HI! In the time I spent procrastinating writing this, I've finished Psychonaut's Figgy Piggy achievement, started writing a fanfic for a different fandom and come up with ideas for new fanfics, bought Christmas presents for most of my friends, and cut about 7 billion Christmas cookies at work. (Sorry. This was ended up being really long.)
I headcanon Wendy as being psychic before she came to the Shadow Realm. Her time there amplified her abilities, though.
...
11/02/13
Mabel here! This is a really sad story! Dipper said I should write this entry because… well, you'll see.
As Mabel was walking home from school, she felt a prickle on her back, as though someone was walking behind her. She stopped and turned around, however, only to see nothing. She fingered the straps of her backpack (Friendship Princess Equines™ brand) nervously.
Dipper noticed her wariness. "You okay?"
She took on a cheerful expression. "Fpptt, yep! I'm fine! I think I just ate too much Halloween candy."
"I, personally, did not think you had a limiter on your sugar intake," Dipper said, turning back to the trail leading back to the shack.
"What? Of course I do! I limit it to the amount of candy I have! I got sick from eating yours!"
Their arguing could be heard all the way up the path to the Mystery Shack.
As the twins continued walking home, they didn't notice the short-haired blond girl peeking out from behind a tree behind them. She quietly slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a large flower, nearly blooming, despite being cut. She lifted it up to her face.
She exhaled softly onto it, a slight shiver running down her spine at the cold sensation rippling off of it. She then quietly tucked it back into her pocket once more and turned the opposite way to go home.
Dusk was coming.
…
When Dipper and Mabel came into the science classroom a bit early, they noticed Mr. Higgsbury seemed to be in a bit of a panic. He was tapping his desk nervously and muttering under his breath.
"Uh… Hello?" Dipper tentatively said.
He looked up suddenly. "Oh, hi. You two haven't seen Wendy, have you?" He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment. "Uh, the Wendy with the short blonde hair. Not the red-haired one."
"No," Dipper stated. "Why? Is something wrong?"
Mr. Higgsbury bit his lip in nervousness. "She left this morning to go to school before me, but she's not here now, and I can't find her anywhere. I have to make sure to keep an eye on her."
"Are you guys related?" Mabel asked.
There was a brief look of revulsion on his face. "Wha-OF COURSE NOT!" The twins flinched at the forcefulness of the answer. He seemed to realize how cold he sounded and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Er, what I mean to say is... I'm her caretaker of sorts, since I've known her for a long time. I keep an eye on her during the day."
"Oh, did her parents send her here with you? Our parents let us come to stay with our Great Uncle!" Mabel said, looking a bit excited. "We can help her adjust! It was a little tricky the firs-" Dipper gave her a nudge and gestured towards their teacher. He was wincing, as though he was physically in pain.
"Uh… Well, she lived in the house of her uncle…" he told them, sounding rather uncomfortable. "He thought she needed a change in environment, so he sent her here with us." He took a breath. "He asked me to take care of her, so I need to find out where she went."
"We'll do it!" Mabel exclaimed, stepping forward, much to Dipper's dismay. "You get ready for class!"
Mr. Higgsbury seemed a bit reluctant. "If you're really sure..." He looked back down at all the science experiments written on a sheet. "I do have a lot of work to do to get ready for class... Alright, just make sure to get back in time."
"Okay, c'mon bro! We've got a blonde to find!" Mabel said cheerfully and dragged her annoyed brother out.
...
"Why are we doing this?" Dipper asked. "We don't even know her."
"C'mon, Dipper!" Mabel protested. "She's probably just not comfortable. She just needs a friend!"
"But she's so creepy…" Dipper said. "She always has her eyes super wide and that scar on her face makes me nervous. Plus, she looked way too happy when we were dissecting frogs."
Mabel gave him a stare. "You just don't like her because she has the same name as Wendy…"
He sputtered slightly. "Well, I mean, she is creepy…"
Mabel rolled her eyes and continued down the hall, with Dipper reluctantly trailing her.
It was nearly time for them to head back, when Mabel heard something. It sounded like berating. Mabel grabbed her brother's arm and peeked around the corner. It was Wendy, and she was being criticized by another girl, Ariel, if Mabel recalled correctly. She used to see her hanging out around Pacifica, but she now had her own popular girl group, since Pacifica's family had lost their mansion.
