*P*A*R*T**T*W*O*

Bruno had never been alone.

Of course, he had spent plenty of time over the years alone in his room; however, that had been different. His room, although vast, had felt contained and safe. He always knew that the moment he walked through his door, his family would be there. Always.

He spent three days wandering around the outskirts of the village. He was far enough away that no one would see or find him, but close enough that he could find his way back in a matter of hours. He felt tethered, weak… Coward. The word kept coming back to him. Stabbing his heart, shredding his mind. Over and over. Coward. Coward. Coward.

If Julieta were here, she would know what to do. She would say it was all a misunderstanding and tell him to come home. She would make him his favorite meal, wrap him in her warm embrace. She was motherly by nature, and Bruno missed her desperately.

He wondered what Alma had told her family when he left. Did she tell them he had abandoned them; that he didn't care; that he was running from his responsibility to his family? His father would not have run away. While Bruno had no memory of Pablo, he did have stories his mother told and the portrait that hung on the wall. Bruno wished that his visions could go in reverse, so he could see what his father was like, maybe even what happened that fateful night. When he was younger, he had stood many times in front of that portrait, wondering what his father would think of him. Would he be proud of his son?

Not anymore.

After the third day, Bruno found himself walking home. It was late, dark, but he knew the way even in the emptiness of night. He stopped when he reached the yard, and he sat down. The house was quiet…peaceful. He didn't know what he expected it to look like after he left. He startled when the kitchen window lit up suddenly. He clearly saw Julieta walk past the window, past him without even realizing it. He heard voices talking softly. He crept closer to the window so he could make out the words being said.

"…he made his choice," Pepa's voice said. "He's a grown man."

"He's still our brother," Julieta replied. She sounded as though she'd been crying. "What if something happened to him? His door is dark! Does that mean he's dead?"

Bruno felt as if his heart dropped into his stomach. He felt sick.

"I don't know," Pepa said. "Maybe that's what happens when you leave the Encanto? None of us have ever left before."

There was silence for a long time, and Bruno sat against the house under the lit window, its light spilling into the yard in front of him. He saw a shadow pass by.

"Julieta, we will go look for Bruno," Augustin said. "Talk sense into him."

"Mama said he left because he had a vision about the miracle," Julieta said, "Do you think the magic is dying? Do you think something is going to happen?"

"Only Bruno can tell us what he saw," Pepa said. "But it must have been terrible for Bruno to abandon us like this…to not even try to help us know the truth."

"Or he is protecting us," Julieta shot back. "Bruno would not leave unless he thought it was for a good reason."

"Saving himself," Pepa said.

"Let's not assume anything," Felix interjected. "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."

"Like when he ruined our wedding?" Pepa demanded, "Or when he broke Dolores' heart with that nonsense vision about her never marrying? She's a child!"

Bruno shuddered under the invisible weight of the accusation.

"That's not what he said," Felix said in a soothing tone.

Thunder rumbled inside the kitchen, and Bruno could hear the pattering of rain. "He might as well have!" Pepa growled.

"Stop it!" Julietta's voice was sharp, startling Bruno. He had never heard this tone in Julieta before. It was terrifying. "Bruno would not abandon us. He will come back. He has to come back." Her voice broke, and Bruno could hear her stifled sobs. He imagined her crying into Agustin's shoulder.

"If he loved us, he would never have left," Pepa said.

"And what if he's hurt?" Julieta demanded, "What if he's dying? What if he's dead? I could not live with myself knowing we didn't at least try to find him."

Felix spoke up. "My love, you would regret it if we didn't try. You know you would."

"Where would we look? He could be anywhere by now?" Pepa said.

"We will organize search party first thing in the morning," Augustin said. "We will look for any evidence of which direction Bruno might have gone, and then we will plan from there."

Bruno felt panicked. He had longed to be found these past few days, had hoped they would come convince him to return to the casita…but now, he realized that could not happen. He could never go back. He had already hurt his family too much. He ran his fingers through his matted curls nervously. What could he do? How could he stop this?

"What if it's too late?" Julieta whispered.

"We will pray it's not," Augustin said.

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

When Bruno was very young, he had discovered that the walls of the casita were hollow. He never told anyone. He enjoyed being able to tuck himself away from his sisters occasionally without having to leave the security of the house. As he got older, he retreated to his secret passages less and less until he had almost forgotten they were there.

Until tonight.

As Bruno snuck away from the kitchen window, he found a very small door that he suddenly remembered. The door was far too small for his adult form to fit into, but he knew where to find a more accessible entrance. His family had already searched the house for him…their new search party would not look within the walls.

He waited until the house became quiet before he snuck inside. The casita, just as magical as himself, reacted when it noticed him. He motioned for it to be still, and it did, though he noticed the tiles quivering behind him as he silently crept up the stairs. He went to a painting on the wall and touched it, pressing it gently. Just as he knew would happen, the painting still had a little give to it. He pulled it open and saw the hole in the wall he had found as a child. He would stay for a while, until his family stopped looking for him…but first, he had to do something.

