AUTHOR'S NOTES: So just to explain the flashes of insight and visions of the past Mirabel has been getting both in the previous chapters and in this one, this is her new Gift beginning to manifest. I'll explain more in the next chapter, but basically, Mirabel will be able to see visions of the past which can span from hours to years previously.

Chapter 7

With the new casita very nearly completed, everyone began working on decorating and furnishing the bedrooms and making sure that the kitchen and bathrooms were working properly.

As Luisa and Isabela put Bruno's new couch in his den in the wall space, they looked over at their abuelo who was helping Mirabel move the new armchair into place.

"Abuelo? Where did that chair in Bruno's old den come from?" Mirabel asked, curiously.

Pedro gave her a surprised look before sitting down in the new chair, grinning. "That chair used to be in my room, believe it or not." As his granddaughters sat down, eager to hear more, he explained. "After Bruno got his Gift, he began to have trouble sleeping. Bad dreams, involuntary visions, and so on. One night, he came into my room. I sat with him in the armchair, humming a couple lullabies I remembered Alma singing when the triplets were newborns."

"Eventually," Pedro continued. "-he felt he was too old for his father to be singing him to sleep. But he'd still come into my room and curl up in the chair. After we found the old room in the walls while we were looking for Bruno-this was after he'd adopted the rats as his pets and friends-the chair was moved down here."

"I always wondered why he liked sleeping in it so much," Mirabel mused. "It's a shame that it's gone."

Luisa and Isabela nodded in agreement, but after a moment, they exchanged a secret look with Mirabel before turning their attention back to Pedro. "Abuelo," Isabela said with a bright smile as she stood. "We actually have something we wanted to show you." Leaning the way out of the wall space and out of the house, Isabela went on. "Camilo and Dolores helped us with this little project."

"And we know you've been very curious about the building behind the casista," Luisa threw in, indicating a small barn with a beautifully carved door.

Pedro stopped, looking at his granddaughters with a raised eyebrow. "What is this place?"

"Open the door," Mirabel instructed, nodding at the front of the building.

Pedro did as told, letting out a small gasp as he stepped inside a beautiful chapel.

At the front was a magnificent painting of the Lady of Chiquinquira with an altar to place prayer candles. On a credenza pushed against the side wall was a crucifix statue with a rosary hanging from it.

Pedro slowly picked up the rosary, tears in his eyes as he turned to look at Isabela, Luisa, and Mirabel. "Where did you find Alma's rosary? I thought it was lost when the house fell!"

"It was buried in the rubble," Mirabel explained. "It was broken, but Dolores and I fixed it. Camilo did the painting."

"We know you still feel guilty about surviving when Abuela was murdered," Luisa explained, her gaze sweeping the chapel. "But from what you've told us about her... I know she forgives you. Now we want you to forgive yourself."

"It wasn't just Abuela's sacrifice that created the encanto," Mirabel told her grandfather, stepping forward and taking his hands in hers. "You made a sacrifice that night, too. You lost a life with Abuela. But all that grief and pain you felt when she was killed? That was what gave our family a miracle. It was a love so strong and raw and real that it saved everyone. We're a family because of you, Abuelo. We're a family built on love and compassion... The only reason we fell apart was that we didn't share everything with one another."

"We thought that love meant not burdening others with our problems," Isabela added. "But it's the other way around. Love means sharing the load, that the ones who really love you don't mind carrying a little more to help you grow."

"That night by the river, when we celebrated Alma's birthday... I realized something," Pedro murmured, looking at the trio of strong, loving, incredible young women before him. "You are what she gave her life for. You're the reason we were given an actual miracle. The Gift she gave me... was all of you."

Before Pedro could say anything else, he found himself wrapped up in a group hug with his wonderful granddaughters.

Letting out a whimper of pain as Julieta helped her hobble into the Guzman's house and over to the sofa in the sitting room, Mirabel slowly sat down while her mother examined her ankle. Probing carefully with skilled hands, Julieta let out a small, relieved sigh as she straightened up. "It's not broken," she assessed, propping the injured limb on a pillow. "But it's a pretty nasty sprain. You'll need to stay off that foot for a week or two at least."

"We're going to have to postpone the celebration for the new house," Mirabel bemoaned as she thought about how close they were to completing the new casita. "And we would have had everything done by next week if it hadn't been for my clumsiness."

Julieta said nothing as she slipped into the kitchen to prepare an herbal compress for Mirabel's ankle before scrounging up some bandages. Returning to her daughter, she saw Mirabel's disappointed look and before she could assure her that postponing the housewarming was not a big deal, Julieta froze as she realized what the look was really about.

"Mira, it was an accident," Julieta assured her, carefully wrapping the teenager's ankle. "It could have happened to anyone. It's not your fault." When she was finished, Julieta pulled a chair over and after a few moments, she asked, "You remember how I always used to tell you that you were special even without a Gift?"

Mirabel nodded, looking away, certain that she was in for a gentle reprimand for trying to do too much again.

"I used to say that," Julieta explained, frowning slightly. "-because there has always been a part of me that was jealous of you."

Mirabel looked up sharply, wondering if she'd actually heard correctly. "Me? You were jealous of... of me?"

Julieta nodded, pensively. "My role... my destiny in this family was given to me when I was only 5 years old. Papa started teaching me to cook when I was 4. Pepa and Bruno, more often than not, are terrors in the kitchen. So, the task of cooking for everyone always fell to Papa and me. And once my Gift allowed me to make foods that could actually heal people, my future seemed to be set."

She smiled at Mirabel as she went on. "The night you didn't get your Gift... I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the smallest bit of excitement." Off Mirabel's confused and slightly hurt expression, she went on. "Your purpose in life... your destiny...? It's whatever you want to make it, Mirabel Madrigal. You have an endless number of paths before you, all ready to take you to a future where you can be whatever you want."

In all her years of agonizing over her lack of a Gift, Mirabel realized that she'd never actually looked at it as a possible good thing. Her mother was right, of course. She could use the nonmagical talents she had and do whatever she wanted with her life.

"Mirabel!"

The mother-daughter bonding moment was interrupted as Antonio burst into the house followed by Bruno who looked stricken as he studied his injured sobrina. "I am so, so sorry. I thought-I thought I'd made the banister correctly, but I must not have nailed the posts in and-"

"It's not your fault," Mirabel assured her tio as he sat on the arm of the sofa. "I wasn't looking and missed a stair. The banister broke when the box of tools I was carrying went crashing through it."

"Mira is going to be okay," Julieta told her brother. "It's just a sprained ankle." Hearing Bruno mumble something under his breath, she straightened up slightly before turning to Antonio. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Mirabel for a little bit? Your Tio Bruno and I need to talk alone for a moment."

Bruno reluctantly stood and followed Julieta out to the kitchen, hunching a bit as he always did when he expected to be reprimanded or yelled at for a bad vision.

Julieta saw the change in her brother's body language, and she softened her tone as she spoke. "I'm not angry at you, Brunito," she promised. "I just... There's something you said a while ago and it's... it's been something I haven't been able to stop thinking about."

"What's-What's that?" Bruno asked, timidly.

Julieta felt tears well up in her eyes and there was a choke in her voice as she replied, "When you first saw the cracks in the house... the vision with Mirabel... You were really going to leave the house... to protect my little girl?"

Bruno froze as he considered how to respond. But after a while, he just murmured, "You know, my... my-my Gift never really did anything to help the family. I love the family, but... But-But all I ever seem to do is... All I ever do is cause more problems," he finished in a whisper. "No soy mas que una maldicion."

"You are NOT a curse!" Julieta cried as she pulled her brother into a hug, holding on to him as tightly as she could. "You're what holds this family together, Bruno." Wiping away tears as she took a step back. "You're my sanity. You've always been there to keep me grounded and honest. You help Pepa keep her emotions in check. And the children... I don't think any of them would have become who they are without you. And Mirabel... Mira might have been lost forever if you hadn't gone to find her."

"If it hadn't been for my visions, she might never have run away in the first place," Bruno countered, his bitterness over his Gift starting to come out.

