Chapter 26
31 years before Encanto
Pepa and Félix laughed as they ran through the forest together, calling out to eachother as they hopped over fallen branches and ducked between trees, racing eachother through the foliage.
They hid from one another, Pepa climbing up trees and waiting, then dropping down to scare Felix as he passed by. Felix ducked down into bushes and did the same to her, the two of them kissing playfully each time they caught one another.
The drinks from the party had taken away any fear and caution they normally would have being in here, so the two of them moved through the rainforest loudly and carelessly.
"Where'd you go?" Felix laughed, looking around for Pepa as he'd lost track of her again. "Pepi?"
He heard sounds of movement coming from the other side of the foliage and he grinned. "Gotta do better than that, amor!" He laughed.
Felix headed through the bushes with a grin, leaping out in front of Pepa. "Gotcha!"
But Pepa wasn't there. Felix froze in terror at what he found instead.
The jaguar stood in front of Felix, watching him with a startled expression. It growled and Felix held his breath.
Oh... Dios.
The jaguar slowly approached Felix as he gulped and backed up, knowing he'd really messed up.
As he slowly walked backwards, Felix's foot stepped on a stick and it cracked. He froze, looking at the jaguar with wide eyes. The jaguar's ears flattened defensively.
Miercoles. Felix held his breath in fear.
The jaguar lunged forward at Felix, swiping at him. Félix screamed and fell back, holding his arm up to try and shield himself from it.
It's claws cut in deep and Felix cried out in pain, his back hitting the ground with a shaky gasp. He clutched his bleeding arm to his chest and shuddered. The jaguar approached him with a low growl and Felix scrambled backwards in panic.
Pepa followed the sound of the screams, pushing through the foliage.
At the sight of Félix in danger, Pepa's expression darkened, and so did the sky.
Felix gasped as he saw Pepa rush over, sliding to a stop in front of the jaguar and standing protectively over him.
"Pepa, no!" He gasped weakly. "Run!"
The dark sky rumbled and came to life.
Pepa's eyes were wide and furious as she turned back to Felix, emanating an anger like he'd never seen before. The clouds swirled dangerously above her and blotted out the sun, casting dark shadows down over her face as Pepa's eyes shone fiercely against the flashing lightning.
She turned back to the jaguar, her hands tightened to fists by her sides and the wind blowing her hair. Lightning flashed again, illuminating up the silhouettes of the trees around them as they creaked and swayed violently in the howling wind.
Felix gasped softly, clutching his arm to his chest as he watched. It was as if the whole forest had come alive with Pepa's rage.
The jaguar growled defensively and Pepa glared back at it with a hard expression. It tried to go around Pepa but she sidestepped, blocking it's way. It growled, feeling threatened. It glanced at Felix.
"Dont you dare." Pepa's voice was fierce.
The jaguar roared at Pepa, but she didn't back down. Every part of Pepa that felt terrified or overwhelmed was overshadowed by her desperate need to save Felix. Pepa wasn't going to lose him. Never. She would die before she let anything touch him.
Summoning up all the courage she had, Pepa let go of her anger. She screamed at the jaguar, the sky lighting up and thundering with rage. The clouds flashed as wind and electricity swirled dangerously around Pepa, her eyes glowing against the sky. The jaguar froze, looking up at Pepa with frightened eyes.
Pepa took a step forward, and the jaguar backed up in fright.
She took another step and the jaguar turned, running as fast as it could and disappearing into the trees.
Felix watched in amazement. This might just be the most incredible thing he'd ever seen anyone do.
Pepa turned back to Félix, her expression still intense. Felix gasped softly at the sight of her fierce glowing eyes and shadowy face. Pepa looked frighteningly powerful.
"Wow, amor..." He whispered breathlessly, blinking slowly in pain as she approached. "Look at you... Mother Nature."
Pepa smiled at his words, and as she did the dark shadows left her face, her eyes returning to normal.
At the sight of Felix's blood, Pepa's expression softened, and so did the storm. The dark sky and clouds faded away as Pepa rushed to his side, the wind blowing anxiously around them.
She gently took Felix's hand in hers, his blood covering her hands and running down her arms as she looked over his injury. The jaguar's claws had cut deep grooves into Felix's arm and it was bleeding a lot. She took a deep breath, looking into his eyes in concern as she noticed him becoming weaker.
