20. Return of the Miracle

Hiccup was terrified.

Two more weeks have passed, and the new Casa Madrigal was just about complete. Only a few more finishing touches were needed.

Meaning he’d have nothing keeping him from completing the tail-fin. Meaning he’d have to leave, as promised. Flying off to who knows where, leaving this magical place behind.

He brooded over his situation as he held a pile of fluffy blankets, curtains, and various knick-knacks.

Mirabel had dragged him out to the shops so she could pick up some things for her new room. She had disguised it as a pleasant outing between friends, but now he knew the truth. She just needed an auburn-haired pack mule.

In truth he didn’t really mind, he’d have held all these things for her willingly.

Mirabel was scrutinizing two pillows, one held in each hand. She turned to Hiccup, a question in mind. “Which one do you think I should get?”

Hiccup examined the purple hued pillows. “They’re…they’re the same.”

The girl looked aghast. “Nuh-uh! This one’s lilac, and this one’s heliotrope!”

They were the same color.

Rolling his eyes, he picked randomly. “Sure, fine, lilac. Go with lilac.” She continued to glare at the pillows, trying her hardest to come to a decision…

“Heliotrope.” She tossed it onto the pile, and placed the other one back.

Hiccup couldn’t even be mad at her disregarding his choice, because they looked exactly the same.

Her shopping spree now finished, she made her way back to her temporary home. Hiccup quivering under the weight of her purchases as he followed her through town.

Once they reached the house and entered the living room, she instructed him to place her items on the couch, and he did so. Sighing with relief as he was freed from his heavy, soft and fluffy burden.

“So!” Started Mirabel. “What’s next for you today?”

Hiccup held back a sigh. “I figured I’d finally finish that tail-fin. Y’know, since the house is just about done.” The girl in front of him grew a playful smirk.

“You mean the tail-fin you told my Abuela you’d finish a month ago?” She chuckled as he blushed, muttering something about bees and busted houses and averting his eyes. “What else needs to be done with it?” She asked.

“Not much.” He replied. “A minor recalibration here, a hinge adjustment there. Oh, and I need to make a cover.” At her inquisitive gaze, he elaborated. “The tail-fin needs a cover, or else it’s just some exposed metal rods. I need to get some cloth, or something. I’ll probably just cut up some scrap leather at the forge...”

But Mirabel’s imagination was already working in overdrive. She firmly grabbed his wrist, a sparkle in her deep brown eyes. “I’ll do it!”

He leaned away, slightly unnerved by her enthusiasm. “Huh?”

Her grin grew wilder. “I’ll make the new cover! You said it was made of cloth, right? Working with fabric is what I do!” As Hiccup thought about it, he realized it wouldn’t be such a bad idea. He had seen her work, she really was talented at this sort of thing. And it’d be more pleasing to look at than the drab, brown slip of leather he’d create.

With a shrug and a smirk, he agreed. “Sure, why not? Swing by the forge and I’ll hand you the blueprints!” She pumped her fist in victory as Hiccup made for the door.

As he walked away, his smile began to fade.

He would miss their little talks…

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

A few hours later, Hiccup was at the forge. Mirabel had already come and gone, retrieving the tail-fin blueprints and beginning her own project. He was preforming some final adjustments on the prosthetic, when he heard a voice calling for him.

“Hi, Hiccup!”

Recognizing that little voice anywhere, he turned to see Antonio approaching him with a smile. But he wasn’t alone, he was flanked by Alma, who nodded in greeting.

“Good evening, Hiccup. Hard at work, I see?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty much done.” He fiddled with the fin mechanisms, making it fan open and shut. Antonio watched it with intrigue. “I’ll be out of your hair soon enough, don’t worry…” As he muttered this, Alma’s expression was unreadable.

“What’s he mean, Abuela?” She ignored Antonio tugging on her sleeves, and got down to business.

“Hiccup, we actually came here with a commission for you.” He looked to her, interest piqued.  “You see, our house is nearly complete. All that’s missing is the doorknob.”

