Gravity Falls: The Summer After

Chapter 1
“Wait, what!?” Dipper said in shock and surprise, He was standing at his locker putting his books away with his sister Mabel by his side. Mabel was smiling bright and her cheeks were flushing as always.

“We’re going back, can you believe it!? Mom and Dad got the call from Grunkle Stan last night!” Mabel said excitedly, “It's going to be great! We’ll have so much fun and we’re going to see everyone again! Wendy, Soos, Gideon, Pacifica, everybody!”

“Wait, so we're really going back to Gravity Falls? For real?” Dipper was still in disbelief, “Uh-huh! Mom said she wants us packing as soon as we get home!” Mabel said still overflowing with pure joy, Dipper then reached up to the top shelf of his locker and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. He unfolded it and a sad smile spread across his face as he stared at it. It was the note that he got from Wendy the day he and Mabel left Gravity Falls. It still cheered him up whenever he missed the place. The “See You Next Summer” written in the center and the signatures of all the friends they made were still there, some of the writing was now a little faded but it didn't matter much, it still meant a lot to the both of them.

Mabel looked over Dipper’s shoulder at the note as well. She also smiled at their friends’ signatures and she already knew that this was definitely something that neither of them was really expecting. Sure, they knew it was possible for them to go back, they just didn't think it was really going to happen, given all that happened the summer before. Of course they never told their parents about what happened the previous summer but they knew their parents had a feeling that something was up. It was good thing they ignored it.

But their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the school bell ringing them out for the summer.

Mabel instantly grabbed her brother’s arm and began dragging him along. “Come on, bro we gotta go home and pack!” Mabel yelled, “We're going back! Wahoo!”

The next morning, both Dipper and Mabel boarded the bus destined for Gravity Falls. Their parents had already said their goodbyes and dropped them off at the station to leave. The two twins bared a lot more luggage this time than when they first went to Gravity Falls the summer before. Dipper had a laptop that he got for his birthday the day after he and Mabel came home. He also managed to get a few books on anomalous phenomena, they weren't like the journals, but he figured they'd be a good alternative. Mabel however, had made plenty more sweaters and a bunch of gossip magazines to show Candy and Grenda over the summer. The bus pulled up to the curb where the twins now stood. The bus doors opened to reveal a male bus driver wearing a bored expression on his face.

“Next bus departing from Piedmont, California to Gravity Falls, Oregon.” The bus driver said over his loudspeaker, Dipper smiled and took Mabel’s hand which made Mabel smile too. This moment brought back the flashback of them boarding the bus together when leaving Gravity Falls, it was a heartbreaking moment for them then. But now in this moment, they couldn't have been happier.

“Ready?” He asked her, “Yeah, let's go.” Mabel replied, then the two of them boarded the bus together while Waddles followed close behind. Luckily the bus driver didn't tell them Waddles had to stay behind. He either didn't notice him or he did but he just didn't care. They walked through the empty bus and took their seats at the very back. Dipper took the window seat while Mabel sat beside him pulling Waddles up as she did so.

Mabel and Dipper still couldn't forget their parents’ reactions when they saw that Mabel had brought a pig home from Gravity Falls. At first they were a little upset and even called Grunkle Stan to rant at him for letting her keep it, but after at least a few days, they realized Waddles was a good pig and he wasn't really all that much trouble. Unfortunately the only one Waddles didn't get along with was the family cat, Mr. Fluffy. But despite that, Mabel was allowed to keep Waddles. Mabel grinned and pinched the fat pig’s cheeks causing him to let out a loud squeal of content.

Meanwhile Dipper just stared blankly out the window watching all the buildings and trees pass by. He adjusted the brown hat Wendy had given him before he left and a smile appeared on his face.

“Heh, here we go.” He thought,

The bus continued to drive for hours. Eventually it was nightfall and the twins were expected to arrive in Gravity Falls the next morning. Waddles was sleeping snuggled up beside Mabel and both siblings were now slouching in their bus seats bored and exhausted out of their minds.

“Hey Dipper, wanna play a game of ISpy?” Mabel asked playfully, “Um, okay.” Dipper said accepting the idea, he looked out the window. “Okay, I spy with my little eye something…..shiny.” Mabel climbed over her brother’s lap ignoring his complaint about her accidentally hitting him in the face and panned her eyes around the outside of the bus window. All she could outside was a passing farm, nothing else. She was confused, but she was going to figure this out if it was the last thing she was going to do.

“Hmm let’s see…” She said now rubbing her chin, that was when she spotted a small blue card driving by the bus. It had a bit of a shine to it.

“Is it that car?” She asked, “Nope, not the car.” Dipper smirked, Mabel continued to Scour the landscape outside the window but saw nothing else that was shiny, until she spotted a bottle on the floor of the bus.

“Is it that bottle right there?” She asked, “Nope.” Dipper said still smirking. Mabel groaned and she sat back down in her set giving up.

“Alright, you win. What did you spy?” Mabel asked, “The stars.” Dipper replied, “They're very bright tonight.”

Mabel laughed, “That's not fair! Alright, my turn, my turn. I spy with my little eye, something cute.” Dipper began to look outside and inside the bus. The bus was passing by another farm where he spotted some cows grazing in the fenced area by the barn.

“Is it the cows?” He asked, Mabel giggled. “Nope!” She said, Dipper then heard a snort and looked down to see Waddles now wide awake and at his feet. The pig tilted his head and gave out an oink.

