It wasn't unusual for Bruno to disappear for a few days, especially after he had a bad vision or any other kind of tragedy happened to the family. Mirabel not getting a gift was the worst tragedy so far, so nobody questioned why he didn't show up the following days. Dolores could hear Abuela muttering about "Bruno running away from the responsibility again", but with each passing day, the worries in her voice grew. Her own mother tried to play his disappearance down by saying that he was "a grown man who knows what he is doing", but even Pepa couldn't hide the fact that this time, it was different. There was no note that he needed time to think or that they shouldn't worry about him.
It was the fourth night when finally Dolores could hear his quiet but familiar footsteps again. She jumped out of her bed, eager to see her uncle again after all the things that had happened in the last few days. Wondering why he didn't go straight to his tower, she followed his noise to the dining area but couldn't see him.
"Tío Bruno?" She whispered, carefully listening to any sign from him. "I know you are here." Dolores could hear the sound of his ruana touching the walls, but he didn't say a word. So instead, she followed the sound of his breathing, which led her directly to the crack in the tapestry. The girl didn't understand it at first, but then she noticed the light reflecting in his eyes on the other side of the wall.
"What are you doing there?" She questioned, leaning her body close to the image of their family tree. "Everyone worries about you! Mirabel is crying her eyes out because she thinks it her fault that you left…. "
Bruno sighed, knowing that acting like his niece couldn't hear him made little to no sense. "I know, but it is NOT her fault. In fact, it is nobody's fault."
"So, why are you hiding? And when are you coming back?"
Dolores could see her uncle shaking his head; his eyes were even sadder than they used to be. "I can't tell you, but I guess I can't come back for a very long time."
"What do you mean with "long time?" Days, weeks? Months?"
"Years." Bruno could see how his niece pressed her hand against her mouth in shock; her eyes filled up with tears. He wished he could give her a hug right now and tell her that everything would be ok soon, but they both knew that it wasn't possible.
"Dolores, I know it is a lot I am asking from you, but please don't tell anyone that I am here, ok? I have my reasons why I can't come back yet, but you know why I can't simply leave the family or the Encanto."
"But why…"
"Dolores!" His voice sounded sharper than he planned, but she had to understand the urgency of this matter. "We can talk when it is safe and when you want to speak to me, but I can't come back. Can you promise me that you wouldn't tell anyone?"
Dolores wanted to tell him how stupid his plan was; she wanted to tell him that his family still loved him no matter how bad his visions were. But she could tell that this time, she had to trust her uncle, even if it meant keeping his secret for years. "I promise."
Bruno smiled, fully aware that he asked a lot from his niece. He spent the last days searching for another solution, but he knew that there was no other way. "Thank you, sobrina. Oh, and don't worry if you don't hear me every now and then; you know that I have my ways to hide from you."
She nodded, still fighting back her tears. "Whatever you saw in your vision and whatever you think justified you leaving your family: Please remember that we love you, Tío Bruno." Dolores ran off to her room with her last words while Bruno collapsed in his chair from exhaustion. Dolores never knew that her uncle clung tight to her last sentence for the next decade.
The weeks after Mirabels failed ceremony were the worst in Julieta's life. She could tell how much her youngest daughter tried to act brave; still, she could hear her quiet sobbing at night, questioning herself if she wasn't good enough to be a Madrigal. Her mother tried her best to not blame a five-year-old for anything, but of course, she suspected that Bruno's disappearance was somehow connected to her youngest grandchild. Pepa acted like nothing happened, but Julieta saw her wandering through Bruno's tower, searching for any clues of their brother's whereabouts. After three weeks, her emotions shifted from apathy to anger, not allowing anyone to even say his name. Julieta tried to talk her out of banning Buno's name for good, especially when she noticed that Camilo's memories of his uncle were infected by the concussion he had when he left. She didn't want her nephew to believe that her brother was some kind of boogeyman, but Pepa highly encouraged every thought that made Bruno look bad. Only Julieta knew that her sister never allowed herself to grief because that would mean accepting the fact that he was gone forever. Julieta's only niece became very quiet lately, probably because she knew better than anyone how much everyone was suffering since he disappeared. No matter how hard she tried, Dolores could never track her uncle down with her sensitive hearing, and even though nobody dared to speak it out loud, everyone except the youngest children knew what that meant: Bruno left the Encanto, meaning that he was presumed dead.
It wasn't the first time that Julieta passed the painting leading to Bruno's secret hideout, but somehow she never wanted to check if he was sitting in his armchair like all the times he did when they were teenagers. It was just too stupid to be true: Why should he hide there when he could hear and see his family suffering every day? Why would he be so cruel to simply stay in there? Still, Julieta knew that she had to try it eventually, not sure if she really wanted to know if he was hiding in there.
Making sure that nobody saw her, Julieta pushed the painting away, slipping through the hole in the wall that marked the entrance to Bruno's secret realm. She walked along the narrow hallway until she reached the door the siblings carefully installed so many years ago. There was no answer when she knocked, and with some hesitation, the oldest triplet entered Bruno's room.
Julieta was devastated to see the armchair empty.
All the books were still in their places; some had less dust on them than the others. She broke down crying when she realized that she might miss her brother for only a few hours.
"Bruno, I don't know what happened, and I don't know where you are, but you have to come back." Julieta cried, not caring that only the rats could hear her. "We need you, I need you. You can't just leave us like that."
A rat ran up her arm, making Julieta smile. At least his little friends were still there, probably knowing that she could never let them starve again. She would hide some food for them until her brother returned, no matter how long it would take. But she would never enter this part of the house again.
