Sympathy crying. Neither of them had done that in a while, but the circumstances were definitely pretty extreme. They'd been together through most of the scariness in Gravity Falls. For Dipper, the scariest part had been those days apart, when he was talking into his walkie talkie, not sure if she could hear him. And everything was okay again after he and Wendy and Soos found her and got her out of the bubble.
But things hurt more when one of them had to deal with them alone and he'd be alone much longer this time.
The hug and her words were exactly what he needed, though, so after she let go, he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, too.
"No, it was the other way around. That's what Hal and Hiccup used to help me fight the brainwashing. They reminded me of you. You don't remember it, but you were here on Legion World before, like months ago. Just for a day. Taken from almost the exact same time, from the bus ride. The Time Trapper does stuff like that, brings people and send them away, and sometimes makes them forget they were here."
Just like he messed with people's heads in the little pocket dimensions, like the one with the dinosaurs.
He pulled down his sock to show her the pink and purple friendship bracelet -- obviously not his -- tied to his ankle. He'd held onto it since the thing with the Lanterns, keeping it on a wrist or an ankle pretty much at all times. A good luck charm.
"Hiccup found this left in my stuff -- because I kept a few things of your stuff -- and he and Hal reminded me of you. It helped break the brainwashing."
He sniffled and wiped at his eyes again.
"That's what I meant when I said that you did help me even without being here." He smiled through his tears. "Yeah, we fight sometimes, but other than driving me nuts with being boy-crazy, the contact glitter contamination, and the intermittent high-pitched shrieking, you're like the best sibling in the entire world. I couldn't be sure of anything -- my whole life was this giant lie -- but I could be sure of that. And that's what I held onto when the telepaths were helping me put my memory together again."
He waved his hands, making a gesture like something small spreading outwards into something big.
"It was like this anchor --" That was the way Wash had put it "--and remembering one good thing helped me remember all the other good things. Like that mom and dad love us, and how great our grunkles are, and Wendy and Soos..."
A few more tears plip-plopped down his face, but they were slowing now. He wiped at them with his palm.
"Remembering one good thing, and being sure of that, made it easier to remember all the other good things."
Like the memory of her lit up all the shadows and passed a little flame to their parents, and their grunkles, and their friends and everything else -- one bright candle lighting another and then another, until the darkness had been chased away.
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But things hurt more when one of them had to deal with them alone and he'd be alone much longer this time.
The hug and her words were exactly what he needed, though, so after she let go, he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, too.
"No, it was the other way around. That's what Hal and Hiccup used to help me fight the brainwashing. They reminded me of you. You don't remember it, but you were here on Legion World before, like months ago. Just for a day. Taken from almost the exact same time, from the bus ride. The Time Trapper does stuff like that, brings people and send them away, and sometimes makes them forget they were here."
Just like he messed with people's heads in the little pocket dimensions, like the one with the dinosaurs.
He pulled down his sock to show her the pink and purple friendship bracelet -- obviously not his -- tied to his ankle. He'd held onto it since the thing with the Lanterns, keeping it on a wrist or an ankle pretty much at all times. A good luck charm.
"Hiccup found this left in my stuff -- because I kept a few things of your stuff -- and he and Hal reminded me of you. It helped break the brainwashing."
He sniffled and wiped at his eyes again.
"That's what I meant when I said that you did help me even without being here." He smiled through his tears. "Yeah, we fight sometimes, but other than driving me nuts with being boy-crazy, the contact glitter contamination, and the intermittent high-pitched shrieking, you're like the best sibling in the entire world. I couldn't be sure of anything -- my whole life was this giant lie -- but I could be sure of that. And that's what I held onto when the telepaths were helping me put my memory together again."
He waved his hands, making a gesture like something small spreading outwards into something big.
"It was like this anchor --" That was the way Wash had put it "--and remembering one good thing helped me remember all the other good things. Like that mom and dad love us, and how great our grunkles are, and Wendy and Soos..."
A few more tears plip-plopped down his face, but they were slowing now. He wiped at them with his palm.
"Remembering one good thing, and being sure of that, made it easier to remember all the other good things."
Like the memory of her lit up all the shadows and passed a little flame to their parents, and their grunkles, and their friends and everything else -- one bright candle lighting another and then another, until the darkness had been chased away.