Author's Note:
Greetings everyone! It appears as if I have another story to present to you all, does it not? Well, yes, if you did make that assumption, you are indeed correct. Before anyone asks, this is NOT the sequel to "Don't Go" that I mentioned almost a year ago, as that story is yet to be completed. Rather, this is an entirely different story that has much more to do with the first film than my previous work. Before you actually begin reading this story, I would first like to point out that I actually brainstormed the idea for it some two months before "Don't Go" was even a mere concept, though I held back on it for the longest time. Now that it is Christmas Eve, I wish that this work of mine will serve to you all as a sufficient Christmas gift. Let's fly!
April 23rd, 2011, Rio de Janeiro
At a gradual pace, the glowing yellow sun continued its passage in an upwards direction, eventually finding its position within the pale-blue sky that it held every day before nightfall set in. The sun flared every now and again for several moments, standing overhead of all things within the stupendous city of Rio de Janeiro; from the soft, white clouds, to the tall, gray buildings, to the marvelous, conical Sugerloaf Mountain, to the immense Tijuca Forest, and even to the few birds of numerous varieties that were flying about at this early of an hour.
The sunlight now displayed its beauty as it shimmered across the waters of Botafogo Bay, the two-mile-wide body of water that separated both the middle-class and wealthy neighborhoods of Rio from the peninsula on which Sugerloaf Mountain sat. The light also overlooked the many favelas within the city, large collections of small houses that were typically stacked atop one another and were rife with poverty, many of which stood upon the many mountains that Rio offered.
A few children within the favelas were now playing soccer with each other, often with balls that had been long since tattered across their surfaces. Some of the children instead grabbed sticks and twigs that were scattered across the streets that showed much wear and tear and would take empty cans of food from both their household cupboards as well as from off the streets, using them as drums. Other children soon joined in the fun, using various other household items as instruments, sufficiently quelling their many sorrows with their music.
As Carnaval had ended the previous day, the streets throughout Rio bore no costumed parade-goers or Samba school instructors walking along them, nor did they bear any extravagant and colorful floats whose wheels ran along them. Consequently, the dramatic increase in tourism within not only Rio, but Brazil as a whole, had substantially died down. With that, no longer were the doors of the many foreign currency exchange buildings crowded, and no longer were the dazzling colors of the Carnaval parade taking place within the Sambadrome Marquês de Sapocaí stadium visible from afar at night.
Before long, many of the birds inhabiting the lush, urban rainforest of Tijuca (that was located north of Sugerloaf Mountain) arose from their peaceful sleep and from their hollows that they slept in. Finches whistled, macaws and conures squawked, toucans sang, and spoonbills honked, their distinct calls all echoing throughout the jungle. Special however, were the frigatebirds, which sat together along branches, inflating their bright-red gular pouches, then beating on them with their wings in the same manner that humans used their hands to play the drums.
As the birds usually did, they all assembled within a matter of seconds, forming a spectacular display as they all sang the most popular song sung by the birds of Rio de Janeiro, Real in Rio. From a very young age, virtually every creature inhabiting Tijuca in possession of feathers and a beak was taught this lively, upbeat, and joyful song on repeat, until they knew its entirety by heart.
Among the many fabulous acts performed by the birds during their few minutes of simultaneous song was the "Formation of the Flower," which was exactly as its formal name implied. The act involved a group of thirteen Red-and-green Macaws first gathering around, only a few feet above one of the many crystal-clear streams passing through the rainforest. Five of the thirteen macaws then formed a circle and bent over whilst in flight, the topside surfaces of their wings facing upwards.
This was the part of their magnificent presentation that resembled the flower itself, while the rest of the macaws circled around their companions and tilted their bodies, their backs now facing the water below them. Lifting their wings up and down to keep themselves aloft, whilst also circling around the red, harlequin, and cyan flower, while difficult, still provided for a wonderful sight.
