Chapter 6: From Great, to Horrible, to Great

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

I was slowly waking up, and I felt groggy… and I never feel groggy. What happened last ni… oh…

Just as I came to the realization of why I was feeling like this, I felt something moving around next to me, and when I looked over, I saw Azure cuddling into my chest even more, yet she was sleeping soundly with a smile. I grinned when I saw this, but that didn't stop me from lowering my head and giving her a kiss. She is so adorable when she is asleep and gorgeous when she is awake. I'm not sure yet if I'm all that proud of becoming mates yet…

"Mates…" I whispered quietly. It had a strange string to it, but I liked it though. "I'm mates with an angel…" I whispered that to myself also, and quietly chuckled when I finished. I heard a giggling in my chest and felt some wings wrap tighter around me. Azure slowly pulled her head away from my chest, and look into my eyes as I was looking down into hers. She giggled again, and I could understand why; my feathers were starting to stand on end.

She whispered sweetly, and quietly, "And I'm mated with a hero…" she pulled herself up, and gave me a passionate kiss, and I responded by pulling her closer. My mind was swimming, but I could only focus on one thing; Azure and I being mates. I laughed, "I can't believe it… I have a mate!"

(Azure's P.O.V.)

We were now flying back home to give our family the news, and to ask them to spend the day with us. Wolf once again laughed loudly and I couldn't resist laughing with him. I was looking forward to seeing the reactions on everyone's face. It was something I wanted to see entirely, and I was about to see it too; I could see the lake through a few trees, and when Wolf flew in front of me, he said excitedly, "You go get Fay and Marco. I will go get Blu, Jewel, and everyone else!" I watched as he sped away, with every so often him laughing excitedly. I shook my head as I flew towards a tree with a pair of Scarlet macaws, and landed softly.

Approaching Fay, I lightly tapped her on the shoulder, and I walked back slightly while she awakened. After she yawned, and stretched, she slowly opened her eyes. When she saw me, she smiled and asked sleepily, "What is it Azure?"

"Can you and Marco come to Wolfs hollow?" I asked, struggling to contain my excitement, which Fay happened to hear. I smiled widely when she nodded, and I raced over and squeezed her in a hug. I let go and quickly turned around and flew back towards my hollow, and prepared to wait for everyone else to arrive…

(Ray's P.O.V.)

I had just dropped off the fruit I had found at home, and I was glad to; I was instantly being squeezed tight, but not enough to hurt. I chuckled as I said, "Thanks Beck…" I looked behind me, and I saw Wolf pull away with a look of confusion. He lifted his wing up and said, "Beck is over there…"

I looked back over and chuckled when I saw Beck also giving me a confused look. She opened her beak and asked, "Thank you for what dad?"

Before I could respond, Wolf said, "If you guys will come meet me at my home, I will gladly get you all whatever fruit you want from the fruit market! Ok, bye!" and Wolf zipped out of the hollow at a fast speed. I almost didn't catch what he said, but Beck asked, "What is wrong with him?"

Reilla yawned and said, "I don't know, but we should go. Did you two notice how excited he was? I practically felt his happiness from across the hollow…"

I nodded, and slowly moved the mango to the side of the entrance along with a few star fruits'. I when I went back outside, I flew back outside and angled towards Wolfs home, which I saw him just disappear into. I sighed loudly before I started to fly towards his home…

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

Now that everyone was standing in front of me, i took a deep breath in and asked, "Ok, so, do any of you guys want to go to the beach as a celebration?"

When all the expressions turned into confusion, I heard Blu ask, "What celebration?"

I gazed at all of them and I couldn't hold my smile down anymore, and I was instantly grinning wildly. I took another breath in before I said, "I now have a mate…!"

Everyone's expressions turned to shock, and I added, "And if whoever goes, I was planning to buy whatever fruit they wanted from the fruit market! Since I know most birds eat around this time also, I thought it would be best if I did that."

When everyone looked at each other except Ray, he asked, "Did you say mates?"

Ray wanted us to mate so much… and now I have fulfilled that part of mine and Azure's life. I already know what he is going to be thinking. I nodded, and Ray reached out and wrapped me in a hug and tightly squeezed me. I heard various 'awes', but I was too busy holding back my yells of pain… he was literally squeezing me to death.

