Notes & Disclaimers:
• Rio is Blue Sky property.
(Please leave a comment and enjoy!)
A Rio Restart:
What If Only One Remembered? Part 2
(Still Jewel's Side) A while later, after establishing the biggest shock yet, Jewel was alone in her hollow, still crying. She was tired and sad over the fact that her children no longer existed, and that her one and only didn't even know her. So she stayed where she was and processed the situation, feeling terrible.
"What am I going to do?" She repeatedly asked herself. Until suddenly, another voice spoke up asking, "Excuse me? Jewel?"
"Huh?" Jewel turned and saw it was her husband. "Oh. Hey Blu. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
"It's okay. Uh, can I come in?"
"Sure. Sit down."
Blu did what she requested, and sat at a reasonable distance, while noticing Jewel wipe away her tears.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Um…honestly, no. Blu, I woke up in this room, and spent hours waiting for you, or Tulio, or any of our friends. A part of me felt like no one was coming, like 2010 was repeating itself. And just my luck…"
"It actually is, or was, wasn't it?"
"Yep. Until you finally came, and I felt extremely happy, not caring about there being any problems. Then you claim to have never met me before." Jewel sighed. "I hope I'm not coming off as rude, but I never imagined I'd see the same Blu I first met on this day."
"The same Blu? Was I at all bad to you when we first met?"
"What? No, no. Not exactly. I'm sorry, like I said, I don't want to come off as rude."
"Okay? Well…would you at least like to talk about it? What were we both like…in the original version of today and everyday after?"
Jewel chuckled, "Where do I begin?" Then she sat closer to Blu with a loving smile. "You were kind of a nervous fella, but you always tried to be nice and rational with everyone. Like you are today. Whereas I sometimes proved to be insensitive and careless. I only cared about going back to the jungle to be free. But I know you came here because you and Linda talked over it, and knew that preventing our kind from going extinct was important. And, uh…" She put her wing on his shoulder. "…when you first saw me, you instantly fell in love with me. And you tried to kiss me."
"I did?" Blu blushed.
"Uh huh. I wasn't happy about it but you later explained to me that you just took some advice the wrong way. And for this, at least I beat you to it." Then Jewel brought her beak closer to him again.
Blu stuttered, "Jewel, wait, you've proved to me that we have been married in another life, but…I'm not, I'm not…"
"Oh, hush." She attempted to kiss him, but Blu quickly scooted away. Jewel laughed and tried catching him. And Blu kept dodging her until she was able to tickle him.
"Jewel, Jewel, wait, wait! Hahaha!" Blu laughed. "Please stop!"
Jewel continued laughing too. Until she soon stopped and said, "Okay. I won't kiss you. But will you at least let me hug you?"
"Uh, sure?" He opened his wings, trying to hug her, but they both had trouble finding the right position until Jewel embraced him first.
She moaned out of bliss, and said, "Whether you're my husband or not, I want you to know that I love you."
"T-Thank you, Jewel. I…uh, I…"
"It's okay. If you say it's a little different for you, then you don't have to say it back. But…do you at least want to hear how the rest of our story goes?"
"Definitely."
They sat down, and Jewel sadly let go of her husband's wings. So as Blu sat down comfortably, he listened to every word that Jewel gave him. She told him the whole story of how their first meeting went, and how they spent the first big adventure of their lives. It all felt totally crazy to Blu, but there wasn't any detail that didn't feel convincing to him. Especially with all the times of how he and Jewel often spent their days as a married couple. To Blu's ears it sounded very lovely. But too challenging for his taste, including what came as their second biggest adventure, raising a family, and their third one, going to the amazon and meeting Jewel's family.
Jewel felt good bringing back all the fun memories that were their adventures. But also had a guilty feeling, remembering some of the mistakes she made in the past. So she shook it off and continued the story. Then when she finished, Blu's jaw dropped open. Making her chuckle, "So…do you believe me or not?"
"Actually, I do. But everything you told me is still a little hard to swallow. I mean…we actually moved to the jungle? And…I was a father? We had three wonderful kids?"
"Yes. Yes, yes. A wonderful one." She made her wings embrace his wings, and felt total happiness overcome her again. "You've done a lot of good things for me and other people. You were a hero. Especially to me, and…I was not always the best."
"Wow. Well…I don't know about a hero, but from what you said, you sound like you made a terrific mother and wife."
"Thank you. But…if I really am set back in time, then maybe it doesn't matter. What am I even gonna do? And what about you? After everything I told you, do you still want to go back to Minnesota?"
"Me? Oh, well, I don't know." Blu sighed. "As to where I want to go, I just don't know. Even from what you told me. It was a lot to take in. But, one thing that I do feel is that I trust you. Jewel, I trust you and whatever you want to do, just tell me."
"Oh Blu." Jewel became happy again and hugged him tight. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He hugged her back, and while he still felt very nervous, the hug felt good and knew that his new friend was very special. So he decided to trust her with everything.
Then suddenly, another sound went off. The birds let go and looked over to see that it was the door opening. They became confused until Jewel remembered what it was and said, "It's Fernando, hide."
"Fernando? The boy?" Blu asked
"Yes, hide." Jewel said again, and they stayed in the hollow.
Fernando was in the room, and with a bag in his hands. He planned on catching Blu and Jewel, all for the money to support himself. Jewel was able to see his face, and remembered what they were in the time before Linda and Tulio took him in as their son. She felt a lot of sympathy for him, but had a new helpful thought on her mind. So she asked Blu in a whisper, "Blu, I want to ask you again, do you trust me?"
