Juarez was freaking out. He had rehearsed the words various times in his head, he had already thought what words he would use, but he still was afraid of giving the news to his master. Xibalba was already depressed enough, to have another burden unto him, be he'd be further angry if he kept this from him. When he was in front of the doors, Juarez gulped for the fifth time that day, as he knocked loudly. "My Lord?" No reply. "Lord Xibalba are you okay?" Again, no one replied. Worried, Juarez opened the door and found his master still on bed, all the trays of food either on the ground or on top of his furniture, untouched as always.

"My Lord, I hate to… interrupt you, but there's something urgent that needs your immediate attention!"

There was a long silence, before Xibalba finally spoke. "What?" his voice was hoarse, as if so much sobbing had made his throat hurt. It did, actually.

Juarez gulped and prepared himself for potential yelling and cursing. "Medianoche is ill."

No matter how depressed he could be, Xibalba would never disregard something that involved any of his animals, they were family to him. As soon as he heard Juarez mentioning the word 'ill' he sat up on his bed and gave the lizard an alarmed look. "What do you mean that he is ill?"

"He won't eat, he's been on the ground for days and no matter what I do he won't move!"

Xibalba didn't need any more explanations. He immediately stood from bed, quickly grabbing his purple bathrobe and putting in on, then he took flight and flew down the castle halls, out into the main courtyard and into the stable; he was met with a bitter cold air, but he didn't mind. Xibalba landed just in the door of his horse's stall and took a look inside. Juarez had not been exaggerating; Medianoche did look as if he were ill. He lay down completely on the ground without moving a muscle, his shiny coat had become slightly dull, and he looked like he was very weak.

"Medianoche…" the dark god stepped into the stable and sat down next to his horse. "What's wrong, chico?" he ran a hand down the stallion's neck, and noticed he was slightly cold.

Medianoche simply snorted weakly. Xibalba noticed he was staring towards the direction of Blanca's now empty stall with longing, soon he figured what was wrong with his horse. Guess he was not the only one who missed his woman…

"There, it's okay, boy." He whispered soothingly, stroking the horse's head. "I know you miss her. I miss La Muerte too." He tried to think of something to cheer him up. Maybe… Xibalba closed his hand into a fist, and when he opened it there were three sugar cubes on his palm. He lowered it to Medianoche's lips. "Here, boy, do you want some sugar cubes?"

Normally, Medianoche would never reject sugar cubes, but he was so sad he moved his head away from his master's hand, snorting. Xibalba tried a few more times, before realizing his horse was not on the mood for treats right now. Sighing, Xibalba stood up and placed the sugar cubes into the bucket where Medianoche's oats were, and grabbed a large horse blanket made of purple silk, unfolding it to cover his horse with it and protect him from the freezing temperatures. Speaking of which, the cold was catching up to him, as well as Juarez; the lizard stopped just in front of the stall, panting heavily and wiping some sweat off his bony brow as he regained his breath.

"He is depressed, My Lord." He finally managed to speak.

"I can see that." Xibalba replied, staring sadly at his steed. "What do you suggest?"

"Well… In my *pant* opinion, we should *pant* try to lift his spirits *pant* a bit. But Perhaps Lady *pant* Epona can give us a better advice!"

Xibalba knew he was right, if someone could lend him a hand with Medianoche right now, that was Epona, no one knew more about horses than her, but he was reluctant to bother her with his problems. "I will write to her later. For now feed him some alfalfa and try to make him stand. Inform me if he gets worse or better; anyway I will be paying him regular visits."

Juarez was glad to hear that, at least his master wouldn't stay on bed all day anymore. "As you wish, My Lord."

When another cold air blew, Xibalba shivered and tied his bathrobe tighter around him, wrapping his wings around his body as he went back inside. He wanted to get back to bed as soon as possible, but as he stepped inside the castle suddenly waves of memories of La Muerte returned to him, remembering when she first crossed the threshold grabbed unto his arm for the first time. His chest started to ache once again, and he lost all energy and motivation to do anything. He just wanted to get back to his room and hide from everything, but as he was passing by the library doors something made him stop, and go inside to take a look. The library was still intact as the last time he and…

There was a book on the table. Curious, he approached and picked it up to take a look at it. It was Romeo and Juliet. He recalled when he caught La Muerte reading it during her first day here, and the encounter didn't exactly go smoothly; how he wished he could laugh about it, but he didn't have the heart. He had never read this thing, but La Muerte had made it sound… romantic. He had never liked romance novels, but… well maybe he'd find what made La Muerte like this book so much. Xibalba left the library and returned to his chambers with the book in hand. Closing the door behind him, he went to the sofa next to his chimney and sat down, opening the book from the first page and starting to read.

