"…I don't get it."

Mirabel stood with her back against the kitchen table, staring down at the emerald green tablet in her hands. Her tío Bruno was pacing back and forth in front of her, alternating between biting his nails and wringing his hands. He was still muttering nervously and it seemed he hadn't heard her.

Mirabel looked back down at the vision board. "It…it's just me hugging a little kid," she said. Indeed, all the vision seemed to be showing was her, several years older, hugging a young boy with huge smiles on both their faces. Pretty good, all things considered. "I don't understand why you're so worked up about this."

"Because I feel like I'm missing something."

Mirabel blinked, before realizing what he meant. She smiled sympathetically. "Tío…"

"I looked at it from every angle and I found nothing, but something just feels wrong."

"Tío Bruno, not all of your visions have to have some secret hidden meaning to them. And they're not always bad either. Maybe it really is just me hugging a kid—look at him, aw! Maybe he's my future son." She happily held the board closer to her face to get a better look, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Oh, I hope he is. He's adorable."

"No, Mirabel, you don't get it," Bruno pushed the board down to look her in the eye, his brows knitting together in concern. "I didn't set this vision up—not the first time, anyway. It was recurring, it was—involuntary."

"Wait, you get involuntary visions?"

"Yes, but—I mean, I used to get them all the time when I was kid, but I learned to control them. Now they don't happen unless it's something really really important." He went back to his nervous pacing. "A-and to have it come to me over and over again like this—I set it up to get a closer look but all I see is this—it doesn't make any sense."

Mirabel pressed her lips together, thinking. "So…" she put on a teasing smile, attempting to ease the tension. "You're saying that me having a kid isn't important?"

"Wh—no! I didn't mean that. Of course it's important. For you, for the family. It's just—" He paused, letting out a breath and running a hand through his hair. "That's not an earth-shattering revelation, you know? In the grand scheme of things, that's—normal. Expected."

Mirabel sighed and put the board down on the table. "Well, maybe it has something to do with your Gift coming back." She shrugged. "I mean, you went a few months without it, so maybe you're just…re-adjusting. And that's why you're getting random involuntary visions again."

Bruno finally stopped, considering this. "I…guess," he mumbled. "The magic has felt a little different since it came back…but I haven't seen anyone else going through this with their Gifts."

"How do you know? Have you asked them?"

Before Bruno could answer, they heard a pair of footsteps and looked up to see Julieta entering the kitchen. She paused briefly when she saw them inside, but smiled and continued on her way. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Hi, Mà," Mirabel giggled. "We're just talking."

"Hmm," Julieta headed over to the stove and started sorting through ingredients. "You know, Mira, you've been hanging out with your uncle more than your parents, and we're starting to get a little jealous."

Mirabel laughed. "Just making up for lost time, Mamí. You're still my favorite, don't worry."

Julieta turned to give them both a cheeky smile, when her eyes fell on the vision tablet on the table. "Oh. What's that?" She nodded toward it, her expression betraying no emotion.

Bruno was about to stammer out some excuse, but Mirabel cut to the chase and just held the tablet up proudly. "Check it out, mom. That's me in the future. And I'm guessing that this little boy might be my future son."

"What?" Julieta gasped. She promptly abandoned her task and hurried back over to her daughter. "Let me see!"

"Well, I mean—we don't know for sure," Bruno piped up. "He could be her son, could be someone else…"

"Aww, he's precious!" Julieta cooed. "Look at him, mi nieto! I love him already!" She looked closer. "Hmm, he doesn't look much like you, though…he must take after his father. Whoever that might be." She gave Mirabel a teasing nudge.

"Mà…" Mirabel looked away, embarrassed.

"Again, we don't know if he's her son," Bruno sighed. "It's just a guess."

"Well, whoever he is, he's obviously very important," Julieta replied. "I'm going to go show this to Agustín. Excuse me." She hurried out of the kitchen, giggling, and taking the tablet along with her.

Bruno threw an arm in the air. "Well, there it goes. I bet the whole house knows about it before lunch."

Mirabel chuckled. "And so what if they do? Look, she was happy about it. I'm happy about it. You do get good visions sometimes. I'm sure everything will be okay…and if there is something we missed, we'll figure it out together. Won't we?"

Bruno finally relented. It was hard to stay mopey in the face of Mirabel's undying optimism. "Yeah, we will…sorry your uncle's such a worrywart."

