Chapter 25

31 years before Encanto


"Where did you want the rum bottles, Señor?" Agustín asked Félix's papá politely.

"Just over there, chico." Félix's papá grinned, gesturing to some tables. "Thanks!" He called out after Agustín.

Agustín turned around to smile back at him, but as he did he ran straight into Félix who was quickly walking past.

"Ay cuidado!" Félix laughed, helping Agustín to catch the rum bottles before they smashed to the floor. "We carried these all the way from the coastline, muchacho." Félix put the bottles onto the table and grinned at Agustin, who smiled back apologetically.

"Hey thanks for coming early, man." Félix said gratefully. "My papá really appreciates the extra help."

Agustín smiled and shrugged. "I do a lot of shows and events. I know how much hassle setup and cleanup is. Can always use an extra hand."

"Yeah?" Félix asked curiously. "What's that for?"

"I'm a musician." Agustin smiled.

"Ay! We gotta get you up on the stage then!" Félix grinned excitedly. "That's so awesome!"

Agustin laughed.

"You always wanted to do that?" Félix asked curiously. "Be a musician?"

"Yeah, well-" Augustin hesitated, his tone a little unsure. "Yeah, of course."

"What is it?" Félix asked. "Don't you like it?"

"I love it." Agustin said in a genuine voice. "I do."

"But...?" Félix prompted. Agustin laughed softly.

"But. I guess it's all I've ever known." He explained. "Papá plays, Mamá sings, I've been going to shows and performing my whole life. Guess I want to try something different, you know?" He shrugged.

Félix watched him curiously.

"And what's that?" Félix asked with a grin.

Agustín shuffled awkwardly, putting his hands into his pockets.

"Come on, man." Félix encouraged him.

Agustín hesitated, then smiled to himself.

"I really like flowers." He admitted, blushing a little. "I find them fascinating... The colours, the shapes, the smells. I just love growing them. I've got a whole garden at home with all different types of flowers." His eyes lit up excitedly at the thought of it. "I always thought, maybe I could sell flowers at the market. I mean, if it wasn't for, well. You know..."

"I don't." Félix laughed, "You gotta tell me."

Agustin sighed. "I'm allergic to bees. Like, really allergic. It gets really bad. And they're always in the garden, waiting for me."

"Ay." Félix's face softened.

Agustin shrugged, his fingers gently adjusting the pink flower that he had sitting in his front shirt pocket. Félix smiled at it.

"That from your garden?" He asked.

Agustin's face lit up as he nodded. "It's for Julieta."

Félix grinned at Agustin. The guy was so sweet and genuine. It felt unfair that Alma didn't approve of him, especially after so long.

Pepa had told Félix that Julieta and Agustin's first date had been a disaster, followed by too many secrets, so now Alma sees Agustin as trouble because of it. But Pepa also said that even without any of that, her Mamá probably still wouldn't approve of Agustin. Pepa said that as far as her Mamá is concerned, nobody is good enough for Julieta.

"You really love her." Félix commented.

Agustin nodded, his hand still holding onto the flower. Félix watched curiously. He still seemed very young. Maybe he just didn't know where to start in regards to winning over Alma. Félix smiled at him thoughtfully, he wanted to help the guy.

They stood together, watching as the musicians started playing and all the guests began to arrive.

"Hey, was Julieta your first kiss?" Félix asked curiously.

"Oh..." Agustin laughed awkwardly. "Not exactly." His eyes watched Bruno as he entered the party, followed closely by Julieta and Pepa.

"Ay!" Félix called out in excitement as he saw them too.

The Madrigals all broke into grins as Agustin and Félix rushed over excitedly. Pepa jumped up into Félix's arms, hugging him tight.

"Look at you, guapa!" Felix laughed, admiring her party dress. "Que linda! Hm?" He rubbed his nose playfully against hers as she laughed.

A rainbow appeared over Pepa's head as she covered Félix's face with kisses. Félix grinned, then kissed her on the mouth, his hands running lovingly through her hair.

