Mirabel slammed the door to the nursery shut behind her, her conversation with Tio Bruno fresh in her mind. This was all her fault. She wasn't sure how she was doing it, but Luisa was losing her power, the candle was going out, Casita was cracking, Isabela's proposal was ruined, and it was all her fault. She was hurting her family. She couldn't allow that to happen. So she was leaving, far away, not into the walls like Tio Bruno, but away from Encanto and her family. Away from the people who had looked down on her from the moment she didn't receive a gift. She wasn't sure exactly where she would go, but she did know that wherever she ended up would be better than here. Out there, beyond the mountains, no one would know that she was a freak, a disappointment, that she was the only one in the family without a magical gift.

She grabbed her bag from its hook and her blanket from her bed, stuffing it into the bag as she slung it over her shoulder. The tiles beneath her rolled forcing her back towards her bed.

"Casita," she exclaimed, locking her knees, and forcing herself not to fall back onto the mattress, "I have to, you don't understand, Tio Bruno, he had a vision, about me and the cracks in your walls. I'm causing them, I'm causing everything. Luisa's gift, Isabela's proposal, everything that is going wrong is because of me. So… I have to leave, I have to protect my familia, protect you. I'm… I'm a monster." She forced her way through the pulsing tiles to the door and flung it open. She peered around nervously, she needed food and water for her trip, which meant that she would need to go to the kitchen.

"Mirabel," Camillo called out below her, "Mirabel," suddenly his head shrunk, transforming him half way into a baby. Oh no, she was infecting Camillo now as well. She hid behind a potted plant, peering over the railing, until she was certain that Camillo wouldn't see her. Then she slipped downstairs.

Even Casita must hate her now that it knows that she was the one behind the cracks, because it was no longer trying to stop her on her way down to the kitchen, not that it helped her either, she still had to climb down the stairs instead of sliding down like she usually did.

The kitchen was empty, good the last thing she wanted was to run into her madre. She would try to stop her, try to tell her that she was just as special as her hermanas. Gentle lies, but lies nevertheless. Now that she had seen the vision, she knew what she was. She was a monster that was hurting her family and house. She had to leave.

She flung open the despensa, stuffing her bag full of arepas, pan de bono, cocadas, and empanadas. Sturdy food that she could carry with her easily enough, what's more this was her madre's emergency supply, in case someone got hurt terribly and needed to be healed right away, so she didn't have to worry about hurting herself.

With one last look to see if there was anything she was missing that would be easy enough for her to carry she shut the door and turned around, only to run into someone.

"Mirabel, what are you doing in the despensa? We just ate not an hour ago."

Mirabel looked up at her mother in surprise, not only had she not heard her mother approach her, but the disastrous dinner had only been an hour ago. It felt like a lifetime ago, "Hola Mama," she said sheepishly, hiding her bag full of stolen food from her.

"What happened, Mija, did you get hurt?" Julieta demanded, she kept food in the pantry for snacks as well in case of emergencies. Her youngest especially was accident prone.

"There's nothing to worry about Mama," Mirabel insisted, "I was just going…" she glanced at her mother who had her pinned against the wall, "exploring, probably won't be home for cena, you know, give everyone time to cool off after the whole, I'm responsible for everything bad that's happened to the family thing."

"Mija, sweetie…" Julieta reached out, wanting desperately to pull her daughter into a hug, but her daughter flinched away.

"Please Mama, I have to go," Mirabel insisted, dodging around her, "It's best for everyone."

"Abuela wants to talk to you," Julieta announced, "She's dealing with the village right now, but she'll be back later."

"I don't need a lecture from her," Mirabel insisted, easing closer and closer to the back door, "I know what she's going to say. I'm hurting the family, I have no right to do so, so I should leave, go somewhere I can't hurt you anymore, so I'm saving everyone the trouble and leaving."

By now her hand was on the doorknob, her madre took a step forward as she flung the door open and stepped out, unaware of the large crack that appeared on the floor, preventing others from following her.

…

Julieta looked first at the door her daughter had just stepped through then at the crack spreading away from her, separating her from her daughter. She had seen the vision, she knew what it showed, her youngest daughter, and Casita falling apart. Had she did this, somehow, without meaning too, she said that she was leaving to protect everyone. Or was the whole thing an act? What was her Madre going to say?

…

Mirabel stared at Casita one last time, there was no looking back after this, she could never return, it was for the best. "Adios Casita," she said sadly, turning into the woods and disappearing.

…

Abuela was talking to the Guzmans when the ground rumbled beneath her. "Huh," a passerby commented, "We've been getting a lot of tremors lately, I hope there isn't a large terremoto coming."

Abuela turned to face the man, "Jose, I assure you, everything is okay."

"But the magic… the temblores," Jose protested.

"There is nothing wrong with the miracle! The magic is strong!"

"Abuela!" a voice called out through the town as Camillo rushed forward, tripping slightly as his legs suddenly shrunk down to that of a baby's.

"Fix yourself," Abuela snapped, as several people stopped to stare at Camillo, "Always teasing Camillo is," she insisted, smiling at those around her before giving her grandson a knowing look, "Nieto what is the meaning of this?"

"Tia Julieta sent me," Camillo explained as his legs became normal again, but his head shrunk down to that of a baby.

"Stop shifting so much," Abuela snapped.

"I can't, I can't control my gift," Camillo confessed, as his head finally returned to normal. Several people gasped as they looked at the younger member of the Madrigal family and the matriarch, what was happening.

"What are you talking about?"

"Abuela, the candle is burning lower, and Casita is cracking worse, Dolores says she can't hear what's happening in town, and Luisa…"

Abuela raised a hand, stopping her grandson's rapid explanation, "This is Mirabel's fault, Bruno saw her breaking the miracle, this is her doing. I must deal with her," she announced, gathering her skirts around her.

"Mirabel ran away," Camillo announced, "Tia Julieta tried to stop her, but…"

"Julieta needs to stop doting on Mirabel, she isn't a baby, she needs to just accept the fact that she doesn't have a gift."

"Do you need me to organize a search party?" Jose asked as another tremor unbalanced him.

"NO!" Abuela snapped, "That's what Mirabel wants, attention, just leave her be, when she realizes that we aren't playing around with her this time, she'll come home."

"Are you sure?" Jose asked.

"Yes, of course I'm sure," Abuela almost seemed to snap, but that couldn't be right because Abuela never lost her cool.