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“This is all your fault.” Isabela proclaimed looking around trying to find a way out of this uncomfortable situation, I mean how exactly was she supposed to just sit here with the one person who was the exact polar opposite of her, perfection and beauty?
“My fault?! What do you mean by ‘my fault’?!” Mirabel was exasperated, stuck on a boat with Señorita perfecta Isabela was not how she wanted to spend her day by a long shot. So in what scenarios was this her fault?! ‘She’s so ughh.
Whatever magic that didn’t give me a gift please just get me off this raft please, I'm literally begging you…well at least it can’t get any worse, it could be Abuela here instead.’ Mirabel thought.
“Look we could just call for Dolores, surely she’ll hear us and call for help?” Mirabel suggested. Trying to keep peace on this raft for as long as possible we didn’t want anyone getting pushed off due to a rage induced fit, preferably her.
Isabela rolled her eyes, ‘Sometimes Mirabel is so idiotic.’
“Mirabel don’t you remember what she told us today?” Isabela huffed.
Mirabel furrowed her brows, ‘What does she mean? Is Dolores sick or something? No. That's not it because I saw her after breakfast since she wasn’t at the table and she told me- wait.’
“She’s taking a ‘self care day’” Mirabel said, completely forgetting all about what Dolores had told her that morning.
Dolores hadn’t shown up to breakfast due to everything being too loud today.
Not that it was louder than any other day, no, she just could not handle all of the noise today.
So she decided to hole herself in her room after finding herself some soft food that would be easier on her ears.
This left everyone in the village to talk as they wished with no one to listen, much to the dismay of their Abuela.
Although after a stern glare from Pepa daring her mother to say otherwise to her daughter, she let Dolores be, left alone in her sound proof room.
“Exactly” Isabela grumbled, not at all pleased to be here right now. “So we’re stranded with no one to help us. I'm stuck with you. None of this would not have happened if you just stayed out of the way”
Mirabel was pissed, to say the least. First she blames her.
Now, per usual, she criticizes her. Well guess what? Mirabel was so done with Señorita perfecta Isabela always being so hurtful, and always disregarding her, as if she wasn’t even a human being, let alone her sister.
And that thought right there..that thought hurt her more than anything, Isabela was someone (regardless of what she said to her) she always looked up to, since she is her sister.
But since the bad and intrusive thoughts started to get to her more nowadays, she started to let the words Isabela spew on a daily basis get to her more and more.
“You don’t get to do that!” Mirabel exclaimed in anger, she was about to finally let her sister know how she felt. Future her is going to have to deal with the outcome of this all, but right now she doesn't care about how Isabela might tell Abuela, she doesn't care about how her feelings will get disregarded like an old toy no one wants anymore.
No, right now all that Mirabel cares about is how angry she is, how fed up she is with everything! It was bound to come out soon and now, it was.
“Wha- y-you can’t speak to me like-” Isabela sputtered trying to get over the shock that her usually nice and sweet sister just yelled before she got interrupted, well that is what years of ignorance and neglect from a family bottled up will do to you..
“No. No! You can’t just blame me for shit like this!” Mirabel fumed, ‘How dare she! She-she’s so ugh!’
‘Mirabel cusses?’ Isabela thought.
“You act as if you're all perfect! Before we were even on this raft what happened, hm!? You were calling me names not even the village kids have made for the ‘useless Madrigal’.
Then you ‘accidentally’ shot one of your vines to trip me, instead pushing the raft that was on land into the lake.
So don’t act like you aren’t at fault for anything because everyone in our damn family does it all the damn time, and trust me I know I wasn’t given a gift.
How could I not when I’m constantly reminded of the fact by everyone but is that really an excuse to treat me like shit!? I have spent the past 10 years trying to gain the approval and acknowledgment that you gain oh so easily.
I spent everyday wondering what I did- no. Do wrong, I spend my time wondering why unless I do something wrong, I am constantly ignored, why I am always the target of Abuela, why my own sister hates me…because surely it can’t be just because I wasn’t as special, can it? My family can’t hate me just because I wasn’t given something the rest have, b-but then I realize. Yes, yes they can…and they do.”
By this point Mirabel was sobbing and Isabela, she was stunted. Completely at a loss for words.
Mirabel was completely right, one hundred percent utterly right. She treated her sister like nothing but a doormat. For what? Abuela's approval? No, she did this because she was afraid of what Abuela would do to her sister if she was caught with her while she was being ‘perfect’. But..everything got out of hand, completely. It was all her fault, her baby sister didn’t feel like enough in this family because of her.
Dolores couldn’t be rude to Mirabel, so she ignored her.
