Roberto raced through the rainforest, terrified of what he would find when he got to the cave. What if I'm already too late? I might never see Sophia again! His head and his heart was everywhere. His heart in pieces already, his head filled with terrifying images of Sophia, in a pool of blood. His own blood went cold when he pictured Jespa standing over her corpse, laughing in triumph. I've failed her! I promised to keep her safe from him.

Roberto's body screamed for him to slow down, and he felt the exhaustion creeping in. No matter how much his brain urged him to fly faster, he was slowing down with a mixture of fatigue and despair. I've let her down. I'll never forgive myself - my family must be ashamed of me. He looked up, tears brimming in his eyes, seeing how the sky was screened from view by cloud - clearly his family couldn't see him. Were they too ashamed to look at him?

But then he sensed a presence. Roberto looked around, but didn't see anything. But he heard voices. Keep going. She needs you. He picked out the voices; Alessandra, Ramon, Talitha, even Zenaida, and a male voice he assumed to be Andre's. All of them, encouraging him to keep going, telling him how he could save her.

We're so proud of you, son - make us even prouder. Alessandra and Ramon.

It's not too late. You can do it, brother. Talitha.

Please, save our daughter. She needs you. Zenaida and Andre.

Suddenly, energy surged into Roberto's wings. His wings began to beat faster - he could do it. I can save her. It's not too late! His speed came rushing back, and then he was racing through the forest, attracting all sorts of looks - he was a blur of blue in the green forest. Nobody had ever seen a Spix's macaw fly so fast, for it was as if he had infinite energy.

Roberto prayed that Victoria had heard correct. What if she had misheard? What if it was the southeast, or northwest caves? A mistake like that could jeopardize Sophia's life and Roberto's future. It must be right. It has to be! Roberto didn't slow down as the cave mouth swept into view, but as he entered the cave, he slowed, gripped by fear. He didn't like small, dark spaces - it reminded him too much of his time in captivity.

Roberto stopped, recoiling - he didn't want to go in. Go on. What are you waiting for? Inhaling deeply, Roberto flew forward, trying to block the memories. He started looking all over the place; at first he thought the initial cave was empty, but then he saw how the cave extended into the dark, narrowing to a tunnel. Roberto flew into the darkness, squinting, trying to find a sign of either Sophia or Jespa. Water dripped from the ceiling, and there was an eerie sound of running water; looking down, Roberto realized that water carved through the rock, which rose steadily the further he went.

The rock was narrowing, and now claustrophobia was creeping in. Roberto was uneasy, and he jumped as he felt the stone press against his sides. He wanted to get out of here - it was cold, too.

Then his heart jolted. He could hear grunting up ahead, male and female. Hisses of pain, and rage - the anger was primarily male. The female was mostly the one crying out in pain. Roberto shot forward, the rock scraping his sides, knowing his ears weren't lying. Jespa and Sophia were up ahead. He raced through the tunnel, which was now widening. He kept following twists and turns, the sounds getting louder by the second. Then the noise exploded as he turned around the last corner. The tunnel now opened into a vast cave - he froze at what he saw.

"I'll kill you! You worthless snake, murderer!"

"I'm not a murderer!"

Sophia had her talons around Jespa's neck - she was on his shoulders, her claws wrapped around his throat, eyes ablaze with anger and fear. Jespa swung his head, shaking himself to loosen her grasp. It was Jespa who had the most wounds, but Sophia was marked by bruises and vicious scratches. She looked exhausted, and her strikes were getting sloppy as tiredness set in. Then Jespa seized her claws pulled - her talons were torn away. Grabbing hold of her by the wings, Jespa swung her over his head, throwing her to the ground.

Sophia tumbled across the stone, with a shriek. She coughed, and struggled to rise, gasping for breath. Jespa, muttering and grunting, limped away, seizing something Roberto couldn't see. Then he limped to Sophia, and rose his wing, revealing a shard of sharpened wood, like a spear tip.

"For Andre and Zenaida!" Jespa declared.

"No!" Roberto sprang into the air, with a squawk. Jespa spun round, and gasped as Roberto smacked straight into his side, headfirst. Jespa was knocked away, sent flying by the force of Roberto's attack. He crashed to a stop, perilously close to the cliff edge. He began coughing, on his wings and knees, gasping. Roberto raised his claws to strike, but then a shocked voice distracted him.

"Roberto?" Sophia asked, in disbelief and shock. He whirled around, and rushed to her side. Roberto's heart twisted as he saw her wounds, but he was relieved to see her weak smile. She wasn't fatally injured - they were just grazes. Blinking rapidly, Sophia threw her wings around his neck, and Roberto swept her to her feet.

"I got your message." He said, and for a brief moment, they nuzzled their beaks. But then the moment shattered.

"You." Snarled Jespa, recovering from the attack. Roberto slowly turned around, and stood up straight, wings spread to shield Sophia. Jespa staggered to his feet, spitting out a mixture of blood and saliva. He limped forward. "Get out of my way!" He demanded, coughing feebly. "Leave, while you still can!"

"Over my dead body!" Roberto declared, hissing.

"Wish granted!" Jespa retorted, before lunging at him. With a screech, Roberto sprang, talons slashing with all his power. His claws scored across Jespa's chest, and his beak connected with Jespa's head feathers - he yanked hard, and felt them rip out. But this didn't slow Jespa down. He raked his talons at Roberto's stomach, and Roberto released his grasp, feeling the piercing pain. Jespa aimed for his throat, but then there was a whistle of air.

