Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters in Rio or Rio 2, the rights to them belong to Blue sky studios.

Hurting heart

Eduardo felt a million thoughts fill his head at once as he flapped his wings to keep himself airborne. His green eyes that were filled with a sense of fear and deep concern, a fiery blaze had forced his eyes to narrow as he frowned heavily, the heat so hot that he could feel it sting at his widened and eyes that refused to blink out of immediate worry and the pain that came from the onslaught of smog.

Smoke had somewhat clouded his sight as his beating wings whisked him through the air.

His throat was tight, his heart was pounding, his stomach was in knots and he could swear that he was sweating through the layer of cyan feathers covering his body since he was so anxious to fight back the flames and hasten to check on his family before something awful had happened to them.

But he also had to assist others to get out of the forest before it was too late.

The heat was unbearable and his eyes stung a lot more from the specks of ashes that floated about idly in the free space where his wings flapped ceaselessly. He stopped to perch on a nearby branch for a minute as he placed a wing over his beak and let loose a few raspy coughs that sounded wheezy and strained, clearly a sign that his lungs couldn't take much more of the toxic fumes that were pumping them up like balloons.

He took another quick scan for his beloved mate and daughter, panic sending his heart into overdrive.

'She has to be here, s-she just has to be!' Eduardo looked around frantically, each beat of his heart feeling like a razor sharp stab whilst he looked all around him. The fires were intense and he felt seriously hot since the large blockades of flames had surrounded him in some sinister barrier. Despite being trapped, he wasn't thinking of himself.

Jewel was his responsibility and he had lost her! He had been certain that his little girl had probably fallen somewhere and was now lost and afraid. What if she injured herself and couldn't find her way back to him, what if she tried to fly using her small fledgeling feathers, what if she wound up getting caught up by those humans?! Fear built up in the older spix macaw's heart as he increased his speed out of pure panic.

"JEWEL!" He called aloud, his voice raw and strained from inhaling the toxic fumes.

Eduardo just couldn't believe how everything had changed from peaceful to catastrophic within the blink of an eye. Humans had come to the jungles with their massive machines and made work of bulldozing down the forestation without a care in the world. At the time he was in his tree hollow with his young fledgeling. Jewel, his darling little daughter, had been huddled beneath his wing for protection and Eduardo had hoped that they wouldn't become separated from one another amidst the thick smog that flowed through the air relentlessly.

So many others had even succumbed to the toxic air.

But then a sudden tremor struck as fast as a crack of lightning, it was like an earthquake but artificial and the tree they called home was about to topple. The shaking was violent and almost as ruthless as the surrounding dark black smoke, it shook the jungles and his little girl fell out of the hollow and plummeted somewhere down below.

Jewel was already becoming a good flyer but she was still practicing, especially when in dealing with the art of trying to get off the ground, but her wings were still so delicate and she was quite small so it would be highly unlikely that she would just be able to fly back up on her own.

Ever since then the worried father had scoured the grounds and skies looking for her and he called her name continuously as loud as his strong voice would let him, hoping he'd get an answer from his daughter...but he would have been surprised if she could hear him since his voice could barely be heard over the crackling flames.

But he wouldn't let himself stop.

He had to find her, she was all he had left!

Soot covered parts of his body in patches and his straining lungs and the need to cough for air grew worse the more he stayed surrounded by the massive flames. He outright refused to give up searching for his daughter, though, since Jewel was all he had left since his beloved wife perished not too long ago.

Eduardo squinted his bright green eyes, his ocular structures growing irritated due to the blazing inferno that spread throughout the jungles. He coughed continuously as he flapped his wings as hard as he possibly could to keep himself airborne before he found himself in a probable similar situation to his child.

"Jewel!" He called once again, sounding increasingly desperate as he flapped his wings even harder to the point where they started to strain as well. Tears started to gather in the corners of his eyes but he wasn't even certain if they were from the tiny specks of cinders that floated about while collecting in his eyes or if they were from the panic and fear that he had for his tiny daughter.

Nevertheless the adult male Spix macaw slowed to an abrupt halt as he had to rest. He didn't wish to admit defeat yet he was well aware that he couldn't keep this up, despite that he was still stubbornly refusing to leave Jewel behind but there was no choice but to! He couldn't stay in this fire much longer, not since his lungs could not take in anymore of that toxic smog as it was very hazardous.

But he couldn't abandon her!

Eduardo, desperation shimmering in his stinging bloodshot eyes, took to the air once again. He felt his breath catch in his throat when he saw that some more trees in front of him had started falling in an apparent domino affect...and right towards him!

The patriarch of the blue macaw flock let out a sharp gasp as he whirled around to fly in the opposite direction of the trees falling towards him and he could practically hear his heart pounding in his head.

For a few moments he actually thought that the tree was going to fall on top of him but he managed to barrel roll out of the way just in time.

