At Los Angles airport, Anne and the Boonchuys were standing by domestic arrivals awaiting for the guys.
"I never thought we'd be taking care of another person from another world again." Mr Boonchuy said.
"Me neither." Mrs Boonchuy said. "Though, the poor boy is a refugee from what I've been hearing."
"Marcy told me the details." Anne said. "It's now being ran by a god who happens to be a child."
"Ohhh childlike god." Mr Boonchuy remarked. "That's definitely not a good sign."
"So, how are we going to handle the situation?" Mrs Boonchuy asked. "I mean, the boy must be traumatised."
"Might I make a suggestion?" Said Mabel, who happened to be with them awaiting for Dipper, Willow and Hunter. "Make your welcoming placard a bit more colourful. Like mine!" She showed the Boonchuys her placard which was filled with so much glitter, stickers, random blobs of paint of various colours and a drawing of a huge smile. The welcome message read 'Welcome Dipper, Pacifica, Hunter and Redwood' in very inconsistent capital and lower case lettering.
"Mabel, her name's Willow." Anne said. "You got the wrong tree."
"So, do you know if witches spit out any slime?" Mrs Boonchuy asked. "Not that I'm judging Gus, I just need to be cautious."
"I hope not." Anne said.
Then, Dipper, Sasha, Grime, Hunter, Willow and Gus exited through the door with the witches and toad looking traumatised.
"I am never going on a plane again." Willow said.
"Hey Dipper!" Mabel began waving her arm wildly as she held her placard. "I'm over here! And I made a colourful placard!"
Despite the grief he was feeling, he couldn't help but smile at his sister being herself. Even as she got older, she always remained the same.
Willow looked befuddled. "Who's the manic fairy?"
"That would be my sister." Dipper said.
The group all walked up to their respective rides and began to talk. "Gus, these are the Boonchuys." Sasha said. "They're going to be taking care of you. I know you're probably going to be scared but trust me they're nice when they…."
"Sasha, he's staring at Domino." Anne interjected.
Turns out, Gus wasn't listening to what Sasha was saying and was more mesmerised by the Boonchuy family cat, Domino, sitting on the driver's seat.
"Woah! Cats drive the strange human worm vehicles?!" Gus exclaimed. "I'm already loving it."
"Okay, how did Domino sneak in?" Mr Boonchuy asked.
"Don't move her, I'm posting this." Anne said as she pulled out her new phone to take the adorable picture of Domino.
When Dipper approached his twin sister, he was already looking sad as he read Mabel's welcome sign. "Hey Bro, what's wrong? Is it too sad?"
Dipper saw that on the welcome sign, she expected Pacifica to be with them. He was about to say something until Willow used her magic to burn the welcome sign.
"Ah!" Mabel screamed. "Uh, Los Angeles weather!"
"It's not that." Hunter said. "Pacifica….Didn't survive the Demon Realm." Hunter now had tears falling down his face while Dipper tried to keep a calm composure.
But his sister knew her brother better and gave him a tearful look. Tears fell from her eyes as she mourned the loss of her former rival and now would-have-been-sister-in-law. "Oh, Dipper." She and Dipper shared a hug as they each sobbed.
Hunter wanted to cry but there was something more important that needed to be done. "We must get going." Hunter said.
"Hang on." Sasha said before approaching Dipper with the blue shard which she handed to him. "Keep this safe. Keep this hidden."
Dipper gave Sasha an assuring nod. "I will. I promise."
Willow and Hunter approached Gus, ready to say their goodbyes to him. "Hey Gus, we're going to see each other again." Willow assured her lifelong friend. "Just don't know when."
"I know we will." Gus said. "I just hope we can find a way back soon."
"I promise Gus, mark my words, I will get you back to your dad." Hunter assured him.
"And you have to promise me one thing as well Hunter, watch out for Willow." Gus said. "She means a lot to me as well."
Hunter patted Gus' shoulder. "She means a lot to me as well."
Gus gave Hunter a smile. "I'm well aware." He was as well quite aware on Hunter's supposed crush on Willow.
Then, Willow and Gus began to share a hug while Hunter stood for a second before being pulled into it. He was confused by the affection but then returned it.
Later on the car ride to the Waybright residence, Gus was hypnotised by the radio that Mrs Boonchuy was adjusting to find an appropriate radio station, Anne was catching up with Sasha while Grime was staring out the window in guilt.
