And here in this chapter, we get our first (albeit it's kinda tiny right now, but I swear will get bigger) crossover: one with characters from the "Book of Life"! :D

It was always nice to visit distant relatives, especially those who were cut off due to the music ban such as her grandmother's extended family. It helped make up for all the lost time.

Victoria smiled as she looked out to the front of the horse wagon, watching Papá Héctor and Mamá Imelda chat excitedly with Tía Carmen, Primo Manolo and his wife María at the driver's seat. The last time Tía Carmen had visited was a little while after Imelda and Héctor had started to reconcile their relationship, prior to Coco's arrival in the Land of the Dead.

She leaned against the sides as she recalled how Carmen came knocking on the door, asking to speak to her sobrina, Imelda. She along with everyone else – except the twins and Héctor – was confused at first, but Imelda soon came in and hugged her aunt. They then went to the kitchen to discuss, and discuss they did.

Victoria remembered how the twins had gotten everyone to listen into Carmen and Imelda's conversation, how they overheard them talking about how gossip had circulated that there was music back at the Zapatería de Rivera along with the whole living boy fiasco. Carmen's husband, Carlos Sánchez, had overheard some of it and spoke to his wife about it since her brother had been Imelda's father, making her a Rivera by blood and maiden name. Of course, she went to see if it was true for herself.

Imelda had confirmed that everything was true, that there was music back in the Rivera family and that all that happened with de la Cruz and Miguel had actually happened.

Victoria saw how Carmen clasped her hands happily for a moment, smiling with delight at the news of music returning, until it fell as the talk of the Day of the Dead fiasco was confirmed true as well. "I thought people were making up that part," she'd said. "I didn't think that- oh dear… is – is the boy alright? He wasn't hurt, was he?"

"He's fine, don't worry, tía," Imelda had assured her. "Pepita caught him in time."

With that, they continued the conversation. They talked of how long it had been since they'd last talked, how the Riveras were adjusting to having music back in their lives, how Manolo and Carlos were doing… they talked of every single thing they could think up of, spending hours and hours having a long overdue family chat.

How happy the two looked as they chatted, how friendly they were to each other… how it reminded Victoria of how she and her aunt would talk to each other when she was younger, after a long day of school and work at the shoe shop.

After hours of talking, Carmen came to the rest of the family as Imelda introduced her to them. "Julio, Rosita, Victoria, this is my tía, Carmen," she'd said. "Tía Carmen, this is my son-in-law, Julio, his sister Rosita and my nieta, Victoria."

Carmen had waved and said how it was such a pleasure to meet the rest of the family, then greeted the twins, who eagerly said it was good to see her again. Finally, she went over to Papá Héctor, who froze up nervously as she looked him over.

He had looked so terrified, so worried as if she were judging him, as if she was going to turn him away like everyone else had in the past, but she didn't. Instead, Tía Carmen said, "Ay, pobrecito… you've been through hell and back, but no more."

Papá Héctor's eyes had been filled with tears as she then told him, "Welcome back to the family." Everyone could see his eyes watering, his body shaking before he suddenly hugged her and whispered, "G-gracias."

Victoria almost teared up as she remembered how excited Papá Héctor got when Tía Carmen mentioned that she had planned another visit, so all the Riveras could get reacquainted with their Sánchez relatives, who were all wondering how things were going.

Not long after that visit, many reunions and get-togethers were scheduled, so that they could all catch up after years of being estranged.

Miguel was right in a way: their love for each other did live on forever, and nothing could break them apart… at least, not this time.

"Victoria? Hey, Victoria!"

"Huh?" She shook herself out of her thoughts, looking to see Oscar and Felipe right by the wagon's back exit. "What is it now, tíos?"

"We're here, Victoria," the twins said in unison, gesturing outside to the others who had already left the carriage.

"Must've been daydreaming about something from one of her books while we were coming out here," Julio guessed.

Victoria rolled her eyes as she stepped out of the wagon. "No, I wasn't," she replied simply, following behind the others around the Land of the Dead's equivalent to the city of San Ángel. "I was being ruminative."

San Ángel was so big and beautiful. It was almost as grand as the plaza was. Victoria always liked how she could get a view of the vast architectures in the distance. Not to mention, the people there were such nice folks, ranging from kind nuns, brave soldiers and bullfighters to goofy mariachis and musicians with hearts of gold.

"Do try not to crush anyone with your bear hugs, tía," Victoria said to her aunt as she walked by her. "You nearly choked poor Carlos to a second death last time."

