A/N: I will be going on a holiday for a week, so I thought i'd give the final chapter of Hot Chocolate. I am not a spectacular writer, but I hope my story has pleased you enough. Thank you for reading this story, and a special thanks to all who've reviewed. Mildirk, Mord44, Elyahu, dracowing14 and WolfOnFyre, I thank you personally. And to all who are reading as well.

Chapter 3: Carry You Home

The Branch was still crowded, filled with an assortment of birds, laughing and partying away. Currently, there was no one taking centre stage, so the patrons turned to drinking to their heart's content for entertainment.

Blu frowned disapprovingly as he stepped in with Rafael's children. He wouldn't have brought them here if he had the choice, but something seemed to call out to him. He had a strong feeling Jewel was close.

"Wow…" the children said collectively, gazing intently at their colourful surroundings. Blu did another headcount, telling himself—for the umpteenth time—he was never going to have 17 children.

"Keep close, kids." Somehow, being put in charge of children gave Blu a different sense of responsibility—to care for them. He wondered if this was what it would be like, to take care of his own children.

I need to find Jewel first. That's all that matters.

He herded the captivated children through the crowd, being careful not to let them disturb any of the patrons. Some of them were much bigger than himself, and he knew it wasn't wise to pick a fight with them.

"…You should've seen her dance!" One patron—a green parakeet—laughed, a little too loudly. Blu suddenly perked up, stopping the children.

"How good could it have been?"

"It was amazing! It's like she's a regular here. Thing is, I've never seen her before. And she was beautiful, too. Man, if I had a chance, I'd—"

"Hi guys!" Blu interrupted, stepping between them. The green parakeet looked rather offended by Blu's sudden intrusion. The other bird rolled his eyes and stepped away from them, heading towards the bar.

"What do you want?" The parakeet replied tersely.

"I was just wondering whether that bird you were talking about was someone I'm looking for."

"It's none of your business, blue-boy."

Blu took a deep breath, continuing to maintain a straight face.

"Please, I need your help. This bird you saw, was she a blue macaw? Did she look like me?"

"I told you, it's none of your business. Get out of here," he growled, turning his back on him.

The kids watched the exchange silently, waiting to see Blu's next move.

Blu's eyes narrowed. What was he doing here? He should be out there looking for Jewel. Instead he was sitting in a bar, arguing with a stubborn and inebriated bird. He stepped forward and calmly turned the parakeet around, staring him in the eye.

"Look, I just want to know whether you've seen her. She means a lot to me, and I need to know if she's okay. Is that too much to ask?"

The parakeet laughed, pushing Blu off himself, stumbling a little as he did so.

"Get out of here, freak. You've got nothing over me."

Blu's eyes glowered, as he took a step closer. In one swift motion, he threw the parakeet to the floor, gripping his neck with his talons.

"Okay, I don't have time for this. Tell me where she is, or I let you go."

There was an awkward silence that filled the entire club.

"That came out wrong, didn't it," he asked. All 17 children nodded. Blu face palmed.

"You're a joke, you know that?" the parakeet laughed, getting up and pushing Blu backwards.

"Okay, let me try again. Tell me what you know…or…I…" he looked around. "Or…I unleash the wrath of these children on you." The children chirped cutely. The parakeet burst into hysterics.

"Are you kidding me? What can they possibly do?"

5 minutes later, he was on the ground, desperately gasping for air.

"Okay okay, I give!" The parakeet choked. "I saw her—she looked just like you. She was sleeping outside in the alley. Just a few minutes ago." He spoke in quick bursts. "I was going to go to her, but someone got to her first, okay? He took her away, and I don't know where they went after that!" he hacked, choking on his own words.

"What did he look like?" Blu demanded.

"I don't know!" the parakeet cried out. "He was holding something; a knife, I think. Please spare me!"

Blu motioned for the children to get off him. They obeyed, but not before pulling out a few more feathers.

"Oh boy." Blu groaned. It was official; Rafael was definitely going to have his head.

