They walked into the church, all five of them - Gabriella, Troy, Tori, Temperance and Dominick - Troy's arm wrapped around Gabriella's shoulder, holding Tori's hand and Gabriella holding onto Temperance's hand. Dominick stayed behind at the door. The priest walked over to them placing his hands on both of the sisters' shoulders.
"Buenos dias, hermanas Montez."
They both smiled at him the best they could. Gabriella even meant her smile for him. She wasn't looking forward to this. She didn't want to be here. She didn't feel anything for these people they were burying. She was only here for her sister.
"Buenos dias, Padre," Gabriella greeted him.
"Buenos dias," Temperance said, turning to look for Dominick and then back to Gabriella. "Can I go see Dominick?" she whispered.
Gabriella sighed slightly, taking a deep breath. Even though he was here to work, Gabriella knew Tempe needed him, so she knew she couldn't really tell her sister no.
"Go ahead," she whispered.
Temperance let go of her sister's hand and she quickly went over Dominick, wrapping her arms around his waist. He wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head against his chest. Gabriella looked up at Troy, doing the same with him as he pulled her against him.
"Daddy," Tori said, looking up at him.
Troy looked down at her. "Si, Mija?"
Tori looked around. "Donde estan Abuelo y Abuela?"
Troy looked down at Gabriella and the Father asked the three of them. "¿Quieres ver los cuerpos ahora?"
Gabriella looked up at the Father, nodding her head. She didn't really care to, but she figured why not.
"This way, Princess," Troy said to his daughter, following the Padre as he led them into the vestibule off to the side of the main chapel.
"¿Su hermana quiere unirse a nosotros?" the padre asked and Gabriella looked back at Temperance.
"Tempe, would you like to come see them?"
Temperance looked up from where Dominick was holding her in his arms and shook her head. She couldn't see them. She hadn't seen them when they had been at the mortuary and she couldn't go see them now.
"No," she barely whispered, shaking her head and turning from them.
Temperance was afraid to see them. She was afraid to see her parents' dead bodies, but more so, she was afraid to face them considering the last time she saw them she told them she hated them. She knew they were dead, but she couldn't face them after she had told them she hated them. She hadn't meant it, but because they were her last words, like any words, but especially because they were her last, she couldn't take them back. She couldn't tell them she was sorry. She couldn't tell the she loved them and she didn't hate them. She turned more into Dominick as Gabriella and Troy walked into the vestibule with the priest, determined tot to cry, but needing his support just the same.
The priest shut the door behind them and led them over to the open caskets. Tori looked up at Troy.
"Can you pick me up, Daddy?"
Troy nodded, leaning down and picking her up with one arm. Tori looked down at the bodies, from one to the other, before looking at her parents.
"How did they die?"
Troy hugged Gabriella against his side, answering his daughter. "She died of cancer and he died of a broken heart, Angel."
It was the truth as they would want ger to know it, and as Troy told her, he felt alright telling him that. She was only a child and he couldn't tell his daughter that Eduardo Montez killed himself because he couldn't live without his wife. Yes, Troy understood how hard it was to go on without the love of his life, he'd done it, but he wasn't going to kill himself over it. He couldn't understand it, especially if he had a child to think about.
Tori looked over at his mama. "Lo siento, Mama."
She spoke silently, but she looked up at him as if he had said it out loud.
"Mija?"
She reached for her and she took him in her arms. She wrapped her legs tightly around Gabriella's waist and Gabriella held her tightly, keeping her up.
"I'm sorry, Mama," she whispered against her mama's ear, still looking down at the two lifeless bodies in the caskets.
Gabriella pulled her head back to look at her little girl. "Why are you sorry, Mija?" she asked, needing to understand.
Gabriella absentmindedly ran her fingers through a loose lock of her mama's hair. "I know you weren't close to them. That's why I never met them. Temperance didn't tell me why, but I know what it's like not to have your mom and dad around, even though I had Titi Esme. I'm sorry you didn't have your parents. I'm sorry I was so mean to you when you came to get me."
Gabriella kept her tears held back the best she could pulling her daughter tighter into her arms, hugging her. "Victoria, honey, You don't have to apologize." It had been the best apology she probably had ever heard, but she still hadn't needed to apologize. "Just having you in my life and your love is all I need."
