Julieta's words kept repeating in Mirabel's head the next day, and she once again found herself thoughtfully quiet. Now that the family was relieved that no Gifts had disappeared that morning and Mirabel was no longer acting strange, Mirabel was able to keep observing without notice.
That is, after first fielding an awkward apology from her grandmother.
"Abuela, really," Mirabel said, squirming a bit. "You don't need to apologize. I know these past couple of days have been stressful for all of us."
"Yes, but it still wasn't right for me to put you on the spot like that," Alma lamented. "You know how I am, Mirabel. I struggle when I feel like things are out of my control. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, really. I mean, I was acting pretty strange." She paused, rubbing her arm and wondering if she should continue. "I…I have my reasons. Just…um, I'll figure this out, okay? Trust me."
Alma cocked her head at this, and Mirabel thought she saw the ghost of an amused smile. "...I understand," she said softly. "You can talk to me whenever you are ready, Mirabel. Just know that I will be here to help."
As Alma walked away, Mirabel wondered if her grandmother was really as clueless about this as she let on.
But no matter. Mirabel had another discussion to have, with two specific family members. It was easy enough to find Bruno (in his room, as expected), and a quick callout to Dolores ensured that she would come and find them as well. Once the three of them were gathered, Mirabel asked the burning question on her mind.
"So…be honest with me, guys. How did it feel when you didn't have your Gifts?"
Bruno and Dolores shared a look.
"Um…what do you mean?" Bruno asked.
Mirabel huffed and fiddled with her fingers. "I mean…just to not have them anymore. Was it difficult to be without your magic? Did it feel good? Bad?" She stopped again, but continued when she got more blank stares. "It's just—I know for you two, your Gifts can be a bit difficult sometimes. I notice you struggling a lot, so I was wondering if not having it was a problem for you..or a relief."
This got the two of them to frown.
Dolores replied first, twirling a lock of her hair. "I mean…I guess it was nice to have a break for a little while," she said. "It's just…I wasn't completely able to savor it, you know? The only other time this has happened was when the magic was lost. And I was too busy worrying that it might be happening again to enjoy not having to listen to everything."
"What she said," Bruno added. "I was too busy stressing to really 'take a break.' Plus my sisters were hanging off my side all day…" He paused, shifting his position and hugging his knees. "You know, this is going to sound bad, but I kinda miss when the magic was gone and we didn't have to worry about Gifts. No one was badgering us or tiptoeing around us to see if we'd be okay with helping them. They would just treat us like…normal people."
When he was met with silence, Bruno hurried to amend his statement. "Ah—not that I want to lose the magic again, just—you know, it was an upside."
"Yeah, I understand." Mirabel wrung her hands again, and hesitated before speaking. "So…back to my new power. If…if you'd known what was actually going on, and there was nothing to worry about…do you think you'd have been able to enjoy your break?"
"...maybe?" Bruno replied.
Dolores leaned forward, curious. "Where are you going with this, Mirabel?"
"I-I was talking to my mom yesterday," Mirabel told them. "And I happened to ask her if—if she needed a break from all the work she has to do. She turned me down, but thanked me for 'looking out' for the family. So that got me thinking, um…" She avoided eye contact for a moment. "What if I could use this…to help you all get the breaks you need? Like, on purpose?"
The other two didn't respond. Mirabel took this as a sign to keep talking.
"Look, I know we're trying to do the whole 'take breaks, love yourself' thing already," Mirabel continued. "But as long as the magic is alive, you're still going to have your Gifts all the time. Dolores can't help hearing everything in the Encanto, for example. And Tía Pepa's emotions will always cause weather, no matter how much she doesn't want it to. There's no 'turning off' your Gifts without losing the magic…unless…"
"Unless you can take them away for a bit," Dolores finished, her eyes wide.
"Exactly. Then you could all just let loose, like normal people, and not have to worry about responsibility." Mirabel beamed. "Plus, you know some of us need it. Especially people like Luisa, or my mamá. They're awful at saying no, and keep forgetting to take care of themselves. If I hold their Gifts for a while, it would be easier for them to draw the line with people. Right?"
