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

Vivo's slumbering state was the deepest it had ever been, especially considering he hadn't had much sleep in the duration of this passed week.

His breathing was deep while his heartbeat was slow and softly thudded in his eardrums, this being the only sound that managed to break through his state of unconsciousness. He was so tired despite having slept the sleep of the deepest kind —akin to that to actually being dead. He kept on struggling to pull himself out of the heavy, gray mist that dragged all of his limbs into the depths of unconscious to the point he couldn't even try and move them, even his tail. It felt as though thick cotton was trying to dampen both his ears and thoughts.

He noticed something strange, though, as he dragged himself to half-consciousness:

Gabi was usually the one to awaken him…but she apparently hadn't done so.

Why?

Was something wrong?

He didn't know how but this realisation, mixed with curiosity, gave him just enough strength to pull himself from the dense fog that was his sleeping state. He opened his eyes, only to shut them again when his eyeballs got a harsh punishment for doing so in the form of sunlight beaming right in his eyes.

He gave a pained wince.

He didn't know how but he managed to move both forearms to the point where they slogged in front of his face in a weak attempt to shield his poor eyeballs from the intense sunlight beaming into the bedroom where he and Gabi had slept. He rolled over to lay on his tummy and he made several attempts to pry his crusty eyelids apart in order to open his honey brown eyes, he rubbed his eyes against the purple fuzz covering his forearms in an attempt to awaken himself.

"Unnnnggggh….that was the best sleep I've gotten in ages…." He said with his voice interlaced with a groan mixed with a yawn.

He moaned as he finally succeeded in opening his eyes, wiping away the crust of sleep covering his eyeballs. He sat up in a slow yet rigid motion whilst feeling his poor back click and clack against the movement, he felt more like an old man then a relatively young and energetic Kinkajou —he was much more used to his muscles springing back to working order.

He must have slept awkwardly or something…

He stretched out his back and winced when his spine gave a huge "pop" and he couldn't help but find it somewhat satisfying as he reached behind himself and ran his nimble fingers down his back to rub the sore spots, digging his fingers in and kneading his tiny paws against the tender muscles in his back.

He decided it was time to get out of bed, who knows how long he slept given how tired he was…?

Then he happened to glance to his right and saw something very abnormal.

Gabi was seated on the edge of the bed, her head down and her eyes narrowed as if in a scowl. She looked as though she hadn't slept much at all during the night and didn't look well in general —her complexion was pale, the whites of her eyes were bloodshot and tinted a bright pink hue, large bags sagged beneath her eyes, her purple dyed hair was messy and her posture was fixed into a slouch.

The atmosphere was stifling as Vivo could practically feel the anger radiating from her being.

Maybe it could be described as electrifying?

Uncomfortable?

Outright discomforting?

He had a feeling he knew what was upsetting her but he hoped that he was wrong as he hopped over the rim of the suitcase, out of bed, then he proceeded to crawl across the floor over to the twelve-year-old girl. His steps slowed with each step closer he took to Gabi and he grew more and more reluctant to do so with his ears down and his eyes overflowing with concern and worry.

He slowly dragged himself across the luxurious carpet and over to her until he was next to her feet which dangled just above the floor.

He never took his eyes off of her but she either wasn't even aware that he was there or she was ignoring him —given the darkness in her usually bright eyes, Vivo was tempted to assume that it was the latter…his concern was steadily growing when she didn't even acknowledge he was even there. She looked as though she were about to burst into floods of tears as her lips subtly quivered although she tried her best to remain angry, her breaths were near silent and her face refused to relax and remained in its silent enraged yet scrunched expression.

Vivo finally (and reluctantly) spoke up.

"…Gabi…?"

Gabi didn't even react to his words (or the cute chitters that she could hear from him) and she sat there on the bed, motionless.

Vivo looked down at himself in deep thought.

He couldn't put this off much longer lest he wanted to wound Gabi's heart even further, which he really didn't want to do. But how could he do this? Explaining this would be really difficult with the human-animal language barrier, how should he even start such a conversation? Maybe an apology was warranted first things first? It made the most logical sense since she was kept in the dark —not on purpose but that hardly mattered.

The Kinkajou proceeded to clamber up on Gabi's leg, balanced on her knee, to sit down while tilting his head up and looking her squarely in the face.

"….Okay, we gotta have a talk." He sighed.

Gabi didn't say a word for what felt like an agonising eternity before she finally uttered a sentence that was as cold and chilly as an arctic breeze.

"I just…don't…I don't understand! Am I doing something wrong? D-Don't you like me anymore?"

