The toucan chicks argued again, pushing blame from one to the other, like pieces of a sliding puzzle, so that only one was innocent.
"It was NOT my fault!" Carlos argued.
"Is too!" Manuel retorted.
"It's your fault too!" Luana accused, turning to Laura.
"No, you let her go!" Laura argued back.
With out any sort of proof, they were getting no where with the argument.
Blu landed on the branch of a tree located in the secluded and seemingly lifeless area of the forest near where he remembered Jewel's home was. He was absolutely exhausted from evading capture by Jewel multiple times. His head was killing him from crashing into the tree, as Jewel had explained.
"Ugh... I hope this blows over soon," he said aloud to himself. He didn't know how much more he could take. While he was glad to know that Jewel loved him enough to chase after him, it was really taking a toll on him.
He flew to the next tree and paused for a few seconds to catch his breathe. He repeated this the rest of the way to Jewel's old tree.
About twenty trees later, he reached what he was pretty sure was the right tree. As a matter of fact, he was more than sure. That was odd... Even though he had only been here once before, he was absolutely sure that this was the place. He walked inside. The place hadn't changed at all since the time he and Jewel had come two weeks ago; it was just as empty and lifeless as the rest of the jungle around the tree. Blu had to wonder, why was this particular area so empty? It couldn't be that everybody just happened to be away at the moment; there wasn't a sign of any other birds two weeks ago either.
He decided to check any hollows near the tree for signs of life. None in the first... or the second... the third... or any trees after.
Then, he came to Jewel's friend's tree. He stopped here. He stared into the gaping hollow for a while before walking in. This hollow hadn't been disturbed either, evident by the old pile of twigs in the middle.
Despite the ominous atmosphere of this section of the forest, this particular hollow seemed to comfort him. What was this odd sense of security that this place gave him?
Despite feeling safe from Jewel, he kind of wished that she could be there with him. He wanted to be in her presence again. But as long as she was in the state she was currently in, they would be kept apart, unless, of course, Jewel happened to find him again, but he knew she wouldn't. That made him half glad and half sad.
Blu stepped outside and looked in the direction of Jewel's old home. He remembered what Jewel had told him about her parents. He suddenly felt lonely; he had never really known his family. Were they good people or not? He was sure that Jewel's were, because she had cried over them being gone.
Jewel... she was his only family aside from Linda.
Family... It was plainly obvious Jewel wanted one... with him. To be honest, he now wanted a family with her too—to fill that gap in their relationship. He wanted to be her mate. And if that was what it would take to make her happy... If she happened to ask him again to mate with her, he would do it—not for the pleasure he was sure to get out of it, but for her.
But for right now, that would have to wait for later. He suddenly realized that it was starting to get dark. He went outside to get something to eat. Since no one else was around, this wasn't difficult; fruit was abundant in this area because of that.
Meanwhile, Jewel was chowing down on a mango back home. Though she was frustrated that she had failed in getting Blu to mate with her, she kept a calm, smug smile. She chuckled at her own failure. It amused her that though she had looked high and low—everywhere (exaggeration)—she couldn't find him.
She finished the mango. It's okay, Blu. You're just raising my excitement for when it actually happens. We're going to have the time of our lives tomorrow, Jewel thought before lying down and drifting to sleep. She went to sleep earlier than usual to replenish as much energy she would need to finally capture Blu.
The toucan chicks now stood a few meters away from their home, unsure who should go first. While they debated on who should be the one to break the news, their mother poked her head out of the hollow to see what the noise was. All the chicks froze in place.
"Hello, kids. How'd it go?" Eva asked. The silence that proceeded told her everything she needed to know. She dropped her smile. "Get in here... all of you."
...
Rafael watched as Eva argued with all seventeen chicks at once. He admired her ability to do this.
"But mom, it wasn't my fault," each little toucan used some variation of, trying to avoid punishment.
"I don't care whose fault it is. You're a group, so you're all in trouble."
A loud "Aaaaaaaaaw" followed.
"Now go to sleep. You'd better hope that they haven't mated yet."
Curiosity got the better of Manuel. "What's the big deal, anyway? What does it mean to mate?"
