Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

On a hill overlooking the sprawling village, Casita shivers in the morning air and gently awakens the Madrigal family. The first to start their day are Julieta and Isabela. The ovens and stoves in the large kitchen ignite and the sprinklers in the greenhouse turn on, awaiting their arrival. As the only two family members that primarily work in the central marketplace, they liked to open their shops early in the morning along with the rest of the encanto’s shopkeepers.

Throughout her life, Julieta focused on her culinary skills and how to use them to heal the members of her family and the encanto’s citizens. When Isabela began looking for more fulfilling ways to aid the encanto beyond pretty floral arrangements, Julieta encouraged her to focus on herbs and spices and other healing plants. With the blessing of Abuela Alma, the two of them opened an apothecary and a cafe. Julieta’s husband and father of her children, Augustin, was the official third member of their shop team, providing his truck to use for deliveries. Naturally, they have two of the more popular businesses in the central marketplace, though Abuela Alma draws the line at delivering outside of the encanto. Although, it is a rule she enforces for all of the encanto’s shopkeepers.

On this particular morning, Julieta makes breakfast for the rest of the family. It is something she does only when she has time to spare or else the task falls to Abuela Alma and Casita. Julieta covers up the meal and places it on the kitchen table to wait for the rest of the family. Then, she focuses on putting the finishing touches on her new recipes for the cafe.

Next to the kitchen, in the attached greenhouse, Isabela tends to her herb and spice garden as well as her pet carnivorous plants. Much larger than the one connecting the cafe and the apothecary, the Madrigal greenhouse is where Isabela feels the most comfortable experimenting with her gift. In the early days of the greenhouse, she was too nervous to try anything until her youngest sister Mirabel started suggesting the strangest plants to see if Isabela would grow them. The two of them spent hours and hours growing cat-like venus flytraps and sweetened coffee beans, but Abuela Alma forbid Mirabel from going into the greenhouse a couple of years ago, even before their cousin Antonio’s gift ceremony.

By the time Julieta and Isabela are ready to leave for the day, with multiple baskets filled with various plants and baked goods, Augustin is fully awake and preparing the truck to ride into town. He and Julieta and Isabela will have breakfast at the cafe like they do every morning when they open the shops.

The three of them are halfway down the road into town when a strange animal falls from the sky and lands in the surrounding jungle, unseen by everyone. A small mouse crawls over to investigate and runs away after the large animal makes a surprisingly small, hurt noise.

Casita forms a crack under a floor tile in one of the bathrooms.

The next Madrigal to start their day is Abuela Alma. Already dressed, she watches from her bedroom just as Augustin’s truck turns out of sight. The family candle remains still in the morning breeze.

It took a long time for her to finally feel comfortable about Julieta and Isabela’s shops. She thought her daughter and granddaughter were being too selfish about their gifts; they felt too personal. The encanto citizens were what finally convinced her. They liked being able to have Julieta’s healing food in their own homes for when she was not available. The herbs and spices Isabela grew, while not able to heal anything without manipulation by her mother, were a hit in every kitchen.

Placing her shawl on her shoulders, Abuela says a silent morning prayer to the family candle and leaves her room. She closes her bedroom door with a wave of her hand. On the way towards the kitchen, she taps on the nursery door.

“Mirabel! Come to breakfast!” She walks away, not wanting to wait for her youngest granddaughter. Since Antonio’s gift ceremony, Abuela Alma worries more and more about Mirabel’s place in the family. She was annoyingly helpful in the past, but now even the smallest things she did ended in disaster.

Inside the nursery, Mirabel sits on the edge of her bed and sighs.

Even though Abuela was slowly allowing the gifted family members to do more with their lives, Mirabel was not as lucky. Like most fifteen-year-old girls, she wanted to prove that she was no longer a little child. If she was born into another family, there would have been no shortage of things to do. But she was a giftless Madrigal; therefore, nothing she did made any significant impact. Lately, she was feeling more in the way than anything else. Even her baby cousin Antonio was starting to draw away from her since receiving his gift a month ago. She practically raised him but that was not enough to cancel out Abuela’s influence. The hardest thing was feeling her connection to Casita start to diminish.