Vivo wildly shook his head.

He was stupefied that the bright and usually optimistic girl could ask such an absurd inquiry.

Guilt proceeded to gnaw hungrily at his stomach since he knew exactly why she was feeling like that and how her mind went to that conclusion.

He'd been practically ignoring her all week while his mind was cast towards Marie and her mere existence…and not even he could deny that they didn't do much together and, while he tried to juggle successfully between helping Gabi and finding and then talking to Marie, he was beginning to realise that this just wasn't working and he needed to talk to her.

"Aww, kid, no!" He exclaimed, shooting up whilst still balancing on her knee before he climbed up her arm and settled right on her shoulder. "I could never leave you. Yes, you can be an explosive bomb of bad impulses with messy consequences with an overly-enthusiastic personality…but I couldn't bring myself to dislike you, no matter how annoying those set-backs be."

He gingerly leaned and reached over to touch her cheek and wiped the falling tear away with a paw.

Gabi spoke with her voice quaking and her own tongue feeling as though it was a piece of blubber.

"E-Ever since we arrived here in Las Vegas, y-you'd been going out into the city for some reason that I don't understand. I m-mean we investigated that hibiscus flower together and that was it! Do you know how I had to save your backside and cover for you last night at the dinner? Did you know how embarrassing that was!?"

Vivo had no words to speak.

The twelve-year-old girl's truthful comments had threatened to tear his attempted apology to shreds.

But the musical Kinkajou refused to hang his head in defeat, the same defeat that he had been forced to taste many times before —like the time when he and Gabi thought that they had lost Andres' song to Marta or the time when he and Gabi were forced to separate when the former was locked behind a door and Vivo was forced to go on and deliver the song without his friend…

Oh, how he wanted to explain himself outright then and there.

She deserved an explanation but it would be difficult because how could he tell her the truth when neither of them docile understand one another, let alone speak the same language?

How could he explain to her about Marie?

It wasn't like he could just tell her since he couldn't understand a word he was saying…

"I…I…I know that you can't really explain yourself-" She sucked in a sniffly breath "-but I gotta know what's going on."

Vivo reached up to remove his little fedora from his head, clutching it to his fuzzy, cream/beige-coloured chest and turning to look the twelve-year-old girl directly in the eye.

His expression was apologetic.

Hot yet salty tears trailed down her cheeks, even though Gabi had removed her glasses and covered her eyes, and dripped onto the rich luxurious carpet below, her chest heaving in and out with each sob that caused her body to jolt as though she were hit by a miniature bolt of lightning. Her lips refused to stop quivering and her nose quickly became wet and gross as a gross mix of tears and mucus poured out of her nostrils.

Her heart warmed only ever-so-slightly when she felt the furry little mammal tried to nuzzle her cheek.

Gabi sniffled.

"You….You won't leave me right?"

Vivo shook his head vigorously.

He couldn't leave her side, even if a time came when he would want to —his deep coffee brown eyes were reassuring but also firm and overflowing with determination that he was never going to leave her side, no matter what…he had made a promise to himself that he would stick by Gabriella until the end and he wasn't going to break it. Ever.

He simply thrust his left arm towards her, pointing at the BFF bracelet which she had gifted to him two years before around his tiny wrist; this bracelet was a constant reminder of their friendship and all they had been through over the past two years, all the trials and tribulations they had been through as friends, despite Gabi's explosive joy over life itself and Vivo having to try and temper her sometimes —he knew that he wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

He had remembered it as if it were yesterday.

This was it.

Both Vivo and Gabi had come so far and were at the final stretch in delivering the song of love written by Andrés that was addressed to Marta Sandoval, all they needed to do was get passed that door and they would get to complete their objective. The two had run through the labyrinth of a maze that were the corridors of the Mambo Cabana in Miami Florida, not daring to stop for even a second, until they reached the steel door.

"Up there, Vivo! Climb through and unlock the door from the other side!"

Vivo proceeded to leap off of Gabi's shoulder, climb up the metal doorframe and jump through the open hole in the door…only for it to slam shut behind him and cause him to fall down so he was on the opposite side of the door —which Gabi was still locked behind in!

Vivo sat on the carpet where he fell for a few moments, dazed from the slight tumble he just took, but then he noticed that the problems just kept mounting when he happened to look at the doorknob.

It was knotted in locks and chains!

Vivo could feel his insides freeze as a cold realisation filled his entire body, but he tried to push passed it.

He refused to leave Gabi behind.

