Chapter Text
Mirabel lay awake one night, staring at the ceiling.
Her cousin, Antonio lay sound asleep in his crib.
It had been several days since she last went swimming and she was starting to miss it.
She was positively itching to explore that beautiful underwater cave at the base of the mountains at the edge of the Encanto, despite Camilo’s warnings.
However, she was also getting the feeling that Dolores was suspicious of her.
Several times, her older cousin would pop up randomly, asking her questions about how she was feeling, if she had tackled new projects lately, and what she was doing that day.
While not as bad as other family members, Dolores had never seemed that interested in her before…
How could she be sure that Dolores wasn’t listening out for her? Even now?
“She doesn’t know… we’ve been so careful these past few months…” she reassured herself. “If she knew, then Abuela would know by now…”
Mirabel began to relax.
“And even if she did know something, there’s no way she could prove it, right?”
Right.
Mirabel went off on her own the next day, Camilo being busy with chores that day.
She headed to the cave, having declared it her special spot a few weeks after she had found it.
No one except Camilo knew about it, she was sure.
Peace and quiet, which was in limited supply around Casita, especially since Antonio was born.
She loved him and all, but he was just a baby, only capable of communicating via cooing and crying.
That and here, she could swim in peace if she wanted.
The sun was bright and hot today, so she was sure at some point that she’d want to swim to cool off anyway.
She set down the small picnic basket her mother had packed for her that morning as well as her regular bag and slipped carefully into the water.
As usual, the transformation happened within seconds.
She floated around, staring up at the roof of the cave.
“This is the life…” she thought.
After a while of simply floating around, she pulled herself out of the water, dried herself off and begun to eat what her mother had packed for her.
“How do I throw Dolores off my trail? Do I even need to?” Mirabel wondered. “Do I just… lay low for a while and hope she relaxes and forgets? Do I actively do something?”
As she munched on an arepa con queso, an idea occurred to her.
But she would need Camilo’s help for this one.
The next day at breakfast (which was outside that day, due to the lovely weather), Mirabel sat next to Camilo.
She couldn’t speak to him about Team Mermaid issues while at the table due to Dolores, so they kept the conversation light.
Dolores glanced at them once or twice, but didn’t say anything.
Mirabel glanced back at her once or twice, but Dolores appeared calm and relaxed which Mirabel simply knew she wouldn’t be if she knew what was going on…
Right?
Right.
She was overthinking things.
Dolores could theoretically hear everyone in the Encanto, but she would have to really focus to distinguish particular sounds from one another.
Meaning that Dolores wouldn’t necessarily hear her, unless she called attention to herself.
Which she wasn’t planning on doing any time soon.
Maybe Dolores would simply think that she had taken up swimming as a hobby.
She sure hoped so.
After breakfast, she and Camilo headed out for the riverside.
As soon as they got there, Mirabel practically flung aside her bag and dove in.
“You know, if you don’t do some of your usual hobbies more, someone might suspect something.” Camilo spoke softly when Mirabel pulled herself up out of the water.
“Oh please. I love them, but not even my own parents have noticed.” Mirabel scoffed. “The most observant person in that house is your sister and if she knew, so would everyone else.”
“That’s true. Dolores is terrible at keeping big secrets. Like this one.” Camilo gestured to Mirabel’s tail, which was still present due to her not fully removing herself from the water.
“Do we really have to have a plan to throw her off or are we just being paranoid?” Mirabel asked.
“Nothing more than convincing her that swimming is your latest hobby. How she gonna tell the difference between a mermaid tail and legs while swimming? She has nothing to compare the tail to.” Camilo pointed out.
“True, true.” Mirabel nodded. “I just want to be sure.”
“You’ll be fine. I got your back.” Camilo assured her. “Besides, if you really want to be sure, ask her about her gift and how it works.”
“Are you insane? I might as well tell her the whole story if I ask her about that!”
“But you gotta do it in a way that won’t tip her off. I know you’re creative and clever enough for that.”
“Flattery will get you nowhere, primo.”
“Oh yes it does.”
“Not with me.”
“Okay, fine. I’ll try.”
Mirabel splashed Camilo.