"No need to apologize." She gave him a quick hug and then started to leave the kitchen. "Now, I've got a few things I need fo get done before lunchtime. Try not to worry yourself into the ground, okay?"

Bruno waved her off. She did have a point, though, if he kept ruminating on this, he'd worry himself into a frenzy. He should go find a distraction, to get rid of that uneasy feeling still in the pit of his stomach.

Julieta eventually returned to make another batch of food, as was often needed throughout her day. She at least didn't spend the whole day slaving away at the stove like she often used to, but work did still need to be done, after all. Bruno passed by the kitchen, and she waved him over.

"Where'd you put the vision board?" he asked her.

"It's in my room," Julieta replied. "I was wondering, have you ever had one of those things framed?"

Bruno blinked. "Framed? What, like a photograph?"

"Yes. We wanted to hang it up on the wall in our room."

Bruno rolled his eyes. "I once again reiterate that we have no idea who the boy in the vision is. It could just be some random kid you're hanging up on your bedroom wall, and that's kinda creepy. Also, I don't recommend doing that with a vision board, that's solid glass you're hanging up, which seems very unsafe."

Julieta pouted. "Alright, fine, you sourpuss. I'll just keep it in a safe place until we know what it's all about. Is that better?"

"Yes, actually, it is."

Julieta scoffed a little and they both fell into a amicable silence. Julieta seemed relaxed as she continuously kneaded the dough on her bowl, while Bruno stood there twiddling his thumbs hesitantly.

"Hey, Juli, can I…ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When the magic came back, did you need to…re-adjust to your Gift?"

Julieta paused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, did it kinda feel like when we were kids and we'd just gotten them and we needed to get used to controlling them? Or anything?"

Julieta raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. "Well…no? But my Gift never had an 'adjustment' in the first place. It's just cooking. When I was young, I had to learn how, but it's not like I forgot how to cook in the time our powers were gone, so I just got right back into it." She shrugged. "My Gift isn't as…volatile as yours or Pepa's, you see."

Bruno shot her a childish glare. "Thanks, sis."

She smiled apologetically. "Maybe you should ask someone else. But why do you want to know, anyway?"

Bruno wrung his hands together and didn't look her in the eye. "Er, well…the vision you saw earlier actually came to me involuntarily a few times first," he said, dumping the words out quickly. "And that doesn't happen unless it's super important, but Mirabel thinks maybe I'm just re-adjusting to the magic like I had to do when we were little. If it's not that, then…then I feel like there's something about it we're missing. And it's driving me crazy not knowing what it is."

The more he spoke, the more that uneasy feeling from before started rising in his chest again. Julieta had stopped kneading her dough and was leaning on the counter to face him, a little confused but not super concerned. "Well…what else did the vision show? What did you see?"

"Not much…the involuntary ones were just flashes, you know? Just Mirabel hugging the kid. When I set it up to look closer it was just…a little bit before that. The boy walks up to her, she kneels down and talks to him a bit, then she hugs him and that's it." He put a finger to his mouth and spoke again. "But—I didn't see anything that happens after the hug. Maybe that's where the problem is…"

Julieta stifled a chuckle. "Who said there had to be a problem?"

"…there's usually a problem," Bruno muttered.

Julieta shook her head and went back to her kneading. "Well…you could always take another look, couldn't you?"

Bruno didn't reply.

"Are you scared?"

"I just don't want to ruin a good thing," Bruno whined. "I mean—we got a nice vision, right? Shouldn't we just leave it be? I don't want to look for whatever bad thing might happen to them and end up sealing their fate—"

"Bruno—"

"—but, also, if something bad does happen, and I don't see it coming, then I won't be able to warn Mirabel and I'd just regret it even more—."

"Bruno, please," Julieta held up her hands to gently stop his rambling. "You're not responsible for the future, remember? If you don't want to look further, you don't have to."

Bruno stared back at her with that helpless puppy-eyed look.

Julieta sighed. "Why don't you ask Mirabel what she wants to do? It's her future, she can decide if she wants to see it or not."

Bruno nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess you have a point." He scoffed. "It's just—I just don't want to…I don't know."

Julieta smiled fondly at him. Then, looking up, she spotted their mother walking past the kitchen, not looking like she was heading anywhere in particular.

She grinned and waved her over. "Hola, Mamà."