She pulled back, looking at her. "I do love you, Mama. I do!" she told Gabriella, nodding her head.
Gabriella smiled brightly, shifting him slightly and brushing away a tear. "I know, Tori. I love you. I love you so much."
Tory wrapped his arms around the two of them, kissing the side of Tori's head and then the side of Gabriella's. She rested her head on his shoulder and Tori looked up at him.
"Why doesn't Tempe want to come in here?"
Gabriella closed her eyes and Troy pulled her closer, rubbing her arm. "Temperance is sad right now. Seeing her parents in here like this right now will hurt her."
Tori nodded, looking down at her mama. "Does this hurt you, Mama?"
Gabriella opened her eyes, looking up at her. "Differently than it does Temperance, Tori," she told her daughter honestly.
Tori looked back over at the bodies, shaking her head. "I don't know if I'm sad or not," she told her parents. "I'm confused."
Troy nodded, rubbing Tori's back. "That's understandable. You didn't know them, but you're confused because they were related to you." Troy didn't like saying that last part because he didn't think of them as being related to Gabriella, but he know that's what Tori was thinking.
Tori nodded again. "They don't even look real," she said, looking between the two bodies.
Troy stepped between the caskets and his family. "It's the makeup, sweetie. Morticians put makeup on the bodies because they start to lose color after awhile."
Tori gave him a look like she understood, but he was still confused. Troy looked over at the priest.
"I think we're done in here."
He looked back over at Gabriella to confirm. She nodded softly and the priest led them to the other door closest to the caskets. It opened into the chapel, right up front.
"Siéntate, por favor," he told them. "Voy a estar en las cámaras si se me necesita."
Gabriella smiled as best as she could for him. "Gracias, Padre."
He patted her shoulder and walked away, leaving the three of them alone. Gabriella sat Tori down on her feet and she looked up at her parents.
"I'm going to go light a candle."
Troy looked down at Gabriella who nodded as she sat down.
"Bien, Tori." She tucked the fallen lock of hair behind her ear, only for it to fall back into place.
Tori walked toward the candles, kneeling in front of them as Troy sat down beside his fiancée. "Lily?"
She looked over at him, not speaking.
"Are you alright?"
She nodded, moving closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to him.
"You're really quiet, babe."
Gabriella rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes.
"I know this is bothering you, Lily. You don't have to keep this to yourself."
She closed her eyes tighter, taking his free hand in both of her hands. "I don't know what I'm feeling, T. I may be more confused than Tori."
Troy ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "I understand. They're dead. They were supposed to be your parents and now you don't know how to feel that they're gone."
She pulled back, looking up at him. "You know me so well."
Troy smiled softly down at her. "Better than anybody."
She lifted her hand to his face, caressing it softly. "Just the way it should be," she added, leaning in to press her lips softly to his. "I love you, T. Por siempre."
He curled the rebel lock of hair around his fingers, smiling at her. "Te quiero, Lily. Por siempre."
She rested her head back against his chest and waited for people to start coming in for the service. It wasn't long before people started coming through the doors from the vestibule, paying their respects. The chapel filled up quickly, or maybe not so quickly, but Gabriella felt it rather quickly. She felt a hand on her should and looked up to see the priest.
"Es hora de empezar."
Gabriella nodded, looking up at Troy. He smiled at her, giving her reassurance. He wrapped his arm around her, taking his daughter's hand and standing with them. They followed the priest into the vestibule where Temperance and Dominick were waiting. Aurelia Montez, Eduardo's mother, Gabriella's mother who lived in Albuquerque, was there with Titi Esmeralda and a woman Troy had seen a few times before in his life he knew as Aurelia's daughter Lourdes, Esmeralda's sister. Troy couldn't believe how these horrible people could have brought this family together.
Troy looked around at everyone. They were dead now. They were gone. They couldn't hurt Lily any more. They couldn't hurt this family any longer. But Troy had to take a moment and think about that. They were gone now. He needed to just let them go. He needed to forget about them and focus on Lily. He didn't need to worry about anything but her. She was his fiancée. She was his soul mate. He needed to take care of her. He held her close to his sided as the Father stood in from of the caskets, holding up his hands.
"The time has come to say your last goodbyes."
