Pepa had made it to the next town over, and it was so vastly different from what she was used to that she just stopped and stared in disbelief. The roads weren't made of dirt or cobblestones, no they were made of a strange smooth black substance. Even stranger than that was what was on the roads. There were no donkeys and carts, there were strange-looking things on wheels that zoomed past faster than any horse Pepa had seen go. There didn't even seem to be anything pulling them. That was odd, Mama had told her that there wasn't any magic outside of Encanto, yet horseless carriages. How intriguing.
She glanced around, if she wanted to stay here, she'll need a place to stay and some way to earn money. Maybe she can… the thought died there as she saw little black boxes in a window all of them showing a scene of a doctor looking into a patient's ear. They seemed to be talking to each other but there was no sound. Suddenly large words flashed across the boxes, "Dr. Cardenas, the one-stop place for all your hearing troubles." Beneath it was a string of numbers, and the words, "Call today to get an Appointment."
"Hearing troubles," she muttered, "Like raptured eardrums?" she pondered, could this doctor be the solution to Mirabel's problem? Could this doctor undo what Julieta's food couldn't? Maybe she should go back, and tell Julieta about this. No wait, what if he can't fix the damage done to Mirabel's ears? She shouldn't get her hermana's hope up for nothing, she would just have to find this doctor and ask him herself if it was possible. Set up an appointment for Mirabel, and hope that Mama would allow her to go.
Now the only problem was, she didn't know how to call for an appointment, and she had no idea where Dr. Cardenas's office was anyway.
Maybe she can just ask someone?
…
People weren't as friendly here as they were in Encanto, it took several minutes and several people shaking their heads and rushing away, which caused her cloud to appear, which caused her to have to hide in an alleyway until she had calmed down enough for it to go away on its own.
Once the cloud was gone, she stepped out onto the busy street, determined to find the doctor and learn if he can really help Mirabel.
She glanced around, before coming up to a man who wore a bright orange vest and was holding a sign with the word Stop on both sides. She watched as several children, all around Antonio's age walked up to him. He smiled and talked to them all in a friendly manner, before stepping out in front of the horseless carriages, holding the sign up so that the passengers could see it.
The carriages rolled to a stop, and the children raced across the world, shouting thank yous and have a good days, the man calling after them as well.
Pepa decided that this man could help her, "Hola," she said.
"Hola, do you need to cross the road?" he asked.
"No, well, actually, I have no idea," she admitted, quickly waving a cloud away before he noticed it, "Do you know how to get to Dr. Cardenas's office? You know the one that fixes hearing?"
"Dr. Cardenas? Si, you aren't far," he admitted, pointing down the road, "Go straight, to the corner then turn, it's three blocks, after that, there's a sign over the building, you can't miss it, be careful crossing the streets, some people don't watch for pedestrians."
…
Pepa found the building easily enough, like the crossing guard had said, there was a large sign in front of it and stepped inside.
The room was brightly lit, and there were several hard-back chairs scattered around and a coffee table that had several thin, paperback books scattered on top. Beyond the sitting area was a large desk with a woman sitting behind it. Pepa went to her.
"Yes, can I help you, do you have an appointment?" the woman asked.
"Is this Dr. Cardenas's office?" Pepa asked nervously, "I saw something that said that he can help with hearing problems."
"That's right, Dr. Cardenas is a very prominent ENT, would you like to make an appointment?"
"Well, mi sobrina was struck by thunder, she hasn't been able to hear a thing since… do you think Dr. Cardenas will be able to restore her hearing?"
"Well, I can't guarantee anything, you'll need to set up an appointment with Dr. Cardenas for a consultation. He'll look at her and decide what he can do for her then," the receptionist offered, "Would you like to schedule an appointment?"
"Yes please," Pepa said, "We live in a village a couple of hours away, so one in the afternoon will be better."
"Well," there was a rustle of paper as she checked the schedule, before nodding, "Our first available appointment is three weeks from now, two in the afternoon."
"Perfect, I'll let my hermana know," Pepa said.
"What's your Sobrina's name?"
"Mirabel Madrigal," Pepa admitted.
"Perfect," the receptionist exclaimed, writing on a small rectangle of paper before writing on the calendar as well, "There you go," she said, "We'll see you then."
Pepa smiled brightly as she accepted the paper which had a date and time and a suggestion that they arrive early to the appointment to fill out paperwork.
As she stepped out of the building, her smile fell and she waved a cloud away, she had no choice but to return back to Casita to tell Julieta about Dr. Cardenas. She doubted that her husband and siblings will allow her to leave a second time.
