Hi friends,
Here's a really sad one-shot that I came up with because this movie made me really emotional.
I hope you enjoy it((?) in the emotional and sad way).
Disclaimer: I only own Ana, Vicente, Tita, and Andres. Everything else belongs to Pixar.
Chapter One
Héctor rested in his small hut, wincing slightly at the gold flash that rattled his bones.
"Calmase, amigo." Chicharrón said, sitting beside him and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't have much time left, primo. I'm surprised my Coco's remembered for this long." Héctor replied with a sad grin. Chicharrón sighed, and stood, walking to the doorway and looking out.
"Tio Vicente, Cousin Ana, ven aqui." He called, and two skeletons walked up to him. One was a young woman, obviously only in her teens when she had died, and the other was a man who was probably in his fifties when he had died.
"How is he?" Ana asked, peeking inside the tiny house. Chicharrón shook his head.
"He won't last much longer, prima. We need to tell his familia. Even if they hate him, they need to know." The short skeleton said, and Vicente nodded firmly.
"We'll find them. Vámonos, Ana." He said, taking the younger skeleton's arm and walking away from their home, towards the city of the Remembered. The two stayed to the shadows, walking quickly and silently. They didn't know how much longer their friend had, and they only hoped that the Rivera family had returned from their visit to the Land of the Living.
"Mira." Ana said softly, pointing to the home before them. A light was on in the window, and Vicente breathed a sigh of relief. He walked up to the door, and knocked. It was opened by a smiling skeleton, dressed in pink and white. Vicente removed his hat, and Ana stepped back respectfully.
"Hola! How can we help you?" the skeleton asked.
"Señora, my name is Vicente, and this is Ana. We are here to ask if there is anyone in your familia who can spare a few minutes to come to Shanty Town with us. Héctor Rivera is fading into the Final Death." Vicente said hopefully.
"Héctor? Un minuto, señor." The skeleton said, her eyes showing her worry. She closed the door, and there was the sound of muffled voices. Ana bounced on her feet, looking around frantically.
"We need to hurry." She said, touching Vicente's arm. He spared a final look at the house, and nodded, taking Ana's hand and beginning to walk away. They were stopped by the door opening again.
"My name is Julio, and this is my sister, Rosita. Where is Héctor?" a shorter skeleton asked, holding a straw hat in his hands.
"Follow us." Ana said, and the two led the siblings through the streets, and into Shanty Town.
"Chich! We found two of them!" Vicente called, and Ana stepped into the hut.
"Tio Héctor? We found some of your familia." She said softly, kneeling beside the fading skeleton.
"Ay, mija. Gracias por todo." Héctor told her, patting her hand gently. Ana shut her eyes tightly and stepped back. Vicente pulled her into a hug, and the young skeleton stared at Héctor in disbelief. Julio and Rosita stepped forward cautiously.
"Primo, this is Julio and Rosita, two of your family members." Vicente said, and nodded for the two to move forward.
"Hola, Héctor." Julio said hesitantly, and Rosita touched his arm supportively. "I'm Coco's husband, and Rosita is my sister." With the help of Chicharrón and some pillows and boxes, Héctor managed to sit up, looking at his two family members.
"I remember you two. Imelda and I were at both your Baptisms. Your parents were good people." The weak skeleton said, and Rosita sat beside him on the ground, reaching out to gently take his hand.
"Our parents were some of the only people in the town who didn't believe those rumors about you running off with a young senorita." She said, and Héctor chuckled, shaking his head.
"I didn't run off with anyone. I never meant to leave Imelda and Coco. We had been on the roar for nearly a month and a half. Ernesto loved the crowds and the fame, but I missed my girls. I packed my things, and Ernesto and I fought that night." Héctor said, and Rosita and Julio looked at one another. "He said he couldn't perform without my sons, and I asked him not to hate me. He sent me off with a toast, and walked me to the train station. Halfway there, I felt a pain in my stomach. I thought it had been something I ate. I blacked out, and I woke up here." Rosita held Héctor's hand tighter.
"Imelda was wrong." Julio breathed, shaking his head. "She believed the rumors and the whispers of the town, but Coco never did. She always talked about how, one day, she would see her papá again. She knew he would never leave her or her mother." Héctor smiled fondly.
"My Coco. She always saw the best in people. Was she happy?" he asked, looking at his son-in-law, who sat beside Rosita.
"Si. She was everything to me. We had two daughters, Victoria and Elena, and Elena's had three children, and five grandchildren." Julio said, and Héctor's tired smile grew.
"Ay, your family is busy, primo." Chicharron said teasingly, making Héctor laugh.
"Felipe and Oscar never married?" he asked, and Rosita laughed slightly.
"No. They preferred to take care of their sister and niece. Imelda always said that they scared all the girls off with their experiments." She replied.
"They tried to scare me off. Placed fireworks in my old guitar. Scared the pantalones off Ernesto, but I could appreciate a good prank." Héctor said fondly. He grimaced as another wave of gold light washed over him, and Rosita lifted her hand, gently brushing his hair back.
