Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

At the tender age of ten, the triplets were already used to being treated differently from other children. As the protectors of their village, at least according to their mother, they were always expected to be…more…than the other kids their age. That’s why, in addition to attending normal school hours, they would also take private, one-on-three classes a few times per week to make sure they were truly at the top of their game.

They didn’t mind much. It was nice to get more personalized teaching, and to just have some time for the three of them together. But today was a special day. A bit of a stressful one. And it didn’t help when they were stuck in their private class (with still several hours’ of village duties ahead of them afterwards), losing precious daylight.

“Pepa, dear…” the maestra, a Señorita Alvarez, called out softly. “W-would it be alright if you save the raining for a bit later?”

Pepa bit her lip, trying her hardest to avoid the growing cloud of stress forming above her. “S-si, señorita…clear skies. Clear skies…”

It did little to soothe her. Julieta turned around to face her sister, quickly noticing her tense pose and strained expression. “Pepi, aren’t you going to see Dr. José and go water the sugarcane field today? You can let your stress out then, right?”

“I don’t know if I’ll even have time to do that, Julieta!” Pepa whined. “We still have to do you-know-what—and this dumb class is taking forever!” At this, her anxiety turned to anger. She threw her arms up in the air before crossing them with a huff. Above her, the cloud started to drizzle. She didn’t bother trying to stop it.

Señorita Alvarez sighed. “Pepa—.”

Julieta’s hand shot into the air, cutting her off. “Señorita, you should just continue with the lesson. It might be enough to distract her. Plus, we are in kind of a hurry today, so if it’s okay, can we finish this up earlier?” She held her up notebook and leaned forward, further emphasizing her impatience.

The teacher simply gave up. “Alright, if you say so…Bruno, please stop playing with that pouch and pay attention.”

Bruno looked up with a start, looking somewhat spooked. He quickly removed his hand from that tiny pouch of sand he liked to carry around with him and forced himself to look forward.

“Now then,” Señorita Alvarez began. She turned to the board in front of her and pointed at it with the stick she held. “We were talking about ecosystems. Can someone remind me of the first step on the food chain?”

Julieta raised her hand and didn’t wait to be called on. “The sun gives energy to the plants.”

“Very good, Julieta. What do we call those plants?”

Again Julieta raised her hand. “Producers. And the animals that eat them are called consumers. First, second, and third.”

“Right again. Let’s give your siblings a chance to answer too, okay?”

That wasn’t going to happen. Pepa was currently throwing a silent temper tantrum with her rains getting stronger, and Bruno was twitching like a puppy having a nightmare.

Julieta raised her hand once more.

Señorita Alvarez forced a smile. “Yes?”

“You know, Farmer Nicolás said that there are some plants that are carnivores and they eat bugs and stuff. And he also said that there are some that live at the bottom of the ocean and can’t get any sunlight, so they get their food from somewhere else. He said there were hot vents at the bottom of the sea or something. But I might be wrong, he might have said it was the fish that eat that. Also, there’s that green stuff that grows on the side of—.”

“Th-thank you, Julieta. Yes, we’re just going over the basics. Now—Dios. What is it now?”

Julieta put her hand down again and hesitated for just a moment. “Um…you should let Bruno play with his sand. It helps him focus.”

“I—I’m sorry?”

“He’s kind of contrary that way, but I know because I see him doing it a lot. When he’s holding your gaze and keeping his eyes on you, that means he’s not listening. Usually, anyway. Because he’s so focused on making sure he’s actually looking you in the eyes.” She gestured over to where Bruno was almost rocking back and forth in his chair. When the teacher’s eyes went to him, he froze, as if just being now made aware that he was being talked about.

“But if he’s playing around with his sand while you talk to him, that’s how I know he is listening. He does it all the time at home. One time, Mamá called him from the other side of the room to ask him something, and he gave such a precise answer that she—.”

“Yes, thank you, Julieta, I understand. Bruno, you can play with the pouch, just don’t get any sand on the floor.”

Bruno, still looking like a scared animal, quietly reached over to where he’d placed the pouch earlier. He made no acknowledgement of the interaction other than a quiet grunt.