A minute eventually came to pass since the song had begun, and five macaws, joined by three Golden Conures and two Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, flew in a single-file line, shortly afterward surpassing a tree of slightly taller stature than most of the other trees within the rainforest. However, this tree was not like any other within the Tijuca Forest, for within its spacious hollow lived the most celebrated and beloved macaws in all of Rio de Janeiro - Tyler Blu Gunderson, and his love interest, Jewel Torres.
The last Spix's Macaws known to exist on earth, they had received praise from virtually all of the avian inhabitants of Tijuca Forest almost as soon as they had made their arrival, especially from those birds that the couple had helped free aboard a smuggler's cargo plane the previous month. Blu himself had been selected as a candidate for earning the title of the King of Carnaval by the Yellow Canary Nico and the Red-crested Cardinal Pedro, in gratitude of his actions on the 9th of March, now little more than six weeks ago.
During those past six odd weeks, Blu had made frequent visits to Jewel in the Blu Bird Sanctuary, whose broken left wing had still been recovering. Up until several days preceding this day, she had worn a wrapping of bandages around her injured wing, allowing it to heal. Whilst Jewel had still been undergoing medical care at the sanctuary from Tulio, among several other doctors, Blu had spoken to her in the treatment and surgery rooms (the latter of which being where Jewel had received her wing bandages.)
Several times during the months of both March and April, Blu had also carried her in his talons to the Carnaval parades, of course whilst Tulio had been on break, as to avoid trouble. Jewel's bandages had finally been removed on the 20th of April, exactly six weeks following the occurrence of the injury. The following day, she had done seldom more than spend time in the treatment room while under surveillance.
There, the doctors had carefully observed her flight patterns, eventually leading to the decision to release her the next day, rather than keeping her in the sanctuary for several more days of flight rejuvenation. This was due to her good flight performance she had demonstrated for both Tulio and his coworkers.
Following Jewel's release from the sanctuary on the 22nd, she and Blu had flown together on a tour through some of the middle-class neighborhoods of the city, guided by Nico and Pedro. Along the way, many familiar and unfamiliar birds alike had come to greet the two Spix's Macaws, which to both birds' surprise, had forwarded few intrusive questions.
They had also visited numerous marketplaces, shops, and one of Rio's hallmark locations - Corcovado Mountain, which upon its peak stood the famous Cristo Redentor statue. The tour all around had left both birds utterly exhausted, and as a result, they had fallen asleep much earlier than they had originally anticipated.
As of now, the two Spix's Macaws remained asleep. Blu now lied along the hollow's nest composed of mostly leaves, upheld by branches, twigs, and other easily accessible building materials found in Tijuca. He had designed the nest all on his own, putting his mathematical talents to the test in the midst of its construction, which had been partaken in by not only himself, but the Toco Toucan Rafael as well. As Jewel had still been hospitalized at the time, she unfortunately could not contribute to the construction of the nest, despite her strong desire to do so.
Whilst the nest had still been under construction, Blu had slept in either the aviary beside Jewel, or within Rafael's hollow. However, as much gratitude as he held for Rafael for teaching him the basic principles of flight, Blu still held very little tolerance for the rather atrocious behavior on the part of his eighteen children, who constantly attacked not only him, but any stranger who dared approach his hollow. In fact, ever since he had first encountered Rafael's children, Blu had thought of them as little more than feathered wasps that masked their maliciousness with their innocent appearance.
Blu's body, for both the entire night and as of yet, was facing Jewel, whom of which was curled up beside him, her body facing Blu. His wing was firmly wrapped around her, blanketing most of her body below the neck with an additional layer of cerulean feathers. Not long afterward, when only about a minute of Real in Rio remained, Jewel's gorgeous turquoise eyes slowly opened, before she blinked for several seconds, then concentrating on her love interest beside her. Also gorgeous were her cloud-white facial markings, which progressively gleamed as ever the more sunlight made its way into the hollow by the minute.
Her beak could not help but curve into a warm smile as she watched Blu's chest rise up and down for several seconds, before deciding it was time for him to arise from his slumber. She then used the muscles within her left wing to push it upwards, simultaneously lifting the wing that Blu had wrapped around her in order to awaken him.
