A/N: Last chapter guys. It's been a good run =).

Chapter 3

Jewel slowly regained consciousness seeing nothing but blurry objects at first, but that slight shade of blue at her right suggests that it was Blu. Below her sight, was a shade of a yellow balls and beside it was something reddish. It was Nico and Pedro. Her vision was becoming clearer now. She was at the reserve infirmary.

"Hey there sleepy head." Blu said in a soft voice.

"Blu? Is that you? What happened?"

"You got hit by an airplane, girl." Nico replied.

"Blu's right, you really are as tough as they come." Pedro added.

"Hang on. Let me just fix your bandage." He tightened the bandages that wrapped around her head. There was a large red dot that showed on Jewel's left forehead, though the blood had dried up already. "Does it hurt?" Blu asked while he was finishing up on her wounds.

"Not at all."

After finishing up, she approached Jewel closer and whispered only so that she could hear. "Don't worry, you're still my beautiful Jewel."

It made her smile. "Thanks Blu."

"So Jewel, what did it feel like to be inside a running engine?" Nico asked.

"Yeah Jewel, was it hot?" Pedro asked.

"Guys, cut it out. Jewel needs to rest."

"Actually, I don't know. I don't remember much."

"What do you remember?" Nico added.

"I was flying with… oh my… where's Rafael?"

Pedro and Nico looked at each other. Blu looked down. "He's feeling troubled. He thinks this is his fault and…"

"… he just thought to drop by anyway."

They all look to the window. It was Rafael. "Hey Jewel. I'm glad you're okay."

"I guess I'm gonna be alright, as soon as I get out of these bandages."

Rafael was reluctant, but he slowly approached Blu. "Blu, I'm so sorry about what happened back there. If only I…"

"It's okay, Rafael. Jewel's alive. No harm done." Blu replied.

"So we're cool?" Rafael asked. Just to be sure.

"Yeah, we're cool."

"That's my boy." Rafael said knocking Blu's shoulder with his wing.

"Great." Nico said. "So we can all have a good laugh at that. But I have to ask, what were you two doing out there anyway?"

"We were playing rockball." Rafael replied.

"Yep, but Blue didn't join though because he thought it was dangerous." Jewel added.

"And I was right!" Blu replied.

"Blu, rockball is a sport that's been going on for birds for as long as I can remember." Jewel replied.

"Yeah, there's even a rockball federation league." Rafael added.

"Jewel, just promise me not to play rock ball ever again. I don't want to lose you." Blu asked.

Jewel looked to his eyes and he could see the fear and worry in them. She felt a bit of guilt for the worry she put on her partner. "Alright. I'll do it for you, Blu. And I'm sorry."

"Woah Woah Woah! Hold up." Pedro thought. "That plane has two engines, right? And both of them failed at the same time, right? But if Jewel was on the left engine, who or what on earth was on the other engine?"


On the airfield, a few government investigators, as well as National Transportation Safety Board officials from the United States and Accident Investigation Branch officials from Great Britain, came to inspect the fallen aircraft. They check the right engine and soon uncover something so out of place, it was just mind-bogglingly hard to believe. "Why is there a rock in here?" One of the investigators asked as he pulled it out and showed it to the other investigators.


Blu and everyone else looked at Rafael. "Last time I'll play rockball." He made a nervous smile, but at least the guilt was gone.


Fifteen days later…

She packed my bags last night pre-flight

The sun is slowly rising on the east on the second busiest airport in the country in terms of international traffic. Flight 275 was getting ready for taxi.

Zero hour… nine a.m.

"Lovely day for a fly, eh?" Captain Moody asked.

"I couldn't ask for anything more." First Officer Harding replied.

"Alright. Start-up checklist procedures."

And I'm gonna be high… as a kite by then

Flight 275 has daily flights from Heathrow in London to Antonio Carlos International Airport in Rio. The routine 8-hour flight to London usually occurs in the morning. The flight will be handled by Captain Moody and First Officer Harding.

"Checklist complete."

"Rio Tower, Big Charlie 275, ready for taxi."

"Big Charlie 275. Roger. Taxi to runway 10."

"Runway 10, acknowledge. Big Charlie 275."

I miss the earth so much, I miss my wife

"No delays. No worries." Harding said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get out of Rio." Moody replied.

"I know."

It's lonely out in space

A few moments later, they have lined up at the edge of the runway.

"Tower, this is Big Charlie275. Request ATC Clearance for take-off runway 10."

"Copy that Big Charlie 275. You have the runway."

On such a timeless flight

Moody and Harding reach for the thrust levers. Together, they throttle up the plane, accelerating from 0 to 80 in a few seconds.

And I think it's gonna be a long long time

'Til touch down brings me round again to find

I'm not the man they think I am at home

Oh no no no I'm a rocket man

"Vee one."

"Rotate."

Finally, at around 8:30 a.m., the plane was now in sustained flight.

"Vee two."

"Positive rate. Gear up."

At 1500 ft., they traversed about 20 km. Harding activates the autothrottle and sets the NAV switch to GPS. This switch allows the plane to follow a predetermined flight path by following waypoints on the GPS.

"And that's that."

BANG! BANG!

All of a sudden, both engines surging turbulently.

"Captain, surge. Engine 1 and 2."

Facepalm. "Not again."

Inside one of the engines, a white cockatoo was stuck in one of the engines. It was Nigel. "Last time I'll play rockball."

THE END.

Rocket man… burning out his fuse out there alone. And I think it's gonna be a long long time…

Epilogue

After the second birdstrike, Captain Moody and First Officer Harding landed the plane safely once more, oddly, in the same air strip. Due to their courage and diligence, they were awarded with several aviation merits for the airmanship they displayed. First Officer Harding was immediately promoted to Captain by British Cargo. Both pilots still fly together on some routes occasionally.

The Boeing 757 was eventually written off due to the double cost it took to replace the two engines, but the real reason was cited to be that the aircraft was possessed and was just pure bad luck.

Due to the cost of servicing the route, British Cargo suspended all flights to and from Rio de Janeiro indefinitely, which leads the airport with 28 passenger airlines and 5 cargo airlines as stated by Wikipedia.

The Brazilian government decided to concretize the airstrip and include it in its database, as well as all other private-owned airfields. A VOR-DME (VHF Omni-directional Range – Distance Measuring Equipment) was constructed at the foot of this particular runway.

Jewel eventually recovered from her injuries. Tulio put an ointment on her forehead that would make sure that the scar on her forehead would disappear and restore her to her former beauty. After the accident, Blu cherished his partner even more, spending a lot more time with her. Blu and Jewel live a happy and content life with their chicks. Rafael was more careful at first, still a bit shaken by the incident, but after a while, he returned to his fun loving self. Though, rockball was never played in the reserve again.

No birds were harmed in the making of this fic… okay maybe they got hurt but they all recovered from their injuries in the end, right? Nigel is evil anyway, so he doesn't count. It's a happy ending.

Songs used:

Elton John – Rocket man