"There you go."
Linda set Jewel down in the fake jungle aviary. Jewel looked up at Linda and squawked. Linda smiled.
"You're quite welcome Jewel. It's nice to get out of this place sometimes."
No kidding, thought Jewel.
"We should do it again, but we'll make sure Blu comes."
Linda turned around and left the aviary. The door closed behind her. Jewel watched Linda as she left. Now she realized not all humans were bad. Some were actual nice and caring. Jewel smiled and turned around. She walked across the floor of the giant bird cage, passing the manmade creek over a log arched like a bridge. As she walked, a thought came to mind.
I wonder if he's home? I could've sworn that to be Blu flying with another bird, but I could be mistaken. I mean, this is Blu. Clumsy, socially awkward Blu. I trust him. He wouldn't cheat on me. I'm crazy to think so.
Jewel passed a dozen trees before making it to her tree. She began to climb up the ladder. She could've called Blu, but she was afraid that he wouldn't respond. Besides, he was probably still flying around. She made it to the top of the nailed ladder and looked inside the den. She formed a smile. Blu was sleeping on the center of the floor of the den. Jewel hopped in and walked up to Blu. She looked down at him, her sleepy birdie. She lowered her head and rubbed her cheeks against his back and near the top back of his right wing. Blu stirred from his sleep. He let out a yawn and blinked a few times to clear his vision. He lifted his head and turned around to see Jewel.
"Oh, good morning," he sleepily said.
"Good evening," Jewel giggled.
Blu slowly rose to his feet and turned around completely towards Jewel. He yawned.
"Must have dozed off."
"I can see that. How was flying today?"
Blu let out another yawn before responding.
"It was alright. I'm learning a lot about Rio."
"About Rio? But Blu, we're going to live in the jungle, not Rio."
"Well, we will live close by."
"Well, yeah, but wouldn't it make more sense to go see the jungle?"
Blu thought about it.
"True. So I guess I have to go out tomorrow."
Jewel began to think about it. She was starting to suspect that Blu led her to give him permission to go out again. She looked at the smiling Blu.
"Blu, did you-"
"How was your day, Jewel?"
There was a short pause before Jewel replied. During that time, she was looking at Blu curiously.
"Fine, I guess. I went to the bookstore with Linda."
"Oh, so that's why you weren't here?"
Blu acted like he arrived two hours before she did when he only arrived fifty minutes before she did. Jewel responded by a nod.
"It was good. Linda made me hot chocolate and cookies. She said a certain blue bird spoiled me."
Jewel was grinning as she said her last sentence. Blu looked slightly away from her and tapped under his beak.
"Mm… She can't mean me."
He faced back at the happy Jewel.
"So, what else did you do?"
Jewel's smile slightly dropped.
"Well, nothing much, but I did see something that caught my attention. When Linda was taking me to the bookstore, I saw a couple of blue birds landing in the fruit alley where the club is."
Blu's expression grew nervous, but Jewel did not suspect a thing.
"Oh, that is interesting."
"The funny thing is that, well, aren't we the only blue birds?"
Blu thought about it.
"Well, there're you and me as Spinx's Macaws; then there're Lear's Macaws and Hyacinth Macaws."
"Hyacinth and Lear's Macaws?"
Blu nodded.
"Yep. I think one of the major different between them and us is that they have yellow feathers around their eyes, like if they were wearing eyeliner around their eyes."
"Eyeliner?"
"The thing Linda sometimes uses around her eyes when she goes out with Tulio."
"You mean that green paste around her eyes?"
"Mm… I wouldn't call it a green paste, but yeah. Um, so as you were saying?"
Jewel blinked twice, trying to recall what she was talking about. She rapidly remembered about the two blue birds she saw.
"Oh, the two blue birds. Well, the funny thing is that I thought it was you with some other bird."
Blu stiffened a bit, forming a grin.
"No kidding," he said with a hint of nervousness.
Jewel looked at him curiously.
"Are you sure that wasn't you?"
Blu wanted to tell her that yes, it was him. He wanted to tell her that she went behind her back and was seeking help somewhere else. However, pride kicked in. It wasn't that he didn't trust Jewel's future teachings. He just wanted to learn before being released into the jungle.
"Of course it wasn't me. Don't you trust me?"
Jewel slowly smiled and nodded.
"You're right. I mean you're like the last bird that most birds would not pick because of who you are."
"Hey, I got you, didn't I?"
Jewel got closer to Blu and grabbed his right wing with her wing.
"Yes, you did."
She placed her beak on his and shared a kiss. It was just a quick one, but it still showed the passion they had for each other. Jewel parted from the kiss after a few seconds. Blu smacked his beak together and gradually opened his eyes.
"Cookies and hot chocolate. Mm-mm."
Jewel giggled.
"You should've not flown today so you could've join me."
"Yeah, but I had to. I need to familiarize myself with Rio and the jungle before your wing is healed. Speaking of which, I need to go tomorrow."
Jewel's eyes widened.
"But Blu, we haven't really spent some time together."
"I know, but I want to prepare myself for you. I know. After tomorrow, I will spend time with you."
"Promise?"
"Sincerely promise."
Jewel smiled and hugged Blu. After a few moments, she let go of the embrace. Blu smiled contently.
"Well, isn't the aide supposed to bring dinner now?" wondered Blu.
She wasn't that hunger, after being pampered with cookies and hot chocolate, but she wanted to spend time with Blu.
"Well, let's check."
They walked out of the den and walked down the ladder. Side by side, they strolled down the path of the fake jungle to see if dinner was served.