When he finally released me, I sucked in a lungful of oxygen in greedily, and said weakly, "I'm glad you approve dad."

…

Many of the people that had seen me walk into the market had gasped, and a few tourists had even snapped pictures of me. I smiled the whole time, but it was the only thing masking my embarrassment while I walked from stall to stall. Azure and Beck were on one shoulder, and Blu and Jewel were on the other while one of my arms held the rest of our group; Ray, Reilla, Fay, and Marco. Everyone except Fay had chosen a fruit, and I was glad when she finally pointed at a stall. I walked over, and saw what she had chosen; it was a fruit that was yellow, and had five points… a star fruit. I picked the one she pointed at, and when I handed it to her, I paid the vendor, and he bid me a good day.

I started to walk towards the entrance again near the beach, and when two birds suddenly hovered in front of me, I squinted, but recognized them as Pedro and Nico. Pedro was looking at me closely, and Nico was looking at everyone else. Oh yea… they never saw me as a human before. "What are you guys doing on a human!" Nico asked.

When he finished, I said, "Hey Nico, hey Pedro. Go ahead and choose some fruit and I will buy it for you two this one time."

I chuckled, and quickly looked around. Luckily no one had been around to hear me talking to them. When I turned around, Pedro gave me a scared and amazed expression, "Wolf…?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out." I chuckled along with Nico, who had landed on my arm near Blu and Jewel. Pedro shook his head and said, "Nah thanks though man. Where you headed?"

Azure looked over and said, "We were going to go relax at the beach."

I smiled and I felt her peck my cheek in a kiss, and I smiled even wider… but I dropped it when Nico said, "Whoa… what's going on between Hot wing and hero?"

I blushed slightly and said, "Let's get going before the beach gets crowded."

After I was outside of the ally, I walked down the street, and looked both ways before I started to cross, "Hey guys, go ahead and fly ahead, I will be there soon."

All except Azure flew away, and when I looked at her, she was throwing the remains of her passion fruit onto the ground below. I smiled and asked, "Was that a good breakfast for you?" when she nodded, I chuckled and held my arm out for her and said, "Come here…"

Azure fluttered onto my hand, and I soon tilted it until she was on her back and I started to tickle her. She was laughing so loud a few people turned and looked at us, yet I continued to play with Azure. I stopped just as we were just reaching the other lane sides when I heard loud tire screeching coming at me. I froze and shot my head down the street, and after I looked, I felt my body stiffen, and my blood ran cold. Oh shit…

Almost on instinct, I threw Azure into the air, and I did my best to lessen the impact by jumping up and loosening my stiff body…

(Marco's P.O.V.)

Screeching filled the air behind our group, and it was down in the road where we had left Wolf. I was the first to turn around, and what I saw made me wish I hadn't. Wolf had just thrown Azure into the air, and when he jumped, time seemed to slow down. A truck was speeding into the intersection but attempting to stop, with white smoke coming from the tires, and as it hit the bottom of Wolfs legs, his body turned and his back slammed into the windshield, smashing it in as his body went through it. When the truck finally stopped, time returned to normal. Wolf slid off the hood, and dropped to the ground and rolled a short distance away from the vehicle; he was cut up, and he seemed to be bleeding from one of his hands and somewhere on his back. A few witnesses ran to his side, while one was talking into a small plastic rectangle near his ear. When I saw Azure land near Wolf, he looked at her and smiled as he ran a finger shakily down her back…

I heard the distinct voice of Ray next to me whisper sadly and quietly, "Oh no…"

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

That didn't hurt as much as I expected it too… but it will be the end of me if I don't receive help immediately…

When I finally stopped rolling on the ground, I opened my eyes weakly, and saw people standing above me. I didn't know what they were saying at the moment, due to the ringing in my ears, and the language they were using. I heard the sound of talons landing on asphalt, and when I looked, I smiled when I saw Azure looking at me with pained eyes. As I gently ran my fingers down her back, I could feel the throbbing throughout my entire body, but at the same time, the cool touch of something distant. When I looked over at someone who said something I understood, I asked, "W…Wh-what?"

