Disclaimer: I don't own the characters nor the rights for Vivo, those rights are owned by Sony and Netflix and a few others. I DO own a few characters in this fic, though.

A song of the heart

It took a few minutes but the family climbed aboard the plane and were immediately dumbstruck by how first class interior looked magnificent and Gabi, Rosa and Esteban's mouthes fell open.

Their jaws hit the floor hard and fast.

It took some time until they started to drink in details of the First class section, nothing escaping their attention. There was a soft yet generic melody playing on the radio on the background, creating some monotonous noise to brighten the posh atmosphere.

The walls were a fine golden/yellow/beige/cream colour while the floors had a magnificent yet soft red carpet both of rich complimented the poshness of the small but comfortable space. The seats were rotatable and made from some sort of plush leather that looked like one could sink into the cushions the instant a backside made contact.

A huge television hung on the wall in front of the seats —the arrangement made it resemble a cinema, actually!"

It turned out that there was even more comforts when it was found that there were a pair of king-sized beds tucked into the corners with freshly-folded blankets placed neatly atop, there was a large bathroom at the end of a small up-ahead corridor and, of course, there was even coffee table where a little bell (probably to order service) and a collection of flowers sticking out of a fine China vase!

The plane wasn't as busy as everyone first thought and, as a result, the first class suite was pretty much empty so that improved things since the trio could sit back and relax and enjoy their flight in relative comfort.

Gabi let out a high-pitched, ear-drum-bursting wail that rivalled the frequency of a kettle.

The purple-haired twelve-year-old was so excited that she had lost any impulse control she had while she started darting from one corner to the next, zipping back and forth. She was giggling swiftly and uncontrollably as she behaved like she had chugged down nothing but sugar and caffeine whilst practically bouncing off the walls in the most literal sense possible.

It was difficult to reign her in!

"THIS IS SOOOOO COOOOOOOOOL!" She gushed while whirling and twirling on her feet around the aisles.

Rosa decided to intervene before her daughter went and experienced a serious burnout, despite the fact that she never even consumed sugar today.

There was the odd blue moon occasion where her daughter would experience sugar rush-like excitement before crashing hard and falling fast asleep on the spot; she saw a lot of her late husband, Carlos, in Gabi sometimes especially since he also had a quirk where he gets so excited that he reaches sugar rush levels of excitement before his own energy crashed and burned to the point he fell asleep in the most random of places —it was annoying to deal with at the time but now she couldn't deny that those were quiet and precious moments.

Gabi just kept admiring everything until her own mother marched over and grabbed her by the shoulder.

She didn't even say a word while Gabi protested.

Then Rosa quietly snapped "Gabriella Hernández! We need to find our seats first and we can explore once we take off but listen first, bien?"

Gabi moaned and then sighed.

She knew that she shouldn't test her mother when she was in a bad mood and knew better than to do disobey her mum when she was like this. She should have known that her mother would get snippy, she wasn't much of a huge fan of planes and she didn't know why. Not to mention the fact that her poor mum had probably not have a fantastic nights sleep due to the impending trip and, thus, causing her to be very irritable.

She gave a reluctant nod of her head as she was dragged along by the arm in a way that didn't hurt at all.

The group of three struggled a tad with shuffling through the aisle and it didn't take too much longer until Esteban, Gabi and Rosa had found and were all buckled into their seats.

They sat comfortably in first class.

After mulling it over quick, it was decided that it would be sensible if they used this time to quickly do some internet research on their destination before they switched off the WiFi on their devices for a short spell, that way they won't get in any trouble or anything. The comfort of their individual seats was amazing because of how luxurious and cool this area was! They could do nothing but wait until the airplane stewardess or flight attendant came to them to show them what to do in case of an emergency.

Gabi was quick to unsheathe her laptop from her backpack (nobody knew how it even fit in there, nor what it was doing in there to begin with) and place it atop a small desk in that could be folded out in front of the seat. She made quick work of opening her laptop from its closed position, typed in the password, accessed the WiFi on her mother's phone, piggybacking off of the internet hotspot, and started the quick research mission.

"Hey!" The twelve-year-old girl exclaimed, typing the keys for her laptop as she found something "I did some research on the 'Neon lights competition & concert' and it looks real cool! I've looked up the performance roster and Vivo is rumoured to make it into the middle of the list!"

