What's stronger than a hurricane?

A typhoon.

And you bet that Pepa created one the night Bruno disappeared.

I'm also feeding more into my glowing eyes headcannon. Because, why not?

Enjoy~

This was not how the night was supposed to go. It should have been perfect. They should be celebrating right now, partying their night away. Dancing, laughing, spending time together. They should be celebrating Mirabel's new gift.

But they weren't.

Instead of glowing, and gracing the youngest Madrigal with a gift, her door faded to dust. After everyone recovered from their shock the townsfolk started to whisper. Félix and Pepa jumped into action, shooing all the villagers out. Bruno did the same with their children.

Julieta and Agustín went to comfort their youngest daughter, who fled to the nursery in tears. Once the last villager was out of their home, and the children were spread out across Casita, the adults returned to the courtyard. Pepa sat on the stairs trying to keep her anxiety from brewing a nasty storm. Small snowflakes fluttered down from above her. Félix sat beside her holding her hand between his two larger ones. Alma paced back and forth in front of them.

"How's Mira doing?" Pepa called out as Agustín walked past the entry way.

"She's upset. She doesn't understand what happened."

Mirabel wasn't the only one who didn't understand, though. All the Madrigals were confused. Each one of them had been given their gifts in the same way. Nothing had changed. Nothing was done differently than any of the other seven times the ceremony had been performed.

It didn't make sense.

"How did this happen Mamá?" Pepa asked quietly.

"I-I don't know. I asked Bruno to have a vision." Alma explained as she stopped pacing long enough to look at the redhead. She wanted an answer, they all did. But there wasn't one she could give right now, at least not until she knew more.

There was a faint knock on the door. Walking to it, Alma cracked it open to see a group of villagers. One of them stepped forward, wringing his hat between his hands nervously. "Señora Madrigal? The townsfolk have some questions about the magic. What should we tell them?"

Alma squared her shoulders and straightened her black shawl. Looking behind her, her eyes fell onto the adults. Locking eyes with her daughter, she spoke. "Find Bruno. We must find out what he knows."

All three adults all shared a look as the door closed. Agustín ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to be with his daughter, not looking for his brother-in-law. It was his job as a father to be there for her. But he knew there would be consequences if he disobeyed the Madrigal Matriarch.

"Maybe you should go back with Julieta and Mirabel." Félix offered. He could see the worried look on Agustín's face. Hell, he could feel the anxiety rolling off him. Which only built to the boiling anxiety his wife was trying to suppress.

"Are you sure?"

"Go. We'll find Bruno." Pepa tried to give him a reassuring smile as she nodded. She couldn't blame him for wanting to be with his child. If it were her in his shoes, nothing would stop her from being with her child. Agustín offered a quick thanks, before heading back to the nursery. "Ay. This is such a mess, Félix."

Bringing her hand up to his lips, he placed a kiss on her knuckles. "I'm sure everything will be alright, Amor."

"What if it's not? What if there's something wrong with our magic? What will the kids do if they don't have their gifts?" Pepa asked as they walked to her brother's tower. She could feel herself starting to spiral as her worries started to build. The wind started circling around her, a first sign of the small tornado that would grow if she continued on.

"If it comes to that, we'll figure it out." He assured. He stopped, and turned her around so she faced him. Gently, he lifted her chin up so she was looking at him. "As a family."

"You're right. There's nothing to get worked up abou-" She felt the words catch in her throat. Her eyes widened as she looked past Félix to her brother's door. The door was different. The bright golden glow was gone, leaving behind only the dark colorless wood. Without a second thought Pepa rushed past her husband and into the room. "Bruno?!"

"Bruno!" Pepa shouted as she effortlessly slid down the mound of sand. "Bruno Madrigal answer me right now! This isn't funny!"

Félix stepped through the sand wall. Unused to the loose ground below, he slipped and fell. Brushing the stray sand out of his face he focused back on his wife, only to find her gone. The soft echo of thunder pulled his attention upward and his heart stopped for a minute. Pepa was running up the large staircase. He could see the small thundercloud taking shape as her panic rose.

Rain and stairs were a recipe for disaster.

Picking himself up off the ground, he started up after her. "Pepa!"

If she heard him, she didn't respond. She continued climbing the stairs, completely oblivious to the winds that were starting to pick up around her. "Bruno!"

"Pepa wait!" Félix pleaded. But she continued on, disappearing at the top of the staircase. He listened as the door to Bruno's vision cave was thrown open. Focusing ahead, he continued up the last flight of steps.

Finally, he reached the top. Pepa stormed out of the vision cave, her emerald eyes wide and full of fear. "He's not up here, Félix!"