Same with Luisa although she didn’t even notice half of the time Isabela being rude with all she has to carry everyday.
Camilo, surrounded by village kids being rude to Mirabel along with Isabela, followed their lead. When he was young he would shift into scary bedtime story monsters, or that mean kids down the street to scare her then make fun of her when she cried, while now being older he’ll degrade her and laugh when people shove her or call her names.
Antonio still to young to understand the burdens their putting on Mirabel is ignorant to all of this going on, but gets sad seeing his prima sad when Isabela is being rude, or when his brother is calling her mean things, even when his older sister will go out of her way to stay away from Mirabel, scared of getting told off my their Abuela.
This was all because of her.
She has to fix this. And pronto.
“Mira…”
“...”
Silence
“...”
“I- I’m so, so sorry. I know that won’t change anything, but I-I never realized things were so bad. I was to f-focused on being perfect all the time. I didn't even realize how much I was pushing my family aside more and more everyday, until now, " Isabela finally spoke teary eyed, trying to get her thoughts out without stuttering but utterly failing, guess all of those speech lessons were for nothing.
‘But what's the point in being perfect if my sister isn’t even happy? How many others in the family feel like this too..because of me, because I was too perfect? Not perfect enough?’
All these thoughts clouded her head and they wouldn’t get out.
It wasn’t like her normal thoughts of not being enough for her family either. (Guess that runs in the family) No, these thoughts were more of the ones you have when you're left alone in your room for a day and everything you’ve done wrong comes crashing down onto you.
And in Isabela’s case that was a shit ton of thoughts to deal with.
Isabela notices Mirabel was sitting down, being so lost with what just happened she didn’t even notice.
Still, she sits.
“...”
Silence again, this was because Mirabel’s future self had finally caught up with her and what she just did was catching up to her, and she was panicking, freaking out, her body shutting down. And- and, she couldn’t breath, ‘I cant’ breath- I can’t breath- I can’t- wait. Did Isabela apologize? She said that a while ago why is my brain just noticing? I-I just, I didn’t expect it.’
While Mirabel is having this inner turmoil, Isabela’s thoughts are also flying out of control.
‘I knew she wouldn't forgive me but I can’t stand the silence, I deserve it but silence could mean she doesn't believe me, how do I get her to believe me?’
Finding her voice and gaining enough courage to speak she says, “Y’know I was always jealous of how you got to live your life ‘carefree’.”
Mirabel looks at her about to tell her that getting pushed to the side ignored constantly having to prove her worth and place in the family was not what she would call carefree, but her sister beats her to it.
“But now I realize how foolish that was, how dumb I was to think like that. I-I thought since you have no chores nor expectations you could have all the freedom you wanted..but..now I just, I don’t know how I forgot you never want to follow anyone's agenda, do you?” Isabela joked lightly.
“No, no you didn’t want to live how I did, being yourself without anyone to tell you otherwise. Your Mirabel, of course you would want to help and show everyone that you just...could.
You always have since you were little you always helped, pushing what you wanted, and your opinions aside to make others happy and help. Mira..I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, y-y’know I used to always tell everybody off for making your happiness feel small when you were little. I used to stop anyone from bullying you, I used to be the one you would go to to scare away all the monsters. But now, now I’m the one who has hurt you, and I’m so sorry. I just-”
Isabela is cut off from her rant with a hug, both of them now sobbing holding each other.
“I needed my sister,” Mirabel finally said. “All I ever needed was my sister” She sobbed.
“I didn’t want the perfect version, I wanted you!” Mirabel sobbed into her chest, latching onto Isabela tightly.
“I know, I know mi hermanita. I know that now and I am so sorry for being otherwise. I've got you now, and I won’t let you go like I did every again. I promise.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A while later they are both laying next to each other. Telling stories, sharing burdens, comforting each other, sharing hobbies, and just being there with each other.
Mirabel latched onto her every word she said not long ago. And the sad thing? After everything that has happened, all the words Isabela ever said to her through the years? They all disappeared, no none of that mattered now not when Mirabel believed every word she just said.
Why?
Simple.
Because she knows her sister is back. Her sister who would do anything for her, the one who would ruin peoples lives just to make sure she was ok, the one who would rush to her side and ensure she was never hurt, the one who would kindly tease her as any normal sibling would was back.
And she was ok with that. Because her heart was mending like an old toy that was being repaired, bound to be loved by a new generation. So yeah, she was ok with that.
…
So was Dolores,..but they would never know about how she walked out of her room (to hurt Camilo after he accidentally tripped hitting her door in the process) right into their touching sibling moment.