Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Taking in the chaos that had engulfed Casita in her absence, Mirabel was torn between regret at having left and coming back at all.

One Week Earlier

Mirabel sighed as she nibbled on a snack, sulking in Casita’s kitchen. She could hear the rumble and cheers of the party carrying on without her in Antonio’s amazing new room. Dimly she thought she heard something break but couldn’t muster up enough curiosity or care to go and see what it was.

Thoughts spiraled relentlessly through her head.

She felt bad that her primo had gotten a gift while she hadn’t.

Then she felt bad about feeling bad because she loved Antonio and wanted him to have a gift. He deserved it and being able to talk to animals? It was perfect for him!

But she still felt bad about how her ceremony, and the door that wasn’t, and on and on the thoughts went until a voice finally brought her back out of her head.

“Hey mija,” her mamá called gently, hopping up to sit next to her youngest on the counter. “Cómo te va?”

Mirabel sighed again, not meeting her mother’s eye and instead fiddling with the arepa she’d snagged from the party before she left. She thought about lying, but…she just couldn’t anymore.

“...I’m tired,” she mumbled, leaning against Julieta’s shoulder, snuggling as an arm came up to wrap around her.

“Ay, I’m sorry, mija,” Julieta sighed, squeezing her in a one armed hug. “I knew today would be hard for you. I wish there was something I could do.” She pressed a kiss into her daughter’s curls before resting her head against hers. “What can I do, querida? What would make you feel better?”

Mirabel stayed silent but rolled the question over in her head.

What would make her feel better?

She honestly wasn’t sure. 

She knew what was making her feel bad– guilty about it as she felt –and that was being here. Constantly surrounded by the reminders of what she wasn’t and could never be, no matter how hard she tried.

So, maybe…

“...I want to leave…” she mumbled; not realizing she’d said her thought out loud until her mother had tensed beside her. In the blink of an eye Julieta’s warmth moved from beside her to right in front of her, hands grasping desperately at Mirabel’s own.

“No! Mira please, no! I can’t lose you too,” Julieta cried, eyes wide with what almost looked like fear. “Not like my brother!”

“Wha-Mom no!” Mirabel jolted up straight, returning her mother’s grip. “Not like that! I’d come back, I swear! I just meant- for a little while! Like a vacation! ” Julieta released a huge shuddering breath and all but sagged with relief.

“Ay… I’m sorry, mi corazón; I didn’t handle that very well,” she chuckled weakly.

“No no- I get it! I could have phrased that a bit better,” Mirabel reassured her. “But…I mean it. I think…I think I just need to have some ‘me’ time, ya know? Just…” she sighed and shrugged helplessly; unable to explain how tired she was. Of not having a gift. Of being asked to stand aside.

Of not being enough.

Julieta hummed softly, frowning as she realized her grabbing of Mirabel’s hands had caused the arepa she’d been holding to become a squished mess between their grips. Absently grabbing a towel to clean them both up, Julieta mulled over the words her daughter had said– and more importantly, the ones she hadn’t. Mirabel sat quietly and let her wipe the snack up, recalling fondly how often her mamá had done this when she was younger. Especially after she’d been out traipsing through the outdoors with her pá. She chuckled softly at the memories; she always did have a knack for finding the best mud puddles…

Mess finally cleaned up, Julieta rubbed a thumb along her daughter’s palm as she ducked her head down to catch her youngest’s eyes with a warm smile.

“I think-” she lifted their hands and gently placed a kiss on Mirabel’s knuckles, “-that that is a great idea.”

Mirabel smiled shyly back. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. As big as Casita is, we still manage to trip over each other sometimes,” her mother chuckled, patting her hands. “A little peace and quiet sounds wonderful, querida.” Julieta almost yelped in surprise as Mirabel slid abruptly off the counter and wrapped her in a hug.

“Thank you,” her baby mumbled into her shoulder. Ay, when did she get so tall?

“Of course, mi vida,” she cooed, returning the hug with gusto. “Whatever you need.”

They stood like that for several minutes before Mirabel finally pulled back, giving her mamá a watery smile, one relieved tear making its way down her cheek that Julieta was quick to wipe away.

“So-” Julieta grinned, excited for her daughter, “-Any thoughts on where you’d like to go?” Mirabel bit her lip, once again remembering the times she went out exploring the Encanto with her father.

“Yeah, actually,” she smiled, the idea becoming more and more enticing the more she thought about it, “I think I do.”

“Miraboo wants to go camping?” Agustín remarked in awe as they were getting ready for bed, the party finally ending just shy of midnight.

“Mhm,” Julieta replied as she turned down the covers of their bed. “I plan on making her some snacks for the trip. Ay, you should have seen her, love; she’s so excited she’s already dug out your old camping gear.”

“Ah, I love that gear,” Agustín smiled fondly. “It got me through my journey to you after all~” He gazed at her with nothing but adoration in his eyes, making Julieta slap his shoulder playfully. Straightening back up, he nodded determinedly and hopped into bed, bouncing in place. “Bien! I’ll go with her! We’ll go to that spot we used to go to back-”

“-Ay, I’m sorry, amor,” Julieta shook her head, smiling sadly, “Mirabel wants to do this herself. Alone.”

“Oh…” Agustín drooped down beneath the sheets, looking so much like a puppy that had been denied a treat that his wife couldn’t help but chuckle and kiss his cheek as she settled in next to him. Casita dimmed the lights down to nothing. “That makes sense, I suppose… It’s just- it’s been a while, ya know? Since I took the girls out for a trip. Ay we would have so much fun…” His pout melted away to a wistful smile, recalling how he’d take his girls out and taught them everything he knew about the outdoors and how to traverse it. Clumsy as he admittedly was, he was still proud of the fact that he did know how to handle himself out in the wild. In fact, if it wasn’t for his skills he may have never stumbled upon the encanto in the first place all those years ago…

He was brought out of his musings as Julieta sighed and snuggled into his side, his arm naturally rising to wrap around her.

“...Do you think she’ll be alright?” she asked quietly, the barest tremble in her voice. “Out there? All alone?” Agustín smiled and kissed the top of her head, feeling her reluctant smile against his shoulder.

“Our Mirabel? Absolutely. She took to my lessons like a duck to water. She could probably survive just fine with nothing but the clothes on her back and a smile on her face!” He grinned in the dark as his wife gave a relieved little chuckle.

“Be that as it may, I want you to double-check everything tomorrow; I don’t want her to settle down for the night only to find her hammock full of holes.”

“Double? She’s not setting so much as one toe out of Casita until I’ve triple-checked everything. At least!” Agustín nodded resolutely. “No daughter of mine is going out under-prepared!” Julieta laughed again.

“Gracias, mi amor,” she grinned, burrowing even deeper into his side with a sigh. He was right of course. Mirabel knew what she was doing and it would only be for a few days; a week at most.

What could go wrong?

Chapter Text

“Do I have to tell everyone?” Mirabel groaned as she wrapped up snacks for her trip as her mother made them. “I mean- I’m gonna tell Antonio; I can’t not tell him, he’d think I was leaving because of him! Which I’m not! Just-”

“Sí, mija,” Julieta gently cut her off, seamlessly switching between various pots and pans in different stages of cooking. She’d gotten up even before Mirabel’s usual Casita-wide wake-up call to make sure her youngest would have everything she’d need for her trip. “I think it’d be for the best. If you just left without saying anything…”

“...it’d be too much like tío?” Mirabel offered with a grimace.

“Sí, a bit,” Julieta dried her hands on her apron and cupped Mirabel’s cheek. “Just tell them. Explain you’ll only be gone for a few days-”

“-Maybe a week?” Mirabel shrugged. Her mamá winced but nodded acceptingly.

“Maybe a week; and then you’ll be back! Just a nice, little, break!” Her free hand rubbed Mirabel's shoulder. “All you have to do is tell them.” Mirabel rolled her eyes.

“Pft, assuming Abuela will let me.”

Julieta sighed. Her mother could be hard on her bebé. Had been, ever since… She shook the thought off.

“All I can ask is that you try, querida,” Julieta made sure to catch her daughter’s eye. “For me?”

Mirabel took a deep breath before releasing it in a sigh. She gave her mother a small smile. “Okay, Mamá.”

“Gracias, mija,” the healer pulled her in for a grateful hug, grinning when Mirabel easily returned it.

“I’ll tell them I’m leaving during breakfast,” Mirabel said, chin hooked over her mother’s shoulder. The duo were drawn out of their hug by a sharp ‘Hmp!’ coming from the entryway to the kitchen.

Turning their heads revealed to them Dolores, standing there looking… a bit shocked, before she blinked and scurried off.

“Ugh,” Mirabel dug her face into her mother’s shoulder with a groan, making the older woman chuckle.

“Well,” Julieta smiled, “That’s one down?”

“Yeah,” Mirabel mumbled, not leaving her position, “Just seven more to go.”

Breakfast was its usual noisy affair, made even more chaotic by the inclusion of several of Antonio’s new ‘friends’. Still Mirabel didn’t mind the chaos too much; she was more focused on trying to corner her prima and somehow convince to hold her tongue, at least for a bit.

She wound up wasting a few minutes talking to Camilo-shifted-as-Dolores in a bid to get seconds. Luckily she’d been vague enough that all he knew was that Dolores had heard something Mirabel didn’t want shared by anyone but herself. Not particularly interested, he shrugged it off and carried his precariously stacked plate to the table.

Then her good fortune continued, as it seemed that Dolores didn’t seem too eager to share her news just yet; opting to quietly eat her breakfast as usual. Though her prima did keep giving her odd looks that Mirabel couldn’t quite figure out.

As everyone else took their seats, Mirabel took a deep breath. Julieta gave her a warm smile from her seat next to her. She opened her mouth to get everyone’s attention-

-and could feel the moment her luck ran out.

“Everyone,” Abuela called, standing at the head of the table before Mirabel could get out so much as a syllable, “I have an announcement to make.”

“Shoot,” Mirabel mumbled quietly.

“I have spoken to the Guzmáns about Mariano’s proposal to our Isabela.” Mirabel couldn’t hold back a sigh and an eye roll. Of course Abuela would make an announcement about Señorita Perfecta right when she was about to say that she was leaving for a few days. She caught her mother’s eye, asking silently if she really had to say it now? And follow up to that?

Julieta grimaced sympathetically but patted her hand, the message clear. She still had to do it.

Mirabel groaned again.

“Mirabel!”

Mirabel flinched. “Sí, Abuela?”

“Is there a reason you see fit to interrupt me?”

“No! Abuela. I was just-”

“Then please be quiet,” Abuela stated sternly. “This is going to be a big night for Isabela. At least try to be happy for your sister.”

Mirabel opened and closed her mouth several times, but by the time she had thought of something to say, Abuela had moved on to reiterating how much they had to give back to the community. She felt her mother tense up beside, clearly about to say something but Mirabel stopped her with a hand on her forearm.

One more try…

“Actually,” she called, standing up and interrupting Abuela’s spiel about never taking their gifts for granted. “There is something I wanted to say.” Abuela gave her a hard look, her patience clearly wearing thin with her youngest granddaughter.

“Is it something that concerns the whole family?” the matriarch asked, making Mirabel flounder slightly.

“Uh- well- technically no? But-”

“Then it can wait until after breakfast,” Abuela dismissed with a hand wave.

“But-” Mirabel felt the words die in her throat as Abuela threw her another shrewd look that promised trouble if she kept pushing. She sighed and sat back down. Oh well. “Yes, Abuela. Lo siento.” Abuela accepted her apology with a nod and continued on.

She could feel her mother wanting to say something, anything, but Mirabel just smiled at her softly with a shrug. She knew that something like this would happen, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant. Across the table, Mirabel caught Dolores giving her a sympathetic look. Almost guilty. Next to her Isabela was giving her a strange look as well. Not really knowing how to respond to either of them, Mirabel chose to focus on her breakfast instead. She was going to need her strength.

Especially for what she had to do before she left.

“You’re leaving?!” Antonio said, lip already began to quiver as his eyes grew wet.

“Just for a little while!” Mirabel assured him, kneeling down to his eye level. “I’ll be back! I promise.”

“But- but- I didn't get to finish showing you my room!” he dropped the coati he’d been holding when she’d finally gotten him alone after breakfast. “I tried to find you last night, but tía said you’d already gone to bed!”

Mirabel winced. In her excitement over her trip, she’d completely forgotten to even wish Toñito so much as a good night, nevermind congratulations over his new gift. She’d wanted to, as soon as his door had opened, but then everyone had rushed past her and then the photo…

“Did…did I do something wrong?” He asked, voice as small as she’d ever heard it, but still more than capable of tearing her heart in two.

“No! Of course not!” Mirabel said, dragging him in for a hug he eagerly returned. “This has nothing to do with you, entiende hombrecito?” She leaned back, just enough to wipe away a few errant tears off his cheek, and plastered a wide smile on her face. “And besides! You have so many new friends to meet! You’re going to be busy learning all of their names- wait. Are you naming them or do they already have names?” Mirabel asked, genuinely curious.

Antonio sniffled dejectedly. “They do. But I can’t pronounce them.”

“Well then you’ll just have to ask them what you can call them so that they know who you’re speaking to!” Mirabel suggested. “And I bet by the time you’ve figured it out with all of them~” she tickled his tummy, drawing out a wet giggle, “-I’ll be back from my little trip!”

Antonio’s giggles dwindled as she took both of his hands in hers. He looked down, taking in the sight of his small hands inside of hers.

“And…you will be back…right?” he asked, looking up at her with his wide brown eyes.

“Of course I will,” she swore, gently leaning her head against his. “I could never leave you, Antonio. Not forever.” He wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, burying his head under her chin. Her arms encircled him in turn, squeezing him as tight as she could as if doing so would relieve him of all his sadness.

“Promise?”

“Lo prometo, Toñito,” she whispered into his hair. “I promise.”

Antonio insisted on seeing her off at the front door and Mirabel didn’t even entertain the idea of saying no. They walked hand in hand to find her parents patiently waiting, Agustín holding up her bag so that she could easily sling the straps over her shoulders.

“I added a few extra arepas in the side pocket for your walk,” Julieta said, putting on a brave face.

“Gracias Mamá,” Mirabel smiled as she readjusted one strap.

“Have you decided on where you’re headed yet?” her pá asked, smiling proudly, if a bit misty eyed, at her. His little girl; off on her own little adventure. Dios was he terrified.

“I’m thinking of trying to find that little pool and clearing we found a while ago?” she grinned, the excitement for her trip beginning to take over. “The one with the waterfall?”

Agustín whistled lowly. “That’s all the way at the other end of the valley. Are you sure you can get there before nightfall?”

“Sí Papá. I know I can!” Agustín chuckled at his daughter’s enthusiastic determination, drawing her in for a hug that Julieta quickly joined.

“Be careful, mi vida,” Julieta breathed, leaning back to cup her youngest’s cheek. Mirabel put her hand over her’s.

“I will,” she promised, pulling them back for one more hug.

“Bye Mirabel…” Antonio said, latching hard around her legs in another hug. He didn’t like that his favorite prima was leaving, but he understood enough that this was something she had to do. Something important, like the heroes in the stories she told him before they went to sleep at night.

“See ya later, Antonio,” Mirabel replied, hugging him back. He eventually let go, but didn’t get more than a step away before she drew him back in for a proper hug and a “Last squeeze!” making him giggle as intended.

Letting him go again, Mirabel stood up and was surprised to see Dolores standing there.

“Sorry you didn’t get a chance to tell everyone,” Dolores said, shrugging sadly.

“It’s okay,” Mirabel assured her. “Thanks for not telling.” Her prima smirked at her.

“I’m better at keeping secrets than you think.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Mirabel teased.

“Things about rats that would make your jaw drop,” Dolores replied coyly, before her face grew more serious. To Mirabel’s astonishment, the older girl stepped forward and pulled her into a hug of her own, wrapping her arms above Mirabel’s backpack. It took a second but Mirabel managed to return the gesture, though she couldn’t do anything about the confused curve of her brow.

“Be safe out there, okay?” Dolores whispered into her ear. “I can hear all of the Encanto but it gets harder along the edges.” She pulled back and caught Mirabel’s eye, hands resting on her youngest prima’s shoulders. “If you need help; yell. Loud as you can. Okay?”

Mirabel blinked, more than a little confused. She knew, objectively, that Dolores cared about her, just like she cared about everyone else in the family. But to go as far as to seem…sad, at her leaving? And wishing her to be safe?

She felt so touched she thought she might cry.

“I will,” Mirabel promised with a soft smile. “Hopefully I won’t need to, but if I do, I'll yell til the donkeys come home.”

Dolores rubbed at Mirabel’s shoulder before taking a step back. “Gracias.”

Mirabel took a deep breath and released it with a whoosh. The excitement started to build up again.

“Alright! I’m off!” She smiled at everyone and started walking out the front door, only to spin around to smile up at the front of the house. “Hasta luego, Casita! Take care of everyone for me, will ya?”

Casita fluttered several sets of tiles in response, waving goodbye sadly with the nursery’s window shutters. Mirabel waved back and turned back around.

“Mirabel!” Julieta called out, making her youngest pause and look back over her shoulder curiously. There were so many things she wanted to say: she was going to miss the engagement party, couldn’t she stay one more night? Couldn’t she take her father or Luisa with her? Couldn’t she- couldn’t she- couldn’t she-

It was a Herculean effort, but she managed to swallow all of those words down. They weren’t about Mirabel anyway; they were about her.

Instead, she smiled and said, “Have fun on your trip, querida!” shoving as much enthusiasm and love as she could into her words.

“Ay! And don’t forget to check the branches above you before you set up camp!” Agustín added, wrapping an arm around his wife’s shoulder. Mirabel laughed and waved again.

“I will!” She turned and started walking again.

“And watch out for raised roots!”

“Got it!”

“And don’t let your feet stay wet for too long!”

“‘Kay.”

“And-”

“PÁ~!” Mirabel groaned, throwing her head back over-dramatically. She turned back to face them once again, annoyed pout on her lips making her look more cute than disgruntled in Julieta’s eyes. 

“Sorry, sorry! Just-” Julieta took her turn wrapping an arm in comfort around him and he sighed. “...Be careful, okay?”

Mirabel’s face softened. “I will, Papá. I learned from the best after all.”

“Who?” Antonio asked. Agustín puffed out his chest proudly.

“Me. She learned from me!”

Antonio stared wide-eyed at his tío before yelling after his cousin, “Mirabel please don’t die!”

Everyone laughed as Agustín spluttered his protest and defense of his outdoor skills.

Laughter still trickling from her mouth, Mirabel waved one last time before finally, truly, setting out. Her family watched her turn partway down the path between town and Casita; set on going around the village in an attempt to avoid several stalling questions from people on where she was going.

There was a chance people would have stopped her just to ask about her attire– a blouse and skirt combo that looked blank and plain compared to her usual embroidered style –let alone the pack on her back. And she had been delayed enough as is.

Still, Mirabel couldn’t help but tilt her head back and take in a deep breath of sun-warmed air. Excitement tingled it’s way up her spine and down again to her fingers and toes. She grinned at a perfectly blue sky; she was doing this! Really doing this!

Giggles bubbled up her throat and she couldn’t help but break out into a slight jog, her face splitting wide with a smile.

“This,” she grinned, “is gonna to be awesome! ”

“This is gonna take forever …” Antonio moped, chin resting on the table as he slouched in his seat.

“You’ll get there, Toñito,” Dolores assured him, writing on a piece as she sat next to him. “No te preocupes.”

As soon as Mirabel had left their sights, Antonio had jumped straight into naming all of his new friends. Dolores had offered her assistance, not really feeling like being alone at the moment. Her brother had immediately put her to work writing down all of the names he came up with. Most of the page she was on was already covered in her scrawl; listing names like Parce the jaguar, Pico the toucan, and Joaquin the capybara.

They still had a lot of animals to go, and poor Antonio was already running short on names and optimism.

“Ay, Toñito, don’t slouch at the table,” Abuela admonished gently as she walked into the kitchen.

“Sorry Abuela,” he replied, flopping back against his chair instead.

“What’s wrong, niño?” Alma asked, noticing his unusually blue mood.

“He misses Mirabel,” Dolores answered, rubbing her hermanito’s shoulder.

Abuela made an odd face, but soon swapped it with a warm smile. “Ay, don’t worry, Toñito. I’m sure she’ll be here for lunch any minute!”

To her distress, rather than soothe her youngest grandson, he looked like was about to burst into tears. His jaguar moved closer than he had been before and laid his head on Antonio’s lap, prompting the boy to begin petting him.

“Mirabel won’t be home for lunch,” Julieta called from where she stood at the stove stirring soup, not bothering to turn around. “She left for a trip.”

“What?” Abuela blinked, eyes wide and jaw falling ever so slightly. She stared at her eldest child’s back as if she’d suddenly grown a pair of wings and a tail.

“I said, she left for a-”

“Sí sí- I heard you. What do you mean she left for a trip?!” Julieta turned her head to catch her mother’s eye.

“Mirabel said she needed a break, so she decided to go camping for a few days.”

“A few days?!”

“Maybe a week,” Julieta shrugged nonchalantly. “She wasn’t sure, but she promised to yell to Dolores if she winds up taking longer than seven.”

“Ay that girl,” Abuela rubbed her forehead, eyes closed and expression pinched. “Leaving today of all days!” Opening her eyes she nearly glared at her daughter, arms akimbo, “Why was I not informed of this?”

“She tried to tell everyone at breakfast but you told her to save it until afterwards,” Dolores chimed in, her calm voice holding the barest hint of an edge. “It took her a bit just to tell Antonio and she was losing daylight, so she just left.” Abuela spluttered for a moment before regaining her composure.

