Encanto: The Inevitable (AU)

The search

"I swear she could be anywhere!" Camilo muttered in annoyance. "We're never going to find her."

"We'll find her eventually, son," Félix said. "We just have to keep our hopes up!"
"There's not a lot of hope without our gifts..." Camilo said. "If we still had them, Dolores could've found her way sooner."

"Camilo!" Félix exclaimed.
"What? I'm right aren't I?"

"I hope mamá and tía are having an easier time looking for her," Dolores said. "Because we don't seem to be getting anywhere."
"I hope so too." Said Félix.

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"Mamá!" Julieta called out, hoping to get a response. "God, where is she?"
"Don't know," Pepa muttered. "But she better show up soon."

"She's out there somewhere. We'll find her."
"I can't believe she just ran away!" Pepa said angrily. "She just left! Not even checking if anyone was okay!"

"I'm- I'm sure she had a reason..."
"Are you kidding me? Mirabel could have died because of her! Your daughter!"
Julieta remained silent. She knew her sister had a point, but didn't dare to say anything bad about her mother.

They carried on in silence, which was occasionally broken by calling Alma.

The search went on for so long that their feet started hurting. They had to sit down for a second. Julieta found a big rock on which they could rest.

"The sun is already starting to set..." She mumbled. "We need to find her soon."
"Yeah." Pepa agreed. "I hope the others are having more luck. Maybe she already returned to the town."

"Maybe." Julieta looked down.
There was another silence between them.

"We should continue searching," Pepa suggested, coming back to her feet. "It's getting dark."
She looked at her sister. "You coming?"

All of a sudden Julieta broke down crying.
"Julieta? Are you okay?" Pepa immediately went to sit back next to her. "We'll find her, I promise."

"It's not mamá, Pepa," Julieta cried. "It's Mirabel. I almost lost my daughter. She almost died. What would I have done if she was crushed under that tower?" She had a difficult time talking through her tears.

Pepa looked at her, gently taking her hands. "It's alright, Juli. She survived, and she'll be okay. You took good care of her."

Julieta hugged her sister tightly, not wanting to let go. "I was so scared." She whispered.
Pepa hugged her back. "It's okay... I was too."

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Camilo, Dolores, and Félix were still walking through the forest, searching for Abuela.

Félix looked at his son. "You were saying? About her being slow?"
"I just said she was old! That doesn't equal to saying she's slow!"

"It was your point, though," Dolores said. "And now we can't find her. Nice job at jinxing it."

"Why are you acting like it's my fault?" Camilo asked, offended.
"We were just joking, Camilo, no need to be dramatic." His father laughed.
Camilo rolled his eyes at them.

Suddenly they heard a thump on the ground behind some bushes, followed by a grunt.
"What was that?" Dolores immediately looked in the direction of the noise.

"Abuela?" Félix approached the bush. "Is that you?"

The person immediately ran away as soon as Félix started getting closer.
"Follow her!" Camilo exclaimed. "Don't let her escape!"

The three of them immediately rushed after the figure. The person was agile and fast.

"How- huf- fast- huf- is this woman?" Camilo ranted out of breath.

"I don't think it's Abuela..." Dolores sighed, also out of breath. "But whoever it is, they must have a reason to run from us."

After a few minutes, they lost the figure and sat down to take a quick rest.
"Jeez, they were fast!" Félix huffed.

"Definitely not Abuela," Camilo added.

"We should go back to the house," His father suggested. "It's getting dark and there's no use in looking for her without sunlight."

"Not much to go back to," Camilo said. "And before you give me a jab in the side, you know I'm right." He still received one anyways.

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When the two groups arrived back at the house a lot of the townspeople had surrounded Mirabel. Julieta quickly went to check if she was okay.

Her pulse hadn't weakened, fortunately. But she hadn't woken up yet.

"Any luck finding her?" Agustín asked. Pepa shook her head. "No trace."

"We should find a better place for Mirabel to stay," Isabela suggested. "We can't have her lie on the mattress the entire time."
The rest of the family agreed.

"I have an extra bed at my house." Mariano came forward from out of the crowd. "She can stay there for a while."

"Thank you, Mariano." Isabela smiled at him. "I mean it."
"You may not want to be with me anymore, but I still want to help," He smiled back.

Luisa gently picked Mirabel up and looked at her older sister. "Lead the way." She said.

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Yet another chapter done. Once again if you have any tips or want to correct me on errors, go ahead! Any constructive criticism is appreciated!