"-dressed like a slob, no make-up, hanging out around that psycho of a teacher-" she was telling the blonde.
"Wilson's not a psycho," Wendy interrupted, glaring up at the significantly taller girl. "He can be ignorant, but he's not a psycho…"
Mabel was a bit surprised. Wendy seemed to do nothing but point out Mr. Higgsbury's mistakes while she was with him. She actually was defending him?
"Maybe to you. Don't act like you aren't a little freak yourself," Ariel brushed her off.
Wendy continued to stare up at her, unblinking. "Whatever do you mean?"
"I know that you follow Mabel and Dipper every day after school, you little stalker," Ariel told her. Mabel and Dipper both were stunned into silence.
For the first time, Wendy actually began to look a little nervous. She gulped, but Ariel was just beginning.
"Oh, and everybody saw those other weirdos you live with: crazy actress, crybaby strongman, lunatic lumberjack. With the types of freaks you guys group together in, you're obviously insane too," she laughed. She pushed Wendy back, and the girl stumbled a bit, almost falling. "No wonder no one wants to get close to you."
Wendy looked at the ground, her eyes obscured by her hair. At first, Mabel thought she was crying. Then, the lights started flickering, and despite there being windows nearby, the hallway darkened considerably. In fact, the only source of light was a small, slightly pink circle around Wendy.
Ariel took a step back and Dipper got out his new journal. Something was wrong.
Finally, Wendy replied, her voice deathly soft and calm. "Do you really think that we are crazy? Perhaps we are. After all, no human could expect to go through what we did and still retain their rationality. But, just as insanity comes at a price, there are gains one can receive from it." She slowly raised her head.
Wendy's eyes had turned pure white, no irises or pupils. "I know this better than anyone." She reached her hand into her backpack and pulled out a large red chrysanthemum and a jar with a live monarch butterfly in it. The air suddenly became about twenty degrees colder. "Would you like to see the powers I've received?"
Ariel started backing away, fearful that she had just awakened a monster. She did the smart thing; she turned and ran for her life, not even seeing Mabel and Dipper as she passed them.
Then, just as suddenly as the lights had dimmed, they lit up once more. Wendy's eyes once again had pupils and irises. "That's too bad. I would have liked it."
The bell rang overhead, startling Mabel and Dipper. Wendy placidly looked up and began to place the objects back into her backpack.
Dipper was trying to pull Mabel away from the girl, who would turn around any second. But Mabel wasn't going to have any of it.
"Hey, girlfriend!" she greeted, jumping from behind the corner and startling the short-haired girl. She dropped the jar with the butterfly and nearly dropped the flower, floundering to catch it with the tips of her fingers.
Mabel watched the butterfly glide off, out of the remains of the shattered glass. "Uh... Do you need any help cleaning that up?"
Wendy stared at her, her lower lip quivering. Now that Mabel was this close to her, she could see how deep the scar on her cheek was, how skinny and short she was, and how pale blue her eyes were. "No…" she replied, voice wavering. "D-did you s-see…?"
"Pfft, weird clouds, huh?" Mabel said, trying her best to sound light-hearted. It did sound that way, but having Dipper glare over her shoulder at the girl made it difficult to keep it up. "I mean… uh, hey! Ariel really shouldn't have treated you like that! She didn't hurt you when she pushed you, right?" She reached out for the girl's clenched hands. However, in doing so, her fingers brushed up against the flower she held clasped.
Wendy smacked her and shoved her to the ground. Then, a look of intense guilt spread across her face.
Dipper stepped in front of Mabel. "Stay away from us! Don't ever get close to us again, or I'll… Or I'll… I'll make you regret it!"
Wendy continued staring at them, even as Dipper dragged Mabel down the hall, back towards the classroom. Mabel was pretty sure she didn't move a muscle as she watched them go.
When they got back, Dipper told Mr. Higgsbury they hadn't seen her, glaring at the ground as he did so.
Wendy didn't show up for class. And she didn't show up the next day. Or the day after that.
Mabel finally couldn't take staring at her empty seat anymore and asked Mr. Higgsbury, who looked increasingly worried, if she was feeling sick.
"She… ran away," he said, miserable. "I don't know why… Did I do something wrong? We've been looking for her for days."
