1. Partings

The magic was in danger.

The most important thing in their lives was starting to fail.

And, through the haze that came with seeing the future, Bruno saw one constant thing in the ever changing hemisphere. His youngest niece, Mirabel.

Mirabel, the reason he was looking into the future at all. The poor little girl who, in a family of magically gifted people, had been shunned by the miracle that had saved their lives. The only one in their family to not receive a gift. That small, small child, who, after waiting so patiently after her cousin's gift for months, had seen her door, the one that every single one of them had received, vanish in front of her.

The one who hadn't stopped crying since that had happened.

The one who would giggle at his silly antics.

The one who he saw so much of himself in.

And now he was seeing her, not the way she was now, but the way she would be. And she was being shunned, thrown out, an outcast among her own family. Expected to sit back and watch as everyone else was able to shine.

Dios mio wasn't that familiar.

The second the shifting vision touched his hands his mind started to formulate a plan.

He had to run away. He had to run far, far away, to keep his precious niece safe. Even if his Mamá let her stay the townsfolk would be absolutely convinced that she was dangerous. That was... if Mamá let her stay.

If Mirabel was allowed to stay then she would face the humiliation of being the only Madrigal without a gift. She would be shunned, ostracized for something she had no power over. She would be overshadowed by her family. She would break down and possibly be the reason those cracks might appear.

He couldn't let that happen to her. He had to take her away. He had to destroy this prophecy and take her away from everything. He loved his family, Mirabel loved their family. But her growing up happy was much more important.

The moment he let the vision shatter on the floor he turned to the door. His vision cave was one place he hoped he never saw again. And, if everything went the way he wanted to that night, he might just get his wish.

Now to kidnap his niece.

Who was he kidding?! He couldn't kidnap Julieta's daughter!

Even though his sister's gift was healing, he'd been on the receiving end of her wrath several times during his life. He had no desire to be hunted down and murdered by the kindest member of his family. He would have to come up with a new plan.

Luckily he'd only come halfway between Julieta's door and the nursery. Crossing his fingers he turned back to his triplet's room and knocked softly.

To his surprise Julieta opened the door instantly. “Mirabel? Mi-” She froze when she saw her brother there instead of her daughter. “Bruno, Dios mio, you scared me.”

If Bruno had had any social awareness at the moment he would have noticed his sister's puffy eyes. But at that moment the only eyes that mattered to him were his own vision seeing ones. He motioned towards the inside of her room with his right hand and Julieta allowed him to enter.

“Julieta,” he said in a hushed voice. “I need to ask you a favor. A big one. The biggest I could ever ask.” His sister gave him a confused glare, and Bruno waited a second before starting his appeal. “I made a vision.”

His sister nodded, her glare lessening but confusion remaining. “Mamá asked me to look into the house's future, and I saw Mirabel's.”

Julieta gasped slightly. Bruno never looked into the family's future. The last time he had done so, about a year and a half before, he had accidentally brought Dolores to tears telling her that the man she would fall in love with would get engaged with someone else. After the lecture he'd received from Pepa he couldn't be blamed for keeping those parts of the future far away from his mind.

So to have him look into Mirabel's was something that she should have known, but hadn't expected. She nodded once curtly, and allowed her brother to continue.

“Julieta, she... she wasn't... happy.” he said tentatively. His sister's lips formed a tight line, and he added in a hushed whisper, “Mamá was in the vision too. She...”

He couldn't finish his sentence before his sister pulled him into a tight hug. “Bruno...” she said past his back. “Was she... okay? Will she be okay Bruno!”

“I don't think so... Not if she stays here.” Bruno answered truthfully. His sister's arms tightened around him, nearly choking him. “Hermana...” he said in a stunted voice, “You... squeezing me too hard...”

“I'm sorry Bruno.” She said, releasing him. Julieta gave him a pained look, one that slowly turned to dread. “Bruno... You... You want something.”

Bruno gulped. Alright. Here it was. The moment he'd been waiting for.

“Julieta, I'm running away. If Mamá sees me she'll force me to tell her the vision, then Mirabel will be in danger. But... I can't leave her here... to the future I saw. I wouldn't be able to live with myself.” He looked deep into his sister's shocked eyes, pain and anguish filling them, along with a stern realization.

“Brunito,” she said, taking on their mother's nickname for him. “You want... to take my... my daughter.” Tears began to fill her eyes. “Mirabel... You want to run away, and take her with you...”

