The next day, the fever was gone, and Xibalba felt much better, even though he did not remember anything from when he was delirious, only that he heard a sweet voice like an angel's singing to him. It didn't take him long to figure out who had done that for him. Though his arm was still injured, he insisted that he could do his paperwork-on bed, he couldn't stand yet-just fine, he could write. After insisting so much, Emilio complied, bringing the dark god a small pile of pending paperwork from his study, his quill with inkwell, and wooden tray for him to back his writing. Luckily, his writing hand was intact.

La Muerte watched from behind his door, only slightly open, as Xibalba wrote away on the papers, sometimes reading the contents on the sheets before signing, the only sound inside was that of the fire of the candles cackling and the tip his long black quill scratching unto the surface of the paper as Xibalba wrote. She guessed he did not like to be interrupted when working, judging by how he asked her (nicely, this time) to give him some time for himself. Not wanting to argue with him in his condition, she complied this once.

"Milady?"

La Muerte gasped silently and took a hand to her chest in surprise when she heard Regina's voice behind her. She looked down at the lizard with a blush, letting out a sigh of dismay. "Regina, you startled me!"

"I'm sorry, milady, it's just I saw you outside Lord Xibalba's chambers and I assumed you got into an argue with him again."

"Oh, no, we haven't gotten into an argument for a while now, thankfully." La Muerte sighed, her back now on the door.

"How's he doing?"

"Xibalba? As grumpy as always, I suppose Emilio has told you already he wanted to advance on his paperwork, no matter how many times Emilio told him he needed to rest."

"As a matter of fact, he has." Regina sighed, shaking her head. "One of this days, his stubbornness is going to be the end of him."

"Say, Regina…" La Muerte was hesitant to ask this, but nevertheless she continued. "Does Xibalba know what happened last night? When he was delirious?"

"If you're worried that he knows he mistook you for his dearly departed mother, you can be tranquil about it, milady. We did not tell him that part, but he did recall that you sang for him, just like his mother used to do too…"

La Muerte crossed her arms sadly and glanced at Regina sadly. "He loved his mother very much, didn't he?"

Making sure Xibalba couldn't hear them, Regina nodded. "He adored her, as a baby he'd always cling to her, but then… our Lady Selena died out of mysterious circumstances when he was five years old. He was devastated, when she died everything changed. Even today it still hurts him, though he won't show it."

"I wish there was a way I could get him to open up a bit… what he does it's not healthy."

Regina thought for a moment. "Well, there is something we could do to cheer him up a bit for being stuck in bed. He hates being bedridden."

"What is it?"

Warily, Regina motioned the goddess to follow her. La Muerte followed the lizard down the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen on the lower levels of the castle. There were various lizards there, Roberto, Lorenzo ad Emilio among them, as well as some lizards whose names she didn't know yet.

"We're ready to begin operation C.A.D.F.L.X!" Roberto exclaimed happily.

Emilio and the others turned to look at him. "What?!"

"Operation Cooking A Dish For Lord Xibalba!"

"A dish?" La Muerte inquired.

"Not any dish, milady. Any of these." Emilio placed an old-looking thin book with a green leather cover on the counter. It seemed to be very old, judging by how worn the cover was, and the yellowish tone of the pages.

"Is that a cookbook?" La Muerte asked curiously. She recognized it, her mother used to have one of those.

"Eyup" Lorenzo nodded his head.

"It's Lady Selena's." another lizard explained. "She used to write her secret recipes in here. She not only described how to pick the proper ingredients, she also explained the procedure in great details."

"But the one we're looking for is…" Regina skipped through the pages, until she found the one. "This one."

La Muerte took a peek at the elegant handwriting. "Molten chocolate cake?"

"It's Lord Xibalba's favorite dessert. Lady Selena used to make it for his birthdays, I'm certain it will cheer him up."

"The only problem, I doubt we can make it as good as she did. Her cooking was to die for." Roberto sighed.

"Well…" La Muerte hesitated, but she managed to speak. "I could try."

"You know how to cook, milady?" Emilio asked curiously. "I mean, it's not that I don't believe you, I don't mean to intrude, but… well, I assumed your meals were cooked for you in your realm." He grew nervous.

"Well, most of the time, yes, but…" La Muerte smiled in remembrance as she took a hand to the pendant around her neck. "My mother would sometimes get up early and cook breakfast for us, or she'd make a special dinner for us on holidays. There were times when I help her." she giggled upon remembering the first empanadas she ever made. She was upset that they didn't look like her mother's, but Queen Esperanza would assure her that someday she would be a great cook. After her death, she tried to cook on her own, and even though at first she couldn't even boil water, she eventually learned through many hardships, tears and a destroyed kitchen.

