Hey guys, this story was on I was thinking about for a while. I've basically extended Hector's life a while and kill Miguel, so you know, yeah me. I've also made up a lot of lore ideas, though I'm worried about how fast this story seems to go and if the characters are in character. So any ideas and opinions would be a great help!

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

Water dripping into the pool was the only thing registering to Miguel. It echoed loudly in the caven the two were huddled in, light falling in through the open maw at the top. It was quiet otherwise… There was nothing left to say.

It was too late.

They had been in the cenote for hours and the sun had risen just thirty minutes ago. Miguel pushed his face deeper into his Great,Great grandfather's chest, feeling the man squeeze him with the arm hung over his shoulder. The boy tried to ignore how his bare skull met Hector's ribs. How the points of his shoulder bones had no padding other than his hoodie sleeves.

The storm of panic and fear had passed already. Now all he had was the numb feeling of realization. There was no going home. He was dead.

Hector leaned into him a bit, concerned about how quiet he was being. He squeezed Miguel's shoulders once more, whispering softly " Todo estará bien. Estoy aquí"

Miguel heaved in a barely contained sob.

"Let it out Ninos." Hector sighed and ran a hand through Miguel's hair. "Trust me, Holding these feelings in never dose any good."

Miguel tried to push himself closer to Hector, clutching his vest wearily. He shook again, letting out a soft whimper. "I said I didn't c-care…"

"Care about what?" Hector asked quietly.

"C-care if I got on our family ofrenda…" Miguel trailed off into a sniffling mess, shoulders shaking. "I told them I d-didn't want to be p-part of the family!" He hiccuped, running a hand over his face instinctively. "The last thing I d-did with them was fight!" Miguel clutched to Hector and sobbed loudly.

"No, no, Miguel." Hector said, patting his shoulder. "Not the last. Never the last. You will see them again. When their time comes, you will be together once more and everything will be ancient history by then."

"I s-shouldn't have yelled! I sh-hould have done what Mama Imelda told me to!" Miguel cried. "Now its too late!"

"Everyone makes mistakes mijo." Hector seemed to trail off for a moment as he spoke. "Some bigger than others… but trust me when I say your family will forgive you. That's what familia is for, right?"

Miguel wiped his face with his sleeve. "They never forgave you…" He muttered, wincing when he spoke.

Hector squeezed his grandson again. "No, but our situations are not the same."

"We both left for music…" Miguel sniffled.

"I left my family when things were hard. Imelda, she had to get a job, take care of a baby, build a business, all on her own. Money was tight back then and I wasn't around to help with anything. She was all alone." He explained. "Your just a kid, a kid who tried to follow his dreams. You didn't have any responsibilities or people who depended on you. You just made a mistake."

The water was still dripping. They sat in silence for a few moments as Miguel tried to settle his crying. Time trickled on until Hector shifted a little.

"Once we figure a way out of here we should get you back to Imelda." Hector said.

"Mama Imelda?" Miguel asked, confused.

"She can take care of you." Hector explained. "She's got lots of room at her place and its warm and safe and-"

"What about you Papa Hector?" Miguel asked, looking up. "What will- AHHH!"

Hector jumped a foot in the air as Miguel sat frozen on the ground, terrified. "What the heck! You trying to get my heart beating again?! Whats wrong?!"

"I- I can't see!" The boy felt along the walls and rocky floor of the cave. "I can't- Why can't I see anything!?"

"What?!" Hector knelt back down before him. "You can't see? Let me- oh."

"Oh?!" Miguel shouted, still panicked.

"Easy! Easy. You just don't have any eyes." Hector stated calmly.

"WHAT?!" The boy screamed, trying to stand up, panting a little.

"Whoa! Sit down Ninos!" Hector ordered, pushing the boy back down by his shoulders. "Skeletons don't have eyes. We have to make them here to see with. When you first arrive you get a pair from the reception area." He hummed a little. "Course you didn't get in that way, did you."

"What? Then how did the first people here see things?!" Miguel frowned.

"I don't know, do I look like a history buff to you?" Hector said. "As long as things work I don't question the system."

"T-then how am I supposed to see?" Miguel asked, putting a hand to his eyes. He jerked it away when the tips of his fingers traced the insides of his skull.

"We'll get you a pair. People lose them or they pass over to the next realm and leave their eyes behind."

"Ew."

"It's not ew, its recycling." Hector said. "Till then I'll have to be your eyes."

"Can't I have one of yours?" Miguel asked.

"You could try, but mine would be too big. We need to get you some kid sized ones." Hector said. "Imelda can help you with that to. She has a little sway around here. Not much, but enough."

Miguel took hold of Hector's sleeve, trying to look where he believed his grandfather's face was. "Dose that hurt? Getting new eyes put in?"

"Por supuesto no." Hector smiled sadly. "Nothing hurts here, not physically anymore."

BLAM

Miguel jumped, hugging Hector desperately at the noise. His grandfather held him back just as tightly, though he seemed less surprised. There was silence as Hector pushed them both up into a standing position.

"What do you want!?" He shouted, his angry voice echoing in the cave.

"Who are you-" Miguel started, only for a new voice to interrupt him.

"Mr De La Cruz would like to see you before you leave his property." A harsh voice said.

"What makes you think we want to see him!?" Hector asked angrily.

"Unless you expect to fly out of this hole, there's only one other way out ese." The voice responded. "You got thirty seconds."

Hector grumbled under his breath before sighing. "Alright! Just hold on." He nudged Miguel carefully, leading him down the slippery rocks. "We need a minute to get over there! Chamaco can't see."

The guard made no noise as Hector slowly lead the boy over the uneven rock, holding his shoulders in his steady grasp. "Little to the left here." He whispered and edged him around an obstacle Miguel had no way of seeing. "Ok… Now-" Hector took his grandson's hands in his own, guiding them to what felt like a rope, but when he felt around the boy realised it was a rope ladder. "Climb up this. Take your time and move slowly. I'll be right behind you."

