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 was dark later that night.

A couple of hours after Gabi, Rosa and Esteban had arrived back at the hotel, they recieved an invitation to a last dinner before everyone had their grand practice before the big show that was to take place the following night; Gabi wanted Vivo to come with but understood that he wished to actually tell Marie that he wanted to say goodbye, ever since she found out the truth she had been very understanding…but also wanting to smuggle the female home with her.

Vivo refused but he did harbour a secret wish that she'd agree to that.

Anyway, he went out to find Marie so they could spend a final night together and it didn't even take too long before Vivo found her and they traversed the streets together.

The sky was filled with large and dark storm clouds that promised oncoming rain, the breeze was gentle and as cool as a lukewarm ice cube. The buildings were lit up with neon signs, and sound of casino gambling machines chimed in the atmosphere, the sounds of a crowd of people muttering rang in the atmosphere like the ding-a-ling chimes of a bell.

Vivo and Marie crossed through the (somewhat) empty streets, weaving through and around the legs of the odd person who just so happened to have been wandering, ignoring the odd cry of frustration and irritation as the pair of Kinkajous both scampered across the ground on all fours, Vivo leading the way and Marie biting down on his tail so he could lead her. Vivo and Marie kept scampering across the pavement, the former focusing on their destination and the latter being towed behind him.

The pair strode through the streets as Vivo periodically gave Marie the odd reminder that they were getting close to arriving at their destination.

"Whef argh youff takingff muh?" Marie asked through a muffled voice, her mouth full of purple tail-tip.

Vivo cringed a bit when he felt her canines dig into his precious and sensitive tail but still glanced over his shoulder to look at the female Kinkajou following close behind him. She seemed completely clueless as to what he had planned; thank goodness for that. He tried not to show any pain for how hard she was biting down on his poor tail, though, since he didn't want to make her feel guilty or anything.

"I just thought we'd go for a walk. Besides, we're almost there." He responded.

It took a couple minutes more of walking before the pair eventually found themselves running right in front of the famed Bellagio fountain. Geysers of water shot up high into the night sky and the aftermath came in the form of a light drizzle that came down and sprinkled anyone who was standing underneath —such as the two Orange yet fuzzy mammals.

Nevertheless, it was a beautiful view.

Vivo had to stop as he was in pure awe of what he was looking at. With the lights below the fountain brightening up the water basking it in a warm golden glow, it created the appearance that said fountain was shooting golden illuminated water and, to make things look even more magical, fireworks started to let loose a high pitched whistle as they rose up into the skies above and then exploded into a burst of colour. The massive building encircling the large and magnificent from behind the spurting fountains just made the view even more spectacular and Vivo couldn't help but feel his mouth drop open.

Marie, meanwhile, flinched when several loud "pops" accompanied the whistle of the fireworks.

Not entirely unbeknownst to her, she scuttled back when she jumped and lightly bumped Vivo's side in response to the bangs and pops booming from the sky above.

Accordingly, Vivo jumped a bit too and took a step back from her with a look of mild surprise.

His shock melted away and replaced with a gentle yet sincere little smile; his gaze was as soft as velvet and his demeanour was even softer as he placed a paw atop her shoulder in hopes of reassuring her and making her feel better after her startle.

He didn't find it too surprising that Marie would be timid around fireworks since all she'd be able to experience from them were the unbearably loud sounds exploding in the air, she wouldn't be able to take in the visual beauty that fireworks could give. It was tragic that she wouldn't be able to experience such beautiful colours painting the skies but maybe, just maybe, she could experience them some other way…?

Marie's tension melted after feeling Vivo's paw placed itself upon her shoulder and she smiled back up at him, albeit timidly.

The two just stared at one another in silence, as they let the seconds tick by between themselves.

Their gazes drifted from one another to the view in front of them.

Vivo couldn't help but notice that Marie's peach/orange coloured fur was like a brand of fire in the lights reflecting off of the fountains and he was mesmerised by it. It only took a few long blinks until his absent mind was dragged back to the present and he shook off his thoughtlessness. It was only after he glanced up at the droplets of water continuously falling down like rain that an idea came to mind and he couldn't hide a little mischievous smirk when he recalled a thought that he had dismissed earlier today before the auditions this morning.

