Some of this one-shot was inspired by the bar fight and its scenes in the film, titled "Star Trek: The Prequel".

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Mating Season, One-Shot

Two Years Later…

Seagur perched on a nearby tree branch. It was early in the morning and already the first day of spring was upon them. It was here and now. And in this moment, Seagur scanned the area for any sign of female macaws. Just as he was about to stretch his wings, Reyes – who was now a pure scarlet, adolescent macaw – nearly rammed into his eldest brother. Tetha, also an adolescent scarlet macaw, but with duller feather colors, had gone hunting that morning. She wouldn't return to her nest until sundown.

Seagur pushed Reyes off to one side. In his haste, he told his brother, "Reyes, get off me! You think your talk about this land called 'Middle-earth' is going to help? You had better watch yourself or you'll end up like Grandpa Roland. His stories would have made us go as senile as him."

"Our Grandpa Roland wasn't senile! His stories are true, and I believe him, Seagur! Wouldn't you?" Reyes asked, defending himself and their grandfather.

"No," Seagur announced, hopping away from his youngest brother, "and I wish you would stop talking nonsense. You remember how that worked out last time between you and Rosalina. Don't you, Reyes?"

"We haven't said a word to each other in two years. I wonder how she's doing," Reyes admitted, almost daydreaming.

"Well," Seagur exclaimed to his brother, pointed towards the forest floor, "there's your chance to find out. Go on, Reyes. I'll catch up."

"Uh… all right," Reyes said, nervously. He took off, gathering speed as he spiraled down to the forest floor. The second he crash landed on the mossy ground, he moved fast to a standing position. He brushed himself off in two strokes, investigating the area as much as possible.

All around the scarlet macaw were a few female macaws, in different shades and colored feathers. These macaws giggled in amused to Reyes' nasty fall. Reyes gave them a crooked smile, before fumbling over his feet to reach Rosalina.

Now Rosalina, ever since leaving her parents' nest two years ago, had grown and changed into a beautiful blue-and-gold macaw. But then, this is what Reyes knew of Rosalina: the way she brightened the small glen with her grace. Then her laughter, which sounded like bells, or so Reyes remembered her songs. The scarlet macaw cleared his throat twice, nearly coughing in the process, as he flapped towards Rosalina, managing to stand face to face with her.

"Hello Rosalina!" Reyes said, chipper.

"Please Reyes," Reyes said, calmly, "if you have more stories about your… fantasies and dreams of visiting elvish lands, then you might as well walk away and leave me alone."

"I wasn't planning on leaving anytime soon," Reyes said, cool yet shy. "I was hoping we could talk about… us."

Rosalina chuckled, melancholically, "I would rather not dream of speaking about us. That would make you want me more, and we both know that would end badly."

"Please Rosalina, can I make it up to you?" Reyes asked, not falling for Rosalina's excuse.

"No, you can't," Rosalina said in a sharp, serious tone. "Frankly, I don't think you ever will find a way to get my attention."

"Rosalina, I just wanted to make it up to you for…" Reyes was cut off by one of Rosalina's friends. He certainly was a tough macaw, Rosalina's friend.

"Rosalina! Is there a problem?"

"Of course there is, but I can handle this one, Mac," Rosalina said, deliberately.

Reyes chuckled. He told Rosalina's friends, shrewdly, "She's just messing around with the wrong crowd." He added, regretting, "I mean we can all be friends… right, buddies?"

"I think you need to watch your back, Reyes." Mac spoke, harshly.

"I have to leave," said Reyes, ready to take flight.

"You're not going anywhere," Mac said, blocking Reyes' path with a wing, "you little clockwise. I'm sure you can't count either. There's at least five of us blue-and-gold macaws and only one of you. So, why don't you watch your mouth before I knock your beak off…?"

"Okay. I think someone here needs a drink of fresh, Amazonian Forest river water! Am I right?" Reyes announced, waving a wing up in the air.

