Chasing down Bruno and tearing him limb from limb would've been so much easier had Casita not decided that Bruno was apparently its favorite child for the moment.

"I'll kill him!" Pepa screeched after Casita had shuffled her away from Bruno's door for the fourth time. "I'll kill him, grind him up and spread him as fertilizer all over the garden! Then I'll clone him and kill all his clones!"

"Easy, mi vida!" Félix implored her, rubbing circles on her back to try and relax her. As much as he loved her weather-impacting moods, he was glad he didn't have to worry about lightning hitting him in the face repeatedly for once.

"Easy? Easy?! There is no going 'easy' on that one today!"

"Pepa, calm yourself!" Alma demanded.

As Pepa continued to seethe, Antonio's animals began to make their appearance. The jaguar approached Bruno's door, growling. Coatis hissed at it. Chispi the capybara bumped up against Pepa, catching her off guard.

"Wha...?"

"Everyone, come to the dining room," Alma instructed, not paying attention to the animals that seemed to be empathizing with her fiery redheaded daughter. "We will discuss this in a civil manner."

The family obeyed. Augustín was still holding the candle and trembling. Julieta helped a now-conscious Luisa to her feet, then turned to escort Augustín to the dining room. She glanced back in the direction of Bruno's door and shook her head in irritation. Once she got her gift back, she would have to teach her little brother a lesson. She had the means to do that, perhaps moreso than almost anyone in the family. And it would be delicious. Literally. She smirked as she considered her methods.

One did not simply cross Julieta Madrigal and expect to get away clean.

Julieta had to chuckle as she saw her sister trying to shoo away several toucans. Chispi trotted alongside Pepa like an obedient dog. It apparently hadn't quite dawned on the middle triplet yet that she'd been saddled with the care of her son's animals for the day.

As the family settled around the table, Julieta noticed Antonio, leaned over the table, head in his crossed arms, looking thoroughly morose. She approached her youngest nephew.

"What's wrong, Toñito? Do you miss your animals?"

"No, they're around," Antonio answered sadly. "But I tried to get them to come to me, and they didn't want to. It's like they're scared of me. And I can't hear them talking anymore."

"I know, but it's only for a day, and your mamá will take care of them. I'm pretty sure she has your gift."

Antonio gave a little snort and turned his head away.

"She could probably use your help with all those animals, you know."

"Don't care," the boy mumbled into his elbow.

Julieta sighed in resignation and turned to choose her seat. The entire family chattered, with the pitch rising to near-panic levels. Julieta noticed Camilo had his hands clamped tightly over his ears.

"Man, you guys are really noisy!" he complained.

Alma raised her voice. "Quiet, everyone! Cálmense, please!"

She went unheard. The chatter, arguing and panic continued.

"ENOUGH!" Alma shouted as loudly as she could. She brought her fist down on the table for emphasis.

And the table promptly cracked clean in half.

That caught the attention of the family, of course, who all stared blankly at the wreckage before slowly lifting their eyes to Alma.

"Hey, uh, Luisa?" Mirabel said. "I think I found your super strength."

Luisa shot her a "no duh" look.

Alma took a moment to compose herself before launching into her speech. "Now, I know we've all been dealt an...unusual set of circumstances. But if Bruno's prophecy is correct, it will only last a day. He suggested that we can return the candle to its proper place, and once that is done, we can minimize our responsibilities for the day. No one in the village necessarily has to know what has happened here. Now, let us take stock of who has which gift. Obviously, I have Luisa's strength."

"And I have Camilo's power," Luisa said.

"Super hearing," Camilo said, lifting a hand before turning to Dolores.

"I don't believe I have a power," Dolores said. "I can't feel the magic at all."

"Now that you mention it, neither can I," Julieta said. She turned to her husband. "What about you, querido?"

"The only magic I can feel is all in this time bomb—I mean, candle," Augustín said, shakily elevating the priceless family artifact.

"I think Mira's been trailing plants," Camilo said, pointing. Sure enough, a line of flowers and grasses seemed to follow Mirabel's path into the dining room.

