Isabela frowned, staring at Mirabel, she was right after all, why should she help her of all people? Why in the world would Mirabel help her get rid of Mariano? She was denied a gift and her own room. She was stuck in a room meant for babies. That wasn't fair to Mirabel. Her bed was a foot too short, her blanket was completely worn out. Maybe… There was plenty of room for Mirabel in her room, and surely that would be better than this.

"Isa?" Mirabel asked.

"If I help you get out of the nursery, will you help me with Mariano?"

Mirabel arched an eyebrow, "and how are you going to do that?"

"Well, there's plenty of room for you in my room," Isabela offered, "it's not the best solution, but it has to be better than being stuck in here. Once we've dealt with Mariano, I promise I'll come up with something better."

"How do I know that you'll keep your promise?" Mirabel demanded.

Isabela sighed, she really had messed up her relationship with her sister, hadn't she? "Come on," she insisted, "just looking at that bed makes my back hurt, let's go."

Mirabel nodded slightly, standing up slowly, "Are you sure about this?" she asked, "What you're asking me to do will get you on Abuela's bad side, and once you're there…" she trailed off, "There's nothing you can do to get back on her good side, and speaking from personal experience sometimes you wonder if staying is even worth it."

Isabela's eyes narrowed, "Have you really considered leaving?" she asked.

Mirabel shrugged, reaching underneath her bed and pulling out a bag, "All the time," she admitted, opening it, and showing Isabela the contents before closing it again and sticking it under her bed.

"I always keep my bag packed just in case," Mirabel insisted, straightening up.

"Just in case of what?" Isabela asked.

Mirabel shrugged, "Antonio got his gift and Abuela decided that I was just a waste of space…" She frowned, "Antonio not getting his gift and Abuela deciding that it was my fault. You marrying Mariano and deciding that you need the nursery for your kids, and there isn't room for me anywhere."

Isabela frowned, "You're so afraid of being kicked out that you have a bag ready?"

"Grab and go if I need to," Mirabel insisted with a shrug, "No point staying around somewhere you know that you're not wanted."

"If it ever gets bad enough that you have to leave, let me know," Isabela insisted, "I'll come with you?"

"You'll give up your family and friends for your reject of a hermana?"

"Of course, if you think it will be easier just to leave, I can have a bag packed in half an hour."

"We can't leave tonight," Mirabel insisted, "We have to wait at least two weeks before we can go. I don't want our disappearance to be connected with Antonio's birthday like Tio Bruno is connected with mine."

"Well until we can leave, you can still stay with me," Isabela offered, "Come on, it's late, and Abuela disapproves of us not being ready for the day before breakfast."

Mirabel frowned, "I thought you wanted to get on Abuela's bad side?"

Isabela frowned, "With Mariano, yes."

"Why not start small, you know, be late for breakfast?" Mirabel insisted, "Just to see if you can handle a lecture from Abuela. We don't want to get so far into it only for you to want to back out."

"I thought we decided that we were going to run away?" Isabela insisted, "We've set a date and everything."

Mirabel shrugged, "And how do I know that you aren't going to get cold feet?" she asked, "Besides, maybe something will come up. I mean my life changed in the five seconds it took my door to disappear. A lot can happen in two weeks. Who knows, maybe it will turn out that Mariano doesn't like you that way and calls the whole thing off."

"And I'll grow wings and fly," Isabela snapped back, "Have you seen the way he looks at me when he thinks no one is watching?"

"Maybe he's just daydreaming," Mirabel insisted, "We don't really know that he's looking at you."

"Trust me he's looking at me when he goes all dopey lovestruck on us," Isabela explained.

"Have you ever talked to Mariano?" Mirabel asked.

"I've exchanged the typical small talk with him sure, but nothing major."

"Abuela's having you marry a man that you never had a real conversation with?" Mirabel asked, "Why?"

"It's for the good of the Encanto," Isabela announced.

"What is this, Medieval England?"

Isabela couldn't help herself, she snorted, "I know right? You'd think that something like arranged marriages would be frowned upon, or outlawed or something."

Mirabel's head shot up, "What did you just say?"

"I was just saying that I agree that arranged marriages are way out of fashion."

"You said that they should be illegal," Mirabel said, her eyes dancing.

"Yeah, so?"

"So, in school, we're learning about the law-making process here in Encanto. We're all supposed to come up with a new law, gather support for it, and then present it to the class for a false council meeting where it will either be voted into law or not."

"Okay?"

"What if I do it for real?" Mirabel asked, "What if I go about to the council's homes and get them to sign my petition for a change in the law? They could outlaw arranged marriages and make your engagement to Mariano illegal, that would put a kink in Abuela's plan."

