"Dipper," Pacifica whispered as she looked unblinking at the accursed horror that was now staring them down atop the totaled SUV, "You said this thing might be weak to fire, right?"

"So the theory says," Dipper replied with a whisper.

"Just...no sudden movements, okay?" Pacifica pleaded while she looked into the dead, soulless eyes of the elongated reindeer skull that was the wendigo's head, "I still have some of those defective face changing pills that go boom from eight years ago in my jacket pocket. I kinda kept them around in case we fought another monster. Just...reach in there and grab it. If I do it, it might create too much motion, and I think that's what this thing is waiting for."

Dipper reached over between the opening of Pacifica's winter coat.

"No, that's my thigh," she whispered, stifling a yelp.

He felt around again.

"No, that's my hip," Pacifica scowled, all the while the demonic thing continued to watch them, just waiting for a chance to strike. Was it just toying with them or simply admiring its next meal?

Dipper shuffled his hand around in his girlfriend's coat once more.

"No, that's my-" Pacifica held her breath before rasping a frustrated whisper, "Okay, nerdy perv boy, you're going to a whole lotta places I want you to go later, but not right now. Stop feeling me up and turn your hand over."

Across the way, Wendy and Mabel were having a discussion.

"We've gotta get that thing away from my brother and future sister-in-law!" Mabel muttered in full worriment.

"I bet this axe could take it," Wendy said, "If it has some spectral properties, it could probably hurt this thing. It made it let go of you at least."

"Yeah, but this thing's so big," Mabel looked over at Wendy and raised an eyebrow before pausing to think and then smiling, "I've got an idea, too." She pulled her trusty grappling hook from her coat. "Power of Mabel, engaged. Let's get cray cray, sister!"

"You got it," Wendy nodded before turning back to the creature, gripping her axe tighter, "HEY, WHATEVERYOUARE, LOOK OVER HERE!"

As the wendigo turned its head, Mabel fired her grappling hook that twirled around and hooked into the thing's snout. It quickly swiped it off with no effort, but the act was enough to make it mad. It lunged towards Mabel and Wendy, flying as if hoisted by the ever present wind. Mabel quickly drew in the cable for the hook, while Wendy stood her ground, ready to swing her axe.

As the fight progressed on the opposite side of the road, Dipper finally found the bottle of pills.

"I got it," he took it from Pacifica's coat, ran and jumped on top of the SUV, "Alright, thing, prepare to meet hot, fiery false advertising!" He then launched the small pellets at the creature, which then exploded upon contact with its back. Definitely didn't like this, as it let out that same loud yelp resembling a caribou. It then flailed around, trying to reach its now flaming back, when suddenly its form faded to what looked like a visible gust of wind, dissipating the fire as well. The gust then shifted about five feet to Dipper's left before reappearing as the beast, clearly angrier and more ferocious than before.

Dipper couldn't react fast enough as the monster grabbed him by the shoulders and began flying into the air, fully lifted by another strong gust of wind.

"Nooo!" Pacifica shouted over Dipper's shocked cries. In a split second, she remembered the creature's other potential weakness: silver. She took a deep breath, took the locket off her neck, and slingshot it into the air at where the monster was headed. It landed right on the creature's mouth, and with a burning hiss sound, it caused it to stagger in mid air and let Dipper fall back into the snow below. Unfortunately, the locket appeared to have ricocheted off the thing's head and landed somewhere in the snow.

Good news was it was hurt by silver. Bad news was Pacifica doubted she could find it again in such a harrowing situation.

In retaliation, the monster lunged at Pacifica, but in that same instant, she saw Mabel's grappling hook launch again and wrap itself around the monster's shoulder. Mabel then yanked back and forced the creature to fall to its bony knees.

It wouldn't hold it forever, and the group had to act fast if they didn't want the wendigo attacking again. Pacifica then realized she had one other item of silver on her, but she was of course reluctant to use it.