"So, anything happened while I was gone?" Sasha asked.
"Not really much." Anne said. "I spent four days catching up on school work and I slept for two days afterwards. Plus, Darryl has been trying to make me his Valentine for a couple of weeks…." While Anne began to tell Sasha of her incident with Darryl, Grime looked to the vehicle driving close to the one he was in.
The vehicle appeared to be a recalled car from the mid to late 1970's and the driver was the same person whom Grime kept seeing. The man grinned at Grime as he flicked out his pocket watch and the toad commander once again heard that ticking.
Grime closed his eyes and then opened them up to see that the driver was now a middle aged man with grey hair in a beetle. He stared at the toad in confusion before revving up his engine and continuing driving.
"….Does Amphibia celebrate Valentines Day, Grime?" Anne asked.
"Huh?" Grime reacted. His train of thought being interrupted.
"Valentines Day. Does Amphibia celebrate it?" She asked.
"Uh….What's Valentines Day?" He asked.
"Save that for an adventure, we're here." Mrs Boonchuy declared.
Grime got out of the car while Sasha was saying a goodbye to Anne. "So, movie on Valentines Day?" Sasha asked.
"You betcha, lieutenant." Anne and Sasha shared a quick peck on the lips before she left the car.
"Hey Anne, C̄hạn khwr ca mī h̄lān cāk ṭhex." (I better be having grandkids from her.)
"Mom! We're 13!" Anne exclaimed.
"Not too early to plan ahead." Mrs Boonchuy retorted.
On the way inside the Waybright home, Grime was busy sulking while Sasha was giving him a concerned look. "You still feeling okay, Grime?" She asked.
"What do you think?" Grime responded.
"Oh no! We are not doing this again!" Sasha protested. "You are not going to wallow in your sadness while I do all the work to get us back on our feet!"
"You still have Anne and Gus." Grime retorted before opening the door to Mr Waybright, whom had a can of beer in his hand.
"Sasha, what's happening?" He asked. "And you must be Grime. Now, I don't know how to thank you for keeping my daughter safe…" While Kevin was talking, Grime suddenly snatched the Dan out of his hand began to drink it. "…Ookay, help yourself. You're our guest after all. Anyway, we have a room set out for you in the basement. I did everything I could to replicate the environment of a…." But Grime just walked past the basement and walked to the sliding doors that lead to the garden. "….Okay, guess you want to sleep outside? Okay, I understand. Do you want me to build you a nice…" But instead, Grime just walked into the shed and slammed it.
Sasha approached her dad and sighed. "He's in the dumps."
"I mean, being away from home will do that." Kevin responded.
"No, he just did something really stupid that caused a lot of people to get hurt." Sasha replied.
"Does he need help?" Kevin asked.
"He'll get back on his feet eventually." Sasha assured him. "He just needs the right push."
Grime then opened up the shed. "Hey Mr Waybright, give more of that terrible tasting bog grog!" He then slammed the shed door shut.
"You got it." Kevin said.
"Daaad!" Sasha chided.
"What? He's our guest." Kevin said.
At the Boonchuy residence, the Boonchuy's and their guest had arrived at the entrance to the house where Darryl was awaiting with a placard saying 'Anne.'
"Oh no." Mr Boonchuy groaned.
"Why is he still here?" Mrs Boonchuy asked.
"Is it too late to give him a restraining order?"
"If he goes too far, we will." Mrs Boonchuy assured him.
"Okay Gus, you ready?" Anne asked. "I know things are scary right now. You're moving into a different home which is temporary until we find you a way back. And we promise you that…..You're now playing with the window regulator."
Gus was playing with the window regulator, completely mesmerised by how the window was going up and down, so he didn't listen to what Anne was saying.
"Huh, what was that?" Gus asked.
"I'll tell you on the inside." Anne said while getting out of the car to deal with Darryl.
"Anne, will you please be my Valentine?" The obnoxious schoolmate asked.
"Shut up, Darryl! Do you need a dictionary to understand the definition of no?"
"Come on, give me a chance!" Darryl pleaded while she, her parents, Domino and Gus began to walk inside.
"No! I don't want to!" Anne protested. "I'm going with Sasha!"
"I'll stay out here until you change your mind!" Darryl cried before Domino, suddenly jumped on Darryl's leg and began scratching him. He screamed in pain before kicking Domino off of him and running away. "Okay! I'm leaving!"
