·29·

"Sneaking Out"

Enrique hasn't been walking that long yet after officially leaving the Encanto, but even so, he couldn't help but feel like something– or rather, someone, was following him. 

"Please tell me that isn't you," He sighed, talking loudly so the person he was referring to would hear him.

"Uhm," He could hear her say, "This isn't me?" She said hesitantly, her voice making it obvious that she was doing another one of her shrugging motions.

"What are you doing here?" Enrique asked, turning around to see her emerge out of the trees.

"Having an adventure?" She said with an unsure tone again, making Enrique drag a hand along his face frustratedly.

"Did you at least get permission from your parents?" He asked, a bit hopeful, only to groan in more frustration as he sees her slowly shake her head. "You need to go back if you don't want to get in trouble," He says to her.

"But I came out to have an adventure with you, and see," She paused, "A fragment of the world," The girl continued.

"Plus, it's not like I know how to climb mountains," She says, making Enrique look at her like she just suggested that he starts farting out rainbows.

"Well, then, how are you planning to go back after you've had your "adventure"?" Enrique asked, making quotation marks with his fingers in the air, causing her to think long and hard before realizing how naive she'd been.

"Actually now that you mentioned it, I realize that I haven't actually thought this through."

"And you said your parents didn't know?" Enrique asked, showing her the consequences of her actions – something which she seemed to not have thought of.

"I just told you I didn't think this through," She said, getting frustrated herself, pacing. "Oh, no," She huffed, trying to fan herself.

"Ohh, what did I do? I don't even know how to climb mountains. What was I thinking?" She asked herself, continuing to blabber. "Mama is going to kill me when she finds out. And she will! I'll be grounded for life."

"And she's pregnant," Enrique added, not helping.

"And she's pregnant!" Estella echoed, "But," She says, gaping her mouth, no words seemed to come out. She simply crouches down and clutches her head in front of the boy, making him squint his eyes at her.

This might be the melting thing Mirabel told me about. He thought to himself, sighing hopelessly at the girl.

"I didn't want to waste the opportunity," She mumbled, looking at him, "to have an adventure with you."

"Well," He started, "Maybe a day or two wouldn't hurt," Enrique tells her, also a little guilty of being glad she did leave to come with him.

"Really?" She asked, her eyes hopeful, accepting the hand the boy reaches out to her to help her stand.

"Yeah. Why not?" He smiled, getting excited to spend a little more time with her. His words make her jump with joy and excitement as he helps her get one step closer to achieving one of her goals.

"Whoo! Let's go!" She cheered, skipping happily as if the bag she was carrying on her back wasn't heavy.

"We're going this way," Enrique called out, making her halt for a second before turning to the direction he was pointing at. "Yep, totally knew that," She said in a sing-song voice making Enrique shake his head at her as he scoffed.

Hopeless. In a good way, was how he'd describe her.

★ ★ ★

"No, you don't understand!" A woman cried out, her husband by her side, trying to calm her down.

"I lost my parents when they went out there," Tacita said, desperately pointing at what was beyond the mountains. "I can't lose my daughter too."

Alma looked at her and understood the desperation she saw in the woman's eyes. Though aside from the desperation, she also saw anger and determination.

Tacita was angry at her daughter for leaving without saying anything, but she was also angry at herself for letting her. And she was determined to find Estella even if it meant leaving the town herself to do it. She refused to stay and wait - wait for another person to fade away from her life as she stays hidden behind the mountains of the Encanto doing nothing.

"Calm down, 'Cita," Julieta said, "You have two more children due in a few months, you can't just leave in your condition."

"We can't talk about what to do if you can't calm down first, Tacita. Your daughter can handle herself, trust her," Pepa added, trying to help calm down their distressed, and pregnant friend. "

While the other Madrigal adults tried handling the situation privately downstairs, the recent generation of their family was also busy listening to what was going on.

"This isn't good," Dolores said, "Estella left the Encanto. She must've snuck out at the same time Enrique did."

"But why would she leave?" Isabela wondered, the same question that was in Luisa's head – two people who don't really know about the girl much.

"Because she was curious," Dolores mumbled, sighing. "And she's always looking for adventure," Mirabel added.

"Not to mention she's stubborn," Camilo sighed heavily, frustratedly running a hand through his hair.

"But it's what she wanted." They heard a small voice say, making their heads turn in the same direction simultaneously, catching their attention.

"Antonio," Mirabel said, standing up and gesturing for him to come over. "C'mere, you," She smiled, everyone, falling into a short moment of silence.

"You know what, buddy? You're right," Mirabel agreed with him, the two sitting close together, her hand placed on his shoulder. "Estella isn't the selfish type," Mirabel hesitantly said, nervously avoiding eye contact with her sister Isabela, remembering how she called HER selfish not that long ago.

"I've got a plan!" Mirabel suddenly exclaimed, raising her hand, surprising everyone and making them flinch by the way she raised her voice out of the blue.

"Oh, sorry," She said, apologetically looking at Dolores when she noticed how her hands immediately made their way to her ears.

Going back to the scene downstairs, Tacita managed to finally calm herself, sitting on a chair in the dining area as her husband talked to Alma and the others to avoid having his wife stress out again especially since it's bad for the babies.

Bruno stopped by, noticing the woman silently seated on one of the chairs, her eyes fixed on her fiddling hands.

