𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 | 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻. 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯

"𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻"

𝘆/𝗻'𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘃
𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴....

"Tío Bruno?" Mirabel called expectantly, waiting for him to answer her questions. "You were never supposed to see that vision. No one was." Bruno said.

"A little salt...." he murmured, throwing some behind him and into Mirabel's face. She wiped it off and almost gagged at the taste.

"Sugar...." he continued. I got the same experience, only mine was much sweeter. "Bruno why....?" I trailed off. Nevermind. I don't wanna know.....He began speaking random words in Spanish and playing hop scotch with the floorboards. This guy is a very interesting person....

Mirabel and I both looked at the wall to the left, where many cracks in it had been sealed. "Have you been in here....patching the cracks?" she asked him.

Bruno turned around and looked at the wall. "Oh that? No, I'm too scared to go near those walls. All the patching is done by Hernando."

I frowned and gazed at the wall. "Who's Hernan-"

"I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing!" a strange voice cut me off and I looked at Bruno, seeing him with his hood up, covering his eyes. He pulled off the hood and laughed slightly. "It's actually me."

I giggled. Bruno is not like Camilo's description....at all....

"I used to say my real gift was acting." Bruno said with a chuckle. I blinked and suddenly there was a bucket on his head and a pointy object in his hand. "I'm Jorge and I make the spackle." Mirabel grimaced. "How long have you been....back here?" I only laughed.

Soon, we reached a place that must've been Bruno's room. Or house.

There was some clothes hanging on a roped laundry rack, a rotted armchair, a table and seat, and miscellaneous items scattered everywhere. There were also rats all over the room. "You never left...." I concluded with a shiver. Imagine living in a wall....

"Well, I left my tower! Which was, you know....a lot of stairs. And in here? Eh! Kitchen adjacent!" Bruno replied, holding up a piece of bread.

"Ooh, ooh! Plus free entertainment!" He picked up a rat and set it on a small stage that was placed on a barrel. "So, so what do you like Y/N? Mirabel? Do you like sports? Game shows? Telenovelas?" He switched the backdrop with each suggestion before collapsing into his armchair. "Their love could never be."

"I like Hamilton." I stated truthfully. Maybe Camilo and I should discuss that sometime....

"I don't understand." Mirabel said. "Well, because she's his aunt," Bruno explained. "and she has amnesia. So, she can't remember that she's his aunt. It's like a very forbidden kind of-" Mirabel cut him off, just when it was getting good....

"I don't understand....why you left but didn't....leave....?"

"Oh, well, because the mountains around Encanto are pretty tall and, uh, like I said: free food and everything...." Bruno answered, giving a rat the piece of bread. "Yeah, you guys love the free food, don't you? Always hungry. Never satisfied."

I hesitantly stroked one of the rats with my finger. It squeaked happily and I smiled. "Oh, that's Kevin. Denise's uncle's brother-in-law." Bruno informed. "Nice." I replied, biting my lip to contain my grin.

Seeing Mirabel examining something, I walked over to her. She was looking through a small sliver of a gap in the wall, where you could see the dining room where the family gathered to eat. I looked down at Bruno's little table and saw a drawing of one of the plates the Madrigals always used, his name carved below it. My heart broke then and I teared up.

I turned around to look at Bruno, both of us with big, sad eyes. "My gift wasn't helping the family....but I love my family, you know?"

Not saying anything, I just pulled him into a hug, taking him by surprise. I shut my eyes tightly, a few tears escaping as I mumbled "Yeah...."

"I just don't know how to....I just don't know how to...." he stuttered as I pulled away. He smiled at me and sat down. "I think you should go because....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....'"

"Why was I in your vision?" Mirabel asked, kneeling beside his chair. "Tío 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."

"I can't tell you," Bruno said. "because I don't know." He stood up and began placing pieces of the vision on a tray. "I had this vision the night you didn't get your gift. Abuela worried about the magic so she begged me to look into the future and see what it meant. And I saw the magic in danger. Our house breaking. And then....I saw you. But the vision was different....it would change. There was no one answer. No clear fate. Like your future was undecided. But I knew how it was gonna look and I knew what people would think because I'm Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst. So...."

"You....left....to protect me?" Mirabel asked, a shaky voice as she looked at the rebuilt vision. She turned it from side to side, showing the two different outcomes.

"I don't know which way it'll go....but my guess?" Bruno said. "The family, the encanto, and the fate of the miracle itself? Well it's all gonna come down to you."

After a moment of silence, he took the tray out of her hands and set it down. "Or maybe I'm wrong! You know, it's a mystery. That's why this vision is...." He blew a raspberry and gave a thumbs down.

Bruno took Mirabel and I by the shoulders, guiding us to the door. "Look, if I could help anymore, I would. But that's all I know."

I looked back at him with grateful eyes, glad he could help us as much as he did, while Mirabel only looked sad and worried. "Good luck. I wish I could've seen more." He patted me on the shoulder and closed the door.

Prepared to go, I started walking back out of the passage, not wanting to disturb Bruno anymore. Though, I didn't want him to stay in these walls all alone anymore. At least he had the rats.

Clearly, Mirabel had other plans.

She burst back into Bruno's house and started rambling about seeing more and having another vision. I went back inside to see her practically chasing him around the room as Bruno picked up the nearest object- an old broom- for defense. Mirabel yanked it out of his hands, still telling him to do another vision.

Bruno fell on the ground before hopping back up. "Look, even if I wanted to- which I don't- you wrecked my vision cave! Which is a problem because I need a big open space."

"We'll find one!" Mirabel pressed. "Where?" Bruno challenged back.

"Use my room." a child's voice suddenly came from the doorway. I looked to see Antonio standing there surrounded by animals. "The rats told me everything- don't eat those." He stopped his leopard from eating a rat.

"Our family needs help." Mirabel told Bruno. "And you need to get out of here." I added. He looked over at the rats on his table. "Yeah...."

Me considering writing a Bruno fanfiction after these chapters-

Thank you all so much for all the love on this book :)