Agustin stood frozen beside them, watching with a bewildered expression. He then slowly turned to Julieta with wide and surprised eyes.

"Oh," Julieta laughed, realising Agustín hadn't witnessed them together yet. "Yeah, that's normal. They're just, ah, moving at a different pace to us."

Agustín gulped nervously, wondering if Julieta was expecting the same kind of greeting from him.

"Hey," Julieta spoke reassuringly as she took his hands, kissing his cheek. "I'm so happy to see you." She smiled at him with warm eyes. "I missed you."

"Same." Agustín smiled back at Julieta. "You ah, look really beautiful today."

He took the flower from his front pocket and carefully put it into Julieta's hair. She smiled at him lovingly, placing a hand to his cheek, gently leaning in and kissing him.

Bruno watched the door uncomfortably as both his sisters kissed their boyfriends behind him.

"This is fine." Bruno smiled to the rat on his shoulder as he stood there, holding a ruana in his arms.

Alma walked into the room and Bruno quickly tossed the ruana up over the top of Julieta and Agustín, hiding them.

They quickly straightened up, peeking out from under the ruana, but fortunately Alma was too busy greeting her friend Señora Guzmán to notice. Agustin grinned cheekily at Julieta as she stroked his cheek, giving him one last quick kiss before turning to Bruno and gratefully returning the ruana. Bruno gave her a strained smile as he took it.

"Ok," Bruno spoke up to the group, "So now we got all that outta the way," Bruno laughed awkwardly, "Should we go get some drinks? Eh? Anyone thirsty?"

The others laughed too, feeling called out by Bruno. They all headed off together to grab a drink and something to eat.


Later


"Do you know how to Tango?" Félix asked Pepa, holding out a hand for her.

Pepa smiled at Félix's question.

Bruno, Julieta and Agustin all glanced at eachother knowingly.

Pepa stood up, taking Félix's hand in hers and leaning in. "We'll have to go find out." She said softly into his ear, leading him to the dance floor. Félix grinned.

The music picked up and Félix laughed in surprise as Pepa immediately began to show off. Her movements were vibrant and passionate as she danced around him like fire. Felix trilled proudly, watching as her body turned and moved effortlessly in time to the music. Pepa flicked her hair back and smiled at Félix.

Félix trilled again, snapping his fingers in approval. He stepped forward and put his hand to Pepa's waist as she continued to dance against him. "So it's gonna be like that, hm?" He asked her with a smile.

Pepa nodded with a grin and Félix laughed, kissing her and taking her hand in his. "Alright, Pepi." He grinned back, pulling her into starting position. "Show me what you got."

They danced Tango together, stepping in time with eachother as Félix matched Pepa's moves. He grinned and looked into her eyes as they slowly circled eachother, then he quickly pulled Pepa in, spinning her to a stop in time with the beat, their faces almost touching as he held her close.

"Not bad, viejo." Pepa smiled breathlessly, quickly kissing his face before spinning under his arm. Félix smiled too, turning and putting his hand to Pepa's waist again, stepping forwards as she dipped back. Pepa wrapped a leg around Félix's waist and leant back, letting go and holding her hands out as Félix swept her around and pulled her back up, her arms wrapping around his shoulders as their faces met again in time to the beat. Félix snapped his fingers playfully and Pepa laughed.

People ululated and trilled as they gathered to watch the two of them dance together. Pepa smiled at Félix gratefully. It'd been so long since she'd been allowed out to dance, and it felt so good. Pepa felt alive as the music played in her heart.

Dancing had always been a safe space for Pepa. She'd been dancing since she was old enough to walk, and always considered it to be one of the things she was good at. When she danced and her body moved to the music, Pepa felt free, like she could get lost in the moment and nothing else would matter. The bad clouds never came to Pepa while she was dancing.

