Runaway(an Encanto AU)

Bonus Scene: Origins of the Scar

Mirabel: 

    There! The final stitch. I held up the cloth, slowly starting to cringe at the malformed flower embroidered into it. Since I didn't have green, I had to use blue for the stem, the petals themselves were purple. But colors didn't help the fact that it looked more like a weird tree than a graceful blossom. I sighed softly and got up, stuffing the item in my pouch. It was important not to stay in one spot for too long.

     I walked around, making sure to make as little noise as possible, but still taking the opportunity to admire the cool things I came across. I was a fair distance from my previous spot when I saw something. A book, on the ground. Then I remembered. Once, we were caught off guard, and Bruno accidentally dropped it while we were running. He apologized so much about it that I had to assure him that it was just a book and not to worry.

     If I took it, we could laugh about it later. I was grinning at the thought and trotted over, only to slip. I had no idea there was a ditch there, its view blocked by the bushes. I fell pretty hard, but more than that, my right arm was screaming at me. I don't know how I didn't scream too. The pain was so bad I couldn't move, I even started getting dizzy. I tenderly held my arm close. There was blood everywhere.

Bruno:

     I spotted a cart carrying items to be sold, including writing utensils and journals. I knew Mirabel was beginning to run out of room in hers. I walked past, discreetly snagging them from the cart and walking away without being noticed. I frowned grimly, I didn't like that I was so good at stealing now. I looked into the sky, noticing the angle of the sun. It was a little early, but I decided to use my gift anyway. I looked for a spot to hide the glow of my eyes, finding a suitable corner between two buildings. I tucked myself into the corner and activated my power.

     The vision began, appearing solely in my head, showing...Mirabel? Still. Lifeless. Bleeding out in the middle of nowhere. I gasped at the horrible sight, my heart racing with fear.

     I turned, my feet pounding against the stone walkway, not caring if anyone recognized me. I threw the items to the side, barely thinking about them. I spotted Julieta and ran even faster towards her. Many people jumped out of my way, but there were a couple I crashed into. Even so, I kept running. Julieta didn't see me coming until the last second. I snatched the food out of her hand, startling her and the person she was trying to heal. I turned and kept up my pace into the forest.

     "MIRABEL!!" I shrieked, looking everywhere for the ten year old. "MIRABEL!!" I didn't care who heard me, Mirabel's life could be in jeopardy. After several minutes of running and shouting, my panic was growing insurmountable. What if I never found her again? The forest was a big place! What would I do if I couldn't get to her in time? I had to!

     Finally I spotted an unusual color in the distance. I tore up the ground running over and found, to my relief, Mirabel alive. But she was injured, and all the blood made it hard to see how badly. "Mirabel! Thank god!" I crouched down next to her, flooded with relief. I scanned the scene, seeing she was gritting her teeth, barely grunting as tears of pain escaped her eyes.

     "Don't hold back, you'll feel better," I insisted as I picked her up. At first she stayed quiet, but her pain forced her to agree with me and she cried. I did everything I could to keep the ride smooth, but with the speed I had to go, it wasn't easy and didn't make much of a difference. Before long I found a stream, setting her down next to it. I set down the food I'd been carrying and gently picked up her arm, "this is going to hurt." I put her injury under the water, wiping away the extra blood and the dirt that had gotten into it. And just like I expected, she cried out in pain. I hated hearing it and wanted to stop hurting her, but if I didn't clean it, it would cause more issues down the line.

     It turned out to be a deep two inch long gash in her forearm. I dug around in my bag for the cloth I'd intended for Mirabel's embroidery, but tore it into strips to wrap up the wound. Once that was tightly tied up, I sighed in relief. I sat down and dragged her onto my lap, "you can eat this now if you feel up to it." I held up the food but she seemed to shake too much to make an effort, so I gently put small pieces in her mouth at a time. Soon it took effect and Mirabel started looking a whole lot better. I hugged her tightly, "you scared me."

     We just sat there in that hug for several minutes. The world could've been ending around me and I wouldn't have cared. All that mattered to me was comforting my beloved niece who, despite the blood and tears on my ruana, grasped it like it was the only thing keeping her on the planet. Mirabel ended up falling asleep, she looked so tired. I carried her where we would be safe again.

     We got lucky that nobody found us, or were we unlucky? Would it have been better to treat her in the casita? I didn't know. But Mirabel was safe again, and that's all I cared about.