The glass of water in his hand slipped from his fingers and shattered. But Bruno didn't seem to care. He was just staring at her with his mouth hanging open. It felt like an eternity until he finally moved, and even longer for him to speak.

"How…did you just…?"

"What are you doing up?" Mirabel sputtered. She wasn't even thinking about it, the words were just spilling out. "You were supposed to be asleep!"

"I-I can ask you the same question," Bruno replied. "But I think we've got bigger issues here. Did you justput my Gift back?"

Mirabel's vision tunneled once more. Her breath caught in her throat. He saw. It wasn't a dream. He saw. She'd done this.

"Whoa." Bruno put his hands up, apparently trying to calm her. "H-hey, take it easy, kid"

"I'm sorry!" Mirabel choked. She was whispering, but it felt so loud. "I didn'tI don't know what-I don't know what's happening. I'm sorry Tío!"

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay," Bruno stepped over the broken cup and made his way over to her. He put his hands on her shoulder to try and calm her, but this just made her flinch. "It's okay, Mirabel. Youyou didn't do anything. Umlook, let's go in here, alright? We can talk in here."

Mirabel's whole body was shaking. She could barely think to move for herself, so she just let Bruno guide her into his room while her mind was moving a mile a minute. Once they were inside, Bruno shut the door behind them. Casita gently tapped a stone against Mirabel's foot to comfort her, indicating that the magic had indeed returned here. But this didn't make her feel any better.

Bruno took her arm again and led her to sit on a couch. As he himself seemed out of breath, he took a moment to gather his thoughts. Mirabel just sat there with her arms around herself and tears streaming down her cheeks.

"So, um…" Bruno began, wringing his hands together. "Have you always been able to put Gifts back into other people's doors, or…?"

"No!" Mirabel burst out, making him jump. "I-I-I'm not supposed to have anything to do with the magic at all! I don't know how this happened…I don't know what happened!"

"Ok, ok, let's not panic." Bruno pushed his hair back. He was trying to calm her, he was clearly just as flabbergasted as she was. "I-I'm not upset, you know, just a bit lostbut you didn't do anything wrong! I mean, heck, you put my Gift back, that's a good thing. I guess you've just got a knack for putting Gifts back into doorknobs, and"

"Tío Bruno, you don't get it!" Mirabel snapped. "I didn't just put it back, II took your Gift! I had it!"

Bruno's eyes widened. "You…had it? What do you mean?"

"I" Mirabel grunted in frustration. "I just-I had it. I woke up a few minutes ago and my skin wasit was glowing, all green and sparkly like your vision shards. And it felt like I was carrying something really heavy, and I felt it drawing me to your door, and…and…"

Mirabel hunched in on herself. The panic was starting to dispel somewhat, but the pit in her stomach didn't. This didn't make any sense.

"But…" Bruno continued, leaning closer with concern. "You didn't, you know…see anything?"

Mirabel blinked, taking a few seconds to process. "N-no…I didn't. I just felt sick all day…until I touched your door."

Bruno breathed a sigh of relief. "Ok…ok."

Mirabel gulped. She took a moment to be able to speak again. "Tío, I…yesterday, I said I wished you could have a break from your Gift." She looked up at him, eyes wide, heart once again starting to beat faster. "Did I…did I do this? Was it my fault?"

"No, no, Mira, it's not your fault." He scooted closer to her, grabbing her cheeks when she tried to turn away. "Hey. Look at me. You did nothing wrong. Okay?"

Mirabel didn't believe him, but she didn't have the capacity to argue.

Bruno kept talking. "There's…probably something we're not seeing. Or, or! Maybe it was a fluke!" He gave her a half-hearted smile. "You know how finicky magic can be."

"I guess…"

"We can talk to Abuela and the others about it in the morning. I'm sure between all of us we can figure out-"

"No!" Mirabel burst out again. She grabbed Bruno's shirt and looked him desperately in the eye. "You can't tell anybody about this! Please!"

"Whwhy not?"

"Becausebecause they can't find out that I can take someone's Gift! Wh-what if that makes them all stay away from me?"

