Gifts x Understanding x Special

This chapter is honestly longer than it needs to be but... well, I felt like writing it like this. Bare with me please, teehee.

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"How are you doing, Tío Bruno?" Julio asked while walking towards the man who clearly looked like he had taken a good and long bath, since he looked a lot cleaner than his movie counterpart.

"Oh, well, you know, been doing this and that and..." Bruno stopped talking when he felt the big hug that Julio had given him, before smiling warmly and hugging him back. After all, Julio had been the reason why the family had gotten back together and felt stronger than ever, and he was even more grateful for that than for defending him in front of his mother.

"Thanks Lito, in the name of the Family and my own." Bruno said while Julio let go of him. Of course, Julio just waved it off as if the thanks weren't needed.

"Well everyone. Why don't we sit down and eat before we all begin crying?" Alma joked while looking at Julieta, Dolores, Pepa, Mirabel and Antonio, all of whom seemed to be on the verge of releasing a flood out of their eyes.

"I don't see how that would be a bad thing, right, everyone?" Julio seconded before realizing he was forgetting something. "Oh right, I totally forgot about the gifts!"

Julio disappeared for a short moment before appearing once again, but this time carrying many bags with him. Quickly, he began giving each person a bag of their own.

"I hope everyone likes their gifts." Julio said as he watched everyone open their bags. Each gift had been chosen based on the person it was destined for. As for where he had gotten them... let's just say he took a quick trip around the world and might've or might've not done something illegal. Without anyone noticing, of course.

Starting from the oldest, Alma Madrigal got a clock which, much like the Weasley's in Harry Potter, had the faces of every member of the family. Alma loved it, which relieved Julio of some of his worry. Julio then did something that surprised the Madrigals, since nobody outside of their family had been able to do it.

"Casita, why don't you set up the big clock somewhere it is easy to see?" Julio asked Casita, the home of the Madrigals, and it answered. Looking at the shock written on their faces, Julio shrugged it off and beckoned them to continue with the gifts. "Come on, come on, I want to see your reactions!"

Julieta Madrigal got a book with every recipe that Julio knew how to cook from his other life, which made her feel challenged to prepare those dishes better than he could. One again, she loved her gift.

Next was Agustin, who got a book on bees and a suit to manage them properly without being stung by them ever again. He felt elated at having something that he could do for the town by manufacturing honey which was, honestly, quite scarce.

Pepa Madrigal, who was next in line as the second oldest daughter of Alma, got a book on how to manage and control her emotions. Julio said that at the end it explained how to channel those emotions into motivation and other positive things, which Pepa liked very much since it would help her if they ever got attacked again.

Felix, Pepa's husband, got a book with songs that he could sing and dance to in any party. Julio honestly didn't know what to get him, but he thought that it was a good gift for someone like Felix, who was always so bright and the soul of any party. He also felt extremely happy with it and said he would host a party very soon.

Next was Bruno, the youngest of Alma's children. He was perhaps the hardest one to get a gift for, but Julio managed by getting him a sundial and a telescope, the latter of which was quite hard to make. With it, Bruno could study the stars and have some fun of his own. Of course, Julio included a book on Constellations and the Zodiac. Bruno might just start the craze about Zodiac signs in Encanto. He liked it, but he was more happy about someone having such consideration towards him than the gift itself.

Isabella got a book with drawing of different plants that didn't exist in Encanto so she could experiment with it. He also left hints about other plants he didn't add on the book so she could use her imagination freely to make them however she wanted. It was, once again, the perfect gift.

Luisa was harder to gift something, considering her nature. Julio, knowing how Luisa felt deep down, decided to gift her something that would shock many people. A complete set of makeup, including palettes, brushes, blending sponges, lipsticks, eyeliners and many other things. Luisa loved it since she never had time to feel feminine, which made Julio's gift touch her deeply.

Camilo got a book on hairstyles that looked good on men with curly hair and how to dress with style, which he secretly loved and everyone knew it. He was, after all, in that age when boys begin to try and look cool in front of girls.

Mirabel, who didn't have a gift, got three books. One was about psychology, the second about house management and the third was on social studies. Julio wanted her to exploit her natural capability to understand people and her high E.Q. She was extremely thankful since that was the first time someone had ever said she was good at something and had found something special in her, which made Julieta and the others tear up and feel a bit guilty.

For little Antonio, who had a gift related to animals, Julio prepared a book and illustration book full of animals from different parts of the world. Antonio, as a kid, was extremely elated to receive such a thing and made it his objective to some day see every single animal in the book.

The last gift to be opened was Dolores, and let's just say that Julio took no stops at getting the best gift for her. In the short span of less than two days, he managed to control the Speed Force to the point he could travel in time, and he got her a little something from the 2000s. The first thing she noticed was the pair of shoes, which she recognized from 'El Paujil', since she wanted to buy them for herself already. Then she saw something which picked her and everyone's attention, since nobody could recognize what it was.

"What... what is this?" Dolored asked, clearly puzzled by the weird device that she was holding in one hand and the weird chord she had in the other.

"That, Dolores, is a portable media player. It was invented in 1997 so I decided to get it for you." Julio said matter-of-factly. One thing he said stood out to the rest.

"1997?! How did you get something from more than forty years into the future?!" Bruno asked, being the most shocked. He could, after all, predict the future. So of course he would be the most shocked by that. Not like he had predicted the invention of such a thing nor anything of the sort. His predictions spanned only for a few years and were mostly related to big events.

"Well, I just ran so fast that I travelled to the future." Julio said nonchalantly once again, shocking the Madrigals so much they just dropped the topic all together.

"Then... what does it do? How do I use it?" Dolores asked, not wanting to sound disappointed with her gift. Julio smiled at her and sat beside her to explain it.

"You see, with this button here you turn it on. This two are used to move through the songs, and this one is to play or pause the music. With this two other button you can turn the volume up and down. And this chord here goes in there, while this two 'balls' at the end go in your ears." Julio explained while showing her everything he said. He then reproduced a song that he particularly loved, 'La Boheme' by Charles Aznavour.

Dolores, who had the wired earbuds on her ears, suddenly couldn't hear anything but the music that was playing for no one but herself, in a language she couldn't really understand. But that wasn't the point. She couldn't hear anything but the music. She was all of a sudden free of her gift, of the things she heard. She no longer would have to keep to herself everything. She for once wouldn't know things that she wasn't supposed to know. Without thinking much about it, she hugged Julio while lightly sobbing. The Madrigals didn't understand why, but they must've understood that it was something good. Then, Camilo opened his mouth.

"Damn, that is the best gift! I mean, he took it from the future!" He said with mock envy in his voice. He also understood that Julio probably had a thing for Dolores as much as his sister had for him. The rumours were quickly spreading through the town after all.

"Language young man!" Pepa admonished him while warmly looking at her daughter and Julio. Perhaps only she understood why her daughter was so happy.

"I'm so happy for you baby girl." Felix muttered. No, Pepa certainly wasn't the only one.

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Ok, this was a lot longer than even I expected when I began writing. Sheesh...