But Julieta shook her head in disagreement. "I'm the reason Mirabel ran off, Bruno. My anger and hurtful words... If it hadn't been for your visions, we might never have known about the cracks until it was far too late." Taking her brother by the shoulders, she waited until he looked her in the eyes before she went on. "And yes, sometimes your visions were troublesome and sad. But life is always filled with pain and sorrow. We can't help that. What matters more is how we handle the negatives. Please, Bruno... Don't ever leave us. I couldn't bear it if you disappeared."

X

It was almost impossible for Mirabel to get to sleep that night as she couldn't find a comfortable position for her foot. With a light growl of frustration, she sat up, moving her foot gingerly off of the pillow she'd been resting it on.

"Can't sleep?"

Turning to see Isabela coming towards her with two hot cups of tea, Mirabel gratefully took one of the cups, sipping lightly. "Can't get my ankle in a good position," she replied, nodding.

"I understand," Isabela murmured as she sat down next to Mirabel. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt worse."

A quiet moment passed between the two sisters before Mirabel leaned against Isa. "Thank you," she whispered, resting her head on Isa's shoulder. "...for being my big sister." Feeling Isabela stiffen, she straightened up, her eyes wide as she saw Isa's lower lip tremble slightly. "What's wrong?"

Isabela set her teacup aside, turning and tucking one leg underneath as she faced Mirabel. "I don't think anyone ever told you about this... and I don't know if you remember, but... there was a time when... when I was..." Taking a deep breath, she confessed, "...when I was absolutely horrid to you."

Frowning as she tried to recall what Isabela was talking about, Mirabel shook her head in disbelief. "No, that's not... Isa, you've never been terrible to me! I mean, you teased me sometimes, but I-I-I don't know what you're..."

"It was after you didn't get your door on your 5th birthday," Isa explained. "For some reason I could never fathom... you suddenly went from my adorable baby sister to... to an awful, annoying pest. I didn't want you around... I said the most despicable things to you... One night..." She stopped, trying not to start sobbing in remorse. "You were in Tio Bruno's den, alone, and I... I-I locked the door. The rats eventually alerted the family and Papa and Tio Bruno let you out... I blamed Camilo for it. And you wouldn't stop crying for two days."

Standing up and pacing the sitting room, Isabela stopped, dropping onto the sofa again. "A few weeks before your 8th birthday... I got so angry with you... I told you to go jump in the river." She couldn't hold back the tears and she began to cry as she continued. "And you did! Mama and Papa found a note in your room saying that you were sorry you were bad and didn't have a Gift!"

Pulling Mirabel into a tight embrace, Isabela didn't care if she woke everyone up as she wailed, "You nearly drowned because of me!"

It took a few moments for Mirabel to process what she'd just heard and pulling away a bit so she could look her sister in the face, she had another flash of the past.

"Where's Mirabel?" Julieta asked Pepa as she found her sister with Camilo. "Have you seen her? She's been missing all day."

"I saw her running towards town," Camilo piped up. "I think Isabela was being mean to her again."

"Ai, Dios Mio..." Julieta sighed in an exasperated tone. "Agustin and I are going to have a long talk with Isa." Turning towards the door, she was about to go into town and look for her youngest daughter when Bruno and Luisa burst in, each soaking wet. In Bruno's arms, Mirabel was limp and unconscious and also soaked to the skin. "What happened?!" Julieta shrieked as she examined her little girl.

"Luisa and I were looking for Mirabel and someone shouted that she was in the river," Bruno replied, quickly as he carried her to a nearby sofa while Pepa ran off to fetch some dry towels and a blanket. "She's alive, Juli," he assured his sister. "But-but she nearly drowned."

"You wouldn't leave my side when you found out what happened," Mirabel murmured, her face a myriad of mixed emotions. "You made up that lullaby as you sat with me."

As the rest of the Madrigals hurried into the sitting room along with Mariano and Rosalinda Guzman, Isabela felt suddenly embarrassed as she caught the looks on her family's faces. She tried to offer some explanation, but she was sobbing too hard to be coherent.

