Rio 1. Memories and Hope

**Back again with a new story. As long as Rio keeps me entertained (which I assume will be the case for quite some time), I'll continue thinking up stories for it. This time, I'm going to try to make it longer than my other stories. Positive criticism, suggestions, ideas and if you must, flamings are welcome, as my inspiration and imagination only goes so far. Enjoy!**

**Chapter One: Memories and Hope **

Life was good in the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Every bird everywhere could find peace, friendship and love in this safe haven. This was especially true for two blue Spix macaws, who met under unusual circumstances, and fell in love under even more unusual circumstances. That love was celebrated with three beautiful chicks, and they all lived happily in this protected part of the rainforest.

Ever since the sanctuary was founded, all the birds and many more that Blu and Jewel met during their travels willingly relocated there. Four of them stood out. Nico and Pedro weren't all that interested in a relationship (at least for the time being), they were more than happy just being free and party whenever they could. Rafael and Eva, along with their many children, nested a few trees away from where Blu and Jewel lived. Eva insisted on moving here, especially after Rafael told her what happened to him last time he went to carnaval. Now, she'd never have to worry again he might get caught, plus she made him promise he'd never go to carnaval again. Rafael wasn't all that happy about that, but if he had to choose between carnaval and his family, it didn't take him long to make a choice. Besides, he had quite some off-time during the day, as their children, along with Blu and Jewel's, would go on play dates nearly every day and get entertained by Nico and Pedro, who loved to dance and sing for them.

Of course, they were not the only birds in the sanctuary. Everywhere one would look, one would see dozens of macaws, parrots, toucans, cardinals, and much more avian species, all living free of worries and troubles.  
>One day, during one of those play dates, Blu and Jewel were spending some time with Rafael and Eva on a branch, catching up on the good old times, while watching their children play.<p>

"So, Blu, how's parenthood working out for you? Any regrets yet?" Rafael asked. This earned him an angry look from Eva. "Now what is that supposed to mean?" Rafael laughed it away with a wink. "Relax, my magnificent mango, you know I'm only kidding! I love all of our little miracles, even though I'm sure I had less gray feathers at first." Blu and Jewel chuckled. "If you must know, it's the second best thing that ever happened to me. There's nothing in the world I would trade it for." Jewel looked at him with a surprised look. "Second best? Then what's the first?" She asked. Blu smiled at her, looked deep into her eyes, and gave her a quick peck on the beak after saying: "I'm standing right next to her." Rafael and Eva looked at the lovebirds lovingly while putting a wing around each other, reminding them of their own love for each other.

Blu turned to them and asked "What about you two? You obviously know how we met, but how did you meet each other?" "Well," Rafael began, "as you know, I love carnaval. I was already counting down the days for the next one after the previous one had just ended. Last year, a large gathering of birds were all sitting on a roof of a building, looking at the parade. I was there with a few friends, Nico and Pedro included. From inside one of the rooms below us played a song called 'The Girl from Ipanema'. That's when I turned around and saw my sweet little angel, in her own group of friends, and I was mesmerized. I had never before in my life seen so much beauty and grace packed in one lovely bird. I was so bedazzled, I even forgot about the parade. That's when her friends saw me gazing at her, and told her "Don't look now, the King of Carnaval is checking you out." Eva looked my way, and giggled in shyness when she noticed me staring at her. I walked up to her, but it seemed to take forever, almost as if time froze. After introducing ourselves, we talked some, had a great time dancing and laughing, and before I realized it, we were the last birds on the roof, while the parade had ended hours ago. That's when we first kissed, and I haven't let her out of my sight since. You can probably guess what happened between then and now," while gesturing at the several playing toucan chicks on the ground. All this time, Eva was lovingly looking at Rafael as he was telling his story, as if she was falling in love with him all over again. "I can't believe you remembered all of that." "How could I not? It was the most magical thing that ever happened to me!" He answered. Eva rewarded him with a long kiss on the beak. Blu and Jewel both said "Awww!" A moment later, panting from the lack of oxygen, Rafael then proceeded, "Yeah, her father wasn't very keen on having his only daughter hook up with a party animal, but once he saw how much I genuinely cared for her, he gave me his blessing."

Father. That single, meaningful word struck Jewel in the back of her head, and sent a wave of sadness through her body. She tried to not let anyone notice, and continued talking in the current conversation as if it was nothing. It didn't escape Blu's attention however, but even though Rafael and Eva were good friends, he wasn't going to bring it up while they were around.

After a few hours, the sun was starting to set, giving the rainforest a golden glow. Even though the chicks didn't want to stop playing yet, they knew to listen to their parents. After each family reached their own nest and put their children into a solid sleep, Blu turned to Jewel and started talking in a whispering tone, trying not to disturb their kids. "Jewel? You want to talk about today?" "What's there to talk about? Today was another great day in a great life," she smiled. She wondered if Blu meant her reaction from earlier, but he didn't see that... Did he? "You know what I'm talking about, Jewel. When Rafi mentioned Eva's father, I saw you flinching a bit, and even saddened. Do you wanna talk about that?" "Wow, I guess I really turned into an open book ever since we started hanging out," she said with a nervous smile.

But then her face grew more serious. "But you're right, Blu. Hearing Rafael talking about Eva's father immediately made me think of my own father, and mother." She started walking to the entrance of their nest while talking, and sat on the edge of it, looking at the night sky littered with sparkling stars and a brightly illuminated full moon. "I was very young at the time, but still remember everything as if it happened yesterday. I just learned how to fly, and even though I was still working out the kinks, I could already fly faster than my parents."

Blu slowly walked up to her from behind, coming to a halt but inches away. She was sharing a very important event in her life, so this wasn't the time for intimacy. "One day, we all went for a fly to look for some food. I flew ahead to reach a crop of my favorite fruit, which I discovered the day before. When I reached it, I was expecting my parents to come up right behind me... But they didn't. I started to get worried, and went to look for them. I looked everywhere, but couldn't find them anywhere." Her eyes started to get humid. "I was just about to give up, when I looked at the ground and saw a blue feather on the ground. I went down to examine it, and... recognized my mother's feather. I looked around to get any glimpse of her, but found none. That's when I suddenly heard a strange noise coming from up ahead. I went to check it out, and saw a car with an open back drive off down a dirt road. The back was loaded with cages, and..." A few tears started to drop from her face, falling to the earth below her. "... my parents were in them, along with many others. I didn't care about them, I just had eyes for my parents. I flew as fast as I could, but the dust kicked up by the car filled my eyes, leaving me nearly blinded. That's when I flew into the sky, to get a better look at my surroundings. When I saw the car again, I followed it from above, until it entered a town. When it stopped before a red light, I landed near my parents. I tried frantically to get them out, but what could I do against a set of iron bars? My parents were just as eager to get out, but when we noticed all our efforts were unsuccessful, my father said to me: "Listen carefully, honey. It's too late for us. You have to be brave now. We're going to a place far away. That place isn't for you. Yours is in the rainforest, to live as free as you can be. Have faith, and you'll be fine. And your mother and I promise you one thing... We will come back to you, one way or another." They each held part of their wings through the bars to hold me one last time. "Farewell, my child. We'll never stop thinking about you." I was too astonished to answer. All I could do was return their hug, fly up and cry my eyes out as the car drove off again, forever taking my parents out of my life."

Jewel then proceeded to burst into tears as she turned around and hurled herself into Blu's wings. Blu couldn't do much to comfort her, so he just set her down, rocking her gently back and forth and giving her time to compose herself. When she recovered a bit, he asked, "Did you hear anything at all from them?" "No, nothing. I don't know if they're someone's pets, living in a zoo, living free in another wilderness... or even if they're alive." Blu tried to comfort her at least a bit. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but maybe they ended up with a good owner, like I was. I turned out fine and came back to where I was originally from, so maybe one day your parents will too." Jewel wiped away the last of her tears. "Thank you Blu, for being there for me. For giving my life a new purpose. For... everything." Blu put his wing under her beak, lifting her head up ever so slightly. "And I'd do it a hundred times over just to see you happy." And with that, they shared a kiss, and went to join their children in a well deserved good night's rest.

Several months passed. Tulio was in the treatment room with the rest of his team, looking after a handful of birds that were recently brought in with some minor injuries. As he was finishing up with a scarlet macaw, the phone rang. He answered with "Blu Bird Sanctuary, Tulio Monteiro speaking." A voice on the other side said "Hello, Mr. Monteiro, my name is Marcus Finnegan, calling from the United Kingdom. It has come to my attention that you have a safe sanctuary for rare birds?" "Oh, good day Mr. Finnegan. Well yes, in a nutshell, we try to give all kinds of birds a better future, but rare and endangered ones are more than welcome." "Delightful! I have in my possession a pair of blue macaws. They were a birthday present for my son fifteen years ago, but now he's moved out of the house, and neither of us are capable to take care of them anymore. I figured it would be best to have them returned to their natural environment, and came across your establishment on the internet. Would you be willing to take them in?" Tulio's eyes widened as far as they could as soon as he heard the words 'pair of blue macaws'. "I would most definitely be interested in them, but I need to know a few things. Like how old are they, their gender, their current health?" "Oh, certainly. They are about forty years old, a male and female, and they lived in a large enough habitat, so they haven't forgotten how to fly. We've taken very special care of their diet, and a recent check-up from the veterinarian said they are both in excellent condition. The female is incapable of reproducing though, because of her age." "That's alright, sounds very okay to me. I'd be more than happy to take the birds in at your earlier convenience!" "Ah, splendid! I'll start making arrangements for their trip. Nice talking to you, Mr. Monteiro." "Have a nice day, Mr. Finnegan."

As Tulio hung up the phone, he rushed over to find Linda. She was standing on the sanctuary's lookout tower, where coincidentally, Blu, Jewel and their chicks were visiting her. "Linda! Linda! I got fantastic news!" he shouted. The macaws all squawked in surprise from the sounds of a shouting man, then settled down once they saw from whom it came. Linda turned around, saying "Calm down Tulio, you'll scare the birds away!" "Oh, sorry everyone, but I just had some wonderful news! I just got off the phone from a gentleman in England. He said he had a pair of blue macaws in his possession that he wanted to donate to the sanctuary! Isn't that great?" Linda was thrilled hearing this. "Another pair? Great, so Jewel and Blu weren't the only ones left after all! We can continue saving their kind!" "Ah, not quite, the female is too old to reproduce, sadly. But still, they can have a nice retirement with us, right?"

Jewel looked at Blu with a shock on her face. Blu was excited, but didn't realize what she was thinking at first. He was just happy enough to find out they weren't the only ones left, save for the three chicks jumping up and down next to them, also happy with the news. Jewel however, thought further. If the female was incapable of breeding because of her age, it means they were much older than they are. Could this mean... "Blu, did you hear that?" "Of course I heard that, we're not the only ones left anymore!" "No, not that. I mean the female is too old to breed, so she's older than we are." "Yeah, so? We'll still welcome them with open arms, right?" "Dammit Blu, wake up! What if this pair... are your or my parents?" Blu's face immediately turned to shock. "Wow, I didn't even consider that. Yeah, you're right, they could be!" He thought a little, and said, "But we don't know for sure right now. I think it's best we assume for now that they aren't. So if it turns out they actually aren't, we won't be let down too much." "Yeah, I guess you're right... But still, now that I thought of the possibility, it's going to be hard to let go of the idea." "I know honey, and I hope for the best as well. But all we can do right now, is wait and see."


	2. Unknown Fate

_Going to try and change my writing style a bit, as suggested in a previous review. This should provide a more enjoyable read. As usual, I welcome positive criticism, suggestions and plot ideas. Thanks for reading!_

**Chapter Two: Unknown Fate**

"How long do you think it will take until they arrive?"

Jewel was sitting in a sleeping position, but the thought of another pair of blue macaws coming to live among them was keeping her up all night. Blu told her before not to get her hopes up this pair being his or her parents, but it was highly possible.  
>He was sitting next to her, also in a sleeping position, but just like Jewel, he couldn't sleep for the exact same reasons. And even though they weren't looking at each other, they both knew neither of them could fall asleep anytime soon that night.<p>

"I have no idea. They'd probably have to clear a lot of documents, make sure they're packed and shipped properly, flown over to Brazil, then they'd have to clear through customs, and brought here... Could take a few days, at least."

"Blu... I know we talked about this, but I can't let it go. What if these macaws really are the parents from either of us? I'm sure they'll be happy to be back, but will they still be able to fit in? And more importantly, will they still remember their child?"

Blu sat up. "Don't worry about it, Jewel. Fifteen years is a long time, but even I remember some of my childhood in the rainforest. Everything will come back to them, and if it doesn't, we'll help them, even if they aren't related to us."

Jewel, turning her head towards Blu, felt somewhat more comfortable after his words sank in. "You're right. We'll make them feel right at home again. Heck, it worked for you, didn't it?" She gave him a mischievous look, one that made Blu melt every time.

"Riiight. I'm just excited as you are, honey, but let's just try and get some sleep for now. Those three playdevils over there are exhausting enough as it is."

Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom in a town called Penhale, two blue macaws living in a habitat that was a few yards wide and several more long, were watching a strange man from a distance. They were quite used to their owners, Marcus Finnegan and his family, but this newcomer that was looking at them through the holes in the fence as if he didn't know what to make of them, was a new face. Finally, he stepped away, returning to Marcus who was standing in a doorway leading from his garden into his house. They were too far away to hear what they were saying to each other, though.

"Victor, what's going on? What did that guy want from us?" asked the female.

"I have no idea, Yasmin. If I were to guess, I'd say we might get new owners."

The female looked in surprise at her husband. "New owners? Why? We've lived with Marcus for years! Sure, his health isn't what it used to be, but he can still take care of us, right?"

"I don't know, sweetheart, I'm just guessing. But by the looks of it, something is going to happen to us soon..."

"They are gorgeous birds, they are," said the strange man to Marcus. "Are you sure you want to send them off, and not give them to the zoo or something?"

"No, I am quite sure. They were born in the wild, and they should spend their last days there too. It's what my son Geoffrey and I decided long ago."

"Very well. I know just the right size of crate for them to be shipped in. It will have plenty of breathing holes, don't worry about that. But might I suggest you get some sleeping pills from the vet, and grind them into their water supply before having them packed? That way, they won't know what's happening to them, and by the time they wake up, they'll be safe and sound in that sanctuary you mentioned."

"Marvelous idea, Mr. Thompson. The last thing they need is the stress of the flight back to Rio. Going back to their homeland will be a big enough shock on its own."

"Indeed it will. Shall we go inside to handle the details?"

Victor and Yasmin watched as the two men walked into the house.

"Victor, I don't like where this is going. I'm starting to get scared!"

"Me too, my dear, me too," he said, as he laid his wing around her. "All we can do is wait and find out."

Later that evening, Marcus came towards the habitat. He completely emptied out the water tank, and refilled it with new water. Not sure why there was a need for that, Victor and Yasmin came over to inspect the water anyway. Victor took a sip from it.

"Hey, this water tastes different from what we normally get. Maybe that man from earlier came to sell Marcus water specifically designed for us. But I like it, it has a sweet touch to it," he said, as he happily drank more of it until he had enough.

