Disclaimer: I do not own Gravity Falls or any of its characters, etc. etc.

Note: Normal text indicates the present. Italics means it's a flashback.

Letting Go

He had never thought that it would end like this.

The two of them were floating in the air, getting closer to the swirling anomaly. She let out a scream of surprise as the force tugged at them. Quickly, he grabbed onto the railing. With all of his strength, he reached and managed to grasp her hand as she went past him.

She jerked to a stop and looked up at him in shock. She clutched his hand right back, even as they were still being pulled at by the sucking force.

The strain was immense, but there was no way that he was letting go. After all, he had always done his best to protect her.

This had all started as something interesting and wondrous for him to do. The journal had been so fascinating, and he hadn't been able to resist. Part of it had been that, but it was also obvious to him that the author was similar to him: intelligent, and more open to things that most people would scoff at. He simply had to know more about him and these amazing things that he had taken the time to write about.

Of course, she had always stuck by his side, optimistic and happy. She had always been there to lift him up when he was down. She had seen how important this was to him and gone along with it. It wasn't her quest, but she wasn't about to let him go alone.

And slowly but surely, the two of them had been sucked into this town and its mysteries.

He let out a grunt as he struggled to hold on to the railing and her at the same time. Looking up, his eyes widened as he watched all of the debris and other objects that zoomed past them into the anomaly. Even given all of their previous adventures, they hadn't seen anything like this since the portal in the basement had been opened.

She gave a small shriek as some of the stuff came a little to close for comfort. For a moment, he thought that he could feel their hands that were clasped together slip a bit, but he just clutched her harder.

There was no way that he was going to let go.

But she was getting this look on her face. She looked back at the anomaly then at their clasped hands and his hand holding on that was the only thing preventing them from getting sucked in.

Her face tilted up, hair swirling around her face, and something in her expression made his heart squeeze.

"Dipper…"

Still, no matter what happened they had always managed to get through it. They had stopped Gideon, defeated Bill Cipher at least temporarily, and managed to survive the portal opening that brought their other Great Uncle back.

He had thought that that would be the worst of all that they faced. He could still remember that sting of betrayal as the clock counted down and she had lifted her hand away from the button. With three words, she had chosen their con man of a Grunkle over him.

He had understood why she had done it and had forgiven for it. Still, that had been a horrible moment when he thought that he should have heeded the words from the journal and he shouldn't have trusted even his own twin. Learning the truth afterward had helped a lot with making the sting go away, and he realized that he should have known that she wouldn't press the button.

It hadn't been a betrayal, not really. She just always followed her heart, and their Grunkle's desperation had hit right in her soft spot.

And that tendency had lead to this as well.

"Dipper, you have to let me go." She looked just like she had as she had floated in front of the portal: slightly sad, but determined to carry out her decision. There was a sort of serenity to her expression, as if she had somehow come to peace with this.

How could a twelve-year-old girl have that expression?

"No way!" He yelled back. How could she even ask that? His heart was speeding in his chest and it hurt. All he could think was that he hoped that this was a nightmare of some sort.

"You have to. We've seen this sort of thing in the journal. Either you let me go or it's going to end up getting both of us!" Now she was starting to look upset, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes.

He couldn't help but think that that would probably be preferable. After all, he didn't know where exactly they would end up, but at least they would be together.

She had been so afraid of ending up like Grunkle Stan and Grunkle Ford. She tended to be a bit oblivious at times, but like him, she had easily seen the parallels between the two pairs of twins.

There was him and Grunkle Ford. They both were intelligent and tended to be awkward around other people. They loved mysteries and could all too easily get obsessed with them. The journals linked them together.

Then there was her and Grunkle Stan. They both were fairly strong physically and were lead all too easily by their hearts. They were the older siblings, who tried to do right by their younger counterparts.

That first night after the portal opened, she had confessed her fear to him as they lay in their beds, but he had assured her that they wouldn't end up like that. They were smarter than letting some small mistake coming between them. After all, he had already forgiven her for not pressing the button.

Still, history tends to repeat itself, even if it ends up not being exactly the same.

The sucking force was getting even stronger. At this rate, there was no way of knowing what would be drawn to it and sucked in. It was getting harder for him keep his grip, but he refused to give up.

She could tell though.

"Let's be honest here." She said. "Of the two of us, you're probably going to go on to even greater things. After all, there're so many mysteries out there for you. That's why it's got to be me."

