Hello, this chapter is a little shorter than the last few. Thanksgiving is creeping up on me, so I gots lots to do before all my babies show up on my porch. Summary - ish Mirabel is finally figuring out that her gift of denial is really not working out the way she expected. Camilo shows his prima that box he talked about earlier. Luisa keeps getting stuck hanging about with the adults and Isa apparently wants to be a farmer. Yeah, that about covers it.

¿Lo Entiendes? (Do you understand?)

Mirabel left the stairs and paused as she came onto the balcony. While she was still in the kitchen helping with supper, she had asked Casita to maybe tone down the glowiness of the magical doors while Señor Hernandez was here for supper. Something about that man was not quite right. This thought had also made Mirabel pause, she did not really know this person, and she was making a lot of assumptions about their character because of a few brief interactions. She'd seen how easily Tío Bruno's visions could be taken the wrong way and were often misunderstood. Without context, they were just glimpses of maybes.

Still, she never expected Casita to completely change them. They all looked like regular doors, though each was of a different style and color. All except hers, Casita had kept it as it was, family decorations and all. She touched Dolores's door with her fingertips and was surprised when they disappeared, and she could feel the warmth of the magic underneath. She moved down to Camilo's room and tried it again, and the same thing happened. Mirabel had to admit that what Casita had done was pretty impressive.

Dolores came out of her room, and adjusted her clothes. She had her hair down for her date with Mariano, and Mira thought her hair always looked so different when she wore it that way. You could really see the red she'd gotten from her Mamí. She was wearing a pretty light green dress and Mirabel realized she'd never seen her cousin in that color before, and she couldn't help but gape as she said, "Wow, Dolores, you look stunning."

"Aww, thanks Mira, you don't think the color is too different?" she asked.

Mirabel shook her head and Dolores tilted hers.

"Is everything okay?" Mira asked.

"Yes, Bubo just came in from the patio, but Tuli is still out there with their Tío. Oh, and I asked Luisa to look after her for you while you help Camilo study."

"Thanks, Dolores, I was a little afraid I'd have to duck out on him early."

"We got you, Mira," she said and patted her on the cheek in much the same way her Mamí would, then she headed for the stairs.

Mirabel looked back at Camilo's door and frowned. "Casita, can you…" she started to ask as the door returned to its normal appearance, "… oh…" and Mirabel smiled, "Thanks Casita." Casita clattered a tile, and Mirabel turned when she heard a door behind her open. Isabela came out of her room with their mother and Tía Pepa. Unlike Dolores, she was dressed more casually, and she looked a little nervous. Mirabel noticed her sister had re-dyed her hair, and it was once again braided. At first, she thought it black but realized it was more a really dark blue with yellow and red highlights near the ends. Isa waved, and Mirabel waved back. It was still a little strange to her that Isa included her in any part of her life. Mirabel watched as they also moved toward the stairs, so she knocked on Camilo's nose.

"Hey!"

Mirabel pulled her hand back. Camilo must have opened his door whilst she was watching her sister. "Sorry Cam."

Camilo was rubbing his nose, "You didn't happen to bring any snacks…" he asked while looking at her empty hands.

"Camilo, we just ate."

"What's your point?"

"That we just ate." He held on to his look of disappointment a little longer, then shrugged, and she followed him inside. There were books and papers on the desk, on the bed, on the floor. Pretty much any flat surface and a few that were not. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but where did you leave off?"

"Oh," he said and stepped over a nearby pile and pointed to one under a chair, "here."

This was actually how Camilo usually studied. The ones on the desk were completed items, and everything else were the ones he was working through. Lowest to highest, Mirabel thought as she too, stepped over a pile and sat on the floor. They had gotten through the majority of them when Camilo's mother came in with a tray. Tía Pepa set it on a small table, then turned and was back out the door. Camilo didn't look up, since he was concentrating with his eyes closed as he tried to come up with an answer to: How many sonnets did Shakespeare write and what is the last line of his last sonnet.

Mirabel set the book she was holding down, and went to the table. She poured them both mugs of coffee and brought it over with a plate of cookies. She could see Camilo was struggling with this one, so she waited as she nibbled on a cookie in between sips of coffee.

"Got it," Camilo said, "158 and the last line…Love's fire heats water, water cools not love."

