Everything in a great circle of life has its place. You might not know this, but the things you have now, many of them came from something very small when they began. The trees that bear the delicious fruits you like to eat... the ones that grow those apples your grandma uses to make delicious apple pies, or that tree in your yard or local park to love to climb or swing from, and all the bushes and stalks that grow the berries, flowers, and vegetables, they all started out as tiny seeds.
But, those tiny seeds needed many things to grow. Water, sunlight, and of course love. But one essential ingredient for all plants to continue to thrive even after they are full grown is a little process called pollination, most commonly known to be done by bees, who also make the honey that sweetens up your tea and helps a sore throat feel better. But, it is also done by lots of other bugs. Beetles, hoverflies, moths, and butterflies are included in that list.
Bugs may look small, and many can be easy killed by one step of a shoe or whacking with a rolled up magazine, but they play a big part in how a planet sustaining life stays healthy, and thus they require protection too.
But just like bugs are helpful to the environment, there are those that if you are not careful, they can leave a mark, or even kill someone much larger than them. Some spiders have venom that's enough to kill a wookie in a matter of one or two days, and mosquitoes can transmit diseases that may go unnoticed until it's too late to save the victim.
Either way, bugs and their many abilities serve as proof that it is not the size of the warrior in the fight, but the size of the fight in the warrior.
People face similar treatment sometimes. Many times, people face those crowds who say they need to be like everyone else to fit in, rather than be different in any way even if what makes them different happens to be a special ability that could prove useful.
Sometimes, a young Milagro "Mila" Madrigal faced this when she came up with new inventions.
Mila was a little ahead of her time, which was often the case with inventors. She didn't let that be a reason to stop though. No matter how many times her inventions fell apart, malfunctioned, or even exploded, she kept on going. Mila knew she was granted incredible smarts for a reason, so she was determined to ensure her gift from above was not in vain.
Today, Mila was working on a brand new invention to present to some investors. Since she and Tech started their own business together, it became really easy for Mila to earn credits in this other world, as well as constantly come up with new ideas to help the Encanto. Even though her cousin Mirabel wasn't being shunned for not having a magical gift anymore, there was still a lot of pressure to being the new queen of the casita. Mirabel wasn't sure if she would find a husband any time soon to give her heirs of her own, but she was at least happy for Mila and Dolores each finding a man they loved.
Mila could hardly wait to marry Tech. Her love for him and eagerness to have a family with him became motivation to work on lots of new inventions to help take care of their future kids. Mostly, she was coming up with toys because as helpful as it would be to create an invention that could rock the baby if she or he cried in the middle of the night, change the baby's diapers, or feed the baby, Mila knew the baby would grow up much happier and healthier being in the care of a living, breathing mother and father. A mom and dad's love and affection was something no amount of science could ever replace, this Mila knew.
"There we are," said Mila, finishing the design for her newest invention. "Now to go put it together before everyone arrives."
And what was everyone arriving for, you might be asking?
It was winter time in the Encanto, and the Madrigals were having a party at their house, and everyone was having fun warming up by the fire place, lighting up candles and enjoying hot cocoa and telling stories.
The Madrigal's friends from the Star-verse, of course, came along. Everyone was also excited to finally meet the royal family's new teacher and his family.
Mariposa was also happy to know that the people of this world didn't even know maricambas existed, or that they were dubbed monsters in her own world. That allowed her and Mona to come without needing to hide their wings.
"Just wait 'til you see this." Mila said, standing near Mariposa.
And Mariposa spread out her beautiful blue wings, which surprised everyone.
"She's the biggest butterfly ever!" exclaimed one little girl.
"I'm not really a butterfly. I just look like one." Mariposa said. "But, my species does share a few features with them. So, you're partially correcto."
Mona seemed particularly curious, seeing how peaceful it could be not having to hide her species when she interacted with the children of this alternate dimension. Having spent no time with other kids until a few months ago, it felt strange even just talking to a few kids. But, Mona found herself to be a curious child.
Mona watched as Mila turned a crank that turned a stick with a bunch of marshmallows skewered onto it over a crackling fire.
"What are you gonna do with all those marshmallows, Mila?" Mona asked curiously.
