Chapter 10

Days Gone By

"I did my part! You weren't there!"

"I told you I was going to be late!"

"Did not!" Antonio was arguing with Ana, as the plan for The Branch had fallen through.

"You were late?" Phillip appeared in a rush of indigo feathers, and both birds cowered. The macaw's face looked calm, but his eyes betrayed the fact that he was furious.

"Yeah…I had a…" Ana tried to explain but was cut off when Phillip exploded.

"I don't care what you had!" He grabbed her by the throat and pinned her to the floor of the hollow. "If you fail again you will have had your feathers!" Then, smoothing the deep blue feathers on his neck, Phillip let her up and she gasped for breath. "Why do I let this happen?" He mumbled to himself. "I need a better agent; one that can actually follow orders."

"Hey! I did what you told me to!" Antonio exclaimed hopping forward. Out of nowhere a huge cerulean wing caught him in the chest and he was thrown across the room.

"You are almost as useless as her!" The huge bird hissed. "But I need you both because I can't be seen on the west side."

"Why?" Ana and Antonio chorused.

"Because Nico would see me and there would be…complications." The Hyacinth macaw replied. "I don't want to kill him; I want to make him suffer. I want him to know what it's like to have something he loves torn away from him."

"That's a little…umm…" Ana sputtered.

"What?" The macaw whirled around, "That's a little what?" False patience seemed to be his favorite thing.

"Maybe a bit of…um…overkill?" The lorikeet shrugged.

"Overkill huh?" Phillip tapped his beak as if deep in thought. Then his face darkened, and he grabbed both of the birds in the hollow by their throats and slammed them against the wall. "OVERKILL? That little yellow freak ruined my life! I was the most coveted bird in the school until he came along with his 'morals' and 'ethics.' Then, oh then, he had the nerve to mess with my girl. He put some sort of spell on her because she loved me, and now she looks at me with nothing but scorn and disgust."

With that he threw the Tanger and the lorikeet on the ground in disgust. "I will soon have a better agent, a skilled bird who can complete my bidding without a worry."

"If you're gonna treat us like this, I'm out." Antonio helped Ana stand and moved to fly out of the hollow. With incredible speed, Phillip soared up behind the little bird and closed his enormous talons around Antonio's small wings and squeezed.

"You know the penalty for deserting," Phillip hissed, "A free ticket into The Light." Antonio fought for breath, but his lungs were being squeezed together and he could feel his ribs on the verge of snapping.

"Phillip, we need him. He's the only way we can get at Sonora." Ana spoke up, and the macaw turned to her. Her eyes were glazed over with a malevolent gleam and she seemed to be standing taller. Slowly she walked over to the macaw and ran her flight feathers across his shoulders making him shiver contentedly. "You don't want me to have to do all the work do you?" She made her big brown eyes bigger and smiled sweetly.

"Point taken." Then the Tanger was dropped on the floor, unconscious, like an old, useless glove. "Glad to see that you're back in your right mind." He crooned to the lorikeet and twirled her around on one claw. Then Phillip dipped her gently, and kissed her passionately.

"It's good to be back." Ana replied, and as she drew back a wicked gleam came to her eyes. I told you it wasn't over you idiotic little canary.

Three years had passed since my first date with Nico, and we had been inseparable since. I knew this love was forever and I knew that I would do anything for that bottle cap wearing drop of sunshine. We had been through so much; my mother, Ana and Antonio (who hadn't been seen in the rain forest for two years now), our first few fights, oh and Canary Corner.

After I turned eighteen I had moved right in. My mother highly disagreed, but it wasn't that far away from home, and I was close to Rafael, and the boy's bachelor pad. Plus my mother came by from time to time just to check everything and make sure I was safe, which I always was.

Nico and Pedro shared a hollow that I constantly had to remind them to keep it clean, and make it look like it was possible to live there. But boys will be boys. Rafael had met a pretty female toucan by the name of Eva and they had moved in together. Tadeo had apparently found Kingdom Paradise and this was his last hurrah before he returned to his girl, Arianna.

When he told us about it though we had laughed in his face. "It's not a real place man!" Pedro had been rolling on the ground from laughing.