"Hey, take a deep breath for me." He said as he tried to catch his own breath. He was far too out of shape for that many steps in that short of time. Bruno's room was by far the worst. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to the love of his life. He needed her to calm down enough so they didn't fall on their way back down. "He's got to be around here somewhere. We'll find him. But we need to get down from here safely, Mi Nube."

Realizing what Félix meant, she closed her eyes and recentered herself. He was right. She could panic once they were back on solid ground. "Yeah. You're right."

"Where have you been?!" Alma practically shouted as everyone filed back into the house.

After they'd made their way down from Bruno's tower safely, Félix and Pepa were greeted by the children. Dolores rounded them up, hoping they could help. The Madrigals split up and searched the town, hoping to find any trace Bruno. They'd searched for nearly five hours, but they found no sign of the seer.

"We were out looking for Bruno, Mamá." Pepa explained. Surely by now her mother must have realized that Bruno's door had gone dark.

"Children, go to your rooms."

"But what about Tío Bruno?" Camilo asked.

"Don't question me. Go." Alma held her hand up, signaling that there was no room for discussion. The children shared a look, but did as their Abuela said.

"Mamá, what are you doing?" Pepa demanded. She could feel the small cloud above her as her temper flared.

Alma's eyes flickered upwards. "You have a cloud."

"I know, Mamá!" Right now, that was the last thing her mother needed to be concerned with. They had bigger problems than the cloud hanging above her head. Like her missing brother. "Why are you sending the children to their rooms? We need their help to look for Bruno."

"They're not looking for him anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"They need to rest. They have chores tomorrow."

Félix could feel the tension growing. He had the sinking feeling that this conversation wasn't going to end well. Taking Pepa's hand, he patted it a couple times. "It's okay, Pepi. You and I can look for him."

Alma shook her head once. "No. You both have your own duties to see to tomorrow."

Narrowing her eyes, Pepa looked at her mother ready to argue. "Perdón?"

"You heard me, Pepa." Alma said evenly, holding the redhead's stare, unfazed by her growing anger.

Pepa pulled her hand out of Félix's as she took a couple steps towards her mother. The cloud above her flickered. "No. I don't think I did. Because it sounds to me like you're telling me to abandon mi hermano."

"He's the one who abandoned us!" Alma snapped.

"You don't know that!"

"Look around! He left us, in our darkest hour! Instead of coming to us about the vision, he chose to leave!"

"No! Bruno wouldn't run just run away. Not without telling one of us."

"He doesn't care about us!"

"He loves us!"

"Does someone who loves their family just leave?"

Pepa felt like she was suffocating from the storm building inside her. She wanted to let it out, but she couldn't. If she did, they'd have to wait for the storm to pass to continue their search for Bruno. Balling her hands into fists, she swallowed the growing monsoon inside her. "There has to be a reason! We have to find him!"

"Enough. I've made my decision." Alma raised her hand again, silencing her daughter as she just as she had the children earlier. The cold tone of her words left no room for discussion.

However, unlike most of the Encanto, Pepa didn't have a problem with challenging her mother's decisions. Especially when it came to the welfare of her familia. "That's not something for you to decide!"

"It is. And it's done." Deciding she was done with their conversation, Alma turned to return to her own room.

Félix watched as Pepa shook with pure rage. Quickly, he moved to stand between his wife and the retreating form of his mother-in-law. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and comfort her, but he could see the little sparks of lightning dancing off of her pale skin.

Settling on her eyes, his concern started to grow as he watched her emerald eyes start to flicker to gold. Flickering eyes were a tell-tale sign of trouble for the redhead. "Amor, your eyes."

Spinning around, Pepa stomped up to her room. Her anger only growing as her mother's words echoed throughout her head. Her door slammed shut behind her. She could feel the small amount of control slipping away as more clouds gathered above her. "Casita. No one enters this room. Not even Félix."

Praying that her home would honor her wish, she walked into the large open field and finally let her anger out.

Thick black clouds spread across the entirety of the open sky in her room in an instant. The wind roared to life with a vicious howl, covering the angry scream that ripped through her. The wall of rain and hail came next, blocking her vision. Thunder shook the room as lightning struck the ground around her.

For a brief second, she wondered if her room would truly be able to contain a storm of this power.

Who cares if it can't? We deserve to be angry.

Pepa straightened as the eerie voice in her head spoke. She'd heard it plenty of times before. No matter how many times she heard it, though, it still unsettled her with how similar it was to her own. The only difference being that the voice in her head seemed darker, more sinister. Maybe that was why it only seemed to manifest when her control faded.

Shaking her head, she responded. "No. If it can't, we won't be able to look for Bruno."