Señorita Alvarez turned around and glanced at Pepa. “And…what about her? Is she listening?”

Pepa was glaring at the blackboard, sunken in her seat, arms crossed, getting drenched.

Julieta looked at her sister, then back at the teacher with a wide smile. “No. But don’t worry, I’ll take notes for her.”

~

“Finally!” Pepa cried once they were set free from classroom prison. “I thought we’d be in there until we died!”

“You are so dramatic, Pepa.” Julieta replied. She was holding Bruno’s hand and gently pulling him along, as they followed their sister down the path. “It wasn’t that bad. And you could have been a little easier on Señorita Alvarez, you know she’s new. You didn’t have to rain on her like that.”

Pepa gave a “hmph!” but the rain already appeared to be letting up.

“I like the old señorita better,” Bruno mumbled. “She didn’t yell at me about the sand…”

“She just didn’t know, Bruno,” Julieta replied. “But I told her. She won’t bother you about it anymore.”

“If it was up to Bruno, he’d be bringing his rats to school too!” Pepa teased from the front.

“No I wouldn’t! The rats like it better in my room anyway.”

Julieta sighed, but thankfully the bickering was put to a stop when they reached a busier part of town. Julieta perked up with a smile. “Anyway! Forget about school. We need to go into the market and get the stuff for the you-know-what.”

The other two huddled around her with wide eyes. The sun seemed to shine just slightly brighter as Pepa bounced on her toes. “How will we keep it hidden from Mamá?” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. But right now, Pepa, you can go get the stuff on this list.” She handed Pepa a tiny piece of paper with her notes on it. Pepa snatched it up and eagerly hurried off. Julieta turned to her brother. “Bruno, can you go see Señor Hernandez and get these?”

Bruno finally let go of her hand to take another small list from her. It was subtle, but she noticed how his eyes lit up in recognition of the name, and he relaxed a little bit. He nodded with a quiet noise of affirmation and left to go do his task.

That left Julieta alone. She needed to buy her usual ingredients for emergency food. She always had to keep a steady supply on her, just in case. Heck, even now there were people approaching her to ask for a piece of bread from her bag to help their son with a skinned knee, or their father who threw out his back, or the like. Her bag was almost empty by the time she was done, so she had to get home and get a new batch made right away. Still, she didn’t let that stop her from also making sure they had everything they needed for their “secret project.”

Once that was done, she met up with her siblings once more. After making sure they all had what they needed, they waved goodbye to the townsfolk and headed up the hill to their home.

Casita greeted them first, welcoming the giggling children home with playful tile clinking and a door wide open. The triplets walked inside, taking just a moment to give their house a nice pat on the frame. “Hola, Mamá!” they called out in unison.

Their mother Alma looked down at them from where she was standing on the second story. “Hola, niños,” she responded softly. With her usual grace, she descended down the stairs and met her children in the middle of the foyer. “You’re a little late coming home. Is everything alright?”

“Si, mamá,” Julieta replied. “Pepa and Bruno were just helping me buy ingredients from the market before we came here.”

“Th-That’s right!” Pepa shouted, far too loudly. “And now I’m going to go put my basket in the kitchen for you! And then I will go out to see Dr. José by the sugarcane field!” She finished her rehearsed lines with the tact of a fruit cart toppling over, but she ran so fast that her mother didn’t even have a chance to question it.

“Ah…alright.” Alma said helplessly. “A-anyway, Bruno, go wash up and get ready. I’ve spoken to several people in town today who are anxious to come see you.”

Bruno’s face fell slightly, but he didn’t protest. “Okay, mami,” he mumbled.

Handing his bag to Julieta, he climbed upstairs to his room. Julieta felt bad for him, but at least he’d have a moment to relax before his clients showed up. She could already imagine him entering his room, smiling brightly and whispering “I missed you too!” as his rats hurried up to him from wherever they’d been hiding. Her brother had the oddest little quirks, but at least they made him happy.

Alma turned to Julieta with a gentle smile and took her hand. “Come on, Julicita. Let’s go get that batch made, and then we’ll see what we’ll do for the rest of the day.”

They met Pepa on the way to the kitchen.

