Roberto rushed to Zenaida's tree, his wings beating hard. Upon return from the midday patrol, he had been swept with hassling voices, hastily explaining what had happened shortly after he had left. This wasn't the only news he had learned - in the quiet ravine, Eduardo's infuriated shouts were heard.
"This is inexcusable, Jespa! How dare you terrify my grandson! First you vandalize your own father's grave marker, and now this! You're a nutcase!" this was all Roberto had heard, for everyone was listening to Jespa getting what he deserved - a scolding from the patriarch. He had just been told by an angry Blu and a seething Jewel about what Jespa had done to Tiago - he had torn off a spider's legs, one by one, in his face. Carla and Bia were trying to calm their little brother down, apparently without success. But no matter how furious Jewel was, the disturb in her eyes wasn't entirely from what had happened from the spider incident.
"I went to find Sophia and Zenaida, to try and find Jespa, but when I went in, Zenaida was covered in blood." Jewel's words echoed in his ears. The healers were with her now, but there was no news. He had received so much hassle from everyone because he was the only one who could calm Sophia, who had been asking for him.
Sophia had had a minor panic attack following the incident. The apprentice healers had tried to calm her, but she had not yet resumed to a safe state. She wasn't entirely calm yet, but since it had started, she had desperately begged for his presence. She wanted to see him, and no one else.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jespa streaking across the ravine from Eduardo's tree. As soon as he got to his mother's, he snapped something to Sophia and the apprentice healer, before shoving into the tree.
Sophia was leaning heavily on the tree trunk of her mother's tree. One apprentice was trying to calm her, but even from the distance, Roberto could see her struggling to breathe. Hastily, Roberto sped down to the branch. Seeing him, the relieved apprentice healer took a step back, allowing him through. Roberto rushed to her, but didn't get too close. "Sophia, it's me." He said, and at the sound of his voice, Sophia looked up. Her eyes were pink and watering, her breath shallow and rapid. Her wings were crimson - at first he thought she was injured, but then he realized that it was Zenaida's. Her fearful eyes were fixed on the stains.
"He, he said..."
"He?" Roberto asked, before remembering Jespa. He stiffened, before looking up at the apprentice. "Go in there and help. I'll call you if you're needed." The young macaw nodded, before disappearing into the hollow. He placed his wings upon Sophia's shoulders. "Listen to me. Just calm down and breathe." Sophia finally took her eyes off the stains, looking up into his eyes. As their eyes met, a strange serenity overtook Roberto, and seemingly, it was the same case for her. Her breathing slowed and became less frantic, although she was still gasping. "Breathe. In, out." Roberto said, gently. Sophia closed her eyes, and did as she was asked, inhaling deeply. After a few moments, her eyes opened.
"Roberto." She whispered.
"Oh, Soph." He said, painfully - he was appalled by the upset. Her gatherered her into his wings and embraced her, lightly - but then she threw her wings around him and gave him a tight hug. After a few moments, Sophia's grasp loosened.
"I'm sorry, what must you think of me, crying like this..." she let him go, burying her face into her wings.
"Hey, I don't care if you get tears over me. All I care about is you." Roberto said, brushing her head feathers back into place. "What's happened? Zenaida, the grave marker...?"
"I... I just came to see her. She had blood all over her front, coming from her beak." Sophia couldn't look at him. "The healers got me out, and I just started to panic. Just now, Jespa came along and told me that... it's all on me. I've killed dad and her, now. He scratched out my name on Andre's grave marker." Roberto blinked at her - shock and rage tore through him, the pure hatred he felt for Jespa.
"I'll strangle him." He vowed, but Sophia's grip on his wings tightened.
"Please don't. Just... stay with me, please. For all I know Zenaida's dying in there." Roberto hesitated, itching to give Jespa a piece of his mind, but he knew he had to stay with her. So they both sat down side-by-side, and Roberto put his wing around her, and they sat there like they had last night, with her head against his shoulder. He could feel her tears leaking onto his feathers, but he didn't mind. After a few moments, Sophia said something inaudible.
"Sorry?" He asked.
"It was this branch. This is where he fell." Sophia whispered. Roberto looked at it, imagining Zenaida shoving a male macaw, since he had joined the tribe after Andre's death.
"Don't think about it." Roberto murmured, resting his other wing on her cheek, where it weren't sure how much time passed. The frantic voices within the tree seemed to fade, and Jespa sounded angrier, demanding that they 'help her better.' The blue sky had turned dark from cloud, and the air had cooled considerably, with the wind making it seem eerily cold.
Then there was the swish of moss curtain. Roberto and Sophia looked up, to see a line of healers walking out, with sombre faces. None of them said a word - Roberto glanced at Sophia, with uncertainty, as the healers flew away. One, however, remained. It was Mateo who delivered diagnoses - and bad news. Immediately, Sophia sprang to her feet. "How is she? What's wrong with her?" She pleaded. Mateo looked at Roberto, with dark eyes. Roberto rose to his talons, and again put his wing around her, realizing that the news wasn't good.