Yasmin, in the meantime, joined her husband in drinking the water. "Yeah, you're right, this is much better. I hope we'll always get this from now on."

Beyond his control, Victor let loose a big yawn. "Wow, I'm so tired all of a sudden. I think I might go for... a nap... right... about..." He didn't manage to finish his sentence, as he suddenly fell into a deep sleep. Yasmin startled, but couldn't wonder about what happened for long, as she soon joined him.

"Good night you two. You gave us much love and joy, but now it's time for you to go home. We'll never forget you." Marcus said, as he walked in the habitat and carefully placed the birds into the crate Mr. Thompson provided. He then took the crate to the local airport, where it was labeled and prepared for a trip to Heathrow Airport. From there, it was a straight flight to Rio de Janeiro.

The next day, Blu and Jewel spent the whole day in the treatment room of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. They had left their chicks in the care of Rafael, Eva, Nico and Pedro. While they waited for what everyone else was also waiting for, they soothed some of the new arrivals in the treatment room. Most of them weren't used to being around humans, let alone be treated by them. But Blu and Jewel had a lot of experience with them, so they eased their worries and guaranteed them these people had their best interests at heart.  
>Suddenly, the phone rang again. Tulio hurried to answer it. On the other side sounded the familiar voice of Marcus Finnegan.<p>

"Hello again, Mr. Monteiro. I'm calling to let you know the macaws are safe and sound and on their way to Rio as we speak."

"That's great to hear, Mr. Finnegan. Did they give you any trouble trying to pack them?"  
>"No they didn't, in fact, they don't even know they're going back home. I didn't tell them, and the vet gave me some sleeping pills which I mixed in their water. Should be quite the surprise when they wake up, wouldn't you think?"<p>

"Heh, I know I'd be surprised if I were them. We can't wait for their arrival, especially our own blue macaws. They've been here almost every minute of the day to see them."

"Your own blue macaws, you say? Who knows, they might be related? That would be one surprise after another."

"Yes, the thought has crossed my mind also. I hope they're still asleep when they arrive, so I can perform some tests without putting any further stress on them."

Blu and Jewel looked knowingly at each other while Tulio was talking to Marcus. The pair wasn't going to arrive today, so there wasn't much reason left to hang around. Just as they were getting ready to fly off, Linda stopped them.

"Wait, guys! Before you go, allow us to take a small blood sample from you so we can compare your blood with the newcomers'. So then we'll know for sure if they're related to either of you or not."

Together, Blu and Jewel flew back down and landed on a counter. Tulio, who had just gotten off the phone, grabbed two syringes from a drawer, and wrote the names of the birds on two separate labels. After putting the labels on either syringe, he held the one labeled 'Blu' and said, "Okay Blu, just relax. This might sting a little."

Blu squawked as the needle bore into his shoulder, but a comforting look from Jewel made the pain subside almost instantly. He did the same as Tulio took a sample from her as well. Putting the samples in what looked like a fridge, Tulio said, "And now we just wait some more until those macaws arrive. I can't wait to find out the results!"

Blu and Jewel squawked in agreement. The possibility of these macaws being either one's parents was very real, but as long as there wasn't any certainty, they had to hold back their euphoria. Even though their shoulder was a little sore from the needles, they headed back to their infants with newfound resolve. Eva was the first to see them coming.

"Well? Have they arrived yet?"

"Not yet," Jewel answered, "but they're flying over this way now as we speak. I can't wait to meet them!"

Rafael looked up in genuine surprise. "What? They're flying over the Atlantic all by themselves? They'll be exhausted by the time they get here!"

Everyone started laughing. "What? What did I say?"

"They're - flying over by - plane, of - course," Blu managed to say between two bursts of laughter.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I knew that," said Rafael. He tried to make himself look less silly, but the damage had been done.

When the laughing subsided, Blu and Jewel headed down to their kids, joining them in their playtime.

_That wraps it up for this chapter. I know the story hasn't progressed much, but I did say I was going to try and make it longer than my previous stories. I've got quite a few ideas for progression and plots, but feel free to suggest your own. Until next chapter!_


	3. Homecoming

**Chapter 3: Homecoming**

Tulio always got up a few hours before everyone else did in the morning. Today was no different. Yet today was different in another aspect. Today, it was the day when two blue macaws, caught fifteen years ago in the wilderness of Rio and spending that time in England, would come back home. And who knows, it might also be the day a son or daughter would be reunited with his or her parents.

Tulio was still drowsy. The excitement for this day cost him a few hours of sleep, yet he kept true to his daily routine. He poured himself a nice cup of hot coffee. The only thing he changed about his routine, was having breakfast with his family, and not alone at his desk as he used to do. To satisfy his hunger for the time being, he grabbed a few cookies from a closet in the kitchen. After dipping a cookie in his coffee, he was looking out the window, towards the entrance of the sanctuary. Just as he was about to bite down on it, a delivery van pulled up in the driveway. Tulio gasped. He wasn't expecting a particular package, except for one.

"They're here!"

He rushed out the front door, where the van just came to a halt. The driver, papers in hand, got out and walked towards a very excited Tulio.

"Package for a Mr. Monteiro, two exotic birds shipped from England. I guess that's you?"

"Yep, in the flesh!"

"Sign here, please," the driver said, while handing the papers over. As Tulio signed, the driver opened the back of the van and got the crate with the birds out. "Want me to put this inside?"

"If you don't mind, but please be gentle. These birds are sedated, and I need to check on them while they're still asleep so I can work in peace. Here, I'll show you where you can put them."

After the crate was put inside and the delivery man drove off, Tulio started to gently open the crate. He was sweating.

"_Meu Deus_, I don't think I've been this excited ever since I first found Blu!" he thought to himself. The last hinge of the crate snapped loose, enabling Tulio to remove the lid and take a peek inside. In the crate were two magnificent blue macaws, sound asleep, surrounded by straw and a warm blanket. They looked just like Blu and Jewel, only their feathers grayed a bit around their heads and necks, betraying their age. Tulio couldn't help but sob with happiness.

"Welcome home."

About two hours later, Linda woke up. As usual, Tulio wasn't there. She understood how he loved his work, and even though he loved her more, she wished she could wake up next to him, if only just once. Nevertheless, she went down to fix some breakfast for herself, Tulio and Fernando, but not before checking up on Tulio. She went to the treatment room where he was usually found, but not this time. Instead, she heard noises coming from the lab, and walked in there.

"Good morning Tulio! Any news yet from -"

She was cut off by a startled Tulio, who covered her mouth with his hand.

"Shhhh... be quiet. They're here, and they're still fast asleep," he whispered. He took his hand away, and Linda slowly walked towards the two blue macaws, soundly sleeping in a cage on a lab table.

"Wow... they're beautiful," she whispered back. "Any idea when they'll wake up?"

"No, but they've been asleep in total for over a day now. I hope Mr. Finnegan didn't use too much of that sedative, but from the tests I've ran so far, they appear to be in excellent condition, just like he said they were."

"Did you also test their blood, to see if they're related to Blu or Jewel?"

"That's the first thing I did after determining their health. And guess what? One of them matched!"

Linda's eyes widened in excitement. "Really? Which one!"

The morning sun once again greeted the lush foliage of the Blu Bird Sanctuary, and far beyond. One of the rays shone into a large hole in a tree, where two Spix macaws and their three adorable children lived. It hit Blu square in the eye, violently waking him up. "I really got to stop sleeping on this spot," he thought to himself.

His sudden movements woke up Jewel in the process. "Sun in your eyes again?" she asked.

"Yeah. Sorry sweetheart, I keep falling for it every single time."

"Hey, don't worry, it's probably time to get up anyway. What do you say we head out and find some food for us all?"

"And leave the kids? Won't they be worried when they realize we're gone?"

"Relax, Blu. They're still asleep, and with the two of us looking for food, we'll be back in no time."

"Okay, sure, I'm with you. Let's go."

It took indeed no more than a few minutes for the macaws to return, beaks and claws filled with enough nuts and berries to last them the whole day. They specifically looked for the fruits their kids loved the most. As they came back, their kids had woken up in the meantime after all. Seeing their parents enter the hole, they immediately assaulted them with joy and happiness.

"Mommy, daddy!" they shouted as they launched themselves towards the pair.

"Hey, hey, it's okay! We're here, and we got you something to eat!" said Jewel.

"Yay, abiu, my favorite!" yelled Isabella. Her brothers, Juan and Davi, quickly spotted their favorites and happily devoured them. Blu and Jewel looked at each other, and both knew they really had to teach their kids proper eating etiquette. Especially now when they've got new arrivals coming in, and they wanted to make a good impression...

As if they could read each others minds, they gasped. The macaws from England were to arrive today! They quickly had their share of the breakfast, forgetting all about etiquette themselves, and once everyone had enough and cleaned up a bit in the nearby pond, they all sped towards the treatment room of the sanctuary.

Tulio and Linda were relaxing in the monitoring room, where they were keeping an eye on the older macaws, who were sleeping as solid as a rock. They had put them in the same room where they had Blu and Jewel meet for the first time, just to give them a sense of their natural environment, should they wake up. Linda was leaning her head on her hands while she gazed at the macaws, then turned to Tulio.

"How do you think they'll react to the news? Blu and Jewel, I mean."

"Well, obviously, one of them will be very happy, while the other... I don't know. I just hope they'll be happy for everyone." Linda sighed, and returned her gaze to the sleeping birds. She lifted her head as she saw one of the birds stir.

"Tulio, look! I think they're waking up!"

Yasmin was the first to open her eyes, not exactly sure what had just happened. Last thing she could recall, was Victor falling asleep instantly after drinking a new kind of water. She saw him sitting next to her, scooted over and nudged him.

"Victor, wake up! Can you hear me? Wake up!"

Victor slowly opened his eyes, and said: "Yes, honey, I'm up, I'm up," after which he let loose a big yawn. Not only feeling drowsy, he also felt like he had a hole in his abdomen.

"Wow, I'm hungry! Let's see what Marcus has in store... for... us..."

Both of them were looking around, concluding they were not in their usual habitat. There was no sunlight, no clouds, heck, not even a sky. There were only small trees, large ferns and an artificial creek down below, and they were surrounded by walls. Illumination birthed only from artificial lights. The ground was covered in sand, colored sticks were sticking out the bark of some of the trees, and balls and other toys were scattered around, as means of enrichment.

"Victor... Where are we?"

"I... have no idea..."

"It's true, isn't it? Just like you said. We got new owners! I can't believe Marcus gave us up! I hope it isn't that strange man from before. I had a weird feeling in my gut about him the moment I saw him!"

Victor could only nod in agreement. He looked around some more. "Hey, there's some fresh fruit growing on those trees. I don't know about you, but I could go for a bite or two. Let's have some, then we'll figure out what we're dealing with here."

"How can you think about food at a time like this?" She yelled. However, thinking about food made her realize how hungry she was also, as if she hadn't eaten in a day. "I'm sorry, you're right. Let's go..."

As they ate some of the fruits to regain their strength, Yasmin noticed something peculiar.

"Hey Victor? Doesn't this fruit remind you of something?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it does. It tastes kind of like... like... something we haven't had in a very long time." He grabbed another fruit with his claws. "In fact, I don't think I've eaten this fruit ever since..." Victor's eyes widened, and dropped the fruit in astonishment.

"This fruit reminds me of... the land we were born in."

"Victor?"

"Yasmin? I think... we're in Brazil."

Blu, Jewel and their chicks arrived at the main building, after what seemed like forever. They flew in through a window that was always open, large enough to fit them, but too small to fit any kind of burglar. Looking around the treatment room, they only saw Tulio's staff at work. They also noticed a large, empty crate sitting on a counter. It was labeled 'Caution: live animals'.

"Blu?" Jewel said. "They're here..."

One of the senior staff members, a lovely woman by the name of Vavara, noticed the family of blue macaws examining the crate.

"Hey you guys!" she said. She saw the lot of them were initially fixated on the empty crate. "I know what you're thinking, and you're right: the blue macaws from England have arrived. Tulio placed them in the monitoring room."

Blu's thoughts trailed off for a moment. "_The first time were I saw my angel..._"

"Come on, I'll take you to them." Vavara continued.

Tulio and Linda kept observing the macaws, when the door behind them suddenly opened.

"Hey guys, look who I found," Vavara said as two large and three small blue macaws walked in the room. They flew up to the window, which was actually a two-way mirror, to get a better look at the birds in the next room.

"Thanks Vavara, I know they've been dying to meet the newcomers," said Linda.

"No problem. If you need me, I'll be at my station." she said, as she closed the door behind her.

Blu and Jewel couldn't believe their eyes. Sitting on a branch were two macaws, clearly older than they were, but they were there. They weren't the only ones left any longer. After a few minutes of staring, Tulio broke the silence.

"I bet you want to know some more about them, don't you?" Blu and Jewel turned around to face him, letting loose a soft squawk.

"Thought so. They arrived about three hours ago, still asleep. The first thing I did was check their health, and don't worry, they're doing great. They were lacking some vitamins commonly found in fresh fruits, but that problem should take care of its own. As for their age, they are about forty years old, but can live at least thirty more. They woke up about half an hour ago. It seemed like they have no clue where they currently are, but I believe you can help with that. They'll likely need it."

Blu and Jewel visibly relaxed, as Juan, Davi and Isabella kept looking at the two macaws on the other side of the window.

"I also took a small sample of their blood, and compared it with yours to find a relationship."

Blu and Jewel froze again, holding their breath. This was the moment they've been waiting for all this time. Now they would finally find out. And at last, Tulio said...

"Say hello to your parents, Jewel."


	4. The Reunion

**Chapter 4: The Reunion**

Victor and Yasmin continued checking out their new environment, looking for signs of any other living beings. They were getting ready to fly up and start exploring, when just then, a hatch in the wall at ground level nearby opened. They looked down to see another of their kind walk through.

"Look Victor, we have a visitor," said Yasmin.

Jewel looked up at them sitting on a branch, while she stayed on the ground for a few moments. She never thought she'd get to see her parents again, so she needed some time to prepare herself. Finally, she flew up, and perched herself on the same branch the pair was sitting on. Victor and Yasmin had no idea who this visitor was yet, so they addressed her formally.

"Hi there, my name is Victor, and this here is my lovely wife Yasmin. And you are?"

"_They don't recognize me,_" Jewel thought to herself. "_Which is understandable, given the circumstances._"

"Uhm... Do you speak English?" asked Yasmin. Jewel was just staring at them as they spoke, until she finally snapped out of it.

"Yeah, I do. Heh, hi."

"Alright, good, that's a start. Do you know where we are? I've got a pretty good idea, but it would be nice to hear it from a native." Victor figured as this stranger in front of him looked just like his wife and himself, they were in either some sort of zoo running a breeding program, part of a very exclusive gathering of exotic birds by a collector, or maybe even home... Sort of, given they were currently in a room , and not out in the open.

"Yeah, you're in the Blu Bird Sanctuary. This is a large part of the rainforest close to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which has been protected by the government from thieves and poachers."

"Rio? Victor, you were right!" shouted Yasmin. "We're back home! I can't believe it!"