"I was waiting 'til I had Dipper alone for this," she sighed, "but it will have to come out now." She then pulled from her jacket a small box, opened it, and removed a small silver ring. It was a simple flat band with an inlaid sapphire in the shape of a pine tree. She then ran over and tossed the ring into the enormous empty eye socket of the monster's head. The ring landed inside with a clatter and a hissing sound, and the creature let out yet another yowl before grabbing its head and thrashing violently. Eventually, the creature erupted in a burst of blue flame before disintegrating. The deer skull, however, still remained, falling into the snowfall below and returning to normal size upon impact.

"I'm sure we're not the first to survive a wendigo attack," Dipper managed to mutter awkwardly after a moment of silence in the snow for everyone to catch their breath, "But we're the only ones I know of."

"Woot!" Mabel shouted, "Busting monsters just like old times!"

"Paz," Wendy asked, "what was that thing you threw at it?"

Pacifica didn't answer right away. She picked up the bleached deer skull and gently shook it. Sure enough, the ring was still in there, finally falling out of the jaw area and landing in her palm.

"Dipper," she managed to utter, "I was going to wait until later tonight, but I think now is as good a time as any…"

"Ohh," Mabel grinned from ear to ear, "I think I know what's going on!" She then made a light squeal, which made Wendy laugh.

Pacifica then trudged over to Dipper, holding the ring close to her chest in the subsiding wind.

"Mason Pines," she looked into his eyes, trying not to cry or show how scared she was, "I've loved you since we were young. You've been a constant in my life for so long and one of the biggest influences on me. You compliment me in all aspects, and I feel like we're two halves of a whole. So I asked you…" She then held out the ring with one hand towards him, her other closed tightly to her chest, "Will you...please...be my husband? I mean, after college. We of course need to graduate first and get ourselves established. It's just that, I know we're still fairly young, but I just can't imagine my life without you and…"

"No," Dipper cut her off.

"What!?" the three women shouted in unison, Mabel stamping her feet in frustration and almost losing her balance in the snow.

"Not until…" Dipper then reached into his own jacket and pulled out a small box, opening it to likewise reveal a ring, "...you've seen this." The band was elegant in design, small swirls looping this way and that; it appeared at first glance like it would have been made of platinum, but when it shined in the snowcat's headlights, it gave off a glistening rainbow effect. But the real highlight of the ring was a gem. It appeared to be an amethyst in the shape of a llama, but within the center, something was glowing, soft and subtle. Pacifica stared closer at it, and could swear she saw a flowing river of stars and planets swirling within some minuscule solar system, all aglow in purple. (She remembered reading a certain Lovecraft story Dipper had lent her about such a gem, but she got the exact opposite vibe from this one. It was still equally hypnotic, though.)

"Oh, Dipper…I…"

"I was wanting to ask you first," he laughed, "but you beat me to it. Yes, I want us to finish college first and get ourselves established in our careers. I still am determined to make this ghost hunting web series a hit, and I'm glad you're willing to help me produce it. But likewise, I still want us to go through this life together. And with Ford's help, I traveled across dimensions to find you the perfect materials for an engagement ring. My llama princess with exquisite taste deserves no less. I'll ask you then, will you be my wife after we graduate?"

Pacifica had trouble gathering her breath. Her eyes began to well up, and she felt that same onset from when she was twelve all those years ago to reach out and hold this man.

"So," Dipper continued with a heavy huff, trying to break the awkward silence, "I'll say yes to you, if you say yes to me."

"Yes!" Pacifica choked back tears, "Yes, yes, yes!" She threw her arms around his neck and held him tight.

"Then yes it is," Dipper closed his eyes and felt his heart warm. Pacifica then slacked off from his neck, and the two kissed with an invigorated passion. Mabel couldn't help herself anymore and shouted with glee while doing multiple jumps; both she and Wendy were clapping in satisfaction. "Now, let's go see our families."

They searched the snow for a moment before finding the locket, which Dipper helped Pacifica tie back around her neck. Wendy connected the snowcat's chains to the SUV, while Mabel picked up the reindeer skull, studied it, and had the perfect plans for it. They rode back to the lodge together, mostly in silence. Dipper made an entry for the wendigo in Journal 4 while Pacifica watched him, and Mabel began tying multiple ribbons of different vibrant colors to the skull's bizarre antlers. She then found what looked like a wooden rod that had once been a broom handle and stuck it through the bottom of the skull.

In no time, they were finally at the lodge and found more people were arriving, including Wendy's dad and brothers. They got out just in time to hear Manly Dan shout something about physically tackling the eggnog, but they all hoped for everyone's sake he meant that figuratively.

As they entered, Mabel ran ahead, brandishing her new art project and shouting at the top of her lungs at the present company, "MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! AND MARI LWYD!" She then pointed to the wendigo's former head, "This isn't a horse skull, but I'm making do!" Pacifica looked up at Dipper for answers on this one, to which Dipper just shrugged. Everyone was quiet until Ford, being the only one cultured enough to get the reference, also shouted at her.

"I've been out of practice with 19th century verse!" Ford admitted in the silence of the cabin, "And I can't sing any of them for the life of me. So you can have all the beer you want, Mabel, and you're always welcome among friends!" He then tossed a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon at Mabel, which she caught in midair, a smile still wide upon her face. Everyone at least appreciated the athletic spectacle and cheered and wished her a Merry Christmas as well.

"Dipdop and I celebrated Hanukkah last week," Mabel popped open the beer can and took a deep swig, "Sooo, it'll be Kwanzaa in a couple days for us. Right now, let's enjoy the time of Saint Nicholas and all his jolliness roughly around the solstice time!"

"What can I say?" Dipper rolled his eyes, "She's always insisted about celebrating every holiday."

"At least she seems less 'silly' about it this year," Pacifica nodded, impressed, "Sounds like she's taking the time to research them beforehand."

Across the way, Gideon got up from his couch and walked over to Mabel.

"Hey there, Mabel," he grinned awkwardly while handing her the punch he was drinking, "You can have this if it appeases whatever horsey deer spirit this thing is supposed to be."

"Thanks...I guess," Mabel accepted it, but her voice showed apprehension, "Listen Gideon, let's just be real. I think I know everything you're about to say, because I've heard it before. I'm glad you've been making improvements on yourself, but you know I'm still out of your league. You're, what, three years younger than me? I mean, you're 18 now, but we've just got different life experiences now and…"

"That wasn't all," Gideon interjected before handing her something that was behind his back, "I actually learned how to knit, and I made this for you." It was a pink sweater with what looked like a cute cartoon pig on the front with letters around it that spelled 'Waddles is my homeboi!' "If nothing else, I hope you like it."

"I...you know what, I actually do!" Mabel nodded, holding it up to fully study it, "and I'm pretty impressed with what you've done with it. You've clearly had some practice with the joyous magical art that is sweater-knitting."

"Just wanted to show you what I was capable of," he was starting to feel less fearful now, "But I also wanted to say, pappy found a stray cat and her litter of kittens we've been takin' care of before we find them good homes. I made a couple videos of 'em. Care to watch?" He held out his phone.

"Well, okay," Mabel breathed slowly, "But just a couple. I want to mingle with everyone, and I don't want you to get any bad ideas."

"If you say so," Gideon laughed, and the two made their way to the couch.

Dipper and Pacifica, on the other hand, made their way to the archway where hung multiple coat racks. They were a few feet from it before Pacifica noticed something above them.

"Look what I found," she pointed to it with a sing-song voice, "Mistletoe!" Dipper laughed and leaned in to kiss her when she held her finger up to his lips. "Wait! Don't you want to see what I'm wearing?" He nodded, and she finally took off her heavy expensive coat to hang up, revealing to him the short red party dress with poofy white fringes that made her very much look like a younger Mrs. Claus. Dipper was speechless at this, his jaw hanging open at how beautiful his new fiance looked tonight. "And if you like this…" She then took her left index finger and trailed it along her leg, slowly raising her dress just enough to show off a green silk garter that was attached to the thigh highs it complimented. "...Just wait 'til you see what's underneath. I know you always like it when they match." She winked at him before softly biting her lip.

