Cycles of Miracles
By Kellie Fay
It is generally understood that Mirabel is meant to take over for Abuela Alma, but what happens when Mirabel grows to old?
Disclaimer: Encanto Belongs to Disney, this is just a random daydream from someone with an overactive imagination.
The old man sat down with a slight groan on the grey granite bench worn smooth by decades of use. He allowed the warm spring sunlight to warm his aching bones as he gazed out at the flowers and succulents surrounding the markers. He remembered his cousin Luisa carrying over many of the markers lovingly, sometimes crying while she did so. Luisa's marker had been brought over by Isabella's grandson Gabriel. His gift while not super strength was like Luisa's. He could render any object weightless just by touching it. He would then push the object to its location then removed the enchantment. His gift really came in handy as Luisa grew older, and while not really losing her strength it became more and more painful to use until Gabriel and Mirabel both told Luisa that it was time for her to retire.
He smiled sadly at both Luisa's and Isabella's markers. Then turned to look at the other half of the garden.
"Hey Pappa, Mamma, thanks for the great weather for the twin's birthday. I'm guessing it's still you. None of the new kids have any weather changing powers yet. I wonder if Mirabel is right that the new kids will get gifts that fill the spaces the rest of us have now. I hope someone gets mine. I would be really sad if all my friends left. I hope maybe one of Carlos' kids will get it. They're only one, and three now. And of course, there is Rosa, my friends might stay because of her. I'll have to tell some of my friends to watch out for the twins. Oscar found his door, and he's got a great power. He can tell when someone is lying. When he gets older, he's going to be amazing, but like Mira keeps telling us we need to let him find his own way."
Not long after Abuela passed away Mirabel and the other adults decided to do away with the door ceremony. Well aware on how much pressure that put on a five-year-old child, Mirabel asked her mother, his mother, and Tio Bruno how they found their doors. They said that a week after their fifth birthday they just appeared, so they all decided to just let Casita decide how each child found their door. New gifts were celebrated, but any talent a child produced magical or not was treated with the same joy. Olivia loved working with clay and took joy from simply creating bowls, pots, and pitchers. "Just like we thought, Olivia didn't get a gift. She did get a bed in Oscar's room, but he doesn't understand why Olivia doesn't seem to have a gift, and it's worrying him. We weren't going to tell him right away, but do you know how hard it is to talk to a kid who can tell if you're not telling him the whole story?"
The capybara grazing next to him chuckled. "Your mother had to deal with a child who could impersonated anyone."
He chuckled. "And mamma appreciated all of you helping with catching him at it," he told his friend.
The capybara shrugged and went back to grazing, but a toucan perched in his father' maker stopped preening and asked, "why don't you just tell him the truth?"
"Do you think he's old enough to understand?" He asked his friend.
The toucan gave an avian equivalent of a shrug. "You understood when Parce told you, and it's easier than trying to make up something that he's going to see through. You could even tell him that we told you."
"True." It was about two years after the magic returned that he had wondered out loud to his animal friends why Mirabel didn't have a gift. Parce, his jaguar friend at the time snorted at that, and said with a hint of a growl, "she received her gift at birth." He didn't understand it at the time either, but as the years went on, and Abuela grew sickly he realized that Mirabel kept anxiety within the family to a minimum. Weather it was a fight within the family, stress due to responsibilities in the village, or fear of their own gift. Flora could move water and one time she unintentionally caused a flood that damaged someone's home. Each time Mirabel would offer guidance and a friendly ear, and except for a few small cracks, that Mirabel would find the individual causing it, and fix the issue, the magic remained strong, and until Olivia all new Madrigal children would find their door within a month of their fifth birthday.
"I suppose your right," he said. With a grunt he rose to his feet and leaned on his cane. He took only two steps before a brightly colored scarlet macaw flew in and transformed into a young woman with deep brown hair wearing a blouse and skirt in the same blue, gold, and scarlet of the bird she had been, Mirabel's granddaughter Rosa.
"Cousin Tony, Regina said you came out here. I saw a few cracks near Oscar's room. She said you would know what to do."
"That's just what I was thinking about, I think we're going to have to tell him." When the toucan squawked in protest he smiled and with a chuckle said, "Okay, they think we should tell him."
Rosa smiled, "Regina said the same thing."
Regina, a harpy eagle who ended up in the Encanto after a bad storm, decided she liked the area and raised several eaglets here. Like his jaguar friends she hunted far from the Encanto, and even taught Rosa how to fly.
"If you were talking to Regina, why weren't you a harpy eagle when you flew here?" He asked.
With a grin and a conspiratal whisper Rosa answered, "don't tell Regina but I like parrot colors better."
"You'd better tell Regina, so she doesn't think that you are an available snack," he teased right back.
Rosa sighed, "you're right Cousin Tony. Hang on, I'll give you a ride."
Rosa backed up for a second, then transformed into a beautiful spotted grey mare with a luxurious mane and tail. She knelt making it easier for him to mount. Then she gently walked back to Casita being careful not to jostle him too much.
