Chapter 9
29 years before Encanto
"Today has to be perfect."
"I know, Mamá."
"The whole town is going to be there-"
"I know, Mamá!"
Thunder rumbled above Pepa's head and Abuela gasped, gesturing quickly to Bruno, who stood at the ready. He quickly held an umbrella up over his sister's head. Abuela waved the cloud away in annoyance.
Pepa was sitting at the table in front of the mirror, wearing a beautiful white dress as Abuela and Julieta helped her to get ready.
"Look up." Julieta said softly, and as Pepa did she carefully drew black through her sister's lashes and across her waterlines.
Abuela pinched her daughter's cheek affectionately and Pepa groaned, though Bruno and Julieta knew secretly she adored it.
"This is the day you show everyone how perfect you are!" Abuela said proudly, turning to fix her daughter's hair. Pepa stared ahead, her eyes wide as Abuela continued. "Perfect skies, and a perfect day..."
Bruno watched Pepa, noticing more and more sweat forming on her face and neck each time mama mentioned the word perfect. Bruno made worried eye contact with Julieta in the mirror's reflection, and Julieta sighed back, shaking her head in agreement. It was too much pressure.
"You want Félix's family to be sure they have married into a good family." Abuela continued, kissing her daughter's head before pinning in her white veil. "A strong family. We are all counting on you to make us proud today, Pepa."
The cloud rumbled again, this time rain falling down over Pepa and pattering on the umbrella that Bruno held. Julieta ducked her head under the umbrella too and continued to work. Abuela exclaimed, stepping back in disapproval.
"Pepa!" Abuela scolded. "You have a cloud."
Pepa's cheeks flushed as she stared ahead into the mirror, her eyes filled with shame and worry. Pepa took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Bruno watched her mouth moving quickly and silently as she repeated her mantra in her head. Pepa grabbed her hand and twisted her fingers anxiously, her nails digging into skin.
"Enough." Abuela lightly tapped Pepa's hand to make her stop. Pepa quickly opened her eyes in embarrassment, hiding her hands under the table.
"It's just rain, Mamá." Julieta spoke up, smiling encouragingly at Pepa in the mirror as she tried to keep her tone casual and calm. "That's why we have umbrellas. I say we just let Pepa enjoy today."
"I want that too mija, believe me. But you know how these things go." Abuela sighed, her voice tired as she repeated a lecture they'd all heard many times over. "A thunder will lead to a drizzle. A drizzle will lead to a sprinkle. And before we know it, we have a hurricane!"
The cloud above Pepa thundered loudly and sparked as Abuela finished her sentence, rain suddenly pouring down over the whole room. Pepa groaned, her breathing fast and hard as she glared up at the rain with angry eyes. Bruno did his best to cover her with the umbrella.
"Pepa!" Abuela scolded, holding her arms out as she looked down at the drenched hems of Pepa's wedding dress, before turning to Julieta in exasperation. "You see?"
"Sorry." Pepa muttered in frustration, closing her eyes again and focusing on her mantra, sweat running down her face and neck. As she focused on staying calm, the rain slowed down around her.
"Good." Abuela sighed. "Now, I am going to get changed out of these wet clothes. And when I return I want to see nothing but clear skies from you, Pepa. Do you hear me? No clouds allowed."
"Look at you, guapa." Félix whispered in wonder, smiling warmly at Pepa as they stood at the alter. "You are so beautiful."
Pepa smiled shakily back at him, her body stiff and her fingers trembling by her sides. Sweat dripped down her face as she glanced over at all of the townsfolk watching. Mama was right, the whole town really was here. Her eyes darted to Félix's family and then quickly back at him. She took a deep and shaky breath.
Clear skies, Pepa, clear skies.
"Hey," Félix whispered softly over to Pepa, and she quickly turned back. Félix smiled lovingly as her eyes met his. "It's ok to be scared..." Félix smiled, before leaning in closer and whispering. "So am I."
Pepa looked back at him in surprise. He winked at her encouragingly, then gently took her hands in his and kissed them.
Pepa gulped, feeling panic start to rise within her. Why was Félix scared to marry her?
Pepa looked down, feeling her chest tighten. No - She couldn't. Not today. Pepa exhaled slowly. Clear skies, clear skies, clear-Of course he was scared. Who wouldn't be scared to marry Pepa Madrigal? Pepa was crazy. Marrying her meant marrying a hurricane. Chaos and rain and storms, every special occasion ruined by-
"Hey, sis!" Bruno spoke up from beside her. Pepa turned to see Bruno and her face softened in relief. She glanced at Julieta who stood beside him and Pepa smiled, feeling comforted by her siblings' presence.
