A/N: Sorry, I wanted to finish this chapter sooner, but it's been a few busy days, and everyday things just got in the way. I've decided to add some implied DipperXPacifica in the last chapter, just to make things more interesting. I hope you like.

Btw, this whole plot is in fact taken from a very old Genesis song titled "The Musical Box". I even incorporated many of the lines in the song into the fic. The original story, as well as the character of Henry Hamilton-Smythe minor, was created by Genesis singer/songwriter Peter Gabriel, while the other characters are of course the property of Axel Hirsch and Disney. So basically, I own nothing.

Anyway, enjoy!

As it turned out, Dipper and Mabel meeting Henry at their first attempt had been a lucky coincidence. Pacifica insisted that they came back the next evening, but the ghost of the dead boy was a no-show. So she asked them to come back the next day as well. Nothing happened. Then, on the fourth evening, the twins got a surprise. Not because Henry showed up again – he didn't – but because Pacifica insisted that they should sleep over.

After talking it over and calling Grunkle Stan, they agreed to do it. Stan sounded as surprised as they were, and not exactly overjoyed – after all, he didn't get along with Pacifica either – but gave his permission.

Dipper politely pointed out that this probably wouldn't help matter. If anything, there was a possibility that Henry sensed their presence, and would only stay away until he was certain that he was alone with Pacifica. Pacifica dismissed this:

"No, he'll be back any time now! We have to stay alert and remember the plan."

Dipper suspected that there was another reason why she wanted them to stay with her, but he didn't want to mention it to the blonde, or even to Mabel, just yet.

As if the whole situation wasn't awkward enough, Pacifica was very hesitant to turn off the lights or go to sleep. Which meant that Mabel was treating this more and more like a pajama party, something which Dipper had warned her against. As he had reminded her, Pacifica was obviously not in the mood for fun and games, and just because she wanted them to stay for the night, that didn't mean she thought of them as friends.

"Come on, there must be something we can do! I mean, you have a tv and DVD player in here, and I see you have nail polish and a make-up set on that shelf. We can see a movie or do each other's nails…"

"No!" Pacifica snapped.

"But I'm bored! Why do we just have to just sit here and look at each other?", Mabel complained.

"Because I'm afraid!"

For the moment, the room was quite as Pacifica took a deep breath.

"There! I said it! I'm afraid, okay? Are you happy now?"

Mabel stared at her dumbfounded. "Uh…should we be?"

That's what I suspected, Dipper thought, although he hadn't expected her to confess.

"I can't tell my parents." Pacifica continued. "They'll think I'm crazy! And I can't tell my friends. They'll think I'm a freak! You guys are the only ones I have right now. You're the only ones who know what it's like to be considered….to be considered…" she hesitated.

"…Crazy?" Mabel suggested, in an accusing and insulted tone of voice. "To be considered freaks?"

"I…I never called you that", Pacifica muttered defensively.

Pacifica's behavior the first night was more than a moment's weakness, Dipper realized. The experience had made her more vulnerable. Until now, he had never dared to suspect that the rich girl had a soft side, but seeing her like this - frightened, small, fragile and almost prepared to apologize for the way she acted - he took pity on her for the first time.

But telling her so would probably be a very bad idea. So he kept a stiff upper lip, adjusted his cap demonstratively and said calmly:

"Don't worry, Pacifica. We'll be here for you for as long as it takes. And we won't judge you…if you don't judge us."

He put emphasis on the last few words, hoping it didn't sound too accusing. Pacifica gave him an indeterminate look, but finally nodded. For a minute or so more, she stared at him in silence. Dipper didn't know quite what to make of that. Eventually, she just sighed and looked down. "I think I want to go to sleep now", she announced, sounding calmer. Dipper carried his mattress and sheet out of her bedchamber and lay down to sleep right outside her door, as they had agreed on already. He didn't mind; it was a very comfortable mattress. Besides, Mabel was allowed to stay and sleep in Pacifica's bedroom.

~0~

Both were also allowed to have breakfast with Pacifica's family (who consisted only of Pacifica and her parents) the next morning, although they had to agree to play along with a story Pacifica had told her parents in advance: They weren't Stanford Pines' great-nephew-and niece. They were very distant relatives who had never met Stan before, but had no other choice but to accept an offer to stay with him in the Mystery Shack for the summer because their parents couldn't afford a vacation for them. None of them felt very comfortable about basically being asked to disown Grunkle Stan, but Dipper convinced Mabel to let Pacifica have her way this time. He didn't want to upset the rich girl, not for the time being.

When she asked them to come back for the fifth night in a row, both of them were almost about to say no. Pacifica seemed calmer, less afraid, and Dipper was about to tell her that she could get through this one night alone, until he looked into her eyes and saw some of the frailness he'd noticed before.