“Well, then she should have tried harder. Honestamente, leaving without my permission, and on the day of her sister’s engage-”

“She didn’t need your permission -” Julieta all but growled, spinning away from the stove to stare her mother down. “-She had mine. And that is all she needed.”

“Wha- but- Julieta-”

“No, Mamí,” the healer snapped. “Mirabel needed this. She needs a break. She’s tired and worse than that she’s hurting. She’s hurting and there is nothing I can do to fix it! ” Julieta took a deep breath, willing the tears that had risen to her eyes to subside. “If she thinks that being away from all of this-” she swept her hand around the kitchen, “-will help, then I’ll give her all the time in the world. And do you know why?!” She stepped forward and got closer to her mother's face than she ever had when she was a teenager.

Alma’s mouth flopped like a land-stranded fish and took an involuntary step back in the face of her usually calmest child’s quiet fury.

“Because I would rather Mirabel be away for a week than away forever,” a traitorous tear streaked down one cheek, and Julieta flicked it away. “...I already failed my brother, failed to give him what he needed to keep from losing his way in this family. I will not fail my daughter in the same way. She wants a break, she gets a break; no matter how much it breaks my heart!”

Words spent, Julieta spun on her heel and returned to cooking, uncaring that she left her mother standing flabbergasted in the middle of the kitchen. 

After several moments, Abuela shook herself back into place, hands folded, and looking the picture of calm and collected.

“Alright. Mirabel is on a trip,” nodding as if she had complete control of the situation, Alma turned and left the kitchen; forgetting that she had just come home for lunch.

Dolores and Antonio, and his entourage of animals, remained seated at the table, staring wide eyed and slack jawed, utterly awed by what they had just witnessed.

“Whoa…” Antonio whispered while Dolores let out a small squeak.

Julieta flinched, staring at her sobrinos in surprise as she felt her cheeks darken in embarrassment. She’d completely forgotten she’d had an audience to her little…’speech’.

Clearing her throat she called out, gently, “Mijos, would you mind grabbing the bowls? Lunch is almost ready.” Both quickly stood up, Dolores clearing the table of paper while Antonio’s friends scattered, several coatis making their way to the cabinet that held the dishes.

“Ay, Antonio!” Julieta winced, seeing them do so, “Tell your friends to wash their…paws, first?”

“Okay, tía!”  he replied, already herding all of them towards the sink.

Ay Dios, Julieta thought as various critters scuttled around her. Maybe my daughter has the right idea about breaks…

Chapter Text

Madrigals began to trickle in just as Julieta set out the last of the dishes for people to serve themselves from. After the usual banter and small talk, everyone took their seats and started eating.

Well; almost everyone.

Pepa frowned as she took note of the empty spot at the table. And it only grew as she realized that while there was one unclaimed plate, there were two faces missing from lunch.

“Juli,” she asked as her sister finally stopped fussing about everyone’s food and took her own seat, ”Where are Luisa and Mirabel?”

Julieta blinked, finally noticing her middle child wasn’t among them. “I’m not sure… Dolores do you know where Luisa is?” she asked her sobrina. Dolores cocked her head obligingly.

“She’s rerouting the river for Señora Ozma,” she answered plainly before returning to her soup.

“Oh. She must have lost track of time,” Julieta stared in the direction of the river, as if she could see her daughter. “I hope she remembers to join us when she’s done.”

“And Mirabel?” Pepa cocked an eyebrow; Luisa still working unexpectedly didn’t explain why there was only one extra spot at the table. Before Julieta could explain, Antonio jumped in.

“Mirabel’s gone. She left this morning,” he stated point blank.

“WHAT?!” Pepa shrieked, a near black storm cloud immediately poofing into existence over her head with a crack of thunder.

Mirabel paused mid-step, one foot still raised off the ground, as a peal of thunder rolled up from behind her. Half-turning back, she checked the skies and wind for signs of a storm. Not seeing any dark clouds rolling over the mountain edged horizon, she concluded that the most likely culprit was her tía.

For a brief moment, she wondered if her aunt had just learned she’d left and was upset about it...

“Snrk- nah!” Mirabel snorted, shaking her head. “She probably just tripped again. …Hm, hope she’s okay…”

She thought about it for a moment, then shrugged; there wasn’t anything she could do from here. Furthermore, she was on vacation. Resuming her walk, Mirabel relaxed with the knowledge that if something was wrong her tío Félix or someone else would soon set it to rights.

“On a trip!” Julieta exclaimed, grabbing a jug of juice before it could be knocked over by the winds Pepa had conjured up. “She’s gone on a trip and will be back in a week!”

“Oh! Oh…,” Pepa sighed in relief, giving Félix a soft smile as he quickly put her dinnerware back to order. 

“Antonio, maybe you should add the ‘trip’ part when people ask you where Mirabel is, okay?” Dolores explained to her brother with a gentle smile.

“Okay. Why?” Antonio cocked his head.

“So you don’t give people heart attacks,” Camilo deadpanned.

“Where did she go?” Isabela asked, still shaking off the shock of learning her youngest sister wasn’t… here.

“Do you remember that little waterfall we found a few years ago?” Agustín answered, “With a little clearing right next to it?”

“The one that’s on the other end of the valley?” Isabela asked, wide-eyed in surprise.

“Mhm,” he nodded. “She should be nearly halfway there at this point. …Hopefully.”

“And she just left?” Félix asked his cuñado, “On the day her sister is set to get proposed to?”

“She’d already made plans when she learned of the engagement dinner this morning,” Julieta answered for her husband, before looking at her eldest. “And while she’s sorry to miss it she didn’t want to delay her trip any longer. Lo siento, honey, I know this is a big night for you.”

Isabela smiled reassuringly at her mother, “It’s fine Mamá; if she’d already made plans then she’d already made plans.”

“That’s right,” Abuela stated, deftly cutting into her meal. “If Mirabel didn’t see fit to stay for her family then that is on her.”

“Mother-” Julieta hissed but Alma cut her off.

“The dinner will go on as planned, Isabela will be proposed to by Mariano, and that is final.” The look on the matriarch’s face would allow no arguments to the contrary and the family quietly submitted to that, returning to their lunch and previous conversations.

No one dared to acknowledge the hole that was left; far greater in size than a lone empty chair or a plate that was left unused in the cabinet.

Later

Isabela sighed as she moved through town, calling up blankets of flowers whenever requested. She did her best to keep her ‘everything is fine and I’m happy’ smile on her face, but apparently her best wasn’t good enough.

“Isabela?” Mariano asked as he approached her as she bloomed flowers up along someone’s balcony, “Is everything alright?”

“Of course,” she acknowledged, waving to the thankful homeowner before turning to face her future-betrothed politely, “Everything is…wonderful! How are you?”

“Oh! I’m fine! Thank you for asking,” he smiled before his brow furrowed again, “I’m sorry, it’s just…you seem…sad, today?”

Isabela mentally kicked herself even as she remained outwardly poised. Today– well, tonight really –was her engagement! Of course she shouldn’t look sad; she should be thrilled! She was getting set to marry ‘a fine young man’, after all.

She opened her mouth to assure him again that everything was just fine...when she had an idea. It was a long shot, but if she played it just right…

Isabela allowed her shoulders to slump, just a little, and bowed her head with a sigh, eyes closed and the barest hint of a pout; the picture of restrained sadness.

“Isabela?” She could practically hear the concern in his eyes as well as his voice as she looked up with a smile she knew didn’t reach her own eyes.

“I’m sorry, it’s just–” she paused to bite her lip, making herself look conflicted, “–my sister, Mirabel? She left for an impromptu camping trip this morning.”

“Really?” Mariano’s brow furrowed even more, “By herself?”

“Yes, and she’ll be fine!” Isabela rushed to explain, playing the ‘concerned but trying not to be sister’, “I know she will; Papá taught all of us how to survive in the wild. It’s just…I don’t blame her for leaving, after yesterday…”

Mariano winced, “Ay…I know she loves Antonio– they’re always laughing together when I see them around town –but I’m sure it was still hard…” He trailed off, not able to say the obvious. Dios he was really sweet and compassionate, wasn’t he?

“Of course,” Isabela agreed, “So I can’t be upset at her for taking some time for herself-” However selfish it actually is, she internally growled, “-but…no, it’s silly. Forget it,” she turned away, making like she was leaving and did her best to hide her grimace as she felt Mariano– very gently –take her hand to stop her.

“No, what? If it’s upsetting you then it’s not silly.” She bit her lip, though mindful of her lipstick.

She held her ‘conflicted expression’ for a beat more then said, “It’s just that I wanted my family to be there for the engagement. My whole family,” she reiterated, “And it’s silly because it’s only the engagement! There will be so many other events I know Mirabel will be here for: like the dress fitting, the rehearsal, the wedding itself- ”

“But you want your whole family to be there,” Mariano stated, understanding blooming in his eyes. Isabela gave him a smile and scrunched her eyes like she was holding back tears.

“Like I said,” she shrugged, “Silly.”

“Do you know when Mirabel is coming back?” he asked and Isabela could have pumped her fist in satisfaction; he was taking the bait!

Outwardly she furrowed her brows as if thrown by the slight, ‘unexpected’, turn of the conversation, “I think she said a week? Maybe two?” Mariano smiled and nodded his head decisively.

“Bueno. Then we’ll just postpone the engagement dinner until the day she gets back.” He frowned for a moment, then amended, “-Or maybe the day after; I’m sure she’ll be tired from her trip. I’ll explain everything to my mother, I’m sure she’ll understand!”

Yes! “No, Mariano,” Isabela ‘argued’, “I can’t ask you to do that-” he cut her off by bringing her hand up and pressing the faintest of kisses on her knuckles.

“Isabela, I have waited a lifetime for this, for you ,” ugh, why was he so sweet, “In the face of that? A few more weeks is nothing .” Mariano’s eyes lit up and he dropped her hand to pull a small notebook from his pocket. “Ooh, that wasn’t half bad…” he said, jotting something down and mumbling to himself, leaving Isabela to stare at him for a few moments.

“...Ahem,” Isabela cleared her throat delicately, making him snap his head back up to her. “Your mother?” she nudged.

“Ah! Yes!” He snapped his notebook shut and shoved it back where it belonged. “I’ll go tell her right now!” Mariano snapped his fingers, “And I’ll tell your mother as I pass her in the square! I’d hate to have her start making a fancy meal when we aren’t even coming!” With a wave good-bye, he spun on his heel and strode away to apparently do just that.

Isabela watched him go and let out a simple sigh that belied the complicated mass of emotions she felt.

He was kind, warm, and undeniably attractive. He was not the smartest man in town– she’d once overheard him struggle to find a word that rhymes with ‘flower’; for an hour, and it took a bit of power for her not to glower lest she made the mood sour. But he more than made up for it with his compassion and enthusiasm to help others. He was practically perfect and would fit right in with the rest of her family.

So why couldn’t she love him?

She shook her head and chastised herself. No, she didn’t love him yet. She could and would learn, and she’d just bought herself more time to do so!

In the past few years Isabela and Mirabel had gained a tendency to butt heads– her, forced into a ‘perfect’ mold, while Mirabel got to live freely and had the audacity to be ungrateful about it! Here Isabela was, putting aside her own feelings for the sake of her family, and Mirabel didn’t seem to grasp that that included her too! Marrying whoever Abuela picked out for her would mean that the rest of the grandkids, Luisa and Mirabel especially, would probably be free to love who they chose to love.

But did Mirabel get that? NooOOOooo .

So overall, Isabela was rather pleased with how the day had turned out, even if it was because of her youngest sister. She got to have one more week of being as free as she was ever going to be and she didn’t have to worry about tripping over her hermanita while she did so.

With a flip of her hair that sent more petals fluttering into the breeze, Isabela continued her walk through the town.

Have fun, hermanita! Isabela thought with a smile, allowing some of her true feelings to show. And take as much time as you need. Afterall, I can’t miss you if you’re not gone!

As a matter of fact, Mirabel was having fun. She’d found a natural grove of pitaya trees and had stopped to have a late lunch of the tasty fruit, opting to save her mothers’ cooking for emergencies.

At the moment she was using the flat edge of her knife to carve out chunks of the fruit’s ‘meat’ to eat; too lazy to dig out the spoon she had tucked away in her bag. While she did so she stared at the still-whole fruits, contemplating the best way to embroider them.

A fir stitch would be best, she thought, cheek bulging as she chewed, But do I want the colors to jump straight from magenta to green or do I want a color in the middle to act as a gradient? Or maybe an actual gradient...

Taking another bite, Mirabel eyed the sun’s location in the sky. She’d been making good time but only had a few more hours until it would dip below the mountains. She would have to start moving again soon. Finishing off the pitaya in her hand, and storing more for the rest of her trek, Mirabel brushed off her skirt and resumed hiking.

As she walked, she wondered how things were going back home. It was just about time for afternoon tea.

“I hope Luisa remembers to stop to eat something,” she wished as she carried on towards her destination.

Luisa stretched her shoulders with a groan as she dropped off one last pallet of bricks for the construction of a new house that was planned for tomorrow. Rubbing her neck, she glanced around and was surprised to find the town quieting down as people said their good-byes and returned home.

Well it makes sense, she thought as she looked up at a twilight-hued sky, It is dinnertime after all…

“Ay Dios, dinner! ” Luisa panicked as she started sprinting for home. She’d completely forgotten about Isabela’s engagement dinner! She’d just gotten so caught by this request and that task, that she’d barely even seen a glimpse of any of her family all day–

Luisa blinked as it occurred to her just how odd that was. It was normal for her chores to take her all over the place, including way out into the fields outside of town, so she didn’t run into her familia all that often.

But more often than not Mirabel had a habit of running into her . More specifically, she seemed to be the one who would make an effort to find Luisa when it was time to go home for lunch, or sometimes just to have a snack or cup of coffee with her.

Luisa’s rumbling stomach startled her into almost stumbling; chiming in as if to point out that not only has she not seen her little sister since breakfast, but that she also hasn’t had anything besides a lone piece of fruit to eat since then either. And that had been, what? Several hours ago?

Around lunch time, she thinks.

When Mirabel would usually call her back home, but hadn’t.

A heavy feeling began brewing in her stomach as she finally reached Casita’s front door, and Luisa didn’t think it was just hunger.

Reducing her sprint to a light jog, Luisa entered her home and made a beeline for the kitchen, predictably finding her mother standing at the stove. As soon as she saw her, Luisa began spouting apologies.

“Mamá I’m here- I’m so sorry I’m late; the donkeys got out again, then I rerouted the river, then I had to go to the quarry and I completely lost track of time and have you seen Mirabel anywhere-”

“Luisa, Luisa! Calm down, it’s okay,” Julieta assured her daughter, leaving her pots and pans to grab one of Luisa’s flailing hands. “You’re not late for anything, I was just putting the finishing touches on dinner.”

Luisa’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Oh good. I was afraid I missed dinner with the Guzmáns.”

“You didn’t because it got canceled,” Camilo drawled as he walked past her carrying plates for the table.

“Wha- canceled? What?!”

“Oh, Isabela and Mariano decided to postpone the engagement party until after Mirabel comes back,” Julieta explained, only succeeding in making Luisa even more confused.

“Back? Back from where? Mira’s not here?”

“ Ay mija, I’m so sorry!” her mother apologized, “I haven’t seen you since breakfast so I completely forgot to tell you- wait, have you eaten since breakfast?”

“Wha- no but that’s not-”

“Luisa Madrigal, if the next words out of your mouth are ‘that’s not important’, I am going to be very disappointed in you. Eating is important; especially when you work as hard as you do!”

“ Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” Camilo teased, catching the look on Luisa’s face that meant that that is very much what she was going to say.

“Stay out of this, Cami,” Luisa glared lightly before focusing wide eyes on her mother again. “Mamá, where is Mirabel?”

“Discuple, your sister left this morning on a little camping trip,” Julieta finally explained.

“She…left?”

“Gonna be gone all week,” Camilo called as he walked past again, arms precariously full of glasses this time.

Luisa felt her traitorous eyes begin to water. “She left…without saying good-bye?”

“Oh querida,” Julieta murmured as she wrapped her child in a hug as best she could, feeling Luisa’s arms automatically wrap around her in turn. “She wanted to, but ran out of time; she wanted to cross the whole valley by nightfall.”

“But- but-” But I didn’t get to say good-bye. I didn’t know I had to say good-bye. Did I do something wrong? Did I not do something?! Is it my fault- is she mad at me?! She’s my baby sister and I didn’t-

“Hey,” Julieta said gently, calling her daughter out of her spiraling thoughts. “She just needed a break; some alone time. That’s all . It has nothing to do with you or anyone else. Okay?” Luisa sniffled, but nodded her head. Julieta smiled softly at her, wincing slightly as she heard the pot behind begin to hiss; dinner. “Bueno. Now, go wash up. I’ll make your plate, so don’t feel like you have to rush.” 

Luisa nodded again, not trusting herself to speak, and released her mother so that she could make sure dinner didn’t burn. Shoulders drooping from more than just exhaustion, she turned and trudged her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Her mamá may have claimed Mirabel’s trip had nothing to do with her, but Luisa couldn’t help but disagree. In order to take a break you needed there to be something to be a break from.

Mirabel left on a trip by herself.

Mirabel needed a break from the family.

A break from her.

Somehow, someway, she’d become someone her baby sister had needed a break from.

Today alone Luisa had performed feats of strength that would have impressed Hercules.

But now she only felt like she’d failed someone she was meant to protect.

Chapter Text

Mirabel sang softly under her breath as she walked along the stream. 

She was making even better time than she’d hoped to! Largely because the river she’d had to cross earlier was extremely low, for some weird reason. As such Mirabel had been able to wade straight across it rather than walk down to a portion she knew had stepping stones, shaving a good hour off her trek. 

Munching on an arepa as she rounded a bend, Mirabel beamed as her destination finally came into view.

Before her was a large pool of water, a deep blue at its center, and edged by large flat rocks. It was fed by several small waterfalls that were set ablaze by the light of the dying sun as they fell. The right side was crowded with trees all along the edge of the water, but the trees on the left, where she was, were more spread out. Jogging forward Mirabel was thrilled to find everything was just as she remembered it the last time her family had come here.

Reaching level with the center of the pool, she made a sharp left turn and walked farther into the trees. 

“Should be right about…here!” Mirabel grinned as she came to a stop. Just within sight of the water was a small circle of trees with a couple of boulders walling off one side.

Her family’s campsite! She could almost see the exact spot where the firepit used to be.

Mirabel gave a whoop of triumph and slung her pack off of her shoulders and onto one of the smaller boulders; designating it as her ‘table’ for the foreseeable future. 

Rotating her stiff shoulders, she eyed the length of the shadows around her. She had maybe…thirty, forty minutes to sundown?

“Well! No rest for the weary!” Clapping her hands in self-encouragement, she began digging through her bag for what she would need.

“First order of business; shelter!” Pulling out a spool of rope and her bundled up hammock, Mirabel took a step back and peered carefully at the trees above her. She only really needed to check between two of them for dead branches that could very much put a damper on her trip if they fell on her in the night; but better safe than sorry. 

Taking note of one branch just off center of her site– she’d deal with it in the morning –Mirabel settled on two trees next to the boulders and got to work tying her hammock up where it would be out of the way of the wind. Hanging up the rain tarp was next after the hammock, and in short order she moved on to clearing out the firepit and lining the edges with rocks.

As the last light of the sun finally faded away, Mirabel let out a deep contented sigh. Standing in the center of her camp she couldn’t help but be very pleased with herself. Her “shelter” was all set up, she had a fire and a small lantern going, casting her temporary home in a warm glow. There was a decent pile of wood to keep her fire going until she was ready to sleep and her dinner was slowly cooking to perfection in a pot of boiling water over said fire.

Using her hammock as a chair, she sat down in it sideways and stretched her arms above her head and while her legs stretched out towards her firepit. She sighed as the fire warmed her bare toes. Leaning backwards, Mirabel could just make out a few specks of stars through the canopy. All around her the darkness beyond her little orb of light chittered and hummed with the sound of wildlife going about their nightly routines.

She grinned again. Day One of her trip had been a complete success! She’d crossed the whole valley– by herself, no less! –and had set up a campsite she’s sure her dad would’ve been proud of!

For a moment she pondered how her family was doing; dinner should have been underway by now. She hoped Antonio was doing okay…

Just as quickly as she had wondered, Mirabel waved the thought away, smiling softly.

New rule; no fretting allowed on vacation! Her favorite primito had the whole family with him plus all his new friends; he’d be just fine! He’s probably too caught up in the excitement of Isa’s engagement to even notice she’s not there.

“Let’s see…” she murmured instead as her pot began to simmer, “What should I do tomorrow?”

For the first part of dinner Isabela had to periodically remind herself not to look too happy about how the day had turned out. She was trying to keep up a "brave face" in the wake of Mirabel’s departure; after all, she was "so upset" at one of her family members not being present that she'd even postponed her own engagement dinner. She couldn’t look too thrilled about the results; it just wouldn't be proper.

But as dinner progressed, she felt her brow furrow the slightest bit as she took in the rest of her family. Dolores seemed to legitimately putting on a brave face, if only for Antonio’s benefit, focusing a lot of her energy on talking to him about this and that between actually eating. Isabela may not have even noticed the act for what it was if the mask didn’t slip on occasion. Fortunately every time Dolores’ smile failed to reach her eyes or she floundered for something else to say to distract Antonio, Camilo would then immediately jump in, drawing their brother’s attention to himself so that Dolores could have a chance to recenter herself.

