Are You The End?

by MagicCatWriting

Summary:

It's been some time.
Bruno is still adapting to being a part of the family again. Against his will Abuela Alma decides to prepare a banquet for Bruno and everyone in Encanto. She wants to redeem the reputation of her son but no one would have expected SUCH an outcome.

As you might have noticed my native language isn't english.
I already apologize for any occurring mistakes

Chapter 1: Upcoming Danger

Notes:

Welcome to my first story in english.
I'm trying to get better so... writing a fanfiction about Bruno it is.

I really hope there are not too many mistakes. If there's something wrong you may also correct me in the comments section. (Just please keep it friendly and don't just say stuff like: That's garbage etc. I would appreciate that.)

Let's not keep you from reading.
Have fun!

It was a day like any other. The weather was nice, the village seemed to be vibrating with positive energy and the chaos had taken over the Madrigals again.

Soon there would be a small festivity taking place in Encanto. A banquet to strengthen the bounds of the people but also to celebrate Bruno being back in his family. Even though he had already been back for a while now.

At first Abuela Alma had waited some time until the family and the village had gotten used to Bruno’s presence again, since he did not have the best reputation in Encanto.

It did take some time, even the Madrigal’s had needed the time but Bruno was probably the one who needed it the most. Ten years of being alone wouldn’t simply vanish. It was something that had formed a part of his character. Logically Bruno would remember those days and everyone knew that. They tried to integrate Bruno back into the family as good as possible. 

The beginning had been the hardest. Bruno’s room is still very big and has many many MANY stairs, which is why he turned the little chamber below the walls into his second room. He simply feels at ease when being in there. The Madrigal’s had to rebuilt the whole house, so Bruno had taken care of the chamber. It does look almost the same except for being completely new.

After his return to the family Bruno had been the definition of a scaredy cat. He even flinched when Julieta only called his name, as if he had forgotten  how it was to be truly called by someone.

Luckily that quirk of his got better as time went by. Bruno is still easy to be frightened but it's much better than it had been.

Around a month ago Abuela Alma had decided that it was time to welcome Bruno back and introduce him anew to the townspeople. She probably wanted to redeem herself with helping her son in finding a place in Encanto. Helping him to show the people he is not scary at all. 

Bruno's family liked the idea of a banquet but the main guest was not so fond of it. The mere thought of whole Encanto being there made him feel sick to the stomach. He had already awoken to a strong headache which certainly was not a positive sign for the man.

Anxious he had told Julieta about him feeling unwell and told her he wouldn't take part in the festivity. Julieta responded like the caring person she is. She asked him about the cause of his unwell being and cooked him something little to help. 

Bruno would never doubt the powers of his sister but even after he had eaten it his condition didn't get any better. Still he couldn't bring himself to telling her.

The time was going by way too fast and with every passing hour Brunos headache seemed to worsen.

Bruno couldn't flee the banquet. Large tables had been placed across a street from Encanto. Isabela  had decorated them and their surrounding with beautiful blooming flowers.
Almost every villager from Encanto brought some self made cooking, which was placed on another huge table for food only.

When they arrived at the banquet, everyone searched for a place to sit. Bruno's legs were shaking so he was really happy when Julieta grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her. Together they sat down at a table with their sister Pepa, her husband Felix and Julietas husband Agustin.

Swallowing, Bruno looked down at the table. He felt the eyes of the others on him. They seemed to try looking right into him. 
A jumble of voices. If you would listen closely you could tell what they were talking about, but Bruno didn't want to know. He was too busy trying to get his shaking under control.

All of a sudden it was quiet. Abuela Alma had gotten up, which seemed to be the cause of the people quieting down. She started talking. A speech she had prepared about her family having restored their powers and also the family now being able help the townspeople more.

Sweat had begun to form at his temple. Slowly flowing down and dripping onto Bruno’s ruana. His headache got worse. He even had to close his eyes since they started to become sensitive to light.

“…but I am most happy to finally have my son back home. Please welcome him back to our society..”

People began clapping and cheering because of Abuela’s speech, from which Bruno couldn't remember anything at all. The eyes seemed to be back, burning themselves right into his flesh. 
He knew he should probably be getting up and at least wave at the people, but his body wouldn’t budge.

Bruno’s body felt hot and cold at the same time. Even when Pepa tapped his shoulder he couldn’t get out of his state. Again closing his eyes in pain, while laying his head into his hands. 

Just what was wrong with him? 

“I need to go,” was the only thing he whispered, or only thought he had since his tongue had begun to feel quite heavy. 

Bruno heard a worried Julieta beside him. Quick footsteps were approaching, while someone was rubbing his back. His clothes had to be dripping wet by now but all Bruno could think about was not wanting to cause a problem on that special day. 

Taking a deep breath he straightened himself and opened his eyes. Bruno was not prepared for the pain that had awaited him. Crashing down like a lightning had struck him.  Grunting his body tensed as if it was waiting for something to happen. 

“Bruno!” He heard another familiar voice in the sea of voices until all of them got pushed away and it became quiet again. 

For a brief moment Bruno thought he had seen a picture. It had been too short to see anything precise though. 
That was the moment when something clicked inside of his head. 

It was a vision. Nothing compared to the other visions he had already had. This was a forced one. Something he had only experienced once in his whole life. Too much had been going on for the man to put one and one together until that moment.

He truly needed to go. It would only get worse if he didn’t get to his room and see what it wanted to show him. 

After another picture had flashed past his inner eye, he forced himself back to reality. Gasping for air he opened his eyes. When had he even closed them?

His sight was rather blurry, so it took him a moment to understand he was no longer sitting on his chair. To be exact he was laying on the floor and looking up to his family. 

“Brother, do you hear me now?” Julieta said, trying to stay calm and collected but her voice gave her away. 

“You scared us here,” said Pepa, a few feet away from him since a cloud had formed above her head. 

“He also scared the townspeop… Agh!” Camilo started but ended in a small cry of pain.

“What just happened wirh you tío Bruno?” asked Mirabel but there was no time for questions. 

Slowly Bruno got up and rose to his feet. “A vision,” he mumbled while he already started to walk to casita and his room. He had to get there before the pain would get even worse.

In the end Bruno can not remember him walking the whole way back to his room. He only knows he had tripped on his way and got supported by his sisters. He might have passed out but when his consciousness had finally come back he was already sitting in his cave, having prepared everything for his session. 

His sisters were nowhere to be seen which relieved the brown haired man a lot. 

The moment he closed his eyes to awaken his powers he felt his headache ease. The all so known feeling of sitting inside of a tornado made itself present. Only then he opened his green glowing eyes again.

The sand had gotten picked up by the strong wind. It already started to form pictures. Pictures he had not been able to decipher when he had first seen them at the banquet.

A blurred person was walking. Unfortunately Bruno could neither make out their appearance nor see where they were heading to. After that the sand formed the picture of them knocking at casita’s door. 

Bruno stood up in hope of being able to see more but the picture was already shifting again and showed him a completely different scenario. There seemed to be cracks in the sky while his family was running out of casita. 

The change of scene picked up pace. One second he saw his family living a happy life and the next they were fleeing from chaos again, the blurred person always near Bruno. He was too focused on finding out the person’s identity to see if there was anything else happening. 

Another scenario was showing him the candle and a pair of hands gripping it, before casita started crumbling.

The tornado got calmer, which is not what Bruno wanted it to do. 

“No. I need to see more. I need to understand what is happening.” He called, as if his powers would understand him. 

Putting everything he’s got into keeping up the vision the tornado picked up it’s pace again. Unfinished scenes floating by, but nothing he hadn’t already seen. 
Why wouldn’t he see more? Why wouldn’t the vision show him something useful?

Drowsiness overcame the man, keeping himself on top of his feet with bare willpower. Ignoring the ringing in his ears and the thundering pain in his skull he tried to look for more. More. More!

Finally arriving at a scenario he had not seen yet, Bruno fell to his knees. The blurred man was walking up to his self in the vision. Only showing his back. 

“Who are you!” called Bruno, in hopes of getting an answer. The person opened their mouth. At exact that moment the tornado stopped. The sand falling to the ground with two tablets following suit. 

Out of breath and with a look of horror he froze in his spot. Questions floating through his head while his heart tried to recover from what he had just witnessed. 

Shaking his head he threw himself at the tablets. His sore body screaming and working against him but Bruno didn't care. 

In normal visions Bruno would be able to materialize a tablet in which the main topic of what he had seen is engraved. Forced visions are different. They normally showed him a catastrophe without any answers on how to avoid it. The tablet materializes automatically without any doing of the Madrigal.

But normally there is only one tablet. Now he was looking down on two.

One tablet had the moment engraved, in which the unknown person is facing Bruno. The other engraved the moment of the candle being stolen. When moving the second tablet Bruno saw the candle being stolen or his family standing happily beside each other and the candle.

In conclusion someone would steal the candle or not? 

Ruffling his hair Bruno fell back into a kneeling position. His legs just couldn’t carry his weight any longer. Now he felt something wet on top of his upper lip. Wiping whatever that was with his hand. Bruno found himself staring down at blood. 

Looks like he had gone too far.

A tired smile crept itself up his face. What was he going to do? Would that someone come for him and steal the candle? Would his family be in danger because of them?

Never had a vision been so unclear to Bruno. 

Exhausted he let himself fall to the side, right into the sand. His body demanding sleep since it had been forced to go farther than his limits allowed him to.

With the question of what he should do he closed his eyes and let himself be taken by sleep. The two tablets in his arms. 

 

Notes:

If you managed to read till the end congratulations!
You've reached the end of chapter 1!
I hope you liked it and my writing didn't make it too bad for you.

I don't know when I'll be able to write the next chapter. Hopefully as soon as possible.

Since we might read us in the next chapter, see you then!

Chapter 2: They know

Summary:

Bruno is still in shock about his latest vision. He tries to find a solution within, when Julieta comes to see how he's feeling.

Notes:

First of all, thanks a bunch to everyone whos has read chapter 1. And also a big thank you to the people leaving a comment!
You motivated me ro continue writing and upload chapter 2 as soon as possible.

 

Secondly,

Holy moly.
This chapter was a pain in my a*s.

The beginning of a story is always so hard ro write. I'm happily awaiting the time when......
*coughs to not accidentally spoiler you

Yah. Plot's in my brain. Just meed to put it into form and throw it onto my empty paper.

Wirhout further ado, have fun reading ^^

The moment Bruno Madrigal had awoken he started trying to recreate the vision he had gotten the previous day. He put everything he had gained from his slumber into his power, but he was simply not able to have a second look at that vision. 

It was like trying to grab a slimy fish, which would be able to wriggle itself free in the end. 

Ruffling his hair Bruno tried again and again and again and again. Still no result. The closest he had gotten was a few minutes ago - or maybe even a few hours. He had simply no sense of time in his cave - when he had seen something similar to an explosion and a silhouette stepping out of it or next to it. Bruno wasn’t too sure what that figure had done there. It had been too quick to see anything useful. 

Heavily breathing and sweating Bruno dropped to his knees. Frustration mixed into the cocktail of negative emotions that had started brewing inside of him. 

“Why,” he mumbled and took a deep breath before raising his eyes to the top of the cave. “Why won’t you give me any answers?” He wanted to scream but a voice interrupted him.

“Bruno? Are you there?”

The next shock hit him. Bruno got up in a flash and grabbed the tablets he had put near the entrance to the cave. He needed to hide them, but where? Desperately looking for a good hiding spot, which the cave certainly did not have. He threw the tablets to the ground, putting as much sand onto them as possible. 

Just a few seconds later his sister pulled open the heavy door and slowly stepped inside. Meanwhile Bruno jumped to his feet and turned around. His arms behind his back and putting on the act of someone who had no secrets. At least he tried to get that image across to his sister.

“Are you feeling better?” Julieta asked, ignoring the obviously weird behavior of her brother.

Bruno nodded. He did feel better than before his nap or however long he had slept. His body should be fine but his mind was running wild. 

A short moment of silence followed.

“You had a vision, hadn’t you?”

No. Of course she knew it. She only had to count from zero to one. Isn’t hard at all. But…

He did not want to leave his family again. He did not want to ever go. He loved his family. He loved his sisters he shared a good childhood with. He loved their children Luisa, Mirabel, Isabel and Dolores, Camilo and Antonio. He had just started truly getting to know them. He and his mother were currently starting all over again.

Why. Why would the world want to take that happiness, he had just achieved, away from him?

“Bruno, please.”

When had Julieta come closer?

Her face was full of worry while she slowly touched one of Bruno’s hands with both of hers. Looking right into his eyes she started speaking again.

“I can see the glowing of your tablet you buried in the sand right behind you. What is so bad that you have to hide it from us?”

The sentence sounded like Julieta wanted to add an “again” at the end but she didn’t. 

Bruno swallowed thickly. What if his mother found out about his vision? What if she started disliking him again since he is the one bringing misfortune to everyone. What if his sisters would start thinking the same way? 

“Stop. Please. I can see you thinking about a problem. Stop that and let me see.”

Julieta squeezed Bruno’s hand before she let go and bowed down to grab the tablets buried in the sand. 

“It’s the candle. It’s going to be in danger.” The man hesitated, fumbling with his fingers while doing so.