Lourdes stepped forward with Esmeralda. She was trying to keep it together but her tears were falling hard for her brother. They all knew why he did what he did. There was no secret about it. He didn't die from a broken heart. Yet they were all mourning. Troy couldn't judge them. Eduardo wasn't his family. From the moment he had raised his hand against Lily, he no longer meant anything to him. After a few minutes, Lourdes could no longer take it and Esmeralda had to pull her away.
Temperance looked up at Dominic, whispering to him to come with her to see them. He nodded, walking with her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. She looked down at her parents' lifeless bodies from a distance. She was trying to stay strong. She still had to speak back in the chapel, but she had no idea how she was going to do that.
"The last thing I said to them was 'I hate you.' I told them that Bri and I didn't want them any more." She was shaky, but she wasn't breaking down. Dominic was holding her securely to his side, right where both of them wanted her to be. She pulled herself closer, turning her head away from her parents' bodies. "I'm done. I can't–" her voice broke and he pulled her back from them.
"Vamanos, Tempe." He kissed the top of her head, wrapping both of his arms around her.
Aurelia walked over to the casket holding her niño's body, looking down on it. She reached in, straightening her niño's tie and smoothing down the lapel on his suit. Gabriella watched her abuela, the woman who had mostly raised her, closely. She knew everyone in this room, save for maybe herself, Dominick and Troy, could all start breaking down into uncontrollable tears at any moment. She knew her abuela was the strongest Montez woman in this room, but this was her niño she was looking down on. There was no telling how much she could take of that. But maybe she was just as angry at him as Gabriella was.
All those years that she had a abused her nieta. All those years they had kept Temperance from her, from everyone. And now he had chosen this rather than to take care of the one daughter who gave a damn. But he chose to kill himself. He chose to be with the woman who had stood by through Gabriella's childhood while he abused her. He was a coward and Aurelia knew it. Maybe that's why she wasn't going to –
But then Gabriella saw her abuela's shoulders hunch over and she ran to her side quickly, wrapping her arms around her. Troy was on the other side of Aurelia, wrapping his arms around both of them. Aurelia Montez sobbed into both of their arms. She loved them. Gabriella was her nieta, and from the moment Gabriella had brought little Troy Bolton through the door of Aurelia's little cottage she had considered him her nieto.
She knew one day they'd be married. They weren't quiet there yet, but they were working on it. They did share a niño, and she was sure more would come. There love reminded her quite a deal of the love she shared with her esposo. They would have had more children had he not always been overseas. Aurelia rested her head against her nieta's arm, silently sobbing.
"Vamanos, Abuela," Gabriella whispered, pulling her abuela from the caskets, keeping her close.
They sat in the chapel not long after as the priest spoke about Eduardo and Maria Montez. He told stories of how good of people they were, but five people, possibly six knew differently. But the rest of the mourners in the congregation didn't need to know that. Eduardo and Maria were dead now. There was no need to speak ill of the dead.
"Eduardo and Maria's daughter will tell us more about the life she shared with her parents," the priest said, inviting Tempe up. "Temperance."
She looked up at Dominick beside her and then stood to walk up to the pulpit. She stood there for a moment, looking around the room, at everyone but Gabriella, at everything in the room but the caskets. "I loved my parents. We were really close until Mama got sick. We didn't know until it was too late and then they told me they were going ot send me away. I hated them for this. I told them so many times in two minutes, and then I didn't talk to them for two weeks. That was the last–" She closed her eyes tightly, gripping onto the podium. "They came home a few weeks later, telling me I was going to live with my sister."
She looked down at Gabriella, tears streaming down her face. "My parents always told me I had a sister, a daughter they had messed up with, that was why we were as close as we were, that's why we had the relationship we did. But," she sobbed softly, "they always swore if they could make it up to her, they would. They weren't perfect, Gabriella," she sobbed more turning her head down and Gabriella left Troy's side, runing up to Temperance, wrapping her arms around her.
"They loved you, Bri. Just like they loved me." The two sisters hugged each other and Gabriella kissed the side of Temperance's head.
"Come on, siéntate."
Tempe looked up at her. "¿Se puede cantar por primera vez?"
Gabriella pulled her head back slightly. "¿Cantar?"
Temperance knew she was asking a lot, but it was what her parents wanted. "Mama and Papa wanted me to ask if you would sing their favorite song at their funeral." Temperance was still crying, so Gabriella knew the tears weren't a ploy to get her up here.
