A few hours later, another large banquet was in order after Poppy and her new friends (and her old friends at her request) were dubbed honorary knights of the Folk Rock Kingdom. It was a blend of traditional and non-traditional cuisine from all the Troll Tribes and Sub-Tribes, ranging from the Pop Trolls pizza to the Country Trolls' BBQ burgers to the Latin Trolls' pulled pork sandwiches and tamales and arepas to the K-Pop fried chicken and kimchi and red rice cakes. Out of Poppy's new friends, Sunset, Miles, and Camilo were the first to immediately dig in as the event commenced.

On the topic, Poppy's new friends interacted with her old ones. Smidge admired Raya and Namaari's combined strength; Cooper, Prince D, Queen Essence, and King Quincy each took a liking to Miles and Lunella; Mr. Wolf and Hickory appreciated their similar cool and calm demeanors; and Barb more often than not attempted to recruit either Twilight, Sunset, or both in her girl group. Synth was impressed by Sisu's water manipulation abilities, while Sisu in turn was impressed by Nimona's shapeshifting. Twilight, Sunset, and Flash ended up befriending a reformed Sonata as they ended up accepting her numerous apologies.

A hour into the banquet, Queen Peony and the rest of her council (along with the Lost Trolls and the others Poppy befriended over the course of her journey) arrived and made conversation with the rest of the Tribe Leaders, eventually meeting their Ambassadors in person.

"That's our mom?" Viva whispered to Poppy, who nodded, "She's so pretty!"

"Yes, she is," Peppy nodded as he approached and stood by her right side, "She's as beautiful as the day we met."

"Why, thank you, my dear," Peony blushed as she approached and leaned down to his level, "And I assume Poppy knows about Viva, yes?"

"Yes, of course," Peppy chuckled nervously before admitting in shame, "Although, I didn't quite tell her."

"She found her?" Peony deadpanned.

"I found her!" Poppy smiled with pride.

"She found me," Viva nodded, "And...it's nice to meet you...Mom."

"It's nice to meet you too, Viva," Peony turned to Viva now, "The circumstances surrounding our meeting couldn't have been better."

"I have to ask, though," Viva nervously scratched the back of her head, "Are...are you really my mom here or...from another universe? Or am I from another universe?

"I...I'm not sure, Viva," Peony admitted as she shook her head, "Your father has developed an unfortunate habit of keeping secrets to protect the ones he cares about."

Poppy and Viva jokingly narrowed their eyes at their father, who smiled in embarrassment.

"In any case," Peony continued, "I would accept you as a part of my family, regardless if either you or me are from another universe."

Viva smiled again, this time accompanied by a slight smile before she launched herself at Peony—her mother—and embraced her in a very tight hug, sobbing into her shoulder. Peony herself smiled through it and hugged her eldest daughter right back.

From a distance, Branch watched the heartfelt family reunion unfold before his very eyes. On one hand, he felt glad for Poppy, King Peppy, and Queen Peony meeting their long-lost sister and daughter Viva, who was equally excited to meet them at long last. On the other hand, however, he felt kinda sad. It had been a long time since the death of his Grandma at the hands of the Bergens, but the day felt like yesterday to him.

The other day where he told Poppy or anyone else about his...other family would not, however.

BLIP!

Yelping in fright, Branch turned around to find his girlfriend in question standing before him, looking at him with a toothy grin.

"Oh!" Branch chuckled and nervously scratched the back of his head, "Sorry. I...I forgot you can do that now."

"Is it too much?" Poppy sent him a worried smile, "Just tell me and I can—"

"No, no!" Branch hastily waved his hands in front of her, "It's fine! Whatever floats your boat!"

"Oh, okay! Good!" Poppy nervously smiled before a solemn expression decorated her face, "In all seriousness, though...are you okay?"

Branch's own smile disappeared and was replaced with a confused frown, "Y-Yeah. I'm okay. I'm definitely okay. Why wouldn't I be...a-okay?"

