Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day in Encanto. 

Then again everyday was almost as nice as the last here.

 The sun was rising, with a candied pink glow, over the split mountains just adjacent to La Casita, and Bruno was sitting on the front step with his knees to his chest and his arms wrapped around his knees to hold them there. The pale yellow sun shone brightly through the Crack in the mountain and Bruno felt something shift under his poncho, despite his jumpy demeanour, the stillness of this dawn kept him steady. There was something of a struggle as one of his rats went about finding a way out of his poncho many of his rats preferred to stay inside the house at night because of predators and the cold, not that Antonio would allow any of his rats to get hurt of course, but there was a silent deal between his friends that no matter where Bruno went one of them would always be there.

A little bit more of a struggle, and Bruno felt some scratching at the inside of his poncho before a Grey rat, with light flecks of fur scattered about, finally crawled out from under his clothes then scurried up to his knees to get a good look at him with her sleepy beady eyes.

"Ah, Buenos días Gabriella," he greeted his drowsy friend and lifted a hand to rub her noggin, "sleep well?" 

Gabriella accepted the head rubs as most of his rats got used to doing after years, but apparently she was not as tired as she let on. Giving a pink ear a flick at Bruno mistrations, which he knew to withdraw his hand at, she brought both of her tiny hands to her head then began to clean. 

"Heh, Aw you look pretty already, you don't need to clean up," Bruno said with his trademark gravely voice,trying to be encouraging. Most of his rats had their own personalities, he knew that some of his rats were vain, but Gabriella usually was not.

Gabriella's round ears flattened at his words, in fact she seemed a little upset. If a rat could roll its eyes Bruno imagined she just did. The rat stood on its back legs for a second before coming down as hard as her little body could onto her front paws on Brunos clothed knee, she then paused and stared at Bruno. The green eyes that belonged to the man in this situation stared back at her, she clearly wanted something from him, but he had no idea what. At a loss Bruno tilted his head at her like a curious bird. Instantly her ears were flat against her skull again and her tail flicked in cute annoyance. After a moment, she did the same thing twice in a row, her little paws landing on the green faded fabric of his poncho all the same before looking at him again. Bruno pursed his lips in thought before he came to a hesitant conclusion, "me?" He pointed to himself. 

Gabriella let out an affirmative squeak and went onto the next part of her charade. Mimicking Antonios jaguar, Parce, when he goes about making himself a place comfortable enough to lay down, then Gabrilla laid down and tucked her nose under her paws. Just when Bruno thought that might be all her little tail raised behind her to look like a question mark. 

"Ha!" Bruno exclaimed with his finger now pointed in close proximity to his companion, "You HAVE been paying attention to Charades Monday!"

Before Mirabel found him, and shortly after the family welcomed him back, with all of his spare time Bruno worked on his acting. So he had things like Word association Wednesday's, Charades Mondays, and Freestyle Fridays, where basically anything goes. Now he's with his Familia these days and he can see that they are making an effort to include him and make sure that he knows he's important, and he loves them 100% no doubt, but sometimes it's just a bit... overwhelming, the attention. After going for years without it, you know. So when he finds that he's feeling a bit worn down he will retreat into his room for the day and kinda *disappear* till the next day. Of course he makes sure to let someone know, usually Dolores, because he can just say he's going to be practising his acting for the day into the wind and she'd likely hear it. If not her though, Antonio, his rats like to make sure that someone for sure knows so sometimes one will run off and tell him about it, but if he happens to run into Mirabel he will just tell her that he needs a day to himself and she seems to understand every time, making a small excuse for him. 

That being said Antonio has asked if he can come to the next acting day that he and his four legged troupe have and Bruno was ecstatic about it! It would certainly help if he knew what his rats were saying after all.

Gabriella brought her head up and stared at him unimpressed however. Instead of doing anything else, she just waved her question mark shaped tail side to side at him. Clearly she wants her answer.

Bruno, on a breath, deflated a bit hunching over more as he brought a hand of scratch at the back of his neck nervously, he gave a tired chuckle, "n-no I didn't sleep, not really," he sensed judging eyes, "wha- hey you were there I was sleeping in the rat pile and I just woke up later I- I- can't I wish I knew…" how to just sleep like a normal person… The bags under his eyes were part of him at this point, from childhood he had problems waking up… now he seemed to always be awake, if Pepa and Julieta knew… well pastries can't fix this one. At some point he stared off and spaced out, having a little thought about being normal. There was a small weight on his shoulder and a small pair of hands on his cheek which brought him back. Gabriella rubbed her cheek against his to comfort him and he laughed, still tired but more joyful this time, he picked up his friend and began petting her with his other hand, she decided to be compliant this time. 

The sun had reached the middle of the cracked mountain officially and the sky was slowly turning blue, still more pink however. The town was all silent and asleep, Bruno stood up and took a deep breath of the cool morning air. So quiet. "The amazing Madrigals will never be normal huh," he muttered to himself in thought, he then paused for a moment and raised a brow, "but insomnia is normal… maybe normal people can't sleep," 

"Normal people can't sleep often,"

Bruno flinched at the voice that came from behind, but he quickly relaxed at the sight of Dolores. If he had to guess, he'd say that she would have sleeping problems, with her power that is. 

"O-oh sorry,  did I wake you?" Bruno asked quickly, bringing his hands together to fiddle with his poncho, his rat having run to his shoulder during his pondering. 

Dolores just waved him off gently with her free hand, the other holding a cup of coffee, "you speak very softly, I told you," she scolds him softly before she takes a sip of her strongly smelling beverage and Bruno takes a relieved breath in return. Dolores hums at her drink, "my room has some sound proofing so don't worry about me tio," she squeaks.

Bruno arches a brow at her, a bit worried nonetheless, "why are you up so early then sobrina?" He asked, then seeing her tense up a bit and her eyes widen he scrambled for something to break the ice, "well, I mean usually you are up for the same song and dance with the rest of the Familia I mean… it's usually just me in the mornings, n- not that I don't like the company," he paused after his sloppy recovery, "you don't have to tell your tio, that's alright ya know,"

Dolores took another sip and relaxed some, turning her dark eyes to Bruno and giving him a small smile, "Thank you, that means a lot, I hear a lot after all," she cups her ear in her iconic way, in response Bruno tosses some salt over his shoulder into the wall of the Casita who managed to throw it back at him which resulted in Bruno having a bunch of salt in his hair. The two laughed quietly and the Casita clapped it's tiles in a peeved tone. Yeah, Casita does not like it when salt is thrown around Bruno discovered shortly after reentering the main casita. After Casitas small tantrum Dolores sighed, looking off into the village Bruno followed her eyes trying to see what she saw. "I've …" she paused in contemplation, she then squeaked and continued, " I've overheard something recently… but it's so out of the blue, and it's the first I've heard of it so I'm not sure if I should believe my ears, if I get my hopes up I will feel hurt, but if it's really happening then I need to make a big decision, tio" she turns and looks at him with pleading eyes and her brows furrowed, this look reminded him of when she asked if her prophecy had to come true when she was younger, "what if I can't trust my ears?" She asked.

