Welcome all, to 'Taking The World By Storm'. This is a little prequel idea I had for my story 'Flying Home' and while it can be read as a stand-alone, it does link in with the story right at the end, so if you haven't read my other fic, you can either ignore that bit completely or go and read it now before the confusion hits. And yes, that was shameless self-advertising, deal :D
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not one thing other than the idea and my writing. Everything else is owned by their respective owners.
Enjoy!
"Good morning love."
The sun was just beginning to rise over the city of Rio De Janeiro, and two toucans, still sleepy after the long week of partying that was carnival, were just starting to wake, bleary eyed and struggling not to yawn, but happily smiling.
"Morning baby," the male, Rafael cooed, pulling his wife closer and interlinking their wing feathers. Peace and quiet , only the chirps of a few early morning birds breaking the blissful silence.
It was several hours later that Rafael was feeling awake enough to go and fetch breakfast. "Sweet, I'm going to fetch some food, okay?" he told her, kissing her cheek lovingly. Eva simply mumbled something incoherent in return and curling up tighter in their shared nest, yawning sleepily. Rafael chuckled in amusement at her love of sleep. "I'll be back soon," and with that he was gone, weaving through the trees and out into the open air. He headed straight for the city, knowing there would be loads of leftovers hanging around from carnival, the humans always vastly over-estimated how much food they would need.
Sure beat searching the forest and fighting of other birds for the ripe pieces of fruit.
It was when he was picking out the juiciest pieces of fruit from a left out bowl at a deserted beach cafe that he first heard it.
A child's cry.
At first he shook it off as his imagination. It was, after all, so quiet he barely heard it. He just assumed it was a human baby from some distance away. So he went back to picking his fruit, enjoying the mid-morning sun's warmth on his dark feathers, mixed with the cool breeze coming in off the sea.
It was only when he heard it the second time and then a third that he put the fruit down and went to investigate, hopping down to the sand, following the quiet sound.
While for the most part it was silent, every few seconds or so a high-pitched cry or a choked sob cut through the quiet, leading the toucan towards a white plastic lounge chair on the sand. After a few moments of looking he eventually found the source of the noise.
There, tucked into the hollow corner of the chair leg was quite possibly the smallest bird Rafael had ever come across. It was a tiny yellow canary curled into a tight ball, eye clamped shut as he tried to stem his tears and hold back the sobs.
"Now, what do we have here?" Rafael murmured softly, trying not to startle the distressed bird.
It didn't work, the canary's eyes shot open, revealing scared brown orbs and he scrambled backwards, pressing against the plastic behind him. He let out a little whimper and Rafael's heart melted a little.
"Hey, hey, shh," he ducked under the chair, crouching so he would fit properly, "I didn't mean to scare you, I'm not going to hurt you."
The smaller relaxed a little at this, but his body was still tense and breathing fast as he looked up with large watery eyes.
"Now, where are your parents?" the toucan asked, looking around to see if they were close by. But when he looked down to see the child close to tears once more he immediately backtracked. "No, no, okay, you don't know?" the canary shook his head, hiccupping, "can you tell me your name?"
"N-Nico," the canary replied in a small voice.
"Well then Nico, My name is Rafael."
"Ral- Raf- ummm..." Nico struggled for a while, and it hit the older bird just how young he actually was. He couldn't be more than a few weeks old at least. "Ralfy?" Nico tried, looking a little sheepish. Rafael smiled.
"That'll do," he said, holding out a wing, inviting the canary to come closer. "Right, let's get you some breakfast, and then you can stay with my wife while I go and see if I can find that mama and papa of yours."
Nico's eyes widened and Rafael momentarily worried that he had upset the child when they began to fill with tears once more. But he relaxed when the small bird practically launched himself at him, burying his tiny beak in the soft black feathers.
By this point, Rafael was sure his heart was a puddle of melted mush.
"Alright," he coughed, his smitten smile giving away all his feelings as he ever so gently picked up the canary, who weighed next to nothing, and placed him on his back, "hold on tight." And they took off, soaring into the cool air and blue, blue sky.