The ladder swayed a little as Miguel climbed on, and it only moved more when he got high enough for Hector to start climbing as well. Everything was darkness and Miguel was suspended off the ground with no way of knowing how high he was. As he shuffled he heard Hector grunt behind him and it gave him a small amount of comfort.

"Hurry up!" The guard shouted out of the darkness. Miguel jumped, not expecting the noise, and his foot missed the ladder step. He clung the to ladder with his arms as it wriggled under his movements, shaking a little himself at the near misstep.

"HEY! Were going as fast as we can, tonto!" Hector yelled back, but placed a hand to Miguel's back to keep him steady. "Ok 'megio, keep it steady."

Slowly they got closer to the end. The wet, earth smell of the cenote began to become fresh, cool air. As Miguel's hands scrambled up over the rim of the hole, a large hand snatched him up by his hood and hefted him over the edge before roughly depositing him to the ground a few feet from the hole. "Easy!" Hector ordered, but from his grunt Miguel could tell he was getting the same treatment.

"Lets go, Mr De La Cruz has been kept waiting for long enough." The guard ordered and Miguel stumbled to his feet.

Hector was back again, taking Miguel by the hand to guide him up the walkway. "He can wait a bit longer after the things he's done." The older Riviera muttered as he tried to make sure his grandson wouldn't trip anywhere.

It took some time for Hector to navigate Miguel around the path to Ernesto, pausing him for stairs and stopping him before the boy plowed face first into doors. The outside air turned warm and wood like, the smell of a home. Yet when the guards had them pause, Miguel knew it wouldn't be much longer until they met Ernesto again. He turned to his grandfather quietly. "What do we do when we see him?"

"We just get in, let him run his mouth and get out, no need to push this farther than need be." Hector said calmly. "Our only goal is to get you to Imelda. We can deal with the rest later."

"Ok, Mr De La Cruz will see you." The guard said, the door squeaking as it opened to Ernesto's inner sanctum-

"HIJO DE PUTA!" Miguel yelped when his grandfather dashed past him, clearly seething in rage. The boy stood, frozen in bewilderment as a handful of guards raced after his grandfather, one staying to hold onto Miguel's shoulders tightly. He couldn't make out what was happening in the scuffle before him, but from the sounds of it his Papa Hector was buried under a pile of bodyguards. Things were starting to calm down as Miguel was lead into the room by his handler, forcing him to stand in a certain location.

"Aye yai yai…" Hector groan miserably somewhere beside him.

"What happend to get in, get out?!" Miguel hissed under his breath to the darkness beside him.

"I saw his face and was overcome with rage." Hector mumbled. Miguel thought this over before shrugging. To be fair if he could see, he'd likely have done the same.

"Ah, so good to see you both again." Miguel scowled. The voice that had once brought him inspiration was now nothing short of rage inducing. Ernesto De La Cruz. The man that murdered his great, great grandfather…

And murdered Miguel himself.

"Its not mutual." Miguel spat, glower in the direction he heard the smug voice emanating from.

"Ah, such a way to address your great, great grandfather, eh." Ernesto said coyly.

"You aren't my grandfather, and you are definitely not great!" Miguel retorted.

"Oh no?" Miguel paused when he realized that Ernesto didn't sound like he cared about the news. He fumbled a little when the man laughed. "Than who is your grandpappy?"

"Hector… Hector is my grandfather." The boy muttered, starting to lose his angry resolve to confusion.

"Ah, I thought as much." The man said dully. "I wasn't so sure until I saw that old picture again."

"You knew?!" Hector shouted.

"Only near the end of our little meeting Hector." Ernesto said with a chuckle. "I had forgotten what you looked like in life. So skinny… He got your eyes and single dimple." The man snorted. "And your annoying habits of getting in my way."

"You let him die Ernesto!"

The words echoed around the room eerily, Miguel shivered at every repeat of the words.

"You killed him! Just like you killed me!" Hector continued darkly. "What kind of monster are you?!"

"Now now Hector, no need to be so upset. After all, I didn't let either of you die alone, now did I?" Ernesto said. His guards make no sound to his confession, they were likely well paid. "I could have locked him in my broom closet for the remaining few hours of his life, alone, but I figured I'd let him spend it with you."

"He's just a kid!" Hector snapped.

"A kid who was about to go back to the land of the living and tell everyone about what I did." Ernesto growled, his chair squealed as he stood. "I couldn't have that you know."

"Who'd have believed him?! He had no evidence!" Hector was starting to sound teary, though his anger still burned in his tone.

"There are some who would have believed him, or even just started to doubt me. Any small chance that could have lowered my status would have-"

"Small chance!" Hector was pacing. "Ernesto. He's dead! He's here until his memory starts to fade! He had a life! He had a chance to become anything he wanted!" Hector huffed a little. "How could you just- in his prime! He had so much time left!"

"Amigo, I can't believe your so surprised." Ernesto snorted. "After all, it's not the first time I've done this, is it?"

Silence.

Miguel swallowed tightly. He was getting a little emotional again. Hector's words just made him realize how much he had lost. There would be no future. No going to school, no getting his dream job, no falling in love… No growing up.

"Well, as nice as it has been see you after SO long Hector, I must get back to my work. Next Dia de los Muertos is only three hundred and sixty four days away, and I must begin my planning for the next concert." Ernesto laughed a little. "If you were wondering, this concert was a smash hit, so it will be hard to follow, but I'll find a way." Ernesto started to leave the room. "I always do."

"You won't get away with this. I report you to the authorities!" Hector said a low, dangerous tone.

"Well I believe a very poor and forgotten musician once said- ' Who'd have believed him? He had no evidence'. Eh muchacho?"