His thoughts were interrupted when a loud sound that weren't fireworks cracked against the skies like almighty the lash of a whip.

CRACK-THOOOOOOOM!

Vivo blinked.

He knew what that sound meant.

A thunderstorm was looming.

Vivo's smirk broadened.

What a fine coincidence this was!

Without missing a beat, Vivo started to scamper across the cobblestone, his tail flying behind him. Apparently it shocked Marie into letting go of his tail since it flew right out of her mouth and almost pulled her down to the ground but she managed to catch herself and prevented that from happening. She did let out a cry of surprise, though.

"Woah! What the-"

Marie glared up at Vivo (or at least his direction) as she narrowed her eyes and scrunched up her little pink nose.

Vivo jumped to his two feet and looked down at her, looking apologetic.

He opened his mouth to apologise but clamped it shut when the first few raindrops started to fall.

They hit him right on top of his head, then his left ear, then right on the tip of his nose and these were no tiny raindrops either, they were quite large to the point where they were just a bit bigger than his hand. They were slow at first but it was becoming abundantly clear that it wouldn't be long before the drizzle would turn into a violent torrential storm.

The skies were now filled with pitch black/dark gray storm clouds and raindrops were starting to hammer down as wild winds whipped about in hurricane force. Thunder rumbled and constant bright flashes of lightning started to zip across the sky.

Both pairs of eyes flicked skywards before they set on each other.

A mischievous smirk played on his lips as his eyes narrowed, he wasn't used to having such an expression on his fuzzy little purple-banded Kinkajou face but that didn't stop him from flashing a secret smirk which he attempted to conceal (albeit poorly) from a very puzzled Marie.

"So, Marie? Do you like water?" He asked.

Marie righted herself as she rose to stand on her own two feet and she looked really confused yet also really annoyed as her tail flicked in agitation as she glared.

"Well…I don't mind getting wet too much, why do you-"

The blind Kinkajou never got to finish her sentence since she was caught off guard when Vivo had bent down and proceeded to slide a paw across a small (but steadily growing) puddle of rainwater and flicked some water in Marie's direction, only for her to dodge it with difficulty.

"Hey!" She cried.

Vivo started to scurry around, his fur dripping wet from the rain that was beating down now.

After a minute, Marie started to have an idea as to what was happening as the realisation dawned on her and a little hint of a smile crept over her mouth and tugged the corners of her lips upwards. Her eyes were still narrowed into slits but they weren't annoyed anymore.

"Oh you're in for it now, mister!" She exclaimed in playful aggression.

In response, Vivo let out an overly-dramatic girly scream as he took to his feet once more and started to run away from the female Kinkajou. He made sure to dig his paws deep into the soaking wet pavement beneath so the sound of sloshing water could alert Marie as to where he was without her having to strain her ears.

Marie dropped down to her fours and ran after Vivo, using the sounds provided by his running feet as well as the sounds of his heavy breathing in order to follow him close behind. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as adrenaline rushed through her veins and gave her limbs an extra burst of energy.

In the duration of their play chase, Vivo skidded to a quick stop and then proceeded to slam a paw against the odd puddle of water he'd find himself standing in, violently flicking a majority of rainwater towards Marie.

Marie squealed in laughter as she was caught in a small torrent of water as it splashed over her, getting her all wet too.

The two chased one another around, occasionally splashing water at one another and getting one another wet in the rain. Each of their fur was dripping wet and they breathed hard as they continued with their splash fight and they each let out the odd playful growl as they took turns in pretending that they were hunting. They were each laughing, growling, grappling and snarling as they played amongst one another.

Needless to say, they looked like a pair of drowned rats when they were finished with their playful session.

"C'mon. Let's get out of this rain, we don't want to catch a cold." Vivo advised while he huffed and puffed breathlessly.

He took Marie by the hand and led the female blind Kinkajou over to a nearby sheltered yet busted up old table which had been jammed and stuck between an abandoned semi-detached house and a rundown music shop. He proceeded to help her sit down, before he let go of her hand and sat on the side opposite her.