"Is so! Look!" With that Tadeo had shown us drawings he had done. They weren't your normal imaginative drawings. They had been full of miniscule details; birds, trees, flowers, rivers and waterfalls. But the most amazing picture he had was of the palace. It was an enormous tree with branchy turrets and towers, and a suspended walkway that functioned as a wall. "See?" He had asked our shocked faces.

"Wow." I had breathed and taken the palace picture out of his wings. "Can we come with you?"

"Yeah! I wanna see this!" Nico had agreed.

"I'm afraid that you cannot. There is a barrier and if you come in with no reason except to see it, you'll be stuck there forever. You'd never see Rio again." And with that the conversation had come to a close. But not before Tadeo gave me the palace drawing as a token to remember him by. It now hung in my room, in my hollow. Oh how I loved those words!

Now we were at The Branch closing it down. It had to be almost two in the morning and we were all still going strong. "Cause we gonna rock this club, we gonna go all night! We gonna light it up like its dy-no-mite!" Pedro finished, with his fist in the air. We all cheered like crazy for the amazing performance the cardinal had just put on.

"Wooooo! Go Pedro!" I screamed and clapped.

"Way to go bro!" Nico told him as he landed by us and the brothers shared a wing bump.

"Thanks man! I've been working on that one for months now!" He panted trying to catch his breath from the awesome break dancing he had done.

"It rocked!" Tadeo said with a smile. Then the DJ flew down from his perch and spoke to the crowd.

"I say we have time for one more song. What do you birds say?" The DJ called to the rest of us in the club and we all cheered our approval. I looked at our friends and we were all smiling, but the boys had a suspicious twinkle in their eyes. "Who wants to take it?" Rafael asked with a knowing look on his face.

"Oh! Pick me!" Tadeo crowed and flew up to the stage, after a teasing wink at Nico and I.

"What is he up to?" I wondered aloud and looked to Nico.

"You'll see." Nico smiled, "Let's just say I've got a little surprise for you." And with that he spun me out onto the, now clear, dance floor. I stood at one end, my right leg and hip cocked towards the stage and my head pointed downward, and Nico at the other. He stood with his shoulders drawn back, and his head bent forward so I couldn't see his eyes, only the shining top of his bottle cap. Then the music started with the mysterious strumming of an acoustic guitar, and the shaking of a few maracas. Then the drums jumped in, accompanied by a tambourine, and the lights flashed on. I snapped my head up as they did, and began to stride towards Nico, he mirroring my movements.

Then Tadeo whispered the first few lines, "Esta noche bailamos. Te doy toda mi vida. Quedate conmigo." There was a few seconds pause as I spun around insanely fast, just a blur of golden feathers, until Nico snagged my wing and snapped me to a halt. Gently he held me in his wings and smirked as Tadeo continued. "Tonight we dance; I lay my life in your hands. We take the floor; nothing is forbidden anymore. Don't let the world in outside; don't let a moment go by. Nothing can stop us tonight! Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over. Bailamos! Te quiero amor mio! Bailamos! Gonna live this night forever; bailamos! Te quiero amor mio, te quiero!"

Again the beat jumped and Nico backed away shimmying as I copied the upper body movement, along with some well-practiced, quick steps that over exaggerated the twisting of my hips and made a few other boys whistle. Then we reversed it and he took my wing so we could share the fancy footwork. We glided across the floor and I spun my hips in then out quickly over and over, so I faced him then faced the crowd. Then he spun me out and I placed my wing behind his head as the lyrics continued.

"Tonight I'm yours; we can make this happen, I'm so sure. Now I'm letting go; there's something I think you should know…" Nico smiled and left me for a moment to hover above the crowd and sing the next few lines.

"I won't be leaving your side! We're gonna dance through the night! I wanna reach for the stars!" Then he circled around me and spun me in tightly. We paused and I kicked my foot high towards the crowd. We feigned to turn back in, but Nico turned me back and I preformed another kick.

And it was back to Tadeo, who was beaming at us like the rest of our friends, "Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over. Bailamos! Te quiero amor mio! Bailamos! Gonna live this night forever; bailamos! Te quiero amor mio, te quiero!"

