The One He Protected///Gravity Falls Fanfic///TW in desc.

Missed You So Much

Bill tried finding answers to what was happening at that moment. But still, even with his near-infinite knowledge, there was so much he couldn't understand in this world. And there was so much he didn't understand with this child he'd seen dead decades ago clinging onto him. As if trying to get an answer, he stroked her head carefully, his hands shaking. The words the child spoke to him struck deep within his heart.

Finally, they met again.

He knelt down, looking the child in her face. It was the same as he remembered. Delicate and fragile, with innocence in need of protection. A deep purple eye was visible, and the other eye was hidden by an eyepatch he fashioned like his own. Dark, tangly hair fell in front of her face. He carefully brushed it to the side, his heart aching.

Ida smiled, holding onto his hand, "You have no idea how much I missed you..."

The Pines family stood in shock, their minds bubbling with questions. Stan seemed to be mostly in a dazed state, as he'd been napping prior to having been dragged out of the shack to chase Ida. 'Did she just stop BILL from destroying the town?' Dipper thought, his mind struggling to wrap around a thought like that.

BILL CIPHER, a literal demon that had tried to take over the town before. Stopped dead in his tracks by a ghost of a teenage girl. How on Earth did that make any sense? How in any dimension did that make sense!?

1976

"A genius is what you need. A genius can open the tear and let them in. They'll be happy here. So very happy." A demon muttered as he floated among the birch trees of a park in a middle-of-nowhere town named Gravity Falls. What he was planning might've sounded evil, but if you asked him, there were some pure intentions. Sure, he wanted chaos, weirdness, anarchy, take your pick of vocabulary, but what was at the core was keeping the creatures of the Nightmare Realm safe.

He couldn't forgive himself if he let the realm's instability destroy the only family he had left.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an odd sound. Crying. He went to investigate. He'd heard many cries before, but he almost felt drawn to this one. As if someone were telling him to see what the cause of it was.

It didn't take long, and he soon found the source. A small girl in a white, button-up blouse with a rounded collar under a blue plaid dress with a navy bow that cinched the waist. Her feet were bare, cut up from the rough pavement. Her long, dark, ratty hair was held in pigtails with cream-colored bows. Her hands were covering her face, but it was clear the girl was sobbing without any sign of comfort around her.

The demon approached the girl carefully, curious by the sight. What was she doing all alone? What was she so upset about? He almost dared to greet her and catch her attention, but realizing that he himself was not physical, it would just be in vain.

However, he didn't seem to need to seek her attention. It was her that spotted him. She snapped her head to him, possibly hearing the fall leaves crunch around him. Or maybe it was a feeling, an aura around her, that she wasn't familiar with. Whatever the reason, she looked at the floating triangle, confusion consuming her tear-stained face. "What... are you?" She asked, her voice wavering from what the demon assumed was the crying.

"Wait a minute, you can see me!?" He asked, taken aback. "Can't everyone? This is far out, man." The girl mumbled. "No, everyone can't." The demon said, his voice rising. The girl leaned away from him, wincing a bit at the yelling. A white ribbon was wrapped around one of her eyes, but the visible one was a bloodshot purple. He sighed, "Sorry, I'm just not used to it." He admitted. Part of him honestly felt a little good to finally feel seen. "And you think I'm used to random triangles with peepers floatin' over?" The girl asked, her voice slightly sarcastic. The demon turned into a different form, one the girl would be more used to. "Better?" He asked. "It's a gas." The girl said, relaxing a bit.

"So, how can you see me?" The demon asked, pressing for answers. "I dunno, same way you see me. Just kinda there, man." She said, shrugging a bit. She lifted her hand and rubbed her nose from some dripping snot. He wrinkled his nose. Even he, a demon, found her manners improper. "You're special then, you know that?" He said, knowing this opened a whole realm of possibilities of what she could see. The girl found the grass in front of her more interesting, picking at it and rubbing it in her hands. She gave the one-word answer of "Groovy." Not even a glance up at him.

"How old ARE you? Where are your parents? And family?" The demon pressed further. "Eight." She said. He was taken aback by a child so young being alone in a park. Her answer to the other questions startled him further.

"Mommy and Daddy don't love each other anymore, and Bubba don't love me anymore." She said, disregarding vocabulary. There was a moment of silence as the demon processed what she had just told him. "Your parents are leaving each other, but who's 'Bubba'?" He asked, keeping his rage hidden. "My big brother. Yelled at me and told me it was my fault. Said the family don't need me." She continued. The demon overlooked the frustrating grammar, getting angrier by the moment.

"He told you WHAT?" He asked, struggling to keep his voice even. Even he, again, a literal demon, was appalled by someone saying that to their family. "How old is your brother?" He asked, disregarding his other question. "Thirteen." The girl responded, sensing his indignant emotion.

For a moment, the demon felt as if he was going to storm over and find the girl's house and burn her brother to a crisp, but one look at the girl and the frozen shell around his heart seemed to melt, even if it was just a little.

There was something about her that was just... So familiar. Even if it wasn't her, it felt as if he knew her. Knew her smile, laugh, cry, personality, even if he'd never seen her before. She reminded him of them.

He couldn't bare the thought of this girl, a mere child, being faced with what else her brother might have in store, so he decided his favorite way to deal with things (besides arson).

A deal.

But this time, no strings attached.

"How about this?" The demon started. The girl looked up at him curiously. "We make a deal. I protect you, and you just find a way to get through your life." He offered, knowing many in her place would find her side of the deal difficult. She tilted her head, "That's it?" She asked. "That's it..." He said, knowing it was a lot more than he was leading her to think. He offered his hand, "Well then?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. The girl smiled, grabbing his hand, "Deal!"