Note: I do NOT own El Tigre or any of its characters

Coffee

They were smitten. They couldn't lie to themselves anymore. The years of being together has developed a feeling that was disguised by their acts of insanity and friendship. In the past few days, these feeling were finally revealed to themselves and understood.

They were in love

They finally knew what to do. How to do it was another thing. Manny had received some shockingly good advice from his dad and Frida received some surprisingly good advice from Sartana-of-the-Dead. Each of them realized their feelings for the other and were ready to express it.

Manny was in his room, brainstorming. Pacing around it while the little mule and Sr. Chapi were watching him.

"Viva pantalones!", Sr. Chapi said, bored seeing Manny pace around endlessly

"No time for that Sr. Chapi", Manny said while pointing at his " lack of pants", "I'll put on pants later, but for now I have to think of way I can show Frida that I love her", Manny continued,

"THIS I SWEAR!"

Then Manny continued pacing around, scratching his forehead and occasionally slamming his forehead on a wall. Frida on the other hand was doing it more "scientifically".

"Heads, I tell Manny straight up and hope for the best," Frida said while looking at a shiny silver quarter, "Tails, I make up an elaborate excuse to get him alone somewhere, put earmuffs on him and then tell him to avoid any weird reaction"

Frida looked at the coin once again and then she tossed it up high into the air. It seemed like an eternity before the coin hit the ground. It started rolling on the floor and Frida followed it like a churro. It somehow went down the stairs and out the door. Frida followed without looking back. The coin kept rolling on the sidewalk of Miracle City, miraculously avoiding every foot, paw, claw, laser blast that landed near it. Everything also seemed to ignore Frida as she was still unharmed when she followed the coin. Eventually the coin came to a stop.......... in a gutter, to Frida's dismay. Strangely enough, Frida ended up in front of Casa Del Macho, the building where Manny lived. Frida just stood there. She was looking at the top of the building, where Manny and his Familia lived.

"(Sigh) I guess I'll go up....", Frida said nervously.

Right before Frida entered the door of the building, Manny suddenly came falling from the sky and landing right behind her.

"Ouch..", Manny said while sitting up and rubbing his head, "Never eat bananas and walk around at the same time...."

Frida turned around and just watched. She didn't speak. She was too surprised at events that had just happened. Manny eventually got up and to his surprise, Frida was there, like magic.

"H-H-Hey...", Manny said embarrassingly

"Hey yourself", Frida replied still nervous.

"So...... you uhh....wanna get some coffee?", Manny said out of the blue

"What?", Frida said very surprised

Manny had not thought of any ideas on how to tell Frida how he really felt and he never expected falling from the top Casa Del Macho and meeting Frida after falling from the top of said building. In the circumstances at hand, it was the 1st thing he thought of. Luckily though, Manny had pants on before he fell around 20 stories.

"Coffee. You and.....me", Manny said with a bit more confidence

"Uhh... Sure. Why not. Just you and.......me", Frida said both surprised and embarrassed.

Manny took Frida's hand and looked at her, his face a bit red. He smiled an awkward smile but a smile none the less. Frida smiled to. Probably just as awkward as Manny did, but behind these smiles was utter joy.

After a while of awkward smiling and standing Manny remembered how to walk forward and he did, without taking his eyes off Frida. Frida followed shortly after Manny started walking forward. Amazingly enough they managed to cross the street, avoid an open-manhole, dodge pieces of crumbling building except for a piece of plastic which mercilessly hit Manny in the face.

Manny took the piece of plastic off and Frida laughed, then Manny laughed too. They laughed like they did in the old days, when they were just friends but now it was different, they were more than just friends. All the while their hands were still together. No signs of letting go in sight. They continued walking and eventually reached the coffee shop.

"Were here...", Manny said while stopping in front of a giant coffee cup.

"So.... let's go in", Frida said while dragging Manny inside.

The shop was empty except fro the guy at the counter. It had a few tables and chairs. It looked pretty simple, nothing fancy or flashy.

"Let's go sit down", Manny said while waving his hand towards a table for two by a window

"Sure", Frida replied

They let go of each others hand. Manny pulled back Frida's chair and helped her sit down. A move Manny never did before. Frida thanked him and sat down. Manny sat down opposite her and they just looked at each other. They totally forgot about coffee. They just sat there, staring at each other and occasionally smiling.

"So.....", Frida said finally breaking the silence, "Were on a date right?"

"Yah..... I guess we are", Manny replied after a short period of silence.

They just smiled at each other. They seemed to do that for hours, which was really just for 5 minutes until.....

"If you're gonna stay here, you gotta buy something.", said the guy at the counter. It read "Carlos" on his name tag.

"Ohh... Sorry", Manny apologized after breaking out of his trance

"So.... What do you want?", Manny asked Frida.

"I'll have a churro", Frida replied

"Alright", Manny answered, "Uhhh...Carlos, we would like a churro and one cup of coffee"

"Whatever", Carlos replied sounding tired.

Manny and Frida went back to their stare off, until Frida broke the silence.

"So Manny....", Frida said kinda embarrassed, "Is this a date between friends or a "date" date"

Manny looked confused. The coffee and the churro arrived.

"What'd you mean", Manny asked

"You know a "DATE" date", Frida said again

Manny still looked confused

"Uhh...", Manny replied

Frida couldn't keep going on like this. She got up. Walked over to Manny's chair and did the unthinkable

She kissed him

After the kiss, Manny, still kinda disorientated, said,

"Ohhhhh. That kind of date, hehehe"

"Yah, I guess it is", he continued

"Ok", replied Frida as she sat back down

The rest of the time at the shop was pretty uneventful. The staring was more intense that ever. They ate and drank everything and Manny paid for everything. Another move rarely ever done by Manny. Manny walked her all the way home and at the front of Frida's house they had one last conversation.

"So... goodnight", Manny finally said.

"Yah. Goodnight", Frida replied

A few moments passed and Manny just grabbed Frida and kissed her. Frida didn't resist, she just enjoyed it. The two of them just kissed there, under the moon. Until Chief Suárez saw them.

"EEEEEEEELLLLLLL TTTTTTIIIIIIIGGGGGGRRRRREEEEEEEE!!!", Chief Suárez screamed as hard as he could.

Manny acted quickly. He gave Frida a quick kiss and then transformed into El Tigre. He shot his claw at a lamppost and swung away.

Frida stood there. Her face as red as a tomato. She looked on as Manny escaped her dad's rampage. Manny looked back one last time to see Frida's face and continued to swing forward.

Back at home......

"So miho?", Rodolpho asked as Manny swung into the casa through a window, "How was your day?"

"It was nice dad", Manny replied while giving his dad a big smile.

Rodolpho asked no more questions. He nodded and Manny went up to his room. He turned back to normal and sat on his bed. He looked out his window and admired the full moon. Frida did the same from her bedroom. The night was clear and was filled with young love. Manny and Frida finally revealed their true feelings for each other and for them, life seemed to be a lot more colorful and Miracle City didn't seem like a "spicy cesspool of crime and villainy" anymore.

End