Clasping her hands together nervously, Alma knew she'd have to move forward with the night and watch her 'past' self insinuate that her granddaughter was drunk and seeing things.
At the time it had seemed the best course of action. It would embarrass Mirabel, but the townspeople would shrug it off as teenage antics, and no one would gossip about her nieta. She had feared chisme would start up about Mirabel being jealous enough of Antonio to ruin his ceremony.
She knew that wasn't true, but she'd learned with Bruno that to some people that didn't matter. If their questions weren't answered then they'd make up their own explanations. So the lie had rolled off of her tongue easily. She was protecting Mirabel…Alma thought it would be alright.
But now…
If Mirabel was truly to be the next Candleholder then she had just ignorantly encouraged the people's poor opinions of her nieta.
It made sense that she was chosen. After all, Alma was not so foolish to think she'd be around forever. The Encanto would need someone to look after it after she was gone. She had always assumed it would be Isabela, simply because she was the oldest. But if the Miracle chose Mirabel then Alma respected that choice. Her youngest nieta was capable, kind and compassionate, she would be a wonderful successor.
Alma rubbed her hands together and took a deep breath. Sooner or later she would have to follow Mirabel up and into that room and watch her past self harshly dismiss the girl in front of the entire town.
Sighing, she took a slow step forward. She was in no hurry to watch her granddaughter be hurt again.
When the Bell Tolls One
"The magic is strong…and so are the drinks! Music!"
Mirabel's face crumpled at the accusation, making Alma's guilt only grow. But there was nothing to be done, this has already happened.
She deserves an apology though…you should explain to her…talk to her…
The butterfly nestled within her hair fluttered again, causing a few golden glittering lights from its magic to fall from its wings like pixie dust. They fell around Alma's face and settled on her shoulders, illuminating the images before her eyes.
Julieta was the only one to break away from the crowd, her face twisted with worry for Mirabel. Gently she looked her daughter over to find a single cut on the palm of her hand. Alma stared, surprised that she had missed Mira getting hurt.
Quickly, the worried mother led her daughter into la cocina for something to eat as the crowd dispersed. That something being a fresh arepa.
"I really did see cracks…"
"Mi amor." Julieta sighed.
"If it was all in my head, then how did I hurt my hand? I would never ruin Antonio's night!" Mirabel exasperatedly defended herself. "Is that really what you think?" She added quietly.
Julieta didn't believe her?
"What I think," The eldest triplet began slowly. "...is that today was very hard for you."
Did she just sidestep the question?
"Mija!" Alma exclaimed in surprise. "Mirabel wouldn't do that, you know this."
"That's-I-no." Mira growled in frustration. "I was looking out for the family."
Even after all the turmoil and hurt she still put her familia first…
"And I may not be super strong like Luisa, or effortlessly perfect like Sénorita perfecta Isabela whose never even had a bad hair day but…" Mirabel stopped herself suddenly from whatever she was about to admit. "Whatever." She sighed as she leaned tiredly against the counter.
Julieta sat beside her, taking Mira's injured hand gently with her own. Casita slid the finished arepa, plate included, toward the pair. Mirabel held out her right hand in resignation to accept the fresh food. Her mother grabbed the warm cheesy arepa and handed it to her and Mira immediately took a bite.
"I wish you could see yourself the way I do." Julieta ran her hand through her daughter's curls. "You are perfect, just like this. You're just as special as anyone else in this family."
"Hmm." Mira watched the cut on her palm disappear with a bored expression. "You just healed my hand with an arepa con queso."
Alma could see that her nieta didn't believe a word her mother was saying. She never would have imagined that the person with the brightest smile thought so little of herself.
"I healed your hand with…my love for my daughter." Julieta dramatically cuddled close to Mira, making the girl roll her eyes at the mushy display of affection.
"Mamá."
"With her wonderful brain, big heart, cool glasses…"
"Stop…" She smiled despite her protests.
Julieta pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Te amo cosa linda."
Mira pushed her mother away. "I know what I saw." She insisted, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.
Frowning, Julieta sighed. "Mira, my brother Bruno lost his way in this family. I don't want the same for you." She could see it too? "Get some sleep, you'll feel better tomorrow."
With a sigh Mira left her mother in the kitchen to turn in for the night. Alma following behind her silently as she continued to think about everything she'd witnessed.
There were so many things that went on right under her nose. So many things she missed…what else was she blind to? If she missed these very obvious problems what other things were going on? Alma sincerely hoped that there wasn't anything else, knowing she failed Mirabel was hard enough to realize.