Eva blushed and looked to Rafael for assistance, hoping he could provide a G-rated explanation that wouldn't cause further questioning. Unfortunately for her, Rafael started pretending to sleep right before she looked at him. She looked back at her chicks and said, "I'll tell you when you're older. Good night."
...
The next morning, Jewel got up and immediately started looking for Blu. She went to Scarla and asked if she had seen him. "No, I was to busy with Antonio," was her answer. She had to tell Jewel multiple times that it wasn't what she was thinking before she laid off her accusations. She checked with Rafael and Eva, whose chicks tried to restrain her again. This gave Rafael and Eva a second look at how Jewel escaped them. Eva became more understanding afterward.
After ten straight hours of flying around to find Blu, Jewel decided to take a nap in an empty hollow.
Blu barely did anything that day; he just laid there, thinking about Jewel, longing for her company, mostly wondering if she would ask him to mate with her after she stopped chasing him. He wondered what it would be like to be a father. To have two or three chicks, as opposed to Rafael and Eva's eighteen.
Knowing he couldn't do much, he slept in the hollow most of the day, enjoying the sense of security he had here, only going out to get food.
Jewel woke up from her nap two hours later, but not to look for Blu... in the sense of trying to mate with him.
She looked around, taking in her surroundings. "Wait... This isn't our hollow. Why am I here?" She noticed that Blu wasn't with her. "Where's Blu? Outside, maybe?"
She checked around the tree she had slept in. No sight of Blu. She began to worry and flew off toward Rafael's tree.
...
Jewel took caution when approaching his tree, so as not to rouse a certain group of seventeen chicks that could be lurking about, just waiting to pounce her.
When Rafael saw her, he just said, "Oh... Hey, Jewel. I told you earlier that I haven't seen Blu."
"What? When did you tell me that?" Jewel asked.
"You don't remember that?"
"No, I don't."
"Wow, that was fast," Rafael muttered before saying, "You don't remember anything, huh? Well, you were chasing Blu, trying to get him to mate with you."
"Oh..." Jewel said in a matter that suggested that she had completely forgotten about that. "Did... Did he do it?" Why did she find herself hoping that he would say 'yes'?
"I don't know. I've been having my kids keep you away from him, so I don't think so. They gave up earlier though."
"Well... Have you seen Blu lately?"
"Not since yesterday."
"Do you have any idea where he would be?"
"I would suggest going home. He's bound to go back there eventually."
"Okay, thanks," Jewel said before heading home.
Blu woke up from his slumber to some odd feeling. Something was calling him. Not literally, but he felt as if he had to go somewhere: home. He tried to shake off this ridiculous feeling, not wanting to get pinned down by Jewel again.
After five minutes, though, he couldn't take it anymore. He felt that he couldn't rest until he had at least gone home once.
...
When he reached his hollow, he was surprised to see Jewel laying on one side of the hollow.
Jewel, feeling that someone was looking at her, opened her eyes to see Blu.
For some reason, Blu froze in place, as if something restricted him from escaping.
Jewel smiled. "Hi, Blu."
Blu found it odd that Jewel hadn't gotten up to tackle him to the floor yet. "H-Hi, Jewel," he replied.
Jewel slowly got up. Again, Blu didn't move. He didn't feel a need to flee. Jewel spoke. "Rafael told me that I was chasing you..."
Blu chuckled nervously. "Yeah... Yeah, you were." After just one day, she stopped? Thank you!
"And..."
"And what, Jewel?"
"Did we... Did we mate?"
"Umm... no, but we almost did at one point."
"Oh... Good..."
Blu noticed the insincerity in her voice. "What's wrong Jewel?"
"Nothing, nothing. I guess I just kind of hoped a little that we did."
So that was it. She still had her mind on mating with him, but she wasn't like how she was earlier; she was... sober, in a sense. The sadness he sensed in her previous statement and the insincerity of the sentence before stung him. He looked on at her sadly. He couldn't see her like this. He couldn't handle another guilt trip. He made up his mind.
"Jewel... If... If you really want me to, then... I will."
Jewel looked at him in shock. Did he really just say that? "Really, Blu?"
