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pink02 · 3 years ago

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Madrigal grandkids Valentines Date Headcanons II

How would you picture yourself if you were to have a date one of the Madrigal grandkids on valentines?

♡♡ Masterlist ♡♡

All Fluff and comedy

Part 1, Part 2

Isabela Madrigal

Luisa Madrigal

Carlos Madrigal

Continue down below <3

Isabela Madrigal

After the incident where Isabela showed her imperfect side, the list of suitors she had had dramatically decreased as to where they only admired her based on the fake polite and perfect side of her.

The stacked gifts are still there but she was actually glad that the list of people who liked her based on her perfect appearance had finally decreased since she would now know who would actually want to get to know her rather than admire her from afar.

And one of those were you, even with the wild botanical plants she make to her strikingly vibrant colored dress, you would just fall deeper in love with the eldest granddaughter.

In return, she too adores you after seeing the genuine love and care you gave her even she's not in her best days.

She knew you were the one since she could see how you would give effort to anything you do.

You stood by the door of her room knocking lightly. You were quite nervous so say the least since you kept on thinking to yourself that this idea was dumb and you should have prepared a better date for valentines.

"Oh! You're here!" You jolt slightly from the sudden voice. You looked up and saw the smile on Isabela's face.

She was wearing a different style of dress but still had the signature mix of colors all over it. Her hair faint with bright yellow and red streaks. She looked like a perfect imperfect work of art.

You cleared your throat as you recalled on what you were gonna say. "Happy valentine's- I uhh... I was thinking if we could hang out... andpaintwhatsoeverbutifnotthenwecouldjusthaveanormalda-."

"Hey! Woah, slow down. I can't understand any word you say." Isabela holds both of your shoulders raising a brow.

You sighed and slumped your shoulders. You looked up at her again smiling shyly. "I was thinking that we could I don't know... paint.. I-I know it looks stupid so maybe we could just think of another thing to do." You muttered then looked away feeling embarrassed as your cheeks glow red.

"Pfft- why would you think its stupid?" The young woman snorts raising a brow at you. "I think it's a good idea. Come on!" She suddenly pulled you into her room making you yelp in surprise.

Her room was completely different, from pink and light purple blooming flowers to large palm trees, botanical plants and cacti. You will never get over from the ever so growing beauty of Isabela's room.

"So! Did you brought the stuff?" The vibrant girl asked catching your attention.

"Yeah, I do actually." You smiled gently as you gestured the basket full art materials that you had been carrying it all the way here.

Isabela clapped her hands feeling a bit giddy upon seeing the different sizes of brushes and blank canvases. "This is gonna be fun!" She beamed making you giggle at her antics.

You both started painting different kinds of objects and people. Sometimes Isabela would use her colored powders just to give her piece a unique touch. As for you, you silently gazed on her enthusiasm as you both continued painting. Occasional chuckles and laughs would be heard as you two messed around with the materials making both of you covered with different shades of paint from red to indigo to black.

"Okay! I'm done." The vibrant girl declared then showed her piece of art.

It was a compilation of different types of Cactuses with different colors and shapes. She smiled at you proudly presenting her art. "It looks wonderful!" You smiled back.

"Show me yours." She wavered.

"Oh! I- uhhh... it's not finished- yet!" You stuttered while hiding behind your canvas.

You were always shy when it comes to the ever so beautiful Isabela. Always felt so intimidated when she cast her eyes on you. You can't help the feeling of butterflies with your stomach just by seeing her smile at you. You can't help it, you were too in love.

"Can't I take a peek?" She asked walking up to you and tilted her head slightly to get a glance of what you had made.

You sighed and and shook your head. "Don't be too disappointed, I tried my best." You said as you scratched the back of your neck.

When Isabela finally got a glimpse of your work, her eyes grew wide and let out a small gasp. It was a simple portrait of her surrounded by clumps of paint that looks like scattered flowers. It wasn't that detailed but you could see the smile that she always wear.

"Haha yeah... it's not that much." You nonchalantly said feeling a little bit nervous.

"Are you kidding me?! This is so pretty!" She exclaimed as she pulled you into a hug. "Its not perfect but that's how I love it."

You smiled softly at her. "Thanks."

"Happy valentines." She said and kissed your cheek.

Luisa Madrigal

Even for a big day such as Valentine's, Luisa doesn't give excuses to ignore her daily chores. She would still be all around town helping.

From the decorations to the heavy lifting, she won't stop till everything is done.

For you to be her significant other, it would always make you feel worried when she goes out and feel like she was going hard on herself even though she keep telling you she's fine.

You didn't want to let her waste her time in chores when it should be a special day for the both of you.

You mustered up a plan to lure her down to relax. And what's nothing more relaxing than a dip in the river?

Those tensed up muscle will surely fade as you melt into the warm waters. Of you could just set up hammocks by the trees so you two could enjoy the peaceful and quiet atmosphere.

You approached the muscular woman as she was placing down a cart full of flowers. You sighed in relief that the woman she helped was already satisfied with Luisa's service. "Mi corazón." You called.

The weight lifting young woman turned to you after hearing your voice and smiled. "Hi! Sorry, I got caught up in chores that I didn't realize what time it is." She smiled apologetically while rubbing the back of her head.

You shook your head and holds her hand pulling her to you. "It's alright, I know you always just wanted to help." You smiled "I actually need yours, right now."

"What for?" Luisa asked raising a brow.

"Just follow me." You grinned brightly and let her down to the river.

She was slightly confused on where you were leading her. But didn't questioned it since she would always have trust in you, especially if you need something.

As you let her to a certain spot, you turned back at her with a grin. "Help me set up the hammocks." You pointed the rolled up hammocks and a basket of food and drinks.

"Okay..?" Her voice dragged curiously to what you were plotting.

You two then proceed to hanging the hammocks on the nearby trees while talking about anything and everything just to catch up with the lost time you had. You two didn't had much time with each other since both of you had your responsibilities lined up. You two would understand, its not a big deal after you two have finally an alone time.

"There." Luisa declared after securing the other end of the rope around the tree. "Is there anything else you need?" She turns to you.

"Actually, I do." You set her on the hammock gently pushing her to lay down. "I want you to relax with me." You grinned.

"But-"

"No buts, I want you to take a break. Don't you want to spend some time with me?" You look down at her with a pout on your lips.

She sighed and relaxed back down with a small smile. "Alright, since you've asked nicely."

Hearing that, you perked up excitedly and jumps at her to hug. Luisa had taken aback but then caught you within her arms quickly making you both giggle.

"Happy valentines day." You both chorus.

Carlos Madrigal

He's not the type to actually give a damn about what day it is. Carlos doesn't even cared if every door, shop, street or his actual house is decorated full of flowers and paper hearts.

He would just scowl in a corner judging every person walking by holding hands with their lover or with a gift in hand.

If he had the power to everything or anything, he would just slash off the flowers and rip any letter he could see.

That petty word called love is just a waste of his time. He wouldn't even give two sh*ts if girls would try to give him anything.

Okay so he got to see love from his parents and other family members but that's just it, he never really wanted to experience that gushy mushy feeling within his chest. Or so he thought.

When he first laid eyes on you, he would thought to have tasted heaven upon seeing the angel you are that had fallen from the sky.

For once, he would try anything for the first time just to be with you. You were his first love, first kiss, first reason to smile, everything. Top to bottom, every experience he had with you are all new and eye opening for him.

And now that its the season of love, he would try to give you his first valentines.

As you were about to reach the Casita to meet up with a certain someone, a sack was suddenly placed over your head blinding you then you lifted up over the person shoulder basically hijacking you.

Completely shocked, you squirmed and struggled from the captor's grip. "Let me go!" You shout while your head was still inside the sack.

The captor silently snickered below you feeling the shake of his shoulders as he laughed. "Is this some kind of joke to you?!" You yelled again.

Hearing no reply, you deflated and grumbled out profanities. You were obviously confused and annoyed seeing that it was supposed to be a perfect day for you to be with your novio but then was crashed by a prankster pulling out a troll on you.

You can't even move your hands since he basically carried you like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. You would want to kick the person but it would then harm you making you fall on the ground hurting yourself.

Hearing the sudden noice of running water, you slightly became nervous. "Are you going to throw me in the river?!" You shout feeling panic rising within your bones.

"Relax. if I did I would have done that months ago." The person holding you muttered.

You paused as you were hit in realization to whom had just abducted you. As you were about to say something, the person held your waist lowering you down.

As the sack was removed from your head, you met his eyes with a wide smirk plastered on his face. Feeling annoyed, you could have just slapped the smirk off of his face then and there but you contemplated on the feeling and shrugged it off.

"Did you just kidnapped me in broad day light?!" You shout glaring at the Madrigal boy.

"I did and would do it again." Carlos smirked puffing out his chest in pride making you scoffed at this.

"You could have just- I don't know?! Surprise me like a normal person??" You waved your hands around.

"If I did that then where's the thrill in that?" He laughed as he pulled you towards the waterfall.

You scowled as you followed him. "You're unbelievable, Carlos."

"What can I say, I'm unique and so original." He smirked at you again making you roll your eyes.

"Yeah so original." You scoffed.

"Thank you." He grinned mischievously.

"Can I just slap the hell out of you? Just for today?" You said as both of you led into a rocky path.

"Nope! it would ruin my handsomeness, mi amor." He pulled you gently to him as you were about to slip from the wet rocks below you.

"You're being delusional again, mi rojo." You shot back as your faces were inches away from each other.

"You're just being in denial, mi vida." He quickly gave you a peck on the lips then continued your way up the waterfall. "As if." You scoffed brushing off the growing blush on your cheeks.

He hummed silently as a reply already done with the conversation. The air was surprisingly comfortable since you were already used to him ending the conversation like that. It was actually a pleasant silence between the two of you. Only hearing the gushing flow of the waterfall, you faintly smiled at the view from above.

"Surprised that you didn't carry me up all the way here." You snort cutting off the silence.

He turned back at you then rolled his eyes. "If I did, you would have panicked on where we are. You would squirm around and would endanger us if I were to be climbing up."

You hummed in agreement. "I would, wouldn't I?" You smirked. "So where's the surprise, mi rojo?" God does he loved hearing you calling him that.

He smirked and pulled you closer to him. He turned you around facing the edge of the waterfall then hugged you from behind. "This." He muttered onto your ear feeling a shiver running down your spine.

You gazed further down the the view feeling amazed at the beautiful scenery then looked back at Carlos with a sly smirk. "Is Carlos Madrigal being romantic?" You raised a brow.

Hearing this, he scoffed and looked away as red tinged his freckled cheeks. "For you, I would do anything." He declared still not looking at you.

Your face softened seeing the genuine affection he had given. "Thank you and happy valentines day." You said and kissed his cheek.

He paused slightly but turned back at you. "Happy valentines day." Holding up your chin and gave you a sweet and gentle kiss.

Taglist: @eventides-child-in-the-tardis @sunnth @dai-tsukki-desu @camilos-mivida

A/n: so that's the end of our valentine's headcanon! Hope you liked it!!

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grayscaleskies · 3 years ago

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[ID: A drawing of Luisa Madrigal from Encanto. Luisa is a muscular Colombian woman with light tan skin, dark brown wavy hair pulled into a bun, brown eyes, and light freckles. She has a red bow in her hair, a white top with puffy sleeves embroidered with red thread at the neckline and a dark blue skirt. She has three bracelets on each wrist in pink, blue and purple and gold earrings. She is lifting a large boulder with her left hand and her right hand is on her hip while she looks up at the rock, smiling. Behind her is a textured background of purple and pink fading to yellow right behind her. End ID/]

Like everyone else I'm obsessed with this movie, so for fun I drew Luisa! I usually only post my TMA art but a friend encouraged me to post her here! (Thanks Mossy! 💖)

#encanto #luisa #luisa madrigal #the madrigals #disney encanto #surface pressure #luisa encanto #the family madrigal #disney #encanto fanart #encanto art #luisa fanart #disney fanart #procreate #my art

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gamerbearmira · 1 year ago

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Diamond Mirabel au

Mirabel’s room & gift info:

Ok so first things first, Mirabel can make diamonds, glass, geodes, gems, jewels, crystals, gold & pearls.

Her room has all types of books that are written about diamonds, glass, geodes, gems, jewels, pearls, & crystals. Some are spiritual based and some are based on, obviously, different kinds.

She also has books on all the different types of jewelry she can make, fashion wise.

Yes, all of the things listed are extremely rare in encanto so her gift is in high demand.

Mirabel also discovered that she can make crystal/diamond/glass roses or flowers. So she can technically do what Isabela does, just differently.

