Isabella knew how she SHOULD have felt about all this.
Her hermana and her tío had finally returned home. Where they belonged. Abuela had spoken often about how she wanted them back in the valley, living in the casita, serving the community as the rest of the Madrigal family did. She hadn't seen either of them in a decade and the weeks leading up to their return, ever since they'd sent the letter informing them all that yes, they would be returning home at long last, had been filled with cheer and tears.
Well… from her mama and papa. Abuela had alternated between grumbling that they should have come sooner and that their arrival was causing problems.
And that was where Isabella found herself siding: this was nothing but trouble that the family didn't need right now.
There was just so much going on! Antonio was having his ceremony in a month and everyone was not only trying to prepare for that but also ease the fears that Antonio might be like Mirabel (because it had to be her annoying baby sister's fault she didn't get a gift, not the candle). That meant showing everyone in town that their gifts were still strong. Of course she couldn't just march around making flowers appear! That wouldn't be subtle at all and would clue everyone in on what she was doing! No… a light touch. Or at least what appeared to be a light touch. Carefully planning out which direction she would go each day, who she would greet, and just how she could use her powers in such a way that would show everyone that everything was perfect.
Perfect.
Perfect.
"Oh, just look at you!" her mama said as she finally let go of Mirabel from the nearly five minute long hug she'd given her, during which time she'd more hiccupped than spoke. Casita was vibrating in excitement at their return… nearly as much as mama. "So grown up…"
"We sent you pictures," Mirabel said with a smile, pressing her hand against her mother's.
"Pictures aren't the same thing, sweetheart," mama told her with a watery smile. "Seeing you here again… oh!" She wrapped Mirabel up in a hug again.
"Julieta, there is plenty of time for that," Abuela sternly, much to Isabella's relief. They had all been gathered to greet Mirabel (though her Tio Felix, papa, Luisa, and Camilo had all managed to find her first because Mirabel had no idea how to properly enter a town, naturally) and Isabella was glad none of the villagers could see them because her mother was making a spectacle of herself. She understood being happy, maybe even crying a little. But Isabella could tell even Mirabel was feeling the drag their reunion was taking… "Mirabel needs to greet everyone else and there is Bruno or did you forget about him?"
"of course not!" mama said quickly, letting go of Mirabel and moving over to Tio Bruno, who had been snagged by Tia Pepa as soon as he got in. The only reason she hadn't broken down was that they'd end up with a downpour if she did.
Mirabel looked over and smiled as she saw Isabella, hurrying over to her. "Hi!" she said with a grin before blushing a little. "Sorry, that doesn't feel quite right. I mean, we're sisters and family and… you know. But not really sure what to do… I like what you've done with your hair! Your last picture showed you braiding it. Loose looks nice on you!"
Isabella forced herself to smile; she'd only braided it because someone in the village had mentioned that it looked pretty like that and abuela had heard. Isabella had frankly hated it and was thrilled when her grandmother had finally allowed her to go with loose locks again.
"Thank you," she said with a measured voice, looking at her sister and trying to find something to compliment her on. Of course that was a massive challenge. For one thing she was dressed like a boy! Even Luisa, with her stronger frame, wore a dress but here was Mirabel in pants! PANTS!
(Isabella ignored the little voice in her head that whispered that just one time she'd like to wear pants because she was sick to death of having to focus on how she crossed her legs when she used her vines lest everyone see up her dress)
Then there was the armor she was wearing and the hammer and her hair in that bandana…
"I like your glasses," Isabella finally said, figuring that was a safe thing to focus on. They looked rather normal, save for the slightly tinted lenses. Hmm… "Must be hard to get proper glasses out there… maybe tomorrow we can go down into the village and pick you up a new set."
There, a polite offer to spend a small amount of time together. Abuela would be pleased that she was fixing the glasses problem and mama would be happy they were spending time together. Isabella didn't have time to fix everything wrong with Mirabel's clothing choices; mama would need to take her in hand for that. But she could-
"Thanks but these are actually really nice!" Mirabel said with a grin. "Dwarven made with shatterproof glass. The lenses also let me detect magic… oh!" She grinned as she looked Isabella up and down. "See, that's interesting! With Luisa the magic clings to her, kind of like with my babies. But I don't see any on you… that means you internalize it and release it! Tio Bruno does that! I wonder if there is a limit-"
"Babies?" Isabella choked out in terror. God above, did her sister spread her legs and produce some bastard children? Did she expect THEM to have gifts? She said they had magic but- oh God, what would everyone think if she had sobrinos and sobrinas born out of wedlock?! They would judge her and-
Mirabel laughed, waving her hand. "Sorry, I should explain. We were going to do it down in the village but Tio Bruno said we should wait til everyone was gathered. Let me say hello to abuela and Tia Pepa and Tio Felix and everyone else, okay? Give me a moment?"
Isabella just stared at her sister as she hurried over to say hello to the rest of the family, dropping down to greet Antonio who excitedly asked if she had a metal bird (?), getting hugs from her tia and tio…
"She's not the girl you remember," Tio Bruno said as he walked up to her. "We've been through a lot. We… didn't exactly tell you all everything in our letters."
Isabella took a calming breath. Calm. Serene. Perfect.
Perfect.
