Mirabel knew that her tio still wasn't used to being back. The only time everyone really saw him while rebuilding the casita was when he was helping (and that was with a bucket over his head so they didn't even actually see his face), and from what she gathered, that was because he was terrified that everyone still hated him. That was ridiculous, of course. She couldn't speak for the townspeople, but she knew no one in the family Madrigal blamed Bruno for anything. They were all just so, so glad he was finally back.

Mirabel had been too young to properly remember Bruno before he left to live in the walls, but after getting to know him for real, she just couldn't see why anyone would ever think Bruno was cursing them or causing bad things to happen on purpose. He was such a sweet guy, such a caring tio! He got nervous easily and he had all these strange yet endearing quirks, and he only hid himself away for his family's sake. He was probably one of the least scary people she knew.

Ever since Bruno's return, it was an unofficial agreement that no one would ever speak badly about him again. It was also agreed that no one would ask him for a vision; he'd only give one if he wanted to. They didn't want to give him any reason to leave ever again.

That being said, Mirabel really wished that her mom and tia Pepa would just talk to Bruno already. There were many misunderstandings that needed to be cleared up and many apologies that needed to be given. She tried to convince all of them to talk to each other, but it was proving to be a very difficult endeavor. Bruno kept avoiding his sisters and rain or snow clouds started forming anytime Pepa started thinking about talking to her brother. It wasn't that Pepa was angry at her brother, no, far from it. She'd already forgiven him, but what Mirabel could tell, her Tia Pepa was worried that Bruno would hold a grudge against her for all the bad things she'd said about him over the years. After the woman found out her brother had been living in the walls, she was horrified.

That caused a tricky situation. Bruno thought Pepa was still mad at him (even though she wasn't), and Pepa thought Bruno was mad at her (which he wasn't). The same went for Abuela; she hadn't talked to Bruno much yet in fear that he'd hold some resentment towards her. And Julieta was kind of just in the middle of it all. No one knew what they should say to each other or when to say it.

One of these days though, and soon, Mirabel was going to make sure that everything was properly sorted out. After all, she was the one who promised she would bring Bruno home, and that meant helping him repair his relationship with everyone.

But for the time being, Mirabel took up the duty of gathering her cousins to keep their uncle company and make him feel welcomed. Dolores found his telenovelas to be very entertaining (she admitted to listening in on them for years), Camilo liked to joke around with him and show him his impressions, Antonio always tried to cheer Bruno up when he was looking particularly nervous or sad, and Mirabel always just started talking to him about whatever came to mind. Isabela and Luisa were the only ones who still seemed a bit uneasy around him, but Mirabel was hoping that would change soon. They probably just didn't know how to act around their weird uncle, much like how he wasn't sure how to act around them.

On the night of the celebration for the casita being rebuilt though, Mirabel noticed that Bruno was acting strangely. Well…Stranger than usual. He seemed very reluctant to attend the party (though honestly that was understandable) and he was avoiding as many people as he could. He was just standing awkwardly in the corner when Mirabel decided she should intervene. She would feel bad if he didn't have at least a little fun! And she was the one who insisted he came.

"Hey Tio!" she exclaimed after walking over to him and waving. "Enjoying the party?"

"Yeah-yeah, it's um..It's great! Really great."

Mirabel could tell he was lying. "You're not having a good time, are you? Well, have you had any food yet? Maybe some food will lift your spirits!" She'd never been a big fan of these parties herself (she'd always felt ignored since she was the only Madrigal grandchild without a gift), but there was always food. Good food could do wonders cheering someone up. She looked at Bruno expectantly and saw him talking to-was he talking to one of his rats? But then-

"Food sounds good."

Mirabel grinned. Maybe it would seem like a small thing to be glad about to anyone else, but it meant Bruno would stay longer at the party. She honestly was thinking that he would have left by now. "We can get some food together then! You shouldn't be standing alone at a party anyway, even if you only talk to our family!"

So the two of them went off to the kitchen to get some food. She was personally starving, and it was exciting to be able to eat in the casita again.

Once they had food, Bruno and Mirabel took seats across from each other at a long table, and the two of them started eating.

They hadn't even been eating for a full minute though, when Bruno suddenly dropped his fork and grasped his head.

