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Chapter Text

On their fifth birthday, Mamá had roused them from the nursery in her usual way. Bruno would remember these days vaguely, mostly impressions of feelings and flashes of colors. He mostly clung to the memories of feeling safe and security he found tucked into their shared bed. Mamá would shake Pepa awake first, then wake Julieta up with a kiss, before tickling Bruno till he squirmed breathless with laughter.

Once they were awake, she sat on the edge of the bed, looking at them with such soft eyes. “My babies, happy birthday. You’ve all grown so big.” Her eyes misted over, but Bruno had missed this as he fought to sit up, twisted in the blankets.

“Our casita has prepared a special surprise for you, my children. Come, I can’t wait to see what it has in store for you all.”

That sent the children scrambling from their bed. Pepa and Bruno dissolved into a wrestling match as they fought to have their feet hit the floor first, leaving Julieta to slip out. She froze in the doorway, her light blue nightgown almost matching the blue door of the nursery. Mama joined her, gazing around the balcony as Pepa and Bruno finally elbowed past each other and joined them.

Bruno gasped in awe at the shimmering doors. Mirroring each other, flanking their mamá’s room, they glimmered with magic reminiscent of the candle’s sparks. He craned his neck to see it in the tall window of his Mamá’s room.

“Darlings, the casita has created rooms for each of you. I’m sure that they will be just as magical as the casita itself.” His mamá’s voice interrupted their admiration of the doors. Pepa and Julieta both tore off in opposite directions, while Bruno clutched at his mother’s skirt. He watched as they halted before the doors.

“Hey, this door knob has a ‘J’ on it!” Pepa called out, looking but not touching.

Julieta cried out, “This one has a ‘P’! Pepa, this one must be yours!” They raced around the balcony to reach their appropriate door, skidding to a stop. They both paused and stared, suddenly shy of the magic.

“The door to the attic has changed as well.” His mother had whispered conspiratorially to her only son. She nudged him with her hip. “Or should I say, your cave?” They giggled together, Bruno having previously told her elaborate stories about the daydreams he had acted out in the open space. She didn’t need to know that some of these were born out of his observations of the rats that resided there.

He tugged on her skirts, wordlessly pulling her towards Julieta. She followed him, crying across the open space, “Pepa, come over here. Let’s look at Julieta’s new room first, si?”

His sister knew better than to argue, knowing how their mamá liked to organize everything they did by birth order. She took the short way to stand next to her sister, crossing in front of mamá’s own glowing door. As Bruno and his mamá turned left out of the nursery doorway, Julieta turned to watch them approach, her hands clasped in front of her nervously.

“Go ahead, hija. Open the door.” His mother encouraged the girl, one hand resting on Bruno’s shoulder as Pepa settled on her other side.

Julieta nodded resolutely, wiping her hands on the front of her nightgown. Then, she reached out, resting her hand firmly on the doorknob.

At her touch the magic swelled and burst, and Julieta watched, her hand still on the knob. Alma pulled her other two children close to her, overwhelmed as she watched the magic flow and settle into the silhouette of a beautiful woman, a mortar and pestle floating over one hand and a plate of heaping food above the other. As the image flared one final time, they stared in awe at the ‘Julieta’ carved in the wood, at the apron pockets overflowing with herbs, at the image of what she would become when she grew.

“Whoa.” Bruno whispered, holding onto his mamá tighter.

“What a wonder.” His mamá breathed. Louder, she addressed Julieta, who had stepped back and stared up at the image. “Well, open it hija. Let’s see what’s inside.”

She took one last lingering gaze before obeying, her hand settling on the doorknob and pausing as though waiting for more magic. When nothing came, she twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

The other side was a large, cozy room. Drying plants hung from the rafters, while the window sills were filled with potted herbs and plants. Were there even that many windows on this side of the casita? There was a counter taking up one wall, littered with mortar and pestles, jars labeled flour, sugar, salt, bundles of string.

Set into the opposite wall was a large double door, currently thrown open to reveal a large bed with a beautifully carved wooden bedframe, soft blue blankets draped across. A bookshelf that reached the ceiling was filled with cookbooks sat on one side of the bed, and the other had a low dresser with a mirror propped on top.

Julieta went to look out the windows, while Pepa burst into a flurry of activity, poking into this or that around the room. Bruno joined her, following as she opened this drawer or that cabinet. He didn’t notice his mamá crossing the room to speak quietly with Julieta, the way her face was bewildered by the room especially made for her. He only noticed when his mother raised her voice to get their attention.

“Pepa, why don’t we look at your room now?”

The redhead jumped off the bed, loudly agreeing and proclaiming she had better get just as many cool things in her room as Julieta. Bruno lingered as Pepa darted out, their mamá trailing after, watching Julieta. She took a deep breath, mustered a smile, then grabbed his hand and together they left her room.

Pepa was bouncing on her toes, finding it hard to wait as her siblings took their place by their mamá. Before their steps had stopped, she was reaching towards the ‘P’ doorknob, her fingers brushing the metal to unleash a sweep of magic and light. Her mouth was a wide open grin as they watched the magic settle into the form of a woman with her hands stretched down at her sides, a peaceful smile on her face as a sun rose above her head and clouds swirled at her feet.

His middle sister didn’t wait long after the magic had settled before bursting through the door with Pepa carved into it. Her family gazed in awe after her, their eyes trailing above her head. His mamá was the only one to move, stepping into the room after her daughter. Bruno and Julieta’s hands tightened around each other.

From their spot on the outside, they watched the rainbow glowing above their sister’s head faded, her wide grin falling as her brows furrowed together. They watched, wide-eyed, as a dark cloud took its place.

“It’s not fair, Julieta’s room was cooler!” She stamped her foot and turned away from her quick perusal of her room. “I want to trade!”

Their mamá kneeled in front of her, one hand cupping Pepa’s face and the other waving through the cloud above her head. “Dios mi.” She muttered, as Bruno saw Pepa visibly prepare herself for a tantrum. “Pepa, my dear. What a blessing.”

Pepa finally looked up to see what her family had been looking at since she opened her door. Seeing the cloud above her head, she shrieked and waved her arms, dispelling the cloud. Instinctually, Julieta moved at the sound of Pepa’s distress, dragging Bruno into the room with her. “You have your own weather!” She exclaimed, taking Pepa’s hand and linking them all together.

“That’s so cool!” Bruno exclaimed, realizing what Julieta already had as Pepa watched the cloud reforming above her in trepidation.

Mamá looked at Julieta with new, assessing eyes. “You must have gotten something just as magical hija.”

Bruno missed Julieta’s reply, the uncertainty on her face, as he gazed around the room. The room was cozy, with a stone floor that sloped to the center where a drain was embedded in the floor. The room itself was a cozy sitting room, multiple chairs scattered about, with large bay windows showing the fields that lay down the hill from the casita.

Another door led to the bedroom itself. The bedframe was metal, the bedposts looking like lightning rods. Cheery yellow blankets were neatly tucked in. A weathervane sat next on the bedside table, and the lamps on the wall looked like clouds with crystal raindrops. She didn’t have a dresser, but there was a door against one wall that led to what he presumed was a closet. The glassless windows had shutters on the inside, thick sturdy ones that were, at the moment, thrown wide open to let a breeze through.

He was brought out of his musing by his mamá taking his free hand. “Brunito, shall we go see what the miracle will bless you with?” He looked up into her face, the soft loving expression she had woken them with now replaced with an eager excitement. Julieta squeezed his other hand reassuringly, prompting him to give a quick nod that jostled his curls.

Chapter Text

Bruno stood outside his door, his sisters and mamá waiting at the bottom of the short flight of stairs. He stared at the ‘B’ engraved in the door knob, at the magic swirling within the twisting border of the door. He wasn’t sure what Julieta’s gift was, but he was afraid he would get something like Pepa’s, a cloud swirling over her head at that very moment.

“Go ahead hijo. Open the door.” His mother encouraged from behind him. Knowing he couldn’t put it off any longer, he took a deep breath and let his warm hand rest on the cool knob.

Bruno would later turn this memory over and over in his head, wondering what was going through his mind that the magic clung to and transformed into his gift. He remembered not wanting a gift like Pepa’s, something that would draw attention to him. He remembered wanting something that would help the family though, something to help his mother when her eyes looked so sad.

As his hand touched the door knob, his family watched the gold light swirl and pop and settle. Bruno saw none of it.

His vision had been overwhelmed by green light, and his head tilted back, mouth falling open, as he gazed at a scene only he could see. Only vaguely could he hear the exclamations of his sisters at the magical door, couldn’t hear when they stopped and asked their mamá in hushed tones why his door looked so mad. He was too busy staring at the scene before him, like a photograph with only green ink.

It was their courtyard of their casita, crowded with people from the village. They were still, but he could see from the angle of skirts, the mouths caught mid-word, lightning mid-strike above Pepa, that it was a moment captured out of time.

He had tried to hold onto more details, tried to search for himself or his other family in the image, but his head was splitting. Unwittingly he released the vision as his hands flew to clutch at the sides of his head, body giving out as he fell to his knees. His fingers twisted into his curls, feeling like if he let go his head would crack open.

“Brunito!” His mother gasped as her footsteps pattered towards him. She crouched beside him, a hand resting on each of his shoulders. “Brunito, are you ok?”

Prying open his watery eyes, he saw his mothers concerned face, his sisters standing off to the side staring at his door. The pain in his head was starting to fade, the comforting presence of his mamá overshadowing the image that was burned into his mind.

“What happened hijo?” His mother rubbed his back in soothing circles.

“I saw… the casita, full of people.” He looked up into his mother’s face. “We were… celebrating?” The statement turned into a question as he realized how ridiculous it sounded. They had never had a party here, and Pepa had had a cloud above her…

His mother brightened. “What a wonderful idea! We should share the miracle that happened today with everyone!” Her face dimmed as she looked at him closer. “But you are alright Brunito?”

He nodded, though he didn’t feel alright.

Pepa finally burst out, her eyes still locked onto his door. “Mamá! Why does he look so mad?”

Bruno looked at his door for the first time. The future him carved on its surface did indeed seem too stern, the eyes glaring down at him. He felt his mother’s assessing eyes, but he was too afraid to meet her gaze, to see what he might find there.

"I don't think he's meant to look mad, Pepita. It has to be tied to his gift from the Casita, just like your door." He heard his mother's skirts ruffling as she moved towards Pepa.

What was his gift though? The image was slipping from his mind like sand through fingers, but he knew it hadn't happened yet. He stared at his fingers, trying to figure out what felt different besides the buzzing behind his eyes.

Julieta was the one that broke him from his spiral. She crouched before him, taking both his hands in hers. “Hey, did you forget you have a cool new room behind that door?” She pulled him up, their mother straightening up herself. His sister gave him a reassuring squeeze before releasing his hands.

Bruno didn’t want to go into the room, didn’t want to see what the terrifying image of his older self was hiding. But his mother nudged him, muttering a few encouraging words that he didn’t hear. So he stepped forward, wiping his hands on his shirt and bracing himself for another splitting headache as he reached for the doorknob.

Nothing happened this time, and Bruno muttered a silent grateful prayer.

Pushing into the room, his family close behind him, he was surprised at what he saw. The first thing he saw was the archway directly across from them, a curtain rippling across it blocking what lie on the other side from view. Archway wasn't quite appropriate, but he didn't know how else to think of the hourglass shape across from him. His gaze wandered across the stone room, only to find it was empty. He didn't even have any windows. A dismayed breath left him in a huff. He had been looking so forward to having cool views like his sisters, maybe even cooler since his room was supposed to be in the tower of the Casita.

His family had stopped just inside his new room, and their silence spoke volumes. He gripped at the front of his shirt, shoulders crawling their way to his ears. Pepa and Julieta had such cool rooms, and he didn't even have a bed.

Pepa darted past him, making him flinch. She stopped in front of a closed door off to the right of the room. It had blended into the walls smoothly, Bruno hadn’t even noticed it.

His redheaded sister didn’t even wait to open the door, flinging it open so it banged against the wall. “At least my room is cooler than Bruno’s.” She said after a brief assessing pause, stepping into it. Julieta and mamá followed, but Bruno watched them go. Their voices bounced around the stone as they commented on it. He took the opportunity to step towards the archway. As he put a hand out he realized the curtain was a shower of sand. He held his hand out into it, not finding a wall on the other side. He glanced back to where his family had disappeared, but they were still speaking with one another about his room, his mother hushing his sisters as they loudly protested what he got.

He stepped forward, closing his eyes tightly against the sand that rained down and settled into his curls and any creases in his clothing. As he felt the sand stop pelting him, he released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. On the other side of the sand curtain was a short stone hallway, with stone ledges flanking either side. Different size jars were perched along the way, and simple geometric designs were carved into the walls. What really drew his attention was a large round door set into the wall at the end. It was wide open, but it was too dark to see what waited inside. The wind whistled through, and his skin prickled as there were no windows or anything that would stir the air.

Involuntarily his body started retreating, the sand curtain enveloping him once more as fear drove him away. As he cleared the curtain, he released his breath and turned to see his family coming out of what he presumed was his bedroom. Their faces were tight lines, and he couldn't stop the flood of shame at how barren his room was.

“Pepa I’m ready to trade rooms.”

Chapter Text

They did, indeed, have a birthday celebration that night. Bruno saw his vision come to life in full color before him, as his mamá led him and Julieta over to Pepa to calm her down as she argued with a village child. Lightening was flashing through the cloud above her head as people danced and joked around her. He could only watch open-mouthed as he realized what his gift was.

He had tugged on his mamá's skirts, and she had turned to him, Pepa bundled into her arms. They were all getting rained on as Pepa sobbed about how she wasn't a freak. He tugged on her skirts until his mamá bent her head to towards his.

"Mamá, I saw this happen. When I touched my door." He glanced to the back of his sisters head, buried into their mother's shoulder. "I saw the party and Pepa with lightening."

His mother had stared at him, wide-eyed, and he stared sheepishly back. It sounded ridiculous once he said it aloud. As they kept prolonged eye contact, Bruno felt something well up inside. It prickled like tears behind his eyes.

With a flash of green, his field of vision changed. He saw his mother standing in front of a golden rectangle, their magical candle cradled in her hands. Beside her was a shifting image, one moment it was Julieta, another Bruno or Pepa. As the vision faded he realized a camera on a tripod was across from them.

He broke out of the vision, gasping for air. His eyes were stinging with dryness, and he felt a tear slip down a cheek.

A hand slotted against his cheek, fingers sneaking between locks of hair. "Brunito, did you have another… vision?" His mother asked, concern on her face as she struggled for words.

He could only nod as she used her thumb to sweep away the tear track. He hated being pulled away from the present, these visions exploding in his brain and how hard it was to fit back into his body after them.

"Bruno, what did you see?" His mother asked again, caressing his face. It was then that he realized it was dead quiet around them, that even Pepa had stopped crying and was peering at him through wet eyes.

"I saw…" He hesitated, feeling the weight of so many eyes on him. He wished there hadn't been so many people around. "I saw us getting our pictures taken." His gaze was drawn to the mezzanine above. "I think we were standing in front of our doors."

His mothers face was awestruck. "What a wonderful idea. Brunito." She said softly, brushing his curls back from his forehead with a tender hand. "You can see the future."

The crowd burst into titters of wonder.

"Senora, I brought my camera. For pictures of your children and their doors?" A villager had just approached. Bruno wasn't sure he has been around to hear about his vision.

But just like that, Bruno got to see another vision come to life before his eyes.

///

In the early years that followed, Alma didn’t like having villagers tromping in and out of Casita; it made her far too nervous to have the miracle exposed to so many people. So every morning they would head down the hill to visit the market and socialize. His mamá would encourage her children to spread out, sharing their gifts and finding out ways the village needed help. By the time the triplets were eight, they had all settled into a comfortable rhythm.

As the town matriarch, Alma took it upon herself to distribute resources, rally assistance where needed and encourage others in the village to support one another. They would flock to her once she stepped foot on the stone road, and she would shoo her children off to embody the gift of the Encanto. It kept them out of the way, and sometimes they would bring her news of people that needed help.

At this time, their gifts hadn’t fully developed. The simple idea of having magic made even the simple things they could do seem so wonderful. Alma was just grateful to have something to show for Pedro’s sacrifice, to know that her family had been so blessed. She never questioned what the full extent of their abilities were.

Julieta had a gift for cooking. Any recipe she tried would turn out amazing, the perfect balance of flavors and her food seemed to stay fresher longer. To share this with the village, Julieta would bring baskets of arepas or empanadas, easily made and transported. Her food always left the consumers with a warm, fulfilled sense of happiness.

She would hand her treats out for free of course, embodying Mamá’s philosophy that they give back to the village. But not many people could resist passing her a few pesos or trading for an arepa once they looked down at her grinning, innocent face, bow holding half her hair back. These items would inevitably make their way back to the village as she bought supplies, but Bruno could tell Julieta was pleased to be so self-sufficient at eight years old.

Pepa’s gift was treated like a clever magic trick. She was her own personal weather system, a small cloud trailing overhead wherever she went. When she was having a bad day people would ask her small rain clouds to water their plants or fill water troughs for their donkeys. This alone was usually enough to make Pepa laugh and dispel the clouds, and the villagers were always so pleased to have such a visible effect on her mood. Bruno would always keep an eye out for the other children that made it a game to get her to cry and thunder with rage. If only they knew what her gift would eventually grow to.

In these early years, Bruno was the one who seemed most magical to the village.

He was given free range to wander the village. He would visit the abuelos and abuelas in their homes, chat with merchants and farmers when they were slow, play with the kids who weren’t playing with Pepa, or generally find those alone and keep them company. His ability to read the people around him and fill the role that would be most pleasing to them made him fairly popular amongst the townsfolk. He still didn't like crowds though.

But what really made Bruno stand out were the visions. He couldn’t control them, but what he saw was simpler, taking just a few seconds to come and go. He’d since learned to not try to hold onto the visions, to let them come and fade as they pleased. Flashes of green through his eyes that would leave those around him staring in wonder as he’d turn to them with a grin and blurt out whatever it was he saw.

“You’re going to be a bisabuela!”

“You’ll win at checkers tomorrow!”

“You’ll sell out of green yarn.”

“You’ll buy a new donkey.”

“You’re getting a new pair of sandals for your birthday!”

“We’re going to play in the jungle tomorrow.”

Bruno enjoyed the simple pleasures of his life. The villagers were delighted or at least amused by the things he saw, and while his green eyes watched the images flash by they would wait with baited breath. Many of the villagers would seek him out in the hopes of being the subject of one such flash, or gather I'm the market just to swap stories of the simple pleasures he had foreseen and how they had come to be.

These moments of freedom were Bruno’s fondest childhood memories.

His mamá would ask him to regale them with tales of what he had seen over dinner. She wouldn’t tell him off for being too loud, or talking with his mouth full, or for the times he stood on his chair to demonstrate a pose. Alma would only laugh and place her hand on his cheek, saying, “My little miracle man, Brunito.”

He felt so grown up when his mother would come to him, asking him to look into the outcome of this or that scenario. They would walk hand in hand around the casita or in the forest, talking about those who needed help and what they would do. These conversations would coax visions out of Bruno, and his mamá would beam at him with the solutions he saw.

Looking back, he wished he saw the way Pepa’s cloud would darken, looming just overhead as she tried to keep it from raining on the food Julieta worked so hard to make. He wished he spent more time helping in the kitchen, instead of leaving Julieta to mutter to the casita about how overworked she was cooking alone. He wished he saw earlier how, as he basked in the praise and adoration from their mamá, his sisters were left wanting for smiles of their own.

There was a time when Bruno enjoyed his visions, found pleasure in the happiness they could bring others.

There was a time when Bruno was his mother’s favorite, and he never realized it.

Chapter Text

“Mamá, do we have to go?” Bruno whined, standing in the doorway of the Casita and staring up at the roiling clouds. 

This was the worst storm he could remember in his ten years, and it hadn’t even hit the village yet. Lightning flashed through the purple clouds, followed by a thick roll of thunder. The rain hadn’t started to fall yet, but he could see a thick curtain of it on the horizon, abusing the mountaintops. 

His mother popped open an umbrella in response, stepping out from the doorway and not waiting for her children to follow. 

They scurried after her. 

The rain dropped down in a sheet upon them once they reached the outskirts of the village. They could only crowd so close to their mamá seeking shelter under the umbrella, and soon the triplets were soaked. Pepa didn’t mind, grabbing Bruno’s hand and pulling him along to splash in mud puddles along the way. Her own personal cloud, who Bruno had affectionately nicknamed Emilio, was absent today as she reveled in weather not of her own making. 

But before Bruno could follow his sibling into the first big splash, their mamá called him. “Bruno!” His mother called, her voice tinged with amusement. “You cannot visit friends covered in mud. They would never let you in the house.” 

He glanced after Pepa, already skipping through the next puddle. “Just one?” He asked, grinning at his sister’s antics.

“Maybe on the way home. Now come, get under the umbrella before you are soaked through.” His mother extended the umbrella above his water-limp curls, careful to step close enough to let him seek shelter underneath it but not close enough he would drip on her. As his mamá took his hand with her free one, he missed how Julieta on their mother’s other side huffed at the rain that was now able to reach her, dragging her curly hair out of her careful updo, seeping through the cloth draped over her basket to the empanadas inside.

By the time they reached the market, Pepa was soaked to the bone and stained up to the knees with mud. Not very many people were in the village. Bruno was listing out all the abuelos and abuelas to Alma that he knew would welcome them into his home today, eager for visions. 

“Pepa!” 

