Hey everyone I'm back, sorry It took so long but I had to make sure that this chapter was perfect, we never got in full detail about Isabel would feel at Esteban. I want this chapter to focus on her because she is going to play a big part in future chapters that are coming ahead. For now we are going to get a Carla and Isabel bonding moment, I would imagine how it would be if the two had a talk with each other. So I hope you guys will like this chapter there will be questions at the end.

Enjoy.

Isabel came up with a new invention a mechanical container that would preserve magic whenever needed for emergencies, she wanted to make sure that it worked, but she needed Mateo's help.

Elena came inside Isabel's lab to see how she's doing. "Isa, how are things going in here?"

"Great" Isabel answered. "I've got all the mechanisms intact, now all I need is to test and fill it up with magic energy, do you think Mateo would..."

"Oh,sorry Isa, he's a little booked at the moment said Elena. "he's trying to learn one of his grandfather's spells from his secret bibliotheca."

"I understand." Suddenly Isabel had an idea. "Wait Carla knows magic do you think she can help?"

Elena was surprised at this. "You want Carla's help?"

"Yeah, she's the only other strong wizard in this castle." said Isabel.

Elena gave it a little thought. "That's a good idea Isa, but...she's a little figuring things out at the moment, she could help but I don't know if she's up for it." said Elena.

"Don't worry Elena, I won't ask her do anything crazy. "Isabel assured. "Besides everyone else got a special talk with Carla, it's about time I got a turn."

Elena made a small chuckle. "Okay I'll talk to her and see if she might be available to help you out.

...

Elena found Carla and told her about Isabel's new invention and that she needs her help

Carla was shocked and nervous. "Me? Help your sister? Oh I don't know."

"What do you mean?" Elena asked.

"Elena, it's sweet she needs my help, but I don't want to mess up her machine, I don't have the best track record of fixing things rather than causing trouble." said Carla.

Elena reassured Carla. "She'll understand she makes mistakes all the time with her inventions and she makes sure she fixes them. Besides, Mateo can't help her at the moment she needs you."

Carla never thought she would help out Elena's little sister but she might see this as an opportunity to extend an olive branch to gain her family's favor. She might as well take that chance. "Well if you believe I can help her, I'll do it."

"Great!" Elena smiled. "I'll let Isa know!"

As Elena went off to tell Isabel, Carla prayed that she does okay and that she wouldn't mess it up.

...

Carla met Isabel at her lab, right after Elena told her how to get there.

"Hello princess." Carla said awkwardly.

Isabel was happy to see her. "Carla! I'm glad you're here."

"Elena told me you needed help with your invention?" said Carla

"Yeah, Mateo was supposed help but he needed to take a rain check for important magic agendas, so you're the only one I can count on." said Isabel

"Okay so what do want me to do?" asked Carla.

Isabel pulled the sheet from the hidden object to reveal her greatest invention."Behold I call it the magic dust vault."

Carla looked at the massive machine in awe. "Whoa it's uh...big."

Isabel explained her intentions with her new device. "I built this container with advanced mechanism that will preserve magic and keep it safe in case we need to use it for emergencies, so if there's a big problem and Mateo all out of magic, he could use it whenever he needs it, and since the royal guard uses tamboritas now they can use it for military purposes."

"Wow that's very uh...creative." said Carla.

"Now I just need to test it that's where you come in." said Isabel. "I'm sure Mateo has taught you by now how to cast magical energy."

That made Carla nervous a bit. "Yeah, but it's a little tricky."

"We just need one little spark to contain, then when Mateo gets back he'll expand that sparks." said Isabel. The goal is to make sure that there are no leaks that the spark can slip through."

Carla wasn't sure about this but she knew Isabel was counting on her, so she decided to go along with it. "Okay, let's do it!"

Isabel was excited. "Alright, let me open this door."

Carla took out her tamborita cast out a little spark of magic and carefully moved it into the container. Isabel closed the door quickly just as the spark was getting in it flew around the area and hit the glass in different spots, there were no leaks or weak spots in the container so it couldn't get out.