Miguel didn't hear much else other than Ernesto's laughing as he was roughly picked up and carried to the front door. He could hear Hector cursing and swearing as he was taken away as well. The front doors banged as they flew open and Miguel could only yell as the guards threw him out. The impact with the pavement didn't hurt really, but it was hard and the grinding of his bare bones was unsettling.

"Mr De La Cruz has requested you not return to his premise. If you do we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law." The guard shouted after them. "Adios."

Bones rattled as Hector moved around beside Miguel. "Damn this-! Gah! Is there no justice anymore!?" He groan and popped something. "...Lets go Miguel, Its a long walk to Imelda's."

He tried to get up, grunting in effort, but the boy found he couldn't really stand for some reason. He was only rasing on one arm… He felt around before squawking. "HECTOR! M-My arm! MY ARM IS GONE!" He tried to sit up but gasped. "Where are legs!? Where is my- SPINE! Oh god! Oh GOD!-"

"Whoa! Whoa Whoa Whoa! Calm down, its ok! Your ok." Hector was back at his side, running his hand through Miguel's hair. "Everything's ok."

"M-My arm…" Miguel sobbed slightly, he was getting emotional again, this day was just way too much.

"I know, I know, but remember earlier today? You took my arm right off? I pulled off my own head? Skeletons fall apart all the time, but its ok because we can pull ourselves back together again!" Hector explained. "All your parts are right here, mijo. Just focus for me. Remember your arm. What it felt like. What it looks like, where its supposed to be on your body."

Miguel paused, taking a breath and trying to focus, like his grandfather told him to. His right arm… Well it felt like… an arm. Those are useful… More useful on his body though. "I-its not working…" Miguel muttered worriedly.

"Ok, try and think about what you did with them, you know eat, dress, hold stuff." Hector offered. "Try again, ok?"

Ok, ok… Holding things. He held… oranges while he peeled them. He polished shoes. He- he played the guitar. He could remember strumming with his right hand. His left holding for notes-"

"Thats it, keep going like that!" Hector encouraged, clearly seeing something Miguel didn't. "Just like that- oh wait!" Hands found his hoodie zipper, opening it so his right shoulder stump could be clear of obstruction. "Ok, keep thinking."

Playing the guitar. He remembered learning his first few notes, making the guitar in the attic by finding broken ones in the trash, combining them together with tape and secretly buying strings. All those days watching the hand placement on tapes and street musicians, shadowing along with them-

Click.

Miguel blinked, flexing his right arm and finding it in place. He lifted his torso up off the ground a little with them both. "It worked!"

"Course it did." Hector said. "Now just do the same for your spine and legs ok?"

"N'alright." Miguel tried to repeat what he did with his arm. His spine was way harder and Hector had to coach him through it, as well as bring those parts closer to his body, but after thinking about leaning and stretching and cracking his back they wiggled on. His legs were damn easy. Walking got one one, running the other.

"There you go." Hector said happily as he aided Miguel to his feet. "All in one piece."

"Gracias Papa Hector."

"Ah it was nothing!" Hector chuckled. "You did most of it yourself!" He looped his arm around Miguel's shoulders. "Now we should get walking. Imelda awaits." They started off down the street, Miguel being led blindly through darkness-

And wondering why his leg felt so funny…

"Oh!" Hector swooped down, pulling on something before putting back properly. "Foot was backward."

Even after all the turmoil today, Miguel couldn't help but laugh.

The streets were quiet. Hector was still leading Miguel along the cobblestone roads, careful to avoid uneven stones the boy wouldn't see. They had been walking for almost two hours. "Do you even know where Mama Imleda lives?" Miguel asked.

"Of course!" Hector said stiffly, walking a little faster. "Well I mean, I know the district."

"What do you mean by that?" Miguel frowned, growing suspicious.

"Well.. She didn't want me around you know." Hector muttered. "So I knew what area she lives in. Just not what house. I only know the area because she promised to turn my thigh bones into a pair of huarache if I showed my face there…" The man swallowed tightly. "I have no idea how she would do such a thing, but Imelda always finds a way."

"Then how do we find her house?!" Miguel asked.

"She runs a business still. He name should be on a sign." Hector explained.

"Do skeleton's wear shoes?" Miguel said.

"Yes, but she don't do that no more." Hector sighed. "You see Miguel, your Mama Imelda is like a river, sometimes she is calm and tender, other times raging, something no man can tame. However she is flexible to change and when one pathway closes, she goes another, never looking back."

"Whats that got to do with not making shoes?" Miguel blinked.

"Well she figured out pretty quickly that while people do buy shoes around here, they don't wear out as quickly as they do in life. The same goes for all clothes. However there is one thing we need, constantly, that break all the time, get lost, ect."

"Whats that?"

"Globos oculares" Hector said. "You know, what you need in your head right now? So she learned to make glass eyes and has been getting better everyday since she started." He leaned down. "Some people want a fancier pair then what the reception gives you, but Imelda makes plain ones for the reception area as well."

"For not being around her too much you sure do know a lot about her." Miguel stated.

"Yes, well, word gets around you know." Hector said glumly.

Miguel winced when he realized he had unfortunately stepped on a nerve. "So ah… how much longer till we get there?" He asked, hoping to change subjects.

"We have a long way to walk Nino. You saw how big this place was when you came in, Imelda likes to live in the quieter areas, outside downtown. It's very loud and busy around the gates. " Hector said. "If you a time frame I'd say… three, maybe four hours?"

"That long?!" Miguel gasped. "I dunno if I can walk that long! I'm usually waking up about now, not still wondering around since last night."

"Yeah, I know…" Hector hummed a bit, pausing to think. "We could go to my place and see if I have any money floating around. Buy a ride on someone's Alebrije. A few are big enough that some people started doing a sort of taxi service. Get on one of those and we'll be there in no time!"

