𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬 | Isabela x Reader

A Step Back Towards You

A week after you walked away from your relationship, all you could hear was the news of the soon-to-be engagement of the perfect couple in the Encanto.

You had, of course, expected it. The pressure on the woman saying yes, everyone just expecting her to nod her head with tears of joy springing in her eyes... how comically stupid.

The engagement that you always wanted was private, making it all the more romantic and intimate, especially if it was made to be a surprise.

The townsfolk were already preparing banners in celebration, gathering people in secret despite Dolores being able to hear and gossip about it to the rest of the family.

But she was also too busy for all of that right now. There she sat beside you on the rooftop of your studio, the swinging being the only sound shared as the two of you watched the sunrise in the early morning.

Dolores made sure to immediately come to see you in hopes of trying to convince Isabela once more, but the moment she saw your heart-stricken expression, she herself had started to lose hope.

You spent the rest of the night together in your studio, restless and agitated.

The one thing you had always admired; how the sun rose and dipped below the horizon, now seemed dull. It was like life was sucked out of you, Isabela being the only one that brought color to your world and made everything beautiful.

"She..." Dolores speaks in a whisper, almost as if she herself was doubting the words she was about to speak. "She might change her mind."

Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath in, you shake your head swiftly. "That much is impossible... Her mind was made, you heard the conviction in her voice to see it through to the end."

"I'm sorry... that none of us have the strength to talk back to Abuela," Dolores speaks in a breathy tone, her eyes glimmering with tears.

Almost in shock, you take her hands in yours immediately, your voice giving away that you were dismayed. "No! That's not... believe me, I understand. I just wish Abuela herself could see how miserable everyone is. You're all doing your best... and every time, she takes things a step further. But a mere outsider like me; I can't do anything."

It was as if you could feel what they went through just by growing up with them. Reliving every moment, your heart gets filled with pain. Just as though they were trapped in a cage, and Abuela had the keys to helping them. But either way, she still chose to lock them away.

"Antonio had done well, but dealing with the pressure everyone put on his shoulders at such a young age must have intimidated him." He was the sweetest, and yet Abuela failed to recognize it as she kept her focus on securing the engagement.

All Abuela saw was the image she wanted to see. Not once did she try to dig deeper. "Camilo is good at putting up a front, but he's the most sensitive. I'm sure there's a lot he wants to do since he's so mischievous and young, but there's also so much holding him back."

Still staring at the town as they all bustle around, you wonder how they could all be so happy-go-lucky when they treated one of the Madrigals like trash. "And then there's Mirabel, by the gods..." you whisper as you remember the night you cradled her in your arms, crying in her sleep as her world began to change. "She deserves the world... Abuela herself doesn't have her own damn gift, and yet..."

"And yet she was ostracized by her own family..." Dolores replies, almost wondering what let the family get as bad as it did; how it got so many cracks, and how it was bound to break at some point.

"And Luisa, everyone knows how overworked she is. She's nineteen! Giving her so much pressure and making her shoulder so much, it's inevitable that she'd give in at some point." It truly baffled you, how Abuela seemed to close her eyes to her own family's problems while putting everyone else's minor problems in the village first. It was as if she was trying to break everyone on purpose, even her own children.