Bruno pressed his lips together. "I don't…think they'd…"

"Please, Tío," Mirabel pleaded. "Please don't say anything. I don't want anyone to know. Promise me."

Bruno said nothing. Mirabel held his gaze, already tearing up again.

Then, Bruno finally relented with a sigh. He pulled her hands away from his shirt and looked away from her, frowning. "Okay. Okay, kid, I promise."

Mirabel relaxed the slightest bit.

"But, you really should consider telling them yourself. I know they'd just want to help you."

Mirabel hugged herself again. "I…I can't." Abruptly, she stood. "I can't do it. Not yet."

She started heading to the door and Bruno hastily stood up after her.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"I-I just need to be alone right now, Tío."

"Are you going to be okay?"

Mirabel hesitated. "I…I'll manage."

With that, she left the room, not even bothering to close the door behind her. She shouldn't even be anywhere near Bruno right now, not after what she'd done. She had to get away. She had to be alone or she would just freak out and thenthen she'd hurt someone again.

Why had this happened?

After speed-walking back to her room, silenced only by Casita's help, Mirabel slammed the door shut, leaving herself in the darkness of the night.


Bruno had followed Mirabel out to the doorstep of his room, but he made no move to stop her as she'd hurried through the halls, and slammed her bedroom door closed after herself. To say that he was worried about her would be an understatement. He was freaked out, and bewildered. Perhaps the miracle had given Mirabel a second chance upon its return, but if this was how it was going to affect her, then he wasn't sure he wanted it.

He hadn't been mistaken about what he'd seen, though. His magic had returned, he felt it pulsing through his veins. That whole day, he'd been devoid of it. His niece, somehow, had held it instead. And, somehow, it seemed that Mirabel had the power to determine if he had access to his Gift or not. All of this was completely alien, and for once, even he couldn't predict what could happen from here.

At that point, another door opened, snapping Bruno out of his thoughts. He turned toward the noise, and he saw Alma coming out of her room, holding a candle and looking concerned.

Bruno froze, but Alma spotted him anyway.

"Bruno?" she asked quietly. "You're still up? Is everything okay?"

He gulped and tried to smile. "E…everything is fine, yeah."

It was obviously not fine, but Mirabel had made him promise to keep his mouth shut. How long he'd be able to do that was another story.

Alma didn't seem convinced. "I thought I heard a noise."

"That, uhthat was me. Hey, good news! My Gift is back." Bruno gestured proudly toward his door, hoping this would distract her.

It worked. Alma's face lit up and she stepped out further to look. "Oh! That's wonderful, Brunito. What a relief. Everyone will be happy to hear about this in the morning."

She took a step closer, but Bruno had to stop her again. "Ah, careful. I dropped some glass there."

Alma paused and looked down. The broken glass from earlier sat in front of her.

"Yeah, I was just so surprised at my Gift coming back that I dropped my glass of water." Bruno laughed awkwardly. "I'll clean it up."

As if on cue, Casita scooted a broom and dustpan next to him. Almost as if it had known this would happen.

Alma looked slightly disappointed but didn't comment further. "Alright, querido. Take care of yourself, okay? Get some sleep. I will see you in the morning."

"Of course. Good night, Má."

Alma finally went back into her room. Bruno let out a breath and let himself sag once more. Casita bumped him with the broom it had just brought, reminding him to clean up the mess. Bruno sighed and began to sweep, but his mind was not completely focused on the chore.

He looked up toward Mirabel's room again. Everything was so quiet now, but he knew she was still upset in there.

"...oh, man."


The next morning may as well have been a party. Pepa was once again in tears, but this time it was tears of joy. She and Julieta were both clinging to Bruno like barnacles, while the rest of the family gave him congratulatory slaps on the back.

"So how did it come back?" Isabela questioned first.

Bruno shrugged and gave a half-hearted smile. "Uh…dunno. No idea. It was gone, and then it…came back. Heh."

Isabela raised an eyebrow. "Just like that?"

"Yyyyep."

Félix spoke up next. "Well, that's fine. I say it's better not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Or a gift house, in this case. Ha!"

