Chapter Text
When his eyes opened, he was not Shigeo Kageyama anymore. His body was fluffy like a marshmallow and his eyes were beady like a dot of chocolate, he was in his spirit form once again. But in this place, Shigeo saw everything.
Clouds of golden honey and sparkling grandeur, the scent of a gentle breeze. Calming release, Shigeo never felt so peaceful before. It was like being a child.
And then, a being slithered from the depth of this incredible world. An entity so gorgeous and awe dropping that Shigeo could only bask in the glory of its magnificent hue, so much larger, so much greater than he could ever hope to be.
And then, it spoke.
"Live well, young Esper. Laugh when you are happy, cry when you are sad. Feel others, and let them see you. Find your flame."
"For only a human could feel such things."
Shigeo blinked, and then he woke up.
Sayonara
His eyes shut almost as quickly as he opened them, the sun was shining now. Rising on an early morning, the wind brushed against his bare skin. It was so warm.
Gentle, but warm.
Weakly raising an arm to the sky, Shigeo reached out towards the sun as it rose over them and let the blue out. The tear in the sky disappearing with a snap and a crash of light, the forest green, the bright beauty of the world returning as the sun was chased from sight.
Trees, the smell of bark, critters of all sizes.
Trying to capture the sun in his hand, the star merely slipped through his fingers and yet.
He smiled.
"Mob!" He heard his master calling, but Shigeo could not move.
Hand falling back to the ground, he felt an arm snake behind his head. Reigen lifted him up, smiling. "My Gosh, Mob… You, you did it. You won."
"I thought, I thought you were running towards your death but you lived. You really– you really are something, aren't you?"
Reigen laughed, wiping a tear from his eye as he hugged him close. Shigeo couldn't remember a time when Reigen ever hugged him, ever held him like this. The grown man, the indomitable inspiration– he held him up and laughed as he cried, leaves danced around them.
Appearing in a flash, Dimple sighed at the sight and fell onto his rear, laughing at the state of his dress. Laughing with him, the three began laughing all together as the sun rose in the sky above them all.
Dimple squatted down next to him, ruffling his hair. "You are a man, you're going places, Shige."
"That's right, when we get back, I'm giving you an impromptu raise!" Reigen snickered to himself with a Cheshire grin.
"You don't pay me enough, as is…" Shigeo said, shutting his eyes and pretending to be asleep.
Reigen sputtered, sweat running down his face. He eyed Dimple who merely shrugged, whistling. "H-hey Mob, Mob! He wait-"
"I'm trying to sleep."
…
"Oops."
Dipper
He needed to find Mabel and the rest, he needed to know everyone was alright. The rift was gone but that didn't mean everything was okay, not even close.
"Mabel! Pacifica! Grunkle Stan, Grunkle Ford! Wendy…!" He shouted, rushing through the woods of Gravity Falls.
He almost tripped when he saw her, standing in the center of the clearing in a warm meadow. Hair flowing in the warm summer wind as the sun breached the trees, coming over the mountains. A whistle, the wind parted the grass and was the only sound he could hear.
Mabel was quiet, she was silent and still.
This terrified Dipper.
Reaching out to her, he stopped as if struck when she spoke. "I get it, you have to be real mad at me right? After all that, anger like that doesn't just go away, does it?" She didn't turn, whispering from her spot at the center of the meadow like a wilting flower.
Dipper pursed his lips, balling his hands at his side.
As if sensing this, Mabel breathed in heavily. "I'm so sorry, I'm…" Her voice became shaky as she fell to her knees, parting the grass. "I-I didn't want to lose you, and I let it push me into becoming someone so STUPID. I saw what kind of person I was becoming, cause without you I thought I was nothing." She admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes as she kneeled in the grass.
Walking just behind her, Dipper squatted down.
She froze, swallowing. "I spent eight months alone, Dipper, and I realized I never could let others just be themselves, not even myself." She laughed bitterly, shaking her head.
"But… I realized, I'm not special."
"I'm… me."
"I just… I just want you to know that I'll never put myself before you again. Even if I lose myself-"
The air left her voice as he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her against him, burying his face in the sweater she was wearing. Mabel went stiff as a board, her lips quivering as she reached up to wrap her fingers around his forearm. Teeth clattering, her eyes shut.
A faint pink glow, Dipper saw flashes of her life inside that place. Without him, without anyone but herself. She shared her feelings, her doubts, her worries, her anxiety, her heart.
And Dipper accepted all of it.
"You will always be my sister." He said, holding her tightly against him as she sobbed wildly.
"I don't understand, how can you understand it so easily!"
"Because… I'm not stupid, Mabel."
Mabel gasped, eyes wide open. Narrowing her eyes and fully embracing him, she buried her face into his forearm. He didn't know how, he didn't know why but when he saw everything.
He only held her tighter.
Bushes rustling, the twin's both glanced towards the direction of the sound and movement only to see Pacifica roll out of the push and land on her back. Still wearing that sack, she rubbed the back of her head before looking at them both.
