Chapter Text
Since time immemorial, Camilo’s memories were a tumultuous balance of storms and searing suns. Hurricanes and monsoons came aplenty, curtesy of his mother’s temperament. Rare were the days, however, when there was enough snow to coat the ground like powdered sugar(Abuela never allowed it to escalate to a full storm if she could help it). But on the days Pepa’s immune system failed her, all one could do was shrug and grab some ice skates.
Which is precisely what Camilo does—well, after a bit of cajoling. His mamí lay buried under a mountain of quilts, the top sprinkled with snowflakes that his papí is quick to shoo away. In spite of her shivering, she pushes away the cup of tea he poured for her.
“ Mi pequeno, estoy bien. ” She smiles wearily. “Go have fun.” He wants to protest, but another part of him wants to acquiesce so he can bask in the foreign weather. He’d never seen so much snow before. Reluctantly, he deposits the cup on the dresser.
“If you say so, Mamí .”
“And take Tonito with you. He wants to learn how to ice skate.”
Camilo’s first thought as the 2 brothers step outside is that it’s not as cold as he expected. Chilly, sure, and walking in the 10 inches of snow is like wading through sludge, but it’s a sort of comfortable chilly. He’s fascinated at the way his breaths puff out like smoke. Antonio, meanwhile, is busy trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. Some Pygmy rabbits take to following them, and Antonio eagerly chats them up. Unsurprisingly, the boy’s jaguar didn’t tag along.
“He hates the cold.” Antonio explains, looking slightly down at the fact he can’t share this experience with his animal friend. Camilo shrugs. He’s not complaining. Not that he doesn’t like the big cat, just that—well, anyone would be unnerved by such a daunting predator, no matter how much Tonito insisted he was friendly. And Camilo highly doubts his little brother could stop the him from mauling someone, if so the mood struck him. Especially looking the way he does now. Mirabel didn’t come either(too busy knitting hats and scarves for la familia ), but she did her best to make sure Antonio resembled an overstuffed empanada; he’s covered head to toe in wool garment, and Camilo has to keep a tight grip on his little hand to make sure he doesn’t stumble over himself.
“Woah there, hombrecito ,” he coos in a high-pitched, sugary voice as he briefly shapeshifts into his youngest cousin. “Don’t want you getting cold feet.” Antonio rolls his eyes but smiles regardless.
A “Hey!” is Camilo’s only warning before something cold and stinging explodes against the back on his neck. Whirling around, he catches sight of 3 small heads popping up from behind a mound of snow. The cold has made their cheeks rosy, their faces round and guileless like little angels. What an illusion, Camilo thinks snidely.
“And what are you demonitos pequeños up to?”
“Nothing!” Cecilia pipes as the other 2 burst into giggles.
“‘Nothing’, eh?” He suppresses a mischievous smile as he brushes off the remnants of snowball. “Pretty lame to be doing nothing in this kinda weather, don’t you think?”
“What are you guys doing?” The boy, Diego yells a little too enthusiastically.
“Who’s askin’?”
“Us!”
“Well, ‘us’, ” Briefly a sensation of deja-vu seizes him, “Ask your Mama s to borrow some skates and come back, then I’ll show you!”
He isn’t really expecting them to follow suit. Again, snow in the Encanto is rare, so needless to say he’s a little more than surprised when, as he’s kneeling down to lace up Tonito’s skates, suddenly the 3 of them are standing there with their own, clearly expecting the same treatment.
“Must’ve hit my head, cuz I’m seeing triple.”
“Are you really gonna teach us how to ice skate, Cami?” Cecilia quips.
“No, I’m gonna teach you how to evade taxes.” He scoops up a handful of snow and smushes it against the little girl’s face. “By the way, that’s payback for earlier.” She sputters with laughter as she stumbles back, swiping a gloved hand across her mouth. “Now then..”
The ice seems thick enough to Camilo, and maybe it’s the effect of growing up in a magic family that could cure any ailment, or lift any mountain, but he doesn’t bother to check aside from planting his full weight firmly onto the surface.
So, of course, you can see where this is going.
Giving a satisfied hum, he beckons the kids closer. Antonio wobbles but manages to stay upright, Cecilia and Angelica fall over each other, and Diego… weirdly, does just fine. With a nearly maniacal smile, he glides past Camilo with ease.
“We can’t do it!” Angelica whines as he quickly untangles them. “It’s too slippery and cold!”
“C’mon now, A ngelita , that’s loser’s talk. It’s not so bad once you get used to it. Think of it as learning to walk again.” 10 minutes later, Camilo finds that no amount of vocal explanation will convince the girls, and so settles on forming a chain with Camilo in the middle, carefully pulling them along. “You just glide like that, and—,” he lets go of Cecilia’s hand, and before she seems to realize, she’s gliding across the lake like a shot. She shrills.
“I-I’m doing it! Cami, I’m doing it!”
“Woohoo!” He grins, snapping his fingers, which felt odd since they’d been numbed by the cold. Angelica, looking miffed at being left in the dust, lets go and shakily begins to make her way in the same direction.
The rest of the afternoon continues in a similar fashion. Occasionally someone slips and falls on their bottom, and Camilo is always there to pick them up, brush them off and crack a joke before the child even has time to cry. By evening his nose feels like it’s about to freeze off. Visions of his Tia’s champurrado take over his imagination, enough to make his stomach growl. He begins to call out that it’s home time when another one—a small one—cuts him off.
“Camilo,”
“Yes, Toni —,” it feels then, like the very ice they are standing on is being injected into his veins. Antonio is standing a few feet behind him.
And underneath his feet is a web of cracks.