Some time before

"Okay guys, we want to thank everyone for their phenomenal support, and we have an announcement to make." Carla looked down at her audience, with Bruno at her side. "Starting tomorrow, we're changing our opening times, from noon for two hours, to a better time of sunset for two hours - partying is better when it's darker." It's also more beneficial for our social lives, both Carla and Bruno thought, privately.

While just three days a week were dedicated to the club, it's opening in the daytime pulled both of them away from their circle of friends. Since neither Carla nor Bruno wanted this, making the opening time later in the day was better, where hanging out with friends was more common during the morning to the afternoon. There were several mutters from the audience, but Carla was glad to see that they weren't too bothered.

"Before we close, Carla's performing a new song!" Bruno announced, and the audience cheered. "It's a song she heard of, when she went on vacation to Rio - she says it's called 'All About that Bass'. Enjoy!" Bruno flew up to a perch above the stage, watching Carla beginning the first lyrics, while their instrument-volunteers found the right instruments for the rhythm. It was really a song where a girl was supposed to sing it, and Carla aced it perfectly.

Bruno ran his wing-tips through his 'mohawk-like' head feathers. That was how Carla described them. He didn't understand why they were that way, sticking up in that fashion - neither his father nor his mother had anything like it. Bruno watched the party-goers in the audience beginning to dance, before flying down himself and vanishing into the sea of colour. Eventually, he encountered some young macaws from his tribe, who beckoned him over in a friendly manner before resuming their dancing. Bruno was more of a singer than a dancer, but he didn't mind it.

A few minutes later, he was then distracted from his thoughts by the conclusion of 'All About That Bass', as the audience began cheering wildly. He knew that they'd like that song - he'd heard it on Carla's iPod, and suggested that she sing that in the club. It looked like it was a hit. While the audience began to leave, Carla threw a couple of woven leaf 'sheets' over the instruments, protecting them from damage. Bruno quickly flew down to help her, pushing the covered instruments to the sides.

"You were amazing, as always." Bruno commented, smiling at Carla.

"Thank you." Carla blushed a bit, returning the smile. Ask her, Bruno thought, but just as he was about to ask the question yet again, Carla suddenly spoke. "I'm glad that the sick bird's dead." She remarked, not looking at him. Can you read my mind? You seem to know when I'm going to ask, 'Will you be my girlfriend?'

"Yeah, me too." Bruno agreed. Johanna and Alejandro's visit had been a few days ago, and the tribe had been at ease. The last of the locals had left now, leaving them alone. Carla turned to him.

"Ready to go?" she asked, with her dazzling smile. Her smile made him feel warm inside - as if his heart were melting every time she smiled.

"Absolutely." Bruno nodded, following her outside. Together, they pushed the rock slab back over the entrance, so that nothing could get in, before they set off back home. Carla's eyes were beautiful, as green and shiny as her emerald necklace, and her eyelashes were unbelievably long. Carla was a bit chubby, but Bruno didn't care about that. She was curvaceous and looked stunning. She was talented, beautiful, and she had a great sense of humour. He really did like her.

But she didn't seem to like him in that way. Either that, or she was purposely not showing it. Whenever Bruno asked her to be his girlfriend, she never replied, by changing the subject or ignoring him. He understood that her first relationship with Gus was terrible, but that was months ago. Surely she was ready to move on? Doesn't she trust me?

Bruno and Carla soon arrived back in the ravine, with the songs that had been performed stuck in their heads. Bruno knew that 'All About That Bass' really appealed to Carla - but she didn't truly believe in the lyrics. Bruno had seen some slightly chubby birds in the audience lost in thought, and, within a few more lyrics, smiling and coming out of their shells as they danced 'braver' kinds of moves as Carla sang the song. Bruno knew from Bia and Tiago that, before Augustus, Carla hadn't cared about her size. She had never been that big, anyway.

But after Augustus had called her fat, to peer-pressure, her confidence had dropped like a stone. She wasn't fat; there was nothing wrong with being chubby. Maybe Augustus's words had distorted her reflection, whenever she looked into a puddle, or into a piece of mirror. Carla was always fussing with her reflection, asking Bruno if she looked fat, and, every time, his answer was 'No.' But she never believed him.

