matador (manolo sanchez x reader) ₊˚

my arthritis, it's gone!

The sky weeps with rain and thunder, covered by thick, dark clouds. Carlos Sanchez kneels underneath the giant tree, sadly gazing down at his dead son's altar. The wax candles flicker left and right as a gentle wind rushes through the sky, Carlos staring at Manolo's matador poster. Next to Manolo's altar, lay yours, which was considerably less decorated and nice. A childhood photo of you, littered with candles and offerings of bread and sweets.

. . .

Maria awakens from her brief trance, her memory clouded with confusion. She groans at the feeling of a lingering headache, in which Joaquin gently helps her up.

"What happened? Wait... where's (Name)?" Maria asks urgently, her head turning to face Joaquin. The man pales in thought of her question, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Maria... (Name), she passed away."

Maria's eyes widen to great size, her face paling in the way Joaquin's did. Her hands fly to her face in shock, an absolutely mortified expression on her face.

"What?! No, that's not right!" Maria exclaims, standing up from the bed. "It can't be! H-how did she pass?"

Joaquin averts his eyes. "We... don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Maria asks frantically, thinking back through all the priceless memories you've shared together.

"Manolo was there, but he never said how... By the time we were able to ask, he was already dead."

Maria's mortification multiplies ten-fold, her knees buckling as she falls onto the carpeted ground with her sobbing face in her palms. Joaquin kneels by her side, soothing Maria with a hand on her shoulders as she weeps.

"My best friend... my sister! Manolo too!" Maria cries, her loved ones watching in silent woe.

Joaquin opens out his arms for Maria to take, the woman hesitantly wrapping her arms around his midsection to weep into his chest. Joaquin smooths his hands over Maria's hair, silently sharing the mourn of his two friends with gritted teeth.

General Posada walks over to the crying couple, his hands behind his back. "Maria, we are all sorry that (Name) and Manolo are gone, but Joaquin just saved your life!"

Maria regretfully pauses her crying.

"You see, he will always protect you." The general says, holding his hooked hand out.

Joaquin extends his arm out, stepping away from the general. "General, this is really not the time."

"Please, for everyone's sake, mija... Make him stay."

Maria contemplates her father's words, stepping away to peer out the gray window in thought. Regretfully, Maria turns around to meet Joaquin, her father's hand on her shoulder.

"Will you stay in San Angel if I marry you?" She asks, half-hoping that he'd say no.

"Anything you want. But Maria, you don't have to-"

"I accept Joaquin's proposal." Maria robotically says, her body more like an empty shell than her actual self.

Xibalba gazes at the couple from outside the window, his hands clasping together in triumph. "Ah, young love."

. . .

You place your hand on Manolo's shoulder, looking him in the eye. "We have to find La Muerte."

Automatically, he nods with a curt smile, placing his own hand on top of where yours lay.

"I'll go wherever you go."