Well, every great thing must come to an end. With that, here is the final chapter of Book One of Love, War, and Sacrifice!

Chapter 28

"Whoa whoa whoa," Rico was surprised at what Dave was hypothesizing. "Are you inferring that after all we've accomplished so far, we've only scratched the surface?"

"From what I'm seeing," Dave replied, "the problem we've found is much bigger than any of us could've possibly had the capacity to believe. We need to get everyone important together at the club and discuss this."

"Hey, guys?" Nico joined the conversation. "I think Pedro and I heard something that might be of a little importance."

"Well spit it out!" Rico encouraged.

"We were talking to Luiz last night. Yanno, the dog? Well, he saw some stuff last night that I think could help us out. He saw some people that may be involved."

"Yeah you shoulda seen that guy!" Pedro chimed in. "He was all 'I saw some crazy stuff!' and we're both like 'aww man you gotta tell us!' and he was just throwing names and places around! We gotta talk to him again."

"I'm sure Kepler and his friends can talk to Luiz about it," Arlene said.

"Right," Rico agreed to everyone. "So we know what we'll do about that. So, how do we deal with all of these guys?" He looked at the large number of birds sitting on the ground with their wings behind their backs willingly.

"In all honesty," Rafael suggested, "just let them all go. They were following a leader. Didn't you see how they didn't know what to do without orders?"

"Peter must've been everything to them," Dave told them. "He was their idol and their all-seeing eye. Cut the big fish out of the equation, and all you have are a bunch of dumb grunts."

"Let me work 'em over a bit," Rico decided. "Then I'll let them go."

Rico walked up in front of the group of birds sitting on the ground.

"You see what happens when you follow an idiot?" Rico preached. "You all get confused and don't know what to do. Let this serve as a lesson. It's not worth fighting the good in this world, because you're bound to lose. In the event that we ever need help, you guys will be first on call. If you promise to never cause trouble again, you can leave right now."

The entire group of birds said "Thank you" in unison and took off, flying in every direction towards wherever they lived. Rico smiled and turned around to his friends.

"Well, that was pretty easy, wasn't it?" He joked. "Now that that's out of the way, maybe we should all get back to the club. I'm sure everyone else'll be back soon."

"Agreed," Rafael concurred. "Is someone helping Jewel out under the bridge?"

"I saw a couple of them heading under the bridge," Rico replied. "They seem to be the guys that'll pull some random good idea from nowhere. No doubt they've got it covered."

"Guess we just head back to the club and wait then," Nico added.

"Alright," Rico finished up. "Let's set out."

The group of birds took off and set course for the club.

There wasn't much sunlight remaining over the city as Einstein and Plato arrived back at the club. To their complete surprise, Luiz was nowhere in sight.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," Einstein mumbled as they landed in front of the club. "The one time we need the guy and he gives us the slip. Where do you think he is?"

"Oh so I'M the universal source of knowledge, now?" Plato said sarcastically but in a rude tone. "You can't seem to find the undeniable answer in that big brain of yours? Hmm?"

"Hey shut it!" Einstein snapped back. "Our night's been rough enough. We need to find that stupid dog!"

"Alright, calm down," Plato took hold of the situation. "You check the surrounding streets. I'll check up on the rooftops."

"Why would you look on the rooftops?" Einstein was dumbfounded. "He can't fly."

"There is more than one way to make your way to the top of a building," Plato joked. "Anyone can figure that out." He took off into the sky.

"Ugh," Einstein said to himself as he took off and searched nearby streets.

After a few minutes of having no luck, Einstein ascended to above the building level, where he saw Plato standing on the roof with a grey figure near the big red beacon. Einstein wasn't happy.

"Lucky call, Raul," Einstein said landing. "Guess he was just enjoying the view."

"No better place to see it from Ipanema than right here!" Luiz said peering out onto the light blue waters with a few gleaming sun rays remaining.

"So we need to ask you something," Plato said to Luiz. "We heard you have a garage."

"You betcha I got a garage!" Luiz replied, pointing up over the mountain. "One of the finest automobile garages in all of Rio! Run by the best in the business, too. We've got every tool you could need."