"Do you want me to… call someone for you?" the speaker was a tan woman that had silver eyes, and she seemed to strain on the words. I weakly nodded, and when she pulled out a phone and looked at me expectantly, I repeated the numbers I had memorized in case of an emergency. "H…Here… I'll talk t-t-to h…him…" I held my hand out weakly, and the lady gently placed it in my hand, and I brought it down to my ear. I heard the distinct voice of the doctor I so desperately needed, "Olla?"

"Doctor T-Túlio… m… m… meet me at t-the hospi… tal…"

(Túlio's P.O.V.)

The bird I was taking care of had somehow hurt its foot, and was now on its back as I was wrapping gauze around its foot. A buzzing was originating from my phone on the counter; I had learned the hard way that the birds in the treatment room didn't… like… my ringtone. I opened it up and handed it to Linda as I put it on speaker phone, "Olla?"

When the caller started talking, it was hard to understand, "Doctor T-Túlio… m… m… meet me at t-the hospi… tal…" The voice was definitely Wolf's. As I grabbed the scissors and snipped the gauze, I asked, "What happened Wolf?" I didn't notice how weak his voice was the first time, so I dismissed it as him being sleepy.

"I was hit… by… a t-t-truck…" the room went silent, even the birds stopped making noise. I felt the scissors slipping in my hand. Groaning was heard through the phone, along with the sound of emergency vehicles in the distance, "P-Please hurry… I'm not s… sure if I will l-live this t-t-ti… time. Make sure A-Azure gets i-in though." Vigorous coughing, along with the sound of screeching tires echoed throughout the room. When a final sigh was heard through the speakers, and the sound of the phone hitting the ground afterwards came through, I dropped the scissors I was holding, and I dashed for the entrance along with Linda…

(Damon's P.O.V.)

Being the head doctor could be frustrating at times, but it was times like this when I got to relax that I greatly appreciated my job. I was taking the time to review what was known about Wolf's blood and his accident when a call came through about a car accident. I got up and leisurely walked into the lobby and awaited the patients to come in; the car crashes around here consisted mostly of a few cuts and bruises, and rarely a broken bone. We never received the major car crashes, since they mostly occurred near the other, bigger hospitals area. When I stopped and leaned on the desk, the secretary looked at me with a worried look, "Damon?"

"Hmm?"

She opened her mouth and paused, then opened it again, "I know it is early and all, but the car crash that occurred is bad… real bad." I looked at her with a shocked face, I had never heard her use that tone before. She looked down at a sticky note, and said, "From what the paramedics said, his name is Wolf," what? Wolf, "and he was walking when he was struck by a truck." She looked up at me and had a worried look in her eyes and finished, "He may die…"

Wolf… he can't die. From what Túlio told me, and the news reports, that kid not only rescued endangered animals, but caught the elusive smugglers… I can't allow him to die!

Fully alert, and prepared, I said, "Have them rush him to primary surgery room, call out best doctors away from break if you can!" and with that, I hurried off to prepare myself for a fight for life…

(Azure's P.O.V.)

The doctor had allowed all the birds inside the hospital, but not without telling the security it was alright. Túlio and I had been allowed a rare privilege to watch the surgery from a glass window, but Linda was required to stay in a room with the rest of the birds. I was currently watching a box with a moving green line, and in short intervals it would move up and down slowly. Túlio had said that was Wolf's heartbeat, and it was a good thing it was moving.

Please don't die Wolf… you didn't promise this time. You have lived through so much; please don't let this one thing pull you… Please!

…No… I felt the tears welling in my eyes as I leaned against the window and focused on the box.

The green line hadn't continued moving, now it was flat, and I heard Túlio gasp and a doctor looked at the machine, I saw the person look down and grab two metal white things, and hold them to Wolf's chest. His body shot up for a brief second, and the box went up one line before returning to its stationary position. The process was repeated a few times, before the doctor reluctantly replaced the metal cubes, but continued to look down at the ground. When I felt a tear slide down my cheek, I knew that Wolf was most likely dead.

The doctor that was looking at the floor looked at us, and waved their hand. The next thing I knew, we had started to move away from the mirror and down towards a door. I silently cried as we were walking down a hallway, and I noticed we were nearing the room where everyone else was.

When we entered the room, everyone, including Linda, looked at us, but everyone grew sadder when they looked at me, noticing my tears.