“Is it Waddles?” He asked, “Nope!” Mabel said still smiling,

“Alright Mabel, I give up. What did you spy that was cute?” He asked, “You!” She said playfully pushing him, Dipper just laughed and rubbed his left arm. “Thanks Mabel.” He said, Mabel then let out a loud yawn while stretching her arms out.

“Hey Dipper? I'm getting kinda tired.” She told him, Dipper then yawned as well. “Yeah me too,” he replied, “How about we get some sleep? We're arriving in town tomorrow, we need the rest.”

“You're right…” Mabel said, she leaned forward and zipped open her “Dream Boy High” backpack and pulled out her Sev’ral Timez blanket. She draped the blanket around herself and Waddles and began to doze off.

“Goodnight, Dipper.” She said just barely keeping her eyes open, Dipper pulled on his grey jacket and snuggled deeper into it. “Goodnight, Mabel…” He replied,

There was nothing but darkness...just plain darkness...Dipper was now standing in the middle of what felt like a vacuumless void looking around confused as to where he was.

“Hello!? Is there anybody else here!?” He called out, he was now walking around aimlessly through the vacuumless void not knowing where to go or what do. Suddenly a loud booming noise scared Dipper out of his wits.

“GAH!” Dipper screamed from the top of his lungs, he turned around to find a rather large structure burst out of the solid black ground. It looked like a building of some kind. After observing the structure up and down, Dipper realized that it was a building, it was a tavern. Dipper walked over to the large building and put his hand to the cold stone wall trying to figure out why it was there. He recognized the tavern as the one in Gravity Falls. Just then another booming sound sounded behind him. He whipped around to see another building pop up. He walked over to that one and recognized it as the Gravity Falls News Station. He was now even more confused than ever.

“Huh? He said baffled, then sprouted up another building, then another one, then another, and then another! After a minute Dipper saw all of the buildings in Gravity Falls all around him. Then cement hardened beneath his feet and grass suddenly sprouted up all over. Following that the large black space of nothing turned into a bright blue sky with wispy white clouds and the sun shining bright. Dipper was so amazed and freaked out at the exact same time. Then he heard the sound of many doors opening, he looked around to find that all of Gravity Falls’ residents were coming out of their shops and homes and began walking about as if it were any ordinary day. People were greeting each other as they passed on the sidewalk and some were having deep conversations seen through the front windows of buildings.

Dipper couldn't believe it! Was he back in Gravity Falls!? He began to wander the streets some more and he smiled as he saw the entire town appear before his very eyes.

“Dipper! You’re back!” A feminine voice called out, Dipper stopped walking and looked in the direction of the voice. The voice belonged to Wendy who was still wearing his pine tree hat while smiling and leaning up against the side of the tavern.

Dipper blinked twice in shock and then his face showed a huge grin and he ran over to her.

“Wendy! It's really you!” He said happily, Wendy just gave a soft laugh and bent down and ruffled up his head. “It's good to see you too, dude.” She smiled warmly, just then Dipper heard another voice calling out to him.

“Hey Dipper!” The voice called out, Dipper turned to see his Grunkle Stan with Mabel, Soos, and Grunkle Ford by his side.

“Oh my gosh! Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford! It's so great to see you guys!” He said happily,

“It's good to see you too, kid.” Stan replied, just then Pacifica walked up.

“Hey dorks! We've missed you!” She said happily, “My my! Do my eyes deceive me or is it the Pines Twins I see!?” Said Gideon coming over as well, “Wow! Pacifica! Gideon! Oh my gosh it's great to be back!” Dipper said happily, but that good moment didn't last. Suddenly the ground began to shake and everyone was struggling to keep their balance.

“W-W-W-What’s going o-o-o-o-on!?” Dipper yelled while trying to not fall, then the sound of numerous evil laughs rung throughout the town which sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

“Sleep well Pipsqueak, you won't be for much longer!” A raspy female voice said, suddenly the image of what looked like a stone statue of Bill flashed through Dipper’s head.

“WAH!” Dipper screamed shooting straight up, he was breathing heavily in and out and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. He looked around at his surroundings. He was still on the bus but now the sun was rising over the horizon which sent a warm orange and yellow glow into the bus through the glass windows. He looked beside him and saw Mabel still all snuggled up in her blanket, cuddling Waddles and sleeping. He took another look around and then laid his head back on the bus seat and just stared out the window again.

About another hour or two of driving had passed and Mabel woke up somewhere in between that time. Dipper didn't say a word to his sister and just continued to stare out the window and all the while Mabel didn't seem to notice anything weird about her brother’s quiet behavior. Instead of talking, Mabel just played a new virtual pet game that her parents got her for her birthday. It remained a silent ride...until…

“Oh my gosh! Dipper! Dipper we’re here! We're here!” Mabel screeched from the top of her lungs, Dipper immediately snapped out of his trance and looked over at his sister at the window across from his smushing her face up against the glass. He scootched over there too and looked out the window to find they were passing the sign that read: “Welcome to Gravity Falls: Nothing to see here, folks.”

Chapter 2
The bus pulled up to the Gravity Falls bus station and the doors opened with a hissing sound. Dipper and Mabel got off the bus dragging their luggage along with them.

“Okay, according to Grunkle Stan Soos should be here to pick us up.” Dipper said, Mabel began to scan the area for the rather large guy. Finally her eyes fell upon an entire party of familiar people standing not so far away from them. One of them was Soos, he was dressed up like how Stan dressed up. The others looked a lot like their friends. One was a tall redhead dressed in a green flannel and jeans, another was about the twins’ height and blonde, another had white hair and a shirt that said “Cool Dawg” on it.