Half an hour later when they arrived at the toucan's hollow, the first thing Eva asked, without even looking at the pair, was, "so what's for breakfast?"
Rafael looked down at his empty claws, back at the tiny canary who was looking at him with huge eyes, and then at Eva, who had turned to him with an expectant expression.
"Umm, oops?"
"Did you find anything?"
Rafael sighed, dropping to his nest after the third consecutive day flying around the jungle and city, shaking his head sadly.
"There's nothing, I've asked everyone," he said looking over to where the small canary lay, fast asleep, "I've asked everyone, and they've all spread the word, but the closest I can find was a group bringing a family of canaries on holiday, but they left Rio about a week ago, and no one's heard anything since."
"Surely he can't have been alone for that long," Eva exclaimed, watching the tiny bird breathe in and out peacefully. She sighed deeply, turning back to her husband, "so what do we do now?"
"What else can we do? we can't just leave out there on his own," Rafael said.
"You're not seriously thinking of..." Eva trailed off, seeing the way he was looking at the child, "We can't!" That drew his eyes away, "shouldn't we at least find someone more...similar? There's that family of cardinals not too far away with a kid not that much older, but there's too much of difference between us and him."
Rafael stared at her, his expression neutral, but his eyes screamed a thousand emotions. "What difference?" he asked. A simple question, but it struck Eva speechless.
"Well, I just, I mean...look at him Raf, he's a canary, he won't ever get much bigger than that, and then look at us!"
"Eva, love," Rafael stood, reaching out for her. He was shocked when she took a step back, away from him. "Sweetheart, he needs us," he told her, his eyes gentle, "us, not some other family, Look at him sweet, he's a strong kid, but he needs protection, someone to love him and look after him and not just abandon him again."
Eva closed her eyes and turned her head away. "I- I can't," she murmured, turning quickly and leaving the hollow, taking off in a flurry of feathers and tears, leaving Rafael standing there in the entrance, wide eyed and shocked.
He slumped, wings falling to his sides limply as he fell back to his nest, not once taking his eyes off the empty space is wife had just vacated.
What felt like hours later, though it could have been a few seconds, a tiny whimper broke the toucan out of stupor and he looked down, his expression softening. Nico was still fast asleep, though his beak was pulled down in a frown and his brow furrowed in apparent distress. Tears were trying to force their way though his tightly shut eyes as he curled into such a tight ball it almost halved his size. A choked sob escaped his beak.
A nightmare.
"Hey hey, shh, it's okay," Rafael murmured softly, hopping over and reaching out to pick the child up, ever so gently so as not to wake him. He was so small, so delicate, yet the toucan knew he was so much stronger than he looked. But he had already been through a lot in his short life, more than any child should. "It's alright, I'm here, you're safe now," he whispered, gingerly holding him as the boy began to cry softly in his sleep. Rafael stroked the smooth feathers, not wanting to wake him, but wanting the pain to stop, for him to sleep peacefully once more.
"Come stop your crying, it'll be alright, just take my wing, hold it tight," he began to sing quietly, hoping it would calm him. "I will protect you from all around you, I will be here don't you cry."
Deep down, Rafael knew he was going to look after the little one, that he was going to protect him from the moment he saw him curled up under that chair on the beach.
"For one so small, you seem so strong, my arms will hold you keep you safe and warm," he held him a little tighter as the stream of tears began to slow, only letting out a few hiccups every so often. "This bond between us, can't be broken, I will be here don't you cry. Cause you'll be in my heart, yes you'll be in my heart, from this day on, ow and forever more."
Yes, he had already made his decision, with or without Eva's approval, Nico was staying. He found himself strangely attached to the canary and he couldn't help but wonder somewhere in the back of his mind if this is what it feels like to be a father.
"You'll be in my heart, no matter what they say, you'll be here in my heart, always." Nico was sleeping calmly now, his face peaceful and breathing even. "Always."
As gently as he could, Rafael placed him in the makeshift nest they had quickly put together earlier, vowing to make him a proper one in the morning. He stayed close, still stroking the fluffy feathers on the canary's head.
