Like Emeralds [Bruno Madrigal x Reader]

Ch. 1

"Are you ready to go, Hija?" You heard your mother call from the front room. "We are going to be late!" "Y-yeah! Give me a moment-!" Your little voice answered, grunting as you struggled to put your nice shoes on the right way. Hearing your mother call for you to only made you panic and get frustrated in your rush. You didn't want to be late; you couldn't miss your friend's ceremony! Whatever it was.. Pepe never told you specifically what it was for, only that it was super-duper important. And if Pepe was that excited about it, then it must be a big deal! Though... Pepe gets excited about the smallest things. The other day, Pepe spent ten minutes ranting to you and her siblings about a cool trick she saw one of the towns people do with breathing fire. She knew it wasn't real, but she still loved it nonetheless. And you didn't mind listening, Pepe somehow managed to make the plainest things sound interesting. Juliette however, did seem a bit bored during the rant- but let her sister go on. And Bruno seemed distracted, half listening while watching their mother making them food with some help from the house they lived in. It was alive! A magical house, Ca.. sita Bruno said the name was? Weird that a house had a name, but then again magic houses are just as uncommon.

Your mother entered your room, smiling softly at the sight of you struggling to put on your shoes on the floor of your bedroom. She took a couple steps in, and kneeled down to your height. You paused to look at her, feeling her hands cover yours; "The shoes go the other way," She switched the shoes in the opposite position than you were trying to get them on, "Like this." You watched her hands, and when trying to put on your shoes now, they fit. Your cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and you gave a nervous smile, "I.. I knew that." Your mother laughed, hooking her hands under your arms and lifting your small body up. She rested you against her side, brushing (h/c) locks from your face, "Let's hurry now, Alma is waiting." You gave a small nod, grabbing onto her dress as you both set off to the Madrigal house.

Once walking up the small hill to Casita, you tried looking around for your friends. But all that seemed to greet you and your mom was Alma, smiling gently with a burning candle. Your eyes widened a bit, tilting your head as you took in how the candle seemed to be decorated. The wax seemed to be carved into ever so carefully, with a butterfly catching your attention. Your mother set you down onto the ground, holding onto your hand as you both went to say hi to your friend's mother. When getting to her, your mother let go of you to give Alma a friendly side hug- in which she leaned into the embrace since her hands were full. Alma looked down to you, "Pepe, Julliette and Bruno are inside- they'll be thrilled that you could make it." You smiled, nodding. The house's doors opened by itself, Casita welcoming you inside as your mother and Alma began chatting. You quickly pattered inside, brushing your dress free of dust and wrinkles on the way.

Walking into Casita, you stopped in your tracks at the darkened house- three doors that had not been there before glowing, waiting at the top of a staircase that had also not been there before. You blinked, watching the bright embers waving and gently dancing around each door. Was... this why you were coming here? "Y/N!!!!!!" A familiar happy squeal sounded, and before you could look to see- you were blindsided, enveloped in a tight hug by the one and only Pepe. With your size differences, she managed to lift you up a little and spin you around. You gave a startled squeak, hugging onto her frame just in fear of being dropped. Even if it's a couple inches of so. "P-Pepe-!" "I CAN'T BELEIVE YOU MADE IT! YOU'LL BE SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT MAMA HAS PLANNED WE GET DOORS AND MAGIC AND-" "Pepe! P-pepe slow down!" You meant that both for her speaking, and her spinning. All vases and pots you saw began to multiply and become fuzzy, much like your churning little stomach.

Pepe snapped out of it, and quickly set you down; though kept her hands at your shoulders so you didn't stumble. You didn't blame her for holding on, you felt like your knees would buckle if not for her hold. "O-oh! Sorry, Y/n." Pepe gave a nervous chuckle, keeping her excited smile, "I'm just happy you can be here."

