Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mirabel was a kind and sweet 15 year old. She can be energetic and fun, or caring and soft. The townsfolk loved her, especially the kids. They constantly followed her around, like ducklings, following their mother duck. She usually had around 10 around her at a time, but it wasn’t uncommon for all of them to follow her.

The kids adored their mamá. She was nice, kind, playful, and she always made sure everyone was happy and everyone was treated the same. While they do know she didn’t have a gift for a long time like the rest of her family, they think she’s just as cool as them, if not more so. She even said they could call her “Mamabel” whenever they wanted, much to their joy. When she got her gift? That just made her even cooler!

Antonio had always been closest with her. His Mamabel was in his life for as long as he could remember. He knew that his real mom and dad were Pepa and Fèlix, but he likes spending time with Mirabel more. Don’t get him wrong, he still loves his parents! But Pepa would get frustrated when she didn’t win the games they played and would always rain on him and make him wet. Fèlix was fun, but he was just too fast paced for Antonio

Mirabel wasn’t like that though. She always had fun games, she didn’t mind when she lost, and she was never boring.

She was very well liked among the community as well. She was well known too, as even the townspeople looked forward to her visiting the plaza. They enjoyed the songs she would sing to the children, and the band always tossed her accordion to her, which they always had on hand. She would dance around the square, the kids singing along while bouncing and spinning behind her.

The other Madrigals didn’t notice any of this…at first. The only real one to notice was Camilo, but he never really acted on it, his prima was happy and so was his brother so…no problem there. Her mother and father knew she looked after kids all the time, and they all seemed to gravitate towards her. The other family…they never paid much attention to her. After all, she was the “giftless” Madrigal (as far as they knew anyway)l. She seemed to handle herself just fine, and she kept herself and Antonio out of the way when they were in the middle of their chores. They kept out of the way, and the Madrigals moved on with their day.

—

It was just another day in the town square—the stalls were busy, people were chatting and children were running up and down the walkways.

On this day, most of the Madrigals didn’t have as many chores as they usually did, despite how busy it was. Abuela checked in on the villagers, Pepa and Fèlix shopped, and Agustín was with Julieta by her stand. Luisa was walking through the plaza, several stones piled in her arms. Dolores was quietly browsing next to her parents, and Camilo was even lounging around.

Isabela was busy entertaining some villagers, throwing several bouquets out to the small crowd gathered around her. They clapped and complimented her, in which Isabela thanked them, relishing the praise. Abuela was nearby, nodding in approval.

Just as she was about to make a flower crown for a little girl standing next to her, she saw two other kids run up to her, gathering her attention.

“Maria! Maria!” They shouted, grabbing everyone in the crowd's attention. “Mirabel’s coming! She’s going to the plaza, we gotta go for a roll call!” The boy said excitedly. The girl, Maria, smiled brightly, and proceeded to follow the boy and his friend to the central plaza.

The crowd that was previously gathered around Isabela, followed. “Mirabel’s gonna be there?” One said, following the giggling children. “Let’s go too, I haven’t heard her sing in a while.” he said, a group of others close behind.

Isabela’s smile falters as she says the small group move towards the center of town. Abuela walked over to her, putting a hand on her oldest granddaughter's back. “Mirabel? She’s in town…Let’s go to the center, maybe you’ll find some more people who need some more of your beautiful flowers,” Alma guided Isabela to the plaza, where she was met with quite the sight.

In the center, first, she saw the rest of the family. She spotted each of the other family members in the crowd (except for Antonio…), who seemed to have the same idea of seeing what Mirabel would do that had everyone’s attention.

The Madrigals watched as Mirabel stood on the fountain ledge, accordion in hand. Abuela was about to try and call out to her to get down when she suddenly heard music come from the band. An upbeat, happy song began to play, and Mirabel started playing her accordion. In the crowd, clapping could be heard.

“What is going on…?” Abuela mumbled. Since when did Mirabel cause so much chaos? She would have to question Mirabel at dinner, because this was new news to her, and to the rest of the family it seemed. Isabela huffed and scrunched her face up in annoyance.

Mirabel started dancing now, hips swaying as she moved back and forth. She stood on the ledge, looking over the large group of children in front of her. A minute later, she cleared her voice. The music paused, the town was silent. Then they all heard her voice call out.

“Roll Call—!” Mirabel said loudly in a sing-song voice. The music and clapping started up again, much to the Madrigals’ confusion.

“Hey everybody, kids everywhere, we gotta get everybody to the village square!” Mirabel sang, bouncing around. Julieta smiled at her daughter's unique sense of music. She had always been so good at making up lyrics on the fly.

“Village square!” the kids (and even some of the adults) echoed.

“So come on, let's go!” Mirabel jumped, dancing to the music. “Head count time, ¡vamanos!”

The music went on for a moment, and Mirabel stood up on the ledge again, dancing and spinning. The crowd behind the kids suddenly yelled “One, two, three!” The family watched in curiosity at how easily the crowd responded to her.

“Just how many times had she done this?” Dolores said, squeaking. She knew Mirabel had done it only…occasionally…right? Dolores usually tuned out any music to focus on something more important, and she almost never focused on Mirabel.

“Antonio!” Mirabel shouted, voice loud yet endearing. That caught the family's attention. Antonio was in with the kids?

They saw Antonio hop up, hands in the air, a (genuine) smile on his face. “¡Aquí!” He shouted.

“Juancho!” Mirabel said, turning to another kid. The family recognized him, his hyped up giddy face and cup of coffee giving him away.

“¡Aquí!” He bounced up, holding his coffee still.

“Alejandra!” Mirabel called again. This time, a girl popped up, holding her hat in place as she shouted “¡Aquí!”

The family watched as she called out at least 12 more names. It made them wonder, just how many kids were in this roll call?

“Hey! We got half the kids,” Mirabel sang, now off the ledge and dancing around the kids. “¡Pero nosotros necesitamos más!”

Mirabel sang loudly, names of children being called out. When she got to two specific names, Adella and Carlos, the family noticed something.

Mirabel set down her accordion, and while still singing her song, a mother handed Mirabel her baby, and Mirabel held, who was most likely Adella, up, to which the baby called out in joy, giggling. She settled the infant onto her back in a baby sling. Mirabel failed to notice Alma and Isabela standing right next to the mother, looking on in absolute confusion. The mother just handed Mirabel her baby. They knew Mirabel was good with kids, but this was on another level. This seemed to go beyond just simple babysitting.

Mirabel slowed her dancing down, so as to not disturb the baby on her back, and moved to the other side, singing the name Carlos. Next to Luisa and Camilo was a couple who gently handed this baby, who was Carlos, over to Mirabel. Mirabel held the baby up much more gently, seeing how young the babe was. She secured the baby onto her front and moved back to the fountain, grabbing her accordion.

She began to play again, completely oblivious to the strange looks her family was giving her. Camilo was the only one who looked mildly amused, still a little confused, but amused nonetheless. Her parents looked proud, but still a tad bit confused. In fact, it seemed like Mirabel hadn’t even registered that her family was in the plaza with her. She just continued to sing the names, to which the children happily followed along.

“This is the roll call? Since when did Mirabel know all of those kids?” Pepa asked. Fèlix only shrugged, being just as clueless.

“We got all the kids, rounded up, but we seem to be missing someone,” Mirabel sang as she swayed, looking at the children. “And hmm, I wonder—Just, who could it be?” she sang expectantly.

“We know! We know!” The children sang. “Mamabel! Mamabel! She’s here and ready to play!”

Mirabel smiled, spinning gently as the children sang her name. “Looks like everyone’s here—all of our friends have come along,” Mirabel sang. “Roll call’s over now, so come on—let’s end this song!” Mirabel said.

The children all danced around, bouncing and surrounding Mirabel. The band played, and the townsfolk who watched clapped. Eventually the music came to an end and the kids all posed with Mirabel as the song ended on a high note. The crowd clapped, cheering for all of them.

After the crowd dispersed and everyone went back to their work or leisure, Mirabel turned and spoke to the children. “So, who wants to go play in the old farmers field?” She said, looking over h̷e̷r̷ the children. They all called out “Me! Me, Mamabel!” and “I do, I do!”. The family watched as Mirabel laughed and led all 31, Yes, thirty one, children onto a trail to the old field she had previously mentioned.

The other Madrigals were shocked, even Camilo and her parents. Not by the song. Not by the fact that 31 kids, who Antonio was with also, just sung a whole song. Not even by how the townsfolk seem to find this normal, no. That was surprising news, but it wasn’t what left the family in shock, fear, and maybe even a bit of guilt.

It was the fact that the children all called her Mamabel. A group of 31 kids all 10 and under, just call this 15 year old–their hermana, sobrina, nieta…they just called her “Mamabel”.

And it was completely new to them. They had never heard that before.

Each family member noticed that the other family was in the plaza and witnessed it as well. Alma waved the others off, gesturing that she would handle it.

The elderly woman turned towards a villager who was just given a lily bouquet by Isabela.

“Excuse me, Señor, may I ask you something?” Alma said, smiling a small smile.

“Of course Doña Alma! What’s on your mind?” He said, turning and looking towards her.

“About Mirabel and the kids just now. She sang that song and, well, almost everyone joined in. Just how often…does she do this kind of…stunt? And why do the children call her ‘Mamabel’?” Alma said, rewording her statement so it wouldn’t come off as aggressive. She wasn’t mad so much as she was confused. Well, she had no reason to be mad.

The villagers faced change to one of confusion, which worried Alma and Isabela, who had moved to her side.

“Oh, Mirabel? Well, she does this just about everyday, whenever she comes to town. She always makes roll calls, so she can know who’s there.” He laughed softly, looking towards where Mirabel was down the trail. “The children are around her so much, 24/7, 365. She's always kinda been like a…big sister, maybe second mother to the kids. They’ve been calling her Mamabel for…I’m pretty sure 5 years now? It's cute, no?”

Alma and Isabela froze in place as the villager waved goodbye to go hand off his bouquet.

Everyday? And she’s been called “Mamabel” for 5 years? They heard Antonio say it too, and he said it so naturally. So he must have been doing it just as long…but then he goes and calls Pepa “mama” or “mami”. It was all so strange, so weird.

Just how much had they missed? Did they really not pay enough attention to realize something as serious as that?

Were they really so out of touch? Out of their heads, their minds, whenever she wasn’t around them?

Chapter Text

One may wonder, just how did all of this start? How did Mirabel, the giftless Madrigal, come to watch over all of the village children?

Mirabel was only 10. 10 years old when she was finally given a “purpose”, as Abuela might have put it. After Antonio was born, Mirabel found herself around him a lot. But no one could blame her, after all, she didn’t have a gift, so she was basically…well, unproductive, to put it nicely, in the eyes of her family, whether they said it to her or not. She knew that’s what they thought. And she believed it too, just a little bit.

But after she met Antonio? She finally felt useful. The boy was only 5 months old, and she loved him like no other family member. You wanted to find Antonio? He was basically attached to Mirabel, strapped to her small frame, the sling he was held in basically becoming a part of her outfit. He was constantly around Mirabel, and at times, it seemed like he prefered her over Pepa, despite not even being able to sit up properly and not fall over or talk. Sure, he spent plenty of time around his parents, but he always seemed to light up at the sight of MIrabel.

Mirabel wasn’t complaining, though. He was relatively quiet, and only ever cried when something was wrong or he needed something. Otherwise, he was quietly laying next to his prima, who was usually practicing her sewing and embroidery. She would walk around Casita, pointing out things to Antonio, which he seemed to enjoy. He seemed to pick up on the things easily too—which Mirabel took pride in, she was like a teacher!

But after some time, the babe started to become restless, bored even. He would get bored and start whining, crying out and flailing his arms around in frustration. So what did Mirabel do?

She took him out to town.

Now obviously, she didn’t just grab Antonio, wrap him up and waltz into town, no, no. She had prepared for 2 days. She made sure to ask Tia Pepa and Tio Felix. She gathered materials, made sure Antonio had some comfortable clothes, and got permission from Abuela and Tía Pepa again, just to be safe. Now all she had to do was actually take him there.

—
Mirabel was in the nursery, gathering her things so she could go out into town. Antonio was in his crib, gently cooing as he watched Mirabel fly around the room, gathering her things into her bag.

“Diapers? Check. Bottle with Milk? Check. Toys? Check.” She turned to the crib, and picked up Antonio. “Hola hombrecito. Are you ready to go out today? We’re going on an adventure!”

Antonio answered by blinking at her, then sticking his hand in mouth. Mirabel sighed pulling Antonio closer to her chest as she grabbed her baby sling. After tightly wrapping it around her body and making sure it was secure, she grabbed her bag and was about to leave the nursery when she stopped.

“Am I really ready for this?” She questioned, looking up at the ceiling. “M-Maybe I should wait 1 more day–” Just as she was about to back up, Casita swung the door open and pushed her into the hallway, tiles rumbling as they moved the 10 year old and her (now squealing) infant primo to the stairs. “Casita!” Mirabel protested, but it was useless. Casita continued to push her towards the front of the house until she was out the door.

After catching her balance, she turned to the house. “I wasn’t actually gonna back out you know!” She huffed, hands on her hips. The house only flapped its shutters in a fashion that could only mean sass. Mirabel rolled her eyes and laughed, waving at the house. “I’ll see you later Casita.”

She walked down the path leading into town, noting how busy it seemed. People were buying and selling from stalls, there were carts full of various goods, and there were even some other kids her age (Not that it mattered. Mirabel didn’t really have any friends, let alone any her age.). She maneuvered through the crowd, making sure to keep Antonio close to her as she slipped past adults.

She continued this for a while, occasionally stopping to look at what the stalls were selling to play around with Antonio when she took a break. After about 2 hours, she moved to the fountain, sitting on the ledge of the large structure. From her bag, she pulled a glass bottle full of milk.

“Are you hungry?” She unraveled Antonio and held him in a cradling manner. “I know it’s about lunchtime by now,” she said, putting the bottle to his mouth. Almost immediately, Antonio started drinking. While he was eating, Mirabel scanned her surroundings.

Across the plaza she could see Isabela throwing around her (rather boring) flowers at some people with Abuela standing near her. Mirabel never understood how people never got tired of the same old flowers she produced. She had no variety. A little ways away, she saw Luisa carrying more donkeys. Again. Mirabel sighed, why hadn’t they fixed that fence yet? It truly baffled her. On the left of the fountain, she could see her mama, Julieta, giving out arepas. She didn’t make a move to go say hi, though.

In the fields, she saw her tía Pepa and tío Fèlix helping the farmers with the rain. Mirabel’s face scrunched up slightly. While she loved caring for Antonio, she felt like she wasn’t getting proper credit for it. She changed his diapers, fed him, looked after him during the day, settled him for sleep, and read to him. She did a ton of stuff.

So why didn’t her family comment on it?

Mirabel shook her head as she scanned the crowd for Dolores, Camilo and her papá, Agustín, but she never found them. Shrugging it off, she put away the bottle that Antonio had now finished, and simply bounced him on her leg as she hummed a soft tune.

As she swayed and hummed, she failed to notice the woman standing next to her, calling her name.

“Mirabel?” the woman called out a bit louder. Mirabel finally snapped out of her trance, looking up to her and adjusting her glasses.

“S-Señora Juliana?” Mirabel perked up and smiled at the woman. She was familiar with her because occasionally when the woman came over to discuss things with Alma, her 1 year old son, Diego would play with Antonio or with Mirabel herself. “Ah, buenas tardes! How can I help you?”

“Buenas tardes Mirabel,” Juliana smiled. “I’ve just noticed you have Antonio. And I don’t mean to bother you, but, I have a favor to ask.” she said. The woman shifted slightly so her son came into view.

“Of course! Anything!” Mirabel replied happily.

“I have a huge shopping list this afternoon that I have to do. And you know Diego, he gets bored with that kind of thing quickly, and I was wondering–could you look after him? Just until I finish,” The woman said.

Mirabel's face turned into one of surprise. Juliana, the loving woman, trusted Mirabel enough that she would entrust her toddler son with her? Mirabel was ecstatic, she could definitely prove herself with that! And, she’d be able to play with Diego, so it was a win-win!

“I can find someone else if you’re bu–” Juliana was quickly interrupted when Mirabel stood up from the fountain ledge, clutching Antonio closely.

“N-No! I can totally do that! You know I love spending time with Diego, I’ll look after him any day!” Mirabel said while wrapping Antonio back up. She shifted her wrap so Antonio was resting on her back. She faced Diego, and beamed at him.

“Diego, Mi pequeño marinero,” Mirabel held out her hands towards the boy. “You wanna come play with Mimi?” Juliana smiled at the little nicknames. Diego had started calling her “Mimi” because he couldn’t properly say her name. Mirabel, in turn, started calling him “little sailor,” and Juliana thought it was the cutest thing.

Diego smiled and giggled before falling into Mirabel’s hold. Mirabel stepped back, struggling a bit with the weight of both Antonio and Diego, but still managing.

“Thank you so much for this Mirabel, you truly are a wonder,” Juliana smiled. Mirabel relished in the compliment, smiling even wider, if that was possible.

“Anytime Señora Juliana! Me and Diego always have fun, especially with tigrecito back here,” Mirabel giggled, turning her back so Antonio could see Juliana.

“Well then, I’m going to head out now. I’ll be back in a couple hours for Diego. We’ll meet back here, if that’s ok with you?” the woman said, grabbing a piece of paper from her pocket.

“Sounds good to me!” Mirabel turned Diego so he faced his mother. “Say bye-bye to your mama,” she prompted.

“Bye-Bye Mami!” Diego waved. Juliana waved back, bid farewell, and left to go shopping.

“Well then, now it's just me, you and Antonito,” Mirabel looked at Diego. “So, what do you wanna play?”

“Toy boat! Toy boat!” Diego said, clapping his hands.

