Chapter Text
With both of his hermanas and cuñados taking care of their respective toddlers, Bruno had found himself with the responsibility of watching over Isabela and Dolores more and more over the recent months.
It wasn’t that they really needed supervision. Bruno just knew it eased both Pepa and Julieta’s minds to know that they wouldn’t have to worry about their girls. They had found out, surprisingly, when Isabela and Dolores were together they tended to cause a lot of mischief. So much that it would go too far and end up with them getting in trouble with their Abuela. Every time it happened Bruno was reminded of how he, Julieta and Pepa would get into similar engaños.
He didn’t mind watching over his sobrinas one bit and absolutely loved spending time with them. Whether it was watching Isabela practice making her flowers, always letting her curiosity guide her, or spending time with Dolores, who would cheerfully tell him about the happenings in town and anything she found particularly interesting. He had found himself looking forward to spending time with them whenever he wasn’t reading prophecies for the village.
He should have expected his incoming visions to be about them in some way.
___
At the time he had been trying to do a reading for Gloria, the baker of the town and her wife Rosa. They had wanted to know how their business would be doing in the upcoming year, a simple enough reading in Bruno’s opinion. What he had ended up seeing however was not related to their business at all.
In fact he could have sworn… When he looked down at the thick slab of jade green glass held in his hands, his thoughts were confirmed. The image was of his sobrina Isabela.
He had gently put the glass aside and apologized profusely to the couple who had thankfully taken it all in stride. The next vision he saw was Gloria and Rosa happily smiling at one another with a line that led out of the door to their bakery. The tablet that appeared in his hand showed that exact scene. The couple thanked him and made their way out.
Once they left, Bruno began to examine the tablet from his vision of Isabela. On the slab she was smiling, surrounded by small blooming flowers. When he titled it back it showed her older, giant flowers surrounded her this time. When he tilted it to the right it showed an even older Isabela, with various kinds of vegetation surrounding her and a wide smile on her face.
Bruno smiled.
___
Once he had done a few more readings, he left his tower and made his way to the kitchen where he knew Julieta would be. He wanted to share the good news.
She had been making food with Mirabel hoisted on her hip when he entered.
Mirabel's attention instantly went to him as she giggled and started squirming in her mothers hold.
Julieta glanced over and smiled, “Ah, you done for the day?”
“Yeah just finished with the last of them, um I wanted to show you something though if you weren’t busy?”
Julieta turned fully to face him, her eyes expertly examining him for any signs of his usual fatigue, after determining he was fine she then focused on the tablet he had held under his arm, “What do you have there Brunito?”
“Oh just something that I thought you would want to see” he was unable to hold back his smile.
His hermana raised an eyebrow before walking over towards him and promptly grabbing the tablet while simultaneously passing over Mirabel, who cheered happily as she latched onto his neck.
He panicked for a moment then managed to get a secure hold on Mirabel. He smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, “Hola, Mirabel.”
“Hola tío bunooo” She giggled and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Is this Isabela?” Julieta cuts through in awe.
“Si lo es, go ahead and move it around”
Julieta’s smile grew wider, seeing the images shift across the glass, “She always talks about wanting to grow bigger flowers,”
Bruno snorted, “It looks like she’ll be doing a lot more than that”
Julieta grinned, “Well go tell her! Rapido hermanito, I think she is in her room with Dolores, meaning they already know something is up” she laughed.
Bruno nodded then blew a raspberry against Mirabel's cheek, “Adios Mirabel.” She squealed again then grabbed onto her mother happily.
Julieta smiled softly at him, “Thank you for showing me Bruno.”
“Um, yeah, just thought you would find it exciting too.” He flushed then gave a small wave as he began to walk out.
Julieta smiled and waved goodbye to him. Mirabel followed suit, though a bit more uncoordinated.
___
Bruno made his way upstairs to Isabela's room, but before he could knock the door swung open and he was dragged in by two small sets of hands.
Both girls stood before him brimming with poorly concealed excitement. Dolores was grinning ear to ear and Isabela looked up at him with wide eyes filled with anticipation.
“See, there’s the vision! I told you!” Dolores pointed to where the tablet was shoved under his arm.
Isabela’s eyes widened when she spotted the tablet then looked back at Bruno, little yellow flowers had started sprouting from the top of her head, “Is it really about me, tío Bruno?!”
He smiled at her excitement, it was nice seeing such a positive reaction to his prophecies.
“Yeah kid, lets go sit and we can all look it over.”
The girls cheered excitedly. Isabela gave a small flick of her wrists and a beautiful couch of purple and pink flowers appeared before them.
Bruno took the middle seat, his sobrinas settled on either side of him, cuddled close as they peered curiously at the tablet.