-Thirty Minutes Later-

The doctors had placed Wolf onto the bed, and said we were allowed to say our goodbyes before they took his body away. They had said he… flat lined… during the procedure. Dad had explained that meant died when I gave everyone a blank stare, but the realization sprung new tears to my eyes.

Now it was time for me to saw my farewells to the love of my life, and I didn't want to believe he was dead. Everyone else respectfully moved away as I walked up Wolf's chest, and only the birds knew what pain I was feeling. Wolf had been my mate the night before, and he had been ripped away from my life just as suddenly. I stopped when I was standing near his throat, and I sighed as my tears continued to slide down my cheeks, "I wish we hadn't decided to gone to the beach today, if we had celebrated somewhere else, we would probably still be with each other right now. You showed me the meaning of life, love, and loyalty, and you showed me the pain of when it is all ripped away." I slowly moved forward and leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Wherever you are Wolf… I want you to know, I love you… and will always miss you…" I moved away from his ear, and as my tears kept streaming down my face, I gently lowered my beak down to Wolf's lips, and stayed there for a few seconds before I pulled away, and crawled onto his chest. I looked down, and laid down with a sad whimper.

The tears that streamed down my face compared to nothing of the pain I was feeling in my heart. No one noticed the golden glow filling the room, since we were all in a gloomy and miserable mood. When I started to fall asleep, I spread my wings out over his chest, and tried to feel the warmth of his body, which I would never feel again…

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

I felt like I was weightless, and floating around. It felt so serene, calm, and peaceful around me. I sighed in contentment, but when I started to wonder where I was, a rush of memories came back to me, a truck slamming into me, the brief choppy ride in the emergency vehicle, and a brief site of all the shocked, and horrified faces of people in the lobby of a hospital. Then the endless sea of black…

A brick wall of nothingness his me, and then I was hovering in front of a golden gate, and laughter, happiness, and warmth was emanating from the golden bars and beyond. I moved towards it, but when I touched the bars, I felt complete, and it seemed like I had just came to the end of a long road, but I didn't feel content anymore. I pulled my hand away, and when I heard someone chuckle beside me, I turned, and saw a hooded figure dressed in white floating next to me, with golden wings that seemed purer than the fences. The figure turned towards me, yet I couldn't make out any facial features. A mixture between a man's' and woman's voice came forth and asked, "Why did you let go of the fence Wolf? Do you not like looking at the gates of Heaven?"

Looking at the fence with a new recognition, I gasped, and looked at the figure and asked, "Does that mean I'm dead?"

The figure chuckled/ giggled again, and said, "Yes Wolf, you died in a horrible accident that was not meant to be." I winced in shock, and the figure continued, "But I am an angel that will give you two choices, which lead to two separate paths. Each path will bring you new benefits, but will also take away from the other path."

I nodded when the angel seemed to have finished, and it held one palm up, "Your first choice is the simplest; you may choose to stay here in heaven, and continue a life as you would during the living, yet with factors you wouldn't need to worry about however." A vortex of spinning clouds swirled above the angels' palm. When he opened his other hand facing upright, I saw a vortex with an image of Azure lying over my lifeless body, "Or you may choose to return among the living and continuing your life as it was before, except for one detail. You would return a pure soul, so pure, it will radiate off your body, and others will feel it also. It will wear down over time, and then you will no longer be protected from sins. If you return to the living, you will start off with a clean slate, which means if you acted evilly… well… you wouldn't see me again. But if you remain good hearted, I will hope to not see you so soon."

I was looking between the two vortexes, and I knew which one was right before I had decided, "I wish to return to the living please. And if I may… is Azure my one, and true soul mate?"

The angel chuckled before saying, "Only you have the ability to find out… when you return to the living, you will be perfectly healed… but you must remember… keep yourself safe," the angel then chuckled, "And look both ways before crossing the road."

A great pressure was applied to all over my floating body, and the golden gates, and golden winged angel vanished, and was replaced with the black void. I felt all pressure being removed except from my back, and chest…

…

I opened my eyes, and when I looked around the room, I took a deep breath in. I released it explosively, and I startled many in the room, but none as bad as the bird sleeping on my chest. "W-Wolf…?"

