It was no secret that Reyna Madrigal both loved and despised Alma Madrigal.

She loved her because of course that was her Abuela and she used to be so kind and loving to her family, the proud matriarch of the Madrigal familia.

And she despised her for the way that she tossed Mirabel aside as if she were merely not worth her love and attention, after Casita had not given Mirabel a gift of her own during her ceremony, and for the way that she so easily caused so much trauma to her family who only wanted her to be happy for once and to let them be happy as well.

And it was no secret that Alma Madrigal loved and adored Reyna, Julian and Pedro Madrigal Jr, she still loved them even though she knew she caused them and the rest of her beloved family so much pain and suffering.

But they were both massively stubborn and hardheaded, it was like pulling teeth to get them to not be cold and indifferent to each other.

Julian and Papito simply followed their older sister into the village, as the townspeople gasped and smiled in wonder as the three children of Lisette and Bruno Madrigal, made their way into the Encanto.

One of the older ladies carried around her fish bowl, whispering snidely about how Bruno Madrigal indirectly killed her fish, when in reality, she was never feeding them enough and Bruno told her they would die due to her neglect of them.

Reyna merely levelled the cowardly woman with a glare worthy of her late mother.

Julian and Papito snorted as they linked their arms with their older sister who smirked darkly.

Once they made it into the Encanto, their tías Julieta and Pepa, embraced all three of them, smiling happily with a bit of sadness in their eyes as they remembered how excited their sister in law had been, when she had announced each of her children's births.

Abuela Alma made to hug her three estranged grandchildren, however her eldest grandchild, her beloved granddaughter, sidestepped her and glared at her.

Her charismatic elder grandsons, chose to leave the tension filled room in favor of eating some arepas con queso that Tía Julieta had prepared for them.

Tía Pepa called in her own children and her sister's three daughters as well.

Isabela flew into her oldest cousin's arms, laughing wildly as Reyna swung them around together.

It was amazing seeing how free spirited Julieta's oldest daughter would become with her favorite cousin.

After all, Reyna was the one that had originally been betrothed to Mariano Guzman, until she had moved away with her brothers and Señora Guzman had also helped her raise her younger brothers.

And when Señora Guzman confronted Abuela Madrigal about the real reason why Reyna, Julian and Pedro Madrigal Jr, left the esteemed Madrigal family, Abuela Madrigal faltered for a brief moment and in an effort to smooth things over, she offered her second eldest granddaughter, Isabela Madrigal, to be betrothed to Mariano Guzman.

Truth be told, Mariano had been in love with Dolores Madrigal since childhood, however his mother promised that he would soon get to be with Dolores properly, once Alma Madrigal acknowledged and apologized for all the trauma she caused to her family.

Mariano held hope that Alma Madrigal would change her ways soon, he wouldn't allow anyone to extinguish his hope.

Señora Alejandra Guzmán was a strong and independent woman who had adored Lisette Madrigal neé Mata, who adored the three children of Lisette and Bruno Madrigal, who loved her only son with everything in her.

And she would die before she let Alma Madrigal further harm her family anymore than she already has.

Reyna continued to swing her headstrong cousin around and then as she slowly stopped, they fell onto the ground in a laughing pile.

"Mí Reina, I want to introduce you, Nenito and Papito to my youngest son, Antonio, his Gift ceremony is tonight and we are all excited to have you join us," Pepa smiled fondly as her youngest son smiled hesitantly at his oldest cousin, who knelt down to his height.

Isabela kept near her favorite cousin as she subconsciously guarded Reyna from being attacked.

Julian and Papito knelt down beside their youngest cousin who stared up at the three children of Lisette and Bruno Madrigal, Luisa and Dolores shadowing them as Isabela shadowed Reyna.

"It's wonderful to meet you, cariño, I'm Bebé, this is Nenito and Papito, we're the children of Lisette and Bruno Madrigal, your other Tía and Tío," Reyna gestured to her brothers who grinned brightly in response.

"I'm Toñito, this is Lorè and Milo, and this is Míra, Lu and Isa," Antonio giggled as Reyna scooped him into her arms and nuzzled her cheek against his.

The tender gesture made her brothers, along with her tías and tíos, inhale sharply to contain their emotions.

What Reyna had done, she had done to each and every single one of her brothers and cousins, on the night of their Gift ceremony, she had began the tradition as was her birthright in being the eldest grandchild.

And her mother had taught her how to comfort those without interrupting them, to listen with an open mind and an open heart.

Mirabel smiled softly as Reyna then embraced her, Camilo, Luisa, Dolores and then Isabela.

Julian and Papito followed their older sister in her gesture but then gravitated to their tías, Pepa and Julieta, respectively.

Félix and Agustín were observing the way that the eldest Madrigal grandchild protected her younger brothers and her cousins, made their hearts ache heavily for her.

Reyna twirled several of her fingers and mini planets formed and made their way to each of the Madrigals, protecting them, while Julian easily manipulated the water from the fountain to become shields of ice, Papito then controlled his flames to become a small but strong light for them all.

Antonio was in awe as were Mirabel and Camilo, whereas Isabela, Dolores and Luisa all grinned brightly, remembering when they were children and life was much simpler.

Pepa couldn't help but wipe away her tears of happiness, she was immensely proud of Julian who had taken it the hardest when he was a child and realized he could control water in various forms along with honing his ability of blood manipulation.