Dipper could no longer take it and didn't care for a few seconds who was watching. He grabbed Pacifica, and the two began feverishly making out under the ancient sprig that was a symbol of love and passion on this season. But soon, a few more guests came over to hang their coats, and they broke away from each other, fully embarrassed but definitely without regret.

It had been way too long for both of them. They of course would definitely start again later when they were out of eyesight.

For now they decided to eat, drink, and be merry with the rest of the party.

Dipper had a laundry list of questions for Eda. The unfortunate thing about it was that he let all of them out in nearly one breath and, for nearly three minutes, did not let up. Finally, there was silence as Dipper took air into his lungs again.

"...Is he always like this?" Eda asked Stan as she sat in his lap, gesturing her thumb towards Dipper, "He definitely reminds me of my apprentice. Definitely some Luz vibes coming from this guy."

"Sweetheart," Stan chuckled, "You have no idea. He and my brother are like two peas from the same pod."

"Well, kiddo," Eda addressed Dipper, "I'll be glad to answer that word salad that was your questions, but maybe you can put them all in bullet points and send them my way?" She then pointed at him, winked, and made a clicking sound with her tongue.

"There certainly is someone for everyone," Pacifica muttered under her breath before asking, "Sooo, it seems Stan's found his match. What about you, Ford? Your journey's bring any gorgeous women your way?"

"Come on, Ford," Wendy walked by, overhearing the conversation and patting Ford on the back, "A super intelligent silver fox like you, surely you've met someone special by now."

"Don't waste your time, kids," Stan chided, "His girlfriend's back in Dimension 52 or whatever it's called, doing her wisdom thing."

"Jheselbraum and I are just friends!" Ford grumbled, almost defensively, "Besides, she stayed behind because she's worried about a vision that Bill might return or something."

"Ooooh no," Eda retorted, "People who are 'just friends' don't do what you two did the other night. You better not be leading her on, you old coot."

And so, the bickering amongst the elderly continued before Pacifica dragged Dipper away.

"Your curiosity isn't worth this," she chided him before they walked to the other side of the room.

What they found next shocked them. On the couch, Mabel and Gideon were passionately kissing each other and didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. Pacifica could only nod, while Dipper wondered if he had some sort of mind control power over her.

Unable to think of anything immediately, he managed to stammer out with a nervous laugh, "Huh, well I guess the power of cat videos and chill really does work." Mabel forcefully stuck up one of her hands, still not breaking her lip locking with Gideon, as if to tell him to shut up.

"Another case where you should mind your own business, Dipper," Pacifica rolled her eyes before pulling him away from the scene again.

And so the night continued on. The newly engaged couple got to have a long conversation with his parents, assuring them they would wait for their graduation before getting married. Oddly enough, the Northwests seemed unusually nice towards Dipper tonight. Maybe it was the Christmas season affecting them or maybe they did indeed trust their wayward daughter's judgment. Indeed there were fun games to be had, Mabel organizing a few of them. And then of course there was the incident where Manly Dan was confused by the taxidermy bear and wrestled it in a headlock.

Eventually, the party came to a close. Mabel, Wendy, and Pacifica handed out their gifts to everyone who was leaving. Everyone said their goodbyes, except for the Pines family, the Stans included, who had rooms for the evening. (The Northwests didn't feel it was up to their standards and headed back to their new mansion; they decided they would see Pacifica again tomorrow.)

Gideon and Mabel gave one final kiss goodnight to each other before he left. Dipper still felt he wouldn't get over seeing them like this; it was a complete 180 of where they were. Whatever he said or did, it must have been very special or important. He still didn't rule out mind control. She did seem to be her normal self otherwise, so maybe it was all okay, a more charming, understanding Gideon for a more mature Mabel.

