"You guys don't understand! I—I felt something!"

"Felt what?" Isabela snapped. "An overwhelming desire to steal my Gift?"

Mirabel fumed. The deep blue speckles on her skin seemed to grow brighter. "I did not steal!" she shouted. "I'm not a thief!"

"Then what do you call this? I told you I don't need any help, but you took it without permission! While I was sleeping!"

"Isabela," Julieta interjected. "Mirabel. It's early in the morning and people are screaming. Keep your voices down and let's talk this out."

The girls were quiet for only a moment, seething.

Julieta turned to her youngest. "Mirabel. Could you please explain your reasoning? Why did you take your sister's Gift?"

"I—I can't explain it." Mirabel wrung her hands together. "It was like—a pull. I think it's another part of my Gift. I can sense when someone needs help. I think."

"You think." Isabela scoffed. Her father put a hand on her shoulder.

Mirabel just shot her a glare before continuing. "My power is meant to keep our family from straining themselves, right? I believe I should follow my instincts here. It worked with Tía Pepa yesterday."

Julieta frowned, looking Mirabel up and down. She seemed a little distracted by the speckles again. "I understand that, Mira. But…"

"But, it's a little unfair to make the decision for someone else," Agustín finished. He was gently smiling, and holding Isabela by the shoulder. "That's all your sister was trying to say. Right, Isabela?"

Isabela rolled her eyes. "Yes. I have things I need to finish, and I need my Gift."

Mirabel clenched her fists and squirmed. "I know that. But isn't this literally the same as before? You had things to finish, things to do, things to be, and that's all you did. Remember? I'm sorry for trying to keep that from happening again."

Isabela pursed her lips together, her gaze softening a little. "...Fine, I understand that. But, people still need to work sometimes, you know. You can't be doing this every time someone shows an ounce of stress."

Mirabel threw her hands up in the air. "Fine. My bad. I'll put your Gift back."

She began to stomp off, and her parents tried futilely to stop her. "Mirabel—"

"No, no, I get it! You were right! I apologize!"

As they watched, she trudged around the upper story until she reached Isabela's door. As she touched the doorknob and made it glow once more, her family thought they saw her stumble back a bit. But it was over quickly, and Mirabel just gave them one more exasperated look. Then she went into her room and closed the door.

Agustin and Julieta glanced at each other in concern. Isabela grew a cactus.


It was like they didn't trust her anymore.

Mirabel had left the house to get some fresh air after that morning's argument, but it didn't feel like it was helping. Sure, maybe she had been a little hasty taking Isabela's Gift, and maybe she'd been weird taking it in the middle of the night without permission—but it was for her own good! That feeling—that pull had to mean something. She didn't want to wait for her family to confer on every little thing. What if they took too long?

As people greeted her left and right, Mirabel did her best to force a smile and wave back. Had any of them caught wind of what was going on? There was no doubt the villagers would learn about it sooner or later. Giftless Mirabel now had a Gift, perhaps the ultimate one—and if the family didn't sort themselves out soon, who knew how people would react. Mirabel could feel the hairs on her neck stand up with anxiety at the thought.

Or maybe—oh, yep. That wasn't anxiety. It was the pull again. Mirabel straightened her bag and followed it. Maybe it wasn't a great idea to go against her family's wishes. But, deep down, Mirabel felt she needed to trust her instincts. She's sort it out with the others later. As a shiver ran down her spine, Mirabel followed where her heart told her to go…somehow.

She wasn't surprised at all when she found herself walking toward Luisa. Her middle sister was sitting on a large tree root, twiddling her thumbs and glancing around anxiously. Mirabel quietly sat down next to her. Luisa didn't look her in the eye right away.

"…That was fast," Luisa finally mumbled. "How'd you know where to find me?"

Mirabel shrugged. She wasn't sure if she wanted to get into it just yet. "I had a feeling," she replied simply. Then she tilted her head, trying to catch her sister' eye. "What about you? Are you…okay?"

"Me?" Luisa's eyes darted around. "Uh—yeah. Course I am. As you can see, I'm taking a break. So we're good to go."

Luisa's eye was twitching as she spoke. Mirabel gave her a doubtful look. She refused to look away, and Luisa seemed to fidget at her gaze.

