Quick note, there is a line I added from Francesca because Hippos are matriarchal also in this story they count Luisa as their own. Also, Luisa is not being mean to Antonio or Mirabel with one of her lines, it's framed more as a compliment.
The double doors to Mirabel's castle creaked open and Luisa slipped inside, she needed an outlet for her feelings now that her tears were dried up and Francesca had been more than willing to take her up to the tree palace.
Francesca was leading the way after what Luisa assumed was a quick conversation with a butterfly. She went into the music room and sat at a grand piano.
"Pressure like a drip drip drip that'll never stop, woah, pressure that'll tip tip tip till you just go pop," she sang softly as she played
When she was done playing she looked up and saw Bruno sitting on the bench of the organ.
"Hi Tio," she said, too emotionally drained from earlier to care that he heard her quiet lament.
"How are you holding up? Mirabel must have caused quite the stir in town and for the family, she's currently sewing Dolores's wedding dress to relax, though she did take a bit of a nap. Since you're here I assume you'll eat dinner with the three of us?" asked Bruno
"I'm tired Tio, and not just physically, I've never felt so drained and done with everything," confessed Luisa
"I heard you singing, you've probably realized Mirabel noticed your burdens and that's why she sent the hippos to you," said Bruno
"And I'm eternally grateful for it, I've spent less than a week with them but I can't imagine my life without Francesca here to listen and be the best friend I was never able to have. All of them were ready to stampede Abuela to defend me. It just feels so wonderful that I have companions who will defend me instead of me being the one doing the defending. Creatures who are loyal to me and go beyond what they were asked to do because they care, it's strange and wonderful all at the same time. I know I am loved by my family but the town sees me as just the strong one, the useful Madrigal, but the hippos, despite the language barrier see me as so much more. A glance from one of them, Francesca making me lean on her if I'm tired, it means so much just to be cared about by someone even if they aren't human and I wish I could understand them so I could know what I could possibly do for them as a thank you," said Luisa
"It's like me and the rats, I found a different kind of family I didn't know I could, and now that I know they see me as a father figure and love doing the Telenovelas and spending time with me, it means the world to me," said Bruno
"Animals are better than people," sighed Luisa
"Most of them, but I think your little sister and cousin are the exception," said Bruno
"They rule the animals, they count with the animals," chuckled Luisa
"So how was the fallout with Abuela? What exactly did Mirabel do?" asked Bruno
"Abuela has to live in the nursery until she earns her door back, she's currently locked in there and shouting at Casita to let her out, Mama thinks Mirabel is going to send an Animal to bring Abuela's plate to her at dinner," said Luisa
"Casita has always loved Mirabel because Mira treats Casita like family instead of just part of the Miracle though if I remember what Mirabel told me, the candle itself is sentient, the butterflies can understand it," said Bruno
"So why did it put up with Abuela for so long? And what about that vision you were so scared of?" asked Luisa
"The candle invalidated that vision, I actually had a new one yesterday because I wanted to see if the future had changed, it has, Mirabel is going to make things so much better because the candle and casita are helping the animals help her, Abuela's hold on the family and the town is over," said Bruno
"Things will really get better after tonight?" asked Luisa
"I'm certain of it, I've never had a vision so clear in meaning, I also think the gifts are going to change a bit for the better," said Bruno
"How?" asked Luisa, she was absently playing the scale.
"I don't know but what I do know is that Mirabel loves her family and sees all of you and your struggles with your gifts, now that she can act directly I know she is going to try to fix the glaring issues. She knows it will be hard for you to break your conditioning to never say no to someone asking for your help and that's why she asked the hippos to help, to make sure you don't have to because someone else is already doing whatever task is needed. You don't have to say no but you don't have to do the task if you don't want to and if you do manage to say no you have an army of persuasion to back you up, You're a kind sensitive young woman and animals can see that, from everything I know of animals they are very observant and if you care about them they will come to trust you eventually. Some animals it takes less time than others and their queen vouching for you certainly sped things up," said Bruno
"Did you see what I was doing in your vision?" asked Luisa
"You were in your swimwear laying on Francesca's back as all the hippos lounged in the river, you looked happy, If I recall correctly there were quite a few male onlookers being chased away by seven of your large friends," said Bruno
"Hmph, males, they should know their place," said Francesca with an eye roll.
Suddenly Mirabel walked in.
"Hi Luisa, I was told you were here, dinner is in the dining room down the hall, sorry it's not mama's cooking but apparently the rats know something about cooking because they've grown up watching mama in secret, and the birds brought fresh fruit," said Mirabel
"Mira are you doing ok? Today was…a lot, for everyone," said Luisa
"I'm calmer than I was, there's something therapeutic about stabbing fabric many many times," said Mirabel with a grin.
The three of them walked down the hall to the grand dining room, the table was set with leaf-shaped plates that looked like they were made of dark green crystal, fine silver forks, knives, and spoons and there was a wine glass at Bruno's place that was also made of crystal but the base was cast to look like a pale green leaf and the stem was covered in amethyst arranged to look like grapes. The tablecloth was lime green linen and the candelabra hat lit magenta candles that complimented the chandelier high above that was casting specks of pale pink light around the room as the candles shown through hundreds of polished rose quartz and pink diamonds. The walls were made of dense blueberry bushes some in bloom and some with berries. The juice glasses were made of light pink crystal and full of grape juice. There were large chairs of mahogany with teal satin cushions with carved leaves and butterflies all over and Mirabel had her own chair at the very head of the table that seemed to be more of a mahogany throne than a dining chair.
