For the second time that week, Mirabel woke up feeling excellent feeling absolutely incredible. Full of energy, raring to go, and tough. But this time it wasn't necessarily because of magic, as much as it was due to Luisa's impeccable physical routine. And, well, Mirabel wasn't about to ruin that for her, was she?

She lifted the covers off of herself and carefully tiptoed out of bed. Dang, she was tall in this body. She'd thought Tía Pepa was tall, but this was on another level. Phew. Once again, Mirabel walked past her own body, today occupied by Luisa, who was still sleeping. She moved as quietly as she could, going further into the room until she reached Luisa's training equipment, a decent distance away from her sister.

Okay, maybe she was a little excited about this. She'd watched Luisa lift things several times her own size and weight many times, and always wondered what that was like. Now she had the chance to feel it for herself.

Mirabel located a large barbell with huge 2000-lb weights on each side. A whole ton? Luisa just benched a whole ton, casually. That was ridiculous and amazing. Eagerly, Mirabel bent down and gripped the bar in the middle.

…Whoa. It was like she could feel the whole thing in her hand, despite only touching a part of it. Positioning herself properly (Luisa always emphasized this, so Mirabel made sure she was doing it right), she braced herself and lifted the barbell above her head.

It was light as a feather! Mirabel could hardly contain her excitement. It was like lifting a couple of marshmallows, maybe even less. Her arm felt like it was being fed a surge of power from an unknown source, energy flowing through like water while at the same time feeling a reliable sturdiness. So this was what unlimited strength felt like! Incredible!

Mirabel laughed giddily, benching the weight a few times with her one hand. Then, in a burst of misplaced confidence, she decided to try throwing it in the air and catching it.

BANG! the weight fumbled from her hands and landed with an horrifying crash on the ground. Mirabel winced. Thank goodness Luisa's room was built to withstand such accidents or she would have been in much bigger trouble. But now her ears were ringing and Casita was scolding her. Note to self: don't throw things.

The noise woke poor Luisa from her slumber, and Mirabel soon found her half-asleep and frazzled sister scurrying over to her side of the room, eyes wide in panic.

"What happened?" Luisa asked hurriedly. "What was that noise? Are you okay?"

Mirabel grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm fine, sorry. I just, uh…dropped something."

Luisa's shoulders sagged with relief. "Oh…okay, good."

They stared at each other for a moment. Luisa looked rather out of it. She seemed stressed.

"…I can't see."

Mirabel snorted. "Glasses are on the vanity."

"Right, right…" Luisa went back to the sleeping area, hand out in front of her like she was blind. She kept mumbling, "This is so weird. This feels weird. I thought I was ready for this, but it feels so wrong—."

Minutes later, they headed out to meet the rest of the family (Mirabel bumped her head on several doorframes on the way—being this tall was going to take some getting used to). Almost the second they stepped out the door for breakfast, they were ambushed.

"Everything okay? No complications?"

"Are you hungry, mija? Any weird sensations?"

"What's it like being Hercules, Mirabel?"

Luisa took Mirabel's hand and pulled her away from their smothering family. Mirabel laughed. "Guys, we're fine, it's the same as before. I'm Luisa, and Luisa is me."

"Yeah…" Luisa mumbled.

Once everyone was satisfied with their apparent well-being, Abuela moved on to the next item on her list.

"How are you feeling today, Mirabel?" She asked. "With regards to the magic?" (She already had her notepad ready).

Mirabel raised an amused eyebrow, but didn't comment on it. Instead, she rolled her shoulders and thought for a moment. "Well, I feel…sturdy. Like my whole body is made out of rock. Or like my skin has become denser, an impenetrable wall. Oh, and I lifted something super heavy earlier, it felt like it got stronger around the arm I was using, like there was an energy field around me and the object that allowed me to lift it."

Abuela scribbled her notes down furiously.

Mirabel looked over the rest of the family with a grin. "Aaaand I'm super tall! And that makes me feel even more powerful." She looked down toward Isabela, making a point to lean over her. "Hello, down there!"

Isabela responded by flicking several flowers in her face.