Deep down, in those dark eyes of hers, Bruno knew that part of her wanted to ask for a prophecy, something to make whatever decision or hurt that she had to deal with in the future feasible, the other part of her knew that knowing the future could hurt more so. Bruno wondered if this had something to do with Mariano, her boyfriend of one year, from what he had heard the two have been fairly happy together, true to his word Mariano can sing, he can sing softly too, which meant lots to Dolores.

 It can't be that can it? 

Without really thinking, call it intuition, Bruno took her freehand and guided it over her chest gently, above her heart, "you can always trust that," he points to her chest with a soft smile at her, " mujercita,"

Dolores looked down at her hand over her heart for a moment. Then she moved it to take Bruno's hand to squeeze it gently, "Thank you, you give good advice," she whispered.

Bruno gave her hand a gentle squeeze back, "nah, it's not me, it's the telenovellas," he said sheepishly with a small shrug. There was a small tapping on his cheek then and he looked over to see that Gabriella was getting his attention to say that he should at least try to sleep with many of the previously used charades. "Well, I better try to get some sleep," he gave Dolores hand one final squeeze before he went off, "I'll see ya when I see ya Dolores, Buenos noches," then la Casita decided to help him get to his room faster via moving the flooring under his feet which he exclaimed in surprise at.

"Buenos días Bruno," she said with a small smirk.

Chapter Text

The Familia was headed out to the town today, it was having a festival of lights! Last year Bruno had just missed it, because the town was fixing up the Casita that day, so they all missed it realistically. 

The day beforehand the Madrigals and the town were decorating, setting up booths, plotting lights, planning games and all the fun stuff, it's going to be exciting to see the outcome! Pepa, Felix, Julieta and Agustín were walking together, chatting to each other excitedly in their usual clothes, not a single cloud seen from Pepa, each couple sticking close to each other. Glancing at them from his central position his heart felt warm, he was so unbelievably happy for his sisters and how their lives turned out, how their powers turned out, picturesque really. 

Luisa, and Isabella were walking together up front, whispering things to each other then giggling. After the Casita broke both the sisters changed significantly, but for the better. Luisa takes a nature walk in the morning before breakfast to wake up for the day and enjoy nature, she takes a mandatory at home lunch so she can catch up with her family and just chat and have a good time, then for her nightly rituals she goes for a walk around town to wind down, has some warm milk, then heads to bed. Luisa is definitely more relaxed now more than ever, her hair was even down today. Isabella got more into her creative side, she cut her hair so it's all a different length diagonally, she has varied up her clothes a bit, today she's wearing a nice billowing top with a brightly colored layered skirt, and she has taken up art, the plant bomb kind and almost always has some color in her hair. They both seem much happier now.

 What they are giggling about, Dolores knows… probably.

Camilo and Mirabel are walking together around the front as well, two sixteen year Olds are bound to be up to trouble this evening… Bruno wouldn't stop it. The pair have gotten closer this year, more teasing and rivalry, after Mirabel got over her lack of power she simply stepped up her game to just be herself, much like her sisters in that way, still a responsible girl, just a bit more cheeky now. Camilo hit something of a small growth spurt, he's picked up two inches and is a little wider in the shoulders, hairs a bit longer he has it in a ponytail as of tonight however. Camilo also seems to have hit a turning point in his life recently, out of shape-shifting he's been trying on different clothes, borrowing his mother's eyeliner on occasion and asking Isa if she could make up some colored powder for him to experiment with. He has been saying that he believes that he's something called Non-binary, but he does not mind being called a "he" because its just less confusing for the familia to just call him how hes used to, and logically hes still himself, he just liked colorful stuff now. Pepa seems to think it might be a phase, but Bruno has a gut feeling that it might not be, Julieta is just trying to keep the peace so she's verbally gently agreeing with Pepa.

"Tio Bruno?" A voice beside him asks. Bruno looks to his side at Antonio, his little sobrino who is riding his Jaguar into town. Antonio has not changed much, but Bruno was so happy he finally got to meet him after five years in the walls, he had some tears when he first hugged him.

Okay, well… more than some.

Let's just say he could use that memory on stage to cry some happy tears if he needed to.

"What's up?" Bruno asked simply, today Bruno had three rats with him out on the town. His Tio did not get weird looks for having a jaguar, after all it's wise to never look at someone who has a jaguar as a friend in a funny way. Bruno on the other hand, three small rats, gets funny looks, some sus ones too. Sure, it's probably because his power has nothing to do with rats, he can't talk to them, he was not ashamed however they were his friends all the same.

"Do you think Dolores is okay?" Antonio asked with a hushed voice, as if his sister would not be able to hear that. Dolores was at the Casita still, with Mariano, she said that they would catch up, but she seemed nervous and of course her little brother would notice.

Bruno ruffled Antonios hair playfully inciting a giggle out of him, "she'll be okay, she's a grown woman, your strong sister, and she and her Mariano will meet up with us all later," Antonio shook his head a bit to try to fix his hair to which Bruno tutted at him and went about fixing his hair while walking sideways, "now, you are gonna have to show me around the festival, it's been a while so I am a bit rusty,"

"Hm," the small boy humed in thought, "I think we should walk around with Camilo and Mirabel, they know where the crazy stuff is at, and I don't really remember last time I came," he answered with a small shrug, with that Bruno was finished fixing his hair. Still, Bruno mentally smacked himself, last time Antonio would have gone was when he was like four, who remembers when they were four?! 

Bruno leaned in close to Antonio and whispered, "you're right though, looks like those two are plotting," he pointed to the pair of cousins, "let's go foil em'" Antonio giggled and started to take off, as Bruno was also going to do. 

"Bruno!"

The green eyed prophet looked over his shoulder to who called, it was Felix, waving him over with a big welcoming smile. Bruno turned to Antonio and whispered, "I'll be right there, don't let them cause too much trouble alright," he gave his nephew a smile and a wink before shooting him off and walking in pace to talk to his sisters and in-laws. 