"You got bolt cutters?" Plato needed to know. "We need to break a good chain."

"Oh man do I love those babies!" Luiz responded. "I had a bunch of fun with those after I got a chain stuck in a table saw. I had to break that off. My garage is nearly at the top of the street car tracks in the Santa Theresa neighborhood! It's right after a huge right bend, and the archway is a milky white color. Passcode on the metal door is 3097. The back of the garage has a huge red toolbox behind this old rusty truck. Bolt cutters are in the top drawer!"

"You are the man," Plato replied. "We'll be back soon. I'm sure everyone else won't take long either." He turned to Einstein. "C'mon Rodrigo. Let's help a friend in need." He took off.

"Wait," Luiz said to Einstein. "Did you guys get your man?"

"We've got plenty to tell you about," Einstein replied. "Wait till everyone gets back. We've got quite a bit to discuss." He saluted Luiz and took off after Plato.

"See ya later!" Luiz bid farewell. He headed to a fire escape to descend the building.

"C'mon, we need to move it double time!" Plato kept sprinting.

Einstein took a few deep breaths, but kept following. "Still think you're a kid, huh?"

"None of us ever really stopped!" Plato joked. "Well, maybe everyone except for you." He laughed.

"Yeah good one," Einstein breathed heavily.

The sun had just about gone down. Only the remnants of its light continued to keep the sky alight. It was less than 30 minutes before the entire sky was dark.

With about 25 minutes left of light, the two touched down at the garage and approached the electronically locked gate.

Plato hopped up onto the keypad. "3,0,9,7." A click was heard. "That's it. We're in."

The two pushed the gate open and entered the garage.

"Back of the garage," Einstein said out loud but directed to no one. "Top drawer of the red toolbox behind the old truck."

Plato made his way to the back of the garage and up to the old truck. Hopping up onto it, he climbed over top and proceeded to the other side. In front of him was a large red toolbox about six drawers in height.

"Top drawer!" Plato said in excitement to Einstein, who was waiting back on the floor of the garage. He jumped up to the top drawer, which was a hood-like drawer instead of a pull out drawer, and lifted the latch and hood open with his beak. Inside the drawer was a large pair of brand new, powerful bolt cutters.

"Finally!" Plato celebrated by grasping the bolt cutters in his talons and throwing them over to the other side of the truck, landing on the floor. "Woohoo!" He flew back over to the garage side and grabbed them again. "Come on! Let's go help Jewel out!"

Einstein grabbed another side of the bolt cutters to share the weight. "Let's get this day over with."

Together, Einstein and Plato took off from the garage, their talons with a firm grasp on the bolt cutters. The remaining light was dwindling ever so quickly, and by the time they would reach the bridge, it would nearly be pitch dark.

A minute or two before they reached the bridge, Einstein and Plato came across the large group of birds that were amassed for their army. They were heading back towards the woods. Kipo and his friends were behind them.

"Hey Kipo!" Einstein called to him. "Where you taking them?"

"I'm not taking them anywhere," Kipo replied, stopping next to them while his friends followed the crowd. "We're just following them back to the woods. Everyone's going home except for me and the rest of us in charge. They've called a final meeting before we head to sleep. I don't think that's a problem."

"It's not a problem," Einstein replied, "but hey. We need to get to the bridge and help Jewel out quick. You got me?"

"Yeah I'll let you go," Kipo replied, flying away. "See you guys at the club!"

Einstein and Plato pressed on. A few minutes later, they arrived underneath the Costa e Silva bridge. Blu and Jewel were waiting, delighted to see them.

"You're finally back!" Blu and Jewel yelled exuberantly. Blu leaned over and kissed Jewel romantically.

"Alright lovebirds! "Plato announced. "Time to end this!" Plato and Einstein positioned the bolt cutters around the shackles on Jewel's feet. With one quick pull, the bolt cutters crushed through the metal and freed Jewel from her prison underneath the bridge. Overly excited, Jewel took off in a flash and tested out her eager wings.