"You're doing so great!" Julieta whispered, doing a little cheering dance with her arms. Pepa laughed softly.
Bruno grinned, hoping to make her laugh too. Noticing the sweat dripping down the side of Pepa's face, Bruno gestured over to it.
"Hey Pepi - What's that?" He whispered in a playful voice, grinning at his sister. "Looks like rain!"
Julieta elbowed Bruno, but it was too late.
Pepa's expression fell as her eyes stared back at Bruno in terror, her chest heaving and her breathing becoming hard and fast. Rain? Where? How was it raining? She had tried so hard. Stupid rain, stupid Pepa! She couldn't do anything right. She'd ruined everything, again!
The temperature in the church dropped dramatically and the sky outside darkened and rumbled. The crowd murmured nervously, looking around. Abuela watched in horror. It was like Bruno had just pulled open the floodgates, and everything Pepa had been trying to hold in just came flooding out.
Rain poured down from the ceiling like a monsoon, splashing down to the floor and drenching everyone. The townsfolk gasped and cried out. Wind swirled around Pepa in a violent spiral, and gusts of wind howled through the church, knocking down and smashing paintings and candles and ornaments, slamming open the front doors. The stained glass windows smashed and glittered shards of colour down over everyone. Seats toppled over and scattered across the room as people screamed and ran out the doors.
Pepa fell to her knees, her face in her hands as she sobbed in despair. Her hair and veil blew and flapped loosely in the wind as it swirled around her.
"I'm sorry!" Bruno called out desperately to Pepa over the storm, but it was too late.
18 years later
1 month after Bruno left
Pepa stared up at the starry blanket of Camilo's pillow fort above her, memories playing over in her head. Outside of the shelter, rain fell heavily in her room to reflect her mood. Pepa glanced out at the rain and sighed.
The fort was filled with flowers from Isabela, and on the bookshelf was a hot cup of tea from Camilo that Pepa had forgotten to drink. She took it in her hands, holding the warmth to her chest as she sat up and watched the rain.
Everybody was out helping the town recover from the hurricane, Abuela having different instructions for each family member depending on their powers. Pepa's instructions had been simple - Stay in your room and calm down. Keep out of the way and don't cause any more trouble.
Pepa looked down at her reflection in the tea water and frowned, feeling humiliated.
Outside of her room, Pepa could hear the sounds of people coming and going through the house - collecting tools, dragging wood and tiles, stopping for lunch breaks. She heard the sounds of their voices, talking and laughing and unified by the tasks at hand. Pepa sighed and took a drink of her tea, feeling useless.
"Hey Tía." Mirabel's voice spoke up brightly as she opened the door. "Mind if I come in?"
Pepa turned to Mirabel, the room flashing and rumbling dangerously at the sight of her. Mirabel stepped back a little and smiled apologetically. Pepa frowned, not at Mirabel, but at her own reaction.
"Sorry." She muttered in embarassment.
Every time Pepa saw her niece, she couldn't help but feel angry, being reminded of how hard life had become when Mirabel hadn't received her gift.
Pepa knew that wasn't fair. She wished she could control her feelings and be a better Tía. Of course she loved Mirabel, of course none of it was her fault... Pepa told herself this often. Julieta told her this often. But it still didn't change the way she felt. It still didn't stop the painful memories from resurfacing.
People said that Pepa controlled the weather, but the truth was the weather controlled her. If it thundered, it thundered. Pepa's gift didn't listen to her, and it didn't listen to reason. No matter what Pepa's mind said, the storms only listened to her heart.
Mirabel held up a plate of food with a friendly smile. Pepa's eyes softened at her kindness.
"I've got empañadas..." Mirabel said in a tempting voice, her expression warm as she stood at the door. She wobbled the plate around playfully as she held it out for Pepa with a grin, attempting to make peace with her Tía. "You hungry?"
Pepa watched as Mirabel stood in the doorway and she took a shaky breath, her mind flashing back to Mirabel standing in front of a different door - the disappearing door.
Don't do this now, Pepa told herself. Stop, stop, stop. Clear skies. You have one job, to stay calm. Don't do this now. Please, Pepa, please...
Pepa shuddered, remembering the door disappearing behind Mirabel. She remembered the town talking, and Mamá telling Pepa the future of the family now depended on her. She remembered the desperation in Mamá's face as she told Pepa to have another child, to prove the magic was still strong. Pepa remembered feeling terrified and overwhelmed, knowing she had no choice. Nobody says no to Mamá.
