#And his father didn't approve of his peotry

[acewithapaintbrush]

Happy Birthday @sokkas-first-fangirl

Ever since I read this line in your story:

“They always work hard,” Mariano added. “You know, one time when we were little, I got terribly lost in the jungle and Dolores found me all by herself!”

I wanted to write a little something for it and what better time than your birthday! I hope you'll like it💜

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"We need to find him! Why would he run away like that?" 

"Mama?" 

"We will find him, please calm down." 

"Oh my poor baby! He's all alone!" 

"Mami, I can-" 

Pepa distractedly smiles down at her  daughter and pats her head. "Not now, Honey. We need to find the Guzman boy." 

"But I can-" 

But her mother is already gone, conversing with Abuela and other villagers to arrange for a search party. Dolores puffs her little cheeks out and stomps her foot. Silently. Everything she does is silent since she got her gift a week ago. 

Her voice has grown softer too. Maybe a side effect of her gift?

Dolores doesn't know. Dolores doesn't care! 

It's so hard being heard ever since she got her gift. If she were older and if she actually knew the meaning of 'irony', that might have amused her. 

She is anything but amused.

She can hear the Guzman boy (Marian? Martin? Something like that).

She can hear him in the jungle, crying his stupid eyes out. But no one will listen to her. They are all running around, frantic, and no one pays little, soft spoken Dolores any mind. They don't know the extent of her gift yet, admittedly. As far as they are concerned, she can only hear really well. Even Dolores didn't know she could hear sounds so far away. Her gift is still new and it fluctuates a little. Sometimes the Guzman boy sounds like he is far away, sometimes it sounds like he is right next to her. 

The constant sound of his sniffles and sobs irritates Dolores like most things do since her ceremony. She is definitely still struggling to accept her gift. Isabela got pretty flowers and what did Dolores get? Super hearing. How lame. How boring. 

How painful.

None of the adults pay her any mind so if she wants the sniffling in her ears to stop, she'll have to take matters into her own hands. 

Dolores stomps her foot once more, despite her ire a little scared to venture into the jungle alone. When none of the adults turn towards her she huffs and disappears into the jungle. 

She'll just have to do it herself.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She finds him an hour later. The sounds of the jungle have turned her around once or twice, but finally she spots him sitting at the base of a big tree, arms wrapped around his legs and head buried in his knees. 

He is a small, thin child, even smaller than Dolores. She thinks they are the same age, but she is not sure. She hasn't spoken a lot with him until now. Which is why it feels so awkward, trying to get his attention. 

"Hey." she whispers. Dolores clears her throat so she can try again, louder this time, but his head immediately snaps up. She is a little taken aback since she didn't think she was loud enough to be heard. 

His eyes are red and swollen. His cheeks are tearstained. He looks like a mess. 

"Dolores?" 

Dolores shuffles closer. His voice sparked a memory. "Mariano, right? Your mama and papa are looking for you." 

He looks around, worried. "Are they here?" 

"No, I came alone." She taps her ear, a gesture that will become second nature to her soon. "I heard you with my gift." 

He stares at her ears and scrubs the tears away. For a second he looks embarrassed, but then he smiles at her. 

"That is amazing. Gracias!" 

Dolores blinks. Her gift? Amazing? And is this how Isa feels like when people thank her for her flowers? If so, no wonder she runs through the Encanto gifting flowers left and right. 

Mariano's face suddenly crumbles again. "I was so scared!" 

Dolores flounders, stepping from one foot to the other. She has never seen a boy cry like that. So open and vulnerable. The boys she knows all try to act tough and strong. But the sight isn't weird or anything. In fact, she thinks it's alright. She would have been scared too, alone in the jungle. Dolores is a little scared right now, to be completely honest. She hears a lot more than Mariano. Lots of animals breathing and prancing and… and growling. Sticks breaking. Nearby.

"It's okay!" she mutters and hurries to his side. His hand is clammy when she grabs it to pull him to his feet. As soon as he is standing, she pulls him towards the village. "Let's go home." 

He follows her meekly. Their footsteps are loud to Dolores' ears, but not loud enough to drown out all the creepy sounds. They are constant and they seem to get louder and louder. 

Dolores can't ignore or suppress them and she is getting a little panicky. 

"Why did you go into the jungle?" she asks, voice tight. Maybe she can distract herself at least. 

Mariano sniffles once more. "I wanna be a poet, but Papa says that's stupid. He says I need to 'man up'." 

Dolores hums. Adults are so weird sometimes. "What does that mean?" 

"I don't know." 

The sounds are getting louder and louder and they now mix with the voices of the adults who are not just screaming for Mariano now, but for Dolores as well. Seems like they finally noticed that she left. 

"Do you wanna hear one?" 

"What?" 

"A poem?" 

"Oh. Sure." Dolores mumbles. More noise is not exactly what she wants right now, but her Abuela always tells them that they need to be polite to everyone. They are the Madrigals and they have an image to 'uphold'. Whatever that means. Probably something similar to 'man up'. 

Mariano takes a deep breath and Dolores prepares herself for something stupid, a little limerick about a donkey or something, but the second the first verse leaves his mouth, she stops in her tracks and stares back at him out of wide eyes. 

Mariano doesn't seem to notice. He's got his eyes closed and a smile on his face. He recites a poem about the wind and the way it moves through the grass. It is very simple and the language a little clunky at certain points. But it is beautiful. It's got heart and soul. 

His voice and the words drown out all the other sounds. Dolores hears only him and she is entranced. 

When he finishes, Dolores is at peace. 

"Did you like it?" he asks shyly. 

"Yes!" she blurts out, loud, the loudest she has been since her ceremony. Her heart flutters and there is a shine in her eyes and a breathlessness she can't explain. "Yes I did! Do you have more?" 

And they walk home, hand in hand, and Mariano recites all the poems his young mind has come up with until now. There is even a stupid limerick about a donkey, but Dolores doesn't care. Laughs at all the right places, giddy with relief and joy. She can only hear him and the world around her has gotten much smaller and yet it feels bigger somehow. She feels free. 

Dolores doesn't fall in love that day. She is only five years old! Love is still that gross thing that adults always talk about. 

But it's the start of something. It's the start of admiration and respect. It's the start of her actively searching out Mariano's voice when her gift gets to be too much. It's the start of her sitting at her desk, eyes closed, listening to him come up with new poems. 

It's the start of many things. 

#I hc that Mariano was a very small (maybe even sickly) child #And his father didn't approve of his peotry #encanto #encanto fanfic #disney encanto #dolores madrigal #mariano guzman #encanto headcanons