They've rebuilt Casita.
Is it still Casita if the miracle's gone?
Mirabel still hasn't quite figured that one out.
Everyone is there. The villagers. The family. Antonio is running around with the other children, getting underfoot, but he is only five.
There's a doorknob, just for her. It has an M on it. M for Madrigal. M for Mirabel.
She sets it in place, turns the handle.
M for Miracle.
She watches as the door lights up, as the house lights up, and as Casita is transformed. The door itself changes, showing the family-the entire family, those who had gifts before, and those who did not. Papa, Tío Félix, Mirabel herself.
Casita is back.
The magic is back.
Toucans fly overhead, and suddenly Antonio's leopard is there, scooping the kid up onto his back. Isabella is summoning all manner of jungle plants, cacti, and whatever else she feels like. Luisa picks up a giant potted cactus like it's nothing and sets it on the table, grinning. Tía Pepa is dancing, and it's hailing, but she's clearly happy.
For less than a second Mirabel thinks she sees Bruno's eyes flash green, but the moment passes, and he's still smiling that small, shy smile at her.
Now he's lingering on the sidelines, happy for the family, but not ready to join the party at all. Dolores is with him, and Mirabel remembers that her prima only had a limited tolerance for the types of parties they generally threw at Casita before. She figures it's only a matter of time before the two of them sneak off to find somewhere quieter to regroup.
The celebration lasts throughout the day, and at one point Mirabel loses sight of her uncle and cousin, only to catch sight of Dolores and Mariano dancing about a quarter of an hour later. Before she can worry about her missing tío however he reappears, being practically dragged into the main area by Isabella, and since he looks only mildly alarmed, Mirabel decides not to worry about it.
She quickly realizes, as they make their way to the dance floor, that her older sister is literally using their uncle as a human shield, to ward off unwanted attention from any potential suitors who might have figured out by this time that she is no longer entangled with Mariano and therefore think they might have a chance.
Mirabel is pretty sure they don't.
She's content to watch, however, as Isabella and Bruno dance, Isabella deftly turning and spinning so that her uncle is between her and any approaching threat at any given moment while Bruno somehow manages to keep up.
To Mirabel's surprise, they both seem to be having fun. At least, Bruno doesn't look like he isn't having fun, so there's that.
Camilo cuts in just as their tío looks like he's starting to get winded, and Mirabel has to admit that the boy can dance. Isabella can too, for that matter, and the two have had plenty of practice together during lessons over the years, especially since Camilo was the only boy for the bulk of those lessons.
Bruno looks like he might join Mirabel at the bottom of the stairs, but then something catches his eye, and he turns and makes a beeline for Luisa, standing near the wall, watching everyone else.
Mirabel abruptly realizes that her sister wants to dance, and that no one has asked her.
Bruno does, and she happily agrees, and though the size difference between them is almost comical, they make their way back out onto the floor. Luisa is strong, and while she'll never be as graceful as their oldest sister (none of them will), she's not clumsy. The two manage pretty well in spite of the height difference, and it looks like their uncle is starting to remember how the whole dancing thing works, because he's nowhere near as awkward right now as he usually is.
Papa cuts in on Bruno after a few dances, leaving the man to dance with his sister, and no one involved in the switch really seems to mind. Bruno settles comfortably with Mamá in much the same way Camilo has with Isabella, suggesting that he, too, had years of dancing lessons with his sisters when they were younger.
Perhaps because they're old hands at this, suddenly it becomes obvious that Bruno is not just a passable dancer, he's a good one. He and Mamá are sweeping across the dance floor almost effortlessly, and people are turning their heads to watch as they go by.
Bruno is having fun too, Mirabel realizes. Her uncle is actually enjoying himself. His usual self-consciousness and almost ever-present awkwardness are gone, leaving in their place a man who clearly knows his way around the dance floor.
The song changes and Tía Pepa is suddenly there, cutting between them and stealing her brother from their sister. She's smirking as she does it, too, and Bruno doesn't seem to care. Mamá throws her hands up in mock resentment, but she's also smiling as she looks around for another partner-and finds one without too much trouble.