Isabel was relieved as much as Carla. "Whew it's contained, that means it's safe to pour the rest. Test successful!"

Carla was really impressed with her intelligence and her engineering skills. "I have to say you really know your stuff!"

Isabel really appreciated that compliment. "Thanks! You're not so bad yourself, I knew you would help because you've been dependable before when you were Rita"

Carla didn't know how to feel about that. "Well helping wasn't my thing before, but now I'm used to it. I guess you could say that Rita has grown a lot on me"

"I've also seen you become a lot better these days, you've been kinder, loving, friendlier...I hardly ever recognize the old Carla Delgado." Isabel added.

"It's not a big deal, I'm just trying to get used to doing the right thing, you know growing up a villain and all." said Carla.

"I believe you." said Isabel. "You know, your dad was a fun person when he, Elena, and Esteban were teenagers."

"They were inseparable,huh?" Carla asked.

They were all best friends...before Shuriki came along. Isabel said before she frowned.

Carla felt bad for Isabel at that moment. "Sorry about that, I guess some things don't last forever."

Isabel felt empathetic for Carla too as she knew what she was talking about. "I'm sorry about what happened with your mom,it must be a horrible thing for a parent to betray you."

"Don't worry about it, it's was a wake up call for me anyway." Carla assured.

"Isabel was suddenly curious." What was life like for you when she was around?

Carla didn't know how explain to Isabel so she explained it the best way she could. "Well, before she left to become a malvago, she loved me more than anything, I was always the shining light of her life. She promised that she would return as soon as she was done with her training, but she never came back for five years, but it wasn't all bad, my papa would take care of me while my mom was away, and he would always tell me stories about his life in Avalor. I missed her a lot, but Papa always said that she would come home someday."

"Do you still miss her now?" Isabel asked.

"The only thing I miss about her is when she was acting like a mom, because that's the closest I'll ever get to even having one." Carla answered.

Isabel could painfully relate. "I know that feeling too well."

Carla knew what Isabel was going to say, she didn't want to make things worse. "Hey, um you don't have to talk about...um..."

Isabel finished Carla's sentence. "Esteban?"

"If you don't want to." said Carla.

Isabel reassured Carla that it was fine. "That's okay, I've never told anyone about how I really feel about my cousin, not even Elena. But I feel like I can trust you."

Carla was surprised at Elena's younger sister would even trust her even though she didn't deserve that trust, but she gave a listen anyway.

As soon they sat down together, Isabel took a deep breath and she let out her thoughts about Esteban. "When I first found out that Esteban betrayed us I was heartbroken, I didn't understand why he would do this, nobody would even tell me because I was too young to understand, until one day Esteban came out of nowhere when Elena's magic went out of control, he begged for her forgiveness, but she didn't have the heart to do it and told him he was no longer family."

"Wow, that's must've been overwhelming" said Carla.

Isabel continued. "After everything calmed, Elena and I had our sister to sister chat and she finally told me why he did it, Esteban said he felt like he wasn't a part of the family, but she assured me that he was lying, that he just didn't care about us at all after we done for him."

"Do you believe it?" asked Carla.

Isabel was deeply confused inside. "I don't know. Part of me wants to believe because he cared for us, even though he's been grumpy at times. he's been like a big brother to me and Elena, after his parents died we welcomed him into our home, made him part of our family, we loved him. When Shuriki came it was the last time I ever saw him or my parents, and when my abuelos and I got out of that painting, he was grown up, he was a little grumpier and more serious than he was before, but he still loved his family. Last Navidad was the best memory I've ever had with him."

Isabel then felt angry and emotional inside. "But another part of me doesn't want to because he's the reason mami and papi are gone. My childhood was put on hold when I was in the painting for 41 years, I had to learn to adapt to the new ways of childhood than what I was raised with, I didn't even recognize my home anymore. He took away everything that meant the world to me, I can't look at him the same way anymore.

A lot was going through Carla's head hearing this. "That's rough."