Carefully moving over so that their mother could comfort Isabela, Mirabel felt a jolt of understanding as she realized why Isa had always been so protective of her... why she hadn't even hesitated before going after the dying candle. Because one day, long ago, Mirabel had almost died because of Isa's cruelty. Every day since that terrible event, Isabela had tried her best to make up for her words and actions.

"I'm so sorry, Mira!" Isabela muttered as she sobbed on her mother's shoulder. After a few more moments, she finally managed to take a deep breath before switching places with Julieta, taking Mirabel's hands and giving her a pleading look. "I have been holding all this inside for so long," she said after a while. "Mama and Abuelo have always taught us that actions speak louder than words, but... But it never felt like enough. And it wasn't! I needed to tell you everything. I needed to actually apologize to you. And... And I know that what I did was unforgivable, but... But-But I'm begging you to forgive me!"

Mirabel looked desperately at the rest of her family, hoping that someone could give her guidance on how to react to such a shocking revelation.

Catching Bruno's eye, her tio gave a small smile as he reminded her, "Mi Madre said that the magic would return when things had been rebuilt." Giving a sweeping look at the rest of the Madrigals, he sagely mused, "I thought she was talking about the house, but... But-But I think she was talking about... us. Rebuilding our family bonds... airing out old grievances and... and-and secrets we've kept from one another."

"Isa...," Mirabel said, giving her oldest sister a hurt look. "I could have killed myself because of what you said. And I know that's not who you are now, but... Knowing that you actually said those things to me... I honestly don't know how to respond to that. When Mama told me to leave after you were hurt..." Taking a steadying breath, she squeezed Isabela's hands and gave her a faint, tight-lipped smile. "Just... give me some time to process this, okay? I still love you. It's just... It's not something I ever expected to learn about you."

"That's why you were so angry with me when you found out about what I'd said to Mirabel," Julieta realized, thinking of her own hurtful words.

Isabela nodded, sniffling. "The more I thought about you sending Mirabel away... the more I was reminded of when I almost..."

Looking from her mother to her sister, Mirabel felt her heart ache as she also understood why Isabela had been so cold to their mother before. Isa had been afraid that Mirabel had run away and, one way or another, would never return.

While Luisa and Pepa sat with Isabela and Mirabel, and the rest of the Guzmans and Madrigals headed back to bed, Pedro turned to Julieta, lightly touching her shoulder before nodding in the direction of the back door.

As the pair stepped outside, Julieta wrapping a shawl about her shoulders to ward off the chill of the night, Pedro gave his 'eldest' daughter a somber look. "I expected too much from you at too young an age," he admitted with no preamble. "You were always trying to parent Pepa and Bruno... taking your mother's place, and that wasn't fair to you. I never taught you how to be a mother once your children were born. I think that's why you always came to me when you couldn't talk to your girls."

"There were times you seemed so... lost without Mama," Julieta replied, sadly. "I suppose a part of me always felt that if I could ease some of the burden of raising three children alone, maybe it would give you a chance to find your way again."

Pedro smiled at Julieta and after a moment, he gave a nod at the Guzman house. "Go grab your shoes and mine. I want to show you something."

As soon as father and daughter were no longer barefoot, Pedro led Julieta towards the small chapel behind their own home, escorting her inside before they sat in the small pew. "I've always tried to have faith," Julieta admitted as she looked at the painting of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary. "I pray... I go to mass... But it never feels... right. Like my belief in God is..."

"I stopped believing in Him for years after your mother was killed," Pedro mused, nodding in understanding. "I cursed God. I demanded to know why He would take Alma away from me. Do you know when I found my faith again?" When Julieta shook her head, he replied, "The moment you put little Isabela in my arms and told me I was an abuelo." Putting an arm around his daughter's shoulders, Pedro gave her a one-armed hug as he explained, "Faith isn't just about God. It's about reaching out a hand in the darkness, knowing that someone is going to be there to take it and guide you back into the light. For me, that was my family."

"Te amo, Papi," Julieta murmured, resting her head on her father's shoulder.

"I love you, too," Pedro replied, a peaceful smile on his face.