You want gold earrings? got it. You want a crystal crown? Got it. You want comfortable glass slippers like cinderella? Got it. You want a diamond ring? Got it. You want a personalized gold brush & mirror set? Got it. Any sort of antique vanity set? Got it.

I do think diamond rings would kick off when some men or women would ask her for a diamond ring for wedding purposes. They would say something along the lines of “I want her/him/them to know she/he’s/their as special as a diamond” or something like that.

She can also make different types of perfume bottles but that takes a little longer seeing as she has to draw them out before she can make them appear, same with crowns.

So this is technically what I vision for her room; The “Mansion” Entrance

The room in front of the stairs is the jewelry room and the upper room behind the chandelier is Mirabel’s room. Next to that room (right side of the chandelier) is Antonio’s room, he can sleep there whenever he wants. Next to his room is Camilo’s, he and Mira are besties in this au because I said so. On the left of Mirabel’s room is Luisa's, she can come in whenever she wants.

Her room is technically a house within a house.

But let me make this clear, the entrance is NOT pink, it’s anything along the blue family spectrum.

Her room is a mishmosh of the colors in her family. The walls are mostly blue but since the walls are also diamond they sometimes show off different colors such as green, yellow, purple, orange, red, etc.

Inside the Jewelry room;

Instead of chairs and seats, imagine a more jewelry store look to it. If that makes sense.

The stuff hanging off the walls are pearls and small crystals. On the left side and right side are necklaces, rings, earrings, bracelets, & chokers on display in glass cases. On the farther end in the middle are where crowns and glass shoes are sold.

If you want anything in particular from her you're gonna have to leave a note in the notebox by the Jewelry store door or speak to her upfront. Either way you have to write down what you want because she has many requests.

Her “mansion” also kind of serves as a mood ring almost, when she’s upset the mansion will be red, when she’s sad her room is a deep dark blue, when she's happy her room is a more brighter/pastel blue-ish color.

But for some reason she never notices unless someone points it out.

Also, as a villager, you don’t get to demand what you want and expect her to give it to you right then and there. She’s gonna hurt your feelings and toss you out.

“Who do I look like, Isabela? Get out of my room AND my house AND casita”

And her parents will make it clear that you will not step foot into the madrigal house again, you’ll be lucky if you get an arepa if you're hurt.

Also, no one has a say over her gift. Mira works when she wants. Her gift isn’t that taxing, Pedro made sure of that, but if she’s tired, she’s not gonna work. Plain and simple.

Forgot to mention, nothing she creates that seems fragile isn’t fragile at all. Anything she makes will last for a very long time.

Her bathroom:

and lastly. her bedroom:

just think of her bed in the middle of all the crystals, with pearls and diamonds dangling down above her. I was going to add a dining room, but she eats downstairs in casita with everybody else.

And yes, she still does sew and plans on opening her own jewelry & boutique store when she’s old enough to.

in the next lil tidbit I'll talk about her relationship with the family, mainly her and Isabela.

Bye I was so confused until I read further. I da was like “that’s an apartment ⁉️”. But anyway. So rad. Very big room, almost too big. Like idfk feel scared asf 💀 but she’s not always alone, so that works too. Shoutout to Camilo for being friends. I also love au’s where they’re also best friends. They’re so cool. Also Luisa and Antonio being her biggest support RAHHHHHHH 🦅🦅🦅

He thinks it’s the funniest thing to say ��It smells like poor in here.”

#my asks #my asks are open #encanto #encanto au #au #encanto mirabel #encanto antonio #encanto luisa #encanto camilo #Diamond Mirabel AU

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whitetiger1249 · 3 years ago

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come and fly away with me

AN: This is for for @AuroraRose2081 on AO3 aka @c-rose2081 Flightless & Friends Week.

Day 4: Nothing But Angst

It's a crossover between my TimeTravelAU! and c-rose2081's flightlesssAU! It's currently going to be a one-shot but I may continue it at a later date.

ch.1 don’t you be afraid (everything will change)

Mirabel did not expect to be tackled. But she really really really should have. With her luck, it was inevitable that she would be embroiled in magical shenanigans. If she could travel back farther in time to talk to her 5 year old self, she would say that having magic or dealing with it was soooo overrated.

As she stepped through the door into the light of day, she was greeted with a familiar yet unfamiliar sight. It looked like Casita and smelled like Casita but it was like looking at one of Camilo’s magical mirrors in their room. A familiar image yet distorted by the reflection. There was a large tower that wasn’t Bruno’s tower and instead had a balcony and landing area. This Casita reminded Mirabel of the large aviary that she had saw with Cass at one of the markets as it had wide open spaces. The smell of warm wood, feathers and was that her mamá’s empanadas . . .? filled the air. It’s magical signature was familiar to Mirabel but like everything else hummed slightly different from her home world. Her quick look around Casita as she looked around took a second before her eyes landed on different version of her familia and they had wings??? Eyes widened on both sides as they stared in shock at one another in the courtyard. Across the room was another Tía Pepa who had seemed to be reading to Antonio with Tío Félix nearby. Isabela, Luisa and Dolores were in the middle of a card game while her mamá and papí were having a quiet conversation on a bench with a plate of empanadas nearby. Even Abuela was in the shadow of the doorway with a bittersweet grin on her face as she watched her familia. Where was her mini me and Cami--

Before she could finish that thought a body slammed into her and attempted to grab her legs and tackle her. In auto pilot she slammed her forearm into the figures shoulder with her left arm and with her right arm stopped thin arms from looping around her legs. With a quick pivot of her body she stepped behind their body and had her arms around the persons head ready to snap their neck as her body pounded with adrenaline.

Her eyes finally took in the small form below her and “CAMILO!” bursted out of her as she took in her primo’s curly brown hair and yellow ruana. Beige and brown wings flapped as the body in her arms squirmed in fear but stopped momentarily in shock as they said, “Mirabel???” Not wanting Camilo to hurt themself trying to escape her, she released them as they stumbled away with wide eyes as they took in an older and taller Mirabel,

At the corner of her eye, a smallish figure with a candle holder hurtling toward her despite the desperate cries of “MIRABELL!” “MIRABEL!!!” “DON’T”. Casita gives a conflicted rumble but before they could intervene, Mirabel quickly dodged the swing of her mini me and used her mini me’s momentum to throw her towards the direction of Camilo who caught mini Mirabel while the rest of the Madrigals got into a defensive position.

During the commotion, Isabela, Luisa and Dolores had ran towards the older version of Mirabel and protectively blocked Camilo and Mirabel out of sight as their wings expanded in a protective snap. This Isabela didn’t look like Señorita Perfecta as her gorgeous white embroidered long sleeve and a multilayered purple skirt with red flowers on it and a straw hat. This Isabela had a protective and ferocious expression on her face as she stuck out her arms and vines started to break through Casita’s tiles to wrap around her ankles. With a shhhhht, Mirabel unsheathed her machete and with a quick swing of both arms sliced through Isabela’s vines. More vines started to erupt and Mirabel felt her strength wane as her heart pounded, she asked, “Casita, a little help here.” Casita obliged and reprimanded Isabela by lifting the tiles under her feet and broke her concentration. Quickly slashing the growing vines from tying her up, she made a move to flee through the entrance of Casita as she sheathed her machete but Luisa had rushed towards her. MIERDA! Her sister could be scary.

Spotting a pile of rope nearby, Mirabel fled in that direction with Luisa on her heels.

“Stop! Mirabel!” Luisa called behind her.

Mirabel grabbed the piece of rope and darted back towards Luisa who skid to a stop in surprise. That was all the time Mirabel needed as she wrapped the rope around Luisa fast enough to bind Luisa’s wings to her body. Luisa’s startled face met hers and she sent her sister from another world an apologetic glance not bothering to tie the rope.

Before she could flee, a gust of wind slammed her to the wall and Casita gave an apologetic mumble. Ahhh shit, that hurt. Her head throbbed at the body slam against the wall as darkness swam at the edges of her vision. As her vision was going dark she heard an angry, “PEPA! That was too much.”

“Lo siento, Juli but I didn’t want her harming anyone else.”

Isa’s voice surprised her, “She didn’t. She was just defending herself. Besides some bruises, she never made a move to use her weapons.”

The last thing she felt was a semi familiar warm hand check the back of her hair and a sigh that she recognized as her mamá’s “What am I going to do with you” sigh.

***

Julieta didn’t know what to think of this mysterious stranger that wore her daughter’s face.

It was just a regular Sunday afternoon, and for once, everyone was in the same area relaxing as they rested before the week started all over again. Pepa and Félix had decided to read to Antonio one of his favorite animal books as Parce, Antonio’s jaguar, napped nearby. Isabela, Luisa and Dolores were all playing toruro off to the side and no doubt exchanging chisme. She and Agustín were discussing one of Agustín’s favorite sci fi novels and the possibility of worlds that existed like their own (many world’s theory) or if there existed worlds that had different beginning and thus different types of people like a version of Julieta that had Pepa’s gift (multiverse theory). Her mamá was somewhere around Casita. Off to the side, Mirabel and Camilo were playing fútbol with Casita against Casita’s wall.

The appearance of an ornate green door with a candle in the middle marked with all the Madrigal familia’s symbols was odd. The green door was carved with Julieta’s mortar and pestle, Antonio’s animals, Pepa’s sun and weather motifs, Luisa’s weights, Bruno’s hourglass, Isabela’s flowers, Dolores’s sound waves and Mirabel’s Mariposa. It was enough to draw the familia’s attention and shock. Casita made no sound as if this was a regular everyday occurrence.

What was even shocking was the door opening and a person stepped out. It was . . . Mirabel???!?!? An older version of Mirabel but it didn’t look like their Mirabel. This one’s face was sharper where their Mirabel’s face was round. Her eyes were a shade darker and went from a wood to more of a cedar color. What was even more alarming was the militaristic demeanor and appearance that this Mirabel had. This Mirabel’s lovely curls were plaited into a braid that went down mid back. A dirtied white tank top, brown belt and dark green cargo pants slipped into light brown combat boots. At her hip was what looked like a sheathed machete and some knives. Her heart went into her throat at the partial view of a large scar slightly visible above the tank top that spoke of a fatal wound. How was this Mirabel alive?

This Mirabel’s sharp eyes stared at their Casita in awe and wonderment before she stiffened in surprise at the audience waiting before her. Her body unconsciously moved in a defensive position. Before Julieta could say a word, a blur of movement showed Camilo tackling this Mirabel and Julieta watched in horror as older Mirabel’s face turned cold and automatically blocked Camilo’s tackle before putting them into a head lock. From what she was told by some of the veterans from the militar, there were a few options of what could do if someone had put some one in a head lock. You could stop a person’s air flow until they were unconscious or you could shift your hands and snap someone’s neck. A hint of recognition flooded the older Mirabel’s face as she shouted “Camilo” and Camilo froze in confusion, wings out. Thankfully, this Mirabel face softened and she pushed Camilo towards Félix who steadied Camilo and took in the scene warily.

Julieta’s heart started pounded and a “Mirabel!” ripped out of her throat as she saw their Mirabel bravely try to defend Camilo who had been pushed towards their familia. She saw the older Mirabel’s eyes widened in reluctance but they managed to almost gently redirect Mirabel towards Camilo. Their Mirabel was caught and unharmed.

Julieta took a step forward but an arm held her back as Agustín, angled her head towards the girls as they stood protectively in front of Camilo and Mirabel.

The next few moments went quickly as Isa tried to tie the older Mirabel but Mirabel cut down the growing vines. Gasps rippled across the familia as Casita listened to the older Mirabel. Luisa gave her hand at trying to contain the older Mirabel with a small plea and that flicker of reluctance grew but soon the familia was shocked to see a tied up Luisa who struggled to unbound herself.

Before Julieta could use Mirabel’s full name in a desperate hope that it would stop this Mirabel from hurting anyone or running away, Pepa wings had unfurled and sent a gust of wind towards the sprinting Mirabel. Her eyes had widened in fear, panic and shock before she hit the wall with a smack. Ouch.

Seeing a Mirabel, any Mirabel, get flung against a wall caused her heart to pound and an angry, ““PEPA!” came out as she reprimanded her hermana.

“That was too much.”

Her hermana winced and a dark grey cloud hovered over her head while a curious and frightened Antonio peered from his mamá’s side. His eyes full of concern for the other Mirabel. Félix had a hand on his esposa’s shoulder and gave a comforting pat. His eyes keeping a careful eye on the downed Mirabel with an unreadable expression.

Pepa ducked her head in shame and explained, “Lo siento, Juli but I didn’t want her harming anyone else.”

An agitated Isabela crouched closer to the fallen Mirabel, her wings shuffling in agitation as she glared at her tía and said something that made them all stop cold, “She didn’t.”

