The Heart of Camilo (A Camilo Madrigal x Reader Fem Y/N Story)

Something Unexpected

*Y/N*

It is such an unexpected and yet common thing - friendship. You can expect to have friends, but you never know when the real ones - the life-changing ones - will find you. I found mine in a field when I was 7. I had been goofing around yet again - that's me, always being ridiculous. My father had told me to stay inside while he rounded up the cows that escaped yet again. I remember rolling my eyes - a teenage trait I inherited early. He was always lecturing me about staying safe, staying inside. My mother passed away from an accident when I was only a year old. Even to this day, he doesn't like to talk about it and won't tell me the details. I remember saying that if he wants me to be safe, perhaps build a fence the cows can't so easily knock down. We were new to the area - we had moved a few years after my mother's death. My father had heard of a town that was looked after by a magical family called the Madrigals. Of course, at 7 years old, I hadn't really understood what he had meant by that. We had brought our cows and purchased a small farmhouse on the outskirts on town and I was being a typical rebel and making his life difficult for no other reason than I was frustrated at not knowing anyone.

"Stay inside, mija", my father warned. "I am going to call for help from the Madrigal family, wait inside."

"Sure..." I had trailed off, not intending to do that at all. There was a river nearby and I planned on sneaking out to go see it. I loved nature and the sounds of water and hadn't gotten to do much exploring since we had arrived. But with my father heading into town to get help for some silly cows... no problem. He left and I was alone finally. I threw on my shoes and got my satchel to collect things from the riverside and got ready to head out.

"Ah!" I had tripped and cut my hand on a spare shoe. "Come on!" I shouted, angry at myself. How would I explain this? I went to the bathroom and started washing out my cut. I wasn't looking forward to telling him about this when he got back, but it really hurt.

I heard something outside. The cows were making noise. How had they gotten back already? Were the Madrigals magic in the sense that they could fly? I looked out the window and didn't see anyone. I saw the cows that had broken free and were wandering away. I suddenly got a thought... why hadn't my father asked me for help? Certainly I could help get a stupid cow back into a fence. If I could get the cows back in, maybe he would calm down and let me actually DO things.

I surveyed the outside. The cows weren't even angry, just outside the fence. I wrapped my hand quickly and headed outside. I didn't see what was waiting for me in the grass.

I heard the hissing before I saw it. A snake reared up and I screamed, running back and away from it. Suddenly, I saw my father was back! I ran towards him, yelling "Papa, papa!" I ran into the fenced area with the rest of the cows to get to him - thankfully the snake had been happy that I ran and was already gone I'm sure. I ran up to my father and he picked me up. But then suddenly ... I knew that this was not my father. "You... are not my Papa"... I trailed off. But HOW did I know that? He looked exactly like him. But I just knew it wasn't him ... and yet, I wasn't scared.

Suddenly, my father had run up from behind and taken me from whoever it was that looked like him. My father didn't seem scared of this copy-cat, either, but simply took me inside.

"Papa, who is that??" I had asked once we were inside. "Why does he look just like you?"

"That's Camilo, one of the young boys in the Madrigal family. His gift is that he can shape-shift and look like whoever he wants. I asked him to look like me to help me round up the cows. I just needed another adult," my father explained impatiently.