Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the rights for Vivo, those rights are owned by Sony and Netflix and a few others. I DO own a few characters in this fic, though.
A song of the heart
The Florida sun was beaming down on the plaza, the streets were bustling with lots of people. The summer holidays were in full swing and lots and lots of tourists were wandering around the place as they went about their daily lives.
The heat was near unbearable but it was a remarkable day without a single cloud in the cerulean blue skies.
It had been 2 years since a Kinkajou from Havana Cuba named Vivo had traveled all the way from his home to Florida and then Miami to deliver a love song written by his very best friend named Andrés Hernández who had passed away. During his journey he had become acquainted with Andrés' niece, Gabriella (Gabi for short) and Gabi's mother, Rosa, a trio of scout girls who gone by the name of The Sand Dollars and he had also met a pair of literal lovebirds named Valentina and Dancarino. After the song was delivered to singer Marta Sandoval (Andrés' love), that Vivo had decided to stay in Florida with Gabi and Rosa.
Since then, life had been perfect.
…Except today there was going to be an event that, once again, shook Vivo's world to its very core.
Over those passed two years, Gabi had improved on her singing skills and musical skills in general; drumming was an easy one since Vivo just let Gabi think that she was teaching him instead of the other way around. He didn't want to squash the illusion and hurt any feelings so he decided to just suck it up and let her think what she wanted.
Gabi was making her way through the crowd, pulling a big stereo made out of cardboard behind her as she headed for the midst of the neighbourhood plaza. It didn't take long until she parked the stereo in the right spot and leaned closely into a door made from cardboard —the place that concealed the star of the show. She made sure to speak quietly.
"Are you ready, Vivo?"
After getting a chitter of confirmation from the occupant within the box shelter, she started to gather attention in song. Everyone around started to stare at Gabi with keen interest the second she started to belt out the chords.
"Heeeeeey."
The twelve-year-old spun on the spot with her arms spread out wide and a huge beaming smile on her face.
"Calling all grown-ups, teens, animals, and kids.
Right this waaaaaay,
We have prepared for you today.
A dazzling displaaaaay.
Presenting the one and only Vivo…!"
On cue, Vivo popped out of the cardboard stereo and started to dance around. He relished in feeling the pulse of music pound in his heart like a pair of bongo drums, he loved the heat he'd feel in his hands and feet, he adored hearing the crowd cheer and watching them move their hips to the songs and raps he created.
Each time he heard music, his entire body would pulsate with the beat.
As a matter of fact, he kept forgetting that all the human ears would only hear a bunch of chittering and high-pitched squeaks…
The kinkajou swung his hips from side-to-side and clapped his tiny hands together whilst simultaneously using his tail to shake a maraca that doubled as a pretend microphone. He felt his head, hands, feet and tail all pulsate along with the temp of the music playing as he grabbed the microphone/maraca out of his tail and held it up to his mouth.
He started to rap.
"Ladies and gentlemen,
It's Vivo and Gabi back again.
My rhythm comes from Cuba in Havana City
And I bring a bit of it to the place I'm living in
Now it's time for another adventure to begin again."
The orange mammal winked playfully at a cat that had gathered along with the huge populace of humans crowding around —his body buzzing with electric pulsation of the music blasting through the speakers on Gabi's phone app. The music was enough to make everyone clap along to it and even heightened the performance and all eyes fell on the small dancing Kinkajou.
Vivo shuffled his feet as he continued to rap with quick precision.
"Two years ago my life had changed,
There were lots of circumstances
and most of them disarranged!
Now I live in Florida and I am happy as ever
an' now me and Gabi see this life as a treasure!"
Vivo moved to the centre of the plaza as smoothly as possible, his tail flickering back and forth like a pendulum.
"During my journey, I fought storms and reptilians
And I even built up a bit of resilience.
I delivered a song of love to the amor of my friend
and I even found another friend in whom I can always depend."
Vivo clambered on to the twelve-year-old girl's shoulder and gave her a nuzzle of affection, rubbing his own cheek against hers. He wasn't sure if it was because his fur tickled her or the adorability of the display just got to her but she giggled softly whilst patting the Kinkajou on the head whilst being sure to avoid knocking his little fedora askew; the crowd also cooed at how adorable it was to see a girl and her companion so close as best friends.
Vivo then hopped off of Gabi's shoulder and landed on the ground feet-first.
He whirled his maraca in his fingers and gave it a few firm shakes in time with the music playing, he even jumped high in the air before promptly landing on top of the cardboard stereo that he had originally burst out from within at the beginning of this performance. Using his Kinkajou skills, he even did some backward hops mid-air to gain a bit of height.
"Hey,
Lo le lo lai
Lo le lo lai, lo le lo lei
Lai le lo lei…."
The Kinkajou sang this part without problems as he leapt back on to his perch on Gabi's shoulder.
Vivo suddenly produced a trumpet from behind his back, pressed his lips to the mouthpiece, took in a deep breath and blew into it hard. It produced a loud yet explosive noise but it was quickly tempered when Vivo's small fingers pressed the piston valves while also latching on to the finger hook. As he blew into the trumpet, he created a wonderful melody to put some more musical ambiance to the performance.