Mirabel handed Camilo his mug while pushing the cookie plate toward him. She set down hers and picked up the book and smiled as she said, "Correct." She put the book back down and let out a yawn.

"Oh," he said and took a cookie from the pile, "who brought the stuff?"

"Your mom."

"My mother brought us coffee?"

"It's really weak and nice and warm," Mirabel said with another yawn.

Camilo took a sip and nodded. He looked around and could see there was only one pile left and said, "We don't have to look at those. I already know them backwards and forwards."

Mirabel yawned again as she nodded and said, "Can't believe I'm so tired."

Camilo took another cookie and leaned back against his bed and asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You won't get mad?"

"Why would I get mad? What did you do?"

"That was probably not the best way to start this… do-over?"

"Okay, what did you want to ask?"

"You remember how you blanked out on me yesterday before dinner?" Mirabel nodded, "You said you didn't remember anything. But then later it happened again when you were waiting for us all to get back from the mountain. Only that time it went on for a lot longer." Mirabel wasn't entirely sure she liked where this was going and shrugged. "Take my word for it. You were still as stone and completely unresponsive. Not gonna lie, Mira. It spooked me enough that I kinda went to my room and yelled at Casita to let you go."

"Let me go? What do you mean?"

Camilo took another bite of his cookie then a long drink of his coffee and replied, "I was worried that the house had made you apart of itself. Like La Candela was. Yes, I know it sounds crazy," he said when she frowned, "but that's what I was thinking."

"So, what changed your mind?"

"Well, I was laying on my bed, and Casita used a bunch of butterflies, like the ones we saw on the mountain, to show me something and I guess… Are you really doing all right, Mira? And I don't mean because you're being yanked in every direction these days. I'm talking about what happens when you… think about the breaking… and what happened to Casita… "

Camilo stopped. Mirabel knew there were tears in her eyes and she wanted to just let it spill out, but something was still holding it all back. Casita must really be worried about her if she involved her primo. So instead, she shrugged and said, "I've been trying really hard not to think about all that. But sometimes... I mean, it's like I get trapped in that moment of time. It fills up my head and I can't shut it out. What did Casita show you?"

"You were talking to a younger you, that I assumed was Casita, but you were so frantic because of the guilt you're still dragging around with you. I'm gonna have to agree with Casita on that one, Mira, what happened was not your fault. Not even a little bit of it. If anything-"

"Don't say it, Camilo."

He finished his cookie then set his mug down and said, "Fine, if that's what you want."

"It is. I know I need to find a way, but I won't do it at the expense of Abuela's feelings. That woman has been through enough."

Camilo picked up another cookie and said before he put the whole thing in his mouth, "While that's true, maybe you ought to consider it as an option."

"No," she said a little more forcefully than she meant to, "I can do this; I just haven't figured out how yet."

Her primo pursed his lips like he was about to say something but thought better of it. He shook his head, then seemed to recall something at that moment and leaned over to pull a covered box out from under his bed. He flicked off the cloth cover and dust blew up into the air. Mirabel caught a whiff of it and flinched as that nervousness intensified. He started shifting the contents around and said, "I found this under my bed after this Casita woke up, and I wondered why. Think I know now."

"What is that stuff?" Mirabel asked, leaning in to see what was inside.

"Souvenirs of a bygone era," Camilo replied cryptically.

"Really?"

He reached into it with a flourish and pulled out several small decorations. Mirabel looked at the ones he'd handed her, they were all adorable, and she smiled as she held up a cut out of a butterfly to the light. For whatever reason, as she examined them, she felt that nervousness that got a little worse when she noticed there was a small tear at the tip of one of the wings. "Where did you get these?" she asked as she picked up a half-finished paper boat.

"These? Just stuff I collected since they were all discarded by the maker because they weren't perfect," Camilo smiled. "This," he said and pointed, "is my box of imperfections."

"Your what?" Mirabel asked, curious now.

"Box of imperfections," he repeated.

"Why would you have something like that?" Mirabel asked as she noticed a fold that didn't look quite right on the prow of the boat. She ran a finger across it, then set it aside, not wanting to notice anything else.

Camilo had been watching her the entire time and said, waving a hand, "I don't know, seemed like a good idea at the time."

"So, what else is in there?"