"Who was that guy?" Gus asked.
"That would be Darryl." Anne replied. "He doesn't really understand no. Honestly, I think that's how his parents got together."
"We're going to have some coconut soup." Mrs Boonchuy said. "I hope you'll enjoy Thai food as much as you enjoyed Dominican."
They entered the house but before Gus got in, he bowed at a random gnome, something that caused Anne to raise an eyebrow at his strange behaviour.
"Okay Gus, you might feel a bit hungry." Mr Boonchuy said while Gus was looking around the living room with admiration. "So feel free to ask for any snack." Gus then noticed a DVD disc that was left out in the open for him to look at. "If you fancy a cookie. I suggest you have one for dinner or otherwise it would ruin your appetite."
"It's okay, I'm having one." Gus assured him.
"Huh, did you summon…Ahhh!" Mr Boonchuy screamed at the sight of Gus holding a DVD disc he took a bite out of.
"Oh do you have another cookie?" Gus asked. "I should have really listened to Luz because they taste terrible."
Anne cringed at Gus' action. "I hope this will be easier than the Plantars."
Meanwhile, on the 13 hour drive to Gravity Falls, Hunter and Willow were sitting in the back together with Willow being mesmerised by a lot of the Human Realm sights while Hunter was still mourning Pacifica.
He tried so hard to try and live with that fact but he was still hurting. Pacifica was the human that introduced him to a lot of Human Realm concepts and was the first person he could ever consider a family so her absence was hurting him a lot.
But then, his thought got interrupted when Willow patted Hunter on the shoulder. "Hey Hunter, do you know what's the name of that big worm that passed?"
"Big worm?"
"The big worm that makes a strange sound like…" She then imitated a honking sound which made Hunter chuckle a bit.
"I think it's called a truck." Hunter replied. "I haven't seen much of them but surviving their impact is hard from what I've heard."
"Oh, and what's the strange pig animal?" She picks up a pig that was in the backseat with them.
"I think it's called…A pig." Hunter replied.
"A pig?!" Willow exclaimed. "It's too cute to be called something like that." The pig began to lick Willow on her face, causing her to laugh. "Aww, you're a pretty little creature aren't you? Ah yes you are!"
While Willow laughed, Hunter was smiling at her and how cute it was of her being friendly with the pig. He reached over and began to stroke the mammal, who nuzzled at his hand, causing him to chuckle.
Despite his smile, deep down, he was still hurting. His happiness may have seemed genuine, but deep down he was cursing himself out for smiling.
Mabel on the other hand was smiling at how affectionate her pet pig was being to the guests from the comfort of her driver seat. "Awwwww! Looks like you made some new friend, Waddles!" She turned to her brother, whom was busy writing on his phone in a way to occupy himself.
Mabel may have been sad for Pacifica, but her brother was absolutely heartbroken and no matter what she did, it wouldn't make him happy. She gave him a sympathetic look and a small smile.
"Dipper, everything's going to be okay, eventually." Mabel said.
"But I don't know for how long." Dipper said sadly.
"Like I said on Miss Mabel's Emporium of Wonder Station when a child asked me about losing a loved one; The best way to help you through this hard time is to open up and be around the people you trust." Mabel said. "People who can help support you through your grief. Because these people love you as well as much as the person that loved you. But when you're ready though. You can open up about how you feel."
Dipper sighed. "I saw that episode Mabel. I know what you mean."
Whereas Dipper didn't take the message with stride, Hunter looked to have heard the message and thought of the people around him that could help him get through it together. Especially Willow, whom was now getting a lot of kisses from Waddles while she laughed.
"Oh and by the way Dipper, I was thinking Hunter and Willow bunk at the Mystery Shack with Grunkle Stan while I take the spare bedroom at your place." Mabel announced.
"Wait, why?" Dipper asked. "Would it be easier if one of them stayed at my place while the other at the Mystery Shack?"
"Because A: You're grieving and I don't think you should be on your own and B: The government ransacked my place!" Mabel replied passive aggressively. "It wouldn't happen to do anything with those gadgets you have in my basement?!"
Dipper cringed. "Uh…."
"Uh!" Mabel groaned in annoyance.
Later that night, at the Boonchuy residence, Gus and Anne were sharing the same bedroom with the young witch taking a sleeping bag.
He was currently playing with some bubble wrap that he found in the basement which could be his new favourite hobby. He soon ran out of bubbles and sighed with sadness. "Not again."
