"For the last time." Sophia said, with incredible annoyance. "I am completely, utterly, one-hundred percent fine." She was still exhausted from the events of last night, and she had a few bruises from being tossed about her hollow as the tree fell. It had taken her half an hour to clean up that morning - the dried mud and tree matter had dried in her feathers, and it had been a pain to get rid of.

"Your tree fell, and you're telling me you're fine?" Victoria stared at Sophia, in shock and bewilderment. Sophia crossed her wings. From the moment she had woken up, Roberto had asked her how she was feeling. She hadn't minded that. She also hadn't minded Blu and Jewel asking how she was, either, or Eduardo or Zenaida. But after the seventh macaw had asked her, she had felt a feeling of annoyance, a feeling that increased everytime someone asked her the same question. By the time she had escaped the ravine and found Victoria, she had lost count of how many macaws had asked her how she was feeling. She regretted telling Victoria, now.

"Yes, Vicky. I am absolutely fine." Sophia managed to suppress the frustration in her voice, not wanting to offend the Catalina macaw. "Can we not discuss this any further? My tree fell, I was rescued in one piece, end of story."

"Well, if you insist." Victoria said, although she still looked concerned. However, like Vicky always did, she bounced back to her happy and bouncy self. "Anyway, I asked you to meet me here because we need voices." At Sophia's look of puzzlement, Victoria rolled her eyes in amusement. "New talent!"

"Are you firing me?" Sophia teased.

"Not in a million years." Victoria laughed. "We have the same birds singing every week, and even I'm getting bored of the Red-Bellied Sisters singing that same song every time."

"What do you propose?" Sophia asked, leaning back against the tree trunk, plucking a few berries off the acai strand between herself and Victoria. The Catalina macaw popped a berry into her beak, chewing thoughtfully.

"You have a large tribe, don't you? You guys have a reputation for having talented birds, and I was wondering if you'd like to offer some of them a job."

"Oh, I..." Sophia almost choked on the acai berries. Of course they had talent - Carla had a great singing voice, but she was too young, and Sophia doubted Blu and Jewel would appreciate their daughter going out in the middle of the night. Sophia had plenty of friends with voices like diamonds, but most of them were occupied with their families. Besides - the more of her tribe members knew, the more likely it was that word would reach Jespa. She couldn't imagine what Jespa would do, but since he was determined to make her life a misery, he'd do anything to stop her singing. That was why she had never told a soul with cerulean feathers about her singing. "They're very busy." She insisted. "It's been a hectic time, you know, with the return of our patriarch's daughter and getting rid of the loggers..."

"Are you sure?" Victoria asked, in disappointment.

"Well..." Sophia began, but then she paused. "Totally sure."

"You hesitated." The area above Victoria's left eye rose. Sophia tried to protest, but Victoria interrupted. "Please, tell me!" She pleaded, hopefully.

"Well, there is one guy." Sophia said, slowly, but as she spoke more, her voice became warmer. "He's got this amazing voice... he sings, he dances, he's really nice, and..." Why do I sound like a teenager with a crush?

"Really? Interesting, we don't have a lot of male singers." Then Victoria's eyes widened, and danced with excitement. She had an idea, clearly. "Say, do you two get along?"

"Get along, Vicky? He's the one who rescued me from the tree, and last night he said I could live with him until-"

"Woah, woah!" Victoria gasped, eyes popping. "You're living with him? That's amazing!"

"No, no, it's really not what you think... it's just a temporary thing, until I find somewhere else..." Sophia looked around, cheeks burning, hoping no Spix's macaws were listening. "Look, yes, we get along - why do you ask?"

"A duet! What do you think about that?" Victoria threw her wings upwards, enthusiastically. "Imagine it - a male and a female, as a singing pair. We've never had that before! I've only ever had solos or three-plus groups, never a pair singing. Sophia, if he's as good as you say, I seriously think you should propose singing as a pair."

"But..." Sophia tried to protest, but deep down, there was nothing she wanted more. A chance to sing with Roberto? Her heart skipped a beat, but before she could reply, a voice rang out from above.

"Baby! Where are you?"