Raindrops slammed down in a flurry, hitting anything or anyone who happened to be unfortunate to be in direct contact of the downpour. Rain hammered hard against the top of the umbrella giving them protection overhead, battering and pelting the material violently. Each little droplet of rainwater created a "tap" sound and some droplets even pounded the wooden frames so hard that it even caused them itself to rattle and shake.

The male Kinkajou shook himself dry, droplets of water flying all over the place (and splashing Marie further).

He stopped when he saw the half-annoyed glare she shot him and he gave a sheepish grin.

"Oops. Sorry."

The irritation melted away from Marie's face as she gave a single nod of her head to signal that all was forgiven.

Vivo just turned to look out into the cold rainy streets the golden fountains were still spurting up high into the air and still looking magnificent in spite of the hideous downpour; this rain was looking worse and worse by the minute and the skies were becoming so dark that, if it got any darker, then the world might as well have been plunged into pitch black darkness.

His orange fur was already drenching him to the skin, he was fairly certain that he could feel the cold pulsing through his bones in waves but he ignored it. Not to mention his bandanna was so drenched with rain water that it had been reduced to looking like a soaked dish rag. He gave a small shiver of his body but he ignored it in favour of looking at Marie, who was just sitting with a stoic expression on her face.

He needed to change the subject.

The atmosphere was depressing enough.

Luckily, however, Marie decided to do just that.

"You know," She spoke up "I think I might be able to rustle us up some food if you're hungry."

Vivo hadn't noticed until the female Kinkajou brought it up but he did have a few hunger pangs in his stomach. He had forgotten to eat dinner since he was so busy trying to find her before the horrific rain showers started to pour to the point he'd be unable to track Marie down for this final get together.

He clicked his lips and nodded.

"Sure. I can eat."

Vivo and Marie soon enough had a plate set in front of them, the dish they were being served was unknown for the moment due to the lid being placed atop of the dish.

Vivo didn't know it came from but, since it smelled appetising and not spoilt at all and he doubted that it was stolen, he decided it was best not to ask. It was when the lid was lifted off the plate that the meal was revealed to the two Kinkajous; the dish consisted of a fine porcelain bowl that contained some spaghetti bolognese with tiny chunks of chives and rosemary sprinkled in, the dish emitted some heat and steam when the lid was removed.

Vivo and Marie immediately felt their own mouthes watering when they each caught a whiff of the intoxicating scent coming from the spaghetti meal.

Neither of them hardly wasted time in digging into their shared meal as Vivo leaned down and slurped a string of spaghetti, the individual sauce-coated noodle wiggled as he sucked it into his mouth…something which Marie copied, despite not being able to see which spaghetti she was sucking on —something which served to create a rather romantic atmosphere even more so. As they ate their spaghetti bolognese, Vivo and Marie inadvertently grabbed hold of the same noodle string and slurped it up…only for their lips to come closer and closer as they done so until their lips collided into a quick kiss on the lips which Marie drew away from in a shy manner —It reminded Vivo of a film he watched once, actually.

They continued to eat until their shared bowl was completely empty.

In the meantime, as they slurped their final strands of spaghetti, another conversation was shared between them.

"E-Erm, tomorrow night you're going to do that performance?" Marie inquired.

Vivo nodded somewhat sadly.

"…Yeah, then we gotta leave and go back to Florida."

Marie looked sad too.

"A-And that guy saying he's gonna try and capture you?"

Vivo sighed.

"I'll…..cross that bridge when I get to it."

He didn't distrust Marie, far from it, he didn't want to put himself nor Gabi in danger but there wasn't anyway he could change her mind now…not to mention that he wanted to deny what the female Kinkajou had told him; they both worked so hard for this upcoming performance and now there was a good chance he'd be forced to abandon it? Not to mention it all sounded a bit ludicrous and he was sure that things would turn out fine…they just had to. He didn't even know whether this person trying to capture him was related to the Neon lights show or not, this guy could be unrelated to it all, for all he knew.

By now, their conversation shifted once more.

Vivo started to speak.

"So, Marie?"