He had been terrified that he would drown in his own emotions, until Pepa had taught him positive coping skills to use when his emotions got the better of him.

Coping skills that Félix had taught Pepa long ago, when he had seen how strict Alma was with Pepa who suffered from severe anxiety.

Julieta had adored Papito as he indeed reminded her of her late father that she never had the chance to know.

Antonio giggled cutely as Reyna cradled him ever so gently and kissed his beautiful curls.

"Tè quiero mucho, Toñito, you make the familia proud as the others do," Reyna murmured into his hair as Antonio cuddled into his eldest cousin.

For many years, he had been told the stories of his three estranged cousins, of his late Tía Lisette who had unfortunately died far too soon and of his Tío Bruno who had disappeared not long after.

And he had wondered if they would ever return, he loved them ever since his mother first began telling him about the three of them.

But now he knew, he had nothing to worry about, they genuinely loved him.

Eventually Reyna had all of her brothers and cousins sitting or laying comfortably in a circle on the floor, she had a miniature Venus planet in the middle, showing its beauty and giving light.

Julian was in between Dolores and Luisa, adjacent to his older sister and younger brother, Papito was in between Camilo and Mirabel and finally Reyna had Isabela and Antonio on either side of her.

"When Mama died, our entire familia fell apart, Mama was the heart and soul of the familia, Abuelo Pedro had given her his blessing when she had met Papa, he told me of her having his favor when I was a child," Papito began, his dark eyes watering as he remembered how heartbroken his immediate family was, following the murder of their mother.

He and Julian would never forget the way Reyna had screamed in pure anguish, it was something they would never be able to forget.

He would never forget how Julian became dead to the world and lashed out at those who tried to comfort him.

He would never forget how he, himself, had broken his hands by punching the wall until his fists were bloody and the skin was torn up, his voice hoarse from screaming and sobbing for his Mama to come back.

And he would never forget how that was his Papa's breaking point, how he had told his children how much he loved them but he felt he would bring them bad luck, he was terrified they would be murdered, just like how their mother, his wife was.

"When Mama died, Abuela Madrigal had decided we resembled our late Mama too much, in both looks and mannerisms. She didn't have to say anything, we knew that she was going to begin ignoring us, as if we never existed, as if Mama and Papa never existed. It hurt too much for her to see us and believe that she failed us. Papa believed he was truly bad luck and Abuela Madrigal never did anything to dissolve him of that notion," Julian explained further as his cousins comforted him as best as they could.

Dolores knew more than anyone else how much pain her three estranged cousins had been through, she had no choice but to hear it, and it weighed heavy on her heart.

She had heard the gut-wrenching screams of pure anguish from Reyna, Julian, Papito and Bruno.

She had heard the pained sobbing of Tía Julieta and her mother, of Abuela Alma, of Tío Agustín and her father, of Isabela and Luisa, of herself.

And she had broken down when Camilo and Mirabel had asked about why the family was so sad.

They had been too young to know the tragedies that had befallen the famed Madrigal family.

During this moment, Julieta, Pepa, Agustín and Félix had joined their children in the circle.

"I'm so sorry that we weren't there for you when you needed us, we should've stood up to Mama but we didn't and it cost us, the three of you and our brother and our sister too," Pepa apologized first, her husband was quiet in his strong support of her being the first to make amends.

"Lo siento mucho, it's just as much our faults for not growing a backbone against Mama, we will do better by you and by our children as well. We will do better by Lisette and Bruno as well, we owe all of you so much more than we can give, mí reina, mí nenito y mí papito, tè quiero mucho, bastantè," Julieta spoke softly yet firmly, her deep brown eyes searching the faces of Reyna, Julian and Pedro Jr.

Agustín smiled hopefully at his eldest niece who finally cracked a faint smile but frowned lightly as he noticed she had tears in her stunning eyes, as did her younger brothers.

It made him and Félix want to step in as a genuine father figure for Reyna, Julian and Pedro Jr.

They deserved to have both of their parents in their lives but life had dealt them an unfair and cruel hand of cards.

He would see what Julieta and Pepa would say to his and Félix's idea to at least not only help their estranged niece and nephews, but to give them genuine love and support.

"When our Mama died and Papa had no choice but to disappear, Abuela Madrigal turned her back on us. Señora Guzmán had helped me run away with Nenito and Papito, we were only children but we had no one else but each other. Señora Guzmán was able to have Abuela and Abuelo Mata, come and pick us up from her own casa, they raised us until I had turned 17 and then they passed on. If it hadn't been for Señora Guzmán, we would've most likely died together, Nenito, Papito y yo," Reyna finally revealed the harsh and cold truth.

Antonio clutched onto his eldest cousin, crying out, "No!" And burying his little face into her shoulder.

Isabela and Dolores were in shock, while Luisa had taken to comforting Julian and Mirabel was soothing Papito while for once, Camilo didn't know how to cheer up his loved ones with his gift.

Julieta and Pepa both cursed themselves and their mother for ruining these poor children's lives.

Agustín and Félix found themselves hugging the three estranged Madrigal siblings tightly, offering them comfort only a father could.

And Alma Madrigal slumped to the floor, tears pouring down her face, sobbing soundlessly and praying for forgiveness, she had been eavesdropping and she had paid dearly for it.

While Mirabel finally understood what truly occurred, she knew they held the key to restoring Casita to her former glory.

And she would do her best to make sure Abuela Madrigal wouldn't be able to jeopardize or traumatize their family anymore.