“Hey, isn't that Soos over there?” Mabel asked her brother while pointing towards Soos, “It looks like he brought Wendy with him.” She said,

“Wait, is that Gideon and Pacifica with them too?” Dipper said slightly surprised, This was a bit of a shock. Dipper and Mabel knew they were on good terms with Gideon and Pacifica now but they never expected them to come and greet them in their return.

“Well let's not be rude, Dipper, let's go say hi!” Mabel said in her usual cheery mood. She grabbed her brother by the arm and began to drag him along again. As they got closer to the group Gideon was the first to notice them coming.

“Hey they're here!” He said happily, this got everyone else’s attention. They all turned to see the twins walking towards them.

“Dipper! Mabel!” Pacifica said excited, “Hey!” Wendy said, “Dudes!” Soos yelled, “Wendy! Soos! Pacifica!” Mabel yelled back, she gave Gideon an odd look. “Gideon? I didn't expect to see you here.” She said, Gideon just smiled and took her hand.

“I'll always be there for you, Mabel.” He said romantically, it was obvious that he still had a thing for Mabel. Mabel herself was still a little uncomfortable around the young ex-psychic, but she was relieved that he was no longer bent on destroying her whole family.

“I sure hope we can start again, Mabel...as friends.” Gideon told her, Mabel then let out a sigh and a smile appeared on her face. “Friends sounds good to me.” She told him,

“Dipper it’s so good to see you!” Pacifica said happily, she hugged the young explorer much to his surprise. He just hugged her back and said, “It's good to see you too.” Pacifica then broke off from the hug and immediately ran over and squeezed Mabel in a tighter looking hug.

“Hey Mabel!” She said, “Hey Pacifica!” Mabel said back, Mabel sounded just as excited as Pacifica was. While they just hugged, Dipper was catching up with Wendy when Gideon interrupted and shook Dipper’s hand in greeting.

“Dipper Pines! So great to see you again!” He said, “Nice to see you too, Gideon.” Dipper replied, just then Wendy tapped Dipper on the shoulder.

“Hey dude, here's your hat back.” She said, she handed Dipper his pine tree hat and took her brown one off of his head and put it back on her own.

“Hey where are Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford?” Mabel asked, “They're actually coming back today, they’re probably at the shack by now.” Soos told them, they all headed to Soos’ truck and climbed inside. Dipper and Wendy took the front seat while Mabel, Gideon, and Pacifica took the back.

“Ready to go, dudes?” Soos asked turning to face the back seat, “Ready.” Mabel and Dipper said together, Soos then nodded and shifted the truck into gear and they were off.

As they rode through town, the two twins noticed that everything was still the same as it was before. The buildings, the people, everything. But seeing the entire town made Dipper remember that horrible nightmare he had on the bus the night before. What was going on? Was it a good idea to come back? What was that voice that spoke to him? There were too many questions to count, and he was sure that he probably didn't want to know the answers.

Unlike when she was on the bus, Mabel noticed her brother’s look that was a mixture of focus and troubled-ness.

“Hey bro, you okay?” She asked concerned for her brother, she tapped him as she asked this which made Dipper snap out of it. “Huh? Oh yeah, just thinking.” He told her, Mabel sadly sunk back in her seat wondering what was making her brother so upset. Eventually they reached the shack and they all climbed out. Dipper and Mabel looked up at the large shack and the memories came flowing back. They sure had had a lot of fun adventures there the summer before, and now that they were back, they wondered if there were new ones to come.

They entered the gift shop where everything was where it was before, aside from some of the knick knacks being sold in the gift shop nothing else had changed.

“Welcome home, dudes,” Soos said as he picked up some of their suitcases, they began to walk around the gift shop getting readjusted to their second home.

“I'm sure you two remember my girlfriend, Melody.” Soos said gesturing towards Melody. She was wearing a blue shirt with a question mark on it like Soos’ old uniform. “Hey guys.” She smiled and waved, the twins said their hellos but then began to look around confused. It was obvious they were wondering where their Grunkles were.

“Huh, strange, Stan and Ford should’ve been here by now.”   Soos spoke up, but the sudden sound of a loud car horn got their attention. The twins ran outside and found Grunkle Stan’s red car parked in front of the shack.

The door on the driver’s side opened and out came Stan obviously happy to see them.

“GRUNKLE STAN!” Both kids yelled, “KIDS!” Stan yelled back, they ran up to their great uncle and encased him in a hug.

“Oh man Grunkle Stan it’s been so long!” Dipper said now smiling bright, “Yeah! We missed you, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel gleamed, “Oh it's so great to see you too, kids.” Stan said grateful, if the twins didn't know any better, they actually thought they saw Stan almost cry.

Just then the Shotgun door opened and Ford came out coughing loudly.

“Hot Waffles, Stanley haven't you ever heard of air freshener!?” He complained.

“Great Uncle Ford!” Mabel screamed, the twins ran over and gave the second Stan a hug as well. The old man chuckled as he hugged the kids back. “Hey, kids, wow you've gotten older.” He joked, Dipper and Mabel both laughed at that joke and then Dipper spoke up.

“So, how was treasure hunting?” He asked, “It was great!” Stan said walking up to them, he put an arm around his brother as he continued. “It was just the two of us! Everyday was a new adventure! Out on the the open sea! We made the perfect duo! Until we reached a port in Spain and stopped at a bar.”

The two twins were confused now. They looked at each other and then back at their Grunkles. “What do you mean, Grunkle Stan?” Mabel asked, just then the back doors to Stan’s car opened and out came two ladies. They looked exactly alike and were about their Grunkles’ ages. They both had light tan skin and long brown hair, their eyes a deep chocolate color to match their hair. The only difference between them was their clothes and one had her hair up in a high ponytail while the other had hers down and brushed out with bangs hanging in her eyes.