Anne walked into the bedroom while brushing her teeth as she was ready for bed. "You're into the bubble wrap." Anne remarked.
"I know." Gus said. "But the worst part is, I can't start again."
"Well dude, you need some sleep." Anne declared. "And I'm tired! Not because I've had an exhausting day but because I'm a teenager." She jumped in bed and turned to the young boy whom had lied down to get some sleep. "So, remind me what magic you can do?" Gus made an illusion of a beautiful horse that made a neighing sound, causing Anne's eyes to light up. "Woah!"
"I make illusions." Gus replied as he made the illusion disappear. "I'm quite strong. Not to brag anyway."
"I get it." Anne said. "If I still had my powers, I would have bragged as well. Though, does it drain you like my powers did?"
"If I hold on to an illusion for too long, then yeah." Gus replied.
Anne began to ponder something. "Hmmmm, so if you can make me look like a terrifying monster you would?"
"Yeah, I could." Gus replied. "But how terrifying would you want me to be? Pure nightmare fuel?"
"Hell yeah." Anne replied. "By the way, do you know why Grime wants you away from him?"
Gus pondered that question and sighed. "He feels guilty for some reason. He's probably blaming himself for not stopping the Day of Unity and therefore thinks he's dangerous."
"But he couldn't have known King would free The Collector." Anne pointed out.
"No one could have." Gus agreed.
"Do you think he'll talk to you again?" Anne asked.
"He just probably needs a push." Gus replied. "A really big one." After a few more minutes talking, they managed to go to sleep while the clock nearby ticked away.
Meanwhile in Gravity Falls, the car had parked outside the Mystery Shack after the 13 hour drive where it was night time and mostly a lot of people were fast asleep.
"We're here!" Mabel declared.
When Hunter and WIllow got out of the car, they suddenly fell to the ground simultaneously with Willow landing on top of Hunter, whom had his face planted in the ground.
"Uh….My legs." Willow groaned.
"They're dead like stone." Hunter groaned.
Mabel and Dipper got out to help them back on their feet. "Yeah, sorry. Thirteen hour drive." Dipper said. "Listen you two, you're going to be staying here for a little while. I'd love for one of you two to be staying with me but due to my stupidity I have to give up my guest room to Mabel."
"So, we're going to be living in your uncle's Tourist Trap?" Hunter asked.
Willow shot up. "A tourist trap?! Your uncle traps tourists?!"
"Willow…."
"Does he eat them?! Does he lock them up for an eternity?!"
"Willow…."
"What kind of human design this monstrosity?!"
"Willow!" Hunter took a hold of Willow's wrist to calm her down. "It's nothing like that. It's like….A place for tourists to give up their snails."
"So he's robbing them?!" Willow looked to Dipper whom was giving a gesture that said 'kind of.'
"But don't worry, the Shack is under new management." Dipper assured them. "Heck, it's been under new management since 2012. Besides my Uncles, you'll be staying with Soos and Melody who are really great friends of ours."
"Oh no!" Mabel exclaimed. "Dipper, it's just uncle!"
Dipper and the witches ran up to where Mabel was which was the front porch where they saw Grunkle Stan lying on his back motionless.
"Stan?!" Hunter exclaimed. "Are you okay?!"
Dipper however was staring at his Grunkle with a deadpanned look. "Wait for it."
"Huh?" Willow responded.
"Dipper, what do you mean? Grunkle Stan is dead!" Mabel exclaimed as tears fell from her eyes.
"Not yet!" Stan said suddenly as his eyes opened wide and he shot up, causing his grand niece to scream in terror. "Ha! Ha! The old fake dead relative trick! Gets her every time!" Stan tried to stand up but couldn't for whatever reason. He groaned in annoyance. "Chyro!" Then, one of Andrias' robots walked through the door and pulled Stan back on his feet. "Thanks Chyro."
Willow panicked at the sight of the robot and held on to Hunter. "Relax, they're a good one." He assured her.
"Stan, you sure you can take care of them?" Dipper asked.
"Relax, I can." Stan assured his nephew. "I may have back pains and other old people problems, but I got this. So do Ford and Soos. You two should just let me handle it."
"Stan…"
"Dipper, he's got this." Mabel assured her brother. "He did take down a pterodactyl in his late 60's."
"A what?" Hunter and Willow asked.
