COPYRIGHT: I do not own Rio, related themes, and/or characters, as they are owned by Blue Sky Films and 20th Century Fox. I only own the plot and development of this story, as well as all original characters.

As you can see, this is my first story! Yay! *Clap at your screen here*

I am planning to make this a six to seven chapter story, depending on how it goes. I am also planning to publish one chapter every Sunday until New Year's (Jan. 1st). This is to try to coordinate for Blu and Jewel to have their Christmas the same day we have ours in five weeks! So check in here on December 25th!

Once you read the story, please review it! I always love new ideas, suggestions, constructive criticism, pointing out mistakes (I make them too, so relax), or simply expressing that you liked or disliked the story! Anything (but flaming/ negative comments) helps!

Thanks a lot, and enjoy the story.

December 21, 2011

Jewel:

Rays of light in brilliant orange and yellow slipped over the horizon as the city of Rio was preparing for another hot and humid day. Birds were off to fetch food for their peeping hatchlings, while the humans dove into the sparkling lukewarm waters off of Rio's beaches.

A sliver of the morning's early light squeezed through a window and awoke me from my sleep. Groggily, I sat up and rubbed my eyes, tired from the strange, yet amazing adventure from the day before. I looked around and scanned my surroundings. I was on one of many large tables positioned around the very spacious room. These tables held an assortment of medicines, cages, sinks, strange glowing boxes and other objects I could never fully explain. The table I was on held a row of three-sided cardboard walls that separated different "rooms" for each bird.

The small room where I slept for the night consisted of a square tan carpet for flooring and a soft white pillow for a bed in a corner. Directly to the right of the pillow in the second corner was a clear container filled with water and a small dish of birdfeed.

I looked over at my wing and sighed. A cloth was wrapped around my left wing and was tied down with a single lace that slung over my shoulder (almost what humans would call a "sling"). I flinched at the memory of that fateful metallic cage crashing down upon my wing. From what Tulio, the ornithologist, said, it would be (give or take) about a week to recover.

In other words, a week of no flying. Great... I blame that idiot Nigel for this. If I ever see that cockatoo again, I'll break both his ugly wings and throw him off a cliff. I suppose I still have to thankful that Blu was there though. If it wasn't for him, I'd have bigger problems than a simple "broken wing".

Speaking about Blu, where was he? I scanned around the room.

"Blu?" I called out. Silence.

"Bluuu…" No reply.

I walked down the long row of bird cubicles, searching for the bird that saved my life.

"Blu!" Where has that bird gone to? I asked myself.

I detected the sound of running water. Curious, I walked in the direction of the sound, and, sure enough, saw an azure macaw bending over a sink at the end of the table.

"Blu?" I cocked my head, baffled.

The macaw pulled his head up so suddenly that he hit his head with the faucet, making a loud thump. I giggled as I saw him trying to compose himself from this very comical situation.

"Owww." The macaw chuckled lightly and rubbed his head.

"Nice Blu... Can't even start the morning without hurting yourself." I remarked sarcastically.

"Hey, you caught me at a bad time!" He responded.

Walking over to the sink, I asked, "What are you doing in a sink anyways?" I peered into the sink and saw a light green liquid escape through the drain.

"I'm rinsing my mouth. See?" He pointed to a large bottle filled about three-quarters with a fluid that had the exact same light-green color.

"What is it?" I stared at the large bottle which was nearly my height.

"Why, it's mouthwash!" He chuckled to himself. "Or in my case, beakwash!" He beamed at his lame attempt of a joke.

"Uh... okay... Why do you need it again?"

Blu looked a bit shocked. "Are you kidding? The mouth is full of germs and bacteria that can eat away at the enamel of your teeth! By rinsing, you kill the bacterial plaque causing cavities and gingivitis, and don't forget the fluoride to protect against tooth decay."

"But Blu... You don't even have teeth to decay..." I pointed out humorously. Blu opened his mouth to speak, but stopped halfway, realizing I pointed a major flaw in his theory.

"Oh." He spoke at last. "That's right." He thought for a couple seconds more and shrugged. "Well, at least it makes my breath minty."

A devious grin stretched across my face as an idea came to my mind. I walked up to Blu, our bodies growing nearer and nearer. I closed my eyes and leaned in slowly, advancing in to kiss him, beak to beak. But the moment right before our beaks touched, I inhaled and leaned back, taking a step in reverse. I then watched Blu turn a deeply red color and looked shyly away.

I looked off in the distance, over Blu's shoulder. "Hm. I suppose that you're right."

I then looked back at him, giving a mischievous smile. "But hálito fresco não vou deixar você me beijar tão facilmente." I trilled in my high-pitched Portuguese tongue. I then walked away from the scene, completely aware that Blu was staring right at me, confused, with his mouth wide-open.

(hálito fresco não vou deixar você me beijar tão facilmente = …fresh breath will not let you kiss me so easily)

…

After eating breakfast in my cubicle (which consisted of a variety of nuts and seeds), I walked to the end of the table near the sink. Tulio, Linda, and Fernando were talking back and forth while Blu was listening. Blu seemed very excited, as he had a smile on his face and walked back and forth.

"What's going on?" I asked Blu as I walked up beside him.

"Linda had a great idea! You know, Christmas is next week right?"

"Christmas?"

"Yeah, Christmas! You decorate Christmas trees, hang up stockings, presents, and, the best part of all, Santa Claus!" Blu looked delighted to explain the holiday to me.

"Santa Claus?"

