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"Mom said we had to be asleep an hour ago."
Ford rolled his eyes. "Since when do you care about following the rules, Lee?"
"I care about you talking to yourself while I'm trying to sleep." Stan rolled over with a humph.
Ford went back to staring out the window.
"I wish I could see the stars better."
"I wish you'd shut up," Stan replied.
"I wish the town's street lights weren't so bright," Ford whispered to himself.
Even then, maybe it wasn't enough. Ford wanted to get closer.
"I wish I could be up there myself, with the stars."
Stanley would have to add Nebraska to his list of states he's banned from, as soon as he escaped this miserable January sleet storm. If only the clouds would let up.
The stars had been his best navigators this whole journey. Just like a sailor, he thought bitterly. Probably couldn't help him find the Stanleymobile, however.
Just then, he spotted a break in the clouds. Now he knows there's east; he recognized that constellation. Halfway up the sky. The constellation…
Gemini.
He swallowed hard.
"Whatever is out there," he whispered into the storm, "please… please let that be a sign."
Maybe if he hid between the bookshelves all day, nobody else would see his birthmark. Nobody else would call him names. Nobody else would shove him.
Dipper pretended to look at books, when one truly caught his eye.
What Are Stars Made Of?
He may as well read while he's here. He pulled the book out.
Hydrogen… Helium… Nuclear fusion. Gravity. Death. Dust. Rebirth.
Dipper ignored the fact that his teacher was probably looking for him. He'd get in trouble when he got home, but he couldn't care right now.
"They're amazing… maybe this birthmark's something to be proud of."
"My name's Stella the Star!"
Mabel gave her new friend some shoes while she talked to her.
"Hi Stella, I'm Mabel! Nice to meet you!"
She set aside her crayon, satisfied.
"Nice to meet you too!"
It was the perfect loophole. They told her she needed to make friends other people could see, so she drew this one!
"My class was talking about stars and constellations today," Mabel told Stella. "The stars were people's first imaginary friends! They made them into animals and people!"
"I know! And we've loved being your friends," Stella said.
"I like being yours," said Mabel.
Here he was.
Here were the stars.
…it was colder than he had expected. Darker, too.
"I PROMISED YOU I'D TAKE YOU TO THE STARS, SIXER."
Ford didn't bother turning his head. "And so you have."
"INCREDIBLE, AREN'T THEY? I COULD SPEND YEARS OUT HERE IF I DIDN'T HAVE SOMETHING JUST AS BRILLIANT TO LOOK FORWARD TO BACK ON YOUR LITTLE PLANET."
He barely acknowledged the flattery. Was space really this empty? Was it really this cold? He thought the stars were warm and bright up close. Everything was so distant.
"C'MON, FORDSY. AREN'T YOU GONNA THANK ME?"
Dark. Empty. Cold.
"OKAY, OKAY, I'LL LET YOU HAVE YOUR MOMENT. TAKE IT IN! IT SHOULDN'T GO ANYWHERE FOR SEVERAL BILLION YEARS BUT MIGHT AS WELL MAKE THE MOST OF IT NOW. YOU NEVER REALLY KNOW WHEN SOMETHING'S ABOUT TO SPONTANEOUSLY EXPLODE."
Cold. Cold. Cold.
Alien. Alone.
"DO I NEED TO MOVE THOSE LIPS FOR YOU?"
Cold.
"…no, you don't." Even with Bill's powers, he felt like he was suffocating. "Can we go home?"
He felt the familiar painful tug of Bill's magic at work.
"IF YOU INSIST ON BEING SO UNGRATEFUL, FINE."
A gasp, and he was alone in the forest.
The lights went out with a hiccup.
Mabel barely caught her scream.
"It's just a power out, silly," she whispered to herself. "It's not that scary."
Still, her bedroom suddenly felt much less cozy without her nightlights. She slipped out of her bed and felt around the floor for a flashlight.
"Oh Stella, I wish you could help me right… now," she whispered to herself, pausing when a thought fluttered across her head.
In an instant, she had forgotten her fear and barreled into Dipper's room.
"Augh! Mabel, knock, please!" Dipper picked up the book he had dropped, aiming his flashlight at the intruder.
"Sorry Dip," she rushed. "But hey, power's out. Wanna see if we can see more stars?"
Dipper didn't need any more convincing. They snuck outside, hoping their outburst hadn't already awoken Mom. To their delight, everywhere as far as they could see had lost power. It couldn't have been due to the weather; the sky was perfectly clear.
And oh, the stars. So many shining, beautiful stars.
"This area's still really light polluted," Dipper signed. "But this is better."
"Yeah," Mabel said, taking Dipper's hand. "Reminds me of Gravity Falls."
"Reminds me of us," Dipper said.
"C'mon, Poindexter. You can't just hide down here every night."
"I'm not hiding, I'm reading," Ford replied. He adjusted the angle of his reading lamp. "Too late in the day to do too much else."
"Come up on deck with me," Stan said, putting a hand on Ford's shoulder. "Actually… close your eyes. I'll lead you up."
"I- really, Stanley, do you think I'm going to do that?" Ford sighed.
And yet, for some reason, off he went, wobbling up the stairs, guided only by his brother's hand in his own.
"Last step, Ford. We're on the deck now." Stan continued to lead him a few paces, then stopped. "Lie down."
"What?"
"Lie down."
"On the hard floor?"
"I brought up the beanbag." Stan lowered them both down, until they were resting comfortably. He still had an arm across Ford's shoulders.
"Can I open my eyes now? And why did I need them closed to begin with?" Ford asked.
"Because it's the first proper clear night we've had since we moved away from the coastline." Stan said. Ford could hear a sincere smile in his voice. "Open."
Ford opened his eyes, and gasped.
Stars. Stars. Like nothing he'd ever seen before.
Across hundreds of dimensions and thousands of languages, Ford had never found a single word that could possibly describe what he was feeling right now. Wonder. Awe. Overwhelm. Joy. They came close, but paled in comparison.
"Pretty awesome, huh?" Stan gently squeezed his shoulder. Ford nodded.
"That's… that's the edge of the Milky Way, isn't it," he whispered through tears. "Oh gosh, there's so many of them. I can't… I…"
Stan's free hand grasped at Ford's hand. He returned the favor. They let the silence be for a while, gazing at the glorious patchwork of deep sky and brilliant light.
"I always thought I wanted to be there," Ford eventually said. "But I was, once, I think, and it was so cold. And dark."
"You've… been? There?"
"Sort of." Ford pressed into his brother. Stanley was always so warm. Warm, familiar, close. "I thought I'd get a better view, if I got away from everyone else…" he said. "But… I think I understand the stars better, what's important about them, from down here."
"Yeah, this planet's got a nice view, doesn't it," Stan said. "And I get to see them with you."
"And I wouldn't trade that for anything."