"OH, Bruno," Julieta said dramatically as he came up, taking him under an arm and placing a kiss on his forehead, "oh my little brother Bruno, did you eat enough today?"

Bruno sighed at his sisters Antics, "yes I ate when I woke up," he said with equal drama, "you fed me," he gestured hopelessly at her.

She kissed him on his hairline, "Did you get enough sleep, my sweet sweet brother Bruno?" She abandoned having her arm over his shoulder and took his hand in hers while petting it gently with her other one, leaving Agustín, who was snickering a little, hanging for a bit. 

"Of course I got enough sleep Julieta, the bags under my eyes are just part of me," he was smiling dopily at his sisters playful attention. And it was not a lie, not as far as he was concerned, he did go for a rather long nap after his interaction with Dolores.

"Hermano," Pepa, who was hand in hand with Feilx and looking as beautiful as usual, took the pairs attention, they kept holding hands nonetheless, "if you are going to be following Camilo and Mirabel around can you just keep an eye on Camilo for me?" Felix then chimed in with his regular pep to his voice, "we know he's a good kid and all, he's just changing so suddenly, right?" He looked up at his wife for confirmation, to which Pepa nodded.

Brunos brow furrowed a bit, "You don't still think this might be a phase, right Pepa?" He felt his hands shake a little, worried about upsetting his sister, she can be fairly scary after all. Julieta gave his hands a squeeze of reassurance however. 

There was a small breeze that seemed to pick up around Pepa and ruffled her husband's dark hair, she gave Bruno a pretty stiff look, like she was trying to avoid something, "what do you mean Bruno?" Came from Feilx who raised his eyebrows in slight confusion, Pepa squinted her eyes at him while he was not looking however. Bruno and Julieta could see a small cloud forming over their sisters head.

The prophet found himself a little nervous to answer his brother-in-law, he gulped out of a nervous habit. Julieta managed to catch his eye by nudging him gently, she has been a very calming presence for most of his life. Her dark eyes showed reassurance and she gave him a small nod to continue. Bruno just took a small breath and began to speak with the borrowed steadiness he got from Julieta, "just… well it's been almost half a year now, more, since this 'phase' of his started, I just don't think it's a phase… a- anymore," he ended this sentence with a small head nod in Camilos direction, he was chatting with his little brother and Mirabel animatedly. Antonio must have said something about his yellow eyeshadow because Camillo stopped walking and took out a small pallet he had on him and drew some yellow cat whiskers onto his brothers dark cheeks which Mirabel was cooing at. Camilo then quickly shifted to show Antonio what he looked like now and Antonio was smiling brightly, Camilo shifted back, said something, the six year old nodded, then Camilo picked him up and proceeded to give him a piggyback upon his shoulders so Parce could have a break. The trio began walking off before Mirabel pointed something out and they all dashed off in the direction, Parce decided to simply nap in the town square by the fountain. 

"I know I might have been in the walls for a long time, but I still saw all of you. He just seems more… I dunno," he paused thinking on a word that was avoiding him, "more… expressive? I think," he tried, expressive was a good word, he was surprised it came to his mind at all. Honestly though, nowadays, Camilo seemed to be more in his element, hung out with his cousins a bit more, sleepovers, makeup days with the girls, he even teased them a bit less since his 'phase' started. Bruno thought it was cute, he could tell that Camilo was maturing faster than most boys his age. 

The worry was that Pepa could not see his maturity past, what she was still hoping was, his phase.

There was some sudden humidity as the small cloud above Pepa grew a bit and as Feilx noticed he went about trying to wave it away while whispering sweet nothings to her, there was no rain so it looked like Pepa was really just worried about her oldest son. 

"Look at is this way," Julieta began, "I was shocked when Isa cut her hair, started growing new things, but look at her now. Isa is so much happier, she's still my girl, still who she was just brighter!" She explained, releasing Brunos hands and moving over to have one of Pepas, who smiled at her sadly. "It's not the end of an Era, it's the same place, just next year," Agustín tried to explain his piece, to Bruno it made sense. The person is the same, they have just changed a bit. 

Pepa sighed and her shoulders lost their tension at Julietas attention, clearly she has the same affect on both her siblings. The little cloud above her dissipated a bit, "I know, I know, I do. It's just a bit hard to keep up with all of it hermana," the group had, at some point, stopped walking in order to have this conversation. None of the kids were in sight anymore, but Bruno was fairly certain he could figure out where they went.

"Don't worry Pepa," Bruno came up to Pepa and placed his hands on top of both of theirs gently giving a squeeze. The three of them were triplets alright, but each of them could not be more different from each other, still they remained closely linked, "I'll keep an eye on your boys, alright?" 

Pepa sighed and bowed her head and the rest of the cloud and humidity slipped away elsewhere, "Thank you," she smiled at him, cupped his cheek and then gave him a kiss on his forehead. Bruno smiled back at her sweetly. One would think that after having her weather based powers for so long that she'd be able to regulate her emotions somewhat, but they overwhelm her so badly, he was glad she had Feilx, and the rest of the Famila to help. 

Glad that he could help.

"Now shoo, shoo with you," suddenly Julieta was waving her hands at him playfully, "you must find the children, or Antonio will start to think you are too old for festivals like the rest of us,"

"Wha- I'm the same age as yo-"

"Quick before they get in trouble" Feilx taunted from beside Pepa, drawing an arm around her waist to further comfort her, she leaned into him easily and gave Bruno a small wave goodbye and a smirk.

Julieta was keen on gently slapping Brunos poncho until he relented so he decided to relent early this time. Putting up bare hands of surrender to get the pestering to stop from the hands to the teasing things that Feilx was calling at him, "Ah, alright fine fine, I'm going," he pointed a finger to the sky and fixed his posture for a moment, "operation undercover Tio Bruno, goal: spy on the teens," finger guns at his sisters, "got it," he then marched off in the direction the he last saw the kids head in, excited to hang out with them tonight. Being where he was for many years he missed out on many festivals, now it was time to catch up.

After Bruno turned the corner Agustín turned to look at Felix and pondered, "Do you think that Bruno is the... 'Cool' Tio?"

Feilx thought about it for all of a second before his jaw dropped and he looked to Agustín with wide eyes, "No…" he whispered in disbelief, "what does that make us?" 

The wives of the two giggled to each other, silently proud of their brother possibly reaching the tier of "Cool Uncle" among their collective kids. They each took their partners hand and dragged them away, "come on you two, we have a festival to enjoy!" Julieta hooted.

