It was the morning after Antonio's gift ceremony. The Madrigals decided to sleep in until late morning. Sometime before everyone got up, Julieta decided to start making brunch. Casita and Luisa brought all the tables and chairs outside, and one by one, the magical clan gathered to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air.
The town healer stepped back and sighed as she placed her hands on her hips, satisfied with the food she laid out. She looked around and saw every family member but caught no sign of Mirabel.
"Where is Mirabel?" Julieta asked her husband who was carrying a tray of utensils to set on the table.
"She's probably still in bed. Last night was... difficult for her." Agustin stated with a frown.
Julieta nodded as she glanced up at the window where Mirabel's room is.
"You should wake her up while I finish up here. We both know you're her favorite." Agustin winked at her.
Julieta breathed out a small laugh as she shook her head at him.
Unfortunately, their conversation did not go unnoticed by Dolores who squeaked softly and faced away from her Tia and Tio so no one can see her guilt.
Julieta stood in front of her youngest daughter's door and knocked three times.
"Mirabel, it's time to get up. I made your favorite." Julieta called out with her ever soft and comforting voice.
When no answer came from inside, Julieta knocked again. "Mirabel, amor are you still sleeping?"
Still no answer.
Julieta slowly opened the door and poked her head inside. "Mirabel?"
Her face fell when she saw no one in the bedroom. Nothing seemed out of place until she saw her daughter's dress folded neatly on top of the bed. When she got closer, she picked of a folded piece of paper on top of the embroidered shirt.
Unfolding the paper, she began to experience every parent's worst fear. Her eyes were wide as she took in every word in the letter, her mouth fell open as her breathing became uneven. "No." She shook her head frantically in denial when she reached the end.
Agustin hummed to himself as he filled his plate with his wife's delicious food. As he inhaled deeply as the marvelous aroma wafted-
"AGUSTIN!"
The bespectacled man jumped, tossing the food everywhere before he clumsily got a better hold on his now empty plate.
Everyone turned to face his wife who is now out of breath, her brown eyes wide and fear on full display. A piece of paper clutched in her hand.
"Julieta, what's-"
He stopped when his wife rushed forward and showed him the letter. His face morphed from confusion, shock, fear, sadness, then denial.
"Mama, Papi, what's happening?" Luisa was the one who asked as La Familia Madrigal watched them in mixtures of worry and curiosity.
The parents faced their family. "Mirabel's gone." Julieta answered, struggling to keep herself together.
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Antonio asked, fear written on his little face as an array of animals stayed close to him.
Julieta couldn't get the words out as she covered her mouth and bowed her head. Agustin held his wife tenderly and answered their youngest nephew, his face completely solemn and guilt ridden.
"She ran away."
Those three words caused many things to happen. What was once a bright sunny day soon turned cloudy as Pepa began to panic and struggle to calm herself down, whispering 'clear skies' repeatedly. Felix held his wife as he tried to soothe her erratic emotions, but that hardly did much. Camilo dropped his Dolores disguise and shifted back into himself and dropped his plate in shock. Antonio looked to be on the verge of crying upon hearing those words. The flowers around Isabela wilted as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Luisa's mouth quivered as she shook her head rapidly as she struggled to process what she heard. Dolores looked pained as she stared at the ground while clenching her hands tightly together. Finally, Abuela Alma stared in shock at her eldest daughter.
"She-She's coming back, right?" Antonio asked as he approached Julieta and Agustin.
Julieta let out a shuddering breath as she fell to her knees and brought Antonio into a hug. Her body shook as sobs wracked her body.
Agustin was struggling not to cry as he held the letter up and read it out loud for the family to hear.