He left the club, and the gasping parakeet behind. Oddly, nobody seemed to give them a second glance during the entire 'conversation'. The parakeet struggled to get up and lumbered over to the bar, where his other friend was casually drinking away.

"So," his friend said, "was that really all true?"

"I dunno," the parakeet mumbled. "Don't talk to me about this. I need a drink." He called the waiter over and made his order.

I'm never making fun of another blue bird here, he thought.

Jewel opened her eyes just a crack. The world was still spinning, and she couldn't tell if she was still being carried. She felt a hand grasping her, holding her tight. She cried out weakly. Struggling to move, she looked up, and saw the same dark brown eyes staring at her.

The grip tightened, and she cried out louder.

Help…

Her right wing burned. Her left wing was numb. Fuelled by pure fear, she started thrashing wildly, in an effort to escape. But it was futile. She was too weak, and in her current state, there was no chance of escape by flight. With that horrifying cognition, the adrenaline no longer enough to maintain her struggles, she slowly stopped resisting, breathing erratically.

She felt something tugging at her foot, and remembered the necklace that was caught on her leg when she flew off. Was that it? Was that why she was in this situation? Was that the reason she was going to die?

There was a flash of metal before her eyes, and she shut them, bracing for the pain.

It took the whole of three seconds before it came. It felt like fire where the metal touched. She inhaled sharply, feeling her own blood trickling down her wing. It was unbearable.

She tried not to think of the pain, and thought about something else. In some ironic cliché, her life flashed before her eyes. The memories did not come from the times when she was a chick, nor did they come from the time when she despised humans. Instead, the memories that came were simple ones, of happier times.

Blu.

She jerked, feeling another sting in her wing. She was fading, but she still clung tightly onto the memories.

Blu…you taught me how to laugh again. You taught me how to forgive…and love again.

She remembered Blu: Meeting him, travelling with him, falling in love with him. His profound naivety and sincere heart were what captivated her, attracted her to him. She knew he felt the same way, wholeheartedly.

She remembered Tulio, caring for her like she was his own child. She remembered his soft, gentle touch, and his heart of gold. He'd never meant her any harm, but for the most part, she'd been unreceptive and stubborn, too blinded by her hatred of humans.

Another stab of pain in her wing momentarily interrupted the reminiscence, but she still pressed on.

She remembered the time Blu brought her over to Linda's new bookstore. It had only been two weeks ago. The memories were flooding in now. Laughing at his antics, having dinner under a romantic candlelight…deciding to have children with him…

I…I won't be able to keep that promise…

The only feelings that she felt right now, were sadness…and regret. There was so much she wanted to say, so much she wanted to do. But she knew it was her own fault that she'd gotten into this mess.

I'm so sorry, Blu…please forgive me…a single tear ran down her cheek. She told herself she wasn't going to cry—she was too tough for that. But still, the tears flowed freely.

There was another stinging sensation, but it didn't hurt so much this time. Maybe, she thought.

Maybe, it was time.

Blu sliced through the air, his eyes and mind more focused than ever. Rafael's 17 children flew by his side, doing exactly the same.

"Come on, Jewel. You've gotta be around, I know you're here." He kept repeating to himself. He knew she was a strong bird, but from what he'd heard, it sounded like…well, it didn't sound too good.

"There! I see them!" one of the chicks shouted excitedly. Blu and the others glanced down, and sure enough, a man was sitting alone on the sidewalk, a silver knife clutched in his right hand. His back was faced to them. His left arm was in front of his chest, blocked from Blu's point of view.

"Jewel!" he called.

Burning with unparalleled rage, Blu flew higher, ready to dive down.

"Blu!" Rafael yelled. He flew up towards him alone. Nico and Pedro weren't with him. "We found Jewel!"

"I know," Blu growled. "I'm going to get her back." He dived at the man, talons brandished.

"Wait, Blu, don't!" But he was already halfway there.

