THAT AFTERNOON

Mabel had only been expecting one celebration at the minotaur village. But there was more than just her grunkles' birthday happening today.

"Dad? How are you feeling?"

Caleb Chiu squinted in the sunlight, looking down at Candy as he exited the prison hut. Moira supported him, which was good, because Yingtai and Candy were certainly too small to. And Caleb needed supporting. He stumbled a little with every step.

"Dad?" Candy said again, sounding a little worried.

Caleb took a moment to respond. "I'm okay," he said.

He sounded disoriented. Mabel wasn't surprised. Caleb had just endured limnatásh: the intensive mind-reading spell the elders had ordered him to endure before he could be released from prison. The magic had taken a lot out of him.

"Here," Candy said. She took Caleb's hand and led him to a patch of grass in the shade. With Moira's help, Caleb sat down. Yingtai and Candy immediately sat beside him.

"Is Andrew talking with them?" Yingtai asked, gesturing toward the prison hut.

Even though her voice was quiet, Caleb still winced a little bit at the sound. "Yeah," he said. "They're deciding my fate in there."

Mabel couldn't tell if his tone was joking or serious.

Candy gave Caleb a hug. "They'll let you go. I know it."

"Thanks, Candy," said Caleb.

Mabel smiled at the Chius. She was a good distance away, just watching the scene. Her own family was around her.

"I hope they let him go," said Greyson.

And Greyson. He was there, too. Mabel glanced at him. "Have you gotten to talk to him at all?"

"Yeah," said Greyson. "They let me visit him with Candy. He's cool."

Mabel nodded.

"I went to some of the classes," Greyson added. "You know, the ones about Cipher that the elders taught Caleb. They let anybody come, so sometimes I did. I learned a lot. Mostly that Cipher is terrifying."

A shudder went through Mabel. She knew. She knew Bill's terror all too well. Four months' time had softened the pain of her memories, but it hadn't erased it.

"So. . . thanks," Greyson said softly. He seemed to realize that he'd made Mabel uncomfortable. "Thanks for stopping him."

She managed a smile. "Thanks."

Wait. She'd said the wrong thing — she should've said you're welcome. She blushed and ducked her head.

She thought she saw Greyson do the same out of the corner of her eye. In fact, he seemed to have a blush every time he looked at her. What was up with that?

The sound of footsteps took Mabel's attention away from Greyson. "Caleb, hello. Are you all right?" asked Ford. He came over with Lee, Pacifica, Ásham, and Enoch following (plus Fidds' ghost, probably). They had been making an offering at Xítway's grave, and had stayed there longer than Mabel and the others had. Pacifica had relayed a conversation with Xítway — Ásham in particular seemed to be in a good mood after that.

"Yes, I'm all right," Caleb said to Ford. "Happy birthday."

Ford and Lee both smiled at Caleb. They had apparently coordinated with the elders to have Caleb's release be today, on their birthday. All the more reason to celebrate, Mabel supposed.

Assuming Caleb was released, that is. The group waited to hear the verdict. A few people dispersed (like Dipper going to play with Enoch and his siblings), but even they kept an eye on the prison hut. The hamadryads who had performed the spell were in there with Andrew and a few elders, discussing what the hamadryads had seen in Caleb's mind, and what it meant for his imprisonment.

Eventually, the door opened. The hut emptied. Andrew, Twánat, June, Ivy, and a few others came outside.

"Caleb?" said Andrew. He looked around for a second before seeing his brother, still sitting with his family.

"Here," Caleb said. He seemed a little stronger now, but he didn't get up. "What's the decision?"

Andrew didn't answer, but his ears flicked with what Mabel thought was happiness. He nodded to Twánat.

"Caleb," said Twánat, "do you denounce Bill Cipher?"

Caleb blinked. "Yes. Didn't you see that?" He sounded a little panicked. Mabel's heart skipped a beat. Did the limnatásh not work, or something?

But then, "We did," Twánat said warmly. "That's exactly what we saw. You've changed you mind, just as we hoped you would. And so your imprisonment ends today."

