Chapter 1 - Jump Of Faith

Author's Notes

This is my very first time making a FanFiction and decided to make one for Rio since I fell in love with its characters 2 months ago. If you are reading this, don't expect anything near professional, but don't also expect storylines with no plot and bad grammar either. Enough of me, you came here to read Rio and I promise you, you will read Rio! I hope you enjoy this, leave me reviews where I can improve, if there are any flaws. Anyways, I present you, Never Let Go. The chapter starts right after Linda and Tulio failed to stop the plane from escaping. Enjoy!

It was around midnight when the plane took off into the ominous atmosphere. Despite Linda's and Tulio's best efforts to stop the plane with a giant float, destiny held a sign of disapproval. Linda, with all her determination to get back to the blue bird she knew and cared for 15 years, was now shrinking into a spec onto the dark sky. Linda then got off the float, realizing she had failed at getting Blu back.

"Blu! Blu!" Knowing it was impossible at this point, all she could do now was watch the plane drift off.

"Oh, Blu." Linda just stood there watching the plane disappear with pain and sadness growing every second. She then completely lost it and broke down into tears knowing she won't be able to see her best friend in this world ever again. Tulio felt horrible for Linda and did the very least he could do. He offered Linda a warm, compassionate hug, in which Linda accepted. Now Linda was crying in Tulio's chest, with nothing much else to do than mourn for the Spix macaws.

Blu knew he had to do something since in all sincerity, all of this was his fault. He saw Jewel, the last female Spix macaw, in a cage next to his. He needed to think of something quick before the plane got too far from Rio. All he had to do was get a glimpse at the Angle that presented itself in front of him to spark inspiration.

"What are you doing?" Jewel saw Blu getting ahold of a fire extinguisher and getting the tip on the top of his cage.

"I'm gonna pop this cage open like a soda can!" Blu talked with such a serious yet calmed tone. He obviously knew the physics of the pressure of which a metal cage can withstand. With all his might, he started slamming into the right side of the cage towards the side with no cages. After 4 hard slams against the cage, the fire extinguisher finally fell to the ground, pulling the rope that was attached to it, "popping" the cage open.

"Now, that's popping!" Nico exclaimed still in his cage with Pedro.

Blu got out of the cage and went straight to Jewel's cage, and without trouble, unlocks the cage.

"Hurry. We gotta help the others" Jewel nodded in agreement and helped Blu in unlocking cages for the other birds to escape.

"Over here!" Is heard throughout the plane. Blu and Jewel have no problem helping the other birds.

Some birds knocked over the cages preventing anyone from the cockpit of the plane to have a chance to stop the birds' plan of freedom. Blu then jumped to the control panel of the plane,hit a button, and finally, the doors started to open up.

Blu then jumped to the front and shouted,

"Go! Go! Go!"

"Freedom!!!!" Is heard from Pedro as everyone but two jump from the plane, flying to safety.

"Come on we gotta get out!" Jewel frantically shouts.

"No! No! Wait!" Is heard from Blu. Jewel instantly realized that Blu was flightless but wanted to ensure him for the moment.

"Hey it's okay, it's okay. We'll figure this out together, right?" As Jewel finished her sentence, her smile faded as she saw a shadow creep behind Blu.

"Blu watch out!"

Blu instantly felt a pain from his back and screamed in short-term pain.

"GET OFF OF HIM!" Jewel tries to help Blu get off from Nigel's talons but fails. Nigel then slammed Jewel very hard into the side of the plane with enough force to knock a cage into Jewel's wing.

"Ouch! My wing."

"Oh pity! Now we got two useless flightless birds." Nigel then savagely laughs only to see Blu reaching for something. Before he could react, Blu shoved a hook into Nigel's talons.

"Not cool man! Not cool!" Blu then releases the fire extinguisher launching Nigel to the front of plane. Seeing the plane quickly approaching, he couldn't do anything.

"Oh no." Some screams were heard and white feathers splattered everywhere. Now the plane was plummeting down back to the earth at a quick rate.

The bird smugglers started to panic, but one. The one who didn't care for others, now had a parachute.

"Hasta la vista, losers!" He proclaims to the other two smugglers.

Marcel, the selfish one, jumps from the plane with the only parachute.

"Hey! Wait for us!"

"Cannonball!"

Now that the plane was falling, Blu couldn't think straight. Before he could react, he heard Jewel call his name.

"Blu! Blu!" Blu frantically saw Jewel fall off the plane, trying to reach her but failed. Blu was at lost of words. Should he stay in the plane and die a few minutes later or should he jump with Jewel for a few more seconds? Seconds seemed to go by minutes. He didn't know what to do so he just stood there thinking and then suddenly, he thought of what Rafael told him "Make your choices with your heart, not your brain". Thinking that he couldn't confess his feelings for Jewel made it only worse and concluded that his life was at a loss, so he had to try to get to Jewel first before dying. And that is when he jumped...

At first he didn't get close to Jewel but then he started to go down in such a position where he could lose attitude much quicker. Finally, Jewel's body was now visible, and was only a few feet from getting into contact with her. At last, he crashed into her and rolled around for a bit until he and Jewel held each other.

"Blu! You're crazy! What are you doing?!" By his heart, for once, he let it speak for itself.

"I'm not letting you go! We're chained-to-each other birds, remember?" At that moment, time froze into space. Jewel was completely mesmerized and touched by his words. He would give his life away just so he could be with her for a few more seconds. That is when it hit her. She saw that Blu really cared about her more than his life. She couldn't want anything more but to move her beak into the most passionate kiss she would ever give. The two got lost in the moment. Jewel passionately explored Blu's beak while Blu did the same to Jewel. Both didn't want the moment to end. The kiss felt like it lasted an eternity, and when it finally ended, Blu suddenly felt his heart beating in a flow of samba and happiness.

