Disclaimer: I do not own Encanto or any of its characters, and even though Bruno originally created Hernando, I thought of the idea for this story, and my best friend helped a lot on it, too.
Sand swirled around Bruno as he looked into the future. At first it was confusing and he didn't understand what was happening. Then he caught a glimpse of something. He turned his head and widened his glowing green eyes. He spotted his oldest sister, belly swollen with her unborn child. Then he saw her holding her baby in a blanket and smiling. The scene shifted again and this time he saw a girl standing at a door, but instead of being given a gift, the door vanished as soon as she touched the doorknob. He turned to see the girl again, this time older, and she stood away from the rest of the family, looking very much like an outsider. Bruno's heart broke; he knew how she felt.
Unable to go on looking at her any longer, he turned away, which broke the vision and the sand fell. A green slab floated down and he reached for it. He stared down at the image of the girl, instinctively knowing she must be his sobrina- his niece- without even having met her yet.
He looked over his shoulder. Nobody must find out about this vision, especially not his sister, Julieta.
"If she knew," he murmured out loud. Then he shook his head and quickly hid the vision behind some rocks. He'd come back for it later.
Taking a deep breath, he turned and began his long descent down the stairs. No matter how many times he climbed up and down them, there always seemed to be more and more stairs every time. Now, he had to take a moment to catch his breath.
Squeaking startled him and he turned to see a couple of his rat friends hurrying toward him. He smiled and crouched down to pick them up.
"Okay, let's do this," Bruno said, as the rats scurried onto his back. He took one more deep breath, let it out, then opened his door.
More stairs, he thought, but at least only a few. He quickly climbed down and looked back at his glowing door. He grinned. Today was going to be a good day. Nobody was going to shun him because of his visions; nobody was going to call him a bad omen.
He stepped out into the hallway and immediately ran into someone. Stumbling backwards, he ducked his head and murmured an apology, Then he looked up and saw who it was, and a chill ran up his spine.
"Mamá!" he gasped, taking a couple of more steps back.
The eldely lady looked down at him. "What's the hurry, Brunito?"
"Oh, um, nothing," Bruno replied, starting to inch his way around his mother. "I mean, no hurry. Just… coming out of my room." He turned to walk away, but Alma placed her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
She looked into his hazel eyes. "Brunito," she began," have you had any visions lately?"
Don't tell her! She'll only see it as a bad thing! a voice said in the back of his mind. "Visions?" Bruno said out loud, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Visions?" he repeated, putting on a great act like he was really thinking hard about his Mamá's question. "Nope!" he finally answered, a little too loudly, and hot embarrassment washed over him when he saw the surprise appear on her face.
"Lo siento," he apologized quietly, ducking his head again.
For a few moments it was silent, and Bruno glanced up to see her looking at him with slight relief. "Let me know when you do have a vision, okay?" she said, then walked away.
Bruno stared after her. Tiny feet on his back reminded him of his rat friends. "Did you see that?" he whispered to them. "She was relieved that I didn't have a vision. Except," he added, turning back toward his tower. "I did have a vision…"
Shaking off his worries and almost his rat friends, too, he turned away from his room and headed to the center of the house where his sister, Pepa was talking to her husband, Félix. When she saw Bruno, a dark cloud appeared over Pepa's head, thundering.
Bruno flinched. He knew his sister was still angry at him for ruining her wedding day. Felix quickly started soothing her, telling her to remember the baby inside her. Not wanting to upset Pepa anymore, Bruno turned and found himself in the kitchen, where his other sister, Julieta, was cooking something.
Nearby, her husband, Agustín, stood waiting. Bruno winced when he saw how large his hands, nose, and ear were. Bee stings, he thought as he walked over to them.
As he joined his sister and brother-in-law, their eldest daughter, Isabela, came over.
"Here, Papi!" the girl said, blooming a pink rose in her hand and giving it to her dad.
"Thank you, Isa!" Agustín tried to smell it, but his big nose flopped uselessly and he sighed.
Hearing her husband sigh, Julieta came over with a churro and gently shoved it in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, and immediately his hands, nose, and ear went back to normal.
"There we are!" he exclaimed, and he kissed his wife, thanking her. Then he turned to his daughter. "Now, mi niña, let me smell this pretty flower." He took in a deep breath, inhaling the flower's scent. He let it out with a happy sigh. "It smells wonderful. Gracias, Isa!"
The young girl smiled and skipped away. Bruno watched her go, feeling a strange emptiness in his heart. But he didn't have time to wonder what the feeling was because Julieta came over and hugged him. It was difficult to do so, though, because of how round her belly was. And Bruno remembered his vision.
