Mabel sat firmly on the small dock, barely feeling the cold as it seeped through her jeans. Her ice skates slid listlessly over the ice below, and she stared at the slashes they made.

"Mabel?" Dipper sat next to her on the dock. It wasn't the main dock, but a smaller one tucked into some trees. Nobody had seen them come over here, Mabel was pretty sure; and even if they had, they wouldn't have seen how upset she was. The last thing she needed was more attention. Dipper's was fine, but. . . Amanda was here, too.

"Thanks for staying out of it," Mabel said to her twin. "That probably just would've made Ford angrier."

Dipper's fist clenched as it rested on the dock. "He'll apologize for treating you that way."

Mabel let out a humorless laugh. "Will he? He's pretty used to getting his way. And he's years older than us."

"But he's wrong! What's the point of him being this cool explorer if he won't show us anything?"

"There's always the Journal," Mabel said. But. . . but she wanted to spend time with Ford, not his old field journal. She stared glumly at the ice. "I guess we know for sure that he would take it away if we showed it to him."

"Yeah." Dipper touched her hand, and she looked up at him. "Well," he said, "I'm sorry about Ford. But I'll explore with you. It's still fun when it's the two of us, right?"

Mabel summoned a smile. "Yeah. Thanks, Dip."

"And," he said, "I'll make sure Ford apologizes to you."

Mabel bit her lip. "I dunno. . ."

"For me, if not for you. I can't believe he would talk to you that way! Especially after we've seen what he can act like." Dipper glanced at Amanda with that last sentence.

Mabel thought of Melody's story. How Ford used to be excited and adventurous, but one day everything changed. "I think," she said slowly, "that we saw a side of Ford earlier that he's been keeping hidden for decades."

"Why would he hide it?" Amanda suddenly blurted. Mabel started; she had nearly forgotten Amanda was there. Amanda blushed when Mabel but continued. "Why would he treat me differently than you guys?"

"Maybe because you're a selkie?" Dipper suggested. "Or because you aren't related to him? I don't know. But like I was telling you earlier: He never talks that way to us."

"I think," Mabel cut in, her voice soft, "he recognized that you were scared and needed help, and some instinct or habit kicked in without him thinking. Like he said, he's helped another selkie before."

"Yeah, maybe," said Dipper.

A moment later, Melody slid to a stop before them, throwing up ice shavings in her wake. "Mabel?"

"Oh, h-hi," Mabel said, not making eye contact.

"What happened? Ford looks grumpier than usual, and I saw the three of you over here."

Mabel looked down at the ice under her feet. She wasn't sure how to answer.

"Mabel and Ford fought," Dipper said for her. "We came over here to cool down."

Mabel could feel Melody's searching eyes on both her and Dipper. "You must be really angry about that."

Mabel nodded, but Dipper spoke. "Yeah, I am." Wait, Melody had been talking to Dipper? But Mabel was the one who had been talked down to and humiliated. She glanced at Dipper, whose face was still red from anger, and realized that he was having a difficult time, too.

"Um, this is a nice little hidden dock," Amanda said. "I'll go get my seal skin and bring it around to here."

"Oh, I'll help you," Melody offered. "I can bring the car around so you don't have to carry it so far."

Thank goodness. Mabel liked Melody, and she didn't dislike Amanda, but she didn't really want them around right now. It was bad enough that Amanda had witnessed the fight. She found herself relaxing as they skated away.

Then, "They can't see you anymore, Mabel," Dipper told her softly.

With that, the tears that Mabel had been holding back broke through. She cried silently. It wasn't a messy or a violent cry, just tears making tracks down a flushed face while she took shallow breaths. Dipper sat beside her, letting her let it out.

After a few minutes, she said, "Dipper. . . I'm so weak."

"No, you're not," he said immediately.

She shook her head. "I am. I can't even handle Ford getting angry at me without crying. I couldn't handle Pacifica showing up at our door, and I couldn't handle those clones, and. . ."

"Mabel, stop," Dipper said. "I know it feels like that, but you're not weak. It's okay to cry, and it's okay to get upset easily."

Mabel wiped at her eyes. "Gideon Northwest thinks I'm weak." She wasn't sure why she said it. It just came out.

