Author's Notes:

Hello, everyone welcome to Chapter 4, with everything going well for our lovebirds and them gradually growing closer, what trouble are they going to get themselves into today? Well let's begin and find out.


Chapter 4:

Basking in the pale moonlight, Jewel sat quietly by herself. Warm and comfortable in her nest, she tucked her head into her wing. Through half closed eyes, she peered out at the skylight which offered her, her only connection to the star strewn night sky. Black velvet encrusted with diamonds and the half silver dollar of the moon's face filled her heart with yearning. She longed to be free. Lowering her head, she could feel her eyes welling with painful tears as she reminded herself once more of all the things she had lost, all because of one evil cockatoo. In a way, he had completed what he'd set out to do. He made her ugly, or at least what she considered ugly within herself. "I wish I could feel the breeze beneath my wings," she sighed, "Oh, what I wouldn't give to be able to fly right this second." Her mind raced with thoughts, her heart longed for freedom once more. Then it just as quickly fell back upon Blu. Her mind drifted back to the kiss she had given him earlier that evening. She breathed inwards, letting herself grow more relaxed. Her thoughts continued to fall more and more upon the male macaw. A warm smiled curled upon her beak, but even that could not match the feeling that started to brew within her heart. "He must know how I feel about him," she told herself. "After two kisses, surely he must be able to feel it deep within his heart."

She shook her head and shifted her attention to the treetops. The moonlight crept in through the skylight and filtered through the artificial jungle like silver dust. The ventilation fan filtered in a pleasant evening breeze as well as the cool collective dampness from the nearby ocean. The trees bristled slightly as the fan powered up however it still did not match the power of nature itself. Jewel shuddered as a sharp pain coursed through her injured side. She winced and turned away hoping to avoid aggravating it any more. She shook her head again, cringing as her eyes focused upon the treetops. A small log house rested above caught between two thick branches that served as the main support for the structure. Blu popped his head out, spying on her. She shook her head once more and formed a sly smile knowing full well that he was perfectly aware that she watched his every move with the utmost interest. "What are you doing?" she asked, "Aren't you going to come out here and spend the evening with me?"

Blu popped his head out from the structure once again and went bright red in the face as his embarrassment took hold. He forced an embarrassed though somewhat confident smile. "Yes," he nodded, fluttering down from the tree house to her side. "I was looking for something so I could read to you for a bit tonight."

"Read to me?" Jewel's eyes filled with curiosity mixed with a little bit of dread towards the concept. The very idea felt so human to her that it almost frightened her a bit. She lowered her head, thinking carefully before continuing to speak. "Do you mean from a book or something? I don't think you'll find anything like that around here, we're birds Blu. We are not people."

"Yeah," Blu nodded, "I wanted to share with you something that was very important to me back in Minnesota. Every night, Linda and I would read something before falling asleep. It took my mind off of all the bullying from the other birds and made me feel much stronger. Going through the adventures with the heroes as they defeat the villains and rescue girls, or even rooting for the girl who thought she would never find love. It all sounded like something wonderful. I figured at the very least, it would help you to relax and forget about the pain you are suffering from."

"Oh really?" Jewel corked a sideways grin. "And you think reading would help me sleep?"

"Yes," Blu nodded, "But I can't find a single book in this room."

Jewel rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter, Pet. Come here and tell me about your past. How did you meet Linda? How did you get to Minnesota? Let's here your life story and what brought you right here, right now."

Blu shook his head, fluttering down to be by her side. His chocolate brown eyes narrowed, as he fell into deep thought. "I don't really know if that is a good idea." He explained. "There is still so much that even I don't know, it would probably confuse you, and it confuses me and I'm the one that lived it and-"

Jewel placed a wing upon the end of his beak to silence him. She curled her beak into a suspicious smile before shoving him playfully. Her bright sapphire eyes burned into his as her sarcastic nature began to take hold. "Awww what's the matter, Pet, you talk about how you root for heroes and women in your books but are you scared to tell me a story about yourself?"

"No, it's not that," Blu shook his head once more. "I just haven't really explained my past to anyone. I haven't even thought about it at all but if you really want to know then I will tell you. It all began back when I was a little chick, sitting in a grove just outside of Rio de Janeiro."


