Encanto stories, AUs, and oneshots

A Job

(Luisa POV)

I sat up from my bed drenched in a cold sweat, my hands were shaking, I stood up and started walking to the bathroom but my knees were weak and my arms felt heavy, my hands gripped the countertop tightly and I could see cracks forming, I washed my face with cold water but it didn't ease my fear, I reached up and gingerly touched the wound on my eyebrow, just to make sure I was awake, which I was, yet bits of my nightmare still appeared in my mind, my family dead, the town burning, people screaming, blood everywhere, casita collapsed and the bodies of my siblings and parents crushed underneath.

I looked in the mirror and saw tears slipping from my eyes, it happened because I wasn't fast enough, wasn't strong enough, so I got up and started lifting, i had no doubt it was 1 or 2 am but I was too afraid of being too weak to care.

These nightmares started years ago, they had been much mellower at the start, I told abuela about them and she knew what they were, they were signs of what was gonna happen if I faltered, if I was weak.
After some hours of exercising my throat was destroyed, I has been lifting feverishly, taking no breaks but now I needed one, the Sun was up which meant getting ready for breakfast, I ran downstairs, eager for some food, and saw a few people down there already Dolores and Felix were setting the table, but when I came down Dolores gave me a hard stare, that wasn't the first time I'd pulled an all nighter working out and Dolores knew that, but she promised not to tell if I promised to stop, which I had for a bit, but my nightmares were getting worse.

Then her and Felix noticed the wound on my eyebrow
"Ay sobrina you cut your eyebrow, let me grab you some food" Felix seemed a little worried

"No abuela said to keep it, she said it reminds me of my purpose" I said with pride

Him and Dolores looked a little concerned but didn't want to oppose abuela so they didn't mention it again, neither did anyone else in the house when they heard abuela said so, although mama and Isabela seemed very angry about it, Isabela going on a small rant while gripping my face and looking at it.

Although it gave me pride it was really starting to sting, when I looked at it in the mirror it had started to turn green, so later that night while everyone was asleep, I snuck to the kitchen and started rooting through cupboards when I heard footsteps behind me, I whipped around in fear and saw mi mama and instantly felt regret
"H-hola mama, I was just, uuh, taking a walk, at midnight, in the kitchen"
I tried to play it off but i couldn't at all
"I-i'm sorry mama, i just-"
I was cut off by a plate of food in front of my eyes and my mama said
" mija if you're hungry then just ask first, okay?"
" okay mama, i'm sorry"
"Its okay, get a good nights sleep tonight"
"Ok mama"
I don't know how she knew, just motherly instinct I guess.

When I got to my room I took a deep breath and smelled the arepas mi mama gave me and they smelled delicious, I started with a small bite but soon wolfed the whole thing down, and when I looked in the mirror I saw a white scar where my cut used to be, must've been an old arepa or something, maybe I just left the wound for too long?

I sighed and went to bed and for the first night in forever, my dreams were good.

When I woke in the morning I felt well rested, I slowly stretched and got out of bed, then I looked out my window and saw where the sun was, I had slept in!
I rushed downstairs and grabbed a quick snack that I ate on the way to town, as soon as I stepped foot in it people started calling my name
"Luisa the donkeys got out again"
"Luisa a tree fell on the road"
"Luisa can you move these boulders?"
I gave everyone the affirmative and started working, doing most of the heavy jobs before noon, and then was approached by an short old woman
"Luisa right?, well I think..." she pulled me down to whisper in my ear
"I think there's a Hellbore in my backyard"
I looked at her in shock, Hellbores were giant creatures and don't usually just hang out backyards
"Just follow me, you'll see what I mean"
So I followed her to her house helping people on the way.