26. If everyone else is messed up... are you too?

The night passed with relative ease. And before Alma knew it it was morning once more. Breakfast wasn't any more tense than it had been the rest of the week, and Alma sent her family into town once more.

She however stayed behind. She had much to plan for that night's dinner. She prayed to Pedro that nothing would interrupt the proposal again. She prayed that Isabela would be happy once more. She hadn't seen her eldest granddaughter smile since Mirabel showed up.

Casita was oddly quiet as Alma walked through its corridors. Images of the cracks she had seen the past day kept creeping into Alma's mind. They scared her just as much as Mirabel's fading door had, if not more. The idea that the magic was crumbling... that their miracle was dying...

Alma didn't know what she'd do if they lost their miracle. It was all she had left of Pedro. If they lost the miracle then how was she supposed to keep them safe? How would she protect the Encanto? What would happen to them?

She decided to check on her youngest granddaughter. Mirabel had requested to take the day off, even though she was supposed to go into town with Pepa. Pepa had seemed eager to not have Mirabel tag along, and Alma honored both of their wishes. If only for Pepa's sake.

Alma came into the nursery and blinked at how empty it was. There was nothing there except the furniture, and, oddly enough, a blanket covering the top of the cabinet that previously held Antonio's clothes.

Alma was about to leave when she heard the rustling of cloth. One corner of the dark blue blanket fell down and hung swinging in the air, and Alma saw a muffled green glow coming from under the fabric.

Her heart seized up. That green glow was the exact same shade as... and it was glowing... could it be that... She had told Mirabel to stay away from his tower! Mirabel had promised that she wouldn't go in there! But Mirabel was a teenager, and teenagers did dumb things...

Taking a deep settling breath Alma crossed the room and laid a hand on the blanket. She stood motionless for a second before pulling the fabric off of the dresser.

She was met by a thing she hadn't seen in a decade. A vision tablet. But this one was different from all the others she had seen. This one had been shattered and put back together.

But it wasn't the fact that the tablet was now shards that scared Alma. No. It was the image she saw portrayed on the glass. There, in the middle of the tablet, was Mirabel. Mirabel was standing there, an angry look on her face, and Alma couldn't see her eyes. Behind Mirabel was... Casita... Broken. Full of the cracks that the two of them had seen the day before.

Suddenly her son's actions made sense.

This was the vision Bruno had seen ten years ago, when Alma had begged him to look into the future. He had seen Mirabel destroying the magic. He had seen her hurting them. And so he had done what he needed to. He had never taken Mirabel because he hated them. He had taken Mirabel to keep them safe.

Mirabel was going to destroy the miracle.

That was why Luisa was losing her gift! That was why there were cracks in Casita where there had never been any before! Mirabel was going to destroy the magic, and if Alma didn't do something soon the entire house would crumble!

It pained her to make the decision, but it was all she could do. Covering the vision back up Alma decided that she had to get Mirabel out. She could not let Mirabel destroy what Pedro had sacrificed himself for. Mirabel would not be allowed to hurt them any futher.

Alma just had to find her first.

Mirabel stood in front of Isabela's door once more, her fist lifted and ready to knock on her door.

But she found herself unable to knock at all. Every time she brought her fist close to the glowing door she always stopped herself an inch or two away. She knew what was going to happen if she actually did knock. Isabela would tell her no, and her doorknob would turn into thorns once more. Mirabel would be back to square one once more.

She knew that there had to be something wrong with Isabela. She was going six for six with Magical Madrigals with issues. The only magical person she knew didn't have issues would be Antonio, but that was probably only because he had only had his gift for five days.

Besides their parents Isabela had had her gift for the longest time. So there had to be something the matter with her. Who knew!? Maybe she was allergic to pollen or something! Maybe she hated the smell of roses!

But there Mirabel was, her fist poised to knock on the door, her mind ready to talk to her sister/cousin/thing, but her heart not ready to feel another rejection.

She took a deep breath, then mumbled to herself, “Come on Mira. It's for the family. Just pretend that... that... Just do the knocking on wood thing! Pretend you're getting Papá's attention!”

As soon as she said that she felt a pang go through her heart. This was the longest she'd been apart from Bruno ever, and she knew that she would give anything in that moment to have him next to her. He would know what to say. What to do.

“For Papá.” she whispered, then finally she got herself to rap on the door. She heard a rustle on the other side, and she said loudly, “Isabela please! I really need to talk to you!”

The rusting sound stopped, and then the door swung open a little. Mirabel let out a loud 'Whoop!' and then pushed herself inside of the room...

And felt her jaw drop.

The entire room was covered, floor to ceiling, in pink and purple flowers and petals. They piled over Mirabel's feet, and she found herself momentarily distracted by kicking up the petals and giggling as they flew around her ankles.

“Are you actually going to be serious? Or are you just going to play the entire time?” Mirabel's attention was grabbed by Isabela, who was sitting on her bed and plucking petals off of a large rose in her hand.

Mirabel coughed once, holding her hands behind her back. “Sorry,” she said quietly, hearing Isabela's door shut behind her. “I just... your room is really cool...” Isabela glared over at her, squeezing the rose tighter in her hands.

“My room is... perfect.” Isabela said, and Mirabel felt a shiver run down her spine. “Oh.” she said, doing her best to act naturally. “Of course... Is everything about you perfect?”

Isabela froze and glared at her. “Of course.” she snapped, and suddenly everything clicked inside of Mirabel's head.

Isabela was perfect. Dolores was never heard. Camilo became anything you needed. Julieta gave and never received. Luisa handled everything.

“Ah...” Mirabel said, and then she started squirming. She knew Isabela just well enough to know that she couldn't just tell her she had issues. Isabela glared at her, and then she did something that Mirabel never expected.