“Alright, alright,” Mirabel chuckled. “We’ll go get a toy boat and play, ok?” Diego nodded yes, agreeing with her plan. Mirabel grabbed her bag, made sure Antonio was secured to her back, and was off to play.

—
Mirabel was sitting on a blanket near the bridge, looking out at the town. Looking back to her blanket, she could see Diego with a toy boat in hand. Antonio was on his stomach, looking up at Diego while simultaneously reaching for the boat.

She liked this. For some reason, being around people younger than her. Specifically toddlers, babies, and kinders. They didn’t care that she was giftless, either because they were too young, or they truly didn’t care. And kids seemed to just naturally drift towards her.

After the ceremony, her family, mostly Abuela,had grown more distant with her, strained even. Sure, they were there, she loved them and they loved her, but…it was obvious she wasn't as useful because she didn’t have a gift. So, she went to town more often. She’d go out with her family, but then stray off to look at the stalls, go help some people who weren’t being helped by the other family members. Except for her mother and father of course, they were always supportive.

Mirabel had noticed something. The townspeople didn’t push her away. If anything, they comforted her. Some even opted to spend time with her. She liked it. After a couple years of that, she noticed that when the mothers would bring their kids around, they would reach for Mirabel. And she would take them. After Antonio was born, she was ecstatic. Yeah, she had to share the nursery, but she could spend time with a family member who actually cares to know about her and not her lack of a gift.

Mirabel was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Diego call out.

“Mamabel!” the small boy said.

Mirabel froze. Diego, this small child that she's known since he was a newborn, just called her “Mamabel.”

“D-Diego, I’m not your mamá, I’m Mimi, remember?” Mirabel moved to put him on her lap. “Your mami is Juliana.”

“Mamabel!” Diego pointed at Mirabel.

“Call me Mimi,” Mirabel said, looking him in the eye.

“Mimi?” Diego asked. Mirabel let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Sighing, she put Diego back down and continued to play with the two infants. She played with them for the rest of afternoon, only stopping when she noticed the sun was going down.

“¡Oh Dios mío! I have to get you back to your mamá!” Mirabel said, scrambling to get her things together. She shoved her things into her bag, not caring if it was disorganized. Grabbing Antonio, she quickly wrapped him up, hitching him onto her back before moving to grab Diego.

Mirabel sped off to the fountain, hoping, praying that Juliana wouldn’t be too mad. She couldn’t lose Diego and Juliana’s love, not like how she lost her family’s. She might not be able to handle it.

Mirabel finally saw the fountain come into view, and beside it, Juliana’s figure came into view. Mirabel ran over, out of breath.

“¡Señ...Señora Juliana!” She huffed, stopping in front of the gentle woman to catch her breath. “I-I’m sorry! I got distracted when I was playing, and I lost track of time. Por favor, I didn’t mean it, I-” Mirabel was cut off when Juliana set her basket down and gently grabbed Mirabel’s shoulders, calming Mirabel’s panic.

“Mirabel,” Juliana said gently. Mirabel’s tense shoulders relaxed. “I know you didn’t mean it. And I’m not mad. I’m just glad you played with Diego and watched after him for me.” The mother took Diego from Mirabel.

“Mami!” Diego called out, hugging his mother tightly. Juliana grabbed her basket, resting Diego on her hip.

“Gracias, Mirabel. Is there anything I can repay you with?” Juliana asked, smiling at the small girl and the baby on her back.

“Oh, no, no! I’m always happy to look after Diego, and Antonio loves playing with him. I’ll be in town again tomorrow, i-if you want me to look after him again,” Mirabel stammered, nervous about her subtle request to watch him again.

Juliana had a look of thinking on her face. “I won’t be in town tomorrow, because I’ve got to go to an important dinner with Diego,” She said, noticing Mirabel’s body sag a bit. “But, I know that Ms. Pérez and Mrs. Gómez are looking for babysitters for tomorrow. They have a seamstress meeting and are looking for someone to look after their children.”

“O-Oh! The 4 and 5 year old? Teresa and Manuel?” Mirabel perked up.

“Yup! I could tell them you're open and…” Juliana jumped back in surprise when Mirabel called out in happiness.

“Yes, that would be awesome! I would love to look after them!” Mirabel said.

“Then it's settled. I’ll let them know to meet you here tomorrow.” Juliana chuckled. “I’ll see you later Mirabel. Adios.”

“Adiós Señora! Adiós Diego!” Mirabel waved as they left.

“Bye-bye Mimi!” Diego waved happily, toy boat in hand.

Mirabel beamed as she walked up the hill to Casita. Even if she doesn’t get to play with Diego, she gets to look after Teresa and Manuel! The two kinders loved Mirabel, and she loved them just as much. Teresa loved to draw and Manuel loved to play music with Mirabel, he especially seemed to love the guitar. After Mirabel picked up the accordion and various instruments (thanks to the town band, who Mirabel always loved playing with in her seemingly endless freetime,), she had been showing some of the children how to play simple and easy ones such as the tiple. Even Antonio loved listening to the music she played when they were at Casita and no one else was home.

Mirabel’s mood was significantly improved, now that she could look after more children. Thinking of children, she thought back to what Diego wanted to call her.

“Mamabel…” She mumbled, opening Casita’s door. Though she felt sort of bad about it, she had to admit. It had a nice ring to it. It made her feel warm inside. The thought of one of the kids she looked after calling her “Mamabel” overwhelmed her with joy. She was finally worthy. She wondered…

What if Antonio called her that one day?

What if she took in more children? And they called her that as well?

Mirabel shook those thoughts away, rolling her eyes as she greeted Casita and took Antonio off of her back. “Like that’ll ever happen,” she sighed. As much as she wished it true, she doubted she’d be able to live out a dream like that. She could only dream for now.

Chapter Text

In the opening by the lake, kids could be seen running around, screaming in delight as they played a mass game of freeze tag.

Mirabel had traded places with Manuel Manuel (her self proclaimed right hand man), and was sitting on the side, Adella and Carlos in her hold. Both babies were cooing quietly, Adella occasionally reached for Mirabel’s earrings or her glasses.

She watched as the children ran around, tagging and untagging each other. Maria, Ruben and Juancho had been the quickest, evading Enrique, Antonio and Julia, who were it, with ease. She also noticed that Gabirel was frozen, again, despite just being unfrozen. The 9 year old, bless his heart, was on the taller side despite his age, being a couple inches taller than Mirabel even. He was really a gentle giant, always helping Mirabel with the younger toddlers such as Alroy and Camila.

“You’ll get ‘em next time Gabe!” Mirabel called out. Gabriel smiled and gave a thumbs up, quickly running off after Tiago had unfroze him.

She watched them play around a bit before seeing some of them group around someone. Antonio came running over to Mirabel, a worried look on his face.

“Mamabel! Alroy tripped and cut his knees!” He said, stopping to catch his breath. “He’s bleeding!”

At the mention of blood, Mirabel stood up quickly, 2 babies still in arms as she rushed over to the large group. Upon seeing her, the children moved away as she walked to the center.

“He was chasing Sofia before he tripped over a tree root,” Manuel said, taking Adella and Carlos from Mirabel. “He scraped his knees on that rock over there when he fell.” He gestured to the rather large rock not too far away.

Mirabel thanked Manuel, then bent down to Alroy, who was on the ground crying. When he saw Mirabel kneeling in front of him, he lunged at her, burying his small face into her lap.

“Mamabel!” The 3 year old cried, looking up at her with glassy eyes. “My knee hurts!”

“Oh, niño,” she pulled him up and settled him into her lap. “Are you okay?”

“It hurts…” Alroy hiccuped. Mirabel shifted him and put him down on the grass next to him. Moving her hands over his knees she sang:

“Sana sana colita de rana, si no sanas hoy sanarás mañana,” She moved her hands and held his hand. “Does that feel a little bit better?” Alroy nodded his head, still sniffling. Mirabel reached into her pouch only to find it empty. She had run out of arepas.

“Oh shoot,” she said under her breath.

“What’s wrong?” Antonio asked, peeking his head from behind her.

“I’ve run out of arepas,” she sighed. “I’m going to go get some more from the square, you all stay here, okay? I’ll be right back, ok Alroy? Can you be a big boy for me?” She held his face, fingers tracing the light spots that adorned his brown skin. Alory nodded, and Mirabel stood up and walked towards the town center, waving to the kids as she went off.

As Mirabel walked the short walk to the town, she was greeted happily by several villagers as she walked to the fountain where her mothers stand was. Many of them were very happy to see her, more specifically the birth parents of her children.

“Ah! Mijabel! How are you? Are the kids giving you any trouble?” The mother of Sofia and Selena said, walking over to the girl

“I’m doing well, gracias Tia Acacia! The kids are great, as always. Sofia is always scaring me popping out of nowhere, and Selene gives me a scare when she just disappears and comes back a second later,” Mirabel giggled. “I’m just getting some more arepas, Alroy cut his knees.”

Acacia laughed wholeheartedly. “That’s great mija. I’m glad Sofia and Selena are having fun, you know how much they love you. I’ll see you tomorrow at little Ton-Ton’s ceremony, so I’ll get out of your hair.” Acacia hugged Mirabel tightly, then adjusted her head scarf for her, walking off to some stands.

Mirabel waved her goodbye and was on her merry way. She greeted several other villagers along the way, waving at the happy townsfolk. She finally walked up to her mama’s stand, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“Hola mama,” She said, smiling. “I’m going to take a couple arepas ok?” Julieta smiled at her daughter and nodded, putting an arepa into a villager's mouth, said villager waving at Mirabel, who waved back, recognizing him as Cisco’s grandfather.

“Poor Senor, he probably got another burn,” Mirabel shook her head in amusement. She put about 15 arepas in her pouch and took one more in her hand for Alroy and was off back to her children.

On her way back, she was greeted by several more villagers, to which she gleefully waved back. Mirabel loved the villagers. Unlike her family (sans Antonio and her Tio Bruno), they didn’t ignore her or push her aside. She was more than some nanny. She was ‘Mijabel’, and ‘Mamabel’. They genuinely loved caring for the kids as well, she was their second mother, and in some cases, their only mother.

Mirabel hummed a tune as she turned out of the main part of town and onto the trail that led down to the lake. She took in her surroundings, seeing the large trees that lined the forest and the soft plush grass that her children were running on. The wind picked up a bit and she held her head scarf as she trudged down the hill.

“Maximo must be excited again,” she laughed, feeling the wind die down once again. As she walked, she failed to notice the 3 teens her age walking behind her.

“Well if it isn't Señorita Inútil,'' one of the kids said from behind her. Mirabel flinched slightly, but opted to ignore them. She continued walking, humming louder and her eyebrows furrowed. The other kids walked faster and stood in front of her. She did not halt her walk, and went to walk around her.

One of the teens stepped in front of her again, dogging her steps. He laughed in her face, to which she simply scrunched her nose in irritation.

“Do you mind moving?” Mirabel was as mockingly sweet as she could muster.

The bully scoffed and bitterly smiled. “And why would I do that? You’re the useless Madrigal.” He pushed Mirabel back, causing her to stumble. He laughed again, and his friends laughed with him.

“I’m not useless; I do more than you all anyway. Now, if you will move, that would be nice. I have kids to get back to,” Mirabel said angrily.

The girl moved to Mirabel’s side and pushed her again. “Mirabel, the useless Madrigal. You’re just some lazy weirdo who lives in that house.” the girl sneered, pointing at her in an accusing manner.

“That’s not true! I am just as amazing as the rest of my family,” Mirabel contested. “I don’t need some Gift to–” Mirabel was interrupted when the other boy moved to her other side and pushed her again. Mirabel now dropped the arepa that had previously been holding.

“¡Cállate inútil!” the boy barked. “You’ll never be as good as them! You don’t even deserve to be a Madrigal,” he said. He pushed Mirabel back as the first boy, but much harder. Looking down at her arm, a bruise was forming.

The first boy pushed her harder as well. “Everyone knows your family doesn’t love you. The only reason that boy Antonio hangs out with you is because he feels bad. He doesn’t love you,” This really hit Mirabel hard. It was bad enough being called useless, but that statement broke her heart.

Antonio? Not loving her?

She was pushed to the ground, and that knocked her out of her trance. She felt something small and hard hit her. She looked up and saw that the 3 teenagers had rocks in their hands. They all assaulted her with the rocks; most of them decently sized, enough to hurt when they hit her skin. She tried to deflect, holding her hands over her head as she tried to stand. With each attempt, more rocks came flying at her.

She would not cry. “No llores. No llores. No llores.” she whispered, blocking the rocks. She would just have to wait it out.

”I’m sorry Alroy, Mamabel has to deal with this, but I'll be there soon,” Mirabel thought. ”Just a little longer.”

—
Something was off. Manuel flinched. He didn’t like this feeling. He felt really bad vibes, a bad song. It was like a giant drum mimicking laughter while a guitar played quickly. A piano could be heard faintly, sad.

Manuel felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked up from Alory, looking at the owner of the hand. It was Bianca. She looked worried, and a bit angry.

“Mamabel is hurt.” she whispered. “Very hurt. Something is wrong.”

Manuel nodded. He was right. Something was wrong. Both she and Manuel were the only ones of the children to be able to tell when something was seriously wrong with Mirabel. Standing up, he handed Alroy to Gabriel, who was standing nearby and heard the conversation. Manuel gave Alroy his hat, and the toddler put it on. Manuel put on his own hat and pulled his guitar over his shoulder. Turning towards his other siblings, he took a deep breath.

“¡Atención hermanos!” Manuel called out, gathering the attention of the other 30 children. Now that he had their attention, he huffed angrily. “Mimi is hurt! You all heeded the message, correct?” he nodded and affirmations all around. “We need to help her! Let’s go!”

At that, there was a mob of children dressed in various blues heading towards Mirabel’s location. They were moving at speeds that rivaled even the quickest men in the village. The fastest was Juancho; despite being 5, the boy could consume straight caffeine and move at speeds that were freakishly fast. He was already ahead of the group, spotting Mirabel being ganged up on by 3 other kids her age.

“I found her!” Juancho yelled, skidding to a halt, almost falling. The other kids came running up the hill, much to the 3 teenagers' surprise. At the sight of Mirabel being surrounded and covered in rocks, the kids snapped.

“Get away from her!” Julia growled, hurling fruits at the bullies; how she got them would remain a mystery to them. While she was assaulting them with oranges and papayas, Maximo knocked one of the boys down and started to practically pulverize the older kid. Several toddlers came over and joined in, Francisco, undeterred by his small age and height, started stomping around and screaming at the top of his lungs, causing a major distraction.

Maximo pushed the girl down with ease, backing away when she was down, just barely avoiding her legs kicking at him. Diego noticed a creek next to the trail they were on and was quick with his hands. Water started to flood the girl’s vision as Diego drenched her with water.

“Y-You think I’m scared of a bunch of kids?!” The last one stuttered. He held off the smaller kids like Selena and Andres; but he could only keep that up for so long. Just as he pushed away Andres, again, (seriously, how was this literal toddler coming back again and again and not crying?), he blinked and his whole world seemed to freeze. Everything happened so quickly, and when he opened his eyes again, he was pinned by four of the kids, all of them angry. Scanning his surroundings, he noticed his other two friends were gone; they had probably fled at some point when he was dodging.

“We may just be a bunch of kids,” Manuel started to take his guitar off of his back. He held it by its neck, the steel strings digging into his fingers palms, but he remained unfazed. He raised it high above his head, right above the bully. The pinned teen tried squirming out of the other 4 kids' grasp, to no avail. “but we’re also just a bunch of kids that happen to belong to the person you just beat up, and we don’t take kindly to people hurting our Mamabel!” The last part is a scream, a battlecry, and with it the guitar is swung down; momentum and forceful intent fueled solely by Manuel’s rage–

A hand stops its descent just an inch away from its target’s nose.

“Calm down mijo,” he heard that oh so familiar voice from behind him. Feeling his guitar leave his grasp, he turned and saw Mirabel standing there with a gentle look on her face. She was covered in a few cuts and bruises, but she seemed fine. Though, looking closer at her face, the first thing he saw was the black eye behind broken glasses. She did fall earlier, she must’ve landed on her face.

Manuel was seething. For once, he ignored Mamabel's words and turned back to the bully. He didn’t hesitate this time; he launched himself at the older kid, fist connecting with his face. He went on for a few more punches before the same hands from before grabbed his wrists again. Only difference is this time they pulled him close.

“Calm down,” Mirabel repeated, hugging him close. She removed his hat and let her chin rest on his wavy hair. Manuel clung to her arms, and he finally calmed down. “I’m still here. I’m fine.”

Manuel tried not to cry. He really did. But seeing her so hurt…he hated it. He started bawling like a baby, and Mirabel didn’t even flinch away, doing the exact opposite in fact; she held him closer. Several other kids rushed over and clung to her as well, asking over and over if she was ok. Though no one had taken notice, the bully was repulsed at the scene. Quickly standing, he then moved away, limping occasionally as he disappeared from view- his shadow darker than usual despite the cloud-covered sun.

“Mamabel!” Antonio sobbed, raising his head from her sleeve. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, Toñito,” Mirabel said softly, raising a hand to cradle his face. “It’s just a few cuts and scrapes.”

“If those are just ‘cuts and scrapes’ then I don’t even want to know what a broken arm would look like,” Sergio sarcastically replied.

“Really, I’m fi–” Mirabel’s words were cut off when an arepa was shoved in her mouth. Looking at who did it, she saw Juancho holding about 5, presumably stolen arepas and a large cup of what looked like coffee. He must have ran off back to the square at some point to grab some.

Juancho erupted into a flurry of words. "You're not okay! You have a ton of cuts and bruises and your eye is black and your glasses are broken," His eyes started to water, and he grabbed another arepa and shoved it into her hand, which was still wrapped around Manuel. “And they ripped your dress and…and…” He finally slumped down next to her, leaning on her shoulder. He chugged his coffee, hiccuping as he cried.