They all turned to the source of the cry. A windswept and soaked Felix was running towards them. Pepa’s face broke out into a grin at the sight of him. “Pepa! You have to check out this mud puddle!” He slid to a stop in front of them. “I’ve been waiting to jump in until you were here, let’s go!” 

Pepa didn’t even wait for their mamá’s permission, tearing off after Felix. It had stopped raining, and as she made a mighty leap right into the center of the puddle off the side of the road, the clouds broke. The shaft of sunlight that burst forth and illuminated his middle sister as her eyes crinkled with laughter was otherworldly. 

Pepa wouldn’t realize what had happened that day until much later, as she and Felix were taking turns hurtling into the puddle to make the biggest splash, mud drenching them head to toe. Mamá had turned to the villagers, creeping out of the house upon the ceasing of the rain. “Look what my Pepa can do!” She had cried. All watched in awe as the storm broke up above them, Pepa and Felix’s laughter a cheerful backdrop to their murmurs. 

As Pepa threw a handful of mud at Felix’s head, the last of the clouds overhead dissipated and a magnificent rainbow bloomed from over her head, reaching out of sight into the sky. Their combined laughter was drowned out by the outburst of excitement from the villagers. Everyone marvelled at the perfect circle of blue sky directly above them, while the mountains still suffered under the onslaught of wind and rain and lightning.

Bruno couldn’t help the unnamed emotions that curled in his chest. His mother dropped his hand, closing her umbrella and joining the crowd of villagers to extoll Pepa’s gift. The emotions grew more restless as he visited some of his favorite people, but all they wanted to do was talk about Pepa. It did not make for a good day for visions, especially when the few he did have were met with a wave of the hand and, “Tell me again about the rainbow!” 

By the time dusk fell and they needed to go home, Bruno was in a positively black mood. It made him feel a little better that Pepa’s good mood had also faded, the mud now crusted on her clammy skin and not getting to finish playing with Felix due to other children pestering her about how she seemed to change the weather. Emilio was looming over her head threateningly. 

As the triplets trudged up the hill back to the Casita, none of them were in a good mood. Pepa’s empanadas had gotten wet before Pepa stopped the rain, and no one was interested in them regardless due to the excitement over Pepa’s developing gift. Her heavy basket kept pulling her off balance as she slipped through mud, causing her to stumble into Pepa a few times who in turn would trip into Bruno. Both sisters were too tired to really care, the tangling of limbs something they were all just used to. 

“Stop it!” Bruno finally snapped as Pepa bumped into him again. 

Thunder rumbled from Pepa’s cloud. “You stop it!” 

“You’re the one running into me!”

“Only because Julieta keeps bumping me!” More thunder. 

“If you didn’t ruin my empanadas I wouldn’t have to carry so much!”

“The storm wasn’t my fault!

“Enough!” Their mamá ’s voice rang out like a thunderclap, interrupting their bickering. Bruno smirked at his sisters. He knew mamá would tell them to leave him alone, for Pepa to stop bumping him and Julieta to stay out of it. Pepa glared at him while Julieta sighed deeply, staring at the ground before them. 

“Bruno, Julieta, leave Pepa alone!” 

That wasn’t what he expected. Pepa’s eyes widened in surprise, before she stuck her tongue out at him. 

“But mamá, she’s the one bumping me!” Bruno tried to explain, quickening his pace to draw closer to his mamá.

“I don’t care Bruno!” They had reached the Casita, and she watched as her children filed through the door. “All of you, get cleaned up. Bruno, I want you to help Julieta get dinner ready tonight.” She addressed the triplets, before leaving them as she swept up the stairs on her way to her own room. 

Pepa skipped off, her cloud a fluffy white at having won their fight. Bruno and Julieta stared at each other, both reeling at their mother’s announcement. 

Bruno had never been asked, much less ordered, to help Julieta with dinner. Usually Pepa was given the task. He watched as their mother entered her room, closing the glowing door firmly behind her. Usually, once they got back from the village, she would invite him to sit with her or to take a walk and discuss the visions he had that day, or what he had learned from hanging out around the village. They would maybe share a snack, they would laugh together, sometimes he would have a vision and she would watch enraptured. He always got their mother to himself after a trip to the village.

As Julieta left towards the kitchens, calling over her shoulder that he better clean up and come help, those twisting awful feelings swelled in his chest. They didn’t go away as he changed, or fade as he joined Julieta in the kitchen, only swelled when Pepa joined them because she was bored. 

He picked at his food over dinner, not even the fact that he had given Pepa the smallest portion lifting his spirits enough to eat. “Bruno?” His mamá called, prompting him to look up from his plate and meeting her eyes. 

“Si, mamá?”

“Sit up straight.”

Chapter Text

Pepa’s gift seemed to grow stronger since that faithful, muddy day with Felix. Now she was the one everyone would come to as the Madrigals entered the market, clamoring for the latest trick. On cloudy days the villagers realized that they could cheer up Pepa and clear the skies, so the frequency that she was greeted with a new toy or joke or game increased dramatically. Bruno and Julieta were expected to stay near their Mmamá until she dismissed them to their own work, but Pepa got to run off without so much of a backward glance.

It was strange, being the one that sat at the table while his sibling would have their mamá ’s full attention during dinner. To be the one watching Mamá smile and laugh with his sibling as they talked animatedly about their day. It was strange, having to watch someone else get all the attention. Based on the shared glances with Julieta, he started to realize she knew exactly how he felt.

He didn’t like being the one that was snapped at to talk with their mouth closed, to stay seated during dinner because you’ll rattle the table, or to have no one notice when you never said a word during dinner.

The nightly visits with his mother did resume, but things didn’t feel the same. Bruno wasn’t sure what it was, if it was the lack of visions he had been having lately or that everyone in town was more interested in Pepa than they were him so he didn’t have any news to share. He was always dismissed early, no snacks or laughter or visions.

It was around this time that his room started changing. The bedroom itself seemed to be shrinking, or maybe he was just growing too large for it? He found himself hiding behind the sand curtain more often so he couldn’t hear Pepa as she thundered or her laughter at figuring out another trick. The sound of falling sand, the chh chh chh calmed him. He still didn’t like going into the cave behind that big round door, but that was another thing that was changing.

It was still there, as was the stone hallway that led to it. But an open space had spread on the other side of the archway, an imperfect circle of open space. At first it was bare, just a wooden floor stretching from where the sand had piled on this side of the arch and towards the stone hallway. (He wasn’t sure where all the sand came from, or where it went, but with the rate that it fell he was surprised the room hadn’t been buried). After Pepa had affected the weather in the entire Encanto, Bruno had come back to his room to find this bare space had since been filled with jungle plants, and two palma de cera had sprouted, a hammock strung between them.

Bruno didn’t realize how long it had been since his sisters last came into his room, how they hadn’t seen any of these changes, until Julieta came to find him one day.

He was staring at the distant ceiling of his room through the palm fronds when a voice rose above the steady sound of falling sand. “Whoa. You’ve made some changes.” Bruno couldn’t stop the full-body convulsion of shock that rocked him out of the hammock. He landed in a heap, sending up a cloud of sand dust. “Oops.”

He looked up, spitting sand out of his mouth, to see Julieta standing on his side of the sand arch. She was patting sand out of her curls. As he scrambled to his feet, he managed to choke out, “Jules! What are you doing here?”

“I could see that you’ve been down lately.” She held up a covered plate. “I brought you a snack, and wanted to see if you wanted to talk about what’s been going on lately.”

He sat at the edge of his hammock, keeping his feet on the ground to balance him as he crossed his arms over his chest. “What makes you think anything’s been going on?”

Julieta gave him a soft smile, crossing the room as she spoke. “Because I’ve been where you are now.” She forced him to take the plate before she plopped into the hammock next to him, letting herself fall back to lay in it sideways. “It’s hard, how excited Mamá gets about our gifts. She can only seem to focus on one at a time.”

Bruno hesitantly pulled the cloth over the plate back, seeing arepas con queso steaming before him. He took one, then leaned back to lay next to Julieta, balancing the plate on his lap. He took a bite and chewed, which seemed to be all the response his sister needed.

“I know Mamá has been really excited about what Pepa can do. It doesn’t make it fair though.”

He had to swallow hard to coax the food down past the lump in his throat. “I just miss…” He trailed off, not able to put the entirety of it into words, the feelings too big for his ten year old body. And he definitely didn’t want to cry in front of his sister.

She was kind enough to leave his sentence unfinished, grabbing an arepa for herself. “Pepa’s a brat too.”

An unexpected chuckle burst from him, as the first few tears managed to slip out and slide their way to his hair.

They stayed like that for a while, finishing their arepas in silence. Bruno enjoyed a bone-deep comfort from having Julieta’s steady warmth pressed up against one side. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a moment of peace with one of his sisters like this.

“Remember when she struck herself with lightning?” Bruno finally broke the silence.

Julieta let loose a loud braying laugh, before covering her hand with her mouth. She couldn’t entirely stifle her giggles. “Her hair stuck up for a week!”

“Bruno?” They both sat up, unbalancing the hammock and nearly tipping out at the sound of their mamá ’s voice calling out, loud enough to be heard above the sand falling. They glanced at each other, and he couldn’t help the twisting dread in his belly. “Bruno! Where are you?”

He helped Julieta stand first, letting her take the plate of food, before he tipped free of the hammock as well. “Coming mamá!” He called.

As they dipped through the sand curtain, he found his mother standing in the middle of his stone entryway, piles of dirty clothes now about the room. He ducked his head sheepishly, knowing she had found them scattered in his bedroom. “Bruno, your room is unacceptable. Do you want rats? Clean this mess up.”

He meekly nodded.

“Julieta, why aren’t you getting dinner ready? Did you forget we are having the Rios family over?” Mamá barely waited for Julieta to utter her own subdued reply before she turned back to Bruno. “Clean your room. I’ll be back in half an hour to check.”

Julieta barely looked at him as she left the room, taking the plate with her. Bruno barely noticed as they both left, too busy scrambling to collect the things his mother had scattered in her way to show him what he needed to clean. Now he remembered why those moments of peace with his siblings were so rare.

Fifteen minutes later, he was sitting on the floor across from his small flight of stairs. The older version of himself engraved on the door gazed coldly down at him. From where he was seated, he could see Julieta’s door, and his eyes flicked back and forth as he compared the images.

Her door started glowing brighter, and as he watched the light shifted, dancing along the lines carved into the wood. His mouth fell open, watching as the light flared brighter for a single moment before fading. He could have sworn it was still brighter than it had been.

“Julieta!” He tore down the stairs on instinct, making a beeline for the kitchen where he knew his sister would be. Bruno tripped once over his own feet, scraping already skinned knees, but he ignored it as he burst through the doorway of the kitchen. “Julieta!”

His sudden arrival startled his oldest sister, causing her to drop the plate she was holding. It shattered on the tile, causing a shutter to squeak back and forth disapprovingly. She whirled on him, concern mixed with anger on her face. “Bruno! What are you yelling about?”

As she bent to pick up the shattered shards of plate, he put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. “Your door!” He gasped. “Glowing bright.”

Her reaction wasn’t what he expected. Julieta gave him a beaming smile, letting the shards of plate fall back to the floor. She ignored Casita's protests as she took a step towards him. “Really? I knew I felt something!” She turned to the counter, where arepas were piled high. “Here, try one! I think I figured out a new way to get my magic to work!”

She shoved it into his open mouth. He choked, taking a bite and ripping the rest from his mouth. As he chewed, he stared back into his sister’s eager face. “It’s good.” His words were muffled by his mouthful.

She had opened her mouth to reply when he choked again. There was a tingling in his knees, different from the stinging pain. He swallowed hard, forcing the not-chewed-enough food down. He pulled a pant leg up, revealing the twisted mess of flesh from the multiple scrapes. It was slowly knitting back together, the skin turning smooth and scabs disappearing into nothing.

Julieta bent her head over his knee, her curly hair tickling this skin as they both watched in awe as the effect stopped, his knee back to normal.

“Whoa.” He breathed.

“Whoa.” She agreed.

Chapter Text

Bruno didn’t have time to spend marveling at the clear skin of his knees. Their mamá had called out his name, and he had to scurry out of the kitchen. As he left, Julieta hissed at him, “Don’t tell her!”

So he didn’t, as their mother studied his room and declared it was acceptable, but to never let it get that dirty again. He kept it secret over dinner, though he was practically buzzing in his seat waiting for Julieta to tell. By the time they were getting ready for bed, Bruno couldn’t help it anymore. 

“Julieta, aren’t you going to tell?” 

“Tell what?” Pepa asked as she finished brushing her teeth. 

Julieta elbowed Bruno in the ribs. “I made some new arepas to take into town tomorrow. But I want it to be a surprise. So no telling!” She glared at Bruno. 

Pepa just shrugged. “That’s boring.” She spread her arms wide above her head. “I’m going to show everyone how big my rainbow is getting!” Said rainbow blossomed over her head, and Bruno had to back away, side eyeing his sister, to avoid getting splattered with the water droplets she used to create it. 

A flash of green burst from his eyes, the rush of magic leaving his head spinning. 

The crops in the Encanto were withering, leaves dry and brittle. The jungle plants hanging limp and browning as the sun beats down on them. The normally rushing, wide river was less than half its normal size.

He imploded back into his own body to find himself on his knees, hands digging into his curls as he blinked down at the floor. 

“Bruno, was that a vision?” Of course their mamá would come in at that time. He forced his heavy head up to see her coming out of her room, his sisters hovering, uncertain, near him. It had been a while since a vision knocked him off his feet. 

“Si, mamá.” He replied, letting Julieta help him to his feet. 

“Pepa, Julieta, off to bed. We need to be off early tomorrow before it gets too hot.” His mother dismissed them with a wave of her hand. As they left, both shooting him looks over their shoulders, his mamá gestured for him to follow her. 

Once he was sitting on the edge of his bed, Mamá standing across from him, he told her about the vision. 

“I have noticed the days are growing so hot lately.” She mused. With a sigh, she let herself sit on his bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and running a hand through his curls. “I fear Pepa’s gift is causing it.”

Bruno settled into the familiar touch so quickly, it ached. “I think that’s what the vision was trying to show me.” He thought back to what he had seen. “The dirt was all cracked and dry. It looked like there was no water in the river.” The vision was a still image like all the others, but the sheer detail that had assaulted him in it left his head aching. 

“Ever since that day Pepa broke up the storm, it hasn’t rained, has it Brunito?” Her steady hand, with just the right amount of pressure, continued stroking his head. 

“Nuh-uh. It’s been sunny every day since.” He murmured, drowsiness tugging at him. 

She planted a kiss on his head before lifting her arm, signaling for him to sit up. “Go to sleep, Brunito. We’ll figure this out in the morning.”

It was the best night's sleep he had in ages. 

///

“Mamá, we left Pepa.” He had said, tugging at her arm and trying to turn around. “I’ll go get her.” He had turned to run back up the hill, but his mothers free hand reached out and grabbed his hand, enfolding his fingers in hers. Her other hand was holding an umbrella like a cane, though the sky was clear and blue that morning.

“Pepa needs to stay home today, Brunito.” She kept her gaze on the path before them, but Bruno looked up to the sky above.  Dark clouds were starting to gather. 

“Is she okay? If she’s upset I can stay at the casita with her.” He watched as fat raindrops started to darken the path before them. Their mamá popped open the umbrella. 

His mother briefly glanced down at him. “Brunito, you remember our promise to use our miracle to help the village?”

Bruno’s pace slowed, though Alma kept her tight grip on his hand. “Yeah?” He couldn’t understand why it meant Pepa had to be alone. Maybe it was because his silly visions were needed? 

“Well, the crops need rain today.” Bruno stared up at his mother, the sound of rain pattering against the umbrella and keeping them dry. He tried to peer around his mother to where Julieta was walking, but she was staring forward with a grim face. “Bruno. Watch where you are walking, you nearly tripped me.” His mamá’s stern voice rang out as she did indeed stumble. 

He flinched away from her tone.

She released his hand, shifting the umbrella so it would cover Julieta and her basket of treats for the village. 

Bruno stood in the path, looking back at the casita, as the patters of rain turned into relentless, thick heavy drops. Though he was only a few feet from the front door, from the opportunity to run in and comfort his sister, he turned and ran after his mamá.

///

By the time he got into the village, Julieta had set up at one of the stalls, the colorful overhang pulled out to shield her from the rain. Mamá was nowhere to be found. He ducked under its cover, heaving, to inspect his bleeding knee. He may have tripped in his rush to get here. 

“She went to talk with the farmers.” Julieta answered his unasked question without prompting. “I think she wants to set up a way they can get rain when they need it.” 

They both left the cost of what it would do to Pepa unspoken. 

“Are those your… special… arepas?” Bruno asked, watching as she uncovered the basket and started arranging things on plates. 

She beamed at him. “Yup! Do you want to be my first customer?” Julieta glanced meaningfully at his knee. Meeting his gaze, her smile twisted mischievously. “Diego?” 

Bruno’s face lit up in turn. He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt, then untucked it. He adopted a swaggering walk as he moved from behind the stall to its front. There weren’t many people milling around, but there were enough sheltering under awnings and overhangs that he knew this would be a great audience. 

“Oh! What’s this!” He shouted, making a show of inspecting the arepas without touching them. “Fresh arepas? From THE Julieta Madrigal?” He could see out of the corner of his eye the people turning their attention towards them, some already anticipating what was coming.

Julieta placed her fists on her waist, though she was still short enough that he couldn't see it because of the table. Swelling herself up with pride, she responded, “Yes! I have made my famous arepas, perfect for a rainy day!” 

“I’ve heard stories about your arepas! Alas, I am far too injured! To enjoy the pleasures of food right now!” He had pulled up his pant leg, revealing the bloody mess that was his knee. 

A gasp came from those that were near enough to see it. “But sir! Don’t you know these are magic arepas?” Julieta gestured dramatically to them. “Try one! You’ll see!” 

Bruno picked one up, inspecting it carefully. “Magic, you say? Very well! I’ll try one.” He took a big bite, chewing it dramatically. His pant leg was still pulled up over his knee, and as he swallowed he felt the tingling sensation start to roil under his skin. 

By this time they had quite the crowd around them, a collection of umbrellas shielding them from the rain. Neither sibling noticed their mother at the forefront of the crown. Another, louder gasp arose as his knee started to put itself back together, torn skin knitting together. As the tingling faded, he took another bite of the arepa and stepped out into the rain. It washed away the leftover blood on his leg, and the crowd burst into excited mutters. 

“These are magic!” He held up the last of his arepa, his expression one of marvelous wonder. “You’ve healed me!” Bruno turned to his sister. “The marvelous Julieta!”

“The marvelous Julieta Madrigal indeed!” Their mother’s voice rose above the clamor. “It seems our miracle has found a new way to bless us!” Bruno watched, Diego slipping from him as rain slipped down his skin, as Alma rounded the stall to stand next to Julieta. “Come! There is enough for everyone, it’s a perfect time to heal your injuries and get back to work fresh faced tomorrow!”

Bruno watched as Julieta’s smile became strained, her eyes desperately searching the crowd until she saw him. Her eyes became a little less pinched, smile a little less forced. He saw her take a deep breath, before she urged herself into motion, passing out the arepas to an eager crowd.

Chapter Text

It had rained steadily throughout the day, but Julieta was still out of food by the end of the day. They left the village amidst a flurry of thanks, compliments, and wonderings about the evolving blessing. Julieta smiled and nodded her head, but Alma made sure to respond to every person, clasping hands and thanking the miracle that made it all possible.

By the time they left everyone behind, Bruno had two visions that no one had noticed and there was a stabbing pain behind his right eye. He stumbled after his mamá and sister, not caring that he was soaked, his skin clammy.

“Julieta, why did you not tell me your gift had grown?” Their mother asked, pressing a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Bruno could see her back stiffen. “I wasn’t sure it would work outside the Casita.” Julieta’s quiet reply came. “I didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up for nothing.”

“But you made your brother make such a fool out of himself to get everyone's attention. If it hadn’t worked what would everyone have thought of him then?”

“I guess we’re lucky it did work then.”

“This time. Julieta, you need to let me know the next time your gift grows. We need to make sure we use them to help the Encanto.”

They didn’t speak another word the rest of the way home.

///

Bruno found Julieta in the kitchen, scrubbing furiously at a pot. He stood nervously in the doorway, wondering if he should turn back now. But he took a steadying breath, remembering how she had come to comfort him.

“Julieta? Are you ok?” He took a few steps into the room, not sure she heard him over the banging of the pot against the sink.

“Everything’s fine.”

Which meant that it wasn’t. Bruno drew nearer, picking up a clean towel and getting to work on drying the dishes she had already washed, stacked neatly by the sink. “Those arepas made a lot of people happy today.”

She heaved a defeated sigh, stopping her assault on the pot. It clattered to the bottom of the sink. “Yeah. They couldn’t heal bruises or deeper wounds though. I’ll have to try again.”

He bit his lip, bracing himself for his next question. “Why didn’t you tell Mamá?”

He was ready for an outburst, for anger or for her to ignore the question.

Instead, his sister, head bowed over the sink and hands gripping its sides, took a deep breath. “I wanted something that was mine. I wanted to prove I’m my own person, not my gift.” Her voice broke. “I didn’t want Mamá to know because I’ve seen her take away what you and Pepa can do. I’ve seen her make it hers.” Her voice was too choked up and she dissolved into quiet sobs, her tears plinking into the pot.

Bruno’s arms wrapped themselves around his sister, pulling her into a hug. She gripped the back of his shirt tightly as she returned the hug, muffling her sobs into his shirt. “She… didn’t even seem excited. She was just mad that I didn't tell her.”

