Like so many others I fell in love with Bruno's character and the bond he and Mirabel formed in the movie. I wondered where Bruno got that horse and what might have been going through his head between Casita's fall and his encounter with Alma at the river, which led to this fic.


After the Fall

Bruno lifted the bucket from his head, chest heaving from exertion as he watched in horror as Casita began to crumble. Just like in his vision. His worst nightmare come to life.

"Mirabel, leave it!" That was Julieta. Bruno looked at the house again, a bright flash of fabric catching his eye against the darkening skies. His blood turned to ice water. What was she doing?

He scrambled to his feet, struggling to keep sight of Mirabel as she climbed onto the roof. She was going for the candle. That damned candle.

"Mirabel! The house is gonna fall!" Felix's voice joined his sister-in-law's.

"Mirabel, get out!" Pepa shouted, sounding more close to panicking than Bruno had ever heard her.

He flung the bucket aside and ran towards the house, uncaring who saw him.

"Mirabel, DON'T!" he shouted, but he was too far away for her to hear him.

Another rumbling shook the house and Bruno watched, horrified, as his own tower began to fall directly above his niece.

"MIRABEL!"

He lost his footing as the earth trembled underneath him. Behind him the mountain range that surrounded the Encanto groaned, and then there was a sudden crack that sounded like the very earth itself was breaking open. Staggering, Bruno grabbed onto a nearby tree and watched in stunned shock as the mountains shook. He held on, eyes tightly closed as the shaking grew and grew…and then stopped.

Bruno slowly lifted his head, the sudden silence deafening. His family. Had they all made it out?

He crept closer to the ruins of the house, his heart slamming against his chest. Where was Mirabel? He couldn't find her…she wasn't here…she must still be trapped….Dios, no…no no NO.

He was just about to start pulling the rubble apart with his bare hands when the dust cleared enough for him to make out a lone figure huddled beneath a pile of rubble. Bruno leaned back against a tree and sank to the ground, shaking again but this time with relief. She was safe. Casita must have shielded her even in its last moments.

Swallowing hard, Bruno watched as Julieta knelt in front of Mirabel, holding her daughter's face in tender hands. He saw Julieta ask her something but couldn't make out what it was. Mirabel slowly shook her head, her expression blank and numb with shock.

Bruno bit the inside of his cheek until the taste of iron flooded his mouth. He wasn't entirely convinced that Mirabel wasn't hurt. It took every ounce of control he had not to rush towards his niece. This was his fault - he never should have given her that vision. Bruno gazed at his niece's huddled form one last time before reluctantly slipping back into the shadows.

He quickly sought out the rest of his family, relieved to find them all shaken but unharmed. Uncertain of what to do next, Bruno walked the perimeter of their home, absently stroking the frightened rats that huddled in the folds of his ruana. Many of the villagers were emerging as well, surveying the rubble that was Casita with expressions of shock and horror.

Bruno retreated further into the treeline, remembering the insults and fearful expressions he had grown up with and not wishing to repeat any of it. Suddenly feeling a hundred years old rather than fifty, he sank down behind an outcropping of rock, satisfied that no one would see him. He was so tired…he had tried so hard to protect Mirabel, all of them…but like all of his other visions he hadn't been able to change the future.

His visions. Bruno frowned as he realized that the constant tingling behind his eyes, the pressure of the magic, was no longer there. It was gone. It must have vanished with the candle. Well, that suited him just fine. He had never seen his own gift as special, more like a curse. Yet even as he thought it Bruno felt the familiar twinge of guilt. His father had sacrificed his life to save his wife and children, but Bruno had often wondered if his father's death had been in vain. He had watched as the miracle bestowed gifts and amazing powers upon his family, true, but also consume them until they were seen as only their gifts, not people with beating hearts and minds.

He had said as much to his mother the night he left, knowing that the mention of Pedro was a line not to be crossed, but Bruno hadn't cared. The unspoken blame and judgment in Alma's eyes after Mirabel hadn't received a gift had pushed Bruno into releasing decades of anger and resentment.

"You saw a vision - tell me what you saw, Bruno! Dígame! Tell me!"

"Why? So you can blame Mira? She's just a child!"

"What's wrong with the magic?!"

"Is that all you care about? That damned candle?"

"How dare you-"

Bruno didn't listen. For a moment he looked as stern and imposing as the carving on his door as he advanced towards his mother, Alma not backing down from his glare but ever so slightly leaning back. "I'm done with the visions, with all of it! Do you understand? I'm not going to let you hurt Mirabel!"

"I am trying to protect this family, the Encanto!"

