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Pepa felt her heart racing as she took in the scene in front of her. She felt the tears prick in her eyes and she ran before her cloud would give her presence away. She ran and held her tears back until she reached Casita. The house felt her distress and the tiles helped her get to her room faster.

She slammed the door behind her and the sob escaped her lips before she threw herself in her bed to cry her heat out. Maybe she'd drown in her own tears and the pain she felt would stop.

She was just so tired. Just once she wanted to love and to be loved back. Every time she opened herself up and fell for someone, it backfired somehow.

With Samuel, it had been her weather.

"The clouds are too much. I don't want to be drenched every time you're upset."

It hurt because he wasn't wrong. He deserved better. He didn't deserve a hurricane every time she fell or got sad for silly reasons. He didn't like the rain, or the snow or even the fog. And he certainly didn't like the lightening. He scared her once, hugging her from behind when she wasn't expecting and she shocked him in surprise. She felt so guilty and it took a lot of apologizing to make him forgive her.

But in the end it was just "unbearable". And he felt sorry for her. It hurt so much.

And then there was Ricardo. He wanted things she was not ready for. He was older then her so he knew best. But she just couldn't give him what he wanted, no matter how much she loved him. She desperately wanted him to see that this didn't make her less mature, that she wasn't a child anymore. She was already seventeen at the time! But he always wanted more and more and more. He said that she had a duty with him as his girlfriend, but it just didn't feel right.

He broke up after she rejected his advences one too many times. She cried for a month straight, the rain so thick it nearly flooded the Encanto, even if she didn't leave her room.

And now Damián. She was so sure he was the man for her. He actually didn't get too upset at her weather and he would patiently wait for her to stop crying and smile proudly at her after she was able to calm down. He always praised her when she was happy and he loved her rainbows.

But that had been a lie. Brunito heard him ans his friends mocking her. The weather witch. The crazy one. And Damián he... he agreed. And he'd told him if it weren't for the magic and him wanting to get his status up, he would've ended things already.

He said he'd only went after her because Julieta was already dating someone else.

And now, two months later, after she finally stopped crying she just saw him again. He was with another girl, looking at her the same way he used to look at Pepa, his blue angel eyes always made her shiver. He was whispering to the girl, looking so happy without her.

Pepa wondered if she would feel like running and crying every time she saw his face again.

A firm knock on the door told her that her mother was there. "Pepa? It's mamá, will you open up?"

Her voice was surprisingly calm but Pepa knew all to well her mother wouldn't understand her. She would just tell her to calm down and clear up the skies and that made her cry harder. She desperately wanted her mother to come inside, hug her and tell her she would be okay. But that wouldn't happen. Mamá hated her clouds. Pepa hated them too.

Because of the clouds, she could never feel things the way she wanted. Because of the clouds, everyone always knew what she was feeling. Because of the clouds, she ruined everything. Because of the clouds, she would never be in a relationship that would last. Because of the clouds, her mama didn't love her.

Because of the clouds, sometimes she didn't love herself.

•••

When Pepa met Félix, she didn't want to date anymore. Her heart had been broken so many times, over and over again and as much as she wanted to believe she'd find love someday, she was so tired.

Pepa had been honest since the start and she'd told him she was still recovering from the end of a previous relationship. He was very patient, telling her she didn't need to do anything she didn't want to and going slow. They'd been in a couple of dates and he hadn't even tried to kiss her yet, only offering his arm or hand for her to take and gentle touches he'd noticed she liked.

They were in one of the only pubs in the Encanto. When Félix mentioned he liked to dance, Pepa's face had lit up like a christmas tree. She absolutely loved to dance, but wasn't very used to go out just for dancing. She never had much time and didn't like going alone to new places. She wasn't very popular amongst the village and wanted to stay out of trouble.

Félix spotted some of his friends and she froze. This was usually a recipe for disaster. Her mind started to go through the worst scenarios. What if she messed this up and his friends hated her? Then Félix would be disappointed, she knew how much his friends meant to him. What if they were mean and laughed at her like Ricardo's friends? They'd been obnoxious when she met him and Ricardo didn't come to her defense, he'd just laughed with them and told her they were just joking around. She didn't like the jokes though.

What if Félix was embarrassed of her? What if he didn't even want to introduce her to them? What if-

"Pepí, are you okay?" Félix asked, concern in his voice.

She hadn't realized she was shaking. She also hadn't noticed the cloud above her head. Great, they had just arrived and she was already messing everything up.

She gave him a nervous smile and tried to wave her cloud off, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Shoo, shoo!"

