The return of the bandits (Encanto)

Nightmares

It has been going pretty well with the Madrigals after the miracle was restored. It came in the form of a new candle, with different but similar detailing around the base. The detailing came in the form of a tree that took the shape of a butterfly with its branches and leaves.

Everyone was doing a lot better. Isabela was finally able to be herself, Pepa could let go of her emotions, Luisa could relax a little, Bruno was welcomed back into the family, and Abuela let go of a lot of her expectations.

Mirabel herself was busy decorating her room and painting the door. When Casita was being rebuilt they made her her own room so she didn't have to sleep in the nursery anymore. Her door wasn't magical like the others, but she could decorate it to make it look even more lively.

Because her door came quite bland, Mirabel decided to paint herself on it with lots of little details around the door that would match her skirt.

Antonio often helped her with the painting. He may have been making lots of mistakes in the process, but Mirabel deeply appreciated his help.

Just as Mirabel and Antonio were cleaning up the paint buckets for the day they heard Camilo calling from downstairs. "Mirabel! Antonio! Dinner's ready!"

"Coming!" Mirabel quickly shoved the paint supplies in her closet and went down the stairs followed by Antonio.

Everyone was already waiting for them at the dinner table.

Mirabel went to sit next to her tío Bruno and Antonio took a seat next to her. They were having Sancocho for dinner, a type of soup with meat vegetables and some other ingredients.

"I hope everyone likes it," Abuela spoke. "I decided to make dinner in Julieta's stead. I haven't cooked in a while, so I hope it turned out good." She smiled at her family. "Now, dig in everyone!"

The family began their meal and started happily speaking to each other.
Mirabel turned herself slightly towards Bruno - who was feeding his rats tiny scraps of his food - so she could talk to him.

"How have your nightmares been?" She asked her tío. "Are they getting any better?"

Bruno looked up at Mirabel for a second and then back at his rats. "Oh, yes, they've been getting better," Bruno replied. "I still wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, but it's definitely getting better."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Julieta joined the conversation. "So our advice worked?"

"I think so," Bruno said. "Thank you, you really didn't have to help me with it."

"Of course we did!" Pepa joined in too. "You're our hermano, we couldn't just leave you to deal with them alone."

"I'm glad you're doing better." Mirabel beamed. Bruno seemed quite happy to be back at the dinner table with the rest of his family. He had a hard time adjusting, but Mirabel was always there to help him. He mainly took the time out of his day to reconnect with his sisters, and when he had nothing to do he'd often follow Mirabel around. He even helped her with painting her door once.

"What are those nightmares about anyways?" Camilo asked across the table.
"Oh, you know. Just some bad visions I used to have returning and getting twisted to become even worse."
"Oh, Dios mío... that sounds rough. It's good they're getting less though, right?"

Bruno nodded. "All thanks to my sisters."

After dinner, Mirabel was assigned to clean up and wash the dishes. She couldn't help but feel Bruno was acting a little differently, more jumpy than usual. It was probably due to the nightmares, but she wanted to make sure just in case.

After she'd done the dishes she went to ask around if anyone had seen where Bruno went off to.

She noticed Camilo making his way towards his door so she went to ask him first.

"Camilo!" Mirabel frantically came running up the stairs before he could enter his room.
"No, I will not do the dishes for you." He said.
"What? No, no, that's not what I want to ask. Have you seen Bruno anywhere?"
"Nope. Saw him leave the kitchen and that's it. Check the walls."

Mirabel knew he wasn't taking it very seriously, but went to check there anyway. She wasn't even sure if they built space in between the walls when rebuilding the casita. She moved aside the painting, but there was no hole.

'Not in the walls.' Mirabel thought.

She went to go find someone else to ask.
"Do you know where your brother is, tía?"
"No, sorry. He's probably in his room, but I haven't seen him go in," Pepa responded. "Maybe ask Dolores."

Mirabel went on another little search trip and eventually found Dolores in Isabela's room, where they were chatting about Mariano.

"He's in your room, actually." She said after Mirabel asked her about Bruno's location.
"My room? Why there?"
Dolores shrugged as she let out a little squeak, and continued talking to Isabela.

Mirabel left her sister's room and made her way to her own. She opened the door and saw Bruno sitting on the floor with his rats.

"Mirabel!" He looked up surprised. "Sorry I didn't mean to uh- invade your privacy or anything!"
"What are you doing here?" She asked him. "You know you have your own room, right?"

Bruno's current room was a lot different to the one before Casita fell. It was still a big tower, but he had a nice space where he could sleep and properly store his clothes. A room that didn't have sand everywhere you looked. The staircase was also a lot shorter. Still very tall, but you wouldn't be out of breath by the time you reached the top.

"Well yes." Bruno wanted to give an explanation, but couldn't seem to come up with one. "I'm sorry, Mirabel, I just wanted to be somewhere else other than my room..." he muttered.

Mirabel assured him it was alright and he's always free to come into her room. But she still had to ask him about his change in behaviour.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about that, it's just the nightmares." He awkwardly chuckled to himself.
"Are you sure? You know you can talk to me, right?" Mirabel said.

Bruno looked down for a second. Mirabel could tell something else was bothering him, but she didn't want to push him so she remained silent too.

"Actually..." Bruno finally spoke. "I've been having this- This feeling. A really bad feeling, but I don't know what it is."
Mirabel went to sit down on her bed so she could listen.

"It's been lingering for about a week now and I don't know what to do with it. That's why I've been so jumpy, everywhere I go I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"Is it just a small type of bad orrrr-" Mirabel asked him.
"N- no. No, it's a really bad type of bad. I don't know how to explain it."

Mirabel proposed the idea that maybe he should have a vision, see what the feeling meant, but her tío seemed resistant to that idea.

"Maybe we'll see how you feel about it tomorrow?" Mirabel suggested.

Bruno nodded and agreed with her. "Yeah, we'll see how I feel."

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Hi! I hope the fanfic starting out alright! Please tell me if you see any typos, grammar/punctuation mistakes or if you have any advice! Constructive criticism is always appreciated! I hope you enjoyed chapter 1, and have a good day/night!