Holy Lord am I excited for this chapter! Speaking of which: Happy Easter! Anyway... this chapter is so adorable! ok enough out of me, or I might give away the whole chapter! XD
Chapter 7
Date Night
"Why did you bring your mom?" Patty asked me as we flew behind my mother who was chatting with a few of her friends.
"Because I'd like to see Nico live for longer than the first three minutes I leave him alone in my hollow." I replied.
"Aw come on. She's not that bad." Josie defended.
"Not that bad?" I gave her a skeptical look. "I barely mentioned that he was born on the east side and she almost threw him out; li-ter-ally."
"Wow."
"Yeah. My dad saved him though. I have no idea what I'd do without him." I sighed.
"You'd be locked away in your room, never allowed to leave…" Then patty smirked and spoke in a more dramatic tone. "Until your bottle cap wearing prince came and saved you from the clutches of the over protective mother, and spirited you away into happily ever after."
"Would you shut up?" I smacked her wing. "What if he flies by?"
"You said he was asking your dad if he could take you on a date. That means he likes you; so why would it matter?" Josie countered.
"Well…uh…umm…" I stammered. What would it matter?
"Ha! We're right!" My friends cheered. "Nico and Sonny sittin' in a tree; K-i-s-s-i-n-g!" They sang loudly.
"Oh that's it! I'm gonna kill you!" I zoomed into Patty and dove under Josie making them both wobble in flight. Then dove between them making them spin around and around, unable to stop.
"Ok ok! We're sorry!" They called and I righted their flight so they didn't fall out of the sky.
"That'll teach you to mess with me." I taunted and stuck my tongue out at them.
"At least we know we're right." Patty grinned.
"About what?"
"You're clearly falling for Nico, no matter how hard you try to deny it." Josie affirmed.
I opened my beak to snip back that they were wrong, but no words entered the air. Could they be right? Could Nico really be different? He was nothing like Antonio, and he clearly didn't like Ana at all. He wasn't an east-sider. He was special.
There was something, I didn't know what, that I felt when he was near me. Something that made my heart pound, and my cheeks feel warm. I would say it was…love…but I said that with Antonio. For that stupidity I ended up with a broken beak, a rolled ankle, and a shattered heart. I had sworn that I would never say I was in love again.
But today at the beach… it wasn't just the song. It was the way he looked at me, the way he didn't let me fly away, the way he spun me into him and held me there, nearly daring to kiss me. I couldn't get the picture of the twinkle in his eyes the night he passed my test (Three weeks ago now. Jeez) out of my head. And that smile! It was enough to make my heart melt.
"So what are you waiting for? Meet him at the beach!" My girls broke me out of my thoughts.
"What?" I asked still dazed.
"You told Nico to meet you at the beach when he was done talking with your dad. He's got to be done by now." Josie explained.
"We'll cover for you." Patty winked and I beamed at them.
"You girls are the best friends ever! You know that right?" I hugged them in flight and turned to zoom towards the beach. The sun seemed to be shining brightly and everything felt fresh. I had the best feeling that my dad had said yes, and I couldn't wait to hear the words come out of Nico's beak. Soon enough I was soaring over the sugar and of Ipanima beach, watching the humans play around with colorful balls, and swim in the ocean.
I found the rock and circled around, looking for any sign of Nico, but as I got closer I saw only Ana sitting there holding her foot. Weird I thought, but I really didn't care. I watched her for a second and she scowled down the beach at something. I followed her gaze and saw Nico darting above the sand, flying like he was being chased by a hawk.
"Nico?" I called and took off after him. "Nico wait up!" I was gaining on him, ever so slowly, but he seemed not to hear me. Soon I was gliding just above him and dove into a loop to get his attention. "Nico!" I shouted as I circled.
"Sonny?" He stopped dead, and where he stopped was right in my path. I had too much momentum and slammed into him, for the second time that day. We spiraled towards the ground, but out of nowhere he grabbed my wing tip and forced my wings to open. Gratefully I sighed and grinned at him.
"Seems we just keep running into each other." I taunted.
"I'm ok with that." He gave me a crooked smile and I giggled. "So you'll never guess what you're dad said." The smile didn't leave his face as he spoke. A huge grin broke across my face and he tilted is head towards the beach.
"He said yes?" I cried and preformed a body roll then glided down to the sand after my little sunbeam. He caught me and spun around as I clung to his feathers, laughing hysterically. I felt so happy I thought my heart would explode.
"Sure did." Nico chuckled and set me down gently. I couldn't let go of him though; so I kept him wrapped in a loose hug. "When do you wanna go?" His eyes were soft and we rested our foreheads against each other.
"I don't know. When are you free?" I replied softly.
"Whenever you are." Holy feathers this guy was perfect!
"How about right now?" I didn't want to leave, and I'm 99% sure I couldn't if I tried.
"Sounds perfect." Nico spun me around and dipped me slightly. He leaned in, but I chose to play hard to get.
"Nice try." I cooed and placed a flight feather on his beak. The poor guy turned bright red and stood up. "Come on." I waved for him to follow me. "I want to show you something."
"Mystery. I like it!" He wiggled his eyebrows and I giggled again. Nice recovery. I thought.
"This is a fun little thing we west-siders like to do." I dived into a spiral and he cheered playfully. "Easy there bud." I chided impishly. He rolled those gorgeous amber brown eyes and smirked. This almost made me fall out of the sky; I was awestruck.
We flew through the city for a little while longer until we came to the trolley cables. "What are these?" Nico asked as we hovered for a moment.
"Wait for it." I grinned as the sound of the mechanical wonder coming up the street. Soon enough the bright yellow bumper of the trolley came around the corner. "Ah, here we go." I sighed and landed on the golden roof.