"Dipper? Mabel?" She choked, shifting awkwardly and looking at the ground like it was more interesting.
Shifting over, Mabel gestured at Pacifica. "Awe c'mere Northwest, don't leave us hanging now." She croaked.
Sniffling, she scampered towards them. Barreling against their embrace and joining in, she didn't make a sound. At first, you'd think she wasn't capable.
But, she changed.
Dipper smiled, shutting his eyes and pulling Pacifica against him and his sister. "You've really been touchy lately haven't you?" He yelped when the silent Pacifica pinched his arm.
"Shut it, pines." She said without a hint of venom.
Unseen by the children, a red shadow rose from the ground. Draping them in terror. All except for Pacifica, who instantly recognized him.
"Mogami?"
Stan
He rubbed his forehead, it felt like he just ran a marathon. And when you're old like him, that was bad. But he shrugged it off, after all.
They won.
They finally won, everything for the past thirty years was all for this moment. He smiled and laughed as he laid flat on his back, covering his face as the sun beat down on him only for a shadowed figure to stand above him.
Ford reached out towards him, lifting him up. They used each other as support to follow the sound of children crying. He groaned, what now?
Clearing through the shrubbery, Stan and Ford gasped as the scene unfolded right in front of them. A man wearing a green jacket had holes running through his body, red energy rising from his being as Pacifica and Mabel flanked his sides. They pulled at his jacket as tears ran from their eyes.
Giving each other the same look, the twins nodded. They remained silent while the children grieved their friend, a spirit that they'd never seen before. And yet, a spirit that they both knew had been a reason for their victory.
The spirit was dying.
"Mogami! You're alive? What's wrong?"
Pacifica tugged desperately at his jacket, burying her face into his flaking flickering body. "Don't tell me you're leaving again, you saved me!" She beat against his chest, growling in anger.
Mogami placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair as he coughed "My spirits have depleted, and without them? My reason for becoming an evil spirit is gone." He admitted, his hoarse voice seeming…
Uplifted.
He kneeled down and put a shaky hand on the two girl's shoulders, "Pacifica Northwest, Mabel Pines, you two helped me remember my origin. I cannot thank you two enough."
"So why are you leaving again?" Pacifica raged, pushing and pulling him back and forth.
"You s-saved us both Mogami, why do you have to g-go?" Mabel asked him, pleading for the spirit to stay with them. Tears running down her face.
He could only smile.
"Saving you two has given me the purpose I've lacked for so long, why I became a psychic to start with… I remember now."
"It's because I wanted to help children, because even if the adults never change-"
"Children are the future."
"So don't cry, smile."
They smiled shakily, heading his last request. He squeezed their shoulders, "You two had faith in me, Kageyama as well… And so I feel that–" He breathed in heavily, as if remembering something terrible.
"My wrath is finally… Gone." He exhaled.
Stan sighed as the spirit began to dissolve into the air, falling to the ground and seeping into the grass below. He was going under. Mabel and Pacifica fell to their knees trying to bring him back up, the two girls pulled at the grass and uprooted the soil–
Only to see nothing.
"Remember, anywhere can be paradise… Be kind to yourself, and have faith in others even despite this cruel cruel world."
"If you can do that then–"
"This world is truly yours ."
And with that final message, Mogami was gone. The residue of his red energy seeped into the ground below, In his place: a single purple hyacinth bloomed.
"I'm coming…"
"Mother."
Pacifica
He was gone.
The spirit who came into this world and threw everything she'd ever regretted back into her face, who admonished her with brutal honesty… At first, she just wanted to prove him wrong, she wanted to BELIEVE he was wrong. When he accepted the food she offered, he actually thanked her.
And that meant the world.
And then he sacrificed himself for her, at least, that's what she thought. But he lived, he lived only to die anyway in her and Mabel's arms.
And she wanted to hate him for that, for making her feel this, this… Feeling! Something she wasn't used to feeling, it was undefined. He was hated just like her, she could tell– Mogami saw her and hated her in turn, because she was filthy.
But he died for her.
Why, why would he die for her.
She fell to her knees, Mabel was gone from her side embraced by the two adults in her life. Her parents wouldn't even afford tears for this sight, or a comforting gaze or hug of any kind.
Eyes itching, Pacifica bit her tongue as something weird happened. Her eyes watered, her vision blurred. What was happening? What was this feeling?
Why didn't she remember ever feeling this way?
"Pacifica… You're crying."
Dipper Pines stood ahead of her, the leaves flourishing in the wind as his torn beat up shirt fluttered along with it. When Pacifica glanced into his eyes, she saw a reflection of herself in them as well as the kindness she'd always wanted. Because the warmth of being held– of being seen. It was not a thing she knew, not until Dipper, not until Mabel.
That's why, that's why… That's why!
Tearing her tear ridden gaze from the ground, Pacifica looked up to see not a frown, but a friend.