"Well, Santa's his shortened name. Basically, he's a fat jolly person who goes into human's houses and leaves presents under their trees at night, for all the good girls and boys."

An obese happy person sneaking into human's houses at night? Why would humans be looking forward to that?

"Anyways..." Blu continued. "Since Christmas is on December 25th, and it's only five days away, Linda thought that we could all go to Minnesota and spend Christmas there!"

My jaw dropped as a flurry of questions swarmed my mind. Is Blu actually suggesting for me to leave Brazil? To go to Minnesota?

Blu's excitement dissipated as he sensed my uncertainty about the trip. "Jewel? You ok?"

I shook my head out of my trance and looked at Blu, trying to regain my composure. "What? I'm fine."

"So you're okay with the trip?"

I paused for a second. "Do you absolutely want me to go?"

"Definitely!"

"You sure?"

"Of course!"

I faked a sigh. "Alright. If you really can't spend a few days away from me, I'll go." I smirked.

Blu smirked as well, accepting my answer. "Great. Linda reserved a spot on the plane for us on Tuesday. So we all leave in two days."

Ugh. Not ANOTHER plane… This trip is becoming a real pain. And we didn't even leave Brazil yet!

Blu looked off in the distance before suddenly looking back at me.

"Oh. I almost forgot. Tulio said your wing is fine to sleep in the breeding chamber with me toni-" Blu stopped himself halfway through his words, realizing what he just said.

The troubling cloud of the trip suddenly vanished as Blu made his very "suggestive" comment. I immediately took advantage of the situation to make Blu feel as uncomfortable as possible.

"Oh, you want to sleep with me?" I smirked at him amusingly.

Blu tried to explain himself and his innocent intentions, but not without making himself look like a fool in the process.

"S...Sleeping with you? I didn't say that! Well, I said it, but I swear didn't intent it that way. Not that I wouldn't want to sleep with you! I just mea-"

I put a feather from my wing against his beak, hushing him. "Alright. I'll… "sleep" … with you."

…

Blu:

Wow... I looked beside me and recognized a cerulean macaw that was Jewel, sleeping with her back to me. We were both in the hollowed-out tree, the same tree where we first met near the dented air vent.

A question came to mind: How the heck did this all happen? Not a week ago, I was simply plain old nerd Blu. Reading books, drinking hot cocoa. That was my schedule, day in and day out. Now, I'm sleeping next to one of the most, correction, THE most beautiful bird in the world.

Jewel was right about the weather; it was bone chillingly cold that night. I was shivering terribly, realizing that my coat of feathers didn't stand a chance against Mother Nature. I then saw Jewel shiver, probably as chilled as me.

Great… she was freezing.

I started to weigh the Pros and Cons, then made a mental groan when the Pros outweighed the Cons.

I really hope I don't regret this…

Slowly, I inched closer to the sapphire bird next to me, taking as much caution as knights to sleeping dragons. My stomach started feeling uneasy, my stomach filled with butterflies, but I continued moving closer. When my feathers were barely brushing against hers, I stopped.

Alright…You can do it…

Intentionally, I stretched my wings and yawned, letting my wing drip over Jewel. When my wing made contact with Jewel, I pressed my eyes shut, awaiting the torturous pain coming to me. But amazingly, Jewel didn't move an inch. She didn't slap me with her wing or kick me out of the tree. If anything, she started to relax, and cuddled into my wing.

It was like she ACTUALLY enjoyed it.

What really struck me though, was that I started having the same reaction. I felt her cozy warmth spread throughout my wing and my entire body. It was weird, and I felt extremely awkward being so close, but I liked it. It's similar if her warmth ignited a fire inside my calm, beating heart. It was satisfying, like drinking a gallon of water after suffering from dehydration your entire life.

Well… Since I'm here, I might as well enjoy it. I closed my eyes and leaned my head next to her's…

I believed I could stay in that tree for eternity, with Jewel under my wing. Technically, it's physically improbable, but at that moment, I felt anything was possible. I didn't have a problem in the world. But then again, Jewel had one. Images of Jewel's distressed face flashed into my mind.

I lifted my head and sat up, the warmth of her body dissipated from mine. Why was Jewel so troubled when I told her about the trip to Minnesota? What didn't she like about the trip? Shouldn't she be happy to go?

"Blu?" I hear in a whisper.

I turned my head instantly for the sound. I scanned the tree, searching for the source of that voice. I then looked down near my feet and saw Jewel, her head slightly raised off the floor, staring at me.

"What's wrong?" She spoke in a slightly louder tone.

The funny part was that she was the problem.

I shook my head. "Nothing." I gave her a meek smile. "Go on back to sleep."

And on that note, I laid down on the floor, my back facing Jewel's. I sighed and closed my eyes, realizing that all my hard work was thrown right in the trash.

You screwed it up Blu. Great job.

After a brief pause however, I felt a light nudging on my shoulder. I didn't open my eyes, but I still turned and laid on my stomach.

I then felt someone lift my wing and close around another warm body. I peeked out of one eye, and saw Jewel, nestled under my wing.

I settled my head near hers once again, and allowed the darkness to close into my vision, drifting off into a long and restful slumber.

Version History:

11-20-11: 1.0: First Release

11-20-11: 1.1: Formatting

12-13-11: 1.2: Deleted "Version History" on Ch. 2; All version histories will be on Ch. 1; Deleted Ch. 4 (Not Rio Part 2 Holdoff)

12-30-11: Moved up the dates one day to fix a plot-hole.