Chapter 7: The family will not give up
Once everything calmed down, I watched as everything around me was a mess, I felt my chest tighten at the possibility that I may have hurt someone in my family.
"Is everyone okay?" abuela's voice was the first to manifest.
I broke away from the safety of Aunt Pepa's embrace who went to check on Toñito and Camilo, I watched Mom approach me cautiously.
"Mirabel... mi vida are you ok?" I could see her hesitation I nodded softly.
They all looked at me with concern and some even a little fear.
"What should we do?" abuela looked at uncle Bruno.
"We have to look for a replacement for the candle, in Mirabel's vision there was one, I don't know where we got it, but it's clear we need it, we don't know what's next and I don't know how much time we have either" We all nodded.
We started to head for the exit when I started to feel dizzy and very exhausted.
"MIRABEL!" Isa's voice snapped me out of my daze and I noticed I was being held by her vines and she immediately came towards me as did everyone else.
"This is not good, generating that twister and trying to control it clearly generated something in her body" Uncle Bruno approached me.
"We can't take her with us, but I refuse to leave her alone" Isabela looked disgruntled.
"Luisa take her to the living room" Luisa pulled me out of the warmth of Isa's arms and laid me down on a couch.
"Listen, we have to split up, everyone will head to one area of the city, Abuela... you have to stay, if Mirabel comes in contact with you it will be safe for her, you are the only one besides her who doesn't possess a gift, but it's not safe for you to stay alone with her..." Isabela spoke in a clear and confident manner, very different from the tone she used being Miss Perfect and she could feel nothing but pride in her growth.
"I'll stay" Camilo spoke and all eyes went to him.
"Are you sure?" Tia Pepa approached him.
"It's like Isabela says, if we are going to stay close to Mirabel we must avoid gifts that are dangerous for her and for Abuela... but at the same time if a gift that is dangerous is activated... with my change of form I will be able to protect abuela in conjunction with Casita" I felt Casita's tiles move in agreement to what Camilo proposed "Besides you will have the job of looking for the new candle" Everyone nodded.
"Take care of yourselves, the three of you" Mom looked at the three of us very worried.
"Isabela, Brunito, I trust the two of you to lead the search" Grandma looked at both of us seriously as she sat next to me.
"We will mother" Uncle Bruno sounded serious.
Isabela came over to me next to Uncle Bruno.
"We will be back soon, hold on until then" Uncle Bruno gave me a hug.
"I won't give up until I find the candle Mira... so... you don't give up either" When uncle bruno pulled away Isabela gave me a kiss on the forehead and her gaze changed to a determined one.
"Dolores..." I called out to Dolores.
"Tell me" Dolores came closer, but avoided touching me.
"I'll let you know in case things get worse so... please..." Dolores cut me off.
"I'll listen to you and alert everyone as soon as I can... just remember none of this is your fault, so stay calm" I smiled at Dolores.
"Go away, the sooner you find the candle, the sooner Mirabel's suffering will end." abuela spoke in an authoritative voice and everyone left.
Isabela and Bruno divided everyone into three groups of three people to start searching.
(Group 1: Pepa, Félix and Antonio)
Pepa's point of view.
Isabela and Bruno divided us into groups of three to start the search for the new sail, I had Félix and Antonio, I am still very shocked by everything that happened... seeing Mirabel in a twister caused by the magic of Enchantment was terrifying, much worse than when I generated a hurricane at my wedding, seeing the genuine fear and confusion of not knowing what was happening to her made me not care about having to face a twister, my gift allows me to control the weather, but I never felt anything like what I felt when I tried to control the storm and the subsequent twister, my magic... my gift felt weird, it was a feeling as if I was being absorbed, it was terrifying...
"Pepi... amor are you ok?" I looked at Felix and saw him with a worried face.
"I don't know..." Antonio next to me took my hand.
"Don't worry we will find a way to help Mirabel" Antonio gave me a sweet smile and I just bent down and hugged him.
