Chapter 6

5 years before Encanto


"Bruno!" Mirabel called out, searching around town. "Tío Bruno! Where are you?"

Luisa picked up the side of the church nearby, checking underneath it before letting it drop back down again.

"Not under there." She shrugged to her sister with a smile, continuing on her search. Mirabel grinned in adoration at her sister.

"Bruuuuuno!" A familiar voice called out. Mirabel turned to see Bruno himself heading their way, his hands over his mouth as he called out his own name. Mirabel's face lit up in excitement.

"Tío! You're-" Mirabel's face dropped as Bruno suddenly changed back into Camilo. "A... Tiny little man. Huh."

Camilo grinned at his cousin as she shook her head playfully back at him.

"Not sure that's the right approach..." Mirabel laughed with a shrug. "Kinda confusing."

"Kinda confusing." Mirabel's voice repeated back at her, as Camilo now shifted into a copy of Mirabel.

She smiled, reaching over and straightening up Camilo's glasses and fixing his hair.

"Ay, primo, wow. You've never looked better." Mirabel laughed.

Camilo shifted back into himself and laughed too, a copy of Mirabel's glasses still on his face. He took them off and looked them over in his hands. "I like them."

"Thanks." Mirabel put her arm around Camilo's shoulders and they walked together.

"How's your mamá doing?" Mirabel asked. Camilo immediately softened at the mention of his mamá.

"She's good." He smiled. "Sleeping a lot. She's been really tired... Hopefully we can find Bruno before she wakes up - I don't want her to worry."

Mirabel turned to look at her cousin in concern. She could really hear from his voice that this bothered him.

"Hey." Mirabel smiled encouragingly, hugging Camilo in close. "We don't need to worry about that, you know why? Because we're gonna find him. Together."

Camilo smiled genuinely at Mirabel. He liked how he never needed to put on a show for her, that they could just be real.

Holding onto each others hands, Camilo and Mirabel continued searching for Bruno.


Up in the mountains of the Encanto, Bruno sat on a rock by the river, his legs tucked up to his chest. A rat sat on his knees and he stroked her sadly. The rat squeaked.

"No way." Bruno replied. "I'm not going back. I'm done. No more visions."

The rat rubbed its head against his hand. Bruno sighed.

"If you saw what I saw, you wouldn't go back either." He shuddered, remembering the vision that he had seen. The casita cracked and broken, Mirabel standing in front of it.

He imagined the chaos that would unfold if the family found out. The clouds, the judgement, the disappointment… Bruno was used to being the black sheep, but ever since that gift ceremony he'd started to recognise that same disappointment growing in mamá's eyes towards Mirabel.

Bruno really felt for her. Mirabel was a good kid. She was a lot like Julieta. She didn't deserve the blame and resentment that would come with that vision, and Bruno didn't want to be the one to deliver it, either.

He was so tired of being the bearer of bad news. He was tired of people using him for his gift, and then turning against him when they didn't like what he saw. He was tired of always being the bad guy.

The rat squeaked again.

"You're not listening to me." Bruno insisted. "Trust me on this one. It's gonna be better for the kid if I just leave."

The rat stopped squeaking, and Bruno continued to stroke her in silence. They sat quietly for a while, watching the river together.

"You don't have to give me the silent treatment, though." Bruno muttered to the rat.

More time passed as Bruno sat there, working up the courage to finally leave. He'd never lived apart from his sisters before, and as badly as he wanted to protect them, he was afraid to leave them.

"Everybody's looking for you." A quiet voice spoke up from behind him.

Bruno turned in surprise to see Dolores. She slowly approached and sat down on the rock beside him, petting the rat before resting her hands down in her lap.

"You're here to make me come back, aren't you?" Bruno sighed.

Dolores didn't respond. Of course Abuela had sent her to find Bruno and bring him home, but now she was here she wasn't sure what she was going to do.

Dolores had always heard the way Bruno took the blame for things, muttering and mumbling to himself and the rats. She'd heard the way her family would blame him for the prophecies, how they demonised him and accused him of not caring about the family when he did. Dolores heard both sides of the story. She loved her family, but she also didn't agree with how they treated Bruno.

Bruno sadly looked down at his rat, petting her grey fur while Dolores sat in silence and watched.

"You don't say much, do you kid?" Bruno asked after a while.

"I listen."

Bruno chuckled softly to himself.

"You must hear me a lot." Bruno commented. "I do a lot of talking. Sorry about that."

Dolores paused thoughtfully, before smiling.

"I hear you talking with them." She said, pouting her lips to gesture towards the rat, before leaning closer to whisper to Bruno, her hand covering her mouth. "She thinks the baby is her husband's, but I heard that his evil twin has moved into town, and she's been seeing the both of them without realising."

Bruno laughed in disbelief, staring back at his niece, who smiled knowingly. That was the plot to one of his rat telanovelas. It was a story he came up with years ago. He didn't think anyone else had been listening.

"Season five was the best one." Dolores continued, genuinely invested. "I did not expect him to wake up from that cart crash."

Bruno grinned, feeling very seen. He looked at Dolores and suddenly recognised the same playful enthusiasm in her eyes that Pepa used to get when he told her stories, back when they were kids. Bruno looked back at Dolores in surprise. She was more like her mama than he realised, he'd just never noticed till now.

"I also heard you're planning on running away." Dolores added, her voice softer now. "Is that true?"