"I'm sorry," a familiar voice from the entrance made his head snap up and he saw Eva standing there, expression guilty and refusing to make eye contact. He smiled, eyes softening. "Don't be," he told her, one wing pulling her face towards him. Her eyes were sad and watery, like she had just been crying. With a smile Rafael pulled her into a tight hug, one wing tight around her body with the other stroking the back of her neck.
Eva sniffed, her eyes drawn to the sleeping canary, almost bringing up a fresh round of tears.
"It's just..." she started, closing her eyes and focusing on her words, "I don't know the first thing about being a parent, and it's all sort of sudden, I just..." she trailed off, not knowing what more to say. Rafael drew away slowly to look into her eyes.
"Every parent started somewhere you know, and I'm sure the instincts will kick in sooner or later," he told her, "do you need more time to think about it?"
Eva looked deep into his eyes, unable to look away. In them she saw a million things, but one shone clearer than all the rest. Love. Not just for her, but for the child sleeping peacefully next to them. She smiled warmly, shaking her head.
"No," she breathed after what felt like a lifetime of silence, "no, I just want to see our son."
The midday sun shone clear down on the city, another beautiful day.
But, despite the bright light filtering through the leafy trees, three birds still slept on.
Rafael sighed, looking down his beak at his wife, slumbering away without a care in the world, and his two sons, who were sleeping practically on top of each other nestled under their mothers wing. When Eva had her first child six months after they had adopted Nico, both of them were worried at how he would take it. At first, like most children getting their first sibling, not so good, the canary as obviously scared his doting parents would forget all about him and place all their attention on the new kid.
But as it turned out, they had nothing to worry about. The moment Nico met Julian, the pair took to each other like a fish to water, or a bird to the air. They were nigh on inseparable.
However, now was the time for Rafael to finally take his eldest to the Alley. Tonight was their annual 'Best Of' Competition, and after months of begging on Nico's part to be taken, Rafael had eventually decided he was old enough to go. Eva however, was harder to convince. Despite their rocky start, she had become increasingly protective over the little canary, to the point where it took Rafael nearly a week to persuade her to let him take him. She did, in the end, relent, but only on the condition he was to be brought home as soon as the results had been announced, no hanging around for the after party.
With a glance outside and a quiet chuckle Rafael reached down to gently shake the small bird awake. Preferably without waking his brother. He was actually surprised he was still asleep, considering he was so excited about the trip, he'd half expected him to be bouncing off the walls at some ridiculous hour of the morning. But then, when he thought about it, Nico was so eager he probably didn't sleep until the early hours.
"Mm, yeah?" Nico mumbled groggily, lifting his head from where it was rested on his brother's back. The pair had a habit of using each other as pillows on alternate nights. He looked up blearily, blinking a little against the sunlight.
"Time to go," Rafael murmured quietly, so as not to wake up the other two slumbering occupants of the nest.
"Go?" Nico asked sleepily, having completely forgotten that day's plan, "Go whe- Oh!" he sat up, suddenly very wide awake, a wide grin finding its way to his beak.
"Shh," Rafael smirked, "come on, I think breakfast, or more appropriately, lunch, is in order before we do anything."
With a little wriggle, Nico slid out from under Eva's wing, trying not to disturb either her or Julian. He found it hard not to laugh at the way his little brother snuggled in closer to Eva, suddenly shivering a little.
The day went quickly after that. After getting lunch, the whole family went down to the beach, where Nico and Julian spent the afternoon building the biggest sandcastle they possibly could, to the point where they could actually sit inside the high walls. It then, of course, collapsed on top of them, causing Eva and Rafael to cut their relaxation time short trying to dig the still laughing birds out. And finally, after a quick dinner they parted ways, Eva and Julian, much to is displeasure, heading back home, while Rafael and Nico headed towards the club deeper in the city.
"Woah," Nico's beak dropped open the moment he stepped through the entrance to the Alley. The music, the lights and the dancing all attacked his senses at once and the feeling was amazing. There was no way of describing it. He heard about this place so many times, and even tried sneaking in once or twice, but was always caught. But what he had heard was nothing compared to the actual place, to the music, the atmosphere.
Paradise.