He gave Bruno a friendly punch in the shoulder and almost knocked him over. Pepa laughed joyfully, and Bruno couldn't say that the sight of a bright rainbow over her head wasn't just the littlest bit soothing.

Alma finally started to break up the party, though she was also smiling widely. "Alright, everyone. I know we're all happy, but let's not crowd the poor boy. Come on, Julieta and I worked hard to make breakfast, let's not let it get cold."

The family, eager to eat, obeyed and began to head out to the patio. Bruno let himself get dragged along by Pepa, but they were stopped once again, this time by Dolores.

"Mamí," Dolores began softly. "Can you please check on Antonio? I think I heard him trying to sneak a little bird out to breakfast."

"Oh, my goodness," Pepa sighed. "I told him a million times not to sneak animals to breakfast. I'll be right back."

Pepa finally let go of Bruno, which was a relief…until he realized that Dolores now had him cornered, alone.

"Your heart was beating really quickly that whole time, Tío Bruno," she whispered. Her big eyes felt like they were gazing right into his soul. "Are you sure you don't know anything?"

Uh-oh. Mirabel would never forgive him if he ratted her out here. But how was he supposed to get past the all-hearing Dolores? Did she already know something?

"That, uhthat's just the excitement of having my Gift back," Bruno chuckled, unconvincingly. "You know hearts can beat fast for different reasons, right?"

"I do. That's how I know you're lying."

"Ahyou know, it's pretty rude to accuse your uncle of lying." Bruno turned away with his best "offended" act. "But I'll let it go just this once. You're lucky I'm the nice uncle."

He started to walk away, but of course it wasn't that easy.

"...did you do something, Tío?"

Bruno paused. He looked back, where Dolores now looked less accusing and more worried.

He clicked his tongue. "No. Did it…sound like I did something?"

Dolores didn't respond. She obviously wasn't convinced, but it appeared to Bruno that she didn't actually know anything. She must have been asleep during his talk with Mirabel last night. And that was probably for the better. Bruno took this opportunity to turn and slip away.

Mirabel wasn't here yet, and Bruno hoped she would appear soon. Partially so he could see how she was doing…and partially so that she could tell her family the truth on her own terms.


A knock on Mirabel's door awoke her from a dreamless sleep. She startled, flinching from her bed. For a second, she couldn't remember where she was. It was morning, she was in her room, but it was late…

…ah, right. She'd slept in because she stayed up having a breakdown after the green speckles incident. For a split-second, she hoped it had all been a dream. But the twisting feeling in her stomach told her that no, it very much wasn't.

Another knock sounded at her door, and Mirabel took a breath to calm herself. If that was anyone other than Bruno, she had to be ready. Ready to pretend that she was okay and nothing weird had happened and that she wasn't some kind of magic-stealing mosquito. Dear Lord.

"C…come in."

The door opened, and Julieta peeked in with a plate in her hand and a small smile on her face.

"Good morning, Mira," her mother said gently. She entered the room and shut the door behind her. "How are you feeling today?"

Mirabel swallowed. She sat up in bed. "I…feel a lot better, actually." It wasn't a lie. She didn't feel like she was physically ill at all anymore. But it was the reason she was no longer sick that was keeping her here.

Julieta seemed to notice her distress but didn't comment on it. "That's good to hear." She sat down on Mirabel's bed, felt her forehead, and started to hand her the food. "You should keep resting for as long as you need. You still look a little out of it."

Because I was crying all night, but you don't need to know that.

"Though, if you do feel well enough to come downstairs today, I'm sure the others would love to see youoh!" Julieta brightened suddenly. "Here's some good news for you. Bruno's Gift came back."

"O-oh…really?" Mirabel tried her best to look surprised at the news.

"Yes. No one knows how or why. It's as if by magicwell, actually, it is."

"Um, that's great!" Mirabel laughed, wanting to die. "What a relief, I guess there was nothing to worry about! I guess he was able to figure out whateverissuewas causing it."

Mirabel winced as she spoke. She really couldn't have thought of a better word to describe herself?

"I suppose so," Julieta replied. She studied Mirabel's face for a moment, as if trying to decipher something. Mirabel kept up her smile, hoping she wouldn't explode into pieces. But thankfully, Julieta backed down and stood back up. "But, anyway, that's one less thing for you to worry about. So just focus on getting better now, okay?"