For good measure, her head also leaned forward, nudging him against the shoulder in a gentle manner with her small, gray beak. Only seconds later, Blu's hazel eyes also opened, before he blinked for a moment, then concentrating on Jewel whilst also sporting a loving smile upon his own gray beak, which was both larger and taller than Jewel's beak.
"Good morning, Jewel," Blu whispered drowsily, following his realization that she had awoken him just seconds ago. After then realizing that his love interest was lifting his wing upwards, he asked her whether she was inclined to stay within the hollow under his wing or not. "Do you want my wing off you?"
"Sure thing," she replied sweetly. With that, Blu did as she had asked, lifting his left wing in the air for a brief period, before placing it over his chest. He then looked towards the sky, observing its color for a brief while, before concluding that the time stood at around 7:00 AM, possibly earlier or later by a slight degree. As Blu had usually arisen from his sleep at either 10:00 or 11:00 in the morning for the past fifteen years of his life, he could not help but wonder as to why Jewel had decided to awake him at such an early hour.
"Why so early?" he asked quietly, almost speaking in a tone of complaint.
"Back where I grew up, waking up early was basically a universal requirement," Jewel answered.
"Wait, was?" Blu gasped rather loudly. "What happened to your original home?"
"I'd… Well… I'd rather not say," Jewel replied, speaking in a slow manner, whilst her eyes bore a look of sadness within them. A sudden frown then appeared on her beak, before Blu gave his response to what she had said.
"Hmm, fair enough. I don't even know where I was born anyway. If I don't even know my own past, I might as well not know yours if you prefer to keep it private." A brief pause in conversation then came to exist between the two macaws, until Blu, followed by Jewel, arose from where they had lied down inside the nest, stepping a foot or so forward in the direction of the hollow entrance. Blu gazed at the city that stood off in the distance before him, then speaking to Jewel again, who now stood only inches behind him. "You know, now that you've recovered and everything, I think we should maybe spend some time together today, or maybe tomorrow."
"Well, any suggestions?"
"I guess we could hitch a ride on the top of a bus and observe Rio," Blu recommended. "If we flew on out of here pretty soon, we could get a look at all of the schedules and decide which bus we'd like to ride."
"There you are with those bus schedules again; do you really like buses or something?" Jewel giggled.
"Oh! You actually remembered when I suggested to Rafael all those weeks ago that we catch the bus instead of flying, yeah… Funny, I can barely recall a lot of what I said that day myself, and with all those analgesics they put you on in the aviary, I would have assumed you wouldn't have remembered such a minute detail."
"What's an analgesic?" Jewel asked, bearing a puzzled look upon her beak.
"Ah, of course, why did I even assume you already knew that?" Blu scolded himself, leaning forward and hitting the upper portion of his beak with his right foot, clenched into a fist. Afterward, he faced Jewel again, explaining the meaning of the word she had questioned. "It's a fancy term used to describe a painkiller, basically. I learned all about medicine from a few books while I was with Linda."
"How unpredictable," Jewel sighed sarcastically, though in a friendly manner, her eyes still focusing on her love interest. Blu's beak then displayed a sheepish grin, his feathered cheeks below his light-blue eye rings transforming from their normal color of cerulean to a bright pink. He then continued the conversation after he had felt it unnecessary to dwell on the subject of medicine, the color of his cheeks then reverting to their original color.
"Okay, but back on topic, what was just on my mind? Ah, yes! We were gonna go sightseeing on the top of a bus, that's right. Anyway, are there any other suggestions? You probably know the best spots in the city - wait, how long have you lived here?"
"Not too long, maybe a year," Jewel answered quickly, before immediately abandoning this subject in order to continue the original subject of the conversation. "Moving on, we could go perch on the Vista Chinesa, it's not too far away; flying there is easy breezy. I'd much rather do that instead of riding a bus. You know, there's a lot less noise."
"And what is the Vista Chinesa, exactly?"
"That gazebo that the two of us spent the night in when we first met."
"Oh, that's the name, huh? How'd you figure it out?"