Mirabel rises from her bed and dresses for the day, making sure to wear her handmade satchel. She carries her usual mini embroidery kit and some small pieces of fabric, but today she adds small jars of her mother Julieta’s healing cream. Her goal for the day is to start weaving a new set of baskets for the apothecary which always resulted in her hands being covered in tiny, painful cuts.

‘Think happy thoughts,” Mirabel whispers to herself before leaving the nursery and going to the kitchen. Casita would have shifted the tiles beneath her feet to cheer her up, but not anymore. Not since Antonio’s gift ceremony.

In the jungle, the mystery animal makes another small, hurt noise. One of the toucans monitoring the situation from a low tree branch flies over to the animal and lands on the ground next to it. A conversation of squawks and low growls begins. The toucan nods at the creature and picks up some of its white and grey feathers from the ground. The toucan flies away towards the encanto. Casita forms another crack in the wall behind a dresser. The flame of the family candle flickers. No one notices.

While Mirabel sulks at the kitchen table and drinks her coffee, Luisa cannot hide the smile on her face when she enters the kitchen. Right on her heels are her uncle Felix and his daughter Dolores.

Abuela finishes her breakfast, and, with a wave of her hand, her plates and cup and silverware float over towards the sink. Casita will wait until breakfast is over to start washing the dishes. Mirabel slinks down into her seat. Casita has been doing more and more of its own chores, leaving Mirabel with even less to do around the house.

Luisa sees her little sister’s sour look and makes a point to give Mirabel’s shoulders a small squeeze before sitting down to eat, making Mirabel smile.

“Luisa, I looked over the revised plans and I approve of them.” Abuela hands her granddaughter a roll of blueprints and gives her a nod. Luisa smiles brightly at her and beams at Mirabel who smiles back.

The population of the encanto is noticeably growing as more and more lost people mysteriously found their way through the harsh jungle and into the encanto. Mirabel had the idea to build a smaller neighborhood so the new people can adjust to life in the encanto at their own pace. She first told Luisa, the builder of the family, who then insisted that Mirabel include their uncle Felix who was quite the architect himself. Together, the three of them drafted multiple plans before showing Abuela Alma who always had the final say in anything that would drastically change the dynamic of the encanto. Luisa and Felix left Mirabel’s name out of it to help their chances with Abuela.

“Thanks, Abuela!” Luisa says with a mouth full of food. Abuela Alma nods and frowns in response.

“Wait, what if you didn’t approve the plans? Would that mean we couldn’t work today?” Dolores asks, choking on her coffee. With Mirabel’s name off the project, Dolores was added. Her input revolved around her listening to and talking with the villagers so their new homes and local marketplace were as close to what they wanted as possible.

“Dolores!” scolds her father, Felix, who turns toward Abuela Alma and gives her an apologetic smile. “What she means to say is that she is grateful for your input.” He gives his daughter a stern glare.

Just then, Felix’s wife Pepa and their two other children, Camilo and Antonio, walk into the kitchen.

“Stop being rude, Lolo,” scolds Pepa. Lightning sparks in her eyes as a warning to her daughter.

“Sorry,” Dolores replies, taking another sip of her coffee. Camilo nudges his sister’s shoulder before sitting down at the kitchen table next to Mirabel. Antonio takes a seat between his brother and sister.

Abuela Alma turns towards her daughter. “Pepa, I still have some questions about this glass thing you want to do with Bruno.”

“It’s not a just glass thing,” Dolores responds, tilting her head while she finishes the last bit of her breakfast. She tries to help Antonio but he shakes his head. He drops a few pieces of fruit on the tablecloth but no one mentions it.

“Bruno! If you want to talk to me, talk TO me and not through your niece,” Abuela Alma yells towards the kitchen wall where a hidden door suddenly slams open. Dolores and Mirabel wince. “And stop crawling through the walls like a rat and use the stairs like everyone else!”

“Sorry, Mama. Sorry, Dolores,” apologizes Bruno as he enters the kitchen. “It’s not just a glass thing. It’s a lot of glass things. Stained glass. Glass beads. Glass cups. Glass plates. Glass shoes.” Pepa groans in embarrassment. A cloud of fog grows around her face. Felix waves it away and hands her a glass of mango juice.

