Chapter Text
“ Mama ?” Julieta laid a gentle hand onto the back of her mother. Alma had been achy, and a bit faint. There were many more times recently than she’d like to admit where she felt truly weak. Truly useless. Julieta could see that.
“I’m dying Juli, aren’t I? I’m getting old.” Julieta paused. She was the healer of her town, and had been the one to see many old folk go in her time. Although she didn’t want to admit it, she knew that her mother’s time was coming to a close. She wasn’t too old - 76 years as of recently - but years of stress and trauma definitely took time off her life. Alma took her daughter’s silence as a yes.
“Ah, I’m not getting any younger.” She sighed deeply, giving a sideways smile at her daughter, and placed a hand on her cheek.
“Is there anything that you want, Mama ? Anything I can get you?” Alma’s hand went limp, slacking back down to her side, as she realized something. Something that she’d wanted for a while but gave up a long time ago.
“I want to see my old home, one more time,” her words shocked Julieta, not expecting such a bold desire while she was knocking on death's door, “and I want my family to come with me.”
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Alma had decided spontaneously to go on some sort of “trip,” the reason known only to Dolores and Julieta (and Agustin by default) When they were all younger, there was a time where almost everyone had wondered what it was like outside of the Encanto, however life here was so great and perfect, that they didn’t bother to dwell on it. However, the mountains were now split, and leaving was a possibility. This would be the first time that anyone had, though…
Everyone had been told to prepare for their absence for as long as possible. The plan was to be gone any time from six months to a year, but this kind of thing didn’t happen every day, so it was best to expect even longer. Luisa had placed the last bag onto the carriage, and it was time to go. Camilo felt a twisting in his gut from both nervousness and excitement as he climbed inside.
Since there were so many of them in the family, they would obviously not all fit in a carriage with all of their stuff. So, they had four different carts, each with three people. In the first cart was Mirabel, Camilo, and Bruno, the second had Pepa, Felix, and Antonio, the third was Isabela, Luisa, and Dolores, , and the fourth cart was Alma, Julieta, and Agustin.
The carriages were meant for travel and were quite large, to contain all of them, and so they were led by three donkeys each. (As rather strong animals, one was easily able to carry the weight of one person and some of their stuff) There was a seat on the front, right by the donkeys, for the person who was driving. Behind them, there was a tarp curtain in order to get into the actual carriage. Upon entering, there was a row of seats that was almost couch-like, that had enough room to comfortably fit two people. Behind that, there was a bed. It would generally be large enough for two people to lay in, however all their stuff was piled on half the bed, leaving only room for one. It looked cozy enough.
Camilo hopped into the carriage and offered his hand for Mirabel. She took it, and he helped her in. She offered him a smile of gratitude, before settling herself down on the bed.
“Comfy,” she commented as he plopped himself down onto the couch. For something made for travel, it sure was comfortable, as Mirabel had suggested. The two of them made quick work getting all settled in, taking up as much space as they’d like. Bruno was driving, after all, and wouldn’t be needing it. The carriage started rolling, slow at first, before they picked up what was probably their fastest speed. Also slow. Camilo could hear the sounds of the townspeople bidding them all a farewell as their trip officially started.
“What do you think it’s like?” Camilo’s head turned to see Mirabel hovering over him from her place on the bed. He rolled over to face her.
“I don’t know. All that’s coming to mind is just the Encanto town. Abuela said it wouldn’t be like that, though, so I’ve really got no clue. Do you have any ideas?” Mirabel smirked, before she began to go into heavy detail about the towns and cities that she’d made up in her brain, and all the weird mannerisms that she’d assigned the people. Camilo laughed, knowing that she was probably so very off, but they were fun to listen to, regardless. He began adding his own thoughts and opinions, and soon, the two twins had created whole stories around this made up land they convinced themselves they were walking into, their ideas lasting well into the day.
Their conversation was paused when they heard Agustin shout something up ahead. He was in the very first carriage, and being third, it was a little harder to hear. Especially within the carriage, Camilo and Mirabel missed what he had to say.
“Come look,” Bruno said, apparently passing on the words of Mirabel’s papa . They looked at each other for a moment, confused, before they both peeked their heads out of the carriage. Their jaws dropped at the sight before them. They were currently on a mountain edge, pretty high up, allowing them a vantage point they’d never seen before. They could see the world stretched out before them. On one side, they could see an almost bird’s eye view of their town, and Casita, with people going about their days like normal. On the other side, they could see strange territory they’d never been to before, with little collections of houses, and, if Camilo squinted really hard, people.
Their trip had officially started.