Chapter 19
31 years before Encanto
Felix and his brother Macario sat together on the steps of their new casita, assembling their trombone. They'd spent all day helping their Papa and older brother Cayo build the casita, and now it was time to play.
Felix watched the metal shine as his older brother assembled the final parts, feeling excited that their instrument had made it safely through the long journey.
Macario tried out the trombone first as Felix grinned, feeling like he was hearing an old friend. Macario then handed it over to Felix, who played a melody too, letting the last note slide down comically. They laughed, then Macario stopped thoughtfully.
"The Madrigal girl is watching you." Macario said quietly, glancing over Felix's shoulder with a smile.
Félix turned to see Pepa standing in the distance, watching them with curious eyes. Félix gave her an enthusiastic wave and called out, but Pepa hesitated, unsure how to respond. A cloud appeared over her head and Pepa looked up at it in embarassment, before quickly running off.
Felix turned to his brother excitedly.
"You like her." Macario commented. Felix grinned and nodded, getting up to run after Pepa. His brother gently took his hand, stopping him.
"Don't." Macario said in a serious tone.
Felix turned back in disbelief. "Come on, man-"
"I mean it." Macario insisted. "If you really like her, then you gotta respect her."
Felix paused. He didn't understand what was disrespectful about running after Pepa.
"I was just gonna be nice." Felix tried to explain. "I made her a gift. I want to see if she liked it."
"Ay, but she's running away from you, Hermano!" Macario chuckled, pulling his little brother in and hugging him close. "Give the girl some space! You got her a gift. That's good. But that also means you've already made your move. Now's her turn."
Felix watched his brother, taking in what he was saying.
"You have to wait." Macario explained. "You've figured out what you want. Now let her figure out what she wants, too." He grinned, putting his hands to Felix's cheeks and squishing them affectionately. "Without you getting all up in her face and pressuring her. Hm?"
Felix considered his advice, then sighed. He looked back at his brother in concern. "But... What if she doesn't like me back?"
Macario smiled gently, tossling Felix's hair.
"Then that's her decision, bro." He said gently. "And you have to respect that, and let her go."
Pepa sat in the fields, her head in her hands as she stared out at the crops with wide, worried eyes. Wind circled around her, spiralling with her thoughts.
Why was he so interested in her?
Mama had warned them to be cautious with the newcomers.
He could be a bad person. What if he hurt her? Or her family?
Pepa remembered him laughing and playing trombone with his brother, and felt confused. He didn't seem like a bad person.
She frowned as her hands tightened to fists, the wind spiralling faster. Fine, so maybe he wasn't bad. But that still didn't explain what he wanted from her.
He probably doesn't even know what he wants, Pepa decided. Once he really sees her, he'll run a mile too. And it hurts to have your heart handed back to you after someone's done with it.
She closed her eyes in stress, covering her ears against the howling wind.
Not this time. Pepa decided. She didn't want him anyway. He was annoying. He didn't listen to her. He interrupted her. He asked too many questions. He'd probably just disappoint her. She didn't need him.
Pepa shuddered. Then why couldn't she stop thinking about him?
She remembered the thoughtful book. His sparkling eyes and his big smile. The way he made her laugh. The cute little way he'd splash around in the rain. How he'd have to peer up at her because he was so short. The sweet endearing way he looked at her, as if she were special. She remembered how he'd laughed playfully at her thunder, as if she wasn't a monster.
He hadn't run away from her storms. No one had done that before.
Pepa took a shaky breath.
What if this man was different? What if she really let him see her, and he still loved her? What does she do then?
Rain started to pour over her and across the fields, because Pepa knew how this was going to end. She was either going disappoint him, or mess things up. It's what Pepa does.
The clouds flashed and thundered, swirling above her. Who was she kidding? She wasn't good enough for him. She wasn't good enough for Mama. She wasn't good enough for anyone.
Pepa lay down in the mud and gave up. She cried softly to herself as rain poured down over her.
