THE TWO GOT out of his room as quick as they could, not looking as they turned the corner and walking right into Abuela. "Where are you two coming from in such a hurry?" She asked, looking at the rather frazzled pair.
"We were just–" Valentina started, trying to think of any excuse that sounded believable.
"What is in your hair?" Abuela muttered, looking at the grains of sand that each girl was about covered in.
They each shared a panic filled glance, hoping that they hadn't just been busted. Just as Abuela was starting to get suspicious, Luisa staggered up the stairs in a loud sob. "My gift! I'm losing my gift!"
"What?" Abuela spluttered.
"Mirabel and I were having this little talk about me carrying too much, so I tried not to carry so much but I realized it was putting me behind and I knew I was gonna let everyone down and felt really bad so I was grabbing all the donkeys but then when I went to throw the donkeys in the barn, they were," she paused with a deep breath. "heavy!" Luisa ran off, crying, while Abuela turned to the two girls.
"What did you do?" She questioned. "What did you say to her?"
"Nothing! I – I don't –" Mirabel stuttered, getting interrupted by Abuela.
"I have to go get the Guzmans for Isabela's engagement," the older woman sighed. "Stay away from Luisa until I can talk to her. Tonight we can't have any more problems. And whatever you both are doing, stop doing it!" Abuela headed off, and behind her Luisa's door began to flicker.
"Valentina!" Tía Pepa shouted, looking around the courtyard below for the girl.
Mirabel went off to her room while Valentina slipped downstairs to see what was needed. "I'm right here!" She answered, noticing Pepa was carrying a basket.
"Are you ready for the Guzmans? They're gonna be here soon! And what is that all over you?" Pepa examined, trying to dust the sand off Valentina's hair and dress. "Ay, you kids are so messy. Go get changed and make sure Camilo is getting ready too! There's also some boy outside looking for you too!"
Valentina ran to her room, getting changed as quickly as possible. She clutched the vision to her chest, keeping it hidden the best she could. She banged on Camilo's door, popping her head inside to see him laying on his bed lazily instead of getting ready.
"Tía Pepa said you need to get ready!" She shouted, disturbing him from whatever he was doing. He simply groaned in response, not bothering to move. She simply shut his door, after all she told him and if he didn't get ready it was his fault.
She flew down the stairs, smiling when she saw that it was Emilio who was downstairs. She ran down to greet him, the pair escaping the confines of the house to go lay in the grass somewhat nearby. "So, why is everyone in there so stressed? Pepa about hit me with lightning when I asked if you were here."
"I think some guys proposing to Isabela," She shrugged. "They talked about it this morning I think."
"Is that good?" Emilio asked.
Valentina laughed. "No, she doesn't even like him. She's doing it because that's what Abuela wants."
"Why doesn't she say something?" He asked innocently. "I mean, it's better than being forced into a marriage with someone you don't love."
"I wish it was that simple," Valentina sighed. "Abuela wants the family to appear perfect. That means if you're not considered useful in her eyes, you might as well not exist. They treat Mirabel like she's some child, even making her stay in the nursery."
"Really?"
"Yeah," Valentina nodded. "Take my dad for example. She says he doesn't care about the family, but he always did. They just always ignored him, so he slowly began closing himself off. Then he met my mom and they had me, which kind of helped but then my mom, you know," she trailed off, obviously eluding to something darker that happened.
"Wow," he breathed, slowly taking everything in. "Honestly, your dad sounds pretty cool and doesn't even seem like a bad guy."
"He really is," she agreed. "He used to make up these characters named Hernando and Jorge when I was a kid. He would play with me, read me stories before I went to bed, all of it."
"So why does everyone not talk about him?" Emilio questioned. "I said his name once and got stared at by at least ten people."
"They said he made bad things happen," she rolled her eyes. "Someone said he killed their goldfish, or he made them go bald. Tía Pepa hates talking about it because it was her wedding day, and he made a poorly timed rain joke, and I bet you can imagined what happened."
"Hurricane?" Emilio laughed as Valentina nodded.
"Mirabel and I went into his room today, which has been off limits for years. She wanted to find the vision he had years ago, because she's worried the magic's fading," Valentina began, turning the conversation serious. "We found it, but we don't know what it means. While we were there I had a vision too."
She pulled out the amethyst slab, showing it to the boy who looked at it in great interest. "Is this what she said she saw the other night?" He asked, remembering when Mirabel said she saw cracks in the house during Antonio's ceremony.
"Yeah, the cracks leading to the candle. I just don't know what it means or what's causing it," she sighed in frustration. "The only person who would have any clue would be my dad, and who knows where he is," she partially lied.
Emilio went to speak again, interrupted by a shout from Abuela. "Time to eat!"
"Come on," Valentina pushed herself up to the ground, gesturing for the boy to follow her. "I'll ask if you can stay for dinner."
