All Notes & Disclaimers are established at the bottom.
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Chapter Forty Eight: Hero of the Day
Three days ago…on a beautiful morning, things seemed mostly quiet across multiple cities, including one Rio de Janeiro. But far away from it, quite a number of miles away, past the beaches and more, it was not so quiet.
A plane was up in the air where the sunrise would touch it, and the back hatch was open. A whole flock of different birds flew out of it, and a few moments after that, a voice cried out from the inside.
"STOP!" It was the sound of a girl. Inside the plane, where the open hatch was, were four birds. Two blue macaws and two cockatoos named Blu, Jewel, Nigel, and Chama, who turned out to be the one that yelled.
When Blu, Jewel, and Nigel heard her, they turned and saw it was her that came past the door. Making them angry and terrified. She jumped from the boxes blocking the door to the cockpit, and she walked to them, slowly saying, "What…do you think…you're doing?!"
"How about getting away from the likes of you?!" Blu snapped.
"No, you're not! You weren't supposed to escape this early!"
"Say what?" Questioned the three.
"Listen to me! I hijacked the plane! I did all of this just to fool those three!"
Jewel, "What are you talking about? All you've been doing was trying to hurt us and lock us up in here! Now you're saying you're trying to help us?"
"Yes! You don't know what these kinds of people are capable of. I only captured all of you as a way to help make sure you would be brought somewhere safer and to make sure these creeps wouldn't find you again."
As Chama was talking, Jewel noticed one of the straps from the cages. So she slowly moved up to it as she kept talking. Then Nigel said, "That doesn't make any sense. If you're trying to help us, then why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you ask for our help or free us while we were still in Rio?"
"You wouldn't understand."
"Understand what?"
"You don't know me or the kind of work that I do. So it wasn't worth explaining."
Blu, "Well sorry, but somehow I doubt that."
Jewel, "Just like how I doubt you'll like this."
Chama turned, and noticed Jewel talking, before she suddenly threw the straps at her. "Ah!" They ended up tangling her, making her struggle, and then Jewel pounced on her. "Nigel! You get Blu out of here and-"
"What?! No!" Blu responded and attempted to run up to Jewel to help. Only for Chama to suddenly jump, and kick Jewel from the side. That move hit her so hard that she flew across the room and hit the wall.
"Ah!" Jewel reacted in pain, and as she planned to get up…a cage fell on her left wing…breaking it harshly. "AH!" She screamed.
"Jewel!" Blu was shocked. He ran over to help her.
"Oh, my wing."
Nigel just stared in horror, and so did Chama. But he didn't notice as he approached her and yelled, "WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU?!"
"No, I didn't mean to-" Chama tried explaining herself, but as she stuttered, the cockpit door opened and Marcel the smuggler leader tripped in the process.
"YOU!" He yelled and tried getting up. Only for Chama to free herself from the straps and fly up to his face. "AH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He tried fighting her, while being confused as the three birds were.
"What the?" Blu, Jewel, and Nigel mumbled.
"Just go!" Chama yelled while still fighting. "Get out of here!"
The three were more confused, but just decided to listen. Blu gently helped Jewel up, and said to Nigel, "Come on, Nigel. We need to go. See if you can carry Jewel on your back, and you can carry me with your talons. Nigel? Nigel!"
Nigel looked at Chama and Marcel still fighting while they were standing away from them. Then when he heard Blu, he responded, "Huh? What?"
"You need to carry us both out of here!"
"I…I…no, I can't! Chama needs help!"
"What about Jewel? Her wing is broken!"
"Why can't you carry her then?"
"Because I still can't fly properly! I can't stay in the air if I get even half this high."
"How do you know? Look, Chama is in danger and you two need to go! You carry her!"
"I can't! I've tried, and I still can't do that."
Then Jewel spoke, "Why do you even want to help her, Nigel?! Despite what she's doing now, she's the one who started this!"
"No…I am. She says she was trying to help us, and she's currently fighting for us. Which means I ruined her chances of doing that and keeping all of us safe. So If what she's saying is true, then I can't leave her!"
