Encanto: Bruno Madrigal x Oc

New Chapter: I Miss You

It had been a little over a week and there was still no sign of Bruno. The entire family had searched everywhere they possibly could, even recruiting the help of the entire village. However, in the end, they only turned up empty handed.

The Madrigals were trying not to lose hope, but it was difficult under such circumstances. Most of them were still uncertain as to what caused him to leave in the first place.

Emilia had started using her old room again; she didn't like being reminded that he was no longer there with her. In fact, she had hardly left her room for the past week and the family was becoming concerned.

The children, Mirabel especially, were wondering about their tía Emilia.

"Is she okay?" They would ask.

It was a difficult question to answer.

"She.... things are difficult right now" The adults told them.

What else could one say?

Julieta and Pepa went to check on Emilia, as had become a habit for them. They brought a fresh tray of food, hoping that their friend would eat some of it. Next to the food, there was even a tiny little vase full of flowers that Isabela created.

Recently, whenever anyone suggested that Emilia ate, she would always be stubborn, claiming that she wasn't hungry. Sometimes, if they were lucky, she would give in and slowly eat a small portion of what she was offered. That was the best anyone could hope for these days.

Julieta and Pepa walked into Emilia's room and moved towards the bed. Placing the tray on a bedside table, the two sisters sat down by Emilia; she didn't acknowledge their presence.

No one spoke. It was almost too quiet.

Pepa was the first to break the silence.

"I miss him too" Pepa admitted after a moment, a raincloud starting to appear.

"We all do" Julieta added, running her hand through Emilia's hair in a soothing gesture.

Emilia eventually spoke.

"I feel so lost". She said softly.

They all did.

In time, there was a slow improvement and Emilia eventualy tried to cope by throwing herself into her work; she figured that if there was less time to think then perhaps she would begin to feel better.

This was more or less the case; there were small improvements, but she still very much had a lot to work through. What was odd however, was the fact that at the end of each day, she was always way more tired than she normally should have been.

"Maybe you're working too hard?" Pepa suggested to her.

"Give yourself a break!" Félix agreed.

There were additional changes that Emilia and the other Madrigals noticed.

For example, Emilia had, despite not eating as often, appeared to be gaining some weight.

"I must be getting too lazy with the exercise" She joked with Félix and Agustín, ignoring the fact that her job primarily involved swimming and sometimes heavyish lifting.

The rest of the family also noticed Emilia's increased moodiness; an evident lack of patience of which she would typically have plenty. They assumed it was because she still missed Bruno.

One evening, Emilia was in the kitchen helping Julieta and Pepa prepare dinner. The Madrigals would always take turns helping Julieta in the kitchen. Dinner was almost ready and Emilia was carrying some plates to the dining room.