"Respira, Papá Héctor. Respira." She said soothingly.
"I'm surprised Coco's remembered me for so long." Héctor remarked slowly as the pain subsided. "She was only four when I died, and even with the ban, she kept remembering." Héctor looked at Julio and Rosita, his gaze questioning. "You two don't seem to have the same idea of me as Imelda and her brothers. Why?"
"We watched a dedicated man take care of his wife and daughter for four years, and after that we listened to the stories our parents told us of a determined young boy who played music in the plaza day after day, trying to impress a pretty young señorita." Julio said, and Héctor's eyes held a faraway look in them. "We grew up not believing a word of the rumors, because we remembered someone who saw his wife and daughter as his world. Even when I married Coco, and music was forbidden, as was mention of your name, Coco talked about you without her mother's knowledge. She adored you." Héctor looked at Julio with a small laugh.
"Coco chose the right man." He said, and Julio smiled back as Héctor reached out to him, taking his arm. "Mijo, I have a favor to ask you."
"Anything, Papá Héctor." The short skeleton replied.
"When Coco comes, tell her how much her papá loved her, and how sorry he was that he couldn't see her. Tell her how I tried to come back." Héctor said, his voice pleading as gold washed over him, giving him a beautiful glow. He looked up at Ana, Vicente, and Chicharrón, and smiled widely at them. "Gracias, mi familia. Te amo." Héctor closed his eyes, and let out a breath, his bones fading into a golden dust as he succumbed to the Final Death. Rosita gasped quietly, tears in her eyes, and Ana leaned against Vicente, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
"Vaya con Dios, Papá Héctor." Julio said softly, bowing his head. Chicharrón stepped out of the hut, telling the others what had just happened.
"Thank you for bringing us here." Rosita said shakily, standing and looking at Vicente.
"Of course. You deserved to know what happened." He replied, and Julio took his sister's hand.
"We have to go tell the others." He said, and Rosita nodded. They walked out of the hut, through the silent and mourning Shanty Town, and up towards the main part of town. When they reached the house, and walked into the courtyard, the other members of their family awaited them.
"Where were you?" Victoria asked, walking up to her father and aunt.
"What's wrong?" Felipe asked in concern, seeing their saddened faces.
"Perdonanos, Señora Rivera. I am Tita Rosario, one of the officers from the Marigold Bridge, and this is Andres Lopez." A female skeleton said, dressed in a grey uniform. Another skeleton stood beside her, wearing the same uniform.
"How can we help you?" Imelda asked, stepping forward.
"We were wondering about Héctor Rivera?" Andres asked, and Rosita took a breath.
"We have nothing to do with him. What did that idiota do?" Imelda asked sharply.
"He hasn't done anything. It's just… every Dia de los Muertos, for the past ninety-six years, Héctor has tried to cross the bridge. The first few years, it was him just running across, but he's cooked up some very elaborate schemes, and we've gotten used to expecting him." Tita said, laughing slightly. Imelda stilled, and Felipe and Oscar looked at one another. "Last year he even dressed as Frieda Kahlo. If it hadn't been for an alebrije pulling off his costume, he may have gotten past." Julio chuckled, shaking his head.
"We haven't seen him try to cross, and wondered if he's actually gotten past without us knowing, or if he had come to visit you. It's just the concern of some amigos, señora. Nothing more." Andres said. "He's gotten very familiar with the officers around there, and we've all been silently cheering him on for years."
"I don't know where he is." Imelda said, her posture tense.
"Héctor faded into the Final Death a few minutes ago." Rosita said softly, and Julio nodded. The Rivera skeletons looked at the two with wide eyes, and the officers looked down sadly.
"That's what we were scared of. We could all see it, in his bones and his schemes. He never stopped trying to get back to his Coco." Tita said sadly.
"That's all he would ever talk about, seeing his Coco again. He once told us that if he got to see Coco one more time, he would stop. Just knowing she was happy would be enough for him." Andres added, and he placed a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Gracias, señora, for telling us." Rosita nodded, and the two walked off, back towards the bridge.
"You saw Héctor?" Oscar asked.
"You were still in the Land of the Living. Two skeletons came to the door, and brought us to Shanty Town. We stayed with Héctor until he faded." Julio said, and he looked at Imelda, who was staring into the distance. "All he wanted was to see you and Coco again. He never wanted to leave either of you." Julio guided his sister inside, and was followed by the rest of the family. Imelda stayed outside, her eyes filled with unshed tears. She never thought it would be hard, learning of his fading. She had taught herself long ago that Héctor would never be part of her life again. Tearing him from the foto, leaving him off the ofrenda, and chasing off his advances in the Land of the Dead.
"I never wanted this." Imelda whispered to herself. She heard the laughter and celebration around her from other families, but she ignored them. "I never wanted you to fade."
Well, I had to.
Please review and let me know what you think, and let me know if you have any other one-shot ideas.
This movie had become my favorite Pixar movie, mainly because it's so beautifully well done.
See you next time, musicians.
Love,
Enchantress