Ford, trying to distract himself from the floodgates of emotion, scribbled in his notebook furiously, noting down every event of the summer and taking them - taking their adopted crew member and the Pines' investigations - out of the equation.

To his utter frustration, it worked out in the deal's favour practically every time - a few minor exceptions, certainly, but he was almost certain there was no sign of dead-tyrant-resurrection, giant cockney time-centipedes starting a vengeful campaign, collapsing dimensional straits or - indeed - the awakening of the Northwest Mansion Underworld's bizarre, otherworldly systems.

It had, for decades, been the intrinsic nature of a Pines to intervene, to tinker, to stick their head in where it wasn't particularly necessary or wanted. It could be argued that much of the Pines' problems this Summer had come from exactly that.

Had they not gotten involved in the Northwests, gotten involved in the Crawlspace…the world may have been less just, but it'd be a damned sight less likely to collapse in on itself.

"O-obviously it's a no, right?" Dipper ventured, quietly.

"I wish it was." Ford sighed, furiously scribbling down all manner of chaos theory. "We spent so long thinking about if we could that uh - we - we didn't think about if we should."

The young investigator gulped - he was beginning to seem even more anxious than usual at the rising prospects. "B-but like…messing with the timestream, I mean - hah! That's - that's crazy, right?""

"Dipper." Ford said, kindly, patting his nephew's shoulder. "You can just admit you don't want to lose your girlfriend."

The - by now, profusely sweating - teenager looked at his feet. "It just…it just doesn't seem fair."

"It ain't." Stan agreed, hands in his pockets. "I'm not sure what ta say, kid. But ya can't deny it, right? No way we can pretend the world ain't gettin' all borked."

Ford mentally tried to work out the amount of double-negatives in Stan's statement before concurring. "If we do this, we can't secretly patch back together to get what we want. You'll have to stay separated.

Pacifica sniffled, holding onto Lazy Susan tightly. She wasn't ready for the Summer to be over - let alone for it to be erased.

Susan held her reassuringly and sighed. "It's alright…it's alright…"

The swirling clouds and sparkling dust that once seemed so tranquil and comforting now seemed almost taunting. The idea of severing the past two months of their life - of removing so much love, so much knowledge, and so much growth between them. So many connections made, erased with horrifying efficiency in favour of the 'natural order' of things.

The Northwests and the Pines - not meant to mix. Not meant to cross. Not meant to disrupt the interdimensional crosswalk in favour of foolish things such as attraction and shared interest.

Of course, it was difficult to understate Mabel's losses in it all. After all this time, she had found somebody to match her energy. Somebody who coupled up with her ably and adored her quirks, somebody who was trained to confront Gravity Falls' innate weirdness - and her own.

It felt like she was losing a future life. A new world - with her family bigger and comfier than ever, with a new partner - admittedly, with tons of crazy paranormal stuff too, but who said it had to be perfect?

All the same…

"I think…I think we should agree." She finally said, her brow furrowed, her chin resting against her knees as she folded herself protectively.

"W-what?!" Dipper snapped.

"Dipper…I love Pacifica too, she's like my ultimate big sis! I- I love Kevin, I love this summer, I love that we got what we wanted, but-" She faltered, looking up with doe-eyes at her family, "What about everybody else? The world is ending, Dipper! G-Gravity Falls is going kablooey and I don't know how else we can put it right!"

Dipper's face dropped. He held his sister's shoulder and blinked as he took in the sudden stark reality. "But-"

"I know Kevin would say the same, bro-bro. It's - It's just the right thing to do, and-" She sniffled and looked up with a brave smile. "At - at least it means I got to feel true love, right? Better to have loved and lost than…than…y'know."

Dipper furrowed his brow. "But- but Pacifica, I mean-"

He barely got to finish his sentence before the Northwest heir threw herself at him in a tight hug. "I'll miss you. I'll miss you so much."

"Pacifica, we can't. We need this. You need this."

Pacifica sniffled and tried to reply with her usual snark. "Y-you know you need me more than I need- oh god, just hug me already."

"We don't even know if this will fix things!" He retorted, holding her tightly and resisting the urge to sniff her hair. Probably not the time to be the whole slightly fixated boyfriend thing.

"If it just gets the town out of this, surely it's the right thing to do?" She said in return, her head squeezed firmly between his head and his shoulder. "At least we'll know. We'll know what we had. We'll-"

"You'll be back with the Northwests." Dipper sniffed. "I can't - I can't let that happen."

"You have to. He told me my choice was silk sheets or the Shack days ago. I - I should have known it wouldn't be that simple." She sighed, clenching hold of his hands, mascara running down her face. "If it was any other situation, Dip, I've had chosen you. Every single time. And you know that, right?"

By now, Dipper's eyes were like dinner plates. "I- I know. And I'm - I'm so proud of you and-"

"Don't patronise me." She giggled, weakly. "But I'm proud of us. And I love you. And I'm so happy we got what we got."

Mabel dove in. "Y-you're gonna kiss, right?"

"Mabel, please-"

"Dipper. I mean it. If I had Kevin here I'd be kissing his handsome face off!" She retorted with no shortage of urgency.

The two lovebirds gazed into eachother's blood-shot, tear-filled eyes - and complied with the impulsive sister's request. It was not a kiss they took enjoyment in. Truth be told, it utterly tore them apart.

They held onto eachother tightly, taking in what could be the last true physical contact they may ever experience. Finally, lips separated, hearts split - and the decision was made. Pacifica Northwest, hands clenched into fists, eyes stained red and breath stolen by countless sobs and wrenching heartaches, stepped back to where the Axolotl had previously floated.

"M-Mister Axolotl?" She ventured. "I… I… I've made my decision."

The swirling, magnificent and distinctly empty-expressioned creature swirled from the seas of endless dust and colour as he returned to view, chewing on what looked like some manner of time crustacean.

"You have?"

The beast took in the expressions of the sniffling, distraught-looking party, its frills floating ethereally as the light of a thousand hallowed earths glinted in the distant, endless horizon of time, space and just about everything in between.

"I… see."

Wordlessly, it floated between every member of the group, as if scrutinising the overwhelming melting pot of desperate feeling and expression that seemed to be haunting its realm. Seemingly satisfied, the creature - after momentarily lolling in the air for no particularly evident reason - spoke its final words.

"Then let it be said, Pines,
That when all is said and done,
We've stuck to our lines,
To reduce the two to one.

We're seeking naught but means,
To repair a cosmic wall,
And though tragic all may it seem,
It will benefit us all.

I see now where you belong,
Where your stocks must lay,
And urge you to be strong,
And these baselines, weigh.

For when all is said and done,
You'll be back in place a-true,
And while you may lose one love,
You'll find fresh - anew."

The light that had seemed so tranquil suddenly expanded and enveloped them. Pacifica whimpered and held onto Dipper's hand. "D-don't forget me, okay?"

"I'll never forget you, Pacifica. I - I promise."

The brightness enveloped them. Light cast out in hideously bright beams as glitter and cosmic dust wrapped in funnelling clouds. The hulking shape of the interdimensional-space-salamander faded in the brightening conditions until - forced by the winds that seemed so intent of ripping them apart, Dipper and Pacifica's fingers separated.

She swore she could hear Grunkle Stan sobbing aloud as her vision became nothing more than a pure, icy white.