Héctor x Imelda Oneshots [Coco Fanfic]

Noche de los Primeros

Santa Cecilia, 1917

"Imelda! How much longer?" Oscar whined.

"Se paciente, I'm almost done."

Imelda sighed as she finished up with the last of the shoe polish she had decided to use for her little project. Tonight was the town's celebration of Día de los Muertos, and she wanted them to look festive. It was her favorite night of the year, and she wanted it to be wonderful. They couldn't afford to buy special material just for this, so Imelda got creative by using shoe polish instead.

"There. All done."

Both of her brothers had matching skull faces for Día de Muertos. Imelda had painted her face as well, though hers was much more elaborate.

Oscar got up from the stool he had been sitting on while Imelda did her work, running to a mirror so he could see himself. He grinned at the sight of his reflection. "¡Me veo perfecto!"

Imelda laughed at his excitement, feeling quite proud of herself. "Sí, now go get Felipe and both of you get your shoes on."

While her younger brother ran off to do exactly that, Imelda decided to fix her hair a little. She always wore it up, but tonight she was going to add a few ribbons. They were all wearing their best clothes, the ribbons would only elevate her look more.

Imelda Rivera was a lot of things. She was a maternal figure for her younger brothers, a responsible older sister, and an independent young woman. She put her family before herself, which meant she often deprived herself of typical teenager experiences. She grew up quickly and sometimes forgot that she was a child herself.

But not tonight.

Tonight was the first night of Día de los Muertos, and she was determined to have fun. She would still look after her brothers, but she insisted on participating in the fun.

The trio of Riveras made their way to Mariachi Plaza, seeing plenty of other children running around in proper face paint and festive clothes. The twins were practically buzzing with excitement as they arrived in the plaza to see all of the beautiful decorations.

Santa Cecilia was a lively town any day of the year, but this time of year it was like a dream come to life. There was loud music playing constantly, shouts of joy in the air, and a wonderful sense of happiness that was pretty much palpable.

But before they could indulge in the festivities, the Riveras wanted to visit the cemetery.

Pantéon Santa Cecilia was the local cemetery where most everyone had their relatives buried. When Imelda and the twins' parents passed, they weren't able to afford more than one headstone for them to share. The children went to visit the headstone for their parents so they could leave a few cempasúchiles for them.

After a short vigil, they left the cemetery and rejoined the celebration in the plaza. Imelda watched her hermanos as they snacked on some tamales she had bought for them. While they sat enjoying their snack, music began to play for people who wanted to dance.

The twins practically begged Imelda to dance for them, loving when their hermana danced. She was reluctant at first but eventually obliged. She had only been dancing for a short while before someone called her name.

"Imelda!"

She stopped at the sound of her name. She turned her head to see an all-too-familiar face. "Hola, Ernesto," she replied with a slight tone of indignation.

"I thought you might like to know that myself and a few others in town who don't have a family of their own to celebrate Día de los Muertos with are getting together in a little while. Why don't you join us?"