2 Months later

No matter the age, August is always a time for change. The leaves begin to change color, children change grade levels in preparation for their return to school, and for Dipper, August brought a change in his age.

That first birthday without Mabel was he hardest. Even harder then the first one he had after his parent's death. He had tried to have birthdays again. His friends had tried, his family had tried, but for him, it just wasn't a birthday without Mabel. As with any pair of twins, a birthday without your other half is just not a birthday at all.

Dipper awoke on August 31st as he had done every year since then. He looked out the window and stared out at the trees as they blew in the breeze. Soon Wendy was up too.

"Happy birthday Dip," she said.

Dipper smiled back, "thanks. You say that every year. I've always wondered why you do?" he asked.

"Well obviously. It's your birthday after all. You say it to me when it's mine," replied Wendy.

"I know. But, then, you know I haven't had a truly happy birthday in years…." Dipper replied sadly.

Wendy gave him a hug, "hey, one day you have to enjoy it. I mean when I lost my mom, her birthday became not a day of mourning but a celebration of her life. Your birthday should be a day like that too. I mean we both lost one or both of our parents at an age far too young for a child to lose them after all," said Wendy.

"And our Mabel lost the chance to ever experience having grandparents…" said Dipper.

The two sat in silence for a while until Wendy broke it, "well I'll go downstairs and get breakfast ready, whether today is a happy day or not it's still a day, and breakfast can only help," she said.

Dipper sat there on his bed. He looked at the wall and at the photos of the four generations of families he had come to know in his life. Him, Mabel and his parents. Him, Mabel, Grunkle Stan and Ford. Him, Grunkle Stan and Ford after Mabel's death. And now him, Wendy and his daughter which he had named after his late sister.

His thoughts were however, interrupted by Wendy yelling from below.

"Uh Dipper! You gotta get down here quickly," she yelled.

Though Dipper did not sense any fear in her voice, he ran as fast as he could down the stairs and into the kitchen. There, him and Wendy were met with the most incredible of sights.

There on the table was a breakfast unlike any other they both had seen. Pancakes, bacon, omelettes, fresh bagels you name it. Along with that, in the middle of it all was a cake. Dipper walked over to it and looked at it. He was overcome with emotions when he did.

"Happy birthday Dipper and Mabel," it read. In the middle of it was a photo of him and his sister from childhood.

He couldn't believe it.

"Oh, hey dudes. You're up," said Soos as he walked into the kitchen.

Dipper and Wendy looked back at him.

"Did…did you and Melody make this," asked Wendy.

"Oh no dude. Pacifica came by and delivered it earlier this morning. Happy birthday by the way," replied Soos.

"Wait, you ordered this for us?" Dipper asked.

"Again, no. It was Mabel. She told me to keep it a secret from you two dudes," responded Soos.

Dipper felt both confused and amazed. Mabel, his own daughter had done this for him. But why? he just couldn't figure it out yet.

"Where is she?" Dipper said.

"Oh, she had to run an errand I think and left in a hurry pretty early. But she did ask me to give you this," Soos said as he handed Dipper a note addressed to him.

He opened it up and began to read it…

Dear: Dad,

Happy birthday. I know you told me that day when we found the scrapbook that your birthday was a day you mourned on more than celebrated. But that just made me feel sad. No one, especially you of all people should feel sad on a day as special as this.

So, I whipped you and mom up this little treat. It's not much, mostly all that I could spend using all my allowance money, but Pacifica gave me a huge discount (and she did a great job with the cake). I know you said you don't like celebrating your birthday, but it's like what you told me that Mabel told you. And, to be honest, I think she'd want you to continue celebrating your birthday and remembering all the fun times you had with her rather then cry.

Now you maybe wondering where I am because I told Soos to only give you this letter in case I'm not there. Well, before I can celebrate with you, I need to do something first. Something important and don't worry, nothing illegal. Tell mom I'm sorry I had to take some flowers from the garden with me. I'll be back soon and then we can celebrate together.

Please don't ground me.

Sincerely: Your loving daughter, Mabel Corduroy Pines

Dipper felt as if the weight of the whole world had just lifted off his shoulders. How had he been blessed with a child as loving and as caring as her? He had endured so much in his life and for once, he now felt that things really were going to be okay.

Wendy finished reading the note and then looked up to Dipper, "what does she mean by "needing to do something important first?" Where is she?" she asked.

Dipper looked over to her and then to Soos, "I think I know where she went. Come on," he said.

As it turned out, Dipper's hunch was correct. Mabel rode her bike until she arrived at her destination, the Gravity Falls cemetery. She locked her bike up on the old iron gate at the front and walked in with the flowers she had picked in hand.

First, she stopped at Stan and Ford's graves and left them both a flower.

"I wish I had gotten to know you great Grunkle Stan. Dipper told me many great things about you. Thanks for keeping him safe. You'd be so proud of what he's become today. You'll always have a special place in my heart. And Great Grunkle Ford, I'm so glad I got to know you. I may have been too young to remember it all, but I'll never forget you," she said.

