Dedicated to my supportive ex-schoolmates, now friends, for their support and admiration. ❤

Side note; Carla, Bia and Tiago are not present. Whyever would it randomly come up in conversation when both are fully aware already?

The Amazon Rainforest.
Home to the most vibrant creatures on planet earth.

All living, wild and free. Unshackled from the toils, struggle and strife that human beings face.

Among those wild, free souls, was Blu and Jewel. Two blue sphix's macaws. After living in Rio for a long time, the couple, and their children struck out for the Amazon, where they eventually met Jewel's tribe, thus reuniting her with her birthplace.

This was their new home. Although described by Blu as, loud, hot and filled with creepy bugs, they were determined to live there. Happily.

Live there, they did, and happily was adequate to describe the vibes of the occupants of the hollow of which this story takes place.

Predictably, in a place called the rainforest, it was in fact, presently raining.

The fat droplets of life-giving liquid pounded against the lush, foliage of the forest, creating a sound akin to mother nature herself drumming on leaves with watery drumsticks.

One of the many trees in this forest, is where Blu and Jewel resided. It was under siege by the clouds, bombarded by the endless stream of rain, pouring from the vast, grey vessel which transported them to the position of the couple's tree-based abode.

Water poured down the thick, wooden trunk, in miniature canals, making small channels of water in the sodden bark. These streams meandered down the height of the tree, until they reached one point in particular.

A hole. An entrance.

This hole was hollowed out by an army of beaks and claws, from the knot where a mighty branch of this tree once hung.

At this point, the channels of rain were forced to take a different, and rather abrupt route, around this entrance. However, those that were unable to stop in time, crept down the doughnut-esque shape on the face of the tree, into the hole, found themselves meeting the end of their long-distance travels on a much softer surface than the knurled wood at the floor of the entrance.

"Oh!"

A droplet of water landed on the male's head, dampening it, along with the proud little crest, made up of three feathers that was located at the back of his head.

Feminine laughter came from behind him, at his vocal reaction to having a drop of water land on his head. "Did you get rained on, Blu?"

"Yeah... I guess I shouldn't be looking out of the entrance while its raining, huh? Thanks for pointing that out, Jewel." said the creature, known to her as Blu.

"My pleasure." replied his mate, known to the world as Jewel.

Jewel was perched on a crudely fashioned bird equivalent of a human chair. It looked like a bunch of tree roots. Blu was perched on the rim of the hollow, looking out onto the marvellous, untouched patch of amazonian rainforest.

Mother nature's city.

"You better come back here, before you get cold and wet." informed Jewel.

"Not a bad idea." said Blu, before telling her, "But maybe you should come here with me, and we can keep each other warm and dry, while both admiring the scenery."

Jewel smiled, before fixing her gaze with his, and saying, "How could I resist?" She got up from her sitting position, before strutting over to him, joining him on the rim of their abode. She sidled right up beside him as they looked out over the lush landscape.

Blu offered her his wing, to lay atop her back, thus offering to share his warmth. Jewel accepted without protest. As he slid his left wing over her back, she let out a contempt sigh. The gesture was innocent in its origin, and bared no excitement. (I'm looking at you, school friends.) In return, Jewel slid her right wing over the top of his, so that they were in a side-embrace.

Both birds were in a perched position on the floor of the entrance, their wings now laced around the other's back.

"Isn't it beautiful?" inquired Blu.

"It most certainly is, Blu. I grew up here, and nothing has changed. It's the same tranquil beauty that has always been here. For thousands of years. Undisturbed." sighed Jewel, dreamily. She grew weary, and let her head lean against his. Still with her wing around his back, and his around hers, she nuzzled her neck into the side of his soft chest, and side neck area. With every brief movement of her neck, his feathers parted, giving her a soft place to rest her head.

Yet another sigh emerged from the back of her beak. Two pairs of eyes stared out over the rainforest, which had just been plunged into darkness.

The sun had set, although with not much fanfare, as it was almost invisible behind the thick mass of clouds covering the sky. Since it was largely unseen, the gradual shift into darkness was barely noticeable.

Once the sun had departed from the point where it could light up the forest, the rains hardened. The short trickle of rain droplets that fell had increased to a steady stream, impacting the plumage of both birds, and seeping down through their coats of feathers, and into their skin, chilling them to an uncomfortable temperature.

"Ah.. Well that was unprecedented," said Blu, in a disappointed tone.