"These marshmallows are gonna be for an extra special treat I think you're gonna like." Mila said. "Inventions don't just come in the form of machines, you know."
While mechanical stuff was her primary expertise, Mila also did a little inventing in the culinary arts at times. For this invention, the marshmallows had to be just right. And now, they looked just about the right shade of light brown all around.
"Looks like they're ready." Mila said.
Mila got out some tongs to remove the marshmallows. Thanks to a little non-stick cooking spray, the marshmallows came clean off the stick. Julieta brought out some thin cinnamon snickerdoodles and some bars of chocolate.
"Are we gonna make s'mores?" Goldie asked. "I love s'mores."
"Well, sort of." Mila said. "These treats we're making are a little different. You see, instead of graham crackers, we're using some flat snickerdoodle cookies, and these marshmallows have a touch of vanilla syrup added to them for a little added kick."
To demonstrate for everyone, Mila took two of the flat snickerdoodles, placed a little piece of chocolate on it, and then a marshmallow, which she topped with the other cookie, and squished it.
"I call them, S'more-ker-Doodles." Mila said.
"Looks delicioso." Camilo said.
"Goldie, would you like to have the first taste?"
"Can I?" Goldie said.
Goldie took a whiff of the tasty-looking invention. It smelled yummy! She took one bite, and then she was wolfing it down.
"I wanna try too." Mona said, grabbing a marshmallow, and munching that.
"Then everyone who wants to try this invention, grab your ingredients." Mila said.
"How'd you come up with this anyway?" Hunter asked his future sister-in-law.
"Well, it actually happened because for once, Tia Julieta made a mistake while baking cookies. There wasn't enough baking soda, and the cookies came out flat as crackers. They were still tasty, though. That same day, my cousins and I, we wanted to make s'mores over a crackling fire, but we found out we were out of graham crackers, and the store was already closed for the night. Then, I came up with the idea to use the flat snickerdoodles instead. It solved two problems. We had an alternative for graham crackers on s'mores, and Tia Julieta's cookies didn't go to waste."
"And they turned out awesome!" Luisa said, downing one herself.
Chika stared up at everyone enjoying s'more-ker-doodles and whimpered
"I even invented a special kind for dogs so Chika can have some." Mila chuckled, getting her poodle a treat.
Chika happily gobbled up her treat. However, some kept getting sticky from theirs.
"Oh! Sticky marshmallows." Qui-Gon groaned, as he was getting some of the gooey marshmallow and crumbs of cookie in his mustache. "These treats are delicious, but very messy too."
"Aren't kings and queens supposed to be neat all the time?" asked one boy.
"That's just stuff you see in stories." Anakin said. "Even royal people aren't perfect. That's just a sad expectation set upon them."
"It's true." Kara said. "Anyone can wear a crown, but it takes a special someone to be a leader and to hold the wisdom to use their power properly. All of us have our gifts and our flaws, and they're just pieces of what makes each of us special. Like all those snowflakes you see falling."
"Common knowledge about snowflakes," said Mila. "No two are exactly alike. Even identical twins are unique in their own ways. Just look at Carmine and Anakin."
"Everything big and small has something about it that makes it unique and an important piece of a larger whole." Mariposa said. "Even tiny butterflies have secrets of their own, things only they themselves and we the ones able to communicate with them can understand. Even the smallest contribution can make an enormous difference. One butterfly on its own is small, but many of them together, they are bigger than even one of their natural predators."
"I believe I recall a story that talks about that very subject." Qui-Gon said. "Ah, yes. Gabriella, do you recall that story you were telling me recently?"
"You mean the one about the kingdom of butterflies who find warriors from a circus to help them defeat a dark moth?" Gabby said. "Yeah. I actually finished writing it. But, I'm not so sure about it."
"Well, Gabriella. Why don't you tell it to us now?"
Everyone did seem interested. Qui-Gon was, by far, the best storyteller they knew. That was part of what got little Gabby interested in writing down some of the stories she made up. Some might say it was her grandfather she inherited her storytelling skills from.
"Um... okay."
Qui-Gon sat in a chair and Gabby sat in his lap so she could tell the story to everyone.
"Once upon a not so very long time ago, there was a family who was happy as could be. But to fully understand their story, we have to go further back in time."