When Frida awoke she found herself laying in a very comfortable bed in the middle of an unfamiliar but luxurious room. She was dressed in a pretty, lacy, and somewhat sheer night gown that looked expensive. In fact the whole room in general looked expensive. Where was she? A hotel? Before she could ponder it any further Nigel came bursting right through the door.

"Morning Frida!" He said cheerfully.

"Nigel!" Frida shrieked before covering herself with the blankets. "You can't just barge into a girl's bedroom without knocking! What's wrong with you?!"

"Oops sorry."

He closed the door, knocked, and then came in again.

"That better?" He asked.

"Not really." She huffed. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"You're in your room. I had it made up for you while you were gone." His cheerful demeanor then became a glum and regretful one. "Also I am so sorry that I wasn't there to save you when you were almost torn apart and eaten alive by zombies."

"What?" Suddenly she remembered everything that happened before she passed out. Going to seal up the tear in the netherworld, getting into that fight with Zoe, falling into the netherworld, the zombie attack. At first she thought that it had all been a bad dream but apparently not. "Oh yeah that."

"Anyway to make up for it I spared no expense." Nigel said. "I made sure that you were given the best suite in the whole plaza."

"We're staying at a plaza?"

"It's a special one for spiritual beings and supernatural creatures that's hidden from mortals."

"Nice digs." She said looking around. "Wait I can't afford to stay in a place like this?!"

"Don't worry about it. Hamato felt so terrible about putting you through that horror show that he's agreed to pay your bill."

"Oh...I better tell him thanks the next time I see him."

"So you like what I told them to put in? You have a flat screen TV, a private arcade, a spa bathroom, a churro dispenser, all the works."

"Wow! This is the best room ever!"

"You like the bed? I picked it out. It's foam mattress and the pillows are down."

"It's great. Thank you."

"And I picked out your nightgown too."

"What?!" She cried in a blush while pulling the covers tighter around her. "What do you mean you picked it out?! I brought clothes to sleep in!"

"Yeah but I didn't think a t shirt and sweat pants complimented your figure that much so I tossed them out." He said with a lecherous grin. "I thought this was much more flattering."

"Ugh! You can be such a creep." She said before a horrifying thought crossed her mind."Oh God did you dress me into this?!"

"I wanted to but La Muerte had arrived and she didn't think it was proper for me to do it. So she slapped me, locked me out of the room, and got you ready for bed."

"Serves you right you perv. It's moments like these that make me understand why Manny hates you so much." Suddenly it dawned on her that Manny was not here. Then she remembered when he rescued her from the netherworld and everything had gone black after that. "Nigel where's Manny?"

"Uh..." He said nervously. "I don't know."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Tell me the truth!" She ordered.

"He's in prison." He answered due to the sacred word binding forcing him.

"Prison?!" She cried.

"Sorry! I didn't want to tell you because I knew it would upset you but after he brought you back here Hamato had him locked up."

"Why?"

"He broke his contract with you which in turned him back into a full fledged tiger nagual. One that's wild, feral, and completely unrestricted by anyone's word or power. Including yours."

"Still not getting the big picture here."

"Frida when Manny was a free nagual he was unlike any that had ever been created. He was violent, vicious, unpredictable, unreasonable, merciless, and completely ruled by his emotions. He caused mischief and destruction almost everywhere he met. Now normally the spirits can handle free and trouble-making creatures but Manny was something that not even they could manage. Eventually it was decided that he was just too much of a threat to be free on earth and had Tonio not made him a familiar they would have locked him away years ago."

"But that was then! This is now! He's changed!"

"I don't think so Frida. He's not how he was before. If he were to attack someone he would just go at it. No hesitation, no control, and no way of stopping him. He's too dangerous and the spirits can't risk him going on a destructive rampage again."

"Well is there anyway I can convince them to let him out?"

"I suppose if he became your familiar again they would but do you really want-"

"Yes! I do! Now where can I find him?"

"He's being held down in the basement. You know this place has it's own personal jail system."

Frida jumped from her bed, slipped on a robe and a pair of bedroom slippers that were in her bathroom, and hurried toward the nearest elevator. She pressed the button for the basement and down she went.

In the plaza basement or rather the plaza prison, Manny was locked in a cell behind bars with specially made shackles chained to his wrists. As horrible as this was he could not deny that he saw this coming. He suspected it the very moment he realized that he had to break the contract to be able overpower Zoe. He even predicted the smug look on Chakal's face when Hamato declared that he had to be sent to prison. Truly this was an awful fate for someone with a soul as wild as his.

"Manny it breaks my heart to see you like this." Pablo wept at the bars. "To be caged and chained up like some animal."

"Don't waste your sympathies on me Pablo." Manny sighed. "In my case things can always be worse."

"Very true but I want you to know that despite what everyone else says I'm very proud of you and Tonio would be too."

"Proud of me? For what?"

