We Don't Talk About Bruno: What if Bruno had a Daughter?

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Dolores watched as the rest of the family discussed what to do next, but she didn't pay any attention, she was too busy listening to the exchange between (Y/N) and her parents. Dolores knew where they were, but didn't bother to tell anyone their location.

Abuela was too busy trying to decide what to do next, and by now the townspeople had woken, soon enough they would come knocking on the door. Dolores thought about what she wanted to do, after all, she had all the cards.

She could tell the family where (Y/N) was, she could tell them the whole story behind Maria, she could do all of these things. But that didn't mean she would.

"Dolores,"

She looked up at the sound of her name, Camilo was looking at her and as the rest of the family turned to face her, Dolores couldn't help but feel a sense of power. After all she knew things that they didn't.

"Yes?"

"Can you, like, hear (Y/N)?"

The question caught her slightly off guard, and she took a second to pretend to listen for the voice of her cousin. But she was really deciding whether to reveal (Y/N)s location or keep it hidden. Eventually Dolores decided that no harm would come of them knowing,

"Yes..." She paused, pretending to listen again, "She's by the river."

Abuela's face paled at her words, Dolores knew very well that this was where Abuelo Pedro had died. The family fell silent as Abuela considered what to do with the new information,

"Someone should go find her." Mirabel spoke up, "(Y/N) wasn't trying to hurt anyone, and we need to make sure she's ok." She was insistent on the fact that (Y/N) didn't mean to do anything on purpose.

"How do we know that she wasn't trying to hurt someone?!" Thunder rumbled and Pepa yelled over the wind, "Dolores said she was visiting Bruno in the walls, how do we know that she wasn't visiting anyone else?!"

"Pepa..." Julietta took her sister's hand, "(Y/N) would never do anything to hurt us... don't you think that... you accusing her might have scared her? Or caused her to lose control of her powers? You of all people should know what it's like."

Pepa looked at Julietta, a mix of emotions on her face, considering her sister's words.

"I think you should go find her," Abuela said, "Maybe it will help if you apologise."

"Fine." Rain poured down and lightning sparked as Pepa made her way to the front door.

"I'll come too." Mirabel followed Pepa out the door, and Dolores listened to their voices as they walked towards the mountains.

She quietly exited the dining room and made her way to the stairs. Dolores wanted to go back to her room, but her fathers voice stopped her.
"Dolores? Cariño where are you going?"

"Back to my room, I have a headache." Dolores knew that her father wouldn't question her further, he knew that she suffered from headaches, but she had learned to ignore them.

The constant voices were always present, and nothing helped. Sometimes she wished she was like Mirabel, without a gift holding her back.
Dolores was quiet, she had to be. To yell or make any loud noise hurt her ears, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be loud. People tended to whisper when she walked by, but she could still hear them talking about her behind her back. Dolores knew so many secrets it was sometimes a torcher. So she had learned not to think about it too much, but it was still hurtful when the villagers gossiped about her.

Now that Dolores thought about it, she might just be better off without her gift. But there wasn't a way to get rid of the merical without hurting the rest of the family, But... wouldn't it be better without the magic?

Abuela only saw as far as the gifts the rest of the family possessed, she didn't have a gift of her own and she expected the feast of the Madrigals to be perfect all the time, to help all the time.

Pepa had a constant rain cloud over her head when she was upset, making her bad mood visible to everyone around her, her clothes were constantly wet, and Dolores had often heard the other villagers complain about Pepa.

Juiletta had to heal people, she was expected to do so. Dolores knew that Juiletta hated seeing injured people, but she had to in order to help. And no one ever seemed to think about whether or not she wanted to help, they just expected it of her. 

Bruno was basically exiled because of his gift, and because he didnt see who Maria was connected with, people seemed to think that when he saw something it automatically made it happen, but she knew that he just saw what was destined to happen. Buno had no control over the futcher, he simply warned you about it.

Isabela was expected to be perfect because of her gift, she was "the golden child" as Mirabel put it, but Dolores knew that Isa didn't like being perfect, as a matter of fact, she hated it.

Luisa's gift seemed like it would be great, but she was expected to help the villagers with the simplest tasks, Dolores often heard her saying how there was too much pressure. But no one seemed to notice.

Camilo had to be other people, the villagers always needed someone other than him, they might need someone tall, or someone strong, but never Camilo himself. To Dolores it seemed like Camilo had to be others and didn't get a chance to be himself.

Abuela seemed to judge (Y/N) because of her parents, and so did the rest of the family. If they had no merical Bruno would have never had problems and (Y/N) wouldn't think people saw her as who she could be, not who she was.

And Mirabel, she had always been looked down upon because she had no gift, people seemed to think that she was less capable, less special than the rest of the familia. But Dolores would rather have no gift than have super hearing, or any of the other gifts. Maybe they really were better off without magic, maybe it would be better without the merical, without the casita, without the expectations people put on them.