All Notes & Disclaimers are established at the bottom.

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Chapter Nineteen: Another Jewel?!

On the same new day, sometime after Blu and Jewel each woke up from their sweet dreams, Garrett was walking out alone in the park. It was close to noon, and he was walking around the concrete floors of the gardens while reading something from his phone. It was a news article regarding Nicole T's arrest and his "sister's" temporary promotion on running Nicole's company. Every word from it was very appealing, and Garrett only smiled because he knew that it was something beneficial for his own friends. So he kept reading it and whatever else came up, without expecting anything big to come to him. But, out in the open, came a very familiar voice that popped to his ears.

"Hey Garrett."

Garrett had a shocked look and moved his head up to see Jewel, sitting with someone on the park bench. It was the same scarlet macaw from the other night at the karaoke place. His cheeks turned red seeing her again before Jewel asked, "How are you doing?"

Garrett felt like he was going to stutter, but quickly cleared his throat and said to Jewel, "Oh, hi Jewel. I'm fine. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing great. In fact, I ran into somebody that I want to introduce to you. Rebecca, this Garrett Ese. Garrett, this is Rebecca Shimmers. One of my oldest friends from high school."

"Hello." Garrett had one of his brows raised, thinking how funny and familiar that name sounded, but was more focused on his first meeting with her, and that it was amazing how she and Jewel knew each other.

"Hi." Rebecca kindly replied, and realized something that made her say, "Oh yeah. I think I've seen you before, Mr. 'I Just Haven't Met You Yet', right?"

Garrett chuckled nervously, "Yep, that's me, haha. Say, didn't you also sing at the Karaoke Place?"

"Oh yeah. I hope you don't think my performance was silly or anything. I haven't done any singing like that for a while."

"No, no, I actually thought it was great."

"Thanks, yours too. Um, do you actually work at the karaoke place?"

"No, no."

Then Jewel explained, "He only came there to hang out with me and our friends."

"Who were also the same knuckle-heads that compelled me to sing on the stage."

Rebecca chuckled, "Really? I thought I was the only one who had those kinds of friends, because they did the same thing to me that night."

"Wow. Who'd thunk? So how and when exactly did you two bump into each other?"

Jewel, "Just a few minutes before now, actually."

Rebecca, "Yeah. I was jogging around the park this morning and Jewel got my attention by calling out my name. After that we chatted about the things that've been going on since we last saw each other."

Garrett, "Does that include the most recent news that you, me, and Blu got? Because I don't want too many people to know-?"

"That you work at both the Daily Feather and Diamond Notes, and your sister is actually the boss of both of those companies?" Said Rebecca. "Jewel told me. Plus I kinda figured that out by seeing you since your last name is also Ese, and Ms. Ese is my boss."

Garrett froze in the biggest shocked expression, making the girls laugh before Jewel said, "Wow. It seems you two have some big things in common. You both sing and work in the same place together."

"Oh boy." Garrett mumbled, feeling embarrassed by his friend. Then chuckled, "Well, good to know that one of my other friends likes to tease me."

Jewel, "Sorry, Garrett. But when Rebecca told me about her job first, I just couldn't help but bring you up."

Rebecca, "Plus, she's also told me some more good things about you. Like how you helped defend Blu against that Nicole character? Or how you helped Jewel and the others clean up her house when it was raided."

Garrett, "Yep. But it's no big deal. I just don't always like bragging so much about myself."

"Not a big deal? Garrett, my new friend, if I were you, I'd be ecstatic about having a relative like yours and there used to be a time where I would brag about doing something big. Like helping your friends."

"I can imagine." Garrett said in his mind.

"But anyway, right now I'm ready to get back to my routine. So it was great seeing you again, Jewel. I hope our next meeting won't be too long from now. And it was fun meeting you, Garrett. Hope we also see each other again." She shook his wing and winked at him. "You guys have a good one."

Jewel, "You too, buddy."

Garrett, "Wait. Rebecca, a moment ago you said you've been doing some jogging, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…" Garrett began blushing. "Are you okay if I join you?"

"You wanna join me for a jog? Hmm, I don't know. Should I be worried if Mr. Tough-Guy tries to out-run me, Jewel?"

Jewel chuckled, "Oh I don't know. He's a nice guy but I've never seen him actually race before. So try not to be surprised if he does out-run ya."

Garrett, "Excuse me? I don't know about out-running you, but I am quite the quickster around these parts."

Rebecca, "Really? Well then, Quickster, I suppose you won't mind a little race?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't mind at all. Just don't be upset if I do win."