"Woohoo!" she shouted with pride, flying around under the bridge, returning to the pillar where they were standing. Jewel walked up to Einstein and Plato and gave them pecks on the cheek. They both smiled.

Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away…

She walked back over to Blu and he cradled her in his arms.

"Just like the garage, huh?" Blu smiled and looked into her eyes. "Guess some things never change."

"There is one thing that changed," Jewel stared back.

"And what's that?" Blu asked.

"My love for you. It's grown stronger every day." She shed a tear. "And after everything that we go through, it never stops getting stronger. And, and I hope that we spend long, healthy lives for as long as our fate allows, just so that we spend as much time together as we can. Tyler Blu Gunderson, I don't belong anywhere but here. With you."

Blu couldn't believe the amount of romanticism that existed in her soul in that moment, considering how depressed her spirit was chained up. He wasted no time initiating a long, passionate kiss. Einstein and Plato looked on in contentment.

"Yanno, Raul," Einstein looked over at Plato as he watched the kiss, "maybe Diego was right. I'm glad we decided to help these guys out. Reminds me of the glory days of youth."

"Soft side finally getting to ya?" Plato joked. "It's about time."

"Now I know how to get the testosterone flowing naturally!" Both of them laughed. "But maybe we should get going. It's getting pretty dark. Even with all the city lights, there're still gonna be dark spots."

"Should we head over to check up on Diego and Lucas?" Plato suggested. "I imagine that they're at the Conservatory. Lucas's beak looked pretty bad. They'll have to get him to avoid using it. I don't know how he'll manage."

"He'll just have to deal with it for a while," Einstein replied. "It'll heal on its own. No surgery required."

"I still wanna check up on him." Plato got ready to fly away. "If you want to come with me, I'm leaving now—wait. We need to take them down."

Einstein looked over at where Plato was looking. Alberto, Felicia, and their two kids still hung by chains. Without saying anything, they flew over to their bodies and cut the chains with the bolt cutters. Their bodies dropped into the water and sunk under the weight of the chains.

"They deserved the most righteous of burials," Einstein looked into the water as they sank deeper. "They helped out quite a bit. They will be sorrowfully missed."

"We must forget the hardships," Plato suggested. "For now, let's get back to the tasks at hand."

Before Einstein could answer, Plato dropped the bolt cutters, took off, and headed for the Conservatory. Before Einstein left to follow, he turned to Blu and Jewel.

"Hey lovers," he called.

Blu and Jewel broke their kiss and looked at him.

"We're heading up to the Conservatory to check up on our friend. You're welcome to join us if you'd like."

"We'd be happy to," Jewel replied smiling. "We'll be right behind ya!"

"Cool," Einstein said taking off and leaving.

"Whew, what a day huh?" Blu brought up.

"Oh yeah," cooed Jewel. "Quite a day. Now, back to reality, shall we?"

"As you wish, my love," Blu stretched his wings and took off. Jewel followed.

Flying over the city at night was as breathtaking a sight as during the daytime. Lights shone across the city, from the tallest building of central Rio, to the strips of lights on the roads parallel to Copacabana and Ipanema, to atop Corcovado and Christo, to along the Costa e Silva bridge. It is truly one of the world's most romantic cities, even more so after the sun has gone down.

A few minutes later, Blu and Jewel arrived at the Conservatory. Einstein and Plato were nowhere in sight.

"They must've gone inside," Blu theorized. He jumped up onto the door handle and tapped on the glass pane with his beak. One of the scientists inside came up to the door and gladly opened it.

"You must be with the others that showed up a few minutes ago," the scientist spoke to them. "They're up on the counter over there. And please walk. We don't want anything getting broken or messed up."

Blu and Jewel nodded and strode across the floor. After making it to the area of the counter where the rest of them were standing, they both flapped a couple of times to get them up on the counter. There on the counter were Einstein, Plato, Newton, and Margaret. Without warning, Jewel sprang and tackled Margaret as she hit the countertop with a thump.

"You're not getting away with this!" Jewel yelled, punching Margaret a couple of times in the face before Newton and Plato grabbed her and pulled her off of Margaret. She struggled to break free and get to Margaret again, to no avail. An emotion of rage was seen in her big blue eyes.

