La Llorona

In the shoe shop, Ms. Cordwain took out a box and presented it to Héctor. He opened it to reveal a pair of brown dress shoes.

"They're, um... they're beautiful. So, what's the occasion?"

"No husband of mine is going to go without shoes." She put her hands on her hips.

"I'm your husband again?" He smiled, touched.

"Of course, you are, idiota." She lightly smacked his arm. He took the shoes out of the box and began to put them on. "We haven't gotten out much since Pixfare awakened, so I thought we should see it together."

"Gracias." He wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't get your hopes up. The nightlife is extremely limited."

"No. I meant... for what you're doing. For accepting me back."

The moment was soon interrupted by the bell ringing as the door opened. The Hernandez family entered the shop.

"Excuse me? We're looking for-" Elena was surprised when she noticed Ms. Cordwain. "Abuela!"

"Oh, mi familia!" Ms. Cordwain cried. She then tearfully hugged each of the family members.

"Hola, everyone." Héctor greeted them with a nervous smile.

Everyone turned their attention to him.

"You! You're that runaway musico!" Elena said angrily.

"The one who abandoned this family." Enrique added. "You're not to come near our children."

"Every day, for years-" Oscar began.

"-our sister waited for you to come back." Felipe continued.

"But you didn't." They said at the same time.

"You chose music over your own family." Victoria accused. "We will never forgive you for that!"

"Please, if you would just let-" Héctor reached out to them, but each one turned their back to him.

"They're right." Ms. Cordwain agreed.

"But, Imelda…"

"Ah-ah-ah! You don't get to speak! You are dead to this family!"

Héctor looked at his hands, shocked to see that his body was skeletal again.

"You're better off forgotten and left off the ofrenda!" Elena lifted the guitar in the air and smashed it to bits. "There. No guitar, no music."

Suddenly, a golden flicker shuddered through Héctor's bones, and he fell to the ground. "Miguel. Miguel, please tell them." He pleaded.

"You did this to yourself." Miguel said coldly.

The edges of Héctor's bones began to glow in a golden light until he dissolved into dust.

Héctor jolted awake, shaking and panting. Looking around, he saw that he was safe in Ms. Cordwain's guestroom. He looked at his hands, relieved that they were flesh. Eventually, he calmed down and tried going back to sleep.

-----

The next morning, Ms. Cordwain came downstairs, where Héctor was already waiting for her in the kitchen.

"Hey."

"Hey. I was just going to make breakfast."

"Imelda, this is gonna sound strange, since we're alive, but..." He hesitated for a moment. "You don't wish I had been forgotten, do you?"

She looked at him, surprised. "Where is this coming from?"

"I-I had a nightmare that you and the family were mad at me. You all said that I deserved to be forgotten, and I faded away."

Unsure of what to say, she tried to change the subject. "Want some breakfast?"

"No, we need to talk about this."

"I...I did want to forget you." She admitted. "I raised the family to do the same."

"Okay, then tell me. Do you want me around?" She didn't say anything, holding in her emotions. "You're a strong woman, Imelda. You need to be strong enough... to let me in." He turned and walked away.

-----

In an old warehouse, Clark helped the monsters set up a makeshift scare floor. He turned around and looked over at Hilary, who smiled. He winked at her.

Michelle soon arrived, carrying a plate of snacks. "Did they get any screams yet?" She handed Hilary a muffin.

"Not enough yet. But they will, and when they do, we'll figure out a way to get Laura Reed and my dad back."

"I'll be back later with lunch." Michelle turned and left.

"Sullivan!" Clark ordered. "If you get anything, I'll be at the sheriff's station."

"You taking over as sheriff?"

"Stepping in... until Jack gets back." Clark began to leave with Hilary.

-----

Ms. Cordwain came upstairs, went over to her room, and knocked on the door. "Héctor?" There was no answer. "Come on. At least come and eat something." She opened the door and entered the room, only to find that it was empty. "Héctor?" She noticed that the window was open and hurried out of the room.

-----

Soon, Ms. Cordwain arrived at the slum part of town with a paper in her hand.

