Hello all! Next story (well, one-shot)! Let me update real quick; I'm leaving Cirque De La Mort as a one-shot, and I am thinking about discontinuing A New World. I really don't feel the story anymore, and I am struggling on trying to make it interesting. This is going to be a one-shot with an older Blu and his last moments on Earth. Hope you guys enjoy.

Death. Rather you ignore it or, like me, are paranoid to bits about it, it's going to happen. You can be texting your friend about Friday night while driving on the highway, and in a split-second, everything is gone. Your hopes. Your dreams. Your wishes.

Of course, when you're the rarest macaw on Earth, you have a lot more to fear. I've been smuggled by humans, chased and almost murdered by a sadistic cockatoo, and lead my entire species to safety from illegal loggers. Yup, I've done it all.

And out of all the animals including birds that live on this Earth, the last person you would expect to go through all that was an extremely intelligent, geeky macaw like me. I would have never thought that life would treat me like the way it did.

And I don't regret a thing.

Because during the dangerous adventure that is my life, I met some pretty nice people. My best friend Rafael, plus my 2 good friends Nico and Pedro. And, of course, who could forget the slobbery little pooch Luiz? I still smile thinking about the memories I have of them.

You could have guessed it, however, as all of them dull in comparison to my beautiful and wonderful mate, Jewel.

Being the loner I was, the foreign thing known as love never crossed my mind at all. During my teenage years, I had my fair shares of romance fantasies, but never genuine passion and affection for another. All I can remember is that it had something to do with dopamine, I think. However, I grew up on the mentality of me being the last Spix Macaw on Earth. My worries were more on the fact that I was going to die a virgin rather than to not have my one true love.

But then a very quirky ornithologist crashed into my (or Linda's) window, talked to her, and convinced us both to go a few thousand miles to Brazil. That is when my entire life changed.

When I first met Jewel, she hated my guts. Of course, she had a fairly good reason, being that I tried to kiss her after meeting her for a wonderful time of 1 minute and 32 seconds. And, in addition to all my screw-ups and, well, awkwardness, I'm surprised she didn't kill me.

But, through a deal of events that will not be discussed here, me and her became "chained together birds." I still remember our first kiss. When I saw her falling off the plane, all I could think was that it was all over. That I would never see her again. After all we went through, I couldn't believe it would all end like this. I didn't want it to.

That's when I realized, it wasn't that I didn't want it to end like this, but I couldn't let it end like this.

And that's when I jumped.

When she kissed me, my whole body went ablaze. It was like her beak was a drug and I was getting high off of it. May I mind you that I never talk about drugs or any inappropriate things, yet when she kissed me and I flew for the first time, it seems to be the only way I can accurately explain it.

Then, we had our children. Bia, Carla, and Tiago. Growing up with them, all I could think was "They're our children alright." Bia and Carla had Jewel's look, and Carla had Jewel's wonderful personality and talent. My daughter Bia had my incredible intelligence, something I am rather proud of. Greatly. And Tiago had Jewel's thrill for adventure, as well as my physical look. He was a spitting image of myself at that age, except I had more meat. Tiago never did have any good manners when with the family. He annoyed his sisters, belched and passed gas whenever he could.

But he was an amazing kid. All of them were. I remember when they started dating, going through the awkward teenage years in life, and started to have their own lives. You never notice how much they grew until you sit down and think about it.

Right now, I'm a very old bird. I have the signature bags under my eyes that Eduardo and Nigel had. I apparently outlived everyone, despite my kids. Rafael was a pretty old bird when we first met, and when he passed, I cried a little. The same with Nico and Pedro, which was pretty recently. Luiz was also gone, meaning that I only had my Amazon friends left.

I remember when Mimi and Eduardo passed away, and how devastated Jewel, the kids, and the entire tribe was. Roberto became leader, and right now he had one foot in the grave. He didn't get bags, and ironically looks great for his age (lucky bird).

Right now, I'm at the borderline of my life. When Jewel passed, I didn't have anything left. I cried my heart out, and was pretty depressed for the time after (I really don't remember how long it was until I got over it). All I know is, I don't have a lot of time left and, to be honest, that is fine by me. A world without Jewel isn't a world worth living in. If my time was now, then I won't fight it off by any means.

I loved Jewel so much. I couldn't put it into words. She was so different from everyone else. She didn't want a man to always be there to protect her. Jewel was so independent and free. You would never have to wonder if she was better than you because you knew she was, as pathetic as that sounds. I didn't have to worry about impressing her because she didn't need it. She didn't want it. Jewel only wanted a bird who would love her, and that is what I gave her. Jewel taught me how to live more freely, and to not let things like fear get in the way. She brought out the bird in me, something that no one could ever do. She was my Jewel. My one-and-only.

As I closed my eyes, and my soul started to depart from my body, I faintly heard the sweet sound of Jewel's voice one last time. We're chained to each other birds, remember?

Funny, that was what I said to her before she kissed me. A tear rolled down my cheek as I began to go into a sleeping state. In life, you can never choose the people you meet, however you can choose the people that are worth the meeting. I liked my choices. And I know that Jewel liked hers too. As I crossed to the other side, I left Earth with only 3 more words.

"Forever chained together"