I Would Have You In My Dreams Forevermore (Bruno Madrigal x female reader)

Talking Things Through

The jungle I'm Antonio's dreams was always a stark contrast to the swirling mist of Bruno's. They both were very green dreamscapes but Antonio's always seemed brighter. I found him tending to the animals he dreamt up and I touched his nose, allowing him to lucid dream.

"Tia!" He said joyfully! "Ramona was just wondering when you would be here!"

I looked at the jaguar and smiled. "Hola, Ramona!"

"She missed you!" He said as the jaguar rubbed herself against me.

Antonio's dreams were the ones I had most often visited. Felix often left his youngest with me when Pepa needed help, which meant lots of nap times and having a young kid fall asleep on me. I petted the familiar jaguar and Antonio told me about the story I missed out on when I talked to Mirabel.

"And tio did a twist ending!" Antonio said excitedly. "You were right, he is good at stories!"

"Your Tio Bruno's true gift was acting!" I said trying to mask my sadness for the empathetic five year old.

"Yours is being the best tia ever!" He said giving me a warm hug.

"The best tia ever, huh?" I asked and he nodded, clambering onto my lap.

"You give the best hugs, make the best cocoa, and protect everyone. You are the best!" He said and I felt a twinge in my chest as I remembered everything I said as I cried in the hammock.

"Gracias, Tonito!" I said and kissed his hair. "You're such a cool kid."

"I want to be as cool as you! Like Dolores! You are so awesome!"

I felt that twinge again, and realized what it was. Guilt. Guilt for not seeing things clearly, for driving Bruno to have to take a step back. I held in a sigh and smiled at my sobrino.

"Well then we will have to find you a cool hobby, maybe with animals since you love them so much!"

"I wanna learn about like animal prints and stuff!" He said with a smile.

"That would be fun, like an adventure!" I said enthusiastically.

"I could be the next hero of Tio Bruno's stories! Going on adventures and saving people like you and Mira."

"I don't go on adventures, silly. That's Mirabel's thing."

"Tio said his story was about you though." He said confused. "A girl who went on a big adventure to fall in love and fight for him."

"What was the big twist then?" I asked, now honestly interested.

"She had to learn to love herself."

My gut twisted. Bruno must have known what was happening before he came outside, then. He planned on us trying to figure ourselves out first. Antonio noticed my change in demeanor and hugged me.

"But tia!" He smiled, "You will never love you as much as me!" He challenged.

"And how much do you love me?" I asked.

He held out his arms to show how much, stretching out his fingers. "This much!" He said then wrapped his arms around me. I smiled into his hair and let a warm feeling that hadn't settled in my chest in a long time find its home again. The dim ember of that warm feeling was small, but I didn't want it to go out again.

Antonio let me know when he felt like he was waking up, and we opened our eyes together. He leaped at me and I let out a surprised yelp as he hugged me.

"That's always so cool, tia! I like it when you are in my dreams!" He said happily.

"That's good." I said with a small smile.