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Chapter Nine

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All was quiet for an agonizing three minutes. Mirabel turned to her grandmother, who simply stared with wide eyes at the spot the magical door once sat. Her father's mind was running so fast that he had begun to ramble on in search of any sort of answer.

"Is it supposed to do that? It doesn't usually do that…Right? Kat, why is it — "

"Bruno," Katerina snapped, sharply glaring at him for a moment. Her face fell when she saw the disappointed look on her little girl's face.

"What happened?" asked the five-year-old with nothing but sweet, naive innocence in her chocolate eyes.

"I don't know, mi amor…I don't know," Bruno stammered, still reeling from the shock of the door DISAPPEARING. He knew there was trouble as soon as an accusatory murmur rose out of the crowd behind them.

"What happened?"

"Is the magic gone?"

"It's probably because of her crazy parents."

"That witch cursed her own daughter."

"Please tell me what the hell's going on," Kat growled, glaring at Alma with a threatening aura around her. The older woman simply sat there with her mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"I…I don't — it doesn't make sense," she mumbled to herself, helplessly watched as a crying Mirabel was taken to the nursery by Augustìn and Julieta.

"Well, you better start figuring it out because I just watched my baby girl get denied a gift. I'm not exactly happy," Kat snapped, mere inches from her mother-in-law's face.

"If you think I would sabotage Mirabel like that then you're truly as crazy as they say you are," Alma scowled as her frown lines became heavily apparent. There was a moment of tense silence followed by all the emotions and snarky comments Katerina had been holding back over the years finally boiling over. She hadn't even realised she slapped her mother-in-law until she heard the sound of skin-on-skin contact break through the quiet.

"Kat!" Pepa cried in surprise. There was no time to confront Kat before she was storming off to her and Bruno's shared tower.

"That insufferable little…GAH!" Alma threw her hands up and grunted angrily, also retreating to her bedroom. Oblivious and confused Bruno looked between his wife's and mother's doors with no idea what just happened.

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Holding in anger only fuels the emotional fire that burns within a person. Kat knew this all too well. That being said, she didn't regret slapping Alma at first, but as the hours passed, she understood it wasn't her fault Mirabel didn't get a gift.

Maybe it was pride that drove her to scare that poor woman like that but she just couldn't understand why the magic would deny her baby girl. Don't take it the wrong way, this didn't change how she saw her daughter, but why should be excluded from a family tradition?

"Is she okay?" she asked when Bruno returned to the tower after putting their daughter to bed. Her mood could change like the shifting seasons but he was always a constant she could count on. Knowing this, she carefully watched him pause with his hand lingering on the door for an awkward beat.

"Mirabel's fine but…" A flash of worry crossed his finely aged features.

"But what?" Kat stopped and stared at him dead in the eyes. Bruno sighed and dropped down onto the side of his bed.

"Kat, did you slap my mother?" he asked softly. The shorter woman furrowed her brows for a fraction of a second then let her anger melt into remorse.

"Look, I was upset and I still don't completely understand why the door just vanished. You know I've never been good at controlling what I do when I'm angry…" she sat down next to him and took one of his sweaty hands in hers. When she leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, Bruno held her tightly and kissed her forehead.

"You've just been extra…expressive lately. Is everything okay?" he asked with a more serious tone than before. Kat's tension could be felt from the closeness. She made a face he knew all too well. She was hiding something.

"That won't be necessary."

Her mouth had opened to speak but a different voice came out, leaving her confused. When the couple glanced towards the door, they found Alma standing there with a scared look on her face. Bruno had seen his mother make many faces but this one was offputting.

"Mamá, I'm so sorry!" Kat instantly shot to her feet and made her way to the older woman. Alma hugged her tightly as a means of politely shutting her up.

"I know, Katerina. Pepa's anger has taught me to be patient," she smiled for a beat, "but I'm not here about that."

"What's wrong?" Bruno asked, face contorting with worry. Alma pursed her lips into a fine line.

"I need you to look into Encanto's future," she pleaded. Her emerald-eyed son hesitated for a few seconds, looking from her to Kat.

"Why? What happened?" the brunette asked with brows furrowed in concern.

"There were cracks…Up the walls, through the floors, everywhere," the once calm family matriarch broke down in a matter of seconds. Tears spilt from the corner of her eyes as her daughter-in-law acted as her cane.