“Hey! What was that for?” he complained.
“Oh, just for fun. You’re the one who always says I should use my gift for fun!”
“I didn’t mean to splash me!”
“Too bad.”
Mirabel splashed him again.
“My curls will go flat and mama will want to spend the rest of the day fixing them!” Camilo whined.
Mirabel shuddered. She loved her Tia Pepa, but knew once her mind was settled on something, the only one who could get her to change it easiest was Tio Félix.
“Fine.” Mirabel spoke in a lofty voice. “I shall grant you mercy.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.” Camilo rolled his eyes.
“You’re most welcome, peasant.”
They looked at each other, then burst out into laughter.
“Hey Dolores, can we talk?” Mirabel stopped her prima after breakfast the next morning.
“Sure we can. I don’t have that many chores today. Is something wrong? Should I get your mama or papa?”
“No! No, nothing like that. It’s nothing like that. I was just wondering… how does your Gift work?”
Dolores raised an eyebrow. “Not that I mind, but why the sudden interest? You’ve never seemed to care before. Why now?”
“I… uh… since I never got a gift of my own, I started to wonder how my family’s gifts works. I can’t ask Isabela obviously and everyone else is already off, so I thought I’d start with you.
“Well…” Dolores paused to think. “My gift completely overwhelmed me at my Ceremony. I had my hands over my ears and I was on the floor crying from being overwhelmed by sound… not a pleasant time.” She shuddered.
Mirabel winced in sympathy. “That must have been hard. How did you learn control?”
“It took me a while, but I eventually learned how to tune out sounds, otherwise I’d have gone mad. I can still get overwhelmed by sudden loud noises though. Even my own voice if I speak too loud can mess with my ears.”
“That’s why you always talk so soft! I never realised! That must suck.”
“It does because it means I have to actively regulate my own voice. Shouting and screaming from me? Instant headache.”
“How do you find out about what people are saying or doing? Don’t the sounds meld together, like when papa plays the piano?”
“And he plays it very well, by the way. Never bothers my hearing. Back on topic, I later learned to get specific with my gift, like recognizing certain people’s voices or sounds. If I remain extremely focused on one sound. Then I can usually identify it. Everyone in the family has a special sound to me, by the way.”
“They do?” Mirabel raised an eyebrow. “Then what do I sound like?”
“Lately your sound has changed and I don’t know why.” Dolores looked puzzled.
“Oh?” Mirabel looked nervous.
“It sounds like bubbling water. Are you swimming more?”
“Something like that. It’s another interest of mine.”
“You swim in one of the rivers?”
“Um… occasionally.”
“Just be careful going alone. A strong current could cause difficulties and I don’t want mi prima to drown!”
“I won’t, I promise.”
The two Madrigal girls hugged.
“If you ever want to continue your gift interview series, go to Camilo next. He would happily tell you everything.”
“I know he would. He’s like, my best friend in this house.”
Dolores smiled.
“Don’t be afraid to come to me for advice if you feel you need it. Isabela certainly wouldn’t give it to you.”
“For sure.” Mirabel rolled her eyes and scowled.
“Anyway, I got to go. Feel free to find me after lunch if you want to have some girl talk.”
“Sounds like fun, Dolores.”
“It will be.”
Dolores waved and walked away.
Mirabel retreated to the nursery to think on what she had just learnt from her prima.
She now knew more about her gift and how it worked, which would make working around it easier.
She just had to think on it.
Pluss, she now had to basically interview whoever else in Casita she could to even things out. If Dolores realised that she was the only one asked, she would get suspicious and that was the last thing she needed.
Maybe she could ask Tia Pepa next?
After all, her gift could be dangerous and looked extremely stressful to have.
This could actually be an interesting side project.
But for now, she would focus on a sewing project she had.
The Encanto was exceptionally busy today for some reason, so she couldn’t go swimming at the moment.
She may be paranoid, but she didn’t want to risk anyone following her to the river.
She’d go swimming tonight instead.
Retrieving her sewing supplies from her cupboard, she sat down at her sewing machine and got to work on her latest project, a new shirt for Camilo. He had been such a great help to her recently, so she felt he deserved it.