Who You Are: Camilo's Story (After Encanto)

Mirabel's Warning

That night, Bruno slowly walked up the stone steps towards the vision cave of his room with a feeling of complete dread in the pit of his stomach. He was clutching the hand-sewn jaguar doll that Antonio had once lent to him 'for the nerves.' But it wasn't helping very much this time. It looked like the cave was not getting any closer even though he was taking every necessary step forward. He was also getting tunnel vision. When he finally made it to the top, his knees were shaking. Pepa was very clear in her instructions. Look and see if Camilo and Hanna will have a future together, and don't tell anyone else. He had tried to talk her out of making him do it, but she begged and begged to know. She promised that no matter what the outcome would be, she would not get angry or put any blame on him. But Bruno felt like he had every right to be skeptical. This was about her son after all. His nephew. His family. Very nervously, he stepped inside his vision cave and closed the stone door behind him.

The next morning, the Madrigal family was having a big discussion about the best ways for each Gifted family member to demonstrate their abilities at dinner. Bruno would be the one exception. He told everyone that he was feeling unusually tired today and the dinner space wouldn't nearly be big enough for him to demonstrate. Julieta demanded that Bruno should just eat if he was so tired. But even though he did as he was told, it didn't erase the look of unease that she saw on his face. While Agustín was chatting with little Antonio about what he could do with his animals, Julieta sat next to Bruno, watching him concerningly. Bruno looked up to smile weakly at her. He then glanced over at Pepa, who was also watching him from across the table and she looked very impatient. A cloud was beginning to form over her head. Julieta was looking back and forth from her triplet brother and sister, utterly confused.

Camilo, who was sitting next to Pepa, had put a hand on her shoulder and was looking up at the cloud that was still hovering over her head. "Mami? Are you okay?" he asked.

Pepa looked over at him, with wide eyes and said as calmly as she could, "Oh, yes, mijo. Todo esta bien. I'm just a bit nervous about this evening, I suppose." She took a deep breath and said breathlessly, "Clear skies. Clear skies." As she attempted to relax, the cloud eventually evaporated.

"It'll all be okay," said Camilo with a smile.

Pepa smiled adoringly at her son and placed a hand on his cheek. Bruno who was watching them, suddenly got up and, while apologizing to everyone, excused himself from the table and left the kitchen. Julieta followed him without question.

Later that day, Camilo, Dolores, and Mirabel were helping around, making sure the house was spotlessly clean. All the while, Camilo was daydreaming about his time with Hanna. He had hoped and prayed that she would not get into any trouble for what he did. But he knew if she was in trouble, Dolores would be the first to tell him. So far, Dolores only gave him a bit of a scolding for being what she called 'too aggressive' even though Hanna clearly gave him her consent. Other than that, there was nothing else to report. Camilo took this as a good sign.

When the three of them had finished wiping out the last bit of dust, Dolores lifted one ear up, listening for something.

"Hey," she said to Camilo. "Hanna's at the barn by herself if you wanna know."

Camilo immediately got up to walk out the door when Mirabel said, "Casita!"

Casita created a wave in the floor tiles from under Camilo, carrying him away from the door and to Mirabel's side. He looked over at her in disbelief. "Hey! What was that for?" he asked, irritably.

"I'm coming too," said Mirabel, straightening her bag on her shoulder.

"Again?" Camilo asked.

"Yes!" said Mirabel, simply. "I think you owe me that much for these past couple of days!"