Mirabel's Best Friend

11 Years Old

Mirabel was 11 when she started learning sign language. Cas' little brother, Jaime, was 9 and wanted to hang out with her too.

Jaime usually hung out with the "boys" as Diana had called it which was the Madrigal boys that were all around the same age. Which were Jaime himself, the twins Gaspar and Gilberto, Elias, and sometimes Julian.

It surprised her but Cas loved her brother so allowed him to come.

But it become obvious that Mirabel and Jaime were having trouble communicating. They would have to wait for Cas' to see Jaime was born deaf and thus most of them had learn sign language to help communicate with them. Jaime was still learning to read lips too.

She still had a good time with Jaime though, they played board games together. Mirabel had really looked playing Candy Land with them. Though all her teasing at Jaime had to go through Cas.

At the end of the day, at the end of the day as Mirabel is leaving Jaime gives her a hug and points to her then him and crossed his arms with a smile and then zoomed off with his super speed.

"Huh?" Mirabel looked at Cas as Cas smiled at Mirabel, "what'd he say?"

"That he loves you," Cas smiled as she opened the door, she paused as she looked at her best friend as tears welled up in her tears, "Mira, you okay?"

"I'm fine," the younger girl whipped her eyes, "Can...Can I borrow a sign language book?"

...

Later, that night Casita rocked baby Antonio's crib as the baby watched his cousin with his big eyes as she worked on a blue visit for Jaime while reading a book on spanish sign language.

.....

One night Casandra stayed late so they decided to sit on Casita's roof and looked up at the stars.

Now they were just doing this.

Mirabel was working on a new skirt that she couldn't wait to show Abuela Mirabel and Tia Maria. She had planned to put symbols for her family on it. An arepa for her mama, glasses for her dad, a dumbbell for Luisa, a flower for Isabela, a butterfly for herself/Abuela Mirabel, an hourglass for Cas, and a lightning bolt for Jaime.

Cas on the other hand was whittling. It was something she did everyone once in a while. Apparently her father did it and her cousin Rafael had taught her a bit.

They had mostly been just looking up talking about constellations and the Greek Mythology around them. Casandra quite liked history and myths after all.

It was right after Cas finished talking about the constellation of Perseus, "It's a shame we can't see in our sky."

There was a pause as Mirabel nodded.

Cas looked over at Mirabel, "Do you ever think about leaving?"

"Huh?" Mirabel looked at Cas, "What do you mean? Like I think about living your family a lot but your my family so..."

"No, I mean leaving the Encanto," Cas replied seriously.

Mirabel in her shock stabbed her finger. She yelped and stuck the finger in her mouth and looked at Cas talking around her finger, "Why? Abuela says it's dangerous out there! And our family is in the Encanto!"

The older girl sighs as she looked at the star she had whittled in her hand, "Not all my family. My mom isn't from Colombia. She's from the United States. Tio Ed let it slip to me she was from a place called California. I would like to visit her one day. I could have grandparents there. I could see what life outside of our small village is like."

Mirabel sat there in shock as she thought back to that time 14 year old Cas had cried over her mother coming back how she didn't care about her and Jaime. It hurt her chest as she remember that, "Do you really want to see your Mama? She hasn't been around in years."

"She's just busy. She told me and Jaime in the letters she sends," the 12 year old tried to defend her, "She keeps getting pulled away on business and she can't wait to see us again and Papi....She'll be so sad when she learns about Papa but at least we'll be together again."

Mirabel stayed silent, it wasn't her place to tell Cas how this will end. Just like Cas has still not revealed how Mirabel becomes the next candleholder.

"So, is California? Maybe we can see it together one day?" Mirabel changed the subject as she glanced up at the stars.

"Yeah! I hear Tio Ed and Tio Reyes say it's bright there, you can't even see the stars!" Cas smiled as she motioned to the sky.

"No way!"

"Way!"

"Mirabel are you on the roof again?!" Pepa cried as she saw the two on the roof and her cloud thundered.

"I have Casandra with me!" Mirabel cried and pointed to her friend.

"That doesn't make it better!" Pepa cried, "Get down!"

.....

Mirabel smiled as she had done it. She had done it.

"I won!" she shoved the gameboy at Cas startling her from her homework she was working on, "I beat the game! I am the pokemon master!"

Cas looked at the game and the final team Mirabel had. Her charizard, butterfree, gyarados, nidoqueen, clairfary, and jolteon, "Cool, guess you're ready to play Pokemon Crystal."

The smile dropped from Mirabel's face, "Pokemon what?"

"The next game in the series?" Cas looked surprised as she opened the gaming draw at her desk, "I told you I already beat it right? I also have pokemon Ruby for after you beat Crystal. I need to actually get Ana or an adult to take me to one of the cities soon so I can buy the newest games. Pearl I think it's called?"

Cas tossed the game to Mirabel and couldn't help but laugh at Mira's upset face, "You good?"

Mirabel held up the translucent blue game, "Ugh. I will be a pokemon master." She took out the red cartridge and tossed it to Cas as she shoved the new one in.

"Sure," Cas laughed as turned back to her paper on Mayan history.

.....

Later on in the day after Mirabel had picked the girl character, picked chikorita as her starter, and named it Demeter, and after she had named her rival Cami after Camilo as he made her mad that day, Cas once again had to take the gameboy from Mirabel.

Mirabel had watched her chikorita die to the first gym as she was reminded flying murders plants and she just about broke the game in her rage.