Katerina gently coerced her into a chair, "Is the magic dying? Is that why Mirabel didn't get a gift?" She took a shaky breath to stabilize herself.

"I honestly have no idea why her door disappeared but if these cracks are to blame, I need to know. I can't risk my family," she whipped the wetness from her cheeks and gave her son's hand a gentle squeeze.

"Right…yeah, okay, I — I'll do it," he nodded slowly at first, then more vigorously a few seconds later. He threw on his iconic hourglass poncho and helped the Madrigal figurehead up to the vision cave, his wife hot on their heels.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked Alma quietly as they reached the top of the staircase. She nodded a silent yes, then turned around to join Bruno in his clairvoyance cave. Kat's breath

She was worried for her family but this was something Alma and Bruno needed to do on their own. Even though she couldn't get Mirabel's heartbroken look out of her mind's eye, she knew that the family magic wasn't any of her business. However, that wouldn't stop her from pacing around her bedroom for the second time that night.

A couple of hours later, when Bruno returned to his room, he found Katerina lying in bed, snoring softly. She looked so peaceful compared to the rageful mother goose that had exploded on his Mamá earlier. He left the door open behind him intending to leave through it in a few minutes. No one was here to stop him.

"Katerina," he called softly as he brushed strands of raven hair out of the woman's face. She barely cracked her eyes open before shaking hands covered them again.

"Wazzappenin'?" she slurred in her sleep. Bruno shushed her until she relaxed into the pillow, nuzzling his hand.

"Nothing, mi amor, it's just…" he gnawed on his bottom lip to distract himself from the aching in his chest, "I've got to go away for a bit."

"But where are you gonna go?" Kat's drowsy voice sounded painfully similar to her younger self, and for a second, Bruno saw not only the woman he married lying in his bed but the girl he grew up with. She had been with him through everything. That doesn't make this any easier, he thought with a sigh.

Steeling his nerves, the man spoke in a broken mumble, "I don't know yet, but I'm gonna miss you and Mirabel so much. I want you to remember that. Promise me that you'll love our little bean enough for the both of us, okay?"

"You're so weird." Kat's breathy laughter turned into a pig-like snort, but Bruno never smiled. His hands nervously fidgeted while he frowned down at her.

"I want — no, need — you to promise me, Sweetheart," he held her face in his hands, thumb rubbing her cheeks soothingly. She hummed her agreement with slight irritation and rolled back over.

"Love you, idiot," she grumbled, lightly slapping his hands away. A thousand pounds of tension was lifted off Bruno's shoulders when he kissed her forehead for a long while.

"I love you most."

"Así te descubrí…pero en un beso fue que yo te conoci." Katerina couldn't imagine how badly that coincidental mumble shattered her husband's will. That's how I found you but it was during a kiss that I met you.

"Diez pasos hacia ti, mil dudas sobre mi…" The moon, in all of her ancient glory, became the only witness to the tears that fell from Bruno's face as he backed away. Ten steps to reach you, a thousand doubts about me…

"Y el miedo natural." And the natural fear.

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Pepa had wanted to sleep in late that morning. Her last few nights were spent dealing with Camilo, who was getting over a small fever. She had expected Fèlix to inform everyone of her intentions and ask for no one to disturb her but no. Here she was, being shaken awake by her sweet little raindrop. She loved Delores but that didn't stop her from letting a stormcloud drench the poor girl.

"What?" the redhead grumbled as it rained over her waterproof bed. Delores let out a small squeak of surprise then cautiously began to speak.

"Tía Katerina's asking everyone to come down to the kitchen," the ten-year-old explained softly. Pepa sighed and rolled back over, pulling the golden cotton of her comforter over her head.

"Tell her I'll make my own breakfast later," she huffed. When she didn't hear Delores leave the room, a curious eye peeked out from under the blanket.

"She's really upset, Mamá," the brunette cringed when she noticed the "are you serious?" look that her mother was giving her.

"Your tía gets upset sometimes. We all do. Now, let me rest, Raindrop." Pepa shut her eyes once again.

"It's not her I'm worried about," Delores sighed before turning towards the door.

"What do you mean he's gone?!"

"I mean he just left. We can't find him anywhere," Alma breathed heavily as Julieta helped her into one of the kitchen chairs, her aged lungs finding it suddenly hard to breathe. The entire family sat around the struggling mother with sympathetic eyes. Her unreadable expression didn't dare give off even the slightest hint of what was going on in her head.

