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camilos-vida · 2 years

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𓏹 Fallen Debris .

Camilo Madrigal x GN!Reader

Author's Note. You guys seem to be a sucker for angst just like I am, so here you go! A little contribution to the list of Tumblr's angsty Camilo fics. I never thought I'd be motivated to write again. Even as simple as getting comments and notes really does a lot to someone, and I'm grateful for it all! I also cried while writing some of the parts so I hope that's worth it. Here's a fic made especially with love, constant repeat of dos oruguitas for setting up the mood, and tears.

Category — imagine, angst, romance.

Notes and Warnings — english not being the author's first language, second person's point of view, camilo being angry and saying hurtful words, bullying, mentions of blood.

Summary — after the disastrous dinner where Mariano and Isabella were supposed to come out engaged, you and Camilo had an extremely heated argument about Bruno after defending him causing your relationship to deteriorate completely. You were there when Mirabel and Abuela fought causing the downfall of Casita — you along with it.

And when Camilo found your unresponsive figure underneath the piles and rubbles of the fallen shelter's debris, well . . . ( 8.45k words )

You didn't know how you ended up here, chest heaving filled with disdain towards the boy you used to adore in front of you. You started the day so happy. How could you end up like this? It was all joyous. The day was clear and harmonious. How did this all happen?

You frowned at the Madrigal who mirrored you.

See, you were one of the townspeople that helped with La Casita. Needless to say, you were the painter of the town. You created portraits and arts all across Encanto since you turned 10. You were an art prodigy, the star of brushes and paints. You created a special bond with Camilo Madrigal and the live house itself, and from then on, you became someone in every step of La Casa Madrigal's ground.

Camilo was so bright then. He always asked you to come over to paint this and that, to teach him how to stroke a line with a brush, how to create an outline, and finish an art with your very secret technique called showing the canvas with love and affection. He found it silly, but he never did mind.

Despite the countless paintings in his room, Camilo only had eyes for you. Only you, and nothing else. He thought you were the most priceless art he's ever seen. Your colours were so vibrant, especially your eyes. The way your creator outlined you as a whole fascinated him, he wanted to learn how to paint just so he could make so many images of you.

Everyone didn't know what to make of him when he started becoming so fond of Encanto's art prodigy. He never ended a day without mentioning you or your works. He would always say such things as, "I wonder if they were born perfect," or "The world is a better place with them around."

You heard this all from Mirabel complaining how her cousin just wouldn't shut up about you or your "flowy hair", she playfully cringed.

So, when he confessed his feelings and found out you reciprocated it, he was over the moon, so past cloud 9 that he could just die the happiest man right there and then.

When that happened, you came more often, giving excuses that you wanted to give Pepa a gift. You did, but you stayed longer that everyone thought Casita held you hostage. Kidding aside, the family loved your paintings, causing them to keep asking for more and more until you found one peculiar spot when you were examining a framed photo. Casita warned you not to go, but you were curious as to what was there.

Needless to say, you gained awareness of the purest 'missing' Madrigal living inside the walls and became the best of friends.

And when you did, you were protective and secretive of his existence just like he asked — no, practically begged of you.

So, when you were invited to dine with the Madrigals, expecting the proposal of Mariano to Isabella, you kept a few foods on your plate for Bruno to have later. He can't just keep grabbing leftovers from the kitchen counters. You looked over at Camilo who sat across from you and smiled. Much to your dismay, he did not return the gesture. Your significant other has been cold these past few days and you were not sure why.

That's when you noticed Dolores, Mirabel, and Tío Agustín acting strange. What was going on?

A few more disasters later, the truth was out and everyone was soaked with Tía Pepa's rain. Luisa's powers were gone, Isabella was angry, Camilo was a half Mariano, half baby, the actual Mariano and his concerned mother were sat there panicking, and basically everyone was out of it. All because of Bruno and his last vision. You didn't understand the reaction. You didn't know about this, but why?

"Why does it seem like you believe Tío Bruno made this prophecy? I know he could never do such a thing like this. He can only read the future, not make it. It's not his fault nor Mirabel's!" You stated as everyone looked at you, incredulous. Abuela dropped her fork at your words as if it gave so much more information than what it should have.

"Y/N!" Camilo called and frowned at you. He looked at his abuela and awkwardly let out a laugh, "I'm so sorry, Abuela. She must have eaten something."

You scoffed. How was that possible?

"No, Camilo. I don't understand why everyone seems so against him when he did nothing wrong." You continued. Pepa's cloud thundered. You slightly jumped at that. Oh, no. You were making everyone mad, but you had to defend your best friend. Your fifty-year-old best friend who spent a decade alone with his rat friends in those cracking walls, patching them as the family slowly fell apart.

"Do you know where Bruno is?" the head of the Madrigals suddenly asked.

Uh-oh. You didn't think of that. You shook your head and simply stated an apology to cover your lies. "I don't know."

