A/N: This story takes place about a month after the reconstruction of Casita.
Disclaimer: I do not own Encanto. All rights belong to Disney.
"Forty-six, forty-seven, forty-eight, forty-nine, fifty!" Antonio dropped his jump rope by his feet and raised both arms in the air, sporting a victorious smile.
From the village fountain in front of him, Mirabel gave her cousin a rapturous ovation. "Outstanding! I can see you've practiced hard!"
"It did take a while," he stated, his young voice pretty exhausted.
"Well, doing fifty jumps isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world, but you conquered it, and I can say that I'm very proud of you." Intrinsically, Antonio was growing fast. Mirabel would never forget those precious days of babysitting him, though she was still his babysitter when necessary. She had numerous priceless memories of them together that she kept near and dear to her heart, moments that reminded the girl of their profound relationship and her unconditional love for Toñito. At his age, he was constantly learning and discovering. It was such a treat anytime Mirabel watched Antonio explore his Gift or play breezily in the neighboring forest. She knew she didn't need a super impressive talent to be an admirable big cousin/sister figure to him. Being one was a gift in itself and, if anything, the greatest gift she could ever have, apart from having an exceptional family. As Antonio proceeded to blossom with the passage of time, Mirabel would merely continue to support and care for her best friend.
The boy wiped a palm across his droopy brows. "I feel happy now that I got to that number. I've never jumped so many times."
"You're becoming a pro at jump roping. Before you know it, you'll reach sixty jumps or maybe even one hundred!"
He chuckled amusingly. "One hundred is huge. I'll have to practice way more for that."
"How about you sit next to me, Antonio?" Mirabel patted the spot beside her. "You look tuckered out."
On weak legs, Antonio trudged forward and plopped down on the fountain's edge, pressing himself against Mirabel. A breathy "phew" escaped his lips.
The teenager mildly messed with his wild afro, her facial features full of affection. "Rest that body, primito. You've done a great deal of exercise."
Antonio smiled up at his prima before relaxing his head on her lap and lowering his eyelids; he had gotten cozy.
She curled her arm around him, then watched the village life ahead. The plaza was bustling as usual, with villagers shopping for essentials, donkeys pulling loaded wheelbarrows, frisky children running about, and whatnot. One change that did occur in this town was its decreased reliance on the Madrigals' powers, but not to a large extent. After the successful reconstruction of Casita, plus a beneficial life lesson on self-worth, the family came to use their Gifts at will and take desirable breaks, now devoid of unwelcomed, harmful stress and pressure that just left an extreme wound on them. On a brighter note, the villagers themselves had been doing favors for the Madrigals, reciprocating their generous actions. Things were, without a doubt, going hunky-dory in all respects.
Within fifteen minutes of quiet observation, Mirabel's thigh started to feel ticklish. Her gaze landed on the open-eyed Antonio, the kid tracing an embroidered design on her skirt. A giggle followed from this.
His face met hers, his moving finger not off the design. "Mirabel? How long did it take you to make these?"
"Quite a while, as there are many of these things. But it wasn't any trouble at all. I had a swell time decorating this skirt, and I completely adore every part of it." She patted the blue fabric in affection.
"So do I," he said sweetly. "It's beautiful. You create amazing stuff."
Her smile became tender, and she laid her attention on Antonio's tracing. "I wouldn't trade my passion for art for anything."
"I watch you sew and knit sometimes. It looks interesting." Antonio moved on to another design.
"You know, Antonio, I can teach you how to do both if you'd like," Mirabel suggested.
"That sounds delightful. I'd love that," he replied, his innocent face laced with gleefulness.
Mirabel had the same feeling. When Antonio stayed in the nursery, she occasionally taught him certain basic but fundamental stuff, like the alphabet and counting. She dearly missed doing it, especially when Antonio was getting pleasure out of learning from her. His radiant expression alone was enough to make that her favorite part of it. Hence, she looked forward to introducing him to sewing and knitting, her special hobbies.
Clasping her hands together, she said, "Fabulous. We'll get started very soon."
Excitement appeared in his toothy smile. "Can you also show me how to do embroi… embroid…"
"Embroidery?" she corrected him. "Sí, of course, but let's stick with sewing first, okay? It's good to learn that before anything else."
"Okay, big cousin." The child went to trace over a candle motif that resembled the one that used to sit on Abuela's window, then paused abruptly.
"Mira?"
"Yes, Antonio?"
"You have designs of our family's Gifts, but I don't see one for Tío Bruno," he pointed out.
Mirabel frowned slightly at this fact. She glanced at her shoes before giving Antonio a gentle but unhappy look. "Oh, well… Yeah, that's true," she spoke calmly, not having some sort of explanation to provide.
Seeing his favorite cousin not in good spirits, Antonio's face fell. "It would be nice to have his Gift on your skirt. He is part of the family."
She kindly hugged him to her side. "That he is. And we love him very, very much," she said, tapping his nose a couple of times.
"It's great he came back," he told her.
"I couldn't agree more. This family isn't complete without him. He's fantastical."
"So are his rats."
The girl couldn't repress the giggle from that lighthearted remark. "They are cute, aren't they?"
"I really like playing with them," Antonio stated. "They can do some spectacular tricks, especially ones that have food.
"I take it that those are their favorite tricks to do," Mirabel said.
His hand covered his lips. "Heh heh, yes."
