A/N: I love the fact that Miguel managed to change things in the Land of the Dead, but it's like they ended it with just the adventure. I just felt like it shouldn't end like this. So I made Miguel have a connection with death now. Hopefully, this hasn't been done before. Please review and favorite/follow.

1. The First One's Always the Hardest

…

When the dreams had first started about a week after he had returned to the Land of the Living, Miguel had brushed them aside as his brain processing all the wonder and trauma of his adventure in the Land of the Dead.

Most of his dreams were about things he had seen and been therefore pretty docile in comparison to what could be: Chicharrón disappearing to the Final Death, Ernesto sentencing him to be trapped in the cenote to die, being hurdled off the building of Ernesto's show and plummeting to his doom. Some were about things he didn't really know about but figured he had unconsciously noticed, like some Alebrije being born or a few remote sections in the realm of the dead. It was weird having dreams like that, but the young Rivera had dismissed it all as nothing more than his imagination running wild. He was sure anyone else who had experienced what he did on the trip would be dreaming of similar things.

Miguel didn't really worry about his dreams all that much until they abruptly became nightmares. Of not just things in the realm of the dead but in that of the living too. The boy's dreams were riddled with death, people literally being stabbed in the back, some with kids dying of incurable illnesses, mamás or papás dying in their sleep, like his own Mamá Coco had, or of heart attacks and other causes. Basically, all his dreams (now turned nightmares) were of people dying from both natural causes, and it concerned about every form of death. Scary things he had heard of and knew existed but never actually seen firsthand. Until now.

Since six months ago, when he had his adventure to the realm of the dead, come back with the truth of his family and the knowledge about Ernesto's deeds and exposed the fact to his family and the world, Miguel had wondered about Héctor and the rest of his deceased family, but had also tried to put it all behind him. He was among the living again, and it was time he acted like it until his time really came.

Besides little preparations for Día De Los Muertos and the skull guitar that had formally hung in Ernesto's museum but now belonged to him, the young boy had no other interactions with the revelations and reminders of the trip to the Land of the Dead. And, although he missed his family from beyond the grave, he was okay with just living his life and continuing to grow to be who he had always wanted to be: a musician.

But then the dreams had started a month after he had made his decision, grabbing his attention with its dark but realistic themes and refusing to let him focus on anything else. Nowadays he would only get about three hours of sleep before spending the rest of the night in his hideout on the roof, playing his guitar and desperately trying to dispel his fear of all the things that lurked and would go bump in the night. More than a few times, he was caught by elders in his family and told to go back to bed. But the bags under his eyes still grew darker and darker.

His parents were worried about him, always trading looks when he would explain one of his dreams to the family after a particularly bad night. His cousins, Rosa and Abel, liked to make fun of him being scared of the way the world worked.

"You're the one who found out our great-great-grandfather was murdered. Natural deaths and others just like it aren't that big of a deal. I can't believe what a baby you're being about it." Rosa had said mockingly to him one morning. Unfortunately for her, Abuelita had walked by while she was goading him and had sentenced her to clean the yard for the next two weeks. Miguel had been a little too in-his-own-head to relish the fact his condescending cousin had gotten her just desserts.

It was making the young Rivera anxious the more the dreams came. Some were graphic, showcasing every drop of blood that left the body and the full agony just moments before death occurred, while a fewer set was only brief glances of the individuals as they took their last breath. It made him more than a little paranoid of what sleep would bring, unsure of how to stop the nightmares or what could be causing them in the first place.

However, it didn't become a serious issue for him until about three weeks after they had grown more horrific. The previous night Miguel had dreamt about a woman being run over a bus. In the dream, it had been dark and painful to see what was what, so while he saw silhouettes of the scene, he could see what either the lady or the bus looked like. Although it had freaked him out a little when he thought he had seen a glance of the sign signaling Mariachi Plaza as well as a glance at the woman's profile. He had also noticed a lavender bag that had been dropped with the name "Mamá Esperanza" stitched on it.

The young Rivera would have locked the nightmare away in the little vault rescinding in his head labeled "Don't think about. Ever" with the rest of his fantasies if he hadn't run into that same lady as he was heading home to lunch. No, really, he ran into her. He had been rushing back when he had slammed into a surprisingly sturdy someone, knocking himself down on his bottom.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was—" And then Miguel had noticed the bag he had knocked from her hand, lavender and with the name on it. He had shakingly looked up to see the same lady he had only glanced at in his dream: Smooth olive skin, tall stature, warm brown eyes with thick braided dark hair and a large blue sunhat. She was dressed in a purple dress and staring at him with a friendly smile but also looked surprised at being bumped into. Miguel's heart had slowed once he noted how she seemed very healthy and well, so unlike someone who had been run over. Perhaps he had noticed her before, and his dreams had warped it into a horrific scene. The young Rivera clung to that explanation with great hope, for it had to mean his dreams were triggered by people he had seen if only briefly.

"It's quite alright, young man," Esperanza had said softly, accepting her bag back from Miguel. "I wasn't looking where I was going either. If it's not too much trouble, would you please show me to the public cemetery in this village?" Miguel, full of massive relief to have solid proof his dreams were just that, was all too happy to lead the way to the lady's destination.

They had walked a few feet past the entrance of the graveyard when Miguel had no longer heard her footsteps behind him. Turning to see where she was and confirm their current location, Miguel greeted by a great surprise. The lady was in front of the entrance, glowing an orange color, not unlike how the skeletons burned when they had been in the living world. Then he watched in horror as her skin seemed to blow away, showcasing her bones beneath and her bag became transparent with tire marks on it.