"Of course we will Mirabel already saved us, it's our turn to help her" Felix.
"Dad look there are candles!" Felix and I turned to where Toñito was pointing.
"Go find a candle that you think I helped Mirabel" I gave Toñito a smile and he walked away.
"Pepi?" Felix looked at me.
"Felix how will we tell her that her dearest cousin is dying because of the magic she herself saved" Felix looked at me seriously.
"For the moment we won't tell him anything, I don't want his mood to get worse, it's already hard to see him confused about it, if he asks we'll just say that the illness is connected to casita but that it will pass soon" Felix looked at Antonio.
"I don't want him to have to witness something like what I had to witness" I hugged myself.
"I don't know what happened in that twister you could barely see anything" Felix took my hand.
"Mirabel went into a panic attack... I managed to calm her down, but something is happening, when she tried to control the weather with my help I felt as if my gift was being absorbed, it was the most unpleasant sensation I have felt in a long time... it was terrifying" Felix took my hand.
"I don't know what you felt, nor do I know if it will happen again... but I will be with you every step of the way, what was clear to me is that you couldn't leave her alone could you?"
"I couldn't, she's my niece, almost another daughter, to see her in such a weakened state with so much fear and more in the middle of a twister that I couldn't even control... I just couldn't..." Felix hugged me.
"You are one of the strongest women I know Pepi and for that I love you, not many would dare to go through a twister just for their niece" Determination crossed my face.
"Well I would and if I had to do it again I would do it again, for you, for our children, for my brothers, for my nieces, for each and every one, I would do it without a doubt one and a thousand times" Felix looked at me with pride in his eyes.
"Dad, Mom look I found one that could be useful" With Felix we approached and saw a small candle in his hands with drawings of a toucan, we both smiled and agreed.
While Toñito saw the candle with happiness I could only think about how weak my powers felt, my cloud has not manifested itself even though my mood is clearly stressed and not in the best of states... but that is the least of it, I am Pepa Madrigal and if there is something that mother did well in educating us is to teach us that the Madrigals are not people who give up and I will not give up until my niece returns to be that radiant sun that she has always been.
My eyes filled with determination and upon seeing me Felix also seems to have filled with courage and we walk back to Casita ready to face whatever comes our way.
(Group 2: Agustín, Julieta and Luisa)
Luisa's point of view.
We were walking around the city, at the request of Isabela and uncle Bruno, I really don't know how those two can stay so intact when I am trembling at the possibility of losing my little sister, Mirabel getting sick was the beginning of everything, but I never expected it to escalate so much, how is it possible that Mirabel has the magic inside her and that this same magic is now about to end her life...
"Luisa, tesoro are you feeling okay?" Dad touched my shoulder.
"No... no, I'm not okay, how can you both be so calm about this situation, how can you not be afraid of the possibility that Mirabel..." Dad looked at me and Mom averted her gaze.
"Luisa... I..." Mom cut Dad off.
"No Agustin, you remember what I said, nothing like that" I noticed how mom was upset and dad wanted to say something.
"Mom?" Mom averted her gaze and kept walking, it's clear to me that something is not right.
"Let's keep going, let's find the candle" Mom sounded serious, very different from her usual soft and motherly tone it gave me chills.
We walked for a while in awkward silence, but it got to a point where I couldn't take it anymore.
"Mom, something is going on and I want to know what it is."
"Luisa that's enough" Dad tried to stop me.
"NO! Something is going on with you and whatever it is is affecting me" I began to get impatient.
"NOTHING IS WRONG LUISA!" mom turned to face me and for once I saw the resemblance that abuela and mama share as mama's angry look is the same as abuela's and it gets to give me chills, but I won't give up, we promised to get better and this is part of that.
"If nothing is wrong then why are you acting that way" I didn't let myself be intimidated.
"Acting what way, angry, upset, frustrated, sad, I didn't act like that okay, I'm totally fine, everything is fine, everything is perfectly fine" With dad we looked at each other without being able to formulate any words.