He straightened his posture and was shocked to find that the tree trunks had basically been burnt into hot-as-coal cinders. They were charred black now with little remnants of the fire that ate through the jungles.

But that also blocked off his path.

Tears collected in Eduardo's eyes when he came to the painful realisation that he had actually lost Jewel and now his options had all but been spent. His heart felt heavy and he couldn't control his voice and emotions anymore when he was hit hard with this new painful truth, he couldn't find Jewel and he would have to abandon his search for her. He desperately hoped beyond hope that his baby was alive and had —by some miracle— got away from the blazing fire.

Dejectedly, the older blue macaw turned around and went to fly away in surrender. It was the worst decision he had ever made and he knew that he couldn't repay his sins as he had no way of locating his lovely little daughter.

Why did fate have to rip his life away?

Why...?

The darkness of slumber was as chilling as the cold of twilight and it made the poor old bird's heart beat so hard and fast, several tremors blazed down his spinal column and his wings bristled and his head ducked in between his shoulders when the horrific nightmare —no, memory— replayed in his troubled mind and it began to get too much for his brain to handle.

Abruptly, The older blue macaw gasped as his eyes snapped open and his posture went rigid -his head ducked even lower between his shoulders as he placed a wing against his feathery plumage in an attempt to calm his racing heart while it pounded hard inside his chest; ever since Jewel came back that nightmare had become repetitive through the evenings that had passed on by.

He had this dream for a long time but it had lately become far worse.

"It was no more than a dream...she is home now, my baby is safe..." He muttered under his breath as he tried to calm and reassure himself. He pressed his wing firmly against his chest to make his pounding heart slow down so he wouldn't have a heart attack and die on the spot. He found his eyes wandering to the bland walls as he started to recall the current circumstances as well as dwell on them and review what had been going on as of late.

Jewel had recently flown back to the Amazon, reuniting with him, along with his grandchildren. It was something which overjoyed him and made his heart soar with glee...but she also brought along that pathetic snivelling bird that claimed to have been her mate and the whole concept felt alien to him.

Eduardo didn't understand it. How could his beloved little girl fall for such whiny and human-loving oddball such as him? He just couldn't comprehend it as he lain in the nest with his eyes glued to the hollow wall in front of him whilst his whole entire mood went sour just when he thought about him, Stu was his name wasn't it? Or Blu? He didn't care either way, he brooded over how unfair it was.

Just what did his baby see in him?

"Eddie."

A sudden voice made itself known, making the blue macaw jump a bit as he whirled around to face the bird who had so obviously interrupted his train of thought. His eyes were intense and his beak was fixed into a firm frown as his light blue feathers bristled slightly in irritation upon whom he saw.

Mimi, his older sister, stood by the round hollow entrance with a somewhat cross expression on her face.

Eduardo groaned inwardly.

When Mimi wore that expression and called him by that childish nickname, he knew that he was about to receive a strong bout of squawking.

The older female blue macaw was sort of the second-in-command of the clan and she was also very wise and was quite the social butterfly. Yet she could be very stubborn if she wanted to, she was also very intimidating when someone decided to hack her off. Mimi was a wise bird, despite her headstrong personality, and she provided the role as the healer and even a seer...and she even had a habit of annoying him by forcing her conflicting opinions on to him and it was likely that it was that reason of why she was there now.

The male adult macaw sighed before turning away from her to face the wall again. He wanted to avoid a confrontation from her since he knew exactly what she was here for and besides he didn't wish for anyone to see him right now, except if it was his daughter coming with the news that she was going to leave that nerdy bird for someone more deserving such as Roberto, one of the more presentable bachelors in the flock.

Mimi glared and proceeded to step forwards with a dark gleam in her eyes. "Eduardo, we need to talk."

The stubborn patriarch's posture went rigid. He knew what this was about and he wasn't going to hear it. His back hunched and his spinal cord curled with an uncomfortable shiver that crawled and used his spine as a ladder. He couldn't help but groan beneath his breath and he mumbled lowly beneath his breath while he detached his wing from his thumping chest.

"Leave, Mimi..."

Mimi's glare deepened while she stood her ground.

She was insistent they discuss the matter at wing.

"No. We need to talk."

The matriarch of the blue macaw flock had an ever-deepening scowl worn on her face while she stalked up to her brother and grabbed him by the shoulder, then she whirled him around so they could look each other right in the eyes; Eduardo grimaced when he saw the burning determination in his sister's eyes, it was like they were saying "if you don't listen to me then I'll slaughter you," and that was rather terrifying.

Now she had his undivided attention...

The older, chubbier blue bird glared with such sternness that would intimidate anybody with half a backbone to listen and hear her out on her opinions and thoughts. She was going to make her stubborn-in-his-mindset brother listen to what she had to say and listen good.