“We met them.” Stan said giving the kids a wink,

“Stanley! Would you be a *querido and get my luggage out of the trunk please?” The one with the bangs asked, her voice had a Hispanic accent to it.

“Sure thing, dollface.” Stan said heading over to the trunk, meanwhile the girl with the ponytail approached the young teenagers and Ford. “Hey *bebè, I'll need you to get my stuff out of the trunk too *por favor.” She said to him sweetly, then her eyes fell upon the two twins next them and a smile appeared on her face.

“Bebè, who are they?” She asked, “Oh yeah!” Ford said in realization, he cleared his throat. “Jasmine, this is my great niece and great nephew, Dipper and Mabel,” He introduced,

“*¡Hola!” She smiled, her voice had a Hispanic accent as well.

“Uh, what?” Mabel said confused, “Oh, my mistake, I speak English.” The girl known as Jasmine said kindly, “Hola means “Hello” in Spanish.”  She explained, “Oooooohhhh…”  Mabel said finally understanding, “Well hi!” She said suddenly bursting with energy again. “Kids this is Jasmine. She’s my uh…” The old man began to sweat out of nervousness, “My-my girlfriend.”  He finally finished.

“And this is Jasmine’s sister, Roquél. She’s with me.” Stan spoke up, he now had his arm around the girl with the bangs looking rather proud of himself. The girl smiled. “Yes but you can call me Rocky.” She smiled generously, then Stan turned to Soos.

“Hey Soos, how’s running the shack been treating ‘ya?” He asked, “It’s been great, Mr. Pines! We’ve been making a lot more profit since you’ve left.” He explained, Stan just smiled for he was happy that his old business was doing so well.

“So how about we get settled in and then we head out to eat at Greasy’s Diner? On me!” Stan suggested, “Yeah, totally!” Mabel said ecstatic, “Yeah!” Dipper agreed, “Sounds like an idea.” Ford agreed as well, “Okay then, let’s head on in.”  Stan said,

A few hours later Mabel and Dipper were just finished unpacking their stuff and setting up their beds.

“Ah, it feels good to be back in our old attic room again!” Mabel sighed as she taped her last poster to the wall. “Hey Dipper, do you remember last summer when we accidentally switched bodies with that creepy carpet?” She asked recalling the vivid memory.

“Yep, when I hung out with your friends that night, I heard and saw things I never want to see and hear again.” Dipper said with a smirk, “What!? You think you had it bad? I had to learn about where BABIES come from!” Mabel said exaggeratingly, “I still can’t get the image out of my head!” Both twins burst out laughing and eventually Mabel laughed so hard she rolled right off of her bed. But she continued to laugh as she climbed back up onto her bed.

Eventually their conversation was interrupted by Grunkle Stan entering the room.

“Hey kids, ready to get going?” He asked,

“Ready as we’ll ever be!” Mabel said jumping back off of her bed, “To the diner!” She said heroically, she immediately ran past Stan and down the stairs. Dipper and Stan looked at each other and then followed behind.

When they arrived at the diner almost everybody there recognized them and even celebrated them for saving the town the previous summer. It felt nice to be in a place where they were recognized and even appreciated for something that happened over almost a year ago. They managed to find a good table and Dipper and Mabel ordered their usuals while the adults just had coffee. When they were finished they headed back to the shack where Dipper and Mabel were beat.

The door to the gift shop opened and Dipper and Mabel came slouching in.

“I am so glad it’s summer because I need to sleep in tomorrow.” Dipper groaned, “No kidding.”  Mabel replied, Stan and Ford entered the gift shop after them with Jasmine and Roquèl.

“I’m going to bed too.” Stan said exhausted as well, he headed for the door that said “Employees Only” and said, “Come whenever you’re tired, Rocky.”  He said to his girlfriend, “Okay,”  Rocky replied, “I think I’ll stay up a while.”  “Me too.”  Jasmine continued, “I’m going to go do some repairs down in the basement,” Ford said heading over to the vending machine. He typed in the code and the vending machine opened wide. “Uh Dipper. A word?” He asked turning to Dipper and Mabel, Dipper looked at his twin sister and she just smiled and nodded. Dipper turned back to his great uncle and walked over to the vending machine where Ford let him go in first then followed behind.

Going down to the basement in the elevator brought so many memories back for Dipper. It reminded him of the day when he first met Great Uncle Ford, and now he wanted to talk with him in the basement. He wondered what it was he wanted to talk about. Then the nightmare Dipper had on the bus flashed back into his mind. Should he tell Grunkle Ford about his nightmare? His nightmare had to mean SOMETHING...Right? Or was it all just an irrational fear his mind had created due to the traumatizing events from last summer? He didn’t know what to do, he just didn’t know.

Eventually the elevator reached the basement and they began to head down the dark corridor and eventually reached the large underground lab.

“So, what did you call me down here for exactly?” Dipper asked suspicious of what was going on, “Dipper let me ask you something: Remember how I gave you the offer to be my apprentice last summer?” He asked, “Yeah, of course I do. Why?” Dipper asked, “I understand that you turned it down so you could stay with your sister, I respect that. But now that my brother and I are back I was wondering…”

“What Great Uncle Ford?” Dipper asked, “Dipper I want you to be my apprentice but you know, just for the summer. How about it?” He asked,

“I don't know, what about Mabel? She really has her heart set on hanging out with me over the summer.” Dipper said unsure,

“Don't worry, if you become my apprentice you can still hang out with your sister,” Ford explained, “I promise that I won't let our work together get in the way of that.”