“Someone… I don’t know who but someone is coming and… And he’s… I…” Bruno can’t even put into words what he had seen. Too many holes had to be filled to get a bigger picture. The only thing he could say for sure was that the candle will be in danger because someone is coming for it. 

“Shhh,” Julieta shushed. She had gotten up from the floor and had looked over the two tablets. Now she wrapped Bruno in a loving hug. Bruno’s body tensed at first, the feeling of physical contact still something very special to him, before he put his arms around Julieta as well. 

They stayed like that for a while. Julieta made sure her brother was calm enough before releasing him and starting again.

“Now repeat what you’ve seen. This time slower.”

And so he did. Bruno gave it his best when it came to describing the abstract theater his vision had presented him. Telling how he had seen a person entering casita and afterwards everyone fleeing while the sky seemed to be crashing down onto them. Hands gripping the candle and that person seemingly not leaving his side. 

“There is a probability of that person coming only for me. The family might be in danger…. because of me… Julieta. I…I.” I might have to leave again but Bruno couldn’t bring it over himself to say it out loud. 

Bruno was looking to the floor, not wanting to see the shock on his sister’s face. 

“Por favor no digas eso! I don’t want to hear you say that or think that ever again. We are a family. We are strong together.”

Bruno knew she was right. They are a family but his brain wouldn’t stop his worrying. Seeing what evil would await them is one thing, being the cause of it another.

“I know,” he answered, his shoulders slumping down.

Silence overcame them once more. It was not a long one. Julieta wouldn’t leave it that way. She had a little smile on her face, when she grabbed Bruno’s hand and said:”Let us go to the kitchen. I’ll make you something to calm your nerves and then we can discuss that issue.”

“But..”

“No. No. No more.” She spoke then started dragging him along, like she had done at the banquet.

On their way down the stairs Bruno was reminded of some memories about his childhood. He, Julieta and Pepa had almost always played together. Sometimes he would have fallen down and got himself hurt. Bruno did not want to cry back then, but Pepa comforted him anyway. Taking him into her arms while Julieta got him something to eat to heal his wounds. 

A bittersweet memory. 

They closed the door to Bruno’s room behind them and proceeded making their way to the kitchen. 

Let me tell you, they did not come very far.

Having just left the “desert” and walking around the next corner they almost bumped into someone. 

It was not just someone though, it were three people in total. 

“We know about tío Bruno’s vision,” Mirabel and Camilo said at the same time. The girl had crossed her arms in front of her chest while the boy had put an arm to his hip. 

Dolores stood behind them, seeming rather nervous the way she held her hands in front of her body.

Sighing Julieta let go of Bruno’s hand. “Then Dolores did also hear me say talking about the matter later.”

“The future isn’t waiting for us,” Camilo said, copying Mirabel’s pose.

Meanwhile Bruno wondered how they didn’t seem to be concerned at all. Just like they had found a new game they could play together. The only big difference that this was deciding about their whole future in Encanto and not just about a goldfish dying the next day. 

“Let’s do a family meeting then. Would you please go and call the rest? We’ll be waiting downstairs in the dining room.”

“Got’cha,” Mirabel said while she and Camilo started to search for their family members. 

Dolores threw a quick glance at her tía and her tío. A silent apology laying in her unspoken words. Then she followed after Camilo and Mirabel.

“Maybe I should have taught the children to not put their noses in other people’s business.” Julieta shook her head. More in delight about them than anything else.

She turned around to look at her brother. The moment he came into her sight her expression got back to serious

“What’s wrong?”

Bruno had stood there, frozen in his tracks. Soon his mother would know about his vision. The children would start to understand how dangerous it really was and… and.

“Oh dear. Let’s go to the kitchen. I’ll prepare a nice tea for you, before they all arrive.”

 

Both of them had not expected their family arriving so soon. At least Bruno got his tea.

Julieta was so kind to explain why they had to meet up but when it came to explaining what the vision was about, Bruno had to speak up. 

He swallowed thickly before starting and trying to tell them the same he had told his sister. Not able to see anyone in the eyes he looked at the nearest wall. 

“In short, the candle and or our family is in danger.” Julieta finished for him. 

Okay. It was out. The rat was out of the bag. Bruno pressed his lips together, his eyes still locked to the wall. 

The first one to speak was Mirabel. “So, we have to be careful around any new visitor. Sounds way too easy to me.”

“That’s true,” said Isabel. “Doesn’t sound inevitable at all. Don’t open the door when there’s someone we don’t know. Easy enough.” She shrugged.

A little thunder could be heard. “Don’t take this too lightly. We don’t know who they are. They might have a trick up their sleeve.”

“Mom, for real. What should some random person do? Break into our house while we sleep? Great. Casita can handle that.” Camilo responded, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. 

Bruno listened to his family. The panic calming down without him having taken any sip of his tea. They were so much calmer than he had expected. Alma hadn’t even said a word. Seemingly lost in thought. 

“Camilo!” Pepa angrily called out to her son. The cloud above her head thundering dangerously. 

Felix was right by her side, putting his hand on top of hers to soothe her.

“Camilo is not wrong though.” Isabel again. 

No one was reproaching Bruno. They all just tried to understand and find a solution to the problem. 

Bruno had to refrain himself from starting to cry from relief right on the spot. Worry and fear falling from his shoulders in an instant. 

“Please everyone,” Abuela Alma said, before their discussion could turn into fiery chaos. “We don’t know when that person will be visiting us. As far as I was able to understand, Brunito didn’t see them stealing the candle. Just a pair of hands. Could be anyone. Maybe one of us took it to save it. I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but as long as I don’t see any harm coming from them, I won’t just throw them out of our house.”

That was true but… Highly improbable. If that person wasn’t dangerous he would have seen something else. Why would his vision show him a visitor when he wasn’t involved in the problem at all?

“Mamá!” Pepa cried out, not believing her mother wouldn’t see the danger Bruno had just told them about. 

“We should continue living the way we did. I don’t see anything on how to avoid the ‘sky crashing down’. If anybody of you got an idea let me know.”

Silence. Some exchanged a doubtful look.

“It’s settled then. We’ll wait for them to arrive and see. We are familia Madrigal. We’ll get through this together!”

Notes:

End Notes.
Wooh! You've come very far!

This chapter might have been a little boring but we have to live with that sometimes.

To rise up your motivation;
I plan to introduce my "Original male character" in the next chapter. Might be a little fast, but I simply want to finally dive into the plot and get it ROLLING.

Chapter 3: Knock, knock

Summary:

Worrying about his vision Bruno tries to continue his "normal" everyday life. His family sure manages that better than he does.
The moment he's finally able to calm himself a little, Dolores starts hearing about a foreign person walking through Encanto.
Seemingly coming right to Casita.

Everything went back to how it had been at the beginning of our story. At least for the rest of the family. Bruno has a hard time sleeping. The dark bags under his eyes returned and his tenseness wouldn’t go away. Why was he the only one worrying about their future?

Bruno had done some minor tasks to distract himself. Including cleaning and also caring for his beloved little rat friends. 
Abuela Alma had said they would host another banquet after everything calmed down again, much to Bruno’s dismay.

Alongside waiting for a foreign person to come to Encanto.
And they did. A little more than a week had passed when Dolores heard something going on. The people were whispering about someone they had not seen before and he was coming to casita.

Pepa started panicking again but Alma wouldn’t change her mind. Be kind, she had said to her family which didn’t help at all. 

“Who’s going to greet them at the door?” Isabel asked. Since their house is very much alive they didn’t need anyone actually open the door.

Camilo raised his arm for the task. He was the one being the most curious about their new arriving “problem”, but his mother pulled it down very quickly. 
Bruno was standing beside them. His body seemingly swallowing the whole tenseness he had had the past days at once and projecting it back onto him. 

“Julieta? How about you?” Felix asked. He didn’t want any of the children “welcoming” the mysterious person. Pepa doesn’t have the nerves for it which leaves them only with him, Agustin, Julieta, Bruno or Alma.  Agustin would most certainly not do this well. Bruno…. Is Bruno. He is clumsy comparable to Agustin. Sending Alma was a big risk because she is the eldest and he wanted to stay at Pepa’s side. 

“Me?” Julieta asked with wide eyes.
“You are the best option for this, mom.” Luisa said, clearly seeing Felix’ process of thoughts.

Suddenly a loud knocking was vibrating through casita. There was no time left. No one wanted to be the someone to go to the door, but someone had to. Julieta being the collected adult she is was the best choice they could make, when they didn’t want to make a bad impression right from the start. They don’t want to turn the cards worse than they already are.

“Bruno?” Julieta said, turning around to Bruno. The man flinching just a tiny bit, because he hadn’t expected to be called. 
“Yes?”
“I will go, but you have to come with me.”
….
“W-What?”
Julieta didn’t wait for a reply. She grabbed her brother by the shoulders and pushed him towards the door, if he wanted it or not. 

When they stopped, Casita slowly opened the door for them. The wider it got the more Bruno felt his legs shaking. Why couldn’t they just keep it closed and act like they were not home?

“Oh, hello. I don’t think I’ve seen you in Encanto yet. Welcome. How may I help you?”
In front of their entrance stood a big man. Bigger than Bruno, so he had to curve up his head if he wanted to look into his eyes. 
The man had dark hair, close to being black. It was short and wavy, which made the man look a little shaggy. His face was expressionless, his eyes seeming a little scary. They had such a bright colour.

“I..” he mumbled, his voice deep suiting his appearance very well. “I didn’t think I’d come this far.”
Confused Bruno blinked at the man. What did he mean by that? Was that really the silhouette he had seen in his vision?

“I had to come here. Something dragged me to your house. I just…. Don’t know why…” he tried to explain when he saw the confusion of the two Madrigals.

“Hm. How about we start with an introduction first?” Julieta showed a warm smile. “I am Julieta Madrigal and the man next to me is my brother Bruno. Now, would you be so kind and tell us your name?”

Instead of bringing some light into the dark the big man did nothing. He simply stood there, staring at either Julieta or Bruno.

Bruno felt weird when the man’s gaze hit him. His eyes were so intense it made him shiver. Could he please put his focus back on his sister? 
Bruno averted his eyes until he saw something weird. Since the man was wearing a dark red ruana it couldn’t be seen too easily, when you didn’t try to find something not “normal”. When his body moved - just a tiny bit - one was able to see a pair of black gloves. 
Who wore gloves in the midst of summer? Standing in a sunbeam could be compared to burning in hell. (Yep, that was a little too dramatic, but you probably got his point.)

Julieta asked the man for his name again or why he came to their house, while Bruno was still focused on the gloves. They didn’t seem to be for winter time. More like a thin layer for his hands. Maybe to protect them? Why would his hands need protection though?

Carefully Bruno poked the man’s left hand. Shocked the man threw his whole body back, which on the contrary shocked Bruno too.

“I’m… I’m sorry! I did not mean to scare you. I….” Bruno swallowed, looking at the tense man. His breathing had accelerated. 
“I was just wondering… You are wearing gloves in summer and…. That’s..”

Now even Julieta had noticed. After all the man held one of his hands in front of his chest. The other hidden inside the ruana. 

“No. No. I should apologize. I…” The man shook his head, as if trying to finally get a clear mind. “I think my name is Salvador.” 

Bruno raised his brows. The name “Salvador” means the exact opposite to what he had seen. 

“You think?” Julieta inquired. 
Salvador nodded, then searching for something in the pockets of his…dirty trousers. Bruno hadn’t noticed. All in all he looked very battered. Messy hair, dirty clothing, which was ripped at some parts. Apparently the ruana was that one pice of clothing, which had the fewest broken spots. A little bit ripped on Salvador’s right side and a few stains from… whatever they were from, but that was it.

After a short while of Salvador rummaging through his pants he finally pulled a folded sheet of paper out. “Everything I know can be read on this paper.”
He took a few steps forward so he was able to give it to Julieta. His body was still radiating a certain tenseness. 

“Bruno? We should discuss this matter with the rest, don’t you think?” Julieta’s warm smile had turned into a forced one, while she whispered to her brother. Bruno didn’t like the idea of letting Salvador inside. He was… weird. Not the type of weird him and his family are. Just weird.

“I don’t know. Do you think it’s safe?” Bruno bit down on his lip. He had probably whispered a little too loud. Salvador was only a few feet away from them after all.
Julieta shrugged, her eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“You should read what’s on the paper. Then make a decision.” Salvador intervened, still holding onto the paper. His arm must have gotten heavy from keeping it upright.

Since they didn’t exactly know what their next move should be, Julieta took the paper and unfolded it. Bruno waited just like Salvador.

Curious Bruno started imagining what it could be saying. A villain wouldn’t go to their target’s house to show them their evil plan before attacking. He could cross that off of his list. The possibility of him being held hostage… Out of the corner of his eyes Bruno shot another look at the man. No. That was not the face of a man searching for help because someone had captured him. Of course the chances were never zero, but he looked rather like he had been robbed on his way to Encanto. He wouldn’t show them a simple shopping list, so what was it then? 

 Why did it take Julieta so long to read a small paper. A small paper with holes in it. Maybe Salvador had gotten robbed. Even a big man can be taken down when there are multiple attackers. 

