"Earth to Bia and Azure. Hello?" Leo heard Bromeliad's voice from the phone. "Are - Banjo! Angelica! Don't touch that -" there was the sound of Leo's cousins giggling and something breaking. Leo longed to see them, but his parents insisted on very few looks because they didn't want the family realizing they'd seen a lot of Leo and no Daniella. They hadn't seen Daniella at all, for a while. It was only a matter of time until someone realized something was wrong.

His exhausted parents were fighting to stay awake despite it being noon - they were still searching for Daniella, even though she'd been missing almost a week. Leo wandered when - or if - Azure and Bia were planning on telling them that Daniella was missing. How much longer were Azure and Bia going to keep up this facade? Jessy, Feliz and Angelo asked after Leo and Daniella all the time, but his parents always made some excuse. Leo sat out of view - they had taken a break in their search to contact the family.

"Oh... sorry." Said Azure, running a wing through his head feathers, which had lost their volume since worry had set in. "Were you saying something about Azalea and Felipe?"

"About ten minutes ago." Said Tiago's mischievous voice, and there was the sound of a 'shush' - it sounded like Jessy.

"You're so rude, daddy."

"You're one adorable hypocrite, after what you said to Feliz yesterday!" Replied Tiago's teasing voice. Leo listened - they were so happy, while they were miserable down here. He envied them - he missed his sister. It was like flying with one wing, he felt empty and miserable. They all did. The sparkle had gone from Bia's hazel eyes, Azure was quieter and less optimistic. Leo was growing more lonely by the day.

"Carla and Bruno want you back here - their eggs will be hatching soon. We all miss you." Blu said, but then Jewel lost her patience.

"Right, what's wrong? You both look exhausted! We've hardly seen anything of the kids, too." Jewel was then joined by the family members on the other side of the connection, voicing their concerns. Azure glanced at Bia, wondering, but she shook her head slightly to show that she didn't think it was the right time.

"Look, it's nothing. The storms have kept us all awake..."

"-the taps aren't working, Tulio. We had to use the hose." Spurred by boredom and curiosity, Leo strayed from his parents and slid down the pipe, dropping onto the windowsill. The hose, like a green snake, trailed through the window and into the sink, the water dripping out slowly to let the plugged sink fill. "-the electricity's a bit dodgy too. I'll switch it off, it's daylight and so distracting." Leo noticed a flickering lightbulb in the middle of the room, which was clean-looking but not too clean so that it was unsettling. The room looked pleasant, with pictures of birds on the wall and sickly yet healing birds sleeping in cages.

"It could be the stormy weather." Tulio suggested, cleaning his glasses lense on his sleeve. He stood a few feet away, with a male assistant. "At least the one we had yesterday was the final one in the forecast. Anyway, where's our resident who needs his skin treatment?" Resident? Leo wondered. There was a bird here who had a permanent place in the ornithology and sanctuary headquarters? That was unusual.

"He's over there." The other human said, indicating toward a cage on the adjacent windowsill to Leo, who was hiding behind a flowerpot above the filling sink. Leo realized that the cage was occupied; it was covered by a cloth, so he hadn't noticed there was someone in it initially. Under the edge of the cloth, he saw a pair of knobbly talons, surrounded by grey and white feathers. "You remember how the video of the little frog sticking to him became an online sensation? I still don't know why the frog seems besotted with him still, after all this time." Why does this sound familiar?

"Well, we can't separate them." Shrugged Tulio, writing something on a clipboard. He reached toward the clothed cage, pulling the cover away, before a woman's head appeared around the door. She, like Tulio and the assistant, was dressed in white, although she had a glass box in her hands.

"Hello, darling!" Sqeauled a high-pitched voice, aimed at the caged bird - a very pink frog was stuck to the glass wall, with big, adoring eyes. "I'll see you later, my sweet love!" There was a mutter of annoyance and dread from the bird, who Leo couldn't fully see.

"Tulio, the babysitter just dropped Emma off." Said the woman, hitching the glass box up with her knee to prevent it slipping from her grasp. "I'm just taking the tree frog back to their enclosure." She then ducked out of the room, but not before the tree frog shouted a goodbye to the caged bird.