"Tío Bruno has lots of rats. Did he have many back before he disappeared?" the animal lover asked.
"I remember seeing some of them around from time to time," Mirabel recalled. "Like today, he adored keeping them on him, whether it was in his hair or under his ruana. But he certainly has befriended more since then."
"One of the rats said to me that he would always spend time with them up in his room," Antonio noted.
"That's Tío Bruno for ya. If he's not anywhere else, he's in his sandy room doing whatever he likes to do. He's like you in a way." Mirabel pointed a finger at him. "Your animal buddies keep you great company."
"They're amazing," he said with a fond smile, but then his brows furrowed in solemnness.
His empathetic cousin placed her hand on top of his. "What is it, Toñito? Is something wrong?"
"He got pretty lonely inside Casita's walls. The rats also told me this," he whispered concernedly.
Mirabel sighed. Although the Madrigals were all on good terms now due to Bruno's recent return, his ten years of solitude were truly something hard to forget. "I can only imagine. Being separated from the familia would be so heartbreaking."
"He was gone for so long…"
Her expression softened, her thumb gingerly brushing his dark hand. "At least he didn't move away. Yes, he technically left, but he was just hiding in the house the whole time. None of us knew that."
"You must have felt really sad when he left," Antonio said.
"We all were, but then again, I didn't know him all too well," she admitted. "I was only your age when it happened."
"You mean, you don't remember much of him?" The boy tilted his head.
For years, Bruno had been described by those as "weird" and "meek." As much as the man loved his relatives, he mainly kept to himself, preferring to stay up in his tower alone. On top of this, he would not come out to visit the village unless someone coerced him to; if he did go, he would refrain from any social interaction. Mirabel did not blame him for his behavior. A Gift was used to help others, but Bruno's visions generally received negativity. Abuela was responsible for half of it, regularly reminding her son about how big of a disservice he was to practically everyone. People solely perceived Bruno as bad luck, and in turn, the uncle saw no reason to believe that he carried merit. The uncle's past was beyond doubt a tragic story, one that saddened Mirabel.
"I'm afraid not. I just have a few memories of our uncle," Mirabel replied.
"Are they good ones?"
"Uh huh, although there is a memory that's pretty sad but has a happy ending."
"What happened?"
She folded her hands neatly on her lap. "You know how I tend to lose my glasses now and again?" she asked rhetorically, pointing at the subject. "Well, when I was four years old, I was playing tag outside Casita with Isabela and Luisa. All of a sudden, my glasses slipped right off my face. It took us a bit before we realized they were missing. We tried looking for them, but they were nowhere to be seen, so we told the whole family. They searched and searched, but neither of them found the glasses. I was afraid I would never get them back. Luckily though, Tío Bruno looked again later that night, and what did he find in a nearby bush? My glasses!"
Antonio was in awe. "He was a hero."
"Yeah," Mirabel spoke with sentimentality. "I couldn't be happier to have them back."
He then asked, "Do you wish you made more memories with him?"
The older cousin mulled this over a bit. "It would be nice, but I'm thankful for the few I do have. It's what makes them unique. And it doesn't make him any less of an uncle just because we didn't create a whole bunch of memories together. Besides, you, me, and the rest of the family can create new ones with Tío now that he's returned. It's not too late to do that."
"I'm delighted we will get to do things with Tío Bruno, many incredible things." Antonio went back to tracing Mirabel's designs.
She watched the boy, a caring smile on her. "Me too, Antonio."
"No more hiding in the walls for him," he remarked.
"No more hiding in the walls," Mirabel repeated.
"No more loneliness."
Mirabel's chest swelled with an intense feeling. Bruno's return home had led things to change for the better, including himself. He was starting to reconnect with family, and she could see that he missed speaking to them. She swore this was the happiest he had ever been. It went without saying that Mirabel was over the moon for him. "Oh, absolutely. I just love seeing him smile. I know he wasn't doing it much when he was all cooped up inside that room. He needs all the love he can get from this familia. He shouldn't feel sad or like he's no good. Just because his visions can show not the nicest outcomes doesn't mean he has a bad Gift." She locked her eyes on the embroidery of the candle.
"Tío Bruno's disappearance was a total shock. Neither of us expected it. And umm… if he hadn't done so, I would've added his Gift to my skirt," she revealed, causing Antonio to twist his head to her. No words were spoken, so she continued. "Since he left, I never got to grow up with him. Like I said, I have very few memories of him, and he kept to himself for the most part anyway, meaning we weren't that close. It also didn't help that the family barely mentioned him during his time away. It was like he never belonged to the family."
"That's very sad," Antonio voiced sensitively before frowning down at her skirt.
"It is, but look." Mirabel lifted his chin. "What matters is that he's here with us. He's happy as well as everyone else. You don't have to worry about him because I know for a fact he'll never, ever leave again. I can promise you that."
Antonio only stayed fixed on her kindhearted face. Subsequently, he smiled, washing away the sadness.
She took his hand and squeezed it. "I'll tell you what. When we get home, I'm going to embroider Tío Bruno's Gift. He's family."
"How great," the kid replied with bliss, hugging Mirabel tightly.
Mirabel patted Antonio's head fondly. "It will be a surprise for him."
Not letting go of her, he murmured, "He will love it."
Her hand ran over the crafted patterns of beauty. "He definitely will, Antonio. He definitely will."