A/n: I will be trying to use "she/they" pronouns for 'Casita', since I know that "La" in "La Casita" is feminine, right? But Casita itself doesn't have a gender because they are the house. So I thought it would make sense to use "She/They" when addressing them. I hope it isn't too confusing...

Your Author,

-Jenna

Slowly, ever so slowly, Emil began to stir a bit from his peaceful rest. He gently tried to rub the sleep from his bright, honey-brown eyes, but he was still really tired. Whatever he was laying on was extremely comfortable. It smelled nice, too, and was fluffy. He ended up almost going back to sleep because it was so comfy.

It took him a full five minutes to realize that he was not in the forest anymore.

"Ah!" He yelped as the realization hit him. He almost lost to the sweet temptations of sleep... again! He tossed the super-soft blanket off of him in a hurry, noticing another thing that was different.

He wasn't in the same clothes he'd been in before. But he was glad that he still had his little red ruana. It was his Papi's. He loved this ruana. When he continued to look himself over, he noticed that he was clean! All of his little cuts were gone!

"Leti, look! All of the ouchies went away!" He exclaimed happily. "...Leti?" He looked to his side, where Aletia always was when he woke up, only to find an empty bed. He was the only one in the room at all; a nursery. There were faded alphabets on the walls, colorful walls.

He was in a strange house with colorful walls.

His happiness vanished instantly.

He scrambled to get out of the enormous bed. Shakily, he stood on the hardwood floor. With every breath he took, his panic rose.

Memories of that day flashed through his little mind.

The last time he saw his Papi.

He remembered that day very clearly, too clearly.

He had suddenly awoken in an unfamiliar house just like this one. Some meanies had snuck into their home and taken him away, tying him there so he couldn't run away. It had colors on the walls as if they had tried to make it look normal, but they were muted to a gray in his eyes because of how ominous the place felt.

A house with colorful walls, just like this one.

Leti had taught him how to signal her whenever something was wrong. Even when she wasn't using her power, she'd be able to sense it and come for him. Trusting his sister unquestionably, he did that signal.

He cried and screamed so that she would hear him. He was scared, sure. His ouchies hurt a lot. But he knew in his heart that Leti and his Papi would come for him. They always did, they were always there. They were family.

But that time... that time was different.

In a house with colorful walls like this one, the bad people had waited for Leti and Papi to come for him. When they arrived, just as he knew they would, there was a malicious smile on their faces as they retreated into the darkness of night.

In a house with colorful walls like this one, the bad men had drenched the walls and floors in a strange liquid that smelled funny. They left the moment his family got there, waiting in the darkness for them to set him free.

Emil had been so happy to see them at that moment that he didn't notice the bad men returning. They hadn't run away like they usually did when they were found.

There was a smell of smoke in a house with colorful walls.

The bad men had the mentality that if they could not have what they wanted, then they would get rid of it so no one else could have it either.

If they could not save their poor souls, death could be their only way of salvation.

When the demon came to retrieve her slave...

They would make that place her pyre along with them.

Leti had seen their intentions, she read all of the horrible thoughts in their hearts and warned Papi. Emil remembered her trembling as she did, he remembered the horror on her face when she told them that it was all a trap to get rid of all of them.

They managed to escape the house with colorful walls before it was engulfed in flames. But those flames spread from that house to the next, and then another. It scorched the grass and the trees alit like torches signaling an awful future.

Papi told them to run, holding off the monsters who chased them when they found out their plan did not work. He told them to protect each other. He said he'd always be with them in their heart and in their dreams. That when they sang their song he'd be singing with them even if they couldn't hear him anymore.

Emil hadn't known what any of it meant. All he understood was that he was scared, and he begged with all of his little heart for Papi to come with them.

Why did Papi have to stay there? He wanted him to run away from the scary fire and the monsters hiding in the dark. Emil didn't understand the meaning of his Papi's tears when kissed their foreheads. He didn't understand his sister's tears when they ran the other way.

But it was the very last time he saw Papi, and it started in the house with colorful walls.

He hadn't even realized that he was crying again. "Leti...! I need to find Leti!" With that thought, Emil stumbled from the room, giving off that secret signal within his heart that Leti could and would always sense.

He had to reach a bit to get to the handle. Curse these short arms and legs! "Just... a little... more...!"

Then suddenly, he felt something below his feet shift. In moments, he could reach that evil door handle! "I-I got it! ...Wait."

He looked down, met with the sight of the floorboards lifting him off the ground.

'...Huh?'

Now that he was looking, he noticed a lot of things he hadn't noticed before.