"It's ok." Felix smiled breathlessly, wincing. "Can... lose a lot more blood than you think... before it's too late."
Pepa looked sadly down at the cuts on his arm. "I know." She said in a quiet voice.
Felix's expression softened. A grey cloud appeared over Pepa and she looked like she was remembering something upsetting. Felix went to ask her about it but then she quickly spoke again.
"Let's stop it bleeding." Pepa said hastily, "Then we'll go to Julieta." She pulled the ribbon from her hair and wrapped it around his arm. Pepa groaned as it wasn't enough, the blood soaking instantly through the thin fabric. "Great." Pepa frowned, putting the ribbon into her pocket and grabbing the hem of her party dress instead.
"Not the dress..." Félix chuckled weakly. "It's so pretty."
Pepa exhaled a puff of air towards Félix to express how little she cared about that right now. She turned back to her dress and tore it, wrapping the strip of fabric tightly around Felix's blood soaked arm and winding it around. The fabric darkened as it soaked up blood, but it did the job. She tied it up.
Felix weakly kissed Pepa's face as she worked, looking up at her proudly. "Thank you." He spoke breathlessly, his breathing heavy. "You really are... a miracle... Pepa Madrigal."
Pepa smiled, gently brushing his hair with her fingers.
"Come on." Pepa encouraged, putting Felix's good arm around her shoulders. "Let's get you better."
She helped him to stand, groaning softly as she stood up, her legs shaking a little under Felix's weight as she helped him to his feet.
Later
"You went to the river?" Julieta stared at Pepa with wide eyes, before glancing over to Bruno and Agustin, not knowing how to react.
Pepa nodded as she watched Felix eating the empañada. Wind blew anxiously around her as she removed the fabric from Felix's arm, then relaxed as she saw the cuts were gone. Pepa sighed in relief, smiling as she saw the familiar sparkle return to Felix's eyes and the warmth come back to his face.
She took a wet cloth and gently wiped the blood off Felix's smooth skin, leaning down and kissing where the injury had been. Felix smiled, rubbing her hair affectionately.
"What was it like, sis?" Bruno asked, watching Pepa intently. "The river... Was it bad like Mama told us?"
"No." Pepa turned to him with a bright smile. "It was beautiful."
Julieta watched Pepa curiously.
"Like I keep telling you guys! It's fun at the river." Agustin grinned. "And no one is watching you in the forest like they do in town, you can just, you know," He glanced at Julieta and smiled, "You can just live your life."
Felix grinned too, liking the way this was going.
"You know, we could all go there." He suggested excitedly. "Have a picnic, go fishing... Agustin and I could teach you how to swim."
"What about the jaguar?" Pepa asked.
The others' turned quickly at her words, their faces full of concern.
Felix chuckled. "I don't think we're gonna be seeing him for a very, very long time."
"Dios!" Julieta exclaimed, holding her hands over her mouth. "Is that what happened, Pepi? How did you get away?"
Pepa smiled knowingly, looking back down to Felix's arm as she cleaned off the last of the blood. Felix chuckled, kissing her proudly.
"You fought it off." Bruno spoke up quietly. "With your powers... Didn't you?"
Pepa turned to him in surprise, then nodded.
"I knew you did something like that." Bruno smiled. "Something brave. From the moment you guys walked in here, I could feel it. Something was different about you."
Pepa watched him curiously.
"I recognised it. Because I've felt like that way too." He looked down at the rat in his hands, his voice serious. "Once. A couple years back, when I used my powers to protect you."
Pepa nodded gratefully, remembering the green swirling dirt in the middle of town, images of the future flashing before the group of boys as they backed away in fear, Pepa holding onto Bruno as he stood over her protectively, his eyes glowing green.
"I feel like we're holding ourselves back all the time, sis." Bruno smiled sadly. "Scared to even use 20% of what we've got, because it's just gonna scare everyone. But then there comes these shining moments where suddenly we're useful, we're wanted... And then we dont have to hold back anymore. Suddenly someone needs us, and we get to go 100%." His expression softened longingly as he looked back at Pepa. "And in that one moment, it's like everything you do is ok. Everything about you is ok. You're not too much, you're not too weird, too scary... Just for a one little moment, you're exactly what people need."