Dipper hit a hand on the dock. "Gideon Northwest is a jerk who makes bets over people's feelings. Don't ever listen to him."

Mabel looked up at him. "How come you don't seemed bothered by things like this?" she asked.

"Bothered? Of course I'm bothered! Haven't you seen me these past ten minutes?"

"Not like that. I mean. . . how come you don't ever explode or l-lose it like I do?"

Dipper paused. "I think it's because I don't hold it in to begin with."

Mabel thought about this. Dipper was pretty transparent. He said what he thought and showed what he was feeling. Mabel, though. . . Mabel kept it all hidden inside until it just couldn't stay there anymore. She didn't know any other way of dealing with things.

"Mabel," Dipper said, "I can see Melody and Amanda. And Ford looks like he's nearly done."

Mabel didn't want to look Ford's way, but she did glance over at Melody and Amanda, who were approaching through the trees.

"Okay," she said, giving her face one more rubdown with her shirt. "Okay, I'm good now. Thanks, Dip."

"You're welcome," Dipper said, smiling. "Will you be okay around Ford? I think you should tell him that you deserve an apology, but—"

"No," Mabel interrupted. "No, I'm not going to say anything. If I keep quiet, maybe he'll be less likely to suspect that I'm going against him. I'm gonna keep studying the Journal and keep learning about the supernatural, but he's made it clear that he doesn't want to be involved."

"Okay," Dipper said. "If that's what you want."

"It is."

"Everything okay over here?" Melody's voice carried over to the dock.

Mabel pushed herself to her feet, wobbling a moment before finding her balance on her ice skates. "Yeah, everything's fine. Did you get the seal skin okay?"

Amanda hefted it up to show that she had it, then let it settle around her shoulders. "Do you think Mr. Pines is ready?"

"I think so," Dipper said, pointing. Ford was stood by the hole in the ice, waving his arms to get their attention. When he saw them looking, he beckoned at them to join him. "Think he's apologetic?" Dipper added. Mabel gave him a little nudge and shook her head. "What?" he said.

"We'll worry about that later," Mabel said. "Right now we have to focus on getting Amanda through that portal."

"Right," Dipper said, looking down at the ice.

It took Mabel a second to realize why he was suddenly acting so down. Over the last ten minutes or so, Dipper had helped Mabel emotionally, and she hadn't even noticed: He was torn up about Amanda leaving, wasn't he? Of course he was! As far as Mabel could tell, he fell for Amanda a lot faster and harder than any other crush before. Now, she was leaving, on the same day that he met her.