 Bruno tried to get a look at it. Slowly moving closer to his sister. 
Suddenly she shoved it into his face, made Bruno go blind for a second. 
“I don’t…” Julieta started, before Salvador raised a finger to signal he would say something. “That’s all I know. Can’t remember much else. I woke up at the bottom of a hill. Maybe I tripped and fell down. I don’ know.”

Bruno had the paper in his hand. Some parts were missing. The terrible handwriting didn’t help when it came to deciphering what was written on it.

‘Salvador……Don’t touch….gloves on. Never take them off.
Try…remember. Mission: Find the Madriga….They need to be…. because He….coming to take…
Find his….part….will help’

Bruno furrowed his brows, reading the whole thing again. There were words but they told him a whole bucket full of nothing. Except for the name, which could also just be the name of one of his family members. ‘Don’t touch’ seemed to be a direct command. No wonder Salvador had been so scared of the consequences, if he didn’t remember anything else. 

Bruno’s mistrust crumbled a bit. Thinking he might have truly misunderstood the vision. 

“You mean you’ve got amnesia?” Julieta called out, hands clasped in front of her mouth in shock. 
Salvador shrugged. “S’is a way to say it.”

One couldn’t see it when looking at Bruno, but on the inside he was struggling very hard. A fight between wanting to keep his family safe and wanting to help the stranger because that’s what the Madrigals do. Maybe he should do it the way his mother had said. Get to know him but stay cautious.

“Bruno. I’ll go inside and talk to our mother about it. Would you please stay here while I’m in?” She asked him, her face expressing the same inner fight Bruno was currently going through. “Oh, and I need that paper.”

The moment Bruno had given her a small nod, she snatched the sheet and went back inside, leaving him alone with Salvador.

Well, that was uncomfortable. Highly uncomfortable.

Bruno wasn’t used talking to unknown people, which is a cause for the ensuing silence. Salvador had gone back a few steps. Putting some distance between them. Nothing they wouldn’t have had if he had stayed where he had been a few moments ago. 

Taking a deep breath Bruno straightened himself. Making himself bigger so the visitor might not seem to be so big in the end. 
Nope, didn’t help. 

“Umm… May I ask how big you are?” Bruno blurted out, feeling embarrassed the moment the sentence had left his lips.

Now it was Salvador’s turn to prop himself up. Not like he hadn’t already stood completely straight.
“No. I can’t tell you my age either,” the man replied, running a hand through his cropped curls. They were still looking messy, but they seemed to be quite soft. Bruno had to withstand the urge to run a hand through his hair. When Bruno had finally been back home Pepa had tried to treat the mess on his head. It had been painful for him as for Pepa, since her storm wouldn’t calm down and stop messing up his curls even more.

“What are you doing?” asked Bruno, when he awoke from his thoughts and unexpectedly found himself standing next to Salvador. 

“You wanted to know my height,” was the only thing he replied. Bruno couldn’t help himself but smile. 
“I guess you are around a head bigger than me.”
“Wouldn’t say that. Less than a head.”

Did that man just try to make Bruno feel better about his height? 

Stay strong Bruno. Don’t forget he might be the enemy!

“You’re a man of few words, aren’t you?” He tried to steer the conversation into another direction. While thinking about an answer Salvador got some distance between them again. “There’s just not much more to say. Lost my memory, you know.”

Agh, right. One of the first unknown people Bruno spoke to in ages and he had amnesia. Would Julieta be able to heal him? Till now she had only healed bodily wounds, no wounds regarding someone’s soul. 

“Mmh. And you’re wearing these gloves because the holey paper said so?”
“And you’d act any different?” Salvador grumbled, obviously disliking the questions about the choices he had made. 
Frantically gesturing with his hands Bruno tried to explain himself, not wanting to anger the big man. “Nonononono. That’s not… No. I would have done the same thing you did. I..” Bruno couldn’t possibly tell Salvador about the vision. He needed more insight into the man’s character. “I was only curious and… I…” He cleared his throat, rambling anything coming to his mind to get himself out of that weird moment. “I’ve not been outside for some years now. I mean, I’ve been outside but not really. Once I lost my best friend Queso and - and I couldn’t find him anywhere, so I kind of had to leave the house to search for him. I found him next to a small puddle drinking.”

Oh yes. Bruno had had a heart attack that day when he wasn’t able to find Queso anywhere. Not allowed to search the whole house because he might be seen by family members, who thought he had been gone. 

Suddenly Salvador started laughing. It sounded warm, not mocking. The type of laugh Bruno would have expected from a stranger he told a story of his best rat friend to.
Blushing Bruno averted his eyes. Falling back into his old bad posture and pulling the hood above his head. “I-I am so sorry. I don’t-I don’t know how to talk to someone who’s not a part of my family.”

At that moment Bruno prayed for a hole to materialize below and swallow him whole. Why did he always get himself in these awkward moments. It had been only ten years of his life span. He had spent forty of them living a “normal” life. So why were these ten years stuck in him like the bubblegum under a desk. 

“Eres lindo Bruno.” That made Bruno blush even more, pulling his hood much deeper into his face than he had before to hide it. 
He was NOT cute! He was a super nice and manly looking man! No cutesy to be seen!

They stayed that way until Salvador stopped laughing, turning it into a small grin.
“You don’t need to apologize. At least you’ve got a story to tell. I’m happy you found Queso again. Sounds like he’s very important to you.”

Bruno hesitated to what he should be answering to that. Salvador wasn’t the way he had expected him to be. He was not even close to that. Salvador had been nothing but kind and mysterious. Probably not intentionally, since he didn’t know that much about himself either but it made him interesting. A mystery to solve. Bruno just hoped it was a good one.

“Boys? Would you please come in?” Julieta called. 

Had they made a decision yet? If Bruno followed his heart, he wouldn’t be able to decide whether they should be helping the man - because he had no actual proof against him - or they should apologize for his long journey and send him back to where he had awoken. Option two sounded quite heartless in his thoughts, even if Salvador was the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
His mother was right. They were the Madrigals. The new and better Madrigals and they would help. 
Bruno just had to make himself believe Salvador wasn’t the enemy. Hopefully that wouldn’t be too hard.

Notes:

There's not too much happening here, BUT I've had very much fun to write some interaction between the two boys. (It took me some time to be finally able to pronounce "Salvador". Whyever my tongue always wanted to add an "e" at the end)

It's hard to write every character into the story though. I apologize for some of the characters not really appearing. They might get some spotlight in future chapters.

Since it's currently pretty late and I'm sleep deprived I wish you all a good night!

Chapter 4: Behavior

Summary:

Salvador is now a visitor of Casita, which doesn't mean his hosts like him being there.
After accidentally telling a bit about their secret Salvador reacts in a way no one would have thought he would.

Notes:

Watch me struggle to find a suiting word for that spot when they enter Casita.
Its most certainly not a yard...

Bruno and Salvador entered Casita. The bigger one of them both flinching when the door closed on their own. Bruno noticed Salvador staring at the entrance with furrowed brows before he continued following the Madrigal to their destination, which was actually only a few feet away from where they had previously been. 

Salvador walked in and was greeted by something similar to a yard. Except the floor was build of bricks. A staircase connecting the ground floor with the first floor was right at the middle of the yard thingy and right in front of that staircase were people. 

Salvador bit his lower lip, wondering how big familia Madrigal was.

Meanwhile Bruno was wondering where Julieta had run off to. Everyone was there, except for her. Now he had to decide how to proceed. Mmmh, maybe introducing him?

The moment Bruno opened his mouth, Salvador spoke up. “Buenos días. My name is Salvador. I’m… a traveler.”
While saying the last bit he played with a tip of his ruana, seemingly wanting to tell more about himself but simply not being able to. 

“So we’ve heard.” Alma was the first one to answer him. The others didn’t really look too welcoming. Pepa had her brows furrowed, standing close to her husband. Luisa tried to greet the man with a friendly smile, which turned out too forced. On the other hand Isabel managed her role perfectly fine. 
Then Bruno found Camilo and Mirabel. Oooh. He didn’t like the look on their faces. 

The atmosphere was getting a little tense. How could Bruno fix that. They had to listen to Salvador. Meet him and then judge him by the way he would be.

Suddenly Antonio appeared out of nowhere, coming closer to the unknown man. It was indescribable how they both looked next to each other. Antonio had to curve his whole head upwards to be able to meet Salvador’s eyes. In the meantime Salvador had to curve his whole head downwards. Watching from the side Bruno thought he had seen the corner of Salvador’s lips twitch, as if he knew about the way they must probably be looking. 

“Hello, Sir. My name is Antonio Madrigal. Welcome to Encanto.” The tiny boy said, stretching out his hand to him. Again Salvador took a step back. His reflexes knowing seemingly more about him than he currently did. 
It was a cute gesture though and Antonio did obviously not understand why a big grown man backed away from him and his little hand.
Confusion present on the boy’s face. He inspected his hand. Searching for something on it, which might have caused that reaction.

Salvador cleared his throat, moving his hands to his backside while Pepa grabbed Antonio and brought him back to where they were standing.
“Um, it’s nice to meet you Antonio,” Salvador replied. “You said you’ve seen the ‘letter’.” He made a short pause, as if searching for affirmation in their expressions. Only Alma put on a friendly face.
“I’ve come because of it.”

Silence. 

Bruno looked over to Salvador, slightly distressed. It was obvious he had come because of it. 
Why wasn’t his family saying anything? Salvador would probably not have any answers, but standing there and just staring at each other didn’t do the trick.

Thank god Julieta came out of the kitchen, bringing some of her famous Arepas on a tablet. “Salvador,” she spoke to the man, holding the tablet right into his face. “Try one. It might help.”

“Julieta,” Pepa called out in disbelief.
“No. Let her. I’m quite curious about how this will turn out.” Abuela Alma silenced her, looking intensely at the scene in front of her.

“I…”Salvador started. “I don’t know how that’ll help but thank you for the food.”

Then he carefully took one. When he bit into it the whole family was expectantly staring at him. Waiting for something to happen. 
Bruno was too. In the depths of his mind he was worried about accidentally healing their enemy. That was only for a moment though.

Salvador swallowed, taking another bite from his Arepa. Still nothing happening. “Is that a ritual of yours?” He asked nervously, after he had swallowed his second bite. 

“No. We…We thought it might heal you,” Bruno answered a little bit disappointed, not thinking about possible consequences.
Not prepared for the glares he would be getting after speaking, he shrank in on himself. 

“What do you mean by that Bruno?” He asked and oh boy. Bruno could feel the anger of his family trying to burn into his flesh. Maybe even into his bones. What had he done! What was he thinking earlier? The enemy wouldn’t reveal their plan? 
Well. He somehow had revealed their secret weapon. Only a bit of it but he did.

“Oh, please stop,” Julieta said, turning around to face her family. “Mamá wants us to be nice. Don’t treat him like he’s some kind of virus because of Bruno’s vision.” 

Oh no. They had made Julieta angry.

“He’s a poor man who’s lost his memory. Estoy avergonzado de ti! Children. I want you to go to your rooms and stay there until I call you.”

“But-”

A simple glare was enough to shut Camilo up. No one wanted to mess with the angry Julieta. The quiet ones were always the worst when they got REALLY angry. Except for Bruno. He hadn’t been mad in so long. Maybe a bit at his mother but that was overridden by the joy he had felt after finally being reunited with her again.

With a foot tapping and a hand on her hip Julieta waited for the children to follow her order. She didn’t continue before she had heard every single door close. Now focusing back to the rest of her family. 

Bruno was so happy he had gone to the door with her. Just imagining her yelling at him because of not being welcoming enough… Uagh. Scary.

“Bruno?” Salvador had sneaked closer to him, so they would be able to talk in a quiet tone without drawing Julieta’s attention to them. “May I ask for the meaning of all this?”

Maybe Bruno could save this.

Pepa started thundering.

Bruno could most certainly not save this. It was over.

“Well. Madrigal and miracle start with the same letter.”

Oh it was so over. Lucifer had a bigger chance in getting back to heaven than them getting Salvador to believe whatever lie they could make up to hide their powers.

“SILENCE!” Alma ended their heated discussion. Her, Julieta, Felix, Pepa and Agustin were wet from head to toe. “Julieta is right. No more fighting please. Not in front of our guest. He shouldn’t have to think we are some kind of wild people.”

Pepa was still clenching her hands into fists, while Julieta took a deep breath to calm herself down. Agustin patting her shoulder while she was doing so.

“I welcome you in the name of all Madrigals into our home. I must apologize for our… less than ideal start.” Now it was Alma’s turn to come closer. “I can see you getting along with my dear son Bruno. How about he shows you our house before we get back to talking. Next time without the whole family.”

Salvador had to straighten himself again. While talking to Bruno he had bowed down a bit to not let Julieta hear their conversation.

Shocked Bruno froze in his spot. Why was he the one being selected for a tour? 

He looked over to his sisters. Felix was still trying to shoo the cloud above Pepa’s head away. 
Bruno understood why he was chosen. His siblings weren’t in their best condition to show someone their house or to interact with anyone not being a family member and even possible future threat… He had to stop thinking about Salvador like that. Still, what was there to show? The kitchen? Their dining room? Their garden? Maybe his stupid tower?

