Manolo stood from the floor and scanned the giant bull. "Aye, aye, aye," Carlos said. "Of only he can finish the bull."

"Carlos! You pushed him too hard!" Carmen said.

"Mi amor-"

"Don't you 'mi amor' me!" Carmen replied. "You pushed him into following tradition! Why can't you let him play?" Carlos didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the ground.

Manolo grabbed his cape off the ground and waved it at Toro Muerto. "Venga, toro! Venga!" Toro Muerto ran at Manolo, however, the bull is too big to dodge. The bull flung Manolo. Fortunately, he stood up again. "Venga, toro!" Manolo called. The bull charged again, but this time, Manolo ducked underneath it. The bull skid to a stop before the wall.

Toro Muerto walked backwards into the ring. The outside border set fire, along with the bull's horns and spine. He roared, causing people in the audience to loose their food and sombreros. "Woah!" Sora said as the sound wave from the bull caused him to fall backwards. He stood back up again.

Manolo waved the flag at Toro Muerto again. The bull, now on fire, ran towards Manolo, who dodged to the left of the bull's foot. The bull turned back around, missing Manolo again. The bull stopped and stared. Manolo waved the flag a few times.

Toro Muerto ran into Manolo, causing him, and all of his items, to be flung away from the bull. His guitar landed on the floor. Sora ducked from one of Manolo's swords while the other one stuck to the ground, blade first.

Toro Muerto crashed into the wall. This time, he didn't recover as quickly. "It's time," Carlos said. "It's time to finish the bull."

Manolo stood, stumbled a little, then regained his balance. He placed a hand on his side. He limped over to his sword.

"Come on, Little Sanchez," Carmelo said. "Finish the bull."

Another beam of light shot down, this time, next to Goofy and Luis. The light vanished and an old woman sat in it's place. She is knitting and has white hair, tied into a bun. "M-mama! What are you doing here?" Luis asked.

"Eh," she replied, shrugging. "Cholesterol." She looked up from her needles and at the ring.

"Manolo..." Carmen muttered.

"He no gonna do it," Luis' mother said, returning to her project.

Manolo reached for his sword, then stopped. His mind began racing. "Do it for your family! Do it for me!" Carlos' voice said in his head. "Music is not work fit for a Sanchez bull fighter." His father used to say that all the time. Even Jorge knows it. But why? Why is music...outlawed, to say, in Sanchez bull fighting history? What is so wrong with music? Why can't he do what he wants? "Never stop playing." Maria told him that when they were just kids. He had broken his guitar protecting General Posada from a boar when it broke. She bought him a new one to replace it. If his father never wanted him to play, why didn't he take his privileges away? He is his father. He could've easily stopped him for good.

But he didn't. No matter what the reason was, Carlos never stopped Manolo from playing his guitar. He told him to focus, and to play after his lessons were over, but he never took his guitar away. He never locked it away someplace he would never find it. He let him keep it. He let him play.

Maria is right. 'Never stop playing. Always play from the heart.'

Manolo bent down to pick up his guitar. The audience gasped, all except Sora, Donald, Goofy, Carlos and Carmen. "Told you he no do it," the old Sanchez woman said.

"Manolo, what are you doing?" Carlos asked quietly.

"Carlos, watch," Carmen said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Manolo strung two chords before Toro Muerto knocked him into the wall. Manolo recovered and picked up his guitar again. He played the same chords but this time, Toro Muerto listened.

"Toro, I am humble, for tonight I understand," Manolo started singing. "Your royal blood was never meant to decorate this sand. You suffered great injustice, so have thousands before you. I offer an apology, and one I'll overdue."

Carlos frowned and shook his head. "Aye, Manolo. What are you doing?"

"Shh," Donald shushed.

"I am sorry. Toro, I am sorry. Hear my song, and know I sing the truth." Toro Muerto raised his foot above Manolo. Manolo didn't move.

"Although we were bred to fight, I reach for kindness in your heart tonight. And if you can forgive." Toro Muerto put his foot down, right in front of Manolo. Xibalba's jaw dropped. Candlemaker pulled at Xibalba's beard, causing his mouth to slam shut. Manolo kneeled. "And if you can forgive. Love can truly live. And if you can forgive, and if you can forgive, love can truly live."

Manolo played bridge while the bull put his head down. "And if you can forgive, and if you can forgive, love..." Manolo stopped playing and touched the bull's nose. Toro Muerto began to fall apart into marigold pedals and float away. "Love can truly live." One last petal fell from the group and onto Manolo's palm. The audience cheered, including Carlos. "He did it!" Xibalba exclaimed.

"Yes he did," La Muerte remarked.

Once the audience dispersed, Carlos, Sora, Donald and Goofy rejoined Manolo in the ring. "Manolo!" Carlos called.

"Papa, I-"

"A Sanchez man never apologizes!" Carlos said firmly. Sora winced. "But you just changed that." Sora exhaled. "I should've been a better father. I'm very sorry."

"Papa," Manolo said, smiling, "it's okay!" Manolo ran towards his father, who hugged him. Manolo returned the hug. They released the embrace. Sora smiled.

"Chakal is at the gates of San Angel. He's probably inside now," Carlos said.

"Don't worry, Papa. I can handle Chakal," Manolo said.

"Be careful, Manolo. He...he doesn't like bull fighters."

"Gracias, papa."

Xibalba spread his wings out. "Manolo! You beat me fair and square. And for that, I uphold my end of the bargain." He grabbed La Muerte and Candlemaker's hands. "By the ancient powers vested in us, we give you life," they said in unison.

For the first time ever, Xibalba was smiling. And not just at the pain and plea of others. This was a true smile. One Sora was pleased to see.

Manolo, Sora, Donald and Goofy began floating. "Woah," Sora said. Luis, Carmen, Carmelo, Jorge and the Sanchez twins caught up with Manolo and waved him off. A short beam of light rose from the floor, rising from their feet. Everything the light touched gave them their physical bodies back. "Woah, cool," Sora said, looking at his hand.

"Good luck, Manolo!" Jorge said.

"See ya, Little Sanchez!" Carmelo exclaimed, waving.

"Bye!" Sora waved. The beams of light grew larger, extending past the sky in the Land of the Remembered and back into the Land of the Living.

Carlos and Carmen waved them off as they floated higher. They gained speed and flew up.