Camilo also responded to the tease, shapeshifting into Luisa's shape as well and looking at Mirabel with the same eye level. "You were saying?"

Mirabel smiled at him. "I'm taking your body next."

"Well, that doesn't sound creepy at all."

"Ahem," Abuela interrupted their little play fight. She gave Camilo a look until he shifted back, then turned to Luisa. "Does what Mirabel is describing sound correct to you, Luisa?"

Luisa shrugged pitifully. "I guess so, yeah. I mean…I do feel all soft and weak without my powers." She sniffed. "So I guess it's correct."

Mirabel pouted. "Hey, who are you calling soft and weak? Come on Luisa, lighten up. You can handle being me for a day."

She gave Luisa a soft smack on the arm.

Luisa screamed in pain.

Mirabel flinched. Luisa's arm (no, Mirabel's arm! Her arm!) was bent at a bad angle and she was screaming and clutching it. The rest of the family scrambled to help her, and it took Mirabel a second to realize what had happened. She had super-strength now. What seemed like nothing to her was going to be a lot for everyone else. Oh no, she'd gone and hurt her sister, and her own body by proxy. This was terrible!

Luckily the trouble only lasted for a second, considering they had a literal magic healer in the family. Julieta stuffed her food into Luisa's mouth, correcting the injury. Everyone sighed with relief.

Julieta wiped at Luisa's eyes. "Are you okay now?"

"Y…yeah. Sorry for screaming."

"Uh, your arm was literally broken," Bruno piped up. "You can scream if you want to."

"Luisa, I am so, so sorry," Mirabel said pitifully. "I didn't mean that—I'm just not used to my strength yet."

"S'okay, Mira…" Luisa sniffed. She wiped her face and nodded at everyone. "Uh…it's fine now. Let's just eat."

Mirabel nodded, still feeling guilty. Maybe it was best to not touch anyone until she got a better hold of her strength.

The others fell back into their routine. Sheepishly, Mirabel shuffled over to the breakfast table and picked up a plate.

It broke.

She blinked down at it. That—well, it wasn't their fancy dinner plates, thankfully, but that was still solid porcelain! She'd barely touched it! Now they were going to have to pay for another one.

Mirabel exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Tía Pepa standing behind her. She forced a grin and gently put the pieces of the plate in the wastebasket next to her. "Sorry…" she said.

Frustrated, she turned to the stack of plates again and…slowly….gently…picked up another. Only the tiniest amount of pressure required to hold it, barely a touch. It didn't break, so Mirabel held her breath and moved on. Everything was so painstaking this way. Luisa always made it look so easy. How did she manage to not break everything and everyone around her?

Mirabel picked up a spoon and started to scoop some food…but she scooped too hard, apparently. Because the whole table fell down. It was like watching dominos fall. One thing fell, then the next, then the next…and all anyone could do was watch in horror.

Oh, and the plate in her hand was broken now. Again.

"…you know, maybe I'll just stay away from…everything…" Mirabel mumbled. "…until I can get a better handle on this Gift."

Dejected, she tossed the plate away and headed back inside to Luisa's room. She bumped her head on the way in. "Ow."

Julieta turned to Agustín, a wry smile on her face. "It's like Luisa's ceremony all over again, no?"

Luisa herself picked up her plate of food and sighed. "I'll go help her."


Mirabel wasn't upset, per se, but a little discouraged. She'd forgotten that having super-strength came with downsides. How did Luisa handle this? It had been a long time since Mirabel had seen her accidentally break anything. And she always gave the best hugs, too, never accidentally breaking a bone or whatever Mirabel had just done.

Just as she was mulling all this over, the door opened and Luisa tiptoed in with a smile.

"Uh…hey," Luisa greeted gently. "You okay?"

"Oh, geez, I dunno," Mirabel sighed. "I'm so sorry about what happened outside."

Luisa chuckled. "It's okay, I'm not mad. No one is. Actually, I think I should have warned you about that sooner. Being strong is cool, but it can also be a pain in the butt."

Mirabel cracked a grin.

"But don't worry, I can teach you how to control it," Luisa continued. "It took me a while to learn, but that just means I can teach you quickly."