Yes. Casita is very much alive but that didn’t mean there was a lot to see. Not including their super big rooms but they couldn’t just enter every single of their magical bedrooms. It wouldn’t be appropriate. 

“No need. I’ll go back to the village and try to find a place for the night.” That was quite unexpected for Bruno. Salvador was ‘forced’ to eat an Arepa, while being watched by eleven pairs of eyes because some crazy family thought it would help his amnesia. He had seen a cloud forming above Pepa’s head and raining till they looked like they had been drenched in water. He even heard Julieta say something about Bruno’s vision. 

After all of that, he wanted to just go and find a place to stay at? Without any explanations? Bruno’s doesn’t count as one.

Alma’s friendly facade slipped for a second. A simple “what?” escaped her mouth. Not understanding how anyone could turn such an offer down.

“I said you don’t have to. Talk to your family again and get me when you’re done. I’ll stay for a few days, so it’s not a big problem for me.”

“Hmm. Fine.” Alma said, still looking baffled. 
“I‘ll be seeing you,” Salvador said, waving at them and making his way back to the entrance.

Bruno didn’t even notice he was going after the man, until he was outside and standing right before him.

The wind blew through Salvador’s hair, making the messy curls seemingly dance to a song only they could hear. 
“Is there anything else?” He asked, when Bruno wouldn’t say why he had followed him outside. To be exact Bruno didn’t even know himself why he had followed. His body simply moved before his brain could catch on.
Was that a sign? 

“If there’s nothing else I’ll be…”

“No! Wait!” Bruno called out. Way too fast and too loud. He noticed his mistake, looking to the ground in embarrassment and fumbling with his fingers. “Sorry. I… I was just wondering. Why don’t you want the tour of our house?”
Salvador blinked a few times, seemingly not understanding why it was such a big deal. “Why do you think you should show me your house?” A counter question. A good one at that.

Bruno shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I’m used to people wanting a tour of our house.” he waited a moment before asking his next question. “And why didn’t you ask for any answers? I don’t want to point anything out but the cloud..?”

“You mean the one above the orange haired lady? Yes, I’ve seen that one.”

“But..”

Salvador sighed. “Bruno. I’ve asked you about it and you replied. It wasn’t a clear answer but enough. Why would I be in the position to ask more questions when I’m not even able to say what my favorite color is?” He paused, letting what he had said sink in. 

Salvador was right. He was not in the position to request any specific answers. He simply wouldn’t have thought someone would be thinking that way. After having lost all of your memories wouldn’t you crave to know every detail of your present? To suck up all of the information you could get?

And there he was. Thinking about Bruno’s family and how it would be for them to find a stranger with a weird note in front of their house. 

“What I’m trying to say is… I can’t answer any questions at all. Of course your family thinks I’m some kind of robber or murderer. You might be thinking that as well.”

The smaller of both wanted to object to that but he couldn’t. He was still unsure about Salvador. He was right. They didn’t know anything about him. He could be the man from his vision, which didn’t mean he truly had to be. Maybe he was a simple - How did he say it? - a simple traveler on his hunt for adventures. At least that would explain the state his clothes were in.

“I understand,” Bruno said. He then dared to look up again.  
He let his eyes wander over everything they were able to see regarding the man in front of him, until they stopped by Salvador’s face. 

Bruno had to do something. He had never been helpful to his family. Always being the one who brought misfortune upon them all. He wanted to change that. 
At that moment Bruno made a decision. In the evening he would go up his tower and try to see into Salvador’s future. That would certainly not be an easy task. Seeing into someone’s future is always easier when the subject was in contact with him during the procedure. He would have to manage that without Salvador and he would. 
That was his chance. His chance to maybe prove Salvador’s innocence but maybe also his chance to truly show he can be of help. 

“I suppose we will get you tomorrow, when everyone has calmed down. If we don’t… Just come and visit us in the evening.”

Salvador nodded, a small smile making itself present on his face. “I will,” was the only thing he answered to that. 
It looked like he would turn around and go any moment, but he stayed. Turning his head to face Bruno one last time that day. “Oh. Bruno?”

“Yes?”

“Gracias. You were very helpful. Not only for me but also your family.” With these words he then turned and started walking.
Leaving behind a wide eyed Bruno. 

His mind wasn’t doing anything except for repeating what the man had just said. Had Salvador possibly spoken another language? How had he been helpful that day? He had hardly done anything at all. Even Salvador’s note had done more than he had. 

Absentmindedly Bruno touched his face. His fingers feeling the warmth his cheeks were radiating but also some wetness. Despite him feeling super joyful and also smiling he couldn’t stop himself from crying.

Salvador had been the first one to tell him he was helpful.
Whoever that big man was, Bruno would certainly treasure that memory in his heart.

Notes:

Hmm. Should I put the google translations of the spanish words/sentences at the end of the chapter?

I'm not sure if that would be helpful.

Chapter 5: His Reflection

Summary:

It's time to find out about Salvador's future....

Or is it?

Notes:

I hope everyone of you knows the game "catch".

Bruno sprinted up the stairs to his cave. Well. He was at the beginning. It ended in him crawling up the stairs. The moment he had arrived he had to lay down to catch his breath. 
“Why so many stairs Casita,” he breathed, closing his eyes for a moment until his body was able to get up again.

He speeded into his cave. Thankfully Bruno had started to put everything he needed for a session behind a little ledge inside of it. The preparations didn’t take that long. Simply drawing a circle into the sand and putting some leaves in the middle of it. 
Even though he hadn’t done that many in the past years it was like he had never stopped. That was probably something he wouldn’t unlearn so easily. 

“Okay. Good. Everything is at it’s place.” Bruno checked the arrangements one more time, before he sat down in the middle of the circle. He could do this. 
He took a handful of salt and threw it over his left shoulder before he lit up the leaves. 
His mind repeating the name Salvador over and over again. Closing his eyes he breathed in and out. Forcing his power to activate. It could be compared to cooled down lava awakening and starting to flow again. If he controlled the lava’s stream it wouldn’t hurt but for that he has to concentrate. 

He felt the wind picking up pace, taking the sand around him and letting it fly through the air. 
“Show me Salvador’s future,” Bruno mumbled, the so called lava lightening up his eyes. The wind stumbled, becoming slower before getting faster again. Bruno wasn’t able to see anything. 

What was going on? Why were his powers… Why wouldn’t they work properly? 

He closed his eyes one more time. Concentrating on the hot stream of his power, putting more effort into lighting them up. 
When he opened them again there was still nothing.

“Mierda!” he called out into the storm letting his fists slam into the sand below him. “I. Won’t. Fail! Not this time.”

Bruno took another deep breath, forcing open the whole vulcano inside of him. Lava flowed through his veins, burning his insides and dipped him in a radiant green light. The tornado deforming itself, stumbling again. Cracks were starting to break the wind apart but Bruno gave it his all. Being numb to the pain he even ripped his last source of power open. His body was screaming, begging the man to stop yet Bruno didn’t listen.

“Show me.” His voice nothing more than a hue. 
The tornado broke down at some parts. Now shooting the sand through the air in such high speed it looked like some old broken wall with holes.

Then his powers finally did their work. Shakily forming some pictures. They turned into too many, flowing by way too fast to really make anything out. Some were easier to look at though. He saw images of his childhood.

“I NEED to see Salvador!” Bruno screamed even though his voice was hoarse. His breathing slowed down, letting him fall into a trance.

The images broke and vanished into nothingness. At last Salvador appeared. Only a picture of him smiling, before that broke down as well. Another one showed Salvador reaching out his hand but this one broke too fast to see to whom he was reaching it out.
The scene changed, building up the form of Alma’s window and the candle. A blurred person taking it.

“WHO IS IT.”

Bruno started to lose feeling of his body. Another scene showed Salvador but then changed him into someone else. Bruno couldn’t make them out as the vision became fuzzy again. He could make out a light behind the person.

“You don’t need to see,” whispered a voice into his ear. It felt like they wanted to break down Bruno’s stream of power but he shook them off. Slowly the pain made itself present. Screaming Bruno gave every last bit of himself into keeping his vision up. Not noticing the blood coming from his eyes and even his nose. 

He was losing himself.

The blurred image got clearer. 
Yes. Some answers.

“BRUNO! STOP!” 

Julieta. She had thrown herself into the broken tornado and had pulled Bruno into a big hug. Trembling she tried to calm her brother, rubbing his back and calling out to him. “YOU NEED TO STOP! PLEASE. YOU’RE HURTING YOURSELF!”

There was someone else in his cave. Bruno could feel their presence. He didn’t stop, not letting Julieta drag him out of his vision.

The blurred person was smiling at him. Moving their mouth as if they thought he was able to hear them. 
Thunder roared through the cave. Julieta and the other person screaming in fright. Electricity cut through the air, making it hard to breathe. 

Then… The image cleared up. A dark haired man was standing there, wearing a green ruana and having a spiteful grin on his face. In his hand the candle.

“It’s you,” whispered the voice from before. 

Another scream filled the air. The lava inside of him crumbling, not having any more power to burn any further. The storm evaporated, bathing the three in complete silence. Only a sobbing Julieta could be heard.

“Bruno. Mi hermano. What did you do?” She cried out to him. “Bruno!” She called again when he didn’t respond.

Meanwhile Bruno was still caught in the trance he had put himself in. His insides hurting so bad he actually wished for death to come and get him. Everything was blurry.
“Dolores! Go and get Camilo! We need to get him out of here!”

Bruno wondered who they were talking about. Not that it was important. He wanted to stay awake but he fell to the side. Sitting hurt too much.

“No! No! Can you hear me? Bruno! Everything will be fine. You hear me? You… I’ll heal you! I…I…”

Julieta gripped his arm, trying to get Bruno to sit upright again, but the man had no control over his body. 
He didn’t understand what his sister was meaning. He was already getting better. His body was becoming numb. Better than the pain which had let his mind scream. 

“Stay awake! Bruno! I’m begging you!” Julieta called. Tears were running down her face as if they were a river. Shaking she embraced her brother once more. “I’ll fix you. I’ll fix us all. Like I always do!”

These were the last words Bruno had heard before unconsciousness won and the darkness took over. 

—————
No one of the Madrigals had come the next day to get Salvador. His body was aching from the rough night he had had. Sleeping outside below a tree was not one of his favorite sleeping places.

Why he had to sleep outside you ask? The villagers are not used to strangers coming to Encanto. Their whole lives they’ve never been anywhere else. Of course they would be suspicious. He had seen it in the way they looked at him and it’s also the reason to why Salvador had decided to sleep outside. It was warm anyway.

The next day had been long for the man. It only consisted of waiting and trying to be friendly to others. At least some children had warmed up to him. Resulting in them teaching Salvador about some of their games. 

They had played catch. A game in which Salvador had turned out to be unbeatable at. He didn’t want to be caught and as they were children it wasn’t too hard to outrun them. 
That had been until they all started running after him. Everyone had wanted to be the first to catch the man. 

On his way to Casita Salvador thought about how long he had to run before they’d eventually grown tired. The good thing was he found out he was quite sporty. That might come in handy some time later.

Then Salvador arrived. It was already getting dark outside, since he had waited quite long before deciding to come back to them. He knew Bruno had said he should simply do it like that. He just wished his mind wouldn’t warn him about it. Somehow it felt wrong. 
Yesterday the Madrigals had been a mess. They had disagreed on the topic how to proceed with his case. Would a single day be enough so they could thoroughly talk it through and come to a conclusion?

Multiple minutes passed in which Salvador only stood in front of the door to casa Madrigal. 

What other options did he have? He could start traveling the world or search for his lost memories. The problem was he had no idea how to find them. Some lost things were never meant to be found. Maybe his memories were one of that? What if he had done something bad in the past and this was his punishment?

Salvador shook his head. Overthinking on that matter wasn’t going to bring him anywhere.
He let go of his thoughts, let his mind go free and knock-

The door flew open without Salvador even touching it. Scarily there was no one there who could have opened it. 
Slowly he took a few steps forward. “Hello?” He asked. He had expected an answer or whatever. What he didn’t expect was for the floor to start moving. It was so unexpected it almost knocked him over if the floor wouldn’t have brought him to a wall on which he was able to support himself. 

The floor moving frightened Salvador more than he wanted it to be. The moment he had steadied himself the floor transported him forward again. Throwing him into the air to catch him at the first floor and continue the transport. 

Salvador had no time to think. He was only concentrated on not falling or maybe not accidentally dying. When the floor finally came to a halt he found himself standing in front of a door. It was a plain brown door. Nothing special about it. 
Salvador looked to the right. There he noticed another door except for that one being absolutely stunning. It was a brown door too but it had golden ornaments worked into it. Present was an hour glass in the middle of it. Behind and also above was a figure, looking grumpy and holding their two arms to the side. It did resemble Bruno Madrigal a bit. The biggest difference were their expressions though. Bruno didn’t look like that in nature.

Suddenly the floor moved again. This time only tapping the bottom of his shoes. Puzzled Salvador looked to his feet. “Mister or Miss floor? Do you want to show me something?” He asked, feeling only a little stupid because of his hypothesis that the floor was actually alive.
Again a tapping against his shoes.

Salvador didn’t know whether that was supposed to be a yes or a no. Since the floor had brought him such a far way upstairs he thought it must be a yes.

