7. Look! A Wild Rat-man!

Mirabel continued to race after the rats, following where they went but as she turned the corner, they seemingly disappeared until she heard one squealing as he tried to climb behind a painting.

"What the… what is the rat going to find behind the painting?"

"I think the better question is, why isn't the painting bulging from where the rat is?"

Mirabel pushed the painting watching as only one side moved and creaked. She stood up and pulled the painting back revealing a tunnel.

"What?"

"When did that get there?"

"Mamá did you know about this?"

"No, did you?"

"No."

"Does anyone?"

The family began to question. The family then turned to the only two members who weren't confused and suspicious.

"Shhh. Spoilers." Bruno said, copying what Mirabel had done a few times now, moving his hand dramatically before pressing play.

Mirabel climbed into the tunnel curious to see where it led. Once she got in there she ducked to avoid a spiders web before gasping at the large cracks forming in the walls.

A rat squeaked from underneath her still carrying one of the pieces of Bruno's vision. It ran into the darkness before climbing upwards.

A flash of lightning revealed what the rat had climbed up on. A hooded figure. Another flash and… A very scary looking Bruno.

Mirabel jumped back startled by him.

The screen paused as everyone slowly turned to face the pair.

"You've been living in the walls!" Pepa screamed as a storm cloud appeared filling the entire theatre.

"How did you even find that place?" Agustín asked.

"Casita showed me…" Bruno fidgeted in his seat.

"For ten years… you've been living in the walls!" Pepa said gaining volume.

"Oh. That's why you were surprised when we all thought you were out of the encanto." Camilo said finally putting two together.

"Is no one going to say anything? He's been living in the walls! This entire time!" Pepa screamed.

"Oh… that kinda makes sense." Dolores muttered.

"How does that make sense cariño?" (Sweetheart) Félix asked.

"I mean, I heard him. But it never made sense with where I heard him. Does that make sense?"

"Sorta."

"He was living in the walls!" Pepa yelled once again.

"We know!" Everyone yelled back.

"And we're going to pretend we're okay with this? Like this is normal? How many other families do you know who have had this happen? None! Because it's not normal!"

"How many families do you know where everyone has magical gifts that are granted to them by a candle on their fifth birthday?" Bruno said with a large smirk on his face, causing everyone, except for Pepa, to laugh.

"I know! One!" Antonio eagerly answered.

"Look how about we finish the scene then we take a break to freak out?" Mirabel offered.

"He was living in the walls! How is everyone so calm!"

With another flash on the screen, he was gone. Mirabel instantly took off running after him.

MIRABEL- "Hey!"

She yelled as she slammed into a wall.

The two continued the chase. Bruno opting for the more parkour heavy route and Mirabel the easier, safer route.

oOoOoOoOo

CAMILO- "It's okay, Mami. Deep breath in, deep breath out."

The screen cut to Mirabel slamming into a wall.

Then it cut back to Pepa and Camilo where the bump had caused Pepa to accidentally strike her son with a lightning bolt.

oOoOoOoOo

It finally cut back to the chase scene where Mirabel was slowly gaining on her Tío.

MIRABEL- "Stop! Stop!"

"Hardcore parkour!" Camilo yelled out. "For real though. You guys are both really good at parkour."

Bruno then parkored his way over a large hole leaving Mirabel on the other side. Once she had recovered from the near fall she gave it a go and decided to follow him. She had made it over but right before she was about to continue running the floorboards beneath her gave way.

MIRABEL- "No! No! Help! Help. Casita! Casita! Help me! Help me!"

She begged before her hand slipped off the bamboo only to be caught by another's hand.

She looked up and she saw him. Her Tío Bruno laying on his stomach holding on to her doing his best to ensure she doesn't fall.

BRUNO- "You're very sweaty."

Everyone laughed at Bruno's first comment in the movie.

"And here I thought I raised you better." Abuela joked.

Bruno chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

"Guess that's what happens when you have no human interaction for ten years."

The floorboards he was laying on gave way to the duo's weight causing Mirabel to grab on to a root holding the two up. Then a rat from Bruno's poncho crawled out and up towards Mirabel. Startled by the creature she let go.

MIRABEL- "Oh no!"

Everyone gasped as Mirabel let go only to see Bruno pop up from the fog. And blow it away with his poncho.

BRUNO- "Hmm."

It then cut to Mirabel helping Bruno out from the hole. Once he reached the top he took a quick look at the hole then at Mirabel. He held his gaze there for a moment before speaking.

BRUNO- "Bye."

"Really Tío Bruno?" You guys just meet and first you call her 'sweaty' and then you immediately leave." Luisa said.

"To be fair I probably was really sweaty." Mirabel pointed out.

"It was the first time I had actually interacted with anyone for ten years okay." Bruno also pointed out

MIRABEL- "What? No. Hold on! Wait! Wait! Ow. Why did you take the vision?"

