Encanto AU (Abandoned and Forgotten)

Chapter 3: Family Troubles

After hours of searching, the Madrigals come back together in the rubble of Casita. "Has anyone seen Mirabel? Has anyone seen my daughter?" Julieta asked frantically to her family, with everyone looking down. Julieta starts to cry, falling to the ground. Isabela and Luisa run over to their mother and sit beside her, as Agustín crouches behind her. "I just want to see my daughter again!" she yells out, tears streaming down her face, as her other daughters try to comfort her. Out of the forest, Abuela walked toward her family, with a tiny pink string in her hand. Julieta looked up at her mother, tears falling off her chin, with her sadness turning to anger. "You just couldn't leave it alone could you?" Julieta said. Luisa and Isabela backed away, never hearing their mother this angry before. Julieta stood up with Agustín behind her.

"I told you we're too hard on Mirabel, and look what's happened? We have no idea where she is because you made her feel she would never be enough! She was always enough!" the mother screamed at Abuela. The rest of the family watched as the most caring and compassionate members of the family let loose all her anger. Julieta and Agustín yelled at Abuela for what seemed like hours, bringing up everytime they had to comfort their daughter because she felt like a disappointment. Finally, Julieta walked up close to Abuela's face and said, "as long as my daughter is gone, I never want to see or hear from you again." Julieta walked away, with Agustín close behind. Abuela looked to the rest of her family for comfort, but she all knew they silently agreed with Julieta's words.

"Come on, there's still sun up in the sky. Me and Isabela will cover the forest. Félix and Dolores can go through the left side of town. Pepa, Antonio and Camilo can go through the right side of town" Luisa ordered as she lifted Isabela on her shoulders, even with her weakened strength. "But we have already checked the town twice! If Mirabel was there, she would've already been found," Camilo, Mirabel's cousin, said. "Well look again! We are not stopping until we find her!" Luisa demanded and she and Isabela headed towards the forest. The rest of the family continues searching for Mirabel, leaving Abuela alone in the rubble of her own creation.

After two days of searching, Mirabel has still yet to be found by her family. Julieta hasn't slept since her daughter's disappearance, walking around the whole Encanto to find her. Luisa and Isabela begged their mother to sleep with no such luck. "Not until we find your sister," Julieta would keep saying as she kept looking. Pepa and Félix had Félix's parents watch over Antonio as they kept looking for Mirabel. Isabela walked through the jungle alone, still covered in the colorful pollen from the day Mirabel left. She felt guilty for all those years of bullying Mirabel and being a bad older sister to her. She kept going through the forest, yelling out her sister's name, hoping for her to pop out her head somewhere. Alas, her words went unheard for her sister, as she kept searching.