He swallowed before stretching out his hand and touching the doorknob, turning it to the side. The door opened with a click and he pushed it open. 

Inside of it was… almost every single Madrigal?

He remembered the woman named Julieta. She was sitting on top of something. The backs of the rest blocked his way to see much more. The room didn’t seem to be that big but somehow they all found a place to stay.
Salvador knew a few of them were not there. He couldn’t remember which one’s were missing though.

“Salvador?”

Salvador tensed. He had just noticed the bad atmosphere and was about to decide if he shouldn’t rather be going back. He was trespassing after all. How would they look at him if he told them Mister or Miss floor showed him where to go?

“I’ve just wanted to go.” That’s why he answered the way he did. 

Only that now every single person was turning around to look at them. Everyone wearing a more than serious expression on their face.

Yup. Salvador shouldn’t have listened to the floor.

Notes:

Hmm. I hope that drama didn't come too early.
But I'd say it had to be...

FOR THE PLOT

and

FOR THE DRAMA.

Chapter 6: Reveals

The staring made Salvador uncomfortable. He wondered if his former self did also walk in on such moments and regretted all of his life choices.

“Let me handle this,” said the orange haired woman who already had a cloud above her head. She went up to him, pushed him out of the room and closed the door behind them.

“Why are you here?” She cut straight to the point, both of her hands put to her hip. The cloud thundering dangerously. 

“Bruno told me to come back when no one of you’d come to take me today.” Was Salvador’s answer. The woman did not look pleased by that.

“Listen. We have no idea who you are and what you want. I’m not my sister! You might just be putting on a performance for us but that won’t work with me.”

Salvador stood still. Not daring to say anything back to her. 

“How did you even get in here?”

“I’ll sound more suspicious when I tell you but the floor brought me to the door.”

The woman looked baffled. “Casita did what?”

The door opened again and Julieta stepped out. “Pepa, please. Go back inside and let me do this. 

So, the woman’s name is Pepa. Good to know if Salvador was able to remember it.

“No. You need to heal….” Pepa froze, remembering the stranger next to her. ”Bruno needs you,” she then ended her sentence that way. Julieta shook her head and gave her sister a warm smile. “I’ve done everything I could. With a little luck he’ll wake up soon. Pepa, he needs you too.”

A single droplet fell onto Pepa’s shoulder. She didn’t even have to think. She simply returned the smile and got back inside, completely ignoring Salvador.

The moment Julieta’s sister was gone she breathed out. On the other side Salvador had tensed. Something seemed to have happened to Bruno. One of the two people who had been friendly to him. Was that possibly a bad omen?

“I’m sorry if my sister was unfriendly. Today is not the best day you could have come for a visit.”

Below the ruana Salvador started to play with his gloves. Of course he was curious about their family. There was obviously something going on. Something supernatural but…. He can’t. It’s none of his business.

“I think it’s time for some answers, isn’t it?” Julieta said after she had noticed Salvador struggling. For her it wasn’t a big deal to tell about their abilities. It was only a matter of time until he found out anyway. The whole village knew. If Salvador decided to stay there he would see them using their abilities someday. 

“You don’t have to-“

“But I want to.” Her smile had something magical about it. It was calming Salvador had to admit. 
“How about we move our talk to a more comfortable space. Dining room?”

Only a few moments later they had both taken a seat in said room. Julieta had offered to bring Salvador a snack, which he approved. He hadn’t eaten a lot that day. Only some fruits he had found in the wild. They had been very tasty though.

Julieta put some crackers and a glass of water on the table before she sat down in front of her guest. It was then that Salvador noticed how tired the woman looked. Dark circles had formed below her eyes. They even seemed to be reddened. Had she cried?

“I actually don’t know where to start.”

“How about your floor…. pet?” Salvador didn’t want her to start with a heavy topic. He was afraid of her starting to cry as he had no idea how to comfort a woman. Maybe talking would become easier for her if she started with their unusual pet thingy.

“Our… floor?” Julieta repeated questioningly. 

“It brought me upstairs to the room in which you were.”

“Oh,” Julieta smiled. “It’s not just our floor, Salvador. It’s our house. Meet Casita.” The moment Julieta had said that the floor started to move again. To the left and then to the right. Salvador had to swallow a ‘wow’. It wasn’t just their floor. Their whole house was alive. So that was how the door to their entrance had opened and closed on their own.

“It seems she likes you.” 

Wow. Now Salvador could ‘getting liked by a house’ cross off of his bucket list… Maybe he should start writing a bucket list!

“Our house isn’t the only magical thing. Our whole family is full of them.”
While Julieta spoke Salvador grabbed himself a cracker and munched on it as quiet as he could. “You must have noticed my sister’s cloud by now, no? She can control the weather depending on her emotions.”

Julieta stopped, waiting for a reaction of her listener. First he swallowed the cracker, then he answered. “I think I would be more impressed if I hadn’t already seen it but I must admit it’s a complete different caliber to hear it being said aloud.” 

Salvador’s curiosity had risen to it’s peak. He wanted to ask so many questions. How did she get her powers? Can she simply turn them on and off? Is there a reason to why she’s got special abilities and so on.

“You’ve said your family is full of magic. Does that mean..”

“Sí. Downwards from my mother almost everyone’s got a gift. I’ve got the gift of healing. If you eat something I have cooked your wounds will heal.”

That’s so convenient. It also explained why she wanted him to eat that Arepa. Sadly she isn’t able to heal his head or rather his brain. 

“Who else has got a… gift?”

After that Julieta took Salvador on a whole trip through their family tree. Explaining their special abilities and how they were all connected. The short haired man was so astonished he forgot to continue eating his crackers. Even though he drank in all of what Julieta was telling him, he could feel himself starting to forget half of the names she’d told him. 
Note to himself, he is bad with remembering names.

The woman finished, her hands folded on top of the table. She didn’t even notice she hadn’t spoken about a certain man. Or maybe she had and avoided that topic on purpose?

“You amaze me. Your family amazes me,” Salvador said. Much to Julieta’s hopes he noticed. Her terrible look wouldn’t go away in a little talk. It reminded Salvador of Bruno. The friendly small man. They had said he needed healing.

“I’m happy you told me about your family.” He added. “But what about Bruno? He was fine yesterday. May I ask what happened?”

Did Bruno not get a power? Had he injured himself while executing a task he was not made for?

Julieta averted her eyes. “He’s my brother,” she said, swallowing down the tears that had begun to form in them. “He has a difficult gift. It’s never been easy for him. A gift which is able to hurt him.”

The astonishment was washed away by worry. Bruno had a bad gift. How could one even call it a gift then? Salvador wanted to ask what exactly the man’s powers are if he hadn’t gotten interrupted by a female voice calling:” Tía Julieta! He’s waking up!”

Julieta had gotten up in a flash. Even stumbling while running up the stairs. Salvador followed suit just not as fast as her.

They were back to the chamber. Now Salvador was even allowed to enter, not that anyone had any eyes for him at the moment.
In the corner of the chamber was a single bed on which a small figure was laying. 
Salvador stepped closer. It was Bruno. The man shuffled a little below the sheets. His eyelids fluttered and then he opened them. 
Salvador’s eyes widened when he looked into a pair of glowing green soul mirrors. His heart missed a beat.

“Wow.” He felt like just having seen a miracle. Bruno seemed disoriented for a moment. The glowing of his eyes soon faded and he focused someone in the hoard around him.

—————
Everything seemed to be running in circles. What was going on? His head felt fuzzy, even having forgotten who he is for a second.
He tried to open his eyes when the headache eased. The first thing Bruno saw was a palette of blobs and mixed colors. The blurriness was terrible. It made him sick but thankfully it faded very quickly. 

“Wow,” he heard a voice breathe. It was so quiet Bruno couldn’t say if he had only imagined things.

It was quiet. Bruno found himself in a laying position once again looking up to his family. 
Suddenly all hell broke loose.

“Bruno!”
“Brunito!”
“Tío!”
The voices called altogether, grabbing the man and pulling him into a big hug. Next to being crushed he felt some rain droplets falling into his hair. 

“Dios mío,” Bruno huffed, not knowing what to do or how to react. His heart swelled at the love everyone was giving him. He didn’t understand why though. 
They took their time until they let go of the man again. There was obviously more than one face showing signs of tears. 

“How do you feel?” Julieta bombarded her brother with the first question while doing a full checkup on his body.

“I’m very tired,” Bruno answered honest. His eyes wandering above the crowd and finding a certain someone, who isn’t a part of his family. 
He hadn’t noticed till then but Salvador was actually standing right next to him, He was so close Bruno could make out the color of the man’s light orbs. They were gray. No. Silver suited them way more. 
Oh. Salvador had noticed him staring and showed him a small and genuine smile.

“Oh Bruno.” Julieta stopped inspecting her brother and pulled him once more into a hug. “I’m so happy you’re fine.”

“Tío. What even happened in your room?” Mirabel was the one who had asked. She wasn’t the only one being curious about the action that had happened up in her uncle’s cave. She was actually worried, since she had never seen her uncle getting in a state like that from a simple vision.

It hit Bruno all at once. He had had a session. Fright creeped up the male’s back. He had seen himself with the candle. He would be the one to take it away. He just didn’t understand why he would carry out an act as such.
How could he even begin to tell his family about it? He couldn’t. No. He had to bury it deep within him and figure something out on his own.

“The tablet!” Bruno said. Horror forming the expressions on his face. Had Julieta seen…?

“It didn’t materialize correctly and then shattered on the ground.” Dolores.

Oh God. Bruno didn’t know if he was even more terrified now, because his tablets never had a problem with materializing or if he was relieved it didn’t, since his family hadn’t been able to see what could have been in it.

Bruno grabbed his blanked and pulled it all the way up to his throat. “I’m sorry. It didn’t work.” To be exact that was not a lie. It hadn’t worked properly, which is why he had probably lost consciousness AGAIN.

His mother was standing behind him. She patted his head looking more relieved than anything else. “Don’t worry my dear. Rest now. We’ll bring you some food later.” She kissed his forehead before she started shooing everyone out of the room. Some were objecting, clearly not wanting to leave Bruno alone.

Salvador should probably go as well. He had no right to be there but at the same time had gotten involved into their family business. Even if it was just a little. There was a reason the Madrigal’s were written down in his note. They are holding powers no one else has. 

Meanwhile Bruno watched as his mother emptied his chamber. He didn’t notice Salvador’s inner conflict. He was only happy about the space. He couldn’t take any more questions about his last vision because then he had to start lying. Something he wasn’t particularly good at or wanted to do.

“Would you mind if I stayed for a while?” Salvador had spoken up. The intensity of Salvador’s gaze caught Bruno off guard. The man wanted to stay longer? Would he start asking questions about his family? About his visions?
“I feel like you could use some company after that adventure of yours.”

Alma had stopped, looking over to the two boys. Her gaze was wandering from Bruno, to Salvador, to Bruno and back to Salvador. 

“Yes. I would appreciate it,” Bruno answered in the end. He shouldn’t be looking at that event as something bad. It was also a good opportunity to get to know Salvador as a person better. He only hoped it was the right decision.

Chapter 7: Fear of Rejection

Notes:

Trying to write fluff but the characters have something else in mind.

Once more they were alone. This time in Bruno’s bedroom. His mother had asked if it was really okay for him when Salvador stayed. He had to reassure her it was fine before she nodded and left the room.

 

The man hadn’t changed at all. Had it already been night or was it still the same day they had met him?

 

Salvador was still wearing his broken and dirty clothing, his hair even seeming to have become more disheveled than they had originally been.

 

Bruno’s mind tried to figure out what they could start talking about. He needed an ice breaker. If he just wasn’t so tired…

 

“I’m happy you’re better.” Against Bruno’s expectations Salvador started the talk. “I don’t know what’s happened but your sister Julieta meant you’re having some… troubles with your gift.”

 

Oh. He knows. How long had he been unconscious? Had his family gotten to know him and decided he wasn’t dangerous?

 

“Ye-Yeah. The visions have become very intense,” Bruno answered. He couldn’t believe his sister. Did the rest know about that? If not she would be getting in much trouble. 

 

“Visions?” Salvador repeated and cocked his head to the side. 

 

Oh god! He did NOT know! 

 

“Not again,” Bruno cried, burying his face into his hands. How often had he accidentally spilled some of his family’s secrets yet? 

 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have..”

 

“No. It’s not your fault. I assumed you knew everything. I tend to bring misfortune upon my family. I’m trying so hard to avoid it but…”

 

Bruno took a deep breath. He wouldn’t cry. Not in front of Salvador. He is a tough man! He…!

 

‘Eres lindo Bruno.’

 

Out of all the moments he could have remembered at that time, why did it have to be THAT one?

 

“I actually didn’t want to ask you but I don’t understand it at all. How could someone like you cause misfortune?”

 

Bruno heard the man move, the wood panels creaking under his footsteps. He lifted his head again. Fatigue washed over him and wanted to drag him to sleep. 

 

Salvador was sitting next to his bed. He was probably afraid of Bruno accidentally touching him. What he didn’t know was that Salvador was thinking in a complete different direction. Almost forgetting his ‘condition’.

 

“If I tell you can you guarantee me you won’t look at me like… “ his mother once had. Like his sister’s had. Like the village had. 

