A/N: Ok, this was a tough one to write, I kept getting distracted and pre-occupied. Still I managed to get it done on schedule. Thanks again to everyone who had been reading, I love to see people enjoying my humble story. I hope this doesn't feel too rushed, but I really didn't want to make this chapter longer than it already is. If it does feel rushed, let me know and I may re-write it down the road.
As you know, I don't own any of these characters, the locations, events, ideas, occurrences, or anything else that may appear in both the movie RIO and my story; that is all the property of Blue Sky. Anything else is mine, Enjoy!
5. Doing What's Right
What a gorgeous night. The sky is a clear deep blue lightly dusted with the emerging stars. The moon is full and bright, its brilliant light nearly outlines the entire countryside. The city lights sparkle off the sea below shimmering, creating another more water-bound night sky. Romantic, that would be the word to sum it up in.
I couldn't care less; to be honest, I didn't even notice any of the evening's beauty. I had been stolen from; a thief had come and stolen it when I had my back turned. But I am determined, I will get my Jewel back.
I shook my head at the cheesiness of that thought. It was as if I was in one of those cheesy romance adventure movies that Linda enjoyed. But it was the truth. There were many things, I was realizing that I thought I'd never do. One for, example was riding in a fruit hat that a dog wore while he ran down a street. Seriously, never thought that would happen. Then again, I never thought I would screw up so massively either. I looked down at myself, how could I have been so stupid?
"If you love her, let her go." The thought had crept into my mind as I watched Jewel and the others fly in the warm night air. The thought felt foreign, but it seeped in making itself at home. I didn't belong here; who was I kidding, I was only holding her back, I'm her cage. My heart fought back: what if Raphael was right? Weren't we made to be togeth- Of course you were, but you want her to be happy don't you? You're hindering her happiness. See her joy up there? If you truly loved her, you would let her go.
I found myself walking away, I was right, I had been holding her back, I couldn't bear to chain her down for the rest of her life. It was then I was stopped by her beautiful voice. She was stammering, I knew what she was trying to ask. If I had just said yes! But that voice, it nagged at my mind. I had to let her go. I cut her off before she could finish, before she could admit she wanted me to stay.
"What? That you...you'd come to Minnesota? Great! I guess I-I'll knit you a scarf." I had meant to be sarcastic, but she didn't pick up on it. Her body dropped a bit and she stared at the ground.
"No, that's not what I meant."
"Look, Jewel, I can't spend my life, walking around following you wherever you're going"
The pain in her eyes lasted only a moment, a moment that tore my heart. Before, I could change my mind, take what I said back, her demeanor changed "Hey, it's not my fault you can't fly!" she replied defensively.
I looked away, she was right, it was my fault, my fault I couldn't fly; she wouldn't be happy with a flightless bird. It was here that Raphael tried to help us out. I'd always be grateful for Raphael's help today, but he just didn't get it, no one got it. If any of us were going to be happy, I couldn't be here. Frustrated, I blurted out the most honest and stupid thing I had ever said.
"You want honesty? Fine. Fine, I can be honest. I don't belong here. In fact, I never wanted to come here in the first place. And...and...and you know what? I hate Samba!" The words tumbled out of my mouth, I'll admit, even then I knew the Samba thing was going a bit far, but it made my point. If you love her, then let her go. My chest ached, but it would help her be happy. She'd forget me and move on. She would be happy.
How foolish I've been. I hadn't let her go, I had pushed her away, allowed her to get taken! The fruit hat shifted slightly , breaking my concentration as Louis ran towards Carnival. If you love her, let her go, that thought, wasn't my own, it was from a person I dearly tried to forget. No, Raphael had reminded me; family loved each other, more importantly, one fought for love, I truly loved her… I loved Jewel, I would fight for her, sacrifice for her, just like Linda had done for me.
The afternoon sun reflected brightly off the snow and into the shop window. It provided a wonderful backlight for the novel I was currently working through. I sighed contentedly enjoying the afternoon with my book and my cup of cocoa. Things were going so well.
The bookstore had become our home since the fire last November. After everything had been cleared with insurance, the family had decided to renovate the old bookshop rather than buy a new house. The entire summer had been filled with woodwork, painting and running pipes to make the upstairs a livable home. The shop facelift even earned the bookstore a new name. Thanks to Linda the store was no longer called "Moose Lake Legers" but now "Blue Macaw Books" this was fine by me, but I wasn't too fond of my face one the window; I don't know I think it's the beak, they got the beak wrong.
