To Fall Apart, To Reunite

Bruno

Bruno yelped in surprise and clung to the back of his chair, staring at Antonio. He didn't know how he found him, or how he knew about his new room, but he did know this: this was not how he wanted to meet his nephew.

He watched his gift ceremony through the painting next to Dolores' room, his fingers crossed it didn't go badly. 

He smiled when he saw Mirabel take Antonio's tiny hand and lead him up to his door. He was proud of his sobrina for being so brave after her own ceremony, putting Antonio first.

He sighed in relief and leaned against the concrete as the animals of the jungle ran up to him, while a glowing, golden image of him surrounded by animals appeared on the door. 

He had always hoped he'd meet his youngest sobrino one day. Just not like this.

"Um, hi Tio Bruno!"
"Wha- bu- h-how did you find me?"

"The rats told me everything. I asked them to bring me to see you, I wanted to talk to you!" Antonio smiled shyly at his Tio.

"Um, okay?" Bruno relaxed, sitting back down. It was only little Antonio. He beckoned for his nephew to come over to him. "Come here, what do you want?"

Antonio clambered onto his uncle's lap, while Bruno wrapped his right arm around him. Antonio's big brown eyes fixed on the tray of shards.

"You wanna know about the vision, huh?"

"Mhmm," he frowned, his pouting lips wobbling.

"Why is Mirabel in your vision, Tio? She'd never hurt anyone, I know she wouldn't, he loves us all so much! Even Isabela and they fight all the time! And why did you leave? And why did Victoria, Sofia and Alejandro say nobody was meant to see it?"

Bruno sighed, taking the tray and starting to arrange the shards.

"Well, here's what happened, Antonio. The night Mirabel didn't get a gift, your Abuela was worried about the magic, so she asked me to look into the future and see what it meant.

But when I did, I saw the magic in danger, and the house breaking apart. And in the centre of it all, I saw Mirabel. But this vision was different from any other one I'd done. There was no clear answer, like the future was undecided.

But I knew how it was going to look. I'm Bad Luck Bruno, and I make bad things happen. So, I disappeared," Bruno sighed, tilting the tray left and right, making the cracks in the house disappear and reappear.

"You left to keep Mirabel safe?"

"I don't know what's going to happen, but my guess is, the family, the magic, the fate of the miracle itself, well, it's all down to Mirabel. But I'm still not sure, it's been ten years! If only I could have seen more..."

Antonio frowned, before he lit up with an idea.

"Then why don't you have another vision!"

Bruno snapped out of his thoughts, sharply turning his head to look at him.

"What?"
"Yeah! Then you can see more of the future, and then maybe this vision will make more sense!"

"I'm not sure about that, Tonito. I can't use my room anymore, and I need a lot of space to do visions."
"You can use my room! It's a really big jungle, with lots of space for the animals!"

"Uh-"
"Please, Tio Bruno?" Antonio begged, putting on his puppy dog eyes.

Bruno tried to remain strong, but it was useless. Five sets of big brown and hazel eyes had worn him down over the years.

"..... Fine," he relented, as Antonio squealed. "Come on then, let's get to your room."

Bruno took Antonio's hand and led him back out into the passageways.

"You know, you look really like your sister when you do those puppy dog eyes."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. When she and Isabela were little, all they had to do was flash those eyes at somebody, and they'd get whatever they wanted!"

Antonio giggled. "And what about Camilo? What was he like?"

"Well, he was very mischievous, always playing pranks on everyone. And at mealtimes, he'd always shapeshift into Dolores and Mirabel to try and get seconds!"
"He still does that now!"
"Really?"
"Mhmm, he did it this morning!"

After a few minutes, the two had made it back to the painting. Bruno helped Antonio down and the two darted into Antonio's room as quietly as they could. But just as Antonio shut the door, a piece of folded paper fell out of his pocket.

"Oh, hey, Antonio, you dropped this," Bruno handed him the paper.

"Oh, Mirabel's letter!"
"Letter?"
"Yeah, I saw it when I was leaving my room, but I wanted to go see you first, so I was just gonna read it later!"

"Hmmm, tell you what. It takes me a while to set up to do a vision, so why don't you read the letter while I get it ready?"
"Okay!"

Antonio sat down on a nearby rock and unfolded his letter.

————

Dear Antonio,
I know this all must seem really confusing, with the miracle fading, and everyone's gifts going out of control, but it'll all be okay. I'm gonna take a little break, away from the encanto, and hopefully the magic and the miracle will be okay. I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but don't worry about me. I've asked Dolores and Camilo to look out for you while I'm gone. You'll be okay without me, I know you and your animal friends will find an amazing way to help the community.
Love, Mirabel

————

Antonio stared down at the paper, his brown eyes wide. Mirabel's leaving? She can't leave! Everyone will be sad!

He started sobbing, tears dripping down his face.

"Alright Antonio, that's everything I need to-" Bruno stopped to see his nephew sobbing his eyes out.

"Hey, hey, Tonito, what's wrong?" Bruno rushed over, pulling Antonio into his lap and stroking his hair to try to calm him down. "It's okay, I can do the vision now and we can help Mirabel. Whatever's wrong, I'm sure it can be fixed."

"W-we can't h-help M-Mirabel, s-she's l-leaving!!"

"What?!?!"
"Mhm, s-she said so in her l-letter," Antonio whimpered, his little hands shaking as he handed him the letter.

Bruno took the letter and scanned over it.

"Oh, no no no no! Dios, this wasn't supposed to happen!"
"What are we gonna do now, Tio?"

"I really don't know, Antonio," Bruno answered.

The two stayed like that for a few minutes, before Antonio spoke up.

"Do you think Mirabel left letters for everyone else?"
"I don't know, maybe. Do you want to go see?"
"Mhmn."
"Okay, let's go see," Bruno set Antonio on his feet and took one of his hands, Antonio still clutching his letter.

But just as they got out of the jungle, they heard the thunder of footsteps, and the door burst open.

And Dolores, Camilo, Luisa and Isabela stood there in shock.