Mirabel gaped at the flora and glanced at Isabela, who just shrugged in response.

"Tío Bruno said that would be her power for the day," Dolores said.

Alma nodded. "That's what he told me. And Mariano has Pepa's powers. Pepa?" She turned to her middle child, who had begrudgingly surrendered to four toucans that wanted to use her as a perch. "Ah, yes. There we are, then."

"So that leaves my healing and Bruno's future vision," Julieta said. "And we won't know who has those gifts until they try to use them."

"We will try not to need any of them," Alma said. "For now, we will simply try to get through the day. We will avoid going into town, and I will try to come up with an explanation as to why we cannot serve our community until tomorrow." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I know we are all frustrated with Bruno right now, but we must focus on working through this. Julieta, I will lean on you to help me manage this chaos, if you're up to it."

Julieta nodded. "Of course, Mamá."

"Thank you. Now, Augustín, you will come with me to set the candle back in its proper place. The rest of you, please attend to your household duties as best you can."

The family dismissed, and Julieta turned to attend her familiar tasks. She may not have been able to imbue her cooking with her healing power for the day, but lunch still needed to be prepared. She was just getting some pots out when she heard Pepa.

"Antonio? Where is Antonio? Did anyone see where he went? I can't get this ring-tailed...thing to stop begging me for food! I don't even know what it eats!" She shuffled past the kitchen, trying to shake a coati free from the hem of her dress skirt. The coati chittered in response and Julieta couldn't help but smirk in amusement as she listened to Pepa carry on a full argument with it.

But as for where Antonio had went, she couldn't guess. He might have gone to his room, but he seemed rather put out that he wasn't able to communicate with the animals therein. Julieta put her cooking supplies down and decided to take a look around for her youngest nephew.

She didn't need to look for long. Antonio found her.

"Tía Julieta, I was outside, and there's a man out there who has a bad tummy ache! He says he thinks it's his up-ender, or something? He wants to see you!"

Julieta sighed. "I'll have to tell him I can't do anything for him right now. Antonio, why don't you go and get some things from the kitchen to feed your animals? Your mamá is having a terrible time with them, and I'm sure they're hungry."

Antonio's face fell. "Well, okay," he mumbled, before trudging off to obey.

Julieta stepped out the front door to find Osvaldo there, clutching his right side and looking rather pale. "Appendix flare up?"

Osvaldo nodded. "I figured it was nothing and I didn't need to bother you, since we're all trying not to rely on you for everything and give you a break, but I couldn't take it anymore."

Julieta rubbed a temple. "Yeah...how do I explain this? Um...Osvaldo...I know this is serious, but...we're dealing with an...unusual situation in the family, and...can you hold off until tomorrow?"

Osvaldo looked almost horror stricken. "But what if it bursts?"

"Well..."

"Here, you can have this," Antonio said, suddenly appearing at Julieta's side and waving some kind of bread wrapped food in front of Osvaldo.

The man didn't question it. He simply grabbed the offering and stuffed it in his mouth. Julieta watched in horrified fascination as Osvaldo's face went through multiple contortions before he finally swallowed. It didn't take even a moment before he straightened up, rubbed his right side and beamed at her.

"Wow, that worked!" he proclaimed. "But, uh...what did you put in there? I...can't say I'm too keen on the new recipe."

"Actually, it was gonna be for one of my animals," Antonio said. "But don't worry, there's nothing in it that people can't eat too."

"Just that they shouldn't," Osvaldo mumbled. "Ah...well, I...didn't mean to take something from your animals, Antonio. But do you mean to tell me it wasn't your tía who..."

"Chispi doesn't feel good," Antonio lied. "Tía Julieta was helping me make some food that will make her feel all better."

"Yes," Julieta said, rolling with the explanation. "It's a bit of a veterinary service around here at the moment. Several critters are under the weather."

"Well, I can understand why you have your hands full today," Osvaldo said. "But thanks again for sparing a moment and an...unusual empanada? I'll try not to need another until you're free again."