Before Bruno could nod she sniffed, glanced back at her bedroom, then back at her brother. “You are absolutely sure that she is in danger.” She said with such force that even if Bruno hadn't been before he was sure of it now.

“Julieta, I don't want to...”

“No.” his sister snapped, placing her right pointer finger over his lips. “I understand. We're going to the nursery before Mamá can try to track you down.” She sniffed back tears, then took his hand. “Come on Bruno.”

The moment the two of them reached the nursery Bruno heard the quiet sniffings. He let his sister open the door, and felt his heart break as his niece jumped off of the bed, tears and snot covering her little face, and ran towards her mother, burying herself in Julieta's warm embrace.

“Mirabel,” Julieta cooed, kneeling down to her daughter's height.

That was it. Bruno couldn't do this. It was a noble intention. It might even be the right thing. But he could not take this precious little angel away from her mother. That was unconscionable! There was no way!

“Mirabel,” his sister said once again, pulling her daughter closer to her. “I need you to know something.”

His sweet, darling, precious niece, lifted her head, staring deeply into her mother's eyes. “Mamá?” she asked, and Julieta brushed away the newest tears with her thumb.

“Mirabel, you are amazing and special just the way you are.” Julieta said, smiling softly down at her daughter. Bruno wanted to stop her. To tell her that this plan was stupid, like all of his other plans. To make her keep her little girl. But he didn't, instead he simply stared as his sister spoke to his niece. “Mirabel, you have done nothing wrong. There is nothing wrong with you. But... there...”

Julieta glanced back at her brother, who opened his mouth stupidly. “Mirabel, you're going to go with Tío Bruno okay? He's going to get you your own room.”

Mirabel's eyes went to Bruno's, and the dread that filled him was infinite. This was cruel. This was terrible. He couldn't do this. Not to Mirabel. She deserved Julieta. She deserved her parents. She deserved a gift.

“Really?” Mirabel asked, her tears starting to dry up. Julieta nodded, smiling at her daughter before pulling her into another hug. “Yes really mi corazon.” She held out her hand towards her brother, who cautiously stepped forward and held out his own towards Mirabel. Mirabel took his hand, and he nearly melted when he felt the moisture clinging to it.

“Te amo más de lo que te imaginas.” Julieta said, cupping Mirabel's cheek. She bit her lip and stood up to her full height.

“Grab your bags Mirabel,” she said, motioning to the packed suitcases that had been meant to transport Mirabel's things to her new room. “Empty out one of them for Tió Bruno-” She glanced at her brother, who shook his head. “There's no time. I can't go back to my room. I have everything I need.”

Julieta nodded. Mirabel looked at her mother, then her uncle. “Why can't you go back to you room Tío Bruno?” she asked. Bruno took a sharp intake of breath, but was cut off by his sister before he could answer. “You two aren't... staying here Mirabel." Julieta said slowly, "You're leaving.”

“Leaving? We're leaving Casita?” Mirabel cried. Julieta nodded, “Yes. It's going to be too dangerous for you two. Tío Bruno is going to take good care of you.”

“But I don't want to go!” Mirabel cried, releasing her uncle's hand and throwing herself onto her mother. “I want to stay with you and Papí!”

Julieta looked on the verge of tears. “You won't be gone forever mi corazon.” She gave her daughter a gentle smile. “Just until we can figure out what's going on with the magic.”

Despite her overwhelming sadness Mirabel's eyes lit up. “And then I could get my gift?” she breathed, hardly daring to hope it could be true.

“Maybe.” Julieta said. Then she froze. Mirabel froze as well, then whispered, “What is it Mamá?”

Julieta looked over at her brother, a terrified expression on her face. “You have to go.” she said, crossing the room to hand Mirabel a small bag filled with clothes. “Go out the window. I hear Abuela.”

Bruno's eyes widened, and for the first time since he'd entered the nursery he spoke. “What about-”

“No time. Go!” Julieta said, pushing her brother forward. She leaned towards him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then pressed a kiss to Mirabel's hair. “Go.” she said, tears filling her eyes. “And be safe hermanito.”

She took one last longing look at her daughter. “Mirabel, you are amazing.” She said, then she closed her eyes and commanded them to “Go.”

Bruno grabbed Mirabel's hand and led her to the window, opening it with his left hand and placing her gently on the veranda's roof. He followed her out, keeping her heading away from the room where she grew up.

The little light of the nursery was put out only seconds after they say Julieta close the window behind them. And their lives would never be the same again.