He made sure to turn it away from Gabi's ear, though, as to not blast it directly into it.
After a minute of playing a spectacular tune, he threw the trumpet into the air and caught it with his tail before pointing to Gabi to signal her to sing her cue.
"Go ahead and sing it, Gabi!"
Gabi seemed to understand what her partner was trying to communicate to her and nodded before she started to sing too. She shook her dyed purple locks in the air and bopped her head in time to the song playing on her phone and stereo.
"Hey,
Lo le lo lai
Lo le lo lai, lo le lo lei
Lai le lo lei…."
After Gabi sang her verse, her and Vivo had started to sing as a duet and they harmonised with one another. Their voices joined together like drops of water or even like a shadow and it's caster, their singing voices in perfect synch as the young girl and her little Kinkajou friend sang and danced together.
"You and I, we are one of a kind.
Keeping time, every time."
The girl and kinkajou did an electric slide away from each other before scuttling around as they performed for the crowd that was growing by the moment, the duo danced around the stereo whilst thoroughly enjoying every second of their performance.
"And if y'all like that
Won't you pass the hat?
Right along like that
Won't you pass the hat?
Yeah, if y'all like that
Won't you pass the hat?"
Vivo removed his fedora and started to slide around the crowd, watching as everyone put their money inside it, keeping the beat of the song going with Gabi helping by using a musical app on her phone. His eyes laser-focused on his hat as he watched all the dollar notes, coins, other bits of currency and even a lollipop from a small child fall into the hat, practically filling it. He kept doing his springy acrobatics whilst all the money the performance was earning just fell into the hat, almost literally.
Seeing their performance earn some money brought back memories of when he and Andrés would do a similar performance together in the Plaza back in Cuba —their little humble performance using on-hand instruments instead of the latest technological advancements made his heart swell with nostalgia.
"And if y'all like that
Won't you pass the hat?
Right along like that
Won't you pass the hat?
Yeah, if y'all like that
Won't you pass the hat?"
Vivo came to a stop whilst sliding on both knees, placing his hat back atop his head (somehow without the money and other earnings spilling on to his head and to the ground below) and sprang to his feet into a standing position. He snapped his fingers as he cast a huge smile towards Gabi, whom by now had stopped dancing and bopping, and had grabbed the Kinkajou by the underarms and swung him around through the air whilst making sure to keep a tight grip on him to avoid flinging him off.
Vivo squeaked in surprise when he was picked up but got over it quick as he held on tight to Gabi, trying not to show the slight fear on his face.
"Yeah, I've adapted to my new habitat!"
The Kinkajou was spinning so fast that he felt the burn of vomit begin to creep into the back of his throat but he swallowed it. He didn't want to throw up during a performance! That would make a mess of things…literally.
Gabi and Vivo eventually stopped whirling and, while Vivo perched on her shoulder once more, he gently wrapped his tail around her neck (but being very careful not to choke her) and brought out both maracas whilst shaking them along to the beat of the song. Both Gabi and Vivo began their finishing duet as they practically stood back-to-back (or as much as a back as possible for Vivo).
"You and I, we are one of a kind
Keeping time, every time
Right on tiiiiiiiiime!"
The musical duo struck finishing poses before glaring determinedly at the crowd.
"Right on time!"
Their finishing number was greeted by a huge amount of applause and cheers of joy. Vivo and Gabi breathed heavily to regain the energy they had exerted due to projecting their voices as loud as possible — their chests heaved in and out as they recovered their breaths after such a performance.
Gabi smiled as she high-fived Vivo, whom had leapt off of her shoulder.
"Great work today, partner! Shall we go for a mango break before I head off to school?"
The question she asked was rewarded with a squeak of confirmation followed by a massive nod of the head from the Kinkajou; Vivo loved mangoes and he loved sharing the odd mangoes with his best friend. Especially when it's first thing in the morning —while he tried not to indulge in so many mangoes, he couldn't help but love them.
Just the mere thought of them made him salivate.
Gabi and Vivo started to pack up their items before returning to their house.
As the crowd began to disperse to go about their daily lives, there was a lone lady whom had watched the entire performance with great fascination and intrigue.
The woman wore a pair of sunglasses and she wore a short sleeved black shirt with a matching skirt and she had a necktie tied around her neck. Her blonde hair was tied into a tight bun and her lips were painted with crimson lipstick and she had fair but pale skin. She also had what appeared to be an ear piece —she was the absolute epitome of a cliché businesswoman.
The lady watched Gabi and Vivo take their leave with not an ounce of emotion on her face.
After the Kinkajou and girl left the scene, the woman pushed the little earpiece further into her ear and started to speak with someone on the other end.
"I found them, sir, shall I engage?"
"…."
"Understood. I shall approach them tonight."
A/N: Hi, everyone! I recently watched the film Vivo and I really like it! Plus, due to the fact that it's new, I thought I should see if I could add to the list of first Vivo Fanfics. This is what I feel a sequel to Vivo would look like. The beginning song is sort of like "One of a Kind" and "Grand Finale" but with some additions which I hope you lot enjoy.
I seriously recommend Vivo, it's a good film in my opinion.
I hope you all like the story so far!
-Chloemcg