He had just gotten shouted at for, yet again a negative vision
He was crying softly under a tree a bit away from the village and suddenly heard “hey, are you alright”
He had looked around him, only to see his rat Bruno Jr and the greenery around him
“Look up”
He looked up and there you were, sitting in the tree looking down at him with a soft empathetic smile
He didn’t get those very often, it was a nice change
He’d explained to you what had happened and you had started to shout about how wrong it was of the person to treat him like that- and that it wasn’t HIS fault that the woman’s goldfish would die??? “THEY DONT EVEN LAST A YEAR NORMALLY”
He definitely liked you
So you both started hanging out
You would meet at the tree in any spare time and just talk everything out
As you both got older you both started to crush on eachother
He introduced you to his family and they obviously were a bit- shall we say reluctant to warm up to you
Julieta thought you might be trying to humiliate him
Pepa and Alma thought you just wanted to get close to the family
You asked him for a vision once
He told you that your cat was gonna die in a few days and you’d stood up
He thought you were gonna leave
“Please, please don’t leave- I’m sorry, it’s my fault I shouldn’t have looked just please don’t leave me”
You’d looked at him and gone “I’m not leaving you- we’re gonna go make sure Mateo has the best last two days of his life”
And there you have it
He is officially in love
Time skip to The day of his disappearance
Or should I say your disappearance
You’d been in a secret relationship with him for so many years now and you told eachother everything
One day Bruno rushed into your bedroom hands shaking with nerves
“Cariño? What’s wrong mi amor?”
He’d explained to you his plans to run from his family and to somehow stop the future that he’d seen coming from coming true
You’d started to pack your bag and stated-quite firmly that you’d be coming too
He honestly couldn’t be happier with that
He’d go insane without you for company
You’d snuck into the house and behind the walls
And the family saw no hide or tail of you until casita would fall
Mirabel found you both and started quite excitedly that she’d been looking for you so you could tell her about Bruno
You both were bopping and dancing together on the balcony along to the family’s “we don’t talk about Bruno” song
You’d sing it to him when you felt like being a tease
Delores knew you were there the entire time and snuck you food
After casita falls and the family reunite he turns around and says that he needs to introduce someone
“This is my wife, Y/n, mama I’m sure you remeber her”
Yup you tied the knot in the walls but you couldn’t be happier
After casita is rebuilt you definitely go on dates with Bruno and renew your vows with an actual wedding
You and Bruno babysit Antonio a lot
Camilo and Mirabel get along with you the most
You definitely have children, adopted or otherwise
You gave him a new ruana but added a hood for him since he told you he wanted to look more mysterious for dramatic effect
He really likes it but he’s shy and he doesn’t want to admit that he likes it so much
Also more bonus blushy bruno!
Also please lmk if you guys would be down for younger bruno scenarios! Cause I have some angsty ones I’d like to share and some feedback would be appreciated! ^^)/
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE LOVE AND NOTES! IM LITERALLT CRYIJG I LOVE YALLS! ❤ I ALSO HAVE YOUNGER JULIETA and working on a younger pepa ;;u;; pls lmk if you guys would like to see them as well!! ;;u;;
cw: obsessive-compulsive behavior, emotionally abusive parents, suicidal thoughts, reference to to past self-harm and suicide attempts
word count: 12481 |rating:mature
⧖⧗⧖
“Jueputa…”Sofía mumbled to herself as she pricked her finger on the sharp needle when finishing up the last few stitches of her design. Quietly cursing to herself, she eventually managed to tie the thread and place the orange dress in her basket, diligently keeping her dripping finger far away from the delicate fabric until she could grab her things and rush out of the studio.
She was late, but unfortunately, that wasn’t anything new. Bringing her finger to her mouth to catch the few drops of fresh blood on her tongue, Sofía winced at the sudden potent metallic taste invading her senses, just as she reached the first crossroads on her path.
With little to no deliberation, Sofía decided to walk the path that led through the forest up the hill - the scenic route - instead of strolling through the busy afternoon streets crowded with pedestrians. The tailor’s shop was close to the small river that ran through Encanto, about halfway between Sofía’s family’s house and Casita, which were both practically home to her at this point.
After her interest in art and sketches had morphed into a fascination with sewing and embroidery at a fairly young age, it had only been a matter of years until Sofía had become a seamstress in town, and one of the more prominent ones at that. Granted, despite her initial interest in the profession and her genuine enthusiasm for most of the projects she got to work on, Sofía’s wish for this job had not derived from a need for money; instead, it had been born out of necessity.
She had learned very early on in life that she needed to make herself useful somehow, no matter how, even though her involvement with the Madrigals, especially Pepa, had helped her own family’s farming business out significantly already. Sofía had been there anytime Pepa had needed someone, not only to help relieve her of her overwhelming emotions, but also to talk things through. They often spoke about her feelings, about why she was experiencing them and most of all, about how to deal with them on a day to day basis.
This arrangement had started in the very beginning, right after Sofía had received her gift, and over the years as both Pepa’s mood and the weather around town stabilized, her own family had grown to be the biggest farmers in all of Encanto, supplying and providing the majority of the town with produce daily. Although it had all been a lot of work on all of their parts, Sofía had to admit that now, way over a decade after it had all started, her family was happier than ever.
After the vision Bruno had given her cousin Gabriéla that fateful day Sofía had received her gift, it had only taken months until she had caught onto the longing, lingering stares Andres was shooting her cousin every time they passed his family’s stall in the marketplace, and only a few more until Gabriéla reciprocated them every single time. It had been fascinating seeing Andres’ entire character change over the course of mere weeks as he dropped his mask, and after some time had passed, he came off as a genuinely nice person whenever Sofía got the chance to see him.
A while later, just after his first dinner at their family home, she had caught the two lovebirds kissing outside the front door just as she prepared to make her daily journey to the Madrigal home, where she had continued to be a frequent guest. They had gotten engaged shortly after, and now, almost fifteen years later, the two of them were expecting their second child.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” were Julieta’s usual words to describe the feeling of just how quickly time had passed from then until now, and Sofía never once doubted that Gabriéla was indeed having fun - in fact, she was thriving. Never before had she seen her as happy as she was now. Despite her initial concerns about marriage and children in particular, she was a natural. Even on stressful days, when her son Arturo cried and she was exhausted enough to pass out, Gabriéla emanated a glow of sheer happiness that Sofía knew from her own experience to be extremely rare, and she could not have been happier for her cousin.
Of course, there had been tough times as well. It had been hard when their abueloDario had passed away a few years prior, just after the birth of Gabriéla’s son. He had died peacefully in his sleep the night after he had gotten to hold Arturo for the first time, and his daughters had found him the next morning, a smile still permanently embedded into his face.
It had been sad, but they all knew it was okay - he had been happy in his final years. The whole family had decided to celebrate his life rather than mourn his death, and with the help of the Madrigal’s, they had thrown a party the likes of which had never been seen. It all had ended in a bittersweet goodbye to her abuelo, but Sofía knew she would never forget him for what he had given her in allowing to move and live here in the family home.
The afternoon sky above Sofía was mostly clear as she ventured along the beaten path through the forest, only a few fluffy clouds lingering above the mountains on the horizon. She was glad Pepa was having a good day today.
As of late, she had been having more trouble controlling herself again. Over the years, the two of them had grown to trust each other more and more, but in recent times Pepa had slowly grown hesitant to call on Sofía’s gift to help her deal with her emotions. Once, when the younger girl had been comforting Pepa during a particularly bad breakdown, she had told her that she often felt like she was using Sofía for her gift. They had had a long, in-depth talk about that, ending with a lingering hug and a mutual understanding: they were always there for each other, in whatever ways they could be. There was no reason to feel guilty, as long as they weren’t forcing the other person to help.
The fact that was compounding Pepa’s whole problem was Sofía’s realization that she craved feeling needed; it was what gave her a purpose in life, it was what motivated her to do anything at all. It wasn’t the validation or gratefulness, it wasn’t even money or any other material pleasure; it was the simple act of feeling useful that kept her going.
Still, even after their talk, Pepa had started a habit of bottling up her emotions more and more, with the simple goal of not feeling them for fear of annoying those around her - especially her mother. Alma had once called Pepa “abnormally neurotic” during a fight, one of many fights about her annoyance with rain or hail even just entering her field of vision, let alone get on her or any of her clothes or furniture. Sofía was sure that Pepa had never forgotten that and was now acting on pure instinct to prove her mother wrong.
When Casita emerged in the distance, its colorful facade like a bright beacon on the horizon, it distracted Sofía so much that she accidentally tripped over a thick root on the forest floor beneath her, barely preventing herself from tumbling to the ground as the bottles in her basket clinked together loudly. Sofía grinned to herself, both out of sheer embarrassment at falling over practically nothing, and also because of the gentle reminder of what she had brought with her.
It was the triplets’ birthday tomorrow, and whilst Alma had planned a huge celebration for her children, Sofía had learned to avoid larger gatherings years ago because they tended to overwhelm her, no matter how much she prepared for the onslaught of feelings that would threaten to suffocate her every time. Knowing full well it wasn’t a good idea for Sofía to attend their birthday festivities, Pepa, Julieta and Bruno had made Sofía promise to come over in the evening and spend the night together to celebrate their 20th birthday right as the clock struck twelve. Naturally, she hadn’t come empty handed - nay, she had a wide array of gifts in tow. Apart from the yards and yards of elaborately embroidered fabric, what was weighing her down most were the aged bottles of alcohol Sofía was carrying with her. They had all planned on experimenting whether Julieta’s cooking could flush alcohol out of their system, and Sofía had sort of splashed out, getting some bottles from the market as well as the wine her family had given her to bring as a gift.
As Sofía strode closer to Casita, a strange tightness spread through her neck and chest, and she only took a moment to realize what it was. These days, it was a rare occurrence that Sofía felt nervous to see the triplets, but she had worked on their presents for months, and although she knew they would all be incredibly kind and grateful, she desperately hoped they would like their gifts.
With a shiver, Sofía pulled herself together, trying to remember one particular phrase Julieta liked to say to cheer her up in times like these. “No time like the present.”
⧖⧗⧖
Even after all these years and countless visits to the Madrigal home, Casita still liked to lead Sofía to her destination with a wiggle of its beautiful tiles. There had been barely a day in the last fifteen years that Sofía had not visited, in fact, she had probably spent more nights here than in her actual home, and yet sometimes it still felt overwhelming to come here.
The sheer beauty of the home had only improved ever since she had first laid eyes upon it, and Sofía made sure to compliment the house whenever she got the chance. “You look stunning today, Casita,” she grinned as she made her way up the wide stairs, gently stroking her fingertips over the dark blue railing as she passed.
Despite the house’s attempts of urging her forwards, Sofía instead made her way to Bruno’s room, hovering by the glowing door for a moment. He wasn’t in there, she could feel that immediately.
In fact, it had gotten easier to feel his emotions from farther and farther away, especially if he let her. Bruno had caught onto how to conceal his feelings a little better, but Sofía never let him know just how much of an open book he continued to be to her.
Feeling somewhat nostalgic, she let her eyes wander over the picture frames that adorned the walls of the little corridor to his room. There were countless photographs of all four of them, practically any age you could imagine. There were a few of them standing by each other’s side during birthday celebrations, and a pair showing Pepa, Bruno and Sofía helping Julieta in the kitchen, starting out kind and neat in one, ending with all four of them covered in flour in the next. Many wonderful memories sprung to mind as Sofía’s eyes wandered over the pictures, something she did way too rarely, she realized now.
After a while, Sofía’s smile fell. There was no denying that when she followed the photographs that depicted Bruno in chronological order, his once wide grin that showed all of his brilliant white, crooked teeth continued to turn more and more into a frown the older he got. His posture changed too, from shy and bashful to genuinely uncomfortable, sometimes even fearful.
Unfortunately, over the years, Bruno had grown from being the family’s golden child to being its black sheep. Sofía never truly understood why nobody seemed to get along with him as well as she did. People came to see him often, not to seek his advice or opinion but to have him see their future, which was something he had absolutely no control over, and yet the general consensus among them was that Bruno Madrigal was both creepy and cruel.
The inhabitants of town regularly came to him with their most dire situations and fears, begging for something only he could do for them, and despite his knowledge about their opinion on him, he did them the favor every time, never denying a single visitor of a vision. And for what, for them to scorn him, to act like he slighted them on purpose and to start pointing fingers at him and avoiding him like the plague whenever they saw him in the streets?
They had to know that he could only see the future, not shape it in any way. They had to know, because Sofía had told them many times. She had been witness to many unfortunate incidents regarding Bruno’s visions as well as countless furious visitors, and every single time she did her best to calm them down and direct their contempt towards something else than the innocent Madrigal son, and every single time she failed.
In return, Bruno had started to hide himself away more and more, even as a young child when things had only just started turning into the dismal situation they were now. He regularly holed himself up in his room, heavy bags plaguing his dull eyes whenever Sofía saw him during dinners or outside.
Not only had the town dubbed Bruno weird, disturbing and just overall bad luck, which would have been bad enough, but his visions had also started taking a significant, tangible toll on him. Apart from the usual physical symptoms, his splitting headaches, burning eyes, and general exhaustion, things had gone very wrong a few times.
Once, a few years back, Bruno had given too many visions in a single day, and had ended up stumbling into Sofía’s room, his eyes dripping deep red blood. Both Sofía and his sisters had been tremendously scared for him, Pepa struggling to suppress the thunderstorm growing outside while Julieta ran to the kitchen to panic-cook him a meal to heal. All the while, Bruno had just sat there, completely quiet. It had been one of the most terrifying moments of Sofía’s entire life, to see him sit there with no emotions, almost lifeless; a mere shell of a man who barely even reacted as she carefully wiped away his bloody tears. Even though Sofía had forced herself not to feel his feelings, not wanting to breach his privacy in this already critical moment, the pure coldness emanating from him when she had brushed her hand along his cheek was uncharacteristic to say the least, highly concerning to be truthful.
It had taken Bruno days to snap out of it and return to his usual self, days he had spent locked away in his tower, with the already endless staircase seeming even longer than ever before. Sofía had learned the hard way that he did not want to see anybody, had devoted hours on end just sitting with him while he stared into nothingness, but after a while, Casita hadn’t even allowed her or anyone else into his room anymore.
Those few days without Bruno were the longest time Sofía had been without him ever since they had met, and she had spent them in constant worry over him, his health and his mental state.
Ever since then, things had been different. No one knew what had happened or what had really caused that episode in him, but something changed within him that month. Bruno started looking even more exhausted than usual, all the while his paranoia multiplied regularly, leaving him superstitious and anxious almost every single day of his life. He slowly began altering his routines to help him through his visions, which he still insisted on doing even though they were clearly causing him pain, and found himself creating a type of ritual to guide him, to aid him as a crutch to cope with whatever came his way.
More worryingly, the youngest Madrigal started to develop strange tics, mostly related to his recently arisen superstitiousness. Sofía had watched these habits develop from their very beginning, and she was certain they were born out of a need for stability and reassurance that nothing else could give him in that moment as well as a desperate wish to get rid of the bad energy he seemed to think was surrounding him at all times.
To achieve this, Bruno had started off by simply acting out what he had heard about warding off bad luck, doing things such as throwing salt over his shoulder at every occasion he felt nervous about something, sometimes even sugar, for good measure.
He had once read that in many cultures, people knocked their fist on wood to chase away evil spirits as well as express gratitude to friendly ones in hopes of good fortune. Ever since then, occasional soft taps against door frames turned into frequent raps of his fists against any wooden surface he could think of. Naturally, as with nearly every one of Bruno’s habits, the pattern remained the same, in this case the same rhythmical sequence of five knocks, then, after a short pause, another few as he muttered to himself so quietly that nobody could understand him.
Then there were other things, certain gestures only Bruno himself seemed privy to know the meaning behind, and his frequent muttering of rhymes and songs he had learned in his childhood from books or his mother, sometimes even some of Julieta’s verses.
Over time, as things got worse, these tics progressed from voluntary actions that clearly reassured him to unavoidably compulsive gestures that he could not do certain things without completing first.
There had been many cases in which Sofía had seen him crossing his fingers as he held his breath until his face was blazing red, knocking his fists on his surrounding surfaces until his knuckles were scraped and bleeding, as well as avoiding anything even remotely associated with bad luck as though his life depended on it.
That compulsive need that forced Bruno into doing things this way was more aggressive on some days than others, specifically when he seemed more troubled than usual.
Still, despite Bruno’s best efforts to conceal all of these feelings, struggles and problems, it affected Sofía immensely. She considered him her best friend, the most important person in her life, and it caused her endless pain to see him suffer like this.
Slowly, she let her fingertips ghost over a framed picture of the two of them standing just outside Casita when they had been barely ten years old, arms wrapped around each other tightly, wide grins on both of their faces. If only things could be like this again.
⧖⧗⧖
The door to Sofía’s room had moved ever since it had first appeared, and was now situated a little farther to the side of the house than Bruno’s. This meant it was also farther away from where people would gather during parties or other occasions, and it made it much easier for Sofía to have a place to relax without feeling overwhelmed by other people’s emotions.
As a matter of fact, it had originally taken weeks for Sofía to muster up the courage to open the door to her own room. There had been so much pressure and incredibly high expectations that came with her being such a special addition to the Madrigal family, and naturally, the fear that the room would be even remotely like Bruno’s had been lingering in the back of her head for the majority of the time she waited.
Her room had barely changed since then.
Its main theme was very clearly comfort. It was a cozy room, with lots of space to spread out and relax on a multitude of sofas, loveseats and a huge bed large enough for a whole crowd of people. A large window overlooked all of Encanto, and the sides of the room were lined with rows of large bookshelves filled to the brim with all kinds of literature, only interrupted by a few little alcoves where one could snuggle up and read.
If Sofía was feeling especially stressed out, Casita would simulate rain sounds to help her calm down, sometimes just to aid her in falling asleep. Also, when it was dark, stars faintly twinkled on the high ceiling, all in their actual, accurate constellations.
In all truth, the four of them probably spent the most time in her room - had been ever since the beginning. It had adapted, slowly but surely, adding a little nook for a study so they could all be in the same room while still getting work done whenever they wanted to. Julieta would work on recipe ideas in one corner while Pepa meditated by the giant window, artificial rain noises working wonders on calming down her raging pulse, and whereas Sofía used her free time to practice her sketching or embroidery, Bruno would merely read or write, or sometimes just sit and stare into nothingness or at the star-covered ceiling, rarely simply resting his arm across his eyes as he laid back and relaxed for once.
They all took comfort in each other’s presence, no matter what was happening around them. Sometimes, no words needed to be exchanged at all. Sofía considered it a privilege to be included in this phenomenon, one that usually seemed almost exclusively reserved for relationships between twins or triples. She was sure it was only because they had all grown up together, being close friends for such a long time, and yet she had always found it fascinating how they often understood each other entirely without words.
The moment Sofía opened her door, her train of thought was interrupted by Pepa who jumped up from the ground in front of her as soon as she laid eyes on her. “Finally! How kind of you to grace us with your presence!” Harsh words, but by now Sofía was used to Pepa’s brashness and ever-changing moods, and the younger Madrigal sister had spoken them with a wide smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, just before enveloping Sofía in a crushing hug. “Love you too, Pepa,” she laughed back in reply, setting her basket down as soon as Pepa let go and Julieta began hurrying towards her, imitating just what her sister had done.
A hug from Julieta was something to behold, just like Julieta herself. Her presence was always warm and welcoming, her attitude gentle and mothering, dripping with kindness and understanding as well as maturity and wisdom well beyond her years. Being both slow to anger and a resolute, comforting shoulder to cry on at all times combined with her patience being that of a goddess, Julieta was the one who truly kept the four of them grounded at all times.
“Sofía, I’m so glad you could make it! These two have been driving me insane for hours worrying over when or if you would get here.” With a quick gesture to her siblings beside her and a slightly mischievous grin the oldest triplet stepped back, just enough so that Sofía’s gaze fell on Bruno who stood just a few feet behind her.
She watched in dismay as his facade slipped into place seamlessly, replacing his previously empty expression with a broad grin and he rushed towards her, a faint blush still on his cheeks from Julieta’s words. After pushing his sister’s aside Bruno came to a stand just in front of Sofía, and for a moment he motioned as though he wanted to hug her himself as well, before he instead bent down to the basket she had placed by her feet.
“Aaaand what have you brought us here?” he asked with a sly grin contorting his features, his long curls obscuring his face as he picked it up with ease. “Ay, hands off, señorito!” It barely took seconds until Sofía had ripped her property from his grasp, and immediately, she could see his expression change. His kind smile turned wider so Sofía could almost see her reflection in his shiny teeth, had she not been distracted by the way he looked at her. “We have secrets now, do we?” Bruno’s voice was deeper now, more playful than before, and Sofía couldn’t stop the goosebumps that spread over her skin at his words. Oh no.
Playing catch had been a frequent occasion when they had all been younger, in fact, had become somewhat of a tradition. Pepa was incredibly ticklish, so she had always been the most fun to catch, but whereas Julieta was the fastest among them, Bruno was the most nimble. Climbing, jumping, running - name it, he was good at it. Still, it had been a while since Sofía had seen him look at her like this, and yet it only took her a moment to bolt away from him as quickly as she could, playful instinct kicking in just like it had when they had been children.
In turn, it barely took minutes until he caught her, effortlessly tripping her so she fell onto her bed as he stood behind her, panting like they had been running for hours. Both their faces were red as tomatoes, and Sofía could faintly hear the sisters cackle in the distance as she backed up onto the bed, holding the basket in her lap like she was protecting a child. “Bruno, this is for later.” He was unperturbed, stalking closer to her like a predator towards its prey, eyes fixed on the basket, completely unwavering. “Bruno! Do you wanna ruin the surprise?”
That got him. All of a sudden, his eyes lit up like the ones of a child, a demure smile playing around his facial features as he stepped back, giving her enough space to get up again. “Well, why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
⧖⧗⧖
The sun had gone down hours ago. The only things lighting up Sofía’s surroundings were the strong moonlight shining through the giant window on one side, and the mess of candles they had lit earlier, casting the whole room in a comforting, flickering orange light.
It was nice spending time together like this again, just the four of them. They had all been busy with their own projects and activities recently, but now that they were all reunited like this, it felt like no time had passed at all. Of course, the alcohol helped, too.
Julieta’s reaction to the strong liquor Sofía had brought was by far the most severe, her expression morphing from a look of pure disgust when the liquid hit her tongue into one of an epiphany only moments later. Sofía had no doubt the oldest triplet was expanding her palette, already thinking up recipes that would match or even improve the taste she was experiencing.
Pepa was different. She would sip at her drink greedily but cautiously, ready to stop at any point as if experimenting what it would do to her mood. They had all tasted alcohol before this, of course, but moderation was a word they had banned for tonight, so it was interesting to see how all of them reacted nonetheless. To all of their surprises, drinking didn’t affect Pepa negatively at all. Instead, she wore a wide smile on her face that brightened up the whole room, and her genuine laughter quickly increased both in pitch and intensity, which often baited the others into snickering along with her.
Bruno didn’t drink much; he never had. Sofía didn’t like to assume, but she had always suspected that he denied alcohol because it could affect his visions, or perhaps his control over when and how often he would have them.
Sofía had only ever seen him fully drunk once over a year ago, at her eighteenth birthday party. Her family had, of course, gone fully overboard with the festivities despite Sofía’s wish to keep it small and manageable, she suspected partially because they were hoping to set her up with one of the countless young men residing in Encanto, inspired by the recent marriage of one of her younger cousins. Anything but overjoyed, Sofía had still obliged their wishes and danced with a few eligible bachelors over the course of the evening, none of them particularly tickling her fancy whatsoever.
The most fun she had had that night had been dancing with the triplets, hooking their arms into each other to move in circles around the room in childish motions, twirling and lifting each other in ways that had made them all laugh hysterically. All to the dismay of Sofía’s family, of course, who had immediately paired her up with another stranger, whose impure intentions she had felt wavering off him even before he touched her hand to lead her back onto the dance floor.
It had happened when Sofía had fled outside to escape his company hours later, that he had followed her to wrap his arms around her firmly enough that any resistance had been futile. Without any hesitation, he had pulled her into a kiss, just when Julieta had stepped into her field of vision, making the stranger cease his actions and hurry off into the night instead.
Relief was barely enough of a word to describe what Sofía had felt in that moment. Of course, she could have pushed him away, sent him god-knows-where after giving him no signs of liking him all evening, but Julieta’s company had been enough to rout him. Immediately, she’d rushed to envelop Julieta in a tight embrace whilst thanking her profusely. “Don’t thank me,” she had whispered in response before pulling back slightly to look into Sofía’s confused eyes, “thank Bruno.”
Later, Sofía had found Bruno leaning against one of the wooden posts off to the side of her family’s property, struggling to stay upright as his gaze drifted over the clearly visible stars in the sky. She had felt how drunk he had been far before she reached his side, and yet it had surprised her just how far gone he’d been. With her arm looped through his, she had led him inside and to her room, making sure to lay him down so he would be as comfortable as possible before backing away. “He touched you…” Bruno had murmured, barely audible through his slurred pronunciation, and yet Sofía could feel the raw fury emanate from him at his words. “That goddamn bastard touched you.”
He had, of course, apologized profusely the next day and many days after that for just how drunk he had been, but in all truth he had never managed to recollect his memory of the evening - possibly for the best. Ever since then, Bruno had barely had a drop of alcohol.
Tonight, however, it was different. Not only was Bruno dismissive about drinking, merely tasting one of the older wines Sofía’s family had gifted them, he also seemed much more withdrawn than usual. He barely joined in on any of the fun or conversations, and, after a while, he vanished without a word.
Bruno’s sisters didn’t seem too perturbed about his absence, immediately making use of the situation by moving onto girltalk. Both Julieta and Pepa had their eyes on two boys from town, which had been a prominent conversation topic between them in recent times.
Julieta and her novioAgustín hadn’t exactly met by accident. Abiding by Alma’s wishes, Julieta had started to run a little booth in town where she would give away freshly cooked food to anyone in need of healing. Agustín was a man of Julieta’s age who had frequented Julieta’s stand over a long period of time, a different type of injury in tow at every single visit. By that, one could gather that he had either been incredibly clumsy and accident-prone, or genuinely interested in her. Whatever it had been, Julieta had soon developed more than a small crush on him. After having kissed a few times, an experience she had described to Pepa and Sofía in elaborate detail, she and Agustín had recently made the step to officially become a couple.
With Pepa, it had been different, like all things were. A few months back, Sofía’s family had invited the Madrigals over for supper, which had been where Pepa had properly met Sofía’s cousin Félix for the first time. They had been seated next to each other at the dinner table, and it had truly been love at first sight. Despite having fallen head over heels in love with each other after that first night of discussing anything and everything for hours on end, they had danced around each other for a long time until he’d properly asked her out. Recently they had started meeting up regularly, and whenever they did, Pepa would come home dazed, radiating an immense happiness that would make rainbows appear all around her for the next few days.
Against all odds, considering the town’s opinion on him, Bruno had joined his sisters in dating someone only a few weeks ago. He had been spending a lot of time with Martina, a girl from town that neither of the girls knew particularly well, but one that he seemed overjoyed to meet up with every single time. Sofía had only seen her a few times, but everytime she had felt her chest constricting like she was about to have a panic attack.
Martina was, for lack of a better word, perfect - the type of person who was just effortlessly beautiful. Her tapered waist was only part of her impeccably sculpted figure that visibly promised seduction, spools of her mercury-red hair framing her face, her saffron-tinted complexion as flawless as the one of a porcelain doll. Her dark, sweeping eyelashes made it look like she was wearing makeup at all times, and the sugary voice that poured out of her puffy, heart-shaped lips was just as mesmerizing as the rest of her. According to everyone who knew her, the cheerful personality and her bubbly outlook on life seemed to make Martina just an overall pleasure to be around.
All in all, she was beautiful in a way Sofía wasn’t, lighting up any room she entered, and she was floaty and angelic - so unlike Sofía in every way.
Sofía had spent hours of her time weeping over how it made her feel whenever she knew Bruno was meeting her, insistent on going alone even though his sisters inquired whether they could join him every single time. She loathed the jealousy that ricocheted through her, could feel it wavering just beneath the surface of her skin whenever Martina was mentioned, sizzling and blistering as though it was burning her from the inside out. Yet, nothing was worse than hearing Bruno talk about her, his head in the clouds as he gushed over something they had gotten up to the day before - it truly made Sofía feel as though she wanted to die.
Never in her life had she felt less attractive and desirable than now. It wasn’t like Sofía and Bruno had ever done anything unsavory; in fact, she was absolutely certain he was not interested in her in that way. What he felt had always been like an open book to her, and she knew his feelings towards her had barely changed ever since they had first met. Hers had, clearly.
Sofía liked Bruno Madrigal, everybody knew that. And yet, nobody knew how much she craved his closeness and affection, and just how much she wantedhim. She wanted to call him her own, wanted to claim him and have him adore her just the way she adored him. This odd sense of possessiveness was not only uncalled for, it also made Sofía feel physically sick every time she dwelled on why she felt this way, and yet she couldn’t help but wish Bruno saw her the way she saw him.
A loud peal of laughter from the sisters brought Sofía back to reality, and she quickly shook her head to get rid of her thoughts before Pepa turned towards her, her words slightly slurred as she spoke. “See, Sofía? Now that Bruno has his novia, only you need to find someone, and then the whole family is happy!” Without hesitation, Julieta turned towards her sister, staring at her as though she had just insulted her. “Pepa!” Unimpressed, Pepa continued. “We could all get married together! Then comes the happily ever after, like a fairytale! I’ve always wanted to be in a fairytale…” Her voice quieted down as she trailed off, just when Julieta elbowed her in the ribs. Pepa threw her a confused glance in response before her eyes suddenly widened in silent realization, one that Sofía was not privy to the details of.