Miguel frowned again "Are you sure you don't need the money? We can keep walking…"

"Ah, nah!" Hector said easily. "I do odd jobs around town. I got some money to spare. We don't eat as much on this side. We mostly just pay for houses and that junk." He pulled Miguel down a narrow path. "Come on, this way."

With Hector just leading him forward by the hand, Miguel tried to listen around for foot traffic, but it seem the streets were still deserted. "Where is everybody?"

"Its the day after a festival! Nobody is getting up at this time of the morning, at least not happily." Hector made a turn and Miguel's shoulder clipped the corner of a building. "Not even the trollies are running today."

"Hey!"

"Sorry!" Hector stated, slowing down. "Ok, so we just go- AIE!" He halted, Miguel bumping into him at the motion. "I forgot how dangerous the stairs are to get down there."

"Wait, how dangerous are they?" Miguel asked, wishing he could see for himself.

"Well other than being old and rickety and a sudden free fall to one side- ahhh, you know what never mind, don't think about it." Hector laughed nervously. Miguel found himself 'oddly' not esured by that. "Just one step at a time, yeah?"

"Yeah." Miguel grimace. Hector went first, holding Miguel's hand as they went down. As soon as his foot touched the first step, it creaked loudly, shifting down under his weight. He swallowed tightly. "Hector-"

"They do that, this place is older than dirt!" The man scoffed, though he seemed uneasy as well. "Its perfectly safe."

Miguel took the next step with the same ominous noise. Infact every step creak and groaned like his weight would be the one thing to break them apart. He shivered when a heavy gust of wind blew up from the free fall beside him. "I don't like this." He mumbled.

"I'm kinda agreeing with you amigo." Hector said unnerved. "But we're halfway now."

Miguel was glad to hear that at least. They started to go a bit faster now that the finish line was in sight, but the boy blinked when an odd sensation was tingling around his lower stomach area. He put his hand there, disturbed when his hoodie sunk into his shallow abdomen. There was nothing there, so what was this feeling-

"AH!" Miguel yelped when his foot slipped between the steps, causing him to fall. Hector's arm's caught him before the boy could think to do anything. He panted as his grandfather pulled him back up.

"You ok? Didn't lose any parts?" Hector asked, checking his leg over.

Miguel shook as he tried to settle his slamming heart. Yet the feeling in his stomach had spread to his behind his ears. It felt like there was a feather running a Y shaped line between the three points. "My body feels funny." He admitted, clutching his hoodie in his hand.

"Funny? Funny how?" Hector asked.

"Something… Something here." Miguel gestured to his torso. "Like a light pressure." His grandfather opened the jacket to feel around over Miguel's shirt. "Is that normal?"

"Nothing about how you passed is normal, Miguel." The older man sighed.

The feather sensation suddenly turned sharp. It felt hot, like it should be a burning pain but wasn't. The sensation was weird and off putting. Miguel whined deep in his throat. "I don't like this feeling! I getting worse!"

Hector grunted before picking Miguel up and continuing down the steps. The boy blinked as he was jostled around in his grandfather's arms, the darkness offering no clues to what was happening. "Does it hurt?" Hector asked.

"N-no, but it's creepy." Miguel said. "Like it should hurt…"

Hector seemed to take this in and he hummed thoughtfully. Miguel could make out the sounds of his feet hitting solid earth again. "Hold on, we're almost at my house." A door clacked open a few seconds later. "Let me just find the money and we'll keep going." He sat Miguel down on something hard. The boy groaned as he pushed his hands down on it.

"Why do you have a rock in your house?" Miguel whined as the sensation got hotter.

"Thats my bed." Hector said grumpily.

As Hector kept looking, grumbling now, and Miguel lay down. He kept patting a hand around his chest and guts, the feeling still boiling. Then he felt something new, like the line that was drawn down the center of his chest was being pushed apart and his core felt cold.

It was horrifying. An unnatural chill where one should never be felt.

"Ah-AaHAH!" Miguel curled up on the bed, holding his stomach. Pressure was building in his guts. Shifting. "P-Papa! Papa Hector!"

Something smashed to the floor before Hector was at his side. "What?! Whats wrong?!"

"S-something- AH!" Miguel yelped at a terrifying motion in his stomach. "Something's moving! Moving inside me! I don't like it! Make it stop!" Miguel sobbed loudly and tried to curl himself into a solid ball. "Papa Hector make it stop, please! PLEASE!"

Hands hovered over him, Miguel could sense them, but they didn't do anything. His grandfather was panicking. "Oh meird- Hold on!" Then he was gone.

"H-hector!?" Miguel cried out, not being able to see where the man had gone, the feeling of his insides shifting worsened. "Don-Don't leave!" Miguel spasmed when there was more twisting, letting out a squeaky gasp when the cold in his chest expanded and the hot, sharp pressure returned. "PAPA!"

"I'm here!" His voice sounded far away, in another room. "I'm still here, just hang on!"

"Who is that?" A new voices asked, also sounding far off.

"We don't have time!" Hector said to the stranger. "Just hurry!" Feet trampled into the room and Hector was back. "Ok, its ok! I sent my buddy Carlos off to find Imelda. He's got a giant bat Alebrije. He'll find her."

"H-how does that help?!" Miguel whimpered. "My insides are shifting around!"

"Miguel you don't have organs anymore-"

"Tell that to my guts!" Miguel snapped. "They're dancing around likes its Festival de México in there-AH!" Miguel shook. "It feels cold!"

"Miguel, I need you to explain what you are feeling with a little more detail. What was it like when it started?" His grandfather asked, running a hand through his hair.

