Chapter Text
Isabela knew she had to be perfect. No complaints, no imperfections to her outward disposition. She was what her Abuela needed her to be. For the family. For the Encanto. That should be a pride of place.
She knew this was a heavy burden to carry but someone had to. Like the responsibility laid upon her mother’s shoulders for her work, Isabela knew this was her time to take her part to move the family forwards again.
She had to make it work with Mariano no matter what; he was everything Abuela wanted for her and Isabela couldn’t disagree with the fact he was a gentleman and certainly respectful but he had far too much loving passion than what she could reciprocate. He was a good friend and she liked him, but…it was never more than that. She didn’t love him but in a few months, she knew a proposal would be expected.
Marriage would be swift after that because why wait?
Well, it was a few months. She could be ready for that, right?
Isabela walked quietly as she padded up the steps towards her room. Her shoulders relaxed as she no longer needed to put up a show inside with the door shut.
“Why not a year… another year...” She muttered to herself. A lot could happen in a year…if the proposal could wait just a little longer…maybe Mariano could get swayed by another woman. Then for certain, the fault would not be onto her. She’d still be innocent and perfect. “ugh…” she hated that train of thought. No Mariano didn’t deserve that.
“Why can’t Mariano be someone I liked…” Isabela blanched as she turned the corner to see Mirabel standing in the doorway. The newly 15 year old’s eyes were wide with alarm but that was enough for an indication; she had heard every single word she had just been muttering.
¡Mierda!
“You don’t want to marry him!” Mirabel realised with a gasp, finally breaking the second-long staring competition with a finger-point to add to it but the panic was quick to set into Isabela’s gut. Fearful that Abuela was around...that she could hear her.
She couldn’t… she couldn’t have this. Couldn’t have Mirabel getting involved. She could already see the mess of her life already burning around her…
“Oh Isa, you should have just said!” Mirabel’s shoulders relaxed, stepping closer. “I know it’s a serious thing but—“
“It’s nothing.” Isabela rebuked, forcing herself to remain calm despite the growing panic that someone outside her own head knew. She should have waited until she was in the safety of her own room; where she knew for certain no one, aside from Dolores, would hear. “I’m fine.”
Mirabel blinked. “Isa, you shouldn’t marry that big, dumb hunk if you don’t love him.”
Isabela straightened her back. “Mirabel, stay out of this and go away.”
“Oh, come on!”
“No. This has nothing to do with you. This is my choice. Say nothing and there’s no problem” Isabela hoped for once Mirabel would listen. It was a small simple thing she was asking of her. Just…drop it, walk away and say nothing. How hard was that?
“You can’t be serious, Isa.” Mirabel scoffed, “Don’t marry him for the sake of it. Abuela does care about your happiness.”
Frustration balled up tightly, and she could feel her flowers turn a dark violet. “Mirabel.” She warned, “Just. Drop. It.”
Mirabel’s law snapped shut to a deep frown. “Fine.”
Isabela’s eyes narrowed. As much as that would have been comforting, Mirabel’s body language was tense and looking like a deer ready to bolt. Her hands were raised up towards her chest and her body was angled away and her eyes flickered about in quick searching and calculation.
“No you don’t!” Isabela reacted as Mirabel broke to speed quickly, her hand shooting vines that grabbed her sister by the wrist and tugged her back from the steps, the vines wrapping tightly and quickly stopping her from going much further before she began to let it creep a little.
“Isabela!” Mirabel cried out in alarm, “Let me go!”
“No! You don’t get to make that call for me!” Isabela thundered, threading veins into the gaps of the floor tiles to stop as Casita tried to get involved with its tiles trying to shift either one away, pulling Mirabel’s hand away
“I just… I just want you to be happy!”
“I will be! Why don’t you listen to what I’ve said?!”
“Isa, please!” Mirabel begged as the vines created up, wrapping around her arms and down her chest, holding her in a tense grip, shoving her into the nearest surface with a heavy thud—not realising it was Luisa’s door— to keep her slipping free. She couldn’t have her tell Abuela how she truly felt.
“Will you just stop?!” Isabela snapped, her eyes glaring at her little sister with unbridled rage burst from her dam of compartmentalisation finally seeping in, tunnelling her vision as the heat flooded her veins and pulse pumped through her hears that seemed to mute a lot of the outside world.
“You need to stop getting involved in things you don’t understand! I don’t want your help! I don’t need your help! I don’t need you mucking up my life any more than you have done because this isn’t about you!”
As she spoke, the vines began to tighten around Mirabel’s ribs.
“I have an image to maintain! This family and Encanto relys on the family’s gifts. Abuela needs this marriage to work and I need to make sure nothing gets in the way of that!” Her chest raged with each breath, flowers and prickled thorns began to spread across the vines as she thundered. She didn’t even notice them forming on the tightly wrapped vines around Mirabel’s arm and chest.
Mirabel wheezed for breath, her other hand clawing at the vines. Droplets of red from uncovered skin from the thorns as they continued to tighten and dig in. “I…Isa!”
“I can’t have you running off and telling! Abuela wants me married and I will make sure she gets that! I’m sick and tired of your interference! Like you always do! You’ll ruin this family in your stupid, futile attempts to help! I’ve had enough!”
“ISABELA THAT’S ENOUGH!”
It was the voice and the sudden of Abuela that startled her mostly before she was sharply yanked away by the huge hand of Luisa that Isabela found herself almost winded as she was shoved hard into the support pole of the balcony and heavily sunk to the ground as she tried to suck in air as low pain tingled down her spine from the shove’s impact.
Blood pounded in her ears but ahead, she could see Luisa easily ripping away the vines from their little sister before Mirabel’s hurried rasps for breath reached her ears.
“It’s okay, take a huge breath in. Luisa, go get your mother” Abuela’s voice was calm, her hands coming to Mirabel’s shoulder and arm as a support. Mirabel’s face was pale and hazy in expression, gripping tightly onto Abuela’s arm in a shaking grasp and that’s when Isabela began to notice the blood from small punctures decorating her arms and her white, embroidered shirt…the thorned vine remains decorating the tiled floor.
Then…Isabela realised that… she had been hurting Mirabel.
No, Isabela could see it was worse than that by Mirabel’s demeanour alone.
She had been killing her.
The vines…too tight. Dios Mios….She felt sick to her stomach at that, frozen in the spot on the floor.
“Mirabel!” Julieta’s voice echoed before the teal seemed to descend into her, already shoving an Aprea into Mirabel’s mouth before the girl could get a word out but it looked to take the girl a second to catch up and start chewing.
“Take her inside, Julieta,” Abuela spoke, handing Mirabel fully off to their mother who led Mirabel quickly to the nursery, her tone cool but even Isabela could feel the anger in her Abuela’s voice…
Isabela could feel the icy terror in her gut before she found herself to her feet, adrenaline kicking in as Abuela’s gaze turned to her. She had never seen her Abuela this furious before… not once. Not even when she had knocked over Abuelo’s painting when she was 8 with Luisa…
This was different. Fury and disappointment that only grew as Abuela spared a glance at her hands, where the red of Mirabel’s blood had decorated them, then to back at her.
And all of it was directed at her.
Isabela didn’t even wait before she turned and fled to her room… knowing sooner or later she was going to face this.
Face Abuela.