14. History Repeats (Or Not)

As more and more townspeople and children enter Casita, all being greeted by Camilo and Antonio, the party begins to start. The newest door, swirling and glowing with golden dust, on display for everyone to see, ready to be opened.

The children have the time of their lives the second they were in the magical house. Some of them slide down the magical stairs Casita can move, some just run around, and some even cling to Luisa’s back for a piggyback ride. Luckily, she doesn’t mind.

Meanwhile, adults are talking about what gift the 5 year old Madrigal in question may get, as well as other stuff, while others grab some food, or admire the beauty and grace of a certain flower woman.

Speaking of which, Isabela is braiding kids’ hair with vines and flowers when she sees Dolores standing alone, looking quite saddened as she leans against the wall, covering her ears a bit.

The flower woman wants to check up on her prima, to ask her if she’s okay, as well as to apologize for ranting at her in the morning. So, she quickly finishes a girl’s braid, before attempting to leave the scene.

“Sorry, but I have to be somewhere else.” she apologizes to the other kids, giving them a reassuring smile to say that she’ll be back, walking towards Dolores afterwards.

“Isabela, can you grow some roses here?” Félix asks his oldest niece all the way from the balcony. In response, Isabela let’s a bit too much roses grow in that spot, all while continuing her way towards Dolores, without even looking at her Tío.

“Hola, Dolores.” the flower woman greets her prima, making sure her voice isn’t too loud.

Dolores simply nods in response, still covering her ears from all the noice. Isabela stares at her for a moment, until it sinks in.

Right, she should’ve known her prima can be easily overwhelmed…

Realizing this, Isabela guides her to the dinning area where no one’s there and where it’s quiet. Upon entering there, Dolores uncovers her ears, appearing to relax.

“Better?” Isabela asks upon closing the door.

“Yes.” Dolores answers, giving her prima a thankful smile. “Gracias.”

A moment of silence falls, before Isabela speaks again.

“Will you be okay for the ceremony?” she asks, putting a gentle hand on her prima’s shoulder. While she and Mariano have to wait next at the new door as Oscar’s parents, just like her parents had done before, Dolores has to stand in the courtyard with the rest of the Madrigal family and the townspeople. “I know this isn’t easy-“

“I will be fine, Isa.” Dolores reassures, along with a small smile. “You worry too much.”

This time, it’s Isabela who stays silent. She gazes at the ground as if she’s ashamed.

“And Mariano and you don’t deserve to suffer like this.” She says, looking back at her prima with a saddened expression.

Isabela has known about the two’s love for one another for eight years. And in those eight years, she had supported them with her entire heart, and kept their relationship a secret. Isa even sometimes did Dolores’ chores, just so she could spend some time with Mariano. They couldn’t do that often, since there roamed a huge family in Casita, and the three young adults just couldn’t risk someone finding out about the agreement.

Isabela just wished she had found out about her than-fiancé and prima’s feelings for one another sooner, before the wedding. Than, they could’ve called it off, protested, or objected, but it was already too late…

The two had already said their vows when Isa saw Dolores cry tears, but they weren’t of happiness. After the honeymoon, where they could properly talk about everything, the two newlyweds managed to pull Dolores aside to talk one day, and that was when both her and Mariano confessed their feelings for each other. They rapidly apologized to Isabela for the mess they have made, but she reassured them that it was okay, and that they could somehow make this mess work.

So, despite their wedding vows everyone heard, Isabela and Mariano mutually agreed that they could find other romantic partners if they wished. Their own relationship never went past friendship, though they sometimes had to initiate romantic affection for Abuela’s sake.

This, while also having to keep Mariano’s relationship with Dolores a secret from the rest of the family. Thank goodness the family tree in the dinning area only include marriages, otherwise they would’ve been caught already.

It was a mess, but it kept the three young adults a little happier.

“I know…” Dolores says quietly. “Please, just enjoy tonight, and don’t let anything bother you.”

She has a point there, but Isabela can’t seem to look forward to the actual ceremony…

“Are you sure you will be fine with the others?” she asks her prima a second time.