"Oh yes, Yasmin said she couldn't do the full day." Tulio quickly went out of the room. Emma usually spent the day with Linda and Fernando at their book store or at the nursery which wasn't open on weekends, but today was an author's visit and a Saturday - it would be difficult to keep an eye on an adventurous toddler, while it was so busy. "The treatment... where was it, Franco? Would you mind? I have to go." The other human followed talking some medical nonsense, taking a stack of papers with him. Leo looked around the room, before perching on a cabinet, opposite the caged bird, who was now exposed with the cloth gone. He wondered why the frog had seemed so loved-up - what did she see in that?

He'd obviously had a bad time. Ragged white feathers covered the floor of his padlocked cage, and there was a laziness in his bloodshot, unfriendly brown eyes. A rather ridiculous jacket-like thing covered his main body, and baldness was creeping up his neck. Dirty yellow feathers lay on the back of the his head. Leo went to fly back outside, feeling uneasy, but the caged bird noticed him before he could slip away. His eyes grew alert. "What do we have here?" His gaze was patronizing and mocking, as he stared at Leo. His eyes were narrowed; he seemed to think Leo looked familiar, and he didn't like it. "A little blue bird?"

"Uh... hi?" Leo was unsure how to react to this bitter stranger. The cockatoo glowered through the bars.

"Let me guess. You're that little Spix's macaw everyone's been gossiping about? The one who's missing?" His tone was absolute mockery. Leo filled with unease - news of Daniella was everywhere, thanks to the toucans and their thirty-something children - not to mention their uncountable grandchildren - as well as Mia, Nico and Pedro spreading messages to party-goers in their samba clubs. This bird had probably heard it from one of the sick birds that had passed through the recovery centre. "Shame." He sneered. "Must've wandered off... but then, you're all stupid that way." Leo felt a flash of outrage.

"Don't talk about us like that!" Leo glared at the bedraggled bird. "Who even are you?" The white bird grinned.

"How about I sing you my life story? I've already done it to your wretched kind before."

"I don't think -" Leo went to go, not wanting to hear it.

"Leo!" Bia landed on the windowsill, for he had disappeared from the roof, where she and Azure had been on the videocall. Not noticing the bird below her, she flew in, onto the cabinet. "You shouldn't be in here -" then she spotted the bedraggled cockatoo. She went rigid with hostility, and the cockatoo instantly recognised her. This wasn't the first time they'd bumped into one another - Blu and Jewel had taken her, Carla and Tiago to Rio for their first Summer living in the Amazon, before she'd met Azure. Passing through the facility, they'd spotted him being cleaned up in a sink by staff. Another year, she and Azure, joined by Carla and Bruno, had been seen by him. He'd been angry, obviously, and curses had sent them flying on their way.

"Well, well. We meet again." Nigel glared daggers.

"You." She said, feathers bristling. Leo glanced up at her, puzzled. He'd known that this bird was a Sulphur-crested cockatoo the moment he'd laid eyes on him - like his mother, he knew his species. How would his mother know this bird, usually native to Australia? Leo began to fit things together in his mind. A tree frog, he'd seen for himself and heard the ornithologists mention. A cockatoo with a feather condition... he'd heard these things before, in a story told by Blu and Jewel.

"Come to gloat, after all this time?" Nigel's eyes were filled with dislike at the sight of Bia - daughter of the bird he hated most.

"Trust me, we're leaving. Come on, Leo." Bia went to usher Leo outside, but Leo stayed where he was, frozen by Nigel's unfriendly glare.

"I heard about a lost blue macaw." Nigel's voice floated over, full of sneering, and Leo felt Bia stiffen. "I guessed it had to be something to do with your wretched family... there's only so many pet blue macaws who'd visit this city."

"Pet?" Bia whirled round, in anger. "We're friendly to humans, that's all - we live in the rainforest, where we belong. My dad isn't a pet. You're just a jealous bird who turned on his own kind to help smugglers. And that's a bit rich! You were a pet!"