"Where is my husband?!" She showed Ben a handmade missing person flyer.

"You mean Héctor."

She sighed, annoyed. "Yes. I mean Héctor. Where is he?!" She shouted.

"How should I know?"

"Because the last time he left home and didn't come back, you murdered him!"

He snatched the flyer from her. "Is this some kind of a joke? Would I have made this flyer if I knew where he was? The only reason he's missing is that you stole him from me, but I'd hoped he might have come to his senses."

"And he has."

"Why hasn't he come looking for me?"

"Why would he after everything you've done to him?" She huffed and crossed her arms. "Look, I don't expect you to help me. I just want to know he's safe."

"And now, thanks to you, neither of us knows where he is."

-----

At the diner, Michelle placed another glass of iced tea in front of Héctor, who sat alone in a booth.

"Thank you."

"Are you okay? That's your third iced tea this morning. Wouldn't wanna have to call you a cab."

"No, I-I've never had it iced before. It's--it's delicious." He said, excitedly.

Michelle was almost laughing. "I haven't seen you in here before."

"Well, I, uh... I've been a kept man until recently."

She sat down across from him. "Let me guess. Bad fight?"

"Yeah. We've been through a lot."

"And do you have a place to stay? Any family here?"

"Uh, besides her, I'm--I'm not sure. I'm still looking. But I'm on my own for now."

"I could ask my mom about a room here."

"Really?" She nodded. "Thank you. Uh…"

"Merida."

"Héctor. What I need, though, is--is a life, a job."

"Well, uh, what do you like to do?" She asked.

He thought for a moment. "I'm a musician."

"You know, the school has a great music program. Since things are changing now, they need a new teacher."

He smiled at the idea.

------

Héctor walked a few blocks, heading to the school when he saw a shop reading 'Hernandez: Familia de Músicos desde 1949'.

"This looks a lot like the shoe workshop back in our world." He said to himself and then realized. "This must be where our family lives."

Héctor took a deep breath, opened the gates to the house, and stepped inside. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him, shocked.

"Papá Héctor?" Michael said, looking up from his guitar.

"Hola, everyone." He greeted them with a nervous smile, hoping he wasn't intruding. "Miguel!" He ran over to the boy, excited.

"Oh, Papá Héctor!" Michael ran over to Héctor and hugged him tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again!" He cried.

"Hey, chamaco, it's okay. it's okay." Héctor hugged Michael, trying to calm him down.

"I can't believe it, Abuelo," said Angela. "After all this time, all of these 28 years, you were here."

"Victoria! Mi Angelita Querida Cielita!" Héctor hugged her and smothered her with kisses. "Yes. I was kept in a coma."

The others looked shocked. "I can't believe it." Rosa said. Then Dante came over to them.

"Hey, Dante! Great to see you again!" Héctor greeted the dog, excitedly.

"Aww, what a lovely reunion between the dead and living family." said Ben, leaning against the gate. "But not for a forgotten musician?"

The family turned toward the gate, shocked. Héctor stood protectively in front of Miguel. "You! What are you doing here?"

"Well, mi amigo," Ben said, with an evil grin. "I heard that you woke up from your little coma, and I found you and your little family."

"Stay away from my family!" Héctor snarled, pointing a finger in his face. "You've done enough to us!"

Ben grabbed Héctor by the collar.

"Hey!" Elena stepped in between them. She hit Ben in the head with her sandal and waved him away. "You leave my grandfather alone!"

"Stay out of this! This is between me and him."

"We know all about what you did!" Elena aimed her sandal in his face. "Mi Abuelo is a sweet little Angelito Querido Cielito. He wants no part of you! You keep away from him!"

Héctor ran off.

"¡Papá Héctor!" Miguel cried in shock, running after him.

"Miguel! Stop!" Edward and Lucy shouted.

------

Soon after, Héctor walked down the school hallway and looked through the glass of the door into the music classroom. A pair of hands suddenly grabbed him and hit him on the head, knocking him out.

------

Clark answered the door to the Parr's apartment to see Ms. Cordwain.