He turned to head back to town, waving as he went. Julieta returned a small wave, then turned to her nephew, who was a picture of pure innocence.

"And where did you learn to lie like that, young man?" she demanded. "More importantly, how did you know you had my gift?"

Antonio shrugged. "Señor Osvaldo needed help, and we didn't know who could heal him, and I figured maybe it was me, and I guessed right. Also, Camilo taught me," he hastily added as his answer to Julieta's first question.

Julieta rolled her eyes. It was something of a family policy among the youngest Madrigals to throw Camilo under the bus whenever possible. What was worse is that he didn't seem to mind and even found it amusing. He seemed proud of his bad boy reputation, even though his parents and tía all knew better.

"Well, thanks for covering for me, anyway," Julieta said. "But I mean it that you should try to help your mamá with your animals. She doesn't know how to take care of them."

She ushered the boy back inside before sending him to find his mother. A moment later, Julieta noticed her husband in the courtyard, still holding the candle. She approached him.

"Augustín, why do you still have that? Didn't Mamá want to put it back in the window?"

"We tried," Augustín confessed. "But when we put it back on its stand, the flame dimmed and almost went out. Your mother picked it up, but that just seemed to make it worse. So she handed it back to me and told me I should keep it out here, where at least it can be among the family."

"Oh no. So you have to hold it for the entire day?"

"It's looking that way."

Julieta sighed. "Casita," she summoned, and the house moved to produce a place for the couple to sit. She ushered Augustín over. "Don't exhaust yourself," she ordered as she sat him down and took a seat next to him. "We'll sit together until we figure out what to do about this."

"I don't want to keep you from what you were doing," Augustín said. "I know you like to get a jump start on lunch."

"Lunch can wait," Julieta said, laying her head on her husband's shoulder. "Since I don't also have to prepare remedies for the village today, I figure I can afford to relax a bit. It's...kind of nice, not having the responsibility of my gift for one whole day."

"Yeah, you could use a rest," Augustín replied, resting his own head on top of hers.

"Let's just relax here a while. Together."

"Agreed."

Their rest was delightful, but didn't last longer than an hour before Casita was urging them to take notice of something. Julieta jerked her head up from dozing and noticed the smell of smoke, then turned to see said smoke pouring out of the kitchen.

"The kitchen!" Augustín shouted.

Julieta jumped up and bolted in to see what was happening. She found the oven door open and the kitchen a complete disaster. The oven's fire thankfully hadn't spread, but Julieta could tell someone had been trying to bake without following proper protocols. She closed the door and flue to smother the flames and assessed the mess. She used a cutting board and oven mitt to fan away the smoke as best she could, throwing open the window to help. There was cornmeal and flour scattered across the counter, a block of cheese lay half-melted on the stove, a pile of salt lay on the floor where someone had spilled it, and was that Julieta's special reserve of guinea pig meat for the next upcoming holiday, just laying open on the counter next to the cornmeal? Julieta groaned aloud. Antonio was nowhere to be seen, and her best platter was also missing.

Antonio carefully lugged his tray of arepas down to the town plaza, where he knew his tía always set up to serve her remedies. His first foray into making arepas was a burned, disorganized mess of cobbled ingredients, but the people needed his help, and he was going to help them. What if there were others like Señor Osvaldo who might have dangerous tummy aches?

To say Antonio was upset at losing his connection with his animals was an understatement. He found it frustrating and depressing, and he really didn't want to talk about it. But Tía Julieta was right that he needed to just keep moving forward, and the day would be over sooner than if he sat around pouting.

He plopped his tray on the table that was always set up for Julieta and hauled over a stool. He positioned himself at the table and waited for customers. It didn't take long for people with various maladies to show up.

"Where is your tía, Antonio?" a woman asked, cradling a swollen arm.

"She's helping with some of my animals," Antonio said, keeping up the cover story he'd established. "Some of them got sick. So we traded places. My idea. I brought these down so that Tía Julieta can stay with the animals."

By now, a small crowd had gathered and was looking suspiciously at the arepas.