Marie turned to face Vivo's direction but didn't say anything.

"How would you feel if I asked you to sing? Come on, I'm sure you have a beautiful singing voice."

Marie shook her head.

"No, I…I haven't sung in a long time…"

"Pleeeeeease? Pwetty pwease with mangoes on top?" Vivo purposefully made his eyes become large and adorable as he let his lower lip quiver whilst he put on a childishly cutesy voice, clearly hoping to persuade her.

Marie just gave him a deadpan glare in return, however.

"Fortunately for me, puppy dog eyes won't work on me since I can't see them."

Vivo's eyes didn't shrink as he kept looking purposefully adorable in an attempt to sway her decision. He smiled softly when he remembered her sweet humming when she sang to the hatching spoonbill chick the other night, it was a sound that nourished his soul and he knew this was his final chance to hear her lovely voice and he wanted to take it all in.

"Marie, I really want to hear you sing. Remember when you and I sang to Viviana while she was hatching?" He pleaded.

Marie looked doubtful despite the male Kinkajou's continuous pleas for her to sing.

She remembered when she and Vivo harmonised during baby Viviana's hatching and couldn't help but feel her heart melt at the memory. She loved to sing, really she did, but she couldn't help but feel her heart ache when she remembered what singing meant to her and what joy it used to bring her.

She loved listening to music but singing…she struggled with it.

"Vivo….I can't….can't….it's hard for me…I haven't properly sang in a long time."

Vivo couldn't help but begin wondering whether or not the reason for her sudden aversion for singing was related to how she lost her vision and became blind in the first place? It was clear she wasn't born that way, he had a gut instinct that she probably had vision before. He didn't want to push her if she wasn't ready to say anything or sing for that matter but, at the same time, he was very conscious of the fact that this was their final night together and he wanted to hear her story.

"But why?"

Unbeknownst to him, Marie was about to answer that question either way.

"You really wanna know?" She asked.

Vivo nodded and had a look as if to say "Go ahead, I'm listening".

Marie hung her head and sighed in something similar to defeat and she proceeded to explain everything.

"I…I was really young when it happened. I happily lived in the Brazilian rainforest with my mamá, papá and the rest of my troop and the jungles would be filled with our songs and our harmonies…but that life ended when a small pack of humans ventured into our home and…" She froze for a moment, forcing herself to continue in spite of the noticeable quiver in her voice. "…and captured me and some other members of my family."

Vivo listened patiently but couldn't disguise the disgust on his face.

How could someone have treated a sweet soul such as Marie in such a way?

It was deplorable!

He was grateful to have been rescued by Andrés before he himself had fallen to a similar fate or encountered such humans, all of his experiences with humanity had been quite positive. But poor Marie had no Andrés, no one to take care of her or love her. It made him wonder what sort of life he'd have lived should he not have fallen out that box of fruit when he himself was a baby?

The mere possibility made his gut twist and vomit seep into his mouth but, nevertheless, he continued to stay silent and listen to the story.

"I somehow managed to escape from my cage later when the humans weren't looking, I tried to save my uncles, aunts, cousins and other relatives that were caught but…it didn't work out…and, the next thing I know, I started wandering on my own in the Arizona desert. At first I wanted to find my troop but then it simply turned into a matter of me surviving. I wandered through the desert for many days and nights and, even though I was still young, I knew how to find shelter as well as water and food but the heat led me to hallucinate."

Marie spoke as though each and every word of this tale was just burrowing deeper and deeper into her heart like a worm digging through the ground or a caterpillar eating and burrowing through an apple core.

"One day I came across what I thought was a banana but…it wasn't."

Vivo gasped as both hands flew to his mouth, both eyes wide in shock and horror as he was beginning to see where this was going.

Marie apparently read his concern like an open book and nodded to confirm his suspicions.

"Yes. The second I grabbed it's tail, it opened its mouth and showed its glinting fangs and…and…that's the last thing I ever saw."

Vivo was stunned to the point of speechlessness.