"'My dearest family, I know you may be shocked, confused, or even relieved by the time you realize my absence. First off, I didn't leave because I'm angry with you. No words could describe how much pain I've carried for some time, years in fact. I tried really hard to be of some help to this family, to the community. I really did. But after a while, I've come to realize that no matter what, I will never be good enough for this family. So, I'm giving you all what you wish for. I won't be in your way anymore. I won't be a disgrace to you or the Encanto. You're all free from me. I don't know where I'll go, but I won't be alone. Mama, Papi, I'm sorry for hurting you like this. You're the best parents anyone could ask for. I love you both very much. But I can't stay anymore. I can't keep waiting on a miracle, I need to find one myself, I need to find a place where I belong, and I know it will never be here. I don't know if I'll ever come back. But you don't need to worry about me anymore. I'll be fine. Now that I'm gone, you can finally use the nursery for a new generation of blessings, children more worthy of magical gifts than me. I love you all. Mirabel.'"
By the time Agustin finished that letter, rain fell over their heads as Pepa began to cry.
With outdoor brunch pretty much over, the Madrigals were in the common room. Pepa and Felix, however, remained outside since the rain would only follow them inside. But they were still able to be part of the family meeting through an open window.
Agustin paced while his wife was on the sofa with her daughters on either side of her and Antonio in her lap. All three of them trying to console the distraught woman.
"How could this happen? How could we let this happen?" Agustin muttered to himself as he tried to figure out when Mirabel started acting this way.
"I don't know hombre, but she can't have gone far. Not with all these mountains." The usually cheerful Felix stated with a serious and logical tone while holding his wife tenderly, not minding how the rain drenched their clothes.
Agustin paused his pacing, "You're right, she's gotta be close by."
Dolores squeaked when her Tio turned to her with a hopeful expression. "Dolores, can you hear where she currently is?"
Dolores shook her head, "No, I can't hear her."
Agustin began to panic, "She's probably still sleeping, or lying unconscious somewhere in the mountains. We need to send a search party-"
"You can't." Dolores cut him off with her whispering voice, "It's impossible."
Everyone watched as Dolores gripped her red skirt tightly, looking as though she was struggling with something.
"Dolores?" Julieta implored from her spot on the couch.
Dolores let out a shuddering sigh, "Mirabel... is not in the Encanto."
Agustin mouth gaped open, "What do you mean?"
Dolores was silent as she trembled underneath the gazes of her family.
"Dolores?" Felix asked when he saw how his baby girl was fidgeting.
Agustin's eyes widened a fraction, "Did you... know she was going to leave?"
Dolores stayed silent as she nodded her head.
"How long?" Agustin asked, his heart hammering in his chest. "How. Long?" He repeated, more harshly than he intended.
Felix and Pepa didn't take to kindly to that tone. "Hey, hey, watch it hombre!" Felix pointed at him while lightning struck behind Pepa.
"A month!" Dolores answered in panic and guilt. "I heard her, and her friend Luna talk about leaving."
Agustin was silent as he processed what he just heard. "You knew." He said, giving her an accusing glare, "You knew, and you never even thought to tell any of us?"
Pepa looked ready to leap in through the window and defend her daughter, "You better watch your tone, Agustin!" The wind blew furiously behind her.
But the man ignored her, "You could have stopped her at any time, even last night!" Agustin was full out yelling at the girl. "Or did you even care about her at all!"
Dolores' ears screamed in pain, but she willed her hands not to cover them. She felt this is her punishment.
"I also heard her crying! All month long. These last few months." Dolores strongly said as she desperately stared into her Tio's eyes. "I knew she was suffocating here. Not having a gift hurt her. It was painful for her to be here among the magic gifts. I wanted to talk to her, but I knew keeping her here would only hurt her even more. I stayed silent for her." She immediately felt relief after revealing the secret she kept all to herself for a solid month.
Agustin's anger vanished upon listening to Dolores' explanation and how she was thinking about Mirabel. He realized how keeping this information to herself was tough on her.
After calming himself down a bit, he apologized, "I'm sorry."
Dolores nodded in understanding and sadness, "Me too."
Julieta found the strength to stand up, passing Antonio to Isabela who held him securely.
"Dolores, who is Luna?" Julieta gently asked the girl.
This one was much harder for Dolores. "I don't know. I don't know what she is."
"What do you mean?" Camilo asked his older sister as he laid a supporting hand on her shoulder.