"Oh, look." Grumbled Carla. "It's my least-favourite macaw in the ravine." Bruno looked up, and spotted Augustus, sitting with his new girlfriend, Andrea. They were giggling about something, as usual. Bruno rolled his brown eyes.

"Ignore them, Carli." Bruno sighed.

"Ugh, they're so happy." She complained, glaring at the two of them. Bruno paused behind her, feeling a little hurt. By not happy, did that mean that she wasn't happy with him?

"Aren't you happy?" Bruno asked, blinking. "You're brilliant, gorgeous, you own the hottest club in the tribe territories, and you've got the best family and friends you could ever ask for. And you've got me, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Carla looked away, before flying in direction of Blu and Jewel's tree. Bruno held back another sigh, looking back at Gus and Andrea. Andrea then spotted him, and she nudged Gus. The two began waving enthusiastically at him, and he waved back, before turning and following Carla. They can forget, but Carla can't.

When they reached the tree, it was empty, but he remembered seeing Bia and Azure at the star fruit trees, and Tiago and Orchid hanging out with Bromeliad and Isaac. Roberto and Sophia had apparently gone for a private talk with Eduardo, Mimi, and Blu. "Hey, Bruno?" Carla was looking through the niche in her room wall, where her iPod was kept. "Have you seen my mom?"

Bruno thought a bit. He had seen Blu this morning, but not Jewel. Come to think of it, over the last few days, Carla's mother hadn't been around much. Jewel left the nest in the morning, and came back at night, when everyone was asleep. Bruno knew this, because he slept outside of his room, in a cosy place where several branches joined together.

He liked being in the open - he was a little claustrophobic, so being under the open sky was an ideal sleeping place. If it were raining, he'd sleep in his room, but on rain-free nights, sleeping under the stars was absolute bliss. His and his parents' tree happened to be right by the entrance, so they could hear pretty much anyone entering the ravine.

Being outside, a light sleeper, and with a keen sense of hearing, he heard the flapping of wings easily. Bruno had watched Jewel leaving the nest at dawn, and only returning at nightfall. Why, however, was a mystery to him. Where was she, everyday? And why?

"No, sorry." Bruno replied. "Maybe she's in the jungle somewhere? It's the one place she can be, if she's not here. She left the nest this morning, but I haven't seen her since." Carla nodded, before entering her room and hanging her little, emerald-pendant necklace on the wall.

"I guess. She was coughing a bit, last night - it's weird, mom came home super-late, but she slept outside, instead of with dad. I don't know what's up with her."

"Strange." Bruno remarked, and he looked around, taking in the surroundings. Tiago and Carla, while they shared few similarities, did have one thing in common - their rooms looked as if someone had gone on a rampage through them. While Bia's was neat and tidy, everything neatly sorted, her brother's and sister's were a tip. Carla's iPod was kept in a niche in the wall, but that was where order stopped. The floor was covered in feathers and leaves - she didn't bother tidying up. Tiago's was even worse.

There was then the sound of wings; but they were uneven, and they could hear someone panting. Carla looked at Bruno, puzzled, before looking outside the room, and down into the main hollow below. "It kinda sounds like mom." She said. Bruno joined Carla at the edge, looking down. Jewel was leaning against the entrance, breathing heavily. "Mom?" Carla asked. "You alright?" Jewel didn't seem to hear, for she began coughing heavily - not a normal cough, but it was one that echoed around the nest, so that Carla and Bruno could hear it very clearly. She was doubled over, and clutching her chest, as if she were in agony with each cough. Bruno looked at Carla, and he could see the fear coming into her eyes. He himself was very alarmed - that was definitely no ordinary coughing fit. Something was wrong.

"Jewel!" Bruno called, to get her attention. Jewel was now swaying against the entrance, her breaths ragged and shallow, and now, Carla couldn't take it any longer.

"Mom!" Carla shouted, frantically, stretching her wings to fly down.

"C-Ca…" Jewel began, struggling to say her eldest daughter's name. After several attempts, she found whole words. "Get… your father…" Suddenly, Jewel's head rose, and her eyes rolled up in their sockets. First, it looked as though she was leaning forward; but then she went lower, and lower, until it happened all at once. As her eyes slid shut, Jewel collapsed onto the nest floor.

This chapter was originally intended for chapter 10, but then I decided to make things more interesting and put it as 11, instead. This also explains why this chapter came so fast. The next chapter will probably be up within a couple of days.