"Mom... you have a tic in your eyebrow" Mom almost murdered me with her eyes.
"Oh really, you know what? I am sick, sick of the Miracle, sick of the problems, sick of having to step aside every time one of my daughters has a problem, first Isabela, mom said she will be perfect and I didn't hear from Isabela anymore, you come out strong and the whole town kept you busy until you couldn't anymore, Mirabel came out without a gift and for the first time I thought they wouldn't take me away but nooo, it had to be seen as a bad sign, Mom took me away from her so I could dedicate myself to helping the wounded, I couldn't spend time with Mirabel since I was too busy to be with her, years go by and the miracle weakens because of our accumulated stress, Mirabel as always wanted to do something and I almost lost her because of that stupid candle that since it arrived has done nothing but ruin my life and now it turns out that the miracle is inside my daughter RISKING HER LIFE FOR THE SECOND TIME! " After that speech I could see tears falling from her eyes.
"Mom..." I wanted to move closer, but Dad stopped me.
"Of course I'm not well...I'm scared...I don't want to lose anyone...I don't want to lose Mirabel...my baby...our miracle...I don't know what I'm supposed to do...my food the one that's supposed to cure everything...I hurt her...I hurt my own daughter and now I can't help her, I feel useless, I feel frustrated that I can't be what she needs, I want to be useful..." Mom was crying bitterly and dad nodded so I went to give mom a hug.
"We all want to save Mirabel mom, but that doesn't mean you have to do it alone, dad, Isa, me and the others are doing everything we can to prevent anything bad from happening to Mirabel" Seeing mom like this made me realize that I wasn't the only one suffering, we are all suffering and scared.
I felt Dad's arms wrap around us.
"Amm I know the moment is very nice and all, but did you realize that we are in the middle of the city and several people are looking at us weird?" At dad's words we let go and indeed we saw at least ten people looking at us curiously, I wiped my face which had tears which I hadn't noticed and pretended nothing was wrong, mom fixed her dress and wiped her face.
"This is embarrassing" Mom nodded.
"Juliet, Luisa, I know you are both in bad shape, especially you Juliet, but if we want to help Mirabel we must find the candle that Bruno saw in his vision, once Mirabel is out of danger we can all have a family hug together" Dad had a steely look, the same look Isabela wore when leading us and the same look Mirabel wore when she was saving the miracle.
"We are Madrigals... and Madrigals don't give up" Mom looked at me firmly and I nodded.
The three of us kept moving forward in search of the candle.
(Meanwhile in Casita)
"Camilo you know Isabela doesn't like you imitating her old personality" I sighed looking at "Señorita perfecta Isabela".
"Oh come on, you used to laugh whenever I imitated her" Camilo folded his arms.
"Yeah, but... I feel it's not right, besides... you don't want me to chase you with a cactus ready to be thrown"
"That's only if she catches up to me, I've never seen her run more than 50 meters without me ending up almost passing out" I denied.
"No one said she couldn't use her vines to catch you" Camilo laughed.
"I've run away before, I don't see why I couldn't do it now" I sighed.
"Camilo remember your cousin needs to rest don't push her too hard" abuela peeked out.
"Yes abuela careless, I'm just making Mirabel happy" Camilo transformed into me giving a big smile, abuela rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen.
"I wonder what will happen the day you grow up" Camilo looked at me horrified.
"Grow up...me?" Camilo clutched his chest and pouted.
"Oh come on don't be so dramatic Camilo everyone grows up" I gave him a smile.
"Mirabel...you must be very sick...you sound just like Isabela, I shouldn't have let you spend so much time with her, now she has ruined you" he dropped to his knees and pretended to be in pain "Oh Abuelo I have failed you, I let Mirabel become Señorita Perfecta 2.0" Camilo hit the floor dramatically.
"Camilo don't bring Abuelo Pedro into this" I wanted to laugh, but I had to hold it in.
