"That's a very small audience, don't you think, Héctor?" Ernesto asks as the two of them walk to the place for their performance. The concert stage isn't that far away from them now. Only two groups have gathered so far, containing what looks like only six people each. True, it is kind of early to be awake, but who would sleep when they could watch two of the best musicians ever? And how will Ernesto make him and Héctor famous with only twelve or so people watching them?

Ernesto turns to his friend, raising an eyebrow in question since Héctor still hasn't answered him. "Héctor, did you hear me?"

Héctor appears to be lost in some sort of daze, staring at the wide, spread out buildings and shops on either side of the street. He's saying something, but Ernesto can't hear what it is. The white mariachi suit he's wearing catches the sun's reflection in the windows and makes the gold sparkly pattern on the jacket shimmer more than usual.

Ernesto sighs and waves a hand in front of Héctor's face.

Héctor turns toward him. "Did you say something, Ernesto?"

Ernesto rolls his eyes. "Sí, I did."

"Well, what did you say?"

Groaning, Ernesto waves a hand at the stage in front of them. "Hardly anyone's gathered. How are we going to make ourselves known without a large audience?"

Héctor shrugs. "This is only the first concert, Superhero." He rolls the second r of the word: Superherrro. "We'll have a lot more chances. Besides, it's not about the audience. It's about having fun." He lowers his voice for the last sentence. "And making you more tolerable."

Ernesto crosses his arms as they continue to walk. "The first performance always impacts the future ones."

"Not always," Héctor comments. "Remember the very first concert you and I did together? Only our parents showed up. But was that the same for future performances? No. We've had larger audiences after that."

"That's because we were seven and eleven years old at that concert. There's a difference between that and this."

"Exactly." Héctor smiles at him, suddenly putting an arm around him and slowing his pace. "Trust me, 'Nesto. This'll work out. And after, you and I can go to one of resturants around here. That should cheer you up if this doesn't."

Ernesto closes his eyes for a brief second, his mind fixating on Héctor's hopeful tone. It was tone he'd obtained shortly after Ernesto started spending more and more time at home, and Héctor would always try to come up with some things to take Ernesto's mind off of the state he was in. His plans almost never worked, because Ernesto was too angry to think straight and Héctor was too cautious to press any further.

But hearing that same tone of voice from his friend again fills Ernesto's heart with a strange happiness, rather than the usual jolt of annoyance he usually gets.

Suddenly Héctor is grabbing Ernesto's hand and leading him backstage so they can sign in, the stage manager already waiting for them with his clipboard in hand. When he leaves, disappearing onto the stage in front of the large red curtains, Héctor turns to Ernesto.

"Are you ready, Superhero?" Rolling the second r again.

Ernesto nods, grabbing his guitar off of his shoulders and positioning it in front of him. "We're doing The World Es Mi Familia, right?"

"Sí." Héctor nods and grins. "Your favorite one."

The "audience" breaks into applause and cheers as Héctor grabs his guitar, too.

Then they break through the curtains, step in front of the microphones, and strum the beginning notes to their chosen song. Ernesto has to shoot Héctor a couple of subtle glares when he starts bouncing and spinning around the stage.

But except for that, the performance turns out very well.

If only the amount of people watching them was larger.