To Fall Apart, To Reunite

Isabela

Mirabel slammed the door of the nursery shut and flopped onto her bed with a sigh. Everything that happened at dinner was still fresh in her mind.

"Mirabel found Bruno's vision, she's in it, she's gonna destroy the magic and now we're all doomed!"

"I hate you!"

"I'm a loser!"

"What did you do?"

She turned onto her side. The looks on everyone's faces when they heard what she'd done was horrible. The shock and betrayal mixed with disappointment, ugh, it was enough to make her cry.

She turned onto her back again, wondering why everything was falling apart before she realized something.

This was all her fault. Tio Bruno's vision was coming true. She was the one at the centre of it, the cracks on the house all around her.

Luisa was losing her gift because of her. Isabela's proposal was ruined because of her. Casita was cracking because of her. The miracle was dying because of her. She didn't know how she was doing it, but it was all her fault.

Tears pricked in her eyes as she took off her glasses and wiped her eyes. She was hurting her familia. And she was going to continue to hurt them as long as she stayed in the house

She was going to leave the encanto.

It was simple logic. She was the reason everything was failing, and if she left, she would stop hurting everyone, Luisa would get her gift back, Isabela would be able to get married to Mariano, the house would stop breaking and the magic would be okay!

But first, she was going to say goodbye.

She went to her desk and moved her sewing machine to one side. She pulled out some paper and a pen and started to write, pouring her broken heart into ten different letters.

She folded them over and scribbled down the names of the recipients, on the first fold before grabbing her bag from her bed. She was going to need supplies to last until she could find a village outside the mountains to stay in.

She opened her wardrobe and grabbed three sets of clothes, a spare pair of shoes and a spare blanket too.

What else would she need? Food and water. She sighed, remembering the only food available was in the kitchen pantry. Great, now she'd have to sneak in and not get caught by her parents.

She stood up and walked to the door, only to be pushed back onto her bed by the tiles on the floor.

"Wha- Casita, come on, let me go," Mirabel pleaded, trying to stand up again. "I have to do this! I don't want to keep hurting everyone!"

The tiles kept pushing her back, desperate to stop her from leaving, but eventually, Mirabel managed to get out of her room.

————

Mirabel slipped into the kitchen as quietly as possible, luckily avoiding her mother. She opened the pantry, grabbing a few arepas and some bread.

She spotted an empty jar in the corner of a shelf and slipped that into her bag, deciding to use it for water. She could just fill it up at the river before she left.

"You should have told me the second you saw the vision!"

Mirabel jumped at the sound of Abuela's stern voice. Quietly, she snuck towards the door and opened it a little. She could see Abuela with her parents, Pepa and Felix by the front door. Her poor Tia was sitting on the stairs, with a harsh snowstorm raging above her, Tio Felix trying to beat it away with a hat.

"Think of the family!"
"I was thinking of my daughter!"

She smiled at her father's protectiveness before a sharp flurry of snowflakes hit her face.

"Pepa, calm down!"

"I'm doing my best!"
"Yes!"
"You're lucky it's not a hurricane!"

Oh, poor Tia. She needed to get out here, fast.

"Mamá, you've always been too hard on Mirabel," Julieta argued firmly, as more cracks appeared on the walls.

"Look around! We must protect our family, our encanto. We cannot lose our home!"

Just then, they heard a knock at the door.

"Señora, perdon. People in town are becoming anxious about the magic. They want to see you," he asked politely.

Abuela sighed, fixing a stern expression on her face.

"Mirabel was in that vision for a reason. Find her!"

Slipping the jar into her bag, she scurried back upstairs. She sighed in relief, glad to have it over and done with. Last thing to do: deliver her letters.

————

Mirabel went to Isabela first. She felt she deserved it the most, after ruining what should have been one of the happiest days of her life.

She slipped into her sister's room as quietly as possible, closing the door as silently as possible. Her footsteps were muffled by the pink, yellow and purple flowers covering the floor. But she couldn't see her sister anywhere on her floral furniture.

'Must be in her bed,' Mirabel mused.

She pulled her letter out from her bag. She set it down on the bottom step leading up to her bed.

"I'm sorry, Isa," she murmured, and with that, she left to deliver the other letters. Completely unaware that Isabela has seen the whole thing through a gap in her bed and canopy.

"What on earth is she doing?" she mused as she lowered her bed down to the floor. She stepped down and picked up the piece of paper, her name delicately curled and looped in Mirabel's delicate handwriting.

"The nerve of her, daring to come in here after ruining my life," Isabela muttered, unfolding the paper. "She better have a good reason for this!"

What she read broke her heart.

Dear Isabela,
I know we've never really gotten on well, but I just want to tell you this. I never wanted to ruin your engagement dinner, but I'm really sorry that I did. But you don't have to worry about me ruining anything else for you, or getting in the way ever again. I'm going to leave the encanto, so you can get married, to stop the miracle from dying, save everyone's gifts and stop Casita from breaking. I hope you and Mariano have a lovely wedding and are very happy together.
Love, Mirabel.

Isabela sank to the floor, tears pooling in her eyes. Flashbacks of how she treated her sister spun around in her head.

"A little sisterly advice? If you weren't always trying too hard, you wouldn't be in the way!"

"Watch it!"

"I hate you!"

She sobbed as she realized what she'd done. She'd traded a life of perfection and beauty for any chance of a relationship with her baby sister.

She remembered when she used to braid flowers into Mirabel's soft curls, how she taught her to make flower crowns, who loved to follow her around town as she made roses, flor de mayo and orchids bloom all around them.

She remembered the look of awe and happiness Mirabel had around her, and now she was gone, forever.

"Oh, Mirabel, I'm so sorry!"

Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound could be heard. Isabela gasped as the flowers covering her room began to wilt, cracks appearing in their place. She screamed and bolted out of her room, Mirabel's letter still in her hand.

She slammed the door behind her, panting.

"Isabela? Everything ok?" came the quiet voice of Dolores, poking her head out of her bedroom.

"Mirabel's running away!"