**A/N: Welp I'm back everyone! Please enjoy the following chapter because I had SO MUCH FUN writing it! Also, please feel free to leave likes and comments! I love reading those you guys, seriously! So. Many. PICTURES 😆😆😆**
"Mirabel?"
The girl turned when she heard you call her name, her hand-embroidered shoulder bag clutched tightly in her hands. You'd just walked out of your room, before Camilo, and caught sight of your closest friend standing numbly in the center of the hallway. She stared off into the view of the mountains bordering the Encanto, as though she had a chance to find some kind of deep-rooted answer out there if she looked hard enough. Her eyes void of all expression contrasted the image of her smile, which you knew was simply out of a courtesy.
"Y/n," she greeted, her knuckles turning white around the strap of her bag. "You alright?"
Forcing yourself to believe Mirabel didn't know about your injury, you shrugged nonchalantly and nodded your head.
"Yeah. Got a nap in and let myself rest a bit. But what about you? You look tense."
As if by simply hearing the word, Mirabel's shoulders stiffened and her back straightened up to resemble a board. Her eye twitched uncomfortably, and you narrowed a skeptic eye on her.
"Mirabel, what's bothering you? You've been off all day."
The girl's face twisted into that state of confliction from earlier that morning, and she looked at you with something in her eye you didn't recognize. It was like a mix between dread and the desire to let go of some of the weight bearing down on her shoulders. You rested a soothing hand on your friend's shoulder, which brought Mirabel's eyes up to look at you.
"Y/n...I'm not sure I can tell you. Err...ask you, actually."
"Mirabel."
You'd hoped that would get her to say something, and much to your surprised delight, Mirabel Madrigal was weak when it came to that tone of voice. Especially from you, or Julieta.
"Okay...but we have to go somewhere private. I don't want anyone else hearing." You paused to raise a finger to interject an opposition to the statement, but Mirabel beat you to naming the technicality. "Other than Dolores." Nodding, you allowed Mirabel to lead you into her room, which was basically just the nursery with a little added touches of Mirabel's.
You still remembered the year you'd stayed in this room, sharing a bed with Mirabel while Camilo slept on the other one on the opposite side of the room. The many sleepless nights the three of you had shared filled your heart with nostalgia as you looked around at the tarnished wallpaper, covered in drawings and crayon marks. And the one little hole in the wall from when you'd first arrived, and threw a punch at the wall. In your own defense, you were incredibly frustrated with the fact that you didn't remember anything.
Watching as Mirabel closed the door behind you, you sat yourself on Mirabel's bed and waited for her to talk to you about whatever was going on with her. She'd been acting strange lately, ever since Antonio's gifting ceremony, and you wanted to know if she was okay.
"You're probably gonna think I'm crazy," she began, pulling her bag over her head and holding it in her arms. You could hear something like glass clinking within, and you stretched upward to try and peer inside, but she held it closed, and close to her stomach. She chewed on her bottom lip, thinking up a hot pot of words to try and explain to you what had happened. What she'd found.
"What makes you say that?"
Taking a seat beside you, Mirabel finally let you peek into her bag. You sucked in a breath and widened your eyes at the sight of several shattered pieces of emerald glass, pale white images reflecting back at you. They radiated an eerie green glow, much like the vision Bruno had shown you just last night, of your future. Undecided. Interpretable. You recalled him telling you of the vision he'd given Mirabel, and how he'd left that behind in his vision cave before running away. That meant Mirabel had to have snuck in earlier and found it. But...why?
"Mirabel—"
"Look, I know what you're thinking. I'm not crazy, alright? I snuck into Bruno's tower and found his last vision, because Luisa told me that it might somehow be connected to those cracks I saw last night at Antonio's ceremony, and if there's a way to fix whatever's hurting the magic, then I need to find it! I need...to save the miracle..."
You stared at Mirabel in silence as she let everything spill out, and you could see something breaking in her eyes. You knew Mirabel better than most anyone else in the world. She'd never wanted anything more than to make her family proud. Even if she didn't have a gift, she always wanted to help. She always wanted to be accepted as a Madrigal, and do just as much as any of the others. She would never lie to you.