Blu, "But Nigel-"
"No 'buts'! I'm doing it! You two are my friends. The best ones I've had in my life. I know you're capable of doing a lot of good, so you have to trust me." Blu and Jewel felt more hesitant about it until Nigel finally said, "I'm going to do for her what you two did for me. Now go!" He flew up, and joined the fight.
"Leave her alone, you barbarian!" Nigel yelled, trying to actually fight off against Marcel as Chama was. To which it confused her. So she cried out while struggling, "What are you doing? I told you to leave!"
"Leave, I will." Nigel responded while also struggling. "But not without you! If you really are trying to help us, then I should do what I can to repay that and make sure you don't do this alone!" As he said those words, Chama felt everything slowing down for a moment. She felt her heart racing as if those words were something familiar to her.
Though as she was processing, she and Nigel were still on Marcel's face. He squirmed. trying to grab or slap them off but failed. Until he flopped down.
"Ow." He said, and took a good look at the wall. He grunted, as Nigel and Chama hovered in the air, and he said, "I don't know what's wrong with you morons. But Chama, if this is how you intend on treating me, then…" He suddenly grabbed the fire extinguisher from the floor and threw it. "Enjoy your treat!"
"Chama, move!" Nigel said, and hovered in front of her before…WHAM! The extinguisher hit both of them, but instead of landing on the floor of the plane, the impact was great enough to push them off it.
Marcel chuckled, and carefully walked back into the cockpit. He said to his two men, "Come on, you idiots. We lost all the birds. We're gonna have to make a last-minute landing in this city."
"Uh…there's gonna be a problem with that." Said one of the fellow smugglers, Tipa. "I can't steer anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't steer anymore! I think we've just been going straight since we turned direction!"
"And that's not the only problem. We're almost out of fuel." Said Armando, the other fellow smuggler. "Soon we're gonna go down!"
"WHAT?" Marcel became shocked. "How could any of this have ha…ppened? Chama."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind."
The three smugglers feared what was going to happen to them, until they gasped and noticed one parachute hanging on the wall.
"Okay." Said Tipa and Armando, as they looked at each other and played, "Rock, Paper, Scissors-"
"Shoot!" Marcel said, he grabbed the parachute and laughed, "Hasta la vista, losers!" Then jumped from the door.
"Hey, wait for us!" Said Armando before he jumped next, then Tipa as he yelled, "Cannonball!" All three of them were in the air, getting away from the plane that was sabotaged enough to soon go away.
When Marcel soon activated the chute, Tipa and Armando grabbed him by the legs. "Ugh. Idiots." He said in annoyance, and knew that it would take a while before they would reach the city.
Meanwhile…things appeared to be pitch black elsewhere. There was no sign of anything around. Until the darkness started fading away, and it was revealed that someone's eyes were opening. It was Nigel. His eyes opened and he sat up, grunting in pain.
"W…what happened?" He mumbled and looked around. "Ugh." He immediately became grossed out when he noticed that he and Chama were lying down on a pile of dead fish. For they were on a fishing boat.
"Well, this is…strange. Usually in my movies I land inside a car. But life is not really a movie." He looked around again. He saw the fire extinguisher on the other side, then looked up and saw the plane in the sky still going. Making him grateful that despite the hit and fall, he and Chama didn't have the extinguisher actually land on them.
Which made him remember, "Wait. Chama." He saw the female cockatoo laying down near him. He walked up to her and she seemed unconscious. "Oh no." Nigel mumbled. He checked her heart beat, which was still active. "Thank Heaven." He said, then he used his talons to hold her shoulders and intended to fly. But as he tried, he fell down feeling more pain. "Ow!" He realized getting hit by the extinguisher and falling from the height they went through caused a harmful impact on his wings. So he decided to wait with Chama, in the hopes of getting somewhere safe.
Eventually, the boat sailed back to the harbor at the beach, and Nigel carried the (still) unconscious Chama on his back. He carefully tried walking slowly and stealth-like, hoping not to be spotted by anyone. Then he soon saw something that looked like a small shower cubicle. Nigel smiled and walked in there, still carrying Chama.
