Alma sighed, getting up out of bed, and slipping her slippers on as she pulled her shawl over her shoulders. She had been laying in bed for hours now, and sleep was alluding to her as Julieta's accusation rolled around her head. What would she have done if it had been Isabela's picture that had fallen off the tree? Would she have accused her of hurting the family as she had done Mirabel?

She had a sinking feeling that she wouldn't, that she would try to find a different explanation, brush it off as just a coincidence. Yet she hadn't done that for Mirabel.

She shook her head, shuffling her way out of her room, perhaps all she needed was a cup of tea.

She made her way into the dining room, planning on just walking through it to the kitchen, only to freeze. Someone was standing by the family tree, examining where Mirabel's picture had been just hours earlier. Someone that she was not expecting to see.

"Pedro?" she gasped, looking at her husband for the first time in almost fifty-one years. He looked just like he had the night he was taken from her, she even thought she could see the bloodstains on his shirt.

"Alma," he said, turning to look at her, making her knees grow weak and her heart to flutter at that piercing look, "Why?" he asked, "Why do you hurt our children the way you do, our grandchildren, our precious Mirabel?"

"What are you talking about?" Alma demanded.

"You always were stubborn," Pedro confessed, "It's one of the reasons I fell in love with you, but you need to open your eyes, please, I'm begging you, if you don't change, you can lose everything again."

"I'm doing my best."

"Your best to what? Who are you protecting here, Alma, our family, or the miracle?"

"Both," Alma insisted, "By keeping the Miracle strong it keeps my family safe."

"Then why is Casita cracking?"

"I don't know," Alma confessed.

"Yet, you blame Mirabel for it?" Pedro asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"There has to be a reason for Mirabel's picture falling from the family tree," Alma insisted, "She has to be doing something."

"Last I checked caring too much wasn't a crime," Pedro insisted, giving her a hard look, a look that spoke of disappointment.

"It is when she gets in the way of others."

"Alma," Pedro said sharply, "I didn't come here to fight."

"Then why did you come here?"

"To warn you," Pedro confessed, "Casita tried to, but you ignored her. If things don't change, you will lose everything again, your home, your family, everything," he pointed to the family tree, "Casita told you what was wrong, what needed to be fixed. It's up to you Alma. Only you can save the family. I will tell you this, you can't go about it the way that you have been."

"I don't understand," Alma confessed.

"The family is miserable, Alma, if you don't do something you will lose them, and with them the miracle. If you truly want to save the miracle, you need to save the family first."

…

Alma sat up in bed with a gasp, what a strange dream, "If you truly want to save the miracle, you need to save the family first," echoed over and over in her head. How in the world was she supposed to do that?

There was a sharp rap on her door, Mirabel must be doing her morning routine of waking everybody up. Good, maybe yesterday was just an off day, even she had those every once in a while, not that she was going to admit to it.

She got up and ready for the day before exiting her room. "If you truly want to save the miracle, you need to save the family first."

She shook her head, trying to force the voice out of her head, forcing herself to look around her. Mirabel was standing in front of Pepa's door, her hand raised, as if she was about to knock, but not sure if she should.

"You do know that your tia isn't going to hurt you right?" she called out softly, remembering what Julieta had said the night before. For some unknown reason, Mirabel was now terrified of Pepa.

Mirabel quickly knocked on the door, before turning around and pretty much running smack into her. Alma opened her mouth, about to admonish her for running in the house, and not paying attention to where she was going, but something stopped her. It wasn't the repeating phrase that was echoing through her head, but the look of utter surprise and fear that was on Mirabel's face when she had run into her.

Before Alma could get a single word out Mirabel turned around and raced towards the nursery, which she quickly shut behind her. That was odd, that was almost the exact same response that she had given Pepa the night before when she had tried to apologize to her. Was Mirabel scared of her as well? Was that what Casita was trying to tell her?

…

Mirabel shut the door behind her, she had probably slammed it, she wasn't sure, but she had to get away from Abuela before she could start lecturing her. She watched her alarm clock carefully, not wanting to miss breakfast two days in a row. A minute before breakfast was usually served she walked downstairs slowly so that Abuela couldn't get after her.

…

Alma watched as Mirabel carefully sat down between Antonio and Luisa, and watched as she passed the food down the table like always. She watched as Camilo and Luisa both filled their plates as full as possible, while Dolores and Isabela hardly took any.