"Mira...I don't think you're crazy." She looked up at you with hopeful eyes, her green-rimmed glasses slipping down her nose. You smiled and pushed them up with one finger, as her hands were still clutched around the bag. "I'm the one who's crazy," you told her jokingly. "You're not. I believe you."
A wide smile broke out across your friend's face, and she closed up her bag and slipped it back over her shoulder.
"No one else would, I'd guess." You shrugged apologetically, and leaned back on your hands.
"I'm not gonna lie to you, they probably wouldn't. But I do. And I want to help you." Mirabel reached into her bag, and pulled out three pieces of Bruno's vision. You withheld the fact that you'd already talked to Bruno, but you really thought it was for the best. No matter how close you were with anyone...admitting that you'd talked to Bruno wasn't something you wanted painted on your back for the world to see. You weren't ashamed of him...but everyone else was. You couldn't risk Dolores hearing, either. So you said nothing.
Watching the three pieces move between Mirabel's hands, you couldn't help but notice something odd about the milky-white images flashing in and out of sight. The girl stood, and made her way over to her dresser. You followed, watching as she placed all three pieces flat on its surface. She slid the pieces into place, forming a picture of Mirabel. She stared straight forward at you, and Bruno's description of this vision echoed like a curse in your mind.
You could see Mirabel tensing beside you, and you stepped up close beside her, throwing an arm over her shoulders as a sort of support. You could feel the soothing warmth radiating off of you, and Mirabel visibly relaxed. She leaned forward with her hands on the dresser, staring down at the broken pieces of Bruno's last vision.
"Why am I in your vision, Bruno...?"
Just then, a loud clap of thunder sounded from the doorway, and you and Mirabel swung your bodies around to face the source of the noise. Pepa stood there with an empty crate in her hands, leaning to the side to try and see what you and Mirabel were looking at. You prayed she hadn't been there for long, as you hadn't even heard the door open.
"Tía, geez!" Mirabel exclaimed, cleverly leaning back against the dresser to obstruct Pepa's view of the shattered pieces. You did the same, reaching behind you inconspicuously to grab the shards and hide them behind your back.
"Sorry," she uttered nervously, walking into the room. A cloud floated above her, and she grunted as she set the crate down to grab it. "Shoo, shop, SHOO!" The cloud was flung into the hallway, and Pepa had to lean against the door to close it. As she did, you hurriedly shoved the vision back into Mirabel's bag, with her frantically helping you.
"I just wanted to get the last of Toñito's things, and then I heard..." she trailed off, glancing at the door from the corner of her eye. "The name. Which we do. Not. Speak." Pepa then looked up, and a thundering cloud appeared above her. She covered the ears of the teddy bear she'd been holding, looking up, annoyed, at the cloud. "Great, now I'm thundering. And a thunder will lead to a drizzle. And the drizzle will lead to a sprinkle...!" A forced smile stretched out on the woman's face, and she drew in several deep breaths.
"Clear skies," she recited to herself, sinking to the floor at the base of Antonio's former dresser. "Clear skies..." You shared a look with Mirabel, straightening your stance. Pepa continued what she'd come in to do, and emptied Antonio's dresser into the crate, starting from the bottom.
Mirabel cast a worrying glance at you, and you folded your hands behind your back. You looked between her and Pepa, simply watching the moments pass by.
"Tía Pepa? If Bruno..." she trailed off when another cloud settled above Pepa's head, and she went stiff. Mirabel's eyes darted to you in a panic, and she withdrew herself. You leaned forward, resting a warm hand on her shoulder.
"If...if he had a vision about you...what would that mean, exactly?" You weren't sure if you were asking more for Mirabel or for yourself at this point, but either way, you just wanted an answer. Bruno's prophecies had already impacted the both of you.
"We don't talk about Bruno," Pepa said through gritted teeth, wringing out a rag she'd pulled from the drawer, as it'd gotten wet thanks to that aggravating little cloud above her head.
"I know, it's just...hypothetically, if he "saw" you—"
"Y/n, please," Pepa pleaded, her expression stressing something deep in her heart, as though she were desperately trying to avoid the subject. "We need to get ready for the Guzman's."
You understood that no one ever talked about Bruno...but just once, maybe if they could talk about him, you'd get a true sense of why they all despised talking about him so much. You sure didn't mind talking to him! In all honesty, it made you wonder if Pepa truly despised talking about her brother, or if it simply pained her to do so. Maybe both?