"Um, are you sure it's ok for me to eat with this stuff it all just seems so fragile," said Luisa nervous about her strength.
"It's completely fine, I think Casita made them unbreakable because Antonio accidentally dropped his glass earlier and it didn't break," said Mirabel
Luisa gave a sigh of relief before she looked at all the food on the table.
There was an impressive spread of arepas, Arroz, a variety of vegetables and fruit and the main dish was Carne con chimichurri.
"The rats made all this?" asked Luisa
"Yes they did, I'm considering having them help mama from now on," said Mirabel proudly, there were happy squeaks coming from a mini table Luisa hadn't noticed till now.
"Um Mirabel, the steak, isn't it a bit off-putting for the two of you?" asked Bruno
"I talked with the farm animals earlier, the cows say they don't mind dying to be eaten because they've lived an easy life and think it's a fair exchange," said Antonio
"Better to die and be eaten than die in the middle of nowhere and rot and be good for nothing but the grass," said Francesca
"They put up less of a fuss than the flies at least," said Mirabel cutting into her steak after helping Antonio with his.
"Luisa isn't Tia going to be looking for you?" asked Antonio
"I told her I was probably going to skip dinner to rest a bit, today was crazy, if they really get worried she'll send Isa to find me and this place will be the second place she looks if she can get a bear or one of the hippos to bring her here," said Luisa
As if on cue, Isabela walked in being led by a few coatis.
"Sorry, the rain was getting a bit much for me and Abuela's yelling was starting to give me a headache, Dolores is also on her way up, I think dinner might just be the four adults and Camilo," said Isa, she looked soaked through.
"Isa go get changed out of those wet clothes, there's a guest bedroom down the hall you can change in, I'll have a coati bring you one of my dresses to change into," said Mirabel looking at her.
"TIO BRUNO?!" exclaimed Isa seeing her uncle for the first time in ten years.
"Long story short he was living in the walls because of a vision he couldn't show Abuela, the rats told me and I had them bring him here," said Mirabel
"Oh, ok," said Isa, but it was clear she had lots more questions.
Then Dolores walked in, less wet than Isa but her hair was still dripping water everywhere
"Tio? Is this where you went after you left the walls and Mira why do you have a castle?" asked Dolores
"Yes and because casita and the candle are trying to overcompensate me," said Mirabel
Dolores awkwardly sat next to Luisa and a bear came over with another plate, silverware, and a wine glass similar to Bruno's. Another bear set the exact same for Isa who came in with her hair in a towel and a pale blue monarch butterfly dress on. The two eldest grandchildren sat at the table, Dolores staring at her surroundings.
"Where did all this food come from? It's delicious," said Isa after a little while
"The rats have grown up their whole life watching mama in the kitchen, they picked up a thing or two," said Mirabel causing Isa to almost choke.
"Please tell me they washed their little paws," said Dolores
There was a very indignant squeak from the little table.
"We a cultured rats, we always make sure our paws are clean when we handle food," said the rat
"They get rather offended if you question how cultured they are," giggled Mirabel causing everyone to laugh.
"So Tia is still crying huh," sighed Mirabel
"I don't know if she's more upset with herself or with Abuela," sad Dolores
…
Sol slithered into the dining room and looked at Julieta
"Oh aren't you that snake from the other night? Sol right?" asked Julieta, Sol nodded eagerly.
"What are you doing down here again?" she asked
He looked between the food on the table and the door to the nursery.
"Oh you're here to take food to mama," said Julieta, another little nod.
Julieta made a plate and gave it to Sol who used his tail to hold it.
"Be careful now," said Julieta, casita made the stair into a ramp for him and casita opened the door but used the floorboards to keep Abuela inside as Sol set the food down and hissed angrily at her before the door slammed behind him.
"Sol come here for a moment," Julieta called and the snake slithered back into the dining room puzzled.
"Here, for being such a sweet little thing," said Julieta giving him the chicken scraps from when she was prepping the food.
He happily gobbled them up before wrapping himself around Julieta's leg and giving a short squeeze, snake hug.
"Would you like to keep me company in the kitchen during the day? It's warm in there and I could use a sweet little guy like you for company," said Julieta, she had always loved snakes as a girl, Bruno had his rats and she had her little friend who hung outside the window in the garden waiting for chicken scraps. She missed her little scaly friend.
Sol flicked his tongue and nodded, Julieta let him slither up her arm and drape across her neck.
Pepa came in and almost screamed when she saw the large yellow constrictor on her sister's neck like a scarf.
"Pepa look Sol is back, he is such a sweet little thing, brought mama her food so we wouldn't have to talk to her," said Julieta petting the scales on his head with her thumb.
"Bruno and his rats, Luisa and the hippos, Mirabel and Antonio with the whole animal kingdom, and now you and the snakes? What's next me and a tarantula!?" exclaimed Pepa
"Oh knock it off, Sol is a sweetheart," said Julieta
"Pepi look what I found, this fun little guy likes perching on my shoulder," said Felix coming into the room. Pepa really did scream this time and the rain came pouring harder.
"Hello Ronaldo," said Sol to the spider.
"Oh, hello Sol, look a human other than the queen and prince who doesn't want to step on me!" exclaimed Ronaldo gesturing to Felix.