Caleb breathed out a sigh of relief. Candy gave a quiet squeal and threw her arms around her dad. It was the most emotion Mabel thought she'd ever seen from her.

June and Ivy, with smiles on their faces, came over to the Pines. "Welcome back to our forest," June said.

"Hi, June. Hi, Ivy," said Mabel, smiling in return. Then her curiosity got the better of her: "What was it like, doing the spell?" she asked. "Caleb seems really tired, but you don't. Why not?"

The hamadryads glanced at each other. "We're a little tired," Ivy said. "We used a lot of power to see a lot of information in a relatively short time. It was overwhelming, and hard to sort through it all. But we're feeling better now. It helps that the things we saw have been wiped from our minds. They're not weighing on us."

"You're okay with losing your memory?" said Greyson, a little incredulously.

"We agreed to it," said June. "And I trust Andrew to perform the spell correctly, which he did."

It still sounded scary to Mabel. She and Greyson shared a look.

"It's all right," June assured them, seeing their expressions. "No one would want us remembering — least of all Caleb."

"Yeah, I guess," Mabel said.

A new group of footsteps sounded behind them. Mabel turned. "Oh, hi, Gideon."

Gideon grinned at her. With him were Geneva, Grace, Edward, and the three Prewitt children. Mabel smiled back without really thinking about it. . . but then her smile slipped into a confused frown. Wait. Gideon? Grinning?

She shot Gideon a questioning look, but he only gave a bigger smile in response. Wow. Had Mabel ever seen that big of a smile on Gideon's face? What was going on?

The adults with Gideon were all grinning, too. Clearly something had happened, something more than just the joy of being back in Gravity Rises. But Gideon subtly shook his head — he didn't want Mabel asking about it right now.

"Everly!" Lee called, walking toward Grace. "You're here!"

Grace's smile got even bigger. "How's the weather?" she asked. But it looked like she knew the answer.

"Cloudy, of course," Lee responded. He wrapped his arms around Grace in a tight hug.

Grace hugged him back. "Happy birthday, Lee," she said.

"I'm glad you're here," he responded.

Their hug lasted a few more seconds; then Lee pulled back, smiling. "Now," he said, "I would love to meet your family."

"Oh! Yes," Grace said. She stepped to the side and turned to point out her husband and children. "Lee, this is my husband, Edward. Edward, this is Lee."

"Nice to meet you," Edward said. He had been holding Emma, but now he handed the baby to his wife. Then he held out his hand for Lee to shake.

Lee gave him a hug instead. "Thank you for being so good to Everly," he said.

Edward blinked. "Oh. You're welcome."

"And is this Emma Lynn?" Lee turned from Edward back to Grace.

"Yes it is," Grace said. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Absolutely."

"All right, Emma," Grace said, holding out the baby. "Go to Grandpa."

Lee froze at Grace's words. He looked surprised. But he quickly recovered and took the baby. "Hi, Emma," he said, bouncing her a little. "It's nice to meet you."

Emma gave a little laugh. Grace smiled. "She likes you."

"Yeah?" Lee lifted Emma up to eye level. "Well, Grandpa likes you, too, Emma."

Emma cooed and reached out with her little hands to touch Lee's face.

"That's adorable," said Dipper's voice. Mabel turned, a bit startled, to see that her brother had come up behind her while she was watching Lee and the Prewitts. Waddles followed at Dipper's heels.

"Hello there, Dipper," said June. "I like your shoes."

"Thanks! Hi!" Dipper grinned at June and Ivy. It was the same grin he'd had all day, as the Pines had explored the forest, met up with old friends, and generally enjoyed being here in Gravity Rises. Mabel felt like she had a perpetual smile of her own, too.

It was great to be back. Of course, Mabel did not miss the dangerous and traumatic events that had happened the last time she was here. But it was nice to find out that she didn't associate this entire place with bad memories. There was still plenty of good.

"So, when's the party?" said Dipper. "What are we waiting for?"

"Um," said Mabel, "most of the guests, I think." She didn't know who all was invited, but people were definitely missing — like Melody and Soos.

"We have about an hour before we'll get started," said Ford, strolling over to them. "People will come, don't worry."