Instead, she bit down on her bottom lip to subdue the pang of pain that shot through her chest, feeling inexplicably close to tears after those few words, and spoke up herself. “Yeah, I don’t know. Some fairytales aren’t all that good, you know?” Sofía hoped they couldn’t hear the pain in her voice as she rose from the ground to inconspicuously stretch her limbs, hiding the frown that was undoubtedly distorting her face. “Anyways, I’m not really looking to… date anyone, I guess.”
The conversation stalled, and when Sofía still felt tears stinging in the corners of her eyes a minute into deafening silence, she excused herself to go to the bathroom, instinctively grabbing her basket on the way out without really knowing why.
She felt off; a bizarre mixture of sadness and heartache oscillating in her deep chest - a feeling she had grown to know very well over the past few weeks. Perhaps a breath of fresh air would help compose herself again.
⧖⧗⧖
It was more of an instinct than a proper thought process that led Sofía down to the river passing through the nearby forest. Granted, she knew that on the off-chance Bruno had not retired to his tower room, he would be there as well, but right now, Sofía would give anything to visit one of her comfort places if it finally helped her breathe again.
When Sofía reached the moonlit riverbank, she sat down beside the familiar cloaked figure without a word, faintly noticing just how dizzy she had grown from their earlier drinking. In turn, Bruno flinched for a moment, immediately relaxing as soon as he realized who she was. Sofía hadn’t noticed earlier when they had been inside, perhaps too overwhelmed with her nervousness and Pepa’s emotions which often had the power to overshadow all others around her, but now, she could feel distress radiating from Bruno like she hadn’t in a long time.
She wasn’t exactly sure how long the two of them sentenced themselves to complete silence, but instead of pressuring him into talking immediately, Sofía forced herself to slowly synchronize their breathing - an old habit that had always helped her calm down in the past. After a while, when she felt she could speak without her voice betraying her, she took a deep breath.
“We missed you in there.” That was simple enough, not forcing Bruno into responding if he didn’t feel like it, merely an observation. Out of the corner of her eyes Sofía could see him frown, the expression remaining on his face just long enough so she could clearly recognize it. A faint, barely noticeable shake of his head made it clear what he was thinking, even if she hadn’t felt it brush over her skin with the tender wind surrounding them: he didn’t believe her. “Yeah? Heh, that’s… nice of you to say.” Bruno’s voice was too loud, the words coming out of his mouth too fast to be considered natural, and he didn’t even turn his head to look at her, gaze stoically focussed on the river in front of them. “I mean it,” Sofía replied, her voice strong enough to imply just how serious she was about this, “It’s not the same without you, Bruno.”
A deep shudder seemed to run through his body at that, coinciding with a cool breeze enveloping the two of them as they sat on the mossy forest floor, several feet apart from each other.
The conversation was over, and the silence between them stretched so far it almost became unsettling, considering how much they usually spoke. And yet, Sofía rather enjoyed it. His company alone was often enough for her to feel more relaxed than when she was alone, but this time - the time!
Trying not to look as frantic as she felt, Sofía rummaged through the fabric of her skirt until she found the small pocket by her waist, pulling out her father’s old silver pocket watch she always carried with her. Sofía watched in silence as the last few minutes passed, and when the clock struck midnight, she reached beside her for the basket she had incidentally brought with her.
When she pulled out the large piece of woolen fabric, Bruno’s eyes followed her movements curiously, his eyes never leaving her hands as she discreetly refolded the garment before turning towards him.
The hands holding the gift out to him were clearly visible in the strong moonlight, and yet it took Bruno a moment to understand her intentions.
With a strong wave of confusion he took it from her, and Sofía had to suppress the urge to read his emotions more thoroughly when his hands brushed over hers for just a moment. “What’s this?” What do you think it is? Instead of answering his question, Sofía merely shifted slightly so she was facing him, encouraging him to unfold it with a big smile. “Happy Birthday, Brunito.” In an instant, his eyes widened in disbelief, and despite her efforts to leave him to feel his feelings in private, there was no denying the deep sense of appreciation that settled in his core at her words. “For… for me?” This time, Sofía laughed, the sudden sound making Bruno flinch ever so slightly. “Of course it’s for you.” “But - “ “God, just open it, pendejo.” Bruno took his time, carefully unfolding the fine-grained fabric as if it would break if he moved too quickly, all until he could finally see it in all of its glory.
For years and years, Sofía had struggled to come up with gift ideas for all three of the triplets. It wasn’t that they weren’t incredibly grateful people who would be happy about anything as a present - for them, all that mattered were the thoughts and intentions behind it - it was that exact fact that made it so hard to find something they truly loved. Out of a mixture of resignation and the pure desire to make them something useful, Sofía had made use of her talents and sewn them something to wear. She knew the thought was boring and uninspired, especially considering it was her profession to sew and tailor clothes, but she had put a lot of time and effort into these gifts over the past few months and desperately hoped the triplets would genuinely enjoy them.
Pepa’s gift was an orange dress, the one Sofía had barely managed to finish just this morning. It’s gradated colors were mostly covered up by embroidery representing everything she associated with the turbulent, lovable girl: several different flowers and plants, a few vines of ivy along her back and, of course, a wide array of elements representing her control over the weather. The big, yellow sun that spread outwards from where Pepa’s heart would be was Sofía’s personal favorite, but she also adored the long lightning bolts lining the sides and back and the fluffy clouds around the waistline and along the bottom of the circle skirt. To finish it up, she had stitched a few raindrop shapes onto the flounces and ruffles along her neck and wrists, and it would have been a lie to say she wasn’t immensely pleased with the result.
Julieta’s gift was an apron. Again, it was unoriginal, but realistically the thing she would get the most use out of. Because of how often the oldest triplet would hopefully wear it, its main focus needed to be on durability rather than beauty, as Pepa’s had been. Sofía had chosen a forgiving fabric that could deal with frequent cleanings, and had reinforced all the seams and added pockets galore, for all of Julieta’s potential cooking needs. Along the stitching, which was barely noticeable to the untrained eye, were the delicate shapes of a wide variety of Julieta’s favorite herbs, the beautiful leaves of Basil curving around her waist whilst long stems of rosemary lined her pockets and neckline.
Bruno’s gift, which he was currently staring at intently, was a brand new ruana, not too unlike the one he constantly wore. It was made from a dark forest green fabric, elaborately embroidered all along its hem.
His posture showed just how taken aback he was, his mouth wide open, his arms frozen where they had first unfolded the garment. Sofía desperately hoped it was a good type of shock, but alas, she could not tell. Several moments passed until, in a desperate attempt to get him to speak, Sofía pointed at her embroidery.
“Let me explain it. Some cultures consider seven a lucky number, so I made sure that all the patterns were only arranged in repetitions or arrays of seven.” Bruno remained stock still, and Sofía could barely even see his chest rise and fall in shallow breaths. Quickly, she pointed at the row of circular motifs along the neckline.
“You’ve… you’ve probably seen an evil eye before. Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous,” she grinned, “It’s supposed to guard its wearer against misfortune and protect them from evil spirits and bad luck, especially fitting in your case, I imagine.” Sofía chuckled to herself again, but received no response. Determined to at least finish her explanations before she let the reality of his reaction hit her, she decided to keep going. “And I made them Julieta’s color, since… you know. You all three belong together, and there is something symbolizing each of you hidden in the embroidery on all of your gifts.”
Bruno’s eyes were wandering over the garment in shock, snagging on the deep green leaves along the hemline that were highly reminiscent of the plates Alma had gifted them all a few years back, minus the mention of hourglasses, which Sofía considered yet another unnecessary reminder of Bruno’s burden of a gift. What he couldn’t see, was that the inside of the ruana held a few pockets, which Sofía had had the foresight to add for both his salt-carrying habits and his rat-friends he often walked around town with, the inside seams adorned with bright orange flowers that mirrored Pepa’s dress color exactly.
Bruno still wasn’t talking, hadn’t reacted in any way, and Sofía released an anxious chuckle, scratching the back of her head nervously. “I… actually went to the library and looked into this, you know? And I had a lot of fun doing it, too, so that was nice! Even if you don’t…” she trailed off when she finally realized there was no way he was listening to her anymore. Even if you don’t like it.
There came another long, potent pause, and Sofía was almost ready to just drop the topic entirely and move on when Bruno suddenly broke the silence without turning towards her, seemingly staring through the ruana he still held in his hands. “You… you made this? For me?” Oh! “Yes! Do you like it?” “It’s beautiful…” he muttered. Sofía felt her heart surge with pride and happiness, and could barely contain the urge to bring him towards her in a crushing hug. Instead, she reflected on his words for just a moment, until her mouth spoke without her permission. “Just like you, Brunito.” Alcohol had loosened her tongue, and the warmth that immediately rushed to her cheeks told her she was visibly blushing, probably even in the low moonlight. How embarrassing. To admit that without context, so out of the blue was almost shameful, yet even now, Sofía could tell Bruno didn’t believe her. Then again, maybe it was for the best that he didn’t know how she truly felt about him.
When Sofía turned to see the tears in his eyes shimmer in the dim moonlight, she could have sworn she felt her heart break in her chest.
She knew it had been hard for him. Despite his constant efforts to conceal his deeper, true feelings from her, he often underestimated just how much her gift allowed her to feel what he felt. Bruno Madrigal faked things - a lot. He faked his smiles and forced his laughter, and Sofía knew it was because he thought he had to so that nobody would worry, and so that his sisters would think he was okay, when he really wasn’t.
Itching to reach out to him and pull him closer to warmly reward that raw vulnerability that only served to increase his allure, she instead reserved to gently place a hand on his arm, instantly bringing her attention to her. “Bruno,” Sofía almost whispered, “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?” In a gesture she put down as unintentional, he shook his head ever-so-slightly before wiping his eyes as casually as possible as though they had been merely itchy, not threatening to overflow with tears. “It’s… it’s nothing, really. Nothing to worry about.” Sure. “Ah, is that right?” Sofía’s question was dripping with irony, but she was sure he was barely even picking up on it. “Yeah, you know…” Bruno shrugged as he gently traced one of the embroidered leaves with his fingers. “You know…”
When Sofía was sure he wasn’t going to finish his sentence, she decided this was enough. She was going to tell him what she thought, straight-up, and she would hope he would take it the right way. “Bruno… Look, I know you had a tough year - a couple of tough years if we’re being candid here. I want, no, I need you to know that people still love you and are still here for you, even if the town thinks you’re ‘Bad Luck Bruno’ or whatever stupid name they come up with next. Who cares what others think when we’ve got each other, right?”
Suddenly, Bruno’s head whipped around and his eyes found Sofía’s, his expression intense and almost bone-chilling. Before she could say another word, his arms were around her to envelop her in a hug, slow and hesitant at first, then frantic and clawing. Without having to think, Sofía reciprocated it with the same intensity, pulling him into her as much as she could while she rested her chin on his shoulder.
There was no denying she loved his touch. Sofía’s general aversion to physical contact had only worsened since she had received her gift. She couldn’t stand most people’s touch, however casual it was. Every time, she had to force herself not to feel their emotions, or have them flow into her like she knew she could, but even this restraint was hard on her. Bruno’s touch however… it was different. It never made her skin itch, never made her want to wash the place he touched until it was raw and bleeding or retreat back into the safety of her room and never come back out. Instead, it made her feel all warm and fuzzy, as if the feel of his skin alone was enough to have a sense of fulfillment spread through her.
It had taken Sofía a long time to realize what those feelings meant, and now that she had, she desperately wished she never had.
Abruptly, her thoughts were disrupted by Bruno’s entire body shuddering against her, and on instinct, she immediately pulled him impossibly closer against herself, feeling his every breath as if it was her own. When he spoke, she felt the vibrations move through her chest, but his voice was broken and weak. “Thank you… You… you don’t know what this means to me.” Immediately, Sofía had to suppress the urge to pull back and pull him into a passionate kiss to show him just how much this all meant to her, too. She trembled at the thought, softly shaking her head before slowly drawing back from his hug, just enough for their lines of sight to cross.
Bruno’s eyes were unfocused and bleary, and Sofía soon raised her hand to cup his cheek, her thumb wiping away a single tear as it ran down his stubbled cheek. After a deep inhale of fresh air, she quickly offered him a genuine smile before she managed to speak. “You know I have always believed in you, Bruno. I truly wouldn’t be where I am without you and your family,” Sofía had to bite back her own tears now as she saw his brows furrow further at her words, “I told you all those years ago that I would be forever in your debt, and I am still working on that. Maybe we’ll be even one day, but I honestly doubt it.” Sofía’s smile gave way to a deep frown when Bruno’s body suddenly shook with a powerful sob, and instinctively she pulled him close again by wrapping her arms around his neck, holding him close for a long, long time until his tears subsided and his breathing returned to normal.
His nose brushed against her neck, the warm air tickling the skin with every one of his breaths, and it was almost enough to distract her from hearing his muffled voice. “You’re my favorite,” he mumbled, his lips brushing over her collarbone when he spoke. Sofía was sure this would be her demise with the way her heart skipped several beats, and she immediately pulled back in shock, her hands resting on his shoulders to hold him an arm’s length away from her. “What’d you just say?” There was no doubt she had misheard him. “I… uh, nothing! I said absolutely nothing.” Oh.With the blush that came over his entire face, flushing his tan skin right up to where it was covered up by his ruana around his neck, she could feel the embarrassment roll off of him in giant waves. He had really said it.
No longer able to contain herself, Sofía released a loud burst of laughter at how surreal this all felt. She could immediately tell Bruno thought she was making fun of him, but she could not help herself as she nudged his shoulder right as her giggles subsided. “Don’t worry, you’re my favorite too, Bruno.”
She reveled in their mutual adoration for just a while longer before they fully pulled back from each other, and it only felt natural for Sofía to plant a comforting kiss on his cheek just before they broke apart. It had happened before, rarely, but, momentarily taken aback by her own gesture, Sofía could feel herself blush yet again. Fighting her way through it, she turned back towards the gurgling river and cuddled up beside the Madrigal son, leaning her head on his shoulder.
The both of them seemed to enjoy the silence, only occasionally interrupted by birds or other forest animals screeching further in the thicket past the stream. It took a while until Sofía picked up on Bruno’s quiet mumbling, barely audible through the noises around them, but just when she readjusted herself to listen to him properly, he spoke up louder.
“Twenty, huh?” “Twenty! Isn’t that great? The Big Two-O!” She gently nudged his side again when he didn’t react. “Isn’t it exciting? Who knows what this year will bring!” Sofía could just about see his eyes glossing over in the corner of her vision, as if he was completely lost in thought. There was another long pause, then he mumbled again, more to himself than to her. “I never thought I’d make it this far…”
Oh. The tears that flooded Sofía’s eyes were instantaneous.
