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

The light of hope

Xibalba and his beloved, Le Muerte, both wandered around the rooftops and glancing around the town as they drifted about the stormy night air. To both of the spirits, this kind of weather was hardly fitting for such a usually cheery town and they couldn't help but think that something was wrong.

Sulking, Xibalba sighed "Why must it rain on a night such as this?" He complained before looking back at his black wings for emphasis "It makes my wings ruffle, mi amour."

Le Muerte didn't answer her lover's question but instead focused on the town as a whole. She kept her eyes hardened like a hawk and stared down at the people of the town and it was blatantly obvious to the ruler of the land of the forgotten that something was wrong with the land of the mortals.

However it was then that she noticed a sudden stiffness in her lover, a suspicious air surrounding him.

She slinked alongside him and asked with a small frown of concern "Balby, what is the matter?"

Xibalba replied in a hushed tone "¡Silenciar mi amor, Someone is coming!"

Without so much as another word, Xibalba backed off and hid behind the building they both stood on top of. Le Muerte couldn't help but shake her head with a smile as she pointed out to him with a small gesture of the hand "...You realise that mortals cannot see us anyways?"

Nevertheless she retreated behind the building with her husband.

As the two hid behind the roof, they both peered over the edge and spotted two familiar mortals slowly walking passed while the woman held a lantern and the man called out the name "Rafael".

It didn't take a genius to figure out that one was the guitarist, Manolo Sanchez, and the other was María Posada.

When they passed, Le Muerte straightened her posture with a serious expression while Xibalba looked downright confused.

"Isn't that the Sanchez mortal we finished our bet on six years ago?" The ruler of the land of the forgotten inquired, raising a brow at his lover. He frowned in confusion and he looked as if he could just about yell at the rain like a grumpy old man having a bad day while his wings withered like flowers without water.

The ruler of the land of the remembered nodded her head and went to observe the couple.

Upon closer observation, they saw both Manolo and María walking about whilst they were growing fearful for their son being lost in this rain. They looked around many times as they walked by with a lantern being the only thing to light their way, the soaking wet footsteps they made leaving dirty footprints behind.

"Mijo, where are you?" María called, squinting her eyes to see passed the heavy rainfall as she and her husband walked together with Chuy taking the lead.

The boar had his snout on the ground as he sniffed repeatedly, clearly mimicking the characteristics of a blood hound. His little hooves splashed a tiny bit on the muddy ground as he and his owners walked around relentlessly.

"Rafael, this is no time for games!" Manolo took over, a firm edge leaking into his voice as he looked around. He looked like he could break down from paranoia at any second, his heart ready to explode from fear. Both him and María kept their eyes wide open as they searched, trying their hardest to search in this rain.

The pair stopped dead in their tracks whence they heard someone nearby shout out that Joaquin was coming. They spared a quick glance to each other and darted down the direction of the town gate, momentarily putting their search on hold. They both knew somehow that this had something to do with their child and whatever it was, they didn't like it one bit.

Both parents felt like they were wrapped in snow as dread settled into the pits of their stomachs.

They raced as fast as they could to the town plaza.

Manolo and María pushed their way to the front of the crowd, Chuy still taking the lead impressively despite the fact that the pig was getting old. Upon reaching the town gates of San Angel, the couple looked far into the distance as a figure started to come forth from the fog afar.

However, when everybody had gathered at the gates, everyone froze instantly upon seeing Joaquin slowly approach them while cradling a limp, bruised and broken form in his sturdy arms.

His expression was full of regret and it was sullen, sullen enough to make Manolo and María feel fear upon who that limp form was that the town hero was carrying. He slowly started to approach the town and when he finally came into full view, the whole entire world came crashing down.

María gasped abruptly and her hands flew over her mouth with disbelief. She looked torn apart by what she was seeing and refused to accept it as reality, she just couldn't believe this to be possible!

But, sadly, it was the naked truth.

"RAFAEL!" She cried, running towards her amigo and ripping Rafael out of Joaquin's arms. Joaquin seemed shocked by this action but let Rafael be examined by his mother, regardless.

She was mortified by the state of which her baby was in, especially with cuts and bruises covering him from head to toe. He looked like he had been battered hard and the fact that he looked to be in such a state smashed her heart into pieces as she hugged her son's little broken body and she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent the dam of tears to break, they flowed down her cheeks regardless.

Manolo had only managed to move his legs moments after seeing his wife hug their son's tiny broken body and he hastened by her side and he too got a glimpse of his poor son. The state Rafael made his eyes water and his mind race, his heart started to pound with disbelief and he couldn't help but closed his eyes and grit his teeth with grief.

María quickly wrapped a free arm around Manolo and the family of three plus Chuy hugged as they sunk to the ground. They held strong in their embrace of remorse and everyone decided to give them some space as they slowly went back into their homes and Joaquin was the only one who stayed. Whilst it hurt to see Manolo and María in so much pain, he didn't know what he could say to them.

Lowering his head sadly, Joaquin sniffled and closed his single good eye with grief.

He whispered, his voice broken "I'm so, so sorry...I couldn't save him in time."

María nor Manolo didn't hear him, they were far too busy holding their son. While María was holding Rafael the tightest, she was unaware that Manolo had stopped crying and looked up with hardened eyes and all signs of the innocence and lively spark that were in those deep brown orbs had vanished without a trace.

His face was strong but it was also desperate at the same time, his bit down on his bottom lip as if to try and avoid more crying.

Seeing his friends in such a state made Joaquin's heart shatter as he looked down sorrowfully.

Meanwhile watching from afar, Xibalba sighed sadly and heavily as he looked at the heartbroken face of Le Muerte who only hugged her arms as if to keep herself warm from the rain that was falling. Thunder rumbled from above, promptly followed by a crash of lightning that momentarily blinded the world with a split-second white flash.

Seeing his wife looking so sad, Xibalba slowly wrapped one of his messy black wings around Le Muerte's shoulder as to comfort her and as a means to keep her warm.

The pair of immortals couldn't believe that their heroes had been gathered once again...in a heartbreaking situation.

However, lifting his eyes up to the darkened skies gravely, Xibalba gave a stern hum of thoughtfulness as if he had a sneaking suspicion.

Whatever he was thinking it was certainly an interesting thought.

Stroking his beard with a look shimmering inside his red skeleton pupils, Xibalba had to wonder something as he frowned. He wanted to do whatever it took to rectify things but he didn't know whether it was the right thing to do or not. But, while he didn't exactly know a thing about fatherhood, Xibalba couldn't turn a blind eye to this crisis.

'Should I give him this chance?' He thought.

A/N: Awww, sad chapter.

Alright, THIS NEXT CHAPTER IS WHERE THE ADVENTURE TRULY BEGINS! Believe me, I took no pleasure in writing this chapter but it will get infinitely better.

What will Xibalba do for Manolo? Will he even help him, will Le Muerte help him? Can Manolo fix this and try and getting his son back?

Find out in the next chapter.

-Chloemcg