"Oh, all sorts of things. A few tassels," he said and held one up, giving it a jiggle. Mirabel noticed the strings were not all the same length and cringed a little. "A mostly finished painting of the Encanto. Not sure why this didn't get finished." Mira could see what the problem was. The colors used to paint Casita were all wrong. "I'll have to find a frame for it."

"Where did all this come from?"

Camilo sat straighter and handed her another cookie, saying, "You made all of this stuff."

"I did?"

"Not surprised you've forgotten some of it. Who'd want to remember gifts that were made and dismissed. You never stopped making them though."

Mirabel picked up the butterfly again and touched the small tear in its wing. She remembered then that Camilo had taken her discarded efforts on more than one occasion.

Camilo continued, "The fact that you don't seem to remember most of this is also kinda weird, but there is one thing you should see." He shifted a few things around, then pulled out a small box that was decorated with hand drawn butterflies and flowers. He handed it to her, and the contents rattled a little. Mirabel frowned. She did not want to take it, but Camilo gave the box a gentle shake, so she reluctantly accepted it. She carefully removed the lid and immediately put it back on.

"Where did you get this?" she said, trying to push it back into his hands.

"You know where," he said, pushing it back.

Mirabel's hands were shaking a little as she set it in her lap and stared at the box; she'd thrown this into the trash. She just couldn't look at it after that day. She carefully took the lid off and stared at the tiny diorama it contained. She'd spent the months leading up to her Gift ceremony planning out with Camilo what their new rooms would look like. Tío Bruno had helped her make the tiny furniture, so she could move it around where she wanted. Camilo had found the tiny rug for her to put on the floor. He said it was because he hated getting out of a warm bed onto cold wood. She examined the scribbles on the walls and floor with her fingertips. She remembered they'd looked quite real to her then. Since she didn't know what her Gift would have ended up being, she'd included all the things she might get a Gift for. In fact, everything in the little box was the same as her room was now, right down to the trees and mountains on the walls and the little map on the floor. Mirabel spent a little time righting the furniture, smiling as she moved each piece to its proper place.

"This was the first thing I put in that box," Camilo said, "and I kinda understood why you didn't want to keep it, but you worked so hard on that, seemed a shame to toss it."

Mirabel couldn't think of anything to say to that. She'd thought about this box over the years but figured it was long gone, and she asked, "Why show it to me now? "

"I guess because you know there's never going to be a perfect moment to deal with... what's been bothering you. It's very obvious that letting go of your guilt is really the only way you'll be able to move past this. The truth is, I probably wouldn't have put two and two together if Casita hadn't made a point of showing me what it did. We both know that it is also not a coincidence that your ideas from eleven years ago got incorporated into your room... into the whole house really. Anyway, you may say you're working on finding a way, Mira, but I think you're lying to yourself."

"No, no I'm not." Mirabel snapped, "I told you I just haven't had enough time to figure it out yet, and what would you know about any of that anyway? It's not like you ever cared about what happened to Casita," her tone was accusatory as she stood up, causing the box to flip onto the floor. She knotted her hands up in front of herself as her nervousness increased. She'd almost added 'or me'. Camilo didn't respond, but he must have finished her unspoken thoughts in his head, and her fingers tightened.

He still didn't say anything, he just started to pick up the various items he'd taken out of that box of imperfections, except the diorama. That he collected and put the bits inside. Camilo was never one to shout when he was really mad, and Mirabel knew she'd done more than that. She'd purposefully hurt his feelings. She could always tell because he would just stop everything and give her the look he was aiming at her now. Mirabel would have liked it better if he shouted, then at least there was a chance he'd forgive her. Why was she doing this?

Camilo got up and pushed the other box back under his bed with his foot, and shoved the small box back into her hands as he went past her to the door. Before the breaking, he would have just expected her to leave in a huff, and she would have. Anything so they could get back to pretending to be that perfect family. Camilo was her first and sometimes only friend. He was trying to help her, and she was doing her best to push him away with flippant, hurtful words. She thought of the oak tree on the mountain and how she'd used it to free herself from similar things her abuela and the people in town would say. Mirabel's sadness welled up again, leaving a painful lump in her throat. She knew those episodes really were getting worse, not better. She'd thought that when they moved back to Casita all those problems would just go away. Everything would be fine.

Camilo looked back at her as a few tiles above him shifted, and he paused then said, "Can't say you're wrong about that, Mira, but I do care about this Casita because I care about you. So, if you don't want my help, or don't think you need it, then I guess we're done. Should probably leave it at that, thanks for the assist studying, prima. I'll see you tomorrow."

Mirabel's fingers tightened on the box as a tear fell. That guilt, that she was holding on to so tightly, was again being directed toward someone else. All because he wanted to help her. A second teardrop fell. Lately, she'd noticed that her buried anger with a certain family member about Casita falling was the actual source of that guilt. She didn't want to be angry with them anymore, and she told herself she'd forgiven them for everything that had happened. Mirabel thought of the dream, that she was realizing, was not one. This Casita was new. One that the old had set into motion prior to the breaking, and Mirabel had really been feeling the weight of that responsibility.

A few tiles shifted nearby, and Mirabel closed her eyes as she took a breath to help push down that leftover guilt and pain. (I am my mother's Gift to you, Elegida.) Mirabel heard that little voice in her head say. Her new Casita had pulled her primo into this because he was someone she would actually listen to. Someone she could have an argument with and still want to have around. Someone who had collected her imperfections and stuffed them in a box... just in case. Someone who would never be afraid to tell her she was wrong.

She was lying to herself; magic wasn't going to fix this problem. But maybe talking about it wouldn't hurt as much as she thought. She set aside the diorama and said with a small sniffle, "I'm sorry, Cam, can I have a do-over?"

Camilo met her gaze; he wasn't frowning anymore. He nodded and shut the door.

Luisa came out of the kitchen to the edge of the courtyard to wait for Tuli to come back from her walk with her Tío. She hoped that was going well. She'd noticed the way Tuli had been watching her Tío all through dinner. It reminded her of the way Mira would watch their Abuela. Always expecting and receiving a dismissal for whatever she had tried to add to any conversation. Luisa would watch her sister stow away her unhappiness and try again. She glanced up the stairs as Dolores came down. She told her that Tuli and her uncle were heading toward the front door. Luisa paused as she looked up. All the doors no longer showed their owner, but looked like regular doors. Now that was weird, since she didn't feel any different and used two fingers to lift a very heavy planter a few centimeters off the floor. She wondered if when Mira was helping with the cooking, she'd asked Casita to do that and if so, why? She also realized that Tía Pepa's clouds hadn't really manifested the way they normally did.

Luisa turned when Isa came off the stairs, looking just a little frazzled. She came over to her, and it amused Luisa that she was nervous enough that she asked her opinion on the colors she'd used on her hair. Luisa couldn't actually answer as their mother pulled Isa along into the kitchen. Tía Pepa was following along behind with a barely disguised look of amusement. When Luisa turned back, she realized the doors were all back to normal. She was curious now, so figured she'd ask Mirabel tomorrow. It was interesting that this Casita would do that, but after last night, Luisa was convinced that this Casita was Mirabel's alone.

Abuela came into the courtyard with Tío Bruno, they sat down on one of the sofas nearby. Her Tío waved for her to join them and Luisa, a little reluctantly, came over and sat next to her Abuela and Tío. Her Abuela was holding a small box that was just the right size for a pair of shoes, and she was nervously tapping the top of it. Shortly after that, Rodrigo, her mother and Tía Pepa all came out of the kitchen. Her Tía was whispering something to her mother that made her mother snicker. They noticed her sitting there, and her mother waved her sister off, and Luisa felt weirdly uncomfortable. Just what were those two gossiping about.

Casita bounced a few more chairs in their direction and everyone had a seat. Once everyone was settled, her abuela opened the box. It was full of pictures, and she reached in and pulled out one that had four smiling young women. They had their arms linked with their heads close together. The only difference between them being that one was wearing a veil, while the other had rings of flowers on their heads. Luisa realized the one with the veil was her abuela. She was not sure who the other women were, but the family resemblance of a few of them was striking.

Abuela handed the picture to Rodrigo, and he was taken aback. He looked closer and seemed to recognize one of those people, and he asked, "Do you have any others?"

Her abuela nodded, and she took out another with just two women this time. Rodrigo handed the first photo to Luisa as he accepted the next and Rodrigo's eyes went wide as he asked as he pointed to the other woman, "Santa Maria, could it be?" he asked himself, then returned his attention to Abuela, "Who is this?"

"That is my sister, Juliet."

He sat back and said, "So what Señor Bruno thought was true." he said, then leaned forward again and pointed at the woman in the picture. "This is quite remarkable," Rodrigo paused and looked at the triplets, and said, "My Abuela, whose name is Juliet, recently shared a story about a missing family member. Her sister, who she thought lost at the beginning of the thousand's day war."

"I suppose, in a way, I was. When the Encanto came into being, the mountains that surrounded our village were quite high. And though we were finally safe from the dangers that brought us to this place, that safety came at the cost of my husband, Pedro."

"I'm so sorry to hear that. My condolences, Doña Alma, I did not mean to bring up old grief."

Her Abuela nodded, "Thank you, Rodrigo, but you've brought me something I never would have expected. You've brought me news of one of my sisters, so I am actually quite happy." Abuela said as she handed off the box of pictures to Pepa who looked a little astonished. Her Tía stared at the box in her hands, then began to leaf through the contents. She looked up for a moment, excused herself, and moved to a table behind the sofa to take a closer look at the photos.

"Oh, then that means you would be my tía abuela?" Rodrigo asked.

Her Abuela nodded, and she smiled a little as she watched her other children get up and crowd around Tía Pepa. Her Tía looked mildly annoyed, but she didn't have a cloud as she began pulling photos out one by one, passing them to her siblings after flipping them to examine any writing on the backs. They were pointing and whispering in a way that made Luisa think this was something her Abuela had never done before.

Her Abuela returned her attention to Rodrigo and asked, "Do you plan to remain here?"

Rodrigo was still holding the other photo and replied, "I was planning to stay here for a time. Perhaps a month or so. I'll have to return to Cartagena eventually, as I am currently a post graduate student at the university. I have spent the better part of the last two years collecting stories about that particular era in Colombia's history for my thesis. Speaking of, do you think it would be possible for me to interview you, as well as some of the other elders in the village?"

Her abuela looked over at her children again, who were now comparing the photos, and said, "Yes, I think that would be fitting. We will be having a town council meeting in a few days. I will put the in the request there for others at that time."

"My thanks, Doña Alma. I am looking forward to recording your story."

Luisa noticed the slight drop in her Abuela's smile. Mirabel had told her and Isabela one night as they were sitting in their tiny bedroom at their Abuela Valentina's house, some of what had happened the night of the miracle's creation. Her Abuela really was trying so hard to move forward, and Luisa felt a little guilty for not wanting to sit next to her.

Casita clattered some tiles near the door and opened it. Tuli came in with her Tío José in tow, literally. She was pulling him forward as he gaped at the magical doors. Tuli did not look upset, but it was obvious she'd been crying.

Rodrigo got up from his seat and said, "Gabi, you're never going to believe this. "

Tuli had given up trying to make her uncle move faster and let go of his hand as Luisa also got up. She met Tuli halfway as her Tío continued forward. Luisa knelt down and Tuli asked, "Where's Mirabel?"

"She's helping Camilo study, so I volunteered to look after you while she's doing that."

"Oh, okay," Tuli said, and Luisa noticed she was clutching something small and fluffy.

"Whatcha got there?" Luisa asked and pointed to her hand.

Tuli's expression looked worried as she held up the toy and said, "This is Tena. My Mamí made him for me when I was really small," a curious smile crossed her face and she added, "My Tío brought him, and he looks even better than before."

Luisa wondered about that before. Tuli, she'd noticed, only talked about before in terms of her mother and then only in bits and snatches. Never her father and aside from Bubo, she preferred to be with females. Men in general she avoided.

"Can I see?" Luisa asked.

Tuli's face tensed as she pet the stuffed rat, then carefully set it in Luisa's hands. Luisa accepted the rat and smiled and said, "This is so beautiful, Tuli. Your Mamí had some talent. Never seen such a realistic toy." The fur that covered the animal felt real, and there was a faint scent of daisies when she brought it closer to her face to examine it. "Kinda feels like he's filled with beans," Luisa said as she hefted it once, then returned the rat to her.

Tuli shook her head and said, "It's mostly sand and pebbles from a beach that used to be by where we lived. So, I can do this," and Tuli draped the rat on her shoulder.

"That's pretty neat. Fura's sure to be jealous. Come on, let's go up to my room. I have quite the collection of stuffed toys myself," Luisa said and held out her hand. Tuli left the rat on her shoulder, and together they headed for the stairs.

Isabela and Bubo were walking along behind her prima and her former fiancé, and Isa was once again delighted that she was not, in fact, engaged. She looked over at Bubo. He looked just as tense as she felt. She wondered if he was going over in his head what he wanted to say. Isabela was very curious as to what had happened on the patio, so she asked, "So how did you talk with your Tío go?"

"Better than I was expecting, actually."

"That's a relief."

Bubo nodded and asked, "You wouldn't happen to know if there are any flats for rent? I need to find someplace that isn't a storeroom to live with Tuli."

"No, I've pretty much always lived with my family, but there are a few older folks that might."

"Well, if you hear about any... "

"I will. Any idea where Mariano is taking us?"

Bubo let out a short laugh and said, "No, I forgot to ask," he looked up at her and Isa felt herself blush. Bubo tripped a little, and Isa steadied him as he caught himself. Deciding they needed a change of topic, Isabela asked, "When are you supposed to graduate?"

"It was supposed to be last spring. But I missed my last semester because of the civil war."

"Oh, that's a shame."

"Rodrigo reminded me that I already had enough credits to graduate. Will just need to see if I can get my diploma."

"Well, that's good news then."

"Yes and no, Rodrigo also told me they've shut down the college indefinitely," Bubo said as they turned a corner. Isabela thought of Luisa then. If her dream of going to school got thwarted once again, she would not take it well at all. "Either way, it's a moot point because I would still need to get back to Bogotá to make the request. But enough about me, Mirabel mentioned that you and Luisa were considering going to university. Did you have a line of study in mind?"

"Line of study? "

"Yes, at most universities you pick something to major and minor in. My major was entomology, and my minor was in political theory. So if you had your grandest wish, what would you like to study, major and minor?"

Isabela thought for a moment, "I've always had an interest in plants, all kinds really. Trees fascinate me, before I got my Gift I would lie under a tree and look up at the branches and wonder how they made leaves and such. I actually still want to know that. After I got my Gift, still did that, but I almost felt like I could feel the roots talking to their neighbor trees. I remember I told my Papí once that the trees were talking to each other with mushrooms."

"You say that like you stopped listening for some reason."

Isa felt the beginnings of her vine sleeve and said, "I really don't want to get into why that happened, Bubo. Maybe some other time."

His surprised look worried her, but he just nodded and said, "As you wish, so we'll move on to a minor."

Isa's vine sleeve dissolved, and she said, "Farming. I've actually learned a lot from the farmers around here. And my Tía Pepa knows a lot about irrigation."

"So, botany and agriculture, then."

"Yes, there's just so many plants I don't know anything about. Like this," she said and turned her palm upward and a small plant grew, "I've seen pictures, but the text is in a language I don't know, so it is my unnamed plant friend."

Bubo leaned in to look at it and asked, "Do you know if it will flower?"

"No, since this is all I know, I would need to plop it in some soil and wait for it to grow up. Why, does it look familiar?"

Bubo shook his head and replied, "Since I've been primarily studying butterflies, I learned the names of a lot of flowering plants, but that's mostly by the blooms."

Isa turned her hand, causing the plant to dissolve, and she said, "Well then, I'll just have to pot it and see where it goes."

Bubo looked under her hand and said, "It's gone... fascinating."

Isa poked his glasses, deciding she did not want to talk about plants anymore, and said, "Tuli told me you're originally from Brasil."

Bubo nodded as he straightened to resettled his glasses and said, "Yes, my father was from Colombia. He was there for work and met and married my mother in Brasil. They settled there, and I lived there until I was about Tuli's age."

"Oh, did your family move to Colombia?"

Bubo paused and said, "No, my parents were killed in a bus crash and that is how I came to live here with my abuelos."

"I'm sorry about your parents, Bubo."

"Thank you."

Isabela noted he didn't seem overly sad, so she asked, "This is going to sound like a weird question, but were you thinking about them when those flowers bloomed on the patio earlier?"

Bubo did not answer right away, he looked thoughtful then said, "Not consciously, but I was talking to your sister earlier about them, and it did stir up some old memories. Not bad ones. My mother loved her roses, and I could have sworn that was what I was smelling," Bubo said then went on to tell her about them then paused and asked, "Wait, my hand was tingling while you were holding it. Did you use your Gift to make the ones on the patio bloom?"

Isa was surprised that he'd even noticed. People might think having a Gift was great, but on some level, most were afraid of that magic, especially the newer folks in town. A little nervous now, she shrugged and said, "Maybe?"

She knew that wasn't really an answer to his question, and Bubo raised an eyebrow as her face automatically shifted to Señorita Perfecta mode. Isa sighed; Her dislike when it came to explaining herself was something she still struggled with, and she really didn't want to hide anything from him. Not being perfect meant she'd have to own up to such things. Killing off her old habits was turning out to be one of the harder things she was learning, so added, "I did, though I wasn't trying to, or I would have asked first, but I'm finding that wrangling in some of the newer aspects of my Gift to be a bit of a challenge."

"That is so interesting."

She kept expecting him to react differently than he did. No fear, no anger, just curiosity, but still, she said, "Is it? Don't get me wrong, Bubo, most of the time I feel like my Gift is really all just for show. Making flowers is not the most difficult thing for me."

"You did just say earlier that you were trying new things. You just haven't caught the knack of it yet, so I'm going to disagree with you on that one. I can honestly say, I've not smelled those flowers since I was a child, and it wasn't until you grew them that I realized just how much I loved and missed that scent. So, thank you for that."

Mariano stopped and turned back to Bubo and indicated he should join him. There was a small pastry shop that had opened on the main thoroughfare, and Dolores came and pulled Isabela to her as Mariano and Bubo walked away. Dolores found an open table with four chairs, and she sat with Isabela.

"Mariano is getting a little too good at surprising me," Dolores said as she looked at the shop, "I've been wanting to come here for weeks." Dolores paused when she noticed Isabela's tense look and said, "Relax, Isa, you're giving me stress looking like that."

"Sorry, I don't even know why I'm so nervous," Isabela put a hand on her knee to stop it from bouncing.

"I'll tell you why, you really like him, and you don't want to make a bad impression."

"Doli, I already tied the man up and hung him from the ceiling."

Dolores let out a snicker and said, "I know."

"How?"

"Tío."

"Oh, for the love of puppies – does everyone know about that?"

Dolores shrugged and asked, "Why did you use your Gift to make those flowers?"

"I actually," Isa paused as Dolores leaned in, "I actually just wanted to hold his hand, the rose part just sort of happened."

Dolores giggled and said, "That is so cute, Isa. I am so excited for you."

Isa smiled; it was so nice to have her best friend back. Isa felt the flowers sprout in her hair. Their scent was the same as the flowers on the patio. Isa covered her face with her hands and let out a growl. "Why does that keep happening?" she asked, as she gave her head a shake, causing the flowers to fall apart.

Dolores gathered up her hands and gave them a squeeze, "Isa you don't have to be perfect, you just need to be you. That's who he's interested in."

Isa was not sure how to take that and almost wanted to be mad, but she just couldn't seem to muster that up because she knew she was blushing again. She tried to relax a little because she knew she would never have done something like this if not for her prima, so there was no point in getting mad about what was clearly obvious to her whole family. Still, she envied how easily Dolores had shifted from meek wall flower to someone who was so much more relaxed and confident. Isabela had never really felt all that confident or relaxed before the breaking because every day was a performance. She'd been convinced that if she failed in that, surely bad things would follow.

Her self-imposed isolation from everyone but her family after the breaking had given her a little time to figure out some things. Finding out that people she thought were friends, were really just hangers on made her more than a little angry. What made it worse was that she saw that she'd treated her little sister that way.

"I was going to try to warn you about Bubo's parents since I heard him talking to Mirabel about it. Just didn't get the chance during dinner. Mariano is quite the distraction."

They both started laughing then, and their conversation ended when the menfolk came back laden with a pair of trays. One was piled with various beautifully arranged pastries that Mariano set in front of Dolores. Bubo was carrying a small tray with some drinks. They sat down, and she took the coffee that Bubo set in front of her. She noted there was just a touch of milk and she smiled. Isa felt the flowers resprout, and she decided she'd leave them this time. He did say he loved the scent of them.