"So, you're not going to tell me anything?"

Pepa's interrogating tone was like a needle poking in her side. Julieta busied herself with whatever she had in front of her, trying to get out of this conversation.

"There's nothing to tell," Julieta insisted. "I got my Gift back suddenly, just like the others. I have no idea what happened to it."

Pepa came closer, leaning on the table next to Julieta. The intensity of her gaze was somehow palpable. "Look me in the eye and tell me that."

Julieta pressed her lips together. She steeled herself, and turned to face the fire burning in Pepa's green eyes.

"I—I have no idea what happened—to my Gift." Shoot, she broke eye contact.

Pepa slammed her hand on the table. The crack of thunder only accentuated the sound. "You lie! I knew it!" She turned around and started pacing. "Great. So you're lying. Meanwhile, Dolores won't stop squeaking and chirping, and Bruno threw salt in my face when I tried to talk to him yesterday—do you think I don't see the pattern here?" Pepa pointed a finger at her sister as her nostrils flared. "All three of you lost your Gift, and then you come back—knowing something. Something that you apparently can't share with the rest of your family. What, so—so do I have to wait until it happens to me, too?"

Julieta felt the cold raindrops on her nose already. She winced. Pepa was obviously getting worried, and Julieta wanted to tell her the truth, but Mirabel had trusted her not to.

"My own daughter was affected by this, Julieta!" Pepa cried. "And so was our brother, and so were you! And you're telling me I just have to wait?"

"Pepa, it's okay, I promise," Julieta finally replied. She held her hands up pleadingly and looked her sister in the eye at last. "I know you're worried, but I can tell you with certainty—no one is going to get hurt. Can you trust me?"

Pepa's eyes, watery, searched Julieta's, conflicted. Finally, she just huffed and whirled around. "Fine. You still won't tell me. I see how it is."

With that, Pepa exited the scene, her clouds trailing her darkly. Julieta could only lean against the table with a groan, silently hoping that her daughter knew what she was doing.


Isabela only heard the rain falling in the courtyard from her current place in the living room. It had been a little hard to focus on the book she was reading, with her mother and aunt arguing just another room over. Before long, Isabela spotted Pepa herself storming by, before she disappeared into her room with a slam of her door.

Very shortly after that, Luisa appeared, poking her head in the living room.

"Uh…did you see that just now?" Luisa asked nervously. "What's going on with her?"

Isabela looked up briefly. "Mm, yeah. She and Mamá were arguing earlier. Tía Pepa is trying to figure out what's going on with the magic."

"Oh." Luisa looked down and started rubbing her arm. She hesitated, clearly wanting to say something but not knowing how. "Um…weren't you…also trying to figure it out? I thought you'd be helping her."

Isabela stared down at her book, but she wasn't reading a word anymore. "Well…I guess." Shaking her head, she flipped her hand nonchalantly. "But—nah. To be honest, I don't really care much anymore. I'm too busy with other things."

Luisa blinked. "You…don't care?"

Isabela huffed. "No, I mean—people's Gifts are coming back after they disappear, right? So it might just be a series of problems they're fixing as they go. And besides, Abuela says we're not defined by the magic anymore. So it's okay if it's not working."

"Wh—what do you mean?" Luisa tensed up, her lip already starting to quiver. "Isabela, the house fell last time! I don't want to go through that again! And—and what if this means that people are hurting? How could you be okay with that?"

Isabela winced at the outburst and held up her hands. "Wait—no, no, Luisa, I didn't mean it that way. Please don't cry…" She trailed off, watching as her sister hunched in on herself a little, already on the verge of a breakdown. Isabela sighed. She closed her book and patted the seat next to her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. Come here."

Luisa muttered something under her breath but listened to Isabela. She plopped down on the couch, making her sister bounce up a bit. Isabela quickly wrapped an arm around Luisa's broad shoulder.

"Of course I care," she told her. "And I don't want the house to fall again. All I was saying is—." She bit her lip. "I just—don't think we should stress about finding an answer, you know? It's like Abuela said, the answer will reveal itself to us when it's ready."

Luisa stared back at her, unsure. But, at least she'd calmed down now. She looked at the ground thoughtfully before replying. "Okay, I guess…I'm just a little confused about why you changed your mind. I thought you really cared about finding out what was happening. Did you really just decide to wait? Or…" Luisa wrung her hands again. "Or, did you just get scared of the answer, like me?"

Isabela watched her contemplatively. Then she gazed somewhere in front of her. "Scared of the answer…" she mumbled. "I might be."

Luisa looked alarmed again.