Then the crowd joined in to add effect to the song, as they sang, "Whoa-oh-a-oh!"

And Tadeo speaking the words with a thick accent, "Tonight we dance,"

"Whoa-oh-a-oh!" I was back to the quick swiveling of my hips and I was starting to feel out of breath.

"Like no tomorrow."

"Whoa-oh-a-oh!"

"If you will stay with me…"

Then Nico spun me in tighter than before and dipped me almost to the ground as he whispered, "Te quiero, mi amor!" I grinned and kissed him quickly before he spun me out and we returned to dancing. He stepped quickly backwards and I stood stiffly upright, while again swerving my hips in an abdominally burning motion. I made it to him and he spun me around and back a few times keeping with the lively beat. After jolting me into position he paused and pulled me closer, so our faces were inches apart, and breathed, "Quedate conmigo, esta noche, quedate mi cielo."

I could see that this whole thing he had planned out, practiced, and ready to show me. Nico had worked his tail feathers off to learn this insanely complicated dance and song, just for me. I would never look back from what was coursing through my thoughts: I love him. I love him more than anything in the world! Then back to the snappy dance.

"Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over, bailamos! Te quiero amor mio! Bailamos! Gonna live this night forever, bailamos! Te quiero amor mio! Bailamos! Let the rhythm take you over (Crowd in the background: Como te quiero, como te quiero) Bailamos! Te quiero amor mio (Como te quiero, como te quiero) Bailamos! Gonna live this night forever (Como te quiero, como te quiero) Bailamos! Te quiero amor mio, te quiero!" The music faded out and Nico twirled me around multiple times before bringing me to a stop.

Going along with the dramatic aura that was on the dance floor I wrapped my left leg around Nico's hips and cradled his face in my wings. Ever so gently he lifted me up off the floor and spun around, not looking away from my eyes as he did so. With a soft grunt he tossed me gently upwards and wrapped his wings around my waist to catch me. Smoothly he knelt and held me over his knee as I stretched back and touched the top of my head to the dance floor.

The crowd went absolutely feral. I'm not even kidding you! I thought I couldn't hear myself think after beating Ana, but this was at least ten times louder. I smiled and laughed, still upside down in Nico's embrace. Carefully I sat up and wrapped my wings around my partner's neck. "I love you. I love you so much!" I had to almost scream over the roar of the crowd.

"I love you so much!" Nico replied and squeezed me tighter. Ever so slowly the crowd quieted down and my sunbeam and I stood up.

"Lookie here boys! I think I've got myself one heck of a dance partner!" I said causing everyone to laugh. Then I wrapped my wing around his waist and Nico wrapped his around my shoulders.

"Seems you do." Tadeo said soaring down from the stage.

"That song was amazing!" I told him.

"Nico had it picked out." He winked at my partner.

"He's been working on this dance for weeks!" Pedro exclaimed. "Everything from the steps, to the music, to the theatrical effect. It was all this guy." The cardinal punched his wing in a friendly sort of way.

"I told you I needed work on my solo act, but this was definitely harder than any solo act I have EVER worked on." Nico smirked, "But it was so worth it." To my great shock he grabbed my wing, whirled me around, and pulled me to him. I gave him a devilish look, and placed my wings on his chest.

"You think you get a prize for the dance?" I said quietly, highly aware that the whole club was watching us intently.

"That would be nice. After all I worked so hard." He put on the big puppy dog eyes, and I had to laugh a little bit. Then I leaned forward and kissed him sweetly, as my eyes fluttered closed and my stomach did a backflip. The club "awed" and a few cheered; Pedro on the other hand gagged and I heard him fly away. We stepped apart and we both half laughed in a giddy kind of way when we looked into each other's eyes.

"You'll see man. One day you'll find a completely amazing girl, and your world will never be the same." Nico told him and Rafael and Tadeo nodded their approval of this statement.

"Alright party birds! Thank you for a spectacular night, and let's give a Rio good bye to our very own Tadeo. Seems he's found his life in another place that he needs to be. We'll miss you buddy!" The DJ said and we cheered one last time for the Bird of Paradise. "Bom noche (good night {Portuguese})!"