She wasn’t a naive little girl anymore, she knew Bruno had had trouble dealing with things, as had she, and yet she had never once put him down as suicidal.
Ripping her head away from its resting place on his shoulder, she turned away from him hectically just as the first whimper escaped her throat. “Hey, hey! What’s wrong?” Bruno’s hands landed on her back, smoothing them over her shoulders in a comforting motion, but Sofía shrugged him off immediately, turning back towards him with fury evident in both her expression and inflection. “Miérda!You - Bruno, you can’t just spring that on me! The fact that you… did you try? Try to…” His eyes widened as he realized what he had said aloud, and his jaw dropped as he seemed to desperately seek the right words to answer her frantic questioning. “I - No! I mean, I - yes, I’m - I wasn’t thinking! I’m so sorry, Sofía, I swear I didn’t mean to - “ She cut him off with her hand stretched out to hover over his mouth, and he stilled immediately.
Sofía’s thoughts were running rampant. He had tried to kill himself. When? Why? It wasn’t a real question, she knew exactly why. Bruno Madrigal had tried to end his life, because he had felt so miserable, so desperate and overwhelmed with everything that he tried to kill himself. She could have lost him… lost him forever.
Bruno turned away from her after a while, dejected, just about to get up and leave when she violently gripped his wrist and pulled him back down to the ground, startling him enough so he released a little shriek in the quiet night, immediately devolving into another string of apologies. “Just - god, stop it! This is not - I’m not… This is because…” Sofía forced herself to take a deep breath, insistent that a panic attack would help neither of them right now. “God, Bruno, I wouldn’t know what to do without you… If I lost you, too, I don’t know how…”
A long, empty silence followed as Sofía struggled to get her mind to cooperate with what she wanted to say, but Bruno merely stared at her, stunned, silent, unblinking. Then she spoke.
“You know I was never very close to my parents.” Bruno nodded hesitantly, and Sofía was hit with the realization that now, she had to tell him the whole story - now, she had to bare her soul and pour out her heart to him so he would understand. After a deep sigh, she continued. “But of course, when they died, I was devastated, as any four-year-old would be. I didn’t understand why this was happening, in general or to me, I didn’t understand why they were gone forever or why I had to go live with my abueloall of a sudden. “Even though it had been far from perfect before, all I wanted was another day knowing they were home, not caring about their drug habits or their unpredictable manic mood swings. All I wanted was for my parents to be alive and to be there for me.”
Sofía’s eyes were strictly focussed on the babbling river, but she could clearly see Bruno’s brows furrow at the edge of her field of vision, his fingers clenching into fists on his knees. “It followed me for years, that feeling, and I don’t think I will ever really get over that. I know they weren’t good people, I know they definitely weren’t good parents, but I would give so, so much to spend just another day with them.” Struggling to keep her breathing even enough to keep talking, Sofía blinked away her tears and started fidgeting with her fingers, curling and uncurling around the chain of her father’s pocket watch attached to her skirt.
“When I… When I came here, I was overwhelmed. This town was beautiful, but so different from the city I was used to, and my family was warm and kind as opposed to my parents’ mostly cold behavior towards me. “I was devastated about their deaths, about the loss of what I thought was my world and support system, and I barely knew how to cope, I… I didn’t think I would survive for long. I thought my life should end with theirs. “After a while here, that all hadn’t changed. I thought I would never be happy again, I thought I didn’t deserve to live if they didn’t.” Bruno huffed out a breath beside her and moved slightly, she couldn’t tell if it was closer or farther away from her, but she didn’t have the courage to turn her head towards him before she managed to get to the point of her story.
“And then I met you - you guys.” It was a minor slipup, one Sofía hoped he didn’t notice. Yes, it had been mostly Bruno and his pure kindness that had helped her out of her depression, but she didn’t need to tell him so directly… Then again, what did it matter now?
“You were all so terribly kind, so endlessly supportive… You were a family nothing like the one I had, and even though the gift was overwhelming and a lot to handle - still is, might I add - it has given me so much in return since then. “Helping Pepa deal with her emotions over the years, helping Julieta with the pressure that was being put on her by your mother and then everything with you… It has all helped me so much more than you could possibly imagine. “You made me feel… It all made me feel like I had a purpose, a reason for being here. I - I guess I really have to feel needed. I mean, what else is there, really?”
In the brief stillness that followed her words, Sofía realized not only how much she had rambled and veered off-topic, but also just what she had just admitted out loud; things she had barely thought about, let alone admitted to herself in the past few years, and yet Bruno’s distress had coerced them out of her like it had been nothing. She wanted to add something that would make it obvious that she was okay, she wasn’t worthy of his pity or empathy, she was okay and would always be okay; but she found there really wasn’t anything else left to say.
The quiet rustling of leaves around them filled the somewhat frightening silence as she waited for Bruno to react. There was a latent thought in the back of her head, almost a wish that she had just kept her mouth shut for once and hadn’t said any of that aloud, or that, at the very least, Bruno had been too preoccupied with himself to hear it.
After sitting in the pressing silence for so long, Bruno’s voice absolutely blindsided her as he suddenly spoke entirely unprompted, seamlessly breaking the stillness between them with the few syllables that left his lips.
“You are.” What? “Huh?” The way Bruno’s voice transferred so smoothly through the quiet almost unsettled her, but the words he spoke were far more ominous than that. Without thinking she turned herself towards him, noticing his eyes were cast downward, fingers slowly tracing her embroidery on the hem of his new ruana.
Bruno took a moment to respond, by then his voice wasn’t the nervous one of the boy Sofía had gotten to know almost fifteen years ago, this was the voice of someone who had something to prove, and he would do anything to do it. “Needed, Sofía, you are needed. We need you - I need you.” Sofía’s stomach churned as her thoughts ran haywire. There was no way he could mean it like she thought he did, there was no way he could mean it in the way she was hoping for. Without even allowing herself to overthink further, she attempted to throw him a wide smile to lighten the mood and distract from their current conversation topic. “Anyway Bruno, I - “ “I’m serious,” his tone was assertive and intense now, “I would not have made it this far without you, and I…”
He used the short break in his sentence to rip his gaze away from his present and turn towards her, that same intense expression back on his face. Sofía could not take her eyes off of him. It wasn’t until right this moment that she realized something had shifted between them. It hadn’t been a gradual change, this was a sudden, intense feedback loop that developed between the two of them, paired with the way his close proximity so easily set Sofía on edge, it only left a few thoughts soaring through her brain at lightning speed.
She wanted him. She lovedhim.
God,she loved him.
Sofía hadn’t realized she was frowning until Bruno finally finished his sentence, his voice quieter now as he sat closer to her. “I need you.” He paused for a moment before he whispered it again, suddenly so close to Sofía that she was sure they were sharing the same air. “I need you, Sofía…”
Without another second to doubt herself, Sofía leaned forward and closed the distance between them.
When Bruno’s lips met hers, Sofía felt like she lost her grip on reality - so long had she waited for this moment that she knew if she had been standing up, her legs would have given out beneath her just from this. It was a simple kiss, a press of her mouth to his held for only a few beats of her heart, and yet the electric shock that passed through her at the feeling of him was without doubt the most intense thing she had ever experienced.
It took barely a few seconds before the kiss was broken, its end punctuated with the barest of caresses of Bruno’s lips brushing over hers, tantalizingly l
It wasn’t until Bruno held out his hand again and Sofía threaded her fingers through his that she found the strength to take a final step forwards to unveil her destiny.
At first, nothing happened. The wind didn’t pick up like it had during Bruno’s vision; the last few sunrays of the day didn’t mysteriously shine down on them brighter than before; nothing changed but the entrancing wavering pattern of the door in front of Sofía beckoning her closer just like the magical candle in Alma’s room had done mere minutes ago.
A strange tingling sensation overcame Sofía’s body, like thousands of little ants were crawling just under the surface of her skin and she had to suppress the tempting urge to dig her fingernails into the yielding flesh until the irritating itch subsided.
Then, everything stopped. There was a noticeable drop in temperature, but all of a sudden there were no more sounds of anything around her, no residual smells or tastes in her mouth, a true absence of anything perceivable - like Sofía was all alone in the world.
With an abruptness that made her flinch, something akin to a strong electric shock ran through her body from her feet upwards, lingering around her rib cage before it reached her head. It took a moment until Sofía registered the pain that had come with the bizarre experience, but it was only after she had managed to push the triplets away with the jolt that shook her body that it came crashing down on her all at once.
There was an agonizing, sharp pain in her chest, and in contrast to the complete emptiness Sofía had felt just a minute ago, suddenly there were endless waves of feelings flooding her brain. There was awe, there was curiosity and a hard crest of concern that seemed so strong to her that her head felt like it was going to explode.
Sofía only now noticed that she had turned her back to the door, wordlessly staring at the Madrigals like she had completely lost her mind, but when another surge of worry rushed over her, as if it meant to drown her within itself, she couldn’t bring herself to care. In an instinctual reaction, she backed away from the others as fast as she could until first her head and then her back hit the wooden door behind her with such a force that it felt like it knocked the air out of herself completely.
A sudden rumbling, like there was an earthquake taking place behind her, brought Sofía back to full consciousness, and she whirled around again just in time to see the magical door slowly reveal delicate grooves and indentations as if it was actively engraving itself. Within seconds, the art before her was finished.
Just like Bruno’s door, Sofía’s seemed to show an older version of herself, her shoulder length curls now long enough to reach her waist and partially cover her widely opened eyes in a frizzy fringe. She was kneeling on the floor, her arms crossed before her torso as both hands reached out to grasp barely visible strangers’ hands on either side of the wooden door’s edge. There were two unnerving masks flying above her head, one ecstatically laughing, the other one crying thick droplets of tears, both connected to each other with a thick ribbon that hovered behind them. Between her own likeness and the strange masks there were a couple of weird wavy lines, similar to the ones surrounding her own and the disembodied hands.
“I don’t understand,” Sofía heard herself say, her voice sounding nothing like her own, tainted with panic and confusion. Another wave of feelings threatened to overwhelm her, a queer concoction of anxiety and understanding, just when Alma crouched down beside her. “Breathe,cariña.You’re alright.” The mother’s voice was low and kind, the perfect tone for calming her down under usual circumstances.
However, as it was, Sofía felt like throwing up. Mirroring their earlier actions, Pepa and Julieta rushed to her side again, but as soon as Julieta’s hand touched Sofía’s clothed arm, it almost sent her catapulting away from the two of them, and she found herself with her back pressed against the glowing door once again. “What… what just happened….” Sofía could see Alma answering her out of the corner of her eye, but she could only hear her blood rushing to her head in her overwhelming panic.
There, just a couple of feet behind the frightened sisters, stood Bruno, his kind brown eyes almost entirely taken up by his pupils dilated in what looked like fear. “What’s wrong with me?” Sofía whispered, still unable to hear her own voice. The drowning sensation came back again, a deep pressure on her chest like she couldn’t breathe, and she could feel herself starting to hyperventilate as the sheer amount of feelings surrounding her became almost unbearable.
Shehadto leave. There was no time to think about pleasantries or about how rude it was to leave without another word to the kind family she had gotten to know today. Sofía felt like the house’s walls would close in and swallow her up whole and never let her go again, leaving her to exist in perpetual darkness for all of eternity.
When she felt the edges of her vision grow fuzzy and dark, she brushed past the concerned wall of Madrigals down the stairs she had come up, clutching onto the handrail as though her life depended on it.
It was only when she ran through the wide open front door of the house and made her way into the nearby forest that she faintly heard them all call after her in the distance.
⧖⧗⧖
It had taken a long time before her breathing had returned to normal again. The burbling of the river in front of her helped with drowning out most other sounds from the rapidly darkening forest around her, but she still felt the ebbing waves of feelings from her surroundings, slightly helping with quieting her own mind which was still racing with questions that made tears flow down her cheeks in thick rivulets.
Gradually, Sofía started to feel something else through the sea of emotions she felt herself drowning in: an unmistakable mixture of concern and compassion. “Sofía?” The softness of the voice did nothing to deter her reaction, jumping up from the grassy ground, ready to bring some distance between her and the person still hidden in the shadows.
She knew it was Bruno even before he stepped onto the moonlit clearing, but even despite that, she still couldn’t help but stumble a few steps backwards for every cautious one he took towards her. “I understand, I’ll keep my distance.” He stopped, fidgeting with his fingers as he stared at her. She could feel his sympathy, blended with the slightest hint of the pain of rejection. “How do you feel?”
What even was an acceptable answer to a question like that? She didn’t know the Madrigal boy well enough to spill out all of her deepest darkest feelings, and there was really nothing she could have said to describe her current emotional state without using the words painfuloroverwhelming,not to mention she didn’t think her throat would even allow her to speak.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk. I’ll just…” There was a faint rustling sound as Bruno sat down a fair distance away from her by the riverbank, close enough to run his fingers through the cool water. “I’ll just be here.”
The silence between them stretched for a long time, but surprisingly, it never became uncomfortable. True to his word, Bruno sat still and quiet, content with just staring into the water in front of him as if he would find the answers to his earlier questions that way. Sofía had to admit she legitimately enjoyed his company, even in her current state of distress. He felt calming in a way nothing had ever felt calming to her before, and following his breathing pattern had helped tremendously. As she listened out for it in the minutes it took for her tears to subside, she swore she could feel his heartbeat more and more with every moment that passed, even though he sat so far away.
“I can feel you,” Sofía said after a while, barely loud enough for Bruno to hear. Taking her words as permission to look at her, he threw her a confused glance. “I can… I can feel what you feel,” she clarified, and immediately his face lit up in delight. “Really?” “You’re… you were so nervous in there, but out here you’re so calm. Worried, but calm.” It was still a struggle to interpret the surges of feelings correctly, but Sofía had no doubt about the fact that she was right in this case.
Bruno’s face split in a grin that was wider than Sofía had thought humanly possible. “Are you serious?” She would have been offended by him not believing her, with his magical house and magical candle and his own magical power of foresight, but she could tell he was completely in awe.
Slowly, as if waiting for her consent, he stood up and crept closer to her. Sofia gave him permission with a curt nod, yet his movements remained reluctant and cautious, as though he were approaching a wild animal. When he was close enough that Sofía swore she could feel his heartbeat yet again, he stopped to plop himself down on the ground, folding his legs beneath him in one smooth motion.
What had started out as a curious glance evolved into Bruno’s eyes noticeably boring through Sofía. “Stronger now?” he asked, his voice low and guarded, but audibly dripping with interest. Sofía merely offered him a weak nod, but managed to conjure up the confidence to fully look at him for the first time since they’d left Casita.
As their lines of sight crossed, Sofía could feel Bruno’s heart rate pick up in time with his nervousness that continued to fall off of him in waves - slow, harmless waves, nothing compared to the treacherous ones she had felt inside of the Madrigal home.