Entering the nursery after Mira, Alma took in the room. The alphabet was painted as a border around the green walls, animals took up the rest of the spaces, crayon drawings hung on the wall above the bed and everything about the space screamed childish.
She'd never considered how Mirabel felt about being stuck in the nursery. But there just simply was no other place for her. Leaving her in the nursery was…well there wasn't anything any of them could do about it. There were no other rooms in Casita and Alma didn't want to risk adding one lest it hurt the house.
You didn't explain that to her…you just left her alone to wonder by herself…
Alma sighed as she watched Mirabel lay down for the night. She laid awake, staring at the ceiling silently as she clenched and fiddled with her blankets. Her movements sped up suddenly, as if time was passing faster than normal before slowing back down. Glancing at the clock by the bed, it read well past ten o'clock. Blinking in surprise at the four hours that just went by in a few moments, Alma wondered if it was because nothing had happened during that time.
Looking back at her granddaughter she saw that Mira was still wide awake. Was something else going to happen? This was about the time she herself had gone to bed.
Mirabel threw back her cover and rose from bed. Quietly opening her door she peaked around to see if anyone was up before staring up at the candle.
"Where are you going Mariposita?" Alma wondered aloud.
After tiptoeing from her room, Mirabel quickly used the banister and posts to climb up onto the roof. Alma watched with wide eyes, mouth gaping slightly.
"Mirabel! Get down!" She called out uselessly.
For a moment as time paused, Alma stared up at her nieta wondering how she was supposed to stay close to her. Her answer came in the form of a swirl of golden light emanating from the mariposa in her hair. Gently, it raised her into the air, much to her shock. Startled, Alma could only count her breaths to keep from panicking as she was set down beside her nieta on the roof.
A golden glow surrounded her feet where they didn't quite touch the roof, making it look like she was walking on nothing. It certainly didn't feel like nothing though, she would've sworn it was solid ground. Carefully, and trying not to look down, Alma slowly trailed after Mira who strode confidently across the tiles barefoot. They made their way closer to the candle.
Mirabel picked her way along the top of Casita until she stood directly by the candle, right beside Alma's window. She touched the wall gently, inspecting it for the cracks she had seen earlier. The sound of footsteps approaching the window startled Mira and she flattened herself against the wall to hide. 'Past' Alma was standing at the window now, staring at the locket cradled in her hands.
She was there?
Bewildered, Alma listened to herself make the request that, in all honesty, she didn't think would be answered. Especially not like this.
"Ay, Pedro. I need you." 'Past' Alma sighed. "Cracks? In our Casita? If our family only knew how vulnerable we truly are."
"If our Miracle is dying…We cannot lose our home again. Why is this happening?" She pleaded with her husband, Dios, the Miracle. "Open my eyes. If the answer is here, help me find it. Help me protect our family…Help me save our Miracle." Alma kissed the picture of her husband before turning around to head to bed.
Alma thinned her lips, embarrassed that her nieta had witnessed her private moment of weakness.
In the ensuing quiet of the night, Mirabel whispered a single, determined sentence.
"I will save the miracle."
Striding back across the roof purposefully, Alma could only stare wide eyed at her granddaughter as she hurried to keep up. Once they were both down on the second floor, Mirabel marching confidently into the nursery, Alma found her voice.
"Mi vida." She started exasperatedly. "You don't have to prove anything, I love you just the way you are. You've already made this family proud. None of this is your fault." She rambled on even though she knew Mira couldn't hear her. She was just worried the girl was going to do something brash and get herself hurt. Mirabel was putting too much effort into being whatever she thought her family wanted. "Slow down! The candle is my responsibility, everything will turn out all right now that I know what's wrong."
Mirabel continued rushing around her room, getting dressed and gathering things she thought she might need. Casita used its floorboards to give her her shoes as she marched toward the door. It seemed nothing was going to take the wind out of her sails now that she's gotten started.
That is, until she reached for the nursery door and paused as a thought hit her. Turning back to the room she asked aloud.
"Wait, how do I save a miracle?"
Casita answered her using the boards on her sewing table to make a shrugging gesture.
"I…figure out what's happening to the miracle." She reasoned.
"Ay." Alma sighed. Once she woke up she'd have a lot to do.
The shudders to her window flatbed and squeaked along with the boards on her sewing table.
"Oh, I have no idea." Mira answered the house as if it had spoken actual words. "But," She picked up a photo of the family that was kept on her dresser. "There is one person in this family who hears everything about everything. If anyone knows anything, then it's her."
It wasn't a bad plan…at least she wasn't going to do something wild like search the rooms.
