Héctor x Imelda Oneshots [Coco Fanfic]

The Last Gift (Part 1)

Requested by lucy08novembre2001

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Santa Cecilia, 1921

Three weeks.

It had been three weeks since Héctor last sent a letter home. Three weeks since his wife got to read a letter to their daughter at bedtime. Three weeks of Imelda having to pretend everything was okay and telling Coco that her papa would be home soon.

Three weeks felt like an eternity.

Imelda did her best to keep life as normal as possible for Coco. She took her on errands, made sure she had enough food in her belly, and did everything that she normally did with Héctor... but alone.

That night, Imelda had just rocked Coco to sleep and tucked her into bed. She carefully shut the door to Coco's bedroom, sighing in relief when the door closed quietly. The last thing she wanted was for Coco to wake up and have to be put down again.

With her toddler in bed, Imelda took the opportunity to clean up around the house a little. Héctor was due home in just a week or so. She didn't want her husband coming home to a mess.

In the midst of Imelda's cleaning, there was a knock at the door.

Imelda hadn't been expecting anyone over that evening so the knock came as a surprise. Still, she quickly wrapped up what she had been doing and went to answer the door.

"Buenas noches-" Imelda started to greet the person at her door but cut herself off when she saw who it was. "Ernesto?"

"Hola, Imelda..." Ernesto greeted his amigo's wife. He removed his hat when Imelda answered the door, a solemn expression on his face. "I'm afraid I have some unfortunate news."

"What do you mean? Where's Héctor? And why aren't the two of you still on your tour?" Imelda's thoughts flowed out in a stream of questions. She saw that Ernesto was alone, which was odd since Héctor had been touring alongside De La Cruz. Shouldn't he be with him?

"That's just it, señora. Héctor... he decided that we should come home early, but on our way to the train station he-" Ernesto paused to collect himself "- he doubled over. He was groaning and straining until he just... collapsed in the street! I tried to help him, Imelda, but..."

Imelda's blood froze in her veins. She saw Ernesto's mouth moving but couldn't hear a word he was saying. There was a ringing in her ear that drowned out the rest of the world. Ernesto kept talking to her, but Imelda wasn't listening. Her face grew pale as it was drained of blood. She began to feel light headed and dizzy, gripping the door frame for support.

"Señora, you look sick."

Imelda slammed the door shut, wanting nothing more than to be alone. Her world had crumbled away in a matter of seconds. It felt like a cold hand was squeezing her heart trying to make it burst.

Héctor was gone.

He wasn't coming home.

And all Imelda could manage to do was cry.

Her heart was throbbing with pain as her chest heaved with racking sobs. Héctor, her only love, was gone. Dead. She had thought they would see each other again after the tour was over, but now...

Overcome with grief, Imelda hugged her legs and sobbed into her knees. She didn't care that Ernesto might still be outside. She didn't care if her cries woke up Coco. Nothing mattered anymore.

"Mamá?" a small voice said from a short distance away. Coco had gotten out of bed and was now standing in the doorway to her bedroom. "Mamá, what's wrong?"