El orgullo de Madrigal (Encanto x Oc)

{{𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 8}}

"You were never supposed to see that vision, no one was" Bruno speaks.

"A little salt." He throws salt behind his back, hitting Mirabel in the face.

"But~ Ugh!" She gags.

"Sugar," Bruno replaces the salt and keeps walking past rows of hanging aloe plants.

Then does a hop skip and a jump over a series of cracks in the ground. Mirabel is about to ask for a follow-up when they pass an area with tons of cracks that have been painstakingly patched up.

"Wait, have you been in here...patching the cracks?" She asks.

Bruno looks up at all of the patched cracks.

"Oh, that? No, no, no, no, no, I'm too scared to go near those things. All the patching's done by Hernando."

"Who is... Hernan~" Bruno cuts Mirabel off.

"~I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing," Bruno calls in a different voice.

Taking off his hood, and in his regular voice, he then says.

"It's actually me. I used to say my real gift was acting."

"How long have you been... back here?" Mirabel asks with a tight smile.

Bruno then leads Mirabel into a small room filled with all manner of funny, weird, gross things... Family heirlooms and knick-knacks, quirky yet oddly charming.

"You never left..." Mirabel speaks after realizing it.

"Well, I- I left my tower, which was you know, a lotta stairs, and uh in here" Bruno picks up a small area.

"Eh? Kitchen adjacent, ooh plus, free entertainment!"

Mirabel looks around with a sad look on her face.

"I don't understand." She whispered.

"I don't understand why you "left," but didn't "leave?"" She then looks to her Tio.

Bruno looks a little uncomfortable about the question.

"Oh, well... because you know the mountains around the Encanto are pretty tall... and uh - you know like I said, free food... and everything..." Bruno answers, avoiding eye contact with his niece.

Mirabel notices a shaft of light... she follows it and peers through to discover the family dining room on the other side of the wall. She looks down to see Bruno has recreated his own version of the family table in his little room, complete with a stenciled plate. She then notices a small picture frame set against the wall next to his seat. Softly lifting it, and dusting it off, she looks closely to see the picture was of Bruno and Nikolai, her older cousin being about 4-5 in the shot, with the biggest smile she'd ever seen.

"How is he...?" Mirabel looks back at Bruno, but embarrassed, he avoids eye contact.

Mirabel sighed sadly... It must be killing Bruno not to be with Nikolai.

"He misses you... a lot..." Mira answers, setting the photo down.

Bruno looks down, nodding his head.

"I miss him too..." He whispers like he was about to break into tears.

"You know I... I don't see him a lot around the house like I do everyone else... I guess his room is just his uh... his safe spot..."

"I do visit him... when he sleeps, but... it's not the same... you know,"

"My gift wasn't helping the family... but uh... but I love my family, you know... I just don know how to... I just don't know how to..." On that last phrase, Bruno finally looks at Mirabel.

She realizes how similar they are. She's emotional because she always felt alone. And inferior. Bruno shifts awkwardly.

"Well anyway, I think you should go, because um... well, I don't really have a good reason, but if I did, you'd be like, I should go 'cause that's a good reason," Bruno mutters as he sits down in his chair.

Mirabel walks over to him, gently.

"Why was I in your vision? Tio Bruno...?"

"I just... wanted to make the family proud of me... just once. But if I should stop... if I'm hurting my family... just tell me." Mirabel speaks, about to cry herself.

Bruno looks at her... debating revealing his deep secret.

"I can't tell you..." He replies.

Mirabel sighs in frustration.

"Because I don't know," Bruno adds making Mirabel look up again.

"I had this vision the night that you didn't get your gift," Bruno takes the shards from his pocket and starts to assemble them.

"Abuela worried about the magic, so she begged me to look into the future, see what it meant..."

"And I saw the magic in danger...our house... breaking... and then... and then I saw you. But the vision was different it... It would change... and there was no one answer... no clear fate. Like your future was undecided... but I knew how it was gonna look, I knew what everyone would think because I'm Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst... so...so..." Bruno stammers, unable to finish.

"You left... to protect me...?" Mirabel finishes for him.

"I don't know which way it'll go...but my guess... the family, the Encanto, the fate of the miracle itself - it's all gonna come down to you."

This is a big moment for Mirabel... a lot to process. She looks at the vision, adjusting it backward and forwards. Bruno thinks for half a beat.

"Or maybe I'm wrong." He chuckles, grabbing the vision and throwing it across the room.

"You know, it's a mystery, it's a mystery that's why this vision is~" He gives a thumbs down and makes a degrading noise.

He ushers Mirabel to the door, opening it and allowing her out before speaking again.

"Look if I could help anymore I would but, that's all I know. Good luck. I wish I could've seen more...." Bruno shuts the door, leaving Mirabel alone in the dark, hallway.

"Yeah..." Mirabel agrees solemnly.