Chapter 14: Uncertainties

"So, where should we go now?" Jewel asked Blu. "I don't know. We haven't seen Rafael in a while, and I heard his eighteenth kid was born. We could go pay him a visit," Blu suggested. Jewel nodded.

After flying around for a bit, they came across a familiar looking rock. Jewel giggled when she saw it. "Hey, Blu, does this rock look familiar to you?" she asked him. Blu looked at the rock. It seemed vaguely familiar to him. "Oh, right! This was the rock we tried to use to break the chain!" Blu laughed. He landed next to it. The 'math' he had scribbled on the earth was still a bit visible. "And, if the rock is here, Rafael's tree must near," said Jewel.

The two macaws slowly crept towards the direction of Rafael's tree, not wanting to be mobbed by his kids again. Just then, Blu heard a twig snap and the leaves of a tree branch started rustling. "Hello? Hello, please don't kill me," Blu said in a timid voice. "Ssh! You'll give us away!" Jewel said softly. "I think they already know we're here..." Blu said. As if on cue, two of Rafael's kids popped out from a bush.

Blu wasted no time. "Rafael! Help!"

Rafael, who was in the hollow, heard Blu's voice and got out. He landed next to them and picked his children up before they could do anything. "Hey, Blu! Jewel! How're you two doing? Wow, I haven't seen you in ages! How've you been?"

Blu chuckled. "We've been fine, Rafael. Things've turned out great!"

Rafael smiled warmly. "Glad to hear that."

They spent the next few minutes chatting about what had happened over the past week. Blu told Rafael all about how he had taught Jewel how to type and played video games with her, and also about Paul, who had taught him how to survive in the jungle.

"You're pretty lucky, having the second most feared bird in this forest to teach you," Rafael stated when Blu talked about Paul.

"He's the second most feared bird?" Blu asked. Huh, no wonder he scared off the marmosets to easily. he thought.

"Then who's number one?" Jewel asked, sounding curious.

"Alex. Red eyed crow." Rafael answered.

Blu's eyes widened. He wasn't that surprised that Alex was the most feared bird of the forest, due to the fact that he drove fear into others just by looking at them. But Blu wanted to know more about Alex. "Do you know anything about him?" he asked Rafael.

"Well, I've never talked to him or met him personally, but nobody knows where he came from. They say he almost wiped out the entire race of marmosets in Rio one time. I'd think that the one who knows him the best is Paul."

Blu nodded and cast out all his thoughts about Alex. "By the way, we have a sanctuary that was made for us, would you like to move in?" he asked Rafael.

"Sure! If I can ever find the time. Maybe when the kids are a little less hyper."

Just then, Rafael's kids started going berserk again, and a pair of them dropped down on Rafael's eye. "Ow! Again with the eye! Alright, time out! Everyone back in the hollow!" Rafael raised his voice, rubbing his throbbing eye with a wing. "Alright amigos, I'll see you both later. Take care!" he carried his children and flew up to the hollow.

Jewel looked at Blu. "Must be pretty hard having that many kids, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, probably," Blu replied.

Jewel giggled. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we don't end up with as many kids as Rafael," she purred seductively at him.

Blu's eyes widened and felt his blood rushing to his cheeks. "Uh... yeah..."

Jewel giggled again and nuzzled her head into his chest. "Where to now?"

Blu shrugged. He figured that they could probably spend the rest of the day at the club. "How about we pay Nico and Pedro a visit?" he suggested.

Jewel gave him a quick kiss. "Let's go, then."

...

When the two macaws arrived at the club, it was full of life, as usual. Nico and Pedro saw the two of them enter, and quickly flew over to them to welcome them. "Hey, lovebirds! Where've you two been?" The two best friends tackled Blu and gave him a bear hug. Blu laughed. "It's good to see you both, Nico and Pedro."

"Yeah, well you two better get your groove on!" Pedro said as he pushed Blu towards the dance floor while Nico pushed Jewel.

"So, uh... wanna dance?" Blu asked Jewel. Jewel smiled lovingly at him and fluttered her eyelashes seductively. "Sure."

The two of them danced their hearts out for the rest of the day. They lost track of how many times they had kissed while they were dancing. The day could not have been any more perfect for the two of them.

...

When the moon came up and most of the birds at the club had left, Blu and Jewel finished up their dinner and headed back to their hollow.

On their way back, Jewel was certain that Blu would mate with her that night. I don't care what you say, Blu! We're doing it once we get back! However, Blu was hoping that Jewel had forgotten all about them mating. The aspect of mating itself scared Blu, and he wasn't sure if he'd be a good father.

After arriving at their hollow in the sanctuary, Blu picked a few leaves off the branch of the tree and lay them out on the floor to make a bed for them to sleep on. A seductive look crept onto Jewel's face. "Blu... today was amazing, wasn't it?" she said as she gave Blu a quick but passionate kiss. After pulling away, Blu nodded. "Yeah... it was pretty fun."

"Right... So let's end off this amazing day with a magical night, shall we?" Jewel purred as she stroked Blu's chest with a wingtip. "What... what do you mean?" Blu asked nervously, fearing what Jewel was about to say to him.

"Don't pretend... Remember what you said last night... So have you thought about it?" Jewel continued to entice Blu. She pushed him over and got on top of him. "I... I..." Blu was at a loss for words. He couldn't bring himself to tell Jewel that he didn't want to mate with her. "Get ready for the time of your life," Jewel cooed. "Tonight is going to be magical..."

Just as their sensitive areas were about to touch, Blu shook his head. "I... I'm sorry, Jewel... I..." Jewel shot him a curious look. "What is it?"

"I... I'm not ready yet..." Blu turned away guiltily.

Jewel's expression turned from curious to sad.

"Oh... ok..." she said disappointedly. She got off Blu and lay down in a corner of the hollow. "Good night, then..." her sadness and disappointment could be detected in her tone.

"Jewel, I..." Blu tried to comfort her but was cut off.

"It's fine." Jewel's voice was filled with insincerity as she said that.

Blu lay down on the other end of the hollow as tears welled up in his eyes, thinking about what he had just done. Was... was I being selfish? he thought to himself. Should I have done it with her? Have I been too self-centered? He continued to doubt himself. He was the only one who could make Jewel feel as happy and loved as she did, but he was also the only one who could hurt her as badly as he did. He started to feel that he did not deserve Jewel's love anymore. Perhaps it was best to just let her go.

A.N. Mhm. I'm ending it there. Call me a jerk if you wish. By the way, the reason I haven't been updating this story in a while is because I've been having exams, and they just ended this week. I've also been pretty busy with my Spyro fic, so feel free to check that out if you want. I won't be updating in a while as well, because I've been forced to waste half of my precious holidays on a boat cruise, and obviously my parents won't allow me to bring my laptop along. As always, tell me how garbage I was in the reviews. :D

Hutchings12: It may look rushed sometimes, but it's usually because I can't think of anything else to write. I'm not good at this X