"I asked a Blue-and-yellow Macaw in the sanctuary. He also had a broken wing."
"Great, I guess to keep us both happy, we can do that for a bit and maybe catch a bus schedule." Jewel rolled her eyes in response to Blu making yet another suggestion involving a bus ride. However, she almost instantaneously regretted this action of disrespect, after feeling she needed to pay her debt to him for saving her life not too long ago, either one way or another. Blu then turned towards his love interest, asking her whether she approved of his decision or not. "You're okay with that, right?"
"Yes, I'm okay with that, I mean, I just love buses, don't I?" she lied, figuring it would stand as more beneficial to her relationship if she remained polite. However, Blu did not believe she meant what she had said in the slightest, due to the tone of her voice hardly varying from when she spoke sarcastically.
"Hey, it's fine, if you don't want to go, you don't -" Blu began.
"No, no, I'll go, okay, I'm sorry," Jewel interrupted, now speaking in a tone of sincerity. "Maybe I'm not going into this with an open mind; look, I'll go with you, just please, find a bus that doesn't have exhaust you can smell from a mile away."
"Yes, obviously! Urgh, I hate the ones that have the awful-smelling exhaust too." Blu then ceased speaking for a moment, before changing the subject within a very short period of time. "Okay, should I go get breakfast now? I mean, your wing is still sorta recovering."
"No, I should get breakfast," Jewel insisted. "You're still learning to fly, and besides, I think I should be flying a bit more now after not flying for so long."
"Alrighty then, I guess I'll go to Rafael's in the meantime while you're getting fruit. I need to uh… Well, um, get something from there."
"What is it? C'mon, just tell me."
"Uh… Yeah, so, Eva asked me the other day if I needed softer leaves in this nest for you, ya know, in case your wing still hurt a little," Blu explained. "Anyway, I accepted her offer of six Reals."
"Why would she want human money?" Jewel asked, utterly perplexed at Rafael's mate needing some of the human currency of Brazil.
"'Cuz apparently, she needs it so that she can head on over to the Market Forro and get some guavas and such - she says it's the only fruit that'll shut her kids up. Ugh, you do not want to know the full truth of what those barbarians did to me. One time, Miguel pretended he couldn't fly and fell off a tree branch, so I rushed out and tried to grab him. Guess what happened next? Well, this other one named Manoela or somebody else - no wait, sorry - yeah, so anyway, she hits me in the face with a mango tied to a vine, which she swung towards me after I got out of the hollow exit."
"How fun," Jewel remarked, once again speaking in a sarcastic manner. Soon thereafter, silence once again came to exist between the two birds, and now, it truly was silent, as finally, the rainforest's ensemble of birds had concluded singing Real in Rio. As a matter of fact, the song had ended roughly two minutes prior, though the two Spix's Macaws had been so engaged in their conversation that they had been rendered utterly oblivious to this notable change. Finally, Blu spoke again, putting his wing to his beak as he coughed on the first word that left it.
"So, uhm, sorry, uh… Anyway, do you wanna get breakfast now, or should we still talk for a bit?"
"I mean, I'd love to talk and all, but I'm usually pretty hungry, especially in the morning," Jewel replied.
"Okay, I guess I'll be going to Rafael's then. Just, uh, well… Be careful with your wing, is all." A moment later, Jewel took several steps forward, with Blu simultaneously turning around and walking back to the center of his nest, clearing the way for Jewel so that she could now fly. She then placed her right foot on the hollow entrance's lip, before leaning and then pushing herself forward, taking flight as she exited the hollow. In an even shorter period of time that followed, she completely left Blu's sight after turning rightward, with only the sound of her wingbeats indicating her mere presence.
Some six seconds later, Blu figured that it was virtually impossible for him to potentially make an airborne collision with Jewel by now, and as a result, he took flight in the same fashion as her. He made a turn shortly thereafter to his left, flying with ease throughout the rainforest as he made his way past the few birds still flying in the area. A few macaws, parakeets, toucans, and conures still not only flew within a very close proximity to Blu, but also stood along branches and sang various songs together.