"Tía," Mirabel interjected, "we just want to know if it was generally positive, maybe like a less positive—?"
"It was a nightmare!" Félix suddenly barged in, swinging the door open with such force Casita even startled. Mirabel had accidentally jumped back into you, and you tripped backwards into the dresser.
"Félix!" Pepa looked truly distraught, annoyed even, but her cloud had faded. Strange how that worked.
"Ey, they need to know, Pepi," Félix countered. "They need to know." Pepa jumped up to her feet, moving to her husband's side to try and shush him.
"We don't talk about Bruno."
Ignoring his wife, Félix proceeded.
"He would see something terrible, and then..." the man made several jumbled motions with his hands, making like a "crack-crack-crack-crack-ba-boom" noise as he gestured an explosion with his hands. "It would happen!"
"We don't talk about Bruno!" Pepa hissed, raising a finger up to her husband's lips.
"What if you didn't understand what he saw?" Mirabel persisted, a twinge of desperation lacing her voice.
"Well then you better figure it out," he warned, grabbing hold of Mirabel's arms, "because it was coming for you!"
Pepa moved to separate the two of them, looking as though she were about to scold poor Félix.
"We don't talk about Bruno-no-no-no-no," she sang. "We don't talk about Bruno~" She was pulled into a dance with Félix, and rested her hand on his right, whilst his left held her waist.
The four of you, though you couldn't explain how, were pulled into an environment that looked much like the town plaza, and both Pepa and Félix were wearing what seemed like wedding attire. Pepa carried on to sing the next line.
"But! It was my wedding day—"
"It was our wedding day!" Félix interrupted.
"We were getting ready, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky!"
Indeed, there were no clouds in said sky. You looked over at Mirabel, who was lost in the story just as much as you were. You didn't even mind the fact that you'd all somehow ended up in the past version of the town plaza.
"No clouds allowed in the sky."
"Bruno walks in with a mischievous grin—"
"THUNDER!"
Pepa rolled her eyes as a clap of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning, led in the storm to follow.
"You're telling the story, or am I?"
Félix took Pepa's hand in hers, and trailed his fingers along her arm up to her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Mi vida, go on~"
A strange thought came to mind that you hadn't thought of before. Camilo had called you that earlier, hadn't he?
"Bruno says it looks like rain."
"Why did he tell her~?"
"In doing so, he floods my brain!"
"Abuela gets the umbrella~"
"Married in a hurricane!"
A large gust of wind and rain blew you and Mirabel forward, and you each had to catch and steady each other to keep yourselves from falling.
"What a glorious day, but anyways!"
Both Félix and Pepa approached you, crouching and waving their hands in front of their faces. Mirabel grabbed your hand out of instinct, careful not to slip on the wet stone floor.
"We don't talk about Bruno-no-no-no-no. We don't talk about Bruno~!"
You swore, it only seemed like you'd simply turned around when you now found yourself standing behind Mirabel back in Casita, and Dolores popped up. What the heck, even?
"Hey! Grew to live in fear of Bruno stuttering and stumbling, I can always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling, I associate him with the sound of falling sand." She imitated the sound of said falling sand, and Mirabel whirled you around to where you now stood beside her. She was just as confused as you were, it seemed.
You weren't sure if it was a figment of your imagination, but you could almost swear you saw Bruno walking the halls in the background when you'd turned, an eerie green glow following him. Unfortunately, Dolores continued before you had the chance to look again.
"It's a heavy lift with a gift so humbling, always left Abuela and the family fumbling, grappling with prophecies they couldn't understand." Casita put up a small stack of steps, which Dolores ascended and landed on top with a little jump, before leaning in closer to you and Mirabel. "Do you understand?"
You just stopped questioning things when you suddenly turned and ended up in a dark tunnel, and Camilo himself appeared from the shadows. He shape-shifted into Bruno, but not the Bruno you'd just seen the night before. He was much taller, more...deranged-looking.
"Seven-foot-frame, rats along his back. When he calls your name, it all fades to black..." Back in his own skin, Camilo took your hand and twirled you, and you ended up facing the opposite direction from before. Though the exterior was disturbing to look at, you had to admit hearing Camilo sing was quite, ah...hot.
