Life after Death, a 'COCO' fanfic by Tsunami Storm
Chapter 2: Victoria
-The Land of the Dead, 1971-
"Welcome to the Land of the Dead, Señorita! All new arrivals should report to the Department of Family Reunions. They'll be able to help you locate your family!"
That clerk was far too bubbly for Victoria's taste. No one here should ever be that happy. Everyone was dead, for crying out loud! The agent vaguely reminded the young woman of her Tía Rosita, but Victoria was used to her constant exuberance. Shaking her head in a no-nonsense sort of way, she walked briskly over to the correct department and looked for an available desk with an agent present.
She finally located one after a few minutes of searching, and sat down in the- apparently- handcrafted wicker chair that was meant for customers. And it was surprisingly comfortable to sit on, considering her form was now nothing but bones with cloth thrown over them.
"Well, buenas tardes, Señora. What can I do for you today?" A small, bespectacled man- dressed in attire from the 1930s at least- asked of her politely, adjusting his glasses on the edge of the bridge of what used to be his nose and then folding his hands in front of him on the desk. It was all very precise and proper, just the way Victoria preferred it.
"Gracias Señor, I shall only take a moment of your time. My name is Victoria Rivera. I was hoping you could help me locate any of my family here?" She asked a bit nervously, wringing her hands under the desk. "And, not to be rude, but it's actually 'señorita'. I was never married before-" She broke off for a moment, gathered her composure, then whispered, "-before I died."
"¡Oh, lo siento, Señorita! How very rude of me to make such an assumption! My sincerest apologies! You said your name was 'Rivera', correct? Muy bueno. If you will follow me, I can retrieve your family's file from Records and we'll try to locate any family members you may have around here."
"Gracias, Señor. That would be much appreciated." Victoria smiled in what she hoped was a friendly way, but it still came out a little stiff. She'd never smiled much when she was alive, and not much could ever amuse her, except maybe her twin tíos, Óscar and Felipe. But they had a way of making everyone in the family laugh. Even Mamá Imelda. Victoria sighed heavily. She already missed her family back in the Land of the Living, and she had a feeling that would only get worse with time. Until the time came for her family to join her in this strange world beyond the cempasúchil bridge. But hopefully that wouldn't be for many more years to come. Of course, that would mean that she would be alone in this strange world until that day came-
"Ah! Here we are! 'Ramirez', 'Renado', Ricardo', - Ah, found it! 'Rivera'." The short clerk announced as he pulled out the appropriate folder from the filing cabinet and flipped through it. All of a sudden however, his eye sockets opened wide and he gained a look of surprise on his remaining facial features. "My apologies, Señorita, but there seems to be a bit of a hiccup. It appears that there were several documents of your relatives in this folder, but they have been torn out. Quite literally, I'm afraid. Mira, mira, see for yourself."
Victoria took one look at the folder before sniffing in disgust. "Sí. That would be the doing of my maternal great-grandparents. After my abuelita married that- músico- and ran off with the twins in tow, her family disowned her and her brothers and removed them from all documents, including their Last Will and Testament. I guess they're still bitter about it, even in death. They want nothing to do with me, either. I am almost certain of this."
"Ay, lo siento, Señorita. I had no idea such a simple matter would result in such a complicated situation like this. My sympathies to you and to the rest of your living family." The clerk grimaced, shocked that family feuds could escalate this far and for so long a time.
"Don't be. It's their mess. I want nothing to do with them either. Believe me. People like them are better off forgotten. After it happened, abuelita never put them on our family ofrenda, and she never will. Good riddance, I say." Victoria huffed with an air of finality. She didn't want to talk about this anymore. They weren't worth it.
"Again, my apologies, Señorita. It was not my intention to dredge up bad memories." The clerk added nervously. Flipping through more of the documents in the file, he suddenly came upon something promising. "Ah! Here may be something we can use! It's a relatively recent document, and it details the building of a Zapatería here in the Land of the Dead. It's registered to the 'Rivera' family. Señorita, could this be-"
"¡Sí! That is our workshop! Mí familia and I are shoemakers! ¡Qué interesante! Buildings important to the living build themselves in the Land of the Dead as well?" Victoria interrupted excitedly, but then shrank back in bashfulness when she realized her mistake. However, the clerk merely shrugged it off as if it were something that happened on a regular basis.
