Summary:

Gabriela tells Julián about the events that transpired by the river. That night, unbeknownst to her and Bruno, they end up in each other's dreams.

-o-o-

Written in both Gabriela's and Bruno's POV.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What was that about earlier?" I throw my pillow at Julián's head as he enters my room. He dodges it and sits down on my bed, ignoring my outburst.

"What do you mean 'what was that about?'" He says a little too coolly. It takes all of my energy not to wipe that stupid smirk off his face.

"You know what I mean! That…that…teasing earlier about Señora Madrigal's son?" I raise my hands, exasperated. "Dios mio, Julián, you know Papá doesn't do well with boy talk. The poor man looked like he was about to have a stroke."

"Eh. He'll survive. It's not like you'd be interested anyway." He eyes me and grins. I open my mouth to say something but close it again. Indeed unlikely. "But enough about Papá. Why were you acting so strange earlier? Did something happen while you were out?"

I had already forgotten about what happened this afternoon, but Julián just had to bring the memory back up. I feel my cheeks heat. "I'm not telling you, so you can just go back to your room."

"Are you…blushing? Oh, now I'm really curious. Did you meet someone?"

I attempt to calm myself down. I didn't get a good look at that man earlier, but he's quite good-looking. From afar. "No."

"You're a terrible liar, hermana. Is it something so embarrassing that you can't tell me?" Julián says dryly. "Are you afraid I'd tell everyone tomorrow and ruin your chances with Señor Madrigal?"

"You're so annoying!" I lunge towards Julián, gripping his shoulders and shaking him, hard. "YES, alright? I did meet someone, and I'm freaking out. AND CAN YOU PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING HOLY, STOP IT WITH THE MADRIGAL?"

Julián just blinks at me, unfazed. "Eh…okay? Can you stop shaking me please?"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Ay, lo siento, Gabriela, that was rough." He says through gritted teeth. "If I see him…"

I sigh. "No, you will not. I don't even remember much what he looks like, just that he had long hair. I doubt we'll ever see him again."

"I hope not, because I'd make sure he'll regret crossing paths with me. Why would you watch someone, who's in their underwear–" He gags, and I smack him. "¡Ay! –swim? What the hell is that? It's just plain wrong and creepy. And also, why were you in the forest? ¡Muy peligroso! No one would hear you if something had happened to you." He's visibly shaking. I don't blame him. I thought about that too. "Gracias a Dios, you were able to defend yourself. You didn't even hear him coming?"

I nod my head, but it isn't 100% true. I wasn't able to hear his thoughts clearly, but the man was harmless. I left out those few key details for Julián's sake. He'll think I'm crazy.

He turns serious. "You know I'd do anything to protect you, right, Gabriela?"

"I know, I know you do. I promise I'm fine."

He looks at me with sad eyes. "You know," I say as I stand up to pick my pillow off the floor and dust it off. "It's good that nothing happened, but it was really, really funny when he fell on his face. You should've seen how ridiculous it was."

"Serves him right though for sneaking up on you like that," Julián mumbles as he gets up to leave. He turns to look at me, standing by the doorway. "You sure you're okay?"

I smoosh my brother's face and kiss him on both cheeks. His expression turns into one of disgust. "¡Uf, olvida que pregunté! " I laugh so hard that Mamá shushes us from the hallway.

"¡Buenas noches, mi hermanito adorable! Get some sleep, big day tomorrow." I snicker as I close my door.

"¡Buenas noches, mi bruja de hermana!" Forever passive-aggressive, that one.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I'm having the same nightmare again. This time though, I could hear myself beg and scream.

"No, leave me alone!"

I'm running. Running as fast as my legs can carry me. Someone in the dark grabs me and pins me to the wall. I can't see their face. I feel their hand touch me under my skirt.

"No!" I squirm to break free. I bite the other hand that's pinning me down, hard. They howl in pain, and they hit me. I fall to the ground, my head hitting the floor.