The corners of his lips twitched into a hesitant smile, instantly broken as he seemed to remember something important. Bruno dug his slightly jittery hands into the spacious pockets of his deep green ruana to withdraw a little cotton satchel filled to the brim with delicious-looking buñelos. He held the bulging bag out to Sofía, who grabbed it hesitantly, the heavenly snacks still emitting a pleasant warmth through the fabric they were stored in.
“Julieta was afraid you’d hurt yourself when you bumped into the door with your…” Bruno shyly gestured to the back of his head, and his awkwardness brought a genuine smile to Sofía’s face. “Thank you, Bruno.” This time she noticed his faint blush, which brought out a very similar reaction in herself coupled with a deep ache that settled in her chest in a way she had never felt before, like a warm, comforting sensation that also seemed strong enough to rip her apart at a moment’s notice.
The overpowering smell of the buñelos she still held in her hands brought Sofía back to reality, and she couldn’t deny the mouth-watering effects the food was having on her. Bruno beside her seemed to grow slightly restless all of a sudden, crossing and uncrossing his legs multiple times as he appeared to be searching for a comfortable position to sit in, until, without warning, Sofía’s world froze again when his elbow brushed against the warm skin of her forearm.
The same flash of electricity ran through her body from the point they connected, and the same overwhelming sensation not only rendered her momentarily speechless but also caused rows and rows of goosebumps to erupt on every square inch of her skin. The hairs on her body were standing on end, and as her vision blurred and her eyes slowly filled with tears, Julieta’s food lay forgotten on the mossy forest floor.
Feelings she had faintly been feeling before came rushing, practically flowing into her from where her skin still tingled with Bruno’s touch - the uncertainty, the compassion, the desire to help her, all clear as day. Scarcely less affected by the whole ordeal than herself, Sofia could feel Bruno’s gaze burning holes into her as he rubbed his elbow absentmindedly.
“Did you just…” he muttered, and Sofía allowed herself to lock eyes with him when he spoke. His pupils were unusually dilated, so much so that she struggled to see any of his actual eye color as she stared back at him. “What just happened?” “I think I… I think I felt your feelings flow through me when you touched me.” The pure uncertainty in her voice was unmistakable, and yet Bruno took her word for gospel immediately, mouth dropping open in shock. “Really? What did it feel like?”
Sofía felt like she didn’t have the vocabulary to accurately describe what she had just experienced, but Bruno’s sheer childish enthusiasm made her feel almost giddy deep inside herself, so she tried. “It felt like you burned me, but - ” “Ohmiérda,really? I’m so sorry!” She waved him off immediately, interrupting the oncoming tirade she knew he was ready to deliver at a moment’s notice, and talked over him until she stopped. “No, no, no, not like that, not in a bad way. It’s so hard to explain. It’s like a bee sting, but then the bee also has a magnet that pushes all of its feelings towards you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Bruno’s gaze flitted back to his elbow where they’d touched moments prior, eyes wide in disbelief. Nothing could have prepared Sofía for his next words. “I felt it too,” he whispered, and she could feel herself still immediately. “What?” “I felt it too. It’s like you somehow took that nervousness from me, kind of as if you calmed me down.”
Oh. “That’s insane, so I can feel others’ emotions and… soothe them?” Bruno nodded in silent agreement, his facial expression ecstatic with fascination. Sofía was excited too, to a certain extent, but irritation won over all the other feelings swirling through her head.
The triplet’s gifts were all so useful. Bruno’s was wondrous, a true miracle, insanely useful for each and every soul that decided to call upon his talents. Julieta’s was about as useful as it could possibly be, being able to heal all of Encanto after a single day spent in the kitchen. Pepa’s was bound to be incredibly useful too once she learned to control it properly, giving her the ability to provide the whole town with whatever weather was wanted or needed.
What on earth was her own “gift” good for?
Sofía shook her head, and she watched intently as Bruno’s happiness immediately seemed to falter with her own mood. “What… what am I supposed to do with that?” He seemed momentarily dumbfounded by her words, so she decided to keep going. “I understand it’s a gift and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but all I worry about is my family’s wellbeing and this doesn’t help that at all and - what if this makes everything worse, what if I really can’t help, what if - “ “Sofía.” The utter calmness in Bruno’s voice surprised her, and that alone was enough to snap her out of her borderline incoherent babbling. “It’s okay, Sofía. It’s gonna be okay, I promise.” There was no need to look at him or call upon her gift to know he was being entirely sincere. “You’re a part of our family now, and we take care of each other. We’ll do what we can for your family to get you through this, I’m sure of that.”
A part of their family? She had only met them all today, known them for such a short amount of time, and yet the thrill that jolted through her at his words was entirely irrefutable. “Thank you, Bruno,” she said, her voice once again sounding completely unlike it usually did, which she blamed on being close to tears this time. Bruno, however, seemed determined to give her that last little push to throw her over the precipice of weeping.
“De nada, really. I’m… I’m glad there’s someone else with a gift, if I’m being honest - someone as nice as you, too. It’s… just, thank you.” The two of them shared another long, kind smile, and with the amounts of kindness and compassion Sofia felt radiating off of the young boy, there seemed to be no need for further words.
With the gurgling of the rushing river as their backdrop, the two children sat in comfortable silence until darkness fully enveloped them.
⧖⧗⧖
Sneaking back into her house hadn’t been hard. Even from well outside of the family home, Sofía could tell that everyone was in bed, most of them dead asleep after the tainted excitement of the day.
Bruno had offered, nay, insisted on walking her home after repeating that it had been his fault they had spent such a long time by the river, and that a young girl like Sofía shouldn’t be walking home alone in the dark. She had tried to convince him that he was barely older than her, and that he should not be outside, let alone walking her home to the other side of town at this time, but he had just waved her off.
Sofía liked him. He was kind, in fact maybe the kindest person she had ever met, and she truly felt that he could become a great friend - not only because they now shared the Madrigal’s family miracle. She had bid Bruno farewell just past the halfway point between their homes, maintaining that she was completely fine to walk the rest of the way alone and that she would see him very soon. It was clear he had not been happy about that, but he conceded with a nod and a wave, before vanishing in the surrounding darkness.
Still, Sofía could have sworn she somehow felt his eyes on her the entire rest of the way back home, but it was only when she turned around after reaching her doorstep that she saw the flickering light in his tower on the other side of town.
A stuffy warmth greeted her when she silently closed the front door behind her, one that reminded her of her old home whenever her parents came home after payday and locked themselves away in their unventilated room for hours on end and their flat slowly filled with the odor of sweat and strange chemicals. Sofía could tell no one had aired the house or done the dishes after the fight had ensued earlier in the day, and even though she was momentarily tempted to amend that and clean everything she could, something pulled her up the stairs past the creaking steps, straight to Gabriéla’s door.
Again, the unfamiliar sensations of another person’s feelings crushed over her, and she could feel all of Gabriéla’s pure desperation and sadness. Without thinking, Sofía tapped her fingertips against the wooden door, loud enough so that Gabriéla could hear, but none of their other family members would be awoken by them, and entered the room.
Gabriéla sat on the wide red windowsill past her bed, only lit up by the pale moonlight outside, her face hidden in her hands as silent sobs shook her body.
Sofía pitied her. She could not imagine being in her shoes, but the sheer amount of guilt the older girl was emanating spoke volumes about her mental state.
Gabriéla audibly gasped when she noticed Sofía approaching in the corner of her vision, immediately averting her gaze to discreetly wipe the tears from her face. “Hey Fía, I think I’d rather be alone right now, okay?” The impact Gabriéla’s crying had had on her voice was undeniable, as was her sniffling after she’d finished speaking, and it was painfully obvious she was trying very hard to hold herself together in front of her younger cousin.
Sofía remained unfazed, simply wordlessly closing the distance between them to push herself onto the windowsill next to Gabríela before enveloping her in a crushing hug. Gabriéla stiffened in shock. Everyone knew Sofía didn’t usually gravitate towards physical touch, let alone a gesture as big as this, which was practically unheard of. Still, after a while she relaxed under her touch, and Sofía could feel her cousin’s shoulders tremble as tears freely rolled down her face once more.
When Sofia pulled away, she made sure to slowly run her hands down Gabriéla’s clothed arms until she reached her hands. With a deep breath, she let her fingers grasp her cousin’s, and immediately felt the surreal tingle of her emotions flowing over to herself, like a huge tsunami crashing down on her all at once. This time, however, she’d had time to brace herself for impact, which made the strange sensation significantly easier to endure, though still undeniably distressing.
She hoped Gabríela would interpret the tears in her eyes as a showing of empathy rather than the startling shock of pain that had run through her system just seconds ago, but even through all that, Sofía managed to let her fingers run over Gabriéla’s knuckles in a comforting motion before she spoke, mirroring Bruno’s calming words from earlier. “It’s gonna be okay, Gabriéla. I promise.” Her older cousin seemed stunned, but Sofía didn’t give her the time to think up a response. “You should get some sleep.”
It was only after a brief moment of eye contact and bewildered silence that Gabriéla’s expression morphed back from somewhat dazed to lucid and she managed to talk, merely echoing what Sofía had said. “I should get some sleep…” Her murmur was so quiet that Sofía had to strain to hear it, but it still brought a smile to her face as she led her cousin through her room to her own bed. The strangeness of the reversal of roles didn’t escape Sofía as stood by her bed and tucked her speechless older cousin in, and yet the warmth it brought to her heart when Gabriéla snuggled herself deeper into her thick blanket made up for it.
In one smooth motion, the young girl leaned down to press a soft kiss to her cousin’s forehead. “Good night, Gabriéla. I love you.”
The soft snore she got in response was the last thing she heard before she made her way to her own room, and released a soft gasp when a quick look out of her small window revealed the lights in Bruno’s room still burning brightly, as if he was watching over her until he was sure she was home safely.
⧖⧗⧖
The next morning, Sofía had barely spent any time at home for anything but a few restless hours of sleep. Skipping the family breakfast to avoid the awkwardness of the talk after the big fight as well as the early morning rush of people making their way through town to the marketplace, Sofía had left for Casa Madrigal directly at dawn.
It was only when she reached Casita, which looked just as magnificent as the day before, that she questioned whether it was even appropriate to show up back there so very soon. Really, Sofía just wanted to see Bruno again to talk everything through. She knew he would understand, because she imagined his own power to be much like hers - overwhelming in several different ways.
But then, slowly, as she kept lingering around the house and pacing up and down the deep gray stone tiles, doubt started to make its way into her head. Sofía couldn’t just walk back in and see them all again as if nothing had happened.
What would they expect? She knew Alma Madrigal was keen on using her family’s powers to help the town out as much as she possibly could, and knew that the triplets had to earn their miracle through hard work and commitment each and every day. How could Sofía help out anyone like this, when she didn’t even know how her powers worked, and when she didn’t even know if she could handle other people’s emotions being loaded upon her person, let alone regularly?
Granted, Alma didn’t seem like the type of person to force Sofía into helping out, but then again, Bruno’s powers seemed to take quite a significant toll on him, and yet his mother still made him give visions to practically whoever asked. She couldn’t imagine that was his choice, not when she’d seen how he had reacted when she had asked him for a vision herself: hesitant, almost scared. Like a poor, tortured soul at just five years of age.
Perhaps that was why Sofía related to him so much, why she felt such a strong connection to him after having known him for less than a day. They had both been through so much already, arguably too much for anyone of any age, much less actual children like them. He was suffering, that much was clear with how Sofía and Julieta had found him yesterday, standing by the gallery window with fresh tears streaming down his face. She wondered if Alma knew how his gift was affecting her son, though she supposed that she did not. He did not seem like the type of person to talk about what he was feeling.
But clearly, Bruno was still stronger than herself. Sofía could not imagine the type of impact his visions must leave him with every time, and she wasn’t even sure if all his visions were exclusively intentional. What if he had visions while sleeping? Or just while he was trying to relax, for once?
And yet, he did everything that was asked of him, which was something Sofía wasn’t sure she could do. If she had to help out half of Encanto with dealing with their issues and emotions every day like Julieta, she was surely going to go insane. The emotional overload Sofía had experienced just being around others had been overwhelming already, what would it be like if those people were total strangers? And what would it be like to have their emotions flow through her at every voluntary or involuntary touch?
A deep shudder shook Sofía’s body as she was overcome by a blind panic that made thick bile rise in her throat, and suddenly there was that pressure on her chest again, constricting her chest so her lungs stubbornly refused to let her inhale at all. She fell to her knees just as she heard the creaking of Casita’s front door, paired with the clanking sounds of stone tiles leading someone to her.
“Sofía?” Julieta’s confused tone immediately switched to pure worry when she rushed closer to try and help Sofía up again. “Sofía, are you alright? What happened?” Sofía tried to force her lungs into cooperating, only to trigger a wheezing cough that made stars dance in front of her vision. In a desperate measure, she pointed to her own throat and shook her head as hard as she could. “Can’t… can’t breathe…” Julieta nodded frantically and pushed the younger girl towards the welcoming house. “Mamá!” Her loud scream contrasted her mostly composed exterior, especially with the calming way she kept speaking to Sofía. “It’s okay, it’s okay, I got you. Here, come with me. I’ll get you something to eat, that’ll bring you right back up to speed. Mamá!”
What Sofía assumed to be the kitchen was right around the corner when Alma came rushing down the grand staircase in their courtyard - stairs Sofía could have sworn had not been there the day before. Then again, she could be entirely mistaken, delirious from lack of sleep and now oxygen. “What’s going on?” Alma’s voice mirrored Julieta’s anguish, but her face remained relaxed with the mere exception of her scrunched eyebrows. The oldest triplet answered her mother just as they reached the border of the beautiful kitchen, covered in stunning deep orange ceramic tiles that only gave way to a giant stove and a few wide windows, the window sills covered in endless amounts of different types of living and dried herbs. “She can’t breathe, I don’t know what to - “
“Sofía!” Bruno’s astounded voice momentarily brought Sofía back to reality, and it was only now she noticed him and Pepa standing by one of the counters, both holding enormous platters stacked with delicious looking breakfast foods. The crash of the delicate porcelain plates hitting the floor seemed to take just a little too long until Sofía properly registered it, which was only after Bruno had already rushed up to her and placed his hands on her arms. “What’s wrong, what happened?” His eyes met hers, the same kind eyes she remembered from the day before, but she was ripped apart from the sight when Alma interrupted loudly. “Julieta, get her something to eat!” The oldest girl obeyed immediately, dodging the shards on the ground to make her way over to where Pepa still stood, seemingly frozen in place.
“Sofía.” Bruno brought her attention back to him with a gentle pronunciation of her name. “Sofia, look at me.” Though her rapidly darkening vision barely allowed for it, Sofía managed to lock eyes with the boy once again. “That’s right. Okay, okay, give me your hands.” His hands slowly slid down her arms, and she could feel the warmth of his skin through her long-sleeved dress even before he properly touched her. “Bruno, what are you doing?” Alma’s voice was distressed now, but for once, Bruno didn’t pay her any mind, taking a deep breath before taking her hands in his.