"Tio, are you okay?" Mirabel asked, giving him a concerned look. Was his head hurting?

Before Bruno could answer though, Camilo walked over and slid into the seat next to him.

"What's going on?" Camilo asked, glancing from Mirabel to Bruno.

"Nothing, nothing, everything's fine-" Bruno said, but Mirabel saw him wince again. He moved his hand to shield his eyes from view.

"Are you sure?" Mirabel questioned. He definitely didn't look "fine" right now. She set down her fork.

Camillo reached over to wave a hand in front of Bruno's face. "You're acting kind of-Ow!" Mirabel elbowed him before he could finish his sentence and glared at her cousin. She knew what he was about to say. 'You're acting kind of weird again,' which was not what Bruno needed to hear right now.

"Yeah, yeah-I'm fine, fine. Perfectly fine…" the seer muttered, but again, it was obvious to anyone who could see him that he was anything but fine right now. He squeezed his eyes shut and then Mirabel and Camilo watched as he threw a small handful of salt over his shoulder. That earned some annoyed looks from behind them as the salt landed on someone walking by.

Camilo cocked an eyebrow and leaned in closer to Mirabel so he could whisper to her. "What's he doing?"

"I don't know," Mirabel whispered back. "I think he has a headache."

"He's not…I don't know…Getting one of his visions or anything, is he? Can he even get one by accident? I thought he had to be near sand or something."

Mirabel shrugged. "I don't know either, but he's hiding something. That could be it."

They both looked back at Bruno as he picked his fork up and started eating again, but he still seemed distracted by something. He didn't even glance at them while they were whispering to each other about him. He was acting like something was hurting him; it probably was a headache then. Maybe he got headaches when visions randomly came? Mirabel wished she knew what was going on so she could at least help somehow.

"Tio?" Mirabel said, trying to catch his gaze. "Tio, are you really sure you're alright?"

No answer.

"Bruno? Heyyy, Bruno? Can you hear us?" Camillo asked, looking confused. He glanced at Mirabel. "He's not listening. Something really must be wrong then."

At that time, Dolores joined them at the table. "Something's wrong with Bruno," she said to them in her quiet voice. 'He's breathing too quickly."

"We know something's wrong, but what? Is it a vision?"

"Maybe we should tell someone…He's looking even paler than usual, and that's saying a lot."

"I'll go tell my mama…She'll know how to help," Mirabel offered as she stood up from her chair and looked around the room for Julieta. She, Pepa, and Abuela knew Bruno for the longest, so one of them should know how to help him.

Mirabel found her mother sitting at the opposite end of the table and waved at her. "Mama, something's wrong with Bruno. I think his head hurts, but he's not responding to any of us and Dolores said he's breathing quicker than usual."

Julieta looked confused for a brief moment, but then understanding dawned on her face. She immediately stood up and followed Mirabel over to Bruno-but before the two of them even got over there, Bruno suddenly left his seat and accidentally sent his chair falling backwards to the ground. Without any warning, he started to run from the room, both hands covering his eyes for some reason.

Luckily, Julieta reacted quickly. She ran after Bruno, and Mirabel followed, wanting to make sure her tio was fine. Julieta caught up with him and grabbed his shoulder. "Brunito, please stop, we can help you-" but he only brushed past her. Before he ran into his room and loudly slammed the door, Mirabel thought she saw a flicker of green behind his hands.

"What's wrong with him?" Mirabel cautiously asked her mom.

"He must be having another vision. Sometimes he gets them randomly; he probably didn't want anyone to know he was having one." Julieta sounded sad as she said that. Sad that Bruno felt he had to deal with this on his own, when in reality any of my family members would be willing to drop whatever they were doing to help him. "I'll go after one…Mira, you should stay here and enjoy the party."

"No, I'll go with you." Mirabel paused for a moment. "He needs to know he doesn't have to hide his visions from us."

Julieta nodded, and she beckoned for her daughter to follow her to Bruno's room. "Just…Don't be alarmed. It takes some getting used to seeing him when he's having an involuntary vision. It might startle you at first."

Mirabel managed a sort of sad smile. "He can't scare me. It'll be fine."

Now up the stairs, they stood in front of Bruno's door. "Ready?"

Mirabel nodded, and the mother and daughter pair entered the sand-covered room.