"Oh no…"

He scrambled up to the doorknob and grabbed hold of some of the chins and tried to pull them off, pulling on the lock as well, but they were steadfastly not budging. Nevertheless he kept pulling —it was probably out of a stubborn refusal to leave the one person who had helped him on his journey behind to get captured but that didn't matter right now.

He had to keep trying!

He couldn't give up!

"Vivo, hurry! Their coming!"

Vivo squeaked helplessly as he kept pulling the locks and chains as hard as he could, even feeling the strain on his tiny arms. He huffed and puffed as he continued his effort in trying to pry the lock out of its tangle of rusty old chains but they still refused to break and that made the musical Kinkajou begin to panic more since he was beginning to realise that this couldn't be done!

Gabi tried to pull the door open, too, but it still wouldn't budge on her end either.

"Arrgh! It's not opening! What's wrong?" She cried.

She had to stop when she heard distant voices beginning to approach:

"She's not down there!"

"Must be this way!"

Gabi stopped and thought about their current predicament.

The people chasing them were coming whether they liked it or not, they would be found eventually and (given how loud and close the voices were getting) then they would fail their objective. It was likely that Vivo was having trouble because the door was locked from the other side and, in spite of how incredible her new partner was, not even he could accomplish such an impossible feat such as smashing a lock in chains in what appeared to be seconds at most.

They didn't have time to mull this decision over, Gabi had no hope to get out of this…but Vivo could.

The purple-haired ten-year-old's eyes widened and then hardened as her throat clogged up a bit with a mix of sadness and guilt but she shoved it deep down as she exhaled a deep yet slow breath.

She stared at the door.

She knew what she had to do.

"…Okay, Vivo. One last plan."

Gabi steeled herself before she forced the words out passed that knot of guilt in her trachea, trying to keep her own breath from hitching.

"You have to go without me."

Vivo, meanwhile, had stopped pulling at the lock and chains and he gave a sad yet concerned chirp.

He could hear the ten-year-old try and comfort him and that made his heart quiver and then threaten to crumble in his chest, he didn't want to abandon her and let her fend for herself. What if those people chasing them treated her too rough or something? What would happen if she got hurt somehow? His ears drooped and he chewed his lower lip.

"It's okay, it's okay. Here…take this. So you won't forget me."

Vivo glanced down and saw the "BFF" bracelet had been slid through a gap through the bottom of the door and the rich carpeted floor. His heart sunk when he saw the bracelet and he recognised it as the same bracelet that Gabi tried to slip around his wrist when they met in her bedroom.

The orange fuzzy mammal bent down and grabbed the bracelet, then he looked up at the door.

He gave another sad chitter.

"Vivo. You have to finish the mission, for the both of us."

Vivo sighed as he slid it around his forearm and then placed a hand firmly against the door, his own eyes hardening and his mouth setting into a determined frown. He didn't want to leave Gabi like this but there was nothing for it, he had to go and finish the mission and deliver the song on both of their behalves.

It was what Gabi wanted him to do, what she entrusted him to do…

"….Alright, partner."

Vivo brought his mind back to the present with a small shake of his head, making sure not to shake enough to jostle his little hat.

He kept himself steady and perched as he hopped off her shoulder and plopped himself upon her lap, his eyes never leaving hers. Then he hopped off her lap slowly across the luxurious carpet and gingerly went over to a nearby mirror, glancing over his shoulder and nodding at Gabi to signal her to follow him.

He had an idea to try and explain what's was up in a way that Gabi could maybe begin to understand.

He just hoped that it worked.

His ear twitched when he heard the noise of the bed sheets rustling and the bed creaking, indicating that Gabi had stood up, and the Kinkajou kept bounding over to the large mirror that was propped up against the wall and then proceeded to sit down in front of it.

He stared longingly at his reflection then back to Gabi and back to the image of himself again.

Gabi looked confused at first but then understanding started to creep upon her face.

"Wait a sec….Vivo? Are you lonely?"

Vivo didn't turn to face her but Gabi got the answer when she saw him drop his head sadly in the mirror.

He just stared into the reflection, captivated by the upset and loneliness shining in his own eyes. He hadn't noticed it before but he had the expression of someone longing to be loved and, while he did like being one of a kind, he couldn't help but wonder that very same question that rang through his mind the day before they had arrived in Las Vegas:

"Would it really be so bad if I wasn't one of a kind?"

That question bellowed in his brain like a huge bell ringing in a belfry, causing the very air around it to vibrate and distort.