"Because I saw you staring at me and my family from a distance," Poppy stated rather bluntly before she realized her mistake, "Do you...want to talk about it...whatever it is?"

Branch was unaware at the moment, but Poppy knew exactly what was troubling him. Watching her sharing a heartfelt family reunion with her loved ones must have tapped a sensitive spot in his psyche, and her knowledge of the forthcoming event was did not help matters. Seeing Branch's brothers bicker with each other while he himself had little to no say on the situation was incredibly heartbreaking, and their voluntary separation as a result of their conflicting personalities was just the climatic cherry on the sorrowful sundae. Adding insult to injury, Branch's grandma would die only a few years afterwards, meaning that he would have no one else to turn to or seek comfort in.

Another matter Poppy was conflicted with was the aftermath of the plan to save Floyd, Branch's second older brother. Basically, the other three planned to go their separate ways again after saving him, and Branch would lash at them for being supposedly selfish. In another universe, Poppy would have agreed with him right away, but after giving the aftermath some thought, it almost made perfect sense why they chose to not live together after everything was all said and done. On one hand, while John Dory, Branch's older brother, was seemingly accustomed to the drifter lifestyle, his second older brother Bruce was married with 10 children or perhaps mote, and his third older brother Clay had a prominent role to play in the community of the Putt-Putt Trolls home. So why else would they abandon the places were they had since established a life in just to get together and live with each other again, especially when their relationship proved to be so vehemently vitrolic? On the other hand, they abandoned Branch, leaving him with their grandmother to fend for himself while never once taking his feelings into consideration.

It was a mess from every angle.

It was a mess Poppy wanted to help Branch fix...in any way and every way.

Branch himself stumbled around the subject as Poppy looked at him expectantly. Eventually, he sighed and shook his head.

"Not now. Not tonight," Branch replied and glanced away in shame, "It's...too painful of a subject to discuss at the moment. I'm...I'm sorry..."

"Don't be," Poppy smiled again as she took his hand, "I understand. But if you do end up deciding to talk about it...just know that I'm here. With you and for you."

"Okay," Branch returned the smile, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Poppy's smile eventually morphed into a smirk, "After all, that's what being your girlfriend comes with, right?"

Branch immediately blushed and stammered, "R-Right. And this is what being your boyfriend comes with."

"Damn right, hot stuff," Poppy suddenly pulled her boyfriend in for a kiss. Branch instantly melted in his girlfriend's embrace, gently wrapping his arms around her waist.

At that point, the couple had drawn in a crowd, who oohed, aahed, and cheered all the same for them. For specific examples, King Quincy and Queen Essence placed their respective hand on their respective hearts, Delta Dawn and Hickory tipped their hats off to them, DJ Suki and Trollex made a heart gesture as CJ and her friends quietly whooped for her honorary aunt, Mei and Sofia gushed for the couple, and Mirabel and Raya smirked with pride as they shared a fist-bump. Queen Peony smiled with satisfaction...not just for her daughter, but for herself as well. She had controlled her enthusiasm for her daughter successfully wooing the love of her life.

Her eldest daughter, on the other hand...

"WOO-HOO!"

Viva whooped in ecstasy, unintentionally frightening those around her...

"JESUS CHRIST!"

BANG-BANG!

...particularly Amethyst, who (being the unfortunate person standing directly next to her) drew her Beretta 90Two and fired it next to her, whom she barely missed by an inch.

Everybody stared wide-eyed at the occurrence as Amethyst stared daggers at a now sweating Viva.

"Err...sorry about that?"

"RAWR!"

Amethyst charged at Viva, who screamed in fright as the former tackled her. The both of them ended up on the tile floor as Sonata rushed forward, attempting to pull one away from the other and restrain them. Twilight, Raya, and Sunset ended up running over to aid her, the latter because an unidentified flying object did its job and beaned her in the forehead, causing her to swiftly sprint over and intercept Amethyst before she could tackle Sonata next.

Branch and the rest of the Snack Pack either blinked in bewilderment or tilted their head in confusion before turning to Poppy, who nonchalantly took a sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"Like I said," Poppy smiled and shrugged, "They're a handful."

