The Father of my Sin

Blu and Jewel looked up in time to see three blue blurred bullets penetrate the treetops towards them. They were being followed by a frantic Roberto and Mimi.

"Kids?" Both parents said unison, equally surprised to see them here, though for different reasons.

Tiago was the first to hug their father, cannonballing into his stomach and knocking him on his back. "Dad!" His voice held both fear and relief. "Please don't leave, dad. We would miss you."

It didn't take long for his sisters to join in. All three children clinged onto their father, almost suffocating him with love.

He held them all close to him. "I was a fool. How could I have even considered letting these three go? They're my family. And birds of a feather, stick together."

"What were you thinking, Dad?" Carla blurted out.

"To his credit, this is one of the more rational outcomes I expected from Dad," Bia added.

Her sister glared at her.

"Oh, right."

Roberto clumsily landed next to Jewel, puffing like a steam train. Aunt Mimi followed not long after that, though in much better condition.

"Roberto, I thought I told you to watch the kids?" Jewel had her wings out, expecting an explanation.

"I'm sorry...Jewel...I couldn't…" he said as he inhaled deep breaths of air. He took a moment to get his breathing in check. "I couldn't stop them, they tricked me."

Jewel could only stare at Mimi. Her Aunt's shaking head told the story of an overconfident macaw underestimating his task.

Blu meanwhile, overhearing the conversation, took guilty pleasure from seeing Roberto epically fail at something he considered trivial.

"How did you find us though?" Jewel perked up.

"Oh, that was easy." Bia perked up. "We used a natural air thermal to propel ourselves into the air to provide us with a higher vantage point."

Despite having defied her, Jewel was impressed, and regrets not bringing with them along.

While her family was busy providing love and comfort to each other and Roberto was trying not to die, Jewel took this opportunity to speak to Mimi.

"Aunt Mimi," she whispered. "Has dad… said or done anything else?"

Mimi quietly laughed, raising her wing dismissively. "Oh, my precious wild flower. You don't have to worry about your father anymore."

"Are you sure? Because you know how stubborn he can be." Her tone held an edge of concern.

"Trust me, old Eddie's learnt his lesson. But if he decides to act up again." She flexed her wing out like an arm, showing off the stocky muscle. "Then I'll pull out the big guns."

It was always good to have Mimi on your side. She's the only one brave enough to regularly stand up to her father it would seem. And was the only bird from the tribe to openly welcome Blu as her mate. But that didn't take away from her worries. She knew it wasn't just going to be as waltzing in expecting everything to be okay. Her father was a proud macaw, and was set in his ways. To expect him to accept Blu straight away, particularly after what happened, was just ignorant. She could only hope Eduardo would give her mate a proper chance to redeem himself. And if he can't, then. They'll fly over that river when they get there.

Meanwhile, the cuddling session between father and children had ended. The kids were now demanding answers.

"Please tell me you aren't actually leaving, dad? We're the ultimate father and son team."

All three children stared at him with fear-filled eyes.

There was no point trying to lie to them, they were all (particularly one of them) too intelligent for being deceived. "No, kids. Well, not anymore. Your mother made sure of that. It was a good thing she did, actually." He dryly chuckled, noticing the raised eyebrow and approving expression of his mate. "I'm sorry for making you worry like that. Daddy was an idiot, you see. He thought you wouldn't want him as your dad after everything he had done. With the brazil-nut-in-our-own-goal incident." Obviously there was more to it than that. But for the sake of simplicity, he decided to not include the finer details.

"Dad, you are an idiot," Carla said. "Of course we still love you. And, even though you did score into the wrong goal, you had some pretty sweet moves."

"Yeah dad, you would've totally schooled them had you been facing the right way."

It melted his heart to hear that despite his flaws, his family still loved him.

"What was I thinking? I'm such a stupid bird to not realise this." He pulled his precious kids in for another hug.

"You know, Ju ju," Roberto said, having finally recovered from his wheezing fit. "For a human's pet-"

"Companion…"

-human companion," he corrected himself, "he's kind of lucky."

Jewel turned to him confused. "In what way?"

"He's got you." He shrugged. "And an awesome, loving family. He's got everything I've ever wanted. I envy that bird."