There was a drum-like noise. It was rhythmic and light, a tone resembling musical notes. Slowly, ever so slowly, he turned his head towards the source of the sound.

The window. The shudders. The floors. The drawers. They were all moving on their own It was as if they were trying to get his attention... Which was completely correct.

Casita was indeed trying to get his attention. That, and everyone else in the house.

They noticed immediately when the boy had woken up. It was the wee hours of the morning, and no one had woken up yet, not even Mirabel. Now that she had her own room, there was no way for Casita to wake her up as they normally did.

Just as before, their reach did not extend to the inside of the magical room unless a drastic change was happening. The only bedroom they had complete access to was the nursery, which was where Emil was.

After cleaning and healing his cuts, they thought it best to place him here to rest while Julieta concentrated on treating his sister, who was in serious condition. They finally managed to tear the child away from her surprisingly strong grip after she fell unconscious.

Felix and Agustin took charge after that, their fatherly instincts in overdrive. They got him out of those grimy, ripped, and tattered clothes and cleaned him off. They washed his hair and put him in some of Antonio's old clothes. The baby kept a grip on his ruana, to which they carefully had to loosen to get it. Pepa was the one to clean and dry it with her weather clouds, returning it to him in record time.

When he was clean and comfortable, they placed him on the soft bed of the nursery, tucking him in and hoping for him to have sweet dreams.

It was the same treatment for Aletia, though it was the mothers who took up that task. Her wounds were infected, some old and some new. She had bruises and scars all over her body, and it seemed she hadn't had a decent mean in a year? Maybe more. After dealing with the infected cuts and healing them with the water she got from Pepa, Julieta slowly fed her that soup to heal the rest.

Her scars disappeared, and her skin returned to the healthy and rich brown it should have been. Though she was still thin thanks to her underweight status, it was only a matter of time before her figure filled out as it was supposed to.

Pepa and Julieta took that time to wash her up, getting rid of her tattered and grimy clothes for one of their daughters' nightgowns. Washing her hair, combing out the knots, and letting her rest comfortably in the spare room to continue her treatment was how their day went.

Two full days. Emil and Aletia were asleep for two full days before either one of them woke up.

Casita had been delighted when Emil finally woke up. They could tell they were still half asleep until just a moment earlier. It was amusing to watch him almost drift back into slumber. They were going to make their presence known, just like they do when it was time for Mirabel to wake up... but they could tell in the next moment, when he fully woke up, that he was beginning to panic.

They lifted some floorboards, doing a sort of placating motion. 'Easy, easy.' They seemed to say. Usually, the children within Encanto loved interacting with them. With their musical charm and vibrant colors, children tended to adore Casita when they stopped by to say hello.

But this child was different. The moment he saw the walls, tears started falling. His eyes seemed to go to some faraway place, and it worried her how scared he seemed. They wanted him to know that he was in a safe place, that they were a safe place to be in.

Whatever happened outside Encanto would never happen here. Casita would protect them, to the best of their ability. They did so even through the pain of collapsing and would continue to do so forevermore.

Emil's thoughts clearly did not follow the same track.

'Dios Mio, it's moving. The house is alive. Does that mean I'm inside a living house? Wait, If it's alive and I'm inside it that means—"I got eaten! The house ate me!"

N-no, sweetheart! You didn't get eaten, Casita frantically tried to placate the child again. But the rumbling floors, shutters, drawers, and even ceiling just made it worse for the poor, panicked four-year-old.

To him, they were coming at him maliciously.

It didn't matter that they were doing anything but hurting him.

He was in a stranger's house in a room with colorful walls.

Only this time, the house was alive.

So he did the only thing his little mind could think of.

"WAAHHHHHH!" He began to ball his little eyes out, bolting from the room as fast as he could in search of his sister.

Madrigal's Point Of View

"WAAHHHHHH!" Everyone was startled from their sleep by the terror-stricken cry coming from the nursery. They scrambled and tumbled out of their rooms in a tired haze, the sun had barely risen on the horizon. The only one who hadn't gotten up was Antonio because his room was much larger than any of the others' rooms... Except for Bruno's, probably.

It was a literal jungle with a treehouse, he wasn't going to be hearing any of this commotion from inside there.

Mirabel, being used to waking up relatively early, was the first out of her door, "W-what was that, Casita?" She asked, fixing her glasses which hung awkwardly on her face. Casita frantically waved the floorboards and shutters, pointing her attention to the nursery. It only took a moment for her to realize what they were saying. "Emil! He's awake! Guys, guys, wake up! The little one's awake!"