She grew more anxious as the cloud didn't go away, getting bigger instead. She felt his hands on her shoulders and tried to focus on his voice before she s, "It's okay, Pepí, deep breath in, deep breath out."

She copied his breathing a few times and tried to calmed down before she'd spiral too much. "Estás bien?"

She nodded half heartedly and took another look at his friends. He followed her gaze and his expression softened. "Are you nervous about meeting my friends?", he didn't sound upset or judgmental so she nodded her head a bit.

"I don't think... I just... What if they don't like me?"

"I'm sure they'll love you, Pepí," he gave her a reassuring smile. "I promise, there's nothing not to like. But if you don't feel comfortable enough just yet we can try it another time, I don't want you to do anything you're not full on board with."

She smiled at that but shook her head. "I want to meet them. I know how important they are to you."

He smiled at her and kissed her hand. "You're important to me too. How about this, if you feel uncomfortable at any point and want to go home you can squeeze my hand three times, then I'll make up an excuse and we can leave. Okay?"

She nodded and moved closer to his side.

In the end of the day, she didn't need to squeeze his hand three times. His friends were all nice to her and polite. She was anxious at first but after a couple of hours she was already feeling like a part of the group.

•••

Pepa closed her eyes, letting the light summer breeze wash away her concerns. This was her little heaven. She never felt more at peace then, when she was in these fields. Laying around, surrounded by pretty dandelions, feeling the warmth of the sun in her skin. Plus, she had the best company.

"I see a bunny," Félix's sudden statement made her smile. He was laying right by her side, like usual.

She hummed in amusement. "A bunny?"

"Yes, and he's so fancy. He's wearing a hat."

She snorted. "You're stupid."

"I'm serious! He's right next the dog playing cards with the bear," she could hear his smile.

Pepa turned her head and opened her eyes to look at her almost-but-not-quite-boyfriend. He was squeezing his eyes and trying to figure out the formats of the clouds above them. Clouds that, for once, were not hers. He lightly tilted his head to give her a sideway look and smiled at her.

"Look and you'll see," he pursed his lips at the sky and she followed his gaze, turning her head again. He saw so many things in those clouds but they were all the same to her.

She scrunched up her nose. "It's only clouds, there's no animals there."

"Your lack of imagination impresses me every time," he teased and she gave him an offended huff. He pointed up to an odd looking cloud, "that's the cheese cloud I was talking about earlier."

"I don't know what kind of cheese you've been eating but that is not what it's supposed to look like," he laughed loudly at that and her lips curled up in a smile. She loved making him laugh.

"But seriously, the bunny is right there. You really don't see it?" he turned his head to her now, she could feel his eyes analyzing her.

"Clouds can't look like bunnies or pretty things. They're just messy blobs in the sky," she murmured and felt him take her hand.

"I happen to think clouds are very pretty," she turned to see his warm gaze. She searched, trying to find anything but truth in his eyes, but was unsuccessful.

Pepa squeezed his hand and her smile returned when he squeezed back. "Would you like to see something weird?"

"I hope you're not about to hold a mirror to my face."

She giggled and his smile grew wider. "It's a bit weirder then you." She looked up again before closing her eyes completely and breathing slowly. She had to be concentrated for this.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know she'd made her own cloud appear above her head. She felt Félix brush his fingers against hers and she squeezed his hand. "It's okay," she whispered, "sometimes if I'm peaceful enough, I can control it."

She was rarely calm enough to do this though. It took a lot of control and she was usually a train wreck. She tried not to go down this road and concentrated on what she was doing. She imagined a heart shaped cloud in her mind and hoped the one above her head would take the hint and turn the way she wanted it to.

By the way Félix gasped, she figured she was successful. "That's amazing! You can control how it looks?"

The pure awe in his voice made her flush. Her heart cloud vanished and she tried not looking at him. "Sí. But only sometimes! I hadn't... It's been a while since I've been calm enough to do it. It's no big deal though, I can't do crazy forms like the ones you were describing."

"You sell yourself far too short," he furrowed his brows before looking up where her cloud had been. "I think what you can do is amazing. You're amazing."

She took a deep breath and sat up, her hands running through her braid. He sat up as well, looking worried at her sudden reaction.

"Are you okay, Pepí? Did I say something wrong?" He gently brushed a strand of her curly hair away from her eyes.

They were so close now her next words were just a whisper, "Do you really think I'm amazing?"

"I think every part of you is amazing."

She desperately wanted to believe him.

Because Félix was different then any other guy she'd met. He was so genuine and he liked all of her. He didn't like her despite her gift like everyone else. And he didn't see her just because of it either. He saw all of her, and he still wanted to be with her. She only realized how much she'd leaned forward once their noses touched and she felt herself closing her eyes.