He had a strange urge, and didn't see his wings start opening. No more than 3 seconds, he took flight that surprised both birds. Lost at words, he only wowed at himself with excitement and pure joyfulness.

"Blu! You're flying!"

"Yeah!"

"You're right! I'm not an ostrich, I'm not an ostrich!"

After almost colliding with some cable cars, Blu and Jewel started to see the airport where Linda, Tulio, and Fernando were sobbing.

"Look!" Fernando pointed to the sky to see two birds that were the only, Blu and Jewel.

Instantly, Linda looked up and saw what she thought she would never see.

"It's Blu! Tulio it's Blu! And he's flying! My Blu is flying!" The trio of humans were all shocked and excited to see the two birds approaching them. A mere 20 seconds later, Blu landed Jewel as carefully as possible onto the paved ground. Tulio instantly saw Jewel's injured wing.

"Here let me see." Jewel rebelled but Blu gave her a confident look that everything was going to be alright. As she saw him quite calm, she let Tulio get ahold of her, but quietly moaned in pain.

"We need to get back to the aviary before her pain escalates and if that happens, she would likely lose her ability of flying." That sentence alone was enough to drive worry and fear into Jewel's thoughts. Blu also shared similar characteristics.

Linda then got ahold of Jewel and Blu and started to think on how to back to the aviary.

"How are we supposed to get back to the aviary with no ride?"

"We can take the float, it's our best chance, there aren't any taxis at this time of hour", Tulio replied.

"It's our best shot. If we got here with the float, we can get back to the aviary with the float", Linda optimistically suggested.

Throughout the ride back, Jewel was constantly sobbing in pain, some sobs being louder than others.

"Hey Jewel, don't worry, Tulio is an expert at treating birds, it's what he's best at." Blu tried to reassure Jewel.

"Tulio won't let anything happen to his patients, you'll be flying in no time. Sure it might take a while, but you will get back to your talons and fly again." Blu did his best to motivate Jewel.

"Do you really think I'll be able to fly again Blu? After all, a cage probably many times as heavy as me landed on my wing. What if I can never fly again?"

Jewel begin to sob again in pain.

"I'm sorry at what happened to you Jewel, but just so you know, I'll be there the whole process of your recovery, and I p-promise I won't leave y-your your side."

What Blu said made Jewel calm down a bit and sighed.

"Do you really mean that Blu?"

"With all my h-heart, yes I do w-want to be w-with y-you." Jewel smile as she saw Blu start getting nervous at her about his feelings.

"Blu you don't have to be nervous around me. I didn't kiss you because those were my supposedly last moments before death, I kissed you because you are selfless and very caring and I wanted to show you how I felt towards you."

"Y-you mean that? Really?"

"Yes Blu, of course I mean that."

Blu then got closer to Jewel and placed his wings around Jewel. Jewel saw what he did and laid on his chest and smiled that she was with Blu. The two just enjoyed each other's company until they got to the aviary.

"We're here." Tulio finally was able to move the float through the narrow roads of Rio, the task being almost impossible, but with determination, he made sure that Jewel would have the best chance of flying again. Linda held Jewel and carefully grabbed her talons and started walking towards the entrance of the aviary. Blu flew from behind, though not very good as he has only flown once or twice.

Though Tulio and Linda entered with serious attitudes, some laughter in the aviary could be heard. Tulio then realized that he and Linda still had the carnival outfits and cringed at not thinking about that.

"It's a long story. But it doesn't matter, we got an injured bird who needs immediate help. I need some volunteers right now!" In a matter of seconds, many people became interested in helping the blue bird.

Though Blu wanted to be with Jewel, he knew well that he couldn't be in the treatment room with a bunch of ornithologists.

"Blu, you can wait in the breeding chamber, this is going to take some time. Don't worry my people are going to do their best to get Jewel in better shape, but for now, the breeding chamber is where you're best to be at. Blu simply nodded, though the human couldn't understand. Linda stood in a chair, talking with some receptionist, but that didn't matter to Blu right now. He was too worried to have any interferences with humans, he was concerned about Jewel. As he entered the breeding chamber, through some knocks and help from a fellow doctor, he just stood there. As he stood there, he started thinking about the bad things that could happen to Jewel.

What if she never gets to fly again? What if she blames him for it? Will she hate him? All these thoughts were too much for Blu, he couldn't hold it. He started to sob a little at first, but then completely broke down. After a couple minutes, he saw that his body was weak so he decided to search for food. Coincidently, he saw some mangos on the floor with a small sticky note saying, "Food for the patients" by some bushes. He noticed the sweet smell,decided to grab some and ate at a fast rate.

What a night, thought Blu as he finished his meal.

To think I was living a simple life in Moose Lake two days ago. Blu then decided to call it day and started flying towards the fake trees. He still wasn't very good at flying though he had read many books on the physics of aviation.

After a mere 5 minutes, he found a somewhat tight hollow, with a large opening. He just dived in and laid there, still sobbing from the pessimistic thoughts he had about Jewel's treatment.

What Jewel said during the ride back, does she really have feelings for me? I know I have feelings for her, but how do I show her how I feel towards her? Does she share the same feelings I have for her? Does she love me like I love her?

He didn't have answers to any of his thoughts, he could only hope for the best. He let out a big sigh, and then started catching himself falling asleep.

Whatever happens after the treatment, nothing will change my thoughts about you Jewel. Though it'll be hard to tell physically, I love you Jewel. Even if I don't ever tell you , I will always love you Jewel and nothing can ever change that.

The last thing he heard before he dozed off was a faint screech somewhere in the breeding chamber.

"I did my best but it wasn't enough, I'm sorry Blu."