With that said, she made her way to him. She tried calling him, Casita helping her get up the stairs quickly. "Hey, buddy!" She said, giving him a glorious and friendly smile, "Did you sleep well?"

But his reaction to her wasn't what she was expecting. Instead of being curious as to who she was or returning her greeting...

"Hiik!" He squeaked like a cute little mouse and ran in the opposite direction, bumping into everything because his body wasn't yet ready to run... But that didn't stop him from running.

It shocked Mirabel considerably, "What's wrong?!" She could see the little baby tripping all over the place in a desperate attempt to flee. Casita was trying their best to catch him when he did, but every time, he would be even more startled and run in a different direction.

He stopped in front of Luisa's door, trying to find somewhere to hide and... that may not have been the best idea.

The moment her door opened, it revealed the young woman in all of her muscular glory. When she noticed little Emil in front of her door, she smiled brightly. "Hi! It's nice to see you awake, little guy!"

"Hiiiik!"

Luisa's heart immediately shattered. She knew that she was big and that some children found that intimidating, but she didn't think he would be this scared of her. Wanting nothing but to rectify it, she ran after the child, "I-I'm sorry, sweetheart, I didn't mean to scare you! I won't hurt you, I promise!"

...Not a good idea, either, dear Luisa...

"HIIIIIIIIIIIK!"

Emil was too scared to understand anything our gentle Luisa was trying to say. If anything, he seemed even more scared than before. To him, all he saw were shadows of the monsters. Everything was out to get him and he didn't feel even remotely safe without Leti by his side.

Finding the staircase, he practically flew down them, and by now, he was full-on sobbing.

The other Madrigals had similar experiences while trying to catch and calm the child who was frantically running all over the place. Even with his clumsy nature, Emil was quick and knew how to evade their advances like it was a practiced skill. Some thought that his clumsiness was humourous, reminding them of Tío Agustin... but it was a lot less funny when they realized how scared the baby was.

They hadn't meant to scare him, not at all. Their plan was to welcome him and his sister into the home with warmth, food, music, and most importantly, love. Lots of love. But whatever had happened upon his awakening ruined any good first impression they wanted to have with him.

What had scared him so bad?

They were so used to the children of the Encanto loving them that this reaction was extremely foreign. When Emil saw Casita moving, he would squeak and go a different way. But why? People grew up hearing about the amazing Madrigals, their gifts, and their magical house, La Casita. The more they thought about it as they futilely tried to catch the surprisingly fast Emil, the more the truth dawned on them.

That way of thinking was only present within Encanto. Outside of it? No one had ever heard of a living house or magical gifts. All of this was new to Emil, and because they had a feeling his and his sister's lives outside Encanto weren't pleasant, his first response was to be scared.

And they were right. Emil was terrified seeing a moving house trying to catch him. Topping it off, a bunch of people he didn't know at all was chasing him around! He was scared out of his little mind!

Casita was trying to soothe him in any way that they could. But their naturally bright colors seemed to remind him of something horrid, and he ran away from every attempt they made to placate him. So, they used this to lead him into a corner instead, hoping for their Madrigals to understand and do what they simply could not.

Casita would raise the floorboards and rattle the shuttles, they would drum the bricks and drawers leading him towards the pillars by the spare room. Completely tired out from all of the running, just as they thought he would, Emil hid behind a pillar and stayed there.

"Thank you, Casita," Camilo huffed, clearly in disbelief that the kid could make them run around like that, "First off, how is he this difficult to catch with those tiny little legs? How is he that fast? And secondly, kid, why are you running from us? Is my face weird?"

The kid did not answer his question at all, only hiccuping in his sobs as he realized there was nowhere for him to run now. His eyes kept looking every which way, trying to find something, anything. When he didn't find what he was looking for, he cried even more. In his mind, he was only calling for one thing, one person.

'Leti! Where are you, Leti! Did the house eat you too! Did they hurt you?! Leti!'

He was worried, scared, tired, and surrounded. Leti would have found him by now. She always did, she was always there. But she wasn't here anymore, he didn't know where he was, what happened after he fell asleep, or where she was.

With his mind completely overwhelmed, the only thing he could do was cry harder.

Camilo hadn't meant to make him cry, "No no no no, buddy, don't cry! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!" He panicked himself.

It was then his sister took over trying to calm him down, "Easy, chiquito... It's okay. You're okay. We aren't going to do anything to you. You're safe. Everything is fine, see?" Dolores gently whispered. The baby whipped his head in her direction, and with his attention on her, she continued to speak very slowly. "Hi, sweetie. I need you to breathe for me. Can you do that?" She demonstrated, gesturing for the others to follow.