"You don't look very relaxed—"

"Alright, look!" Luisa burst out. She then took a second to compose herself. "I—I don't know if you heard before you left today, but Má and Pá were saying that maybe we shouldn't use your power for a while."

"They—what?" Mirabel felt herself bristle up. "That's—why not? They don't think I can handle it?"

"No, I'm sure that's not it." Luisa wrung her hands together. "It's just—you kinda made Isa pretty mad earlier. I think they just wanted to talk to you about boundaries or something before using your power again."

Mirabel felt her face heat up. It was true. Her family thought she was going to mess everything up, didn't they? She closed her eyes, trying not to become overwhelmed by emotion.

"Mirabel?" Luisa asked. "I-It's okay. I'm sure Mom and Dad just want to make sure we're all safe, you know?"

Mirabel took a few moments to count to ten. When she opened her eyes again, she smiled calmly at Luisa and shrugged. "Yeah, I know. That's probably true." She tilted her head again, smiling innocently. "Buuut, I couldn't hurt to at least talk to me about what's bothering you, right?"

Luisa looked away again. "Nothing's bothering me."

"Luisa…"

Luisa blew her hair out of her face. "It's not a big deal," she finally said. "I—I just finished helping some guys move things, right? It should be all good to go. The thing is, they've started a project with those supplies, and they asked me to remain on standby just in case."

Mirabel scoffed and sat up straight, offended. "Well, they can't do that."

"I mean, it wouldn't be so bad…" Luisa muttered. She looked a little pitiful as she looked at the ground. "The thing is, uh…well, I'd kinda been planning to meet some people for lunch today."

"Hm? Who?"

"A few friends. I'd been meaning to get together with them for a while, but…" she sighed and leaned on her hand. "I guess we'll have to reschedule it. Again…"

Mirabel shook her head and stood up. "Well, that's just not fair. You have to miss lunch with your friends so that you can…what, do nothing? Be on standby? That's silly, Luisa, you deserve a lunch break like anyone else."

With that, she held a hand out to her, an invitation.

"In fact, let's do just that," Mirabel said. "We'll say you're out to lunch. And therefore, you're not taking work calls."

Luisa sat up straight, and shook her head vigorously. "Ah, Mirabel, we can't do that! Mom and Dad, remember? Plus, you're not supposed to take any Gifts without Abuela's permission."

"Well, I can get your permission," Mirabel insisted. "And I'll work things out with the others. I just want to make sure you're okay."

"But…but what if there's an emergency?" Luisa whimpered. "What if they need me, and I'm not there?"

Mirabel's smile was wider, more sympathetic. "You sound just like Mamá."

Luisa slumped in her seat.

Mirabel stepped closer. "Look, I'm not going to do anything unless you say it's okay," she said. "But I need you to tell me the truth. Tell me what you really want. Do you want to just meet your friends and not have to worry for a while? Or would you rather be 'on standby' and stay alert for now?"

Luisa kicked a pebble on the ground, looking like a scolded child. "I…don't like worrying a lot," she admitted. "It's pretty exhausting. But, I don't know, Mirabel. I feel guilty."

"Don't. If anyone gets in trouble, it will be me." Mirabel winked, and stepped a little closer. "Except, I won't, because as I said, I will work things out with everyone. And, if there's an emergency, I'll send Dolores to fetch you. Deal?"

Luisa looked back and forth between Mirabel and her outstretched hand. She appeared to be of two minds about it, hesitantly reaching for her hand and then pulling back a couple of times.

Then, finally, Luisa sighed and took Mirabel's hand at last. Mirabel could feel the surge of energy almost instantly. She had to spread her feet on the ground to avoid stumbling.

"Fine, you got me, Mirabel," Luisa sighed. "But just for lunch. I'll come back right away. And if there's any trouble, you call me immediately, got it?"

Mirabel beamed. She felt good, like her appetite had just been satiated. Her heart was pounding with…excitement? Satisfaction?

"You got it," Mirabel giggled. "Now go have fun, okay? I'll stay in this area."

Luisa looked somehow lighter as she hurried off, a grin on her face.

Well. Mirabel figured she'd better explain the situation to those guys that Luisa had helped. So Mirabel stepped away from the tree, and began to walk over to where the work appeared to be.