"We still need to decorate, though." Moira the minotaur joined them, leaving her family. Mabel looked beyond her to see Candy, Yingtai, Caleb, and Andrew sitting together on the grass, quietly enjoying each other's company. "I hope Melody comes soon with the supplies," Moira continued.

"She'll come," Ford assured her.

"Like right now!" Dipper said, pointing.

Mabel turned and saw Melody and Soos walking into the minotaur village, both holding boxes. "Hello, everyone!" Melody said.

"Melody!" Dipper ran over to give her a hug, which Melody gladly returned after putting down her box. Mabel came and gave Melody a hug as well.

"The tables are over here," Moira said, leading the way. Soos followed her down the path and disappeared behind a nearby hut.

"I'd better go with them," Melody said, picking up her box again. "Want to join us, kids?"

"Sorry," Dipper said, "I'm helping Enoch watch his siblings. Maybe Mabel can, though!"

"Sure," Mabel said. She and Melody started in the direction Soos and Moira had gone, and Dipper took Greyson and Waddles and went off to rejoin Enoch.

Melody and Mabel made small talk as they went — with Melody asking Mabel about her recovery and school catch-up situation, and Mabel asking Melody about her relationship with Soos and her job showing people the real supernatural. Melody still had that quiet, supportive, confident air that Mabel realized she had relied on so much during the ordeals of the township and the Cipher Wheel. It felt lovely to be with Melody again.

They found Moira and Soos in an open area with lots of long wooden tables and a few firepits. Soos had opened his box and gotten out some tablecloths, which he draped over the tables.

"We'll take over that," Melody told him. "Help Moira with the banner, would you?" Out of her own box she pulled out a colorful birthday banner. While Soos and Moira took the banner to hang from the trees, Melody and Mabel shook out and placed the tablecloths, then got out some centerpieces with flowers and foil stars.

"So, who all is coming to the party?" Mabel asked as they worked.

Melody tilted her head as she thought. "All of the Symbols and their families," she said. "Probably plenty of minotaurs. Some hamadryads, some dryads, some perytons, some Order members. . . It's been stressful, honestly, trying to plan this without knowing an exact number."

"Order members? They haven't been arrested or anything?"

"No, thankfully not," Melody said. "Greg Corduroy has been working with officials to keep that from happening. I think some Order members going to pay some fines, maybe do community service — they're already working hard to teach people about the forest and train them on how to stay safe out here — but no jail time."

"But the Northwest servants are going to be in prison for a while, right?"

"Right. They were involved in more than just temporary abduction and wiping memories."

Mabel nodded. "What's it like having the government embassy here? We saw some people with the giant wolves, and then later with the dryads, but we didn't stay to see what they were doing."

The Pines had spent the morning exploring the forest, and it had been weird for Mabel to see other humans around. But also cool, because everybody seemed peaceful and cooperative.

Melody shrugged. "Sometimes the scientists and officials get in the way of our tours, and sometimes Ford gets annoyed with people coming and going from the basement. But it's fine overall."

"They're still investigating the portal?"

"More like sending people to check on it or study it every once in a while. They're not going to destroy it, but they want to make sure no one is messing with it."

"Is anyone trying to program it?"

"Not at the moment. Maybe at some point."

"It'd be really cool to explore other dimensions," Mabel said. "But also pretty chaotic."

Melody nodded. "We've had enough chaos for one year, I think."

Mabel definitely agreed. She put a centerpiece on the last table.

"Looks great," Melody said.

They continued decorating, setting out paper plates and plastic silverware, making a pile of birthday gifts, and draping streamers and strings of flowers over tree branches. In the center of the streamers was the banner that Soos and Moira had hung. When they were done, Mabel stepped back and smiled. Everything looked wonderful.

"Mabel-kid! Hey!"

The Corduroys and the Valentinos were here. Mabel grinned at Robbie. He held hands with Wendy as they walked — and Wendy even looked at Mabel with a faint smile.

"Hi, Robbie!" said Mabel. "How have you been?"

Robbie shrugged. "Pretty good. But we're still trying to catch up in school."

"Yeah, same here."

