Final status of the contest (as of posting of final chapter):

Team Dipper - 16 Reviews/1,798 Views/13 Favs/17 Alerts

Team Wendy - 18 Reviews/2,259 Views/14 Favs/21 Alerts

At the end of the day, it looks like Wendy sweeps up the victory. Even though the game is over, I hope you guys and gals continue to let me know how you liked this experiment, and how I can improve in the future (or better yet, how you liked the "final twist" below)

Thanks again for all your support, and enjoy the finale! Until next time!

"Glad to hear you kids are having fun. Keep warm, try not to stay up too late, and I'll hear from you in the morning…"

Dipper and Wendy crowded over the flip phone set on speaker mode.

"Will do! Talk to you tomorrow, Mom."

"Thanks again for everything, Mrs. Pines. We'll catch you later on. And tell Mabel we'll smuggle her in a suitcase next time."

"I'll tell her. Goodnight, kids…"

*CLICK!*

"PHEW!" The teenagers let out a collective sigh. On the way back home from their final battle, Dipper was able to explain everything that had happened in Wendy's absence. By the time they made it back to the Mystery Shack, she had been brought up to speed, and more than able to keep the pretense going without error.

Wendy placed her hands behind her and leaned back, "Well, that's over with…." She turned towards Dipper, who sipped his mug of hot cocoa gently. "Do you think she bought it?"

He nodded, "Oh, yeah. If not, she'd be halfway to Oregon by now…"

"True…" She picked her cup up from the rooftop. "No offense, Dip, but I'd rather take on a zillion evil exes than to get on your mom's bad side again."

Dipper raised his cocoa and held it out. Wendy saw it and lightly tapped her drink in agreement.

"Tell me about it…"

The friends' laughter spread throughout the empty atmosphere. The overcast and snowfall that plagued them all day had vanished, leaving behind a cold, but gorgeous starry night. A brilliant bluish moon bathed the duo in a calm light.

"I almost forgot…" Wendy reached into her jacket and presented him with a recognizable brown trapper hat. "Here you go…"

Dipper was stunned. He took the cap from her hands and looked it over. At first, he wondered if Wendy kept a supply of similar-looking headwear handy, but after seeing the same markings and noticing recognizable scents…

"This is…" He stared at Wendy with amazement. "But how did you – "

"It wasn't that hard, Dipper." She prided. "I made a pit-stop to the pool before running home for my junk. I slipped into the Pool and fished it out of the ice."

"But it's pitch dark out! How did you find it?"

"Kiddo," Wendy elaborated. "The best time to go ice-fishing is in the dead of night. Believe me, it was child's play. And after a few spins in the dryer, it's good as new…"

Dipper took a deep inhale before proudly placing it back on his head. "Man, it still smells like her. How does she do that?"

Wendy tipped her reclaimed blue pine-tree trucker cap in his direction, "There. Now, everything's back to normal…"

"Finally…"

They had talked their situation with Soos and Melody, who agreed to let them sleep over in one of the Shack's empty rooms for the weekend. That way, they could relax and enjoy each other's company without having anyone else bother them (like Wendy's rowdy brothers) or be at risk for another calamity under the adults' watchful eyes.

"Mmm," Dipper paused to take another drink, "It was nice of Soos and Melody to give us the old break room to hang out in…"

"Yeah, after everything that happened today, I'd really doubt that they'd send you back home like that…"

Wendy stirred the beverage in her hand as she grew quiet. "Dipper, I know it doesn't mean much now, but I just wanted to say – I'm sorry…"

Dipper almost spit out his cocoa. He looked back at his crush in disbelief. "W-What?"

The redhead stared into the treetops of the Gravity Falls Forest. "I mean, it's my fault that you got roped into this mess. It's all kinds of messed up, and you're the last person that deserved that, and for that, I'm really sorry…"

The boy couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wendy, you don't have – you had no way to know what was going to happen – "

She let her jeaned leg dangle from the roof, "Mebbe that's part of the problem…" She sighed and set her hot chocolate down, "Dipper, you know…" He watched as the girl strained to find the words to explain her feelings, "You know I like spending time with you, and Mabel, too, but I don't really talk to you guys as much as I should – what I mean is that it's nothing personal – it's just – it gets hard, you know…"

"Well," Dipper said. "Maybe we should do something about that…"

"Like what?"