She had to look away for a second in odd amusement. "That's funny actually. Blu said he was jealous of you. He was worried you were trying to steal me away from him. That's just ridiculous isn't it?" She cackled to herself.

"Yeah…" He laughed nervously, placing a wing behind his head. "Listen, Ju Ju, know I would never try to pull anything like that on you. I have too much respect for you to do anything like that." He didn't intend to steal her away while Blu was a part of her life. More, lock himself as the second choice should something happen to Blu. But despite this, he held Jewel's own intentions much closer to heart than his own selfish desires.

"I know, Beto..." She held him in her wings.

Even though they had done this many times, this time felt weirdly uncomfortable now that his little game had been accidentally exposed.

"Which is why, I need to ask you something in private."

"Oh, errm. Of course, Ju Ju." He hadn't the foggiest clue what this request was. However, a weird feeling wriggling in his stomach gave the sense that the question was going to be delicate. Which was something Roberto was not good at handling.

She turned to her mate briefly. "I'll be back in a second, Blu. I just need to ask Roberto something important."

Blu was puzzled for a second. "Okay, sure, Jewel. Don't be gone too long."

She smiled. "Thank you, Love. I won't be."

With that. Blu turned his attention back to the kids crawling over him.

"Come on, Beto."

He followed her some distance away, deeper into the Amazon depths. They were still within eyesight, but just outside of earshot.

"Listen, Beto, I brought you over here because I know what I'm about to ask is going to be awkward."

He gulped to himself. "Go ahead, shoot. I'm all ears, Ju Ju."

Jewel nodded. "I wanted to ask you this because you've got a different perspective. I know Aunt Mimi had already forgiven Blu, and Dad hates him. But I wanted your opinion. Someone I can trust to be honest, but is also in the middle."

That was a tough question, even for Roberto. The fact she also pinned him as the guy in between didn't help at all. He scratched the back of his neck as a searing heat pressured him just under his neck. He took a moment to consider his answer. "He seems like a cool bird, but I can't say I'm the biggest fan of him at the moment. I mean, he did score the goal that lost us our side of the Brazil Nut grove…" he voice trailed off.

"That's fair, I suppose."

"And I can't say I'm comfortable with the fact that he was raised by the humans."

"A bit prejudistic, but alright." Her tone tried to hide a hint of annoyance.

"I've had my experiences with the humans, and they've all been horrible." He shivered. "I still get nightmares thinking about them and their evil crackers. It's because of them and their fire we lost your mother and almost lost you."

"Not all humans are bad. There is Linda and-"

"What's a Linda?"

"Linda is the human who raised Blu."

Roberto shivered. "Even their names creep me out."

"Listen, I used to think like you and Dad but I was wrong. Blu may have been raised by humans, but that doesn't mean he's any less of a bird than you and I. Give him a chance, he'll do everything he can to fix his mess. And I can help him."

"That's what worries me, Ju Ju. He doesn't know the ways of the jungle. What if he does something else that screws us over?"

"Which is why he needs you to teach him."

Roberto sighed. He knew this request was coming. "I can't."

"But Roberto." she grabbed one of his wings in hers and held it firmly. "You're the only one who can help. I haven't been here long enough and my father refuses to have anything to do with him. I'm telling you, he wants to learn. He can learn quickly if you just give him a chance."

"Listen, Jewel. I'm sorry, I really am. But my wings are tied behind my back. I'm your father's wingman, the big bird's bird. I'm expected to follow no matter what. And to be entirely honest, I don't fully believe what he did was wrong. Even now I still have doubts about Blu. And, if the other members start seeing me hanging with him, there would be conflict."

Jewel was disheartened by this. She understood why he couldn't help, but that didn't take away from hurt. "That's fine, thank you for listening."

Roberto felt bad. He hated making others feel sad, particularly Jewel. "Hey, if Blu does somehow manage to turn his mojo around. I would gladly take him under my wing and teach him some moves. How about that?"

Though that did help to ease some of the disappointment, it didn't solve the current predicament. "Thanks, I guess. Shall we go back now? Blu's probably getting a little concerned."

