Jewel's recovery
After some time had passed, Jewel was taken out of the operation room and placed with Blu inside a large, forest-like cage exactly like the one they first met in.
Blu was waiting in the cage anxiously. The sound of a door opening hit his ears and he quickly turned his head in the direction.
"Jewel!" He said excitedly as he spread his wings and glided down to the floor where she was out.
"Hey." Said Jewel in a very soft and somewhat dissapointed tone of voice. She looked down to her side, showing her broken wing wrapped in bandages, unable to use it.
Blu looked to her bandages and back to her. "Hey. It's okay. We'll make it through this together right? We're chained-to-each-other birds, Remember?"
The very sound of those same exact words reminded her of what he did for her when she fell out of the Smugglers plane. A soft smile crept across her face. "Thanks Blu." She said, cocking her head to the side as she looked at him, not sure what to think about anything at the moment due to this unfortunate situation.
The two Blu Spix Macaw's walked on the ground until they reached a little pond in the center of the room. They both sat down and looked at their reflections in the water.
Jewel simply stared at her reflection. The occasional leaf falling into the water caused small ripples, that disrupted their reflections for only a moment. She still seemed dissapointed on the inside. A sense of longing and discontentment adorned her face as she continued to sigh at the reflection of her image in the water. The last time she had looked at her reflection was in the Jungle when she was free.
"Jewel?" Said Blu as he walked closer to her. "I...well.. I couldn't help but notice you seem a little bit down."
She looked up to him again and tilted her head to the side.
"We've come this far, I'm not going to let you go now. Why don't you just tell me whats bothering you, and we'll work it out, alright?" He said wanting to wrap his wing around her affectionatly, though he simply couldn't because of his fear and nervousness. He still wasn't sure if they were in a relationship yet or not. Though he shrugged it off, choosing to bring up the topic at a later time.
"I just feel so...weak...and un-free." Said Jewel as she looked back to her reflection. "I'll have to wear these bandages for a month... and we're stuck in this cage." She said now looking up to see the sky, but all she could see was a metal ceiling with lightbulbs illuminating their enclosure. The bulbs flickering every once in a while due to typical faulty wiring.
"Hey, this place isn't so bad." Said Blu happily. "It's nice to be in a place where something isn't trying to kill us every fifteen seconds." He said with a tad bit of relief in his voice while also trying to lighten the mood as best as he could.
"But thats why we fly, Blu. Birds fly so they don't have to worry about getting killed every fifteen seconds." She said hastily.
Blu struggled to find the right words to cheer her up. He wished that she enjoyed enclosures like this as much as he did. After all, growing up in enclosures his entire life, made Blu naturally feel at ease her.
"Hey." He said nudging her with his wing to get her attention. She immediately looked to him and made contact with his eyes.
"When you were chained to me, you looked out for me and helped to protect me. Now it's my turn. I'm not going to leave you. Not now not ever. You know that right?"
Her disapointed frown started to turn into a warm smile as she started to forget about her broken wing and the cage and started to think about him. "Aww...Blu.." She said softly.
He gulped quickly, trying to swallow his nervousness. "I would do anything for you Blu. I care about you very much." He said still struggling to find his words. His mind was racing faster than any remote control car he had ever driven.
Jewel scooted closer to him and leaned her head into his neck and sighed in a happy tone this time. She closed her eyes as her head rested against his soft feathers.
Blu started to freeze up. He remember the last time he tried to be romantic with her atop the train when he fell apart. He tried to muster himself so he wouldn't ruin the moment. He started to extend his wing to hug her, but was hesitating to do so.
Jewel opened one eye to see his wing starting to extend, wondering what he was up to.
Blu started to think to himself. "What if I mess this up? Oh boy... if only this was as easy as it looks like in the movies." He thought to himself. His wing started to twitch as he started to extend it more. Blu always was nervous when it came to dealing with these types of situations.
He was fearful of what might happen if she rejected him. Suddenly he had a burst of confidence and gulped one last time. Both of his wings extended out and wrapped around her body and then hugged her close to his chest.
Jewel opened her eyes again after feeling him hug her. She didn't think he was able to do so. She was deeply touched on the inside that he was showing her affection. She snuggled closer to his chest and smiled.
Blu realized that she was enjoying his gesture. His heart was beating so fast that he was actually shaking a little bit. He quickly took a deep sigh and closed his eyes aswell, putting his head atop hers as she was still leaning into his neck. He hugged her tighter, though his nervousness still lingered.