"I saw how you were treating Jewel's mate, Blu, earlier."

Eduardo raised a brow and huffed. "So?"

Mimi continued, not missing a beat. "You were being a bit unfair to him and you were treating him like a punching bag."

The male adult macaw rubbed at his face with a wing, sliding it down his beak and letting out a deeply-exasperated sigh "Why shouldn't I? He doesn't understand a nip of our culture!"

Mimi barked at him harshly. "Well maybe if you tried to be nicer and give him a chance, you could get to know him and teach him!"

Ed barked back "I did and you know what I found out? He flies like a hatchling and he is hardly a bird at all, he doesn't deserve my daughter or grandkids!"

Mimi was taken aback and realisation dawned on her. It seemed to resonate in her mind and she understood what all of this was about, yet she couldn't help but be angry at his foul attitude towards the whole subject. Her cobalt blue feathers ruffled and her eyes narrowed hotly as she flapped her wings threateningly and approached her brother with anger.

"So that's what this is about, Eddie!? For heavens sake!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You have to realise that Blu is not at fault for what those humans did and you can't push him out of the flock just because he was raised by them!"

Eduardo didn't say anything in response for several long moments. His tail feathers became visibly more bristled as well as the rest of his body, his head started to duck in between his shoulders so he kind of resembled a timid owl, a blue and much more feathery owl whose very aura emanated hostility and distrust.

Mimi was sick and tired of this brooding attitude that her baby brother had adopted. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and her talons sharpened as though she were getting ready to actually attack him and, heaven forbid, rip his throat out. Eduardo was acting irrational again and Mimi had begun to become vicious and when it was like that...well, it was very gruesome to even contemplate what the end result would be...

"And you shouldn't be jealous of him either! Jewel chose to be with-"

Ed grumbled, cutting his sister off. "I don't for the life of me know what she sees in that weakling..."

That was it.

Mimi exploded into a fiery rage, her feathers flared and a raging fire ignited inside her eyes; her talons instantaneously sharpened and her wings poofed out to make herself look more intimidating. Her light cerulean tail feathers ruffled up and a feral yet ferocious hiss slipped from her throat while she dived at her brother in a surprise attack and forced him to the naked bark flooring of the hollow tree.

Eduardo had been caught off guard by his elder sister's behaviour and struggled under her death grip once she pinned him down by the wings. He examined Mimi's face and only saw rage in its purest form. It made his heart sink into his stomach with fear, he thrashed his head around to try and get free but Mimi held him down and craned her neck downwards so they could be staring each other dead in the eye.

"You listen to me you stubborn fool!" She snapped "I understand that you're happy to have your daughter back, I truly understand. But why? Why isn't that good enough for you?!

The patriarch just stayed silent, aghast and stunned as he looked into his sister's eyes and just decided to listen. At this point, it could lengthen his lifespan so he wouldn't have to die by the claw of his angry big sister...

Mimi continued to squawk in anger. But her eyes started to tear up with sadness. "Your daughter has come back to you, Eddie! Not only that but she found true love in the most unlikeliest of ways. He may not be the birdliest bird in the flock, but he's trying hard to get your approval, shouldn't you be happy for Jewel that she found someone for herself!?"

Eduardo couldn't speak since his throat had been tied and all of those initial thoughts that had been buzzing in his head had been erased from his mind, leaving it blank as it absorbed all that Mimi had said. It was all true. He should have been a bit more accepting about Blu, he did technically bring her back to him.

But still, that didn't give his elder sibling the right to attack him, and it turned out that Mimi wasn't even done giving him her lecture.

The sadness left her eyes and more fury replaced it.

She stood over him, her talon pushing slightly against her baby brother's jugular vein; her body posture was very menacing and her eyes were narrowed so much that they were practically slits right now. Heck, even her feathers were sticking up and frizzing to non-verbally express her fiery anger.

If Eduardo thought for an instant it was over, he was dead wrong.

"Another thing. You are treating Jewel like a hatchling, you cannot shelter her forever! She is old enough to make her own choices so butt out and leave the poor bird alone!" Mimi snapped, feathers flaring as she squawked at her brother who recoiled in shock of his big sister's tone towards him, but all Eduardo could do was lower his head with his eyes shimmering with teary-eyed shame.

He hated to admit it but Mimi was correct; Jewel didn't need him anymore.

The two older blue macaw siblings just stared at one another breathlessly, letting the words previously spoken sink in and the stiff atmosphere absorb all the tension that was in the air.

All Eduardo could do was stare painfully up at his sister as he was strongly pinned to the ground thanks to her talon pressing down on his neck, he may have not liked Jewel's mate nor how his sister was treating him right now but he knew more than anybody that he saw things clearer this way.

This time was no exception.

He only watched as the fury completely evaporated from Mimi's face and she swiftly got off of him.