"This is so cool." Nico breathed and landed next to me.
"Yeah. The trolleys are a great way to not have to fly all the way across the city all the time." We sat down and wrapped our wings around each other. For a while we basked in each other's company, when suddenly a branch brushed across the cables making a strumming sound.
An idea hit us at the exact same instant, and we stood together. Nico rolled off his bottle cap, and with another strum from a branch he began to whistle strong and clear. Feeling playful, I took his bottle cap out of his wings and started to tap it to keep the beat. He gave me a little glare, but started to sing with a voice that made my knees feel weak.
"Wasn't really thinking, wasn't looking, wasn't searching for an answer… In the moonlight, when I saw your face." He twirled me around slowly. Then I sang the next line.
Saw you looking at me; saw you peeking out from moonbeams through the palm trees…swaying in the breeze." The words came straight from my heart, and it was perfect. Nico was the same way, the words, the slow little dance, the look in his eyes. It made a different type of happiness, a wonderful joy, well up in my heart.
We sang the next part together. "I know I'm feeling so much more than ever before, and I know I'm giving more to you, than I thought I could do!"
Then back to Nico and his rich as honey voice, "Don't know how it happened, don't know why, but you don't really need a reason…when the stars shine…just to fall in love."
"Made to love each other, made to be together, for a lifetime… In the sunshine…flying through the sky." The words came out of my beak smoothly, and my heart began to pound as his eyes widened then turned into gentle pools of emotion. Together we glided into the chorus.
"And I know I'm feeling so much more than ever before. And I know I'm giving more to you than I thought I could do. Oh! Now I know love is real. Soaring sky high, as the angels try; letting you and I; Fly Love!" The last words we drew out as long as we could, lost in the other's eyes and slowly leaning closer, and closer. Our beaks were literally millimeters apart when the trolley stopped and we flopped over on the roof from the jolting movement.
Oh come on! I groaned mentally. Sure I played hard to get earlier, but really? Pedro wasn't even here to ruin it!
"That was incredible." Nico said sitting up. I sighed and turned back to him.
"No joke. I had no idea you could sing like that." I said trying to make conversation, and avoid the awkward moment just a second ago. I smiled as he stepped closer.
"Hidden talent I guess." Nico spoke softly and took my wings in his. "You know Sonny, I've never met another girl like you."
"Aw, sure you have." I blushed and my heart was pounding as I looked up to his eyes.
"No." His tone was dead serious. "You are the only sparky, kind, and beautiful girl in Rio that could turn this flimsy academy boy into what I am now." I opened my beak to object, but he placed a flight feather on my beak and I closed it. "You have helped me become one of the gang, and there is nothing that will change my mind on this one."
"Nico…" I breathed and looked away. "You don't understand." I leapt off the trolley and flew to a little tree covered in pink blossoms, tears in my eyes. I sat down and tried to calm down.
Then there was a rush of feathers and Nico landed next to me. "What's wrong?" He asked with thick concern in his voice as he sat next to me.
"I'm a bad bird." I said and my voice cracked.
"Nonsense." Nico objected and turned my face towards him. "You are wonderful."
"No, I am a curse. Anyone who is around me always gets hurt, and I don't know why. I didn't do anything to Ana, and all she does is hurt my friends to hurt me." Tears were rolling down my cheeks now and the chivalrous Nico wrapped a wing around me. "I…I…I don't want that to happen to you." I was taking shuddering breaths to keep the sobs back. "I…I really like you Nico, and I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
"Hey," He smiled and made me look him in the eye. "Curse or not we'll deal with it together."
"Are you sure?" I asked doubtfully, looking away again.
"As sure as I've ever been about anything in my life." He paused for a moment, mulling over his next words. Gently he brushed his wing across my cheek and I looked back to him. My heart leaped when our eyes met; tender compassion glowed there in the deep amber depths. "I love you Sonny."
And with those words my heart melted and the tears evaporated. No one but my parents had ever said they loved me. A gentle smile came to my face and I spoke in a quiet voice, letting my heart do the thinking. "I love you too." Slowly Nico leaned in, and this time, I didn't draw back. My eyes fluttered closed as our beaks met, and I savored the soft, tender, first kiss.
Then. There. My life was never the same.
"There. Perfect. He's kissed her." The rainbow lorikeet chuckled and turned to her partner. "Now it's up to you to distract Sonny, so I can make my move."
"This is a bit much don't you think?" The Paradise Tanger buy the name of Antonio asked.
"Did I ask you what you thought of my plan?" Ana snipped.
"No, but this is pretty harsh. I mean before it was a little over the top, but this is just wrong."
"Don't you want to get back at her for beating you in the East vs. West dance battle?" She cried.
"That was you that got beat. I don't want anything to do with this." Antonio spread his little wings to fly away, but Ana tackled him and pinned him to the branch they were perched on.
"You do as I say or you'll never preform in this town again." She hissed in his bright green face.
"Now now Ana, darling. We need him alive if we are to keep our plan intact." A new voice, strong and slightly maniacal, entered the scene. The lori whirled around to stare right into the yellow ringed eyes of Phillip.
"Yes dear." Ana sighed and set Antonio down. He gasped for air until the Hyacinth macaw stood not inches from his beak.
"You were part of this the first time, you'll be part of it the second time." He hissed. "And if you choose to betray us, you'll have more than a lack of performances to worry about."
"Yes sir." Antonio saluted and took off for The Branch. Oh Sonora, I don't want to do this, but I have to. He thought, wishing so bad he was telepathic.
DUN DUN DUN! And Phillip returns! sort of...I guess this is before...
REVIEW!