#


The sunrise shined bright over the city of Rio de Janeiro, reflecting its light against the numerous windows and buildings which formed the western half of the city. Sitting at the edge of the Copacabana beach, a lone thrush shook her wings as she took in the marvelous sight. The ocean sparkled like diamond as the golden light floated upon the surface. It did not stop there as the day broke through the canopy above, causing the trees to glow a majestic green. Off in the distance she could hear the sound of birds, beetles, and wind fusing together into a wonderful beat. This was dawn in the most beautiful city in the world. This was Rio. This was paradise.

Spreading her wings wide, she flew through the jungle, coming to a small grotto. A large number of toucans, macaws and bugs came together to sing their merriment to be in such a wonderful place. Nothing could ruin the day. Nothing could bring them down… a fact which rang out in their harmonious voices.

"All the birds of a feather

Do what we love most of all

We are the best at rhythm and laughter

That's why we love Carnaval

All so free we can sing too

Sun and Nature's big moon

Dance to the music, passion and love

Show us the best you can do."

A lone spix macaw opened his eyes for the first time, peering up at his mother and father who peered down in amazement at the sight of their little baby boy. Fragment of egg, and a white creamy liquid moved across the floor. Both cerulean birds however, didn't mind, as they held a cheerful smile upon the end of their faces. The father, a large muscular spix macaw with a buzz cut looking crown on the top of his head and fiery red eyes, the mother, a slender looking female with bright chocolate brown eyes, held him in their protective wings. They hugged him, while kissing each other in the process. "Perhaps we should go get some breakfast," the father said, eyeing his wife with a sly smile.

"Do you think that he'll be alright on his own?" the mother asked, bending down to peer into his eyes. "He's so young, so innocent,"

"He's a baby," the father rolled his eyes. "Nothing will happen. He won't even move from his nest, come on, we'll only be gone for five minutes."

Blu lowered his head and felt his eyes well up with tears. Sighing, he began to wipe them away with a swat of his wing. He could still hear their voices even after all of this time. It struck his heart like a knife. It haunted his memory and his dreams each night. "That is the only memory I have of my parents. I never saw them again." Blu admitted. "I don't remember there names, I don't remember my real name, I don't even know if they are alive or dead. Those five minutes turned into forever because I never saw them again. There's not even a clue as to who they were, what happened to them, or anything else, so when Linda gave me my identity, I rolled with it. I felt accepted. Our relationship lasted fifteen long years."

Jewel stared in silence, her beak hung ajar at the story.

Blu peered away as he continued. "It wasn't long after that, that my life would change forever."

The day dawned like any other, bright golden sunlight rained down through the jungle canopy, soaking the grotto in a wonderful golden dust. Accompanied by a pleasant tropical breeze, the many animals who had made the jungle their home surged from their habitats, greeting the world with their song.

"All the birds of a feather

Do what we love most of all

We are the best at rhythm and laughter

That's why we love Carnaval

All so free we can sing too

Sun and Nature's big moon

Dance to the music, passion and love

Show us the best you can do.

Everyone here is on fire

Get up and join in the fun

Dance with a strange, romance and danger

Magic can happen for real, in Rio

All by itself, you can't see it coming

You can't find it anywhere else."

At the sound of the music, the lone orphan macaw came awake. Breathing inwards as he took in the beauty of the lush tropical paradise, he found himself smiling as his tail feathers rhythmatically moved in unison with the beat and vocals of the celebration. Spreading his wings upon instinct, he headed for a branch and prepared to fly for the first time.

Swoosh!

The macaw stood slack jawed by the sound of nets swooping up from the ground. The horrified cries of birds rang out through the still morning as they became hopelessly entangled in the thick meshing. Any remaining birds, who tried to fly to freedom were quickly chased into metal cages. The echo of the doors slamming shut behind them, filled his ears. That horrible noise, forced him to freeze with fright. He trembled horrified and helpless. He could do nothing. His talons shifted along the branch, instinctively he moved backwards, only to slip on the bark and fall to the ground below.

Thud!