Julieta kissed Mirabel's forehead, then put the plate down next to her. With that, she left the room, and Mirabel was once again alone with nothing but Casita and her thoughts.

Mirabel sighed and flopped back down onto her pillow. "Why is this happening to me?" She mumbled.

Casita started rocking her bed back and forth to soothe her. In response, she touched the wall next to her.

"Casita, you wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?"

Casita shrugged some of its panels, and then lowered them like a sigh of disappointment.

"I guess not." Mirabel went back to staring at the ceiling. Part of her contemplated staying in bed for another day, but that also sounded like torture. She just knew her thoughts would spiral out of control if she stayed here ruminating all day. Not to mention she would get physically restless since she wasn't actually sickand people would be checking in on her all day. They probably would realize that she wasn't sick and would figure out there was something else going on.

So, no to staying in bed. Mirabel would just have to make sure her family didn't get wind of the fact that she was related to the disappearing Gift. And, hopefully, if she was lucky, she'd figure out what not to do so there would be no more incidents like it.

With that thought, Mirabel pushed herself out of bed, practiced her smile in the mirror for a moment, and got ready to go outside.


She did her very best to be "normal" that day. It was difficult considering that her mother was fussy as usual, and she constantly felt like everyone was watching her. But she kept up her smile and pretended it was all okay.

Of course, she knew she couldn't keep it inside her forever…and, luckily, there was still someone she could talk to. The second she had a chance, Mirabel took Bruno aside.

"So…did you, you know, tell anybuh."

Bruno rapidly made a slicing motion across his throat to stop her. Then he gestured to his ears, and around the house.

"Whatoh."

Dolores. How could she have forgotten? They were never safe to talk about this anywhere in the Encanto, as long as she was listening. How were they supposed to figure anything out? How much did she already know?

Just as Mirabel's anxiety began to spike once more, Bruno managed to dig up a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He smoothed it out against the wall and also grabbed a pencil (why was he keeping all this stuff in his pockets?), writing rapidly.

Ah, of course. For as perfect as Dolores' hearing was, she still hadn't learned to decipher the sounds of pencil scratches into words. Mirabel thanked the Lord that her uncle always seemed to think of everything.

Bruno finally handed her the note. I don't think she heard anything last night, so we're probably clear. But we shouldn't talk about it now.

Mirabel breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up at Bruno, who was holding a thumbs up, but she could see the concern in his eyes. Guiltily, Mirabel bit her lip and scribbled down her own note.

I'm sorry I'm making you do this.

As soon as he read it, Bruno burst out laughing. He ruffled her hair, breaking the tension ever so slightly. "Mirabel. You underestimate me greatly."

He thought for a moment before writing another note. I still think you should tell them yourself. They're not going to judge you. And you know what happens when we don't talk about things around here.

"You don't need to remind me," Mirabel mumbled. She scribbled, I'll do it when I'm ready.

Okay. But you know you've got me in your corner either way.

Mirabel smiled at him gratefully, but on the inside her stomach was knotting again.

If only Bruno hadn't seen her. This was her own problem. The man had already spent ten years in hiding because of her, and now she was making him keep this secret for her too.

After a long pause, she replied. Thanks Tío. Another pause, then she added: I'll be okay.

With that, she handed the note to Bruno and didn't stick around to see his reaction.


"Nope. I'm still not done talking about it. It doesn't make any sense."

That was Isabela's voice. Mirabel paused in her walk down the hall that evening, as her sister's voice caught her attention. She turned her ear toward the living room, but then decided to peek inside instead.

Dolores was seated on a couch inspecting her nails, Luisa was on another one reading a book. Meanwhile, Isabela was pacing around the space, nose scrunched up and high in the air.

"There's no way Tío Bruno's Gift would just disappear and come back with no explanation," Isabela continued. "There's definitely something happening, isn't there?"

"Absolutely," Dolores replied. "There's something we're not being told, and I intend to find out."

Oh, no no no. If they uncovered her secret, none of them would want to be near her again!