"Would you? I can't handle being trapped in a room all day. Even if it's a magical one."

Luisa snorted. "Sure thing, sis. Come on, let's go back to my gym."

Mirabel slowly got off the bed and followed Luisa to the weights from earlier.

"Ok," Luisa began, standing up straight and going into teacher mode. "So, when you pick up this super-heavy barbell, you feel like your arm gets stronger in the process, right?"

Mirabel hesitantly picked up the weight in question, making sure to keep a safe distance from her sister. "Yeah," she replied. "Like, that sturdy feeling I mentioned before. It's like my whole arm is getting even sturdier while I hold it."

Luisa nodded. "Right. Well, I've never realized this before, but I think when I try to handle delicate things…I try to concentrate that energy on other parts of my body."

Mirabel's eyes lit up. "Ohh…"

"Usually my feet," Luisa continued. "I just kinda plant them down and focus on my connection to the Earth, as if I'm trying to push it." She demonstrated her superhero pose, then she snorted. "Uh, I can't actually move the whole earth, of course. But by pretending to do it, I can let my arms hold other things without breaking them."

Mirabel copied her pose. The weight in her hand didn't get any heavier, but her feet definitely did feel more solid. She tried putting the barbell down, and the feeling in her feet increased.

"Sometimes I might even try focusing on my chest or my back," Luisa said. "Like I'm a shield rather than an immovable force, you know?" She grinned. "Anyway, you should practice that a little. Try to give me a high five."

Luisa held up her hand, and Mirabel winced. "Are you sure? Maybe we should wait until I've got a hang of this. I don't want to break your hand—my hand."

Luisa pouted, but she put her hand down. "Okay. Do what works for you, sis."

Mirabel instead decided to focus on holding a few of Luisa's books. She got permission to handle some that were less important and started carefully flipping through the pages. She planted her feet in the ground, like Luisa had said, feeling like a big stone statue in the process.

When the book didn't get completely shredded, she started to focus on rearranging lighter things in the room, like pencils, bottles, and even small mirrors. There were some dents made here and there, but no big accidents.

Mirabel grinned to herself as she slowly, deliberately moved around the room. "Okay…I think I'm starting to get the hang of it."

Luisa nodded in approval. "Nice job, Mira…think fast!"

Mirabel looked up to see an apple flying toward her face. She yelped, instinctively reaching up to catch it. The apple all but exploded in her hand, soaking it with sticky sweet juice.

"Ugh, Luisa! What was that for? I didn't get a chance to focus on my feet first!"

Luisa was giving her a cheeky grin. "Sorry. I just thought you were ready for the next step. You don't always have time to think about it, it's going to become second nature. What if, say, you have to catch someone falling from a tree?"

Mirabel grimaced, but Luisa had a point. "Fine, fine." She tossed the apple and wiped her hand on her skirt. "Throw something else."

"Mmm, it has to be a surprise, sis. Turn around and keep practicing."

Mirabel sighed. She went back to meticulously moving things of various weights around the room, redirecting her energy as needed. By this point, she was starting to feel like a stone golem shifting its body parts around, like something out of a fairy tale.

Luisa threw a beach ball at her next. It popped.

The next one was a banana (where was she getting all these fruits from?). Splattered everywhere. Mirabel was getting real sick of getting food all over her hand, but she couldn't wash it yet for fear of breaking the sink.

Then, finally, a soft toy was thrown her way, and Mirabel…caught it. It didn't explode into stuffing or get torn apart at her grip. She just caught it.

For a moment, she was frozen, scared to break the delicate balance.

Luisa was beaming. "Hey, good job! You did it!"

"I did it!" Mirabel whooped and pumped her fist in the air. The toy's head split open. "Oh, uh…whoops."


Eventually Mirabel was confident enough to go downstairs. After she (carefully) washed her hands and ate a (careful) late breakfast, she more or less had her vigor back.

"Okay!" Mirabel declared. "I wanna go out and get some fresh air. Luisa, do you want to come with me in case I need to move anything?"

Luisa raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? You want to do my chores?"

"Well, I mean…if someone asks me to move something, I gotta pretend to be you, right?" She grinned. "Maybe you can give me more tips. Come on."