She remembered the years that followed that day - The stress, the pressure, the rain, the disappointment. She remembered the pain of having them, and the pain of losing them. The physical pain that Julieta would take away, and the emotional pain that no one could take away. Every time they died inside of her it felt like a piece of Pepa died too. She remembered Mamá trying to balance her disappointment with sympathy as she'd find Pepa crying in the rain. Mamá would hold her close, stroking her hair and telling her that everything would be ok, but then time would pass and she would tell to Pepa try again.
Pepa whimpered as she could see it all playing over in her head - The snow, the tears, the bleeding. Mirabel standing at the door. Mamá's hard and expecting eyes. Bruno leaving her behind. Pepa's blood spilling and mixing in with the rainwater.
She shuddered. Antonio's birth had almost killed Pepa, and she didn't know if she was ever going to recover from that. The rain still woke her up in the middle of the night, screaming and crying as Félix held her shaking body, kissing her face and reminding her that it's just a dream, just a memory, that it wasn't happening again.
"You ok, Tía?" Mirabel called out again. It was like Pepa couldn't hear her. Her chest heaved in panic as she sobbed, her eyes closed. Wind and lightning spiralled around her. Mirabel stood at the doorway and tried again, a little louder this time.
"Tía!" Mirabel called out over the storm. "You gotta wake up! You got a storm, Tía!" She took a deep breath. "Tía!"
Pepa shuddered, but she didn't respond. Tears and rainwater dripped down her face as she wrapped her arms around her chest and cried. Mirabel looked around the storming room, then back to Pepa. She considered running over to help, but knew she wouldn't make it out in one piece with all that lightning.
Glancing down at the plate in her hands, Mirabel had another idea. She picked up an empanada and tossed it at Pepa, hitting her in the head.
Pepa jumped in surprise, lightning striking down from her cloud and smashing a lamp, shattering glass along the floor. Pepa quickly turned to Mirabel with furious eyes.
"Get OUT!" Pepa exclaimed, her face streaked with angry tears as she stood up, breathing heavily as dark clouds crashed furiously around her.
Mirabel backed up a little, her eyes frightened.
Seeing her expression, Pepa hesitated. Her demeanor softened and so did the storm. Dios. She hadn't meant to snap like that.
The thunder and lightning faded as Pepa went to step forward, but she stopped as she saw Mirabel take a shaky breath.
"Mija, I'm so sorry..." Pepa said apologetically, wiping her eyes. "I didn't mean to scare you like that." She looked Mirabel over, her eyes filled with concern. "Are you ok?"
Mirabel took a deep breath and nodded, putting on a brave smile.
"Yeah." She replied. "Yeah. I'm fine, Tía." Mirabel's eyes were genuine and full of understanding. "I just got you at a bad time." She smiled again, then glanced down at the plate of empañadas. "I'll, ah, just leave these here." Mirabel said, carefully sliding them onto a nearby table and stepping back into the doorway.
Seeing the plate was getting wet from the rain, Mirabel changed her mind. She quickly stepped back in and grabbed them again, hurrying them over to Camilo's pillow fort. Pepa held her breath as her niece entered her room, repeating her mantra over in her head to keep the clouds under control as Mirabel went past.
Mirabel put the plate into the dry shelter, dumping Isabela's flowers out into the rain to make room for it on the shelf. She laughed quietly to herself, then hurried back to the doorway.
"Ok," Mirabel said with a breathless smile. "Gonna give you some space now."
She turned and headed off. Pepa sighed.
"Mirabel?" She called after her.
Mirabel hurried back to the doorway, leaning against it as she grinned. "You called?"
Pepa smiled. She was a lot like Julieta.
"Thank you, darling." Pepa said gratefully.
"No problem." Mirabel smiled back brightly. "Hope you feel better soon, Tía. And you know... You will, because those empañadas, She pointed over to the plate with both hands and grinned. "Well. I don't mean to brag, but I made those bad boys myself, and let's just say. They're the real miracle around here."
Pepa couldn't help but laugh. As she did, the rain stopped falling. She glanced up at the clear room, and then back to Mirabel gratefully.
"See? Already working their magic." Mirabel grinned. "Alright, I'll leave you to it, Tía."
Pepa smiled as she watched her go.
Mirabel headed off then stopped at the door, slowly turning back to face Pepa.
Pepa flinched as the sight of her doing that brought back the memories. Pepa felt her chest tighten again as clouds reappeared over her head.
"I love you, Tía." Mirabel smiled genuinely.
Pepa exhaled slowly, pushing the thoughts down and summoning the strength to look at Mirabel again.
"Love you too." Pepa replied breathlessly, hoping Mirabel knew that despite the clouds, her words were genuine.