Dipper twitched behind Mabel, obviously feeling immense guilt. The twins didn't know how to reply to his statement.
So they didn't and instead sat quietly in their seats, not paying any attention at all.
…
Dipper and Mabel walked through the woods, and for once, neither one was particularly talkative. Grunkle Ford had noticed their silence and had thought they could do with a little fresh air.
It wasn't really helping.
"I wonder where she could have gone," Mabel sighed, finally. "This town isn't that big…"
"I just hope Mr. Higgsbury finds her," Dipper replied. "It's starting to get really cold."
They looked up at the sky. It was starting to dim a bit, and the twins decided it was probably time to get back home.
"C'mon," Dipper said to his sister. "I know a shortcut."
Mabel kept her head down to keep the wind from chilling her cheeks. She enjoyed the nice crunching noise her sneakers made every time she stepped down on the leaves and the sweet, sharp scent of rotting leaves. But there was something else there… A smell that didn't belong…
"Hey, what's that?" Dipper said, breaking her out of her thoughts. He was pointing to what appeared to be an upside down basket. And there was something underneath it, struggling.
Mabel stared at it, then slowly walked to it. "Mabel! What are you doing!?"
"There's something trapped under there! What if it's a fairy or something?" she asked.
Dipper made an annoyed noise in his throat. "Fine… But be prepared to run…"
Mabel nodded and cautiously stepped forward and placed her hand on the top. She took a breath and lifted it up quickly, backing away as she did so. She gasped in shock, for underneath was a terrifying… rabbit.
"Does it have horns?" Dipper asked. Indeed, the poor creature, stunned with fear, did have horns, as well as pure white eyes. "Oh, it's a jackalope! I didn't know they were real! We have to show it to Ford!"
Mabel picked it up, cradling it in her arms. "Hey, little buddy… It's alright. Who would trap a little sweetheart like you?" She scratched it under its chest, feeling the rapid beat of its heart.
"Um… Mabel?" Dipper said, breaking her out of her thoughts. "I think that's who."
Mabel looked up. Standing in front of them, wearing rather stained clothes, was their missing schoolmate, Wendy. And in her hands, she held a spear, rather shoddy looking, but still very dangerous. She stared at them with an unreadable expression, then turned and ran down the trail.
"Wait!" the twins called. In unison, the two chased after her. It was not easy. The girl was very light-footed while the twins tripped on the branches and sticks strewn across the path.
But suddenly, she fell to the ground, and it looked painful. She looked behind her, almost as if she was terrified of the siblings chasing her, and struggled to get back to her feet. She succeeded and kept running, but more slowly, and clutching her arm.
Finally, Mabel and Dipper had nearly caught up with her, when she collapsed, tripping and banging her head on a rock. She did not move.
Mabel and Dipper gasped and sped forward. Dipper flipped her over, gently and found she was unconscious.
"She's so light…" Dipper noticed.
"I think she hasn't been eating…" Mabel said, looking at the pale complexion. "Or at least, not as much as she should be. That's probably why she kept falling. We have to get her back to the Mystery Shack."
"I'll get the golf cart," Dipper said. "You stay with her." He got up and headed in that direction as quickly as he could.
Mabel waited, cradling the girl's head in her lap.
Finally, after what felt like hours, but was probably only five minutes, she heard the revving of the golf cart.
Dipper was driving, and Ford was sitting in the passenger's side, looking worried. He jumped out of the cart before it even came to a complete stop and knelt down next to Mabel. He gently laid a hand on her head and furrowed his brows.
"Looks like she has a concussion," he said. "We have to let her get some rest." He put his arms underneath her, lifted her up, and laid her in the back of the golf cart.
As he did so, a large pink flower fell from Wendy's pocket. Mabel examined it, recognizing it as the flower from the other day, and picked it up, quickly slipping it in her own pocket. It must be very important to her.
"You coming, Mabel?" Ford asked.
"Yeah, just a second!"
Mabel hung on the back of the golf cart as Dipper drove back as gently as he could. As soon as they pulled into the dirt driveway of the shack, Dipper turned it off and hopped out.
"I'm heading into town to find Mr. Higgsbury," he told Mabel and Ford.
"Don't stay out after dark," Ford told him. "If we have to, we can look for him tomorrow."
Dipper nodded and ran down the path towards the town.
