As Camilo, Hanna, and Luisa followed Isabela into the village, Dolores stayed behind in their Casita, in the corner of the balcony with Mirabel and Antonio watching her from nearby. She listened closely as the group was approaching the mural when she heard something else from the summer house. Something she just couldn't bring herself to ignore.
"Where is Amalia?" Cal asked. "She wasn't here when I woke up this morning and has been gone since!"
"She is probably still with Agustín's daughters," said Marie. "Isn't that right?"
"Yes, I am certain that she's with them. She's as safe as can be," said Agustín.
"I know she's safe!" said Cal, impatiently. "But she and I have work to do! To be ready for this festival that, might I remind you, Agustín, you insisted that she partake in!"
"Now hold on," Agustín said, a little defensively. "She was not forced into anything! Besides, it's still weeks away! I would think that she has plenty of time to enjoy herself just as much as you and the rest of your family."
"Cal, Amalia has only ever played music so beautifully," said Marie. "I'm sure she'll be magnificent even if she doesn't practice for one day."
"That is out of the question!" Cal said. "Amalia knows better than this! This isn't like her to just walk out of here and not let her family know where she is!"
Dolores then heard him pause.
"Wait a minute," said Cal. "Where is Johanna?"
"She's at my house," Agustín answered. "With...my daughter Mirabel."
"And how often has she been going there?" Cal asked, suspiciously. "She thinks she can just wander off whenever she wants and now Amalia is starting to do the same? Could this be her influence?"
"Cal, you know as much as I that Johanna wouldn't do a thing to upset you," Marie said.
"No?" Cal asked. "What about that time she gave me attitude? And she was shouting last night!"
"They were both shouting," said Marie.
"Right!" Cal exclaimed. "What was that? I never would've expected that from Amalia! That kind of behavior is beneath her!"
Another pause.
"You have a family member that can hear everything, right?" Cal asked. "She knows where Amalia is! I'm sure of it! Go ask her! Have your family use their magic to find her!"
Dolores's heart skipped a beat. She waited with bated breath as she grasped the railing.
"That is highly... unnecessary," Agustín said, slowly.
"Are you... trying to keep her away from me?" Cal asked.
"Of course not!" said Agustín. "I just think you should...give her a break. That's all. She will come back."
"That is not something for you to decide, Agustín," said Cal.
There was another pause. Dolores then heard approaching footsteps from where Cal and the others were.
"Abuela!" Agustín said in surprise.
Dolores waited for what would come next. Did Abuela hear what was going on? What was she going to say? But the next person she heard speaking was Cal.
"Alright!" he said, irritably. "One hour then. But she had better be back after it is up."
"Hmph," Dolores squeaked. All it took was for Abuela to walk by and Cal was suddenly more lenient?
'Interesting,' she thought.' Who would've guessed Abuela was so scary?'
Meanwhile, Camilo was holding hands with Hanna as they continued walking behind Isabela and Luisa to the mural. Hanna turned her head to look wearily at him, wondering if he was okay with sticking around to see her deal with her family affairs that had little to do with him. But Camilo smiled back and gripped her hand a little tighter, letting her know there was no other place he'd rather be. When they had finally arrived, he saw Amalia sitting on a wooden bench (courtesy of Luisa) with her back towards them, staring up at Abuelo Pedro's painting. Her dark brown hair wasn't tied into her usual twin braids and fell straight down her back.
"Lia," Hanna called.
Amalia turned around and smiled at the sight of her sister. She had a purple flower tucked into her hair just above her right ear.
"Hey," she called back.
As Hanna approached her first, Camilo noticed the look in Amalia's brown eyes was much softer than before.
"We need to talk," she said.
"Yeah," said Hanna.
When the two of them turned to look at the others, Isabela smiled sheepishly at Amalia.
"Normally we would give you some privacy," she said.
"But Dolores can hear everything," said Luisa. "And she would end up telling us anyway."
"Right," said Amalia with a slight grin. "It's fine. You all can stay."
Camilo raised his eyebrows, noticing the way she spoke was much softer than before as well.
"We'll be totally quiet!" Isabela insisted. "Like we aren't even here!"
She then grabbed Camilo by his ruana and dragged him along as she and Luisa took several steps back from the two sisters. Amalia half-smiled and shook her head. Hanna then came around to sit on the bench beside her. She sighed, looking down at her hands in her lap.
"I'm... sorry," she said, glumly. "I'm sorry for all the mean things I said to you."
"No," said Amalia, placing her hand under Hanna's chin to lift her head up. "I'm the one who is really sorry."
Camilo watched from where he stood as Hanna looked up at her sister. Amalia raised her hand to gently brush a lock of Hanna's hair behind her ear.
"I...have not been as honest with you as I should have," she said. "And rather than place blame on you...," she turned her head to glance at Camilo. "...or anyone else...I should've owned up to my own mistake."
She took a deep breath for a moment and looked into Hanna's eyes. "The other day... you asked me if I love being perfect. I'm guessing because of all the... attention I get," she said.
Hanna nodded.