From what little Marie could recall of the creature that attacked her, he guessed that it was some sort of snake which spat venom straight into her eyes and permanently blinded her…he couldn't believe that such a thing happened to someone as sweet and as beautiful as her, not to mention that her fear of humans made sense now; Humans took her away from her family and, only after she freed herself, she'd been cast into a world of permanent darkness which she had to learn to navigate on her own in order to survive…only for more humans to hurt her more on a daily basis but only because she had to do whatever she could to survive and keep herself fed.

How could someone live like that?

Marie kept going and resumed her story.

"From what I can remember, the snake had a tail that shook like a maraca…after what I gone through, you'd think I'd hate it —maybe even be afraid of the sound…but no; I heard a similar rattling noise when my família would shake the trees of the jungles and sing their beautiful songs…"

Vivo was in awe.

"….Is that why the sounds of my maraca calmed you when we first met?"

Marie nodded solemnly.

Now it was Vivo's turn to glance away, but more out of sheepish guilt than sadness.

"I, uhhh….I saw how much you seemed to like music at the time and figured the noise of some percussion would help."

Marie smiled gently and sincerely at the male Kinkajou's thoughtfulness and compassion, her cool yet damp cheeks suddenly raising to a blazingly hot feverish pitch. She admired Vivo's ability to try and act as gentlemanly as possible while trying to accommodate her and her…limitations, despite all he had just learnt about her. She even didn't know that cute fuzzy mammals like her could blush thus she was proved wrong about this, it appeared, alas it was not a smile meant to last since her gaze drifted from towards the direction of Vivo's voice and down to the countertop of the table that they were perched atop of.

She suddenly looked sad…and was growing sadder by the second.

Marie removed her flower from her head and held it in her hands, glancing down at it. There was a nostalgic gleam shining in her clouded pale blue/gray eyes and she methodically traced a finger along the edges of one of its fine and velvet petals.

"This…This flower was given to me by my mamá. My flower and a song are the only reminders I have from my family..."

Vivo understood now.

That's why her flower was so important to her, it was the one and only thing that connected her to her long lost family. He could see the sentimentality on her face as she spoke about her parents and he could even hear a slight trace of her Portuguese accent that he hadn't even noticed before now…and it even explained how she knew the meaning behind the name "Viviana" when she explained the suggestion to name Dancarino and Valentina's newly-hatched chick. That's why she distrusted humans so much too, and how people treated her afterwards wouldn't have helped.

This explained everything.

It wasn't long before the biggest of tears started to well up inside her clouded, pale blue eyes, and she lifted a paw which she then clamped it over her own mouth to stifle a sorrowful sob.

Vivo noticed and grew alarmed.

"Ah!" He cried as Marie started to openly weep in front of him. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…please don't cry! Did I say something wrong!? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

He was unsure of whether or not he was doing the right thing but he still wrapped both arms around the upset female kinkajou while Marie just broke down before the male Kinkajou could continue his frantic apologies. She started crying streams of tears that she had probably keeping inside for an agonisingly long time.

Vivo still said nothing as he held her as she cried.

Her body was wracking heavily with massive sobs and whimpers as she lost all self-control and cried so hard that her chest ached due to her hyperventilating. Marie tried to pull back and peel herself away from his embrace but he simply tightened his hold on her as he let her finally spend all that pent up pain and hurt that she had been holding in for so long.

She had spent so long just trying to survive in a dark world that she never could make heads or tails of…he was now determined that he was going to make sure that she never felt scared or lonely again.

"It's not fair, Vivo…it's just not fair!" She cried angrily, sobbing hard.

Vivo moved his mouth to whisper into her ear, his words were soothing and comforting.

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay. I've got you. Everything is going to be alright."

Marie had massive tears trickling down her cheeks as she looked just buried her face into Vivo's shoulder, outright sobbing and hiccups as she spent her tears of pain. Her eyes were screwed shut as she tried to stop the tears from flowing but they just kept right on cascading down her cheeks in little rivulets. Her back and tail became rigid as she just wept hard in Vivo's arms.

Marie's ears fluttered lightly, listening to the sound of Vivo's heartbeat as she lain her head against his chest.

Then, her heart hollow and her eyes spilling non-stop tears, she sang in a broken whisper.

"Olá meu amor querido,

pegue minha mão.