However, the only one of these groups of birds that Blu was particularly impressed by whilst still in flight was an entire choir of six Peach-fronted Parakeets, all standing along a single branch, singing a celebratory song. Even the males of the group were able to reach very high notes flawlessly, leading the melody throughout roughly half of the song while the females in the group led the melody during the other half of the song. However, as beautiful as the tune was, Blu was as typical, more fascinated in testing his knowledge of sound frequency by assuming as to how many Hertz that the highest notes of the song measured.
After about two minutes had come to pass, with few turns or dives having to have been made on the part of the last male Spix's Macaw, he had seen fewer and fewer macaws pass by. Nonetheless, it was not long before Blu turned his head to his right, catching sight of two more Peach-fronted Parakeets standing on the inside of their hollow. The hollow itself had little within it other than a typical parakeet nest, though the tree it had been made in was quite a tall one, standing at only a slightly shorter height than the tree belonging to Blu and Jewel. The pair of birds standing inside the hollow consisted of one male and one female, facing each other from the left and right side respectively, their wingtips now in each other's wingtips, a romantic gesture that even the largely-domesticated Blu had come to recognize.
More notable however, was that the latter of the two parakeets wore a cloud-white orchid on the same direction of her head that faced Blu, neatly tucked in her silky head feathers. Both its petals and sepals were pristine, and equally as remarkable was its bright-yellow column that nicely held together all of the flower's petals and sepals. Blu could only assume that the parakeets had recently married, as he had learned from Nico and Pedro not long ago that white orchids in Tijuca Forest among birds generally referred to marriage.
This assumption was reinforced when only after Blu had slowed down his flight speed by a slight degree in order to view the couple, the male parakeet smiled gleefully, while the female's feathery cheeks glistened with tears of joy. Such joy, Blu thought, could only be brought to a bird via an event that truly mattered them by every stretch of the imagination.
Unfortunately, the mere sight of the loving couple, combined with the assumption Blu had just made, caused him to blink for a few seconds in anxiety. He was then at that moment reminded that if he were to save his own species from extinction, he would first have to marry Jewel, something that he had seldom ever thought about. This was especially a problem in his mind when considering his socially awkward nature.
Only a moment later, vivid images appeared in Blu's mind, depicting him screaming at his wedding and running away in nervousness, whilst a crowd of eager avian spectators squawked in disapproval. Even though he loved Jewel more than anything in the world, he had indeed, all but forgotten the only reason he had been summoned to Rio by Tulio in the first place.
For many years, Blu had read about parrot courtship in human books and knew little about the macaws' culture, just as no human understood it. However, now that he lived in Tijuca among other birds of many varieties, he understood that macaw couples remained mates for life unless either mate died. It was also customary in virtually all neotropical parrot cultures for marriage to be a requirement before two birds started a family.
In fact, it was one of the few beliefs shared by almost all parrots, as the birds inhabiting Tijuca generally had different opinions as to what constituted as rectitude from parrot communities located elsewhere. Even at his fears for the worst of what could happen when that day when he would marry Jewel would soon come, Blu nonetheless kept muttering to himself, his words pertaining to the fact that if he were to back down, he would wipe out his entire kin. He also devised of other sets of words to motivate himself, though these were not spoken aloud, only thought: Even though I never knew my parents, not continuing the species would be a spit in the face to them if they're dead.
Almost as soon as he concluded his muttering however, he noticed that not a single other macaw was in sight as of now. Blu then concluded that he had finally made his way to where most of Tijuca's toucan community resided, where relatively few macaws lived due to slight differences in etiquette and customs between them and the toucans. As Blu continued flying, the ground constantly ascended and flattened on repeat, which was to be expected due to Tijuca's presence atop Pedra Bonita, a mountain which had so far (not too far above from where most of the birds lived) risen no less than 2,296 feet, relative to its base.