“Estaré bien, prima.” Dolores reassures. “I’ll look after Luisa so she won’t overwork herself again.”

That reminds the flower woman that her younger sister might very well still be doing chorus at this time.

“Do you know where she is?”

Dolores cubs one of her ears, trying to locate Luisa’s sounds and where she is.

“She’s in the courtyard helping the townspeople.” she answers after a moment of listening.

“Of course…” Isabela says, though a bit frustrated. Her younger sister is known for helping everyone without even remotely taking a break. But everyone has to relax a bit, even the ones who have super-strength. “I’m just going to get her so she can enjoy the party too.”

Dolores nods in response, as Isabela already makes her way to the door to exit the dinning area.

“Oh, and sorry about this morning.” the flower woman says, turning her head to her prima as she remembers going off on her before breakfast. “I was just stressed for tonight.”

Dolores accepts the apology with another nod.

“I still want my sandals back though.” Isabela says playfully, but also meaning it, before she’s out the door towards the courtyard.

Time to get Luisa to sit down for once…

Upon arriving at the courtyard, Isabela nearly runs into a towns-woman, since the whole town is here in a quite limited space. Luckily, despite the crowd, she spots Luisa, who’s obviously doing a chore.

“Hola, Luisa!” Isabela greets, causing her younger sister to jump out of her skin and almost drop the table she’s holding. “Why are you doing work at this hour? You should be enjoying the party before the ceremony begins.”

“Almost done.” Luisa says without even looking at her sister as she walks her way towards Casita’s exit to put the table away.

“That’s what you always say.” Isabela argues, already hearing another villager’s request from inside the courtyard. “Just take a break for once. It will do wonders!”

“You sound just like Pá.” Luisa only answers, yet again not even glancing at her older sister.

It’s then that Isabela has had enough.

She lets a few vines grow that grab the table from Luisa, and put it outside, doing the chore for her.

“Luisa Lydia Madrigal, you will take a break this instant!” Isabela demands, her strict mother-ish voice coming through. Of course, she knows Luisa isn’t her kid and is also an adult, but Isabela just can’t stand seeing her younger sister overwork herself, especially on a day of celebration.

But she understands, she understands why Luisa constantly overworks herself. Abuela had put quite an amount of pressure on her grandchildren to help the community, especially her first and third. And while Isabela is already too far gone in her own pressure-issues, she, along with her parents, still desperately try to convince Luisa to take a break before she will get a burn-out from everything.

Well, that, along with a certain event that unfolded 17 years ago that they don’t speak of, yet still hasn’t been forgotten…

Luisa stays silent, only staring as if not knowing what to do now.

“Just…relax…for once.” Isabela repeats between pauses, wanting to make the message crystal clear for her sister to understand.

“But what if someone needs me?” Luisa asks, already expecting the next request the townspeople have for her.

“Than say you’re taking a break!” the flower woman simply says, but she knows the word ‘No’ doesn’t exist in her sister’s dictionary when it comes to chores, so that sentence won’t come out of Luisa’s mouth any time soon.

“But what if Abuela-“

“Just ignore her.” Isabela says without a second thought, as she starts to lead her sister back towards the courtyard inside Casita again.

Luisa still feels nervous as her older sister takes her back to the courtyard, expecting another request at any moment.

And sure enough, one is thrown at her the second the sisters walk in the courtyard.

“Luisa, can you move this table to-“

“She’s off the clock!” Isabela yells at the towns woman, not even sparing her a glance.

Using her vines again, she gives Luisa a drink and a snack. The younger sister looks at both things in her hands, not really knowing what to do with them, before taking an awkward sip of her drink.

“And now?” Luisa can’t help but ask.

Isabela stares at her sister as if she had just transformed into a donkey. Had she worked so hard that she forgot what relaxing was?!

“Just look around you, and don’t do chores.” she says, almost as a warning.

“Isabela?” It’s Mariano, appearing behind her. Where has he been anyway? “We should get Oscar.”

The woman in question nods, before following, but not after waving at Luisa.