He was always a fast reader, devouring long books in a matter of hours, and it wasn't different in this occasion. He had to admit, Shakespeare was not as a bad poet as he originally thought. He read through the enmity between the Houses of Capulet and Montague, the sprouting love between Romeo and Juliet during a ball hosted by the former's family, their marriage in secret, Tybalt and Mercutio's deaths which led to Romeo's exile, the plan, and… that's when he noticed one of the corners from the page was folded. Had she not read it past this point, or she didn't get to finish reading it? He was reluctant to continue, but yet something urged him to. He skipped to the next page.

Unexpectedly, things turned sour after this point. The plan to inform Romeo of the Plan suffered a complication due to a plague, and he truly believed Juliet to be dead. Afterwards, he bought poison from an apothecary and returned in secret to Juliet's funeral to kill himself and join her in death, only for Juliet to wake up and find her beloved dead, then giving in to grief and despair as she stabbed herself to be with him once and for all.

He was… speechless. He had never liked happily ever after endings for being too unrealistic, according to him, but he didn't like this either, even if it was quite how real life worked. It just… wasn't fair. All that trouble only for them to end up dead? What was Shakespeare thinking? If he had read this before, he would have probably disregarded it as typical human nonsense, just killing themselves because the other died. He still remembered the argue he had with La Muerte over it all those months ago.

"They were in love. When people love they'd do anything for their loved ones."

"Please, no one in their sane judgment throws their life away for another, they could simply find another person to be with, and problem solved! Clean slate!"

"Love is not like that, Xibalba. You can't just replace someone you loved like you would replace a broken vase."

"Love causes nothing but pain and suffering. It's better never to love and save yourself the pain."

"You're wrong. Love brings joy and happiness to people, it binds them together-"

"And tears them apart a few years, maybe even months, later. Besides, it makes you weak, makes it easier for others to take advantage of you."

"So you don't believe in love at all?"

"No, and I'll never believe in it."

How ironic. How cruelly ironic. He said he'd never believe in love, and months later he ends up madly in love with La Muerte. He might as well start calling her his Juliet, but he lamented the fact she would no longer consider him her Romeo. He was in love with a fairytale, she was his angel, the love of his life. He remembered when his mother used to read him fairytales as a child when his father wasn't home, his favorite had been Beauty and the Beast. How Belle had broken the Beast's curse with her true love; how he wished it could have been the same with him, but alas, that was only a fantasy. It hurt.

His hand reached out for the ring hanging around his neck, fidgeting it tenderly, it was the only thing he would ever have of his wife, it was like having her close to his heart, quite literally in this case. Even if she did forget about him and make her life with another, he never would. He'd never look at other women the same way, he'd never touch anyone like he touched her. Xibalba stood up from his chair to head back to bed, laying back down and hiding beneath his covers, pulling one of La Muerte's scented pillows close to him, which he had brought to his chambers in order to remember her. Xibalba closed his eyes while resting his head on the pillow, again inhaling her perfume as he went back to sleep.

He could only be with her in his dreams.


The smell of alcohol coming into her nostrils soon brought La Muerte back from unconsciousness. Her vision was spinning and her head ached slightly as her eyelids cracked open, and she saw shadows around her. When her eyes adjusted to the light she identified her sister and the nurses from the orphanage, all looking down at her with worried expressions. That was when she noticed she was on one of the long couches in the drawing room. Aimé placed the napkin with alcohol aside and hugged her older sister in worry. "Big sis, are you okay?"

La Muerte didn't know what to say. Heck, she didn't even remember what happened! "What… What happened…?" was all she managed to stutter.

"You lost consciousness out of sudden, milady." Martha explained with concern.

"I fainted…?"

"Are you feeling alright, milady? Have you not been ill these days?" another nursemaid inquired.

"No, no, I'm okay." La Muerte smiled in reply. "I'm thankful of your concern, but I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Aimé knew it was their cue. "We should go back to the castle, big sis." She glanced at the head of the nursemaids apologetically. "I'm sorry, Miss Thompson, we're going to have to cut this visit short today."

The spirit smiled, understanding. "No se preocupe, milady. One's health must always come first. The children will understand."

La Muerte was disappointed that her first visit after so many months had to be postponed like this, but she didn't protest as she and her sister went back outside towards the carriage, smiling back at the nursemaids and thanking them for their time. Aimé helped her sister walk towards the carriage, the coachman immediately hopped down the driver's seat and opened the door for the goddesses to climb inside. As the door closed and the carriage advanced, the sisters continued to talk.

"What happened, Muertita?" Aimé inquired. "You really scared us."

La Muerte sighed and massaged her temples. "I'm sorry, Amy, I don't… I was just going to draw with that niña and out of sudden everything went black."

"Have you been getting enough sleep and food?"

"Yes… Well, sort of. You know I've been acting rather picky with food these days."

"Hey, La Muerte… I don't mean to make you worry, but…" Aimé wasn't sure if she did the right thing to mention this to her sister. "Have you considered the possibility of…? You know, since you and… him…"

La Muerte knew what she meant. "No, no, I don't think so."

