Disclaimer: I do not own Encanto or any of its characters. Also, I just started learning Spanish a year before this was written, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.
A/N: As with all my stories, this will have an A/N w/ important stuff at the beginning, and one with more info at the end. I am sorry about the spacing, it's an FFN thing. Updates will be inconsistent, but I put approximate dates on my profile. I think that's it for now, happy reading everybody!
Date Posted: 1/19/2025
POV: Natalia
She wasn't going to survive this, and we all knew it.
Mariposa had always been fragile. Always sick with something, and my food could only reduce the pain. Could only keep her holding on for a little bit longer, and it scared me. One day, my gift would not be enough.
Bruno saw it too. I always knew when he was having a vision. Not a prophecy, born of sand and set in emerald; but a possibility that would take him away for a moment while his eyes stared at horrors yet to come. The past few weeks, he had had a vision nearly every time he looked at Mariposa, and that was…quite often. She was his wife, after all, and nearly nine months pregnant at that. He never said what the visions were about, but it was easy enough to guess.
The night Mariposa gave birth should have been a happy one.
The village doctor did all she could, and I made plates of all of Mari's favorite foods, but neither magic nor medicine was enough to save her.
A part of my brother died that night.
He seemed to be in shock when we told him. I think we all were. He didn't breathe for a second, and then he took a huge breath of air like a drowning man just reaching the surface. But he didn't cry. Pepa did - she always wore her heart on her sleeve, and Mari was a second sister to her. But not Bruno. He simply took the baby girl from my arms, looked into those bright blue eyes, and sobbed once. He named her Natalia.
I padded into Bruno's - no, Papá's - room silently. Sometimes after a vision, it was hard to find myself. The dream had been Tía Julieta's memory, so I was still thinking of Papá as Bruno. It was confusing sometimes, but I knew Papá understood. He felt the same thing sometimes, walking the line between present and future. I walked the line between present and past.
I walked slowly to his room inside his room - a nearly unnoticeable door in the passageway leading to his prophecy room. He'd shown me the prophecy room once, although it had taken hours to get up and down the stairs. I thought it was rather boring.
Still asleep, Papá snored softly. "Papá? Wake up," I whispered, shaking him lightly. He didn't move. "Papá!"
He blinked at me sleepily. "Natalia? What happened?"
"I had another dream," I whispered, crawling into bed beside him. He pulled me to his side, and I listened to his heartbeat as I spoke. "It was Tía Julieta's memory of the night I was born. I didn't really see anything until the end, it was just her fear and love for you and Ma- for you and Mamá. I saw your face at the very end, when you named me. You looked so sad."
He sighed, wrapping his arms tighter around me. "You shouldn't have had to see that," he murmured.
"But I did. That's my gift. I see things." Papá sighed again. "Papá?"
"Hmmm?"
"Do I look like her? Like Mamá?"
He wasn't expecting that. "Well…you have my hair, the waviness and the color. But your nose looks like hers, and you have her voice, I think." We were quiet for a moment. "Why don't you try to sleep? Tomorrow's going to be a big day for everyone. If you stay up for long, you won't be able to stay awake for Mirabel's gift ceremon…" he trailed off. I looked up to see his eyes glazed over, staring at something I would never see.
"Papá?"
His eyes snapped to mine as the vision ended. "Oh! Sorry, Natalia. How long was it?"
"Only a few seconds," I told him. "What…"
I was cut off by a yawn. He laughed quietly. "Good night, Natalia." I barely had time to respond before I was asleep again.
"Dolores, can you help Natalia get ready for tonight?" Papá called as he knocked on the door to my cousin's room.
She opened the door and smiled at me before turning to Papá. "Sorry, did you say something? My room is soundproof except for knocks," she told him.
"Can you help Natalia get ready for tonight? I don't know how to do her hair or anything like that. Your mother and Tía Julieta are both so busy getting everything ready for Mirabel's gift ceremony, and you know Natalia loves you…"
"Oh, I can do that! Natalia, let's go to your room first so you can get changed, alright?"
I nodded and smiled up at my cousin. Dolores was amazing. Camilo and Mirabel spent every waking second with each other, being only a few months apart in age. Luisa helped out a lot in town, and Isabela was a social butterfly who spent most of the day with her friends. Dolores was the only one who really had time for me, and she knew the best stories, even better than Papá's!
Papá kissed my forehead and left. I grabbed Dolores's hand and skipped to my room. I shivered and looked away from the image on the door. The door was magic, of course, so my likeness grew with me. However, the surrounding image remained the same two years later.
After picking out a dark blue dress and changing, Dolores took me to Tía Pepa's room so we could use her hairpins. Dolores didn't know how to apply makeup, but she was great with hair. She guided me to sit down in a chair in front of the bathroom mirror and started brushing the tangles out.
"Ow!" I yelped as the brush dragged through my hair.
"If you ever brushed this rat's nest, it wouldn't hurt as much!"
"I do brush my hair, and it's not a rat's nest!" I huffed. "It's just really hard sometimes, 'cause my hair isn't as soft as yours. Why do we even have to do this?"
Behind me, Pepa giggled. "You can't go to church looking like this, silly! Now sit still so I can finish, Julieta is helping Mamá with breakfast and I want to eat before it gets cold."
"Pepa! Bruno! Hurry up, breakfast is ready!" Almost as if on cue, Julieta called us from downstairs.
"Coming!" Pepa replied. She then viciously attacked my hair with the brush.
"Ow! Pepa!"
"Do you want to miss breakfast?" I grumbled and settled for throwing a hairpin at her. "Hey!"