Dolores laid her hand over her brother's.
"It's hard to explain. Luna doesn't speak a human language. But Mirabel understands her. She's some kind of animal, but not the kind I've heard before." Dolores paused as she tried to recall the sounds it made whenever it's with Mirabel, "It's big, makes these almost cat-like noises and hisses, and it has large wings."
"Wait, it flies?" Isabela asked incredulously as she tried to picture the creature her younger sister befriended.
"Yes." Dolores confirmed as she too imagined Luna.
"Cat-Bird?" Antonio asked as he imagined a large cat with hummingbird wings.
"Maybe." Dolores answered her younger brother.
Luisa spoke up, "But if this thing has wings then..."
Agustin finished, "Mirabel is able to fly over the mountains."
"Mirabel has known Luna for years. She won't let anything happen to your daughter. As long as they're together, she's safe." Dolores said, hoping this would bring them some semblance of comfort.
It continued to rain outside, reflecting everyone's mood.
Agustin sighed and shook his head then turned to the matriarch who sat silently throughout this ordeal, her eyes stared at her lap as she clutched onto the locket hanging from her neck. Her stony expression unreadable, hollow and empty.
Agustin felt a different kind of fury well up inside of him, one that has festered ever since he married Julieta against Alma's decisions. "Does this make you happy Alma?"
The eldest woman looked up, but she didn't give him a verbal response.
"Congratulations, you got what you always wanted, your wish came true. My daughter is gone. Everything should be perfect for you now." Agustin finished his tirade before he stormed out of the common area.
Julieta didn't bother stopping her husband as she watched her mother with disappointment, then left to follow Agustin.
One by one, every member of La Familia Madrigal got up and left, all of them carried sadness and regret.
The only one left in the room was Alma. She stayed there for a long time before she willed her body to carry her back to her room. As she passed by the magical doors, she could hear the occupants within each of them crying.
Upon entering her bedroom, she sat on the ground with her back against the foot of the bed. The same position she was in fifty years ago with her three babies. How long she sat there as she tried to process everything that happened in a single night. The birth, the invasion, losing their home, losing her husband; it was all too much. Now she sat there, remembering each word that was said in that letter.
The Encanto was her Pedro's legacy, their miracle created a home to protect them from the dangers beyond the mountains. She didn't want her family to experience the same pain she felt. But she ended up pushing her grandchild away from the only home she's ever known. She felt no different from those invaders who burned her hometown to the ground and killed her husband.
What's worse, she ended up hurting her eldest daughter, her Julieta whom she relied on to help with Pepa and Bruno. The betrayal and disappointment within her brown eyes, the same ones she shares with Mirabel and herself. She hurt her daughter in the worst way imaginable.
Her wrinkled hands still clutched the locket before she uncurled her fingers to open the picture of her Pedro's youthful smiling face.
Tears finally fell as she allowed herself to feel vulnerable. "Oh Pedro... what have I done?" She cried to herself for all the pain she caused her daughter's family, especially to Mirabel. How she wishes she could take back the words she said to her, to apologize for leaving her out. Remembering the last time she spoke to her, how she told her youngest granddaughter to stop helping and step aside, how Mirabel used all her willpower to hold all of her tears back as she listened to her grandmother.
Her tearstained face looked up at the ceiling pleadingly as she breathed in deeply. "Pedro... watch over Mirabel." She prayed, begging her husband's spirit to guide their granddaughter back home. She then said another prayer, not caring if it sounded ridiculous. "Luna...whoever you are, wherever you came from... keep Mirabel safe... por favor... keep her safe."
Crack.
Alma turned as saw, right below the windowsill beneath the Candle, a crack begins to form.
And yet another update I never planned on. Took me five hours, I FEEL HAPPY! Today is December 25, which means MERRY CHRISTMAS! I've had this chapter brewing in my head before I began this story. I'm sorry if someone was out of character. Mirabel leaving will have a great impact, not just on their gifts, but themselves and how much reflecting they'll be going through. The next few chapters will focus on each member of the Madrigals.