I was just enjoying the day, beginning the next chapter when a discussion between Mrs. Gunderson and her sister Lisa became heated. Lisa Sullivan, or auntie Lisa, as she insisted on being called that, was Lt Tyler Gunderson's older sister and unfortunately Linda's aunt. She was a little shorter than Linda and possessed "hefty" curves. She was staying with us for a couple weeks while the divorce papers were signed.
I didn't bother paying mind to the argument as the two women rarely saw eye to eye and bickering like this was a daily occurrence. I did however turn my head when Mrs. Gunderson mentioned my name during the squabble. I placed my book down and turned my head hoping I could hear some of the argument.
"She's doing fine Lisa, I don't know why you're so worked up about their relationship."
"I'm telling you, he is bad news for her. I never see those two with a group of people, if their together, no one else is ever around. It's un-healthy for a girl her age, she should have more friends than just him."
"She does have friends Lisa, the only time you see them together is here, and that's only been this past week."
"It's been nearly every day though" Lisa's voice strained " It's unhealthy for them to spend that much time together even here."
"They love each other, Lisa, it's nothing to worry about; besides Blu is always with her, always has been, always will. It's been that way since Tyler died." Mrs Gunderson replied quietly, choking up a bit at the mention of her late husband's name.
I stepped back from the edge of the shelf that I'd found myself leaning over attempting to listen. Sitting back I tried to work out the argument. Obviously, the argument was about John. He and Linda had been friends for several years, their close friendship had turned into a relationship several months ago in August. John was a nice boy, he always greeted me and loved to come to the bookstore. He was about the same height as Linda and had brown hair cut perfectly in a bowl. At least he had that until he admitted to us that he was a rebel for growing it longer than his mom wanted.
I was still confused, why did auntie Lisa hate John? More so, why did care enough to stick her nose into it? I scratched my beak, thoroughly puzzled. Yeah John had been over most everyday this week, but they were planning for prom tomorrow night, surely Lisa understood that. On top of that Linda's mom was right, I was there with Linda, I wasn't going to let anything happen.
My thoughts were interrupted by auntie Lisa's shouts. "She's what! This is because of him isn't it?"
"Calm down Lisa, this isn't the end of the world, and no, I'm sure he's part of the reason, but I can assure you he's not the only reason." Mrs. Gunderson replied casually
"Don't tell me to calm down! She was accepted to Cambridge, she was going to be happy, go where she dreamed! You're letting her throw all that away for some useless piece of s-"
I was beginning to understand, Linda had recently accepted enrollments at Carlton College in Northfield. Lisa must have discovered this and was obviously upset that Linda had chosen Carlton over Cambridge.
I sighed and stretched my wings, reminding myself that Lisa was only here a few more nights. The front bell gave a soft ring to let us know that someone had entered. I turned to see Linda and pile of bags walk in.
Linda walked over to me and rubbed my head "Hi Blu, how was your day?" I pushed against her hand, enjoying the massage. She turned back to the door. "I'm sorry John; please, just set those down, I'll take care of them. I know you gotta get to work."
John let out a quiet sigh of relief as he set the burden down. Hiding his labored breathing he smiled, and planted a quick kiss on Linda's cheek. The young man turned to me, "Sorry I can't stay Blu, I gotta work tonight. But, before I go, I wanna see if you remember what I taught you." He put his fist towards me and waited. Knowing what he wanted, I balled my foot and put it against his hand. He smiled at me and turned to leave.
"Ohh! There's the cute couple!" Lisa's sickly sweet voice rang out as she ambled down the stairs. "You two will be the cutest couple there.
"Thanks Mrs. Sullivan" John stammered "I-I'm sorry I can't stay and talk, but I don't want to be late for work.
"Oh its ok hun, I'm on my way to the store anyway." Lisa replied reaching the bottom of the stairs as John made his way out the door and Linda went up the stairs to greet her mother.
As soon as Linda was out of earshot and John was down the street, Lisa rushed up to me. "You!" I backed away from her knobby finger, confused I checked behind me before looking back to her.
"You are ruining Linda's life, she has a chance to make something of herself, but no, she's going to throw it all away from you. If you truly loved her and wanted her to be happy, you'd leave, let her go to Cambridge." She turned from me huffing angrily. "I can't believe I'm talking to a parrot!"
"Hey! That's not cool! I'm a macaw, thank you very much!" I replied defensively.
She visibly shivered "Quit squawking! You filthy bird." She turned and huffed out the door muttering under her breath.
It took me a minute to process what had just happened. Suddenly it all clicked. It wasn't John they were arguing over, it was me. Lisa thought I was holding Linda back! My feathers rose in anger, the nerve of that woman. Living in our house! Eating our, well, their food! She had the nerve to try to break us apart!
