PLEASE READ THIS WARNING: I do not own, Rio, Blu, Jewel, or any other related character. I own the plot and OCs in this story, but all other characters and related themes are owned by Blue Sky Films and 20th Century Fox.

I'm so freaking sorry guys. I really should update more frequently... T_T I'm really sorry! Like I said, my inspiration tap for this story is merely a leak bucket. Not to mention I was overseas for a while, so I really couldn't make time for this. Hopefully I wasn't too late... then there was the lack of reviews of hits that blocked my tap even more. Just... ugh.

To all my faithful reviewers: Thanks you guys. I have to thank olihmajor for the streak of reviews, too. :P Sorry, once again, for the stupidly long wait, and I hope this makes up for it.I really do appreciate the effort you guys put in to review this, so once again thank you all so much... I could just reach into my screen and hug you guys! :D You guys seriously just give me the extra fuel to move on...

Anyway, hope this chapter turns out well... I wrote part of this in the U.S., and hopefully it comes out stronger than I would think. :/ Sorry for the long wait, everybody, and hope you enjoy!

Call it what you may, but jungle survival isn't some examination or test that one studies for to pass. They are instincts that are imprinted in your soul and body the day they were incepted. They are not learned via external media to gain, but rather these inner characteristics and abilities were activated inside of you. Blu once told me that every cell in a human is genetically similar –all of them, such that the cell in your hand and the one in your foot are exactly the same. The only difference lies in the enzymes that click into different places to be activated and utilised. In summary- what is perceived to be a significant change, like transforming a hand into a foot- actually merely involves the rewiring and utilisation of different traits.

It's that simple for Blu to turn from a domesticated to a jungle bird.

It is of this reason that I base on my disbelief regarding Ronaldo's so-called 'lessons' (for the lack of better vocabulary) on survival skills directed at Blu. I had attempted to reason with him that such skills belong in the heart and not the prefrontal cortex, as Blu would put. They were part of you, like a guide that ignited naturally in one's soul, not useless knowledge nuggets the public education system fed you. Ronaldo, however, insisted to gift Blu with jungle skills, as if it was for absorption despite the fact that it already exists inside of Blu. Blu himself obliged to his cunhado's plans outlined for him

Mentally I begun to rummage through what would be considered jungle survival skills, what aided the bird to survive in the wild, skills that Blu has yet to learn- or rather, come to terms with. Here was what my mind sputtered out:

Food and Water Sources, of which their locations would easily be injected into your memory or so visually obvious one wouldn't need to think to find.

Avoiding predators, of which were mostly ground-based and even then required basic awareness and speed to escape.

Navigation through the jungle, of which one would grow accustomed to the maximum span of a week. This isn't overly quintessential, either.

Every other skill would be deemed as man-controlled or too miniscule to consider.

To be honest, I simply cannot picture such basic skills, traits meant to be activated rather than absorbed, are being taught and passed on like a parcel. Jungle instincts were like the emotion of love- everybody possessed this and had the perfect capability to utilise it. They were not meant to be viewed analytically or physically, but rather spiritual.

I confronted Rafael and Eva regarding this, since their possession of jungle instincts would have resembled mine. Indeed they did, but it was of their opinion that I allow this absurd plan to be executed, since it was in the interests of both my mate and my half-brother. Should I upturn this for my own selfish opinions, I would be placed under the light of being heartless, they hypothesized, and add the fact that my mate's life rested in the hands of my half-brother, I was forced to surrender and solicit my blessings.

It is of this reason that I have landed myself in this scenario, next to Blu along with Ronaldo and Rafael nose leading the whole way, my auditory senses lazily picking up sentences, facts so generic any idiot with an iota of common sense would have known this.

"The water's in the river; you'll have to get it out by some means if you want."

"Keep a watch for predators all the time- who knows when they'll strike out at you?"

I groaned inaudibly. Impatience was an emotion I wished not to impose, however, on any of my companions –especially since Blu's future depended on this- and eventually I began to retreat to Eva and Lisa's side, fading into the background that was not really needed.

Eventually an intangible barrier appeared between the males and the females, of which the latter fell behind as time lingered on and continued to function as a support line despite the lack of contributions in the first place. (What is there to support, anyway?) The boredom began to set in and the chasm began to widen until the others were out of earshot. Blu's eyes flickered from Ronaldo to me frequently, a continuous trill of anticipation, and I donned a mask of an assuring smile for him. But that was all it was- a mask.

I sighed in exasperation, this time audible enough for Eva to hear. "I don't get it," I addressed the keel-billed Toucan, the one filled with the wisdom of marriage and mates/males, my female confidante. "I know Blu needs guidance but this is practically treating him like a hatchling! Do we really need to relay such elementary things to him?"