Fique perto de mim,

e deixe a chuva cair…"

The two kinkajous raised their heads to look up as their attention became engorged by the dark snd rainy view above them, it was dark and dreary but not too bad as they had each another.

Marie kept singing, her voice trembling less and less with each lyric of the lullaby she remembered from long ago.

"Feche os olhos,

minha querida,

e deixe as árvores

ouvirem…"

The female kinkajou's sweet voice carried across the air, although there with a slither of sadness in her undertone. She sounded like she was about to burst into tears and her eyes were agleam with a fresh batch of tears which swam in her lower eyelids. She had to bite her lower lip to keep herself together and to not weep all over the place once again.

"A música que deve sempre jogar dentro do seu coração…"

Vivo's gaze softened as Marie finished singing but he sat as he was in pure awe and wonderment.

He hadn't heard such soft and sweet tones coming from someone else's voice and it made his own heart leap a bit due to the joy he felt. He couldn't deny that was a sweet lullaby but he also heard how Marie probably felt both pacified and rather fatigued because of the emotional and physical energy it took to tell her story or whether it was all the running around she had done today and she started to get more visibly relaxed.

"Where…where did you hear that?" Vivo asked incredulously. "It was beautiful."

"Well…" Marie replied while wiping a tear from her own cheek "My mamá sang it to me when I was small, it used to soothe me."

So Vivo's hunch was correct when he guessed that this was the song that she mentioned earlier —one of her very few reminders of her family.

Vivo sighed.

It was time he brought up a topic that he knew was going to be difficult, especially considering what she just told him, and he couldn't rest any easier until he found out the answer.

"Marie…?" He spoke up, speaking slow and cautiously.

Marie grew suspicious of that tone in his voice.

"Yeah?"

Vivo swallowed a large knot that had formed in his throat.

It was now or never.

"How….How would you….y-you feel if….if you came back to Florida with us….with me?"

Marie remained silent without saying anything, her head hung so low that shadows cast across her face to shield her expression from Vivo.

"…."

Vivo pressed on.

He'd had so far opened the door of this conversation just a crack and he was prepared to push it as wide as required.

"Marie. The truth is that I can't stay in Las Vegas forever and I don't want you to keep living on these cold and harsh streets just to survive like you have been all these years. I'm worried about you and…and you are the only other Kinkajou I've ever met, I don't want to go back without knowing you'll be okay."

Vivo looked at her beseechingly, he wanted to drop down on both knees to beg but he knew it wouldn't make much of a difference.

"There will come a day where you could get hurt or caught or…or something really bad could happen!"

He was on the verge of tears now.

Marie could hear the upset quiver in his voice and her heart broke a bit when she heard the usually happy-go-lucky male Kinkajou sound as though his heart was tearing to shreds. She reached forwards and groped the air in front of her until she managed to grab both of Vivo's paws and held them tight in reassurance.

"Vivo, I've survived these streets just fine and I doubt that'll change any time soon. I don't want you to leave either but…I don't know if I can trust those humans you live with, and that really noisy one freaked me out…"

Vivo's eyes softened towards her.

He could see why her first impressions of Gabi weren't great due to how Marie probably got scared due to the twelve-year-old's first reaction was to let out a shriek of excitement of seeing another Kinkajou, heck, his own initial impressions of the girl weren't that great but he grew passed those feelings of uncertainty and they are the best of friends now despite their recent conflict —if one could even call it that.

"Marie, Gabi….Gabi's different than those awful humans who stole you away. She's a bit bombastic, it's true, but she would never hurt me."

"How can you…be so sure?"

Vivo wore a comforting smile as he released his hands from Marie's clasp while he backed off a bit and held his arms out and gestured to himself.

"If she was that bad, wouldn't I have been hurt by now?"

Marie contemplated upon this. It was true, Vivo didn't sound like he was hurt or anything and he'd practically been raised by humans…but that didn't mean she liked them any more or any less. She wanted desperately to believe Vivo when he spoke about this Gabi person not wanting to hurt her but…but what about the other humans Vivo lived with? What about them? She felt somewhat doubtful that they weren't capable of hurting either her or Vivo so she decided to stay on the err of caution for the time being.