I sat on the shelf, flustered, thinking of how much I despised that woman. She could not be more wrong, Linda and I had a close relationship, but she would never let me get in the way of her plans.
The phone rang.
"Hey John… you got off early? Wow, they must have been really slow… Really? I'd love to! Oh wait, tonight's Friday. I'm sorry, I can't, Blu and I have a tradition every Friday night… I know, but you work Friday's I never thought to tell you… John, I'm not sure if that's a good idea. This is kind of our thing and Blu doesn't like change. you remember how long it took him to get used to you… Thanks John, you're the best!... See you tomorrow!"
I heard everything. My heart sunk. She had just avoided plans with John for our silly tradition. I felt light headed, what if Lisa was right? Was I keeping Linda from being truly happy?
It was a chilly morning, the front window to the store had fogged up and was now only letting light trickle in. I yawned and stretched my wings for the umpteenth time. Aunt Lisa's words still floated in my head. The more I thought about it, the more evidence surfaced. Soon I could name dozens of times Linda had put away her plans for me. I finally admitted it, I was keeping her from reaching her potential.
While still drowning in my tired thoughts, Aunt Lisa lumbered down the stairs humming a song horribly off key, basking in delight as music itself began whimper and die. She looked over at me and froze. She stood there like a morbidly obese deer caught in a semi's headlights. She then turned her necks back and forth, looking, ensuring no one else was around, before she sauntered over to my cage.
"Linda sure is excited about prom tonight, she and my sister went to get her all made up for the event. It is so nice to see her happy, wouldn't you agree." Before I could respond, she continued. "I heard you two spent some quality time last night. I do hope john didn't mind."
She eyed me suspiciously and continued "You look blue, little bird. Careful, if Linda sees you like this, she may call off her big night to care for you… I'm sorry for my outburst yesterday, it was uncivilized of me. I feel I must make it up to you. I'll tell you what, I'll help you both out, since you seem down, let me take you to a friend of mine. She has several other birds, you can do all sorts of, I don't know, bird things together. You can relax over there while Linda can focus on that big night of hers tonight. You're happy she's happy we'll all be happy."
She opened my cage and placed her arm in front of me. I looked at her, thinking, trying to make a decision. "Let her go Blu, If you love her, it's the only way you both can be happy." I closed my eyes and stepped forward onto her sleeve.
"Good job Blu, very selfless" She soothed as she took me to her car. Once inside she continued to lay down praise for my behavior. "Just think Blu, this will do wonders for your relationship. Linda will be so grateful." Her sappy commendations continued through the trip.
I sat on Lisa's large shoulders as we walked in the door of her friends shop. The room was colored brightly and had a front desk. It wasn't too bad, I thought, Lisa's friend owned a nice store. I continued to survey the room until I saw the sign behind the desk. My wings dropped and I nearly fell from her shoulder. Lisa had taken me to Moose Lake animal shelter. She was getting rid of me! The vile woman had guilt tripped me.
Before I could protest Lisa grabbed me and handed me over to a shelter volunteer. I was carried to the adjacent room and put into a cage. I could hear Lisa and someone else conversing.
"He's just been so sick recently and well, with work picking up, I just can't spend time caring for him. The poor thing can't even fly anymore, his wings aren't even clipped. I just don't want to see him-" Lisa cut her sentence short as she faked a sob.
"It's ok Mrs… Gunderson, we'll take care of him. If our vet sees he's suffering, we'll take care of it, it will be peaceful and quick." Lisa chose this moment to begin bawling. "Shh shh, he'll be fine, here let me walk you to your car. I heard the door open and close then there was nothing but silence.
I rushed to the cage door, hoping to find a way out. The door was padlocked. I crumpled with a sigh. It was no use, I berated myself for not finishing those articles on lock-picking.
The day wore on into early evening, I had managed to sleep most of the afternoon, but was woken occasionally by shelter door opening and closing. It opened again, I sighed, wishing I could just sleep in peace, at least then I might dream of being with Linda again. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable conversation to begin as another customer would come in asking how to adopt a puppy.
"Excuse, I lost my bird, he flew away this morning when my aunt left the door open, can you please help me?" My eyes snapped open; that was Linda's voice!
"can you please describe your bird?"
"Well he's a blue macaw."
"Ma'am, many species of exotic birds are blue. You're going to need to be more specific."
"He's all blue, everything about him! Even his name! I named him Blu! We named a bookstore after him!" Linda replied slapping her palms loud enough so I could hear.