Ford picked Wendy up again and carried her up the porch. Mabel opened the door ahead of him to let him inside.
Inside, Grunkle Stan was cleaning off some shelves. He turned around. "Geez, slackers. Run off and le- What's going on? Is she okay?"
"She has a concussion Stanley, but I think she'll be alright," Ford explained, doing his best to keep Wendy level. "I'm going to put her in the extra room. Dipper's off looking for her caretakers now."
Mabel led the way, checking back to make sure the girl was doing alright. When she got to the extra room, she laid down some pillows and blankets, so the old couch wouldn't be so uncomfortable.
Ford set her down, fixing her head to make it more comfortable. "I'm going out to help Dipper. When she wakes up, she's going to be dizzy. Try to get some food in her." He walked briskly out of the room, leaving Mabel alone with the unconscious young teen.
Mabel stood there, unsure of what to do. A large pig (who would have been larger, if not for a shrink ray), walked into the room and sniffed Wendy's hand, before giving it a lick.
She stared at the pig, then perked up. "C'mon, Waddles, let's go make some pudding!"
…
The darkness swirled around her. Was it really darkness? Was darkness supposed to be able to think?
She shivered, for even she feared this presence. She called out for her friends, for her sister, for her uncle.
…
But nobody came.
The shapes around her swirled even more ferociously, gradually becoming solid. Her vision became tinted with red.
One of Them leapt at her. She held up her hands to defend herself with a cry.
CLANG!
…
"Waddles!" Mabel scolded. "Don't get up on the table! Look at all the pans you made fall over!"
The pig seemingly couldn't care less, but he did oblige and get down.
"The pudding just needs to go in the fridge for a little bit, and then there'll be enough for… everybody…" Mabel's voice trailed off. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen was Wendy, staring at her with her unnaturally pale blue eyes. "Oh! You really shouldn't be up! Your head is still pretty-"
"Where are my possessions?" she interrupted.
"Uh… what?" Mabel asked.
" My s... My flower. Where is my flower?" She looked almost angry.
Mabel stared at her, a bit worried. "I do have your flower… but are you just going to run if I give it to you?"
"Yes."
"Then I can't give it to you," Mabel told her. "You need to eat-" Wendy rushed forward.
"I don't care about that. Give her back."
"'Her'?" Mabel asked, raising an eyebrow. "Please, don't. I promise I'll give it back, but you need to wait for Mr. Higgsbury here, and you should eat something."
She slouched, looking very weak. "Why? I don't care about him, and I really doubt he cares about me. And I've done enough bad things to you." Her stomach gave a growl. "You shouldn't share with people who do bad things."
"What are you talking about? You were just lonely! What's wrong with that?" Mabel asked, putting the pudding in the fridge and hunting around for any leftovers. Nothing. She checked the freezer and found a half-gallon of chocolate ice cream. Better than nothing…
Wendy was shaking and looking a bit green. "Uh… You can sit, you know. It's not a bad thing to do." Wendy glanced to the nearby chairs and reluctantly took a seat, doing her best to sit up straight. "Want some ice cream?"
Wendy glanced around, looking a bit fearful. Was she afraid of ice cream or something? "Perhaps I will have a small bit…"
Mabel gave her a heaping bowl, topped with chocolate sauce and nuts.
"Uh… thank you," Wendy said, taking tiny bites.
"No problem!" Mabel told her, giving herself a bowl. "I know you're probably homesick, but if you ever want someone to talk to-"
"I don't have any other home. This is my home, now," Wendy interrupted. "And I do have someone to talk to."
"But you're always alone at school," Mabel stated. "And Mr. Higgsbury told us that you used to live with your uncle."
"Oh, that's what he told you, did he?" Wendy asked her. "Well, simply put, he lied. And I bet he told you that he's looking after me for him, too? Well, he does it out of guilt. A plan of his led to the death of my uncle, and he feels a sense of debt to me for it. But I don't care. I'm glad he's dead. He deserved it, and if Wilson had any sense, he'd be glad, too."
Mabel stared at her, jaw dropped. "You're… glad your uncle is dead?" Her voice quavered.