"Yeah he sees your dreams, and feasts on your screams..." A pit suddenly appeared under your feet, and you gasped as you fell. You somehow landed in Camilo's arms, and he rocked you a little before setting you down beside a bewildered Mirabel.
"We don't talk about Bruno-no-no-no-no. We don't talk about Bruno~" Leaving this strange little tunnel, you and Mirabel had passed by Félix and Dolores, and the two of you ended up back in the town plaza.
A woman approached you, and though you looked to your left expecting to see Mirabel there, she was nowhere to be seen. How'd you get separated? The woman carried on singing, holding a tank with a dead fish in it.
Seriously. What the heck.
"He told me my fish would die. The next day, dead!"
Villagers in the background provided an echo, and a series of "oh, no"s.
The man who'd delivered the basket to Mirabel before Antonio's ceremony walked up to you next.
"He told me I'd grow a gut, and just like he said!"
The priest came up next, holding a tupé.
"He said that all my hair would disappear, now look at my head..."
Every villager in the plaza began to approach you, circling you like vultures stalking their prey.
"Your fate is sealed when your prophecy is read!"
You turned again, and found yourself back in Casita. Only now, you were bathed in an obnoxiously familiar pink light, and Mirabel stood across the courtyard from you. You were surrounded by the villagers, and parts of the family who'd sung already. Everyone was looking up at Isabela on a swing. Of course.
"He told me that the life of my dreams would be promised and someday be mine~" Each of her words were short and separated, and her voice took on an air of soprano that she didn't have. But of course, she had to be perfect. You shared the same look of disbelief and annoyance as Mirabel.
"He told me that my power would grow like the grapes that thrive in the vine~" Of course, she landed effortlessly and gracefully, the pink lights from above fading away back to a state of natural sunshine. Courtesy of you.
"Oyé Mariano's on his way!"
Abuela's voice from outside sent an alarm siren to your brain, and you now shared a look of panic with Mirabel.
"He told me that the man of my dreams would be just out of reach..." Dolores' voice from above sang sadly, and you got a sneaking suspicion on who she was talking about. "Betrothed to another!" Yep. You definitely knew who she was talking about.
"It's like I can hear him now..."
Flowers suddenly bloomed everywhere, and you directed your attention to Isabela in front of you.
"Hey sis," she hissed at Mirabel. "I want not a sound out of you." She disregarded Mirabel, and cast you a look you didn't recognize. At least...not on her face.
"I can hear him now. I can hear him now!"
You looked at Mirabel, and she sang the next line.
"Uhm, Bruno..."
"Yeah, about that Bruno..."
She looked at you with determination, and around as if she were trying to find someone.
"We really need to know about Bruno!"
"Give us the truth, and the whole truth, Bruno~!"
You and Mirabel split, and you saw Camilo standing at the front door, which was wide open. You mentally panicked when you saw the Guzman's, and Abuela, approaching fast.
"Isabela, your boyfriend's here!" Camilo suddenly shifted into Mariano, flexing a bicep, and laughed. He shifted back into himself moments later, grabbing your hand as you heard the entire family start to sing their parts over each other, Camilo included.
As the table was being set, everyone sang their versions of Bruno's account over one another, creating a harmony of voices and parts. You found Mirabel in the doorway, and forced yourself to tear yourself away from the room to follow her back to hers.
The two of you ran up the stairs and swung open Mirabel's door, slamming it shut behind you. You created small floating specks of light above Mirabel's desk as she dumped out her bag all over the surface. A wave of dread washed over you for what Mirabel would find in that vision, drowning your gut in guilt. You stood at the door to ensure no one would barge in, as Mirabel pieces the vision together. The voices of the family echoed in your ears, rising in intensity as she got nearer to finishing the puzzle of broken glass.
"Why did I talk about Bruno~?" She sang, staring down in horror at the vision, which illuminated her figure in a sharp green glow.
"We never should have brought up Bruno..." You sang with regret, understanding perfectly why Bruno left. It would have crushed him to see this.
When all the music in the house faded to silence, all that could be heard now were Mirabel's shattered, broken breaths. You left your post at the door to stand behind her, peering over her shoulder at the vision. It was, indeed, an image of Mirabel standing before Casita, which was plagued with large cracks. Mirabel, of course, at the center of it all.