Next, she went over to the graves of Mr. and Mrs. Pines. Her grandparents. Dipper and Mabel's parents.

She left a flower on both of there graves before speaking.

"You both were taken away from the world far too early. But both your children lived incredible lives. I wish I could have met you two. Growing up without ever knowing who your grandparents were, is a very tough thing to do. But your son is such an incredible human. He's not only a great father, he's a great friend too. And while I could never have met your daughter either, Dipper's told me so much about her that it's almost like I knew her from day one. I know I wasn't and never will be able to say this directly to you both, but I love you both so much."

After wiping away the tears, Mabel moved over to the final grave. The one located next to all the others she had visited. The grave of someone who died far too young. Her father's twin sister, and the aunt she never got to meet but was lovingly named after,

Mabel Pines.

1999-2014

Mabel put down the remaining flowers she had. She stared at the gravestone for what felt like an eternity. She looked down at the epitaph written on the stone.

"Mabel Pines. A one in a million soul. A one in a million daughter. A one in a million sister. And a one in a million friend."

Mabel hesitated for a bit before she finally built up the courage to speak.

"Hello Mabel. I don't know if you know who I am. I'm Dipper's daughter. I'm twelve right now. Coincidence I know given you and Dipper were twelve too when you first came here. But I guess the biggest coincidence is my name. My name's Mabel too!"

Mabel thought for a second what to say next before she spoke again, "yeah. Dipper and Wendy named me after you. I bet you're laughing right now thinking that he ended up with Wendy. Dipper told me how much you tried to get him with Pacifica. Speaking of her, she still works at Greasy's Diner. Sort of owns the place now. You'd love it. She can sure cook up a mean coffee omelette."

Mabel thought again. She had to think of something better to say.

"Well, you maybe wondering why I'm here. Well, it's you and Dipper's birthday. Of course, you probably knew that already, I guess. But I just wanted to come and wish you a happy birthday and…"

Mabel hesitated. But as she looked on at the gravestone, she broke down in tears as she sat down next to it and gave it a hug. She had never known the person who was buried below in life, only through faded photos and memories she had been told. But yet, despite that, Mabel felt as if Mabel Pines herself was right there with her.

"I can't begin to imagine what you may have gone through in those final days. I know how much you suffered….at least you aren't suffering anymore. Dad thinks you've probably spent all these years playing cards, knitting sweaters, and eating lots of sprinkles. I hope so, I hope you and both sets of parents are having a blast….wherever you are…..even though I never knew you I want you to know….I miss you. As much as your brother, friends and family do. I may have never known you in real life, but now that I know so much about you, I can't begin to even imagine how much this world must have lost when you died," said Mabel.

"I can," said a familiar voice from behind her.

Mabel looked up to see Dipper, Wendy and Soos standing there.

"I lost my sister that day," Dipper said. "Going to school, growing up, having to sleep in a bedroom alone with an empty bed by my side. It really hurt. I'd give anything for her to come back."

"I lost a good friend that day," added Wendy. "Mabel and I were very close. I mean you can only handle a family of only boys for so long. Me and Mabel had that in common and we both bonded over it. I didn't just lose a friend when she died, I lost someone who I considered as family too…the sister I never had."

"Me too," Soos said. "Mabel always had the craziest of ideas and never was afraid to show them to the world. No one could take her down."

"How…how did you all get over it?" asked Mabel as she wiped away her tears.

"We didn't. We all still miss her. I still sometimes wake up in the night having nightmares about the night I lost her," said Dipper.

"But we all came to remember Mabel not for how she died, but for the incredible life she had lived and the fact she'd want us to go on without her," said Soos.

"We all grieve in our own ways sweetie. And it's something that will never stop. But at the end of the day, it's remembering all the fun times you had with someone who's passed that helps those who remain to go on. I know Mabel would want us to do just that," said Wendy.

Mabel smiled as she got up and ran into her parents waiting embraces.

"And you know pumpkin, you helped us out a lot too," said Dipper.

Mabel looked up, "what? But…but how?" she asked.

"You reminded us all about the fun we had with her. Looking at that scrapbook again made me remember things even I had forgotten," Dipper said.

It was true. In her longing for answers, while she did bring back sad memories, Mabel did give Dipper the chance to relive many things he had forgotten. Often in grief, the best way to overcome is by remembering the fun times rather then the heartbreaking times.

Mabel looked up to her father. Then her mother. And then Soos.

"Let's go home," she said.

The three of them smiled and nodded their heads.

As they walked Dipper turned around and looked over to the row of gravestones that marked where his family lay. From great uncles to sister.

"Thanks for keeping her safe Mabel," he whispered.

After that, Dipper turned and headed home to celebrate his birthday with his family. His own family.

And as the breeze blew around the cemetery, carrying leaves with it as the signs of summer's end grew ever more evident, it was almost as if the wind whispered back a response.

"Any time, bro bro," it said.

THE END!

"What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."

—Helen Keller