Disclaimer: Disney owns all the characters herein.
Another bright morning brought with it another hearty breakfast and another family discussion of what the day should hold. And for Bruno Madrigal, it also brought another vision.
"Confusing" wasn't the word for this one. "Befuddling," "incomprehensible," "bizarre" or "insane" might be better descriptors. To Bruno, some of what he'd seen the night before was also...kind of funny. He'd need another set of eyes on his vision to help interpret it. He kept the jade colored tablet with him at breakfast, hidden from most prying eyes. More than once he had to fend off a curious coati that wanted to see the object that glinted in the sunlight from underneath his ruana.
Bruno knew the tablet wouldn't go unnoticed by his mother. In fact, he was counting on it. So he was ready when Alma addressed him.
"Bruno, what is that? Have you had another vision?"
Bruno feigned a casual, unconcerned demeanor, pulling out the glass plate. "Oh, this? Yeah, it's...an interesting one. I was hoping we could discuss it in...relative privacy." His eyes involuntarily flicked to his second eldest niece. Dolores wore a look that made it clear she made no promises about not eavesdropping on that conversation. Beside her sat Mariano, looking a bit confused at the exchange before shrugging it off and going back to his eggs.
"Any hints as to what it's about?" Alma probed.
"W-well...let's just say some of us may need a day off tomorrow. It's gonna be a bit busy today."
Félix audibly groaned. "We were planning a romantic picnic lunch today, just the two of us!" he complained, gesturing to himself and his wife. "How busy is 'busy?' Can we just get away for lunch?"
Bruno shrugged. "I don't know all the details about what today holds. I can't tell you what's going to happen hour by hour. Only that you might wanna take a rain check on that picnic."
A role hit Bruno squarely on the cheek. He was pretty sure there was a burst of wind propelling it because it stung. He smirked at Pepa, who looked at him thoroughly unamused by the weather joke.
Félix made a show of pouting. "Thanks a lot, cuñado," he griped.
"Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it."
"If there is something important happening today that requires our full attention, then our full attention is what we will give it," Alma decreed. "Brunito, we will speak in private after breakfast."
That decided, the family returned to their meal, each now prodding Bruno between bites for more information. But the seer had already tucked his tablet away and wasn't offering anymore "spoilers," as he put it.
After breakfast, Alma invited Bruno to follow her while the rest of the family cleaned up. She led her son into her bedroom and to the window, where the candle was perched, and where she could still oversee the activity in the courtyard below.
"Alright, Bruno, let's see that tablet."
"Right," Bruno said, obediently handing it over. It depicted most of the family, clearly exhausted and disheveled, but mostly clinging to one another in happiness. Alma saw herself getting her shoulders massaged by Luisa. Julieta and Antonio were going around distributing arepas to the other family members. And Félix appeared to be sound asleep. Most curious of all was Pepa, who was holding Antonio's red-tailed boa constrictor around her neck. And smiling. The only family member who was absent was Bruno himself.
"Bruno, what...what on earth am I looking at?"
Bruno gave a half chuckle and accepted the tablet back. "Last night, I saw everyone doing some of the craziest things. Antonio was trying to cook. Pepa was pleading with a rabbit not to look at her like that. Mirabel had Isabela's powers!"
Alma gaped at him. "But...how can that be? Mirabel was not given a gift when the magic returned to Casita. Or at least not one that we've identified. Her door...well, it mostly resembles my door, but it doesn't even glow."
"I honestly have no idea, Mamá," Bruno said, starting to gesture with his hands. "But she wasn't the only one with someone else's gift. It looked almost like everyone had...switched powers. Camilo was complaining to Dolores about being overwhelmed, Félix made some kind of vow not to get on my case anymore, all the while holding his head like he was in pain, Mariano had a literal cloud over his head, and Isabela was excitedly shouting at Mirabel about having a gift the whole time. And poor Augustín was completely frazzled!"
As Bruno spoke, he became more and more excited, as did his hand motions. "And while I can't pinpoint exactly how it happened, I do know it all started with..."
His hand flew right into the candle, knocking it from its holder. Alma yelped and scrambled for it, but the wax cylinder rolled down onto the roof, headed straight for the courtyard.
"With that," Bruno finished, sucking air in through his teeth. "Whoops."
"Casita, catch it!" Alma cried.
The roof tiles jumped and tilted, trying to slow the descent of the candle, but achieving the opposite effect. Below, the rest of the family was in the courtyard, watching the action unfold.
"We have to catch the candle before it goes out!" Mirabel cried.
Her words galvanized the family into action. Camilo and Isabela made their way up toward the candle. Luisa picked up Mirabel and tossed her toward the roof, then caught her on her way down. All narrowly missed catching the candle, which continued to pitch and roll before seemingly coming to a stop on the very edge of the roof. The Madrigals held their collective breath, not daring to reach out. The candle wobbled a moment—and then tipped over the precipice.