Her tears, her sadness. Her feelings. Not at all a joke to him, or a childish sensibility. Her feelings weren't rejected by a cruel stare, nor was her instinctual reaction to ignore her heart.
Not anymore.
"You're crying… Because of someone else."
Her eyes widened and she saw the see through liquid on her palms, "I'm… Crying because of someone else." She repeated, hiccuping and laughing at the same time.
He crouched down at her level, a huge smile adorned. "You know, when I first met you. I don't think I ever would've imagined you crying over anyone other than yourself." Dipper said, reaching down to brush a tear out of her eye.
"But I guess today is full of surprises, ain't it?" He laughed, giggling at the fact that they won. He was so happy.
And that made her happy.
Pursing her lips, Pacifica cried harder and wrapped her scraped and bruising arms around his torso, pressing her head against his chest. She shuddered as the sobs/laughter escaped her lips.
Dipper didn't return her embrace for a moment, his eyes widening before narrowing warmly. He slowly snaked his arms around her neck, sitting criss-crossed, he hugged her back just as tight.
Because people change people, and one true act of kindness always sparked another.
Always.
Stan
Watching the children come back together like this, Mabel and Dipper– Stan could only sigh, "Doesn't this bring back memories."
"Stan-" He raised a tentative hand, silencing Ford.
When his father kicked him out, he stayed on that spot for minutes waiting, pleading for the door to open again. His ears ringing, his heartbeat thrumming in his ears. And then he saw Ford in the window of their room, looking down at him with so much agony in his eyes.
Staring down at the cheat, the liar, the ignoramus, the screwup.
Ford shut the blinds back then.
'I don't blame him, not anymore… It was my fault.'
But now? Seeing all of the children laughing after a world saved from the brink of annihilation, Stan was sure that if his life turned out any differently from this-
He would've hated it.
Smiling gruffly, he pat Mabel on the back and sent her back towards her brother and his little friend. Pacifica was always a brat but if Dipper and her were hugging it out, maybe-
He turned to see his brother, Ford gazed into the heavens as a warm summer breeze rustled through his aged hair. He seemed free. Of course, his brother had been chained down by that monster for so many years that it must've felt liberating to finally be free of him.
Free of… Him.
Stan tried to avert his eyes when Ford glanced his way, grumbling. This was the part where he sent him on his merry way, where he told him 'thank you, but I'm still kicking you out of my house Stanley. It's for the greater good!'
Because he knew that Ford would never forgive him, not really, not entirely. And who could blame him? Thirty years was a long time.
But he said something entirely different.
Stan groaned, stretching his back out only to feel a sharp pain. Stan shook his head, "Alright alright! You want the Mystery Shack back? In its crappy beaten up state? Sure bro." He laughed, walking past his brother and clapping him on the shoulder.
"Now I need a nap-"
A hand on his shoulder, Stan stopped and swallowed. Lips pursed, "Without you, that Esper kid would have never made it-"
Chuckling, Stan shook his head and wistfully smiled. Waving him off, "Don't mention it, just go and do whatever you wanna do with the place."
Ford was free, the summer was ending, the mystery shack was going down for good. What was left of it anyways. He was free to leave him behind again, because nothing lasts forever– 'Together' only meant so much after years and years of hoping that maybe just maybe…
One day-
Ahh, who was he kidding?
He turned around, crossing his arms and sighing. "We won, you're free now. I'll get packing-"
"Stanley."
Whirling around with his finger raised, he prepared for lecture. Another spiel from his brother about something or somewhat or anything or-
"Wha-"
His breath was gone, Stan went silent. Two arms wrapped around his neck, Ford hugged him tightly. For a moment, he forgot every tragedy and every sorrow, but instantly it all surfaced once more. The pain, the resentment, the pleading, the betrayal.
And it was all shattered with one word, the beautiful forest of Gravity Falls disappeared, replaced by a white and black void with two swingsets, one broken. In this world, Ford spoke.
"You did it." He said, stunning Stan into silence as slowly, the wood on the swing mended. He could only purse his lips, stiff as a board. His eyes itched, he couldn't cry.
"You saved me."
Bllinking rapidly, his lips trembled as he let his arms fall limp at his sides. Neck heating up, pinpricks of heat danced down his torso before-
"You're a hero, Stanley."
The world appeared around them in full color, flowing into sight while the wind felt cold against his gaze. Gone was the black and white, gone was the broken swing set.
It was gone.
Stan shut his eyes, breathing in before exhaling a shuddering breath– he returned his brother's embrace loosely, only to tightly hug him back desperately pulling at his dress suit. Fingers digging deeply into Ford's cloak, Stan swallowed.
"Thank you. Thank you for everything, brother." Ford choked out, tears soaking his shoulder while he hugged Stan tighter.
"I…"
Breathing in heavily, Stan clenched his eyes shut before releasing another slow shuddering breath. He slowly returned the embrace, he slowly let go, he slowly…
Breathed in.
Breathed out.
His ears…
They stopped ringing.