“Well, not glass shoes, but glass has many applications. You’ll see,” encourages Bruno. He fills a cup with coffee and sits down at the table squeezing in between Mirabel and Luisa.

“You should eat more,” Mirabel quietly tells her uncle. She hands him a small bread roll which he begins nibbling, smiling graciously.

“He’s fine,” Abuela Alma sternly says to Mirabel. Before Bruno can respond, Pepa clears her throat and the clouds around her head.

“All that sand in Bruno’s room has to go somewhere,” she tells her mother, smiling over to her brother and avoiding eye contact with Mirabel. Pepa was making up for lost time, trying to make amends for all the animosity she held towards him for most of their adult lives. She hated that Mirabel seemed to want to make his transition back into the family harder than it already was.

“You two still need to work on a few things,” Abuela Alma tells Pepa and Bruno in an encouraging voice.

“Speaking of working on things, we should get going,” announces Felix, standing up and stretching. “We have a long day ahead of us.” He kisses his wife, nods at the rest of the table, and leaves the kitchen.

Chugging down the last of her coffee, Dolores rises from her chair. She tugs one of Antonio’s curls and walks over to kiss her mother and grandmother on the cheek goodbye before walking out of the kitchen.

Luisa leans over and whispers in Mirabel’s ear. “Make today a good day, okay?” Mirabel nods and remains silent, watching as her sister gets up from the table and leaves. Camilo nudges Mirabel and whispers in her ear. He pulls out a package from inside his poncho and hands it to her. They giggle as she places it into her satchel.

“Camilo,” Abuela Alma says to get her grandson’s attention. She waves her hand to clear the rest of the dishes from the table. Casita turns on the kitchen sink to start washing up.

“Yes, Abuela?” Camilo answers, almost jumping out of his chair.

“I need you to go with your father today,” Abuela announces. Camilo opens his mouth to protest but his mother stops him.

“That is a fantastic idea, mama,” Pepa says too loudly.

“But, I wanted to help Mirabel today,” Camilo replies. Mirabel keeps her eyes on her satchel. She can feel the tense glares coming from her grandmother and aunt.

“Help? What does she need help with?” Pepa asks coldly. The last thing she needed was for her son to get caught up in whatever Mirabel was getting herself into.

“A gift for the apothecary,” Camilo answers proudly, placing his hand on Mirabel’s shoulder in solidarity. “She wanted my help making sure she was designing the right thing. We are going to look over my new basket designs.” Weaving was something Camilo just fell into, but he loved it since it kept him close to his favorite cousin.

“Hmph,” Pepa grunts. “Leave the apothecary alone, Mirabel. They are doing just fine without you around to...help.”

“It’s a new set of baskets,” Mirabel says meekly. She runs her fingers over the embroidery covering her satchel and looks over at her aunt’s dress. Ever since Antonio’s gift ceremony, she noticed her family stopped wearing the embroidered clothes she made for them.

“Their baskets are fine!” scolds Abuela Alma. “And your cousin has better things to do. More important and helpful things to do than some art project.” Camilo gasps and looks over to his mother who avoids his gaze. Bruno spills salt onto the table.

“Go. Now,” Abuela Alma charges. She stares Camilo down until he removes his hand from Mirabel’s shoulder.

“Sorry,” Camilo whispers to Mirabel. He gets up from the table and leaves the kitchen without saying a word to anyone else.

Mirabel hears a quiet sound coming from Bruno’s direction. She turns to see Bruno quickly draw a line with three waves into the spilled salt and brush it away. It is his sign for Mirabel.

“Bruno and Pepa, if you want to do that glass thing, you will need to find somewhere in town to do it,” Abuela says. “I will not have melting glass running through Casita.”

Pepa looks up incredulously. “Does that mean we can open the shop?” Even Bruno looks hopeful.

“No...it means you still have planning to do. So, get to it,” Abuela answers, waving them away.

She watches her two children leave the kitchen before turning towards Mirabel and a suspiciously quiet Antonio. Neither of her grandchildren makes eye contact with her.