They weren’t the only ones acting off at dinner either.

The rest of the adults were also forcing smiles; talking about mundanities such as how well her tía handled the weather today, despite the barest hint of a cloud shadowing her even now, or how the injuries mamá had healed had been fairly mild, mostly cuts and bruises. Although in the case of Abuela, her smile seemed to be hiding frustration rather than melancholy as the rest were.

But most concerning of all, was Luisa.

She’d plunked down into her seat only a minute after dinner had begun, mumbling an apology to Abuela for her tardiness when called out. She either wouldn’t or couldn’t make eye contact with anyone, and while she did start digging into the plate mamá had filled up for her, her movements were practically mechanical.

Scoop. Lift. Bite. Chew. Swallow.

And repeat.

Isabela wasn’t even sure she was actually tasting anything.

When Abuela was looking away, Isa leaned over to her sister and murmured, “You okay?”

-Bite. Chew. Swallow. Scoop. Lift. Bite. Chew. Swallow. Scoop-

“Luisa?”

“Huh?” she blinked and seemed to realize someone was trying to talk to her. “I’m sorry, what?”

Isabela furrowed her brow some more. “I asked if you were okay?”

“Oh- yeah. Sorry, yeah, I’m fine.” She dragged a free hand down one side of her face, casually rubbing at her eyes. “Just a, just a long day. That’s all. I’m fine. How, uh, are you?”

“...yeah I’m, I’m fine too.” 

Luisa nodded and went back to systematically clearing her plate.

Isabela didn’t believe she was actually okay. Even without seeing her eyes looking on the verge of spilling tears it was clear that something was bothering her. And it was abundantly clear that it was the same thing that was bothering everyone else, though no one dared acknowledged it.

One of their own wasn’t here.

And while Isabela knew the reason she couldn’t help but mull over why the reason existed in the first place while she chewed.

So Mirabel wasn’t here; so what? It was hardly the worst thing to have ever happened to their family. Their miracle itself was proof. And yet everyone was walking on eggshells like- 

-Isa choked on a bite of dinner and had to cough loudly several times.

Smiling and waving off several concerned voices, she demurely returned to eating even as her thoughts seemed to speed up to near frantic levels at her revelation. The fake smiles, the bland talking, the distinct non-acknowledgement of anything being amiss.

The family was acting the same as they had when tío left.

And, yes, Isabela could see the similarities- but this was different! Tío left without a word to anyone while Mirabel said goodbye! Alright, she only did it to, like, four people, but she had tried at least. And she had just left on a short trip; she was going to come back.

…

Right?

She wouldn’t just… leave leave? Never to see any of them again.

Like Bruno had.

Bruno gave a small sneeze as he shambled back into his dwelling behind the kitchen wall.

“Gah- snf . Darn plaster dust,” he rubbed his nose against his ruana as he plopped quietly into his seat by the cracked wall. It felt like he’d been scampering around Casita all day, patching and re-patching cracks. Jorge had made three batches of plaster and Hernando had even worked through lunch but it seemed like the job would never be done.

Bruno sighed and rubbed his neck as one of his rats nudged the remains of an arepa towards him. 

“Gracias mi amiguita,” he murmured, blowing off a stray hair from the snack. “Wonder what the family's been up to today…” Taking a bite, Bruno peered through the crack to see dinner already well underway.

Darn it, I’m late. Bruno knew it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but he still liked to be with the family when he could. And given that the majority of them were out and about the town most of the day, mealtimes were the best chance he had to see everyone.

Even if none of them knew he was there.

Heh, looks like Antonio really lucked out with his gift, Bruno chuckled as his youngest sobrino chattered excitedly with three different birds perched on his arm while Dolores and Camilo smiled encouragingly. He was happy for his nephew and prayed Antonio would stay that pleased with his gift for as long as possible.

“Ay Antonio, don’t forget to eat. You can chat with your…new friends later,” Abuela gently chided.

“Sí, Abuela.”

Oh, let him talk. Kid just got the best gift ever; let him use it for a bit of fun! Dios knows you make everyone else use theirs for work.

Taking another bite, Bruno dragged his gaze over his family. Across from Pepa’s kids were Isabela and Luisa. Isa seemed her usual self but Luisa… Something was definitely off. Not only was she not speaking to anyone, she seemed to be staring straight through the top of the table.

…Actually, now that he noticed it, it seemed like everyone was a bit off. Like if they weren’t smiling shallowly then they were just…bummed? Even Toñito seemed to droop if either of his siblings had to stop talking to him for a moment. 

Did something happen?

Hold on- wasn’t tonight the night Isabel was getting engaged to someone? Martín, Mario- Mariano! Right! This was supposed to be their engagement dinner! Mamá had gone on and on about it at breakfast; he even managed to hear her from the kitchen.

But he didn’t seem to be at dinner? Is that why everyone’s so…off? Did it get canceled? That would put a damper on things; especially if it wasn’t his mother’s call.

Ay, poor Isabela…she seemed like she was looking forward to it too… Oof, I hope Mirabel doesn’t tease her about it too much. Dios knows those two can bicker worse than Pepa and I when we were younger. …Okay maybe not quite as badly…

As he thought this, Luisa leaned forward to pass a bowl down the table– after being asked several times –and Bruno saw the chair on her far side for the first time.

Empty.

Bruno furrowed his brow. That was…odd. Finishing off the arepa, he dusted off his hands and looked around the table. Had they forgotten to remove the extra seat for Mariano?

Wait-

Where’s Mirabel?

He racked his brain, trying to recall if she’d been seated earlier and simply left dinner early– but, no, her place at the table hadn’t even been set.

Like they knew she wasn’t coming…

His eyes darted from Madrigal to Madrigal, forcing himself to take slow, even breaths. 

It’s fine. It’s fine. Maybe she just…decided to eat at a friend's house for once? He hoped, despite knowing that Mirabel never missed a meal with the family if she could help it. The girl had once tried to join while delirious with a fever.

Still there was a first time for everything. Right?

Then…he saw it.

It was quick. Barely more than a flash. But Bruno saw it. A brief, but sincere look of sadness. Flickering for just a moment, over everyone’s face, though never at the same time.

But all towards the same place.

Mirabel’s chair.

Something was wrong. Something had happened. But what? If she was hurt Juli would have healed her by now, or if ill then undoubtedly someone else would also be absent and sitting by his sobrina’s bedside keeping her company.

Which just meant- 

No…she wouldn’t!

But…he had seen how she was treated. How his mother treated her.

Ay Dios, Antonio’s ceremony was the last straw wasn’t it! And now, now his niece had followed his example!

Only she wasn’t hiding in Casita’s walls; he was sure of it!

Which meant only one thing; Bruno clasped a hand over his mouth to hide his wail of despair as best he could.

Mirabel had run away from home. And while the family was clearly trying to stay calm they knew it too! Dios had they all been out searching all day?!

Bruno curled into a ball in his chair, unheeding of his friends crawling on him trying to impart comfort.

He hadn’t known! What kinda uncle was he that he didn’t know one of his family was missing?!

A cowardly one, his mind thought traitorously, Who ran and hid in the walls to protect a little girl-

-and who still FAILED.

Bruno began rocking, rapping his knuckles in a knock every so often. What could he do- he had to do something!

But what?!

He froze and his squeezed shut eyes shot open wide.

…there was something he could do. Something only he could do.

…he’d sworn– well, more promised really –that he’d never do it again–

But this was for Mirabel.

He felt his spine straighten, just a little.

“...Okay,” Bruno dragged his hand through his hair. “Okay.” Tomorrow, he decided.

He would return to his room.

Chapter Text

Giggles fluttered through the air like the petals Isabela was throwing in the yard beside Casita. It was a gorgeous summer day and Julieta’s daughters were making the most of it; running around, chasing each other, and having a grand old time.

Isabela giggled as she climbed up onto the low patio wall and looked down at her sisters. Luisa, who was almost as tall as her big sister now, had her arms raised and was growling playfully as she pretended to be a monster and chased their baby sister around, making her shriek with laughter.

“Grargh! I’m gonna get you! Get you and make Mira-buñuelos! Yum!”

“Ah! Nooo!” Mirabel grinned, “Isa he’p!”

 “Never fear, fair maiden! I will save you!” Isabela said, striking a heroic pose. She jumped off the wall, keeping an eye out so she didn’t land on a stray rock–

–but when she looked up again, things were…different.

Gone were the loud giggles and shrieks that had filled the air only half a second ago, leaving behind a silence that seemed to almost suffocate Isabela. Even the sun was gone, tucked away behind a thick layer of clouds that had appeared from nowhere, faster than she’d ever seen her tía be able to conjure them.

And Mirabel was gone.

Isabela looked all around the yard but she didn’t see any sign of her. Finally she turned back to Luisa, looking up at the back of her sister’s head.

“Where’s Mirabel?”

“I don’t know,” Luisa said flatly, any trace of emotion just…gone.

“What do you mean- you were just playing with her?! She can’t have just disappeared!”

“She didn’t disappear,” Julieta said as she chopped vegetables at the kitchen counter. “She left.” Chop, chop, chop.

“Left? Wha-no, why would she leave?”

“You know why.” Chop, chop, chop. Up and down went the blade. Never stopping or slowing.

Even when there were no more vegetables to cut.

“No- I-I don’t know,” Isa swore, taking a step back from her mother but stopping when she bumped into her father.

“But you do,” he said, in front of her now even though neither had moved. “You do know why she left.”

“I-”

Chop chop chop

“What’s more,” Dolores glared from her spot in the corner, “You’re happy about it.”

“You’re happy our sister is gone,” Luisa called from the mountaintop, tears trailing down her cheeks into waterfalls.

“No-

“You’re going to use her as an excuse to put off marrying Mariano forever.”

“No-”

Chop chop chop

“Abuela wants those five great-grandchildren-”

“No-

Chop chop chop

“Mirabel wasn’t doing anything for the family anyway-”

Chop chop chop

“You were embarrassed.”

Chop chop chop

“You were envious. ”

“Shut up!”

Chop chop chop

“Don’t worry, Isa,” Mirabel said calmly.

Isabela whirled around to see her standing in Casita’s front doorway, the space beyond the threshold filled with light. 

“I took your advice; I won’t be in the way anymore.” With an empty smile she turned and stepped out the door into the light.

“Mirabel!” Isa cried, bolting for the doorway, but the door slammed shut before her outstretched hand, cutting off all the light. 

“Mira! No! Mira, I’m sorry! Come back!” Isabela began banging against the door, frantic. With the door closed all light in the courtyard vanished until it was only Isa, the door-

-and the voices.

Chop chop chop

“Poor Antonio-”

Chop chop chop

“Your Mamá’s heartbroken-”

Chop chop chop

“You’re relieved she’s gone!”

Chop chop chOP

“No!”

Chop chOP CHOP

“Don’t lie, Isa-”

CHOP CHOP CHOP

“-after all-”

C H O P   C H O P   C H O P

“““–YOU’RE WHY SHE LEFT–”””

“MIRABEL!” Isabela screamed, bolting straight up in bed. She sat there, blinded by panic and chest heaving for several moments until–

Knock knock kn-knock!

She flinched, eyes wide, before realizing it was just someone knocking at her bedroom door. Isabela looked around her room; nothing was amiss. It was just her. Alone in her room at…she glanced at the clock by her bed and winced to see it was two in the morning.

The knocking came again. And she knew by the late hour and the rhythm of the knock that it could only be one person.

“I-I’m fine, Lola,” she called out quietly, hating how much her voice shook. “Just…just had a ba-bad dream. Go back to sleep. I’m fine.”

…Knock.

Isabela sighed, relieved to hear Dolores signal her acceptance of the dismissal.

Drawing her legs up to her chest, sheets and all, she wrapped her arms around them and buried her face into her knees; uncaring of how childish she looked.

She focused on her breathing, taking slow shuddering breaths. Even behind her squeezed shut eyelids, her nightmare played itself again and again and again.

It wasn’t true! She’s not the reason Mirabel decided to leave!

She’s not!

…right?

Mirabel woke up gradually, pieces of the world filtering into her mind bit by bit.

She first became aware of the not distant whispering of water as it danced against rocks. Then the faint smell of smoke and ash. And finally a gentle light against the outside of her eyelids.

Cracking one eye open, Mirabel took in the blurry world before her. Where she’d half expected to see the familiarity of her room, she saw instead dappling light tripping over shades of green that were different than what painted the walls of the nursery.

With a blink it all came back to her; the trip, the clearing, her camp!

Grinning, she stretched her limbs in all directions, her yawn fast turning into a giggle as the movement caused her to sway in her hammock. Scratching her head with one hand, she ran the other along the rope above her head until she found where she’d hung her glasses up the night before. Slipping them on, Mirabel sat up and took stock of her surroundings.

The sky was lightening up but the sun hadn’t made it past the eastern mountains yet. Swinging herself out of the hammock and snagging a small towel, Mirabel half stumbled towards the water’s edge. Kneeling on a large flat rock she pushed her glasses up onto her forehead before scooping up some water and washing her face.

“Phew! Brisk!” she grinned, wide awake now. Wiping her face dry with the towel, she sat back and just…took in the scenery.

Already birds were beginning their morning calls to one another, flitting from tree to tree not far from the Madrigal. Across the pool she could just make out the shape of a capybara getting a drink at the water’s edge. She worried about caimans for a moment but despite the waterfalls the water was crystal clear almost all the way to the riverbed.

She could even see several kinds of fish darting around and grinned as she came up with an idea.

“Never hurts to have a little extra food. And I do like fresh fish!” Plan in mind, Mirabel jumped up and started hunting for some reeds.

Dolores had been unnerved since yesterday. She’d spent the whole day from the moment Mirabel left Casita keeping an ear on her youngest prima. The half-dancing steps, swishing skirt and mumbled song Dolores associated with the girl grew fainter and fainter until around mid-afternoon when it seemed like they just poofed out of existence.

Dolores did her best to remain calm; she’d told Mirabel herself that she might wander outside of her hearing range. But knowing that and experiencing it were two very different things. She tried to remember if she’d been this anxious the last time tío had taken her primas to allegedly the same place; but it had been so long ago that she couldn’t recall.

And besides; they hadn’t made the trip alone.

With no other alternative, Dolores did her best to keep herself occupied; mostly by keeping Antonio occupied. Still, bedtime inevitably came, so she helped her mamí tuck her baby brother into his new bed and retreated back to her own room.

One thing she loved about her room was its ability to completely block off any sound from outside of it. There were days, more often than she would ever complain about, where everything just became too much.

Tonight, however, she made a point of turning the soundproofing all the way off. She wasn’t going to miss a certain someone calling for help just because Dolores needed a break.

She could handle a week of bad sleeping. For her prima.

Which is why when her other prima started tossing, turning, and mumbling in her sleep, Dolores was up and outside of her door before she’d even realized she’d moved. She knocked her signature knock and tried to recall the last time she’d heard Isabela have a nightmare. Probably that time tío Agustín decided they were old enough to hear a scary story.

Turned out that they weren’t and the two eldest grandchildren spent a good week secretly curled up in either one’s bed because their nightmares got so bad.

But that had been years ago, Dolores thought, knocking again. What could be scaring her so badly now?

She got her answer when a few moments later she heard Isa bolt up in her bed and call out her baby sister’s name in abject terror.

Ah. That’s what’s happening…

Knocking again, Dolores couldn’t help but droop when her prima lied and said she was fine and to return to bed. She knocked an acknowledgement and did go back to bed; but she didn’t sleep. Instead she stayed up, listening as Isabela tried to calm her own breathing. She could practically hear the thoughts bouncing around her head, even if she could only guess what the contents were.

As such, when the new day finally dawned, Dolores felt like a wreck, and she wasn’t alone in that aspect.

Not surprisingly, Isa looked like she hadn’t slept since Dolores’ knock, but oddly enough so did Luisa, her aunt and uncle, and even Camilo looked less awake than usual. As Madrigals slowly filtered out of their rooms, from her spot at the breakfast table Dolores was witness to them all coming to the same realization she had yesterday.

Casa de Madrigal was quieter than normal.

No rhythmic knocks had stirred them from bed– although they’d become accustomed to waking at this time regardless –no dancing steps or small whoops as a certain someone slid down the stairs. Even Casita itself seemed somber and quiet without Mirabel around.

It still helped, of course, getting out the ingredients for breakfast when Julieta asked, but it would simply…do its task and then go still. Dolores would even go so far as to say it was moping.

Breakfast itself was…normal. Except everyone seemed to be off half a step, either too fast or too slow. Dolores bumped into Camilo as she tried to get the plates out of the cabinet, nearly breaking them, Luisa almost dropped a bowl of food onto Antonio’s head as he scampered underfoot with some coatis, and tío somehow managed to burn his foot while trying to make coffee.

Through his shoes.

Eventually everyone settled into their seats and proceeded to look everywhere except at one empty chair.

Dios, this is going to be a week to remember. Dolores nibbled on her breakfast and took stock of everyone at the table.

Abuela was acting like everything was normal and Dolores did have the energy or capacity to deal with that at the moment, so she let her be. Her tíos, while clearly down about Mirabel’s absence, seemed to be handling it fairly well, as were her own parents. Camilo was entertaining Antonio, making exaggerated faces when Abuela wasn’t looking, so they were fine at the moment.

Which left her primas.

Luisa, while still looking stunned from yesterday, seemed to have recovered somewhat. She even gave a chuckle at Camilo’s impression of Señor Iglesias, the donkey keeper.

Isabela, on the other hand…

Yes, outwardly she looked fine, if a smidge more tired than usual, but Dolores knew Isabela; the two of them were practically sisters.

Isa was upset. And when Isa was upset-

“Thank you for breakfast, Mamá,” Isabela smiled gracefully as she politely excused herself from the table and headed out of Casita’s side door before anyone could really object.

-she would do that. Hide away from others and go off to sit by herself. Dolores sighed and fiddled with the remains of her breakfast. 

Knowing Isa, she’ll sit out there until she sorts herself out. But I don’t think this is something she can sort out alone… Dolores desperately wanted to go and talk to her but after this morning she was fairly certain Isabela doesn’t want to speak to her; not yet anyway.

But she needs to talk to someone…

Movement caught her eye as someone else stood up from the table and in a flash Dolores made a decision she silently prayed would end well.

“Luisa, do you have a moment?”

Isabela sat on the short wall surrounding Casita’s patio and just…stared. She knew she should get up and head into town but her head was still swimming after her little ‘revelation’ some hours earlier. She didn’t know what to do-

“Isa?” Luisa called softly, though her sister jumped slightly nonetheless, “Are you okay?”

Isabela immediately straightened her spine, smiled and opened her mouth to assure Luisa that ‘yes, of course I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?’–

–but…she couldn’t. More shocking than that; she realized she didn’t want to.

She didn’t want to hide this. Didn’t want to pretend. Didn’t want to lie. She was so tired of keeping things inside and lying.

So, for the first time in…a very long time–

–she didn’t.

“I…I don’t know,” she admitted. “I…didn’t sleep too well last night.”

“Yeah,” Luisa rubbed the back of her head as she continued to stand awkwardly at the patio’s edge. “Dolores mentioned something about that.”

“Heh, of course she did,” Isa laughed joylessly. “...I…I had a bad dream. A nightmare, actually. And…it’s made me think about some things…”

“Like what?”

Isabela opened her mouth, but just as quickly shut it again. She wanted to talk, Dios, she thinks she needed to, but…could she really put all of it onto her little sister? 

No…no she shouldn’t do that… She was the eldest, she had a job to do; and worrying and whining to her sister shouldn't be part of it.

Especially when Luisa was already holding so much.

“It’s-” she sighed, aggravated now but determined, “It’s a little complicated, and…and I don’t want to keep you from your chores.”

For a moment, she really thought Luisa was going to take the out that was offered. Her face became pained and the taller sibling looked towards town; Isabela could practically see the list of errands Luisa was meant to do fly through her eyes. But in a blink the struggle was gone and Luisa simply walked over and plopped down next to her older sister.

“...I can make time?” she offered, somehow managing to look determined and nervous at the same time; like she was worried she’d misread Isa’s words. Isabela blinked away unexpected tears and laid her hand on Luisa’s.

“Thank you.”

“Aw, de nada,” Luisa shrugged, scratching the back of her neck with the hand Isa wasn’t holding. “Bsides I… kinda overdid it with chores yesterday anyway. I’m practically all caught up for once.”

“Yeah, you were later than usual to dinner…” Isabela’s brow furrowed as she realized just how late Luisa had been. She’d noticed of course, but had really given it much thought.

Dios, she really was a terrible sister wasn’t she?

“What kept you yesterday, anyway?” she asked; partly out of curiosity, mostly out of guilt, and a little bit because she wanted to delay talking about her revelation for just a while longer. To her surprise, Luisa looked…embarrassed?

“I…I lost track of time,” she admitted, head drooping shamefully. “I got caught up in doing this and that and just- kinda forgot how to stop?”

“Wha…what do you mean, ‘forgot how to stop’?”

“I-ugh this is embarrassing-” 

“Lus, it’s me,” Isabela tightened her grip ever so slightly, trying to be supportive. “I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”

Luisa dragged both hands down her face, resting her elbows on her knees. She stayed like that for several moments until with her palms squashed against her face she mumbled, “Mm mused mu Mrrmamel meddin’ meh.”

“...Discuple, come again?”

“I said I’m used to Mirabel getting me!” Luisa cried; head tilted up to the sky and shoulders dropped as far down as they could go. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Getting you? I don’t-”

“She comes and gets me, okay!” Luisa turned to face Isa and- oh she actually was about to cry, wasn’t she? “-For dinner, for lunch, mierda even for just a tinto! She comes and gets me to-to take a break after I finish doing whatever, and we just sit and eat and talk for a bit before I go back to doing chores. She does it every day, Isa! And the worst-” she paused to sniffle and rub against one eye.