"Buenos días, hermano," she said, smiling at him. "How are you today?"
Bruno forced himself to grin back. Out of everyone in the family, Julieta was the only one who didn't see him as a "black sheep" and she didn't think it was his fault that all his visions foretold tragedy. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't appreciate it if he told her about his latest one so he decided not to say anything about it.
"I'm good, Julieta," he told her. He looked past her at Agustín, who stayed where he was. His brother-in-law smiled at him, but kept his distance, and Bruno wondered if it was because he found his gift scary or he just wanted to give him some space. Either way, Bruno didn't mind much.
A noise made them all turn to see the tiles on the counter jumping up and down. A clock scooted across until the three of them could see. It was time for the family to gather for breakfast.
This should be fun, Bruno thought, hesitating as Julieta and Agustín left the kitchen. Movement under his feet told him La Casa Madrigal was urging him on. "Okay, okay, I'm going," he murmured, forcing himself to walk out of the house and into the courtyard.
He quickly fixed his plate and sat down at the table. Bruno found himself sitting beside his niece, Dolores, who'd had her gift of amazing hearing for a year now. Suddenly, he was afraid that she heard him mentioning his vision to his rats. He glanced down at her, and she looked at him, grinning. No sign that she heard, even though he was sure she did. He just hoped she wouldn't say anything to Alma.
"How are your rats?" she asked quietly.
He looked at her, a grin forming on his face. "Oh, you know, Diego is still hopelessly in love with Carmen, but Carmen likes Pedro."
"But I thought Pedro likes Gabriela?" the young girl questioned, tilting her head to the side.
"He does," Bruno replied, intentionally not giving away much detail, which seemed to both amuse and frustrate his niece.
But instead of begging to hear more, Dolores asked," Do you have any of them with you now?"
Bruno nodded, but before he could tell her which ones, the whole family turned as the head of the household, Alma, appeared and walked over to join the family at the table. She greeted them and sat down. Bruno knew she started speaking, but his mind wandered off as he looked over at Julieta. He felt bad for keeping his vision a secret, but after years of foretelling tragedy, he was tired of having everyone turn on him. Julieta was the last person in the family who liked him. He didn't want to ruin that by telling her about her unborn child becoming an outsider because she didn't receive a gift. She'd hate him just like everyone else if she knew…
A racket interrupted his thoughts, and he looked up to see a rat running across the table and everyone scattering to get away from it. Bruno gasped when he saw Félix slamming a fist down where the rat had been just a moment before.
"No!" Bruno screamed, diving across the table toward his friend. He grabbed the rat, knocking plates off the table and causing food to go flying. He slid across the table, stopping just before he fell to the hard ground. He looked down to see his little buddy cowering in his hands, but the rat was safe. That's all that mattered.
Sighing with relief, he pushed into a sitting position, still on the table. Then he looked up to find himself staring into the face of his Mamá.
"Um… hi…" Carefully but quickly, he climbed off the table and looked around. His family were all staring at him: The adults looked angry or annoyed; the kids looked terrified. Swallowing, Bruno let his rat friend scurry on his back.
His mother got to her feet and looked at him with exasperation. "Brunito," she started in a quiet voice, which to Bruno felt more alarming than her yelling at him. "Please, take your… rats and go inside."
Bruno blinked. "What about breakfast?" he asked with uncertainty, and he risked a glance at the others. Pepa was sobbing, a dark rain cloud over her head. Her husband, Félix was holding an umbrella under the cloud, but the storm was slowly getting worse.
"He ruins everything," his sister was crying. "It's our wedding day all over again!"
Switching his gaze to his other sister, Julieta, he saw that she, her husband, Agustín, and their two daughters, Isabela and Luisa, who didn't have her gift yet, were starting to clean up the mess he had made. He had to force himself to turn back to Alma.
"You can have breakfast inside today," she told him, turning away from him to go comfort Pepa.
Bruno looked around. Nobody was looking at him and none of his family defended him. He found himself staring at Julieta, but even she was avoiding meeting his eyes.
I'm truly on my own, he thought, as he turned and slowly walked back into the house. In the doorway, he looked back over his shoulder, and he froze when he saw Dolores staring at him. She looked upset like she didn't want to see him go. But he had no choice. Clearly, he wasn't wanted here.
Looking away, he walked into the house, but instead of going into the dinning room to eat, he headed toward his room. He wasn't hungry anymore. Later, when everyone else was busy, he'd go into town and visit someone he knew would be happy to see him.
Suddenly feeling better, he hopped up the stairs, looking forward to when he'd be able to escape his family, and even his powers, for a bit.
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