"The truth is...I don't," said Amalia. "And I'm not as perfect as you think I am. As a matter of fact, I'm a long way from it."
Hanna's eyes widened slightly. "What?" she asked in disbelief.
"You think I'm perfect because of all the things I can do very well and because I get praised by Father all the time," said Amalia. "But...if you were to look more closely, you would see that my relationship with him is not what you think it is."
Hanna said nothing but continued to stare at her sister. Then Amalia began to speak with a pompous-like voice, trying to imitate Cal.
"Father's tired, Amalia! Play the piano for him, Amalia! They wanna hear one more song, Amalia! Focus Amalia! That's a good girl! My pride and joy!" she said.
When Amalia was done, she let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you see what's wrong here?" she asked.
But Hanna didn't answer.
Amalia shook her head once more. "All the endless attention he gives me... is conditional," she said. "My value as a person is, and always has been, tied to my skills and my accomplishments! And it doesn't help when Father brags about me to others because then... they expect to see it from me too! And it just doesn't stop!"
When Camilo got a look at Amalia's face, he could see her pent-up frustration coming to light.
"Do you get it now?" she asked Hanna, sadly. "In the end... I'm not his daughter! I'm a show dog! A wind-up doll! Continuously performing and smiling. Every. Single. Day. And I'm...truly sick of it!"
Now Camilo's eyes widened. 'Huh,' he thought to himself. 'They really are sisters.'
Amalia continued.
"I thought maybe you would've noticed this," she said. "But having to act like you're perfect all the time is just exhausting! It's damaging physically, mentally, and emotionally! And as for Mother...I only assumed she expected me to be perfect too. Because my achievements made her happy."
She trailed off. When she spoke again, her voice was quivering.
"The only thing I had that was helping me keep my sanity...was you!" she said. "Being your sister. Because I had someone I could bond with naturally. And it made me feel like...less of an empty shell. I was... dependent on you. And I needed you to be dependent on me! When you were little, you would try to be just like me. You liked the same things I liked. You even dressed like me. And well... it made me feel...guilty. Because I knew why you were doing it. But rather than tell you not to...I encouraged it! Because we bonded over the same things! That was another mistake I made, even back then... But then you started to...branch out. And when we came here, you were going places without me. Deep down, I started to worry that one day you would...just decide you have had enough of this dysfunctional life. That someday, you would leave and... never come back! But I needed you here with me...for my own selfish reasons!"
Amalia tightly clasped her hands together in her lap. Camilo watched Hanna as she continued to stare at her sister.
"And...the reason why you kept others away from you?" Hanna asked.
"It was just easier for me to keep up appearances that way," Amalia replied. "I was afraid...if people really got to know me, they would see how... broken I truly am. That, on the inside...I was weak."
Camilo glanced over at Luisa, curious to see her reaction to Amalia's confession. But Luisa wasn't crying. She had obviously heard this already.
"Why...didn't you tell me any of this before?" Hanna asked, almost in a whisper.
"The rules of showing weakness in our household do not just apply to you, Hanna," said Amalia. "I wasn't going to openly admit how...alarmingly dependent I was on my little sister! Besides, I'm the oldest! I am the one who is relied upon! Not the other way around. At least...that was my way of thinking."
"That's crazy!" said Camilo.
Amalia and Hanna turned around to look at him. Isabela glared at him. She put a finger to her mouth, telling him to be quiet. But Camilo ignored her.
"I can tell you right now that I'm always gonna need my little brother!" he said. "And I'm ten years older than he is!"
Isabela shook her head hopelessly, but she gave in and joined him. "And we wouldn't be anywhere without Mirabel," she said.
"She saved us," said Luisa. "Our family would be nothing without her."
Amalia and Hanna smiled at them all, then looked back at each other.
"I don't know why Father shows so much contempt for you," said Amalia, sadly. "I'm sorry, Hanna. I've even tried asking him when I was a girl. Many times. But all he would tell me is that he expects more from the firstborn. Even though it's clearer than ever that that's not entirely the case."
She then looked up at Abuelo Pedro's message and frowned. "Truth be told, I don't think he really loves either one of us," she added.
Hanna didn't say anything. She reached over to take Amalia's hand in hers. When Amalia looked at her, there were tears in her eyes. "I...I'm really sorry. I have been a horrible sister to you," she said.
Hanna stood up. "No! No, you haven't!" she exclaimed. "I would be completely lost without you!"
She paused to see Amalia look up in surprise.
"I was jealous of you!" Hanna said. Tears threatened to spill from her own eyes. "And I allowed jealousy to prevent me from seeing things clearly! But I see you now, Lia! I see you!" She took Amalia's other hand and pulled her up to stand with her.
"I don't think you're weak at all!" said Hanna. "You've been very strong this whole time! You've been carrying too much on your own! But...it's okay now! Whenever you're feeling weak, you can let me know! And when you're feeling sad, I want you to tell me! I won't judge you! You can depend on me! And...you can cry when you're with me! Okay? It won't change a thing! We'll still be sisters!"
