Blu's heart sank. Where was Jewel? Maybe outside... Blu quickly got up in a panic and went outside. He flew around the tree three times, thoroughly scanning for any sign of Jewel. She was nowhere to be found... Blu was about to have a heart attack. Where could she have gone?

Why? Why would she have flown off after last night? Is she...Is she ashamed to have mated with me? No... Jewel wanted to mate with him more than anything in the world. That only strengthened the question: Why did she run off?

But then he thought, Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. Yeah, that's it! She probably just went to break the news to Scarla or something.

He took off and headed to Scarla's hollow. Denial wouldn't make things any better...

Jewel rested in an empty hollow. The sudden pain in her stomach she had felt earlier had returned a few minutes ago. She chowed down on a mango to relieve herself of a craving for anything food she could get her hands (wings) on and to hopefully ease her pain.

Gah, it hurts so much... Why did this have to happen to me?... I have to keep moving. I can't face him like this.

Blu landed inside of Scarla's hollow. His heart sunk again when he saw that Scarla was sleeping peacefully without any sign that Jewel had been there. Jealousy crept over him. Why is it that you get to have a peaceful morning and I don't? he thought selfishly.

But this wasn't the time for that. He shoved her hard with his wings. "Scarla, wake up!" Blu commanded.

Scarla's eyes shot open by the sudden disturbance. "Ah! Oh, hey, Blu. What do you—"

Blu cut her off, not wanting to waste any time. "Scarla, did Jewel come by here by any chance?"

"What? No, she's been chasing you hasn't she?"

Blu didn't answer her. He had wasted his time coming here, he thought. "Dang it!" he exclaimed angrily. He turned around to make his way back outside.

"Blu, wait!" Scarla yelled behind him.

Blu reluctantly obeyed, turning his head to look at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked him, concerned for both him and Jewel.

"I don't know where Jewel is!" he quickly explained with a sense of urgency. Why would you ask such a stupid question?

"What? Why would she run off?" she asked. The volume of her voice escalated, knowing the seriousness of the situation.

"I don't know!" he answered. Stop asking stupid questions!

"Stop yelling at me, Blu! Just tell me what happened yesterday."Scarla blurted out, becoming annoyed by his tone.

Blu didn't respond immediately. He calmed down for her before saying, "Okay... Last night, we... we mated."

Despite the currently serious atmosphere, Scarla couldn't help but blush at the sudden imagination of what that might look like. But then she remembered that Jewel had been in heat. Her blush faded as guilt flooded her mind. Was this all her fault? She was just trying to have some fun.

"Was... Was she in heat?" Scarla asked.

"No, she stopped chasing me." Blu was about to lose it. His impatience and annoyance from Scarla's insistence on him calming down were really starting to aggravate him. "I don't know why she would run off." He turned back to the hollow entrance. "I'm wasting my time here. I'm need to go find her," he said sternly.

"I'm going too. I'll go get those toucans and Antonio." Scarla said.

Blu looked back at her. He smiled lightly and nodded before taking off.

Jewel had stopped on a branch to rest again. Her stomach pain had died down a bit, but it was still there.

Almost there...she thought, panting from the strain of flying with the added weight of still-developing eggs and a greater quantity of food than she usually ate. She needed a place to think that wouldn't trouble her.

Scarla landed at the edge of Antonio's hollow. She ran in and shoved him, turning him over.

Antonio's eyes lazily opened. He was surprised to see Scarla there looking over him with him on his back.

"Good morning, Scarla," he greeted.

"There's nothing good about it, Antonio!" Scarla said urgently.

"What, what's wrong?" he asked, getting up. Concern was laced in his words.

"I'll explain on the way. Come on."

"On the way to where?"

Scarla ran around to his back and started pushing him out of his own hollow. "It doesn't matter. Just go!"

"Alright, alright," Antonio said before flying out of his hollow with Scarla behind him.

There was a long, awkward silence before Antonio finally asked, "So where are we going?"