"Do you know what he's like?" She asked with a stern tone, making Camilo sulk in his seat.

"No, Abuela. I'm sorry." You quietly replied as you looked down in shame.

"Then don't say another word. You were not supposed to know whatever it is that you know about Bruno. You speak as if you know him well." She stood up as Mariano and his mother stormed off. What she said next bore a hole to your chest. "And know your place in this house, Y/N. You're not a Madrigal."

She turned to Camilo who was as wide-eyed as everyone else on the table, "I will talk to the two of you once I fix this mess."

That's when everyone got out of their seats as well to get out of the awkward dining room. Pepa only looked at you with sympathy, so did everyone else, but Camilo's eyes expressed something different. His eyebrows were just a centimetre apart, his lips curled in a way that he radiated rage.

You stepped back from where you stood alone in the kitchen. The place was now silent. Everyone was out to tend to Mariano or retreat to their rooms after the catastrophe. But you and Camilo only stood there glaring at each other.

"We need to talk." He started and slightly raised his arms, his ruana wrinkling from the action. "What was that, Y/N?"

"You know I was defending your Tío Bruno, Camilo. Don't lecture me. I did the right thing, I know it."

"Did you really? Because the last time I checked that was disrespectful, and not only did you say that to my Abuela, you acted as if you knew about my family so well!" He yelled.

Silence, then, he walked out of the kitchen to go back to his room. You followed after, apologising multiple times until you reached his room and got inside, closing the door.

"Do I not know about your family, Camilo? Do I seem so naive about your history? Do I look like I never spent time to know about everyone just so I could be approved by the people in this house? Do I look like I didn't try at all?" You asked as his back faced you. "Because I did! I tried my best to please you."

"This is not about you, Y/N," he sighed.

"Then why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are we like this? Why do I not feel your support? You don't feel warm anymore and you haven't been since the past few days. What happened to you?" He turned to you once he heard the question.

"What happened to me? What happened to you, Y/N? You've never acted so recklessly before. What is it with my tío that you snapped so much like that? Do you know where he even is?"

"No, I don't!" You answered.

"Then why do you act like you do? See? This is why I don't understand you sometimes. You keep things hidden from me when you know you could trust me. Why are you being like this? I thought we're open to each other?"

"Listen, I don't know about your tio, but I'm sure that there was more to the story that everyone so much speaks of. What if Bruno was out there struggling? Have you never thought about him being alone after all this time that he left? How could you not feel sympathy for him and just fear? Do you seriously believe he makes bad things happen? Because that's ridiculous and you know it!"

He only stared at you, unable to think of something to respond. So, you continued.

"You may never know if he was out there, cold on rainy days, covering himself with his own clothes that smelled like home he always remembered being so warm. What if he had nothing to eat but scraps that he shared with his rats he called his friends? What if he missed his family? Missed Tía Julieta's freshly made arepas, Tía Pepa's rainbows and sunshine? Abuela's lessons about keeping the miracle alive? What if he had so little but still shared until he had nothing? Have you ever thought of that? All of us never knew why he left. Maybe there was a missing piece we forgot to look at. You all chose to fear him, think of him as a villain, but have you ever empathised?"

Camilo squinted his eyes at you, unsure what to make of you. The more you said something, the more he grew suspicious of you. You seemed to have been keeping so much from him and it pained him to say, he was slowly losing trust.

"Tell me the truth, Y/N." He walked closer to you, "Do you know where Tío Bruno is?"

You got intimidated by that, but you stood your ground and shook your head, "I—"

"Don't lie to me this time, Y/N."

You felt like you were shrinking as the distance got narrower. Nevertheless, you chose to hold your breath and look at him with a stern expression. Your eyes never faltered at the furious sight of the Madrigal.

This time, you were the one to step closer, stopping just a few inches in front of him, but no. The atmosphere was not intimate as it was a few months ago. There was no passion in his eyes, no love, no empathy.

Just anger.

And it tore you. It broke your heart into millions of shards, cutting through the walls of your chest. So you stood there, fighting back the lump on your throat. "I don't know what you want me to say, but I'm already telling you this and I'm not repeating it again. I don't know where Tío Bruno is."

"Then this discussion is over. I already knew the answer before you told me." He stepped back and stopped to tell you something else, "I don't think I can trust you anymore."

"So, that's it?" You asked.

"What else do you want to talk about, Y/N? It's not like you're going to be honest with me anyway."

"What is wrong with you, Camilo? You weren't like this before! What did I do wrong? Why are you being like this? You know I tried for you — so, so hard, and this is what we'll end up being?"

"Where were you the times that I needed you? Disappearing all the time. Have you heard what they're saying about us, Y/N? Have you heard how much they hated this thing between us?" He turned around to face you, nose starting to flush red, eyes getting glossy, and ears turning into a deep shade of crimson.