"So, what are the ingredients to this one?"

"Well, we'll have to scavenge a few things from the pantry, but we have most of it." Emilio stated. "Though we'll have a bit of trouble with the chocolate…"

La Muerte took a read at the recipe, and grinned. "Let's do this."

Half an hour later, the once stainless kitchen was half-a-mess. Brioche molds crusted with a thin layer of bakes chocolate bread, various bowls, whisks and wooden spoons all stained with chocolate filling, flour and egg. There were eggshells on the floor, and patches of baking powder and cocoa. The oven as smoking a bit, but not too much. Heck, not even La Muerte and the lizards had been spared. The goddess had chocolate smears on her face and flour on her hair and dress, but the lizards were in a much worse state, Emilio and Roberto being nearly completely covered in flour, Lorenzo was all dirty with ash and another of the lizards named Gael had patches of whipped cream in his body. And yet, in front of them they had the fruit of their hard work after trial and error.

A bowl with molten chocolate filling, next to the chocolate cake, and some whipped cream topping.

"Well, that was exhausting." Roberto sighed.

"Shut up, you didn't do anything other than lick the chocolate from the bowls." Emilio retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Well, my tongue is exhausted form all the licking!"

Regina was intact to the small battle that took place. "Now comes the hard part."

La Muerte sighed. This recipe turned out to be more complex than the ones she was used to, but it was worth a try. Besides, if she could cheer her husband up a bit, then it was worth it, not to mention it was an excellent to pass the time down here. "What do we do next?"


The twilight sky looked beautiful with its palette of red, orange. yellow and black as the sun was going down on the horizon, the once white clouds now tinted cake purple and light yellow. The breeze of the forest was growing a bit cold, as little critters went back into their homes to spend the night, save for the creatures of the night who awakened from their diurnal slumber to begin their own day.

A girl's laughter echoed through the forest as Xibalba led his friend through the forest. Her giggles made his heart soar and the feathers of his wings ruffle in delight, it made him know she was happy.

"Where are you taking me?" the dark-haired godling asked, looking around as the squirrels went into their dens and little birds flew back to their nests. "We're not supposed to be out after sundown."

Xibalba didn't say anything; he never spoke, actually. He didn't know why, everytime he tried to talk with her no sound would come out of his throat, making him wonder if his friend didn't think he was mute or something. Finally, they came to the spot he was looking for, and he turned into a ball of tar to teleport behind her and cover her eyes.

"Balby?" she asked in surprise, using the nickname she used for him since she didn't know his actual name, and he didn't know hers either, simply thinking of her as Snow-white, referencing both the fairy tale his mother would often tell him before going to bed, and his friend's sugar skin.

"What do you want to show me, Balby?" Snow-white asked him curiously, but he didn't reply.

When they were in the exact spot he was looking for, Xibalba removed his hands from her eyes. Snow-white gasped in delight. He had taken her to the top of a small hill, where they could see the sunset under the awakening stars and the rising moon on the opposite horizon. "This is beautiful…"

Smiling lightly, Xibalba walked to her side and grabbed her hand reassuringly. Snow-white turned to him with a wide grin.

"Gracias, Balby."

To his surprise and shock, her lips came into contact with his cheek. Xibalba blushed deeply and his wings flared out, his feathers bristling and his heart drumming inside his chest. He never imagines anyone would kiss him, everyone thought he was nasty because he was made out of tar, and yet she had the courage to kiss him. Then he felt Snow-white grabbing unto his arm and leaning against him, her head resting against his shoulder…

With a snore and an irritated grunt, Xibalba awakened, his wings instinctively spreading out to extend his tense muscles, although he had to be careful with his broken wing. It took him a few minutes to realize what had happened; he was so immersed in the paperwork that he must have fallen asleep out of boredom without realizing. Damn it, this is why he hated being bedridden! Luckily, his inkwell and quill were still on place, and his papers were still in place.

He would have continued, but he wanted to relax a bit, so the dark god gently lay his head against his pillows, closing his eyes. He didn't know why, but lately he had been dreaming with his childhood friend on a constant basis. If he was not on such a sour mood, he would have chuckled at how he used to get everytime she touched him, and how he referred to her as Snow-white. Though he didn't understand why it was coming back to him after all these years, he wished he knew what had happened to that sweet little girl.

There was a knock on the door. Great, just what he needed. "Come in." he said without lifting himself from bed.

Slowly, the door opened with a creak, and La Muerte peeked her head in. "Hey, Xibalba, how are you this evening?"