“Please eat the healing food.” Garbiel gestured to the goods in her hand. Mirabel ate the arepa in her mouth, moving her hand to eat the other one.

“You know they were wrong…right?” Gabriel begins, sitting down with two babies in his lap. “They were wrong to call you those things.”

Mirabel swallowed hard. She really didn’t want them to hear that. She tried her best to block it out, but the thought of Antonio–or really any of her kids—not loving her back threw her off track. Just the thought made her stomach churn. And they had called her useless too.

But could she blame them? She was useless compared to the others—that’s what they always said anyway. For the past decade she’s been pushed aside and forgotten. And for the past 5 years she was just a glorified nanny for Antonio.

“You’re not useless, Mimi. I don’t know why they keep saying that, but you know it’s not true.” Victoria said, fiddling with Mirabel’s dress, fingers tracing the embroidery.

“Yeah! I mean who’re they to talk? Now I don’t want to point fingers, but I ain’t seen near one of them lazy fu–er, bums do any work. I hate it when they say those things and have nothing to back up their shi–crappy argument.” Sergio ranted, waving his hands angrily.

“You guys are just saying that,” Mirabel chuckled sadly. She did believe them, she really did–but it was hard. Especially when half of her life was spent listening (and sometimes believing) to the opposite.

"Nuh-uh. Not true. Not at all. We really mean it! I mean, they can’t say they have the best Mamì in the village,” Maximo said, blowing a few leaves into the air.

“Yeah! Because we do! We have the best Mami in the village!” Mateo says, pushing Manuel away and claiming Mirabel’s lap as his own.

Mirabel sucked in a deep breath, smiling widely. She squeezed her eyes shut, face scrunching up a bit as she faced the sky. 'No llores, no llores, no llores, no llores,' she took in another deep breath and opened her eyes again. They were glassy, but she refused to let tears fall in front of her children. 'No llores.’

"You know," Antonio said, flopping onto his back. "I can't really imagine a life without you Mamabel. It's very hard. But I also don't like imagining stuff like that. It's too sad." He turned his body to face Mirabel. “Have…Have you ever imagined a life without us?”

Mirabel turned and looked at Antonio with wide eyes, offended that he even had such a thought. “W-What? No! No, never! Never in a million years has that thought crossed my mind. I can’t even bear the thought of one of you not in my life, but all of you?” Mirabel looked up to the sky again. “I just don’t think I’d be the same. I wouldn’t even be able to think straight.”

“So you’d never stop loving us? Like never ever?” Sofia said, slipping next to Antonio after coming out of seemingly nowhere.

“Never ever. Wouldn’t dream of it.” Mirabel rocked back and forth with Mateo still in her hold. For a few minutes they all sat there, staring at the clouds in the sky that formed various different animals and objects.

Eventually, Mirabel stood up (much to Mateo’s dismay). The other kids followed, with Adella and Carlos being put back into Mirabel’s baby wrap. Andres, Camila and Selena clung to her dress, refusing to let her go. “I think it’s about time we head back for lunch, hm?

Antonio perked up, clutching her hand as they began to make their way back to their home. “Can you make Chuleta Valluna? Ple—ase?” he begged, many others following. Mirabel really couldn’t say no to those faces.

“Of course mijo,” Mirabel chuckled, guiding her kids back onto the road to town, 31 kids in tow.

Chapter Text

Antonio’s birthday had been going…well, actually not too bad. His mama and papa woke him up and spent time with him all morning, which he enjoyed. The family was getting ready for the ceremony later on, so they were busy. Eventually Pepa and Felix had to go off and do their own thing. So now, Antonio was left with Mirabel. He didn’t mind at all, not in the slightest. Today, he could spend all day with his siblings and his Mamabel.

—

“Happy Birthday!” Antonio was pleasantly surprised as all of his siblings and Mirabel wished him a happy birthday. He was practically tackled as they hugged him, smothering him with hugs, and he laughed as he playfully pushed them away. After a reluctant disperse, Antonio was picked up by his other mama, Mirabel. She kissed him, hugging him close as she beamed.

“Happy birthday hijo,” Mirabel said softly and Antonio squeezed her tightly before he was put down, though he still held her hand. “Tia Casita said happy birthday as well.”

“Aren’t you excited? You’re finally five, and you’re getting a gift!” Maria asked, walking next to Antonio, small clouds hovering around her as she beamed at her younger brother.

“Yeah, I guess,” Antonio said quietly, fiddling with his fingers. It was not lost on Mirabel as she noticed his nervous behavior. She could see that his thoughts were frantic, and even more nervous than what was visible. But she would wait until they were in a more private moment before she said anything. Right now he has his siblings.

Antonio walked alongside his siblings and Mamabel, and the large group made their way back to their little house near the back of the village plaza, still holding Antonio’s hand. The house came into view, a nicely sized one. Obviously none of the Madrigal’s really knew about it; it was a secret between her, her kids, and the village. They knew the real purpose. She had been caring for their kids for so long—it was only natural they paid her back. And seeing as Casita could only house so many, they decided to build Mirabel her own little house. A playhouse, a place where they acted like a family. It also doubles as a meet up and hangout spot. If the kids aren't with their own families or in the plaza with Mirabel, they were probably playing somewhere near the house. It was a birthday present; she sobbed forever as she toured the house, which she came to call Epifanio, since Casita had a name as well. He was like…well, Casita’s sister.

Once she entered, she went to work on getting Antonio ready. After getting him some new clothes (clothes that HE wanted to wear, the ones his mama spent weeks sewing,), they went into the kitchen. While Antonio played with his toys and some stuffed animals, he heard his siblings rushing into the house. They knew that it was around lunch time, they always had lunch around the same.

“Mamabel?” Antonio asked, coming up behind her and clutching her skirt. Without breaking her pace, he replied with a small “Hm?” Antonio peeked up over the counter. “Did you make some Lechona Tolimense?” he said, looking at the food placed on the plates.

Mirabel nodded, moving one of her hands to rub his hair gently. “Si,” she said, moving to kiss his head. “I know it’s your favorite, so I got up extra early to get it started, just for your birthday.” Antonio beamed at her, grinning widely like the little kid he was.

After a few moments of Antonio just leaning on Mirabel and hugging her while she made his siblings’ plates, he could hear his siblings gathering closer, until eventually the front door swung open and numerous footsteps stampeded into the dining area.

“Mamabel, we’re back!” A voice called. The two in the kitchen saw Enrique rushing over, Francisco on his shoulders while all of the other kids followed behind.

“Antonio, you’re here!” Bianca said, engulfing the younger boy in a hug. “¡Feliz cumpleaños hermano!” Many others included themselves in the hug, wishing him a happy birthday. Again. Sure, they already did, but why not do it again? It was his special day.

“Are you excited for your birthday hombrecito?” Manueal asked again, putting his guitar down and walking over where the plates were.

“Yeah! We’re gonna have a big party at Tia Casita and we’re gonna have cake, arepas, and juice!” Antonio ranted excitedly, his mood significantly improved.

“I’m super pumped! Can’t wait to give you your gifts and all of that!” Mateo jumped in front of him, his sister, Paola right behind him. The two themselves were actually four, but they didn’t turn 5 until September.

Antonio put some food in his mouth and thought hard. He swallowed his food, putting his hands up. “Let’s go play in the square! I want to go play with hermano Mariano! Can we Mimi? Ple—ase?” he begged, turning to his Mamabel who was helping the toddlers eat while also eating herself. She giggled, nodding her head yes. All of the kids cheered and proceeded to eat through the rest of their lunch. Once they were done, they were off to Guzman's house.
—
Mariano stood next to his mamá, bored out of his mind. If he was being honest, this whole engagement thing wasn’t as exciting as he thought it’d be. It was actually quite boring; he didn’t get a say in much, and Isabela herself was a bit boring. Beautiful, yes, but boring.

Alma went on and on about the engagement, Isabela by her side standing there looking pretty. He glanced at his mother, who was kind of just awkwardly standing there as Alma talked. She had a smile, but it was so…forced. His mama said something and put a hand on his arm, looking up at him. He could see that she wanted to be doing anything else at the moment.

Alma went on and on about the engagement, “So the dinner can take place—“ Alma was cut off when an over plus of voices (children voices?) called out.

“MARIAAAANNOOOOOOOOO!”

The group of four turned their heads towards the sound and we met with quite the sight. Dashing through the plaza were at least 20 kids, screaming Mariano’s name. Alma and Isabela were confused, wondering where did all these kids come from and how did they know Mariano?

Mariano was overjoyed. Not only did he get to get out of this massively uncomfortable conversation, but he got to spend time with his (adoptive) younger siblings! Mariano’s mother smiled warmly as she watched the children tackle the man, giggling as he hugged them and greeted them.

“Hermano! Guess what, guess what!” Antonio said as Mariano ruffled his hair.

“¿Qué pasa cumpleañero?” He chuckled, seeing Mirabel come up to them with 2 babies and all of the toddlers (who couldn’t keep up with the older kids) in tow.

“Mamabel said it was ok if you spend the night with us at Tío Epie’s next week! And Tío Hernando said he would help us build a fort and do telenovelas!” Antonio explained, smiling brightly as he adjusted his ascot.

“Is that so?” He looked at Mirabel who shrugged, adjusting her hold on the baby in her arms. “Well I’m happy to go, but are you sure?”

“You know how much Tío loves acting out telenova’s, especially with you—and the kids begged me, I couldn’t say no.” Mirabel bounced Carlos absently, turning to Marano’s mother, who found herself giving out kisses and small candies to the toddlers who had gathered at her feet. “Tita, is it ok if Hermano comes over next week?”

The older woman laughed, nodding as she picked up Selena and Ruben. “Of course! I don’t mind at all—I’ll be sure to come over and bring you all some dinner, hm?” She said, swaying a bit.

“Tita’s cooking? Yay!!” Julia cheered, many others joining in.

“Why don’t you all go now alright? Go play with your hermano and mama for now, and I’ll get you gift ready Antonio—feliz cumpleaños by the way,” Ms. Guzmán said, setting down the two in her arms. They all agreed and were off, Mariano having 6 kids hang off of him while he spoke to Mirabel about what they would do once they got the main square.

Mariano’s mother waved them off and turned around to head home when she was met with Alma and Isabela with their mouths agape. “Oh, dios mio, you scared me!” she jumped slightly. The two looked at her with a crazed look. “I had completely forgotten you were there. Now, we’ll have to continue this tomorrow morning. I've got to finish up my gift for mi sobrinos birthday. Adios!”

The two watched her go into her house shutting the door. Both made their way back to Casita with many questions.

Who was ‘Tio Epie’ and ‘Tio Hernando’?

Since when did Mirabel and Antonio see Mariano as a big brother?

Why did Mirabel and possibly Antonio casually refer to Señora Guzmán as ‘Tita’?

—

For the next 2 hours, Mariano spent his time going all around the Encanto village square, popping into alleyways, going behind stalls and climbing trees to look for the kids. It had actually taken him a lot longer, noting the fact that each child had a special hiding place that regularly rotated. But he didn’t care—why would he? He loved them all dearly, and he would do anything for them anyway.

By the time he went back to the fountain, Mirabel had taken Adella, Carlos and Andres back to their mothers—indicating it was time for her to head back to Casita.

“Hey there Mirabel! Took me forever, but I’ve finally rounded up all these little rascals,” he ruffled the hair of Francisco, who giggled wildly. “But hey, we had fun!”

Mirabel chuckled, shaking her head. “I can see that. I’m glad you all had fun. It’s about time for me and Antonio to head back to Casita, so I’ll see you later tonight at the party.” Mariano nodded in understanding. After bidding the large family an adios, he was off to his house to prepare.

After he was gone, Mirabel made her way back to Casita, Antonio’s hand in her own. Most of the kids had gone off to their own biological parents to prepare themselves for Antonio’s party. The few that were left had gone after seeing them inside.

“We’ll see you later Ma–Mirabel!” Sofia waved, her little sister's hand in hers. She almost called her “Mamabel” in front of her family; who was in front of Casita.

“I’ll see you later!” Mirabel waved her goodbye, turned to see Senor Osvaldo hopping off his cart, holding a large basket of decorations.

“Hey Mijabel! I got you something,” He walked over and plopped a basket into her hands, which she gratefully accepted. "The Not-Special Special, cuz, uh, you have no Gift!"

Mirabel lets the words wash over her, and immediately, their actual meaning comes- an ability earned through years of practice. She knew he, and many others, never meant any harm. In fact it was pretty much the opposite.

("I gave you this basket of stuff I know you like because today would be a bad day for you and I don't want that–I want you to be happy.")

"Thank you, Tio." She smiles.

Osvaldo chuckles nervously.

"Yeah, cuz last Gift Ceremony was a bummer– last one being yours uh, that did not work..."

("Is this enough? Because this entire situation is too tense, what with your Ceremony being the last one. Will you be okay? Do you want more?")

"I'll be fine, Tio Osvaldo, thank you." Mirabel said, reassuring the man once more.

And Osvaldo's smile is finally at ease.

As he walked off to do some more deliveries, he walked into Casita, which was just chaos from her point of view, and probably Antonio as well. Almost immediately, Antonio was snatched up by Felix. “Ay hijo! We gotta get you outta these clothes and into your ceremony,” Felix dragged him off, him looking back at Mirabel, while also getting a strange sense of deja vu.

Mirabel sighed, seeing her son being dragged off…again.

“Everything has to be perfect for the ceremony!” Abuela called out. “Camilo, we need another Jose.”

“Jose, coming through!” Camilo, helping the other man put up the banner.

“Pepa, you have a cloud!” Alma walked down the stairs, scolding her daughter. “You’re going to ruin the flowers,”

“I know mama, but I just…” Pepa sighed deeply. Mirabel was about to try and cheer her up when an annoyingly familiar voice interrupted her.

“Did someone say flowers?” Isabela said, coming down from the ceiling, producing a bouquet and giving it to her tia. Mirabel rolled her eyes; no one said that.

“Gracias Isabela,” Pepa said, a cloud going away.

“Anytime, Tia, anytime,” Isabela turned and saw Mirabel out of the corner of her eye. “You know if you really want to help you should stop trying so hard,” she said snidely.

Mirabel huffed, pushing some hair out of her face.

“Actually, I am helping,” she almost ran into a beam, if not for Casita helping her. Walking into the kitchen, she saw her mama cooking.

“Mirabel, there you are. Look, I know this will be hard for you,” Julieta started, watching as Mirabel took out the decoration from the basket her tio gave her. “But I want you to know that you have nothing to prove.”

“I’m not trying to prove anything mama, just playing my part in mi hij—primos birthday party. And these decorations aren’t going to put themselves up.” Mirabel watched as the house sag, to which she quickly corrected herself. “BUT I’m sure you would do a great job.” Casita happily perked back up, helping her with the other streamers.
Mirabel turned and saw her father covered in bee stings. “It’s a lot of pressure, Mirabel,” she stretched his neck.”

“Bee stings.”

“Ay Agustin!”

“First ceremony since yours. But that’s okay. You can be unexceptional, just like me,” he said. Mirabel rolled her eyes as her mama shoved an arepa in his mouth.

“Sure papa,” she began walking out of the kitchen.

“Remember, you have nothing to prove!” She heard her parents call after her. She loved them to death, but she hated how they treated her—she wasn;t a baby. She was a mother, she had to time to worry! Besides, it's not like she was entirely helpless.

Upstairs, she set out candle holders by each of the doors. She had made them especial;y for today—Casita insisted. She wanted her tiles to be dressed up in Mirabel’s beautiful crafts. Just as she set the candle down in front of Alma’s door, she jumped at the sudden voice.

“Mirabel?” Alma asked, looking at the girl. Mirabel Jumped and accidentally knocked the candle over, setting the holder alight. She cursed at how she inherited her fathers clumsiness.

“A-Abuela I-,” She stomped at the fire, putting it out. She gestured to the charred craft, giving an awkward smile. “I made these!”

Alma grimaced and sighed deeply. “Mirabel. I think you’re doing a…good job, and I know you’re trying to help.” Mirabel’s shoulders dropped as she listened to her Abuela piting and slightly condescending tone.

She knew it all too well.

“But sometimes,” Alma places a hand on Mirabel’s shoulder. “The best way for…some…of us to help–is to step aside. Ok?”

Mirabel’s face fell before quickly pulling into a tight smile.

Man, did she hate being pitied.

“Mhm!”

She hated it so much.
—
Manuel frowns, hearing the slightly off-beat, quicker pace of his Mamá's heartsong through the Hivemind. He shifts Adella in his arms, idly also noting her melody quickening as a sign of wakefulness.

"Tio Epie," He murmured to the House, to their Miracle, which was an extension of the Madrigal Miracle. "Is Mamabel worrying about Tonito's ceremony again?" He scans his memories. "I thought we were already past that."

They had a whole Plan A, B, C and everything- Teresa's little workshop, her hideaway, had its cork boards filled with contingencies and string instead of her art for a solid week. Tio Epie had to get new boards for the girl.

Epifanio’s boards flipped and rumbled, and Manuel's frown deepens. They rarely- it was rude! And only for emergencies! -used the other parts of his Mamá's Gift. The ability to see and hear what the others are... it was an invasion of privacy. Broadcasting however, was not, because it was a willing choice, but judging by Uncle Epie's tone and his Mamá's heartsong, Manuel doubted she would Broadcast what was happening.

Adella shifts, and she catches the tail-end of Uncle Epie's chime voice.

"E-Epie!!!" She squeals, and the floorboards lift at her adorable attempt–no words, just for the entertainment of the child. (He still doesn't know who taught her that 'Epifianio attempt. Probably Sergio, though.)

Mamabel's heartsong suddenly crashed- a loud, shocked banging of drums and a scream of an accordion. Manuel latches on to the reason that he's been given permission and tugs at his musical connection to Mirabel, and he listens.

