↠ Flag ↳ This is going to end up being like a legit English essay. That's how much I can write lmao. This might actually end up being two projects xD ------- ♠ Bruno was always a timid m a n. No matter what, or how much he tried to be braver, he was always the same jumpy, sarcastic guy. Until he met Andriana. It was the night where his little niece Isabela was to receive her Gift. The townspeople had started to make these ceremonies something to come and watch. He had been trying to tell himself that he didn't mind that all of these people were here in his home to witness such an important thing. The attempts had failed, of course. He stood on the second level of Casita, pulling the sides of his ruana tighter around his shoulders. He was an anxious guy. He couldn't help that. He liked to be alone, in silence. That's why he loved his tower, a lonesome, dim place to relax. His mother, known as Abuela to everyone else, had ordered him out of that very tower for this day. He had taken as much time as she would allow to come down from his tower. His ears started ringing as soon as he heard the chattering voices of the people through the walls. Bruno was, of course, not used to this many people being around. He hated it when he was forced downstairs by his mother. He sighed and retreated the the most shadowed and least crowded corner he could find. That's when he first saw her. A short woman, shorter than him (surprisingly), but only by a couple inches, though. Though what had really caught his attention was her eyes. Large, blue ones that were noticeable even in the dim light cast by the sunset. Then he realized that he had never seen her before. Their town was small, and he recognized some part of everybody in this room. Except for her. The draw he felt towards her was enough to overcome his suspicion. Then he noticed something else. She was coming in his direction. His heart did a little fluttering thing in his chest that he had never experienced before. It was strange, but enjoyable. She had come up and leaned against the wall a few feet to the right of him. She had said, "Tough crowd, huh?" And with just those three words, it escalated from there. Not like one of those 'it escalated from there' s that lead to something bad. This was a good one of those. Very good. She had introduced herself. Andriana was her name. She refused to state her last name. He had asked why and she had promised she'd fill him in on her story later, when there were less people around. He had then introduced himself, and then the Gifting ceremony had begun. They walked out into the crowd. Bruno went to stand with his family near the staircase Isabela would walk up to receive her Gift. Andriana stood across from him on the other side of the crowd. The chattering came to a halt as the sun went all the way down. Isabela stood in the entrance to Casita. Even though the child was young, she was elegant and graceful in her movements and looks as she walked down the hall the two seperate sides of the crowd made for her. She climbed up the stairs and went to stand in front of Abuela. The older woman murmured a few words to the five year old before allowing her to wrap her hands around the candle that allowed the Madrigals to have their powers. Isabela then walked over to her door, reaching up to grip the doorknob. As soon as she touched the metal, the knob was covered with a sparkling orange glow. It spread over the door, then finally finished at the bottom, settling into a large door with a beautiful carving on it. Isabela stared up at her door, flowers sprouting in her hair. Abuela smiled down at her as the room erupted in cheers. Bruno winced as the noise filled his head. Isabella opened her door, looking wide-eyed into the flower-filled room. The crowd started going up the stairs to have a look inside. Nobody stayed. Except him and Andriana. She walked over to him and fulfilled her earlier promise. She told him her past, why she had ended up here. The reason was that she was born into a family of criminals, ones that had taken over an entire three towns and made their own city out of it. She had been taught their ways of weapon handling and evildoing, but had never put them to use. She was the only one not like them. She saw how the civilians flinched away from her as she walked by. She hated that. The police forces of the city had finally decided to pull together and rebel against her family. They hadn't believed her when she said that she wasn't like them, that she wanted to help. She couldn't blame them for not believing her. The first person they had gotten to was one of her sisters. She thought they were just going to imprison them, but the police had thought that wasn't enough. They were picking off her family one by one. So she ran. Ran from her birthplace. Ran from all she had ever known. And she was glad she did. | Cont in N & C + |