"No, but this is a serious questio-" Feilx started, but Pepa gave him a quick kiss before continuing to catch up with Julieta and Agustín who were both smirking and brimming with energy further into the town now. Feilx sighed in defeat, "mi Vida don't tease me," he pouted, but it was all in good fun.

Chapter Text

The Encanto was alive with the sound of music and laughter. Bright lanterns of various shapes and colours lined the streets on strings and the strings attached to poles. Some carried candles, children had sparklers in hand as they ran about playing tag, the vendors selling their wares all in good spirits. The sky had just turned to the shade of a deep ocean blue and stars littered the sky, dancing as the many couples were in the town square. Dancing to a small band which consisted of a banjo, maracas, tambourine, single drum, and a lead guitarist.

Admittedly, Bruno was starstruck by the whole scene. He particularly enjoyed seeing the townsfolk dancing together, he imagined that his sisters would end up there eventually. Seeing the other couples dancing left Bruno with a small pang in his chest, it wasn't much, and it wasn't constant anymore. In truth, he was a bit lonely, it wasn't bad per say, not anymore. In his youth it hit much harder since part of his likeability was taken away because of his, generally, upsetting prophecies, and he wasn't much to look at back then either. Not much to work with in his opinion. He got past it though, happy to see his Familia growing, thriving. In the end he felt like he wasn't the ideal man for the dating pool anyhow, he was a bit… different on that scale. Like… cuddles are probably nice and all, but he imagines that's all he'd really want physically, everything else kinda had a blegh factor to it. 

A little aways he saw a man he had never seen before. He had a plain white button up with some design, tan pants, and a funny triangular hat. The man brandished a long stick, tip pointed at the ground as he talked to a couple that were familiar to Bruno. Well, it's not impossible for Encanto to get tourists, pretty rare because of the mountains, but not impossible. As well, Bruno was a bit of a shut in, that man could have been living here for the past year and Bruno would never have known.

"Now, if I was a group of rowdy kids, where would I go?" Bruno asked himself as he looked around, scratching at the front of his neck unconsciously. He hummed to himself, "Probably somewhere with firecrackers…" he suggested in a dry sounding mumble before he spotted the vendor for lightsticks and the like, he headed over. 

The prophet approached the stall, it was modest in size, simply covered in fire crackers, sparklers, candles, Bruno was a bit worried that it would explode at a moment's notice. The vendor, however, was as jolly as can be not a worry about the sheer amount of fire and gunpowder she had laying around. The vendor was a woman, middle thirties, long black hair in a side braid much like Pepa, she wore a billowing dress colored orange and pink like flower petals, and she was smiling at each customer she had, quite the nice lady from the looks of things. It was normal for Bruno to experience social anxiety, no matter how nice the person looked, so with a small gulp and a bit of sweat on his collar he greeted the woman, "h-hello! Lovely festival this year ha?" He found himself starting off strong. Mirabel and Julieta have told him in the past that he needs to have more confidence in himself, and he has been getting better at starting conversations, still doesn't mean that it comes easily.

The woman gave him a look before she returned to her signature smile, it was not as bright as before. Bruno knew what this was, since his 'return' to the Casita and his Familia the town welcomed him back… to an extent. His gift has never been quite 'giftly' to others, still, the people of the town wanted to know their fortunes, so they asked and that seemed to be the problem. Despite knowing that his prophecys usually show the side of the future that people don't want to see, Bruno had decided to stop giving out prophecies and common sense. Many of the people who had originally been upset with what he had preached had simply been observed, most men grow a gut as they get older, no fish lives forever, and your father lost his hair at your age, most of it was just that. However, by telling people that he was no longer telling futures, a significant amount of heat died off his back. Behind his back, he heard the whisperers from the townsfolk, why was he back if he wasn't going to use his gift? He didn't need Dolores to tell him what the town was saying, he was sure that some of his family had not heard those whispers though, he imagined that some of them might have a thing or two to say about it.  Bruno gets by though, a grin and bear it sort of mentality. After all forget them really, he was there for his Familia, to support them and help them, he doesn't mean to cast the town in a dim light, it was kinda hard with the depression that they seemed to shove him into on occasion. Bruno was determined to not let this be one of those days however!

"Yeah, awesome festival this year, gotta make up for last year after all," the kind vendor exclaimed in a customer service voice, "can I get you anything Senor Madrigal?" She asked quickly, showing off her wares with the wave of her hand that was covered in some darkly colored powder, gunpowder he assumed by the smell.

Bruno shook his head, his greying hair bouncing around as he did, "no no no, I am actually looking for some kids,"

The woman tutted at him, "You're gonna have to be more specific than that," she leaned over her counter to get comfortable, leaving on her elbows, "yours?"

Not catching onto the insinuating of her words right away, Bruno flustered some as he got it, "w- well not exactly, they are-"

"I ment your nieces and Nephews Bruno," she interrupted, seemingly used to his stuttering.

"OH, yes yes,"

She shook her head, "sorry, they haven't come by here," she answered, Bruno was a bit sceptical,  after all he had not even specified which ones he was looking for and she practically brushed off his question. Bruno decided to take a split second to see if he wronged her specifically in some case, after a quick glance directly in her dark eyes he realised it was the fish lady. He made a small 'ah,' noise at his conclusion, that then drew her attention closely on him and she raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"I- I mean, ah… darn," Bruno was sweating just slightly at her sudden sceptical eyes on him as he drew out a somewhat strained smile, "they aren't here," he made a small show of looking around the area of the booth, without really taking in any of the materials or people around him before turning to give the fish lady a small wave, "I'll just be going then," as he turned to leave he could practically feel the eyeball roll that she delivered before she went about taking care of her stock. 

Bruno hardly made it a few feet before he bumped into someone just about a foot taller than him, not including his personalised slouch. The collision was nothing more than a small bump into each other really, but the person he collided with seemed to be rather startled as he made quite the surprised exclamation and attempt to find something to grab onto with his free right hand as he wobbled. Having already gained his footing again Bruno took the mans searching hand into both of his to help steady the man. The man seemed to settle and he relaxed after taking a breath. There was something off about this man, he was familiar too, with a funny triangular straw hat that had a little hole in the front of it, and a short ponytail that came out from the base of his hat. One particular thing was the man's eyes, they were slanted and looked like they would be a dark colour, but they were covered in a milky like film, his eyes did not seem to be focusing on anything.