"Pepa..."

Whatever he was about to say got cut off when their lips touched for the first time. Pepa thought her heart was about to burst out of her chest. His hands were on her waist, like they belonged there, pulling her close. She never felt so happy before.

When the kiss ended, both of them were smiling and in need of air. She had her arms around his neck and was still close enough for the tip of their noses to touch.

"I think you're amazing too, Félix Castillo."

The rainbow above them only grew brighter as he smiled.

•••

Dating Félix was so different then what she was used to. His friends were nice, he always wanted to know more about her life and her feelings and her preferences... They were dating for a couple of months and she already felt like he knew her better then her own mother. And she liked to think she knew him pretty well too.

She was slowly starting to notice all the differences in how he treated her and that made her realize how bad her relationships were before she met him.

Even on the little things and details. Once he found out her favorite color he started wearing so much more yellow and orange. It always made her smile and she thought that's the reason he does it.

"A peso for your thought, mi sol," Félix's voice brought her back to reality.

She hummed as she felt his hands softly running through her hair.

The Encanto had three big fields that needed her assistance. She found herself bringing Félix more and more when she needed a happy day. When the crops needed rain, she had to stay away from him. Alone with her thoughts.

But for the day, the corn field needed sunlight so Pepa happily laying on the soft yellow towel Félix brought. He'd surprised her with a picnic basket full of things she liked. He like to say she deserved nice things. He repeated that so often that she was starting to believe him.

"It's nothing, amor. I was just wondering," his hands felt so good in her hair she was actually almost dozing off a bit. "You know about pretty much all of my boyfriends but you never told me if you've ever been in a relationship before me."

She felt his motions stop for a moment before continuing on her braid. "I was once, but it didn't really work out. She had family far away and needed to move from the encanto."

She bit her lip and tried not to sound jealous. "And how long were you together?"

"Almost two years," his hands stopped again as she tensed a bit and held her breath.

"And hm... did you love her?" she tried to sound as casual as she could.

He was silent for a couple of seconds and she immediately regretted asking him that. "I thought I did. She was pretty, really pretty. And she was kind and smart. Being with her was really easy and it made sense."

Pepa was desperately trying to push down her feelings so a cloud wouldn't appear. She knew it was silly to be jealous of someone who wasn't even there anymore.

But what if she came back? Would he leave her then? Pepa wasn't easy, she was absolutely chaotic and her life was a mess, her emotions were a mess. What if he realized that?

"When she left," he continued, "I was heartbroken. I thought she was the love of my life. But she wasn't. It took me a while but I realized what I felt for her was just friendship. She was my best friend. And that was it."

He finished her braid and kissed the top of her head. She took that chance to turn her body to him. "What made you realize that?"

Félix's smile was as warm as the sun. "You did."

"Me?" she blinked in surprise.

"It was a month ago. We were dancing together, you looked stunning, like you always do. You were spooning around and you had the biggest smile and I swear the world seemed to stop for a moment and that's all it took for me to realize I love you. I know we're only getting started, and we have a long way to go but I love you, Pepa. I never felt this way before. You're the reason my days are always brighter now. Heck, if you told me you were leaving I would pack my things and go with you, no matter where."

She couldn't hold it anymore and her cloud finally appeared above her head and started a light drizzle. She was smiling though.

"What if I decided to go somewhere really far? Like Antarctica. It's really cold there."

"We could adopt a penguin," he suggested with a straight face and she wheezed.

"You're a silly little man," she concluded after composing herself, "and I love you too."

•••

She couldn't possibly understand how it all went so wrong. She was having a bad day. She had a fight with mamá before leaving Casita. The villagers were starting to complain about the weather being too hot lately. Pepa knew it was about to happen, but it still got on her nerves. She wasn't allowed too much happiness.

And then there was the fight with one of the farmers when he complained she was raining a bit too hard, the crops only needed a drizzle but she was already worked up. After that... she had a fight with the last person she wanted to hurt.

She said awful things. She told him to leave her alone, that she didn't need him, that he was always following her around and that she didn't want his company anymore.

She told him to leave her alone.

Thunder rolled as she remembered the look on his face after she said that.

She was just so angry and exhausted and tired again.

She could never be happy, she could never be sad. She could never feel strong emotions unless she was locked on her room. It had been five days and she hadn't stepped foot out of Casita. She was scared he would end things. And then she realized how selfish that was. He should break up, he could do much better. Maybe Pepa Madrigal wasn't meant to be in a relationship with anyone.

