Alma Madrigal got up extra early the next morning, unable to believe that it had only been four days since Antonio's gift ceremony, so much had changed, and so much still needed to change. They still weren't really sure of what was going on with the magic and what was attacking it, but they did know that their family was a mess, and needed to be fixed.

Downstairs she found Isabela and Mirabel pouring over a book, moving their fingers and hands into weird positions as they did so.

"Is that the book on sign language?" Alma asked.

Isabela looked up and then made a quick knocking motion with her hand, "That means yes," she said quickly, "This seems really easy to figure out."

"Hopefully we won't need it," Alma pointed out, "your Tia did find a doctor that can hopefully restore her hearing."

"There's no guarantee that he can," Isabela pointed out, "And we still need a better way to communicate with her until then, and besides, learning a second language might be a good thing to do, it might come in handy."

Alma nodded, "I suppose you are right," she admitted, "I have some things that I need to take care of this morning, but this afternoon maybe you can teach me?"

Isabela nodded, before moving her hands slowly around, no doubt telling Mirabel about what she had asked.

Mirabel nodded too, causing Alma to beam, they had only started to study Sign Language an hour ago and they already were conversing with it.

…
After Breakfast, where Alma wanted to know exactly what everyone had to put up with from the villagers so she would know what exactly she had to put a stop to, she headed out to the village. A flitting thought occurred to her that this was the first time since they learned about Mirabel that she had actually been out and about in the village. Except for her town council meeting and talking to the Guzman's she had stayed at home trying to piece together what exactly happened the night of Antonio's Gift Ceremony.

She hadn't mentioned it, but she was pretty sure that she was the cause of everything. If she hadn't stressed Pepa out so badly about the gift ceremony having to be perfect or had told them the truth about the cracks then she wouldn't have snapped out at Mirabel.

"Alma," a man called out, "What gives? Julieta hasn't opened her stand in two days."

"We've been dealing with a family emergency," Alma insisted, "Besides surely you've heard that something is affecting the magic? Dolores informed me that it had spread like wildfire."

"Oh, I thought that was just a rumor, never know who starts what now do you?" he stated, "So your magic is dying? How are you going to protect Encanto if you don't have your gifts?"

"We will figure out a way," Alma insisted, "Besides we think we might know what's causing the miracle to weaken, and we're working on putting a stop to it."

"Really, that's great, my fields haven't been watered all week, they're going to die if they don't get watered soon."

"Are you one of the farmers that purposely say cruel things to mi Pepita to make her rain to water your fields?"

"How else is she supposed to water our fields? That's what she's good for."

"That is my daughter you are talking about," Alma pointed out, "She's a human being just like you and me, not some weather machine. It's people like you that are putting the magic at risk."

"What?"

"Mi Familia isn't happy, in fact, they are quite miserable due to the way that you and other members of the community treat them, and the happier my family is, the stronger the miracle," Alma insisted, before frowning, where did that little insight come from? More importantly, was it true?

…
Mariano was running errands for his mother when someone shoved him hard in the back, causing him to stumble. He quickly regained his balance and turned to look at the scowling face of Senora Rodriguez. She was glaring at him and didn't even offer an apology for shoving him like she did.

"Can I help you Senora Rodriguez?" he asked politely.

"I know it was you," she hissed.

"Pardon?"

"Mirabel Madrigal was attacked during Antonio's gift Ceremony," she hissed, "and since that happened the Madrigals' gifts have been acting up, and now they are saying that it's because of the way us villagers treat them. You know what that means right?"

Mariano shook his head, "Look, I admit that I dated Isabela for a while, but I really don't know much about what goes on inside Casita."

"I heard through the grapevine that you were about to propose to Isabela, but now your betrothal has been called off. Why is that?"

"Things between Isabela and I didn't work out," Mariano insisted, "We talked things over and agreed that a marriage between the two of us was not going to work out."

"Probably didn't help that you attacked poor Mirabel," Senora Rodriguez sniffed, "What did that poor girl ever do to deserve being attacked the way she was."

"What are you talking about?" Mariano asked.

"My husband is on the council with Alma Madrigal," the woman explained, "he told me that someone apparently attacked Mirabel during Antonio's gift ceremony. It has to be someone in the village, and since you are suddenly single after courting Isabela for a couple of years now, you obviously know something."

"All I know is that things didn't work out between me and Isabela," Mariano insisted, "I have nothing to do with Mirabel's attack."