Alma smiled back at her. "Hola, mija. Hola, Bruno." She walked over and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek before continuing. "I just came back home to check on everything. Julieta, do you need any help with the cooking, amor?"

"I'm alright for now, but I'll tell you if I need anything, thanks." Julieta replied. Then she shot her mother a grin. "Mamí, can you please tell Bruno that there's nothing wrong with the vision he saw this morning?"

"Juliiii," Bruno whined.

Alma gave him a concerned frown. "Why would anything be wrong with it?"

Bruno shrugged and looked at the floor. "I just feel like I missed something," he mumbled.

"He can't seem to comprehend the fact that he actually had a good vision this time," Julieta teased.

Alma's frown melted away, replaced by a warm smile that Bruno still wasn't used to seeing. She stopped forward and patted him on the cheek gently, chuckling. "Ay, you worry too much, mijito."

Bruno scoffed. "Yeah, tell me something I don't know."

"I don't want you to stress yourself too much, alright?" She gently pushed his hair out of his face. She'd been very physically affectionate like this ever since he came back. It made sense, but still, it was a little strange. A good strange, though. "Everyone who has seen the vision so far has been nothing but excited and positive about it. People's attitudes toward you are changing for the better, and I wish for you to give the same courtesy to yourself."

Bruno sighed at last. "Alright, Mamà. I'll try."

"Good." She gave him another kiss and Bruno huffed with annoyance.

"By the way," he asked, "How many people have seen it by now, anyway?"

"Everyone," both women replied at the same time.

"Oh boy."

"It's even starting to get out to the town," Alma said, leaning on the table behind her. "Earlier, Mirabel was talking with some of the store vendors, when Camilo just walked up to her and said 'congratulations on your son.' In front of everyone, with no context!"

Julieta gasped. Bruno rubbed his temples.

Alma shook her head wearily. "The poor girl and I had to do damage control and explain that it was a vision. Ay, that Camilo, he's such a troublemaker."

"Oh, you just noticed?" Julieta laughed.

Alma shook her head. "But don't worry, after we explained, they all started to congratulate her as well. And you as well, Bruno. It was a nice vision. I only hope I'm still alive when it comes true."

Both her children started sputtering out responses. "Of course you will be, Mamà!" Julieta replied with a pout. "You'll live to be a hundred, I'm sure of it." She went back to kneading, annoyed when her mother just laughed.

Bruno agreed with his sister but performed his knocking and salt-throwing rituals just in case. "Get ready, Juli," he muttered. "Our mother's getting to that age where old people start joking about their own deaths."

Alma's smile disappeared. "Who are you calling old?"

"I—you literally just said—!"

"I'm allowed to call myself old, Brunito, you can't say it."

"Yeah, Bruno," Julieta quipped. "I thought you knew that by now."

Bruno rolled his eyes and gave up. There was no winning this one. His mother and sister would continue teasing him, just like old times. Like nothing had happened.

…it was nice.

Bruno wasn't sleeping well that night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the same thing again.

Involuntary visions. Flashes. Mirabel hugging the same little boy. Over and over and over again.

"Ugh…" He groaned, rubbing his eyes in frustration. The sudden movement seemed to startle the rats sleeping on his chest, so Bruno took a moment to pat them, and then sighed.

He'd already seen what he needed to see, hadn't he? He thought he'd been done after this morning. Everyone assured him that it was a good vision, and he didn't need to see anything more, to see what came after. So why did it keep bothering him? Clearly, the miracle really wanted to show him something. Something more than just a hug. But dear God, he didn't want to see it, he really didn't want to see it.

Bruno tried to close his eyes again and sleep. No use. It kept coming back, and the anxiety was starting to build yet again.

"Alright, fine," he sighed in defeat. Carefully, he moved the rats off his chest and rolled out of his hammock. He put on his ruana and shoes and started shuffling tiredly toward his vision cave, mumbling prayers and reassurances to himself as he went.

He sat down in his little pit of sand, taking a breath to steel himself. Please don't be bad. Please, please, please don't be bad…

"Isaaaaa!" Mirabel groaned, trailing after her sister with several bouquets in her hands. "Please slow down, not all of us are able to travel by vine, you know."

In response, Isabela summoned a few large roots to lift Mirabel off the ground and carry her forward. Mirabel only squawked a little bit in protest.

"Be careful with those, Mira," Isabela told her, nodding at the bouquets in her sister's arms. "We don't want them to be crushed."