Bruno didn’t know that he had tears streaming down his face until Julieta abruptly pulled away. She wiped at her face with the bottom of her apron, giving Bruno a chance to hastily scrub at his own face. “Sorry. It’s fine.” She said, more to reassure herself. “Besides, at least I got to leave the house today. Have you seen Pepa?”

Bruno’s head was reeling from her abrupt change in demeanor. “Uh, no. I thought Mamá went to see her.”

Julieta snorted. “I don’t think so. She went into her room as soon as we got home.” She turned back to the pot abandoned in the sink. “Will you go find her? I put together a plate of empanadas for her.” She pointed with her lips as she resumed her scrubbing.

Knowing he had been dismissed, Bruno took the plate of food and left the kitchen, sparing one last glance back at the stiff form of his oldest sister, standing on a stool before the sink.

///

He had just made it onto the mezzanine, about to knock on Pepa’s door, when their mamá’s door opened. She stepped outside, but upon seeing him paused in her doorway. “Ah, Bruno. I was looking for you.” She gestured to her room. “Please, come speak with me.”

She turned back into her room before Bruno could get any words out. The stabbing pain behind his eye was returning. He closed his mouth with a click of teeth, giving up on explaining he was looking for Pepa. “Don’t dawdle, Bruno.”

She closed the door behind him once he was inside. She gestured toward the couch, taking the plate from him. He sat down, his hands tucked between his thighs so he wouldn’t fidget, as she uncovered the plate and set it on the table before him. “Julieta sure caused a stir in the market today, hmm?” She said, taking an empanada and sitting beside him. “Eat.” She thoughtlessly commanded, and he obeyed, taking an empanada.

“Si. She healed a lot of people today.” He studied the food in his hand, marveling at the magic it must contain.

“Did she tell you her magic had grown?” Alma didn’t look at him as she asked, studying her own empanada.

He took a bite, giving himself to think before having to respond. She looked sideways at him, an eyebrow raised, but waited. The food stuck in his throat as he swallowed, his mouth dry. “Uh, we found out together. On accident. But I think she was trying to make her cooking better after seeing what Pepa could do.” He took another bite.

A gentle hand rested on his head, fingers combing through his curls. “They’ve both done such marvelous things lately, hmm? I never imagined the miracle could grow like this.”

Bruno found himself leaning into her touch, resting against her side. “It’s been crazy lately.” He agreed.

Her other hand snaked around and tickled his side. He giggled and leaned away. “It makes me wonder what we’ll see coming from you, my Brunito.”

///

She had dismissed him shortly after that, telling him to get ready for bed. He had snuck away an empanada, though him and Mamá had finished the rest. He felt guilty, knowing they were meant for Pepa, but it was worth the time he got to spend with Mamá.

He found Julieta dozing off, leaning against Pepa’s door. It made him remember, this was one of the visions he had leaving town. The sound of Mamá’s door closing woke her up, and she rubbed blurrily at one eye. “Bruno?”

He chuckled nervously, hiding the empanada behind his back. “Ah, Julieta, what are you doing?”

She stretched, her back popping. “I can’t find Pepa. I was hoping to catch her when she snuck back into her room.” Her eyes narrowed as she realized he was standing in front of their mother’s door. “Wait, did you even look for her?”

Bruno stumbled over several words, trying to defend himself against her sudden anger.

“I should have guessed.” Julieta shot to her feet, wrenching Pepa’s door open and slamming the door behind her.

A shot of pain ran through his head.

Chapter Text

Bruno dragged his weary body up the short flight of stairs to the door of his room. “One, two, three…” He counted every step, ignoring the gaze of his older self weighing on his shoulders. It wouldn’t be so heavy if he didn’t know the second vision from today was waiting for him inside.

His door opened and closed for him, which he was grateful for. He hated touching the doorknob, the ‘B’ burning into his palm. He ignored his bedroom to his right, trudging to the sand curtain. He crossed through it, holding his breath and eyes shut tight. On the other side, he released his breath but kept his eyes closed, letting himself stop and listen to the falling sand.

“Bruno?”

He opened his eyes to see his vision in full color. Pepa was curled up in his hammock, one of her own blankets wrapped around her shoulders. It was drizzling softly, and his whole room smelled of fresh rain and wet sand.

“Hey Pepa. Thanks for watering my plants for me.” She watched him, her face morose, as he approached. He stopped an arms length away from the hammock. “Can I join you?”

She took long enough to nod her consent that Bruno was worried she’d say no. Nod her approval she did though, and he not-so-gently flopped into the hammock. She grumbled but did her best to make room for him regardless.

The only sound for a good couple of minutes was raindrops on leaves and the creaking rope of his hammock as it swung from the disturbance.

“Did you see Felix in town?” Pepa finally murmured from her blanket cocoon. Bruno felt a pang of guilt shoot through him, causing a spike in his headache. He hadn’t even thought about Felix, or how Pepa having to stay home would affect him.

“No… I was busy with Julieta all day. She learned how to do something new with her cooking.” He didn’t feel like elaborating, Julieta’s words of wanting something for herself ringing through his head.

Pepa just hmphed, wind stirring the leaves above them. “I’m surprised Mama didn’t keep you glued to her side all day, since she obviously hates me again.”

“Mama doesn't hate you.” Came Bruno’s automatic reply. He could feel Pepa tense beside him, pressed against each other like they were. “I think she just…. Doesn’t know how to focus on more than one of our gifts at a time. I don’t think it means she hates us though.” What Julieta said made more sense now, after he had first hand experience in the way she ignored his visions in favor of talking to Julieta about her cooking.

“Easy for you to say. You know you’re mom’s favorite.” She grumbled, nestling further into her blanket.

He snorted. “Not after you broke up that storm. She’s been so focused on making sure you have good days to keep it sunny out. She hasn’t listened to my visions in ages.”

Pepa shot up, sending the hammock rocking with her sudden movement. “Oh yeah? Then tell me why she left me home today, hmm?” The cloud in his room thundered.

Bruno clutched the side of the hammock, sitting up himself. They untangled their legs as he retorted, “It was so it would rain! All the sunny days were drying out the crops.”

They had settled in the hammock facing each other, legs crossed with her knees pressing against his. “Oh.” The rain calmed down around them. “I didn’t think about that.”

“What, did you think you were in trouble or something?” He asked, finding the idea kind of funny until he saw her face reddening.

“I don’t know! It’s not like I had time to ask before you all left.” She refused to look at him, though the rain picking up around them was enough to clue him in on how she was feeling.

“I tried to stay home with you today.” He offered, leaning back and staring up at the dripping palm fronds. “Mama wouldn’t let me though. I think I would have had more fun though.”

There was silence as the rain stilled. “You would have stayed home with me?” Pepa’s quiet voice was barely audible.

He folded his arms behind his head. “Well, yeah. We could have played Juan Carlos and the Flood. Or, Juan Carlos and the Tornado, or Juan Carlos Gets Blown Away.”

Pepa was laughing as he finished his list. Juan Carlos was whatever bundle of sticks, leaves, or clumps of mud he could fashion into a little person. “We haven’t played those games in ages.” She sighed. “I never get to see you anymore.”

He pushed himself up to look at his red-headed sister. She had her blanket wrapped around her shoulders still, but he could tell she was feeling better even without the lack of rain. “You’re the one who always runs off to play with Felix.”

At the sound of Felix’s name, Pepa’s face burned bright red. “It’s just because you’re so boring.” She twisted sideways, rolling out of the hammock and landing neatly on her feet. Bruno, who was not ready, ended up getting tangled and falling face first into the sand below.

By the time he had regained his feet, sputtering sand from his mouth, Pepa was standing by the falling sand. He shot to his feet, mind scrambling for some biting remark, but upon seeing her face he faltered.

“You really think Mama wasn’t mad at me today?” She asked, eyes trained on the sand grains before her. A dark cloud was settling above her head.

His heart tightened at her tone. A swell of guilt rose through him at how bitter he’d been when her gift grew, but seeing her feel this way made it seem stupid. “Of course not. Mama just wanted it to rain today.”

He didn’t expect it when Pepa whirled around, sprinting to him and throwing her arms around him in a violent hug. He didn’t even have time to raise his arms before she was spinning away, sprinting through the sand and disappearing.

///

Bruno’s headache hadn’t gotten any better by the next day. There was an awful stabbing behind his right eye, the pain splintering through the entire right side of his skull. He ate slowly, not tasting his food and trying to keep his head bowed to avoid as much light as possible.

He wasn’t aware of anyone noticing. Their mother was focused on Julieta and Pepa, showering Pepa with praise over the rain storm yesterday that had everything lush and green and blooming that morning. Usually the scent of orchids floating through the air was refreshing, but the added sensory input made his nose sting. Pepa didn’t say much in response, but from the glances that Bruno dared he could see her beaming from the praise.

Mama also praised Julieta’s cooking that morning, claiming she felt younger than ever after such a wonderful meal. She asked Julieta all sorts of questions about what ingredients she used, what she was bringing to the village, how proud she was of her gift. Julieta responded to every comment, in a straightforward and matter of fact way. But Bruno had a feeling she enjoyed the attention a lot more than she wanted to.

By the time breakfast was finished and Julieta had cleared the plates, Bruno was still sitting at the table. He had rested his head against the wood, letting his eyes drift shut and listening to the breeze rustling through the jungle.

“Brunito, why don’t you stay home today? You’re not looking very well.” His mama’s voice came close to his ear, and he muttered a quiet “Si.”

It wasn’t until after he heard them leave that he managed to finally rouse himself enough to head up to his room. He stumbled along, squinting against the too-bright sun as he felt along the walls down hallways and up stairs. He was barely aware of his surroundings, but he still managed to count ever stair step.

Bruno had barely made it into his room, the light from his door too bright for him to look at, when green light flared, blinding him.

He was swept away in a vision, barely conscious of the wind ruffling his clothes, or the sand scouring his skin. For the first time, he saw a vision made of shifting green light, creating movement in what he saw. Then the pain exploded in his head, the green light faded, and he collapsed to the ground.

Chapter Text

He was swept away in a vision, barely conscious of the wind ruffling his clothes, or the sand scouring his skin. For the first time, he saw a vision made of shifting green light, creating movement in what he saw. Then the pain exploded in his head, the green light faded, and he collapsed to the ground.

Bruno’s first thought once he regained consciousness was how grateful he felt that his headache was now a dull throbbing. He pried his gritty eyes open, eyes adjusting quickly to the gloomy light of his entryway. Against the wall directly in his line of sight, a rat had paused mid-scurry. They were eyelevel, due to Bruno’s cheek being pressed against the cold stone floor.

He groaned, causing the rat to take a step back. “Ay dios mio, I must look pretty rough.” As he spoke to the rat, it sat back on its haunches and tilted his head. “That bad, huh?” He peeled himself off the floor, surprised to find sand shifting off his body as he did so. The rat let out a quiet squeak that seemed to echo in the stillness.

Bruno realized two things at that moment. Well, three, really. The first was that the sand arch had stopped. He could clearly see through the hour-glass-shaped doorway to the oasis room that lies beyond. It was deafeningly quiet without the steady sound of falling sand in the background.

The second thing he noticed was that he was in the center of a perfect circle of sand in a thick layer on his floor. Where his body had been laying was the faintest dip as the sand settled with his movement.

And the third, tied to the second, was the corner of a glowing, green, murky piece of glass.

“What the…” He asked the rat, only to look over and see it had disappeared. As he sat back, a faint throb of pain echoing through his body, his eyes couldn’t leave the green light. He could tell that there was more to it buried in the sand than what he could see, its full outline glowing dimly through the grains.

Hesitantly, he tucked a few fingers under the glass, digging through the sand to grip its outline with his fingertips. He pulled it up, the familiar sound of falling sand as it shifted to release its treasure. Bruno had tried to deny the creeping feeling of dread, the suspicion that he recognized that glow and knew what he would find as he studied the glass, but with it laid bare before him the feelings overwhelmed him.

He was staring at an older version of himself, though not nearly as old as the figure engraved on his door. He could still see a boyish roundness in the face, paired with gangly limbs and the faintest hintings of teenage stubble. He was wearing a ruana, though up to this point he’d only worn trousers and a buttoned shirt. Everything else around him was murky.

Bruno brought the tablet closer to his face, but as he did so, it tilted and the image shifted.

Now he was staring at an image of Julieta. She had a little more definition to her form, her hair was in a twisted updo, and she was wearing a full dress as she stared out of the vision at him. There was a group of people gathered with her, though their features were all too blurred for him to make out.

He shifted the plate to see if he could find himself again. There was a brief flash of himself, before he turned the plate too far the other way and it now showed Pepa. She looked similar to Julieta, decked out in a full dress, her thick braid pulled over one shoulder, a crowd of foggy people around her.

Bruno tilted it slowly, pausing as soon as he saw his future self. The more he stared at it, the blurrier it got, to the point where he wasn’t even sure if it was himself anymore.

A clatter from Casita drew his attention away from the glass. His door was still partially open, and he was able to hear the floor tiles outside his room as they shifted. As they fell silent, he was able to hear Julieta calling, “Hola Casita!”

Bursting into motion, Bruno scrambled up, his feet sliding in the sand. He didn’t waste time closing his door, instead he fled into the oasis, habitually holding his breath as he passed through the empty arch. He danced in place as he searched for a place to hide the tablet he was clutching to his chest. At the time, he couldn’t identify why he felt such a pressing need to hide it. Maybe it was because of Julieta, and wanting something of his own. Or maybe it was because of Pepa, and the fear of being used for his gift. All he knew was that he was not ready to share it.

His eyes finally landed on the round door, concealed in the darkness of the stone hallway. He darted towards it, just as he heard his mother’s voice echoing through the room behind him. “Julieta! Come check on Bruno with me. Maybe one of your arepas can help him.” He guessed by the volume of her voice that she was already on the mezzanine.

He tripped once, scraping his knee on the stone floor, held his breath as he crossed the threshold of the round door, buried the tablet in the sand in the middle of the room, and finally released his breath as he shut the door firmly on the cave. Panting now, he rushed back to the oasis, flinging himself into his hammock just as his mamá stepped through his glowing door.

“Brunito? How are you…” She trailed off as she took in the pile of sand in the entryway. “What is this mess? You must be feeling better to do such a thing. Clean it up or no dinner.” He didn’t think she even laid eyes on him before she departed.

Julieta had come in after their mother, and lingered after she left. Pepa, having heard their mothers raising tone, had come to investigate. “Whoa.” She said, “How’d you get so much sand in here?”

“What happened to your sand curtain?” Julieta followed up, stepping towards the now empty arch.

Bruno’s internal war over whether to tell his sisters about his vision was too loud in his head for him to respond. He could see the women they would grow into, in the girls that they were now. It made time feel like it was passing so quickly, and made him realize all the things he’d already lost to its incessant flow. Their childish games, the way they used to be inseparable, how their family was before they got their gifts.

Deciding he wasn’t going to tell them, he pushed himself out of the hammock just as Julieta started approaching him. “You don’t look so well. You should eat.” She pushed an empanada into his hands as they met halfway.

“Of course he’s not well, look at all this sand he moved!” Pepa gestured widely to the pile. Bruno took a bite as he went to stand at her side, feeling the magic already working its way through his skinned knee. Julieta wiped her palms on her dress and joined them. He was feeling jittery with the truth he was keeping inside, mind not able to come up with any adequate cover story.

“It is a lot of sand.” She agreed. He could feel her studying him, and he realized too late he had yet to say a word to them. “Bruno, did something happen with your gift today?” She asked him softly, carefully.

An involuntary flinch made him miss the next bite. He stumbled through a denial, but halfway through he gave up. He sighed, letting his shoulders sag in defeat, before shoving the rest of the empanada in his mouth. Cheeks bulging, he turned to fall backwards into the pile of sand, arms widespread. His sisters just watched him as he mulled over what he was going to tell them.

He had to tell them, he knew that. They were in the vision too, which made it just as much theirs as it was his. And he was too far deep into the habit of telling people about his visions when he had them, even now he could feel the throbbing in his head grow worse the longer he waited to tell them.

Swallowing the rest of his food, his sisters still waiting, he finally sighed. “I had a vision.”

Pepa rolled her eyes. “What else is new?”

Their older sister narrowed her eyes at him. “Was this vision different from the rest of them?”

Bruno closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “It’s probably best if I show you.”

Chapter Text

“Promise not to tell Mama.”

Pepa and Julieta were staring at the glass pane, their faces awash in a sickening green light. They were tilting it this way and that, their heads pressed close together.

Bruno fiddled with his shirt buttons nervously, before an echo of his mother’s voice rang through his head to stop fidgeting Bruno, and he instead crossed his fingers before him. “Please don’t tell Mama.” He said again.

Julieta finally looked up at him, her mouth falling open. “This is what your visions look like?” He nodded.

“Julieta, are you ignoring what the vision is? Look at us! We’re so grown up and beautiful!” Pepa declared, tilting to vision to look at herself in it.

Julieta released her hold on the vision, letting Pepa hold it closer to her face. She approached Bruno, wiping her hands on her skirt. “Why don’t you want us to tell Mama?” One of her hands rested comfortably on his shoulder as she peered into his downturned face.

His shoulders drew themselves closer to his ears. “I…” How could he explain how much it hurt to have the vision? Or the fear he felt at being forced to have visions like this over and over? He didn’t want to be used for his gift like he saw the way his sisters were.

“We won’t tell her if you don’t want us to.” The reassurance came from Pepa, finally looking up from the tablet to meet his surprised gaze.

Julieta’s mouth twisted. “I understand not wanting to tell her, but she’s going to figure out somethings going on soon enough.” She glanced around the cave. “It’s only a matter of time before she starts wondering how your gift is going to grow.”

Bruno pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. He knew that, and he knew he couldn’t keep anything from their mother. “I know.” He groaned, letting his hands fall heavily. “But I don’t know how to control it yet. Let me figure that out before telling her.” He pleaded, crossing his fingers again.

It was odd to him how supportive Pepa was. She took one last look at her future self imprinted in the glass, before kneeling and re-burying the tablet in the sand. It glowed faintly beneath the sand, but Bruno already felt better that it was concealed. “Julieta, you know better than any of us how Mama is. Do you really want her to lock Bruno in his tower until he gives her a vision glass like this one?” She stood, brushing the sand from her hands.

Julieta heaved a sigh, wringing her fingers. “No.” She finally admitted. “I’m sorry Bruno. I understand wanting to have something that’s yours.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, a smile finding its way onto her face.

“Can we get out of here before Mama comes looking for us?” Bruno asked quietly, his eyes glued to the blurry rectangle glowing in the sand.

As they trooped out of the room, a whirlwind of words flew from Pepa. “What do you think the vision means? We were so much older, and those dresses were so pretty! It must have been a pretty special occasion!” Bruno held his breath as they passed through the round door, letting his sisters go on ahead as he finally released it once the door was firmly shut.

As he trudged down the hallway to his oasis, his eyes were on his sisters, chatting as they walked along the sand pathway winding through the plants. Then he was falling forward, face planting into the sand with a painful oomph. He lifted himself up onto his elbows, spitting out sand and twisting to see what he tripped over.

He was surprised to see a single stair step now separated his oasis and the hallway to the cave. Bruno was certain it hadn’t been there before. His knees and the palms of his hands throbbed with how hard he had fallen tripping over it.

The sound of laughter made him look up. Pepa had created a whirlwind and was using it to clean up the sand pile in his entryway. She had twirled it around Julieta, who was now grumpily brushing sand from her hair.

Bruno did tell his mother about his vision over dinner that night. He conveniently left out the part about the tablet, though he felt guilt rattling inside him at keeping it secret. He was thankful for Pepa’s excited speculation over what it could mean. His mama wasn’t quite as excited. “It is a cute vision. We’ve seen similar visions of celebrations come to pass, haven’t we?” Her dismissal stung more than the scrapes on his knees, healing as they were from Julieta’s cooking.

///

They were twelve now. Bruno had learned to not be so loud, to step aside as the villagers flocked to Julieta. She had to make larger amounts of food to have enough to pass out, and her healing ability had evolved to repair anything from surface wounds to broken bones. In the moments Bruno spent with her in the kitchen cleaning, she would talk about how she wanted to find a way to cure illnesses.

Depending on the day, Pepa would either be spending time with Felix, his upbeat manner bringing sunny skies, or walking through the fields by herself. Usually the days she had to be alone was enough to cause rain clouds trailing after her, but on the days she couldn’t summon the emotions for rain, Bruno would join her. He would spin sad stories of lost love, tragic deaths, betrayals… sometimes all at once. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the enjoyment he gained out of making his sister cry.

As for Bruno, he found himself spending less time in the village. He drifted away from childhood friends, lost the companionship of the abuelos and abuelas as they succumbed to time, and found it hard to find loners. If he wasn’t with Pepa in the fields, he would stay behind in the casita and clean the kitchen for Julieta.

His visions were coming less frequently, and when the flash of green did take over his vision, those around him barely paused anymore. He tried to share what he saw with the same excitement he used to, blurting out what the vision was, but people barely took notice anymore. It was less lonely to spend all day in the casita than to see the disinterest in people's eyes.

Instead, he would tell the rats about his visions. They were bolder without Julieta banging around the kitchen, and he had a sneaking suspicion that Casita would open small holes in the walls to direct them to him. They were happy to clean up the spilled food and scraps, and he was happy to have someone to talk to.

After he finished cleaning the kitchen, he would retreat to his oasis. He didn’t notice when it happened, but his bedroom off to the side of the entryway had just… disappeared one day. Bruno didn’t mind, he liked the hammock and drifting off to sleep staring at the plants around him.