Footsteps quickly led her way, splashing through the rain.
Pepa groaned, pulling her knees up to her chest in embarassment as she heard someone approach. Great.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned her face away in shame.
"Pepi..." The voice was familiar and gentle. "It's just us."
Pepa looked up to see Julieta and Bruno smiling down at her through the rain, holding an umbrella between them. Pepa's face softened in relief at the sight of her siblings. Julieta crouched down beside Pepa and stroked her hair while Bruno gathered her stuff. Pepa crawled up into her sister's arms and Julieta held her.
"Are the crops ok?" Pepa asked, hiding her face against her sister. She was too afraid to look.
"They'll be fine," Julieta smiled back, kissing her head. "Don't worry about that." Julieta helped Pepa to her feet, gently wiping the mud from her face and hair. "Let's just get you home, ok?"
"Wait." Pepa said quietly, wiping her eyes. "I had a book, it was special... Is it still here? Or did I ruin it?"
Julieta looked back at her sister sadly, her eyes filled with doubt.
"I got it, sis!" Bruno called out as he smiled and hurried over, the waxy book in his hand.
"Thank you." Pepa sighed in relief as he handed it to her, hugging it to her chest gratefully. As Pepa smiled, the storm suddenly lifted.
Julieta and Bruno looked up at the sky in surprise, then back to Pepa. Bruno's rats slowly crept out of the shelter of his hood to look up at the sky, too.
"What... Just happened?" Julieta asked slowly.
"It's probably something to do with Felix." Bruno said in a matter of fact tone as Pepa stared at him with eyes wide in disbelief. "That's what's on the front page. To Pepa, love Felix." Bruno turned to Pepa in confusion, reaching for her book. "Who's Felix?"
The clouds thundered and rain fell down again as Pepa quickly pulled the book from Bruno's reach. "I cannot believe you read it!" She exclaimed as Bruno shrugged back sheepishly. His rats clambered quickly back into his hood to hide from the rain.
"Oh dios." Julieta sighed with a smile and shook her head, putting an arm around Pepa reassuringly. "Come on... Let's go home, mm? I'll make us some lunch and hot tea."
Pepa nodded, taking Bruno's hand and leaning her head against Julieta's shoulder as the three of them headed home through the fields together.
"Mm-hm. Hot tea for all of us." Julieta leaned in with a cheeky smile as they walked. "When you tell us all about Felix."
Pepa quickly turned to Julieta with a crash of thunder and Julieta giggled.
One week later
Felix stood on top of the chair so he could reach the walls as he helped his family paint inside of the casita.
"Hermanito." Cayo called out with a grin, "There's a Madrigal girl here to see you."
Felix almost fell off the chair he was so excited. He jumped down and ran past his brother to the front door, skidding suddenly to a stop as he looked in surprise at who was standing there.
Pepa's smaller sister waited for him at the door, her dark eyes watching him knowingly as he approached.
"Hi Félix." She smiled, "I'm Julieta." Her eyes gestured outside. "Let's go for a walk, hm?"
Felix nodded, following Julieta out of the casita and into the street. Waiting outside was the little man with rats on his shoulders that Félix recognised as Pepa's brother, and another taller man with glasses beside him, who Félix didn't recognise. Felix exhaled slowly as he approached them. He assumed he was about to be beaten up, but he wasn't going to run back into his casita and hide, he was gonna face them.
"Alright." Felix sighed, bracing himself. "Let's just get it over with... And I'm not throwing the first punch, just so you know."
The two men glanced at eachother then burst out laughing. Felix looked back at them in confusion.
"Relax," The taller man assured him. "Not one of us could take you on."
"I don't know about that..." The rat man chuckled, nodding to his sister who rolled her eyes and smiled.
"Oh dios. You'll never let that one go." Julieta sighed, before turning to Félix with a kind smile. "This is my brother Bruno, and my-eh-" she blushed, unsure what to say. The tall man smiled back at her, like they were both in on a joke only the two of them understood.