The pair had a moment of silence, which Bruno used to get a look at this olive toned man, and the man got his hand gently free of Bruno's grasp and began to follow his hand to the sleeve of his shirt before speaking,  "sorry for bumping into you like that, mister…" The man's voice was wise and accented, Bruno was unsure of the accent however.

Now, normally Bruno found himself to be the first to apologise after an accident, such as the following, happens. This time he might have been a bit too curious as to the strangers over all interesting visual display of themselves, "o-oh, you can just call me Bruno," he started before thinking about the accident and realising that he was basically looking at his feet at the time, "that was my fault though, I should have been looking where I was going,"

The man was looking somewhere beside Bruno's left shoulder and chuckled slightly, "well one of us will have to," he quipped with a warm humour to him and a cheerful smile. At this joke Bruno had already guessed that the man was blind, and blind for quite some time to be making jokes about it. Bruno made a light nervous laugh at the joke, not wanting to cause offence by not laughing… but also by laughing.

Bruno brought a free hand to the v of his poncho and tugged at it a little nervously, after all it was not often he talked to a blind person… or new people in general. This was a new poncho made by Mirabel,  a gift, who said he needed something brighter to wear on special nights, it was still green, still he was trying not to wear it down like his last one by tugging at it when his anxiety kicked in. It was still a hard habit to Crack after years. The prophet noticed that his other arm was relaxed, but out in front of him with his sleeve still being pinched between the calloused thumb and forefingers of this stranger, so Bruno gently made a little motion with that arm to get his attention and offered a tentative smile, "uh, may I?" He asked a bit shyly.

The man took notice of this by raising an eyebrow in confusion before he pieced together what Bruno was asking. "Ah, of course," he took his hand back and simply shoved it into a pant pocket, his other hand occupied with his walking stick. The man offered a slight smile, "thanks for letting me know, most people just endure me touching them until I realise that it might be making them uncomfortable," he gave Bruno a small nod in thanks. That makes sense, if he can't see then touch and hearing would be the next go to right, how can you know who you are talking to if you can't see them after all. This made Bruno feel a little better and he felt less tense. Bruno was wondering what was going to happen, this guy seemed very sure of himself, completely okay with random scilences, touching people, though he probably couldn't help it realistically,  he clearly had some sense of humour which was nice. Bruno was almost entirely the opposite,  not too sure of himself and it showed in his posture. He feels awkward in the face of silence, he mostly just touches his family when needed, well… Bruno liked to think he had some sense of humour, his Sobrinas seemed to think so.

"Ah, well in any case, I heard you were looking for some kids, you wouldn't happen to be a Madrigal?" The blind man asked with a small gesture.

He was taken by surprise at this question, most people knew who he was by name alone, so having to properly introduce himself to someone was something of a treat, "yes, I am, I'm just looking for Camilo, Mirabel, and Antonio," he knew that the kids could get a little crazy when in the same proximity to each other, but he felt like they would tell a newcomer their names without hesitation. It was the Madrigal way to make people feel at home after all. "You've…" Bruno paused, sure that asking if he's seen them was a bit on the nose, "y-you know where they are?" He ended up asking.

The taller man nodded, he raised a finger as if asking for a moment first, "Before I can show you where they are, I need to find the flower booth," his hand came to his chin to stroke the stubble he had there, "could you show me where is it Senor?" 

Bruno looked across the way, over this newcomer's shoulder, they were not that far from it. Bruno saw this man talking to a couple earlier, how long has he been looking for the flower stall, was everyone else just sending him on a wild goose chase? Bruno got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and hoped that was not the case. Bruno took a small breath, trying to banish the bad feeling, before he shrugged and nodded his head. Then he waited for a moment… then another second or two… Very quickly Bruno felt a rush of embarrassment down his back, "Ah, s-sorry I mean yeah I'll show you to the f-flower place," he scrambled to give his answer, the man across from him just gave a small smirk in the direction he was looking over Bruno's shoulder.

"It's okay," he said with some humour, "I forget sometimes too," he then decided to tap his seeing stick around till he found Bruno's foot and turned to him directly, "well please lead the way, Bruno,"

Bruno thought it was a bit odd, being sought out by someone who could not see, but he figured he would not be the first to feel this way. Internally, he was very curious how a blind man could forget he was blind, but Bruno decided to leave it alone. Bruno looked over this guy one last time, not what you'd expect from a traveller, with his fairly plain white striped button up, khaki pants, really the weird style of hair he seemed to be wearing and his slanted eyes seemed to be the only indication he was not from around here. That and well … Bruno had a question.

"Why does your hat have a hole in the top?" Bruno asked, unable to help himself.

The man pinched his triangular hat and gave It a little wiggle and a bright smile, "it's my lucky crickets house," he had a quick expression of anxiety, "missing the cricket though," he gave a snort and a laugh, waving his hand placatingly at the air, "haha, I'm working on it, I promise," 

Bruno was taken aback by the answer and the snorting laugh, not oftentimes people snort on purpose. Bruno did not personally mind it, at least with that kind of laugh you know if the laugh is honest. Looking at the hat a second time, it did look like it had a little straw door attached to the hole, so he was likely telling the truth… no matter how weird it might sound. No idea what a lucky cricket was… he knew of normal ones. Bruno gave a quick shrug and soft smile, "okay," he began to head for the flower stall slowly. The seeing stick came off Bruno's foot and Bruno gave the man a slight tug on his loose sleeve cuff as Bruno began in the needed direction. 

The man quickly turned and found his footing, quick to follow Bruno, "Ah, thank you, I always find turning around to be difficult," the good humour remained in his voice as he made small talk on the way.

Chapter Text

The walk across the town square to the quiet flower stall was short, not anything to brag about. The lanterns around the town were all now lit as it was finally dark, people shuffled their way through the crowds to get to the main band area for dancing, laughs, and socialization. His odd companion seemed to notice this as well, by the pitter patter of feet as they all moved along, as Bruno noticed that he tilted his head in that direction. "Hm, can't say I miss my dancing days," he brought up with a thoughtful hum as he tapped his stick to find the way forwards.

Personally, Bruno loved to dance, it was in his blood and part of his country. Did he get many opportunities to dance? Not really, often feeling a bit too shy to ask someone to dance, and too awkward to dance on his own, still Bruno figured it was casual enough to ask, "Don't like dancing?" They arrived at the flower booth, it was quiet as most people bought flowers before the sun set, at this point of night the flowers were in short supply. Bruno noticed that there was nothing very fancy and he hoped that this tourist was not looking for anything in particular. Noticing that the man was just a little behind him Bruno knocked on the wood of the stall to signal that he was close, "flower stall," shortly after the mans stick tapped the base of the stall and he slowly came up to it, his free hand finding the counter as he gave Bruno a cheeky smile.

