* Author's Note *
Hey everyone! This is my first fanfiction story. What better way to start than with a story from my favorite source of fanfiction, Encanto. Ever since I have dived head first into Encanto fanfiction, I have had so many ideas that keep popping up in my head about what can happen in this universe, so why not start giving my imagination to all of you?
Also, Spanish is not my first language. If there are any Spanish grammatical errors, it's because Google can only take me so far.
I hope you enjoy it.
Warning: Character death and blood.
Chapter 1 - The Fall
*Dolores*
Dolores hadn't expected this day to turn into utter tragedy. She racked her brain trying to remember the events that had led up to Casita crumbling before her.
It has started with Mirabel asking her if there was anything wrong with the magic. The question had caught Dolores off guard and she tried to redirect Mirabel by hinting that something was wrong with Luisa. If she hadn't distracted Mirabel, Dolores was afraid she would have spilled everything that she had heard about the magic, about Abuela, and about Bruno's prophecy.
After that, she had heard Luisa letting out all her feelings about being overworked, Mirabel coming out of Bruno's tower, and Luisa losing her gift. She slightly recalled Mirabel reuniting with Tío Bruno inside Casita, the loud singing with Mirabel and Isabela, and then the confrontation between Mirabel and Abuela.
The loudest sound that still rang in her ears was the giant crack in the floor of Casita when Mirabel told Abuela that she was to blame for the miracle's death.
And now Dolores stood petrified. It was not because of the thunderous sound of shingles falling or the multitude of cracks spreading. It was the sight of Mirabel climbing to save the candle that held her in place.
"Dolores, look out!"
She barely had the time to look where the voice came from before she was pulled backwards. A split second later, a heavy flower pot shattered where she currently stood. Dolores turned around to see her mamá holding onto her arm.
"Dolores, are you ok?!" Pepa yelled over the debris falling.
Still terrified by everything around her, Dolores could only give a small nod.
"Come on! We have to get out of here!" Pepa yelled as she began to drag Dolores towards the doorway.
Dolores tried to let her madre know that Mirabel was in danger, that they needed to help her. The words however got stuck in her throat, and all she could choke out was, "Mirabel…"
Pepa looked upwards at where Mirabel was climbing towards the candle. She stopped, seemingly torn about what to do.
"We need to get out of the Casita," Pepa began, "Julieta is trying…"
She wasn't able to get out any more words as the floors of Casita surged upwards like a tidal wave, pushing them both towards the front door. Unable to keep their balance, they landed onto Casita's tiles. Dolores tried to get up, but another wave pushed them out of the door. Both of them landed hard on the ground next to their familia.
Dolores stood up. She could hear Julieta's screams for Mirabel to get out of the house and Mirabel struggling to reach the candle. She saw Julieta struggling to resist Casita's attempts to push her out, as her tía didn't want to leave without Mirabel. Casita was persistent however and Julieta was also thrown out the doorway.
Most of the familia stood there in shock, not knowing what to do. Dolores however started moving back toward the Casita, but was stopped by someone grabbing her hand. She looked back to see Camilo holding her back.
"What are you doing?!" he yelled at her. "You can't go back in there!"
"Mirabel needs help!" Dolores yelled back, wincing inside as her voice pierced her ears. She tried to free her hand from his grasp, but Camilo kept readjusting his grip.
"Has the noise fried your brain? If you go in there, you could be hurt!" he countered.
"Mirabel could be hurt!"
Dolores then heard Mirabel make a triumphant sound. She must have gotten the candle, she thought. Then she stopped struggling as she heard a horrific cracking sound.
Looking towards Casita, she saw Bruno's tower collapsing towards the ground. And from hearing Mirabel's elevated heart rate, Dolores knew the tower was coming down on her.
With one desperate tug, Dolores was able to slip out of Camilo's tight grasp. She ignored the pleas her hermano yelled as she sprinted towards Casita. The crumbling house was amplified in her ears, as if a thousand fireworks were going off inside. Dolores gritted her teeth to block out the pain as she continued toward the Casita.
