AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter follows immediately after the previous one.

Also, I threw in a nod to another EXCELLENT Mirabel and Bruno centric story called 'The Seer and His Butterfly' by Kammie Celeek. I HIGHLY reccommend it and it can be found under my Favorite Stories heading on my Author's page.

Chapter 9

As everyone went inside for the celebration proper, Mirabel slipped away to the second story where she found herself drawn to one of the blank, glowing doors. Raising a hand, she hesitated as her fingers hovered just above the glittering knob.

What if the door disappeared again?

What if it was a trick of the magic and inside looked like the nursery?

What if...?

'What if...?' a warm voice said in the back of her mind. '-inside is everything you've always dreamed of?'

Closing her fist, Mirabel took a step backwards, fighting tears as she did so. She couldn't risk being denied a door again. Not being blessed by the magic a second time would be too much and she wouldn't be able to face her family if she remained the only Madrigal without a Gift.

Sitting down on the floor, her back to the railing, she pulled the hood of her ruana down as she listened to the party downstairs.

She wouldn't bring down the festive atmosphere just because she was feeling rejected once again. Let everyone else have fun and celebrate... she was fine up there, sitting alone with her thoughts...

x

"Have you seen Mirabel?" Antonio asked as he took an arepa from the platter Julieta set down on the buffet. "I haven't seen her since she put the new knob in the front door."

Julieta looked about the crowd of family members and partygoers from the village and she frowned as she didn't see any sign of her daughter. While the most likely conclusion was that Mirabel had gotten overwhelmed and had gone in search of somewhere quiet, Julieta couldn't help the twisting in her stomach. Mirabel wouldn't actually, leave... would she?

Taking off her apron and putting Dolores, Luisa, and Pepa in charge of the food, Julieta found Isabela and Bruno, informing them that Mirabel had disappeared.

"Maybe she went to find her new room," Isabela suggested, nodding to the second story and the blank, glowing doors.

Bruno was about to suggest splitting up when he caught the slightest bit of movement coming from the corner of the upstairs next to his tower door. Silently nudging Julieta, he pointed at the dark shadow by a large potted plant. "There," he whispered, knowingly.

"Is everything alright?" Alma asked, concerned, as she joined the group along with Agustin.

"I don't think so," Julieta replied, directing her mother's attention to the second story. Looking at everyone, she nodded that they should follow her before heading upstairs and over to where Mirabel was huddled, hugging her knees. "Mi vida...? Are you okay?"

"It's just a door," Mirabel whispered, looking up, even though she kept her hood down. "So why am I afraid to open it?"

Kneeling next to her daughter while her mother and sobrino exchanged a look and hurried off together, Julieta slowly lifted the hood of the ruana. "Because opening that door means taking a chance. But a Gift can't make you special, Mira. The only thing that can make you special... is who you are. I've seen you be brave, Mirabel. I know you have courage within you."

"And-And if your room is really boring," Bruno assured her, trying to make a joke. "I'm right next door."

As Alma and Antonio came back, Julieta stood, giving her mother a smile and a kiss on the cheek as she saw the object in her hands.

"Mirabel," Alma murmured, gently, waiting until her granddaughter stood before going on. Holding out the candle which had nearly been restored, she said, "We thought our miracle and our family was lost. But we came back, stronger than before. Even the candle came back to life to bless our family with new hope for the future."

Feeling a tug on her ruana, Mirabel turned to Antonio, smiling warmly as he held out his toy jaguar, pressing it into her hands.

"For the nerves," Antonio stated, simply, before taking a step back.

Holding the stuffed toy in one hand, Mirabel turned to the candle her abuela held and touched it with her free hand before turning towards her door.

Resting her hand on the knob, Mirabel's eyes lit up just like her door and she stepped inside, her jaw dropping at the sight of her beautiful new room.

There was a sewing studio to her left and an alcove that was set up as a reading nook. To the right, she had a beautiful writing desk and a loaded bookshelf stood next to it.

A sofa was against one wall and on the opposite side was a door to her actual bedroom which contained a regular bed as well as a daybed.

She even had her own private bathroom with a shower, sink, and a soaking tub.

"Do you need a moment?" Agustin asked, worriedly, as he noticed how quiet Mirabel was as she explored her new room. When his daughter turned to face him, he breathed a sigh of relief as he saw genuine happiness on her face.