“I put all the extra ingredients where they belong!” Pepa chirped. “And now I’m going to see Dr. José! Bye!” She winked at Julieta on her way out, indicating that everything should now be hidden from their mother until it was time.

And so began their afternoon duties. Pepa headed out to the sugarcane field to see Dr. José—so she could talk about her feelings. Emotions were often hard to control, so having a specific time and place to rant about her problems was a great way for her to let off some steam, while also helping the local farmers by summoning the rain where they needed it. Today, she was rambling about some annoying boy at school, the stress of extra classes and chores, and whatever else a magical little girl could be bothered by.

(In the future, Pepa’s feelings of stress would cause much more destructive weather—hurricanes or thunderstorms or blizzards. But for now, it wasn’t much more than sun and rain.)

Bruno’s case was a little awkward. People would line up outside his bedroom door, eager to get a look at their future. There were days where he would go out and meet someone for a vision, bringing sand from his room with him. But as the village was getting fuller and more crowded, it seemed safer to stick to his cave whenever possible.

(Technically, he didn’t need the sand, or anything, to use his Gift. But it made things clearer and allowed others to see the visions as well—plus the spectacle of it all.)

Julieta needed to get started on her daily batch of bread, enough to feed a whole town of potential emergencies until tomorrow. Once her mother made sure everything was going well with the other two, she returned to the kitchen to help Julieta with the cooking. Technically, the food wouldn’t have its healing powers unless Julieta made it, but Alma could still help by pre-measuring the ingredients and making sure her daughter didn’t burn herself.

“So, how did everything go with the new maestra?” Alma asked as she filled up the cups of flour.

Julieta shrugged. “She seems okay, but I think she doesn’t really understand us. She seemed kinda judgey about Pepa’s feelings and Bruno’s habits. Plus, I got the sense that she was annoyed because I talk too much. Do I talk too much, Mami?”

Alma shook her head. “As long as it doesn’t impact your studies or duties, you’re just fine, Julieta. But do try to be considerate of her as well. I’m sure she’ll get used to you in time. You kids are very special, after all.”

“Thanks, ma.”

They continued baking and making small talk for the few hours it took to finish the full batch. Julieta heard Pepa returning home and retreating to her room to rest. She looked outside and noticed the sun was now low in the sky, the rain clouds from Pepa’s therapy session beginning to retreat. Meanwhile, the line at Bruno’s door was beginning to thin out as people went home for the day. It was almost time.

There was a call from the front door. “Señora Madrigal?” called the man. “May I have just one moment, por favor? It’s urgent.”

Frowning, Alma quickly put down the things she held and excused herself from the kitchen. Julieta leaned backward to get a better look at what was happening. Alma and the man were discussing something in hushed voices. After a couple of minutes, Alma hurried back fo the kitchen with a concerned frown on her face.

“Julieta, dear,” her mother began. “I have to go deal with a bit of trouble in town. Will you be alright on your own?”

Julieta smiled brightly. “Don’t worry, mami. I know what I’m doing by now. I’m almost done anyway.”

Alma seemed doubtful, but nodded and kissed her daughter’s forehead. “Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Then she stood and headed outside with the man.

Julieta quickly finished the batch, counting just enough for tomorrow. Then, she put all of the bread in her bag, letting Casita take care of the cleanup. She glanced outside of the kitchen. Everyone was gone, the house was quiet, the sun was sitting just above the horizon.

It was time.

Pepa was lying facedown on her bed, pastel-colored clouds swirling above her as she napped—until a loud knock on her door startled her out of her sleep. Julieta’s voice called out clear as day: “Pepa! It’s time!”

Pepa’s eyes flew open. Her indoor sky cleared up instantly and she hopped right out of bed.

Meanwhile, Bruno lay on his back near the end of his cave, shards of broken green glass littering the area around him (because sometimes people got angry). His rat Alberto scurried up to rest on his chest to where Bruno started petting him absentmindedly…but his daze was interrupted by the loud knocking on his door and Julieta’s voice: “Bruuuuno! It’s time!”

“Hmm!” Bruno instantly perked up, his wallowing almost entirely forgotten. He put Alberto gently on the floor and hurried off.