Mirabel sighed. "Just tell me where I need to go."

"Okay. The roses are for Javier Vazquez, he's going to use them to ask Marina Valencia out on a date," she giggled and moved on to the next one. "Daisies and chrysanthemums are for little Clara Santamaria's birthday party, and the passionflowers are for Señora Tomàs, who just really likes weird flowers…." She kept going through the bouquets that Mirabel was holding until she was finally done.

Mirabel rolled her eyes. "Alright, I'm on it. I'll meet you back here in a bit."

She hurried off to start her deliveries. Ever since Isabela expanded her variety of plant creations, the orders had actually increased significantly and we're getting hard to keep up with—luckily, Mirabel was there to take some of the load off her shoulders.

Once she was done, she met back up with Isabela in the square. "Alright, I'm done. Anything else you need?"

Isabela thought for a moment and shook her head. "I…don't think so. You saved me a lot of time by helping me, so I guess we finished early."

Mirabel grinned. "Great! You'll have time to go see those friends of yours after all."

Isabela beamed. "Yeah! I guess so. Thanks, Mirabel, you're a lifesaver."

"I know. Now run along."

Isabela rolled her eyes but happily took off. Mirabel pulled out a piece of paper, her to-do list, and looked it over. "Help Isa with deliveries, check." She checked it off, mumbling to herself. "Now let's go check on Antonio."

Mirabel found her littlest cousin talking to a few toucans who were apparently missing a member of their flock. So she took about an hour out of her day to help find it, before moving on to the next person on her list.

She was just on her way to see if Camilo needed any help when Bruno suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision and started walking alongside her.

"Hey, kiddo! I've been looking for you. What, uh, what are you up to?"

"Oh, you know, just hopping around and seeing what everyone else needs help with. What about you, no visions today?"

"No, thank goodness. Just thought I'd take it easy and hang out with you for a bit—uh, then again, you probably have better things to do than hang out with some old guy, don't you? I bet you have friends to go see, uh, hobbies to…pursue…"

Mirabe, chuckled. "No, you're welcome to tag along. I'm just going to check on Camilo." She pulled out her list to briefly look at it, and hurried along while Bruno followed hesitantly.

They found Camilo with a large group of people setting up what looked like a party for someone. He was looking a little more worn out than they were used to.

"Yeah, I'm kinda slammed today," Camilo sighed. "Do you think you can help José and company over there with whatever they're making? I think it's some kind of cardboard cutout, and they just need someone a little shorter than me, so you'd be perfect for it." He gave Mirabel a teasing wink. "That would actually be a big help."

Mirabel rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Sure thing, cuz." She was just about to leave when—

"Actually, Mirabel," Bruno stopped her with a hand on the shoulder. "How about I take care of this one? I'm about the right height, I think. You give yourself a little break, okay? Go play with your friends, take a nap. I've got this."

Mirabel blinked. "Oh…ok. Thanks, Tío. And hey, now you can spend more time with Camilo. You know, he's been a little awkward around you since you came back, so you can take this chance to bond or something."

Bruno looked a little confused, but Mirabel left him to his work and headed off. Who was next on her list? Tía Pepa? Perfect, she would probably find her by the corn fields today.

She spent a bit of time helping her aunt, and a few other townsfolk along the way thanks to the time Bruno had saved her. And every single one of them thanked her for her help and seemed to be taking it much easier with their work—exactly what Mirabel wanted to see.

With that accomplished feeling, Mirabel went to check on her mother next. Julieta needed a few things picked up from back home, and she was just carrying a tray of ingredients back to the stand when Bruno suddenly appeared again.

"Hey, Mira, that looks heavy. You need me to carry that for you?"

Mirabel spun out of the way with a laugh when he tried to reach for it. "Thanks Tío Bruno, but I've got it. Are you done helping Camilo already?"

"Oh yeah, those guys just needed me to stand still for a bit so they could measure something. No big deal. He's fine now." Bruno looked at the tray in Mirabel's hands. "You sure you don't need me to carry that?

"Tío, I don't want to offend you, but I'm actually stronger than you," Mirabel replied with a grin. "So I'm okay with carrying it, I promise."

"Right, of course," Bruno rubbed his arm. "It's just…you seem awfully busy today,and I don't want you to get tired, you know?"

