Miguel wished he could have spent more time in the Land of the Dead.

However, when he woke up in Ernesto's tomb, surrounded by marigold petals and completely non-skeletal, he couldn't help but feel an immense sense of relief.

Of course, he'd run home almost immediately, pushing past his family until he entered his Mama Coco's room, locking the door behind him.

"Mama Coco?"

Slowly, she raised her head, giving him a tired smile. "Julio! How are you?"

Ignoring the slight memory lapse, Miguel took a seat next to Mama Coco, fingers strumming on the guitar he'd…. liberated from the tomb. "I-I had a really strange night Mama Coco…. I met your Pap though?"

"Papa?" Mama Coco's voice cracked slightly, "Papa's here?"

"… No Mama Coco, but- "

Suddenly the door crashed open, and the other members of the Rivera family barged inside, with Mama Elena leading the group. "Miguel!" she growled, "What are you doing? Where have you been?!" She then noticed the guitar, "What are you doing with- "

"- Stop!" Miguel ordered, straightening up as much as he could and glaring at the other Alpha, "Back off!"

"Miguel…" His Papa took a step forwards, "… what are you doing?"

"I'm making things right!" With his Papa sort of holding his Mama Elena back, Miguel took his seat again, strumming out a few familiar chords on it, "I-I know you might not remember this… but I know your Papa was the one who wrote it."

"Papa used to love writing songs."

"I-I know…." Miguel took a deep breath and started to sing, "… Remember me, thought I have to say goodbye, remember me."

The song was soft, just how it was meant to be and with each word, the light seemed to return back to his Mama Coco's eyes. Near the end, a soft voice started to join in, sounding so much like the little girl she used to be.

"Know that I'm with you, the only way that I can be. Until you're in my arms again… Remember me."

Miguel knew that tears were building up in his eyes… in fact that they were building in almost everyone's eyes, especially when Mama Coco sighed happily.

"My Papa used to sing that song to me every night… I know he was singing it to me, even when he was gone, I knew he would sing that to me every night." A frown flashed across her face, "And then, we heard the song over the radio… Ernesto De La Cruz's latest hit. Mama banned music from the house from that day onwards."

"Ernesto stole that from him Mama Coco! He-he hurt your Papa and stole everything from him, but…" Miguel took a deep breath, "… he loved you. He loved so much."

There was a brief moment of silence, where Mama Elena clearly didn't know whether to shout or cry.

In the silence, Mama Coco turned to her bedside drawers, opening the top one and pulling out a scrapbook, bits of paper sticking out at every angle. "I kept every letter my Papa sent me…" she whispered, "… I always read them when I'm having a bad day."

Everyone knew what the bad days were like… the fact that she kept reading his letters, was probably the only reason she even still remembered who he was.

"I also kept this…" Slowly, she turned to the page, weakened fingers pulling out a torn piece of paper and she handed it over to Miguel.

With shaking fingers, Miguel took it, a wide smile spreading across his face when he saw what was on the paper.

Papa Hector, a gentle smile on his face.

Slowly pulling the stolen photo out of his pocket, he matched the torn piece to the rest of the photo and sighed in relief.

Papa Hector could go up on the ofrenda, for the first time in over nine decades.

…..

One year later, things had changed drastically for the Rivera family.

"And there's your Papa Julio, your Tia Rosita, Tia Victoria… and those two are Felipe and Oscar!" Baby Coco cooed in his arms, tiny hands reaching out for the photos as Miguel continued, "These aren't just old photos, they're our family and they're counting on us to remember them!"

Coco cooed again, just as Mama Elena entered the room, placing a gentle hand on Miguel's shoulder, before sadly glancing down at the framed photo in her other hand.

Mama Coco had passed away less than two months before. Peacefully in her sleep, with a smile on her face.

She had been reunited with her Papa once again, and Miguel knew that.

However, Mama Elena was still grieving. Slowly, Miguel placed his hand on her shoulder, comforting her the only way he knew how as she placed the photo on the ofrenda, sitting near the newly-mended photo of her Mama and Papa.

"And those are your Mama Imelda and Papa Hector…." Miguel finished as Mama Elena went to continue preparing for the evening, "…. It's going to Papa Hector's first time seeing us all you know. He's going to be so excited!"

…..

"Just walk through and we'll meet you on the side." Imelda gently pulled Hector into a hug, smiling when he relaxed into it.

It had taken them almost a year, but they were finally getting past all that their family had been through.

"What if… what if my photo isn't on the ofrenda?"

"It is Papa."