"It has been known to happen. Whenever a business is built in the Land of the Living, an analog- or 'spiritual twin', if you will- builds itself here, in the Land of the Dead. With some minor changes sometimes. For example, a medical practice would become a splint and bone repair shop here, as the dead have no need for medicine or things like that. There's also no restrooms here, as they are frankly no longer necessary. We can still eat and drink, and use all five senses, but- well, you get the idea. It's a bit difficult to explain how it all works." The man shrugged, making a face at the somewhat awkward topic.
"Muchas gracias Señor, for the information, and for locating my familia's 'analog' workshop. I believe I can make my way from here." Victoria nodded to the helpful clerk in a gesture of farewell, and was just about to turn to leave when he spoke up again.
"¡Un momento, Señorita! The Land of the Dead provides bus service for new arrivals for this very purpose. Come with me for a moment, and we'll see when the next bus can take you to your stop." The man smiled, his grin growing wider when he noticed Victoria's face lit up with interest and the barest hint of excitement. The Land of the Dead kept finding new ways to surprise her, and she suspected that this was only the tip of the iceberg.
It turned out that there was already a single tour bus waiting at the station, already half-full of passengers excited to see the ironically lively Land of the Dead. The driver didn't even turn his skull to look at her stepping onto the bus, but the tall and rake-thin tour guide gave her a friendly smile and a small wave as she passed his seat. Victoria smiled back, but only to be polite. She didn't know him from Adam, after all. Quite nervous and feeling very out-of-place, she took an empty seat near the front of the bus, just a few rows behind the driver. She didn't want to push past too many people when she arrived at her destination.
'String bean' didn't even begin to describe the friendly- and apparently quite young- tour guide. Even though everyone in the Land of the Dead was a skeleton, there was something about this young man that suggested he'd been there for quite some time. His clothes were tidy and neat- not a string out of place- but when he stood up, Victoria noticed that he had a pronounced limp in his left leg, as if he'd injured it long ago and it had never really healed. He wore a long-sleeved indigo jacket over his open ribcage, a small red neckerchief tied around his neck vertebrae, and brown pinstripe trousers held up by black suspenders. His feet- however- were bare, and Victoria could see every single tarsal and metatarsal bone in the appendages shifting back and forth, as if the young man were nervous about something.
Victoria didn't really blame him. She could be nervous with new faces too. Especially in her small hometown of Santa Cecilia. Maybe that's why she'd never married. Of course, she was only thirty-one when she died, so that could have been a factor too. Shaking her head slightly to return her wandering mind to the present, Victoria turned her attention back to the young tour guide, studying him surreptitiously so as not to draw attention to herself, or alert him that she was watching him.
There was something about this young man. He had this sort of 'air' about him that made him instantly likable. Maybe that was why he was working as a tour guide, because it fit so well with his very approachable and 'diablo-may-care' personality. But, there also seemed to be a dark undercurrent to his demeanor. He appeared very friendly and outgoing, but Victoria also got the impression that he was hiding something. Something dark and painful, which had been festering like an old wound for years.
Suddenly the young man stood up again and looked out over the crowd on the bus, now filled to capacity. Victoria quickly averted her eyes to avoid eye contact, not wanting to stand out. With a bright smile, the man jogged the short distance to the doors and pushed the lever to close them with a snap, then returned to his position and picked up a microphone and small accordion. Putting the device between his skull and collarbone, he played a few notes on the instrument as an introduction to his prepared speech, then replaced the instrument carefully in- to Victoria's slight surprise- a medium-sized guitar case. The young man had obviously been a músico in his previous life. Though she and her family had been raised to hate music, she found she couldn't fault the man just because he had different tastes from hers.
