Chapter Text
It was hard to believe.
It was really hard to believe that the missing seer was finally found— that he was back and reunited with his family; the Madrigals.
It stirred up something in your chest. Something you could not understand. Was it a relief? Probably not, as it felt heavy and it made it hard to breathe. Was it anger? Regret? Pain? Probably. It was a mix of so many emotions, that it was hard to explain what you felt when you walked up the path to the torn down Madrigal house.
La casita was gone, in exchange, however, he was back.
Bruno Madrigal was back.
And you had no idea how to react to that fact. No idea what to do with that knowledge. No idea why you were even walking there at all.
All those years, you had steered clear from the Madrigal family, stayed away after he had left, finding no more reason to even stay in Encanto at all. You had tried to forget; tried to leave it all behind to start a new life.
Yet here you were, walking up the path to the Madrigal house.
It had been so long since you last walked up to the house. Walking towards what once was great excitement was now replaced with anxiousness and dread.
You weren't even sure it the news was true— if he really was back. No. You were in doubt and maybe thats why you were walking there in the first place.
That and the fact that you wanted to help, even when it meant meeting the Madrigals once more.
Your breath was shaky and you were sure there were beads of sweat forming on your forehead. You were so anxious, so very nervous about how you would react if the news was confirmed by your own eyes.
The old feelings were coming back again. The feelings you had tried to forget and push aside were now overflowing and were ready to burst, yet you kept them in as you still needed confirmation. You still needed to make sure it was all true.
If Bruno Madrigal was really back.
Fiddling with the hem of your ruana, you kept your eyes on the brick path, almost afraid to look up and meet his— or anyone from the family for this matter— potential gaze towards you.
So many thoughts running through your head, but it all went silent along with your abrupt stop on your track as you heard a familiar laugh.
His laugh.
Despite your entire being screaming at you to turn around and leave, you looked up and gazed upon a man in the distance.
That was Bruno.
Your entire world stopped as your eyes widened. It was confirmed by your own eyes that he really was back. That he was back and standing right in front of you.
With the bucket over his head, you could not see what the years had done to his features, but you were sure it was him. The slightly tattered long green ruana that rested over his shoulders and covered most of his body was what gave it away. The familiar dark green patterns stitched on it further confirmed it.
From the lean and lanky frame to the almost goofy way he acted towards what seemed to be his niece told you that it was really Bruno.
It felt like he had not changed one bit, aside from the stubbles on his chin that peaked out of the bucket over his head and the way his clothes looked torn and over used.
It was still Bruno Madrigal.
The Bruno Madrigal you had grown to know.
The thoughts you had about how you were going to react to seeing him were all thrown away and put to waste as you were frozen in place, watching him goof around as if he had not been missing for years.
You tensed up even more, seeing him finally remove the bucket over his head, revealing how he looked.
His always wild curls, now with strands of white hair, were longer than you remembered and they fell to perfectly frame his face. His hazel eyes were still bright as ever, though they were now accompanied by even darker crescents under them, telling you how he must have had such a hard time sleeping or resting. Even from afar, you could notice how there were a few wrinkles in his face, it told you how the years had also taken a toll on him.
Even with such changes, it was still the Bruno you knew.
Or at least you hoped you still knew.
Tensing up, you suddenly realized that he had now turned to gaze at your direction. His eyes were definitely on you. You were sure as his playful grin towards his niece faded into shock, his jaw dropping and eyes widening at the sight of you.
"Tio Bruno?" His niece, Mirabel Madrigal, quirked a brow towards her now frozen Tio. Her deep brown gaze going from her Tio to whoever he was staring at; her almost similar wild curls swaying with the way her head turned towards you.
She asked her Tio a question, probably about who you were or why he was staring at all, but it fell on deaf ears as it seemed like both your worlds fell silent.
There was only you and Bruno.
Sadly, you could not bear that weight once more. You could not accept it. Not him. Not the feelings that were rushing back all at once.
You could not handle it.
And so you fled— running away from the reconstruction of Casita and away from Bruno Madrigal.