A/N: Feliz Cinco de Mayo, everyone! Glad I coincidentially got this chapter out on this day.

"What do you think, mi amor?" Héctor asked her jokingly from his position in front of the mirror in their room.

Imelda just stared at him, her mouth open and her eyes wide, too stunned to say anything.

Héctor's reflection grinned at her, the sunlight from the window across from him sparkling on the mirror's glass and in his eyes. "You think Ernesto will let us wear these for our performance tonight?"

He laughed subtly as he turned to face her, crossing his arms and tilting his head to the right. He positioned his legs so that they were slightly spread apart, leaning back and putting all of his weight on his right leg behind him. He stuck out his left leg so that just his heel was on the floor, and he leaned against the wall for balance. He widened his eyes and smiled wider if that were possible. It was the kind of pose that would have Ernesto glaring at him, rolling his eyes, or giving him a slap in the face. It was the kind of pose that made Imelda bite her lip to try and keep from bursting into hysterics-- the task of which she almost always failed.

Today, it was even harder to keep from laughing at him, because not only was his stance ridiculous-- so was the attire he was wearing. It was one of his most sparkly mariachi suits, dark purple with gold swirls woven into the jacket's front pockets. The pants were super sparkly, too, the same color as the top, if brighter because of how much light it caught. This suit had a sombrero to go with it as well, which thankfully lacked the vibrant standout of the other parts of the outfit. But the gold patterns were still woven into the hat's brim, traveling around the entire side.

In all honesty, Imelda didn't know what to think about her husband's clothing choice for the upcoming performance. She didn't hate it, but she would be lying if she said she approved.

And if those were her thoughts, she could only imagine what Ernesto would have to say about it. He despised these outfit choices half as much as he hated her. Imelda imagined Héctor stumbling through the door after the concert, scars on his face, his hair tousled and matted like he'd looked when Ernesto last lost his temper.

In fact, the thought gave her a strange joy. Maybe then Héctor would let her fight with Ernesto for once if that happened.

When Imelda pulled herself from her thoughts, Héctor had given up on his silly standing position and was back to facing away from her, staring at himself in the mirror and adjusting the outfit that would most likely be the end of him when Ernesto laid eyes on it. The bright sunlight streaming in from their window, its light now fading as it sank behind the buildings in the distance, once again enhanced every sparkle and design on the suit and blinded her momentarily as she tried to gather a response.

"I like it, Héctor," she forced out finally, managing a grin even though there was a deflated feeling inside of her for reasons she couldn't think of. "But I don't think Ernesto will."

She tried to keep the joking tone out of her voice for her last sentence. Too much of that tone and Héctor would be able to guess exactly what she was thinking-- especially since what she was thinking caused one of their greatest arguments years ago.

But Héctor didn't seem to notice anything as he ran his right hand through his hair to try and smooth down the few strands out of place. He shrugged as he brought his hand to his side, his grin dimming to a half smile as he did so.

"Eh, you're right," he responded, his voice growing distant. Imelda looked at his reflection again and saw something, maybe resignation, maybe slight fear, flicker in his eyes for a brief second, erasing pieces of the joyful and funny mood from earlier. Imelda knew what he was thinking, what he'd probably been thinking since he'd started getting ready for the concert, and she wanted to give him some words of reassurance like she usually did before huge performances like this when she saw nervousness cloud Héctor's eyes.

But just as quickly as she saw it, the flash of what she saw in his expression disappeared, and Héctor's joking grin was back. "But, I saw a pretty large crowd gathering outside in the plaza. That should cheer him up enough that he doesn't even notice this."

Imelda rolled her eyes, giving a small-- but this time, real-- smile in response. Then Héctor finished straightening his suit and turned his whole body to look at her, striding over to where she stood and giving her an unexpected embrace. He pulled her close, squeezing tighter than normal as she wrapped her arms around him as well. She heard him say something, and moments later soft giggling, but she didn't hear what he said, too caught up in this strange but heartwarming moment, her heart both clenching and lifting at the same time.

When Héctor let go of her, Imelda saw his expression made visible by the sharp moonlight and actual lighting from outside the window. His eyes were flashing with excitement and anticipation, and from the racuous cheering that sounded outside, Imelda knew why. It was almost time for him and Ernesto's performance, and though hints of the slight edge Imelda saw in Héctor's eyes hours earlier were starting to show again beneath his happiness (probably thinking of how Ernesto was going to react to this attire choice-- or brainstorming ways to keep Ernesto's focus elsewhere for the entire night), there was no turning back now.

With a kiss on Imelda's cheek, Héctor strode past her with almost complete confidence, and Imelda saw him stop walking a few times, stopping in the dark hallway to contemplate that silly outfit (and, probably think of how his friend and the audience would react) before he reached the front door.

For this particular performance, Imelda chose not to go with him and see him perform. She didn't know why, didn't know what was stopping her this time when she'd been attending every concert of his since the two of them became friends, but she'd lost her enthusiasm for the concert since her and Héctor's talk earlier, since the surprising embrace he gave her.

She instead went over to window in the living room, where she had a perfect view of the stage in the plaza and could see the lights reflecting off of Héctor's outfit and what looked like absolute rage in Ernesto's expression. Imelda supported Héctor's music from far away, not focusing on the song this time as much as Héctor and Ernesto's outfits and the far away but still visible joy in Héctor's eyes.