So here's the edited version of the Chapter 1 that i've posted before. :D enjoy.
The sky was painted a picturesque amalgam of colours, with dimming blue overshadowing the remaining hints of orange and pink as the sun began to descend from the sky. Its warm rays settling on her face, with her eyes reflected its light, flickering as she observes the clump of trees along their way. She sighed heavily, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as her eyes began to grow weary.
She'd almost forgotten how long the trip was long and how undoubtedly exhausting it is, even though all she had done was to sit and wait until they finally arrive to her destination. And to think she'd been doing this for several times, it was surprising that she still wasn't used to it by now. Perhaps it was because she really haven't travelled this long for quite some time.
Mabel rests her arms on the window frame and shrugs off the aching feeling in her butt. She sighs.
"I guess I should cherish this moment huh?" She lets out a short laugh. "It would probably take several years before I could come back."
She decided to close her eyes and allow herself to doze off for the fourth time throughout the ride, the corner of her lips curling into a small smile as she felt a familiar giddy feeling as she imagines how it would be when she finally reconciles with the people from her past. She wonders if his Grunkle Ford still looks as young as the last time she saw him. She wasn't sure if it was because he's been imprisoned in another dimension for so long that his body was had not fully adjusted, or that he was using some sort of cream (she would nag him about this later). Soos would probably be there running the shack, his lifelong dream and Wendy would most probably be there, helping Soos out or hiding from the boys trailing behind her, Mabel had always been envious of her effortless charm and appeal to boys. She haven't talked to either Grenda or Candy since her last visit, she wonders if they still live in gravity falls, or had Grenda moved to Austria with Marius?
And then theres dipper, Will he be glad to see me? Will he shy away like the introverted dork he is? Will he be in the shack when I get there?
An abrupt bump had woken her from her shallow slumber, causing her hand to slip from the edge of the window, almost sending smacking her face at the seat across her. As soon as she'd recovered her eyes immediately scanned her surroundings realizing that she was the only passenger left.
The lesser people there is, the nearer we are. She thought. She immediately looked to her side to find, the final indication that she had finally arrived. There it was, as rusty and unsteady looking as it were the last time she saw it, the water tower with the huge GRAVITY FALLS painted—or in this case, almost fading on it for the tourists to see.
The bus slowed down to a stop and the driver announced their arrival. In a flash she had grabbed her things and hastily took her luggage, almost tripping, as she dashed out of the bus. As she settled her things outside, she paused for a moment remember the very first time she and her brother had arrived in the eerie town. She recalls the mixture of anxiety from being far away from their parents and staying in a place she knows very much little of. Yet there was a tinge of thrill seeping through her veins that made her stomach churn in excitement as she visualized the probability of making new friends and even engaging herself in an "epic summer romance" with some of the possible bachelors she might encounter in the next few days.
Her heart raced as it did before, a tear edging in her eyes as she stared at the place that made all her exhaustion fade away in one intake of the scenery before her.
"I'm finally back," she declared with a wide grin as she began to head for the shack.
Along the way she was greeted by some of the townsfolk who still knew her and she felt flattered that even though it's been years since she'd visited they still managed to remember her as 'the girl who made gravity falls much more lively'. Thankfully, the town hadn't changed that much with only a few additional stores and some repainted houses that she could still recognise. Other than that, it was all as she could remember and she easily found her way back to the shack.
Trailing her luggage behind her, she stared up at its façade, remembering how they would always fix it almost every other day, and how the 'S' could never stay in place. The triangular window of the attic that they had to replace every time they would break it due to their indoor golf game. And all the other unusual events that had taken place in the old shack.
All those wonderful adventure we had all happened here in Gravity falls. How I wish piedmont was the same. She mused. True, struggling through high school itself had been an adventure, but that was one heck of an adventure was glad to be done with.
"Mabel?" Called a familiar voice from behind her.
She flinched and turns as she hears her name. Recognizing the person before her she grins and exclaims, "Grunkle Ford!" She dashed to wrap her arms around her Grunkle, "I missed you so much!"
"The same goes for me too," He replied, loosening his grip and eventually letting her go. "You should've told me you were coming. We could've picked you up.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Mabel chuckles.
"And a surprise it sure is. It's been a while, you look—" he eyes her from head to toe, stuttering in his loss for words.
Great? Now that would just be offensive.
"Very Adult like," he finished.
Mabel let out a small smile, "Almost," she corrected.
"Right, you're almost eighteen. I insisted to celebrate it, you know, a small gathering with a few close friends, but he insisted not to make a big deal out it. Odd for I recall you two celebrate your birthdays extravagantly." He frowns, "Sometimes I wonder if it was wrong of me to force him to stay and be my apprentice."
A long forgotten memory of broken promises came flashing back to her. That day he told her that he wanted to stay in Gravity Falls. She recalls how it completely broke her heart to hear him say those words with much finality, that he left no area for her to speak her mind, on what she felt regarding his sudden decision. Realizing that she was in no place to hold him back from his dream, no matter how much it hurt her, she let him go, and now their bond had become too fragile that she assumes a little fight would completely tear them apart.