Why should we look for him? He left us, remember?

"No, Bruno wouldn't just leave." Pepa almost growled. Her mother was wrong. Everyone knew how much Bruno loved his family.

The wind patterns around her changed in an instant. The single swirling motion shifted into three smaller, more powerful, ones. Three small tornadoes circled around her, picking up the windspeed even more. She was certain that if Bruno were there, he'd be impressed. He'd gush over the newly found power, just like he had so many times before.

But he can't, because he's not here. He left us.

"There has to be a reason." Running a hand through her hair, she tried to think. There had to be reason for all this. Whatever it was had to center around this vision their mother asked him to have.

Right?

This is our fault.

"Stop." Pepa warned. "It's not our fault."

Stop? Why? We know it's true. It's our job to protect them. And we didn't do that, did we?

As much as she didn't want to admit it, the voice in her head was right. Each of the triplets had their roles. Her's was to protect. It was her duty to fight for her familia and shield them from any dangers that came their way.

And she failed.

That's right. If we did our job, he wouldn't be gone. Now, would he? We had one job and we couldn't even do that right!

"Shut up!" Pepa screamed out, finally reaching her breaking point. Over a dozen lightning bolts struck the ground at her command. Breathing heavily, she fell to her knees letting out a strangled sob. The tears that fell from her eyes mixed with the rain water, falling onto the grass below her.

You know they'll leave us when they find out the truth. That it's our fault he's gone. Julieta. Félix. Dolores and Camilo. We won't have anyone.

"Just stop. Please." Pepa begged as she covered her ears in vain, trying to ignore the voice.

We'll be alone.

Pepa didn't bother to respond this time. Falling onto her side, she curled into ball and sobbed as the newly formed typhoon continued on.

Julieta pulled the nursery door closed with a soft click. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up Mirabel, who had finally cried herself to sleep. Leaning against the door, she took a breath to calm her nerves.

She needed a strong drink.

From the hurricane that raged outside, it sounded like her sister needed one too. Figuring her sister was already waiting for her, like she had so many times before, Julieta started towards the kitchen. Rounding the corner an unusual sight caught her attention.

"Félix?" Julieta questioned. Her brother-in-law sat with his back against Pepa's door. He stared out at the downpour of rain, seemingly lost in thought.

"Hola Juli. How's Mirabel?" The dark-skinned man tried to offer her a smile. It wasn't anywhere near the bright one he normally wore.

Something must have happened with her sister.

"Asleep, thankfully." The healer muttered. Crossing her arms, she nodded to the rain. "What happened? I heard shouting earlier?"

"No offense, but I think you have your own problems to focus on right now." He said carefully, not wanting to upset her.

Julieta resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was the healer. It was her job, as the oldest, to fix the things that went wrong. And she couldn't do that if she didn't know what the problems were. "If something's wrong with Pepa, I need to know Félix."

Félix didn't say anything at first. Julieta could see him weighing his options in his mind. He stared out at the rain again, avoiding eye contact. "It's not just Pepa."

"Please, will you just tell me what's going on?"

Félix gestured for her to sit beside him. Julieta did, tucking her legs underneath her blue dress. She sat and listened quietly as Félix retold the events of the evening. Her heart shattered as he told her about Bruno's door, and how they couldn't find him. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Her sad tears turned to anger as Félix continued with the next part of his story.

After hearing about the fight between her mother and her sister, Julieta practically jumped to her feet. The idea of Bruno leaving them would have broken her sister just as much, if not more, than it did herself. The healer was fully aware of the special bond the two shared. "Dios mio. Casita, let me in. I want to see Pepa."

The tiles rattled.

"What do you mean no?"

"It's no use. I've argued for twenty minutes. Pepa doesn't want anyone in, apparently." Félix said sadly with a shrug.

"But Félix. There's a hurricane outside and she's in her room! If it's this bad out here, then Dios only knows what's going on inside her room!" They all knew how Pepa's room worked. It was, more or less, and emotional sanctuary for her. She could release whatever feelings she had built up, without worrying about her powers affecting the Encanto. But, every now and then, her powers surpassed the magic of her room. And when they did, it wasn't good.

"I know."

"We need to get in there!"

"But we can't."

In the span of a few hours her world completely fell apart.

Not receiving a gift had completely devastated her daughter. She'd tried to ease her youngest's pain, but it didn't work. The only thing she could for her was hold her and offer comforting words until she cried herself to sleep.

She didn't pay enough attention to her brother, and now he'd slipped away into the night. She should be out there looking for him! Hell, she should have kept an eye on him in the first place. Then she could have reasoned with him. She could have convinced him to stay.

