AN: Hello! So I may have fixed some mistakes quicker than I planned lmao, and I may have found a nice way to divide the ark/plot points ;) Basically, every time I finish an ark, we return to Marulanda and Mirabel talking about such events, and sometimes Marulanda hints at little things that have bigger meanings for the future and the general fate of her link with the Madrigal's and her own family
By so, I have fixed the mistakes from earlier chapters, even added a few things here and there that aren't really that important, but if you guys are interested, you can go back and check some of that, the fixing goes from chapter 1 to 8, somewhere minimal, others brought some details from the Encanto books and general own headcanons.
This is a short chapter, sorry for that, but I hope you guys enjoy it and make some theories out of plot points that may happen. Who knows? Maybe I'll use some of those for a fun filler chapter ;)
Today's chapter image was made by @Softie_hoax, they were one of the first people to make fanart for this story, and her drawing was recently shown in my latest AN Chapter, still, her beautiful drawing deserves to make an appearance in a chapter! <33
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-So you two were... Childhood friends?-
As two years of Marulanda's life with Bruno was summed up, Mirabel looked for verbal confirmation of her exclamation, she already finished the cup of Tinto and cheese that Doña Marulanda offered her.
-Well, not exactly childhood, we became friends in our late teens. But more like friends we were Best Friends, we trusted in each other a lot- She took Mirabel's cup from the table, walking by the kitchen as she cleaned the cup and stared every few moments at the kitchen window... How many times has she left the food there with... Hope? She was already losing it after a whole decade.
-I see, how about the glass rose? Or your own Vision?- The Madrigal girl asked as she sat awkwardly, her hands still over the emerald prophecy, asking about the objects from some of the related events the older woman told about, not sure of all its veracity yet.
-Right... Those. Give me a second dear- She sighed as she walked through the hall at the end of the house, out of reach for basically anyone besides the owner herself, more than one door locked behind with memories too painful or beautiful to relieve them in her mind.
-So, do you know more things about my Tio?-
-Of course, I do! Ha! I remember how scared he was of spiders and every single word in his scripts, in fact, I think I have some of those here, do you want to see them?-
A conversation was shared several rooms away, one could hear a door opening and then moving of several things around, the older woman sharing everything she remembered about this old friend of hers, with such a fond tone in her voice, even if sometimes it cracked softly.
-There's no need for that Doña Marulanda- Mirabel was invested in the telling, but she was not here to hear even the most minimal details about her uncle, she was here for the vision and its meaning.
-Whatever you say, sweetie! Anyways...- Marulanda came back from the room with a big old box in her hands, it seemed heavy but the woman didn't seem to mind the weight at all. -... I found some older things around, here are some photos of us at a younger age-
It was an old album, still very well decorated and seemed to be handcrafted, it had two dates written in gold, seems like those were the years these photos were taken.
-Can I?- Mirabel moved the original vision aside, softy as she lingered softly in front of the album, asking for permission to touch it.
-Sure thing, You're one of the first ones to even be interested in it... Have people told you I'm crazy?- She may be cast aside from society but she wasn't dumb, even some of her family members have cast her outside and barely visit, everyone apart from... Well, it was a hard theme.
-... Yeah-
-Mhmm, it's to be expected, not that I can change everyone's opinions...- She nodded as she grabbed another box, it was made of wood and had small goldish drawings with hourglasses and hearts. -Here it is-
She laid the box on the table, approaching her hands softly as she raised the object inside, the crystal rose, the original one, still kept in a perfect shape after decades. -It was made from the sand in his room and pieces of his older visions... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, how else would you have gotten that one?-
-So it is real- Mirabel approached to see the rose, touching it softly in fear of breaking it. -Yeah... There's a lot of stairs there-
Marulanda chuckled as the Madrigal girl huffed by remembering that hellish room, the woman could agree with the girl, she remembers growing tired constantly of so many stairs, although as the years passed by... More stairs began to appear.
-Anyway... I should lock this up again where it's safe, should we check the pictures now?- Maru suggested as she took the rose and its box back to an old room, leaving the bigger box with the other albums outside, they'll need them eventually.
Mirabel began to check the different photos around, some had different family members that she could see in the photos around the house, others had some of the Madrigal adults but younger, but most of them were blurry or poorly taken photos of what she could assume was Marulanda and Bruno.