That is, unless Ford was waving them over to tell them he'd made a mistake and the world was about to explode.

~~~~~

Dipper skated behind Amanda and Melody, with Mabel behind him. His heart was in his shoes. Part of him was hoping Ford was calling them over to tell them he'd made a mistake and the world was about to explode, or something else that meant Amanda wouldn't have to leave.

He found himself stealing glimpses at Amanda's lips. If she did have to leave, he'd kiss her. He had to. He'd go crazy knowing she'd left without it.

"Success!" was the first thing Ford said when the entourage made it across the lake.

Yay.

"Once I press this switch, a controlled electric pulse should reverse the portal's flow for a window of about three minutes. So, Amanda. . ." He trailed off when he noticed the faces of the audience: Mabel, not looking at him. Dipper, his face drawn by dread. Melody, disapproving. Amanda, frowning from fear.

Ford sighed. "Mabel, I'm sorry that I spoke out of hand earlier," he said to her. "I'm not going to change my mind, but I was more vehement about it than I should've been, and I apologize."

Mabel's eyes flicked up to Ford's, then back down to the ice, then back up again. "Thanks," she said softly. But her eyes could only hold his for a moment, and she dropped her gaze again.

Ford nodded. "All right. As I was saying, Amanda: Once I flip this switch, you'll have to immediately transform so that you can get through the portal in time."

The worry in Amanda's eyes deepened. "It's. . . it's so cold in there."

Dipper instinctively moved closer to her.

"The portal isn't far from this hole, as you probably already know," Ford said. "If you get in and swim as hard as you can, hopefully you'll be through before the cold sets in. Do you think you can do it?"

Amanda swallowed but nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do it. What about, um. . . ?" She looked down at the clothes she was wearing.

"K-keep them!" Mabel stuttered.

"Leave the winter clothes and the ice skates," Ford said, "but yes, you can just keep the rest. That doesn't hinder your transformation, does it?"

Amanda shook her head. "It'll be fine." She shrugged her seal skin off her shoulders, and it fell to the ice.

Dipper almost interjected — she was wearing his fourth favorite shirt, the one that he had just gotten for Christmas! — but decided against it. That wasn't important right now. "Hey, Ford?" he asked instead.

"Hmm?"

"You're positive that when you flip that switch, the portal will reverse?"

Ford paused, then nodded. "Ninety-three percent certain, although that may be a bit generous. Why?"

Dipper didn't answer but instead turned to Amanda, his skates sliding a bit beneath him. "I, um, have a present for you," he said.

Wow, was he nervous!

"Really?" Amanda asked.

When Dipper imagined his first kiss, he had never imagined it on ice skates. He tried to shuffle closer, but he lost his balance and nearly fell on top of her. Amanda caught his arm and laughed, and Dipper laughed too, though more out of nervousness than anything else.

Turned out that the fall worked to his advantage, because they were now touching. Dipper took her hands in his, swinging them down at their sides a bit.

"What's the present?" Amanda asked. Something in her tone said she had an idea.

"This," Dipper replied.

He leaned forward and kissed her.

The kiss lasted an infinite second in comfortable silence as Dipper and Amanda's lips met. It wasn't passionate or intimate, but it was happy. Dipper heard Melody whoop to his left, and Mabel started to laugh and clap. But he wasn't looking at them or at anything else. His eyes were closed, and he was focused on the feeling of Amanda's hands in his and his lips on hers.

Finally, they pulled back. They seemed to just know when, and they did it together. Dipper's eyes opened, and he found himself looking into Amanda's smiling face. His heart soared at the sight of that smile, and he vaguely realized he was wearing a huge grin. "Do you like it?" he asked.

Amanda grinned. "Absolutely," she said. The two of them stared into each other's eyes, smiling.

"Ahem."

Dipper blinked. His grin — and his romantic trance — dropped.

"Ford," Melody chided, "don't ruin the moment!"

"Um," Ford said, looking between Amanda and Dipper, "too late, I guess."

Amanda and Dipper were too happy to do anything but laugh at his words. Ford gave a slight smile, but it was clear he wanted to get back to business. "Amanda, we—"

"Wait!" she interrupted. "Does anyone have a pen?"

Ford sighed and pulled one out of his coat, tossing it to her.

She caught it, took off one of Dipper's gloves, and wrote on the skin on his palm. "My email address," she explained as she wrote. When she was done, she handed him his glove and looked into his eyes. "My present to you."

Dipper's smile was so big that he thought his face might split apart.

Another sigh from Ford. "All right, now can we focus?"

Amanda threw back the pen as Dipper pulled on his glove. Then he tried to turn and stand at attention; but his skates slipped again, and he found himself once more supported by Amanda.

Which, of course, resulted in another lapse of giggles.

"Dipper." Ford sounded impatient. "Amanda."

Dipper wanted to acknowledge him, but he couldn't do anything but laugh.

"We have to get Amanda home!"

The laughing stopped.

Dipper straightened, looking at Amanda. Their smiles dropped as they remembered what was about to happen.

"I'll email you," he promised.

"And I'll always remember my first kiss," she replied.

Dipper's eyes widened. "That was your first kiss too?"

She smiled back — not as brightly as before, but softly. "Of course it was." She let out a little sigh and turned to Ford. "Okay. I think I'm ready." Was that a sigh of relief from the old man? Dipper held back an eye roll, staving off his annoyance by holding onto the feeling of the kiss.

Amanda sat down on the ice and unlaced her skates, her seal skin next to her. She set the skates aside and let out a breath. "Thank you," she said to the people around her. "For rescuing me, and for taking care of me, and" — she glanced at Dipper — "for giving me my first kiss," she said with a smile. He returned it. "And, especially, thank you for making sure I can get home safely," she finished.

"You're welcome," Ford and Melody said at the same time.

Mabel skated a little closer. "It doesn't feel like goodbye," she said, "because I can bet Dipper will be talking about you for weeks."

"Longer than that!" Dipper added.

Amanda laughed. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Mabel."

"You too."

Amanda took off her gloves and scarf and undid her winter jacket, revealing Dipper's t-shirt with its bold "Awesome" across the front. Dipper couldn't help but think that "Awesome" was the perfect word to describe her.

"All right," Ford said, "I'm flipping the switch. . . now." With a loud click, the wires connected to Ford's gizmo started to hum.

Amanda took one more look at Ford, Melody, Mabel, and finally Dipper. Then, she crawled into the seal skin and pulled it closed around her. The transformation was subtle. One moment, it was like Amanda was in a strange seal suit, moving around inside, until her movements became the seal's; the next moment, there was no trace of a human inside. The seal flopped over onto its belly, and its flippers hitt the ice. It looked up at Dipper with intelligent eyes, and that's when it really sunk in — this seal was Amanda.

"That is so cool!" Dipper exclaimed. "You're a seal now!"

The seal nodded.

"You've got to go before the portal switches back," Ford said. "The entrance is this way." He pointed away from Seal Amanda.

Seal Amanda nodded again and waddled up to the hole in the ice. Dipper tried not to think she was adorable, but she was. She rose up and hit her flippers together twice, which Dipper took to mean, "Bye!" Then she dove into the lake with a small splash and shot off through the water.

Dipper and the others watched, straining their eyes to see Seal Amanda move under the ice. They were quiet but for the humming wires of Ford's contraption. Dipper thought he saw a dark shape streaking away before it disappeared.

Soon after, Ford's equipment stopped humming. "Did she make it?" Mabel asked.

"If she hadn't, she would've resurfaced," Ford said. "We did it. We sent her home safely."

"Dipper?"

He looked up at Mabel.

"You okay?"

Dipper pulled his glove off to look at Amanda's email: mermaidgirl528. After studying it for a moment — she'd dotted the i's with hearts — he met Mabel's eyes. "Yeah," he said, smiling. "Yeah, I'm okay."