"Thought you might like it," Rafael smirked, bobbing his head to the beat.
"If you thought I'd like it, why didn't you bring me here sooner?" Nico asked, not taking his still wide eyes off the scene in front of him.
Rafael chuckled, shaking his head, "well aren't you the funny one?" he commented, ruffling the feathers on the younger bird's head.
"I would like to think so," Nico grinned up at him, while Rafael simply raised an eyebrow and smirked.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Rafael?" A deep booming voice sounded from behind them and the pair spun around, Nico shuffling a little closer to Rafael, mainly out of instinct. Coming towards them was a large-ish rough looking cardinal, behind him a slightly smaller version. The older one was grinning, and the one behind was smiling while managing to look slightly bewildered at the same time. "What happened to you man? Haven't seen you in months."
"Santiago!" Rafael exclaimed, breaking out into a grin, "it has been a while, but you know family business and all."
"Of course, of course, family is important, you remember my son? Pedro?" He stood aside as Pedro grinned a little. Nico raised his eyebrows, stepping out a bit from behind Rafael. "And I'm assuming that is the little adopted kid everyone was talking about?"
Rafael looked down at Nico, who had shuffled a little closer once he was brought into the conversation.
"Yeah, this is Nico, he's been desperate to come here for months, so I finally bought him."
"Nice."
While the older birds continued in their catch up conversation Pedro approached the smaller canary, who was looking around in curiosity.
"So, you're Nico?"
"Hm?" Nico glanced over at his name, eyes wide and questioning, "oh, yeah, that's me," he smiled.
Pedro grinned, "I've heard a lot about you."
"Oh really?" Nico looked sceptical, but kept the smile on his face. He had to admit, somewhere deep down, the attention felt nice. He had spent so long with just his family, it was refreshing to talk to someone else. And it turns out he was practically famous.
"Yeah! You're that kid Rafael adopted, everyone was talking about it when it happened. No one could really believe it at first, until birds actually saw you."
"Well this is news to me," Nico couldn't help but chuckle. He honestly had no idea the story was so interesting. Or that everyone knew about it.
"Really, I kept asking to go and see for myself, but dad always told me you were too small or something at the time," Pedro chuckled, "then again, you're still pretty small now." His chuckles were met with a dark glare and a stony look, causing them to die quickly, "ahh, okay," he said awkwardly, rubbing his wings together, "don't make jokes about your height, noted."
"Hey, buddy, you're up in five!" the call from his father came from nearby and Pedro spun around with a wide grin while Nico looked on with a confused expression.
"I'm singing for the competition," Pedro explained, swivelling back around to face him, "I won last year," he said, smiling proudly, "and I'm gonna do it again this year."
Nico laughed, at least he was confident in himself. The little canary had sung before, of course, a lot. But it was at home, in his hollow, with an audience of two, or more recently, three. He had never done anything on this scale before, even the thought of it scared him. But the least he could do was cheer his new friend on, and hope that maybe, in a few years time he would be confident enough to go up there too.
"Good luck," he said as Pedro sauntered off towards the stage.
"Nice to see you two getting along," Rafael voice sounded from somewhere above him, and Nico looked up to see the toucan standing behind him, smiling wide, Pedro's father standing next to him. Nico grinned, turning back to the stage, where the last bird had exited and the lights were dimming ready for the next.
"Hey Nico," Santiago boomed, clapping the small bird on the back, which due to the size difference, was no small matter, "I hear you're a pretty good singer."
"W-well," Nico started, straightening and regaining his balance, "I'm alright I guess."
"One of the best I've heard in a long while," Rafael said over the top, smiling down at his son, who was now looking up at him in shock. He didn't think he was that good.
"I, well I mean-"
"One of the birds dropped out and there's an opening for an extra singer if you wanted to enter," Santiago told him, nudging him with a wink. Nico simply raised his eyebrows and resisted the urge for his beak to drop open. They wanted him to sing? He wouldn't even know what song to do. There were a few he could possibly choose from, but nothing off the top of his head.
"We-ll," Nico started, looking a little sceptical, looking towards the stage, where Pedro was performing some fast rap-samba song, looking like he was having the time of his life.