 

Salvador’s face softened. The normal rather stern look was gone. “Bruno. You’ve been friendly to me since the beginning. I think you are a very kind human being. If you don’t want to tell me about your powers you don’t have to. I won’t force you but I’d be happy if you let me get to know you better.”

 

So many words. So many good words. Did Salvador do that on purpose? How did the man know exactly what Bruno wanted/needed to hear?

 

Bruno turned his head, looking directly into those beautiful silver shining eyes. He had never seen something similar. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair!

 

“Salvador. Can you promise me you are no threat to the family?” Everyone would most certainly say yes. The enemy would probably laugh in their thoughts, how easily Bruno had been deceived by some friendly words. He didn’t care. He needed the reassurance. He had to see Salvador’s reaction to his question and his answer. It might be easier for him to talk about it then.

 

Salvador took a moment to think, which made Bruno even more nervous. Was all of that a mistake? It killed him. Worrying about the future, the present and the past. He didn’t like his gift at all. It wasn’t a gift, rather a curse than anything else. 

 

“Would you give me your hand?” The man on the floor asked, his face turned serious. 

 

“Uhm. Yes but why?” Bruno asked letting the hand closest to Salvador wander to him. His counterpart didn’t answer and he didn’t have to. Bruno watched surprised as Salvador freed one of his own hands from his ruana. He then slowly proceeded to reach it out to Bruno’s. 

 

He understood. Salvador had noticed Bruno’s more than obvious struggle. He didn’t know how to tell the man he wasn’t a threat at all. So he tried to show him. It was Salvador’s way of showing him his trust.

 

Salvador’s hand was shaking slightly, stopping right in front of Bruno’s. They were so close. Bruno noticed him swallowing before he closed the gap of his hands and he gently wrapped his around Bruno’s. 

 

The black gloves were soft and Salvador’s hands so much bigger than Bruno’s. Did he have to beat him in size by everything?

 

Warmth was flowing through the fabric of Salvador’s gloves. Bruno could also feel the man’s trembling by that simple touch. It made this moment so much more intimate than it should be.

 

The Madrigal couldn’t stop a smile forming on his face.

 

“I don’t mean any harm to you or your family.”

 

His smile got bigger.

 

“I need to apologize for not taking off my gloves,” Salvador added at last. Instead of retreating his hand, he took his second one so Bruno's was now completely enclosed by them. “I’m sorry I can’t do more.”

 

Bruno felt his heartbeat increasing. “Please stop apologizing.” He let them stay like this for a short while, before he withdrew his hand. Not noticing Salvador’s reaction. 

 

His answer couldn’t have been more perfect. Maybe the man was in fact a mind reader.

 

Shaking his head Bruno shooed the thoughts away. It was time to tell Salvador about his ‘gift’. He took a deep breath to calm himself and his heart. “Based on my power you could probably call me a clairvoyant. My ability is to look into the future”

 

“Do your glowing eyes have anything to do with your ability?” Salvador asked. His interest was piqued. 

 

“Oh. Uh. Yes? How do you know?”

 

“Previously when you’ve opened your eyes they’d glowed for a few seconds.”

 

How could that be? Bruno wondered why his eyes had glowed for such a long time. Normally they would stop the moment he finished the vision. 

 

“I still don’t understand the whole misfortune thing. Isn’t it an advantage to be able to look into the future?”

 

At that Bruno pressed his lips together. Salvador was only seeing the positive in his ability. 

 

“My gift wasn’t… isn’t helpful. The bad visions overweighted the good ones and people started blaming me for them. Bad weather, a dead pet, a changed outer appearance they dislike… It came always back to me. I almost destroyed my family with these visions. After what happened I never wanted to have one again but after I came out of the walls and had another vision for Mirabel they started coming back. One even forced it’s way out to be seen.” Bruno had started rambling, gesturing with his hands while doing so. The words flew out of his mouth similar to a storm. Getting faster and faster. His mind forcing him to go back in time, seeing what had happened. The ten years in complete isolation. Seeing his family happy as if he had never existed. They had eaten and continued living. He had missed so much in these years. Birthdays and other things he would never ever be able to be a part of again. He was actually a complete stranger to his nephews and nieces. He made Mirabel’s life hell because of a vision. They had all taken him in but they had never really talked about if they even wanted him here. 

 

He had given Dolores a vision and crashed her hopes with that only to find out he had been wrong, which meant his visions were able to be changed. They didn’t need to happen. One could still change it… 

 

“Hey,” Salvador whispered, getting Bruno out of his trance. He hadn’t even noticed he had begun to cry. His heart was aching and his throat burned. A broken smile fought it’s way onto Bruno’s face. Hectic he tried to wipe his tears away, turning his head to the wall so Salvador didn’t have to see but the tears wouldn’t stop. 

 

He was just so afraid. It was similar to walking on a rope made of glass. One needed to decide how hard one was able to take the next step. If one stepped to hard the glass would break. A wrong decision and he would fall into the depths of black nothingness and he was so close to doing that. 

 

“Why,” Bruno sobbed, embarrassment mixing to the outburst of emotions. “Why did I get…? Why must I…? Why….”

 

Salvador’s heart broke. He would have never expected the man’s wounds would be so deep and so fresh.

 

Suddenly Bruno felt a body. Arms wrapping around him and bathing him in warmth. That was too much. The last wall of him broke, tears spilling out of his eyes while sobbing uncontrollably. 

 

“You don’t bring misfortune upon them all,” Salvador whispered. “You don’t decide their future.” Bruno turned back around, throwing himself into the big man’s warm arms. He buried his head in his chest. His body shaking. He felt Salvador tense for a moment before the man relaxed again and carefully placed his arms around the smaller one’s body. “Shhh,” Salvador cooed. He hesitated at first but then started rubbing circles on Bruno’s back to comfort him. 

 

He was at a loss for words. Encanto hadn’t seemed unfriendly at all. Of course they were all suspicious, but they were close to one another. From what Salvador had understood the man had lived behind the walls. He could only assume which walls and that made it even more depressing. He hadn’t understood how all of it could have possibly turned out that way. His family seemed to love him. How could they let something like that happen?

 

For a long while they simply stayed the way they were. Salvador let Bruno cry, since he felt like it was something the man should have done a long time ago. He could only imagine the weight Bruno was carrying on his shoulders. Living in fear to being an outcast again. It made Salvador want to protect Bruno from all evil.

 

Something in his mind clicked.

 

Soon Bruno’s sobs died down. Feeling even more worn out than he had before. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled into Salvador’s ruana, meaning absolutely everything that had happened in the past minutes. He had cried like a child and even touched Salvador, who didn’t like being touched because of his scary note.

 

“Don’t worry. It’s fine.” Salvador loosened their hug to look into Bruno’s face. His eyes were swollen. “How are you feeling?”

 

“Not ideal but better.” Bruno answered sheepishly. “Maybe more tired now.”

 

“Then you should sleep. I’ve kept you awake for long enough.”

 

Salvador unwrapped their hug, bringing some distance between them. Bruno would have liked to stay like that a little longer. He had felt so safe in Salvador’s arms it made him miss the touch.

 

“I’ll be going then. Do you need anything else?”

 

Out of reflex Bruno shook his head. He didn’t need food or anything. To be precise Bruno didn’t even know what he needed. 

 

“Okay. Then just one more question.”

 

This time Bruno nodded, awaiting what his counterpart had to say,

 

“Would you like to be the first friend I make in this - for me - new world?”

 

“Dios….. Salvador.” He wanted to make a friend. How lang has it been since Bruno had his last friend, who was not related to him by blood? “I’d love to.”

 

Salvador lightened up at this as did Bruno. The atmosphere had grown lighter, both being happy to have made a friend. 

 

“I wish you a good night’s rest Bruno.”

 

“Where will you be staying for the night?” Bruno asked when he saw Salvador moving towards the door. 

 

“I’ll probably sleep at the same place I’ve slept yesterday.”

 

“And where is that?”

 

Please, don’t leave me alone.

 

“I’ve found a nice tree near Encanto. It’s treetop is big enough to shield me from rain.”

 

Hadn’t Salvador said he would ask someone if he could stay at their place? Did no one want to take him in or why was he sleeping outside on the hard ground?

 

“Isn’t that unpleasant?”

 

“Nah. The earth might be a little hard but I’ve had to sleep in worse places than that. I guess I’m actually quite lucky to have found that tree.”

 

Bruno bit down on his lip. It was his chance. He just had to take it. 

 

“Would you like to stay for the night?”

 

Surprised Salvador widened his eyes. Meanwhile Bruno grabbed his blanket and pulled it all the way up to his face so only his eyes were above. “Of course you don’t have to. I just thought since you’re having no place to stay you might like the option of sleeping in a house and.. and since we’re friends now-”

 

“Yes. I’d like to stay for the night mi amigo.” 

Notes:

Hey.

Thanks for all the comments ^^ You have no idea how much they motivate me. I've never been able to motivate myself to continue writing on a daily basis.

I'm reading them all but most of the times I dont answer because I might be too formal out of nervosity.

Sadly I won't be able to continue the upload plan because school will be taking me harder next week...

So thank you all for reading, for the kudos and the comments ^^

We'll read us someday next week.

Adios!

Chapter 8: The Surprising Night

Summary:

No more. They are rather spoiler's than anything else.

“Yes. I’d like to stay for the night mi amigo,” Salvador answered, a small smile playing with his lips.
The euphoria could also be seen in Bruno’s face. He wouldn’t be alone for the night. After what had happened it made him more than simply happy. Being alone meant he would start thinking about his vision and what it could be meaning. He didn’t want that. He wanted to forget about his stupid power for just a few hours.

Looking at the man’s clothes Bruno got an idea.
“You need some fresh clothing though. Mine will probably not fit you, but you could try some on?”
Agustin’s clothes might be fitting for him if Bruno didn’t have to walk up to him and ask for some. How should he explain he let Salvador stay for the night? His future self should be dealing with that problem. He didn’t want to that day.

“Oh, you just want me to try on your tiny clothes, don’t you Bruno?”

“They are not tiny!” Bruno said while trying to show the silver eyed man a grumpy look. It resulted in Salvador shaking his head in delight. “Let’s see what I can find.”
He walked over to the wardrobe which was on the left side of Bruno’s bed. Bruno should have probably gotten up to help him search for something. Instead of doing that he made himself comfortable, leaning against the wall and pulling up his blanket. He was only watching. Seeing how Salvador was reaching for a piece of clothing, inspecting it and then hanging it back before looking at the next.

Bruno didn’t have a particular sleep wear. He just put on the most comfortable clothes he had . If it was too hot he would sleep without some of his sleep wear. Not completely undressed if you understand.

It took Salvador quite some time to finally pull something out of Bruno’s wardrobe, which might be quite close to fit him.. Bruno had almost fallen asleep during the man’s search, jumping back to being awake when his guest (accidentally) threw the shirt he wore below his ruana at him.

Bruno had to admit Salvador was in a much better shape than he was, which is not actually something hard to beat. Unlike him Salvador has broad shoulders and a faint six-pack starting to form on his stomach. Bruno had to admit his guest has a nice body. Sadly Salvador put a light brown shirt on, hiding what he was having below.

Salvador had felt the stare of Bruno. It made him feel embarrassed since he wasn’t used to being stared at. He wanted to turn around, dismissing that thought because they were both men and had nothing to hide from each other the other one didn’t have.

If you looked closely you could even see a faint blush at the tips of Salvador’s ears.

Next were his pants. For that Bruno thankfully looked another way, so he could put them on in peace.
The dark pants made a cracking sound when Salvador finally managed to pull them all the way up. Widening them so Bruno would probably not be able to ever wear them again. “Sorry. I think I messed up your trousers.”

“No worries. There’s a tailor in Encanto. Maybe we should both go and visit him some time,” Bruno answered, the warmth of his bed starting to make him feel his fatigue again but he couldn’t sleep. At least not yet. “Wan’a watch a telenovela?” He mumbled, closing his eyes. His mouth didn’t want to work anymore.

“No. It’s time to sleep, mi amigo.” Bruno heard footsteps approaching, then someone sitting down on his bed. His bed recreating the cracking sound his formerly pants had made.
Bruno shook his head. He didn’t want to sleep. He enjoyed their time too much but his tiredness was so powerful.
“Sit next’o me. Mi rats’ll-“ He yawned interrupting himself while speaking.
Our big man had a little plan for the little man. He would simply do as Bruno wanted. One could already call him asleep so it shouldn’t be taking much longer and discussing would only help him stay awake.

Salvador had already sat on the bed, moving to the wall so he was sitting right next to the Madrigal. Bruno was feeling the warmth Salavdor’s body was radiating. Of course they had summer and it was warm. That didn’t mean it wouldn’t be getting cooler throughout night time.

“And now?” Salvador whispered.
“Mmmh,” Bruno mumbled as an answer, not noticing he was moving closer and closer to Salvador until his head had found it’s place on the silver eyed’s shoulder.
Yes. He had found the perfect position.

“That’s not a good place to be falling asleep on,” Salvador said, a faint smile following his words. It was too late though. Bruno wasn’t able to hear him anymore, lost in the realm of fairytales and dreams.