"But we're not worrying about that today," Robbie said. "Today we're celebrating."

"Where should we put these, Moira?" asked Janice. She, Greg, and Danny had their arms laden with platters of food. Mabel smelled barbecue.

"Over here." Moira pointed at the firepits. The minotaurs were cooking some of the food for the party, with the humans bringing the rest. As Mabel had been decorating, a few minotaurs had come over to check on the food as it cooked.

"Where's Drew?" asked Jaxon Valentino. "And Naomi?"

Who? Oh, right, Enoch's siblings. Mabel hadn't known that the Valentinos had been hanging out with Andrew's family. She shrugged. "Somewhere with Dipper," she said, waving a hand in the general direction of where she'd last seen them.

That seemed good enough for the Valentino boys. All three of them set down the things they were carrying — like pasta salads and veggie platters — and ran off to find their minotaur friends.

After that, guests arrived in a steady stream. Maybe half of them were human, and Mabel assumed all the humans were Order members. She saw Tyler Whittaker and a few other faces she recognized. Her heart sped up at first — her past interactions with the Order members had definitely not been pleasant — but she took deep breaths and managed to calm herself down.

The nonhumans were from a variety of species. There were nymphs, though Mabel couldn't really tell which were dryads and which were hamadryads. Some minotaurs wandered over to the clearing from their village. And two perytons walked into view — no, wait. Three perytons. Rowan and Marigold led a fawn that stood on thin little legs and kept fluffing its small, downy wings.

By the time the perytons showed up, Dipper had joined Mabel in the clearing. He gasped when he saw the fawn; his eyes lit up; he immediately ran over to the peryton family to greet them. "Mabel, look!" he said. "Baby!"

Mabel was a few yards away, but even from here, she could feel the pride and happiness that magically radiated from Rowan and Marigold.

"That fawn is adorable," said a voice behind Mabel. She turned to see Gideon walking her way. He wasn't grinning anymore, but there were still traces of a smile on his face.

"Yeah," Mabel said.

Gideon adjusted his glasses. Mabel thought they looked good on him, though she was still getting used to seeing them. "The food smells good," he said, "and it looks like pretty much everybody is here."

Mabel nodded. "We'll probably get started in a minute."

The two friends lapsed into silence, watching the peryton fawn, which was happily licking Dipper's face.

"So," Mabel said, "what happened? What were you so happy about earlier?"

For a moment, Gideon didn't look at Mabel or answer. Mabel watched his face, which had a serious expression as he thought about what to say — although even then, a smile tugged at his lips.

"I'll tell you later," Gideon finally said, looking at her. "Right now we're celebrating your uncles."

"Okay," Mabel said, trying not to sound disappointed. "But it's good, right?"

The smile that Gideon had been trying to prevent now broke out on his face. "Yeah," he said. "It's amazing."

Well, for now, that was good enough for Mabel. She smiled back at him. It was great to see Gideon so happy — four months of living with Grace and Edward had made Gideon a lot happier in general, but on some days he still got solemn or withdrawn. Not today.

Dipper left the perytons and came over to Mabel and Gideon. "Let's find a place at the tables," he said. "Those smells are making my mouth water."

Just then, Melody gave the call to gather — they were about to get started. Mabel, Dipper, and Gideon hurried over before they could get caught in the crowd. Sam waved them over to where the Pines and the Prewitts were sitting. And. . . and the Pleasures. Pacifica, Ellie, and Catherine sat together next to the Pines.

Mabel averted her eyes and told her panicked heart to calm down. She could handle sitting near Pacifica, right? Mabel and Dipper sat to the left of their parents, with the Pleasures on the other side. There. It'd be fine.

But Mabel didn't want to spend the entire party consciously looking away from the Pleasures. She waited a few moments, mentally preparing herself. Then she leaned back to look Pacifica's way — and saw something unexpected. Pacifica and her mother were sitting close together, with Catherine's arm around Pacifica's shoulder. And Pacifica. . . was smiling.

"We're both going to be okay." That's what Mabel had told Pacifica four months ago. It had been a brief moment of hope and generosity. In that moment, Mabel had been able to feel compassion toward Pacifica.