"Coming!" Victoria shouted back. "That's my other half, Soph - he's a Blue-and-Gold, if you're wondering. He's very dashing! Anyway, I gotta go, we're introducing our parents to one another. Bye, Sophia - I'll meet you tonight! Try and bring your singing roommate!"

"It's temporary!" Sophia insisted, as the brightly coloured macaw darted into the leaves above, out of sight. Rolling her eyes, Sophia fluttered away, intent on erasing the smell of mud and leaf from her feathers. No matter how much water she'd applied, the scent of mud still lingered. She'd have to have one of her special washes.

It didn't take her long to find the coconut trees - she came here often, whenever she wanted an escape from life in the tribe, and from her troublesome family. But then, Zenaida had been treating her so kindly as of late. On the contrary, Jespa seemed to have gotten worse. She looked at her wing, resisting pushing the feathers back to see the bruise.

Going to the branch she always did, Sophia plucked a coconut. Piercing one of the 'eyes', she stuck it in a branch fork above, turning the pierced end downwards. She felt a wave of relief when the sweetly scented water trickled downwards, down onto her plumage. This was probably what kept her feathers so smooth and glossy - coconuts had so many beauty properties. As the coconut water carried the scent of mud away, Sophia let out a sigh. It was one of her favourite scents, other than orchids.

Once the coconut water had run dry, Sophia shook out her feathers, sending the drops scattering. She tested her wing, and was relieved to find that the smell of mud was non-existent, replaced by the sweet aroma of coconut. While she waited for her feathers to dry, Sophia remembered her conversation with Victoria. The hybrid macaw was right - the first singing duet in the Danzas de Amor would be exciting. Sophia wanted to sing with Roberto - but what if he refused? But then, why would he refuse? He wasn't afraid of singing before a crowd.

She was so nervous to ask him. What if this friendship turned into something more? But as Sophia checked her feathers, she had a feeling that it already was changing into something else. She was afraid, too. He could be just like the last eight - what if he vanished into thin air, or left her, like every single one of those males had? Don't be so stupid. He's different.

Meanwhile

Roberto tipped his head to the side, examining the nest he had arranged for Sophia. It was a few feet away from his own - and he had gone the extra mile to make it as comfortable as he could. Filled with the softest and least water-logged moss he could find, as well as downy feathers, he was positive Sophia would be grateful for his hospitality.

He couldn't believe how the last few days had flown by - it felt like months had passed since he'd seen her singing, rather than days. They had grown so close in this time, and he had learned so much about her. She was not as mysterious as she once was, but Roberto knew there was still something buried there. He hadn't forgotten that conversation between Zenaida and Jespa.

Jespa seemed to be getting worse. The bizarre macaw had, only hours before, screamed at some kids to 'get lost' when they had played too close to his tree. They had barely been making any noise, but Jespa had shouted at them regardless. It had scared the poor kids so much, several angry parents had gone to Jespa, hurling insults. This had only made the unstable bird angrier, and now, Roberto wasn't sure where he was. Poor Zenaida had had to face the music for him, as the parents had turned on her when Jespa had fled their harsh words. The elderly female had been targeted by the less sympathetic couples, many of whom had accused her of being a bad mother, and Eduardo and Mimi had had to step in to send the parents away. Zenaida was deteriorating by the day, and the stress wasn't going to make her feel any better. Hopefully the Spix's Wing would complete soon, and she could get some proper medicine - unfortunately, he wasn't sure if she'd live to see the day.

"I see you're making a nest for your new roommate." Said a dull voice. Roberto closed his eyes, and forced a friendly smile.

"Hello, Jespa. How are you?" He asked, turning around. Jespa stood there, an unreadable expression on his face. Why did he keep appearing out of nowhere? It was creepy.

"I'm here to talk about Sophia." Jespa announced. Roberto narrowed his eyes.

"I'm really not in the mood for a lecture, Jespa." He replied, sweeping together the spare nest material and dropping it into his own nest. "I already heard how much you hate her." Roberto then froze, cursing himself. Me and my big mouth. Idiot!

"So, you were eavesdropping, were you?" Jespa asked, his dull voice shifting to an angry one as he immediately guessed. Roberto refused to reply, casually busying himself with a flower growing in the wall, pretending to look for strangling plants or poisonous ones.