"Well I have a confession to make." He said. "When you asked me to undo the seal of your contract I was worried that you would run and abandon Frida. I know how much you yearn to live the life you had before being a familiar so I feared you take the chance to when you could. But you didn't. You saved her. Tonio would be beyond proud."

It had not occurred to Manny until now but Pablo was right. He could have run and gone back to his old life if he wanted to. There was nothing to stop him. No spirits or more powerful demons or monsters. So why didn't he do it?

"Manny?" His ears perked up at the sound of the familiar voice and saw his former lady and mistress running toward the cell doors, blue eyes filled with deep concern. "Are you okay? They didn't hurt you did they?"

He felt his heart rate spike and turned away from her.

"Why are you here?" He asked in his usual snarky voice. "Don't you still have to attend the assembly?"

"Well Mr. Ingrate." She said in annoyance. "I came here to bail you out by making you my familiar again. I figured that you didn't want to be stuck in here forever."

"It's none of your business what happens to me from here on out. I'll decide if I want to be a familiar again."

"Okay but you do realize that if you choose not to they'll never let you out of here."

"This won't hold me forever. I've busted out prisons way tighter than this. I've already planned my escape and right now I'm waiting for just the right moment."

"Oh..." She turned melancholic. "So I guess you don't want to be my familiar again?"

"I didn't say that. I would just like to think it over before I make any decisions."

Her face became more melancholic but she smiled too.

"I understand." She said gently. "If you really can get out of here without or without our contract than I want you to make the choice that will make you happy."

She had a smile on her face the whole time she walked down corridor of cells, went through the basement, rode the elevator, and walked back to her room. But as soon as she was sure that she was alone in there she dropped to her knees and began to cry. Somehow, deep down she knew a day would come when Manny would have a chance to leave her if he wanted to and she was terrified of what his choice would be. She loved him so much and the thought of continuing through life without him broke her heart. It made her feel like she would be all alone again like when she lost her family all those years ago. She found someone to love again and now they would have to go.

She was sure that he would choose to leave. After all he never wanted to be her familiar to begin with. He always talked about how much she annoyed him and how he only cared for her because he had to. However they had become so much closer lately, she thought that maybe he was at least a little happy with her. But if she was wrong and he wanted to leave her then she wouldn't try to stop him or guilt trip him into staying. She wouldn't force him or terrorize him like Zoe would. She was certain that there was nothing in this world she loved more than him and because of that great love she valued his happiness over her own. Which was why she would let him go.

When she heard a knock at her bedroom door she wiped her face and answered it. It was Hamato.

"Can I help you?" She asked him.

"I just wanted to tell you that lunch for spirits will be served in dinning hall left of the foyer." He said. "And to thank you for doing that favor for me. Also to apologize for almost getting you killed."

"Water under the bridge."

"Here's a little something for your troubles."

He handed her a glass bottle that contained many small beads that were gold.

"What are they?" She asked,

"Miracle pills." He said. "Made from the small remains of holy miracles that spirits will sometimes catch and make into medicine. It can cure any wound or illness no matter how fatal... Well almost any would or illness. Just as long as it's not one acquired by a demon contract. There's literally no cure for that. But who would make a contract with a demon?" He chuckled. "No one that crazy."

"Yeah I guess. Thank you. I'll see you at lunch."

She closed the door and looked at Hamato's gift for her. It gave her an idea. Manny wasn't really well liked by a lot of people and he had many enemies so he would probably need these pills more than she did. She would have Nigel give them to him as a parting gift and to let him no that he had her blessing to leave.

She then started to get dressed, fix her hair, and once she was done she went to continue with the assembly activities all while trying not to think about how upset she was about Manny leaving. But it seemed impossible for her to get him out of her mind.

Little did she realize that he couldn't stop thinking about her. He couldn't understand it, here he was a free nagual and under no restraint whatsoever yet he still thought of nothing but the young woman he was formerly bound to. He tried to think of something else, anything else, but he could only think about her and everything about her. Her gentle but expressive blue eyes that always looked at him in a way that made his heart pound, her rosy cheeks that always bloomed in the most adorable way when she was happy, her radiantly fair and invitingly soft skin that made him feel so desperate to touch her-

"Wait a minute! What's happening to me?" He said shaking his head upon realizing where his thoughts were going.

"Hello."

Upon hearing another voice present that was not Pablo's he looked to the side to find Nigel in his cell.

"How did you get in?" Manny asked.

"I crawled."

"Then crawl away. I want to be alone."

"Still haven't made up your mind on what you want to do? If you ask me, you leaving would have no negative effect on me. Good riddance I say."

"Uh-huh...Let me remind you that I'm no longer a familiar which means Frida would not be able to stop me if I suddenly decided to reduce you to a more minor form like a frog and then eat you alive." He said licking his chops.

Nigel took a few steps away from him.

"Anyway Frida wants you to know that she's okay with you leaving. If it's what you really want then she'll accept it."

