33. Confessions

Isabela stared at her family.

She had always seen them as the amazing Madrigals. A large collective that could never be harmed, who were all perfect. They were a united front. Untouchable by the world.

But now, with Casita broken and their powers gone, her family seemed so... small. They weren't physically hurt, but internally she knew that they would never be the same again. She longed to create a pile of flowers to get lost in, just to fall inside and never come out again.

They had spent hours searching for Mirabel. Mirabel had disappeared right after Casita fell. Isabela hadn't seen her face since her argument with Abuela, so the last image she had in her mind of her was one of her yelling at the family's matriarch.

Mirabel had stood up for her, for the family. She had seen how broken they were, and wasn't afraid to call Abuela out. Isabela longed to have that confidence, and, if she had been thinking, she would have defended her sister... cousin... thing.

Night was starting to creep into the sky, and Isabela knew that they all needed a place to sleep.

She walked in a half daze over to her parents, Julieta wrapped in Agustin's arms. Isabela's mother looked like she had been crying, and Isabela understood how she felt.

“Mom,” Isabela said, coming up to her parents and holding her hands out towards Julieta. Her mother took her hands, and Isabela spoke calmly, “We need to find a place to sleep. Camilo said that he's going to put together a small search part and keep looking through the night...”

To her shock her mother shook her head. “Isabela... we don't need to search for Mirabel anymore.” she said, and Isabela felt her heart start to rise. She blinked at her mother, then breathed out, “They found her?”

Julieta shook her head, and Isabela felt her confusion grow. “They didn't? But then why don't we need to-”

“She's going to be with someone who'll watch out for her very soon.” Julieta explained, but that only served to make Isabela feel worse. “What?” she asked, seeing her father stiffen noticeably. “Who? When did they come? How do they know where Mirabel is?”

She saw Dolores in the corner of her eye, walking hesitantly towards the three of them. Isabela didn't particularly care right at that moment. She stared her mother in the eye, and was shocked to see that Julieta appeared to be on the verge of another emotional breakdown.

All she could get out of her parents was Julieta saying, “Someone who cares about her.”

The family collected all at night. And that was when they finally noticed another missing family member.

Abuela was no where to be found.

Instantly Pepa freaked out, only to be calmed down by her husband. Isabela watched the two of them with jealous eyes. It felt strange, not seeing a cloud over her aunts head, but there was nothing she could do about that.

Pepa's lack of a cloud reminded her of her missing gift as well. She was happy that her aunt would no longer get drenched just for having emotions, but she also wished that she could grow flowers like she used to.

After several minutes of tuning out the world, she began listening to her family again. “Where are we going to sleep?” Camilo asked, his eyes roving over his parents faces. Isabela shifted awkwardly, not knowing the answer either, but not having the guts to ask it.

“I'm sure that they would let us stay at the church...” Julieta said, her hand covering Agustin's on her shoulder. Again there was another jealous pang inside of Isabela. She knew that she had bigger problems than her love life, but after her conversation with Mirabel it seemed like that was all she could really think about.

She was about to state her approval when she heard steps behind her. She spun around and saw the absolute worst person who could be there at the moment.

Mariano Guzman was walking towards her and her family. Looking perfect as always.

Why was it Mariano? Why couldn't it be literally anyone else? Heck, even Tio Bruno would be a more welcome sight right then. But it was Mariano. And Isabela was suddenly reminded strongly of how dirty her dress was.

“Hola Senora Madrigal...” Mariano said, directing his statement to Isabela's mother. Julieta smiled at him, and Isabela wished she could bury herself in a hole and die. “I... uh... Well. I saw what happened... and I wanted to invite you all over to my house until you can get a new home.” He smiled at Julieta and Agustin, and Isabela had to force herself not to bury her face in her hands.

