RUN.
Just run. With no direction in mind, with no end in sight, with nowhere to go and no way to get there, just run.
Into the past, apart from the present, away from the future. Run away from all you've ever known and all you're afraid of knowing.
Just run.
Don't stop.
Don't think.
Run.
Morning breaks much sooner than he would have liked, stark sunlight chasing him into the hills as though determined to reveal all his sins, the few secrets he has left. It calls to the family as they search for Mirabel. It calls to him each time they almost find him.
He's been so long in the shadows, so long forgotten...he doesn't know what to do without the darkness.
He stands under a tree about a mile from Cas...from what's left, the break in the mountains once more laying two futures at his feet.
Back... to his past. To the darkness, permanently entombed in memory.
Or forward. To her future. To his future. To the light, to the family, to...the love?
Would love still be there for him?
Dolores seemed to think so. And Antonio. And Mirabel.
Mirabel.
The thought of her drives all others from his mind. She's not missing, not really. They just aren't looking in the right place because they don't know what it is or how to find it.
He does.
It's at the end of the road of good intentions, and it's lonely and isolated and black.
It's utter hell.
Pit.
Pat.
Pit.
Pat.
He doesn't know where his feet are taking him when they start moving. He can only focus on each next step, putting one foot in front of the other, head down, listening to his footsteps echo off the crevasse and feeling the sun warm his back.
It's a familiar road, this. Easy to find, easy to walk. Hard to turn back when you're so far gone.
Ten years is a long time for wounds to fester. Most people are too far gone.
He might be one of them, but even if he is, he won't have her follow him. He won't have it all have been for nothing. He won't leave her alone in the dark.
The morning is half gone by the time he reaches the river. He's spent most of his life picturing what it would be like to be here – to see the place where it all began...where it might all be ending. Time's insistence on irony holds true as he looks down on rich colors emerging from the waters and sees not one but two shadows emerging from it.
Mirabel.
Mamá.
His feet forget how to work. He stands rooted to the spot like an overgrown sapling.
Past.
Future.
Past.
Future.
Both are staring him down.
And without a second thought, he throws himself into the in-between.
"She didn't do this! It was me! I gave her a vision!"
He has absolutely no idea how to continue. He'd given Mira a vision. That was certainly no longer a secret.
He'd given Mamá a vision once. He'd given Mamá his secrets. His life, his love, his happiness. His fears, his doubts, his sanity. The anger, the grief, the loss. He'd given everything to her, everything for her. And she had left him.
She had left him.
And suddenly all of it, the entire decade of darkness, comes spilling out of him as he stares at her now, standing aged and humbled to it. em"I don't care what you think of me!"/em He shouts. "But if you're too stubborn to – to – "
Mamí forgoes all dignity and runs to him, hugging him around the middle the way he might have done as a child, clinging to him as if he were the only solid thing in the world. "Brunito."
His throat constricts. His tirade evaporates. And the frail sliver of hope that had kept him alive all these years spreads through his body as she kisses his cheek and takes his hand. She's going back up that road with him.
"Where are we going?" He asks thickly.
It isn't Mamí who answers, but Mira. "Home."
The family is still searching the hills in the distance, bodies looking small as ants as they make their way through town. He hides behind both Mirabel and Mamí as the cry goes up that Mirabel has been found.
"Mirabel!?"
Julieta has eyes only for her daughter. They run to each other and Mira is swallowed in her mother's embrace. "Mi amor, we were so worried when we couldn't find you!"
He looks up to find his mother's eyes on him. They're alone. They're together.
Mamí looks past him to the reunion. "I've missed you, mijo."
"Mm." He offers. "It's been...a long time."
He turns to watch the rest of the family welcome Mirabel back into the fold and shrinks back a little when she begins to look around for him. Mamí sees the darkness threatening to take him back, and for the first time, she steps into the shadow to take his hand. "They've missed you, too."
"I – I – " He tries to take another step back, but she tightens her hold. "Má...I can't..."
"You can, mijo. I'm right here with you." It isn't an order. It is an offer.
Julieta picks up on Mirabel's attempts to spot her uncle. "Mira, who are you looking for?"
"Oh, uh...Abuela found me. We...talked. We're okay." She assures her mother. She squeezes Julieta's hands then peeks around the wall behind which Mamí and he are hidden. He takes a deep breath, crushes his mother hand in his, and nods, letting Mamí lead him back into the light.
"I've found someone else, too." Mamí stands aside and for a moment, he is on display for the whole family to see.
And then he is smothered in his sisters' arms.
"Bruno!"
"You're alive!"
"Tío Bruno!"
He smiles sheepishly around, quickly meeting eyes then looking away and shuffling nervously, feeling very new to everything all of a sudden. He greets each of his sobrinos in turn, Isabela and Luisa doing their best to take all of his hugs. Mirabel waves warmly at him from around her father's embrace. Antonio hangs off his elbow. Camilo stands awkwardly off to one side with Dolores, whose eyes are filled with tears.
"So...we are talking about Bruno again? Now that he's back."
Dolores elbows him with a laugh reminiscent of the eleven-year-old who had stayed up waiting for him. "He never left."
He gently extracts himself from the others and approaches Dolores, who flings herself around his neck. Her eyes are bright with tears, and she knows how long it's been since he's felt wanted. "I waited for you."
He wraps his arms tightly around her. "I know." And then, so only she can hear: "Thank you."
After a long moment, he releases her, allowing the family to surround him once more. The road with two ends is still before them, covered with hard questions and harder answers. It's going to be complicated, but it has to be intentional. For the first time in a long time, he has hope that they'll figure it out. Together.
He won't bring any of that up right now. He won't give in to the anxiety that comes with each new tomorrow. He won't ruin this moment.
Because even if it's just for today, he's home.
A/N: This chapter could arguably run concurrent with my one-shot Rescue which is second in my The House Love Builds series (direct sequel to this in process, first chapter posted on AO3, same pen name). It is the fall of Casita from Bruno's perspective. Recommend checking it out if you haven't already. It was my first work ever in this fandom.
One more chapter to go, which will probably be more of an epilogue and set up for the next story! I was trying to edit around the chaos of my children trapped inside on a rainy day, so please forgive any grammatical errors.
Another huge thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/favorited/followed this one. Y'all made it possible! As always, I would love to hear your thoughts! -WW
