Our Little Sunflower (An Encanto Story)

Chapter 17: No One is Immortal.

Celestia was heading into town for the day, ready to do her chores for the town, passing by her mom and dad's graves. She stopped and knelt down, looking at them. "How did you two even die..?" She asked herself and got up. Today was the day that she would know. What happened to them once and for all. Celestia began going around and asking people what happened. Some were unaware, others had very little to give at all. Until she got something out of one of the people. "What do you know about the cause of death?"

"Gee, kind of a morbid thing to come out of a kid.. Celestia.. I actually know what happened. I was the one that led the others to them." He walked them to the location where the bodies were found those years ago. "They had died from a very bad coral snake bite. And from how fresh they had looked, it was from at least a couple weeks leading up to it." The man sighed. "Boy, I just know they were fighters. It worked slowly and they most likely died from asphyxiation from how swollen their throats looked."

(Flashback)

It was a month and two weeks after Celestia was born. Ricardo and Stella were outside. Stella sat with Celestia in her arms. In a comfortable chair no less. Ricardo worked on their gardens. "Hey Be careful now. I've heard that snakes are around this area." Stella called. Ricardo nodded and continued to work. "I promise I will be careful. Love you." Celestia reached her tiny arms to the sky. Then her tiny stomach growled. "Looks like someone is hungry."

Stella got up and fed the little girl some mashed fruits. "Oh look at you Celestia. Mi bebé." She continues to feed her until she heard Ricardo yelp a little bit. Celestia looked over and saw a coral snake in his hands. Stella sets her in her room. "Don't panic. Momma will be back in a minute." Celestia watched her mom go back outside, confused.

"I was being careful mi Amor. I swear." Ricardo gets the snake back into it's location. Stella looked to see that there was a mother snake guarding her eggs. A family of coral snakes made their home in their own backyard. Stella had gotten the net but missed when the mother snake moved and she got bitten on her arm. Stella got it off of her before it could do more damage. Little were they aware of the exact damage it did to them.

(End)

"So you see kid, that's the horrid thing we had to look at." The man told her as they went back into the village. Celestia was saddened, yes, but at least she knew what happened. "Thank you for your time talking about this." She went back to work and kept it onward. Meanwhile, Valentina was with the Madrigals, getting to know them more. "Oh what was her gift ceremony like? You've got to tell me."

"It was shared ceremony full of color. She had on this light blue dress with gold accents in them. The sunflowers on it were Isa's idea." Abuela talked about the ceremony. "In fact you should see the room." Isabela opened the door to show Valentina. She walked inside, looking at the scenery inside and out. "It's very beautiful." She picked up the picture of Celestia's baby doll. "Oh the doll I sent to her! I was the only one informed from the other family about Stella Expecting. So I sent the doll base back to Colombia in secret. Ricardo did the rest."

"I always wondered where it came from. And more important who." Mirabel scratched her head. They all left the room and the others went back to work. Valentina stayed and looked at Bruno sweeping up the casita. She thought his mysterious nature was sweet, so she decided to make something of herself and say hello to him. Getting up, she goes to him. "Hey Bruno. Do you need an extra hand? I understand if you don't need to." He nodded and spoke rather quietly "yeah please." The casita rolled Valentina an extra broom. She picked it up and swept with him.

"So, Valentina huh? Such a nice name." He almost slipped up but Valentina catches him, giving a small laugh. "Yeah. It means Strong and Healthy." They made small talk with one another and shared stories. The two ended up having a great time speaking with each other. He rubbed the back of his head before knocking on the wood again. "Habits? I got those too. I always bite my nails when I'm ever uneasy." Bruno looked up at her. It was nice to find a person that was just as superstitious as he was. "I should be getting back. I had fun talking with you." She leaves for her little house.

It was getting close to dinner time. Everyone was around except Celestia. "Where is Celestia? She's usually home by now." Augustin asked. "Yeah. Chore time ended hours ago." Mirabel spoke up and then Celestia comes in through the door with her speed. "Starlight, there you are. Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" Abuela checked her and Celestia nodded. "Yeah. I guess." She sat down on the steps.

Abuela followed her and sat with her. "You've been working till late at the brink of sunset. Is it because of the whole incident?" Celestia stayed quiet for a moment. "Take your time. Take all the time you need to." After gathering herself, she nodded. "A little.. A bit of that plus the words in the argument." Abuela looked at the picture of Abuelo and sighs gently. She turned her head back to her.

"Starlight, you know it's ok to take some time off. You're already a responsible little girl." Abuela let her rest her head on her lap. "You're only a kid. No one is truly immortal. Go have fun with the other kids. Even the adults need a break from a schedule too." Celestia felt a little bit better. "Ok." "Now where is that shiny smile?" Abuela asked in a funny way, Making Celestia laugh. "There it is. Come on, let's eat." They join up with the rest of the family for dinner