A Marriage of Convenience: A Bruno Madrigal Encanto Fanfic

Chapter 7

Claudia hadn't really talked to Bruno in four days. He seemed to always be gone when she woke up and hadn't come down for any meals other than dinner. It felt like he was avoiding her and it hurt, and she was sure the others felt the same. It was as if he had just vanished into thin air. The girls were starting to get worried. So the night before, they had tried to get him out of his vision cave.

"Hey Bruno, want to come with us on a forest walk tomorrow? Claudia hasn't seen our little grove yet. I'm sure it would be nice to go out and get some fresh air," said Julieta with a concerned  look in her eye.

Bruno's eyes remained on his plate. He couldn't let the family know why he was doing what he was doing, but he also didn't want to hurt them. Which is what he guessed he was about to do.

"I've got some things to do. Lo siento. Maybe next time."

Pepa rolled her eyes and a light wind blew. "You haven't been out of that tower in a few days. You can spare some time."

He just shook his head. Why did they have to make it so difficult? They should understand he needed to do this. As Pepa grew more frustrated the wind picked up.

"I really can't. Lo siento."

He got up and left the table. The wind continued to pick up until things were being blown off the table, and Alma told Pepa to calm down. That night before she went to bed, Julieta knocked at the door to the living area.

"Can I come in?" 

Claudia opened the door and Julieta stepped in the room

 "I was wondering if you could figure out what is going on with Bruno. He usually doesn't lock himself in the vision tower specifically unless something is wrong."

Claudia was a bit confused.

"Why me? You're his sister and you know him better. I might just-"

"You might be just what he needs. He doesn't always wanna tell us everything, but you, well, you're a blank slate. He might confide in you."

Claudia nodded. When she put it like that, it made more sense.

"Alright, what do I need to do?"

*****

There were so many stairs. She took a seat on a step at the top. What was she even supposed to say when she got in there? Hi, what's wrong? No, that wouldn't work. She put her head in her hands and groaned. She had no clue what she was going to do. She stood up, walked across a small wooden bridge and through a small hallway to a big round door. She tried to ignore the creepy faces as she walked past. She could hear some sort of whooshing sound on the other side, so she knocked.

Meanwhile, Bruno was in the middle of a vision. He had been trying for days and still nothing. If he couldn't predict her future, how was he to predict instances like what happened the other day. He couldn't protect people if he didn't know the future and he couldn't see anything with her in it. It was infuriating! He just wanted everyone to be safe, but it was as if his gift was refusing to work with him, again. He was in the middle of yet another attempt when he heard it. A small knock from the other side, and a small voice.

"Hi, uh is everything okay? Can I come in?"

Oh shit it's her. He wasn't even paying attention to the vision at this point. Instead Bruno was trying to get to the many, many stacks of glowing tablets. When the vision ended he fell straight on his face. There was another knock.

"One second," he said as he spit out sand."I'm uh getting presentable."

He began to quickly move tablets over to a small section of the room. His movements were rushed as he began to slightly panic.

"Oh uh okay. I'll just wait here." Came from the other side of the door.

Maybe she wouldn't notice the giant pile of glowing tablets behind the door.

"Knock knock knock knock knock on wood."

*****

Eventually, Claudia heard a quiet "Come in," so she slowly opened the large heavy door inwards.

"Hey, I was just coming to check on you."

"Oh, I'm fine. Perfectly fine, so you can just-" he trailed off and rubbed his next.

"Cause your sisters and I are worried," Claudia started gaining confidence as she went, "First off you need to come to more meals cause one meal a day definitely isn't healthy."

"Ok, I can start coming down for breakfast." Bruno said before Claudia continued rambling. He was getting worried. The door seemed to be slowly closing and the darker it got the more obvious the green glow became. Luckily she seemed distracted and hadn't noticed yet.

"Also, you've been weirdly quiet and I was just wondering if everything is ok?" Claudia looked up at him, concerned, "I mean, I know you don't know me too well, but I'd like to try and change that since we're spouses and all. So you know, how are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine. In fact-"

SLAM!

The door finally closed and the room was bathed in an eerie green glow.

"What is- oh."

As she turned around Claudia saw a pile of glowing green tablets. They were in the space the door had covered when she opened it. She turned back to Bruno, who looked incredibly sheepish. Of course he had known about the pile. 

"Well then…..umm I was just gonna ask what you had been doing, but uh…but maybe I'll just go to bed and let you continue this." She took a small step back as she took a quick look over her shoulder at the pile. It was huge, so clearly he had been working incredibly hard.

"Claudia, wait!"

She turned back to him.

"I….I've been trying to try and predict the next bad thing that's going to happen," Bruno hand dropped his eyes and fidgetted with his hands,"I wasn't able to help the other day so I thought maybe...well maybe I could- It's stupid."

Claudia walked closer. "It is not stupid, and you did help the other day! Just because you didn't know about it doesn't make it your fault." 

"But I-"

"But nothing. Look, I'm not good at...this, but I could see how you tried that day. No one has ever tried to protect me like that. So, you know, don't be so hard on yourself."

Bruno smiled a little as he looked up at her. She really knew what to say and he really appreciated it. He was worried she would think he was crazy or, even worse, a freak. Instead she had understood why he had done it.

"Thanks. I uh really needed that," he said nervously.

Claudia gave him an awkward thumbs up.

"Anyways, I was just headed to bed, so if you'd like to join me at any point. I'll just be," she kinda gestured at the door as she walked towards it. Bruno thought for a second before-

"Wait, there is kinda an easier way."

He hit another brick on the wall and a sort of pulley contraption appeared.

"What is it with your room and hidden additions?"