"Thing? This thing is what this relationship means to you? And I know. I've heard! Why would you listen?! I thought we shouldn't mind them because we have each other?! What's going on with the both of us, Camilo? Do you still feel something? Am I still someone to you? Did the words get right into your head? Because I don't understand anything." The house creaked underneath you, but you were both too into the heat of the moment that none of you decided to back down.

"Then maybe we don't have each other after all," he mumbled.

"What?" You questioned under your breath as you looked at him in disbelief. What did he just say? That was that. The knot that twined your heart in place snapped as if it dropped to your stomach, feeling the pain of what you never thought would come. Does this mean what you think it means?

Even the Madrigal himself was taken aback by what he said, but because of determination to win this argument, he stuck with it. He watched as your frown got more intense, a tear slipping from your eye that he used to cherish so much. You quickly wiped it off with your fingers and fought your desire to break down in front of him.

"I knew you were embarrassed to be with me this whole time. Of course, because you just had to be so perfect, do you?" You shrugged your shoulders in defeat, looking at him in the eyes and expressing yourself through your words. Your voice was shaking. It felt so restrained from the huge lump on your throat. "Ah, the amazing Madrigal!" You sarcastically waved your hands to mock the cheers he received outside the doors of Casita. "So alluring, so gifted, so perfect!"

"And then there's me," you continued, your arms falling to your sides. "The art prodigy who tries so hard to please everyone like a dog but with a brush, the useless child of my parents, the pity-joiner of the Madrigals. Who would believe that you dated me without explanations, right? Because I'm Y/N the one everyone should pity and at the same time, talk bad about. I'm Y/N who's an embarrassment, and a liar."

"Y/N, no." Camilo tried to walk towards you and grab your hand, but you stepped back and pulled your hand away before the warmth of his skin touched yours.

"I'll apologise to Abuela and explain for you." You turned around and opened the door, but before you left, you did one thing that made your significant other's freckled cheeks stained with tears. You swivelled and embraced him one last time, taking his hand and forcing it to open. You took the necklace made out of shells off your neck and placed it there, closing his palms once again. A hand of yours found its way to his cheek, wiping the hot liquid.

"Maybe it's not me," you finally said. "Maybe it's not me all along, and I understand."

"Please, Y/N. I didn't want it to end this way. Don't leave," he whispered and pulled you in a hug, soaking your sleeves with his wet tears. "Stay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't trust you enough. I'll be better, I promise. I'll tell them to stop. I'll teach myself how to treat you better. I'll learn for the best, just don't leave."

But you weren't sure if that was true anymore. You've felt and felt it all that you couldn't take it back. So, you pat his back, pulled away, shook your head and walked out.

By the time you did, you heard an argument downstairs. So, you went and checked it out only to find Mirabel and the head of the house fighting in the middle of their own home. The candle's bright light was slowly getting dimmer and the house creaked again.

" — but it is not an excuse for you to hurt this family!"

You watched the scene unfold, unable to speak in your state. You felt like you didn't have the right to. A few more things were said. You wanted to go and take Mirabel by the hand so you could walk out for some fresh air, but something held you back. God, why were you so scared of them?

"I will never be good enough for you, will I? . . . No matter how hard I try." A painful sensation in your chest was felt again. You concentrated your gaze on the youngest child of Tía Julieta and Tío Agustín.

"Mirabel?" You called, giving her a look to be careful. She turned to you and quickly looked away.

"No matter how hard any of us tries. Luisa will never be strong enough. Isabella won't be perfect enough. Y/N? Even if they weren't a part of us, they deserve better for sticking up to someone who needed it. And Bruno left our family because you only saw the worst in him. "

"Bruno never cared about this family!" Abuela exclaimed as you frowned, mumbling a sombre 'what?'. Not noticing Camilo who got out of his room once he heard the commotion downstairs. There he spotted you but looked away, trying to refrain from ever thinking of what just happened. His family needed him now.

"He loves this family. I love this family. We all love this family. You're the one who doesn't care. You're the one breaking our home." The group shook as the floor around them cracked. You were alarmed by this and quickly looked around.

"Don't you ever — "

"The miracle is dying because of you!"

You gasped and looked at Mirabel. You understood what she felt, and took the words right out of everyone's mouth. Suddenly, the ground between them cracked, snapping them into two different spaces.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Tía Pepa shouted in distress.

"Mirabel, the candle!" You yelled from upstairs and tried your best to think of a way to get there and help Mirabel, but something — someone else made it into your mind in a panic.

Bruno.

He must not know what was happening. Or maybe he was, and he was listening. You pitied the man, truly. You were his only friend, not knowing he had already met Mirabel and Dolores and Antonio already knew about his presence behind the walls.

"Casita, get me up there!" The girl who wore glasses went up the ladder Casita prepared from the upstairs railing.

"Be careful, Mira!" You said. Isabella tried to go after the candle just like Mirabel was, but failed once she struck a wine only for it to disappear due to the fading magic.

"Y/N, you have to get out!" You heard Pepa shout from downstairs, but you were too stubborn to listen causing Camilo to frown as you ran somewhere.