I espied Eva smile patiently from the corner of my eye. "It's for his sake, dear," she calmly replied. "And if redundant survival lessons allow him to survive as well as make him happy, then your complaints can wait, no?"

"But... I'm not content," I admitted. "It's just... I just dislike the notion."

"Your mate is happy," she said. "Shouldn't you as well?"

"I... I'm not so sure." I shook my head vigorously, pursing the edges of my beak together as my vision clouded. My talon idly scratched the floor- what if one day something pulls away Blu from me, an alternate path to draw him into happiness, but doesn't do the same for me? It scared me. I could see Lisa's cerulean figure back away, whereas the black-and-white-and-lime-green Toucan approach me, wing around me.

"You have to be patient, Jewel. Things take time to activate- you don't expect Blu to own this jungle overnight, do you? Sometimes you require something else to trigger it off... a catalyst, an alternate path to spark a chain reaction, an extra something required to activate a transition."

I stared at her quizzically. "You sound so much like Blu now."

She grinned. "You'd think that Blu's jungle instincts would just trigger off by stepping into the green, but that's not true. Ronaldo's actually doing some work in unlocking those inner traits inside of him... it's a catalyst, in that sense. And you can't work your way around it- it's needed for the 'activation'."

Something in my mind clicked at that point, and suddenly it made sense- I'd been engrossing over the starting and ending point, the ease of which one point transit to another, when I had totally forgotten what would have sparked the journey, to activate the activation of the jungle instincts. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier?

"And for Blu," Eva intercepted my thoughts. "Don't worry. I've already told you- love is like an instinct. The way it triggers off isn't automatic either- it needs a catalyst. And that is, of course, your mate. You'll need some time as well, but just by being with him... you'll feel something- activation. The feeling of contentment and joy just fills your heart... that's what your mate can do."

I turned ahead again, and my eyes locked with Blu's. They did not flicker back and forth this time, but rather they stared into me. He must have caught me on the verge of a breakdown, I figured, but on his face donned the exact same smile I had worn to comfort him. This one, however, was genuine and heart-felt, and in his eyes I could see the assurance and passion to protect and love me forever, that I would never go cold or hungry so long as I had him.

It was more of a reminder, a catalyst to snap my senses back together, rather than some fake assurance and empty promises that smash under pressure.

I turned to Eva, the same heartfelt smile that marked Blu's expression on my face as well. "Thanks Eva."

She chuckled. "Ah, Jewel, it's alright. You're young; you have a lot to learn."

I stared incredulously at her for a few seconds, before simultaneously erupting into laughter with her. I knew at that point where she would have to guide me in the tangled vines of marriage, to clear away the obstacles and let me see the light... it might take a while, but it would be the sole path leading towards the ultimate destination of making true love work.

I wouldn't mind that.

I looked ahead, where Ronaldo stood proudly beside Blu and looked at me, as if presenting a trophy to me. I wrinkled my top of my beak. "I still think he treats Blu like a hatchling," I remarked childishly. "They look like father and child already."

"Who, Ronaldo?" Lisa cut in, having been distanced from the conversation for far too long. "That's just..."

"Awkward?" Eva suggested. "They're brothers-in-law; why should it be awkward?"

"I was just thinking" –a faint smile appeared on her face- "how ridiculous it would be if Ronaldo was your child's grandfather, Jewel. It'd be pretty funny too."

I looked away. "I don't even know if I'll have a child, Lisa," I muttered, the matter-of-fact tone negating any possible humour with the situation, reality trumping absurdity.

"You do know bird infertility doesn't really exist, right? Or at least, it's unheard of..."

"Wait," Eva interjected. "What... what's going on?"

I sighed. I just dreaded to let the past be dragged up again, to let the things that crush my heart or stir up vengeance in my heart replay itself. The memories of stomach flu (something of which cured itself blindingly fast, no doubt) and false alarms... I was beginning to feel like my emotions were all dependent on a switch that flickered on and off, all activated just by the flick of a wing. The memories had to be relayed to Eva, who merely nodded in understanding.

"Ah," she said. "So that's why you're so down, isn't it?"

It hadn't come to me that the whole pregnancy issue had been eating away on my nerves... I had so readily assumed that it had been my initial annoyance with Ronaldo and Blu. Now that Lisa had ignited the topic of hatchlings, I started to realise that it was the... false alarm of pregnancy that had subtly activated the sorrow in me... it was incompletion, I suppose.

"Yeah," I relented. "I guess so. It's just... ~sigh~ I don't even know. I... I fear I might never be impregnated... ever. I mean, this could possibly just trigger off a continuous chain of disappointments and I... I don't really know what to think."