"Not exactly," he said, "I've got two left feet or I had a bad teacher," he shrugged with a goofy smile now, "all the same, my partners got fed up with me steppin on their toes," the man laughed in a wistful way, clearly remembering a different time in his life. Bruno found himself giving a normal laugh for once, it was loud, unique, with crinkled eyes and all. Of course Bruno noticed this and caught himself with a cough in his hand in an attempt to mask it. He was unsure as to why he was so caught off guard, maybe it was just the casual humor, in Encanto it was near impossible to hear of someone who can't dance… but to the point where people stopped dancing with him, it just took Bruno by surprise. "A-ah…" Bruno gave a look of regret to the left footed blind man, clearly hiding behind the fist he used for his fake cough… not that he could see it, "sorry," he whispered. The blind man had his gaze looking at the counter, but his head was tilted in the direction of Bruno to show that he was listening. He had a look of awe with his eyebrows raised, why exactly, the Madrigal had no idea.

Still the man shook his head and gave a soft smirk, "Think nothing of it Senor Madrigal, freedom of expression is nothing to be embarrassed about," as if this man was used to this sort of interaction on the regular, or maybe he was just really slick. Bruno had a feeling that he would be pondering those words later on however.

The flower vendor seemed to have just returned from moving a box aside, giving the pair time to finish their conversation. The florist leaned onto his counter with a single arm, the other one propped on his hip, "Happy Festival Night! Now how can I help you Senors ta'night?" The paler Columbian man asked with an enthused tone, happy for some business as well as company.

Bruno felt a light poke at his shoulder which stirred one of his rats to climb up onto his shoulder to inspect what was going on. The gentle poke came from the triangular hat beside him, "Senor, could you tell me how the petals look?" He asked. Bruno nodded as his hair bounced at his motion, then he realized his mistake again and made a small sound of affirmation instead. "Do you have any carnations today Ivan?" He then proceeded to ask, maybe he was not as much of a tourist as Bruno had originally thought if he knew the local florist by name and voice alone.

"Lucky for you I got a bundle left," the florist turned and grabbed the foretold bundle and placed it on the counter carefully. They seemed a bit sad in Bruno's opinion, but the petals seemed fine and perky. "Gonna be honest the stems are a bit soft, I guess they couldn't reach the water, but they are still pretty," he finished with a bit of a shrug as the blind man moved his hand to the stems to clarify that they were as explained by Ivan. He pursed his lips in a way pointing at Bruno, "the petals?"

The prophet looked at the flora, the petals seemed fine and perky, despite the lack of water, he described as such, "They… aren't wilting…" he offered.

The blind man chuckled quietly, "what color are they?" He asked, "I should have been more specific," he played with his short ponytail unconsciously.

"Ah… right," he shot a finger gun at his companion casually before he took another look at the flowers, "pink, purple and white…" he leaned forward and squinted for a second, "...and a cream colored one," he returned to his regular posture.

There was a hum in thought as the blind man then went about checking the stems for something with his free hand as he did before. Bruno was about to ask what he was looking for before he verbally decided, "I'll take them," he said with a very sure air about him.

Ivan laughed, "want me to wrap them up for ya pal?"

"Ah nah, I'll just be needing the lot tied together," the blind man quite efficiently fished out his coin purse, "how much?"

As the pair went about the transaction, the green eyed prophet found himself further puzzled by his companions' actions. He was previously looking for the Flower stall, stalled telling him where his sobrinos were until he got his flowers, confessed that he forgets that he is blind on occasion, but also asked for the colors of the carnations before buying… overall Bruno was fairly puzzled. There was some tickling feeling and all three of his rat friends joined up on his shoulders, taking in the air and scenery. Probably wondering why it smelt of flowers. Bruno gave them a small pat on the head each, getting a squeak from each of them in the process, this caught Ivan's attention and as he saw the rats he just gave them all a warm smile before handing the flowers off to their buyer, "yall have a nice night," he gave Bruno and his friends a wave, Bruno gave a soft wave in turn. Then Ivan gave a wink to the other man and a small knock on his counter, "see yah later Cheng," as he waved the pair off.

This time the foreignly accented man, now known as Cheng, lead the way, "off to your sobrinos now, I know the general way back to them," he said with a light tone, "but Ah, I left them through a twisty route, but we will likely hear them before we- ha, well you see them anyhow," he chuckled at his mishap, "no matter, follow me," he began to walk out of the town square with all the music an action, leaving through a rather quiet, almost barren of people, exit. Actually directly opposite of the dancing and singing folk. Bruno followed quietly, but his sandals made enough noise he was sure that Cheng knew he was nearby through his shuffling. He had many questions he wanted to ask, but he was being eaten by nerves and his anxiety about asking them. Already he could feel his stomach turning uncomfortably at the thought of breaking the silence. Furthermore he was puzzled by questions; the flowers, how long he had been around, "are you a tourist?" Was a question he was curious about as well, not to mention how long he had been-

"Hm… maybe about six or seven months ago I might've been," Cheng randomly said, unprompted as far as Bruno was aware, "I do live out of town, but I still frequent it," he continued walking with the flower bundle cradled in his free arm while navigating with his seeing stick, "do I get to ask a question now?" He asked with a tilt to his chin.

Bruno tilted his head confused, "...I didn't ask you anything though?" He asked with a confused tone, did he ask while he was thinking about those questions he had? Mixing words and nerves sometimes caused him to say or do things without his conscious knowledge.

"But did I answer your questions?"

Bruno was at a loss. Well, technically two of his questions were answered… yes. He was caught there, "i- uh, well yeah,"

"Can I ask a question?"

"I- I guess I don't see why not," Bruno ended up saying automatically with a small shrug, he found himself just casually playing with the bottom hem of his poncho. Mostly just playing with the fabric and not causing any harm to it.

"What is your color?" Chang asked.

"My color?"

"Yes, your favorite color,"

Bruno kept walking alongside the man whose question caused him to have a puzzled look. Did he have a favorite color? He had never really thought about it. The green just kinda became part of him from his childhood, from his Mothers choices really, and of course as a kid he hardly had a care for the color he wore. Just as long as it wasn't straight up black. In his thought process Bruno came to notice that all of his nerves seemed to ease, might have been because he was suddenly searching for the answer to; Do I have a favorite color? All the same though, it was nice to be slightly relaxed in public… even if most of the public were dancing the night away right now. In the end, Bruno could come up with no conclusive answer, "Don't think I have one… actually," he responded after a minute or two of walking in silence, which his guide seemed to have no issues with.