"I need a diversion! I have to warn someone about this!" You told Mirabel.

"What?! A diversion?"

"For something behind the painting!" You replied, causing Mirabel's eyes to light up, understanding what you just said.

"Be careful, Y/N!"

Well, it looked like you didn't even need diversion after all. The eyes of the Madrigals were set on your friend and that was exactly what you needed. You quickly ran towards the painting with a secret passage behind it. The rats were running out in panic.

On the other hand, Antonio pointed to where you've gone only to see you disappear behind the frame. "Where is Y/N going?"

Camilo mentally groaned. He could've known you were going to do this, but he just couldn't fathom ever losing you to this accident. So, he readied his stance and ran. Thinking you might be taking a secret passageway to the tower where the candle was placed, he aimed for it and took a big leap, shape-shifting to make himself succeed on the mission. But, the fight messed with the magic, the candle was dimmer, fallen, and the tiles were cracked. The magic was getting weaker and weaker and soon, he joined Isabella on the ground, looking at each other with worry painted all across their faces.

Mirabel however, continued to save the candle, thinking to herself that she hoped Casita would help you if had gone under bad things during your time trying to save Bruno.

"Mirabel!"

"Mirabel, leave it!"

She couldn't. Before she could tiptoe to get the candle, she saw her dear Tío Bruno out and safe with a bucket over his head and a rat he considered as his only companion.

"Oh, no. Y/N." She whispered to herself, but there was no time. She had to save the miracle. She fully believed in her friend, you. You were clever in many more ways than one.

You were struggling to walk through the falling bits of the walls as you examined how ruined the passageway was to Bruno's home for the past decade. You were coughing. It was hard to see from the mist that the dust created and some of it getting in your eye. "Bruno? Tío Bruno? Hernando?!" You called out.

Your struggle kept getting worse and worse as the ground shook again but this time, more intense. The roof was falling apart above you, and all you had were your hands to cover your head. Your skin had spots of purple, cuts of red, and your heart was beating fast inside your chest. You were getting hopeless of getting out of here, but you had someone to save.

What if . . . Bruno's already safe?

The standing roof above your space cracked and creaked. You mumbled quiet no's. You were scared. There was no denying it. You were afraid if it would hurt to die, but not afraid of death itself. It was pain that you most certainly feared, and oh the things you would give right now just to feel numb.

"Camilo?!" You called in fear. "Mirabel?!" You circled in your place until you saw an open spot when Bruno must have left. You were about to head out when the roof fell, blocking your only way out. "Casita?!"

"No, no, no," you muttered over and over until you noticed a small creature crawling through a small crack. It looked up at you. It was one of those rats and it looked weak.

You gasped, "You're one of Tío Bruno's friends. The aunt in the telenovela." You gently took it with your dust covered hands, covering it protectively. "I'll get you out of here."

You squinted your eyes at the small entrance where the rat came from. It seemed to have come back for something as the crack led to the painting. You just had to remove this big wood blocking the way. Or maybe, you had to go over it. You looked up and found an open space. "Hang on tight on my shirt, okay?"

You settled it in your top's pocket and carefully made your way over the blockade, getting yourself out of the passage before it crumbled completely. And now you were standing there on the ruined second floor. The wood underneath you moved with life, "Casita, where's Mirabel?"

The wood you stepped on snapped as you whimpered, "She'll make it work, I know it."

You stepped on the stone part quickly once the wood crumbled, palming your pocket to feel the shaking creature inside. Then, you looked up to see Mirabel struggling as the tower was about to fall down. Casita was getting weaker and weaker.

You knew it could save only one of you.

Your breath hitched at the sound of her screaming. "Mirabel!"

"Y/N!"

"Casita, whatever happens take care of Mirabel, please!" The despair in your voice was enough to let your friend know what you were about to do. She looked at you in disbelief and shook her head.

"What? No, Y/N. You have to get out of here!"

The time seemed to go so slow as you looked at Mirabel probably the last time before forcing a smile to tug on your lips. You leisurely nodded your head as another tear made its way down your hopeless facade just like the materials that were once you called your second home. You raised a hand slightly, "It'll be fine, Mirabel. Just save the miracle for your family."

You knew it was the end. You knew what you were signing up for. You knew the risks, and Mirabel Madrigal had more important roles. You believe in her. You know she could do it. She was the strongest of the Madrigals, and bias or not, that's what you believed.

"Y/N! Mirabel!" You heard everyone calling and then,

"No! You can't do this. Y/N!" She protested, but it was already too late once the stone pillar that used to support the second story of the house crumbled, sending you down without support. Your body was already sore, and you would be lying if you said it didn't hurt. It hurt badly. "Y/N!"

The chair, the door, whatever it was, you saw it moving over to Mirabel to act as a shelter to protect her from the falling debris. You felt something coming to you but it soon stopped right before it could do something to alleviate the impact of the last of La Casa Madrigal's piles and rubbles on you.

