Work Text:
"BRUNO!"
Julieta ran down the streets of the town, worry weighing down on her chest. All of the Madrigal children had gone out to play that morning. It was late afternoon and it was getting dark but Bruno still hadn't come back yet. She and Pepa split up to look for him but so far, he was nowhere to be found. They'd gone to his best friend, Hernando, since Bruno usually hung out with him, but even the rust-haired boy hadn't seen him. Bad thoughts started to bubble in Julieta's mind. What if Bruno had been kidnapped? Or worse? She picked up the pace and started running as fast as her twelve-year-old legs could carry her.
"BRUNO, BRUNO!"
"BRUNO!"
Smack
Julieta ran straight into Pepa and immediately got wet from the rain cloud above her sister's head.
"Oh, sorry, sorry." Pepa brushed a few raindrops from Julieta's shoulders.
"You're raining," Julieta mumbled.
"I'm sorry but I can't help it," Pepa exclaimed. "I got really worried and then I started to cloud and then the cloud led to a drizzle and the drizzle led to a sprinkle and the sprinkle led to—That doesn't matter! Did you find Bruno?"
Julieta shook her head sadly.
Pepa clutched her head in both hands. "Oh no oh no oh no, what if he got in trouble? What if he got taken away or hurt or-"
"Pepa," Julieta interrupted. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. We'll keep looking."
"Okay okay okay. Clear skies, clear skies, clear skies." Pepa took a deep breath and the raining cloud disappeared. With that, she turned around and ran down the road.
Julieta sighed and started walking in the opposite direction when she heard something. Some weird sound was coming from the mouth of an alleyway that she couldn't place. With only the slightest bit of hesitation, the black-haired girl started walking into the alley, towards the weird sound.
As she got closer, she realized that the sound was quiet sobbing. Turning a corner, Julieta found the source.
A small boy was huddled in the corner of the dead-end alleyway, back to her, shaking.
"Bruno?"
He flinched. Julieta walked closer and knelt down next to him. "Hey, it's me," she said gently. "It's Julieta."
"J-Julieta?" Bruno turned around. Julieta had to hold back a gasp. A curtain of dark hair covered most of his face, but she could see eerie bright green eyes, and a stream of glowing green tears trickling down his face.
Bruno's eyes usually turned green when he was reading futures but they also occasionally lit up when he got sad or angry. The glowing tears were also new. Something must've happened to her little brother.
"Yeah, it's me." Julieta tried to keep her gentle, calming tone. "What happened?"
"I-I." Bruno's voice cracked. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."
"Hey," Julieta touched his shoulder. "It's okay, it's okay. Just tell me what happened."
Bruno suppressed a sob and clenched his left arm, which was hidden under his green ruana, tightly. "I was going to Hernando's house but then th-these kids cornered me. They knew about my gift and wanted me to read their futures. He only wanted to know if his mother, w-who was in the army, would come h-home soon…" His voice cracked again. "I didn't mean to... I only did what he asked."
"Go on," she encouraged. Julieta dreaded what she would hear next.
"I saw that she wasn't going to make it," he whispered. "I saw that she was going to die." The green in his eyes glowed brighter. "It was my fault, I told him that."
"Hey." Julieta grasped his shoulder. "Listen to me, it wasn't your fault. You can only see the future. You can't cause it or stop it."
"But-"
"No buts," interrupted Julieta. "It wasn't your fault. Just tell me what happened next."
He took a ragged breath. "H-He got upset. He yelled at me and told me that I was a–that I was bad. Then he…"
Julieta's face darkened. "Bruno, did he hurt you?"
"I-It wasn't his fault," he stammered. "He was right to-"
"Did he hurt you?"
Bruno slowly nodded.
"Where?"
He gingerly swept aside the black curtain of hair that hid the right side of his face. Julieta sucked in a breath. There was a huge angry red and purple bruise on his face, and a cut on his lip coated with dry blood.
"Oh no no no," she muttered worriedly. "Brunito what happened to you."
"I'm sorry." A single green tear shed from his eyes.
Julieta touched the unbruised side of her brother's face and wiped the tear away with her thumb, along with the dried remains of his previous tears. "It's okay. It's not your fault. Were you hurt anywhere else?"
Bruno's face paled. He nodded again slowly.
"Show me."
He gulped and shakily removed the ruana from his left arm.
Julieta gasped.
"He took the prophecy tablet and…" Bruno muttered.
A large shard of green glass was lodged in his arm. Bruno had been clenching it with his ruana, which Julieta could see was stained red on one patch. There was a lot of dried blood surrounding it, and a red stream was slowly trickling down from the wound.
“Okay, listen,” said Julieta while rolling up her sleeves, “I can heal you, but I’m going to need to take the shard out. I’m going to need you to be brave, okay?”
Bruno nodded nervously. Julieta gave him one of her hands to hold onto, which he clutched onto tightly.
“Deep breath okay? Are you ready?”
Bruno nodded. “I’m ready.”
“Okay, one, two, three!”
On three, she quickly grabbed the green shard and yanked it out of his arm. He cried out loud and squeezed her hand in a vice grip.
“It’s done, it’s done,” she reassured him.“Now eat this quickly.” Julieta reached into her ever-present satchel and passed an arepa to Bruno.
He took it and quickly scarfed it down. Instantly, the bruises on his face faded away and the bleeding cut on his arm closed up, only leaving a little white mark that quickly faded away too. Color returned to Bruno’s face and he relaxed a little.
“Better?” she asked.
“Better.”
Julieta opened her arms. “Now come here.”
Bruno practically threw himself into her arms and melted into her warm hug. “Thank you, sis,” he said in a muffled voice. The bright green glow in his eyes disappeared, leaving only his usual soft dark green.
“You’re welcome, Bruno. Now come on.” Julieta stood up and offered her brother a hand, which he gratefully took. “It’s getting dark and Mama’s probably getting worried. We also still need to get Pepa, she’s probably still looking for you.”
“Okay, let's go.” Bruno clung onto his sister’s arm, a small smile on his face. There was still a little sadness in his expression, but at least he was okay. Julieta ruffled his hair and smiled fondly before both of them, arm in arm, left the alleyway and started the journey back home.