As they went inside, Nigel carefully set her down, and tried speaking to her saying, "Chama? Chama, hello? Can you hear me?" There was no response, but Nigel didn't stop. "Look, Chama. If you can hear me, I'm sorry about what happened before. I'm still a little confused about what your whole plan was, but if there's a chance for me to somehow help you out, I hope I can. Plus, I'm also hoping…maybe we can get reacquainted. If at all possible. Meanwhile, I'm gonna clean myself of the putrid sardine carcasses."
Nigel shook himself, feeling a chill, and blushed while still staring at her. So he moved on, leaving her near the entrance while he entered one of the cubicles at the end of the hall. Though it was hard to reach the nobs inside by flying, he was able to reach them and use the shower on himself.
A couple minutes later, Chama began to move. She also grunted and soon opened her eyes. "Ow." She said, trying to move wings, and realized she was also hurt. "W-Where am I?" She questioned, until she fully heard the shower and singing.
"I will survive. I will surviiiive!"
It was Nigel's singing. Chama felt weirded out at first but felt something else while hearing his voice. To her it sounded somewhat majestic. Nonetheless, she slowly tried to walk away, hoping to escape. But failed to notice that her talon suddenly touched a small puddle…and slipped.
"Ah!" She screamed, and zoomed through before hitting a wall. "OW!" She felt even more pain, and her scream was loud enough for Nigel to hear.
"What…? Chama?" He quickly, and carefully, ran out of the shower and toward her. He was worried, and as he saw her, he helped her up by her wing.
"Ow, ow." Chama complained.
"It's okay, I got you."
"What…?" Chama opened her eyes to see Nigel. "It's you."
"Yes, it's me." Said Nigel and slowly backed up. "Forgive me if seeing me is a little weird, but I heard you in distress. I wanted to help."
"Well…thanks. Just tell me, where are we and what happened?"
"Well, just follow me out. But careful. Pretty much everything is wet in here."
Chama felt weirded out again, but started blushing from the tone in Nigel's voice. So she followed him to the entrance of the area. Then they were outside, and took a good look at the view of the place they were at. They saw a massive parking lot, filled with multiple humans minding their own business. Many of them were either leaving or entering the beach. And from their right side, the two cockatoos had a view of a massive city closeby.
It was not Rio de Janeiro.
"Wow." Nigel mumbled. Then spoke, saying, "Chama…I know you asked first, but where exactly are we?"
"It looks like we're in the city that Marcel and the others didn't intend on bringing the birds to. We're still Brazil."
"Interesting, though…not to be rude, would you mind explaining some things?"
Chama seemed hesitant, hearing him ask that. But then said, "Okay. I will. But first I want to clean myself up. The shower you used is still running, and right now I smell like fish guts. So just sit and wait here."
"Okay." Nigel did what she said, but then stood up and said with a surprised look, "Wait. Don't think you can fool me by-"
"Relax." Chama said, trying to walk back in the area. "I'm not going to escape. Right now my wings hurt like heck, and even if we could fly, there was no way for me to do it without you noticing. Yeesh." Chama scoffed.
Nigel felt annoyed, but decided to give her a chance. So he waited a moment, and very soon, he heard the shower turn off, and without turning, he noticed Chama walking back up to him. Then blushed massively when the morning sunlight caught her. Chama's feathers were shining with the light. Though she was cleaned and dried off, she looked like a gem to Nigel's eyes. To which made him blush more when she sat next to him.
They began having a moment of silence, not even looking into each other's eyes for what felt like hours. But really a minute. Chama felt her cheeks warming up too, making her finally decide to talk.
"Alright. I'm ready to talk."
"O-Okay." Nigel stuttered a little.
"Look…I'm…I'm not one who always says this, but…thank you. And I'm sorry. I know things would've turned out differently if I had shown myself to you and your friends when they came up with that plan at the tent place. Yet despite everything that came by, you choose to stay behind and help me. Why?"
"Well…it's like I said before. I wanted to. My friends helped me with my problems a few years ago, and I wanted to do the same for you. Though one thing that I still question is, why didn't you tell us everything? Why were you waiting until we were far enough away from our homes to help us?"
"Because…because…" Chama began looking sad and hesitant. "…there would be no point."