“I don’t know what you have planned today, Tonio, but it needs to be something that helps your family survive and the encanto thrive,” instructs Abuela. She smiles at Antonio proudly who smiles back. She frowns over at her granddaughter.

“Mirabel, I want you nowhere near the village today while everyone else is working,” Abuela scolds. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Abuela Alma,” responds Mirabel.

Without another word, Abuela slowly rises from her chair and leaves the kitchen. After a few minutes of sitting in silence, Antonio speaks.

“A toucan gave me these this morning,” Antonio announces to Mirabel. He holds up his hand to show a bunch of white and grey feathers. Just then, a small mouse scurries onto the table.

Mirabel watches as the small mouse makes jittery movements and swings its tail back and forth while Antonio just nods his head intently. Once it is finished saying what it needed to say, the mouse gives a final, serious squeak and runs off. Antonio jumps from his seat and grabs Mirabel’s hand.

At that moment, Mirabel remembers how her baby cousin held out his hand to her before his gift ceremony, like she was the only person that meant anything to him. But just as quickly, she remembered how Abuela Alma banned her from going into his room for his party just in case she messed something up.

Mirabel snatches her hand away. “No! I’ll get you in trouble!”

Antonio reaches out for her hand again.

Mirabel shakes her head and starts to back out of the kitchen when suddenly one of Bruno’s rats runs in and drops a small cloth bag at her feet.

She bends down to pick it up while the rat runs over to Antonio. Mirabel ignores the half-squeaked conversation between the two of them as she looks inside the bag. The first thing she sees is a handful of labeled vials filled with strange liquids and a roll of clean bandages. Under the vials are a blank notebook, a bottle of ink, and a quill. At the very bottom is a small note written in Bruno’s handwriting.

You just have a different type of magic, the note says.

Mirabel places the cloth bag into her satchel. Her first thought is to run into town to find her mother because clearly someone or something is hurt. But without knowing all the details, it was all but guaranteed that she would be told to go away.

Right when Mirabel makes the decision to go find her mother no matter the consequences, Antonio gasps. Mirabel turns around to see that the little mouse has returned and is communicating even more erratically than before.

“We have to go!” yells Antonio. He runs over to her and grabs her hand. As if to give Mirabel a last bit of courage, Casita shifts the tiles beneath her feet. She smiles down at Antonio and takes a deep breath.

Together, following the little mouse and Bruno’s rat, they rush out of the kitchen side door and head for the surrounding jungle.

From an upstairs window, Abuela smiles worriedly as she watches Mirabel and Antonio disappear into the jungle.

The flame of the family candle glows a little bit brighter.

Casita rumbles intensely, releasing the morning’s tension.

Chapter Text

Tree branches shift and vines slither out of the way as Mirabel and Antonio run through the jungle. The small mouse and Bruno’s rat cling to the back of Antonio’s shirt. Mirabel wants to make a joke about how he looks like their uncle but the serious look on Antonio’s face stops her.

They are breathless when they enter the clearing where the injured animal lays on the ground. Mirabel screams at the sight of the creature and pulls Antonio behind her. Her little cousin holds on to her skirt and peeks around her waist. Bruno’s rat scurries back toward Casita and the little mouse runs away deeper into the jungle.

On the jungle floor is an animal neither of them has ever seen in their lives, not even heard about from when Bruno talks about his travels outside of the encanto. The large creature has expansive wings, one of which seems to be broken, and large predatory talons on its bird-like feet. Its large eyes follow Antonio and Mirabel’s movements.

‘I knew we should have asked for help,’ Mirabel thinks. The creature stares at her intensely but nods at Antonio and squawks softly. Antonio startles a bit and walks out from behind his cousin.

“It’s okay,” he says to the creature, softly, holding out his hands towards the animal. “My name is Antonio. What is your name?”

The winged creature’s eyes follow the little boy carefully while also studying Mirabel who takes a couple of steps towards the injured animal. Upon closer inspection, Mirabel decides that it looks like some sort of four-legged hawk. The animal softly squawks to answer Antonio’s question.

“Buckbeak? Your name is Buckbeak?” Antonio asks excitedly. Buckbeak clicks its beak as confirmation.