"What about that song you've been singing a lot recently? You can do that one practically in your sleep you've been singing it so much," Rafael commented.
"You think?"
"Go for it!" Santiago encouraged, beaming widely, "in all honesty, that son of mine needs his ego deflated a little, so I say get up there and show 'em what you got!"
It was nearing midnight when the results were finally released, and as promised, Rafael let Nico hang around until they had been announced. And much to his surprise, he managed to get second place. First was a wonderful singer named Juliette, and she won by a landslide, but the choice between third and second place was as close as can be. After a long discussion which left everyone wondering what was going on, they eventually decided on Nico in second and Pedro in third.
Needless to say, Pedro was not happy.
He sat on a thimble-slash-stool, glaring at the one who had beaten him get congratulated on his show.
"Now now bud, don't get jealous there," his father's voice sounded from somewhere to his right. Pedro turned to him, a pout forming on his beak, but just as he opened his mouth to possibly moan, criticise or complain, Santiago cut him off. "You have to admit he was good, and even the judges said it was pretty damn close between you."
"But I-"
"You can't expect to win all the time, in terms of experience you're still a rookie too, but even third place out of around twenty is still amazing, you're still one of the top birds. Sure you may have been beaten this year, but doesn't that just give you more determination to try even harder for next year?"
"I guess," Pedro muttered, staring a hole in the ground, pout fading ever so slightly. He was still insanely jealous, but he knew better than to show it in front of his father.
It was just he had been practicing that song for months leading up to the competition, and had done the same the year before. That canary had just been thrown on stage at the last minutes with no practice, no preparation and beaten him. The cardinal just didn't understand.
"Thank you."
It felt like the millionth time he had said that this evening, but Nico can't seem to keep the grin off his face.
Second Place! It almost felt like a dream. There was no preparation, he'd just gotten on that stage and sang and danced like he was born for it. The feeling when he was on the stage was exhilarating, electrifying and downright awesome. If he didn't look at the audience. There had been one point where he'd almost faltered, but he just closed his eyes, focused on the lyrics and pretended he was back at home.
There was however, one downer to the night.
Pedro.
He had been sitting on his own pouting at the floor since the results had been announced, and every now and again he caught the slightly older bird glaring in his direction.
Well, someone was certainly a sore loser. Perhaps Santiago was right, the cardinal did have a bit too much confidence in his own talents, and maybe he did need to be knocked down a few pegs, but he just looked so miserable it made him feel a little down.
The after party was just beginning to start up when Nico began to yawn, causing Rafael to look over from where he was catching up with a few friends.
"Come on kid, you need your sleep," he laughed softly, putting a wing around him.
"But, I'm not," a yawn, "tired."
Rafael snorted, "oh I most certainly think you are, besides, I promised your mother to bring you home as soon as the results were announced, and I've already let you stay longer than that, though you are not under any circumstances allowed to tell your mother that."
"Alright," Nico murmured, eyes drooping a little as the exhaustion began to hit.
"Come on, let's get you home."
"I just..." Nico gave up resisting, shooting one last glance at the dejected Cardinal before allowing himself to be led home.
It was mid-afternoon two days later when Rafael found himself standing outside Santiago's hollow, asking to talk to Pedro about the other night. Nico had been miserable since the competition, and although he wouldn't say why, Rafael knew. He'd seen the glances and the glares from both parties.
Turns out being a parent makes you rather observant.
"What do you want?"
Rafael spun around on his perch to see a rather dishevelled Pedro standing behind him with his wings crossed and a frown on his face.
"Pedro," Rafael's face pulled into a soft smile, "I need to talk to you."
"If this is about the other night, I'm over it."
"No you're not," Rafael told him firmly, eyebrows raised, "now I know for a fact that this has nothing to do with the fact that you lost, goodness knows no one was going to beat Juliette, but more who you lost to."
Pedro stared at him with wide eyes. How? He hadn't told anyone that, even his own dad thought he was just a little bitter that he had gone from first down to third in a year. And here was this bird, who he had barely even met, knowing exactly how he felt. He couldn't help it, the story just came pouring out.