"W…What do you mean 'there would be no point'? How is there not a point to something like that?"
"There just wouldn't be. Look, like I said, you don't know me or the type of work I do. I don't tell anyone these things because…it would just make things worse. And that's also something I don't wanna explain."
Nigel became even more confused, and felt hurt seeing her look away. He intended to touch her shoulder as a sign of demand to know more, but decided to leave her alone. Until she finally spoke again.
"But…however, there is this one thing I will do." She stood up. "Because I did make a mess of things, including for you and your friends, how about…I help you in finding them?"
Nigel blushed as she looked at him, and offered her wing to help. To which he accepted. So they were both up, and Nigel said, "Thank you. But…I know very well that this is not Rio. So where do we even start?"
"Well, it starts with this. My intention was to soon enter the back area of the plane with you and everyone else. I would wait until we were far away enough from Rio, and just moments before the three would notice their plane was sabotaged by me, I helped you guys get out. That is until you and everyone got out much too early. I was going to do it the moment we were on our way to Cuba. Farther away across the waters where those smugglers wouldn't have any chance of finding everyone again."
"Wow." Nigel was surprised to hear that. Though it seemed a little cruel for the smugglers, it seemed ingenious to Nigel. But he still wondered why she didn't tell anyone. Why did she not just inform everyone of what she knew rather than still have every bird be kidnapped from their homes? He was still confused but decided to wait until Chama was ready to answer that question.
Chama continued, "Though luckily I've been to this city before. We're in Rio de Grandata. It's pretty far from de Janeiro, but in some ways it's not too different. Meaning the jungles are pretty connected and many wild birds stay there. So, the best chance is that your friends would likely find refuge there."
"Okay. That sounds good. Though both of us are still hurt, so we can't go too far like the crows do."
"'Crows'?"
"Yeah, crows. You know, that metaphor that says 'As the crows fly.'"
"I can't say I've ever heard of that one in my life."
"Okay, my point is…since we can't fly too well at all right now, we're gonna have to find another fast way into the jungle and hope for the best."
"Okay. What do you have in mind?"
"Uh…" Nigel stuttered and looked around. Until he noticed a small truck carrying fruit. "Ooh. Let's try that. Follow me." He ran to the truck, and Chama followed. They each felt glad their talons were in good enough shape to still run, and when they made it to the truck, Nigel made a quick jump.
"Hey wait up." Chama cried, and when she made it close, the truck began to move and Nigel reached out his wing for Chama to grab. When she luckily did by jumping first, Nigel lunged her in. Chama came inside the back of the truck with him, but by being brought into the air for a moment…and landing on top of Nigel.
"Ow." They both said, and soon looked into each other's eyes. Making both of them blush, and when they realized they were on top of each other, they quickly stood up and looked away.
"M-My apologies." Stuttered Nigel.
"No worries." Chama replied the same way.
The two cockatoos had their cheeks become bright pink, and felt sweat come across their feathers. But ignored it as they acknowledged the truck moving. They stood by all the fruit, and took a good look at the buildings they passed. Nigel admired how it looked. Though it was morning and not many of the usual lights were on anymore, the sight of the rest of the city was still impressive.
Eventually, Nigel heard Chama say, "Looks good, doesn't it?"
"The city?" Nigel asked, looking back at her. "Yeah. It looks fantastic. Though I can't say I've ever heard of this place before. What did you call it again?"
"'Rio de Grandata.' Think of it as like the Rio you're used to, and certain cities like New York mixed with it."
"Astonishing. And you say you've been here before?"
"Uh huh. This was one of the cities I would sometimes visit I'm busy with…busy with…"
Nigel started feeling curious. "Busy with what?" He asked.
"N-Nevermind. Look, I'm sorry but I don't want to spend my time explaining what I do with my life. Okay?" Chama looked away and looked as she was pouting a little.
"Oh. Okay." Nigel still wanted answers as to who she was and why she started the whole adventure to begin with. But he also had a feeling in his heart telling him to respect her, as well as tell him to show compassion and something else to her when she is okay with it. So Nigel just respected her decision. Until…
"But…I am somewhat curious about you. Unless…you don't wanna explain it, can you tell me again about how your story goes? I mean, I know I said I've seen your work on TV before but what happened after that? What happened after you retired?" Chama asked, and Nigel noticed her cheeks turning pink. Making his cheeks do the same, but wanted to have a conversation like she did.