“Really?” Dipper said surprised, his great uncle just nodded in response. Dipper looked down at the floor for minute trying to think. In his head, Dipper’s conscience was at an all out brawl. Should he accept the summer apprenticeship? He was being given another chance to be the apprentice of the author who searched hard for the previous summer, but what if it got in the way of his and Mabel’s relationship? It almost had before. But Ford promised that he wouldn’t get in the way, but sometimes things don’t always work out as people think they will. The conflict of whether Dipper should or shouldn’t accept this summer apprenticeship was really racking his brain. Meanwhile, Ford was growing a little concerned. Did he ask Dipper too soon? Was it too much for him to take in? Despite the fact that he was one of the smartest people alive, these were questions that even he couldn’t solve.

After a minute of thinking he looked back up at his great uncle and replied, “Okay, I’ll be your apprentice for the summer.” He said, “Excellent!” Ford said happily, “I’m glad we got that settled. Now off to bed with you, you need your sleep.”

“Oh, okay. Goodnight Grunkle Ford.” Dipper said turning to leave, “Goodnight Dipper.”  Ford replied, the old man then grabbed a wrench and began to start doing repairs.

As Dipper got back into the elevator another thing crossed his mind. He was so focused about accepting the apprenticeship that he forgot to tell Great Uncle Ford about his nightmare.

“Ugh! How am I going to sleep with the thoughts of that nightmare still inside my head!?” Dipper thought to himself, “Gah why didn’t I tell Grunkle Ford about my nightmare!? He’d understand what’s going on better than anyone! WHY DIDN’T I SAY ANYTHING!?!?” Dipper repeatedly mentally kicked himself the entire ride up the elevator. Once the elevator reached the top floor again Dipper stepped out and came back through the snack machine into the gift shop, and entered the door that said “Employees Only”. As he headed for the staircase he noticed Rocky and Jasmine sitting at the small round table in the T.V room talking and drinking two Pitt Colas. After about three seconds they noticed him standing there.

“Hey Dipper!” Jasmine said with a bright smile on her face, “Hey Jasmine, Roquèl.” Dipper said uneasily, for some reason it felt so weird talking to his Grunkles’ girlfriends.

“Oh Dipper, you can just call me Rocky remember?” Rocky said with a hint of teasingness in her voice, “Oh yeah, sorry Rocky.” Dipper said beginning to nervously rub his arm,

“So what did Ford want?” Jasmine asked taking a sip of her Pitt Cola, “Oh nothing, he uh, he just asked me if I wanted to be his apprentice for the summer and I accepted.” Dipper replied still nervous, “That’s great, honey.”  Rocky said brightly, both sisters were smiling at the boy warmly as if signaling him that he could confide in them.

“Are you okay *Cariño? You look a little tense.” Jasmine pointed out, “Oh me? Yeah, I-I’m just really tired now, you know how bus rides are, so I think I’ll just turn in.” Dipper said awkwardly, and with that he darted up the stairs while the two sisters just went back to talking.

Dipper walked up the long flight of stairs and eventually reached the attic bedroom. The room was dark and Mabel was fast asleep in her bed with Waddles laying at the foot. Dipper just smiled at his sleeping sister and walked over to his bed. He didn’t care if he would have that nightmare again, he was tired and he wanted sleep. He threw off his vest and collapsed on his bed not even bothering to pull the covers over his body and almost instantly drifted off into a deep sleep.


 * Querido (Dear)
 * Bebè (Baby)
 * Por favor (Please)
 * Hola (Hello)
 * Cariño (Sweetie)

Capter 3
The next day the birds chirped in the light of the early morning. The sun was just peaking up over the mountains and the entire town was still fast asleep.

Mabel was still sleeping in her bed when she felt something wet hit her face. She opened her eyes to find Waddles standing on top of her touching her cheek with his wet snout.

“Waddles?” Mabel said laughing a little, the pig responded to the mention of his name with a loud content snort. Mabel picked up the pig so she was now face-to-face with him. “You silly pig it’s 6:00 in the morning what are you doing up?” She asked, the pig wriggled out of her grasp squealing and jumped off the bed and walked over to a small pink bowl with his name on it. He picked up the bowl and sat down on his behind still holding it in his mouth and let out another loud snort.

“Oh you're hungry!” Mabel said finally understanding, she climbed out of bed and went over and picked up the pig and carried him out of the room. “Don't worry, Mabel will get you something to eat.” She said, Mabel got dressed in one of her new sweaters that had dorky glasses and the words “We’re all dorks” embroidered on it and headed downstairs into the T.V room where a delightful smell instantly enticed her. She put down Waddles and headed for the kitchen which was where the aroma was coming from. She entered the kitchen to see Rocky and Jasmine making breakfast. Jasmine was at the stove while Rocky handled the toaster and the coffee maker.

“Wow that smells great.” Mabel finally spoke up, both sisters turned to see her standing at the entrance to the kitchen.

“*Buenos Días, Mabel.” Jasmine said kindly, “Sí Mabel, Buenos Días.”  Rocky followed,

“I still can't understand a word you girls say,” Mabel joked while walking further into the kitchen, she walked over to the large bag of pig food that she brought for Waddles and opened it up. “What are you guys doing up so early?” She asked,

“Eh, we’re morning people.” Rocky shrugged along a sip out of her coffee mug,  Mabel scooped some food up in a scoop and dumped it in Waddles’ dish. “I'm just up to feed Waddles.” She explained,

“Waddles huh? That's a cute name for a pig.” Jasmine said while looking over at the pig now sitting on the floor, Mabel brought the dish over to Waddles and placed it on the floor so he could eat. “Yeah I won him at a fair Grunkle Stan hosted last year,” Mabel explained while scratching Waddles’ ears. “I don’t know what I’d do without him.” The conversation was suddenly interrupted when Stan came into the kitchen not even noticing Mabel. He walked over to Rocky and kissed her on the mouth. Rocky eagerly kissed him back.

