CHAPTER THIRTY ONE: CHAINED TOGETHER

A couple hours later, Jewel was still sleeping and at peace. Blu, however, was in an opposite position. He was awake and the only one to notice that his left leg was completely tied to Jewel's right leg by a thick strong vine. With her sleeping, Blu had to carry her (bride style) through the jungle and was only annoyed with "tying the knot" so soon. He was trying to take care of her and going towards their home, near where their scarlet pair friends was currently dining together in their nest on the ground.

"Hmm." Mikka purred as she was snuggling her head to Leo's. "I can see you're comfortable, my dear." "Yep. Right now it's just you and me…and these sweet berries." They were eating treats called Cerulean Sky Berries (made up, btw) and just sat while admiring each other on their own date at home. "And nothing else to worry about. Which makes me how Blu and Jewel are doing." "Knowing them, Leo, I think they're having the time of their lives. Though, despite how adorable they make their relationship look, they'll top you and me, Loveo." Mikka kissed Leo, and they ate more berries. "Love you." "Love you too…Mikkove?" He tried giving her a nickname but Mikka only chuckled to that. "Nice try, sweetie, but in this relationship, I'm the only one who gets to come up with the memorable nicknames. Hehehe! That was a good one though." "Thanks." He only laughed back and encouraged the sweet hug she gave him next.

"Hmm…a perfect day to a perfect life."

"Yeah. Hey, once it's sunset, do you wanna walk around in the jungle?"

"Sure. Only if you're willing to carry m-"

"Wait. I wanna stop you there. I can't fly and carry you. I haven't flown since your wing got ripped."

"I-I know, but look, just because I'm grounded forever that doesn't mean you have to be."

"Actually I'm afraid does. I care about you way too much, and the night when we separated and you got your wing ripped…it was the worst day of my life. From there, I wanted to make I wanted to make sure that I would never doing anything that would make me feel like I was bragging to you about the fact that I can still fly."

"I know that, and I really appreciate you trying to look out for me like that but what I don't want is for me to an anchor in your life."

Leo froze for a moment feeling stunned. "An anchor?" "Yes." He sighed and only smiled at her before making him and herself lay down beside each other. "Mikka…you will never be an anchor to me. You are the most smart, loving, and beautiful bird I've ever known. When we left our family nests together, do you remember why?" "Yes? So we could live somewhere new and stay together forever." "Exactly. So whether we can both fly or not, I only care about staying with you and only you. So I rather stay with you on the ground forever and do that than be alone in the air." "Aww. You really love me like that?" "Absolutely. Plus, with walks, they feel more slow and romantic. My kind of style with a girl like you." "Hehehe."

Mikka was feeling totally wooed by her best bird and proud with how much effort he always put into remembering how to properly care for her. So she kissed him again and tickled him with her talons by his talons. They both laughed with joy and felt unbothered. Until a sudden cough was heard. "Hey guys? Mikka? Leo?" That came from Blu, and when the pair heard him, they exited their nest by opening their grass curtain (which was installed to their home a long time ago) before seeing their adoptive son carrying his sleepy girlfriend. "Oh. Hi, Blu. How are you doing?" Mikka asked and wanted to hug her son but noticed that his wings were still full as he replied "Hi guys, right now we're doing fine, but in a bit of a situation." "I'll say, sport. You look like you and Jewel tied the knot." Leo joked. "Look." He pointed to their legs to make Mikka notice. "Oh, what happened?"

Blu explained, "Me and Jewel were trying to spend our first day together after she moved in with me, we raced, splashed around in the lake, and I decided to do some gliding by having her carry me with her talons and strong vines. And well…you can see what happened."

"Oh my. You didn't go through super dangerous, did you?" Mikka had her motherly instincts on.

"No, no. We glided and bumped into a tree branch. Nothing injured of course. Jewel did get tired after that but I'm sure she's okay. Right now, what we do need help with is not just protection but getting this thing off our legs."

"Protection? Protection from what?" Leo asked.

"Honestly nothing right now but when two birds are together like this then it's possible that we could become easy targets for predators."

"Okay then. Put Jewel down gently and I'll cut that knot off you in no time."

Blu obeyed his dad and put down before Mikka rested her head. Jewel was shifting a little, trying to get comfortable and Blu only sat down, waiting for Leo to do her job. He approached them and kneeled down to examine the vine. It was long, light green, and looked thin but as Leo took a huge bite in the middle…it didn't snap. "What the?" He questioned. So he tried biting it again. But still no luck, so he kept snapping it, yanking it, and clawing it. There wasn't even a single scratch. "Okay, that is one strong plant. I…CAN'T…GET…IT OUT!" He tried one last time trying to at least pull it broken but instead he lost his grip, tripped, and had his head land hard on the ground. "Dad!"

"Ow…" Leo became weary and just like that, Mikka came to his need. "Oh, Loveo, are you okay?" "I d-dunno. That was pretty hard. I need to rest for a few hours…" "Blu, what kind of vine is that?" "I don't know. Hang on." Blu tried using his talons to rip it and nothing worked even when Mikka assisted him. "Man, this thing is tough!" It was trying to rip a piece of string made out of steel wool. So Mikka gave up. "Okay, okay. It's obviously that will power's not gonna enough. So I'm thinking once Leo wakes up, he…" She stopped for a second and looked at her unconscious soulmate. She was thinking that he could fly Blu and Jewel to where they needed to go but "…we are gonna have to walk to the city and find someone who's willing to help you vine." "Walk? Couldn't Leo and Jewel just fly me to the city?" "Well yes, but in case I haven't this before; Leo restrained himself from flying ever since my wing got torn." "Oh right. Well okay then. I just hope it doesn't take too long." "Maybe it won't. So until our two lovers wake up, what do you wanna do now?" "Well I am pretty hungry." "Okay." Mikka smiled at him and enjoyed the moment by sharing berries with him. To both of them it felt like a mother and son picnic, and only waited to see what would happen next after Leo and Jewel would wake up.