Blu walked up to her, took her wings in his, and smiled. "Will it make you happy?"
Jewel nodded, now donning a smile
"Then of course I will, Jewel. That's all I need." He dropped his smile. "But what if I'm not a good father?"
"Blu, I don't need a family to be happy. I just want to be your mate," she said sweetly to him. Just in case, should we use a leaf? No, it's our first time. That would ruin how special it is.
Blu had no such thought, however, of using a leaf to prevent pregnancy. He wanted a family with her.
"I want to be your mate, too, Jewel. I've wanted to for a while."
Jewel smiled. "I love you, Blu."
"I love you, Jewel," Blu said back.
Starting with a soft kiss, they proceeded to consummate their relationship, becoming mates, thus sealing the eternal bond between lovers.
...
Blu and Jewel panted next to each other, amazed by what they had just done. They both wanted to recall the entire thing, but their refractory periods prevented this.
They stared deeply into each other's eyes. They nuzzled beaks.
"Blu... Thank you."
"You're welcome, Jewel," Blu said with a smile.
"I've wanted that for more than two weeks," Jewel admitted.
"Really?"
"Yeah, ever since you saved me."
"So those, uh, hints?"
"Mm-hm." She confirmed his suspicion. Jewel cuddled with his body. "I love you, Blu."
"I love you too, Jewel. Forever," Blu said, draping a wing over her.
The two lovebirds, now mates, slept very peacefully that night, cuddling to keep each other warm.
...
The next morning, Jewel woke up first to see a smile on Blu's still sleeping face. She smiled back and got up. She stretched for bit and looked outside. She thought about getting breakfast this morning as Blu's reward for last night, but—
"Aagh!" she wanted to yell, but somehow kept it down to more of a suppressed coughing sound to not wake Blu. She put a wing on her stomach in a vain attempt to ease the sudden pain. Her heart skipped a beat, however, when she felt something... One, two, three ever so faint lumps... in her stomach. She wanted to deny it all she could, but she couldn't escape the fact that she was... pregnant.
Now that she had been satisfied by Blu, she could think straight (what she thought was straight) of the situation. No... I can't be! Why didn't I...? Why didn'tI?
She was becoming increasingly frustrated with her decision to not use a leaf.
How could I be so selfish! He mated with me, because I... I practically made him!
She looked back at Blu. I'm sorry... she thought before taking off.
...
Eyes still closed, Blu blushed as he thought about the previous night. His happiness was short-lived, for there was a strange emptiness in his heart; something was missing. He opened his eyes and saw why and what.
I'm pretty sure that birds don't get pregnant THAT fast, but for the sake of plot convenience, just pretend that they do.
To Zero2o1o: He sure is. At that moment, he accepted mating with Jewel.
To Ghostofinu: This is late, but: Good luck.
To Dimitri The Soviet Spix Macaw: Oh.
To Lunyk Stormdragon: Yes, it is. Yeah, I haven't read any stories in which Tulio actually helps Jewel in such a manner.
To Hondurazz: I'm imagining that Jewel pays attention to which direction Blu is flying, predicts where he's going based on that, gets away from the chicks, and flies in the direction he flies until she spots him. In the situation where Tulio throws Blu out, Jewel had plenty of time to catch up and spot him, so that she could follow him.
To Ghostshadow6661: I will
To No-Remorse81: That's understandable. Well, I guess that I couldn't have timed this chapter any better. Any other guy, no I don't think they would resist. But this is Blu. He has his own morals and he's really shy.
To Ton1546: I do this, so that I can answer questions of those who don't have accounts. I've also used this to address multi-posting. I will.
To BluJet The MacawHawk: I used "raped", because I feel that it better conveys the severity of the situation and how close Blu was to being so. I don't remember ever specifically stating that it would end this chapter, but it did anyway.
To Sierra strike: Not to be rude, but wtf are you talking about? lol
To Lazy Reviewer: I sure hope I do. I'll start it when I figure out a way to rework the plot to work with birds and if/when I get permission from The Scarlet Macaw to use Ashley. As for you're question, (I'm pulling this out of my own ass) it's just something that his parents gave him as a chick, or something like that.