"L-like a sharp, bruning Y shape… h-here!" Miguel uncurled a bit to show the points gliding down from behind his ears, meeting over his collar bone, then going down to just above the middle of his hips. "Then it was pushed open and- Ohhhhhh…" Miguel rolled face down on the bed. "I'm gonna be sick!"

Hector was silent. The man sighed sadly before crawling up onto the bed and pulling Miguel into his arms. "Amigo. I think I know whats happening."

Miguel sniffled and wiped his eyes with one hand, still curling around his stomach, trying to starve off the cold feeling that was building by the second. "W-what"

"Well…" Hector paused and tried to bring the words together. "When… when people die Miguel, their body is left behind." He leaned back on the bed quietly. "When your body faded away it likely that it went back to the land of the living, just without you."

"What does that mean?!" Miguel whimpered.

"Nino, people's souls have a connection with their body. Its made for them. Its their home. So even after you die, you can kinda feel it, especially right after you pass away." Hector explained softly. "Like I said, it never hurts here. You just get a kinda ghostly feel from it."

"Then whats this?!" Miguel asked fearfully.

"Well, I think somebody found your body Chamaco." Hector said. "And since your body likely doesn't have any obvious sign of what killed you, it's gonna be labeled suspicious. I mean your soul literally left your body." He swallowed tightly. "If I had to guess what their doing…"

Miguel looked up at the pause. "What? What do you think?" He asked, clutching his abdomen.

"I'd say they're doing an autopsy mijo."

Miguel stilled.

Autopsy. They were doing an autopsy. Which meant they had cut him open and-

"MMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmm-!" Miguel clutched his head in his hands. "Oh my god…"

"Ok, try and relax." Hector pried one Miguel's hand's down, squeezing it in his own. "It won't last long. All we can do is ride it out."

"I hate feeling this Papa Hector!" Miguel cired, shaking as the cold continued to spread.

"I know you do, but we can't stop it." Hector sighed. "Don't worry the connection will fade. Slowly over time."

"Did this happen to you?" Miguel asked flinchingly. Hoping the man could relate.

"Ah no. I didn't get an autopsy. Though after what I found out I wish I had." Hector said darkly. Yet Miguel felt him shake the feelings away. "I did feel my body decaying-"

"WHAT?!"

"Easy!" Hector ordered carefully. "It doesn't hurt and it's not gross. It feels almost like butterflies landing on you when none are around. It could be pleasant if you didn't know what it was."

"I don't like this." Miguel said softly, pressing his head back into Hector's side.

"Nobody said dying was easy ninos."

Miguel tried to stay calm, but now that he knew the pressure in his abdomen was actually a hand pulling out his insides for testing- ugh! Lets just say it was hard to ignore. The cold was the chill of the room, filling in the space his organ once sat in.

"Try and remember happer things Miguel. It helps." Hector said as he tucked the boy's head under his chin. "Think of better times."

Better times. The only happy times he could think about right now were with his family. One that came to the forefront was six months ago. His parents had pulled him out of school and taken him out for a walk on the trails outside town. That when they told him he was going to be a big brother. There were only a few months left until the baby arrived and his parents still never told him what it was, even after six long months of waiting. They want it to be a surprise.

He was excited to met them. It had been a long time coming and Miguel had wanted a sibling so much, even after seeing how little his cousins got along together.

Oh.

Miguel started out into the darkness. Now he'd never meet them.

Oh god! He hadn't even thought! If his body was back in the other world then- then-!

Then his family would eventually find out he was dead.

Images of his house darkened with grief came to mind.

Something outside Miguel's cocoon of misery slammed loudly. Hector jumped when it did and the man nervously set Miguel down on the bed again.

"YOU." The voice heavy and furious.

"Imelda-"

"WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE?!" The woman shouted. Something banged to the floor noisily.

"Imelda please-"

"Look at what's happened!" Feet stomped closer. "Look at what your- your infulace has DONE!"

"I didn't-"

"NO! You may not have cursed him. You may not have ment this, but you played your part!" Imelda slammed something again, closer to the bed. "You took him running around the city like a toddler in a candy store! OH I bet you were so happy to finally have a member of the family so similar to you!"

"I didn't even know he was related to me!" Hector argued. "He didn't know who I was-"

"So you tried to turn him into the proper authorities?" Imelda asked scathingly. "To people who could scan him and connect him with his proper family members, so he could be sent home?!"

Silance.

"I thought so." Imelda snarled. "Face it Hector, everything you do isn't for anyone else but yourself! You ran out on me and Coco for music! Now you've killed your own great grandson! For what?! To relive your love of music?! To have somebody on your side?!"

"HEY! I didn't just wander a round this city like it was big party!" Hector responded. "I was trying to help him because he promised to take my picture over-"

"Why do you want that?!" Imelda asked.

"I just- I wanted to see Coco!" Hector shouted. "One last time before I go!"

"..." Imelda seemed shocked by those words, but steeled herself to remark. "What makes you think she misses you?"

Miguel shook at that. Mama Coco had never stopped thinking about her papa. Not a day passed when she hadn't thought of him in almost ninety years. How he wished he could tell her what really happened to him. To be able to say anything to his family on the other side. To hug his mama… To hold his baby brother or sister…

The ghostly hand in his torso squeezed something. Then the dam broke. Miguel just started to wail, curling up tighter as the sensations worsened. His heart felt like it was being ripped from his chest, because that was actually happening or it was the emotional turmoil he wasn't sure.

"Imelda. Lets not fight. Please. Not now." Hector said over the cries.

Imelda took a deep breath before sighing sadly. "Your right. Your right…" There was a creak as Imelda sat down the bed and started to comb her fingers through Miguel's hair. He tried to relax under the menstruation, but things were still squirming around inside him.

"I think they're doing an Autopsy on the other side." Hector whispered to his ex-wife.

