I do not own Enchanto.
Enjoy!
The family decided to do exposure therapy.
They put him on a rotation of jobs so that he would have to run into at least one of them and get comfortable around them.
But what they didn't know was that it backfired on them a little.
Because when the man going by the name Diaz got more exposed to the life in the village, he began to see how much more he did for the village despite the steps the villagers took to do things on their own.
These steps were a breath of fresh air for those who were used to the heavy work load but for him, this was still too much.
He felt heavily taken advantage of and he began to hate the parties he heard outside his window at night.
He felt like those parties only happened because he was busting his butt all day so that they had the energy to party and enjoy themselves.
He was so exhausted that he didn't know how and why he continued to make it to Bruno Madrigal rat stories.
He didn't know why he made it a point to smile every time a Madrigal worked past him.
He wanted a day off, but he felt like the whole Village would be on his ass if he tried to do such a thing.
And the worse part was, he began to care about what they thought.
He didn't want to disappoint them despite being at the end of his rope.
He felt like he had to be this strong person when all he wanted to do was complain and curl up in bed.
He was trapped in a vicious cycle and he began to understand why some of the Madrigal look exhausted.
How long have they been doing this for?
You can't really say no to these people.
He didn't know how he could find sleep with the noise outside.
And then he began to wonder if he would ever be able to leave this village.
Nobody seems too.
These people had everything in this space and have no reason to venture out.
What if he became like that too?
What if his memories never returned?
What if there was truly nobody looking for him on the outside?
The logical thing was too stay in Encanto instead of braving the unknown world without a destination.
But could he stay in Encanto for the rest of his life?
Could he accept the Madrigal rule?
Could he accept that old woman as his Abuela?
Could he let go of finding out who he was?
Was ha okay with starting over in this village?
And at first the answer was a clear cut no, but days went by and everyday, the chances of returning were looking slimmer and slimmer.
Everyday, he felt like he was getting more and more integrated into this villages society.
He had to face the fact that his memories may never come back and he was going to be Diaz for the rest of his life.
This was most likely his life now.
And Kate apologised to him.
It took her a while because she was building a train that was not in her domain rule.
The world was not safe.
She was sure the Madrigal family was trying to see if he was ready to be told about Padro Madrigal.
And than something happened.
Doloras Madrigal, had nobody to intercept her and she blabbed.
Blabbed hugely.
The man understandably freaked out and locked himself in his house.
And of course, juicy gossip like this spread like wildfire throughout the village.
Many thought, finally.
Others were unsure about the situation going forward.
Nobody seemed to really take in, the man's mental state as the expectation of the god of Encanto was dropped on his head.
Most seemed to think he would accept it and magically transform into the untouchable entity that was in their heads, overnight.
However, the village was gracious enough to give him space to process this.
Mirable Madrigal geared up to be the most understanding person in the room for the man.
This was not good.
Kate knew that if she didn't do something, the man was going to accept his past life.
After all, how could he not, when the evidence was so overwelming and he wasn't getting any other infomation to counter this?
But still, the stress of accepting such a situation would surely have him matching Abuela in his ageing appearence.
How do you handle, having a whole family where you not only have children, but there are now 50 years old, 2/3 had their own families?
How do you handle, having your wife being Abuela?
There was so much he missed with being dead.
The man was up for a full day and sleep was a blessing that came to him.
Kate finally gave him the name she had assigned to him in dream form.
She gave him a dream of his mother reading little him a bedtime story in clothes that was clearly not from Encanto and at the end of it she said. "So the moral of the story is, little Jericho. If you ever get lost check the trees for a blue mark and follow the side its painted on. It will always lead you back to the train, that will take you home."
And then she kissed his little forehead and said. "May the spirit of Azalea, protect you tonight"
And then she went to a nobe and turned it, the lamps got dimmer until the room had a warm dim atmosphere and she left.
The dream ended.
The man woke up and his inner turmoil was solved.
He was happy.
He needed to leave.
He began packing.
Unfortunately, he didnt have enough.
No matter.
He would leave with the clothes on his back if he had to.
And in the middle of his packing, he wrote a letter.
He owed the village at least this much.
These people, were chasing a ghost and he would never be able to fill those shoes.
And what was worse was that they will never believe that he isn't who they thought he was, without clear cut proof and that proof was beyond that hill crack.
His life was right beyond that hill crack.
A life without another's shadow weighing him down.
So, while the village had yet to wake up, he left behind everything and journed to the hills and beyond.
And in doing so, he unknowingly fulfilled a propacy from Bruno and began climbing and walked through the crack.
And then he immediantly tumbled into the dark forest below and when he stopped, he felt like he had just made the worst mistake of his life.
The contrast between Encanto brightness and the darkness of this forest was shocking.
His danger senses were going off and he wanted to climb back up to safety.
And then he saw it.
A blue mark on a nearby true, guiding him to a certain direction.
He bravely walked towards it and touched the tree and then smiled, before going in that direction it wanted him to go to and finding more.