"It's incredible, isn't it?" Mirabel replied, watching as the ceiling became an amazing tapestry of the night sky... 'So I can always see the stars,' she thought to herself.

"It's you," Julieta agreed, looking around before turning her attention to the open door which now bore an image of Mirabel, sewing needles and spools of yarn and thread arching over her.

While Mirabel stayed in her new room so she could experiment with her new Gift, the rest of the family, minus Bruno, headed back downstairs to the party.

After making sure that Mirabel was okay being by herself, Bruno went next door to his own room, hoping it was no longer filled with sand and stairs.

As he touched the knob, the self-image that appeared was very different than his old door. He looked younger... happier. There was a knowing smile on his face and all about the edge of the door, there were images of rats.

Grinning as he went inside, Bruno gaped at his new room.

The walls were painted like a seascape, and everything was decorated in various shades of tan, light blue, and ocean green.

His bed was surrounded by a canopy, and nearby, there was a wardrobe with new clothes and a basket for dirty laundry.

There was a space for rat telenovelas, complete with sets and props, an armchair for him to sleep in if he so chose, and a bookcase next to a writing desk that looked identical to the one in Mirabel's room.

Approaching the bookcase, Bruno couldn't help but smile as he saw a thick book with a bright green cover titled, 'The Seer and His Butterfly' by Kammie Celeek. Reaching out and pulling on the book, he watched the bookcase slowly swing outwards, opening an entrance into the wall spaces.

Inside, he followed the passageway for a bit before stopping at an image of a gold butterfly on the wall. Feeling the new version of his Gift pulse, Bruno silently knocked on the wall, watching it open up into Mirabel's room.

"Surprise," Bruno called, hoping he didn't startle his sobrina.

Mirabel hurried over to the bookcase door, staring in surprise. "That is too cool, Tio Bruno!"

"Yeah, there's-there's an entrance to my room also," Bruno said as he nodded to the wall space. Looking at Mirabel's ruana which was sitting on her new sewing table, he asked, "So what are you up to? Settling in alright?"

"I-I was just fixing a rip in one of the seams," Mirabel explained, going to the table and tying off the thread before trimming it. Pulling the ruana back over her head, she felt the gentle pulse of her new magic flow through her, and she gave a wide smile. "I know what my Gift is now," she stated, confidently. "I can put my magic into my sewing. Earlier, I was wishing I could go back down to the party without feeling like I was going to have another anxiety attack." Tugging on her ruana, she looked at Bruno. "I think I can now."

Bruno swept Mirabel up in a hug, grinning as he did so. "Maybe you could make me a lucky shirt?" he suggested.

"Of course," Mirabel agreed, pulling away before tilting her head slightly in an inquisitive way. "What about you, Tio? Is your Gift the same, or... or-or did it change?"

Bruno's smile was one of relief as he replied, "I don't think I'm going to be getting actual visions anymore. I think now it's more like... like enhanced intuition. There's things now that... that I just know."

As the two headed towards the party, Mirabel couldn't help asking, "If you don't have visions anymore, what are you going to do?"

Bruno shrugged, putting an arm around his sobrina's shoulders. "I haven't the foggiest idea." With a cheeky grin, he added, "But I do know that I'm not going to be doing it alone."

x

It was well after 2 in the morning and the rest of the family had gone to bed after celebrating all evening and well into the night.

But Alma Madrigal was still awake and as she stood at her window, looking out at the house and her family's new doors, she felt the tangled knot of emotions inside of her begin to unwind.

There was a sense of healing in the house, and it seemed as though the magic was taking special care to make sure that the Gifts wouldn't become harmful to their bearers again.

Julieta had been relieved and delighted as she managed to heal a minor burn on her hand with her own cooking.

Pepa's weather was no longer connected to her moods and the rainbows she'd produced earlier had been truly dazzling.

Dolores had been delighted to find that she could choose what she wanted to hear across the encanto.

Looking at the regrown candle, Alma smiled serenely as she thought about her family. As everyone had cleaned up the house, they'd pledged to be open with one another and promised not to hide things when they were sad or upset.

Rebuilding things would take time... but time was also a new Gift from the family miracle.

Dressing for bed, Alma found that for the first time in a long time, her soul was light, and her heart was full.