"What do you mean, eavesdropping?" Roberto did his best to sound casual and innocent - but then a pair of wings seized him by the shoulders, spinning him around and shoving him against the wall. He gasped, alarm bells sounding in his mind, as Jespa's wing shoved against his neck. Jespa's amber eyes blazed "What the?" He spluttered, trying to push him away, but for a scrawny male, Jespa was surprisingly strong.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Jespa spat. "I thought I heard something, behind that root. Now, listen to me, you freak. This is what you're going to do." He glanced toward Sophia's nest. "You're going to sweep that outside, and then you're going to tell her she can't stay here, capiche?"

"What on earth are you -"

"I'm not finished!" Jespa interrupted, the pressure on Roberto's neck intensifying. "Then, whenever she tries to talk to you, you're going to ignore her. You're never going to say another word to her - it'll be like you never met. Then, you're going to live happily ever after with some other female." Roberto stared, flabbergasted, hardly believing Jespa's words. "Do we have a deal?" He asked, expectantly. Burning rage tore through him as he realized what Jespa was asking.

"What is going on in your head? You're even more messed up than I thought!" Roberto declared, furiously. "Those parents were right - you're crazy!" Jespa's eyes flashed, with confusion.

"This usually works." He muttered under his breath. At this, a realization dawned upon Roberto. Reaching down, he surged forward, shoving Jespa off him. In utter shock at this rebellion, Jespa staggered, falling onto his back. He stared up at Roberto.

"What do mean, 'this usually works'?" Roberto demanded. "Is it true, what Zenaida said?" Jespa remained silent. Roberto narrowed his eyes. "Every guy who shows interest in her - you frighten them away? This is why she's never had a mate! Because you scare them off!"

"I -" Jespa tried to interrupt, but Roberto didn't let him.

"No! I have news for you, Jespa. You are to stay away from her. All she wants is to be happy - I could make her happy." Roberto couldn't believe these words were coming out of his beak. I could make her happy. "You may want to scare me off like you've done with those other guys, but you don't scare me. I'm here to stay, and nothing you could say would change my mind."

"Oh? Maybe you'd be saying something very different if you knew." Jespa snarled.

"Knew what?" Roberto's feathers bristled.

"That she -" Jespa began, but then there were talons at the entrance.

"Roberto, I -" Sophia froze in her tracks, at the sight of the two angry males. She glanced between them, looking absolutely horrified. "What's going on here?"

"Nothing." Roberto said, quickly. "In fact, Jespa was just leaving, weren't you?" He said, meaningly. Jespa's eyes burned with utter hatred, and then he leapt to his talons, shoving Roberto purposely as he went - then, as he passed his sister, he suddenly swerved sideways, knocking into Sophia. She gasped as she fell forwards - but Roberto dived forward, catching her before she hit the floor. "Watch it!" He called, to Jespa, but he had a feeling Jespa ignored him. "Sorry." He apologized, helping Sophia to her feet.

"It's fine." She murmured, although they both knew it wasn't. "What did he want?"

"Er..." I can't tell her. "Nothing important." What did Jespa mean?

"Hmm. Okay." Sophia's eyes glinted with suspicion - obviously, she knew he wasn't telling the truth, but she didn't ask further questions. Then, she took both his wings. "Roberto - you know the Danzas de Amor?" Roberto managed to put Jespa at the back of his mind, for the thought of the club - and Sophia's singing - made him worry less about the disturbing encounter he had just had.

"Singing tonight, are you?" He asked - hoping she was, for he loved hearing her sing.

"Well, I was just having a chat with Victoria, the Catalina macaw - remember her?" At his nod, Sophia seemed to grow nervous. "Okay, we were just talking. She's concerned that the singers are all the same - she wants something new. She asked me if there was any talent in our tribe, so... I suggested you."

"Me?" He asked, in surprise.

"Yes... when I told her she asked more about you, and then she suggested that..." She gave him one of her dazzling smiles. "That we sing together. She's never had a pair singing before, so she's pretty excited about the idea. So... what do you think about that? Do you want to sing with me?"

"Sing with you?" Roberto asked, bewildered. "Sophia..." Sophia bit her lower beak, nervous at his answer. "...I'd fly to Ecuador and back to sing with you!"