When a Butterfly Flaps its Wings | Encanto Fanfic

Mirabel

Mirabel was having fun. Flinging spackle around, chasing Bruno around the walls. It had been a long time since she had played with someone her age. It made her feel accepted and included. By family no less.

Of course, that's when Bruno screeched to stop and Mirabel, going too fast to stop quickly enough, flung straight into him. The pair were sent careening into what had looked like a deep abyss but ended up being much shallower than expected.

She quickly scrambled off of Bruno, who had involuntarily cushioned her fall, to check for any injuries. At first, he seemed coherent and then, Bruno was no longer responding to her. He was staring blankly at the ground.

"Bruno? Bruno! What's wrong?" No answer. Had he gotten a concussion?

Just as she started to panic a dim, almost sickly, green glow emitted from within his eyes. Mirabel finally recognized what could only be another one of Bruno's involuntary visions. Except, it was completely different from the last one she had seen.

Whereas before, Bruno's eyes glowed a constant bright green, this time, the glow was dim and fading in and out, flickering like dying candlelight.

And then, Bruno snapped out of it with a yelp of pain.

I think I'm losing my gift.

Mirabel felt her heart drop. First Luisa and now, Bruno. This could only mean that the magic was getting worse.

She didn't know what to say.

Bruno himself looked conflicted like he wasn't sure if he was happy or upset that his gift was dying.

"What did you see?" She asked instead.

Bruno startled, conflicted gaze snapping away from his hands to her. "Dolores! We have to find Dolores."

"What?" Mirabel said, "What's wrong with Dolores? Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Bruno said, "I couldn't really see anything. I saw her crying. She was hiding... somewhere."

"Dolores..." Mirabel's imagination filled with the possibilities that could make Dolores cry and hide. Each scenario seemed worse than the last. "We have to find her!"

Mirabel tried getting up only to fall back down as her dress, which was usually flexible, was turned rock solid by the dried spackle. "Um..."

Bruno got up, offering her a hand which she gratefully accepted. "We still have some time. How about we get changed first."

Bruno helped her out of the hole and out of the walls until she finally changed out of her ruined dress into a clean one. When she exited the washroom, she noticed Bruno took off his dirty ruana, leaving him in his purple undershirt. He looked uncomfortable without it. An idea popped into her head, and she ran to her drawers looking for her own ruana.

"Aha!" Mirabel cheered. Bruno looked at her curiously as she presented the ruana to him. It was mostly blue, with a white hood and embellished with her iconic embroidery. "Here, you can wear this. It should fit you."

Bruno gave her a thankful smile, quickly pulling the ruana over his head. He looked completely different in blue.

Mirabel gave a pleased nod before turning to Casita. "Casita, is Dolores home?"

Casita responded with a resounding no. Mirabel tsked. "She's in town then. Let's go, Bruno."

She turned to him only to see that Bruno had frozen in place, looking at her with a wide-eyed, terrified expression. Mirabel took a step towards him, concerned. "Bruno?"

Bruno quickly stepped away from her, shaking his head. "No. No. No. Mirabel. I can't."

Mirabel froze, remembering the way the townspeople had spoken about Bruno. What could have happened between Bruno and the townspeople that could lead to such a visceral reaction to just the thought of going into town?

Nothing good.

"Okay. That's okay, Bruno. You don't have to go." Mirabel soothed. "Can you describe where Delores was?"

"It - It - It was a street?" Bruno shook his head. "No. An alley near this... place. I didn't recognize it."

That eliminated all the places that existed thirty-five years ago. Which was... a lot of them.

"Anything else?" Mirabel pleaded, already losing hope of being able to locate Dolores in time.

Bruno started pacing, muttering under his breath. He was wringing his hands anxiously. "I ... I don't know. I'm sorry Mirabel."

Mirabel bit her lip. " Okay. That's okay. Wait here, I'll go look for Dolores."

She ran to town as quickly as she could, asking anyone she passed by if they had seen Dolores. No one seemed to know. But occasionally, she would talk to someone who would hide a strange look.

Mirabel ran faster.

In her haste, she ran right into someone as she turned the corner. She got up quickly, wiping the dust off her dress. "I am so sorry."

She looked at the person, only to see herself getting up. A perfect recreation of Mirabel herself stood in front of her.

"Camilo? What are you doing walking around as me?" Mirabel shook her head, wait a minute.

Camilo! Of course! If anyone knew where Dolores was, it would be Camilo.

"Never mind that!" Mirabel said, "Do you know where Delores is?"

Camilo looked at his hands in shock before transforming back into himself. He looked nervous. "Mirabel! I was actually looking for you. We need to talk."

Mirabel bit her lip, feeling impatient. "Camilo, I don't have time. I really need to find Dolores."

"It's really important," Camilo said. Mirabel just huffed, feeling as if a timer was quickly running out.

Camilo and Mirabel took a deep breath at the same time.

"Camilo, Dolores is-"

"I'm sorry."

A/N: OMG I AM SO HYPED, I have been wanting to get to this part for so long ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. From this point forward, things will start to go down my lovely readers :)

This chapter is short BUT the next part will be posted tomorrow!