A/N: Anillio Natson has returned, with a new story. It's been a long time. I haven't seen much of Nico and Pedro for a while, so I thought I'd give a try at it. I'd like to thank Dinosgorawr3 and KhallieGurl, for reasons I will explain later. For now, enjoy.

Chapter I: Reborn

It's not about the memories you had,

it's about the memories you're going to make.

Peoples' pasts will always be unfortunate, riddled with pain and suffering.

But through it all, it takes just one person,

one simple act of kindness, to wash away all those painful memories.

And begin life anew.

It started in darkness.

That was the only way he ever remembered it. A throbbing pain that sucked him into an endless void. After the darkness, came only fear and confusion. Where was he? He did not know. He knew nothing about where he was, how he got there, or even who he was.

I…am Nico.

That was all he remembered. Needless to say, it wasn't a satisfactory answer.

Light streamed into his eyes, forcing him—painfully—out of the darkness. Nico gasped, the burning in his retinas matched only by the aching throb in his wings. The world was spinning, take him on an unwanted ride with it. He felt like he'd just woken from the dead. Coughing, he sat up, ignoring the pain. He clutched his left wing with his right, suddenly realizing it was bandaged. The disorientation set in hard and fast, leaving him more bewildered than he'd ever felt in his life.

Where am I? What happened?

He tried to stand, but he ended up falling flat on his back, terrified eyes pointed at the ceiling. A soft warm light glowed overhead, and Nico found himself staring at it, his heartbeat slowly calming down after a while. The fog in his mind began to lift, ever so slowly. He was resting on something soft, like a bed.

Voices sifted through his mind, like a distant echo. He told himself to breathe, and focus. Still, he couldn't hear what the voices were saying. Some were human, some were not. Feeling just a little bit stronger now, he pushed himself to his feet, against his better judgment. He had to know where he was. When he stood up, all the blood rushed to his head, giving him a massive headache. He winced, but ignored it, looking around instead.

There were several bed-like structures, and Nico could see sleeping chicks in each. A large table with several toys carelessly spread over it stood in the corner, and the silhouette of what appeared to be a large cabinet could be seen deeper into the room. With the warm lighting and décor of the well-furnished room, he could tell where he was—an aviary nursery. It was silent, sans the light breathing of the hatchlings.

What…am I doing here?

He tried to remember, but his mind drew a blank. He pushed harder, but it only gave him a headache. Deciding to inspect his body instead, he realized that his wings and his head were wrapped in thin white bandages. He tugged at them, but then decided it wasn't such a good idea, so he stopped. Then, he heard something breathing close by. Turning, he saw two big brown eyes staring at him. He jerked backwards, heart thumping, before realizing it was just a chick who'd woken up.

"Whoa, you scared me!" he whispered. The chick cooed in response. It was just slightly smaller than Nico, and its green plumage had just started growing out. Nico guessed that it couldn't have been more than a week old. It stumbled forward to inspect the new visitor, but still couldn't walk properly yet, so it ended up falling on its face. Nico helped the chick up. It started rubbing its head affectionately on his chest, which caused Nico to wonder:

Why did they put me in an aviary nursery? He sure wasn't a chick; he remembered that much at least.

"I should probably get out of here." He didn't know why, but he felt uneasy staying there. The room however, seemed to be completely closed off. Nico stepped closer to the edge of the crib, which was barred narrowly enough that he couldn't slip out easily.

The chick let out a whimper, trying to scoot itself closer to Nico. He obliged the kid for a moment, stroking him with a bandaged wing gently. He then saw it: there was a section of the crib that was lowered slightly, short enough for him to climb over. It was still tall enough that the chick couldn't climb over, but Nico was strong enough. He hoped so, at least.

He stepped away and started hoisting himself up, using the bars as a foothold. Thankfully his wings—other than aching slightly—didn't give him too much of a problem. Halfway up though, the kid let out a whine, as if upset that he was leaving. Nico felt bad for him, but he didn't plan on spending the rest of the night wondering how he got there. He needed answers.

Despite his determination, the chick refused to take that as an answer. He started crying, shocking Nico almost enough to make him slip and fall. Before he did, he managed to clutch on to the top of the crib, barely hanging on.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. Don't cry," he called from his dangling position. He was worried the noise might wake the other chicks up. The chick still didn't stop, and Nico started frantically looking around, to see if someone was coming. His worst fears were confirmed when the door to the room started turning. It swung open quickly, yet gently, letting in a ray of bright light. Nico squinted, and when his eyes adjusted, he saw a young lanky man in his early twenties. He took one look at the dangling canary and yelped in surprise.

Nico was paying so much attention to the things around him that he didn't even notice his wing slipping from the top of the crib until it was too late. He was falling, fast. Somehow he forgot how to fly, and dropped head-first to the ground. But before he struck it, the man dashed forward and caught him with two hands.