Antonio steps closer and softly strokes the animal’s large beak. He visually inspects the animal and sees more cuts on its legs and back. “You’re going to be okay. Mirabel is going to make you feel all better.” He waves Mirabel over and her eyes widen in fear.

‘What am I supposed to do?’ she thinks to herself as she walks over to her little cousin and the creature that looks large enough to eat Antonio for breakfast.

“Come on. You can help him,” Antonio reassures her, waving her over. Buckbeak continues to stare at her, curiously.

“Yeah...yeah. I’m here to help,” Mirabel stutters, walking slowly. Once she makes it over to them, she starts walking around Buckbeak doing her own inspection. Cautiously, she steps closer and sees a blue leather handle poking out from under Buckbeak’s broken wing.

“There’s something here,” she tells Antonio. “I think I can get it. Tell Buckbeak to stay still for me, okay?”

“Okay,” answers Antonio. He starts whispering to Buckbeak who tenses as Mirabel starts pulling at the handle.

When it comes free, along with the blue leather suitcase it is attached to, Buckbeak screeches in pain.

“Sorry!” apologizes Mirabel. She pets its non-broken wing softly. “I’m sorry.”

“She didn’t mean it. She’s here to help,” coos Antonio as he nuzzles Buckbeak’s neck. Buckbeak growls painfully.

Taking a few steps away, Mirabel clicks open the suitcase and looks inside. Suddenly, from the impossible darkness comes a rush of air that smells faintly like an old library. She reaches her hand inside and gasps when her whole arm and shoulder disappear without reaching the bottom. She closes the suitcase immediately.

Mirabel steps away to take a few deep breaths before going over to pick up the case when her own satchel begins to glow from the inside. She flings it to the ground. All of a sudden, the cloth bag Bruno’s rat gave to her flies out and spills its contents into the air.

Antonio and Mirabel watch in awe as the vials and bandages float around their heads. Buckbeak remains silent but noticeably calms its breathing.

The notebook and quill settle mid-air in front of Mirabel and pause, seemingly waiting for her direction.

She and Antonio look at each other in shock.

‘What is happening?’ Mirabel asks herself as the vials start opening on their own. Each liquid has a distinct medicine-like smell and shimmers in the jungle sunlight. Mirabel instinctively reaches out for the notebook and the tips of her fingers tingle when she touches it.

The quill begins moving on its own, making small illustrations of the surrounding plants. The words are too small for Mirabel to read. She lets go of the notebook, but the quill continues taking its notes. Periodically, it flies away into the jungle and returns to make more increasingly illegible notes.

Antonio sits on the ground next to Buckbeak and gently smooths down the feathers on its head. The action is to calm himself down more than the creature. Buckbeak makes a slight chirping noise and Antonio pauses.

“Wand? No, she doesn’t have a wand,” Antonio answers, confused.

In the air, the mysterious liquids from the vials and the bandages swirl around each other. The bandages soak up the liquid, then fly over to where Buckbeak lays on the ground and begin wrapping themselves around the broken wing. The vials fly back into the cloth bag.

Shaking herself from her shock, Mirabel picks up her satchel and rummages through it until she finds her mother’s healing cream. Cautiously, making sure to stay clear of the wrapping bandages, Mirabel applies the cream to Buckbeak’s many scratches. Buckbeak blinks slowly at her as a sign of thanks.

By the time the bandages settle and Mirabel finishes with the cream with Antonio’s help, it is time for lunch.

“Now what?” Antonio asks Mirabel. She sighs in response.

“We can’t stay here,” she answers, motioning to the surrounding jungle, “but I don’t know where to take Buckbeak. It’s not like I can hide it under my bed in the nursery.”

Antonio perks up. “He can stay in my room! I have the space.”

Mirabel thinks for a moment. Antonio’s room was large enough for Buckbeak to stay, but they still needed to hide it.

Deciding to worry about that once they get back to Casita, Mirabel gives herself a shake.

“Okay! We’ll go back to Casita, find a way to get to your room, and hide Buckbeak there,” Mirabel announces. Antonio nods along. Buckbeak squawks.

While Mirabel gathers up her belongings and the blue suitcase, Buckbeak clicks its beak at Antonio and leans down.