"Why did you take the vision?" Julieta asked her brother. Both Bruno and Mirabel went to open their mouths before Camilo interrupted.

"Wait let me guess. Spoilers?" He said mocking the pair.

"You forgot the hand." Bruno said as he did the movement himself.

BRUNO- "Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on wood."

MIRABEL- "What does it mean? Is it why you came back or… Tío Bruno?"

BRUNO- "Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on wood. You were never supposed to see that vision. No one was."

"Why not?" Isabela asked, slowly becoming more curious. "Wait… sorry. Spoilers. Right?"

Mirabel said nothing but nodded her head.

MIRABEL- "But…"

BRUNO- "A little salt."

He threw a handful of salt over his shoulder, hitting Mirabel in the face.

MIRABEL- "Sugar?"

"Sorry, I didn't know it was hitting you." Bruno apologised to Mirabel who just shrugged it off.

As everyone watched the screen they saw Bruno jumping over patched cracks. He was doing his very best to avoid each one.

MIRABEL- "Wait… have you been in here patching the cracks?"

BRUNO- "Oh, that? No, no, no. I'm too scared to go near those things. All the patching's done by Hernando."

"Wait… you were living in the walls with someone else?" Camilo asked. Everyone turned to face him before yelling.

"Spoilers!"

MIRABEL- "Who is Hernando?"

BRUNO- "I'm Hernando and I'm scared of nothing."

"Bruno…" Abuela began, lost for words.

"Does that mean the person at the beginning when we first saw you was Hernando?" Antonio asked.

"I guess so." Camilo answered.

BRUNO- "It's actually me. I say my real gift was 'acting'."

"Hey. Don't ever diss acting! It's hard." Camilo said.

"Says the theatre kid." Dolores pointed out.

"And what's wrong with theatre kids?" Bruno pushed. He had a teasing smile on his face as he did.

BRUNO- "I'm Jorge, I make the spackle."

MIRABEL- "How long have you been back here?"

"Ten years! He was back there ten freaking years! Is no one going to say anything!" Pepa yelled out waving her hand frantically.

The screen then cut to a bunch of rats using and playing with some of Bruno's things.

MIRABEL- "You never left."

BRUNO- "Well, I left my tower which was, you know, a lot of stairs. And here, eh, kitchen adjacent. Ooh, ooh, plus, free entertainment. So what do you like? You like sports? Game show? Telenovelas? Their love could never be."

"Honestly the telenovelas are soul-crushing." Dolores quietly said.

"I know right! Like, it's so sad! Who would take their favourite characters and hurt them like that?" Bruno second.

"Monsters…" Dolores whispered in a dramatic tone.

MIRABEL- "I don't understand."

"No one does! Mirabel, He's living in the walls! Mamá, are you not going to say anything!"

"Pepa…" Bruno said, trying to hold in a small laugh. "It looks like rain."

A strong storm cloud began to pick up and the wind began to blow throughout the theatre.

"Bruno…" Julieta turned to her brother, a warning tone in her voice.

"And here I thought my children were all fifty years of age not five." Abuela shook her head. Though she'd never admit it, she was grateful that her children still bickered from time to time. She was thankful that her children still acted like children.

After a few minutes, everyone had managed to calm Pepa down and the film continued.

BRUNO- "Well because she's his aunt and she has amnesia so she can't remember that she's his aunt. It's like a very forbidden kinda…"

"Woah… kinda sounds interesting." Camilo said.

"Let us know when the next one is." Félix added in.

MIRABEL- "I don't understand why you left, but didn't leave."

BRUNO- "Oh, well, because, huh, you know the mountains around the encanto are pretty tall. And uh, like I said, free food and everything."

Bruno stood up and picked up an arepa from the small table before walking over to his rat friends.

BRUNO- "Yeah, you guys love free food don't ya. Always hungry. Never satisfied."

Mirabel noticed a small crack in the wall letting a beam of light into the room. She moved closer to find out where the light source led.

She looked through the crack to see the dining room table. Upon the realisation, she pulled back and looked at the small table that was next to her. She looked down to see a carving of a plate with Bruno's name on the bottom.

Mirabel felt her heart break all over again at watching what had happened. How she had discovered Bruno lived alone for years and how he so desperately did all he could to still feel connected to his family.

BRUNO- "Yeah, my gift wasn't helping the family. But, uh, I love my family. You know? I just don't know how to… I just don't know how to… well anyway I think you should go because… well I don't really have a good reason but if I did you'd be like 'I should go cause that's a good reason'."

Mirabel could feel the tension in the air. She could feel her family's guilt. She could feel her Tío's sadness as he remembered how he once lived.

Then she remembered the next thing she had said to her Tío.

MIRABEL- "Why was I in your vision? Tío Bruno. I just wanted to make the family proud of me. Just once. But if I should stop, if I'm hurting my family. Just tell me."

