"And now for the finale, and my personal favorite!" Ken shouted triumphantly.
"Of course it is, you were there as more than a bystander for this one," Phoebe shot back.
"So were you," Ken replied. "In fact, it's why I like it. It shows that one of the greatest parts of meeting Dipper for Wendy was being a part of the Pines family. Sure, it didn't legally happen until they were married, but thanks to him she honestly became close to all of them starting from age 15."
"So when Dad wanted to make a certain day special for Mom, he knew who to turn to. It was weeks in the making, but here's the simple version..."
############################################################################################################
Ken came into the Shack one morning only to hear a hub of conversation immediately, before he could even see the participants. "So, you sure you can handle everything?" Dipper's voice projected anxiety.
"No sweat it, bro-bro, it'll be fine!" Mabel could be heard even more clearly. "Glad-Glad and I will have all of them ready, won't we dear?"
"Count on us, Uncle Dipper!" her daughter shrill answered.
"Finn? How about your end?"
"I can do it, Uncle D, but I honestly could use someone else to help me out. My part alone will seem a bit underwhel-"
Ken finally reached the bottom of the stairs to see the entire Pines family, minus Wendy, along with Soos and Melody gathered in the kitchen. "What's going on?"
Without really answering him, Finn turned around and asked him, "Hey Ken, you got a decent sense of musicality, right?"
"Yeah, I did band for a year." Ken answered, confused.
"Drums?"
"Yup."
Finn turned to his uncle. "He'll do."
His uncle nodded. "Great. Stan, Ford, Soos? Bunker's gonna be ready?"
Stan griped, "Yeah, yeah, it'll be ready. Sheesh, kid, you told us about this six months in advance, you think we've been idle?"
Dipper nodded. "OK, then I guess we're good for now. I better go check that gremloblin trap, Wendy told me to meet her there and I can't let her get suspicious." With that he rapidly left the Shack.
Ken spoke up. "Again, what was that all about?"
Soos hit his forehead. "Oh, dawg, I totally forgot you wouldn't know. So, like, Dipper and Wendy have this thing about celebrating their anniversary - I really can't explain it that well."
"Here, I'll tell him." Finn said, grabbing Ken's wrist and taking him upstairs. "So here's the deal. In three weeks it's their anniversary, but they don't count the years from that."
"Wait, how does that make sense?"
"They purposely timed their wedding so that it's the same day that, ten years prior, my uncle revealed his feelings to Aunt Wendy."
"Wait...but didn't Wendy reject him back then?"
"Yeah," Finn conceded. "But they claim that's when they could tell their dynamic changed. Sure, they were close before, but after that the things they dealt with together suddenly were amplified. They made even more of an effort to hold onto the bond they had...even before it changed into something more."
Ken smiled. "So is that why Dipper wants to use the bunker?"
Finn grinned. "Yup. This is their twenty-sixth year, after all, and they weren't able to do anything for the twenty-fifth since he had this issue pop up in a Wyoming dig site - long story, ask later."
Ken clapped his hands together. "So, what can I do?"
Finn handed him some sheet music as they arrived in his half of the attic (a wall had been put up when Gladys and Finn got a bit too old). "You can handle percussions, right?"
"Should be based on simple musicality, sure." Ken scanned the sheet music. "Didn't think you'd be into 2010s British pop."
"Oh, well, we're doing this cover done by a heavy metal artist shortly after. Don't worry, though," he said opening a guitar case to show a black electric guitar. "I got the heavy lifting."
###################################################################################################################################################
The day of…..
"Alright," Dipper said as they all gathered next to the bunker. "Everything set up?"
"Ready to go, once we all get in there..." Ford gestured to Mabel, who took her grappling hook and aimed it at the tree branch lever, causing the hook to knock it to the 'down' position.
"OK, places. Phoebe, make the call." With that, everyone dashed into the tree trunk as Phoebe took out her cell phone and called her mother.
"Hey Mom, how was lunch with Melody?"
Wendy's voice came out of the phone. "Hey, cutie. Yeah, it went pretty well. We're heading to the Shack now."
"About that….can you meet me at the clearing instead? The one next to the bunker?"
"Um, sure."
##########################################################
As Wendy and Melody approached, Wendy wore a big smile on her face. "So, what'd you call us here for, Pheebs?"
