I posted this on AO3 at the beginning of the month, so I'll post it here too because I want this crack ship to get more attention. Enjoy!
It had been a couple years since that fateful Day of the Dead, and a lot had changed since then. Not only was Papá Héctor's place in the family tree restored along with his honor, but the music ban was lifted and both the dead and living Riveras could enjoy listening to music and playing their favorite instruments now. However, the biggest change of them all was not the welcoming of Papá Héctor back into the family, but Ernesto being let out from underneath the bell and given a chance to redeem himself…
Yup, that's right – Ernesto was free now, on the terms that he now had to do his part in the workshop. It all started when Victoria had decided to visit him while he was still under the bell one day, and she asked him why he chose to murder her grandfather. When he answered her, she learned that he had done it because her grandfather had been the only person he had left – and it was then and there that she saw a new side to the mariachi; a side she never would've expected him to show, until then. Needless to say, she offered him a chance to work at her family's shoe store and he took it – though of course Mamá Imelda had some objections to it at first, but nevertheless, the mariachi was given his little work uniform and put to the job the next day.
Since then, he had been working long and hard to prove himself, and it showed. During his stay, he and Victoria began to talk a lot and soon, strangers turned into friends. It was a weird friendship, but surprisingly it worked – they found it easy to talk to one another, despite their conflicting personalities. There were even moments where they got a little intimate, a little too close and personal…
Victoria's cheeks lit up as she recalled those times, and she quickly tried to shake those thoughts from her mind. She tried to focus on playing her violin, but it was hard when all she could think about was Ernesto, and how handsome he was and – wait, what? No, that couldn't be right. He was her grandfather's murderer, for heaven's sake! And yet, he was making an effort to change…
Stop it, Victoria, she scolded herself as she sat on a crate in a secluded area of the city, where she often went to have some time to herself, away from her family. You need to get your head out of the clouds. This isn't a fairytale or a movie, this is reality. She let out a sigh. Oh, this was all so aggravating.
"Si a los engaños dieran premios, hubiera varios ya ganados," she began to sing, expressing her feelings through song. "No me interesa tener novios, eso es historia ya lo se todo!"
What she hadn't been aware of was the fact that she wasn't alone, and that her Tía Rosita, Tío Oscar and Tío Felipe were eavesdropping on her behind a wall. Realizing that their niece was in a state of denial and needed some persuasion, the three jumped out from behind the wall and began singing as well, much to her surprise.
"¿A quién crees que engañas?" Rosita sang her reply, while strumming her guitar's strings. "El es lo que tu mas quieres!"
"Ocultarlo tratas-" Oscar began singing his part.
"-es hermoso lo que sientes!" Felipe finished, while his brother began to play the trumpet.
Victoria soon shook off her surprise and sang out her denial, "Oh nooo…"
"No lo disimules, bien sabemos donde esta tu corazón!" her uncles and aunt sang together in unison.
"Ohh~" Victoria stood up and turned to them, her eyes hard and narrowed. "No van a oír que lo diga, no, no!"
"Tu sueño es, no lo niegues, uh-oh!" they sang back, knowing very well that she was hiding her true feelings behind a stoic mask, just like always.
Victoria scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Jamás lo haré, no hablaré de mi amor…" With that, she began to walk away from them, towards some statues of lovers in the distance. "Creía ya haber aprendido, siempre el inicio es hermoso." She smiled bitterly, remembering how her parents used to tell her stories of how they met and fell in love when she was a little girl. At a young age, she had always dreamed of finding her own prince charming – but now, at age fifty, she was more cautious. She didn't want to be torn apart from her lover as her grandmother had been, nor did she want to suffer any heartbreak lest she should be just another addition to the list of girls Ernesto had been with. Being used and then having her heart ripped to shreds was her biggest fear. "Mi mente dice, 'Ten cuidado, porque no todo es maravilloso!'"
"Claramente vemos que lo quieres y lo extrañas," Rosita, Oscar and Felipe all sang, giving their niece sympathetic looks. Seeing her grip the sides of her head and yell out "no" while her eyes were filled with tears made them feel sad, now that they knew why she was deep in denial. "No lo aceptaremos date cuenta que lo amas." As she went over to another statue of two lovers, they quickly ran in front of her as they finished with: "Trata de admitirlo, debes de enfrentarlo muy ena-mo-rada estas~!"
"Nooo~" She walked past them, hopping on a few stone steps in a pond. "No van a oir que lo diga no, no!" She stumbled, yet didn't fall as her hand latched onto something. She looked up and saw that it was the hand of an Ernesto statue, which someone must've forgotten to take down. She couldn't help but smile a little, bringing herself up to lean against his chest, picturing it was the man himself.
Rosita noticed this. "Ya rindete tu sonrisa es de amor!" she sang with a bright grin on her face.
Victoria quickly moved away from the statue at the sound of her aunt's voice. "No insistan mas no dire que es amor!" She crossed her arms, then placed her hands over the places where her ears had once been.
"Quieras o no te atrapo el amor!" the three sang back, still determined to make her accept her feelings.
She put her hand up, waving them off in dismissal. "No pidan mas que lo diga."
"No lo dice no-"
"No haran jamas que lo diga!" she snapped as she turned to face them, causing the twins to yelp and hide behind Rosita.
"Su orgullo no deja que hable de amor," Rosita finished singing, with a shrug and a smile.
"I'm not in love!" Victoria yelled exasperatedly. She proceeded to stomp off back to the shoe shop, only to bump into someone on the way. She rubbed her forehead, then took the person's reached out hand, only for her eyes to widen as she looked up to see who it was.
"I'm sorry," Ernesto apologized. "I didn't see you there."
"I-it's fine," Victoria stammered as she got back up on her feet. "I should've been looking where I was going." There was a pause, then, "What are you doing around here?"
"Delivering shoes," he answered simply. "What else?" They both chuckled at that. After having a good laugh, he asked her, "What about you?"
"I was trying to get some time to myself," she replied. "But that didn't work out." Her teeth were gritted at the last words.
"Oh." He seemed to pause for a moment, then, "Say, would you like to go on a walk together with me? It could take your mind off things."
"I…" she trailed off for a moment, before a small smile formed on her face. "Yes, I'd like that. I'd like that very much."
As they began to walk away, she thought that maybe, just maybe, love wasn't too bad.
"Nadie sabra, no hablare de mi amor…"