A Simple Mind

(A/N: I'm sorry I've left this story for so long, I've had a lot to catch up with in my other stories, as you may have noticed. I haven't forgotten this though!)

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The advice from Nick and Fetcher kept Rocky on his toes all of that afternoon, and most of the following day too. He could simply not believe how easy it was to read him – were others on the island getting the same signals as those rats? What if Ginger had noticed? he thought to himself with a grimace.

There was no doubt that he was feeling uncomfortable. Because of the strange entries that were blocking his memory, he tried to avoid Ginger for some time, afraid that she may be onto his secret and his feelings. The last thing he wanted was to discuss this sort of thing, especially when this whole situation with Azul was beginning to spiral now in a new direction.

Speaking of Azul, he had noticed Rocky's strange behaviour too, only the signals he read were different than the ones Rocky had considered.

Noticing that Rocky was keeping away from Ginger, Azul thought back to the night of their argument, when he was just settling down to tell the tale of his lost love. He had noticed their disappearance, and thought back to what they said.

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Azul listened as he spoke, his hearing picking up Ginger's voice. She sounded rather exasperated, and he strained to gain a part in each conversation.

"He wanted to explain tonight," she said. "And besides, why is it bothering you so much? You found your answer, didn't you? You wanted to know what his name meant so I arranged to tell you."

Azul knew that they had been talking about him, and he knew that he had somehow started the whole argument in the first place, by telling Rocky what he wanted to know. He hadn't meant to come off as cold, but from the beginning he had been rather jealous of the rooster. He was handsome, and amusing, and didn't linger on unrequited love as he did.

And he had Ginger...

He had heard Rocky's voice then. "It's just really shown me up, that's all."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry!" Ginger had cried. Azul was startled at her tone, she sounded furious. Furious with Rocky? Did she often get that way? He hadn't been there that long, he wouldn't know. Still, he was surprised at the way she had spoken to him.

Ginger continued in that same anger: "Sorry for 'showing you up', I must feel terrible! Not everyone bows to you whenever you want, Rocky! You don't need all the attention...all the time! Can't you at least show some respect for others?"

So Rocky hadn't respected him at first. That basically had explained a lot about his attitude. And he had felt strange at Ginger's sarcastic tone, and the way she had spoken of 'respect'. Were they in a troublesome relationship? Maybe it was Ginger's hint to Rocky to move on and find someone else.

"I'm really sorry, Azul...find someone else..." Strega's voice.

Everything was just so confusing.

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"Ouph!" Azul was brought back to the real world as he sharply bumped into an unknown hen, toppling and hearing her squeal as she plopped back onto her rear, sending him a few paces back. What a dope! What an idiot! What an ars –

He quickly straightened up. "Ah, no! I'm sorry!" he said in apology, bending low and taking hold of her wings, helping her up (though it took a while, she was rather weighty). "I'm such a clumsy – I wasn't looking!"

"Oh, that's quite all right," the hen said in a sweet voice. It was Babs. She struggled to get back onto her feet, they kicked in the air as she tried. Eventually (with much help from Azul), she managed to stand up straight again, wobbly and with a goofy smile on her face.

Azul felt so stupid. "I'm sorry, Miss," he said. "You must excuse me. I have a habit of doing ridiculous things when I'm on the other side of the clouds. I hope you're not hurt," he added.

Babs shook her head. "No, no, it's fine, really," she said. "I was busy thinking meself. At least, that's what it looked like you were doing...thinking...I do that sometimes too, when I get a thought in me head," she smiled, pointing towards her head as in proof of evidence. "I was just having a talk with Beth, my little girl – such a lovely thing she is too...she's talking about going on holiday!" She looked aghast at the thought.

Azul actually laughed.

"I keep telling her," Babs continued. "We are on holiday, sweetheart! We're going to be on holiday forever! A forever holiday!" She smiled, a dreamy look coming over her face. It caused Azul to smile again.

"I suppose you like the occasional holiday," he suggested.

"Oooh – yes, love! All the time!" Babs said. "It was rare we got one, back at the farm and everything, so it was always exciting. And now it's come true." She grinned and pulled her wings together, as if to get back to her knitting, but there was nothing in her wings. She frowned and started to look below her feet.

Azul nodded in response. He had heard – not long before his journey the tale of Tweedy's farm and the chickens that had escaped from it. But it was only now that he realised the chickens were his very friends. The thought excited him and sorrowed him.

Breaking from his thoughts, he looked down and pulled a face, humoured by Babs, staring down around in the grass and with a clueless notion about her. He tried to hold back a laugh as he bent down to inspect her search.

"W-what are you doing?" he asked. "What are you looking for?"

"My knitting, silly," Babs said. "It's always losing me."

"Here, let me help," Azul offered. "I have a gift for sharp eyes, you know."

"Well, be careful you don't cut yourself!" Babs exclaimed with sudden concern.

Azul didn't respond, but just smiled to himself. He could tell that she was a little far behind in the real world, but he didn't mind right now. His eyes peered deep into the grass and finally spotted what she was looking for.