The rocks, dust, woods, steels and other more things came raining down on your helpless figure, putting your hands to cover your neck and at the same time, making room for Bruno's tiny companion so it could live.

The rat squeaked so many times, syncing with the sound of your groans and the falling objects. You didn't know what it was that hit your side that it hurt so bad you couldn't help but scream. You heard your name everywhere. There were different voices in the static noise you heard. You whimpered, still feeling the urge to live, but it was all slowly fading as you felt weaker, colder, . . . numb. The last that you saw was the rat moving to your neck to squeal endlessly, trying its best to keep you conscious.

It smelled so much like dust and iron with your blood. You were scared. You were so afraid. You were helpless and in such terrible pain as you felt the weight of the debris above you. You couldn't get yourself to say anything.

Your breath was shorter, faster as if you were chasing your hope to live. You shut your burning eyes with piercing tears, but before you could think of something to do, the faces of the people that mattered to you played like a movie scene, bidding you goodbye.

Memories were rewinded, keeping you calm, not knowing it was the last of what you'd see as you felt the blood rushing in your veins slowly falter.

It was your fifth birthday when you received your very first set of art materials and your father was smiling widely, holding the warm hand of his beloved over his shoulder as they looked at their child exploring the world of imagination. You giggled as you painted a four-legged creature coloured in grey with pink tail. "Estás recibiendo pinturas por toda tu ropa, mi amor." ( You're getting paint all over your clothes, my love. ) You heard your mother chuckle.

"I heard you crying, what's wrong?" You remembered the time you were much older but still so fresh and young staring up at a doe-eyed Dolores. Then, Isabella came handing you some flowers in an attempt to make you smile at the loveliness. Mirabel lent you a hand to help you to your feet as Felix and Agustín took the canvas with your proudest painting yet from the puddles of mud. Pepa made it thunder, glaring at the children who caused the catastrophe. And there came Julieta with her arepas, giving you one so it could heal the scrape on your knee. Their abuela cleared her throat as she slowly walked towards you, "We've been expecting you, but it seems as though I need to have a word with the children's guardians in town to refrain this from ever happening again."

That's when you slowly looked up and up to La Familia Madrigal. They were caring people and had loved your art, asking you to paint them instead of using the fast method of the camera. Even Casita insisted that you paint a beautiful pattern on its ground. And that pattern that remained etched on the floor for so many years. You remembered how they all looked at you. As if you needed a careful touch of protection. As if you were a part of their family.

And what hurt the most was when you thought you fit in, when you thought you're already a part of them, you had messed up and lost the opportunity to be a true Madrigal not by name but at heart.

That's when your mind clicked on someone else. Someone who made you feel so true, as if you were the art you painted.

( Hello! Please play 'Dos Oruguitas by Sebastián Yatra' while reading this part. I promise it's what makes it more fun to read. You won't even regret it! )

You remembered the first time you ever got to say a word to Camilo Madrigal — Where the sky was clear and filled with lighter shades of blue. Where the birds flew so freely with the cotton clouds, and the sun was so bright it could turn the world into a spinning jewel. He was younger, smaller, care-free but still taller. You recalled the warmth in his smile, sending you to fall without warning. He was radiant, and you adored the way you saw him look at you. The way you met was common and simple, like any other interactions strangers have. Nevertheless, he never failed to make your hand spark. He lit up your heart with joy.

Then months passed by again, that's when you saw him brighter, clearer. Camilo Madrigal! What a name to speak like ancient poetry. His smile became wider every time he spotted you in a crowd, or was it just you? His crooked teeth a few years back became so perfect you swore you saw it sparkle. Or was it his eyes when he talked about what made his day better? You weren't sure why you felt like this, but you found it better than staring at your accomplished works.

Because he was art itself. He was the root of the trees you painted with earthly versions of brown, just like his eyes and stars of freckles that scattered across his sun-kissed skin. Every stroke, every brush, every little spray of pigment on him was perfect. He was so perfect in your eyes even despite his own flaws.

He was the field of roses and daisies. The valley of fireflies up the mountains hued with orange and purples. His words swayed you in every way just like the moment you danced under the golden light of the town. It was the necklace made with seashells that bound you together the night he held your hands and expressed how his heart beat fast whenever you were present. How he has never even ever felt that way before, or maybe that was just because you and him were young and didn't know what exactly loving was.

That necklace of seashells was the symbol of his affections to you, made only with determination and feelings that bow could never be.

Camilo wasn't like that anymore. He wasn't the same as the kid you danced with the night the moon was full above Encanto, wondering what it was like to be human and not just a celestial body peering over the darkened clouds.

He never held your hand, never looked at you the way he used to. He was a burning flame slightly fading and you didn't know what caused it, but to you, he was still as perfect. He was the world itself and you put your faith in him.

"The Madrigals only pitied them, that's why they're always in their house."

