Si Puedes Perdonar
After a warm bath, a tasty meal and a fairy tale, Marigold and Alastor were put to bed by their mother. When they were certain their children were fast asleep, La Muerte and Xibalba could talk about what happened. He didn't know how he would explain to his wife that Víbora had been the one to help them in numerous occasions from the shadows, but he had to.
"He returned Alastor?" La Muerte couldn't believe what her husband was saying.
Xibalba nodded, looking uncertain himself as he held his wife's hand. "That's what Marigold said. I didn't believe it at first, but she had no reason to lie. She asked me to spare him, though I could have cared less about what happened to that serpent."
"Xibalba, he returned our son!"
"Don't tell me you believe him!"
"Why would he lie about something like that?"
"Perhaps to earn our trust so he can stab us in the back when we least expect it. We know Víbora."
La Muerte sighed and glanced at her two babies as they slept peacefully next to one another. "Perhaps, but… A long time has passed. Perhaps we should talk to him-"
"Are you serious?!" Xibalba snapped out of sudden, letting go of her hand. "After what he nearly did to you, you still want to see him?!"
"Xibalba, it's been centuries! Maybe he's not the same-"
"How can you say that! People like him never change! La Muerte, listen to me! He's up to no good, I'm certain of it! I'm certain he has deceived Marigold, don't let him fool you too!"
"But-"
"You're not seeing him, end of discussion!"
"And since when are you in the right to tell me who I can or can't see?!"
"Ever since I vowed I would never let anything happen to you!" Xibalba cried in despair, now taking her by the shoulders. "I wouldn't bear if something happened to you… I nearly lost you once, I don't know what I'd do if I lost you… What would the children and I do without you?"
La Muerte's anger placated at those words. Deep down she knew he was not acting out of jealously, he trusted her blindly and would get his hands into the fire for her, as did she; he was just worried about her wellbeing, he was trying to protect her. But she knew Víbora, as cruel as he could be, he would never hurt her. La Muerte placed her hand on her husband's cheek, and gently pulled him in for a short but tender kiss.
"Balby, it will be okay. Víbora is a serpent and is very skilled in the art of deceiving, but he would never lie to me. Believe me, I know him for as much time as you, I knew him before he changed. I just want to hear what he has to say."
Xibalba didn't say anything for a while, before he sighed and gently grabbed his wife's hand. "I understand, my love… If you really think you have to talk with Víbora, then at least let me accompany you. I want to be certain nothing will happen to you."
La Muerte could tell it was very hard for him, so she nodded her head solemnly. It was the least thing she could do. "Okay."
A few hours later, Víbora was awake, his eyelids slowly sliding open, and he found himself on top of a bed-the first time he slept on a real bed in eons- in Aztlan. He had faint blurs of what had happened, he was leading Marigold back to Aztlan before Xibalba came out of the bushes and injured him, he didn't remember anything else.
"You're awake."
Víbora froze when he heard that voice. That ambrosial, beautiful voice like that of an angel's. Even after all this time he had not forgotten it. Shifting, he scanned the room in search of the source of the voice and found himself staring at his beloved La Muerte… as always accompanied by her husband. Xibalba was holding her shoulders, and had a wing wrapped around her protectively, shooting the basilisk a warning look. La Muerte was just staring at him with a light frown, bracing herself.
"Víbora…" she said coldly.
Víbora couldn't find the words to speak. It had been so long, and he still could sense the fires of passion and strength in her, even after all this time she was still the strong, sure-of-herself, yet sweet and kind woman he fell in love with. When he shifted again, Xibalba tightened his rip on his wife and narrowed his eyes. "You better not try anything, Víbora. There are guards posted outside."
"I…" Víbora would have usually retorted with a sarcastic comment, but this time limited himself to simply saying. "I understand."
"I wanted to thank you…" La Muerte's frown softened. "…For returning Marigold… and Alastor."
"Anything to help you, mi-" he quickly stopped himself. "La Muerte."
"But why did you return them…? You had no reason to help me."
"I did have. I've never liked to see you sad, if you recall. Even after all this time, I still love you…" La Muerte stiffened and Xibalba took it as their cue to leave. But as he was about to gently pull his wife away from the basilisk, Víbora spoke again. "But you don't have to worry about it any longer. I know your heart belongs, has always belonged, to someone else."
La Muerte was surprised by those words. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she glanced at Xibalba. "Balby, would you mind if I spoke to Víbora alone for a few minutes?" she gently stroked her husband's cheek with her hand when he was about to protest. "I promise you, only ten minutes."
Although reluctant, Xibalba silently nodded and let go of his wife, again giving Víbora a warning glare. Once they were alone, La Muerte frowned at Víbora once again and crossed her arms. "What are you up to, Víbora?"
"Nothing, La Muerte. I simply didn't want to imagine how you had to be suffering with your missing daughter."
"Not about that. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful you saved her, but that doesn't change the fact that I don't trust you. Trust is something fragile, and you broke it centuries ago when you refused to accept that Xibalba and I loved each other."
"I don't expect you to trust me, my dear. All I want you to know is that I'm sorry."
She blinked. "What?" Víbora wasn't of the type to apologize.
"I regret what happened between us that day. I don't know what came over me, I was angry, hurt that you were with another and I was so desperate that… well, you know the rest of the history. In fact, I think I deserved the punishment I was going to receive originally. I deserved to die."
La Muerte was speechless at his words. Víbora had not looked at her once, he was gazing down with sorrowful eyes. "Why did you ask I be spared? What I nearly did to you was unforgivable, you could have had me executed, like Xibalba proposed. Why did you ask Quetzalcóatl and Tezcatlipoca to spare me?"
