14. Missing

It was gone.

The magical house that served as a beacon of hope and support for this community, was gone.

The colorful house that sheltered that incredible family, was gone.

The living house that loved its inhabitants so deeply, who enjoyed entertaining the townsfolk, and seemed to have a personality of its own, was gone.

Hiccup and Toothless stood in shock and terror as they watched the vibrant building crumble to the ground. Casita was gone. And as far as Hiccup knew, it took the Madrigals with it.

Breaking out into a cold sweat, he urged Toothless to resume their sprint. Soon they arrived at the pile of rubble that was once La Casa Madrigal. Hiccup hopped off his dragon’s back, and scrambled to the wreckage. To his great relief, it appeared the family had made it out alright.

They were all scouring the area, looking for something. They were shouting for some reason, but Hiccup’s ears were still ringing a bit and he couldn’t really tell what they were saying.

He did a quick head count, and found that everyone was present.

Except for…

Julieta was the first to notice him, ceasing her calling and hurrying to the boy. “Hiccup- “She gasped for air. “Have you seen Mirabel?” She was caked in dust, and small bits of debris were stuck to her clothes. Her skin marked with tiny bruises and cuts. Actually, everyone looked like this.

Hiccup felt his fear rising. Mirabel wasn’t here? “N-No, I haven’t! She’s not with you?”

The woman grew increasingly distressed. “No! She was here and then she-she wasn’t! I don’t understand…” As her fear for her child started to overtake her, Hiccup placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. “Okay, back up a bit.” He gestured to everything they were standing on. “What happened here?”

“The magic is gone…” From behind Julieta, a soft voice spoke out. It was Alma, sat on a piece of fallen wall and looking older and frailer than he’d ever seen her. “The miracle is dead…” She cradled a small piece of melted wax in her hands, all that remained of that miraculous candle.

The scrawny teen bristled at this revelation. So they had failed, the magic died anyway…

His frown deepened as he realized he didn’t care about the damn magic, he cared about his friend!

“Forget the magic!” He exclaimed. “If Mirabel is out there, we gotta find her!” After a moment, he was pleased to see that the majority of Madrigals whole-heartedly agreed with him. Voicing their approval, and huddling closer to discuss tactics. Even Isabela, and Hiccup thought she hated her younger sister.

Alma remained unresponsive.

A plan was devised, they’d split into five groups and search the entire Encanto. Two couples, two teams of siblings, and the boy and his dragon.

Hiccup initially suggested ways they could use their gifts to help the search, but it wasn’t to be. Their gifts were no more, the magic was truly dead.

Undeterred, he instead gave everyone a designated area to scout. They’d investigate every single nook and cranny until Mirabel was found, and they’d drag her back to Casita’s remains. At which point one member from the group would round everyone else up.

It was going to work, it had to work. The Encanto was an unpredictable place right now, anything could happen. The very thought of some disaster befalling his friend, the only human being who would call him a friend, was toxic to the boy.

The groups set out in search of the bespectacled girl.

They would find Mirabel!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They did not find Mirabel.

At this point, the whole town was in on it. Everyone was looking everywhere they could. A chorus of voices were constantly calling her name. No stone was left unturned.

But they couldn’t find her.

It was getting dark now, too dark to see. It was begrudgingly declared that the search would have to be put off. It would start again first thing in the morning. The remaining Madrigals were graciously offered various places to stay among the villagers, those who’s houses weren’t wrecked anyway. The family was split up. All heading to separate homes to have restless nights, awaiting the sunrise where they’d begin the search once more.

Hiccup wasn’t waiting until sunrise.

It was the dead of night, nothing but the most nocturnal of creatures was awake, and Hiccup was still searching.

Ignacio had begged him hours ago to turn in for the night, for his own health, but Hiccup was still searching.

Julieta and a now very swollen Augustin had both left their temporary accommodations, just to seek him out. Just to reassure him that they’d find Mirabel tomorrow, and he needed to stop for now. But Hiccup was still searching.

Even Toothless, who would go to hell and back for his human friend without question, and then do it a second time just for good measure, had become too tired to assist. He tried to urge his companion to follow him back to the forge, and finally get some rest. He was even a bit forceful.

But it didn’t work. Hiccup was still searching.

The sun was beginning to rise now, and Hiccup was running on fumes. He hadn’t eaten or drank anything in hours, he hadn’t even stopped to rest for even a moment. Not to mention it was already a very, very taxing day.