The person sitting on the sidewalk didn't notice Blu flapping his wings furiously, propelling himself towards him. He was so engrossed in the object in his left hand that he didn't notice until Blu smashed straight into the back of his head. He tumbled forward, the knife sent flying a distance away. For a moment, it glinted in the moonlight, and Blu saw blood, causing his own to run cold.

He turned to the person, with unbridled fury coursing through his veins. He lunged at him, grabbing his throat with his talons, which were way too small for the job. He didn't care. This person had hurt Jewel, and he was going to pay.

"You! Get off me, you!" Lexus shouted. He smacked Blu across the face with a backhand, sending him tumbling to the ground. Blu didn't spend too much time there. He jumped back up, his eyes frantically searching for Jewel. Then, he saw her feather in his pocket.

"Jewel! No!" It was definitely him. He screeched at Lexus, his eyes tearing up in anger. He flew straight towards him.

"I have had just about enough of you!" Lexus screamed. He brought back his fist, before throwing it full force at Blu. Blu couldn't stop or pull up. There was a horrible smacking sound as the blow connected, sending Blu spiralling backwards, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

Blu wasn't thinking straight. He saw stars. He tried to get up, but he couldn't find the energy to. His feathers were dishevelled and messy, and there was dirt all over them. He blinked rapidly, trying to pull himself together. Then he saw the human walking up towards him.

Get up, get up Blu!

He couldn't. He tried to move, but his body wouldn't budge.

Jewel, I'm sorry. I wasn't strong enough…

Then, a figure blocked his view. Lexus stopped walking.

Rafael had flown between the two of them, holding out his wings as if declaring both sides to stop.

"R-Rafael?"

He gazed into Lexus' eyes, not with anger, but with understanding. He apologetically nodded, before picking Blu up in his talons and flying off.

Lexus, too stunned to react, let them go.

"Blu! What were you doing! Why did you attack him?" Rafael shouted as he carried the defeated blue macaw through the skies.

"He…he took Jewel!" Blu gasped. "We need to go back!"

"No he didn't. Jewel's with Linda and Tulio."

"What? But…how?" He was completely discombobulated. But it soon gave way to immense worry.

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know. I think they're doing their best to save her. I heard she lost quite a lot of blood."

Blu palled.

"Relax. She's a strong bird. I'm sure she'll be fine. Look, I'll explain later. You've got a nasty bruise on your chest. We need to deal with that first."

"Jewel..."

"And by the way, you didn't tell me you took my children on a joy ride through town," he said flatly.

"Um…er…"

"It's okay daddy!" one of his chicks chirped. "We had fun! Uncle Blu was great!"

"Yeah! I want to play with him again!"

Rafael turned, his eyes widening. He looked at Blu incredulously.

"What did you do to them? Is it some sort of drug? Did you mind control them?" he whispered.

"Well, it was just—"

"Never mind. Let bygones be bygones, alright?" Rafael laughed, smiling a little too widely. "Okay kids, you can play with uncle Blu anytime you want!

"Yay!" they cheered.

"Well, that's great, Rafael—wait, WHAT?"

Lexus Quirk was cursing his insanely bad luck. He'd accidentally landed his palm on a broken wooden box in an alley where he saw blue feathers resembling that of the blue macaw he was chasing, and ended up with a large splinter in his palm. He tried to pry it out with the dinner knife—admittedly, not one of his better ideas—but only ended up getting attacked by another blue macaw.

His neck was now scratched and red. At the very least, the splinter was out. But his key was still missing. Without it, his car was as good as dead. He just decided to give up. There was no way he was going to find it.

Using his clean hand, he rubbed his temples, lowering his gaze to the floor, mourning his lost car, and his life.

He froze.

In front of him, right between his legs, was his car key. It was perfectly clean, and unscathed.

No…that's impossible.

He whipped his head around, trying to see where it came from. There was no way it could have appeared there without him noticing. He stood, feeling a sense of fear he'd never felt before. He shuddered, bending down to slowly retrieve his key. He hesitated to touch it, as if it was a bomb. He gulped and swiped it up in one motion, holding his breath.