An overwhelming sense of calm spread through Sofía within moments of his touch, a deep feeling of tranquility coupled with only the slightest hint of hunger, which would have made the young girl smile if she had been able to. “It’s okay, it’s okay, that’s good. Now breathe with me.”
It felt like hours passed until her breathing normalized again and she almost collapsed forwards into Bruno’s arms, only held upright by Pepa’s hands on her shoulders. “Sit down, Sofía, sit down. Eat.” Julieta’s motherly instincts should have felt strange, coming from a five-year-old girl barely older than herself, but Sofía couldn’t help but obey her patient, kind tone.
Dejectedly, Sofía let go of Bruno’s hands that were still emitting that wonderfully appeasing sense of peace and composure and moved to sit down, but her knees suddenly seemed much less stable than before, so instead she ended up stumbling backwards until her back hit the ground with a soft thud. Alma was the first to bend down to help her up, but immediately shrunk back when Pepa let out a loud shriek. “Don’t!” Her mother threw her a questioning look, so Pepa continued on after a moment. “Don’t touch her.”
Sofía forced herself to take a bite of the delicious-smelling tamales that Julieta had placed on the coffee table beside her just moments before. “It’s her gift,” Bruno explained haphazardly, his gaze still entirely fixed on Sofía.
That didn’t seem to be enough to satiate Alma’s curiosity, so when Sofía managed to take an actual deep breath again, she actively fought through the emotions whirling around her that still felt rather overwhelming to her, and raised her scratchy voice. “I can… I guess I can feel what others feel.” The mother’s eyes widened significantly, and a look of realization dawned on her when Bruno finished Sofía’s explanation for her. “And she can transfer it to herself by touch.”
Alma nodded slowly, and Sofía could have sworn she had seen a faint smile come over her lips for just a moment. Then, she let her gaze flicker over to the triplets, standing around her with a considerable distance between them, all their eyes filled with pure worry. “I’m so sorry, it’s still hard to handle. Thank you, god, thank you all for helping.” The older woman waved her off immediately. “No problem at all. I can understand that, Sofía. We’ll give you as much space as you need.” Immediately, she turned to her son. “Call us if you need anything.” And, with one last succinct nod to her daughters, Alma stepped back outside of the kitchen.
It was only when her footsteps slowly sounded farther and farther away that Sofía turned her head forward again, surprised to see Bruno crouching down in front of her, hands twitching like they had yesterday. “Are you okay?” “Yes!” Sofía’s answer came too fast and too loud, and she shuddered at her own insolence before continuing in the most normal tone she could muster. “Yes, sorry. I… Pepa, Julieta!”
The two sisters, who were swiftly on their way to follow their mother out of the room, stopped immediately to turn towards Sofía, who was only now managing to stand up again to follow them just past the threshold of the kitchen. “Julieta, thank you so much for everything. Leading me through here yesterday, then worrying about me with the food and today again - just, thank you so, so much.” The oldest triplet offered her a genuine smile, and Sofía acted entirely on instinct when she closed the distance between them to take Julieta’s hands in her own. She was so different from Bruno. Calm as well, but it didn’t feel like a temporary feeling, more like this was just her nature, how she felt most of the time.
A slight flash of something to her left captured Sofia’s attention, and she was surprised to see Pepa had a cloud hovering above her head that quietly thundered just a few seconds after its lightning. A faint rain drizzled down onto the four of them through the open roof of the courtyard, and suddenly, Sofía was struck with an idea. It only took a few seconds until she stood in front of Pepa who diligently took a step back so as to not get her completely wet as well, but Sofía made it clear she did not care about that at all. “Pepa, thank you, too. You’ve been so kind to me, yelling at your mother just to stop her from touching me even though you barely know me… It means a lot, truly.” Pepa offered her a hesitant smile, but when the rain didn’t relent, Sofía continued to speak her mind. “I have an idea. Can you trust me for just a moment?”
Pepa’s eyes widened, as did her smile after a short moment of silent contemplation. “You’re a part of this family now, Sofía. Of course I trust you.” Sofía couldn’t deny the little jump her heart made at that statement, but she quickly busied herself with stepping into Pepa’s personal space yet again. “Give me your hands.” That immediately seemed to take the girl by surprise, and she shook her head fervently. “I can’t, you - “ “Trust me, Pepa.”
Pepa’s resolve gave way under Sofía’s scrutinizing gaze, and Sofía used the moment it took her to finally hold her hands out to the younger girl to steel her nerves like she had done for Gabriéla just last night, before she reached out and grasped Pepa’s hands in her own. Despite her methodical preparations, this was the worst one so far. Pepa’s emotions were like the sea, rough and dangerous, temperamental and powerful enough to pull her down with them like it was nothing. Still, after a few moments of inner turmoil, Sofía let the older girl’s hands drop as she herself tumbled backwards a few steps, only to be caught by Bruno, who gently sat her down on a nearby chair.
Julieta and Pepa, however, were in quiet awe. Not only had Sofía managed to calm Pepa down from one of her usually insanely emotional episodes, but she had also made the storm cloud above her head as well as the slight rain outside cease immediately. The tears in her own eyes were proof of the feelings still swirling around deep inside of her, but she could not deny herself the proud smile that overcame her features when she understood the magnitude of what she had just achieved.
Exhaustion began to overcome her again, just when Bruno came rushing back towards her from the kitchen with another plate filled to the brim with food to hand it to her, visibly eager for her to recover. With a single bite, everything became less tense again, and just when her last shuddering gasp gave way to a normal breathing pattern again, the sisters joined Bruno by Sofía’s side. “Thank you, that was insane! I had no idea - I’ve never felt like that before, like you could just calm me down with a single touch. You’re a gift, Sofía, a true gift!” Sofía could feel herself blushing at Pepa’s flattering words, but it was Bruno who seemed to notice Sofía’s own shaky hands even before she herself did and stopped her with a gentle touch on her shoulder. “So, what happened out there?”
Oh.Should she talk about that? Her worries were definitely real and justified, but wasn’t it rude to speak so openly about the Madrigal’s expectations of her? Sofía had been taught to keep her emotions securely locked inside her at all times, even such confusion and worry as the one she was feeling now when thinking of what her future would bring with this new gift she had been blessed with. With a sigh, she lowered her gaze to the tiled floor to conjure up the courage to speak her mind.
“I came here to talk to you, Bruno, but then I panicked because I don’t know what you and your family expect from me with this whole gift thing and I just…” Sofía was struggling with her words, not least because of her ongoing battle with the feelings filling the room slowly but surely in small, but persevering drops. “I just can’t be ‘not enough’ again. It was that way with my parents, it’s the same with my family now and I can’t do that again - I don’t want to disappoint you all, too.” She shook her head to force the burn of oncoming tears to subside, but when she was sure she was losing that battle, Sofía merely cupped her face in her hands to hide it from view, speaking her last words through her fingers. “I guess I panicked so much that I couldn’t breathe. I’m so sorry if I scared any of you, I really didn’t mean to…”
A potent silence filled the room, and although Sofía was still forcing herself to not acknowledge any of the emotions swirling through the room around her, she could clearly feel Bruno’s hand that was still resting on her upper arm bunching up the fabric of her blouse in his fist. “Sofía…” he whispered, and when she finally dared to look up, Sofía was surprised to see her own tears mirrored in his eyes. Momentarily taken aback, the two of them seemed at a complete loss for words, but Pepa was quick to interrupt their moment of connection with words of her own.
“Sofía, I won’t pretend living with a gift has been easy so far, not for me at least. There is a lot of responsibility that comes with it, too much for children our age, that’s for sure.” The middle child slowly knelt down in front of Sofía, her orange dress draping in a halo around her body as she leaned forward. “I completely understand how you feel, we all do. It’s hard to deal with the expectations others have of us.” Julieta stopped her sister with a gentle hand on her shoulder, crouching down just beside her so she was face to face with Sofía as well.
“It is a lot to handle, that is true, but it can also be very rewarding. To be able to help people out like we can, and only we can, it’s one of the most gratifying experiences there are. But really, people won’t expect anything from you, I can - “ As if waiting for his cue, this time it was Bruno who cut off his older sister, his hand still emitting a strange burning sensation on Sofía’s shoulder. “I can promise you - We can promise you, mamá won’t force you into anything. You’re our guest, our friend. If anything, we’ll appreciate your help, in case you feel like it. You didn’t choose this, no one is blaming you for anything you do, Sofía.”
The triplet’s tones were all genuine, dripping with sincerity and kindness, but Sofía only felt slightly reassured. They didn’t know her, didn’t know her past or her family, how could they be so confident in her where she wasn’t? How would they know she was worthy of this, how would they even know if she was strong enough to handle the burden of carrying this gift? As if he had read her mind, Bruno spoke up again, even more quietly this time.
“You’re good enough. Don’t worry about that.” Sofía’s arms were wrapped around his neck in a hug before she even registered it, and she could barely get herself to speak through her tears. “Thank you, you’re all… you’re helping me so much, I don’t know how I could ever thank you enough, I… Thank you for being there.”
It took a moment for Bruno to reciprocate her hug, momentarily frozen by what seemed to be a rare occurrence to him, but as soon as he did, Sofía could feel his sisters’ arms envelop the two of them in a giant group hug, swaying them back and forth rhythmically for as long as it took until Sofía’s teared ceased. Only then did Julieta and Pepa back off, but it took a noticeable amount longer until Bruno let go of Sofía, and she would have lied if she’d said she didn’t immediately miss the warmth and comfort the triplets had given her.
However, even long after Bruno had leaned back to let his eyes run over her again, still filled with devastating concern, and all three of them had led Sofía to another room to sit her down on a comfortable sofa until she could fully relax, she was still stunned by what Bruno had whispered in her ear just before he had pulled back, his voice as soft as butter. “I’ll always be there. I promise.”
⧖⧗⧖
thank you all for being so nice about the first part of this fanfic, here’s a second one! also, would you guys be interested in me continuing this story, sort of follow them as they grow up together? let me know what you think!
“¡Mierda!I can’t believe him!” Gabriéla stormed in through the big red archway of her family’s beautiful, traditional farmhouse, muttering and cursing to herself. Her mother was the first one to rush over to her side, immediately grabbing Gabriéla by the arm to pull her closer as the rest of the family gathered around them.
“He - it’s impossible! That tonto, how dare he even suggest that I - “ “Gabriéla!Cálmate, what happened?”
With a curious expression, little Sofía stood up from her spot on the tiled floor where she had been drawing little symbols in the settled dust and rushed to the spectacle unfolding right by their front door. Her entire extended family, including her cousins, tíosandtías had gathered around Sofía’s cousin Gabriéla, who was standing in the middle of the room, her brown skin flushed with anger.
A pang of worry shot through Sofía - she knew this meant no good.
Their little village, a charming place called Encanto, was unlike anything Sofía had ever seen before she’d been sent here after the tragic death of her parents - colorful, peaceful, full of cheerful people. Having spent the first few years of her life in a bigger town farther out in the country where everything was gray and everyone always seemed sad, this village had been a blessing for her dwindling mental health, especially after the tragedy that had befallen her.
Not only was this place granting her a welcome distraction with all of its nooks and crannies to explore, but it had provided her with a family. Granted, her abueloDario had not been terribly excited about the new addition to his household, already struggling to feed every mouth of the family with the meager earnings their farm provided them with, but he had still given her a roof over her head and plenty of work to do - perhaps a little too much for a little four-year-old girl.
Recently, times had been even tougher. The founder of this town, a young mother called Alma, lived in a beautiful house at the edge of town with her kids - magical triplets. A few months ago, on their fifth birthday, the three had received their gifts, otherworldly, surreal, mysterious gifts.
The eldest daughter, a girl called Julieta, had been blessed with the gift of being able to create foods that would heal others’ ailments, however bad they were. The other daughter, a ginger girl called Pepa, had received the gift to control the weather with her mood - something the kid had evidently struggled to deal with as the town had been cursed with turbulent, unpredictable weather, mostly relentless rain and hail for the past few weeks - a true threat to Sofía’s family’s farm. They had hoped it would relent as the girl got used to her gift and learned to control it, use it for good, but so far it had been dangerous, to say the least; a danger to the family, their crops, and their livelihoods.
The youngest child, a boy called Bruno, had received what many considered more of a curse than a blessing - the ability to see the future. Many called upon him to see their own and often cursed him for prophesying something they would have rather not known at all.
In the wake of the threat of financial ruin, Sofía’s abuelohad sent his granddaughter Gabriéla to see Bruno and beg him for a vision of their future, a way to know how to save their farm.
“He’s just a stupid little child! No miracle, just a liar and an idiot!” “Language, Gabriéla.” Sofía’s tíoMatias intercepted, only to be brushed aside by his wife Adella, who forced herself even closer to her daughter to inquire further. “What happened? What did he show you?” Gabriéla shook her head so her long curls bounced around her head in the way that always made Sofía smile, however today, she remained unfazed. “Oh, you want to know what he showed me? Here!” With shaking hands, Gabriéla withdrew a rectangular greenish piece of glass from her bag and shoved it into her mother’s hands with another angry sigh. Sofía had to suppress the urge to run downstairs and see for herself, too tense was the situation she saw unfolding before her. All the faces she could make out grew to reflect Gabriéla’s anger upon studying the piece of glass. “Can you imagine that kid has the gall to suggest I’d marry Andres? That arrogant idiot, that imbecile…” Gabriéla trailed off, just enough for her mother Adella to interrupt in the most confused tone Sofía had ever heard her speak in. “What? That you’ll marry…” Abuelo Dario interrupted, grabbing the girl’s shoulder roughly to turn her towards him. “What did you ask him to do?” Suddenly, Gabriéla’s confidence visibly waned, and her gaze fell to the tiled floor. “I… I don’t know, I had to know I…” “Gabriéla! What did you ask him?!” “I needed to see who I would marry, okay? I had to; I can’t deal with this uncertainty, I can’t deal with the pressure, I can’t…“
Oh no. Sofía was young, but not too young to have noticed the incredible pressure her family put on their children, pressure to succeed in life, pressure to marry, pressure to have children as soon as possible. It felt disgusting to her. Gabriéla was fifteen, barely around ten years older than Sofía herself, and definitely still a child, but to her parents, all that counted was marrying her off to the most opportune suitor.
“Our family is in danger, our livelihood is in danger, and you ask about your love life?” The rage in Abuelo’svoice was evident, and Gabriéla took a few steps backwards until her back collided with the stone wall of their home. “I could not care less about who you’re going to marry if our livelihood is at stake, if we don’t know if we’re going to survive this, Gabriéla, do you not understand that?” “I do, but - “ “No but! Who knows if he’ll grant us another vision? Who knows if they’ll help us now! For all I know, you just wasted our last chance!” “I’m sorry…” The tears that streamed down Gabriéla’s face seemed to go unnoticed by most of the other family members, too preoccupied with themselves to notice her heaving breaths and trembling frame.