So he replied, "Well…saying I 'retired' is not exactly an accurate statement. The studio I worked with actually had another bird to fill my shoes. I think his name is Petricious. I've never fully met him, but the studio decided to replace me with him. And apparently I was never given another role to anything, or even given a proper home after that. I was left behind, out on the streets, and thought that was it for me. That was until Blu and Jewel came to my life. They found me one night alone. I think I remember being somewhat rude to them, and yet they offered me a place. They helped me find a good home and made me a part of their group. Since then, they've been good friends to me. The best any bird, or any former celebrity, could ask for. And my life has been better than it was then. Plus, that is pretty much the reason why I went through all the effort to help when I found out about you and the smugglers."
"Wow." Chama mumbled.
"So that is actually the story of my new life. My better life. However, if you, madam, are still not keen on sharing your story. Then I won't pester you about it. You helping me I say will be satisfying enough. I-"
"Wait. You know what, maybe I will tell you. My story that is, and maybe a couple other things I want to get off my chest too."
"What? No, no, no. You don't have to-"
"No, but I want to. I at least owe you that much. And then some. Please, let me finally tell you. And you may have to sit down for this one."
Nigel suddenly felt hesitant, but he didn't say a word. So he just sat down and decided to listen.
"Okay. First, let me say this. Remember when we first met, I said I was a big fan?"
"Yes. I am flattered, by the way."
"Yeah. Well, prepared to be even more flattered because…that was an understatement. When I said I was a big fan, I mean I am, or was, a deep admirer." The instant Chama said that, her cheeks became beaming red. "I've had a crush on you for as long as I've first seen you on TV."
"Oh." Nigel began to blush the same way.
"Yep. I've always admired how well you did your role in those movies and shows. Then when they said you were no longer on TV, I was disappointed. And that was while I was doing…the work I was doing. But then when I saw you the night you found our hideout, I was actually bursting with joy inside. I wanted to introduce myself to you so badly, but I knew I had a job to do, so I couldn't. Heck, it hurt me when I had to fight you the way I did. Same went for your friends, and when I said those things to you. I did all of that so I could help you later. And the reason I did all of this is because…it started when I was very young…"
Nigel already felt invested with what she was telling him, and hearing that apparently she admired him the same way as secretly the other way around, made him feel even more excited inside. So he continued listening as she explained the rest of her story.
A long time ago, there was a very cockatoo girl, me. I don't remember too much of what happened in the beginning of my life, but I do remember I had two loving parents and an older brother. He, and my mom and dad, were always so caring towards me, and we had a great life together. Which was actually in the jungles of Rio de Janeiro.
Until one day, the birds of Rio were celebrating for Carnival coming up. My parents danced along with all those birds while my brother and I watched from our tree. It seemed to be a fun time for all of us. But then came the horrifying part. All over, there were nets and cages that captured every bird there. It looked like everyone there was getting captured, and when my parents tried coming back for us, they…they got caught too. My brother and I were safe in our tree, but he figured it wasn't safe around that place anymore.
So eventually, we gathered some food and he carried both me and that away. We flew away from Rio, and decided to go somewhere else. From that time, my brother pretty much was like my dad. He took care of me, showed the same love that all baby sisters needed. And sometime after that, we saw another flock of birds in the jungle getting captured by humans. I was scared but my brother wanted to do something about it. He told me to stay behind, and he successfully snuck around and freed all those birds. He even convinced them to fight back those smugglers, and when they did, they praised my brother as a hero.
From then on, what we thought would be a life on the run…turned into a life full of purpose. My brother taught me how to be sneaky, how to use strength and wits, and together we became the dynamic duo of freeing as many birds as possible. From South to North America, and then some. We've been doing great over the years and I loved it. Maybe more than he did. But once again…life proves itself to be imperfect. Our luck ran out during one night when I gave my bro the idea of freeing these animals from an illegal testing facility. Or at least to me it was illegal. He knew it was too dangerous, but I was too persistent about it, and we did it. We snuck in and succeeded with freeing a few birds, but my brother got caught. He saved me again by kicking me into a sewage pipe. It led to the outside, and was safe. Disgusted but safe.