"Aww. You don't have to worry about me, Tío Bruno," she said gently. "I don't mind being busy, I do it every day."

Bruno seemed to frown slightly. "Ah, really? So do you just…spend your days helping everyone else?"

"Well, that and filling commission orders. But I save that for the afternoon." Mirabel perked up. "Oh, and here we are! Mamà!" She hurried forward to where her mother was waiting. There was a long line of people waiting for her care and she seemed to be struggling to keep up with them all.

Julieta turned around in relief when she heard Mirabel's voice. "Oh, good, you made it. I'm running out of arepas so I'm going to have to throw together some sandwiches instead." She gestured for Mirabel to put the tray down on the table. There was bread, meat, and some vegetables on it, so Julieta got right to work in putting the sandwiches together. (Because, as Julieta had once said, the method of preparation didn't matter as long as Julieta prepared with food to some extent with "nurturing intent.")

Mirabel looked at the crowd. "What happened here, exactly?"

"Wagon accident, apparently. With several wagons. Help me pass these out?"

Mirabel nodded and reached for the completed sandwiches, and Bruno unceremoniously pushed her hand away.

"I got it! I'll do it." He grabbed a few sandwiches. "You can go ahead, Mirabel. I hear the river's extra nice to sit next to right about now. Go play, go have fun." He turned her away from the stand by the shoulders and gently pushed her away.

"Wh—this too? Are you sure, Tío?"

"Yeah, come on, I can pass out sandwiches. Just worry about yourself! We'll be fine."

Bruno gave her one final push before waving goodbye and running back to Julieta.

Mirabel took a moment to get over her surprise. Bruno was being…oddly assertive today. She'd have to ask him about it later. For now, she gingerly took out her to-do list and moved on.

Julieta raised an eyebrow as she watched her brother hurry back and forth between the sandwich tray and the patients. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" He hurried off with some sandwiches to hand out.

She waited until he returned. "Why did you push Mirabel away like that? You're acting kind of strange, hermano."

"I-I don't see how it's strange. I'm just trying to make sure the kid gets her breaks, too. You know, she really needs to learn to take her own advice."

Julieta squinted at him, fairly certain there was something he wasn't saying. But they were busy right now, so she just had to leave it at that.

The later hours of the morning saw Mirabel walking through town with Abuela and helping a few of the residents on the outskirts of town, followed by locating a leaky pipe for Dolores so she could instead follow the trail of a missing puppy, helping Tío Félix fix said leaky pipe, and picking up some more extra fabric, all before lunchtime. Tiring? For sure! But nothing a hearty meal wouldn't be able to fix. That would give her the energy she needed to start on her clothing commissions afterward.

As Mirabel happily walked into Casita's courtyard, she spotted Luisa carrying a few crates above her head.

She grinned up at her sister. "Need any help with that?"

Luisa hesitated. "I mean, I think there's one left in the kitchen, I didn't want to risk balancing it on top of everything. If you're able to carry it, okay, but if not…"

"I'll never know if I don't try," Mirabel replied with a wink. She headed to the kitchen, greeting her mother who was making lunch, and spotted the crate on the floor. She was just bending down to pick it up when—

"Hey!" Bruno hopped in front of her.

"Ack! You scared me!"

"Sorry about that. Uh, lemme get that for you. You just sit down and wait for lunch." He quickly picked up the crate (which was clearly taking some effort for him) and skittered out the kitchen.

Mirabel exchanged a confused glance with her mom. Then she followed Bruno out of the kitchen and caught up with him in the courtyard.

"Tío Bruno, is something bothering you?"

"Uh, no, no, not at all. Not sure why you'd think that."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you're acting really weird." Mirabel crossed her arms. "You've been getting up in my face all day and pushing me away from my work. What's up with that?"

Bruno avoided eye contact. "Can't a guy just help his niece out? You've been busy as a bee all day."

"I suppose, but you seem…worried. Like you don't want me to do any work for some reason." She hopped in front of him when the crate started to slip out of his grasp, and held it from the other side. She grinned at her uncle over it. "What, did you have a vision I'd break my back from carrying too many crates or something?"

"Wh—no! No!" Bruno hurriedly knocked on the wood of the crate and threw some salt over his shoulder for good measure. "Why do you people keep saying things like that?"

Mirabel giggled. "Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I've been watching you spend the whole day doing other people's work," Bruno replied, a little annoyed. He pulled the crate away from Mirabel and brushed past her. "And I really don't think you should be doing that."