"N-not because I think the house is falling!" Isabela amended quickly. "I'm scared because—" she stopped, looking around them anxiously. She lowered her voice and leaned closer to Luisa. "Promise you won't tell anyone about this."

"O-ok…"

"…I think Mirabel is doing it."

"Huh?" Luisa pulled away in surprise. "Mirabel? Why would she do something like that? She wants to protect the magic."

"Shhh! I don't know, okay? But I'm just seeing a lot of signs. She was acting super weird the other day, and—and Mamá brought her up yesterday when she was talking about losing her Gift. It all just seems so suspicious."

"Well…maybe we could ask her."

Isabela hesitated. She took her arm away from Luisa and hugged herself instead. "See, that's why I'm worried. What if I'm wrong? If I say that to her, it will be like I'm going back to my old self. You know, the whole, 'Mirabel, everything is your fault!'"

"Ah." Luisa cringed and rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from."

"If it's really her…" Isabela trailed off. But, shaking her head, she sat up straighter and hardened her face with determination. "If it's really her, then she must be doing it for a reason. And she'll tell us the truth when she's ready. Just like Abuela said."

Luisa looked thoughtful. "…how would Mirabel even be taking Gifts away in the first place?"

Isabela didn't have an answer for this. She pursed her lips. "…I think the miracle just…really really likes her."

Luisa stared at her for a second, before an amused smirk crossed her face. "Aw. Are you just upset that you're not the favorite for once?"

Isabela rolled her eyes, and then smacked her laughing sister with a pillow. "Hush, you."


Mirabel felt…pretty good today. After she'd been able to help her mom and not cause a complete panic in the meantime, it really felt like she was finally figuring this thing out. This new power of hers really did serve a purpose. Now all she had to do was tell the rest of the family so she could ease their worries and start contributing for real. Why had she been so afraid before?

Now, from this spot in her room, Mirabel could hear rumbles of thunder and rain from right outside the door. That, of course, only meant that Tia Pepa was upset. Perhaps, Mirabel thought, she'd be the next person who could use a little bit of a break?

Well, she'd have to talk to her first. With a jolt of determination, Mirabel put her current sewing project on pause and stood up. She opened her bedroom door…and immediately was greeted by the sight of Luisa just downstairs, coming out of the living room and looking very down.

Mirabel paused. She walked up to the railing for a closer look. Luisa was doing that thing where she tried to look okay, but her eyes were darting around and she was ever so slightly hunched over. Mirabel bit her lip. She'd already been on her way to talk with Tia Pepa, but now it looked like Luisa needed help too. Who should she go to?

…Well, Luisa was right in front of her now. She'd take this as a sign and talk with Pepa later. With that decision, Mirabel cupped her hands around her mouth. "Oyé, Luisa!"

Luisa jumped. She looked up to where Mirabel was waving at her from the top story. For some reason, Luisa's face paled when she saw her, and she gave her what looked like a very forced smile.

"Oh, er…hey, Mirabel," Luisa said, waving. "H-how's it going?"

Mirabel slid down the stairs before Luisa was even done talking. Casita went ahead and deposited her right in front of her sister, making Luisa step back a little.

"I'm doing great, actually!" Mirabel chirped. She put her hands in behind her back and leaned forward. "What about you?"

"Me? I'm doing good. Heh." Her eyes were still looking in every direction. "I was just-going out to get some more work done."

"Oh, cool! Hey, why don't I tag along with you?"

Luisa took a step back. "Er…why?"

From the corner of her eye, Mirabel thought she saw Isabela watching them. But she ignored her and kept her focus on Luisa. "Ah, you know. Sitting in my room all day gets boring sometimes, so I'd like some fresh air. Plus, I think we're overdue for a little sister-sister bonding! Don't you?"

Luisa glanced off to the side where Isabela had apparently been. But this time, she actually gave Mirabel a real smile. "Well…I guess that does sound nice." She turned around, motioning for Mirabel to follow. "Come on, I was just heading over to the river. I think they're doing some repairs on the dam over there."

Success! Mirabel pumped her fist in the air and followed Luisa outside. Her magic hands and wishes were ready at the helm, and she was prepared to use them if she saw anything out of place.

The first thing Mirabel saw when they got outside was the amount of people calling Luisa's name. At first, she was ready to jump to her rescue-but then she realized that most of them were just…greeting her. And Luisa was happily greeting them back, asking about people's day, and not sticking around too long.

Hm. Okay. She'd see what would happen at the bridge.