Besides that…I was devastated. My brother got captured and I didn't know how to go back in without any help. I was alone and decided to fly away. For a long time I was scared and didn't know what to do without him. He was my brother, my father figure, the only bird that loved me. The only thing I did know what to do was to honor what he wanted: Keeping myself safe and helping birds in need. But I did it my way. My brother and parents were the only ones close to me and I lost them. Even if it wasn't my fault, I didn't wanna risk becoming attached to another soul again. That's why every time I helped birds in need, I pretended to be a smuggler's ally and sabotage their work before freeing the birds. Just so that way they think bad of me and so that I wouldn't have to create conversation with them. Because sometimes conversations lead to friendships. Something that I didn't want to risk losing again. Like how I lost my family.
As Chama was explaining her story, Nigel noticed her cheeks still red, and tears falling out when she mentioned what appeared to be her most sensitive moments. Nigel felt his heart still rapidly beating and his sympathy increasing tenfold. But before he could say anything, Chama still spoke. She quickly said, "I know that sounds rather sad. But again, I learned to make the most of it."
"I…" Nigel finally took the chance to speak. "…I can see that. But still, to go through all that. You…allow folks to show hate towards you, just to avoid attachment? I don't see how that would work, especially with how it didn't seem to work this time."
"I know. Like I said, life proves itself to be imperfect. I just never knew that you and your friends were smart enough to escape on your own. Plus, ever since I found out you were in Rio and with the blue macaws, it gave me, I guess, a moment of clarity. I didn't want to make friends again but you Nigel are my hero. I always loved those things you did on TV, making yourself look like an action hero. I couldn't hold in my fan-girl side. Even after my brother and I got separated I still saw more TV appearances and it inspired me to do more. I just never imagined running into you. That's why…when I said those things to you, making you feel bad for helping your friends…it hurt more than just you. I thought so much about that before I came for you guys. Plus while I was in the cockpit back on the plane, and while I was trying to clean myself up earlier. Every moment I was alone since I first saw you, I kept feeling guilty for lying and wanted to make things right. Especially since…some part of me still has a small crush on you."
Nigel still felt himself shaking, and Chama wasn't different. So he finally smiled saying, "You're right. I am very flattered, and let me just say that I thank you."
"For what?"
"As difficult as it may have been, you've been trying to help us. Just like I wanted to do for my friends. For that, I am grateful, madam." He slowly took her wing, and kissed it, making her blush again. "Which is why I have to say, what if…after we find my friends, you can stay with me? I-I-I mean us." He blushed red again.
"What? Stay with you and friends? I…I don't know. After what happened, I don't think they would want-"
"Yes they would. After we find them and explain everything, I'm sure they would gladly accept you in. Remember what I told you about how I became a part of their team? If I can be forgiven, so can you. In fact…maybe as a way to lift your spirits, let me show you something."
Nigel took her wing again and led her to the other side of the back of the truck. He pointed where the truck was heading to.
"A karaoke club?" Chama questioned.
"Absolutely." Nigel happily replied. "It looks like it's open and tons of people are already inside. Plus the truck is parking near it. If you want, I can show you a little bit of what my friends and I normally do."
"You do karaoke?"
"About as much as we'd like to."
"Uh…I've never really done that before."
"Well, in that case, let's sneak in and see how it goes."
Chama looked at the building. The idea of karaoke seemed strange to her, since she never remembered doing anything like that. Even with her brother. But she decided to shrug her shoulders and give it a shot. Especially with her hero.
"Great." Nigel responded to her, and took her wing again while carefully they got off the truck, and sneaked through the building's (opened) front door. No human appeared to notice them, and when Nigel looked around, he saw a staircase and led himself and Chama toward it. They raced to the top of the case, and still no one noticed them.
"Watch those folks there." Said Nigel, pointing to two humans on the stage that were next in line to sing.
Chama looked closely, and the human pair began singing a song that was a classic to her.
