Okay, I watched Encanto for the fourth time and I have a thought, or three:
What if, after realizing her sisters' pain and trying to explain that to Abuela and getting shot down, what if Maribel takes the cold route, and leaves.
Listen! ...Like, Mirabel gets told that she is the reason that the miracle is fading, that she is why casita is falling apart and Mirabel just responds with, "If you really, truly, believe that. That I am hurting this family, my family that I have loved more than anything, my whole life. Then maybe i should leave." No one stops her. Not Abuela, not Isabela or Luisa, her parents try to reach out to her but stop as soon as Abuela looks at them.
Maribel stops in the doorway, the door itself reluctant to open, she glances back at her grandmother, "I am a Madrigal too, with powers or without." And then she's gone.
Then next couple days after she left are a struggle. Antonio refuses to leave his room, won't answer to the calls of his parents or siblings.
Julieta is frequently found crying in the kitchen, Augustin either nearby or sitting out on the patio, silent and staring off into the distance.
Isabela frequents the edges of the property towards the mountains, unable to go into town in fear of running into Mariano and his mother, she practices growing different plants. They're small, easy to hide in case Abuela comes looking for her. Luisa sometimes joins her, they just sit in silence.
When Luisa stops her training, takes to just wandering the woodland, trying to find something that could still make sense in the guilt of watching her baby sister leave without trying to stop her.
Overall the Madrigal household just stops functioning like it used to. Casita becomes still and quiet, no longer as animated as it used to be. Dolores mentions this only once over dinner before turning her eyes to the empty seat on the far end of the table.
I have more vague ideas about this route but perhaps another time...
