"Oh, here - " he said, just at that moment when Babs said: "I see it!"

Bump. Both chickens had collided heads when reaching down for the knitting. They stood up, rubbing their heads and smiling uncomfortably, Azul with his mellow chuckle and Babs with her high giggle.

"I'm sorry," said Azul.

Babs again, said it was nothing. She retrieved her knitting from the rooster and both began to fall back into a conversation again. Azul couldn't believe how anyone could be so buoyant in everything they did. She seemed so happy all the time, as if life was treating her well – and it had always treated her well, and if she had lived a perfect dream. She didn't seem to show any sign of discomfort.

"You told that story," said Babs. "The one about love."

Azul looked down. He wished he hadn't come out all famous and pitiful in his first few weeks. It was all anyone ever talked to him about now, how that things would eventually work out for him and how he would move on. Even when he wasn't there he could swear that others were talking about him.

"Yes," he said.

Babs now frowned. "You went ahead and told everyone your name, didn't you? And...crumbs, now I've plum forgotten! Imagine that!"

"Imagine that, indeed," Azul said.

"Could you tell me, again, please? I tend to forget. Now I know it began with an 'A'..."

"Azul," the rooster prompted in, not wanting to go straight into a guessing game. "My name is Azul, Miss. You were almost close enough."

His sentence was finished by another one of Babs' confused faces. She scratched at her head, and a befuddled look came into her eyes, of a pastel blue. "My name is Babs, not 'Miss' – begging your pardon, and...Azul! That's what it was!" She squealed aloud and clapped. "I remember now!"

Azul wondered if she had a poor memory. He didn't want to bring it up, but the thought pounded on his brain. Being the polite soul that he was, he kept it inside, focusing on the hen's bright wit and sense.

"Babs," he repeated. "That's right, I remember you now also."

"You do?" She sounded delighted.

Azul let out a chuckle of his. "It seems we're both suffering victims of forgetting each other's names, aren't we? It's not often I do that...it's just there's so many of you here, I've been around for a few months but I haven't really settled into that category yet. I'm still learning a little."

Babs nodded, agreeing. "Everyone says I'm 'inclined to disregard' but I don't know what they mean," she said, sighing in exasperation. "It's so hard now to get a few normal words out of people."

I wonder what her definition of normal is? Azul wondered.

"So what are your plans for today, Miss Babs?" he asked.

Babs giggled. "Miss Babs – makes me sound all important, it does!" She thought hard. "Oooh, I'm just around for a stroll today, maybe taking little Archie for a walk, teach him how to say things properly, just the small things."

"Teaching him how to...say things properly?"

"Yes! He says such funny things sometimes. He says 'fan' instead of 'fun', 'talk' instead of 'walk', so when he wants to say: 'let's go for a walk', he says: 'let's go for a talk', and I end up thinking that something's happened!" She shook her head as if it were a pitiful crime. "And instead of saying: 'hit', he says: 'git'," she said, sorrowfully.

Azul forced to hold back a laugh, as Babs seemed very serious. "Oh, dear," he managed.

"I know," Babs groaned. "It's a hard shame, it is."

"Who's Archie?" Azul wanted to know. He already seemed to have an idea, but he had to make sure. Besides, he was interested in her answer. Everything she seemed to say made him smile.

Babs got back to her knitting, her wings working up and down, the fabric of her wool baby blue. "Archie? He's my little boy. Working on to a few months old now, he is. My baby girls, Beth and Susie, are almost one, aw. They're cute things."

"Three children? Don't they become a bit of a handful?"

"Um...not really," Babs said. "At least, not yet."

"Ah, I see."

Azul and Babs talked long into the night, until the sun began to set and a gentle pink and orange light began to touch the hills of the sanctuary. Azul barely noticed the time at all. Listening to Babs was very entertaining, and it was better than pretending to work away at his raft anyway (Babs had already complimented him on his work, as Azul had glumly told her that it wasn't finished yet).

"It's looking good!" she said. "Almost looks done!"

Azul couldn't really say anything to that, but just accepted her appreciation. It wasn't until the stars began to appear that Babs pointed out it was getting dark, and made her way back to her hut, saying a polite goodnight to Azul and gathering her children on her journey.

Azul watched after her, sighing and scuffing the ground with his feet. All of this talk about children with Babs reminded him of Rocky, and the talk they had the other day. And thinking of Rocky reminded him of Ginger.

What could he do? He missed her. He hadn't seen her all day. It was driving Azul crazy, wondering whether Rocky and her were really over for good. He made a mental note to speak to Rocky tomorrow, hinting towards that fact. After all, they were more than definition friends now, everything would work out.

He stepped over towards the riverbank to think, looking out across the waters and thinking of Strega, and his old home. His eyes cast down on his raft, simple pieces of logs tied together with rope, and hid it behind a tall grass area.

It was fixed.

To be continued

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(Sorry about the wait for this chapter. : smile : Please tell me what you think!)