"With the exception of the locket" Ken continued as the two trooped into Dipper and Wendy's room, "most items from their past as a couple are proudly on display. This one's my favorite." He pointed to a stuffed panda-duck.

Phoebe chuckled. "That one sure does have a long story behind it. Ken, did Dipper ever tell you about the first time he tried getting Wendy one of those?"

Ken shook his head. "I think everyone and their grandmother knows that story at this point..."

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Time #1 (Recap from the series)

Dipper looked in horror as Wendy held her eye in pain, with the baseball having just hit it.

"Hold on, Wendy! I'll get some ice!" He ran all the way back to the Shack as fast as he could and got one of the ten-pound bags. By the time he got back, with the bag half-empty and him cursing the stupid Mystery Fair games, it was too late - Robby had already used his snow cone to help Wendy's eye.

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"I think from that moment on, to Dipper all cross-species stuffed animals represented that moment - and maybe any subsequent times with Wendy that he feels bad about, like Lookout Point," Ken reasoned.

"Maybe" Phoebe shrugged. "But that didn't keep him from chickening out that one time." She turns to face the audience. "Ddp456's story 'Twin vs. Twin' absolutely happened in our universe, later that same summer, and for those of you who may recall..."

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Time #2 (Quoted from ddp456's "Twin vs Twin", PLEASE go to his page and read the full story for yourself)

Dipper leaned over to see a small game booth on the right side of the Ferris Wheel. The entire cubicle was covered in its trademark prize: a black and white striped teddy bear with a dark black zebra mane alongside the top of his head.

"I don't know if it's a zebra or a bear, but I want one!" The enlivened girl turned towards her pal with shining eyes and a tooth-filled grin.

Remembering the last time he was placed in that situation, Dipper took his crush by the hand and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Um…" he chuckled timidly. "Let's not and say we did…"

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"While we're on the subject" Phoebe continued. "A lot of authors believe that Dad found one on the internet and bought it for her when the time was right. Maybe in their universes. But in ours, he couldn't let himself off that easy. Something about that toy made it seem like to him that it had to be won in order for it to mean anything."

"Well," Ken picked up from there. "He had plenty of chances. Like the one time he tried three years later, the summer after Wendy graduated. Bear in mind, the pressure was high because he thought they may not see each other again. Well, a few hours later..."

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Time #3 (Original content from here on out)

Fifteen-year-old Dipper woke up in his bed in the attic of the Mystery Shack, confused at what had happened. Or, more to the point, why there was an ice-pack on his head. As he looked up, he saw the last person he wanted to see him in this state.

"Hey, doofus," Wendy smiled, tilting the pine-tree cap Dipper gave her three years ago.

"Wendy?" Dipper sat up, gripping the ice pack and holding it against his head. "What time is it?"

"5:22 PM. You've been out for a few hours, man." Wendy frowned, a little concerned. "You remember what happened."

As pieces of the memory came back - him seeing a carnival stand with milk bottles, a baseball, and the panda-duck as a prize; deciding that Wendy would love it as a present; throwing the ball with Mabel cheering him on, only for it to bounce harmlessly right back to his face - Dipper groaned. "Oh boy. That all actually happened."

Wendy laughed. "Yeah, Mabel reckons you're the first person on the West Coast to knock himself out with a baseball during a carnival game."

Dipper sighed. "Wendy, I'm sorry. I played that game trying to get something you wanted, and now you're having to look after - "

"Hey," Wendy said, pressing down on his ice pack to get his attention. "Don't sweat it, man. Mabel told me all about it. But let me tell you something. I once told you long before my summers were boring until you two showed up. And you've kept them interesting all this time. We've had a lot of fun together, you've always been concerned more about me than yourself - I don't think any of my other friends really compare to you. So I don't need a gift to remember you by, over the next few years. We'll still keep in touch and I'll still have memories from good days together. That's the best I could ask for."

Dipper looked up. "I just...remember how one of the first things we did together was go to that Mystery Fair? Well, I figured getting you what you wanted back then would be a great way to end on a - OW!"

Wendy socked him in the arm. "Then I want to hear it even less. There is a chance we'll see each other again, and there is a chance we won't. But trying to say goodbye? That precludes any hope. And besides…" she said, pulling out her wooden question mark. "I'm taking a piece of what we had wherever I go."