The triplets met up in the kitchen just as Julieta was retrieving their “extra ingredients” from earlier. Pepa bounced on her feet with excitement.

Bruno was fidgeting nervously. “Are you sure you shouldn’t just make it yourself, Julieta?”

Julieta shook her head firmly. “I do it myself when it’s for healing food. But this is bonding food. So we make it together.”

Julieta unpacked the basket and gathered the rest of the necessities from around the kitchen—flour, sugar, eggs, butter, the works. After five years cooking for the whole town, she knew this place like the back of her hand. Ever the responsible one, Julieta took up the mantle of directing her two siblings so everything went smoothly. Casita happily supplied the bowls and equipment, Bruno measured and poured the ingredients, and Pepa furiously mixed everything together.

Outside, the sky was starting to turn orange and purple. It was about now that they carefully were pouring the mixture into the baking tray. Pepa watched the window, a small cloud of anxiety forming above her. “Are we sure it’s going to be finished before Mamá gets back??”

“Don’t worry. I made sure Señor Marco would have plenty of distractions for her today. I even told him exactly how much time we’d need, so if she’s early, he’ll have to answer to me!” Julieta replied. Carefully, she slid the tray into the oven and checked to make sure Casita had the timer set up properly. Then she stood up and got right back to work. “Come on, we’re still not done. It’s frosting time!”

~

It was dark by the time Alma finally returned home. She hurried through the door and tossed the shawl she was wearing off her shoulders for Casita to put away. “Children!” she called, out of breath. “I’m so sorry I’m late! Things in town got a little out of hand.” She stopped, noticing that her kids were nowhere in sight. For a moment, Alma wondered if they were in their rooms, until she spotted a dim light coming from the kitchen.

Frowning, Alma walked cautiously toward the light. The house was rather dark, she noted, (aside from the typical glow of their magic) and this caused a seed of worry to settle in her stomach. “Children…? Are you in the kitchen…?”

Alma turned the corner, not sure what she’d find. She definitely wasn’t expecting to find her triplets huddled around the end of the table, smiling widely, a little pink cake sitting before them with a single tall candle at the center.

“Happy Birthday, Mamá!”

Alma blinked, too surprised to move. In the dim lighting, it took her a second to process what was in front of her. Her birthday? Was that today? “I—niños, what is this?”

“A cake, duh!” Pepa giggled.

“We made it ourselves while you were out,” Julieta explained. “Everybody helped, even Casita.”

“It was our secret project,” Bruno added.

“Oh…” Alma placed a hand over her heart, feeling her eyes start to water. The seed of worry that she’d felt before was now replaced with a blooming flower of warmth in her chest. “I-I don’t know what to say…” she sniffed, trying to keep her composure in the face of the sweetest thing she’d ever seen in her life. Then, she laughed slightly. “And here I was wondering why Marco seemed almost desperate to keep me away from the house. You three had better thank him tomorrow.”

“Okay, we will,” Pepa replied hurriedly. “But first, let’s eat cake!”

Alma chuckled. “No, no. First, I have to give you three a big, warm hug.” She knelt down and held her arms open, for her three babies to run right into them. She embraced them tightly, her smile growing wider when she felt their warmth and heard their laughter. “Ooh, my little angels,” she cooed. “Gracias. Te amo mucho.”

“We love you too, Mami,” Julieta replied.

Alma let go and proceeded to kiss each of their foreheads in turn, taking her time with each one even though she could sense that they were getting antsy.

“Okay, come on, let’s go!” Pepa whined at last.

Alma laughed again as her kids led her by the hand to her seat, which Casita pulled out for her. “Alright, alright. I can’t wait to see how it tastes.”

She picked up a knife and cut into the cake, pulling out four slices for all of them. All the stress of that day was forgotten, replaced only by the warmth of the gathering and the thrill of eating good cake. Briefly, Alma remembered that they hadn’t actually had dinner. But perhaps, just this once, she’d let it go. After all, her kids deserved a treat after all the work they’d put into this. And watching them talk and laugh and eat together was worth it.

Tomorrow would be another day of duties for them. But for now, she just wanted to enjoy this moment with her three little miracles.