And now the same feeling flickered to life in Mabel's chest. Things really had gotten better for everyone, and that included Pacifica.

"Can I get your attention, everyone?" It was Andrew, standing and yelling over the crowd. After a few more tries, things quieted down. Mabel looked around and saw the tables full of people. Rowan, Marigold, their fawn, and Waddles were off to the side.

"Before we eat," Andrew said, "Melody and I want to talk for a bit about why we're here."

Beside Mabel, Dipper gave a soft groan. Mabel kind of agreed with that sentiment. The clearing was filled with all sorts of smells, some familiar and some not, and they were making her hungry.

Andrew didn't seem to mind making them wait. "Today we celebrate two events. Happy birthday, Ford and Lee. I'm glad you chose to have your celebration here. And Caleb. . ."

Caleb looked up at his brother. He, Yingtai, and Candy were sitting across from Andrew and his family, who were next to the Pines.

"Welcome back," Andrew said. "It's good to see you outside. And it's good to see you with. . ."

He paused. Both Caleb and Candy looked at him with a challenge in their eyes.

"With your family," Andrew said.

Caleb and Candy relaxed. Candy grinned at her uncle.

"Today, we celebrate your release from prison. I'm happy to consider you a part of our village again," Andrew finished.

Yingtai and Caleb shared uncomfortable looks. "Actually," Caleb said, "I'm going to go live with Yingtai and Candy in town."

Andrew blinked in surprise, but he recovered quickly. "Then I wish you the best," he said. "And regardless of where you are, you'll always be a part of our village."

A few minotaurs started up a cheer, like the one they'd done on Caleb and Yingtai's wedding day. Mabel didn't hear or see any traces of resentment: It seemed the minotaurs really had forgiven Caleb for his crimes.

As the cheering died off, Andrew gestured to Melody and sat back down. Melody stood and took over. "Congratulations, Caleb," she said. Then she started her part of the speech. "Ford and Lee, happy sixty-fourth birthday. Things are entirely different from what they were a year ago: On this day last year, you two were apart. And Lee didn't even know that it was his birthday, nor that he was turning sixty-three."

Lee and Ford glanced at each other with sad smiles.

"But this year, you're together. You know each other. You remember each other."

"Wait, really?" Dipper interrupted. "Grunkle Lee, you remember?"

Lee smiled at Dipper's excitement. "Not everything. And the things that I do remember don't all connect to each other. I've mostly been remembering moments, or images, or feelings."

"But there's no reason to believe that he'll stop remembering," Ford said. "By the end of the year, I bet he'll have everything back."

"That's awesome!" said Dipper.

"Yes," Lee said. "But more important than my old memories are the new ones I've been making since the day you found me. If I had to choose which set of memories to have, it wouldn't be a contest."

"Thankfully, you don't have to choose," Melody said. "Thanks to Fidds' generosity, you can be here to make those new memories. And thanks to your sacrifice, we can be here, too. This birthday celebration is to celebrate you, yes — but it's also to celebrate what you did."

Lee looked a bit embarrassed, but he kept up his smile.

"And you, Ford, have done amazing things, too," Melody continued. "You turned your Museum into, well, a real museum, and you've taught so many people about the magic in this forest. You're more of an ambassador than some of the actual ambassadors, sometimes. Gravity Rises is lucky to have you."

The line about the ambassadors drew a couple laughs, and the last sentence drew more cheers.

"Well, I know we all want to eat," Melody said, "so I'll wrap up. But I just want to say. . . we love you, Ford and Lee."

Mabel thought she saw tears pricking the corners of her uncles' eyes. But Ford and Lee just smiled.

"All right," Moira said, standing up. "Let's start this party, shall we? The line for the food starts here. We've made sure that all the food is safe to eat for everyone."

The next half hour was loud and chaotic as everyone served themselves food. Dipper pulled Mabel along with him so that they were some of the first ones in line, and they went back to their table before it got super busy. Mabel had tried to grab a little bit of everything, even though she only recognized maybe two-thirds of the dishes.

But the unfamiliar foods just made the meal more exciting. Mabel started eating.

