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

Bond

*Y/N*

I hid in a tree near Gabriella, Javier, Amalia and Diego's camp, in the place I had told Mirabel I would wait for her, far enough away that I knew they couldn't see me but close enough that I could watch them. They were all still in their tents. I guess they had gone to sleep after I had left them. The moon glowed in the sky, lighting up the forest. I briefly thought about setting all the tents on fire while they were sleeping. I could do it from here. These people had threatened me, the people I loved ... but my brother was with them. I still remembered the way he was pointing at Camilo and shaking his head at the river when Javier had turned him to gold. In my panic in that moment I hadn't understood, but reflecting on it now I really thought he had been trying to reassure me that Camilo wasn't actually dead, that Javier could reverse it, that it was just a scare tactic to show me they were serious, to get me to listen. He was probably only three or four years younger than me. None of this was his fault. Could I kill his father, his mother - my mother? My chest clenched at the thought of it and my eyes welled up. I didn't want to hurt anyone. I just wanted them to leave. I took a deep breath.

I heard a rustling below me and lit my hands immediately, but it was just Mirabel, climbing up to join me. "I told him what you wanted me to," she whispered as she reached my branch and settled beside me. "They are locked in the house."

"Good," I whispered back, pulling down a branch to check on their tents again. I looked at the sky. It was probably about 3:00 a.m. by now. Dawn would be in a few hours. It was better to do this in the dark, catch them by surprise.

"You ready?" I asked Mirabel, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"I don't know if I can hold my family in the house at the same time as I do this," Mirabel said. "Using my gift for two different things... I don't know if it works that way."

"They have been locked in there for almost an hour already, they have probably given up trying to open the door," I told her. "Hold it as long as you can, but focus on what you're doing here."

Mirabel nodded. "So, you'll set their firewood on fire, draw them out, and then I'll ... I'll ..." 

I swallowed, knew that what she had to do went against her very nature. I squeezed her hand harder. "We have to," I whispered. "It's the only way to get them to leave. We have to do what they have done to us."

Mirabel steeled herself. "I'll hurt them until they agree to leave," she finished, looking determined.

"Have you tried using that part of your gift since ...?" I trailed off, not finishing, not wanting to remind her of the time when she had accidentally used her torture capabilities on me.

"No," she whispered back. "Not even on a bug to see if it worked still. I just ... couldn't. But I know I can do it."

"Do you think you can do more than one person at once?" I asked. "When you ... did it to me, I don't remember if the others were in pain, too."

"I don't remember," Mirabel said. "I don't know. Gabriella is the most dangerous. I'll start with her and try to take down anyone else who moves against us." She didn't say what we were both thinking - Diego was actually the most dangerous, but we didn't want to think about the possibility of having to hurt him.

"I'll handle anyone else," I told her. "We are sending a message, that's all. We just need them to leave."

"Let's go," Mirabel said. "And Y/N? I just wanted to tell you, too, that I'm so sorry I got us started on this path. I still can't believe I was so stupid."

I hugged her. "I understand what you wanted," I said, pulling back and holding her face with my hands. "Don't feel guilty for wanting more for yourself, especially with how Abuela has treated you. We all just want to ... be accepted. We just should have ... talked to the people we love about it first, realized we were biting off more than we could chew."