silent movies || encanto X female reader

flashback #4

"Mirabel ? Why are you crying ?" You bluntly ask as you sit down next to your little sister on the edge of the nursery's window.

In any other normal house, you'd have snatched her from there, but the both of you knew Casita wouldn't let the twelve-years-old fall.

"Nothing." She mumbles, just loud enough for you to hear.

"Aaah. Alright."

You watch the night fall on the Encanto as your little sister quietly wipes her tears off her face, puckering your lips to think, to her, about something she wasn't weird enough to get, while you were in fact simply wondering how you could get her to open up.

Mirabel liked your weirdness. It made you funny in her eyes. It wasn't the case for others. It annoyed Abuela, to your great delight. And, well, your classmates didn't seem to appreciate it either, even though you usually tone it down at school.

After a while of sitting in silence, little Mirabel spoke up.

"(Y/n) ?"

"You got my name right."

She chuckles. "Can you make the lights appear again ?"

You consider it for a long moment. This started as a way to make her stop crying after her disastrous gift ceremony, then became some sort of rare occasion, kept secret by the two of you. You'd make hundreds of small lights appear in the room, and make it seem like Mirabel was the one controlling them.

But it had been a while since you last did it. You noticed the effects it had on your sister, how entranced she would look, as if she believed it was real. Playing with illusions wasn't healthy, you learned that the hard way.

So you stopped.

But Mirabel stopped asking for your help.

Maybe she thought you refusing to 'show her the lights' meant she wasn't welcome to tell you about her problems anymore.

Or maybe she just grew up, like kids do. Except Mirabel wasn't just a kid. She was your little sister.

Your little sister, with whom you knew you shared more than one thing in common. Mirabel didn't talk to Isabela, because she was mean to her for some reason. And she didn't share much with Luisa, who was always busy somewhere. But you were kind to her, and useless to the Madrigals.

You were also both isolated from the family in your own ways. So naturally, she used to come to you whenever she needed to talk.

But not anymore.

How were you supposed to protect your little sister if she refused to tell you anything ?

H̶o̶w̶ w̶a̶s̶ I̶s̶a̶b̶e̶l̶a̶ s̶u̶p̶p̶o̶s̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ p̶r̶o̶t̶e̶c̶t̶ y̶o̶u̶ i̶f̶ y̶o̶u̶ r̶e̶f̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ t̶o̶ t̶e̶l̶l̶ h̶e̶r̶ a̶n̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ?

"I'll let you see the lights," You sigh. "if you tell me what's wrong."

She seems to hesitate. You raise an eyebrow.

"You won't tell anyone ?" She asks, looking up at you with pleading eyes. How fragile she looked, how vulnerable. You felt guilty for ever making her believe otherwise.

"Of course I won't." You ruffle her hair. "Sisters don't betray each other."

"Even... If I did something bad ?"

You look at her, trying to concentrate every ounce of love and tenderness you felt for her in your gaze. "You can tell me anything, Mirabel. I'll always listen to what you have to say."