Author's Notes: This is the product of my recent, sudden and hard-hitting obsession with The Road to El Dorado after I re-watched it a few days ago (and since then, have re-watched certain bits over and over. I love it! heart). I was delighted to discover that it had its own section on FF, and so after reading most of the fanfics that had already been written, I started to write my own! Besides this one, I have five other ideas which I hope will get written in due course xD Although first, I need to finish this!

Disclaimer: The Road to El Dorado and related awesomeness is © DreamWorks Pictures. However, I do own Miguel's sister and the plot of this fanfic. So no stealy plz thx.

You Fight Like My Sister!

Chapter 1: I TAUGHT your sister!

Spain, 1510

"Tag! You're it!"

The sounds of childish laughter rang around the streets of Madrid as two fair-haired children chased each other in and out of alleyways. The younger child, a girl, tackled her older brother, and they fell to the ground in a heap of dusty, patched clothing. "Now you're it!"

"All right, all right," her brother capitulated. "Get off me, then, Rosa."

But Rosa was distracted, staring down the street at something her brother couldn't see, pinned flat on his back as he was. "Miguel!" she said suddenly, urgently. "Look! It's Tulio!"

"What?" Miguel sat up, and Rosa slid off him, allowing him to climb to his feet. Now Miguel could see what she'd spotted: a slim, black-haired teenager haring towards them at speed, closely followed by a group of angry guards.

"What did he…" began Miguel, while Rosa beamed and waved. "Tulio! Hey, Tulio!"

Tulio grinned and waved back even as he sped towards them. As he caught up to the two siblings, he grabbed their hands simultaneously and pulled them with him. Miguel's eyes widened as he noticed two long swords clanking at Tulio's waist. He had a feeling he knew why the guards were chasing Tulio. Still, he kept his mouth shut and concentrated on running; there'd be time for questions later.

Abruptly, Tulio darted down a side alley, and brother and sister found themselves being yanked after him. He stopped just inside the mouth of the alley and released his grip on them both; Rosa opened her mouth to ask a question, and both boys simultaneously clapped their hands over it, straining their ears for the guards. Rosa frowned in annoyance, but kept quiet. The sound of running feet grew closer, and the three children could hear the guards shouting to one another.

"Which way did they go?"

"They? We're only after one boy!"

"No, no, he had two others with him! I saw them! Kids with golden hair!"

"What?" The footsteps skidded to a halt. A thump was heard; evidently one of the guards had hit the other over the head. "This is Spain, idiot! No one like that lives here!"

"Barquin thinks he's seeing angels," someone muttered, and a few laughed.

"Come on, then," said an annoyed voice. "We've probably lost him by now."

The guards moved away, though without the same drive as before; the heat of the moment had died down.

Tulio silently counted to five, mouthing the numbers to the others, and then peeked out of the alley. "They've gone!" he announced, walking out of the shadows and into the sunshine.

Miguel moved to stand next to him, stretching his arms above his head. Although younger than Tulio by two years, he'd always been taller than his friend, but lately Tulio had shot up in height, and now his head just about rose above Miguel's. In build, however, he was slim-hipped and scrawny, whereas Miguel was broad and naturally strong. Tulio tended to make him do any heavy lifting that came their way.

"So what's with those?" Miguel asked, nodding towards the swords. Rosa was staring at them, her eyes round as doubloons. "Did you steal them?" she asked.

Tulio pretended to be affronted. "I never steal! I just borrowed them for a long period of time," he said, a mischievous glint in his eye. Under his breath, he added to Miguel, "I reckon they'll fetch us a few pesetas." Miguel smiled slightly; Tulio had a one-track mind.

"Now, Rosa, it's time you learnt how to fight like a man!" announced Tulio. Rosa giggled.

"What about Miguel?" she asked. Miguel was about to tell her that he already knew how to swordfight, but Tulio got in first.

"Miguel will always fight like a girl. There's no hope for him."

"Blaggard!" With a quick movement, Miguel drew one of the swords in Tulio's belt. "You will pay for those words, knave, with your life."

"We shall see!" Tulio smoothly drew the other sword and pointed it at Miguel. "If your sword is as dull as your brain, it will be an easy fight!"

Miguel gasped in mock outrage. "You had better hope your arm can move as fast as your tongue." Both boys leapt forward, the stolen swords meeting in the middle with a resounding clang. Rosa shrieked with laughter at the insults, impressed by how grown-up and clever they sounded. She settled down to watch the swordfight with due admiration.