At her familia’s eyes on her, she explained while gently checking the other Mirabel’s glasses and sighing in relief that they weren’t broken. She also gently checked the Mirabel over and gave a sigh of relief at the sign of a chest moving up and down. “She was just defending herself. Besides some bruises, she never made a move to use her weapons.”

Agustín was right beside Isabela and gave a “she’s right. She seemed more like she was trying to flee then fight. She could have hurt Camilo, Mirabel, Isabela or Luisa but chose the most efficient way to avoid them”.

Dolores helped Luisa untangle herself from the rope as Luisa reflexively moved her wings. Luisa’s eyes were full of concern for both Mirabels as she glanced at their Mirabel and then the older one. Their Mirabel’s face was full of curiosity and wariness. She seemed almost overwhelmed at another copy of herself.

Julieta quickly made her way and gave a sigh at the young woman who looked so much like her own daughter but so different at the same time and gave a sigh. Checking the back of the girl’s head, she was relieved to find no blood but a decent size bump on the back of her head. With Agustín and Isabela’s help, they propped her against the wall.

Isabela gently placed the glasses back on the other Mirabel’s face and adjusted them so they weren’t crooked. Their Mirabel glanced curiously at her look alike as Juileta gently checked over the older Mirabel. The large ropy scar in the middle of her chest had caused her heart to stop and her blood to run cold. Her hand hovered above the area but she could not bring herself to actually touch the scar as her mind unhelpfully supplied that it was the exit wound. This Mirabel should not be alive with what looked like a blade had sliced through her back piercing two vital organs. The heart and the lungs. She shoved that thought in the back of her head as she watched the rise and fall of her chest. Made sure to check this Mirabel’s pulse which was racing fast. Using her powers, she was distressed to find the numerous healed injuries that this Mirabel had suffered through. The most distressing of these injuries was this Mirabel’s fatal injury of an impalement, a stab wound on her left torso and a few gun shot wound on her right thigh and left shoulder. One of the more recent healed injuries was a broken shoulder blade, shoulder and collar bone.

At that point, her mamá had joined the crowd around the mysterious Mirabel to the surprise of the rest of the familia. She stared at the older Mirabel with an expressionless look but there was a slight tremble to her hands. Her eyes darting to the sheathed machete and the scarred and mirrored image of one of her nietas.

“How did this happen? What happened?” her mamá demanded.

Isa was the first to answer in a clear tone, “That door appeared over there and she stepped out. Before we could say anything, Camilo tackled her and we fought. Tía Pepa knocked her out.”

At that last sentence, Casita gave an unhappy rumble that startled the familia.

“Casita, why are you unhappy?” Abuela asked.

Casita brought over a blanket, a plate of empanadas and one of her smelling salts. With a pointed gesture, Casita lifted up the items and flapped open a tile to point at the unconscious Mirabel.

Abuela hesitated but asked, “Is she a danger to our familia? Should we tie her up?”

At that Casita made an angry grumble and shook a nearby shutter in a vehement, “NO!”

Abuela seemed taken aback at Casita’s reaction. It was clear that this Mirabel was important to Casita. Julieta took a closer look at this Mirabel’s wrists, she noticed faint scars around this Mirabel’s wrists and her hands flew to her mouth as she noticed the rope burn scars.

Slight concern appeared on Abuela’s face as she questioningly asked, “Julieta?”

“I think Casita says that this Mirabel wouldn’t react well to be tied up. She has some rope burn scars around her wrists,” Julieta explained.

“I see. Let’s wake her up and see how she got here. Luisa and Isabela, be on standby in case we need to restrain her. Félix, could you please disarm her. Dolores, please verify this Mirabel’s vital signs for any lies. Everyone besides, Julieta, myself and the others, please give some room in case anything happens.” Abuela ordered.

The familia all gave a nod as tension filled the air. Félix, quickly unbuckled her machete with its sheathe and the knives at her belt quickly. Her hijas, got ready in case this Mirabel tried anything and Dolores stood by Abuela’s side. At her mamá’s signal, she placed a smelling salt under the older Mirabel’s nose and a few seconds later, Mirabel’s eyes snapped open and she gave an involuntary inhale. Time to get some answers. [1/2] ch. 2 something’s gonna bring the change

It seemed like moments later, that Mirabel awoken. Something smelled like cat piss and Mirabel would know as she almost stepped in Parce’s pee in Antonio’s room the night of his ceremony. The smell brought her back to consciousness and she woke unable to get enough air in her lungs, a hand came into her view of vision and panic thrummed through her. Her head ached and it didn’t help that she tried to scramble back and brushed her pounding head against the wall with a wince.

“Mira. It’s ok. We’re not going to hurt you,” a different version of her mamá said gently, her eyes full of concern and her wings outspread (which was still a bizarre addition to this Mirabel). Despite her reassuring words, Mirabel’s eyes darted toward the remaining Madrigals and saw her Luisa flanking Abuela protectively but eyes full of worry. What was odd was this Isa was right by mamá with a clenched hand and her hand twitched as if she wanted to reach over and comfort her.

Her hands scrambled near her side but met open air and her eyes flickered to this world’s Tío Félix who had unholstered her weapons and had placed them behind him with Camilo, Tía Pepa, Antonio, and her tiny doppleganger watching her with cautious eyes. A flicker of green and the glint of metal, soothed the panic and fear in her chest and her body relaxed at the fact that Cass had her back. She forced her breathing to calm as she took in a breath and held it before releasing it in a puff. She did that a few times as her breathing turned back to normal.

“Here.” This version of her mamá offered out an empanada and she grasped the warm empanada and strangely familiar callused hands. Casita gave an approving rumble and she let out an amused huff.

“Casita, you’re as bad as mamá. Besides, a little warning next time would have been nice.” Mirabel told Casita.

To the Madrigal familia’s surprise, Casita tossed the blanket over to the older Mirabel so it landed right all over her upright body. Comedically, covering her whole face and front. Pulling the blanket off of her self she gave Casita a deadpan look and patted the floor as she said, “Ok, ok. I won’t give you so much attitude.” Casita gave Mirabel a small pat with one of the wall tiles that she exasperatedly huffed at. Seriously, most Casitas were almost as bad as her mamá with embarrassing and smothering her with their love.

Taking a bite of the empanada, warm pork, beef and potatoes coated her tongue and she gave a sigh of relief as her mamá’s magic washed over her body, soothing the bumps and bruises that she had received. After she finished the empanada, she stood up slowly as to not spook the other Madrigals. They tensed slightly but all eyes were glued on to her as she rose and straightened to her full height.

This abuela’s eyes were flickering between her and Casita. Her face in it’s usual authoritative mask but bewildered eyes with reddish magenta wings, white highlights and a black middle. She was a few inches taller than her abuela but Mirabel had grown since she was fifteen and was still a few inches taller than this abuela.

Not beating around the bush, Abuela asked calmly, “Who are you? And why are you here?”

Giving a wry grin as she put both arms out with palms facing upwards and a slight dip of her head, she explained, “I am Mirabel Maria Valderama Madrigal from another world and I am just passing through.”

Murmurs broke out at that as eyes widened and disbelieving stares were thrown her way. Abuela eyes flickered over to Dolores who was at her right who gave a nod. Ah. They must have been using Dolores's hearing to make sure she was telling the truth.

Disbelief shone in Abuela’s eyes and her mouth twisted into a frown. “Another world? Are you saying that there are other worlds like this one with the exact same people?”

“Yes. More or less. In my world, my familia doesn’t have wings, we just have the same gifts as you guys.” she explained, her eyes cataloguing the similarities and differences of these Madrigals and this world.

“And you? Do you have a gift?” Abuela eyed her skeptically.

“Nope,” she nonchalantly popped the “p”. “Don’t need one. Besides I learned and my novia has confirmed that magical powers are overrated.”

At that shocked inhales were heard around the courtyard and her abuela’s eyes seemed to narrow even further. Older Mirabel’s eyes flickered to her younger mirror counter part who looked at her with curiosity, fear and wonder.

Before this Abuela, could say something unintentionally hurtful, Mirabel eyes turned knowing and she could see the similar landmarks and life events that had similarly shaped this Abuela. The trauma, fear and grief that she hid underneath her mask of perfection and control.

“Abuela, Casita can vouch for me,” Mirabel stated as Casita gave a clatter of agreement, “I have no intention of hurting or harming this familia or the town. This is just a pit stop before I can get back to my current home world. If I can guess, this world is right before my home one.”

At Mirabel’s knowing eyes and the unsettling feeling that this Mirabel knew her and that her mask wasn’t fooling this Mirabel, caused Alma to step back in slight discomfort. Luisa step forward in an effort to shield this Abuela but it was unnerving looking at an older stranger with her hermana’s face. What was even more unnerving was the knowing look in her eyes as if she knew all about this familia’s trials and tribulations. Dolores glanced at this Mirabel who had such an intense and knowing gaze directed at their abuela. This Mirabel’s heart sounded off. Weaker. Her lungs straining to get enough air when she woke up that Dolores almost said something to her Tía but this Mirabel soon got it under control. But besides her initial awakening, her heartbeat had sounded calm and steady. Self assured.

Abuela shifted slightly but held on to her stern facade. “Very well. You may stay here for as long as you need before you go home. You are a guest here and I expect you to act like one. I assume, your abuela and your mamá have taught you how to behave.”

Instead of the scowl and angry expression that abuela expected, this Mirabel just smiled understandingly, “Sí, abuela. Just one thing. . .?”

Abuela had started to turn away when hearing the sí but stopped and raised a brow.

“Are you ok if my novia stays as well?” Mirabel asked.

“ ¿ Tú novia?” Abuela asked with wide eyes that turned into shock and fear as Mirabel pointed to a figure on the balcony.

On the balcony was a fierce looking woman with ebony ringlets streaked with gray that were chin length. She wore a green tunic, black cape, black pants and boots. A sword was strapped to her back. She had a bow and arrow trained on abuela and the Madrigals all tensed in preparation for a fight. Before Luisa could shield abuela, Older Mirabel told Dolores to cover her ears who nodded in understanding.

Giving a piercing whistle, Mirabel got everyone’s attention.

“It’s ok. She’s just making sure I was ok. After the previous Madrigals tried to kill us, she was just being careful.” Mirabel explained to her shocked audience. Giving Cass the “ok” signal, Cass gave a firm nod and walked down the stairs keeping a close eye on the other Madrigals. No one made a move to stop her before she walked right beside her Mirabel. With a soft look, she gave Mirabel a once over before giving her a quick chaste kiss.

“Tried to kill you guys?” Isabela choked out. A slight blush dusting her cheeks as she glanced between the two of them that shifted to horror at their remark.

“Yep. They weren’t a fan of ‘outsiders’ interfering with familia or town business,” Cass said dryly.

“I mean it is our business, when that whole familia is going to implode and innocents are going to get hurt or die. But we took care of it,” Mirabel said determinedly. The two women exchanged looks and Mirabel eyes roved over Cass’s figure who didn’t look too worse for wear. It seemed that Cass had arrived in this world shortly after she did.

The two exchanged glances, you ok? Cass asked. Mirabel gave a bitter smile , no . . . but I’ll survive. We’ll make things right with that other world. We’ll make sure that Mirabel has a chance of a better life. Cass gave her a reassuring squeeze as the tightness in her chest loosened.

The Madrigals just stared at them in shock as they tried to wrap their brains around another versions of themselves being bad enough to kill others. Abuela cleared her throat, and explained, “She may stay as well but separate rooms. It is not appropriate for the two of you to stay in the same room unless you guys are married.”

At the wince and look on Mirabel’s face, Abuela raised an eyebrow in challenge. “Thank you for your kindness, Abuela but we actually have our hammocks and gear. We’ll be camping out by the river behind Casita.”

Casita gave a disappointed grumble as the Madrigals noticed the new door that had a candle and a crescent moon above it. “Ah, sorry to disappoint Casita but we’ll be back for meals and such. We just need some space to get used to this new world but we won’t forget you.”

to be continued (in the distant or near future; i dunno)

#encanto #my fanfiction #crossover #flightless au #mirabel needs a hug #cassandra needs a hug #magic is overrated #casita is a little shit #flightless!fam does not know what will hit them!#ao3 fanfic

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whalewriting · 3 years ago

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So, about the colours of Encanto...

So I'm sure this has been pointed out many times before, but I really wanted to say this aloud as this little Encanto detail makes me so happy.

So like the family units inside the family Madrigal are colour-coded, that much is obvious. Pepa and her family are yellow.

Bruno is green. (my favourite colour is green :3)

And Julieta along her family are blue.