"But it could be… just think about it, the morning sickness, the cravings, and you just had a fainting spell."

"I'm just a bit stressed out, that's all. I have to take some rest, I'll be fine."

"Maybe you're right, but if daddy finds out about your symptoms he might get another idea."

"Please don't tell him about it! I don't want him to find out what happened between me and Xibalba, it would break his heart!"

Aimé smiled and grabbed her sister's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry. You're my sister, I'd never do that. Hopefully you're right and you're only stressed out by what's been happening."

La Muerte smiled at her little sister and pulled her close for a hug. But her words had made her worry a bit. Could it be? She had to admit, she didn't completely disapprove of the possibility, but she was afraid of what might happen if that was the case. Soon the carriage stopped in front of the castle, and the driver opened the door for the sisters to climb out. Aimé led her older sister upstairs and inside the castle, towards the throne room.

"Amy, I thought we were going to my room." La Muerte noticed.

"Well, yeah, but maybe… You know, you should get something to eat first." Aimé stated, trying to contain a giggle.

When they arrived at the door that led into the throne room, La Muerte had the feeling something was going on, especially when she caught the mischievous glint in her little sister's eyes. Was she up to something? Now that she thought about it, she had not seen any servants around either, where was everyone? She pushed the doors open with a small wave of her hand, and stepped inside; it was suspiciously dark…

"SORPRESA!"

La Muerte jumped when out of sudden hundreds of voices cried out and the lights lit up, the curtains lifting to let more light into the throne room. Everything was decorated in the manner of a party, with colorful red and golden balloons, the confetti and streamers of endless colors that had started to rain down from the ceiling, the banquet table with all of her favorite foods, recently prepared, and a large sign hanging above the throne that read 'WELCOME BACK' in big, black letters. Around the place there were spirits of all ages, children, women and men, all cheering and clapping their hands cheerfully for her, while King Sol approached his daughters with a wide, welcoming smile.

La Muerte couldn't believe it. "F-Father…" Her eyes were moistening with tears of joy, moved by this gesture.

"Everyone wanted to show you how happy they are for your return, mija." Sol took his daughter's shoulders gently. "It took us a few hours to get ready, though, so I asked Amy to keep you busy."

Aimé blushed, giggling a bit.

"I don't know what to say…" La Muerte sniffled, wiping some of the tears with the sleeve of her dress. "Thank you, everyone!"

"Do not cry, my dear. This is a time to celebrate! Come now, the cooks made your favorite dishes for this occasion!"

Smiling, La Muerte grabbed unto her sister's hand and the two of them followed their father to one of the tables just as the musicians started to play. La Muerte enjoyed herself for the evening, chatting with all the spirits that came to greet her and sometimes leaving her seat to hug the children, or even lifting them to her lap. She did her best to keep her symptoms at bay, the last thing she needed was her father finding out; but all her favorite-or rather, former-dishes were all laid out in front of her, perfectly crispy and warm, ready for consuming. But it would be too suspicious if she rejected them; she'd have to cope this one time. She served herself some empanadas, tamale and enchiladas spiced with a bit of pico de gallo, accompanied with champurrado.

"La Muerte, there's something I've been wanting to discuss with you." Sol commented after a while.

"What is it, father?" she inquired, taking a bite from her cheese empanada, containing the urge to spit it back out, swallowing it.

"As you know, your birthday will be coming in a few more days, and I was thinking on throwing a large banquet to celebrate."

"That's how we've celebrated birthdays, you know. Why do you ask me?"

"Well, since you have now in the process of separation from Xibalba, I have been thinking to invite all the single gods to introduce you as a marriage candidate."

This time, La Muerte did gag on her food, and had to quickly pick up her napkin and take it to her lips to contain her coughs. Aimé looked down uncertain, she had the feeling of what was going to happen.

"What?" La Muerte asked, not believing it.

"I mean, we would wait until your divorce is absolute for an actual wedding to take place, but I think you should start thinking on finding a potential new husband, don't you think?"

"Father! I've just separated and you're already wanting to play matchmaker?"

"It's only so that you may consider other options, my dear. I'm not asking you to remarry another immediately, only that you try and find someone you could possibly share your life with, for love this time."

Her stomach churned at the idea. La Muerte just didn't feel like looking for a new husband right now, she was still too hurt about Xibalba's betrayal to even think about going around to look for other men. "I'm not sure about it."

"Just think about it, mija. There are so many gods who would give anything to be with you. You deserve someone who truly loves you and can take care of you. I'm just asking you to give it a chance. Maybe it'll do good for you to meet other people."

She still didn't like the idea, she was still married to Xibalba (as much as she disliked the idea) and she had principles, she was against seeing other men while being a married woman, but then again they were not going to court her, it was just a ball. It could be a good chance to move on with her life, anyway. Her mother would have wanted her to go on.

"Very well."