He lifted an arm and hesitantly reached a small paw forwards to place against the reflective surface of the glass and the reflected version did the same; both of their expressions were overflowing with sorrow and pure emotion and they both looked really lost and exhausted with the lack of sleep evident by the huge dark bags sagging beneath their eyes.

Gabi felt her stomach twist with knots of guilt as she kept gazing thoughtfully at the ground, voices and decisions screaming in her own head. Her eyes were filled with a strange mix of concern, mild excitement and exhaustion since she wondered if perhaps Vivo needed to be matched up with a lady Kinkajou? The thought made her heart burst with adoration but she brought herself back to the present.

She knew she had her answer now but a new question popped into her head.

"But…then why are you leaving so oft-" She started to ask.

BANG, BANG, BANG!

Both Vivo and Gabi jumped, startled, and turned to face away from the bedroom mirror and towards the door which was closed and locked. The two wore startled expressions upon their faces and their eyes were wide in their sockets as they took a moment to get over the sudden surprise they went under upon hearing the abrupt pounding on the door.

"Gabriella?" Rosa's muffled voice carried through the door and resounded through the room "We have to get ready to head to the concert hall in half an hour!"

Gabi's eyes returned to normal size as she proceeded to acknowledge her mother.

"Okay, mum! I'll get dressed and we'll be right there!"

The twelve-year-old girl shook herself from her stupor and ran over to the wardrobe and started to dig out some clothes for herself to wear for the day. She rummaged through the drawers and the doors to find a decent outfit for herself to wear whilst mumbling and muttering incoherently to herself.

Vivo, meanwhile, sat on the ground still in a stunned yet thoughtful stupor.

He knew that Gabi was going to ask him the question he couldn't answer for her…yet:

Why leave so often?

It was a good question, he hardly knew this female Kinkajou and he was already willing to risk the stability of his good life for her. But there was just something about her that drew him to her and it wasn't just that she was the same species as he was. No, there was something else about her that made his heart pound hard in his chest…and he couldn't put a name to the reason. Every time he saw her, he would get this feeling akin to someone wrapping him up in layers upon layers of blankets that warmed his heart.

Yet he also noticed something else as he silently watched Gabi ferret through her clothes.

There was something else bothering her, he could see it…but he couldn't push her before she was ready.

Meanwhile…

"Heeeeey, get outta here ya stupid rat!"

"Give back that mango!"

"Get pest control over here!"

"This is the tenth time this week that rodent stole from m'ah stall!"

The distant and upset shouts of some of the citizens of Las Vegas carried across the wind to Marie's sharp ears while she scampered away.

She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, using her sense of smell and sight to guide her. Of course she had run through these streets well enough not to (always) bump into anything and she kept a tight grip of her precious prize —a juicy mango she stole from a market stall. Her nose twitched at the light but succulent scent and it almost made her mouth water.

Nevertheless she kept running.

Her heart was in her throat, her legs felt like they were on fire and she felt as though her body was pure adrenaline.

The blind Kinkajou skittered through the back alleys and secret pathways that nobody knew even existed or barely acknowledged the reality of, her ears twitched when she could have sworn that she heard a couple of flaps far above her. She had a feeling she knew who they belonged to but she put it out of her mind for now, she needed to concentrate finding a safe place first.

She didn't want to risk humans finding where she lived and then running her out of house and home, that had happened way too many times then she'd care to recall…

Marie finally stopped after a full five minutes of running and she had her back to something firm, a brick building she supposed, and she hunched over as she sat down on the ground whilst huddling into a small ball. Her legs were brought up to her fuzzy cream/beige-coloured chest and she had curled her own tail around herself, wrapping it around her own feet.

She clasped her mid-morning meal as if it were her greatest treasure, not wanting to waste a moment before she was the unfortunate victim of someone trying to snatch her prize for themselves.

Marie didn't like taking mangoes like that but she had no other choice if she wanted to survive these tough streets. It had been this way since she was young and the memories stung her heart with the same force as a scorpions poisonously venomous sting, how she feared humans because of what they had done to her and how they treated her since.

She shook her head.

Now was not the time to dwell on such things.

She lifted the mango to her mouth and nibbled away at the bare fruit, licking her lips as the fruity juices flooded through her pleased tastebuds. She chomped and chewed her mango with pure ravenous hunger whilst her tiny pink nose twitched in delight. She loved feeling the cool brick walls on her back and the back of her head as she reclined back against it to give herself somewhere to relax for now.

The female Kinkajou stayed silent as she mused while nibbling the mango she held.

Then she heard something.

It sounded like flapping wings….wait a second.