"Olivia is okay, right?" He asked. He and Rosa had been planting ideas in Olivia's head for over a year now that she might have been born with a special gift that made a magical one unnecessary, she didn't seem upset with not getting a door along with her twin. He was sure it was Oscar's issues that caused the cracks this time.
"Olivia is fine," Rosa neighed. Just then Regina swooped down and landed in a nearby tree.
"Olivia, and Oscar just had an argument. Oscar said he didn't want his gift and ran off to the river, Olivia is with Mirabel." she said.
Antonio nodded, "can you find him for us?" He asked.
"Easily," the harpy eagle said and took to the skies again.
"Change of course," Antonio said getting a tighter grip on Rosa's mane.
"Hang on," Rosa whickered. She broke into a canter and followed Regina to the river. Where they found the harpy eagle trying to force Rosa's son back toward the Encanto.
With Antonio still on her back Rosa got in front of Oscar and neighed sharply.
"You are going to be a never end of worry for your mother," Antonio said firmly. Rosa nodded in agreement.
"I don't want a gift if Olivia can't have one!" Oscar said pushing his hair out of his eyes and wiping his tears. Antonio could see a few scrapes on the boy's legs and arms and leaves in his thick curly black hair. Rosa, still in her horse form, began to smell him looking for more injuries.
"Mom of fine stop it!" Oscar said pushing her mother's head away.
"You're lucky she's helping me get around right now and she can't transform to lecture you." Antonio said firmly. He offered the boy his hand. "Come on we have to go home."
Oscar stepped away from them and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not going home unless Olivia can have a gift too!"
Regina in a nearby tree said "stubborn human! Tell him!"
Antonio sighed and just plowed ahead. "Your sister has a gift!" He said sharply, "it just doesn't need magic, and if your born with this gift Casita won't give you a second one!"
The words shocked Oscar into dropping his arms. "Olivia has a gift?" He asked puzzled.
Rosa sided up next to Oscar again. Antonio leaned over and offered Oscar his hand again. "I'll explain on the way home."
Reluctantly Oscar took his hand and allowed him to pull him up onto his mother's back.
Rosa began a slow walk back into the Encanto. Regina, and the toucans flew above them in lazy circles.
"My friends could tell by the time she was three that Olivia was going to take after your Bisabuela Mirabel. She never got a door either, she just took over Abuela Alma's room after she passed away."
"But why didn't she get a door, you all always told me that Bisabuala Mirabel has a gift."
"As far as all my friends are concerned, she does have a gift. They told me that when we were still kids, and I told everyone. She can keep the rest of us from getting so stressed that we hurt Casita."
"We can hurt Casita?" Oscar asked puzzled.
"Yes, and you did," Antonio said sharply. "Being unhappy and stressed disrupts the magic. It causes cracks in Casita, and if too many people are unhappy, it can destroy her. I lived through that once. Everyone lost their gifts, and all my friends ran away, and we didn't get them back until all the arguments in the family were over." He didn't feel the need to elaborate on that. Mirabel would probably want to tell him the whole story herself.
"I didn't know that could happen," Oscar said.
"It's not something anyone likes to talk about," Antonio explained. "Part of Bisabuela Mirabel's gift is that she can tell when someone is hurting Casita. She usually deals with it way before any of us know there is a problem.
"But I thought Bisabuela Mirabel was sick, we weren't supposed to bother her," Oscar said puzzled.
They arrived at the Casita Oscar hopped down and again Rosa knelt to allow Antonio to dismount. Then she transformed back into Oscar's mother.
"My animal friends or Cousin Tony's usually tell us who finds their way into Abuela Mirabel's room. Sometimes our friends help them find her, and sometimes Casita makes sure they find her.
"Your mother and I have been trying to help her out, but some of the family still only tell your Bisabuela what's really bothering them. We think it's also part of her gift, and on that note," here Antonio looked sternly at the boy. "I think it's time you paid your Bisabuela Mirabel a visit."
Now Oscar looked a little panicked. He'd only seen Mirabel a few times and mostly when he was a toddler. For the last three years, ill, she stayed mostly in her room tended by her son Hernando, Rosa, or Bella.
"Um I don't think this is important to bother Bisabuela Mirabel with, I mean we know she's sick and I know you and mamma are busy with helping her and…." He would have rambled on all the time backing away when Camilo, Antonio's current jaguar friend, snuck up behind Oscar, and roared.
Oscar jumped three feet into the air then turned around and confronted the cat annoyed. "Camilo! You scared the life out of me!"
"He said you're going to Abuela Mirabel." Antonio said firmly, then softly to the jaguar he whispered, "I knew there was a reason I named you after my brother." He took Oscar's hand and led him into Casita.
Casita seemed eager for the audience to take place. She colored her floor tiles a bright turquoise and grey leading up to Mirabel's room. Silently Antonio led Oscar up the stairs. The fight out of the boy, Oscar followed, until they came to the glowing door that held both Mirabel's and Abuela Alma's image. Now Oscar stopped in his tracks, hesitant about going inside.
Casita nudged him a little with her floor tiles, but he held fast until Bella opened the door. "She's expecting you," she said.