"Yes, why?"
"Just hold still."
She jumped up and carried Blu with her talons before zooming through the room. She surprised Blu and Fernando, but it caused Fernando to duck and drop the bag before she brought herself and Blu passed the door.
"Whoa! What the?" Blu said from the unexpected excitement. Then saw Jewel quickly shut the door and locked it.
"What did you just do?" He questioned. But Jewel shushed him and took his wing, running across the hallway until they came to the main med room. It was dark and mostly quiet, but the two could see the hospital guard unconscious.
Jewel whispered to Blu, "Okay, I don't remember seeing that."
"Eh." Blu felt just as weirded out as she did. "I-Is he okay?"
"Uh, I think so. He looks like he's breathing and doesn't appear to be hurt. But right now, I think we need to go." So they browsed through the room still.
"Do you happen to know where the exit is?" Blu whispered. "I was in my cage when I came here and couldn't see everything."
Jewel replied, "I believe so. During our time here, we would sometimes come to visit Linda and Tulio. Whether it was just to hang out or when we needed a hospital check-up or something, they would always let us in. And the usual way we'd get out was through the windows and…aw, man!"
"What's wrong?"
"I forgot, in the breeding chamber, there was an air-vent. During my first time in this place, I tried to pry it open in order to escape."
"Oh. Okay, I'll be honest, that would've been good to know. But it's okay. There's always another way out. I think all we need to do is find the doo-" Before Blu finished, someone flew over and stomped on them both. They looked and saw it was another bird that said, "Hello, pretty birds. Can I help you?"
"Nigel?!" Jewel said, recognizing the same bad cockatoo that messed with Blu and Jewel years ago.
"Ooh, you know who I am?" He said. "How flattering. Pity I won't get to know you so much when I deliver you to my master."
"Whoa, what?" Blu felt scared, which made Jewel feel worried until she shook her head. "Oh no, you don't!" She was able to turn, making Nigel lose his balance and let them go. "Blu, run!" She said and he followed. The two ran across the room before Nigel stood up and chased after them.
"Get back here!" He yelled.
Blu and Jewel tried running as fast as they could. Blu felt too scared in his mind, but Jewel had a cocky grin, knowing what to do as they approached a desk.
"Blu!" Jewel said, "When I say stop, you stop, okay?"
"Huh?!"
"Stop!" Nigel tried yelling to trick him, but Blu didn't listen, and the two kept running until they hid below the desk, and Nigel hit his head! He banged himself from the desk and fell before hitting himself again on the floor. "Oh…ow." He said and fell unconscious.
"Well, that was easier than I hoped." Jewel smiled.
"Whoa." Said Blu. "Wait…were you expecting that? Were you expecting me to not trust you on the 'Stop when I say stop' plan?"
"For this, I'm afraid so. Sorry, Blu. But look, we have a way out." Jewel pointed to another air-vent cover below the desk. "Please, help me open this." She went to it and tried unscrewing the bolts with her talons. Blu rolled his eyes and helped by doing the same thing.
Soon, they opened the air-vent, and walked through after putting the cover back in.
Blu spoke, "Okay? W-What do we do now?"
Jewel was about to answer, but took a moment to think. "Well…hmm. I think for this, the best thing to do right now is to get away from Nigel, and maybe stay somewhere near the building until Linda and Tulio come back. This way, we'll be safe and have no trouble helping Fernando."
"Okay. And wow. That…sounds like something I would've suggested."
"Yep." Jewel chuckled. "While I'm not always as cautious as you are, I did learn a few things from you when it came to planning something."
"Neat." Blu smiled, and followed Jewel as they walked across the air-vents. And Jewel hoped that things would turn okay for whatever would come next.
Mores Notes & Disclaimers:
• "main med room": The place where, in the movie, Tulio explained to Linda what he and his friends did in their work.
Now with that…we're not done yet. Let me know what you think of this. Plus, I have some answers to good questions from good fellow authors.
To Alexriolover95: I will indeed be seeing Andor. I think it looks pretty fantastic, and what I'm hoping for is maybe seeing it not retcon Rogue One, given how I know it focuses on the events beforehand. Another thing would be to have it not go by the news about it entering "a new level of maturity for Star Wars" like I've been hearing. Oh! And if you ask me later, I will indeed be watching Season 3 of the Mandalorian and Tales of the Jedi when those come. Those trailers, and the ones for the many other Disney stories, were indeed awesome.
Now in relation to the Sonic feedback you sent, hopefully you'll be interested in the other variations out there. Such as the comics that came before IDW, and like how some fans are anticipating, hopefully Sally and the Freedom Fighters will be on Sonic Prime. Those characters still seem a little underrated, but I'm glad many other fans love them. I also don't know how soon I'll be playing "Sonic Frontiers," but I know I'll be studying the details when it comes. Plus I think Tails is still in it somehow.
To Zoroark X: If your reading this, thank you for your response to one of my older stories and to answer your question, I guess so. I have technically canceled my "Rio Life" series a long time ago, already shared what my ideas for it were gonna be, and will use "Rio: A New Kind of Story" to replace it. So if you want to make your own version where a sequel comes in after the events of "Rio Life: Great Family, Great Responsibility," then be my guest.
So that is all for now. Please enjoy Ch3 next.