They continued to Tango, Pepa following Felix's moves as he lifted her up and spun her around. They paused with the beat and grinned at eachother, then Félix let Pepa drop, catching her before she hit the ground and bringing her back around, her feet sweeping the floor then stepping up again, their faces meeting again in time for the end of the song.

Everyone cheered and ululated loudly around them, snapping their fingers and calling out in approval. Pepa looked around in surprise at all the smiling faces, trying to catch her breath and feeling overwhelmed. She was used to lots of people reacting to her in a crowd, but not like this. They were celebrating, and no one was upset with her. She held onto Felix and closed her eyes happily as she rested her head against his, not wanting this feeling to go away.

"Ay Pepi!" Julieta, Bruno and Agustin laughed and cheered from the crowd.

Pepa looked over at them gratefully, then turned hopefully towards her Mamá, who was standing next to Felix's Papá, the two of them talking quietly to eachother.

Alma smiled proudly at her, and it caught Pepa by surprise.

Pepa couldn't remember the last time her Mamá had been proud of her. She swallowed, feeing overwhelmed with emotion as she stared back. Mamá actually looked happy with her. Pepa blinked as she felt her eyes welling up with tears.

Mamá's smile faded and her eyes became worried. She gestured up with her eyes, her mouth silently saying one word. Cloud.

Pepa felt her heart drop. What? No.

She looked up and surely enough there was a cloud floating above her. Pepa took a shaky breath, feeling sick in the stomach as heavy weight of shame and disappointment pulled down on her. She turned back to Mamá apologetically, but Mamá shook her head, gesturing up with her eyes and making a little waving gesture with her hand.

Pepa's head dropped down. Why was this happening to her? She'd tried so hard to be good. Pepa took another shaky breath and felt her heart beating faster as the cloud above her thundered. Pepa flinched, looking back up at the cloud, then turning to see Mamá glancing to Felix's papá in embarrassment, then shaking her head again at Pepa, her eyes desperate as she made the waving gesture again.

Pepa's breathing became faster as she panicked. Clear skies, clear skies. The cloud thundered again.

"It's ok." Félix laughed, rubbing her back encouragingly. "They like it. Reminds us of the Caribbean."

The cloud thundered again and Pepa gasped. She let go of Felix and ran.


Felix left the party too, searching for Pepa.

He eventually found her sitting in the fields in her party dress, staring out at the mountains with her head in her hands.

"I knew it, amor!" He laughed, heading over. She quickly turned around, then grinned at the sight of him. "I knew you left my party for the crops! And I told you, their parties are always terrible! Sure, there's plenty of food," He gestured at the plants around them. "But the atmosphere? All wrong. Way too serious."

Pepa laughed and got up, running over and hugging him tight.

"You alright?" He asked gently, stroking her hair.

She nodded with an apologetic smile. "I had to go and clear the clouds. Sorry."

Felix looked around. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"And look at you go!" He said in an impressed tone, looking up at the sky and then turning back to Pepa encouragingly. "You did so well!"

"I did it the way you showed me." She grinned.

Felix kissed her face and smiled. "I'm so proud of you, Pepi."

Pepa's eyes softened. She really liked hearing that.

"You know, there's a lot of talent coming out of you today, amor." Felix grinned, sweeping Pepa off her feet and dipping her backwards as she giggled, her leg wrapping around his waist. Felix leaned down so that their faces were close together. "When were you gonna tell me you could dance like that? Hm?"

Pepa kissed his face and smiled.

Felix laughed, pulling Pepa back up to her feet. She spun under his arm playfully, then hugged him.

"We should go back to the party." Pepa suggested, glancing towards town. She wanted to dance some more.

Felix looked at the nearby trees thoughtfully. "Hm..." He turned to Pepa with an excited grin. He'd had a little bit of Aguardiente at the party and was feeling pretty bold.

"Can we go in there first?" He suggested with a playful smile. "The party's gonna be going all night, so we can come back later, no problem."

Pepa glanced at the trees cautiously, then turned back to Felix with a trusting smile.

"Ok."