"And it's just, he had no preparation, I was practicing for weeks! Months even! And he still beat me," Pedro finished, after a lengthy lamentation. He sat himself down on the edge of the branch, still pouting.
"Tell me something, what place did you get on your first time?" Rafael asked, sitting next to him.
"First," Pedro replied, looking a little confused as to why he was asking this.
"See? You got first place on your first time round, very few birds have ever achieved that, that's got to mean something."
"I suppose."
"Nico's a good bird, and I swear the kid simply doesn't stop singing, so he had some preparation, but some birds just have a natural talent and feel for the stage, they can get up there for the first time and it'll feel like they've been doing it since the day they were born. The kid's a natural performer, as are you. If the rules had allowed a draw it probably would've happened, but the judges had a very difficult decision to make, and that was their choice." Rafael smiling, putting a wing around the smaller's shoulder. "I'll tell you this though, if I was judging, you both would've won."
"What?"
"You're just as good as each other, and you've both got the same love for music. And between you, you seem to cover everything in terms of styles, I think you could take the world by storm if you joined together."
"You mean form a duo?"
"You know it," Rafael grinned at the stunned expression on his face. It appeared realisation was beginning to dawn on the smaller bird and Rafael smirked. This really could be the start of something amazing. "Nico's pretty upset that you won't talk to him, you seemed to make quite the connection before the performance, and it's always nice to see him being friends with someone outside the family. He and Julian are close, but it's not quite the same."
"Maybe," Pedro said slowly, look thoughtful.
"Think about it," Rafael said, standing up and smoothing down some of his feathers, "We'll be at the Alley tonight if you come to a decision."
And with that he flew off, leaving Pedro to his thoughts.
Rafael almost couldn't contain his laughter at the sight that met his eyes several hours later. True, he'd almost had a heart attack seeing his eldest get practically tackled out of the sky, though thankfully they weren't too far from the ground. As it turns out, it was just Pedro trying to land and misjudging it completely, sending him careering into the canary and sending them both crashing head first into a box of fruit.
He definitely had to hold back a snort when he saw Nico's head poke out of a hole in a watermelon, covered in fruit juice and spitting out seeds.
"Ew!" he moaned, pulling himself out of the fruit, trying to get a good grip with his slippery feathers. It didn't work, and the moment he was out of the melon he slipped off and further into the box of mixed fruit. Rafael was holding back full-on laughter as he wondered how long he could just sit and watch before he had to go over and help them out. He let out a little chuckle as he saw Pedro attempt to climb over the edge of the box, half a small coconut shell on his head. Nico appeared not too long after and they both tumbled to the floor, dripping with juice and looking rather disgusted.
"Well, that was certainly an entrance," Nico commented as he looked down at his stained and now rather sticky feathers.
"Heh, no kidding," Pedro said, shaking the excess juice off his feathers and lifting the shell off his head.
It was only then that they froze, looking at each other like they had just realised something extremely important. Rafael, who was about to take a step forward to guide them to the nearest birdbath, stopped in his tracks, not wanting to set either off in the wrong way. The tension that had suddenly formed in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The toucan held his breath as he waited for something to happen. Despite his talk earlier, he still didn't know the Cardinal all that well and had no idea what his reaction would be.
It started with a snort. And suddenly they were both in hysterics, falling to the ground with laughter until tears were in their eyes. Rafael simply looked on with concerned amusement, a smirk pulling at his beak. He rolled his eyes and sighed as the laughs began to subside to heaving breaths and the occasional hiccup or snigger.
"Are we done?" he couldn't help but ask, rolling his eyes again as this set them off laughing a little bit longer.
"Uh-huh," Nico managed to get out between breaths, "Yeah, we're good," he tried to stand up, albeit shakily, chest still heaving with silent laughs. Pedro sat up, wiping away the tears that were streaming down his face.
"Oh man that was funny," he said, breathing hard to try and stem the laughter threatening to explode out of him.
Rafael shook his head, "come on, let's get you both washed off."
They arrived at a small fountain not too far away, both canary and cardinal diving in before Rafael could even blink. The toucan smiled, landing on the edge by the water, watching the pair clean themselves off. He decided to take a step back on this particular case, let them figure it out on their own.
