Chapter 2

Newton wasted little time getting from place to place. He cruised in the early morning sky at great speed before slipping underneath the rainforest canopy and into the Sanctuary. Stealthily, he perched onto the doorway of Blu and Jewel's nest and watched over them for a few minutes. They and their children were fast asleep, exhausted from the previous day's events.

Getting a little impatient, Newton decided to softly coax them into waking up.

"Hey guys," he whispered, almost as softly as the wind. "Hey."

Blu stirred in his sleep, and Jewel didn't move an inch.

He proceeded to get a little louder. "Wake up, guys."

This time, Jewel moved, and Blu's eyes twitched.

Newton didn't want to waste any more time.

"Hey guys," he spoke in a normal conversation voice. At a moment's notice, Blu jumped from bed and stood in a battle stance. Jewel opened her eyes and looked at Newton.

"Sorry about that," he laughed. "I need to talk to you."

"Sure," Blu acknowledged, fixing his feathers and laughing a little to his wife. "Want me to come with you?"

"Yeah I'd like that."

Blu took off from the nest, followed by Newton, who quickly caught up with him.

"What's up?" Blu inquired.

"I'm told you know someone of great importance to my friends and I right now," Newton said, taking a turn out of the sanctuary.

"Who do I know?" Blu was confused.

Newton smiled. "A human! I'm told that you were owned by a human, and that she is married to a man named Tulio!"

Blu was surprised at the old avian's excitement. "Well yeah! But what's so important about him?"

"You wouldn't happen to know his last name, would you?"

Blu smiled. "Well, that's easy! It's Monteiro."

Out of nowhere, Newton stopped dead in his flight path, flapping his wings in a stationary position. His eyes widened, still staring at Blu, and his jaw dropped a little. It took Blu a moment to realize that Newton had stopped, as he soon put on the brakes and backed up in the air to look at him.

Blu still was very confused. "I don't understand…what's so important about him?"

"You and I have a lot to talk about," Newton's voice was low and serious.
"Come with me. We've got some important matters to discuss."

Newton instructed Blu to follow, and he did just that, heading back through the Sanctuary and heading around to the north side of Corcovado.

At the crack of dawn, the eyes of Rafael took their first peeks into the daylight world outside of his tree. Ensuring the safety of his family, he looked to his right to see Eva still sound asleep, and his children in the corner of the room snuggled together doing the same. Feeling content, and with no reason to get up, Rafael closed his eyes and rested some more.

Underground, in their secret bedroom underneath the market, Nico and Pedro were tossing and turning in their sleep, while Ivan lay in the corner, sleeping like a baby. Opening the club would have to wait for a while, as the three entrepreneurs enjoyed some more rest.

Inside the Conservatory, Margaret was still propped up against the cage with Peter inside. The initial rays of sunshine did not come through the windows, as the Aviary was surrounded on all sides by forest. However, inside the cage, Peter was awakening. He was still feeling groggy, as he had just had a pacemaker surgically implanted on his heart the night before. Eager to hear the voice of his companion, Peter whispered to her, hoping for a response.

"Margaret," the soft voice of Peter carried just a centimeter or two. "Hey. Babe. Wake up."

The small sensations of sound brought Margaret to life, opening her eyes and putting a smile on her face like she hadn't smiled in a long time. Her bright eyes brought life to the room, and to Peter.

"How're you feeling?" she asked.

"I guess you could say better," Peter said honestly, "though I don't plan on going very far for a little while. I still need to rest and get used to these changes. I…I may not ever be able to do all the things I used to love to do. Sure I'll be able to fly again, but how fast? And for how long? I just need some time."

"You'll get all the time you need. No one's rushing you!"

Peter looked out into the room. "I just can't stop thinking about what those other birds did for me. Hopefully I'll be up and running in a matter of a few days, and I'll get to see them all, and thank them personally. It's the least I can do." He smiled.

Margaret smiled back. "I'm sure we can arrange that."

It didn't take long for Tulio to reach the Conservatory. Being one of the lead directors, he was the first to arrive that Wednesday morning. After parking his car, he walked to the front entrance and unlocked the door, entering the building. He closed the door behind him, scanning the room and looking for anything significant.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed a blue and yellow macaw near the cage containing the Glaucous Macaw. He proceeded with caution towards the other side of the room. It wasn't hard for the macaw to recognize movement, and it turned towards Tulio with an angry attack-ready face on. A squawk from the Glaucous in the cage took the bird off alert, however. Tulio was convinced that they communicated.

"I may have no idea what either of you are saying," Tulio spoke to both birds, "but I know you both understand what I'm saying. Don't you worry, though. Soon enough, we'll have someone here that will finally break the language barrier!"

Tulio proceeded over to another area of the lab, and began working on various setups throughout the lab.

I'd like to continue to apologize for letting everyone down. As you all know, Rio 2 is fast approaching, and the story is going to have to be consolidated into two books instead of the original three, and unnecessary filler will be predominantly removed. This chapter was really short because again, it's been a month and a half since I've put anything out. I'm as angry and frustrated as you guys are, so there's no denying that on my part. Next chapter will be the usual that you'd expect from me: good quality, of good length, and of course, more from your favorite characters!

Looking ahead to Chapter 3: Blu at the Hyacinth's nest, Tulio learning more about his father's past, and Jewel's quality time with the kids!