Bruno looked down at his hands, rubbing them together nervously as he thought again of Mirabel. He had to do it. For her.

The kid still had so much hope and happiness in her. She hadn't lost it yet - that spark. Bruno couldn't let her lose it. He couldn't let her become like him. An outcast, a freak...

Bruno smiled sadly. That word brought back memories. He thought of Julieta, and how she used to stand up for him and Pepa when they were younger. Bruno closed his eyes, letting his mind travel back.


35 years earlier


Pepa's eyes were filled with innocent confusion as the boys pushed her down so they could see the rain clouds form over her head.

"How does she do it?" One asked, staring up at the cloud in wonder.

"Such a freak." Another laughed.

Pepa winced, rain starting to fall around them. The boys gasped, looking at the cloud in amazement.

"Knock it off." Bruno spoke up.

One boy stepped forward and shoved Bruno in the chest, snatching his rat out of his hands and laughing as Bruno started to cry.

"What's wrong, freak?" He teased. "Didn't your visions see it coming?"

He slapped Bruno and he winced, holding a hand to his cheek.

Pepa got up to try and help her brother, but she just got shoved back down by the boys. The rain fell harder, her cloud thundering. Bruno and Pepa were both just too small and scared to fight back.

"Hey!" An angry and familiar voice called out.

Bruno and Pepa turned to see Julieta, and the rain stopped falling. Their sister headed over protectively.

Julieta reached the group and without hesitation she punched the boy who was holding Bruno's rat square in the jaw. He dropped immediately to the ground, the rat running from his hands and back to Bruno. The other boys stepped back in shock. Julieta turned to them and they flinched.

"Get out of here." Julieta warned with a hard expression. "Don't you ever come near them again."

The boys nodded and ran off, not looking back. The boy Julieta had punched got back up, tears running down his face as he quickly scrambled off after his friends. Julieta stood protectively in front of her siblings until they were gone.

Pepa and Bruno glanced at eachother and grinned. Their sister was usually very gentle, but she had a tough side that only came out in times like this.

Once the boys were out of sight, Julieta turned to them, her face soft with concern.

Julieta gently checked over Bruno's face and wiped his eyes, then gently kissed his cheek. She crouched down to Pepa, who was still on the ground. Bruno sat next to them, wanting to stay close.

"Let me see." Julieta said softly, taking Pepa's hands in hers, looking at the grazes on her palms. Julieta kissed her sister's hands.

"Why do they hate us?" Pepa asked in confusion, the cloud over their heads darkening. Julieta reached into her bag and took out two arepas, handing one to each of her siblings to eat.

"They don't hate us." Julieta sighed, brushing Pepa's soft hair behind her ear. "I guess they just... Don't understand us."

Pepa took a bite of Julieta's arepa and her injuries healed, her cloud fading. Julieta smiled, turning to Bruno. He took a bite of his arepa and smiled back as he felt the stinging in his cheek disappear.

"We're different, and sometimes that's all people are gonna see." Julieta said, stroking her brother's cheek and smiling. "Sometimes they won't see the real you, and they'll judge you on who they think you are... But that doesn't mean that they're right."

Pepa hugged onto Julieta tight, and Bruno hugged her from the other side. Julieta smiled and pulled them both in close.

"Don't you guys change for anyone." She said, burying her face lovingly against each of them. "You're perfect just the way you are."

"You really walloped that guy." Bruno smiled. "Weren't you scared?

Julieta turned to him, her eyes genuine and serious.

"I would do anything for you." She told him.


35 years later


Bruno sighed at the memory.

Holding his rat close to his chest, Bruno slowly stood up, knowing what he needed to do. Julieta had always been there for him and Pepa. Now it was his turn to be the strong one. He was going to leave, he decided, to protect Mirabel.

Dolores stood up too from where she had been sitting and waiting patiently. Bruno felt bad, wondering how long he'd been in his head.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Goodbyes are hard." Dolores smiled gently. "I understand."

Bruno looked at her in appreciation. It was like she really understood him.

"I do care, I swear..." Bruno tried to explain. "it's just-"

"You hide in your head." She nodded. "I know. Mamá does it too, sometimes."

Bruno's face softened. He didn't know that.

"Take care of her for me, will you?" He said sadly. "She's never gonna understand why I left."

"No, she won't." Dolores agreed. "So why don't you talk to her?"

Bruno hesitated, imagining all the horrible ways the conversation with Pepa could go wrong. He imagined the storm clouds and her eyes flashing as she yelled. He shuddered.

"Sorry, kid." He said sadly. "But this is just the way it's gotta be."

Bruno turned to walk away, but was quickly stopped in his tracks by Dolores, who threw her arms around him. Bruno stiffened and closed his eyes, expecting to be dragged back to the house, but Dolores didn't move. Bruno opened his eyes and turned back to discover that Dolores was hugging him. He smiled, putting his arms around his niece and resting his head against hers.

"If you get cold out there, you can always come back home." Dolores said quietly. "I'll hear you coming and I'll open the door... I won't tell anybody."

Bruno squeezed her tight before letting go.

"Thanks, kid." He smiled sadly. "You know, I really wish I could've gotten to know you better."

Dolores nodded in agreement.

Bruno put his hood on, and he immediately felt stronger. Hernando turned and waved to Dolores before bravely heading off into the mountains.

Dolores stood and watched him go, listening to his footsteps leading away for miles, until finally she couldn't hear him anymore.