"Why would they always come? Aren't their parents taking care of them enough?"

"I heard they don't know how to pronounce 'denouement'. Maybe that's why their parents couldn't stand them."

"That's a little harsh. You should feel bad for them."

"Everyone pities Y/N, Allerà. That's why they're getting the special treatment."

"Camilo must be embarrassed to be with them."

"If only he could see how much of a mess they truly are."

You quietly sobbed at the memories. You remembered how you argued with Camilo, how he didn't even flinch to say the words you dreaded to hear. He was careless when he held you. And soon, he cried just for you. He begged you to stay, chased after you when you decided to be selfless again.

'You didn't deserve to be with a Madrigal from the very beginning anyway. What were you thinking? Did you really think you could be a part of them?'

You squeezed your eyes shut to get rid of the voices, but it was of no use. But then, it was replaced with the last of your memories.

"What happened, Antonio?" You asked the frowning boy, looking at the ground so little compared to you.

"I fought with the other kids today, Y/N. They were really mean," he explained and looked up at you as you raised his chin, smiling sadly.

"What did they say?"

"They were talking bad about you." Suddenly, Camilo walked in with a frown as he heard the response. He brought his palm to his forehead and groaned.

"They're crossing the line. I'm going to talk to them tomorrow. Don't worry, Antonio. We'll never let them say mean things to Y/N again."

"Camilo, please. Just let them be. It doesn't hurt me."

"Stop lying to me to save them, mi amor. I know how it affects you," he said and looked at Antonio, "Papa called for you outside."

And once Antonio was out of the room, Camilo rushed to you and opened his arms to bring you in closer to his chest, letting you rest your head on his shoulder. "You don't have to be afraid, Y/N. We have each other until Encanto crumbles — which will never happen, by the way, so that means forever and forever will be you and m — "

"Sh," you placed your finger on his lips and placed a small kiss on his forehead, "I'm already okay. You don't have to worry."

If only you could laugh, you would. The irony of that moment and the literal crumbling of Encanto, what a jest.

You wanted to live, but you had already lived your life. There was enough happiness and despair. You were satisfied with that. So, with the last of your energy, you smiled, embracing the fact that this was your fate. You were bound to live lifeless. And this was your peace greeting you, no matter how hard and painful.

"I'll be fine." You reassured the rat before your curled fingers slowly uncurled, your eyes closed without another sense, and your body shut down. The noises you heard were gone. The colours that flushed you to life were faint. Your body numbed, and the voices that called your name were never heard again.

Unfortunate, that's what you were.

Camilo instantaneously ran across the ruined home, careless about the fact that Pepa told him not to. His heart was pounding like a constant drum. The boy's face was etched with worry as his eyes landed on his cousin who successfully saved the candle, but now there was something different about it. The light was gone.

Mirabel sobbed as Julieta ran fast to hug her. Camilo was next to consult his cousin. "Mirabel! Goodness, I was so worried. You shouldn't have gone for the candle." She squeezed her tight as she sobbed and held on to her mother.

"Mirabel, are you okay?" Camilo asked. She looked at him and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Camilo," she said. His heart panged with more fear at her answer. A breath escaped his lips as his heart stung. He knew what she meant, but he had to be sure. He couldn't accept it.

"Sorry for what?" He questioned, but his cousin only gave him a look through her glasses, her eyes watering with tears.

The freckled boy leisurely shook his head and took a step back, not wanting to believe what her eyes told him that happened. He looked away, "No, they can't be."

"Y/N's alive, Mirabel. I know it." He said in denial as he tugged his poncho to cover himself from the cold that made him shiver but, perhaps it wasn't the cold. It was something else.

"What is it? What happened?" Pepa suddenly asked as she walked closer to place a hand on Camilo's shoulder, but he resisted, holding back the tears threatening to spill.

"Mamí, I don't see Y/N anywhere," Antonio mumbled. Felix quickly took him and turned him around so he wouldn't witness the dreaded things. He covered the boy's ear with his hand and instructed him to use his hands to block his hearing.

"Where are they?" Isabella asked.

"I don't know. They were somewhere over there, but I don't know where they ended up."

"I can't hear anything. Our powers are gone."

Agustín sighed and gave his daughter a reassuring pat, "We'll find them."

"Stay here, Mirabel. Don't move until I find something for you and Y/N."

Soon, everyone scattered around to look for the missing subject, Camilo being the first to run around and digging from all of the litters that could have possibly had you underneath. He never stopped. Even if his hands shook and weakened, he never gave up.

He earned cuts and scrapes from all of it, but he just couldn't let you be. He prayed he wouldn't find you in danger. He wished he would but rather you unharmed. He pushed through the mountains of discarded matters, chest heaving and scared of what he might find.

"Come on, come on, Y/N. You better not be — "

He wouldn't know what he would do if he ever finds you under one of these. His eyes were stinging with tears, and he couldn't even say a thing. There was a lump stuck in his throat. He swore he felt dizzy from it. The thoughts of you gone? He shut his eyes closed. No, you wouldn't end up like that. You were strong.