He shrugged, "What about letting me set up that video-chat setup that I've been bugging you about?"

Wendy's mood started to change, "That sounds great, buddy, but I don't have that kind of scratch just lying around…"

Seeing that his sweetheart was coming around, Dipper began to dig into his pockets, "Maybe there's something we can do to fix that…" A second later, he presented a wad of cash that made Wendy's eyes widened.

"WHOA!" She scooted closer to him, "Where did you get your hands on that load of moolah?"

"From our "old buddy," Zeke." Dipper proudly counted the bills in front of her, "Like he said, "This should cover the cost to get you back home, plus a little bit extra for your troubles…""

"Nice!" Her expression changed to confused, "But, when did that happen?"

"Oop!" Dipper caught himself going a bit ahead, "That happened…when you were…um…asleep…"

"Oh…"

"But we can do it now! Heck, it wouldn't take me more than a few hours to get you up and running!"

"You're serious? You'd really want to waste all that money like that?"

"It's not a waste, Wendy." Dipper could feel his face getting warmer in spite of the chilly air. "I don't know – maybe it'll help with things – maybe…I wouldn't miss you as much then…"

The young detective stopped and closed his eyes, wondering if he went too far in his heartfelt confession. He noticed a hand placed on his shoulder. He saw Wendy smiling down at him.

"You got it, kid. We'll head to the mall tomorrow, and get you whatever we need to do this."

"Really?"

"Yep," Wendy spun back around, "Besides, I have you all to myself for the entire weekend. We have to jam as much stuff in as possible." She began to count off on her fingers, "We're talking junk-food buffets, all-night movie marathons, and not to mention, all the things we can do in the snow – "

"Egh!" Dipper interrupted with a shudder. "No offense, Wendy, but after today, the very last place I want to be is in the snow."

She gave him a playful push, "Dude, you're in the middle of Oregon in dead winter. I can't be held responsible for you getting pelted with snowballs or somehow being dunked headfirst into a snow pile."

"Ohh!" Dipper moaned in disappointment. "At least, can you promise that there won't be any ice balls in that mix?"

"I can do that – plus maybe toss in some "lightweight" stuff, like sledding and stuff – as long as we're not talking snow-angels here…"

"Agreed."

"Good to hear…"

Wendy and Dipper looked up towards the night sky in wait for the upcoming light show, taking in the peaceful ambiance – a much-needed refrain from all the chaos that occurred through the day.

"So…"

"So…"

Dipper watched as Wendy hugged her legs – the exact same pose she sported during their battle with Zeke. The sadness had appeared to overtake her again.

"So," Wendy mumbled. "You must have like, a ton of questions for me, right?"

"About what?"

She waved her hand in a circle, "About everything that happened in general…"

For one in the few times in his life, Dipper fought against his inquisitive nature. While he could have spend the entire weekend asking his main squeeze to fill in the blanks to her mysterious past, the sleuth recalled the important lesson Melody imparted on him earlier.

"No…"

"Huh?!" Wendy was taken aback by his response.

Dipper began to explain, "What happened with those guys – it should stay between you and them in the past. It's none of my business. And even if there is some truth to what they said, it doesn't matter to me. I believe that the Wendy they knew is a totally different person that the one I know now, and that's what's really important..."

"Wow…" She was blown away by the reply. "That's really deep, Dip…"

"Well, I got some great advice…"

To his surprise, Wendy snuggled closer and put an arm around her boy.

"I'd say that's some good stuff, buddy…"

Suddenly, Wendy raised her head towards the sky. She slapped Dipper's chest and pointed upwards, "Look, Dipper, look!"

Dipper followed suit to see a series of colorful streaks flying through the dark-blue sky. Each line created an unique color that shone through the heavens. He observed how the stripes appeared to defy gravity and soar throughout the air with perfect symmetry. Within a minute, they disappeared from sight, leaving behind their individual multi-colored trails.