Nothing happened.

He exhaled, tucking the key into his coat pocket.

I've got to get out of this city, he thought, the first time since coming to Rio de Janeiro.

Am I dead? Jewel thought. There was murmuring around her.

"I think she's waking…"

Blu, can you hear me?

"Blu, I think she's waking up."

Blu…

Blu…

Jewel gasped and opened her eyes suddenly, jerking upright. The pain struck back full force, and she whimpered weakly.

"Hey, relax. Relax, Jewel." There was a hand, guiding her back onto the bed. She complied, gazing up at the person who was talking. It was Fernando, and Tulio was beside him. Everything was hazy. A million questions were tumbling about in her head, but she had to settle for rest first.

"She's awake. Let her drink the medicine, Fernando." Fernando nodded, bringing a bowl to Jewel's beak. He coaxed her to drink it, and she agreed without any resistance.

Almost instantly, she felt better. The liquid that ran down her throat seemed to ebb the pain in her head. She murmured peacefully.

"Jewel…" she turned, and saw Blu, his body wrapped in bandages, lying next to her. A flood of emotions rushed through her.

He embraced her, being mindful of her injured wing. It was also wrapped cleanly in bandages, and it smelled of iodine.

"You're alive…You're alive." he whispered.

"I'm alive…" Jewel whispered back, stunned.

"Oh Jewel, you have no idea how worried I was about you. I'm so sorry I couldn't find you faster. This is all my fault…"

"It's not, it's not…" she replied, "But…Blu, you…"

"Hero here misunderstood the situation," Rafael said, stepping forward. Blu let go of her. She suddenly realized everybody was in the room with her, including Rafael's 17 children.

"It was Fernando who found you," Rafael explained. "He was walking back here when he found you lying unconscious in an alley. It was quite a stroke of luck, actually. Any later, and you probably would have lost too much blood."

"F-Fernando?" she turned to see him. Sweat was running down his face, soaking his singlet, which was slightly stained with her blood. She looked at her wing.

"But the pain…"

"They had to remove the splinters sooner or later. They tried not to hurt you too much." He pointed at the bedroom's table, at a bowl of blood-covered wooden splinters.

"Are you okay, Jewel?" Fernando asked, kneeling down so he was looking at her eye to eye. Something stirred within Jewel when she saw him.

Sniffling, she ran and embraced him, crying. This time however, they were tears of joy.

"Thank you, thank you Fernando…"

Fernando was stunned; he didn't expect such a form of thanks from the usually tough and fiercely independent macaw. He hesitantly stroked her, feeling her soft feathers on his skin. She didn't resist, instead pressing closer to him.

He smiled at finally doing something right by Jewel. Finally, he had made amends for his mistake.

"Whoa," Pedro said, mouth agape.

"Never thought I'd see her do something like that," Nico added, stunned. Seeing the bird who was as tough as nails crying and openly showing her emotions was quite a pleasant surprise for them.

"Alright Jewel, don't push your wing, okay?" Tulio said, stepping forward and retracting her wing from Fernando. "You won't be able to fly for a few days, so I—" he didn't finish. Jewel jumped straight into his arms and hugged him as well, cooing softly.

"Okay…" he turned to Linda. "That was really unexpected."

"I think that means she really trusts you now. Isn't that great?"

"Yeah, it is." He stroked her back. "Your wing isn't going to heal for a few days. Are you okay with staying here?"

Suddenly, Jewel could see why this man was so loved by the birds he cared for. He had personally gone out searching for her in the stifling Brazilian night, even though he had no obligation to. He was so selfless, putting her in front of his own comfort.

She'd never felt this…unguarded, before in her life. She was completely vulnerable, but she didn't care. The layers of ice around her heart were finally melting away for good, in the presence of the people she now knew loved and cared for her.

"Thank you, Tulio," Jewel whispered.

He set her back down on the bed, where Blu watched, an amused smirk on his face.

"What?" she said defensively.

