Mirabel sat back down on her throne and looked at her subjects. Bruno noticed a stoic but kind expression on her face, it was in contrast to his mother's stern one.
Mira had Antonio on her lap.
"Tio, now that Abuela is kinda locked in the nursery, how do you feel about revealing yourself, I know my mami misses you and now everyone but them, Abuela and Camilo know you're here anyway," said Mirabel
"I suppose that does make the most sense," said Bruno
"And with the hippos seeing Luisa as one of their own I'm thinking of making her a Lady like you're a Lord," said Mirabel
"That would also make sense, when are you going to announce it? We still have a few hours till breakfast," said Bruno
Mirabel turned to Francesca.
"Please go get my sister, the bride's maid dress I made for her to wear to Dolores's wedding will suffice for this occasion," said Mirabel
The hippos nodded and left the castle. A monkey left with them to open the doors.
…
Luisa woke up to a bunch of hippos staring at her.
"Francesca what time is it?" groaned Luisa before looking at the clock next to her bed.
"Five in the morning? What's going on?" asked Luisa
She felt herself being gently nudged out of her bed.
"Ok ok, what is so important?" asked Luisa
She climbed onto Francesca who took her to Mirabel's room.
Luisa was deposited into a plush guest room and quite a few monkeys began fussing with her hair and makeup then a small gold tiara encrusted with tiny sapphires was placed on her head and she was given a golden butterfly brooch with garnets in the wings. A sapphire blue dress was brought in and she got the impression that the animals wanted her to change into it. This was obviously Mirabel's sewing and she noticed the shimmering pink thread woven amongst the blue that caught the light each time she moved. She was then gently nudged in the direction of the throne room. Opening the doors she found it packed with Animals and her sister sat on the throne with Antonio on her knee, Tio Bruno stood to the left of the throne.
"Luisa, your bond with the hippos it much like Bruno's bond with the rats, they see you as one of their own, a sister and that is why I have decided to grant you the title and place in my high court as Lady Luisa," said Mirabel
Luisa just stood dumbstruck, this was not something she expected to hear at five in the morning after a hellish last 24 hours.
"I know the feeling kid, woke up to the same thing, just come on up here," said Bruno quietly
Luisa stood next to her uncle feeling more like a fish out of water than nobility of the animal kingdom. She only half listened as Mirabel gave the day's tasks to the animals. One difference she could see was that Mirabel was asking the animals instead of telling them what they were going to do, it was so different from how Abuela had run the house. Also Antonio was just so adorable sitting on Mirabel's lap with that little cornet on his head.
After the animals had filed out, Mirabel turned to address her sister.
"That room you were taken to to get ready in is one of the guest suites, it is yours anytime you want to use it," said Mirabel
"Is anyone else going to become part of your court?" asked Luisa
"Likely not, you have bonded with all the hippos, and Bruno is practically the father of the rats, so unless anyone else bonds with an entire species as opposed to a single individual, I don't see anyone else becoming part of my court. I'll make you a dress for you to wear every day like I made Tio's new outfit but the dress you have on now is the one I made for you to wear to Dolores's wedding," said Mira
"Mira you don't have to, the butterfly one you gave me is great," said Luisa
"I know but I want to, just wear the brooch and tiara from now on, they'll signify to any animal who has a memory lapse that your are a Lady of the Animal Kingdom, nothing would dare harm you or else they will face the wrath of the other animals before word even reaches me," said Mirabel.
"Can I at least pick what colors I want in my new dress?" asked Luisa
"I was going to go with gray and pink with blue accents," said Mirabel
"You know me better than I know myself, but why gray?" asked Luisa
"To represent the hippos, Tio has brown accents woven amongst the gold to represent the rats, I think colors are nicer than symbols," said Mirabel
"Not too fancy though, I need to still be able to work in it," said Luisa
"Of course, though your responsibilities will greatly diminish in town, it's high time all of you get to be treated as regular humans and the town can care for themselves for once unless there are emergencies. You will be able to use your discretion as to who you want to help and who can either be helped by the hippos or can do the thing themselves," said Mirabel
"And if they get angry when I say no?" asked Luisa
"Lulu, the hippos see you as one of them and are borderline overprotective of you, you saw how they acted when Abuela was about to scold you. Do you honestly think anyone is stupid enough to retaliate against you when you are not only 200 times stronger than them but have hippos ready to commit murder for you?" said Mirabel
"They'd actually commit murder to protect me?" asked Luisa
"Every time you are asked in town to do something when you are already busy they spend hours plotting how to make Abuela have a little accident, as well as any town people who don't seem to give a crap that you have limits," said Mirabel
"Would you stop them?" asked Luisa
"Yesterday, I was so angry I would have let them, but any other day I'd tell them to maim not kill," said Mirabel
"Her scaring Antonio really got to you huh," said Luisa
The boy in question was fast asleep on Mirabel's lap, cuddled into her with a small smile on his face.
Mirabel sighed.
"Tonito has been my rock for five years, I've raised him since the day he was born, I'm his mother in all but blood and the animals recognize this. Abuela crossed a line and struck a nerve with me, ten years of being ignored and unwanted then she mistreats my baby, it was the last straw for everything. If she had done anything else horrible to you yesterday I might have ordered the hippos or River or even a rat to take her out. I'm calmer now and will give her the chance to atone but yesterday was just too much," said Mirabel
"You wouldn't have had to ask, we would have been asking for forgiveness for it before you could even consider asking us," said Francesca
Mirabel chuckled and patted Francesca on the head.