“-The worst part is that I didn’t even notice she was doing it! Until she didn’t yesterday because she left! She left and I didn’t even notice, Isa! How could I not notice?!”

Isa’s mouth dropped and she just…stared at Luisa. She had…no idea that Mirabel did that. It had never even occurred that it was something that needed to be done.

“Wait- wait wait wait; you’re saying you forgot to take a break because Mira didn’t remind you to?!”

“Snf -mhmm.”

“Luisa!”

“I know! It’s ridiculous! I’m her big sister! I’m the one who should be taking care of her; not the other way around!” Luisa sobbed, bottom lip quivering. A stray tear escaped and ran down her cheek.

At the sight of it, Isa felt something in herself kick into high gear. In half a moment she was up and standing in front of her little sister, arms wrapped tightly around her broad shoulders.

“Hey, hey hey, shh, it’s okay, you’re okay- boof,” Isabela’s words– and breath –were abruptly cut off as Luisa returned her hug; arms encircling her sister’s waist as she buried her face in Isa’s chest, trying to calm herself down.

Isa was having slightly more trouble breathing than she would have preferred, but she would be damned if she complained about it now. Instead she just readjusted her hold and started running her fingers along the top of Luisa’s head like she had when they were younger.

“It’s okay, I got you,” she mumbled softly. The two of them stayed like that for a while; Luisa trying to quiet her cries while Isabela murmured gentle reassurances into her ear.

How did it get this bad? How did I let it get this bad? Isa worried internally. All these years and not once had she really given much consideration to her sister’s work beyond noting the bigger feats like moving whole buildings. She’d never even considered how her breaks were; she’d just assumed…actually she hadn’t even assumed anything. It never occurred to her that Luisa would need to be reminded to take a break.

But Mirabel had.

Mirabel– her baby sister –had made a point of taking better care of Luisa than Isa had in years.

Dios mio…

“...I’m sorry…” Isa whispered; burying her own face into Luisa’s shoulder to hide the tears she felt filling her eyes. The unexpected apology was enough of a shock that Luisa abruptly stopped crying and pulled her head back enough to just…stare at her sister. Well, the side of her head at least.

“...snf…what?”

“I’m so sorry, Luisa,” Isa continued, refusing to lift her head. “I should have- I never- I  failed you! I-I failed both of you!” Her grip tightened around Luisa; rock steady even as her voice faltered.

“Isa-”

“I am your sister; I am the big sister to both of you and yet- hic- ” Luisa felt her sister’s slighter frame begin to shake and she realized Isabela was crying, “-and yet I never thought about checking on you! Not in years! What kind of sister does that?!”

“Hey, hey no- it’s not your fault!” Luisa changed her hold on Isa, practically dragging her into her lap. “You were busy too! The town relies on yo-”

“-That’s no excuse!” Isa’s head snapped back to catch Luisa’s eye; both pairs were red and glossy with tears. “I could have made time; I should have made time! But I didn’t; and for that, I am so, so sorry, Luisa.”

Luisa wanted to reply; she wanted to say it was okay, that she forgave Isa, that they would work it out.

But she was tired and exhausted in ways that she just didn’t know how to handle.

So, her lip quivered, and she once more buried her face into Isa’s chest with a sob.

The knot that had been tightening in her chest since yesterday evening loosened ever so slightly. Even more so when she felt Isabela increase the strength of her hold on her with a ferocity few would expect from the smaller woman.

They stayed like that for quite a while, taking turns quietly reassuring the other.

An eternity later, Luisa moved her head up and rested her chin on her sister’s shoulder.

“...Both,” she mumbled, brows furrowed.

“Hmm?”

“You said you failed both of us. Do you mean Mirabel?” Isa flinched, more than hard enough for Luisa to feel it.

Isa felt torn apart. She wanted to talk– knew she still needed to–

But after all these tears?

She couldn’t. She just couldn't.

Not yet anyway.

“It’s…a lot,” she eventually confessed, leaning back to wipe at traitorous tears. “And I just…don’t want to get into right now after… all that.”

Luisa drooped. “I’m sor-”

“Nope! Nuh-uh. None of that; don’t you dare apologize for having feelings Lus,” Isa stated resoundingly, leaving zero room for argument before softening again. “I’ll tell you, I swear. Just…not right now. All you need to know is that I’ve…I’ve messed up as your big sister. But! That is going to change! Starting with you!”

Extracting herself from Luisa’s hold, and using vines to haul her sister up onto her own feet, Isabela began steering her back into Casita.

“Uh, what?”

“First things first; you and I look terrible, so we’re going to get cleaned up,” she explained, a nearly excited gleam in her eye appearing as a plan formed in her mind. “And then I’m going to help you with your chores!”

“Yo-you are?! But-but what about your chor-”

“I think the town can survive one day without some pretty flowers. This is more important.” Isa stopped pushing and moved around so she could catch Luisa’s eye. “ You are more important.”

Luisa felt her lip quiver again– Dios could she go five minutes without crying, it wasn’t even nine in the morning yet! –but managed to hold in her grateful tears and simply nodded.

“Bueno!” Isa nodded and continued into the house; confident her sister was right behind her. “So; what chores do you have to do today?”

As Luisa began haltingly listing what she had planned, and boy was it a list, Isabela took a moment to acknowledge to herself that this wasn’t going to fix everything. Not overnight at least.

But it was a start, and for now that would have to do.

Chapter Text

Several muted taps could be heard before the painting next to Dolores' door quietly creaked open. It froze in place for a moment before Bruno's shaggy head poked out. He scanned around the upper floor for several seconds before slowly stepping over the threshold and out of his safe crawlspace.

He'd strained his ears earlier, impatiently waiting for his family to finish breakfast and then vacate Casita to begin their various chores and activities. It had felt like ages before the last set of footsteps had exited the front door, and he'd had to force himself to wait even longer to ensure no one returned for something they'd forgotten.

He nearly had a heart attack and was almost discovered when Isabela and Luisa marched back inside from seemingly nowhere.

Fortunately they’d both gone straight to and from the house’s bathroom; too busy chatting with each other to notice him frantically diving back into the walls.

He found it odd and more than a little irksome that they seemed to be almost happy at a time like this. But he had a job, a mission, to do; and he needed to get it done sooner rather than later.

He counted to three hundred before daring to try again. Then counted again. Just in case.

Satisfied that he finally had the house to himself, Bruno stepped out fully; taking care to close the painting quietly nonetheless.

"Casita," he whispered, moving silently around the balcony, "Please let me know if anyone is on their way home. Okay?" The floor tiles behind him clinked begrudgingly in agreement.

"Gracias," he nodded at them before continuing on.

Bruno tip-toed quickly around the edge of the second floor; darting quickly past his mother’s image on her door and around the corner– 

–before freezing in place. 

It wasn’t too often that Bruno ventured out of the walls, other than to restock his meager pantry or use Casita’s lone bathroom. He had...other methods in the walls, of course, but preferred to use them as an absolute last resort.

Still, he always took care to avoid this part of the second floor. For several reasons. Mostly to avoid the doors of his sisters and mother–

–but also to avoid his own door.

He’d been so focused on being quick and quiet that he was halfway up the stairs leading to his room before he knew it. And, unfortunately, now that he did know, he was kinda…stuck. Frozen in place for what felt like an eternity, and far from a happy one. He didn’t have a lot of ‘pleasant’ memories associated with his room, and being this close to it after over a decade had them all flooding back to him at once.

That time he predicted a loved one's death and got a broken nose as thanks.

The several times he’d slipped on his stairs and hurt himself.

That lady and her freakin’ goldfis-

“Tío?”

Bruno yelped and jumped into the air, nearly losing his footing and sliding partly down the stairs when he landed. Whirling around so fast his ruana wrapped around him tightly, he stared in terror as one of his worst nightmares came to pass.

He’d been seen.

Dolores stood just past the bottom step of his stairs, head cocked curiously at him. As Bruno’s mouth worked itself open and closed, like a dying gol– enough about the goldfish, Bruno – a part of his mind noted that while his sobrina did look surprised to see him, she didn’t look quite as surprised as she ought to. More like she expected him to be somewhere else, rather than finding him for the first time in ten years.

“Uh- guh- um-” As Bruno tried to remember how words worked, Dolores’ brow furrowed even more.

“What are you doing?” she asked; again, very nonchalantly for someone who just saw their long-lost uncle. Completely thrown by pretty much everything about this encounter, Bruno panicked.

And, as he was wont to do when panicking, he just said what was on his mind.

“I-I’m looking for Mirabel.” To his confusion, Dolores just looked more confused.

“But she’s not here?” she asked more than stated. “She left-”

“Yes! Sorry-” Bruno apologized when his yelp made her wince. “I mean- yes, I know she’s not here! I just- I can’t go looking for her, so, so I’d thought I’d try to…” he gulped, “-to have a-a vision. Se-see if that helps at all. With searching, I mean.”

“Searching… wha-Oh!” Dolores’ eyes went wide. “No no no! You misunderstand! Mirabel’s not missing; she went camping.”

Bruno stared at his niece.

Dolores stared at her uncle, the barest hint of an amused smile on her face.

“...Camping?” Bruno squeaked, one of his rats popping out onto his shoulder in response to the sound. 

“Camping,” Dolores nodded. “She needed a break so she took one.” She shrugged. “She promised to come back. Eventually.”

“...huh.” Well. That explained the lack of ‘freaking out’ he’d seen from his family since he’d heard.

Speaking of freaking out-

“Why aren’t you more surprised to see me?” he asked bluntly, still a bit in shock over…well, several things.

Dolores gave him a very unimpressed look and gestured to her ears.

“Hearing things is my gift. Plus you use the ‘door’ that’s right next to my room all the time.”

“Ah. Right… Wait- you knew?! This whole time?!”

This was how he died; his sobrina was just going to keep dropping truth-filled bombshells on him till his heart gave out. There was a bit of irony in there somewhere, he just couldn’t muster enough brain power to see it.

“I mean,” Dolores shrugged again, like she wasn’t giving her tío a minor anxiety attack, “I knew you were around, but I didn’t figure out that Casita had space behind the walls until a while after you left.”

“Wha- Bu- I mean-” Bruno floundered, completely perplexed that Dolores had known this the entire time. “Yo-you really went ten whole years without telling everyone where I was?”

Dolores sighed. “Why do people always think I can’t keep secrets?”

“Because you usually don’t?!” the seer pointed out, flinching when his sobrina gave him a glare that was way too reminiscent of her mother for his liking.

“No,” she nearly growled, “I don’t keep the secrets that aren’t worth keeping. They just take up space for the ones that are. Like the name of someone’s crush. Or a surprise party. Or the location of an uncle who decided to hide in the walls for an entire década!”

“Okay okay! You’ve made your point!” Bruno fixed his ruana and joined his niece at the bottom of the stairs. “-But that still doesn’t answer my question.”

For the first time since they’d started talking– dios mio, he was talking to one of his sobrinos –Dolores looked away, suddenly finding the tiled floor very interesting to look at.

“...like I said, it took me a while to figure out where you were. There were a couple of times I’d…run into a room where I swore I’d just heard you; only to find it empty. And, by the time I realized what really was going on…” she shrugged sadly, “...’we don’t talk about Bruno’.”

Bruno dragged his hand through his hair, wincing; and not just because he’d found a few knots.

“Ay…I’m- I’m sorry, my orejita,” he said quietly. “I never, ever , meant for this- my leaving -to be a burden on you. On anyone.”

Then why did you leave? Dolores thought. She’d pondered the question for years, and while she had plenty of theories she didn’t dare ask for the same reason she hadn’t tried to reveal her uncle sooner once she’d truly figured out where he was.

She was afraid doing so– dragging him back into the light before he was ready –would send him scurrying off again.

Only next time, he might actually leave leave. For good.

So, she chose the lesser of two evils and let her uncle figure out whatever he needed to. In the walls. With the rats.

At least he kept his habit of telling his stories out loud.

But now she was in the weird and suddenly awkward position of having Bruno out of the walls and right in front of her–

–and looking like he was about to bolt back into his hole for another ten years.

They took turns looking-not-looking at each other for a few moments before Bruno clapped his hands together once softly.

“Well! This has been… something, but I-I really need to-”

“-Do you want some coffee?!” Dolores squeaked abruptly, making herself flinch by accident.

“-get back in…perdón?”

Ignoring how her face was getting hot, she asked again, “Coffee? Would you like some? Before you…go?”

Bruno blanched; he saw where this would go, no gift required. Coffee meant chit-chat, and– as past experience had taught him –he was not great at chit-chat. He always said either the wrong thing or the right thing but in the wrong way.

Yes, there was a distinction; ask his sisters.

So he opened his mouth and raised his hands, ready to decline– lord knows his racing heart didn’t need any caffeine right now anyway –when he took a second look at his niece. A real look.

She stood there, hands clasped together at her waist and head slightly cocked; the picture of nonchalant invitation. But there was an eagerness in her eyes he couldn’t quite place.

She looked…sincere. Like she genuinely wanted to talk with him and the coffee was just an excuse for him to stay a little longer rather than just an offer born of polite formality.

He felt his heart trip a little at the thought. That someone would want to talk to him. It had been so long; longer than ten years if he was truly honest…

…and who knows when he could ever get a chance like this again…

“...You…you can keep an ear out? For if someone starts coming back?” Bruno asked, unconsciously smiling as Dolores absolutely beamed at him in delight as she nodded vigorously.

“I’ll know the moment anyone takes so much as one step towards Casita,” she swore, nearly bouncing in place and eyes sparkling.

She almost looks like Pepa when she does that…  

“Well…I guess one little cup wouldn’t hurt…”

Grinning, Dolores spun on her heels and began making her way downstairs, looking back once or twice to make sure her uncle was actually following. They entered the kitchen– well, she entered; Bruno paused long enough at the threshold to quickly and quietly do several knocks. Dolores paid him no mind– he was forever knocking when inside the walls, no surprise he’d keep it up now –and got to work making their drinks.

“Gracias, Casita,” she said when the house got the beans out for her.

Seeing the rippling countertop, Bruno’s eyes went wide before furrowing as he pointed accusingly at the ceiling.

“Casita! You said you would warn me if someone was coming home!”

Tn-tunk, tnk-chnk-tnk chnk tunk-tning

“Yes, I noticed that! I meant before they get home and you know it!”

Casita tapped out a very sarcastic sounding reply and Dolores couldn’t help but chuckle. She considered letting her tío know that it was Casita that had called her back home in the first place; rattling its roof shingles like crazy until she returned and promptly leading her upstairs when she did.

Watching the two bicker goodnaturedly at each other, she decided not to and just enjoyed the show instead while she ground the coffee beans up. Listening them go on reminded her a lot of Mirabel.

Everyone spoke to Casita, but the younger girl was the one who had the most full-blown conversations. She would tell Casita about her day, get opinions on whatever project she was tackling, and just… listen to Casita in turn.

Dolores sighed as she filled the pot; it would be a while until she could hear one of their talks again.

“Dolores? You okay?”

“Hm? Oh! Sí, I’m fine,” she grabbed some cups from the cupboard.

“Uh huh.” Bruno sat down awkwardly at the table; distinctly not convinced, but he wasn’t going to push her if she wasn’t ready. “...So; a camping trip, huh?”

“Yeah…I think Antonio’s ceremony…”

“...Was one thing too many?”

“She’s happy- thrilled for him, I know she is-” Dolores defended, wanting no further misunderstanding about the situation.

“-But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt,” Bruno’s sad eyes met hers and she knew he understood.

“Right…”

“...Can you hear her?”

"…No…not since yesterday afternoon…” Bruno winced in sympathy.

“She went that far out of range, huh?”

“Yeah…to a spot tío took them all to some years ago; it’s at the far end of the valley.”

Bruno whistled lowly, “That’s a walk.”

“Uh-huh.”

The conversation petered out after that; silence reigning with an oppressive fist until the coffee finished and Bruno quietly thanked her for his cup.

He added a generous amount of milk to his– he hadn’t been kidding about not needing a lot of caffeine –and tried to think of something, anything, he could possibly talk to his niece about.

Honestly? We barely talked even when I was here, he thought bitterly, blowing on his cup to take a sip. What exactly does one say to a relative that hasn’t seen them in ten years? How’s your day going? …actually, that’s not a half bad-

“Tío, can I ask you something?” Dolores stated abruptly, nearly causing Bruno to inhale his café.

“Cof- Uh- sure?” He winced, instantly regretting his answer; please don’t let it be about visions, please-

“How did Constanza lose her memory?”

Bruno blinked. Then blinked again.

“Qué?”

“Constanza? You’ve made it clear she’s lost her memory- hence the nonsense she now has going on with her nephew -but you didn’t really explain how she lost it?”

“... You’ve been listening to my telenovelas?!”

“Yes, tío. Once again; I hear everything.”

“Ay dios, your mother is going to kill me,” Bruno put his cup down and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand while the other casually tossed some salt over his shoulder. “I have made some very age-inappropriate episodes-”

“Bruno, I’ve known what sex was since I was five,” Dolores deadpanned. “In fact- I pretty sure you were there when I asked my papá why so many people were making-”

“-'Were making funny sounds at night', I do remember!” he laughed despite himself. The look on Pepa’s face when she’d heard of the conversation would always be a treasured one for him. 

He cleared his throat but couldn’t quite lose the grin. “Ahem- but still, it’s the principle of the thing. The principle!” Dolores waved off his concerns nonchalantly.

“Yes yes yes, little girls shouldn’t know about things until a certain age, blah blah blah- again, tío, that ship sailed a long time ago. Constanza, however, only recently lost her memory. So; spill! What happened?! Was it Diego? It was Diego, wasn’t it!”

“Ay, you’re as stubborn as Pepa,” Bruno mumbled under his breath.

“Heard that.”

“Clearly!” He sighed and took a sip of his coffee; it had cooled down to just the right temperature. “...It wasn’t Diego, though that wasn’t a bad guess.”

“Of course not; he’s hated her ever since she shut down his advances. So what was it then?”

Bruno couldn’t help but smile as he looked at his niece. She had both hands wrapped around her cup, arms on the table, and was leaning forward as if there was a chance she’d miss something he said. She looked utterly enraptured and it was all because of him.

“Well,” he leaned forward a bit as well; as eager to tell his stories as Dolores was to listen, “You see what had happened was-”

Mirabel hummed happily as her little project finished coming together. Tying off the last weave she stood up to admire her handy work. Using some reeds and thin tree branches she’d constructed what looked like a two foot long woven jug, with an inverted bottle neck at one end and a removable cap at the other.

“Hm. Not bad for the first fish trap I’ve made in…five years?” She shrugged off the details and placed the trap aside while she got to work on the final piece, taking bites of her cold breakfast while she did so. She didn’t really have anything to use as bait, so Mirabel decided to try her hand at making a lure instead, like her father used when he went rod fishing. Using a small piece of wood, and sacrificing some thread for more color, she carved something that vaguely resembled a small fish. Opening the trap up, Mirabel tied the lure to a fist size rock with a string, long enough that it would hopefully float in the middle of the cage, and placed it inside before closing it tightly again.

Grabbing a length of rope, she walked over to the water and downstream for a bit, before using the rope to connect the trap to a nearby sapling. Wading into the stream, Mirabel carefully placed the trap into the water, firmly nestled between two rocks.

“There we go! With a little luck I’ll have some fish for dinner.” She returned to the bank and stretched as she moseyed her way back to camp. Eyeing the waterfalls, Mirabel grinned as they seemed to glitter with a challenge.

“I bet I can climb to the top… As a matter of fact; I think I will!”

Chapter Text

Alma paused just before she entered the village proper and took a deep breath, allowing the rest of her family to saunter on ahead.

Everything is fine, she thought deliberately as she plastered on her ‘Matriarch face’, and finally strolled into town. Our encanto is strong.

After telling herself that for so long, she mostly believed it.

She smiled and began nodding greetings to every townsperson she came across; fully expecting some nods to turn to small talk about how people were doing, which would then inevitably lead to someone wondering if certain Madrigals were available to help with this or that task. The usual routine of what was typically a normal day for Alma.

Except that was not quite how things went this particular day.

“Good morning, Doña Alma,” a dark skinned woman called as she strode straight up to the eldest Madrigal, the first person of the day to do so.

“Buenos días, Sra Ortiz,” Alma answered cordially. “And how are you this beautiful morning?”

“Oh I’m just fine. I was actually wondering if Mirabel was feeling alright?” she explained, brow drawn slightly with concern. “I haven’t seen her since little Antonio’s ceremony, and was worried the poor girl had come down with something. I know Sra Julieta can sometimes have a bit of trouble handling some sicknesses...”

Alma didn’t let her face slip for an instant, though inwardly she blinked rather dumbly.

“Ah, I see,” she nodded understandingly. “Thank you so much for your concern, but Mirabel is fine; she actually left for a small trip yesterday morning.”

“Mirabel left?!” Sra Ortiz’s jaw dropped.

“Yes; it seems she…was in need of a break. We expect her to come back in about a week or so.”

“A week huh…” Sra Ortiz hummed softly, lips pouted in thought. “Well, that shouldn’t be too much trouble…”

“Perdón?”

“Oh! Sorry Doña, it’s nothing,” she explained, smiling softly. “It’s just that I have some deliveries to do and Mirabel is the one who usually volunteers to help me out; that girl may not be as big as her sister, but she can make things move when she wants to. But I should be fine for one week without her, don’t worry!”