On the way, Mirabel held up her arm to inspect it. A giddy smile crossed her face as she spotted these new speckles, a beautiful purple color that glimmered and shined with every turn.

She didn't even stop to realize that she was no longer in the shade.


Alma rubbed the bridge of her nose as she stood in the foyer, trying to understand what her granddaughter was telling her.

"Isa, you are saying…that Mirabel took your Gift while you were sleeping?"

Isabela crossed her arms and huffed. She was explaining to Alma what had happened, while Dolores stood nearby to listen.

"Well, that's what she said," Isabela replied. "I went to bed with my Gift, and woke up without it. So she snuck into my room at night and took it while I was asleep."

Alma sighed, rubbing her temples and muttering. "Ay, this is getting out of hand. I told her to be upfront with us. Why is she doing this?"

"That's not even the worst part," Isabela continued. "I specifically told her yesterday to not take my Gift. I didn't need her to, plus I had a bouquet to finish today. But she didn't listen to me! Abuela, she can't just go around deciding for us who gets a break and who doesn't. She's way out of line, you have to talk to her."

At this, Alma hesitated. The thoughtful frown never left her face, but where a previous version of herself would have marched right out to find Mirabel, today she wasn't so sure.

Dolores then took the opportunity to speak up. "Isa…she was probably just worried about you."

Isabela rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, she's trying to help, I get it. But she's acting like we're not allowed to feel any tension, ever. Plus, doing it without our consent is just wrong."

"Sure, sure…but you do have a precedent of hiding the issues you're actually facing. All of us do." She shrugged. "Can you really blame her for trying to take action? For all she knows, we might be falling back into our old habits and she needs to save us again."

"Is that what she's thinking?" Isabela scoffed. However, her expression had softened. "She—she already saved us. It's supposed to be a team effort from here. Why can't she see that?"

There was a short silence in the conversation. After another moment of thought, Alma spoke up again.

"Dolores, perhaps it would be better coming from you."

Dolores jumped a little, eyes wide. "Me? Why?"

Alma cracked a smile. "Because coming from me, it would sound like a command. You just said, she's worried about us falling back into our old habits. I do not want to be the overbearing old Abuela giving orders again."

The girls looked at each other nervously.

"But…" said Isabela. "I think she needs you to do it this time, Abuela."

"Perhaps," Alma replied. "If nothing else works. But Dolores was one of the first confidants Mirabel had in this situation, so I feel that she trusts you more. Oh, and—if you can find Bruno and convince him to help as well, that would be great."

Dolores wrung her hands together, but nodded. "I'll try."

And with that, she stuck out her ears to locate the two missing misfits.


Mirabel had planned to remain around the same spot, so Luisa could find her again. But, somehow, in the middle of her current job, she felt another "pull". And it was a strong one.

Now, if she had learned anything, it was that calls like this were not to be ignored. If she had a feeling this strong, someone must really need her help. But, how could she do that if she was already helping Luisa?

Mirabel gripped her sack's handle and started muttering to herself. "Ok…can't spread myself too thin, but can't ignore the call…" she bit her finger. "Can't cut Luisa's break short either…man."

Perhaps she should just…go check. Maybe whoever needed her help could just sit on a bench for a little while and wouldn't need a Gift-sponge. Then she could come right back here. Yeah, that might work.

Mind made up, Mirabel hurried forward. She was still trying to piece together the intricacies of this "pull," because at this point it was just a game of hot and cold. Perhaps if she practiced more, she might be able to figure out who was calling before she got there. Now that was an exciting prospect.

For now, Mirabel just kept moving in the direction that felt right. As she turned a corner, she suddenly found herself face-to-face with…

"Tío Bruno!" she gasped. Of course! Who else would be giving out such a strong call? She rushed over to him. "Are you okay? Do you need help? Is someone giving you trouble? Is it a headache? Is—"

"Whoa, whoa, hey, slow down kid." Bruno held his hands up in a feeble attempt to stop her. "One question at a time, okay? You know your old tío gets overwhelmed easi—you are glowing."

Mirabel blinked. "Huh?" She didn't think she looked particularly great today. "Er, thank you. But I was asking about you."

"Mirabel. Your skin. I can see the sparkles on it."

"Oh!" Mirabel held up her arm. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face when she saw the shimmering speckles again. They were such a treat to look at every time. "You meant that kind of glowing. Yeah, I'm helping Luisa out right now. She went to the cafe to meet some friends. Isn't it nice?"

Bruno seemed hesitant. "Right. Yeah, that's great. But, uh, I thought the sparkles could only be seen in the dark. You know, like the shade? We're in broad daylight right now."

This gave Mirabel pause. "Ah…really?" She inspected her arm again, and the environment. He was right, the sun was shining down on her, and if anything it seemed to make the speckles shimmer even more. Come to think of it, she had gotten a few odd looks on her way here.

"Well, um…" she stammered. "That's strange. But I don't feel any different."

Bruno was staring. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Which is a surprise, I thought Luisa's Gift would be super heavy, you know? Ah, maybe that's it!" She snapped her fingers and beamed. "Luisa's Gift is big and strong and comes with so much stress—that must be what's causing her magic to glow brighter."

"Uh…" Bruno scratched his head, unconvinced. "Is that how that works?"

"Could be. I'm still discovering a lot of stuff for myself." With that, she leaned forward. "So, did you need any help? I felt the pull, and it brought me to you."

"...you felt what?"

"The p—ah, I'll explain later. I just mean, that if you need a break, I'm here."

Bruno's frown deepened. "Are you kidding? Aren't you already holding Luisa's Gift? We don't know what could happen if you hold two. You have to take it easy, Mirabel, this can't be good for you."

"Oh no, I just meant—"

"Besides, I haven't talked to anyone but you today." Bruno started pacing a little. "Not a single vision or even a request for one. So whatever this 'pull' is, it has to be mistaken."

Mirabel pouted. So he was going to be like that, huh? Her family was full of bullheads.

"It's not," she muttered. "It hasn't steered me wrong so far. I get that you're worried, Tío, but—um."

Mirabel suddenly felt a stir. The pull was…moving? Pointing further down the road. Hurrying off somewhere else. Was it…not coming from Bruno?

"...but what?" Bruno asked, prompting her to speak. He wasn't moving, or even trying to be forceful with his words, but his eyes seemed to be boring holes into Mirabel's head.

She huffed and decided to push forward. "Sorry. It's nothing. But take care of yourself, okay? Remember, we all look out for each other!"

As she ran off, she barely heard her uncle's voice shouting behind her: "But who's looking out for you, Mirabel?"

Mirabel didn't have time to answer. Whoever was putting out this call, they were moving quite fast. Who was fast in her family? Couldn't be Luisa. Probably not Isabela. Maybe Antonio on a jaguar, or even Pepa.

Ah, it stopped! She was almost there, she felt it. There was a hidden alcove just ahead that felt like the right place to go. Mirabel took a short breath, and once again turned the corner to find her actual target…

"...Camilo?"

He was sitting down, hunched over to catch his breath, and looking exhausted. But as soon as he saw Mirabel, he sat up as if nothing was wrong. "Um…hi?"

Mirabel hesitated. She took a couple steps forward. This pull was strong. Why would that be…?

"Are…are you okay?"

Camilo didn't quite meet her eyes. "Sure? Yeah, I'm fine. What's gotten into you?"

Mirabel hesitated, studying his face closely. He looked a little tired, though it seemed he was trying to hide it. Truthfully, she didn't recall the last time she'd actually observed him. He was always prancing around somewhere, or pretending to be someone else. Did he always look this tired?

Camilo shifted awkwardly. "Uh…hello?"

Oops. Mirabel grinned at him awkwardly. "Sorry. You just—look a little out of it."

He shrugged and turned away from her, kicking a rock on the ground. "Just a bit of a day. Nothing to lose your mind about."

Mirabel squinted at him. "Uh-huh…"

It was becoming obvious that beating around the bush wasn't going to work with anyone in her family. Telling the truth had worked before, maybe it would help speed things along now.

So Mirabel sat down next to her cousin, and leaned toward him as if to share some juicy gossip. "Hey. You know how I've been doing the whole Gift-absorbing thing? Helping out the family?"

"Yeah. And?"

"Well, turns out it comes with a side effect!" She grinned happily. "Whenever someone's stressed out or needs a break, I can sense it! Then I can swoop in right away and help you out!"

"Wh—" Camilo stared at her incredulously. "Are you kidding? What, so you're psychic now too? Why are you suddenly getting all these cool powers?" He smirked. "Is it compensation?"

Mirabel stuck her tongue out at him. "Haha. It's not unexpected, you know. I'm connected to the magic and the magic is connected to me. So I can sense when it changes." She leaned forward again. "But enough about me. Right now I'm sensing something in you. Tell me what's going on, please?"

Camilo rolled his eyes and looked away again. "So I can't hide anything from you? Is that it?"

Mirabel happily nodded.

"Ugh, alright. Feels like an invasion of privacy, but whatever." At this, he sat up a little straighter, but still averted his eyes. Mirabel patiently waited for him to speak. After another moment, he shrugged. "Listen, I really love my Gift, you know? It's a lot of fun, and when I don't have it, I feel…I dunno, trapped?"

He tapped his foot nervously and continued. "Like, remember when you took my Gift as a demonstration? I kinda freaked out, you know? I don't like feeling like I'm stuck in just one shape, not when I know I can do more. It's kinda lame to be without it."

"I see…" Mirabel replied. "So then, what's the problem right now?"

"The problem is that it's exhausting," Camilo sighed. "Shapeshifting is super energy-consuming. And sometimes I just wanna…hide and take a break."

"That's totally fine!" Mirabel replied. "You take as many breaks as you need. If anyone's putting too much on you, I'll give them an earful!"

Camilo snorted. "Alright, sure, yeah. I'll use the breaks treatment, like Luisa. No problem." He paused again, frowning.

"...I'm sensing there's more."

"Could you maybe not sense me for two seconds?"

Mirabel's grin quirked. "This is the normal sensing. The socially aware kind, not the magic kind."

Camilo snorted again. "Whatever. You know, if you had gotten a Gift, I bet it would have been mind-reading or something. Thank goodness for all of us that you don't have that."

"Don't change the subject." Mirabel crossed her arms. "Keep talking or I'll keep bothering you."

"It's—" he huffed. "Alright, alright. You know how a bunch of us started doing things differently after the magic came back? The whole 'be yourself, take it easy, don't be a perfectionist' stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, well, I—I feel like I haven't really…changed?" He started fidgeting with his ruana. "Like, Isabela has changed. Luisa has changed, My mom, your mom, Abuela, Bruno…all different. But I don't think I'm doing anything different at all. I'm the funny prankster guy, I like to eat, I like to change from one person to the next to the next. It's fun, you know? That's how I've been before the magic died, and after it came back."

He paused again, trying to gather his words. "When…we were rebuilding the house, all I could think about was how I could never use my Gift again. It was the worst. It's like—it's like I can't live without my Gift without feeling like I'm going crazy." He finally looked at her, brows furrowed. "Am I going crazy?"

Mirabel gripped her skirt fabric, horrified. It took her a second to form a response. "N-no! No, you're not going crazy at all." She gulped, as a feeling of sadness and guilt settled in her stomach. "Gosh, Camilo, I'm so sorry. We were all focused on helping each other, but somehow—we overlooked you. That's all wrong, that's not fair. I'm so sorry I didn't notice."

"Pff," Camilo looked away from her again. "Ah, don't get all mushy on me now. What would you even do? I don't like being without my Gift, I don't want to lose it. But I just…I dunno…"

"You're relying on it quite a lot," Mirabel finished. "Camilo, do you ever just take a moment to…you know, be yourself? Just relax in your own skin without being anxious?"

"Only when I'm sleeping." He tilted his head. "Or eating. Or, you know, when I lose my Gift because of some wonky magic interferences, and now I'm sitting there waiting for when I can use it again." He started bouncing his leg. "Uh—yeah. I guess I have a little bit of trouble just being in my own skin. It's like I don't know what to do with myself."

"Well then," Mirabel stood up decisively. "I think you need a little bit of time to just be Camilo for a little bit. I can take your Gift for now."

"Wait, what?" Camilo got to his feet, annoyed. "Did you not hear anything I just said? I don't like that! You don't have to—"

"This is an emergency!" Mirabel snapped. She noticed that he jumped a bit and tried to calm herself down. "Camilo. The magic came back, but that doesn't mean that everything is fixed. It means we're supposed to be doing better. And if you're still having the same problems as before, then we're not doing what we should! Don't you see? This is like a—a leftover crack!"

He stared at her, wide-eyed. Mirabel felt her pulse surging, the magic pulsing through her veins. She was holding Luisa's Gift, she shouldn't be doing this, but—but seeing this remnant of what used to be—she had to. She had to try. She couldn't allow anything to go down the same path as before.

Mirabel took a step toward him, and he took a step back. "Camilo. We've got to patch this up. You need to take some time to get comfortable in your own skin, to feel like you don't have to be someone else all the time. And what better way to do that than to let me hold your Gift for a little while?"

"Er, Mirabel—your skin is glowing—"

"That's fine," she insisted. She held out her hand to him, smiling confidently. "Come on, please let me help you. It's only for a little while, okay? I think you'll find that being you is just as much fun as being anyone else." Her gaze turned sympathetic. "I'm so sorry I didn't notice this before, Camilo. I promise that won't happen again."

Camilo stared out her outstretched hand for just a moment longer…before he finally sighed and took it. "It's fine. I don't blame you. I am a very good actor, you know."

Mirabel beamed, as he heartbeat surged even more and the power flowed through her hands and into her body. Unable to contain herself, she tightened her grip on Camilo's hand and pulled him into a big hug. She'd done it! She convinced him. She'd patched up the last crack.

"Ack—jeez." Camilo didn't hug her back as much as he simply just flopped against her. "Didn't I tell you not to get mushy on me?"

"S-sorry," Mirabel giggled. She quickly pulled away and faced him with a big grin. "Ok, go! Go have fun. I'll be waiting by the big tree in the square if you need me."

Camilo rolled his eyes and headed off, looking nervous…but not completely upset.

Now alone, Mirabel sighed. The rush from collecting the magic was starting to die down, and—oh. Oh, boy. Now she was nauseous.

Mirabel teetered slightly, leaning against a log for balance. Right, two Gifts at once. She hadn't done this before, and it was starting to feel a whole lot like the first time she'd held just one. Mirabel tried to look down and inspect the speckles on her arm, but to her horror, she found that her vision was getting spotty.

She had to sit down. It would be no good if she fainted out here. That would just validate her family's lack of trust in her! No one needed to see this, she would get over it like she did with the last one. She just needed somewhere to sit. Her feet were moving on their own now. Somewhere to sit. Where was…anything? Where would she find somewhere to sit? She had to find it now now now…


"Ok, ok, hang on, so Abuela sent you and me to go talk to her instead of doing it herself?" Bruno was barely managing to speak as Dolores dragged him along by the arm. "And she's doing this why exactly?"

"I don't know," Dolores huffed. "Something about being her confidants—ah, be quiet." She put a hand up to her ear, and then kept dragging her uncle down the road. "We can clear that up later. But I think Mirabel is in trouble."

"Wait, what? Ugh!" Bruno managed to keep himself from tripping over a rock. "Why couldn't you have shown up earlier? I was just talking to her a few minutes ago."

"Sorry, just—hang on!" She listed again. "Oh, she's just around the corner here." She and Bruno hurried forward. "Mirabel—"

Mirabel suddenly appeared before them, but neither of them were quite ready for the sight of her. She was clearly agitated, restless, and there was a wild energy in her eyes that they'd never seen from her before. Her skin was speckled in lights impossible to miss in any lighting circumstance, and even more worrying, it was in different colors. Deep purple swirled and mixed with a cold bright yellow, both of which looked like they would burst out of her body at any second.

Her eyes weren't quite focused on Dolores or Bruno, but it was clear that somehow, she knew she'd been caught. Without a word, she whirled around and dashed off. The lights appeared to be trailing behind her, or perhaps that was their imagination. But neither Bruno nor Dolores were able to utter a word in their shock, and before they knew it, she had disappeared as suddenly as she'd come.

After a few seconds of standing there, open-mouthed, Dolores and Bruno just exchanged a glance. The wrinkle in Dolores' brow told Bruno that she was thinking the same thing he was.

"...I think this is about to get really bad."