"Leave him!" Sophia screeched, pulling Jespa away, and once again, the two siblings rolled across the floor, a whirlwind of blue and slashing talons. With a savage snarl, Jespa latched his claws onto Sophia like a matchet, before throwing her directly into the wall. A few bits of stone fell with Sophia, who now slumped at the foot of the wall, stunned by the impact of the rock.

"Soph!" Roberto began, but Jespa rammed into his side, and the two males sprawled across the cliff edge. Jespa shoved him against the boulder that had tethered Sophia before, his eyes filled with enmity - the pebbles under the rock shifted, and clattered over the cliff edge, splashing into the black water below. With these pebbles dislodged, the boulder moved a fraction toward the edge.

"You've irritated me from the moment I clapped eyes on you!" Jespa spat in his face, wings buried into his sides with an agonizing grip. "But I never imagined that you would be this stubborn. Just forget about her."

"But I love her!" Roberto protested, fearful when he realized he couldn't escape Jespa's grasp.

"Ha!" Jespa laughed as if Roberto had said something hilarious. "I don't believe in love. It does not exist."

"It does, Jespa! I love Sophia." Roberto then gave Jespa a powerful kick in the belly, driving the breath out of him. Escaping his grasp, Roberto shoved Jespa into the tangle of vines that had been used to tether Sophia. Jespa writhed, entangled in the vines - they twisted around his neck, his legs, and wings.

Staggering to his talons, Jespa lunged at him, pulling the vines as he did - the rock lifted a bit, and then it settled back. But now, more pebbles and dirt were falling, and now the fragile cliff edge under the boulder, Roberto and Jespa was moving. Roberto looked down, feeling the movement.

The cliff edge was now falling apart. Jespa now realized, and whipped his head up, staring at Roberto. Then it gave out. Roberto scrabbled back, as Jespa swarmed forwards, desperately trying to release himself from the mess of vines. Jespa sank his claws into Roberto's back, with a screech of fear to try and gain leverage - Roberto was almost dragged with him, but at the last moment, wings seized his own.

Sophia clutched onto him for dear life, as he dug his claws into the cliff. Jespa suddenly shrieked as the boulder yanked upon him, and there was a sickening crack as the weight of the boulder broke something. Then Jespa held onto Roberto no more. Losing his grasp, he plummeted down the cliff side, snared in the vines. Roberto looked down with wide eyes, just in time to see and hear the huge splash as the rock hit the surface - Jespa began to scream, but it was abruptly cut off as he went into the water. The water began rippling wildly, waves smacking against the cliff face.

There was a moment of shocked silence. Then Sophia was grunting, struggling to pull him up. Roberto hastily scrabbled up, onto solid ground again. Immediately, he looked back over the cliff with Sophia. For a few moments, there was a series of ripples of bubbles in the water that had swallowed Jespa. Then they slowed down. Then... then...

Nothing. The black surface became as still as death itself.

But then something did bob up. Roberto gasped, at first thinking that Jespa was somehow still alive - then he realized that the body was face-down, and still. Jespa must have freed himself, but at that moment run out of air. Sophia stared at Roberto in shock, before rushing down the cliff, with him close behind. Together, they grabbed onto the floating body before the current took it, and hauled it out of the water, onto the rock bank.

Roberto and Sophia stood over Jespa. Sodden vines still clung to him, but now he was still. Jespa lay, broken, before them - his eyes were open, but now they were blank and glassy, their amber depths lifeless. Dark water trickled through his plumage, causing the thin trails of blood to start trickling down to the stone floor. Jespa, after nineteen years of madness, was dead.

Roberto wasn't sure how Sophia would react. He looked at her, wondering if she'd blame him. But instead, she sank to her knees, eyes closed, shaking - her body racked with the beginning of sobs. "It's over." She whispered. "He's gone for good." Roberto stood in shock, trying to find something comforting to say. He sank to the floor beside her, cloaking his wing over Sophia's shoulders.

"I'm so sorry..." he began. Roberto looked down at Jespa, and felt sorrow. Things could have been so different, if he had been normal. Roberto rested his wings on Jespa's eyelids - then he slid them closed, so the mania in the orange irises was concealed. Sophia leaned against him, covering her face with her wings. It was over.

Jespa's insanity had come to an end.

Later

Roberto and Sophia emerged from the cave, in silence. The sky was milky blue, with streaks of cloud and the glow of the moon turning everything to silver as it rose. They were both exhausted and their wounds hurt, but both of them couldn't believe it still - Jespa was dead. They'd never see him again - he couldn't hurt them any longer. They paused, and Sophia took his wing.

"So what do we do now?" she asked quietly. Her feathers were out of place, a graze on her shoulder and her cheek. The skin under her eyes was grey, and Sophia looked exhausted. She didn't seem to be mournful, however.

"Probably stick together." Roberto answered. He sat down painfully, wincing at one of his scratches. There was a long moment of silence. Roberto found something to say. "He's at peace, now." But he was lying to himself. Jespa's soul would never be at rest, unless Andre set him straight.

"He'll never be at peace." Sophia sighed, also sitting. "I don't know where he's going... but he sure won't be with mom and dad, up there."

"Well, you shouldn't worry." Roberto said. He turned to look at her. "You're free, Sophia. He can't hurt you any more." It was true. Jespa was now no more than a memory.

"Free." Sophia echoed. Despite the fatigue on her face, she started to smile. "We're free..." She shook her head in disbelief. "I love you so much."

"And I love you too." Roberto replied. Sophia blinked rapidly with the beginnings of tears of joy - she hugged him. Roberto closed his eyes, and stroked her head feathers, the weight on his heart lifting entirely. For the first time in his life, he was content. "It's just you and me, now. For always."

"You and me, for always..." Sophia murmured in his ear. Roberto felt her smile. "Maybe not just you and me."