No Llores - Camilo Madrigal

9

"Abuela! It's okay! Everything's- we're gonna save the miracle! The magic-"

"What are you talking about?! Look at our home! Look at your sister!" Abuela yelled.

Camilo felt (y/n) flinch beside him as he was frozen in place because he was also scared. The girl thought that the head of the Madrigal family would be thrilled to find her granddaughter genuinely enjoy something.

She was sad to see otherwise and she could only ask why. Why couldn't she realize what she's been doing wrong? Why couldn't she see that her family is more important than the miracle? Why couldn't she open her eyes?

"Please, just- Isabela wasn't happy! And she-"

"Of course, she isn't happy! You ruined her proposal!"

"No, no, she needed me to ruin her proposal and then, we did all this! And the candle burned brighter and the cracks! That's why I'm in the vision, I'm saving the miracle!" Mirabel continued, desperate to make Abuela understand.

"You have to stop, Mirabel!" Abuela snapped. "The cracks started with you. Bruno left because of you. Luisa's losing her powers, Isabela's out of control because of you! I don't know why you weren't given a gift but it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!"

Was she really blaming her fifteen-year old granddaughter for every problem they encountered?

(y/n) really wanted to walk up to Mirabel and tell Abuela how wrong she was, but Camilo set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze to pull her back.

As much as he desired to step in and stand up for his cousin, Abuela was still his grandmother, someone he should respect.

She had given him so much pressure since the night he was given a gift, but he also kept in mind that she was the one who guided Encanto from decades ago.

Even so, he stopped his best friend from joining in because he did not want her to get in trouble. Everything was going wrong and her getting involved in their mess was a bad idea.

"Shouldn't we do something?" She whispered, softly gripping onto his golden ruana.

"We can't." He sadly muttered as the two teenagers watched the scene in front of them. Everyone else could only do the same.

"I will never... be good enough for you, will I?"

This caught everyone off guard. No one has ever had the guts to confront Abuela. Even Abuela herself was surprised.

"No matter how hard I try." She looked towards her parents and sisters. "No matter how hard any of us tries."

(y/n) squeezed the fabric tighter as she looked at the ground with furrowed brows. Camilo noticed it and placed his hand on hers which made her grip loosen.

"Luisa will never be strong enough. Isabela won't be perfect enough. Bruno left the family because you only saw the worst in him!"

"Bruno didn't care about this family!"

"He loves this family! I love this family! We all love this family, you're the one that doesn't care! You're the one breaking our home!" Mirabel cried out as the ground shook beneath the whole town.

"Don't you ever!"

"The miracle is dying because of you!" She finally voiced out.

Abuela's eyes widened in realization just as a huge crack formed in between her and her granddaughter.

(y/n) could feel her palms sweat in nervousness as memories of Bruno's last vision came to her mind. She found it hard to breathe when the house came falling apart around them.

"No, no, no!" Pepa shouted, waving her hands around as if it could stop the cracks.

The walls, the floors, even the roof were crumbling and she knew she had to get out. Mirabel and the young Sanchez locked eyes for a moment in the middle of the disaster. "Go." Her four-eyed friend mouthed before running to the candle.

"(y/n), get out of here. It's too dangerous." Camilo worriedly spoke with one last squeeze on her hand. He shortly followed his cousin with Isabela.

With that, (y/n) sprinted towards the exit, not without almost tripping on the cracks. She still couldn't help but feel concerned about Camilo and the sisters.

She looked back in worry and stopped in her tracks when she saw Camilo jump and reach for the roof using his gift, but he involuntarily shape-shifted back to himself and fell.

"Camilo!" She called out.

The said boy whipped his head in her direction and widened his eyes. "(y/n), go! You can't stay here!"

She hesitated to leave with Camilo in danger but just as she was about to take a step back, she noticed a clump of tiles on the roof breaking from above him.

And just like that, she didn't even need to think twice.

She forced her tired legs to run. She stumbled, earning scrapes on her knees and palms. It stung, but it was washed out by the thought of Camilo getting hurt or worse.

Camilo was surprised to see (y/n) approaching him. He tried to get up to stop her after seeing her current state but a throbbing pain shot up to his ankle.

He struggled to stand up and almost cried not because it hurt, seeing (y/n) like that hurt him a thousand times more. But it seemed like he did not have a choice as she neared him.

He expected her to help him walk but instead, he felt a harsh force against his chest as he fell backwards onto the ground. Confused, he opened his eyes to see the girl with her bloodied hands out.

Not even a second after, a heavy brick tile hit her head coming from above. He watched it happen in front of him, his face filled with disbelief. Her body fell with a thud with her head starting to bleed.

As realization hit him, tears welled up in his eyes and he immediately cradled her body in his arms. "No! No, no, please, no."

She asked how she would end up like this when they told her about the vision. Now, she understood. And oddly enough, she was happy that it was to save the boy she had always loved.

(y/n)'s eyelids felt heavy, her ears started to ring. She could hear Julieta and Augustin calling out to their daughter faintly in the background. The last thing she saw was Camilo's freckled cheeks stained with tears.

And darkness took over.

"You've always been protecting me since we were little. Now, it's my turn to protect you."