You gave a weak nod, really hoping you looked as sincere as you felt, but.. which Pepe should you be looking at..? There was three. Wait... one looked different than the rest. "Julliette?" A soft chuckle came as your reply, and you rubbed your eyes in hopes of seeing straight again. It did help some, and looking back up; you took notice of how formally dressed the girls were. Both wore pretty white dresses, Pepe's being just a bit frillier. Her ginger hair- still a bit frizzy despite the hopes of being tamed- was in her normal braid, white flowers decorating each knot down until the hair tie. Julliette had a simple white rose tucked behind her ear, but her hair seemed to have been very carefully combed and fluffed out. You smiled, bringing your hands to your chest, "You both look so pretty!" Your own dress had seemed was too casual compared to theirs.

Both smiled bashfully, Pepe giving a small twirl to show off more of her elegant dress. "So.. what is this about magic doors?" You asked gently, tilting your head as your gaze was drawn back to the three soon to be doors- still glowing in a trancing way. Pepe opened her mouth to speak, but Julliette beat her to it, "Mama says that the miracle, the one that gave us Casita and Encanto is going to be passed onto us." Her tone was soft, and she occasionally paused to think on her words, as if trying to remember specifically what their mother had told them, "The miracle will give us... gifts, to further the magic and the Encanto." Even if your gaze had not left the doors, a look of awe passed over your face. That was something to celebrate. Parting your lips, all you could muster to say was a whispered 'wow' in a breathless tone.

When you looked back to them, you were more excited now than before, "What gifts do you think you'll get? What do you think it means?" Your chest felt lighter as the excitement and curiosity grew, "Is Bruno getting one too?" It was a silly question. Why would there be three doors if only Pepe and Julliette are getting gifts? At the mention of the triplet's youngest, Pepe and Julliette shared short glances to one another. That was enough to make your smile faulter, was something wrong with him? You couldn't ask, or hadn't the chance before Pepe huffed and crossed her arms, "If he shows up! We can't find him anywhere." That faltered your smile further, "Can't... find him?" Julliette shook her head, "Mama told us to get dressed, and Bruno hasn't shown up since me and Pepe were done." "He can't still be getting dressed, it's been an hour!" Pepe pouted.

Nodding to yourself, you looked once more around what you could see of Casita, "Where.. have you looked?" "Our soon to be old room, the kitchen, the backyard- EVERYWHERE!" Pepe exclaimed, now beginning to pace. Looking to Julliette, it was clear that Pepe was exaggerating about 'everywhere', but you didn't dare to correct the ginger haired girl. You sucked in a small breath, releasing it in a little sigh. "Can I try...? Surely he hasn't left the house."

Both looked to you, then each other, then back to you with hesitant nods. You smiled once more, "You guys can help too! If we split up, we are bound to find him somewhere."

In due time, after the three of you had split up; you were wandering the halls of Casita by yourself. It felt weird to be on your own, everything seemed much more towering alone than with someone else. Maybe just because you never take full notice when your attention was on something else. Your steps were quiet, only your shoes making gentle clicking noises as the hard bottom met the tiles. The glowing doors were even more entrancing up close, giving you a sense of beckoning and... well, magic is the best way you could describe it. Pausing before the last one, before the hall rounded off in another direction; you gazed at the towering door illuminated by embers. It was hard not to stare at them, like a moth to a flame, it was just too... memorizing to look away. Only did some shuffling to your side were you able to look away, but.. nothing was in the direction you heard the small noise.

Taking a step further, you saw the movement this time, the painting beside the door you stood at shifted ever so slightly. Raising a brow, you walked closer to the painting. It was about the size of you, maybe even a bit bigger with the fancy frame included. You placed a hand on the side of the frame, very gently wiggling the painting to see if it was just your imagination. And if it was, you hopefully wouldn't knock it over and break it. To your luck, and fear, it was not part of your imagination. The painting swung silently open to reveal a hole in the wall, a... doorway to small space between the walls. And within, you managed to make out the light reflecting off of familiar dark curls. You had found him.

Bruno was on the ground, hugging his knees while a rat was sitting on his arms- squeaking a little bit. He too was wearing all white, though it had to be getting dusty from being in here. He looked in your direction as the light peeked through, his doe eyes meeting your curious ones. Slightly, his eyes widened, and his mouth opened to speak- but nothing came out. Not right away.