The Scrapbook

Mabel was the first one to wake up, not even having realized that she had fallen asleep. For a moment, she wondered if everything, Weirdmaggedon, her bubble, Bill Cipher's reign, Stan losing his memory, had been a dream.

The sounds of snores from around her as she realized that she was curled up on Stan's lap and clutching her scrapbook told her that it had all been true.

She yawned and stretched a bit, before nuzzling into the warmth of her grunkle.

She could stand to grab a few more minutes of sleep. Yesterday had been a big day after all.

Mabel frowned a bit as she remembered the day before. Hectic couldn't even begin to describe it. The day had started out as Weirdmaggedon and they'd tried to rescue Ford. Then before they knew it, everything was over and Grunkle Stan's memory was lost.

But she hadn't given up. There was no way that her Grunkle Stan would be lost so easily, even though everyone else had begun to lose hope.

Mabel held her scrapbook closer at the thought. It was all thanks to this small book, that she had worked so hard over and put so much into all summer, that her grunkle had come back. Waddles played a part too.

After they had begun to delve into the scrapbook, Grunkle Stan remembering more each moment, other people had begun to show up.

Wendy had been the first to show up, of course. Upon hearing what happened, she had thrown herself into helping Stan remember as well. McGucket, Pacifica, and, surprisingly, Gideon had been next, swiftly followed by Grenda, Candy and several other townspeople. It was McGucket who had reassured them all, explaining why Stan could remember and soothing Ford's worries over the situation.

It was also him who pointed out that the Shack wasn't exactly livable at the moment.

At his words, Stan had stood up, waving away the rest of the family's concerned, and he sounded just like his usual self as he told them all to stop lollygagging and get to work. He could remember more later.

They had gladly heeded his words.

It had taken a combined effort, with Manly Dan being a considerable help in that regard, but for now at least, the Shack had been deemed okay enough to spend the night. Everyone would be that day to continue repairs.

It's a good thing, Mabel thought as she reopened her eyes, that the town at least was restored.

After everyone had left, even Soos leaving with his grandmother, they had all gathered around the armchair once more and Mabel had gone over more of the scrapbook, Dipper chiming in now and then. It'd been even better when Stan had occasionally filled in some of the blanks.

Mabel wasn't sure when they had fallen asleep, but as she looked around, she could see that everyone was where they'd been the night before. Stan, of course, was sitting in the chair and Mabel had taken the spot on his lap. Dipper had parked himself on top of the skull so he could easily lean over to see the scrapbook and he leaned against the arm of the chair, Stan's arm that wasn't around Mabel around him. Ford had ended up on the floor next to them, though he had started out just over Stan's shoulder leaning against the back.

Mabel sighed. Despite the sleep, she still felt exhausted, but she knew she wouldn't get any more sleep for now.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed there, but before long, she felt Stan stir. She looked up at him as he subconsciously stretched like a cat, bones creaking, before he blinked his eyes open.

For a moment, as the fuzziness of sleep still clouded his eyes, Mabel was back in that clearing, her Grunkle Stan staring at her with wide, unrecognizing eyes. Despite everything she had experienced, that had been one of the most frightening moments of her life.

However, as he opened his eyes now, it was clear that he did recognize her. He wasn't all there, not quite yet, but she smiled.

There was plenty of time to fix that, they would get him totally back.

After all, as they had happily discovered yesterday, they still had seven days left of summer.

Stan looked at her, a slight, nervous smile on his face. "Hey," he said, "sleep well?"

Her smile widened in return. "Yep." She set the scrapbook down to lean against the chair and wrapped her arms around Stan's middle to give him a proper hug.

Stan hummed in agreement, and squeezed her in return. A grumbling sound met both their ears and they both looked at Mabel's offending stomach. Stan chuckled and he disentangled himself from Mabel and the chair to head for the kitchen. "C'mon, sweetie, let's see if there's anything edible in this house." The night before Lazy Susan had provided dinner to all the people working at the Shack so it was a valid question.

Mabel wasn't thinking about that though. Instead, she gazed up at Stan with wide eyes. As he walked further away, Stan realized she wasn't following him and turned around to look at her quizzically. The silence seemed to make him nervous the more it continued, until he finally asked, "Did – did I say something wrong?"

The brightest grin she had ever had spread across Mabel's face. I haven't told him about his nicknames for me. "It's fine!" she said aloud, taking his hand and tugging him in the kitchen. "Just great!"

"If you say so," Stan said, letting her lead him, but it was entirely different from when she had first brought him into the Shack. "Anything in particular you want to eat?"

"Pancakes." Mabel said immediately as it was simple enough to make and it was what they usually part of what they ate when he actually cooked breakfast.

"Heh, with me making them, they'd be more like Stancakes, wouldn't they?" Stan joked as he started searching through the cupboards for ingredients.

As she searched too, Mabel chanced a glance at her Grunkle Stan. She hadn't mentioned Stancakes either.

Yeah, things were going to be all right.

AN: So this is the end of this series. Thanks for reading. I told you it'd get better by the end.