"Bruno's not the most physically active person in Encanto but he might be trying to cross the mountains," Augustín suggested, holding Julieta's shaking hands. The Kitchen Goddess was absentmindedly playing with the cool metal of her wedding ring.

"Katerina's not even coming out of her room." Her movements paused for a beat, and then she buried her head in her hands and sobbed. "Oh, God, what are we going to tell Mirabel?"

"Nothing," Alma let out her withheld breath and closed her amber eyes. Her family stared at her for a tense moment of shock.

"But Ma — "

"He can't have gotten far. Why worry her if all we have to do is find him and bring him home?" she explained with stubborn resolve. The family figurehead was quick to act. She advised everyone on how they would go about looking for Bruno, all while holding in her own worries and doubts.

"Julieta, can you go check on Mirabel? Someone needs to be with her until her father comes home and Katerina calms down." Julieta gave her mother a sharp nod and ran off with Luisa and Isabela. The girls were equally worried about their cousin, aunt, and uncle, even if one understood the severity of the situation more than the other.

Pepa and Fèlix took Delores and Camilo outside to help search for Bruno soon after. Based on the look she gave her grandmother, Alma could tell that Delores knew the real reason no one was allowed in Kat's room at that moment. She was thankful that the sweet girl didn't bring it up.

Once everyone filed out of Casita, she made her way back up into Bruno's tower. Immediately upon entering, she noticed the crumpled papers that littered the sandpit on the bottom-most floor. Dozens of Katerina's drawings had been ripped from their place on the walls and thrown out like trash.

"Stupid, selfish, deadbeat, hijo de — "

"Katerina?"

"WHAT?!" Katerina stormed out of her bedroom with her ponytail hanging loosely in her hair and a broken shard of glass in her hands. She truly looked like a maniac with a weapon. Alma had only raised a brow in the woman's direction but that seemed to do the trick.

"Sorry, Ma," Kat apologized, dropping the glass with a crestfallen expression on her face. When she had been left alone earlier that morning, she was sobbing into her pillow, as evident by the dark circles under her eyes and tear stains on her cheeks). "I don't understand, how could he just leave us like that? Mirabel adores him!"

"I'm sure he had a good reason. If his stubbornness has taught me anything, it's that when Bruno loves something, he'll do whatever it takes to protect it," Alma allowed her frown to deepen as she guided her back into the bedroom. She didn't expect her son's room to be a complete mess upon entering Bruno had never been a neat person but this…even he wouldn't do this.

The mirror had dozens of cracks in it, fragments of it littered atop the vanity and explaining the shard Kat held earlier. She refused to look at herself as the unmade bed and thrown about clothes were testaments to her mental deterioration.

"Maybe the townspeople were right…" Katerina rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling. Alma put her hand over the younger woman's balled up fists.

"You are not cursed, my dear. They don't know what they're talking about." After a tense moment of silence, the older woman pulled her daughter-in-law into another tight hug. They sat in one another's arms for what felt like hours before collapsing onto the bed. A good crying session wasn't a one-sided event as Alma soon joined in on Kat's lamenting.

Meanwhile, in the town, all able-bodied personnel were out searching for the missing Madrigal.

"We've looked all throughout the town. Not a sign of him anywhere," a villager alerted Pepa. The redhead huffed in annoyance, eyes briefly drifting towards Casita off in the distance. Katerina...

"Search the mountains," she ordered sharply. The man nodded and ran off to lead the search party. When Fèlix put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, she let go of a heavily weighted sigh. "We have to find him, Fèlix."

"I know, Pepi. We will…" the shorter man stroked her hair calmingly. A small whimper escaped her throat as she watched Delores and Camilo approach.

"I don't hear him," the former admitted with downcast eyes. She felt so helpless…

"It's okay, Mija, your Tío's always been a bit sneaky," Pepa tried to sound hopeful. Deep down, she knew her brother was not meant to be on his own. He needed to be with his family, not hiding away in the woods like some vagabond.

"Is Tía Kat gonna be okay?" Camilo asked with downcast eyes. The shapeshifter was scooped up by his father who turned to walk back into Casita.

"She's going to need some time. For now, let's see if Mirabel wants some company," he forced a smile as he led his kids back to the Madrigal house.