Jewel laughed, "What else is there to see? Its dark. Come on, lets go back inside."

"There wasn't much point of coming here in the first place, was there?" said Blu, seemingly rhetorically.

"Yes there was. I got a cuddle out of it," giggled Jewel, retreating inside the hollow.

"I guess there's that," sighed Blu, following her.

"And who said that we have to stop there? Come on. We can always get comfortable, and sleep." said Jewel, invitingly.

"There is that..."

"There is. So get over here, and come cuddle with me!" she laughed, a smile on her pretty face.

Blu wasn't able to turn down such a tempting offer, and so, before he even knew it, he found himself bounding over towards his lover, his wings spread. When he reached the place where she stood, he threw his wings around her with great force, using his remaining momentum to lift her off of her feet, and spin her around.

They laughed joyfully, as Blu held his mate up above him. His wings were around her sides, and her wings were splayed on both sides, to counter balance herself, as a natural instinct. As he held her still, above the ground, and their laughter ceased, he found himself staring into her beautiful blue eyes.

When, all of a sudden, he just stopped. And for some odd reason, he looked behind him, where the pool of water resided. As he did so, he lowered his mate a little bit, and held her closer to him. The clear water showed their reflection. Jewel's gaze changed to concern. She followed his line of sight, to the pool of water.

She looked at her reflection, in his wings. The pair looked adorable.

"Sometimes..." began Blu, "I wonder..."

Jewel gave use to her wings, and used them to hold her lover. To make it easier for her, and without looking up from the pool, he put her down.

"Yeah?" came his mate's honey rich enquiry.

"Sometimes I wonder how you became my mate. My one and only..." stated Blu.

"Simple." began Jewel with a smile, "You proved to me, that you would risk your own life for my safety, and that you would comfort me through any and all times of hardship. Our little trip to the Amazon being one of them. You're a special bird. So special that, and not to sound too full of myself, you do deserve me."

Blu nodded. "I know that, but... Sometimes I still think that I'm not good enough... Or that I'm grateful?"

Jewel was confused, "I'm quite sure what you mean, honey."

"I don't know how to describe it. Look at us together." said Blu.

"I see me, and the bird who I love." replied Jewel.

"I see me, and such a special being, who I feel so grateful to have in my life." remarked Blu.

The water on the surface of the pool remained undisturbed. The still, imperfect, if hard to read image, was displayed before the pair of lovers.

"Its like... I came to Rio expecting nothing more than to be pushed away... But instead? I met you." he said, lowering his wings, and resting them in their default position.

Jewel listened to him.

"You. Jewel." he continued.

"And I met you." she replied.

Blu continued to stare at the pool.

"How did we ever meet... It was by pure chance..." he said, eventually.

"You know how we met, Blu. Is everything okay? Is there something you need to talk to me about? Have I done something wrong?" replied Jewel. Her face radiated with kindness and love that only a wife could give to their husband, when they were experiencing emotional struggles such as Blu's.

"You could never do anything wrong... You're... Perfect." answered Blu, simply.

"Awe. Honey, that's sweet of you." purred Jewel.

Finally, Blu took his eyes off of the pool, and fixed his gaze with Jewel. She stood there in front of him, resplendent in her lustrous coat of light blue feathers, shining with a superior level of healthy sheen to his own.

"My precious, perfect Jewel." he whispered, before gently placing both wings against her sides, and holding her tight. Through her feathers, and behind her skin, he could feel each individual rib inside her chest. He could feel her inner workings that kept her alive, through his wings. The beating of her heart, the gentle expansion of her lungs, and the occasional reverberation from within her stomach.

Her face and eyes softened into a loving expression. It was clear to Jewel what her mate was experiencing. Thankfulness.

"Of all the birds who you could have been with, you were given to me. And I feel like it was fate. That we were meant for each other. I'm such a nobody. I was ridiculed for not even being able to fly, and yet, the most beautiful bird to ever grace this planet has fallen in love with me..." he sighed. The shining blue eyes of his mate glazed over with a blanket of tears.

"You were assembled with the softest, and most beautiful of exteriors, and woven together with a loving, and silken soul. Your heart made of pure gold, and beats for me. If it'were ever to cease its cycle, then I too, would cease to be. You are what makes me whole, and without you, I am only part of a once complete puzzle of love."

The eyes of his mate were closed when he finished his sentence, but after a second or so, they opened, and revealed her luscious blue irises, sodden with the fluid remains of her emotion. She trembled in his grip, her heartrate increasing in speed.