The goddess was silent for a few seconds, processing those words, before she sighed. "Because even after what happened, I still saw you as a friend. You really hurt me, but I didn't want you dead because of dead. I wasn't very understanding with you either, perhaps it could have been avoided if I hadn't been so hard on you."
"No, La Muerte, it was all my responsibility. You are not to blame for my actions." Víbora looked away, hiding the tear that ran down his cheek from view. "I do not expect you to forgive me, dear La Muerte, but I still ask you for it. I've been wanting to tell you I'm sorry for countless times, but I knew if I showed myself before you Xibalba would kill me like he swore he'd do at the trial, when I was banished from Aztlan, and your life." Finally, he gathered the courage to look at his beloved in the eyes. "You can doubt my actions. You can doubt every single word I've been saying up to now, but do not doubt that I'm sorry."
La Muerte didn't know what to say. She just kept staring at him with surprised eyes, completely speechless. Finally, she sighed. "Víbora… I don't doubt any of your words. I've known you for a long time, I know you would never lie to me. It's true, you're a liar and deceptive with others, but you've never been so with me."
Víbora nearly had a heart attack when his love smiled at him. It was a small, sad smile as she approached without fear and her tender, warm hand ran down his head.
"I forgave you long ago."
That was the last straw. Víbora's eyes swelled up with tears as he looked down, sobbing as he closed his eyes shut, allowing the tears to flow freely. La Muerte hesitated, not knowing if it was the right thing to do, but she pulled Víbora's head into a small hug, just like when they were children. They stayed like that for a long while, before Víbora felt it was wise to pull back. He did not forget his beloved was married, and he still had to talk with Xibalba himself.
"La Muerte?" he said gently. "Could you tell Xibalba I want a few words with him?"
La Muerte hesitated. "I don't think it's a good idea…"
"It won't be long. I just want to speak with him."
Although she still thought it was not wise, La Muerte nodded and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. A few minutes later, Xibalba walked into the room, again narrowing his eyes at Víbora, approaching warily. Xibalba stopped at a few feet away, and crossed his arms. "What do you want to tell me?" he hissed. "If you think you're going to deceive me like you deceived my daughter you're wrong."
"I know you have no reason to trust me, Xibalba. I don't judge you for that, I don't deserve it-"
"Quit with the 'I'm sorry' act and go straight to the point."
"Very well." Víbora shook his head, wincing as he did so. "But the point is that I am sorry for what I did, whether you want to believe me or not."
"Is that all?" Xibalba inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes… Good job."
The dark god grew confused. "What?"
"La Muerte is very happy with you, you've been a good husband… And a good father. Your kids are nice."
"Leave my children out of this."
"Even after all this time you don't like compliments, it seems."
"Not from you."
"Look, Xibalba, I don't want to keep fighting with you. The reason I wanted to talk with you is because I wanted to make peace-"
"Peace? You think I'm going to believe that crap coming from you?"
"No I don't, I'm just telling you. If you don't want to believe me, it's up to you."
Xibalba's deep frown seemed to be on the verge of weakening, before he stiffened his expression back to its mask of hardness and distrust. "Are you done?"
Víbora rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can go if that's what you want."
Xibalba turned his back on Víbora, but before he left the room, glanced one more time at him. "Still… Thanks… for helping my daughter." He practically forced those words to leave his lips, his frown softening momentarily. Still, whoever helped any of his children deserved his gratitude, even if that someone was his worst… no, his former worst enemy.
The next day, both Víbora and Xibalba caught a cold from being under the cold rain for so much time, and so the two had to be taken to the infirmary, where Toci and Itzamna would give them herbs and remedies for their symptoms. Xibalba had never been so tense before, he didn't like to be in the same room with Víbora for too much time, a part of him was still wary that the basilisk would kill him in his sleep. Víbora just kept his distance, however.
When the silence became unbearable, however, they ended up talking. At first it was awkward and stiffened, like they didn't want to talk at all, but after a few days it warmed up bit by bit, and they chatted; Xibalba would talk about what had happened in the basilisk's absence, and Víbora would tell his companion of his travels.
What both had in common, however, was that they loved when La Muerte and the children came to visit them, often taking treats with them.
"Papi!" Marigold and Alastor cried out happily as they ran towards their father.
Despite his condition, Xibalba smiled at his children and embraced them when they came closer. "Hey, there…" he said with a hoarse voice.
"Hola, Balby…" La Muerte smiled at her husband, stroking his head gently. "How are you feeling?"
"More or less, my dear…" he replied, blowing his nose on a napkin. He subtly glanced at Víbora to see if he had the same spark of jealously that characterized him, but Víbora was curled up in bed, napping.
La Muerte placed a small basket on his laps. "We brought you some biscuits."
"And I helped!" Alastor grinned.
"Yeah, you helped to eat our chocolate chips."
Xibalba chuckled and took one of the biscuits; there was a party of sweetness in his mouth, as he chewed and swallowed. "These are the best biscuits I've ever tasted." He couldn't help but smile when Alastor grinned and hugged his mother. Xibalba glanced at Víbora's napping form, and thought for a moment, before sighing internally. Maybe it wouldn't hurt… He had not done anything, perhaps Marigold and La Muerte were right and he needed to make peace with the basilisk now that he could. "Víbora?"
Víbora shifted and lifted his head from his scaly back, glancing at Xibalba with drowsy eyes; he noticed La Muerte and the children were there, but he only gave them a small greeting glance before looking at the dark god. "What is it?" he inquired with a long yawn.
Xibalba hesitated, he felt ridiculous doing this, but luckily La Muerte seemed to know what he was thinking, and grabbed his hand, smiling. At long last, he managed to speak. "Would… Would you like a biscuit?"
Víbora stared at his former nemesis dumbfounded; had he heard what he thought he heard? After a while, he smiled a bit.
"Of course."