 

“-ío Bruno?”
….
“Tío Bruno? Breakfast is ready.”
….
Bruno turned to the side. Wrapping his arms around his big warm pillow. His head slowly waking up but taking it’s time. It had been ages since Bruno had had such a good nights rest. It was a shame to wake up and start the day when his bed was still so comfortable.

“Bruno? I think your nephew is calling,” another voice said.
Weird. Whose voice was that? Was he perhaps still dreaming?
Not caring about it he moved a little closer to his pillow while hugging it a little deeper.

“Tío, I’m coming in.”
A door opened. It’s creaking sound made Bruno bury his head in his pillow even more.
Strange. The pillow was a little harder than he remembered it.

Someone inhaled loudly.
It was at that moment Bruno knew something wasn’t right. He opened his eyes when his nephew stormed out of his room. Loudly calling so the whole house would be able to hear him.
“Mamá! Bruno slept with Salvador!”

Meanwhile Bruno was looking at someone’s chest. Someone’s naked chest.
Out of shock Bruno jumped back and fell right out of his bed. Hurting his back during the process.
“Oh no. Are you fine?”

Wide eyed Bruno stared at the man in his bed. When had Salvador undressed his top? Or almost completely undressed his top? He was still halfway wearing it and it didn’t look pleasant at all.

“Why-Why are you…” Bruno stuttered trying to remember what had happened the past evening. What had Camilo just said?

Before Bruno could sort his thoughts someone else stormed into his room. “Oh tío Bruno, you know how to solve a problem.”
It was Mirabel. Bruno knew exactly what she was implying and it wasn’t how it had been.

“Good morning,” Salvador greeted as if there was no teenager with a smug grin on her face.At least it was not his mother nor his sisters.
“Oh the best of mornings Salvador. Food is ready. You should dress up and come down if you’re even able to sit tío.”

Bruno’s jaw opened so wide it almost fell on the floor. Had his ears just played a trick on him or had his sixteen year-old niece just made an innuendo regarding him and their guest?

Mirabel then left, not without winking one time into Salvador’s direction.

“That was weird. Why shouldn’t you be able to sit?”

Bruno’s jaw fell deeper, if that was even possible. He most certainly wouldn’t explain that stupid joke to a fully grown man. He had amnesia but that didn’t mean he would forget about the flowers and the bees.

“Why are you undressed Salvador?” Bruno asked after a while of shocked silence, praying Camilo and Mirabel wouldn’t be telling this story to anyone else.
“Oh. I…I forgot about that.” Salvador answered. “Last night you fell asleep on my shoulder. I wanted to wait before I moved to not immediately wake you up but you held onto the shirt. I tried to take it off but you wouldn’t let me and…” Suddenly Salvador stopped mid sentence. He must have come to a conclusion, hiding his face behind his hand. “I’m so stupid.”

Their next mission would be to clarify they hadn’t slept with each other, just stayed in the same room.. and the same bed. When would his strike of feeling embarrassed end?

“Don’t worry mi amigo. I’ll help you explain to them.”

Bruno sighed. He was happy Salvador was at his side. Not leaving him alone to do just that. He would probably stumble over his words and then his family would think he was trying to make something up.

Both of them got dressed. Salvador still wearing Bruno’s shirt and the pair of trousers. Since it was now the brightest of the day the Madrigal could see the buttons of the shirt holding on for dear life. He almost felt sorry for them.
Afterwards they went downstairs. Walking into the dining room brought the attention of everyone to them.

“Told ya,” Camilo said confidently and getting himself a high five from Mirabel.
“Good morning. Bruno, weren’t you resting from your wounds?” His mother asked, sitting straight in her chair and trying to be as calm as possible.
Meanwhile Bruno shrank a little. “Y-Yes,” he answered.
“Then would you please explain to me why our newcomer has stayed at your place for the night?”
“Yes. Um. He hasn’t got a place to sleep at and… I..”
“Your son was very courteous. I would have had to sleep out in the wild since I didn’t want to be a bother to anyone. He invited me when he found out.” Salvador ended Bruno’s careful speech. He gave the smaller one a pat on the back, to show him it was fine. “And lend me some of his clothes in that process.”

Pepa Seemed to be calming down, Even Alma seemed to be relaxing. Looked like she disliked the thought of her son sleeping with their possible enemy, so if you have the head of the house everything would be good. Since truly nothing happened there was nothing to be afraid of.

“You are sleeping outside?” Alma asked bewildered. “If you had said anything I would have prepared our guest room, right Casita?” Casita opened and closed the windows nearest to them, showing their approval to what the head of the house had said.

“Let’s start eating. We’ll think about your problem afterwards. Now come and take a seat.”

Salvador sat down between Mirabel and Isabel while Bruno took the only other available chair between his sisters.
It was a very delicate breakfast for Salvador, except for the times he noticed Pepa glancing at him. One time he had looked at her while she did so and showed a smile. Instead of returning it she averted her eyes again. Something seemed off about her.

When everyone had finished Julieta took all of their dishes. Bruno got up to go and help her, even though he didn’t feel too good about leaving Salvador alone with his family. They were all still adapting to him and Bruno already called him friend.

Friend. His friend.

“What are you smiling about, mi hermano?” Asked Julieta while she opened the water tap. Bruno shook his head slightly, taking the first washed dish to dry it up and put it on the counter for Casita. “I don’t know if you would feel joy about it when I told you Juli.”
Julieta laughed. “I told you. Just because Salvador is a part of the vision doesn’t mark him as the bad guy. In my eyes he seems to be a kind man. Imagine how his family must be feeling right now because he’s not returning.”
Bruno pressed his lips together. Swallowing the question how Julieta had felt when he had been gone.
“Do you still not want to tell your older sibling? Is there perhaps some truth about Camilo’s rumor?”

“No!” Bruno called out. “It’s not! I promise. How could you think I would… sleep with someone I’ve just met?”

He was not proud of it but Bruno is in fact a virgin. It was nothing to be ashamed of either. Just… Looking at what his sisters had already achieved while he... he was still alone.

“Come on. You’re making me curious. Do I need to clean you too little brother? Like the dishes?” Playful she blew some of the soap bubbles in her brothers direction. The man not dodging and letting himself be hit by them. His smile came back.
“Salvador asked me to be his friend.” He admitted shyly, putting the next dry plate on the counter.
“Has he? That’s cute.”

They both continued their duty in pleasant silence. When they finished Bruno’s sister turned once more to him. “Bruno, do you really think Salvador is not going to harm us?”
Bruno answered with a nod. It wasn’t Salvador that had held the candle in his vision. He needed some time to think about it.

Suddenly they heard a loud:” WHAT?”
Both turned their heads in the direction of the dining room. Was that Pepa’s voice they had just heard?

Chapter 9: Within The Tablets

Notes:

I apologize for the short chapter! I don't have time to give it more length because I really wanted to post the next one today!

I still hope you'll like it.

PS. It's not Beta read

Bruno and Julieta were walking over to the kitchen. Both eager to find out what had made Pepa call out so loudly. Arriving at their destination they found their family laughing loudly, except for Pepa. She was leaning so far back in her chair, she was able to look at the ceiling without being in need of turning her head. As always Felix was right at her side. In fact she was the only one looking disturbed by something.

“What’s so funny?” asked Julieta, while Bruno had already fixed his attention on the two Salvador’s standing at the end of the table. It was quite easy to decide which one of them was the real and which was the fake one. Camilo had turned into the Salvador they had met a day ago. He even made his appearance look more chaotic than Salvador had originally been.

“You told him about our abilities,” sighed Pepa, seemingly out of energy.
“Don’t be angry at her, mi vida. He would have found out during his stay in Encanto anyway,” Felix told her in a calming voice, patting her hand in that process.

At the other end of the room Salvador was walking around his copy. His eyebrows risen in admiration and shock at the same time. “That’s what I’ve looked like? Why did you open the door for me?”

One half of the Madrigals laughed again.
“Camilo’s just messin’ with you. You looked worse,” teased Isabela. The worried expression on Salvador’s face deepened. He hadn’t understood she was also someone messing with him.

Too focused on the play enfolding in front of Bruno he didn’t notice his mother whispering to Julieta.
He didn’t understand what had happened in the past minutes in which he hadn’t been there but whatever it had been it was something good. His family wasn’t one to be unfriendly to guests. They were slowly returning to how they used to be. Aside from the fights about Salvador.

“How about I’ll take you to our tailor today?” asked Mirabel, excitedly clapping her hands while Camilo shifted back into himself. “So you won’t have to look like ‘him’ anymore.”
Hey!” exclaimed Camilo grinning.

Bruno loved to simply stand there an watch his family. It was nice to see them having fun, bickering with each other and just being themselves.
His mother approved on Mirabel’s idea,s ending them both out into the village. Bruno was watching them walking away through their window.

“We’ll be having an eye on this Salvador. You just be yourselves as long as you’re careful, yes?” He heard his mother speaking behind him and the teenager Madrigal’s answering with a rather annoyed “Yes, Abuela.”

It looked like Bruno would be having some time to check on his cave then. Even if the tablet broke, or didn’t materialize correctly there should be something on it.

“Hey.” Pepa got next to him. She looked like she had something on her mind. “How do you manage to trust Salvador so easily?”

Bruno continued staring out of the window, even though his niece and the man had been gone for quite some time now. “I think he’s good.”
Pepa furrowed her eyebrows, obviously still not understanding her brother. “But how did you decide that? When was the moment you thought something to ‘Yes. He’s good.”

When… It had probably started when he first met Salvador. He certainly is a big guy and might look a little scary at first because of his normal stern face but even after a few minutes he had made Bruno a needed compliment. He showed himself to be very understanding, not pressuring anyone with answers they had not been comfortable with giving him.
After his next bad vision Salvador had stayed when he asked him to.
Somehow Bruno seemed to remember a pleasant warmth, which had been next to him that evening. He had truly fallen asleep on that poor man. he even remembered him saying something but he had been too tired to listen.
Salvador seemed to be some mind reading person… Well, hopefully not. If he was they would be having lots of problems.

Bruno sighed, not taking his eyes away from nature. “I’d say it started the moment Julieta and I met him.”

After that Pepa hadn’t asked any more questions. Then they went their separate ways. Bruno had to go inside of his tower to check on the tablet. He would hate his stares forever. Maybe he should ask Isabela for a lift next time he had to go up.

Heavy breathing Bruno opened the door to his cave. The light coming from the door illuminating the inside. He wasn’t in need of searching for the tablet. It’s pieces were shattered all over the sandy middle. It took Bruno some time to find all of the pieces. When he had thought he had them all he found another one. Since he had gathered them all he went back downstairs and took the door to his chamber, to put all of the pieces atop small table. Time to find out if Bruno had good puzzle skills.

Hours. It’s been hours when the Madrigal had started trying to piece them all together but they just wouldn’t fit. It seemed like he was having three completely different images of his vision within one tablet. One shard was able to fit in every single one of them,

Bruno inspected the shard. It was acting similar to a key for multiple doors. He wasn’t too surprised when he found the image of himself standing inside of the shard, not doing anything in particular.

Then he put it on the first unfinished piece of tablet. That one only containing a smiling Salvador reaching out his hand. Inhaling loudly when Bruno’s image inside of the shard shifted into a happily grinning one and was his hair put into a plait? He had never worn his hair in any kind of plait.

The thing, which confused Bruno the most was the reaction of his shard self to Salvador’s. The action engraved within the tablet never moved. They had only showed an image, which was able to change when one moved the tablet to different sides.

Bruno removed the key shard, his image changing back into just standing there and put it to the second unfinished tablet. That one confused Bruno even more. Why was he looking down on many little memories of his childhood? He is a clairvoyant. Not some traveling back in time guy. He had never been able to see events from his or other’s pasts, so why now?
Meanwhile his shard self had gotten very close to the extent he could only see everything upwards from his chest. Why did he seem like his mind he wasn’t really on planet earth but somewhere else. Were his eyes even glowing slightly?

Time for the last tablet. Till then not a single one was of any use. Him and Salvador being a happy pair of friends and random memories out of his childhood.
He put the key shard into tablet number three. Bruno’s eyes widened. It showed an image of him holding the candle, an evil smirk on his lips. The background was full of bright light.
Bruno looked at the key shard. That piece didn’t make it better. His shard self was kneeling on the floor. His face showing anger, while tears were dripping down to the floor. His hands were bawled into fists.

So he was the key element to all of these events? Was his shard self his own emotions? That wouldn’t make any sense if one looked at the second tablet. He had good memories of his childhood. Why would he appear to be hypnotized or whatever in that one?

Bruno’s visions weren’t helping. They only threw more questions at him to which he had no answers.
He ruffled his hair before resting his head on the table, closing his eyes to rest for a bit. It made no sense to him. Would he ever be able to understand their future to safe it? His mind was doing somersaults, trying to knock any kind of sense into all of the images he had seen till that exact moment.

Without luck.

Unexpectedly someone opened his door. Bruno opened his eyes again, sitting up and seeing who had come for a visit. He was surprised to find Pepa standing there. She was nervously playing with her hair.

“Uh. Pepa?”
“Does that mean you… you looked at Salvador and instantly knew he isn’t a bad man?”