Like a ghost, Bruno made his way to the kitchen. He found one of Julieta's notebooks that she used to write out recipes, and a pencil. He tore out a page from the back of the book.

My dearest family, please do not try to find me. I have made up my mind, and I cannot stay in the Encanto. I love you all more than you know, but I cannot allow my gift to hurt anyone else. Not anymore. I am sorry for any pain I have caused you. Please know that I will do anything to protect my family, even if it means never coming back. – Bruno

Bruno tucked the note somewhere he knew Julieta would find it. He hoped it might reassure them that he was okay; that he was not dead; and that he still loved them. He felt brokenhearted, wondering if there was any way he might be able to return after all, save the family and the magic from his vision; however, he knew that this was the only way to protect Maribel. Everyone assumed that Bruno's visions were curses, that they made bad things happen. Why wouldn't his vision mean that Maribel would destroy the magic and bring the family to ruin? He could never do anything to hurt his sweet little niece like that...or Julieta.

Going back to the crude door into the walls, Bruno slid inside. It was dark, but some light managed to slip through some gaps in the ceiling. Bruno looked up and gasped. His mind flashed to his vision, of the house breaking apart by some unknown force. It had already begun.

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

Bruno came out of his room to a downpour. He pulled his hood up and searched for the source of the storm. It didn't take long to find her. Pepa was angrily pacing the hall, her fists clenched so tight it looked painful. He saw that her knuckles were white, and her face crimson.

"Pepa," Bruno said, approaching her cautiously, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" Pepa threw the question back at him. "What's wrong? Everything is wrong, Bruno! And if you didn't spend all your time hiding in your tower, you would know that."

Bruno resisted the urge to snap back. He hadn't been "hiding" in his tower. He had spent the last two days working on collecting visions for some of the townspeople. Would they have a good harvest this year? Yes, if they could continue irrigating the fields effectively the rest of the season. Were they going to find the missing donkeys that had escaped their pen for what felt like the hundredth time? Yes, but only if they found them by tomorrow in a grassy meadow, otherwise the animals would be doomed to nature's course. Would Anita's pet fish, who had been acting funny the past few weeks, die? Unfortunately, yes. Bruno could guess with certainty which vision would be the one remembered. And it was not about the harvest or the donkeys.

Instead, Bruno said evenly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Pepa's face darkened for a moment, then seemed to relax. "Yes, actually, I would."

The pounding rain reduced to a sprinkle as Bruno followed Pepa into her room. The front portion of her bedroom was set up like a sitting room. Large, blue raindrops adorned the wallpaper, some of the edges discolored from water damage. Bruno sat down in one of the chairs, Pepa sitting across from him.

The storm had all but dissipated by now, and Pepa took a deep, shuddering breath. "It's Felix," she began. "He hasn't proposed yet, and Mama says that if he doesn't propose by the end of the month, she will have a serious talk with him and his family about wasting our time."

Bruno wondered if Pepa was going to ask him to have a vision about it. He did not like having visions about family...it was one thing for the townspeople to feel disappointed, another to disappoint his family.

"And no," Pepa added before Bruno could say anything, "I do not want you meddling in my life with your," Pepa waved her hands dramatically, "magic visions."

Bruno breathed a sigh of relief. "Good," he said with a grin.

Pepa returned the sentiment with a terse smile, but her expression immediately turned stormy again. "But, Bruno, why do you think Felix hasn't proposed? Augustin proposed to Julieta within months of courting her...and Felix and I have been courting for over a year! Do you think he is having second thoughts? Maybe my power is too much for him. Mama says I need to learn to control my powers better if I ever expect to have a family of my own." A dark cloud formed overhead, and Pepa batted it away.

Bruno considered a moment before he answered. Apart from Julieta, no one really listened to his thoughts or observations. Sure, everyone wanted to know the future his gift clued him in on, but no one stopped and asked what Bruno thought of the present moments, the immediate repercussions that words and actions had.

"Have you ever thought," Bruno said carefully, struggling to articulate his words in a way that would not offend Pepa. He cleared his throat and began again, "Have you ever thought that maybe Mama is wrong? About controlling your emotions?"

Pepa frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I just think," Bruno said, encouraged by Pepa's response, "that your worst storms come when you are trying to hold in your emotions. Maybe, if you learned a healthy outlet, you would not have to worry so much about the storms?"

"You think I like having this problem?" Pepa asked, her voice becoming tense, "You think I want to cause a hurricane every time I feel anything?"

Bruno put his hands up. "That's not what I said. I said I think that Mama is wrong to ask you to suppress your emotions the way she has asked you to. I think that Felix loves you just as you are, but he might be a little intimidated by our mother."

Mentioning Felix seemed to have a calming effect on Pepa. Bruna saw her shoulders visibly drop. She pressed her lips. "I just don't want to disappoint him or Mama, Bruno. You understand that."

Bruno pretended he didn't hear the unintentional jab. He smiled despite himself. "Have you tried talking to Felix? Telling him how you feel?"

Pepa gave Bruno a small smile. "You know…you have some good things to say once in a while, Brunito," she said.