"Jewel what are you doing?!" Blu was extremely disappointed and confused at the same time. "What did you do that for? She didn't do anything wrong!"

"She works with Peter!" Jewel continued to talk in a raised tone. "She's his lover, Margaret! She was with him when he—

"—He's on the operating table right now," Margaret spoke while in tears. "Your friends saved his life. If they hadn't showed up, he'd be dead."

Jewel eased her struggle with being held, indirectly telling Newton and Plato to let go of her. She sat down on the countertop and stared over at the white sheets surrounding an area of the infirmary. Moments later, Tulio came out of the sheets and was surprised to see all of the birds.

"Oh," Tulio said out loud, looking at the birds. "I didn't expect so many. Blu? Jewel? Are you here to see this bird too?"

Blu and Jewel nodded.

"Hmm," Tulio continued. "I guess you want to know how he's doing."

Every bird in the group listened in.

"You're very lucky that you got him here on time," Tulio explained. "He has a very severe heart condition that caused his heart to stop. His heart was slightly deformed, meaning that he may have some sort of genetic mutation that caused it. This is very common in species of animals that resort to inbreeding in order to survive as a whole. This poor guy has been through a lot. He's very well groomed, so he may have once been owned by a human. He is very rare. I had no idea that his species still existed! That being said, he needs to be well protected and cared for. A friend of mine gave him some medicines to ease his congestion, and he is almost finished with attaching a pacemaker to his heart. He will live a long, healthy life. Thank you for getting him here so quickly. He was in a coma when you brought him here."

To get his attention, Kepler squawked. Tulio walked up to him to examine him.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Tulio looked at Kepler. He noticed the crack in his beak. "Oh my. That is a nasty crack. You're going to have to avoid using it for a while if you want to get better. Stick to a soft food diet and you will be fine."

Kepler nodded in approval.

"As for your friend, Blu," Tulio looked at Blu, "he will be safe here. Don't worry. You can check up on him at any time during office hours.

Blu nodded in thanks, and the group of birds headed to the door. Tulio accompanied them there, opening the door for them.

"Take care my friends," Tulio said his goodbyes as the group took off and headed back towards Ipanema.

"I wanna apologize for what I did to you," Jewel said to Margaret as they flew.

"I deserved it, really," Margaret replied. "I don't know what I had gotten myself into—

"—You didn't deserve that," Jewel butted in. "It doesn't matter what you did. I acted like such a child! Ugh, I guess we all have our moments, right?"

"No one's perfect," Margaret agreed. "I'm sure things are going to change for the better from here on out. Peter will understand what he's done wrong and he'll use all the strength he can muster to right all of his wrongs. That's the Peter I know."

"Life in the forest can be perfect once again!" Jewel smiled at her new found friend.

In the front of the group, Newton, Kepler, Einstein, Plato, and Blu were discussing things, as well.

"So we need to find out how to break all this to everyone else," Newton stated. "Where Peter is, why his girlfriend is with us, and where we're heading next with everything that we have to deal with."

"I agree," Einstein affirmed. "We'll have to piece this together and figure out what's ahead."

"We'll have to talk to everyone else to see if anyone found out anything that we didn't," Blu suggested. "The greater the number of opinions, the better off we'll be in case something unexpected happens."

"I'm almost certain that this is not the end of this conflict," Plato added two cents. "Expect more in the coming days or weeks."

"Diego will need his time to rest." Newton looked over at Kepler. "You seem to be taking the broken beak pretty well."

"Gotta deal with the cards you're dealt," Kepler spoke without moving his mouth.

"There's the guy I know!" Newton joked. The rest of the guys laughed too. "Now, let's see how everyone else made out."

They arrived back at Ipanema market, landing to find everyone else inside. They landed and went inside. As they entered, cheers from the group inside prompted them to cheer and clap their wings as well.

"Everyone," Newton calmed everyone down. "Today was a well deserved victory. Though we didn't have to do much, we showed the enemy what we were fighting for, and that was more than enough for any enemy to rethink their motive. It has come to our attention, however, that we won by default. We have located and came face to face with the bird behind this whole thing. His name is Peter, and you're not going to believe what I'm about to tell you. If you all thought that Blu and Jewel were a rare species, you'd better take a look at this guy. He's the world's last remaining Glaucous Macaw."

