It's been 10 years since the fall of Casita. 10 years since the Madrigal Family lost their Encanto, their home, their Miracles. But, unknown to them, one of the miracles remained safe, yet hidden.
• • •
Encanto AU inspired by @despairful.encounter...
The grass beneath Antonio's feet were carelessly crushed under his feet. He didn't care about the grass or the potential of waking his family or what his siblings and cousins thought of him. What he needed was:
Get to tio Bruno's room, he's probably up late writing the next season for Los desafortunados lazos entre Juanita y Carlos.
Avoid Luisa at all costs. After that stunt he pulled to get Mirabel back to the Encanto, he had no idea what she would say to him.
But he didn't want to find out.
Antonio stomped up the stairs to Bruno's tower, the lamp light from his room seeping out from under the door, giving him the slight peace that he wouldn't be waking his uncle in the middle of the night, just disrupting him. He burst through the door, his tio's reaction delayed for just a second, allowing Antonio to see him uncurl from his hunched position over his desk and fall off the chair, some of his rats jumping from his shoulders and head and scurrying away to avoid the impact.
Antonio crouched down to apologize to the rats and pick his tio up, setting the chair back to its original position for his uncle to sit. The boy leaned his back against the desk, standing diagonal to his tio, his right elbow resting perfectly in the palm of his left hand. His right hand curled into a fist against his mouth, then his fingers uncurled to cover his lips and then run up his face, now allowing Bruno to see Antonio's expression.
He was shocked. Not surprised, that was too simple to describe it, but shocked. It was a face Bruno had seen before throughout his life. When he was 8 years old on his way to the kitchen with his mama, only to see that face at the sound of porcelain shattering. When he was 21 years old he saw that the joke he made at his sister's wedding gave each guest that face. When he was 40 years old and saw his own face in the faint reflection of his vision, when he saw that his little sobrina was destined to destroy their home.
"Antonio?" Bruno slowly stood from the chair, cautiously looking at his nephew. "Sobrino, what's wrong?"
"I..." The words stopped before escaping from his lips. Antonio's mouth was agape, the gap between his two front top teeth barely peeking out. "I di..." his bottom lip pressed up, his eyes closing as he took a deep breath in through his nose, nostrils flaring as he did. "I didn't want to believe you tio..."
"About wha-"
"ABOUT-" he stopped, becoming aware of his volume. "About- about M-Mirabel-bel." Bruno's eyes widened at his nephew.
"Y-" Bruno tried to ask the obvious question, but Antonio interrupted.
"We f-found her, tio. I always thought she was d-" he took a deep breath, running out of air too quickly. He shakily said the next word as more air escaped. "Dead, but- but she's not! She was just in another tow-town. She's has a new family and newabuelaandsist-terand- and she's getting. Married. Her fiance. Is. Downstairs. She has this whole new li-life and she doesn't need us and she's so happy now- I've never seen her this happy before tio- she's-she-" Antonio continued on with his panic. The wooden floorboards slowly rose up to meet him. A tearless sob escaped, leading a small whisper. "she doesn't need me."
•••
Agustin awoke to the opening slam of the front door. Propping himself up on his elbow, Agustin listened to the noises on the floor below him. Burglars were practically a myth in the Encanto, the townspeople were too kind to harm anyone, which led to one conclusion. The kids were back!
He reached for his golden circle glasses but stopped, his hand mid-air. Should he go greet them? Yes, yes he should.
Agustin slowly crept out of the bed, peeling off the blanket as gently as possible, preventing his amor from waking up. She really needed some sleep. He tiptoed out of the room, nearly slipping on the smooth floor in the process, but thankfully silently gaining his balance with his flailing arms. The door silently opened, Agustin sighing in relief that the usual creak from the wood was silenced by opening it slowly.
Just after opening the door, he saw a blur of orange rush to Bruno's tower. Antonio slammed the door of his uncle's room before Agustin had time to turn to properly see him. He heard something drop, something heavy, then a shuffle on the floor, the familiar scratches of Bruno's rats could be heard from his room to the walls of the casita. He could hear Antonio yelling at Bruno through the walls, the hysteria in his voice too intriguing for Agustin to notice his own children walking. The man stepped closer to the secluded stairway that led to the tower's door, his shadow silently copying his own sneaky movements. Antonio's voice, not yelling but still raised, grew louder as he stepped up the stairs, his nose scrunching at each creak. His nephew's voice grew louder as he stepped up.
"-ead, but- but she's not! She was just in another tow-town. She's has a new family and newabuelaandsist-terand- and she's getting. Married-" Married? Who is? "-ew li-life and she doesn't need us and she's so happy now- I've never seen her this happy before-" Who's so happy? Why is he so scared that someone is happy? "-tio- she's-she-" Antonio continued on with his panic. A sob escaped, leading a small whisper. "she doesn't need me." WHO!? Agustin almost yelled through the door, his curiosity burning inside him. Who has been missing for so long? Who has Antonio been missing for years? Who could be so happy now that she was away from the Encanto-
A breath shakily escaped him. His body felt hollow as the realization hit him. Agustin became very aware of everything, how far the floor from where his eyes were, how empty his hands felt as air flowed between his fingers, the weight of his glasses, the bridge of his nose and ears. The fact that his daughter was alive. Mirabel was alive. She's breathing and growing and full of love, just like she was years ago- she's alive. She's not just alive, she's in the casa, she's here-
"Mirabel is here?" Antonio and Bruno turned their heads towards the door, Agustin standing with that look plastered on his face.
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