"Abuelito give me a sign, let me make amends for my mistake so Mirabel can be my inseparable twin again and laugh again...please" I didn't hold back my laughter anymore and burst out laughing like a little girl.
"Camí... I don't think Abuelo is going to give you a sign just for this" at that moment Casita gave Camilo a picture where we were both hugging when we were little.
"What were you saying Mira?" Camilo looked at me with a mocking look on his face.
"That doesn't count, it was casita not Abuelo!" I felt indignant.
"Count for me, thanks Abuelito and Casita" I snorted and Camilo laughingly sat down next to me.
(Group 3: Isabela, Dolores and Bruno).
Isabela's point of view:
After leaving the organized groups we headed to our route, I still felt my body reeling after what happened with Mirabel in her room, I never thought there could be such an uncomfortable feeling, however what came next was much more terrifying, knowing that Mira's life was in danger again and followed by that seeing Mira in the middle of a twister that I could not control paralyzed me, I was not able to reach her, my body froze in fear, but I managed to move to protect my parents from the projectiles, I don't know how she did it, but Aunt Pepa managed to get through the twister and butterflies started to appear in it as it had happened to me before and at that moment I knew what was happening and it was that Aunt Pepa was giving part of her power to Mira to be able to control the twister, I felt relieved when I saw that the twister had stopped, but my relief was short-lived because I remembered that my sister's life was in danger, we got ready to leave and by pure luck I managed to catch Mirabel before it hit the ground... I really need a vacation after this... my body already feels exhausted and I feel like I'm reaching my limit, this is even worse than when I had to be "Señorita Perfecta Isabela".
"Isa... you're crying" Dolores next to me grabbed my shoulder.
"What?..." I touched my cheek and indeed there were tears, tears that wouldn't stop.
"Isabela..." Uncle Bruno looked at me serious, but at the same time compassionate.
"I can't stop."
"Don't, if you want to cry you must" Dolores looked at me with her own eyes about to cry.
"How can I cry when Mirabel is the one who is suffering, she is the one who has her life at stake" My tears wouldn't stop no matter how much I wanted to.
"It's because you love Mirabel and you don't want to lose her, you are as terrified as everyone maybe even more, Isabela tell me... how can I help you?" Tio bruno grabbed my shoulders and looked at me.
"I don't know what's wrong with me, this has never happened to me before" I felt like I was starting to get short of breath "I just..." Almost to the ground on my knees trying to breathe, but my heart was racing a mile a second, I felt my body shaking and my tears still wouldn't stop.
"Isa listen to me, try to breathe with me, count on me and relax okay, one... two... three..." I tried to follow Dolores' instructions, I felt my chest burning for every breath and I felt like throwing up "you are doing good come on Isa come back with me".
I did my best to calm down and it seemed to work as I could feel my heart start to beat normally and my breathing normalize.
"You're almost there Isabela keep it up" Uncle Bruno's soft voice gave me the last push I needed.
I was finally able to focus my eyes to realize that I was in Dolores' lap with Uncle Bruno next to me, my tears had finally stopped and I was able to slowly sit up.
"I'm sorry I..."
"Isabela, I understand, it's too much... it's not easy" Uncle Bruno hugged me gently against his chest and I allowed the feelings I was holding back to come out.
"I don't want to lose her...I can't...she's my sister...and I hurt her so much..." I could feel Dolores join our embrace.
"Isabela, she adores you and you need to start forgiving yourself for what you did in the past" Uncle Bruno pulled me away from him and looked at me.
"Isa if you don't stop blaming yourself for your past mistakes you will never be able to have a future where you can be happy" Dolores took my hand and looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"You have grown a lot my little flower, but it is time for you to bloom and be happy, for you and for Mirabel, she understood and that is why she could spread her wings and forgive you, it is time for you to do the same, forgive yourself and bloom so you both can have a future together where you both can smile" My tears were falling from my eyes and I could feel it... that regret that has been with me since that hug, since I discovered who I really want to be, that thorn that did not leave me alone.
