Careful What You Wish For, Abuela

Luisa

Luisa was not having a good day. She just wasn't.

She had been woken to the angry words of her grandmother as Abuela realized Cas wasn't there. This is how Luisa had ended up in town with the rest of her family trying to find Cas.

Luisa was stressed out as she entered the town. She was scared that they would stop her and ask her to help out.

So imagine her surprise when one of the village leaders came over and said, "Senorita! I just wanted to let you know we'll have a schedule for you starting next week!"

That caused her to pause, "Pardon?"

"Your relative? Cas, I think, mentioned you needed a better work plan for your days," The man smiled at her, "She also pointed out how it wasn't good for the community for you to constantly be moving the bridges and buildings for the town unless absolutely needed. It was confusing people and inconvenient."

Luisa blinked again, "what?"

"Oh," a new man was walking by and waved at her, "Hey, I just got done with Cas! I'm going to meet with the builders to see about fixing those supports so you won't have to fix the houses as much. Really, you should have mentioned how annoying it was to fix! Glad Casandra told us."

"What?" Was all Luisa could mutter.

Another one of the guys walked by and gave them a look, "Oh, come on. Mirabel said the same thing to us a week ago about the houses. The only reason you listened to Cas is because she also talked you into the dam so you won't have to wait on Luisa to reroute the river anymore."

The man blushed a little at being called out, "True. Cas is clever and nice but she's no Mirabel."

"What?" Luisa whispered as she watched the town folk start talking about how they mentioned them missing Mirabel.

"Yeah, can't believe Senora Alma made her disappear."

"Well, Cas mentioned they're working on getting Mirabel back."

"Sure, but Senora Alma should never have wished her away to begin with."

"I know. Mirabel is so sweet she visits me to check on me everytime my son is out of town."

"Oh, and she made me a new baby blanket when my daughter was born."

"Oh and the town children always prefer to hang out with her over Camilo."

"Yes, Cas is nice, she did help us speed up unloading the bricks up with her gift but she is not bubbly Mirabel that's for sure."

"Honestly, I will have to have a word with Alma later about this whole mess with Mirabel and Cas."

At that point the village people noticed Luisa starting clearly confused, "Oh. Right, so don't worry about the chores or tasks okay. You have too much going with Mirabel missing. Plus Cas took care of most of them. The only thing left was the donkeys."

The people waved at her leaving Luisa standing there feeling completely useless, "What?"

.....

" I'm the strong one, I'm not nervous I'm as tough as the crust of the earth is," Cas sang to herself as she glared at the donkey trying to open the gate and shook her head, "I move mountains, I move churches And I glow 'cause I know what my worth is."

The donkey wandered off not being able to open the gate leaving Cas to continue remove the broken lock with her screwdriver, " I don't ask how hard the work is Got a rough indestructible surface...." She took the rusted and clearly broken lock off with a grunt and tossed it on the ground before pulling the new one out of her bag and started putting it on, "Diamonds and platinum, I find 'em, I flatten 'em I take what I'm handed, I break what's demanding, but Under the surface...."

"Casandra!"

Cas fumbled her screwdriver and yelped and she looked to see Luisa stomping to her, " Oh. I know that look..."

"Hey sis!" Cas greeted with an innocent smile as she motioned to the lock, "Look, the lock was broken. No more escaped donkeys now."

Luisa ignored the comment and narrowed her eyes, "You did all my chores!"

Cas resisted smirking and simply gave her a confused look, "You know most sisters would be grateful for that. Now you have more time to relax and hang out."

"No! If I don't help the village, I'll be useless!" Luisa screamed before noticing the shocked look on the donkeys' face and calmed down, " Sorry, But..."

"Useless huh?" Cas finished tightening the lock in place and stood up picking up her bag, "Useless like Mirabel?"

That caused Luisa to look sheepish, "Mirabel isn't useless!"

"No, but your statement implied it," Cas noted leaning against the gate, "I talked to the town people today. They love Mira and were very shocked to learn the mural wasn't vandalized like Abuela said but was changed by magic and my arrival."

Luisa sighed as she rubbed her arm, "I didn't know they loved her so much or that she helped out so much. Also Abuela is going to be so mad at you for telling them."

"I'll handle Abuela," Cas replied before giving her a serious look, "And Luisa, I imagine you don't know much about your sisters these days. When was the last time you hung out with Isa and Mira?"

The question took Luisa off guard. She didn't have an answer. She thought hard, the last clear time she could think of was the sleepover they had before Mirabel's ceremony. That couldn't be right though. That was ten years! That couldn't be right. She could remember helping Isabela around town but that wasn't hanging out. And she remembers being pulled away anything Mirabel has to play with her.

"Yeah, food for thought," Cas replied as she adjusted her bag a little, "Being a sister is more than just protecting. It's about being there for them. You and Isabela are way too stressed. You need time to destress and be sisters again, preferable with Mirabel too."

Luisa felt tears fill her eyes as she grabbed Cas and wrapped her in a hug, "You're right! I'm a terrible sister!"

"Too tight! And I didn't say terrible sister!" Cas wheezed trying to escape.

.....

Meanwhile, Cas' plan was continuing to turn as several of the beautiful young women (that Isabela had admired but would admit to it) were coming up to Isabela to comment on her looks and her break up with Mariano.