Amalia was stunned for a moment, but then she smiled and nodded yes. "The same goes for you," she whispered. Hanna smiled as well and wrapped her arms around Amalia, hugging her tightly. Amalia hugged her back and rested her cheek on top of Hanna's head. Tears were running down both of their faces. Camilo grinned at the two of them and looked to see Isabela and Luisa holding hands. They also had tears in the corners of their eyes as they watched the two of them. Amalia lifted her head up slightly as she continued to embrace her sister and looked at Isabela and Luisa.
"Thank you," she said, softly. "Thank you so much."
Isabela beamed and Luisa gave a shaky thumbs up. Her bottom lip was trembling.
Camilo then watched as Amalia gently let go of Hanna and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Then she looked over in his direction and walked up to face him.
"You love my sister?" she asked, softly.
"Si," Camilo said, looking her in the eye.
Amalia smiled at him. "You chose right," she said. "And I'm sorry that I was so judgmental. I realize now that you're a very kind and caring soul. Hanna deserves that kind of happiness."
Hanna blushed.
"Thanks," Camilo said, humbly. "And I'm sorry too. I never meant to...take anything away from you."
"I know," said Amalia. "I don't see it that way anymore."
Hanna went over to stand by Camilo's side. "Lia, I...I hope that..." she said, quietly.
But Amalia smiled at her knowingly and said, "Don't worry about me. Okay?" She glanced over in Isabela and Luisa's direction for a second and blushed slightly.
"But now I think I need to go back and...face the music," she added with a sigh.
"Not alone," said Isabela. "We'll come with you."
"Oh, no. I couldn't ask you for that," Amalia said.
"Don't have to," said Luisa. "And don't worry, we won't do anything. We just want to make sure there's no trouble."
"Yes, because there's absolutely no reason for it," Isabela said while flipping her hair.
Amalia and Hanna smiled gratefully at the two of them. Camilo then took Hanna by the hand once again. "We are always here to help one way or another," he said.
With that, the five of them started heading back towards the summer home with Isabela and Luisa leading the way. Hanna was walking with Camilo on one side and Amalia on the other.
"Bruno was right, Lia!" she said happily.
"What about?" Amalia asked her sister.
"I feel closer to you than ever because we made up after a fight!" Hanna answered.
"Bruno said that?" Amalia asked with a grin. "Well, I guess if anyone would know what was going to happen, it's him!"
As Camilo was listening, a thought came into his head at the mention of Bruno's name.
"Hey, um...Hanna? Lia?" he asked. "Do you know if any more members of your family are coming here to the Encanto?"
The two sisters looked up at him.
"Not that we're aware of," Amalia answered.
"So...no cousins? Tía or Tío? Your Abuela or Abuelo?" asked Camilo.
Hanna looked questioningly from Camilo to her sister. But Amalia shook her head.
"No," she said. "Mother's parents returned to Germany a few years back. She does have a brother and sister. But... I don't know where they are. And Father...he's never in contact with his brothers."
"He has brothers?" Camilo asked, curiously.
"Two of them," said Amalia. "Father is the youngest."
'I wonder if they resemble one another at all,' Camilo thought to himself.
"But...it's unlikely they would be coming here?" he asked.
"As far as we know," Hanna said, slowly.
"And...what about your Abuelo...on his side?" asked Camilo.
Amalia raised her eyebrows. "Now that's just impossible" she replied. "Unless someone in your family has the power to wake the dead."
Camilo froze this time, causing everyone else to stop and turn around to look at him.
"What was that now?" he asked.
"He died a couple of years ago," Amalia said. "I know because I remember seeing a letter that Father had gotten from his brothers. It was about their father's passing."
"Oh," Camilo said, simply. 'Well, it couldn't be him in the vision then,' he thought.
Amalia then looked nervously and said, "No one in your family can do that, right? Raise the dead, I mean."
"No! No way!" Camilo said, horrified at the idea.
"How come you're asking about our relatives all of a sudden?" Hanna asked.
"Yeah, Camilo," Isabela said, looking around at all three of them. "What's going on?"
"Did we miss something?" asked Luisa.
Camilo ruffled the back of his head and decided it was no use in hiding the truth, so he told them all that he had heard about Bruno's vision, leaving out the part where Hanna was walking away from him. When he was done, Isabela and Luisa looked at each other confused. Hanna and Amalia were wide-eyed in disbelief.
"What?" Amalia asked in a hushed voice. "Bruno saw our father crying? OUR father? You're sure about that?"
"Yep. That's what Tío Agustín said," Camilo replied. "He also said the unknown man could be his father because they were similar in appearance."
Hanna stared down at the ground, shocked by the information.
"But how is that possible?" Amalia asked, flabbergasted. "How can our Abuelo be in a vision of the future when he is already dead?"
But then her eyes widened as she was thinking to herself. As she stared at Camilo, she placed a finger right at her chin.
"What?" Camilo asked, perplexed.
"I wonder..." Amalia said, slowly. "Is it possible that you can...I mean...when you change into other people...do they have to be...living?"
There was silence from all five of them. Camilo suddenly felt uncomfortable with everyone's eyes on him.