“Awww so romantic!” Mabel squealed, at that exact moment, Dipper entered the kitchen carrying a dark blue backpack on his back. He instantly reviled in disgust at the two old people making out.

“Okay, we don't need to see that.” Dipper said disturbed trying to avert his eyes from the disgusting display in front of him. The two elders broke off from the kiss and now looked as if they were both in a daze.

“Buenos Días, bebè.” Rocky said sweetly, “Morning,”  Stan replied, “Damn you look hot this morning!” He exaggerated,  Rocky just blushed at that compliment. “Stanley, Mabel and Dipper are standing right there.” Jasmine scolded teasingly, Stan then noticed Mabel and Dipper were also in the kitchen with them.

“...Oh...yeah they are.” He began to laugh nervously. “Good morning, Grunkle Stan!” Mabel said cheerfully, “Hey sweetie.” Stan smiled ruffling up Mabel’s hair, “Morning Dipper.”  He said to the young teenage boy, the teenage adventurer’s face still had that look of disgust on it. “We already have breakfast ready, Stanley.”   Rocky said lovingly, Stan took a seat at the table and unfolded his newspaper. “Great, thanks ladies.” He replied, “Hey Stan, have you seen Ford at all this morning? I didn't see him when I woke up.” Jasmine asked, “Nope, haven't seen him, Jazzy, he must still be down in the basement.”  Stan replied, Jasmine walked over to the table and dished out some odd looking tube-shaped food that was covered in sugar.

“What exactly does he do down there again?” Rocky asked confused, “He does a bunch of weird studies and observations down there. If I were you I'd try to avoid it.” Stan answered,

Mabel sat in the chair next to Stan and lifted one of the tubelike things off of his plate. She looked at it with an odd expression and just turned it over in her fingers.

“What's this?” She asked curiously, “A churro,” Jasmine said turning to look at her, “We eat them for breakfast back home in Spain.”

“What is it exactly?” “It’s fried dough covered in sugar.” Rocky smiled as she poured the now finished coffee into a mug. Mabel gave the strange tube of dough a small lick and then her eyes suddenly widened out of nowhere. “OH MY GOSH! THIS IS THE BEST THING I’VE EVER TASTED!!!!!” She exclaimed, “Really? You like it?” Rocky said smiling, “Trust me, Mabel has never lied about anything sweet that she's eaten.” Dipper responded smirking the whole time.

Just then Ford came into the kitchen looking extremely tired, and since this was happening to the guy who spent long nights working in the basement and would still be wide awake the next morning, that was really saying something.

“M-Morning everyone.” He said tiredly, he then rubbed his eyes with his finger and thumb beneath his glasses. All eyes were now on him.

“Ford, *miel, are you feeling alright? You look *muy cansado.” Jasmine pointed out, “Hm? Oh yeah I’m fine, Jasmine. Just a long night in the basement that’s all.” Ford said trying to lower his girlfriend’s concern, Jasmine walked over to him and handed him a mug of coffee. “Here, drink this, it’ll help.” She said, Ford took the mug and replied, “Oh Jasmine, you're a lifesaver! You don’t know how many times coffee has helped me stay awake at night.” His girlfriend just giggled and kissed him on the cheek.

“So Dipper, what do you want to do today?” Mabel asked looking over at her brother who was now reading one of his anomalous books entitled: “How To Not Get your Face Eaten by Monsters”.

“I don’t know, we’ve seen most of town already, and now that we no longer have the journals it’s kind of hard to find something to seek out.” Dipper answered, Stan then folded up his newspaper, got out of his seat and walked over to his brother and put his arm around him again.

“Maybe you should try going for a walk and see if you can find something, it always worked for me and my brother.” He said, “My brother and I.” Ford corrected him, “Don’t start.”  Stan said annoyed, Dipper and Mabel looked at each other and then shot up from the table and ran past their great uncles out of the kitchen.

“Heh, that’s how we used to be remember, Stanley?” Ford said laughing a bit, “Yeah, those days were great.” Stan agreed,

Dipper and Mabel were now walking in the woods looking for adventure like Grunkle Stan had said. Both were silent and didn't say much to one another, until Dipper finally spoke up.

“Hey, we’re right by Grunkle Ford’s hideout, you know, where I found the journal.” Mabel looked around realizing that her brother was right. “Oh yeah!” She said her face instantly brightening up, they continued to walk not saying much after that until Mabel broke the silence again.

“So Dipper, what did Grunkle Ford want last night?” She asked, “Oh, uh...I don't know how you'll take this, Mabel, but he offered me the apprenticeship again but just for the summer.” He was worried Mabel was going to protest even though she already told him that she's okay with that topic the summer before, so in a quick move he spoke again before she could say anything. “But it's okay, he promised to not let that get in the way of our hanging out this summer. So I'll still have time to hang out with you.” He said fast, Mabel just gave him a sad smile and said, “Dipper, you know I'm okay with you taking that apprenticeship. But I do appreciate that you also made sure we had time together this summer too.” She stretched her arms out towards him. “Awkward sibling hug?” She said, Dipper smiled and reached towards her as well. “Awkward sibling hug.” He replied, the two twins then hugged and patted each other on the back as always. Then they continued down the trail until they reached a fork in the path. The one on the right was a normal forest trail, the one on the left was a little darker and looked a little spooky along with having some strange growling and gurgling noises.