“Abuela is finally done telling the story?” she asks jokingly as they walk towards the nursery.

“I guess.” Mariano answers unsurely. Like he said, he only guesses it. Another question then pops in his mind, and lowers his voice to a whisper. “Will Dolores be okay? How is she?”

“No te preocupes, she told me she will be fine.” Isabela reassures.

Mariano only nods in response. She can tell he misses Dolores, misses spending time with her. And the flower woman wishes the two can just spend time together without everything getting in the way, but there’s only so much she can do.

“Hey, maybe I can do her chores again this week.” Isabela says, reassuring her husband again. “Let’s just focus on Oscar and his ceremony, okay?”

Mariano nods as his response, this time more certain and with a smile, as he and Isa continue their way towards the nursery.

•+•

Apparently, it took quite a while for Alma to tell the story of the Encanto to her first great-grandchild. Mariano and Isabela could only guess that their son asked a lot of questions again, like he would mostly do when listening to stories.

But the married duo didn’t really care about time. The ceremony would happen anyways.

Then, finally, they see their son come out of the nursery.

“There you are!” Mariano calls out happily upon seeing the boy.

“Look at you, all grown up.” Isabela adds, kneeling to her son level, getting a bit emotional.

Oscar wasn’t planned, he wasn’t even expected, but the married duo love him nonetheless despite their situation.

Though it had made things much more messier then they needed to be…

Obviously, it started with Abuela nagging about great-grandkids, and a new generation of Madrigal blessings, and all that talk. Luckily, that topic didn’t get brought up until a year into Isabela and Mariano’s marriage, otherwise it would’ve driven them nuts.

At first, the two would ignore and dodge the topic of children, since Mariano secretly had an actual romantic relationship with Dolores, and adding kids to the mix would only make it more complicated. But Abuela would eventually insist, saying that there needs to be a next generation to keep the miracle burning.

The married duo would lie about having tried with no success, but Isabela’s face of discomfort gave them away at some point. And so Alma would keep insisting.

Eventually, the two snapped, and decided that they should at least try once, just once, with the help of a few sips of wine. No way they would do it while sober. Despite Dolores’ warnings that the two shouldn’t be doing this in the first place, especially if they both felt uncomfortable, they didn’t listen.

They would only do it once, just to prove that they really did try! What could go wrong? It was only once!

It was such a stupid idea…

So, abuela got her wish, a great-grandchild, leaving the three young adults with an even bigger mess.

But despite all that, despite the circumstances and the current situation, Isabela and Mariano love their son with their entire heart.

“You’re gonna make your family proud.” the flower woman reassures Oscar, cubbing his cheeks with her hands. “Gift or no gift.”

The boy giggles a little, feeling the nerves that have been building up wash away.

Alma can’t help but smile at the scene, before looking at the clock. “It’s time.”

Isabela and Mariano nod in response, the former not even looking at her grandmother as she stands up again.

“We will be waiting at your door.” Mariano says, before the both of them make their way towards said door, leaving Oscar with Alma.

Isabela takes a deep breath as she and her husband make their way towards their son’s door. It’s time for the big moment…

•+•

Soon enough, the big moment in question has arrived.

Everyone, the townspeople and all the Madrigals, are facing Alma, who’s holding the known magic candle with pride, ready for her to begin her speech.

“Fifty-seven years ago, in our darkest moment, this candle blessed us with a miracle.” Alma starts, her voice ringing through the courtyard as everyone else listens. “And we have used our blessings to serve this beloved community.”

As the woman continues her speech, all the other Madrigals can feel their nerves grow. Pepa and Félix tremble a bit, the former trying to get rid of the cloud forming above her head. Luisa twitches her eye while Dolores puts a gentle hand on her shoulder, though the latter looks quite saddened for one reason or another. Julieta and Agustin can hear their own hearts beat loudly, almost feeling it in their throats. Camilo tries to fake a smile, but fails miserably. Isabela trembles like a leaf as flowers sprout on her head, Mariano quickly getting rid of them before they’re seen. And Antonio? He simply notices everyone’s nervousness.