"I don't know how to explain, Sophia." Mateo said, rubbing his forehead. "Her long bout of coughing has resulted in... severe damage to her lungs. Her lungs have never been entirely functional anywag, and the lung damage is the cause of the blood - we think. The blood may have been the result of an underlying disease. She's always had a shortness of breath, and she's suffered from a weak immune system that has only contributed to her weakened organs. With that and her advanced age combined... I'm afraid her lungs are starting to shut down."
Sophia gasped, and for a moment, Roberto was afraid her panic attack would resume, but luckily, it didn't. "Her lungs... aren't working properly?"
"Very soon, they won't work at all." Said Mateo, sombrely. "And this sets off a chain. Without properly functioning lungs, her oxygen supply is limited. As she gets less oxygen, her other organs will begin to fail - her heart, her brain, and the rest. They're already in bad condition from all the illnesses she's caught in her lifetime, and she's had some terrible ones."
"It... it's not...?" Sophia began.
"No. It's not treatable." Mateo said, quietly. His eyes glazed with sympathy and sorrow. "I'm sorry, but her condition is just too severe. I don't know how much longer she has, but I suggest you should go in there, and say goodbye."
Sophia's wings went up to her beak. She was shaking her head. Behind Mateo, Jespa shoved through the moss curtain, tears streaming from his eyes. He didn't say a word - he simply flew away. Zenaida's feeble voice pulled at Roberto's heartstrings. "I love you! Please, my son -" then there was weak coughing. Sophia lurched forward, before making her way to the curtain. Roberto followed, his heart thudding.
It was cool and dark. Zenaida lay, propped up, in her nest. She was sickly-looking, her feathers seeming greyer than before. The bare skin of her face was almost pure white, and her breathing was rapid and ragged. She was trying to gasp for air, but even gasping was a struggle for her lungs. Her golden eyes had lost their glow, and were now dull. The healers had tried to clean the scarlet stain on her neck and chest, but some of it still remained. Zenaida struggled to raise her head, extending a trembling wing. Her face was tear-stained.
"Sophia." She rasped. Sophia rushed forward, kneeling at her mother's side, grabbing her wing and clinging onto it. Roberto stood back, not wanting to invade this moment. Fear made his heart race, and a lump had formed in his throat. This was so familiar.
"You'll be alright..."
"No, Roberto... I won't. You have to know that I'll always be with you... even if you can't see me."
"What are you talking about? I can always see you. Mom? You... you can't fall asleep. Mom?" Roberto screwed his eyes shut, not wanting to remember what had happened next. Those words haunted him. As he looked at Sophia with Zenaida, all he saw was himself, at his own mother's body. Alessandra. His mother dying in agony. He couldn't imagine Sophia going through the pain he had felt.
"Save your breath, please." Sophia begged, her voice breaking with anguish. Zenaida weakly shook her head.
"I don't have much time left..." she sighed.
"Don't be stupid. You'll have loads more years. You just... have to get better." Sophia assured her, but Roberto knew she didn't believe that. Zenaida apparently didn't hear. She went on in a sombre, feverish voice.
"My darling. I'm so sorry. From the day your father died, I was a failure of a mother to you. I have blamed you for the incident ever since, but only recently have I realized that it was my fault."
"But -"
"No. I pushed him." Zenaida shook her head yet again. "I was so stupid. Your father loved me dearly, and I was too selfish to put my family before some silly affair... I look back and I'm so deeply ashamed..."
"It was all long ago." Sophia tried to protest. "You musn't be too hard on yourself. It's been almost twenty years..."
"Twenty years." Zenaida sighed, deliriously. "You should be a mother yourself..." her eyes glazed. "Promise me that you won't let your brother stop you from living your life. Your future is in your wings - you forget about what he wants. I tried reasoning with him... but he didn't listen." She spluttered a little. "Don't let him, please. You deserve so much better." Zenaida's eyes fixed on something Roberto and Sophia couldn't see. They widened. "I don't deserve your forgiveness. I'm so sorry - you forgive me? Oh, Andre. I never deserved you..."
"Mother." Sophia choked, as Zenaida began to gasp for breath.
"I'm with him now, Sophia. Your father's here to take me away. Remember, my darling... I'll always be with you, although I don't think I deserve to be. I'll be watching you..." Zenaida's head fell back against the moss. "Always." She breathed, before her eyes slid shut. "You... you have your father's eyes, don't you? That wonderful... midnight blue. You'll have some beautiful children, you know." Zenaida sighed, almost in content. "Goodbye, my love... may we meet again."
"Mom..." Sophia rested her wing on the side of her mother's face. Zenaida's chest was now still, and her rattling breaths no longer sounded. Her eyes were closed, although her beak had the most wonderful smile. Roberto blinked several times, and then a tear escaped from his eye. She was gone.
Sophia retracted her shaking wing - and then he heard it. The sobs escaping from her throat. She grabbed Zenaida's still wings, head falling onto the nest side, her body racking with her weeps. Roberto slowly moved forward, sinking to the ground beside Sophia. He rested a hesitant wing on her shoulder, trying to offer comfort - but then Sophia let go of her mother's body, clinging onto him instead, weeping into his neck. So Roberto cradled her there in the dark hollow, his own tears falling, her anguished cries piercing his heart.