It quickly becomes clear that Bruno has been holding back, keeping pace with each of his partners, careful not to outshine them. Because as soon as Tía Pepa starts showing off, Tío Bruno grins and joins her. Soon the two of them are attracting attention, skirts and ruana swishing, feet flying as they turn and spin and seem to glide across the floor.
Tía Pepa seems to be doing her best to outdo her brother, and he in turn seems to be keeping up without issue, smirking each time she tries to throw him off and he counters without even seeming to try. People are stopping to watch, now, but neither seems to realize they have an audience.
Mirabel is impressed. Across the room Isabela is impressed. Mamá and Papá are arm in arm, watching the two fondly, while Tío Félix is clapping along with the music and egging the two of them on.
The song comes to a halt, and they almost fumble the ending. Bruno is breathing hard, and suddenly Dolores is beside him, whisking him out of the center of the room and towards Mirabel. They reach her as the next song begins, and Bruno almost collapses beside his niece, panting for breath, his eyes sparkling and a smile on his face.
"Having a good time?" Mirabel asks, and her tío nods.
"You always were a good dancer," Dolores says, joining them. She settles carefully on Bruno's other side before leaning forward so she can see Mirabel. "He used to practice with us, when we were little," she says.
Mirabel wishes she could remember more about him, from before. Dolores and Isabella just seem to know him so much better. Even Luisa seems to have stories about him from back then. Mirabel isn't jealous, not really, but she does wish she could remember something.
The three of them sit and watch the party for a while, until Dolores makes a face and stands, shaking out her skirt. Mirabel figures she's reached her limit on how much noise she can handle and is retreating for the night.
"Goodnight, Tio Bruno," she says, leaning forward to kiss him on the forehead.
He smiles and tilts his head back to look at her. "Goodnight, Dolores."
"Goodnight," Mirabel echoes.
Bruno yawns and shifts, staring absently out past the crowded dance floor. "Have you seen your room yet?" he asks. Mirabel shakes her head.
"No. You?"
"No," Bruno hesitates for a moment before adding, "I hope there aren't as many stairs this time."
Mirabel shudders. "Why were there so many stairs?" she asks.
Bruno shrugs. "I think I did it. Accidentally. Maybe? There weren't always that many, but as I got older..." he trails off. "I think the more distant I felt from everyone, the farther away my vision cave got."
"Huh," Mirabel isn't sure what to make of that. She knows that Isabella's room is pretty much a massive garden, and that Antonio's is basically a jungle habitat. Luisa's is a place where she can work out, she knows, but she's never really given a lot of thought to any of the other rooms, or why each room works the way it does.
She shoots a sideways glance at her uncle and realizes he's nervous. He's fidgeting with the hem of his ruana, and his hands are just barely trembling. The man is definitely worried about something.
Worried about what, Mirabel wonders. His room?
She's a little nervous about her own, now that she thinks about it.
"We could go check them out," she offers, suddenly shy but not sure why. "If you wanted to."
"Why not?" he says softly, and Mirabel reaches out to take him by the arm.
"Let's go, then." she says. "Let's do it."
They come across hers first, and Mirabel feels her eyes stinging as she stands in front of a door-her door. She has her own door. And her image is engraved into it, just like all the others.
Mirabel has a door. And a room. No gift. She's not sure about that last bit, but right now the door and the room are enough.
She places her hand on the doorknob. Hesitates for a moment, then turns it, opening the door wide to reveal-
An absurdly normal-looking room. With a bed. And a dresser. And a sewing machine in the corner. And shelves and boxes for her sewing supplies and projects.
She loves it. She's definitely crying now, though. Bruno has an arm on her shoulder, trying to comfort her, but all she can do is stare at this room that looks as if she designed it herself.
"It's perfect," she finally says, and feels her tío relax beside her.
Mirabel grins and turns to him. "Want to be my first guest?" she asks. He nods, and she leads him inside.
Bruno sits on the bed and wordlessly watches as she spends the next hour exploring her new room, looking through all her sewing supplies, examining the sewing machine, checking out the bookshelf in the corner, fawning over her sewing machine, and dumping all of her sewing supplies all over the floor so she can see what she has.
She only abruptly realizes how long he's been sitting there when he tries unsuccessfully to hide a yawn behind his hand, and jumps up.
"I'm sorry!" She apologizes, then laughs. "Guess I got a bit carried away." Bruno smiles at her.