Gabriella looked down at Troy, seeing him sigh heavily. "I don't have accompaniment," Gabriella quibbled, trying to get out of it. Everyone knew very well she could sing A Capella, even not knowing the song.
"Nonsense," Temperance smiled. "Dominick is prepared with his guitar and the church organist is prepared as well," Temperance assured her.
Gabriella sighed, looking out among the mourners. They were like fans at this point. She coudln't very well say no. "Fine," she mumbled. "What's the song?"
Temperance handed her a copy of the sheet music from the pulpit. "Spirit in the Sky," Tempe said as Dominic walked up by them.
Gabriella put the music back down on the pulpit, not needing the music. "I'm not doing this alone. You're all helping with vocals." She turned to look at Troy, smiling softly at him. "Will you, please?"
Troy nodded, leaving Tori by her bisabuela and Gabriella looked over at Esme and Lourdes. "You too."
They nodded, walking up onto the stand with Troy. Troy walked over to Gabriella, placing his hand on her back.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Gabriella looked up at him, shaking her head. "No, I don't want to do it, and had they asked, I would have said no, but I'm not going to tell my sister no, and I'm especially not going to say no in front of a couple hundred people."
Troy looked out over the audience and then back at her, kissing her softly. "Ok, babe. I'm not going to argue with you. I'll give you all I've got back here."
She handeded him the music in case any of them needed it, but she was sure they all knew it. Standing in the center of the stand, she nodded to her family singing background vocals to hand clap with her for the drums with her when it was time for them to come in. She kept the beats by nodding her head and tapping her toe, but only someone close enough to her and really paying attention could see either of them. Troy could see both.
"When I die and they lay me to rest," she started singing, turning to the audience, "gonna go to the place that's the best. When they lay me down to die, goin up to the Spirit in the Sky. Goin up to the Spirit in the Sky. Goin up to the Spirit in the Sky," Gabriella's note held as the other's sang, "Spirit in the Sky," holding as well. "That's where I'm gonna go when I die." And the other's repeated, "When I die." Gabriella continued to keep the beat on her hip instead of clapping, still tapping her toe. "When I die and they lay me to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best."
Dominick and the organist continued to play bars of music. Gabriella would usually dance around when performing, but she was a devout catholic girl and she knew when things were sacred. Even if she didn't have any respect for the two dead bodies in the now closed caskets in front of her, that didn't mean she didn't respect the church or the service being performed. Instead of dancing around the stand or even the church, she simply kept the beat and danced in place.
"Prepare yourself," she placed her hands in front of her body as if to pray, bowing her head. "You know it's a must." And the others joined in, singing with her, bowing their hands to pray as well. "You gotta have a friend in Jesus." Then they stopped singing and she continued, all of them going back to keeping beat, them clapping, her at her side. "So you know that when you die, he's gonna recommend you to the Spirit in the Sky." And the others sang with her again, "Spirit in the Sky." Gabriella held her hands up, clapping along with them, dancing from side to side with each clap. "Gonna recommend you to the Spirit in the Sky. That's where you're gonna go when you die." The others repeated softly behind her, "When you die." She kept dancing and clapping. "When you die and they lay you to rest, gonna go to the place that's the best."
By this time, the entire congregation is clapping, even the priest was into it and if it wasn't a funeral, some people would probably have lighters out. The priest wasn't stopping it, and Eduardo and Maria had requested it, so there shouldn't be anything wrong with a little enjoyment at a funeral. Dominick turned his guitar over halfway through his guitar solo, using it for the percussion bit.
"Never been a sinner," Gabriella sang softly, "I never sinned." Then the whole congregration sang with her, "But I've got a friend in Jesus." She smiled, her eyes wide as they completely shocked her. "So you know that when I die, He's gonna set me up with the Spirit in the Sky." Everyone behind her started singing," Whoa," and she sang along , "Set me up with the Spirit in the Sky." Gabriella sang alone, "Spirit in the Sky," and they sang, "That's where I'm gonna go when I die," as she descanted over the top of them, "when I die." They sang behind her, "When I die and they lay me to rest," and then she joined in with them, "gonna go to the place that's the best." And then the whole congregation helped them finish up the song, "Go to the place that's the best."