“Are you sure?” Antonio asks.

Buckbeak clicks its beak again.

“Okay,” says Antonio as he carefully climbs onto Buckbeak’s back.

With one last look around the clearing, Mirabel leads the three of them into the jungle. This time, Mirabel notices the slithering vines and shifting branches.

“Hmm, that’s weird,” she says out loud.

“What’s weird?” asks Antonio from the back of Buckbeak.

“Nothing,” Mirabel answers.

It takes them less time than before to make their way through the jungle. When they reach the courtyard behind Casita, the group pauses.

“Casita!” Mirabel whispers, hoping this is one of the few times the house responds to her.

A roof tile clinks in response. Mirabel sighs with relief.

“We need to get to Antonio’s room without anyone seeing us,” she whispers loudly.

The floor tiles create an arrow pointing towards Isabella’s greenhouse. Mirabel nods.

Going quietly and using the greenhouse to hide them from view, Mirabel guides herself, Antonio, and Buckbeak through a new side door that opens to a flight of stairs. Carefully, and as quietly as possible, they climb the stairs until they reach a door that opens into Antonio’s room.

“Okay,” Mirabel says, “that wasn’t so hard.” She smiles at an exasperated Buckbeak and an unsure Antonio as they enter the mini jungle bedroom.

As they walk further into Antonio’s room, the rest of his animals scurry away.

“It’s fine, everyone,” announces Antonio. “Buckbeak is going to stay with us for a while. So be nice, okay?” The animals chirp and growl and squawk in response, making Antonio giggle.

“Where is Buckbeak going to sleep Mirabel?” Antonio asks his cousin, instantly worried. Mirabel thinks quietly while she inspects Buckbeak’s bandages, making sure the trip through the jungle and up the stairs didn’t tear them.

“Hmm,” responds Mirabel. Just then, an opening in the trunk of one of the trees opens to show a large nest for the animal. Antonio goes over to inspect the area.

“Okay, Buckbeak, you can stay here until you feel better,” Antonio calls over reassuringly.

Buckbeak bows slightly towards Mirabel and she swears she hears a faint “Thank you” come from its closed beak. Mirabel gasps and watches Buckbeak limp over to the nest and lay down. Casita drapes hanging vines around the nest to hide it from view.

“So,” Antonio begins as he walks over to his cousin, “what do we do now?” He looks up at Mirabel who has a determined look on her face.

“Well...Buckbeak can’t go anywhere until they heal, so we just have to keep them hidden until then,” Mirabel answers confidently. The part of her that would usually ask her mother and Isabella for help remains quiet.

“And the suitcase?” Antonio asks, looking at how tightly Mirabel clings to the worn leather handle.

“I’m going to look through it to see if it has any information about where Buckbeak came from,” she answers. Her mind races, thinking about the dusty breeze coming from the dark inside of the suitcase.

“It has to have some sort of answers to what’s going on,” she continues, “And if it doesn’t, we can ask Tio Bruno for help...Okay?”

“Okay,” Antonio answers, unsure. “We can’t tell anyone else?”

“No,” Mirabel answers sharply, making Antonio flinch. Mirabel kneels down and pulls him into a tight hug, relaxing him immediately.

“I’m sorry, Tonio,” she says softly. “It’s just that I want to figure this out on my own.”

“I’m helping,” Antonio adds with confidence. Mirabel ruffles his curly hair.

“Yes, you are. You are the biggest help,” Mirabel reassures him, giving him a quick hug. “But, I really feel like if we tell anyone else now, they’ll make a big deal out of it without learning all the facts. You know?”

Antonio nods but Mirabel can see that he is still unsure.

“It’s the same feeling I got before your gift ceremony but better,” Mirabel explains.

“Oh,” Antonio responds, remembering all the weird things that started happening around Mirabel before his ceremony. He was the only one she let know what was happening, but after his gift ceremony, everyone else started noticing too. “Okay...but we’ll get help if we need it, right?”

“I promise,” says Mirabel, picking up the suitcase and leaving the bedroom through the front door.

She rushes inside her nursery bedroom and locks the door. From the suitcase, she hears the sound of flowing water.

Sparks fly from the family candle.