Jewel smiled brighter, completely forgetting about her wing for now. "You're so sweet." She said to him.
"Oh! Well..." He gulped again. "I...I suppose I am, heh." He said nervously. By now he was just spitting out the first words that came to his mind.
Jewel took her head off of him and backed up a bit so that she could look at him in the eye again.
"Blu?" She said tilting her head to the side again softly.
"Yea?" He said trying to compose himself though he was shaking all over.
"Why are you so nervous? Is something wrong?" She asked inquisitively.
"Well... its just.." He scratched the back of his neck again. "I... I can't believe I get to be with you. It almost seems unreal. I've seen a lot of documentaries on Animal Planet, but i never thought I would get to have...this."
Jewel found his words amusing. She had no idea what he was talking about, nor did she knew what Animal Planet was. Though she pieced together what he was trying to say.
"Why is it unreal?" She said to him, wondering what his problem was.
"Well..." He said dissapointed. "I'm just a nerdy human-loving Bird from Minnesota. You're a perfect Angel. I just feel so inadequet. Theres nothing really special about me. I just wish I was more...bird-material or whatever." He said looking around.
"No no no..." She said walking up to him. "I don't care about any of that. I care about you because of all that you've done for me. You've helped me to see the world from a different view. You've opened up my mind to the idea of friendly humans. You've even saved my life more times than I can count."
She placed her good wing on his shoulder. He looked up to her. "You jumped out of a plane after me, even though you couldn't fly. You were ready to die just to be with me for one last moment. You chose to go down with me, not knowing if you would survive. That is the most romantic and thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me."
He smiled and looked up to her, this time he wasn't as nervous as before.
"I don't care about your past. The only thing i care about is the present. You're the sweetest person I've ever met in my life."
He accepted her good wing and smiled at her. "I suppose you're right. You're just so beautiful, it makes me nervous."
She chuckled and smiled, touched by his thoughtful compliment. "Aww..." She said trying to hide her blushing face in her wing.
Blu smiled and looked around. "You're right, I have nothing to worry about." He chuckled to himself. "Ever since we've met, I've enjoyed every second I spent with you. Even when we were chained together, I enjoyed all of it. It was the best experience of my life."
She chuckled at him, enjoying his complimentary words.
Blu looked at her. "I'm just wondering whats in store for my life now. Everything else in my life just seems uncertain now that I'm in love with you."
A silence broke between them. Jewel's eyes opened wide as she looked to him as quickly as her head could turn. "You...you love me?"
Blu's heart started to beat so fast, he swore his heart was about to explode, even though it was scientifically impossible. His mind was now scrammbling to find the right words. He didn't even notice that he said he loved her until after he said it. His mind was more blank than the static on the TV.
"I..." He said, trying to push himself to confront his fears. "I..." He started to get frustrated with himself. "I do." He blurted out. "I love you Jewel, with all my heart." He successfully said without stuttering.
Jewel's eyes started to fill up with tears. A single tear started to fall down her cheek.
"Blu..." She said deeply touched. She had never felt this way before.
Finally managing to confront his fears, he looked up to her. "Jewel..." He said walking up to her to hug her. Though before he could come in for a hug she pushed her head forward into a kiss. Her soft feathers fluttered in the air. Tears still coming down her face as her eyes closed and continued to kiss him.
At first Blu was surprised but very quickly started to fall under her spell. He closed his eyes aswell and pushed back into her kiss with the same force. Never before had he been so comfortable than when he was entwined with her.
Jewel pulled back from the kiss for a moment to look to him. Her face still stained with tears of joy.
"I love you so much Jewel. We're chained-to-each-other-birds forever." He said wrapping his wings around her and hugging her tightly.
"I love you too Blu..." Said Jewel in a choked up voice. As she leaned into his neck once more, pushing her chest up against his chest. Although she had always craved freedom and the ability to fly free in the open jungle, now she didn't care about any of that. The only thing in the entire world that mattered to her now was Blu.
Blu felt the same way. Every thought in his head was cleared except for her. No longer was he nervous. He just felt complete on the inside.
As they hugged, they started to forget about their personal desires. The only thing on their mind was each other.
The lights in the enclose started to dim darker and darker, simulating night falling.
"I love you Jewel..." Said Blu with his eyes closed as he hugged her.
"I love you Blu..." Said Jewel with her eyes closed as well.
As they hugged, they started to fall asleep, leaning on each other in a romantic embrace.
Even though she couldn't fly and was trapped in a cage, she had never felt more free in her entire life.