"Oh boy." Jewel laughed, and saw the two get into a start-up stance for a moment, and as Jewel watched, the two soon jumped and jogged their way forward. Just going straight from where she was. They went pretty quickly and it impressed Jewel with how far they were going. So she just smiled and said, "Well, see ya later guys. Hmm." By looking up she had a funny thought in her mind, with how Garrett looked at Rebecca, feeling that they might have the same first spark she and Blu did.

Meanwhile, the brown and scarlet macaw both kept moving forward, but Garrett was further ahead. So Rebecca tried catching up, and once she was only three feet away, she said, "Whoa. You are fast."

"Thanks." He replied.

"But…not. Fast. Enough!" She ran hard and almost made it. Until…"I don't think so." Garrett said and kept going faster. "On your left."

Rebecca gasped and kept trying.

The two birds continued jogging and running with each other, and after six minutes, they decided to stop. Rebecca sighed with a deep whoo. Garrett did the same but didn't seem as tired.

"You're not sweating." Rebecca commented to him.

"Really?" Garrett replied, acting surprised.

"Yeah. Pardon me." She put her wing on his head and felt warmth but literally no sweat. There was no sign of water anywhere on him. She responded, "You've been jogging through this route as long as I have and went faster, how is it possible that I'm sweating and you're not?"

"Well maybe I haven't been drinking too much water lately."

"Hm." She had a feeling that he was hiding something, but believed it wasn't worth dwelling on. "Okay then? Anyway, thanks for the run. That was actually more fun than I expected."

"Thanks for allowing a perfect stranger to join you."

"No problem. But I wouldn't call any stranger like you perfect."

"Ouch. We just met and already you broke my heart." He joked and Rebecca laughed with him again.

"Okay, not perfect but definitely cool. And again, thanks."

"You're welcome. Well, if it's alright with you then, I'll be out of your feathers."

"Actually…would you be okay with us hanging out again? Sometime later today perhaps?" She asked and noticed that both of them were blushing brightly.

Finally, Garrett stuttered again, "Oh. Huh…I don't know, I'm not…"

"Please? Today me and my friends are joining in a music festival going on in town, and after the show that we each pulled off the other night and the fun we had now, I thought you'd like it."

"Well…" He took a good look at her eyes, and realized it was hard for him to refuse. Especially since Rebecca reminded him of somebody very special in his life. "…okay. Sure I'll come."

"Great! It'll be going on this afternoon, downtown. And just my luck, I'm allowed to take a Plus One with me. Here." She gave him a small ticket-band for his wing, and it said, "Galaxy Samba Festival." Which surprised Garrett as he read it. "Whoa. Thank you. You're really giving me this?"

"Yeah. With what Jewel's been telling me about you, I thought it would be a good way to hang out and say thanks for helping my friends. That is if you want to still."

"Definitely. I never thought about coming to this event, but I've heard it'll be fun. So thank you."

"You're welcome. Just be sure to meet me by the front gate, okay?"

"You got it." The two shook each other's wings, and for a moment, they looked deeply into each other's eyes and felt like their hearts were beating fast. Rebecca had no idea what was happening but Garrett did. So he let go, and walked backwards in an awkward manner. "Well…I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, see ya." Rebecca chuckled, and then as he jogged away, she froze for a moment. Then felt like her eyes were turning into hearts as she said in her mind, "You know what? Maybe he is a little perfect."

Later, after two other birds met, they spent the entire day together at the biggest event in town. The Galaxy Samba Festival, where every bird in Minnesota came in one group to listen to all sorts of music, including samba and original music made by the town locals. The two birds, Garrett and Rebecca, went together and had the best time, and when it was over, the sun started setting and the two left the area downtown, laughing.

"Haha! Boy, I say there's a good line between fun and too crazy, and I think we just crossed it." Rebecca joked.

Garrett laughed with her, "I think that's an understatement, haha. But overall, I loved it. All the music, food, and not too mention introducing me to your friends. Thanks for inviting me to it."

"You're welcome, and you're right. By any chance, were you wanting to take photos of the thing?"

"No. I'm afraid I'm not the kind of bird who always uses his phone while carrying it."

"Well, when you do get around to it, maybe…if you want to, you can call me and I can text these." Rebecca blushed and showed him the photos taken on her phone.

"Huh? Oh." Garrett gently took her phone and looked at the photos. "Wow." He said as he saw everything. Photos of…Garrett and Rebecca dancing together with the samba music on the stages. The two eating candy and lunch together. The two wearing funny hats and masks, and messing with the neon toys, and the final photos showed Garrett meeting all of Rebecca's other friends. Seeing them all made Garrett smile and feel happy knowing he hung out with his new friend.

So he chuckled, "Thanks Rebecca. I'll keep that in mind. Although…did you really give me your number?"

"Oh right." She blushed again and reached into her pocket to get a note and pen.

"And also, are you even okay with giving me your number?"