Yasmin grabbed Victor by his wings with hers and started dancing around him, overjoyed with the news they had finally come home. Then she stopped just as fast as she began, and gasped.

"Jewel! Our daughter! Remember her, Victor? She might be around here!"

"How could I forget? I never stopped thinking about her." He turned to Jewel, unbeknownst his own daughter was standing in front of him, and said: "Sorry, but do you know of Jewel? She's our daughter, and is a Spix macaw, just like you. Last time we saw her, we were... ah... taken away fifteen years ago. We hope she's okay."

"Oh, she's doing just fine," said Jewel, while her eyes started to water up. "I never stopped thinking about you either."

"What?" said Victor. "What do you mean, you never..." Then it hit both of them. Yasmin slowly walked up to Jewel, and stopped in front of her. She stroked Jewel's face with the tips of her wings, while looking into her watery eyes. She'd recognize those beautiful, cerulean pupils anywhere.

"Jewel?"

"Hi... mom..."

As the three macaws bundled up in a group hug, Tulio, Linda, Blu and his kids all observed the miracle happening through the window. Davi turned to Blu.

"Daddy, why is mommy crying? Is she sad?""

"No, sport, she's just really happy. Sometimes people cry even when they're very happy." Even though Blu was overjoyed for Jewel, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to his own parents. Seeing Jewel reunited with her own, he hoped to be one day reunited with his, even though he doesn't know what happened to them at all... not even if they're alive in the first place. He was forced back to reality when Juan spoke up.

"Daddy, who are these other birds? Does mommy know them?"

"Sure she does, those birds are your mommy's parents. That means they are your grandparents."

"Can we go meet them, daddy?"

"In a few minutes, maybe. Mommy hasn't seen them in a very long time, and they need some time to catch up."

Jewel never wanted to let loose of them again, but for the sake of mobility, she kind of had to.

"I told you we'd come back to you, one way or another."

"Yeah, you did," Jewel said, as she wiped away the last tear on her face. "You two look fantastic."

"Well, we've been well taken care of, even though we didn't really have a choice. We had a nice owner, but there was never a moment we didn't want to go back home and to you," said Victor. Yasmin continued.

"So tell us, what have you been up to? Seeing as you're here, I'd say you did just fine."

Jewel told them all about her life. How she lived from day to day, met new people, made friends and enemies, up to the point where she was captured and brought to the very room they were standing in now, with the intention to breed with Blu in order to save their species.

"Forced breeding? Let me guess, that didn't work out, right?" her father asked.

"Indeed it didn't, not at first anyway. The male they brought in was a pet - sorry, a companion - that lived in a small town in the United States. He was also captured when he was very young, and never learned how to fly. When we first met, he was all for the plan and almost immediately made his move, but I wasn't about to play ball. All I wanted was to get out of here as soon as I could, and..."

Jewel continued talking about what happened from then on. How they were kidnapped by a vicious cockatoo and an orphaned boy, got chained together, escaped, met Rafael and his family, and so on. She also told how Blu was nervous every time he tried to convey his feelings, which both of them felt growing during their time chained together and beyond, and eventually, concluded her story after elaborating the events that happened after her wing had healed from a cage that fell on top of it.

"So you mean... We're grandparents now too?"

"Want to meet them?"

Eager to meet Jewel's family, she flew towards the mirror. She tapped it with her beak one time, then ducked and gently tapped three more times, indicating she wanted Blu and the three chicks to come inside.

"Blu, kids, I think that's your call," Tulio said.

Moments later, the hatch opened again, this time letting Blu and the chicks through. Victor and Yasmin were amazed at what their daughter had accomplished. The family flew up to the branch everyone else was sitting on.

"Mom, dad, meet Blu, my mate. And these are Davi, Juan and Isabella."

Nervously, Blu held out a paw. "Nice to meet you, sir, ma'am."

Victor scooted over, and vigorously shook Blu's paw. "The pleasure is all mine, young man. We're very happy to meet you. Jewel told us all about you, and what you did for her when she was staring death in the eyes. For that, we can never thank you enough," to which he let go of Blu's paw and gave him a firm, fatherly hug. After patting Blu on the back, he turned towards his grandkids and started talking and playing with them.

Yasmin came closer to Blu and said "Don't mind him too much, this is a lot to take in right now. First we learn we're back home in Rio, next we get reunited with our little girl and now we find out we're grandparents? Anything else in store for us?"

"Maybe just one. As Jewel may have told you, I used to be a pet as well, and ever since we... bonded, my owner, Linda, moved here with me. She has fallen in love with the man who is charge of this aviary, and has opened a bookstore just like the one she had in Minnesota. In her off-time, she can be found here, looking after the other birds and visiting us. Hope being near other humans doesn't put you off."

"Oh no, if this sanctuary is as protected as Jewel says it is, I have no problem with them." Yasmin trailed off in thought for a moment. There weren't a lot of Spix macaws left in the world, but before she and Victor were captured, she remembered another family of macaws that lived close to them. She also remembered herself and Victor being not the only Spix macaws to be caught that day. She had a theory about the male standing in front of her, and although it was highly possible, she still wanted to know for sure.

"Blu? Jewel told us you were caught fifteen years ago, and lived in the United States ever since."

"Yes, that's right. Linda was very good to me, but I'm still very happy to be back home, even though I hardly know anything about it."

"I remember the day we were caught like it was yesterday. After we said our goodbyes to Jewel, we were lost in grief, obviously. But after we managed to somehow compose ourselves a bit, we had a look around us at the other birds, and saw a baby Spix macaw in a cage further in the back. That macaw was the only child of another couple we knew very well. In fact, they lived in a hole just a few trees away from us back then. Blu... I think that was you."

Hearing this, Blu tried to delve in his mind as far as he could. Given his age back then, all his memories were vague and blurry, but he'll never forget the moment a set of bars fell around him, and the moment he was put in a plane which took off to an unknown destiny. Then it hit him.

"Yes... yeah, I do remember. At first I thought you were my parents, but after a closer look, you looked different from them... Wow. Some small world this is, huh?"

Another thought hit Blu in the head, as if a lance made of ice pierced through his brain, without the painful side effects.

"Wait... Does that mean... You knew my parents?"

Victor, who had rejoined the conversation, said "Yeah we did. There wasn't a lot of our kind left, so we all tried to stay together as much as we could. They knew we had a baby girl, so after we heard they had just hatched a baby boy, we were thrilled! We were already imagining the two of them playing together, growing up together, and maybe even fall in love with each other. And, as it turns out, they did! Not how we thought it would come to pass, but still. Everything's perfect now!"

"Almost perfect," said Blu with a spark of sadness in his voice. "I still don't know where my parents are, or even if they're alive."

"Oh, my," Yasmin said. "You know what? As soon as we're deemed fit enough to be released outside, we'll try to take you to the place we used to live, before we were captured. It's been a long time, but I hope the rainforest hasn't changed too much. And I also hope we can still remember where our old nest was..."

"Another thing," Victor said. "I know the name 'Blu' is the only one you've ever known, but your parents gave you another name. You were first called 'Andreas'."

_A/N: This was a very hard chapter to write, because I tried to avoid the stereotypical 'Meet the Parents' kind of introductions (minus the awkward situations). Most of my other chapters didn't take more than a day, while this one took over 4. And to be honest, I'm not very satisfied with this one, I feel it's sub par, for which I apologize. Please be gentle with reviews, and if you have any story ideas, I'd love to hear them. I don't want to end the story yet, but I'm slowly running out of ideas :p Thanks for reading!_


	5. Finally Free

_A/N: Many thanks for the encouraging reviews everyone. It made me smile (and, I'll admit, even giggle at times), and I take great pleasure in knowing you guys like my story(-ies). For the record, I chose the name 'Andreas' because it means 'man/warrior' in Greek. Blu isn't exactly a warrior, but definitely will be one when his family is at stake. Don't worry, I don't intend to put them on the line, but who knows how it might turn out. When I write, I just have a rough idea of what's going to happen for one chapter, and not in the long run. Anyway, let's keep it going!_

**Chapter 5: Finally Free**

The family of five macaws didn't leave the main building on the sanctuary for three days straight. Tulio wanted to keep them in observation until he was absolutely sure they were fit enough to live in the rainforest with Blu, Jewel and their offspring. They spent as much time as they could with Victor and Yasmin, because after all, there were several years of events to talk about. Blu and Jewel would go into more detail about the time after they first met, and the weeks beyond that, while Victor and Yasmin could only tell them about their time in England with Marcus Finnegan and his family. Victor would often talk with a British accent, much to the amusement of everyone.

In the afternoon of the third day, Tulio finished up the last tests he had the pair undertake. With Linda, Blu and Jewel as his audience, he said: "Good news, Jewel. Looking at the final results, I'd say your parents are in the best condition they could be, so I'm happy to announce they are ready to leave the aviary and live free in the rainforest with you." Jewel was so happy, she launched herself onto Tulio's shoulder and rubbed her head against his cheek in gratitude.

"Hey, hey, okay now, knock it off! Or, nah, keep going, I'm happy too." he said as he gently patted her wing.

Blu was also happy, not only for Jewel, but also because he was going to get some closure about the fate of his own parents soon, and that moment was fast approaching.

After Jewel generated enough heat from rubbing her head against Tulio's, he continued: "Would you mind doing me one last favor? They still got the rings on their paws declaring ownership to Mr. Finnegan, so if you'll just bring them to me, I'll gladly cut them off, and they're all yours again. I'll be in the treatment room, waiting for you."

Moments later, Jewel emerged through the hatch leading into the monitoring room once more, quickly finding her parents, who were sitting on a branch and sharing a piece of dragon fruit. Yasmin saw Jewel arriving, but Victor didn't, as Jewel was coming up behind him. He gulped down a chunk of dragon fruit in surprise as she shouted "Hi mom, hi dad!"

"*cough* Please dear, don't do that again. I wasn't planning on choking on a piece of fruit four days after coming back home," he said with a bit of an annoyed tone, yet with a smirk on his face.

"Sorry dad, but I just had some good news and bad news."

"Oh?" Yasmin looked at her daughter in confusion. "Let's have the bad news first, then."

"Okay. The bad news is, once I leave through that hatch, I'm never coming in again," Her parents felt their hearts sink, but before they could respond, she carried on: "But the good news is, neither will you, because you've been given permission to go outside, permanently!"

Their faces lit up in euphoria, forgetting all about Jewel's misplaced joke.

"We're getting out? We're getting out! This is the best week of my life!" Victor exclaimed.

"Our life!" Yasmin corrected him.

"One more thing, though. Tulio, the guy in charge of this place, wants to cut your old rings off, so you won't belong to any human anymore, ever. Let's go, I'll take you to him."

The three macaws headed to the ground, where the hatch was left open. They walked through, ending up in a hallway that was completely foreign for Victor and Yasmin, but almost a second home to Jewel. The treatment room was barely a few turns away, so within less than a minute, they landed on a counter where Tulio was leaning against. Linda and Blu were with him too, as were the three chicks, which had visibly grown some since the first time their grandparents laid eyes on them. Tulio sat down on a backless revolving chair, and grabbed a pair of pliers. The macaws were already a little familiar with Tulio and the tests he did, yet this device looked a bit intimidating.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit," he assured them. "Who wants to go first?"

Victor and Yasmin looked at each other, still somewhat unsure about this shiny thing Tulio was holding. Victor turned towards Yasmin and extended a wing, saying "Erm... Ladies first," with a short bow. Yasmin rolled her eyes because of her husbands 'bravery', but unfortunately for him, Tulio misunderstood Victor's actions and gently, yet firmly clasped his wing.

"You'll be the first then? Excellent. This will only take a second."

The entire family snorted at Victor, who was being dragged over by a naive Tulio. He felt the space between his paw and the ring tighten as half of the pliers squeezed in between, and after a loud, unnerving *KLISH* sound later, the ring fell on the counter. No matter how well Marcus looked after them, getting rid of the ring caused a sensation to Victor similar to a prisoner getting released from a ball on a chain. After Yasmin was released of hers, Tulio picked the rings up and examined them closely.

"Hmm... 'Drew' and 'Ashley'... I got a feeling those are the names Marcus gave you, but not the names you were born with."

"Oh, I think I know a solution to that," Linda said. She grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, and handed them to Blu. His time in Moose Lake, reading the tons of books from Linda's bookstore, has made him very smart and even taught him how to write a little. And indeed, Blu managed to write down their actual names. Jewel's parents looked at him, baffled with his knowledge of humans and their habits. Linda's, anyway.

"Look Tulio, their real names are Victor and Yasmin," Linda said, holding up the paper.

"Ah, very nice names indeed. And very common to Brazil. Anyway, we're all done here. I'll let you out from the lookout tower, so you can find a nice nest to live in. Don't be a stranger, now!"

Everyone was so excited about Jewel's parents being released back to their original birthplace, nobody noticed that Blu stayed behind a moment. He turned the paper around with the names of Jewel's parents on it, and wrote down something else. He put the pencil down, and then followed the party to the outside world. The back of the paper now said the name 'Andreas'.

The entire family of macaws was perched on the wooden railing circling the lookout tower of the Blu Bird Sanctuary. Victor and Yasmin were eager to fly up and wanted to let the energy and excitement that's been building up inside them explode like a bomb, yet they stood firmly in place. As far as the eye could see, there was only the green of the forest and the blue of the sky in sight, with huge mountains on the horizon. Fresh, clean air filled their lungs, adding to the feeling of freedom that was but a streak of flapping wings away. Yasmin started to sob from sheer happiness.

"Look at it all, Victor. Our home. We're really here. I still can't believe it, and yet there it is, right before our eyes."

"I know, honey." Victor barely managed to keep his tear ducts shut. Even though the past fifteen years weren't all that bad, save the separation from their only daughter, nothing in the world could beat this sensation. Or perhaps maybe just one thing.

"Mom? Dad? It's time to finally go home..." Jewel told them.

Nodding to their daughter, they spread their wings, letting the wind caress their feathers. Victor couldn't help but shout "FREEDOM!" after which he kicked his wings down, and took to the sky. Yasmin followed swiftly after. Their habitat in England was large enough to fly in, but those flights lasted only a few seconds. Now, they felt like they could fly until exhaustion would force them down.

Victor and Yasmin have been looking forward to this moment ever since they learned they were back in Rio. They first flew into the sky as high as they could, even beyond the Christ the Redeemer statue in the distance. They could see all of the sanctuary and most of the rainforest and Rio from where they were. Victor looked at Yasmin with a huge grin on his face, folded his wings and let himself pummel head-first towards the earth. Jewel immediately worried her father was in trouble, but instead, just before he would disappear into the foliage, he opened his wings again and started brushing past the leaves of the trees, Yasmin in his wake. Jewel's worries faded away instantly, and signaled to her family to go after them. Blu quickly released a happy squawk towards Linda, and soon, all seven birds were flying around each other in a symphony of movement. Tulio and Linda wrapped their arms around each other, proud of their accomplishments, while watching the birds fly out of sight.

Alas, their time in confined captivity took its toll far faster than Victor and Yasmin would've wanted. They glanced around for a large enough branch to land on, and landed on one to their liking. Both panting, Victor turned to Yasmin.

"That - was the most - fun - I've had - in years!"