"Ay, Dios Mío." Imelda muttered. Arms scooped Miguel up again, but they were small and thinner than Hectors. His great grandmother started to rock him back and forth in her hold. "Can you get me a blanket Hector?" Imelda asked, as she shifted Miguel higher in her grasp.

"S-sure." Hector said quickly, footsteps walked out of the door.

Imelda sighed again, bouncing Miguel as he started to twisted in discomfort. "Everything will be ok mijo."

"I-I'm sorry Mama Imelda…" He trembled as his great grandmother leaned closer to hear his soft voice. "I'm sorry I didn't-"

"Shh. No apologizing." Imelda whispered. "Not now, not ever."

Miguel winced when the pressure went higher into his thoracic cavity. He half wished the sensation did hurt, if for no other reason than to dull the cold, tight, drifting in his chest. Or the aching in his heart. "My mama and papa… I died and now they're gonna blame themselves…"

"Don't think about that Miguel. Rightnow you need to focus on yourself." Imelda said. "We are here for you, and your mama and papa have family with them as well. I was worried about my Coco when she lost your great aunt Tia, she died shortly after I did, but the family pulled together on both sides."

He snuffled and ran his arm over his face roughly. Mama coco… "She never stopped missing Hector." Miguel said quietly. "Mama Coco always thought about him."

"I know." Imelda said sadly. "I wish she didn't though. I wish I didn't."

"H-he wanted to come home to you." Miguel started, trying to explain what he had learned. "He wanted to but -AHHH!"

The feeling spread to his neck.

Imelda said nothing, she just held him closer. Hector's footsteps returned in that quiet moment. "I found one."

"You call that a blanket?" Imelda asked, not angry but concerned.

"I don't have many Imelda." Hector explained and Miguel felt a thin but soft sheet be laid over smelt a little musty but one of them was tucking it in around him.

"I don't understand Hector, you used to make good money even just playing on the street corners." Imelda frowned.

"I don't play anymore."

"Oh." A hand stroked through Miguel's hair again.

"I was hoping you could take him home with you." Hector explained quietly. " Thats where we were going before - before that started."

"Oh really?" Imelda's tone turned suspicious.

"Hey, I want to help him ok?" Hector said sadly. "I really do, but I can't keep a kid in a place like this!"

"You live here?" Imelda shifted as she looked around the room. Miguel couldn't see for himself, but judging from her voice, Imelda wasn't impressed by it. "I thought you'd have moved in with your folks."

"I never knew my parents Imelda. You know that."

"Yeah, cause they died." Imelda said. "I thought you'd meet up them now."

"They died when I was little and nobody I knew could remember them very well in the first place. Faded away long time ago."

Imelda stilled, finger tapping over Miguel's arm. "I'm sorry to hear that…"

"Its ok." Hector moved to a different place in the room, floors creaking. "I thought the same thing when I first got here." The silence that followed was tight and suffocating, or maybe it was just the pressure Miguel had in his throat. "You should get him home Imelda. He's pretty tired."

Imelda shifted once more, like she was going to stand. Instead she crossed her legs and laid Miguel in a better position on her lap. "You really are unbelievable."

"What?" Hector asked wearily.

"Well I can't leave you in a place like this." She snorted. "What kind of heartless person do you take me for?"

"What?! NO! NEVER!" Hector said quickly. "Your the nicest person I know!"

Imelda twitched. "Well it will be my undoing, apparently. Pack up your things, I can put you up."

"...really?" Hector whispered.

"Yes- but in the guest house! Its across the courtyard. You can stay there. At least until you can get something better than this mess." A hand freed itself from holding Miguel to gestured around vaguely. "Just hurry up, I wanna get out of here."

"But- I just- You really want me to-"

"Hector." Imelda sounded exasperated.

"Going! Packing now!" Hector scurried back out of the room.

"Gracias Mama Imelda…" Miguel's voice was straining around the squeezing in his throat. She patted his leg gently in response.

Hector didn't have many things to pack seemingly, because he was back less than five minutes later. "Ok, ok! I'm ready."

"You sure that's everything?" Imelda asked. "You can take a little longer if you want, you know."

"No, no! I don't own much, this is everything I want." Hector said. He took a deep breath before saying. "Trust me."

Imelda stood up, hefting Miguel in her hold. "Pipita is outside. Bring that and we can get going." They were walking again, stepping back outside and Miguel shivered at the way his neck clinched.

"Everything ok Hector?" A voice called as they reached the curb.

"Fine Carlos! Here, I'm moving for a while. Could you take the house?" Hector asked.

"Whoa! Of course!" Carlos said excitedly.

"Hector, come on!" Imelda called as Miguel heard a large growling noise. He had seen his great great grandmother's Alebrije before, he recalled it was pretty scary looking up close. When it sniffed him it blew a large gust of hot air in his face with every exhale. Miguel hoped it wasn't one to hold a grudge like his Mama Imelda.

It growled deeper after a moment, causing the boy to freeze. "Pipita! Stop that please. Hector is -... is going to be stay with us."

Pipita let a confused cat noise.

"Give her your suitcase Hector, your riding on the back." Imelda ordered. "Pipita you lay down and take his suitcase!"

The cat creature grumbled but did as instructed, taking the suitcase in its mouth. There a small juggling motion as the two handed Miguel between themselves as they boarded, until the boy was squeezed between them on the creature's back. Miguel wasn't sure if it was to keep him from falling or to buffer between the two.

"Watch where you put your hands hombre." Imelda snapped, Hector jumping as she did so.

"Yes'am." He said, putting an arm around Miguel and clutching to fur with the other. He was glad for the support. He was feeling a little unsteady na dnasious with the sensations still going on…

Those feelings only got worse when Pipita took off. It was a harsh, jerky motion that almost had Miguel falling off. Hector had a similar issues as he slid back a bit on the creature's back, Miguel bumping into his chest with his head.

