Guilt is eating at my stomach while speed-walking away. I hate it so much.

The two of us, with Dante now trailing behind, arrive to a sort of alley-way type place. We have a perfect view of Ernesto's tower at this point.

I hear Dante's nervous whining from behind us. I feel really bad.

The dog catches up with us barking, trying to get our attention. "Dante, cállate!" Miguel whisper-shouts to him.

But Dante doesn't listen, he grabs Miguels pant leg and starts to pull at him. "Dante, stop it." The boy releases himself from the dog. "He can't help us."

I sigh. "Miguel, maybe we should go back-" 

The boy turns his head to me. "And do what? If we do, all of this will be for nothing."

Before I could respond, Dante gets a hold of the boy's sleeve. After a bit of tug-of-war between them, Miguel is fed up.

He snatches his sleeve away and yells, "Leave me alone! You're not a spirit guide, you're just a dumb dog!" Dante cowards back, whimpering.

I grit my teeth. "What the hell is wrong with you?" I shout.

He is taken aback, looking at me with wide eyes.

I am about to cuss him about, but some people on the sidelines stop me. "It's them! It's those living kids!" We both try to cover our faces, but some police officers have already seen us.

Shit.

I grabs Miguels wrist take off, not looking back.

The two of us are able to cross a train track and slide down a pole, letting us escape from the officer.

We were suddenly stopped by a familiar alebrije. It is Miguel's great-great-grandmother's. Imelda sits on top of the creature.

It roars and we yelp in fear. "This nonsense ends now, Miguel! I am giving you my blessing and you are going home." The woman orders.

This time, Miguel grabs my hand and pulls me away. "I don't want your blessing!"

I open a door that leads up to stairs, hurrying away. Imelda and her creature are following right behind us. Though, the alebrije can't fit through the door, so the woman has to hop off and chase after us.

"Come back! Miguel!"

Miguel and I are stopped by a gate. Thinking quickly, I spot a bit of an opening I know the two of us can fit through.

I crawl through, the boy following suit.

"I am trying to save your life!" Imelda shouts.

"You're ruining my life!" Miguel tells her, leaving the woman confused. "Music's one of the only things that make me happy. And you want to take it away. You'll never understand."

He intertwines his fingers with mine and pulls me along again. Though, something stops us from continuing.

Imelda singing.

"Y aunque la vida me cueste, Llorona

No dejaré de quererte"

We both turn to her. "I thought you hated music. . ?" I mutter.

She puts her hand to where her heart used to be. "Oh, I loved it! I remember that feeling, when my husband would play, and I would sing, and nothing else mattered." Her look turns solemn. "But when we had Coco, suddenly there was something in my life that mattered more than music. I wanted to put down roots. He wanted to play for them world."

There is a slight pause after she said that. "We each made a sacrifice to get what we wanted. Now you must make a choice."

Miguels voice quivers, tears starting to form. My heart pierces. "But I don't want to pick sides! Why can't you be on my side? That's what family's supposed to do. Support you. But you never will."

He lets go of my hand and runs off without another word.

I give Imelda one last solemn look before following him.

***

"It's not going to work." I sigh, exasperated.

"Well, it's worth a shot!" The boy chirps. "If it doesn't, will you help me with some of your street smarts~"

He gives me the dreaded puppy eyes.

I facepalm, my beating heart unable to resist. "We'll see. But I'm waiting here."

He pumps his fist into the air. "Yes! Thank you, (Y/N)." The hopeful boy dashes and gets in line with the rest of the people.

We are now by the security entrance of Ernesto's tower. Miguel has the bright idea to convince the security guard that he was his great-great-grandson, but I have very low hopes for that.

After a few minutes, as expected, Miguel is thrown to the back of the line, along with his guitar. He groans and makes his way to me.

I chuckle. "Told you it wouldn't work." 

He scoffs and rolls his eyes playfully. "Got any other ideas, street rat?"

I gaze around for a bit, and spot something. It was the same band we saw at the competition.

I smirk at Miguel. "As a matter of fact, I do."

Dragging him away, we walk up to the group. "Disculpen, señores.." I mutter to them, catching their attention.

"Hey guys! It's poco loco!" A man says, pointing at Miguel. 

"You were a fire tonight!" A woman cuts in.

"You too!" He nods politely. "Hey, musician to musician, we need a favor." He looks at me expectantly.

I take a deep breath.

Let's hope this works.

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Word Count: 861 words

Edited: 5 . 20 . 23