Encanto One-Shot AU Collection

(Giant Siren AU): New Friend

Antonio peeked into the cave, seeing it was empty. Good, the family was still out hunting. He reached from behind the giant rock near the entrance. Enrique stumbled out, being dragged by an excited Antonio.

"Are you sure your family won't mind?" Enrique asked and Antonio paused before continuing forward towards his shell.

"So, funny thing," Antonio said, chuckling nervously as he climbed the rock, Enrique close behind. "My family doesn't know you're here."

Enrique almost slipped and fell back to the bottom at that. They didn't know? "W-Wait...so they don't know you brought me here?" Antonio asked, his eyes wide as Antonio pulled him onto the rock, and moving towards his shell. He pushed it open, ushering Enrique forward.

"It's fine. They don't like big humans. But...you're kind of small for a human. You're a kid like me, so I think it'll be ok," Antonio mumbled, shrugging.

"But I've never---!" Antonio shushed Enrique when he heard the sounds of his family returning. He shoved his friend into the shell, slamming it shut just as the family began to emerge from the water one by one.

"Antonio! We're back!" Pepa called, moving gracefully towards the ledge where Antonio was standing, his hands behind his back as he watched his mama and other family.

"Hola mamí," Antonio said timidly, pressing a kiss onto her cheek. The giant siren smiled, and Antonio could already smell the food they had brought back.

"We brought back some lunch," Pepa said, placing a massive handful of fish in front of Antonio. The boy seemed distracted for a moment, his pupils dilated and glowing gently as he stared at the pile before shaking his head.

"I-I'm not hungry," Antonio said softly as he becked towards his shell.

The whole cave fell silent. No way. There was no way he wasn't hungry. Antonio was always hungry, as all guppies were. Something was wrong. Something wasn't right. Pepa furrowed her eyebrows, staring at Antonio who shifted on his feet. His eyes darted toward the pile of fish.

Antonio desperately tried to keep his guppy instincts at bay, for the sake of his friend. As he had mentioned earlier, he hadn't exactly told his family he had a friend...a human friend at that. But he was losing the battle.

"Are you sure?" Pepa asked suspiciously and Antonio hesitantly nodded. Pepa knew he was lying, he always shifted his weight when he was. She could hear the faint sound of his stomach growling, but she knew he was hiding something, something big, and he wouldn't spill. "Well then I guess I can take these fish back and-"

"No, it's mine!" Antonio cried out, lunging for the pile, snapping at his mother's fingers, causing her to pull away. Pepa looked at him knowingly and Antonio seemed to snap out of it, sitting on the ground and looking down.

"Antonio Madrigal. What are you hiding?" Felix asked, having moved next to Pepa.

"Nothing..." Antonio mumbled, avoiding his parents' eyes. The other family watched from a distance, all equally curious as to what he was hiding.

"Antonio, don't lie to us," Pepa pressed and Antonio sighed. He stood up, shuffling over to the shell. He hesitated, then placed his small hands on the top.

"Promise you won't freak out?" Antonio asked, looking towards his family. They all sort of shrugged and gave half-yeses. Antonio stopped before taking a deep breath and opening the shell.

At first, nothing was there. But Enrique emerged, looking up at the family. His eyes were as wide as saucers as he gaped at them. But, he wasn't the only one surprised. A human, a human child at that, was in their cave.

"This is my friend I was talking about a few days ago. He...he washed up on the island after you guys crashed that ship that was attacking the island," Antonio explained, though he wasn't sure if his family was listening. They were all having a pseudo staring contest with Enrique. "And I brought him here because he didn't have anywhere to go."

"¿Um...Hola...?" Enrique said nervously. At least Antonio's family hadn't tried to eat him. They didn't seem hostile at all, nothing like the stories.

Of course, he still was panicking on the inside.

Pepa stared at the boy before her face softened. She reached over to grab the boy. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come. But it never did. Pepa opened her hand, seeming to examine the boy closer. "You're cute. Such a tiny human."

Enrique looks up at her with wide eyes, though no longer out of fear, but fascination. He had never seen such a huge woman, let alone a siren. She...seemed gentle though. Like she only wanted him to be safe. Antonio watched for a moment, fiddling with his fingers before speaking up. "So...you're not mad?"

"Well, we wish you would've told us. We would've brought something more suitable for a human child," Julieta said absently, looking through the food stash for something Enrique could eat; from what she knew, humans, especially small children, couldn't eat it. At least not without getting sick.

"Can...he stay?" Antonio asked nervously, and Enrique looked just as nervous as him, if not more so. A couple of them whispered to each other, and they all turned to Alma. She had the final say. Even if they all agreed to yes if Alma said no, then it was no. Antonio looked towards his abuela, his eyes wide. Alma looked between her younger grandchild and his new friend.

She hated humans. But she had a soft spot for human children. They weren't tainted like their adult counterparts. While easily influenced, they could also be influenced to be allies of their siren community. And she was willing.

Alma thought for a moment more, the family and Enrique waiting in anticipation. Alma opened her eyes and gently nodded her head in approval. "He can stay. He'll go with Antonio to the grotto when we're not here."

Antonio beamed, and Pepa set his new friend down. The two new friends hugged each other tightly, eliciting coos and aws from the family. Antonio was so excited---his friend got to stay!

"I'm so happy you get to stay!" Anto io beamed, leading him over to the fish pile, the guppy began to dig in, rambling on about something. Enrique sat for a moment before some fruit was placed in front of him. He looked up, seeing who Antonio called "Tia Julieta", and he quietly thanked her before eating.

"What's a grotto?" Enrique asked and Antonio looked like he was about to explode with excitement.

"Oh! So there's this place called Guppy Grotto, and me and my other friends stay there. The caretakers are really nice," Antonio said, stuffing another fish into his mouth. It baffled Enrique how fast he had gone through a quarter of the pile while he had barely finished two fruits. "I promise, you'll love it."