"How? By blaming a child for something she hasn't even done? How noble of you. Padre would be ashamed of you-"

The stinging slap had sent him staggering back but for once he hadn't cared. His niece, barely five, was already being scorned by her own grandmother and something inside of Bruno had just snapped.

"I'm done with this. All of this." Bruno ignored the stinging pain in his cheek, the sounds of his sisters' pleas and tears. He turned to go but stopped at Alma's next words. "If you leave this house," she said in a cold, expressionless voice, "you are dead to me."

"I wish I was dead." Bruno brushed past his sisters as he rushed back towards his tower.

Ten years of hiding, and for what? To watch his niece suffer the brunt of his own mistakes even as she defended him to his mother. He had heard the whole ugly exchange and had been floored by Mirabel's passionate defense of his character. Even though Mirabel clearly didn't remember him she had still defended him.

He wished he had lived up to Mirabel's expectations. He wasn't the noble, self-sacrificing uncle she thought, just a sad, pathetic old man still running from his past. He wasn't his father and he never would be.

'Forgive me, Padre.'

Bruno closed his eyes and was asleep within moments.


"Mirabel, where are you?"

Bruno jerked awake, wincing as his neck popped. He was far too old to be sleeping outdoors in the cold. He must have fallen asleep…he rubbed his eyes and stood, grimacing as he shook out his limbs. He looked towards the horizon and guessed from the predawn glow that it was just before sunrise.

"Mirabel, por favor! Answer me!" Bruno frowned as Julieta's voice called again. She sounded near tears. He could also hear Augustín, Isabela, Luisa, Camilo, and the others calling for the girl.

Mirabel, gone? Was she missing? Bruno did his own quick survey of the area but found no traces of his niece. Now fighting back a surge of panic of his own Bruno vanished into the woods, determined to help with the search. By the time the sun had fully risen it was clear that Mirabel was nowhere near the remnants of Casita, nor was she anywhere in the Encanto.

Bruno had been walking for hours. He wiped his sweaty brow before slamming a fist against a tree trunk. For the first time in his life he wished he still had his gift, so that he could see where his niece was.

'Just one more vision. One last vision, por favor. One more miracle.'

He didn't expect an answer - he highly doubted God (or anyone) would answer his prayers, but then he felt it. A slight pulse behind his eyes. Perhaps there was just enough of the miracle left in him to call forth one last vision. Taking a deep breath, Bruno slowly let it out as he sank to his knees, struggling to quiet his racing thoughts. The visions always came easier when he was calm. He remembered how reassuring it felt to have Mirabel hold his hands, like she was keeping him tied to the present. No one had ever done that for him before. Bruno held onto that memory as he felt the last vestiges of the magic flow through him.

A wind picked up, much weaker than his previous visions, but it didn't matter. The blurry vision that formed in front of his gaze was enough. A small figure was making its way toward the mountain ranges. He straightened, blinking his eyes clear as the wind fell, rustling the branches gently.

A rat suddenly emerged from the hood of his ruana, whiskers twitching as it snuffed at Bruno's ear. He jumped and let out a shriek before turning to glare at the rat.

"Don't do that, Emilio! You know I hate that."

The rat huffed and pointed its snout towards the stables. Bruno smiled down at the rat and stroked its head with one finger.

"Thanks, buddy. Now hang on."


Señor Gómez had just finished checking on his horses, relieved to find them all safe and unharmed (if very skittish and nervous) when the door to the stables was suddenly flung open. Behind him his teenage son let out a shocked exclamation at the figure in front of them.

"Dios mio!"

There was a madman, or a devil, standing in the entryway. His hair was wild and his eyes…dear God…his eyes…they pulsed an otherworldly green, fading in and out with his heartbeat. The horses snorted and shifted uneasily as they felt the pull of magic.

"Padre, who-what is that?"

"Stay with the horses." Señor Gómez picked up a long, sharp rake and straightened as he addressed the stranger. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I need a horse!" The man stumbled over some spilled tools and fell flat on his face before scrambling back to his feet. He pushed his hair out of his face as he strode forward. As he stepped into the light Señor Gómez's eyes widened. He knew this man.

"Don Bruno?" he queried, lowering his rake slightly.

"I need a horse," the man repeated, looking half-crazed. "Which one is the fastest?"

"Uh…"

Bruno grabbed the stablemaster by the collar and shook him hard. "A horse, man! Your fastest!"

"T-that one!" He pointed to a bay mare that was watching the exchange with an unconcerned expression as she slowly munched her hay. "Her name is Felipa. She's my fastest, most sure-footed mare."

"Hey, you have to pay to use a horse!" His son protested as Bruno rushed towards the mare and flung open her stall door. "I'll bring her back, with payment. You have my word as a Madrigal."

He led the horse out and awkwardly mounted before taking off in a cloud of dust.