Dipper began walking upstairs, Pacifica following him. Eventually, they reached the bedroom door that was reserved for Dipper.

"Well, it's goodnight then?" Dipper asked, though he already knew the answer.

"I didn't book a place with a separate room for myself, dummy," Pacifica laughed, "It would have been more expensive, and…" She then moved closer to him and kissed him deep and long before wrapping her leg around his. He put his hands around her waist and held her tight. The two of them gradually made their way into the bedroom. "We went through some pretty big acts of bravery tonight, and I think we need to reward each other. It's been too long…" She then continued her passionate kissing of Dipper before closing the door behind her.

*.*.*

The light from the sun as filtered through the cloudy sky was the first thing Dipper saw when he awoke Christmas Morning. He got up, donned a heavy robe, and walked over to make himself some coffee at the table across from him. The hum of the machine caused Pacifica to stir and softly moan, and the aroma of the coffee grounds invigorated Dipper's mind and gave him a smile. He walked towards the door to the balcony, opened it, and stepped out. He looked over the snowy forest below him, how the tree line seemed to flow down the hill like a river rapid, all of them swaying in the light breeze.

Pacifica finally woke and found Dipper gone. She likewise put on a robe and walked out to join him. She then wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his back.

"Aren't you cold, dork?" she asked, "You should definitely come back inside and keep me warm."

"Just a tad," Dipper laughed, sipped his coffee, and held her hand, "Just wanted to come out and look at the forest. It's been too long since I've roamed in these woods."

"Well, you're here for a few more days, right?" Pacifica poked her head around to look at him directly, "Maybe we can go hiking together. I think I've long gotten over my aversion to mud and dirt."

"I'd like that," Dipper nodded and leaned down to kiss her again. He then took another sip of his coffee and looked out over the woods again. He could hear someone at a nearby campsite playing their stereo too loud, but it didn't really bother him. It was faint enough not to be too pervasive, and the tune was some sort of pretty Christmas carol. "It's been a rough year, hasn't it?"

"You're telling me," Pacifica sighed, "Between getting on a waiting list for the vaccine, accounting and project management finals, helping with the diner...and worst of all you being so far away...yeah, it's just been rough."

"Maybe I'm overoptimistic," Dipper continued, "But I have a feeling '21 is going to be a good year."

"Especially if you and me see it in together," Pacifica smiled.

"You've heard that song, too?"

"It's a classic!" Pacifica laughed, "Yeah, Wendy's been playing a lot of classic rock songs for me, The Who included. But yeah, that line still applies."

"Just one more year," Dipper said, "Then we'll have our degrees and find a way to be with each other again."

"If you could live anywhere, where would it be?" Pacifica asked, "I mean, I know Arkham is spook central, but really, I don't know if it would feel like home to me."

"And I have to agree," Dipper nodded, "To be honest with you, I wouldn't mind living in Portland...or right here, where it all started for me...and you."

"Let's start with Portland and go from there," Pacifica ran her fingers through his, "There's a lot of job opportunities in the city. And then we can build our revenue towards making your ghost show."

"Sounds like a plan," Dipper turned, and the two held each other and kissed again. "But for now, let's enjoy the time we have before we have to part again. Merry Christmas, my beautiful llama."

"Merry Christmas, my nerdy prince," Pacifica replied and rested her head on his chest. They both then looked out over the forest once more, thinking of their place in the world and how the distance wasn't easy. Still, they wouldn't let it deter them from each other. It was only a fraction to the sum of the rest of their lives. For now, they watched the light drizzle of snow over the mountains, the transition of nature and the passage of time happening before them. The tune of the gorgeous carol still carried itself on the wind, and they felt a transcendent euphoric feeling wash over them, still watching the snow ever falling upon the living and the dead.

Merry Christmas, happy belated Hanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa, Blessed Yule, and all of those associations we have for this time of year. Thank you all for reading, and let us hope that next year will be better.