"Oh, it's nothing. I just thought you looked really cute hugging them like that. So much for 'you can't trust humans', huh?"

Jewel blushed under her feathers. "I guess." She never thought she'd ever let herself act like that, and yet she had. She looked at Blu and cocked her head, puzzled.

"Hold on, Blu. If they saved me, how did you end up like that?"

"Him? He attacked someone he thought had taken you," Pedro said.

"He attacked someone?" Jewel asked, surprised.

"Yeah, and got his butt kicked." Nico whispered. They both snickered.

"Blu, that's crazy! You know you can't fight."

"That's not true! I am perfectly capable of handling myself in close quarters combat."

"You flew straight into a fist, Blu," Rafael said flatly.

"That did not happen. Don't talk to me." Blu turned away in shame. Jewel laughed, another small tear falling from her eye as she nuzzled him, also being mindful of his wounds.

She flinched a little; the throbbing in her head, although less severe, still was rather painful. Blu guided her slowly to rest on the bed.

"I guess I'm never drinking hot chocolate again…" she managed weakly.

"It wasn't hot chocolate," Blu replied.

"What?"

"Well, the first cup you drank was hot chocolate. The second cup was filled with Tulio's medicine."

"Medicine?"

"Yeah. It's that medicine for paralyzed birds." He showed her the bottle of pills.

Tulio saw Blu motioning to the medicine, and started explaining.

"The medicine is for birds who've lost motor skills in any part of their body. It stimulates the nervous system, to help them move their limbs again. Well, it gives them some sort of 'sugar rush'. The problem is that headaches can happen as a side effect. That's why I gave you a suppressant." He took a pause.

"Another problem with the medicine is that it's extremely bitter. It tastes horrible, so nobody would ever want to drink it. Then, I saw Linda's sweet hot chocolate. I thought: why not put the two of them together? In any case, I guess it works, seeing that you drank the whole thing." Jewel looked away sheepishly.

"There's no one injured here. Who were you going to test the medicine on?" Linda asked.

"Well, myself, of course." Tulio said it as if it were an obvious fact.

"You were planning to test bird medicine on yourself?"

"Absolutely! Did you expect me to test it on a bird?"

Linda had no comeback.

"Anyway, next time you should put your experiments further away from the food," Linda chided.

"And next time, you shouldn't be so greedy. I could have always given you my share." Blu chided.

"Sorry," both Tulio and Jewel mumbled.

"I'm sorry I ruined your birthday, Blu…" Jewel said remorsefully.

"Well, it's not over yet, you know."

"What?" she glanced at the clock. It was 11.20 p.m.

"Yup, it's still my birthday. For another 40 minutes, at least."

"Oh Blu…" Jewel said sadly. "Can I make this up to you in any way?" She thought for a moment. Something was coming to her mind.

"What about a present?"

"You got me a present?" Blu asked. Jewel nodded, and pointed next to the bowl of splinters, at the necklace. One of Rafael's children—Marco—brought it over and dropped it in front of Blu.

"Is that an Ipanema necklace? Those things are supposed to bring good luck!" Tulio exclaimed.

"Where did you get this, Jewel?" Blu asked, surprised. He examined the silver chain.

"Er…I sort of got it." She remembered the entire scene with Lexus and shuddered. "Anyway, Blu?"

"Yeah?" he looked up. When he did, Jewel kissed him on his beak. It wasn't just a short peck on the beak. It was a full, long, deep kiss. They shared that passionate moment together, their eyes closing as they did so. The necklace fell away from her wing. It went forgotten.

Two blue macaws, both wrapped in bandages, kissing. It was quite romantic.

"You know, you could learn a thing or two from them," Linda said to Tulio.

Without another word, Tulio kissed her, the same way Jewel did.

The rest of the adults in the room ginned and exchanged nudges, while the children the chicks shielded their eyes and went "Ew…"

Pedro looked at Nico. He started backing away.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but you'd better not be thinking what I'm thinking you're thinking."

After what seemed like forever, Blu broke the kiss.

"I think that's the best birthday present you could have given me."