"I mean…I can see the merit to the idea." Bruno scratched his head. "But, I've got one main gripe: wouldn't that just put the strain on you?"
Mirabel pressed her lips together.
Dolores sat up straighter. "Oh! That reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask. When you took our Gifts, did you, you know…have our abilities? As in, could you see visions when you had Bruno's Gift, or get enhanced hearing when you had mine?"
Mirabel blinked, and also straightened. "Actually, now that you mention it…no. My hearing didn't change at all when I had your Gift, Dolores. And I don't…think I felt any visions coming with Bruno's."
"I see. So, in other words, you held the magic but you couldn't actually use the Gifts."
"Yeah."
"That's all well and good," Bruno sighed. "But you got sick, remember? You kept telling me that your body felt heavy because of the magic."
"Ah, that's…" Mirabel turned away again. "Yeah, I guess that's what happened."
Dolores frowned. "You didn't mention that to me."
"That's what I mean when I say it puts the strain on you," said Bruno. "You could barely move that first day when you had mine. Are you going to have to go through that every time? And, what if more than one of us needs a break at the same time? Can you really handle the weight of two Gifts at once? Or more?"
"He's right," Dolores agreed. "We'd get a break, but you'd have to take the strain for us. That's not fair to you."
"I-It's not fair to you if I don't!" Mirabel insisted. "Look—we'll work together. The whole point of this is to share the burden, so no one has to handle it alone. I'm prepared to do my part in that. And besides—it wasn't as bad the second time as it was the first. Maybe the more I use this, the easier it will become."
Bruno didn't seem convinced.
But Mirabel held her ground. "Look, I—I have this power whether I like it or not. If I don't use it for this purpose, what else would I use it for?"
Neither of them had an answer for this. After a somewhat tense moment, Bruno sighed.
"Well, I can't tell you what to do with your Gift, kid," he said. "Just, uh, try not to overdo it? It would be kinda nuts for you to preach about sharing the burden only to take it all on for yourself."
Mirabel cracked a grin. "C'mon, Tío. That won't happen."
Bruno just grunted.
With that out of the way, Dolores shifted back into a more comfortable position. "Okay, well…if that's settled…was there someone you were thinking of doing this with already?"
When Mirabel found her mother again that day, she was hard at work in the kitchen. As usual.
She cleared her throat. "Busy cooking again, Mamá? Don't you ever leave this kitchen?"
Julieta turned around and gave her daughter a small smile. "Ah, Mira. Of course I leave. I go outside to run my stand and make deliveries."
Mirabel rolled her eyes. "You know that's not what I meant."
"Of course not, Mirabel. I was joking. Don't worry, you father wouldn't let me stay in here for too long. He's more on board with this 'self-love' thing than any of us."
Mirabel snorted. She looked around the counter, noting the multiple small containers of food. "Who are all these packages for?"
Julieta followed her gaze. "Ah, deliveries for today. Señora Rojas is suffering from a bit of a persistent flu, so that soup is going to ease the symptoms. The sweets are for Jaime Flores, his mamá says he's always hurting himself when he runs around. The empanadas are for Senor Jimenez. His wife sent a letter saying he fell down last night. The chicken is for…"
Mirabel felt herself quickly losing track of the giant list her mom was spouting. How on earth did she remember all his stuff?
"...whose finger has been bending strangely since he fell out of a tree last week. And…the last container is just in case of emergency. You know how it is." With that, Julieta went back to rolling dough.
Mirabel blinked multiple times. "Wow. And…you made all of that this morning?"
"Ha, I know it seems like a lot. But it doesn't take me too long."
"Right. Ok, question—you finished packing all your deliveries for the day, and you've even got emergency backups…so, why are you still working?"
This made Julieta pause. She hesitated, stuttering for an explanation. "Well, you know it's…just in case…"
Mirabel crossed her arms and frowned at her.
Julieta looked embarrassed for a moment, but then gave Mirabel a wry smile. "Alright, alright, I see your point. Old habits die hard, don't they?"