Kate kept him out of danger by having her people sprinkling wild animal repellent on the path before hand and set up Bell traps, so that he could hear if something was approaching and would have enough time to hightail it without being seen.
The journey took two hours, before he spotted a ight in the distance.
He approached it and saw what was unmistakable a train stop.
He was cold and the forest was dangerous.
At least now he knew his dreams were real.
It would be wise to return back and come back at a safer time with more people.
But what worried him was that he didn't think those people would ever let him think about this place again if they had a chance.
So he hoped to God, that the train would come.
Please, let there be another train ride. He thought.
I don't want to be here.
And thats when he heard it.
The magical sound of the train and he saw the lights which filled his heart with so much joy.
The train stopped in front of him and he heard. "Last ride until heading back to the City of Azalea"
And he was confused.
City?
What on Earth is a city?
However, he wasn't going to pass this up.
He walked up those steps and the warmth hit him almost made him cry and so did the view.
It was even better then what he saw in his dream.
He just wished he was cleaner and less desperate looking.
The doors to the Trains closed and the train began its journey.
The train began moving away from the dangerous forest.
Away from Encanto.
A part of him dreaded that this might just be yet another dream.
And then he heard it.
"Sir, would you like some-"
He turned around to find the most beautiful young women he had ever laid eyes on.
Big beautiful brown eyes, long curly brown hair, wearing big hooped earrings and had adorable freckles on her face.
It was love at first sight.
And she said. "Wait. Jericho?"
He came out of it and was shocked that she knew that name.
She said. "Jericho is that you? I thought you were dead..." she began tearing up and put her hands on his own.
When she touched him, it was just electric.
He wanted to hold her.
He had never felt this way with anybody in the village before.
She then wiped her tears away and said. "Damn it. I have to finish this shift but I promise I'll leave the train with you" And then she said. "And what are you wearing? Were you attacked by a bear?"
And he laughed and said. "It's actually a very long story. And I think you can fill in the blanks for me."
And then somebody yelled for her and the woman told him, she would be with him at the end before rushing off.
He saw her go and wished she would come back fast.
Wow, he really likes her already. Thought Kate, originally the woman was going to be his lover but she was going to let them both decide if they felt right for each other when they met.
She didn't think he would catch feelings for her and not one's so intense.
He was indeed still young and she can't imagine how little his needs would be met being back as Pedro Madrigal.
Imagine hugging your wife, and feeling like your hugging your grandma.
Not being able to sleep in the same bed because it was too akward.
Not being able to be intimate despite your wife being right there.
Being the talk of the Village if people even precieve you to be flirting with any young woman who wasn't related.
At that point your a nun.
The train ride took almost three hours but the man enjoyed every minute of it.
Words could not describe how safe he felt in such a vechile.
When the train was approaching the city, the man saw light, big bold letters on buildings, wagons that drive themselves, people wore a more formal and yet exotic attire then Encanto.
He said. "Wow. I came from here?"
And he felt like he had known the people of the land.
When the Train stopped, he was about to get off when the woman showed up again and said, she needed to get something from her locker.
Whats a locker?
He didn't mind waiting and sat down, only to be approached by a guard, asked if he wanted to freshen up and clean himself up?
It was embrassing but he said yes.
So many people were staring.
He allowed himself to be taken to something called a shower room with lots of doors and was giving all sorts of stuff that he had never seen before in a language he had never seen before.
And yet, he could read it and figured stuff out.
He then put on lost and found clothes and came out smelling better then he had ever done in his life and more well groomed.
Nobody was looking at him anymore.
People didn't care that he was here.
He loved it!
And the woman came back with a bag and attached her arms around his and said. "Well, you always clean up well. Let's head to your place"
And he said. "And that is?"
And that's when he told her, about his memory loss and the village he encountered.
It took a bit for her to believe him, but when she did, she dropped the bombshell on who he was.
Jiraco Maximillian Herington.
His family were the people behind the trains.
His jawdropped as Kate connected him to the train.
The woman then explain that usually there are tickets you purchase for the train but that bus stop was either too new or the ticket checker had completely clocked out by now.
The woman name Alicia, knew where his house was but she preferred if he stayed at her place for a bit.
He had a confused look before he suddenly got it and his face turned a bit red as they got into a Taxi.
Kate smiled seeing his face turned into wonder as he saw the city through the window.
Why make a village, when you can make a city?
And she didn't even need to worry about the lack of population for it, she was sure the existance of just the tracks alone, would make people curious and come.
What she was doing was far too impressive to not be eye catching.
And of course, their was security too.
The two came to a door and the young women let him inside and he followed closely behind her and the door closed behind him.
Kate gave them privacy.
In a few hours, she knew the village was going to start waking up and they will discover his letter.
Things would become interesting.
It would be an even bigger show if they knew how far he was willing to go to run away from that highly praised identity.
Her city, even though she would never be able to fully bring it into modern day, didn't need her for now and neither did Pedro now Jericho.
The man was out and not under the control of Encanto anymore.
Now it was time for her to grab some spirit popcorn and watch the mess she had created in Encanto.