Then Isabel got really emotional. "Do you know what the worst part is? Every kid in Avalor has a mom and dad to love and hug while I still cherish what's left of my family. I hate Esteban for tearing our family apart, and I hate myself for believing that there might be some good in him! I just don't know what to believe anymore."

Tears welled up in Isabel's eyes for a second, then she realized Carla was present and she wiped her eyes quickly and regained composure. "Oh sorry, got too crazy there."

Isabel tried to put on a small fake smile,but Carla knew she wasn't okay.

Carla tried to comfort her the best way she can, even though she has no experience of mentoring to someone younger than her. "No it's okay, It's crazy to go through all that for someone your age. Look, I know what it's like to look up to someone only for them to reveal their true colors, and you finally realize that It was nothing but a lie and part of you wants to believe that there's still some good in them, and you think that makes you a bad person, but it's not true, you're allowed to feel what you feel, there's nothing wrong with hoping for the best."

Isabel then revealed something that she's been holding for a while. "I never talk to my family about this, I try to keep it together for them because they want to see me happy without Esteban, they don't want his betrayal to affect me, but the truth is I'm taking this hard more than anyone."

"Well if it's hurting you that much, you should talk to Elena about it." Carla advised.

"I know but with everything going on, I don't think this is the best time to cry for help. Elena needs to focus on being queen for her coronation and the last thing she needs is to worry about me." said Isabel.

"You don't have to pretend to be okay to please everyone just because you're the family's golden child." said Carla.

"I'm a kid, Carla, no adult has the time to put up with a child's feelings, I'll just be a minor inconvenience." said Isabel.

Carla knew exactly what to say at that time when she thought about her relationship with her father. "My Papi never thought I was an inconvenience even when I was acting like a brat sometimes even though I was being a little difficult, he always made sure I was safe and that I'm well cared for because he loves me, to him I'm all that matters, way more than power."

"Elena does the same for me too, but it's too complicated." said Isabel.

"That doesn't change anything, Elena will always be there for you because you're her sister, trust me I've watched her long enough to know that she loves family, just like how Papa loves me." said Carla.

Isabel felt a little bit better in talking to Carla as she gave a small grin. "Out of all people, I never thought you'd know what to say to help me feel better, that's definitely something Elena would do."

Carla never thought she would comfort the younger sister of the crown princess either. "Well I'm just trying to help the royal family best way I can, I owe this to Elena."

Isabel smiled at Carla as she decided to be honest with her "You know, when Elena put you in jail she was certain you would spend the rest of your life there, until she started visiting you. I didn't understand why she was so compassionate towards you, she even told me that you were starting to turn around. I was doubtful and worried because I thought you were tricking her like you usually do, but after you risked your life to save my sister, I realized I was wrong about you, you have changed for the better, and I am happy for you."

Carla never thought she'd hear those words from Elena's little sister. "Thanks princess, to be honest I didn't think you would be so nice to me after everything I've done."

"Everyone deserves a second chance."said Isabel. "Although I still haven't forgiven you for giving me parade trauma."

"I guess I owe you a lot for that one." Carla nervously chuckled." Sorry about that princess."

Isabel giggled while rolling her eyes. "I'll only forgive you for that, if you just call me Isabel or Isa."

Carla was relieved that Isabel only messing with her, but she took her offer. "It's a deal, Isa."

Isabel wanted to ask something from Carla. "Do me a favor, don't tell anyone about this."

"Don't worry if there's one thing I'm good at is keeping secrets." Carla winked.

Carla knew she needed to meet up with Mateo soon. "Well I meet up with Mateo for our magic lessons, I'll be sure to tell him about your invention."

Isabel was grateful for Carla showing up. "Thank you Carla, I'm glad we talked and that I got to know you better."

Carla thought she should say something nice back. "You know what Isa, you're one very impressive kid."

As Carla left, Isabel felt the heaviness leave from her chest, a talk with Carla is what she needed, she thought if a person like her can change then maybe there's still hope for her cousin Esteban.

Questions:

1. What do you think about Isabel's feelings about Esteban's betrayal?

2. What do you think about Carla bonding with Isabel?

Let me know in the reviews.