"Abuela will veto it, and then marry me off before the council has a chance to overrule her decision," Isabela pointed out, "Then it's all over for me."

"No it won't be, Abuela will have to tell you that you're getting married, and we can just leave beforehand," Mirabel insisted, "And after it goes into law Luisa and Dolores would be safe from an arranged marriage."

"Not if Abuela talks them into thinking they want it," Isabela insisted, "Abuela can be really convincing when she wants to be."

Mirabel frowned, "Not if they know what's going on," she insisted, "They're smart, if they know that Abuela is trying to marry them off, they can say no."

Isabela raised an eyebrow, "Luisa, our hermana, saying no? Mirabel I've known Luisa her whole life and I never heard her say no before, not even when she was a toddler."

"Can you even remember Luisa's toddler years that well?" Mirabel asked, "You aren't that much older than her, and my clearest memory was my gift ceremony."

Isabela frowned, shrugging, "I suppose it's a good start," she admitted, as Casita bounced an alarm clock over to them, telling them that it was one thirty in the morning, "I think Casita is telling us that we should go to bed," she announced, as a yawn split her jaw, "Come on, let's head to bed."

…
Mirabel had never really been in Isabela's room, at least not since her failed gift ceremony. She was amazed about how pink the room was, and how heavy the scent of flowers clung to the air.

"How do you breathe in here?" she asked, breathing through her mouth to keep herself from choking on the air.

"I'm used to it," Isabela insisted, as she led the way to her bed, "Personally I would fill my room with less fragrant plants, things that are a bit… less pink, I hate pink, but my room, like me, has to be perfect."

"You know, this room isn't perfect," Mirabel announced, "I know quite a bit about art, and there's too much pink in here, you need to balance out the color with something else."

Isabela flopped down onto her bed, patting the mattress to invite Mirabel on it as well, "Like what?"

"I don't know, what's your favorite color?" Mirabel sat down at the edge of the bed, only to collapse into the mattress with a groan, "This is so much more comfortable than my bed," she announced.

Isabela chuckled as Mirabel shifted around settling down beside her. She had forgotten about her question, what was her favorite color? What color truly spoke to her? Green did, the leaves on the trees, the grass under her foot, the green plants growing out in the forest, but not all greens, some shades of green reminded her of vomit or something lke that.

Besides her Mirabel fluffed up one of her pillows, she had at least five and laid down, pulling the quilt all the way to her chest, wriggling her toes in excitement when they remained covered.

"I think my favorite color is a deep forest green," Isabela announced, "The color of growing things."

She was greeted with a loud snore. Mirabel had fallen asleep, sprawled out wide on the huge bed, and more comfortable than she had ever been in her whole life. Something that Isabela was determined to change.

…
Julieta stifled a yawn as she placed the last of the food on the serving table, "Breakfast is ready Mama," she announced.

"Where's Mira?" Antonio asked, frowning, arriving on the back of his new jaguar friend.

"I'm sure she's fine," Alma announced, patting Antonio on the head, "Last night was hard on her and she probably needs her space, she'll make an appearance once she is done pouting. I have some great news considering Isabela," she paused, where is Isabela?"

"She had a long night last night, she probably slept in," Julieta insisted, *Let's let her sleep in."

"Don't be ridiculous, Isabela has things to do today, she can't sleep it away. Go get her."

Julieta sighed loudly, "Of course Mama," she said, at the moment she didn't want to start a fight with her mother, and this would give her a chance to check on Mirabel as well.

She made her way upstairs and knocked on Isabela's door before cracking it open. Any words that she planned to say to Isabela died before they could even get to her mouth as she saw Isabela and Mirabel fast asleep together on Isabela's king-size bed.

She smiled, wondering if she could grab her camera and take a picture before they woke up. It was great to see them actually getting along. It was a much-needed change from the animosity between the two of them.

Something brushed against her ankle, causing her to look down, smiling as Casita bumped her camera at her.

"Gracias, Casita," Julieta said, scooping the camera up, and snapping a picture of the two together.

…
A bright light startled Mirabel awake, causing her to sit up in confusion, blinking several times to get her eyes to focus without her glasses on. Where was she anyway? Everything was pink. Why was everything pink?

Someone moved beside her, and Isabela's voice called out, "Mama, what's going on?"

"You overslept," Julieta announced, "Abuela isn't too happy about it, come on, breakfast is getting cold, both of you need to get up," she announced, a puzzled look on her face, "What are you two even up to?"