~~~~~

Gideon and Pacifica traversed Harbinger Hallow in the glow of their amulets. They walked in silence until they reached the Cipher Wheel. The drawing of Bill, surrounded by the symbols of the Wheel, gazed down at him with his single eye. Beneath him was Gideon's Journal, which he had purposefully left behind after switching bodies with Pacifica.

Now, he picked it up. "You asked me what I was getting from helping you," he said. "Well, I'm looking for something." He was hesitant; but if he was going to get what he wanted, Pacifica needed to know about it.

He held up the Journal, revealing the gold six-fingered hand on the cover with the bold 2 on the palm. "Six fingers," he said. "I have reason to believe that this book, which holds all sorts of information about Gravity Rises, was written by Stanford Pines. Who else would put a six-fingered hand on the cover?"

Pacifica nodded slowly.

"But this is the second Journal," Gideon continued. "I need to find the first one. It has information that this Journal doesn't."

"What kind of information?" Pacifica asked curiously.

"I don't exactly know," Gideon said, "but I know it's worth finding the first Journal to get it." He glanced at Pacifica. "You want revenge on Mabel, for. . . You want revenge on Mabel, right?"

"For keeping Dipper from me and for hiding behind a mask of innocence," Pacifica reminded him.

He stopped himself from rolling his eyes. Partners. We're partners. "Right," he said, "and I need to find the other Journal. If I can get a chance to search Stanford's property, then I may be able to find it, or at least a clue."

Pacifica's face lit up. "We'll steal the deed to his property and chase them out! Then, Mabel and Stanford will have nowhere to go, and Dipper will have no choice but to come to me!"

Gideon was too stunned to reply, and a few beats of silence passed. How on earth did she think of that?

Well. . . it might work. "Um, sure," he said. "Let's do that."

He might as well humor her. And he'd never stolen a property before. Should be fun, right?

"Great! Now, what was it you were saying earlier about this Cipher character?"

Gideon sighed. He had no desire to bring Bill into this. But Pacifica's face was bright with ideas, and he knew he should probably go along with whatever she had in mind. That way, he could potentially keep the situation under control. Plus, if he got closer to the first Journal, then maybe it was worth it.

Still, when he looked at the drawing of Bill on the cave wall, he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable under the stare of that one, wide eye.

END OF EPISODE FOUR