𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦

xiii

"I'm okay. We're all okay."

The family rushed to dig through the bricks and pieced furnitures as soon as the dust had cleared off. The house had fallen. There was nothing in the field other than pile of dirt, bricks and cements.

"Mirabel! There you are!" Elena shouted in relief, bending down to her level and hugging the girl covered in grey dust from head to toe, the last of casita's powers removing the two inclined doors which protected the girl. "It's okay." She brought the girl to a hug knowing of how much her best friend was hurting to see the candle's flame extinguished. Tears strolled down their cheeks.

"Mirabel! Are you hurt?" Elena pulled away to allow Julieta to check up on her depressed and disappointed daughter. She exhaled in relief.

"Julieta! Elena! Come quick!"

The two turned their heads at the callings, hesitantly glancing Mirabel. "Don't move, I'll be right back." Her mother told, Elena squeezing her hand before following to the person calling.

Everyone were in a puzzle and distress. Mirabel looked around with tears. Elena was helping the injured Camilo down, trying her best not to cry as she bent down and massaged her wincing boyfriend. Then there was Dolores speaking softly to the worried grandmother. Félix was going towards his youngest son, him and Pepa cooing Antonio not to cry.

"How is this possible?"
"The Encanto's broken."
"What do we do now?"
"My powers, they're gone."

Camilo opened his shut eyes and glanced down at his girlfriend, his eyes widening at the salty liquid running down her face and falling on his sprained ankle. "Mi princesa? No, no, no, don't cry. I'm okay." He shook his head trying his best to show her his wide grin.

"Bebé!" Elena burst into tears, jumping onto him and wrapping her arms around him, sniffling and sobbing. "I'm so sorry! Your home is broken, your ankle is sprained and you lost your powers!" She rambled, "I tried to help but—"

"Hey, hey, hey, mi princesa. Look at me." Camilo cupped her face, raising her face to allow him to stare at her eyes hazed by tears. He softly smile, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss on her lips, the butterflies erupting in volumes within them. "I'm okay. We're all okay."

Elena pouted but tried listen to his words. "It will be a bit hard to adjust but I promise that as long as I have my family and you by my side, I'll always be fine. And it's not your fault. You and Mirabel tried your best." He spoke, sniffling too.

Elena managed to blubber out a laugh in the middle of her crying state. She was so glad to have an understanding and nice person like Camilo by her side. She wiped the tears. "I'm probably hideous right now." She mused at her puffy red eyes but Camilo disagreed.

"You're still cute, mi princesa."

He thought that even if she was way prettier with her bright radiant smile, there was nothing about her that would not be beautiful to him. He just liked her a lot. Like, a lot, lot. He wondered if it could be love too but they still had loads of years ahead of them to figure those unknown feelings.

.

Mirabel had gone missing. The hours had turned the dark night into a new and sunny morning. But it had not brought back the spectacled girl and Elena and the rest of the family and citizens were in a state of frantic panicking. The girl's parents had finally returned from their trip, almost fainting at the retelling of all they had missed.

Elena and Camilo entered the forest along with Agustín and Julieta, the four going separate ways to cover more area and find.

The girl groaned at the pebbles and uneven land of the forest, trying her best not to get stung or bit by insects. She was in the middle of turning back when she paused, her eyes widening at the extremely low but audible sounds of sniffles. She ran towards the sound hoping that her ears were leading her in the right way and they did when she found herself at the bank of a river, her friend sitting on it with her head covered in her arms which rested on her knees.

"Mirabel." She softly whispered, taking a seat beside her so quietly as if she was afraid that she would shoo her away. "It's not your fault." She reminded and stayed silent, allowing her friend to continue crying and let the emotions out.

In time, Abuela had managed to find them as well and frowned, calling for her granddaughter with a tone filled of guilt and sorrow.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt us. I just wanted to be something I'm not." She whispered to the end.

Abuela pursed her lips and sat on the other side of her granddaughter, staring off into the river that was ahead of them. "I've never been able to come back here. This river is where we were given our miracle." She said and deciding that it was a private matter, Elena got up only to be pulled back down by Abuela. "You are my grandson's adored one and my granddaughter's loyal friend. Stay. Please." The girl listened.

Abuela inhaled deeply, "I thought we would have a different life. I thought I would be a different woman." She spoke heavily.

She retold the story of how she met her late husband. How they fell in love, got married, had children. How their perfect life fell apart. How he sacrificed himself for the sake of his family. How she received the miracle and the casita's powers. Mirabel listened fondly with a smile and so did Elena although the latter was holding back tears as well. It was a typical story that ended in tragic.

"I was given a miracle. A second chance. And I was so afraid to lose it that I lost sight of who our miracle was for." Abuela admitted sadly, "And I am so sorry. You never hurt our family, Mirabel. We are broken," Tears scarred her cheeks by the end and she turned away, ".....Because of me."

Mirabel had no words though her and her best friend's eyes widened when they spotted a single yellow butterfly flying the air and landing on a blade of grass on the river. It had replicated the one they had seen in Bruno's vision. The one which they could not understand.

"Abuela." Mirabel whispered, getting up to stand in front of her grandmother. She held her hands out which Abuela took, the two walking in the river while the other stayed back and watched with an encouraging smile.

"I can finally see. You lost your home." They briefly looked at the yellow butterfly, "Lost everything. You suffered so much, all alone, so it would never happen again. We were saved because of you. We were given a miracle, because of you. We are a family, because of you." Mirabel held her grandma's hands closer, "And nothing could ever be broken that we can't fix...... together." She finished.

"I asked my Pedro for help." The old lady said, "Mirabel." She cupped her granddaughter's tear ridden face and smile, "He sent me you." They hugged one another.

Elena clapped from the side, wiping off the tears of joy and relief. It was all over. Almost. At least. All that was left was for them to rebuilt the broken casita.