Marie smiled sadly and nodded.

"You've got a point there, I'll give you that."

Vivo sighed and hung his head as he looked at her.

"I…I can't change your mind, can I?"

Marie shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I'd ask you to live here with me instead but…I can't ask you to do that."

Vivo glanced away for a brief moment.

If he were to be honest, the thought did cross his mind once or twice but then he remembered that he couldn't abandon Gabi. Not to mention the fact that he thrived on human interaction and he loved bringing them entertainment and he didn't think he'd cope with living a life cold and starving on the streets —a life he could very well have lived if he hadn't stowed away in Andrés' music case and stayed behind in Cuba.

"Vivo…?"

The sweet and delicate sound of Marie's voice brought Vivo back to the present.

"Yes?"

Marie looked down as she shuffled awkwardly on the spot, her paw scuffing the ground in which she sat atop of her. Her cheeks had a bright red tint and she

"E-Erm…I was wondering, if it isn't much trouble, if you could…lay next to me? Since it's our last night together."

"It's no trouble at all!"

"Sorry about this. It's just that I can't tell whether I'm asleep or not because of the perpetual darkness that is my world…"

"Honestly, Marie, it really isn't any trouble. Just close your eyes and take deep breaths."

Marie did as instructed, leaning heavily against the male Kinkajou's side and resting her head right up against his shoulder. She let her body fall limp as she lay down on her stomach and folded her arms and legs under herself in an effort to keep herself nice and warm. Her breaths were soft and delicate, almost to the point where they sounded angelic to the other Kinkajou's ears.

Vivo felt as his face heated up and he felt his heart skip several beats — this couldn't actually be happening, he must have been dreaming! He never wanted to wake up if this was a dream.

He turned to stare into Marie's sleeping face and his heart exploded.

He pulled Marie closer to himself in a protective manner while he draped one arm across her back, letting her relax as she started to drift off into a soft and soothing slumber. Her eyelids slid closed and her small nose twitched as she breathed in and out in a slow and rhythmic manner.

"Close your eyes, Marie…you can rest now. You're safe with me."

"Unngh…" Marie stirred a bit in her half-sleep, snuffling and whimpering. "Snghk!"

Vivo shushed her in a soothing manner.

"Shhhhh…."

Marie became silent and fell right to sleep, her breaths soft and slow as her back rose and fell in time with her breathing which sounded like sweet music to Vivo's ears. She finally seemed to be at peace and no longer seemed fearful as she inhaled and exhaled oh-so softly and released her steady breaths into the nighttime air.

Vivo, meanwhile, pondered on all the revelations he had dropped on him throughout the night.

She had been through so much already and didn't deserve this kind of life.

He couldn't leave her here, he wanted to take her along back to Florida so she never had to be all alone again…but would he be overstepping his boundaries here? They hardly truly knew one another and only had known about each other for a week and, if he wasn't careful, Marie could end up trading one bad situation for another.

He ground his teeth, grinding them in frustration, and fisted his own forehead with his tiny paws.

The frustration started to churn inside of him like a bubbling brew of magma and lava and his inner

"Arrrrrrrghhh!" He cried exasperatedly through gnashed teeth. "I don't want to make her life harder by taking her away from the one environment she knows but I can't leave her here all alone either! What can I do!?"

Vivo let out a long huff of a breath and let himself go mostly limp whilst grumbling and mumbling.

It was a miracle he hadn't woken her up by accident.

He didn't know what time it was and he didn't want to leave her but the fact of the matter was that he couldn't stay here, it was just the reality of things.

He couldn't keep holding this back.

It was time to go.

Vivo's eyes started to water and his heart started to shudder and shake, he started crying a stream of tears as they trailed down his face and dripped onto the one dry area of the surface of the table. His body was shaking badly, his eyes wide and hurt, and he wasn't sure whether his shaking was due to being wet thanks to the pouring rain or how much upset coursed through his veins like a river flowing through a creek.

He hadn't felt this bad since Andrés passed away or when he thought he lost Andrés' song for good and he tried to hold back the tears.