“We thought…” She paused as a warm smile graced her features. “We thought it’d be nice if Mirabel completed our new home. She was the one who brought us all together, after all. That’s where you come in…”

Antonio spoke excitedly, hopping on his feet. “We want you to make a doorknob just for Mirabel!”

The old woman chuckled at her youngest relative’s enthusiasm. “Yes, yes, Tonito! That’s the idea…” She reached into a pocket, before bringing out a stack of papers. “These are notes from each member of the family, except for Mirabel of course. It is a surprise. I thought it’d be good for all of us to have a say in its design. I trust you can work with this?”

Skimming through the notes, some of them being very interesting and some of them being very stupid, he already felt the ideas formulating in his mind. “Yeah, yeah I can do that.”

Alma nodded, satisfied. “Excellent, now as for your payment- “

“Don’t worry about it.”

She looked to the boy, stunned at his refusal. He shrugged, grinning. “She’s my friend.” Was all he said, all he needed to say.

She seemed to be at a loss for words. “Er, um…Will it be ready by tomorrow?”

“Yeah, this shouldn’t take long at all. I’ll stop by your place and drop it off before we all go see the house be finished.” He stated nonchalantly.

She grabbed Antonio’s hand, and began making her exit. “Good, very good. Thank you, Hiccup.” He waved to Antonio as he was pulled away, and then the oldest and youngest Madrigals were gone.

He picked up the tail-fin, completed except for the cover, and put it aside.

Before he left, most likely never to return…

He had one last job to do.

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

Finally. After a month of hard work, they had finally rebuilt Casita.

There was a slight tug in his heart, looking at the building’s familiar form. It was a bit different, but still recognizable. The feeling was bittersweet, as he realized this house wouldn’t be alive.

A bit ironic, considering a month ago he’d wished the house weren’t alive.

He was standing in the crowd, Toothless at his side. He wasn’t in the back, but he wasn’t up front with the Madrigals either. Solidly in the middle.

He watched as Mirabel was given the doorknob. A beautiful little thing, engraved with elegant swirls and a big M in the center. For Madrigal.

Or Mirabel.

The doorknob he created with ideas from her family, a physical representation of how much they all appreciated her. He felt a warmth in his soul when he saw that she clearly loved it.

Bruno stepped forward. “You’re the real gift, kid. Now let us in!” Hiccup heard him say.

Hiccup could see every Madrigal looking at Mirabel with such love, like they were truly seeing her. For how amazing she was. He felt a swell in his chest as he watched her gently take the doorknob, a grateful smile on her lips and tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Mirabel placed the doorknob into the door…

And there as a flash of golden light.

Everyone looked in wonder as the door lit up. Magically lit up, with a beautiful depiction of the entire Madrigal family on it.

Awestruck, it took Hiccup a second to register a familiar jingle he heard coming from…somewhere.

Then, he noticed it.

The house moved.

Playing a jaunty tune with its tiles, and waving with a window, there stood Casita. Alive and well.

“Hola, Casita.” Waved Mirabel, warmly smiling. Love sparking in her eyes.

Hiccup was amazed, he thought the magic was gone! But he was very wrong, as not only was Casita alive-

The gifts were back.

They first noticed it as the sun began shining more brightly then it was normally, and they looked to see a very happy Pepa producing a ray of sunshine above her head.

That’s when the fun really started.

Camilo began shapeshifting into anyone he could. Dolores held her hands over her ears, overwhelmed by the sudden return of her super hearing, but she was still smiling. Especially as Mariano placed a supportive pair of hands on her shoulders.

Luisa started lifting impossibly heavy objects like they were nothing, though she was careful not to push herself too hard. Isabela produced a myriad of plants around her, not just pretty flowers. Antonio’s flock of animals came bounding towards him, his Jaguar immediately placing the giggling child on his back.

Hiccup noticed an awestruck Valentina, gaping at all that was happening around her. Bruno just patted her arm while chuckling. “See? Magic!”