As the world around him got lighter and lighter, his vision got darker and darker.

He couldn’t stop, he had to find her. She had to be around here somewhere. He couldn’t leave her hanging, he promised he’d help her!

He couldn’t lose his friend!

He…could…not…stop…

Hiccup crashed into the dirt, and drifted into nothingness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cold.

That’s the first thing Hiccup noticed when he woke up, it was pretty cold.

Which came as a surprise, because he had just gotten used to it not being cold.

Well, it was still far warmer than even the warmest day on Berk. On Berk it snowed nine months out of the year, and hailed the other three. Hiccup recalled one day on Berk when it was snowing and raining at the same-

MIRABEL!

His eyes shot open, bloodshot. Jolting out of his sleep-deprived train of thought, he scurried to lift himself from the ground. Stumbling, he leaned against a tree and tried to figure out where he was.

It was a forest, the same forest he and Toothless crashed into. It was only a few days ago, and yet his life before then felt vastly different than his life now.

He had already checked this forest 28 times, the girl wasn’t here.

Hiccup frowned, disappointed with himself. He shouldn’t have passed out like that, he was wasting time.

Ignoring his body’s demands for more rest, he trudged his way down a familiar path. Back to the village. A painful twinge in his stomach halted his progress, for just a moment. He winced, and held a hand over his belly. Hoping that would cease its hurtful rumbling. It didn’t.

Fine then. He’d stop for one moment, just one, and get some food. Then he’d continue to search for his friend, and wouldn’t stop until she was found.

His legs moving on pure muscle memory, he staggered his way to the forge. He’d pick up a banana, and be on his way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ignacio was in the back when Hiccup entered the smithy, facing away from the entrance. When the boy entered, the blacksmith turned to face his supposed customer. “Sorry, no business today. I’ve got a very important- “

Upon seeing the scrawny teen, he jumped back in shock. “Kid!” He rushed over to his haggard guest. Perhaps sensing his rider’s arrival, Toothless bounded down the stairs. In an instant, Hiccup was crowded by the two as they fretted over him.

“Jeez, you look awful! I told you not to stay out all night!” Hiccup shook his head, determination in his tired features. “I have to find Mirabel.” To the boy’s surprise, the blacksmith laughed in response.

What was he laughing at? This was serious!

Seeing the indignation flashing on the teen’s face, he elaborated. “Kid, it’s alright. She’s alright!” Hiccup raised his eyebrows. “They found her!”

At those words, Hiccup wasn’t tired anymore. Hiccup wasn’t hungry anymore.

But he had to make sure.

“Really?” He asked, more shakily than intended. “Where? Where is she?” Ignacio rubbed the back of his head, a bit off-put by the boy’s intense response. “Uh, the Madrigals are up by Casita. Or what was Casita, trying to see what they can salvage.” The man’s face grew stern. “But listen! We need to- “

Hiccup didn’t hear the rest of that sentence. As soon as he knew the location, he was rushing out the forge. Zipping by stunned villagers, and hopping over fallen debris from yesterday’s catastrophe. He heard footsteps coming from behind, and felt himself being lifted from the ground, and soon found himself on the back of his dragon.

Toothless looked back to his rider, flashing him a gummy grin. And the two raced up the hill to the remains of Casita once more.

Reaching the apex of the hill, he ejected himself from Toothless’ back, and ran to the ruins of Casita. Looking around, it was just as Ignacio described. The Madrigal family were searching the wreck, seeing what could be recovered.

He did a quick head count, recognizing everyone there, except a man he’d never met. But wait, where is-

There she was.

Coming out from behind a damaged wall, examining an old portrait that hadn’t been damaged, was Mirabel Madrigal. Looking as vibrant as ever.

The rush of emotion Hiccup experienced was indescribable. Without thinking, he sprinted to her.

The sound of hasty footsteps drew many eyes to the boy, a few of the Madrigals spoke his name. Their voices went unheard.

Mirabel only had a split second to look up-

Before she was swept up into a tight hug.

The embrace was firm, but also soft in a way. He buried his face into her shoulder as she stood there, stunned into silence. The portrait dropped to the ground.

After what seemed like both an eternity and an instant, Hiccup’s eyes shot open as he realized what he was doing.

“SORRY!”

Quickly pushing himself away, he stood with wide eyes and a stiff back as he tried to explain himself. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that! You were gone and we couldn’t find you and I was scared but now you’re here! You’re okay! and I was so excited and I’m sorry- “He was silenced by a finger on his lips. “I’m sorry for scaring you.” She said with a shy grin on her face.