Over the last two years, the sand had started falling from the arch again. It was back to its full flow, the sound just background noise at this point. But it made him nervous when he focused on it, like he could hear time ticking forward to something he would rather not happen. Daily he could feel a pressure in his head building, and he somehow knew the two were related.

Bruno could have dealt with the disinterest from the villagers, the constant headaches, the time alone when his sisters were busy. But he hated how his mama changed.

After Pepa and Julieta’s gifts had grown so much, his mamá was no longer as amused by his visions. At dinner, conversations had turned to what new recipes Julieta had learned, or what she had managed to cure. Pepa would talk about the fields she had watered or how she had cleared the skies above the market.

If he tried to add anything, share a detail they forgot, or even laughed too loudly, his mother would turn to him with a sharp look. “Don’t interrupt Bruno.” She would say. “Your sister is talking.” If his sisters stopped talking, stunned at their mama’s response, she would turn her sharp tongue on them, demanding they continue. Eventually he learned to not speak at all, so he wouldn’t have to see the pity in his sisters eyes.

Bruno didn’t realize he was his mother’s favorite, until he wasn’t anymore.

Chapter Text

Bruno woke up that morning with a migraine. He lay in his hammock, eyes tightly closed, lost in the pain radiating in his head. He knew what it meant, his thoughts constantly drawn to the buried tablet in the other room.

The sound of the sand falling from his archway grew too loud, too rough on his tender brain. Finally desperate enough for any kind of relief, he rolled himself out of his hammock, landing unsteadily on his feet.

He trudged away from the sound, only able to crack his eyes wide enough to see the path before him. The cool air of the stone hallway was welcome on his feverish skin. Squeaking rats greeted him, scurrying before him.

The round door creaked open before him, and he stumbled into the welcome dark of the cave. The faint glowing green light pulled him forward, until his body gave out and he collapsed on hands and knees, sand digging into his skin.

As he let his head hang, gaze focused on the light, he felt the magic well up within him. Soon all he could see was green light, radiating from within. Trying to hold onto consciousness was too much as the wind and sand swirled around him, and a vision whirled through it.

When he woke up again, the migraine was gone, leaving a throbbing ache in its wake. He pushed his aching body off the sandy ground, keeping his eyes closed so he wouldn’t see the new green tablet he could practically feel pulsing beneath him.

By the time he blindly made it out of his cave, he had forced away the last of the nausea and managed to push away the anxiety about his vision. If he didn’t know what it was, then he didn’t need to feel guilty over not telling anyone. He held his breath as he left the cave, only opening his eyes once he nearly tripped over the stair leading to his vision cave. Correction, stairs. There were now two.

The sand had disappeared from his hourglass archway again. He tried not to think about it as he passed through, breath held and fingers crossed.

The casita was quiet once he exited his room, but any hopes that he had over being able to spend the day alone were dashed when he went to the kitchen.

Bruno had found Julieta in the kitchen. He tried to slink out, but his sister called him back over. “I know you didn’t have breakfast.” She had her back to him, but as she spoke she turned her head so he could see her profile. She pointed with her lips at a plate piled high with leftovers.

He tried to offer his help with the dishes, but she was focused on cooking. She didn’t want him cleaning up when she was still in the process of making a mess, so he sat on the counter. He munched on leftovers, kicking his heels and watched her bustle about. He had a vision of her passing out arepas tomorrow, and when the green faded from his vision she was turned towards him.

“You’ll pass those out tomorrow to the Rios family.” He told her, smiling. They were so happy to have some of her cooking.

She merely shook her head at him. “That’s why I’m making them now, silly.”

His smile faltered. “But, I could see how happy they made them.”

Julieta smiled at him. “And I’ll get to see it when I give these to them tomorrow.”

The smell of burning wafted into their nostrils. Julieta let loose a stream of frantic speech as she turned to the stovetop. As she salvaged what she could, she glanced over her shoulder at him. He had frozen in his spot, stunned that Julieta had burned something. She gave him a grimace.

“Too bad you couldn’t have seen that, huh?” She turned back to the stovetop. “Why don’t you go find Pepa? You’re distracting me.”

Bruno felt his stomach sink into the floor. Julieta was too busy to see him fold in on himself, shame at having ruined something his sister had worked so hard on. “Sure thing.” He managed. He slid off the counter and made to leave, but he paused in the doorframe. He looked back at Julieta, knocking three times. “Knock, knock, knock on wood. For good luck.” She never looked up or acknowledged the gesture.

He slunk out, his oldest sister not even noticing his absence.

Bruno found Pepa in the courtyard. She was standing with arms outstretched, a cloud above her head. He watched her for a moment, not wanting to ruin her concentration as she stared, brows furrowed, at the cloud above. He was afraid of ruining whatever she was working on like he had with Julieta.

As he watched her, the green flashed across his vision. Children in the village playing in the snow. So used to sharing his visions as they happened, he found himself speaking before the magic had faded from sight. “I think you will make it snow in the village tomorrow. Felix was throwing a snowball!”

Pepa whirled on him, a thunderburst rumbling from her cloud. “You ruined it!”

He shrank back from her anger. “Ruined what?”

“I wanted to surprise everyone! It only snows in the mountains and tomorrow is Felix’s birthday and I wanted to do something fun!”

He found his anger flaring to meet hers. “I didn’t ruin anything! You’re the only person that knows!”

She stamped her foot and turned her back to him. “I haven’t been able to do it yet! You ruined it!”

Bruno was about to argue back that it should have been a good sign, proof that she could, but Mamá's voice rang out from above them.

“Bruno! Leave your sister alone.”

He turned to her voice, seeing her standing before her softly glowing door with hands folded before her. “Mamá! I was just telling her about my vision!”

Pepa opened her mouth to protest, but Mamá held up a hand, silencing them both. “Bruno, I have had enough of you interrupting your sisters while they are working on their gift. Maybe if you spent more time working on yours, we can better help the village, hmm?”

Bruno rubbed his arm uncomfortably, the images of two tablets floating through his mind. Pepa glanced at him uncomfortably, knowing of one of them, before she turned her back and focused her attention to the cloud lingering overhead.

Their mother had disappeared by the time he thought to respond. His headache was swiftly returning, and after having two visions and one prophecy in one day, he felt exhausted. Pepa ignored him as he slunk up the stairs and disappeared into his room.

Bruno wasn’t sure what to do. He found a secluded corner in his oasis, where if Pepa or Julieta came looking for him they would hopefully not find him. He pulled his knees to his chest, letting his hands rest on his knees and stretching his neck to rest his chin on the back of one of them.

He could show his mama one of the tablets, to show that his gift was growing too, to prove he wasn’t being left behind. But they scared him. He hated the way he felt right before them, how they overwhelmed his body and consumed his mind. Honestly he preferred the flash of green and still images he would see when speaking with people. They were much simpler, didn’t take as much energy out of him.

But if he wanted to show his mamá that his gift was growing, what else could he do but show her a tablet? He tried to imagine how she would react. Every possibility he imagined resulted in her making him have vision after vision to help the family and the miracle. As much as he hated it, he couldn’t imagine her listening to the toll it would take on him.

The squeaking of a couple of rats drew him out of his thoughts. They were sniffing curiously at his sandals, and he lowered one of his hands to let them inspect it. He couldn't help the smile at the feeling of their tiny paws grasping his fingers.

Chapter Text

Bruno wanted to skip dinner, but Julieta wouldn’t let him. He could hear her calling him in the echoing silence of his room, and he tried to slink further back into the shadows. Without the sand falling through his archway, he was hyper aware of the smallest sounds and barely dared to breath.

The rat that had found its way onto his shoulder betrayed him. It let out a loud squeak as it stretched out of its nap, right as Julieta had fallen silent. Through the vegetation in front of him, he could see his sister pause, her head cocking as she tried to identify the sound. Bruno reflexively tried to cover the rat with a hand, to muffle any further sounds, but instead caused the little creature to panic. It scurried down his shirt, squeaking as it went, and he couldn’t stop the string of hissed pleas for it to quiet down.

By the time he looked up from his frantic lunging to catch the rat, having successfully scurried away, Julieta had found him. She pushed aside the last of the leaves to crouch before him, staring at his face. “You’ve always been terrible at hide and seek.”

He pouted. “Just because you’re too good at it.”

“As long as we can both agree we’re better than Pepa.” Julieta made him laugh with that one. “Now come on, I’ve got dinner waiting.” She held out a hand, a soft smile on her face. He found himself returning it, taking her hand and letting her pull him to dinner.

Once he was seated at the table, he wished he had stayed in his room. It was tense, Pepa shooting him angry looks accompanied by lightning flashing through the cloud above her. Julieta had served the slightly-burnt arepas that Bruno had caused, and though she made sure their mamá only got the perfectly cooked ones, it didn’t escape her notice that there was less-than-perfect food on the table. Bruno was only able to swallow a few bites of his dinner, the tension choking him too much to eat more.

As dinner wrapped up, their mother finally broke the silence. “Bruno, I would like to speak with you. Come, let’s speak in your room.” Her expression left no room for argument, and he slid off his chair to follow her as she stood from the table.

The silence chewed him up until they were behind his closed door. That sinking feeling in his stomach from earlier returned with avengeance. His mother surveyed his private sanctuary, and it all seemed too small with his mother’s imposing presence. He noticed in the quiet that the sand had started a slow trickle in his archway.

“Brunito, you’ve seen how Julieta and Pepa’s gifts have grown. We’ve seen how they are able to use them to help the Encanto and share our miracle.” His mamá started, and he felt smaller with every word. “Your visions have been entertaining, but there must be more you can do with them.”

More he could do with them? He couldn’t control them, they just happened to him. He rubbed at his arm, trying to push away the thought of the tablets buried in the other room.

Alma surveyed the room again, eyes landing on the round door. “Our magical casita granted Julieta a room to practice her cooking in, filled with cookbooks. It granted Pepa a large green field that wouldn’t be harmed by her changing weather. It must have granted you a similar tool to help your gift.”

He followed her to the round door, twisting his ruana in his hands. The door blew open for his mamá, leaving him to follow her through with wide eyes. Alma nodded to herself, seeming to make up her mind. At least with the light streaming through the hallway the green light of the tablets was almost indiscernible.

“Brunito, I want you to have a vision right now.”

“N-now, Mamá?”

She finally turned to her son. “Yes, Bruno. Now. About me.”

His brows furrowed together. “But, I can’t control them.” He withered under her stare. “They just… happen.”

Alma stepped toward him, stopping before him. She rested a hand on top of his curly hair. “Then you must learn how.” She patted him on the head a few times before moving past him. She paused in the doorframe. “I want you to stay here and meditate until you have what I’ve asked for.”

Bruno winced as the door slammed closed, leaving him alone in the dark.

He watched with dread as the green glow came to life in the dark, buried so close together in the sand that they glowed twice as bright. An easy solution would be to grab one of them, march after his mother and show him what he could do.

But he couldn’t do it.

Fighting the rising and overwhelming panic, he fumbled for the doorknob and burst out of the room. All he wanted was to talk to his sisters, to ask them what they thought he should do, or to have something else to think about.

Bruno pushed through the glowing door, the magic feeling like it was buzzing beneath his fingers. He meant to run down the stairs but found Pepa blocking him. There was a small pile of snow at the bottom of his stairs that she was busy packing into a snowman.

“Did you have a vision yet?” She asked without even looking up at him.

He thought about lying, but Pepa stared up at him with her big brown eyes. “No.” He admitted. She turned her attention back to her snow at the admission.

“Mamá said you have to stay in there until you do.” Pepa said quietly. He felt his heart sink, and he grasped his arm tightly. “Why don’t you just show her the tablet?” Pepa asked, voice hushed. She was looking at him with her wide eyes, hands still on her snowman.

“I… I wish I didn’t have to.” He admitted, letting his head fall back to gaze at the ceiling. “They just… hurt so bad.”

He didn’t look back at her as she quietly sighed. “We all have to do things we don’t like for our family, Brunito.”

Bruno looked at her then, and watched as she studiously ignored him. Finally he closed himself back into his room, choosing not to say anything about the snow that had softly started to fall on top of his sister.

///

Bruno didn’t know how long he sat in his room by himself, back pressed against his magic door. His stomach was growling, his eyes burned from unshed tears, and his head ached. He didn’t know why his mamá was acting like this towards him. He kept imagining how she looked when she called him to his room. How he had never seen her look so… disappointed in him. His mind swam with images of his mamá, all the moments she had looked at him with such pride over his gift. He just wanted her to look at him like that again.

Finally, heavily, he pushed himself up. Wearily he trudged to his cave, not noticing that the plants in his oasis were wilting. He forced himself to take the two steps to the stone hallway. Inside the cave, he fell on his knees and plunged a hand into the sand. Fingers grasped the green glass, and he tried his best to not look at it as he pulled it free.

Clutching it to his chest so he wouldn't have to look at it, he made his way back through his room and out the magic door. Pepa looked up at the sound of the door opening, and upon seeing the green tablet, she stood up and offered him a sad, understanding smile before leaving her snow behind and walking away.

He watched her braid as he followed her, swinging along her back. She paused outside their mother’s room, giving him one last look before swiftly knocking then rushing to her room. He stopped in front of his mamá’s door just as she opened it.

Chapter Text

Bruno watched his mother turn the glass pane this way and that, the green light catching on the wrinkles starting to form on her face. He wasn't sure what the vision was, if it was the one showing the triplets or the unknown one from this morning.

He was sat on the edge of her bed, watching the light play across the ceiling. His mamá hadn't said a word to him once she saw the tablet, taking it from his numb fingers and inspecting it immediately. As he waited, he wish he knew what the vision was so he could fill the silence with what he knew about it.

"It's not what i asked for, but it will do." His mamá finally broke the silence. He'd been watching her face for any indication of her reaction, and wasn't prepared when she met his eyes.

He barely managed a humming grunt in response. It wasn't until she sat next to him, where they could both see the tablet, her warmth welcome to his chilled bones, that he relaxed.

"So what did you see when you had this vision?" She asked, tilting it towards him. He was relieved to see it was the one of the triplets.

Casting his mind back, he tried to remember how the vision went. "Uh, I didn't see anything. This vision was different than my normal ones. I didn't see it in my head." He could feel her assessing gaze drilling into the tip of his head. He kept his eyes on the tablet, the angle showing himself.

"It's like… the magic was outside my body for it. I didn't see it in here," he knocked at his own head, "but swirling around me." He gestured with his hands, but pulled them back quickly when he caught his mother tracking the movement.

Mamá set the glass panes on the bed to her other side. "How did you do it?"

He felt his shoulders drift to his ears. "Uh, it just sort of happened. I…" He swallowed hard, not wanting to admit this. "I had a really bad headache. It felt like it exploded and then I had the vision." He hated the tears that welled up in his eyes at the mere memory of how much his head hurt.

"Do you think you can do it again?"

It was a simple question with an easy answer. It had already happened again. But he finally looked up at her, eyes wide and pleading.

"Ah, that's not important right now. Tell me, Brunito, what do you think this means?" She rested an arm around his shoulders, pulling him tight to her side as she picked up the pane with her free hand. She rested it in her lap where they could both look at it.

///

Mamá didn't keep him long after that. She urged him to bed, with the promise that they would try together to use the magic and produce another tablet. It was not as reassuring as she thought it was.

Her door had just closed behind him, her wizened form on the door serene as it glowed softly.

"Psst."

Brunos gaze shot around the mezzanine, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Over here you dope." The voice was louder, and he traced it to where Pepa's head was poking out of her cracked door. She held the door open further as an invitation.

He'd barely made it inside, following close behind her, when a gust of wind slammed the door closed. Pepa had whirled around at the same time, and the combination made him yelp loudly.

"What did she say?" Pepa demanded, face way too close to his.

Stumbling backward, he stammered, "She-she didn't say a lot about it. She wants me to do it again. We think it must be a vision about our birthday."

Pepa squealed with excitement. "I knew it!" Her room grew brighter and a pleasant warm breeze swept around them. "It's got to be our Quinceañera!"

It was like a puzzle piece slotting into place. "Oh." Bruno let out the sound draw out as Pepa danced further into her room. His gaze followed her, before being drawn to the room at large.

It had changed since he was last in here. The entryway was the same, sun pattered wallpaper and cozy sitting room. But it stretched into an expansive green field, bordered by jungle with a river snaking around the edge. When he looked closely through the blue sky overhead he could see the wood boards of the ceiling.

A cloud floated into view. "Have you been listening?" Pepa growled, stomping over to him.

"No." He admitted, running his arm. "I was distracted."

She glared at him before turning her back on him abruptly. "It's fine. I've got to start planning anyway. You should go." The clouds were building overhead, and he could hear her muttering, "Clear skies, I have to keep clear skies. If I can't do it here I can do it out there."

Bruno backed out of the room, heart tight at the sound of his sister muttering.

///

As he settled into his hammock, the faint trickles of sand from his archway were his only company. He watched them, three separate streams, joining the small pile that never grew bigger.

Lines from his mamá kept repeating in his head.

"It's not what I asked for…"

"How did you do it…"

"Can you do it again…"

His head started to ache again.

///

A soft huff from his mamá made his eyes squeeze tighter closed. They had been sitting in his cave for what felt like hours, his mother across from him. He'd been careful to sit on the buried tablet, hiding its green glow.

No matter how much he concentrated, he couldn't remember how it felt to have a vision. He couldn't summon that swell of magic within.

"I can see you are not ready." The words were like a knife through him. He opened his eyes to see the faint outline of his mother standing, could hear her brushing sand from her clothes. "We will try again tomorrow."

She left him sitting in the dark.

///

Bruno found himself making the trek down to the village. The casita was too much of a reminder of everything he couldn't be, full of magic and groomed to their mother's specifications, responding to mamá's every request with no hesitation.

He avoided the market, seeing their mother chatting with the people visiting Julieta's table. As he turned into a narrower side street, a streak of yellow crashed into him.

"Ay Dios mio!"

Chapter Text

Felix and Bruno tumbled to the ground. By the time they rolled to a stop, his brain felt scrambled in his skull.

Felix flopped onto his back, groaning. He lifted his head to see Bruno sprawled on the ground nearby.

"Ay, Bruno! I didn't mean to run into you, sorry!" He hauled himself up to pull a dazed Bruno to his feet. "Do you know where Pepa is? She said she'd have a surprise for me today!"

As Bruno found his footing, he looked up at the taller, older boy. A memory of the vision he had, Felix throwing a snowball, flashed through his mind. "Uh, no, sorry, don't know where she is." He stammered, fighting the urge to blurt out his vision.

"Are you ok, Bru? You look a little pale." Felix stooped to better look into his eyes.

Bruno's hand moved of its own accord to rub his arm. "Ah, yeah, I'm fine. Just struggling with my gift a bit, you know." He knocked on his skull like that would shake a vision loose. "Sometimes magic doesn't work the way you want, you know?"

"If you've got questions about magic you should talk to the Valderrama family." He lowered his voice and bent his head towards Bruno's. "I heard their abuela was a bruja." He whispered in a conspiring manner. "If anyone can help, it's them" He gestured dramatically towards one of the houses at the edge of the community.

"Felix!" Pepa called in the distance.

"Oop, I've got to go!" Felix straightened up with a pop, abandoning all air of mystery. Bruno was left standing alone, staring at the mystery house, as Felix ran off towards her voice.

The house in question was dark, the paint peeling and shutters crooked. Tiles hung lopsided off the roof. The only sign that it was still inhabited was the neat woodpile leaning against one side.

The closer he got, the more dilapidated the house seemed. If a bruja lived in the village, this would be their house. Before he knew it, he stood in front of the door, hand raised to knock.

A loud crashing from behind the house made him stumble back, a high pitched shriek bursting out of him. He was scrambling to get his footing and run away, back to the safety I'd the casita, when he heard a familiar sound.

"Oooowwww."

The resigned groan of pain made Bruno slow to a stop. He turned back to the house, where he could hear quiet clattering and muttering. It didn't sound like it was an old bruja, and he found himself drawn to the noise.

As he rounded the corner of the house, he saw a bent over lanky form tangled amidst fresh firewood. An overturned wheelbarrow was nearby. "Do you need some help?"

Bruno didn't realize the words came from his mouth until a dark haired head popped up from the wood. They screamed upon seeing Bruno standing there, causing him to scream back.

"What is going on out there?" A voice called from the house, crackly with age.

That stopped both their screaming. "Uh, nothing abuela! I'll be right in!" The boy across from him called, scrambling to free himself from the wood. Bruno extended a hand and the other boy took it, finally freeing him.

"Uh, thanks." The dark haired boy said. "This is going to sound rude, but what are you doing here?"

Bruni stumbled over his words trying to explain. "Well I heard, you see I need some help… my magic… bruja." What a terrible time for a vision to overtake him. He hadn't thought about the physical contact when he helped the kid up, but the flash of green centered around the boy in front of him.

"You'll slide off a roof tomorrow and land in a pile of hay." Bruno blinked the vision away." It looked like fun."

The boy was staring at him slack-jawed. "You're a brujo!" He exclaimed.

"Bruno, actually." Bruno corrected, but then realized he heard wrong. "Oh, no, not a brujo. Just a Madrigal." He chuckled awkwardly.

The boy nodded firmly. "I've heard your family has magic. That makes you all brujas and brujos according to my abuela. She knows all about them."

The duel relief and stress that washed over Bruno made his bones feel like jelly. "That's why I'm here. I need some help figuring out my magic."

There was no hesitation as the boy gestured to the house. "Well come on then, I'll take you to talk to my abuela Valderrama."