"Of course. Any friend of Jewel's that she trusts is a friend of mine. Though, are you okay with it?"

"Sure. Not a problem, thanks."

Rebecca smiled again, and when she finished writing down her phone number and giving the note to Garrett, she felt frozen again. All because she looked at his eyes and felt a sensation in her heart once again. Somehow Garrett could tell what she was feeling and tried to ignore it, but his burning cheeks almost made him fail before he slowly took the note.

"Thanks again."

"No prob. Um…I know it seems a little late, but are you okay if we went on another walk together?"

"Don't mind if I do. In fact, maybe it would be a good way to talk since we haven't been able to get to know each other more."

"Good point. You wanna go first?"

"No, you go. Though I think it'll be my turn sooner if I can prove to walk faster than you can."

"Ooh, we'll see about that. Well…" Rebecca took the first step forward and Garrett followed as she explained her life. "…I grew up in the city of Minneapolis. My friends and I spent our years in high school together, going through our own adventures when…"

An hour later, Garrett and Rebecca were still talking about their lives together, before they soon reached what turned out to be Rebecca's house.

"Wow. So after all of that, Libby was still able to build the tallest cake in your school?"

"Uh huh. We had our doubts that it could be done, but we learned we were wrong the hard way when it tilted towards us."

"Ooh. I wonder how Tabitha must've felt about cleaning all that off?"

"You'd cry if you saw her reaction."

They laughed again, then they immediately silenced when Garrett brought up one important question. "Oh. Can you, by any chance, tell me about your family?"

Rebecca froze again but out of sadness.

She felt too hesitant to answer, to which Garrett noticed, before she finally spoke. "Well…when it comes to my family, the friends I introduce you to today were always like sisters to me. But I never knew my parents. I was adopted by my principal and she took care of me before I grew up and eventually moved…to here actually."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

"It's okay. It's still a good life, and I like to think that's all the family I need. But what about you? I know you have a sister and you hang out with Jewel and her friends but what about your family?"

"Well…you're right. I do have my sister, and I do love my friends, but about the rest of my family, I haven't spoken to most of my relatives for a while. As for my parents…I don't always like talking about it but years ago, when I was a little younger, I planned on visiting them for Christmas in California. But there was an earthquake. A lot of people went missing, including my parents. And despite everything in my power, they still haven't been found. It bothered me for quite a long time, but with the help of all my friends, I learned how to let go of my problems and have hope again. Since then I believe I've become more hopeful than ever. It also made me remember the fact that I still have a big family with me. Kinda like you."

"Hmm." Rebecca sat on the stairs of her house entrance. "I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm glad that you're optimistic about it."

"Thanks. And also, thanks again for this. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun on the same day I met a new friend."

"Well, glad to see I did my best at making that happen. Would you…be interested in trying it again sometime?"

"Actually I would. How about at the park tomorrow. Try another race?"

"I'd be delighted. Until then, hope you have a good evening."

"You too. See ya, Rebecca."

"See ya."

The two waved goodbye to each other and had the same feeling they did after their previous farewell. And as Garrett walked further away, he had the biggest smile on his beak, though did have a sense of guilt too. Before hearing a voice speak through his comm set.

"You know I could hear all that, right?" Said Garrett's "sister."

Garrett replied without being surprised, "Yes, COMP. I know. And yes, I know I'm keeping too many secrets from my friends and…now even her."

"And by any chance, you don't think she…?"

"Likes me? I believe she does. I just hope she's okay with us only being friends, because after how my last relationships went, I don't feel comfortable taking any chances for a while."

"If you say so." COMP joked.

"Haha." Garrett said with sarcasm, and continued walking away, while remembering something important he had on his mind. Something that he saw as a mission, which involved two special friends.

But Rebecca didn't know that as she was just standing near her front door, feeling her heart shake as she saw her new friend walk away. Then after a minute, a street light suddenly turned on and a realization came to her mind. "Hmm…I like him. But…after how my last relationship went with Vincent, I don't know if I'm ready to take any chances again. But who knows. Maybe if we give it time it could work. If he just wants to be friends, then I'll appreciate that too. Goodnight, Garrett." She made an air kiss and slowly walked into her house, feeling happy about the whole day.

Notes & Disclaimers (Nov 14, 2022):

• Rio is Blue Sky IP.

• This is a prequel to Alexriolover95's story.

• "Rebecca Shimmers": Based on Sunset Shimmer, Rebecca Schoichet, Jewel Millenn, and other versions.

• "Vincent": Based on Flash Sentry, Vincent Tong.

Hi everyone. I reckon you didn't expect me to share what I was going to share, did ya? Well, lucky for you, I have another one to share, and if it's okay with you, I'm going to save my next author notes for the end of that one. Plus, here's to hoping you'll like this next one.