"May I have a word?" She noticed he was wearing the Sheriff's badge. "Sheriff. "

"Uh, acting sheriff. And I'm already late on another busy day, cleaning up the mess you made." He was about to turn away, but she held the door open.

"Sorry. That was a moment of poor judgment on my part." He gestured for her to enter. "But I'm here to ask for your help."

"Well, then it shouldn't be lost on you when I say 'no.'"

"Hear me out first. I'm here to report a missing person." She handed Clark the flyer. "He left my house early this morning. His name is Héctor."

"Is this the same guy that you said abandoned your family?"

"Yes. Well, I thought he did."

"Well, why don't you just use your flying jaguar to find him?"

"It only works if you have something the person owned. I--I don't."

"How can you be sure he's gone missing and not... run away?"

"I can't. Look, the townsfolk are less than sympathetic to my plight, but you-- you'd understand exactly what I'm going through." She pointed to a picture of Jack and Laura Reed. "Will you help me?"

Clark sighed, but as a superhero, he couldn't say no to someone who needed help.

-----

Héctor groaned and slowly began to wake up, but found he couldn't move. Looking around, he saw that he was in a dimly lit room, tied to a chair. Miguel was tied up too. They were both shocked when they saw each other.

"Miguel!"

"Papá Héctor!" Michael said, looking scared. "Where are we? What's going on?"

They heard footsteps approaching.

"Wh-who's there? What--what do you want with us?" Héctor asked nervously.

He and Miguel froze in shock as Ben stepped out of the shadows with a sinister look.

"I'm just a man who procures hard to find a songwriter and young musician." He said. "In this case, the songwriter and young musician were you two."

"But to kidnap us?" Miguel asked.

"Because you took my fame and everything from me!" Ben said, angrily at the two. "You and your family did this to me!"

"Serves you right for everything you did to us!" Miguel angrily shouted back. "You don't deserve to have fame!"

Then from out of nowhere came a familiar face, a short, chubby man with a beard and mustache. Hector then recognized that man.

"Gustavo?" Hector looked at him, surprised. "You're here too?"

"I'm so sorry this is how we had to be reunited." Gustavo said. "Please understand. I had no choice."

"But why would you kidnap us?" Miguel asked.

"After the curse broke, I searched all over for you and discovered you and your family are still alive." Ben explained.

"I warned you to stay away from my family." Hector said angrily.

"So you two were saying you hated us?" Gustavo said.

"I did for all those times you made fun of me." Hector replied. "But it may be over now."

"It must be." Ben said. "Promise me that you will never see that family ever again."

"Never!" Hector shouted.

Gustavo then grabbed both Héctor and Miguel.

"Hey! Let us go!" They tried to shout.

"You don't understand." Ben said.

"What you did to us. What you have already done." Gustavo added.

"No, you don't understand." Hector said.

"We exposed the truth about you!" Miguel added.

"Then you leave us no choice." Gustavo said, putting the handkerchiefs on each mouth.

"Apologies, old friend." Ben added.

"What?! What--what are you doing?! Stop!" Hector and Miguel shouted as they were dragged away.

"Good-bye, amigos." Ben said, with an evil grin "Hope you two suffer."

------

Clark and Ms. Cordwain were walking on the sidewalk.

"Still no sign of him. So, what's next?"

"Ellen's." Clark suggested.

"Look, uh... can I ask you a question about you and Laura Reed? H-how is... How does that work?"

He looked at her, surprised. "Is the fierce Imelda Rivera asking for relationship advice?"

"Of course not, no."

"Communication. That's how we did it. Hard work and communicating with each other."

"Well... I talk."

"There's a difference between literal talking and speaking from the heart. Nothing taught me that more than this curse."

She took a moment to consider his words. Edward and Lucy soon came rushing over to her.

"Mama Imelda, have you seen Miguel? He's gone missing!" Lucy said frantically.

"What?" Ms. Cordwain looked shocked.

"¡Miguel!" Luisa called her son's name, with the entire Rivera family trying to finding him.

"When did you see him last?" Ms. Cordwain asked.

Luisa began explaining what happened and when they last saw him, even after reuniting with their lost relative, including their dog, Dante who was following them the whole time.