Soon enough, after making several more turns, an open trail that was largely absent of foliage came into view, and within seconds, he found a peculiar, medium-sized tree that lied to his left, bearing a broad trunk and thick branches, all characteristics that indicated that it was Rafael's hollow. Blu still continued flying, though he gulped again and began hovering, bearing a nervous expression upon his beak after he had only now realized that he had forgotten the six Reals Eva had requested from him.
Even at this, he still decided it was worth it to continue his approach, until finally, after flying a further ten feet, a head featuring black feathers, dark-blue eye rings, and a large orange bill popped out from rightward side of the hollow entrance.
"Hey, Blu, how's Jewel?" Rafael called, unsure that speaking in a normal tone of voice would be able to be heard clearly on the part of his friend.
"She's fine," Blu replied as he grasped the hollow entrance lip with his talons, whilst Rafael backed away by several feet, allowing him to land. Rafael then came to a standstill and smiled, before continuing the conversation he intended to engage in with his friend.
"What did you come here for, anyway?"
"Oh, um, last time I was here, Eva asked me to get six Reals, 'cuz she wants to buy guavas at Market Forro. The problem is that I don't have any money on me. Great, I'm great at keeping promises, aren't I?"
"Well, you sure kept your promise when you said you weren't gonna let Jewel go, remember?"
"Wait, I told you that? Ah-ha, yes, of course I did… Weeks ago. So, uh, yeah, Jewel and I agreed to go out and ride a bus. As you can imagine, she agreed reluctantly, but in return, I also agreed to watch the city with her on top of the Vista Chinesa, ya know, the Chinese-looking gazebo nearby?" After Rafael gave no answer as to whether or not the gazebo was familiar to him, Blu's right foot reached down onto the floor of the hollow. He was utterly astounded when his head turned both left and right, promptly catching sight of not a single Toucan hatchling, nor even Eva for that matter. As a result, he could not help but ask Rafael why they were all gone. "Hey, uh, what happened to Eva and the kids?"
"Oh, they're all at Copacabana right now. Since you got a good memory and all, I'd expect you remember when I said I'd have Miguel tested, right?"
"Yeah, I actually… No… I mean yes… Yes, I actually do remember!" Blu awkwardly stumbled over his own words, answering Rafael's question.
"Well, anyway, my sister Nela has five wild kids herself, and she's the one I hired to get him tested."
"And how will he be tested?"
"You know what, never mind. In case you're wondering, the other seventeen kids are being taught dance lessons by Kipo and Nico. Anyway, let's go back to what you were talking about earlier." At Rafael's first sentence, Blu bore an unpleasant look on his beak, though this expression disappeared soon thereafter, then continuing the conversation.
"The gazebo, right. Do you know about the Vista Chinesa?"
"I do. Human tourists go there all the time, especially during the day. Anyway, are you sure Jewel will like riding a bus? I remember the one time I saw her in the sanctuary the day after she got her wing broken, and I saw her acting a bit feisty towards the doctors that were examining the bandages, making sure she wasn't doing anything to them. Eventually, they sedated her, and I flew away from the window I was watching her from. Besides the point, I'd think she wouldn't appreciate human stuff very much, especially after getting poked through the skin by a man-made piece of metal."
"I don't know why else she'd like to go to the Vista Chinesa then. I mean, it's also a man-made thing after all. It's even got Chinese architecture - wait, do you know what China is? Wait a minute, never mind, let's just move on."
"Alright, well, you're absolutely right that the gazebo is manmade. But, of course, there's the fact that a gazebo usually doesn't cause a sudden surge of pain and knock you out a couple seconds later."
"I know you were just talking about that, but honestly, I don't think hypodermic needles have a lot to do with riding buses."
"Sorry, you're right; I guess the gazebo also doesn't make a bunch a noise and smell terrible from the tail feathers."
"You mean the tailpipe where the exhaust comes out of?"
"Sure, whatever, tailpipe, a hawk's might."
"That doesn't even rhyme."
"I know, I know, but the point is, are you sure she wants to go on top of the bus?"
"Yeah, I'm sure, I guess. She said she wants to go into it with an open mind or something."
"Ai caramba! Blu, you just admitted that you missed something."