Mirabel turned and walked toward town, a slight skip in her step. Now that she knew what she was doing, her excitement had returned and she was once again eager to use this day to its fullest.

Behind her, Luisa struggled to keep up on her now much shorter legs.

"Mirabel, are you completely certain about this?" Luisa huffed. "I'm sure nobody will mind if—if I need to take a day off, right? That's something we've been doing, isn't it?"

Mirabel turned to her sister and pouted. "I know, but…I want to experience being you to the fullest before the day ends. Lifting weights is one thing, but…but I want to experience what it's like the carry a whole building, or a bridge, or…"

"Luisaaaa!" Someone called out.

Both Luisa and Mirabel turned to the sound. Señor Rodriguez was hurrying toward them, out of breath, slightly doubled over.

"Ay…thank goodness I found you." The man stood up straighter. "My house—it's located next to the riverbank—but there was a lot of erosion next to it. My house is far too close to the river now and I'm worried it might start to erode the foundation."

Mirabel rolled her eyes. "Well, let's move your house inland, then. That will keep it away from the water."

She winked down at her worried sister and started to march after the man as he led her toward his house. Sure enough, the building looked like it was about to teeter into the river with the way it was situated. So Mirabel told everyone to step back, excitedly rubbed her hands together…and lifted the whole dang thing high above her head.

Wheeeew, what a thrill! Her whole body felt like it had gotten even sturdier with the task, and her hands burned with energy right where it made contact. She could almost feel the whole building in her mind, everything inside, keeping it together as she balanced it in the air. Like with Dolores' Gift, it felt like a whole new sensation altogether.

Luisa, for her part, was squeaking with worry. "Y-you don't need to do all that! You could probably just—push it, or something!"

"I got it!" Mirabel replied cheerfully. "Light as a feather!"

Once they located a nice, empty space inland and made sure everyone was out of the way, Mirabel set the house down, jumping a little at the heavy sound it made.

Luisa hurried to Mirabel's side as soon as she could. "You okay?"

"Lulu, I'm you. Don't worry so much, I'll be fine."

They waved goodbye to Señor Rodriguez and continued on their way. Mirabel was still getting a kick out of the fact that she was so much taller than everyone now. But she still tried to stay away from touching anyone…just in case.

Minutes later, someone else was running up to her for a request.

"Hola, Luisa!" Said an older woman. "I'm so glad I caught you. I need to rebuild a fence for my chickens, but the wood delivery seems to have gotten stuck…"

"Say no more, Señora," Mirabel grinned. "I'll grab it for you."

She skipped away to where she knew the carpenter's shop was, as Luisa once again scrambled to keep up. Mirabel noticed she was drawing some weird looks as she skipped, so she quickly changed to Luisa's proud walk instead. Oops. Got a little too excited there.

In the middle of her lumber delivery, someone else approached her.

"Luisa!" Said a couple of teenage boys. "Could you move the soccer goals over to the big field next to the barber shop? There's more room there."

Mirabel glanced up at the giant pile of wood she was carrying above her head. "Uh…okay. After I'm done with this."

The boys followed her as she made her delivery, which felt just a little bit weird. Just as she was going with them to the goalposts that needed to be moved, someone else approached her.

"Luisa," said a middle-aged man. "I've lost my quill pen and I think it's fallen under my house. Do you think you can lift it up so I can look for it?"

Mirabel blinked incredulously. "Wh-what?"

"Hey, Señor!" One of the teenage boys whined. "Luisa's helping us right now!"

"Wait, hold on…" Mirabel began. She was being fought over now? What the heck?

And then, as if this wasn't enough, someone else ran up to her.

"Luisa," said the young woman. "My husband's tractor fell into a ditch. We need you to fish it out."

"Huh?"

"Well, is he in the tractor? Is he hurt?" The Quill Pen Guy asked.

"Er…no…"

"Then wait your turn, I was here first."

"We were here first!" cried the boys.

Mirabel had enough. "Alright, that's it! Everyone be quiet!"

The arguing stopped. They all stared at Mirabel with wide eyes.