Mirabel took a couple steps back, then whirled to face him with a frown. "Wh-what does that mean? Am I not supposed to help my family?"

"No, I just—" he sighed, put the crate down, and went back to Mirabel. "I just meant that—you don't need to be giving yourself a portion of everyone's responsibilities. First you do a project for Camilo, then you do something else for your mom, then for Luisa, then commissions—and then when I tell you to go play or take a rest, you just go and find more work to do."

"Because people need help!" Mirabel argued. "I just want to take a little bit of the load off of them so they can have time to do other things."

"Yeah, but a little load from each person turns into a bigger load for you, and then when's your break? Why do you tell everyone else to take it easy but don't allow the same for yourself?"

Mirabel sputtered a little. "W-well…why are you taking my load, then? And why do you keep telling me to 'go play' like I'm a baby? I don't like being treated like a baby, Tío Bruno."

Bruno stubbornly trudged back to where he'd put the crate down. "I just meant that you need to take time for yourself."

"I can decide for myself when I want a break, I don't need you to do it for me." She jumped in front of him again, stopping him in his tracks and glaring at him. "Or do you just not think I can do anything? Is that it?"

"No, that's not what I meant!" Bruno finally looked her in the eye. "I'm not saying you can't do anything, you can do whatever you want! I'm saying you shouldn't do everything for everyone all the time! You're fifteen, for God's sake! You shouldn't be carrying this family on your back—not yet!"

Mirabel stopped.

Bruno, for his part, seemed to realize that he'd made a mistake, and was now staring at her like a deer in a spotlight.

"Ahem," a third voice suddenly cut in. They both looked up to see Luisa standing over them. "Uh…are you guys still taking the crate, or should I?"

"I—" Mirabel started, but Bruno interrupted again.

"I'll take it. You two just go have lunch." He picked it up and scurried off, leaving his two confused and concerned nieces in his wake.

Luisa glanced awkwardly down at Mirabel. "Uh…did you two fight?"

"I…don't know."

Bruno avoided talking to Mirabel during lunch and was now avoiding her during the afternoon. In a stark contrast to that morning, Mirabel was left in peace and quiet to work on her clothing commissions, but found herself worrying about her uncle and where he'd gone off to.

Finally, she just decided to go check on him. He'd probably be in his room, like he often was when he wanted to hide. Mirabel set her current project down, briskly marched over to Bruno's room, and knocked.

After a short wait, the door opened just a crack. Bruno peeked out at her.

"What did you mean by 'not yet'?" Mirabel asked.

Bruno groaned. "I was hoping you'd forget."

"Tío Bruno, can you please tell me what's really going on?" Mirabel pleaded softly. "What did you see?"

Bruno gave a long, weary sigh. Then he ushered her into the room and closed the door.

Silently, he led her to the back where his new vision cave was located, along with all the tablets that he kept. "I'm…not too keen on showing you this," he mumbled. "It's not a bad vision, per se. Actually, all things considered, it's a pretty good one. I'm just worried that showing it to you now may have…unintended negative consequences."

Mirabel raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Bruno opened the door to his cave and let her in, before edging past her and heading toward the little compartment where he kept the boards.

He pulled one out, glanced at it, and winced a little. "Are you sure you want to see this?"

"Tío, it's my future," she replied. "And I think I have a right to know."

Bruno closed his eyes and nodded, tossing a little salt for good luck. "Alright, fine," he stood up and slowly walked over to her, his fingers tapping against the glass. "So, you remember the kid you were hugging?"

Mirabel gulped. "Yeah…"

"Well, that vision kept bugging me, so I decided to take a look at what happens right after that hug, and well…uh, this is it." Finally, he held the vision out for her to take.

Mirabel gingerly took the tablet from him, holding her breath.

It was her, once again, older, standing off to the side and looking proud. The little boy was a few feet away, a huge smile on his face as he reached up toward…a doorknob.

Mirabel's eyes widened. "Tío Bruno…this is…"

"A Gift Ceremony, yup."

Mirabel's heartbeat quickened as she took in the image…and all its implications.

Bruno kept talking. "That's what the miracle really wanted to show me, that was the big deal that I was missing yesterday. And I'm guessing the focus on the hug was because—well, that's how the Ceremony's going to be run from now on. We don't have a candle anymore, so how do we pass on the magic? With a big ol' hug! Some of that Madrigal-brand family love you're always talking about."

