Chapter 20
Epilogue
It was the next year on Celestio. "Here are the reports from the treaty negotiations with the Trans-Galactic Confederacy and the Fanmarx Order my empress." An aide hand a tablet to Stellara,
"Thank you." Stellara said, "Has the group I asked for arrived yet?"
"They will be here shortly your grace." The aide said, "I am still not comfortable with this."
"I need to listen to different points of view if I am to successfully interpret the will of the universe." Stellara saw the conflicted look on her aide's face. "I know you thought of me as a god empress, but I can't be that, the days of declaring those that disagree with fundamentalist doctrine or whatever I say as heretics is over." Stellara turned to Buckgis. "How has the new training methods of centurions been going?"
"It's been slow switching to prioritizing defense and pirate suppression from conquest…" Buckgis said, "…but we have made progress. Captain Kondar sent you a recording of his last class."
The holo-display showed Kondar in front of student at the academy. "While the tactics we have covered thus far can be effective you must always remember to be ready for the unexpected." Kondar rubbed his bald head, "I learned this the hard way."
"And with more of our forces on policing the number of active bounties has dropped." Buckgis reported, "There some hunters complaining but there is one who is surprisingly fine with this."
Elsewhere on planet Jorairis, Vax was talking to others at a bar. "…and that was the first time I fought the Pines twins. The day my perfect record was destroyed, and the long hunt began that sharpened me to be the very best."
"No one could catch the crew of the Ixcia but you came closer more times than anyone." One of the patrons said,
"Tell us another one Vax!" another drinker asked,
Vax chuckled, "Okay, the next time found them was three years later, after they thwarted the assassination of the Empress, before I could face them, I ran into an old rival of mine…"
Back at the palace Stellara walked to meet the group she was waiting for, citizens of members of the Coalition of Free Worlds and their children. "It is an honor to meet you Empress, but it is not something any of us expected." One of the parents said,
Stellara looked to nearby statues she had made of the heros who saved her life, "The unexpected can make us fearful but it can lead us the greatest experiences of our lives. I once thought of them as nothing but my enemies, but to my surprise they are so much more than that. One is a scholar and explorer, another a healer who never stopped trying to spread joy, the third was a soldier and fixer, and the last one survived an awful experience and became one of the fiercest women in the galaxy and a great trader. Not all of them were always good but they all grew to be more than what they were, when I am done listening to you I wish to tell your children the stories I heard about their first adventures on their home planet."
"Miss Empress, what adventure are the heroes on now?" A small boy asked,
Stellara smiled, "The one they would say is the most important one of their lives."
"Okay everyone, give some big smiles and say cheese." Sarah Pines said taking a picture of her space explorer family holding the two pairs of one-month old twins, it was the first week of summer and the family and old friends gathered at the completed house. Dipper was now wearing a red shirt and jeans with the hat Wendy gave him. Mabel wore a red sweater and skirt with the sweater saying "#1 Mama". Gideon still had the flat top hair cut but now wore a blue sweater Mabel made that read "#1 Papa" with tan pants. Pacifica wore a simple periwinkle dress and kept her hair in the same ponytail.
"Cheese." Mabel and Gideon's daughters Marcy Chugar Gleeful and Evelyn Rose Gleeful were born first. They were identical with brown hair like their mom; Marcy wore a small pink shirt with a puppy on it and her diaper while Evelyn had a yellow shirt with a kitten. A week later Dipper and Pacifica's sons were born, a pair of fraternal twins with Tyrone with brown hair and Thomas with blonde hair like his mother. Tyrone had a plain red shirt while Thomas had a green shirt.
Sarah gushed over her grandchildren, "They are just precious, I just want to dress them all up in costumes and teach them this dance…"
"Mom, I will not have you teaching my sons the Lamby Lamby Dance!" Dipper interrupted in a harsh whisper.
"Okay how about one with three generations of Mystery Twins together huh?" Mabel asked,
The Grunkles came up and Pacifica handed Thomas to Ford while Gideon placed Evelyn in Stans hands. "Okay, now everyone say twins!" Sarah asked,
"Twins!" the picture was taken, and Tyrone began to cry, and the other babies followed suite.
"Does he need to be changed?" Pacifica asked,
"No, I think they all are just a little over stimulated and need a nap." Dipper said,
Gideon nodded taking Evelyn from Stan, "Well we know the best way to get them to sleep."
"Ixcia get ready for launch." Mabel ordered, "I'm glad we finally got those other ships built, now we can come and go from the planet whenever we want. Do the rest of you want to come along? It's only a quick trip around the solar system."
"Why not?" Wendy said holding Amelia's hand, "It will be the furthest I've ever gone but I'll still be back in time for work tomorrow." Wendy, Grey and Amelia climbed aboard.
"You know it Dudes." Soos said bringing Melody and Stanly onto the ship,
"It's about time we see what Ixcia can do. Some time she could take make to a planet of space amazons." Stan said,
"I doubt that Stan." Ford said as the rest of the family entered.
On the bridge the crew held their children close as they lifted off, Waddles cuddled Mable's leg. "Clearing the atmosphere and setting course for the outer edge of the solar system. Time to return ninety minutes. All systems optimal." Ixcia said,
"I wouldn't trade anything for how my life has turned out." Mabel said kissing Marcy's forehead,
"As long as I got my queen and my princesses, I'm happy." Gideon agreed,
"All the pain and hardship were worth it to give me my boys. They are worth more than any riches I ever had." Pacifica rocked Thomas,
Dipper looked at all the children that were beginning to nod off and said, "You'll hear this over and over, but I want to say it now. We were lost for so long but now we can always come back home to this town where we met, and we love. The town we'll raise the four of you in and we will continue to unlock a whole universe of mysteries for you to explore as you grow up. You four are part of something special, we are the Pines family and we stand by each other no matter what comes our way and no matter what we will always love each other. We will always come home to you in Gravity Falls."