But wait. No. Here's the thing. Isabela doesn't match the colour theme of her parents and siblings. The base colour seems to still be blue-ish, but her dress, her flowers, everything about her is pink and purple. Now, I wonder... where does that come from. Welp, unsurprisingly:

I think we've found our culprit. Throughout the film we see Abuela raise Isabela above her other grandchildren. She is moulding Isabela to be perfect. More specifically, her definition of perfect. This is separating Isabela from the rest of her family.

And this has been going on for a really long time.

See how different Abuela looks in Isabela's photo. In the triplets' pictures, she seems to be softly smiling. In Isabela's, she seems warm, like a grandma. I wouldn't be surprised if they at Disney have copy and pasted Abuela in the later ones. This has been going on since the beginning. Has Isabela ever been let to be the child of Julieta and Agustín, or has she always been her grandma's perfect girl? I don't even want to know...

But wait, that's not all sad! There is a change that happens during the last song. She gets her powers back and wham bam, would you look at that:

She herself makes her dress blue. (Sorry for the bad quality, couldn't find a good pic and just took a screenshot from yt) She "returns" to her intended colour, for the lack of a better phrase. She's freeing herself from the control of Abuela. Yay!

Extra note: I dunno why, but I find it interesting how with Pepa, everyone matches her, but Julieta and Mirabel match as well as Luisa and Agustín (and later Isabela) match. What's up with that? Idk. I love it all anyway :P

Gods I wish I had Disney+ so I could watch Encanto again...

Chiao anyway, thanks for listening to me ramble about some dress colours as a way to process my unhealthy hyperfocus. Imma go read some fanfic now :'D

#encanto #disney #disney encanto #la familia madrigal #isabela madrigal #abuela madrigal #my ramblings #sorry i am as neurodivergent as bruno #colour

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stephanidftba · 3 years ago

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Things I noticed in Encanto

Image description: a teal skirt with colorful embroidery of flowers, a toucan, and the name Mirabel laying under a desk-type sewing machine. End ID.

Mirabel embroiders her own clothing, another thing that sets her apart from her family

Image description: Isabela in bed, swinging her long hair to cover Mirabel at her door in the background. End ID.

Isabela literally blocking Mirabel out

Image description: close up of Abuela’s waistband, where a butterfly decoration hangs with 2 pocketwatches and a key. End ID.

What is this and why is Abuela wearing it?

Image description: Mirabel sitting on her bed with Antonio’s present in her lap. We can see drawings on the wall, Mirabel has colored on the wall itself and drawn colored tiles on the wooden floorboards, and drawn animals on the ox of Antonio’s gift, as well as Mirabel’s own embroidered outfit and bag. End ID.

Mirabel is super creative! She decorates so much, she created the candleholders for each member of the family (though she didn’t place them in a great spot), she sewed a stuffed animal for Antonio... This might fit in thematically with how she feels hidden and unnoticed and wants to be seen.

Image description: close up of Mirabel. End ID.

This is just after Julieta says “Bruno lost his way in this family” and it got me thinking that Mirabel’s green glasses could be a parallel to Bruno’s green eyes and how they’re the “family weirdos”.

Image description: a recent family portrait of all the Madrigals (except Bruno), Mirabel has her arms crossed and is smiling uncomfortably as Luisa has an arm wrapped around Mirabel’s chest. End ID.

Thank you Luisa for making sure your little sister was in the shot!

Image description: Luisa holding a number of boulders above her head, lit in red light. End ID.

Immediately after the break in ‘Surface Pressure’, Luisa’s voice and animation are totally free of any type of aggression, she’s just sad.

Image description: Pepa shoving Felix and Mirabel apart (at the beginning of ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’). End ID.

Pepa’s hands are on Mirabel’s chest and Felix’s FACE. Pepa is not happy with her husband right now!

Image description: Dolores singing that her love would be “betrothed to another” immediately followed by flowers appearing in front of her. End ID.

Does this count as foreshadowing? We don’t know for sure at this point in the movie that Dolores likes Mariano...

Image description: Pepa looking nervous, stroking her hair. End ID.

I’m choosing to believe that this is a stim.

Image description: Camilo serving Pepa tea and helping her breathe deeply. End ID.

Camilo being a helpful son to his anxious mom is ADORABLE, but what I love almost as much is the raindrop wallpaper and weathervane on the table!

Image description: Isabella creating a vine of sundew as she sings “Careful, it’s carnivorous, a little just won’t do.” End ID.

Image description: close up of Isabela, her pastel pink and purple dress covered in blue so dark it’s almost black, with splashes of red and yellow powder. Her black hair has yellow-green powder in it. End ID.

Isa feels free to not be perfect and goes HARD in the other direction, and I love that for her. Making carnivorous plants, dyeing her clothes dark colors, I support alt girl Isa.

Image description: Bruno awkwardly getting off a horse, ending up backwards. End ID.

Where did Bruno get a horse? Did he explain who he is to the townsfolk? Did he just take it?

Image description: Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel smiling at each other having just put potted cacti in a planter box. End ID.

Mirabel planted Isa’s accidental cactus! She loves her sister!

Image description: Casa Madrigal half rebuilt, captions show “the seasons change in turn”. End ID.

How long did rebuilding take? Where did everyone live? Did Pepa and Felix have to talk Antonio out of sleeping in the forest with the animals? Did Dolores sleep well with regular hearing?

Image description: the new front door to Casa Madrigal, with all 12 Madrigals on it.

The new door even has the papas!

Image description: the final family portrait, with all 12 Madrigals (and Antonio’s jaguar). End ID.

I will never be over Casita being a little shit, Agustín’s arms, and Isabela trying to catch her little cousin <3

If anyone wants to talk to me about any of this, please feel free.

#encanto #long post #stephanidftba

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justanisabelakinnie · 2 years ago

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Thief in the Night

(aka a random Emicami fic because I fucking felt like it. Prepare for some wholesome, adorable, and hilarious fluff. Enjoy!)

Mirabel skipped over to the dinner table and sat herself down, right next to her sister Isabela. “Hey, Isa!” she chirped. “How ya doing?”

Isa turned to her and smiled. “Oh, hi, Mirabel! I’m good. How are you?”

“Good, thanks for asking. I like your dress, what did you do with it?”

Isa looked down at her dress, a vibrant yellow and green with assorted mixtures of pink, brown, purple, red, and orange here and there. “Oh, I just thought of spicing it up here and there, is all.”

“Well, I like it!” Mirabel said.

“Thanks, I knew you would!” Isabela smiled and hugged Mira.

“You’re welcome!” Mirabel said, hugging back. She started to whisper something else in Isabela’s ear, but a finger tapped Mirabel’s shoulder, forcing her to turn around.

“Umm, Mirabel, excuse me, please. I wanna sit next to my prima-hermana.”

“Oh, of course, Dolores.” Mirabel nodded at her smiling prima as she slowly got up. “As long as I get to still set next to my favorite cousin, of course.”

Dolores giggled, then turned to Isabela. “Mariano’s little sister…” and just like that the two were enveloped in their typical gossip.

Mirabel turned to see Luisa sitting across from her, talking to Julieta. She sighed.

“Whatever, I’ll just talk to Camilo,” she said, turning to the seat on the other side of her from Dolores. But there was no Camilo in sight. “Camilo? Wait, is he even at this table?”

A toucan flew down out of nowhere and landed itself on Mirabel’s shoulder. It was funky, but everyone else was used to it by now. They all knew where it had come from.

The toucan squawked. Mirabel nodded in confusion. “Uh huh…” she murmured, pretending to understand. “Help, somebody translate it for me.”

“Camilo’s in his room!” Antonio chirped as he showed up out of nowhere.

“Oh, well, I’ll go get him, then,” Mirabel pushed back her chair as she walked towards the stairs.

“Mirabel, where are you going?” Alma said.

“I’m going to go get Camilo,” Mirabel explained.

“Oh, okay mi vida.” Alma turned back to talking to Pepa.

Mirabel walked up the stairs to Camilo’s room. Opening the door, she walked through the mirrors to find Camilo sleeping in his bed, cuddling up in his blanket with his teddy bear. Snug as a bug in a rug. He looked cute as an Angel when sleeping. But Mirabel knew that she had to wake him, even though she was going to regret it.

“Camilo…”

Camilo continued snoring and ignored her, drooling on the teddy bear’s eye. Yuck.

“Camilo…” Mirabel bent down to Camilo’s level and shook him gently. “Camilo, Camilo wake up.”

“Not now Dolores…” Camilo slurred as he licked his lips, his eyes still closed. “I’m trying to eat an empanada.”

“Camilo. Camilo, it’s Mami!” Maybe if Mirabel pretended to be Pepa, Camilo would awake. She tickled him playfully, and kissed him on the cheek. It didn’t work. Camilo even wiped the kiss away while still asleep! How did that work?

Mira sighed. The only one who could wake Camilo up with a kiss was Antonio. No one else could do it.

“Eeerrruhh, you leave me with no other choice.” Standing up, she took a deep breath, and then yanked the pillow from under Camilo’s head violently, smacking him with it brutally. “CAMILO! CAMILO WAKE THE HECK UP!!!”

A groggy yawn escaped Camilo’s lips, and sure enough, he opened his eyes. And when they landed themselves on Mirabel, fire was within them. Uh oh.

Camilo slowly rose up from his bed, and Mirabel took a few, a LOT, of steps back, keeping the pillow between the two as a shield.

“I’m so—“

“I thought I told you.”

“Camilo I’m sorr—“

“I thought I told you.”

“CAMILO I’M SORRY!!!”

“I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU!” He snatched the pillow from Mirabel, who screamed and ran away, but she didn’t get far before the pillow hit her back with an oomph. “NOT! TO WAKE! ME UP! WHEN I’M! ASLEEP!!!” Each exclamation was punctuated by Camilo hitting Mirabel roughly with the pillow. “EVER! WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?!?!?!”

“I—“ Mirabel kept getting hit by her primo until she tripped over an untied alpargata and collapsed to the floor. “I can make it up to you! Please!” Camilo slapped her face with the pillow. “Ow! Umm, I’ll give you all of my arepas! All of them! Just, please, have mercy!” Tears spilled from her eyes, and she folded her hands with her fingers interlocked and pleaded from her position on the floor. “Please…” She was going to cry.

GODDAMIT. Camilo could never resist Mirabel’s puppy dog eyes. He tried not to look at them, but there they were, begging him, so big and cute and full of sadness. He still remembered the first time she had tried this trick on him. When they were four and she wanted to use the green crayon. And so, he reluctantly…relented.

“Fine.” He grumbled. “And you’re lucky, too, because I was just about to kill you. But you’re so cute and sweet and are my best friend in the whole wide world, so I probably would’ve just thrown your entire wardrobe out the window while you were asleep in any event—oops.”

The tips of Mirabel’s lips wriggled.

“Oh, you think this is funny?”

Mirabel tickled the inside of her cheek with her tongue, trying not to laugh.

“You think it’s a joke? Do you see a smile on my face?” Camilo bent down to her level. Mirabel nodded. “Really? Does it look like I am laughing?”

But he barely even finished his sentence before he started laughing as well.

As the two laughed, Camilo dropping the pillow in the process, Mirabel snatched the pillow that was off the floor before he could pick it up again, placed it next to her, and then grabbed him by the ankle, yanking him down next to his primita. Not to worry, though. He landed on the pillow.

Camilo took a long exhale before turning to Mirabel. “You’re a firecracker, you know that?” He said, poking her dimples.

Mirabel giggled. “I know.”

“But I’m serious. Please don’t wake me up when I’m sleeping!”

Mirabel gulped and nodded. She never wanted to see Camilo that mad at her again. “But what if the house is burning down? What do I do then?”

“I would already be up by then, mi vida. So anyway, your reason for pissing me off?”

“I wanted you to come downstairs for dinner.”

“Oh. Well, can I go use the bathroom first?” Camilo asked.

“Sure,” Mirabel said.

Mirabel followed Camilo and waited for him to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. When he came out, they went downstairs to dinner together.

“Welcome,” Alma said. “You’re just in time to eat.”

“I saved you a seat next to me,” Mirabel whispered.

“Awesome,” Camilo whispered back. “Why are we whispering?”

“I dunno.” Mirabel stopped whispering as she turned back to Tío Bruno. “Sorry, Tío. I promise I’ll sit next to you tomorrow night.”

“It’s fine.” Bruno patted Camilo on the back as he placed himself between his uncle and cousin. “I’m always happy to be next to my oldest sobrino.”

“Thanks Tío.”

“You’re welcome.”

The family ate quietly as they chittered and chattered amongst each other, before finally Mirabel spoke up.

“Oh, and guess who’s coming to dinner tomorrow night?” she said. “Emiliana!”

Camilo choked on his vegetable juice. “What?” He continued coughing.