Mirabel burst into the room and all but threw herself at Dolores. She threw an arm around her cousin's shoulder and leaned against her as casually as possible. "Hey! Hi, everyone! What's going on, are you having a girl party without me?"

Luisa looked up from her book. "Oh hey, Mira. They, uh, just came in here. We didn't plan this."

"We were talking about the disappearing Gift," Isabela said. She leaned eagerly toward Mirabel. "What are your thoughts, Mirabel? You're the expert."

A part of Mirabel was flattered to be considered the "expert" on anything, but the rest of her was squirming with discomfort. She hoped Dolores couldn't hear it.

Dolores rubbed at her ears.

"Well, my thoughts are, um…maybe he just had something he needed to deal with!" Mirabel gave an exaggerated shrug. "You remember how the magic works, it's connected tous! Our emotions! I guess he just had a thing, he dealt with it, and it's okay now. It's not really any of our business to know what it is."

Dolores tilted her head and, surprisingly, nodded. "Well, I guess you do have a point there. Maybe we don't need to know about everyone's private life."

Mirabel relaxed. Dolores seemed to perk up.

Isabela just shook her head impatiently. "No, see, that's where it doesn't add up. This isn't like last time. Something feels different. Last time, the cracks appeared before the Gifts started disappearing. Remember?"

"Uh, my Gift disappeared before the cracks," Luisa piped up.

"Nuh-uh. Mirabel saw the cracks at Antonio's Ceremony first."

"Ah, butBruno's door was out for years before that. No cracks."

"Maybe there were cracks we couldn't see!"

"Maybehey, look, it came back, right?" Luisa sat up halfway, gesturing in the direction of the doors upstairs. "That means they fixed it. Cracks, Gifts, we know how to deal with it all now, so we shouldn't panic, right? Right?"

"Ugh!" Isabela flopped down on the seat behind her, defeated. A few annoyed-looking flowers sprouted around her. "Fine. I still think it feels different, but whatever."

Everyone else in the room gave a giggle. They were quiet, and Mirabel was just relieved that the attention was no longer on her…and that Isabela's investigative spark had gone out for now. But, of course, things were never that easy.

"I'm still worried about Tío Bruno, though," Dolores spoke up quietly. "The way he spoke to me this morning, it almost sounded like he did something. I just don't want anyone to suffer with any secrets anymore."

Mirabel tensed again. She was still leaning against Dolores, but her cousin didn't seem to notice.

"I know we said we shouldn't pry into anyone's business," Dolores continued. "But I don't want things to end up like before, when everyone was keeping everything bottled up."

Isabela and Luisa exchanged a glance.

"SoI don't know. Maybe we should keep an ear out for him for a while. Just in case."

Mirabel looked down at her cousin with a mixture of anxiety and love. Slowly, she turned to face Dolores, took her hand, and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Lola," Mirabel said gently. "You don't need to put all that on yourself. It's not up to you to listen for all of the family's problems."

Dolores pouted at her. "But if I don't listen out for trouble, who will?"

"We all will," Mirabel laughed. "We've all grown, remember? We're not going to let it go back to how it was before. We need to trust our family. It's not your responsibility."

Dolores looked away, but didn't respond.

Luisa suddenly started clapping loudly. "Always with the inspiring speeches, Mirabel. You really know how to put me at ease. I envy your abilities."

You really don't, Mirabel thought, giving Dolores' hand a final squeeze. Still, she gave a sarcastic bow and played along with the humor. "Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week."

Isabela scoffed. Mirabel stood up too fast and got a momentary head rush. Dolores rubbed at her ears.


"You know, I'm starting to think it really was just a fluke," Mirabel relayed to Casita later that night, as she got ready for bed. "I've been hanging around my family all day, and nothing happened."

Casita clicked and clanged in response. It was a little fast, but Mirabel interpreted it as a good thing.

"I just need to make sure I never make another 'wish,'" She declared. "Then we can avoid this. And Tío Bruno and Dolores won't need to worry about me anymore. I won't need to worry about it anymore."

With that, Mirabel got into bed, staring resolutely at the ceiling. "I'll make sure of it. It will never happen again."