"It's not hard, see?" Camilo added, exaggerating the breaths as he did. When Emil slowly began to copy them, he smiled, "Yeah, buddy! Just like that! You're doing great."

After a few minutes of this, they managed to calm him down somewhat. But, he made no move to get closer to them, and Dolores stopped the others from trying to get closer too.

"Do you... feel a bit better now?" Luisa asked hesitantly. When he faintly nodded, she let a sigh of relief escape her. "I'm really sorry for scaring you."

He didn't say anything, but he did nod briefly. It made her heart soar that he at least acknowledged her apology. There was hope!

The others gave a glance at each other before nodding. Slowly, they tried to explain the situation to the baby.

"Do you... remember how you got here?" Mirabel asked gently. Hesitantly, he shook his head, flinching when Casita made any movement to showcase their worry for the child. With a sigh, she began to explain. "We found you and your sister, Aletia, in the forest just outside of town and brought you to our home."

At the name of his sister, he perked up a bit, "...Leti?" He peeked a little more from his hiding place, revealing his beautiful honey brown eyes, "The h-h-house didn't e-e-e-eat her?"

"Casita? Eat her?" Camilo had to hold himself from laughing, "No, buddy. Casita would never do anything to hurt anyone. They were just trying to say hello. Right, Casita?"

They answered with an upbeat musical drum of their bricks. The little boy stared at them for a moment, and slowly, Casita waved at him again.

This time, he didn't run or scream in terror. Just an inch, he removed himself from the pillar just an inch, and did a little wave back, "H-hola, Casita?"

Casita was elated. They did an entire musical number in joy. This made the little boy giggle just a bit, and again, he stepped a little closer.

The Madrigals had to hold in their own joy at the action. Mirabel took it upon herself to introduce them all.

"I'm Mirabel," she said, and then she gestured to her sisters, "This is Luisa, she's super strong. but she wouldn't hurt a fly. The pretty one over there is Isabela. On the other side of you over there my prima, Dolores, and her hermano, Camilo. They have another brother who's around your age! His name is Antonio and..."

Mirabel went on about her family, the house, and their town to the little boy. The others joined in, gently coaxing the child from behind the pillar. "Can you tell us your name, conejito?"

Though they already knew it thanks to Aletia's mutterings while delirious, they thought it would be better for the baby to introduce himself. It was better for him to come toward them than for them to go toward him. They already saw how that went.

The baby took a moment to look at each of them. He didn't have Leti's cool power that told him everything was alright. He wasn't big, strong, or brave even though he tried his hardest to be. But now that he could see them and not those horrible shadows... he could tell that they were different.

Their smiles were gentle. Their voices were calm. Casita, was it? He could see the tiles dancing in the corner because he said hello. Their walls were colorful, but... it wasn't in the way that he'd first thought they were.

Their colors weren't a rushed paint job to cover that red that smelled like coins.

They were bright and truly vibrant, and he found himself enjoying the tunes they were making in their joy. It reminded him of his Papi: he always used to sing, dance, or play his guitar when he was happy, too.

"I..." Slowly, but surely, he came just a little closer to them, until finally, they could see him fully, "I'm..." They could see that he was really nervous, and the little tremble in his shoulders didn't fully settle. The tiny frown on his face didn't leave, and tears were still gathered in his eyes, ready to fall at any moment. But he came closer. Just a little bit closer, and introduced himself.

"I-I'm Emil. I'm, um," he counted a bit on his hands before continuing, "f-four." He shrank a bit, holding onto his little ruana to give him just a little bit more courage to continue, but... that was probably not enough and he almost seemed like he wanted to run and hide again.

He continuously looked between the floor and them before finally speaking again, "I-I want my hermana, I w-want to see Leti."

"She's with my Mama. I-I can take you there if you want. Is that okay?" Luisa said, reaching her hand down to him. She waited patiently to see if he would take it, not making any move other than that.

To her surprise and delight, Emil took slowly took her hand. He wrapped both of his hands around it but was only able to properly hold two of her fingers because his were so small. With a whisper, he answered her, "Y-yes, pwease."

The Madrigal children had an extremely difficult time. Very, very difficult. They could not coo right now. They couldn't act on any impulse to squeeze his adorable chubby cheeks or ruffle his curly hair. If they did, then all of the effort they put in to calm him down to this extent would have been for nothing. They had to endure.

Endure, La Familia Madrigal!

Well, not sure how well they were going to be able to keep that up. A single cute little bean was one thing... but what about two?

Aletia had woken up, too.