Mirabel rubbed her forehead. "Come on, guys, are you serious? I can't be doing everything for you. We talked about this." She managed to catch Luisa's eyes, frowned at her, and turned back to the villagers vying for her attention. "Do any of you have an actual, life-threatening emergency that you need my help with?"

They all muttered their "No"s.

"Then I need you all to think of your own solutions before coming to me. Señor, with all due respect, just get a new pen."

"B-but—it's a vintage—!"

"Tough. And you boys, either play on the small field or make your own goalposts on the big one. You don't need my help for a game."

The boys looked annoyed but reluctantly agreed.

"And you—." Mirabel turned to Tractor Lady, who flinched. "I'll fish out your tractor, but that's it. Someone else will have to fill in the ditch."

The woman nodded. "O-okay. Thank you."

"Good." Mirabel put her hands on her hips and looked around at the group like a disappointed parent. "And I'd better not see you acting like this anymore. Remember, Luisa's not—er, I'm not a tool that you can fight over and make me do all your work. Don't come to me unless you really need my help."

The scolded villagers murmured their apologies before slinking away.

Mirabel sighed and turned to the woman. "Alright. Lead the way."

She and Luisa followed the woman to her home. As they walked through the fields, Mirabel sidled up to her "big" sister and gave her a frown.

"Luisa," she whispered. "What was that all about? You've been letting people push you around again, haven't you?"

Luisa didn't meet her gaze.

"Is that why you didn't want me to do your chores? So I wouldn't see all that?"

"W-well, I…I was also worried about you, so…" Luisa gave a half-hearted grin.

"Ay, Luisa, you're unbelievable." Mirabel rolled her eyes. "That's it, after I fish this lady's tractor out, I'm declaring break time. And I'll tell the family to keep a very close eye on you from now on."

Luisa pressed her lips together and nodded in acceptance. Like a child accepting their punishment. Silly girl.

And as soon as the chore was done, Mirabel stood up straight and clapped the dust off her hands. Thankfully, no one else appeared to ask for any more favors.

"Alright," Mirabel declared. "Break time. You know what I could totally go for right now? Some ice cream."

She started happily walking back to town and motioned for Luisa to follow. "Come on, what's your favorite flavor? We've switched our tastes in food, you know, so I'll eat your favorite and you'll eat mine."

Luisa shrugged, looking somewhat nervous. "My favorite? Uh, I dunno…probably something like vanilla, or…strawberry…"

"Do you not know what your favorite flavor is?"

Luisa laughed. "Ah, I just…I don't eat ice cream much. It's so…fatty, and unhealthy, and generally not conducive to…a good diet, so I try to avoid it—uh, are we going into that parlor?"

She pointed to the building that Mirabel was going into. Mirabel grinned, not noticing her sister's wide eyes. "Of course! They make the best ice cream in town."

Without waiting for an answer, Mirabel (carefully) pushed the door open and walked inside. Luisa scrambled in after.

"Buenas tardes!" Mirabel called. "I'd like two ice cream bowls, please!"

There was an older man behind the counter, and he smiled happily when he saw Mirabel walking in.

"Buenas tardes, Luisa!" He greeted. "Will it be the usual for you?"

Mirabel blinked. "The…usual?" She looked down at Luisa, who was still beside her. Luisa was once again avoiding her gaze, sweating profusely.

"One scoop of chocolate, one scoop of pistachio, one scoop of coffee with peanut butter cups, all covered in cashews and chocolate drizzle," the clerk recited proudly. "Or are we switching it up today?"

Mirabel fought to keep from snickering. "Nope. That sounds perfect, Señor."

He nodded and looked at Luisa. "And how about you, Mirabel?"

"U-um…"

"She wants two scoops of the rainbow swirl with chocolate sprinkles," Mirabel told him. "Thanks!"

As the clerk left to prepare their orders, Mirabel put her hands on her hips. "So…the ice cream guy has your usual order memorized, huh? I thought you said that ice cream was unhealthy and you avoided it."

Luisa groaned. "Don't tell Mamà."

"Psh. You big baby." She lifted her arm to give Luisa a pat on the back, then hesitated and went for a feather-light poke instead. Luisa didn't double over in pain, so maybe that was a good sign that Mirabel was getting the hang of it.