Gasps were heard from a few. Some small side conversations occurred. While this happened, Kepler leaned in and whispered information to Newton.

"He has seen better days. Peter was once a thriving member of the last family of his kind. To stay alive, his family was forced to tread down a road that no one would ever dare: his family was stuck in the paradox of inbreeding."

More gasps. Another whisper from Kepler.

"Few eggs hatched, and eventually, it was only him that remained. He migrated here to Rio, and was soon captured by a human. The human took excellent care of him, and taught him the many ways of the human world. One day, the man died, and Peter was released into the wild."

Yet another whisper from Kepler. It was obvious that Kepler was simply relaying information to Newton.

"His objective was to bring light to a simple topic: the taking for granted of everything in this world. He saw it every day of his life in the jungle, and he felt that he should bring about change. He preached to areas of Rio, gathering followers as he went. His method was to roughhouse just a tad bit, believing that it could make people realize that they had become spoiled and entitled. He had no idea, though, what his followers were capable of."

Again, another pause for Newton to get information from Kepler.

"What's wrong with Kepler?" Ivan broke the silence. "He has not said a single word yet." Others agreed.

"I'll get to that," Newton explained. "Let me finish. Now, the plan was not to hurt anyone, but the plan went horribly wrong, and you all know what happened."

The group of friends bowed their heads in silence. Kepler gave more information.

"These poor friends of ours should never have had to deal with this. Peter knew the issue quickly, and only thought it was right to make an attempt to fix what he had done. He had been working with the Marmosets to use them as security, and he had contracted—

"—Marmosets again?" Pedro complained. "They don't leave anyone alone!"

"They won't be touching anyone anytime soon," Newton assured. "He had forced Alberto and Felicia to work for him, and they had betrayed him. Unfortunately, our worst fears came true. He murdered their entire family."

Cries of pain and sniffles came from the group. Nico shed a tear, and Pedro pulled him in and patted him on the back.

"I know it's hard to lose the people whom you cared so much about. But you must put them in the same place that you put everyone else that lost their life in the last 24 hours. Remember them and honor their names.

"But as I was saying. He had an accomplice that we were unaware of until now. He has a girlfriend, and her name is Margaret. She was helping him out. During the fight, they were hiding at Sugarloaf, relaying information via a wireless headset walkie-talkie. He was about to start the fight, and something completely unexpected happened. His heart failed and stopped pumping."

Gasps were heard.

"In some kind of attempt, Margaret came sprinting as fast she could to tell someone that he was dying. She passed out when she got to us, but Kepler was there at just the right time to catch her. When she came to, she told us about what had happened, and we found Peter, barely alive. We managed to get him to the Conservatory, where he is currently being operated on. He looks like he's going to live."

Complaining was heard.

"How could you let him live?" Nico argued. "He got how many killed? You should've let him die there with the same respect that he gave us." Others agreed.

"Amigos!" Rafael butted into the conversation. "What has this experience done to you? Have you no judgment? Haven't these guys taught any of you anything? You're supposed to show compassion to your enemy, with the hope that you enemy realizes their wrongs, and makes a change for the better! This man and woman may be evil, but it is not permanent! Look into your hearts, and you'll see that the merciful choice is the only choice!"

"He's right," Newton pressed on. "So we've freed Jewel from her chains and everyone is back. Kepler here broke the chains himself, but managed to crack his beak. So now he's gotta suffer through."

Everyone laughed.

"Quit laughing! OW!" Kepler shrieked from the pain. Some kept laughing.

Newton managed to stop laughing. "Kipo, have you talked to anyone about whether or not they may wanna move?"

"Why would they move?" Kipo didn't understand the question.

"Well after everything that's happened," Newton explained, "I thought that maybe some family was gonna leave to forget about their lost loved ones."

"Everyone's very content with staying in the Sanctuary," Kipo reported. "They think of it as a place to remember their family members, not as a place to dwell on the violence. It's still home to them, and they plan on keeping it that way."