"Don't you - know - it! We'll - have to take - it easy though, - our stamina isn't - what it used to - be."

"True enough."

They noticed a crop of starfruit on the tree next to them, so to recover a little, they flew over to it, grabbed a piece and flew back to their original branch, satisfyingly chomping down on the fruit. The rest of the macaws soon joined them, the three chicks nearly out of breath.

"Well? Best feeling ever, right?" Jewel asked them, already knowing their answer.

"You can't believe how much we missed this! There will never be enough words in the world to describe the sensation of flying freely."

"I felt exactly the same way when I first flew," Blu remembered. He suddenly felt a tiny prick in his side, which came from Isabella's beak.

"Daddy, it's not fair. We can't fly that fast yet!"

"I'm sorry my angel, but your grandparents haven't flown like this at all in ages. But don't worry, we'll take it slower from now on."

Blu turned around at Jewel and her parents with a dimmed look on his face, realizing he just made a decision in name of everyone else. "Uh, if you guys don't mind?"

"Relax, Andy, you're actually pretty much correct. This burst of adrenaline just left us nearly drained, so we'll have to slow down anyway and build up our stamina over the coming weeks," Yasmin assured him.

After everyone had a share of star fruit to fill their bellies, they once again took off, but this time, they weaved through the trees of the rainforest, in the direction of Blu and Jewel's nest. Their initial flight created some distance from the sanctuary, so it took them some more time than usual to reach it. The sun was slowly starting to set, which meant bedtime for the little ones. As they flew, they went past several other colorful birds, all minding their own business. Seeing so many different species living worry free, Victor and Yasmin knew they would be forever safe here.

Landing on the ground near the tree where Blu and Jewel's nest was located, Jewel turned to her parents and said: "Well, this is where we live. I hope you'll spend the night with us, and tomorrow morning, we'll set out to find a nice nest nearby for you to live in. How does that sound?"

"Sounds wonderful, my dear."

"We'll also introduce you to our friends. You know, the one we told you about. Nico, Pedro, Rafael and Eva. And hey, if you're feeling up to it, we might even visit Luiz after taking a trip around Rio."

"Uhm..." Blu started. He wasn't sure what to say next. Something difficult, it would seem. All the mature macaws turned to face him, and saw he had trouble speaking up.

"Yes, Andy? What is it?" Victor asked.

"Well... I don't want to sound impolite, but I was wondering if... uh... if we could..."

"Go ahead Andy, say what's on your mind. You don't want us spending the night with you?" Yasmin wondered.

"No! No, not at all, you're always welcome. But, uh... I just wanted to ask... Tomorrow, if... when we find you a nest... Could you take me to our old nests? The one we lived in before we were, uh... taken? If you can remember where it is, of course."

Victor and Yasmin gave Blu a hearty chuckle. "Oh, is that it? Of course Andy, don't worry about it. Fifteen years is a long time, so the landscape may have changed a bit, but I still remember exactly how the surroundings looked like. Fear not, we'll find it," Yasmin said with a soft smile.

Blu relaxed. "Oh, thanks, that's a relief. And, by the way... Not trying to be impolite again, but if it's all the same to you, I prefer to be called 'Blu'... if you don't mind."

Victor walked over to Blu, and put his wings on his shoulders.

"Hey. You saved our little girl, remember? We're indebted to you forever. We'll call you however you want us to call you... son."

Even though it wasn't Victor's intention, hearing him calling Blu his 'son' made him long for his own parents more than ever. Victor's statement was no doubt very charming and well-intended, but as long as Blu didn't know anything about the fate of his own parents, he'd have a very hard time accepting Victor and Yasmin as his surrogate parents. He tried to shake the feeling while Victor was waiting for a response.

"Thanks, dad," he said without thinking. "_You idiot! What did you just tell yourself? Stupid, stupid, stupid!_" Victor just smiled, and patted him on the back.

Jewel scooted over to Blu and nudged him slightly, while giving him a loving look, as if she was saying "W_elcome to the family, smooth-talker._"

"Well then, now that's decided, what do you say we head inside and put these three in their beds?" she exclaimed while gesturing towards Davi, Juan and Isabella. All three of them already fell asleep on the spot, exhausted from today's events. Blu, Jewel and Yasmin each gently picked one up in their talons, and they all flew up into the hole of the tree that was Blu and Jewel's nest. Everyone talked for a bit more before drifting into sleep themselves.

Everyone but Blu.

Tomorrow, he was finally going to the actual spot he was born. Maybe even find out what happened to his parents... or maybe... just maybe... find them. But, he was smart enough not to harbor such thoughts. Just like he did when Jewel and he learned about Victor and Yasmin heading back from England to Brazil. Before they did, nobody knew if they were related to Jewel or him. Fortunately for Jewel, they were. But still, even though he might get his hopes up for nothing, the thought – and hope – was vivid. Tomorrow, he might finally find out, or not at all. Tomorrow, he might or might not find answers. Tomorrow... would be his day.

Blu finally fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	6. Alone After All?

_A/N: Seems I have a bit of a continuity problem! I just re-read my own story, and discovered that there are some things that just don't add up. For example, in chapter one, 'several months had passed'. Yet up to this point, Blu and Jewel's kids are still the same size, while they should have been well-versed and independent by now. And at the end of chapter four, Yasmin says they might not remember where their old nest is, yet in chapter five, she says she knows exactly how the surroundings looked like. Pretty much failed there. Oh well, damage done, I'll cope. Onward!_

**Chapter 6: Alone After All?**

It was still early in the morning when Blu woke up. Yet again, he managed to fall asleep on the same spot where the sun would hit him right in the eye. As such, he woke up violently yet again, waking Jewel in the process.

"Sun?"

"Yep."

"Oh well, doesn't matter. Now that we're up, we can head out and find some food for everyone. Sound good?"

"Absolutely. Let's go!"

It took them several trips back and forth to gather enough nuts, berries and fruits for seven birds, even though three of them don't eat as much. After the last trip, Blu went to wake his kids, while Jewel woke her parents.

"Morning, mom and dad! We've got a long day ahead of us, so dig in!"

"Wow, you went through all that trouble for us? You didn't have to have to did that, you know," her mother commented, still a bit drowsy.

"I know, I'm just so thrilled to have you back! And besides, once you get settled in your own nest, we won't need to anymore."

"Yeah, guess you're right about that. Well, let's not let all of this go to waste. Shall we?"

Once everyone had their share, Blu turned to the three adult macaws.

"I was thinking that, unless we bring them along, I should stay here with the kids while you guys go find a new nest to live in."

"Well, only if you don't mind. I don't want to exclude you from anything." his mate said.

"No, no, really, it's fine. Why else would I suggest it? You guys go ahead, while I keep these three entertained."

"Will you tell us a story, daddy?" Juan asked. Blu would never be able to resist those big, round, begging eyes. Ones he inherited from his father, no less.

"Sure, sport. Maybe afterward we can go swimming or play in the dirt... after which we'd had to go swimming anyway."

"Yay, I love swimming!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Alright then, Blu, we'll head out to find my parents a new home. Be careful in the meantime, okay?"

"I'd never forgive myself if something happened to them, so don't you worry about a thing. Just hurry back, I'm starting to miss you already," he said. He gave a Jewel a quick yet loving kiss, which their kids would as sure as clockwork judge with a collective "Eewww". Jewel beckoned her parents over, and they flew out into the rainforest, in search of a new home for them.

Everyone agreed to scout out one part of the area each, and then return to the base of Blu and Jewel's tree after twenty minutes. All of them found several hollows that looked very promising. Most of them were occupied, but some of the current residents were nice enough to point them into the direction of available hollows. After twenty minutes had passed, everyone rendezvoused back at the agreed location.

Jewel began: "I found three empty hollows down to the south, which are nice and big. Only downside is some of them are crawling with spiders, and all three of them are relatively close to Rio, which can make it noisy during the night."

Victor continued: "I found two towards to north and east, one seeming a little small, and the other, well, there was a snake slithering nearby it. I hate snakes."

Finally, Yasmin finished up: "And I also found two in the west, which looked actually very nice. No spiders, no snakes, nice neighborhood, lots of fruit and a small river not too far away. Want to check those out?"

Nodding in agreement, everyone headed out to the vacant hollows Yasmin had discovered.

Meanwhile, Blu was slowly running out of stories and ideas to entertain his youngsters, and they still craved more. And the day had barely begun.

"Hey, here's an idea. What do you say we visit your uncle Rafael and aunt Eva, and you can go play with your toucan friends?" All the chicks jumped around cheering in excitement from the idea. "Alright, settle down, we'll go in a second. Let me just leave a note for your mommy."

Blu grabbed a leaf from the tree's crown, and using his claw, he ripped 'R + E' in it. "_I hope she understands... Pah, what a silly thought. Of course she will. _Okay kids, let's go and have some fun!"

As Rafael and Eva's nest was just a few trees away, it didn't take more than half a minute to reach it. They landed on the ground at the base of it.

"Hey Rafi, Eva! Hello! Anyone home?" Blu shouted. But instead of either two toucans poking their head out, the noise of rustling leaves coming from behind caught Blu's attention.

"Intruders! Attack!"

"No, Carlos, NO-!" was all that Blu managed to get out of his throat, before his stomach got headbutted by the tiny toucan. Several more soon followed, ready to rain down hell on him. Luckily, it didn't go that far.

"Everybody stop this instant, or you'll all be grounded for the rest of the day!" came a distinctive, feminine voice. All the little toucans were scared to death of their mother, so they backed down instantly. Upon seeing their blue little friends though, they turned their attention to them and started playing together.

Eva emerged from behind some ferns, followed by Rafael. "Hi Blu, great to see you. Oh, sorry about your stomach there."

"It's fine *cough* Eva, I'll be alright... *wheeze* in a minute or two," Blu stammered, while panting and clutching his belly.

"Heyhey, lovebird. We were just down by the river, taking our morning baths," Rafael said while hopping towards Blu. "Where's Jewel? I figured she'd never let her you and your kids out of her sight."

"Oh, she's busy with... house hunting. Not for us, mind you. You know those two Spix macaws that were coming in from England? Well guess what: they turned out to be her parents!"

Rafael and Eva's eyes grew wide from exhilaration. "No way! Jewel's folks? What are the odds!"

"I know, right? They're out there now, looking for a nest to live in. They've been gone for almost half an hour, so I don't expect them to be away for much longer. I left her a note to meet us here."

"Smart one, you are." Rafael laughed.

At the same moment, Jewel and her parents arrived at her nest, to find Blu and her kids absent. She quickly found the leaf with Blu's markings on it, and as expected, it didn't take long for the bright macaw to figure out where they went.

"Looks like Blu took the kids to Rafael and Eva, to play with theirs. Now would be a good time as any to introduce you to them. Gotta warn you though, their kids are... quite a handful."

"Heh, I'm sure we'll be fine," her father said. "Lead the way!"

"_I'm not so sure about that..._"

And after a few moments of flying, the three macaws landed where Blu, Rafael and Eva were chatting away.

Seeing the new arrivals, Carlos was quick to respond to them. "More intruders! Atta-" His battle cry was quickly silenced by Eva, who jumped in between him and the macaws, giving him a stern look.

"Hi guys, I'd like you to meet... my parents. This is Victor, and Yasmin," Jewel said proudly. They all shook paws while exchanging short greetings.

"It's very nice to meet you, sir," Rafael said formally.

"Oh really, there's no need for 'sir'. It's my pleasure to shake hands with the King of Carnaval," Victor said.

"Ah, they told you about that, huh?"

"Not only that, I already heard about you back when we still lived here. Never got to meet you though."

"Ah, yes, I had quite the reputation back then. So, what was England like?"

Everyone was so caught up in the conversation, nobody noticed the nearing of a certain red-crested cardinal and a yellow canary with a particular bottle cap on his head.

"PARTY TIME," they yelled simultaneously, which made all of the birds flinch.

"Nico, Pedro, what's cracking, fellas?" Rafael questioned, once he figured out what was going on.

"Already told you, old bones, party time! The Branch is having it's 10th anniversary tonight, and we've been invited to bring all the guests we wanted to. _Muito importante!_" Nico cheered. Pedro rubbed his eyes with his wings.

"Whoa, hold up. I think tonight's booze is already kicking in, and I didn't even drink nothing yet. I'm seeing four blue birds instead of two!"

"That's because you aren't drunk, Pedro... not yet, at least," Blu laughed. "Go ahead, Jewel."

"Nico, Pedro, these are Victor and Yasmin... my parents."

"Get out of town!" Nico shouted. "Actually, don't. More birds that way."

"Yeah, this is another great reason to come to the Branch. Reunion celebration party-ation!" after which Pedro released his trademarked 'love hawk squawk'.

"Ahem... Guys, we'd love to come, but aren't you forgetting something?" Jewel asked, while gesturing at the plethora of toucan and blue macaw chicks playing a short distance away.

"Oh, yeah... those," Pedro recalled.

"You know what? Why don't we keep an eye on your kids, while all of you go and have fun?" Rafael suggested.

"Are you sure, Rafi? Don't you want to come?"

"Sure I would, but I made a promise to my dearest, remember? Party time is history for me, at least for as long as the kids live with us."

"Well, I guess I can live with that... Eva, are you okay with it too?"

"Of course I am. You've got a reason to celebrate anyway, so we'll happily look after them in the meantime."

"Mom, dad? Are you interested in going?"

Victor and Yasmin exchanged near telepathic glances, after which Victor said: "Dear, it's been over fifteen years since we've last went to a party. It would be our pleasure to go."

Nico and Pedro were overexcited to have more guests to the party. A few hours passed while everyone was talking. They got interrupted by the toucan and macaw chicks coming up to their parents, saying "We're hungry! Can we have lunch soon?"

Realizing this, Eva said "Oh my, is it noon already? Sure, let's go and look for something."

Before taking off with Nico, Pedro said "Alright, party starts at eight. See you there, double dates!" after which they quickly vanished from sight.

"Guess that means we'll leave the kids with you at around seven thirty," Blu stated.

"Works for us, see you then!" said Eva as she waved goodbye.

Both families went their own ways in search of stuff to eat. Instead of going to their own hollow, Jewel said to Blu, out of earshot of her parents: "Oh yeah, mom and dad invited us to stay with them for lunch in their own hollow. You'll love the place, it's only five minutes from where we live."

"Sure, sounds great. But, uh..." Blu came a bit closer to his mate, making sure his parents-in-law couldn't hear him. "Do you think, after lunch, we can go look for our old nests? I'm dying to... work stuff out, you know?"

Jewel gave him a comforting, caring look. "Aw, Blu. Don't worry about a thing. If your parents are still there, I'm sure that everything will be fine."

"And what if they're not?"

Jewel couldn't respond to that without hurting Blu's feelings. She knew as well as he did that if there was no sign at all of his parents, he'd never find out what became of them. He could only hope...

Suddenly, the macaws in front of them landed on a branch, that conveniently spawned from underneath a large hole in the tree trunk.