Surprisingly, it was more of the same. Luisa was working, yes, but never was she asked to do more than one thing at a time. One of the guys there even gave her a drink as a thank you. Still, Mirabel wasn't going to take things at face value. As soon as Luisa had a free minute, she approached her.

"Hey," Mirabel began, casually as possible. "Soooo, the work site here seems pretty…what's the word? Relaxed. Don't you think?"

Luisa gave her that weird stare again. That was the third time she was looking at her funny. But, nonetheless, she shrugged. "Ah, you know, it's not like a super-urgent repair or anything," she replied. "It's one of those patch-it-up-before-gets-worse kind of things."

"Oh, of course, yeah! Big fan of patching things up before they get out of control. For sure. Uh, but just hypothetically, if it was urgent, would these guys be giving you a hard time? Just asking."

Luisa stared. Again. Then, a sort of sympathetic smile crossed her face. "Don't tell me…you just came along so you could see if I was overworking myself again."

"Wh-whaaaaat?" Mirabel guffawed and tried to wave off the suggestion. "I don't know what you mean. I came out here for sisterly bonding…but now that you mention it, if you were overworking yourself, I could totally help with that, you know?"

This made Luisa's eyebrows furrow, but the smile remained on her face. "Mirabel…" she said softly. "I'm okay right now. I promise."

Mirabel frowned slightly. "Are you sure? You seemed kind of upset when I found you earlier."

"I know, I know. But that was about something else, not this." She paused. "I know I can still go a little overboard, I'm not perfect or anything—but right now, I'm okay."

Mirabel was a little surprised at how certain Luisa sounded. "You're sure?"

"Completely."

"Well…okay then, if you say so." Mirabel rubbed her arm, a little sheepish. So much for her mission. "But just so you know…if you ever feel like you don't want to be the strong one for a while…you can always come to me."

This time, Luisa snorted. "Yeah. I know."

They remained where they were for a while. Mirabel briefly replayed the conversation over in her head, wondering if Luisa already knew. Actually, she was beginning to think that several family members already knew, if their attitude was anything to go by.

As Luisa got called (gently) back for work, Mirabel felt her resolve only grow stronger.


Mirabel intended to check on Pepa next, but it seemed like her aunt preferred to sulk in her room for the rest of the day. It wasn't until dinner time rolled around that day that she saw her, and…yeah, she looked awful.

As if the rumbling gray clouds weren't enough of a giveaway, Pepa was wearing a clear scowl on her face and refused to look several family members in the eye. If only Mirabel had managed to talk to her earlier. Somehow, she got the feeling that touching Pepa and taking away her magic right this moment would be a bad idea.

Alma, of course, noticed this as well. "Pepa," she began as evenly as possible. "Your cloud is looking quite large. What happened?"

"Nothing, Mamá," Pepa replied grumpily. She took a swig of her drink and continued not looking at anyone. "I just had a bit of an altercation that left me in a bad mood today. Apparently there are some people in this family who think they don't need to share important information with the others."

Julieta sighed loudly from her end of the table. "Pepa, really, are you still on this?"

Pepa responded by slamming her cup down and thundering louder. "She knows something, Mamá!" she snapped. "She—all three of them know something about the disappearing Gifts that they won't tell us!"

She pointed at Julieta, Bruno and Dolores, all of whom either averted their eyes or sent pretty conspicuous glances at Mirabel. As for Mirabel herself, she felt her resolve starting to slip and had a sudden urge to hide under the table. Were they all staring at her? It felt like everyone here was looking at her.

"Pepa, take a deep breath, please," Alma instructed, still level-headed somehow. "No one is trying to hide anything from you. We're all in this mess together, remember?"

"Exactly," Pepa agreed. "And because we're all in this together, and we're a family, that means we should be sharing any information we might have. And I'm sure everyone else at this table agrees with me. Am I correct?"

Félix, of course, had already gotten started on the shoulder rub. "Of course, Pepa. There's no need to put any pressure on the others, I'm sure we're all in agreement."

Pepa didn't seem convinced. She looked around the silent table, frowning deeper when she saw them all awkwardly glancing away.

"Why are you all so quiet?" Pepa insisted. "Am I wrong? Isa."

Isabela jumped.

"What do you think of this? You want answers, don't you?"

Isabela tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um, I mean…I don't think it's so urgent anymore, we can just…just hang on for now."

"Hang—Does no one agree with me? Luisa?"

Luisa flinched and raised her arms above her head. "Aah—don't look at me!" She squawked. "I don't know anything, I swear!"

"Pepa, that's enough," Alma snapped. "I have said it a thousand times. The answer will present itself to us when it is ready."

