24. To change what is set in stone

The family was all out in town, but Alma was still in Casita. The meeting with the Guzmans had gone quite well. Mariano was very understanding when it came to Mirabel's unexpected arrival, and was willing to try again soon. That helped ease some of Alma's worries.

But what burned in the back of her mind like a brand was the image of the crack in Casita. When she returned to her home the cracks were mysteriously gone. She tried to talk to Luisa, but her third granddaughter didn't respond when she knocked on her door.

Perhaps Julieta could get her daughter out of her room. The two of them had grown closer after Mirabel and Bruno's disappearance. They both bonded over losing their younger siblings, and their bond was still one of the strongest in the family.

Sometimes Alma found herself jealous of her daughter. Julieta was living the life that Alma had always wanted for herself and Pedro. But she forced herself to never blame them for her pain. Pedro had sacrificed himself for Julieta to have the life she did.

But Julieta's life wasn't perfect. She had suffered a lot at the hands of her brother. Alma remembered how she couldn't even look at her, or the portrait of her father for months after Bruno's disappearance. There were several times when Alma had found Julieta sitting in front of Bruno's door, begging to know where he was and why he had left.

She had recovered, somewhat, but you could still tell that the subject of Mirabel was a hard one for Julieta. That was why Alma had enforced the rule about never talking about the youngest granddaughter.

Don't talk about Mirabel. Don't talk about Bruno. And don't talk about Pedro. Each one of those hurt Las Senoras Madrigal. If no one talked about them then Julieta wouldn't break down in tears, Pepa wouldn't accidentally create another hurricane, and Alma wouldn't feel the gaping hole that Pedro's death still made her feel.

But now that Mirabel was back they had broken two of the three rules. The family talked about Mirabel constantly, and all Mirabel knew was Bruno.

That was why she had told her not to defend him. Mirabel probably didn't understand what Bruno had done to her, but if she wasn't constantly defending him to the family then she could hear the truth, and then she would be able to go back and be a part of her real family. Alma knew that Julieta would never tell her to change, but if Mirabel's belief in an abominable lie was to be shaken then someone would need to tell her.

But something nagged at the back of Alma's mind. The cracks that had started forming in Casita. There had never been cracks in their magical home before. There weren't cracks when Bruno had betrayed the family. There hadn't been cracks when Alma found Julieta crying herself to sleep in the nursery. There hadn't been cracks as Isabela had begged Alma to explain why her sister wasn't there. There hadn't been cracks when Pepa had thrown every painting Bruno had ever painted in the trash.

Oh Pedro. Why were the cracks here now? Could it be that there was a different reason that Bruno had taken Mirabel? What did his vision hold? What did he see? Could it be that Mirabel...

Could Mirabel be the reason that Casita was crumbing around them?

Dolores returned home in the middle of the day. She'd helped some of the townfolk find their rambunctious children who thought it was a fun idea to hide from their parents all day. The future of the town was in their hands, and honestly it sort of terrified Dolores to think that one day those children would be the adults that the Madrigals would be helping.

But they were adorable right now. And so she didn't blame them for being annoying. It was always fun to play hide-and-seek, even with small children who made too many sniffing sounds to make her feel comfortable. Children mostly didn't know the concept of an inside-voice, and sometimes they were too loud for her sensitive ears.

They're too adorable to get upset at them. They're too adorable to get upset... They're too-

"Hey! Dolores... I have a question."

Dolores spun around, she had been on her way to the kitchen to grab some late lunch, and saw her younger cousin standing the doorway. She nodded at Mirabel, who had a serious look on her face. "Dolores..." Mirabel said, and Dolores knew that whatever she said next would be serious. "Are you... depressed?"

Depressed? What?

Dolores blinked at Mirabel, who crossed her arms. She spluttered for a second, then choked out, "Wha- What?" Mirabel nodded, her lips turning down into a frown. "I've been noticing a bad pattern in this family." she explained, but Dolores didn't understand.

She was a Madrigal! Madrigals don't get depressed! There was no way... What was Mirabel talking about? She stared at her cousin as Mirabel started ranting.

"Luisa feels like she has to do everything for everybody with no breaks! Julieta feels bad if she gets thanked! Camilo has identity crises! Papá hates his visions and thinks he's a terrible useless person! What the heck is wrong with this family!?"

Mirabel looked about ready to pull her hair out of her head. Dolores didn't know what to do in that situation. She wasn't depressed! She just felt like no one ever heard her. She didn't have anything important to say anyway. She was fine. The rest of her family may need help. But Dolores was fine. She was fine...

She heard a sound, a deep resonating sound. It was coming from the floor behind... Mirabel. Mirabel was staring at her, and Dolores heard the tile underneath her start to rip apart.

"Tell me Dolores. Are you okay? Are you depressed like everyone else?!" Mirabel's question was bordering on a yell now. Dolores felt herself start to shrink into herself. She was fine. She was fine. Everyone else needed help, but not Dolores. She could wait on the side. She could listen and make sure that everyone else was fine.

"Dolores! Answer me!" Mirabel had tears in her eyes, but before Dolores could say that she was fine a large crack appeared in the ground underneath Mirabel's feet. "Mirabel..." she said, pointing shakily at the crack. "Now might not be the best..."

Mirabel didn't look at the cracks, instead she just stared at Dolores, with tears building up in her eyes. "Dolores... Please. I just want to know if you're okay." she said in a quiet almost broken voice. Dolores gulped, then said, "I'm fine Mirabel. But Casita's not!"