Something large and furry plowed into her, knocking her off her feet. Large paws pinned her to the ground as a rough tongue made its way up her face.
"Wha… Parce?" she exclaimed, "GET OFF ME, you dumb cat!" she growled, shoving the jaguar off her, and sitting back up. Two Antonios were looking at her in concern.
"Mami!" one of them shouted, rushing forward, "I'm sorry I made you sad," he insisted, throwing his little arms around her neck, "I didn't mean it, I was just mad that Mirabel got hurt, I know it wasn't your fault."
"Everyone was really worried about you, Mami," the other Antonio said, before transforming back into Camilo, "We don't want to lose you, please come back," he insisted, reaching into his rauna, "I have a letter here from Mirabel, you should read it."
Pepa shook her head, wrapping her arms around her youngest, before turning to her oldest son, "You shouldn't be here," she insisted, "This is no place for you two."
"We had Parce to protect us," Antonio insisted.
"We aren't leaving without you," Camilo added, "To save the miracle, first we need to save the family, and at the moment the member of the family that is in the most trouble is you, please come home."
"Well, to be honest, I was on my way home when you plowed into me," Pepa confessed, picking up the paper with Mirabel's appointment information on it, examining it to make sure that it was still readable, "It's a good thing that this didn't end up in a puddle," she insisted, "I need you to take this to your tia," she insisted, handing the paper to Camilo.
"Why?" Antonio asked tilting his head to the side.
"Because," Pepa said, pointing to the building behind her, "The doctor here can fix Mirabel's hearing and I got an appointment for her in a couple of weeks. I need you to take the appointment information to your tia so that Mirabel can make it," this was the perfect solution, Camilo and Antonio could tell Julieta and she wouldn't have to worry about coming home and putting her love ones in danger anymore.
"Can't you tell her about this yourself?" Camilo asked, taking the paper.
"No, I can't go back, it's too dangerous," Pepa insisted, "You should go, I don't want to hurt you." she pleaded.
Both boys stood still, looking at each other, Camilo piped up, "You do realize that Mirabel doesn't blame you, no one does. We all understand that you don't have much control over your gift, and we know that you would never ever purposely hurt one of us."
Antonio wrapped his arms around her legs, "We love you Mami, please come home."
"But…" Pepa protested, looking at her sons, who both nailed her with identical puppy dog eyes, Camilo shifting his eyes so that they were wider to make them even harder to resist, she sighed, puppy eyes were her weakness, "Fine, but I'm not taking any risks, if I even think that I might hurt you, I'm leaving again."
"You'll never hurt us Mami," Antonio insisted, beaming up at her, "Besides, what happened with Mirabel wasn't your fault," he clenched his fists, "it was Abuela's," he growled, "She knew that Mirabel was telling the truth, Dolores told her about the cracks before Mirabel did and she still said that she was lying."
"And because Abuela told you that Mirabel was lying," Camilo continued, "You got upset at Mirabel, leading to the incident."
"Mirabel doesn't blame you and neither do we," Antonio insisted.
Pepa sighed, scooping up Antonio and resting him on her hip, "Well then," she announced, "I guess we better get home."
…
Dolores heard her brothers and mother the moment they entered the Encanto and immediately went around gathering her family from their search. They all reached Casita around the same time.
Felix let out a cry of relief and rushed forward, greeting his wife enthusiastically, causing Isabela and Camilo both to pretend to gag.
Once Felix pulled away, Julieta and Bruno descended upon her, Julieta worried that she might be hurt, and Bruno was curious about what the outside world was like.
There was a movement through the crowd and Mirabel was there. She looked her straight in the eye and said, "I don't blame you," she insisted, flinging her arms around her, "I'm glad you're safe, we were scared."
Pepa nodded, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just… I didn't want to hurt anyone else."
"Accidents happen," Alma insisted, cupping her daughter's cheek, "and that was what this was. I'm sorry, I should have told you about the cracks earlier."
"You shouldn't have made my daughter out as a drunk," Agustin snapped.
"Mami," Antonio said, "You should tell them what you learned, about the doctor that can help."
"What?" Alma asked.
"There's a doctor in the city just outside of Encanto," Pepa explained slowly, "He specializes in hearing and ears. He might be able to restore Mirabel's hearing, I've set up an appointment for her to meet him in a few weeks. Camilo, do you still have that paper I gave you?"
"Yeah, it's right here."
"So, what's going on?" Mirabel asked, "I can't hear what you're talking about."
