Hector/Imelda is the best… I love them so much, and the potential for some amazing BAMF Imelda and Shy Hector is perfect!
I may one day, write an Alpha/Omega Au of Coco, that'll be way more dramatic than the film ?
This is a sequel to True Love Never Dies
…..
They'd remembered Hector every Día de los Muertos.
His photo had a prized spot on the ofrenda and every year, they would tell stories about him, talking about his music and his dorky habits.
It continued on this way for years, even when Coco met her future husband, Julio and his sister, Rosita. Their daughter, Victoria, heard the story every year.
Now, that wasn't to say everything was happy with the small family.
With Hector gone, Imelda found it difficult to support her and her daughter at first, struggling to put food in the table by doing odd jobs around the village.
Her own mother told her to marry again, which she ignored.
The village tried to give her charity, which she sneered at…. She was not something to be pitied. It wasn't as if her husband had left her for another woman.
She would manage fine on her own and there was nothing that could stop her.
Eventually, with the help of a friendly merchant, she set up her own shoe-making store, teaching her daughter and the other members of her family to make gorgeous shoes that people would come from near and far to buy.
She had survived with Hector… even though she shouldn't have had to.
Now she was in her seventies, and she didn't want to do this for much longer.
Her daughter was happy, the business was booming, and Hector would be waiting for her.
Lying in her bed, Imelda stared up at the ceiling…. It had taken some time to persuade Coco that she was alright, and that she would see her beautiful daughter in the morning. Every since Imelda had found herself struggling to do the everyday things, Coco had hovered over her.
If she had known that Imelda felt like she wouldn't last the night, Coco would have never left her alone.
Weakly turning over, she turned her attention to the photo beside her…. The very same photo they had found on in Hector's pockets after preparing him for… for the funeral. He'd clearly taken it to send in another letter before the whole Ernesto incident happened.
He had a big, daft grin on his face, and Imelda could honestly say it was her favourite photo of him.
"I'm coming my love…" she whispered, gently stroking the photo, "… I'm coming."
With those final words, she closed her eyes and breathed her last breath.
….
"Señora Rivera? Señora Rivera?"
Wearily, Imelda opened her eyes, yelping slightly at the sight of a skeleton standing over her.
"It's okay, it's okay…" the skeleton backed away and held up her hands, "… I know this is all a little overwhelming, but- "
"- where am I?"
"The Land of the Dead Señora Rivera… you have…. You passed on."
It was then that Imelda realised that she felt light than she had in years, her bones didn't ache, and her eyesight was as it always used to be. "I-I'm dead…."
"Yes. We know that it can take some getting used to, but- "
"- I need to see my husband."
The other woman took a step back in shock, before a soft smile appeared on her face and she nodded in understanding. "Of course. If you could just give us a name, then we'll- "
"- Hector Rivera."
"Oh!" The other woman seemed delighted by this, "Of course, you must be Imelda! Every time Hector comes through customs on Día de los Muertos, he tells us a new story about you!" The other woman sighed happily, "You are so lucky… he sounds like you're his entire world whenever he talks about you."
Imelda turned away, not wanting to show the other woman her pleased flush… however, when she caught her reflection in the mirror, she realised that was pointless.
Skeletons don't blush.
"Ah!" she cried out in alarm, before scolding herself internally and turning back to her companion, who simply waved it off.
"You're not the first to react like that, and you won't be the last, now…" The woman pulled a small device out of her pocket, "… let's see if we can get a hold of your husband?"
…
Whilst the other woman contacted Hector, Imelda was left alone to get used to her new experience, even getting some new clothes. So many people must die in their sleep, that fresh clothing made sense.
She picked out a beautiful purple dress and made sure her hair was nice and presentable… she couldn't be a mess when Hector arrived.
"Imelda! Imelda!"
Speak of the devil… up popped his ex-best friend.
"Imelda! Imelda!"
"Senor, please! Your wife is- "
At the familiar voice, Imelda finished her preparations, and turned to face the door… which slammed open seconds later.
He hadn't changed…. Even as a skeleton, Hector was still as handsome as she remembered. He stumbled into the room, limbs flying all over the place… he always looked as though he hadn't quite grown into them.
She was pleased to see that his clothes were at least neat, he always was useless at sewing…. That hat was…. Actually, she could probably get use to the hat.
He was still so young.
"Imelda!" Hector beamed at the sight of her, racing over and wrapping his arms around her, burying his face in her neck, "Imelda I- "
Suddenly he paused, pulling his head away as he heard a muted sobbing coming from his wife, "Imelda? Mi amor, what's wrong?"
"You-you- "she cursed under her breath, prompting Hector to take a cautious step back, "- you ¡estúpido idiota!"
"But- "
"- I was so prepared to be angry at you!" she snarled, knowing that if she still had tear ducts, she would be crying. "You left, and I was- I was- ugh!"
She grunted in frustration, grabbing Hector by his collar and pulling him into another hug. "I missed you so much!" she eventually sighed, a smile appearing on her face as Hector didn't hesitate to return the hug.
"I have missed you too." He whispered in her ear, his own shoulders shaking with emotion, "And-and, I-I'm sorry about everything!"
"Sssh, sssh…" Gently, Imelda pulled away and placed her hands on Hector's cheek, "… none of this was your fault…. You tried to come home and that bastardo stopped you!"
To her shock, Hector tilted his head to one side in confusion, a frown on his face. "Huh?"
Something was wrong.
"Remember the letter you sent me… and how you were so worried about Ernesto? D-don't you remember what happened after that?"
"I-I got food poisoning didn't i?"
Imelda felt like her heart was breaking at this, "Hasn't anyone told you what happened? The police, anyone?"
Silence.
"I… I've never really had a reason to talk to the police." Hector whispered, confusion on his face, "Imelda, what are you talking about?"
Imelda thought she was going to collapse.
How did he not know?!
True, they'd never talked about Hector's murder during their stories, but surely he knew what happened to him?!
"Imelda?"
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she plastered a smile on her face and gently took his arm. "Why don't we go home first, hmmm?"
"But- "
"- Hector, please."
There was a brief moment of silence before Hector nodded and allowed his wife to tug him out of the room and out of the station.
….
She didn't really want to tell him… not when he was so innocent, so willing to believe that he died because of a bit of food poisoning. He might have had his suspicions about Ernesto back then, but he never imagined that Ernesto would go that far.
In fact, he refused to believe it for almost two hours.
It was only when he truly thought about it, that he realised what happened… why Ernesto had done nothing but avoid since coming here himself.
"I trusted him…" Hector whispered, allowing his wife to pull him into a hug, "… he was my best friend. I-I know he was acting strangely and I was worried about that, but-but… He was my best friend! I never thought he would do something like that! I thought I was just being paranoid!"
Knowing that her husband was starting to panic, Imelda pulled him closer, allowing him to rest his head on her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair gently. "He was punished…" she whispered gently, "… life in prison with no chance in parole."
"He's free down here though."
"… What?"
Hector arched into the gentle movements in his hair, a content smile slowly appearing on his face. "Yeah… I know why he avoids me thou- Ah, ah, ah Imelda!"
Unconsciously, Imelda's fingers had tightened in her husband's hair, quickly releasing it when he yelped in pain.
"Sorry mi amor…" she whispered, anger still in her voice, "… But I thought that life in prison would carry over into death."
"I know… but you're here now, my knight in shining armour." Hector beamed up at her, "You'll protect me."
The tone was teasing, and Imelda returned the smile, playing along.
Privately however, she was thinking of the satisfaction she would feel when she next got the chance to hit Ernesto across his smug, stupid face.