"Camilo!" He heard Pepa call. He turned and looked at his mother who, despite having her powers gone, somehow had Encanto's troposphere drizzling. Her eyes told him something, something he desired to be clueless off, and that's what made him look at everyone else for confirmation. Every single one wore the same solemn look which scared him.

The hairs of his body stood as he tried to blink his tears off, letting out a sob he refrained before he sprinted towards the spot where they found you. His life, the sun in his world, the tree that stood so tall in the field of his life. The only one in the billion he cared to envision his future with.

And when he saw you there, his world stopped. His steps stuttered. His eyebrows furrowed and pulled upwards to where it met at the sight. The lump on his throat only got bigger causing him to let it all out as he shook his head in denial once again, "No. Y/N!"

He rushed towards you and pushed the big chunks of wood and stone that weighed your unresponsive state. Agustín and Felix both helped the boy who desperately took the boulders off, weeping as he did so.

"It's going to be fine. I'm here, I'm here!" You were now accessible to get out of the narrow space you've struggled in. Your back was facing the grumbling sky as Pepa couldn't help herself but gasp and turn around not wanting to see how you ended up under the wreckage, cheeks wet with tears and blood as it rested on your left arm. Your free hand was embracing your cold skin but also appeared as if you were protecting something from being crushed by the weight.

He grabbed you by the shoulder and turned you around, but you were still stuck. He turned to the men, "They're still stuck — please get them out. I can't do it, I hate to — I just — " He couldn’t finish himself in between his hitching breath. It was getting harder and harder to breathe the second he processed more and more of what happened to you. He was angry, but most of his feelings were showered with grief and regret.

Once you were released, he laid your head on his lap, placing his palm on your face he used to adore. Look at how you turned out. If he hadn't let you go, you wouldn’t have suffered. "Y/N, I got you now. Wake up."

This is the part where he couldn't hold himself any longer and cried out in defeat, embracing you in an attempt to warm you. “I’m here. I was looking for you. I kept calling you. I wanted to apologise, and when I saw you go inside to do whatever it was you were so selfless enough to do, I just — I lost it.”

He shook your shoulders and brushed the strand of hair that covered your face that he held so delicately as if it was porcelain and glass all at the same time, "It's time to get up, mi vida."

It started pouring heavier rain as Camilo heard his mother weeping along with everyone else. Then, footsteps were heard appearing to have run far away. Mirabel. She must have had enough of swallowing the lump in her throat. No matter how it pained her, she didn’t want anyone to see her crying. She needed her time alone. You were her best friend. You stood by her, and you acted like her older sister even despite only being many months old. To think that she could never see you again. She whispered incoherent words.

He was getting more and more frustrated. He just wanted you back. Was that so hard? Camilo blamed the rain, the candle, anything that he could because of his fury, but what good did it do?

"Wake up. Wake up!" He exclaimed as he shook you even harder. Your eyes he was excited to see the very first thing in the morning that you came to visit his family to bring spices your parents worked hard to make never fluttered open. They were as still as your body, refusing to wake up no matter how hard he tried to bring you back. He regretted it. He regretted every single thing he told you earlier that day. He wanted to bring every word back to himself, and he would do anything just to make that happen. He would trade his soul for you to wake up and flash him that smile that never changed.

For him you were art. You truly were the most brilliant striking art he's ever seen, and out of all the paintings you made, you were the only one he never got tired of looking at. You were the landscape of his own world, the view that recharged him whenever he was exhausted from cheering people up. He didn't know what exact pigment they were but your lips and eyes fascinated him to the very core.

"Why would you come back?! Why would you risk your life? I told you. I told you to stay. If only I knew, I wouldn't have let you."

To see the colours wash away from you felt like he himself was at the verge of his death. How could he live without you? How could he get up every morning knowing that there wouldn't be a familiar knock on the door of his home? How could the sun rise if you weren't there?

The world was a black and white film before you came along and changed the way of living. Now it was back to where it had all begun, and once again, he was hopeless.

Living is not living without the person that made the gloomy days better.

"I'll do better, I swear, just come back!"

He gripped your shirt and rested his head on top of yours as the rain washed the tears away, removing the blood on your skin, and soaking every single one of you with the droplets of liquid from the sky, "Come back, come back, come back!" He whispered, his hands shaking from how his fingers clutched the fabric of your cloth.

"Remember the first painting you gave me? Remember how I clumsily stumbled and ripped the canvas, but instead of you yelling at me, you laughed and told me you could make it again? Or that time when we both stole arepas from Tía Julieta's kitchen and she chased after us with a rodillo?" He chuckled and stared at your hands, slowly twining your fingers with his. "What about living in a house together, just you and I when we grow up? What about eating and joking around, laughing until our stomachs hurt? What if having each other until — until Encanto falls apart? Come on, you have to get up. You have to wake up. Please, please, amor. I need you. I — "

"Camilo," Dolores put a hand on his shoulder as she bent her knees to sit beside him. He glanced at his sister. She squeezed him, reassuring him before her eyes mirrored hopelessness.