"Are you ready to talk to the family?" asked Bruno
"It's still too early in the morning and Camilo is not a morning person," said Mirabel
…
It was eight am when Mirabel, Antonio, and Luisa left the room, followed by Bruno who quickly hid behind a plant.
Antonio sat at the breakfast table like it was any other day, Luisa decided to follow suit and sat to his left, leaving his right open for Mirabel and her own left for Bruno. Mirabel sat down and everyone turned to her. Then Casita shuffled the chairs, putting Mirabel at the head of the table where Abuela normally sat, Antonio to her right, followed by Luisa then the empty chair that Casita wasn't letting anyone else sit in. Another chair had been flung across the room just as a shriek of pain came from the nursery.
"Oh good, sounds like Abuela has discovered the new carpet I gave her," laughed Isabela, the dress Mirabel had given her was the only part of her new look not covered in pollen, it looked like she had attempted to dye her hair and hands with a variety of colored pollen.
Mirabel also noticed Sol around her mother's neck and Rosa the caiman in a bright yellow bow and..eye shadow? Next to Pepa. Tio Felix had Ronaldo the tarantula on his shoulder. Dolores had been mercifully moved next to Camilo who sat next to Agustin so she was a good distance away from the more terrifying new friends of the family. Mirabel then saw Alvaro the Cock-of-the-rock on her father's shoulder being fed fruit. The bright orange ball of feathers was talking to himself about not letting a single bee near his new best friend.
"Ay Alvaro still got that vendetta against bees eh? What did they do to you?" Ronaldo
"I don't trust them, or rocks, the Queen's father must be protected at all costs," said Alvaro
"You birds are more paranoid than Lord Bruno," said Rosa
"I concur, the queen specifically told the bees to get her if there were issues between them and humans, you are needlessly worrying your feathers off," said Francesca
"I suppose I should start by informing you all of a few overnight changes that took place," started Mirabel, her speaking had shut the animals up instantly.
"Go ahead Mira," encouraged her mother.
"First, I'm am now officially Queen of all the animals in the Encanto and surrounding jungle, Antonio is prince and next in line for the throne, no offense Tia and Tio but both he and the animals see me as his mother so that is how it will be from now on. Second, Luisa's bond with the hippos far exceeded my expectations when I asked them to help her out, this bond with an entire species is what prompted me to make her a Lady of my court. And finally, some of you are aware that I've had a certain guest staying with me because his little friends were worried about where he was staying, but I'll let him explain everything. Lord Bruno, please come here," said Mirabel
Pepa and Julieta's shrieks of surprise caused Dolores to cover her ears and it started raining, then was sunny, then raining again as both sisters were determined to hug their brother who had just appeared, followed by several rats in little medieval-style clothes, one was even wearing a tiny suit of armor. There were a few butterflies hovering around and Mira called them over.
"Could you ask the candle to suspended Dolores and Tia's gifts for a little bit?" asked Mirabel
"Of course, the eternal flame is also working on a permanent solution for all who are generally unhappy with their gifts, Lord Bruno included," said a butterfly.
"Tia and Lola, please don't freak out when your gifts stop working, I'm asking the candle to suspend them for a little bit to make sure you're comfortable and so the Encanto doesn't flood, you still have them they just won't work until we can find a way to make them better," said Mira
As if on cue, the clouds vanished and Dolores's hearing was just like everyone else's, Mirabel noticed her prima visibly relax.
"There will be no duties in town today as the animals will be taking care of everything and this family needs to work out some of its issues. I'm happy that most of you have found friends in some of my subjects and, though Camilo you are not allowed to be in cahoots with any of my subjects, I know you my primo and I don't want to deal with any headache induced by you playing your pranks with a bunch of animals, the chameleons are particularly mischievous," said Mirabel
Camilo sulked, there went most of his prank plans and he couldn't even make friends with one behind his cousin's back, she had eyes everywhere.
"So what will we all be doing?" asked Dolores
"Spending time together as a family, talking, having fun, enjoying each other's company. I'm told there is supposed to be a natural thunderstorm rolling through in about an hour that will last all day, I can think of no better weather for family time," said Mirabel
"I'll go set up Parques!" exclaimed Antonio about to dart out of his chair but Mirabel set her hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Wait a moment Tonito, we need to finish eating and half of us haven't even started," said Mirabel gently.
"Oh yeah," said Antonio, sitting back down.
"Mira what about Abuela?" asked Dolores
"I will be speaking to her after this if Isa can get rid of the cactus carpet," said Mirabel.
"Fine, I'll do it just before you go in, she needs to suffer a little longer," said Isa
…
Mirabel quietly slipped out of the living room after losing and having to drop out of the game, only Antonio seemed to notice she lost on purpose.
Isabela and Camilo were teasing each other over bad rolls and the adults were making up for lost time and talking. Luisa and Dolores were discussing a romance novel while each one was curled up on a chair and facing each other. The animals were holding their own conversations.
Fifteen minutes ago Isa had removed her cactus carpet from the nursery so Mirabel quietly made her way upstairs.
Casita opened the nursery door and let Mirabel in, Abuela was sitting on the bed, there were tiny pinpricks of blood dripping from cactus wounds on her feet.
Wordlessly, Mirabel handed her an arepa from breakfast and sat next to her.
"Abuela, I need to know, do you hate me?"