Isabela yelled, “Stop that Mirabel! Ugh!”

Mirabel froze. She hadn't... been doing anything though. She blinked at Isabela, who was breathing hard and baring her teeth at her. “Uh... What should I stop?” she asked, and Isabela crushed her rose in her hands.

“Acting like Bruno! He's a no-good, selfish... Jerk!”

Mirabel felt her breath catch in her throat. She stared at Isabela who stood up and start walking towards her. “Uh... No he's not.” Mirabel said, lifting herself up and staring Isabela down. Isabela froze herself, and she spat out, “Yes he is.”

“How?!” Mirabel asked, throwing her hands out in front of her, and Isabela groaned loudly. “Well...” Isabela snapped, “Can we start with how he kidnapped my little sister!?” Mirabel let out her own groan, and refuted with, “He did it to protect me.”

“From what?!” Isabela shouted in Mirabel's face. “From us? From Abuela? From me!?” Mirabel blinked at her, and said, “No! Of course not! He loves you!”

“IF HE LOVED ME HE WOULD HAVE TAKEN ME TOO!” Isabela roared, and Mirabel blinked at her. “Then I wouldn't have to marry someone I barely even like!”

Mirabel found her breath caught in her throat. Isabela... didn't really like Mariano? That was great! Now Dolores could have him! They'd talk with Abuela and make sure he married the right Madrigal-

Before Mirabel could open her mouth to explain her sudden happiness she heard a loud 'Pop!'. She looked down at the ground and saw a small... cactus. Oh cool! A cactus!

“Aw!” she said, glancing at Isabela, who was frozen staring at the cactus. “That's really cute... But Isa... That's a big confession. You don't like Mariano?”

Isabela wasn't paying her attention though. She knelt down and touched the cactus with an extended finger. “I... just grew a cactus...” she breathed, and Mirabel nodded. “Uh... yeah... Didn't you know that?” she asked, and Isabela locked eyes with her, a look of profound sadness in hers.

Isabela didn't know that she could grow cactuses? Mirabel knelt down next to her, and held a hand out towards her shoulder.

But before she could make contact with her Isabela stood up, grabbing the cactus by the bottom and holding it up in the air. “I just grew something that's not symmetrical!” she exclaimed, sounding the happiest Mirabel had ever heard her.

Mirabel nodded, staring up at her. “Wait. Have you only been growing flowers?” she asked, glancing at the ground and then back at Isabela. “How boring!” Isabela let out a loud laugh. “Boring is right...”

Mirabel stood up suddenly and grabbed Isabela's wrist. “Come on girl. We're gonna grow a million other things. Like corn! And trees!” Isabela glanced at her, and a wicked grin slid onto her face. “Corn?” she asked, and Mirabel nodded.

“Dude! Tia Pepa would never have to force herself to be sad again!” Isabela said, waving a hand and letting a stalk of corn grow next to Mirabel. Mirabel saved that information at the back of her mind.

If she had been a younger woman Alma would be running through town. But she was not, so she was just walking very confidently through the streets.

She saw her eldest closing up shop, and saw Julieta wipe a tear from her eyes. She came to her and Julieta froze.

“Mamá!” Julieta exclaimed, smiling at her, though it looked a little big forced. “What is it? I thought you were preparing for the Guzmans...” She blinked at Alma when she saw her mother's worried face. “What is it?” she asked again, sounding worried.

“I need to know where Mirabel is.” Alma said, gripping Julieta's wrist. Julieta gave her a confused look, then she said slowly, “I thought... she was back at Casita...” Alma shook her head, and Julieta froze.

Julieta looked back at her table, then she said, “I'll help you look. I'm sure that she's just... exploring or something...” Alma nodded, and said, “Thank you Julieta... Please... If you find her, bring her to me.” Julieta gave her a confused look, but nodded anyway.

The image of Casita crumbling flashed in Alma's eyes. She watched her eldest grab all of her things and leave. She hoped that she found Mirabel soon. They had to save the magic before it was too late.

She felt a shiver run down her spine. She could feel a storm brewing, but not one from Pepa. There was a storm brewing in her family, and she had no idea how to deal with it. Could it be that that was what Mirabel was doing? Was she driving a wedge between each of the family members? Would she really do that?

There had been nothing wrong with the family before Mirabel showed up, and now everything was crumbling, literally, around them.

Mirabel laughed as Isabela threw her hands out, dozens of speckled flowers blooming around them. From where they were standing on the roof of Casita she could see everything that Isabela was growing.

The patch of beans were the tiniest of everything that Isabela had made. There were trees surrounding them, and a million multi-colored flowers. There were carnivorous plants, plants that smelled absolutely terrible, plants that emitted brightly colored pollen when they were tapped.

Now they were standing here. Isabela's pale purple dress covered in dirt and pollen. Mirabel had her own pollen in her hair, turning her colors a bright green to match her skirt.

Isabela was smiling widely. She looked happier than she had ever been, as far as Mirabel could tell. Isabela turned to look at her, several small vines bursting from her hands like little snakes.

Mirabel smiled back at her, then she said quietly, “Isabela... Are you... Happy?” Isabela laughed, a laugh that was brighter than Mirabel had ever heard from anyone before.

“Am I happy?” she asked, sounding a little scandalized. “Mirabel... I'm the happiest I've ever been!” She grabbed Mirabel's hands and beamed at her. “Thank you so much Mirabel!”

Then it happened. Mirabel caught a single glimpse of the candle burning oh-so-bright from its window, then she had a shoulder in the way of her arms. And she was...

Being hugged by Isabela.

She'd done it.

She'd saved the miracle.

If only it could last.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE! MIRABEL MADRIGAL!”