AU, with some canon plot points. What if Imelda was pregnant with Hector's second child when he died? Nicola "Nikki" Rivera, stranded in the land of the dead, enlists Hector's help to get her to Diego de la Cruz, the younger brother of her idol, Ernesto de la Cruz to get her father's blessing. However, can she do it by sunrise? Full summary inside

Full Summary: Nicola "Nikki" Rivera never knew her father, as his name and identity was kept secret from her mother, Imelda, and her sister has only revealed one thing about him: he has a love of music, something Nikki has a passion for.

So when she enters a fight with her mother and family, Nikki runs away and learns that The late Diego de la Cruz claims to know a Rivera. So, Nikki needs his help finding her father. She enlists the help of Hector after trapping herself in the land of the dead and has to find her father before sunrise.

A/N: I DO NOT OWN COCO. IT IS OWN BY PIXAR AND DISNEY.

Once Upon a time…

Wait, wait wait,

In a land far, far away...Wait….wait...wait...

A long time ago….(hold it for a second while I think of a way to introduce this story)

Oh forget the classic opening, cause this isn't a fairytale. It's a true story.

I'll start from the beginning.

See, there was a family of three, a papá, a mamá and a mija. The Papá loved playing music for his girls, and the mamá would sing to his playing. However, the papá had one other dream: to play for the world. So, one day, he packed his guitar, and he never returned to the mamá and the mijas. Yep that's right, I said Mijas. For the Papá never knew his second child was born for he had been gone when the mamá had discovered she conceived one...but she didn't worry about that. She didn't have time to cry over that good-for-nothing musician!

After banishing all the music in her life, she learned how to make shoes, so she could provide for her children. Soon, the mamá taught her daughter how to make shoes, and then her soon to be son-in-law, and soon, she taught her second daughter.

Music may have torn the mamá's world apart, but her shoes and her children held them together. And with her second baby girl, the mamá never told the child anything about her father, or the real reason why music was not allowed.

See, that woman, is my mother, Imelda Rivera and the little girl, is my big sister, Socorro, but everyone calls her Coco. She was engaged to Julio, a man she met a couple years ago. He and his sister, Rosita, were the siblings I never had growing up

And mi papi. Well, I told you before that my mother does not like to talk about my father because he had left her with not one child but two children to raise. However, what Coco told me about Papá is that he wrote a song for her, but she never told me what the song was. The only thing I had left was my dog, Dante.

"Oh, Hermanita, if Papá was still around, he'd know the song was just for you, too…" Coco told me once.

Other than Coco, I've got to tell you, I am different from my family. I love music. Sometimes I would sneak down to Mariachi plaza and dance with my heart's content, even though I'm thirteen years old.

Now, it had gotten me to believe that that Papá's love of music. But hey, it's not my fault. It's actually Ernesto and Diego de la Cruz, both who basically started out as a no one. Diego de le Cruz like his brother, was an amazing singer, until that unfortunate accident last year, in 1933, where he died in a car crash. See, his mausoleum is here in Santa Cecilia, where Ernesto kept his guitar remained with the brother he loved very much.

Sometimes, I wish to be like them, a musician...

"If only my family understood," Nikki said together.

Nikki took too long to realize that she wasn't thinking it, but rather speaking it to everyone watching her. The dancing girls, who Nikki was friends with, were gathered around her, interested in the story itself. She usually had a habit to tell her story in front of her friends, which greatly embarrassed Nikki.

"Uh, did you hear all that?"

"Ci, amiga," said one of the dancers, Gabrielle. With her dark hair in a ponytail, Nicola "Nikki" Rivera was dressed in boots, with shorts underneath. Her white dress reached towards her calf, with brown boots and a red sweater she normally kept on.

"Sorry, I thought I spoke in my head."

"I don't understand, Nikki," said Isabella. "Why don't you just go up to your family and say what's on your mind?"

Nikki looked at Isabella. "Because, Izzy, mi mamá is a very strict person, and you know how bad that will be."

Isabella knew Imelda's wrath as much as the other two girls. She saw Imelda use a shoe as a weapon a couple of times, so that was why Isabella stayed away from the Riveras.

"You know that's a really good point," said Isabella's sister, Valeria, ignoring the fact her sister rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, your Mamá Imelda's wrath is something that should not be trifled with," said Cecelia.

"She scares me," said Amalia. The girls looked at her, since there was no secret that Amalia was more nervous than the other girls. They were all scared of Imelda but not as much as Amalia.