Oh. She was still thinking about their little talk a few hours ago. Bruno wouldn’t have thought she would be thinking about it for so long.
“Well. You could probably say it like that. I couldn’t believe he would be a threat. I… I tried very hard to think that way, you know? He’s too…” He’s too friendly, his mind ended. Bruno had shyly averted his gaze. He didn’t know why he was suddenly feeling that way.

“I…” Pepa started, taking a short break before continuing. “I think I have to apologize. I’m sorry Bruno for… the way I behaved. I… I don’t know what had gotten into me. I just…”

They were triplets after all. Pepa was worrying too, the same way Bruno does. She simply had her own way of acting that feeling out.
Bruno got up from his chair and walked over to his sister. He opened his arms, stopping in front of her is she didn’t want the hug. Pepa’s worried face turned into a relieved one. She didn’t wait and straight went for the hug.

Bruno wanted to tell her she didn’t have to apologize. She is his sister and he would always love her. Somehow his heart felt a little lighter at her apology, which is the reason he stay’s quiet and simply enjoys their hug. Bruno couldn’t stop himself from comparing it to the one he had gotten from Salvador. He liked Pepa’s hug but Salvador’s had felt very different. Bruno wondered if it was because Pepa and him were siblings and Salvador and him weren’t.

“I love you, mi hermano. Whatever is going to happen won’t change that.”

Chapter 10: Just a Touch

Now, why don’t you come down and cook with your sisters?” Bruno hadn’t even noticed how much he had missed them. Maybe it was all his fault. He might have been the one who wouldn’t open up to them.

“Like the old times?”
“Like the old times.”

A rainbow formed above Pepa`s head, while they were both going happily to the kitchen.

Julieta had already started preparing something. After all she is the chef in their kitchen. It had been fun. Pepa and Bruno have rather been four more arms for their sibling but it had been fine that way. She had told them what to do and they did.
Once Pepa had thrown some droplets of water at Julieta. Their sister turning around and trying to find out who had just made her a little wet. A small water fight ensued, just like back when they were kids. Laughing they ran through the kitchen. Trying to dodge the next wave of water or trying to attack the other.

When they were all at least a tiny bit wet - Bruno was definitely the wettest of them - they felt Casita move the floor. Gathering their attention to show them something.

“What’s wrong Casita?” asked Julieta

The triplets looked confused at each other, before they started walking in the direction of bricks being lifted a little.

The entrance door was open and in stepped Mirabel and…

“Salvador?”
“What has happened to you?” asked Julieta, going to the big man, who had little wounds all over himself.

Salvador looked like someone had robbed him. The clothes Bruno had lend him were a tad bit ripped. The buttons of the shirt had sprung open and even his gloves were broken.

Meanwhile Mirabel hadn’t changed at all from when they left. The only difference was that she had a big bag hanging from her shoulder.

“A cat was stuck,” the man explained, as if the triplets were able to understand the whole action from this simple sentence.
“Yeah, but the cat was atop a house,” Mirabel added. “You should have seen him. We just came from buying him clothes and then he hears a crying cat. Without any hesitation he started climbing up the house and grabbed the cat.” She laughed. The others didn’t.

“Does it hurt?” Bruno proceeded to ask. He was the next one who walked up to Salvador.
“I deserved it. If I was on top of a big building and someone from below would grab me without warning, I would’ve been scared too.”

“Don’t you dare move! I’ve still got some leftovers from this morning. I’ll be back.” The moment Julieta had spoken the last word aloud she was already gone.
Pepa hadn’t come any closer. She had started to play with her hair again, thinking about if it was the right time or not.

“At least we’ve got the new clothes,” Mirabel said, letting the bag drop to the ground.
Salvador pressed his lips together. He held up his hands to inspect the state his gloves were in.
After everything that had happened Bruno didn’t really know what he had expected was below those gloves. His fingers were long and his hands seemed big. It was a normal pair of hands. Nothing unusual from what wasn’t covered by the ripped cloths.

“Oh. That’s probably a problem, right?” Mirabel asked.

Salvador took a few steps back as if he had just realized how close he was to the others. “Where’s my ruana?” He asked while fiddling with his hands. He tried to put them to a safe spot but he had none.

What were they going to do about it? No one had gloves because the winters had gotten rather warm. Gloves weren’t needed. Going back and asking their tailor would help but Salvador would have to live a few days without them.

“It’s still in my room. I can get it for you,” answered Bruno who had already begun to walk into the direction of said room. He turned around and sprinted up the stairs, running around the corner, getting up the stairs again and walking to the left instead of straight, where his desert room was placed.

The moment Bruno had entered his room he knew he didn’t know where Salvador had placed his ruana. His eyes had been busy… watching…
Bruno brought his hands up to his face and carefully clapped them against his cheeks. He needed to focus.
“Casita? Could you maybe help me to find where Salvador had put his clothes last night?” Bruno called, looking at the walls expectantly.

A few minutes of silence passed until something moved. The wooden floor creaked as Casita lifted something below his bed and brought it forth.
It were Salvador’s clothes! They were neatly folded. Whyever Salvador had decided to put them under his bed.
“Perfecto Casita! Gracias!”

Bruno rummaged through the clothing, eager to find the ruana in the colour of a dying sun. It was below the rest. He grabbed the ruana and made his way back downstairs, also as fast as he could physically run.
When Bruno arrived at the bottom of the stairs he heard someone talking.
He came closer and found Pepa talking to Salvador. “That’s why I wanted to apologize. I hope you can forgive me.” One hand found it’s place back into her hair. Now Bruno understood. Pepa was feeling bad. She had asked Bruno how he was able to trust Salvador because she has a guilty conscience.

Bruno waited a while to not disrupt their talk. Pepa needed it and Salvador too. He entered after Salvador had thanked his sister.
“I’ve got it,” Bruno called and walked smiling over to the big man. He stretched his arm out to give the ruana to Salvador, who did not immediately take it. It took the man a short while to slowly stretch his arm so he could grab the ruana and take it out of the smaller one’s hands.
The moment Salvador had it Bruno watched as he put it on and then hid his hands below the clothing. He seemed more comfortable now, a small smile present on his face.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Mirabel when everything seemed quite peaceful. As if there were no problems at all.

“What are we going to do about what?” Camilo suddenly appeared, startling Bruno. He jumped to the side, away from the voice and right into Salvador. Salvador gasped at their contact, steadying the man with his hands so he wouldn’t fall.

“I’m sorry Tío,” laughed Bruno’s nephew, not meaning what he had said at all. Bruno had looked too hilarious.

Bruno slowly straightened himself. His ruana and the shirt below had drifted to the side, now his skin being in contact with Salvador’s fingers.
Back in Bruno’s room one of the tablets was beginning to glow, without any of the family members knowing.

“You okay?” asked Salvador, worrying if the man might had hurt himself in the process.

Bruno shook his head, turning to look right into the bigger one’s eyes.

Bruno’s heartbeat started to calm. Deeply breathing the air in and out.
He opened his mouth to reply, but his tongue had become numb. He blabbered something incomprehensible. His eyelids fluttered. The touch on his shoulder became more present. It was warm. It was pleasant.
Bruno gave in to the touch, leaning against Salvador’s side.

“What in the name of…”

Bruno’s eyelids tried to close themselves again. The warmth spreading through his whole body. A sensation similar to a tickle made itself present inside of his head. A hot breeze locked his thoughts away. Emptiness. Darkness. When had Bruno closed his eyes?…

Different question, why would he want to open them?

A picture was materializing in front of his inner eye. There was fire. Fire and many people running. There was a man and he was laying in someone’s arms.
It struck him like a lightning. That had to be the day his mother and his father had to flee from their home.

 

“Why…”

“What is that?”

“Why do I see it?”

“What’s happening?”

The pleasant emptiness was gone. A warm voice, as if just a hue, was tingling his nerves. It was weird.. He hadn’t thought…

The scene cut off, showing a happy day of his. Bruno was outside and playing with his sisters. They were playing catch. Bruno is the smallest of the triplets and had troubles to keep up with them. Sometimes Julieta would slow down to let herself be caught by her little brother.
It was so real Bruno could swear he was actually feeling the sun rays of that day on his skin.

All of a sudden the scene started to crack, changing during the process. Pain shooting through his body, replacing the warmth.

No. Bruno didn’t want to see this memory. The day he had left his family. The years of loneliness. His rats were good friends but no replacement for his family. He could see himself sitting behind the walls, looking through some cracks to see them. He watched his nieces and nephews grow up. He watched them eat and imagined himself sitting at the same table as them. The multiple nights he hadn’t been able to sleep. Nightmares haunting him for the first couple of years. His family dying because of him and lots of other things he didn’t want to remember.

“Make it stop.”
His thoughts broke through the door. Striking it down completely.
Another shot of pain and the scenery ripped apart. It felt like the warmth was cut off of him while he was awake. A procedure hurting so bad he thought he was screaming but it didn’t sound like his voice at all.

Pepa and Camilo had stood at their place. Camilo had stopped laughing, both of them looking at Bruno and Salvador.
Salvador’s eyes were wide open. The iris was gone, showing a bright white glow. On the other side was Pepa’s brother. Leaning against the man and staring him deep into his eyes. A green glow flickering across them.

“Tío?” called Camilo, getting closer to the two men.
“Don’t!” ordered Julieta. She had just come back from the kitchen. A tablet with some snacks in her hands. “We don’t know what’s happening there.”

“Julieta?”

“What happened?” She asked, placing the tablet on a small cabinet and walking over to them.

“They were only standing there. Nothing spec-“ Pepa gasped, when Bruno’s legs gave away but Salvador was holding onto him, so the man wasn’t able to actually fall and get hurt. It looked almost as if they had paused after a fast dance session. One of Salvador’s hands was at Bruno’s back, while the other was holding his head in place. That seemed scary to the three Madrigals. As if Salvador was hypnotizing the other through their eyes.

“Skin contact,” Camilo uttered, the adults widening their eyes at that.

“We need to separate them!” Pepa stammered, moving forward and putting a hand on her brother to break their contact.

“Wait!” Julieta said again. She rubbed her fingers, as if she was cold but she wasn’t.

“We’ve got no time to think Juli! We’ve got to do something.” Pepa started pulling, without any result. “I can’t do this alone.”

Next to her Camilo turned into a bigger man with muscles, before he joined his mother. They didn’t touch Salvador, afraid of the consequence that action would bring. With Camilo’s help they were able to move the tiniest bit back. Salvador seemingly had a strong grip on their brother.
Julieta was not convinced about their method until she saw a single tear flowing down Bruno’s cheek. She had to do something, which is the reason she joined her sister and nephew.
Three people pulling at Bruno, struggling but not giving up.

Back in Bruno’s room the tablet grew even brighter illuminating the whole room in its light.

Little white lightnings were brizzling atop Salvador’s arm. Rounding them like tiny snakes.

Screaming.

Thunder was heard.

Then…

Four people fell to the ground. The “knock back” was too big when Bruno finally popped off of Salvador’s “grip”.

 

It took Bruno a while to understand where he was. He was trembling and his head was hurting but in a different way. His actual brain hurt.
“Bruno. Are you feeling okay?” Pepa got beside him.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” Julieta sat on the other side, holding three fingers up.

“Mmh.. Am I on the floor again?” Bruno asked instead, rubbing his head in a bad attempt of trying to ease the pain.

“How many fingers, Bruno!” Julieta insisted and Bruno gave her the answer, to which she exhaled relieved.

Unexpected Julieta got up and turned around. Bruno was still trying to figure out why he was back on the floor.
“What happened,” he groaned, memories flooding him without his doing.
Blinking a few times he focused on Julieta, who had gone to the other side of the room.

Salvador. He was laying there and rubbing his head.

“You touched our Mister Amnesia. That happened,” said Camilo, who must be somewhere behind Bruno.

They… They touched… and…? Bruno swallowed. His heart had begun to race. Feeling like it was trying to keep someone alive in a dangerous situation. Except for the fact he wasn’t in a dangerous situation.
Maybe Bruno’s vision was shaky but it seemed as if the bigger man was trembling.

Slowly Bruno tried to get on his feet. He stumbled a bit as his head’s spinning wanted to get him back down.

“What are you doing?” Pepa had spoken but Bruno didn’t answer her. “Casita. Would you be so kind and help me to get over there?”
The floor moved, more than it had at the beginning, which almost threw Bruno to the ground.

Arriving at his destination Bruno let himself drop. Falling right next to Salvador.
The man was in fact trembling but he also had tears running down his cheeks. That shocked Bruno. Salvador didn’t really cry… The tears were just running like a waterfall. His eyebrows were pulled down, making him seem strict besides the tears.

“Sal-Salvador?”

No answer.

“He doesn’t talk Bruno. He’s not responded to me either.”

“What…?”
Just because they had touched? Because he had gotten scared and stumbled back right into him? It was his fault. Once more he had hurt someone by just being himself. Salvador hadn’t meant any harm and what had he done?
He should have stayed hidden behind the walls, when no one talked about him and he was completely invisible.

“WHAT?” Someone called out.

“Where did he suddenly go?”

“Bruno?” Julieta.

Notes:

I'm so sorry for the long wait.
You have no idea how often I had to rewrite the whole chapter because I disliked the outcome.

I finally managed to write it though so, I hope you liked it ;)
The next chapter will probably a calmer one..