"I'm not finished!" Nigel leaned on the cage bars, face full of arrogance. "How did you lose that kid? Too stupid to keep track of them all? Or maybe she ran away... you must be a terrible mother." Nigel grinned with satisfaction, enjoying the torment - Bia's face was frozen. That torturing question had never left her mind, and now Nigel was making her reconsider it. "For who would want to be part of a pet family? Maybe she couldn't bear the shame and humiliation..."

"You don't know a thing about my family." Bia hissed.

"Your family." Nigel snorted, voice sickly sweet. "What a joke you are!"

Leo's eyes grew narrower and narrower. He wasn't going to stand here and let this cockatoo insult his mother. He edged out of Nigel's vision, flying onto the windowsill with the flowerpot. The hose trailed into the sink, filling it up - but with the humans out of the room, it was about to overflow. He perched on the unworking tap, noticing how the hose had a power dial on the side. He got an idea, and flew out, calling for Azure.

"What happened years ago was your own fault. You shouldn't have been such an egotistical bully! That's why you have to wear that beyond ridiculous outfit, and why you can't fly." Bia had heard all about him, after their brief encounter when she was little. After being taken back to Rio, Nigel, along with Gabi, had been kept in the outdoor enclosures at the back of the building, where the birds who couldn't be returned to the wild were kept in comfortable, spacious cages filled with plants, to make their lives as natural as possible. Although, Nigel didn't deserve this after all the birds he'd helped imprison over the years.

Nigel ignored her, while trying to unlock his cage - but it was padlocked. He angrily sat, in frustration, itching to give Bia a piece of his mind. Instead, he tormented her further with words. "I wonder where your lost child is right now. Perhaps she's been caught by smugglers. I heard about how they were getting into your precious sanctuary..."

"We fixed that." Bia snapped. Azure, Nico, Eva and Mia had lead Linda and Tulio to a trap they'd found, and since then the fence was fixed and, right now, being replaced by something more smuggler proof. Her temper grew and grew, and she resisted the temptation to screech at him.

"If not that, maybe a snake came by, and fancied a snack? I bet -" Bia almost leapt forwards to sink her claws through the bars of his cage - but then she jerked backwards. A jet of water soared across the room, hitting Nigel. He squawked and floundered against the water, which sprayed at every angle, his wings thrashing inside the cage. The water ceased after a few moments, and by this time, he was soaked and dripping water. He shivered, looking beyond ridiculous with his wet feathers sticking to his skin.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Were you finished?" Azure smirked at Nigel, from where he had the hose aimed, and Leo had turned up the power of the water. Leo grinned mischievously, as he and Azure shared a wing-bump. Despite everything Nigel had said, Bia was trying not to laugh. Azure beckoned Bia, as the door handle turned. The three birds flew out the window - while Azure and Leo were actually happy for the first time in days, Nigel's words rang in Bia's mind.

Tulio came back in, the skin treatment in his right hand with Emma held on his left hip. Green bows were tied in her reddish-brown hair. "Franco, I'll just leave this on the side next to the cage, I need to take Emma -" He stopped speaking as he stared at the soaking cockatoo, in bewilderment, dropping the bottle in his surprise.

"Mes deus, what did you do?" He tutted, while Nigel shivered there, seething in silence, his feathers completely drenched and his vest sagging. Emma giggled at the ridiculous sight, clapping her hands in joy.

Later

The ship glided along the surface of the sea, which moved smoothly and calmly in the night. There was hardly a breeze to stir it, so they shouldn't have had much trouble falling asleep. Emori slept soundly, while Daniella lay, her mind flooded with thoughts. Through a gap in the wooden ceiling, the moon hung, casting silver streaks across them. She looked at Emori, expecting her to mumble in her sleep - but this had been the only night she'd slept without muttering. Emori was sleeping peacefully, the pink ribbon swept over her neck, her chest gently rising and falling.

Coconuts lay clustered below them, rolling about gently with the motion of the swaying ship - Daniella and Emori lay on a ledge above to stop getting squashed by a flying coconut. Daniella guessed this was some sort of old-fashioned trade boat, based by the crates of fruit aboard. It wasn't like the flimsy smugglers vessel - it was more stable and had no water rushing across the floor. The door actually reached to the floor and ceiling, and had no signs of wood rot.