"See for yourself," Phoebe and Melody smiled and giggled as they headed downstairs.
"WAIT!" Wendy called, dashing in as fast as she could. Sadly, they had been far faster and she found herself alone.
The hideout she found herself in was transformed. First there was the entrance, left wide open - she didn't even have to activate the security runes. Then as she passed through the lab, she found that the cave had been much better lit than usual, with streamers all over the place.
"What the….? Dipper, did you do all this?" Wendy asked allowed, knowing that something this well-rehearsed would not be spoiled by him answering her question.
Meanwhile, in an alcove within the cave, Ken and Finn waited for their signal. "Ford, we good to go?"
"Amplifiers and recording gear ready." Ford replied.
"Hit it, kids! Before my hearing aid bugs out." Stan added.
And so, as Wendy approached the first of many paintings lining the walls - clearly done by Mabel and Gladys - and gasped with recognition, the music began to play.
[AN: Soundtrack is "ONE DIRECTION - DRAG ME DOWN (Metal Cover)" by pellekofficial on Youtube. Bold lies reflect the lines as Ken and Finn sing them to give you an idea of real-time pacing, but it's not a perfect fit with the story's pacing. Also, a lot of these events are courtesy of other authors, so please read the disclaimers at the end.]
Finn: I've got fire for a heart
I'm not scared of the dark
You've never seen it look so easy
I got a river for a soul
And baby you're a boat
Baby you're my only reason
The painting clearly showed one of the earliest memories she still held dear - herself and Dipper outside this very bunker when he was twelve and she fifteen. She could remember her words as if it was yesterday: "If you ever stopped being my friend, I would throw myself into the Bottomless Pit."
The next painting was also familiar. It showed Dipper and Wendy enjoying the Woodstick festivities with their friends. The little guy's face was looking up at hers, overjoyed that what had happened moments before had salvaged the night for them. Wendy smiled at the memory and moved on.
Finn: If I didn't have you there would be nothing left
The shell of a man who could never be his best
Little Dipper in the next mural held a scrapbook close to him as teenage Wendy spied on him in the corner. Adult Wendy, meanwhile, nearly cried at the idea that after all these years her husband had regarded that act of kindness so dearly. Nearly.
Finn: If I didn't have you, I'd never see the sun
You taught me how to be someone, yeah
Dipper and Wendy sat on the Ferris Wheel enjoying the sunset view of the Oregon State Fair. That had been on the tail of Wendy making him promise to cherish his bond with his twin, as that made him who he was. I guess I did teach him, huh? Wendy reflected wistfully.
Ken: All my life
You stood by me
When no one else was ever behind me
All these lights
They can't blind me
With your love, nobody can drag me down
At first, the decision to include Weirdmageddon seemed an odd one, until Wendy noticed the exact moment portrayed - herself and Dipper surrounded by Gideon's prison henchmen. It was right after Dipper had told her she was the coolest person he'd ever known, and right after he had told Gideon that he had to strive to be worthy of being loved. Looking back, Wendy wondered how many times Dipper had told himself that. At any rate, he's more than worthy now and has been for years.
Finn: All my life
You stood by me
When no one else was ever behind me
All these lights
They can't blind me
With your love, nobody can drag me -
Mabel definitely took a lot of creative liberties with the next one. Although the following April Wendy and Dipper had defeated almost all of her ex-boyfriends, they never stood atop their bodies like that. As for the sixteen cupcakes, however….Wendy could never forget how Dipper reclaimed for her the birthday that Faller's Day had for many years unfairly eclipsed.
Ken and Finn (together) - down!
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Two Christmases on display, side-by-side - Wendy's first ones. One year she hugged the Pines twins, their wooden question marks hanging off their bodies. The next she laughed as the flustered twins were dangling in a net in the Shack's attic, caught in the trap she had set to greet them.
As Wendy continued, they no longer felt like murals. They were portals into her past, which she now saw as if she was actually there once more.
Finn: I got fire for a heart
I'm not scared of the dark
You've never seen it look so easy
I got a river for a soul
And baby you're a boat
Baby you're my only reason
After a gap of many years, the next image portrayed a location on a certain road trip and showed the recently exorcised and badly hurt Dipper in the arms of his best friend and girlfriend as of that exact moment. Although the kiss the two were entangled in sorta made that clear.