"We need to get Rafael."

"Who?" Antonio had never heard this name.

"He's a friend of Blu's"

"Oh. Why?" Antonio was dying to know why Scarla had woken him up and forced him out of his hollow.

"You remember Jewel?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, she's gone missing."

"What? Why?" He now understood why they were in such a rush.

"I don't know. Blu woke me up this morning and told me. We need to get as much help as we can in a short amount of time."

"Alright, I'll go get some friends of mine."

"That sounds good. See ya."

Antonio steered away from Scarla to go get more help.

...

As Scarla swiftly approached Rafael's hollow, she began to worry more and more for Blu and Jewel's well-being.

What the heck is she thinking running away from Blu? He's such a nice bird. How could anyone just walk away from that? Was it something that he did? What? What'll become of them if we can't find her? Obviously, they wouldn't be together anymore, but what if it became worse? Scarla desperately didn't want to think the worst of things, but in this situation who wouldn't? Her ever-growing concern for the couple enlarged as she remembered the seventeen toucan chicks that attacked her and Blu the last time she went near Rafael's home.

When she got within twenty feet of the hollow, the toucan chicks came at her, as if anticipating someone to come near.

Scarla scowled. Not this time... she thought before yelling, "I don't have time, you little brats!" unflinching.

Immediately, the toucan chicks knew how serious she was and halted their flight. If a car had done the same thing on a road, it would have screeched loudly.

Scarla flew straight through the three-dimensional minefield of airborne chicks and into Rafael's hollow. Rafael and Eva were startled to have someone randomly fly into their home at this time, not that they wouldn't be at any other time.

Rafael opened his beak to greet her, but Scarla cut him off. "Rafael, you gotta come with me."

Eva butted in. She scowled at Rafael. "Hold on, who is this?"

"Hold on, Eva. There'll be time for introductions later," Rafael replied, having sensed the urgency in Scarla's voice. He turned back to Scarla and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Jewel's gone missing. We don't know why. Blu and I don't know where she is."

"What? We need to go then!" Rafael replied.

"I'm coming too," Eva said.

Rafael turned back to her. "But what about Maria?"

"You two go ahead. I know what to do," she said, walking to the entrance of the hollow. Rafael and Scarla obeyed and flew out. "All of you! Get over here!" Eva yelled when they were a decent distance away. Not even a second later, all of her children were hovering in front of her, looking unsure whether or not they were in trouble for something they hadn't done yet. "I need all of you to watch your little sister."

A loud chorus of high-pitched "What?" echoed around the forest. Then, one chick spoke up. "Why?"

"I need to go find Jewel. That's why."

"But how do we feed her?" another one asked.

Eva flew out of the hollow and came back with a large leaf and mango. She quickly tore through it and started mashing it up on the leaf. "Just use this," she commanded.

Just before she flew out of the hollow, she told them, "If anything happens to your sister while I'm gone, ANYTHING, you will be in... so... much... trouble!" The emphasis she coated her words with was enough to scare them straight. "Do you understand?"

All of the chicks nodded in response and Eva left.

"Do you know anybody else who can help?" Scarla asked Rafael.

"Just Nico and Pedro."

"The owners of the club?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, go get them."

Rafael obeyed and headed for the city to search for them.

Blu continued to look and look all around the forest. He had checked tree branches and hollows of at least seventy trees by this point. He panted from the incredible amount of effort it took to check so many trees in such a short time. With tears forming in his eyes, he thought, Where are you?

He thought for a moment for a place that was familiar to her that she might go. After recovering, he took off in the direction of Jewel's old home for a third visit, calling her name the entire way.

Rafael had managed to get Nico and Pedro out of the club. He was surprised by how easy it was to convince them to come with him; all it took was him saying, "Jewel's gone missing." Nico and Pedro left Kipo in charge of the club.

"Yo, Raffy, why would Jewel run off?" Pedro asked in a concerned voice.