He could feel her trying to change her mood, to change her song, but he could hear what it was truly.

Manuel didn’t like that.

He knew his siblings would figure it out soon. And it wouldn’t sit right with any of them, not at all. It didn’t sit right with Manuel, so it wasn’t going to be a light thing for the rest of them once they eventually figured out (probably through Sofia) what was said.

Manuel listens to his Mamabel’s heartsong again, and it’s appreciative but overwhelmed–which is not good, in front of Dona Alma–and he takes his cue. His Gift activates, and he sings a song.

“Sana sana colita de rana, Si no sanas hoy, Sanarás mañana,” He exudes calm, almost forces calm, and it 's calm. He listens to other Madrigal heart songs, and he hears Dona Alma turns to scold Senora Pepa for daring to have feelings, and Manuel knows he's intruded enough. He tears his ears from his Mirabel’s, and blinks as Uncle Epie's body returns to his view.

Adella is back asleep, but her face is set into a frown. She didn't understand, wasn't one of those who had a Gift, yet, but the feeling of a strange mix of happiness and sadness permeated Mirabel’s heartsong.

Manuel grits his teeth.

"Uncle Epie? Do you have enough energy to watch over Adella? I have something to take care of."

It only takes a blink before a man appears beside him, and takes his littlest sister in his arms. (His instincts scream at his stupidity, but his heart knows that Uncle Epie would never hurt his sobrinas and sobrinos. He never did, never will. Just like Tia Casita.)

Uncle Epie tips his hat, and Manuel is off.

He has a mother to comfort.

(And a Dona to influence into humiliation–if he can do it without Mirabel catching.

....who is he kidding, there are no secrets in this Family, especially with all the Gifts and how everyone was able to somehow sense the way Mirabel was. So Manuel plans his plans in excruciating detail for the enjoyment of his mischievous siblings. The word spreads quickly, and Mirabel, though back at Casita, already heard most of it through the kids who were at Casita already. She was probably already preparing a speech about how violence is not the answer, but by the start of a cheery tune in her heartsong–short but it'd been there–it was the thought that counts.

He'll take it.)

—

“Hermano, this way!” Maria says overhead, and it doesn’t take long for Manuel to have his face buried in his Mamá’s chest after a run that’s nothing short of a pounce.

“Mamá,” He breathes, feeling great relief at her improving heartsong. It’s especially nice to hear it swell every time a body collides with his own, their hug soon turning into a dog pile in the grass.

“Mamá you don’t believe her right?!” Diego practically screeches before Mamá could even recover her knocked out breath.

“She’s wrong Mamá! You’re the best!” Sofia follows, eyes wide with determination and tears.

“Yeah!” Juancho pumps up a fist, vibrating in place, “She doesn’t even know what you do! What you can do!”

“Everyone loves you Mamá.” Bianca whispers.

“You didn’t need her permission then, you don’t need it now!” Tiago proudly declares.

“And, you’re like, the most helpful Madrigal- sorry Ton-ton,” Sergio huffs, offended on their mother’s behalf. Antonio doesn’t even look mad. He was just glad to be away from those stuffy Madrigals. “And, Doña Alma doesn’t even do anything. She just orders ev’ry body ‘round, sitting on her as- butt all day. I mean, she pro’lly got more leader stuff we don’t know she’s doin’, but if she’s blind enough to not notice all’o’us singin’ our lungs out ev’ry day in the square, then she got nothin’ to stand on in tellin’ you all that bulls-bullcrap she did.”

Teresa nods furiously. “What he said. Without the pitiful censoring.”

“Que te follen, ‘Res.”

“Whatever, Serge.”

“The point is,” Manuel finally intervenes, “Doña Alma’s wrong about you, Mamá. She always has been. Don’t let her get to you… Please.” He looks her in the eye, and the presence of more eyes in the back of his mind tells him his siblings are abusing the limits of the Intruding rule. “We love you Mamá. And that’s what really matters in the end now, doesn’t it?”

“Oh mis preciosos niños,” She sniffs, the heat of her tears fogging her glasses- that Diego instantly takes and clears right back up -and making her eyes all red. “How are you all so bright?” Mirabel’s heartsong is a teary version of her usual one, and Manuel takes that as a job well done.

—
Mirabel watched as her children dissipated into groups, some going back to their parents and some going off to play in some random part of Casita. She was about to talk to Tonio when—

He wasn’t next to her. Where did he go? He was just there…Suddenly she heard a voice from upstairs.

“Pepa! You have a cloud!” Alma castigated Pepa again.

“I know mama, but what do you want me to do? I can’t find Antonio!” She stomped off angrily. Mirabel sighs deeply.

“All of you screaming his name, you probably scared the life out of him…” she muttered under her breath. She made her way up to the nursery, walking in. Taking a box out of her drawer, she plopped down on the bed, holding the present out just barely visible.

“This present will self-destruct if no one takes it in 3…2…Oh!” She jumped when the box was snatched out of her hands. She crawled under the bed, finding her hijo fiddling with the presents’ strings.

“You ok hijo?” She asked quietly, bumping his shoulder lightly.

“Yeah I’m just…tired. Only a few of them said Happy Birthday, all they care about is the ceremony. I don’t even know if it’ll work…” he said, sighing again.

“Well…How about this? We get you through this tonight, and I’ll do anything you want tomorrow? Antonio smiled and nodded.

“I’d like that,” he mumbled.

“Now, open up your gift!” She said, pushing it closer. Antonio carefully untied the yarn, opened the box and looked inside.

It was a hand sewn plush jaguar.

“Just for you mijo. I know this is the only one you don’t have, so I decided to make you one,” Mirabel watched as he hugged it tightly, then he moved to hug her, giving her a kiss on her cheek.

“Gracias Mamabel, I love it.” Antonio said. Suddenly an alarm clock rang in front of them, which caused them to get up and out of the room.

“We’re going, we’re going!” Mirabel cried. Once in the next room, she watched Antonio walk over to Pepa and her family. They all kept mentioning his Gift and making them proud by getting one. Mirabel scoffs.

Even if he didn’t get a Gift—which she knew he would—he wouldn’t have, and shouldn’t have been loved any less. Not like she was.

In only a few minutes, Abuela was giving her speech, and Antonio was standing in the spotlight. He watched nervously, looking for someone, a certain someone.

”Where’s mama?” he thought to himself. He looked to see several of his siblings pointed behind him, to where he looked and saw who he was looking for. His Mamabel. He held out his hand towards her, something she did not expect.

“I can’t,” Mirabel whispered. She knew she couldn’t; her family would only think she’s trying to be an attention seeker.

“I need you,” Antonio pleaded. Mirabel folded like a wet tissue. How could she say no to her First soon like that? Walking over, she grabbed his, which he held like it was his lifeline. The two could see the pitiful and annoyed looks the family was giving them (or rather Mirabel.) He didn’t care.

They walked down the pathway and up the stairs. Once Abuela finished her speech, Antonio put his hands on the doorknob. It glowed brightly and there on his door, he stood holding various animals.

It worked. Just like Mirabel knew it would.

Antonio’s animals all made their way in and he was ecstatic, quickly becoming familiar with the many animals.

“We have a new Gift!” Abuela called. Everyone cheered and Abuela ushered the family inside the room. “Come, we must take a picture! It’s a perfect night!”

Antonio was squashed into the middle of the photo, two birds on his arms while he gave his best smile.

“¡La Familia Madrigal!” They called out. They all pose, Antonio being quite unhappy when he realized they had left his Mamabel out.

That simply wouldn’t do.

“Now, let’s get the party star–”Abuela was cut off when Antonio started pushing her away. ”A-Antonio, what–?!” She watched as he pushed everyone else out of frame, and then ran into the crowd. He pulled Mirabel from the crowd, holding her right in front of the camera.

Why was she in the crowd?

Wasn’t she just next to them?

She was right next to…Wait, who—?

“Come on, come on! We have to get a picture!” He called out, much to the Madrigal’s confusion. They were met with surprise when about 31 kids emerged from the crowd, moving to surround Mirabel and Antonio.

“Antonio, who are these people?” Pepa asked, but the small boy looked at his mama for a moment before smiling. “Um…my friends!”. He said something to Mirabel and she picked him up, holding him on her hip and she turned to the camera.

“Alright ninos, smile!” Mirabel called out, a lot happier than before. Antonio stretched his arm around his Hermano mayor, Tiago, who was next to Mirabel. Everyone in the photo posed, as the photographer took another photo.

“La Familia Vergara!” They all shouted.

This sent the Madrigals in a stupor. Vergara? Who was Vergara? As far as they knew, there was no family, at least no significantly influential one, within the Encanto under that name.

Right?
—

The party continued, everyone dancing to the music, Antonio the center of a large group of kids, his parents, Camilo and Dolores awkwardly trying to include themselves in said group (though it wasn’t working for Dolores, though Camilo sort of got closer; not by much though).

Mirabel watched happily as her son danced with his siblings. “Now’s a good time to get his other presents,” she thought aloud, making her way out of the room. Humming to herself, she made her way down the stairs and to a side room where she was storing his other presents. Just as she was about to walk up the stairs, she jumped back at a loud crash that happened just inches from her foot.

She looked down and saw…a roof shingle?

She bent down, picking it up after shifting the present box in her hand. The moment picked it up, she dropped it.

She had cut her hand.

“Casita…?” Rather abruptly, cracks shot throughout Casita, reaching all over her floors, walls and even on the second floor.

“Casita?!” She asked in utter confusion looking around. The tiles fluttered wildly and the shutters flapped violently, Mirabel just barely being able to make out what Casita was trying to say. The house seemed to be in a panic. Mirabel felt the house rumble to a stop, and she dropped the present in her hand.

She dashed up the stairs, careful not to step on the cracks. She had to tell the family. Casita, the kids’ Tia, her family’s home, was in danger!

She slammed the door open, causing most people nearby to look at her as she ran in. “There’s cracks!” She cried. “There’s cracks in Casita!” Alma whipped around so fast, Mirabel swore she was the one about to get whiplash.

“Show me,” Alma said sternly. Mirabel led her and the crowd that gathered behind her to the courtyard, down the steps where the tile fell.

It wasn’t there.

In fact, nothing was there. It was like Casita hadn’t even experienced that whole thing—spotless. Alma looked at Mirabel with a scornful look. Behind her, she could see several family members giving her the same look, or one of…pity.

“It was right here, I swear! There were cracks and the tile fell–” Alma cut her off with her hand, silencing her. She turned towards the crowd and laughed nervously. "There is nothing wrong with La Casa Madrigal. The Magic is Strong! And so are the drinks!"

Alma doesn't notice a significant half of the crowd frown at her implication that Mirabel's drunk, the half that knows Mirabel, as well as the frothing set of twins, a young boy and girl, being held back by a large boy. Gabriel and the twins.

"She insulted Mamabel, let us go!"

And the large boy, Gabriel, usually soft spoken and calm, leans down, a dark look on his face. "Not yet," He growls, and the other kids agree immediately, "Not yet. But she'll get her time."

"Someone let Ton-ton know," Manuel says, "Mamá needs all of us."

Sofia salutes, "Si, Manuel." And then she's gone- nothing unusual for the sneakiest kid in the family.

The twins in the large boy's arms are still practically frothing at the mouth, but they redirect their energies to jumping over the railing, landing in a sloppy but safe roll, and tackling Mirabel instead as soon as the adults go back to Ton-ton's room.

"Mama! Are you okay?!"

And the twins in Mirabel's arms suddenly became 29 kids, with two more on the way judging by Pepa's call of "Antonio! Come back!"

Mirabel looks at all her children, hugging her and screaming reassurances.

And she falls in love with them again.

—
The party continues. Some of the people in the crowd, more specifically the biological parents of her kids, assure her that they believe her—for one, Mirabel never drank. She doesn't drink alcohol and doesn’t like to have that stuff around the kids, especially the littles.

Antonio was standing next to Alma, looking bored. He was dancing with his mama and papa, but was dragged away. He couldn’t even go to Mirabel. He didn’t want to be here next to her for all of 2 reasons.

First of all Abuela hadn’t even said happy birthday, apparently. In fact, many of them didn’t. Only his parents, Julieta and Agusin, Mirabel and his other family did. They didn’t care about the ceremony as much, he just wanted to spend his birthday with his family.

Second of all, this woman, his abuela, had the audacity to accuse his Mamá of drinking grown up drinks. Which was wrong, because she didn’t even drink that kind of stuff, let alone at a kids birthday party. He wondered, did his Abuela say that just so his Mamá would look bad? Maybe make herself look better in the eyes of the town?

“Ton-Ton! Where are you hermano?” Diego called, appearing from the crowd. Antonio’s face lit up and he watched his twin in all but blood emerge from the crowd. Diego spotted him and he jogged over hugging him. “There you are! Come on, Mamabel said it’s time for presents!”

Both children were about to run off to meet with their other siblings when Alma grabbed Antonio, stopping them. “Antonio? Where are you going? You still need to show your amazing gift!” she said, confused at the boy’s behavior. She saw Diego, who she could have swore was glaring at her.

Antonio shimmied out of Alma’s grasp. “I’m going to open my presents! The other kids are waiting for me!” He ran off with Diego, leaving Alma behind. The elderly woman froze in place, watching as the villagers she was just talking to went to follow the 2 boys. Holding present boxes. She went after them, seeing her other family on the outskirts of the group of kids surrounding Antonio.

In the center, Mirabel was holding Antonio in her lap, as she handed Antonio a gift box. “Here you go tigrecito,” Mirabel smiled, handing Antonio a box. “I got you a second present, just for you!”

This is his second present from her?

When was the first?

This made the Madrigal family members shift uncomfortably, staring in shock and slight guilt as the boy opened the box. In it was a trompo attached to a long string.

“A new trompo!” Antonio smiled brightly, hugging Mirabel. “Gracias! I’ve been asking for another one forever!” He pulled the string and watched the top spin in place before placing it to the side. Pepa shifted her weight as her eyebrows furrowed. She remembered when Antonio had asked her for a new one because she had broken his old one out of frustration. She really didn’t mean to, and buying him a new one slipped her mind.

“Our turn!” Paola and Mateo stepped forward and held out a plate of food to Antonio. Antonio took one look, knowing exactly what it was. “We know it’s your favorite, so we had our Māmā help us make some Rēti'a!” Antonio shoved a piece in his mouth, thanking them over and over for the delicious dessert. Julieta grimaced a bit, gripping the plate she was holding tightly. Antonio had asked her just that morning if she could make him a coconut cake, his favorite, but Alma insisted she make plain vanilla. Of course, Julieta made tons of other dishes that Antonio liked, but the cake…she may have slipped on that.

Manuel, Victoria and Francisco came forward with a tambora that had been decorated with what looked like painted animals. Antonio's eyes shone like stars as he took the drum. “You got this…for me? I can finally play with you and Victoria now?” Antonio voiced went up a pitch in excitement as he beat the drum lightly.

Manuel laughed. “Yup! Me and Victoria saved up a ton of money to buy you one, so now you can play with me, Victoria and Mamabel. You’ve been practicing forever now with the bands’, so it’s about time we got you your own.”

Victoria ruffled Francisco's hair. “Little one here helped pick out the one with the animals on it.” she smiled. The toddler clapped his hands as Antonio thanked them. Felix scratched his nape. He had actually started to teach Antonio how to play, but he never got far with it, at least not far enough to teach him songs. And now he can’t even buy him one because these kids already got him one.

The Madrigal family watched as the kids brought him presents, ranging from toys to food. But what really threw them off was when some of the villagers stepped forward and gave him some gifts. He got even more toys, animal supplies, clothes. One of the villagers even got him a brand new ascot (It was blue…Why was it blue? Why wasn’t it yellow or red? Now that they looked at it, Antonio wore a combination of blue AND yellow).

Osvaldo backs up from the group, having just given Antonio a gift basket full of animal themed trinkets. He smiles at the scene, before turning to the Madrigals, who had all shuffled together into a small group off to the side.

“So, what did you guys get him? I haven’t seen any of you guys go up yet,” he said, grinning widely.

Alma snapped out of her trance, glancing at the man. “What?” she muttered, clutching her shawl tightly.

Osvaldo’s face turned to one of confusion, then concern. “Antonio’s presents? Did you get him any presents?” he repeated. Now it seemed like all eyes were on them. Though not everyone, a good chunk of the crowd was staring at the Madrigals. Some in worry, some in disgust, some in concern. A couple were angry.

“We didn’t…get him…” Dolores began, squeaking as the family finally realized they had been exposed.

They didn’t get Antonio any presents.

For some reason, they didn’t get any presents. They were so focused on the ceremony that they hadn’t even bothered to get the boy a gift.

The villagers started whispering as they came to the conclusion that no one dared say out loud.

They didn’t even seem to care about it being Antonio’s birthday. They only cared about the ceremony. It explained why over the years Antonio (And Mirabel’s) birthday parties were always held either at the other home, or in the case of the last 3 years of his life, the town square.

They might as well have just forgotten his birthday all together. Sure, presents weren’t everything—but it was definitely something when everyone but your own family got you a gift.
—
The party had ended and the town of Encanto was asleep. Mirabel was out in the hall about to head back to the nursery when she heard Alma talk. With the help of Casita, she settled herself right under Alma’s window.

“Cracks in our Casita?” she whispered. “Help me Pedro. What do we do?”

Mirabel heard her leave the room, most likely to turn in for the night. As she slipped back into the nursery, she flopped onto her bed.

Alma knew.

She knew!

She just wanted to save face so she used Mirabel as a scapegoat—again!

Mirabel huffed under her breath. Whatever. She didn’t care. Right now, the tia to her kids, and eldest sister of her tios (and mama and tia if you count Julieta and Pepa) was in danger of falling apart, and she wasn’t going to let that happen. Her family was important to her, both Madrigal and Vergara.