"Huh? Why in the middle?" Asked Esteban.

Rosa answered her lover's inquiry "It's possibly because we haven't even arrived yet? I'm curious, though. Who else is there at the contest and concert anyway?"

Gabi kept on scrolling down the list and started to list them out.

"Okaaaaay…." She mumbled thoughtfully, just loud enough to be legible. "….We've got Tyrone Fawkes from Manhattan, Bea Calloway from Texas, Ella Trotterson from London England with her dog, Rufus, Louie Taylor from New York, Nigel Walkerson and even Nico Peréz with his pet bird, Nick!"

A lot of those names didn't sound the least bit familiar, except maybe that last one because of that emphasised "even" that the girl had added into her sentence and it surely didn't go unnoticed as the volume of Gabi's voice raised higher and higher with each name that she listed and her intrigue grew and grew.

Rosa looked at her daughter and raised a dubious brow at her.

"Does this "Nico Peréz" sound familiar to you, Gabriella?"

Gabi nodded.

"Sure! Nico Peréz used to be part of my all time favourite band before he went solo for some reason and started performing with a pet bird he named Nick! It's kinda like Vivo and I —except Nico is, like, way older than me and they don't perform daily shows near their home…"

The girl's mother nodded her head, not entirely understanding but was just happy to see a smile on her daughter's face and seeing her investment in this. She loved seeing Gabi's eyes shine the way that they did when music was brought up, she didn't see that shimmer much these days —especially in the wake of Carlos' death.

It made her heart swell to see such a thing.

Gabi kept looking up some information on this concert/contest event on her laptop and proceeded to inform any new information that she gathers from the website. Alas she was forced to shut her laptop when it became evident that the plane was about to take off, the indicator came in the form of the flight attendant whom had let the family know that the internet had to be shut off for the time being.

"We will take to the air soon. Is there anything I can get for you?" The flight attendant asked.

Rosa glanced over to both her boyfriend and daughter, silently asking them if they wanted any refreshments or beverages, and she whirled her head back to stare at the attendant after they shook their heads to say no. She would have purchased a snack or something for herself but, as she had her fill from breakfast earlier, her stomach was completely full.

"No thanks." She smiled.

The flight attendant then looked over to the flat-screen television hung up on the wall and proceeded to offer to switch it on so they could watch a film during the flight —the family agreed to watch a film and the flight attendant obliged and turned on the television, leaving them after she was satisfied that the family didn't need anymore assistance for the time being.

Everything was silent and, before anyone knew it, the plane started to make its move.

The aircraft zipped down the runway before taking off into the air like a bird taking flight and gliding through the air without effort; the giant jet soared gracefully through the air and the atmosphere on the inside of it was surprisingly calm and quiet as the passengers all settled in comfortably for their 4 hour flight.

The plane ride had a bit of rough turbulence, thus causing the airborne vehicle jostle a bit on occasion, even making some of the occupants jump a bit. This was especially unfortunate for those who had stood up during one of those patches of rough skies. The shine shone right through the windows, creating a warm and sunny atmosphere, and there was some faint murmuring coming from the lower classes, making the Hernández family feel even more blessed to have this space all to themselves.

Gabi and her mum were enjoying the inflight movie playing on the flat screen television, taking in whatever was going on in said movie.

Esteban, however, was in deep thought as he stayed silent for what felt like an eternity.

Ever since he got that advice from Vivo yesterday (he couldn't believe he asked for advice from an animal of all things), he'd been considering the best way to propose to Gabi about having some bonding time together but he didn't wish to broach the subject too early or anything. He knew he had to be tentative as to not feel as though he's being too forceful or pushy but at the same time, he knew he had to gather his courage and just do it.

Inhale….exhale….

Esteban slowly turned to face the twelve-year-old, whom had become preoccupied with the film playing on the television and started to make conversation.

"Hey, Gabi?" He piped up.

Gabi's expression soured but she didn't let her gaze leave the screen as she absorbed whatever was going on in the film, her eyes glued to the monitor. She didn't blink very much and her frown was huge as her expression was etched with upset.

"What?"

Esteban fumbled with his words for a second before finally (albeit hesitantly) spitting out what he wanted to ask.