As if waiting for a cue, Casita crumbled. All the walls collapsed to the ground. Tiles, furniture, and concrete split apart, creating a catastrophic noise. Dolores gripped her ears as the sounds bombarded her ears. It felt like nails were being driven into her eardrums.
She stumbled to the ground, clenching her ears to try to block out the noise. She barely heard her familia coming towards her as the pain dimmed her vision. The last thing she was able to hear was Mirabel screaming.
# - - - - # - - - - #
The first thing that confused Dolores was the silence. It wasn't total silence, as she could hear people mumbling something. Her mind felt foggy. She vaguely felt her body moving. She realized someone was shaking her.
Dolores bolted upwards. She realized that she had been laying down. Antonio and Pepa kneeled beside her. Pepa's worried expression changed suddenly to relief.
"How long was I out?" Dolores asked. Her words seemed funny in her mouth as her mind was a bit foggy.
"Not that long," Pepa consoled. "You had me terrified when you fell to the ground, screaming and clutching your ears." Dolores frowned at that, not remembering herself screaming.
She then realized that something was definitely wrong with her hearing. It seemed too quiet.
"Mamá, I can't…I can't hear…"
Concern quickly came onto Pepa's face. "What do you mean? Can you hear me Dolores?!"
Dolores nodded fast, but quickly regretted that decision. A dull pain spiked through her head.
"I can hear you mamá," she began. "I just can't hear…everything."
Then she realized what had happened: Her gift was gone.
She couldn't hear the overlap of the village people talking, the rustling of animals miles away, or the almost silent noises of bugs around her. She couldn't pinpoint a single person's voice and focus on what they were saying. Even Antonio's and Pepa's heartbeats were silent to her ears.
She no longer had her super hearing. Dolores tried to figure out what had happened to her gift, when she suddenly remembered what had just happened.
"Mirabel!" The cry came suddenly from her lips. She stood up quickly as all the fog from her brain instantly vanished. She had heard Mirabel scream in fear. Where was she?
Dolores quickly looked around, seeing that most of the familia wasn't near her. Only Abuela, Antonio, her mamá, and her remained outside Casita's remnants. She could hear the rest of her familia yelling inside their fallen home.
"Mamá, where's Mirabel?" Desperation crept into Dolores's voice as she asked, hoping that her worries were wrong.
"Dolores," Pepa began, "We don't know where she is. She still might be in what's left of Casita, but we…"
Dolores didn't hear any more of what her mamá said as she ran into the ruins. She swore she heard Pepa call her name, but she was too focused on trying to find Mirabel.
She wound her way around the fallen walls, splintered furniture, and cracked tiles. She stopped quickly to see a couple of broken picture frames that barely grasped onto the photographs that they contained. In that moment, Dolores wanted to mourn the loss of their home.
But finding Mirabel was more important. So Dolores kept her sadness inside her like she always did and kept searching for her prima.
Most of the familia was already searching the wreckage. Luisa was moving heavy objects out of the way, even though it was obvious she did not have the full strength that her gift had given her. Isabela helped her as much as she could, her dress covered in dye and dust. Camilo was slipping through tighter gaps, searching every nook and cranny he could. Félix and Tío Agustín were calling out with Tía Julieta for Mirabel, pleading to let them know where she was.
Dolores took up the calls of her papá, tío, and tía. She also listened intently for any possible noise that could signal where Mirabel was. Even though her gift was gone, Dolores had always had acute hearing then everyone else in the familia.
The lack of her super hearing frustrated Dolores, as she would have been able to find where Mirabel was by her breathing or heart rate. She vaguely smiled for a second when she realized she missed her gift. Many times she had wanted it gone, considering it a curse. Now the one time Dolores felt she needed it the most, it had been taken from her.
"Has anyone found her yet?!" Camilo yelled across the wreckage. Several voices spoke up that confirmed none of them had found Mirabel.
"Did she leave?" Luisa asked. "Maybe she already got out."
"No one could have left the Casita that fast," Félix said. "Unless she already got out before the Casita fell."
"Dolores, mamá, and I can go look around the Casita," Isabela quickly inserted. "If we can't find her in here, then she must be outside of the wreckage."