“I will save the miracle.” she said, determined. She would save the miracle, Casita, her family and the Encanto. And she’d do it with the help of her family, la Familia Vergara.

“How do I save a miracle?”

Chapter Text

Eleven years old. She was 11 and she already had what, 10 kids?

She didn't mind it though, no, quite the contrary; she loved them all! They were all still under the age of five, so she found it adorable when she would pick them up from the parents house and the toddler after her in a small group, babbling on about how much they loved their 'Mamabel'. She was like a teacher, a big sister, or even a second mom.

She loved the name. At first, she was nervous. Diego had started it, and Antonio followed. Luckily, Mirabel learned that Juliana didn't really mind her son calling her that. In fact she encouraged it! As she had more kids to care for, they also called her that. She melted every time they did, it was so sweet to her.

Mirabel quickly learned that the villagers found it just as sweet. They would ask their kids if they wanted to play with Mamabel, and Mirabel was so overjoyed that they approved. But now she had to worry about 2 others: Pepa and Alma.

Pepa might flip if she found out Antonio viewed Mirabel as his mamá (even though Pepa made an effort to spend time with him outside of her chores, it still worried Mirabel, never mind the fact that she believed her tia should be around Antonio more.) And Alma, her abuela? She would blame Mirabel and say that she tricked him, which was a whole entire lie. Mirabel at first had actually encouraged the little one year old to call Pepa ‘Mami’, and thankfully it stuck. Mirabel wouldn’t even dream of taking Antonio from Pepa—she was just..sharing him.

But, she didn't care anymore. She was Mamabel now; and she had to put her (albeit adoptive) kids before herself. They were her top priority now, aside from her own family.

—
Mirabel held Antonio's hand as she walked with the 6 other kids (and one baby strapped to her back). She was on her way to Señor Osvaldo's stand; Diego's mamá, Juliana, was there, and the two had invited her and the children to play with sparklers.

Obviously she said yes. Everyone loved sparklers; the and the children were no exception. They were super excited when they found out that's where they were going; Mirabel tried to keep it a surprise, but it was inevitable, especially with the way that they begged her with those eyes. She could never say no to them when they made those faces.

"Mamabel?" Little 3 year old Sofia asked, tugging on Mirabel's skirt.

"Yes?" Mirabel smiled down at the girl, who fiddled with her fingers a bit.

"Ummm…my mamí said that…that the sparkles were super duper shiny…and pretty but…" Sofia bit her lip, to which Mirabel grabbed her hand and walked alongside her.

"What's wrong little one?" Mirabel asked softly.

"I-I'm scared…what if it burns?" Sofia asked, beads shaking as she hid her face in her poncho.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Mirabel gently placed her hand on her head, running her hands against the little girls' braids."It won't burn you, I promise. But, if you want, I'll stay right next to you."

"Promesa?" Sofia peeked from behind the fabric.

"Promesa." Mirabel beamed down at the girl, who slowly relaxed and once again was smiling.

"Mamí," Mirabel looked down and saw a 2 year old Diego dash towards Juliana, who was standing next to Osvaldo, talking.

"Mijo!" Juliana squatted down and let Diego slam into her arms, squeezing him as they hugged. "How are you, are you being good for Mirabel?"

Diego nodded his head, smiling as he gave his mother a kiss. "Bueno!"

"Gran trabajo hijo," Juliana ruffled his wavy hair, before grabbing him and standing back up as Mirabel made her way back over.

"Hola Señora Juliana! Hola Señor Osvaldo!" Mirabel greeted, bouncing Maria, who was strapped to her back.

"Mirabel! There you are, you're just in time. The sun is going down, so the sparklers will look mighty bright tonight," Osvaldo turned and rummaged through his stand for a moment. "These are really colorful and bright, so I'm sure the kids will love them." He grinned as she pulled a small match box out of his pocket.

"Niños!" Mirabel called behind her. The other children came running over, excitedly talking over each other as Osvaldo readied the sparkles and his matches.

Juliana pulled Antonio, Diego and Maria aside; they were the youngest, and therefore, she would simply hold the sparklers for them, so they wouldn't get hurt. That and they were still basically babies; meaning they would more than likely try to put it in their mouths as well.

As she passed out sparkles, Mirabel felt Sofia clutch her skirt tightly.

"I'm right here. I promise I'll stay with you," Mirabel watched as Sofia's sparkler was lit, and she quickly held it away from her face, squeezing her eyes shut.

"It's gonna hurt me!" Sofia yelled, bracing herself for the fire that would have, hypothetically speaking, burned her.

But it never came.

"It's OK, you can look," Mirabel kneeled down next to her, readjusting her glasses as she watched Sofia crack open one eye, then the other.

Sofia's eyes widened as she watched the colors fly in bright lights; it was beautiful, unlike anything she had ever seen. Granted, she was only 3, but the point still stood.

"It's so…pretty…" Sofia looked up and saw Mirabel holding her own sparkler, waving it around, which created lines of light. Sofia carefully copied her, giggling when she saw that her own did the same.

"See? I told you it would be OK," Mirabel said.

Sofia nodded and looked back to her sparkler, only to see it had gone out. "Oh no! The pretty light is gone! ¿Por qué?" Sofía frowned at the burned out stick in her hands.

"Would you like another one?" Osvaldo asked. Sofia nodded shyly before taking another sparkler. Osvaldo carefully lit it, and Sofia once again was in awe at the colors it emitted.

"Why don't you go play with the others?" Mirabel ushered Sofia. Sofia looked as saw all the other kids running around the plaza, their sparklers shining under the night sky.

"OK!" Sofia laughed as she ran towards the others, joining them in their banter.

"You did good Mirabel!" Osvaldo patted her back lightly, so Mirabel shook her head.

"No, not really. It wasn’t that special. My family would have been way better at it anyway," Mirabel sighed as she spun her sparkler.

"Yeah, they probably could, but they're not here! You did that for her. If you ask me, you're like…the most not-special special Madrigal! Er…wait…uh.." The man nervously chuckled. "I uh…well, you know what I mean right?"

Mirabel smiled, nodding. "Of course. Gracias."

As Mirabel played with the other kids, she thought. "The Most Not-Special Special Madrigal"...if she was honest, it would have hurt; but she figured he didn't mean it in a hurtful way. It was obvious he was just trying to make her feel special, lighten the mood.

And it worked. She did feel special. Her kids, her niños, they adored her. They thought she was special. The town was also super nice to her. And some of her family still believed in her at least.

At first, the town would only show pity because she was the Giftless Madrigal, but now? They seemed to adore her. She felt like she had a purpose, she felt like she was being useful. She was happy to have them. The kids. The town. All of them supported her all the time.

So why didn't her family notice? Now, she told herself that deep down, she didn't care that her family wasn't involved. But, even deeper down, all she wanted was their love and approval. Sure, her mamá and papá loved her enough, and hermana mayor Luisa tried her best, and Camilo tried, but other than that? She felt invisible compared to the rest of her family.
—
It was getting late, and soon, the kids had to go home. One by one, the parents came by and picked up their kids, giving Mirabel a thousand thanks for her help.

"Adios!" Mirabel waved Manuel and his mother goodbye, before picking up a sleepy Antonio.

"I hope you all had fun," Osvaldo loaded the last crate on his cart. "I'm glad I was able to test out the new colors today."

"Oh definitely! They were so pretty," Mirabel gestured to herself and Antonio. "If you ever need more testers, I'm always happy to bring the kids again."

"You should do that," Juliana adjusted Mirabel's bow and glasses. "Diego loves having you and the others around."

"As do I! Y-You know, the kids call me uh…Mamabel…and I was worried you and the other parents would get mad…" Mirabel rubbed the back of her neck, chuckling nervously.

"What?" Juliana looked offended at the assumption. "Never! Oh, no, no, I think it's absolutely adorable! They love you so much, and we appreciate it when you do this stuff for us."

"Really?" Mirabel asked, genuinely surprised.

"Yes, really," Juliana laughed. "Now, I understand it's getting late. God knows what those…Madrigals will say if you show up late, with Antonio no less."

Mirabel shook her head. "I'll be fine. ¡Gracias Tio Osvaldo! Gracias Tia Juliana!"

It took Mirabel a moment to realize what she said. As she did, her face fell, as she saw Osvaldo and Juliana freeze, looking at each other before looking back at Mirabel.

"I mean Señor! And Señora! I-I meant to say Señor and Señora! ¡Por favor perdóname!" Mirabel's eyes welled up. She hoped that she didn’t offend them.

She didn't mean it. Really, she didn't mean it, honestly. It's just that she had been around them and the village so long—it was on instinct. Like how she called Pepa and Felix tia and tio, it was just a reflex. Heck, she didn't even mean to say it out loud. Usually, she would say it in her head.

Juliana's face softened as she gently placed her hand on Mirabel's back, causing the girl's face to snap towards her. "It's OK. You can call us that."

"I'm sorry I–Wait...Really?" Mirabel sniffed as she wiped her eyes, Antonio attempting to help her in worry.

"Of course, I don't see the problem. So you, Osvaldo?" Juliana turned towards Osvaldo, who was smiling a bit.

"I'm okay with it!" He shrugged. He didn't have any kids of his own, nor did he have any sobrinas or sobrinos. But Mirabel, he would love to have her as a niece!

Mirabel rubbed her eyes again, adjusting her hold on Antonio. "Oh...W-Well, okay." She giggled a bit before smiling again. "Gracias Tío Osvaldo, gracias Tía Valentina!

"Eres muy bienvenida, Mijabel." Juliana winked at the girl before she sent her on her way.

As Mirabel left she gushed to a 1 year old Antonio about how excited she is to be able to call them that.

This was so exciting! More tias and tips, this was a dream come true! Not only did she get to have kids call her mamabel, but now she could call her favorite people tia and tio! Mirabel beamed as she smothered Antonio in kisses.

"This is so exciting Toñito!" Mirabel laughed as Antonio giggled. "I promise, I'll be the best mama to you. Gift or no gift, I don't care. Te amo," Mirabel cuddled with the boy as she entered Casita.

Today was such a good day.

—
As time went on, Mirabel got more and more comfortable with calling the villagers 'Tia' and 'Tío'. Even with the elder villagers, she would call them 'Abuela' or even the occasional 'Abuelo' (though her real Abuela was Alma; she was the one who used to help the most in her upbringing after all.) Even the older villagers, ones who were too young to be aunts and uncles, but old enough to be her older siblings, she would call them hermana or hermano, like Mariano.

And the village returned it! Sure, they were surprised, but happily indulged in her new habit. Even the kids had picked it up, and copied their mama's ways of calling people.

The village also had their own little name for her: 'Mijabel'.

At first, it seemed like a little joke, to be on par with her new habit. But now? It was a serious thing.

Not that she minded! She absolutely loved the title, and wore it with pride. The only ones who didn't know were her family. The villagers would still call her that, but it rolled off the tongue and sounded so much like her actual name, that they never seemed to notice. Mirabel thought that Dolores might have known, but then again, she didn't seem to know that Antonio called her Mamabel; Lord knows if she did, she would have tattled a long time ago, because she could not keep a secret to save her life.

Mirabel genuinely enjoyed going into town, hearing 'Mijabel' said with such endearment. And the kids. She loved them with all her heart, and it would never change.

Even if she was Giftless, the town looked over that. No more was she given pity and apologizes. Now, she had admiration and love.

She felt special.

Chapter Text

Hello hello!

I know you all are expecting a chapter, and as much as I hate doing this, there is no chapter. I have decided to put this story on a temporary hiatus. I genuinely can not come up with anything for this story, and my previous co creators seemed to have dropped the project as well. Hopefully, this story will continue, but for now, it will be put on pause. I love this story, and love writing for it, but I haven’t gotten a lot when it comes to actually writing for it.

Cocooned will still continue on. In place of Generation 31, I will be writing another story, specifically one from an anon on my Tumblr. I have much more source material and have a full story that just needs to be written out. I hope to get the first three chapters finished and uploaded by the end of the week or next week. The story is a werewolf Alma and Mirabel story, which, again, will take the place of Gen 31. I don’t celebrate Halloween, but think of this story as an October kind of thing :)))

I hope you all understand where I’m coming from, and I’m sorry I couldn’t provide another chapter <\33

Chapter Text

Mirabel had a pep in her step when she got up that morning. Her kids were already seen nearby, playing around Casita. She tried talking to Dolores, and after a run in with Camilo, she still didn’t get much info. Only that Luisa was the only one who seemed to be acting strange.

She could work with that.

Breakfast wasn’t really a success. Mirabel either got interrupted or Luisa just avoided the subject like the plague. But it was fine she could enlist the help of her kids. They had a way of persuading people. No one could resist them—well, Mirabel certainly couldn’t. Luisa and Mirabel had things in common, so her logic was that Luisa couldn’t. Or, at least the kids could break down her walls.

Mirabel followed behind Luisa, the younger one already holding Adella and Carlos. Many other kids followed behind Luisa. They seemed to notice Mirabel’s plan, and since MIrabel had told Antonio and he fully believed what she said the night before, he had spilled the beans to the kids. It was only a matter of time before they found out anyway. But beside that, they were doing everything to prevent Luisa from getting really only work done. And the old sister couldn’t really bring herself to pull them off, or push them away.

Like Mirabel had thought, Luisa couldn’t resist them.

“Come on Luisa, I know you were worried about last night. Dolores told me,” Mirabel pleaded and the other kids copied her.

“I’m fine! I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luisa said, pushing a building back into place, careful not to harm Sergio, Ruben or Enrique, who were clung to her back.

“Your eye is twitching,” Bianca giggled, her eyes scanning Luisa and the way she carried herself. She fell back, whispering to Mirabel. “She;s really nervous about something and she’s trying to play it off,” Mirabel’s eyes widened and she looked towards Luisa, who was carrying the donkeys back to their pen. The moment she turned around, there was a bunch of kids looking up at her.

“Luisa, can you play with us?” Maximo, one of the older kids, asked, and Luisa looked around, seeing tons of wide eyes and pouty lips.

“I…Uh…” Luisa looked at them, then towards Mirabel. She seemed to have some sway over the kids, and gave Mirabel a look that said “Please call them off!”. Mirabel feigned innocence, tending to Adella and Carlos, who were giggling wildly as the kids continued to beg Luisa to play.

“Please! It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, just one or two games, and then we’ll leave you alone!”

“I know where you sleep at night.”

“Please play with us!”

Luisa continued to be bombarded with pleas and big puppy-like eyes that she honestly thought was adorable. She understood why Mirabel spent her majority of her free time around these kids, they were adorable. And right now Luisa really didn’t want to let them down. She couldn’t bear the thought of making a bunch of little kids (and possibly her younger sister) sad.

“I guess…a game or two wouldn’t hurt…?” Luisa said, and Mirabel had noticed that her eye wasn’t twitching nearly as much.

Mirabel’s kids cheered, and Luisa was immediately dragged off. Many villagers watched in confusion, wondering why Luisa wasn’t helping. But upon seeing the kids, and Mirabel nearby, they shrugged it off. Mirabel took pride in that fact too, because she knew the kids and herself were well liked by the village. Luisa was pretty much adored as well, so Mirabel knew she could get away with stealing her sister away from chores for a little while.

After all, who could say no to those faces?

Mirabel made sure the kids didn’t use their gifts. Hers was passive, much like Dolores’ and her Mama’s, so she was fine. Thankfully the kids were very obedient and those with gifts didn’t use them. Mirabel didn’t tell her family that they had gifts, and she didn’t intend to…not yet anyway. Maybe after she saved the miracle. That way she could have something to fall back on.

Luisa found herself in a giant circle. Playing duck duck goose. What she didn’t know was that this was one of two games that the kids had planned, with their Mamabel’s help of course. The second game was truth or dare—one where Luisa couldn’t back out of. They knew that she’d be worn out after duck duck and goose and would have to take a break. Mirabel knew that too.

“Duck, duck, duck, duck…” Manuel, in a rare scene, had set down his guitar, and joined in the game that took place in the large field. He moved slowly, knowing full well who he was going to land on. “Duck, duck…goose!” Manuel landed on Tiago—his younger brother in all but blood. The boy stood, chasing after Manuel. Luisa watched, her face softening as she watched the scene. She remembered when she and Mirabel did that. Before the ceremony happened.

Mirabel smirked once she saw Luisa’s shoulders relax. Her plan was working. Mirabel herself could join in on truth or dare, where she would then question Luisa. The woman would have to answer. It took a few turns before Luisa was finally picked. By Juancho. Who was by far the fastest kid in the Encanto. Not just because his gift was super speed either. Even before that, he was a fast little toddler, and Mirabel was always running after him.

The moment Luisa was picked, she got up, smirking, confidently thinking she could catch him. He was only 5 after all. She worked out often, and she was pretty fast. Juancho ran around the field, jumping in and out of the circle and dodging Luisa with a skill that bellied his age. Luisa actually found herself pushing her limits just to catch him.

Juancho giggled wildly as he rushed towards Mirabel, who was seated with the babies and a few other toddlers like Selena, Francisco and Camila, among others who were a little too young to play this game. Luisa was huffing as she chased after the boy. Mirabel shook her head. She knew her son was using his gift. Thankfully he had been practicing toning it down. He had a lot more control, and he was able to stay just fast enough to seem normal, if not above average, but fast enough to stay out of Luisa’s reach.

“You’re slow, haha!” Juancho said, side stepping Luisa, who missed Juancho the upteenth time.

“I-I’m…I’m not slow! You’re just unusually fast!” Luisa huffed, and she stopped for a moment, turning to Mirabel. “How?”

Mirabel shrugged, adjusting her glasses. “Must be all that coffee,” she said.

After what seemed like an eternity, Luisa snatched up Juancho. Laughing triumphantly. “Hah! I got him!” She said, holding him.

