𝙀𝙉𝘾𝘼𝙉𝙏𝙊: 𝙒𝘼𝙏𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙈𝙊𝙑𝙄𝙀

4: ALONE

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except snippets of the plot and my ocs.

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"No we don't," Mirabel said, shaking her head.

"Yes, we do," came the voice of Casita. "Here, I'll make a private room for you guys."

The Madrigals and the twins disappeared in a flash for light, reappearing in a room devoid of any life besides them. It wasn't big nor small, with comfortable couches encircling a warm fire. 

Leo's chest tightened at the sight of the flames and Layla squeaked a little. Both of the siblings' eyes were wide and filled with fear, but it went unnoticed by the Madrigals, who were still staring sadly at Mirabel, who somehow managed to hold their gaze without faltering, though her chin was trembling noticeably. 

That was how the silence went for three millennia-long minutes. 

"Look, if nobody's gonna say anything, then we're just wasting time," Mirabel finally announced. "So we should just go back and finish the film."

At once, everyone began talking in a mix of hysteria. That is everyone except the twins, who still were far away from the fire, pressing themselves against the wall discreetly. They looked like they were just awkwardly leaning against it, not wanting to get caught up in the family drama. Well, that wasn't entirely a lie. 

"Okay, okay, okay! I can't hear everyone, so just one person go first. Abuelo, how about you?" 

Pedro sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. How was it that he felt older than a grandfather already just by meeting his grandchildren? The stress. It had to be the stress. 

"Mirabel, why didn't you tell anyone in your family that you were feeling this way?" he began, deciding that they'd delve deeper as the conversation continued. 

"I thought we'd already established that I didn't wanna waste their time," Mirabel replied, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, it wasn't that big of a deal."

"Yes it was!" The shout that left Pedro's lips startled them all, especially Alma. She'd known him the longest and she'd never ever witnessed him raising his voice for anything. she'd certainly never seen him get angry. "Mirabel, I may not be alive during the time you live, but I am here now and I am going to do something about the problems within the family—my family."

Mirabel folded her hands and stared at her lap. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean for it to escalate like this."

Pedro shook his head and messed with his hair aggressively as he stood up, pacing. "Mirabel, the problem isn't that you are expressing how you feel, but that it has taken everyone in this family this long to see how you were feeling. They should have noticed and they should have talked to you about it. The fact that they didn't is the problem. I'm not disappointed in you—I'm disappointed in them."

Everyone in the family looked down in shame, even Félix and Agustín. 

"This has not to do with just Mirabel, but Bruno, too," Pedro continued. "He told you himself that he cannot control the future, he only sees and reports the truth. If you were really his family, if you really cared about him, you wouldn't have cast him out like you did ten years ago!"