"Nico?"
"Hm?"
"Can I say something? It's kinda what I came to find you for, before the fruit incident," Pedro asked, look a little nervous and way out of his comfort zone.
"What is it?" The canary asked, looking at him with wide, questioning eyes. There was nothing accusing or even mildly negative about his gaze, yet it seemed to make Pedro even more uncomfortable.
"Well, about the other night," he started wringing his wings together, looking away, "I- I'm sorry," he said finally, looking at the yellow bird with guilty eyes. Nico just stared at him, eyes widening further and eyebrows raising. Then very slowly, an amused smirk began to appear on his face.
"What for?" He asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.
"Well, I guess I got a little bitter about the fact that you beat me, and I suppose I could've been nicer about it and not been a sore loser, cause it was really close, and I guess in the end neither of us won since Juliette won by a mile and..." he trailed off, expression hopeful.
Nico just grinned, splashing a little water in his face. "Don't worry about it, honestly, I can understand how being beaten by someone who had literally been thrown onto the stage last minute could be a little upsetting," he said, laughing a little as Pedro frowned and splashed back, "besides, it was just as much of a surprise for me." As he finished he was met with a face full of water, leaving him spluttering. He glared at the grinning offender. "Oh you are on!"
It very quickly evolved into a full on splash war, and Nico was losing, simply on account of the strength needed to make a big enough wave, or lack thereof.
"Alright! I give in! I give in!" he shrieked, still laughing as he held up his wings to cover his face.
"Hah!" Pedro cheered, throwing his wings in the air victoriously, grinning widely, "sucks to be you."
Nico chuckled, going under the water completely in an attempt to smooth his feathers down from where they had been ruffled in their battle. As he came up however, he felt something solid on top of his head. He reached up in an attempt to find out what it was, but stopped mid-reach when Pedro cried out.
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
"That really suits you," the cardinal told him, looking rather thoughtful. Nico raised his eyebrows, wondering what on earth the cardinal was going on about. He reached up, pulling the object off his head to examine it. It was a metal bottle cap, a green colour with several blue wavy lines running across it. The canary smiled, nodding approvingly. He could certainly see how it would. Placing the cap back on his head, he looked down into the water to see his reflection.
"Alright cap, you can stay," he grinned, as Pedro chuckled at the comment.
"You two done?" Rafael's voice called from somewhere close by and the pair looked over to see a rather amused Toucan standing on the edge of the fountain. "Nice hat."
Nico grinned as he climbed out, tipping his new cap and bowing dramatically, shaking out his feathers.
"So, to the Alley?" Pedro asked, a hopeful grin on his face as he fluttered out the water and landing next to the canary.
"Oh yeah."
"You want us to what?"
"Give us a bit of prep time at least!"
"You've got an hour, is that not enough?"
Nico and Pedro stared at Rafael with identical looks of pure shock and horror. They could practically hear the smirk in the older bird's voice.
"It's not I wouldn't want to sing with him, but I wouldn't mind some advance warning," Nico explained, expression morphing into one of annoyance, "you know, like at least a day or two!"
"Exactly!" Pedro agreed, nodding, "we've only heard each other sing once, how in the heck are we meant to put something together so quickly."
"So you're not going to do it?" Rafael asked, trying to hold back the smirk. Both birds started to argue, faltered, and looked at each other.
"Well," Nico started, looking a bit taken aback.
"Never said that," Pedro finished for him, pouting as he looked at the ground. Rafael laughed, knowing neither of them would be able to say no. This would certainly be a interesting experiment, just how well could they cope together under pressure? Santiago had told him Pedro was pretty good at improvising around what others were doing, though couldn't write a whole song on his own, and certainly not under pressure. Nico however, spent most of each day writing something new, and could make something up on the spot without a second thought. It was hopefully a perfect match, though that had yet to be seen.
"Well you'd better get planning." Rafael commented, grinning as he wondered off to enjoy the show.
"Well crap," Nico said bluntly, once Rafael was far, far out of earshot.