"But I can't help it, Vico!" Rosita replied as she walked alongside her niece. "It's just a natural instinct to give a family member or close friend a tight hug."

It was another one of those family gatherings, where everyone got together to have fun and enjoy one another's company at the Sánchez's place. Since they had gotten here in their town early, they would have lunch here. Together, Carmen and Rosita would make the food since everyone wondered what a combination of the two's cooking would taste like.

Walking through the streets, Victoria admired all the shopkeepers around, selling all sorts of things ranging from instruments to simple sweets. She enjoyed the sight of parents with their children, elderly couples leaning against each other as they walked – it was all touching, and it made her wish the best for them all.

"Home sweet home," Manolo sighed, looking around. "Entonces, ¿qué quieres hacer primero?"

The twins were the first ones to answer, running past everyone to a large poster board and ripping off one of the posters. The others all either laughed or rolled their eyes.

"It's a contest for inventing machines!" Oscar and Felipe exclaimed excitedly in unison.

"I… don't think that's a good idea right now, tíos," Coco said softly, unsure of it. "Remember the last invention you made? You know, the one where its purpose was to help with baking but it only ended up destroying the cherry pie?"

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," María assured. "The worst that could happen is them creating a machine that's like a bull."

Victoria watched as her family enjoyed all of San Ángel's scenery, as well as watching the twins do their thing. Though Mamá Imelda loved spending time with her close family members, she also loved spending time with her distant relatives, and so did Papá Héctor.

To think, there wouldn't be visits like this if Ernesto had-

Suddenly, a memory of de la Cruz was triggered. It was when Mamá Imelda was leading them down the hallway, before bumping into Ernesto. After slapping him twice while calling Papá Héctor "the love of her life", the Riveras all chased after him.

What happened afterwards was a huge fight between them, the guards and Ernesto. Victoria had taken on the guards alongside her uncles, father, grandfather and aunt, which left Mamá Imelda to take on de la Cruz all by herself. They engaged in a scuffle for the photo, until Miguel came in, knocking the man to the ground.

Mamá Imelda had fallen back with the photo, only to be lifted up to the stage in seconds. Then, the matriarch did something that surprised everyone (except for Miguel): she sang.

She sang "La Llorona" while moving to get away from the guards, but before she could run into Papá Héctor's arms, Ernesto grabbed her wrist and danced her around the stage. The twins and Miguel had to restrain Héctor from marching onto the stage and yanking the mariachi off his wife.

But while it was a slimy thing to do, it wasn't the most awful thing he had done, compared to what he did next…

Victoria shook her head, trying not to think of those events. Think happy thoughts, Victoria, she told herself. Happy thoughts…

Mamá Imelda stomped on de la Cruz's foot, making him let her go. She ran backstage and threw herself into Héctor's arms, only pulling away after an awkward silence. He complimented her, and they smiled at each other for a moment until Miguel cleared his throat. Imelda then gave him the photo and gave him her blessing to go home, to put up her and Héctor's photo and to not forget how much his family loved him. The boy was about to take the blessing, when-

Immediately, the memory of de la Cruz showing his true colors resurfaced, as well as the memory of the Sunrise Spectacular footage…

That bell...

Victoria remember writing in her journal back at home, spending a good chunk of her time pouring her grief into Kitty, wishing there was another way…

She stopped thinking about de la Cruz, thinking of Miguel instead. Such a stubborn boy he was, always insisting on playing music despite the ban and the stories he'd been told every Día de los Muertos prior to his journey. He had been particularly difficult on the day he got himself cursed, not wanting to take Mamá Imelda's blessing because he thought it wasn't unfair. It's my life, he had said. You've already had yours!

In the beginning, he hadn't really thought about family and how much they loved him. He was too preoccupied with being a musician like de la Cruz, his ex-idol. He'd even made the mistake of thinking him to be his great-great grandfather, which set him off on his journey, making a deal with Papá Héctor in the process. In exchange of getting the boy to de la Cruz, his photo would be put up on the ofrenda so he could cross over the bridge in return.

But not everything goes as planned, and Miguel learned that the hard way.

There, in the far corner of a cenote, Mamá Imelda found Miguel along with her estranged husband. She let them all ride on Pepita's back, and they met up with the rest of the family at an empty plaza.

