Strike two came later that day when Mirabel found some village kids bullying Antonio. Shoving him around, insulting him to his face, and worst of all they had ripped one of the legs of the stuffed animal jaguar she'd given him then dropped it in a puddle.

The sight made her blood boil. It seemed almost as if Casita shook with the force of her anger.

"What are you doing to my Primo?" She ran up to them and stood in front of Tonito.

"What are you gonna do about it, you giftless freak?" said one of the kids. He was obviously the leader of their group. She'd seen him around the Encanto before. He was a bit younger than Camillo and herself. He often bullied her, but around anyone else you wouldn't be able to tell it. He was an "angel" around others, and one of Camillo's closest friends.

"Leave him alone," she growled, getting right in his face. She didn't fear him. He wouldn't lay one finger on Tonito. Not if she could help it, and she was Mirabel freakin' Madrigal.

"N. O." said the boy, getting just as close, spelling it out just like that. N-O. He was breathing in her face, she could smell his hot, sweaty, disgusting breath. Spit dripped from the corner of his mouth as he said the word. "Why didn't you get a gift, you little jerk?" he asked, then shoved Antonio to the ground. "What are you going to do about it?" He smirked at Mira, and put one of his feet on Antonio's chest and pressed down hard. Antonio groaned.

That was it. Mirabel lost it.

Crack.

The noise was earsplitting. The whole Encanto must have heard it. The boy's face was bleeding and Mira's fist was tingling.

Mirabel had punched him. Punched him hard.

She looked at her own bloodied, tingling fist in horror, just standing there. She'd never fought back before. The punch had landed right on his jaw. Oh god.

The mixed group of kids looked at her with mixed disgust and horror while their leader clutched his face. Several of the village adults had run over to check on them, hearing the commotion. The boy ran to them with crocodile tears and a fake story, and the two Madrigal kids heard their footsteps recede into the distance. Mira examined her fist again. She knew she'd pay for it later, but in the moment it was worth it.

Antonio was crying. Mirabel heard his muffled sobs as he scooped his drenched, ripped stuffed animal from a puddle and held it to his chest.

"Oh, Tonito," Mira said softly, leaning down to observe the damage. Antonio sniffled as he hugged her. "You know, I can dry him off and sew him back up for you."

"Really?" the smallest Madrigal child whispered.

"Of course, Mijo," Mirabel said in a low, gentle voice.

Antonio dried his tears. "Thank you for saving me, Mira," he whispered. "You really punched that kid, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did Tonito. It's a very bad thing to do and you should never do it… unless someone is treating you like that, okay?"

"Sí mami," the boy whispered.

"Okay, let's get you back to Casita and get you and your new friend dry."

Antonio giggled. "Okay."

As the two walked back to their home, Mirabel had a bad feeling about what she would find. That feeling turned out to be correct, as she found the boy who she'd punched in Casita's kitchen. Julieta was worriedly cooking her healing arepas con queso as the boy sat on a stool, crying crocodile tears as he clutched his bleeding jaw. Oh no. Oh no no no.

"Mirabel Valentina Rojas Madrigal!" Abuela yelled. "What were you thinking, attacking this poor child!?"

"But Abuela, I-!"

"No excuses! I have had it up to here with you! I don't know why you didn't get a gift, Mirabel Madrigal, but you cannot take it out on the rest of us!"

"But they were bullying Antonio!"

Dolores squeaked and tried to speak up. She was covering her ears from the yelling. "Abuela, I can confirm that I heard it happen–"

Pepa's cloud thundered, cutting her daughter off. "Don't you get my son involved in your nonsense, Mirabel!"

Mirabel's anger bubbled. She had a feeling they were about to unknowingly hit their last strike.

"Your son! Your son!?" She laughed darkly at her very distressed aunt. She'd done nothing wrong to her knowledge, and Mirabel felt bad for that. She'd always liked her aunt. However she wouldn't stand by any longer while they treated him this way. It had only been one day and he was already being bullied and ostracized.

"Y-yes! Of course he is my son!" Pepa spluttered.

"He's not your son. He was never your son, Tia. I raised him all his life while you left him in the much-too-small nursery, only to ignore him and play the distressed part the second he turns up giftless?"

"Tonito–" Pepa stepped forward helplessly, reaching for the boy. Mirabel pulled him back.