Mirabel blinked rapidly as she tried to process everything. "But…why am I the one running the Ceremony? Where's Abuela?"

A silence hung over them. Bruno frowned a little and looked at the floor. "I-I don't know," he said softly. "I…I didn't see her. But, that's not the point. The point is that you—someday—you're going to take her place and be the leader of this family. Of this whole town."

He put a hand on Mirabel's shoulder and continued. "And you'll do great! I know you will. I have the utmost faith in you, Mirabel. I just—didn't want to tell you about it now because—well, telling a teenager that her destiny is to become responsible for everyone around her just seems like unnecessary pressure, you know?" He leaned against the wall and sighed. "I mean, this is the age when you're supposed to be figuring yourself out, having fun, making friends. You already give so much of yourself to this family, the last thing you need is everyone looking to you as a 'future leader' and, and—" he shrugged grumpily, crossing his arms. "And just putting all that on your shoulders. You're too young."

Mirabel gulped, still reeling from the information. "S-so…that's why you kept trying to stop me from doing extra work today. You don't want me to start taking care of everyone before I need to."

"Well…yeah. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good that you care, it's good that you want to help. I'm not telling you to stop. It's just—I kept thinking about the vision last night, and how much responsibility it would be, and…and then I walked out of the house this morning to find that you're already trying to be responsible for everyone else and doing a bunch of their work for them, and I just—I got worried about you. We've already relied on you so much—aren't we the ones who are supposed to be taking care of you?"

Mirabel took a shaky breath, holding the vision board to her chest. Perhaps he had a point. As honored as she was to see what had been etched in the emerald glass, it definitely brought some uncertainty with it. Bruno, anxious as he was, had seen that and spent the whole day just worrying about her well-being over anything else. Without even realizing it, she had tears in her eyes.

Bruno was quiet for a moment, letting Mirabel take everything in. Then he shrugged again. "I mean—I dunno, maybe I was going about things the wrong way today…"

Mirabel smiled wetly. "Yeah, a little bit."

"Yeah. I-I didn't mean to—undermine your abilities, or anything. I know you can help. And…I know you'll make a great leader one day." He tapped the glass vision, then wrapped his hands around Mirabel's firmly. "No, scratch that. You'll be an amazing leader. No one can do this better than you, and I've always, always known that you were special. But…but just because you've seen the future, doesn't mean you need to rush to get there. Don't grow up too fast, Mirabel. For now, it's okay to just be a kid."

At that, Mirabel beamed and pulled Bruno into a warm hug. "Thank you, Tío," she said softly. "Thank you for caring about me."

Bruno chuckled as he hugged her back. "Of course, kid. I'll always care about you." He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Just promise me something. Even when this vision comes true, you won't stop relying on your family, okay? Even leaders need support."

"I promise. As long as you promise to work on your communication skills."

Bruno scoffed. "Okay. Fair."

After a few moments, they finally let go of each other. Mirabel wiped a stray tear from her eye and thoughtfully looked at the vision again. "Um, so…I'm thinking we could hold off on showing this to everyone else."

"Good call," Bruno replied. He took the board from Mirabel and went to put it away. "We don't need them forming all these expectations for the future, right? And, you know, when it's time for Abuela to choose her successor, I don't want her to feel like the decision is already made for her."

Mirabel laughed and nodded. Then she perked up again. "Oh! One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Does that mean the boy in the vision isn't my son? Because Mamà's totally convinced that he is."

Bruno rolled his eyes and gave an exaggerated sigh. "Well, that's her problem, because I told her a million times that I don't know." He slung an arm around Mirabel's shoulders as she laughed. "I mean hey, he's definitely related to us, at least. He could be your son, he could be your nephew, he could be one of your cousins' kids—he could even be your grandson."

"Grandson?"

"Okay, maybe not your grandson. But it doesn't matter. He's family, we love him, and he clearly loves your warm hugs, so what else could you want?" He patted her shoulder and started leading her back out of the cave. "Now, what do you say we get out of here? This place is depressing."

Mirabel's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Do you want to go grab some hot chocolate? I hear that Señora Pulido started selling it at her cafe."

"Oh my God, yes. Have I seriously not taken you there already?"

"Nope."

"Oh, kid, you are in for a treat."