After several blows, however, she started to become bored. "I want to try!" she whined. "Migueeel! Tuliooo!"

Tulio suddenly jumped aside, causing Miguel to stagger and overbalance as his target disappeared unexpectedly. "We must answer the lady's summons," he said with affected gallantry, bowing to Rosa. In truth he was glad to stop the fight; his quick and nimble jabs were doing nothing to penetrate Miguel's solid defence, and his arm was getting tired.

"You escape with your life this time, fool," said Miguel, getting up and dusting himself off. He proffered his sword to Rosa, hilt-first. "Here, Rosa, you can have my sword." She grasped it inexpertly, and he moved behind her to adjust her grip.

"Let the expert teach her how to duel," said Tulio, pushing Miguel playfully out of the way. "Now, Rosa, this is how you lunge." He demonstrated the move with his own sword, and Rosa attempted to copy him. Tulio nudged her feet into a better starting position and straightened her arm, and she repeated the move with much more success.

Miguel leant against the wall and watched them, blowing a few strands of long blonde hair out of his eyes. It tended to go everywhere when he fought, whereas Tulio's was just about long enough to tie back into a straggly ponytail, allowing him to appear calm and unruffled even in the midst of a battle. Miguel grinned to himself. Tulio was such a ladies' man, even at the age of fourteen, always showing off in front of girls. And Miguel hadn't missed the admiration in his sister's eyes whenever she looked at Tulio. She really idolised him. But to Tulio, Miguel knew, Rosa was only his best friend's little sister: he would always look out for her, but nothing more than that. In any case, Tulio was far too fickle with relationships to be trusted with his sister.

Still, Miguel was happy to let Tulio teach Rosa how to duel. Tulio had taught him, after all, and his technique was better even if he had yet to build up the muscle to give his blows real power.

The lesson went on until sunset, when Miguel had to gently remind his sister that they needed to be home to help their mother with the dinner. Rosa skipped ahead, tired but thrilled with the new skill she was learning, and the two boys hung back to talk to each other.

"Your sister's a fast learner," said Tulio in a low voice. "Much better than you were," he added with a smirk.

"I was younger!" protested Miguel. "And you were a terrible teacher. You kept hitting me around the head when I got it wrong! Even though you barely knew any more than I did!"

Tulio gave him a patronising smile. "Whatever you say, oh dull-brained one," he replied. Miguel scowled and gave him a shove that sent him staggering into a wall. A joke was all very well, but Miguel didn't like Tulio dwelling on the fact that he was cleverer than Miguel. Most of the time it didn't bother him, since they both had their strengths and their weaknesses, but it was a sore spot nonetheless.

"Sorry, sorry," apologised Tulio, and Miguel knew that he meant it. "You're a better fighter than me now, anyway." Miguel wasn't sure how true that was, but Tulio was trying to make peace, and so he accepted the compliment with a nod.

"Anyway," said Tulio, his usual confident tone returning, "I have a feeling she may just be the money-maker we've been waiting for!"

Miguel groaned. "Not another one of your plans. Have you forgotten what happened to us the last time we tried one of those?"

"But this time it's different," Tulio replied earnestly. "It'll really work, I swear! Trust me."

Miguel sighed and shook his head. They had reached the place where they always parted, since Tulio lived in a different direction to Miguel. Rosa had already gone on down the street that led to their little home.

"Oh, and by the way," said Tulio, fishing in his pocket, "I managed to pick one of the guards' pockets while I was out earlier. Here's your share." He dropped a few pesetas into Miguel's hand.

Miguel blinked at them. "My share? I didn't do anything."

"You helped me escape! So did Rosa, so share them with her, okay?" Tulio was already walking away. Miguel shrugged and pocketed the coins. It wasn't often Tulio chose to share his wealth, so he'd make the most of it.

Author's Notes: I had to guess at the age gap between Miguel and Tulio, though I think most will agree that Miguel is probably younger, even when you account for his free-spirited personality. In this fanfic, Rosa is 9, Miguel is 12 and Tulio is 14, and as you know, it takes place 9 years before the film. I've read other fanfics with different age estimates; this is just mine.

Also, I don't know exactly how rare fair-haired people were in Spain in the 1500s, but from watching the film, only one random woman besides Miguel had fair hair, so I'm guessing quite.

Stay tuned for the next chapter!