Falling Slowly - An Alternative Outcome (an Adoption AU story)

Chapter 1: The First Week

Before we start, a little explanation. The creator and author of the Adoption AU, the amazing marehami asked me about being a beta reader for her most recent story in the AU, Falling Slowly. In that story Mabel must fight for her life after she is diagnosed with a serious illness. She fights against the illness with all the optimism that she has, but sometimes hugs and comfy sweaters just aren't enough. And sadly, the story ended in tragedy as she dies in the 10th chapter.

Now I assume if you're here you have read that story. This is after all an alternative outcome. Basically after chapter 10 we came to a crossroad: continue the story as is and leave Mabel deceased or bring in some supernatural and/or time altering methods to bring her back. Ultimately we agreed that for the story's sake, we had to keep Mabel dead. However, the idea for this alternative end came to me and I had to see it become reality.

I have to give a huge thank you to marehami for everything. From letting me be part of her AU and also the opportunity to write this story. It has been an amazing experience and one that has taught me a lot about both story writing and that sometimes in order to make the story the best it can be, you have to let go of characters that you love.

This story is an alternative outcome to Falling Slowly. It is set one week after Mabel's funeral (just after chapter 22). I have done my best to capture the essence and writing style that marehami and Keleficent have created.

A huge thank you to marehami herself for being the beta reader. I really hope you like what I have written and I hope that for those of you who were saddened at Mabel's death in chapter 10 of the main story, this will serve as some closure for you. With that said, this is chapter 1 of Falling Slowly: The Alternative Outcome.

Art credit to Hntrgurl13

Chapter 1

Goodnight my angel, now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die
That's how you and I will be

The monitor stopped beeping, the dreaded flatline appeared.

She was gone,

Mabel was gone...

Ford awoke gasping for air. He looked around the room, he was no longer in the hospital by Mabel's bedside, holding his dying daughter as she took her last breath. He was home, in his room in the Mystery Shack. It was one in the morning, and the only sound he heard was that of crickets in the summer night and his own rapid breathing. How unjust that he was still breathing and Mabel was not?

He got up and walked upstairs. It had been one week since Mabel had died. Gravity Falls was still in mourning. Mabel's death had rocked the small town in ways that Bill Cipher could have only dreamed of doing during Weirdmageddon.

When Ford made it up the stairs and into the living room he was surprised to find Dipper. He was sitting on the sofa starring blankly at a ball of yarn. Mabel's funeral had been the hardest on him. Having lost both his parents and now his twin sister, Dipper was beyond broken. No child especially of his age deserved to suffer this much so young.

Ford walked up and sat down next to his adopted son, "What do have there Dipper?" he asked.

"It was one of Mabel's balls of yarn, she was knitting it into that orange sweater before...before you asked her to help you with that experiment," he said with a twinge of anger and arrogance.

Ford looked down at the boy. He didn't know what he could say or do to comfort his child. The weight of his helplessness crushed him.

"I miss her so much, why did she have to leave us?" Dipper asked as his mask of strength finally collapsed. He breaks down into tears in Ford's coat. He had remained strong all these years for Mabel, but now that she was gone. He couldn't keep up his charade of strength any longer. He was only a child after all.

Ford didn't know what to say, but after all these days of seeing the same sight of Dipper's tears, he knew what to do. He wrapped the boy into an embrace and held him there, hugging him tight.

"I'd do anything to get her back too son, I would even give my own life for it," he said with deep conviction.

The two remained in that embrace until sleep overwhelmed both of them. Sleep had become something the Pines boys no longer took lightly, because they knew one of their own never woke up.

Life had become nothing but sadness for them.

To be Continued....

art by Amethyst618