Just like that, with no other bird or macaw paying attention to him, other than Mac's annoyed glare, Reyes made the attempt to fly. Several things happened at once: Reyes was knocked backwards by Mac. The moment Reyes stood up, he was caught in a bird fight against Mac and his male macaw friends. Rosalina did her best to stop the fight, but to no avail, for Reyes attempted to fight back hard. Just when things seemed their bleakest, an elder scarlet macaw whistled. The other macaws flew away, murmuring amongst themselves.

Once he realized it was just him, Rosalina and the elder macaw, Reyes stumbled to his feet. He made his presence known, as he walked over to a wide pool of water. "This elder macaw certainly knows how to whistle. He drove all those macaws away…"

"Reyes, mind your manners!" Rosalina snapped in a serious tone. "I'm almost glad we parted when you first spoke about Middle-earth."

"Then I'm glad I said anything about Middle-earth, Rosalina. You might well believe me," Reyes said, a little weary.

"If I may?" The elder scarlet macaw intervened. As soon as Reyes faced him, the elder macaw continued. "Some of the macaws mentioned you to me. I guess you telling stories about a mythical land must be true, but I haven't seen it… yet. Some only say it's a myth and a legend, while others just want to avoid the stories about Middle-earth at all." He introduced himself to the two macaws. "My name is Grover. You two must be Reyes and Rosalina. Something tells me you two have met before."

"Yes, we have and I would rather not talk about Reyes and his stories," Rosalina admitted, a little snobbish.

"Well then, why don't you tell us something you do know?" Reyes asked, encouraging Rosalina to start her explanation. "Besides, you owe me a good story."

"Who says I do, Reyes?" Rosalina asked, a little snazzy with her speech. She paused, admitting to Grover in a serious tone, "All right, Reyes and I met when we were fledglings. I didn't believe his stories for the longest time; even now, because I didn't believe they were true. His Grandpa Roland was senile when he mentioned anything about Middle-earth…" Her voice dropped as she asked, out of curiosity, "You think they're true. Don't you, Grover?"

Grover nodded. "I have more than truth to tell you both. There is this cat, a brown Tonkinese cat, which seems to favor Reyes and his family of scarlet macaws. If anyone knows more about Middle-earth, it's him especially since he showed up back in the 1960s, crying for any macaw's help with his mission."

"So my Grandpa Roland was telling the truth," Reyes said, stunned and in awe.

"Now he's looking for you, Reyes. He'll be here within the next year," Grover said in a serious, encouraging tone.

"Where can we find him?" Reyes asked, noticing Rosalina's shocked expression.

"Reyes!" Rosalina complained, sharply.

"What? This cat might help me – us with finding Middle-earth," Reyes said, happily.

"Yes, and you seem to not understand…"

"Understand what, Rosalina? This is the chance of a lifetime. Besides, I only came to you this morning to ask you to be my mate. Ever since we were fledglings, I always believed you to be a rare flower – a rare beauty. I couldn't… I couldn't choose to be with anyone else," Reyes said, truthfully.

Rosalina paused. She was shocked by Reyes' words. Could she believe they were true, or just another of Reyes' stories? Either way, Rosalina knew her heart belonged to him. Yet she was on the brink of telling him 'no'. She wondered which way she could turn to get out of this mess. However, it seemed to be the only way to keep Reyes quiet.

Rosalina nodded. "I… do care for you too, Reyes." She said, truthful with her words. "I don't know if this is the right time."

"How long should I wait for you?" Reyes asked. He added, bluntly, "I really wish you could believe me, for my Grandpa Roland's sake."

"Reyes, this is so quick and I don't know yet." Before she took off, Rosalina faced Reyes. She spoke again to him. "Give me until autumn. Then, I shall give you an answer." She grinned at him, before taking flight towards the tops of the trees.

"Remember:" Grover told Reyes, "next year the Tonkinese brown cat comes."

"I think I've got that part figured out," Reyes said. He leaped into the cool water, where he washed the blood off his face and body. He looked up again, as the elder scarlet macaw took flight through the Rainforest.