"Did Julieta make these?" the priest asked.

Antonio blushed. "W-well...they were in the oven staying warm, and...we were busy, and...I'm pretty sure they still work, though."

The woman with the injured arm cautiously picked up an arepa. It was crumbly and didn't look appetizing. "Well, we'll find out," she said bravely, lifting the pastry to her lips.

Julieta's heart sank when she saw the crowd gathered around her table. She called out as she rushed in, "Wait, stop! Those aren't for people!"

She skidded to a halt as she saw that several folks had already tried the arepas. All were blanching and trying to give Antonio an encouraging thumbs up. Some had turned to spit out the mess where they thought Antonio couldn't see them. None seemed to still be sporting any injury or illness that necessitated the snacks, but they all clearly considered the cure to be very nearly worse than the malady. Antonio wore a fake smile, and Julieta could see that he wanted to melt into his seat and disappear. The townsfolk turned when they saw Julieta and began to swarm her.

"Señora, what is this?"

"What happened to your cooking?"

"Antonio burned your arepas!"

"Are you experimenting in the kitchen? Because I can't say I approve one bit!"

"Guinea pig? Are you serious?"

Julieta braced herself. She could only let the crowd wear themselves out while she bought time to cobble together an excuse. But before she could open her mouth, she found herself once again rescued by a tiny voice.

"Wait! She didn't do it!"

Antonio pushed his way to the front of the crowd and positioned himself between them and his tía. "She didn't make those arepas!" he repeated. "I did. She didn't know. I-I was just trying to help! My animals are upset with me, and I..."

The boy was choking back tears as he spoke. Julieta grasped his shoulders and began to soothe him. "Cálmate, Antonio. Shhhh. It's alright."

Antonio turned and buried his face in Julieta's apron. She straightened up and addressed the crowd. "I'm very sorry for the confusion today, and for the...well, the less than standard arepas you had to endure. We've had a very unusual thing happen up at Casita today that I'm not at liberty to explain—nor can I, to be perfectly honest—but my cooking had to be put on hold for the day. Antonio couldn't stand the idea of leaving everyone without help, so he combined some of my usual ingredients with unusual ones and kind of overdid it. He means well, and I'm sorry you were disappointed."

Her speech seemed to placate the crowd. They murmured amongst themselves for a moment, until the woman whose arm had been injured stepped forward.

"For all of his meddling with your recipes," she said, "Antonio did manage to keep the magic in the arepas. I don't know how, but they did still work." She waved her arm, showing off its full range of motion. "That's why we kept eating them, even though they were honestly terrible."

Antonio turned his head to peek out at the crowd.

"Kids will be kids," another villager said, smiling at the shy young cook.

Julieta sighed with relief. "Thank you for understanding," she said. "And if you give me until after lunch, we will have a plate of delicious arepas ready for all of you."

The crowd seemed to be satisfied by that promise and dispersed. Julieta knelt to Antonio's level. "Toñito, sweetheart, I really appreciate you wanting to help. But it's dangerous to try and cook alone, at your age."

"But didn't you, after you got your gift?"

"Heavens, no! Your abuela helped me learn how to cook, starting when I was younger than you. She didn't let me set foot in the kitchen alone until I was at least eight. Just because my gift is healing with food doesn't mean I automatically knew how to make food. I had to learn. And so do you. And I'm willing to teach you if you're willing to help me with all the cooking today."

Antonio sniffed, wiped his nose on his sleeve and nodded.

"Good," Julieta said, standing to take him by the hand. "We've got a whole town counting on us. Not to mention it'll be time for lunch soon, and we still have to make that."

"We better get started, then," Antonio said, once again his usual cheery self.

Tía and sobrino made their way back home together to whip up a much needed lunch for the family, and some delicious arepas con queso for the town for later.

AN: I updated this chapter to change the name Orlando to Osvaldo. I could only go off of the audio that I had at the time, but the Spanish dub is much clearer, and the film creators confirmed that his name is Osvaldo. I've also corrected some Spanish translations.