Disclaimer: I do not own any characters of "The book of life", except for maybe the villain of the story and Rafael (the son of María and Manolo). If I did own it, it wouldn't be as popular.

The light of hope

A supremely heavy thunderstorm had accented the usually sunny land of San Angel Mexico, the inhabitants being lucky to avoid getting pounded by the heavy raindrops ascending from the heavens above. It was pure luck that the roads paved with sand/dirt wasn't flooded by the weighted rainstorm.

However, a simple dreary evening was the last thing a certain couple had to fret over.

Not-long-newly-weds Manolo and María Sanchez were both laying heavily in their bedroom as they slept soundly...until a loud wailing penetrated through the walls, almost instantaneously awaking the two parents.

A groan elicited from María's throat as she tried to wake herself up so she could get up and tend to her fussy son. She had trained in martial arts and sword mastery in a Spanish boarding school, she even rallied against the most vicious mercenaries that the town had ever had the almost-pleasure of dealing with. She never had expected THIS to be the most hardest thing she ever had to deal with!

It wasn't even a month after their wedding before María had discovered that she was pregnant with Manolo's child. While she was nervous about the whole thing, her husband was thrilled to hear the news but stuck firmly by her side throughout the whole ordeal.

Now, here they were nine months later...

She tried to wake herself up properly but when the woman was just about to make the correct moves to get herself up and out of bed, she felt a gentle arm rest on her back in a weak attempt to restrain her. She groaned a second time when she looked over at her equally tired lover, Manolo who smiled gently at her.

"No, mi amour...let me..." The man yawned, his eyes heavy but still filled with that same innocent yet kind-heartedness he had since he was but a child at play.

"Mmph..." María didn't have the energy to argue with him so she just lain back down on her shoulders, snuggling into a comfortable position to drift off once again into dreamland. She even let out a contented sigh as she snuggled up against her pillow as if it was the most precious thing in the world.

Unable to help himself, Manolo chuckled softly and craned his neck so he could give her a featherlight peck on the forehead before he readjusted his position and sat up so he could try and remove the covers of the bed he and his wife shared. After lightly peeling himself out of the blankets, the man ambled out of the side of bed and started to follow the cries down the hallway.

The hallways of the house were dark and almost pitch black with very little lighting due to how late it was in the evening. It would usually be in a man's dreams to wander an endless labyrinth for all of eternity before waking up again to find that it was a nice and crisp daylight outside.

More then once, Manolo secretly feared wandering down these corridors. He had died once and he didn't wish to travel through the lands of the remembered and the forgotten a second time on his whole lifetime?

He wandered down many corridors for what felt like an eternity before he finally found the room he had sought out.

After reaching for the doorknob and twisting it, he softly pushed the door open and the wails and cries became full blown now. The origins were clearer than crystal as Manolo stared softly at an old wooden crib that was placed in the centre of the room with a very familiar pig parked at the right side so he could face Manolo the moment the door opened.

Giving a confused oink, Chuy slowly stretched himself along the soft blue carpets and looked worriedly back at the little infant inside the crib while tossing and turning.

Kneeling down to meet the pig's level, Manolo sighed through his nose and exhaled in a soft voice while he stroked his hand along the pig's back with that little bit of light shining into the room via door. He asked in what sounded like a whisper "Chuy, can you please fetch my guitar?"

The pig nodded obediently and trotted out the door to leave father alone to tend to his bawling son and to go and get the item requested of him.

Manolo stood back up and slowly approached the crib before he peered slowly into it to see the bawling baby inside, wrapped in multiple blankets, and with eyes full of tears. While everything with the child was seemingly healthy at a quick first glance, another much paced and slow glance shown that the boy had a single eye that was grey and clouded.

Manolo had no idea how his son had been born half blind and the doctors say that it was a birth defect. However he refused to love his son any less than he loved the child's mother and wasn't going to allow the baby to feel lonesome or scared, which was what probably was going on now.

Reaching down into the crib, the man scooped the bundle up into his arms and started to softly cradle the distressed child in his strong arms. The new father noticed that the baby's cries lessened in volume once he was in his arms and he couldn't help but smile just because of it.