"You bet your culo!" Mirabel cackled, causing Bruno, Camilo, and Esteban to choke on their own drinks and Tresillo, Marimba, Tambora, and Miles to burst out laughing uncontrollably. The majority of everyone else joined in on the laughter despite lacking the proper context.

"Your new friends are really strange," Bridget noted with fascination as she leaned down to Poppy's level, "But they're really nice, too!"

Poppy merely shook her head and watched the wimp fight escalate to the point where her intervention was definitely necessary.

Oh, yeah. Definitely good to be back...


"Are you sure about this?"

"Not really...but I might as well give it a try."

A few hours later as the banquet continued, Poppy and the rest of her new friends helped Mirabel back up whatever belongings she had. After Amethyst had created a few replicas of the wristwatch for the group (with much needed assistance with Twilight, Miles, Ruby, and Lunella), one of the first fully-functioning prototypes was given to Mirabel, given that she had stuck in the Space Between for more than a year already. The Latin Troll initially attempted to protest this, but Poppy insisted that she had deserved it after everything she had gone through, leaving little to no room for protest.

"I'm gonna miss you, Mira," Mei noted sadly as Raya held her hand.

"Don't worry, kiddo," Mirabel smiled, "I won't be gone forever...hopefully. If I decide to come back, then the goodbye will be short. If I decide to stay home, then I'll do my best to send you a postcard or memento or something resembling that. But let's be honest: I'm gonna miss you guys, too."

"To be honest," Mr. Wolf shook his head, "I've already interacted with you a couple of times, but I can tell that you're...a good kid, I guess?"

"Thanks, Wolf," Mirabel shook her head in turn.

"Kid..." Bruno approached and placed a hand on his alternate niece's shoulder, "I hope you find who or what you're looking for."

"I wish the same upon you and Camilo, Tío Bruno," Mirabel closed her eyes in the hopes of blinking away her tears, "Camilo, I expect you to write a letter or send a message whenever you and Marinette go on a date. Same thing goes to you and Elsa, Tío Bruno."

All four parties mentioned heavily blushed as a handful of Poppy's friends (Miles, Ruby, and Sofia to name a specific few) laughed and giggled all the same. Mirabel then activated the wristwatch and a glowing blue portal opened up for her. Gazing at the portal for a prolonged amount of time, the Latin Troll turned around and was met with a sudden embrace by Poppy and Raya.

The former (Poppy) pulled away first and shot her what seemed to be one last smile, "Don't do anything stupid while you're gone."

"How can I?" Mirabel smiled back, "I'm leaving all the stupid with you and the others..."

"I bet you are," The latter (Raya) smirked and planted a gentle kiss on her lips. It was now Mirabel's turn to blush before she recovered quickly and shot her a knowing smirk of her own.

"I knew I'd get through to you."

"That was for good luck," Raya shook her head, "Nothing more, nothing less."

"I bet that was," Mirabel continued smirking even as she walked through the portal, watching her newfound friends wave goodbye to her one last time.

I already miss you all...


When she opened her eyes, she was met with the sight of the night sky, which was decorated with suspended and shooting stars shining brighter than the prettiest of diamonds in the rough. Sitting up and running one hand through her hair, the other hand clenched tightly around the grass and dirt beneath her. She then stood up and brushed off said dirt off her outfit, now a white party dress. It had golden butterflies embroidered on it, lace ruffles at the sleeves, and a light pink bow pin was placed near the top and slightly to the left side of her head. White and gold flats that matched her party dress now shielded her feet from any unwanted obstacles.

I'm human again...

Recognizing her current location as the forest that shielded Encanto from enemies or natural occurrences, Mirabel examined herself a second time before noticing the glowing blue wristwatch and her backpack full of her belongings. Glancing up to the direction of her home, she immediately broke into a sprint forward, careful to mind any wildlife prey and predators that claimed the forest as their habitat. Eventually making her way to the outskirts of the village, she stopped to catch her breath before observing her familiar...and unfamiliar home. Everything seemed to remain exactly the same, with the exception of many a technicolor flower decorating the houses and other buildings (no doubt the result of her eldest sister letting loose) and...