"Mm-hmm. I hope that necklace brings you good luck, Blu."

"I meant the kiss. And besides, I don't need good luck, Jewel. I have you."

They smiled.

"Okay, it's cake time!" Linda announced.

"Cake?" Blu and Jewel asked.

"Of course!" Nico replied. "No birthday party is complete without cake!"

"Well, I think it should be enough for all of you…" she looked at the 17 chicks, who were grinning at her expectantly. She turned to Tulio.

"How in the world did we ever end up having a canary, a cardinal, and 18 toucans in our house?" Tulio shrugged.

"Bird net, remember?"

She set the cake on the table in front of the two blue macaws and lighted the candles on the cake.

"Happy birthday, Blu!" Everybody in the room cheered. Blu and Jewel exchanged silly grins.

It was chocolate cake.

1 day later

Lexus Quirk sat in his seat on flight AN94, waiting for it to take off. Looking out the plane window, he saw more native Rio birds flying in the high sky. He turned away, shutting the window shades. Glancing at his hand, which was cleanly bandaged, he shook his head forlornly.

What a horrible holiday. At least it's finally over.

He imagined his colleagues having the last laugh, and he hated that. He didn't even manage to enjoy his last day there. He was injured, and on top of it, he lost the 'lucky' necklace he'd bought. So much for lucky, he thought.

He leaned back in his chair and opened his backpack, pulling out the paperback book he'd brought with him to Rio. For the second time in two days, something came out with the object he pulled out. This time, it was a beautiful light blue feather.

Isn't this from that blasted bird?

"Wow!" someone exclaimed from beside him. He turned. A young brown-haired man was looking excitedly at the feather in his hand.

"Is this feather yours?" he asked.

"Well I—"

"Did you know that this is the feather of the rare endangered blue macaw? You must have been so lucky to have seen it!"

"Sure. Lucky." Lexus rolled his eyes.

"Look, I'm an avid bird feather collector. I'll pay you for that feather. What do you say?"

"You want to pay me for this feather?"

"Of course! Look, I'm not going to cheat you. I'll pay you this much." The man pulled out a thick wad of local currency. Lexus gasped; the notes were worth about two thousand dollars in United States currency.

"Not enough?" the man asked. He pulled out a few more dollar bills. Lexus stopped him.

"No, no, no. It's enough. Thank you." He passed the feather to the elated man, who gave him the wad of notes. He cheered, carefully stroking the feather and inspecting it from every angle as he took his seat further back in the plane.

"That was unexpected," Lexus said to no one in particular as he looked at his newly earned cash. He tucked it into his bag and returned to his book.

"Oh darn it, I've lost my bookmark." He rummaged through his bag, but couldn't find it. Then he saw something. Pulling it out, he realized it was another feather from the blue macaw, but it was slightly darker than the one he just sold. He thought of selling it, but when he looked at it again, he realized that it was indeed quite magnificent as the man had said.

He shrugged, slipping the feather between the pages. It was a perfect bookmark.

Lexus chuckled.

Perhaps that necklace is lucky after all.

Fin

A/N: Wow. This is the first story I've ever finished. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you've all had a fun time reading it as well. There will be more stories, but for now, I'm taking a break.

Just some people I'd like to thank. Mildirk, for persuading me to write this story, and Arkazu, for being my faithful editor. Without them, this story would not have been posted.

A few facts I thought I'd share. The chapters' names were inspired by songs I listened to while I was writing. They also gave me some inspiration for the content of each chapter. Chapter 1 was inspired by 'High', a song written by James Blunt. Chapter 2 was inspired by Jay Sean's 'Down', and Chapter 3 was inspired by James Blunt's 'Carry You Home'.

I'm thinking of accepting story requests for Rio as a challenge to myself. If there's any idea you have, leave it in a review, or pm me. If I like it, I'll take a shot at it, and I'll let you know.

And finally, I would like to give my thanks again to all those who read this story, and to those who reviewed. Until next time!

Anillio Natson