"You were enjoying yourself," he says. "It was fun to watch you."
Mirabel quickly stuffs all of her sewing supplies back into place. She can organize everything later.
"Shall we check out your room now?" she asks, and doesn't miss the way his smile fades a little. It reminds her a little of when he was playing in the rain with Antonio, not too long after Casita came tumbling down. It was the first time most of the kids in the Encanto had seen it rain just because it was raining, rather than because Tía Pepa was watering the crops.
"Sure," he agrees.
By the time they reach his door Mirabel knows he's not just nervous; he's afraid. She's not sure why, or what he's afraid of, but it's obvious that her uncle is more than a little scared to open the door to his room.
"On three?" she suggests, when he makes no move to do so.
Bruno nods and reaches forward to grab the handle. Mirabel tries to ignore the way his image stares down at them, though she does wonder why it still looks so intimidating; in real life her tío is anything but.
Mirabel counts to three, and he opens the door.
There's still sand everywhere. Still a lot of stairs. Maybe not as many, but Mirabel isn't entirely sure as she looks around.
"Where do you sleep?" she asks. It's out before it can even occur to her that the question is kind of rude, but Bruno leads her to a small, mostly hidden alcove that mercifully is relatively free of sand. There's a bed there, and a small dresser. An empty bookshelf and an end table beside the bed. Not really much to look at, if Mirabel's being honest with herself.
A pile of junk in the middle of the bed catches Mirabel's eye. "What's all this?" she asks.
Bruno frowns and crosses over to settle carefully on the edge of the bed. He sifts through the junk, puzzled at first, but then his expression clears and he picks up a small, painted piece of wood with two holes in it.
Mirabel's seen this before. Behind the walls, when Bruno was talking about telenovelas. She remembers the rats poking their heads through the holes. "Is that-?"
Bruno nods, and starts sorting carefully through the pile of stuff. There's a chipped mug, an old toothbrush and hairbrush, some tattered red cloth, a broken picture of a rat, an old candle stub, a bent fork, and a number of other battered and broken pieces from his time spent in the walls.
They hear a small squeak, and both turn to stare at the rat perched on the bookshelf. Bruno looks from the rat to the pile of stuff on his bed, then back at the rat.
"You guys did this?" he asks, a tremor in his voice. The rat squeaks again.
Mirabel looks at the pile of broken things on his bed. "So what, they rescued all this from the rubble when Casita fell?"
Another squeak.
Bruno is tearing up just a bit, so Mirabel guesses the gesture means a lot to him, even if she doesn't entirely understand. Maybe it's more about the fact that they were trying to save his things than about what they actually saved. Or maybe these things mean something to him because they are all he has to show for the past ten years.
Mirabel doesn't know. It's a bit much to think about, to be honest.
The vision cave at the top of the stairs is once again intact, though they have to stop so Bruno can catch his breath before they can go in.
"Have you had any visions yet?" Mirabel asks. She knows everyone else has been using their gifts since they came back, but she hasn't seen any sign of his, other than that earlier flash of green in his eyes that she's not entirely sure wasn't imagined.
Bruno shakes his head. "Not really interested, either," he admits reluctantly, shooting a timid glance in her direction as if worried she'll think less of him for the admission.
Mirabel shrugs. "I'm just glad I get the chance to know you. I don't really remember much from when I was little."
"Well, you were only five years old," he points out. "At least you didn't think I was seven feet tall and terrifying."
Mirabel chuckles. "You know, Camilo still isn't entirely convinced that you shouldn't be mad at him for that."
Bruno ducks his head in acknowledgment. "I mean, no one likes thinking their sobrino is scared of them," he admits. "Honestly I'm surprised he remembered the rats. You both were pretty young when I left."
She leans over to rest her shoulder against his arm, briefly.
They get up, and enter his vision cave. As far as Mirabel can tell, it looks the same as it did before. Bruno looks around a bit, but doesn't seem interested in spending much time in the room itself. They leave after a few minutes, heading back down the stairs in a companionable silence.
She says goodnight at the bottom of the stairs. He smiles and pulls her into a hug.
"Buenas noches, Mirabel."
Disclaimer: Encanto does not belong to me.