Mirabel softened, as her mother put her hands on her hips and stared at the dough contemplatively. Mirabel approached her, hesitantly reaching out.
"It feels unnatural to stop, sometimes," Julieta mused. "Like I'm breaking out of my natural rhythm. Plus I feel like I fell behind yesterday…" She shook her head. "But I can decide for myself when to take a break, mija. Thank you for the support, but you don't have to run everything."
Mirabel closed the gap, wrapping an arm around her mom's shoulders. She rested her head against Julieta's neck and rubbed her back. She tried not to show how nervous she suddenly was.
"Well, I know," Mirabel replied. "But…I just don't see the point in doing extra work after you've already baked everything you need."
Julieta hummed, but said nothing else.
Slowly, Mirabel lifted her head, and decided to massage her mom's shoulders. "I get it," she said, slowly. "Your Gift makes you feel like you have an obligation to help all the time, right?"
Julieta shrugged. "Something like that, I suppose," she mumbled.
Mirabel smiled, continuing to massage her. "Well, don't call me a control freak or anything, but—I think it's time you go outside, find Dad, and spend some time with him, instead."
Julieta pressed her lips together. "That's a tempting idea. But…I don't know."
"It'll be okay, Mamá…" Mirabel said. She could already feel it. The heaviness. "Go have fun." She paused, hesitating. "And…there's actually one way I can h—"
"Julietaaa!" Pepa's voice rang out from the hall, before the woman herself appeared in the kitchen. There was a growing cloud above her head already, and she looked teed off.
"Señora Flores is at the front door going on a rant," Pepa groaned. "Apparently her clumsy son went off to play before you could deliver his emergency snacks." She crossed her mind. "I want her to go away. Do you have the snacks or should I just go tell her off?"
"No, no, no, I have them!" Juliet wiggled out of Mirabel's grip, leaving her daughter reeling behind her. She grabbed the container full of sweets and started to hurry out of the kitchen. "Sorry, Mira. We'll continue talking after I get back, okay?"
"Ah…but…" Mirabel stammered. But it was too late. Julieta and Pepa were both gone, and Mirabel already felt the wave of dizziness setting in.
Making the delivery was fairly quick, and the two sisters thought nothing of it. But, of course nothing was ever simple. No sooner had Julieta and Pepa returned from outside, were they immediately greeted by even more chaos.
"Mamá!" Luisa cried as soon as she saw her. "Your door! Your door's gone out!"
Julieta needed a second to process the news. Pepa was already shouting, however. "Again? How does this keep happening? Let me see!"
She ran up the stairs to Julieta's door, while Julieta herself stayed behind to calm Luisa.
"Ah—Lulu, sweetheart, it's okay, don't cry. I'm okay, I promise…"
"B-but the magic is going away again, and…and I'm sorry, I wasn't able to stop it…"
Julieta fought the urge to giggle. "Honey, what could you have possibly done to stop this?"
"I don't knoooow!"
There was commotion going on near Julieta's door, and she knew she'd probably be wanted up there. So, Julieta settled for taking Luisa's hand, and gently soothing her as they went upstairs together.
When they got there, Pepa was freaking out at her mother.
"Mamá, this is the third time! It's getting ridiculous!" Pepa cried. "We're no closer to finding out what's going on. Aren't you concerned about this at all?"
"Of course I'm concerned!" Alma snapped. Then, buttoning her mouth, she looked away and took a moment to recompose herself. "We—we won't get anywhere by force. The answer will present itself to us when it's ready."
"When it's—what does that even mean?!" Pepa turned around and started talking to the other family members gathered there. "Clearly we have some issue to solve. The magic responds to our family. Does anyone need therapy? I'm open for therapy!"
Camilo winced. "Mama, I don't think that's the proper attitude for giving therapy."
"My attitude is fine! Come talk to me! I'm very kind and understanding!"
Félix tried to give her a soothing shoulder rub, but Pepa was already stomping off in a different direction. "I know! I'll find Bruno," she declared. "He needs therapy!"
