Blind Sights [Encanto OC FF]

1 | Arrival

Because that same night, she lost everything.

The fires burned, the men on their horses attacked. Her town evacuated, her sister holding her son and she had her triplets. Pedro had their things as they continued, coming to that river.

But then she lost her Pedro, and collapsed to the ground in her grief.

The candle had lit with its magical flame, blasting those monsters away. But in doing so, it also blasted away someone else that she loved, too. When she found out, however, it was much too late, and there was nothing she could do but grieve for a second time.

"Hermana!" Alma woke up with a start. It had been a long while since she'd had that dream. She got herself ready to go, shaking away the memory as she prepared for the day ahead of her. For the Madrigals, the last few weeks had been hectic. But, in a good way.

Bruno was back, and all of the nonsense rumors about him had receded. He wasn't some bringer of bad fortune, he was literally an innocent bean. An innocent and awkward bean who happened to have the strongest gift of all of the Madrigals. Alma couldn't be happier to have her son home, and that didn't change when the magic returned, along with their gifts.

This time, Alma wanted to do right by her family.

She made sure to shower her youngest son in all of the love he deserved, her little Brunito; she let Pepa dance beneath her beautiful clouds filled with any emotion she felt; And her darling Julieta, she let her know how much she meant to her. She let each of her babies know how much she loved them, and how sorry she was to ever make them think otherwise.

They were her miracle, they were her gift. Them, and the darling grandbabies they provided her, were her treasures. They were the glue that kept her broken heart together, and for so long... she hadn't done her job to let them know that. To know that they were everything to her.

So many apologies she had to give, so many she was willing to give. She had held on too tight, they didn't deserve that. They deserved the freedom to be however they wanted, to be whoever they wanted. They should act and sing and dance in whatever way they wanted, and as their Abuela, she should support them.

She would love them, no conditions needed, no gifts needed. This was the woman she had wanted to be for her family; the support they could lean on, the person they could turn to when things were difficult.

But she had failed in that, spectacularly. She had failed them, and that was how the magic had weakened and broken. It was her fault.

Her precious Mirabel helped her to see that. She had opened her eyes. Mirabel, who would one day lead this family after she was gone. With her at the head, Alma knew that her family would be okay. All of her grandchildren were lights in her life, pieces of her heart, her world. And this time, she would let them know, she would show them just how much they meant to her.

She would be a better Alma.

She would be a better Abuela.

She would be better.

Her Pedro, and her hermana, would have wanted that. Oh, how she wished they could be here with her, watching their familia grow so wondrously... Her sister would have loved all of them, she would have adored them.

When they were given their miracle, at first, she was sure that she had only lost her husband. But then she realized she could not find her sister or her nephew anywhere, no matter how hard she looked. Every part of her wanted to search for them, to go beyond the mountains to bring them home. Because, deep within her soul, she knew that they were alive. She believed in it with every ounce of her being.