“Tonight, another will step into the light to make us proud.” Alma finally finishes, leaving a short silence in the air.

That’s Casita’s cue. The magic house lets the long red tile carpet roll out, pulling the curtains back that reveal Oscar, tilting the wall scones to put him into the spotlight.

The townspeople clap in anticipation, all their eyes now on the young boy.

As Oscar starts to walk his way towards the stairs, towards his Bisabuela, the nervous of the Madrigals only grow bigger with each passing second.

Julieta, Agustin, Isabela, and Luisa especially can almost feel themselves being thrown back to Mirabel’s ceremony. Even though it has been 17 years since that night, they still remember it like it happend yesterday. They try to push the memory out of their heads, to separate it from tonight. No, this is Oscar’s ceremony, they need to focus on him. Everything will be fine.

As he sees his grandson walk up the stairs towards the candle, Agustin notices something near the doors, or rather at the door. Shifting his gaze a little, he sees his wife’s door…flickering? It glows bright gold for a few seconds, before the glow dims, and then glowing bright again.

Darting his eyes at his family quickly to check if anyone sees the flickering door as well, but no one else sees…

He has to tell Julieta, tell Alma, tell someone-

“Tío Agustin?” the 12 year old boy asks, whispering as he lightly tugs on his sleeve to get his Tío’s attention, looking at the exact direction where Julieta’s door is.

Antonio sees it too. He sees it too!

“I know…” Agustin answers, whispering as well.

The topic is cut short though, when the two see Oscar a few steps away from the candle, paying attention to the ceremony again. But Julieta’s flickering door still roams the back of their minds.

“Will you serve this community, and strengthen our home?” Alma asks her great-grandchild as she holds the candle for him to touch.

Oscar promises with a nod, his two hands touching the candle. His gaze then shifts towards his door, letting go of the candle. With slow steps, he walks towards his door that awaits to be opened.

As she watches her son walk up to his door to receive his gift, Isabela trembles like a leaf, the scenario of a repeat of her youngest sister’s ceremony running through her mind. She doesn’t want that happening again, not again. Noticing her nervousness and fears, Mariano reaches out to hold her hand. Not in a romantic way, but to comfort her, meaning to say that everything will be fine without any words.

Now standing in front of his door, Oscar reaches his hand out, hesitating for a second, before touching the doorknob.

Everyone is silent, holding their breaths as they anticipate what gift the boy will get.

Then, Oscar pulls his hand away from his doorknob. Both his hands rush towards the sides of his head, as he hears…voices? Different voices? Voices in his head?

“What’s his gift?”

“Is he seeing the future like-“

“What gift did he get?”

“Is he okay?”

“Just tell us what his gift is!”

All the voices Oscar hears in his head begin to overlap, forcing him to hear them all at once with no pause. It begins to overwhelm him. It’s too much.…

“Oscar?” the boy hears his Papá ask through all the voices he hears, his parents getting to his side. “What’s wrong?”

The 5 year old doesn’t answer, clenching his head as the voices in his head continue to talk and overlap, leaving no room for him to think.

It’s then that Oscar breaks down, wailing as the overwhelming noice in his head gets too much to bare. Unfortunately, the voices continue to talk…

Hearing her son’s cries, Isabela swoops him up in his arms and tries to comfort him.

“Shhhh, everything will be fine, mijo.” she says in an attempt to calm him down. But that doesn’t help at all, as all the voices in Oscar’s head start to overlap even more.

This whole scene strongly reminds Isabela of Dolores’ ceremony, where she also wailed loudly upon receiving her gift, which her door illustration revealed to be superhearing.

Looking at the scene, Dolores herself is basically thrown back into looking at her own ceremony. It’s all so similar…

It then hits all of them that the superhearer’s gift may be doubled too…

Realizing this, Mariano is about to tell everyone to be quiet so that his son can adjust. But he realizes that…everyone is quiet…

Then, the door illustration breaks free. It obviously reveals Oscar himself, his hands near his head with waves above him, almost like Dolores’ door.