The house was dark inside, but Bruno could see it was cozy. There were just a couple of rooms, the first one being a kitchen/sitting area that they passed right through. The second room was the bedroom.

A frail old woman was propped up on her pillows, a crocheted blanket spread over her lap. "Abuela, I have someone to see you."

The old woman lifted her head from her pillow, her gaze moving from the window to land her bright eyes on Bruno. "Nieto, who is this?"

"I'm Bruno, senora. I've heard you know about magic." He couldn't believe he was here, that it had been just this morning that Felix had bumped into him. "I'll go, I can see it's a bad time."

"You let in some bad luck." The woman interrupted. "Nieto?" The boy took a bit of white powder from a bowl sitting on the nearby dresser and threw it over his shoulder. Bruno heard the grains falling into the floor, reminding him of his sand.

"Bruno, come sit. I want to get a closer look at you "

///

And so began his lessons with bruja Valderrama. He learned to meditate, to focus on his breathing and clear his head. He learned about how magic was something that came from within.

She taught him about holding his breath over thresholds and knocking on wood to leave bad luck behind. She taught him the way of warding off bad luck with salt.

Together, they learned how the smoke from dried tobacco leaves could channel his magic. They figured out how he could hold onto visions when he had them naturally, though he was never able to urge them into motion.

It took two years. Two long years of spending as much time as he could with the Valderrama abuela while her nieto took care of the household. Two years of disappearing further into the background while his sisters continued to shine. Two years of experimenting and meditating and trying to hold onto the visions that would come to him naturally so he could explore how the magic felt.

But he still struggled to claim that magic as his own.

Bruno was in the midst of his nightly ritual, sitting cross legged in the center of his vision cave. He’d been trying to remember how it felt when he got a vision. It usually just came to him, but after pondering it for hours he realized there was a common thread. His visions usually came to him once he made physical contact with someone. A brush of the hand, pinch on the cheek, pat on the head. He sat cradling his head in his hands. How was he supposed to force a vision when he was all alone?

The smoke twisting in the air was barely visible, but in the dim light of his cave he could imagine so many different shapes and figures twisting while it rose. He imagined his mama, how proud she would be when he was able to show her a vision.

Bruno’s eyes snapped upward. He could feel that familiar stirring of magic in his gut that came with his visions. He’d never noticed it before, but now he felt a well of energy open within him. The more he focused on it, the more the air stirred around him. His ears filled with the sound of rushing wind, and he gazed in awe through green eyes as the vision took place around him.

Chapter Text

A few moments later, Bruno stood hesitantly outside his mamá’s door. It was dark out, the house was so quiet he knew he would wake up his mamá. Gathering his nerve, he brushed the sand out of his hair and clenched his hand into a fist. “Knock, knock, knock on wood.” He muttered as he knocked. His other hand was clutching the green glass tablet tightly to his chest.

The tense moments between waiting for his mother to answer her door made him rethink what he was doing. It only now occurred to him that he could have waited till morning, but even then he wasn't sure he'd be able to get her attention before they left for the village.

His train of thought was derailed by his mother opening her door. "Bruno? Is something wrong? Are your sisters ok?" The sleep steadily left her voice as she rapidly questioned him.

"No, nothing like that, sorry mamá." He swallowed hard, having to push down old uncertainties before he could hold the tablet out to her. "I just… had a vision."

She took it from him automatically, a flurry of emotions flying over her face. "And this was important enough to wake me up?"

He forced himself to straighten, to meet his mamá's eye. "This isn't all of it." He held out a hand. "Let me show you the rest."

His hands were sweaty when his mamá took one on her own, and he tried to push away the self conscious anxiety that pushed at him. Leading her from the room, letting her carry the tablet, he pulled her along to his room.

The sand arch was pouring steadily, but it parted for them as they passed underneath. Bruno still held his breath as they crossed the threshold.

His oasis had changed in the past couple of years. There were not as many jungle plants, though a few palma de cera and his hammock remained. The sand transformed into a beach at one end of the room, the constant waves a welcome accompaniment to the sound of sand falling. Bruno didn't dare look back to see his mothers response to the changed scenery, it had been so long since she'd been in his sanctuary.

He led her up the half dozen steps to the stone hallway. Lining the stone ledge on one side was various jars and pots, filled with salt or sugar, dried leaves, crushed flowers, whatever he could find that helped him connect to his magic. A lot of them had some relevance to past visions, items collected at the site of his vision as it came to pass.

The other ledge had five glowing green tablets propped against the wall. One was of the triplets 15th birthday, and the sixth one was currently in the hands of his mother. He knew he would need to explain them to her, but he needed to do this now. As he felt her slow, marveling at the eerie green glow, he tugged her gently forward.

"I'll explain, I promise. I just need to do this first." Bruno offered, staring forward at the round door before him.

As they crossed the threshold into his vision cave, he held his breath and crossed his fingers on his free hand. He imagined it leaving the bad luck and evil spirits at the door, letting his vision cave remain pure and filled with his positive energy only.

Stopping in the center of his sand pit, he positioned his mother to kneel on one side of the dried tobacco leaves and himself on the other. Silently she watched as he lit the five piles, the fire the only source of light once the round door blew closed.

Bruno's heart was pounding, a constant mantra of this will work this will work running through his head. He took his mothers hands in his, finally getting the courage to meet her eyes. Any thoughts of what she might be thinking were pushed away, his focus needing to be on feeling the magic and not deciphering her facial language.

The wind was picking up around them, swirling the smoke and rustling the sand.

A strange excitement was building within his chest. So far everything was working, the process going smoothly. He found a smile on his face as he took a deep breath, taking the air deep into his lungs as he committed his mothers face to his memory and closed his eyes.

He focused on the color green, trying to picture it in his mind as vividly as he could. The magic rose, the green left his mind's eye and he opened his green eyes, seeing the unnatural glow splayed across his mothers face. The sand rose, intermingling with the smoke, encasing them in a dome crackling with green light.

Bruno searched the sand around them for shapes and movement. He held the image of his mother in his mind, knowing if he looked at her now that his concentration would be broken.

And there.

He found it.

His mother’s form emerged in the sand, green lines and gritty details.

He heard her gasp as she saw it too.

Bruno could sense more than see the figure that was approaching her, and as he focused on that sensation the figure took form in the magic too. It approached the sand copy of his mamá, discernible by the shape of their hair. The Felix illustrated in sand held out a small box, and Bruno focused on that box, letting the vision close in on it. The box took clearer form so by the time Felix opened it, they could tell a ring sat nestled within. The blurry image of what could only be Pepa, her back to them, materialized in the background.

He had pushed his magic too far, trying for too much detail and extending it past his current limits. Abruptly the sand dome broke, sand raining down and the fire extinguishing angrily. Bruno had to dive for the green tablet that was forming, though his vision was blurry and head was ringing from the aftershocks of his magic.

He landed roughly on the ground, sand pushing its way into his mouth as he skid forward. The pane was safe though, held above his head in his trembling fingers.

If his mamá hadn’t been there, if he couldn’t feel her eyes boring into him even in the near-dark of the cave, he would have laid like that for a while. As it were, he awkwardly pushed himself up, spitting sand and blinking furiously against the burning in his eyes.

“This is what you’ve been working on?” Oh how he wished there was more light in the room. From her tone alone he had no idea what she was thinking, and he wished desperately that he could read her face. “All those days spent in your tower, or out in town, to do this?”

Though Bruno’s whole body ached, he forced his feet to shuffle forward so he could open the door to his vision cave. “Yes, mamá.” The words were meek, and all he could manage.

As he pushed open the door, the light shined directly into his mamá’s face. She was watching him with a wide grin on her face. “My clever Brunito.” She stood, brushing sand off her skirt and out of her hair. “My smart, wonderful son.”

The flood of emotions left him lightheaded and dizzy. Relief, pride, happiness at having done something right, the overwhelming feeling of seeing his mother’s face with so much love and awe and pride. He stumbled over his own feet.

She was close enough to catch him, steadying him and taking the tablet from him to free his hands to cling to her. At fourteen, he was a few inches shorter than her but he felt like a child as she wrapped him in a hug. “What a wondrous thing you can do, Brunito.” She ran her fingers through his curls, loosening the sand caught in the snags.

“What happened to the tablet you had?” He croaked as they pulled away, searching her hands then the vision circle. The only one he saw was the one he had caught, that she now turned her attention to. He wanted to prove he had the same vision twice, that he could control what he saw.

“It crumbled into sand once you showed me the vision.” His mother explained, examining the new pane. “But it was exactly like this one.”

She turned that wonderful smile on him again. “I shouldn’t be surprised that Felix will ask for Pepa’s hand in marriage, but seeing it…” Her eyes were misting over as she looked at the tablet again. “Seeing it happen like that. Simply magical.”

The ring box was in the center of the tablet, glistening with the concentration of green light. Felix and Mamá flanked it, smiles visible on both their faces. One of Felix’s hands was holding it aloft, and the other was gesturing towards the blurry figure of Pepa’s back. A moment in time, illustrated in swirling sand and encapsulated in glowing glass.

Chapter Text

The next few days were a blur. His mamá had thankfully let him rest after the vision, thanking him for showing her what he could do and radiating excitement. She had helped Bruno as he stumbled to his hammock, the sand archway clear and the only sand the gentle waves lapping on the beach. He’d fallen asleep immediately, eyes stinging and skull splitting.

She let him sleep in the next day, and when he finally crept downstairs around noon he found Julieta in the kitchen. She had been asked by Mamá to stay behind and cook whatever Bruno wanted. She was unusually quiet, but Bruno couldn’t think far beyond the ache in his head to question it. He’d gone back to bed shortly after.

At dinner his mamá was upbeat, though cagey whenever his sisters tried to pry into what was going on. Bruno could tell they knew something had evolved with his magic, could tell that they were dying to figure out what. But even after dinner when they came to his room to pester him, their mother interrupted and sent them off to finish their chores. She used this time with Bruno to have him explain the other vision lined up outside his vision cave, with the promise that he’d show her a couple of them when he was up to it again. Having two visions in one day had left him spent, and she lovingly pushed him to go to bed, to rest until he was ready for the next one.

At breakfast, he swore that he would explain to Pepa and Julieta what was going on, both of their moods dark at being kept in the dark. Mamá had to keep reminding Pepa to save the clouds for the fields and not their breakfast, to the point that the redhead girl ended up storming off from the table (literally and figuratively) to attend to her chores.

Julieta stayed behind to finish cleaning up their breakfast at their mother’s insistence, and Bruno followed her to the village.It had been too long since he had seen Abuela Valderrama and Nieto, so he peeled off from his Mamá at the main road and paid them a visit.

Nieto was out getting a head start on his own chores, going to collect plants for his Abuela. Bruno was able to excitedly explain to the bruja that it had worked, everything went according to plan and his mother was so happy and he had hardly any head pain this time around. She had to laughingly tell him to calm down, he was shaking the house, before the laughter turned into a wheeze.

That sobered Bruno up as he stilled, waiting for her to catch her breath again. It took far too long for comfort, and by the time she had she shooed him away to celebrate elsewhere, claiming she needed to rest after so much excitement.

He found his mamá in the village, and upon seeing him she broke into that wonderful smile again. “Oje, here he is! My little Brunito!”

Senora Guerrero looked at him assessingly. “Bruno, you’ve grown so much since I’ve last seen you! You’re taller than my little Mariá now!”

As Bruno drew up next to his mother, she rested a hand on his shoulder. “Bruno, we were just discussing if you could have a vision for Senora Guerrero. Do you think you can do that?”

Immediately his palms started sweating. Meeting his mother’s eyes, he could see this was one of those requests that sounded like a question but was really more of a demand. So he swallowed and nodded. “I can.”

“One of the visions like you showed me? So she can see with her own two eyes?” His mamá pressed, the smile on her face becoming a little more forced.

He knew he should have knocked on the doorframe once he left Casita. Holding his breath and crossing his fingers wasn’t enough to stop the bad luck. Maybe if he had some salt he could throw over his shoulder that would dispel it enough for him to escape this moment.

“I can.” The warning from Abuela Valderrama rang through his head. “I can bring her a tablet like the one I showed you, Mamá.” He pleaded with his eyes for that to be enough. In that look he tried to pour as much warning and concern that he could, over wanting it to be a private thing, something he needed to control. Slowly she nodded her head.

“Of course, Bruno. What else could I be speaking of?” The two women laughed, and Mamá shooed him off so she could discuss grown up matters.

Bruno acquired some salt on his way home, the stall owner was kind enough to let him have it for free after Bruno got swept away in a vision that he would need more guascas tomorrow or he would sell out. Immediately after leaving the stall owner’s eyesight, he threw a small handful over his shoulder and tied the pouch to his belt.

///

It took a bit of doing, but Bruno was able to return to town two days later with a glowing green tablet. His mother accompanied him, insisting Bruno hold the tablet flat in his hands before him as they paraded through town. Her reassuring hand on his shoulder was the only thing that kept him moving as people came to inquire what he had, and as Mamá explained repeatedly that it was the future, created and preserved by Bruno’s gift.

The vision itself wasn’t anything special, though tilting the slab back and forth did grant movement to the people engraved on it. It showed Senora Guerrero sitting at the head of her table, flanked by people on both sides. When you shifted the tablet, it showed them raising their glasses in a toast. Bruno thought it was boring, but Mamá was already impatient after waiting two days and insisted on showing everyone. It wasn’t like he could show any of his other visions to them after all.

Upon handing it to Senora Guerrero, he didn’t expect her to burst into tears. That certainly drew a lot of attention. His shoulders crept up to his ears and he surreptitiously took a pinch of salt and threw it over a shoulder. They were both too stunned to react as a crowd gathered around them.

Senora Guerrero, upon seeing the concerned faces around her, finally pulled herself together. “This is my Oscar, and this is Carlos. They’ve not spoken in years.” Her fingers traced down the pane, fresh tears pouring. “Is this really the future? Will I really see my sons together again?”

Mamá was quick to jump in then. She reassured the woman that this would come to pass, as all of Bruno’s visions have. Addressing the crowd, she asked them to see what her son could do, to see how the magic was growing stronger by the day.

In the clamor that followed, Bruno managed to sneak away. His chest was tight from having so many people surrounding him, all staring at his vision, not all positive reactions. He had wished the earth could swallow him when Senora Guerrero started crying, sure that he had managed to mess this up too. It was too much for him to navigate, and he found it hard to be thrust into the spotlight again. He threw a handful of salt over his shoulder, then knocked on a wood beam as he passed a house.

Unwittingly Bruno found himself at the Valderrama house. He entered without knocking, though he did hold his breath and cross his fingers as he entered. "Senora?" He called as he let out his breath.

"Bruno?" Nieto called softly from the other room. Bruno followed the sound and saw Nieto in his typical spot on his abuela's bed. The old woman was snoring lightly, and her grandson was thumbing through a book.

"Bad day?" Bruno whispered. Then he had to muffle a shriek as he caught sight of the other boy's face. It was swollen in places, and there were fine red scratches on his face and bare arms.

Nieto winced and looked to his abuela. She did not seem disturbed by the outburst. "Sorry, sorry." Bruno whispered. "Just… what happened to you?"

The boy shrugged. "Eh, it'll go away in a day or so." He put the book on the bedside table, quietly shuffling them both out of the room. "She's been sleeping most of the morning. I don't think today's a good day to visit." That wasn't unusual, though Bruno was worried about the increasing frequency of her bad days. Days like today she would rarely recognize either of them, if she even woke long enough to speak to them.

"You know, my sister, Julieta, can help with those." He gestured to the scratches and swelling peppering Nieto. "She should be in the village, it shouldn't take long."

Nieto glanced into the room where his abuela lay sleeping. "Only if we come right back."

Chapter Text

Bruno led Nieto through town, using Casita in the distance as his North Star. Trotting the whole way, they reached Julieta's stall fairly quickly.

"Julieta!" Bruno called as he neared. She didn't have anyone clustered around, and he suffered a wave of panic that she was out of food. He didn't want this to be a waste of time.

She looked up at his call, dusting her hands off on her apron and walking around the stall. "Bruno, is something wrong?"

"No, no, everything's fine. I just wanted to see if you had any more food. My friend Nieto could use some."

He turned to indicate said boy, but found he had stopped across the street. He seemed frozen.

At the sight of Nieto's swollen face, Julieta let out a soft cry. She bustled into action, ducking behind her stall and emerging quickly with a wrapped parcel. Hurrying across the street to the stunned boy, she unwrapped the bundle to reveal her own lunch. Without hesitating she shoved an arepa into his mouth.

Nieto let it hang there for a few seconds, while Bruno watched with brows furrowed in confusion. Remembering himself, the other boy finally took a bite, ripping the rest from his mouth. As he chewed, the small scratches knit themselves back together.

"I don't know if they'll heal bee stings, but it'll help the scratches. What happened to you?" Julieta assessed her healing powers at work, seeming to barely see the boy beneath.

"Nothing unusual." Nieto finally choked out. He seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. His gaze landed on Bruno. "You think my name is Nieto?"

Bruno's eyes grew wide. He was only able to grunt an incoherent reply.

"Hold on, what do you mean nothing unusual? This is the first time I've seen you. I'd remember an allergic reaction this bad."

"I don't…" The boy coughed and cleared his throat after it cracked with his first words. "I don't like to leave my abuela. They usually heal by themselves." He turned back to Bruno. "You really thought my name is Nieto?"

Julieta nudged his hand, reminding him to eat. "So, not-nieto. What's your real name?" She looked at Bruno, a grin spreading across her face. "Since my brother here seems to think your name is grandson."

"Gus." He replied around a mouthful of food. He nearly choked. "I mean, Augustin." He tried to deepen his voice, standing up straighter. "Only my abuela calls me Gus."

"I've only heard her call you Nieto." Bruno finally found his voice. Julieta laughed at the look that Augustin shot Bruno.

"I really should be getting back to her. I don't want her to wake up and find herself alone." He was already turning to go, his face turning a bright red as he looked to Julieta. "Thanks for this. I feel better already." He gestured with the arepa, taking a few more steps back. "It was really nice meeting you."

"Wait, you should take this." She closed the growing distance between them, shoving the rest of the bundle into Augustin's hands. "Maybe it can help your abuela."

Augustin fumbled to hold the bundle, his face turning a brighter red. He stuttered out a thank you, backing up the entire way. That is, until he tripped and fell backward over a sack of flour resting against a house.

Flailing limbs pinwheeled, a high pitched shriek, scramble to get up and Augustin was running down the road away from them.

The siblings watched him go.

"You really thought his name was Nieto?"

"Julieta!"

///

At dinner that day, mama passed on several requests from their community for visions. She spent most of their meal alternating between retelling how the village reacted to Bruno's magical tablet, the way Senora Guerrera was so tearfully thankful, and the ways this could help the encanto by bringing families together, or prevent problems before they even arose.

Bruno listened in silence. The praise left him feeling warm inside, but he could tell by mama neglecting her food that she only wanted to monolog. Pepa tried speaking up once, sharing how she managed to clear out the morning fog to aid the search for some escaped donkeys. But mama only replied with a 'that's nice dear' before starting to discuss how Bruno's growing gift could help the encanto.

As they crowded in the bathroom after dinner, Pepa refused to speak to him. She violently brushed her teeth before stomping off, leaving Bruno and Julieta staring after her.

Bruno sighed in frustration. Pepa was always difficult for him to understand, so hot and cold but never in between. It didn't feel fair, it wasn't his fault that mama only wanted to talk about his gift. He didn't like it either.

Julieta rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'll talk to her later. How are you doing?"

He risked a glance at the healer's face. It was a mistake, her inquisitive look gentle and imploring. "Ah, you know. Same old." He knocked on the wooden door frame to ward off the anxiety he felt building.

The gesture did not deter Julieta though. "Are you sure? Today must have been strange for you." The words unwillingly drew his gaze to her again. "It's been a long time since mama’s been so excited about your gift."

Bruno shrugged, his body suddenly weary. "I've been working hard at it. Of course she's excited." He deflected, shoving his toothbrush into his mouth to avoid answering any more questions.

His sister let him be, brushing her own teeth and patiently waiting for her turn at the sink. After he had put his toothbrush away, he tried to escape the room as quickly as possible.

He was halfway up his stairs when he remembered.

Turning back down, he caught his sister right as she was about to enter her own room.

"Has Nieto really never gone to you to be healed before?"

Her brows furrowed in confusion before realization swept through her face. "You mean Augustin?" Bruno's cheeks burned hot at the reminder that, after two years, he hadn't known his best friend's name. "No, today's the first time I've ever seen him."

"Are you sure?" Guilt was gnawing at his gut. Surely Ni- no, Augustin, had to know about Julieta's gift, right? Bruno must have told him? A slideshow of all the times he'd seen the dark haired boy get hurt played through his mind.

"Bruno, that boy had so many scratches and half healed injuries that my lunch wasn't enough to heal them all. I know I've never seen him before."

Julieta was always the best at deciphering his emotions as they danced across his face. She pulled him into a hug, before holding him at arms length to meet his eyes.

"I'm not a doctor, but all his injuries looked minor and should be healed after some good home cooking. You remembered when it was most important and got him to me when he needed help the most." She squeezed his shoulders reassuringly. "You're a good friend, Bruno. And an even better brother."

When she pulled him into another hug, he managed to hug her back this time.

As he lay in his hammock that night though, he was kept awake by the nagging thought that he should have known, should have seen a vision of Augustin needing Julieta's help. What use was his gift if, after all those visions of Augustin hurting himself accidentally, Bruno never thought to do anything about it?