"Really? If that's true then why couldn't she tell me that herself?"

"Probably because she couldn't do it without balling her eyes out."

Manny's gaze softened and it became filled with concern.

"Is she crying?"

"Oops! I wasn't supposed to tell you that." Nigel said. "She didn't want you to know how sad she was about you leaving so you wouldn't be guilted into staying."

Manny looked away from Nigel and out the window trying so hard to suppress the sudden pain he felt within. Just imaging Frida's sweet dripping with tears was enough to make him feel as if some sharp blade had pierced his heart.

"When I was her familiar, if she was smiling I felt assured." He said still not facing Nigel. "Her happiness and her safety was all I cared about. And even if she wasn't with me I still thought of her. But that's perfectly normal and expected of a familiar so I didn't think much of it. It's what a familiar is supposed to feel their master or mistress right?"

"I believe so."

"Right but...Our contract is no broken and I'm no longer her familiar."

"Yeah that's kind of obvious considering you're now in chains and behind bars."

"I have no obligation to her. No reason to stay with her or help her or having anything to do with her. I have no bond to her...and yet..."

He became silent for what seemed like an eternity and he probably would have remained silent through out the entire night had Nigel not spoken.

"Yet what?"

"We have no longer have our bond but for her sake I still forget all other women in my life. She's still the only thing in this world I find beautiful. The desire for her joy and well-being has replaced my desire for freedom. My every thought and whole heart cleaves to her. I can't understand it." He said. "She is merely a human girl. Why am I so consumed by her? Is it possibly that the contract isn't completely broken?"

He turned back to Nigel who was looking at him in astonishment and disbelief.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"No." He said shaking his head slowly. "No way. It's not possible. But the look in your eyes says it all. Oh man! Why did this have to happen?"

"Why did what have to happen?"

"You moron. You selfish, greedy moron. It's not fair! I just got my job as familiar back and now this?! Oh you are cruel!"

"What are you jabbering about?"

"Your contract and being a familiar has nothing to do with how you feel right now. Your contract is broken but there's definitely still a bond. A bond formed by your own feelings."

"I'm still not getting the message here."

"Must I draw you a picture or something? You're in love with Frida!"

There it was again. The same accusation Zoe had made against him just before he broke the contract. When she had made it he had been taken aback a little but he just brushed it off as the musings of a jealous mad woman who misinterpreted his goal as a familiar. But now that he wasn't familiar anymore and still having these "unusual" thoughts and feelings, he was a little more worried and cocnerned.

"In love?" He squeaked after a moment of silence. "Me?...With her?...Is this some kind of joke?"

"Trust me I wish it was because the last thing I want is my lady and mistress getting romantically involved with someone like you."

"You're crazy. I do not fall in love. I don't love anything or anyone. After I lost my parents I swore I'd never love again. Least of all a human since humans were the ones who took them from me to begin with."

"Oh God I wish I could believe you but it's as clear as the nose on your face. I had hoped that you were too selfish, vicious, and blood thirsty to succumb to love but then again Frida is compassionate and selfless, even the hardest of hearts can't help but be softened by her. Which reminds me she wanted me to give you these."

Nigel pulled a bottle of miracle pills from his shirt and handed it to Manny.

"Think of it as a parting gift from her. She's afraid a lot of people will try to kill you now that you're wild and free again, so she wants you to be able to heal any injuries or illness you could contract."

Manny looked at the medicine. Even when she was so sure that he would leave her, she still cared so much about him. He didn't think it was possible for any human to be capable of such kindness. At least not directed toward him. He didn't think anyone could ever love him so much.

It had happened so fast. Faster than Nigel could even blink. Manny slipped out of his chains and cell undetected and made his way through the hotel with incredible stealth until he reached the room where Frida was staying in. All of it done without anyone noticing. Truly he was something to be feared when not under control or restraint.

He quietly crept into her bedroom where she was sound asleep in bed. He left the pills on her nightstand as he could not bring himself to accept such an undeserving gift from her. Then he hovered himself over the sleeping young woman. He was drawn to her the moment his green eyes fell upon her fair face and his clawed hand caressed her delicate cheek with the most gentle care, determined not to scratch or cut her skin. She stirred a little but didn't wake, she only moved her cheek deeper into his palm as if she could recognize his touch even when unconscious.

"How could I be in love with Frida?" Manny thought to himself. "One touch and I'll know for sure. Do you I really desire this woman?"

She stirred again but still did not wake, her hand moved to place itself over his which was still cradling her face.

"Manny." She whispered softly in her sleep. "Please don't leave me."

He leaned over slowly and carefully, moving closer and closer and closer until his lips brushed against hers, giving her kiss which re-sealed their contract and gave him the urge to touch her more. This urge made it all clear to him what he was really feeling toward her. He could no longer deny it. At least not to himself that is. He had given his heart to Frida, without even realizing it.