Woop Woop! Two updates in the same week! I found an unfinished draft of this in one of my folders, so I decided to finish and publish it to try to get over my recent writer's block.
Anyway, The Book of Life is my most favorite movie of all time, and in case you couldn't tell by my username, Joaquin is my favorite character. Sadly, I never really got any good ideas, until I read somewhere that Joaquin was planning to say "No" at the wedding, but he got cut off. So this lil' plot bunny was born! Hope y'all like it.
…
"Maria Posada, do you take Joaquin to be your husband?"
This was it, the moment he had been waiting for and dreaming about. His wedding day. To Maria Posada, his childhood crush and pretty much the hottest, most awesome woman in the town. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life.
So…why didn't he feel happy?
He had dismissed it earlier as wedding jitters, but now he was absolutely certain it wasn't. He wasn't worried about the actual wedding. It was about something else.
He looked at Maria, his soon-to-be wife. Their eyes locked for only a moment, but that was enough time for him to see the emotions swirling in them. Sadness. Resignation. Resolve.
"Yes. For San Angel, I do."
She was only marrying him out of duty. Not because she loved him.
She loved him, yes, but not in that way. She loved him as a brother. The way he cared about Matilda.
"And Joaquin, do you take Maria to be your wife?"
And could he seriously live up to what Maria had for Manolo? Could he actually be a good enough husband for Maria?
The realization hit him hard.
No, he couldn't.
No matter how hard he tried, he would never be Manolo. The weird part? He was fine with that. And anyway, could he really let Maria be trapped like this? Living out the rest of her life in a loveless marriage?
He might not have been able to save Manolo, but he still had a chance to save his other friend.
He took a deep breath.
"I…I…don't."
The whole room gasped.
Joaquin paid them no heed. "Maria, if you're only doing this out of duty, you don't have to. You're an amazing woman who deserves better than me. I…I was selfish, a-and only thinking of myself. Will you ever forgive me?"
"This is an outrage!" cried General Posada.
Joaquin didn't care. Maria's grateful half-smile and whispered "Thank you," were enough.
"CHAKAL IS HERE!"
Besides, there were more important things to worry about.
…
So, how was it? Mind leaving a review?
