A New Beginning

The sun beat down heavily on Dani's back but instead of burning...it felt relaxing today.

She lazily dragged her finger in the dirt circling nonsensical patterns. A sigh passed her lips and her brows drew together in thought.

The last day.

Dani stopped her doodle and smudged it out. She didn't have time for this. She should have been saying her goodbyes to the people inside not hanging out with herself.

With a groan she fell backwards so that she was lying down on the dirty ground with her eyes closed. A hand raised to rest on her forehead and she fluttered her eyelids open to squint at the bright sky.

Go. Stay. Stay. Go.

The previous day, a day after the ghost's defeat, Mr Pines had spoken to Dani about her predicament. Now that she was free to leave, he wanted to make sure she would get home safely. What he learned was not exactly expected.

~Flashback~

"Kid, you'll be off soon then huh?" The owner of the Mystery Shack asked, approaching her in the living room where she was watching cartoons.

"Yep. Finally going travelling again." She joked not taking her eyes off the screen.

"You're probably happy to be free of rules again."

"Hmm." Dani pulled a fake smile and nodded.

There was a brief pause as the old man examined the smile with concern. He was very aware that something was amiss, and he wanted to help her out.

"Kid, what happened to your family?" He suddenly asked in a very blunt manner.

Caught off guard, Dani fumbled for an answer, ultimately spluttering out nothing.

"Do you have somewhere to go back to?" Mr Pines continued.

She blinked at him a few times unsure what to do and his face turned grave.

"No...No I don't. I'm just...travelling." She stated and turned off the TV to fully face him.

"So, what about any relatives? Does anyone know this is what you're up to?" The old man crossed his arms with a frown, evidently concerned for her well being.

"What does it matter?...I might go tomorrow anyway."

"Believe it or not kid, but it matters to me. You're just a child and as you hinted at before, you're tryna survive on your own. Now in my book, that's a big deal."

Dani stared at him, worried her lip and wrung her hands before sliding a hand down her face. She stood and began pacing in a circle.

"Mr Pines, we've known each other for like a week at this point and you've let me into your home, you've provided for me with food, money, and I've been able to wash and sleep. You've helped me out so much so I feel like I can trust you...at least, to an extent. That's why I'm going to tell you and only you about my predicament." She stopped pacing, "I would tell Mabel but, you're an understanding adult; Mabel, who I would've told, is a kid who shouldn't have to worry about me."

"Mabel is only a couple of months younger than you."

"I know, but...you get what I mean."

"Yeah I do." Mr Pines sighed, "Right, I'm happy to know that you can confide in me. I'm all ears kid." He cupped his hands behind his ears for emphasis.

"Alright. Alright, alright, alright," She prepared herself, "basically to fully explain, I have no parents or home. I've been on my own for ages and in that time I decided, I like travelling. So that's what I've been doing for the past few months...going around America...I've only been to a few states so far but then I got to Oregon and I ended up in an accident in the forest and here I am in Gravity Falls. I've been so comfortable with living on my own just wandering about, but now I've spent so much time with you guys...I realise I miss people. Going too long on my own is tearing me apart and I don't know what to do...I do have one relative I'd love to go see...but I'm scared that I'll just be an unnecessary burden to him again. I just..." She groaned in frustration, "I don't know what to do and now I'm talking to an old guy I hardly know about my problems."

"Old guy?"

"Ugh, Sorry...Crap, maybe I shouldn't have told you all that. I don't even feel better."

"Look kid, I actually get where you're coming from."

"Really? How?"

"Believe it or not but I got kicked out of my house when I was younger and I had to try to make a living, which resulted in my going through nearly every state. Granted you're even younger than I was, but you've clearly done well so far."

"Wow...Well what made you stay here?"

"Now that is a very long story. If my life was a TV show, it would take like, 40 episodes to get to the explanation."

Dani pulled a face.

"Look, my point is," Mr Pines finished, "you find somewhere that feels like home and you stick to it."

"The first place that feels like home, I don't want to intrude in. And I don't even belong there. The other one, I feel the same about."

"Does the other one happen to be here?"

The Halfa cast her gaze to the ground, unable to meet his eyes and verbally confirm or deny.

"I see."

"Mr Pines, I don't expect you to say anything or do anything but thank you so much for having me up to now. I am not gonna burden you anymore so I will just go tomorrow."

The old man released a bark of laughter, "Kid what? You tell me your life story of how you've got nothing, point out that you feel safe here and then tell me you'll leave? You think you're a burden to me, well then you're wrong. You're welcome to stay if you want to, for as long as you want to...It's much better here than nowhere."

