Chapter Text
This is by far the weirdest and most vivid dream I've ever had!
Bar!
None!
Not even the wildest of my fever dreams come close!
Not one!
This just... This just HAD to be a dream!
Why?
Well, last time I checked, I was at home all snuggled up in bed with my stuffed bunny Bluebell - Don't judge! - and dozing off with Encanto playing in the background. I need noise to sleep and I have a bit of an obsession with that movie. Okay... A lot of an obsession... It seemed like a good idea at the time.
You all probably think I just sleepwalk. No, I don't! I don't even live in a tropical climate! I'm from the middle of the freaking US! My pasty skin and midland accent can both attest to that! Thank you very much!
Yet, here I am...
Waking up to the sounds of a jungle, nearly blinded by the morning sun, smelling all kinds of tropical fruits, feeling more than just grass underneath me, and definitely NOT in bed with Bluebell!
"Wh-where am I?"
I quickly tried to assess my surroundings despite the fact that I had just woken up. There were tropical trees, bushes, flowers, and... Are those toucans and coatis?! They look... Weirdly animated. Not animated in the sense of hand-drawn. I mean animated in the sense of the latest CGI being used. The cartoony eyes are a dead giveaway. The plants and animals almost look real, but...
They're not.
That gave me a sinking, twisting feeling in my gut as I acted on my first instinct. I ran to the first reflective surface I could find which happened to be an eerily familiar river. I crouched near the edge to get a good look at my reflection.
Yep, I looked like someone animated my likeness on a computer. The only thing about me that looked close to photorealistic was my shoulder-length hair and fluffy green jammies.
...!
Oh dear God! I'm out in public wearing the ugliest flowery pajamas on the planet! Why am I here wearing that?! Why AM I here?! Why does everything look so weird?! Have I been drugged?! Was I kidnapped?! What are they gonna do to me?! What if I never get back?! What do I do?! WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?!
Agh! Too many thoughts!
Can't move...
Can't see straight...
Can't breathe...
Jungle closing in on me...
Okay, okay, okay, okay... Focus... Focus Kate... This is the worst place to have a panic attack.
Remember what your therapist said...
In through your nose for 4...
Hold for 7...
Out through mouth for 8...
Just keep doing that...
4.
7.
8.
4.
7.
8.
4.
7.
8.
Good... Now, to ground myself.
I see a few coatis sitting pretty close to me, the colorful river, really tall palm trees, some curious toucans, and a few multi-colored butterflies.
I can feel my soft pajamas, the cool river, the warm grass, and some smooth rocks.
I hear birdsong, rushing water, and a soft breeze.
I smell flowers and petrichor.
I taste the hot chocolate I had before bed.
...
Oh, good. My heart's slowing back down. The haze is clearing. Whew, that could've been a total disaster. Crisis averted.
Ahem. Where was I? Oh... Right. Do I still look like me?
My... My eyes are larger than I remember. They're practically taking up nearly half my face. But, they're still the hazel that I remember. My hair is way brighter than I remember. It kinda reminds me of Pepa's hair if it were straightened. Last I checked it was a dark auburn. Not bright ginger. Even my nose looks a bit larger. Probably to balance the eyes. But, it still curls up just a bit like normal. Ears look as square-shaped as ever. Looks like my proportions are right too. Pear-shaped complete with thunder thighs. Yeah, I'm not athletic or even skinny, but I'm not a cow either. All the muscle is in the upper half of my body anyway. Seems my skin is still as pale as ever with the 1,372 freckles running down my arms.
What? I was bored!
"Okay, aside from my hair, eyes, and nose." I thought aloud, "And... The CG look... Yeah, I need to make peace with that... Ahem... Well... Everything looks about right."
I took a breath to try to oxygenate and process my thoughts. Well, more like push them to the back of my mind to sift through later when I'm not in the middle of a jungle.
Right... Middle of a jungle.
How do I get out of here?
The river is strangely familiar to me. Like I've seen it somewhere before. It started to hit me when I saw the reed that had a golden butterfly fluttering near it. A butterfly I felt strangely drawn to.
"Wait..." I murmured, "Is this... Is this the river where... No... It can't be... It's... It's not real. It's just a movie. Isn't it?"
As if to answer me, the butterfly fluttered away from the reed and came to rest on my shoulder.
"Uh... Hi..." I greeted awkwardly, "Never had a butterfly land on me before."
It just slowly flapped its wings.
"Well... I must say," I smiled lightly, "You're one of the prettiest butterflies I've seen."
It fluttered its wings a bit.
I don't know why I was talking to a butterfly of all things. But, I still kept doing it for some odd reason. Maybe I'm just trying to fill the silence, I dunno.
"Do you... Uh..." I stammered, "Did you... Need something?"
It flew away from my shoulder and fluttered towards a large crack I just noticed. Before I could write the whole thing off, I was struck with a memory from the movie. It was extremely vivid. It's almost like I could actually hear Bruno shouting into my ear.
Butterfly! Follow the butterfly!
Okay, I'm definitely not writing the whole thing off!
Why? Because I've learned the hard way to trust my instincts. I felt a niggling need to follow that butterfly before it even landed on me. Now, I'm hearing Bruno's voice practically shouting at me to follow it. I can only think of one instance where something even remotely similar happened and that situation was life or death.
Possibly against my better judgment, I began to follow the butterfly through the crack in the mountain. It was not an easy trek in fluffy socks and ugly pajamas better suited for winter weather. But, I managed to keep up and make it through. I may or may not have tripped a few times. But, that's not important.
On the other side of the crack, I could just make out a village that I recognized almost the instant I saw it. The sight of it staggered me and had me rubbing my eyes in disbelief. But, it was there. It was extremely real. It can't be any other place.
The Encanto.