"I'll... I'll never ever let you go..." she croaked, her fractured voice immediately shattering into a million tiny fragments, scattered over her larynx, only when they are reassembled, would she speak without difficulty

Blu sucked in a copious amount of oxygen, before removing his right wing from her side, and placing it against her face.

"Sweetie... Don't cry..." he whispered, calmly, stroking her cheek with a circular motion.

Her breaths became shaky, and longer, as a direct result of her emotions. She leaned her face into his loving, comforting gesture, and closed her eyes. His left wing was removed from her left side, and made its way up to her nape (neck), and gave a retractive force, pulling her closer to him.

"It eats me inside when I see you cry..." he added, pulling his right wing away from her left cheek, causing her eyes to reflexively open. Blu wiped away her tears, with two gentle, fluid motions.

When he had finished the straightforward task, his right wing rendezvoused with his left, behind her nape. He uttered the beginning of the end of his appreciative speech. "Do not cry, my sweet one, for I will be here to guard you. Night and day, rain or shine, nothing will ever harm you, and all the time inbetween, I will guard you through other forms of struggle and strife. If you are ever in an emotional situation, I'll be there to comfort you. Quite like I am, now. And there's something that you need to know when it comes to my dedication to you, my sweetheart."

Jewel was spellbound. Under a direct controlled trance, woven by his words, his cast spell, reserved only for those to be ensnared in the throes of pure romantic passion for one another. No matter how hard she may have tried, she could not have given him a reply, or even a hint of one. She just continued to stare at him, her breaths shaky, and languid, while escaping her half open beak like ghosts of her worries and worst fears, to be replaced with dreams, and joy.

"I love you." said Blu, sealing his speech.

"I... I..." stuttered Jewel, unable to formulate a comprehensible sentence, while her mind was so enveloped in the pure passion laced within his words.

However, she broke the spell, and came to her senses.

"I love you, too, Blu." she said, at last, "I love you more than mere words can tell. You are my love, and you are my life, and my life is nothing without you, my love." And without waiting for any sort of permission, she took her long immobile wings, and quickly brought them up to the same position behind his head, opened her beak, tilted her head to the side and dove for his tongue.

The initial shock from the taste in the minds of both birds was almost immediately dispelled, their bodies softening from rigid positions, to much more natural, relaxed forms, as the french kiss continued.

Jewel was still unable to breathe properly, due to the present asphyxiation caused by her emotions, that caused her lungs to take up more oxygen, and thus, she was feeling rather tired out, and exhaustion got the better of her. She was forced to break off their loving embrace after just thirty seconds. Her now emotion fatigued system began to wind down, and she was sent into a state of drowsiness, which Blu picked up on when he noticed that she had to lean on him more.

"I feel... So tired..." she yawned.

Blu smiled warmly at her, "Now, now. Lets get you into the nest, my sweetheart."

He let his wings run down her body, to the position they were at before, when this whole emotional ordeal began, and swept her tired form clear off the ground. His wings were behind her back, and he held her in a laid back position, before moving her towards their shared nest, and gently reclining her down inside.

The feeling of weight being taken off of her feet meant that falling asleep for her, was not an arduous task. She had enough energy stored in her system to whisper one last sentence, before succumbing to the mystical world of dreams; a place where she would reside for many hours, before likely waking in the embrace of her lover, in a tender cuddle. Her final words before departure, were three simple names, along with an address. "I love you, Blu."

Her eyes closed, her movements ceased.

"I love you too... My precious... precious Jewel... Sleep well, angel..."

With his beautiful mate asleep, he looked at her as she slept for a brief time. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, as she took in breaths with much grater ease, now that she wasn't choked on various tender emotions. She looked so peaceful. Blu felt proud, and blessed, that this was the creature to be called his mate.

Blu had glanced at the entrance and saw a bright light that was cast over one side of the hollow like a fluorescent blanket. One last time, hearing tranquil, peaceful silence, Blu wandered over to the entrance of the hollow.

He was greeted with the moon, staring down at him from its unreachable vantage point in space, casting its ghostly white light across the beautiful, tropical rain forest, the Amazon, where he and Jewel called home, and lived happily together.

"Thank you..." said Blu to the moon, his voice echoing into the, now cloudless amazonian sky. He hoped that fate, itself would hear him, and take appreciation for gifting him such a precious being.

The stars shone for the couple that night.
"Thank you..."