Disclaimer: I do not own the movie Encanto.

Author's Note: I am going to avoid using Spanish words in my story. While I love how the movie blends English and Spanish together, I just did not feel I could do that art form justice :) Instead, it will all be in English (pretend I translated it from Spanish if you'd like!)

*P*A*R*T**O*N*E*

Bruno stood in front of his mother's door, hesitant to knock. He could still feel the clutch of her hand on his arm when she caught him before he retreated from the crowd. Meet me in my room after everyone has gone to bed, she breathed, almost inaudible over the hum of guests still reeling from the shock Mirabel's ceremony. He almost shook his head and pulled away; however, he could never stand up to Mama. Instead, without making eye contact, he nodded. And now he stood, hidden under the hood of his poncho, staring at his mother's image on her bedroom door, her eyes downcast, holding the magical candle. He startled when the door suddenly opened.

"Come in," Alma said, moving aside to allow him to slip in the door quietly. She closed the door behind him and locked it.

Bruno went to the window where the candle stood, a beacon of hope to the village, its flame ever bright no matter how many years went by or how many storms blew. His eyes fixated on the flame, the flame that had briefly flickered when Mirabel's door disappeared…but now it seemed okay, unaffected.

"I need you to have a vision," Alma said, coming up behind him. "What happened tonight concerns me."

Bruno shifted his gaze to Mama. He saw the worry in her eyes, almost panic. He had never seen that before. Not in her.

"What do you think it is?" he asked.

"I don't know," Alma said. "But I suspect it has something to do with Mirabel."

Bruno stiffened. "Why? Because she did not receive a gift? It must be her fault that the flame flickered?"

"That is not what I said," Alma said evenly. "I just want to understand, and I think that you can help."

Bruno was silent. He had not had a vision in a very long time. He felt that they usually led to misunderstandings and arguments. The townspeople already feared him. Pepa was still barely speaking to him since her wedding, and most of his family avoided him.

"Please, Brunito," Alma persisted, touching his hand. "For your family."

Bruno refused to meet her gaze. "And what happens if my vision is…bad?"

"We won't borrow trouble," Alma said reassuringly.

"Mama, please don't ask me to do this," Bruno said quietly.

Alma took both of his hands in hers, squeezing them reassuringly. "40 years ago, your father gave himself to save us, to save you. Because of him, we have these gifts. It is our duty to honor what he did for us by protecting the miracle…whatever it takes."

*E*N*C*A*N*T*O*

"Whatever it takes," Bruno echoed again and again, trying to will in himself the motivation to do what his mother had asked.

Each step to his vision room seemed harder than the last. Alma would not except him back for some time, so he did not hurry. He kept thinking about what his mother had told him. It was their duty to protect the miracle. Up until today, he had never felt that his gift had protected anyone, let alone the miracle. Occasionally he gave visions that brought joy, like he had for little Isabella. He smiled when he remembered the vision he had of her, creating all sorts of beautiful plants with her gift. She seemed hesitant to create much more than just her roses right now, but he knew she would grow past that eventually. Her power was destined to grow, but only when she was ready to let go of expectations.

His vision of Dolores had been not as warmly received. She was such a quiet girl, but she was observant, even before she was gifted with the power to hear a pin drop a mile away. She noticed everything…which was also probably why she feared him. She always heard the townspeople talk about him, their misconstrued understanding of his ability. No matter how hard he tried, Dolores was wary of him. His vision of her future had been bleak to say the least.

His thoughts now drifted to Maribel. She looked so devastated when her door had disappeared earlier that night. His heart broke for her as she stared up into the disappointed gaze of her grandmother, trying to understand what she had done wrong. How many times had he seen disappointment in his mother's eyes when she looked at him after another ominous vision?

"Uncle Bruno!" Mirabel had said before the ceremony, grabbing his hand. "What do you think my power will be?"

Bruno had smiled. "I don't know, Mira. I guess we will have to wait and find out."

"But you can see the future! Can't you just tell me now? Please, Uncle Bruno! I promise I won't tell anyone, and I will act so surprised! Like this!" She demonstrated an exaggerated look of shock.

Bruno shook his head and laughed. "Nice try, kid," he said with a wink.

Mirabel wrapped her arms around his legs, staring up at him through her green rimmed glasses. "Were you surprised when you got your gift?"

"I think we all were," Bruno said with a grin, gently tugging on one of her curls.

Mirabel smiled. "I hope I have a gift as special as yours."

Bruno had always struggled with his gift. As soon as he touched his door, he had felt a heavy weight. It was strange…the sensation of receiving power. It was foreign and new, but it felt natural at the same time. He had known exactly how to have a vision. It was not something he had to be taught. He remembered his first vision, seeing Alma as an old woman. She was holding the candle. And then it was gone. He still remembered the weight of the glass vision in his small hands. It felt heavy and strange. He had given it to his mother as a gift. Alma had laughed. Now I know I'll grow old someday. Thank you, Brunito. That was the only time she had ever thanked him for a vision.

Bruno came to the top of the stairs. He crossed the bridge and went into the cave. He heard the welcoming scurry of his pet rats. They approached him happily, sniffing eagerly, hoping he had brought them a treat. He pulled out a biscuit he had saved for them. He crumbled it and gave each rat a piece and then put what was left on the ground. "Now be nice and share," he told them quietly, even though there was no one around to hear.

His room was always the loneliest, the most set apart. When he and his sisters were younger, they had found his room exciting. Pepa would make it rain and they would build castles and fortresses in the dampened sand. Pepa did not have the patience to climb all the way up the staircase to his vision room; however, Julieta would occasionally join him. He felt that his visions usually felt less confusing and overwhelming when he had another witness. He liked it when Julieta would visit, but eventually, her gift became in such high demand that she rarely had time to visit anymore…and not at all once she started a family of her own.