Luisa was surprised when a bunch of the kids came up to her, cheering for her. Luisa learned very quickly that Juancho was the quickest among them and always won the game because no one could ever catch him. She smiled, blushing softly as the kids praised her. Sure, she got praised by the town all the time. But something about these little kids being so animated in their excitement about something as simple as duck duck goose made her smile. Maybe it was because they were so cute.

“Let’s play another game!” Sofia, a smaller girl with beads that rattled when she moved. Luisa jumped a bit as she set down Juancho. Where did she come from? Was she even nearby? And why did she hear her? Luisa’ s questions remained unanswered as other kids, no older than four maybe, clung to her dress.

“Yeah, just one more,” the girl said, she looked similar to another boy who stood near her. Maybe they were brother and sister. But then again, there were a lot of kids. She admired Mirabel for looking after them all.

“I don’t know, the townspeople are probably looking for me,” Luisa mummered, shrugging as she scratched her neck. If she was to be entirely honest, she wanted to stay and play with them. She hadn’t had this much fun in years, and she was with Mirabel and Antonio.

“Please, prima, you never get to play,” Antonio said, his jaguar nearby, pulling the same face Antonio was. Luisa looked between the kids, and the town in the distance. No one was actively looking for her…so maybe…?

“Ok. One more. But then I gotta go,” Luisa said, sitting down next to Mirabel, who was still tending to kids. Luisa was blissfully unaware of Mirabel’s plan.

The game started out normal. Questions, answers. Stupid dares that the kids made each other do, and Luisa even did one too. Then it was Luisa’s turn to be asked a question, by Mirabel this time.

“Truth or Dare?” Mirabel asked, smiling, a mischievous glint in her eye.

“Truth,” Luisa looked down at her younger sister, expecting an innocent question. How wrong she was.

“Why was your eye twitching all night?” Mirabel asked, and suddenly the field was quiet, aside from the occasional gust of wind or thunder of lightning in the distance near the crops.

“Um,” Luisa hesitated at her sister's questions. As badly as she wanted to keep hiding it, she was playing a game where you had to tell the truth. And she hated lying. And she was bad at it. And she couldn’t exactly weasel her way out of this one; she had kids in front of beside and behind her. She was holding little Andres in her lap as well. Luisa looked at her sister, who was looking at her with pleading eyes. Mirabel was stubborn, and Luisa knew she wouldn’t stop until she told her. “You really want to know?” Luisa asked.

Mirabel nodded, scooting closer, a few other kids copying her. “Yes. Please, just tell me. I just wanna help.”

“Luisa sighed deeply, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she leaned closer to her hermanita. “Last night, when you said that Casita had cracks…I felt…weak.”

Mirabel’s eyes widened as she looked at her sister who had just confessed to feeling weak. Her sister, who’s literal gift was super strength. “Really?”

Luisa nodded. “And it’s like this constant pressure is on my shoulders,” Luisa, turned, holding Andres and a few other kids in her arms. The kids didn’t seem to mind the conversation currently happening. Actually it seemed like they quieted down just so Mirabel could listen. “I don’t know, I think…I think maybe my gift is fading.”

Mirabel stared at her sister in shock. Fading? No, that couldn’t be. Wel…even if it was, she wasn’t going to let that happen. “Well, that’s why I’m here. I’m going to save the miracle, but I need help. Do you know anything?”

Luisa thought hard for a second before perking up. “If you wanted to look somewhere, you could look in Tio Bruno’s tower. That’s where he last was when he had that…vision,” Luisa said, and Mirabel waved her off. “But I don’t think it’s safe up there, and Abuela banned anyone from going.”

Mirabel stood, and the other kids followed, Luisa not far behind as she got ready to go back to the town. “Well, I’ll be careful. Right ninos?” Mirabel asked and the kids affirmed her statement. Luisa shook her head.

“Please just be careful,” she sighed. Just as she was leaving, she turned to Mirabel, leaning down to whisper. “Hey, why do all these kids call you Mamabel? I mean I’ve heard of Mimi, but Mamabel is new.”

Mirabel blinked at her sister for a moment before smiling and shrugging. “Just a silly little nickname that stuck from when I first started watching them. Don’t think too hard,” Mirabel laughed. Luisa pulled a confused look before shrugging it off again and laughing to herself.

“If you’re mama, then what does that make me? Tia?” Luisa joked and the kids, who had heard her, clung to her.

“Yeah, since you’re Mamabel’s big sister, that makes you Tia Luisa!” Diego said, looking up at Luisa, who just pulled a confused smile. The kids started calling her Tia Luisa, clung to her once more and they laughed.

“They really seem to like you,” Mirabel said, pulling some of the kids away so that her sister could go back, before Alma caught her ‘getting distracted’.”Come on, let’s leave Tia Lulu alone,” Mirabel said, playfully calling Luisa he childhood nickname.

The woman hesitated, turning one more time and looking towards her sister and the kids. “If…if you guys want me to play with you all again, I don’t mind,” Luisa said. Mirabel beamed at her older sister. She knew Luisa was probably going through a lot. The fact that she enjoyed hanging around her little ones made her so happy.

“We'll make sure to take you away and play games with you all day. That way the village can’t keep bothering you,” Antonio said softly to Luisa, as if telling her a secret. Luisa smiled down at her primo…sobrino? She ruffled his curls and turned to Mirabel one last time.

“Please be careful, Mirabel,” she said and Mirabel nodded.

“I will, I promise.” With that, Luisa jogged off to the village, off to do the seemingly endless list of chores she was tasked with. Mirabel turned to her kids, smiling as she readjusted the strap holding Adella and Carlos.

“Are we gonna go see tio now?” Antonio asked and Mirabel nodded.

“Let’s go back to Epi. Maybe he can help us get to his room, or tell us about that vision,” Mirabel said with determination, marching off to Epifanio, her kids trailing behind her.

Saving a miracle was a lot easier than she thought.

Chapter Text

HEY GUYSSS!!!

So, as you may or may know, depending on if your new or not, I did a rewrite. It's all been post, here on this same work. Everything has been edited, so it's flows, hopefully, a bit better and is less confusing. If you're now, welcome!! Ignore this if you want, cause. You're new lmao. If you are an old reader, also welcome!! Thank you guys so much for keeping up with this story. I'm so glad I was able to do this. You guys really motivated me to finish this and. I did say I would post it when Cocooned finished. I'm keep my word of course.

I high suggest reading the rewrite if you haven't!! Some things have changed, like dynamics, and Antonio's b-day chapter had a lot of stuff cut and rewritten. Probably the biggest rewrite of all the chapters. Also, it might help when reading the newest chapter, which is out!!!

Chapter Text

Mirabel walked along the path leading to the small cluster of houses within the encanto. Her kids followed behind, playing, talking and giggling as they ran around her. She greeted the adults she passed by, many of them being the parents of the children.

“Mamabel,” Sofia asked, appearing next to Mirabel. She did this often, but Mirabel had long gotten used to it. The eight year old appeared from the shadows, walking next to Mirabel and Antonio.

“Si?” Mirabel said, smiling down at the girl.

“Is tio Br–er, Hernando going to help us save the miracle? Like Lulu said?” Sofia asked, making sure to correct herself in case Dolores was listening. Mirabel nodded, looking towards the house that was coming into view.

“Yup! Hopefully he can help us, and maybe tell us about the vision he had before he left,” Mirabel explained, and Sofia nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer.

As they got closer, one of the older kids, Tiago, walked up, his smile beaming as he walked on the other side of Mirabel. “You know, Tio still has the vision. Teresa and I saw it once when we first brought him back to Epi from Tia Casita. He was trying to hide it,” Tiago said and it caught Mirabel’s attention.

“He does? Do you know where?” Mirabel as and Tiago frowned, shaking his head.

“No, lo siento,” TIago shrugged. “When we saw him, he was hiding it in his ruana. But after that, we don’t really know. It would be in his room at Casita. Ever since his room changed and got connected to Epi, he’s been putting stuff in there.”

“Maybe we could ask him about it! He doesn’t mind telling us secrets sometimes,” Antonio suggested, the bird that had landed on his shoulder squawking alongside him. Mirabel half nodded and half shrugged.

“Yeah, but he never really liked talking about the vision he had about me at my ceremony. He doesn’t like talking about it,” Mirabel explained and the kids pouted.

“Well…maybe if he hears that you're trying to save the miracle, he’ll tell us!” Antonio said, trying to stay optimistic like his Mamabel.

“Maybe Tonito,” Mirabel said, patting his wild curly hair. “Maybe.”

—
Mirabel opened the door to Epi, the brother-like counterpart of Casita. The kids burst through the doors, running about and playing as Mirabel set the two babies down on a nearby blanket. “Hola Epi,” Mirabel said absently, and the house happily flipped some tiles. “Where’s Tio?”

The house directly led Mirabel to a separate room, Bruno’s room. It glowed gently as Mirabel approached. She knocked, calling out. “Tio? Are you in there?”

There was silence for a moment before the sound of stumbling was heard, and the door opened. Bruno stared at his niece for a sec before nervous smiling. “Hey Mirabel! What’s up? You look…worried.”

Mirabel opened her mouth but stopped as she looked around at the kids. “Can we talk about this in your room?”

Bruno’s eyebrows furrowed as he nodded, letting Mirabel in. The girl sat down in a nearby chair and Bruno sat down across from her. “Is everything ok?” he asked.

“I…yes and…no,” that caught Bruno’s attention. He urged her to continue. “There’s…something wrong with the miracle.”

“What?” Bruno asked, looking at her with pure shock? Something was wrong with the miracle? But…no, that couldn’t be.

“Last night, at Antonio’s party. I was outside his room, and I was going back to the room. And there were cracks tio. Cracks on the walls. And when I tried to tell everyone, to tell Abuela, she didn’t believe me. But I heard her at the window. I think she knows, but she won’t admit it.”

Bruno said, shaking his head in acknowledgement. “Mama’s always been a little bit prideful. She’d never admit there’s anything wrong with Casita or the miracle, even if it was put right in her face. But…what does this have to do with me? I don’t even know if I can help,” Bruno shrugged and Mirabel gave him an awkward smile, one Bruno knew all too well.

“Well, I went to Luisa and talked to her and…she said that… maybe the vision you had that night at my ceremony would…well, explain some things.”

Bruno sighed deeply. He really didn’t want to. Mostly because he didn’t even know what it meant. But he also didn’t want Mirabel to think that any of this was her fault. But seeing her trying so hard to save the miracle, the family…he couldn’t not say no.

With another, defeated sigh, he stood. He walked to the dresser, digging around in the bottom drawer. Mirabel’s eyes widened when she saw something faintly green glowing in a small bag. Bruno walked over, dumping pieces of what looked like a broken vision onto the small table. He carefully pieced them together, with an ease that suggested he had done this several times before.

Once he was done, he backed away, revealing the vision. Mirabel standing in front of a broken Casita. But as she moved closer, she shifted, and suddenly Casita was fine. “What…what does this mean?”

Bruno shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m just as lost as you.” Bruno leaned his head in his hands. “When I had the vision, I was terrified. I didn’t want to show mama, even though she had specifically asked me to have this after the candle flickered.”

“So you’ve been keeping it hidden…this whole time?” Mirabel asked and Bruno nodded solemnly.

“Yeah. I…I love my family, and I didn’t want anyone to blame each other, or you. So I broke it and left. Then you guys found me. I had gone back and gotten the pieces. I didn’t want anyone to see, because I just don’t know how to explain it.” Bruno explained, shrugging.

Before Mirabel could say anything more, she heard a few voices from the door. Both her and Bruno turned their heads to see some of the kids by the now cracked open door, fighting to get a peek. “Hey!” Mirabel called out and the kids jumped, toppling over each other, the door swinging open. The older kids looked guilty, and the younger kids were giggling wildly.

“It’s rude to eavesdrop you know,” Bruno laughed, helping the kids up.

“Sorry…we just wanted to help,” Diego mumbled, fiddling with his fingers.

“I know, but next time ask, ok?” Mirabel said and the kid nodded, apologizing to both her and Bruno.

“Anyway, I have an idea! Can’t you just have another vision? Maybe it can help Mamabel!” Maximo said, pushing his way to the front, some of his siblings grumbling. Mirabel considered the idea. It could work. She looked towards Bruno, who suddenly found himself in the spotlight.

“I…I don’t know…” Bruno shrugged, avoiding eye contact. But the kids gave him pouty faces, and he really did want to help Mirabel. With a sigh he looked towards his vision room, which had long been repaired when he was brought to Mirabel’s home. “But I guess I can.”

—

Mirabel stood at the side of the vision room .She watched as Bruno opened his eyes. They were glowing a bright green and the sand began to lift, forming a dome around the two. Pictures began to form in the sand, and Mirabel watched with wide eyes.

Bruno grimaced, and he looked at the images. “I-It’s just the same thing, nothing changed!” Bruno said, throwing his hands up in defeat. Mirabel searched the images. There had to be something different. Her eyes caught something gold, and she squinted, the sand pelting her glasses, but she still caught it.

“There, right there!” Mirabel pointed, and Bruno’s eyes widened as he saw a gold butterfly fluttering through the otherwise green vision. “Follow it!”

The two followed the butterfly, and the vision began to change, much to Bruno’s surprise. There were a few things different, and she saw herself and her kids. She also saw her family, specifically Abuela Alma.

And then she saw herself. Hugging Isabela. And the miracle glowing brighter. “You’re joking,” She said as the vision ended. Bruno looked at it smiling.

“Look at that, your sister!” Mirabel pulled an unamused and obviously upset face as she took the vision, walking out of the vision room, Bruno trailing behind. “Every time,” he said to one of his rats.

Mirabel went down to the main room, where the kids were waiting. She smiled at them, and holding up the vision, Bruno scratching his head as he stood beside her. The kids took a look, and she could see that most of them felt bad for her. They knew she and Isabela didn’t exactly get along. It wasn’t a secret, and it wasn’t lost on them that Mirabel wasn’t really that thrilled to do this. Even for the miracle and the family. They looked towards Bruno, who just shrugged, not knowing what to say. He had the vision and done his part, now it was up to them to do the rest.

Mirabel spoke in a sarcastic tone as she gave a toothy grimace of a smile.

“Who’s ready to see Tia Isa?”

Chapter Text

Bruno had been careful. Well, he tried to be. He moved through the walls as quietly as he could, and always did his best to reflect bad luck. He only went out of them at night to get food (being kitchen adjacent was always a plus) and he never really went outside the room unless he was patching cracks…

He had heard the kids running in and out of Casita. Looked through small openings in the wall. He saw how Mirabel interacted with them, how they called her “Mamabel”. He had also seen that, unlike him, the villagers liked her. A lot. Despite not having a gift (something he wished he didn't have), the villagers loved being around her. But she had a bubbly personality so…it made sense.

He had seen the kids. They were curious, always exploring Casita. But he had trust that they would never find his hiding spot. It was weird how a few of them would stare at the painting, but he brushed it off.

Of course that all changed. He was patching up some cracks when he heard something shifting in the walls with him. It definitely wasn't Casita. And he knew for a fact it wasn't outside the wall, he could tell most of the time.

No. This was inside.

Bruno moved quietly, removing the bucket from his head and placed it down. He moved into the shadows, throwing his ruana over his head. He waited for what seemed like an eternity. The sounds began to get louder and suddenly he heard the sound of giggling. Well. He was pretty positive it was giggling.a child's giggle?

There was no way Antonio was in the walls. It had to be one of the other kids that followed behind Mirabel.

Bruno peaked out of his hiding spot trying to look and see who was in the walls, and how they got there. As he did, there was a sound beside him, a sound he had never heard. He looked down, thinking it was one of his rats.

There was a child. A little girl with braids, wearing a long poncho. Her beads clacked as she turned to look at him. She squinted, then stared. Her eyes lit up. “Are you Bruno?” The girl asked, her voice soft spoken.

Bruno just stared at her. He quite literally could not comprehend what she had said. He was more focused on the fact that there was an entire child, likely one of the kids Mirabel babysitter, in the walls with him. Right next to him. The real mystery was how she got there. Because he didn't hear or see her.

“Uh…I…Wha…?!” Bruno turned to see more kids looking at him. They were definitely some of the older kids. But even the oldest didn't look older than 8 or 9.

“I think he is. Maybe we should take him to Epie,” one of the kids, a young boy said. “Maybe Mamabel can help.”

Bruno's mind was in a haze. He found himself being dragged down the hallway, led by one of the older kids. They got to the painting, and he stopped, and the kids kept tugging. “I can't. N-No, no I left for a reason. I can't…”

The kids exchanged looks before looking at Bruno. “The other Madrigals have already left. We can take the super secret shortcut if you're scared of being seen.”

Bruno looked at them, then the cracked open painting. Mirabel…she was understanding. And he left to protect her…his vision didn't seem to be coming true, the cracks weren't too bad…maybe he could?

“Come on,” one of the kids said. Bruno squeezed his eyes shut, held his breath and crossed his fingers as he left the painting. He stood for a moment before opening an eye. None of the family was here. Just the kids staring at him strangely.

Ok. Baby steps.

—

Bruno was hunched down, his hood low as he followed the kids through a series of alleys, weaving through them. They ducked behind some houses. He saw some of his family, and he had paused when he saw Julieta and Pepa. He desperately wanted to go and hug them, to them he was sorry for leaving and that he never wanted any of this. But he stopped himself, continuing on.

It seemed like a wholesale move, but maybe it was because they weren't going straight through the plaza. And it had been a decade since he had been in town…a few things had changed. A new store here and there, some houses were thrown up.

The kids finally slowed down, walked up to a house. It looked like a lot of the other houses, not out of the ordinary. The kids looked around before rushing towards the house. Bruno was yanked along, and he had barely noticed how the doors opened by themselves and slammed behind him.

Once inside, he looked around. A bunch of kids were running around. They didn't really seem to register Bruno's presence.