But she didn't. She couldn't help her daughter, or stop her brother. The least she could do was comfort her sister. But yet, she wasn't even allowed to do that. She had to stand outside, helplessly, as her sister suffered.

"I-I have to do something! I can fix this!"

Was this what a panic attack felt like?

There was a gentle pressure on her shoulder that pulled her back to reality. Two pairs of brown eyes met. Félix gave her a familiar gentle smile. It was similar to the ones she'd seen him use with her sister when she was spiraling. "Julieta, take a breath."

"I can't! I'm their older sister! I'm Mirabel's mother! I'm supposed to be able to fix this! That's why I'm here!"

"No. I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell Pepi. You are a person. You are Julieta. And you, are not your gift." Félix poked her shoulder for emphasis. "Besides, I don't think something like this can be fixed so quickly. Sometimes, healing... It takes time. And something like this? It's going to take a lot of time."

Julieta nodded, knowing Félix was right. She sent another concerned glance to her sister's door. "What about Pepa?"

"Right now..." The shorter man let out a sigh as he joined her in looking at brightly glowing door. "Right now, the best thing for Pepa is space." He said softly. His brown eyes held nothing but concern. "You should go rest for a while."

"You can't sit here all night." Julieta tried to reason as she felt her own exhaustion creeping over her.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've slept in worse places." He joked. He nodded to her own door. "Go on. I'm sure Gus is waiting for you."

Félix felt something nudge his leg. Slowly, he opened his eyes. From the stiffness of his back, he could tell that at some point he must have fallen asleep. There was another nudge. Looking down, he watched as Casita tapped one of its white tiles against his leg. "Casita? What's wrong?"

The tile pointed to the door behind him. Getting to his feet, he reached for the doorknob. Slowly, he turned it. He half expected it not to turn. Relief washed over him as it did. Pushing the door open, Félix stepped into his shared room.

His eyes widened as he took in the state of their room. It looked as if a bomb had gone off. Never before had he seen this much damage come from one of his wife's storms.

Casita was slowly fixing the damage to their room. The walls were slowly patching themselves. The floorboards were bouncing back to their positions. The furniture that was thrown all around the room was being shuffled back to its original positions. The many burned spots and holes in the grass, from what he figured was lightning strikes, were knitting themselves back together.

"Oh Pepi." Laying in the middle of the open field, was his wife. Closing the distance between them, he knelt down in front of her. Reaching out, he ran the back of his hand against her cheek.

Her brow creased as her eyes fluttered open. The vice grip on his heart tightened another notch as he looked into her eyes. They were completely bloodshot, though he wasn't sure if it was due to her crying or exhaustion. "Félix?"

"I'm here, mi vida." He assured as he gathered her in his arms, knowing she wouldn't be able to move very far of her own accord. You see, extreme exhaustion was the major repercussion of her releasing a storm of such a high magnitude.

So, he carried her to their bed. Pulling the blanket back, he shuffled them both into their large bed. He laid on his side so he could face his wife. Pepa snuggled up against him, burying her head against his chest.

"I should have done something."

"There's nothing you could have done, Pepi."

"I should have stopped him."

"It's not your fault." His tone was gentle. He pulled back just far enough that he could look at her. Brushing a stray piece of auburn hair behind her ear, he left his hand against her cheek. Stroking his thumb against her cheek, he continued. "Pepi, none of this is your fault. Bruno made his decision to leave, not you."

"But-"

First Julieta, now Pepa.

He decided it must be an older sister thing. It didn't matter though, he refused to stand by as either of them blamed themselves. Not for this. Félix held a finger to her lips, cutting her off. "No. I won't let you blame yourself for this, amor. It's not your fault."

"What are we supposed to do without him?"

"We'll figure it out, together." Leaning in, he placed a kiss against her forehead. "For now, you need to rest."

"Please." Tears welled up in her eyes again, but this time no cloud appeared. It only confirmed that she was beyond exhausted. "Don't leave me, too."

"No force on this Earth could ever make me leave your side, mi vida." Félix promised as he pulled her against him, pinning her arms between them. He felt her relax at his promise. Resting his chin on the top of her head, he rubbed soothing circles on her back with one hand while the other held her close.

Félix knew, tomorrow would come with its own set of challenges. Alma wasn't going to make things easy. After the fight, he was certain neither of the women would be speaking for any time in the foreseeable future. If they did speak, it would be far from pleasant.

Then there was the matter of the children. All of them were curious little things. They'd be hunting for their own answers, about both Mirabel's gift and Bruno's whereabouts.

It didn't matter to him though. He'd stand by Pepa's side. They'd face their obstacles head on.

Together.