"Oh right."

She moved past him back towards the main group. There she saw Tiago throwing sticks like spears, and his sisters talking amongst Blu and Mimi. It made her slightly happier to see her aunt openly supporting Blu. Particularly when she had such power of her father.

Mimi had to quickly stop Tiago from sneaking the All-in-one Adventurer's knife from the discarded fanny pack.

"Ah, come on Aunt, please?"

"I'm afraid it's a no, Tiago. We are leaving that item behind so grand pop-pop thinks better of us, okay?"

"But, Dad! It's useful and awesome."

Jewel noticed the smallest of smiles tug at his beak.

"I know it is. But we have to do this if we want old pop-pop to like us."

It also made her feel content that Blu held no grudges against her father, even though she same couldn't be said about her.

Blu then noticed Jewel and Roberto standing there. "Okay then. Are we already to go? Let me do a quick head count-"

"-Race you guys back home!" Tiago burst out, propelling himself into the sky.

"You're on!" Carla responded, pushing off after her brother.

"Wait, guys. Hang on!" Roberto blurted out, believing he still had some responsibility over them after his earlier failure.

"Why do I even bother sometimes…" Blu groaned under his breath, placing a wing on his shaking head.

Mimi and Bia took off after them, with Blu about to follow.

"Hang on, Blu." Jewel caught him before he took off and placed a wing on his shoulder. "Are you sure you're ready to face my father?"

"I don't think I'm ever truly ready. But that hasn't stopped me before, has it?"

"I know, but this is different. This time we have a choice. Just...if it matters enough to you, then I'm perfectly content moving back to Rio."

Blu took her wing off, picked up her other one, and held them both his own. "I can't let that happen, Jewel. To move back because I wanted to is selfish. I'm really happy here because you and the kids are happy, even if I do miss some of the things back in Rio like that little fluffy cushion... I just need time to adjust." He placed a kiss on her cheek. "But thank you."

Jewel nodded. "Okay."

"Let's go, it's been a while since we've flown as a family. I wouldn't mind doing a bit of sight-seeing. From above I mean, safely out of reach of the bird-eating snakes and creepy crawlies."

Jewel sighed happily, it was good to have her family back together.

The two blue macaws took off in pursuit of the rest of the group.

The two mates and Aunt Mimi stood outside Eduardo's roost. A tiny hole barely big enough to accommodate one bird, let alone a family. It looked miserable when compared to the grandeur of Roberto's mansion. It also looked dark and gloomy, like it wasn't maintained.

It did at least have a few branches of pink flowers outside to provide a little light to the place.

When asked, Mimi explained that after the lose of his wife and daughter, the emptiness of his own home only reminded him of the emptiness he felt inside.

This made Jewel feel less angry, and instead, more sad for her father.

The group agreed (despite more protests from the chicks) it would be best if only the key birds went to greet him. Blu and Jewel were obvious choices, and Mimi was there to act as the neutral border between them.

Blu was very grateful for Mimi. She's the only bird outside his closest family that has forgiven him and is willing to protect him. Such as glaring back at a couple of other Spix macaws when they glared at him.

Before they entered the hollow, Mimi stood in front of them. She unfolded her wings. "Please note, dears. I have not the foggiest idea the mood your father is in. When I left he was silent. That normally isn't a good sign. But I'll try my best to get him to be reasonable. Just remain civil, and I'm sure we'll come out of this fine. You got that?"

Both birds nodded.

"Okay, Darlings." She stepped out of the way and welcomed them inside. "Enter when you are ready."

Jewel gave Blu one last look, catching him as he gulped.

He stepped forward, slowly to begin with, taking one cautious step after another until he was inside. He was shortly followed by Jewel, and then Mimi.

Blu didn't know what kind of greeting he would get. Part of him was terrified Eduardo would fly out of nowhere, shrieking, and just grab him by the throat. Another part thought he was just waiting there, ready to glare piercing daggers into his soul. Either way, there was no turning back now.

The fact that it was hard to see in the hollow didn't help matters. The light struggled to enter through the few small windows. But there, standing at the end of the room, was Eduardo, staring out of one such window.

He looked up at them, but didn't say a word.