Chapter Text
Julieta sat down at the dining table, glaring at the family tree that stood at the head of the room, though not truly focused on it.
Her eyes narrowed on the different shades of green that stood timidly by her and Pepa. The single imperfect triplet, yet, perhaps the one that appeared the most human.
Some days, it was easiest to forget that Bruno Madrigal ever existed. To pretend he was merely a fable, a tale made to stain the perfect family.
But Julieta could never forget her little brother, the loving and caring man who would care for her young children when she could not. The man who would never
put himself first.
The Bruno that Julieta knew was not the same as the one her children now remembered. They remembered a man of unnaturally large stature, standing over them like a sort of demon.
Perhaps, there was some humor in the twisted memory left of him.
Sometimes, she swore she could hear his voice, muttering reassurances as she weeped in the comfort of her room or reminding her which spices to pick up as she cooked.
Those were the memories she preferred to have of him, the memories of him being gentle and helpful.
Perhaps, if she continued to believe he was saying those things, she’d forget the last time she saw him speak to any of them. If she didn’t remember crying and sobbing at his door, begging him to speak to her.
She wished she could have done more to help her hermano, but life goes on.
Spending all her time sobbing over someone who had left was never going to get anything productive done. Her hermano will have found his peace, found people who made him feel loved and deserved. Been freed from his gift.
If she believed that, it made it okay, in a sick and twisted way.
But, she knew, even without his gift of foresight, they would meet again. She could feel it, call it the intuition of an elder sister.
When they did, she would hold him and Pepa, pull them close and hold them. She’d remind them both how much they mean to her.
What wouldn’t Julieta give to have all 3 of them together, reunited at last?
The answer to that, is there is nothing she would not give, for that wouldg be the only thing to make this Encanto truly perfect.
—
Pepa Madrigal was an emotional person.
Anyone who knew her could see that. After all, she would cause storms as a child, simply by scraping her knee; but there were some matters that would cause floods, rather than hurricanes or storms.
One of these matters was that of Bruno Madrigal.
Her brother, of whom she had loved dearly. The brother that vanished without a trace.
The brother who she’d rather spread hateful words about than face the grief that came with his disappearance.
Part of Pepa wanted to blame him, be angry at him for leaving without so much as a goodbye or a chance to persuade him not to.
But how could she? Knowing that his reasonings for leaving were the same reasonings for her own unhappiness in her family, knowing that the crushing expectation of being something he simply wasn’t was weighing him down.
Maybe it was easier for her in a way, if she just said false and hurtful things about her brother, for her to cope. To ignore the grief instead of facing it.
The guilt nestled inside her heart like a horrible omen, begging her to stop, lest it cause her heart to burst.
And, god, she was so sorry for it. How could he ever forgive her?
How could he ever come back, knowing what she said about him, about poor innocent Brunito , the gentle and skittish man who would never hurt a fly?
How would ‘sorry’ ever be enough?
She would never stop apologizing, if they met again, she’d cherish him as she failed to do before, she swore that.
She would give this cursed blessing back if it meant she could have her hermano back.
No, she would give the world. The whole Encanto , she would live a humble and discreet life if it meant whatever higher beings that existed would return him to them.
Anything to make their family complete, to bring back the man who did not deserve to suffer, who should have never wished death upon himself, who she should have helped.
One day, she will get him back. She’s sure of that much. Pepa Madrigal will meet Bruno Madrigal again, she will hold him and comfort him, as he once did for her as she weeped over her gift ruining so many important events in her childhood.
She never did realize how much she needed and related to him before he was gone, did she?
Pepa took him for granted for so many years, no wonder he left.
She could only sit in Julieta’s room, sobbing on their shared birthday as they remembered their lost hermano, begging and praying for him to come back, clinging onto his old ponchos, the only thing they truly had left of him.
It felt wrong, having Julieta hold and comfort her, instead of Bruno. He had always comforted her, because he understood.
Sometimes, it felt as though he was the only person in the world who truly could. He was always there to listen, always there to remind them how much he loved them.
But where were they when he needed them? When he was sobbing alone after a bad vision, where were they?
Her and Julieta were never what he deserved. He deserved so much more than what they gave him. Perhaps they were too blind to see that.
Pepa had once sworn, on their 46th birthday, that when he returned to them, she would be the sister he deserved. Julieta had agreed, stifling her sobs behind her hand as she did.
And, unlike the cruel words she speaks of her hermano, she meant it.
She knew that her hermana, though she was sobbing and crying, had meant it too.