The twins turned up at nine, and waited once again for Pacifica to go through her usual bedroom routines. She seemed more self-confident this evening; at least she positively strutted as she walked past Dipper, almost as if she wanted to show off her new nightgown (at least she was wearing one that Dipper had never seen before) to him.

Her confident pose stiffened, however, as she suddenly noticed a familiar tune:

Old King Cole was a merry old soul,

And a merry old soul was he.

So he called for his pipe,

And he called got his bowl,

And he called for his fiddlers three.

Everyone stopped and looked in the direction of the musical box. The tune took about thirty seconds, and Henry didn't materialize until the end of it.

"This is not a drill! I repeat: This is not a drill!" Mabel whispered.

"Remember the plan, Pacifica!" Dipper whispered.

Dipper was worried that fear would overtake Pacifica and make her forget all about the carefully crafted plan.

"Play me Old Kong Cole", Henry said. "That I may join with you." Pacifica backed away slowly. "All your heart now seems so far from me", he continued. "It hardly seems to matter now"

Pacifica looked down. The blood-stained croquet mallet began to materialize in her hands. But while she hardly looked comfortable with this situation, Pacifica made no sign of wanting to freak out, even as the open sore in Henry's cracked skull reappeared.

"And you remember, Mabel, we can't interfere, not this time. Pacifica has to manage it on her own", Dipper reminded his sister, who just nodded.

The girl and the dead boy just stood still and looked at each other for a while. Then, for some reason, the mallet disappeared from Pacifica's hand, and so did the visible wounds in Henry's head. As if Henry willed it.

"I've been waiting here for so long.", Henry told her. "And all this time that passed me by", Henry continued repeating his lines from the other night, "It hardly seems to matter now…You stand there with your fixed expression, casting doubt on all I have to say…"

Pacifica almost backed away as he tried to touch her, only to find that he couldn't.

"Why don't you touch me, touch me" he chanted, "touch me now, now, now now…"

And then, as he continued chanting uninterruptedly, his body began ageing rapidly, leaving a child's mind inside. A lifetime's desires surged through him. And before they knew it, a bearded old man was standing before her.

"Henry?" Pacifica asked.

"I can't believe it actually worked!" Mabel whispered.

"I can hardly believe it myself", Dipper admitted, remembering what he had read in the book about amorous ghosts:

"A spirit driven by unfulfilled romantic desires may be brought to rest if he or she is allowed to encounter a former lover one last time, in a controlled environment without using fear or force. Being allowed one last rendezvous under such circumstances will allow the spirit to purge its desires out of its body and age rapidly until it has reached an age where it's no longer driven by desire. Then it's ready to pass on."

"I can't touch you, Henry", said Pacifica calmly. "You're dead."

Old Henry looked at the girl in front of him with a calm and reassuringly lustless expression on his face.

"Dead…", he muttered. It sounded more like a confession than a question.

"And I killed you. It was an accident, but I killed you. Can you ever forgive me?

"I already have", he answered. "And I'm ready to pass on now. Just promise me you will find new love, Pacifica."

The musical box began playing by itself one more time.

"I promise.", the blonde said with a solemn voice as the spirit of the young boy with an old man's appearance faded away.

For several minutes, Pacifica just stared at the place where Henry had been talking to her. When she finally turned around, looking at the twins, she went over to Dipper and said to him:

"Well, I can't argue with the results, can I? Your theory actually worked. You're a smart kid, I don't know where you take it all from.."

And I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Dipper added in his mind.

"Thank you, Dipper, I owe you one.", she added, her voice sounding a little warmer this time. Then she looked down and noticed she was holding his hand with both of her hands. She retracted her hands nervously, looking down for a moment.

"And Mabel", she began, then hesitated as she looked the brunette in the eyes. "Well, let's be honest, you didn't really do much."

"Hey!" she snapped "At least I chased away Henry…ah well, I guess that part didn't really help much in the long run…"

"But you were there for me and your brother, and you supported me all the way", she continued as she held out her hand, "Thanks."

For once, Mabel was at loss for words, and she had to stop herself from gaping as she took Pacifica's hand and shook it.

~0~

Also to the twins' surprise, Pacifica had her family's chauffeur driving them home that evening.

"Huh. Maybe Pacifica isn't so bad", Mabel remarked as they stepped out of the car.

"Yeah, and maybe Grunkle Stan is actually Santa Claus", Dipper quipped.

"Joke all you want, brother, but I noticed how Pacifica looked at you just before she left. I think she's beginning to have a crush on you."

"Oh come on! That's your most ridiculous idea yet, including the one about there being an invisible shrinking wizard in the closet!"

"This is love, and that's different. I've never been wrong about these things so far."

"Well, there's a first for everything.", Dipper replied, hurriedly using the twins' spare key to unlock the door to the Mystery Shack.

Mabel just smiled smugly, and he wondered if she'd noticed his blushing.

The end