He did admit. He was growing tired. His eyes couldn't cry anymore. His heart broke, but nothing else came out of him, just exhaustion from being a blubbering mess.

He looked at what used to be his life and death, and suddenly, a rat came crawling on his shoulder, squeaking and pointing to his partner.

Isabella was next to sit beside him, "They must have saved this little thing."

That only hurt more. He didn't know what to do, but it wasn't out of his knowledge that he needed some time alone to himself and his feelings. He wished you were here. He wished it so bad but,

"There's nothing else we can do," Dolores whispered in a melancholic tone.

He gently rested you back to the ground, "I'll come back."

"Camilo?"

"Camilo, where are you going?"

Nowhere. He didn't know what else to say, do, or think. He was completely blocked. The boy wasn't sure if he wanted to ask for help from anyone else. He wanted to disappear. He stood up and turned around, pushing past his family to run off somewhere he could be alone.

The rat squeaked louder to get everyone's attention. Its tiny paw pointed to you as your eyelids twitched once.

Isabella turned to it, "What's going on?"

The rat squeaked again. Dolores snapped her head in its direction this time. "What?"

It pointed to you. This time it was your chest that showed signs of life, moving slightly. This alarmed the cousins, "Y/N!"

"They're gone, Isabella," Agustín sobbed.

"No. Pa, look! I think they're alive!"

Camilo turned around at that.

You wanted to live. You wanted to breathe again. What is this void? Why do you feel tired? Why does everything hurt? All you wanted was to feel alive. You were not ready to say goodbye. Not now. It can't be now. You still desired a life with the Madrigals. You want to see Camilo every single day. You want to witness every flower bloom, hear every gossip you can, eat so much you'll feel like you'll pop, watch the sun and dance under the rain, paint your family all over again. You wanted your heart to beat so fast, feeling alive than you have ever before.

You wanted to live. You needed to live.

You felt weak. What was happening? Why was it so cold? You felt your finger twitch.

Camilo's eyes widened and immediately went to you, gently pushing the women in his family aside as he walked towards you and looked at the rat with a grateful nod. "Y/N? Y/N. Can you hear me?"

You heard it, all right. But everything was muffled. Your body suddenly trembled, you felt like you bathed in a tub of Alaskan snow.

"Y/N!"

You opened your eyes slightly as it burned from the light. The static noises were back again and the pain on your back struck you with a crashing wave of displeasure. You winced, "Camilo?"

He could barely make out what you were saying, but the way your lips moved was familiar and he knew exactly what you had just said. It was his name he never thought he could hear from you again.

He smiled and hugged you tighter, "Yes, that's my name! That's exactly my name! You're awake — "

"I'm sorry," hot tears fell again as you hugged the soaking wet boy.

"It's not your fault, corazon. It never was!" He kissed your forehead once, twice, three times and more, savouring the moment that you were alive. You were okay, barely, but you were here again in between his arms.

He quickly removed his poncho and draped it over your shoulders as you were freezing cold. Suddenly, the clouds cleared up and the sky was blue again, just like the moment you and him talked for the first time.

"I thought I'd lost you. I thought you're gone and I couldn't live with myself."

Perhaps you were not unfortunate after all. Mirabel, Abuela, and . . . was that Bruno? It was! They all arrived at the right moment as they came rushing towards you once again crushing you with their embrace.

"Woah, woah, woah! Everyone take it easy on them. They're still hurt!" Camilo protectively warned as he cupped your cheek again, you leaning against his palm.

He's so young he never believed he knew what love is, but seeing you, there he knew the answer to his own question.

You were his faith and his faith resided in you. You were home. You were everything to him and not a million diamond could ever compare.

Who could have believed that out of all those artworks that you painted, whether it offends you or not, you were still the best piece of all.

You were not an artless progeny of your loving parents. You were not a fleeting belief. You were just you. Just you who completed the puzzle in his life.

And when your parents found out what happened to you, let's just say all hell broke loose. But there was nothing a Madrigal and a flawless Y/N can't resolve.

Who knew his epiphany has always been destined to be found under the fallen debris?

i'm really sorry this took so much time to write and i also apologise for it being so long. but anyways, here it is! the longest bit i've ever written. i hope it reached the emotions i was going for. i got lazy at some parts, but i promise i'll fix them tomorrow. i only got to proofread half of it and it's currently 12:33 AM. my head aches and i don't know if i should get up to take medicine or just go to sleep.

moving on, i hope you enjoyed this! feel free to write down your thoughts. have a nice day! <3

Tags : @mayusenpai666 @sheer-nuisance @camilolovesroxiie @leoisgayforwriting @tigreost @goddesslilithmoriarty @ais-little-teacorner

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