Julieta took her arepas off the stove and handed one to the boy, whose jaw was healed instantly. She took a step toward her daughter. "Mirabel–"

"Step away from my son!" Mirabel yelled wildly. "All of you step back!"

"Mirabel, go to your room!" yelled Abuela.

"No! No, I don't even have a room," Mirabel yelled tearfully, having reached her breaking point. "You left me in the nursery with the young children!"

"You didn't get a door! What were we meant to do?" The old woman snapped.

"Build a small room! Ask Casita to make one! For Christ's sake, you have magic! You never accommodated for me to have a room. I'm family! You make accommodations for family!"

"Mirabel Madrigal, it is not my fault that you didn't get a gift! I don't know why you didn't get a door! But I do know that I wished I had a granddaughter who was normal!

Mirabel froze. Everyone did. They all gasped as the gravity of what Abuela had just said sunk in. Abuela knew. Abuela knew she was wrong. She covered her mouth in horror and opened her mouth but nothing came out. Mirabel covered her mouth too, trying not to cry.

Strike three.

"Fine," she whispered, eyes welling up. She shouldn't care, she couldn't care, she didn't! She grabbed Antonio's wrist and dragged him to the nursery with her. They didn't want her, fine. The Casita seemed to shake with her emotions. She took deep breaths for Antonio's sake. "It's okay, Tonito. We'll just stay here for the rest of the day. Stay here, Mijo."

She got to work. She raided the closet for clothes, then she snuck downstairs to grab as much of her mother's healing food as she could. Later that night, when the sun was down and the sky was a dusky blue, Mirabel kneeled on the ground, stuffing as much as she could into one bag.

Dolores appeared at the nursery doorway. "What are you doing, Prima?"

"Shh," whispered Mira, referring to a napping Antonio on the cot behind her. "I'm packing up. We're running away."

She was expecting a major reaction, with her cousin pleading with her to stay. Instead, she just got a nod. "I understand."

The two girls were silent for a minute. Mirabel appreciated that.

"You know, I'll miss you," Mirabel said.

"I will too," said Dolores. "We all will."

Mirabel doubted that but didn't say so. Another beat of silence.

"You know," said Dolores. "There's someone I arranged to meet with you before you leave."

"Really?" said Mirabel, surprised. "Who?"

"You'll see." Her cousin smiled. "Oh, and before you leave, I want you to give this to Tonito." She held out a fully repaired and dry stuffed jaguar.

"Oh my god. 'Lores."

"I- I fixed it for him." Her voice cracked. "Please tell him I love him."

Mirabel teared up. "I will. I really will." She hugged the jaguar to her chest. The stitches were so perfect that they were barely visible. "I didn't know you sewed."

Dolores smiled and squeaked. "There's a lot about me you don't know."

Mira stood up and wrapped her cousin in a hug. "I love you, Prima."

Dolores squeaked, seemingly surprised by the gesture. "I love you too. Stay safe, okay? And whatever happens, please, please protect Tonito."

"I will." Dolores squeaked. Mirabel hesitated. "Lores–"

But before she could finish whatever she was going to say, her cousin had disappeared into the night.

Mira sighed, carefully packed the stuffed Jaguar into her bag, and zipped it closed. She shook her youngest cousin awake. "Hey, Mijo, wake up. It's time to go."

"Where are we going?" he asked groggily.

"We're leaving the Encanto," said Mirabel determinedly. "We're running away.

A/N: Please leave reviews and feedback! I just wanted to get this out fast so I may go back and make some grammatical edits later. This story is not beta read or anything. It is fully original. There's also a lil bit of foreshadowing in here if y'all caught that. *wink wink* Thank you for the reviews and favorites so far!

[ Responses to reviews:

owlthewriter: Of course I will never forget you all on ffn as this is where I started off writing fanfics! Thank you so much for your kind words!

rebecca-in-blue: I'm sorry! Eh I just like angst I suppose. It is a pretty angsty story due to the events but it is an angst story per the description and it's hard to please everyone! Anyways I do hope you still keep reading as I swear it gets less angsty as you go on! Thanks for the review! :) And yes it is Mirabel-centric as it is told from Mirabel's perspective! If it was told from Antonio's perspective it would be a different story]