Mirabel and Bruno awkwardly patted his back.

“Emiliana?” Isabela’s lips wiggled.

“Emiliana?” Dolores said with a grin.

“Emiliana?” Luisa asked genuinely.

“Who’s Emiliana?” Antonio asked.

“Mirabel’s best friend!” Camilo rushed to say as his face turned pink. “That’s it!”

“Only the love of Camilo’s life!” Dolores said to Antonio as if her other brother hadn’t talked. “He has such a huge crush on her, he won’t stop talking about it!” Dolores told the entire family as Camilo burned with embarrassment. “In fact, I think they’re dating!”

“I know they’re dating!” Isabela butted in unnecessarily. “Have been for over a month now! She is just so sweet and caring, I hope Camilo’s being a good boyfriend to her.”

“Aww, that’s nice,” Pepa said.

“Yeah, it is,” Mirabel affirmed. “They had their first kiss on the bridge at—“

“Okay, nice, now can we please change the subject!” Camilo hissed. “Geez.”

“Wait—“ Felix waved his hands in an effort to clear up the air. “My Camilo kissed a girl? This is news to my ears.”

“Papa—“

“No, I want to hear.”

“Papa we really don’t have to—“

“Well, Emiliana told me all about it!” Mirabel cooed against Camilo’s wishes. “You see, I was the one who encouraged Emiliana to confess her undying love to Camilo, as a good best friend ought to do. And I also told her to kiss him. But as a matter of fact, he was the one to kiss her!”

“That’s great!” Felix said. “I am so proud! See, what was in that to be ashamed of, Camilito?”

“Everything,” Camilo snarked as he banged his head on the table. Unfortunately, he forgot that he was at the table eating dinner, and wound up with a face full of arroz con pollo.

“I’m gonna go clean myself up.” He got up and left the room.

“Yeah,” Mirabel called out after him as he left. “Make sure to do the same thing tomorrow for when your girlfriend gets here!”

“Shut up!” Camilo shouted from the stairs.

Mirabel giggled, the other girls giggled along with her. She gave Dolores a high five.

💖💛

“Mami?” Emiliana tentatively whispers, praying that she hasn’t caused much of a ruckus.

Silence.

Emiliana sighed. “Mami?”

More silence as her mom ignored her. Emiliana rolled her eyes.

“MAMI!”

Finally, her mother put down the fork and glared. “Who are you yelling at?” She demanded.

“I—I’m sorry Mami, I was just trying to get your attent—“

“What do you want?!” Her mother aggressively demanded.

“I-I just wanted to go t-to…Casita. You know, Mirabel and Camilo’s house. Can I go? Please?”

“Hmm…I know Mirabel, she’s the giftless one.”

Emiliana winced. “She’s my best friend mama.”

“But Camilo…he’s your boyfriend, right?”

“Yes, Mama, you remember!”

“Since when?” Oh. Emiliana guessed that maybe her mother hadn’t remembered.

“Since always,” Emiliana answered vaguely.

Her mother sighed. “You love him?”

“Oh yes, Mama, I do!” Emiliana chirped. How could she not love Camilo? He was just the cutest, sweetest, kindest, most empathetic, and most handsome guy on the entire planet!

“Pffft,” her older sister Valencia snickered.

“Is something funny?” Emiliana demanded. “I don’t recall making a joke.”

“Nothing,” her sister said. “It’s just funny how overjoyed and passionate you are about a puppy love fling that clearly isn’t going to last.”

“He’ll get bored of you in an instant,” Veronica, Valencia’s triplet, added.

Emiliana’s eyes widened as tears prickled from them. “How could you say that?” she said emptily as she lowered her head to her plate. “So disrespectful.”

“Enough.” Thank goodness. Emiliana’s dad had intervened. “Quit picking on your little sister, mijas. I have had enough of hearing it.” He turned to Emiliana, with kindness in his eyes. “Emiliana, don’t listen to their harsh words. Your parents and I met when we were younger than you and Camilo.”

“How old were you two?” Emiliana asked, although she already knew the answer.

“Eleven years old,” her father replied, and Emiliana beamed as her sisters rolled their eyes. “Trust me. The two of you might not last, sure, but you have a chance.”

“I guess this is where you expect me and Veronica to apologize now,” Valencia snarked.

“You guessed right.” Their dad glared. “Apologize. Now.”

Valencia and Veronica rolled their eyes. “Lo siento, Emiliana.”

“I forgive you, but it’s not okay.”

“What does that even mean?” Valencia and Veronica murmured to each other.

Victoria, the third and youngest triplet, sat still and quiet, not hearing a word that went on due to being Deaf. She turned to her triplet sisters and signed, “What were you all saying?”

Veronica rolled her eyes and signed in response. “We were just trying to knock some sense into Emiliana’s thick head, but Papa decided that he’d rather we keep her naïve and oblivious.”

Oh. Victoria nodded her head.

“That’s not what happened at all!” Emiliana yelled, enraged, signing it at the same time.

But Veronica grinned. “Oh come on, Victoria. Who are you gonna believe?” She then wrapped an arm around Victoria and grinned.

And Emiliana just knew, that despite the sympathetic look that Victoria was currently giving her, as she always did, she would eventually take their side, as she always did.

She groaned.

💖💛

“Camilo, your girlfriend’s here!” Isabela shouted before laughing out loud.

“Time for dinner!” The rest of the granddaughters sang before giggling. Yes, including Luisa, which hurt Camilo very much; where was the middle child solidarity? At least he had his mother, who was also a middle child.

Camilo stormed out of his room. “I’m gonna kill you, Isabela. I mean it.”

“If you do that, you might scare off your girlfriend. And we don’t want that, do we?” Isabela patted Camilo’s head. “Now go downstairs and greet your sweetheart.”

Camilo grumbled as he came down the stairs. He saw the rest of the family setting the table. Amongst them were Dolores and Luisa, who were talking to each other, the former winking at Camilo, who ignored it.

“Emi!” Mirabel was hugging Emiliana like there was no tomorrow. “I am so glad you’re here!”

“Thanks, so am I! Thank you for inviting me!”

“My pleasure. Oh, come in, we were just about to have dinner.”

“Emiliana?” Dolores popped up out of nowhere. “Welcome back!” She opened her arms and Emiliana basically leaped into the hug. “How’ve you been, hermanita?”

“I’m happy now that I’m here and away from my crazy family,” Emiliana said, making the “coo-coo” motion with her hand next to her ear. “I mean, Victoria and my dad are all right, but…you know.”

“I know.” Dolores winked. “But it’s all right. We’re all happy to have you.”

Camilo felt himself sweating bullets. He could not do this right now. Not with all of his cousins and sisters making it more embarrassing for him and his girlfriend, sure to make his anxiety surmount. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t.

He ran up the stairs.

“Oh, and Camilo especially has just been dying to see you,” Mirabel added.

“He has?” Emiliana blushed.

“Of course he has, Emi, he loves you. Just watch.” She ran up to the stairs. “Camilo, your—huh, where did he go?”

“He never came down.” Isabela shrugged. “So much for my little prank, am I right?”

Emiliana nodded at her, then suddenly her eyes widened. “Hey! You’re Isa! Mirabel’s sister! You grow flowers and plants! That’s so cool!”

“You think so, thanks!” Isabela beamed.

“And I love your dress!” Emiliana complimented. Indeed, Isabela’s dress was a deep pink with assorted jacarandas, bromeliads, sunflowers, and carnations in it, the blue, purple, and orange dye on it popping out, as well as the sunflower and pink streaks in her hair. “So imaginative and creative, I’m jealous.”

“Gracias!” Isabela giggled. “But you don’t have to be jealous, I like your dress too.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Emiliana chuckled.

“Oh, and even better, I don’t just create flowers anymore, I can create cacti, Venus Fly Traps, sundew, trees, and all kinds of vegetation!”

“Ooh, show me show me show me!“

“Your wish is my command!” Isabela linked arms with Emiliana as they walked away to talk about all the plants that Isabela could grow.

“Actually, he did come down,” Dolores said to Mirabel and Luisa. “He just ran up to his room because he was nervous for some reason. I should go check up on him.”

“No, I should.” Luisa ran up the stairs before anyone could disagree.

Luisa climbed up the stairs until she got to Camilo’s room, and knocked on the door.

“Camilo?”

“Go away,” her primito hissed.

“Camilo, open this door now.” Demanding was not Luisa’s color. “Please.”

“Why? So you can make fun of me in front of my girlfriend?”

“I won’t make fun of you, I promise.” Luisa sighed. “Look, I’m sorry about how you feel, but it isn’t that bad.”

“Yes it is!” Camilo whined.

“Just let me in. Please.”

Camilo sighed, a doorknob appeared on the door, and Luisa opened it.

Camilo frowned at her. “Spill.”

“Spill what?”

“I—“ a series of angry stuttering sounds. “Aren’t you going to apologize for making fun of me?”

“Making fun of you? We were—Camilo, did you think we were serious? We were only joking! Hello?”

“Well, it’s not funny! It hurt my feelings! So there!” Camilo grumbled, leaning against the wall and sliding down so that he was sitting, frowning as he crossed his arms and pouted.

Oh dear, Camilo was not making this easy.

Luisa sighed as she sat next to Camilo. “Hey, we’re sorry, Camilo. Well, I’m sorry, at least. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I just thought it would be fun, that’s all.”

“Uh huh.” Camilo sighed.

“But at the same time, it’s not like you don’t also make fun of your primas and their romantic relationships. You mess with Isabela and Monika all the time. You joke about Mirabel and Yamilet constantly. Why is it suddenly not funny when it’s being done to you?”

“I mean, yeah I do those things, but not when Monika and Yamilet are there. And I still want them to be together.”

“And you think we don’t want you and Emiliana to be together? You think we want you to break up? No! If she’s the girl who makes your heart skitter, then you to deserve to be together for as long as possible.” Luisa wrapped a protective arm around Camilo’s shoulder. “Look cariño, we love you and our teasing comes from a place of love too. Don’t actually think we mean anything by it. But if you want want, I can tell Dolores, Isa, and Mira to tone down the teasing. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Good. Are you ready to go downstairs and greet your love?”

“I am!” Camilo piped up.

“Great! Let’s not keep her waiting!”

She stood up, helping Camilo up as well, and the two went down the stairs together.

“Hey Cami!” Emiliana grinned. “Your prima was just telling me about all the different plants she can grow. Did you know that she can make stink lilies?”

“Oh, I know preciosa,” he rolled his eyes. “She uses them to wake me up in the morning when I oversleep.”

Emiliana giggled. Her giggle was so adorable and sweet to Camilo’s ears, like the delicate tinkling of a triangle, and it made his heart speed up just hearing it. He remembered why he had fallen in love with this girl. “Well, I hope it works.”

“Oh it does,” Isabela said to Emiliana, and the two laughed like they were sharing an inside joke.

“And she also gave me a flower to put in my hair,” Emiliana said, showing him the pink carnation. “It’s pink, my favorite color.”

“Isa, why are you giving my girl flowers? Last time I checked, that was my job.”

Isabela smirked. “Well excuse me for wanting to make your girlfriend feel welcome while you ran away to gripe in your room.”

Camilo laughed awkwardly. “I was just kidding, yoooo.” He cupped Emiliana’s face in his hands and kissed her nose affectionately. “It’s beautiful, mi amor. But not as beautiful as you.”

“Awww,” the grandkids blushed, Mirabel jumping up and down and squealing. Her two best friends were soulmates and she couldn’t be more ecstatic.

“Thanks, sweetie,” Emiliana smiled and blushed.

“You’re welcome—“

“Time to eat!”

They all went to the dinner table.

“Emiliana sit next to me!” Mirabel squealed. “Camilo can sit on the other side of you.”

“Sí,” Camilo said, pulling out her chair for her to sit.

They all started eating.

“So Emiliana,” Pepa was the first to speak, giving a warm smile to her son’s girlfriend. “When did you first realize you were in love with my son?”

Emiliana blushed, Camilo did the same, putting down his fork with tingling hands.

“Ay, hermana, don’t ask her that!” Bruno defended. “You’re embarrassing her!” He turned to Emiliana. “Don’t worry, amiga, you don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to. Unless you do want to, that is. Not that we’re forcing you to or anything.” It was clear that Bruno wasn’t on Emiliana’s side as much as he pretended to be.

Julieta sighed. “Anyway, Emiliana, what’s your favorite food?”

Emiliana thought this over. “Hmmm, probably ajiaco.”

Julieta nodded. “The next time you come over, I’ll make you some!”

“Thanks!” Emiliana grinned.

“You’re welcome,” Julieta said. “You know, you and Mirabel are such good friends! She talks about you all the time. It’s good to have a girl her age that she can be close with.”