"Natalia?"
"Just leave it! It looks fine!"
"Natalia, are you okay?"
"Ugh, fine! Go to church looking like a rat, then!"
"Natalia! Snap out of it!"
"Yeah, like you look any better! I bet even your static has static!"
"Natalia, please! LOOK AT ME!"
I blinked away the vision. "Pepa?"
Dolores half sobbed. "No, it's Dolores. It's me, remember?"
I frowned. "Oh. Sorry. What happened? Did I say anything?"
"Um…a little…you said 'ow,' and then you started laughing and mumbling…I heard it, but I don't think anyone else would have. Was it a vision?"
I nodded. "I think it was Papá's memory…of when he was little, and Tía Pepa was brushing his hair for church." I giggled. "She said it looked like a rat's nest. I think that's kind of funny, 'cause Papá always says that Casita has a lot of rats. You know, in the walls! He told me he saw them in a vision, and they were his friends. Or they would be. You know what I mean."
Dolores smiled softly. "That's true. I can hear them sometimes." Her smile quickly turned sad. "Did he tell you what his vision was about?"
I shook my head. Dolores started pulling my hair into a ponytail.
No, he didn't tell me, but he didn't need to. It was one of those things my gift told me, the kind of thing I just knew. His gift told him the rats would be his friends, and mine told me he would need them because someday soon, Papá wouldn't have anyone else.
Dolores finished with the ponytail and stole a butterfly pin from a drawer for my dress. "There! All ready for Mirabel's gift ceremony. Let's go!"
POV: Dolores
Everything was so loud.
Natalia didn't let go of my hand. She looked so grown up, with her head held high and her eyes revealing nothing. I knew she was excited for Mirabel; we all were. But ever since Camilo's ceremony, the first she had witnessed after her own, she became just a little more downcast every time Mirabel's was mentioned. The gift ceremony was a day for all of us to show off our gifts - except for her and Tío Bruno. I heard whispers calling them the black sheep of the family, cursed and feared among the village. Even among our own family! It wasn't like Abuela was exceptionally warm towards Tío Bruno, and young as she was, Natalia could see it. She saw everything.
The night before Natalia's gift ceremony, I heard Tío Bruno go to the attic and beg the miracle to not give her a gift like his. To not give her a curse.
Of course, the miracle didn't listen.
It wasn't fair, really. It wasn't like Tío Bruno and Nataila had asked for their gifts - in fact, I knew from conversations accidentally overheard that Tío Bruno wished they didn't have gifts at all. Both "gifts" could be incredibly dangerous, and the incident while I was doing Natalia's hair only proved that. She spaced out at the most inopportune of times, and accidents could happen. Would happen.
The call of my name by the voice of my little brother interrupted my thoughts. He was on the other side of the room, but he knew I could hear him. "Doooooloooooreeeees! C'mere, Mirabel's scared!"
A small smile found its way onto my face. I walked through the crowds with Natalia - background noise, it's all background noise, it's just background noise - was Natalia squeezing my hand even tighter? - to behind the curtains where Mirabel stood with her parents, Luisa, and Camilo. Where's Isabela? I wondered. Searching through the endless voices, it took a few seconds longer than usual to find her.
"-not like she's mean or anything, but she's just a little…strange, you know? And that weird obsession with birds, like, no one cares. And she's so quiet all the time…"
Gossiping with her friends, then. Should have guessed.
I focused on the scene in front of me: my youngest cousin having a borderline panic attack.
Well, then.
"-but all of your gifts are so cool, and what if mine's, like, sewing or something? I don't want to be boring!"
Tía Julieta sighed. Surprisingly, Camilo was the first to reassure her. "Mirabel, whatever your gift is, I bet it'll be amazing! The miracle wouldn't give you a bad gift."
I was the only one who could have possibly heard Natalia whisper, "But what about Papá?"
"But what if-"
"Mirabel," Luisa interrupted, "you need to trust the miracle. It won't let you down. Besides, it doesn't matter what your gift will be. You'll still be you, no matter what."
Mirabel seemed to struggle for an argument before giving up smiling at Luisa adoringly. Something tightened in my chest at the look. I glanced at Camilo, who was grinning wildly at Mirabel, and then quickly away. Don't.
I felt a tug on my hand and looked down to see Natalia staring at me. Does she know? Can she guess? She hugged my leg suddenly, and I stumbled back a little at the sudden attack. "Are you okay?" she whispered.
I smiled and knelt down to hug her properly. "I am now," I murmured back. How much does her gift tell her?
A sudden hush fell on the other side of the curtain. Click. Click. Click. Abuela was climbing the stairs. Luisa pushed Mirabel into place in the center of the small room. Tía Julieta and Tío Agustín quickly ran to the shadows so that they wouldn't be seen when the curtains opened. "Camilo!" I hissed. "Get out of the way!"
My brother nodded and took a few steps back. I did the same, but Natalia didn't move. "Natalia!"
Her eyes snapped to mine, and the fear in them…I couldn't breathe for a second. Then she nodded and looked away, stepping back into the shadows with me. "Papá can see something," she breathed. No one else would be able to hear what she said. "He's scared, he knows something is going to happen. But he's trying to hide it from me, because he knows that I can See him."
I took a deep breath to calm myself. It didn't really work. Unlike his prophecies, which could be good or bad, Tío Bruno's visions were nearly always pessimistic. I didn't have time to respond, though, because then the curtains opened, and Casita pushed Mirabel forward.
A/N: I don't have a beta, so if you see any plot holes, canon inaccuracies, extreme OOC moments, or spelling/grammar errors, please tell me.