Reasons
Summary: She was running away. Running away from the past, from her present, from her failures. When she lost everyone important, everyone who mattered, she lost her reasons to live...a glowing gold butterfly is hoping to help her find it again.
Anime/Movie: InuYasha/Encanto
Genre: Romance/Family (Hurt/Comfort)
Pairing: Kagome (17)/Camilo (16)
-x-x-x-
Kagome mixed the ingredients in the bowl, helping Juliete so that she could avoid Camillo and Mirabel. She was still feeling bad about bailing on them, and the prophecies were just more fears piling up where they weren't needed or wanted. Having been in the Encanto for the last week, she'd started to get along well with the family. Everyone seemed open to her and excited to get to know her.
She would be the first to tell you how strange she thought it was to have a room under the same roof as this family she knew so little about, but... she was getting used to it. Just like how she'd gotten used to living outside with her friends in the past. Or how she got used to letting go of the arrow to shoot down a demon. She would get used to it. Like she always did.
"Nice, now, push your thumb in the middle, we'll add some shredded mozzarella, right... and fold the dough in so that it's covered, shape it, perfect!"
Smiling, Kagome placed down her first Arepa Con Queso that she quickly realized she was a fan of.
"Oh, is Tia Juliete making some Arepas? Do you need a taste tester?"
Juliete whipped out a handtowel and snapped it at Camillo's shoulder. Smiling playfully when he quickly withdrew from the food. "Not until lunch,"
"Right, right,"
"Camillo, you've been staying inside a lot lately, haven't you?"
He shrugged, "I...don't really want to use my gift, lately."
"What?"
"Don't read too much into it," he laughed, "I just feel like being me sometimes, or would you rather I am Julio or Mario?" A slight bite to his tone had his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "Sorry, Tia Juliete, I didn't mean to snap."
"Oh, it's okay, my little Chameleon. You have nothing to apologize for." Placing two of the finished Arepas on a small plate, she sprinkled a little salt on them before sliding it over to her nephew. Kagome smiled at the display. Family was everything here. "Have you talked to Pepa, though? That you feel like this, maybe you shouldn't be working in the village?"
Camillo shrugged, glancing at Kagome; he smiled, "have you found a hideaway with Tia Juliete?"
Kagome ducked her head. She was flustered still. STILL! He had stayed outside with her a few days ago, just letting her sleep by his side. His uncle had ditched her with him! Like, talk about having unwavering trust in your teenage nephew! "I'm not hiding. I'm learning to cook."
"I can teach you!"
"Camillo here learned how to make my Arepas a long time ago. He just never cooks because he claims mine taste better." Pinching his cheek, she walked away to finish flipping the remaining Arepas.
"You should take a day off from cooking. You've been doing it every day, all day, right?"
"Giving advice already, Kagome?"
Jumping, Kagome turned along with Camillo and his aunt. She wasn't scared of the older woman, but she was unnerved by how she stared at her with something making to judgment and distrust. Kagome couldn't think of anything she might have done to cause her not to trust her, but she wasn't about to ask either. "Sorry, Alma. I wasn't trying to impart any advice. I guess I was just...talking out loud."
"I see. Kagome, you are new, and as such, you're still learning the ways of the Madrigal family. Try and understand that what we are doing isn't in the interest of the family but the Encanto itself. It would do us no good to stop taking care of the Encanto, which had provided us so much."
Kagome nodded, feeling properly scolded after having voiced a single thought.
"Mama, Kagome speaks with her heart. Please don't be so hard on her. She was only looking out for me. And I must admit, I find myself feeling more exhausted than normal lately. Sleeping in once in a while, having dinner made for me once in a blue moon... there is no shame in feeling overworked and overused. It happens to us all."
"But Juliete, it's our responsibility to take care of the Encanto."
Juliete smiled, though it was strained. "I know, mama."
-x-x-x-
(Two Weeks)
Awkwardness subsided; Kagome was out with Camillo helping watch the kids and all-around chaos control. Mirabel had been with them for a while when her father came and called her away. It was kind of ominous. Spreading out her energy, she reached out across the Encanto. Smiling at the tickling sensation that met her as her energy brushed playfully against the magic of the Encanto. More than just the magic she felt in the valley that was the Encanto, she could feel every single person who lived there. Each one was a sparkling star of energy. One of those sparkling stars flickered; her eyes dulled at the dimness of their energy. 'That can't be good...'
"Kagome?"
Looking down at one of the kids who she was watching. Although, it was more like they were watching her. "Sorry, Cecilia, was I distracted?"
"You were. Is there something on your mind?"
"I-" she paused, "I was thinking about the magic." Smiling, she lifted her hand; it glowed gently a flushed pink. "My magic responds happily to it."
"You have a gift too?!"
"I wonder," pulling her energy back. The glow faded from her fingertips. "What do you think defines a gift?"
"When you have a super, amazing power!" Cecilia yelled out excitedly.
"A gift...are your natural qualities and talents. Talents and qualities that are determined, not by your birth, but by you as a person. A gift is what makes you special, and gifts aren't unique to the Madrigal name. Do you understand?"
Cecilia looked down at her hands, "you think I have a gift?"
"You do. You just haven't discovered what it is yet. And you know what?"
"What?"
"I bet it'll be a most amazing gift!"