"But-!" Pepa looked like she was on the verge of tears now. "Why does it feel like I'm the only one who cares about it? Why are all of you acting so dodgy? Does…does everyone here just know something that I don't?"

Oh. She sounded…genuinely hurt.

"Pepa…" Julieta sighed. "I promise, it's not about you. It's just-it's not my secret to tell."

"Then whose? Whose secret is it?"

"It's mine!"

All eyes snapped to Mirabel.

She was standing now, shaking just a little bit. The sudden attention was just the slightest bit overwhelming. But, she managed to stand up straight and push forward.

"Um..it's mine. It's my secret. I'm—I'm the one behind the disappearing Gifts. Surprise!" She waved her hands in a vain attempt to lighten the mood.

The table was silent, in direct contrast to how it had been seconds ago. Everyone was staring at Mirabel, some with relief, others with…a concerning lack of surprise. And then there was Pepa.

Her aunt's mouth was practically on the floor, and somehow she was the first one to break the silence with nothing more than a "Huh?"


"Okay. I will demonstrate. But I need a willing volunteer."

"Me!" Camilo raised his hand, way too excited for this situation. He held out his hand, and Mirabel took it with a roll of her eyes.

"Alright. So, I'll just take your hand and think something like…" Mirabel gestured at the air. "Uh, I wish Camilo wasn't so annoying.'"

She mustered as much sincerity as she could into the wish, and it did the trick. Immediately, Mirabel felt the wave of lightheadedness wash over her. She needed a second to get back on her feet, but in the meantime, she heard the gasps arise from the rest of the family.

They were gathered in the courtyard now, having listened to her explanation at the dinner table. Of course, Mirabel couldn't just say a bunch of unbelievable things without proof. Which led them here. Quite frankly, she was just happy she had some level of control over this thing now.

"Oh, look, look!" Luisa cried, pointing upstairs. "It actually worked! His door!"

Mirabel shook herself back to normal, in time to grin at everyone's shocked reactions. "Ah…yep! Now try to shapeshift, Camilo."

Camilo responded by making a concentrated face…followed immediately by a panicked one. "Hey…hey, what the heck! You can give it back, right?"

"Of course I can give it back. Why are you panicking? You volunteered for this." She turned and headed for the stairs, a light spring in her step, and her family followed her quietly.

Mirabel returned Camilo's Gift through his door. Then she turned around and once again jazz-hands-ed at her family as if she'd just performed some grand trick. "Ta-da! And that's how it works!"

Camilo shapeshifted several times as if he'd need starved of it. Immediately, the questions stared flooding in.

"That's insane!" Isabela cried first. "You absorb Gifts through your skin? How is that even—allowed?!"

"Does it hurt?" Luisa asked. "What does it feel like?"

"How long have you been able to do this?" asked Félix.

Mirabel needed to take a step back. "Uh—ok, uh—I don't know, and it's a bit dizzying but it doesn't hurt, and…I guess I started doing it by mistake with Tío Bruno." She put her hands behind her back sheepishly. "But, to be honest, I'm starting to think a lot of you already figured out it was me."

Isabela rolled her eyes. "Uh, duh. Mirabel, you know you're really bad at acting non-suspicious, right? We just didn't want to be pointing fingers, you know?"

Camilo cackled, and turned into a perfect imitation of Mirabel. He leaned back and assumed an over dramatic pose before mimicking her: "Don't touch me! Oh, please, stay away! I'm toxic! Toxic, I say!"

A few snickers rose up from the group, and Mirabel felt herself flush. "Uh-huh…right. I didn't sound like that. Do you want me to take your Gift again, Camilo?"

"Wh—hey, hey!" He went back to himself and blew a raspberry. "Oh, alright. So now you've got this power and you're going to lord it over us, huh?"

Mirabel was about to retort, when she was interrupted. She felt a pair of small arms around her waist, and looked down to see Antonio hugging her. The little boy looked up at her with adoring eyes and the biggest smile, always reassuring.

"I think your Gift is great, Mirabel," Antonio said softly. "I always knew you deserved one."

Her heart melted and she patted his head. "Well…I don't know if I'd call it that, but thanks, Toñito. You're the best."

She then looked out over the group again, at their varying reactions. Finally, her gaze landed on Pepa, who still had a small, but much quieter, cloud above her head. "Tía? I-I hope that eases your worries. We're not losing our miracle again, it's—it's just me."

Pepa sniffed. "Yes, yes, I understand. I'm glad there's no danger. Though, I think the truth might be even more shocking!" She huffed and shook her head. "But anyway, I'm just still a little bit miffed that somehow everyone figured it out before me. I thought I was paying more attention."