"Bienvenidos a todos, and welcome to the Land of the Dead's '¡Gira de las Estrellas!' I am your guide, Héctor, and let me tell you, you folks are in for a spectacular performance! And after that we can get on with the tour!" He chuckled to himself, and received a few titters and chuckles from his audience. Victoria just rolled her eyes. This young man reminded her a bit of Óscar and Felipe. They were always joking around too, like a pair of goofballs.
"Okay, okay, that was bad, but at least you laughed a little. A lot better than my last group. What a bunch of stiffs!" He grinned again, this time receiving several eye-rolls along with the quiet laughter.
"Heh heh. Gets 'em every time." Héctor chuckled to himself, then flipped through his note cards that he'd produced from a pocket in his trousers. "Well, now that you know about me, I think it's time we learned a bit about you! It's only fair, right? How about you, Señor? What's your name, and how did you die?"
Victoria couldn't hear the man's name or his answer, but his death must have been pretty gruesome, because Héctor straightened up after a minute with a grimace and muttered, "Ouch!" Walking further down the aisle, Victoria was mildly terrified when he stopped in front of her seat and looked right into her brown eyes with his own- matching- ocular organs. That was interesting.
"And what about you, Señorita? What's your name? How did you die?" He asked with a friendly smile, and that simple gesture gave Victoria the courage to speak. "I'm- Victoria Rivera. I died of the influenza virus."
"Eesh. Lo siento, Señorita." Héctor replied as a generic response, but then he paused from continuing down the aisle and looked back at her with a shocked expression. He whispered, half to himself and half to her, "Rivera? Could it be? No, that's-" He shook his head and continued down the aisle, asking more random passengers their names and their manner of death. As he returned to the front of the vehicle, he stage-whispered to Victoria, "Stay a little longer after the tour, por favor, Señorita. I just have a few questions."
Victoria was confused, but she nodded silently and managed a small smile. It was impossible to hold back a smile around this guy for very long. He just had that kind of an infectious personality. Rather like her mamá, to be honest. Once again, she was reminded strongly of her twin tíos, Óscar and Felipe.
"Gracias." He whispered with what Victoria thought was a relieved smile that was also tinged with sadness. What an odd expression for a perfect stranger to be wearing.
The 'Tour of the Stars' continued for two hours after that 'interesting' meeting, and soon Victoria noticed that people were beginning to disembark from the bus at various stops in the city- entering restaurants, clothing stores, or what have you. It seemed the tour was finished. True to her promise, Victoria stayed on the bus after the last passenger left, and it was just her, the bus driver, and young Héctor the tour guide still on board.
"Well, it's been a long day. 'Night, Héctor. See you tomorrow, when we do this whole thing again." The driver groused as he opened the doors to dismiss the last two passengers. He clearly did not enjoy this aspect of his chosen profession.
"Sí. Buenas noches, Chich. Hasta mañana." Héctor waved before jumping over the descending stairs and landing with practiced ease on the sidewalk outside the vehicle. Then, to Victoria's surprise, he held out a hand in a very gentlemanly gesture to help her off the bus. The young woman smiled. Such chivalry was rare back in the Land of the Living. More evidence that this young man had been here for quite a long time.
"So where are you headed, Señorita Rivera?" Héctor asked conversationally, and Victoria looked up at him with a small start. This young man was at least a decade younger than her, and yet he was a whole head taller. Even taller than Óscar and Felipe. [Exactly a decade, as it turns out.]
"Um, the Rivera Zapatería. Do you- know where that is, Señor Héctor?" She asked quietly and nervously, as he gave another small gasp of shock when she announced her destination.
"Of course. I know this city pretty much like the back of my hand." He answered brightly, hiding his surprise very well. Victoria could tell that he was normally the kind of young man who wore his heart on his sleeve, but for some reason he was being secretive with her. Did he- think she was untrustworthy or something like that? She'd given him no reason to doubt her integrity, had she? She'd kept her promise to remain after the tour, after all. What more could he need? What were these questions he wanted to ask, and why were they so important to him?