Dipper cracked a small smile as he pulled out his own. "As am I..."

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"Of course, that wasn't the end for them," Ken continued, pointing at Phoebe with his thumb. "In fact, exactly six months after they started dating..."

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Time #4

"Well, the anniversary gift should be at her house soon." Dipper said to himself as he checked his phone in the mall. "I can't help but feel like it's not enough, though…"

As he walked out, he saw a stand with the same game that had haunted him for about ten years. "Well, this time I can do this! Come on, add a sweetener to that gift." He gave the dollar to the carny, chose not to ask why he was setting up shop today, and threw the ball. Sadly, however, in his haste the ball slipped out of his fingers while he was winding his arm back. The ball sailed backwards and pegged a poor mall cop on a segway.

Dipper bailed before he could be accused of intentional damage, "On second thought, it'll have to do as is."

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"Well, the wooden-carved portrait inspired by their old talk at the bunker turned out to do fine on its own as a gift." Phoebe picked up. "And last but not least in his line of failures, just to give you an idea…"

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Time #5

"Dude, it's our honeymoon. You really wanna do this?"

Despite being in a Puerto Rico, Dipper and Wendy still somehow found a carnival booth with a very familiar game.

He sighed. "I at least want to see if my suspicion is right." He handed over three dollars. "One throw please."

"Si senor, buena suerte." The vendor deftly tossed him a ball. Dipper took aim and threw it straight at the milk bottles...only for it to bounce harmlessly off the bottles and begin bouncing in an infinite loop within the booth.

"Dios mio!" shouted the vendor as he ducked down.

Dipper sighed. "From Puerto Rico to Piedmont, it looks like I'm never getting that thing." Defeated, he hit his head against the counter.

Wendy pecked him on the cheek as the two left. "I'm just fine with that. Thanks for playing all these years, dork."

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"Wait a minute, then how'd they get that one?" Ken said, pointing at the panda-duck on the shelf.

"Well," Phoebe said smugly. "Dad and I were at a fair together that Mom couldn't go to about five years ago, when..."

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The Plus One

"Look at that, Daddy!" Phoebe excitedly pointed to a stall game with a very familiar prize. Dipper looked up, then groaned.

"You know, I used to try to get that toy for your Mommy at almost every opportunity. Every time I failed." Dipper looked down at the ground as a host of embarrassing memories flooded his mind.

"Daddy, it's OK. Mommy still loves you." Phoebe tugged her father's shirt, trying to reassure him.

Dipper nearly wrote this off as the ramblings of a child. But then he realized something. All these years he had the mindset of a twelve-year-old whenever he played - if he lost there would be consequences and he could not touch Wendy's heart. But the exact proof of the opposite was standing next to him. Maybe if he played with that in mind…

"Yeah...she does," he said cryptically as he took his daughter to the stand while riffling through his pocket with one hand. He pulled out a few dollar bills and handed them over. "Set me up, sir."

As he held the baseball in his hands, he closed his eyes and recalled all the brilliant times he had with his beloved over the years. How if he came home without the stuffed animal and told her what happened today, she'd laugh and they'd probably just have a quiet night together with their daughter. He opened his eyes and wound his arm back….

Later that day…

"Hey, doofus, what are so happy about?" Wendy cracked as Dipper wordlessly placed a paper gift bag on the table.

"Just open this." Dipper said with a mischievous smile. Wendy lifted the tissue paper, then pulled out the last thing she expected to see - a panda-duck.

As she stared at it in disbelief and it smiled back at her, there was a moment of silence as Dipper waited apprehensively. What happened after that, however, was worth millions.

"OH MY GOD!" Wendy leapt up and tackled her husband before giving him the most adrenaline-filled kiss ever. Dipper melted into it wordlessly, and for a moment the two said nothing.

Wendy separated herself from his face for a second "I don't even know if I'm happier for myself or for you. You finally did it, man! You won!"

Dipper smiled as the two embraced, their ribcages both vigorously squeezed. "Sure did, Wendy. Sure did."

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"You gave him advice at age eight that got him to win a game he had been struggling with for years?" Ken incredulously asked his co-host.

Phoebe shrugged with a smug grin. "I come from good stock, after all. Isn't that what this event is about?"