"Can….Can you please teach me how to play the drums?"

Gabi froze and her eyes widened when she heard that unexpected request come from her mother's boyfriend, she never thought that he'd ever think to ask that question. Why would he want to play the drums? Didn't he not like music of any kind? What was going on here? She didn't know what or why he was asking this but she couldn't help but be rather suspicious.

She turned away from the film to stare at Esteban and raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

"But why? I thought you didn't like music." She asked pointedly.

Esteban felt sweat drip down his face and his throat knotted up in anxiety. He couldn't help but fumble with his fingers nervously as he started to evade contact with the twelve-year-old, purple-haired girl whom was the daughter of the woman he loved. He didn't know why he felt so anxious and didn't just spit it out right away but, when he did manage to actually speak, it came out as a strange rasp.

"I…I don't know, I thought it would be fun…."

Gabi just stared at him in outright confusion.

She wanted to straight up refuse his request. She wanted nothing to do with him, but then she remembered that she promised Vivo last night (she didn't promise out loud, though) that she'd try and cut the man some slack…not to mention she also promised her mother she'd try earlier that same morning as payment for agreeing to go on this trip to attend the contest/concert event in the first place. Her mother would probably lecture her and she hated lectures.

Not to mention it was difficult to say "no" because of the fact that he was using puppy dog eyes.

She mulled over the offer for a lengthy minute (although it felt like an eternity to Esteban) before she groaned and agreed.

"…..Alright, alright, I'll teach you the basics when we get to Las Vegas."

Gabi didn't know it but her mother had glanced over upon hearing the conversation and had a secret smile on her face.

She knew that Gabi wasn't close to acting civil with Esteban but this was a good place to start.

Upon taking a cursory glance out the window, Gabi was in awe of what she was seeing.

"Wooooooow, look at the view out there!" She exclaimed while smooshing her face right up against the glass, even though her glasses made it a bit difficult.

The sun was perched high in the sky now as early morning slipped into mid morning and, by the three hour mark, morning was on the cusp of transitioning to afternoon. The sky itself was a brilliant sapphire blue colour and there was nothing but clouds as far as the eye could see. Thin wisps of cumulus fluttered by, ranging from clouds with such low opacity that they were practically see-through to thicker clouds with much high opacity that there was no telling what was behind them.

Rosa placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder and, oh-so gingerly, steered her away from the window so she could avoid breathing so much on the window that she made it foggy and difficult to clean.

Gabi then frowned and leaned back in her seat, going back to watching the film being presented on screen.

"I hope Vivo's okay down there…" She muttered.

Esteban immediately tried to set the twelve-year-old's mind at ease by reassuring her, also turning his head to watch the film that had served as background noise up until now. His eyes were overflowing with keen interest and intrigue about the film, nevertheless he retained a part of his focus on Gabi and her worries.

"I'm sure he's fine, Gabi. Don't worry."

Vivo wasn't fine.

The Kinkajou sat huddled in the back of his case, his posture slouched and his head hung low. He had removed his hat and held it in his hands. He let out a huge sigh with his tail coiled around himself, sliding against his feet while he was huddled himself up in a small ball.

He tried his best to suck back the vomit that was threatening to seep into the back of his throat and his head felt as though someone was using it as a drum, the Kinkajou reached up and rubbed at it gingerly in an attempt to silence the screams of pain pounding throughout his poor little skull. His skull pounded painfully as his vision spun around the room and his mouth felt like the Sahara desert, he felt awful and he was pretty sure that his face was a pale green colour beneath his orange and purple fur.

His stomach felt as though it was going through multiple backflips.

Nausea waved over him like a massive tidal wave crashing on to a Sandy shore.

He somewhat recognised this feeling.

He tried to stand up but a wave of dizziness hit him like a truck and he was forced to sit down again.

He wondered if this was that "travel sickness" thing that the vet had mentioned.

Vivo realised that he started to have a gross yet metallic taste residing in his mouth and that didn't help him feel the slightest bit better, as a matter of fact, he started to somehow feel even worse.

He pushed himself to and unsteadily rose to stand on all fours, his muscles buckled slightly as he turned around to face the back of the carrier and huddled himself up into a tiny ball whilst he proceeded to empty his poor stomach, the sickness finally getting to him as he threw up. Shame welled up inside of him as he felt embarrassed for losing control of his gut so easily; he would have done anything to have received some of that travel sickness medicine at that moment.