Alma blinked, literally this time; this woman had been looking to Mirabel for help? Mirabel?

Aloud she said, “Well, if you need some help, I’m sure Luisa or even Camilo-”

“Oh no no no, I’d hate to bother them with such a small thing like this! And like I said I’m not very busy this week anyway. Speaking of which, I better get back at it; can’t leave Oswaldo alone at the shop for too long you know. Have a good day, Doña Alma.” With a chuckle and a wave, Sra Ortiz turned and walked back the way she came; oblivious to the confused state she’d left Abuela in.

Alma stood there for a moment longer before giving herself a little shake. 

Well…that had been unexpected, she thought; though pleased someone had cared enough about the family’s well-being to ask after one of them. I suppose someone was bound to notice if one of the family randomly stopped appearing in town. …Although they distinctly hadn’t the first time it had happened…

Brushing that particular thought off– for many reasons –and clearing the previous conversation from her mind, Alma went on her way. The day was stretched out before her and she was determined to carry on as normal despite the mildly different start.

“Good morning, Sr Carreon,” she called out to the next person she saw; a gentleman who had honestly not been very young when the encanto had been founded, and now was closer to ancient than not. 

“Ay, good morning, señora!” he called back cheerily, knobbed hand waving in greeting as he sat in a chair set not very far into town, basking in the glow of the morning sun. “Have you seen Miss Mirabel this morning? Is she doing okay?”

Alma paused for only a fraction of a second before essentially repeating what she had just said to Sra Ortiz– expanding a bit more on the nature of Mirabel’s camping trip when asked –until the man was satisfied that her nieta was fine and would be back eventually.

She walked away, saying a polite farewell, perplexed. Unlike Sra Ortiz, he hadn’t explicitly said he’d needed Mirabel’s specific help; but there had been an implication that her youngest granddaughter made it a habit to stop and have a talk with the older gentleman whenever she went to and from town.

What are the odds I would run into two people in a row who would ask about Mirabel’s absence? Alma wondered as she continued her now distracted walk into town.

“Buenos días, Abuela Alma,” a pigtailed girl grinned– Cecilia, Alma thought –as she darted up to her, her mother following close behind with her own greeting.

“Good morning you two; is there something I can help you with?”

“We’re looking for Mirabel!” Cecilia proclaimed, causing Alma’s eye to twitch.

“Oh?” she forced her mouth to smile at the girl.

“Yes,” her mother explained, “Antonio showed her the jaguar Mirabel had made for him and she wanted to ask if she could make something for her as well. Do you know where she’s gone this morning?”

As Alma explained– for now the third time in what felt like as many minutes –on where Mirabel had gone for the week, she groaned inwardly; she had a feeling she was going to have to repeat this conversation many, many, many times today.

She hated repeating herself.

“Os! I’m back!” Sra Ortiz called as she waltzed through the front door of her and her husband’s shop.

“Teresa, mi vida! Welcome back!” Osvaldo called from the back of the shop, before he moved towards the front, wiping his hands on a rag. “How’s Mirabel doing?”

“She’s fine. Apparently she left for a camping trip yesterday, hence why we haven’t seen her.”

“A trip?” Osvaldo furrowed his brow. “So soon after Antonio got his gift?”

“I know, it’s a bit sudden, right?” Teresa leaned her hip against the counter. “Doña Alma gave me the impression that Mirabel wanted a ‘break’; maybe something happened at the ceremony to upset her?”

“She seemed fine when I saw her before it started; she liked the delivery I gave her at least. I even gave her a special!”

“Right, so mayb- wait. What special?” Teresa tilted her head.

“Well she’s always helping us out with deliveries, so it seemed only right I give her something back in return. I even named it after her!”

“Oh no…” 

“What? What do you mean ‘oh no’?” Osvaldo furrowed his eyes at his wife confusedly. “Don’t you think she’s earned something nice from us?”

“Oh she definitely has; dios knows that girl works way too hard as is. No, my concern, dear husband, is that in ‘naming’ something after Mirabel you may have accidentally upset her.”

“What? How could I have done that? I’m great at naming things!”

“Os, mi amor, I love you, but no you are not.”

“Wha- name one thing that I-”

“You called the red candies we made for Cecilia’s birthday ‘hairballs’.”

“They were red like her hair!”

“Those weird shaped chocolate bars you dubbed capy-bars.”

“Hey! They were chocolate bars that kinda looked like capybaras and the kids liked them; you can’t tell me-

“-And you named those unfortunately shaped lollipops donkey-d-”

“-Okay okay, I get it! And we agreed to not talk about that one!” Osvaldo raised his hands in defeat before waggling on finger. “But! Just because I’ve had a few ‘unfortunate’ naming ideas doesn’t mean they’re all bad!”

“That remains to be seen. So; what did you name the special you gave to Mirabel?”

“I just called it the ‘Not-Special Special’-”

“Ay Dios mio-” Teresa rubbed at her temples.

“- you know, since she has no gift!”

“Osvaldo!”

“Qué?!”

“Amor… Okay, let’s… -let’s do a little roleplay-” 

“At this time of day?!”

“Not that kind! Just- pretend,  for a minute, that you’re a member of a magical family-”

“Bueno!”

“-but you yourself have no gift.”

“Ah…less bueno, but okay.”

“And while having no gift makes you sad, you try your best not to let it show just how much it hurts.”

“...Okay…”

“And then, on the day another family member is set to get a gift, someone comes along and rubs in your face how you don’t have a gift, despite how much you try to be just as helpful as the rest of your family. How would that make you feel?”

Osvaldo crossed his arms and tilted his head. After a minute his eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers.

“Oh! Do you think I made her upset by naming it the Not-Special Special?”

Teresa took a deep breath. “Sí, Os, I think you made her a bit upset by reminding her she’s never going to be like the rest of her family.”

“Ah! …oh…” Os’ shoulders drooped suddenly. “Do you think I’m the reason she left so suddenly for a trip?”

“I doubt you were the whole reason, mi vida, but I don’t think you helped.”

“...oops?” he shrugged helplessly. “...do you think giving her a new special would help?”

Teresa groaned and rubbed her forehead.

Camilo was a bit of an oddball among the rest of the gifted Madrigals and, to be perfectly honest, he liked it that way. Unlike the rest of the family, Camilo didn’t really have one specific chore that he was suited for and instead pretty much did a bit of everything. His day normally consisted of him more or less moseying around town until someone needed an extra hand with whatever.

So he would shift into someone tall to retrieve a ball from a tree, or into a kid to crawl beneath a roof to try and find a leak. And although he couldn’t match her magical strength, turning into Luisa made him more than strong enough to handle most heavier objects.

Also he sometimes liked to have an excuse to wear a dress; but no one else needed to know that.

But his favorite thing to do was to make people smile.

It had always been his specialty, even before he got his door; starting off with trying to make his mamá laugh after a long day of watering crops.

So when Camilo saw a bunch of kids Antonio’s age moping around he naturally did what he did best; tried to make them smile.

“GooooOOOOooood morning, niños!” he grinned, sliding to halt in front of them with a small but nevertheless flamboyant bow.

“Hi Camilo,” the kid in the middle- Alejandra, he thought -said unenthusiastically.

“Wow, don’t all jump me at onc-”

“Is it true Mirabel’s gone?!” the boy, Juancho, loudly interrupted, nearly spilling his cup of coffee. Wait- should he be having coffee at his age…

“Hm? Oh Mira?” He shrugged. “Yeah, she took off yesterday. Guess she wanted a break or something. She should be back in, like, a week, I think?”

“A whole week?!”

“I told you so! Abuela Alma told me herself,” Cecilia chimed in.

“But she said she would hang out with us…” Alejandra moped.

Ah, so that’s why the long faces. Camilo struck a pose, “Well then no worries mis amigos! You want a Mirabel?” He did a quick spin, shifting into his prima as he did so, “You got a Mirabel!”

“Yay!” The kids immediately perked right up, and Camilo smirked, pleased with himself.

And once again Camilo saves the day! He thought smugly.

“Can you finish the story Mirabel was telling us?” Alejandra asked eagerly.

“Uh, sure! Which one?” Mira and him used to read stories together all the time; he probably knew which one she’d been telling, right?

“The one about the turtle and the caiman!” Juancho said.

…or not.

“Uh, sorry kids; ‘fraid I’m not familiar with that one,” Camilo shrugged bashfully.

“Do you know how to sew?” Cecilia asked.

“Uh, no. Not really.”

“Can you play the accordion?”

“Play; yes. Play it well; not so much.”

“Oh…” Almost as quickly as they had cheered up, the trio sagged yet again and for a moment Camilo felt himself floundering.

Ay, this isn’t going super great… Okay, plan B!

“BuuuUUUuuut do you guys know what I can do?” he made Mirabel’s brows wiggle mischievously.

“What?” Cecilia asked.

Camilo looked around before crouching down close to the kids, dropping his voice down to a whisper, “Do you really want to know?”

“Yes!”

He looked around once more before leaning even closer. The trio moved towards him in response.

“I can-”

Quick as a flash Camilo darted his hand out and gently booped Alejandra on the nose, turning into her in the same instant.

“-play tag! You’re it!” With a childish giggle, Camilo turned on his now tiny heels and darted away, Cecilia and Juancho quickly followed suit as the real Alejandra gave a scandalized gasp.

“Hey! No fair!” She giggled before giving chase after him and her friends.

Camilo laughed as they all played, but deep down he felt a twinge of dejection. 

While he’d succeeded in cheering the kids up, he’d still failed at being a Mirabel stand-in. He knew well that he couldn’t perfectly replace some people, couldn’t mimic the gifts of the rest of his family, but Mirabel…

When they had been little– Before –he and Mira had been nigh inseparable; practically twins attached at the hip. There’d been a time when they’d been able to swap clothes, act like each other and be able to confuse everyone about who was who. Even their own mothers, if only for a little bit. 

… When did that change? Camilo wondered, barely noticing as he got tagged by a giggling Juancho.

When did I stop knowing my prima?

Leaving the eyes of the Encanto behind her, Abuela finally allowed her shoulders to droop and her head to fall back enough to cast her eyes skyward.

What a day, she thought as she made her way back to Casita. It wasn’t even noon yet and it felt like all anyone had talked to her about was Mirabel!

Was she alright?

Where did she go?

When will she be back?

Did she mention whether she’d finished embroidering my pants before she left?

“Honestly, how many times must I repeat myself before the day is over?” Alma sighed before pulling the package she’d been carrying out from under her arm. “Ah well, at least something good has come out of this morning.”

With a fond smile, she took in the sight of the picture frame she held between her hands, keeping her eyes on it as she walked towards the house. The photo was the one taken at Antonio’s ceremony, with all of the familia standing together in his new room. It was in black and white, as it had been when she’d picked it up from the photographer's house, but as Alma crossed Casita’s threshold, the miracle began to fill the frame and the picture slowly bloomed into full color; brighter and more accurate than any painting.

Dimly she heard Dolores call a greeting to her from the kitchen, but Alma didn’t take her eyes off the photo when she answered her, too focused on what was happening to pay any mind to whatever was occurring in the kitchen.

She loved this part.

Her family’s eyes were the first to change, almost glowing as they transitioned from gray to their vibrant shades of brown. Then came their skins, and clothes, the colors almost seeming to pop from the panel. Antonio’s white outfit, the warmth of his parents and sibling’s clothing, the magenta of Alma’s own outfit, and the cooler tones of Julieta’s side of the Madrigals.

Antonio is clearly ecstatic, Alma thought. Pepa and Félix look so proud. Camilo and Dolores look thrilled for their brother. Julieta and Agustín are happy, Luisa looks strong and Isabela simply looks perfect.

It’s a perfect photo.

Alma smiled as she walked upstairs to hang the photo up next to the rest of the ceremony photos. Reaching them in the middle of the walkway, she took a moment to consider how best to rearrange things.

“Casita,” she called, not taking her eyes off the pictures on the wall, “Would you mind moving the frames with my children in it up, and the frames with Luisa and Camilo down?”

The house obliged, and even stuck out a nail for her to hang the new frame on in the center of all the others.

“Gracias Casita,” Alma smiled as she hung up the new photo, taking a step back to assure herself that it was properly placed. And it was, hanging directly in the middle of everyone’s photo. Dolores and Isabela were on either side, Camilo and Luisa were below, and above were the young faces of Julieta, Pepa, and… the young faces of her children.

Abuela sighed and took a moment to compare everyone’s face to how they looked when they were only five, drawing a line between everyone from then to now, save Félix and Agustín.

She blinked.

…Something was off. 

Isabela then and now; Luisa then and now; Camilo then and now; Dolores then and now; her daughters then and now; her son before… and Félix, Agustín and Antonio in the now…

“What’s missing…” she mumbled.

To her left a floor tile clinked, waiting until it had her attention before flipping a line down the walkway-

-and towards the nursery.

With a small gasp, Alma looked towards the wall again, focusing on Antonio’s ceremony photo. She scanned it, then scanned it again; searching for a face-

-that just wasn’t there.

Mirabel.

Alma’s brow furrowed. Had she not gotten into the photo with them? She’d been at the ceremony, had been standing right by Toñito’s door when he’d opened it. So why hadn’t she joined them for the picture?

…and why hadn’t I noticed?

“...Oh well… If she had wanted to be in the photo, she would have joined us,” Alma assured herself. She turned and started to walk back towards the stairs-

-when the tiles before her all but erupted into a clinking-tinkling mass of ceramic!

“Wah- Casita?! What are you– whoo!”

With a wordless, but nonetheless palpable fury, Casita spun Abuela around and slid her back in front of the photos again.

“Casita, what is the-” Alma tried to move again, but each time Casita sent her straight back to the same spot facing the wall.

“Fine! I’m staying here! Qué quieres?”

Casita flipped the tiles at the base of the wall and made the frame holding her children’s photos shake.

“Sí sí, I’m looking! It’s my children; what about them!”

Casita shook the frame again.

“Ay dios, you’re going to make me guess aren’t you,” Alma rubbed her temple. She was too old for games.

The tiles clinked firmly. Alma sighed.

“Fine, fine! Is it about Julieta?”

The frame swung left and right; no.

“Pepa?”

Another no.

“...”

Clink-tnk-ting!

“ Sigh… Bruno?”

The frame flapped against the wall.

“Okay, what about mi hijo?”

The tiles flipped along the walkway to the nursery door again. 

“...Mirabel?” A tile in front of her flipped a yes before more tiles began flipping, this time from the nursery door, along the far side of the second floor-

-all the way to the corner where the door to the tower was.

Alma looked from the corner to the door to the photos and back again. Clearly Casita wanted her to draw some sort of connection between her granddaughter and her-...her son. Reluctantly, she began to make a list in her mind.

Both of them are Madrigals.

Both are…different. In different ways, to be sure, but still different to the rest of the familia.

She scratched her head, not literally– she would not mess up her hair this early in the day –but couldn’t think of any other similarities between the two.

The only other thing she could consider was that-

Alma straightened up even more than before, her head snapping towards the photo as a thought dawned on her.

…The only other thing Bruno and Mirabel have in common…is leaving Casita. Leaving the Encanto.

Leaving their family.

Legs giving out, Alma dropped; her progress to the floor only halted by Casita sliding a bench beneath her at the last moment.

Like a broken dam, now that the thought had started she couldn’t get it to stop; step by step she envisioned Mirabel’s path and how closely it had begun to mirror her son’s.

The attempts to help falling short, staying out of the limelight, drawing away from the family; if things continued in this fashion-

“-Then she’ll leave like Bruno did…” Alma whispered, dread dripping down her spine like ice water.

The day her son left…the day she’d realized he’d left, was one that Alma would never forget for the rest of her days.

Bested, if that was the right word, only by the day she’d lost her dear Pedro.

The mere thought of her daughter, her poor Juli, going through that same pain? After already losing her brother the same way?

“No... No!” Alma stamped her foot and stood from her seat. She wouldn’t allow it. She wouldn’t allow any of her children to go through that pain again! Not while there was still life in her veins!

She didn’t know why this was happening to her family again, but Lord as her witness she would not stand by and let her family crack apart and shatter!

But in an instant that determination faded almost into despair.

She knew she had to fix things-

-but how?

Chapter Text

“Whoo… that was a bit- pfoo -tougher than I thought,” Mirabel huffed as she rolled onto her back. It’d taken a bit, but she’d managed to scramble up the ‘not-quite-a-vertical’ cliff alongside one of the waterfalls. With a self-encouragingly clap she jolted herself back up into a seated position and finally took in her reward.

“Wow…” From where she sat on a deep ledge a good third of the way up the mountain, Mirabel could see almost the entirety of the Encanto. Beneath her was the wide swath of trees where she’d made camp, beyond which were a patchwork of rolling fields, and beyond that she could just barely make out the suggestion of town.

If she squinted, she’d swear she could see a brightly colored dot that could only be her Casita.

“Shoot; I should have brought something to sketch this up here with me,” she mumbled, unsure if she’d be willing to make the climb again with a bag on her back. “Heh, guess I’ll just have to stare and memorize this the old fashion way.” Scooting back more until her back made contact with the continuing cliff-face, Mirabel wiggled into a comfortable position and began to do just that.

After a minute she chuckled to herself.

“Sitting and just taking in the scenery; I can just hear Abuela telling me off for ‘lazing about’,” she grinned, thrilled that her grandmother was not in nagging distance for once.

Ironically, Alma Madrigal was also ‘lazing about’ at the same time as her youngest granddaughter. Of course, if you had asked her she would have sternly informed you that she was actually contemplating a very serious problem, and it required her to sit and think.

At least that was the impression Félix got when he popped into her room to grab her dirty laundry.

After getting told off for entering without knocking– and in his defense, Alma was usually out this time of day –he grabbed what he’d come for and met up with Agustín with his own bundles of collected clothes. Together they began the arduous task of doing the laundry for eleven people; all of whom were fairly active outside of Casita in one way or another.

As the duo began dividing up the clothes into separate piles– thin materials, thick materials, similar colors, etc –Casita did her part and began filling up the large basin they used to soak everything. Typically this was a far from quiet affair, with Félix, Agustín, and the occasional child or two inevitably making some kind of small talk. Even Casita would contribute, tapping their tiles and floorboards into a comfortable rhythm for them to work to.

Today though…

“Alright! Is it just me or is everything just too…quiet?” Félix asked, abruptly breaking the silence that had reigned for a solid ten minutes.

“Hm? Oh,” Agustín looked up from where he’d been scrubbing at a particularly stubborn stain on one of Luisa’s skirts. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He looked towards the ceiling. “Uh, Casita? Estás bien?”

Casita made the faucet above the tub squeak, but did little else.

“Hm. Do you think they miss Mirabel too?”

“Heh, I wouldn’t be surprised. I think we’re all missing Miraboo; at least a little.”

“I hear that, hermano,” Félix nodded, snapping out a shirt before hanging it up on the line to dry. “Right now I miss that little hum she does whenever she’s doing some task or another.”

“Ay, me too. Heh, remember how I used to joke that her Gift was lighting up a room when she walked in?”

“Ah ha, yeah! …’til Abuela told you to stop.”

“Mm…”

They carried on working in silence again until Félix spoke again.

“Still, as much as I miss that kid…I’m glad she’s taking a bit of time to herself.”

Agustín nodded. “Yeah. She really does have a habit of trying to help everyone with everything.”

“Everyone except herself, you mean.”

“Sí…”

“...I never did get around to thanking her…” At Agustín’s curious head tilt he elaborated, “For helping Toñito to his door. I really should, when she gets back.”

“Ay. Did you see how scared she looked?”

“Heh, she almost looked as scared as Antonio!”

“Can you blame her? Dios, there’s no way she wasn’t thinking about her own ceremony.”

“Lo sé; but she helped her primito anyway…” Félix sighed and stared down into the soapy water as if it would tell him the answers. “I have to figure out how to make it up to her…”

“No te preocupes, brother; you’ll figure something out.”

“You know what? You’re right!” Félix stood with his fist raised, heedless of the sudsy garment hanging from it. “I will figure something out!”

“How have I not figured something out!” Félix moaned as he went about Casita putting away clean clothes. It had been hours, including a break for lunch, and he just could not come up with anything suitable as a thank you to Mirabel.

He was nearly useless when it came to fashion, had no idea what kind of craft supplies she would prefer, and he had the distinct feeling she wouldn’t be keen on flowers.

Ah, sibling squabbling; always a pleasure.

“Maybe I should just ask Julieta for advice…” he sighed as he walked into Antonio’s new room. He was almost immediately distracted by the gorgeous view before him and the chattering of animals. To think his baby boy gets such an amazing room-

“Hi Papá,” a small voice called from somewhere below where he stood in what he considered the ‘front room’. Peering over the edge, Félix saw Antonio-

-and nearly had a heart attack as he saw his youngest casually lounging on the back of a very large caiman!

Dios, that is going to take some getting used to.

“Hey Toñito,” he called cheerfully, “Having fun with your new friends?”

“Yeah…” Antonio called back, lazily dragging his hand through the water as he laid on his back looking up at the lights floating through his tree.

Frowning, Félix placed the stack of clothes he’d brought with him on top of the dresser before carefully making his way down to the water’s edge.

“What’s wrong, hombrecito?”

Antonio sighed before turning his big eyes towards his father.

“I miss Mirabel…”

Félix smiled sadly and plopped down on the bank, startling some nearby coatis. “Yeah, me too.”

“Really?”

“Uh huh. But you know what? Your prima’s gonna be back in just a few days- a week, tops! And when she does I’ll bet my best pair of dancing shoes that she’s gonna give you the biggest hug the moment she sees you!”