Mirabel looked down at the ground under her, and a loud gasp came out of her. "Dolores... What's happening?" she asked, rushing towards her cousin and wrapping her hands around Dolores's left arm. Dolores put her hand around Mirabel's staring at the cracks that followed Mirabel towards the two of them. "I don't know!" she responded, fear rising inside of her. She felt Mirabel's hands squeezing her tighter, then Mirabel said, "Dolores... please tell me you're okay. Or not. Please..."

Dolores looked over at her cousin, then said quietly, "I'm fine... mostly... But what's not fine is nothing that either of us can change."

The hands on Dolores's arm let go ever so slightly. Mirabel looked deep into Dolores's wide eyes, then asked, "What's wrong? I promise that if you don't want me to I won't try to change it." Dolores felt a sad chuckle rise up inside of her, then she answered quietly, "I'm in love with someone..."

Mirabel froze, glancing at the cracks, which started to change their course from her to Dolores. "Who?" she asked, but Dolores shook her head. "I can't tell you..." she said, and she felt like her voice was going to break.

How could she tell Mirabel that she was in love with Mariano? How could she tell her that Isabela's betrothed was the one that she wanted more than anything in the world? How could she place this burden on her cousin?

"He's... He's in love with someone else." she admitted, and she heard the cracks start to fragment. Mirabel gave her arm a light squeeze, and Dolores squeezed her hands back. "And they're happy Mirabel. I can't ruin their lives just because I developed a school-girl crush on him!"

Mirabel rested her head against Dolores's shoulder, and Dolores felt tears building up in her eyes. "They're happy Mirabel, and I want them to be happy. I couldn't live with myself if I made them sad. I've tried getting his attention... but he's head-over-heels for Isabela and..."

Dolores froze, hearing what she had just said. Mirabel lifted her head and stared in shock at Dolores. "You're... in love with that one dude? Guzzle-guy?"

Dolores let out a sad laugh, and Mirabel giggled a little bit. Then Dolores dropped her head down and stared at the crack that was just about to hit her shoe. "Tio Bruno saw this..." she whispered, and Mirabel froze. "He told me that the man of my dreams would be betrothed to someone else... I just never knew it would be... It would be..."

For the second time that week Mirabel pulled Dolores into a hug. And when she did the cracks started to shrink back to normal. Dolores wasn't one to cry. She had cried enough for her entire lifetime years before. But now that her biggest secret was off of her chest... Now that someone knew... She felt... better.

"Oh Dolores... I can't imagine how much pain you must be feeling right now." Mirabel whispered, and Dolores nodded. She didn't know what else to do. There was nothing she could say to change what was happening with her cousin. Isabela was happy, and Abuela was happy. And if Abuela had decided that Isabela was the one to marry Mariano... then it might as well have already happened.

"Thank you Mirabel." she said, squeezing her back. "Please... don't get yourself in trouble on my account."

Mirabel laughed, and the cracks disappeared completely. She looked up into Dolores's face and said, "Me? Trouble? Never."

The only thought Bruno had when he got to the top of the mountain was I can't wait to tell Mirabel how much trouble she's in. His hair was a literal rats-nest, with several of his little friends deciding that him climbing a mountain was a good time to snuggle with him. His ruana was covered in dirt, and a few of the seams had come loose. He'd have Mirabel patch it up when he got to her.

He certainly was a sight to behold. He was a complete and utter mess, not having any way to clean himself out in the jungle. But he didn't care. He never cared about his appearance anymore. What was the point?

He stared down at the Encanto, with the buildings stretching out for as far as he could see. He had forgotten how big their village really was. His eyes looked for Casita, and he saw it all the way on the other side of the town.

Had it always been so far away? Had he really taken Mirabel this far away from their old home? Had she already gotten there?

He sat down on the ground, breathing hard and staring at the world in front of him. One of his rats poked its head out of his ruana, and he picked it up and started petting its brown back.

"That was where I grew up." he said to the rat, who squeaked affectionately. Bruno chuckled, his eyes flicking over the houses, which seemed so small from so far away. "Yup, that's the stream I used to go fishing with Felix at. And there's the town square that Julieta would drag me to... and there's the grove I would take Pepa to if she was ever too..."

After years of pushing down his feelings for the betterment of Mirabel Bruno let himself start to cry. He missed his family. He had always missed his family. He had of course told Mirabel this fact, but he had never truly let himself feel their absence. He wondered how much his sisters had changed. He wondered what his nieces and nephew looked like. He wondered how they would react to seeing him again.

He was so close. So close to being back with them. He wanted to run down the mountain and throw himself in his sisters arms. Explain to them everything that he had done. Apologize to Julieta and Agustin for what he had let Mirabel believe. But... he also was terrified.

He looked at Casita again, standing out from the other buildings just from the sheer size of it. It was still standing, which meant that the future he had seen hadn't quite come true yet. If he made it in time he could make sure that it never happened.

The rat he was holding squeaked in pain, and he realized that he had been squeezing it too tight. "Sorry, sorry," he apologized, letting to of the small creature and letting it crawl onto his shoulder. "I'm just nervous. I saw bad things happening... and I don't want them to. I didn't mean to hurt you."

The rat didn't care. It tucked itself into his hood and Bruno sighed loudly. "Well, the sun's already setting." Bruno said, glancing to the west where the sun was steadily heading down. "Might as well call it a night. If all goes well I should be back at Casita in a day or two..."

He leaned back on the tree, and said quietly, "And when I do I'll make sure that nothing bad ever happens to my family again."