“Yeah,” Emiliana agreed. “I am glad I met her. There’s not really anybody in my family that I can talk to besides my dad and my youngest older sister. And my cousin, occasionally, when he comes over.”

“You have sisters?” Bruno asked. “And a cousin? What are their names?”

“My sisters are Valencia, Veronica, and Victoria, and they’re all older than me.”

“How old?”

“Eighteen. And my cousin is named Marco. He’s the same age as me but a couple months younger, but he’s like a brother to me.”

“Mmm.” Bruno nodded and fished food into his mouth.

“So you’re staying over for the night?” Pepa asked.

“Yeah, I am!” Emiliana said. “Thanks to Mirabel!”

“She can sleep in my room,” Camilo piped up as he patted his girlfriend’s hand, but eventually realized her mistake when a stunned silence fell across the room and all the adults’ eyes fell on him. Except for Abuela’s, the old woman snorting into a napkin.

“She can what?” Julieta asked.

Still not realizing what he had said, Camilo stupidly dug a whole deeper. “Sleep…over, you know. In…my…room—“

“Absolutely not,” Pepa said.

“WHAT? But Mami, why?”

“Are you really asking me that?” Pepa demanded. “You two are boyfriend and girlfriend, is that not correct?”

“Well, I mean, we are, but what does that have to—“

“Exactly. And that is exactly why I don’t trust you two.” She wagged a finger. “Well, it’s more so that I don’t trust you, Camilo. I respect young love, but you still have an obligation to be responsible.”

“Responsible how?” Camilo asked. Emiliana wanted to shrink into her seat. She of course loved Camilo, that would never change, but although she’d never say it out loud in front of him there were times where he could be really…what’s the word…dense and oblivious. As if her countless attempts to get his attention before they started dating weren’t evidence enough of this fact.

Pepa sighed. “Camilo, don’t make me explain it. Emiliana can sleep in Mirabel’s room or Dolores’ room if they so prefer. Would you like that, Emiliana?”

“I mean, it doesn’t really matter to me,” Emiliana shrugged, forcing herself to look down at her arroz con pollo. This was a lie of course. She wanted to sleep in her beloved boyfriend’s room. But she didn’t dare say this out loud.

It was then when Bruno spoke up. “I think they can sleep in the same room no doubt, Pepa. Just relax. So long as they aren’t in the same bed, I think they’ll be okay.” He grinned at the young couple.

“Well, I did bring a sleeping bag with me,” Emiliana piped up shyly.

Pepa sighed reluctantly. “Well then, I suppose it is okay. But no silly business,” she said to her son. “Understand?”

Camilo nodded awkwardly, not understanding at all.

💖💛

After dinner, Bruno was happy to put on a rat telenovela for the family and Emiliana.

“Oh, Hernando, please, don’t leave me!” Princesa Lavinia wept, as her knight in shining armor’s eyes slowly fluttered shut. “I can’t bear to live in a world in which you are not by my side. Without your love to nourish me, I am empty, I am weak, I am broken like a damaged china cup. Please, our wedding ceremony is in two days. Don’t do this to me, please!”

“Oh no!” Emiliana covered her mouth, eyes widening in agony as tears spilled from them. “Poor Lavinia. Please, Hernando, live, please!”

But Hernando lay coughing and wheezing on his death bed. “My love. You know it pains me to see you suffer so, to see your beautiful eyes clouded with misery, to leave you behind in the land of the living. But Death beckons me to the other side, and I have no choice but to go with him, to bend like a plant in the wind to the forces of nature.” Now it was Isabela’s turn to cry. “You must promise you will find someone else to love. Someone much more deserving of your heart than me, my princess. For now I must go.”

“Oh, Hernando, no!” She gripped Hernando’s paw hand in hers, feeling the warm sensation thereof slowly disappear.

“Goodbye my love. We shall meet again, in another life…time.” And with that final statement, Hernando closed his eyes. Two other rats came onstage and carried him away.

“HERNANDOOOOOO!!!!” Lavinia let out a primal scream toward the heavens above, raging at the angels that dared take her beautiful prince away. She dropped to the floor, and wept bitterly until no tears were left in her. Once her eyes had dried, she came to a cold resolution, drawing a sword from her leather scabbard. “I shall desire the love of no man in this world nor the next, none but my sweet and gorgeous Hernando! Goodbye, cruel world! I shall release Death’s grip on me by taking my fate into my own hands, just as Death has taken my would-be husband.”

Dolores squeezed Emiliana’s hand. “You might wanna look away. Hm!” She whispered to her.

“So driven by despair at the loss of the brave and loving knight who adored her more than words could establish, more than any other human being in the world ever would, the heartbroken young princess plunged her sword into her—“ but the rat playing Lavinia scurried off. Bruno sighed. “Seriously? It was only a prop that resembled a tiny sword.” The rat shook her head. “Oh well. Anyway, that’s a wrap, folks!”

“That was a lovely story!” Emiliana said as she hugged Bruno.

“Wow, you really think so?” Bruno said, hugging back.

“I know so!” Emiliana chirped. “It was nice. I’m at least glad the princess didn’t die in the end. It’s a shocking twist of events. I hope she found someone else.”

“Me too, Emiliana. Me too!” He patted her shoulders. “All right then! It’s time you head off to bed. Tomorrow there’ll be another telenovela!”

“Oooh really?” Emiliana bounced up and down. What will it be about? Tell me tell me tell me! Pleaaaase?”

“It’s a surprise,” Bruno winked.

“Aww,” Emiliana giggled. “Fine. But thanks again for the show. And for being such an awesome uncle. Mirabel, Dolores, and Camilo have told me lots about you!”

Bruno smiled back. “I’m glad.”

Emiliana flounced away. Not seeing the tears of joy that filled Bruno’s eyes as he wiped them. He couldn’t help it. Every time someone told him that he was a great uncle, brother, son, what have you, and that they were glad to have him back, it made him count his blessings and feel so much relief that he came out of the walls. And he had Mirabel to thank for that.

Emiliana especially made him appreciate the random night time vision he accidentally had. He didn’t tell anybody of course. But he couldn’t wait for it to come to fruition.

💖💛

“So where do I sleep exactly?” Emiliana asked Camilo. “There’s only one bed.”

“I thought you said you brought a sleeping bag,” Camilo said as he ran around closing the curtains on all the windows.

“I…I actually forgot it, but I was scared to tell anyone.”

Camilo paused, blinked, and stared at her.

Getting flustered, Emiliana covered her face. “I’m sorry! I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear! I would never lie about a thing like that, it wasn’t a trick, I promise.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, sweetie,” her boyfriend said as he continued closing the windows. “Sorry, I just hate the cold. Anyway, I forget those things all the time, so you’re good. No need to worry. Although you are super cute when you worry.”

“Thanks, I guess.” Emiliana shrugged.

“And besides, we can share a bed.”

“Wait, but didn’t your Mami say—”

“Who cares what my Mami says?” Camilo said to her. “It’s not like she has to know.”

“C-Camilo, I’m flattered, but I don’t think…I wouldn’t want…I’m sorry but I just…won’t!”

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Camilo laughed.

“Excuse me, Camilo, why are you laughing?”

“It’s just, ahaha, you didn’t think I meant it, did you?” Camilo laughed, hoping Emiliana really did think he was joking. “I…I just wanted to see your reaction, you can sleep on the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor. Since you’re the guest and all. Aahahaha, Ay Dios Mio! See what I mean, baby?” He stepped closer to her until they were nose to nose, pinching her cheeks and squeezing them. “You’re cute when you’re—hey!”

In an instant, Camilo found himself roughly shoved on to the bed by Emiliana, who towered over him with a pillow in hand.

“Cute when I what?” She demanded. “Huh? Cute when I WHAT? CUTE WHEN I DO THIS?!” She whacked him as hard with the pillow as she could.

“Hey! You take that back!” Camilo grabbed another pillow and whacked her back with it, the two laughing and squealing like toddlers as the pillow fought. “And you know what? I changed my mind! The winner gets the bed!”

“You’ll regret challenging me!” Emiliana boasted as she and Camilo continued beating each other with the pillows.

The pillow fight went on for a while until eventually, Emiliana was the victor.

“I won!” She jumped onto Camilo’s bed and raised both pillows in the air. “I AM THE QUEEN OF PILLOW FIGHTING!!! And I get the bed too!” She let herself trust fall onto the mattress below with a heavy sigh.

“Whatever,” Camilo wheezed as he struggled to get up. “I let you win.”

“Sure, chico. And you know what else?” She sat up. “As the winner, I think I deserve a victory kiss.”

“Really? You’re bribing me with kisses now? That’s how this relationship is gonna work?”

“Yes it is,” she took him by the shoulders. “Pucker up.”

Camilo hissed his teeth and rolled his eyes. But of course, secretly he was happy to kiss his girlfriend.

But in the middle of their smooching session, the door suddenly swung open.

The teens’ lips parted in shock.

“We were only kissing!” Emiliana squealed in defense.

“And nothing more! I swear!” Camilo agreed, crossing his heart.

Dolores’ eyebrows furrowed. “I just came to wish you both goodnight,” she said. “I’m not gonna rat you out or anything. But if I’m interrupting something, then oh well.” She closed the door.

“Phew!” Emiliana said. She turned to Camilo, giggled, and placed another kiss on his forehead before lying back down and pulling the sheets over head. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Buenas noches.”

Emiliana saw the lights turn off. A pit of dread opened up inside her stomach as she wondered how she was going to make it through the night. At her house, she would walk about the halls, maybe enjoy a glass of water, although enjoy was an overstatement.

But at least Camilo would think she was asleep.

And if she kept her eyes closed for long enough, she’d think she was asleep too.

💖💛

Emiliana was not asleep.

Three hours had passed. Or was it four. Or five. Whatever. It didn’t matter.

Emiliana wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and join the synchronized snoring of the rest of the sleeping residents of Casita.

But instead her eyes were splayed open, bloodshot and filled with tears as she looked at the ceiling.

The stress building up inside her only made her more unable to sleep. She was tired. Dead tired. So why wouldn’t her body do what she wanted it to? Why was she still awake.

Turning in her sheets to look at Camilo, bundled up between blankets on the floor beside her, she frowned when she saw that he indeed was asleep. He looked so cute like this.

She felt a pang in her heart when she realized that Camilo would never get to say the same thing about her.

She turned to lie down on her back as she buried her face into a yellow pillow to muffle her cries and hiccups.

She hated herself for not being able to sleep, for never being able to sleep. She hated herself for being an inconvenience to others during the daytime. She hated that she had even agreed to this sleepover in the first place.

It was after a while that Camilo woke up to the sound of his sweet girlfriend crying.

“Emiliana?” He sat up straight in his bed. “Emi, dulce, what’s wrong?”

Emiliana hiccuped.

Camilo sat up and knelt beside the vet so that he could see her. “Hey hey hey, tell me what is wrong with you, please?”

Emiliana sighed and turned her head to see Camilo. A tiny trickle of a tear slithered down her cheek. Then she spoke.

“I…can’t sleep.”

“…”

Emiliana looked down.

“That’s not a reason to cry,” Camilo said, a hand snaking around her shoulder. “Maybe you’re just homesick. It’s okay. Just close your eyes and dream of—“

“NO!” Emiliana screeched, her tone throwing Camilo off. But she was pissed. “How could you even say that, you…just be understanding for once!” She took his hand and moved it from around her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Camilo stammered weakly, his voice quivering. “I just—“

“I can’t sleep. I literally can’t sleep. Ever.” Emiliana cut him off angrily. “And it takes a toll on my fucking mental health. I’m not homesick, Camilo, quite the opposite in fact. I’m…oh god, I don’t wanna tell you. You’ll break up with me.”

“Why would I ever break up with you, Mi Bella?” Camilo said gently, peering down at her but not initiating any more physical contact. “I love you dearly, more than anything, hermosa. You complete me. And nothing will ever change that. You can tell me anything, I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“I…” she took his hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. “I have…insomnia.”

“…”

Say something, she thought.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“What you just said. Insomnia. Isn’t that when you fall asleep all the time?”

“You’re getting that mixed up with narcolepsy. Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which you can’t sleep at night, no matter how hard you try to…and that’s how it works for me.”

“Oh…is that why you fall asleep all the time during the day?” Camilo said.

“Yes.”

“I see…so you’re like, an owl?”

“No! I’m not a damn owl, Camilo! It’s a condition that I have no control over. And trust me when I say that it’s not a fun condition to have…” Emiliana bowed her head and face planted into the pillow. “I just wish I could sleep normally like most people. But instead I’m cursed with this. My dad has the condition too. And I think I learned it from him. But that doesn’t mean I like it, I hate it.”