Bruno never resented Julieta for this; however, he missed her terribly. Now the only company he had in his room was his pet rats, much to Alma's disgust. Filthy little creatures, she admonished him, they wouldn't come if you didn't feed them.

Bruno took the lantern he kept by the door and lit it, then went into this vision room, and closed the door behind him. He set up the ground for a vision carefully. This was not a vision he wanted interrupted by careless preparation. It was much too important. Too much was a stake. While he often dreaded having visions anymore, this was the first vision that terrified him. Whatever he saw tonight, he knew, would change everything. He could not let anything happen to his family.

"Whatever it takes," he whispered again, then he blew out his lantern.

*E*N*C*A*N*T*O*

"Bruno…"

12-year-old Julieta's voice was sweet and coaxing, but Bruno did not answer. Instead, he drew his knees closer to his chest, hiding his face in his arms. He did not want her to see he had been crying. He felt her sit next to him against the wall. She inched closer until their sides were touching, then she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rested her head on his. "Please talk to me, Bruno," she whispered. "I promise I won't tell a soul."

"There's nothing to talk about," Bruno said, his voice muffled in his arms.

"What, sweetie? I can't hear you," Julieta said.

Bruno lifted his face enough to repeat himself clearly. "There's nothing to talk about. You heard what Mama said."

Julieta was quiet for a few moments. She sighed and said, "Mama says a lot of things she does not mean," she lowered her voice, "Mama is where Pepa gets her temper, you know."

Bruno couldn't help but smile just a little at that.

Julieta reached over and lifted Bruno's face. He quickly wiped away the dampness of his tears, but his eyes still hurt. He imagined they looked red and swollen based on the expression on Julieta's face. She got a handkerchief out of her pocket and gave it to him. "My poor, sweet boy," she said, "did I ever tell you that you're my favorite brother?"

Bruno grinned. "I'm your only brother."

"I could have a hundred brothers, and you'd still be my favorite," Julieta assured him.

Out of her other pocket, Julieta provided a small cake she had baked earlier that day. Bruno had been tempted to steal one when they were fresh from the oven; however, he had shown restraint, knowing that the cakes were meant for Julieta's clinic that day. "I saved you one," Julieta said. "It's for you, not your rats, okay?"

Bruno took the sweet treat. "Do you think Mama's right? That the people are afraid of me?"

"I think that people are often afraid of what they do not understand," Julieta said. "They don't understand your gift, so they are afraid of it. But they aren't afraid of you as a person."

"But I am my gift," Bruno said.

"And what were you before your gift?" Julieta asked.

Bruno was silent. He didn't know how to answer that.

"Gift or no gift, you are Bruno Madrigal. Son of Pedro and Alma Madrigal. Most favorite brother to Julieta and Pepa Madrigal. That's who you are."

"I don't think I'm Pepa's favorite brother," Bruno chuckled.

Julieta nudged him. "If people are afraid, help them understand."

"How?"

"I don't know. But we will figure something out together."

*E*N*C*A*N*T*O*

Bruno clutched the vision, the edges biting into the palms of his hands. Tears burned his eyes, but he blinked them away angrily. He didn't understand. This had never happened before…a vision that changed? What did it mean? What would he tell Mama? What would he tell Julieta and Agustin? What could he tell them? He knew nothing with any certainty. The house would break but not…the magic would go out, but it wouldn't? All he knew for sure, the only thing that had been clear, was Mirabel. Mirabel was at the center of this vision.

"No," Bruno whispered. For years, Bruno had felt ostracized by his family, by his community…all because of his gift. He did not want the same fate for Maribel, no matter what her fate meant.

He stared at the vision a moment longer, tipping it to see the cracks in the house disappear and reappear behind an older version of Maribel.

"I won't hurt my family anymore with my visions," Bruno said to his own resolve. He didn't know exactly what that meant. He had spent the past 35 years having visions, most of them taken as omens that he inflicted on the vision's subject. Maribel would not be another casualty. It ended here.

He let the vision slip from his fingers, and it shattered in the sand. Jade green shards of glass scattered at his feet. He stared at them only a couple moments before he turned and left the cave.

He scooped a few of his rats into his pockets. They peered out, wondering where they were going. He all but ran down the stairs, as fast as he dared without falling. He grabbed his bag off its hook on the wall and put a few essentials into it. He put the strap over his shoulder and looked up into his tower one last time. "Goodbye," he said.

Bruno knew who would be waiting for him outside, but he didn't care. He had made up his mind. He was not going to let his mother stop him from doing this. Just as he thought, Alma was standing at the bottom of his staircase leading to his bedroom door. She stood with her black shawl clutched around her.

"Bruno! The candle flickered again, what did you see?" She asked. Bruno tried to walk around her, but she stopped him, grabbing his arm, standing in his way. "Bruno! You have to tell me what you saw."

"I saw nothing," Bruno said.

Alma's eyes narrowed. "You're lying to me."

"Please, Mama, you have to let me go."

"Where? Where are going?"

Bruno couldn't meet her gaze. "Away. I'm leaving the Encanto."

"You can't leave. Bruno, please, you need to tell me what you saw!" Alma pleaded, raising her voice.

Bruno hushed her. "Shh, Mama, please. You'll wake everyone." He gently pushed past her and began to walk away.

"Coward." Alma hissed after him so venomously that Bruno stopped in his tracks. He almost turned back, but then she would have seen how deeply that word cut him.

Instead, he turned his head just enough to say over his shoulder. "I love you, Mama. I'm sorry."

She didn't come after him. No one did. Bruno only walked for a couple of hours before he stopped and sat against a tree and cried until morning light found him.