"Oh for-" Imelda reached back one handed, snatching Hector's wrist and placing it on her side. "Just don't fall off!" Miguel grabbed hold of his Mama Imelda as well, hugging her around the middle.

The world was a mess of whipping winds and shifting darkness. Besides the two constant bodies anchoring him on either side and Pipita under him, Miguel had no idea where he was. Sudden dips and turns had his stomach rolling. A stomach that he may not even have at moment.

One bad bout of turbulence had Miguel squeezing his grandmother tightly. He was rattling around as Pipita's movements got more violent. Miguel let out a groan as he felt the vibrations in the core of his bones.

"We're landing in the courtyard now." Imelda explained over the flurry of wing beats.

"Imelda!" Their arrival had called the rest of the family out of the house. "What happened?"

"Whats going on?"

"What's Hector doing here?" Aunt Tia's voice came over the crowd more clearly, unhappy to see her grandfather in their home.

"Is that- It can't be…" Aunt Rosita was the first to spot Miguel and all the relatives quieted when they saw him as well.

"Rosita! Set up the room down the hall!" Imelda ordered swiftly, everyone jumping to action at her volume. "Tia, Get me a pair of child sized, dark mahogany brown, glass eyes! Julio, take Hector's things to the guest cottage! Fillipe and Oscar, I need you to watch the shop and keep working on the orders! Hector with me!" She had scooped Miguel up again, making a few quick strides into the house. "We need to alert the Department of Family Relations and The Arrival/Departure Agency." Imelda grunted, forcing a door open. "But first we have to settle him down and wait for the discomfort to pass. Some food and sleep should help, but the autopsy shouldn't last much longer. An hour or two."She put Miguel up higher on her hip and started up some stairs, Hector still twittering behind her.

"An hour or two to pull everything out yeah, but stuffs gonna be put back in later, right?" Hector questioned. Imelda paused mid step and turned to look at him, Miguel could actually feel heat smoldering from her expression.

"Sorry."

Imelda groaned. "What part of calm him down is so hard to understand?"

"I know, its just… he should know what to expect." Hector said helplessly. "Better than him waking up with his guts churning again."

Imelda took a deep breath before grumbling. "I suppose…"

"The room is ready Imelda." Rosita said above them on the next floor, sounding anxious.

"Thank you, go help Oscar and Filipe." Imelda said swiftly, passing her and going down a hallway.

"What do you need me to do?" Hector asked.

"Help me with Miguel for now." Imelda said. "We will be talking later."

Hector swallowed.

They entered a new room. Miguel could tell because everything felt warmer in the smaller space. Pulling his head out of Mama Imelda's neck, he could smell shoe leather, polish, baking and some kind of perfume. It would be a dead match for home, were it not for some hot, metallic smell he could just make out under the others. He was laid down on a bed, this one much more comfortable than Hector's old one.

"How are you feeling mijo?" Hector asked as Imelda took the old blanket of Hector's off him and pull the covers of the bed up.

There wasn't a squeezing or pulling motion in his abdomen anymore. His neck also wasn't trying to strangle himself. It was just the cold, hollowness of his insides that made Miguel feel unwell. He gave a heavy sigh. "Empty."

There was a pause as the two adults likely looked at each other. One leaned over him and judging from the size of the hand cupping his face, it was Imelda. "Don't worry. It will pass."

"Abuelita." Tia's voice entered the room, but there was no creaking floorboards to indicate that she had come inside. "I have the eyes you asked for."

"Gracias Tia. Can you go help everyone in the workshop." Imelda asked. "I promise I'll talk to you about what's going on."

"I can understand most of what's happening…" Her voice grew a bit scathing. "However some 'THINGS' I don't."

"Tia." Imelda only hardened her voice a touch, in warning. Thankfully Miguel could hear Tia sigh in submission and walk away.

"She looks like you." Hector commented quietly.

"Yes, she does. Both she and Elena got my spitfire personality, maybe not all the way through." Imelda said.

"Always served you well eh?" Hector laughed.

"Yes. Well…" Imelda paused, huffing a little. "...We should put his eyes in."

"Right, right!" Hector agreed.

"So." Imelda was back at his bedside. "You ready to see again?"

"You sure this doesn't hurt?" Miguel asked.

"Course not, maybe a little weird." Hector said.

"And you know how to put them in safely?" Miguel added, hesitant.

"It's not difficult." Imelda said. "Putting in your eyes is a tradition on this side. Usually you arrive at Reception with your familia already waiting in the back rooms. They give a sort of intro, then your taken to your family and one of them puts your eyes in for you. Like getting to see a new world with a fresh set of eyes."

Miguel supposed he had head of stranger customs in the land of the living. Especially for welcoming a family member. "So who puts them in?"

"Whomever you want." Imelda said, she paused before sighing. "Hector."

"Uh-yes?"

"You put one in. I'll do the other." She said. The was another pause before she groaned. "Take it. You want to right?"

"I- yes I do."

"Good." The bed creaked as Imelda sat down. "Miguel, keep your eyes open. You'll feel pressure and then, when its in, blink a few times."

"O-ok…"

"Don't be nervous." Imelda said. Her hand came to his left eyes, and he felt it shuffle around until the eye was pushing against … something in the blackness of his empty socket. It felt cold and smooth. Miguel swallowed, willing the, uh, muscles? Magic? Soul stuff? Whatever was holding in there, to relax. Imelda shifted a finger, nudging something in Miguel's skull, before the ball just dropped in. Miguel flinched back at the weight of it, eyes fluttering and trying to adjust.

"Cold…" He muttered.

"Yes they are, but they warm up quickly." Imelda chuckled a little. "Take a look, how's it working?"