Mirabel could feel her throat close up and tears sting at her eyes. She clearly wasn't the only one affected by this scene.

Pepa had created a rain cloud, her Mamá and Abuela had tears in their own eyes. Should could feel the sympathy pouring from her family.

BRUNO- "I can't tell you… because I don't know. I had this vision the night that you didn't get your gift. Abuela worried about the magic so she begged me to look into the future, see what it meant. And I saw the magic, in danger. Our house, breaking. And then, then, I saw you. But the vision was different. It would change. And there, there, was no one answer. No clear fate. Like your future was undecided."

"But what I don't understand is why you didn't tell us, Bruno," Julieta said. "We could have figured it out as a family but instead you disappeared. You disappeared and we never knew why."

"He explains why in a second." Mirabel said as she continued.

BRUNO- "And I knew how it was going to look. I knew what everyone would think. Because I'm Bruno and everyone always assumes the worst so… So…"

MIRABEL- "You left, to protect me?"

"What?" All of the Madrigal grandchildren turned to face their Tío.

"So you weren't banished or anything?" Camilo asked.

"You left for Mirabel?"

"Why didn't you at least explain or leave a note or anything?"

"How did I not hear any of this?"

"No, I wasn't banished," Bruno said, surprised by his Sobrino's words. "Why would you think that?"

"Kids talk. Adults talk. I have a sister who hears everything."

"Brunito, I am so sorry." Abuela said as she looked at her youngest. "I am so sorry that I was so terrible that I made you feel like your only option was to leave." She looked down at the floor.

BRUNO- "I don't know which way it'll go, but my guess. The family. The encanto. The fate of the miracle itself. It's all going to come down to you."

"Oh, no pressure or anything Mirabel. By the way, if you mess up everything that everyone has worked for goes to waste." Camilo said.

"And here I thought I had a lot of pressure put on me." Luisa added, throwing her sister a sorry glance.

BRUNO- "Or maybe I'm wrong. You know, it's a mystery. That's why this vision is pbbt. Look if I could help any more, I would, but, um, that's all I know. Good luck. I wish I could have seen more. "

"Here… let me just drop a massive truth bomb on you then send you on your way." Camilo said again, completely confused.

MIRABEL- "Yeah… yeah! You wished you could have seen more so see more! Have another vision!"

BRUNO- "Oh, no, no. See, I don't do visions anymore."

MIRABEL- "But you could."

BRUNO- "But I won't."

MIRABEL- "You can't say the weight of the world is on your shoulders, the end. If our fate's up to me, me says have another vision. Maybe it'll show me what to do."

BRUNO- "Look, even if I wanted to, which I don't, you wrecked my vision cave which is a problem because I need a wide-open space."

MIRABEL- "We'll find one!"

BRUNO- "Where?"

ANTONIO- "Use my room."

"Antonio!" Everyone yelled as the five-year-old giggled at their reaction to his on-screen appearance.

ANTONIO- "The rats told me everything. Don't eat those."

MIRABEL- "Our family needs help, and you need to get outta here."

The screen cut away to three rats using Bruno's toothbrushes to clean themselves.

BRUNO- "Meh."

Before the screen could cut away for the next scene it paused.

"Can we please talk about this." Pepa exclaimed.

"You mean to tell me, that you…" Mirabel had to do her very best not to laugh as she said the next line. "You wanna talk about Bruno?" A few giggles escaped her lips despite her best efforts.

As soon as Bruno realised what Mirabel had just said he broke into his own fit of laughter taking his niece with him.

For the next few minutes, Bruno and Mirabel held their stomachs as they laughed before calming down. When they finally looked up they saw the rest of the family staring at them.

"Sorry," Bruno said before straightening up in his chair. "Continue."

"Is no one going to say anything?" Pepa asked for what felt like the millionth time.

"What was it like in the walls?" Félix asked, earning him a small smack on the arm from Pepa.

"Bruno, why didn't you at least come to Agustín and I?" Julieta asked. "Do you really think we would have blamed you? Do you really think we hate you that much?"

"What? No, no, no." He answered as he pulled his hands up defensively. "It's just, you most likely would have gone to Mamá. And then… well." He trailed off. "I just… I didn't want Mirabel to be blamed or hated by the family. She already had enough to deal with after not getting a gift."

"Brunito," Abuela said. "Why didn't you just come home?"

"I knew if I did you would demand to know what I saw. And it wasn't exactly positive." Bruno's voice got quieter as he went. "You weren't exactly the nicest either?" His voice turned into a squeak at the end. It sounded more like a question than an answer.

"Wait a second… If you've been living in the walls this entire time have you been able to hear us?" Camilo asked.

"Sometimes. But not purposely."

"He was living in the walls!"

"WE KNOW!"