"How is she?" Antonio asked worried.
Bella shook her head sadly. "All I can say is what Abuela Julieta used to say. Healing is different than old age. I could sing from here till next year, but Abuela Mirabel is over ninety. I can keep her going for a few more years, but like papa told me with Abuela Alma eventually she's going to tell me to stop."
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Bellita, right now I think Oscar needs to see her."
Bella nodded and led them further into the room. Mirabel looked awake alert and cheerful, but Antonio could see how she struggled to breathe, and little winces when she moved. Olivia was sitting on the bed snuggled up to Mirabel. Antonio was glad to see her smiling and laughing at something Mirabel must have said. He could see by her red eyes that she had been crying before. The moment that Olivia noticed her mother there she tried to move back to the stool next to the bed, but Mirabel held onto her firmly.
"Stay where you are Olivia, Oscar can use the stool," she said adjusting her glasses Antonio, like always, couldn't help but be impressed with the way Mirabel would exert an air of love and respect just by looking at someone. She looked squarely at Oscar, who meekly sat down on the stool and lowered his head ashamed.
With a gentle smile on her face Mirabel reached out and lifted his chin so that he had to face her and his twin. "First start with Olivia," Mirabel said gently.
Oscar took a deep breath, "Olivia, I'm sorry I said you were stupid for not wanting a gift and trying to get you mad." He looked up hoping he was finished, but when Mirabel kept looking at him, he continued, "and I'm sorry I said Casita was mean, and I didn't want my gifts. I didn't know I could hurt Casita."
Mirabel now looked up at Antonio, "you told him." It wasn't an accusation just a confirmation.
Antonio nodded. "All my friends said we should, but I thought we should leave the whole story to you."
Mirabel nodded and gave a soft approving smile. "All right then. Olivia, you can stay, but everyone else out."
Rosa with a sad sigh left immediately, Antonio told Juan, and Gus the pair of coatis he asked to help Mirabel out, to stay in case she needed anything and left as well. Bella paused and said worriedly, "Abuela Mirabel are you sure? I won't be in the way. I can just stand back here and hum."
With a spark of her old spunky smile Mirabel shook her head and said, "I'm not going to stress you out singing for me all day and night, it's not going to change anything, and I want Oscar to feel comfortable. You can sing for me later Bellita."
With a sigh Bella said, "yes Abuela Mirabel." With that she left the room too.
Once alone with the two children Mirabel said, "all right Oscar, it's time you heard the whole story of the Family Madrigal.
….
Three years later:
Oscar wiped his eyes and tried to put on a brave face. Everyone knew it would eventually happen, but Abuela Mirabel had been loved deeply not only by the Family, but by the whole community. Oscar wondered how his twin; Olivia felt. She had been closer to Abuela Mirabel than anyone except Cousin Tony. He looked around moving between the exiting mourners and saw her sitting on a bench with Tia Bella. He watched as Tia Bella poured her heart out to Olivia between sobs, Olivia did have a few tears in her eyes, but she seemed far calmer than her aunt. She spoke to Bella, who finally smiled and gave her a hug.
Now Oscar felt more comfortable about joining them. When he drew near, he heard Tia Bella say, "thank you Olivia, I feel so much better. I'll see you later."
"Okay." Olivia gave her a hug and let her depart. Then turning to her brother, she asked, "Are you okay Oscar?"
To his surprise Oscar felt his throat tighten, and a few more tears found their way out of his eyes. "I'll be fine," he told her, "I was more worried about you. You've got awfully big shoes to fill."
"I know," she admitted, "but Bisabuela always reminded me that I have mamma, and Cousin Tony and everyone to help me."
At that moment Oscar had a brilliant idea. "I'm gonna help you too," he promised. When Olivia looked at him puzzled, he said, "I know when people lie right? If someone looks upset and I talk to them I'll know when they are hiding something, then I'll come tell you, and you can do whatever it is you do to help them."
Olivia's eyes widened at the implications. "Oscar you are the most awesome fantastic brother in the whole world!"
"I know," he said with a grin. At that moment a scarlet macaw flew in and transformed into their mother.
"Come on you two," she said wiping her own tears away. "The town is making a dinner for us, so we won't have to cook tonight. You two have to help hitch the cart to me so we can take Cousin Tony to town."
"Okay mamma," Oscar said. His mother transformed into a pony and he and his sister mounted. With Olivia's arms around his waist their mother broke into a trot to get the wagon.
"You know," Olivia said from behind Oscar, "Bisabuela Mirabel always told me that is what all the gifts are for, to help our family and friends, even the not magical gifts."
They dismounted near the barn where carts, and wagons were stored, and waited for their mother to transform into a stronger donkey for pulling.
Oscar grabbed the harness and handed one end to Oliva. Together he and Oliva harnessed their mother to the cart. "Then that is what we need to do, right mamma? We have to help everyone, especially everyone in the Family."
Rosa nodded and snorted while Olivia finished buckling the straps around her mother's belly.
"We will," Olivia said confidently, "after all, we are the Family Madrigal!"
And the cycle continued….