Julieta and Agustin were talking in hush tones on one side while Felix was trying to coax a still half-asleep Pepa into having some coffee.

"If you want to save the miracle you must first save our family." The words echoed once more in her mind, but save them from what?

"That's an interesting saying, is that a new family motto or something?" Felix spoke up.

Alma had to fight back a blush, she hadn't even realized that she had spoken out loud, "I don't know," she confessed, "I had a weird dream last night, and that's been stuck in my head since I woke up. I don't even really know what it means. Save the family from what?"

"If you want to save the miracle you must first save our family," Julieta repeated, "That almost sounds like a warning."

"It was a warning," Alma agreed, "From your padre, Pedro, I just don't know what it means."

"Save the family?" Pepa repeated, "That almost sounds like the family is in danger."

"But how, how can the family be in danger," Alma asked, "The Encanto is safe."

There was silence for a second before Camilo shouted, with a mouthful of food, "I got it!"

Everyone turned to look at him, everyone, that is, except for Mirabel who wasn't following the conversation at all.

Camilo swallowed, "It's obvious," he insisted, sticking a new bite in, "The family is in danger of something," he said with his mouthful once more, "and I know what it is," he said swallowing finally.

"What is it?"

"Overworking," Camilo announced with a grin that he had inherited from his tio.

"I doubt that's what's wrong," Isabela insisted.

"I'm just trying to help," Camilo snapped back, "Unlike you!"

"At least my gift is useful," she snapped.

"At least I'm not a stuck-up snob," Camilo retorted.

Isabela stood up, grabbing Camilo by the rauna, cacti, and other plants popping up around her. It looked like she was about to pummel Camilo when Dolores intervened.

"Stop, you're making Casita crack worse," she hissed, stepping between them.

"What!" Alma exclaimed, turning to her second-oldest granddaughter, "What are you talking about."

"Casita wasn't cracking until they started to fight," Dolores insisted, "There has to be a connection, right?"

Alma took a deep breath, Casita had started to crack again when Camilo and Isabela started to fight, perhaps that was an important clue for what was going on here?

"But that doesn't make sense, if fighting is what is causing the cracks, why did Mirabel's picture fell off the family tree?" Pepa demanded, "No one was fighting then."

"Let's not forget the cracks that Mirabel saw during Antonio's Gift Ceremony," Felix added.

"That's right," Alma agreed, "Dolores, keep your ears open, see if you can't figure out what's going on when Casita cracks. Mirabel," she turned to her youngest granddaughter, who didn't respond.

"Mirabel!" she called out louder, wondering if she was simply daydreaming and hadn't heard her.

No response.

"Mirabel!" by this point Alma stood up and was walking towards her, there was no way that she hadn't heard her yelling, poor Dolores had her ears covered because of the noise.

Camilo, who was sitting across from Mirabel, swung his foot, kicking her hard.

Mirabel felt Camilo kick her and looked up in confusion. Her primo using his lips to point towards Abuela. Mirabel followed his lips to see Abuela standing up giving her a weird look.

Mirabel nodded quickly, grabbed the plate of arepas from in front of her, and passed them to her Abuela. After all, why else would Abuela talk to her during a meal?

Alma frowned as she took the arepas, setting them down, could Mirabel, could Mirabel not hear her? When could this have happened? She could hear her just fine the other day. Had something happened to Mirabel yesterday while she was in the woods? Everyone else was watching Mirabel as well.

"Mirabel, can you not hear what I am saying?" Alma asked.

No response until another kick and point from Camilo, at which time Mirabel looked at Alma, nodded her head and gave her a thumbs up.

"Mirabel, what did I just say?" Alma asked as she furrowed her brow slightly.

Mirabel frowned as Abuela said something, her lips moving, but this time, she knew what they were saying, it was the same thing that she always asks when she catches her not paying attention during morning announcements, and since she only cares that she listens to what she was supposed to do that day, and that never changes, she knew what the response was.

She hadn't actually tried to talk since the accident, but surely it only affected her ears, not her voice.

"Don't worry, I'll stay out of everybody's way," Mirabel insisted, causing Alma's heart to break, not only could Mirabel not hear her, but she assumed that the only reason that she was talking to her was to tell her to stay out of everyone's way?

Mirabel stood up, took her setting to the sink, washed it, and put it away, unaware of the pandemonium she started in the dining room.