He finally calmed down, but he then grew sullen. “No, I should apologize. The miracle is dead now.” He was surprised to see her smile grow even brighter. She shook her head. “No, the miracle is more alive than ever!” At his confusion, she gestured behind her. To her family.

“This! This is the miracle! It just…took us a while to realize it!” The boy couldn’t say he quite understood, but seeing how happy they all were. Happy just to be together, even though their home was destroyed and their powers were gone. He knew something had changed them all, for the better. He figured she’d tell him about it sometime, he was just glad they were all okay.

In the meantime, he was gonna bother her.

“Wow!” He exclaimed in overexaggerated wonder. “That was the cheesiest thing I’ve ever heard!” He snorted as she lightly punched him in the shoulder, doing some snickering of her own. “Oh, shut up!” He fought the urge to blush as he heard her family laughing at the interaction.

A raspy voice sounded out over the laughter.

“Hey, I really hate to interrupt. But does anyone want to tell me what the heck this thing is?” Standing in front of Toothless was a thin, bony man. Draped in green, with long wavy hair. A nervous expression on his scruffy face.

Mirabel donned a patient smile, and dragged a bewildered Hiccup over to the man.

“Tio Bruno, this is Toothless.” Hiccup froze in recognition, realizing just who he was standing next to. He pointed to him, a silent question in his gaze, and the girl nodded in return.

The man, Bruno, examined the dragon with suspicion. “No, no it very clearly has teeth…” Upon hearing this, the Night Fury flashed a toothy grin, before retracting them all. Bruno jumped in surprise, a multitude of squeaks sounding from his ruana. “Oh! Oh well I guess-I guess that explains it then, Hehe…” with a nervous chuckle, he backed away to hide behind Mirabel. Still quite fearful of the reptile, who was scratching himself with a hindleg.

It was then that the scrawny man noticed the scrawny teen. “Tio, this is my friend Hiccup!” The boy gave a small wave in greeting. Bruno’s eyes widened at the name, his pupils darting around, and he wore a shaky smirk. Hiccup knew what he was thinking. “That’s a…very nice name you got there. Very-very unique!” Hiccup shrugged. “Nah, it’s alright. I know it’s weird.” Mirabel’s uncle sighed in relief, happy he didn’t have to pretend anymore. He was never good at lying to people. The girl standing between them giggled at the interaction.

The boy felt a hand on his shoulder, and saw Julieta grinning to him. He felt an oversized hand on his other shoulder, and saw a very bloated Augustin grinning at him as well. “You were really worried about her, huh?” Asked Julieta, a knowing look in her eyes. He shrunk under their touches, and averted his gaze from the both of them. “I uh…I’ve never had a friend before. Not another person, at least. For someone like her to bother with someone like me…” He looked to her as she was explaining to her uncle just what a dragon was, his grin returning. “She’s really something special…” Mirabel’s parents didn’t respond, but both their grins grew exponentially.

Hiccup didn’t want to bring the mood down, but he had to ask. He stepped to his friend and raised a question. “So…what now? Your house is destroyed, what are you gonna do?” Before Mirabel could respond, they all heard a shout.

“IF YOU’D HAVE LET ME FINISH, YOU’D KNOW!”

It was Ignacio, coming up the hill. He was flanked by what looked to be the entire town. They were all carrying tools, rolling wagons full of material, bringing anything that could help.

He gave Hiccup a slap on the back, one that felt harder than usual. “For such a skinny thing, you sure run fast!” He laughed as Hiccup tried to ignore the stinging. A townsperson approached the group. “You’ve all done so much for us, it’s time for us to help you!”

Several more villagers appeared, pledging to help them rebuild, and once again offering their homes to the Madrigals in the meantime. The blacksmith spoke up again. “We’re gonna rebuild this house, bigger and better than ever!” Mirabel stood on a piece of rubble facing the crowd, and finished the blacksmith’s sentence. “TOGETHER!”  At this, the crowd cheered.

Building houses? Berk’s houses burned down so many times, he knew the process like the back of his hand. Sure, he was never allowed to actually help. But he observed, he took notes, he studied the process, and he was sure he could be of service.

He looked back up to Mirabel, who radiantly smiled down to him from her makeshift pedestal. He returned her smile, and that’s when he knew.

He knew that tail-fin wouldn’t be finished any time soon.

Because he was gonna help his friend rebuild her house.

No matter how long it took.