He carefully walks closer and drags out a chair, sitting beside her while her head slowly turns to him, her eyes still a bit red from crying.

"Hey," He spoke, looking at his old friend.

"Bruno," The woman sniffled, "I know that this may seem rude and desperate of me but I need you to see if she'll at least come back to me," She pleaded, her voice cracking as her mouth started to tremble.

The woman grabbed hold of both his hands and looked pleadingly into his eyes. "Please," She sobbed, making Bruno's heartache.

Not a lot of people like what his visions show since not a lot of them look all that well, but since he saw how depressed Tacita was looking just a few moments ago, he couldn't just refuse.

"Okay, okay," He said to her, her hands sliding away from his and onto her face as she wipes away her tears. "I'll try," He muttered, feeling sorry for her as he pats her back.

"Thank you," She said, flashing him a small, wobbly, sad smile, her face grateful.

Bruno slowly stands up and lets the woman try composing herself. He makes his way up to his room, sighing at the sight of the tall stairway that leads to his vision cave.

"My room is the worst," He mumbled, dragging his feet up every step until he reached the top.

After doing his little ritual every time he tries getting a vision, he takes a deep breath and started concentrating. Real hard.

The wind started whooshing, circling him along with some of the sand he was standing on until they started revealing pictures of Estella's near future.

For a moment, she was sitting under the stars with her head held down in an unfamiliar place until the pictures transitioned themselves, showing Bruno what will happen next.

Estella looked happy, a bright smile present on her face, and as she twirled around, Bruno could see that she was holding hands with someone familiar. Not a moment after, the former blurry face of the person Estella was with became clear, showing the man his sobrina, Mirabel.

"Of course, she'd be there," Bruno said under his breath, waiting to see what happens next.

After seeing Mirabel, the two friends eventually split away from each other after mere moments, the vision slowly transitioning once more, revealing Estella as she reaches out for something, smiling thoughtfully at what was given to her by a stranger. After getting what she wanted, her head turns as if someone called out for her.

Walking, the pictures show her smiling next to a group of people – three of which Bruno found very familiar. Mirabel, Isabela, and Camilo.

"OF COURSE THEY'D BE THERE TOO," Bruno sighed, perplexed and a bit overwhelmed.

After that little scene, Estella was seen at places Bruno actually found familiar this time. It was no doubt she was back in town.

She was found in her room, rummaging through her things rapidly, trying to look for something important. Her eyes sparkled the moment they laid eyes on what she was looking for.

Then finally, the future that Bruno wanted, and what Tacita needed to see appeared before his eyes, right in his vision.

Just as the husband and wife were about to leave, Bruno managed to squeeze in a moment with the two of them privately.

Seeing as Bruno wasn't that hesitant to show them what he saw and the fact that he was planning on showing them what he saw, Tacita's eyes started looking hopeful again.

"Did you...?" She trailed off, getting a bit nervous since she didn't want to jinx anything.

Bruno nodded, a small smile creeping on his face as he happily gives them a vision all three of them can be happy about.

A picture of the mother and daughter was shown glowing green and bright in the fifty-year-old's hands.

"And," Bruno added, pointing at Tacita in his vision, "You still haven't given birth. Which means she'll be back soon," He smiled. For the first time in a long time, he actually felt like his gift wasn't that much of a burden.

After getting squeezed by the couple in a tight hug and receiving multiple "thank you"s, Bruno heads back to his room to avoid being questioned possibly by his mother or one of his older sisters.

In a few hours' time, Bruno finds himself getting a little hungry, and apparently, so were his rats.

He went downstairs to the kitchen with his little rat friends, hoping to grab a bite to eat when he suddenly heard clattering as he approached his desired destination.

"Camilo," Bruno spoke, making the teenage boy jump and squeal like a girl due to shock, surprising his uncle in doing so too. 

"Tio," He let out in a sigh, his one hand placed on his chest as it heaves up and down making Bruno laugh.

"Did I scare you?" The man asked, trying to look menacing like how Camilo described him in his song.

"Pfft, of course not," The boy sputtered, the sides of his lips curling up to a smile. "Okay, maybe a little," He confessed, the two of them chuckling.

Bruno got himself a small plate to take to his room, looking at Camilo, he gets a little suspicious as soon as he saw how much food he was planning to harbor.

"That's a lot for a midnight snack, don't you think?" Bruno questioned, softly chuckling to try not to intimidate the boy since he's already got a clue for what's gonna happen pretty soon.

"Oh, uh, well," Camilo said, sensing the fact that his uncle looks like he was getting suspicious. "Aw c'mon, Tio, you know me," He smiled, the two of them using the little actor card at each other.

Bruno chuckled, "Si, Si, I forgot how hungry you can get," He said, confirming his assumptions, slowly taking his leave. Plus, Camilo was still wearing his everyday clothes, and he barely sees Camilo sneak food dressed like that at the night.

"Good luck with what you're going to do, by the way," Camilo's Tio Bruno mentioned, before leaving, giving the boy his own suspicions.

Camilo stayed idle for a little while in the kitchen, munching on a few snacks, waiting for a few minutes before leaving, and meeting up with everyone else.

"What took you so long?" Mirabel asked in a whisper, also in her everyday clothes, carrying a big and heavy-looking bag behind her back.