Gravity Falls, Oregon. 19th July 2012.
The morning sun lightened the Mystery Shack attic. The wooden boards of the walls and the floor had a warm golden brightness, reflected by the sunlight.
"Oh man... this day's being boring as hell..." Dipper moaned, covering his face with his hands, lying on his bed.
"Well, Waddles is having fun with the grappling hook. Ain't that right?" Mabel answered with a smile, petting her little pig.
Waddles was chewing Mabel's grappling hook. Suddenly, his teeth pressed the trigger and the claws flied in Dipper's direction.
"Whoa!" He gasped, before dodging in the last second.
Mabel almost died from laughter, kicking her legs on her bed.
"Your darn pig almost killed me!" Dipper exclaimed, his heart beating fast with the shock.
Waddles oinked, as if it was an answer to Dipper. "Oink oink."
"Yeesh, bore makes you grumpy." Mabel said.
She sat on her bed's messy blankets and continued enjoying the music from her MP3. Her headphones were hidden by her smooth, wavy brown hair, the sunlight giving them a golden brightness.
Dipper stared at her, suddenly curious.
"What are you listening to?" He asked.
"Hmm, what a coincidence! "Disco Girl" from BABBA!" Mabel exclaimed with a sly smile on her face.
"Really?!" Dipper jumped off his bed and rushed to the MP3.
"I was just joking, you bonehead! It's playing "Something I Need" from OneRepublic." Mabel laughed.
Dipper grunted. "That wasn't amusing at all." He said.
"Well, for me it was, you weirdo." Mabel smiled to her brother. "This music is amazing!" She added.
Dipper returned to his bed and stared at the ceiling.
"Oh... I already read the entire Journal, half the pages are blank!" Dipper sighed and covered his face with his hands again. "It just doesn't make any sense..."
"Oh, Dipper. Stop thinking about that creepy jornal for just one second! It's gonna drive you insane!" Mabel answered, while playing with Waddles, lifting and lowering his tiny hoofs as if he was a puppet.
A long silence succeeded, as Dipper was lying on his bed, lost in his thoughts and Mabel was listening to music while playing with Waddles on her bed.
"Hey, Dipper!" An idea came up to Mabel's mind.
Dipper took his hands off his face and looked at his sister.
"Wanna take a look at our summer photos?"
Dipper's eyes lightened as he filled with cheer. "Say no more, sis'! Go get your scrapbook!"
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In no time, Mabel put her scrapbook on Dipper's bed and sat next to him.
"Hey, I love this music! All About That Bass! You should listen with me!" Mabel exclaimed as the music began playing.
"Please, Mabel. Not All About That Bass. That music is so crappy and annoying, please..." Dipper protested.
"Fine! I'll hear it on my own. Boys..." Mabel answered, a little vexed.
They opened the book.
"Look! It's our first family photo! Remember when we were at our uncle's house at Christmas time?" Mabel pointed at the photo of their parents holding the Twins in their arms.
"We were 2 years old, Mabel. I only remember it because of this photo. But yeah... You were cute back then, sister. You weren't that much of a brat." Dipper joked, smiling to his sister.
"Well, I liked you back then, too. You weren't that much of a wet blanket." Mabel countered, amused.
Then, she moved on from that page. She found a photo of her, Dipper and their parents.
"Oh! It's our whole family kickboxing! Remember that you started to cry because I punched you and we had to stop?"
"Mabel, when you're kickboxing you're supposed to kick, not to punch." Dipper's expression clearly said "seriously?".
"GAAAAAHHH! Look, bro-bro! It's you in your lamby lamby costume! It's that photo I showed Wendy when I found out you had a crush on her, remember?" Mabel exclaimed.
"Oh, yeah. That day. Why, Mabel, just why did you have to show her that?" Dipper complained, looking at the ceiling.
"Oh, you should thank me! She was just drowned in your cuteness! Just look at yourself!" Mabel squeezed her own cheeks.
Mabel and Dipper kept looking at their memories, perusing the book's pages. Mabel slowly began singing the lyrics from the music.
Because you know I'm all about that bass
'bout that bass, no treble
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass, no treble
I'm all 'bout that bass, 'bout that bass
"MABEL..." Dipper just hated that music, and Mabel knew that. He was about to yell at his sister, but then he took a deep breath and controlled himself, saying calmly "...can you please stop singing that song?"
Mabel looked at her twin brother. She sighed and said "Okay, fine... I'll just listen to another one."
After a few seconds, she got excited about the new music.
"Oh, this music is great! Hey Brother from Avicii. It's about siblings! This one you have to listen with me!"
Dipper liked Avicii. "Fine." He put an headphone on and the rhythmic music started to fill his soul, as he moved on from that page.
The next one was a page where he and Mabel were at their house's garden staring at a footprint with intrigue. Dipper realized that their spirit of adventure after all was always there. And they would always be together on their adventures, untill the end.