"HURK-URRRGHHH…!"

As he was preoccupied with purging his breakfast from his system, he didn't really concentrate on anything else.

That was when he heard someone speak in a rather sympathetic tone of voice.

"Easy there, little one, just let it out."

Vivo's eyes widened as he spun around to look out of his carrier and peered into the black of the cargo bay, searching for the owner of the voice. In the meantime, he used one hand to clutch his churning stomach and the other hand to cover his mouth in a desperate attempt to keep any more vomit at bay.

Locating the owner of the voice was difficult due to how dark it was until he laid his eyes on a carrier cage that was right across the way from him, placed on a shelf among some more suitcases. Despite the red light shining from above, it was difficult to make out the silhouette of the animal trying to converse with him but it soon became apparent when he managed to make out a wet-looking black nose and floppy ears.

"Wh-Whose there?" Vivo reluctantly removed his hand away from his mouth as he called out, trying to smooth the sluggishness from his voice.

The creature in the carrier inched himself closer to the mesh so he could be more visible to the Kinkajou and that's when it became apparent that the creature was a dog, a golden retriever with a pure white patch covering his right eye. He also wore a cerulean blue collar around his neck.

"M'names Rufus," the edges of the golden retriever's muzzle turned upwards into a smile "Nice to meet you."

Vivo tipped his hat on a polite manner.

"My names Vivo."

Despite the intense nausea, horrendous headache, and lack of focus, Vivo decided to try and put every remaining shred of focus into this conversation as a means of distraction since he hoped to feel a bit less terrible if he concentrated on something else. His stomach was churning, his mind spun like a corkscrew, sweat threatened to seep through his pores, and his mouth felt wet with saliva.

He moaned as he put a hand to his head in an attempt to steady it but he kept himself concentrated.

"So….are you heading to this Las Vegas show too?"

The dog nodded, raising his head to stare at the hat and bandanna-clad mammal.

Then the conversation shifted.

"So you are that "Vivo" character that's taking the world by storm."

Vivo nodded, still clutching his aching tummy and trying to ignore the pounding in his skull. He still felt a bit miserable after vomiting and was trying his best to ignore the scent of bile in the back of his carrier and he made a note to nibble on a bit of banana later as that was apparently good for helping with travel sickness. It was nice to get a distraction, though.

"What are you supposed to be anyway? Some kind of possum?" Asked Rufus.

Vivo deadpanned "I'm a Kinkajou, but I have been mistaken for one of those way more times than I'd care to count."

Rufus nodded as if not entirely sure of what to say about that.

"Tell me," Vivo continued the conversation by dragging it into a slightly different direction. "What kind of performance does you and your partner do?"

Rufus pondered on that for a second before he replied.

"My owner, Ella, and I do tricks and performances together. This is our second year performing together and we are perfectly in-sync when we are on stage together —performing in front of so many people can be a bit daunting but we learn to ignore them and focus on one another instead."

The golden retriever appeared to have been in a nostalgic state as he recounted his and his masters acts together, even though they only performed in this specific contest and concert once last year; he seemed to be in a state of nirvana to recall how much fun he had on stage.

Nevertheless, he returned to the matter at paw.

"So is this your first time performing in the Neon light Contest & Concert, I presume?"

Vivo nodded, smiling weakly due to how rubbish he felt.

"Yep! We only got the invitation yesterday,"

Rufus seemed shocked to hear that little nugget of info as if he was shocked that the invitation came yesterday.

Vivo's brows furrowed, he didn't expect that reaction and he couldn't help but frown at it.

His ears lowered a bit and he titled his head to one side in pure confusion; he hadn't expected the show dog to be befuddled about this since it seemed so minor. What was the big deal? He wondered whether or not other invitations came a bit before and had just started to open his mouth to inquire about how long it normally took invitations to get to the recipients.

The kinkajou never got the chance, however, as a sudden voice coming from a radio in the corner reverberated throughout the entire plane.

"Hello, this is your captain speaking. We're gonna land in the McCarren international airport in 10 minutes."

Vivo sighed to himself, both as an attempt to hold back even more vomit and as relief that he'd finally be getting off of this plane very soon.