"I know it's hard, I know you feel you don't deserve forgiveness, but we all deserve to be happy Isa" Dolores looked at me and her gaze was full of affection.
"I don't know how to do it" I put my hand on my chest.
"Don't worry. it's a slow process, but you're already taking the first step and I'm proud of you" Uncle Bruno looked at me with a look full of affection.
"Dolores?" our moment was interrupted by a fourth voice, the three of us stopped abruptly to face the person in front of us.
"Mariano... hello" Dolores looked at him somewhat nervously.
"Amm are you all right, the three of you look like you just came from a funeral" The three of us tensed at that last sentence.
"MARIANO!" Dolores raised her voice which she never does and ended up scaring everyone.
"Amor I'm sorry I didn't mean to bother you, in fact I was going home to get the stew and go to Casita to drop it off for Mirabel" Dolores smiled at the puppy dog look Mariano gave her that made me roll my eyes.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell, it's just that we've been a little emotional today" Too emotional, how I'm thankful my powers are weak or there could have been a plant invasion and not exactly innocent flowers.
"Is it Mirabel, did it get worse?" Mariano looked really worried and that made me smile a little.
"It's hard to explain, but if you want to help, you can go home and wait until 10 to bring your mother's stew, we are preparing the cure for Mirabel and it takes some time and Mira needs to rest, could you do that for me?"
"Whatever, I will be sending my best wishes to Mirabel, I know she is strong and will come out of this, but it is not too much to support her" I approached Mariano.
"I thank you for your good wishes for my sister, I'm sure they will make her happy" He gave me a smile.
"You don't have to be so formal, besides you are having a hard time too, I will send my best wishes to all of you" I gave a soft smile.
"Thanks honey I'll see you later" Dolores gave him a kiss on the cheek and Mariano gave a goofy smile and left.
"I'm glad you are happy Dolores" Uncle Bruno smiled.
"Thank you Uncle Bruno" Dolores wore a goofy smile that made me smile and calm my unsettled feelings.
"Come on, we have a candle to find" Uncle Bruno and Dolores nodded.
A few minutes passed and we managed to see a store with candles, the three of us approached to look for the one that seemed the most suitable, I could not see anything that convinced me there were more than a hundred of different colors sizes, some with drawings others without anything.
"How will we know which one is the right one?" Dolores checked all the candles next to her.
"I don't know the vision wasn't so clear about it, I only saw one candle in Mirabel's hands" Uncle Bruno was checking the candles, but none of them seemed to convince him.
I was about to feel frustrated when out of nowhere before my eyes a yellow butterfly appeared, the three of us stood still, the butterfly circled us and we watched as it flew almost in a straight line until it landed on one of the candles that was on top of one of the shelves, at the moment the three of us looked at each other and said at the same time.
"That's the candle"
Carefully I lowered the candle with the help of my vines, once in my hands we started our way home more calmly, but as it could not be otherwise something had to happen and that came in the form of a Dolores who stopped suddenly.
"Dolores?" Uncle Bruno stopped and I stopped too.
"Is something wrong?" Dolores' look looked distressed and she turned to Casita.
"Mirabel..." I tensed all at once.
"What's wrong Dolores?" Dolores looked ready to run away.
"Mirabel is in pain...she is screaming" My body froze and I looked at Casita.
"Isabela" Uncle Bruno grabbed my shoulders and gave me a determined look "Don't give me that panicked look, you are a Madrigal and you are strong, you are the fastest of the three, you have to go fast, take her to my room, we don't have much time left go with her now" I looked at Dolores who just nodded.
I let go of uncle Bruno and I ran conjuring vines to go from roof to roof swinging with the objective of arriving as fast as possible to Casita, I am a Madrigal, I am Isabela Madrigal and I will not give up, no matter how tired I feel, I will arrive to Casita... I will arrive to Mirabel.