Ms. Cordwain was glad that Héctor got to meet their living family, but now she had to find him and Miguel. "Don't worry, the sheriff will help us find them."

-----

At the Diner, Clark showed Michelle the 'Missing' flyer. Ms. Cordwain stood a few feet behind him.

"Héctor and Miguel, huh?" She thought for a moment. "Sorry. Don't ring a bell."

"Michelle, listen to me." Clark urged. "If you've seen them, you gotta tell me. I'll make sure nothing bad happens."

"Yeah, but what about her?" She glanced at Ms. Cordwain.

"I've got her. Trust me."

"Héctor was in earlier. He was looking for a job. I pointed him in the direction of the school."

"When do you think he went there?" Ms. Cordwain asked.

"Don't know. But... when you find them, give him this." Michelle went behind the counter and showed them a jacket. "He left it in his booth. You sure you'll watch out for them?" Michelle looked over at Clark.

"Yes. Why?"

"I think... I think my mom can find them. Lately, since things changed, she's been, uh, a little more sensitive to odors."

"Wait, she can smell them?" Ms. Cordwain almost chuckled doubtfully.

"I guess it's 'cause of the bear thing."

------

Later, Ellen led Ms. Cordwain and Clark down the sidewalk by following the scent from the jacket. They soon arrived at the slum part of town, but Ellen began to turn in all directions as if looking for something.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked.

"I had them, but... I lost their trail. I can't track them anymore. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Ms. Cordwain assured. "An old friend of his lives here." She led the way as they entered the shack and found Ben.

"You again. Out. This is private property. You're not welcome."

"Where are Héctor and Miguel?" Ms. Cordwain asked.

"I won't let anything happen to them." Clark tried to keep her calm.

"We're just worried." Ellen added.

"Don't be. They're fine. So you can stop looking."

"Look, if I could just have the chance to talk to him." Ms. Cordwain pleaded.

"You'll destroy him like you destroyed our friendship. Well, I won't let that happen."

"What have you done with them?" Ms. Cordwain snarled.

"There's only one way to get them away from you."

"What have you done?" She pointed her finger at his face.

"I have to make them forget about you, no matter the cost."

Right away, Ms. Cordwain figured it out. "He's sending them across the town line."

-

"Where are you sending Héctor and Miguel across?" Clark asked, pulling Ben out of the shack. "You know we have patrols on the Pixfare line to make sure no one crosses accidentally. So how are you planning to pull it off?"

Ms. Cordwain took off her boot and repeatedly smacked Ben in the face. "Where?! Where are you sending them across? Tell me where!"

"Stop it. You're gonna kill him." Clark pulled her away. He looked at Ben's hand, which was covered with mine dust. "You've been down in the mines. The tunnels. They lead out of town."

-----

In the mines, Héctor and Miguel were handcuffed to a minecart.

"Please. Please, please stop." Miguel pleaded. "What are you doing?"

"Sending you two on a little ride under the town line. Once you cross, you'll forget who you were in the other realm and who you loved." Gustavo handed them a flashlight. "This should help you find the key. We left it at the bottom of the cart. Good luck." He pulled the side lever, releasing the mine cart, and then left.

"Please don't--don't do this! Please!" Miguel cried.

Héctor and Miguel frantically searched for the key at the bottom of the cart. They found it and began to unlock the handcuffs, but accidentally dropped it on the ground. The minecart continued down the track until it suddenly stopped, and then began to go backward.

"What's happening?!"

They turned around and saw that they were being pulled back by an arrow tied to a rope.

"Nice shot." Ms. Cordwain looked at Michelle, impressed.

With his super strength, Clark was able to pull the cart back up the track until it reached the starting point, where everyone was waiting. He then broke off the handcuffs and helped Héctor and Miguel climb out of the mine cart.

"Héctor! Miguel! I was so worried! Thank goodness we found you!" Ms. Cordwain rushed to them, concerned. "Are you two all right?"

"Yes, we're fine." Héctor assured her.

"Do you remember who I am?" She asked.