"Whoa! How did you get all the way up—" the man then saw it. When he did, he went a little pale.

"Geez, he's gonna have my head if he found out I forgot to close the crib…" he quickly put—more like threw—Nico back into the crib, raising the lowered portion. The frustration was getting to Nico, but the chick didn't seem to mind. He stopped crying, chirping cutely and stumbling over to Nico. The man, satisfied at the resumed silence, quickly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"This is your fault, you know," Nico said, glaring at the chick. He chirped, snuggling Nico and looking back at him with big innocent brown eyes. Nico sighed.

Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Morning broke slowly. In the forest, most of the birds were just starting to wake up. However, there were some that were already awake. Two of them stood in a clearing by themselves, in a secluded part of the forest.

"Deeper."

The red-crested cardinal frowned; he'd been doing this for over an hour, and he still couldn't get it right. The toucan staring at him sternly didn't yield to his look though, and the cardinal sighed, taking another deep breath to start again.

"And when I—" he was cut short by the toucan.

"Wait. I think I see the problem here," he said, stepping forward in front of the diminutive cardinal.

"It took you an hour of listening to find out the problem?" the cardinal replied, exasperated.

"Calm down, Pedro. I know you're nervous, but—"

"Nervous? I'm not nervous! What makes you think I'm nervous?" he replied a little too quickly.

"Son, I've lived much longer than you. Rafael knows when someone is nervous." Rafael smiled.

Pedro rolled his eyes, hearing his mentor refer to himself in the third person for the umpteenth time. It was his character, he guessed. It got rather annoying after a while. Still, it was an insignificant price to pay for the incredible privilege to be tutored—mentored—by the King of Carnival.

"The performance is tonight, Rafael. A lot of people are putting their hopes on me because you trained me yourself. Of course I'm nervous!"

"So you're saying you'd be better off without me?"

"No wait, I didn't…I mean…"

Rafael laughed, placing a wing on Pedro's head.

"Don't worry, my young protégé. I know how it feels. It seemed like so long ago, though…"

Pedro snickered.

"You're getting old. Ralfy."

"That's why I'm retiring. And that's why you—" he pointed at Pedro for emphasis. "—are going to take my place as king. This old bird's going to settle down at last." He sighed blissfully, thinking of his mate. They had just declared that to the world two weeks before, and at the same time, Rafael had declared that he was going to retire from the Brazilian party scene. It had caused quite a commotion.

"So you're going to start a family?" Rafael nodded.

"How many children are you planning on having?" Pedro asked teasingly.

"Eh, maybe three. Four at most."

"Why not more? I'm sure the King of Carnival can handle more children than that."

"How many are you talking?"

"I don't know, seventeen?"

They both stared at each other for a moment, before breaking out into fits of laughter.

Nico had been awake for quite some time ever since he saw the first indications of light outside the room. There were no windows, so he couldn't tell if it was day outside. Whatever he'd gotten himself into to get all those injuries, it had messed up his biological clock as well. He wished so badly for himself to remember, but so far, it wasn't working.

How did I end up here? Someone must have brought me here, but…

The chick shifted. Nico turned to see him. He'd fallen asleep—without permission—on Nico's shoulder, murmuring happily that he was there to be his personal cushion. Nico stroked the kid on his face, feeling oddly attached. He was rather cute.

Nico shook his head. I can't let myself be distracted. I need to know what happened.

The kid's eyes slowly opened. He looked up at Nico with sleepy eyes.

"I don't suppose you know what happened to me, do you?" Nico asked. The kid smiled, nuzzling him. Nico sighed.

I guess not.

The door slowly creaked open. Nico turned to see who it was. A middle-aged pudgy man stepped in carefully, leaving the door slightly ajar as he did so. The first thing he noticed was the canary. He walked over to Nico, looking down at him with a reassuring smile.

"Hey, little guy. Are you okay?" he asked. Nico looked back wordlessly. He didn't know why, but he felt an odd feeling deep within him on hearing those words. Little guy. Was it pain? Or was it…anger?

While he pondered over that, the man inspected his wing, giving affirmative nods every now and then. He tapped his chin thoughtfully with a pencil.

"Well, it's looking much better now. Guess I should give you your shots since you're awake."

Nico's eyes widened. He didn't know why, but the word "shot" gave him a scare. He shuffled uncomfortably.

"Relax, it won't hurt too much," the man said, as if sensing his fear. He walked over to a cupboard nearby, fill with vials and syringes.

Nico's heart, which had become almost calm, jumped again at the sight of needles. He didn't remember everything, but he remembered being scared to death of them. At that moment, he saw something in his mind. He saw the same scene, only that the setting was different. He was sitting there, too, waiting to get a shot. He was panicking. Then, he saw a shadowy figure bend down to his level and say something that almost made him faint with panic.

