No Llores - Camilo Madrigal

6

"Mamá... Mamá is in a safe place now. She became a beautiful butterfly and flew to the sky." Her father sat beside her on her bed, cradling the sleeping newborn baby in his arms.

"She's not ever coming back, is she?" (y/n) asked quietly. At the age of nine, she already understood what that meant. She balled her fists on the sheets, staring at the wooden floor as sadness fills her chest.

"I- I am afraid so, mi vida. But I know she doesn't want you to worry about it too much. You know she loved your smile a lot." He spoke while caressing his daughter's head to comfort her.

"How can I smile, Papá? How can I smile when she's not here to see it?" Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she croaked out her words. "How can I be happy when she died and I will never be able to see her again?"

She looked up to her father with her big, glossy eyes and his gaze softened. He reached out to wipe her tears away, hiding his own despair deep in his heart so he could help his daughter.

"We're all hurting from her death, mi vida. Don't restrict yourself from your sorrows. You're allowed to be sad. You're human, just like everybody else."

He took her in his arm, holding Mateo with his other. The young Sanchez ignored her father's words and refused to shed another tear, keeping it in because she thought she had to stay strong for her father and little brother.

The three remained cuddled up in (y/n)'s bedroom for a while until the girl fell asleep against her father's shoulder. He gently laid her down, putting the blanket over her small body before kissing her forehead.

"Good night, mija."

The man picked up the picture frame from his daughter's bedside table. It was a photo of him and his late wife giving a kiss to both sides of (y/n)'s face. Rubbing his thumb over the photo, he frustratedly sighed. "What am I supposed to do without you? I miss you so much, mi amor."

The next morning, (y/n) was invited to La Casa Madrigal so Mr. Sanchez dropped her and Mateo off to get to work. Felix and Augustin also insisted to take care of the baby boy because they knew of their situation and wanted to help as much as they can.

Everybody asked (y/n) about how she was feeling and she always answered that she was okay even though she wasn't. Not in the slightest.

She felt like she would burst into tears if someone asked her if she was feeling alright one more time.

She fiddled with her fingers as she sat by Camilo's bed on the floor, leaning against the bed frame. Camilo reached out from beside her and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Don't be sad anymore, (y/n)."

"I'm not."

"Liar. Tell me what you want and I'll do it for you so you'd be happy."

"I don't want anything." She shook her head as his gaze remained glued to the floor.

He frowned at his best friend's state, desperately wanting to make her smile again. His brows furrowed as he thought really hard on what to do.

He smiled. "Do you wanna see your mamá again?"

This caught the girl's attention as she turned to the boy beside her. She gingerly nodded.

This made Camilo internally cheer. He shape-shifted into (y/n)'s mother and smiled at her, eyes forming a crescent shape. He wanted her to be the usual joyful girl she was again. He wanted to help.

But he quickly transformed back to himself with fear in his eyes as he saw the look of pain in (y/n)'s face. Her grip on his hand loosened as she uncontrollably sobbed.

Tears streamed down her face as memories of her mom smiling ever so lovingly at her flashed through her mind. She couldn't suck it up anymore, she just cried, her dejected voice echoed in the large room.

She wasn't okay. She was sad. Sad that her mother died. Sad that her father had more things to worry about. Sad that the woman who was just right in front of her eyes was Camilo and not her mother.

She missed her so much and she'd do anything to embrace her again, or hear her voice once more. The sight of her mother's gentle smile was her breaking point.

Camilo's body shook as he realized what he had done. He made her cry. Hearing her pained cries shattered his heart.

With his shaking hands, he cupped her cheeks and tried to wipe the continuous tears flowing from her eyes.

"I'm sorry, don't cry. Please... I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

He took her in his arms, feeling warm droplets on his shoulder as he bit his lip to stop himself from shedding his tears.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you. Please, don't cry." He muttered, gripping on (y/n)'s shirt.

Pepa soon came in the room because Dolores told her to. A cloud formed above her seeing her son's shaking figure trying to calm the little girl down.

Camilo released from the hug when he heard the door open and immediately turned to his mother, Dolores standing right behind her.

"Mamí... Mamí... please, help me. What do I do?" He croaked, feeling tears form in his eyes.

"It's alright, mijo. I'll take care of her, okay? Just calm down, you're shaking. Deep breath in, deep breath out." She rubbed his son's arm as he did what he was told.

The young Sanchez was taken away by Pepa to comfort her and have her picked up by her father because she wanted to be at her own home for now.

(y/n) realized she needed some time to grieve. She was embarrassed of breaking down in front of the Madrigal's and she started getting busy with chores that she couldn't visit them.

Camilo couldn't bring himself to shape-shift for a very long while after that, until Abuela has had enough of him refusing to use his gift.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years of not seeing each other and wondering when they will ever meet again.