"That story will be explained so for now, you kids get inside." Stan requested. "I'll be in, in a minute." Hunter and Willow entered the shack with their respective Palismen following. Stan noted Clover and went wide eyed at their size. "Woah, that is one big bee."
"It doesn't sting, I hope." Mabel assured her Grunkle.
Stan then turned to his nephew and gave him a sympathetic look. "Hey uh…Dipper, I'm sorry about Blondie. She was good to you."
Dipper knew Stan wasn't the best at being sympathetic, but he could appreciate he didn't make some dumb joke to lighten things up. "Thanks Stan."
"Now you get some rest." Stan said. "The kids are in good hands." Suddenly, the sound of wood was heard breaking.
"Hey, Mr Pines!" Willow cried. "My foot is stuck in the floorboard!"
"Chyro, deal with that!" Stan commanded. "Besides that, they're in good hands."
Later, Hunter and Willow had managed to find some old pyjamas that fit them. Willow was wearing a purple nightgown while Hunter had managed to find a pair of light blue pants that fit him but the shirt he was wearing was too tight.
"A little too tight?" Willow asked.
"Yeah, very." Hunter replied. "Uh, Stan, do you have a shirt that might fit?"
"I have one." Stan replied as he held a purple shirt. "Though, I think it might be a bit, ya know, girly."
"And is there anything wrong with that?" Willow asked like she was offended.
Stan began sweating. "No, it's just….Well…Ya know, there are some things….That….I don't have time to explain this, here's the shirt kid!" Stan threw Hunter the purple shirt which read 'Sev'Ral Timez. He took off the tight blue shirt, revealing his scarred body to Willow, who blushed and looked away while the former Golden Guard put on the shirt.
"I don't get why the shirt is what you say for girls." Hunter said.
"Well, boy bands are considered a girl thing." Stan replied.
"What's a boy band?" Willow asked.
"Insulting garbage to the ears." Stan replied. "Don't listen to them no matter how tempting it is. Okay kids, there are some ground rules I wish to make clear when living here. Number 1: I'm in charge. Anything I say, goes! If you don't like it, you're sleeping with the wolves!"
"What are wolves?" Willow asked.
"Rule number 2: No dumb questions!" Stan said.
"What would be a dumb question?" Hunter asked.
"That would be a dumb question!" Stan replied. "Rule number 3: Don't do anything stupid without asking me if it's okay. Because you kids aren't exactly from around here. Look, there's a lot of rules, so I'll just send you the list! But the most important rule is, don't do any of that couple stuff in my shack!"
Hunter and Willow both blushed and began to panic. "What?"
"No!"
"We are not a couple!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Why would we?!"
"That's dumb!"
"Exact,y!"
"Are we even made for each other?!"
"Who knows?"
Stan seemed surprised. "Oh, okay. Anyway, goodnight kids. First thing tomorrow, you're going to be working." He walked out of the bedroom before popping his head back in. "But seriously, even if you do become a couple, no couple stuff!" He walked back out of the room before shutting the door shut.
The two got on their respective beds and laid down on their backs while their respective Palismen just snuggled up to one another. "Well, this is not how I wanted my time in the Human Realm to begin." Willow remarked.
"Well, that's how it began with me." Hunter said. "I landed on a car."
Willow turned to face Hunter. "Did it hurt?"
"Yeah. I was put in a big building with a lot of patients called a hospital." Hunter explained. "I was fine, I just had a few bruises. If it weren't for Pacifica, then I wouldn't have survived the first few days."
"I haven't known her for long." Willow said. "Do you wanna talk about her?"
Hunter did feel that talking about her would make him feel sad, but he remembered what Mabel said in the car and gave Willow a gentle smile. "Yeah. I think I will. Where do I even begin with her?" And so, Hunter talked to Willow about his late surrogate sister throughout the night which made the two fall asleep and Hunter to accept the fact that Pacifica was gone. But in some capacity, he knew she was still alive because he was remembering her.
Whereas Hunter had accepted it, Dipper had not. He was sleeping in his bed, stroking the side Pacifica would have slept on. He had tried sleeping for four hours, but couldn't due to the fact he was still grieving. He just couldn't accept she was gone. He wanted to believe that this was just some really bad dream he was having and one he could wake up from. But no matter how hard he tried, he was not dreaming. His first girlfriend, and the woman he loved, was gone from this world and he might never see her again.
And so, he stayed up all night, struggling for sleep.