"Well, Ceci, I may never escape the 'no music' rule in my family, but there is one thing that I like about making shoes," Nikki said. She brought out several shoe boxes and revealed...dancing shoes. Her friends loved her dancing shoes, especially since these ones today matched their dresses which happened to be their favorite colors. "Okay, one for you Izzy," she handed Izzy a blue pair. and for you Val, Ceci, Gabby." handing them red, pink and green pairs respectively. "And, purple for you Amy." she handed the dancing sheos to Amalia. The girls put the shoes on and concluded one thing: they were very comfortable, very easy to move around in as each girl took a step.

"Thank you, Nikki, they are beautiful," said Isabella. Isabella and the other girls not only loved Nikki's shoes, but they loved the girl altogether, a good friend they could count on and they were really glad that Nikki was smiling. Amalia looked at Nikki.

"Oh, Nikki, we wish you could dance like us," Amalia said.

"Hey I may not be a dancer, but at least I make shoes for ones," Nikki said. The girls laughed... until...

"Nikki!" someone yelled. Nikki's smile disappeared. She looked up to see her uncles walking up to her.

"Oh, no," Nikki said. "Guys you need to get out of here, now!"

The girls looked up and saw that her uncles, Tio Óscar and Tio Felipe, were coming. Nikki urged them to leave, and hoping that the uncles would leave her friends alone. The girls didn't want to leave Nikki but after giving them her mother's deathly stares, they quickly turned around.

"Sobrina, what were you doing with those dancers?" Tio Óscar asked.

"N...nothing, just polishing their shoes," Nikki said. She kicked her shoe boxes away so they would not see them. Usually, her uncles were goofy, but this time, they were dead serious whenever Nikki disobeyed her mother.

"You're not supposed to be here," said Felipe. You know Imelda..."

"Doesn't want you down here..." said Óscar.

I know, and I'm sorry, Tios," said Nikki. She knew they were going to tell her mother what she had been doing.

"And worse, you're here, in Mariachi Plaza..." said Tio Felipe.

"Please, Tios, don't tell Mamá!" Nikki begged.

But it's no use, since Óscar and Felipe are scared of their sisters wrath. Even Nikki's dog, Dante and cat Pepita were scared of it. She was dragged back home, where Imelda was looking relieved and rushed to her daughter.

"Nicola Hélga Rivera, I was so worried about you!" Imelda hugged her youngest daughter.

"We found her at Mariachi Plaza," said Tio Felipe.

"With a couple of dancers!" Óscar added. Nikki looked away from her mother, who was giving her a stern look and placed hands on Nikki's shoulders.

"Nikki, m'ija, I've told you a thousand times to not go near that plaza." She pointed a finger at her daughter to get her point across. "You cannot go there anymore. "

"But, Mamá, that's where all the good money comes from," Nikki said. Dante, a Xolo dog, came walking up to Nikki, who gave him a scratch behind the ears.

"Nikki, if your mother says no more plaza, then no more plaza!" said Tía Luna, a slender woman, Óscar's wife, fixing her two-year-old son, Nikki's cousin, Nicholás shoes. Nikki hated when Tía Luna added in, as if she were her own daughter. Don't get her wrong. She loved her great-aunt but it wasn't her job to parent her. It was Imelda's.

"lo siento mamá," Nikki quickly apologized. "it won't happen again."

"Okay, then, M'ija," Imelda said. "But for now, I don't want you wandering off anymore." Nikki nodded. Her mother gave her a tender kiss on the forehead. "Go help your sister in the Ofrenda room, and take the marigold flowers."

"Okay, Mamá," Nikki said. She whistled for Dante, who rushed to follow her. She took the bouquet of flowers to find her sister. As it was the Day of the Dead, a time of family, Nikki went over to help her sister with preparations for day of the dead.

She just hoped it would be worth her while. Nikki came to the doorway, ready to help her sister with decorating the ofrenda room.

OCs

Nikki Rivera, Hector and Imelda's second daughter.

Tía Luna, Óscar's wife

Nicholas, Luna and Óscar's son. Named after his paternal grandfather

Papa Nicholas, Imelda's father. Deceased

Mama Helga, Imelda's mother. Deceased

Tía Amanda, Hélga's younger sister. Deceased

Primo Abel, Hélga's nephew. Deceased

Also the names of Nikki's friends, including surnames:

Isabella Ramirez, Valeria's sister.

Valeria Ramirez, Izzy's sister. Nicknamed Val.

Gabrielle "Gabby" Fernández

Cecelia "Ceci" Rodríguez

Amalia López

More to be named in next chapter. They don't really say Imelda's family, so I made them up. They are all Riveras.

A/n: Feel free to Leave a review or give feedback on how I can improve this story.

Thanks for reading.