+ | She had continued running. Andriana had stopped in different towns before she came to this one, where the police had found her and driven her out. She had heard about this place, his town. Encanto. About the family with Gifts. She thought it would be safe to come here. So she did, and here she was now, sitting in front of him at a table in the kitchen. While he listened to every word of her story. After a moment of silence, after she had finished speaking, he opened his mouth. "Well, you can stay here. We'll do our best to keep you safe." That was his promise. He believed her. The smile she gave him after he had said that. It was priceless. And it all went uphill from there. They watched Dolores's Gift ceremony together a few months later. Their relationship started building up. They got closer, doing close to everything together. He had already figured out one thing. He loved her, though he didn't know if she felt the same way. He knew one way to find out. It was about the most nerve-racking thing he'd ever decided to do. He was going to ask Andriana to marry him. It was a cool night, like the one where they had first met, just over a year ago. The sun was setting, and they had decided to go down to the river. They walked down the hill towards the shallow slow-flowing body of water. It was more like a stream than a river, but who was he to judge? They talked quietly, laughing some. They stood on a little lip of land that hung over the river. By the time the sun was down they had been standing by the river for a bit, observing. It seemed out of instinct they both moved to sit down. He sat in a neat cross-legged way, while she sat in a more free pose, with her legs hanging over the edge and dangling over the water. He smiled softly at what he was about to ask. "What're you grinning about?" she asked in a good-humored way. Bruno looked over at her. "I-I was going to ask you something, actually." She looked back at him, her blue eyes meeting his. Even in the dark he could still see the blue flecks in her eyes as the moonlight hit them at that angle. "Yeah?" He looked back out at the river before looking back at her. "Will you marry me?" Her eyes went a little wide, and she smiled. "Of course I will," she murmured. Then Andriana did the unthinkable. She leaned forward and k[]ssed him. For the first time. That's how it went. They got married a half a year later, at the Casita. Bruno thought that that day was the only day in his life that he had been glad for the noise of celebration. They lived happily in the Casita for the next few months. He had even started to make things up with his mother. It was a sunny morning. Andriana was outside grooming her horse, who was only a couple years old. Bruno had just come out of the Casita after a conversation with Abuela, which had gone pretty well in his opinion. He walked over to her. She looked over her shoulder and smiled as she saw him, putting the comb down. When he came into earshot, she smiled up at him and said, "I have to tell you something." He had nodded to tell her to go on. "Well.." She indeed had had something to say. Something that left his heart beating terribly quick. He was going to be a father. A father! There was nothing else he could think of that would have made him feel like this. No words could describe the amount of emotions that he was feeling in that moment. Bruno stood there, eyes widened, with his arms at his sides, while Andriana hugged him, laughing quietly. Later on, Andriana had asked him this question. "What do you think it'll be? A boy or a girl?" He had replied with a smile, "Well, I won't get my hopes up, but a little girl wouldn't hurt.." Andriana had smiled back and had said she had been thinking the same thing. And around eight months later, on a warm summer night, it was happening. He was going to become a father. The labor was difficult for Andriana, in a way he would never understand (Thankfully). She had the help of his two sisters and mother, though. He never left her side. It was a couple hours past midnight by the time it ended, and as he heard the first cries of his child. It filled him with a certain joy and pain to hear that sound. His heart was in his throat as he heard Pepa and Julieta converse quietly. Abuela picked up a blanket. Bruno looked back down at Andriana as she squeezed his hand, tears in her eyes. He helped her sit up as Julieta came over to them, a small bundle in her arms. She gave the swaddled baby to Andriana before whispering, "It's a girl," and giving him a smile. Bruno smiled back at his sister before looking down at his wife and new daughter. His daughter. He liked the sound of that. "What should we name her?" Andriana asked, looking down at the little b a b a swaddled in yellow (Idk random color lmao). Bruno thinks for a moment before offering, "How about Elana?" As if in response to his suggestion, the little girl opened her eyes. + | Part 2 : https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/630873068/ |