The man in the straw hat made a noise of awe, like a light intake of air, "is that so, hm, well that's sad to hear," he said, quickly dismissing the question he had originally asked.

The pair took a turn into an alleyway, Bruno quietly asked if he meant to turn this way and Cheng told him that without a doubt, it was this way. Bruno nodded and allowed him to keep leading, "what about you?"

"Ah, well," his voice lit up at the question, Bruno could tell from his profile view that he had begun to smile, "well, I enjoy green," Brunos felt his pulse spike at this sentence, he was unsure why exactly because over all he felt pretty relaxed… maybe it had to do with the alleyway they where now in, "it's so vast a color I think. There is green in nature, rocks, jewels, clothes, ah, and the color of Jade, do you know much about Jade Senor?" He suddenly asked shooting Bruno a smile.

Bruno found himself in a predicament, his power had a lot to do with Jade tablets, that's where his visions would reside after he had foretold them. So he knew that Jade was breakable, it was green, it is supposed to bring good fortune… that one was debatable in Brunos opinion. Truthfully, he was having a fairly tame night and he didn't want to talk about Jade that much, "I-I know some stuff, it- it's a green gem, right?"

Cheng nodded as he continued on, "yes, but I remember the colors were so diverse in Jade," he hummed content and in thought, "everyone knows about the dark green, or the vibrant one that Jade often makes," as the words where described Bruno remembered his tablets, particularly the not so generous prophecies on them however, he felt himself hum in agreement in hopes of the conversation ending sooner, "but for me I loved the pale Jade," Cheng continued, pausing for a moment before going on, and Bruno tilted his head intrigued, "it makes a nice soft mossy color, and when it's marbled with a whiter green, it reminds me of the swamps of my country, where I was raised learning to boat carefully through trees and to fish… reminds me of the water the most, but the memories are good too," he finished seeming to trail off at the end there, his smile seemed to fade slightly, still it held up.

Bruno felt like there was something heavy in those words, something he was missing but was afraid to go after as well. Still the reminder that there were other shades of green too, well that helped his brain calm down a little bit, glad that at least someone seemed to have good memories. The recollection of swamps led Bruno to believe that, at some point, Cheng could see however, and oh how Bruno wanted to ask about that. Still this was basically Still a stranger and Bruno was a shy person sometimes… well maybe not shy, lacking confidence.

Cheng huffed lightly, "Pah, sorry, I didn't mean for that to get so… somber," he chuckled, then nodding his head in Brunos direction, "and there you where having a nice night eh,"

"Ah, I'm having an alright night, met some new and old faces," he gave a small shrug and his shoulder squeaked in protest and Bruno picked up a darker Grey rat up and patted it in the palm of his hand as an apology, "b-but it's all super good," he said with a soft smile, hoping to cheer up his walking companion.

"Are you calling me old Senor?" The man asked playfully, seemingly out of his little somber funk now.

Bruno smiled and let out a little laugh as well, "oh no, you know that's not what I mean," he realized feeling oddly relaxed now, was it from his animal companion, or perhaps the fact they were exiting the alley finally, who's to say?

"Who's that you got there?" Cheng asked, "your little furry friend,"

"Ah!" Bruno exclaimed, excited that someone had asked, "these are my three Amigos, well, I mean I have three of them with me right now, the one I am holding is Porthos he's one of the biggest rats I have, but he's got such a soft side for…" The Madrigal in the green poncho ended up telling Cheng about his three musketeers, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis, the three had gotten the names since the rarely left each others sides and Bruno happened to be a fan of the novels and clearly the three starred in the telenovela of the three Mousketeers while he was in hiding… no the name did not make sense… because they are rats, but Bruno, as the Director, thought it sounded nice. To finish that sentence, Porthos has a soft spot for Gabriella, which he thought was adorable and he relentlessly teased Porthos about it. Cheng, in turn, brought up his cricket, originally named Chaoxiang, most days it was simply called Lucky though. It was a cricket that was passed down through his family and is thought to be immortal, though Cheng is sure that it's been swapped around many times, he is surprised at how long it has lived in his care.

Just before the pair rounded the corner Cheng smirked and whispered, "hear that?" So Bruno listened, he heard the familiar voice of Antonio and Camilo talking to each other, Camilo seemed to be asking about something regarding his hair and his brother simply replied with, "it looks great!"

Around the corner was a small plaza, like the main town square but cuter. There was a small bird fountain, some nice stone work to walk on, and some planters lined the area to make it look lively. Bruno noticed a table with two chairs, set up with a tea cup and a some hair ties and bandanas. Cross-legged was Antonio and Camilo beside the small fountain, both of them turned and greeted the pair with a smile, Antonio was very enthusiastically running over shouting "Tio! Come look!" As he then tugged at his tios green attire to pull him over to show off what they did to Camilo's hair. Camilo offered his signature lazy grin and a small wave as Bruno was pulled in. It looked like his curly hair was thrown up in a Dolores-like style, hair in a high ponytail with the curly bits taking over the top of his head and a headband keeping loose strands back, "Welcome to the crazy party we are having Tio," Camilo welcomed Bruno in good humor, but with a sarcastic tone, it was likely he figured that it would often be common sense for teens to be having a rager or planning Pranks not… hairdos.

This Tio found himself giggling at the whole situation, "oh, now you wait till I tell your madres about this!" Bruno played along, pointing an accusing finger at the both of them and shaking it in a scolding manner, he could not suppress his smirk though, "they will be cross I tell you, cross," he then crouched down and fluffed up Antonio's hair, "cross like applesauce," his nephew laughed and batted at the hands that were attacking his hair, shortly after Bruno relented. Antonio went to sit beside Camilo and Cheng found his way to the table and chair setting his seeing stick aside as he set the flowers out on the table, Bruno wondered if the tea was cold or not.

"Come here Camilo," Cheng gestured for the teen to come over and Camilo moved to sit Cross-legged in front of Cheng's chair, then Antonio moved to the unoccupied chair to sit and watch.

"What r' you guys doing?" Bruno asked as he took a few steps towards the table where everyone one was mostly gathered.

Antonio spoke up, verbally excited, "putting flowers in his hair!"