"Aw, my little one. Were you lonely?" He asked, his tone warmer then a freshly steaming bowl of churos.

The baby didn't offer a reply but continued to wail. The cries became much louder when a flash of lightning had decided to shake the skies above and offer a loud crash to come with it. Startled, Manolo started to shush his frightened son and rocked him in his protective arms as he decided to sit down in a nearby chair. He adjusted the child in his arms as he done this as if to make him more comfortable.

"¡Ay, ay, ay!...no need to fear, my little one, papá will make everything better." He assured the newborn while gingerly held out one of his fingers for his son to hold which was immediately gripped on by a very little hand. It was so little that the digits that was attached to said hand could barely wrap themselves around the offered finger.

Manolo watched with a teary-eyed yet heartfelt smile as his son started to calm down in his arms. Both innocent eyes stared up and watched him with such intrigue as if waiting for something, the little infant cooed and sniffled as he relaxed in his father's loving arms.

It was then that Chuy returned with the requested guitar as he dragged it into the room but was sure to be gentle with it, knowing that it would hopefully give him a better nights rest.

Nodding his head with gratitude, Manolo stood back up and placed the child back inside the crib before taking his guitar into his possession while he smiled sincerely down at his little son.

"Now, my little one, allow me to sing you a song if you may."

Manolo told the infant as he started to strum his guitar, although the chords sounded a little out of tune. Noticing his son starting to become distressed once more, the man quickly amended this and fixed the guitar picks to play the proper melody and he even shushed the little one again while he was at it. He quieted him with a soft "shh" before he started to strum his guitar.

He hummed a little lullaby as he played a song on the guitar. He even murmured some lyrics to this song although they sounded quite incoherent as if he was still thinking about making this song complete as the boy grew older.

He tried to distract his son from the lightning that boomed on occasion, making him whimper for several seconds before his father continued singing.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, Manolo ceased lightly plucking the strings on his guitar and watched his son sleep contently. He grinned softly and got down on one knee to try and kiss his son through the gaps in between the wooden planks preventing the little infant from rolling out and falling out on to the floor.

Manolo was stopped, however, when he saw someone out of the corner of his eye who was standing in the doorway with a sleepy grin pasted on her lips.

"Oh, María, I did not know you were awake." The man sheepishly grinned whilst rubbing the back of his head in a way that suggested as much. He slowly stood up and made sure his guitar rested against the foot of the crib until the next time he wished to play it and he walked over to the open doorway.

Gently wrapping his arms around his beloved, Manolo smiled softly and placed a loving kiss against her lips. María simply kissed her husband back passionately and stroked the back of his head with her soft hands.

When they pulled apart to get some air, however, they found themselves staring adoringly back inside the room where their son slept. Neither of them uttered a word to each other for a while before María asked in a quiet tone of voice, her fingers interlacing with Manolo's own, "Is he not amazing?"

The musician smiled and spoke with an equally soft tone, although he maintained it from earlier "Si, mi amour. Our son certainly is going to be the greatest Sanchez that ever graced this earth..."

After hearing this María's heart swelled up. She had no idea just how much her husband adored their son until now, even though it was needless to say that he was an absolutely magnificent father and he had proven that long ago. He was already a great husband, it was inevitable that he would be an amazing father too.

She was snapped from her daze when her husband slowly crept back into the room with her hand in his and they peered into the crib where their son slept soundly.

Whilst Manolo bent down to kiss his son goodnight, María whispered while she reached down as well and took one of his minuscule hands into two of her fingers and gently massaged the newborn's chubby knuckle.

"Goodnight, Rafael Sanchez."

Chuy still laid down by the crib but he yawned tiredly, clearly exhausted from having to retrieve the guitar for the child's father, and he closed his eyes to sleep. He was so exhausted that he fell fast asleep within seconds and started to snore.

A/N: Hi, everyone, this is my first "Book of life" fanfic. I watched the film just after Christmas and now that Valentines day had just passed, I can't stop thinking about it for some reason.

So, I made my own sequel story. I'm excited about the sequels to the movie and hope they are just as awesome! Btw, sorry my Spanish sucks. :(

Please review, I'll update the story soon...I hope.

-Chloemcg