Antonio gave a small smile, “Not if I see her first.”

“Ay, that’s the spirit!” Félix pumped his fist enthusiastically…but he soon dwindled as he saw the smile drift away from his son’s face. “...But you still miss her now, huh.”

With a pitifully small sniffle, Antonio nodded, plunking his head back onto his scaly friend’s back dejectedly.

His father sighed; he was really doing a great job with doing right by his family today, wasn’t he? Out of words for the moment, Félix followed his son’s gaze up, taking in the sight of all the creatures that had taken up residence in the room since it had first appeared. Aside from the coatis and caiman, he saw snakes, butterflies, lizards, a dozing jaguar, and-

“Toñito!” Félix called out with a grin, startling the boy into almost falling into the water. “Would you feel better if you could hear from Mirabel? Know she was okay and on her way back soon?”

Regaining his balance, Antonio tilted his head at his father. “Um, yeah, I think so… But how? She’s all the way across the valley! Even Dolores can’t hear her anymore with her gift!”

Félix’s grin widened manically and he pointed a finger up. “How else, hombrecito! With your gift!”

Dolores smiled as she overheard her father’s idea and Antonio mirroring his excitement.

Bravo, Papá, she thought as she quietly walked past them to the painting that hung beside her room, a tray of arepas in hand. Looking around to be triple sure that no one was in sight, Dolores swung the frame out from the wall before stepping through- careful not to drop her peace offering -and quickly closed it behind her. Breathing a sigh of relief at successfully entering the walls unseen, she still let out a rather sizable squeak when she turned and came nose to whisker with a rat that was perched on a narrow ledge just inside of the crawlspace.

The rat gave its own squeak in return, before scurrying down to the floor and deeper into the darkness. It paused just before rounding the corner, as if to make sure Dolores was keeping track of it properly.

Heart rate calming down and arepa plate still securely in hand, Dolores began cautiously making her way after her furry guide.

My mother controls the weather, my brother can shapeshift, and my other brother talks to animals. Why is this the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen?! She mused as she walked along the narrow passageways. The route contained twists, turns, and- for some reason Dolores couldn’t quite grasp -multiple stairs and ramps. She ran into a smidge of a ‘roadblock’ when she came to a massive hole in the floor, but found if she kept her foot as close to the wall as possible when stepping on the protruding boards, balanced the plate in one hand while using the other to have a death grip on what looked like roots growing out along the walls, she could just make it across what looked like a bottomless pit.

In their house.

In the walls of their house.

What is my life?

Shaking the dirt off her skirts, Dolores composed herself and continued on.

However, even more concerning than the hole were the cracks.

Ever since her ceremony and Dolores’ hearing became extraordinary, she’d often heard Casita creaking and groaning, especially when making itself known to the family. Other houses in town made sounds as well, so she’d never really given much thought to theirs making noise in far off corners.

Now, she wishes she had; though she’s not sure for good it would have done.

Scattered all across Casita’s inner walls were countless cracks, some patched up others not. Taking in the bucket lined with dried spackle and the scaffolding erected here and there, Dolores presumed her uncle was the one making repairs.

As if it could be anyone else, she rolled her eyes at herself. I was wondering what he did besides tell his stories. Definitely explains certain…unfortunate sounds. She’d have to ask him about it. 

… Right after I apologize again for earlier… she winced.

During their talk, the pair had gotten so engrossed in various plots for tío’s stories that Dolores had almost missed Abuela of all people heading back to Casita. She hadn’t noticed until her grandmother was steps away from the door! So with only a squeak serving as a warning, Dolores had grabbed Bruno by his ruana and all but threw him into the largest cupboard in the kitchen, Casita helping to cover the sound by rattling the floor tiles.

Luckily, Abuela had been too distracted to do more than automatically answer Dolores’ nervous greeting before making her way upstairs. She hadn’t even paused to ask what Dolores was doing home at this time of day.

Waiting until she heard Abuela rearranging some things on the second floor, Dolores released her uncle from his impromptu hiding place. When he’d finally managed to extract himself from amongst the various pots and pans she began to apologize. Casita sounded like it was helping by keeping Abuela occupied upstairs.

Tío had been halfway through waving away said apology-

-when Dolores heard Abuela say “Bruno”.

So once again she panicked and shoved her uncle back into the cupboard.

Hard.

After, belatedly, realizing that Abuela hadn’t actually seen her son, and was just saying his name, Dolores had to force herself to ignore the fact that she was talking about Bruno for the first time in almost a decade!

She had no time to dwell on that weird coincidence; there were more important things to do!

Like apologize to said son for shoving him. 

Again.

It’d felt like an eternity before Abuela moved to her own room so Dolores could safely get Bruno upstairs and to his painting-door, whispering apologies all the way.

She’d felt horrible for the whole thing ever since, but came up with a way to make amends!

Talking to her uncle in the kitchen was too dangerous; evidently they were both too distractible.

They both appreciated a good story; sue them!

But if Dolores talked to him in the walls, well, how could anyone walk in on them? And she’d know if anyone needed her; they would just call out like usual.

Besides, it’s not like people want me for anything other than mundane messages anyway…

Dolores was so caught up in her thoughts that she nearly ran into what was clearly a closed door with light escaping from around every edge.

No time for that Lola, she sighed. Time to focus on visiting my Tío Bruno!

Shifting the plate, Dolores rapped on the door three times-

-which had the immediate effect of her tío yelping from beyond the door, promptly followed by something falling over and the squeaking of several rats.

…maaaaybe I should have found a way to ‘warn him’ first…

“Tío, lo siento! It’s just me, Dolores.”

A few more sounds of objects shuffling- plus a word that would earn a reprimand from Abuela if she heard it -and then the door cracked open to reveal the wide eye of her uncle.

“...I brought arepas?” she held up the plate, “To apologize for earlier?”

Thunking his head on the door with a sigh, Bruno swung the door open and allowed his niece in. As she sat down on a barrel-turned-seat by his worn-out red chair, he chuckled and shook his head fondly.

“Dolores; never let anyone tell you you’re not the daughter of Pepa Madrigal.”

“Hm? Why?”

“Because you are every bit as stubborn and persistent as she is.”

Dolores beamed, “Gracias. Now, come have an arepa so I can properly apologize, and then we can get back to why Constanza divorced from Paolo in the first place, because you never really specified-”

Settling into his space like she’d done this for years, Bruno couldn’t help but chuckle again as he twisted his armchair around and pulled a crate closer so she could put the plate down.

As Dolores began gesturing– evidently she had very strong feelings about Constanza’s rather abrupt divorce – he wondered how everything had changed so much since he’d first crept out of his walls that morning.

More importantly, how much more change was there left to do?

And, would it be for the better-

-or worse?

Mirabel hummed a melody under her breath as she sketched out a design she wanted to embroider on her now drying dress. Halfway down her climb from the cliff she realized the waterfall next to her was at just the right angle to act like a slide straight to the pool below.

So, with a firm grip on her glasses and a whoop, she’d shuffled over and slid all the way down, hitting the water with a laugh and a splash.

After swimming for a bit- might as well, she'd thought, she was already soaked -Mirabel had clambered back onto the bank and tossed her clothes over low branches to dry. Slipping into her spare set of underclothes, she’d nibbled on a snack, taken a well earned nap, woke up and had started drawing the view she remembered from up high before moving on to other subjects.

As her stomach growled again, she debated on whether it was time to check her fish trap-

“Mreep!”

“BAH!” Flailing, Mirabel tipped back and over, nearly falling off the sunny rock she’d been perched on. When her balance- and heart rate -returned to normal, she looked up to spy a toucan resting on a branch besides her clothes.

“Whoo,” she huffed before chuckling, “Hey there, little friend. Qué pasa?”

Surprisingly, rather than flying away as she’d expected, the toucan dropped down to the ground and hopped straight over to her, squawking and spinning to show its back to her, looking over its shoulder expectantly.

“What th- hey, whatcha got there?” Now that it was closer, she could see that there was…a sock, strapped to its back carefully with what looked like twine. Hesitating until the bird chirped encouragingly, Mirabel prodded at the sock and was surprised to feel something inside. With a little finagling she unrolled the sock and dipped her fingers into the opening, pulling out a tube of paper held close by more twine.

Written along the length of the tube, in shaky blue crayon, was ‘tO mIrAbEl’. She recognized the handwritten and immediately smacked her forehead.

“Of course! You’re one of Antonio’s birds!” she grinned at the toucan who squawked what she took as affirmation.

“Really, I probably should have figured that from the start, huh?” she chastised herself as she unrolled the tube. Inside she found a blank sheet of paper, and two letters; one clearly from her primo, and the other written by someone else. Giving that letter a perplexed look, she started reading Antonio’s letter gleefully.

HI mIRabEl,

HOw arE u?

I mIs u vaRy mUcH!

aRE u havnIg fun?

WEn arE u cOmmIng bac?

bEE safE!

LovE, ANTONIO

pS tHIs Is pIcO!

pLEasE gIve hIm fooD

“Pico?” The toucan squawked. “Ah! Pico! Hola, Pico!” Mirabel rummaged in her bag. “How do you feel about pitayas?” Taking his excited flapping and chirping as a yes, she sliced one open for him, leaving half of it wedged between two rocks for him to enjoy.

As Pico dug into his meal- jeez, he flew all the way here from Casita didn’t he? –she picked up the second letter to read; shocked to find it from her tío of all people.

Hola Mirabel!

Hope everything is going well on your trip!

Sorry for the bother but Toñito really missed you. 

Luckily I figured out how we could say hi while you’re away!

Hope the bird actually made it to you

and didn’t get distracted by food or something.

Don’t tell Antonio, but I think this is the same tucán

that tried to nip some of my breakfast!

Anyway, I just wanted to wish you well and let you

know how much we all miss you, chica.

Things just aren’t the same without you here.

Even Casita seems to miss you, but you two

are close so I shouldn't be surprised!

Take care of yourself and come back in one piece!

Besos,

your Tío Félix

PS I’m adding a piece of paper to Pico’s “satchel”

so that you can write back to us and say how you’re doing!

Please let us know if you’re going to be staying longer than you thought.

Dolores can’t hear you and Gus your papá

is saying he’ll fetch you himself if it seems like you’re late.

Don’t worry; if he does I’ll go with him so that HE stays in one piece!

More love,

Félix

Mirabel read the letter. Then read it again.

It took Pico squawking for more pitaya to snap her out of her amazement.

-we all miss you-

-aren’t the same without you-

-miss you-miss you- miss you -

She felt like she had when Dolores hugged her. She knew her family loved her but…knowing and seeing it were two very different things.

She gave a low chuckle and caught Pico’s eye before digging out more food for him.

“Okay, okay! Eat up, buddy. I’m going to need you rested for tomorrow.”

“Mrp?”

Mirabel smiled. “Yup! Cause you have a new delivery to make.”

Chapter Text

Alma sighed as she strolled around the village, the barest hint of an extra wrinkle on her brow the only outward suggestion that she was frustrated by something.

And she was.

Even moreso because she was unable to figure out precisely what was causing her frustration.

Since Casita’s intervention, Alma had stayed in her room in order to focus all her effort on thinking. She’d even decided to forgo attending la familia’s lunch; though Camilo had been a dear and brought her a plate after Alma had informed Dolores of her decision to skip the midday meal.

Her plate had been shy an arepa or two, but honestly she couldn’t spare the energy to care. Her eldest grandson was a growing boy after all.

But after literal hours, Alma felt no closer to reaching a solution; largely because she couldn’t identify the problem.

So, her ever-present shawl draped around her shoulders, she decided a change of view may help and began to walk around town. In between smiling and nodding at other townsfolk, she once again listed everything she knew for a fact like a general contemplating an enemy army.

One: Mirabel seemed to be pulling away from the family like her son had, albeit in a different way. Where her son had slowly withdrawn into Casita— from both the town and his family —over a matter of decades, her granddaughter had gone from being near-constantly underfoot to gone away literally overnight.

Two: people knew about Mirabel’s ‘trip’ beforehand and according to those same people, Mirabel had claimed she would return in due time. Contrariwise, Bruno had vanished without so much as a note.

Three: Casita seemed to believe there was a connection between the two of them, and Alma wasn’t inclined to think their home could be so wrong about something. 

Especially when it concerned two people she knew Casita cared deeply for.

However, no matter how hard she tried she just could not fathom what that connection could be!

They were both Madrigals and both could reasonably be called the ‘odd ones out’ in their respective generations, but as far as she could see that was where the similarities ended. Where Bruno preferred to be holed up in his room doing Dios knows what, Mirabel was more often than not out and about, talking or helping anyone about anything under the sun; her morning chat with practically the whole town was proof of that.

Shy and outgoing.

Quiet and often singing.

Shadows and sunlight.

What they had in common was negligible compared to what they didn’t.

And yet something was clearly causing them to pull away from the familia.

But what?!

Kt-thunk!

Alma, snapped out of her ruffled thoughts, looked off the path she was on— when had she made it to the edge of town? —and found Agustín chopping wood. Not keen to start a conversation with someone she still didn’t quite think was good enough for her Juli— despite decades of proof —Alma tried to inconspicuously pass him.

Not sneak. She was not sneaking; that was beneath her!

“Hola, Abuela,” Agustín called amicably when he noticed her anyway.

Mildly regretting her non-sneaking she replied,” Good afternoon, Agustín. How has your day been?” Never let it be said Alma Madrigal wasn’t polite.

“Bien, bien. Félix and I finished up the laundry and I’ve only hurt myself twice so far chopping the wood!” He beamed with pride and Alma tried not to grimace. Still, two was fairly good for the pile he had stacked so far... “We missed you at lunch; everything alright? Félix mentioned you were trying to work something out?”

“I am,” Alma sniffed indignantly; slightly miffed Félix had deigned to spread that particular information.

“Any luck?” he asked casually, returning to chopping while they spoke.

“Luck?”

“With figuring out - kt-thunk - your problem?”

Alma gritted her teeth slightly. “...Not as of yet, no.”

“Ay, sorry to hear that. -Kt-thunk- How you tried saying it out loud?”

“Out loud?” she furrowed her brow.

“Sí. -kt-thunk- Sometimes when I have a problem I can’t figure out -kt-thunk- I say it out loud like I’m explaining it to someone -kt-thunk- and more often than not it helps me see it from a different angle and poof -kt-thunk- I’ve figured it out!”

“And that actually works?”

“Yes indeedy! -kt-thunk- I learned it from Juli.”

“My Julieta?”

“Sí; it’s something she does when a recipe doesn’t quite go the way it should. -kt-thunk- She recites the recipe out loud and figures out what step went wrong. -kt-thunk- Not that she does it often, mind you! It mostly happens with new recipes, like with that dish she tried a few weeks ago-”

Alma tuned out his enamored prattling. Saying the problem out loud… Well…she was struggling, and for her family’s sake…

“I’m trying to figure out what my hijo and Mirabel have in common!” She spat out before she could second guess herself. Which she immediately did because she realized she could have verbalized her problem after she got away from Agustín!

As it was, the man in question froze mid-swing, before turning his perplexed bespectacled eyes upon her, axe still raised overhead.

“...Qué?” he finally asked after several moments. Alma took a breath and decided she was already as embarrassed as she was probably going to get; might as well elaborate further.

“It has occurred to me, that...there could be a similar trend between Mirabel’s spontaneous camping trip and my son’s... ’departure’ .”

“Ah,” Agustín nodded, allowing his axe to drop and rest against his shoulder as he tilted his head in thought. “...Sí, I see what you mean,” he conceded. “I can see some parallels between the two of them, vague as they are.”

“Oh?” Alma arched a brow. “And what similarities do you see?” What have you noticed that I haven’t?

“Well, they’re both the youngest of three siblings.”

She nodded slowly, That was true; even though Bruno was forever arguing that thirty minutes did not count.

“They love this family.”

“Hmph, not enough to stay apparently,” Alma muttered under her breath. A side glance from Agustín said he’d heard her regardless.

“ And they both ran themselves ragged trying to appease you. ” His words weren’t quite an accusation, but that didn’t stop Abuela from sputtering at him as he casually set up another log to chop.

“Ba– me?!”

“Sí tú. –kt-thunk-” Agustín returned to his chopping, pointedly not looking at his suegra as he did so. “Bruno hated using his gift -kt-thunk– hated that everyone would only focus on his bad visions and forget that he had just as many good ones! -kt-thunk-  Hated how scared it made people of him -kt-thunk– and made him think he was bad luck. -kt-thunk– Félix and I even had to pull people off of him who’d gotten a bad vision and decided to break his nose for telling them! -kt-thunk– More than once! But he kept doing it anyway because you -kt-thunk– insisted he use his Gift.”

“Now– now wait just a minute–”

“And Mirabel?” He actually paused for a moment, taking a breath to steady himself before continuing full force with his chore. “My Mirabel works so hard -kt-thunk– Every. Single. Day. -kt-thunk– Just to try and get you to look at her like you used to -kt-thunk– B ack before her ceremony! -kt-thunk– Before her door! -kt-thunk– Before you stopped loving her! ”

Agustín swung his axe down so hard, and at such a poor angle, that a chunk of wood flew up and cracked him right in the middle of his forehead, his head snapping backwards at the impact.

He took several deep breaths, and when he finally looked back at Alma his gaze was nearly ice cold but steady even as blood began dripping down his face.

“Honestly, Abuela? The biggest similarity I can think of between my Miraboo and Bruno; is that they both had to deal with you. ” He sniffed and straightened his tie. “Now, if you will please excuse me; I ran out of snacks. Buenas tardes.” Nodding farewell, he began walking towards the center of town; undoubtedly in search of his wife.

It took several minutes for Alma to realize he had left at all.

It was if his words had cracked a dam within her mind and now a flood was washing over her.

Images of hope as it died on faces. Of harsh words snapped out fast enough to cause wincing.

The realization of what she had done.

Alma Madrigal— proud Matriarch of the Madrigal family —dropped to her knees on the outskirts of the town she had helped to raise—

—and wept.

Dolores dropped her jaw, and— unfortunately for her skirt — her cup of coffee.

“Ay! Dolores, are you alright?!” Bruno darted down to grab her cup off of the floor, grateful it hadn’t even chipped.

Dolores just sat there, eyes wide, staring off into nothing.

“Qué? What did you hear? Dolores?”

She slowly turned and focused her eyes on him; looking for all the world like she had just heard something impossible. And in a way, she had.

At least, something she hadn’t thought was possible.

“...Tío...”

“Sí?”

“Not you...” she shook her head slowly. “...he made her cry.”

“Wha? Who?”

“Abuela.”

“...Come again?”

“Tío made Abuela cry, ” Dolores stated, breath starting to shorten.

“Tí– Agustín?! ” Bruno flailed. “Agustín Madrigal, Señor ‘Oh-dear-lord-I’ve-stepped-on-a-bee-and-killed-it-I’m-a-horrible-person’, made Alma Madrigal, High Queen of ‘I-Take-No-Fu- Fricks ’, cry?! ”

Dolores made a squeak so high pitched that Antonio’s animals heard it across Casita and nodded furiously.

“...”

“...”

“ -Por el amor de Dios, chica, tell me what he said! ”

“Sí- sí! Sorry!” She cleared her throat and organized her thoughts. “Okay, so Abuela has been in her room all day–”

Chapter Text

Dinner that night in Casita turned out to be a very... interesting affair.

If people weren’t eyeing Mirabel’s empty spot and sighing, then they were staring at Abuela’s empty chair with outright concern. The Matriarch skipping lunch had been strange enough; skipping two meals in the same day was downright disturbing.

And yet that is precisely what had happened; Alma had returned just before dinnertime— looking far older than either of her daughters had seen her before —quietly stated she wasn’t feeling well, and slowly walked up to her room, locking the door behind her with an audible click. 

She’d even shut her courtside window; something neither Julieta or Pepa could recall her doing save for the harshest of non-Pepa created storms.

“Okay– this is weird, right?” Camilo finally snapped, ten minutes into the quiet and tense dinner. “We all agree that’s this–” he pointed at both empty chairs emphatically “–is weird?!”

They all vocalized some kind of affirmative and once the seal of silence had been broken it didn’t stop there.

“Dolores,” Julieta asked hopefully, “Do you have any idea of what’s troubling Abuela? Did you hear anything?”

The young woman’s eyes went wide at the question, a smidge of her internal panicking leaking out onto her face. She knew exactly what was up with Abuela. And really there was no reason she shouldn’t tell the rest of her family; but thinking of hearing her grandmother break down into tears and knowing the reason why only reminded her that she was actively speaking with the son– the brother– the uncle– that the rest of the family had fully thought lost for the last decade. And with that thought came the guilt of what she was doing and how selfish it seemed now. 

She desperately wanted to cave; to finally drag her uncle back into the light and finally let go of her biggest and longest kept secret.

But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not right now. She had promised Bruno she’d keep his secret. And there was already too much going on; her tío all but coming back from the dead could be the straw that finally cracked the whole family into pieces.

Unbidden, the memory of seeing Casita’s inner walls covered in cracks came to her mind; she prayed the two thoughts weren’t connected.

Steeling herself, Dolores focused on her words, making sure none of them could even hint at her knowing the whereabouts of one Bruno Madrigal.

“I think...Mirabel being gone is causing Abuela to draw some comparisons between her leaving and–” her eyes darted to her mother for a moment and braced herself for the storm that could come, “– you-know-who.”

“Ah,” Julieta— and most of the table —winced.

“Who?” Antonio asked, head tilted curiously.

“Bruno,” Camilo answered without thinking. A crack of thunder made everyone jump as a dark cloud sprang into being over Pepa’s head.

