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Stan had made the ultimate sacrifice, agreeing to swap places with his brother and thus erase Bill Cipher from existence once and for all, but in return, he no longer knew who he was or where he was. He saw a girl crying and calling out a name, but nothing seemed familiar to him. An older man hugged him and thanked him, yet everything still felt completely vague. The group guided him to a rundown cabin, insisting with questions he couldn't answer, creating a funeral-like atmosphere as if someone had died. He sat in the armchair, which was strangely comfortable, perhaps even a bit familiar. The girl who walked with them took out a photo album in the hope of triggering his memory. At first, they thought it would be useless until Waddles managed to provoke a reaction. They continued to flip through the album, his great-nephews Dipper and Mabel had been with him since the beginning of summer, going through various adventures, helping at the Mystery Shack, laughing together, facing Gideon and all the adversities that came their way. As they turned the pages, he began to recall Soos, his handyman who could fix anything, and whom he admired more than as a boss; it was an almost paternal relationship they had between them. Wendy was his other employee at the Mystery Shack, a somewhat lazy teenager when it came to chores, but a girl loyal to her principles. Page by page, he felt like he could remember his friends, but still, something was missing. Along with the kids, there was a middle-aged man.
"You're not in the photos?" Stan asked.
"Unfortunately not..." he scratched his head, embarrassed. "We made up not long ago..."
"Did we fight? And who are you? Are we related?"
"Stanley... It's a long story..."
"I have plenty of time... Uh... What did you say your name was?"
He took a deep breath: "My name is Stanford Pines. We had a fight thirty years ago... And before that, we went at least ten years without speaking to each other..."
"Wow... It was a big fight then..."
"I wish you didn't remember that... In fact, I've caused you so much suffering that maybe forgetting me was for the best..."
"Grunkle Ford!" Dipper called out. "Grunkle Stan needs to remember you!"
"He's right!" exclaimed Mabel. "You had a long bad phase but you were also great friends, weren't you?"
"I know, kids, but I admit I wasn't the best of brothers either."
"Brother?" Stan repeated, standing up, approaching. "We're brothers? Then I want to remember you!"
"Stanley... I'm the one to blame for you not remembering anything... You became like this to save me..."
"So I like you, don't I?"
"I was ungrateful, I didn't properly thank you for opening my portal..."
"Portal?" he brought his hands to his head, then felt the tattoo on his back burning.
"Grunkle Stan!" the twins called.
"Mr. Pines!" Soos ran up to him.
"See?" said Ford. "You lived through traumatic experiences because of me! Since I returned to this dimension, we barely talked!"
"Then maybe it's a good time," suggested Mabel. "You two are two halves of a broken heart, but together you can be happy again!"
"I really don't know what happened," Stan replied. "I don't remember what I did, but I don't feel like the blame was solely yours. If you stopped talking to me for ten years, I must have done something, didn't I?"
"Stan, it's water under the bridge..."
"But not for you, is it? What happened? How can I apologize if I don't even know what I did?"
Ford fell silent for a few seconds, but they felt like hours. He signaled for him to sit on the couch, then sat down next to him.
"The truth is, we were best friends in childhood, I mean, you were my only friend..." he looked at his hands. "All because I couldn't fit in."
"Do you have six fingers?" Stan asked, surprised when he noticed.
"They were my gift and my curse..." he clenched his fist. "I ended up burying myself in books and studies, and with that, I had an opportunity to go to one of the best colleges in the country..."
"That sounds like a good thing."
"It wasn't what you thought at the time... When I went to show my experiment to the evaluators, it was broken and had evidence that it had been you..."
"Oh... Did I break it on purpose?"
Ford paused for a moment. They had never actually discussed what happened, he knew Stan had been there, he himself had confessed, but immediately offered the boat trip they would take together. He wouldn't be stupid enough to sabotage something and leave a clue lying around.
"I don't know, Stanley... At the time, it hurt me so much that I didn't want anything to do with you... Our father kicked you out of the house and then we separated."
Stan had vague memories of their parents, but still, nothing about his brother.
"I don't remember, I'm sorry."
"Grunkle Stan..." Dipper called out, concerned. "And the ten years apart? Do you remember them?"
"Vaguely. I think I got arrested, I might have falsified some things..." he looked around. "And then I came to live here... I think..."
"I sent you a postcard, Stan," Ford adjusted his glasses. "I was losing my mind, Bill deceived me, traumatized young Fiddleford... I had no one else to trust but you... My research was hidden and then I gave you my last journal..."
"You trusted something so important to me even after I ruined your future?"
"I thought you could redeem yourself... I was ready to forgive you for everything but..."
"Let me guess, I messed up again, didn't I?"
"No, we both messed up. I should have had more empathy for you, I mentioned our boat without thinking, and then you threatened to burn my book to get rid of it..."
"That sounds like something I would do..."
"We fought and I ended up in another dimension, where I stayed for thirty years. I had to learn to fend for myself, fight my fears, and the only thing that kept me sane was this..." he took out a photo from his pocket, it was the two of them as children next to his boat named Stan'o War. "I had accepted my fate in there, where I would pay for everything I did but at least Bill Cipher would never get what he wanted. Or so I thought..."
"What happened?" Stan asked.
"Grunkle Stan, you opened the portal," Mabel replied as she twiddled with her hair. "We didn't know what you were doing or why, but I couldn't stop you... In fact, I chose to believe in you..."
"I admit I didn't trust you," Dipper sighed, "But I'm glad Grunkle Ford is with us."
"I'm not sure I understand," Stan frowned. "Did I open the portal?"
"Yes, despite all my warnings, you were stubborn and opened it," Ford said. "I confess that my first reaction was anger, and I ended up punching you because you chose to try to rescue me rather than protect humanity from Bill's evils, but on the other hand..." he put his hand on Stan's shoulder. "I never properly thanked you for your effort to bring me back. Maybe because deep down I didn't want to come back and have to face you again, face everything I did..."
Stan looked into his eyes, there was something there, but he couldn't tell what it was.
"I wanted to remember, really," he replied.
"I think I understand..." Ford got up from the couch, turning his back. "Maybe your mind blocked memories about me when we destroyed Bill... Or deep down, you don't want to remember who I was because it's too painful..."
"Grunkle Ford?" Dipper called out.
"It's okay," he took a deep breath. "I think the best thing to do is for me to withdraw from your life as I did before. I'm sorry, Stanley."
He walked towards the door, then that image of him walking through was like a trigger, reliving the moment he fell into the portal, several flashes of memory about the fight, the shoves, and even in the end with the Cipher Wheel drawn on the ground, where at a crucial moment he let go of his hand to fight:
"STANFORD!"
He shouted, jumping off the couch, which made his brother hesitate to leave.
"Stanley?" he said, a little confused. Stan approached him, then punched him in the face. "Stanley! Are you crazy?"
"This is for trying to leave my life again!" and then he threw himself into his arms, hugging him and holding back the tears. "And this... For finally being here... My brother..."
Ford had no words to respond, he hugged him back. Even if his mind wasn't recovered, he was determined not to leave again.