"Pepa—ay, Santa María—" Félix moved to follow her, but not before he gave a smile and a thumbs up to everyone left behind.
Once they were gone, a collective sigh emerged from the group.
Agustín spoke up first. "Well, anyway, back to the matter at hand. Julieta, how are you feeling?"
Julieta flinched. In all honesty, she'd forgotten this whole thing was about her. As the eyes of her family members turned to her in concern, she couldn't help but feel put on the spot. She wrung her hands together. "Well, I—I don't feel any different. In fact, I'm not even sure when this could have happened." She stood up straighter. "Oh, goodness, I've been cooking all morning. Have I been making useless food this whole time?"
"I don't think so," Agustín replied. "I was actually inside the room when it happened. Everything was normal, and then suddenly all the magic felt like it just went…nyoom." He mimed a going-down motion with his hand to emphasize. "And that was…about ten minutes ago, I think."
"So…it happened when I was outside?"
Isabela leaned forward, interest piqued. "Did you do anything different when you were out of the house?"
"No? I just calmed down Señora Flores, then found her son to give him his snacks."
Isabela tapped her chin. "What about just before you left?"
"Well, I was kneading some dough in the kitchen. Then I talked a bit with Mirab—ah!" Julieta froze, exchanging a wide-eyed glance with her mother.
Why did everything keep coming back to Mirabel? It couldn't be true…could it?
Isabela frowned, looking between the two of them. "Mirabel…?"
"Ah, no, nothing. Like I said—I didn't do anything strange. So I don't know what caused this."
For a moment they were quiet. But then Agustín spoke again, already making his way toward his wife.
"Well…in any case, you must be stressed." He put his arm around Julieta and grinned. "Cooking all morning, then losing your magic. I think you need a rest, sí?"
The others hurried to agree with him. "Rest" was a pretty effective buzzword in the family as of late. Along with "breaks" and "self-care."
Julieta wanted to protest, but Agustín was addressing the rest of the family with an unconcerned grin. "I'll take care of her. The rest of you are welcome to play sleuth if you want to." He winked at his eldest daughter.
Isabela rolled her eyes and was the first to leave. One by one, the other family members also turned away from the door, mumbling as they went. Agustín then led Julieta into her room and closed the door.
It was odd to be in here when there was no magic. The vast size of the room remained, but the herbs she was growing no longer had that jovial aura about them, and there were no clinking tiles to greet her. Julieta was briefly reminded of what Bruno's room had been like during his absence, and she shuddered.
Luckily, Agustín was still there, and he led her away from the problem areas, guiding her gently to their bed. As he sat her down, he smiled as if he hadn't a care in the world.
"There we go," he said happily. "Now you can rest those lovely hands of yours. Shall I get you something to drink?"
Julieta frowned up at him. "How are you so calm right now? Aren't you at least a little worried?"
Agustín pursed his lips, thinking. Then he sat down next to her. "Well, here's how I see it," he began. "Bruno lost his Gift, then got it back the next morning. Right?"
"Yes…"
"And when Dolores lost hers, she got it back within a couple of hours."
"Well…yes."
Agustín beamed. "So, if this pattern continues, you'll have your Gift back in, what, twenty minutes? So why spend it all worrying?"
Julieta bit at her nail. "I suppose, but how do we know for sure?"
Her husband scoffed. "I guess we can't. But stressing about it will probably make it worse. So, until we have any reason to worry further, I'm going to ask again: would you like a drink?"
Julieta stared at his smiling face, and had to admit, the unwavering optimism was awfully charming right about now. After spending all morning cooking, the urge to sink into the mattress with her husband, with a warm drink in her hand…sounded so tempting.
So, when she realized she had no other choice, Julieta smiled. "Some tea would be nice."
Agustín winked. "Coming right up."
Julieta's magic glowed a soothing teal on Mirabel's skin, which she personally thought was the best one so far. Once the dizziness had worn off a little (or perhaps she was just getting used to it), Mirabel had retreated to her room to wait, and explore the ongoing effects of her new power.