“Wow…do you really not sleep at all?”

“If I’m lucky I get like, an hour or two, but that’s of course not enough. But…yeah.” She paused, afraid to go on. “Some days my insomnia is so bad that I wish I was dead.”

Camilo felt tears clouding his vision as he looked at his girlfriend sadly. He felt enormously guilty. He had no idea she suffered like this. And he had no idea how to help either.

“I’m sorry,” he said, knowing it wouldn’t do much.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know, but I’m sorry I wasn’t as understanding before. I love you, Emiliana. I would never wanna make you feel bad.”

“I forgive you.”

“You don’t have to forgive me.”

“I know. But I do. Anyway you might wanna get back to bed. I’d hate to keep you up because of me.” Her eyes fluttered shut, although Camilo knew she wasn’t actually asleep, her mouth in the shape of a grim line.

And so Camilo had an idea. “Scoot over.”

“Huh?”

“Please?”

Emiliana scooted over, and Camilo crawled into the bed next to her. He hugged her warmly.

“What are you doing?”

“I just wanna be there for you, that’s all.” He said, kissing her head warmly as he stroked her delicate brown coils, which were twisted up for the night. “You don’t deserve to go through this alone.” he whispered tenderly, his warm breath tickling her forehead.

Emiliana smiled. “Awww, thanks Cami. This is why I love you.”

“I love you t—“ he was cut off by Emiliana locking lips with him once again.

They went back to cuddling together, Camilo falling asleep soon enough as Emiliana lulled herself with the sound of his slow, gentle snores. And he never once let go of the arm wrapped around her.

She closed her eyes, once again trying to force herself to sleep, but to no avail. She felt her heartbeat quicken and fought back every single nerve in her body causing her to snap and panic. But Camilo served as her anchor, as she hugged his soft body lovingly.

Outside, she heard the sound of someone walking outside. Two people in fact, their footsteps echoing in the halls even without their shoes.

And then she didn’t hear any footsteps at all.

💖💛

Delicately embracing her boyfriend, Emiliana smiled at the warm feeling between her and Camilo.

Shortly after, however, he got back up again. Emiliana felt downhearted, gripping at his clothes, she was desperate for him to come back.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, gently removing her hand.

Emiliana just closed her eyes. Her head felt beyond heavy, like it took Luisa’s strength to lift it.

Camilo left his bedroom, and sure enough, came back.

And that’s when she heard a scream.

Emiliana opened her eyes. “Camilo?”

She sat up straight. “Camilo?”

She looked around frantically. Nobody was in the room but her.

“CAMILO!” She screamed as she ran towards one of the windows. Opening it frantically, she looked outside. In the pitch black might, she couldn’t see anything. But she could hear Camilo screaming in horror.

“HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!”

“HANG ON CAMILO, I’M COMING!!!” Emiliana put on the nearest shoes she could find—whatever, she couldn’t see—and ran out the door.

She began banging on the doors to people’s rooms. “MIRABEL! WAKE UP! CAMILO HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED! YOU GOTTA HELP ME SAVE HIM, PLEASE!”

But there was no answer. And when she tried to open the door, it was locked.

Aggravated, she rushed towards Isabela’s door next. “ISABELA, PLEASE HELP ME! YOUR COUSIN WAS KIDNAPPED IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE AND…AND…HE COILD BE DEAD FOR ALL I KNOW SO PLEASE HELP HIM PLEASE!”

But Isabela ignored her, of course. And the door to her room was locked too.

She ran to Dolores’ room. “DOLORES! PLEASE HELP ME SAVE MY BOYFRIEND HE GOT TAKEN AWAY! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME DOLORES YOU’RE LIKE A BIG SISTER TO ME LOLA PLEASE LISTEN TO ME AND HELP ME SAVE YOUR BROTHER!!!”

But her room was also locked as Emiliana’s attempts to get Dolores out were in vain.

And so Emiliana ran all throughout Casita, trying to wake every single last member of Camilo’s family up in an effort to save him. Luisa, Pepa and Felix, Julieta and Agustin, Bruno, even Antonio. But none of them answered.

“Well fine! If no one cares enough to help me, I’ll just leave myself, so don’t say I DIDN’T WARN YOU!” Emiliana shouted as her hollers echoed through the entire house. Finally, she left, racing out of the sentient house. “BYE, CASITA!” She yelled as Casita waved back with her door.

Emiliana ran out of the house and down the streets, panting all the way as she did so. She could see a shadowy figure running ahead of her and just knew that this was the person responsible for taking away her Camilo. She started running faster now in an effort to catch up to the kidnapper.

“YOU!” She hollered. “GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME BACK MY BOYFRIEND!”

The person noticed her, but didn’t even look back, continuing to run. Farther away, she saw an even taller figure running while carrying Camilo over her shoulder, the poor boy screaming his head off in shock and fear.

Emiliana came to a slow, grinding halt. She searched around for the kidnappers, before noticing that they were running into the woods.

“I won’t let them get away with this,” she said to…herself, before chasing the boyfriend-snatchers into the forest.

Camilo cried out in pain as he was tied to a large, sturdy tree with vines, tears streaming from his eyes.

“I think we’ll stop here,” the taller one said. “Hopefully she hasn’t followed us this far.”

“Yeah,” the shorter one said. “Though it would he useful to have—AHHHH!” She screamed in horror as Emiliana came running and pounced on her, tackling the kidnapper to the ground.

“GIVE ME BACK MY BOYFRIEND!!!” Emiliana yelled at the top of her lungs until her voice was raspy and horse. “OR ELSE!” She raised a fist in the air to really knock some lights out, but was came to a halt when the girl took off her black hood.

“Mirabel?” Emiliana quickly got up. “What the heck are you doing?”

Mirabel stood up and brushed dirt and grass off of her cloak and dress, which was similar to her normal one, but black and embroidered with skulls. Meanwhile, the taller girl also took off her cloak’s hood, and was instantly recognized by her gorgeous black ensemble adorned with white roses, and a streak of red in her hair, along with a rose matching its shade.

“Isabela?!” Emiliana gawked. “You…what is even going on?”

“What do you think?” Mirabel asked.

“I think you kidnapped my boyfriend,” Emiliana snapped. “And, I don’t know why, and I don’t care either, but I’d like him back.”

Isabela and Mirabel looked at each other, their grins widening as they held hands and squealed like infatuated schoolgirls.

“We did it!” they rejoiced. “It worked! Our plan worked!”

“Umm, no it did not, you literally tried to take my man away from me, and now I’d like him back…”

“We know, tonta!” Mirabel wrapped an arm around Emiliana’s shoulder. “And that’s the point!”

“What do you mean that’s the point?”

“We wanted to see how much you really cared about Camilo,” Isabela explained as she slowly unraveled the terrified teenage boy from the tree. “Not that we don’t already trust you, but we wanted to make sure that you were good enough for our primo.”

“Yeah, Isabela gets a little bit protective over Camilo sometimes and wants to make sure that he gets with the right girl,” Mirabel added on. “And together we decided that the best way to do that possible was to put you to tue test! So we kidnapped Camilo from his room in the hopes that you would chase after us and get him back.”

“…”

“We just wanted to see how far you’d go for the person you love,” Isabela winked. “If you truly do love him, that is. And you succeeded, so, woohoo Emiliana! You’re clearly good enough for—“

“Are. You. SERIOUS?!”

Everyone turned to look at Camilo, whose irate expression was aimed squarely at Isabela and Mirabel. Uh oh.

“You kidnapped me in the middle of the night, while I was sleeping, while I was helping my girlfriend with her insomnia, all so that you could force her to roam the streets looking for me in the middle of the night and PROVE her love for me is true?! And you don’t see anything WRONG with that idea?”

“Not really, no,” Mirabel said bluntly with a shrug, while Isabela looked actually apologetic.

“Camilo, we didn’t mean it like that—“

“I don’t want to HEAR what you did or didn’t mean!” Camilo sassed. “How low do you think of my lovely girlfriend that you think she needs to risk her life fighting for me in order for YOU to decide she’s good enough to date me?! Do you not realize how condescending that is? If anything, I’m the one who’s not good enough for her! You should be very ashamed of yourselves for making her have to do this, as if she has anything to fucking PROVE to either of you!” He turned to Mirabel just then. “And Mirabel, you KNOW she has insomnia. You know! And you still did this. Are you for real, primita?”

Mirabel lowered her head in shame.

“Anyway, you’d both better apologize to her right now.”

“We’re sorry Emiliana,” Mirabel said.

“Yeah, we’re sorry,” Isabela echoed. “We never should have done that. We just thought it would be fun. But clearly we were wrong.”

Mirabel nodded. “We’re still best friends though, right?”

Emiliana had to force herself to nod. She was too flabbergasted to speak.

“And me!” Camilo demanded.

“We’re sorry, Camilo,” they said in unison.

“Good.”

“Anyway, let’s go home, come on, Mira,” Isabela grabbed Mirabel by the waist, summoned a vine, and swung away with her baby sister in tow.

Camilo ran towards Emiliana. “Emiliana, are you okay?”

Emiliana blinked back tears. “I’m okay. I’m sorry about what happened to you, what with getting kidnapped and all.”

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say that Luisa is my favorite cousin,” Camilo said with a snort. Then he hugged her. “I’m so sorry about what they did to you, baby.”

“It’s okay.”

“But rest assured that it won’t happen again.”

Emiliana smiled at her boyfriend, before noticing his confused glance downwards. She stared at him, puzzled, head tilted.

“Babe, are those my sandals?”

Emiliana blinked a few times, before looking down and realizing he was right.

“Crap.” She facepalmed.

And the next thing she knew she was back in her room.

Opening her eyes to realize she was still inside Camilo’s bed, she immediately sat up straight to see if Camilo was inside the room.

“Camilo?” She panicked upon realizing she was alone. “CAMILO!!!”

The door gently swung open, and Camilo came in, carrying a glass of water.

“Camilo?”

“I…was thirsty. That’s all.” He drank the water in one large gulp. “Why? Do you want some too?”

“Okay.”

“Good, imma go get you some.” Then he left again.

Emiliana collapsed back onto the sheets, confused and tired.

When Camilo came back, she took the water from him and drank it.

“You okay?” He yawned. “You slept for like, an hour. It was peaceful actually. And cute!”

Emiliana flushed at the praise. “I was waiting for you to tell me that!”

Camilo smiled back. “Anyway you wanna go back to bed?”

“I guess so,” she laid herself down and he lied down next to her.

Emiliana snuggled up to her boyfriend, before he fell asleep.

💖💛

Early the next morning, Camilo slithered out of his bed and onto the blankets upon hearing Mirabel say “I’m gonna go wake Camilo and Emiliana up.”

She opened the door quietly to see Emiliana on the bed and Camilo on the floor. “Morning Emiliana! Morning Camilo!”

Emiliana hissed her teeth. Another day of being relentlessly tired. According to Camilo, she had only slept for one hour. And she wanted to sleep for much much longer.

“Morning Mirabel.” Camilo got up to leave with Mirabel out the door. But not before planting a kiss in Emiliana’s hair, making her smile.

The moment Camilo came out after Mirabel, Pepa was there, crossing her arms.

“CAMILO!”

“Yes, Mami?”

“Did you have a nice sleep?” Pepa asked.

“Yes, Mami.”

“Did Emiliana have a nice sleep as well?”

“Oh of course!” Camilo beamed with a giggle. Pepa didn’t like that giggle, her glare intensifying, and Camilo realized he had made a grave mistake.

“You’d better not have done anything you know you’re not supposed to last night! I wanna trust that you know how to control yourself, young man!”

“Anything like what?” Camilo whined. “For the last time, I don’t—“

“Ugh, get over here.” Mirabel grabbed Camilo and whispered in his ear, watching his face turn pink.

“Ohhhh,” Camilo slowly realized. About time. “Mami, you know I’d never do that! Honestly! I’m…I didn’t, I swear!”

“Good.” She walked away, giving Camilo the “I’m watching you” hand gesture.

Camilo gulped. “Why would Mami think that me and Emiliana would do…that? I mean…”

“Hey, relax,” Mirabel said. “She’s just looking out for you both. Pepa’s just overprotective. Although she is happy for you and Emiliana she’s also afraid to see you growing up so fast. At least, that’s what she told me. Anyway are you gonna wake Emiliana up?”

“No, I think she deserves to sleep.” Camilo shrugged.

“Okay. Come on let’s go eat!”

They walked down the stairs.

Isabela was also down there, along with Luisa, and Pepa, who were setting the table. Today, Isabela had opted for a violet gown that was more modest and less showy than the dresses she normally wore, with simple green carnations adorning the hem and sleeves and tiny petals sprinkled across the blouse and skirt itself, like glitter. Nonetheless, she looked absolutely stunning in this outfit, although Emiliana wasn’t up yet to compliment her on it this time.