“Go to your room.” “But…” “Go to your room! I do not want to see you here again until I call on you.” Gabriéla left without another word, silently passing by Sofía to vanish on the staircase behind her.
Sofía felt like crying with her. Of course, Gabriéla would want to have some assurance of what the future would bring, especially in an area she was neither experienced nor particularly interested in that her parents kept pressuring her into. Of course she would use the only chance she got to see who she would end up with, to make it easier, no, more bearable for herself than the constant pressure Sofía was sure she found herself under - only to find out that she was supposed to end up marrying the town idiot, a boy neither Gabriéla nor Sofía could not stand with all of his boisterous laughter and his practically dripping arrogance. She could hardly understand what kind of toll that had to have taken on Gabriéla.
Then again, she had to agree the family had bigger problems. If they didn’t find a way to save their crops, they would run out of money soon enough. That meant no food, it meant starvation; it meant poverty; it meant death in the long run.
Sofía withdrew to her room when the first tears started to fall.
⧖⧗⧖
“Skip the second and the fourth stair, then the second to last, those creak,” Sofía whispered to herself as she snuck through the narrow corridors of the family home. After the fight had died down she had gone to her room, a little space in a back corner of the house that used to be a storage closet, just to lie on the ground and wait until her tears subsided.
When the afternoon had come, and the house was mostly quiet, she had made a decision. Sofía would go see Bruno and ask him for another vision.
She knew he might refuse or he might ask something in return, so she’d dug up the little amount of money her parents had left her and rushed out of her room. Her hands were clutching the little bag of coins as tightly as she could so it wouldn’t jingle as she crouched down to slink around the last corner separating her from the front door.
Sofía froze. Straight ahead, right by the dinner table, her tíaAlejandra knelt on the ground, her face hidden in her hands as sobs shook her entire frame, her son Félix comforting her with a hand on her back. “I just… I don’t know what we’re gonna do…” “We’ll figure something out, mamá.We’ll find a way out of this.”
“I’ll get us out of this.” Sofía whispered to herself in a silent promise, then quietly made her way out of the front door and towards the Madrigal’s home.
⧖⧗⧖
Even though Sofía had never been close to it before, the Madrigal house wasn’t hard to find. Most of the town sat in a lush valley between the mountains surrounding Encanto, just a little below the spot where the colorful house stood so it was visible from almost anywhere within town, towering over the other residents like a giant guardian angel.
If it had been impressive from further away, Sofía barely had words to describe what it looked like as she drew close enough to admire the beautiful greenery surrounding it, the exterior sprinkled with blooming vines and exotic flowers that thrived in Encanto’s humid climate, the ancient-looking trees and magnificent wax palms, the vibrant colors in the house’s facade and the stunning adornments on its every window.
Sofía could have spent hours studying the intricate details of the house’s exterior, memorizing it as best as she could to draw it in one of the last pages of her frayed old sketchbook later, but all of a sudden she was interrupted by the house’s emerald green door swinging open by itself. “What…” she whispered to herself in confusion. There was no one else in sight, just the house and herself.
Maybe Sofía was just tired, maybe she was imagining things, maybe she wasn’t even truly here! Maybe she would wake up in mere moments, in her own bed at home, her parents sleeping just a room over. Perhaps she should just go back to the family home and this had been a bad idea after all.
A sudden sense of dread filled Sofía, but as anxious as she was, she could feel something about the strange house pulling her in.
The inside was no less beautiful than the outside, vibrant and elegantly decorated. The main floor was made of gorgeous stone tiles laid out in a circular pattern, the walls a welcoming light orange color that contrasted wonderfully with the vast amount of green, blooming plants standing and hanging in every corner. A gallery ran along the upper edge of the main room, defined by a sky blue railing and support beams, doors on either side up- and downstairs, clearly leading to different areas of the home.
“¿Te puedo ayudar?” Sofía felt herself flinch as a voice spoke just to her left, and suddenly she found herself opposite a girl about her age in a wide, blue-ish skirt and a white shirt with dark brown curls that barely reached her chin. Her immediate discomfort was instantly alleviated when she locked her gaze with the other girl’s, somewhat confused but overwhelmingly kind.
“Perdon, I don’t mean to intrude but the door opened by itself and I - “ The corners of the other girl’s mouth turned upwards into a wide smile, and Sofía could almost feel all the tension falling off of her. “Oh, that’d be casita! If it trusts you, then I trust you!” It was the house that had led her in? The actual house? Truly, what else had Sofía expected from the home of a magical family? “My name is Julieta. It’s nice to meet you!”
Oh, of course, she was one of the gifted kids! Sofía reached out and shook Julieta’s hand, a gesture that felt somehow too mature for both of their ages. “I’m Sofía, I’m here for a vision, if that’s possible.” Julieta nodded enthusiastically. “You’re here to see Bruno! He’s my hermano, it’s okay.” Sofía remained silent, but as though she could sense her hesitation, Julieta squeezed her hand as she continued. “No need to be nervous, Sofía! I’m sure whatever it is you’re looking for, Brunito will help you find it.”
The fact that she called her brother Brunito alone calmed Sofía down considerably. With the way Gabriéla had spoken about the fortuneteller, his gift had sounded intimidating, almost a little scary, but although Sofía was still so nervous that her knees felt weak, Julieta helped her confidence a great deal. “Casita, can you show us where he is?” Julieta had barely even finished her question when the house creaked for a moment, just before a few of the flooring tiles lifted one after the other, directing them to one of the stairways leading up onto the gallery.
Sofía was just about to express her awe for a house like this when they turned another corner and the moving tiles abruptly stopped indicating the way. Confused, she took a look around, just before her eyes settled on a figure barely a few feet away from them.
Concealed by one of the many gigantic plants that had apparently found their place on the wide gallery of the casa Madrigal, there stood a boy. His short black hair was unruly like her own and Julieta’s, ruffled by the slight breeze of the open window he was staring out of, seemingly deep in thought. Following Julieta even closer, she could clearly see him flinch as his sister softly spoke his name. “Bruno?” His green ruana brushed over Sofía’s lower calf as he whirled around in a panicked turn. His eyes were puffy and glossed over, almost like he had been crying, and Sofía couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain deep in her chest as Bruno’s distressed gaze settled on Julieta almost immediately. “Am I in the way? I’m sorry, I’ll go, no hay problema.”
The boy was gone faster than Sofía could even react. Only Julieta, who seemed to be used to his antics, was fast enough to catch him by the tail end of his ruana, pulling him to a stop in the middle of the corridor. Without words, she caught up with his side and laid her hand on his shoulder, an understanding look in their eye and there was a brief pause as the two of them seemed to communicate nonverbally and his posture relaxed a little. Only then did Julieta speak up. “Bruno, I want you to meet Sofía. She came to meet you for a vision.”
When Bruno turned around to face her, a certain type of unease noticeably creeped into his blanching expression, but when he spoke his tone didn’t reflect it, merely nervousness. “Me? Oh, yes, of course, me! A vision, why yes, coming right up!” Sofía had to suppress a smile at his rapid ramblings, intent on being as kind and polite as she could possibly be. “I can come back another time if it’s a bad time right now.” She could see it in the way his shoulders slumped in relief that he considered it, but just when lifted his head in a subtle nod and was about to speak, a loud crack of thunder sounded above them as another little girl came running up from behind them.
“Pepa! What happened?” Julieta laid her hand onto the ginger girl’s back, intently focussed on the streams of tears running down the younger girl’s face. “I… I was in the kitchen trying to help you out, but then I slipped and I cut my finger and it hurts…” She whimpered in between sniffles, and with a quick nod to Sofía and a soothing hand on Pepa’s back, Julieta started to guide her sister back downstairs, probably towards the kitchen. It was only when they were walking away that Sofía noticed the fluffy dark storm cloud hovering above Pepa’s head.
When the two sisters left her field of vision, Sofía turned back around to where Bruno had stood, only to see him walking away from her without a word. “Bruno!” She could hear how frantic her voice was as she scrambled after him, but she had to talk to him. She had to. “Bruno, I’m really sorry about this, but…” Even when she caught up with him and walked by his side, he didn’t look at her, head stoically facing forwards. “Your sister Pepa’s gift is making it really hard for my family. We’re farmers, that’s how we make our living, and with the constant rain and hail and the drops in temperature, we just… we need to know if this harvest will make it.” “My cousin Gabriéla was here today, she was supposed to ask about our future but she made it all about herself and who she was going to marry, just because her parents keep putting this insane pressure on her to marry rich and marry soon and give them lots of grandchildren, so she asked for that vision instead, which I can understand but now… Now we don’t know what is going to happen, and my family - they’re all crying and I’m so, so scared…”
It was only when the first sob escaped her that Bruno stopped, right at the foot of a small flight of stairs. He looked like she had struck him across the face, a mixture of pain and unease on his face as he turned towards her. “I can’t promise you’ll like what I see.” “I know.” “I can’t change what will happen either way.” “I know.” “It’s not my fault if I see something bad.” It sounded like Bruno said this more to himself than to Sofía. Then again, she’d heard how Gabriéla had spoken about him, like it was his fault what he had seen in her future. She nodded in response, but offered him a verbal response as well. “I know.” He sighed, then gestured towards the door before them. “Come with me.”
⧖⧗⧖
The ascent up the seemingly endless stairs was strenuous. Sofía’s chest was hurting and she could feel her lungs strain, almost rattle with every breath she took, not to mention the ache the rest of her body was enduring. Bruno appeared only barely less affected than her, panting heavily by the time they reached the top of the enormous stone tower that she assumed to be his “room”.
Sofía wanted to ask if he had to make this exhausting journey every time he entered and left his room, she wanted to ask if he had to take that tumble through the sandy waterfall every time; she wanted to ask where he slept, where he spent his time, but most of all, she wanted to ask if he was okay. She knew what it meant to be forced to grow up much earlier than kids their age should, what it was like to have great expectations thrust upon you, to have them looming over you every second of your life - something Sofía was sure their gifts must burden the family with as well. Alas, she was too shy to ask about any of it.
A rickety suspension bridge led them across the scope of a wide ravine between the top of the stone stairs and the other side where the room continued in a shallow walkway that eerily reminded her of ancient Egyptian tombs (a major interest of one of her older cousins). The walls depicted several iterations of an older man with piercing eyes, a big nose and shoulder length wavy hair, the same seemingly older version of Bruno himself Sofía had already caught a glimpse of on his magical door, illustrated with his hands spread out wide on either side of his body like an old-fashioned prophet - then again, she supposed that was entirely what Bruno was.
Ahead of them, a round door with etchings that were definitely reminiscent of the hourglass theme that seemed inescapable in anything that related to Bruno in this house made way to a wider round cave that looked, again, to be mostly carved from stone. The edges of the cave-like structure were guarded by tall stones probably twice her size, whilst the wall space between them was filled up with a wide band-like row of hourglasses, connected by a long line at top and bottom and a few dots in between, extending the entire inside of the room.
Bruno crossed the distance to the middle of the circular room quickly, plopping himself down near a round sand pit surrounded by peculiar dark triangular markings that spanned the entirety of the room’s floors. Thick dark lines surrounded the pit whilst others looked like they connected the borders of it to the outer walls of the room in a wavy pattern that reminded Sofía of a swirl reminiscent of the one she always achieved when she turned too quickly and her skirt whirled around her.
When she let her eyes wander further over the strangeness of the room she was in, she discovered those same markings mirrored up on the ceiling, like some abstract depiction of star constellations or complex geometrical patterns.
Bruno seemed content to wait for her to finish looking around, though a certain sense of dread in his gaze told her he was waiting on her judgment. Instead, she offered him a timid smile, one he only weakly returned. “You can sit down.”
Sofía followed his timid invitation, sitting down just across from him on the sandy ground before trying to lock eyes with him again. Bruno, however, averted his gaze to the floor beneath them before he managed to speak again. “I’m still pretty new to this, but I’ll do my best to help.” Sofía nodded enthusiastically as she crossed her legs beneath herself. “I really appreciate that.”
Her words visibly startled him as he abruptly raised his head to glance at her, as though he was completely taken aback by what she had said. “You… you do?” Bruno’s voice was quieter and more hesitant than ever before, almost as if he hadn’t meant to ask his question aloud. If he needed reassurance, Sofía was more than ready to give him just that. “I’m very grateful you’re even trying, Bruno, I really am. I’ll pay you all I have; it’s not much, but it’s all I can do - “ He interrupted her by frantically waving his hands, a clear panic in his eyes. “No no no no, I refuse, I won’t take any money from you. I mean, not just you - I never do, it feels wrong. Don’t worry about money, is what I’m trying to say.”
Sofía liked his nervous ramblings, and this time she couldn’t help but giggle to herself at his desperate expression before she answered him. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
Bruno let out a major sigh, letting the silence between them fester as he closed his eyes for a moment to take a couple of deep breaths. Then, as if commanded by something invisible to the naked eye, he suddenly snapped his eyes open, more determined than ever, holding his hands out to her. Sofía took them, perhaps a bit too eagerly, as he almost pulled back at her enthusiasm.
Another deep breath later, Bruno locked eyes with her again. “Don’t let go, no matter what happens, okay?” She gave him a nod in response. “Okay. I trust you.”
If she had been more focused on Bruno, Sofía would have noticed the faint blush that came over his cheeks at her words. However, as it was, she was far too preoccupied with wondering how this vision was going to work and worrying about what Bruno was going to see in her and her family’s future.
Barely a second passed after he closed his eyes before the sand around them started to shift, slowly at first, then, abruptly, all at once. It rose in the air, circling around them counterclockwise as if surrounding them in a bubble, seemingly shielding them from the rest of the world. Slowly but surely, threads of grains around them started to light up in a bright unnatural green, whirling around them at dazzling speeds. As their surroundings lit up more and more, gradually, the glowing grains started to form into vague shapes.
Immediately, Sofía gripped Bruno’s hands tighter than ever as she felt goosebumps spread over her skin, and her gaze focussed back on him just when he opened his eyes. Gone were the kind brown eyes she had grown accustomed to, replaced by irises glowing in the same strange shade of green as the surrounding sand. His dark curls were blowing in the wind that had picked up, his skin visibly paling as his eyes opened wider and looked through Sofía as if she wasn’t even there, unfocussed, unblinking - seeking.
Suddenly, the shapes around them started to get clearer, forming into images she could recognize. There was flowing water, a flood over the fields she could clearly recognize as their own, shriveling crops, empty plates on their big wooden dinner table. Then, the grains shifted entirely, and there were two figures, one holding their hands out to the other. As soon as their fingers touched, the entirety of the sand lit up a bright yellow, and the same images began to play again - only differently. Blooming crops on her family’s fields, overfilled plates, smiling faces she couldn’t quite recognize. Then, just as the sand began to settle, a last image. Two adults standing next to each other, gripping each other’s hands tightly before enveloping each other in a hug that made both of them smile widely.
Then, as suddenly as it had started, it was all over.