“Which way should we go?” Mabel asked, “Nice path or spooky path?” It was no contest on which path they wanted to take. “...Spooky path.” They both said together,  they began to head down the spooky path but stopped when they heard a noise that sounded like an evil cackle. This noise sent numerous chills down the twins’ spines. While Mabel just stared at the path obviously a little shaken up, Dipper just stared down the path feeling nothing but confliction. What was down that path sounded so intriguing that he wanted to check it out. But then again, he did have Mabel with him and even though she could hold her own, he didn’t think it was worth risking her safety.

“We probably shouldn't wander too far from the shack, it'll be hard for us to make it back.” Dipper finally answered, “So, let's go down the normal path.”  And so they did. They walked down the path to the right and it was safer than they expected much to their disappointment. But as they were walking Dipper looked back at the left path wondering what was lurking down it. Eventually the path came to end and the twins were now at a spring that had a running waterfall, fresh green grass, and weeping willows everywhere. It was amazing! The water looked so pure and the air was not hot and muggy like it normally was during the summertime, but cool and fresh like, and the willows provided the right amount of shade.

“Whoa.” Mabel and Dipper said together in awe, “Look at this place.”  Dipper said moving his gaze up towards the shady branches of the weeping willows, he continued to walk around and marvel at the spring while Mabel began to toy with some of the weeping willow branches.

“This is amazing! It’s like a little secret paradise!” Mabel exclaimed, but she then accidentally tripped over a surfaced root and fell flat on her face with a yelp.

“Ow.” She groaned, Dipper then rushed to her side. “Mabel! Are you okay!?” Dipper asked concerned for his sister, Mabel looked up at her brother as he took her arm. “Yeah, I-OW!” She cried out in pain as he helped her up, a large scrape had formed on her left knee and it looked like it hurt.

“Oh my gosh Mabel! Your knee!” Dipper yelled out, Mabel looked down and saw her injured knee and just winced her eyes shut and hissed out in pain, “Aw no, my knee. It hurts.”

“Come on, we gotta wash it off.” Dipper said urgently, he held her up by her left arm as she limped over to the river where he sat her down. He pulled a cloth from out of his backpack and soaked it in the crystal clear water. He rung it out and gently pressed it on Mabel’s wound, then something happened that neither of them expected. The scrape on Mabel’s knee instantly vanished before their very eyes and there was now skin where the injury was before.

“Whoa what just happened?” Dipper asked, his eyes were now wide and he just continued to stare at her knee. Mabel rubbed her now healed knee and said, “I...I think it was the water.” She then pointed to the water while she spoke, Dipper pulled out a glass vial out of his backpack and reached down into the river and managed to get some water into the vial and sealed it shut.

“This oughtta make a good sample,” he said slipping the vial into his bag, “When we get back we’ll have Grunkle Ford examine it.” He explained, he stood up and bent down and held his hand out for Mabel to take it which she did. “Wanna keep going?” He asked her, “Yep, let’s keep going.” Mabel nodded, they searched around the spring for another path until they finally found one. They journeyed down the path for a few minutes and now found themselves in the middle of the woods.

“Where are we now?” Mabel asked her brother, “I don’t know, but I feel we’ve been to this area before.” Dipper said trying to think hard about what made this part of the woods so rememberable. Mabel looked around and suddenly screamed from the top of her lungs, alerting her brother.

“GAH! NAKED GNOME!!!!!” She screamed pointing towards a bush, Dipper looked into the bush confused but then was horrified to find Jeff the gnome bathing in a small bathtub filled with squirrels. Jeff noticed the two staring at him in terror and his face immediately displayed annoyance.

“Well this is just great! You’re in the tub and suddenly you have visitors!” He complained, “What do you two want!? Haven’t you caused us gnomes enough trouble as it is!? Assaulting us with leaf blowers and then your uncle wanted to eat us!”

“Look we’re sorry, we didn’t know we were in your part of the woods.” Dipper apologized, “We just wanna know by any chance if you know where town is.”

A gnome ran up to the bathtub and handed Jeff towel that he wrapped himself in and climbed out.

“I don’t know why I should be helping you but I’ll show you the way.” Jeff said plainly, it was obvious he was still annoyed at them for interrupting his bath.

“Shmebulock! Grab me my clothes!” Jeff called out, Shmebulock then jumped out of another one of the nearby bushes with Jeff’s clothes. “Shmebulock!” He said,

Eventually thanks to Jeff the twins managed to find their way to town. They thanked Jeff as they parted ways and now they were walking along the sidewalk wondering what they should do now. “Well, town most certainly hasn’t changed much since we were last here.” Dipper said looking around, that made Mabel remember the funny mood Dipper was in when they were driving through town on their way to the shack the previous day. She wanted to know what was bugging her brother.

‘I wonder what was wrong with Dipper yesterday. He was pretty quiet while on our way to the shack.’ Mabel thought to herself, ‘Come to think of it, he was pretty quiet yesterday morning too while we were still on the bus...What’s wrong with him?’  Mabel’s face grew a sad expression for she was now fully concerned for her brother becoming afraid of this town.

“Hey Dipper! Mabel!” A voice yelled out, the twins turned to find Wendy along with her friends Tambry, Robbie, Nate, Lee, and Thompson with her across the street. The others were shouting out their hi’s to the twins as well including Tambry who decided to put her phone down for that one minute to say hi to them.