Wendy pushed her bowl of ice cream to the table and looked around, warily, once more. She rubbed the scar on her cheek. "Did you know Wilson is almost blind in one eye? My uncle is indirectly to blame for that." She sighed. "I'm not saying we didn't make mistakes and that we shouldn't suffer for them. But my uncle was a bad man. He waited until we had moments of weakness and then he struck us while we were down." She lowered her head. "And we gave into our temptations and were nearly consumed by darkness. We'll likely never recover until we reach the end of this life."
Mabel's hands shook slightly. The ice cream in front of her didn't look so appetizing anymore. A sudden loud burping startled her and Wendy.
"Mabel, do you have any grub cooked or do I have to order dinner?" Grunkle Stan walked in, unable to read the mood. He caught sight of the blonde. "Oh yeah, you're here. At least you're up."
She stared at him, looking him up and down slowly. She had an unreadable expression. Finally, she lowered her head and mumbled something.
"What's that?" Stan asked.
She lifted up her head, and Mabel and Stan exchanged a distressed glance. Tears were brimming up in copious amounts and her face was scrunched up from trying to stop them. "Of course They'll still use Their influence to torture me. I will never be able to forget my sins."
"Hey, hey," Mabel whispered. She gestured to Stan to leave the room, which he did, uncomfortable with the crying girl. "What's wrong?"
Wendy shook with suppressed sobs. "I'm wrong. I'm just a half and now I exist on my own."
"What do you mean?" Mabel asked, trying to calm her down.
"I was a twin too," she whispered. "Her name was Abigail. But she's been dead for a long time, now."
Mabel stepped back in shock.
"That flower was hers," Wendy told her, looking up. She seemed to be crying a bit less, but somehow looked even sadder than before.
Mabel felt terrible for keeping it away from her and pulled it back out. Wendy accepted it and held it reverently in cupped hands. "For a while, I still had a connection to her with this..." Wendy said, holding it close to her face. "But now..." She suddenly slammed her hand down on the table, making Mabel jump about a foot. She raised it again. Wendy had just killed a fly. "She has moved on. And I walk alone once more. Yet I keep the flower to remind me of her."
Mabel stared at her. She couldn't imagine how much it would hurt to lose any member of her family, let alone Dipper. "What was she like?" Mabel asked, after a moment.
Wendy looked up. "Pardon?"
"Your sister. What was she like?"
Wendy's eyes misted over. "Abi was... She was... Well, we were different in every way. She had the cheerfulness and energy I didn't. She was much louder and happier. She was fiercely protective. She didn't... When everybody else said I was crazy for the things I saw, she believed me. And then... She thought that she could get my kite. It wasn't that high up in the tree… but the branches were brittle and... And..." Tears began to fall once more. "She was so much stronger than me. But... she left me. And then, at her funeral... that was when my uncle came. And he used my sorrow to manipulate me." Her voice took on a tinge of rage. It steadied once more. "And then... I met the others."
Mabel stared at the flower in her hands. "I can't imagine how hard that must have been. And you must miss her more than anyone. I think she probably misses you too." Wendy sniffed. "But if she wanted you to be safe, why did you run away?"
Wendy was silent. Finally, she spoke. "Abigail... wanted to leave, not because she wouldn't miss me, but because she thought I was safe with the others. But I'm not safe. I'm still chained back to my mistakes."
"Can't they help you?" Mabel asked, unsure of what those mistakes were. Wendy was her age after all.
"No. They made mistakes, same as I," Wendy told her, solemnly. "We are all chained."
Mabel thought on that. "Maybe your sister didn't leave you behind because she thought you were safe." Wendy stared. "Maybe she left because she wanted you to be with people who knew what you went through. Did... Abigail make the same mistake as you?"
Wendy's eyes widened. "Oh, never! Abigail... She would never make the same mistakes... Or, would she? I-I don't know."
"But she didn't. So she didn't know what it felt like to be in your position? But your friends do, right?"
Wendy nodded, slowly. "Actually… One of them knows almost the exact pain I was through. But I thought that he was over it."
"Haven't you been pretending you're okay?" Mabel asked.
Wendy's eyes lit up slightly with realization. "I guess I thought… everybody just wanted to forget what we'd been through. But that was how I met them. I don't want to forget it."
"You should talk to them," Mabel told her.
"I… I've spent so long thinking about how much I was suffering, I didn't bother to think how the others were coping. I've been a bad person," Wendy lamented.