"When I was a kid," Cheng started while setting aside some flowers based on stem length, "I had a sister who loved to have flowers braided into her hair… then she got married, but I'm glad for the opportunity to put flowers into someone's hair again," he said all the while setting up his station. None of the kids seemed to flinch at Chengs story, at how mysterious he seemed to be all the while being as honest as can be. Not that Bruno knew if this man was an honest man or not, he just found it particularly startling how much he seemed fine with everyone knowing. Based on the lack of reactions from his Nephews however, Bruno figured they either knew that particular story about the sister, or his vague tidbits of story was a regular sort of cliffhanger Cheng normally did.

They all were silent for a few moments as Cheng slid the first few stems into the base of Camilos fluffy ponytail. Antonio was watching with rapt attention, leaning over the table slightly to get a better look at the stems. Idly, Bruno thought that Mirabel would love this… wait. "Ah… where's Mirab-"

Following the hurried scuffle of feet, Mirabel, having for breath with a fist clenched raised above her bowed head as she came to a stop to slump over slightly to catch her breath. Bruno looked at Mirabel with some concerned furrowed brows, Camilo had a small shit eating grin on as she entered the area, and Antonio waved, "Hey Mirabel!" He said, "Senor Cheng got back with the flowers," to which Mirabel nodded at the group silently as she gathered her breath. How long was she running, and why?

Mirabel shook her fist, and took a breath, "I… got your cricket," she huffed with a triumphant look on her face.

Across the way Cheng took a pause from decorating Camilos Ponytail, he waved her over, "Ah, good good, bring it here my good bug trapper," he called her over with a lingering chuckle, aware of how hard it was to track and trap a cricket. Mirabel made her way over and Cheng pointed to the hole in his hat. The girl opened her hand, palm up to the hats hole, and what lay inside was a simply tiny cricket, just a black little speck from Brunos perspective. It seemed to figure out its surroundings before hopping into the hat. Mirabel backed off after whispering that it was in its home, seemingly afraid to spook it and have to run after the bug again. Cheng, without missing a beat, closed the little thatch door for his Lucky cricket, "he'll sleep well after such a nice jaunt, thank you Mirabel," he thanked her with a small head nod, and he offered her a little purple flower, with a stem too short to use for the hair project.

Mirabel chuckled despite the sweat on her brow and took the small carnation, "Thanks, and it was no problem," she replied as she tucked her little flower into the pattern on her shirt. Cheng went back to putting a pattern into Camilos scalp and Mirabel went over to Brunos side and linked elbows with him. The woman nudged him and gave him a small soft smile, "where have you been?"

The tenderness that she showed was very similar to her mother's, Bruno smiled at her and shrugged, "oh, around," he replied feeling rather calm and playful among this familiar company. Bruno was not sure how he expected the night to go, certainly not like this anyways. They all chatted casually as they awaited Camilos hair to be done, Antonio summarized that even Isa would be jealous, Mirabel didn't think so.

There was the clap of hands, "Done," Cheng exclaimed, then rubbing the palms of his hands down on his pant legs. Camilo stood up and the entirety of his scalp was decorated in pink, purple, and white Columbian Carnations, while his hair puffed out behind it like a dark pom-pom, "well," Camilo stretched out his legs and arms before striking a lazy pose that was a mix between Dolores and Isas old poses, "how do I look?"

Mirabel laughed and shared some words of appraisal, also some questions regarding if his scalp was itchy. Antonio was busy saying that he would attract bees and the teens laughed at the image. Bruno noticed that Cheng had stood up and was rotating the short stem of the only cream flower in the bouquet; he seemed to be lost in thought. Based off the night, he was probably thinking about his sister. Bruno found himself approaching him quietly as the kids moved off to the side, excited to get to dancing and showing off Camilo's hair, "hey-" Cheng flinched slightly before letting go out a small laugh, Bruno felt a bit bad since he did not realize he had been quiet enough to startle the blind man. Though living in the walls will up your sneak skill significantly, "s-sorry, are, um, are you okay Senor?" He asked timidly, knowing that it wasn't really his business.

Cheng shook his head, "Don't you worry about me," he waved over at the kids as they shouted their goodbyes and thank-yous to Cheng, "this was the highlight of my night, I'll be going home though, call it a night," his attention was brought back to the flora pinched between his fingers and his brow furrowed in thought, "I just have no where to put this, it was too short for the headpiece… and I don't want it to go to wast-" he paused and smiled then, losing the furrow in his brow, "well, payment to you then, for being my eyes tonight," he held the cream colored flower out to Bruno, his smile as confident as ever, but with a tint of sly added to it.

Bruno did not really process the motions, his hand seemed to just take the flower before he was conscious of it. It felt wrong to leave a kind old blind man hanging anyway. The Madrigal found himself looking towards Mirabel for help, unsure what to do with this flower since he was wearing nothing more than a poncho with an undershirt, pants and sandals so he had nowhere to put it on display. She gave a comical shrug, before having a visual idea and brushing some hair behind her ear. For this moment Bruno was lucky that Antonio seemed to be keeping his brother busy by forcing him to lean over so he could get a better look at his hair, because he imagined there would be laughter. After a moment Bruno cataloged the motion and followed it, then slipping the flower behind his ear where it sat happily, after his small panic he returned to his conversation, "Ah well, thanks for keeping an eye on my Sobrinas," to which Cheng simply waved him off, like he'd do it any day. Bruno was somewhat at a loss for words. Mister Cheng was packing up now, the tea, cold or not, was chugged and the cup was carried by his pinky, the same hand had the extra hair ties, his seeing stick in the other hand as he began to tap away and head off in the other direction. Bruno worried that it was too dark to walk, but he also remembered that the dark probably doesn't affect Cheng, "get home safe," he ended up saying instead as Cheng began to turn a corner.

"You Madrigals, have a nice night now," Cheng said in his final piece as he turned the corner and his tapping away faded into the night.

At the end of the night the whole Madrigal family was found together at the dance floor. True to her word Dolores and Mariano found them and they danced together, seeming to be happy enough, if not more so. Bruno heard no word on what they needed to be alone for all that time. All of his Sobrinas ended up doing a fun sort of dance, where they all held hands and danced in a circle before breaking off and dancing with folks of the town. The triplets all stayed together like when they were in their youth, old backs and hips protested however. Abuela was mostly around talking to others in town, she danced a bit, but only to keep up appearances, in her old age everyone worried.

Laughter was heard through the night, and good news was going to be heard at breakfast the next day.