"Like I said, Jewel, these things take time. Activations never occur automatically, remember? I'm sure if... okay, to put it crudely, if you try hard enough" –my cheeks exploded crimson; Lisa's expression was tainted with disgust- "then ... well, you'll have what you want. It just takes patience and time. That's what catalysts are all about, right? Providing that extra something for something to occur?"

"Well..." I clawed the ground idly again. Eva's words did make sense, that patience was a virtue and the sands of time would be more than enough to help me and that all I had to do was to wait before something clicked into place... but what if it never came? What if something is terribly wrong with me or Blu? What if the compatibility between us isn't perfect?

What if the love we had wasn't enough?

It wasn't until Eva spoke up, passion laced in her tone, that I realised that I had spoken that last statement out loud. "Jewel... you must be patient. Time always proves to be the divine judge- you have to believe! You've already planned your life ahead of you- and honestly, you have love. And that's all you need isn't it?"

The pause allowed my voice to slit in. "Yeah but-"

"But you have Blu," Eva re-interjected. "And trust me, as long as you and your mate are together, nothing will go wrong. All it matters is that you're happy right? Your mate will give that to you, no doubt. If you're not meant to be with him, then it's not love- but you know it is, right? You love him, and he loves you... that would be enough to give you a future you want. You want kids, he'll give it to you. You just have to believe... time will facilitate you in that."

And suddenly whatever disappointment that I grudgingly held, the pain that had been inflicted on me, they were washed away with the swoop of a tidal wave, activated by the thoughts of love and my future with Blu. They were filled with bliss, happiness that negated all the doubt and sorrow in me. That is but the power of your mate, to activate the joy and contentment in love, to give you strength to fight off all other external forces. All it took was just a catalyst... your mate.

And even then, I had time to figure my life out for me didn't I?

"Don't be so uptight about your future, Jewel," Eva consoled, putting her wing around me again after seeing my smile re-appear. "Just remember that Blu is with you, and time will bring you forward. Your journey of love has just begun, a spark, and you should wait and see. You two love each other a lot, I can see it. Your life is going to be fine."

I exhaled, calmly this time and slowly. "Thank you Eva."

"But," Lisa asked. "But how do you know so much of this stuff, Eva?"

Eva grinned. "Lisa, darling, I've been Rafael's mate for, what, 5 years? I have had experience."

Lisa sighed. "I wish I was as wise as you."

I used the wing not folded under Eva's to drape over Lisa's. "We all do, don't we?"

Lisa forced a smile, crooked and segmented into lines. "I guess," she said meekly.

And then, we were silent as we followed the tracks of the males, led by them in the journey of love and life, like an activated platform that moved you to safety or a new path of life. All I did was fix my eyes on Blu, and I knew that we were going the right way.

It was always just that simple.

"Mmph... oh gawd, Jewel. What... what has Eva been... teaching you?"

I sighed in exasperation. "Oh come on. Just because Eva has 18 children you automatically assume that I-"

"But you've gotten better," Blu said playfully, nudging me exhaustedly.

I reciprocated his seductive smirk. "Maybe it's because practice makes perfect."

Blu exhaled sharply, while retaining his smirk still, in defeat. He rolled over his side till his face was up. While his wings cushioned his head, my tired head rested on his muscular yet feathery chest, our wings still around each other. Mating rituals were exhilarating and adrenaline-pumping - don't get me wrong - but sometimes... a girl needed affection. More often than not I found the aftermath of it, rather than act of it, being the highlight. Such a pity some amateurs collapse from the exhaustion almost immediately- sometimes one needed to revel in the aftermath of physical love, and as time lingered on and the smell of sex hovered above you, you often realise how much your mate loved you and how much you wanted him... it was always nice, anyway to cuddle in each others' wings and croon to one another.

"I love you, Blu," I found myself speak.

Blu planted a kiss on my forehead. "I love you too, querido." {querido = dear}

My eyes jerked upwards. "Looks like someone's been taking Portuguese lessons behind my back." My tone was laced with mock accusation.

Blu stuck his tongue out before withdrawing it near-instantaneously, before his eyes dropped like a guity schoolchild's. "Rafael's been teaching me compliments like that. Você é belo. Você é minha vida. Eu não posso viver sem você." {Você é belo. Você é minha vida. Eu não posso viver sem você. = You are beautiful. You are my life. I cannot live without you."

A heat crept into my cheeks. "Oh stop it," I said meekly, nudging him. "At this rate you're going to make me cry."

He pressed his beak against mine, the lower part making small motions around mine sensually and sending more chilly ripples down my spine. "But it's true, querido. Eu te amo."

"Eu te amo também, mi amor." I muttered, Blu's breath still fresh on my tongue, and I huddled closer to his body. For a moment it was silent, just the two of us tangled together into a beautiful, feathered mess. For a while we lay there, two lovers revelling in their own love, the moonless sky twinkling with dots of white, the smell of the grass, my mate and sex in the atmosphere. It was lovely how such characteristics of the environment was enough to signal romance...