Chapter Text

“Abre los ojos.”

Bruno opened his eyes.

Staring back at him was his reflection, though he barely recognized himself. His curls were slicked back the best his mother could manage, which left a few curls hanging over his forehead. He wore brand new trousers and a clean shirt, his sandals freshly oiled. Topping it off was the birthday present from his mamá. The green ruana was so soft, he found himself rubbing the fabric between his fingers constantly. It brought out the green of his eyes beautifully, and the hourglass pattern woven along the edges made him smirk.

"Happy birthday, mi hijo." His mother’s figure appeared next to him in the mirror, taking hold of his arm. “My Brunito, you look so handsome. All grown up.” She smiled at him, and rested her head against his shoulder. He had gone through a growth spurt the past month, his old trousers not reaching his ankle and now standing a little taller than his mamá and sisters. Looking in the mirror at himself, he felt so grown up.

“Ah, I wish your Pa was here to see. He would be so proud.” She squeezed his arm. He rested his other hand over hers, still marveling at how he looked.

“Thank you, mamá.”

They stood like that for a few breaths, letting the emotions swirl through them. Eventually, Alma broke it with a deep, bracing inhale. “Well, then. You remember the plan?” She pulled away, stepping to the dresser and straightening her brush and other toiletries.

Bruno forced himself to stop marveling at himself in the mirror. “Yeah, I mean, yes.” He corrected himself at her sideways glance at the slang. “I escort Julieta in as she is the eldest. As she greets the procession line, I go back for Pepa. Once Julieta joins you, I’ll bring Pepa out. She’ll greet everyone, then the band starts playing. I dance with Julieta for a song. Then with Pepa for the next one.” He quickly rushed through the list, trying to keep back the nerves over having to perform in front of so many people. At least he had rosemary sprigs in his shirt pocket to help with his memory.

“And then?” His mamá was fussing with her own hair now.

“That’s when their processions come out and the party begins.” He slipped a hand into his trouser pocket to thumb at the lavender there, trying to counter the rush of anxiety. “I haven’t forgotten anything, right?”

His mother chuckled softly. “No, Brunito, after the dance you are free to celebrate yourself.” Mamá turned to him, fussing now with his collar, making sure the hood rested flat, pushing his curls back from his forehead. “Try to remember though that this is their night, hmm? Your sisters deserve a chance to celebrate and be celebrated.”

Bruno smiled at his mamá. “That’s the whole point, right?” It was why he was facing the crowds not once but twice, why he was going to put himself in the spotlight for two dances in a row. He would do anything for his sisters.

“I know, Brunito. But with your gift growing, so many people will be excited by the chance to speak with you. Don’t steal their thunder too much, hmm?”

His smile turned brittle. “Of course not, Mamá. I want this night to be about Julieta and Pepa.” She patted his cheek and gave him a knowing smile.

///

Julieta and Pepa were both stunning. The dresses they wore were very traditional in design, but they had incorporated imagery of their own gifts into the designs. The dresses were both white, but Pepa had dark blue clouds and bright yellow suns interweaving down the fabric. Julieta had light blue flowers and tiny hearts that swirled around the hem and in the bodice. They had their hair pinned up, and both looked long and elegant and so grown up.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Bruno could hear his mamá addressing the crowd assembled in the courtyard of Casita. He couldn't make out the words, the triplets all too focused on staring at each other and taking the moment in. They had reached their fifteenth birthday. Ten years with their gifts, ten long, shifting years filled with developing gifts, fights and bonding, trying to figure out who they were. As he looked at his sisters, Bruno felt deep in his chest the ache that comes with realizing they were no longer children. His sisters would be welcomed into the community as women, expected to act proper and dignified. No more splashing in puddles, no more dramatic enactments in the market, no more running off from chores to play.

The music started on the other side of the curtain. Julieta, always the responsible one, broke from the trance first. “Well, this is it.” She sighed, her face bright with a smile. “Best not keep them waiting, right?” She held out her bare arm to Bruno.

///

Everything went off without a hitch. The crowd had gasped as they watched Julieta enter the courtyard, Bruno standing tall at her side. They strode arm in arm to the stairs Casita had manifested. He didn’t trip as he led her up the stairs, where their Mamá stood in front of her door, eyes soft as she smiled down at them. She took Julieta’s hands, kissing her cheeks, as Bruno sped-walked around the mezzanine and back down the stairs to where Pepa was waiting.

Another gasp from the crowd, another slow walk up the stairs to deliver Pepa to Mamá and Julieta. Standing off to the side as their mamá, flanked by her daughters, rose another thanks to the miracle for all they had been blessed with.

More music, and Bruno stepped forward to sweep Julieta back down the stairs, where they danced a waltz in the center of the courtyard. First song over, he delivered her to where her entourage awaited, fifteen of her friends from the community, representing each year of her life. Nieto gave him a wave. Back up the steps, pausing two stairs from the top to offer his hand to Pepa. She took it, and he repeated the process.

As the party had picked up, Bruno had surprised their Mamá by doing the same for his mamá. Julieta and Pepa were surrounded by their respective friends, and Bruno had gone back up the stairs for mamá, pulling her down and into the fray, dancing his third waltz with her. He pretended to not see the tears that were tracing their way down her face at the gesture, instead pressing a kiss to her cheek at the end of the dance.

Now the party was in full swing, and the noise was giving Bruno a headache.

Okay, it wasn’t just the noise. The strain of keeping a smile on his face, not shrinking back from all the staring eyes, forcing himself to focus only on the sister before him, it was all so draining. He’d slipped away after waltzing with mamá, brushing off the myriad of requests to dance from the other girls in the community. He had felt a vision building, and desperately needed to throw some salt over his shoulder before it caught up to him.

Sitting on the top step, his magic door behind him, he could still hear the sounds of the quinceañera below. But from this distance, in the solitude of this small hallway, he was able to focus on the happiness bubbling within. So far everything went perfectly tonight. As far as he could tell, no one missed him either. That might have been the best part, he mused as he ran delicate fingers over the soft ruana. It was a little weird though, he had to admit. It was his fifteenth birthday too, and though they had a small celebration during breakfast, he couldn't help but feel a little forgotten.

He pulled the tablet out from where he had tucked it in his waistband, the square shape hidden by his ruana throughout the night. It was awkward having it thump against his back all night, but he found it reassuring. As Bruno stared at it, tilting it back and forth to view the different images, there was a certain reverence seeing it. This was the first vision he had ever had. He had seen so many of the events that took place tonight take form in the blowing sand, reminded of those images every time he looked at this pane.

The smile on his face grew wider. Felix’s loud laughter had risen above the crowd, for just a moment.

Bruno’s fingers traced over the image of Pepa. Now, he was able to recognize Felix, her friend Carolina, Abuela Gaitan, farmer Lozano. The people Pepa deemed most important in her life. As he tilted it to see Julieta’s, the green glow of the tablet started to fade. Alarmed, Bruno sat up straighter, fingers gripping the glass tighter. At the pressure though, the faded green crumbled, the whole tablet dissolving into a pile of sand at his feet.

Dismayed, he stared down at the remains of the tablet. Faint green crackles burnt themselves out as the last of the magic left the vision, reverting glass back to sand. A rat slinking around the corner stopped and squeaked at Bruno's dismayed sigh. He plopped his chin in his hand. “I really wanted to keep that one.”

Chapter Text

Bruno followed his mama into the village. As people stepped forward to greet her, their eyes settled with wonder on what he held in his hands.

It had taken two years of experimenting with his gift and thinking about the encanto to get to this point. His mama would regularly stop in, and together they would discuss problems in the community, or muse on the vision tablets propped against the wall.

Now he strode into the village holding ten vision slabs. It was the first time he had stepped foot outside casita in months.

The excited murmurs were quick to spread, everyone having heard about Senora Guerrero's prophecy. It had come true, her family reconciling and now spent every Sunday dinner together.

His mother took charge of answering their questions while Bruno scanned the crowd for the faces he'd seen in his visions.

As planned, once he recognized someone he stepped out from behind his mother. She took the tablets from him, allowing him to extract the necessary one.

Bruno's hands barely shook as he approached the couple, remembering to keep his gaze on them as the crowd parted.

Stopping before them, he licked his lips, holding the tablet out. "This is for you."

The man took it mechanically in both hands, eyes darting around as though he wasn't sure he should take it. His wife pulled at one of his arms, trying to glimpse what the green tablet showed.

Her loud gasp, covered too slow by her hand over her mouth, caused her husband to look at the image himself.

"I'm not sure when it's going to happen, but let me be the first to congratulate you." Bruno spoke the rehearsed line, and the woman looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"We'd just given up hope." She whispered, addressing her husband. "After five years of praying…"

"We'll be parents." The man finished. His knuckles were turning white from gripping the pane so hard. "Will this really come true?"

Bruno felt a rush of nervous energy. He'd never questioned if the things he saw would really come true.

"Bruno has had many visions, and they've all come true." His mama was right behind him, her tone firm but understanding. "Our miracle has never led us wrong."

The couple looked at her, then him, then the tablet. Then they were crushing each other in an embrace, the tablet pinned between them. Around them, the crowd cheered.

///

The reception of the rest of the tablets was not so dramatic, though there were a few tears.

He carried the tablets through town, searching for faces he had seen in swirling green. When he saw someone, mama would take the tablets from him so he could personally deliver the vision to the person it featured.

They were all happy things, ranging from new homes to people getting married to a donkey having a foal.

By the end of the day, the community was buzzing with speculation on when the visions would come true, comparing them to each other and marveling at the magic glass.

By the end of the day, Bruno's brain was buzzing with overworked nerves and marveling at how well it all went.

He was prepared for people to have lots of questions. To explain over and over what he saw in the glowing sand and assuage any fears. But many people were too happy with what they saw to question it.

As they reached the Casita, the headache he had suffered for the past week had turned into a full blown migraine. He walked with heavy lidded eyes trained to the ground, trying to keep his jaw and face muscles as relaxed as possible.

He didn't notice when mama stopped in front of him, and since he kept walking he inadvertently crashed into her.

"Bruno, watch where you are going!" She cried, managing to catch them and prevent them both from falling. But her tone faltered as she caught sight of his face.

"Brunito, you're so pale. Are you alright?" She laid a gentle, cool hand on his forehead. He couldn't help but lean into the touch.

"He gets migraines after his visions sometimes. Here, eat this." Julieta appeared at his side, pressing something into his hands.

Somewhere through his fog of pain, he knew he was led up the stairs, brought to his room, and pushed into his hammock. The sand wasn't falling, so the only sound in the room was the lapping of waves.

No longer required to function, Bruno sunk into unconsciousness.

///

When he woke, the room was dark except for a single candle burning. At first he thought it was the magical flame, but as he shifted to get a better look, faint pulses of pain through his head, he saw it was a regular candle. A small end table had been placed by his hammock that it rested on. As he shifted, he locked eyes with his mama.

She was sitting in a wooden chair, an open book spread across her knees. "Brunito." She breathed, closing the book and setting it on the table. She brushed careful fingers across his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." He answered honestly. His voice was hoarse and she handed a glass of water to him.

"You should have told me these visions caused you so much pain." He nearly choked on water at her response.

Once he stopped sputtering and caught his breath again, he choked out, "It's not that bad."

His mother stared at him with a flat face. "You've been asleep for over a day."

He felt his face flush at that, and no amount of stuttering let him form a cohesive response.

"Bruno, calm yourself."

His teeth clacked together as he snapped his mouth shut.

Mama sighed. "Bruno, you shouldn't be causing harm to yourself just to use your gift for the community. We can find a different way for you to help." She placed a hand on his cheek. "You need to take care of yourself."

His heart throbbed as she pulled him into a hug.

It ended too soon as she held him at arm's length away, gripping his shoulders. "Do you need anything? Are you hungry?"

He shook his head. "Just tired."

"I'll let you rest then. Take it easy on yourself. We'll find a new way to use your gift to help the community."

And with that she swept from the room, taking the candle with her. Bruno settled back to sleep, a smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Bruno watched as Julieta smiled and laughed as she handed over an empanada to a senora. She had a small line, and everyone was chatting and laughing as they waited for their turn. As she added last minute touches to each item she handed over, using what she knew about each person's flavor preferences, Bruno was speechless at how grown up she was.

Pepa had been greeted by several of her friends. They had flocked together, sharing the latest news and gossip before a farmer approached nervously, asking if she could help refill his irrigation system. One of her friends volunteered to keep her company, excitedly offering to read aloud from a new tragic novel she had. Bruno found himself smiling over how relaxed and happy Pepa looked.

Mamá was sipping coffee with a few other mothers and the woman from Bruno's vision. She was asking for new baby advice, her hands continually rubbing her round belly.

Bruno wasn't sure what to do, having been forced to leave Casita today by his mamá. His family was busy, and he didn't know what to do with himself. As he wandered the market looking for his family, he had felt an odd sense of displacement to see them already busy. He had just resolved to go visit the Valderrama’s when someone called to him.

"Excuse me señor?" Bruno turned to see the husband from his vision. He was shifting nervously from foot to foot, constantly glancing over at his pregnant wife. "I just wanted to say thank you. I don't know if you remember-"

"I remember. Congratulations." Bruno interrupted, looking at the laughing woman.

The man visibly relaxed. "Yes, we couldn't believe it would come true. But we are so glad it did." His face was soft as he gazed at his wife, before he remembered himself.

"Oh, I didn't mean that to sound like we doubted you or your vision. We know the magic is strong. We had just given up hope." He hastily explained. "It's still hard to believe."

Bruno chuckled nervously. "Yeah, it's weird seeing them come to life."

"It's a miracle!" Someone else cried from behind him. "The vision he gave us came true too." The man with the vision of the new house approached them from across the square. Soon a crowd had formed by this point, and Bruno found himself answering questions about the visions that hadn't come true and discussing the ones that had.

When he strolled up the hill to Casita at the end of the night, his pockets were filled with little trinkets and gifts from the community members he'd helped with his visions.

///

In his room, Bruno laid in his hammock and watched the sand ripple in the archway. Everything in the room seemed lusher, greener and brighter. He absently played with a carved wooden toucan, a smile playing across his face.

A knock at his door made him jump, the hammock vibrating with the movement. "Brunito?" He heard his mothers voice rise above the sand. "I'd like to speak with you."

He sat up in his hammock, toes trailing through the sand. "Yes, mamá?"

With that, she fully entered the room, ducking quickly through the sand and patting her hair once she was through. "What have you been doing?"

"Uh, just thinking." He couldn't remember what he'd been thinking of, but she didn't seem to mind that his reply was so short.

She settled into the chair that now lived by his tree. "I saw you speaking with the villagers. What did they want?"

"Oh, they just wanted to thank me for the visions that came true." Bruno wasn't sure why he felt embarrassed admitting that.

Mamá smiled wide at him. "The community has been so pleased with your visions. I've heard so many good things about what your gift has done."

And the dam broke within Bruno, old habits came flooding back, and he found words pouring forth from his mouth. He told her all about the speculation from the community about the visions that hadn't come true. He shared the joy shared by those whose visions had come true. He even mentioned the vision he had during it all, showing a large crowd around Julieta's stall.

Mamá listened to him through it all, laughing when appropriate and asking more questions. She shared what she had heard and her own thoughts on the visions yet to pass.

"It's so wonderful to see how the community is so tight-knit." Mamá sighed happily. "With Pepa keeping our crops growing and Julieta keeping everyone healthy, we have everything we need. And with your gift, Brunito, letting us know our future is a bright one."

He couldn't keep from blushing. "I think Pepa and Julieta are more helpful than me."

"For now. I believe we can find a way to better use your gift that does not cause you so much pain." Mamá was staring out into the distance, eyes unfocused.

He bowed his head, even the thought of that week causing ghosts of pain in his head. "I'm… working on something." He swallowed hard, wishing he hadn't said anything.

Mamá's head perked up, her eyes sharp on Bruno. "Something with your visions?"

He nodded, keeping his eyes trained on his tangled fingers resting in his lap. "Yeah. I think I can have my smaller visions at will. Since I've learned to control the prophecies I'm pretty sure I can train my gift to show me visions when I want."

She clapped her hands together once. "That's wonderful, Brunito. I know you can do it."

Encouraged, he started explaining how he thought he could do it and the ways he was practicing.

They lost track of time badly enough that Julieta had to come get them for dinner. As he detangled himself from the hammock, his mother placed her hand on his shoulder to keep him steady, and it remained there all the way to the dining room.

///

After dinner, he met Julieta in her room. Pepa and Mamá were both in bed by now, but Bruno had still thrown two fistfuls of salt over his shoulder as he snuck out of his room.

His sister was waiting for him, a dish of Postre de Natas already set up. It wouldn't help with the headaches this would bring, but the relief he saw on Julieta’s face, thinking she was helping him, made him pretend they healed him. "Are you sure you're up to this tonight?"

He nodded, curls falling before his eyes. "I may have told mamá what I'm trying to do. I have to figure this out."

Julieta gave him that sad, concerned look she had perfected, head tilting to the side. "I thought you were going to wait until you had it figured out?"

He rubbed at an arm, licking his lips before he replied. "I know, it just sorta slipped out." He gave her a small smile. "I'm not like you, I can't keep secrets from mama."

She huffed and crossed her arms over her apron. "I do not keep secrets from mamá."

He couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh yeah? Does that mean you told her about your new power?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to her pockets meaningfully.

Reflexively she rested a hand on each of her apron pockets. "Just because she hasn't noticed doesn't mean it's a secret." Julieta had recently figured out that her apron pockets were magic too, always containing fresh medicinal herbs. She'd gotten the idea from her door, the adult version of herself having overflowing pockets. Even now perfectly formed leaves poked out of her pockets, the green a lovely contrast against the light blue apron.

"Just tell me what you did again. To control your magic like that."

Chapter Text

Julieta recounted the less-than-exciting story of how she decided she wanted her magic to do something, and after continuously imaging it working it just clicked for her one day. She made it sound so easy. To just will the magic into being.

Bruno tried to ask questions to figure out how to get it to work for him. While he felt the magic like a rising well within him, or a clock ticking away until it rang the hour, she felt it as a tingling in her limbs, a warmth that simmered within her that she could imbibe the food with.

They sat cross-legged on her wooden floor facing each other. Julieta's room hadn't changed much over the years. There was an abundance of potted plants, mostly herbs and seasonings. The walls were plastered with handwritten recipes, grouped by some system Bruno would never figure out.

"OK. I'm ready to try again." Bruno said, shaking out his hands and letting his eyes rest. He held out his hands, fingertips tingling, and felt Julieta grab hold. Taking one last deep breath, he opened his eyes and let his gaze lock onto hers.

Nothing happened at first. Nothing ever happened, no flickering of that internal magic or green light shining outward. But this time, he found his mind wandering, dissecting the colors of Julieta's eyes, how similar they were to mamá's.

There was a faint stirring at the back of his mind, like he was trying to remember something. As his face scrunched up, trying to conjure up what he was sure was a distant memory, the green showed up between one blink and the next.

"What do you see?" Julieta's voice drifted through his vision-induced haze.

"Mamá and you." He always found it difficult to remain aware of the present while the future was bright before his eyes.

Julieta snorted. “And what are we doing?”

“Hugging.” He strained his eyes to see more, wishing there were some movement to the vision like when he used sand and smoke. But when it was just formed with the green light in his eyes, it was difficult to focus and control.

“Is this a near-future vision?” He detected a genuine thread of curiosity in her question. It made his need to take control of the vision burn brighter, but it caused the magic to flare in a head-splitting way. With a gasp he released the vision, clutching at his head.

In an instant, Julieta was there with an arm around his shoulders and a spoon of Postre de Natas poised and ready to shove into his mouth. He opened his mouth obediently, accepting a mouthful of healing magic. It didn’t do much for his head,but the tightness in his chest loosened.

“Was there anything else you saw?” Julieta rubbed circles in his back.

Bruno remained hunched over, eyes closed as he tried to conjure up a ghost of the vision. “No, I don’t know when it was. But it looked like a nice hug.”

There was an unnatural stillness from Julieta. “Will you… show me?” Her soft request made his eyes shoot open to study her face. She refused to look at him, playing with her fingertips instead. There were times when Bruno looked at his sisters and saw whispers of the women they would be, and as he looked at her now he saw lines on her face that weren’t yet there, streaks of gray in her hair that wouldn’t grow for decades to come.

Pushing his own embarrassment aside, he bit his lip and nodded. He shuffled to stand on his knees before her, while she remained sitting back on her heels. Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he used his other to cradle her head against his chest. It felt awkward at first, but as she wrapped her arms around his torso they relaxed into each other's warmth.

Tremors started shaking through Julieta’s body. Soon, Bruno was rubbing her back and making those soft shushing noises that Julieta always did when he was upset. He found tears streaking down his face as Julieta sobbed into his chest, clutching at his ruana for dear life with both hands.

Bruno sat holding his oldest sister as she broke apart, his own heart breaking as he realized he couldn’t remember the last time anyone took care of Julieta. She was always so strong and self-sufficient, but as he felt his shirt growing damp he realized that she deserved so many more hugs.

///

“Mamá?” Bruno called to his mother as she was about to disappear into her room for the night.

It was a week later, and Bruno had been unable to stop thinking about that night with Julieta.

“Yes, Bruno?” She paused within her room, poised to close the door.

He had to take a breath to strengthen his resolve. He found it easier to talk to her when she called him ‘Brunito’. “Can I talk to you? In private?”

The expression on his mamá’s face made him think she was going to say no, but she did open the door as an invitation to enter. He knocked on the doorframe for good luck as he entered the room.