As she was inspecting the teal specks, her door suddenly opened, and Dolores hurried in. "Mirabel—what are you doing?"
Mirabel hit her head as she ducked out of her wardrobe. She groaned, turning around to where Dolores was standing. "S-sorry, I—I was just looking at the speckles."
Dolores cocked her head. "What speckles?"
"Didn't I show you? My skin glows in the dark when I'm holding a Gift. Look, come here…"
It took some maneuvering, but Mirabel managed to stick her arm back in the wardrobe and close the door just enough that her skin would sparkle, while Dolores could still see it through the crack. Her cousin's eyes got even bigger than usual. "W-wow. That's…definitely something."
Mirabel removed her arm so they could stand normally again. "Yeah." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Anyway, uh…did you come in here to tell me something?"
"Ah, right," said Dolores. "The family found your mamá's door. Did you…did you not tell her what was going on before you took her Gift? Or, you know, anyone?"
Mirabel winced. "Er, I was about to, just a while ago. But then Tía Pepa showed up, and mom had to run out—and I had to come in here until the nausea wore off."
Dolores frowned.
"But I'm fine now!" Mirabel finished. "Getting better, like I said."
"Right, well," Dolores sighed. "They're freaking out again. Mamá's in Bruno's room yelling at him about therapy."
"Therapy?"
"Long story. Point is, if you're planning on coming clean, now would be a good time to do it."
"Alright, alright." Mirabel straightened up and adjusted her shirt collar. "Did my mom come back from outside?"
"Yes. She's in her room with your dad right now."
"Thanks. I guess I'll go see her right now."
Slowly, Mirabel turned and headed out the door. Her heart was pounding, and she forced herself to take deep breaths as she walked to her mom's room. It was going to be okay, she told herself. This was Julieta. Her mother. The kindest and most understanding person Mirabel knew. She could do this.
As Mirabel reached the door, she suddenly stopped. If…if she tried to open the door here, wouldn't that just put the Gift back? Did she want to do that right now? Should she even be near this place?
But, thankfully, she didn't need to decide, as the door suddenly opened on its own. Mirabel flinched a little and stepped back. Out came Agustín, humming a little tune to himself, only pausing a little when he saw his daughter.
"Whoops! Sorry about that, Miraboo!" He chuckled. "I didn't hit you, did I?"
"Er, no," Mirabel replied. "Is Mamá in there?"
"Yeah. You should go inside and see her." He held the door open, enough for Mirabel to pass through without touching the knob at all. "I'm going downstairs to make—well, to get someone to help me make her some tea. In the meantime, go give her a hug and tell her she's doing great, okay?"
Mirabel gave a wry smile. "You got it, Papá."
With that, Mirabel went inside, Casita clattering at her feet, and Agustín shut the door behind her. Mirabel needed a moment to recompose herself. Julieta's room felt so…eerie right now. It took her a moment to realize that she couldn't sense the presence of Casita in here at all.
She sighed, then tiptoed over to where her mother was resting on her bed. Hesitantly, she cleared her throat. "H-hola, Mamá. Are you awake…?"
Julieta's eyelids shot open. When she saw Mirabel, she sat up, quickly making room for her to sit down. "Oh, Mirabel…come here, sweetheart, come here." She patted the area next to her, with a smile.
Mirabel hesitantly sat. "So…are you okay?"
Julieta hummed. "Yes, I suppose I am. No other choice for me, is there?" She grinned. "Your father is enforcing break time for me. No worrying allowed."
"As he should."
They laughed, then fell into silence. Mirabel tapped her finger on the side of the bed, psyching herself up.
"Um…mom?" She began. "There's something I need to tell you."
Julieta cocked her head. There was a sort of knowing look in her eyes, as if she already had an idea of what to expect. "What is it, dear?"
"I…I know what happened to your Gift." Mirabel gulped, looking at the floor. "...I took it."
There was no response.
Mirabel felt her pulse spike and tried to do damage control. "Uh—not permanently! It's not gone. I can put it back whenever you want me to. I just need to touch your doorknob! Just say the word. But not now, because you're on your mandatory dad-enforced break. But I can do it."