“Mamabel!” One of the kids, the oldest of the group that had brought him, called out. The kids walked off, seeming to be looking for Mirabel. Bruno stood at the entrance of the door. He shifted uncomfortably, before he noticed that the kids were…playing with the house. It reacted a lot like Casita. It was…alive?

“Casita?” Bruno asked. The house noticed him, and it responded negatively. Before Bruno could get another question out, he looked up, and saw a familiar face.

“Tio Bruno?” Mirabel asked. She looked at him in disbelief. “Is that you?”

Bruno blinked before giving a weird smile and shrugging. He crossed his fingers under his runaway, wishing he had some salt or sugar. “In the flesh.”

“Oh my gosh! Where have you been? What have you been doing? Did you ever leave? Why’d you leave? Was it the vision?” Mirabel rattled off questions, faster than Bruno could answer them. He stuttered, looking at Mirabel with wide eyes.

Mirabel seemed to notice that she was confusing and possibly overwhelming him, so she stopped, walking up to him. “We…we can talk later. Figure this all out. For now let’s just get you settled. I snagged a basket of arepas from mama, so you can eat if you're hungry.”

“Will you tell anyone?” Bruno asked quietly and Mirabel stopped before shaking her head.

“Not unless you want me to,” Mirabel half stated half laughed. She then saw Bruno’s eyes drift towards the many kids playing in the main room. “They won’t say anything either, I promise.”

“…you sure?” Bruno asked and Mirabel nodded.

“Positive. Now come on. You probably haven) eaten yet have you?” She said, leading him to the kitchen. Bruno nodded slowly, the tension leaving his shoulders. Baby steps. If Mirabel was so accepting at him being back, maybe he could eventually go back to that family. Not yet.

But eventually.

Chapter Text

Mirabel groaned, rolling her eyes as she walked up the stairs of Casita. The house flipped some tiles and Mirabel stopped at the top of the stairs, sighing.

“Ok. I have to do this. To save the miracle. And the family. Preferably before Casita falls,” Mirabel mumbled, but Casita heard, shuffling her feet. “I-I mean we got this! Right?”

Mirabel turned, looking down at her kids, some of whom decided to follow her. She smiled and they urged her on. With a defeated sigh, she trudged to Isabela's room. She half-knocked, and opened the door, closing it behind her. Isabela was posing, or doing something. Mirabel wasn't really paying attention.

Because she didn't care.

Isabela looked at her, confused, then annoyed. “What are you doing here?”

“Isaaaaa,” Mirabel said, rolling her eyes around before walking forward. “Listen, I've got some stuff to do, so I'm going to have to make things quick, hm?”

Isabela looked skeptical, crossing her arms and Mirabel walked up to her. “What stuff? And what do you want?”

Mirabel pursed her lips, pushing her glasses up and looking towards the side. “I need you…to…”

Isabela tapped her foot impatiently, obviously fed up with Mirabel's stalling. She had to practice for the Guzmáns. “To….what? What is it, spit it out already!”

Mirabel stomped her foot, rolling her eyes. “Ugh, I need you to hug me!”

Isabela stared at Mirabel as if she was crazy. “...Why would I hug you?!”

Mirabel seemed a little offended but blew it off. “Why wouldn't you hug me?!” Mirabel argued and Isabela seemed at a loss for words. She really didn't have any excuse to not hug her.

“W-Well…you're in the way! I need to practice!” Isabela said, gesturing to nowhere.

Mirabel seemed frustrated, tugging on her skirt and spinning around, pacing. “Oh, my gosh! Look it's just a measly hug, that's all! 5 seconds!”

“5 seconds I could be using to do better stuff than be pestered by you!” Isabela yelled back.

Mirabel growled in frustration, kicking some of the flowers on the ground. “Jeez, why are you so difficult! I know you hate me and all that but you don't have to–”

Isabela stopped listening after that point. Not out of annoyance or wanting to simply ignore Mirabel. It was out of shock. From Mirabel's words.

‘I know you hate me.’

Mirabel thought she…hated her? Really?

Isabela could half hear the rant Mirabel was going on, and but the other half was just ringing. Her mind raced. Mirabel really thought that. Has she been that bad? Sure, she found Mirabel annoying, but…not to that extent. She loved Mirabel. Isabela snapped out of her rant when Mirabel turned back to her.

“And I just want a hug! That's all! Then you can practice your stupid poses!” Mirabel finished, panting as she looked at Isabela, noticing her blank face. “Why do you look like that?”

Isabela walked closer but Mirabel backed up, pulling a face and Isabela felt even worse. She stopped. “You think I hate you?”

Mirabel paused. “W-Well yeah. I mean you make it pretty obvious. Course not in front of others, which is annoying but, y'know.”

Isabela walked forward. “I-I don't hate you. I never have,” Isabela said and Mirabel's eyes widened. She adjusted her glasses again, scratching her head.

“Wait, wait, wait. Really?” Mirabel asked and Isabela nodded frantically.

“Yes of course! I…I love you! I know I've never really said it, but I do! I think you're annoying, but not to the point where I hate you!” Isabela tried to reason and Mirabel cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms.

“Well…you never really came off like you did,” Mirabel mumbled, looking off to the side, where she noticed some cacti and rather colorful flowers appeared.

“Do you hate me?” Isabela asked and another cactus appeared, though she only glanced at it.

“No! I…I love you, I do. I tried to be close to you, but you also pushed me away,” Mirabel said. Isabela felt her eyes get glassy but she held back her tears. Did she really push her away? To the point where Mirabel thought she hated her?

“I wasn't trying to! I was just trying to do my part, to make Abuela proud and…and…” Isabela trailed off as she looked back at the years. She was just trying to make Alma proud. Do right by the family. But in the process she had picked up Alma's rather terrible behavior and habit of treating Mirabel as second-best. Like the stuff she did was never enough. “I did…didn't I? W-When did you start to think I hated you?”

Mirabel didn't say anything, glancing to the side, and kicking the flowers on the floor once more. Isabela got closer, and Mirabel didn't back away. “I guess…maybe when I was like…I dunno, 9? Maybe 8.”

Isabela's eyes widened further, if that was possible. That long? 6 or 7 years? “Why didn't you tell me?” Isabela asked in a broken, quiet voice, her perfect facade fading more and more.

“I tried! I wanted to see what I was doing wrong, what I could do to make it up to you,” Mirabel said, biting her lip. “But you never wanted to talk. I tried to give you gifts and stuff, but you never used them, so I stopped. And you just kept shutting me out.”

Isabela looked down at her feet in pure guilt. “I…I'm sorry. I was just trying to do right by the family. I just want to make Abuela proud. That's why I never stood up to her. That's why I still can't stand up to her,” Isabela said, mumbling the part.

Mirabel heard it through. “What do you mean?”

Isabela tapped her foot, trying desperately to not say anything, but she really needed to get it off her chest. “I don't wanna get married to Mariano!” Isabela blurted out, and she clamped her hands over her mouth as more cacti and flowers sprouted.

Mirabel stared wide-eyed. “Really? Is that why you've been so stiff all day?”

“You noticed?” Isabela asked.

Mirabel snorted. “We might not get along, but I can still read you like a book.”

Isabela sighed, slumping her shoulders. “It's just…I don't want to marry Mariano. I don't want to get married right now. I mean yes, I do, but later on. I wanna meet the right man myself, a guy who will love me for me. Like Mamá and Papá,” Isabela explained, picking up a cactus and flicking away the pink flower on top. A darker, more blueish one sprouted. “I hate being perfect. I hate being stuck doing the same thing all day. I want the freedom you have. I want to do new things.”

Mirabel stared at Isabela as she lowered the cactus. Mirabel stared at the cactus before she looked at Isabela. “Who says you can't?”

“What?” Isabela asked.

Mirabel picked up another cactus. “I mean look! You obviously have the ability to do so, so…why don't you see what else you can do?”

Isabela looked down at her hands. “What else…can I do?” Isabela paused before looking at the cacti that had sprouted. “I never really thought about it.”

“Well, now's the time to do it,” Mirabel said, urging her on. “Do something different. Imperfect or whatever.”

Isabela looked at Mirabel for a moment before raising her hand. She closed her eyes, thinking of just about any random plant and used her gift. She peeked open her eyes and saw a plant. It was different. Really different. Exotic really. “Woah…”

“That's so cool!” Mirabel exclaimed, touching the green and red leaves. Isabela saw her face; she looked genuinely excited. Like when they were little, when she was about 10 and Mirabel was 3. Mirabel always asked Isabela to make new, pretty plants. But after her failed ceremony, that was shut down by their Abuela. “Make another one!”

Isabela smiled, making another different plant. And another. And another. She kept going, making tall palm trees and small tiny cactuses and even a venus flytrap. Mirabel seemed so excited at all the plants. Isabela had an idea, and grabbed Mirabel's hand. She didn't even pull away!

“Do you trust me?” Isabela asked and Mirabel raised an eyebrow.

“Yes…?” Mirabel said skeptically. Isabela pulled her close, and created a giant, vibrant tree. Colorful pollen brush into the air, covering the two. Mirabel looked at Isabela's dress, snorting. “You know dark blue fits you. You should wear it more often,” Mirabel stated and Isabela looked down. Indeed it was blue.

“Maybe I will. If…you want to make my dresses?” Isabela asked, and Mirabel nodded.

“Of course,” Mirabel said, and she grabbed Isabela's hand. Isabela stared down at it, before she pulled Mirabel into a tight hug, and Miranda seemed stiff for a moment, but buried her face in Isabela's shoulder. No way was she going to lett her older sister see her watery eyes.

“Thank you,” Isabela whispered, and Mirabel nodded. Neither of them knew that outside, the miracle was burning brighter than before.

“Anytime. We’re family,” Mirabel said softly. She pulled away, holding Isabela’s hands. “Now come on. I want the kids to see the new stuff you've made!”

Isabela had no idea what she was talking about for a moment. But she vaguely remembered seeing kids around Mirabel, pretty much all the time. Isabela like kids, she wouldn't mind showing off her new stuff to them. “Ok!” Isabela created son vines, and the two swung down from the tree, landing in the flowers, which were covered in pollen. They quickly ran out of Isabela's room, and Mirabel guided her downstairs to where the kids were playing with Casita.

“¡Niños, mira!” Mirabel called them over, and they all bounded over, almost tackling her. Isabela never realized how close she was to the little ones of the town.

“Mamabel! Did you do it? Is it saved? We saw the miracle grow brighter!” Cisco asked and Mirabel nodded her head.

“Yes, we did. We're best friend and sisters again,” Mirabel laughed, picking the boy up, while some of the others ran over. Mirsbel was startled when Selena, Sofia's younger sister, clung to her leg. “You guys have a new tia now too. She wants to show you her new plants and stuff.

The kids looked at Isabela, who nervously waved. She was surprised when they all ran up to her jumping up and asking her to make all kinds of plants. It was strange, because she was used to kids, or at least Mirabel's kids, being pretty formal with her. She gave them bouquets before, of the same pink and purple flowers. But now they were asking for completely new things.

Mirabel watched as the kids played with Isabela. She threw pollen everywhere, creating more and more plants. She seemed close to Cesar, the twins Paola and Mateo, and Julia. Mirabel was happy to see her kids having so much fun with their new Tia. It didn’t take long for her to join in, throwing pollen around at the others while marveling at the plants Isabela had made.

The kids were still playing in the plants that covered Casita’s floor and part of the roof. The miracle was burning brightly and Mirabel couldn’t be more happy. Isabela shifted on her feet for a moment before turning to Mirabel.

“Thank you. Again. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you,” she timidly said and Mirabel nodded, grabbing her hand.

“That’s what sisters do right?” Mirabel asked and Isabela nodded.

“Yeah,” Isabela looked at the kids, and then at the miracle. She seemed deep in thought for a moment before she spoke up again. “You know…I used to wish you got a gift. I would pray every night and hope I would wake up to see a door for you. I hated to see you sad. But then Abuela started pressuring me into the perfect mold and…I just stopped. Sometimes I do think you have a gift, you just haven’t found it yet. But that's stupid huh?”

Mirabel stared at Isabela, shocked by her heartfelt confession. Isabela really did that? She cared that much…to do that? Mirabel squeezed Isabela’s hand tighter, and did her best to hold back tears. “No. It’s not dumb at all,” Mirabel said, and she wiped her eyes. Her mind raced as she looked at Isabela again. She was her older sister. She could trust her. She could tell her. About the other house, and the kids, right? “Actually, Isa, there’s something I wanna tell you.”

Isabela turned to look at Mirabel with a warm smile. “What’s up?”

“I actually have a—“

“What is going on?!” Mirabel and Isabela both turned their heads upstairs, and the kids all froze. They quickly separated. Alma was out of her room. Hey thought she was still in town. But it was late in the afternoon, the family were all home. They must’ve lost track of time. Both were a little scared as they looked at each other, Alma storming down the stairs, the other family coming out of their rooms, with Julieta coming out of the kitchen. This was bad. Mirabel had forgotten that today was the day of the proposal, so everyone was home.

How were they gonna explain this?

Chapter Text

Mirabel remembered when she first got her house, Epifanio. It was her 15th birthday, her quince. Her…her family hadn't really thrown her one. It was definitely a party, just not nearly as grand and over the top like the others. She really wished it was. So when she was told there was a surprise for her, she was ecstatic. It was actually after her birthday, a few days. She, of course, had her little ones with her. They followed behind her like ducklings, the older ones giggling and leading her along.

At one point she had been blind folded, and two of the oldest, Teresa and Manuel, led her along further. She could hear a lot of talking, and then there was silence. She was finally unblindfolded.

She'd never forget when she saw that house.

It was like Casita, but much smaller. The twin had revealed they had built it for her. Something of a hangout spot for her and the kids. A thank you, for watching all the kids for so many years. For being so kind and helpful throughout the village. Mirabel bawled like a baby that day, she remembered. And her kids all comforted her, and she couldn't have been more happy.

Mirabel actually had a gift. She remembered touching that golden doorknob and watching the house light up and come to life. It was magical, truly. It was like Casita, a brother. Of course, there wasn't a whole separate candle, but it was obviously connected to the Madrigal Candle, having the same magic. The twin all congratulated her. Her abuela was the heart of the encanto, but that day, she was deemed the soul of the encanto.

The party was amazing. She didn't get to dance with her papa, but she had already done that. There were so many things that she had missed out on that the village had made up for.

She remembers naming the house. Her kids all helped her, and she remembered the excitement that ran through the house as it was given an official name. ‘Epifanio’. The kids called it ‘Epi’, for short, and it was cute. The house obviously likes it.

Mirabel remembered that day like it was yesterday. She remembered getting her gift of reading minds. It was a little invasive, but so was Dolores. Besides, Mirabel usually could choose when and who she wanted to listen to, so it was a bit better.

Now? She was back at Casita, with Isabela by her side, looking guilty, while her kids were scattered among the courtyard, the other confused family members exiting their rooms.

And how she wished she was in Epifanio right now.

—

“What is going on?!” Alma cried, looking around. There were kids everywhere, but she was more concerned about the fact that her eldest and youngest granddaughter were covered in pollen, and there were plants everywhere. She had left for barely even a few hours and Mirabel had caused so much trouble.

“A-Abuela! I have something to say, I can explain-” Mirabel was cut off by Alma's sharp words.

“You had better! Look at your sister, look at our house! It's a mess! The Guzmán's are going to be coming, why would you do this?” Alma yelled, and Mirabel furrowed her eyebrows but shook her head.

“Well I was helping! See, Isabela wasn't happy, so I helped her!”

“Helped her? You ruined her clothes and Casita! How is that helping?” Alma said and Mirabel tried to protest, but was quickly cut off. “You have done nothing but cause trouble Mirabel! You trashed the house, ruined Isabela's dress and ever since you spoke to Luisa, she started to lose her gift. Bruno left because of you too!” Cracks started to appear, but no one had really taken note of them.

“But I didn't do anything, I wasn't trying to mess up, I'm trying to help!” Mirabel argued, tears in her eyes, but Alma wasn't listening.

“I don't know why you didn't get a gift, but it is not an excuse to hurt this family!” Alma yelled and the courtyard went silent. One of the kids, Maximo, suddenly ran over, blocking Mirabel for Alma.

“You can't talk to Mamabel like that! She's done nothing but help!” Maximo yelled, huffing.

“Yeah, and Tio Bruno didn't leave, he's at Epifanio ! He left because he was scared of you!” One of the other kids, Bianca, stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Alma was still reeling as the other kids came to her defense as Casita began to crack more and more.

“You don't know what you're talking about!”

“Yeah, Mamabel is really helpful and always helps everyone!”

“She helps out my family all the time!”

“Tio Bruno is still here too!”

“You're just being mean!”

“You always single Mirabel out!”

Alma finally had it with these kids. “Enough! I will not be disrespected in my home. The kids went to defend Mirabel more and tell Alma off, but Mirabel raised a hand, and Alma whipped around to look at her. The girl puffed her chest out as Alma drew closer.

“You have done nothing but hurt this family! And these kids are disrespectful, rubbing off on you!” Alma shouted and Mirabel stopped her foot, more cracks appearing.

“I have done nothing but care about this family! Even Bruno, who left because you only saw the worst in him. You only ever see the worst in this family!” Mirabel argued.

“Bruno doesn't care about this family!” Alma yelled back.

“Bruno loves this family, I love this family! I love the kids too! I care about everyone, unlike you!” Mirabel seethed and Alma huffed. The cracks became visible and the kids grew more and more anxious, the family as well, who had now taken notice.

“Don't you ever-” Alma didn't get to finish her sentence as Mirabel interrupted her.

“The miracle is dying because of YOU!” Mirabel screamed. A giant crack split through the courtyard, and spread throughout Casita. The kids yelled, screaming. Mirabel was frantic as she shoved them out of Casita, the house helping her along with pushing the family out of the house. Mirabel was making sure the kids were getting out when she remembered the candle. Panicking, she rushed to the window, eyes wide.