You were seconds away from trying to console your friend, maybe come clean about seeing Bruno, reassure her that this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately, her father chose this moment to barge into the room. He was in a good mood until he saw the vision.
"Miraboo! Hope you got your party pants on, 'cuz we're—"
The man's jaw practically dropped to the floor, and you and Mirabel failed miserably to hide the evidence. Casita even moved the desk behind you more, but Agustín had already seen it.
You and Mirabel had both started talking at once, creating an incomprehensible jumble of words.
"I...broke into Bruno's tower, I found his last vision, the family's in trouble, the magic is dying, the house is breaking, Luisa's gift is fading and I think it's all because of...me?" See, that was what Mirabel said.
You said something more along the lines of this: "So I know this looks bad, and you're probably gonna think this is bad, but it's not bad, it's Tío Bruno's last vision and it shows that Mirabel is gonna be the reason Casita crumbles but I really don't think that's the case because she might be the key to saving the miracle and please don't be mad?"
All in all, it sounded like a jumbled, panicky mess.
"Pa?" Mirabel's voice was small, and met by Agustín's blank stare at the vision. He separated you and Mirabel to look at it, but when the doorbell rang, all three of you looked between each other in a panic.
"We say nothing," he whispers, beginning to shove the pieces of the vision into his pockets. "Abuela wants tonight to be perfect. 'Til the Guzmans leave, you did not break into Bruno's tower, the magic is not dying, the house is not breaking, Luisa's gift is not fading, no one will know." He led both of you to the door, which squeaked open when your elbow accidentally hit it.
"Just act normal," he said. "No one has to know."
A small squeak could be heard from across the courtyard, and all three pairs of eyes directed themselves to a stunned Dolores, who of course, heard absolutely everything.
"I know," she says in a high-pitched voice, then squeaks as she rushes off to the dining room for dinner. Her eyes were blown wide, panicked.
"She's gonna tell everyone," Mirabel deadpans.
You could hear Abuela calling everyone down to eat, and Agustín stares at the spot where Dolores had been standing.
You cursed under your breath, though hopefully Agustín's exclamation covered it up well.
"Fuck."
Agustín's alternative? "Miercoles."
Already dreading the proceedings of the night, you shied away from Mirabel and her father, attempting to follow her down to the dining room, but not fast enough to evade Agustín's grasp on your arm.
"Y/n, if anything goes wrong—"
With Mirabel out of earshot, Agustín finally let true panic show on his face, and in his voice.
"I don't think she's the reason for everything wrong going on, Agustín," you interrupted, defiance shining brighter than the sun in your eyes.
"I know she's not, but if something goes wrong tonight—"
"It won't."
"Y/n," he said sternly, but softly. "If something goes wrong, I want you to know that, no matter what anyone says...you are just as much a Madrigal as any of us."
You were shocked by Agustín's words. It wasn't what you thought he would say. But you had to wonder why he was saying it.
"Why are you telling me this now, Agustín?"
A tremor developed in the man's hands, and he pulled you into a hug.
"If tonight doesn't go well, everyone will be looking for someone to blame. They'll go after Mirabel. Knowing you, amor, you'll stand up for her. Like you always have." He pulled away, resting his hands on your shoulders. You could feel the fear rising in your throat, and see it reaching his eyes. He was genuinely worried for you.
"Agustín—?"
"They'll direct that blame into distaste for you. They might try to tell you that you aren't a Madrigal. That you...don't matter. I don't want you to feel any less than any of us, amor. We love you. We truly do. Don't doubt that. If something goes wrong...you're still our family."
Listening to the man who'd helped watch after you for ten years, actually hearing his words, tears brimmed your e/c eyes and you looked at him with such a vulnerability you felt like you were five-years-old all over again. You nodded your head with a quivering lip, and smiled. This time, it was genuine.
"Gracias Tío Agustín..." you mumbled, letting yourself be swept up into another hug. You wouldn't know, but hearing you call Agustín "Tío" again after nearly six years sent a jolt of pure joy to his heart.
Though you dreaded what awaited you downstairs, you felt you were ready enough to tackle it head-on.
Well...maybe not head-on...but you'd do it. Honestly...how bad could it actually turn out to be?