"Linda! I'm in here! Get me out of here!" I called straining against the bars.
"Blu! I hear you! That's my bird! The one squawking in that room! I'd recognize his voice anywhere!"
"Ma'am I can assure you that that is not your bird. He is blue in color, but the owner surrendered him to us this morning. You said your bird flew away, The bird in that room is sick and cannot currently fly."
"Wait, who turned him in?"
"Let's see, a Ms. Gunderson I believe."
"I'm Ms. Gunderson! let me see my Blu!"
"Calm down ma'am if you really think that is your bird, I'm going to need you to come back with some evidence. Vet papers, breed pedigree, anything that will prove that he is yours."
"Can't you let me just see him for a second?"
"Ma'am I need to close up for the day, you can come back on Monday and see him if you can prove he is your bird."
I heard her sigh in frustration and open the front door. "I love you Blu! I'm coming back, I promise." She called as the door closed and I heard the deadbolt slide.
I gripped the concrete perch, too stunned to move. I knew Linda would come, but something wasn't right, it was quiet, way too quiet for an animal shelter.
"That's cause it ain't." A raspy voice said from below. I had been thinking aloud.
"I'm sorry, I-I just think aloud when I'm nervous. W-Wait who, what are you?" I stammered
"It's ok, you have a right to be nervous, this ain't no shelter; the real shelter is up north in Duluth, this is more of a pest control. We'll both be lucky to live through the weekend. Names Rusty by the way."
"B-Blu. My names Blu. How do you know about this place, why are you here?"
"I lost my brother to this blasted place a couple years ago. I'm here because a lady busted my wing; apparently humans aren't forgiving when us hawks mistake their pets for a large rodent."
"Wait, you're that hawk? The one that attacked Mrs. Leeman's Chihuahua? I read about you in the news, they said you were going to an avian sanctuary to recover."
"Well this is one heck of a sanctuary, I ain't never heard of a bird leaving this place alive."
I sighed and leaned back against the bars of the cage. "Linda will come, she promised."
"Whatever gives you hope kid." I heard a rustle of feathers and the click of Rusty's talons as he walked to the back of his cage.
The sky had darkened and left the cage room dark. The only light came faintly from crack at the bottom of the door. I had just begun to settle for the night. I was thoroughly frustrated that I couldn't figure out how to open the lock. Still I knew Linda would come for me. Come Monday morning, this whole thing would blow over.
A soft "clink" came from outside the room. This was followed by the creak and subtle ring of the bell as the front door moved it out of the way. The bell rang again notifying everyone that the door closed. Suddenly the door to our room opened.
Standing in the door, bathed by the soft ambient light of the flood lamp outside stood Linda. She was in her lavender prom dress, her hair was done and she looked stunning. Even the bolt cutters she held at her side did not detract from the beauty of my rescuer.
She rushed over and cut the lock with a grunt. Opening the door she grabbed me in a tight embrace. "Oh Blu, It's good to have you back!" Remembering that she was committing a felony, she placed me on her shoulder and turned towards the door. I looked back before jumping off her shoulder, landing on the ground, harder than I expected. "Blu, what are you doing? We need to go!" She whispered hurriedly.
I looked back at her and pointed to the cage Rusty was in. There was no way I'd leave any animal here. Finally getting my gesture she rushed over and cut the lock holding Rust in. He hopped out, looking more confused than anything. "Come on! If you wanna get out of here, now is your chance." Without looking back, I rushed back to Linda and she picked me up again. She held both doors while the injured hawk made his way out and into the nearby bushes. As Linda ran to her car, I heard the bell clink once more as the door closed.
When she was several miles down the road, she stopped the car and embraced me before asking If her best friend would want to see what Prom was like. I nodded just happy to be with her again.
The beat of drums and maraca's brought me back from my thoughts. The city streets were filled with dancers and life. I could see many birds perched above, enjoying the music. Linda's action had consequences. Auntie Lisa conveniently left the next day. John, unhappy at being third wheel to a bird at his senior Prom, broke up with Linda. Charges were never brought against Linda, but the "shelter" was up for lease by the end of the month.
As Luis began to slow, arriving at the parade, I thought of all Linda had done and risked for me, and all that I would do and risk for Jewel, my Jewel. Aunt Lisa had been completely wrong, If you love something you don't let it go. No, If you love it, you fight for it, with everything you've got. Linda had done that for me. I only hoped I still had time to do that for Jewel.
A/N: Alright, this concludes my planned back stories. Sad right, however There is still an entire story to re-tell and conclude! Fear not, there is still much more coming! Stay Tuned!