"Mabel!" Dipper called as he ran through the yarn spun forest, barely registering Stan and Ford following him. "Mabel!"
The three of them soon came out of the forest into a small town. A few of the stuffed animal citizens gave a friendly wave as the three sprinted past, but most of them seemed to be involved in a pillow fight tournament and right in the middle of them was Mabel.
"Mabel!" Dipper cried out in joy, surging forward. She barely had time to look up be for he was tackling her in a hug.
"Dipper! It's great to-"
"-so glad I found you-"
"-this place is awesome!"
"-almost died-"
"-missed you-"
"-worried I never see you-"
Both twins eventually stopped trying to talk over each other in their excitement, giggling and hugging each other again and for a moment, the world was perfect.
"Dipper, I'm so glad you're here…" Mabel trailed off as she began staring over Dipper's shoulder. Confused by Mabel's action, Dipper glanced behind him to see that Ford and Stan had just gotten to where they had landed. Realizing how delicate this situation just became, Dipper turned back just in time to Mabel's gaze go from surprised to an angry glare.
"Mabel..?" Dipper asked softly, hoping there wasn't about to be a shouting match. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Mabel replied, giving Dipper what was supposed to be a reassuring smile that was anything but. Stan, easily picking up on the tension, grabbed Ford's arm and began pulling him away.
"Ford and I are going to get a lay of the land," Stan said casually, though his grip on Ford remained firm. "Just call us when you're done catching up with each other!"
Dipper gave Stan a grateful look as the two rounded a corner and out of sight. Dipper and Mabel had a lot of talking to do and they didn't need the lingering issues with Ford to get in the way of that at the moment. Dipper watched as Mabel relaxed once Ford was out of sight though she was still tenser than she had been when he found her.
"Uh… this seems like a nice car…" Dipper said awkwardly, trying to find something safe to say.
"It's the best!" Mabel replied, brightening up immediately. "There's plenty of yarn and I made sweaters for everyone and they made me mayor! I get to do whatever I want like have ice cream for breakfast or as many sleepovers as I want! And now you're here it's finally perfect!"
"It does sound nice," Dipper said. "But we can't stay in this car forever…"
"Yeah… I guess you would get bored staying here," Mabel grumbled, before snapping her fingers. "I've got an idea! There was this group of kids that have a car as a home base but go out exploring other cars all the time. Sure, they were jerks but the idea's still great. We could just explore cars forever and have new adventures every day! It'd be perfect, like our summer in Gravity Falls never ended!"
For a moment, Dipper could see it. Having his family together going on endless adventures. Learning from Ford as he commented on everything they came across with Stan cracking jokes and punching anything that tried to attack them. Dipper and Mabel never having to worry about school or jobs tearing them apart as they became the best adventurers in the history of adventuring. It sounds like a dream come true, but that's all it was… a dream.
"What about mom and dad?" Dipper said quietly, cutting of Mabel's commentary about what she needs to pack. "Or Candy and Grenda? Or Wendy and Soos? Or any of our other friends and family? Are you really telling me you don't ever want to see them again?"
"Of course not! But…" Mabel protested immediately only to trail off as she wasn't sure what to say.
"Mabel, we need to go back," Dipper said gently. "I'd love to stay here and go on adventures forever, but that's just not realistic. We wouldn't be happy here, not in the long run. This is a fun fantasy, but we need to go back to the real world."
"But I don't want to!" Mabel argued, stopping her foot in frustration. "Back there you were going to leave me forever! I can't face that… I'm not ready…"
"Mabel, I'm not leaving you," Dipper said, gently put his arm around her as she sniffled. "I had gotten caught up in my latest adventure that I wasn't really thinking straight when I accepted Great Uncle Ford's offer. But while I've been stuck on this train looking for you, I've been doing a lot of thinking and talking with Grunkle Stan and I'm not going to accept Ford's offer."
"Y-you're not?" Mabel said, wiping away a few stray tears. "But you were so excited… It's everything you wanted…"
"Maybe, but it's not what I need right now," Dipper replied. "I still have a lot of growing up to do first and hopefully we can keep coming back during the summer. Once I graduate, I'll think about whether to stay there full time. But until then, you're not getting rid of me."
"You mean it?" Mabel gasped, staring at Dipper in shock.
"Yep!" Dipper nodded. "Yes, the future can seem scary but we've faced monsters and demons this summer! We're the Mystery Twins! We can handle high school and even puberty!"
"Yeah!" Mabel agreed with a giggle.
"Awkward Sibling hug?"
"Awkward Sibling hug."
The twins wrapped their arms around each other and saying in unison, "Pat. Pat."
Mabel - 206
Dipper - 97
They broke apart with a laugh, calling for Stan and Ford to come back. As the twins jacked around and Mabel lead the way to where she had been staying, they didn't notice that Stan was really tense nor that there was a bruise beginning to form along Ford's jaw.