As Mirabel watched the magic be revived with the biggest grin imaginable, she was suddenly swept into a hug by her grandmother. “It’s a miracle! A miracle!” The old woman joyfully sobbed.

The crowd rushed into the house, eager to celebrate. The housewarming party having turned into a The Magic Isn’t Dead party.

As Hiccup entered the courtyard, he stopped as he felt himself being raised, then lowered. Then raised, then lowered. He looked down to see the tiles underneath his feet pulsating, lifting him repeatedly. While the tiles around him flipped in a circular pattern.

As he wondered just what was happening, Mirabel appeared to clarify. “Aw, Casita’s happy to see you again!” She giggled.

Still being bobbed, the teen placed a wobbly hand on the nearby banister and gave it a few pats. “Uh, I missed you too Casita…” He spoke, voice wavering from both uncertainty and the movement.

From afar, Julieta and Pepa watched the two teens. “The last time I saw Casita do that to someone, I was still dating Augustin…” Whispered Julieta.

Pepa nodded her head. “I remember it happening to Felix too…”

The two women looked at each other.

And smirked.

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

The sun was setting, and Hiccup had been partying for hours.

For Hiccup, partying just meant standing by the walls and eating food. Occasionally talking to someone here and there. But it still tired him out.

He was leaning against a wall, watching Toothless and Antonio from across the courtyard. His dragon was ecstatic to learn that the child could understand his speech again. They seemed to be in the middle of a socio-political debate. Either that or they were talking about fish.

To his great delight, Julieta made chicken empanadas. He was was scarfing down a plate of them when Mirabel found her way to him. He spoke first.

“I saw you guys take that picture. Nice to see you weren’t left out this time.” She jabbed him lightly in the arm as they both chuckled. “Crazy day, huh?”

She nodded in response. “Yeah, crazy. I had just gotten used to the thought of the magic being gone…forever! I’m glad it didn’t turn out that way.” He nodded as well.

They both stood in a comfortable silence. Mirabel stealing one of Hiccup’s empanadas. As they both ate, Hiccup spoke again. Quieter.

“I’m glad too…” He paused. “…I’m glad my last day here was a good one.”

The girl beside him froze, stunned at his words. She slowly turned on him, eyes wide. And a question left her lips.

“What do you mean, last day?”

It was a whisper, but it may as well have been a Thunderdrum’s screech to Hiccup’s ears. The way she spoke those words nearly broke his heart.

“That was the deal, the one I made with Alma. I can stay until the tail-fin’s finished, and now…it’s finished.” He spoke less and less confidently as he observed the gloom working its way into Mirabel’s face. But he didn’t look away, he couldn’t.

He felt a rush of shame flow throughout his entire body as he saw the girl become disheartened. Familiar voices overtook his mind, all saying similar things.

“Look at her, look how sad you’ve made her. You can’t even be a good friend, Hiccup the useless!” Echoed a snotty voice.

“You’ve burdened these people long enough, haven’t you? Time to move on!” Rumbled a stoic voice.

He hung his head, silently giving in to his insecurities. He couldn’t bear to see her disheartened anymore. “I’ve burdened you guys long enough…” He whispered.

“I…I don’t…Are you…But you can’t…” Her expression rapidly flashed between misery, anger, and a myriad of other emotions as she fumbled to find her words. She tried to say something, she needed to say something, but the words were failing her. She took a deep breath.

…And smiled.

It didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she smiled. “We’ll have a dinner!”

Hiccup did not expect that. “Um, that’s not really necessary- “His stammering was cut off by a finger, pointing directly to his chest.

“You helped me save the magic, you saved this community from two disasters in one day, you helped me rebuild my house, you are my best friend!” She retracted her finger, and placed her hands on her hips. “If you have to go, we’re having a dinner tomorrow night to celebrate your time here. And that’s final!”

Hiccup sighed. He knew he wasn’t getting out of this one, and he liked it. He would miss her forceful side. He just nodded, with a small smile.

The two friends ate in silence once more. Enjoying each other’s company as much as they could.

Because tomorrow, Hiccup would leave the Encanto.