The next painting showed the couple standing up straight, angrily confronting a man who had just ran out on Dipper's sister, who sat in the truck behind them with her newborn twins. Wendy smiled, unsure of who in particular had insisted that particular moment make it on the wall. Still, to her it emphasized an important point - her husband was not the only Pines that Wendy cared about.
Ken: If I didn't have you there would be nothing left
The shell of a man who could never be his best
If I didn't have you, I'd never see the sun
You taught me how to be someone
Yeah
Three images telling a story. One of Dipper proposing to Wendy, clothes torn by wolves that were now retreating as Mabel and Soos looked on from behind a bush. Wendy remembered her words then, too - "Honestly, I kinda expected it to go down like this."
Then came Dipper breathing heavily after drinking one of the most powerful whiskeys that Manly Dan owned the day after - all to prove that he was right for Wendy when he really had nothing to fear. Sometimes Wendy wondered if there was anything Dipper wouldn't do for her.
Finally, the wedding. The two of them happy as possible, with Mabel receiving praise for making it all possible. What more to say about that?
Finn and Ken: All my life
You stood by me
When no one else was ever behind me
All these lights
They can't blind me
With your love, nobody can drag me
Four pictures centered on the shared treasure in their life - who luckily by now knew about all this. Dipper and Wendy playing Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons with bottles of beer nearby. Dipper stumbling to his wife to reassure her upon learning they were pregnant. Wendy lying on the ground of the Mystery Shack, tired but satisfied as she and Dipper held their newborn daughter. Finally, Wendy and eleven-year-old Phoebe sitting in a tree together as the former saw how much of her husband the latter had in her - and loving every minute of it.
Finn and Ken (together): - down!
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me
The final few were from this very summer. The two of them napping peacefully in Ford's lab as the finished Journal Belt lay in from of them. Dipper hugging Wendy as he remembered her going back in time to reassure his twelve-year-old self. And Wendy and Dipper trying to drive a car glued to each other with alien adhesive.
As Wendy reached the end of the murals, she gasped at the display case in front of her. In it were all the items Dipper held dear - his locket from the aborted timeline, the "Partners-in-Crime" scrapbook, the panda-duck, and the very first trapper hat he ever got from her. Finally, from behind the case Dipper emerged from the shadows and picked up the song himself.
Dipper: All my life
You stood by me
When no one else was ever behind me
All these lights
They can't blind me
With your love, nobody can drag me down
He let the boys continue as he said to his wife "Figured I'd go all-out, given I didn't get you anything last year."
Wendy grinned and punched his arm. "I thought the trip to your dig site in Wyoming was the gift."
"You think a work trip was good enough for that?"
"Any time with you is a good enough."
Dipper gathered her close. "And with that, after all these years, I finally get to say your line."
"What's that?" she grinned mischievously.
As he leaned in, he said only one word. "Dork."
Ken and Finn: All my life
You stood by me
When no one else was ever behind me
All these lights
They can't blind me
With your love, nobody can drag me
As they kissed, Mabel, Soos, Gladys and Melody shouted, "Surprise!" and blue-green confetti fell courtesy of Stan and Ford. The two didn't care, though - they were too lost in each other's lips, the kiss they were sharing arguably on par with their very first.
As they separated, Dipper smiled. "Thanks for the past twenty-six years, Wendy."
Wendy smiled back. "If you really want to thank me, make the next twenty-six just as good. And the twenty-six after that."
"Done," Dipper promised as they embraced.
Ken and Finn (together): - down!
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
Nobody, nobody
Nobody can drag me down
#############################################################
Several hours - and many champagne glasses for the adults - later, Ken and Finn trooped towards the recording booth that Ford had used for their performance, laptop in hand. The sixteen-year-old boy plugged his laptop into the console and began transferring the file from the day's performance as his younger counterpart looked on.
"So, what's the deal?" Ken inquired.
"The person who taught me to play..." Finn said as he opened his email. "Once told me to send him any recordings of a performance to see how well I did."
As the two watched the file get uploaded, Ken pried further. "So, I know Pacifica gave you the guitar, but I didn't think she knew how to play..."