“What is so important it cannot wait until later?” She moved to the dresser, taking off her earrings in preparation for going to bed.

“I need to show you something.” Bruno had already picked out the spot, settling cross-legged in the middle of her floor. “Please.” He held his hands out, palms up.

It was a few breaths of her standing, staring at him with her lips parted, before she approached him. “You’ve learned something about your gift?”

Wordlessly he took her hands, tugging on them to urge her to sit. As she did, he found his mind whirling with the mantra, I can do this. I have to do this. Once his mamá was settled, he tried to empty his mind of everything except for the vision he wanted to have.

It took an embarrassing amount of time to find that well of magic within him. He was ready to give up, his face hot as he stared at his mamá’s increasingly impatient face, when the image of Julieta pressing her face into his ruana flooded his brain. For Julieta.

The green sprang forth in his eyes, and his body would have sagged with relief if it weren’t taut with power.

“Brunito.” His mother’s voice called, and he remembered she was here too.

“I see you, and Julieta. You’ve got her wrapped up in a hug. There are tears on her face but she’s smiling.” That was as much as he could milk from the vision before the pain grew too much, and he had to blink his burning eyes.

The magic faded and he was able to see his mother’s face again, too many emotions for him to properly read. But he had spent a week trying to refine his visions to bring him to this moment, and he couldn’t let the fear of what she would say stop him now.

“You need to speak with Julieta, mamá. She’s taken on so much and is doing it all by herself. She needs you mamá.” Bruno licked his lips, trying to impart how serious he was through his face.

Mamá had to swallow hard before she could speak. “Are you able to have visions at will now?”

The weight of failure loomed over him. “Almost. I’m still working on it. But mamá, Julieta.”

“Can you control what you see?” Her face was blank, impassive, and the overwhelming feeling that this was going all wrong washed over him.

He tightened his hold on her hands, but that seemed to make her realize she was still sitting on the floor, her hands in his. She pulled away, standing up and turning back to her dresser. He was speechless, and she looked over her shoulder at him, repeating the question with her expression.

“No, not really. I’m not sure what determines what I see, but it feels like it’s something the person needs to know.” He stood as well, brushing his clothes off to give his hands something to do.

Mamá nodded to herself, her eyes staring at something he couldn’t see. It was unnerving to be on this side of it. “Thank you for showing me. We can speak more about it tomorrow.”

Recognizing the dismissal for what it was, he nodded his head to himself and left the room.

Once he was in his oasis, he unleashed a loud, drawn out frustrated groan that echoed in the open space.

Chapter Text

"Thank you."

Bruno barely looked up from the pot he was scrubbing as he grunted a 'don't mention it' kind of noise. Ever since that day with Julieta, he had been making more of an effort to help his sister. He was a great dishwasher, not so much a good cook.

"No, I mean for talking to mama." Julieta picked up a dry dish towel, beginning to dry the dishes he had already washed. As she placed dry dishes on the counter, Casita would shuffle them off to put away.

The pot banged loudly against the side of the sink. "I didn't talk to her."

She hummed from deep in her throat. "What did you do then?"

He focused his attention on a particular stubborn spot of dried food. "I had a vision." One of his dripping wet hands knocked on the wooden trim before him before disappearing into the sink.

"Why do you do that?" Julieta paused her drying, looking at the damp mark left by his action.

Practically shoving the clean pot into her hands, he turned his attention to the silverware left swimming at the bottom of the sink. "Do what?"

"The knocking on wood." The rag squeaked against the pot. "You do it a lot."

Bruno shrugged, his face growing warm. "It's supposed to keep away bad luck. If you talk about something bad it's supposed to keep it from coming true too."

"Do you think talking about your visions is bad luck?" Julieta had that gentle, prying tone that she used when she knew someone needed to be taken care of. But Bruno was onto her now, and if it meant putting her needs before his then he'd do it.

"What happened with you and Mama? What made you think I said anything to her?"

He caught her wry smile as he handed her a fork to dry. "Well, she came and spoke to me this morning when you and Pepa were still in your rooms."

Julieta explained how their mama had awkwardly asked how Julieta has been, how her gift was coming along. She finally noticed the herbs springing forth from apron pockets. They discussed how much she was helping the community and how much everyone relied on her.

"And then she told me it was OK to take a day off sometimes. I told her it was fine, that people needed me." Julieta took a deep steadying breath. She was leaning back against the counter, hands gripping the lip of the counter. "Mama told me this wasn't the life she wanted for me. That I'm old enough to know what I want to do with my life."

Bruno was sitting on the counter, tracing the pattern of the floor tiles with his eyes. The silence dragged on, and he knew Julieta was waiting for him to respond. "I… can't imagine mama saying that." He admitted. "I'm glad she did, but…"

"It's never been about us, it's always been about our gifts?" Julieta finished for him. "Something you said to her got through to her though. Your vision came true."

"I didn't do much." He shrugged again, head reeling from its inability to picture what Julieta had explained. It had also been a couple of weeks since he spoke to mama, and he'd done his best to push the conversation from his memory.

Julieta nudged his knee with her elbow. "Whatever you did made an impact on mama. She's always listened to you."

It was in that moment that Bruno realized he may still be his mama's favorite.

///

There was an extra bounce in his step as he strode into the community later that day. Bruno meant to find mama and test the idea Julieta had planted in his head, but very quickly got sidetracked.

His mama found him a few hours later. He was surrounded by people in the square, currently speaking with Osvaldo about the vision he had just had.

"You really think it was my birthday party?" The kid asked, bouncing on his toes.

Bruno placed a hand on his chin, twisting his face in thought. "Let's see, there was a cake, a banner, you were wearing a party hat… hmm. Actually now that I think about it, I think it was your toucan's birthday party."

"But I don't have a toucan!" Osvaldo whined, tugging on Bruno's ruana.

"Oh!" Bruno drew out the sound. "You don't? Are you sure?" The boy frantically shook his head. "I guess it had to be your birthday party then."

Osvaldo jumped and clapped. "Oh no!" He stopped abruptly. "I have so much planning to do!" The townspeople all laughed as he tore off, calling for his mama.

"Bruno, are you sharing your wonderful visions with our community again?" Some of the older members of the community flocked to her, gushing about the four visions Bruno had in quick succession.

He watched his mama carefully as she smiled and marveled with them about how special his gift was. "Bruno, you must be exhausted after using so much of your gift. Come, I'll walk you back home."

She held an arm out, and as he approached her she rested her hand on his shoulder. The villagers called out their goodbyes, dispersing to attend their everyday needs.

"It's incredible to see you and your sisters at work helping out the community." She looked to their house up the hill. "I've noticed the candle is glowing brighter than it ever has. It seems to get stronger the more your gifts grow." She mused, squeezing his shoulder.

Bruno's mind was swirling with how to approach what Julieta had told him. His thoughts did feel like they were traveling through mud, a dull pain from his visions radiating through his head.

He missed half of the conversation with his mama. "Bruno? Don't you think that's a good idea?" As she removed her hand, he snapped back to the present.

"What? Oh, yeah, it'll be great." He replied, just realizing they were back at the casita. "Mama, Julieta said you spoke to her." It wasn't the most graceful way to broach the subject, but the words fell out of his mouth before he could think them through.

"I do that frequently, Brunito. You must be tired." She chuckled, but he could tell by the hasty way she shooed him off to rest that there was more to it that she didn't want to discuss.

As he entered his room, resolving to read until Julieta or Pepa were back, he was surprised to see the sand flowing strong in the arch. Bruno lightly scratched at his head, prodding the tender spots. It had been a while since he had a full prophetic vision.

He held his breath, fingers crossed as he passed through the sand, passing through his oasis quickly and climbing the staircase to the vision cave. In the stone hallway he paused, gathering his supplies, noting that he would need to get more tobacco leaves.

He repeated his rituals as he entered the vision cave, setting up the space quickly. The pain was building behind his right eye, stabbing it's way outward. It caused a certain kind of frantic energy to his actions.

By the time he had the green pane in his hands, a bone deep weariness weighed down his movements. He didn't even look at the tablet as he forced his legs to carry him out of the room, setting it against the wall on the stone ledge as he passed through the hallway.

He tripped over the new stair, but managed to keep from tumbling over. It was unnaturally dark in his room as he collapsed into his hammock, sleep relieving him from the pain throbbing in his head.

Chapter Text

"Don Renacuajito mirando este asalto." Bruno recited from The Walking Tadpole by Rafael Pombo. He had fun doing different voices and Abuela Valderrama found the story short and simple enough that she could stay awake throughout it. Ever since Bruno had brought Agustin to Julieta, Bruno had made it a point to bring his sister's cooking when he visited. Abuela Valderrama still struggled with remembering, but she was back to her old self.

He was just turning the book's page when something made them both look out the window.

"Bruno! I know you're in there!"

As the shouting continued, Bruno closed the book, setting it on her bed before leaning out the window. "Felix! What do you want?"

The man appeared from around a corner of the house. "There you are!" He stopped at the window, putting his wide hands on the frame. "It's Pepa!"

"What's wrong with Pepa?" Bruno asked, alarm ringing in his tone. "Is she alright?"

"She's out of her mind is what she is!" Bruno had to step back as Felix hoisted himself up and through the window.

"What- wait what?" Bruno stammered as Felix flopped into the room.

"And who is this?" Abuela Valderrama asked, amusement clear in her voice.

Felix turned to her, taking her hand off the blanket and kissing the back of it. "Pardon, senora. I'm Felix. And I'm in desperate need of Bruno's help, so I hope you'll pardon the intrusion."

"Is Pepa OK?" Bruno demanded, not giving the woman time to respond.

Felix whirled on Bruno. "I'm hoping you can tell me! She's on a date with Mauro!"

It felt like Bruno’s brain short circuited. He didn't know how long he sat, mouth hanging open, mind stuttering over the idea of his sister on a date.

"Wait, she's really on a date?" He blurted out.

Abuela Valderrama smiled at him. "Welcome back to the conversation."

Felix was now sitting in the chair by her bed, and judging by the looks they were giving him, he'd been checked out for a while.

"Yes! With Mauro!" Felix exclaimed. "Do you see why I need your help now?"

"Uh, no. Sorry."

Felix shook his head, shooting to his feet. "I need you to have a vision!" He crossed the small distance to place his hands on Bruno's upper arms. "I need to know what happens!" He shook Bruno a little as he said this.

"I don't want to spy on my sister's date!" Bruno's voice warbled as Felix continued to shake him.

The words made Felix stop abruptly though. "I don't want a vision of their date." He sat heavily in the chair again. "I need you to tell me if they get married. If he's who she's meant to be I'll leave it alone. But if he makes her unhappy I need to stop it."

The man looked so defeated that Abuela Valderrama shifted to put a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright. Fine, I'll try." The look Valderrama gave him at his drawn out silence forced the reply from his mouth.

The smile on Felix's face almost made the slimy feeling in his gut worth it.

"So, uh… what do you need to do?"

Valderrama clapped her hands with excitement. "If you shut up you'll find out!"

///

The simple stone room was awash with the green light that his eyes emitted as he peered into the future.

It was hard to get this vision underway, both members of his audience full of colorful commentary. But somehow he was able to force the magic to show him Pepa. It was harder without the sand, but he focused on the image of her and Mauro.

It finally formed in the green light, Pepa facing him, the other boy mid-stride as though he were walking away. He was hand in hand with another girl.

Bruno released the magic, panting as he dug his fingers into his curls.

"What did you see?" Felix was crouched beside him, shaking his shoulder.

"I don't think they end up together. I saw him with another girl." Bruno rasped, the ghosts of the vision floating before his eyes.

Felix shot up. "I've got to warn her!" He spoke a hasty farewell to Abuela Valderrama, then leapt from the window on his quest.

A few moments passed with Bruno and Abuela Valderrama staring at each other. Then they both burst into laughter.

///

Bruno would later find out that Felix had charged in while Pepa was taking a walk with Mauro, yelling about how he wouldn't let Mauro break her heart. He would also find out that they were only discussing what Julieta might like for her next birthday, as Mauro may or may not have a crush on his other sister.

This had prompted an angry Pepa to demand why Felix would interrupt a date if she so happened to be on one. And a very nervous Felix had to explain that he only wanted Pepa to be happy. He'd gone on about how it broke his heart every time he saw it rain on her, and he only wanted sunny days and clear skies for her.

She'd finally shut him up with a kiss.

The way Bruno found out wasn't nearly as fun, nor exciting.

Felix had confessed that Bruno gave him a vision that inspired the quest. And while Pepa was beyond happy Felix finally confessed his feelings, she wasn't so excited about Bruno's involvement.

"What if I had been on a date, hmm? I'm not allowed to take a chance without you checking the outcome for me? Are you going to look into the future to see if things work out between me and Felix too? You think you can control us all just because you see the future?"

He'd sat and listened to her tirade, knowing well enough that it would only infuriate her more if he tried to defend himself.

It was made worse over dinner. Mama had gotten news of what Bruno had done, how it brought his sister and her suitor together and settled many bets in the village. Mama gave him a conspiring wink, as they both knew the two would end up together.

Mama never noticed that not one of her triplets said a word during dinner. She didn't notice the way Bruno wilted under the continued praise, too weighed down by the pressure of living up to the promises. She didn't notice how Pepa and Julieta shared a long, expressive look, their darting eyes searching for any clouds forming overhead.

Bruno wished he had caught even a part of the silent conversation. That way he would have known he would be turned away from both sisters' rooms after dinner, when all he wanted was some distraction from the thoughts overwhelming his brain.

Chapter Text

The tablets were born of swirling sand and glowing green magic.

But Bruno didn’t need the sand to have visions.

To share his gift and help the village, he only needed to focus on that internal well of magic, to clasp hands of who the reading was for.

But there were days where the magic was too much, the pressure building in his head until his vision was blurry and thinking caused sharp spikes of pain.

Over the years he learned to pay attention to the sand arch, knowing that when it fell in a torrential downpour, it was time for him to enter his vision cave. He’d set up the tobacco leaves, sit in the center of the sand pit, and let the magic release into the sand and smoke.

On one such a day, when the triplets were well into their nineteenth year, Bruno made his excuses at breakfast to stay home. His mama had protested, insisting he join her and spend some time in the village. But he only had to mention his aching head for her to give him a knowing look and leave him alone.

Bruno escaped back into his room before his family had left for town. If he had stayed even two minutes more, he would have heard the frantic cries of the villagers as a small group approached Casita.

As it was, he climbed the stairs towards his vision cave, as peaceful as he could be with the pressure building behind his eyes.

While he was gathering handfuls of dried leaves, musing that he needed to collect more from Pepa’s room to have Julieta dry them, Mama was opening the front door of Casita, eyes wide as she tried to distinguish between three people talking at once what was going on.

As Bruno entered his vision cave, knocking on the wooden door as he passed through with bated breath, Mama covered her mouth with a hand in horror as she figured out what the villagers were telling her.

Bruno had just arranged the five piles just right, the pain nearly unbearable, when Mama and the villagers passed through his enchanted door.

He had just tossed a handful of salt over his shoulder as they passed through the sand arch, the villagers first sputtering sand from their mouths then letting them hang open as they took in his oasis.

As he held his breath, eyes tightly closed, focusing on the well of magic within rising, his mama burst into the vision cave.

“Bruno!”

The sharp sound of his name caused a flare of pain in his brain as the flames before him flickered from the air coming through the now open door.

He opened his eyes, expecting to see the sand shifting around him, only to meet his mother’s panicked face, followed slowly by the three villagers as they crept forth.

“Mama?”

“Bruno, good, you can still have a vision. There’s a child lost in the jungle. We need you to find her.” His mama stepped closer, skirting the edges of the circular pit of sand. Her hands were clasped before her. “Please, Brunito. They think she’s been missing since last night.”

Alma gestured to the group behind her, the parents of the child clutching each other and looking everywhere around his cave but at him. “You really think he can help?” The mother warbled softly.

As his mama answered in the affirmative, Bruno watched the third person as he stared, unblinking, at the flames dancing before Bruno. If the pain in his head hadn’t been overwhelming any other feelings he would have been nervous.

He winced as another wave of pain rocked through him. “Do you have anything of hers?” He ground out, his vision flickering with green.

Mama held out a stuffed bear, which he briskly took and settled back into the middle of his vision circle. As he stared at the bear, the magic overtook him. The sand kicked up, the smoke lacing through and it all held together by the green sparks of magic.

He’d seen the bear before, seen the girl clutching it in the market as she trailed after her parents. As he focused on her energy, on what the bear meant to her, he felt the tug of magic, lifting his gaze to search the whirling sand particles. The image materialized, the girl playing hopscotch in front of her house.

Grinding his teeth, knowing that a vision of her safe in a couple of years wasn’t what they wanted, he pushed against his gift, trying to pull the image backwards through time. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped as the magic started to feel too big for his chest.

But it was slowly working, the girl showcased in sand was slowly growing younger as she sporadically appeared, until he could feel his gift about to burst out of his control. Somehow he knew it was because he was looking at the near future. The girl appeared in the sand again, and he latched onto the image with all of his will. It grew stronger, clearer, showing the little girl curled up at the base of a tree, ferns shading her. He let go of his grasp on time, letting the image progress. The vision zoomed out, showing the wider area that she was in, before another, ill-defined person materialized in the shifting sand and smoke. Bruno knew it was himself, pushing aside greenery to stop at the base of the tree the girl was hidden by.

There was a pop, such an awful pop, somewhere within Bruno. Abruptly the magic shattered, the sand raining down as he was pushed back by the force of the magic retreating back into his body. As he sprawled on the ground, sand raining down on him, the weight of the vision tablet settling on his chest, it felt like he had been run over by a drove of donkey.

Dimly, he grew aware that there were other people around him, trying to pry the vision from his stiff fingers or brushing his curls back from his face. A whimper of pain preceded a rushing exhale as he opened his eyes.

Mama was crouched above him, her knees digging into the sand as she ran her hand over his head. The mother of the missing girl had extracted the vision from his grasp and was pouring over it, standing over him. It was all he saw before he had to close his eyes again, this time against the sudden rush of nausea.

“Bruno, speak to me. Where is the girl? Are you ok?” He could tell his mama was trying to quell her emotions, her tone both stiff and thrumming with held back feelings.

He pushed himself up, sand hissing as it fell from his body. Wiping at the thick feeling on his upper lip, he rasped out, “I’m fine. We’ve got to go get her.” As his hand fell away from his face, he saw a smear of blood on it. The tang of copper spread thick across his tongue, and he wiped at his bloody nose again. “We should get going before she wakes up and moves.”

The trio that accompanied Alma to his vision cave rushed out, heads bent over the tablet and arguing in hissing tones about where it was showing.

“Bruno, are you sure you’re ok?” His mother stopped him from following with a hand on his shoulder. “Your ears are bleeding.” One of his bloody hands went up to feel, fingers coming away thick with red.

“I’ll grab something from Julieta. But first we’ve got to get going.”

///

Bruno wasn’t sure how he did it, but he was able to walk out of Casita, confident he was going the right way. Just as his vision showed, he pushed aside undergrowth and entered a clearing with a familiar tree standing at its edge. The parents had rushed forth, dropping the tablet as it dissolved into sand, trampling wilderness to find their daughter, just waking up from the racket they were making. A tearful reunion later, and Alma was pushing them all to head back to Casita to treat the girl and Bruno to some of Julieta’s food.

As they left the clearing, Bruno lingered, eyes darting around the greenery. A rustle of leaves drew his attention, and he was quick enough to see the jaguar give up its prowl and turn to disappear back into the jungle.

Chapter Text

Bruno would look back at that day as a turning point. His vision had saved someone, he had witnesses to his rituals, and both facts quickly spread through the community.

Julieta had fixed him all up, but something in him still felt sore. Stretched out, frail.

It had been a few days before he felt strong enough to leave the casita. Mama had checked on him frequently, cooing over how strong he had been and what a wonderful thing his gift had done.

The first thing he did when he left the casita was go see Abuela Valderrama. Upon recounting the tale of what transpired, he was surprised that she wasn't equally impressed at the control exercised over his gift.

Instead she had admonished him for letting others see his ritual. She reminded him of how brujos and brujas have been viewed, chased out of town, hunted down, when things went wrong in their communities. She chastised him, telling him to protect himself, that he couldn't take his magic for granted.

Augustin had to come in and usher Bruno out, as his abuela was so agitated.

Bruno walked back to the village alone. He'd been so excited to share how his magic had worked for him, only to be scolded for it. There was a hollowness gnawing uncomfortably within him as he adjusted to the reality versus what his expectations had been.

Halfway to the village square, he felt a prickling along the back of his neck. Turning to seek the source of the sensation, he locked eyes with one of the villagers who witnessed his full vision. The look of scrutinizing anger made Bruno's shoulders shoot to his ears.

Quickly he turned back around, changing directions to head to the safety of Casita. He pulled his hood up over his curls as he rounded a building, finding some comfort in the fabric shielding his face. He pitched a handful of salt over his shoulder.

///

The incident with the man stuck in his mind for far longer than he would be willing to admit. It was another week of hiding in the Casita, before his mama decided to do something about it.

He was washing dishes for Julieta when his mama found him, pulling him away to the sitting room. One of mama's friends from the community was waiting, her hands twisting in her lap.

The vision was simple, the news well received, and his head barely hurt afterward. It was all encouraging enough that he made the trip back to Valderrama the next day.

They didn't mention what had happened the last time he was over. Augustin was thrilled to see him again though, neglecting his chores to spend the afternoon with them.