Daniella's wing tips brushed the necklace around her neck, the coconut fibres, the smooth amethyst. She couldn't believe Emori had gone out of her way to trek all the way back to the beach, to hunt the area up and down for her necklace even if Kehua was on the prowl. Emori said she'd found the stone but not the chain, so she had taken it to Leia to see if she could conjure something, since the turtle dove was clever at delicate work like that - she made dream catchers and all kinds of trinkets.

Dad makes dream catchers... he'd made one for her and Leo, and all her cousins. An older one hung over his and Bia's nest - the first one he'd ever made for her mother when they were teenagers. As Azure hadn't been so skilled when he'd made it, it wasn't the most decorative or the best, but it was precious to Bia. Before I'd be embarrassed when dad whispered romantic things to mom... but now I'd give anything to see it again.

Azure was the romantic one of her parents - he was always singing to Bia, bringing her sweet fruits and flowers, which she missed deeply, for it was so sweet to see. Daniella missed seeing her mother's blush, the adoring in her eyes, even the song she sang to her and Leo. Leo was annoying sometimes as brothers were, but Daniella's heart still ached with longing to see him and her parents, for the thousandth time.

Were they still searching? She'd been gone for so long... maybe they'd given up. Her chest squeezed with fear at the thought of them heading back to the Amazon and breaking the news to the whole family... would she and Emori have to find their way back all the way to the Amazon? She filled with dread, at the thought of getting lost in Brazil. At least Alegria was a single island, so she hadn't risked wandering farther and farther from home.

She remembered Alegria - but no matter how fondly she thought of Melodia, Anya, Gylfie and the other kindly residents, her thoughts kept returning to Marcos. She saw him everywhere. The green of the young coconuts seemed identical to that of his eyes, and the crack in the wooden board above her head reminded her of the scar made by Costia. She swore she'd seen him earlier, staring at them from behind a barrel, but when she'd blinked, he'd vanished. Don't be so paranoid. It's over now... your mind's playing with you.

Daniella suddenly heard a noise. She twitched out of her thoughts, glancing toward the wooden door, where the sound came from. Blinking away tiredness, the door drew clearer as she grew more alert. There was a scratching at the bottom, as if something with claws was scrabbling at the gap beneath. A shadow flickered slightly beneath the dim light falling down the corridor. The heavy door handle make a groaning sound. "Emori." She prodded her.

"Go away... I'm tired..." Emori muttered, groggily.

"There's something at the door." Daniella whispered, but Emori, being so tired, turned over and covered her head in denial. The handle moved down ever so slightly - but it was locked. It had been locked when Daniella and Emori had found their sleeping place, and they'd gotten in through a dodgy floorboard that stretched underneath the door, from the outside and inside.

"I'm sure it's nothing..." Emori murmured. Daniella watched the shadow under the door gap, and how the handle slid up and down a few times - she thought she heard a curse word hissed, but then the shadow moved away, and it was silent. Daniella's blood pounded in her ears - she didn't move her gaze from the door. But then she was reassured ever so slightly, when the boat swayed gently, and a crate of coconuts slid over the door. But she was still uneasy. "Maybe it was that four legged animal..." Emori said, drowsily.

"You mean the dog?" Daniella looked at Emori, but Emori was asleep now. As if to confirm this, there was a sudden growling and barking. Heavy paws rushed along the floor, the shadow racing past. She glanced back toward the door, her heart slowing down. Perhaps it was the dog - they'd seen the great shaggy thing flopped out in the corridor when they'd found the storage compartments, and had quietly crept past it. It had woken now, and claws clicking on the wooden floor, continuing to growl and bark at something. A human voice shouted, and the dog's barks ceased, although it still growled.

She thought no more of it, and forgot about it as sleep took over. The whisper of ocean, which terrified her once, was now a wonderful sound. The rocking of the boat lulled her, like the cradling of her mother's wings. I'll see mom soon... she looked back up at the moon, before falling into dreamless sleep.