"And here we are, the Victor and Yasmin residence. _Lar doce lar,_" Yasmin said. "You did all the work this morning, now it's our turn. Go in, make yourselves at home, and we'll be back with lunch before you know it." And hark, a few minutes after Blu, Jewel and the kids settled in – in a place that looked much nicer than theirs, Blu concluded – Victor and Yasmin returned with enough food not only for lunch, but also enough for dinner later that day.

"So, what did you think of our friends?" Blu asked before biting down on a piece of mango.

"Oh, they're all wonderful birds, every single one of them. We were warned of the toucan's children, but to be honest, I didn't think it was that bad."

"Heh, wait until their parents aren't around. They'll either use you as a punching bag or a living trampoline. Believe us, we know."

Even though Jewel was pretty sure what Blu meant to say, everyone still gave him a confused look. "Punching bag? Trampoline? What?"

"Oh, right... It's a United States thing."

Finally, after lunch was completed, Blu worked up the nerve again to ask the same question he asked yesterday. "So, now that we're done eating... Do you mind going out to look for our old nests now? Been waiting all day for this."

"Right now? Sure, why not. Off we go!" Victor said as he headed out the exit. Everyone followed suit. Yasmin flew alongside Victor, who were taking the lead and flying straight up into the sky. When they finally stopped, they looked around.

"Let's see... Over there is Rio, over there is Corcovado with the Christ the Redeemer statue... Aaand... there! There's the huge rock we always used as a primary landmark to find our way home. Follow us!"

Even though Victor called it a 'huge rock', to Blu, it was the size of a mere pebble from where he was. And, even though everyone was flying straight towards it, it took several minutes for it to grow into a fist-sized rock. No wonder it took many more minutes before it would actually fit the description of 'huge'.

"Wow, it really is huge. Didn't look like much from the sky."

"I know, right? Anyway, our old nest was just a minute away from this thing, so we're not far now. Keep your eyes peeled for a tree that's been split in half. Thunderstorm did that."

Flying past the rock, it took mere moments to locate said tree. "Alright, now we just turn left and head straight, then we should be there momentarily."

Weaving past the tree trunks and thousands of leaves, Blu felt his heart jump. Somehow, this area of the rainforest stirred a memory that was deeply hidden in his subconscious. They came across a small clearing, where a small pond with crystal clear water laid. Blu recognized it: his mother would bring him down here, carrying him with her beak to wash him, even though he hated that.

"One, two, three, four, five... six! That hollow in the sixth tree past the pond was our old nest." Victor turned around at his daughter. "Jewel... this is where you were born, remember?"

Jewel walked in and peered around, distant childhood memories coming back to her. She stepped on a something pointy, which made her retract her paw. She looked down to see her favorite toy from back then, and picked it up. This small pebble was meaningless to any other living being, but to Jewel, this was an irreplaceable item she spend a lot of time playing with.

"Never thought I'd see you again..." she said as her eyes started to water up, albeit just a little. Victor and Yasmin also walked around, recovering as many memories as they could about their former home.

"Look, Vic... this is where Jewel first hatched and slept ever since." Jewel turned around at that statement, and vaguely remembered the very spot Yasmin was talking about. "The sun wouldn't get into my eyes in the morning when I slept here..." she recalled. Thinking about the sun shining in one's eyes, she thought of Blu, who was patiently sitting outside, waiting for Jewel and her parents to wrap up. She poked her head out, but Blu understandingly said: "No, go on, take all the time you need. I can wait..." to which Jewel smiled and retreated inside.

"_Actually, I can't wait. I can't wait until you're done. I want to find my old nest, too!_" He immediately cringed when finished thinking that. "_Why you selfish little twerp. This is as big of a deal for Jewel as it is for you. Have some patience, man! Your moment is coming soon._" As if he was speaking out loud, he heard Yasmin say:

"Vic, can we get out of here? It's starting to get depressing..."

"Sure thing, honey, we actually came here for Andy... well, Blu in the first place."

As the family of macaws emerged from the hollow, Victor said: "And now it's your turn, pal. If you look veeery closely, back over there, you can just see the entrance of the hollow where your parents used to live," he pointed, and to himself, he thought "_And I hope they still do, kid._"

Blu turned to follow the direction Victor was pointing in, and narrowed his eyes to peer into the distance. And indeed, way in the back of the clearing, he could see a black dot that was a hollow in a tree. Eagerly, he jumped up and sped towards it, momentarily forgetting he was here with others. As the dot became bigger and bigger, he thought "_This is it! I'm finally going to be reunited with my own parents! They're there, I just know they are!_"

Blu landed on the edge of the hollow, and eagerly trusted his head inside. What he saw shocked him to the marrow inside his bones.

The hollow was empty. Not any sign of his parents anywhere.

Blu couldn't help but cry instantly. He now knew for a fact he was alone, his parents caught themselves by smugglers or worse, long dead. Either way, he'd never get to see them again.

Jewel, Victor, Yasmin and the kids came up behind Blu, but stopped on a branch immediately when they noticed the state of desperation he was in. "_Oh no,_" Jewel thought. "_They're not there..._" She gave Blu a few minutes to let it all go, and when he started to recover a little, she flew down beside him.

"Blu? Are you alright?"

Still sobbing, Blu answered: "Not really. I was so *sniff* sure they'd be here, alive and well, waiting for their *sniff* son to return. I guess that's what I get for not taking my own *sniff* advice..."

"Come on now, Blu, don't say that. You know as well as I that's not true, and it's definitely not what you deserve."

"Thanks, Jewel. *sniff* I love you." he said as her hugged her. While hugging, Jewel caught some movement in the corner of her eye, but when she turned to look towards it, there was nothing to see. "_Must be imagining things,_" she thought.

Releasing embrace, Blu had a request for Jewel. "Would you mind... letting me stay here for a while? You can head back home, I'll find my way."

"Of course, sweetheart. Take all the time you need. Just don't stay away too long, because remember, you've got a caring family now who are waiting for you to get home." "_And Nico and Pedro will be waiting for you as well,_" she thought, but didn't say anything of the sort, because having a party was the last thing on Blu's mind right now.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything stupid. Trust me. I just need a little... me-time."

"Okay. Stay safe, Blu, and hurry back. I love you." She gave him a quick kiss, and headed back to her parents. "Come on, let's go home. He needs some time for himself, so let's give him that." And with that said, the six macaws vanished through the leaves.

Blu walked further inside the hollow, putting himself down where he always used to sleep. He had trouble remembering things before, but returning to this place stirred a ton of suppressed memories. Everything came back to him. How his parents looked like, the friends he made, the songs that would play every day... The last song he heard before poachers started catching birds left and right, and himself falling out of this very hollow, desperately trying to fly... and fail. It was still early in the morning then, so his parents must have been out to gather food. He knew they weren't captured with him, otherwise he would have seen them on the plane.

"_I can't imagine what went through their minds when they found out I was missing. They must have been worried sick. Maybe they searched all over the rainforest and got caught by a predator... or died from exhaustion or grief... or maybe got caught after all... I guess I'll never find out._"

He started sobbing again, and even though the sun was still burning brightly, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

An hour passed, and because he was still sleeping, he had no clue there was an older Spix macaw standing at the entrance of the hollow, watching him, sleeping soundly. The macaw was wondering what this intruder was doing in here, but as it examined the sleeping macaw very closely, it recognized several features... the same ones resembling a son it once had.

"Andreas...?"

_A/N: Longest chapter yet! Wrote it all in one go, and I must say, everything came naturally, and if I may say so myself, it turned out great. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but hey, that's how you keep an audience hooked :p I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks for reading!_


	7. A Little Secret

**Chapter 7: A Little Secret**

"_Andreas...?_"

His true name chimed around in Blu's dreamworld. It danced around as if it was spoken by an angel. Despite the subconscious desire to keep sleeping and keep the sensation locked away in this dream, Blu gently awoke and discovered its origin. He quickly scurried to his feet.

Standing before him was a female Spix macaw, with graying feathers around the head and neck. She looked a lot like Yasmin, yet several features were different, the most obvious one was that this macaw had hazel eyes instead of ocean blue. Peering into those eyes, Blu recalled one of his recently stirred childhood memories and immediately felt a pang inside his chest, making him realize instantly who exactly was standing before him.

"M-mom? Is that... really you?"

"Andreas? My beautiful Andreas? Oh _Meu Deus_, it's a miracle!" she shouted as she launched herself towards Blu, wrapping her wings around him in the process. He wrapped his own around her in response. "It's really you! I can't believe my baby boy finally came home after all these years!"

Blu was dumbstruck. All he could manage to say was "Mama" over and over, again with tears in his eyes, only this time, they were tears of joy.

It took them both several minutes to regain control over their emotions, so they could actually talk properly. They took a small step back, so they could look each other over.

"Look at you, my son. You've grown into a beautiful, healthy, strong bird, just like I knew you would once you were born... Where have you been all this time? How did you escape from them?"

Escape? From... them? Seemed like his mother had her own theory about his disappearance.

"What do you mean, mom? I didn't escape from anyone to get back here... Well, not at first, anyway... but I assure you, there was no escaping involved to get back home."

"Really? But... I was so sure that you had been stolen by... _them_..."

"Who, mom? Who are you talking about?" She didn't answer right away. Instead, she looked over her shoulder, towards the tree where Victor and Yasmin's home used to be.

"They used to be such nice neighbors... Spend a lot of time with them, both fun and sad times. But their true intentions showed when they disappeared... and you with them. I never thought our own kind would turn on us..."

Blu's trained mind made all the pieces fall quickly into place. "Wait, w-wait... Are you saying... that you think I was stolen by Victor and Yasmin?" She turned her head back to him.

"So you know their names then? Yes, I mean Victor and Yasmin," she said, pronouncing the names as if she had a bad taste in her beak. "One day, when you were just a few weeks old, your father and I wanted to go look for food. I wasn't very sure about leaving you alone, given your age. But since you were sleeping, he assured me you'd be fine. But when we came back, you were nowhere to be found. We went over to Victor and Yasmin, thinking you were there playing with their daughter, or at least they could help us look for you. Instead, we found out that they were gone, too. We looked as far and wide across the rainforest as we could, but there wasn't any trace of them, or you. So we concluded that... that... Victor and Yasmin snatched you, and raised you as one of their own in some faraway place. That was the only possible option we could think of back then." Blu was shocked to hear those words.

"Oh mom, you've got it all wrong! First of all, let me assure you Victor and Yasmin were never to blame for what happened to me. Yes, I was stolen, but not by them at all. In fact, the reason they disappeared was because they got stolen as well, and were even forced to leave their daughter behind. No, they and I were stolen by humans, making a living of smuggling exotic birds!"

"Humans? Really? You mean I've been going around all these years living a lie?" Blu didn't respond. He let his look speak for itself. "Oh, my Lord. All this time... Thinking the worst of two great birds... But, how do you know for sure?"

"Because they just got back to the rainforest no more than a week ago. They were sent to a country called the United Kingdom, where they lived for the past fifteen years as pe... uhm, companions, until their owner got too old and sent them back from whence they came. After they got reunited with Jewel, their daughter – which, by the way, is now my mate - they led me here to find my old nest, hoping to find you and dad. Speaking of which, where is he? I bet he's dying to find out I'm okay!"

His mother's face quickly turned to sadness. "What is it? Was it something I said?"

"No, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. Follow me, I have to show you something."

His mother turned around, and with Blu in her wake, she flew straight to the ground. She took a few steps forward, going beyond the edge of the clearing, and stopped in front of a patch of ground that was marked by an oval circle of pebbles, large enough to surround a mature macaw in its length. On top of it laid a single medinilla flower that started to wither.

"Hey, Leonardo, love of my life," she said towards the grave. "Looks like I'll need to replace your favorite flower soon. Anyway, I brought someone with me this time. Your son is back." She stepped out of the way for Blu, who was standing behind her, and gestured. "Andreas... say hi to your father."

Blu's throat clogged up. He figured all the while he was talking to his mother, his father would be out there, entering the hollow at any moment. Yet seeing the sight before him, he knew that would no longer be the case... ever. His eyes watered up once again.

"Uhm... Hi, dad..." he mumbled. "I had no idea you were already... uhm... gone..." He turned to his mother. "How...? When...?"

"Your father died about three years ago. We were with some of our friends messing around in a nearby creek. Your father was sitting on dry land, catching his breath from all the fun he just had. Nobody noticed a Wandering Spider coming up behind him. I don't know what he or we did to provoke it, but it bit your father in the back, just like that. Everyone hurried to chase the spider away, but it was too late. He tried to fight the poison, but there was too much of it running in his bloodstream already. He died a minute later."

As Blu started grieving over his deceased father, a voice sounded from somewhere up above.

"Yoo-hoo, Manuela, are you home? I got some new gossip for you!"

'Manuela'. So that's how Blu's mother is called. That saved him the trouble of asking himself later.

"That's Yarah, one of my best friends. I'll leave you with your father for now, come up when you feel like it," after which she flew up and went to meet her friend, a beautiful green military macaw.

"Ah, there you are, Manuela. How's things? Wait, don't answer that, probably 'same as usual'. Anyway, you'll never guess what's going on around the forest these days. Trixie said that Raquel said she saw some new arrivals in the forest, an older couple of blue macaws that looked pretty much like you. Crazy huh? So I told her "No way!" and then she was all like..."

This was the Yarah everyone knew her to be. Always gossiping, never able to shut up on her own once she got going. Manuela did her best to interrupt her, but after several fruitless efforts, she felt the need to raise her voice.

"Yarah, please be quiet and let me say something!"

She stopped mid-sentence, and said "Okay, geez, you don't need to shout, you just had to speak up. Anyway, what is it?"

"Everything you just told me is all true. Not only that, I can give you something else to spread around as well. Remember I had a son fifteen years ago, and one day, he just disappeared?" Yarah nodded. "Well, he came back. Today. He's down below right now, visiting his father."

"No way!" she exclaimed. "You must be so happy right now!"

"I am, although I'll never forgive myself for leaving him alone that day. I'm also sorry Leonardo didn't get to see his son return..." She started to sob. Yarah was a fun-loving bird that was always ready for gossiping and joking around, but she knew exactly when and when not to jest.

"Hey, hey, come on now. I know how awful that sounds, but look on the bright side. Your son is back, and from what I was told, he's got a whole family of his own. You might possibly be a grandmother now too."

Her saddening thoughts vaporized. "Really? That would be so wonderful! He already said he had a mate, but nothing about kids yet. I'd have to hear it from the source though, so we'll have to wait until he comes up here, then we can find out from him directly."

Just then, Blu stepped back into the clearing, wiping away the last of his tears. He flew back up to his old home where his mother and Yarah were waiting.

"Ah, there you are. Andreas, this is Yarah, and Yarah, this is my son."

"My, aren't you the handsome looking one," Yarah said. "So tell us, word is you've already found a mate and made a family. Is it true?"

"Wow, word spreads fast, doesn't it? Yes, it's true. You're a grandmother of three, wonderful little miracles. Want to go meet them?"

"I'd love to, but there's something I want to know first."

"Yeah?"

"What happened to you during all these years? You already said you were stolen by humans, but what then?"

"Well, after they loaded me onto a plane, I ended up far to the north, in a country called the United States of America, and..."