Cecilia smiled; running off, she raced over to who Kagome could only conclude was her mother and wrapped her arms tightly around her.
Camillo's hand slipped into hers, pulling her down next to him. He smiled. "What you just did, I think that's your gift."
"You think so? I don't know, I've been told I've got a couple of gifts. Oh, not that I'm one to brag."
"Really? Tell me about your other gifts."
Shaking her head, she laughed, "one can only hope that there will never be a reason for me to use my other gifts. They aren't...suited...for this environment." She pointed, "there's Mirabel. She doesn't look too good, though." As she said that, Mirabel walked up to them and slumped down on the bench beside Kagome. "You really look upset. What's going on?"
"Mama isn't doing well, she's asleep now, but dad said she fell this morning trying to get up."
"Fell?" Camillo frowned, "Is she okay?"
Mirabel frowned, "she said she is, but she looks so tired."
"That would be because she's overworking herself," Kagome muttered, "you said she fell."
"Well, I say fell. Mama said she stumbled and felt faint."
Kagome wasn't a doctor, but she knew the body well enough to understand it needed rest. "As someone who was constantly traveling, always on the move, and pushed to her limits. I know what it feels like. Doesn't matter if you only eat healthily. Doesn't matter if you're getting your eight hours of sleep. What matters is the non-stop grinding that your mother is doing, day-in and day-out."
"But she's never said anything."
"Why would she?" Standing, Kagome smiled sadly. "She's been cooking for her family since she received her gift. However, it's only a gift for as long as it serves to assist its host, not hinder her. I've only been here in the Encanto for a little while, but it seems to me, this town has been built on a foundation that praises the gifted and denounces the ordinary. There is no ill will to those without talent; they are just not as capable as those born with. More than that, those capable are pushed to indentured labor for the rest of their lives once a place has been established for them in town. This isn't a functioning town; it's a maintained factory, mandatory sixteen-hour shifts, no days off."
"And that...is your opinion! Kagome,"
Once again, Kagome found that Alma was always right behind her every time she spoke her opinion. Or, in this case, coming up to them from the left.
"Since you've come here, you have shared your thoughts on the way we live. However, it is not your place!" Alma accentuated her words with a stomp of her foot.
"I didn't come here to give you lessons on how to run your family, Alma. I'm still not sure why I'm here. I followed a yellow butterfly nearly twelve thousand miles across the world, to...what? I don't know!? But I'm here! And..." standing in frustration, she tightened her fists at her side, eyes closed, "I'll figure out why! Just...maybe not this moment. Until then, all I can do is express my heart. It's all I have left."
"What nonsense. You expect me to believe all you have left in your life is yourself? You are still young! you don't know loss!" Shaking her head, "this isn't about that. You have no right to come here and push your ideals on my family."
"Right, I don't..." her body began glowing with her energy, building up so much frustration she could scream. "I have...no right to tell you anything or to do anything. I have no right to be here." Her voice dropped.
Standing up and moving in front of Kagome, Camillo turned so that he was blocking his grandmother from Kagome, "hey, I don't know why you're here, but you have every right to be here!"
"Camillo!"
"Camillo,"
Alma narrowed her eyes at Kagome, who spoke at the same time.
Mirabel bit her lip; standing up, she placed herself next to Kagome, carefully taking her hand. "I know what it means to feel like you don't belong. I've been there. I've lived in the Encanto my whole life and was isolated by my own family for years. You belong here. Stay here, and make us better."
Kagome laughed, "there is no make you better. I can tell you now, changing you is not why I'm here."
"I don't think change is so bad." Camillo locked his eyes with Kagome's, "no one gets to tell you where you belong. No one has that right." The glow around Kagome began fading, the strangeness of the glow catching many eyes, yet no one would ask her about it. They were used to gifts. Why couldn't she have one too? While he had seen the glow of energy a few times now, Camillo still had no idea what it was or what it meant for the Encanto and his family, but he trusted Kagome, which was more than he could say for his grandmother. She didn't seem to trust Kagome as far as she could throw her, and more than that, he'd noticed that at almost every turn, she was there, ready to start an argument with their guest. A guest who was welcomed by all of the family Madrigal, except for Alma.
It was strange... he could recall the first time the prophecy was mentioned; while she hadn't been excited, she'd been supportive of the girl coming here. Understanding that these things would happen at their own time, for a reason, even if unknown. So why now was she so against it. Was it really as simple as not seeing eye to eye on the way things in the Encanto are done, or...could be done? Camillo couldn't wrap his head around it, but what he did know, what he did understand, was that he desperately wished to stand by Kagome's side. He never wanted her to feel unwelcomed in the Encanto, and he knew his family would understand...well, most of them would.
"Mirabel, let's go."
Mirabel hesitated for a moment. The look of betrayal on Alma's face had her reconsidering her next actions briefly before she followed Camillo, who was pulling Kagome away from their grandmother. It was a fearful thought. That another rift could possibly be forming in the Family Madrigal, and if it did, would the same thing as last time happen? Would this not risk Casita the way it had before? No, this time, Mirabel was sure it would be much worse. So... why then did she follow?
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Me: Here is chapter twelve of Reasons. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It's time we stir things up a bit! WOOT~! Add a little drama, and let us see what chaos we can cause~!