Miguel had yelled, tripping over his feet as he scrambled backward till his back hit a tombstone, hyperventilating as he tried desperately to convince himself this wasn't real. This was just another nightmare. He'd wake up soon, he would. He only had to remember that fact, and he would be okay like he always was.

The now literally bony Esperanza had shot him a sad smile, drifting to his direction and crouching down, so they were eye-to-eye. The lady had studied him with grave curiosity, seeming to grow more and more melancholy by the minute. "I've heard of people like you, the ones who've earned the gift rather than been born with it. I do not envy you, young champion, for you have had a terrible fate thrush upon you. I didn't realize I was your first." Here the lady shook her head, looking quite agitated. "You poor child. Don't despair too much. What haunts you now will soon be ameliorated. I wish you luck and hope to meet you again someday." Then she had stood up and melted away right in front of him, probably to the Land of the Dead. Miguel had sat there for hours before the local watchman had come by to send him home. He had barely swayed his way down the streets and through the front door of his house before he had fallen to the floor in a crumpled heap and remained in a shock-induced catatonic state.

The days were a blur after that, sometimes he would have enough awareness to see members of his family huddled by his bed, arguing and commenting about how cold he was or how weak he looked or whether or not they should take him to the hospital or have a doctor make a house call. Miguel had fallen in and out of sleep, too tired after so many sleepless nights to make sense of anything. Not his current condition, not the incident involving Mamá Esperanza, not anything.

When Miguel had finally woken up again with the same level of consciousness and wellness as he had before his meeting with the dead lady, it was nighttime. None of his family was by his bed, so they much have all gone to bed, meaning it was very late at night or early morning. As he stretched his limbs and turned to face his room, he found himself staring into the big and intense eyes of his Xoloitzcuintli dog and spirit guide.

"Dante?" Miguel asked aloud with confusion. The boy hadn't seen his beloved pet in the seven months he's been back in the Land of the Living. The young Rivera had assumed his Alebrije had made a new home in the realm of the dead, only to come back on Día De Los Muertos. "What are you doing here, boy?"

The boy noticed almost immediately that Dante looked very much like a mutt on a mission, no happy panting or frantic lickings or playing of any kind. The dog grabbed the helm of his white undershirt with his teeth and tugged insistently, apparently trying to lead him somewhere. The behavior was just like when he had decided to stop him from seeing Ernesto.

"You want me to follow you?"Miguel questioned as he slipped out from under the bed sheets and put on his red with white stripes hoodie. Dante merely gave a small whine before leaving the room, apparently expecting the kid to follow him. The Rivera supported him, even as he pondered how exactly Dante was able to sneak into the house to see him and why his dog was acting so strange. Putting on his black homemade boots, Miguel tip-toed after Dante, taking care to avoid creaking the floor and alerting his family of his leaving.

He came down the stairs to see his dog by the door, somehow scrapping at the door without making a sound. Quietly opening the door to let Dante through it back outside, Miguel followed him, carefully closing the door after him.

The first thing the boy noticed when he turned around was the bright marigold petals on the floor. They looked just like the ones that appeared when he had been cursed. They were arranged in a path, leading from his house and down the street. Miguel saw Dante was sitting on the petals a little way in front of him.

"Should I follow the marigold?" Miguel asked the spirit guide. Rather than answer (not that the boy really expected one, of course), his Alebrije moved down the path. Deciding to follow him if only to make sense of any of this, the young Rivera followed after him.

The glowing petals took them all the way past his home, around Mariachi Plaza, and through the public graveyard where he had first discovered the bridge between the two realms. The streets were completely empty, which was strange to the Rivera who knew people tended to work round-the-clock in a few sections of town. It was like his whole village was dead asleep, oblivious to the happenings going on while the moon shone high in the sky.

Miguel could only gasp as the two made it to the edge of the cemetery, where a thin bridge of marigold petals was erected. If Miguel squinted, he could just make out the many lights that the Land of the Dead exhibited.

"Dante, I don't understand. Have I been cursed again? Is that what these dreams are about?" The boy questioned. His dog only whined, moving to grab the sleeve of his sweater with his teeth and insistently pulling him towards the other land. After one last look at his village, the young Rivera moved forward.

When they had made it to the other side of the bridge, Miguel could see rather than it leading to the Department of Family Reunions station, but to a large stone room that he could only really see because of the bright marigold petals. The dog moved until he was next to the entrance and then stopped and looked expectantly at him. The Rivera could see the unmistakable message here: He was meant to go alone from here on. Whatever that place lead to, Dante could not go with him.

Although he was severely confused and anxious about the somber mood of his usually cheerful dog and the fact that he can access some part of the Land of the Dead despite not having done anything to be cursed this time around, Miguel decided to just take the chance. The Xolo hadn't steered him wrong before, so the boy doubted that was happening now. Without any hesitation, he walked through the doorway to the stone room.

It was a large room, almost as big as Ernesto's old mausoleum had been. As he walked in, candles lit from somewhere above, showcasing the place to reveal a set of podiums that reached about halfway to the ceiling and a large black book. The front of it had white writing on it in a language Miguel couldn't understand.

Just as he was growing uneasy, a slight breeze blew through the room, billowing his hair and clothes quite quickly. He closed his eyes with the intent to protect his sight, but when he opened them again, he could see the podiums now held gray hooded figures, all standing and looking down on him.

"Miguel Rivera," One particularly overbearing looking fellow, declared loudly from his position adjacent the kid. "We've been expecting you."

…

So, I wrote this after I started working on the one-shot for Coco, but I figured I just post it first and then focus on the word spew I had for an author's note for the one-shot fanfiction. Next chapter will have Imelda and Héctor, as well as some shocking truths about Miguel. Until next time!