"See you guys tomorrow!" Rafael called over his shoulder and followed Eva out the door.

"Bye Ralphy!" I called and waved. "Come on boys. Let's hit the sky." I smiled at my three best friends and they followed me out into the crisp night air. Soon we were gliding through the jungle and Tadeo soared up next to me.

"I'm gonna miss you Sunshine." He told me with a small smile.

"Aw Taddy! Don't act like we're never gonna see each other again! You'll get to visit on Carnival won't you?" I said trying to keep from crying. I had known Tadeo since we were just fledglings in grade school, and our friendship was sibling-like. He was the older brother I had never had.

"Of course!" He grinned. "And I'm gonna want to meet your chicks." My eyes just about popped out of my head when he said that.

"What?" I gasped.

"Of course! When you two have chicks I'm going to want to meet them."

"Shhhh! I may never have chicks! Nico and I haven't even touched on the subject!" I slapped his wing. He just rolled his eyes and flared his wings to land on the front branch of Canary Corner. We stood there for a moment, not wanting to say goodbye.

"Sweet Dreams." Tadeo extended a wing to shake, but I ran up to him and hugged him tightly.

"Take care of yourself." I murmured into his feathers.

"I will. You too." He replied and squeezed me like any brother would when saying goodbye to his sister. Then we stepped apart and I saw a sad glitter in his eyes. "Remember that anything is possible with samba and an open heart." With that Tadeo spread his wings and flew away before the moment turned into a sob fest. I wiped my eyes and turned to walk into my hollow.

"Wait!" Nico then landed behind me, bottle cap cock-eyed on his head.

"Hmm?" I turned around and sniffled. Immediately concern was plastered on his face.

"What's wrong?" My little sunbeam asked brushing a few feathers out of my eyes.

"I'm just a little emotional about Tadeo leaving. He's like my big brother." I sniffled again. Nico pulled me into a hug and let me cry a few soft tears. "Wow I must look like a total sap-story." I giggled and stepped back.

"A very cute sap-story." He replied and I giggled again while wiping away my tears.

"Where's Pedro?" I asked and led Nico into my hollow.

"He went back to the hollow."

"Oh." Then I smirked, "And you didn't want to go with him?"

"Nope." Nico beamed and wrapped his wing around me. "I had to see my girl one last time before turning in for the night."

"Aw aren't you sweet?" I gave him a quick kiss and looked around. When my eyes came to my room and my nest I got an idea. "You know…" how was I gonna put this so it didn't sound weird? "You don't have to go."

"I don't?" Nico cocked his head to the side, confused.

"Well I am in a state of emotional trauma," We chuckled, "And my mom used to sing me to sleep while I curled up next to her, to make me feel better."

"Oh really?" A little twinkle came to those amber brown eyes as he got what I was trying to say.

"Really." I replied matter of factly.

"So you want me to sing you to sleep?"

"Pwetty pwease?" I batted my eyelashes and put on a little pout.

"Ok doll face, put the eyes away before the cuteness becomes painful." He poked my side and I laughed. Then together we glided to my soft nest, where we snuggled in and I nuzzled my head into his soft chest feathers. I could hear his heartbeat, strong and steady, where my head lay. Then he wrapped a wing around me and asked, in a soft tone, "What song do you want?"

"Any song you want." I replied sleepily, feeling warm and secure. There was a pause as he thought for a moment, then he hummed a low note and began to sing.

"Every time our eyes meet, this feeling inside me is almost more than I can take. Baby when you touch me, I can feel how much you love me, and it just blows me away. I've never been this close to anyone or anything. I can hear your thoughts; I can see your dreams! I don't know how you do what you do, I'm so in love with you! It just keeps gettin' better. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you by my side; forever and ever! Every little thing that you do; baby I'm amazed by you!"

I didn't hear any more of the song after that. The deep bass of his melodic voice floated through my ears and shut down my brain completely. I snuggled in closer to him and sighed contentedly when he stopped though, and I heard him whisper, "I love you more than anything, my sunshine."

Oh my holy goodness! They are so adorable! Am I right?