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It’s been a week since Casita was rebuilt and even longer since Bruno came back to the family.
When Viviana was 10, she had come to terms that her father was dead and despite her months on end of crying, she was contempt with that realization. So when her believed to be deceased father shows up having lived in the walls the entire time, she first felt guilt. What kind of daughter was she if she could just walk around saying her dad was dead when he could hear every word?
The next feeling they felt was relief. Relief that they got to see their dad again and that he wasn’t rotting away in a ditch somewhere. Quickly, the feeling of relief was replaced with anxiety. ‘What if he doesn’t like how I turned out, the reason why he kept in the walls for 10 years?’ Thoughts of having disappointing their papa took over their brain and suddenly the small quirks of their smile dropped into a deep frown.
Suddenly, Bruno locked eyes with Viviana and the next thing she knew, she was finally back into her papa’s arms after years of being afraid, and everything felt alright.
The current moment, didn’t feel like being on her father’s arms from while ago. Instead, it was shame. You see, one of the only memories Viviana truly remembered about Bruno was how he never wanted her to use her powers for long periods of time.
Everyone (well, almost) in the Madrigal family were bestowed upon them with gifts that would leave anyone in awe. Viviana had a gift. They can produce flames. The more passionate, both in negative and positive emotions, the higher and brighter the flames are. Their gift was highly appreciated in the town, helping give those warmth in even the coldest nights and purifying the water from their water source. One problem: Viviana’s skin is super sensitive to the flames they produce.
Almost every single time they use their power, burn marks appear and by the end of the day, her hands are almost black and charred barely able to hold one of her Tia Julieta’s arepas to her mouth on her own. Not only, if she has a flame used for an extended amount of time, she gets a fever and takes her two days to help the village again. When they were younger, Bruno would always lightly scold her for using their flames for long periods of time without having more of her tia’s food while doing so. Every time six year old Viviana would come home from a day in the village, Bruno would set her gently on the counter, feed her an arepa, and wipe away any tears.
Right now felt like complete deja vu for the 17 year old. After being in the village working for the first time since before the collapse of Casita, the young flame user walked into the kitchen hoping to grab a leftover arepa for the burn scars and head her way back to her room when she saw that her father was already in the room.
Looking up from the rats he was talking to, he softly smiled at his little girl until he looked down and saw her hands. Hoping she hid her hands behind her back quick enough, Viviana tried strolling past her father. Keyword: tried.
“Vivi, have you been using for gift for long periods of time with your tia’s healing?” The voice sounded broken, so sad that all Viviana could do was reluctantly nod their head yes.
Gently taking his daughter’s hand in his own, Bruno rubbed his thumb across their knuckles feeling an incredible sadness, thinking if maybe, just maybe, he didn’t run away into the walls they wouldn’t be in this position, and that his lucièrnaga wouldn’t be in pain all the time. His time in the walls, he heard all the cries Viviana let out when she thought she was finally alone, with Dolores in her soundproof room. The cries of grief believing that he was dead and from the pain of her so-called “beautiful” gift. Many times he just wanted to burst out the walls and cradle her i. his arms, like he once did when they were a newborn, and shield them from the dangers of the world.
Without saying anything, Bruno took the younger’s hand and lead them to a chair. While still being quiet, he left the kitchen for a quick second to grab an arepa from Julieta, and walked back to the 4’11 girl and breaks off a piece of the arepa to feed her.
It was like that for a few minutes, just silence and eating. When Viviana finally looked Bruno in the eyes and could only muster up a very small,
“Papa..”
From that single word, Bruno finally had all his emotions caught up to him and embraced his daughter the way he wanted to many times those years in the walls. He cried, he cried of joy, reminiscent of the way when he had heard the news his wife would give birth to a beautiful baby that was his. They kept in that position for many minutes, until Viviana pushed away a bit, to wipe away Bruno’s tears like he once did for her many, many years ago.
In that moment, Viviana had truly remembered what her father was like before he left. A compassionate, loving father who would do anything for his kid’s safety and happiness.
And suddenly, all was good in the world.