brain was going into overdrive, collapsing in on itself in a feeble attempt to process everything he was remembering. He couldn't think of a time when he'd felt such despair, such joy, and such regret simultaneously. It was overwhelming, and it wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat, but deep down, he knew he'd have to. He took a deep breath turned towards Mabel, his eyes slightly watery.

"Mabel?" he said, his voice wavering. "I-I'm scared."

Mabel smiled softly, reaching over to clasp his shaking hand, steadying it for the time being. The gesture felt familiar… safe, even. The type of safety you only feel when you're being held by a family member.

"I won't let anyone hurt you," Mabel responded. "Not after last time."

The sound of the Stanleymobile pulling up outside shocked Dipper from his trance. He looked at his sister once more and asked:

"You promise?"

Mabel laid her other hand on the back of his palm, looking him in the eye for the first time in the conversation.

"Promise."

And with that, Dipper Pines' time at the hospital came to a close. It was a new beginning; the end of one chapter of his life, and the start of another.

So, we got Dipper back. I've always found it easier to write him than any other character (hence why he's always the lead), so it was nice to go back to his POV and move away from the other characters. He's not got all his memories back yet, he really only knows who Mabel is and that's it. It'll take him a while to get them all back, and many memories will simply be lost to time, as there was no one else there who can remind him of them (case in point: exactly how his first deal with Bill went down, and the three days he spent in Weirdmageddon). This chapter also functions as the end to the first 'arc' of this story, as the ending probably made clear. I hope you all enjoyed!