He tilted the glass at different angles showing the way his vision had progressed. The girls sat and listened intently as he explained his interpretation of how Isabela’s powers would get stronger as she matured and that it would bring her great joy.
Once he was done both were looking at him with childlike awe. They glanced at each other then before Bruno knew it he was being bombarded on each side with tight hugs and thrilled giggles that rung throughout the room.
“That was so cool!” Dolores exclaimed.
“So so cool, tío!!” Isabela agreed.
Bruno flushed at the praise and gave a small shrug. It could be cool at times he supposed.
The girls at this point had taken the tablet and continued to examine it at various angles to “see if there's any hidden secrets” they claimed, which caused Bruno to smile.
It was nice having someone be happy about their prophecy.
When they turned the tablet around, Isabela tilted her head to the side then looked up at him. He raised a brow in question.
“Can you do one for Dolores too?” Isabela questioned, a small pout forming on her lips.
Beside her, Dolores's head snapped up to meet his gaze with wide eyes. “Could you, tío?” She questioned carefully.
The thing about Bruno was that he could never say no when it came to Isabela or Dolores asking him something. He was their tío, it was his job to be there for them and answer all the questions he could. If it happened to annoy his hermanas in the process then that was just an extra bonus.
Isabela watched him expectantly. Meanwhile Dolores watched him with hope-filled eyes. Isabela gently elbowed Dolores causing the girls to glance at one another. As if reading each other's minds, they turned their attention back to him with the biggest ojos de cachorro, “Por favor? Please, please?” They begged in unison, and it's just a little creepy how they did that, but it melts Bruno’s heart. He really couldn’t say no to them.
“Ok ok I’ll do it. You convinced me!”
His sobrinas both cheered, elated.
Looking back he wished he could have made up some excuse, told them he was a bit busy the next couple of weeks, anything to have kept that joy on their faces.
___
Bruno had been laying on the floor of his tower, gaze unfocused, head aching. Spread around him were several different jade glass slabs, all of which contained the same image as the one that was gripped tightly in his shaky hands.
He had tried five different times to see if he could get anything different from his vision of Dolores, to see if he could go past a certain point but they all ended up as the same.
The glowing slabs all contained an adult Dolores up on a balcony, arm extended downward as if reaching, with the saddest look Bruno had ever seen on her face.
It was a look of pain, of yearning so deep that Burno couldn’t stare at it too long without tearing up in sympathy.
What made it worse, was below the balcony clear as day, was Isabela. She had a small smile and her arm was hooked with a faceless man’s. Something about the smile had made Bruno question if she was really happy.
He had tried to tilt all the slabs in different directions to see if he could find anything, anything that could let him know Dolores’s future wasn’t so set in stone.
He had gotten too cocky, after having decent readings all day yesterday and in the excitement of Isabela’s he had forgotten the true nature of his doomsaying visions. They never ended up helping anyone in the end, not really.
And poor Dolores. She didn’t deserve such a sad vision, it wasn’t fair. She couldn’t find out.
He sighed. How was he going to keep this from her?
___
Bruno will admit, trying to avoid his sobrinas, especially when one was gifted with advanced hearing, wasn’t the best idea he has ever had. In fact, nothing he had done the past couple of days had been good ideas.
At first it had been easy enough, telling them that he was very busy, which was true. Usually after giving a few ‘good’ prophecies people felt more daring to come and see him.
The wave of incoming clients allowed him to steer clear of Dolores and Isabela for a while.
When he wasn’t busy with that he had become somewhat of an expert in making his way around Casita, quiet as a mouse.
The girls took it as a game to see who could find him first. It was often Dolores, which made the entire ‘keeping her vision a secret from her’ plan much more difficult. When they would find him he’d claim to be tired, which wasn't a lie. The girls would let him go, knowing how bad their tío’s headaches could get.
This continued for about five days; he had begun to run out of hiding spots and Casita seemed to be reaching the end of its patience. It wasn’t the only one.
“Tío Bruno!”
He jumped and held his breath.
“Tío Bruno, I know you’re in there!“
With a sigh he peeked out of the broom closet he had been hiding in. There, glaring up at him, was Isabela, arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently.
“Ah Isabela! Hola, hi… has anyone told you you are so much like your mother?” He whispered quietly knowing that if Isabela was there Dolores would also be nearby.
Isabela gave him an unimpressed look.
“Haa.. how did you find me? You are getting so good at this, mija.”
Isabela glared and pointed down. Bruno glanced down and saw that part of his ruana had been bunched in the door, “Oh!” he laughed nervously “Would you look at that…”
Isabela actually rolled her eyes, then quietly asked “Are you mad at Dolores?”