Pepa screamed.
"I got it!" Augustín cried, diving toward the priceless family light. He hit the ground on his belly hard, knocking the wind out of his lungs for a moment. The candle dropped neatly upright into his hands, the flame still lit.
But just as about everyone released their breath, the candle pulsed. It sent out a golden wave that blasted everyone back a step or two. It cleared the cloud that had formed over Pepa's head and sent Antonio's animals scattering for shelter.
And finally, all was calm.
Augustín rose to his feet, holding the candle gingerly, as if it might explode at any moment. Félix clapped him on the back.
"Nice swan dive! That has to be the most graceful thing I've ever seen you do."
Augustín gave his brother-in-law a shaky grin.
Alma rushed down the stairs, followed closely by Bruno. "What happened?" she demanded. "Is the candle alright? The doors, they're flickering! How is everyone's magic?"
The family looked up to see that the doors were indeed flickering. And shifting. The images on them appeared to be changing. Even Mirabel's door would flicker with golden light every now and then, each time showing a variety of plants, which disappeared as quickly as they appeared.
Dolores gave her trademark squeak. "I can't hear," she half-whispered.
Mariano was at her side in an instant. "Oh no, you've gone deaf? Dolores, mi amor, look at me! Can...you...read...my...lips?" He clasped her hand and was very nearly in her face as he exaggerated each word.
Dolores gave him an exasperated but affectionate look. "I mean I can't hear everything anymore. I can hear normally. My super hearing is gone." She gasped. "But you...Mariano, look!"
She pointed above his head. Mariano looked up and gaped at the snow cloud above him. It responded to his shock by giving off shocks of its own, and Mariano jumped as his hair was teased by lightning.
"It's just like Tío Bruno said," Dolores said.
"I knew we couldn't convince her not to listen," Bruno muttered quietly with a half-shrug.
"A-and y-you can't convince me, either," Camilo replied, from across the courtyard. "I...I've got Dolores' hearing."
All eyes turned to Bruno.
"Bruno," Alma said, anger rising in her voice. "What has happened to us? What has happened to our miracle?"
Bruno sucked in a breath and released it shakily. "Well...it would seem...everyone's powers have been switched up."
"Switched up?!" Pepa cried. "What do you mean switched up?"
"Someone else has my strength?" Luisa cried, near panic. She yelped as she suddenly shifted into the form of Alma, looked down at herself, then at Alma, screamed and shifted back to herself, before promptly fainting.
Julieta was at her side in an instant, patting her cheeks to wake her. "Explain, hermano!" she demanded, glaring at Bruno.
Bruno gave a nervous chuckle. Julieta was the sister he was most afraid of angering. "Beware the nice ones" applied doubly to the eldest triplet. He cleared his throat and addressed everyone. "Don't worry, familia, this will all be over in 24 hours. I've seen that much. I didn't get to see who got what, other than a couple of you, but...I don't have any power right now. At all. I can't feel my magic. So I'm afraid that if you want anymore details about today, you'll have to find whoever currently has my power." His eyes flicked briefly to Félix, who was trying to console Pepa.
"Our powers have all been switched?" Camilo said. "Like, completely shuffled?"
"Looks that way." Bruno turned and saw Augustín still holding the candle, stiff as a board, trembling nervously. "Hey, just...put the candle back, I guess, and in 24 hours, everything will be fine. Meanwhile, good luck, everyone!" Bruno waved as he started up the stairs.
"Where do you think you're going, mijo?" Alma demanded.
"To bed," Bruno replied nonchalantly. "I haven't had a good night's sleep since I was five, and without the magic, I finally get one. For me, this is gonna be a nice break."
"But you have to help us figure all this out!" Camilo protested.
"I gave you all the information I have," Bruno called from the top of the stairs. "And I'm not in the vision at all, so I'm not part of the solution. I have nothing more to offer you." He started into his room, then turned and propped his vision tablet outside his door. "You can take another look at this if you need to. It's just one day. I'm sure you'll all be fine."
With that, Bruno disappeared into his room.
On the other side of his door, Bruno gave a sigh of relief. He had washed his hands of the entire situation and entrusted his family with it. A few of his rats ran up to his feet. He contemplated them for a moment.
"What do you think? Am I the jerk? I should just go back out and...no, I'd probably just be in the way."
He scooped up his pets and perched them on his shoulder. "When my visions exclude someone, they really exclude them. That means me. Besides...I'm so tired."
The last time Bruno had experienced a reprieve from the magic, he had been too focused on reconnecting with his family as they rebuilt Casita to really get any meaningful rest. And then the magic had returned, and he'd had to put on a brave face. It was a glorious blessing he thought he'd never experience to get to sleep without the burden of his gift weighing on him. With the assurance that his family would be absolutely fine, if not exhausted and probably a little miffed at him, Bruno made his way to his bed.
He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.