Members of the community would soon learn that they could seek Bruno out at the Valderrama’s. He'd sit in the main room of the house, holding hands across the table and have his simple visions. He was getting better about focusing on the questions they had and delivering a vision that at least partially answered them.

Abuela Valderrama loved it. She would gossip with Bruno afterward about what he saw and what it would mean.

As his visions grew more popular, as word spread that he could clear up the murkiness of uncertain life decisions, more people flocked to Valderrama’s little cottage. And with how small it was, they had to wait outside. While waiting outside, the villagers got to see how they were neglecting to help two of the community members who needed it most.

Soon, the little hut had a fresh coat of paint. The shutters hung straight. The leak in the roof was repaired. Meals were brought over, second hand clothes and new blankets were shared, and suddenly Augustin wasn't the only one responsible for taking care of his abuela.

Bruno was too busy to think of what Augustin did with his now-endless free time. It was too much fun to see who was coming in for a vision, or to sit with Abuela Valderrama and discuss everything he saw. The visions came so much easier now, with less ritual and more blind faith that he could do what he wanted to with his gift.

There were still days that he was unable to leave his tower though. Bolstered by the vision tablet he had provided to find the missing girl, his Mama had started to keep tabs on the amount of sand in his archway. She started to keep track of who in the community needed a little extra guidance on life events or who were struggling that could use some good news.

On the days the hourglass fell heavy and his head was splitting with a migraine, he would retreat to the vision cave. Mamá would escort someone who needed extra guidance to the cave, ascending the stairs with them and ushering them in before Bruno. When it was really bad, his eyes would already be glowing by the time they got there.

Then it was a matter of letting his gift take over. The other person would grip his hands, he would take a deep breath and let the magic go. And he would use the contact to ground himself and know what to look for in the shifting sands. He didn’t tell Abuela Valderrama that he used his full ritual for these visions, wary of getting lectured again. But nobody seemed put off or even took special notice of the burning tobacco leaves or the salt flying over his shoulder.

Everything started to smooth out for Bruno. He forgot about the glaring man, though he retained the habit of pulling up his hood when it all became too much and he needed to narrow down the world.

His days were spent with Abuela Valderrama, his nights with his mama recounting what he had seen and who came to him for help. It was just like he was six years old, invited into her room after dinner for a quick dessert or to watch the sunset in her sitting area, the magic candle casting dancing shadows across the room while the sky changed colors beyond. He would go to his room with the warmth of his mother’s arms still lingering across his shoulders, his heart full.

This time, Bruno knew he was his mama’s favorite. And he was going to enjoy it to its fullest, even if it meant sometimes ignoring the way Julieta would stare at him, her mouth pinched. Or overlooking how Pepa would excitedly share her own stories over dinner, or bring fresh flowers she had helped grow to decorate the table with, only to receive a brief acknowledgement from mama before silence would fall again.

It didn't mean he wouldn't make up for it in different ways, sometimes taking days off to spend with Pepa as she filled canals with her rain or encouraged fruit to ripen with the perfect mix of sun and wind. He would be around to taste test all of Julieta's food, continuing to make it a point to do the dishes for her, or sometimes bringing meals from the community to save her a night of cooking.

Forgotten was the childhood anxiety, the overwhelming consumption his gift would bring to his mind. Everything was balanced, and it felt like there were no problems he and his family couldn’t solve.

Until.

He met a girl.

Chapter Text

Bruno never really thought about love.

Sure he loved his family and knew they loved him, but that wasn't this type of love. He knew how he cared for and loved the community, but it wasn't that type either.

He would see the love shared by Felix and Pepa, know the ways they added to each other's lives and balanced out. He knew what love looked like.

He would hear from Augustin how wonderful Julieta was, listening to the ways he saw Julieta as a person and not just her gift. He knew what love sounded like.

But he never thought about it for himself.

Bruno never thought he would feel butterflies in his stomach upon seeing someone across the market. He didn’t know his heart would throb with emotion at seeing smiles given just to him. The way his heart would soar at hearing laughter that he inspired.

Love would show him so many things he never noticed or felt before. The joy of a lazy afternoon, laying in the grass on a hillside watching clouds float by while the wind tickled their skin. Walks along the outskirts of the community, marveling at the colors and scents of the blooming flowers. How rain made everything clear and fresh and new.

It all started out innocently, Maria coming to him for a vision on one of his migraine days. She had lingered afterward, concerned for the pain he was in. Inadvertently she had spent the entire day with him, just talking and asking questions about what he saw and what he liked to do. He would blame his headache for the fact that he didn’t realize what was happening.

The next time he saw her was in town, as he wandered aimlessly during one of Abuela Valderrama’s bad days. Augustin had fetched Julieta for her assistance, and Bruno had seen Pepa and Felix walking the corn rows and there was no way he was going to disturb that. So while he flitted about, lost, it was a surprise that she fell into step beside him, asking if he felt better.

That had turned into him helping her carry her load across town, then as they sat outside her home to continue their conversations. He would never really remember what they spoke about, just the warm buzzing the time spent with her would leave him with.

Soon it felt like they were seeking each other out at any opportunity. She would find him at Valderrama’s, or he would find her in the market, or sometimes they would turn up on the same corner, sitting on the bench and watching the world go by.

It wasn’t until Abuela Valderrama asked him that he realized there was anything but burgeoning friendship between them.

“So when are you going to ask Maria out?” She hadn’t even looked at him when she asked, her rheumy eyes studying a rough bit of wood carving Augustin had been working on.

Bruno didn’t understand her question at first, too absorbed in the book he was bent over. It was filled with her cramped handwriting, written before her fingers grew too gnarled to hold the pen, and he was trying to see if there was anything that would help suppress his headache visions. “Hmm?”

As Abuela Valderrrama repeated her question, annoyed at Bruno’s lack of attention, his head snapped up, cheeks growing hot. “It’s not like that between us. We’re just friends.”

She shook her head at him. “That’s how it always starts. Just look at Pepa and Felix. You just need to make the next move.”

“I don’t feel that way about her.” He was quick to deny, burying himself back in the book. But as the old woman gave a phlegmy scoff, muttering about how he didn’t know what he felt, he found himself reading the same paragraph over and over, hiding his burning face behind the book, he started to realize there was something more to how he felt.

It nagged at him so much that when the friend in question came over, Bruno dropped the book, scattering loose paper with his notes tucked between pages. Abuela Valderrama had roared with laughter as Bruno kneeled to pick them up, steadfastly ignoring the girl who bent to help him.

The fire in his face burned enough that he made a hasty excuse about needing to help his mama and fled the house. Abuela Valderrama’s laughter trailed him the entire way.

It was a couple of days spent avoiding them both that Bruno realized how right Abuela Valderrama was, and how much he cared for this girl. But, as he had never thought about love for himself, it was more embarrassing to admit or talk about with anyone than he thought. Multiple times he tried to broach the subject with Julieta, only for her cheeks to darken and hastily changing the subject. If only he recognized that she thought he was asking about her own personal love life. Pepa was less help, only wanting to talk about Felix and the latest grand romantic thing he had done for her.

And he didn’t dare ask his mama.

Bruno didn’t have time to decide what he wanted to do about it. Maria found him first.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” He refused to look at her, instead focusing on the plates he was washing, cursing Casita for letting her in and unable to stop imagining the way she would have her hand on her hips while she said that.

She wasn’t dismayed by his lack of a response. Maybe she counted on him staying silent, listening as she said what she needed to say. She did pick up the pile of clean dishes from last night and start putting them away. While her hands were busy, she continued. “I’m not going to guess why. But if there’s something wrong I hope you’d talk to me. I know Valderrama was teasing you about something but you and I both know she’s just like that. And if there’s something wrong with your magic I hope you would tell me too. I’ve noticed you haven’t had as many visions lately and if something’s wrong we could figure it out together.”

Bruno let her rattle on. It was one of the things he liked most about her, he realized. The rest of the community thought her shy, reserved, but when they were alone the walls came down and she spoke whatever was on her mind without pause.

“I like you.”

The words hung in the air between them, silence falling thick. Bruno stopped washing the dishes, turning off the water, though he did not turn around. His vision felt clouded by anxiety, his heart so loud in his chest and ears he could barely hear anything else.

“What did you say?”

“I said I like you. And if you don’t like me back like that I understand. But that’s what I’ve been trying to figure out what to say and how.”

“You really like me?”

He finally turned away from the sink. She was arm’s length away, her wide eyes searching his. Though his hands were wet, he found a pinch of salt and tossed it over his shoulder, his other hand rapping on the wood behind him knock knock knock. “Of course I do. You’re beautiful and amazing, you always listen to my dumb story ideas, you ask me about the characters I’ve made up like they are real people. Sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe if you aren’t there.”

He was the one on the verge of rambling now, but she saved him from himself.

Maria surged forth, their lips bumping clumsily as she threw her arms around him. His arms snaked around her waist, and through the water on his hands seeped into her clothes and their noses bumped too much and neither of them knew what they were doing, it was still the best kiss he had ever had.

Chapter Text

Bruno, in hindsight, was so glad that none of the stereotypical things from drama novels had happened after his first kiss with Maria. His sisters didn’t catch them in the act, his mother didn’t witness it, even casita was blessedly silent.

Instead, their first kiss ended as sweetly as it began, their foreheads resting against each other, their breath mingling as they grinned at each other.

Then Bruno opened his mouth.

“I should ignore you more often.” He meant it as a joke, leaving an unsaid ‘if this is the reward for it’ hanging in the air. She pulled her head back, her smile fading as a blush burned up his neck to his cheeks.

But Maria was used to him, and she cracked a smile as she stepped out of his arms. He hadn’t even realized his arms were wrapped around her waist. “It was the sight of you doing dishes.” She clasped her hands and pressed them against her cheek, sighing dreamily. “A man that does housework.”

Bruno’s blush faded as his own grin grew. “I do much more than dishes.” He puffed his chest out. “I also sweep.”

///

They arranged to meet the next day at one of the bridges spanning the river. Bruno should have dwelt more on how understanding Maria was of his growing anxiety, how she let him rush her out of the casita lest someone find the two of them alone together. She even knocked on the door three times for luck as she passed through, giving Bruno another smile before turning her back and scurrying away. He let the door swing shut, but not before he saw Maria jump and punch the sky with both fists.

///

Over dinner, Bruno alternated between dreamily pushing food around his plate, and hurriedly shoving another (delicious, Julieta-made) meal into his mouth, glancing around furtively to make sure his family did not notice his change in mood. He felt changed in some fundamental way, sure it showed on the outside and it was only a matter of time before someone noticed. He refused to meet Julieta’s eye.

It wasn’t until Julieta’s sharp voice cut through his mooniness that he realized his family had bigger problems. “You can’t tell me who to marry.”

Bruno’s fork clattered to his plate, but they took no notice of him. Pepa’s clothes were rippling in her own personal whirlwind, her jaw clenched and food untouched. Mama was staring down Julieta, both their meals abandoned. “I am not telling you who to marry. But we must consider the encanto. We can make much better matches-”

“I don’t need a better match. Agustin is all I need.” His mouth dropped open. He knew that Julieta and Agustin had grown close over the years, but he didn’t realize how close.

Their mama sighed, and Bruno realized how infuriating her ever-present facade of calm could be. “Julieta, there is no need to argue this matter. There hasn’t even been a proposal.” She narrowed sharp eyes at his sister. “Has there?”

Julieta visibly wilted under the question. “No.” She took a deep breath through her nose. “But when he asks for your blessing, how can you turn him away?”

It wasn’t a true vision, no green vision or searing head pain accompanied it, but at that moment, Bruno saw the trap his mother had laid out, knew what her response would be before it was spoken aloud.

“I can turn him away by letting him know that you are already promised to another.” Mama took a sip from her water, not one of the triplets daring to break the suffocating silence. Bruno could just see Julieta’s mouth fall open at the declaration, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from his mother to read his sister’s expression. “The Rios family has quite the eligible son. We have already discussed joining our families. As Emmanuel is quite the accomplished veterinarian, doesn’t it make sense to pair up your gifts?”

Silence descended thick upon them again, as Mama stared at Julieta, the challenge clear in her eyes. “Think of how this will strengthen the miracle.” Alma’s next comment felt like a low blow. Bruno watched, horrified, as Julieta’s face transformed into a blank mask before she stood up, leaving her plate on the table, and left the room.

Bruno and Pepa moved at the same time, their chairs scraping against the floor as they moved to follow. “Sit.” Alma’s voice cracked out, making Bruno flinch. He felt a throb behind his right eye. “Julieta needs time to think about what is best for the family. What is best for the encanto.” She took her first bite of food since Bruno had realized there was an argument. “Pepa, why don’t you tell me about your day?”

///

After dinner, neither Bruno nor Pepa were able to find Julieta anywhere in the casita.

///

To Bruno, it started to feel like things crumbled quickly after that.

Maria didn't show up at the bridge.

Felix came to ask Alma for her blessing to marry Pepa. He was told that he had it, but needed to wait until after Julieta was married.

Pepa found out, and it stormed for a whole week in the casita. Anytime she found the opportunity, she would grouse about how unfair it was that they were all the same age but she still had to wait to get married. It didn't help that no one noticed her new level of control. It didn't rain a single drop outside the walls of the casita.

Alma stuck close to Julieta’s stall after their fight. Julieta would do her best to ignore their mother without making it awkwardly obvious to the village. If Agustin came by to see Julieta, Alma found an innocent but compelling errand to send him on. It made Bruno glad that his eldest sister wasn't the one in control of the weather.

Bruno wasn’t able to find Maria in the market as often as he used to, though she did seem to genuinely regret that fact when they did have a chance to see each other. “My papa’s been keeping me too busy around the house. I can’t get away!” She would hurriedly apologize when they did snatch some time together. They never spoke about their kiss or missed meeting on the bridge.

Bruno understood when, one day as he approached her in the market, he recognized the man she was with. His visions had blessed him with a near-photographic memory for faces. As he watched the now-mustachioed senor, his brain supplied him with images of the man in his vision cave, face twisted as he watched Bruno conjure the vision of the girl lost in the jungle. Of the man watching him move through town, scrutinizing anger drawing his face closed. When his face wasn't wrinkled in fury, Bruno could trace the features Maria shared with her father and younger sister. As Senor Guerrero met his eye, his face twisting, Bruno heard the echo of Abuela Valderramas scolding that he needed to be careful with his magic.

And Abuela Valderrama.

One day, they found Nieto outside the casitas door when they were going to the village. His back was leaning against the door, making him tumble backward when it swung open. The back of his head audibly cracked as it hit the flagstones, but he didn't make a sound.

They clustered around him, as he blinked up at them from the floor. It was the first time they'd seen him in days.

“Abuela Valderramas gone.”

Chapter Text

The days leading to the funeral of Abuela Valderrama was a blur. Bruno started feeling the prophecy migraine coming on almost immediately after hearing the news. He remembered sitting in the church, unaware of what was being spoken, stuck in his own head. He couldn’t remember the last time he had visited. Was this his fault? If he had kept bringing Julieta’s cooking, would Abuela Valderrama still be here? Why didn’t he ever try to have a vision for her? 

It wasn’t until they were walking out of the church, Julieta and Augustin walking in front of him with heads bowed together, arms intertwined, that Bruno realized just how few people had attended. He glanced behind himself to see Pepa and Felix trudging down the steps, the pastor closing the doors at their backs. 

It was a cold, drizzly day, but he didn’t think that was why the turnout was so low. Flashbacks of all the warnings the old woman had given him about hiding his brujo rituals, stories from her own past about the way she was treated, flitted through his head. He remembered the way Maria’s father had looked at him all those years ago, when he was forced to seek Bruno’s help to find his youngest daughter lost in the jungle. Bruno tossed some salt over his shoulder and pulled his hood up. 

He looked ahead, trying to banish such thoughts from his head as he watched Julieta and his best friend walk together. He could hear Pepa and Felix whispering behind him. And he had never felt so alone. 

///

The next thing Bruno knew, he was trudging up the steps to his glowing door, reflecting on how he was becoming more like that man every day. Every detail in the door, the texture of the walls, even the sound of his feet against the tiles, hit his senses sharp as knives. The door swung open for him, and his feet carried him across the threshold. The sand curtain was falling steadily, but not yet the torrent that meant an unavoidable prophecy. 

It was hours later when Julieta came looking for him. The tears had long dried in salty tracks down his face and into his hair, and he was stiff from laying in his hammock for so long. He didn’t break his gaze from the distant ceiling, not until Julieta’s face hovered into view. With a start, he realized how tired she looked, her hair falling in wisps around her face, flour smeared across one cheek. 

“I know today was hard for you, so I’m not even going to ask if you are ok. But I brought you some food, you should eat.” Her voice even sounded tired. Bruno thought he couldn’t feel worse, but the realization that he wasn’t the only one affected by today’s events did it. 

He sat up, forcing Julieta to straighten or risk knocking their heads together. “Julieta, are you ok?” She blinked a few times. “How’s Nieto doing, I mean Augustin?” The pit in his stomach was eating away at him, he never even thought to check in with Augustin since finding out the news. 

“Bruno, relax. We’re fine.” Julieta sighed, hands coming to fidget in front of her. “We’d discussed this for a while now. It’s sad, yes, but it’s also a part of life.” She took another deep breath, then forcibly put her hands down. “The important part is taking care of the living. Taking care of you, Bruno.” She placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to meet her eyes. 

In those words and that look, Bruno realized this wasn’t Julieta’s first encounter with death. She was expected to keep the entire village healthy, and how many times must she have been called to someone’s deathbed in a vain attempt to save their life? He could see it in his sister’s eyes, the burden of witnessing so many final moments and grieving families. 

And he never knew. 

That yawning pit of grief and guilt rumbled within him, and his room responded in kind. They both looked up as the walls rumbled, sand streaming from cracks forming in the wall. His ocean drained away, the sand trickling in to fill it. The plants crackled as they withered, crumbling into the sand.

“Bruno, you need to talk about it. Don’t let this eat you up.” Julieta squeezed his shoulder, shaking him when he didn’t respond. “Talk to me.”

So Bruno did. Like the sand pouring from his archway, the words poured from his mouth. He expressed the guilt he felt that he should have seen this coming, and how he hadn’t been to visit her in weeks. He didn’t start crying again though, until he started apologizing for not seeing what Julieta had been through, and here he was making her take care of him. 

Sometime during his tirade, she wrapped him in a hug, letting him speak into her soft cotton shoulder. When he ran out of words, she held him until he stopped crying. He had calmed down enough to hear her muttering soothing words, patting his back and rubbing circles against his ruana. 

“Oh Bruno. I could have told you but what would it have changed? It was just a part of helping the village. We each have our part to play.” She spoke softly when he had calmed back down. 

His voice was thick when he responded. “But you shouldn’t have gone through it alone. We should have been there for you.” 

Julieta pulled back, her own face shiny with tears. “I think you and Pepa not knowing made it easier. I could walk away and everything was normal at casita.” She bit her lip before continuing. “Besides, I had Augustin. Whenever it got to be… too much… he would be there. I wasn’t alone.” She offered him a watery smile. “It’s when things are hardest that you know who's really there for you.”

She gave him another hug, and he managed to return it this time. Neither of them were overly surprised when another set of arms wrapped around them, Pepa’s familiar drizzle misting over them. “Sorry I’m late.” Was all she murmured. 

///

Things hadn’t changed by the time they disengaged, but each of the triplets felt better. As they broke apart, wiping at damp faces and grumbling good-naturedly about unseasonable rain, Bruno felt like he was part of a whole again. 

He tried to hold onto that feeling throughout dinner. He was expecting it to be a quiet, somber affair, but Julieta had come with an agenda.

“I know you don’t approve, mami, but I want to marry Augustin. And if the only argument you have against it is that you can make a better match to help the miracle, then you’ll need to find another. The whole village knows his abuela was a bruja, and that can only strengthen the miracle.” Julieta launched into her argument the moment they had all been seated and served. “He’s got no one else, and I’m not going to change my mind.” Julieta never broke the stare she directed at Alma, who proceeded to eat without acknowledging her daughter had spoken. 

“On one condition.” Alma’s calm voice seemed to crack like thunder, so unexpected was the response. Bruno caught Julieta’s mouth drop open, before she remembered herself and clicked her teeth shut. “He must move into casita. Any children you have must be raised here, to keep the miracle strong.” Their mother finally looked up from her plate, cutting her eyes between Pepa and Bruno. “That goes for whoever you both marry as well. I will not have this family separated.” 

Julieta and Pepa readily agreed, and the gloom that had settled over the table once they sat quickly dispersed. Bruno couldn’t bring himself to touch his plate, instead darting furtive gazes between his sisters. Julieta’s brow was furrowed, as if she had prepared for an argument that would never happen. Pepa was struggling to keep her face from breaking into a wide grin, their funeral clothes a stark reminder of the day’s events and a harsh contrast to her sunny face. As Bruno thought of his sisters marrying, moving husbands into the casita and starting families of their own, he no longer felt like part of a whole. 

And for the first time that day, he let himself think of Maria. He wanted her to be by his side as they left the service, wanted her to come to his room and grieve with him. He wanted Abuela Valderrama’s death to be forgotten as he daydreamed about moving his wife into casita, showing her all its secrets. 

But those thoughts only made the pit crack open again. How could he expect her to sleep in a sandy cave in a hammock? He had barely spoken to her lately, and as he excused himself from the table, pleading a headache, he couldn’t help but list the reasons why she deserved so much better than him. 

“Knock knock knock, knock on wood.” He muttered listlessly as he left the dining room, rapping on the wooden door frame. Bruno didn’t think all the rituals in the world could keep the bad luck from consuming him.