Her finger felt a little less rock-hard when she poked her sister, too. Hmm. Interesting.

Mirabel kept this in mind when she was served her ice cream bowl. Everyone around her was probably confused why she was moving so slowly, but she kept at it and paid attention. Every movement was so deliberate. Just as much as her energy seemed to surge when picking heavy things up, it almost seemed to back away, tiptoe, carefully, when she was handling lighter things. Interesting. Very interesting. She'd have to tell Abuela all about it.

It was late afternoon when they finished eating, and Mirabel managed to do some more heavy lifting before it was time to head back home.

"Phew," she said. "Wow, my arms are actually sore, I didn't know that happened to you."

Luisa chuckled. "Yeah, I mean…lifting heavy things is still a workout, even if it feels light."

"Uh-huh. And yet you still were constantly doing things for everyone like it was nothing."

"Okay, Mirabel, I get it, you don't need to keep harping on that." Luisa huffed. "But I'm proud of you, though. You did a lot better than I thought."

Mirabel grinned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just mean that I'm glad you got a handle on your strength," Luisa chuckled, raising her hands up. "It took a lot less time than I did."

"Aww, that's only because I had you to teach me."

"I guess so. Either way, good job. You were awesome."

Luisa held up her hand for a high-five. Mirabel stared at it hesitantly.

"Come on, Mira, don't leave me hanging," Luisa encouraged. "You've been practicing all day. I believe in you."

Mirabel took a moment to focus on her feet before very carefully returning Luisa's high-five.

Luisa shook out her hand a little afterwards, but she was smiling. "There you go! See, you've got it."

Mirabel sighed with relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Because I've been super touch-starved all day and I am in desperate need of a hug."

"Bring it in."

Mirabel scooped Luisa into her arms and cradled her gently in a hug. Luisa gasped a little.

"Oh shoot, are you—"

"I'm fine," Luisa replied. "Just surprised—oh wow. Oh wow. This is really, really nice…" Luisa snuggled further into the embrace, eyes wide. "Gosh, is this what it feels like to be the huggee instead of the hugger?"

Mirabel scoffed and started carrying Luisa back to their home. "Hugs are mutual, Luisa."

"No, this is different. I feel so…embraced, and protected. I like it."

"Well, congratulations, you now know what it's like to receive one of your famous hugs."

"This is perfect." Luisa grinned and relaxed further into the cradle. "I take back everything I said before. Being small does have its perks. Major perks."

"…what on Earth were you saying about it before?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing, nothing."


Everyone was happy to have Mirabel joining them for dinner, and so was she. But Luisa kept telling everyone about how great it was to be "small and soft instead of big and strong," and quite frankly, it was getting embarrassing. So Mirabel decided to change the subject.

"Okay!" She declared, clapping her hands and making Dolores flinch a bit. "I, uh, guess we should talk about who's next on our grand adventure?"

Agustín rolled his eyes. "How much longer is this thing going to last again?"

"Two days. Alright, so I guess the next person in line is…" she grimaced. "Oh. It's Camilo."

The boy in question looked up from his food, and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you sound so disappointed?"

"Not disappointed, just worried about how your immature self is gonna take being in my body." Mirabel crossed her arms. "Please, try not to be weird about it."

Camilo rolled his eyes. "Mirabel, come on, you think I've never been in your body before?" He quickly shifted into a perfect form of Mirabel—the real one. "I'm a shapeshifter, remember?"

A few giggles were heard around the table.

"Oh, right…" Mirabel replied. "Then I guess you won't mind it as much, just please don't do anything to make me look stupid…" As she was saying this, she lit up. "Oh, wait a minute! I could use your shapeshifting to be myself tomorrow! The body swap won't even matter."

Something like a cheeky smile crossed Camilo's face, but he quickly became serious again. "Right, right, of course. You can shapeshift. Have fun."

"…what was with that look?"

"What look?" Camilo blinked at her innocently.

Mirabel had to hold herself back from smacking him, instead going back to eating. Whatever her cousin had in mind, she'd just smack him with his own hand over it tomorrow.