Miguel, Héctor, Victoria, and Rosita emerge to see Imelda and Y/N spotlit above them. De la Cruz's guards begin to approach on the stairs. They are frozen, unable to move.
"Sing!"
Mamá Imelda and Tia Y/N look down and see Miguel in the wing, "SING!" Imelda, seeing that the guards are approaching, closes her eyes, grasps the mic, and follows Miguel's instructions. Y/N grasps her arm and nods.
"AY DE MÍ, LLORONA LLORONA DE AZUL CELESTE..." Imelda began to sing. The guards stop and frown. Héctor's mouth gapes open. Tía Victoria and Tía Rosita go wide-eyed. Miguel sets Héctor up with a guitar, then adjusts a mic stand in front of him. Héctor plays the guitar, its sound amplified through the stage speakers.
Y/N takes the next line, "AY DE MÍ, LLORONA LLORONA DE AZUL CELESTE..." The guards reach the edge of their spotlight but stop short, not wanting to interrupt the performance. Imelda takes the spotlight with her as they descend the on-stage staircase. As they come down, Imelda makes eye contact with her husband in the wing.
He smiles as he accompanies her. Imelda's eyes glint, touched to see him supporting her.
"Y AUNQUE LA VIDA ME CUESTE, LLORONA, NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE. NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE!"
As Héctor accompanies the two, they become more confident. The audience begins to clap. De la Cruz grunts in frustration. Soon, the stage conductor joins with more instrumentation, which kicks into high gear. Imelda and Y/N sung together, "ME SUBÍ AL PINO MÁS ALTO, LLORONA, A VER SI TE DIVISABA."
They double down on their performance, taking the spotlight with them as they move to put distance between themselves and the guards. Imelda and Y/N continue to vamp, trying to navigate away from the guards and toward the family. The two continue to spin around the guards, tossing the photo to each other.
One guard blocks Y/N's way, but she grabs him and forces him to dance. Scared of the spotlight, he runs away. "COMO EL PINO ERA TIERNO, LLORONA AL VERME LLORAR, LLORABA. AY DE MÍ, LLORONA, LLORONA, LLORONA DE AZUL CELESTE..."
Imelda escapes, but as Y/N is about to leave the stage, she is stopped by a hand on her wrist. A voice joins her in harmony; the spotlight widens to reveal Ernesto de la Cruz singing too. The crowd goes wild.
"Y DE MÍ, LLORONA, LLORONA LLORONA DE AZUL CELESTE..." He dances Y/N around the stage, all the while trying to get to Héctor's photo. "Y AUNQUE LA VIDA ME CUESTE, LLORONA, NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE."
De La Cruz continues singing, spinning Y/N around, "Y AUNQUE LA VIDA ME CUESTE, LLORONA, NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE. NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE!" Y/N growls as she is lifted in the air, "Let go of me!"
He continues singing, "NO DEJARÉ DE QUERERTE!...AY, AY, AY!" At the finale of the song, Y/N stomps her heel into de la Cruz's foot on his high note, causing him to let her go. She runs off stage with the photo.
Y/N joins Imelda, arrives off-stage, and, somewhat high on adrenaline, they embrace Héctor. Imelda laughs, "I forgot what that felt like." Héctor is taken by surprise. Imelda, realizing the impropriety, pulls away from him awkwardly. Y/N still gripped him tightly, smiling.
"You... still got it." Hector bashfully admits. They smile at each other, softening. Miguel, off to the side, clears his throat.
YOU ARE READING
Coco
AdventureCursed for life. Invisible, yet not to her nephew's eyes. Miguel Rivera doesn't know his friend Y/N is his great-great aunt. Y/N lives, yet is dead. She knows his passion for music and helps him unravel the truth.