My eyes turned to Blu once again. His eyes were not open, but they stared at the ceiling, as if deep in thought about something.

"Hey Blu," I whispered.

His pupils darted towards me, and the curves of his beak rose. "Yes, belo?"

"Can you sleep?"

"Well... no, not really. Which is weird considering... you know."

"I can't sleep either. I have no idea... maybe it's all that adrenaline and energy still in us?"

Blu chuckled huskily, pecking me on the beak lightly. "I guess. But... I think it might have to do with... you know. We're in the wild for the first time."

I squinted. Blu had a point- in fact, this was not actually a hand-picked knothole. This was Rafael and Eva's, or rather, their old one until Fernando built them a tree house to store the huge family of 20. It had been a rather foreign setting- to Blu, at least, to be introduced to a new setting and breaking out from his familiar domesticated setting. There were artificial knotholes back in the jungle in Tulio's aviary, but to be in a real one was different. Just a small tweak in the circumstances could create such a humongous change for him.

For me, it had been at least a week being... to be honest, suffocated in the artificial setting. To be back in the natural setting was refreshing- but this time it was different. I was not solitary anymore, not by my own to roam the jungle aimlessly. I had a mate (and what better way to show the world this, eh?) to trust and depend on, to have a shoulder to cry on and a chest to lay my head on, to protect me and always be right next to me.

It's pretty obvious which life I prefer.

I guess when your mind wrapped around a fact that changed your life, it made insomnia as a by-product.

My eyes wandered to ceiling again. Rafael and Eva's knothole was rather spacious, I figured (no prizes as to why it was so), and it seemed... overly generous that they should donate it to us, birds they barely knew about.

"Querido," I said, breaking the hovering silence. "We must thank Rafael and Eva for giving us such a nice knothole... it was too much."

Blu chuckled. "I know we should," he agreed. "We should thank them for everything really. Like getting that chain off of us and all... Rafael and Eva have been pretty good to us."

I smiled. "So long as they're here, there's no way we're ever breaking up without a tussle."

"Touch wood," Blu playfully chided, embracing me tighter to let me know that he would be with me, that he would be right next to me for the rest of my life. "I'm never going to let you go."

"I know," I relented. A silence ensued once again, but the insomnia refused to wear off.

Suddenly the last conversation we had with the other four re-surfaced into my mind, where we dispatched to our knotholes. Something was odd- Rafael initially planned to 'rent out' his two knotholes –his original and guest- for me and Blu, and Ronaldo and Lisa respectively. The latter had kindly interjected, however, and declined to share the same knothole with Ronaldo. She didn't even cite a reason- she only flew off to find another knothole.

Ronaldo, too, was confused.

"Hey Blu..." I spoke. "Do you feel something... wrong? Something about Ronaldo and Lisa?"

He eyed me wearily. "No, why? Did they fight or anything?"

"No, it's just... it seems weird. I mean... they won't share the same knothole. It seems as if they aren't really friends or something... like they're avoiding each other."

"It's just your imagination, love... they're not together romantically right? Do you seriously expect them to share a knothole when they're not mates? It would seem awkward, no?"

"Yeah but... did you see that way Lisa run off? It was as if she wanted to get away quick, like she really didn't like us at all. It was all very confusing."

"She's just shy, that's all. Besides" –he grinned mischievously- "it's only a matter of time until she and Ronaldo fall in love like we did."

I fought off a blush. "Maybe they would... but I don't know. Maybe they won't."

"Only time will tell," Blu muttered, kissing my forehead again. "But to be honest, I really hope they do get together. Otherwise he'd still be going after my mate."

"What are you talking about?" I chided, with a lesser degree of playfulness. "Ronaldo knows I'm yours. And he knows that he would be disowning himself should he make me his again. And besides..." I pressed my beak against his once again, the sweet taste of him activating the same sensuality and exhilaration in me.

"I love you. And I will never leave you."

Blu smiled. "I love you too. And I know you won't. I can't even picture my life without you... or you with Ronaldo, for that matter."

I embraced him tighter, his body linking with mine like perfect jigsaw pieces, as if we were two halves of the same whole. "That won't happen... I promise."

Blu kissed my forehead again. "Eu te amo."

"Eu tea mo," I muttered as sleepiness activated inside of me, allowing me to drift into slumber without a worry or doubt, with my everything right next to me and the smell of love hovering over us in the atmosphere. And so I waited for time to prove everything, to activate the journey of love that awaited me and Blu, the future that awaited me and the one I would call 'mate' forever.

You see that button below you? Well it's calling for yoooouuuuu... and it's waiting for you to press it. Now go.

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