The two eventually made their way to the house, Valentina begging Abuela if Emilio could stay for dinner. Abuela agreed, having the house quickly add a seat to the table for their additional guest. The entire family began to file in, taking their seats at the table.
Valentina watched as Mirabel came inside, looking more stressed than usual. "What's wrong?" Valentina whispered as she neared her cousin.
"Dolores knows," Mirabel whispered in a panic.
Valentina froze. Dolores couldn't keep a secret to save her life. "She's gonna tell everyone," She breathed, panic washing over her.
"Are you okay?" Emilio asked in concern, sensing the panic in her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, making sure she was alright. All she did was shake her head, moving silently to take her seat.
Valentina and Mirabel kept a constant eye on Dolores, who was absolutely bursting to tell anyone what she knew. Beside Mirabel was Agustín, shaking from nervousness. At the head of the table, Abuela conversed with The Guzmans, boasting how the marriage between Isabela and Mariano would be excellent for the Encanto.
Sensing the stress, Emilio took Valentina's hand in his, squeezing it gently. She returned the gesture, grateful that he was there. A bowl of avocado was shoved in front of the girls vision, and a second later when it was passed on, Dolores was already whispering to Camilo, "Mirabel and Valentina found Bruno's vision." The boy coughed in shock, shifting from Mirabel, to Valentina, and to Bruno before back to himself.
"Camilo, fix your face," Felíx whispered to his son, unaware to what was going on.
"La Familia Madrigal has always been a pillar of our community," Mrs. Guzman trailed off, noticing that something was slightly off. Abuela laughed in panic, pouring more wine into the woman's glass in hoping to distract her.
"Water?"
A pitcher of water passes by, and when it passes on, Camilo is now whispering to Felíx who chokes on his water. Abuela furrows her brows, doing her best to ignore what was going on in front of her. "Mirabel, the cream, please."
"Pa, the cream," Mirabel continued, very tense. Agustín passed the cream to Mirabel, his hands shaking.
A clap of thunder caught the two girls attention, looking up to see Felíx, whispering to his wife what he heard. A small hurricane began swirling over Pepa's head as she panicked, giving Valentina a look that she knew meant that when this was over she was in a huge amount of trouble.
"Pepa?" Abuela coughed, clearly embarrassed. "The cloud."
"Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies," Pepa muttered, stroking her braid repeatedly, trying to calm herself down to shrink the cloud.
Valentina tightened her grip on Emilio's hand, quickly taking a sip of her drink, trying not to bring any attention to herself. He did his best to calm her down as he watched the situation unfold, trying to ignore the growing tension in the dining room.
"Mirabel," Mariano leaned over to Mirabel, who was ducked under the table. "Are you okay?" He asked as Mirabel accidentally slammed her head into the table as she jumped back up.
"Everything's great, she's just excited!" Agustín exclaimed in a panic. "For you to propose, which you should do as fast as you can."
"Actually I was gonna," Mariano answered, looking uneasy.
"You were actually gonna! Great!" Mirabel swiveled Isabela's chair to face Mariano, Isabela looking the most tense and uncomfortable of them all.
"Well, well – since everyone here has a talent, my Mariano wanted to begin with a song." The woman turned to Luisa. "Luisa, could you bring over the piano?"
Luisa, who had her head down on the table since the beginning, raised her head, lip trembling as she fought tears. "Okay," the girl groaned, marching to go get the piano.
"Actually, it's family tradition to sing after," Mirabel laughed nervously, shoving Mariano to his knee, hoping to hurry and get the proposal over with.
"Isabela, the most graceful of the Madrigals," Mariano began with a deep breath, pulling the ring box from his pocket.
The entire house began to malfunction. Cracks began to spread throughout the floor, and some of Antonio's animals slipped the pieces of the vision from Agustín's pocket, seeming to assemble it under the table. Valentina slipped under the table, attempting to grab the vision, but the animals were too fast.
"Will you marry me?" Mariano finished, and the house erupts into absolute chaos.
Luisa erupted into tears after being unable to lift the piano, and the storm above Pepa's head grew bigger and bigger. "What is happening?" Mrs. Guzman exclaimed at the sight.
At that, Dolores broke. "Mirabel and Valentina found Bruno's vision, and Mirabel's in it, she's gonna destroy the magic and now we're all doomed!"
The two animals below pulled the vision onto the table, and Mirabel and Valentina both made attempts to grab it. From above, one of Antonio's toucans flew in with Valentina's vision in its claws. The vision ended up sliding down the table, both of them eventually landing directly in front of Abuela.
Everyone stared at the visions, and then to the two girls at the foot of the table. Cracks rippled through the house, everyone's gifts begin to fritz and spasm with Pepa's storm cloud unleashing harsh rains, and Camilo someone ended up with a baby head.
"Follow me," Valentina whispered to Emilio, pulling him with her up the stairs through the chaos. She swung open the painting they had seen that night before, and Valentina went in without hesitation. Emilio followed, not knowing where they were headed.