Notes & Disclaimers:

• Rio is Blue Sky Studios IP.

(Please leave a comment and enjoy.)

Chapter Five: Love and Care

After the accident and rescue, Linda brought Blu and Jewel to Rio's aviary, and was told by Tulio and his father to go to one of the operating rooms. As Linda brought the chicks in, she rested them on a smooth table. Jewel was still shaking, and the more she hugged Blu, the more he kept turning red and felt an extreme vibe going through himself.

"Do you think you can help?" Linda asked Tulio's father again, and he spoke to Mrs. Swift. "Ma'am, if it's alright with you, I need to keep these chicks in here and have Linda and my son to stay in and help." Mrs. Swift was alright with it, so she left the three alone to deal with the chicks.

"So my dear, how far were these chicks?" The doctor asked as he took a closer look at Blu and Jewel.

"About 30ft away from this building. They just looked helpless when I found them and I didn't want to leave them to get hurt."

"Well that was very generous of you, Linda. Just be very careful next time."

Blu and Jewel still tried to comfort each other, and Tulio, as he was on his computer, announced something to them. "Hey Dad, look at this. I think I know what species of birds these little ones are." They came over and saw a file that explained everything.

"Spix macaws? I thought they were recently sent to extinction." The doctor said in shock. But his expression was not as big as Blu and Jewel's.

"Extinction?" Jewel said as she let go of Blu, and backed up in both shock and sadness.

"Jewel, are you okay?" Blu asked.

"Blu. T-They said…extinction about our kind."

"What? No, there's no way that can be true."

"But if it is…then that means, my parents…and your parents…they're…"

"Hey hey. Take it easy, let's not jump to-" Blu was about to get angry with her until he saw tears coming out of her eyes.

Ever since the two blue macaws met and became best friends, they never fought or even yelled at each other, not even once. So Blu didn't want to start their first argument. Instead he did something else. He walked slowly to her, and hugged her lovingly, not like what Jewel was doing with him. She didn't hug back as she was blushing and feeling embarrassed and confused. Her mind became blank as Blu was giving her so much comfort.

She then hugged him back, and Blu said "It's okay. You know, humans don't know everything. Even if our kind is endangered then there could be a good chance that we aren't the last ones around."

"You think so?" Jewel softly asked.

"I…I know so." Blu hesitated to say but didn't want to let Jewel down. After that happy showing of confidence that Blu displayed, Jewel kept smiling and noticed that she couldn't stop staring into Blu's eyes.

"So are you saying that these two could be…?" Linda spoke and was finished by Tulio's father. "It's possible. If these two lovebirds are the last ones, it's best to keep them safe around here." After hearing his words, Blu immediately released his wings from Jewel, feeling nothing but more embarrassment.

"Aw. Look at that, I think you're making him blush." Linda laughed, the doctor then took a closer look at Blu, and wanted to start working on his damaged wing. He pulled out the medicine and everything to help, and instructed Blu, "Okay little buddy, I need you to trust me. Just hold still and I'll make your wing feel much better." Blu listened, and let the doctor do his work, and Jewel wasn't worried since he was going easy on him.

"Done." Said the doctor. Blu had painkillers on his wing, and a cast. Jewel came back by his side again, and Linda asked, "So what's gonna happen to them now?"

Tulio replied, "Well since his wing is still in bad condition, I think he and the female should stay in our 'special' room."

"Good idea, son."

So Linda gently carried them both, and Tulio and his dad led them to the said room.

As they were in its control room, Tulio's dad took the two chicks, and gently moved them to a small opening on the ground that led to the special room. It was a giant artificial jungle. They were both confused as to where they both were, so they stayed together and just walked around.

Blu stopped and saw some material. He started picking at it, and began to think about building two nests, and when he started, Jewel created conservation.

"Hey Blu, what are you doing?"

"I'm building two nests."

"Oh, but your wing's still bad, how about you let me do it?"

"Sure but I feel like it's better if I did all the work for you, and you better take it easy. Because somehow…I feel like it's been more of a hard night for you than it was for me. And I don't wanna cause you any more grief."

Jewel was touched by his compassionate saying and she didn't want to argue with him either, so she moved up to him, and carried a twig with her beak. Blu picked up the same thing with his beak, and doing that just made them stare at each other again. They put it down, and looked away blushing until Jewel spoke again.

"Why don't we work on it together?" Blu kept turning red as she stood so close, but allowed her to help. So they spent about an hour working on the two separate nests, and when they finished, they were ready to sleep. They each went into their individual nests, and said their last words of the day.

"Goodnight Jewel."

"Goodnight Blu, and thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving my life."

"Oh…no problem. You're my best friend after all."

"Is that the only reason?" Jewel smiled, causing 'Red' to appear again. "Also, I didn't forget what you asked me earlier, about if I believed in 'love at first', so I'll ask again, do you?"

"Well…yes."

"Oh, then…that's all I wanted to know. Goodnight Blu." Jewel then laid in her nest, and Blu just looked at her, knowing that she now felt embarrassed at what he said. As that was going on, the three humans were still watching them from the control room.

"Well my dear, I think your friends are gonna be just fine." Said Tulio's dad, and Linda believed him. So she let him lead her back to her field-trip group, and they all left the aviary to get to their place for the night. Tulio also went home with his mother, and his dad just stayed behind to keep an eye on Blu and Jewel.

More Notes & Disclaimers:

• "computer": At this point it's still 1996, and I don't know how advanced computers or the internet was back then but maybe they were advanced enough for people like doctors.

• "giant": Well giant to Blu and Jewel's POV at least.

And who knows if Blu and Jewel are just starting to become even more close.