He slid out from his intertwinement with the snow slumbering-Marie and started to prepare himself to make his leave. He felt his muscles seize up as if refusing to budge but he forced them to start moving as he pushed himself to stand up on all fours, his heart breaking more and more with every second.

He felt as though his feet had been encased in blocks of ice as he stood there, immobilised.

The male Kinkajou's teary gaze drifted back down to Marie, who hadn't stirred at all despite the loss of warmth coming from Vivo.

He swallowed a knot in his throat as he bent down and gingerly kissed her on the head.

"Goodbye, Marie…." He murmured, his voice choked up.

With the thunder rumbling faintly in the distance and the rain still pouring in bucketloads, Vivo jumped out of the protective shelter and he was quickly getting pelted by the large raindrops and his fur was getting soaked all over again. He even had to grip his little fedora to prevent the breeze from carrying it off in the wind.

As he ran, he found that he couldn't hold back the floods of tears anymore.

He finally let himself start sobbing and crying as he ran off into the night.

He kept running blindly into the dark and stormy night with his face down, he couldn't bring himself to look where he was going as he felt the world around him let loose a loud crashing cymbal of a noise as lightning struck across the pitch black skies overhead. He would have skidded to a stop but instead he slid across the slippery wet ground and ended up tripping hard and face-first, his fuzzy little body slipping and sliding forwards a few feet.

He took a moment to regain his bearings as he pushed himself up off the ground.

Vivo stopped dead in his tracks, an expression of terror leaking on to his paling face while he felt an overwhelming urge to start running but he was still scrambling to pick himself up off the ground from tripping a minute ago.

Nevertheless, he froze.

He could smell someone close by but didn't know who.

He sniffed at the air and cautiously looked at his surroundings, he felt his pulse and dread clenched to his soul like frost coating a field of grass while he took to whipping his head around to try and catch a glimpse as to whose scent he had caught.

Little by little, Vivo began to realise something and he started to shiver even more, it was as if the temperature itself had dropped even further.

For some reason that urge to run away intensified all of a sudden but then he froze the second when he felt a sharp sting hit him straight in the back of his shoulder, whatever it was felt quite painful and he instinctively reached up to touch where he'd been hit. He glanced over his left shoulder and quickly saw that mysterious man with a dart gun, he even slammed the door just as Vivo caught a glimpse of him.

He resumed his search for the object and very soon grabbed the mysterious object dart that shot at him much like a bullet. He studied the dart carefully and he couldn't help but be confused….only for him then to feel a bit woozy all of a sudden.

"Wh-Whaaa...?" He slurred, his tongue flopping about numbly inside his mouth.

The kinkajou felt his legs become shaky and weak as he stumbled about on the spot whilst he reacted to this as his shoulders bunched up and he felt his skin grow chilled as a freezing cold sweat swept across his face, arms and stomach. His vision started to sway from left to right and everything started to steadily darken and then fade.

He still felt unsteady on his feet as he tried to steady himself.

The kinkajou felt his muscles tighten up and squeeze and his body started to heat up severely, he was most likely spiking a high temperature, but he still was covered in a fine sheen of both raindrops and freezing cold sweat.

He was confused.

What was going on?

What was happening to him?

He collapsed to the ground once his legs gave out from under him and he weakly looked up through blackening vision as a huge shadowy silhouette came towards him and started to bend down and stretch an arm out towards him.

Sleep started to wash over him like a massive tidal wave and his mind started to also drown in that same unwanted but forced darkness of sleep that his eyes were.

Before his mind could process anymore, he finally let go of that remaining thread of consciousness.

He blacked out.

A/N: Hi, guys!

Heres a new chapter for "A song of the heart" where Vivo and Marie share one last night together.

I even put a Lady and the tramp reference in there.

Btw, part of this chapter is drawn in the cover.

Can you guys guess which?

Sorry that this chapter took awhile to write, I have had some writers block for awhile. I made sure to add some emotion and we finally get to see Marie sing and we hear her backstory here and how she became blind.

And now Vivo had been captured!

But by who?

What will happen in the next chapter?

Stay tuned and find out!

-Chloemcg