The nights here in the outskirts of Gravity Falls aren't terribly chill in the middle of July, but even so the breeze that stirs the branches in the trees causes Dipper to shiver slightly and tuck his hands under his arms. Mabel doesn't seem to notice, enthralled as she is at the sight of the multitude of tiny colored lights that dance and circle around one another in the forest clearing.

Dipper feels a small smile ease its way onto his face at the sight of his sisters eyes growing almost Smile-Dip-Induced-High wide and he hears the high pitched squeal building up in her throat before she stifles it down in an attempt to not startle the creatures that are glistening and gliding across the summer breeze. Greens, blues, gold and purple lights the size of a baby's fist are darting to and fro like miniature stars or brilliant gems given a life of their own and even Dippers normal paranoia at the sight of the strange is lulled to silence at the feeling of joy that seems to accompany each swirl and dip and bob in the movement of the dozens of lights.

For all the horrible or just plain weird things things in the journal its nice to have finally found something that we both might want to see, Dipper thought to himself. After some of the weird crap we've been through this week I think we both deserve a night off.

The pair sit watching the strange silent dance of the lights for a few moments and Dipper is so caught up in the sight that he almost doesn't notice the fact that Mabel has sidled herself up closer to him and wrapped one of her arms through his own, her head pillowing comfortably on his shoulder. Without thinking he slides his own arm up around her shoulders and gives her a quick squeeze in return, feeling her relax even more against him.

A silent flash of gold flares before Dippers eyes and he blinks quickly to recover his night vision and finds that one of the lights has slipped out from the weaving and bobbing ring and is hovering in front of Mabel. The girl reaches out her hand, a single finger outstretched toward the light but stops short before making contact - hesitation plain on her normally fearless face. The light darts forward those last few inches of distance and makes connection and Dipper feels a surge of something overtaking his sister, almost overpowering even though he only feels it secondhand through her skin.

The golden light has retreated now, back to the silent dance and Mabel has sprung up to follow it. Dipper is frozen in place, curiosity mingling with fear for his sister as he sees her approach the ring of lights. A space opens and Mabel glides into it, moving smoothly, gracefully - her steps light and confident, as if she had been rehearsing for weeks. Dipper watches her spin and twirl, a wave of chestnut hair becoming almost a halo as she moves quickly through the steps of the dance, outlined in the steady pulse of the shimmering lights. Its unlike anything he's ever seen before, but at the same time as familiar as a childhood memory - Mabel is dancing and the dance is Mabel.

Beautiful, he thinks quietly to himself, absolutely beautiful.

He reaches toward her as if to rescue her, but for some reason he feels like he is the one that is drowning and before long she slides over toward him and touches the tip of her ring finger to his palm and he feels whole.

It starts as a warmth flowing up his arm, but it becomes almost a fire in his veins - an energy that he must use or be consumed by completely. He looks with new eyes at the dance and in the seeming randomness he finds a pattern there that he would never have guessed at in a million years before. He watches the lights and feels a laugh bubble up in his chest at the unrestrained happiness that flows out from them as they move as one in the dance. He can't take a second more of the stillness and without a sound he surges to his feet and joins his sister in the circle, feeling the dance move through him and around him.

The twins circle and their hands touch once again, briefly and they share the warmth that Mabel feels whenever Dipper bandages up one of her scrapes. They brush past one another and both know the joy that hearing Mabel's too-loud laughter brings up inside Dippers chest. They slide in closer and experience the soft contentment that Mabel feels when the two cuddle up on the couch for a monster movie marathon. They reach out and slide their palms simultaneously over their twins cheek and know the way that Dippers heart beats hard at the sight of Mabel's cheeks dimpling when she smiles extra wide at him. They reach in to each other and as they kiss they each feel everything that they had felt for one another, everything held back and secret and unknown even to themselves before this perfect moment and when their lips meet they are together.

Its strange and its brief and it is magical (both literally and figuratively) and in the pulse of that love and confusion and warmth the glowing lights shine like a silent fireworks display, casting long colored shadows all across the glade.

In an instant it is over. The lights have gone and now there are just two teens in a clearing with their lips pressed together, their arms gently circling one anothers shoulders. They break the kiss slowly, as if it were fragile and in the light of the dim stars they look at one another and pause for a beat.

We could stop now. Pretend it never happened. Say it was the magic or hypnotism or something. Act like we never felt each other. Never saw who we were, inside.

Their eyes meet and the thought is rejected instantly by the both of them. The next kiss is more hesitant, but after a moment it finds strength and the twins each feel something strange and beautiful flare up inside them. Its not the energy of the lights - but it is something human and warm and deeply, intensely satisfying.