The young macaw's tail feathers bounced of the ground as it made contact. Blood surged from a fresh wound on his back as he slid and lifted from the rough, jagged terrain. He bounced one final time before he rose up from off his back and peered around with fright. "Ow," he squawked, eyeing the jungle around him for several seconds at a complete loss towards what happened. "Mommy, Daddy, where are you?" A large cage slammed down on top of him with thunderous force. The thin metal bars vibrated as they clamped together blocking his only chance of escape. He struggled to free himself, slamming his body into the side of the cage but winced as he felt a sharp pain course through his limbs. The baby macaw trembled as he saw two humans walking towards him.

"Is this the one we're after?" one of them asked.

"A baby, light blue, yup definitely looks like it." A second human laughed. "It's a blue macaw. They're rather ugly looking things aren't they?"

"Hey," the first human protested, "I happen to like blue."

"Is that so?" A third voice broke into the conversation. "Let me tell you what I like… it's green… it's flexible… and we're about to have a couple million more of them. We're about to make a lot of money. This little guy is the last of his kind and worth a fortune. Get him loaded in the truck and let's go."

All three humans burst out laughing. They picked up the cage and loaded it in the back of the truck. The macaw chirped loudly, sitting in place as he eyed the moving country side just outside the window. He could still hear the voices, echoing from another compartment. "Why don't we name him, Blu?" the first human asked, "It would certainly suit him."

"Because, idiot, he isn't your pet. We have got a buyer interested in the United States, so don't grow too attached, we don't need any blubbering during the business transaction, understood?"

For some weird reason, the macaw's mind focused on the name. "Blu," he smiled, rubbing his face against the steel grating of the cage. Even though he had very little idea of where they were taking him, or what they were talking about, at least they were nice enough to give him a name.

Blu shook his head as the memory came to an end.

"So that is how you got your name?" Jewel asked, "I would have thought Linda would have been the one to give it to you."

"No," Blu shook his head. "I heard it in the truck and it just kind of stuck. After all I was a strange blue macaw so Blu just came naturally, I never really questioned it."

"What happened next?" Jewel asked.

Blu shifted his body and pointed a wing up towards the sky. "Well they boarded me in an airplane and took me to the United States. I ended up in a little town called Moose Lake Minnesota."

THUD!

Blu came awake as the crate he was sealed in took a sudden jolt forward. He spun around, trying hard to keep himself level.

SPLAT!

The crate gave a sudden lurch, followed by an extreme cold. Breathing, his breath rose from the end of his beak in misty plumes. He watched in wonderment, though a deep rooted fear began to take affect. Where was he? Why was he here? A small white fluff crept in through a small hole in the top of the box. A small beam of light followed, offering his only salvation to the outside world. Snapping his beak shut, he grabbed hold of the piece of fluff. It's tasteless taste made him spit it out immediately, his eyes widened as he noticed that somehow the fluff had transformed into a small drop of water. "Help," he chirped, "Help me!"

The box lid creaked open. The small macaw peered up to see the face of a young girl looking at him. A beautiful red headed girl. She picked him up and stroked his head lightly. "Shhhhh, it's okay," she said, "I will take care of you."

Blu studied the girl, she was dressed in a thick pink winter coat. Her eyes peered through a set of glasses. He could feel the warmth of her breath, the same comfortable warmth flew through his heart. He cooed and rubbed against her skin.

"Mommy," he sighed.

The young girl could barely contain her excitement. She rushed home, carrying the blue bird in her possessions. Throwing open the front door, she removed her coat and ran to the kitchen to see her mother making dinner. "Mommy, look what I found." She smiled. "He was in a box on the side of the road, can I keep him? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease."

Her mother peered down at the small baby bird. She shook her head in disbelief. "Really Linda," she scolded, "This is the third animal you've rescued this week. Remember the dog you rescued from Mr. Benderson's backyard just because he was tied up?"

"But, mommy," Linda protested. "He really was inside of a box on the side of the road. I promise to take really good care of him."

The mother rolled her eyes and shook her head. She could not argue with Linda when it came to animals. "Oh alright, but this is the last time. You may keep him but only until we find his proper owners. If they don't show up then you may keep him but only if you take care of him."

"Oh I will mommy," Linda beamed with pride. "Just watch, I'll take really good care of him."


