Joy came quick, only to wither away and become sorrow. Blood and fear swept the area. Only one bird stood, alive, witnessing the events. The blue bird was a Spix's Macaw by the name of Blu. This amber-colored eyed macaw had witness the events. He had been on a branch, looking out into the jungle. Moments ago, the jungle was vast and green. Birds happily flew about their business and grounded birds played with what the Earth had to offer.

In the distant, there was a small group of birds. All of them were like him; Spix's Macaws. In fact, it was his family. There was his blue-eyed, light blue feathered mate Jewel. With her were his three kids: Joseph, Xavier, and Flor. Joseph was the first to hatch out of the three. He was a dark blue feathered chick with amber eyes, just like his father Blu. Xavier was Blu's second son that had ocean blue feathers and yellowish eyes. And, of course, there was his daughter Flor with sky blue feathers and light blue eyes, almost like her mother Jewel. It appeared that Jewel was about to teach them about flying. Blu smiled as he watched his beautiful mate be the teacher of aerial dynamics for these kids.

However, happiness never lasts…

An explosion triggered in the jungle. Every creature stopped to try to figure out what had happened, but before they could, another one happened, and then another and then another after that and so on. Birds flew away from the jungle and mammals scurried either under the ground or tried to escape from the fiery parts of the jungle. The only animals that remained were only his family.

"Jewel! Get out of here!"

Within the chaos of panic, she could not hear him. All she did was tried to protect her chicks the best she could, but the fire was spreading. Soon, it would reach them. He watched as Jewel gathered the kids and entered back into the den of the tree. He shook his head in panic.

"Jewel! Not there! I'm…I'm coming!"

He opened his wings and prepared to take off when suddenly, he was pinned down. His head bonked against the branch of the high tree where he stood. It hurt a little, but he still remained conscious. He felt talons digging into him, as if they were trying to pierce through him.

"Wh-Who i-is th-this?!"

"Now, you will suffer like me," came a deep voice.

Blu could not turn his head to see who was pinning him down. All he could see was in front of him. Soon, the fire reached the den where his family hid. It ate the leaves first, and then it attacked the branches, and finally, it burned the trunk. All Blu heard now was the squawks and chirps of agony, and then, it became nothing.

"How does it feel, Blu?" asked the voice. "Watching the birds in your life you care about…die?"

Blu did not respond. All he could was just watch in horror as the ones he loved died.

Blu woke up in sweat. He quickly sat up and breathed heavily, looking around. Everything looked normal. Jewel was sleeping at his side, the almost featherless chicks were sleeping in the nest, and the den was not being consumed by water. To make sure, he got to his feet and walked outside. The sun had not risen yet. He looked around and saw the peaceful jungle. A few of the early morning birds were chirping, meaning sunrise was soon. Blu sighed and sat on the branch, waiting for the sun to rise.

"It was just…another nightmare."

He regained his breathing. He then tried to recollect the dream and tried to fit it with the rest. It was not just this nightmare, but he had a couple more this past week. It was Friday now. The first nightmare happened Sunday, then another on Tuesday, and the other on Wednesday. They were the same theme: Blu feeling depressed and a mysterious bird getting his or her revenge. Blu did not know who that bird was. He did not agitate many birds, except for one. Still, it was so farfetched to believe that it was this bird.

"Blu?"

Blu turned his head towards the den to see Jewel. He smiled.

"You're not usually an early bird, Dear."

Jewel said nothing and walked to Blu's side. She sat down next to him.

"Are you watching the sun rise?" she asked.

"Something like that."

Jewel faced her mate.

"You had another nightmare, didn't you?"

Blu sighed.

"Yeah… It's the same basically. I suffer, and someone gets their revenge."

Jewel rested her head on Blu's shoulder. She breathed peacefully.

"Then what should we do? Blu, I'm worried about these dreams you're having. They worry me."

"They are just dreams."

"But you become so paranoid. Like when you had a dream Tuesday night, you wouldn't let me leave the den for anything the next morning until I resorted to drastic measures. The next morning after that, when Rafael and Eva visited, you were figuring out if someone followed them, trying to get to us. Later that day, you began to set traps up for snakes."

Blu rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, right. I did all that, didn't I?"

Jewel got her head of his shoulder and stared into his amber eyes.

"Blu, I'm worried about you. It seems that you are still scared about the jungle."

"But we've been through a lot. With what happened with those poachers and the tragedy with Flor and Xavier, it makes you wonder what other dangers could come our way."

"Yes, I know, but what should we do? We can't live in the past forever."

Blu slowly turned his head to look at his kids.

"No, but we can secure a safe future for our kids."

Jewel looked towards her three precious chicks and smiled. She soon dropped the smile, realizing what Blu said, and looked at him. He did not look at her. All he did was look at his chicks.

"Blu?"

Blu faced Jewel. His smooth look surprised her.

"What do you say, Jewel?"

Jewel faintly blushed.

"A-about what?"

"The chicks. I want a safe place to raise the chicks until they are old enough to come back to the jungle. The only safe place is the sanctuary, so..."

Jewel sighed.

"I know it has been hard, but we both agreed to live in the jungle, no matter what."

"But Dear, think about the kids. I mean if you were living in a violent area and raising your kids, but you had the choice to move out to a safer place, wouldn't you do it?"

"… But it's easy to put it that way. I…I mean…"

Jewel sighed, thinking about what Blu said. He was right. The jungle was not safe to raise kids. As a chick, her mother would have to protect her from snakes and birds of prey, because birds were the most vulnerable as chick. Jewel closed her eyes for a short pause and opened them.

"… Okay."

Her answer surprised Blu. He thought she would at least state her point for five more minutes. Jewel looked at him with a confused expression.

"What?" Jewel asked in irritancy.

"N-Nothing. I just…uh…thought it would be harder to convince you."

Jewel shook her head.

"I'm not convinced that we should abandon the jungle for the sanctuary, but for our chicks, I want a safe environment to raise them up, for now."

Blu smiled.

"So…you want to move today later on?"

"Yeah…I guess. We're just carrying our chicks over there."

There was a pause of silence before Jewel spoke again.

"I don't want anything permanent. I want to come back when our kids are ready to fly."

Blu nodded.

"Alright. That's like in fifteen years, right?"

Jewel half-closed her eyes.

"It takes about a month," she retorted. "Maybe a month and a half."

"A month and a half? Isn't that too short? Besides, they won't be fully grown."

"But birds become harder targets for predators when they know how to fly. Flying is a bird's best defense."

"But a good defense starts with a fence, which is what humans have, and…and…"

He saw the agitation in Jewel's eyes. He had seen that look before. She had gave him that look shortly after they met, when she tackled him off the fake branch. He knew he could not win. He sighed.

"Fine. A month and a half."