"Rumor has it that the reason that the Madrigals haven't been around town is that they suspect one of us as being the reason that Mirabel was hurt, how do I know that it wasn't you?"

"Look, they haven't been around town because Bruno has returned home. Alma told my mother about him when she came to call off the betrothal. I haven't heard anything about Mirabel being attacked until now."

"You're just saying that the betrothal was called off because they suspect that you were the one that attacked Mirabel, isn't that correct? Come on, I'll find out rather or not you tell me."

"Isabela and I just decided that we wanted to explore other options before fully committing to each other," Mariano insisted, "I had nothing to do with the attack."

"I wasn't saying that you did," she insisted, "I'm just saying, can't you see what's happening here? You were in a loving relationship before Alma Madrigal put an end to it. I bet she was just saying that about things not working out, she really just doesn't trust you, or anyone else here in Encanto. Until we find who really is behind the attack on Mirabel, you won't be able to marry Isabela and the Madrigals won't be able to help around the village like they usually do."

"I told you, the reason the Madrigals aren't around town is because Bruno returned home and they are visiting with him."

"Bruno!" she gasped as if she suddenly realized what he was saying, "He attacked Mirabel, didn't he, and ruined your relationship with Isabela too, I should have known all of this bad luck was caused by him."

Mariano glanced over the irate woman's head, to see Alma Madrigal purposely strolling towards them, "Is everything alright here?" she asked sharply.

"Si Senora," Mariano insisted, "Senora Rodriguez was just grilling me about my break up with Isabela."

"I don't see how that can be a matter of concern for her," Alma insisted, "While Senora Guzman and I hoped for a union between Isabela and Mariano, it just didn't work out the way we hoped, and any more details than that are not necessary."

"But what about the attack on Mirabel? And Bruno's return? And the Magic? And what's this rumor going around about villagers being cruel to your family?"

Alma held up a hand, "Mirabel was hurt during Antonio's gift ceremony, and for a while, we thought that someone must have attacked her, but we have since learned that it was an accident, and are working towards her healing."

"Bruno?"

"Bruno has returned," Alma agreed, "And that is all you need to know about that topic. He has nothing to do with Isabela's breakup or Mirabel's accident."

"What about the Magic?"

"The only thing about the Magic Bruno did was have a vision that hints at the solution for why the magic was going out anyway. The happier the family, the stronger the magic, hence why I've called people out for being quite unpleasant to my family today."

"So no one in the village attacked Mirabel?"

"No one attacked Mirabel, it was an accident, and if you have accused anyone of hurting her you better go and apologize right now."

…(This whole conversation below is both out loud and with sign language.)...
Dolores smiled as she used the sign language that she and her primas had been studying to tell them about their Abuela's conversation in town.

Mirabel frowned, "I don't want people to get in trouble because of me," she insisted

"That's what Abuela's trying to stop," Isabela insisted, "She doesn't want people throwing blame around either."

"Where did Senora Rodriguez even get the idea that Mariano hurt Mirabel in the first place," Luisa asked.

"It makes sense with the information the town received, and the order in which it became common knowledge," Dolores admitted, "The fact that Mirabel was supposedly attacked was common knowledge before any rumor of Mariano and Isabela's breakup came out. So obviously she just assumed that they were connected."

"Senora Rodriguez obviously doesn't know Mariano," Isabela insisted, "That man couldn't hurt a fly let alone a human being."

"He really is sweet isn't he?" Dolores asked.

"Sweet enough to make me gag," Isabela insisted, shuddering.

Mirabel poked Luisa in her side, pointing eagerly to Dolores, "Your face is as red as your bow, Lolo," she exclaimed.

"What," Isabela gasped, turning to face her prima, sure enough, her face was turning a steady shade of red, very near close to the color of her hair bow, "Why?"

"Mariano?" Mirabel said slowly as she spelled out his name on her fingers, "That's who we were talking about."

"You like Mariano?" Luisa asked.

"It doesn't matter," Dolores insisted, "We should go back to studying sign language."

"We've been studying all morning," Mirabel pointed out, "And we've already got it mostly figured out, what we need is practice, and we can practice by having you tell us everything you like about Mariano and plan a way for you to ask him out."

"I can't ask him out!" Dolores protested, "He only broke up with Isabela the other day, besides, the Madrigal family isn't his favorite family in the Encanto right now."

"Nonsense," Isabela insisted, "I think the two of you will be perfect together, and he'll never ask you out if he doesn't know that you're interested," she glanced at Luisa, "Makeover in my room, she insisted.