Agustín spoke up next, the jolly smile still plastered on his face. "If it makes you feel better, Pepa, I didn't have a clue either."

"Neither did I!" Félix laughed. He held up his hand for a high five. "Clueless brothers?"

"Clueless brothers!"

They slapped a high five, and Pepa rubbed her temples tiredly.

Alma, who had been listening quietly this whole time, finally cleared her throat. "Thank you for explaining all that, Mirabel," she said quietly. "But…may I ask why you didn't speak up about it sooner?"

Mirabel didn't respond right away. She ran her hand through Antonio's hair to calm herself. She then briefly locked eyes with her uncle across the room, and then decided it was best to simply tell the truth.

"I…was scared," she admitted. "I mean, this isn't exactly…it's not the same as the Gifts that the rest of the family has. Right?"

"Ah…yes, that much is true." Alma fell silent, thoughtful. The others all waited with bated breath to see what she would do next. However, after a moment passed, Alma simply got up and nodded. "Well. I'm glad we finally got that cleared up. You can all go rest assured now."

The family exchanged a few glances, but no one moved to leave just yet.

"Mirabel."

Mirabel's eyes snapped back to her grandmother.

"I don't know why this happened, but I do know that this Gift of yours is going to be a big responsibility. Before you take anyone else's Gifts, please discuss it with me, and the person in question first."

"Y-yes, Abuela." Mirabel nodded. "I'm still kinda figuring this whole thing out. But I'll do that."

"Very good." She hesitated, trying to find the words. "And…if you every need advice on how to use this properly…I will always try to help where I can."

Mirabel blinked, but she smiled, feeling her shoulder sag with relief. This new "nice" Alma was a bit difficult to get used to sometimes, but her sincerity always came through.

With that, the tension seemed to dissipate, and the group dispersed a little. From the corner of her eye, Mirabel spotted Dolores swoop over the Isabela and start whispering furiously. She scoffed and didn't try to stop them. She'd forced poor Dolores to keep quiet for too long.

Julieta approached her next, and she wasted no time in planting a sloppy kiss on Mirabel's cheek. "I don't want to say I Told You So," she said. "But I told you so."

Mirabel laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah. Um, I'm sorry I made you keep the secret and got you into a fight with Tía Pepa."

Julieta waved it off. "Don't worry about that. It's what sisters do. You know that."

Mirabel laughed, then suddenly felt her father ruffling her hair from behind.

"Hey, there's my little magical girl! Can't believe you're the new miracle conduit, sort of." He chuckled. "How does it feel?"

"Um—weird!" Mirabel replied. "But, not terrible, surprisingly."

Agustín leaned forward toward her conspiratorially. "Hey, listen—I personally wouldn't mind if you gave your mom more 'breaks' like you did yesterday. That was the most time I've spent with her in ages."

Julieta rolled her eyes. "Agustín, if you want to tell me something, I'm right here."

"Not sure what you mean."

Julieta shook her head and led Agustín away by the hand, but not before giving Mirabel one last cheek kiss.

The hallway was considerably emptier now, though Mirabel had no doubt she would be hounded with more questions later. Mirabel looked around for Luisa, wanting to ask her again about earlier, but her sister was nowhere to be found. Once again, she would have to postpone. Ugh. It was so weird how she was just itching to use her power now.

Finally, however, Mirabel came face to face with Bruno, who was standing by himself as usual. With a smile, she approached him and spread out her arms.

"Well," she said. "You were right. I did it. I told everyone."

Bruno chuckled. "You sure did, kid. I'm proud of you." He paused, rubbing his arm nervously and looking away. "Um…your Abuela is right, by the way."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, I don't normally say that. Uh—I mean what she said just now. Can't be taking people's Gifts willy-nilly, right? Just, uh—you know. I'm also open for advice whenever you need me."

"Aww." Mirabel smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Tío. I appreciate the help." She cocked her head. "Don't worry. I'm sure it will all be okay. This is a good power, I'm sure of it now."

"Sure. I agree with you, kid."

He stopped, but kept staring at the ground, somewhat in a daze. Mirabel wanted to ask what was wrong, but she noticed that Bruno was about to keep talking.

…or, at least, he would have, if he didn't just turn away and leave without a word. Classic Tío Bruno.

Well, that was alright. Mirabel would take this time to breathe a sigh of relief for now. Finally, the truth was out, and the hardest part was over. All she had to do now was figure out how to use this power in the most beneficial way possible, to help her family. And with all of them by her side, she was sure that absolutely nothing would go wrong.