They had all ran up to Miguel, relieved that he was alright. The little happy reunion was cut short though as Imelda shouted at Héctor, letting him know that she wanted nothing to do with him in life or in death, even going as far to blame him for Miguel being in the cenote, until the boy went in and stood up for his great-great grandfather.

He tried to go home to you and Coco, but de la Cruz murdered him, he revealed the truth to Imelda, in front of everyone. After a century of not knowing, Héctor's death was finally known.

And somehow, within a night, Miguel had completely changed. No longer was he a boy who wanted music more than family, but instead this smart, thoughtful boy who was willing to put his familia over his own interests… a boy who was willing to let family come first.

Thanks to him, the whole family was united and Ernesto payed for his crimes.

After watching Pepita take out 'the trash', Mamá Imelda had cursed de la Cruz's name and said how glad she was that he was gone. Though she understood her anger, Victoria couldn't help but feel that her grandmother was perhaps a bit harsh.

Of course, Mamá Imelda nor anyone else had felt the kind of remorse Victoria had when they saw what had happened to Ernesto. Knowing they had been victorious, everyone had hugged tightly, laughing with joy that the man who caused so much pain for them was gone.

Once that was over, Victoria had went aside to talk to her abuelo, asking him why he had gone on tour with Ernesto and why Imelda's loathing of the asesino seemed to burn deeper than his.

Though both questions seemed a little out of place considering that they had just had a recollection of what they'd all been through, Victoria needed to know. Papá Héctor was willing to give an explanation for both of her questions.

His answer for the first question was that he and Imelda were two young parents raising a three year-old in a small town located in Oaxaca. The revolution had only recently ended and it was hard putting food on the table, so when Ernesto came knocking on the door, offering a chance to perform for the country, Héctor's only option at the time seemed to be either leaving his family for a couple of months or seeing his wife and daughter get thinner. In the end, he ended up regretting his choice, wishing he could've taken the time to learn a new trade instead.

As for the second answer, he told her of how he had introduced Imelda to Ernesto, and how de la Cruz called her a "donkey in a girl's skin" due to her shoe-wielding tendencies to be known even back then. Needless to say, the two formed distaste towards each other, and Imelda had the upper hand each and every time.

Victoria couldn't really blame her abuelo for his choice, sympathizing with him. If she were in his shoes trying to feed her parents and sister, she would've left Santa Cecilia to travel too. She also understood Mamá Imelda's anger, since de la Cruz had been rude to her and nearly took everything from her as well. If she had been in her shoes, she would've been pissed too. Ernesto had been rotten to both of her grandparents, infuriating her.

But everything was okay now. She remembered the other things her abuelo had told her, of how Ernesto always had a way with words, using them to get what he wanted. He had been Héctor's friend since childhood, sticking by his side since the beginning 'till his end, so what did he have to lose by going with good 'ol Nesto?

Victoria failed to suppress a giggle at the nickname. A part of her wished things had been different so that she could have seen the side of him that her abuelo had known as a kid, or at least the side that de la Cruz had shown to Miguel, before the whole murder revelation.

Well, at least he'd had a bit of fun before he spiraled-

She shook her head again. Damn it, Victoria, she cursed herself. What is it with you and this guilt? It's not your fault, it's-

"Vicita?" Héctor asked, snapping his fingers in front of his granddaughter's face. "Victoria, mija, are you there?"

"Wha- oh…" Victoria blinked, twitching her body to snap back to reality and looked to see her abuelo staring at her, a little befuddled.

"You sure are acting a little, uh, ruminative today," he remarked.

She let out a sigh, giving him an eye roll. "So maybe I've been thinking about my books a little too much," she lied, yawning. "And… and I'm feeling a little tired, too."

"Perhaps you should ease up a little," Héctor suggested. He looked around, pointing a hand towards a bench. "Go on, sit down and take a little break. It'll make you feel more relaxed."

Victoria smiled at him, thankful that her abuelo didn't press on further as she went over and sat down on the bench. She watched as a party was hosted in the distance near a fountain, with many people gathering around to dance and sing.

Papá Héctor was right, this was very relaxing.

"Hmm..." She leaned back against the bench. "Now I know why you liked throwing parties so much... they're very fun."

Then, she realized that a party was where Papá Héctor and Miguel snuck into to get to Ernesto.

Yeah, so all those recollections of de la Cruz's actions and the Sunrise Spectacular? It's gonna kinda be a thing. I apologize if it seems repetitive at times, but it's for story purposes. I do promise it'll lead up to something good though, I swear.