That’s when it sinks in to everyone…

Oh no, he can hear everyone’s thoughts…

He has telepathy…

Isabela slowly shifts her gaze to her Abuela, who looks absolutely shocked, almost horrified.

That alone throws the flower woman right back to her youngest sister’s ceremony, trembling as the memory resurfaces. Abuela will cast him out too, she will abandon him for his gift too! Just like 17 years ago, just like Mira! Isabela can just see it in the elder’s expression.

No, not again…

Notagainnotagainnotagainnotagainnot-

Without even thinking, Isabela creates thorned vines in the shape of an X in front of Alma within seconds, serving as a sort of shield to hold her back from reaching Oscar.

The flower woman doesn’t care hearing everyone gasp or whisper as responses to her actions. She doesn’t want history repeating itself again…

“Isa-“ Alma tries to start, but she’s cut off.

“You will not throw him out as well! Not again, do you hear me?!” Isabela yells without hesitation, holding Oscar like she’s going to lose him any second. She doesn’t care what her Abuela may think of her now. Her reputation as the golden child can burn. Isabela doesn’t care anymore. “He won’t leave this house, this family! Not on my watch!”

The rest of the Madrigals and the townspeople look up at the scene from the courtyard, all silent as they watch.

Julieta and Agustin share a look, guilt crippling back into them as they watch their oldest child rip Alma a new one. They should’ve done that. They should’ve called the elderly woman out on her behavior to defend Mirabel years ago, but they didn’t, even after multiple chances of doing so…

“No te preocupes, Isabela. I won’t do that again.” Alma tries to reassure her oldest granddaughter, but it doesn’t help much.

That response really rubbed both Isabela and Mariano the wrong way. The elderly woman has cast one of her own family out before, twice even, so why wouldn’t they assume she will do it again?

Instead of saying those exact words to the matriarch to point out her hypocrisy, Mariano decides to bring the focus back to the main event.

“Why don’t you go and open your door.” He says to Oscar, who has calmed down a little.

Isabela agrees, and slowly removes the thorned vines that block her Abuela, while carefully putting her son down on the ground so that he can go up to his door again. Oscar does so, trying to keep it together while everyone else’s thoughts keep talking in his head. He touches the doorknob again, and pushes his door open.

Taking his first step inside, Oscar sees the magic creating the space of his room. It forms into a regular looking bedroom suitable for a 5 year old, but with a few odd things, such as a pillow on the ground as if it’s meant for meditating. When the magic finishes creating the space, he smells something delicious that manages to calm his mind from everyone’s thoughts.

Isabela and Mariano’s smiles return when seeing their son’s room being created, forgetting the argument from a minute ago for a moment.

“We have another gift!” Isabela proudly calls out for everyone to hear, though Alma usually says that. “Let’s celebrate!”

Everyone in the courtyard agrees, and almost all cheer in response, already forgetting the ordeal from earlier.

While they cheer and clap, Isabela gives her Abuela a glare, warning her that she shouldn’t repeat history, even after the ceremony.

Alma can only look away. She understands her granddaughter’s fears, and she won’t cast her only great-grandchild out, but they have to keep the miracle burning, they have to protect the community and their family.

Luckily, that isn’t a concern for tonight.

•+•

The townspeople and the Madrigals mutually decide to throw the celebration where they are now, in the courtyard, since glimpses of Oscar’s room showed that the room is too small for everyone to fit in. Though that doesn’t stop kids from taking a glance.

While Oscar, Isabela and Mariano take a look inside said new room, everyone else celebrates the new gift the Encanto has granted with drinks, snacks, and dancing.

Agustin is handing Luisa an arepa when Julieta’s door catches his eyes again. Looking at it, he sees that it isn’t flickering anymore. Now, the golden light shines on the doorframe like it’s suppose to. But he saw the door’s light dim! Antonio saw it too, so Agustin knows he wasn’t hallucinating.

He has to tell Alma, tell Julieta. But not now, not tonight. Now it’s his grandson’s night, and there’s no room for problems.

Though, Agustin has a feeling it will get worse…