A lot of it was typical summer barbecue food: grilled chicken, juicy watermelon, pasta salad with unidentifiable ingredients that still tasted good, and so on. Then there was the food the minotaurs had made: diced and cooked root vegetables that looked like beets and potatoes, but had an unexpectedly sour taste; a pastry dish that was like dutch oven cobbler, but with an unknown sweet fruit; and a milky white drink with a weird — but weirdly good — taste, like a mix between coconut and mint.

Between bites, Mabel talked with the other party guests. Dipper ate a few bites but then got back in line to get food for Waddles and the perytons, so he wasn't there to carry the conversation. But for once, Mabel didn't mind that. She talked to Candy and Greyson about the cool adventures they regularly had in the forest, and she explained to a curious Enoch what it was like living in a city. (He seemed simultaneously enamored and horrified by the idea of so many humans in the same place.) She overheard snippets of other conversations, too, like about Pacifica's ideas for the play she was going to direct, or about the dryads' experiences with human technology, or about Wendy's newest art project (a mural of magical creatures on the side of the library — one that Wendy had been asked and paid for, and that wasn't going to be cleaned off).

Usually Mabel would get overwhelmed by this type of loud environment. But she was so happy to be here that she didn't care. It was loud, yes, but it was also cheerful.

Dipper returned from helping Waddles and the perytons; he plopped down next to Mabel, started eating the rest of his food, and added his own voice to the noise. "Grunkle Lee, Grunkle Ford," he said after a few minutes, "tell us a story! About an adventure!"

The brothers glanced at each other. "Sure," Ford said.

"I know," said Lee, "let's tell them about the Hide Behind."

"Oh, that's in the Journal!" said Mabel.

"That's right," Ford said, "and the two of us actually saw it."

Woah. Mabel took a sip of her coconut-mint drink and leaned forward to listen to her uncles. They sat beside the Prewitts, and Lee had little Joseph in his lap.

"Picture this," Lee said dramatically. "Sunset in the forest. Ford, forging ahead on a new path, too stubborn to go home before dark. Lee, trying to keep up, knowing things were going to get dangerous. Ford stopped suddenly and said he'd heard something. I almost ran into him. I was about to tell him off, but he shushed me. And then. . . I heard it, too."

Mabel grinned as Lee and Ford wove a thrilling — and funny — tale about their adventure. The conversations around her quieted as people started listening in on the brothers.

"—so now Ford was hanging upside down with the creature holding him by one ankle — and I was panicking, trying to figure out how to fight this thing and save him — but Ford—" Lee laughed. "Ford was trying to take notes! And yelling at me to take some, too! I froze, trying to figure out if he was serious — but he absolutely was."

"I was also trying to figure out how to get down," Ford protested, though he was smiling as he said it.

"Well, it didn't look like that to me," Lee said to the crowd. "He was trying to keep his fourth Journal still so he could write on it — and of course, he failed miserably. But, well, he was determined. Even looking at him upside down, I could see that he had his serious scientist face on."

Lee made an overexaggerated facial expression with pouting lips and furrowed brow.

And Pacifica laughed.

Mabel almost jumped out of her skin. That laugh — for a brief instant, Mabel felt like she was back in the Order headquarters, handcuffed to the wall, listening to Pacifica laugh like a lunatic. Dipper grabbed Mabel's arm, like he was trying to protect her.

But then Lee laughed, too. And Ford joined him. And the brothers' laughing made Pacifica laugh more. And Mabel's heartbeat slowed the longer she listened.

Pacifica's laugh wasn't deranged or mocking or cruel. It was. . . happy. It was loud and free and beautiful.

The flashback left as quickly as it had come. Mabel's smile slowly came back. And then — the infectious laugh overtook her, too. She giggled. At first, Dipper looked at her like she was crazy, but it wasn't long before he too was laughing along.

The laughter swelled as it caught Gideon and Melody and others in its spell. It filled the clearing, travelled on the breeze, reached up to the summer sun.

It could probably be heard throughout the entire sunny, happy forest of Gravity Rises.

END OF GRAVITY RISES