"Don't say that!" He couldn't believe that she could think that, much less say it.

She was the one who could walk into a room and charm the people in it, becoming their friend. It didn't matter who was it was. She was so bright and cheerful that people couldn't help but be drawn to her, despite her weirdness. Probably because of her weirdness. She never cared what others thought about her, at least he had thought so. He had always admired that and wished that he could be like her in that way.

"You've got a lot ahead of you, too!" He cried out. "You're just as important!" He grunted a bit as his hand on the rail slid a bit.

Why did he always have to sweat so much?

She smiled a bit, though the tears were drifting from her eyes into the vortex.

"I'm the older one. I'm supposed to protect you." Her voice was quiet, and he almost couldn't hear her over the wind. "But you always end up protecting me. So let me be the protector, just this once."

Their grunkles had been separated because of a misunderstanding, because of a simple fight. They had started to hate each other even as they still loved each other. They hadn't been able to let go of their grudges and hurt, blaming the other for their problems even as they longed to be together as family again.

They had finally met up once again, but an even bigger fight and accident had led to them being separated for thirty years.

This hadn't been a fight though. The motivation hadn't been hate.

This had been a sacrifice. The motivation had been pure love.

With great difficulty, she managed to drag her other hand forward. Her fingers fell on top of his and he stared in horror as she tried to pry them off of her hand.

"Mabel, stop it!" He would have said more, but his hand loosened a tiny bit on the railing. He readjusted himself to hold it tighter, but it just gave her the opportunity to pull his fingers off of her.

The only thing keeping her there were her hands clutching his arm.

They looked at each other in the eye. The anomaly was getting stronger, and he was surprised that he hadn't already lost his hat. Words passed between them in seconds, and he knew that no matter how much he pleaded, she had already made her decision.

He still had to try though.

"Please, don't do this." He begged. Distantly, he thought that he could end the whole debate by letting go of the railing, but something was making him hold on to it.

She smiled, her braces glinting in the sunlight. Even now, she was trying to be strong and optimistic though her tears gave her away. "I love you, Dipper. Live for both of us, bro-bro."

She let go.

His heart stopped.

"MABEL!"

He tripped over a piece of debris on the ground. He let himself fall and didn't bother getting up.

As soon as she entered the vortex, there had been a blinding light and everything that had been floating, being sucked towards the anomaly, had fallen down, including himself. He had known that he had to go back to town, to the Mystery Shack, and tell them what had happened. Surely, either Grunkle Stan or Grunkle Ford would know what to do. One of them had to know a way to fix this.

He had gotten up and made his way back, but now he couldn't bring himself to stand. Before, she had always been the one who would help him up when he didn't have the strength.

But she was gone.

He could feel a void at his side where he knew that she should be. It felt like a chunk of his heart had been ripped away. He had never felt this way before. After all, she had always been there. She had been born first so he had never had to know what it felt like to not have a twin. Five minutes made all the difference.

After that, they had never truly been apart. They had always stood by each other and they had complimented each other. They were heart and brain, yin and yang, Watson and Holmes, confronting every problem they had come across together.

Now there was a hollow feeling in his chest.

Was this how Grunkle Stan had felt when Grunkle Ford had fallen in the portal? With a bolt of clarity, he now understood why the man had been so desperate, why he had risked so much. If it would bring her back, he wouldn't mind putting the entire world in danger.

This shouldn't have been necessary though.

"Mabel." He could feel a hot prickling in his eyes, and he curled up a bit on the ground. "Why?"

Why did she have to protect him? Hadn't they both said that they wouldn't be stupid like their great uncles and let themselves be torn apart? Where was she right now? Was she alive or dead? Who was going to pull him back when he got too obsessed? How could he get her back? How would he explain all of this to their great uncles? Questions swirled around in his brain.

How could he live without her by his side?

"Well, that's the thing about shooting stars, Pine Tree," a chipper yet sinister voice rang out. He started and quickly looked around, but he could see no signs of the dream demon.

"They shine brightly for a moment," the voice turned dark, "and then they're gone."

Mabel, his sister, his best friend, his twin, was gone.

Dipper had never thought that it would end like this.

AN: I just recently started watching this show, and I've seen episodes out of order since I've basically just seen repeats while at someone else's house. I'm beginning to make efforts to watch it all from the beginning though. Still, this idea started forming when I saw "Not What He Seems" and was fully realized after seeing "A Tale of Two Stans." Hope you like it, and feel free to review.