"Eenie, meenie, miney, YOU!" Next to Mabel in Bill's hand, Dipper suddenly slumped over motionless.

"Dipper?" Mabel gave her brother's shoulder a shake, faintly hearing her Grunkle Ford shouting something. There was no response. "Dipper, wake up!"

Suddenly the hand that was holding the twins opened and the two fell to the floor. Heart pounding in her chest, Mabel ran to her brother's body, shaking him, calling his name…

There was no response.

Mabel woke up with a jolt, looking around her in sudden panic before gradually readjusting to her surroundings. She was on a bus. The girl felt her luggage and reached down to pet a sleeping Waddles sitting on the floor by her feet; everything was there, safe.

She'd long stopped having the distinct feeling someone was missing wherever she went, but that dream had evoked some memories.

"Coming up to Gravity Falls, Oregon!" So did this particular destination. But despite these niggling feelings, she couldn't help but break into a beaming smile at the sight of the people waving at her from the bus stop.

Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford, Soos and Wendy; these people were the reason she'd come back for another summer! That was why as soon as the bus stopped she dashed to the door and squeezed through it.

"Kid!" Mabel charged towards her Grunkle Stan first, tackling the old man with a huge hug around his neck. Stan was laughing, hugging her back just as tightly. "Happy to see you too, knucklehead! Wow, you've grown tall! And a little heavier - ow, ow, three seconds in and you're already killing my back!"

Mabel let go, looking at Stan and giggling. The old man raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny? Have I spilt something on me or something?"

"You're wearing my goodbye sweater, Grunkle Stan!"

"Yeah, so?" Stan scratched his head. "Oh, I suppose it's not goodbye, but… it seemed appropriate, you know? It's not like I'm wearing it any other day-"

"Oh, come on Stanley." Ford stepped forward to give his brother a light punch. "Your great uncle has been wearing that any chance he gets. Says it reminds him of you."

"No, I haven't! We've just been going to, you know, some cold places. And it's not like you ever knitted me any other sweaters than this one."

Mabel's eyes shone. "Grunkle Stan, I will knit you so many sweaters this summer."

"Yeah?" Stan ruffled his great niece's hair. "Well, knit some for Ford too, some real nerdy ones. He wears that red one so much you'd think he doesn't have anything else."

"Yo Mabel," Mabel felt somebody tap her shoulder, and she turned to see Wendy and Soos just behind her. "You promised hugs when you last wrote us, and we're here to collect."

Mabel pulled the two into a group hug. "Hugs delivered!"

"Hambone, you ready for the best summer of your life?"

"Honestly?" Mabel scratched the back of her head. "I think I'm just happy to see you guys again. I missed you all so much!"

Before anybody could respond there was a call from the bus. "Hey, miss, you left your luggage in here! And this pig…"

"I got it!" Stan quickly slipped into the bus, and a second later he walked out with all the luggage and Waddles trailing behind him.

"Hey, Waddles!" Wendy grinned and picked up the pig. "Nice to see you as well. How were you able to get him on the bus?"

Mabel looked over to Stan, who was handing a few green notes to the bus driver. "Grunkle Stan called ahead."

"Alright!" Ford spoke as soon as the bus drove off. "To the car, everyone!"

"To the car!" Stan shifted some of the luggage off of his back. "Sheesh, what did you pack in here? A bowling alley?"

"I can take something, Grunkle Stan." Mabel dashed over and picked up the bag, noting it was blue, cylindrical and had 'PIEDMONT' stitched to the side. Though she'd covered it in stickers, she remembered it used to be Dipper's bag. Her heart dipped for a moment before she pushed it out of her mind; not here.

Mabel pointed forwards. "To the car! Haha, repeating stuff is fun."

The car ride was filled with tales from Stan and Ford's adventures out on the Stan-O-War. Some of them, like Ford's tale of the tower of water held up by a magical blue gemstone, were described with such scientific jargon it was hard to follow at times. Some of them, like Stan's account of the time he punched a giant squid in the face, had to be at least a little embellished.

All of them sounded amazing.

"Wow, Mr Pineses." Soos' eyes were wide. "That all sounds so cool!"

"What can I say? It was some nice quality time with my brother!" Stan playfully punched Ford's shoulder, then turned around in his seat to grin at Mabel. "And I'm sure we'll have even more amazing adventures this summer with you, pumpkin!"

Mabel laughed lightly, eyes darting to the side. "Haha, I think I'm still all adventured out, you know, from everything that happened last summer…"

She trailed off as she realized the car had gone silent. Stan turned back to the front. "Y-yeah, kid, fair enough."

"I mean," Mabel stretched a smile. "All those failed summer romances and stuff! Blarg, those were real awful adventures. I won't be doing any of that this year!"

Wendy laughed. "Oh, yeah, those were a bust. But we can do so much other fun stuff; this summer's gonna be awesome!"

"I bet!" Mabel gasped as they started pulling up to the Mystery Shack, pressing her face to the side. "Oh my gosh, the Mystery Shack! I haven't seen you in forever."

Stan smiled."Welcome home, kid."

Updated 10/10/16