Sighing irritated, the dark god lifted his head slightly to look at his wife. "Well, I went to have a little stroll to Epona's realm, and then I came back."

"Okay, you don't need to be sarcastic, you know."

Xibalba nearly had a heart attack when she came in a complete mess. There was flour in her hair, her dress was stained with chocolate and there was whipped cream and egg in her face. "Que demonios?! What happened to you?! You look like you went to war!"

"Long story."

He noticed she had her hands behind her back. "What are you hiding?"

"Regina, me and everyone prepared you something that might cheer you up."

"Oh, you did? Please tell me you didn't knit something, I have a whole drawer in my closet full of those."

"Oh, no, it's something I think you'll like!" La Muerte brought her hands from behind her back, showing their masterpiece.

Xibalba's eyes widened in surprise. She held a plate with a molten chocolate cake, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which in turn was topped with molten chocolate and whipped cream. Waves of memories returned to him as he stared at it, memories of…

"Y-You made that for me?" he failed to contain his surprise and bewilderment.

"We thought you'd like something sweet."

"Judging by the mess you are in, I can guess you had trouble with it."

"Not really."

Xibalba sat up in bed once more, and moved some of his papers off the wooden tray so La Muerte could place the dessert on it. It did look tasty, and it had been so long since he ate one of these. He wasn't sure if La Muerte had done it well, however, what if she had missed something and it wasn't edible. But the look on her face, he could tell she had really worked hard on it, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Slowly, he grabbed the fork and carefully cut off a small slice of the ice cream-topped cake, unleashing the liquid chocolate inside it.

La Muerte watched as her husband took the small slice into his mouth and chewed. For a moment, he didn't say anything, which made her think the dessert tasted horribly. It took a while before Xibalba gave his verdict.

"…This is the best cake I've ever tasted."

! La Muerte felt like dancing of delight and joy as she saw Xibalba starting to eat the rest of the cake with a smile on his face, often licking the chocolate from his lips. Apparently it wasn't that hard after all, she felt tempted to ask him for a bit but she didn't want to take it away from him either.

Xibalba seemed to know what she was thinking, for he took the last piece of the cake and held it out to her. "Open wide."

Blushing, the sugar-skinned goddess leaned in and ate the last piece of the cake. There was a party of sweetness in her mouth as the ice cream, cake and chocolate complemented each other inside. It was no wonder why Xibalba loved it so much. When she leaned closer, Xibalba noticed a flash of gold in her neck, and noticed her pendant. "Is that a new accessory, my dear?"

"It was my mother's." La Muerte sighed, taking her hand to the gold locket. "It's the only memento I have of her. Father gave it to me for my quinceañera."

"It looks beautiful on you, my dear."

"You really think so?"

Xibalba blushed a bit. "It's like it was made for you." In a way, he envied her. At least she had gotten to be with her mother in her last moments while he didn't even know how his mother died, and she had a loving father… He stopped himself from remembering him. "So, thanks for the cake."

"It was nothing, really, though we did have a bit of difficulties…"

"Let me guess, you turned my kitchen into a battlefield, didn't you?"

"Sort of…" La Muerte giggled in remembrance. "Emilio and the others offered to cleanup while I brought you this."

"Say, La Muerte…" he thought for a moment, thinking thoroughly of what he wanted to do. "There's something I'd like to show you." When he tried to stand up from bed, La Muerte quickly reacted and prevented him from doing so.

"You can't walk yet."

"Come on, I'm not going to break. I'll be fine."

"Xibalba, your injuries-"

"I insist, my dear, nothing will happen."

Damn it, Regina was right, one of these days his stubbornness would be the end of him! Reluctantly, La Muerte helped her husband stand up from bed. Ponzoña slithered down his hat stand and slithered towards his master, and up his cloak to wrap around his healthy arm. Xibalba gently grabbed his snake and turned him back into a staff to lean on it as he walked.

Carefully, La Muerte helped him walk out of his room, but he led the way, slowly making their way to the top level of the castle. When they climbed the final flight of stairs, they came to a long corridor that led to a single pair of black door. When they came to the doors, Xibalba placed his good arm on it with some difficulty, and muttered some words under his breath. A green energy emanated from his palm, and the markings of the door glowed green-not the usual sickly green, but rather a pretty natural green-and they opened, leading to one more flight of stairs.

"W-Where are you taking me?" La Muerte inquired, rather frightened at the darkness of the corridor.

"Trust me. Nothing will happen to you as long as you're with me."

Once more, La Muerte helped Xibalba up the stairs, though he leaned on his staff to help her a bit. A few seconds later, she saw a light up at the end of the stairs, when they were at the top La Muerte had to cover her eyes to protect them from the sudden light.