Pepa blinked back tears as she nodded in agreement, a grey cloud appearing over her head and sprinkling down rain. Bruno gave her a hug, and she rested her head against his. "I love you so much." She whispered as Bruno embraced her.
"Love you too, sis."
Rain sprinkled down over the two of them as Pepa held her brother tight, feeing a deep connection to him. People cared and sympathised, but Bruno was probably the only person in the world who really understood what it was like to be Pepa. Because that was his life, too.
"You enjoy this moment, sis." Bruno said with a quiet smile. "I know it's gonna fade again in time, and things'll go back to the way they were... But just for today, you can enjoy being the good guy."
They held eachother for a little while longer, then stopped as some party guests suddenly entered the room to grab some supplies, interrupting the moment. Everyone straightened up, acting casual. Julieta quickly stuffed the bloody cloths into her pockets.
"Sorry." One of them chuckled with a smile, grabbing some bottles.
"Hey! We were wondering where you went, Félix." Another spoke up in a friendly tone. "You and your girlfriend were fire tonight." They glanced at Pepa and grinned, nodding in approval. "Hola, Pepa! All the newcomers have been talking about you, chica. Can't wait to see you back out there."
Pepa smiled quietly, noticing the newcomers hadn't even mentioned her raining cloud.
"Come say hi, ok?" They said with friendly smiles. "When you're ready."
"We'll see you out there." Félix grinned, putting an arm around Pepa.
His friends grinned back, then went to rejoin the party.
"We should probably go back out there too, before Mama worries." Julieta suggested as she watched them go. They all nodded in agreement.
As the others left the room, Pepa lingered. Felix watched her in concern.
"You go ahead," She said quietly, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling. "I just need to clear away this cloud first."
"Hey," He whispered, holding her close and looking into her eyes. "About what Bruno said. You are always the good guy, Pepa. Not just for today... Every day. You know that, right?"
She looked back at him sadly. "Not always."
"Then what's this?" He asked with a grin, holding up his healed arm and tapping it with his finger. "Hm?" Pepa couldn't help but smile.
"You're not a bad person, Pepa." Felix insisted. "And neither is your brother... I can see that you both think it, but I'm telling you, it's not true."
"We make bad things happen." Pepa said softly.
Felix put a hand to her cheek and looked into her eyes.
"You have never made anything bad happen to me." He said in a serious voice. "You make everything in my life better, just be being you. Hm?" He smiled encouragingly. "And these clouds?" He gestured at the clouds above Pepa's head and she instinctively flinched. Felix leaned in and gently kissed her, his voice soft and genuine. "These clouds saved my life today."
Pepa's face softened in realisation. He was right. It was the clouds that had saved them. Not the rainbows, not the sun... She'd needed the bad weather.
"So, I would say that these clouds," He gestured up again playfully, "These clouds have a VIP invitation to this party." Félix grinned. "I want them there. I want to introduce them to my friends, to my family. I want to dance Tango with them."
"Why?" Pepa muttered, imagining the people's reactions if she want out there with a raining cloud.
He leaned in closer and kissed her. He glanced up at the clouds again, then looked into her eyes. "Because I love them, Pepa. I love the clouds."
She watched him in surprise. Felix gently brushed her fringe behind her ear.
"Do they love me?" He asked with a playful smile.
Pepa smiled.
"Will you ask them for me?" He grinned.
Pepa nodded, looking up at her clouds, but they were gone.
"They ran away from you." She laughed.
Felix laughed too. "Come on, then." He got up and held his hand out for Pepa to rejoin the party. "I'll have to ask them another time."
Pepa watched him hesitantly, then spoke up. "The clouds love you, Felix."
Felix paused, his face soft in surprise.
"What's that?" He asked quietly.
Pepa put her arms around Felix's shoulders and smiled, her eyes warm.
"I said I love you, Felix."
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(Notes)
Hey everyone, just want to thank you so much for your support and continuing to read this story :) Your comments mean the world to me, so thank you. Very glad that you are enjoying it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. I write from the heart, so it really brightens my day whenever my phone pings and tells me someone had liked/reviewed the chapters. You guys are the best!
If you comment as a guest though I can't reply, which is why I wanted to put out a public note and say thanks to those guys - and if you comment with an account or send me a DM, then I'll be able to reply to you properly too :)
Take care and see you next chapter!
Cloudy Encanto x