Newton smiled. "Well said. Now everyone, that's really all that I have to discuss. Anyone else have anything important?"

"Should we talk to Luiz?" Nico brought up.

Newton remembered. "I'll talk to him and relay the information to everyone tomorrow. I think that this night is all said and done. Everyone's gonna want a nice long sleep tonight. We've done quite a bit more than we bargained for, huh?" Everyone laughed. "Well, I don't know about all of you, but I'm about to drop over from being so tired and stressed! I'll see all of you sometime tomorrow. Life is very short, and you should enjoy every day of it! Goodnight to all!"

Everyone cheered and clapped their wings in celebration as Newton walked out with Kepler, Einstein, and Plato. Blu stood next to Jewel and looked at Margaret. Margaret looked at him, and Blu motioned for her to come forward with his head. She agreed by nodding her head, and she stepped forward.

"Hey guys," Margaret spoke to everyone left. "I know that this is sudden, and I don't know how all of you are gonna take this, but I wanted to let you all know that I'm Margaret, Peter's girlfriend.

A few gasped. Others looked hostile.

"I don't mean any of you harm," she defended herself. "I've been severely misunderstood, and I'm willing to explain myself—

"—You murdered our friends!" Nico blast out. Others started talking.

"Nico! Amigo! Quiet!" Rafael got him to stop ranting. Nico stopped and looked at him, surprised and disgusted. He pouted and looked back at Margaret.

"Things happened in the last few days that I can't really explain," Margaret continued. "Everything's been a blur, and I can't really think straight. My best friend and one and only love are sitting on a table at the mercy of humans right now," she choked up, "and I'm up to my ears in little things that are driving me mad. I see what I have done, and I am so disgusted in myself and in Peter that I'm really questioning whether I really know him or not. I cannot explain my actions over the past couple of days, and I'm sick to my stomach that it's become this way.

"Never did I want a war between anyone! That's so stupid! I…I don't know how to say I'm sorry for everything. I feel like no number of sorry's could ever be enough to make up for the damage I've done." She was now in tears, sobbing. "A hundred people?" She fell to her knees. "I don't even feel a reason to live now."

Rafael approached her, to everyone's surprise, and patted her on the back.

"No one here is angry towards you anymore," he said softly. Through her sobs, she stared up at him in disbelief. "We know that sometimes, some are driven to extreme lengths for reasons they can't explain. We want to help you. We don't want you to suffer."

"After everything I've done," Margaret reasoned, "you still want to help me?"

"Of course," Rafael smiled, and helped her to her feet. "Forgive your enemies, but remember their names. They may be an asset to you later in time."

Margaret was very spirited from hearing this. "I promise to never let anyone of you down. I can't thank you enough."

"We can all be one big happy family!" Blu chimed in.

More cheers from everyone. It was about time for everyone to head home.

Dave approached Blu and Jewel with his wing around Arlene.

"It was a really awesome day," Dave said, looking at Arlene and back at Blu and Jewel.

"Yes," Blu replied, putting his wing around Jewel. She giggled. "It was a really awesome day."

"If it weren't for you guys," Arlene remarked, "I would've never met Dave." She turned and looked into his eyes. "Uh huh huh, I can't wait to learn a little bit more about you."

"We'll find some time for that," Dave smiled. He turned to Blu and Jewel. "We'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Thanks again for introducing us!"

"Anytime!" Jewel replied as the two new lovebirds exited the club.

"Boa noite, my friends!" Francisco called to Blu and Jewel, leaving the club.

"To you as well!" Blu called as he left.

"Been nice working with you guys again," Kipo approached Blu and Jewel with his friends. "Anything else you need, don't hesitate to give us a call!"

"We'll keep you in mind," Jewel assured Kipo as he and his friends exited the club.

"I know I haven't said much tonight," Rico came next, "and I know that's not like me, but deep down I've been quite excited over the day's events. Hopefully this isn't the only kind of event that brings us friends together again!"

"We'll be getting together much more often than this!" Blu assured him.

"I hope so," