Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mirabel lay quietly on her bed, her fingers knotting into the thin sheets with a sense of unease. A bittersweet day on her but… it was a good day. Antonio had received his gift, as he should. His own room. His own spot to shine and it made her heart flutter to him have that.

It meant there was hope for the family and the passing down of the Miracle was not simply going to stop after her. She was not a dead-end. Would her own children wind up like her? Giftless? Or would they have the opportunity to shine?

Mirabel swallowed away those thoughts; future-self problems. She only had to worry about herself, she was fifteen, after all. Plenty of time. Her mind thought couldn’t help but wander back to her vision. Was that a glimpse Casita or the candle have shown her a warning or was it fear for her? Or her family’s? Mirabel knew what she had seen but rationalizing it wasn’t easy.

Hearing the subtext of Abuela implying she was trying to steal the limelight from her cousin… hurt. She knew its importance to the family, to Encanto… How could she not? Anyone would.

Just because it was her, the Giftless one; the black sheep of the family, she wasn’t taken seriously enough to have any support or…anyone to look into it. Her eyes fluttered closed, inhaling deeply to soften the lump in her throat.

How long could she live with that label? To live in the shadows and to be undermined? To keep getting in the way… Would she ever consider leaving like Tio Bruno? Could she even find him if she was even willing to walk away? Could she do that to her parents? Her sisters?

Her heart tugged painfully. Leaving would cause hurt to her family, even if it gave her freedom. Staying here though, living like this… she was wilting like a plant unable to climb higher without support. With no sunlight, she was destined with a very vivid picture of what might become of her…

Mirabel didn’t like that.

Her own optimism was powered by her love for her family. But…would that even last to keep her head above the water of the weight of her differences? Isabela didn’t want anything to do with her anymore… Luisa, while loving just…didn’t have the time for her.  What little time she did have, Mirabel knew she needed for herself than to impose after supporting the majority of the town and Abuela’s expectations.

Mirabel pushed herself up, her hand fumbling for her glasses only to accidentally knock them off, sending them to the floor. Hurriedly, Mirabel sought through the blur of the night until her fingers found the frames, putting them on before getting them up, frowning at the crack through the left lens.

Great.

She pushed them higher up her nose and slipped from her room with her blanket, keeping her steps quiet but she had a hunch that Dolores was probably already awake since she dropped her glasses. Mirabel made her way up to the roof, settling down comfortably with her legs dangling, Casita’s titles wiggling to shape to secure her which made her smile as she tightened the blanket around her, her eyes rising to the darkness of the sky that was lit with pinpricks of the stars and the large white orb of the moon that shone down.

She sighed but softly lay back as she stared up. The night was peaceful; quiet aside from the wildlife. Peaceful. No one up but her. She could enjoy the quiet and the absence of…possible visitors. No children jabbering or chasing, no sound of Tia Pepa’s clouds…no words or remarks.

How nice it must be to be without familia obligations the night had…

Under her back, the title vibrated, chirping with a clink.

A sound of a door startled her, sitting up suddenly that her glasses flew off her nose, bouncing off her knee

“No!” She gasped sharply, trying to roll to catch it but Casita stopped her sharply, hugging her to the surface; the ends of the tiles trying to curl to stop but from the second grasp and glass clink; Mirabel’s heart dropped.

“Great.” She muttered bitterly, patting the roof to release its grip. She wiggled across the surface; keeping her eyes wide to take in the wide shape she could make out; the darkness now suddenly working against her that she could barely see any details.

Oh no…

“Dolores!” She called out sharply, feeling the edge but how far from a safe way down, she couldn’t tell. Casita seemed hesitant, probably with how preciously she was balanced. She knew that this was at least a twenty-foot drop. She was on Tio Bruno’s tower…

Oh, why did she do this?

Her heart thumped in her chest, though she felt a surprising amount of fear that settled in her chest; the titles of Casita ripped musically away until there was a thump at a distant door.

“Isabela?” Her vines would be very useful… anything to secure her at the least.

Her other hand reluctantly released its grip, trying to feel back for her blanket; she could feel it was wound around her ankle. Caught which offered only slight relief; Casita must be keeping a grip on it.

“Mami? Papi?”

“Mira?”

Dolores’s voice echoed, whispered, and hushed but carried up.

“Up here.”

“What are you doing up there?” There was a new sound, movement of wood breaking, and the tiles clinking.

“Moongazing. My glasses, I can’t climb down without them…in the dark.” At least during the day, she had more light and color to work with.

“Mirabel?” Mirabel jumped as a new voice appeared, close by. Her head turned though squinted to see a dark shape at the far side of the roof but it was distinguished of a human, hooded though what she could make out was a yellow tint that emanated from the hood like two blurred yellow eyes.

“Hola?” She called

“Mirabel, who are you talking to?”

“You tell me,” Mirabel called back irritably. What was taking her so long? Her gaze remained to the hooded figure, watching the vague motion of its steps with anxiety. Its voice was unfamiliar though definitely unfamiliar.

“It’s okay.” The voice spoke, calm and soothing with a tangible warmth that drew her attention and almost made her forget about her cousin. “Here,” Her eyes dipped down, noting the motion of a hand, but what drew her attention was the hand had a flow of light-like vein running down like threads but… it was hard to tell if it was in any sort of pattern.

Mirabel’s lips pursed, tugging her leg free of her blanket, enthralled with fascination and before she knew it, she let go and reached for the woman’s hand… gasping sharply as she felt the warmth against her skin before it seemed to seep under her skin, rushing thought, swirling down her arms and into her chest in a way that felt so good; wiping away the weight of today in a heartbeat that made her feel so…loved. Appraised and pride…

Like she was being seen without her labels.

But the light and warmth didn’t just linger in the heart, she felt it seep down to her legs and into her head but her eyes were suddenly assaulted by the bright warmth that it almost hurt but she couldn’t bring herself to close her eye as the light seemed to sharpen up the world; close enough to see inside the hood, eyes widening in alarm to see almost a reflection of herself

Yellow-light eyes starting back with a soft, innocent smile and sun-tanned skin with an all too familiar hairstyle; yellow veins stained down from her eyes, pulsing at her heartbeat. The webs disappeared down her cheeks, disappearing under her clothes but it was easy to see them following her veins. But, she could only watch as the light and veins melt away as if the light was seeping from her but from their contact, she could feel the hotspots of light take its place down her veins, springing up visibly down her arms first, spindling and webbing like pathways across her skin.

Her breath became soft pants and her head spun… the whole roof felt unsteady…

“Shh… Time to sleep.”

With that, the grip was gone and Mirabel was vaguely aware that she was falling backward from the top of Bruno’s tower….

Chapter Text

Mirabel woke with a start with a lurch and a shot of adrenaline before she felt a solid surface underneath her, her heart thundering in her chest, looking around widely to see….

She was in her room.

Same painted nursery walls, the bed across from hers was empty and neat, a few of Antonio’s things remained but that mattered little. Did she dream the entire thing last night? Mirabel inhaled deeply, pushing herself off the floor and back onto her bed, her hand massaging her left-right shoulder from the dull ache of her fall.

If she had, it was very anti-climactic to her situation. Mirabel could remember feeling the night air, how Casita was keeping her safe in her moment of vulnerability…

Her hand shot to her face— the thought suddenly reminding her of her glasses—but wound up poking herself in the eye, no barrier of glass.  Yet the world around her was sharp and in focus.

“Ow..” She grumbled softly, but that didn’t erase a new feeling of anxiety; how was she seeing without her glasses? She was near-sighted. The world around her had always been blurred without them, things closer had been easier to see but…is this what the world looked like to those without glasses?

A low clunking caught her attention. Mirabel blinked as the door opened and in the frame, her green-rimmed glasses sat innocently; the glass of the right side cracked just like the left one.

“Gracias, Casita.” She picked them up, setting them on the side to change and get herself ready for the day though retrieved them as she headed out, twiddling them thoughtfully, and knocking on each door for the usual wake-up call and down to the kitchens, getting the bowls and plates piled ready though barely realized her mother was helping until she almost tripped into her.

“Ah-ya!” Julieta gasped sharply in alarm. “Slow down, Mira.” Her hand came to her shoulder as she wobbled, trying to keep a grip on the plates

Mirabel strapped back, “Sorry, Mama.”

“Where are your glasses?”

Mirabel Nodded to the last place she left them, watching her mother flittered over to them and pick them up with a sigh. “After breakfast, I can go down with you to get new lenses.”

“No, Mami, I can. I know the way even without them.” Mirabel smiled softly at her mother’s concern. She had a lot to do already with what Abuela wanted for the day.

She could feel her stare before Luisa appeared and grabbed the kitchen table but she just grabbed the plates of food and set them onto one of the outside tables, her eyes vaguely following her Papa’s figure as two animals pickpocketed his watch though her eyes turned swiftly to Dolores, piling her plate with a lot more than what she’d expect….

“Camilo?” The name left her lips before she thought about it. “Are you trying for seconds?”

Dolores squeaked out before Camilo shifted back, “How did you know?”

“Dolores would never pile her food up like that.” Mirabel spoke, because it wasn’t a lie either. Dolores had standards when it came to eating.

Casita’s shutters swung into his head softly in reprimand, making him laugh as he hurried away from its reach though she could hear Felix muttering softly under his breath.

“Mirabel,” Dolores’s voice pulled her attention before her head turned, watching her older cousin pick up her plate and begin to fill it. “Are you okay?”

“Of course.” Mirabel’s head tilted curious, “What makes you say that?”

She held her stare, though inwardly, she felt a shiver of caution; was last night really a dream? Did Dolores knowing something validate that it wasn’t just in her head? A part of her wanted that; to have someone she could talk to to try and understand what happened but… she felt scared at the idea of this spreading…reaching unwanted ears about her almost falling off Tio Bruno’s tower. She’d be banned from rooftops.

Her eyes dropped to finish filling her plate. “Never mind.” She went to move past but a sudden thought occurred to her.

“Wait,” Mirabel grabbed her by the arm softly, she winced softly with an apologetic look, “Sorry, but I have to ask, when i….mentioned my vision to Abuela, did you hear anything? Cracks, broke tiles?”

Dolores’s head tilted. “There are…quiet sounds of cracking but nothing I find disturbing. It’s been going on for years.”

“Anything else I should… well know? Like, the magic and the candle…”

“About the magic, Luisa seems tense, I heard her get all twitchy about it after the party.”

Mirabel’s head turned as she watched her older sibling take her place at the table with a hand load of juice-filled glasses though Abuela’s voice pulled their attention to the table. Mirabel shot forwards with her plate, getting into her seat before Tia Pepa though ignored the little roar of thunder.

“Luisa.” She whispered but before she could get into a proper conversation, Abuela began to talk about the day’s plans. Mirabel grumbled quickly though took the time to eat and mull on her options. She knew Abuela wouldn’t assign anything onto her; that’d leave her open to catch up with Luisa in town once she got new glasses.

Hearing about tonight, Mirabel wanted to groan. The proposal for Isabela and Mariano. One event after another. Another thing she’d been asked to not partake in; she’d just get in the way. Both to her face and in subtext.  Her eyes lowered down to her plate, losing some of her appetites.

As soon as she could Mirabel hurried from cleaning up, accidentally walking into Isabela but pressed on despite the anger directed to her back.

Dolores caught her arm swiftly as she passed, “Can we talk later?”

“Sure.” Mirabel offered her a smile but pulled herself free and hurried on, seeing the familiar bulk of Luisa disappear down the end of the crowded street of Encanto.

Mirabel hurried swiftly, passing her greetings as she went. “Luisa!” She called.

Her attention turned as she turned a corner, stopping dead in her tracks as she came face to face with a dark hooded figure but this time, in sharp focus to notice much more with the day’s light. Face clouded with the hood, there was still a low yellow that emanated from underneath. The dark of her cloak was nothing she had ever imagined, she could see it hugged her frame and blended down to the floor but as it ruffled in the wind, there was almost a misty edge that made it appear weightless and floaty. Underneath, was masked by the outer layer but there were dark teal boots that were lightly embroidered with a yellow butterfly. Her hands were bare but where she had seen the light thread across her skin like veins, was now smooth skin but the warm tan was gone and was now a shocking pale.

It made her heart thump much faster as she took her in and yet…was enthralled as she raised her head to reveal her face.

The contrast was shocking to see her own face; but so pale. Deathly pale. Yellow iris was very softly lit that it stood out and was surrounded by black instead of the normal whites of her eyes. Her face was so soft in her expression.

“Who are you?” Mirabel found her tongue to speak. “Was last night real?”

The hooded woman’s head tilted. “You see with clarity. You doubt yourself too much.”

Her voice melted with comforting words that Mirabel blushed. Her glasses. Right.

“Please, humor me.” Mirabel asked softly, “I’ve been doubted since I was 5.”

The woman nodded, “I know.”

“Who are you?”

The yellow eyes bore into her softly, almost sympathetic. “I am Mirabel Madrigal. Daughter of Julieta and Agustin Madrigal…at least. I am an echo of what you’ll become.”

Mirabel blinked but her anxiety grew, shaking her head. “No, I know who I am. I don’t have a gift or… anything. I don’t need to have one.”

“We know.” The reflection sighed out, “Your gift, you were too young to have it. You weren’t ready.”

Mirabel shook her head, “Look, I don’t know what is going on, but I don’t have time for this”— she wanted to get out of this; to talk to Luisa and the problem at hand; she didn’t need this…this hallucination getting under her skin.

She turned away back to the way she had come, only to be faced with the hooded reflection.

“¡Dios ten piedad!” Her hand shot to her chest, trying to recover. “Can you just leave me alone por favor?”

“In a way, I’m not actually here but…I will be. You’re developing still.”

Mirabel glowered, puffing out her chest. “Did you do something to Dolores?”

“No.”

“But?” There had to be more to this.

The woman looked, turning to the direction of the Casita. “There is something wrong with the magic. You’re on your way to Luisa for information. You want to help.”

Mirabel frowned, her lips pursing; clearly this woman knew a lot more about her…was there some mental connection? Nothing she said felt…wrong. A genuine warmth in how she spoke about her sister, her eyebrows pulling in slightly in concern.

“What can you tell me?”

“Luisa can notice the effects on her gift given how physical it is on her daily life. Talk to her, connect with her. It’ll be vital to patch up some of the cracks your family has to keep the miracle afloat.” She reached forwards, Mirabel stepping back but didn’t stop the warm hand on her cheek. Her reservations almost faded away. “You are a light, Mirabel. You need to shine away from the rest to be seen.”

With that, the woman seemed to melt away, stealing away her warmth from her skin but she could feel it’s presence in her chest, pulsing with a beat of her heart. Her hand came to her chest, looking down but she blinked to see a small yellow crack on her chest between her breasts, barely two centimeters in length but she could feel that its placement was real; what she was seeing was real.

Luisa was ahead, Donkeys piled up her back, grabbing another to load onto the wagon.

“Luisa!” She called, breaking out of her mood to something faster; to catch up. “Can you wait up?”

“Not now, Mirabel.”

“I’m worried about the magic! I… I want to help!”

“I have a lot to do.”

Mirabel kept in pace, “I know but if something's wrong and you know about it, why not tell me? I can help!”

“What makes you think you of all people can help!” Luisa snapped suddenly,

Mirabel blinked, her eyebrows shooting up because… Luisa never snapped. Was she really that anxious?

Luisa’s expression went from anger to mortified in a heartbeat. “I’m so sorry!” She dropped the donkeys down, her face masking into guilt “I didn’t mean that.”

Mirabel nodded. “I know.” She reached forwards, “I know I can’t help in the way that you can, Luisa. But… I can see something’s wrong and I hate seeing you this tense.”

Luisa shook her head, “It's fine. I’m fine.”

Mirabel looked at her softly, sighing out as she grasped her sister’s arm but she suddenly felt a whole network of emotions rush through her; exhaustion, guilt, the depth of isolation and inadequacy. Like a suffocating bubble that was coupled with anxiety that was pressing further and further down. There was a different light there, a golden thread that was weaved among the mess and seemed to support it all. But…It was weak; weaker than it should be.

Mirabel felt it tug at her own heart; she didn’t know what this was but Luisa… she was struggling so much.

“No. No you’re not.” She felt her eyes feel hot. “You can’t take all that weight and keep it.”

Luisa blinked in surprise but Mirabel stepped forwards, wrapping her arms around her though it only took a moment before she felt the strong grip around her of tense muscle but she wasn’t focused on that but the network she could feel. There were tense points in the weave of turmoil; dense and dark but she couldn’t help but reach for them, pressing her own light to unravel it’s weave, accepting the guilt and the anxiety in its place.

“Maybe you should take a break…” Mirabel offered quietly, “Not carry so much. Talk to Mami and Papi about this. You know you’ll have their support on need a mental break every so often.”

Luisa’s breath was fast; the beat of her heart was unmistakeably fast. “I hate feeling weak.”

“You’re not weak. You’re tired. It’s okay.” She rubbed her back softly. “You are more than your gift, Luisa.”

“Luisa, the Donkeys!”

And like that, the moment was shattered, Luisa pulling back sharply with a sniffle as she looked back.

“On it.”

Mirabel stayed put, her arms wrapping loosely around herself, and watched Luisa begin to pick up the donkeys one by one.

“Look, Why don’t you go to Tio Bruno’s room.” Luisa started, her words sounding thick, “he…I heard that he had a vision before he left from our Abuela so… that’s probably your best bet for more.”

Mirabel perked up. Tio Bruno. “Got it.”

Luisa paused, “Oh, Mira.” She inhaled deeply, her gaze much softer now “Thank you.”

Chapter Text

Mirabel’s eyes lingered on the wooden door frame, biting her lip softly in uncertainty at the dullness of what used to be a magic enriched door. Tio Bruno’s carvings was beautiful, but unlike all the other doors, aside from Dolores’s, his eyes were open. Was it due to the sensory nature of their gift that their doors had those differences?

Sucking it up, Mirabel pushed through. Met with a sight of pouring sand from the hour-shaped frame, thick enough that she couldn’t see through to the other side. Her lips pursed thoughtfully, raising a hand to the fall, feeling the fast stain shower of the grains before her eyes turned to the door.

“Casita, can you…shut off the sand?”

The tiles giggled unhappily in the doorway, demonstrating clear limits to its reach.

“You can’t help in here?” For a magic house and a magic room, she would have thought there’d be some leeway here. Instead, the tiles deflated down, then dangled with concern. “I’ll be fine, Casita. I need to do this.”

For everyone’s sake, not just herself because there was a lot of unanswered questions here. If she was to gain any sort of recognition in her Abuela’s eyes that she could be something other than a familia blip then she needed to do this for her as well, not just for herself.

“Okay, Let—“

One step through and the sense for the world was gone, falling face-first down a steep decline, her mouth filling with sand that made her gag and the grains caught in her eyes; no longer protected without her glasses. It wasn’t until she stopped falling that she cleared both her mouth and eyes with a winked expression, spitting a few times at the nasty crunches between her teeth. Oh, she hated sand. She could already feel it down her shirt.

She peel the front forwards, started to see the golden thread on her flesh much larger now, threading out like a center of a cracked window but concealable still. Whatever it was, it was spreading.

Mirabel’s attention turned softly to see the familiar toucan settling down on a near boulder but the sight ahead wasn’t what she expected, a large vast space with a single staircase that circled up its edge. A single stone hand was pointing up to a large doorway at the top.

“That’s a lot of stairs.” In all honestly… she would not be surprised if this was a fraction of a reason to why Tio Bruno left. She could imagine the exhaustion from coming and going for and from bed. “but at least I have a—okay, you left me immediately,” She remarked as the Toucan took off towards the top.

“Ugh, Does your room have any quicker ways to get up?!” She demanded with quiet rage as she pulled herself up. Oh, she really hoped this was his reason, “Your room is the absolute worse, Bruno!”

It only took a bit longer before she reach the top, her face flushed and lungs and limbs burning. Her stomach dropped to see… the huge gap between the steps and the large doorway ahead.

"¡Oh vamos!" she stayed down, catching her breath as she contemplated the very large gap. There clearly used to be a bridge of sorts... but why was it gone? Mirabel pushed herself up before her eyes turned to the rope railings, an idea springing to mind.

Mirabel could almost hear her mother in her ear as she threw the rope to a high, almost hook-like collection of rock formations. A test of the rope suggested strength so, wishing herself some luck, she jumped and swinging across, letting go as soon as she was in the range of the other side.

“Woah!” She laughed, trying to keep a grip nonetheless on the rope to keep it on her side. “Yes!” she stomped triumphantly but under her foot the ledge gave.

Her eyes widened, watching as it fell until she and the Toucan flinched at the loud crack ten seconds later.

“Wow.” She did not want to fall.

Leaving the rope end secured. Mirabel ventured in.

The Toucan’s claws dug into her shoulder, the smell of decay and dry sand tickled at her nose as it got darker and darker. Both of them flinched as she knocked something that clanged loudly. Ahead of her was a circular door, ajar and a soft breeze seemed to trickle in.

Her heart picked up in excitement, ignoring the flurry of rats and rolling her eyes as he Toucan jumped off her shoulder.

“Quitter!”

Inside was circular as the door, a thin layer of sand covered the floor, spread out from the central pit of sand in the center. There was an alcove on the side that looked to be the bed with a near desk with a shelf with a few faded glass tablets.

Curiously, she drifted over to them. Pulling one, she blinked in surprise to see one of the townswomen inside; a grey statue almost, holding onto a fish tank with… well a dead fish. She placed it back though she could see this… this had to be a vision, immortalized in a tablet form. Her eyes hunted through the rest which consisted of three other slates until she noted a low green light emanating from the sandpit.

“Okay….” Now she was getting somewhere. She reached down, plucking up the shard up before twisting it around; noting a few shapes along the inside but too broken up to see. She dropped it into her bag, before clawing through the rest, the glass in her bag piling more though she hissed as a sharp piece punctured into the back of her hand.

“Ah, damn” She could feel the blood ooze from but she blinked as the golden slither of threading suddenly spiked down her flesh, like a crack seeping from down the inside of her arm and curled around her elbow to the back of her arm as it slithered down the back of her hand in the fashion that looked…so much like the hallucination of her. The thread touched over the edge of the wound but she watched as the blood stopped and the warmth radiating over until the stinging was gone.

She had healed.

But the golden threading stayed, glinting in the dark with each to her heartbeat.

“Oh no…” She couldn’t have this. No. Mirabel jumped to her feet. Looking around widely; Tio Bruno should have left something, a ruana or a shirt. She had to hide this.

Her eyes fell onto the wardrobe, pulling one of the doors that came off into her hand but she grabbed the only long-sleeved coat she could see among the green ruana that was too short and pulled it on; not it realizing it was a perfect fit.

It wasn’t until Mirabel noticed sand creeping into the room through cracks that her attention turned to the door and ran to it but it was the last green glow on the floor that had her pause. The last piece. Mirabel dove forwards, clawing through the sand until her fingers wrapped around it’s sharp edge and yanked it free, not hesitating to dive for the door once again.

“Ugh.” She wasn’t doing that again. Mirabel dusted herself off quickly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. “Wait?” She pulled her hand out—the non-threaded one—to see a teal boot in it. “Why?” Why would Bruno have this? Why put shoes in a coat? Very confusing.

Mirabel gasped sharply as she noticed the little, yellow butterfly on the side that suddenly sparked a very vivid and unwelcome memory....

“Mirabel?”

Abuela’s voice pulled her attention to see the matriarch of the family standing only feet away at the top of the stairs.

Mirabel shoved the boot into her pocket which did not go unnoticed.

“Mirabel,” Abuela’s eyes flickered down, “What are you doing? Show me.”

Refusing to use her visually different hand, she just pulled out that single boot to show her. “I…went shopping.” She lied, putting on a sheepish expression to hide her sheer panic. “I thought…. Why not look my best tonight.” Mirabel swallowed.

Abuela’s eyes lingered on the shoe. “You got new clothes but didn’t take the time to get your glasses fixed, Mirabel?”

Mirabel shuffled softly, “I can go now.”

“Go. I don’t want you to make a mess of things because you can’t see things properly.”

Mirabel nodded, “Yes, Abuela.”

She brushed past her swiftly and down the stairs to follow through. She had Bruno’s vision now, she had time to see it before dinner with the Guzmans arrived. Once she got her glasses fixed, at least then she’d blend in with her pre-today self. Maybe she could steal some of Isabela’s makeup to cover up her gold-threading skin?

Mirabel just hoped nothing would upset tonight….

Chapter Text

Mirabel pushed her glasses up her nose. The new lenses, she had convinced Senorita Lopez to not use the old subscription and settled for a simple glass replacement of the lenses to the woman's confusion but it was somewhat easy to lie about. She knew her mother’s cooking could work on eye-sight like her and her father's, but given how natural it was and other ways to handle it, there was no need to ‘fix’ such a condition. She did like her glasses and she did…agree that wearing them did make her feel like herself. Especially now.

But….unfortunately, she now wore the boots from her coat pockets upon her return back to Casita since Abuela would expect her to wear them since she had lied. All in all, Mirabel was both annoyed but working with retaining her lies. Things were so much simpler before today…

Mirabel was glad to slink into her room, shutting the door after her with her foot, and slipped her bag from under her coat, the greenish glow emanating from within before she dumped it out then began sorting them out.

Mirabel wound up prickling herself a few times, her finger wounds now cracked with the same yellow marks but her eyes remained fixed to the glass tablet with a low sense of dread at the image that displayed on the front.

Casita, from an angle that was looking down from a near bird-eye view, was cracked and barely holding together but in the centre of the courtyard was a hooded figure with her hands pressed on the floor over the cracks, glasses on the floor again, but the face—her face—was lined with the same cracks and threads of light she had seen of her hallucination, warped into an oddly neutral expression.

Mirabel inhaled sharply but jumped out her skin as the door opened behind her suddenly, her eyes widening in surprise to see her father come in then immediately stop.

Casita shifted, trying to hide the crews behind her but even she knew it was too late as her father’s eyes lay to the shattered tablet behind her with its unmistakable green glow.

Her jaw unhinged for a moment before she broke. “I broke into Bruno's tower and found his last vision, somethings wrong with me, the magic is in danger, Lusia’s gift is getting weaker and I think it all has something to do with me!” She said in a single breath, but again, there was almost no reaction but he did seem to move forwards, taking it in before his hand drifted to her hand, his face turning into concern as he grasped her hand and tilted to look at the threads.

Unlike Luisa, she could feel a similar network of emotions and the upfront of overwhelmed surprise, laced with concern with an ingrained sense to her and Luisa. Unlike Luisa, there was no golden thread; was that due to his lack of gift? Mirabel didn’t spare much pondering on that.

“Pa?” She waited with bated breath feeling as he collected himself, more so as voices echoed from outside.

“Right now, until the Guzman’s have gone, you’re fine, your sister is fine, the magic isn’t in danger, you went nowhere near Bruno’s tower nor his vison.” He listed off quickly, dropping her hand and grabbed the handfuls of the tablet, tucking them away though that didn’t stop a few cutting him which he ignored, “Put on some gloves, keep your jacket on and for tight, we keep this between us!” he said, “No one has to or need to know!”

But only did they both realize the door was slightly open and a squeak echoed that Mirabel’s heart dropped.

Dolores.

Both their heads turned, to see Dolores on the other side of their balcony way, her eyes wide and her head tilted with an almost wince.

“I know.” But was gone in a heartbeat.

“She’s going to tell everyone.” Mirabel knew Dolores kept secretes but the big ones, like this…she was going to break.

“¡mierda!”

Mirabel had to agree.

Her gaze did not lift from her cousin as soon as she got to her seat, taking one directly across from her to ensure eye contact. Dolores was transfixed. Mostly by pressure to maintain eye contact with her but Mirabel didn’t yet up.

In all honesty, she let her Papa fill her plate since he wasn’t part of the staring contest for the sake of silence and she only kept an ear out for the sake of making sure she wasn’t being called on for something.  She was aware she almost dipped her elbow into a dish but caught it last second.

Dolores squeaked uncomfortably.

Mirabel leaned forwards but froze up as something tickled into her peripheral vision, cladded in the same dark cloak, and moved so fluidly that it almost made her break her contact as it moved around to stand behind Dolores

No. Not now. Not here. Mirabel felt her pulse tick up in a panic. Dropping her cutlery to grip the edges of the table.

She couldn’t react. Not without drawing attention. Couldn’t drop eye contact to keep Dolores quiet. She could only rely on her peripheral vision to watch her hallucination as she stepped closer. Mirabel tenses up as her mirror reached forwards and touched along the side of Dolores’s face.

Her eyes widened even more, breathe holding but seeing the same golden threads suddenly seep from the side of her face almost broke Mirabel’s concentration; hanging on simply due to the fact Dolores did not notice. Her Papa said nothing and he was most certainly looking Dolores’s way too.

He wasn’t seeing it.

Only her.

The lines only trailed along the side of her head from her ears and only reach mid-cheek before stopping. Mirabel wanted to move her gaze and watch but she couldn’t. Her hallucination’s arm reached for Camilo next… then Tia Pepa, her mother… then she lost full periapical.

“Avocado?”

Isabela’s voice and the pot in front of her face made her jump out her skin, shoving it away but she watched in dread as Dolores was lent into Camilo’s space, his face too held the lines, but with obvious outwards from his face; his face shifted twice in a rapid succession of herself and Tio Bruno but those lines stayed throughout before he resumed his semi-normal form, aside from his face what was mildly malformed.

“Camilo, Fix your face!” Felix whispered softly.

Camilo shook his head, his face morphing back but unlike Dolores, he wasn’t held by her stare before turning to his father.

Mirabel groaned softly, watching as it spread from there, what little she could hear was that she could find Bruno’s vision.

Tia Pepa’s clouds grew, her golden lines focused mostly from her temples but also on her fingertips. Though Mirabel held her gaze for a moment before a familiar voice spoke.

“Look at Luisa.”

Her head turned but unlike the other threads of light, Luisa’s threads decorated her limbs mostly, but unlike the others, the threads were a dark golden, pulsing with brightness every so often but notably not like the others.

Her eyes turned back, watching as Tia Pepa talked to her mother; her face thread free but her hands were instead laced with threaded gold. Abuela's palms only had a few threads but nothing more as she tried to get Tia Pepa to calm her clouds.

“Clear skies, clear skies.”

“Look at Casita.”

Mirabel refused but instead turned to Isabel but this time, she was covered in threads that while mostly densely as her arms, wrapping around her skin like vines, they went up,  to her cheeks, pulsing bright and fast; too fast in comparison. Was she nervous?

Mirabel swallowed thickly, pushing her plate away, and grabbed her glass.

“You know what that is, don’t you?”

Shut up.

“Mirabel.”

Her head turned softly towards her Abuela, “Huh” her nails dug into the glass through her gloves.

“Can you pass the cream, please?”

“Oh, yes.” She turned softly, “Dad, can you pass the cream, please.” He was closest after all.

With a stiff nod, he handed the pot over, though it almost slipped out of her hands as she handed it down the line.

“Mirabel, are you alright?”

Mariano seemed to notice her difference of mood, she nodded swiftly.

“She’s good.” Her Papa said, jumping in first. “She’s….just excited. For you to propose. Right now.”

Mirabel’s attention shifted as the ghost-her seemed to walk around, brushing a hand across Casita’s walls before literally fading away. Golden threads, like mycelium trails, seemed to spread all throughout the surfaces; from the ceiling, falls and to the floor, stopping off at particular points as if its flow was cut and yet carried on unbothered. This did not beat to a heart but almost like a wave across a surface, pulsing and shifting as Casita moved a floorboard or a tile. Casita was quiet, almost dormant but there was no mistake she was seeing the life and connection Casita had in these walls

Why was she being made to see this?

Mirabel turned back to the problem at hand as Mariano brushed off the soon proposal for later but seeing the tight clock, she needed to get away as soon as possible.

“Yes!” She agreed, “right now is good.”

Mariano blinked, “Well, I was going to—“

“Great!” she grasped Isabela’s chair, and with surprising ease, turned her to face her soon-to-be Fiancé. “You’re gonna.”

The abruptness was not hard to miss and though she could feel Abuela’s stern look and confusion at what was going on; she didn’t want to be deterred by meeting her gaze.

Senorita Guzman blinked but seemed to go along with it, “Well, since everyone here has talent, my Mariano wanted to begin with a song! Luisa, could you bring over the piano?”

Luisa's breath baited for a moment, her lips wobbled before she nodded. “Okay.”

Mirabel’s head turned, frowning as she felt that… her earlier help had faded. Not entirely gone but… Luisa was still clearly affected.

“Why doesn’t he sing after in celebration?” She decided swiftly, pulling him from his chair and onto his knee.

“Mirabel.” Her mother hissed but like her Abuela, Mirabel didn’t look to her; once this was done, people were singing and distracted; she could go.

Her attention didn’t linger on the proposing man, but she watched as the light pathways in the floor shifted before she realized a new and visible crack in it’s surface that seemed to cut through but it was another form of light that pulled her attention away from even that, leaning down to watch in horror as two of Antonio’s animals with the vision that was one piece away from the completion.

She dove forwards to grab it but instead like it was game, they tugged the tray as soon as she had a grip on it, sending it up onto the tabletop. The disturbance scared one of Antonio’ birds that screeched, shooting close to Senorita Guzman’s head. The crack of Pepa’s clouds only seemed to add to the whole mood along with Luisa’s arrival and struggles with the piano, on the verge of tears as she tried to tug it past the threshold.

“What is happening?”

Dolores jumped to her feet, her hands covering her ears. “Mirabel found Bruno’s last vision and she’s in it and she’s gonna hurt the magic so now we’re all doomed!”

Luisa slipped and collapsed into a crying heap, unable to pull the piano further, the tablet she had was knocked down the other side of the table, knocking over glasses, the rain suddenly started inside and quite suddenly, the cracks appeared along the walls startling everyone.

But as much as Mirabel knew how it looked, how her Abuela’s expression shifted and thee untimely arrival of the townspeople… her hands felt hot.

Ordinarily, noting how one’s body was feeling in this situation, wasn’t overly advised and only emphasized the awkwardness of the silence that followed. Water dripped down and soon enough there was a scatter but… Mirabel couldn’t bring herself to defend herself to anyone as the Guzmans left, Mariano’s nose broken though Julieta had managed to hand over some of her food before they were gone, Abuela following after, trying to smoothen everything down….

Isabela’s icy attitude and word of hate that…Mirabel glossed entirely over as she felt the warmth spread from her hands but she could feel it grow from her chest down her arms. Her Papa ran after Luisa…

Tia Pepa’s cloud of rain passing by with a ‘what do you do?’

That broke her stillness, inhaling deeply as she ran from the table and up the stairs. Pulling the edge of her glove down to see the threads now running down the back of her hand and no doubt to her fingers.

“Casita…” She inhaled deeply. “I…. I need to be somewhere where the others can’t find me.”

Tiles rippled and she followed its direction that led her to a painting which promptly opened. Without looking back, she jumped in, letting it close up behind her before exhaling out, pulling off her gloves fully to inspect but gasped as she felt the heat now seep up her neck, closing her eyes sharply as she felt the touches of light against he eyelids; unable to hide the threads that traced to her eyes. Her head spun as the warmth clouded her vision and the brightness was almost blinding….

What was happening to her?

Chapter Text

Mirabel didn’t know how long she was knelt for, trying to gather the strength to open her eyes, scared to open and see what had happened to her. Her skin all over felt hot and the heat seemed to radiate out.

“You’re okay.”

“Oh go away!” She hissed out, her eye snapping open--mostly in spite—to see her hallucination just sitting right there with her, looking so irritably innocent. “What did you do to me? To the family?”

Their head was tilted. “Nothing negative. Each person channels their gift differently. You can sense and see them now.”

“Not during dinner!” She snapped angrily, “I had other priorities to think about.”

“Development does not wait on your decisions. I was merely controlling your attention to prevent a lash-out. Flicking on a light in the dark would have caused a negative reaction to the beholder when it’s unexpected.”

“Says the hallucination touching up Dolores's head.”

The reflection smiled. “I do exist in your head, but I am not a symptom of illness. I am…part of your gift. You do not fear me because you know this to a certain degree”

Mirabel frowned. “How?”

“I am the part of you that was…concealed after your ceremonies. This gift… cannot be in the hands of a child. The scope…” She paused, “it would have damaged you and your family.”

“You’re not another personality, are you?” God help her if that was the case. She’d fight for her body without a doubt.

The reflection shook her head, smiling softly. “No. I am you. The conscious part that is aware of our gift and how to use it. I was not…aware of anything or separate until after your cousin received his gift. The extra flow of magic triggered yours. We are separate in a way now but… the more you develop, the less I become.”

Mirabel frowned, “You don’t seem very upset about the prospect.” The thought for her was terrifying; to lose oneself to someone else. She didn’t like the idea she was…absorbing this thing. A parasite.

“I am you.” She smiled softly reaching forwards, cupping her cheeks.

Mirabel didn’t resist, strangely.

Now up-close, while her vision-self remained with her cloak, she looked...different than before. Only a slim rim of yellow lingered around her pupils, her skin remained just as pale and now, where the golden threads used to be were even paler threads; as if all the light was drained away; into her—she assumed. She still…projected a warm atmosphere around her but it wasn’t as strong as before either.

“Go down further in the insides of Casita. Follow the rats. You will find someone to help you, and somewhere to rest.” The reflection spoke. “You have five minutes. This will be the last time we will be as two.”

Mirabel blinked though watched as the threads of her hands lit up with a rush were light and warmth. Her head spun as her hands shot to the face, feeling the soft outline of her shadow’s hands but the warmth flooded through as if a dam had broken. Her head spun and it was so overwhelming that she felt like she was drowning but she couldn’t find her lungs to breathe…. Her eyes only saw as her vision seemed to fade and the lingering light seemed to seep into her skin but… slowly, it all faded down, leaving her panting heavily with heavy limbs.

She blinked softly, somewhat dazed but her attention shifted to see rats scurrying past them; a familiar green shard in its mouth that distracted Mirabel completely from what had just happened.

“Hey…” That...didn’t seem right.

Clumsily, Mirabel pushed herself to her feet, groaning as she felt a sudden onslaught from Casita’s walls as she steadied herself but couldn’t understand the noise what it was but the second mouse running along was enough that she removed herself and began to walk.

Even as she watched, the mycelium-like threads of light continued in the insides, but cracks seemed to almost sever those connections. What was this?

The green glow of the vison changed direction as the rat did but she stopped as she noticed a golden threaded figure at the end. Hands there were most predominantly covered that almost stopped after reaching the forearms though the covering of clothes stopped her seeing more though, unlike the others, there was a greenish tint to the gold.

She gasped sharply as thunder clapped, the figure’s head-turning to where the gold seemed to meld into greenish threads that originated from his eyes outwards and down to his cheeks and—then he was gone.

Adrenaline kicked her into action through the haze.

“Hey!” She called, though she was surprised in both the agility of the man and the space available inside Casita’s walls as they raced through. But he was faster; unhindered as she was. Darkness seemed to prickle in the corners of her eyes, grunting with each bump into a surface and under some steps that seemed to spiral noise into her head that pushed the haze back into her limbs, slowing her down.

“Stop!” she wheezed.

He did not, but rapidly jumped before her eyes landed on the gaping pit in the floor before she came to a stop, not willing to jump; she felt too weak to think she could; she couldn’t tell how deep it was.

“Casita!” She hissed out as she touched the wall, feeling a flurry of energy course through the walls, golden threads that had been absent in the floor wormed through the planks which pushed through and extend enough for her to walk around its edge. “Thank you.”

Mirabel didn’t have the energy to run, but she slugged along slowly before she collapsed to the ground, leaning up against the wall, Her eyes barely able to stay open. She was fine… she could sleep…

Her eyes fluttered shut, missing the hooded man’s head popping cautiously around the corridor and was completely out before he prodded her in the shoulder with a whisper of her name.

“Mirabel?”

Mirabel could feel a new sense of awareness that seemed to seep into her brain, the voice familiar but almost irrelevant for her as she stirred from a dreamless sleep, her body feeling…rested and stiff…and awkward.

“Mirabel?”

A warm touch to her wrist made her jump softly, sitting up and almost head butting the voice’s owner who fell back with a thunk and the sounds of disturbed squeaks. Her eyes flickered open, realizing that she had been sitting in a very old chair. A blanket over her legs too. But the major thing she noticed, aside from her long-thought-lost Tio Bruno was… she couldn’t see the threads.

Not on the walls, nor on her hands… not on Tio Bruno—

“Tio Bruno?” She croaked.

Tio Bruno was on the floor with careful and concerned hazel eyes staring at her intently, his hood now down which showed a mass of dark hair. No threads lined his skin or near his eyes… or on his hands. His skin was much paler than expected, with dark shadows.

Mirabel looked around her sharply. A small room, a clothesline with his personal belongings that seemed to have been collected and strewn about but that didn’t include the number of rats that also seemed to have taken up residency which certainly gave a distinctive odor to the room. No windows and only a single door.

Where was she?

Tio Bruno clambers up softly, fidgeting with the hem of his ruana. “Sorry, you’re probably confused but… I tried to take you out so your mother could treat you but… I couldn’t take you around that pit and… and well Casita seemed against the idea as well…” He started nervously, “I mean, didn’t just want to leave you there on the floor.”

“Where are we?” Mirabel asked.

“Casita.” He answered, “As I said, we didn’t leave. You passed out about a corridor away from here so…it was simpler.”

“But…you left. Abuela said you disappeared”

“I… left my tower, sure.” He didn’t seem to meet her eye as he moved to grab some of the food from his table fiddling with it rather than eating it like he didn’t know what to do with his hands. “I… it’s not…simple. At least here, I have plenty of free food and… entertainment.” nodding to the rats

Mirabel inhaled deeply, sitting back. This…was a lot.

“Thank you.” The words left her lips softly though; her memory of her Tio Bruno was…limited. She vividly remembered her gift ceremony and the days after that but the rest had been a haze. She did know she had missed him but… she had forgotten that feeling a long time ago with her memories…

His shoulders relaxed. “I’m glad you’re okay, I mean, you look okay now, all those glowy lines seemed to have faded and your eyes are back to their usual color.” He mumbled.

Mirabel looked down to her hands and sighed at the reminder, a finger tracing where one of the threads used to trail down. “My gift, apparently.”

Bruno’s face didn’t change, in fact, he wasn’t at all surprised. “You good with it?”

Mirabel shrugged, “Barely.” Her hallucination wasn’t coming back but… they were one now. She didn’t know how to feel about that and it had barely been 24 hours since she Antonio had received his gift and now she had one… the family was in a mess about her screw-up at Isabela’s proposal so… she was glad not to show her face.

“I knew you had something… but I didn’t know what it’d be,” Bruno admitted, breaking off a piece of bread and tossing it to one of the rats. “But… without a door and… well you weren’t able to display anything… everyone just assumed the ceremony was a bust.”

Her gaze roamed the surfaces, taking in the walls again, and the family photos that were up… even a practice piece of her embroidery she had thrown out when she was younger had made it to the wall. Mirabel rose to her feet, reaching up to trace the edge with a smile, feeling a deep warmth’s in her chest. Beside that was one of Luisa’s drawings of Encanto and a small plant pot that Isabela had made of an unusual plant, long before Abuela insisted on certain flowers from old memories. Now it seemed like Isabela had forgotten how to do this…

Pieces of their family were all around. He had kept them close…even without them knowing.

Her eyes moved to a wooden panel with a soft crack in the side, thin and almost unnoticeable but the flickering light of a candle was very distinguished. She lent to it, peaking through to see… they were on the other side of the dining room. Darkened by the night, a few candles way about close to burning down. Cleaned up from dinner, it seemed. Her mother did clean when stressed.

It tugged at her strangely to see this.

Her eyes drifted down to his table, her throat thickening to see a hand-drawn plate on its surface with his name.  Her fingers brushed along it though she felt very little of Casita in here. He was clinging onto connections here. He needed to. How could he not without losing the plot?

“I…couldn’t bring myself to leave. Not… out of Encanto.” He admitted quietly, seating himself down, “But… I knew I couldn’t stay either.”

“Why?”

Bruno looked away from her. “What happened after your gift ceremony… your Abuela begged me to look into the future. She was worried about the magic and what it meant.”

On the table, Bruno began to lay out the pieces, “I couldn’t make sense of it at the time. I could see you with a gift but… it didn’t make sense to what I saw in your ceremony. But…it did lead me to conclude you’d grow into one.”

Mirabel blinked, “You didn’t share that with Abuela? With my parents?” She wasn’t mad, of course, he wasn’t but…it surely would have made things easier on her, right?

Bruno shook his head. “I wanted to but… I didn’t want to give that hope to you or the family in case nothing came of it. Expected and hoping for something is worse when it’s taken away or nothing happens. That…hope would have died long before you would have gotten this gift. I could never see a time frame.”

He sat back once the pieces were patched up.

“I am sorry.”

Mirabel nodded, her hand coming to his shoulder but both of them stiffened up as she felt a flurry of connections and the threads seemed to appear back onto their skin but unlike before, she could feel a surprising more complex network of pathways in Tio Bruno than Luisa.

The threads there thinner and weak with clear senses of anxiety and loneliness that was most predominant, but what was a shadow was a warmth of love that seemed to keep things balanced; the emotional ties to the family. But…there were almost physical aspects she hadn’t noticed before, how underweight he should be and a sense of…deficiency of minerals. Tio Bruno was not healthy. Not for spending 10 years in a single room and living like a hermit.

Bruno lifted his hands, examining the green-tinted golden threads with a raised eyebrow. “Huh…”

Mirabel dropped her hand, watching both their marking fade. “I’m sorry.”

His hair bounced and he shook his head, his hand coming back to hers with a stern expression with eyes filled with depth “Never apologize for your gift, Mirabel.”

Chapter Text

Mirabel stared down to the vision tablet thoughtfully as Tio Bruno dozed in his chair. The night got to him more though she felt well-rested, despite what had happened. Casita was quiet and that worried Mirabel a little. She had left the little home her Tio was living in for a bit but didn’t leave the inside of the walls. Inside had been cracked much more and it seemed to be showing on the other side now. Her vision had been coming true but she needed to fix it.

This vision was…enlightening but there was no context behind it. Shifting the glass showed the cracks receding back until it was gone but tilting it the other way gave the adverse appearance of her causing the cracks.

Was she helping or hurting?

Would not trying, either way, make things better? Mirabel hated the idea that… she was going to be responsible, that she was hurting the family. Why… was it her? Up until yesterday, she had been without a gift; how could this be her doing?

Mirabel swallowed thickly and placing it down onto the table, trailing her finger over the edge of Bruno’s plate drawing thoughtfully before her eyes turned to him. How he was comfortable, she didn’t know and she doubted it was doing him any good. But… she couldn’t help the welt of guilt that she now felt. She knew the context of the vision was blain ant to Abuela’s eyes; what she saw was the bad; that she was the cause. Tio Bruno’s vision had left an unpleasant edge to the possibility but no fault of his own… he had left to protect her.

To keep her safe from the image that everyone now knew about, no doubt the town.

Him hiding… she didn’t want that for him any longer. He needed sun, human contact… more food. This was no life. He deserved better, they all did.

Luisa was weakening now exposing the fragile nature she was underneath; reduced to the whole idea she was worthless without her gift. It tugged at her heart to come to that conclusion. 14 years since she had her gift; it was all she knew. Just like Isabela no doubt.

Mirabel wrinkled her nose to think that Isabela had anything harder than she had Luisa. Senorita perfect since the day she was born.

Why was it her side of the family getting the weight? Dolores and Camilo… those two had it light. At least, Camilo did. He was the life of the party. Mirabel could though feel pity for her cousin, Dolores’s gift was not a light one with a world filled with noise. She couldn’t fault the limits that had on her.

Was it now because she had a gift, that she’d destroy Casita or would it have happened either way?

Mirabel suppressed a groan into her hands, knocking her glasses askew. Okay, she needed to do more than think. She needed answers.

Mirabel moved off the chair, pushing her glasses back to order before pressing he hands to the wall, the now-familiar threads resurfacing before she felt casita’s warmth connect with her with a flurry of new pulses as casita seemed to register her, the wall seemed to ripple as the threads lit up.

“Hello, Casita.”

Casita could not speak. Though they understood perfectly; a part of Mirabel had hoped they’d have some sort of conversation that she’d feel or ‘hear’ casita like a person inside her head. She did not. Casita had no voice. Yet,  they knew Casita had their way to communicate with their own mass, like a deaf person with sign language. Now she was only peaking below the surface; seeing each flicker and pulse. There was so much… but it wasn’t overwhelming now. There were clear patterns she could feel of emotion. Limited of course but there was a…sense of exhaustion that lay deep within their foundations. Mirabel’s head tilted, following those pathways.

“What’s got you so tired, Casita?” she mumbled softly, the pathways trailed out from the walls, touching along each door before seeming to settle over Abuela’s door then began to reach upwards towards the candle where the threads of gold were thinning out, offering very little magic to sustain them than it used to.

Mirabel blinked softly, pulling back, stepping away from the wall. The candle. Why was the candle acting as a conscious being? She had felt nothing from the candle to indicate it was alive like Casita; casita needed the candle for its magic, from the looks of it so why were its connections so thin? A miracle never came with strings attached, did it?

Should she go to the candle?

Going there, to Abuela’s room of all places would probably just guarantee she’d be caught and punished… if she was found holding it, she could only imagine it’d look like she was stealing it. Her stomach turned at the thought. Mirabel knew she couldn’t handle that. Not after everything she had endured so far.

Her hand returned to the surface, trying to find a new angle; the cracks.

“What are you doing?”

Mirabel jumped at her Tio’s voice, flinching from the wall. “Geese, Tio Bruno.” Her hand came to her heart.

“Sorry… not used to waking up with company.” He apologized sleepily, sitting up stiffly “What are you doing, testing out your gift?”

Mirabel shrugged, “Just…trying to find more from Casita.”

He didn’t seem to miss her look to the vision tablet, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he leaned forwards and picked it up… then quite promptly threw it otherwise over the shoulder of the chair.

“Tio Bruno!” she gasped sharply then crossed her arms.

“It’s not helpful, Mirabel.” He sighed, “Look, I know it paints a picture but… what it is.... is useless.”

“No its’s not.”

Bruno sighed out, “All it is, is hindsight more than anything. I use to think my visions could be helpful, that people would see it was a…warning to change something before I happened. Anyone could see that goldfish was on its way out; it needed a better tank.” He grumbled, jumping sprightly from his chair and for another Apreas he had, peeling the rat from it. “It never helped anyone, not even the family.” He picked at it, not eating.

Mirabel’s eyes flickered to yellow as she stared with pursed lips, drifting away from the wall, unable to help herself push the engulfing warmth out to him, his fingers paused before he looked up nervously, but his shoulders relaxed.

Mirabel offered out her hands, “May I?”

Bruno hesitated with uncertainty but dropped off the Apreas that the rats scurried away for happily before he dropped his hands into her palms.

Immediately, on both the skins, the threads resurfaced and she took a breath, closing her eyes. Pushing through his emotions and discomforts; a part of him immediately receptive to her warmth and optimism but she trailed through, looking for the only threat that seemed important; his gift. She found it simply, buried and withered with disuse but still alive. A part of her knew it’s be so easy to trigger; to get a vision for her own means but, he wasn’t expecting that and she didn’t want to shatter his trust.

But she skirted around, noting the heavier and darker strings in his network, tense and tied by guilt and loneliness. Mirabel’s head tilted but this time, she decided to act, seeping in her golden threads of warmth to replace and take some of that way, pulling a face as she did so as the guilt settled within her instead, but she felt it wither away quickly than linger. A patch job, at her best but, he didn’t need all that guilt when it wasn’t his fault.

Bruno let out a shaking breath, sniffling quietly in almost relief before he dropped his hands and pulled her into a hug.

“You didn’t need to do that, Mirabel.”

“I know.” She sighed out, “But you needed it… just as I need to find a way to help the miracle.”

Mirabel tiptoed along the balcony, not for anyone's sake but for her own; Dolores, she knew probably already heard but she didn’t quite care. But her eyes were lit again with a golden glow as she traced over a break-in Castia’s floor. None was seen by the normal eye but if not sorted soon; it would be once the foundation crumbles. Through the golden life that pumped through casita’s walls, the invisible cracks in the flow were easy to see.

Behind her Bruno also followed his hood up though much lighter on his feet.

“What do you see?”

“Cracks.” She remarked dryly.

“I still don’t get why I’m out here.”

Mirabel shrugged, “You could do with some fresh air… and I could do with moral support.”

Bruno’s steps paused. “Normally, I wouldn’t question this but…what are you going to do?”

Mirabel stopped, head tilting towards him. “Probably, somewhere between the lines of feeling up Casita in means of healing up their damage and… possibly borrowing the candle. I don’t know yet, so…” she trailed off with a shrug.

Bruno blink for a moment. “Okay… let’s agree here that you never use the phrase ‘feel up’ casita, I don’t think you quite know what that means”

Mirabel rolled her eyes but carried on. “Well, unless you want to… take a peek ahead to give me pointers on what to start with, I am anywhere on that spectrum.”

His lips pursed discontent before his head craned towards the direction of his door. “Can’t you… like, start with the family? I mean, there’s a lot of familia conflict of interests…I’m sure they can help more than me”

Mirabel stopped. Conflict of interests. That she was well aware of but it certainly sparked a realization….

“Oh!” She turned to face him suddenly, startling him back into a plant pot, her glow bouncing off his face as he straightened up against the railing in alarm. “Conflicts.”

She was a centerpiece of conflict.

Mirabel knew that without much thought; always getting in the way, trying to help when being told to get thing aside. They both shared the same view of being considered different but… there was only one person that seemed to shine that weight onto them; someone who’d always have the power to retain it, too much respect for anyone to go against it.

“Abuela is the heart of this issue.” She whispered because even the idea of confronting her Abuela was daunting. Abuela probably didn’t even realize it…or think of it. No wonder she saw her as the perpetrator; she was a reflection.

She could try and fix Casita. She could try and mend bridges with her sisters… but that could never be enough if her Abuela didn’t walk a new path, to loosen the reins.

“Tio Bruno… I need you to have another vision.” She whispered, turning to face him with a pleading look. “I… If Abuela is a cause, I need to know how to fix this without triggering events we’re trying to avoid. Where and who to start..”

Bruno shook his head. “I can’… well I could but I doubt it hasn’t changed; I can feel it hadn’t changed.”

“I haven’t seen it, maybe another set of eye might be beneficial.” She begged, “Please, I know it’s not Abuela’s fault but… I can’t have our family to suffocate here. Not like we have.”

Chapter Text

“This isn’t going to work.”

Mirabel’s head turned to her left as they looked up the steps of his tower which looked… like it was in far worse condition from the last twelve hours since she had been there. Sand covered a good portion from the door-side of the wall and steps, not to mention, the steps looked to be degrading.

“Because we can’t get up there?”

Tio Bruno leant down, picking up a handful of sand, letting it run through his fingers. “If I attempt a vision here, I can’t fine-tune it with the amount of sand here. Too much.”

“Too much sand? You had a sandpit.” Mirabel pointed out.

Bruno dropped his hand and began to brush it free of grains.

“My room helped me focus. It’s sandstone and designed to channel my gift. Outside my room, I need to find a balance between usage and channelling otherwise my visions are unpredictable… and it does hurt when it’s unpredictable. I need a bid open space and the right amount of sand.”

Mirabel’s shoulder’s deflated but a new sound made them both jump to see her youngest cousin behind them in the doorway, dressed in his PJs and with a rat in his hand and a bird on his shoulder.

His eyes flickering between them both. “Why don’t you use my room?”

“Antonio, you should be asleep.” Mirabel padded over to him. “We’re fine.”

Antonio’s eyebrow rose. “You’ve been missing for five hours. Tio Bruno for ten years. The rats told me everything.”

Mirabel spared a glance to her Tio before back to him, “everything?”

Antonio nodded brightly, “You have a gift!” he practically giggled, eyes lit with excitement “and they don’t—I don’t…well what is it?”

Mirabel paused. She hadn’t quite thought of it aside from…what she had felt and she hadn’t channelled into more of what her gift-knowing vision had relinquished to her in their merge.

“I think… It’s to do with spiritual connection… So far, I can see how people channel their gifts and... I think there’s empathy as well.” She spoke, “It’s…harder to describe in comparison to yours. It’s…complicated.”

“Cool,” he hurried closer, “Can you see how my gift is channelled?”

Mirabel smiled softly, holding out a hand that was taken immediately. Her eyes resumed a yellow glow that had Antonio’s wide with amazement. Threads of gold, much brighter than the family’s laced primarily from his ears on his skin and threads seemed to also appear from his lips and his throat, here his voice box was which… to Mirabel made sense; he spoke to the animals, they had to understand his words as well.

Bruno’s head cocked curiously but shifted around anxiously, picking up more sand and muttering softly.

“What do you see?!” Antonio bobbed up and down.

“Here,” she dropped her hands to flick his ears, “and here,” gesturing to his mouth, “that’s where your gift is channelled.”

Antonio smile never lifted before his expression fell, “wait if you have a gift, why did your door go?”

Mirabel sighed out, “I wasn’t ready for it.” In all honesty, she could feel the gap of a door in the wall, casita’s flow of every shifted so slightly to where it used to be; she hadn’t considered going to check and right now, she didn’t want to. They had other worries first and this wasn’t about her.

“Let’s go to your room.” She directed.

It made her smile to see the small forest tucked behind Antonio’s door, the energy inside the room was different; like she was stepping out of Casita’s light but yet, there was a whole new buzz to it. Bruno had revived a bucket of sand, looking like he was debating on where to start.

Antonio pulled her along excitedly. “What else can you do? Like, it is all just…in your head? Can you like… jump out your body? Or… or move things with your mind!” he babbled.

Mirabel just laughed softly, “I don’t know…haven’t tried and… well I’m not sure that last one is covered under my range. There’s a lot to do with the spirit, not as physical...”

Antonio paused and thought for a second, “Well… if your spirit powers are epic and you jumped out your body and picked up an object, how is that not moving something with your mind.”

Mirabel opened her mouth—

“The kid has a point,” Bruno called out.

“You’re not helping.”

“Do you want this vision or not?”

Mirabel rolled her eyes softly. “Right now, I can see and heal things, spiritually speaking.”

Antonio moved forwards and pulled her into a hug. “well, either way, you’re amazing.” He whispered, though yawned out, “I’m going to get into Dolores’s bed.”

Mirabel chuckled but they all knew that Dolores was listening and… was in the know. The last thing any of them wanted was for Antonio to sneak into Tia Pepa’s room without warning and be scarred for life or thundered on by a stray cloud both had been a personal experience in her younger years, even if the first time she didn’t understand what the married couple were doing.

Antoni gave a wave as he padded out, instructing his animals to stay inside as Dolores had long since set a rule about pets in her room and distaste of fur and feather alike from the looks of it.

Mirabel watched until the door closed and turned to see her Tio prepping the area, moving toys and nudging a few animals, except one that refused before picking up his bucket.

“Ready?”

Bruno looked at her with a raised eyebrow, though quickly continued with pouring the sand into a large circle around them. “Please don’t rush me, it’s too early in the morning.”

Mirabel shrugged, “I’m just eager.”

Bruno just snorted dryly as he finished and dropped the bucket off to the side before seating himself down with a huff, running his hands over his face before piling up some sand in front with dried up leaves.

Mirabel was seated in front. “What shall I do to help?”

Bruno inhaled deeply, cracking his knuckles. From his maroon shirt under the green ruana, he pulled out a handful of white grains then…tossed it over his shoulder before pulling out a match, lighting the leaves up before holding his hands out towards her.

Mirabel lent forwards, taking them though as he opened his eyes again, there was a greenish glow to them now and the sand seemed to erupt around her, her eye-widening in amazement as it formed a dome around them. Green tints begin to flow in the sand, pulling together in the chaos forming momently images before pulling apart.

“Sorry, it’ll take a moment,” Bruno grunted, “been a long time and I’m usually asleep at this time.”

It took a moment before finally, Mirabel could see the images. Flickers of Casita, cracks running through it but again, in the courtyard there was her, hands pressing against the cracks with a golden light, the cracks receding but it seemed almost to reverse as cracks appeared again.

“It’s just the same…I have to stop.”

“No, I need to see how it goes!” Mirabel called, her hand pulling on his to keep him going, his face crumpled, “Please, I need to see this through, there has to be more.”

“You’re seeing what I did ten years ago.”

Mirabel shook her head, “time has changed.” His visions were before her new gift and there had to be more they were missing. Her eyes scoured through the forming images in the dome. Her eye-catching something.

“Look!”

Bruno’s had turned, “What is that?”

The image seemed to be her, this time in the forest, knelt down with her hood up. The threads lit across her skin but all around her were the trees, bent back by some force but her face expression was distraught but in its background, Casita stood tall despite its cracks. Then it shifted again to inside. Mirabel standing with the candle in both hands with closed eyes… behind her stood another figure…

“What? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s out of order.”

“Who is that behind me?

Her own figure seemed to be less in focus as the sandy was panned in and began to get more detailed…. Her heart thumped faster and faster until….

“Isabel?!” Her mouth dropped but as did the sand, leaving her practically inhaling t, spitting the grains from her lips in fury.

Bruno’ brushed the sand away, using the jade tablet to help before he flipped it around. “Oh, your sister…” He didn’t seem at all bothered, “That’s great… though, it doesn’t tell us much in the way of dealing with Abuela.”

Mirabel glowered as he flipped the image around to face her but she almost couldn’t believe that…Isabela of all people was relevant here. She couldn’t be an answer here.

Bruno’s face fell as he saw her expression. “Every time…”

Mirabel pulled the tablet from his hands before he could toss it, tilting it around but as subtle as it was, she could see the Casita walls in the background come and go with cracks.

Mirabel inhaled deeply, shaking her head. “Why?!” She almost wanted to throw it in a huff but withheld the last second. Nope. Antonio’s room. The last thing he needed to step on was broken glass… not something she wanted Tia Pepa to see.

Her fingers flexed on its cool surface but she gasped as she felt a welt of heat rush through her veins, crackling at her fingertips that washed out. Her hands let go but to her surprise, she felt the warmth spread out as the tablet fell but suddenly, it stopped as if suspended by a wire.

Mirabel gaped, Tio Bruno’s eyes widened but he reached forwards, plucking the tablet out of the air before he reached for her hand.

“Take a breath.” He said intently, “now, whatever are you feeling, can you pull it back safely?”

Mirabel blinked, her hands seemed to have many more threads on the inside of her palms, bright with light with power. There was a thrill to it but she could feel there was destruction to it as well… She swallowed, closing her eyes and concentrated on the warmth, feeling the warmth before she tried to pull it back but it seemed to heat more intently on the inside.

Mirabel sniffed softly, “I…. this shouldn’t be part of this.”

Bruno’s hands came to her shoulders, “The spirit is a powerful thing. Whatever it is, it’s more than just connection, perhaps…a form of manipulation of it. You, your spirit and soul...you’ve always been a light.”

Mirabel’s eyes turned to him, “a light, yes, but not a fire ready to burn.” Was this growth the reason? Was her…anger something she had to control to keep her from doing damage? No wonder the magic kept this from her when she was a child. Now she could hold a piece of glass in the air and connect with casita, then what was she fully capable of?

Bruno’s fingers tightened on her shoulder, pulling her away from her thoughts.

“Whatever your gift is, do not fear it.” Bruno begged, “I know… I know people will, but I don’t and… I’ll be here for you. Your familia will if you let them in too.”

Mirabel swallowed thickly, pulling him into a hug, burying her face into his chest, ignoring how her frames dug into her flesh.

“I don’t want to hurt them.”

Chapter Text

Bruno’s snores echoed in his chair, the new vision had more or less knocked him out as soon as he got seated. Mirabel though departed for her Nursery room with her jade tablet, feeling much more calmer.

By necessity, Mirabel could feel the warmth of energy in her veins that she knew was related to the… telekinesis part of her abilities but she could feel ebbs of exhaustion in her mind now, far more than earlier so she tucked the tablet under her pillow and stripped down into her nightclothes, and was out like the dead before she had fully settled.

All around her dust seemed to settle in the air, her lungs irritated as she scrambled for breath amongst the debris, her eyes stinging and a coldness seemed to seep into her veins.  It was hard to make out until the dust began to settle, into her hair, into her clothes… before Mirabel’s eyes focused to the familiar walls… the remains of casita that lay bare as the candle in her hand diminished

Her eyes rose, her throat tightening as she notice different shapes among the rubble, dropping the dead wax to the floor as her heart thundered in her chest.

“Mama?” her voice called out.

There was no sound. No movement, aside from distant calls from the town. No clouds in the sky or shifts or sounds.

“Papi? Abuela? Tia Pepa? Tio Felix?” Her voice called roughly, coughing again.

Then she stepped onto something soft- - l ooking down before she screamed; little Antonio lay face up with his door pinning him to the floor, dust layered upon his skin as a fine powder, tinted red…

Mirabel gasped sharply, almost falling from the bed.

“Mira, you’re alright?”

Mirabel blinked sharply, feeling hands grip her shoulders to stabilize her. Her eyes widened but couldn’t help relax to see it was her mother.

“Mami.”

“I’m glad to see you, I was so worried!” she pulled her into a hug.

Mirabel wanted to groan as the soft onslaught that came with contact, feeling the flurry of relief and lingering concern that was almost overwhelming, she could feel her flicker colour against her eyelids but fought it back quickly before her mother lent back.

“Come on, let’s set the table.”

Mirabel could feel her mother’s eyes on her, watching her as she set the table, getting the food prepped before Mirabel began to familiar wake-ups. Antonio rushed swiftly from Dolores’s room to his own to get changed before Tia Pepa and Tio Felix noticed. Mirabel slipped away with an armload of leftovers and had passed them to Dolores when she appeared, pursing her lips towards the painting for their Tio. He needed more than nibbles.

Dolores’s hand took the plate though she didn’t miss the lingering look on her face. Mirabel didn’t hold her look before she began gathering up the rest of the breakfast.

Tia Pepa looked mildly stressed as she seated down, the little storm cloud still over her head but was not drizzling as Tio Felix kept his arm around her, Camilo wasn’t at all bothered as he had his usual pile of food and she smiled softly at her Papa as he came, his pathway going straight to her, pulling her bowl from her hands.

“Abuela’s not in the best of moods this morning.” He whispered, nodding her to the far seat at the table. Mirabel nodded, taking the further place possible. She could feel it was best to be out of the firing range as possible. “How’s your hand?” He whispered.

Mirabel shrugged, “back to normal.” She flashed her palm as she reached for her drinks. His concern didn’t leave his face. “Later.”

Her eyes turned to see Isabela sitting down with high tension and her notes tilted up, looking anywhere but her way.

Mirabel sighed out, this was going to be a long meal. Everyone, including Abuela and Antonio, settle down though Mirabel leaned out of immediate sight as her eyes washed over the table.

Though she nudged her papa when she noticed the empty chair.

“Where’s Luisa?”

“She’s taking the day off.”

Mirabel nodded. Her gift, of course. “How is she?”

“Crying like a baby,” Isabel said bitterly, “no thanks to you.”

Mirabel’s eyes narrowed at her older sister with a familiar rush of annoyance. “Right… and please, tell me what I did in detail to affect her gift that was magically given when she was five and I was a newborn baby.” She remarked back snarky. “You did notice my lack of a door, right?”

The low talk at the table did stop before Mirabel felt the gazes move down though she just stabbed at her foo nonchalantly.

“Not now, Mirabel,” Papa whispered softly.

Mirabel shrugged, not overly concerned in regards to her sister.

Mirabel though did find herself filling her plate a lot more now, feeling suddenly ravenous after the first bite that seemed to push away the tiredness she had been having.

“Mirabel.” The voice of Abuela made her jump as she reached for her fifth Arepas de queso.

Mirabel pulled her hand back, feeling somewhat like a cat with the little prize in her hand as she stared at her Abuela.

Abuela’s gaze remained hard, swimming with discontent but there was a clear sense of disapproval. Mirabel could feel the strings of guilt, remnants that she had taken from Bruno slither awake, her own but… she felt different how she would have acted under her own name from her Abuela.

“Yes?”

“Where did you go last night? I had the famila look for you.”

Mirabel shrugged, “No one checks the roofs.” She reasoned, if she mentioned crawlspace then Bruno might wound up losing good escape options…or found out before he was ready for i.

“What?!” Julieta responded with first. “You could have hurt yourself, you could have slipped!”

Mirabel kicked Dolores under the table as her mouth opened, feeling a wash of warmth in her veins but she didn’t hesitate to direct to Dolores’s but to her surprise Dolores’s chair was yanked back by Casita, the woman’s plate that held more fruit suddenly exploded and everyone flinched. Mirabel withdrew, her face paling in fear as Tia Pepa’s clouds thundering, jumping from her chair to Dolores who was on the floor, the sudden movement knocking her from her chair, her mother following suit.

“Dolores!”

“I’m fine, Mami.” Dolores hissed, “Casita caught me.”

But that didn’t erase the looks of astonishment of a very sudden turn of events.

Mirabel didn’t look away though she knew at least her face showed the same shock as everyone else but she felt fear… that could have easily been her head. She could have hurt Dolores.

Her hands clenched together under the table, nails biting into her flesh. Tio Bruno had told her not to fear her gift. Hi gift was not a physical threat to people now, was it.

Tia Pepa fussed over Dolores, brushing away remnants of food before leading her away, a snow cloud trailing after them.

A silence hung over the table before Camilo began eating but no one quite knew what to do.

“Excuse me, Abuela.” Isabela rose to her feet, “I need to change.”

Isabela waited for a nod from Abuela before she hurried off.

Mirabel inhaled deeply, pushing her plate away, and wiped her glasses before her father’s hand guided her up and away, others excusing themselves, mostly leaving Abuela and Camilo at the table still.

“What happened?” Agustin asked, shutting the nursery door after him.

Mirabel slumped to her bed, leaning forwards onto her elbows, her tongue-tied as her mind scrambled on what to say.

He moved, sitting down beside her. “Mira, you’re my daughter and I love you.” He started, “I know I don’t know what you’re going through exactly but… I am on your side. Not Abuela's side. No matter what.”

Mirabel bit her lip softly, her eyes welling up as a thickness tightened in her throat.

His hand came to her back, rubbing her back in soothing circles.

But she couldn’t find it in her to say. Even as golden threads washed over hands as she felt Casita’s movements before it faded out. She flinched as she heard the sound of cracking a rumble echoed as Casita tried to compensate with the weight shifts in the weakening foundation. Casita wasn’t comfortable, but they couldn’t feel pain. Not like humans.

“Do you really think Mirabel is responsible?”

The voice carried through the door distant and from a few doors down, Abuela’s and Tia Pepa’s she recognized swiftly but as her papa shifted, she stopped him with a grasp to his arm.

“Dolores tenses up the moment I asked about her. Refused to say anything and… I know how this sounds but… Dolores was scared.”

“That should be the answer. Keep Antonio and Camlio away from her. Luisa’s safe in her room for now.” Abuela spoke firmly, “Until we know what’s going on with the magic and with her, we have to protect ourselves and the family from her.”

Chapter Text

Mirabel breathed quietly as she stayed on her bed, though she tried her best to think of something other than what she had heard from her Tia and Abuela. It frustrated her to no end that they immediately, or at least Abuela jumped on her…that she was the culprit.

Well, it was true but that didn’t mean there was an ounce of logic to it given they had no idea she even had a gift. Her father knew, Dolores suspected and now no doubt now confirmed it, Tio Bruno knew…Antonio knew. How could she forget him?

She knew today, at breakfast was a close call. Too close.

Mirabel opened her eyes, raising her hands up, idly watching the threads resurface, the warmth that spread through and she could feel… the aura she was projecting. Her vision-self had done the same thing; projecting the sense of warmth…and unconditional love that was just…something she so desired. Has she been looking at the reflection of her own feelings?

Mirabel loved her family, even with what they had done to her. Optimism had been her forte.

She was just…tired.

Hoping for a change. Now it had happened… how the others would take her, how Abuela would see her? She wasn’t sure how she’ll be accepted.

Bruno had said Familia conflicts of interests, Mirabel remembered. Abuela and her at the centre. How to touch that nest without things crumbling down?

Mirabel slung her feet over the edge of the bed and got up, withdrawing the warmth from the air back into herself, the threads disappearing as she reached for the handle.

The balcony and courtyard were empty to her relief so she stepped out. Her eyes turned towards the top, where the candle was resting. Her eyes turned yellow as she pushed herself to see more. While there had been particles seen through the naked eye when close, it was surprising to see almost the shower of glitter that was released but some seemed to fade before touching casita’s floor, while the rest spread upon contact.

Mirabel reached a handout, watching as they landed on her skin like snowflakes and spread. Interesting. She blinked back to normal vision, before scanning around the doors before her eye landed on her sister’s door.

Isabela.

Her nose wrinkled.

But Tio Bruno’s vision pulled her attention that… she was going to wind up talking to her. Sooner or later. Why did it have to be Isabela? Why not Luisa? She was far less judgemental and annoying. Should she just wing it?

Mirabel glanced around before making her way over to her door. Either this would help, or it wouldn’t. Her knuckle wrapped along the wooden surface before she pushed through regardless if Isabela answered or not.

“Isabela?” She called out.

There was no answer. Her eyes look in the vast amount of rose that seemed to cover the almost entity of the floor, small bushes, delicate figures of Isabela that gave Mirabel the sense of narcissism. So much pink and so much of the same…smell.

No diversity of plant life. Not that Mirabel overly cared.

A whole room filled with pink roses were so…boring. No wonder Isabel wasn’t here.

Her nose wrinkled as she stepped further in, with some ire to simply tread down the plants in her way than the small pathway. Isabela’s bed was down, her dresser was clear and her wardrobe was a little open, exposing the same dresses and style.

Mirabel found herself disliking it much more. Everything was…bland and specific. Pretty and pink. Did Isabel try to change her dress styles?

Mirabel’s musing didn’t last for long before the door opened behind her, stiffening up as she heard Isabel gasp in surprise

“Get out!” Isabel demanded the second she had composer.

Mirabel side-skipped a sudden flow of energy that washed from Isabela out through the flowers, ticking her senses to feel the plants move and transform from rose to vines.

She could feel the much harsher warmth that batted the vines away with a flick of her finger, the door shutting sharply behind them but Isabela was too furious to notice, forming forwards before Mirabel turned to face her, very aware of her eyes shift and the threads surfacing.

“No.”

Isabela stopped short before her anger defused a little to wariness as she noticed, her brown eyes raking over her skin. “What happened to you?”

Mirabel shrugged, looking to her hand before tracing very the back thread and shrugged. “Late bloomer?”

Isabela’s eyes narrowed, vines once again surfaced but now she noticed as she waved them off again.

“¿qué demonios?” Isabela breathed, he wariness becoming alarmed before she stepped back.

Mirabel stepped back, not wanting to frighten Isabela, as much as she wanted to. She had come to help. Not make things worse.

This time, she used her own trick, letting the warm rush change to a captivating aura. Isabela blinked and her shoulders relaxed but didn’t move forwards.

“I..” Mirabel started, not quite sure what to say. “Look, I don’t…want to make things difficult, Isabela.”

“Difficult?! You ruined my engagement!” Isabella scoffed out, her anger returning but dampened as she moved forwards, “and because of that, Mariano’s nose is broken.”

“Mama’s food remedied that.”

Isabela just made an annoyed sound, brushing past her though almost faltered as they made contact. Isabel just sucked in a breath softly, shaking her head.

“Why couldn’t you have just stayed away?!” Isabel continued her tone dropping. “Abuela was happy, the family was happy! Things were going perfectly until you got involved”

Mirabel rolled her eyes. “Why does blaming me for family issues out of my control make you feel you have justification to try villainize me?” She echoed, folding her arms behind her back. She could feel her own frustrations grow, withering away the aura she had going. “You can still marry him! It’s not like there’s a time frame here unless you’re that eager to put a ring on your finger!”

“I didn’t want to get a ring on my finger!” Isabela snapped before she could stop herself, her hands clenching, “I didn’t want to marry him. I was doing it for the family!” she seethed, an unfamiliar wash of energy shot to the nearby plants and suddenly, a small cactus popped out of the ground between them.

Mirabel blinked in surprise.

Isabela just stared.

Her gaze shifted to see the golden threads pulsing with magic all over Isabela’s skin,  tightly interlocked around her hands and arms but here was a clear response with emotion to her plants but even she could see this was…unexpected.

Interesting.

Her annoyance fizzled away as she watched Isabela’s focus change completely from her to her new plant.

Isabel reached forwards, touching its spikes before it grew and changed shape, making her laugh out and plucked it free for close inspection. Mirabel stared because… it had been a while since she had seen this look on her face.

Was this good?

Mirabel hoped so. Felt like she was getting somewhere.

Isabela knelt down before she waved her hand, new plants seemed to spring up all around them, the roses withering away though the more she made, the less bothered Isabela was. Mirabel smiled, letting her get distracted before she took the moment to leave, this time, not bothering to hide her gifted appearance anymore because… she felt much more from Isabela.

She had shed something, a weight… she needed to let her figure it out.

Closing the door quietly, Mirabel sighed out, her eyes drifting back to the candle before she decided to go for it. Her hand touched along Casita's wall, quietly asking for a way up and soon, her teal boots echoed along the tiles. Her hand reached for the candle, plucking it from its place of pride. Though she felt the warmth of magic radiate from it, seeping around her to its usual pathways to the family, to casita….

Though she felt… a deep sense of morning and grief that seemed to wrap around her heart as he held it; tied into its magic. Familiar, almost.

Her feet trailed from the roof, Casita making steps as she idly and casually stepped off the edge.

She barely heard the gasp of Isabella, who had somehow covered herself in multi colours of pollen writhing the five minutes of leaving her unsupervised.

Mirabel didn’t quite know what she was doing, but she could feel more power in her veins with the candle than she had before. A…sense of control.

She could feel much more. Castia’s cracks and fragile state was… so close to breaking. The last straw destined to break it. Casita was a symbol of their family, in a way. Crumbling. Right now, she was the band-aid

She just needed to show the damage and fix it. maybe then…. Abuela would loosen up.

Isabela reached forwards but Mirabel waved her off as she reached the centre courtyard, kneeling down before she placed the candle in its centre. Letting go to press her palms onto the tiles.

“Mira?” Luisa’s voice echoed but she didn’t listen as she pushed through, her golden threads brightening and from her hands, the light of the magical cracks shone over the smooth surfaces, spreading out and down. Echoing over the visible cracks.

“Mirabel?” Tia Pepa’s voice called in alarm.

Mirabel’s head rose, electing a sharp sound, the whites of her eyes turned black as the yellow settled fully but she just...smiled, letting out the wave of warmth engulf those in the area; to calm them from their concerns. She was fine.

She was fixing the miracle.

Until.

“Mirabel!”

Abuela.

Chapter Text

Since getting her gift in full swung, reacting to things was now something Mirabel felt very differently. She had pretty much Isabela to her own devices without much more input; would she have stayed and spurred her on if she was Giftless?

Probably.

Here, it was a very different energy. Isabela was not Abuela.

She could feel her rage and underlying fear for the candle without having to turn, her golden threads vanishing beneath the skin in a heartbeat before she rolled herself back to her knees, remaining there as she turned her gaze ahead. Casita shifted the tiles around her into a circular motion, turning her little circle clockwise to see Abuela, keeping the candle between them.

“Hola,” Mirabel spoke, fairly bluntly.

Abuela swelled with rage, her cheeks flushing and her breath quickened. Mirabel had never seen her this mad before.

She couldn’t bring herself to care.

Not now. Not with the weight of the situation that hung above their heads, the throbbing and unstable vibrations of the magic that seemed to be responding to Abuela, her little patching of the cracks straining if a little but she pushed the energy down, to keep the lock through the contact her knees had with the floor.

“How… How dare you!” Abuela seethed, “How dare you remove the candle from my room.”

Mirabel’s eyes stared as her for a moment, brushing aside the woman’s anger that seemed to radiate out. Normally, Mirabel would have bowed her head in shame, cave to her immediately. Mirabel felt nothing. It felt like she was watching a distant child having a tantrum while walking down the street. Mirabel knew part of this was her gift, minimising emotional exposure with the taxing work she was doing with repairing the damage; she could feel it just not yet. Delayed response, maybe.

“I’m saving the miracle.” Her statement sounded so calm and innocent in comparison. “It’ll be fine if—“

“You do not have the right to take it!” Abuela interrupted, “The candle may not have given you a gift but that doesn’t mean you can just take it out of spite to hurt this family”

Cracks along the visible walls echoed though Mirabel allowed her gaze to drop, shifting from Abuela to see her parents drift in, her papa’s concern only deepening but he seemed to grasp her hand, keeping Julieta back from interfering. Isabela seemed to flutter away from behind her to them.

The movement of oranges indicated Tia Pepa and Tio Felix had moved down the steps.

“Is that truly how low you think of me?” Mirabel asked, her throat tightening. The strain to keep the pieces together was growing but directing her energy to her knees than risk hurting Abuela; she didn’t want to; not in that way. “I didn’t have a choice. No one here has a choice in this.”

She rose to her feet, her warmth in the air draining away and leaving a startling coolness in her veins.

“I’ve tried…for years trying to help, to be a good nieta…how could I live up to the standards you set Isabela when even she’s struggling to hold herself to your expectations… The miracle is the family, Abuela. The candle is a symbol of that. Symbol break under pressure. The magic isn’t breaking, it’s familia connections that are.”

“The cracks started with you. Bruno left because of you.” Abuela argued, not one to back down but Mirabel felt her eyes flicker at the accusation in her voice. “I’ve been protecting this blessing far longer than you have been alive, you are in no position to tell me how it works.”

All around hers she could feel the tension were so thin… one more and it’d shatter. It was overwhelming to feel, casita’s energy rippling within their foundations.

“Mirabel,” Julieta called, but Mirabel shook her head at her mother.

“Fine.” She inhaled deeply, trying to chase back the feelings but the band-aid she had placed was gone now. Casita was on their one. She could feel the build-up in her chest, feeling the warmth in her veins with each beat of her heart that the warmth elasticating into a ball, struggling with a constant turmoil that threatened to spill out.

She had to leave.

It had been the same heat that she had almost hurt Dolores with.

Her hands clenched, closing her eyes but she allowed the threads to show this time, than hiding from her Abuela. Her steps guided her first, leaving the candle, it only took a wave of her hand to push Abuela from her path.

She didn’t spare a look to anyone as she stormed towards the doors, nor hear their calls.

“Casita, keep her in.”

The doors locked but Dolores pulled Camilo away from their spot by the door but she didn’t let this stop her in her approach; the door, it’s frame and part of the wall was promptly ejected from its place and skidded down the road, drawing sharp gasps from everyone behind her and those ahead who missed the piece of flying entry-way.

She took an abrupt turn and picked up the pace, breaking into a run towards the forest, away from people. She needed a catharsis. Behind her, she could hear her papa shout…her mother, feeling their distant pursuit behind her. Thunder clapping as well as the pitter-patter of rainfall tarting but she breezed through the treeline, the golden threads barely hiding her as she went so she didn’t stop.

Her heart thundered in in her chest, the warmth growing, engulfing her lungs.

Bushes and thorns scraped at her skin, spreading the threads a little more but the warmth grew as well as the light, from warm to hot… it began to burn..

Her lungs heaved and she could feel herself come to a slow to a riverside, sopping her further but the voices behind her called still, distant and far—how long had she been running more?

Mirabel didn’t know.

Each breath spread heat throughout her body, the coil and pressure were too much it was suffocating. Unable to hold back, venting in one way she knew;

Mirabel screamed

The sudden the release of energy was overwhelmingly explosive with light with a pulsing force; not seeing the trees in the immediate vicinity were pushed back and uprooted, the ones too close disappearing a heartbeat and the river she had been wading across seemed to vaporize, water droplets of rain hanging in the air in that single moment and for a second, it felt good; no longer holding in the unfamiliar reins, the release of this grief, letting go of Bruno’s lingering feelings of guilt and loneliness…

Then reality hit with an exhausting stroke as her knees struck the scorched river bed,  spent within a matter of moments; too much… too soon.

Her limbs felt heavy and her head felt like a weight. Her head spun with exhaustion that seemed to sap away her energy. Barely aware of upstream water began Its pathway back down its a natural route. The coldness of the water drew her back but she couldn’t move, her hands lying limply on her thighs as she sucked in sharp breaths, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Mirabel?!” Behind her, she heard the voice of one person she wanted to hear.

“Tio…” her voice croaked, hazy as she turned, Tio Bruno not hesitating to step into the building water in his sandals and clothes but he pulled her into a hug.

“You’re okay, Mirabel, you’re okay.” He spoke, “just breathe.”

“I…” Mirabel lent into his body, practically slumping at this point, barely aware that her skin had paled, or the golden threads were dark now, practically black. “I’m so tired.”

She could feel Bruno’s heart hammer but she felt distant no, despite their contact. Two days, she was worn thin…

“come on… we need to get you back… Julieta… you need her food.”

“Healing food won’t fix the soul,” Mirabel mumbled, her eyes fluttering shut. “This isn’t her fix…”

“Come on..” She felt him move, his grip changing around her to tug and pull. “Please, Sobrina.”

“Stars burn out…tio…candles burn away…” Mirabel mumbled, “Abuela needs to see that… I…didn’t want to bring casita down”

Mirabel’s body loosened up, the remaining gold flittering away as she succumbed to the darkness, even for a little bit. Her chest rising and falling a little, falling limp in her Tio Bruno’s arms, not hearing his call for help for her…

Chapter Text

Mirabel was not a heavy girl. Carrying her first had been fine, but Bruno did not have the build or the endurance of an average man in his isolation; workouts, even before his hiding had not been his priority. Enduring his sobrina’s weight, trying to tug her back to casita was a whole new issue Bruno found himself struggling with.

Fear of her wellbeing was one of the only things pushing him to get going, despite his aching muscles and tired legs that wanted him to pause and wait. He didn’t listen, he’d rather pass out of exhaustion at casitas door than being found by his mother or Julieta just ‘catching his breath’.

He needed to do this for her.

Bushes and twigs scrapped at his feet—why did he always wear sandals?–and he found himself tugging Mirabel from under her arms and dragging her feet to get faster than before. He couldn’t quite see now, which made it harder but progression was better than stationary.

Bruno called out, when he through he heard some voices calling but then it was gone. So he pressed on. Lights gradually came into view, his legs trembled and fingers found gripping the dark jacket she wore very difficult.

“Mirabel?!”

His head shot up, the voice closer and sounded very familiar.

“Here!” He roared back, voice breaking into a cough; he had never needed to raise his voice before in the last decade, he wasn’t used to it. “Over here!”

There was a flurry of feet and snapping twigs before he hear a sharp gasp.

Pepa.

His head turned but he almost lost his grip entirely as he saw thin, golden lines that Mira had shown him now adorning on her skin, lit down from her temples and down and adored her fingertips. Now that he had seen it, his gaze dropped to see his hands also now showing the threads. He hadn't noticed. When did they show up to be seen now?

Why was Mirabel doing this in her current state? Unless it wasn’t intentional. Lingering effect?

Bruno didn’t think much about it.

Pepa looked like she had seen a ghost; her jaw handing, eyes like saucers, and with the cloud over her head, it was clear he was the last person she was expecting, which… was not an incorrect train of thought.

Her eyes seemed to move down as she realized who he was holding and if possible, she looked more horrified than shocked. She lunched forwards, her hand coming worriedly to their Sobrina but there was no reaction as she tugged her from his arm, and together, they carried her back.

“Where did you find her?”

“River, at least, what’s left of it.” Bruno replied, “Overexerted herself.”

Pepa huffed but he could feel the tsunami of questions behind her eyes.

“She’s cold.”

“Julieta should be able to fix that.” He desperately hoped. “Look, Pepa. I am… I am sorry.”

Pepa blinked almost stopping. “Why?”

“Your wedding—“

“Not now, Bruno.” Her clouds thundered dangerously but he nodded, ducking his head. She was right. Now was not the time. Mirabel needed help. A proper reunion could wait.

Casita was the first to respond, catching and pulling the rest of the madrigal from their rooms or their own search for the second youngest family member.

Dolores kept Antonio way in his room.

Agustin was the first to pick up his daughter from their arms and carried her swiftly to the kitchen and onto the tabletop where Julieta immediately began to prep and fire orders of collection. Each of the gifted madrigal’s gift marking were on full display and while this was a muttering topic of those not able to help and were forced to sit back and watch.

Bruno hovered, knuckles itching to wrap on the wood, to chase away the bad luck plaguing his family, he didn’t. Bad luck had struck and Mirabel looked like she was some breath away from death.

Unlike before and unlike the family’s, her once golden threads that lined her skin were almost inky black entirely and have a haunting contrast to her pale skin. It was like the warms and closure were drained away.

Julieta had Luisa sit her up, pouring the content of a bottle into her mouth, her breath-holding but nothing changed; Mirabel remained limp and pale as before. Julieta let out a shaky breath but turned swiftly to get back to it, to find or make another baked good to heal her daughter.

Bruno knew it wouldn’t work.

Mirabel was right. A gift powered by the soul couldn’t be fixed by food meant for the body.

Bruno turned away, sinking away from the crowd; they didn’t need another set of eyes or an audience.

Casita looked a mess outside the kitchen. The courtyard was cracked, the walls looked like they there on the brink but the one thing he wanted to see was no longer where Mirabel had left it. His eyes rose to the familiar window.

The candle had been placed back, clearly.

Bruno didn’t understand why but seeing it there made him feel a hot rush of anger in his veins. Not enough to match up and get it of course but enough to… feel like his mother was doing everything in her power to undo Mirabel's work.

He looked to his hands. The glow did not waver and in all honestly, he could certainly see the fascination behind this mechanic. At the end of the day, all their gifts were powered through the magic, through the miracle. He hadn’t touched his gift in ears before recently and it was still powerful and raw as it was the first time.

“Bruno.”

His head turned, fingers tracing along with the treads on his hands. “Felix.” He nodded to his in-law. “Sorry for my sudden arrival.”

Felix shook his head, but Bruno blinked in surprise as he pulled him into a one-armed hug.

“She was pissed off for weeks after you were gone. Don’t disappear on her again, por pavor.” Felix spoke, “I don’t care what happened on the wedding and I don’t think she does.”

Bruno frowned “That’s not the…”

“She wanted to find a rational place for her anger at your disappearance. You know being angry at one thing is easier than grieving. Abuela didn’t want her to cause floods.”

There it was again. Abuela.

Anger caused lightning. Grief and pain were the water.

It didn’t surprise him, Mama had probably encouraged the anger than the grief. They had both enforced the “we do not talk about Bruno” he had so heard in conversation.

He couldn’t fault his sister. Felix knew her better than he did at this point.

“I’ve got a lot of burned bridges to mend.” Bruno realized.

Julieta felt her hand shaking as the third broken down Arepa did nothing as she tried to get her daughter to eat. Nothing was working. She had to keep going, she had to find something…

“Mama,” Luisa held her hand, stopping her from giving her bite-worthy piece.

Julieta’s eyes sharply to her middle child.

“It’s not working.” Luisa swallowed thickly, “I don’t think it ever will.”

“I have to keep trying.”

Her daughter's grip tightened if a little that flared her temper immediately.

“Luisa…”

Luisa let go but moved to pick up her sister, struggling if a little; Julieta tried not to think how scarily the dark threading of Luisa was to Mirabel’s black against theirs; the flickering of gold that never showed in her youngest now; her husband had tried to explain what Mira had told him but she didn’t try to understand the whys.

She could only feel the coldness of her child that only seemed to promise death if she wasn’t healed.

Luisa moved, carrying her away but Julieta felt powerless to stop her, her heart aching. Her husband was at her side, pulling her away from the stove, pulling away from the apron, talking to her, and encoring to follow after to stay by their daughter’s side in private.

“Isabela?” She croaked, looking around.

A figure stepped around, covered in color and looking terrified and confused but Isabela ran forwards, enveloping her into a hug.

Julieta clung onto her.

“Is… is she okay?”

“No.”

“She’s dying, isn’t she?”

Julieta’s breath caught. She hadn’t wanted to consider that thought but now, it was a horrifying possibility. She couldn’t lose her. Not now that’d certainly shatter the family…the casita.

“I.. I should have stopped her from getting the candle…. I should have done more.” Isabela wept. “I.. The candle… she just wanted to fix the miracle… and It looked like it was working but Abuela…”

Julieta pulled back sharply. “What? What did she do?” She hadn’t been there to hear the start of it but… the fact was, maybe she needed to. What did her mother do?

“She… she didn’t notice what Mirabel was doing… she didn’t even notice her…her gift.” Isabel ranted, her words spilling out of her before she even realized what she was saying, “she threw the entire blame of our family’s difficulty onto her.”

Julieta’s eyes narrowed but this time, she felt angry. A rage she hadn’t felt since she had held a bully –that had been targeting Bruno—as Pepa punched him.

Where had her mother disappeared off to?

Chapter Text

Julieta was closely followed by her brother as they hurried through Casita. Casita had gone quiet now. Very little movement but Julieta didn’t read into as she quite abruptly opened the door of her mother’s room without knocking.

It was the first time in decades she had been that rude but she was too tense and worried to care; her daughter was in an unresponsive state; she had to find out why.

Abuela jumped, startled but Julieta spoke first before her mother could speak.

“Mirabel is unresponsive. My food isn’t working and almost all our gifts are on the brink is fading.” She stated, her hands rose to show the faded gold lines along her hand. “If I had to guess, she’s dying and you’re just up here?” She seethed. “Doing nothing. I would have thought you’d have tried, Mama. Mirabel’s your grandchild. You’ve always been too harsh and you know she only ever wanted to help and you pushed her down every time. Now, there’s a chance she’ll never get back up.”

“This is not about the Miracle or the house Mama.” Bruno stepped up next. “Is Mirabel’s life expendable for the safe of Papa’s sacrifice? I didn’t leave without a reason, but I came back and I’m willing to stay as long as the family remains whole. We’ve done our part, Mama. But now, you have to do yours.”

Julieta wanted to carry on, to vent more but Bruno more or less grabbed her arm and pulled her away which left her fuming even more.  “Let me go, Bruno.”

“No.”

Out of the both of them, she had more physical strength but he was surprisingly scrappy to pull her from Mama’s room and leave her to dwell on their words.

“Let me go! I wasn’t done.” Julieta wrenched her arm free as they got to her door as it flickered on and off, glaring at him intently so she didn’t notice

“Yes, you are, Julieta.” Bruno finished, “As mad and as pissed off as I am, your daughter’s life is tied into the magic which is also tied to the family. Breaking any more bonds could fracture what little ties the miracle has.”

Julieta froze up at the implication. “What?”

“We can’t do anything more, Juli. We’ve played our part with Mama, all we need to focus on is each other.”

Luisa sat on the floor beside Mirabel’s bed, idly fiddling with a spool of blue thread in her hands though she kept her little sister in her peripheral vision. She felt bad about taking Mirabel away from Mami but nothing was working to help wake her up. Mami’s food wouldn’t help her and she knew Mami would work herself up even more.

Luisa knew someone had to step in and she’d rather it be her than Papi. She could ask for forgiveness quicker. Mami needed Papa’s support than disagreements.

Papa himself was sitting on the bed, Mirabel’s feet on his lap though he seemed to be tracing the dark threads that lined down her sister’s foot with curiosity. Both of them paused and looked to the door at raised voices of Tio Bruno and Mami before she put the spool down and gently took one of Mirabel’s hands.

Her finger traced down the dark threads idly, “You know, Mirabel, when you wake up, we should…go find some nail polish.” She felt awkward speaking to Mirabel in her current state but.. it felt right. If anything, if Mirabel was dreaming then she could help influence; give her happier dreams. “Maybe drag Dolores and Isabela in.”

“And Antonio or Camilo, young boys are curious” Papi pointed out, “I personally look fabulous with some blue nail polish, not that it lasts long…” He added, looking down to his hands, where he had a minor chip to one of them.

Luisa smiled softly, glad their father was humouring her. “DO you think she can her us?”

Papa shrugged, “I hope so. I want her to know that we still love her and will be by her side no matter how long it takes for her to wake up.” He rubbed her foot affectionately.

A knock at the door interrupted before Isabela’s head poked in. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.”

Luisa said nothing though she finally got a good look to see Isabela’s new...look.

Certainly didn’t look Abuela approved but…Luisa found she kind of liked it, it was a good difference. Papi rose off the bed, gently navigating Mirabel’s feet back to the blankets.

“I need to find your mother now, Excuse me.” He touched their arms in passing with a kind smile, trying to mask his concern to his youngest but Luisa’s focus changed as the door closed after him.

Her eyes flickered to Isabela as she stood; not sure where to go.

“Why don’t you sit next to her?” Luisa got to her feet, “Maybe talk to her?”

Isabela looked remarkably unsettled at the idea as Luisa tugged her and otherwise wedged her older sister between Mirabel’s head and the bedside; slim enough to sit on the little bit of mattress without being too uncomfortable.

“I…I don’t know what to say to her.” Isabela admitted, “Like… I’ve never had a good conversation with her. Ever.”

“That’s not true.” Luisa pointed out, “Before and a good time after her ceremony you were very chatty. You did everything you could to cheer her up after her door vanished.”

Isabela’s shoulders sagged, her fingers trailing through her pollen laced hair nervously. “I wasn’t a good sister to her…. I shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t want me here.”

“If she doesn’t want you here, she can damn well wake up and tell you herself,” Luisa spoke firmly, though she took a heavy breath a second later, shaking her head. “Lo siento.. I’m just tired.”  She hated how weak she felt; her strength was nearly gone. She wasn’t used to this exhaustion.

Isabela nodded, though after a moment, she reached out hesitantly and touched through Mirabel's hair, though a flower crown seemed to spring through her curls, of green and white flowers, a few yellow underlining to match with Mirabel’s former golden threads.

“No roses?”

Isabela shook her head. “I… I can’t… It doesn’t feel right anymore. Pink…roses… I don’t think I can…be the woman Abuela wants me to be.”

Luisa’s brow pulled in at that, her heart thudding a little more in concern…but she knew that fear. She’d never be able to hold up Encanto, but she was scared of not trying. She’d let everyone down and Abuela’s disapproval was the pinnacle of her anxiety and stress.

“Then...don’t?” Luisa offered, “You’ve already shown your colours. You look…amazing, Hermana.”

Isabela glanced through her curtain of hair in surprise. “I do?”

“You always did, but this… you’re so happy.”

Isabela’s head cocked to the side, her brown eyes flickering down to Mirabel’s prone form. “I know I’ve been a very bad sister to you, Mirabel. I’m sorry. I want to make things better when you’re up...” She whispered. In her hands, she crafted up a loop of Lavender and camomile, setting it above her bed.

“Let’s go to your room?” Luisa had an idea.

“Why?”

“Sleepover?”

Isabela didn’t look convinced. “You know it’s a jungle now, right?”

“Doesn’t sound any worse than Antonio’s room.” At least for now, they didn’t have to worry about wildlife and animals.

Isabela frowned, though glanced to Mirabel. “Are you planning to bring Mirabel along?”

“Yes.”

“I… do you think that’s appropriate?”

“She’s asleep, we’ll be asleep…”

“She’s in a coma?”

“Mirabel’s certainly not awake.” Luisa reasoned.

Isabela gave her a strong look though after a moment, she snorted and shook her head. “I want us to have a sleepover when she’s able to agree to one, Luisa.”

Luisa sighed but decided not to argue. “Okay.”

Unknown to them, Luisa’s dark threads lightened a fraction as she headed from the small space, Isabela didn’t notice as she looked to Mirabel’s face, noting the soft flush returning to her cheeks before she reached down and picked up her hand, holding it into a soft grip.

“Thank you, Mirabel. I… I pushed you a lot but.. I think I was envious that...you didn’t get to have the same pressures as me. I am sorry I lashed out. You deserved better so… if you stay then let me try. Okay?”

Isabela closed her eyes, leaning her head back.

A slither of gold pumped briefly through Mirabel’s black threads from where their hands touched and for a second, Mirabel squeezed her hand back softly.