"Please! Stop it!" I cry as I feel something heavy on top of me. "Please!"

They're forcing themselves on me and I feel pain. "DON'T TOUCH ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE HELP ME! HELP ME!"

Everything fades to black as I hear a loud crack.

This should be the part where I wake up in real life, but instead, the scene changes.

I open my eyes and I find myself in the water, going downstream. The current is strong, tossing and turning me in. I gasp, trying to keep myself afloat. I'm drowning.

I reach out my hand in vain. Where am I? Is this the river from earlier? How did I end up here?

I'm starting to lose my consciousness. I'm going to die. I don't want to die.

Just as I'm about to go under, a hand grabs me and pulls me out of the water. I try to get a good look at my savior, but everything is blurry. All I see is a vague outline of their face. They're saying something, but I can't make out what it is.

I pass out.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Brunito?"

"¿Tío?"

"Óye, Bruno?"

Casita bumps my chair upwards and I yelp in surprise, almost spilling my coffee. Everyone's staring at me as I gather my bearings. I frown at the floor and Casita just clicks its tiles at me.

"Brunito, are you now awake and listening?" Mamá calls my attention. "Do you get what our supposed agenda is today?"

I glance at my sisters. Pepa just sticks her tongue at me, while Julieta is too busy attending to Isabela and Dolores.

"Uh, lo Siento, Mamá. I didn't catch all of it…" It's a lie though. I didn't hear a word she said.

Mamá just shakes her head at me and turns her attention back to everyone. "Tonight, we will be dining with La Encantadora Mirabella and her family to welcome them to our Encanto. I expect you all to be on your best behavior." She gives me and Pepa a pointed look. "And that means you two, Pepita and Brunito."

Félix tries hard not to laugh. Pepa just frowns at him. "Ay, mi vida, don't take it the wrong way, but you and Bruno do tend to squabble a lot."

"That's what siblings do, I guess. I've seen worse." Agustín pats me on the back. "Think you'll be okay for one night, hermano?"

"Ay, I've lived with Pepa for thirty years, I suppose we can survive just one night. But…" I lower my voice so that Mamá can't hear me. "What's the agenda, again?" Agustín shakes his head at me but tells me anyway. "I knew you were thinking about something. You were spacing out. Anyway, Mamá wants you to look into the future to see how tonight will go."

I sigh. He gives me an understanding look. "In case it's not good, you can just tell Julieta. She'll know what to do."

"But won't she have her hands full with the food?" Agustín shakes his head. "No, Pepa agreed to help her, so that may be a little bit of a hurdle for you, but you three have some sort of 'triplet code', right?"

I squint so hard at my accident-prone cuñado. "Whatever that means."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I make my way back to my room immediately after breakfast, my mind still reeling from the dream last night. It felt so real. I barely dream. I see visions daily, and maybe that impacted something in my brain's ability to have them, but last night was so vivid that I thought I was actually by the river. As I climb the stairs up to my vision cave, I try to recall the scene.

I'm sitting by my usual spot in the river, listening to the water when out of the corner of my eye, I see a hand…then an arm, flailing. Someone is drowning, but I can't make out who it is. I immediately jump into the water and swim towards them, grabbing their hand and carrying them back to shore. When I look at who I've rescued, it's the señorita from that afternoon, gasping for air. I try to speak to her, asking if she's okay and if she can hear me, but her eyes look glassy before finally passing out.

"Why would I be dreaming about her? That doesn't make sense." I say to no one, my voice echoing throughout the room as I make it at the top of the stairs. "I've only met her once."

I shake my head as I enter my vision cave. No time to think about that. I've got work to do.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Glossary of terms (in order of appearance in-text):

Muy peligroso- Very dangerous
Uf, olvida que pregunté- Ugh, forget that I asked
Buenas noches, mi hermanito adorable- Good night, my adorable little brother
Buenas noches, mi bruja de hermana- Good night, my witch of a sister
Cuñado- brother-in-law