Chapter Text
Anyone who knew Mirabel when she was a younger girl would have described her as the most energetic and loud member of La Familia Madrigal. This was the case even immediately after she failed to receive her gift.
She might have been excited to talk about learning how to sew or she might have been happily singing about almost anything you could think of.
Mirabel had always been well loved by her family but... the way she was treated had unfortunately changed following her gift ceremony.
It took awhile for it to truly affect Mirabel but it did.
No one knew what to do. Their miracle had never failed to bestow a gift upon any member of La Familia Madrigal.
Everyone else's ceremony had gone by without any problems.
Unfortunately for Mirabel, this meant that most of the family had decided pretty quickly that the youngest Madrigal must be the problem.
They hadn't even truly considered that there might be something wrong with the miracle. The candle was an afterthought.
Mirabel was forced to take the blame. Almost everyone had made the assumption that she was defective or that she was different from every other member of the family.
That was the catalyst to a change in Mirabel. Anyone who knew Mirabel would now describe her as quiet.
It was a simple way to put it. Some just assumed that she was introverted.
Mirabel herself had once heard people talking about her being shy when she was in the village.
In truth, Mirabel was probably far more shy than she used to be but... the best way to describe her was still quiet.
This had slowly begun to be the case only two months after her gift ceremony.
The first time Mirabel ever noticed that something was wrong was an interaction with her sister; Isabela.
It was two months after her failed gift ceremony. Mirabel's hermana; Isabela, was six years older than her and was starting to feel a lot of pressure from the family matriarch; Abuela Alma.
The day was nice and the sun was out. Isabela was convinced that she had mastered using her gift but her Abuela disagreed.
She pressured Isabela to practice nonstop so that her gift would be perfect. It had to be the best it could be so that she could help the villagers of the Encanto in a few years.
All the pressure from Abuela had an effect on Isabela. She wasn't allowed to make mistakes or vent in public.
She needed a target for her frustration. Abuela had distanced herself from Mirabel after her door ceremony and that decision imprinted on Julieta and Agustin's eldest daughter.
Whether she meant to or not, Isabela always got frustrated with her youngest hermana.
Mirabel was the easiest target for anger. She was already a bit of a family outcast, even more so now that their Tio Bruno had left following Mirabel's birthday.
Isabela used her gift to create the same flower over and over again in the yard behind the Casita.
Abuela had come to check on her progress and make sure she was practicing more than once.
Isabela was already frustrated. It had been a long day as she continuously tried to sprout beautiful flowers from the ground..
Needless to say, she had been in a bad mood.
Then, all of a sudden... poor little Mirabel had come running into the yard.
When Isabela first heard footsteps she groaned in the assumption that Abuela had come back to see how she was doing.
But, the footsteps were far too fast to be Abuela Alma's. Isabela shot a glance over her shoulder and saw her sister Mirabel carefully running across the yard to her sister.
The curly-haired girl looked adorable with her large glasses and genuine smile.
"Isa! Isa!" The little girl called.
Isabela groaned again. This would only be a distraction from her practice. Mirabel wouldn't understand the importance of honing one's gift. At least... that's what Isabel thought.
She had to be perfect and Mirabel would only distract her from the girl.
Reluctantly, she responded to the youngest Madrigal. "What do you want, Mirabel?"
The curly-haired girl had stopped next to Isabela. She was practically bouncing on her heels. The eldest hermana continued focusing on the task in front of her. She was making hydrangeas.
"Isa, guess what?" The girl asked excitedly.
"I already asked?" Isabela replied, clearly annoyed.
Mirabel didn't seem to notice. Her enthusiasm hadn't dissipated. "I was with the other kids in the Encanto. We learned about a flower." Mirabel said.
Isabela didn't say anything in response. She was trying to ignore her.
"They were purple and had lots of petals. I think they were called crys-crys... moms." Mirabel tried to pronounce the name of the flower but she failed.
"Chrysanthemums." Isabela corrected.
"Yes!" Mirabel shouted in excitement. "They're very pretty aren't they?" Mirabel asked.