Blu continued to tell the story of his life with Linda, who named him 'Blu', until present day. The two female macaws listened in awe hearing the things Manuela's son went through, especially about the time he first came back to Rio and all the ordeals he had to deal with. Winning Jewel over, getting caught by Nigel and his human gang, meeting new friends...

"... and that's how I came back here. Victor and Yasmin showed me where my old nest was, but since there was nobody here, I thought I'd never see either of you again. That's when I asked Jewel if she could give me some me-time. I fell asleep here, and then you showed up. You know the rest."

"Yeah, I remember that. I was out by the creek washing up, and when I came back, I saw a lot of blue macaws sitting around my nest. I dove back out of sight. Just in time, because the one that was hugging you turned to look in my direction, but she didn't see me. I presume that was Jewel?"

"She didn't say anything about that, but yeah, I assume it was. Anyway, she's probably starting to worry about me. What do you say we go to my hollow so you can meet everyone?"

"I'd love that. I can't wait to see my grandkids... And I really should apologize to Victor and Yasmin, for thinking those awful thoughts about them all this time."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. They don't know you thought that way in the first place, so I think it's best we all keep that our secret."

"Yeah, you're right. Don't fix what isn't broken. Don't worry, I'll keep it to myself."

"Yarah, you're welcome to join as well, if you want."

"Do I? This is like getting the scoop for a gossip magazine. I'm in!"

As the three birds headed towards Blu's new home, Jewel was pacing back and forth in it, eagerly awaiting his return.

"I should have never left him there. He's been gone for far too long. What if he's hurt, or got lost? Or maybe even intentionally hurt himself? I've got to go and find him!" As she got ready to head out, Victor stepped in her way.

"Honey, please relax. He told you he wasn't going to do something stupid, and if you truly love him, you'll trust his word. Besides, he's got a family to come home to, remember? There's no way he'd leave all of you behind on a whim."

"I know dad, I know, but I'm just so worried sick! This uncertainty is killing me! I should have stayed nearby, keeping an eye out, making sure he's fine."

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be back soon. Look, the sun is slowly starting to set. Which means it will be dark in a few hours, and he knows better to be home by then. If it makes you feel better, I'll go up and keep an eye out for him."

A voice came from outside the hollow. "That won't be necessary, because I'm home!"

Victor turned around to see Blu landing on a nearby branch. He then was pushed out of the way by Jewel, who instantly recognized her mate's voice, and hurled herself towards him.

"You're back! Oh, I was so worried! Please don't ever leave me again like that..."

"Hey, it's okay. I told you I'd be back. I've got too much to live for, and even more so right now."

"What do you mean?"

"I've got some great news!" He turned his gaze upwards, and shouted: "You can come out now!"

Two birds, a Military macaw and more notably, a Spix macaw, both female, appeared from behind some leaves higher up in the tree, swooped down and landed next to Jewel and Blu.

"Blu, is that... who I think it is?"

"It sure is. Jewel, this is Manuela... my mother!"

Meanwhile, Victor and Yasmin were looking through the hole in the tree at the events that were going down. They recognized Manuela right away, and hearing Blu confirm it, they jumped out.

"Manuela! Oh thank the stars, you're alright!"

"Victor! Yasmin! I've missed you so much!" Even though they ultimately had nothing to do with Blu's disappearance all those years ago, Manuela still experienced feelings of distrust towards Jewel's parents. "_Old habits die hard_," she thought, and did her best to suppress the feelings.

"You look fabulous! I see life in the jungle hasn't changed you at all. Well, maybe a little," referring to the graying feathers. "So, where's Leonardo? Didn't he want to come?" Yasmin continued, unknowing what fate had befallen Blu's father. The ones who did know put on a serious face, and Manuela explained to them why he wasn't here... physically, anyway.

"Oh, my... I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know, and it's all in the past now. But I know Leonardo will always be with us in spirit."

Meanwhile, Yarah was just standing there, not daring to interrupt the reunion of the family of blue birds. Now however, she cleared her throat. Manuela introduced her to everyone. "Oh, right, I almost forgot. This in Yarah, one of my best friends, and probably the whole reason I haven't lost my mind yet over losing the two most important men in my life."

A few moments after Yarah burst into another gossiping monologue, Blu's attention turned to a commotion from inside the hollow.

"Oh, that's right!" Blu exclaimed, effectively interrupting Yarah's waterfall of words. "Want to see your grandkids, mom?" He went inside to tell his own mother was here to see them, and one by one, the tiny macaws wandered outside.

"Go on, introduce yourselves," Jewel told them.

"M-my name is Davi." "I'm Isabella!" " And I-I'm Juan."

Manuela ducked down to their height, and opened her wings towards them, inviting them to a group hug. As they did so, she looked at their parents. "They're absolutely gorgeous. I'm so proud of you, Andreas. Uh, I mean, Blu."

"Thanks, mom. But, uh, you can call me Andreas, if you like." She lowered her head down back to her grandchildren, and gave them each a quick kiss.

"Hey, mom? I got a quick question. We were invited to a party tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

Lifting her head up, she said: "A party? Oh no, I'll pass on that. I never really was much of the party type, to be honest. But I'll be happy to keep an eye on these fuzzballs while you're out having fun."

"Actually, we agreed to leave them in the care of Rafael and Eva. I told you about them, remember? But if it's okay with them, you can join them."

"The toucans? Oh no, if they don't mind, I don't either."

"That's good, because they can barely handle their own kids. Another adult to supervise them would be a welcome addition," Jewel added.

The entire family of blue macaws and the single Military macaw continued passing the minutes talking, catching up and sharing dinner, until the time came to get ready for The Branch's anniversary party. After Blu and Jewel brought Manuela and the kids to Rafael and Eva and introduced Blu's mom to them, everyone took off towards the streets of Rio, Yarah included. She couldn't remember the last time she went to a party.

When they arrived at the club, Nico and Pedro were already eagerly awaiting them.

"He-hey, look who's here! We almost thought you got lost," Pedro shouted.

"Sorry guys, something unexpected came up. I've found my mother earlier today!"

"You did? That's so awesome? Is she coming too?" Nico wondered.

"No, sorry, she didn't want to. She's not the party type, she said, so we left her with Rafael and Eva, looking after the kids."

"_Muito bem_," Nico said. "Howsabout we head inside? This party is crackin', and it needs us to fix it up!"

Kipo and his friends did an excellent job rebuilding the place after the marmoset attack left it trashed. It looked even better than before now. It had more space, more stages, more lights... In short, it had more of everything. And, as such, also more birds inside. It didn't take long for them to notice Nico and Pedro had entered, and they immediately started cheering for them to perform the song everyone knew and loved. Pedro addressed the crowd first.

"Yoyoyoyo! Before we get started, we got a small announcement. All of you remember Blu and Jewel, right?" The crowd cheered once again, as a spotlight shone upon the two macaws in question. "Well, their family just got a little bigger. Everyone give a hearty Branchy welcome to Jewel's parents, Victor and Yasmin!" Once again the crowd cheered, as Nico turned another spotlight in the direction of the other pair of macaws. He then flew down towards the club's band, and whispered to them: "Alright guys, let's hit them with some 'Hot Wings'!"

When the familiar tune started to play, the whole crowd started dancing to the rhythm of what was probably the club's standard song. Nico kicked things off with his well-known opening line: "Party in Ipanema, baby!"

**I wanna party, I wanna samba  
>I wanna party, I wanna samba<br>I wanna party, and live my life (my life)  
>I wanna party (party), and fly!<strong>

**Imma fly, fly just like a bird (but you are a bird!)  
>Oh yeah, you're right, so let me fly just like a rocket then (okay)<br>Fly so high, where I need to come down for oxygen (hey)  
>'Cause once we start it, baby, ain't no ain't no stopping then (hey)<br>'Cause I just wanna live my life and party (hey)  
>All I want is to be free and rock my body (okay)<br>Been around the world and I wanna live my life  
>In Rio, 'cause of Rio, 'cause of Rio I realize that<strong>

**I wanna party (party), I wanna samba (party)  
>I wanna party (party), and fly!<strong>

By now did not only Blu invited Jewel to dance, this time without the hindering of a redundant chain at their paws, but also Victor and Yasmin swayed around each other as if they had danced every day of their lives. The crowd moved to the side to give room for the two pairs.

**I'm that samba samba masta masta masta masta masta  
>Push out sound from my ghetto blasta blasta blasta blasta blasta<br>You dance fast but I dance fasta fasta fasta fasta fasta  
>You too slow, you need to catch up, you can dance and dance<strong>

**I wanna party (party), I wanna samba (party)  
>I wanna party (party), I wanna samba (party)<br>I wanna party (party), and live my life (my life)  
>I wanna party (party), and fly!<strong>

Blu remembered exactly what happened last time when they got to this part of the song, so after he spun Jewel around, he launched her in the air, allowing her to do her solo. However, everyone's amazement reached new heights as Victor and Yasmin got so lost in the music, they did the same and turned the solo into a duet.

After Nico and Pedro finished up the song, the whole crowd went simply out of their minds. Blu turned to his parents-in-law, and said: "That was amazing! How did you know you were meant to dance and sing when you did?" They just looked at each other, and simply smiled.

"We have no idea. I guess we just let ourselves get lost in the music, and everything just came naturally." Everyone's attention turned back to Pedro, shouting at the crowd.

"Wo-o-o-o-ow! That was some crazy stuff back there, huh folks? I know ya'll want more of where that came from, so let's get right to it!" And with that, the band started playing more familiar songs, creating a wonderful time for every bird in the room. After a dozen of songs, Pedro nudged Blu.

"Hey, love hawk, remember when you and Jewel were sitting on top of that trolley, still chained up and we tried to hook you up?

"Sure I do. I don't think I've ever been so nervous in my life back then."

"And also remember where I tried to 'set the mood' at first?"

"Yup. Not exactly the right kind of mood, was it?"

"Nope. But anyway, the words I sang back then kinda stuck in the back of my head ever since, and a week before this anniversary, I finally managed to make it into an actual song. Wanna hear?"

"You bet!"

And with that, Pedro flew up to the stage again.

"Alright ya'll, listen up! As you all know, today is the 10th anniversary of The Branch, so that's why I've been working on a brand new song that missed its intended purpose, but now, it can reflect to every one of us living in Rio. Guys, hit it!"

The band started playing once again, starting off in bossa nova style.

**Ah, que linda  
>Bossa nova, samba<br>Coração de Brasil  
>And now, it's the new style<strong>

With that, a beat was added. The next words Pedro sang were well known to the younger pair of macaws, and Nico.

**Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Take her, take her to the flo'  
>Show her, show her how you roll<br>Drop it drop it drop it low  
>Drop it<strong>

Nobody in the club couldn't resist the feeling of at least bopping their heads along to the beat.

**Make-make-make it funky in Brazil  
>Through that samba don't stay still<br>C'mon get over, keep you dancin'  
>Super duper's how you feel<br>We gon' rock it in the street  
>'Til we see the morning sun<br>We ain't stopping in the Carnaval  
>We party on and on<br>Rock it on and on, on and on  
>That's just how we do<br>And my beats be pumpin' loud  
>Like samba schools to make you move<br>This party will never end  
>No baby, it's never over<br>All the millions of Brazilian women make me say _gostoso_**

**Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Git it git it git it git it git it girl  
>Git-ge-git ge-gi-git git it girl<br>Take her, take her to the flo'  
>Show her, show her how you roll<br>Drop it drop it drop it low  
>Drop it lo-dro-drop it low<br>Take her, take her to the flo'  
>Show her, show her how you roll<br>Drop it drop it drop it low  
>Drop it lo-dro-drop it low<strong>

**Que linda, que linda  
>I love Ipanema<br>It's the place to fall in love  
>In Copacabana<br>Rio, oh Rio, oh-eh-oh  
>Samba, let's samba-ah-ah-ah<br>It's the place to fall in love**

**In Rio (hey), In Rio (hey)  
>In Rio (hey), In Rio (hey)<strong>

The beat faded for a while, as the song turned mostly bossa nova again.

**Ah, que linda  
>Bossa nova, samba<br>Coração de Brasil  
>And now, it's the new style<strong>

The beat picked up once more. The two pairs of macaws were so lost in Pedro's mesmerizing vocal cords, they just danced at their heart's content, just like every other bird around them. Everything was perfect at that moment.

**Que linda, que linda  
>I love Ipanema<br>It's the place to fall in love  
>In Copacabana<br>Rio, oh Rio, oh-eh-oh  
>Samba, let's samba-ah-ah-ah<br>It's the place to fall in love**

After Pedro finished the song with one last chorus, the whole club nearly exploded in cheers and applause. Pedro had once again established his reputation, and there wasn't a single available female bird in the room that didn't want to get close to him. Sadly for them, he hasn't met a bird yet that could come between him and his best buddy.

Even though the party was far from over, Yasmin started to tire out after a few more songs.

"Victor, honey, I'm getting tired. Do you think we can head back home soon?"

"Sure thing, love. I'm getting sleepy as well. Let's just tell Blu and Jewel, and we'll be off."

As it turned out, Blu and Jewel were sharing the same thought, so as they said goodbye to everyone, they headed through the exit of the club. To their surprise, Yarah was standing out there as well. Well, not exactly standing, more like swaying all over the place.

"Yarah? Are you okay?" Jewel asked.

"Oh heeeeey *hiccup* there, supershtar," she said, clearly drunk. "Ish it me, or ish the world shpinning around much fashter?" after which she fell down. "Ow, you shilly floor, shtop hitting me." Blu and Jewel helped her get back on her feet. "I guess she won't get anywhere in this state, except maybe in the gutter. Should we carry her to our hollow so she can recover there?"

Victor spoke up. "Leaving a drunk bird with your kids? No offense, but that's not a good idea at all. You can drop her off at our hollow, we'll look after her."

With that, everyone headed back to the rainforest, Blu and Jewel clutching each of Yarah's wings with their talons. In her stupor, Yarah continued to babble on about nothing in particular, which was quite amusing for everyone.

As they got to their homes, Victor and Yasmin picked up Manuela and their grandchildren from Rafael and Eva's place, while Yarah was dropped off in their hollow. They invited Manuela to stay with them as well. Because the party at The Branch consumed a lot of everyone's energy, everyone fell asleep almost instantly. Only Blu stayed awake just a minute longer, thinking about one loose end. Tomorrow, he'd introduce his mother to Linda and Tulio.

_A/N: Now this is the longest chapter yet! Granted, a chunk of it is due to the songs, but meh, details. The 'Drop It Low' song really exists by the way, it was made by none other than will. himself and can be found on youtube (search for 'rio drop it low remix', although the best quality can be found on dipdive). Special thanks goes out to WolfOnFyre for helping me figuring out the lyrics, most especially the Portuguese words. As for story progression, it can go two ways now. 1: Yarah babbles too much and unwittingly tells Victor and Yasmin about Manuela's theory of them stealing Blu, or 2: Manuela gets angry with Blu because he still hangs out with Linda (or humans in general). If you have another idea of how the story should progress, fire away. As always, thanks for reading!_


	8. The Mangoes Spilled

**Chapter 8: The Mangoes Spilled**

"You _**what**_?"

His mother grew furious with what she just heard. Blu backed off, until his back hit the bark of a tree.

