Story in a nutshell: It's the week before Navidad when Elena finds a new magical item that shows her more then she bargained for.

Authors Note: Feliz Navidad! I hope everyone is having a safe and merry Christmas 2019. Can you believe that we're starting a new decade in a few days?! I sure can't it's going to be a whirlwind from here on out. Just like the last couple of years I have a Christmas themed story. I always liked the idea of a mirror showing the future and wanted to use it here.

Enjoy!

Elena Castillo Flores sighed as she watched the weather pour down outside. It was such bad weather to be having on the week of Navidad. There went going out and getting everyone's gifts as she sighed dramatically again but nobody was really around to hear her fretting.

Getting up she headed down to the relatively new wizard's workshop that was beneath the library. Maybe something to help her with Esteban and Ash would present itself to her. Shaking her head that didn't seem likely but she could explore. Mateo wasn't here since he was visiting his mom so this could be her chance.

"Hey what's this?" she mumbled to herself finding a hand mirror pushed up against the side of a bookcase. She smiled at her reflection and then at the ruins on the back. What the? Cautiously to see what it would it would do, Elena read the words. "Time ahead is to time to come let me see."

She squinted and peered at the instructions, it said insert a time frame on it. Ohh maybe it was like a wishing mirror. "Uh, 15 years upon my eyes?"

Elena shrugged and flipped the mirror to see the reflection move before flashing brightly. Great, what was going to happen now. Peering into it she was curious to see what it would show her. The first thing she saw was a very young girl not even a toddler with a duster in her hand.

Iliana hummed a Christmas song under her breath and a smile on her face. She dusted off a picture of her great great grandfather King Alejandro before moving on to the next portrait. Despite the dusting being her punishment, she took the chore in stride. While humming she sat on the handrail and slide down the banister. At the foot of the steps was her mother instructing the guards on how to decorate the ballroom.

Princess Elena just looked at her curious to know who she was. Although se was familiar, very familiar, while watching. This was like a moving portrait or something special. This mirror was showing her the future although part of her couldn't believe it.

Astonished the new person that she was meeting was an older her as her jaw dropped. That was a very pregnant version of her.

"Perfect!" said Queen Elena with a giant grin on her face. "Gracias, everyone will be here just at sunset for the city caroling." She had turned and looked at her daughter with a sigh before sternly adding. "I hope you learned not to cut your sister's hair."

"Si Madre," she said quietly thinking back to that disaster as Mirabelle was currently with the royal barber. It wasn't like her to get in trouble, but it felt good not to get a harsh punishment. Her dark braid swung behind her as she blew a loose strand from her face.

MADRE! Oh my gosh if this thing was what she thought it was, this was her daughter. A bit stunned then usual Elena touched the glass and smiled. The little girl about four years old and looked like her at that age.

This Elena just pulled her into a hug and kissed her head lovingly before separating slightly. It was Navidad and no one would be punished for very long.

"Now I have a new dress for us and then let's start celebrating Navidad together a little early. Do you have your gifts ready Iliana?"

The young girl nodded eagerly and lead her over to a small closet just off the beaten path of the main hallway. Oh, now that was clever, and she would have to hide her gifts there. Elena watched as the young princess, Iliana, had showed her where her gifts have been stowed.

Peering into the mirror Elena watched as she could see a myriad of colorful gifts. Just how many children did she have in this hypothetical future? She counted about eight gifts for various people. Including some various familiar names such as Mateo and Naomi. She didn't see Gabe's name although his could be elsewhere. Although she did see a gift very clearly labeled daddy.

"Noo!" cried the young girl as she was handling something. Iliana had wrapped her arms around her mother and pointed to a broken present. "Tia Isabel's present is ruined."

Elena peered at it as best as she could and saw the issue. It was a clumsy but lovingly made attempt at making wind chimes. Some old scrap metal that Isabel probably wouldn't use that must have been molded by someone local. The top part holding all the strings together had broken off as it fell apart.

The older her just smiled and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's okay Iliana, we can fix it, Navidad is still a week away. We just need to tie them really tight. Here," she said gathering the strings and yarn ready to start again.

"I just wanted her to have a nice gift," she said crying some.

"Honey Isabel is going to love whatever you give to her because she loves you and thinks you're creative and an amazing niece." Elena just smiled as the older wiser version of herself had shown her how to tie the knots harder then she had before. The younger girl had brightened up and together they had managed to even rewrap it in the same packaging.

"I hope that the baby is here in time for Navidad," she said as the older Elena kissed her head.

"Me too."

She had stood up when they hear footsteps. Iliana had sprung to her feet shouting daddy and running to the door. Elena tried to peer and see closer into the mirror before she heard footsteps coming from her end.

Her head snapped up as she could hear Mateo calling for her.

"Elena!" called Mateo as he saw her in the workshop.

Her eyes snapped up from the mirror and looked at her friend grinning. This was kind of cool as she put it down for a minute and turned to him and held it out for him. Mateo looked down at the mirror with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Have you seen this? I found it behind that bookshelf," she said pointing to the shelf.

She looked down at it too hoping to catch a glimpse of the man she called her husband only to find it gone. Elena shook it once more but no such luck, she guessed that she must have erased it when she looked away.

Mateo had taken it from his hands and read the Maruvian words that were inscribed just underneath the words she could read. Huh. He had broken out into a huge smile and went to cross check a book.

"What is it?" she asked excitedly maybe he knew more.

"Well the inscription says that if you say, 'time ahead is to time to come let me see' and you insert a time you can see into a hypothetical future, or at least on the road you're heading now. If you said, 'time behind is to over and done' and then insert a time you can see the past. It's like a looking back glass except this includes just glimpses of what's going on right now."

Her eyes widened as she thought about it. The older her said that Navidad was a week away like it was now.

"Wait a second I can see the past with mami and papi?" she asked her breath hitched.

"Well it'll show a certain day at the time you said the incantation yes," said Mateo. "I'll have to investigate it farther. I'll tell you what, I'll try to have it done by Navidad okay?"

"Perfect, thank you so much Mateo!" she said grabbing him for a hug and squeezed him tight. While she always looked forward to the future and didn't dwell on the past much, this was something she needed at this time of the year.

With that she headed up back to the library to find her family and friends. She couldn't wait to see what they would show her once they got it back. Finding Gabe first she took his hand before pulling him racing to find the others to tell them exactly what she saw.