Without giving Isabela enough time to respond, Mirabel continued asking questions.
"Can you make some? You used to make me flowers all the time. Can you please make a crysmum?" Mirabel asked excitedly, not realizing that she mispronounced the flower's name again.
"Chrysanthemum." Isabela responded while gritting her teeth. She had to focus and Mirabel wouldn't take the hint.
Mirabel jumped energetically. "Yes! Yes! Can you make one, Isa?" She asked again.
Isabela finally answered the girl. "No, Mirabel. I'm busy."
Mirabel frowned a little. "But, you're already making flowers. Why can't you make one?" She asked.
As the question left her mouth, she moved around to face Isabela from the front.
However, in the process of moving, the girl had clumsily stepped on one of Isabela's hydrangeas that she intended to show Abuela.
Isabela could feel the fury and anger rising.
Mirabel also noticed her mistake and made a quick motion to apologize. "Oh no! I'm sorry, Isa. I didn't..."
She was cut off by Isabela. "MIRABEL, WOULD YOU JUST BE QUIET!" She shouted.
Mirabel stumbled backwards and fell over at the sudden shout.
"I need you to leave, Mira! Go away and stop talking!" Isabela demanded.
Mirabel nodded as she quickly got up and ran off back to the Casita. She could feel the tears on her cheeks. She ran into their beloved house and quickly found her way to the nursery.
She had been forced to stay there since she didn't get her own room.
She climbed onto her bed and started sobbing.
She hadn't even noticed the scrape on her knee from falling over after Isabela screamed.
She was just upset.
The harsh words from Isabela resonated with the little girl. 'Would you just be quiet' and 'go away and stop talking' echoed around the room as she cried.
Casita; the sentient house that the La Familia Madrigal lived in tried to comfort the crying girl but eventually resigned to finding Julieta; Mirabel's mother.
Casita used the floor tiles to push Julieta towards the nursery.
After several minutes of crying, Mirabel heard the door open.
"Mirabel?" Her mom called out her name as she stood in the doorway. "Casita brought me here. What's wrong?"
Mirabel tried to say something. She really tried... even if it would have come out watery.
But she couldn't. Mirabel didn't even know why. It was as if her words disappeared in some magic trick.
Mirabel had opened her mouth to speak but she was physically incapable of doing so.
Upon not receiving an answer from her youngest hija, Julieta moved into the room and closed the door behind her.
The mother of three quickly sat down on the nursery bed next to Mirabel.
She quickly noticed the scrape on her knee.
"Oh, mi hija. Did you fall and hurt your knee?" She asked.
Mirabel turned to look up at her mother. Her eyes were still watery.
She tried to reply in any way possible but she couldn't. She wanted nothing more than to say 'yes' but her voice died on the tip of her tongue.
Once more, the words; 'would you just be quiet', came to the forefront of her thoughts.
She settled for nodding her head after her mouth hung open in an awkward attempt to speak.
Julieta gave her a smile and helped Mirabel up off the bed. "Let's go cook something to heal that scrape." Julieta said.
Mirabel nodded, this time, opting to not even try to speak.
Julieta reached her hand down to hold Mirabel's and the two started making their way to Casita's kitchen.
Julieta's gift was the ability to heal anyone who ate anything she cooked.
She practiced cooking from a young age and luckily, she found it enjoyable and relaxing.
Julieta made a small meal for Mirabel. The little girl ate the food without protest.
"Are you feeling better, hija?" Julieta asked.
Marinette tried to speak once more and this time she was able to. Though it had not been without struggle. "S-Si... Mama."
Julieta smiled and moved in to give her youngest daughter a hug.
Mirabel hugged back and after that, the day continued as normal but Mirabel still wondered what had really happened to her.
It had felt like an unseen force prevented her from speaking. After a while she managed to speak again but... it still scared her. She felt almost terrified of speaking.
The seed had been planted and it was fitting that it would be Isabela.
Mirabel started to feel as though her voice had no value.