Unfortunately Victoria wasn't given much time to ponder these things, as Héctor began walking briskly in one direction and she practically had to jog to keep up. His strides were quite a bit longer than hers, after all.
"The Zapatería is just a few blocks away." He commented conversationally after a few minutes to break the awkward silence that had settled between them. "Just out of curiosity Señorita, since your name is 'Rivera', you- wouldn't happen to know someone named Imelda Rivera, would you?" He asked shyly, and Victoria thought she heard a bit of pain leaking into his voice as he spoke her abuelita's name. Who was this guy?
"Sí. She's my abuelita." Victoria answered shortly. Then she asked a question of her own when she saw the strangest look yet appear on the young skeleton's face. This expression was a mixture of shock, wonder, sadness and pain, and something else that she couldn't quite place. [Love. Aww!] But Héctor once again covered up his emotions very quickly so she wouldn't guess what he was thinking. That wouldn't do at all. If she recognized him, and he found out that Imelda and the rest of the family hated him for leaving like he did- he couldn't bear it.
"Señor, how do you know about my abuelita? Who exactly are you?" Victoria asked, and now it was Héctor's turn to turn pensive. His first thought was, Oh great. Now you blew it, idiota. Of course she's going to be curious if you ask her questions like that! Why can't you be subtle for once in your- afterlife? Ah well. The gato is out of the bag now. You have to tell her something. And you better make it believable. Don't give her one more reason to hate you, walkout músico that you are.
"Oh, I grew up in Santa Cecilia like your abuelita. You know, small town, everybody knows everybody, that kind of thing. We were- friends- for a very long time. Actually I considered Imelda and the twins to be my second family, since I had no blood family of my own- being an orphan and all." He answered, of course omitting the parts that would undoubtedly blow his secret. And he didn't want to hurt any of his family any more than he already had. What he told her was true, but he knew that not telling the whole truth could be just as bad as outright lying. Every bone in his body was screaming for him to just drop the charade and sweep up his granddaughter in the biggest hug, but he knew he had to hold himself back. After what he did, he no longer deserved to call himself part of the Rivera family. He was just Héctor now. No heritage, no home- no hope.
His granddaughter, though! He had a granddaughter! His little Coco had a daughter of her own! Maybe more! If he still had a heart, it would probably have burst with happiness by now as he contemplated these wonderful notions. His tiny little family was growing bigger, even without him, and he was fine with that. As long as his family was happy, then he would be happy. Because his family was everything to him. They were all that mattered, in this world and the next.
"You grew up with Mamá Imelda?" Victoria repeated, and Héctor tensed. She was getting dangerously close to figuring out the truth. But then- "You're a lot older than you look, then, Señor Héctor."
Héctor couldn't help it. He laughed. "Heh. Sí. I died in 1921, and I was twenty-one years old. Food poisoning, if you're wondering. Must've been that chorizo that we had. I thought it tasted a little funny. Or maybe it was the tequila. Ah, we'll never know. That's long in the past. And around here, we don't dwell on the past for very long. We keep moving forward, just like the Living World- if a few decades behind when it comes to technology, but- we're getting there." He joked to lighten the tense mood, and Victoria chuckled just a little bit. As she'd observed earlier, it was impossible to keep a straight face around this guy for too long.
"Ay, where did the time go? Well, Señorita. It looks like we're here." Héctor observed loudly a few minutes later as they approached the Land of the Dead's version of the Zapatería Rivera. To Victoria's surprise- for what seemed like the nth time that evening- the establishment looked exactly like the one she called home back in the Living World. If a bit smaller. Victoria wondered why it appeared so, but then realized. This Zapatería only had two adjoining rooms- a kitchen and bedroom- because there was only one occupant at the moment. Herself. She guessed that more rooms would build themselves as her other family members eventually arrived.
