You Are My Encanto

Chapter Four

The next morning, you woke up to the sound of soft snoring beside you, and the soft song of songbirds some ways off. It took several minutes to realize that you were, in fact, lying on a bed, and another few to actually see Camilo to your right, sitting in a chair with his arms crossed over the edge of the bed.

You jumped when you actually let that little sight sink in. Luckily you hadn't woken him up when you did.

In a hazy blur, you struggled to piece together what happened last night.

You remembered freaking out at the fact that Camilo had actually come to visit you in the dead of the night. You remembered walking around the different pathways around the river and the tree. You remembered recreating some lost lanterns, and you remembered Camilo laughing at you for it. After that...it was hard to recall. You just remembered sitting down on the grass beside him. You remembered him wrapping his arms around your shoulders. Perhaps you drifted off on him, and he carried you to your bed?

Looking over to your right, you let your eyes wander over Camilo's sleeping form. The steady rise and fall of his shoulders, and the soft sounds of his breathing, and the sight of his hair absolutely wild, sticking up in all unnatural angles. You couldn't see his face, as it was hidden under his hair, but something did look a little off. It wasn't until you actually looked at what he was wearing that it hit you. His ruana was missing.

Thinking back, you strictly remembered that he'd walked into your room last night wearing it. Slowly, you sat up and looked around. Perhaps he'd tossed it onto your dresser? It wasn't until you sat up straight that you spotted it—draped around your shoulders like a blanket. When it slipped down your back, a cold rush of air blew over you, and you shivered.

Picking up the impossibly soft material, you looked over the chameleon pattern, and the warm colors. The same colors you wore on a daily basis, since it best seemed to fit your gift. You blended in well with Camilo's half of the family this way, much to Pepa's amusement.

You weren't sure how long you'd been sitting there, stroking the fabric, before you bothered to check what time it was. According to the little alarm clock on your bedside table, it was just past four in the morning. Still dark outside, still dark in your room. Glancing over at Camilo before sliding your covers off of your body, you decided to hold onto the shape-shifter's ruana for just a little bit longer.

It was a short trek to get to your bedroom door, and casting one last lingering gaze on Camilo's sleeping form, you turned the knob.

The tile floor was frigid under your bare feet, and you padded slowly and softly down the hall.

You weren't sure what provoked you to walk around the house at four in the morning, but perhaps a bit of walking would do good to clear your head from the fogginess of yesterday's...events. Despite the dull ache behind your eyes, so far it seemed to be doing the trick.

Before tonight, you'd never really been one to venture out of your room when you couldn't sleep. More often than not you'd just sit in the grass beneath your tree, and bounce the lanterns around aimlessly through the branches. You'd create fun shapes with your light, forming small woodland creatures to bounce around the natural setting of your room. I'm fact, you'd once gotten so into it that you'd created a physical, tangible form of a bunny, that could still sometimes be seen running around your tree. You couldn't very well control it anymore unless you concentrated really hard, but perhaps something that mystical shouldn't be controlled. You'd created a form of life. One that was cute, cuddly, and fluffy. Yet it really didn't seem to like you unless you were willing to play with it.

Maybe having a gift of light wasn't all that bad. If you were able to create a tangible form out of it, and give it life of some kind, perhaps there was a whole other window of opportunities for your gift, waiting to be opened. Raising your hand up in front of you, you summoned a small flicker of light to guide your way under the minimum amount of moonlight given. The golden ribbons of light swirled up from your wrists to gather in your palm, creating an unintentional splendor. Accidentally magnificent. You almost laughed to yourself at the idea that you could create something so spectacular by pure happenstance. And in the image of Isabela's frown at watching you do something so perfect without even trying. Everything she's ever done just always felt so forced. Meanwhile even when no one was there to see, you'd summoned the most flawless little flicker of sunshine in the palm of your hand.