Julieta took a step forward and nodded at Mariano. “Thank you very much Mariano. We'd all be honored... But I doubt all of us will fit in your home. We could go to the church, I'm sure they'd have a place for us to stay.” Mariano smiled, and Isabela forced herself to look away from him. She couldn't stand to look at him anymore.

Before she knew it she was following her family towards Mariano's home. She fell the end of the group, walking in a daze behind her uncle, who was holding a sleeping Antonio.

She felt a warm hand take hers, and she yelped a bit as she glanced over at the man who was now walking in sync next to her. Mariano's eyes were warm and he was smiling at her.

“Isabela... I'm sorry that this happened.” he said, and Isabela wrenched her hand away from him. “I just wanted to let you know that I...”

“I can't marry you Mariano!” Isabela said, way too loudly for her own comfort. Mariano instantly froze, a shocked look on his face.

Felix turned back towards them, saw Isabela's face, then turned back and whispered something to his wife. Isabela found herself not caring at the moment. She stared into Mariano's stunned eyes, then listened quietly as he said, “Is this about losing your powers? I don't care about your powers. I still want to marry you-”

“It's not about my powers!” Isabela said, forcing tears to stay away from her. Mariano blinked at her, and opened his mouth to question her further, but Isabela knew better than to let him speak. “It's not the powers. It's not about Casita... Casita... breaking...” she bit back tears that really wanted to escape her. “It's about the fact that I don't... love you Mariano.”

Mariano gasped a little bit. Isabela couldn't bring herself to look in his eyes. His hand, previously poised just over her arm, retreated back to his side. “You don't... love me?” he asked, sounding heartbroken.

Isabela shook her head, hoping that somehow he could understand. Her hands fell to her skirt, and she started brushing the pollen off of it. Then she felt Mariano take her hand, and she looked up into his face.

He had tears in the corners of his eyes, and he asked in a voice that was more heartbroken than Isabela had ever heard a voice sound like, “Was I... forcing myself on you? Did you feel like you had to marry me? Was I being a jerk to you!?”

His worry made Isabela laugh in shock. She stared at him, then said, “Oh no! It's not you at all! It's... just...” she dropped her eyes to the ground, and breathed in deeply to calm herself. Then she said the words she had told Mirabel when she broke out of her shell. “Marrying you is what my family wanted. They wanted me to be perfect... and I'm not perfect. I just want to be... me. Not Mrs. Mariano Madrigal.”

To her surprise Mariano pulled her into a hug. She spluttered for a second, before he let her go respectfully. “Sorry Isabela. I... I should have asked...” he said moving away from her. Isabela stared at him in shock.

“You're not... upset?” she asked, and Mariano shook his head wildly. “Not at you!” he said loudly, shifting awkwardly in front of her. “Never at you Isabela. I should have... ugh! Of course! My Abuela would do something like this! I was so excited to... to have a real family you know...”

Isabela watched in shock as Mariano buried his face in his hands. She reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder, surprised to find that the was shaking slightly.

“Mariano? Are you okay?” she asked, and Mariano shook his head. “If... If we really had gotten married... Would I have forced myself on you!? I don't want to hurt you! I don't want to hurt anyone!” Mariano exclaimed, and Isabela found her heart sinking into her stomach.

She still didn't love him. She doubted she'd ever love him the way that Abuela had wanted her to. But her respect for him was steadily growing. She offered him a small smile when he glanced up at her, and said, “Hey. You didn't hurt me. If anything, I would have hurt you by trapping you in a loveless marriage because of me not... not talking to you. I know you love love, and you will never hurt me.”

Mariano smiled sadly at her, then dropped his hands to his sides. “Thank you Isabela... for telling me.” he said quietly, and Isabela found herself laughing. “Thank Mirabel. She's the one who... who...”

A wave of sadness passed over her when she said that, and Mariano interrupted her worried thoughts. “Hey, Isabela, we'll find her. She'll be okay. You just need some sleep. Let's go.” He offered her a smile, and then led her towards his home.

She definitely didn't want to marry him, but he would be a great friend.