Each day that passed just added up a new worry. He must hate her by now, he'll never want to see her again.

She just wanted his hug.

Instead, she was sobbing on her poor drenched pillow. She pulled a yellow teddy bear to her chest and held it tight. He was a gift from Félix.

"His name is Nube," he'd said. "You can change it if you want but I think it suits him. He told me he also likes the clouds. Just like me."

Pepa squeezed the teddy bear in her arms and sobbed harder at the memory. "What if he never forgives me, Nube? Lo extraño muchísimo."

She looked at Nube with a heattbroken expression. She loved Félix so much.

"Ay, why did I have to be such a mess? He deserves so much more then this..."

A knock at the door startled her and she instinctively hugged Nube again. She frowned because it couldn't be mamá, she was in town. And so was Julieta, at he food stall. And Bruno was in his tower, he always.

"Who is it, Casita?" she whispered to the tiles and they clattered in response. After a beat, she could hear a voice. His voice.

"Pepí? It's Félix. I wanted to talk to you."

Oh God.

Oh. God.

She got up in the blink of an eye and touched the door but didn't open. She didn't know what to do. What was he doing? Was he there to break up with her?

After a few minutes of panicked silence, he spoke up again, "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't be here. I think your mother would have my head if she knew. Casita helped me out though so I think at least she likes me."

She looked at the tiles again and raised an eyebrow. Mamá definitely would not approve. He was only allowed in Casita when she was around. And never this close to her room.

"I know you need space and I'm trying to give you that but I was just really worried. You said you didn't want me around anymore and I... I understand that. If you- If you need me to go, I'll go. But I wanted you to know that I'm here if you need me. Even if you just want me as a friend."

The rain fell harder and she pressed her forehead against the door. "You deserve way better then me, Félix."

There was a few seconds of silence and she wondered if he was about to leave. "What? What do you mean?"

She scoffed but thanks to the crying it sounded more like strangled sound. "I mean, I'm a mess! And you're the sweetest person I know and you deserve so much better then this."

"Wait, this is about you thinking you're not good enough for me?" Félix's voice sounded so confused she could almost picture his face right now and it almost made her smile.

"I've heard the whispers in town Félix, and even if I didn't want to admit it, people are right, you shouldn't waste your time with 'la loca del clima'."

"Pepa," his voice had a more serious tone now and she didn't know what to think of it. "Can I come in? Please?"

Pepa bit her lip again. Her hair was all frizzled and it looked more like a lions mane. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying and her nose was the same color as her hair. She was also completely soaked and the cloud above her head wasn't raining anymore but it rumbled, dark as the bags under her eyes.

"I look like I was ran over by all the kids in town." He let out a surprised laugh at that and the sound was comforting. She missed his laugh.

"I look like someone dragged my face across the street." She giggled for the first time in five days and opened the door.

"You're such a liar," she said after looking at him. He looked amazing as always. His eyes here sad though and she could see he'd also been crying.

Because of her.

"And you're still the prettiest girl in the Encanto even if you look like you were ran ove by a bunch of kids."

A smile tugged at her lips but she didn't know exactly what to do now. She just wanted to jump in his arms and apologize. But the little annoying voice in her head kept telling her he was better off without her.

"You have Nube," he pointed out the teddy bear in he arms.

She squeezed the stuffed animal a bit more. "I drenched him."

"It's good that he loves water," Félix gave her one of his warm smiles and she felt her heat skip a beat. "Pepí. I don't know who said what in the village but they were wrong. I love you. I would've come earlier but I thought you just didn't feel the same and I didn't want to be pushy."

"I do feel the same! Which is why I'm trying to warn you. Félix, I'm a walking disaster. Do you know what they call me? Unstable. A danger for everyone. They think I'm a threat! And maybe I am, maybe they're right, it's so tiring to keep it all bottle up and I feel like I'm going insane," she closed her eyes and the next words were no louder then a whisper, "I don't know why on Earth you'd want to be with me."

She heard him stepping closer and opened her eyes again when she felt his hands cup her cheeks. His hands were warm against her cold face. She was freezing because of the rain but she was already used to it. His hands always felt warm though and she leaned into the touch.

"Pepí, I love you," his tone was serious and when their eyes met she almost melted. "I love you. All of you. I love how sassy you can be with your jokes, I love how fearless you are when you're protecting someone important to you, I love how deeply you feel things," he took one her hands in his and guided it to her heart, "you have so much love to give. You're the most passionate person I know. I love so many things about you, even the ones you don't."

The rain started to fall again and she winced, but he didn't even bat an eye and pulled her in for a hug. And amongst the storm, a rainbow brightened her room.