Rufus hung and then shook his head at this, deciding to end the conversation for the time being; since they were headed to the same place then perhaps this topic can be brought up again soon because (for reasons that were unknown to Vivo himself) he was very intrigued about this. Not to mention that he doubted that talking to a sickened Kinkajou would prove to have much merit.

"Alright." The dog spoke up, regaining Vivo's attention. "We shall have to end the conversation here. If you have any questions then you can ask me and, besides, I can introduce you and your owner to the other participants."

Rufus spared one final warm glance to the orange mammal as he officially put an end to the conversation by saying:

"Welcome to Las Vegas, Vivo."

Half an hour later…

The instant the group disembarked from the plane, they went back to the Las Vegas terminal to meet up with the person whom was apparently going to be their guide and chauffeur.

There wasn't much info about where he or she would take them or which hotel they would be staying at but it was decided that they'd inquire about all that in a bit —the matter of debarking off the airplane was simple enough after they retrieved all of their luggage….which included a still-motion-sick Vivo.

Vivo was collected from the cargo hold when the plane landed, along with his family's luggage.

He was glad to have been taken out of his carrier for a short time so not only could he receive some love from his family and so his (hated) carrier could be properly cleaned up so it would be a tad more comfortable for him, but he was also given one of the vets recommended tablets to help him feel better for his travel sickness. He was even more grateful that the medicine worked it's magic quick and his stomach finally stopped feeling like it was trying to force itself right out of his own body.

The Kinkajou clung on to Gabi for a few minutes before he was shoved right back into his newly-sterilised case (much to his dismay).

Anyways, the Hernández family exited the plane and searched around for whomever was there to take them to their destination —a hotel not far from where the contest and concert event was taking place; the hotel name was forgotten but it was rumoured that it was a special inn with quality that could put those high-standard hotels to outright shame. It was easy enough to find the person they were seeking when they found him holding up and waving a huge sign saying "Hernández family" around into the air to catch their attention.

It worked pretty much immediately and, the sign immediately catching their eye, Rosa led the group consisting of her daughter and her own boyfriend towards the man with their bags and carrier.

Seeing the family approach, the man lowered the sign.

He wore a black tuxedo with a bright red bow tie while he wore a pair of large dark sunglasses that sat on the bridge of his pointed nose with a pretty obvious earpiece connected to his right earlobe.

The man proceeded to give the group a "follow me" wave of the hand and led them outside of the airport where a big black limousine awaited them. The limo was shiny and had obviously been well-polished and cared for like a gem. Then again, however, why wouldn't it be in complete immaculate condition? Driving in a limousine was a privilege and it wasn't a privilege that was going to be passed up on.

The instant that Gabi knew that they were about to get into a limo, she shrieked so loud and at such a high frequency that she could have easily shattered all of the glass windows and/or ornaments in a 20 mile radius. She bounced up and down on the spot whilst giggling like an enthusiastic maniac.

"We're….gonna…..drive…..in….a….LIMOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She screamed, miraculously not shattering all nearby windows in a twenty mile radius.

Obviously, she was the pure epitome of joy.

Not even her mother could calm her down this time.

The man escorting the family didn't react at all in the slightest, either he was deaf or simply unfazed.

Vivo cringed and winced at the eardrum shearing shrieks that Gabi was belting out, yet he couldn't help but let out an impressed yet excited (albeit adorable) "Oooooooooh!" sound as he stared at the limo with huge sparkling eyes that shimmered, his little pink nose twitched. He was quite eager to see the inside of this thing since he had never dreamed that he'd be riding in such a fancy car!

Now it was only a matter of stuffing all the suitcases (except for Vivo in his carrier this time) into the limo boot and climbing into the back seats of the car.

The interior was even more impressive then the exterior!

The ceiling was made from what appeared to be ebony carpeting, judging by the apparent texture of the material, with little illuminated specks dotting the backdrop; they looked just like real stars twinkling in a pitch black night sky but somehow even more lit up and spectacular. The floor itself had crimson red carpeting and was so clear that it appeared as to no one trod on it nor dropped anything on to it, it looked so pristine that the carpet seemed brand new.