Dolores and Julieta both nodded in agreement. The two of them and Isabela started to quickly make their way out of the Casita when Dolores suddenly stopped.
"Dolores? What is it?" Tía Julieta asked.
"Shh, shh, shh!" Dolores urged her tía and Isabela, who looked like she was about to say something. For a second, Dolores could have swore she had heard something.
There! For a split second, she swore she heard a muffled cough. It sounded weak.
"Mirabel?!" Dolores suddenly yelled. "Are you here?!"
She waited a couple of seconds. She had heard no noise in that small time frame that seemed to stretch out forever. Tía Julieta and Isabela looked at her inquiringly.
Then Dolores heard a muffled groan. It was louder than the cough she heard. The two women next to her looked around trying to pinpoint the source of the noise.
"Mirabel!" Tía Julieta yelled, concern woven deeply into her voice.
They did not have to wait long before they heard some more coughing and groaning. All of their heads swiveled towards a nearby pile of rubble that seemed to be more constructed than random.
"She's under here!" Dolores yelled. The three women moved toward the rubble and started sifting through it. A few moments later, the rest of the familia was standing beside them, helping them lift the heavier pieces.
"Luisa be careful!" Camilo warned, as Luisa started to pick up a heavy wooden beam. "If you remove that, the rest of that concrete is going to fall on top of where we're digging."
Eyes wide, Luisa carefully put the beam back down and started getting the concrete off of it. Everyone else dug a bit more carefully after the potential incident.
After a while of careful navigation and planning, Félix suddenly shouted, "She's here! I see her arm!"
Everyone turned their attention to the spot Félix was at and focused all their efforts on clearing that area. Soon, they uncovered most of Mirabel from the rubble.
She was laying on her back, her hands cradling something close to her chest. Every part of her was covered in dust. A large concrete wall laid on top of her abdomen and legs, pinning her to the broken tiles on the ground. She had multiple cuts and bruises, mainly on her arms. A small red cut was prevalent on her forehead.
"Mirabel!" a chorus of voices yelled. Tía Julieta and Isabel were the first by her side, making sure she was ok. Luisa, Camilo, Félix, and Agustín all got their hands under the concrete wall that trapped Mirabel and started to lift it. Dolores released a small sigh of relief that they had found her. She now could only stare and watch, unsure of how to help.
While Tía Julieta was looking over Mirabel's wounds, Isabela was openly sobbing and yelling at her sister.
"What were you thinking?!" Isabela asked. "We could have lost you!"
Confusion flitted over Mirabel's face for a moment. "Isa, I…I got the candle…"
Only then did Dolores realize what Mirabel had been cradling near her chest. The bare remnants of the candle were cupped in the palms of her hands. All that remained was a small thin circle of wax with an almost burnt out wick in the middle.
Isabela knocked the lump of wax out of Mirabel's hands. "Why did you go after that?!" she yells at her. "You scared us all to death!"
Mirabel seemed more confused now. "But…I saved it…"
She didn't get any further as Isabela launched herself at Mirabel and hugged her upper body. "I don't care about the candle! I care about you! You are worth more than that thing!"
"Isabela, be careful!" Tía Julieta admonished. "She is in bad condition. I don't want to make anything worse."
Isabela released her hug on Mirabel, but still kept hold of one of her hands.
After a couple seconds of struggling, Luisa, Camilo, Félix, and Tío Agustín were able to lift the concrete wall off of Mirabel. They, along with Dolores, now crowded around Mirabel. Dolores heard a couple of footsteps behind her. She glanced quickly behind her to see her mamá bringing Antonio and Abuela.
Multiple voices overlapped as they all tried to ask if Mirabel was ok or try to talk to Mirabel herself. Dolores remained silent, but could tell the noise was bothering Mirabel.
"Everyone, one at a time," Dolores spoke up. Everyone suddenly turned their attention to her. Being unfamiliar with everyone's attention on her, Dolores softly said, "Mirabel doesn't look that comfortable with everyone talking at once."