When her eyes adjusted to the illumination, she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

They were in the most beautiful garden she had ever seen. To her surprise, it was illuminated with beautiful, colorful lamps that made it feel like sunlight. A white stone path led them through small patches of colorful and exotic flowers, bushes and various types of plants she had never seen, but they were all beautiful. In the middle of the garden there was a great jacaranda tree whose beautiful lavender blue petals fell to the ground. There was a beautiful bench under the shade of the tree.

"Xibalba, this is beautiful…" La Muerte gasped in awe, taking a hand to her chest.

"It was my mother's..." Xibalba sighed sadly, La Muerte could tell it was hard for him to speak about his mother as he led her to the bench under the jacaranda tree to take a seat and rest. "This is the only place in the Land of the Forgotten that is not barren. My mother poured her heart and soul in this garden, she used to bring me here when I was sad." Placing his staff aside, he winced at his stinging injuries. "Even after she… passed on, the garden remained intact."

Her heart tugged in compassion for the dark god as his eyes seemed to glisten with old sorrow and pain. "Ay, Xibalba…"

"I often come here when I want to be alone, it lifts my spirits up. It's like this garden has Mother's presence still lingering."

"I never thought anything could grow in this realm…"

"You're the first foreigner that has ever seen this place." Xibalba glanced at his wife with a small smile. "I figured you'd like to see some color, since there are no endless parties down here."

It was La Muerte's turn to smile at him as she placed her hand on his. "Gracias."

He blushed when he felt her soft hand touch his larger one, it felt like it made the stinging of his wounds disappear., and he even thought his dark and shriveled heart started to beat. "You don't need to thank me, my dear."

Both gods had red cheeks as they glanced away from each other. Xibalba's healthy wing was close to his body, containing the urge to wrap it around his wife's body. When he was certain La Muerte was distracted, he glanced at her; she looked beautiful in this place, and admired her features as she stared at the scenery. Was it imagination, or did she have an uncanny resemblance to his mother…? No, it was just his imagination.

A few minutes passed before Xibalba spoke. "I think we should go back. Emilio must be freaking out about where I went." He chuckled at the thought. That lizard was always making scandals over nothing.

"He cares about you, there's nothing wrong with that." La Muerte replied gently.

"It's not that it bothers me, he has always been like a…" he stiffened for a while, before relaxing. "…like a father to me."

La Muerte grew alarmed when he stiffened when he was about to pronounce the word 'father', but judging by his reaction to the word itself made her think against asking him about that. "Here, let me help you up."

Carefully, the goddess helped her husband stand up form the bench, careful not to touch any of his bandaged injuries nor his hurt fractured wing, Xibalba leaning on his staff once more to help her a bit. He was already preparing himself for another sermon about taking care of his health, that he might be immortal but he was not invincible. They went back the way they had come, downstairs and back into his chambers, and like Xibalba expected, Emilio had been pacing for the past half hour, with Roberto calmly telling him he was exaggerating, and no sooner had they walked inside the room that the lizard assaulted him with yet another sermon.

La Muerte giggled as she helped Xibalba lay back down on bed, and watched his irritated, bored expression as he listened to Emilio's words helplessly. After a while, however, she decided to give them some privacy and returned to her chambers. Once she rematerialized there, she spotted a blue envelope in her desk. Excited that her sister had finally answered back, she grabbed the envelope, slid out the letter and unfolded the paper to read.

Hi, big sis!

I'm sorry if I haven't been able to write back, but Father has been wanting me to listen to the Remembered with him. It's not that I don't like it, it's just that, well, I feel like he's preparing me for something… I guess that since you married to the tar head, he thinks I'll have to become the next ruler when he steps down, but I'm afraid of that. I was never meant to be a ruler, it's just not my thing, I was not born for it like you, big sis.

For being sincere, I didn't believe what you told me about Lord Xibalba in your past letters, but if you keep talking 'wonders' about him it must mean that maybe he does have a soft spot. But you should still be careful, he's not precisely known for being nice to people. I hope you're safe, Father and I miss you very much, but he's afraid for your wellbeing too. He keeps asking Quetzalcóatl if there isn't a way to annul your marriage to Xibalba, but it seems like there's no way.

I hope you're safe and sound in that place, big sis. I miss you.

Love, Amy.

La Muerte felt her eyes swelling up with tears. She missed her father and her little sister dearly… perhaps... Maybe she could ask Xibalba… she could ask him if she could go and pay them a visit. He couldn't deny her that, after all. Right now was not the moment, however. She knew him enough to figure out he got on a terrible mood when Emilio lectured him.