"Incredible…" Dipper analyzed every possible detail. "It's like a night-time rainbow, but it glows in the dark like aurora borealis." He proceeded to take out his phone and take a few snapshots.

"It's cool," Wendy noted. "But after seeing it a few times…"

She elbowed her friend, remembering the hidden meaning of the day, "I guess that settles it, eh? We're bonded. It looks like you're stuck with me forever…"

Unable to help himself, Dipper whispered under his breath, "You make that sound like a bad thing…"

Wendy lowered her eyes, "Didn't we talk about this, Dip – I know I can hear you when you do that, right?"

"Oop…"

The lanky cashier squeezed her companion, "Seriously though, it's the farthest thing from bad. I probably should have said this a lot sooner, but…I missed you, too…"

Dipper's heart melted at Wendy's admission. She went on, "But, I know that's nothing compared your one true, unconditional love…"

"My – what?"

"You know," Wendy tried to hide her grin, "Your huge crush on "euuuuuuuuu-calyptus " trees. I know how much you absolutely adore them! HAHAHA!"

Dipper lowered his head into a facepalm. "Oh, Wendy…"

"Kidding! I'm just kidding!" She nudged his arm, "Dipper, I just went through a gauntlet of ex-boyfriends when I thought you were in trouble. Do you honestly think I'd let a lousy tree stand in the way of "my boy?""

"I know, I know…"

"That's lumberjack skills for the win!" Wendy flashed a jokingly pose, flexing her muscles. She came back down and tightened her grip on Dipper. They both continued to watch the show displayed amongst the stars. "Was it everything that you hoped for?"

Dipper shook his head, "Nah. It was alright…"

"Just alright?!" The lumberjane turned towards her pal. "But wasn't that the reason you came back? To be a part of the whole "Fallers' Day" getup?"

"Not really," Dipper answered without hesitation. "I mean, it's neat, and all, but that wasn't the main reason I wanted to come back to Gravity Falls."

He could see that Wendy was hanging on his every word. "But why then?"

"Well, I – " Dipper stopped as an idea came to mind: it was better to show than to merely tell. He slipped his backtrack from his shoulders and passed it onto his front. The little admirer opened the main zipper and pulled out a foldable, dark green carrier. With careful handling, Dipper set the box on Wendy's lap and undid the latches keeping it shut.

With a deep breath, Dipper yanked the top back and revealed the precious cargo to his favorite redhead.

"I didn't come back for Fallers' Day. I came back for you; to celebrate your day with you.

"Oh, Dipper…"

The inside of the container was a cupcake holder. Sixteen red and green sweeten treats were secured in place to prevent them from becoming smeared or crushed throughout Dipper's travels. Tiny numbered candles were stuck in each frosted top.

With a steady hand, Wendy plucked a cupcake up from its setting, "It's…" A familiar scent entered her nostrils, "It's red-velvet chocolate cake!"

"Try the green frosting…"

The girl took a nibble, only to savor the flavor, "Hmm…minty!"

"Making them your colors was my idea," Dipper admitted, "But Mabel helped me make it a reality. I know it's not much, but I thought that – "

"Dip…" Dipper glanced back at Wendy to catch her wiping her moist eyes, "It's perfect – it really is." She licked the frosting from her lips, "You don't – I've always hated this day because everyone always thinks of Fallers' Day instead of – " She used her palm to clear her freckled face, "You must think it's really stupid, don't you?"

"No way! I totally get it…" Dipper met her eye-to-eye. "But just remember, I'll never forget about you, Wendy…"

Without warning, Wendy tugged Dipper closer, making it so that their shoulders met. She took another cupcake and placed in his hands as they turned to face the remainders of the night together.

*CHOMP!* "Happy Fallers' Day, Dipper…"

With a wince, Dipper bit into his own creation, relaxing after he found it delicious. With his nerves finally set, he clutched his crush tightly as his noodle arm stretched across her back.

"Happy Sweet Sixteen, Wendy…"

(January 2nd 2017 – March 25th 2017)