When Azure looked at me, I chuckled, and said, "In the living!" I picked her up, and then threw my legs over the bed, and stood up. I placed Azure back on the bed, and stretched myself, earning the sound of pops throughout my back, and a snap in my arm. I turned around, and gazed lovingly at Azure as she spread her wings, and flew into my chest and wrapped her wings around my neck as she kissed me repeatedly. I chuckled, and I finally peeled her away.

"You seem… different… Wolf…" I turned and looked at Túlio and said, "Well… let's just say I met something… Holy…" I smirked, and said, "Let's get out of here…" I held out my arm, and the flurry of birds landed on it and my shoulders, while Azure had an arm all to herself. I smiled as walked out of the door, and Azure gently, yet firmly pressed her talons into my arm and said, "Don't scare me like that again Wolf."

"Don't worry beautiful, I won't."

…

We were finally relaxing at the beach, this time I was a bird however. Linda and Túlio had gone back to the sanctuary. Azure was currently lying on top of me, keeping her wings wrapped snuggly, yet tightly around me. I was still reeling in the fact that Azure had just kissed me for three minutes straight, and during that time, she had been showing me EXACTLY how much passion she has for me. I learned about a whole new view on French kissing within that small time, and I still have no idea how Azure knew how to kiss like that. Everyone else had been just as surprised, but none of them were the ones to experience it.

Carefully, I slide onto my side, bringing Azure with me, but I made sure not to get any sand on her. I slide my head down, and gently nibbled/ preened her neck feathers. Beck jumped when Azure started to coo rather loudly, and when she gave me an odd look, I just shrugged my shoulders; she had been sitting the closest to us, so it was loudest to her. I smiled when I thought about it, but I kept preening her feathers until she pulled her head away and looked into my eyes and gave me a wink. Before I could comprehend what it had meant, she pulled herself out of my wings, and asked, "Who wants to go into the water?"

All the birds just store at her, and I quickly said, "I DO!" Soon, everyone else was saying the same thing. I smiled and shook my head, but dropped it when Azure grabbed my wing and pulled me up. I walked with her over the water's edge, and noticed how the waves where just small enough to push us slightly. I looked over, and realized now, those might be small to us, but to Nico, they were like big waves to a human. Man… I wonder what a big human sized wave seems like to him.

Azure pulled me into the water, and I instantly pulled her closer to me. I noticed the smirk on her face, but when I looked over; she acted innocent, and looked away and over the water. I was watching everyone else playing while a cool breeze blew through my feathers. I looked back at Azure who currently had her eyes closed as the breeze moved through her feathers. An idea sprang into my head, and a mischievous smirk crossed my face.

I did my best to move in front of her without disturbing the water to much, and also I would need to move quickly since I would block the breeze. Stopping in front of Azure, I slowly spread my wings, and prepared to envelope her within my grasp when she opened her eyes. She looked at my wings, and when she looked back at my eyes, I grinned and wrapped her up, and pulled her closer to me. With our chests touching and me semi holding Azure up, I began to walk deeper into the water, never breaking Azure's gaze.

"After this, would you like to go home and relax finally?" I asked.

Azure nodded as I set her down, and we were now two thirds covered in water. I smiled, and as I backed up, I said, "Alright, but I have to do one more thing…"

I quickly brought my wing up, and slapped it against the water, and angled it towards Azure. The jet spray went in the wrong direction, and ended up hitting Nico in the bottle cap, and ricocheting off and hitting Pedro in the beak. As soon as he cleared the water off his face, he glared at me along with Nico, before yelling, "SPLASH FIGHT!"

After he finished, Fay splashed him with water, and Nico attempted to splash me; yet I moved out of the way… unfortunately towards Azure. When I looked beside me, I saw Azure smile before she tackled me in the water…

A.N.: I know it is short, but hey, I wasn't planning on most the things in this chapter, except that car crash. Planning and what actually happened turned out to not be as good… I had meant for a cliffhanger, but I would have left the chapter around 3k words, and even now, I didn't make it above 5k words…

I'm planning on making next chapter either my finishing chapter, or my second to last… I'm not sure if I will make another sequel, since I'm exhausted (Imaginative wise) from all my writing… in the past 3 months. To this point, I have written over 120k words in four stories… I deserve my own break.

Plan to see baby chicks' next chapter… those cute, devilish, babies… lol. Azure and Jewel will experience motherhood, and they will have their respective caring mates to help them…

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