"I don't know! Not even Blu knows!" Rafael yelled over the wind brushing his face and slowing him down.

Nico spoke up. "Hey, Pedro, I think we should check in the city!"

"Good idea," Rafael said. "But look separately, so that you can cover more ground faster!"

"Alright! Pedro, you got that? I'll go this way,"—Nico pointed left—"and you go that way!"

Jewel overlooked the city. Unlike everyone else, who was currently racing around Rio to find her, she stood in place, forlorn.

Why? Why did I do it? she asked herself. Why did he do it? Did... Did he do it just because he didn't want to see me sad again? While this was a somewhat legitimate reason to her, she couldn't help but feel that it made her seem selfish. I couldn't have just waited, huh? All I wanted was to be Blu's mate... but now that I am, I feel worse than when he turned me down. This was due in part to the pains of pregnancy, of course. She brushed a wing over her belly, as if to check if she was really pregnant. Naturally, she was. What would Blu think? How would he react? She knew that he was the nicest, most caring bird she'd ever met, but... it was impossible to explain the reasoning behind her uncertainty toward him at the moment. She remembered what he said in his sleep: "kids" and "not ready," among other words. She realized that her own name was in between those two words, but they still could have been connected in some way. Then she remembered what he told her last night: "But what if I'm not a good father?" He wasn't ready, but I still convinced him to mate with me, Jewel thought guiltily. She wanted someone to comfort her. Not just anyone, but Blu himself. She wrapped her wings around herself, imagining them to be his. "I'm sorry, Blu," she sobbed.

Blu reached his destination and walked in. It was empty; his heart sank. He flew into and checked each surrounding hollow. They were all empty. He landed in Jewel's friend's hollow, hoping that she might be there. Unfortunately for him, she wasn't. He began to lose hope.

After a minute of standing in dead silence, a felt a glimmer of false hope. He thought that maybe she had gone home. He jumped out of the hollow and began flying back home.

...

He landed in his empty home to be greeted by a sudden pain in his heart. Jewel wasn't there.

Jewel... Why? Where are you? He looked at the left side of the hollow, where a mixture of dark and light feathers littered the floor—the spot where they made love for the first time. He saw a ghostly image of them mating. He didn't blush. Instead, it made him feel worse. Tears welled up in his eyes. He closed his eyes, pushing the tears out. The tears trailed down his cheeks. He couldn't understand it; why would she, whom he held so dearly and close to his heart, just run away? ...After such an amazing night...

He sniffled a few times and wiped the tears from his eyes. He needed to get as much help as he could in the shortest amount of time; a big group in which the members could cooperate without fault. He thought of the marmosets that tried to kidnap them back when they were chained together. He remembered the way they cooperated to make a chain to hold Kipo back from flying him and Jewel up to the trolley. They fit his criteria perfectly. He flew out of the hollow to go find them. It wouldn't be difficult. All he had to do was find the area with a bunch of monkey noises.

Blu was absolutely determined to find Jewel. He would persist, no matter how long it took. He couldn't give up on her. He would never betray her in such a way. He wanted to hold her close to him with his wings again. That was his goal: to love and protect her.

To BluJet The MacawHawk: I'm not entirely sure if that's how they would react. I'd have to give that some thought. I will. Well, I'm at 137.

To Bromine: -_-

To Ghostofinu: Thanks fo being honest.

To Zero2o1o: That they would mate?

To Dimitri the Soviet Spix Macaw: Thanks.

To Lunyk Stormdragon: Well, it's pretty common for people to censor it.

To Ton1546: It's not so much the pregnancy itself that's saddening her, but her fear of how Blu would react to it.

To NoRemorse81: It's implied that she ran away.

To GhostShadow6661: Yeah, I know. Like I said at the end of chapter 14, for the sake of plot convenience, pretend that it's possible.

To C.A.M.z: Yeah, sorry about that. I have never had plans and currently have no plans of ever writing a lemon (sex scene). The leaves as condoms thing was actually Corration's idea.