Dani stared at him in shock. She could hardly believe what he was telling her. She could actually live there if she wanted? Damn, she had to stop herself from crying...

"Really?" She choked out, "Mr Pines, you're too generous."

"Tell that to the rest of town." He chuckled.

"But I can't." Dani frowned and gazed at her feet.

Mr Pines looked down at her sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Dani, listen to me. If you really are gonna leave, promise me that you'll at least go find that relative and talk to them about your situation."

"So it's either stay at the Mystery Shack or go to Amity Park?"

"Isn't that where you said you were from?"

"Mhm, but my relative also lives there."

"Well, yes, those are your two options."

"...Okay."

"Are you alright?" A voice dragged her back to reality just as the memory ended.

The ravenette turned her head towards the shadow blocking the sun. She shrugged at the figure,"Yeah...yeah I'm fine...Thanks for asking."

"You sure, you look like you're thinking about a lot?"

"Well Dipper, it is kinda my last day here." She smiled.

"Yeah...," he rubbed his arm, "Hey, um, I know we never spoke to each other much other than when we were hanging out with the teens, but I guess it will be sad to see you go."

"You guess? Dipper please, everyone will be bawling their eyes out at my departure."

He chuckled at that and she feigned hurt, "How rude of you."

"Sorry!" the boy rushed to say, flailing his arms a little.

"Dipper, I was still just teasing."

"Right, well sorry about being sorry then."

The Halfa rolled her eyes, "At least I know I'll miss getting to beat you at bowling." she suddenly pointed out.

Dipper scowled while she laughed, "I bet if we tried again, I would win instead."

"Are you challenging me Pines?"

"You wanna assemble some sticks and get a ball?" He joked before the two started chuckling.

"Dani!" Another voice called out from a short distance away.

"I'll let you two talk." Dipper whispered before getting up and heading off to go back inside.

The ravenette finally stood up and put her hands on her hips with a smile as the female twin reached her. The younger girl was evidently hiding something behind her back.

"So I may or may not have gotten you a leaving present. For my super friend, right, right?" She grinned and Dani shook her head both disapprovingly and happily.

"And the present is?" The Halfa asked, hardly able to contain her excitement at the fact that someone actually bothered to get her something.

"Wait for it, wait for it...Ta da!" The brunette brought out the present for her friend to see, "I fixed your clothes! You know the ones you were wearing when you crashed here? All sewn up and good as, new!"

Dani tried to contain a smile as she gingerly took the pile of clothing and examined the top piece first. It was her blue sweater and it looked better than it did when she first had it! With a new feeling of awe, she hastily grabbed the red shorts and discovered they were in a similar condition. There was absolutely no traces of cuts or burn marks at all.

"Mabel." The Halfa breathed in wonder, "This is amazing, I don't know how you did it..."

"I also fixed the beanie." She grinned before pulling it out of the pocket on her sweater, "Here."

"Mabes you're awesome! This must have taken forever!" Dani shouted as she clung onto her in a tight hug.

"Mabes?"

"Your new nickname dummy."

"Cool! Thank you! Now, come with me, we can hang out in the Attic until you have to leave later." Mabel ordered, dragging Dani away.

"Absolutely. I hope Waddles will be there."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure he is."

-Outside Mystery Shack 17:14 PM-

"Have a safe journey kid."

"Bye dude."

"Stay cool Striker."

"Good luck."

"I'll miss you but have fun!"

"Thanks everyone. It really means the world to me that you've all just been here for me when I needed it the most. I appreciate you all so much and I hope we can see each other again in the future."

"Oh stop it, you'll make us cry!" Stan joked and pretended to dry his eyes.

"Crazy old man." She remarked, earning a 'hey!' from said man, "I better go otherwise I'll miss the bus." She waved at the gang, "See you." She almost whispered when she turned around and began to walk away. But then, not too far from the group, she came to a stop and re-adjusted her bag strap nervously.

'Go. Stay. Stay. Go.' Repeated tauntingly in her mind.

She stared uneasily at the horizon, chewing on her lip with concern. Dani glanced back at the Mystery Shack's inhabitants and Soos and Wendy before turning around again and bowing her head.

Heck if she was gonna give this time up.

She whipped around to face the group again and stomped her foot.

"Mr Pines! If you're sure it's okay, I'd like to stay!"

Stan put a hand to his chin, pretending to think before smiling, "Well I already said so didn't I kid? Looks like you're seeing us again sooner than you thought."

The ravenette broke into a grin while Mabel jumped into the air with a whoop and rushed over to hug her friend.

"I'm glad you're staying! And now the presents can be a thank you gift!"

Wendy came over to ruffle the Halfa's hair, "It's cool that you'll still be here, maybe we can hang out again sometimes now?"