Mimi stared at her brother with horrified eyes, shocked at what she had almost done in her raged state. She supposed that she could get a bit carried away sometimes and she could feel her heart quicken in pure self-disgust at letting her anger get the better of her.

"E-Eduardo...I...I didn't-!"

She was stunned into silence when Eduardo held up a wing to cut her off again, but this time it was welcomed. Instead of having a look of anger on his face —like she had expected— he had a surprisingly humble frown on his beak. His voice was so low that it might as well have been underground, yet it had become a soft whisper too.

"Mimi, it is alright. I understand. You..." He hesitated to finish that sentence for an instance but he looked at her with saddened and almost-broken eyes, "...you were right. I...ughhh..."

The sibling patriarch and matriarch of the Amazon Spix macaw flock didn't say anything for seconds that felt like they dragged on forever. A dark air loomed over the both of them and Mimi just looked at her baby brother silently, letting him speak his piece.

Eduardo flinched when he recalled what had happened earlier in the Pit of doom.

"Mimi, I just worry...what if that Stu bird leads those disgusting humans right to us? He worsened the feud between those scarlet tribe macaw fiends, especially with Felipe,and we're on the cusp of losing half of the Brazilian nut tree grove! He could do worse for our flock!"

He opened his eyes again and looked down sadly with pained tears swelling in them, he tried in vain to blink them back to try and not show how vulnerable he felt inside...but he failed miserably. He choked back a saddened yet hollow sob to keep himself under control, even though it physically hurt his chest to keep all the sobs of hurt trapped inside.

He sighed and laid his true feelings down and bare, for Mimi to see.

"I...I just don't want to let her go again, Mimi, I can't lose her after I just got her back after so many years..."

The tall male blue macaw stared at the tall wooden wall of the hollow tree in front of him while he felt his heart break like glass inside his blue feathery chest. His green eyes became puffy, bloodshot and moist due to the sting of the burning hot tears accumulating in the corners of his hardened ivy green eyes. Shock overcame him, however, when a single primary feather gently drifted down and touched his shoulder.

He whipped his head around to see whoever it was who owned the wing...although the answer to that question was downright obvious.

Mimi had tears glistening in her own eyes. She hardly waited a second before she reached out and wrapped both her wings around her brother, holding on to him close and tight.

Eduardo hardly resisted or struggled against his elder sister's hug and just broke down as he hung his head and released all the pain and anguish that he had been bottling up for years, ever since the night he had lost his beloved Jewel.

The two siblings hardly spoke a word to each other as they just basked in the dark silence, but then that was probably because there was nothing that really had to be said, the two older blue macaw siblings held each other in their comforting embrace and just let the tears of pain flow; they were finally shedding all the weight of the pain that cursed them both for years.

Now was the time to let go.

The gentle warm rays of sunlight forced and pierced through the black darkness of the tree and started to create a better atmosphere for Eduardo and Mimi —it brightened everything up, especially as far as the atmosphere was concerned.

Seeing the sunlight finally forced them out of their hug and they both turned to face the entrance and they stared at the beautiful forest view that lay before them. It was so green and so beautiful, the sunlight softly caressed every corner of the lush green rainforests, every single bit of green that was lay down in front of the beautiful sunlight.

Eduardo inhaled the air, even that felt sort of new and he almost felt the same as when he saw his daughter first hatch or when she took to the air for the very first time. Hope flowed through his heart and he couldn't keep the smile off of his slightly-scratched beak. He and Mimi looked out into the distance, letting the light of the sun engulf them in its radiant golden light.

Now this was a refreshing view.

Eduardo momentarily looked down at himself, could he really forgive Blu? He was snapped from his thought process and he felt a brand new resolution build up inside him -he momentarily shoved his fear of humans aside. He had to for the sake of his daughter and grandchildren.

He promised himself he wouldn't lose them again, and he wasn't going to break it.

Yet it was then he felt a pang of stunned shock. He felt it when Mimi seemed to break from her own trance for a split second and she gently leaned towards him and she could hear her speak softly and right out the side of her mouth, her eyes never leaving the view of the horizon.

"Eddie," She whispered softly into his ear hole, "Just give him a chance..."

A/N: OMG, I'm soooo sorry that it took so long to upload this.

I had been writing this ever since Rio 2 first came out in cinemas, (yes that's how long this fic had been in the works) and I had wanted to see a scene like this in the movie because we never got to see how Jewel got separated from her family and so I made my own interpretation. There's also the fact that I wanted to see a bit more development between Mimi and Eduardo, so this came to be.

I only just got motivated to finally finish this, plus it's been awhile since I uploaded a Rio fanfic, or ANYTHING for that matter.

I'm so sorry that it took so long to upload, I just hope you guys can forgive me.

Anyways, I hope you like this one-shot.

-Chloemcg