Silence fell upon them as Bruno’s eyes returned back to normal and he slowly set Sofía’s hands down to pick up a jade colored piece of glass, the same kind she recognized seeing in her cousin’s hands earlier this evening. It seemed to have caught a particular moment in the vision, one person holding out their hands to the other just before the blinding climax of glowing sand had whirled around them; only now, the faces were clearer. There was no doubt about it, one of the two was Sofía.
“Something is off. This hand thing, I can’t figure out. Something…” Bruno’s scratchy voice caught her off guard, and he looked as though he was entirely lost in thought, talking to himself more than to her. After a minute, Sofía forced herself to speak up. “What about… what about my family?” As though pulling him out of a trance, Bruno suddenly came back to himself, meeting her eyes only for a moment before he focussed off into the distance.
“The next few months will be tough. The weather will be unruly, unpredictable, not only thanks to my sister. There will be issues, many of them, and your family will have to rely on their other talents until it relents.” Sofía nodded, and she was fascinated seeing Bruno’s expression slowly grow vacant. “There is something… Something happens that will fix this. Something will change things, but I can’t see it. Something with the hands, something with you, but I…” He paused, and it almost looked as though he had completely stopped breathing in the way he froze, apparently to let his mind wander. With a shudder, he shook it off and threw her a gentle smile, still without looking at her. “When it gets better, it’s going to be wonderful. Food enough for everyone in all of Encanto, and enough money to take care of the whole family.” Sofía couldn’t suppress the tears of relief that rolled down her cheeks at Bruno’s words. He, however, looked more uncomfortable by the second, fidgeting with his fingers as his eyes met the ground between them, entirely unmoving. “It will all pass, but for now, your family will suffer.”
Sofía offered him another nod, but by now, he seemed completely unresponsive. Slowly, as to not startle him, she lifted her hand to reach out to him. Bruno flinched, eyes scrunched shut, his posture defensive, scared, as though he thought she might hit him. Stunned by his reaction, Sofía slowed her movements, but didn’t miss the shudder that shook Bruno’s body when she took his hands in hers again. He let out a breath, as if he had been holding it, and gradually, he visibly relaxed again.
She gave him a little while to calm down, merely holding his hands in hers as she waited for his breathing to slow again, only then did she muster the courage to speak. “Thank you, Bruno.” He stiffened again, and she could feel his questioning expression even before she could see it on his face. “But…” “You’ve helped me and my family a lot, I will never forget that. We owe you; I owe you.” She could tell Bruno knew she was sincere, but somehow that seemed to deter him even more. He shook his head as though to negate what she had said, as though he couldn’t believe her words. “But I… It wasn’t good, the vision.” “No, that’s true. For now, it wasn’t good news, but I know everything will be okay eventually. I came here for an honest look into the future and you delivered. I am forever in your debt for that.” Bruno nodded, about as lightly as he could, barely lifting his head at all, all the while staring at her with an expression of pure disbelief. Just when Sofía thought she could see him tearing up, he broke eye contact, focusing on their hands instead. “Thank you,” he mumbled quietly, and this time it was Sofía who responded in disbelief. “Me?” “Yes, thank you for… thank you for being so nice.” Oh. They shared a kind smile, one that reached his eyes this time. Sofía squeezed his hands one last time before she spoke. “Anytime, Bruno.”
⧖⧗⧖
The small flight of stairs that led from Bruno’s door back to the main floor of Casita was nothing compared to the tower Sofía had had to make her way down from again. How Bruno did it every day, she had no idea. She remembered the way they had come, but Casita seemed to take on the responsibility of showing her the way out, just like it had led her to Bruno earlier. With slight clunking sounds, one tile after the other lifted, guiding her back around the corner to the gallery. Now that the sun was setting, the whole place was doused in deep orange light, making the entirety of its interior look even more magical than it already did, not to speak of the four shining doors that ran along the north side of the walls.
Sofía had taken a moment to internalize the wonderful art of Bruno’s door as she had left, completely speechless at the way the golden light seemed to waver like lava beneath the carved wood. Similarly, she now meant to sneak glances at the other doors as she walked past them, but Casita seemed determined to move her straight past Julieta’s door, pushing her forward by moving the tiles beneath her feet to bring her to the door just behind that one. Without getting the chance to see whose it was or if it even was one of the magical doors, it opened and Casita pushed her inside without hesitation.
Protesting, Sofía tried to lean back to escape the house’s clutch on her, but she was too busy trying to keep her balance as the floor beneath her shifted to move her into the middle of the room.
It was a grownup’s room, for certain. Dark wooden beams ran along the low ceiling, the walls were painted in a warm shade of off-white, contrasting with the dark rosewood furniture along the walls. The dresser just ahead of her held an old stained glass lamp in blue tones, one that was very alike the one her mother had owned with its gentle slopes downward that reminded her of the vague shape of a mushroom. She could only imagine what it would look like when it was turned on, casting the entire room in a magical cerulean light, almost like it was underwater. Next to the lamp stood a framed picture of a young man, one that very vaguely resembled Bruno, so Sofía assumed it was the triplets’ deceased father. As though he were still alive, Sofía nodded at him apologetically for intruding, but was quickly distracted when Casita turned her towards her left.
There was a window overlooking the courtyard, its dark wooden shutters drawn inward to rest against the cream-colored walls. All confusion as to why she was here vanished when her eyes settled on a burning candle on the windowsill.
It was a large, white candle, its flame intensely captivating, almost pulsating, as if beckoning her to come closer. The gentle outlines of a butterfly looked to be engraved into its wax similarly to how Casita’s doors were engraved, emanating a soft glow from the inside. The flame radiated a pleasant glimmer, and it looked as though it emitted little sparks that moved so slowly that it almost resembled very slow fireflies that were circling around it.
Without thinking, Sofía followed the candle’s gravitational pull, letting herself get dragged closer to the window within mere moments. The closer she got, the more her body seemed to react to the candle’s proximity; her spine was tingling heavily and her hands were itching to reach out and run her fingers over the delicately engraved butterfly.
Something was wrong, Sofía could feel it deep inside her bones, but she couldn’t help follow the candle’s call when it felt so right, when it made her feel so powerful as her hand reached out almost by itself until her fingers hovered above the warm wax. When her fingertips brushed over the waxy surface of the outside of the candle, an intense feeling of energy rushed through her, almost enough to send her careening backwards, had the creak of the floor behind her not startled her almost as equally.
Sofía whirled around in shock and the embarrassment of the situation suddenly hit her when she saw Bruno standing in the doorway, his eyes just as wide open as his mouth. She was a guest in this house; she was merely tolerated here, and not only had she overstayed her welcome after exploiting the Madrigal son’s precious gift, but now she had also intruded one of their other rooms, invaded somebody’s bedroom without permission and touched their most precious possession. The crushing weight of her guilt brought immediate tears to Sofía’s eyes, and she had to fight the urge to scramble past Bruno to run away and never look back.
“Lo siento, I… This is going to sound so stupid but I got lost and then Casita led me here and - “ As if to back up her words, one of the window shutters interrupted her to wave enthusiastically and push Sofía just a little closer to the boy still stiffly stood in the doorway. That seemed to set Bruno straight, and he nodded at her quickly and motioned towards the door he stood in. “Oh, that’s okay, I’ll… I’ll show you out, no pasa nada. ” Relief flooded her senses as soon as they exited the room belonging to “Alma” as the door stated, endlessly grateful for Bruno’s understanding nature. Still, Sofía was keen on leaving as quickly as possible to avoid confrontation with the triplets’ mother, who was bound to react much more harshly to the fact that someone had invaded her private room - assuming it had been hers.
Rounding the corner to take one of the two staircases downstairs again, Sofía was suddenly overcome by another weird feeling, a strange tingling in her gut that made her freeze. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another peculiar sparkling, just like the candle in Bruno’s mother’s room had, and instinctively snapped her head towards it. There, on the wall of the gallery just beside the corridor that had led to Bruno’s endless staircase of a room, a glowing wooden door seemed to appear out of nowhere, as if growing into existence out of thin air from the ground up. Similarly to the other doors she had seen, its luminosity was wavering, like a fire was burning just behind the door’s thin wooden planks. The fingers of her right hand where Sofía had touched the candle suddenly twitched, itching to touch the glowing door knob that abruptly sprouted out of nowhere.
By now, Bruno had noticed she wasn’t walking alongside him anymore, and turned back towards her, following her line of sight to what she was focussed on - and his face fell.
“Everything alright?” As if in slow motion, the boy crept closer to the peculiar door, completely ignoring Sofía’s question. It was only when she followed suit that she could hear him muttering to himself in confused whispers. “This… this is impossible, this can’t be…” “Are you okay?” As if her touch had awoken him from some kind of hypnotic state, he suddenly stared at her, his pupils blown wide with confusion. “Stay here, I… I need to go, I need to get mamá.” Without another word, Bruno pushed past her back to the stairs, his breathing and movements erratic. “Bruno! What’s going on?” Sofía was aware it was none of her business, but the boy’s look of sheer and utter terror had moved her to follow him without hesitation, stumbling towards the staircase just behind him. He looked back at her only once, and promptly stumbled and careened past the first stair, immediately falling forwards. It was pure luck Sofía’s hand was close enough to grab him by the tail end of his ruana similarly to how Julieta had done it earlier in the evening, barely preventing him from tumbling to the bottom of the stairs. “¡Mierda!”he choked out as the neck of his clothes restricted his airflow just for the moment it took to catch himself on the blue banister beside him.
“Bruno!” The female voice that answered from the bottom of the stairs seemed scolding at first, but when Sofía caught sight of the young woman rushing towards them, Julieta and Pepa in tow, she could tell there was more worry in her tone than sincere anger. When Bruno reached her side, his voice was strained as though someone had tried to strangle him, and he was holding his throat with one hand while the other wildly gestured around himself. “Mamá! I had a vision, but when we came back - the door…” Slowly, Julieta took a step forward to rest a hand on her brother’s outstretched arm. “Cálmate Brunito, breathe.”
Bruno struggled for a moment, but after a deep breath, he focussed on his mother again. “There’s a door upstairs, mamá, a new door.” “What?!” This time, all three women reacted with the same sense of bewilderment on their faces, and it became clear even to Sofía that this was highly unusual. “It appeared when we were walking past it, just at the top of the stairs. I don’t know what happened - “ “Show me.”
He flinched only slightly at his mother’s interruption, otherwise unfazed as he led them back up the stairs, both girls hiding behind their mother as Bruno pointed towards the glowing door with shaking hands.
Sofía stood off to the side, hoping and praying to fuse with the walls of Casita if it meant to get out of this situation as soon as possible, but as the woman slowly turned around to her with wide eyes, she knew she was in trouble. “You… Who are you?” Once again, Sofía had to fight the urge to turn and run down the stairs straight out the front door. As though it knew, Casita pulled up some of the tiles beneath her, pushing her to close some of the distance between herself and the triplet’s mother. She seemed to soften at the sight of the scared child in front of her, and Sofía felt some of her anxiety vanish when the older woman knelt down before her to continue speaking. “Don’t be scared, you did nothing wrong, mijita. This house is magical, and we have seen it do incredible things for us and this town, but something like this has never happened before.” Her voice was kind and understanding, the patient tone of a mother. “My children were blessed with their gifts when they turned 5 years old barely a few months ago. We were not expecting anything like this to be bestowed upon anyone else in this community.” Be bestowed? Sofía’s breath caught in her throat as the reality of the situation sunk in. Surely, she couldn’t be insinuating… And yet, a nagging thought in the back of her head gave her confidence this wasn’t a misplaced joke, the same thought that she had been trying to suppress all day. “It’s my birthday today…” The woman’s face softened yet again, and she nodded understandingly. “Your fifth?” Sofía only managed a haphazard nod before she spoke again. “I don’t… I don’t understand.” “It’s okay, cariña,it’s okay, I promise. Come here.”
Sofía felt as though her feet were bolted to the floor, that’s how little control she had over moving her body. Desperation filled her, and she couldn’t help but snap her eyes towards Bruno, who was still standing several feet behind his mother. His nervousness hadn’t faded, but he seemed less panicked than before, and while his expression was certainly confused, he immediately offered her a kind smile when their lines of sight crossed. Had Sofía been able to pay closer attention, she also would have noticed his hands twitching as though he was itching to reach out and comfort her.
When she managed to step closer to the young mother, she couldn’t help but be calmed slightly by the kind eyes boring into her own. The triplets’ mother took a deep breath, inspiring Sofía to do the same before they talked further. “What’s your name, querida?” “I’m Sofía.” The woman nodded, continuing in her kind, understanding tone. “It’s so nice to meet you, Sofía. My name is Alma.” Alma shot her a compassionate smile and motioned behind herself. “Casita seems to have decided to grant you a gift as well.” Sofía could practically feel the blood draining from her face. “Me?” “This is your door, Sofía.” Alma gestured to the golden doorknob that displayed a large “S”. “But… I mean, mydoor?” Alma’s soft chuckle reverberated through the open room they were in, and she brought a hand down to softly rest on Sofía’s shoulder. “Yes, your door to your room. If Casita has chosen you, you are always welcome in our home, mijita.”
Without warning, Pepa jumped beside the two of them, a wide, happy grin on her face. “She’ll be like one of us, mamí?” “Sí, it seems she’ll get a gift of her own, just like the three of you.”
A gift? A gift of her own? Despite the family’s sincere words, Sofía couldn’t help but doubt this wasn’t some elaborate joke, a hyperrealistic dream or simply her going completely insane; there was no way she was special enough to be chosen to receive a gift as meaningful as this. There must have been some type of misunderstanding, maybe the house had mistaken her for someone else falsely offered her this opportunity, or maybe - “Just go stand in front of the door when you’re ready, Sofía.”
Sofía was decidedly not ready. She had no idea what to expect, and she was scared to the bone, but there was no denying the thrill of excitement she felt as she slowly made her way towards the glowing wooden door. Still, when she stopped only a couple feet away from it, she couldn’t help but look around helplessly, eyes latching onto Bruno who was standing just beside her, staring back at her with a distinct look of pity in his deep brown eyes. She could feel her hands shaking when she evaded his gaze to look down at the tiled floor as her eyes started to tear up. How embarrassing.
Granted, her overwhelmedness was most certainly justified, and yet there was an intense amount of shame boiling up within her at her own timidity and reserve, but then again - Suddenly, there was a soft touch on her shoulder. When Sofía looked up towards her right it was already gone, Bruno’s hand awkwardly hovering in the air between them for a moment as though she’d caught him off-guard before he pulled it back to rest along his side. As if inspired by his forwardness, Pepa promptly jumped behind Sofía to rest her hands on her back while Julieta looped her arm through Sofía’s in a highly comforting motion.
It dawned on Sofía now - they had to have felt the same when they had received their gifts. They knew the feeling, knew how scared and nervous she was, and it was beyond any doubt that their sympathy helped; and yet, it wasn’t until Bruno held out his hand again and Sofía threaded her fingers through his that she found the strength to take a final step forwards to unveil her destiny.