"Sure, your group is awesome."

The red head smiled and pointed finger guns at the girl, who nodded back appreciatively.

"We should celebrate!" Soos piped up, "Let's get snacks and drinks and movies!"

"Snacks? I'm up for that." Dani remarked happily.

"Me and Soos will go buy the stuff, Dani chooses the film with Wendy and Dipper-and-Stan-can-walk-about-aimlessly-okay-bye!" Mabel rushed to drag Soos away after declaring this.

"Seriously Mabel?" Her twin responded.

"Come on Striker let's roll." Wendy smirked, motioning Dani to follow her inside.

...

"This one maybe?"

"I dunno, looks kinda boring, how about this one?"

"Heh, heh. That's a horror you know."

"So?"

"Fine if you want Dipper screaming in your ear."

"Maybe not that then...this one has to be it though." Dani announced determinedly, holding up a case with 'Kiki's delivery service' on the front.

"An Anime? Sounds good to me." Wendy made a thumbs up to show her approval.

"So the film's chosen." The young teen stated, placing the DVD to one side, "What do we do now?"

"Well, Soos and Mabel probably won't be back for a while...Hmm." Wendy turned away in thought, "Hey Dani, did I ever tell you about the roof?"

"What do you mean?"

"This way." Was all the red head said before she got up and lead the girl into the Gift Shop to a curtain. She dragged it back and stood in front of the newly revealed ladder.

"Ready to be amazed?"

"Eh, why not." Dani joked.

Wendy shook her head and began to ascend the ladder, Dani close behind after pulling back the curtain. When Dani finally reached the top, she discovered Wendy with a grin and her arms outstretched in a 'look at all this' manner.

"Check this out!" She beamed.

"What the..." She could see so much from where she stood...it reminded her of flying. Something she wanted to do again soon. "Whoa, the view up here is awesome!"

"Yep, and it's quiet. Feel free to come up here whenever you want to, whether I'm here or not."

"Really? Thank you so much."

"No problem. It's like a restricted access only zone, so don't tell Stan or Soos."

Dani cocked a brow, wondering how Wendy managed to keep that a secret from Stan in his own home.

"Wasn't planning on doing so."

"Nice. Anyway, I'll go back down and get us some Pittz Cola to drink. We can just hang up here 'til the others get back."

"Okay, thanks Wendy."

The lumberjack's daughter flashed a two fingered salute and climbed back down, leaving Dani to think on her own.

...

An hour later and Wendy had gone back downstairs another time to help the others organise everything; once again leaving Dani to her thoughts on the roof.

Said girl sat reclined on the wooden planks, taking small sips of the fizzy drink in her hand. The sun went down slowly while she watched, thinking about her future, past and present.

Gravity Falls was such a comfortable place for her but also dangerous, what with the supernatural lurking around every corner and ghosts chasing after her. At first she worried choosing to stay was a mistake but, in all honesty, the people around her were beginning to feel like the kind of people she needed to have. There was something so right about being in the town in general too, but she didn't understand what.

Coming from a past of living with such a crazed up fruit loop in a bubble of lies to being in such a warm environment where everything felt real was...confusing to her. Did she even deserve it? She had no clue.

As long as it wasn't cruelly snatched away from her, maybe...maybe she could get used to the...happiness and community.

"Dani! Come down the film's ready!"

"We've got your popcorn all warmed up, and the best seat on the couch for you!"

"On my way!"

Yeah, she could definitely get used to this.

-Basement Lab 23:24 PM-

A man in a trench coat paced around, scanning word after word with tired eyes behind dark glasses. Ford slammed the book shut with a frustrated groan at another lack of information. Another mystery.

The girl staying in the shack was becoming more and more of an anomaly to him. The old man was determined to find out why he felt like there was something off about her.

His eyes landed on a previously discarded tissue taken from the trash, that he had recently cleansed to only have a dry browny-red substance with dark green dots on it and not any germs or other substances. With a sigh, he held it up with uncontaminated tweezers and took it over to a tube which he proceeded to drop it in. The tube then inserted into a scanning device and a screen next to it lit up bright blue.

He was hoping it wouldn't have to come to this.

'Searching For DNA Match'

On one side, of the screen, a spinning wheel came to a stop at '50% Human' while on the other side, another one continued. Ford leant in closer to that side, hoping for some kind of ground breaking answer, when it finally stopped.

'Entity Unknown'

Ford scratched his chin with a focused scowl. "Curiouser and curiouser."

If the girl was supposed to be staying, maybe he could look more into this issue. He couldn't exactly see or talk to her though...

But then, perhaps Dipper could do something.