"What? She said she wanted to go!"
"No, not that. You said "or something" at the end of your sentence. When you're out with a lady, you don't want to do that. You wanna be sure of exactly whatever you're talking about, and you don't want to give the impression that that "something" would be better for your relationship."
"I'm sure, Rafael! I dunno, we just say "or something" at the end of our sentences a lot in America."
"And I believe you. But, in the future, you might not be sure. Keep that word of advice in your heart, not your head. Got it?"
"Uh, yeah, sure, I got it."
"Okay, now that we've got that out of the way, is there anything else on your mind?"
"Oh! Actually, yes, I got quite a lot. I saw a Peach-fronted Parakeet couple on my way here, and the gal had a white orchid on the side of her head. That means they just married, right?"
"Sure does. I think you might be talking about Lílian and Gianfranco. They were actually one of my favorite couples before you and Jewel showed up."
"Huh, Gianfranco?" Blu asked, bearing confusion in his voice. "That's an Italian name."
"I know. His parents named him that 'cuz his father escaped a zoo in Italy, got on a ship and made his way across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, before finally getting here. He taught Gianfranco Italian, and as far as I can tell, he's the only one of us that can speak it, since his father croaked a couple years ago."
"Wow, that would make for a spectacular movie. It'd probably make a ton of money in India and China."
"I bet it would," Rafael answered politely, though he did not have even the slightest idea of what Blu had just spoken about. Blu then transitioned the subject of the conversation very quickly, the expression that his beak displayed also changing from one of friendliness to one of nervousness.
"But back on topic, when I saw them, I realized what I have to do next… Ya know, I have to marry Jewel soon."
"Well, you're gonna have to propose to her first, but you never know, she might hint at marriage sooner than you think and try and set the mood. But, one thing I should mention is that I don't ever recall seeing her prior to me meeting both of you the day Carnaval started, so I'm just going to assume she came from somewhere else. That might be a bit of a problem in your relationship in the long run."
"And why could that be a setback in the long run, exactly?"
"Cultural differences, obviously!" Rafael replied in an unusually impatient tone of voice that Blu was rather startled by, throwing his black wings up in the air past his bill.
"Well, I do know that Nico and Pedro visited her sometimes. Did anything happen then? Whoah, wait, how come I haven't asked that already? I mean, sorry, sorry, uh… Yeah, just tell me if anything happened between them." After Blu had forwarded this request, Rafael's speaking tone had returned to its typical fashion that bore within it, a sense of patience and enthusiasm.
"I'm actually glad you asked, 'cuz that has a lot to do with her cultural differences. Nico and I were out at Corcovado one time while Pedro was busy with Kipo. There, he told me that he gave a white flower to Jewel as a "get well soon" gift at the sanctuary, and she screamed… No, seriously, she screamed 'cuz she thought she was dying! A few hours later, Nico visited her again and asked her why she had freaked out over seeing a flower. Well, he-he… Apparently, wherever she's from, they only give you a white flower if either A; you're already dead or B; you're about to die or likely will die. The next day, he visited her a third time, and she asked to be given the flower after she realized it was just a cultural misunderstanding. You see, that's the kind of stuff I'm talking about."
"Wow. I'm sure glad I wasn't Nico that day."
"Me too, I can't imagine giving a gift to Eva and having her freak out like that. It'd be funny to any birds watching, but it'd definitely be terrifying for me."
"Okay, um, I guess I should thank you for the advice," Blu said appreciatively, before saying his farewells to the toucan for the time being. "Bye, see ya soon!" After that, Blu turned around, facing the hollow entrance and stepping up on its lip before spreading out his wings, receiving a response from Rafael who now stood behind him.
"See you too, Blu, have fun!" Blu then flapped his wings, making his way out of the hollow of his friend, before finally returning to his and Jewel's hollow in a similar fashion as to how he had left it earlier in the morning.
Author's Fact of the Day:
Despite being one of the most frequently-shown bird species in the first "Rio," the only Peach-fronted Parakeet to receive a name is Petricious, Nigel's replacement in the film industry.