"Uh... I said... Linda lives in the sanctuary too, just to stay close to me... And, I wanted you to meet her?"

Manuela's eyes turned into two bright red orbs. Fire emerged from them, setting her head alight.

"You mean even though humans caused all of us so much pain, you _still_ hang out with them?" As she spoke, she began to grow. Twice... Three times her normal size. Her talons grew along, coming close to the length of a kitchen knife. "I'll teach you to never come close to a human **ever** again!"

She launched herself towards Blu, her talons making a downward move towards his wings. As the talons met, it took a few seconds for Blu's wings to slide off, no longer attached to his body. He gaped down at them, and stared in horror as the wings took off on their own, as if an invisible body was operating them. His mother cackled maniacally.

"That's right... You'll never fly to be with humans ever again. Now we'll be to together, just you and me... _for the rest of your life!_" She clung her talons around Blu's body...

And Blu woke up violently from his nightmare, panting and sweating. His movements woke up Jewel as well, even though it wasn't due to the sun this time. She sighed.

"Honey, you really have to start sleeping in another spot. I prefer to wake up by myself, and not by your... Hey, wait a second, it's still dark out. How did you...?" She turned her head towards him, and saw a look of fear on his face. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure, just a bad dream. I told mom I wanted her to meet Linda, and she got so angry I'm still in contact with her, she turned into a demon from Hell, and proceeded to cut off my wings so I couldn't reach Linda anymore."

"Oh... wow. Look, it's just a dream, just forget about it. Try to get some more sleep. I'm sure your mom won't turn into some spawn of evil when you really ask her."

"I guess so. Sorry for waking you, Jewel."

When the sun had properly risen, and the macaws woke up normally, all of them gathered at the pond located between the two nests for their morning baths.

"Hey, where's Yarah?" Jewel wondered.

"Oh, she's still asleep," Victor answered. "Probably from drinking too much last night."

"So, what do you want to do today?" Manuela asked her son. Blu wanted to suggest visiting Linda, but that reminded him of his dream. Sure, she wouldn't turn into some violent demon... probably... but she might get angry nonetheless. Jewel nudged him, non-verbally telling him to ask it anyway.

"Uhm... I was wondering if today... you'd feel like... meeting the human that took care of me in Minnesota?"

"You mean... this 'Linda' person? She's here?" Blu steeled himself and closed his eyes. His dream still vivid, he was expecting for his mother to explode in fury.

"I'd love to!"

Blu opened one eye, and saw her smiling. He felt his worries washing away. "You mean you're not angry that I still hang around humans?"

"Angry? Heavens no. You already told me this Linda is a very nice woman, and Victor, Yasmin and Jewel told me about Tulio and his team. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that not all humans are bad."

"You can't imagine how relieved I am to hear that!"

"You know what?" Jewel stepped in. "You two go ahead to meet Linda and Tulio. I'll stay here and watch the kids. They're having too much fun playing in the water anyway."

"And in the meantime, Victor and I will check on Yarah. We still have more catching up to do. Not counting yesterday, we haven't seen each other in fifteen years, after all," Yasmin said.

All the birds went their separate ways, save for Jewel and her kids. Since their nest was barely a minute away, Victor and Yasmin got to their destination first. Yarah was awake, but last night's alcohol made her wish she wasn't. The sound of the two macaws landing in the hollow sounded to her like someone hitting a bongo drum inside her brain.

"Ow! Guys, would you mind keeping it down? My head is killing me..."

"Sorry, Yarah. We just came to see how you were doing," whispered Yasmin.

"Remind me to keep me away from the bar next time I'm attending a party. I haven't felt this awful since I was pregnant... which reminds me, I need to get home to my husband. He doesn't know where I was last night, I only told him I'd visit Manuela for a while."

"Wait, you found a mate?" Victor asked.

"Well, duh! Pretty much all of the people you knew fifteen years ago have made a family, and I'm no different. My mate's name is Xavier, he's probably worried."

"'Probably'?"

"Yeah, it's not the first time I stayed away all night, but it's been a while since last time I did so. Mind if I grab something to eat first?"

"Not at all, take your time."

Still somewhat sluggish from the night before, Yarah downed some dragon fruit and headed to the nearby pond, where Jewel was still sitting. She dove right in.

"I see she's up. No hangover?" she asked her father.

"Yeah, she had one, but looks like that dive cleared it right up. We're going to take her to her home now, so don't wait for us. If we can't find you here, at the humans or your nest, we'll be going to our own. Okay?"

"Sure thing. See you later, and stay safe!"

"Always," he said, after which he took off after Yasmin and Yarah, who had already departed.

Blu and Manuela arrived at the aviary, and slid inside through the open window. As usual, Tulio was sitting in the treatment room tending to the various birds around him, and turned around as he heard a familiar squawk.

"Oh, hey there Blu. Linda isn't here, she's out shopping, but she should be back soon. And hi, Yasmin. How are you... Hey, wait a second..." Tulio examined Manuela very closely.

"You... you're not Yasmin... You've got different eyes, for starters. Blu, who is this?"

Just as Blu did last time, he grabbed a pencil and started scribbling down of a piece of paper. This time, he wrote down 'Manuela' and 'mother'. Manuela had no idea what her son was doing, but it seemed to make sense for this creature known as 'Tulio'. He picked up the paper.

"Manuela, huh? And she's... your mother? But... does that mean she was still out there in the jungle all this time? Wow, there must be more Spix's macaws out there than we thought. This will require a whole bunch of expeditions in previously unexplored areas..." Tulio rambled off, turning to a map of the Brazilian rainforests. Several tiny colored flags were pinned on it, indicating which type of bird was last spotted where. There was only a single blue flag, not far from the aviary. Of course, 'not far' on a map most likely meant 'several miles' in actual distance.

"Is he always this distracted?" Manuela asked Blu.

"Not really, but he takes his work very seriously. He loves birds so much, I think he wants to be one himself, if given the chance." The sound of an opening door came from the hallway.

"Oh, Linda's home! Now you'll finally get to meet her!"

As Linda walked in, putting her groceries on the side to deal with them later, Tulio turned towards her.

"Oh, Linda, look who's here to visit!" Blu then flew towards Linda, and landed on her shoulder. She scratched him underneath his beak, which he loved the most.

"Hi there, Blu, or should I say, Andreas!" She held up the note that Blu left last time he was here. "I see you've brought Yasmin along. Wait, there's nothing wrong with Victor, is there?"

"Nope, this isn't Yasmin. Blu found his mother! Linda, this is Manuela!"

"Really? You're kidding!" She ducked down to Manuela's level, to get a closer look at her. Scratching Blu on the head, she said, "Yeah, I can see the resemblance. You must be so happy!"

Meanwhile, Victor, Yasmin and Yarah arrived at the latter's home, where her husband was sitting on a nearby branch.

"Ah, there you are! I was starting to get worried. Where have you been all this time?"

"Nothing to worry about, dear. I went out to a party last night, and had too much to drink, so I stayed with these macaws while I recovered."

"A party? Without me? Well, thanks," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry, it just came up. Won't happen again."

Xavier turned to Victor and Yasmin. "Well, thank you for looking after my wife. I know, she can be quite a handful sometime," he said with a smirk. Yarah wasn't in the least amused. "I'm Xavier, and you are?"

"My name is Victor, and this is my beloved Yasmin."

"Nice to meet you. Say, you two look like Manuela. Are you related, by any chance?" Before either of them could answer, Yarah stepped in.

"No they're not, they just used to be neighbors fifteen years ago. They just got back to the rainforest not too long ago. Remember when I told you Manuela assumed her son got stolen by them? Well, turns out they got stolen as well, but by humans, and..."

Yarah had burst into another cascade of words. Unfortunately, she didn't fully realize what exactly just came out of her beak. Victor turned to Yasmin with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Did you hear what she just said?"

"I think I did, but I'm hoping I heard wrong. Did she just say... Manuela... thought we stole her Andreas?"

Victor turned back to Yarah, who was still rambling along, while Xavier rested his head on his wing, clearly uninterested.

"Excuse me, Yarah? Yarah?" She kept talking. Victor raised his voice. "YARAH!" Both military macaws were startled from Victor's shouting, but it was the only way to get her attention. "Did you just say Manuela thought we stole Blu from her?"

Yarah opened her eyes wide and covered her beak with her wings, realizing what she blurted out before. Seeing her reaction, Victor's mood spiraled downward, and got angry.

"I can't believe it! She really thought we stole Andreas? We've been the best of friends for years, and this is what we get? Just wait until I see her!" Yasmin backed him up.

"I was so happy for her when she birthed her own egg. Not only that, she was by my side, supporting me when I had mine! How awful of her to even think that!"

Yarah tried to mend the pieces where possible. "Now guys, think this through. I know it's a horrible thing, but, uh, look on the bright side! You got your daughter back, she got her son back, everyone's happy! Right?"

Sadly for her, the blue macaws were too angry to listen to reason.

"Come on, let's go find her. She's got some explaining to do." The two blue macaws made a beeline towards the aviary, where they assumed she'd still be by now. Or at least they tried to, as they didn't remember exactly where it was. Yarah watched them take off, fully realizing her actions.

"This is all my fault! I'll never forgive myself if they turn against each other. Xavier, I've got to go and try to fix this!" She sped after Victor and Yasmin before he could speak up.

"I'll be here, if you need me."

_A/N: I know, short chapter, sorry. Also sorry for the time it took, been busy with work and had a birthday to attend (my own, heh). Nevertheless, many thanks to Cassivellaunus for your insight. I'll do my best to use it to improve this story and eventual others. As for plots: reviewer Zacarais isn't a big fan of cheesy get-togethers (and frankly, neither am I), so all I'm saying is: something is going to happen to someone. Dun dun dunnnnnn!_


	9. Never Saw It Coming

_A/N: Okay, some of you might not like this chapter in the slightest. It's been sunshine, lollipops and rainbows for pretty much the whole story, but it's all about to change. How? Read and find out! No scrolling to the bottom, now (I know who you are and where you live. Hired goons on the way)._

**Chapter 9: Never Saw It Coming**

Victor and Yasmin still couldn't quite wrap their heads around what they just learned about Manuela. They kept thinking about it the whole time while they were flying in what they assumed was the direction of the aviary, where Blu took his mother to meet with Linda and Tulio. Yarah could barely keep up with them, and even had trouble keeping them in her sight. After the last turn around some tree crowns however, Yarah eventually lost visual contact, which filled her with despair.

"_Oh no, I've lost them! Now what? Think Yarah, think! Oh, me and my big mouth! I never meant for this to happen..._" The best she could come up with, was flying up in the sky, and look around to see if the aviary building was in sight. The aviary itself wasn't, but the lookout tower built but a few yards away from it was, even though it was just a tiny red dot from where she was. She launched herself at it, causing a few green feathers to let loose of their host and float towards the earth.

Nobody was keeping track of their immediate surroundings, so Victor and Yasmin didn't notice they were coming up to the pond where their daughter was still looking after her offspring. Being two fast-pacing streaks of blue, Jewel noticed her parents coming up right away, but also noticed they weren't about to stop. She called out to them.

"Hey! Mom, dad, down here! Where's the fire?" she shouted jestingly, unknowing what just happened.

Hearing a voice from below, Victor looked down, and saw his daughter beckoning them over. "Oh, Jewel is down there. Should we inform her of mother-in-law?"

Yasmin nodded, they both swooped down and landed near Jewel.

"Sorry honey, we didn't see you there. We're on our way to find Manuela as fast as we can," Yasmin explained. Hearing this, Jewel got concerned.

"Why? Is there something wrong with her?"

"Good question. There just might be."

After a confused look from Jewel, they started to explain everything to her. Jewel's face contorted into various degrees of surprise, shock and disbelief.

"Are you serious about this?"

"Very. We're hoping to get some answers from her as soon as possible. You're welcome to tag along."

"I would, but I got my kids to look after. Go ahead, I'll catch up later."

The time she spent with the goofy, yet smart blue bird she now called her mate made Jewel somewhat less temperamental. Before, whenever anyone wronged her even in the slightest, she would make sure they would never do it again. Now however, she quickly thought about the possible options Manuela might have had available when Blu, Victor and Yasmin vanished. When her parents lofted themselves up, she tried to put their minds at ease, if only by a little.

"Mom, dad, try not to go too hard on her. I've got a hunch this might all be a big misunderstanding."

"We'll see about that. We better get going." With that, they sped off again, leaving Jewel worried they might do something harsh which they could regret later.

Due to their unscheduled halt, Yarah arrived at the aviary first. She quickly glanced around and found no sign of either Victor or Yasmin, which was to her advantage. As she was looking at the building, wondering which window to look through first to find out where Blu and Manuela might be, they just happened to emerge from the small window that was always open to them. She flew towards them immediately, and called out.

"Blu! Manuela! We got a problem!"

Curious about Yarah's predicament, they landed on a branch. "What's wrong, Yarah? You act as if the rainforest has vanished."

"I wish." She wasn't sure how to explain to them what she had done. "Uhm... I gotta tell you something... I messed up big time. But before I say anything else, I want you to know I'm very very sorry, and never wanted it to happen."

Manuela's eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

"Uhm... Yes... I kinda, accidentally told Victor and Yasmin... that you thought they stole Blu when everyone disappeared."

Both macaw's jaws gaped open at Yarah's confession. Manuela responded instantly.

"Yarah, you didn't! Tell me you're kidding! Oh, _meu Deus_, now what?"

"Now what indeed," a male voice came out of nowhere. A second later, Victor and Yasmin appeared and landed on a branch across the three macaws.

There were a few moments of awkward silence, while Victor and Yasmin eyed Manuela as if she was a complete stranger. Thinking the silence would have to be broken at some point, Yasmin talked first.

"So... Now that we know what you thought back then... how _could_ you? We've been the best of neighbors, best of friends, for years. We shared good and bad times. You were so happy for us when we had Jewel, and we were so happy for you back when you had Andreas, Blu, whatever. We did _everything_ together. We would put our lives on the line for you. So answer us this, if you can... why?"

Manuela knew that whatever she said next could either mend their relationship, over time if need be, or completely shatter it. True, everything Yasmin said was right, and back then, she'd sacrifice herself for them also. But when they, Jewel and Blu utterly disappeared, she and Leonardo couldn't think of anything else other than them stealing Blu and running off. It could have been one hell of a charade all along. Little did she know humans stole them all, while little Jewel got so distant from her home after chasing her parents, she couldn't find her way back. As the humans left nearly no indication of their presence, no other possible option was viable enough.

"Alright. You deserve the truth. No more secrets, no more lying." She inhaled and exhaled deeply. "When Andreas first disappeared, Leonardo and I headed over to your hollow, thinking he was there, playing with Jewel. But none of you were there either. So we checked all the spots we frequented, but there wasn't any sign of anyone. We started looking all over the rainforest as far and wide as we could, but found nothing. Leo and I then went over all the possible things that might have happened to you, and we came to the assumption that you took him to some faraway place, even though it was the hardest thing to believe, yet it was also the most likely one. When we were looking, there was no indication of human involvement anywhere, so we didn't consider them. So there you have it. That's the truth, and the whole truth. And for what it's worth... I'm sorry."