"I—Mirabel, Mirabel, wait." Julieta waved her hands to stop her, looking a bit flustered. "I'm sorry, I—I'm confused. What do you mean you 'took it'?"
Mirabel pressed her lips together. "Um…do you have a dark spot in your room?"
Minutes later, Mirabel stood under the dark shade in Julieta's personal clinic, displaying her teal-speckled arms to her mother. Julieta, like the doctor she was, got as close as she could, observing Mirabel from every angle.
"This is…the strangest thing I've ever seen," Julieta mumbled. "I had a feeling you were connected to the disappearing Gifts, but I never would have guessed you were—absorbing them. How in the world could this happen?"
Mirabel laughed nervously. "I mean…I dunno. Magic is weird. And then there's me. The magic sponge."
Julieta was not amused. "Is this…really okay for you? I can't imagine it's healthy. Ah—." her hand flew to her mouth. "This isn't—this isn't the reason you got sick the other day, is it?"
"S-sort of?" Mirabel rubbed her neck. "It was bad at first, with Tío Bruno's Gift. But it got a little better every time. I barely feel sick right now. Just—a bit heavy. Magic is heavy."
Julieta closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "You don't need to tell me that twice," she muttered. With that, she took Mirabel's hand and led her back to the bed, making the speckles disappear for now.
They sat down and Julieta sighed. "I'm glad you finally told me, Mirabel," she said. "But…are you sure this is okay? The whole thing is—very strange."
"Yeah, it is," Mirabel agreed. But, she puffed out her chest with a confident grin. "But hey, I can do it—after all, the miracle wouldn't give me this power if I couldn't handle it, right?"
Julieta gave her an indecipherable stare. "...The miracle. Right."
She shook her head before Mirabel could ask her what was wrong. "Well, in any case, if you're sure…don't hold onto my Gift for too long, okay?" A smile crossed her face. "I appreciate the break, mija. But I do still like my Gift and would like to have it back before the day's over."
Mirabel shrugged. "Sure, mom. If that's what you want." She paused, hesitant, and looked away again. "And listen, um…I plan to tell the others about this too, because I don't want them to be scared anymore…so, do you mind holding off on saying anything? Just for a bit longer."
"Of course, dear," Julieta responded. "But…may I ask why?"
Mirabel winced. "I—I just want to do it on my own terms, you know? I don't want it—I don't want anyone to think of me as a magic-stealer…"
"Oh, honey," Julieta reached out and put an arm around her. "No one is going to think of you that way. Whenever you're ready, I'm sure the family will welcome your new…ability with open arms. Or, more accurately, welcome you with open arms."
"Thank you, Mamá." Mirabel leaned into the hug, her shoulders sagging with relief.
At that moment, the door opened once more, and Agustín returned to the room with a cup of warm tea. He smiled at both of them. "Hi there. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
Julieta playfully patted Mirabel's shoulder. "Oh, you know, Agustín. Mirabel is just so good at giving pep talks."
Mirabel laughed, then got up off the bed at last. "Ok, well, I'm gonna head out and let you relax some more. Remember, no worrying allowed!"
"Hear hear!" Agustín agreed. Julieta just waved both of them off.
As her father held the door open for her again, Mirabel left the room, feeling just a little bit lighter.
About fifteen minutes after Mirabel had left, Julieta found herself staring contemplatively at her tea. Agustín was next to her, reading a book as he caressed her hand gently. It was pretty rare to have a quiet moment like this, and Julieta regretted having to disturb it.
"...Agustín," she said quietly. She waited until he looked up. "Have…have you noticed how Mirabel seems to be…connected to the new miracle, somehow?"
Agustín cocked his head. "Um…I think so? I don't know much about it. Why do you ask?"
Julieta swirled her tea and sighed. "Nothing. Never mind. I just hope it's not too much for her."
Agustín laughed and patted her hand. "Worrying as usual, mi amor. I'm sure it will be okay. Our Mirabel can handle anything."
"Hm. Yes…I hope you're right."