“Discuple,” she said, waving the cloud away vigorously before staring her eldest son down, “We don’t talk about... him.”

“Why not?” Antonio pressed, looking around to see who would answer, “Who’s Bruno?”

The Madrigals exchanged glances with each other silently.

“...Bruno is your mother and tía’s brother; your other tío” Félix finally stated, Pepa’s head snapping towards him indignantly.

“Félix!”

“He was bound to learn sooner or later!” the man explained, hands raised against his wife’s incoming ire.

“Wait– so he’s the man in the green ruana?” Anotonio wondered, pointing towards the mural painted behind Abuela’s empty seat and the figure that stood between Julieta and Pepa.

“...Yes. Yes he is,” Julieta nodded sadly, helping Pepa wave away another cloud.

“Well, where is he then?”

“We...we don’t know,” Luisa told him.

“Why not?”

“Tío left,” Isabela stated, mechanically scooping another helping of food onto her and Luisa’s plates. “Without a word or even a warning, and...we haven’t heard from him since.”

Dolores took a long sip from her drink and kept her gaze firmly focused on her plate.

“It was before you were born, Toñito,” Camilo added. He didn’t specify exactly when that was, for two reasons:

One, because it was in the days that followed Mirabel’s failed ceremony; something that no one really wanted to think about right now.

And two...because no one was sure precisely when it was that Bruno had actually left. The man had already been drawing away from the family by then— it had been years since he’d actually bothered to show his face in town —and so when a few days had gone by without any of the family seeing him, it wasn’t immediately a cause for any concern.

Until Abuela had finally gone looking for him. 

And couldn’t find him.

They’d all but torn Casita apart, trying to find him before expanding the search out into the encanto. Dolores kept thinking she heard him, but there had been so much chaos happening— Pepa alone was shaking the ground with her thunder —she could barely hear herself think, let alone the swish-swish-knock sounds she associated with her uncle.

“Oh,” Antonio mumbled, brow furrowed in consideration before he looked at his mamí, “Is...is he...”

A drop of water ran down Pepa’s face and she wiped the surprisingly salty raindrop away, chanting under her breath, “Clear skies...clear skies...” Julieta gently held her hand, giving it a squeeze that she automatically returned.

“We’re...not sure,” Julieta said gently.

“He’s not dead,” Pepa stated, burning a hole into her plate that was being sprinkled on by rain. “He’s not. His door wouldn’t still be here if he wasn’t– if he had–” Julieta squeezed her sister’s hand again. 

She didn’t point out that no one with a door had ever passed away before; so they didn’t know for sure what would happen to their door if they did.

“...How come we don’t talk about him?” Antonio asked quietly.

“Because it makes Abuela, tía and Mamí sad,” Dolores explained, finally rejoining the conversation.

“Oh... I’m sorry, Mamí,” he said, giving his mother a pair of eyes that looked like they could fill with tears at any moment.

“It’s alright, bebé,” Pepa said, giving him a warm smile, “You didn’t know. And...your father is right; it’s probably about time that you did.”

Antonio returned her smile for a moment before his brow furrowed again, “So...why did he leave?” Antonio asked quietly.

“Your tío–” Agustín said with a small smile, leaning forward enough for his sobrino to see him, “–Was a complicated man with a... difficult gift.”

“Difficult?”

“He could see the future,” Félix jumped in, waving his hand mystically while Pepa rolled her eyes at his antics, “See what was going to happen before it did! And they always came true!”

“Really,” Antonio whispered, eyes wide open in awe even while the rest of the family averted their own, save for Agustín who kept his nephew’s gaze as he continued.

“Sí. However, some people didn’t like what he had to tell them and would get mad.”

“Like on my wedding day,” Pepa groused.

“Best day of my life regardless,” Félix beamed, pressing a kiss to her cheek that fully dispelled the cloud still lingering above her.

“So...he left just because people were mad about his gift?”

“I don’t think the rats he constantly had on him helped much,” Camilo deadpanned.

“He had rats?!” Antonio grinned.

“Hoo boy, did he have rats,” Julieta chuckled, fondly remembering all the times one of the little rodents would pop out of ruana when you least expected it. 

Pepa chuckled, also recalling certain moments with her brother. “Ha– Do you remember, that time in church–” 

“–Dios mio, Viernes Bueno!” Julieta covered her mouth, trying to control herself. “The priest went to get the communion–”

“–and found Bruno trying to stop his rats from eating all the wafers!” Pepa crowed, causing her sister to fully break down into peals of laughter.

“No way!” Camilo asked, jaw dropped so low it practically touched his plate.

“Th-the priest chased him h-halfway across town!” Julieta stuttered out, on the verge of tears.

“‘Bruno Madrigal, you come back here this instant with those roedores diabólicos of yours!’” Pepa stated in a deep voice, setting Juli off again, the rest of the family starting to join in. Dolores nearly snorted her drink out of her nose when she heard her uncle mumbling from behind the walls.

“I was thirteen! You try controlling over two dozen rats!” he grumbled, cloth swishing as he probably crossed his arms in a huff. She could hear him smiling though; a sadly rare occurrence. “Though Toñito could probably handle it now... Oh oh– Dolores! Try and ask Pepa about the time the priest caught her and one of her boyfriends in the confession booth! That’ll shut her up real quick!”

Barely containing a squeak, Dolores cleared her throat and asked, oh-so-innocently, “Was, uh, Tío the only one who got yelled at by the old priest?” It took her biting her own lip to keep from laughing at how her mother’s face paled at the suggestion.

“Hm?! Oh– yeah, no, I’m-I’m sure that cranky old man has yelled at everyone in the encanto at least once,” the pale woman chuckled humorously as her eyes darted everywhere except at her daughter.

“Snrk– Oh sure,” Julieta grinned, resting her chin on one hand, “Such as that time with you and– what was his name? Nico?”

“We don’t talk about Nico!” Pepa hissed, whirling on her sister and sticking a finger in her smirking face.

“I would like to talk about Nico!” Camilo said, raising his hand, face split by an impish grin.

““Same!”” the rest of the primos chimed, raising their own hands. Even Antonio raised his; though he didn’t quite know why everyone else was so interested.

“Too bad, ‘cause we’re not!” Pepa growled, glaring them all down.

“Nico... Nico...” Félix mumbled, scratching at his goatee, “Why do I know that name?”

“He's my ex that wound up marrying your ex,” Pepa deadpanned. Her husband slapped the table as his eyes lit up in recognition.

“Ah, Skinny man and Sofia, I remember now!”

“Oh, should we invite them over for lunch some time?” Agustín asked casually.

““Absolutely not,”” the couple state in unison, brows drawn downward and frowning.

“They know too much?” Julieta reasoned, still smirking.

“Entirely too much,” Pepa drolled.

“Sí.”

“So what I’m hearing is,” Camilo quipped, “If I want some good stories about when you guys were younger–”

“Try it and you’re grounded.”

“For simply trying to get to know my neighbors better?!”

“For trying to get dirt on your mother and I!”

“Why are you trying to get Mamí and Papá dirty?”

“Not that kinda dirt, Toñito,” Luisa explained with a chuckle.

“And really if you honestly want some ‘good stories’, you could just ask me,” Julieta stated with a small shrug.

“And I can say the same about you; Señorita Palma de cera!”

“Palma de cera?” Isabela asked her father, who simply shrugged.

“Now-now wait a second! You’re the one who dared me to climb that tree in the first place!”

“I didn’t expect you to do it!”

“You dared me! Of course I was going to do it!”

“She’s right,” Bruno quietly chimed in for Dolores, “Never dare your tía to do anything; ever. Unless you’re really, really bored and have some of her food already on hand. Pepi’s feistier, but Juli has the stubbornness of ten bulls.”

Dolores was lucky that the table was already so loud that it was easy to attribute her giggles from listening to her tío’s now very pointed commentary to whatever someone else said as dinner carried on. And boy did her uncle have some things to say about his sisters.

She couldn’t remember the last time a dinner had been quite this much fun as all the adults began telling wild stories about each other.

She only wished her prima could have been here too and make it truly perfect.

Chapter Text

Everyone— Casita included —downright sagged with relief when Abuela deigned to join them for breakfast after skipping the past two meals. 

She still looked tired— the shadows under her eyes reminding her daughter’s of their missing triplet —and she was quieter than usual; but she ate and spoke with them all, which was a vast improvement from the day before. Any and all questions about yesterday were gently but firmly brushed away.

The meal was nearly half over when a cry pieced through the air from above the table where it was placed outside on Casita’s side patio. The Madrigals all looked up in unison to see a tucán diving down towards them; grinning as much as a bird could grin as it did.

“Pico!” Antonio shrieked joyfully, leaping up to stand on his chair, arm outstretched for the bird to land on. 

“Did you find her?!” he pleaded the moment the bird settled down.

“Mreep!”

“How is she?! Did she write back?!” the boy asked rapidly, nearly falling off his seat he was shaking so hard with excitement.

With another chirp, Pico spun around and presented his back to Antonio, showing off what looked like an embroidered pouch to the rest of the table. The youngest Madrigal wasted no time opening it up to retrieve the letter tucked away inside.

“Ooh, she decorated it!” Félix cooed, gesturing Pico to flap over to him for a closer look. In addition to some dark green zig-zaggy lines, a small loop of braided thread had been added partway down the sock, so that when the opening was rolled down the loop could fit around a small bit of wood acting as a button, snugly keeping the contents inside. “Clever girl!”

“What’s all this now?” Abuela asked, eyeing her son-in-law, nieto, and the bird in turn.

“Antonio sent one of his birds to check up on Mirabel for us- ay, tu poco–” Félix explained with a grin that turned into an indignant squawk as Pico tried to nab some of his breakfast. “I knew you were the same bird! Ladrón!”

“Pico took my letter and Mirabel sent one back! He’s the best!” Antonio cheered, waving the letter in his hand around like a prize. In his excitement he fully ignored how his father was currently fighting said bird.

“Mirabel?” Alma blinked, wide-eyed.

“You mean Pico flew all the way across the Encanto and back?” Julieta asked in wonder.

“Yup!” Antonio nodded, pausing to listen as Pico let out a series of squawks. “Pico says he got there yesterday afternoon. He would have come back right away, but Mirabel wanted him to rest first. She gave him lots of pitaya and even some fish!”

“Mira wrote a letter?!” Isabela exclaimed, clenching her silverware to keep from snatching the paper Antonio was holding right out of his hands.

“What’s it say, mijo?” Félix, relenting and tossing a piece of sliced fruit for the bird to chase away from the table.

“Oh yeah!” Unwinding the twine holding the paper closed, Antonio brought the paper up to his face and stared at it intently for a few moments before slowly beginning to read it aloud.

“‘Dear Antonio’— that’s me!”

“No duh– ow!” Camilo rubbed at his shoulder where Dolores had jabbed her elbow. 

“Shush!”

“‘I was so ha-happy when I got your let-letter!’” He continued haltingly, oblivious to his siblings' antics. “I miss you too and am hav-having a good time. The place I’m cam-ping at is be...bea...’” Antonio furrowed his brow and pointed out a word to his sister, “What’s this word?”

“‘Beautiful’, Toñito,” Dolores explained patiently with a soft smile. Looking at the letter she noticed how Mirabel had made a point of not writing in her usual curly cursive just so that her little brother would have an easier time reading it. The thoughtful-ness alone made her sigh achingly.

“Gracias! ‘–is beautiful. It has a big pool of water, with many little wat-waterfalls. I...cl-climbed?’” He looked up at Dolores questioningly, who nodded, making him grin. “‘–climbed up one just before Pico got here–’”

“Ay, that girl,” Julieta groaned, rubbing at her temple.

“Palma de cera~” Pepa sang, giving her sister a shit-eating grin.

“You hush!” the chef growled playfully, jabbing her spoon in the redhead's direction.

“‘–and made a fish-trap from some reeds–’”

“That’s my girl!” Agustín crowed, face split with a grin.

“‘Pl-Please tell every-everyone that I miss them too, and will be back in just a few more days.’” Antonio deflated slightly at that but he pressed on.

“‘Love you loads, hom-bre-cito. Your prima, Mirabel.’”

“Well, sounds like she’s having a good time,” Félix said.

“Is there anything else, Toñito?” Luisa asked shyly, leaning over the table as much as she could without actually leaving her seat from across and to one side of Antonio.

At her prompting Antonio took a second look and gasped lightly when he realized there had been a second sheet of paper, folded and tucked behind the first; the slightly ripped edge suggesting Mirabel had carefully torn it out of her sketchbook. Unfolding it Antonio’s eyes went wide with wonder before he spun it around for the rest of the family to see.

Sketched all across the creased page was a landscape they all easily recognized as the Encanto, though from an angle they had never seen before. Mirabel had outlined most of the valley in pencil before filling in the gaps with color. From the perspective they wondered if perhaps this is the same view she had seen from climbing the waterfall like she’d written about.

“Ah, that looks amazing,” Isabela said wistfully; though it was difficult to say if she was talking about the picture or the view captured on the page in general. 

Luisa would bet it was the latter, as she sighed softly, imagining herself laying in a hammock beneath a green canopy and allowing herself to just be for once.

So Antonio’s animals can carry messages that far? And then return with an answer? Abuela hummed as she considered the possibilities, taking another bite of her breakfast. 

While Dolores’ gift was helpful for receiving ‘messages’, such as someone calling for help from far afield, it was a one-way system with no way to reply. 

But if we can use Antonio’s gift to carry messages, then–

Alma flinched, her teeth missing their mark and instead biting down on the inside of her cheek painfully. She hardly noticed it though; shame and guilt overwhelming her instead. Had she not just spent all of last night berating herself for her actions towards her son and granddaughter? Putting so much stress on their gift, or lack thereof? 

Hadn’t she realized, in the quiet stillness of midnight, that she put that exact same stress on every single gift-holding Madrigal? Making Julieta cook constantly, Pepa to keep her emotions firmly under control, force Luisa to carry even more weight?!

And now– now she was beginning to do the exact same thing to Antonio! 

Her dear, sweet, little Toñito; who could be so quiet around others— even when among family —but still had laughed so loud and joyously when he’d received his gift.

Who was she to take away that joy and focus only on how it could be useful? How it could be used?

“Hey Toni, can you talk to fish too?”

Alma was drawn, somewhat, out of her downward spiral by Camilo’s curious but casual question, looking up to find Antonio’s face pinched in thought.

“I don’t know,” he eventually shrugged. “There’s no fish in my room.”

“I guess that’s not surprising,” Agustín chimed in with a chuckle as he reached for a bowl near where he sat. “All the animals in there came from outside Casita, sí? It’d be pretty hard for fish to make their way up all those steps.”

“I guess,” Antonio conceded before he turned a grin his mother’s way, “Mamí, can I go to the river today and talk to the fish?!”

Like a bolt out of the blue, an idea struck Alma in the head, and she answered her nieto before Pepa could even finish swallowing her latest bite of food.

“Only if you take your hermano with you, chiquito,” she said, surprising nearly everyone at the table.

“Ah yeah; boys trip!” Camilo crowed, shooting his fists in the air while Antonio cheered and copied him.

“In fact...why don’t we all take the day off?” Alma suggested, folding her hands in her lap and giving everyone of her grandchildren a gentle smile. “It’s been a while since we’ve all had a chance to just go swimming, hasn’t it?”

“What?” Isabela asked blankly, her glass of juice frozen halfway to her mouth.

“You want us to...take the day off?” Dolores asked incredulously. She wracked her brain, trying to remember the last time they’d done that outside of Sunday or a holiday. They took breaks, sure— most of them did, anyway —but to just... not work for the whole day?

Félix slowly rotated his head back and forth between Abuela and Camilo; trying to figure out if his son had somehow learned to split himself in two.

“Bu–But– Chores!” Luisa stuttered, silverware clattering down onto her half finished plate. “I-I have a list of things I told people I was going to do today!”

Alma gently waved her off, “I’ll be sure to let everyone in town know you’ll be otherwise occupied for the day. And if anything truly serious happens I’m sure Dolores will know even before I do. And the river isn’t that far away.”

“Mamá, are you...feeling okay?” Julieta asked gently.

“Sí, Juli, estoy bien,” she replied, patting her eldest daughter’s hand soothingly. “I just think that...Mirabel may have had the right idea in taking a break. We could all use one. Especially you two,” she nodded at Julieta and Pepa, causing the redhead to nearly choke on her food.

“Koff– Esperad! Us too?!”

“Yes, you too.”

“But–But what if someone gets hurt?” Julieta asked worriedly. Because someone always got hurt, even if only a little.

“You already made today’s supplies, sí? Not to mention the leftovers from yesterday,” Alma shrugged. “I see no reason why we cannot simply leave them at the stand in town for people to grab as needed; you don’t have to be there for your gift to work after all.”

“So we’re all going swimming?!” Antonio asked excitedly, leaning heavily on the table while still standing on his chair.

“Sí, Toñito. The Madrigals are all going swimming.” Alma nodded decisively before standing up. “I’ll go and begin informing the rest of the Encanto. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast everyone.”

Camilo, Antonio, Félix and Agustín all hollered and cheered, already excited at the prospects of a day spent playing. 

Meanwhile the rest of the table switched between giving each other anxious and confused looks, and throwing the same expressions at Abuela’s retreating back.

“Okay, we all— except for the boys–” Dolores drawled, side-eyeing the male half of the Madrigals as they began trying to finish off their plates as quickly as possible, “–Think that that was weird right? You all heard her? It’s not just me?!”

“No no, you’re right,” Julieta nodded slowly, “That was... very odd.”

“Am I having a stroke? Is this what a stroke feels like?!” Pepa squeaked, roughly stroking her braid as small bits of hail began to drop down from the cloud above her.

“But...my chores...” Luisa mumbled, looking somewhere between lost, confused and simply stunned.

“Abuela...wants us to...take the day off...” Isabela stated, trying to wrap her head around the idea.

“Mand mhy mouldn’t mwe?” Camilo snarked with his mouth full; earning a disapproving glare from all adults at the table. He swallowed roughly, “Discuple, but c’mon! When was the last time we just had a chance to have fun outside of some special occasion?!”

The table was silent for a moment, save for Antonio’s continued eating, as everyone quietly agreed. It had been a very long time since they had simply rested for restings sake.

They all jumped as Isabela smacked her hands onto the stand and hoisted herself up out of her seat.

“You know what? Camilo is right! For once!”

“Yea– hey!”

“We do deserve a break!” she stated fiercely. “We deserve to have some fun!”

“We had fun at my party,” Antonio chimed in, his face an adorable mess as only a five year old’s could be.

“We did,” Isa conceded, “But we were also playing hosts; making sure everyone else was having a good time.”

“And we had to clean everything up afterwards,” Camilo pointed out drolly, jolting backwards when Isabela pointed a finger enthusiastically in his direction.

“Exactly! We spent almost the whole night stressed out over one thing or another! No más! We are taking the day off!”

“Yeah... Yeah!” Luisa stood up from her seat so fast it flew almost all the way across the patio. “Let’s do it!”

“Oh, what the heck,” Dolores chuckled, thinking this might as well happen, “I’m in!”

“Me too!” Camilo added, raising his hand.

“Cami, that was never in doubt,” Félix chuckled as he stood up to begin collecting the plates of those who were finished.

“Well I guess that settles it,” Julieta chuckled next to a Pepa who was shaking the last bits of hail out of her hair.

“We’re all going to the river!”

Chapter Text

Getting the familia ready for an unexpected outing was the usual flavor of chaos. Voices echoed across Casita asking “Have you seen my-” and “Can I bring-”, followed by equally loud answering calls, either positive or negative.

Pepa was trying to convince Antonio that “No, not all of your new friends need to come- Ah ah ah- Don’t give me that face! You’ll make new friends at the river!”

Julieta was in the kitchen, prepping a meal that they could easily cook at the river and debating if asking Luisa to bring the kitchen table would be too much.

Luisa was dropping off the already prepared food to Abuela— who had ultimately decided she would stay behind to ferry questions and make note of people’s requests for later —in the town square.

Isabela went with Luisa to make sure she didn’t get distracted by anyone asking for assistance; politely but firmly turning away the few who attempted to ask the strongest Madrigal to move things they could frankly move themselves if a friend helped.

And Dolores spent most of the time chasing down Camilo, who had stolen her swimsuit for a laugh. It was perhaps a bit too chaotic for what would amount to a mere fifteen minute walk to the river; but in the Madrigal’s defense, they were a bit out of practice.

Eventually the family moved out and in short order arrived at the riverbank. Towels were laid out while Isabela grew seats and a table, and the grill Luisa had happily carried along was set up for later.

There was a moment where they all just stood there and took in the moment; it was a beautiful day and they had the full freedom to enjoy it.

They were only snapped out of their spontaneous indecision by Camilo and Antonio breaking rank with dual whoops of excitement as they made a dash for the water. As if released from a spell the rest of the familia followed suite, dodging each other and the lounge chairs Isabela had made.

“Hey, there’s some fish over here, Toñito!” Camilo called back to his brother, pointing down to a shallow bank.

Antonio skidded to a stop in the dirt next to his brother, everyone else stopping a few paces behind both of them to watch.

“Buenos días!” the youngest Madrigal called down to the fish. They jolted slightly, at the sound of his voice and the appearance of his shadow, but otherwise made no movement either towards or away from the boy.

“My name is Antonio; can you understand me?”

They seemed to ignore him, continuing to drift about and carrying on with their fish business.

“Hm,” Camilo hummed, “Not the liveliest bunch, are they?”

“Maybe the water is muffling their voices?” Dolores offered.