"I'm Agustin." He smiled, and Julieta nodded.
"Félix." He replied.
"We know." They all said at once, then turned to eachother and laughed. Felix frowned in confusion.
"So." Augustin began, stepping forward. "How long are you planning on dating Pepa? And are you planning to marry her?"
"Ay..." Julieta sighed, putting a hand over her eyes in embarrassment.
Felix grinned, seeing what this was.
"If she wants that." He replied confidently. "Then sure. I'll marry her."
They all looked at him in disbelief, before muttering in unison to eachother, "Too soon." "Way too soon."
Felix's face fell. This was gonna be harder than he thought.
"Ok!" Bruno stepped forward. "If Pepa was stuck on the top of a mountain, and the only way to save her was to fight your way through the rainforest, fighting snakes and jaguars and torrential floods along the way... would you do it?" Bruno asked. "Or would you leave her there to die?"
Felix raised an eyebrow, his hand gesturing towards the mountains of the Encanto. "You do remember I just spent the past couple months climbing those mountains and getting past all the things you mentioned, right?"
Bruno hesitated in worry, but Félix's face broke into a grin.
"So that's an easy one." Félix laughed, patting Bruno's shoulder as he smiled in relief. "Yeah, I could save her. And that's the same answer for anything else you got lined up, bro - wind, fire, blizzard, desert, ocean. No problem."
Bruno and Agustin glanced at eachother, looking impressed. But this time it was Julieta who stepped forward, her face genuine.
"Look... You're not the first guy my sister's fallen for." Julieta said quietly. "We just don't want to see her get hurt again."
Félix glanced at Bruno and Agustin, who nodded in agreement.
"I know it's exciting," Julieta continued, "The rainbows and the sunshine... But Pepa needs a lot of support and care. If you want to date her, we need to know that you're serious. That you're not just gonna give up on her once the weather changes, and make her feel..." Julieta's voice trailed off sadly.
"-Like she's not good enough." Felix finished gently, nodding in understanding. "I get it." He thought back to Pepa crying in the fields. "I'm not gonna do that. I heard the stuff she says to herself. I want to help her through it."
Julieta stared into Felix's eyes as he spoke, her face softening as she recognised how genuine he was being.
"I think your sister's amazing, Julieta." Felix assured her. "I promise you, I'm not gonna let her down."
Julieta turned to the others and nodded, then turned back to Félix.
"Ok." She said with a sigh. "Then you have my blessing."
"And mine." Bruno nodded seriously in agreement.
Felix smiled gratefully.
"Did uhh... Pepa send you to do this?" Felix asked them curiously.
The three of them smiled sheepishly. Bruno and Agustin laughed, while Julieta just shook her head.
"I think we'd all be struck down by lightning if Pepa knew we were here." Julieta smiled.
"But honestly." Bruno sighed. "We couldn't stand another day of her talking about you, and then doing nothing about it."
"We had to do something." Agustin agreed.
Felix looked at them in surprise. Say what?
"Why wont Felix see me?" Agustin said, in a surprisingly good Pepa voice. "I want to see Felix again-"
"Stop it." Julieta shook her head, covering his mouth with her hand.
"Ay, Felix... Our love could never be," Bruno cried out as he held a rat in his hands, staring romantically into it's eyes. Felix grinned in amusement, seeing that Bruno was clearly the most dramatic of the group.
"I am María and Felíx is my Efraín." Bruno continued in a feminine voice, doing a little dance with the rat as he spoke. "By the time he finally comes to me I'll be dead."
Julieta pushed Bruno's shoulder, stopping him. "Don't." She gently scolded, knowing Pepa really would die if she knew all this was being repeated. She turned to Félix.
As their eyes met, Felix held his hands to his chest and made a soft face of appreciation. It was adorable to learn how much Pepa cared.
"She's going to water the crops tomorrow." Julieta said with an encouraging smile. "You should go see her."
