But Jay didn't want to sit back for that many minutes more.
"We need to help Zane," Jay blurted out a little while later. "He needs us. He's like a little brother to me."
Nya nodded in agreement. "To all of us."
Jay frowned, looking out over the hawks. "I haven't told you this before, not you or Lloyd or Cole, 'cause I thought you might get mad, but sometimes in our room, when we're supposed to be getting to sleep, I tell Zane jokes late into the night. He doesn't get most of them, but it's still good. Am I- am I going to have to sleep in Zane's and my room alone when we get home, whenever that happens?"
"No," Nya stated. "Lloyd will return. He'll come back to us, and we'll go get Zane back."
"Yeah. Lloyd'll come back," Jay repeated, trying to convince himself.
"Do you see those hawks up there?" Nya asked, changing the subject so rapidly that Jay whipped his head around to stare at her in confusion.
"Huh?" Jay asked.
Head tilted back, Nya pointed up at that sky. "See them? See that big one? It looks like he moves one wing more quickly than the other when he makes turns, and it looks like that helps him turn a lot more smoothly. That might work for us too."
Furrowing his eyebrows, Jay squinted up at the hawk Nya was pointing out. "Uh-huh, I see him."
Turning back to Nya, he opened his mouth to ask another question, but his lips had barely parted when Nya stood up, jogged to the cliff's edge, and leaped out into the sky. Spreading her wings, she swooped up toward the hawks.
Jay sighed, propping his chin up in one hand. He wished Lloyd was here so much it almost hurt. What was taking him so long? Was Lloyd injured, trapped, or something even worse? Did they need to go back for him?
Nya flew past the cliff at the same height as the cave Jay was tucked into, calling out, "Come on! You should try this. It makes flying so much easier."
Sighing again, Jay stood and headed for the edge of the cliff. Why didn't Nya seem to be worried like he was? Jay guessed that she probably was worried, but just didn't want to show it. After all, Nya loved Zane. She was teaching him to cook and she was always careful to make sure he could keep up with the rest of them when they went flying despite Zane's comparatively small wingspan. So yeah, Nya must be worried. And since she was worried and still wanted to work on flying, Jay could be worried and work on flying too. It might be better than huddling in the cave and worrying until his head felt like it was going to explode.
Jay ran the last few steps to the edge of the cliff and jumped out, snapping out his wings as he went. Despite his worries, joy filled his whole body. Flying always lifted his spirits simultaneously as it lifted his body through the air.
He flew up to Nya, keeping pace with her, and she showed him how she did the move she had seen the hawks doing. Jay tried it out, and it worked really well. He flapped his wings, moving himself in large circles around the hawks, going closer to them and then farther away and then closer to them again. Now that the hawks saw the birdkids' wings, the birds didn't seem to mind them. Jay kept his focus on flying and away from Lloyd and Zane, and he was okay for the moment.
Later, a ways into the evening, Jay lay on his stomach on the cave ground and stared out at the hawks, his wings stretched out and resting. The parent birds were feeding their babies, grooming their babies, helping their babies practice flying. All in all, the older hawks were taking great care of the little hawks. It was very sweet and made Jay smile. It also kind of made Jay want to cry.
Sniffing quietly, Jay scrubbed at his eyes, trying not to let Nya notice.
She noticed anyway, of course. "What's wrong?"
"Just, the hawks," Jay said miserably, feeling like a loser for getting so sad over such a little thing. "The parents are being so good to the babies, like real moms and dads. I never had that. I mean, I had you, and Lloyd, and Cole, and even Jeb for a while. But it's not the same thing."
"I see what you're saying." Nya sounded kind of choked up, like Jay did. She didn't look at Jay, but she extended a hand and ruffled his hair gently.
As the sun set, the hawks all cozied up in their nests, and even the loud baby hawks went quiet as it went dark. When there was barely enough light to see by, and even that light came from the moon, Nya scooted over to sit right next to Jay and held out her left hand closed up in a fist. Jay made a fist of his own left hand and put it on top of Nya's. Jay tapped Nya's left fist with his right fist, and Ny tapped Jay's left fist with her right fist. It was the flock's little bedtime ritual which they always did before going to sleep.
But they hadn't done it when they fell asleep in that forest clearing. They'd forgotten completely. And now there were only two of them left to do it. It didn't feel the same without a whole stack of fists to tap.
Jay pulled back from Nya, curling up against the wall of the cave. Tears were rising to his eyes again, and he hated it. Jay barely managed to force himself to say, "Good night."
"Good night," Nya said back.
Jay covered his face with his hands and squeezed his eyes shut, hoping that when morning came, things would look brighter.