"Yes." They both said.

Ms. Cordwain turned to Ben, pulled off her boot, and struck him in the face with it. "That's for kidnapping my husband and my grandson, and for trying to sending them across the town line! If we were still skeletons, I'd break every single bone in your body!"

"He was mine first! Everything was fine until you came along and stole him from me!"

"That's enough!" Bob interrupted. He turned Ben around and cuffed his wrists.

-----

In the Diner, Michelle served Héctor a breakfast plate.

"This one is a classic. The syrup goes on the pancakes--the, um, round things." Michelle explained. "But I kind of like when it gets on everything."

"You know, uh, thank you. And not just for this, but... for everything."

"No worries." She smiled. "And stay here until you're on your feet. My mom will be fine with it. Oh, I almost forgot. Someone dropped this off for you at the front desk." She handed him a small box. He opened it to find a key labeled 'music' and smiled.

------

At the school, Héctor used the key to unlock the door to the music classroom.

"¡Hola, Papá Héctor!" Miguel came, as he and Rosa walked to the classroom.

"Hola, mijos." He greeted the two, smiling.

"We're ready for class!" Miguel said cheerfully, showing his one dimple.

"Wonderful!" He put an arm on Miguel's shoulder. "I can't wait to get started, too."

Miguel was amazed at the new version of the music room. The walls were painted an indigo color, with colorful paper Picado hanging, and inspirational quotes. New and shiny objects from the back room. The desks were still there, but now Miguel and Rosa's desks were covered in gold, silver, and their favorite colors along with the name tags and their supplies. The teacher's desk was now completely different. It also had paper picados, a nameplate that read 'Señor Héctor Rivera' in beautiful platinum gold, and a new skeleton decoration.

"Wow! Qué aula nueva e increíble. " Miguel and Rosa said in unison, amazed.

"Did you and Mamá Imelda do all this?" Miguel questioned, curiously.

Héctor was also amazed at the room's decorations. "I had thought about it, but it looks like she beat me to it."

"Well, at least it's so MUCH better than De la Cruz's class." Michael said.

"I thought I might surprise him." Ms. Cordwain came into the classroom and kissed him on the lips.

Héctor looked at her with a goofy smile. "Imelda, you did all this yourself?"

"I thought I would give something to you for coming back to us after 28 years." She explained. "So the family and I helped turn De La Cruz's old classroom to your own. Since you thought about it, so yes, I beat you to it."

"I-I don't know what to say." He was still a little stunned. "I didn't think they'd even want to do this."

"Well, I did ask them for help." Ms. Cordwain explained.

"Papa told me about the classroom, shortly before you and Miguel came back." Rosa explained.

Héctor's chest swelled with happiness. He gave them a big hug and let out a loud grito.

"Well, I'm heading back to the Hacienda." Ms. Cordwain said as she headed out of the room "Te veo después de la escuela, mi amor." She waved.

"Nos vemos luego, mi vida." Héctor waved back, smiling.

Miguel was secretly disgusted by the kiss, but Rosa was touched by that moment.

"Umm... the class?" Miguel reminded Héctor.

"Huh? Oh, right." He snapped out of his lovestruck daze and went to let the rest of the class in.

------

Charles Muntz stood on a beach and looking through his binoculars. Beside him was his daughter, Katherine Jane, a young woman with vitiligo skin and an hourglass figure. Her red hair was down to her upper back, tied in a ponytail, with black highlights. She wore a blue tank top, beige capris shorts, and black hiking boots.

Evelyn soon approached them. "Hello, Muntzes."

"Hello, Evelyn. You tell me you'd something important you needed to show us."

Evelyn held up the vial that had the door's ashes in it.

"Sparkly dirt. Wonderful." Charles said, not impressed.

"Just the remains of a magical door that can travel between worlds."

"Is it enough to get us where we need to go?" Katherine Jane asked.

"Not quite, but it's a start."

"We're almost ready to fly. What's our port of destination?"

"Pixfare."

"Unusual name. Is that where--"

"She is. And so is he."

"Excellent. You'll be able to see your son. And I can catch myself a bird."