Mabel shook her head lightly, somehow hesitant whether she wanted to agree or disagree with the man's statement. "It was his own decision to stay here. And besides, I did not put much effort into planning for it the past few years either. I guess celebrating it every year really has its cons. It can be frustrating at times," Lies."I might not even make a fuss in celebrating it this year too," she faked a smile.
God knows how much she loved celebrating their birthday. It wasn't the presents she was looking forward to, it was the process of planning and making sure everything was going to go according to plan. And she usually has him to guide her along the way making it even more delightful.
But for the past few years that she wasn't able to visit Gravity falls, and he too wasn't able to go home due to some untimely circumstances she had to celebrate without him. And that reason alone wasn't worth the effort.
Her Grunkle's eyebrow knitted. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Yes. Definitely. Absolutely." she said with a giggle in the end
Ford chuckled at her familiar response. "It's good to know that at least it's only your physicality that has changed,"
Mabel's smiled almost faltered, but she quickly grins back before her Grunkle could even notice. She knew she was burying herself lie after lie, but it wasn't as if she had a choice. It would be pointless and a bit awkward to just tell him how much she'd changed as a person, and that the old Mabel had died and had been buried by her own hands. That the Mabel standing before him now was not the same naïve little girl who used stickers and glitters to solve her problems.
Besides, it would be nice to pretend, even for just a short while that she was as innocent as she was and that her world isn't as complicated and wretched as it is now.
"Yeah, still the same old Mabel," she hoped that she faked it enough that her Grunkle would not hear her discomfort in her own words.
"Anyway if you change your mind, just come to me if you need any help in with the party."
"Will do, Grunkle ford," Glancing at the shack, she hesitantly asks, "Is he there?"
Ford shook his head, and gestured to the woods. "He's been out all afternoon, but I reckon he'll be back before supper."
"Can I wait for him in o—" She stopped, realizing how she almost said 'our room', You no longer share a that room, genius. "—er, his room?"
She didn't miss the way her Grunkle's eyebrow arched at her abrupt pause, but he decided not to pay much attention to it.
"Of course," he said as he began to pick up one of her belongings, trailing them inside the shack with Mabel following along behind him.
The entrance was just as it was before, the cash register was still there. A lot of fake "peculiar" items were still lined up in the shelves along with some t-shirts and merchandise. She remembered how she loved working there and how much of a fool she was to think that she could run the place on her own. Mabel smiles as they walked by.
The living room was quite the same, one couch one television, only now it had a few machineries installed that Mabel couldn't identify. She trailed her fingers along the armrest of the couch, visualizing how her late Grunkle Stan would react to her return, thus she made a mental note to visit him sometime later.
They carefully ascended the creaky stairs up to the attic. She stared before the door that they used to share, which was now only his room. Behind this door was the person she used to share everything with. And now feels as if he's a person she have yet to get to know once more. She felt her chest tighten.
Ford noticed his niece's hesitance. "Are you nervous?"
She nods once more. "Don't be. He's still your brother after all."
"Right," A small smile formed at the corner of her lips as her eyes remained downcast on the wooden floor. Her Grunkle placed a hand at her should and smiled at her comfortingly before taking his leave.
Mabel let out a breath, and with a shaky hand she reached for the knob and turned the door open.
She had a lot of notion regarding how the room they once shared was looked now, she assumed they've taken out her bed to make more room for dipper's gadgets and some inventions of his own. Her posters would probably be replaced of blueprints and other files that no longer fitted in his des and any other trace of her that once resided in that very room would be far long erased.
But what she saw inside was the exact opposite. Her eyes first landed on the mess atop of dipper's bed, or at least what remains of it, and the little scraps of papers on the floor next to it. Then to her right side, was her bed. Perfectly made and seemingly untouched for years. Her posters still hanging on the wall without any trace of scratch besides the one she could recall she had caused on her own years back.
She slowly walked towards her bed, the flooring creaking beneath her with every careful step that she took. She sat at the edge of her bed and ran her hand through her sheets. She took one of her pillows and buried her face in it, marveling at how clean and fragrant it was as if it had just been washed, contrary to what she believed would smell old or perhaps odorless. She swiped a finger over her bed frame and side table only to find that it had no speck of dust.
"Did he know that I was gonna come visit?" She mused. But later figured it was impossible as her decision to go back to Gravity falls had been impromptu and she specifically told her parents not to inform anyone. Maybe he's been sleeping on my bed and used his own as some sort of dump for all his mess. But Mabel knew Dipper, or at least she once did, and the Dipper she knew does not make his bed if not exceedingly needed. Has he been cleaning my space all these years?
Suddenly she heard the door creak open followed by a few short steps and that caused her heart to raise inside her chest.
"Mabel..?"
Even though his voice had certainly changed, getting a pitch lower than she was used to, she could still recognize to whom the voice belonged to. She slowly turned her head to meet the gaze that was almost the same as hers.
There he was standing frozen by the doorway, his hand still grasping the door knob and his eyes wide like saucers as he stared back at her. "Hi," she said sheepishly, and a smile crept on her tear stricken face. "I'm back,"
I'm still figuring out how dipper would react to Mabel's return, would he shy away? would it be awkward? or would he just go and hug her?
Anyway I hope you liked this better than the older version :D and again, REVIEW/FOLLOW/FAVORITE