#


Years went by and Blu slowly grew comfortable in his role as a domesticated partner, companion and pet. Now standing tall as a fifteen year old bird, he sat watching the street, drinking his cup of hot chocolate. He munched on the occasional piece of marshmallow, but his attention drew upon two Canadian geese perched just outside the bookstore. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the nerd bird." Alice chuckled, moving her head dumbly as she eyed the macaw.

"Ummmm hi," Blu replied, trying hard to turn his gaze away. He knew they only wanted to pick on him. They enjoyed making his life a living hell on a daily basis. He would not let them make fun of him today.

He sipped his cocoa, listening to Linda typing away at her computer while researching what new books to add to her inventory. Blu had spent many of his nights reading most of them. In doing so, his intelligence increased significantly. He could draw vector maps and diagrams and could figure out a solution to most of his problems. "Hey, Pet, enjoying that hot cocoa?" Alice sneered, throwing a snowball against the window. "Where are you migrating too this year, huh? The breakfast nook?"

Blu continued to sip from his cocoa. "It's okay Blu, don't let her get under your feathers. Let's see her figure out how to unlatch yourself from a cage or how to be able to stop yourself from being harmed by cocoa, which honestly is actually poisonous to birds, not to me, I have built up an immunity to it. Good thing too, because it's actually pretty tasty, but she'll never know."

Another snowball struck the window. Alice's cruel taunting continued through a cruel yet amused laughter. "Go ahead, keep throwing all you want." Blu grinned. "We're surrounded by a magical force field called glass. That's why I'm toasty and warm in here while you're out there freezing your butt off."

Blu lowered his head continuing on his task. Opening up a book with a small beak he read the cover out loud. "Romeo and Juliet," he cocked his head to one side. "hmmm sounds like a good one."

Blu looked up at Jewel who hung onto his every word. "And that's really all there is too tell. A few days later, I would meet Tulio as he crashed into the glass of the bookstore, then he would bring me and Linda here and I ended up meeting you. My life isn't interesting nor is it exciting, I'm just me."

Jewel's eyes narrowed as she turned away from him. Her mind repeated the story word for word. She couldn't believe it. She mocked him for being a pet. She tried to strangle him after only fifteen seconds. She told him that she had lost everything that mattered to her. She never took into consideration that he too had lost everything. She held a very clear vivid picture of her parents. She held vivid memories of her friends and family. She could remember her capture, and yet Blu never even had the chance at a normal bird life. He didn't know his parents, never had a friend who was a bird. This macaw, who had jumped from the plane to be with her in his final moments, truly understood her. He knew her pain because he too experienced very similar things. "Blu," she gasped, "I told you that I wanted someone who saw me for something other than my body, someone who truly understands me and my pain. I never took into consideration your feelings or how I could understand you. If things had played out even the tiniest bit different, I never even would have met you."

Blu nodded his head. "Yeah, I suppose that's true."

Jewel turned her body and wrapped her good wing around him. "I don't care if you are a nerd bird, I don't care if you're socially awkward, what I care about is how much I understand you, how you jumped to be with me, how even though you never had a single bird friend you still found a way to be comfortable around me."

Blu corked his head back, his jaw dropped at her sudden openness towards him. "What are you trying to say?" he asked, swallowing a large lump of anxiety in his throat.

"I love you," she said, her cheeks growing a deep read, "I can't really explain why, but I love you."


Author's Note:

Well there you go, another chapter :P If you haven't noticed, I plan to do at least 1 chapter each day, unless life gets in the way, if that's the case I'll upload 2 the night before life gets hectic or 2 the following day. Either way, that is the quota I have set for myself to provide you a constant upload schedule.

You'll probably notice a huge difference this time, and that is I had to tell Blu's origin story a little earlier this time around. That is because I didn't want to tell the dated story of the Titanic which originally appeared. Back in 2012, I added that in as a way to show how Blu would sacrifice himself for Jewel, however that is very clearly the case with his jump from the plane to be with her during their final moments. I also cut it from here, because 2012 has passed, we're no longer on the 100th anniversary of the sinking. Telling the story here and now would serve the story no real purpose, and instead found a way to get Blu and Jewel to connect on a deeper more meaningful level, and that is by giving them similar backstories of despair, loss, and suffering at the hands of humans (even though we know Linda would never do such a thing)

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. See you tomorrow!