He opened his left eye, wincing at the light entering the room. "It gets bright here…"

"We have a day and night, just like everyone else." Imelda said, Miguel looking over at them with his working eye. The preption was a little off, but once he got the other eye he figured it would get fixed. Both Hector and Imelda were at his bed side, Hector holding the next glass eye, which was a little weird to see out of a socket. They were smiling softly, but it wasn't a happy smile. More of a simper.

"Hector, your turn." Imelda shifted on the bed, making room for her ex-husband. He twitched, looking at her nervously, but nodded and came forward.

"Ready?" He asked.

"I guess?" Miguel said, wincing a bit already. Imelda patted his hand.

He closed his left eye and tried to keep the right open now. Hector applied a little more pressure than Imelda, but even with that it wasn't going in right. It just felt like a hard pushing on his eye rather than the eye actually entering.

"Hector, that's a little too difícil." Imelda spoke, but it was more of a tender reminder than scolding.

"I'm just trying to get it in." Hector responded. "I've never done this… you know."

"Here." A second hand joined Hector's. "Lighten up." Pressure lessened over Miguel's eye and he felt Imelda leading Hector's hand. "Then just nudge the lower eyelid a touch and-" Miguel flinched again as the heavy ball popped in. "Like a ring on the finger."

Miguel blinked furiously, getting vision in both eyes and wincing at the light. The room weaviered a touch, but once it came into focus Miguel could say it was... a room. Small but in a cozy sort of way, with white walls, wooden floors, and a slanted ceiling. All that was really in here for furniture was a nice, warm, wooden bed with a side table and rug.

Miguel supposed this would be his room from now on.

"Now I know you will want to look around, but try to take a quick nap." Imelda said, tucking him in. "You've been up all night and you've been through a rather rough emotional patch. You need some sleep."

"Mama Imelda, I dunno if I can-"

"Just try." Imelda's tone wasn't unkind, but there was enough of an edge that kept Miguel from arguing. He turned to look up at the ceiling, trying to close his eyes and pretend he was really back home, in his own bed. It actually made him feel worse, memories of when he was little floated to the surface, his mother tucking him in.

The emotion must have slipped out on his face, because Hector shuffled a little closer on the bed to run a hand through his hair. There a moment of silence before Imelda sighed, the two sharing another look.

Hector took a deep breath.

"Remember me…" Hector's voice was still a little rusty, having not sung a word for so long until earlier this day. However the warmth and tenderness in his voice was comforting. "Though I have to say goodbye, remember me… Don't let it make you cry. For even if I'm far away I hold you in my heart, I sing a secret song to you each night we are apart…"

"Remember me-" Miguel almost opened his eyes when he heard his Mama Imelda join in the song. Hector was clearly shocked, as his voice petered out for a second, but his performer instincts kicked in and he started to sing with her again. Miguel was tempted to look, but he felt like doing so would break a sort of spell. " Though I have to travel far… Remember me, each time you hear a sad guitar. Know that I'm with you the only way that I can be. Until you're in my arms again, remember me…"

They both started to hum the tune, hands still running through his hair and squeezing his own softly in their grip. Hector had told him the song was originally a lullaby and now that Miguel was hearing it sung as such, it was clearly what it was made to be. Much more peaceful. The long night was finally catching up with him and Miguel was starting to nod off.

His last thought before passing out was that Mama Imelda and Papa Hector were a pretty good duet.

They hummed the song for another solid five minutes. Even after all these years they knew how to sing a child to sleep and they knew the signs to look out for before they tried to tip toe out of the room. It was only after Miguel's broken expression laxed and his breathing deepened that they were sure he was asleep. Even then they stayed, watching him a little longer, no words shared between them. It reminded Hector of when Coco was little, they would sit at her bed side, watching her peacefully dream the night away.

How he missed those days.

A hand tugged at his hat, and he looked up to Imelda, who tilted her head to the door. Slowly they edged out of the room, his ex-wife shutting the door as quietly as possible. She stood at the door silently before a frown took over her expression and she softly rested her head against the wood. Her shoulders shuttered with a deep breath.

Hector was feeling the same way. Today was not a good day.

"This is…" Imelda muttered under her breath. She took another heavy breath. "It shouldn't have been like this." She swallowed. "He's much too young."

Children were very unusual in the the land of the dead, at least these days. They were usually looked out for by all the inhabitants of the afterlife, if only because they were pitied for their early demise. Child never grew up, never experienced life. Now Miguel would be a child forever, something that was both a blessing and a curse.

Imelda ran her hand over the door. "There is nothing more we can do about that now. He's our responsibility…" She stepped back to look at him sadly. "Hector… I want to apologize for how I reacted at first. I know you would never intend for this."

"Imelda…"

"BUT-" She held up a hand, keeping him in place. "Don't mistake my kindness for forgiveness. You ran off and left Coco and I alone. You left us and-" She pointed at him furiously when he tried to interject. "I DO NOT care why you never came home. Your here until you save the money to get a better place than that hole you were living in. Once you do, you out. So don't think for a moment I'll let you sit around the house doing whatever you please." She started to stalk up to him, Hector stumbling back until he bumped into the walk, he winced when Imelda prodded him in the chest pointedly. "Your working here, cooking, cleaning and whatever else I can think of, while we're in the shop. I'll give you some spending money, but the majority of it I will save for you until you have made well enough for a place of your own, got that?!"

"Yes'am." He said softly.

She studied him before deflating a bit. "You can go in the kitchen, the living room, where you want but anything past Miguel's door here on the second floor-" She pointed at the boys door, which was right beside the staircase. "Is off limits to you. Comprende?" When he nodded again she stepped away from him, Hector almost melting in relief. She turned and started down the staircase. "I have to tell the others whats going on… and Hector."

She paused mid step once more, yet she didn't turn to face him. "Don't-... Don't talk to me unless you have to."

Then Hector was alone in the darkened hallway.

So I should also note that I know no Spanish. So any help with that would be good to!