Now that she said it, Dolores realized Mirabel didn't look well at all. Her face looked pale and she seemed to be having a hard time to focus.
"Tía Julieta, is Mirabel ok?" Dolores asked. "She seems to be out of focus."
"Does she have a concussion?" Luisa concernedly asked.
Tía Julieta pursed her lips in concentration. "I don't think so. I didn't find any evidence that she was. I didn't check the back of her head though. Mira, do you think you could…"
She never finished though as suddenly Isabela screamed. Everyone looked to her to see what was the matter when they saw blood on her dress and partially on her hand.
"Mi flor, where are you hurt?!" Julieta asked, an alarm in her voice.
Isabela didn't answer, her breathing getting faster. Instead she gestured towards Mirabel with her shaky hand. Everyone looked at where she was pointing. The ruins of Casita suddenly became silent. Not a breath could be heard.
In that moment, all of the pieces clicked in Dolores' head and her hope was shattered.
Mirabel's clothes on her abdomen were stained bright red. Her shirt had been soaking in the blood, but it was starting to pool out onto the ground. The growing puddle had reached Isabela's dress, and had started to stain it. The wound had been hidden from them because it was obscured by the concrete wall that had pinned Mirabel. Maybe it had been the cause of the wound, though Dolores.
For a couple of seconds, no one moved. Then they all started to speak at once.
"Get me some bandages. They might be near my remedies where the kitchen was."
"Pepa, get Antonio out of here."
"How did we not see this?!"
"Should we get any of your food? Maybe it could still heal her."
"Mamá, is Mirabel going to be ok?"
"Mirabel, can you hear me?! Look at me please!"
Dolores stayed still, unable to comprehend who said what. She barely noticed her familia start to run off in different directions, who was screaming or sobbing, and to notice that she was in shock.
All she could think about was her dying prima laying in her blood. Of her sweet prima being slowly taken from them.
Dolores remembered Mirabel knocking on everyone's doors everyday without fail to say good morning to them. Her prima trying to help everyone in the familia with a second thought. Mira's energetic footsteps and her cheerful voice rang in Dolores's ears.
Dolores remembered Mirabel's cries for help, for recognition, for her familia to notice her. For someone to please tell her how she can help, how she doesn't have to be a burden, and how she can make her familia proud to finally feel like a Madrigal.
Something broke inside Dolores. Her prima would never be able to laugh, to dance, to help others again. She would never be able to hear her happy voice. She would never be able to help her prima, to let her know that she is wanted, and to tell her that not receiving a gift does not define her.
But she can't say any of those things. Mirabel will never be able to hear the comforting words she needed all those years.
As Isabela screamed in agony, pleading with her hermana to focus on her, to keep her head up, to not look away, Dolores inched her way towards Mirabel. She took one of Mirabel's hands and kneels close to her head.
Mirabel must have felt Dolores' contact, as she weakly looked at her. Her eyes seemed dull, lacking her usual energetic spark behind them.
Dolores griped Mirabel's hand, oblivious to the silent tears coming down her face. She tried to speak, but the words didn't seem to come out. But she knows time is running out, so she speaks.
"Mira. We love you. We always have," Dolores starts to recognize the wetness on her face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
Mirabel looked at her, possibly in confusion. She stared at her for a couple of moments. Then Dolores felt Mirabel weakly gripping her hand. She seemed to smile at her for a moment before the smoldering light in her eyes faded out. Her head leaned backwards a tiny bit. And then she was still.
A tumultuous noise of emotions erupted around Dolores. She can hear Tía Julieta and Luisa crying, Camilo pleading with Mirabel, Isabela yelling, and her papá and Tío Agustín trying to comfort those around them, while spilling tears of their own.
Dolores wanted to cry, scream, yell at everybody, yell at herself, or fling something in anger. She wanted to express some kind of emotion over Mirabel's death, to finally let down those walls she had built up to keep all the secrets she heard inside.
Instead she let her habits take hold. And so Dolores did what she has done for her entire life. She got up and walked away, leaving the raw suffering behind her. As she left, Dolores stayed silent the entire time, even though inside she screamed and sobed like she never has before.