"What the hell are we gonna do? I've never planned for a duet before, and honestly, I sorta suck at song writing," Pedro slumped against a wooden box, still pouting.
"Well," Nico started slowly, looking thoughtful. Then his face dropped and he sighed, "Nah, it'll never work."
"What?"
The canary sucked in a sharp breath, a nervous look passing over his face. "Well, I could probably whip something up quickly, it won't be amazing, but it's something," he paused, throwing a glance at Pedro, who was looking slightly more hopeful, "but the only thing is, well, how are you at improvising?"
Pedro grinned.
"Party in Ipanema baby."
(Six Years Later)
It was the end of a long hot may day, and the sun was finally setting over the busy city. The beaches had been emptied as residents and tourists alike moved into the town to party the night away. But along the empty beach, perched on a vacated lounge chair, was a lone Toucan, vacant eyes staring at the multiple changing colours of the sunset. As he watched the sun go down, he thought of his son, his eldest, who, after nearly three months, was still missing.
"Come stop your crying, it will be alright," he sniffed, still holding back the tears he had been wanting to shed for the past two and half months, "just take my wing, hold it tight, I will protect you from all around you, I will be here don't you cry." There was nothing more he wanted to do right now than hold his son in his wings once more, to protect him and shelter him. It didn't matter that he was all grown up and living his own life now, Rafael still saw him as the tiny little canary he had found on the beach all those years ago.
"For one so small, you seem so strong, No matter where you are, I'll be with you, just think of me don't you cry." The first few tears escaped his tightly shut eyes, and although he wasn't the type to openly cry, he felt the need to.
"When destiny calls you, you must be strong," a choked sob broke through the softly sung lullaby, and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself, "I may not be with you, but you have to hold on, they'll see in time, I know." If there was one thing about this situation that he absolutely despised, it was the feeling of absolute helplessness, that fact that had no control over the situation, he couldn't just step in and protect him if things got too rough. He had to sit here, waiting, praying, hoping that everything was going to be alright, even though with every passing day their hope faded a little more. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.
"Cause you'll be in my heart, yes you'll be in my heart, from this day on, now and forever more..." his voice faded into nothing more than a whisper, tears now flowing freely with no attempt to stop them.
"Rafael?"
The second voice from somewhere behind him made him jump, and he quickly wiped his eyes clear of the tears and turned around. Standing not too far behind him was Pedro, looking miserable. On closer inspection, Rafael could see that his eyes were red and still slightly damp, like he had been crying too.
Out of everyone, Pedro seemed to be taking the whole situation the hardest. And yet, despite this, he was the one who had the most faith in Nico.
"Pedro," the toucan said softly, holding out a wing, "you alright?"
Pedro stepped forward, allowing himself to be drawn into a one wing hug, his expression unchanging. He shook his head, barely taking his eyes off the horizon.
"I miss him," he said, uncharacteristically quiet.
Rafael looked down at the cardinal, who had by this point, whether consciously or not, leaned further into the older birds embrace. He tightened his hold on the younger bird's shoulders as he turned his head back to the sunset, just in time to see the sun disappear below the horizon, leaving nothing but a purple-pink glow.
"Me too Pedro, me too."
A/N: I swear this wasn't meant to be this long. I had intended on keeping at a thousand or so words, and then it just sort of, ran away with me. I'm not entirely sure what happened, it just did. Ah well :) So yes, here is my promised prequel, I don't really have much to say about it, other than I loved writing it, but damn it gave me such a headache . I debated with myself whether to actually write 'Hot wings' in as their first duet, and yes, that is what it's meant to be, but I decided against it, since I would be basically typing out how it happened in the movie, and I kinda figured there would be no point, it's long enough already, but it is implied. Also, I love writing baby Nico and Daddy Rafael, it's just so freaking cute! XD
I hope you enjoyed this, and if you haven't already, go and read 'Flying Home' and maybe drop a review, they are always welcome. The same goes here, good, bad or ugly, drop me a review to tell me your thoughts :) Thanks.
Now...I don't know about you, but it is currently 1:30 in the morning here, I have a splitting headache and my pillow is calling. Night all :)