"Muchas gracias, Señor Héctor, for taking me this far out of your way." Victoria inclined her head in a small bow of thanks as Héctor just shrugged. "No worries, Señorita. I was headed this way anyway. A friend of mine has a business just down the road from here, and I thought I'd pop in and say 'Hola'. Actually, you might know her too. Remember Ceci, your neighbor? She was a seamstress?"
"Oh! ¡Sí! Good old Ceci! I do remember her! She always gave us great deals on thread and leather for our shoes!" Victoria smiled in the direction that Héctor was looking, fond memories of their one-time neighbor flowing to the front of her thoughts. Héctor smiled too, his mind in the past as well, in happier times.
"Well at least you have one friend in this neck of the woods that you know. Are you sure you'll be alright, Señorita? All alone in that big workshop?" Héctor asked in genuine concern, even though- as far as she knew- they'd only just met a few hours ago.
"Sí, I'll be just fine, Señor. My family raised me and Elena to be independent and strong. I have always done better on my own." Victoria answered, and Héctor relaxed, regaining that sparkle of wonder in his eyes when she mentioned her younger sister's name. Again Victoria wondered, Who is this guy? And why do I feel so- for lack of a better word- safe around him? It's like I've known him for years rather than a few mere hours. He has the same eyes as mamá. And me. What could it mean?
"In that case, this is where I take my leave, Señorita. It has been an honor." Héctor smiled as he took an ostentatious bow, complete with unnecessary flourish, all in the hopes of making her smile. And he succeeded. "I'm sure I will see you around."
"Sí. Gracias, Señor Héctor. Hasta la vista." Victoria waved, turning to enter the workshop as he turned to walk back down the road from which they had come. When he had walked some distance away, she could have sworn she heard him whisper- with a barely concealed sob- "Hasta la vista- mí'ja."
But she admitted that she could have imagined it too.
End of Chapter 2
I'm pretty sure I got the order wrong for the Rivera family's death dates, but this is how I think it happened. First it was Héctor in 1921, then Victoria in 1971, then Imelda in 1972, then the twins together in 1973, then Rosita sometime later in 1973, followed by Julio in 1986, and lastly Coco in 2018. I may correct it if Disney releases the official dates someday.
I always thought it would be a cute idea if Héctor was there to 'guide' Victoria home when she first arrived in the Land of the Dead, but never revealing who he was because he didn't want to hurt her unnecessarily. And he's definitely gonna be keeping an eye on her over the next few years until another family member arrives, because he's an awesome grandpa who cares so much about his family. Just look how he is with Miguel in the movie. Like a goofy guardian angel, minus the wings. XD
And I added a deleted scene from the movie where Héctor is a tour guide. That's such a cute scene! Well, parts of it, anyway. They could have left it in with some minor changes. Hey, this is a fanfiction, I can write whatever I want. Right?
And the clerk/receptionist at the DoFR is the same one that helped the Riveras in the movie, though he doesn't have a private office yet.
Translations (for those who need them):
Señorita - miss (unmarried young woman)
Tía - aunt
Buenas tardes - good afternoon/evening
Señora - madam or lady (married woman)
Gracias - thank you
Señor - sir or mister
Muy bueno - very good
Tío(s) - uncle(s)
Mamá - mom
Cempasúchil - Marigold
Mira - look
Sí - yes
Abuelita - grandmother
Músico - musician
Ay - Oh
Lo siento - I'm sorry/my apologies
Ofrenda - family shrine
Zapatería - shoemaker business
Mí familia - my family
¡Qué interesante! - how interesting!
Muchas gracias - many thanks/thank you very much
Un momento - a moment
Santa Cecilia - Saint Cecilia (Patron saint of musicians)
Diablo - Devil
Bienvenidos a todos - welcome to all
Gira de las Estrellas - tour of the stars
Por favor - please
Buenas noches - good night
Amigo - friend
Hasta mañana - see you tomorrow
Idiota - idiot
Gato - cat
Chorizo - spicy Méxican sausage dish
Hola - hello
Hasta la vista - see you when I see you
Mí'ja - a shortened version of
Mí híja - my daughter
God Bless!
Tsunami Storm