The seats, which we're facing backwards to the drivers window, were made from fine and exquisite leather and seemed so soft that it should have been illegal as to how soft it was. Not only that but there were some crystal wine glasses and a champagne bottle concealed in a little compartment right beside the chairs.

This limousine was the coolest car ever seen.

Once everyone clambered into the car, they started to visually explore the inside of the car and their immediate surroundings —Gabi was still behaving as though she had just ate 20 bags of nothing but sugar all in one go and was experiencing one of the worlds worst cases of sugar rush.

It didn't take long before the chauffeur started to pull off and drive, everyone staring out the window in wonderment as they watched some of the new sights of Las Vegas fly by them.

Vivo couldn't keep his eyes from wandering at the unfamiliar lights, plastic items, signs and other things even though he felt dreadfully nauseated.

"Wooooah." Vivo exclaimed, still somewhat woozy, staring out of the bars of his carrier and out the window.

There were palm trees, casinos, fountains, musicians busking, exotic places and other things that Vivo found difficult to keep track of. There were so many lights and so many huge buildings and other establishments, he'd never seen such a place like it. Seeing such beauty enchanted him and he bet that this place would look way better at night and he could hardly wait to see how pretty everything was during the nighttime.

Just the thought made his heart pound in his chest in anticipation.

As if she were able to read his mind, Gabi smiled down at Vivo in his carrier and exclaimed excitedly "Vivo! Just think, we get to perform here! And I bet Las Vegas will look even prettier at night!"

Vivo nodded in agreement, squeaking and chittering to communicate his concurrence.

Then all of a sudden…!

SKKKKRRRRT!

The driver grabbed the wheel of the limo and, with a loud screech of the tires, the car came to a very abrupt halt that was so hard and forceful that everyone lurched forwards violently. It was as if he was desperately trying to avoid running something over by accident and only just managed to avoid whatever it was.

Nobody saw it coming.

Rosa, Esteban and Gabi all jerked forth in their seats that their heads almost hit the hard surface of a nearby counter and it even caused Gabi to let go of Vivo's carrier which promptly tumbled to the floor of the limo, not only that but it caused the cage door to unlatch itself.

The man gave an annoyed cry as he gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white and he grit his teeth in furious frustration.

Rosa was quick to bend down and pick Vivo up off of the ground, scooping him up, checking him over to make sure he was alright (which he was) while everyone else recovered from their sudden jolt.

Vivo was curious as to what could have possibly caused that stop? To see if he could see any possible cause, he peered over Gabi's mother shoulder as she clung to the orange fuzzy mammal as though he were a baby in dire need of protecting and cuddling

Rosa was quick to demand what could have possibly warranted the harsh and sudden stop. Her eyes had narrowed into a glare so full of fury that, if aimed at the wrong person, they would practically burst into flames on the spot. Her aura was radiating with white hot rage and fury and she looked like she wanted to lunge forwards and rip him apart like some vicious wild animal.

"Estas loca!? What's the matter with you!? We all could have gotten really hurt!" She shrieked.

The driver spoke for the first time "…My sincere apologies, Mrs. Hernández! I didn't see it coming, it ran out in front of me."

Vivo blinked in confusion when he heard that. It? So something ran out in front of the limousine and the man made an effort to avoid flattening whatever it was…? Well whatever it was, it must have been running so fast that the guy couldn't even properly identify it's species. He didn't know if he actually managed to run over the unidentifiable creature and he sincerely hoped not…nevertheless, there was this thought picking at his brain like a finger to a scab on a wound.

Vivo couldn't place a finger on it.

Gabi, in the meantime, sat in her seat in a slight daze as she apparently didn't seem to register what was going on anymore and her young mind was trying to sort everything out. There were no tears welling up in her eyes but there also wasn't an ounce of expression etched upon her face. She looked just about ready to lay down on the floor and curl up into a fetal-position, she just stared ahead with a blank expression on her face.

Vivo stared out the window and noticed something was happening.

"What…?" His jaw dropped.

There was some more commotion outside.

There were a lot of angry people as they yelled and shouted and scolded a small strange pale orange blur that rushed and weaved around their legs feet, it was running so fast that it was hard to discern what the blur was exactly.

Vivo squinted his eyes and his small pink nose wrinkled in concentration to try and catch a glimpse.