"Mm-noom-ba-deh. Doom-boom-ba-beh. Doo-boo-boom-ba-beh-beh. Pressure pushin' down on me. Pressin' down on you, no man ask for. Under pressure that brings a building down. Splits a family in two, puts people on streets. Mm-ba-ba-beh, mm-ba-ba-beh. Dee-day-da, ee-day-da. That's okay."
As they sang, Chama smiled, staring at them. When Nigel noticed, he quietly sang along, making his voice go in sync.
"It's the terror of knowing what this world is about watching some good friends screaming, 'Let me out'!" Nigel sang, making Chama chuckling and shaking her head, implying no. So Nigel kept singing. "Pray tomorrow gets me higher, higher, higher. Pressure on people, people on streets." Then he carefully made her dance with him.
Chama continued chuckling. Though she had never danced before, she saw how persistent Nigel was trying to be. He tried making her laugh, and it worked. So she kept smiling and danced along too.
The two white cockatoos danced in perfect sync. Every step and movement was done right, as if they were Blu and Jewel as well. Then finally, Chama sang along too.
"Tell me why. Tell me why. Tell me why!" Then quickly, both of them sang together. "Can't we give ourselves one more chance? Why can't we give love that one more chance? Why can't we give love, give love, give love, give love?"
They both sang, but at a low volume to make sure the humans wouldn't acknowledge them. Nonetheless, they appeared to be happy. Singing along and dancing. Chama felt she was having an experience like no other, and Nigel felt proud making her happy. Then when the song reached the end, he slowly dipped Chama down, and they looked into each other's eyes again. Feeling the flow of time slowing down again. Before he brought her back up.
Once they separated, Chama cleared her throat saying, "Thank you, Nigel. That was…pretty awesome."
"You're welcome. Honestly, that felt even more exhilarating than the other times I performed at my friends' club. Just don't tell them I said that."
"My beak is sealed." Chama chuckled again. "But again, thanks. I can't say I've ever danced or sang before myself. Or like that, and it was great. Though…even though I've told you everything I wanted to share…I don't know if I'm ready to have friends again."
"Oh. Rest assured, this is nothing that you need to stress yourself over. And besides, even if you don't consider it, I would be very pleased if you would allow me. At least think about yourself being my friend. Unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Something I want to admit. When I first saw you that night at the hideout…I was mesmerized…by you. To be honest, Chama. I have a crush on you as well. Chama, you're beautiful, and to top that, you're also smart, kind, and selfless. And courageous. Even after everything that you've been through, you still did what you thought was right."
As Nigel said those words, Chama's beak and eyes were wide open in shock. She did not expect those words to come out of her hero's beak, making her cheeks blush again but even more bashful than before. So she looked away, but with no smile. Nigel saw and felt he made a mistake.
"Chama…I…I'm sorry. I didn't think that would sound-OOMPH!" He tried explaining himself, but was interrupted by Chama, who gave him a warm comforting hug.
"Thank you." She said and released a few tears.
Nigel was the next shocked one. But quickly smiled and hugged her back. As they did, they were still inside the karaoke club, and became completely side-tracked from what they were planning to do. Making a certain other group wonder where they were.
Notes & Disclaimers (Feb 25, 2023):
• Rio is Blue Sky IP.
• Chama is my OC.
• "life is not really a movie": If he only knew.
• "shower cubicle": You know, those same kind of bathroom areas they have at camping grounds.
• "I will survive": Does that sound familiar?
• "New York": Alexriolover95 or someone else might've theorized that the gang could've ended up in the Big Apple. That thought didn't cross my mind too much while I was making this, but now at least it's referenced.
• "Petricious": As far as Fandom Wiki has confirmed, "Petricious" actually is the name of the bird that replaced Nigel in the first movie.
• "Under Pressure" by Queen and David Bowie.
As I said before, if I post a new story, you'll be able to see it. Such as this one now. It took a while, but I was able to finish working through so much of my previous stories, and move on to this one. What did you think?
Now I also have some questions to answer, more notes to make, and a shorter story to share, but given how long this chapter was, I'm saving that for Ch49. Which'll actually be "Rio: A Different Kind of Story No2."