You guys are amazing! This is my first fanfiction and I was afraid that it might take a long time before anyone ran across it. I will do my best to update every week, or at least once a month.
I did find it difficult to get settled in so please excuse any mistakes ;-;
I personally like it when the stories are long so I will try to make them long, unless you guys would like otherwise
Anyways, let's continue with the story…
...
Miguel's body reacts quickly and he runs to hug Héctor. Héctor hugs him back and swallows the questions that he desperately wanted to ask. He feels Miguel's bones and he knows that this time, he can't go home. He recognizes the wave of anger that takes over him, which makes him hold Miguel tighter.
Miguel doesn't seem to mind and he holds on to his great-great grandfather.
After a while they both let go and Héctor looks at Miguel cautiously, he knows he needs to approach this slowly. Miguel avoids looking at him and he clears his throat to start up the conversation.
"¿Cómo…?" Héctor can finally find it in himself to speak.
"It wasn't my fault" Miguel begins "I swear, I was just walking and he wanted my wallet but for some dumb reason I froze and the next thing I knew he pushed me against the wall and..."
"Miguel, cálmate" Héctor responds quietly and shuts Miguel up by pulling him for another hug.
"I missed you so much Papá Héctor" Miguel's voice cracks and he feels the shock drifting and the reality finally setting in. He hangs on to Héctor's spine and begins to cry, feeling the whole world crashing into him.
"I missed you too mijo" Héctor responds and bites his tongue as he feels the tears in his eyes. He needed to be strong for Miguel, at least for now. The wave of emotions is almost unbearable; some are unrecognizable, but some of them stand out: Anger, relief nostalgia, shock and guilt. Deep down he had wanted to see the boy again, it had only been a year since he had last seen him. He is surprised when he recognizes how much he has grown, but the feeling turns sickening when he realizes that Miguel will not grow any more.
He had last seen him in the Day of the death of the past year, this had been the first time Héctor has been able to cross. He remembered the feeling of relief when he saw that Miguel had made it home safely. The feeling of love and pride had filled his chest when he realized how big his family was now, and how big of a life and future Miguel would have. The feeling contained a little of sadness as he realized that he would not be around to see the boy grow up. But he would get glimpses of Miguel's life every Day of the Dead, and that was more than he would have asked for.
Héctor remembered slapping himself when the thought of Miguel passing early had crossed his mind, after all, that way they could be reunited sooner. But now he could only think of how to treat the poor boy. He had his own experience with dying earlier, but back then it seemed like an accident, and he had kept himself going with the thought that one day he would see his family again. He recognized the blood in Miguel's shirt, it was still fresh and concentrating on one hole in his stomach. This led him to the conclusion that it was either a stab or gun shot. This meant that it was different, and he feels the wave of anger hitting his body strongly, he used to hate that emotion and would avoid it at all costs, but now he welcomes it, knowing that it is justified.
"Papá Héctor?" Miguel asks softly. It is then that Héctor realizes that he hugging Miguel too tight.
"Perdón mijo" Héctor apologizes and releases him immediately.
Miguel looks to the floor and mumbles something quietly.
"What's that?" Héctor asks and reaches to pull Miguel's face so he can look at him closely.
"Nobody will look at me in the eye" Miguel avoids Héctor's gaze.
"Hey, mírame" Héctor meets Miguel's gaze and attempts to lock it, "I get it, when I died, people would avoid looking at me, since I was so young".
Miguel can't help but snort at the comment, he had never really seen Héctor as a young man, but more as an individual on his early or mid-30's.
"What?" Héctor blinks wondering what he could have said to make Miguel laugh.
"Sorry Papá Héctor, but you are not as young as you think" Miguel blurts out between giggles.
"For your information, I AM very young" Héctor replies pretending to feel offended. At least Miguel was smiling.
"Yeah, in your imagination"
"How old do you think I am?"
"Late or mid 30's?" Miguel asks confidently.
"HA! In your dreams, mijo" Héctor sighed, how old had he been? Probably around 21? His memory failed him since he had stopped counting and caring as the years went by. "Back in my day we got married in our teens, so I was 17 when I married Imelda, and we had Coco shortly after I turned 18"
"Are you going to be one of those 'back in my day' grandparents?" Miguel asked and stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"I might" Héctor smiled mischievously, "Either way, my time was THE time, not like nowadays when all you kids do is listen to weird music and play in that weird metal cube thing"
"Weird metal cube thing?" Miguel asked confusedly, "you mean a phone?"
"Back in my day…" Héctor began.
"Ay por Dios, please don't" Miguel interrupted him with a smile in his face.
Héctor smiled and pulled Miguel in for another hug, but this time he makes sure to do it softly. At least Miguel has kept his sense of humor, he would have expected to have seen a very cold and angry boy.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Héctor asks with a warm smile.
...
Héctor and Miguel had walked around for a few hours, avoiding the elephant in the room. Miguel asked all kinds of questions about the Land of the Dead, so many that it made Héctor dizzy.
"Okay, here's another one" Miguel looked around trying to come up with another question, "Is this city where all of the dead come to?"
"No, this is only Santa Cecilia" Héctor answered sounding non-characteristically tired.
Miguel sighed deeply, "I'm sorry Papá Héctor" he whispered loudly looking at the floor.
Héctor stopped walking and reached out to Miguel, but quickly changed his mind and turned his hand into a fist. "What for mijo?" he asks attempting to keep his voice soft.
"We should probably meet up with the rest of the family" Miguel states firmly, "I just don't know what to say to them"
"Let me do the talking, kid" Héctor places a hand on the boy's shoulder and sighs, "I know it will be hard, but if you don't want to talk to me or the family, there is always your death counselor"
"You had one too?" Miguel looks up at Héctor curiously.
"I think we all do" Héctor looks up looking in serious thought, "I got a guy, I think it was Marco? Or maybe José?" Hector smiles and brushes it off, "I didn't use him until after I found out that Imelda was here"
"Ah"
The silence turns awkward. None of them make an try to break it, attempting to make the time away from home longer, as none of them knew how the encounter with the family would turn out.
...
Cómo - How
Cálmate - Calm down
Perdón - Sorry
Mírame - Look at me
Ay por Dios - Oh my God