The yelling of the townsfolk grew from a murmur into a thunderous roar…and Vivo's eyes widened when the creature finally stopped scuttling long enough for him to get a good look.

He had to rub and then blink his eyes repeatedly to make absolutely sure that he was seeing what he thought he was seeing, making sure to refresh his vision and be certain that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him yet his vision remained the same. He wasn't sure if this was simply a case of delirium due to his travel sickness but he didn't much care at this point as he was just in pure disbelief.

The figure was a Kinkajou…like him!

She had bright peach fuzz (a few shades lighter than Vivo's fur) covering her body yet the tip of her tail, the ends of her arms, her inner-ears and legs and her face were a magenta colour —like Vivo's were purple. She also had strange but beautiful eyes which were a strange pale blue colouration with no pupils to be shown (but Vivo didn't get to see properly due to how fast she ran) and she had what looked to be a flower tucked behind her ear.

Vivo immediately for this heart explode in his chest the instant he laid his eyes on the female Kinkajou.

His jaw dropped to the floor and his mind had seemed to make everything around him slow down as if in slow-motion, he couldn't even comprehend much of anything and she was gone by the time he finally manage to comprehend what he had just seen.

The female kinkajou had gone!

Vivo felt as though a bolt of electricity had shot through his mind and forced his limbs to go into overdrive.

It was as if he was no longer in control of his body and something more habitual had decided to take over, something…animalistic…instinct, perhaps?

It was difficult to describe but the hat and bandanna-clad musical Kinkajou was not about to ignore this strange sensation and, before his brain could fully register what he was doing, he had already launched himself out of Rosa's arms and leapt out of the open car window, much to the shock of Gabi and the others whom all called out to him in panic as he ran right towards where the female had been in that split second.

"Vivo?"

"Vivo!"

"Come back, Vivo!"

Despite the desperate calls for him to come back, the male Kinkajou ran away from the limo and proceeded to weave through and passed the legs of the angry people from before and he scampered over to the plaza; he almost shrunk beneath the harsh glowers that were trained upon him yet and he felt his spine crawl in a violent tremor as he pushed on and continued to make his way towards the item that the Kinkajou dropped.

He eventually stopped where the female was before and saw that there the flower she wore left on the ground.

Vivo wasn't a botanist by any of the stretch of the imagination but it looked like some sort of hibiscus flower which was a pale yellow colour with scarlet red outlining the petals. He stopped down and gently cupped the flower in both hands, handling it as if it were the most delicate thing in the world.

His mind was completely empty and he found it difficult to comprehend all of this.

There was…another Kinkajou?

A female?

Here in Los Vegas?

"VIVO!"

Gabi cried as she had apparently snapped back to reality and ran out of the limo to chase after Vivo as she made a mad dash —her eyes were full of shock and worry as she bent down and scrambled to pick him up, lifting him off the ground and holding him close out of fear that he'd vanish if she relinquished her hold even a tiny bit. She was clearly fearful and her brows knitted together to paint a look of great concern.

Eventually, she lessened her hold a bit and held Vivo out in front of her so the two could maintain eye-level.

"Vivo! Is everything okay? Why did you run away?" She asked.

Vivo couldn't answer her as he just kept staring at the flower in his hands in shock.

He hadn't meant to concern Gabi so much and, to show her he was sorry, he leaned into her hug whilst mustering as much affection as possible while his eyes were huge and full of disbelief.

He did not know if this was a hallucination from jet lag but he didn't really care anymore.

He tried to make sense of all this as well as the implications of this situation and what this could possibly mean for him; there was another Kinkajou…and she was here in Las Vegas. A few lengthy moments passed before his wide eyes hardened a bit and he slightly tightened his grip on the flower (but was very careful not to tear off any of the petals) he was still clasping. His thunderstruck expression shifted from disbelieving to determination as he knew what he had to do now.

The Kinkajou didn't know how but he was determined to find this runaway Kinkajou —he needed to meet her and he needed to return her flower to her.

His questions would be answered and he would find her one way or another.

A/N: So much to unpack in this chapter! Not only does Vivo encounter a new friend who could maybe teach him the ins and outs of this new contest and concert but he also catches a glimpse of something (or someone) special while also battling jet lag.

What will happen in the next chapter?

Stay tuned for more!

-Chloemcg