The kids noticed and tried to go back, but Casita wouldn't let them. Mirabel climbed up the railing, painfully ignoring the cries of those who wanted her out.

“Mamabel come on!” She heard one of the kids scream. Alroy it sounded like.

“Mirabel! Mirabel leave it!” That was Julieta. She recognized that voice a mile away. She glanced back to see her parents, and the kids trying to get back in and get it. Casita kept pushing them out.

Miravel climbed on the roof, wobbling as the tiles slid off. She heard a loud crack, and turned, seeing the giant mountain split into two. Her eyes widened, and her eyes immediately began to search the town. She saw it. Epifanio. Crumbling to nothing. Mirabel let out a choked sob, hoping Bruno got out in time. Knowing him, he probably did.

With one last reach, Mirabel snatched up the melting candle, and Casita slid her down just as Bruni's tower was coming down. She felt herself falling when she was caught by another railing, which snapped and she fell to the floor. She saw Casita coming down, and walked up, protecting the candle and her head. Casita threw furniture, creating a barrier around her as the last of it fell down.

It took a few minutes for the dust to start clearing, and the kids and some of the family started looking for Mirabel. The girl was beneath some furniture, her eyes widening as the candle flicker and finally died out.

“No…” Mirabel muttered, her hands going limp. She suddenly heard a voice call out to her and she looked up. Actually, it was multiple voices.

“Mama! Manager, are you ok?” Mateo asked, his twin sister right next to her along with some of the others. She heard Antonio call out to Julieta, who came rushing over. The kids let her through, understanding the severity and knowing the healer could help her.

“Mirabel! Dios mio, I'm so glad you're ok! Are you hurt?” Julieta searched Mirabel, patting her down. She didn't even acknowledge the melted candle. Mirabel stared at her mother, who looked into her sad eyes. “I'm glad you're ok,” Julieta sighed, wiping some of the dust off of Mirabel's face. The girl just blinked, looking down.

Julieta was called away, and the woman reluctantly walked off, leaving Mirabel with the kids.

“Mirabel? Are…you ok?” Victoria, a tall lanky girl asked, kneeling down. Mirabel, for once, didn't respond. The kids grew worried. She was never this quiet.

Julia, another one of the older kids, bent down, picking up the candle. “Oh Mamabel,” she said quietly. “If you're still worried about that candle, it doesn't matter! Everyone's safe, and that's what matters, right?” She asked, and Mirabel just gave a half-hearted nod. She stood, coughing as she waved some dust away.

“L-Let's go back over there and–” the boy, Cesar, was cut off when he heard the call of his name. He turned, seeing his own parents rushing up the hill and calling him. He passed, hesitating and looking back at Mirabel before running over. Mirabel watched as the village started to climb the hill, specifically the parents of the children, who were worried sick as all of the kids were at Casita when it fell. Thankfully, they were all ok.

Antonio was the last as Manuel had reluctantly ran to his mother, her having called his name about 7 times before he left Mirabel. Antonio watched them all, and he turned to talk to Mirabel, to grab her hand and go over to his own mamá, Pepa. But when he turned, he didn't see her. She wasn't standing in that spot anymore. It was just the ruins of Casita and the remains of the candle.

“Mamabel? Mamabel?!” Antonio called, looking around. “M-Mirabel! This isn't funny, where are you!”

The others seemed to have noticed Mirabel was gone, and both the Madrigal family and the residents of the Encanto began to look for her, calling her name. The kids were searching the most, calling her name louder than anyone. Some of them were even crying.

Alma, who had been guided to sit down by Dolores, looked around. She hesitated, standing. She didn't mean to yell at Mirabel like that. She didn't mean the stuff she said, it was all in the moment. And now she is gone. And most likely–no, because of her. It was her fault. Alma looked around the ruins of their home. Nothing. Mirabel wasn't there. She saw one of the kids, one of the older ones near what would've been the kitchen. He was talking to a few other kids, and she overheard them.

“Do you think she went there? She doesn't go up there often, it's so far,” one of the kids said, a curly red-haired boy.

“She has to be. That's the only place I can think of. And mamá told me that Epifanio is gone too, so she can't be there,” the eldest boy said.

“I heard Tio Bruno got out, so he's safe,” A smaller boy sighed in relief.

Alma stumbled forward, almost tripping in the debris. The small group of children looked at her, and a bit angrily at that. But she deserved it.

“You know where Mirabel is?” Alma asked and the older boy stood in front of the others, crossing his arms.

“Maybe I do. But what's it to you! She doesn't care about your family, remember?” He said snidely, and Alma winced. She couldn't believe she actually said that. To her granddaughter. One of the most kind and caring people she knew. She was like Pedro in that way.

“I…I know what I did and said was wrong. I love her, I do. I'm worried for her,” Alma explained, her voice saddened and the boy narrowed his eyes.

“Why should we trust you?” The older girl, Teresa, said and Alma shook her head.

“You don't have to. But please. If you know where she is, take me to her,” Alma pleaded. “I beg you.”

The boy, Gabriel, a big boy, bigger than her, looked at Alma incredulously. He turned to the other kids, who all whispered amongst each other. Alma waited with baited breath until finally, they came to a consensus.

“Alright. We'll take you to Mamabel,” Gabriel said and before Alma could breathe a sigh of relief, he spoke up again. “Under one condition.”

“What is it?” Alma asked. She would do anything at this point. Anything to make sure her mariposita was safe.

“You apologize. You hear her out. Listen,” the other older girl, Francisca said. Alma nodded eagerly, and the kids glanced between each other before they began guiding her, and she followed behind, albeit at a distance.

She hoped Mirabel was ok. And she hoped the girl would accept her apology.

—

Mirabel sat at the edge of the river, her knees pulled to her chest. She had a spare arepa in her hand, half-eaten. She didn't even wanna finish it as she let it fall from her hands and into the river. She heard movement behind her. She turned, seeing some of the kids, her kids.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her voice shaking and still hoarse from crying. The kids exchanged looks before parting and letting Alma come into view. Mirabel felt tears welling in her eyes and she turned around.

Alma hesitated at the sight of her granddaughter so distressed, she hadn't really interacted with the girl emotionally since…well since her ceremony. Alma backed up a bit, but one of the kids pushed her forward.

“Go!” Bianca whispered and shouted, and Alma took a deep breath, walking over to Mirabel. She sat down next to the girl, looking out at the river.

“I'm sorry…I tried to help, to be something I'm not,” Mirabel said after a long bout of silence. “I ruined everything.”

“No, no, you didn't,” Alma said quickly, desperately trying to comfort the girl. She looked down at her hands. “It's my fault. You were right. I tore this family apart.”

Mirabel was silent, though she did look up at her Abuela. “What..?”

Alma looked at Mirabel, her eyes wide as she held back her own tears and sighed in resignation. “The truth is…the cracks have been there for years. Even before you were even born. They were small. Insignificant. I didn't think much of them. And eventually they stopped showing up. And when your ceremony happened and they appeared and the candle flickered I…I blamed you. But I knew deep down that it wasn't your fault. It was mine,” Alma admitted and Mirabel's eyes widened.

The cracks…they dated back years? Decades even? “B-But I thought I…” Alma shook her head.

“No. It was me. I knew it was. But I let my pride and the miracle blind me and I looked for someone to blame, someone other than myself,” Alma continued, her voice barely above a whisper. “And that was you. And I am so sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have lied to myself, to you, the family for so long. It's one of the reasons I couldn't bring myself back to this river. I’m so sorry Mirabel.”

Mirabel looked back at the river. She processed her abuela's words, taking it all in. She felt tears fall but she also felt so many years of guilt leave her body. She felt a warm hand grasp hers and she looked up at Alma, who was still looking at the river. Mirabel finally spoke.

“I-I thought that…I had caused this to happen. That I was the reason why the miracle was dying. For years I was…I was just trying to be like that family, to be a part of it. To be like…you,” Mirabel said softly, and Alma turned to her in shock.

“Me?” Alma asked in an almost silent voice. “But…why?”

Mirabel shrugged. “You were a leader. I admire you, I still do. I wanted to be so much like you. I wanted to help everyone, to help the family. To make Abuelo Pedro proud,” Mirabel said and she sighed heavily. “It's the main reason why I look after the kids. Not just because I love them, but because I knew you took care of Mamá, Tia and Tio alone. And then us. So I thought I should do the same. In a way, I was trying to imitate you.”

“Is that why they called you…what was it…Mamabel?” Alma asked and Mirabel nodded. She laughed gently.

“Yup. I wanted to be like you,” Mirabel admitted. She laughed again. “I wanted to be a leader like you. I…I even sometimes pretended to be you, when I was younger. Like I was the candle holder. I used to make my own little candle out of paper and glue.”

Alma laughed, her eyes watering. She held Mirabel's face in her hands, something she had done in years. “I asked Pedro for a sign, to send me help,” Alma smiled as she gently wiped Mirabel's eyes. “He sent me you.”

Mirabel finally broke down, hugging her Abuela for the first time in over a decade. She had missed this. She never realized how badly she misses this. Hugging her Abuela, it didn't seem real. Mirabel buried her face into her abuela's shoulder, feeling the warmth and never wanting to pull away. But, they had to go back, preferably before dark.

As Mirabel helped Alma up, the kids, the older ones who had led Alma to her, came over, tugging on Mirabel's dress, and even lingering near Alma. The older woman looked down. She never really paid much attention to these kids, but she knew they always followed them around.

“Oh, hello little one,” Alma said gently. “What's your name?”

“Cesar,” the boy said, smiling. With Cesar saying his name so easily, the other kids began to introduce themselves. Alma was a bit surprised by how easily they warmed up to her, but maybe it was because Mirabel was now talking to her again and they were fixing their strained relationship. Alma had noticed that the kids did rub off on her and copy her.

Alma was still talking to the kids when she jumped back a bit as one of the boys appeared. In the air. He was flying. In…the air. Alma had barely processed his name, Arvin, more shocked by the fact that he was flying.

“H-How…How are you doing that!” Alma asked in a surprised voice.

Arvin paused, realizing she was flying and dropped to the ground. He looked towards Mirabel, who nodded. Alma needed to know at some point. Arvin took a deep breath and spoke up. “It's…my gift. I can fly.”

Alma's eyes widened. “G-Gift? You have a gift?” She asked and he nodded. She looked at the rest of the kids. “Do all of you have gifts?” The kids nodded and she still had a look of shock, but she didn't seem really upset. Just confused.

“But I thought…only our family could get gifts.” Alma turned towards Mirabel, looking for an explanation. She gave an awkward smile, shrugging.

“I…well, they gave gifts because I do consider them family,” Mirabel confessed. Alma blinked, but nodded, letting her continue. “All of the kids who were five and over around my birthday got a gift. When I got to the other house. I guess when I touched the door some of the magic transferred over there.”

“O-Other house?” Alma asked even more confused.

“Yeah, Casita's hermano!” One of the kids exclaimed. Alma was reeling. Mirabel steadied her.

“I-I'll explain it once we get back,” She said, and Alma nodded. She wasn't upset. In fact she seemed sort of happy. Alma perked up, looking at Mirabel again.

“Wait…do you?” Alma trailed off and Mirabel already knew what she was asking.

“Sí,” she said. “I can read minds. But, well I'm very good at controlling it, so I didn't tell you yet. And I was busy helping the other kids with their gifts. You aren’t angry…are you?”

Alma looks at Mirabel before exclaiming and hugging her tightly, again. It was still such a strange feeling to Mirabel, but she welcomed it. “Of course not!” Mirabel felt the tension left her body. “A gift just as special as you. And you look after the others. You know…I'm not going to be here forever, and someone needs to watch over the encanto. You—”

Alma was cut off when a horse burst through the trees. She was frozen in that spot when she saw who was on the horse.

Bruno.

“Wait!” He said, sliding off the horse after getting it to stop. Be fell off, but quickly recovered. “I gave her a vision! She and the kids asked me to! I told her to go and make up with Isabela, and she was only trying to help! I don't care what you think of me, but if you're too stubborn to–”

Bruno this time was cut off when Alma pulled him into a hug. His sentence trailed off as Alma kissed his cheek. “Brunito.”

“Did…did I miss something?” Bruno asked, and Alma tugged him along as Mirabel pulled herself onto the horse. Bruno helped Alma on and he joined. “Where are we going?”

“Home,” Mirabel said.

“What about the kids?” Bruno asked and Mirabel looked towards them. Manuel gave. thumbs up.

“We'll be right behind you!” He said with a big smile. Mirabel nodded, and took off. The kids used their gifts to help each other, following Mirabel as they went through the forest and back towards the village. Mirabel's face was one of determination as the horse galloped through the forest.

Chapter Text

After Mirabel came to the town again, she had to essentially coax Alma to go back to the ruins of Casita and face the family. Luckily, after a long conversation, the family came to forgive her, for the most part. Of course, they still had a number of issues to solve, but…this was a good start.

The community was eager to help the Madrigals rebuild their home. Not only as a thanks for the decades of helping them, but also out of kindness. Casita’s construction began, and the Madrigals were more than grateful.

Over the next few months, the family spent some time trying to figure out their own problems. Julieta and Pepa welcomed Bruno back with open arms. Bruno was shocked, but more than happy to be back with his sisters again.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved Mirabel and the kids' company, and even the few villagers who made an attempt to befriend him. But he still felt so lonely without his older sister there by his side. He was so happy and started crying when they immediately hugged him, especially Pepa. Turns out she wasn’t even mad about the wedding, not really. And he was so relieved.

Alma made more effort to spend time with her family, specifically the grandkids. She never really noticed that she had spent most of her time around Isabela out of the six of them, pressuring her. She only went to Luisa to assign her chores, and the other four were essentially just acknowledged but had no real relationship with her.

Alma found out a lot about them. Things she found in common with them, which honestly shocked her. She found herself spending a lot more time with them. She loved them all dearly, the fact that she had made them feel so distant despite that fact made her feel terrible, especially with Mirabel.

And Mirabel. She was like the glue that held the family together. The kids seemed to be attached to Mirabel, and so the family found themselves seeing them around a lot more. They never realized the closeness they had to Mirabel, age treated them like family. It was endearing honestly. The kids saw her as a second Mom of sorts; Julieta was so proud of her. She was so responsible, so caring towards them and everyone else around her. Not that she or Agustìn ever doubted it of course. But this solidified it.

—

Months had passed, and Casita was nearing the finish line. The residents and the Madrigals worked tirelessly to repair the home. And Mirabel was absolutely ecstatic that Epifanio was being rebuilt as well. Of course, she didn’t know if they”d actually be sentient or magic again, but the family was more than happy to have a home again thanks to the villagers.

Eventually the houses came to a finish. The only thing that needed to be put was the door knob to the front doors. Mirabel’s family were surrounding the house, and all of her kids were there too. Antonio walked up to her, holding something. She looked down at him, and he placed it into her hand. A gold doorknob with a letter M on it.

“We made this for you,” Antonio whispered, though he paused and corrected himself. “Well, Cisco’s abuelo did.” Mirabel let out a watery laugh, and was surprised when Antonio held onto her arm. She smiled, and let him cling to her. As they walked to the front doors, Mirabel could see the supportive smiles from both her family and the kids. They were giving her thumbs up and waving, to which she smiled at them back.

Antonio parted from Mirabel, and Alma cupped her cheeks, wiping the stray tears from her face. “You're the real gift of this family.” Mirabel smiled, before turning to the door. She slowly walked up it, holding the door knob tightly. With only a slight hesitation, she pushed the door knob into the socket.

No one expected the knob to.light up at Mirabel's touch, and the house to be engulfed in a bright light. The house rumbled to life, and she felt the magic shooting through her body. She backed away, and the top window swung back and forth. Mirabel, with new tears in her eyes, wiped her tears as she waved back.

“Hola Casita,” she said softly. It occurred to Mirabel that if Casita was back, Epifanio was back as well. She turned, looking down the hill and towards the square. The villagers insisted the hangout house be closer, and the family seemed fine. She saw the other house throwing shingles up in excitement. The kids all seemed to notice and seemed excited at that fact. Before Mirabel could say anything else, Casita pulled Mirabel into the house. The family and all the kids quickly followed after her.

Casita seemed so happy, with both the Madrigals and Mirabel’s kids. The house seemed to have some new features and…a new door? Mirabel stared upstairs for a moment, counting the doors, before Luisa grabbed her hand and pulled her to stand alongside the rest of the family. One of the coatis stood atop the camera, and Alma held Mirabel’s hand as the family smiled.

“¡La Familia Madrigal!”

Antonio grabbed the photo, and showed the family after it developed. Antonio looked at all of the kids, his eyes scanning them. He turned to Alma, who was still standing by Mirabel and looking at the photo with the rest of the family.

“Antonio? What’s wrong nieto?” Alma asked, bending down to his height. Antonio tugged on his shirt, shifting his weight between his feet.

“Can…can they take a photo with us too?” He asked softly and Alma paused. She looked up at the kids, who were sort of hiding behind their parents, older siblings and guardians. Alma smiled, and stood, gesturing to them to come over. They all seemed to take a hint, rushing over, the little ones toddling over while the older kids grabbed the two babies, Adella and Carlos.

Mirabel was surprised when the kids pulled her into the photo, and the other members of Madrigal family were surprised as well as the kids dragged them over. Antonio saw the confusion of everyone but Mirabel and smiled as he looked up at them. “You guys are family to us too!”

Once again, the now, much larger family, posed in front of the camera. Mirabel was front and center, Antonio and Alma flanking her side. After everyone got into position, they were all smiling for the camera. The bright flash came, and Mirabel was the first to grab the picture. She smiled at the developed photo. She was definitely going to frame this. It had her family.

Her whole family.