Blu and Yarah were silently looking on at the events going on in front of them.

"_That's a pretty good explanation. I just hope Victor and Yasmin will see it the same way..._" Blu thought.

Yarah had thoughts of her own. "_Please accept it, please accept it, please accept it... Come on!_"

Victor started turning around. Upon seeing this, Yasmin did the same. They started muttering under their breath, making sure nobody else heard what they were talking about. When they turned to face Manuela again, Victor addressed her.

"We're going to need some time to think things over. We'll be in touch," after which both of them took off. Blu came closer to his mother, who began to sob. He tried to comfort her as he laid his wing around her. "You did good, mom. Try not to worry too much. I'm sure they'll come around."

"And what if they don't, Andy? What if they never want to see me again?"

"Come on now, don't think that way. You've got to stay positive. At least you've got me back, and I'll always be with you, no matter what."

"Thanks, Andy. Let's get out of here. I want to go home now..."

Unbeknownst to them, home is where Victor and Yasmin went too. Their old home, to be precise. But instead of going to their old hollow, they went down to the ground instead, near the creek that ran past it a few yards away. They used to come here all the time as they had their first date here, so many years ago. They also came here when an important event in their lives came to pass. Anniversaries, birth... even death. The last time they were here, was to celebrate Jewel's birth. Now they came to contemplate. They sat down at their favorite spot just a few steps away from the creek, with their backs to a lush bush. One of its leaves above them acted as a makeshift roof.

"So, what did you think of Manuela's apology?" Yasmin asked.

"Honestly? I believe her. I mean, she told us things we haven't considered, and seeing as our relationship already got damaged, I see no reason for her to lie to us and damage it even further. No, wait, 'lie' is such a nasty word... 'keep things from us'."

"Yeah... I don't know what I would've done if I was in her place, frankly. Imagine if she, Leonardo, Jewel and Blu disappeared. Wouldn't we probably think the same?"

"I think we would. So what do you say... shall we forgive her?"

"I think that's best. Because let's be honest, it's been fifteen years. That's long enough to hold a grudge."

"Heh, yeah. Besides, it's what friends do. They forgive each other."

Victor and Yasmin turned to each other, hugged and shared a quick kiss. Victor suddenly felt his stomach rumble.

"Uh oh, the inner bear got up from its hibernation. I'll go look for something to eat. Just a moment honey, I'll be right back."

"Okay, sweetheart. Don't go too far."

She kept looking at Victor while he searched the treetops for fruits and berries. "_How did I ever end up with such a wonderful guy? I'm so lucky to have him..._" she thought to herself. She was so lost in thoughts of revel, she didn't notice movement coming from the bush behind her.

The source of the movement was sitting there all along, but the talking of the birds caused it to stir. It hated to be bothered in the slightest, and moved slowly to the single macaw sitting but inches away from it, to make her pay for the disturbance.

Its limbs emerged from the fern before its body did. Yasmin suddenly noticed these limbs, one each on either side of her, coming up from behind. Before she had time to react or turn around to see the source, her beak and eyes went wide open, as two fangs pierced her back.

Victor, who had gathered enough sustenance for him and his dearest, started to head back. As he came closer to Yasmin however, he noticed something was off. It looked like two - no, four black twigs appeared from behind her. The closer he came, the more he realized they weren't twigs at all.

They were spider legs.

He dropped all the food from his talons, and dove headfirst towards the Wandering Spider that was still injecting venom into his mate. Right before impact, he whirled upwards, revealing his talons and crashed into the spider. The collision made the spider release Yasmin, who landed face first into the dirt with a soft *thud*, eyes and beak still wide open. The spider was a tough one though, as it quickly shook Victor off, sending him soaring through the air. He landed a few paces away from the creek. Lifting his head up, he could see the spider charging at him, and it launched into the air, fangs at the ready, intending to impale Victor as it tried to land on him. Victor then quickly rolled out the way, making the spider literally bite the dust. He scrambled to his feet, and with as much power as he could muster, smacked his two wings together against the backside of the spider, making it tumble into the creek. It struggled hopelessly against the current of the creek, which took it further and further away from the panting macaw, who watched his enemy drift away.

His victory was short-lived, as Victor turned around to see Yasmin lying on the ground. He rushed over to her, and took her in his wings.

"Yasmin! Yasmin, talk to me! Stay with me!"

Even though her expression remained unchanged, Yasmin's breathing was barely audible, which meant she was still alive, and as long as she was, there was still hope. Victor's heart raced at a million miles an hour, and started calling out for help.

"Help! Help! Somebody, anybody, I need help!"

Blu, Yarah and Manuela just arrived at the latter's home, when they heard Victor's shouts coming from somewhere beyond their line of sight.

"Hey, does that sound like Victor to you?" Blu asked. Manuela listened closely.

"I think it is... and sounds like he's in trouble! Let's go!" Hearing the urgency in Victor's shouting, she momentarily forgot all about the feud between her and the pair, and together with Blu and Yarah headed towards to direction where Victor's plea for help came from.

It didn't take them long to find Victor. What everyone saw shocked them to the bone. He was desperately holding a limp Yasmin in his wings, which started to turn crimson from the fluid that was slowly trickling out of his mate's wounds.

"Victor! What happened?"

"Spider! It's gone now, but Yasmin is dying! What do we do?"

Manuela instantly thought about Leonardo. She lost her mate in the same way as Victor was about to lose his. She opened her beak to tell Victor that there was nothing that could be done, since the venom of Brazilian spiders were among the deadliest in the world. However, her son cut her off.

Blu thought of the only person that had the ability to help Yasmin. If he couldn't do it, nobody could.

"Tulio! Let's take her to Tulio. You grab one wing, I'll grab the other. Let's go, quickly!"

Victor complied instantly, grabbing her left wing by the shoulder while Blu did the same with the right. Blu remembered exactly where the aviary was from here, so through his directions, it didn't take too long for them to reach it. Yet every second counted if they wanted to save Yasmin.

As it was a warm and sunny day, some of Tulio's staff had opened a larger window. The macaws used this to their advantage and launched straight inside. Tulio was sitting at his desk minding his own business, when out of nowhere, two blue macaws, squawking loudly, gently dropped a third next to him.

"Whoa! What's going on here?" He noticed that the motionless macaw on his desk, which he quickly identified as Yasmin, was in some serious trouble. "Holy- what happened?" He quickly picked her up, and rolled her around in his hands. That's when he noticed two gaping holes in her back, the surrounding feathers soaked in a scarlet liquid.

"Spider bite! Vavara, Eduardo, Emanuel, drop what you're doing and come with me! We got an emergency here!"

Tulio and his three staff members rushed off to the lab, slamming the door shut behind them. Victor, Blu, Manuela and Yarah headed towards the window looking into the lab, seeing the four humans getting everything ready for surgery and whatever else they needed doing to try and save Yasmin. While he was confident in the human's abilities, Blu still worried. Not as much as Victor though, who paced from left to right, never taking his gaze off his reason for life. As the humans put more and more tubes and needles onto Yasmin, presumably with antidotes, Blu became nauseous. It reminded him of watching surgeries on television when he was still in Minnesota, which would also make him queasy.

Turning to Victor, he said, "Vic, I'll go and tell Jewel was happened to her mother. I'll bring her here as soon as possible."

Victor turned to Blu, albeit for a second. "Okay, but hurry!"

Blu headed back into the jungle, in the direction of his hollow. When he arrived there, there was no sign of Jewel or the kids. His mind raced at the possible locations where she might be. "_Maybe at Rafael and Eva's_," he thought, and headed over to the toucan's hollow. Luck was on his side, as he quickly spotted Jewel talking to Eva, while Rafael endured the relentless assaults from his own kids, combined with the blue macaws'.

"Jewel! Jewel! Come quick!"

Everyone jerked their heads around to see Blu heading towards them, clearly in distress. He hovered before Jewel, ready to fly off instantly.

"Blu? What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Yes, something happened! It's your mother, she's been bitten by a spider. Tulio's trying to save her, but it's not looking good. Come quickly!"

Jewel gasped, and headed straight towards the aviary. Blu turned to Eva. "Do you mind watching the kids for us? They don't need to see this..."

"Sure, of course, go on! Go after her!"

As Blu sped after Jewel, Victor grew more and more worried by the second. His eyes started to tear, as the humans doubled their efforts, which indicated it yielded little to no effect. A spark of hope ignited in him as he saw Yasmin's chest rise and fall more prominently. However, the rising and falling increased in speed. The pace just kept increasing until finally, she took a deep breath...

And her chest fell for the last time.

The humans seized their efforts. Tulio in particular slammed his fists on the operating table, and let his head hang down. The venom in Yasmin's bloodstream was too plentiful to fight.

The macaws on the other side of the window knew what happened, yet could hardly wrap their heads around it. Victor slowly realized his mate was no more, and despair took over him. He started crying, and flew back outside into the nearby jungle, where he landed on a branch. Yarah and Manuela, who were also crying and had put a wing around each other for comfort, quickly followed him, hoping he wasn't going to do anything brash. Instead, they found him crying uncontrollably over the loss of his mate, and landed next to him.

"Victor...?" Manuela asked, but all he did was whirl around towards her and buried his face in her feathers, soaking them to her skin.

Just then, Blu and Jewel arrived. Jewel saw her father lost in grief, and she immediately realized what fate had befallen her mother. "_No... no, no, no... Please, don't let it be so!_" Her lowered beak already trembling, she landed near Victor.

"Dad? Is mom..." she asked. There was no need to finish the question, as everyone knew exactly what she was going to ask. Her father lifted his head from Manuela's chest, looked at his daughter and went over to hug her instead. His actions answered Jewel's question better than words ever could.


	10. Saying Goodbye

**Chapter 10: Saying Goodbye**

Even thought it was a bright and sunny day, there wasn't much reason to be happy. The time had come to give Yasmin her final resting place after she met her untimely end the day before, by the hands - or fangs, if you will - of a quick-tempered spider. Tulio and his team did the best they could to keep her among the living, but there was simply too much venom to deal with.

Yarah's gossiping connections were put to good use, despite the graveness of the situation. All the birds Victor and Yasmin had ever known, even those that knew them before their disappearance, including a throng of birds that nobody else knew, had come to attend her funeral. Manuela, Xavier and Yarah were there too, obviously. Nico and Pedro were also present, as well as Rafael, Eva and their kids, and last but not least, Blu, Jewel and their own offspring. All the birds were holding a flower in one of their claws, which they meant to place near Yasmin's grave after the ceremony. Manuela was the only one to hold a medinilla flower, her late husband's favorite.

Also attending were Tulio, Linda and Fernando. Tulio was holding a steel box the size of his arm, which contained the remains of Victor's mate. Victor himself was sitting on Tulio's shoulder, never letting the box out of his sight.

The gathering took place near the clearing where their old home used to be. Tulio placed the box on the ground, at the base of the tree where Victor and Yasmin's old home used to be. Victor leaped off Tulio's shoulder, and landed next to Yasmin. Facing the crowd, he began to say his final goodbyes, sounding like an endless stream of squawking to the human's ears.

"Thank you all for coming. We're all here today to say goodbye to a wonderful bird. One that earned a spot in our heart forever. One that time will never be able to erase. Today, we say goodbye to my dearest mate, Yasmin." He glanced at the box next to him, and put his paw on top of it for a moment, fighting back his tears. After putting it down on the ground again, he continued speaking.

"I see a lot of faces before me. Some new, some I haven't seen in ages. It warms me to know you all loved Yasmin so much. She and I came back to Rio barely a week ago, after we lived in a different part of the world for fifteen years. During that week, we experienced more adventures than ever. We felt the taste of freedom once more, got reunited with our little girl who has grown herself a wonderful family, and we met other equally wonderful birds that showed us how to have a great time.

We got to see our beautiful grandchildren. We got to see Rio again. We got another chance at making our lives complete. And even though her passing was not due for a long time, I feel that somehow we accomplished everything we ever dreamed of. So thank you, Yasmin, for the life we had. For being there. For me... for everyone. We all love you very much, and we'll see each other again at the crossroads."

Some of the birds in the crowd cheered or applauded at Victor's speech, while others burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotions. Before mingling with the crowd, Victor spoke a few more words.

"We will place Yasmin in her final resting place now. You can all pay your respects to my dearest mate there if you desire, and are free to depart afterward. Thank you all for coming, and please know that even though she is no longer with us, she'll always have a place in every one of us, right here," he said while holding his right wing across his chest.

Tulio had already dug a hole before the gathering just beyond the edge of the clearing, somewhat between the old nest and Victor and Yasmin's favorite spot near the creek. Victor and Jewel decided to pick this spot, as it was as close as they could get to the places with the most meaning in Victor and Yasmin's lives.

The flock of seven blue macaws walked towards the hole in the ground, which was Tulio's cue to place Yasmin's box down there. After he did so, he gently pushed the loose soil over the box, and skimmed his hands through it. In doing so, there was nothing left to see other than earth that had recently been disturbed.

Victor was the first to pay his respects. With a tear dripping out of his eye, he stroked Yasmin's grave with one claw. Then he bent his head towards his own belly, and yanked out one of his feathers, which he then planted upright in the soil. After putting their flowers down, Manuela, Blu, Jewel and their kids proceeded to do the same. They then gave way to the rest of the birds lining up behind them to place the flowers they had with them around the seven blue feathers. Tulio, Linda and Fernando just watched, holding hands and arms around each other.

As the blue macaws stood in a line watching the crowd pay their respects, Victor placed himself next to Manuela.

"We've still got one loose end to tie up, don't we?"

Manuela didn't respond, but instead just looked at him understandingly.

"Right before Yasmin was attacked, we came to a decision. We decided to forgive you."

Manuela proceeded to burst into tears, and mumbled "Thank you..." as she wrapped her wings around Victor.

Suddenly, after the last bird put his flower down, Jewel flew up towards the old nest, and disappeared inside. Blu wanted to go after her, thinking she needed some comforting away from prying eyes, but she popped out again almost immediately. Clutching something in her claws, she landed near the grave, walked over to it and placed the item on top of the grave, right next to her feather she planted there earlier.

It was the small pebble she used to play with as a chick.

**The End**

_Final author's note: And that's the end of that._

_First, allow me to say a big hearty THANK YOU to everyone who read, reviewed and favored this story. I hope you all had as much fun at least reading it as much as I had writing it (even though there were some bumps in the road)._

_Second, special thanks goes out to the following users: WolfOnFyre, Zacarais, Cassivellaunus. You know for which reasons ;-)_

_Third, I know some of you opted for a Yasmin revival or a Victor and Manuela hook-up, but I was against these ideas from the start. Sorry._

_And lastly, forth: even though I'm pretty much out of ideas for new stories for now, if there's ever going to be a sequel (or at the least a spinoff), I'll try to write it in the same setting (using my non-canons)._

_I've also considered making a Legend of the Guardians/Rio crossover, but since I've only seen the movie of the former, I feel I know too little about the Ga'Hoole universe to properly write about it, so I won't do the owls and their fans injustice. Once I get my hands on those books though... never say never._

_This is Count Doofus, signing off... for now._


End file.

Rio, Drama, Family