-See that one? That was my 17th birthday, that's when he gave me that necklace as a gift- Marulanda sat down beside Mirabel, smiling softly at the photos of her younger age, where things were easier and so many tragedies were still to come. -As you can see, I still wear it- She took the necklace off to give the glasses-wearing girl a better look to it, a small golden hourglass shape that had so much sentimental value.
-It's quite pretty, he made you a lot of interesting gifts-
-I know, I always felt bad about how many great gifts he gave me, and the best I could do was make him clothes or fix them- She laughed as she rose from her seat again, checking the kitchen and offering Mirabel some bread to eat. -If you want something else just tell me, do you want more coffee?-
-I'm good Doña Marulanda, thanks- She still took the bread, as she didn't want to upset the older woman, still checking around the different photos, some of them funnier than others.
-Those were my parents, and those are my siblings, that over there is Guadalupe, she's the youngest, currently, she's married to Osvaldo, Sergio is one of their kids, the youngest, but I'm hurrying too much information now, well get to that point in due time!-
Even being almost 50 years old, Marulanda still showed some of that inner child that never died, always moving and saying a little too much in an excited manner, yet there was the underlying feeling of knowing what comes after from their story.
-How about your vision, do you still have it?-
-Yes dear, I still have it even if it's in pieces, it's no longer buried... But there are still fragments missing, I'll show you later-
Some other photos showed as the Madrigal Triplets hanged around in dinners or events, others had little comments making fun of their looks, as all of them once interacted as they made this album.
-What happened with your friendship with my Tia?-
-We became closer, not at the same level of closeness with your uncle, but we did get along for a long time, we still do but things change over the years... Should we continue then? As much as I would love to give you your answers, I cannot do it without giving you the so needed context behind it, although it may affect you in some ways... Are you sure you want to hear everything?-
-Yes, I do-
As much as Marulanda wished to keep the information light for the Madrigal girl, eventually as she continued, she couldn't keep the tragedies away, as they are part of the greatest reasons of everything and how it all ties with the Madrigals. -Very well then Mirabel, where were we?-
-After your date, what continued over on Sunday?-
-Well that I can sum it up very quickly mi niña! It went awkward, to be honest, I still said sorry over the kiss on his cheek and helped him all the day with the readings he didn't do the other day, as much as we got along, this sometimes got awkward as we got closer or did strange actions, that whole ordeal lasted around two months, that only made those close to us annoy and mess with us-
She could remember with a laugh all those words and younger voices around her, how Agustin and Felix tried to be wingmen for Bruno but failed along the way, the family parties where they would have fun even if they were even nervous about touching each other's hands, all of it... Now memories that are only kept in her mind vividly while the others seemed to let it all slip through their fingers.
-The rose I showed you was only the first of dozens to come, you may not realize yet, but check around you- She played with her hands as she smiled, Marulanda has aged wonderfully, one could say it's thanks to Julieta's food that she sends every once in a while.
-What do you mean Doña Marulanda?- She questioned the existence of more of these crystal roses, but she stop as she realized that around the whole house there were real flowers, all of them accompanied with tons of crystal flowers with the same style, just how many there are?
-I told you, well get to everything in due time, but for over more than 20 years I've gotten one of these every year, mi Flaco seemed to be good at planning... Sometimes- She laughed as she approached with one of the vases on her hands, colorful real flowers that made the glass roses shine beautifully.
Even if it seemed like a beautiful gift... When she kept receiving them for the last 10 years, it just began to make her sadder every time
-Wait, What happened to that Santiago guy?-
-Oh, him? He eventually apologized and we told him the truth about that vision, I never forgave him, but I accepted his apology, Bruno never liked him, so it was some sort of relief when his family and himself eventually left Encanto to find a more... Good life, they seemed to want to return to a city or town and make their business grow-
She doesn't even remember Santiago's face, it was a dumb event decades ago, and she was long away from even finding it as a big deal now. Back then she felt terrible, now it's a blurry memory of a boy who simply didn't know a thing about treating someone with respect and consent
-Well... Let's continue with the months to come after that date, there are still things to tell before we approach an event you may be familiar with your family telling you about-
-You mean...-
-Your Tia Pepa's wedding, of course-
There were no photos for the disaster wedding, but a whole page filled with two handwritings about that day, now this was some of the things Mirabel was looking for, the reasons behind all of her family says about her tio.