"Papa!"

Nico jumped up with surprise, startled out of his jarring memory. At least, he thought it was a memory. His breathing was slightly labored after remembering it. Was he starting to remember his past? If he was, then the only thing he remembered was a nightmare.

"Papa!"

Nico finally took notice, and when he did, he was stunned. He turned his head so fast he thought it would snap. It was the chick.

"D-did you call me…?"

"Papa!" the kid beamed, proud at being able to utter his first words.

Nico didn't know how to react right then. He felt like fainting himself. This kid, who would one day grow to be at least five times his size, thought he was his father. He wasn't even old enough to be a father.

I must be dreaming, that's it. This is all just a bad dream, and I'll wake up anytime now.

The man shifted slightly, and Nico saw a huge needle, almost as big as himself. He then told himself that it wasn't a dream. It was real, and it was going to hurt. He frantically looked around for an exit, and found one. The open door.

The adrenaline that ran through his veins told him that he could fly, despite the bandages. If he wanted to escape, it was now or never. But before he spread his wings, something called out to him at the back of his mind. He turned to the kid, who the whole time had just been watching and listening. He looked a little more troubled, seeing his self-proclaimed father worried.

"I need to go. I need you to stay here. Be good, okay?" It felt so weird, saying all this. He barely even knew the kid to begin with. The kid whimpered slightly. Without thinking, Nico pulled the kid in and hugged him.

"I'll come back soon, I promise." He didn't know why he said that.

The kid fell silent. Nico didn't know whether he understood, but he couldn't wait any longer. Taking a deep breath, he launched himself into the air. His wings ached instantly, but he ignored it, focusing on reaching the door. The man turned around, obviously from the sound of Nico's flapping wings. He almost dropped the syringe he was holding.

"Hey! You shouldn't be flying yet!"

Nico ignored him, flying out of the room instead.

Everything was huge. Being a canary, it was only natural everything else looked big. He stared in silence for a moment at the expanse of area around him. An open window confirmed his suspicions that it was morning. The area was rather empty. Several tables and machines were neatly arranged around the room, with another door leading outside, and a hallway at the other end. A sign, playfully made with crayons, hung over a piece of machinery Nico did not recognize. It read "OUT FOR BREAKFAST", with a smiley face drawn on the side.

Footsteps reverberated in Nico's ears, snapping him out of his thoughts. He knew the man was coming. He needed an escape route, fast. The hallway, the closed door, the window…

The window!

He could see the man's shadow approaching fast. He had to act fast. He landed on the windowsill and tried to squeeze through the narrow gap, but it was still too narrow. Still, he forcefully pushed himself through, but he only got half his body through before the pain became unbearable, and he stopped. Slowly, the pain and pressure grew on his back, and he gasped in pain. The thought of using his wings to push the window open was immediately rejected by his mind; he was way too small, and way too weak to even consider that. Still, when he saw the rotund figure approaching hastily, panic overruled reason, and he started pushing wildly.

Still, it was to no avail. Seconds later, he found the pressure on his back being lifted. The man had raised to window just enough to loosen the guillotine that was choking Nico. But before he had a chance to fly off, he found himself being pulled away from the window by a firm pair of hands. Thinking instinctively, he tried biting it, but the man was a professional, and Nico couldn't even get close, from the way that the man was gripping him.

"Hey, little guy, relax. Honestly, you're like a little baby. It's not going to hurt."

Nico would have felt angry and humiliated at his current predicament, but he right now he couldn't think of anything other than a man with a sadistic grin, holding an oversized needle, and plunging it repeatedly into his body as he laughed insanely.

Nico screamed.

Struggling didn't do much to help his situation either. His pleads fell on deaf ears as the man started walking back to the nursery. But then, the man stopped. Nico stopped struggling when he saw it. More rather, him.

"Papa!" The chick exclaimed, glaring indignantly at the pudgy man, completely furious that he was trying to hurt his father. Unfortunately, being a chick, he only ended up looking cute. Still, it did the job. The man, who saw the chick miraculously escape from the cage even though it shouldn't have known how to fly, loosened his grip on Nico, giving him enough time to bite the man. He yelled, letting Nico go.

How did he…? He climbed out himself? Nico thought. He didn't have time to think more about it though, as he deftly avoided a swipe from the man. He had nowhere to run, other than the window. The adrenaline still pumping through his system, he flew towards the gap, closing his eyes and hoping for the best. It paid off. He propelled himself through the gap in the window—just barely—out into an unknown rising morning.

He never expected that in the next few hours, his life would be changed forever, in a way he never, ever, expected.

A/N: This was a story request by Dinosgorawr3. She requested a story on how "Nico and Pedro became friends." I had a long thought over it, and came up with this story. I hope you are enjoying it so far. Feel free to leave comments; they are always welcome.