She stuffed the rest of her mango into her mouth and jumped out of the way, just in time to avoid something making a ruckus of a landing as something dropped out of sky and landed on the ground with enough force that blew her off of her feet and sent her tumbling out of the way.

What she didn't know was that Dancarino had tried his arial surveillance but was way more noisy than he could have counted on.

He ended up falling towards the ground with a tremendous "splat" and somehow wound up unharmed as he picked himself up off of the asphalt and dusted himself off with his two huge wings to rid his white and green plumage of the dust and muck that clung to it like a stubborn grass stain. He righted himself, albeit clumsily, as he got to his long legs and stood up tall and proud as he looked around in hopes to locate the female Kinkajou he was keeping track of.

Marie looked around frantically, her unseeing gray/pale blue eyes wide and dilated with panic.

Of course she wouldn't be able to see who it was who knocked her aside but that didn't stop her body in reacting as if she could.

Dancarino saw the female honey bear and grew concerned as he started to approach her.

"Hey! Are you okay, ma'am?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"D-D-D-Dancarino!" She shrieked, panting. "Do you have a habit of scaring me!? Is it fun or something!? Why did you follow me anyway!?"

Marie didn't know why she was so angry, she supposed that she was merely sleep-deprived despite being unable to sleep. She tried to cool her own temper but she found this task difficult. Nevertheless, she snapped so much that spittle flew from her mouth as she took out her exhaustion and overwhelming whirlpool emotions on the big but beautiful bird with the kitchen-utensil-shaped beak.

Dancarino gulped when he saw the enraged female Kinkajou and, if it were possible, he would have started blushing bright red. He couldn't help but lower his gaze in shame as a huge frown formed upon his spoon-billed beak. He looked ready to scuffle the ground with one of his huge feet but was as still as a statue. His body even appeared to go rock solid as he stood awkwardly.

"I-I-I…uhhh…" He stammered and stuttered, trying to explain himself but not being able to.

He felt like a child being scolded by his mother.

Marie huffed and puffed for a minute and was ready to yell at him further but stopped when she heard a distant voice.

"Yes….Yes….Everything is arranged, j-just promise me that I will get the money to restore it! That Vivo creature will probably be the most talented of the bunch."

Marie felt her ear twitch when she heard that name.

Vivo?

That was a name that made her heart skip a beat.

Vivo was a Kinkajou like her and he was very kind-hearted and very considerate of her feelings, he had a voice that (secretly) made her swoon, and she felt this strange attraction to him…it was as if they were meant to stay together and she couldn't help but wonder if…she could trust him with her deepest darkest secrets?

If she could trust him with the truth behind her condition…of her blindness?

But then she focused more on what the person was saying; what was arranged? What could the person be talking about? Hmm, it sounded like he was in need of some money for some sort of important cause and he was somewhat panicked. She could detect the desperation in the man's voice as he spoke with a slight tremble of worry, but the person was too far away to be able to hear any other emotion.

The anger melted away from Marie's expression and it turned to confusion mixed in with cautious concern.

Dancarino finally unfroze and started to ask the female Kinkajou.

"Errrr…is everything oka-"

"Shh!" She shushed the clumsy bird and grabbed hold of his beak, silencing him.

Dancarino gulped when he saw her pressed both her small paws firmly against his spoon-tipped beak.

He didn't even object as Marie, still grabbing his beak, slowly moved closer towards a building window nearby and she sat down on the window ledge. The two were silent but the spoonbill couldn't help but eye her worriedly and then his own eyes widened when he started to listen in on what whomever Marie had been eavesdropping on was saying specifically:

"Yes. That little orange rodent shows a lot of talent, I'm not entirely sure about the girl but I'll make sure they're ready before the plane arrives."

Marie's eyes widened while she felt her insides freeze with cold panic.

What was this guy planning?!

"…..Fine. I swear I'll have them ready for you just before the Neon lights contest/concert!"

Then there was the sound of a phone slamming and hanging up, whether it was on the callers side or not was unknown but that didn't really concern Marie nor Dancarino at the moment.

The rosette spoonbill and the female Kinkajou stared at each other in horror.

Marie was panicking inside.

She didn't know what was happening but she did know that she had to warn Vivo!

A/N: Hi, everyone.

Merry early Christmas!

I'm sorry that this is late, I haven't been feeling well and then things got a bit difficult so I'm going to slow down on this story a bit. I'm not quitting, not by a long shot, but I just need to recover a bit and recollect my thoughts.

I also want to thank laylacool2002 for some wonderful artwork they made of Vivo and Marie, it's amazing!

-Chloemcg