“Oh hey you two,” Isabela said. “Where’s Emiliana?”

“She’ll be down in a minute,” Mirabel answered.

“Yeah,” Camilo said as he yawned. He had stayed up longer than he needed to, just to watch his precious girlfriend sleep and make sure she was getting the rest she needed. Of course it didn’t last long, but still.

They sat down after helping to set the table, and a few minutes later, Emiliana came downstairs.

Camilo, of course, was the first to greet her. “Look who’s up,” he said with a smile as he gazed at her with lovesick eyes. “Hey baby.”

“Good morning Emiliana,” Pepa said. “Got a good nights sleep?”

“Good morning, Camilo and Camilo’s mom, hold on a minute,” Emiliana said, she sat down next to Camilo and across from Mirabel. “I have to talk to you,” she said fiercely.

“Sure?” Mirabel looked confused as her eyes darted from her sister to her other sister on either side of her.

“Why did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Mirabel, don’t play dumb. You know what you did.”

“What did I—“

“YOU KIDNAPPED CAMILO!” Emiliana roared, rising from her seat and slamming both hands on the table.

Everyone blinked at her in confusion. Even pepa was shocked.

“Whaaaaa?” Camilo slurred.

“N-no I didn’t—“

“YES YOU DID! OH, AND NOW YOU WANNA PLAY DUMB!”

“Emiliana, please, listen to me, I didn’t kidnap your boyfriend.”

“I literally had to leave Casita and chase you and Isabela through the woods! And you’re gonna tell me ‘I didn’t kidnap your boyfriend’ Mirabel?!”

“What do you mean mis sobrinas kidnapped tu novio, querida?” Pepa asked, tilting her head to the side. “Explique, por favor.”

Emiliana sighed. “All right, so here’s the story. In the middle of the night, Mirabel and Isabela somehow snuck into one of Camilo’s bedroom windows, kidnapped him, and ran away with him. I was awake when it happened! And then as I started chasing them, they ran into the woods and tied Camilo to a tree with Isabela’s vines. I didn’t even know it was them until I pounced on Mirabel! And then they explained to me that they kidnapped him in the hopes that I would rescue him! They had the nerve to say that they were putting MY love to the test in an effort to prove that I deserved Camilo! And then Camilo chewed them out. Tell me I’m not supposed to get angry at that.”

“Honestly that sounds like something I would do,” Camilo said under his breath with a grin, which Emiliana didn’t hear.

Pepa, meanwhile, burst into laughter.

“Hey! What’s so funny?” Emiliana questioned her.

“I swear, Emiliana, I’m telling the truth! I was asleep all night.”

“Then whose footsteps did I hear outside last night?” Emiliana demanded from her best friend.

“That would be Mami and I,” Dolores explained as she walked downstairs and entered the kitchen to sit next to Emiliana. “I had a nosebleed and Mami was helping me.”

“Oh…well…” she turned to her boyfriend, her only defense. “Camilo, mi amor, surely you’ll defend me.”

“I can’t,” Camilo replied curtly, shrugging. “Baby, that never happened.”

And that’s when Emiliana realized she really wasn’t getting enough sleep.

Pepa only laughed harder when she heard this. “Lord have mercy on my soul…” she cried into her hands. “Mijo, your girlfriend’s hilarious. She’s a keeper!”

“Thanks,” Emiliana muttered in aggravation. Sitting down in disappointment, she wondered how she could be so dumb as to mistake what were clearly fictional events that took place in a dream for reality. And she caused an even bigger storm than Pepa usually did while doing so. “Can you please not laugh?”

“I’m sorry, mija.” Pepa wheezed as she tried to control herself.

Emiliana sighed. “I’m sorry, Mirabel and Isa.”

“Hey, it’s okay!” Mirabel chirped.

“Yeah, it’s cool, amiga,” Isabela affirmed. “That was an entertaining story.”

“Yeah, that was even better than the telenovelas!” Bruno piped up as he spontaneously appeared in the kitchen.

“Hey Bruno.”

“Hey kid. Mirabel, you ready to practice our telenovela tomorrow afternoon?”

“I’m ready,” Mirabel affirmed.

“Cool, hey, tell you what, Emiliana, next telenovela mi sobrina and I do, you can be a part of it! If you want to, that is, no pressure or anything like that. Heh.”

Emiliana paused, then looked up. “Really?” She asked.

“Yup!” Bruno agreed.

“Yay, that sounds like fun!”

“I knew you would agree. Who’d resist a good telenovela?”

“Certainly not me.”

Abuela came downstairs soon after, as did the rest of the family. And they ate.

“It’s time for another rat telenovela!” Bruno announced after the morning meal, as everyone cheered happily.

Sitting down with the rest of the family, Emiliana was excited to see this afternoon’s rat telenovela, as she took a seat next to Camilo. “Break a leg Mirabel!” She whispered to her best friend.

Mirabel gave her a thumbs up and a wink. Emiliana giggled.

The play started soon enough, and as Emiliana watched, she couldn’t help but notice her head feeling awfully heavy, as her body felt drowsy and weak.

No, this couldn’t be happening again. But it was.

She rubbed Camilo’s hand. Camilo didn’t get the hint and merely smiled warmly, rubbing back, but kept his eyes focused on the play.

Until Emiliana said “Baby, it’s happening again…”

Of course, Camilo didn’t know what she was talking about, and turned to look at her in confusion.

And that’s when Emiliana’s eyes slammed shut, and she passed out cold right there on Casita’s couch, her head in Camilo’s lap.

💖💛

It felt like hours when she finally did wake up.

“Emiliana? Querida, please open your eyes!”

Emiliana’s groggy eyes forced themselves open as she rubbed them with her knuckles. She could barely make out Pepa crouching down in front of her.

“Are you okay, mi vida?”

“Yeah!” Emiliana’s eyes traveled down. “I fell asleep?”

“Yeah,” Pepa said, nodding her head and tilting it diagonally, looking sympathetic.

“So I…missed the play?”

“You did, sadly,” Mirabel said. “It ended twenty minutes ago. But we all decided to give you some space. Except for Camilo, of course.”

“I’m kinda cramped,” Camilo whispered to Pepa and Mirabel with a hand cupping his mouth, clearly too afraid to tell Emiliana this.

“Let’s get you up, Emiliana!” Pepa said, gently lifting her by her sweaty armpits and raising her up off of Camilo’s lap.

“I’m I’m so sorry!” Emiliana forced out. “I have narcolepsy, it’s not my fault.”

“Finally!” Camilo kissed Emiliana on the cheek before getting up and running out of the room. “I really have to go to the bathroom!”

The moment he left, Emiliana buried her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry once again. It’s my dad. I get it from him. I’ve been a terrible guest…”

“It’s perfectly fine, mi vida,” Pepa said. “And you don’t need to apologize. You did nothing wrong. Oh, here, have a tissue.” She handed her a tissue, and Emiliana wiped her eyes before blowing her nose in it.

“Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome my dear. And trust me. Don’t worry about it. No one here is mad at you.”

Emiliana smiled. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling,” Pepa replied before giving Emiliana a hug and patting her back gently.

When they broke up, Emilina said “I think it’s time for me to go now. My mama will be expecting me.”

“I understand, Emiliana.” Pepa smiled. “And we were happy to have you over, and would love to have you again.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really!” Pepa’s eyes lit up. “Especially Camilo.”

Emilina giggled. “I thought you didn’t want us together.”

“Why would I think that?” Pepa asked. When Emiliana gave her a suspicious look, she giggled. “Well, I can see why you would think that. But truthfully, I just worry about my hijo sometimes. I can’t help but be overprotective, I’m a mother, it’s what I do. But I wasn’t just looking out for him. I was looking out for you too.” She placed a hand in the younger girl’s. “And I know you’d never hurt Camilo. You clearly are the right girl for him.”

Emiliana giggled. “Thanks so much, Sra—“

“Oh, there’s no need for that. Call me Pepa.”

Emiliana was speechless. But in a good way, of course. “Okay, Pepa!”

“Come on, Emiliana!” Mirabel called out. “I’ll walk you home!”

“Oh okay! Umm, bye Pepa!” Emiliana waved at Pepa.

“Bye Emiliana!” Pepa smiled and waved back.

But as Emiliana was leaving, Julieta came out, Luisa walking behind her.

“Emiliana, cariña, can I give you something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“It’s for your condition.” Julieta sighed. “I might not be able to cure every disease or ailment. But I can still help ease it somewhat. Here.” She placed in Emiliana’s hand a container of small fruit-flavored gummies. “These will help you with your insomnia and narcolepsy. Take two pills in the day and two in the night and they’ll improve your sleep so that you don’t have to fall asleep during the day.”

“Wow! Oh my gosh! Thank you, Julieta!” Emiliana beamed and wrapped her best friend’s mom in a hug.

Julieta hugged back. “You’re welcome.”

“Wait!” Dolores ran down the stairs, Isabela following her in confusion. Dolores wrapped Emiliana in a hug. “Bye Emiliana!” She said, giving her a soft and affectionate kiss on the forehead. “You’ll always be my honorary hermanita.”

“Awww, thanks, Dolores!” Emiliana smiled and hugged back. “I love you too!”

Finally breaking up from the hug, Emiliana saw Isabela smile at her. “Take care, chiquita,” she said as she gave the girl a high five.

“I will. Anyway, bye everyone,” Emiliana waved as she walked out the door, arms linked in Mirabel’s. “And thanks for having me, you’re all very hospitable and I couldn’t be more grateful.”

“Bye Emiliana!” They all waved back.

“Camilo!” Luisa called out. “Your girlfriend’s going home. Don’t you want to catch her before she leaves?!”

Camilo came out of the bathroom just then. “Oh, she’s leaving? Bye bella durmiente.”

“Is that your new nickname for me?” Emiliana snickered.

“Sure is.” Camilo winked.

Emiliana smiled. Rushing up to him and pecking him on the cheek, she grabbed Mirabel’s hand and raced out the door, Mirabel skittering behind her.

And just like that, she was gone.

💖💛

As Emiliana and Mirabel walked, Mirabel asked her, “So did you enjoy your stay at Casita?”

“Of course I did!” Emiliana perked up. “It was fun. Especially the rat telenovelas! My favorite part was when the rat playing Lavinia ran away at the end.”

“Mine was when Hernando proposed to her.” Mirabel replied. “But the whole thing was fun and I’m glad she didn’t die at the end.”

“Me too. The dessert Julieta made was delicious too. Plus Casita is friendly and funny! And I really wish I could have slept in your room, but I promise next time I come over, I will.”

“Hmm…” Mirabel pondered. “No you don’t.”

“Huh, what do you mean? Of course I promise.”

“No, not that, I mean no way do you wish you slept in my room! You were happy to sleep in my cousin’s room, weren’t you?”

“I-I…” Emiliana felt her cheeks getting hotter and hotter. “No I wasn’t.”

“Oh? But you really enjoyed kissing him, didn’t you?”

“It’s not like that!” Emiliana screamed and ran away, covering her ears. “How did you know?”

“Dolores told me!” Mirabel laughed as she ran after her best friend, giggling. “You’re in loooove!” She cooed loudly in a singsong voice. “You’re in love with my cousin! You’re dating my cousin! You like kissing my cousin! You even wanna marry my cousin! Admit it Emiliana!” She made kissing sounds with her lips.

Other people in the town stopped what they were doing to stare at the childlike display. But Mirabel didn’t care.

“Stop it, Mirabel! Emiliana sobbed, tears of laughter streaming. “I can’t believe Dolores betrayed me like this.”

“Well, we slept over in her room that night, and that was when she told me.” Mirabel gave a thumbs up. “She supports though! And so do I. And the rest of us!”

“I know,” Emiliana said.

Mirabel smiled and linked arms with Emiliana.

“But it was still nice to have you regardless,” she said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Emiliana said. “It’s nice to spend some time with my best friend. Oh! And next month my dad is taking me and Victoria to my cousin’s house, he said I could invite two people, so I invited you and Yamilet. Do you wanna come?”

“I would love to come!” Mirabel perked up. “And I’ve never really talked to your cousin before? So I’d love to get to know him!”

“That’s awesome! And hey, maybe you can stay over for a little while and we can arrange a sleepover for another date! After all, I couldn’t not repay the compliment!”

“Yay!” Mirabel squealed. “I’m so excited!”

“Me too!” Emiliana said, and the two walked on home, eagerly chatting about their plans to hang out together as best friends, of which there were multiple.

The End

hope you liked it! and tell me whatcha think!

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