"Don't say that!" Mabel urged. "You were just lonely! One thing I've learned is that if someone won't talk about something, you have to go and force it out of them! Like with Dipper and his crush!"
"What are you talking about!?" Dipper said, walking into the kitchen. He stopped when he saw Wendy. "Oh… Are you okay?"
"I am much better," she replied. She rubbed the petals of the flower in her hand.
"We didn't find Mr. Higgsbury, but… Someone else who said he knows you is outside?" Dipper said, phrasing it like a question. "Ford's talking to him."
Wendy flitted out of the kitchen and looked out the window. In the fading sunlight, there stood a man in a plaid shirt, talking to Ford and holding an axe. A lumberjack.
"Oh, it's Woodie," she said flatly, seemingly unconcerned with the fact he was holding a giant axe. She opened the door.
"Wendy, little buddy!" he exclaimed, pushing past Ford. "Oh, sorry," he apologized. He continued. "Everybody's been so worried! Webber couldn't sleep without Wickerbottom's books, Willow almost burned down an entire forest she was so upset, and Wilson… Wilson's been having really bad Nightmares." The way he said it, it seemed like it was more than just nightmares.
Wendy hung her head. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't care about someone like me."
"We do care! What are you talking about?!" The lumberjack, Woodie, took a deep breath. "I guess we'll talk about it when we get back home. Is your head okay? Do you need me to carry you?"
"I'm not a little kid!" she exclaimed, blushing. She winced, grabbing her head. "I have a headache, and I'm rather hungry…" she sighed.
Woodie pulled something out of his pocket and flopped it on her head.
"I feel better, but I'm still hungry," she replied, not skipping a beat.
"Well, we have pudding!" Mabel said, pushing out of the doorway. "Just a sec!" She ran back into the house and hurriedly scooped a heaping serving out of the pot for all present parties, then ran back out to said confused parties.
"Here you go!" She handed everyone some, and Wendy the biggest. Mabel was quite pleased to see her scarf it down quickly.
"Erm, thanks…" the bewildered lumberjack said.
After they finished, the two visitors got up. "Well, I guess we ought to get home before it gets dark," the Woodie stated. Wendy nodded.
She turned as though she remembered something. "If… If y-you'd like to c-come to my house, sometime… sometime soon… only if you want to… I have a lot of embroidery floss and beads for bracelets… and cross-stitch," she stuttered. Was she blushing?
Mabel was struck by how shy she had suddenly become. "I'd love that!"
Woodie chuckled. "Thanks again. We'll try to return the favor someday."
"I just hope nobody gets into any more trouble," Ford said.
Dipper and Mabel thought in unison, Yeah, right.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow," Wendy said. The two of them turned and walked away, pulling out flashlights in order to stave off the darkness.
Dipper thought that was a pretty sad story. It must have been really hard for her. I hope nobody else bullies her again.
I wonder who she thought was a lot like her.
…
Wendy kicked up leaves as she walked down the trail.
"You're going to be in so much trouble when we get back," Woodie said. "Ms. Wickerbottom's going to show no mercy."
"I can imagine," Wendy replied, gloomy. She stared off into the distance. "Woodie… do you still miss Lucy?"
Woodie stopped walking for a moment. Wendy stopped, too. Finally, he spoke. "Not a day goes by I don't miss her." He stared at the axe that her spirit had once inhabited. It had lost its red sheen since then.
"I never asked you… but… do you ever feel it was your fault she died?" Woodie looked at her. "Abigail had many conversations with her. She mentioned some to me."
"I… I don't know," Woodie said. "She never said she blamed me. She said it wasn't my fault that that… monster killed her."
Wendy pulled out Abigail's flower. "Abi told me it wasn't my fault. That she was too reckless. I should have known better."
Woodie stared at the flower. "We're kindred spirits, eh?"
"We aren't the only ones who've suffered loss, but we are more similar to each other than to the others," Wendy agreed.
"Maybe… Maybe it's time we start believing what they told us," Woodie stated. "And… I hate the term 'move on'. And I don't want to forget."
"Move forward? With them guiding us?" Wendy tried.
"I like that one."
Willow didn't question anything when she found a beautiful red chrysanthemum lying next to an axe in the woods nearby their houses. She simply returned a few minutes later with a candle. "Missing you guys," she said, folding her hands.
Hopefully the next one won't take so long.