Then there was a page with a photo of the Twins doing their first awkward sibling hug. He remembered how much he loved his sister, more than any friend he ever had, more than he ever could explain in words. Their bond was strong, special.
He moved to a page where Mabel was healing Dipper at their home. Dipper had some little injuries and she had too, not as much as him, though.
"Remember? That time when some jerks bullied you and I saved your skin? I'm the world's best sister, admit it!" Mabel smiled with pride.
"Yes... You are, sister." Dipper said, glad. "You got wounded too. Why did you fight them?"
"Because you are my brother." Mabel answered as if it was obvious, but with sweetness.
Dipper didn't know what to say.
The next page was Mabel's Failed Summer Romances. Her smile vanished as she looked at all her crushes with sadness. Dipper just stared at her as she looked at that page.
Hey sister, do you still believe in love I wonder?
That was what Dipper wanted to ask his sister.
Mermando, Norman, Gabe, Sev'ral Timez... Everyone of those had left her, one way or another... Differently than her brother. Then, Mabel realized that her brother cared more about her than any of her crushes, even Mermando.
They skipped a few pages, untill the summer day when they left home and took the bus to Gravity Falls. After a photo of them with their bags at the bus station, they found a special photo.
"Oh my God! It's the Bus Selfie!" Mabel screamed with excitement.
"Oh, I remember it." Dipper said with a smile.
They took that selfie inside the bus, waiting to arrive in Gravity Falls. They were hugging each other with one hand and holding the camera with the other, Dipper smiling and Mabel showing her tongue in a goofy expression. Dipper could almost feel their happiness in that photo.
"Look! Our photos from when we went to the "Butt" island!" Mabel exclaimed.
Between the multiple photos of beavers taken by Soos, they found their photos with Grunkle Stan and the handyman of the Shack, fishing, listening to Stan's jokes, stealing fish from other boats and running away from Durland and Blubs. It was sweet and heartwarming seeing they all together. Those people, Dipper never wanted to leave. It was his family. That summer changed his life forever. That summer strengthened his relationship with his sister, with his family, made him discover who he truly was. An adventurer. A leader. A hero. A brother.
They then perused those pages filled with their adventures in Gravity Falls before Gideon took over the Shack and their lives. Before they went to the Tent of Telepathy for the first time, when they had that party at the Shack, their sleepover after they got separated bedrooms. They were always together in the best and worst moments.
Dipper was perusing the pages, drowned in these feelings, when he changed from a page, and suddenly, found a drawing. A drawing made by Mabel. She and her brother were falling in the empty sky full of orange and golden clouds, Mabel with the grappling hook on an hand, and trying to reach out to Dipper with the other, that was falling below her. It clearly was a drawing of that time when Dipper was fighting with Gideon after he took over the Shack, and the robot fell from the bridge. Dipper would be dead if it wasn't his sister. His miraculous sister. He could still feel the distress of that seconds when he was falling, trying to reach his sister's hand, and the relief when he felt his sister's hand holding his and stopped feeling the dashing, cutting wind.
He didn't even know she drew that drawing. He couldn't believe it.
"Oh... Mabel..." Dipper stammered. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the right words. He couldn't keep that feeling for himself.
"Bro-bro... are you okay?" Mabel had never seen his brother like that before.
Dipper perused the pages from Mabel's scrapbook very quickly. All the memories, all the moments they passed together, since when they were born. They had faced life together. Dipper realized how lucky he was to have a friend to face it with him. He was never alone.
Then, he stopped in the last page of the scrapbook, and was surprised to see a photo of both, Mabel making a goofy face and showing her tongue and Dipper smiling and putting two fingers behind Mabel's head as if they were horns. He remembered it, they took that photo in Gravity Falls. He was happy to see that Mabel valorized their siblinghood as much as he did.
"Are you crying? Maybe I shouldn't..."
Mabel was caught by surprise when Dipper gave her a sudden, tight hug. The headphones fell to the floor with the strength of that hug.
"DIPPER?" She got a little scared by her brother's attitude.
"Mabel... You're my best friend..." Dipper said, holding his tears.
"Why, of course I am!" Mabel answered. "Just stop... You're giving me wet eyes, man..."
"I would be lost without you... Please, PLEASE, never leave me. I love you, sis'..."
"You're acting weird, dude..." Mabel was about to cry, she didn't quite understand why.
Dipper was still holding his tears.
"I don't know why we're crying, but... You can cry, bro-bro... Cry if it makes you feel better..." Mabel whispered.
"Heck, I'm sorry, Mabel. I'm being a wimpy..." Dipper started.
"Shh... You are being sweet, Dipper. I love you too. You are the best brother I could ever have." Mabel interrupted Dipper, talking with a sweet voice.
That was the longest and most awkward sibling hug they ever did.