"Not sure how much there was left to tell us," Isabella said as she watched her sister say something to Tio Felix that made him pause before he laughed and the two began to… well, Tio was dancing but Isabella had NO idea what her sister was doing. "Ambling through the jungle, bartering for food and clothing in poor villages… would have made for a depressing read. I get why you two spiced up the letters, made it sound so magical out there just like Tio Ernesto used to do."
Bruno glanced at her and Isabella was struck at how… confident… her Tio seemed. She remembered him as being quiet and nervous. But now there was a content aura to him. One she tried to project each day with varying degrees of energy that he gave off as natural as breathing.
"Heh. We changed but everyone here is still the same, aren't they?"
Isabella couldn't help but feel that her uncle wasn't being complimentary with that comment.
Mirabel finally turned and looked towards her abuela and Isabella found herself holding her breath. For as much as she found her sister and her actions to be utterly shameful and undignified and ruining everything the family had done to maintain their standing in the eyes of their community… she knew what it was like to face down their abuela. To suffer in disapproval. It was something she would never wish on-
"Oh, hey Abueala," Mirabel said with a smile, walking over and giving her a hug. "I missed you so much!" Letting go of their startled grandmother Mirabel turned to the rest of the family, clapping her hands together. "Okay, so I said I would explain about Sofia and I'm going to do just that!"
Had she not had as much control as she did Isabella's jaw would have dropped.
Her abuela had been ignored.
Shown just the barest amount of respect and then dismissed.
Treated like she was any other person in the village rather than the leader they all followed!
That… that was… everything was backwards! It didn't-
Tio Bruno snickered. "I owe her three gold coins. Bet her she didn't have the guts to do that. She warned me that it was easy money but I thought for sure she would be intimidated. Heh… that kid…"
Mirabel cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Okay, so I promised an explanation and I'm going to give it. First, an introduction! Sofia!" Mirabel called out the name and suddenly a metal toucan flew into casita, landing on Mirabel's shoulder. It was so unnatural yet beautiful that Isabella found herself stepping closer to get a better look. "So as I was telling Luisa and Camilo I am a Golem Smith. That means that I have been trained to craft different objects, mainly metal but I can work with other things, that are, for lack of a better word, alive."
Tio Felix was the first to speak up. "You… you made that?" he asked.
"Oh yeah," Mirabel said, stroking the toucan's back. "One of my babies. Now, Sofia here is able to turn into my breastplate but, for short amounts of time she can become… well, this. I'm still working on extending how long she can be out and about. Right now it's about a day before she needs to recharge her runic energy source." She paused. "Let me introduce the rest of the kids. Guys, say hello!"
And with different pieces of armor Mirabel was wearing popped off and transformed.
The metal piece on her left shoulder popped off, claws and legs revealed on the inside as it turned into a hermit crab while the armor on her leg became twin armadillos that rolled around before hurrying over to her. The toucan joined them in running around about before standing at attention, looking at Mirabel.
"Sofia is more advanced than these guys and Valeria is even more than her but they are all good helpers." She leaned down and stroked each of the metal animals in turn.
"Antonio!" Pepa hissed in worry as the little boy ran up to Mirabel, delight in his eyes.
"Can I pet them, please?"
"Sure! Carmen-" she pointed to one of the armadillos, "-likes to be stroked on the back of the head while Pablo prefers you to rub his belly. Martin doesn't really care because his shell is tough. And Sofia prefers if you ask permission, okay?"
Antonio nodded and chose to pet Carmen and Pablo, giggling as he did so. After a few minutes, seeing that no one else was moving to join him, Mirabel stood up and whistled, all the animals rushing towards her and turning back into her armor, settling on her body.
"Can they, uh, hear us?" Luisa whispered, looking at the armor nervously.
"Kind of?" Mirabel said. "It's hard to explain. For them it's like they are sleeping. If I'm in danger they wake up. But they are no different that Tio Bruno's rats."
Isabella turned to ask what her tio what that meant only to leap back when she saw he had several rats on his shoulders, looking at her…
…and wearing little miniature versions of his robes?
"Mirabel," Abuela said, stepping forward. "I do not want those animals in casita."
"They're not animals, Abuela," Mirabel said with a smile. "See?" She reached up and unstrapped the shoulder piece that had been a crab and held it out. Sure enough it was just a solid piece of metal. Abuela looked at it several times, though she never touched it, but it was clear she didn't see anything to prove it had been alive. "It's the magic of the runes. You can't see them well because I made them small… better that way, keeps people from breaking them… but until I give a command or I'm in mortal danger they won't move. Just armor." She tapped the breastplate.
"But they can come alive," Abuela said firmly, rallying. "So they are a danger to everyone here-"
Isabella's eyes widened when Mirabel actually interrupted her abuela. "No no no… it's like I told Camilo! Sofia is protective of me but she knows you are my family so she'll never hurt any of you. Heck, she's protected Tio Bruno many times."
"Its true," Bruno admitted, though under his breath he muttered, "and she never lets me forget it…"
"Still, I do not-"
"Oh, its fine!" Mirabel said, waving her hand dismissively, the rest of the family only able to watch in shock at how she refused to listen to her abuela and do as she commanded. "After all, I am keeping Valeria outside."
"Whose Valeria?" papa finally asked.
A roar shook them all and Isabella turned to see a MASSIVE metallic jaguar, the size of a full grown stallion, standing on the roof of the casita, gleaming in the sunlight before it easily leapt down and rubbed its head against Mirabel's shoulder.
"That's Valeria," Tio Bruno said with a smirk.