“Yeah, try sticking your head in the water and talking!” Camilo suggested.

“Okay!”

“Wait a minute-”

“I’m not sure-” Luisa and Isabela tried to both speak up at once, foreseeing an issue, but their primo had already stepped into the river and dunked his head beneath the water. The surface boiled with bubbles for several seconds before Antonio jerked back up, violently coughing up water.

“Blech!”

“Are you alright, Toñito?” Pepa asked, rushing to her youngest’s side and brushing his drenched bangs out of his face.

“Ye-Yeah- koff -Estoy bien.”

“Well? Could you hear them?” Camilo wondered.

“Uh uh,” Antonio shook his head, shoulders drooping while his hair was dripping.

“I guess your gift only works with animals that can breathe air?” Agustín offered gently.

“Which is still really amazing!” Isabela tacked on.

“Yeah, no preocupes,” Camilo grinned, patting Antonio on the back. “We’ve answered the question of whether you can or not, and now it’s time to have some fun!”

His decree was met by unanimous agreement and the Madrigal family began doing something they hadn’t fully done as a group in a long time.

Play.

Luisa picked Camilo up by his armpits and lightly tossed him up and out over the river, the boy landing with a splash that cut off the high pitch surprised shriek that had been coming from his mouth. He came back up spluttering, wiping at his face with one hand while the other was busy shaking a fist at his prima; though he was smiling widely regardless.

“Darn it, Luis-Ah!”

He was cut off yet again by the water; this time because Isabela had flung herself into the air with her vines, curling into a cannonball with a whoop just before she hit the water, sending a respectable-sized wave over her cousin. When they both returned to the surface, they wasted no time in starting a water fight, splashing and laughing at each other like they were little children again.

“Me next! Me next!” the actual five-year-old begged, raising his hands up towards Luisa.

“Not too high now, Luisa,” Pepa urged, a small see-through cloud popping up over her head.

“Sí, tía!” Luisa nodded, dutifully throwing him only about half as high as she’d thrown Camilo and a little closer to shore. Dolores opted to simply run into the water and dive into it under her own power, enjoying the brief respite from sounds as the water muffled nearly everything.

Soon everyone else waded in and began swimming in earnest. Julieta and Pepa started a chicken fight, sitting atop their respective husbands, that ended with Julieta the victor and Pepa spluttering in Félix’s arms, though everyone was laughing. At one point Antonio made a new friend in the shape of yet another caiman; scaring his brother so bad when said friend booped him with his nose, that Camilo leapt straight out of the water, quick-shifting his way through several people before landing again. Isabela, after a few failed attempts, succeeding in making a vine thick and sturdy enough for Luisa to enjoy swinging on and out over the water; her first cannonball swamped an unsuspecting Antonio, but he resurfaced quick enough with a smile and a giggle.

They played games, took naps, and had a delicious lunch before doing it all over again. Dolores heard people call her a few times— usually with requests to 'tell so-and-so such-and-such' —but she was pleasantly surprised to find that a few simply wished her and the familia a happy day off. She even heard one resident tell off another resident for ‘bothering Dolores on her day off’ when they made a request to her in front of them.

She relayed as much to the others and they seemed as happily astonished as she was.

As the sun began to slowly dip downwards, the adults packed up and began heading back to Casita to rest a little and begin preparations for dinner, urging the kids to play for a while longer before they joined them. More swimming was had for a while before all the grandkids lounged on Isa’s viney furniture, resting up and drying off for the walk home and simply chatting merrily.

Isabela herself felt more relaxed than she had in years, lazily swinging on back and forth on a wide-benched swing.

“Can we do this again when Mirabel comes back?” Antonio asked as he scratched the chin of a capybara he’d met and was cuddling on the ground with.

“Of course we can!” Camilo grinned, fully stretched out on a pink-flowered chaise.

“If Abuela says we can,” Luisa half mumbled from her spot in a gently swaying hammock.

“She let us come today,” Dolores argued, lying face down on a blanket of woven vines. “Never thought I see the day where Abuela would encourage a day off; but if she did it once, she could do it again.”

“That’s true...”

“We should invite Isa’s boyfriend too,” Camilo smirked, throwing kissy faces at Isabela; who grimaced for a fraction of a second before slipping her neutral smile back on.

“Oh, let’s not bring up Mariano. I’d rather talk about what’s been going on with Abuela lately; the skipped meals, this day off-”

“Why don’t you want to talk about Mariano?” Dolores asked, raising her head slightly.

“I just told you; I want to talk about-”

“We’re giving you a perfect excuse to gush about your boyfriend, and you won’t take it?” Camilo gasped as he sat up. “Why not? The other girls in the village will chat your ear off about their crush if you so much as mention their name. But now that I think about it, you’ve never really done that. How come?”

“Yeah... I don’t think I’ve heard you bring up Mariano since Abuela and Señora Guzmán started talking about you two getting together?” Luisa noted, brow furrowed as she tried to search her memory for a time when Isabela had talked about Mariano without someone else talking about him first.

Mierda, Isabela thought, trying to keep her mounting concern off her face.

“I- Simply haven’t felt the need to. That’s all.”

“Well, now’s as good as time as any,” Dolores hummed with a smile, though it seemed a little tight at the corners. “What do you like most about him?”

“Uh- Well, he’s certainly handsome,” Isa forced out with a smile, “And just as kind too. He’ll be a great addition to the family.”

“Yeah,” Camilo chuckling, laying down on his side and holding his head up with one hand, “Him and Abuela’s five grandbabies.”

“Dios mio, don’t remind me,” she grumbled under her breath; completely forgetting about who her current company was.

“Why not?” Dolores asked, making her flinch at being caught, “Does that sound like too many for you?”

“It- It does sound like a few too many. And our family seems to be just fine with sets of threes anyway.”

“Heh- Maybe you’ll have triplets like Abuela did,” Camilo smirked.

Isabela couldn’t help but blanche at the thought of pushing out not just one but three babies in a single sitting. How her Abuela did it she’ll never know, and she is fine with that ignorance.

“I’ll be sure to talk it over with...Mariano. Now, back to Abuela’s behavior-”

“Why do keep dodging talking about your boyfriend?”

“Why do you keep trying to talk about him, Camilo?”

“I’m curious!”

“You’re annoying, is what you are.”

“Where’s Mariano gonna sleep after you’re married?” Antonio asked.

“He’ll sleep in her room, Toñito,” Dolores stated flatly, “Just like Mamí and Papá.”

“Oh. ...Is she going to get a second bed?”

“Nope~ They’re gonna share. Isn’t that right, Isa?” Camilo stood all the way up, cupping his own cheeks and blowing more kisses towards her.

“That is typically what married couples do, yes, Camilo.”

“Isa? Are you okay?” Luisa asked, sitting up in her hammock.

“I’m fine,” Isabela forced out as happily as she could. “ You know who’s not fine? Abuela.”

“There you go about Abuela again-”

“Because she’s been acting different ever since-”

“-Ever since Mirabel took off on her trip,” Camilo waved nonchalantly as he cut her off, “Yes yes, we’ve all noticed; and while I would like to talk about that-”

“-So why don’t we?”

“-Right now I would much rather talk about Mariano with you~”

“But I don’t want to talk about Mariano right now?” Isabela all but growled, standing up from her swing and glaring fiercely at her primo.

“I know. What I don’t know is why not?”

“Camilo-” Luisa said in a low worry-tinged warning, swinging her legs out of her hammock.

“No~ I want to know why she doesn’t want to talk about her boyfriend and future husband!” Camilo insisted, grinning at Luisa before refocusing on Isa. “C’mon, prima; what’s wrong? Afraid you’re gonna ugly cry during the proposal or something?”

“Camilo, drop it.”

“Isa?” Dolores asked, rising up onto her knees. Antonio and the capybara started backing away, inching closer towards another flower chair tall enough for them to kneel behind.

“I’ll drop it once you tell me!”

“I don’t want to talk about Mariano right now. End of story!”

“But why not?!”

“Because-”

“Because what?!”

“-BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO MARRY HIM!” Isabela roared at Camilo, fists clenched and stamping one foot onto the ground.

Her words echoed in the silence that followed and she felt her heart drop like molten lead to the bottom of her stomach. She slapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late.

She hadn’t meant to say that.

She’d sworn to herself that she’d never say that!

Mierda-

““WHAT?!”” Pretty much everyone yelled at once.

“Mierdaaaaa-” Isa hissed again, out loud this time; her mind racing, trying to figure out how she could salvage this.

“What do you mean you don’t want to marry him?!” Dolores screeched, scrambling up onto her feet.

“Yeah, what she said!” Camilo said, gesturing frantically.

Antonio and his friend plonked themselves behind a chair, both heads poked up above the edge of the seat to watch everything unfold.

“I- I uh-”

“You don’t want to marry him?” Luisa said plainly, standing up as well, her face completely slack with shock.

Isabela caught her sister’s eye-

And felt every single lie she’d been growing in her throat shrivel and die like long neglected plants. Luisa looked as flabbergasted as their cousins, but hers had something else as well. Something that Isa couldn’t name but stabbed her through the heart nonetheless. And she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that if she tried to lie now, Luisa would know no matter how hard she tried. She would know and she would be so hurt and-

She couldn’t do it.

She couldn’t lie anymore.

Not to Luisa; or to any of them.

She didn’t want to marry Mariano. Didn’t want to have his five kids, or spend the rest of her life with him; she didn’t even want to kiss him!

But she had to. For the family. For their miracle.

She was tired. More than that she was hurting.

...And she only knew one way to fix it.

“I- I just- ...No,” she confessed, shoulders drooping lower than anyone had seen from her in years.

Like a literal weight had finally slipped off them.

“No, I don’t.”

Chapter Text

The silence that sat between the Madrigal cousins was thick enough that if a knife was stabbed into the air it would think things over before deciding to fall to the ground.

“Oye...”

“I can’t believe it...” Dolores whispered, wide eyed.

Isabela kept her head tilted down, unable to look any of them in the eye. She’d never meant for anyone to know; but they did now, so, while she should feel relieved-

She mostly just felt tired.

“Then- Then why are you marrying him?!” Luisa demanded, stepping over to her sister.

“...He’d be a good addition for the family,” Isa mumbled.

“...That’s it? That’s the only reason you’re marrying him?!” Camilo stated in disbelief.

“So what if it is!” Isa snapped, finally looking up, “It’s a good match, don’t you think?”

“Not if you don’t actually love him, it isn’t!” Luisa bellowed.

“I can! I will! I just- I just need a little more time, is all!”

“Time?!”

“Oh my god- That’s why you postponed the engagement dinner!” Isabela worried that Camilo would actually tear his own hair out he was grabbing at it so hard. “I knew it wasn’t because you wanted Mirabel to be there!”

Isabela’s retort— her explanation for exactly why she was doing this —was cut off by Dolores breaking out into almost hysterical sounding giggles. All of them stared at the young woman as she nearly doubled over by the force of her own laughter, but it sounded unlike anything they had ever heard from her before. There was no joy or merriment in it; instead there was something that was almost dark about the sound.

“...Dolores?”

“I-I can’t believe it...” she rasped without a shred of humor in the empty smile on her face as she looked up at Isabela from where she was bent over. “You’re- marrying the man of my dreams- ha ha -and you- You don’t even want him! Ha ha ha!”

Her head dropped down again as she continued laughing. In the back of her mind Isabela could have sworn she said something about how ‘this was just like one of tío’s stories’, but she was too busy trying to digest her previous statements to truly pay that part any mind.

“Man of your- What do you mean the man of your dreams?!”

“Hold up- You like Mariano?!” Camilo shrieked. Dolores straightened up, dragging her hands down her face as her laughter slowing died down.

“...Yes.”

“What the he- heck?!” Luisa groaned, remembering Antonio’s presence at the last moment.

Isabela felt like she’d been punched in the stomach as her prima— the one she considered her first sister —flatly stated that the man Isa was dreading having to marry, was the man that she wanted.

“You... You want to marry Mariano?” she asked, “You like Mariano?”

“Yeah... Yeah I do,” Dolores shrugged sadly.

“Why?” Camilo couldn’t help but demand, “Sure he’s handsome and tall and all that, but he isn’t exactly the brightest light in the Encanto. I mean, have you ever heard him try to write his poetry-”

“Hey!” Dolores snapped at her brother, “He might be slow at coming up with his rhymes, but his finished works are wonderful!”

“...Oh wow, you really like him,” Camilo gasped.

Dolores likes him. She likes him and knows I’m supposed marry him and she was- was just going to let me?!

“I- I didn’t- I didn’t know...” Isabela said quietly before stepping forward and grabbing Dolores’ hand, drawing her attention off of Camilo. “Lola I swear I didn’t know! If I had known I would have never agreed to marry him in the first place!”

She felt sick; the whole reason she had agreed— aside from pleasing Abuela —was to help ensure that every one else would thus be free to marry who they chose to. But if Mariano was the one Dolores wanted to marry, then-

Then she was already failing.

“It’s fine,” Dolores stated, meeting Isa’s eye, her smile miles away from reaching her eyes, “It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Luisa asked, moving to stand next to them. “Isa hasn’t even been proposed to yet; she can still call the whole thing off!”

Isabela froze as the sentence walked through her head.

Call the whole thing off.

Call the-

“...Yeah... Yeah! I can call the whole thing off!” she exclaimed, holding tightly to Dolores’ hand, “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do!”

“Isa-”

“No- You know what?! This works out perfectly!” Isa exclaimed, grabbing Dolores’ shoulders. Her thoughts were speeding through her head so quickly they were making her all but physically vibrate in place. “I’ll break it off with Mariano— oye, he’s gonna make such a face—”

“Isa-”

“—And then we’ll start on getting you two together! And-And so long as you get married, Abuela can’t be too upset because he’ll still be joining the family, only this time with someone who actually cares about him-”

“It won’t work!” Dolores yelled, jerking herself back out of Isabela’s grip. Her thunderous volume— exceedingly rare as it was —made everyone jolt out of sheer shock. Poor Antonio ducked down almost completely out of sight behind the chair he and the capybara were hiding behind, leaving only his eyes and hair visible.

“Wha-”

“Why not?!”

“...Because.”

“I think we already established that ‘because’ does not count as an answer,” Camilo deadpanned.

Dolores groaned and began pacing back and forth, dragging her hands through river-frizzed hair, only pausing in place when her prima softly called out to her.

“Lola,” Isa said, taking half a step towards her, “What do you mean, ‘it won’t work’?”

“...Because tío said it wouldn’t...”

“Wha- Papá did?” Luisa squeaked. Dolores shook her head, meeting their faces but not quite their eyes.

“No. Tío Bruno.”

“Tío- Bruno?!”

The answer clicked in Isabela’s brain.

“You- You asked Bruno for a vision, didn’t you...” she gawked, hardly believing her own ears, “And he- he said-”

“That ‘the man of my dreams would be just out of reach’,” Dolores answered with the saddest smile Isa had ever seen, “‘Betrothed to another.’ And his tablet showed Mariano and...and you.”

“Oh Lola...” Isabela breathed, a surprisingly difficult task since it felt like all the air had been sucked out of her. Luisa and Camilo didn’t look much better. They knew, just as well as she did— as all of the Encanto did —that if Bruno Madrigal said something was going to happen, it was going to happen.

Whether you liked it or not.

Isabela felt her heart break. Bad enough she was going to marry someone she didn’t love; she was also going to break the heart of her favorite prima while she did it.

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t!

“...What does ‘betrothed’ mean?” Antonio asked quietly.

“It...It’s like a promise, Toñito,” Luisa answered morosely, “It means they’re engaged to be married.”

Silence descended over the group like the curtain of a show; heavy and final.

“...Wait- Wait!” Camilo gasped, getting up in his sister’s face and taking a turn holding her shoulders, “Tío said ‘betrothed’?”

“...Sí?”

“You’re sure that’s what he said?”

“Are you actually asking if I heard something right?” Dolores sneered, “Something that was said right to my face?!”

“Yes, because it’s important!” Camilo groaned, shaking her slightly, “He said ‘betrothed’?! Not ‘married’? Not ‘madly in love’? ‘Betrothed’?!”

“Yes, Camilo-” she snapped shaking off his hands and rubbing at her eyes, “-he said betrothed!”

“Then you can still marry him!” he whooped, arms wider than his grin.

“What are you-”

“-Oh my god. Oh my god, Camilo is right!” Luisa beamed.

Dolores looked at her like she’d grown a second head. “How?!”

“Being betrothed doesn’t mean you’re married,” she explained, “It only means you intend to be married.”

“Which, technically speaking, Mariano and Isabela already are!” Camilo joined in.

“B-But he hasn’t even proposed yet-” Dolores tried to argue.

“But he’s going to,” Isabela breathed, everything falling into place in her head. “He’s going to propose and everyone in the Encanto knows it! We’re practically engaged already!”

“And because they’re already betrothed-” Luisa started.

“Then... That means Tío Bruno’s vision already came true?” Antonio asked, feeling brave enough to stand up again.

“Exactamente!” Isabela grinned, stepping up to Dolores again. “Which means that going forward, anything could happen!”

“Including her breaking it off with Mariano-” Camilo crowed.

“-And you marrying him instead!” Luisa finished.

“Wha-”

“So I won’t have to marry him, you’ll get the man of your dreams, and Abuela will still get the Guzmáns into the family; it’s perfect!” Isabela smiled so wide her cheeks hurt but she was too excited to care.

She didn’t have to marry Mariano.

Didn’t have to force herself to love someone she clearly didn’t.

And she could help her favorite prima at the same time!

It truly was perfect!

“...There are two problems...” Dolores stated dejectedly.

“Oh, come off it, what could possibly be the problem?!” Camilo sighed.

“For one thing, I’ve barely said two words to Mariano-”

“And whose fault is tha-ow!” he said before Isa whipped him in the rear with a vine.

“That’s no problem!” Luisa assured her, stepping in to Dolores’ free side, “He’s probably gonna be a wreck after Isa dumps him; you’ll be a perfect shoulder to cry on!”

“Isa’s gonna make him cry?” Antonio asked, cocking his head in time with the capybara beside him.

“Like a baby-Yipe! Oye- Quit whipping me when I’m right!”

“We’ll work on getting you two to hang out together,” Isabela promised her prima, gently coaxing her chin up to look her in the eye. “Lola, I swear; I’ll fix this. I promise. Just, let me try?”

Dolores stared into her eyes, looking for something, though Isa didn’t know what. After a long moment she must have found it, because her chin wobbled for a second before she wrapped Isabela in a firm hug.

“...Okay,” she whispered. Isabela hugged her back just as hard at her word.

“Good! Everything’s going to be o-kay!” Isa squeaked as another pair of arms wrapped around both of them and lifted them into the air.

“Oh gracias a dios, I thought this was going to go so-ho-ho badly!” Luisa wailed, shaking the pair of them with her sobs. Camilo, who had managed to dodge out of the way of her arms at the last moment, laughed at his sister and cousin’s faces where they poked out of Luisa’s strong hold. Antonio joined in for a moment, before his brow furrowed and he cocked his head again.

“-Wait. Dolores, you said there were two problems? What’s the other one?”

Blinking at Antonio’s question, Luisa placed the two older girls back on the ground, allowing them to breathe again.

“He’s right; what is the other one?”

Dolores took a few moments to get air back into her lungs before she looked up and dryly said, “Abuela.”

“...Ah.”

“Oof.”

Isabela winced; she’d forgotten that getting Abuela to be excited for Dolores’ upcoming betrothal first required explaining why hers had to end.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think she’s gonna be happy about this,” Dolores stated.

“...Well- Tough,” Isabela spat out with more bravado than she actually felt, “She’s just- going to have to deal with it.”

“Ooooh,” Camilo grinned while Antonio’s little mouth fell open in shock.

“Isa?” Luisa said while Dolores looked at her with something like wonder and awe on her face.

“Are- Are you sure? I know you don’t want to marry him, but-”

“I don’t! And more importantly, you do!” she stated, staring her prima hard in the eye, “So-So I’m going to call off the marriage. Tonight!”

I will, Isabela swore to herself as everyone save for a stunned Dolores cheered, I will tell Abuela I’m calling off the marriage! If Mirabel can hike across the entire Encanto by herself, then I can do this!

I can!

I will!

Energy running high, the Madrigal cousins set to work grabbing the last of their things and putting the riverbank back to how they’d found it just that morning. As Isabela tucked a rolled up towel under her arm, an unexpected spot of color caught her eye.

There on the ground, in the dirt right near where they had all been talking, was a cactus with a single orange flower blooming on it.

Her brow furrowed as she looked down at it; she’d swept the area clear when they’d arrived that morning and could have sworn she hadn’t seen any cacti at all. And surely it hadn’t been sitting there all this time right beside their chairs.

So where did it come from? It’s a miracle no one stepped on it already; Isabela herself had been standing near here when-

When Camilo had irritated her so much she’d stomped her foot...

Did... Did I make this? She wondered, bending down towards the cactus. She reached a hand out— to touch it, feel it; make sure it was really real —when Luisa called out to her.

“Coming, sis?”

“Uh- Yeah! Yes- Right behind you!” Standing up, throwing one last glance at the cactus, Isabela quickly walked over to where her sister and cousins were patiently waiting. A glimpse at Dolores biting her lips looking worried but also hopeful reminded her of what awaited her at Casita. She gave her a warm smile— trying to silently convince Dolores and herself that everything would be fine —while her mind buzzed as she tried to decide the best way to tell Abuela the news.

But a voice in the back of her mind, overshadowed by her worries about her soon to be ended engagement, couldn’t help but think about the cactus. About how she had to have been the one to make it appear.

And wondering what else she could do...