Señor Gómez and his son looked at each other.

"Padre, who was that madman?"

"That, mi hijo, was Bruno Madrigal."

"The seer? I thought he was dead."

"As did I, son. As did we all."


'Stupid, stupid fool! Tonto!'

Bruno cursed himself as he desperately searched for Mirabel. He should have never given her that vision, never should have let her shoulder such a burden by herself. For years he had told himself he had left to protect her, and while that was true, deep down Bruno knew the truth. He had really been hiding from himself, from his power, his family, his own fears, everything.

None of this would have happened if he had gone with his niece instead of retreating back into the walls like the damned coward he was. He was a grown man of fifty, for God's sake, and he had abandoned his fifteen year old niece not once, but twice.

'You're a coward, Bruno Madrigal.'

Beneath him Felipa shifted uneasily, sensing both her rider's anxiety and the echoes of magic that still clung stubbornly to Bruno, as if reluctant to give him up. Bruno sighed and slowed the horse to a stop to give them both a rest. He wasn't used to riding (horses had never liked him much) and patted the mare's sweaty neck.

"I'm sorry. Look, I know you can't understand me, but someone dear to me is lost. It's my niece - she's lost and it's my fault."

Bruno sagged over the horse's neck as he spoke, gripping the rains tightly. A rat scurried down his arm and onto Felipa's nose. The mare's ears pricked up as the rat sat up on her nose, eye-to-eye with each other. They shared a look of understanding that only animals could know in their own secret language.

The rat squeaked. Felipa snorted gently and the rat scurried up her muzzle and between her ears to return to the safety of Bruno's ruana.

"Hey, what are you - WOAH!"

Bruno held on for dear life as Felipa swished her tail and took off up the mountain path. He wasn't sure where the horse was leading him, but he'd trust the beast. After all, he had kept company with rats for years. As they walked further away from the Encanto and towards the river Bruno found himself thinking back to his first encounter with his niece since leaving all those years ago.

He looks, and looks, and looks at her, vaguely aware that he's staring but unable to care.

His little sobrina.

But not so little any more. She's now nearly his equal in height, her own wide eyes on level with his. But then, the Madrigal family weren't known for their height (the exception being Luisa). And even though he had seen a vague image of her in his vision on that awful night, seeing his niece like this was jarring.

There's so many things he wants to say to his niece. But Bruno keeps quiet, silenced by both the shock of seeing her again and the sudden memories that have sprung up of when he had last seen her.

Before he had left all those years ago he hadn't been able to resist seeing Mirabel one more time. He had checked on his other nieces and nephew, a habit he had developed over the years as more children were added to the family, before moving on towards the nursery.

He cracked open the door to the nursery, Casita obligingly preventing the wood from creaking. Bruno silently entered the room and knelt next to her bedside. His heart twisted at the sight of dried tear tracks on her face and he felt a sudden rush of hot anger towards his mother. She was only a child and the physical evidence of her grief only solidified his decision to leave, to spare her any more pain.

'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' he whispered, reaching out to take a curl between his fingers, caressing the tendril. His niece stirred and he reluctantly withdrew his hand, watching her settle again. Once he was satisfied she was still deeply asleep he bent and pressed a kiss against her hair. "Adios, mi mariposa." He stood then and left, Casita ensuring no noise disturbed Mirabel as he rushed towards his solitude.

Adios. A final goodbye. That's what Bruno had fully intended.

And yet here she was, vibrant and shining and staring at him like he's the most amazing thing she's ever seen.

But he's not. He left once to protect her and even though Bruno desperately wants to embrace her he knows the best thing he can do for her is stay away. So he does.

"Bye," is all he manages before he darts away like a nervous hare.

A snort from Felipa jerked Bruno back to the present. He pulled the mare to a stop and leaned forward to see what had startled her. The sun was high now and he put a hand to his eyes to shield them from the glare. He saw two figures standing in the river. Mirabel. And his mother.

Bruno didn't stop to think. For once he didn't care about the past or future - just the present. No more hiding. He kicked Felipa into a run as he barreled towards them.

"She didn't do this!"


The stablemaster refers to Bruno as "Don", which along with "Doña" is a somewhat antiquated title of respect in Spanish-speaking countries. The nearest English equivalent would be "Sir" and "Lady" and is only used with a person's first name. For example, a governor or mayor in past generations might be referred to as "Don", which is a more formal form of address than Señor or Señora, which is only used with a person's last name. The Madrigals hold a position of leadership in the Encanto and while the specific year isn't given in the film, the Encanto community seems very traditional, so I figured that the older members of the community might use this form of address with the most senior members of the Madrigal family, specifically Alma, Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno.