After Sophie got to Ford's dimension, she forgot about the journal until a few days later when she woke in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. The details of the dream escaped her, but the fear remained. Ford was sleeping soundly and Stan was sawing logs; Sophie didn't want to disturb either of them. She dug out the journal-Ford's journal-and headed to the deck with a blanket around her shoulders.

The moonlit waves lapped against the boat and helped to calm her pounding heart. She sat on the deck against the rail and propped the journal up on her knees, but hesitated before her pen touched the page. I should probably give this back to Ford... But even with Ford there, the thought of not having a place to release her pent-up emotions increased her anxiety. Maybe I'll just...keep it. He hasn't even asked about it; he probably forgot. Sophie thought back to some of the entries that Ford had written and felt guilty for even thinking of keeping it to herself. The journal had been just as much of a help to him as it had been to her, and it was his to begin with. She wrote a few paragraphs and shut the book. It still had plenty of pages.

Sophie leaned her head back and gazed at the stars, too alert to go back to sleep. Some of the constellations that her own dimension had weren't there, but she was glad to at least see a few that she recognized. She stiffened and tucked the book under her blanket as she heard Ford's booted footsteps in the cabin.

He emerged from the door and paused, then wordlessly joined her on the deck. "Can't sleep?"

"Yeah. You, too?"

Ford leaned against the rail. "Yeah."

Sophie shifted her grip in the journal, trying to form the right words. "The uh, stars are nice tonight."

Ford took a deep lungful of fresh air. "Yes, they are."

"Yeah, heh. A few constellations are different, but it's still nice."

Ford looked at her curiously. "Your dimension had different constellations?"

"Yeah, there was the Pomegranate of Persephone, the Chariot of Hades, and the Pillars of Olympus, just to name a few."

"Fascinating. Any others that you remember?"

Sophie noticed Ford's hand twitching for something to write with and sighed. "Not right now."

Ford's face fell. "Sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of your home dimension."

Sophie shrugged. "It's okay, really."

Ford hummed and turned his gaze back to the stars. "I've missed this."

Sophie smiled softly. "Me, too. I met a few other versions of you from different universes, but...it just wasn't the same."

"Really? What were they like?"

"Pretty much like you; nerdy, stubborn, prone to danger, but with a heart of gold under that layer of crusty old man."

"Heh. I wonder what it would have been like to meet the other me in that parallel world."

"You would both pull out your journals and spend the next week asking each other a billion questions while scribbling down notes."

Ford glanced at Sophie. "That's...probably what would happen, actually."

"What can I say, I know you well." Sophie rubbed her thumb along the journal's spine. "Uh, speaking of journals..."

"Yes?"

"Well...you left yours in my backpack, and I might have, uh, written some stuff in it. Actually, I wrote a lot of stuff in it." Sophie revealed the book and held it out to Ford. "Sorry."

Ford took the book in surprise. "You kept my journal?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, it was all I had left of you. It's just...writing in it felt like I could still connect with you somehow, like I wasn't completely alone out there. I'm sorry if that-"

"Sophie." Ford put a hand on her shoulder. "I understand; it's okay."

"Really?"

Ford smiled. "Really. If anything, I'm glad that it helped you; dimension hopping isn't easy on your own."

"So...you're not mad at me?"

"Of course not! In fact, Dipper did the same thing when he found a journal of mine in Gravity Falls."

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "How many journals do you have?"

"Several." Ford opened the journal in his hand to the first page. "I'm glad that you still had this one. It will be interesting to look back on my account of the different worlds I visited in my last few years of dimension hopping."

Sophie reached for it before she realized what she was doing. "I, um...can I still write in it?"

Ford gave her a questioning look.

"It's just that...sometimes I have nightmares and I can't go back to sleep, and it helps. Writing helps, I mean."

Ford's gaze softened and he handed the journal back to Sophie. "Tell you what, next time we make port we'll get you your own journal. You can keep this until then."

Sophie clutched the journal. "Really? You won't want to look through it or anything?"

"Really."

Sophie threw her arms around Ford. "Thanks, smart guy."

"Heh, any time, kiddo."

Hope you enjoyed that. I thought it was a nice way to wrap up Ford's and Sophie's adventures. Reviews are always appreciated! :)