"So it will end today." Elena sighed. She always knew that this moment would come someday, but suddenly all the preparations they made felt useless. Mirabel left them over an hour ago, and as long as everything went according to plan, she must have reached her family by now. It was almost dark; only the last lights of daylight shone through the treetops. It had been a beautiful day, but it would surely start to rain at any second.

"Nobody can tell how long it takes, but I know that they must have started the searching by now." Bruno agreed. He took her hand into his; he knew her too well not to see that she was nervous. "Hey, you will see your family again. I know how much you miss them and how much they miss you."

"And you think that is a good thing?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I miss them, but I am worried for her." Elena pointed at their daughter grooming Parvel, obvious about what her parents were discussing. They still had to talk to her.

"I know, but we both knew that it has to end eventually." Bruno smiled at her, stroking a loose wisp of hair back behind her ear. "We have to trust that everything will turn out fine. There is only so much we can do right now."

Elena looked up to the sky; the first drops of the heavy rain ran down her face. "Since when are you the optimistic one?"

Bruno chuckled when the rain dropped down his dark locks. "I am not. I am just repeating the words you said to me a month ago."

It was Elena who calmed him down when the cracks in the Casita started to widen; it was her who helped him through the nightmares when he felt sure that whatever hurts the family would reach its high point. Then, a month before the Casita fell, she had to ask him not to come back unless his family and the magic were safe again. It broke her and Lina's hearts, but they knew that the Madrigals needed him more.

"I can't believe we are finally going back," Elena confessed, sighing. Unlike Bruno, she hadn't seen another person for six years; she didn't even know how much the town had changed. She was scared to see her grandfather and father again, but Bruno was right: She missed them more than she could ever admit. She was one of a few people who knew how caring and loving they could be when their pride wasn't in their way.

And if they don't have to deal with the Madrigal family.

"Hey, they will be happy to see you again. And if they are not, I give them some piece of my mind."

Elena laughed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"And I thought I was talking to my Bruno. Hello Hernando, haven't seen you in a while." Bruno also laughed, then he pulled her into a kiss. He couldn't tell her how nervous he was, how much it scared him to expose them to the danger he was sure would happen. But he knew his powers well enough to know that it had to happen.

Elena gave him a soft smile. "You know that I love you, don't you?"

"I know." Bruno gave her another kiss on the top of her head before he leaned his forehead against hers. Somehow, they both knew that it would be the last moment of that kind they would share with each other.

He first noticed the dark figure that starred at them from the trees.

Bruno took a deep breath. So that was how it would end. "You should go and get Lina. Leave through the forest, but don't take the main path." Elena wanted to protest, but she only had to see into his eyes to know that it wasn't the time to argue. She squeezed his hand for the last time before she ran off to their home.

"So that is where you are hiding?" The figure angrily shouted, stepping on the forest clearing. "You told Camilo he could go here with his girlfriend, Mirabel passed out AGAIN, and you have nothing better to do than to hide from your family to go to HER?"

Bruno sighed. "Mamá, it would be better if you would just listen…."

"No, YOU are listening!" Alma stepped closer to her son, clearly angry. And hurt.

"Do you really think that nobody noticed that you were the only one who didn't stay in town when we rebuilt our house? Do you really think I didn't notice that you have secrets again, Bruno?" She shook her head, her tears mixed with the rain.

"I thought that maybe you needed time to adjust to our family, I thought that it would end… But you could never simply be a part of the family. You spent 10 YEARS away from us, and the first thing you do is run to her."

"You are making assumptions again." Bruno frowned. "You know nothing about the reason why…."

"No matter the reason, NOTHING excuses you from endangering your niece and nephew," Abuela shouted, glaring at him. "Pepa is upset because you helped Camilo to hide his girlfriend, and she has every right to start this." She gestured to the heavy rainclouds in the sky.

"But the worst part: Mirabel followed you because she hoped that you might help her. Do you know what could have happened if Camilo didn't find her?" She could see the guilt in her son's eyes, but it didn't matter to her. It would not stop her from telling him how hurt she was.

"I asked, no, I BEGGED you to stay out of this, but you couldn't help but try helping her even when your own family is hurting. You are taking more responsibility for her and her child than for your family!" Alma screamed, not caring that Bruno tried to say something.

"Did Elena beg you to tell her daughter that you are the father? Oh, and I beg you just gave in like…."

"LISTEN!" Alma was taken aback when her son finally screamed at her; she didn't even know that his voice could get that loud. "Don't tell me about "caring for the family", Mamá!"

It was like a voice in Bruno's mind tried to hold him back, but nothing could stop him from screaming at her in anger. "The whole fight with the Moreno, Mirabel struggle to find her place in the family, the cracks in the Casita… All those things could have been avoided if you didn't push anybody over their breaking points."

"So you are blaming ME again, Bruno?" She glanced at him, narrowing her eyebrows. "I didn't give you the powers you have."

"You are still too stubborn to admit you messed up, aren't you? It is not about our powers; it is about the way you handled them: Do you really want to know what kind of illnesses Julieta saw when she was only seven? You should have protected her, and you should have protected Pepa from keeping all emotions under control. But you not only didn't protect them, but you also encouraged them to a behavior that didn't do them any good!"

Alma starred at him with her mouth wide open. She tried to say something, but she knew that he was right. There was something about him she had never noticed before, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Bruno took a deep breath, trying not to scream again. "I know that you are trying to change, Mamá; you really do. But you should start learning how to listen."

The rain dripped down on their faces while mother and son glanced at each other in silence. Both were angry and hurt, and both knew that if one of them said a word, the situation would escalate again. They only noticed Elena when she was only ten meters away from them.

"Bruno, I can't…." She tried to say anything more, but she was clearly out of breath, panicking. Bruno held her by her shoulders, not caring for his mother anymore. "I can't find Lina. She took Parvel and…."

"It's ok; she can't be too far." Bruno tried to calm her down, but Alma could see him trying not to panic himself. "I will look for her; stay here if she comes back."

Seeing the concerns of her son, something in Alma's mind clicked. It was like something or someone placed a thought in her head, which she knew without question that it was the truth.

She didn't know how, but suddenly she realized why her son was so attached to the young Moreno.

"I come with you." Bruno turned his head to his mother in surprise, but he nodded. Together, they ran as fast as they could deeper into the jungle to search for the girl Alma now realized must be her granddaughter.