“What? No no, not at all.” Bruno frowned. Had Dolores thought he was mad at her? That wasn’t what he had intended to do at all.
Isabela frowned, “Well, you said you would give her a vision too! And you haven’t.”
“Si… dije eso didn't I?'' He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. How could he tell them what he saw? It would ruin everything.
“What did you see?” Isabela inquired a little impatiently.
“Ah.. I haven’t gotten the chance to yet.”
“You’re lying” Dolores whispers quietly from where she appeared from behind Isabela. She glanced at Bruno then down at the ground.
He gulped as guilt washed over him. He had forgotten Dolores was getting good at knowing if someone was lying solely by listening to their heartbeat.
“Ok, lo siento Dolores, I did lie… it's just…” he mumbled quietly.
“We want to know!” Isabela spoke up and grabbed hold of Dolores’s hand.
Bruno watched as Dolores clutched at Isabela's hand like it was a lifeline.
“I want to know…even if it's bad” Dolores spoke softly, so so softly.
“I dont think—“
“I deserve to know if it’s about me.” Dolores pressed with a sterner tone, but Bruno could see tears begging to form, “Please?” She added softly.
And well. Bruno has never been able to say no to either of his sobrinas.
“Okay… let’s go have a seat…”
Bruno felt disconnected from himself as he recounted the vision. Dolores had released Isabela’s hand and had wrapped her arms around herself, the pool of tears that she had been trying to hold back fell freely down her cheeks. He could see the way heart was breaking, he had to try and do something,
“Dolores…” he started, but couldn’t think of what to say. Didn’t know what he could say to fix this, “Dolores lo siento, I…”
Dolores shook her head and wiped away her tears. She gave a little sniff before a small forced smile appeared on her face.
“Gracias, tío.” She spoke with another sniff, surprising Isabela, and rendering Bruno speechless.
She was thanking him for giving her such a horrible prophecy…
“Esperate…Dolores let’s talk about this” he tried to reach out to her, but she stepped away with the forced smile still in place, her small hands balled into fists.
“We don’t need to talk, tío Bruno, I’m fine! I don't need anyone as long as I have my familia.” She said softly, her voice cracked and she shook her head again.
“I’m going to go to my room, adios Isa, adios tío,” Bruno watched silently as Dolores quickly scurried away.
He had messed up.
He looked at Isabela who was silently crying as she looked out the door Dolores had just left through.
“Isabela…”
She turned to him and hiccupped through her tears, “I-I don’t want to be the r-reason Dolores doesn't get her d-dreams.”
Bruno panicked, “No Isabela, it's not like that…”
The sound of rolling thunder was the only warning he got before Pepa appeared in the hallway, accompanied by a small storm cloud above her head, “Bruno, why is my hija crying in her room?”
“Pepa, well-”
“Isabela, corazón, what on earth is the matter?” Pepa gasped when her eyes landed on the crying Isabela.
His hermana glared at him, a small lighting bolt shot out near his foot and the wind started to pick up around them, “What. Did. You. Do?”
“I– no Pepa, mira, it was a mistake, I just–”
“Pepa, que pas– Aye Isabela cariño mío, are you okay?” Julieta joined them in the hall taking in her crying daughter, an angry Pepa, and a frozen Bruno.
Isabela broke out into quiet sobs and ran over to her mama, burying her face into her skirt.
This is what he had wanted to avoid.
“Bruno?” Julieta wrapped her arms around her hija, and looked at him worried.
“I-I… I had a vision and…” Bruno trailed off. It was all his fault.
He knew Pepa was yelling at him, knew that rain water and wind whipped around him, but he didn’t feel any of it.
All he felt was the guilt of breaking Dolores’s heart, the guilt of letting Isabela think it was her fault, the guilt of letting his sobrinas know of the vision in the first place.
He should have known this would happen, his visions always ended up causing trouble and this time the trouble affected his family.
The next thing Bruno knew, he stood in his tower. He didn’t remember making the trek, but before him laid the green tablets, glowing through the sand. His rats had buried them in an effort to make him feel better Bruno knew, they had done it countless of times before. But just burying them wouldn’t suffice. He sighed and collected them slowly, hands shaking, before making his way out of the tower.
He walked to the edge of the chasm and before any more thoughts could come into his head he tossed them all out. Hearing them shatter below didn’t give him the satisfaction he had hope for.
He couldn’t do any more prophecies for his family. This couldn’t happen again.
It wouldn’t happen again, Bruno swore.
As time passed it had been hard to say no when his hermanas asked if he could try to see something related to the family, to say no to little Luisa, to say no when Dolores and Isabela came back around. He couldn’t risk it, not again.
The day his mama had asked him to look into the future to figure out what was happening to the magic, Bruno knew nothing good would follow.