The pair of them turned as Coco slowly made her way over, gently taking her Papa's hand.

"I made sure Miguel fixed the photo…" She continued gently, "… you'll be allowed through."

"Listen to your daughter…" Imelda pulled her omega closer and kissed him on the cheek, "… she knows what she's doing."

Hector nodded, taking a deep breath as he was the next to walk over to the gate, where a familiar female officer stood.

"Hello Hector…" she greeted him warmly, her male colleague standing behind her the exact same smile, "… just look into the camera."

Hector nodded slowly, before straightening up, almost seeming to hold his breath in anticipation. There was a brief moment of silence, before the machine binged and both police officers beamed widely.

"Enjoy your visit Hector!"

It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as Hector sighed in relief. Making his way out of the gate, Imelda and Coco were there and waiting for him, with the Alpha immediately pulling her omega into a hug.

"Come on…" She whispered, "… big smiles now."

As she took his hand and Coco took his other hand, the rest of the family joined on and they all started to walk across the marigold bridge. For a brief moment, Hector tensed, worried that he was just going to fall right through, focusing on his new shoes as he took that first step.

The marigold petals glowed underneath his feet and he continued forwards, smile slowly widening with every step as Pepita and Dante flew around overhead.

"Are you okay?" Imelda whispered as they reached the end of the bridge, "Do you need to sit down?"

He shook his head slowly, "I-I… I just never thought I'd get to see this. I never thought I'd actually be walking across this bridge, seeing my family and- " He stopped, cutting himself off as the rest of the family glanced at each other in concern.

No matter how many times they apologised or felt the slightest twinge of guilt, every time they were reminded of it

"Well…" Imelda nervously cleared her throat, "… You don't need to worry about that anymore. You'll never need to worry about that anymore."

…..

Seeing the first skeleton almost caused Miguel to slip into a panic attack.

Only when baby Coco reached out for him, happy to see her big brother (despite it only being ten minutes from the last time she'd seen him), did he actually relax. He hadn't been cursed again… he was fine.

Taking the appearance of the ghostly skeletons in his stride and dressed in his own mariachi outfit, Miguel started to pluck out the beginning to his new song. It had taken him a long time to write, but it meant that he was on the right path to his musical career.

"Say that I'm crazy… or call me a fool.

But last night, it seemed… that I dreamed about you."

….

Hector's eyes were wide in amazement as they all followed the marigold petals up to a largish home, where children were running in and out of the archway, the other members of the family eagerly pointing out who was who.

An unfamiliar song could be heard from just outside the family home, peeking his interest as they walked inside.

"Ay mi familia, oiga mi gente. Canten al coro, let it be known

Our love for each other will live on forever… In every beat of my proud corazón!"

As the song came to a rousing finish, the Rivera family cheering and whooping before turning their attention to the warm food on the large table outside. As the majority of the undead family also made their way over, eager to see how everyone had grown over the last year.

Hector however, found himself hanging back, just as Miguel caught his eyes…. And gestured for him to follow him.

Stunned, Hector did.

They entered the ofrenda room, where Hector's eyes were immediately drawn to the fixed photo right at the top, his own face smiling back at him.

"I never knew that Mama Coco had kept the picture…." Miguel broke the tense silence, his own eyes focused on the picture, "… If I'd known sooner, I would have put you up there, I promise."

"It's okay… it was probably for the best anyway." Hector smirked and shrugged, "With how I was, I think I would have gotten lost out here. Instead of you being trapped in the Land of the Dead, I would have been trapped in the Land of the Living."

Miguel chuckled slightly at this, before turning concerned eyes on the omega, "How have you been, is everything okay with you and Mama Imelda."

"It was tough…" Hector admitted, "…Not bad, just tough."

"And they're all treating you right?"

Hector smiled warmly at the protective tone, "Yeah, they are… you're going to make an omega very lucky one day."

The smile turned into a wicked cackle at the slightly terrified look on Miguel's face.

"Don't say that…" the Alpha pleaded, "… Mama Elena is already scouting out every available omega girl or boy in a five mile radius. Apparently, being a musician will attract the best of them."

"She's not wrong."

Miguel shrugged, "I think… I would prefer finding someone on my own terms, like with you and Mama Imelda."

Silence.

"Papa Hector?"

Hector felt like his metaphorical heart was going to explode out of his chest at the term, "Y-Yeah?"

"Are you… proud of me?"

Hector knew that if he could cry, he would be at that moment, "Yeah…" he whispered, "… more than you could possibly know."