The twins eagerly ran across the street and joined their fellow teenage friends. “Hey would’ya look at that! Dr. Fun Times is back!” Lee exclaimed happily, “Mabel! Long time no see!” Nate said shooting a wink at Mabel, Tambry then snapped a photo of Mabel and began clicking away at her phone. “Mabel, that is like, the coolest sweater I ever saw,” She complimented, “I am so showing this to people on the internet.”

“Dipper Mabel you’re back!” Robbie said happy to see them as well, Dipper and Mabel were still trying to get used to not being enemies with him as well.

“Dudes, we were just about to go TP the Northwests’ new house, wanna come with?” Wendy asked, despite that they were now on good terms with Pacifica now that she’s changed, the twins still felt as though her parents needed to pay the price for still treating them like commoners.

“YEAH!” They both yelled together,

“So then, we escaped the property just barely making it over the wall!” Mabel yelled, the twins were now sitting at the table with their Grunkles along with Jasmine and Rocky eating dinner that the two mentioned sisters had made. It was just enchiladas with a side of salsa. The twins honestly thoroughly enjoyed the cultural food that Rocky and Jasmine had made for them thus far.

“Yeah, it was a good thing Pacifica distracted her father while we ran,” Dipper added on, “If it weren’t for her we wouldn’t have had made it out without consequence.” “Let me get this straight, you two toilet-papered their house?” Jasmine said,

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” Mabel said confused, “That’s wrong. You two should know better.” She scolded gently,

“Oh sis, *calmarse!” Rocky said taking her sister’s arm, “They’re only thirteen, let them have their fun.” Jasmine looked at the kids and said, “You’re right, Rocky. Sorry kids.” Both twins nodded at her to show that they accepted her apology

Grunkle Stan took a forkful of his enchilada and began to chomp on it kind of loudly. “So kids, did you find anything interesting today?” He asked through his mouthful of food,

“We saw a naked gnome, that’s one thing.” Mabel said, while she talked Dipper reached into his backpack hanging behind him on the chair and pulled out the glass vial from earlier.

“And we also found this.” He said holding the vial up, “What am I looking at exactly?” Stan asked squinting to see the clear liquid in the vile, “It’s water.”  Dipper simply answered, Stan then rolled his eyes, “Oh yeah, that’s very interesting.”  He said sarcastically, “No no no! This isn’t just ordinary water, Mabel accidentally scraped her knee today and when I tried to wash her wound off the water healed it almost instantly!” Ford reached his hand out and Dipper handed the vile to him. “That is fascinating.” He told them, “I know, do you think you can, I don’t know, reasearch it and see what kind of properties are in it that can make healing quicker?” Dipper asked his great uncle.

“I can try, but I’ll need a bigger sample.” Ford told him, “Of course! There’s a whole spring filled with that stuff right by where you hid the third journal.” Dipper told him, but the conversation was interrupted by the sound of Stan chewing his food loudly again. Ford just elbowed him hard in the arm and said, “Stanley, could you please not eat so loudly while the kids are trying to tell us about their day?” He asked, Stan just gave his brother a look and replied, “Fine, what else did you kids find other than your “magic water”?” Stan asked sarcastically mocking the kids on their discovery.

“We also came across two paths, one of them looked a little spooky.” Mabel said, Ford immediately looked concerned. “You two didn’t go down that path did you?” He asked them, “No we went down the path that looked safer,” Dipper answered shaking his head, “Why do you ask?”

“Kids, I don’t want you going down that path.” Ford told them suddenly sounding serious, “But, why?” Mabel asked, “We can handle whatever is there.”  “Trust me kids, if there’s one thing that you should know about this town, is that you NEVER take risks.”  Ford replied, Dipper and Mabel were now really confused about what their great uncle was telling them.

“But what about you, Grunkle Ford? You took risks.” Dipper said, “Yeah, and look where it got him.”  Stan said, “I have to agree with my brother on this, we don’t want either of you going down that path. You understand?” The twins looked at both of their great uncles and then looked to Rocky and Jasmine who were just as confused as they were. Dipper and Mabel then looked at each other defeated and said, “Yes Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford.” “Good, now off to bed with the both of ‘ya.”  Stan said, the twins got up from their seats and headed upstairs to the attic bedroom. They got changed into their P.J’s and climbed into their beds.

After a few hours Mabel was fast asleep with Waddles sleeping at the foot of her bed. Dipper, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep a wink. What was down that path and why didn’t Great Uncle Ford want him to see what was down there? Once again, Dipper didn’t know the answers to these questions, but this time he actually wanted to find out what they were.

Dipper climbed out of bed trying to not wake Mabel. He slipped on his vest, grabbed his backpack and left the room. He crept down the stairs and peeked into the T.V room. It was dark and it seemed nobody was awake. He crept through the T.V room and quietly entered the dark and empty gift shop. He could hear a lot of noise coming from the snack machine knowing that it was Grunkle Ford working on something down in the basement. Dipper just stared at the snack machine feeling a little guilty, he HATED to disobey his Grunkles’ orders but he just HAD to know what was down that path. He swiftly ran across the room all the while holding his breath. With a shaking hand he softly pushed open the door and slipped out the door. As he walked away from the shack Dipper stopped for a minute and looked back. He knew that this was strictly going against his better judgement and that he was probably going to get into so much trouble for doing this, but he was going to find out what was down that path and he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way.


 * Buenos dias (Good morning)
 * Bebè (Baby)
 * Miel (Honey)
 * Muy Cansado (Very tired)
 * Calmarse (Calm down)