A rebuilt Casita?

Indeed, the household of her family stood tall and proud while washed in its familiar color palette. Cautious, Mirabel approached the radius and then the front door, which she hesitated to rap upon out of fear of an undesirable reaction. Her balled fist slowly lowered to her side, she slowly breathed before turning her attention to one of the windows. Quietly making her way over, she peered inside and focused on one thing: her family.

Her family, all of whom ate and shared friendly conversations around the dining table.

Her family, all of whom visibly aged a year as a result of the turmoil they faced following her untimely demise.

Her family, all of whom looked considerably happy and joyous as they shared a meal with each other.

Wait...where's Abuela?

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Dios te salve, Maria. Llena eres de gracia: el Señor es contigo..."

Mirabel perked up at the sudden voice before she snapped her fingers in realization.

Right! I have superpowers now!

Using these skills (specifically super-hearing), she walked away from Casita (but after she spared it one more look) and wandered aimlessly around the village.

"Santa María, Madre de Dios…"

As she listened more and more to the person she knew was her Abuela, she recognized the prayer despite her having heard little to nothing about it.

"Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo…"

It had been 50 years since she did it last time.

It was 50 years since she spent almost all night in the church begging God to bring her husband back, bargaining on behalf of her children for they needed their father, and finally asking for strength to be a good mother to their triplets.

On this night, it appeared she was in church again, begging God to bring Mirabel back, bargaining on behalf of her daughter for she just lost a part of her heart and soul, and finally asking for forgiveness.

"Santificado sea tu nombre. Venga tu reino."

Mirabel herself wished for forgiveness as much as she.

Forgiveness for dying too early.

"Forgive me. Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned."

Eventually turning her attention to the church in question, Mirabel worked up the strength to approach the building...

"Oh, Mirabel, mi nieta...I don't deserve your forgiveness."

...before stopping dead in her tracks upon hearing her Abuela's statement.

She had remembered the words spoken about her when exploring the vast Multiverse with Poppy and her new friends. Taking place sometime after her death, her Abuela had taken shelter in the church and expressed her grievances to Padre Roberto, one of the understudies working for Señor Flores. Abuela had felt guilty over being supposed the cause of Mirabel's death, questioning how could she—a person like her—keep her family together through thick and thin when she was the cause of their pain and suffering. Every bit of patient and attentive, Padre Roberto assured her Abuela that she was not a bad person in spite of the evidence pointing to the contrary, but people like her would always get lost along the way to forgiveness, which he stated was not something to be taken for granted. Forgiveness was a gift given out of pure intentions and heart, one that one should not consider themselves unworthy of.

With that in mind, Abuela realized that her granddaughter—the one without a gift to call her own—had been so much more than just a giftless person with the surname Madrigal.

She had been so much more than just a girl that everyone in the town seemed to forget or care little about.

She had been so much more…

And Alma had seen that too late.

And just a few mere moments before her death, Mirabel felt that she was hated by her grandmother.

She felt that she had been seen as a crack in their perfect image, while the crack was Alma herself all along.

She was the one that caused the cracks.

She was the one responsible for the breakdown of their family.

Her Tío left them because of that.

Her Mamá despised her because of that.

Her Nieta had died because of that.

"I failed you, Pedro. I failed our familia. I failed Mirabel..."

Regaining the strength that was previously discarded, Mirabel charged into the church with the intent of proving her Abuela wrong.

BANG!

From her front seat, Alma jumped and turned around to face the origin of the sudden noice. Her eyes widened in fear at the sight of a supposed vengeful spirit, the horror only intensified when it appeared to take the form of her deceased granddaughter. A moment later, however, she frowned and bowed her head, resigned to her inevitable fate.

"Abuela...?"

A moment later, Alma watched as Mirabel appeared before her and gently took her hand.

It felt...real.

A little too real...

Alma gasped.

"Mirabel...?"