Bruno Madrigal Oneshots

How do you save a family miracle? You hug a sister

by BrilliantLight on Ao3

Warnings: yelling, crying, confrontation

Summary: In the vision he gives to Mirabel, he sees himself hugging Pepa. I guess it's time for him to come out of hiding.

Ten years was far too long to spend not using a gift. It had never been done before, and, if everything went well, would never happen again.

But that was the situation Bruno found himself in that day. Using his gift (more like a curse in his opinion, but don't let his mother find out) for the first time in a decade. He actually thought that it was quite the accomplishment, not using his gift. The first thing he had made while living in the walls was a crude wooden sign that showed how many days it had been.

But now, he would have to take off all of the numbers he had built up (3792! He'd gone three thousand seven hundred and ninety-two days without using his gift!) and put it back to zero.

But it was for Mirabel, and Antonio, and the rest of the family. He was sure that Mirabel wouldn't like what he showed her, but she seemed to... understand, at least a the barest minimum.

"I... don't think you make bad things happen," she said, a small smile on her face (it had been so long since someone smiled at him), "Sometimes family weirdos... get a bad wrap." Her smile widened as he felt small hands place a stuffed animal in his hands. He didn't have time to process her words as he looked over at his youngest nephew.

"For the nerves," Antonio said, a knowing smile on his face. Bruno had been right, thinking that he was a sweet kid. He seemed so... at home with his gift, even though he'd only had it for a day. It actually reminded him of...

Mama! Look at what I can do! If I just think really bigly I can...

But now was not the time to dwell on the past. Now it was time for the future.

He lit the flames. The flames were very important. The smell of burning leaves always helped him calm down. A small part of him (the part that sounded like his mother, the part he constantly tried to shut out of his mind) told him that he didn't need it. He didn't need this circle of sand. He didn't need to hold Mirabel's hands. He didn't need...

But there he was anyway. Fire in front of him, his niece's hands tucked into his. Sand starting to pick up as he let the magic, that constant pressure that resonated from just behind his eyes, flow through him.

He opened his eyes, and suddenly he couldn't see Mirabel anymore.

At first there was nothing. Just a familiar darkness. Then the black was covered by a swirl of sand, which began to clump together to form shapes in the void.

The first clump that formed was the candle. He hadn't actually looked at the candle in ten years, always too afraid that just his gaze upon it would hurt the magic further, but he would never forget what it looked like. And what he was seeing was definitely the candle in his mother's window. For a brief second he hoped that it was okay, that maybe his last vision was wrong. But, of course, the window immediately cracked, and the candle fell...

But then more happened. He saw Casita in its entirety, and the cracks he (Hernando!) had been patching for the last ten years overtook it, crumbling it to its very foundations. He saw a part of the wall fall, and Felix pick up Antonio to save him from being crushed...

That was bad... that was oh so bad... it was... just like what he had seen years ago! Except now it seemed so much worse! And... and nothing would change... He was stupid to think that there could be multiple versions of the future! How could there be! He had been living off of a fool's hope. There was nothing that could change it.