"What made you think she gave me the guitar?"
Ken rolled her eyes. "Solid gold tuning pegs? Those aren't standard."
Finn chuckled. "You got me there. But no, she doesn't know." As he hit the Send button, he cryptically finished, "It was another old family friend..."
#####################################################################
Portland, OR
The man sitting in front of his computer opened the file, listening to every note of the heavy metal resonate in his ears. It took a special kind of skill to make the sound pop even through an mp3 file, but he was glad the Pines kid had figured out how to do that. The man leaned back and enjoyed every second of it, thinking about the past from his point of view. It had started off more sour than the happy couple's, but matched their own in the end when he had achieved peace with how things were.
"Hey, Blue Apron just delivered the dinner ingredients, you want to help with - " his wife stopped upon entering the room and hearing the music herself. "Neat, is that Finn?"
"Yup," her husband replied. "Looks like he's really come into his style since we moved. He can do whatever he likes now with his talents and he'll be fine."
The woman twirled some of her purple hair with her fingers. "Really takes you back, doesn't it Robbie?'
The pale-faced, black-haired husband turned around and nodded. "They chose to count the years further back than most couples. As a result, this all began in their eyes a bit before we got together and when I was still the poster image of a jerk."
Tambry leaned down and hugged her sitting partner. "Guess we've changed since then, too. We'll call them later. You coming?"
Robbie got up. "I'll be right there. One last thing I need to do."
As Tambry left, Robbie opened up one of the drawers in his dresser and moved all his shirts aside until he reached something at the bottom. He took out a hoodie he hadn't touched in years - tight and grey, with a stitched heart in the dead center. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out his own copy of a picture that was in Dipper and Wendy's scrapbook - from Woodstick the very first summer the Pines twins had visited. Sure, Robbie was closest to Tambry in that image, but he was still sulking in the corner. Meanwhile, Dipper and Wendy were on the opposite side, Wendy's arm thrown onto Dipper's shoulder as they treasured the idea of going to Dipper's first concert series together.
If he had seen that a year after it was taken, he may have felt a pang of sorrow, even envy. But now, after all that had faded, he only felt happy for them, proud that such a moment was now just one in many that they have had together.
"Happy anniversary, guys," he said to himself as he put the picture down and went to join his own wife for an evening that allowed them to be close in their own way.
##########################################################################################
"Wow, surprised we're including that bit." Phoebe remarked.
Ken replied, "Apparently it's a bit of a sweetener for everyone reading this far - bit of insight into something WAY down the road for the main series. Speaking of..."
"I'll take it from here." A voice said from the heavens.
"Wait...is that…." Phoebe was interrupted as a brown man with black hair landed in from of them with a resounding boom.
"Wait….Castle-Of-Fiction? The author?" Phoebe was amazed?
"Hey," I replied as I tapped the device on my wrist. "Pretty easy for me to get a fourth wall-breaking watch. Now then, how about we finish all this?"
"It's all yours," Ken and Phoebe stepped back a pace.
I clapped my hands together. "Right, so first of all, this established many Ddp456 and SuperGroverAway stories as part of our timeline, so special thanks to -
Ddp456's Photograph,
Ddp456's Twin vs Twin
Ddp456's Wendy Corduroy's Utterly-Insane and Exhausting Love Life
Ddp456's Dipper Pines's Confusing, Yet Totally Epic Fallers' Day
SuperGroverAway's Christmas with a Corduroy
SuperGroverAway's Project Lumberdork
SuperGroverAway's Never Alone
SuperGroverAway's Pop the Question
SuperGroverAway's Meet the Parents
SuperGroverAway's Pines will be Pines
Please check all of these out, these authors are amazing. Meanwhile, if you could also check out Kamen Rider Weird, you'll find Ken Takigawa's story as it unfolds so you understand why I felt the need to tell this week's events from his point of view."
"Hey!" the boy protested to no avail.
"Or if you could check out our other superheroes over at Power Rangers Dimensions, I'd appreciate that. As for the bonus story I referred to on Day 1...still on the fence about that, so stay tuned! For now, I'm Castle of Fiction..."
"I'm Ken..."
"And I'm Phoebe…."
The three said together. "And see you next year!"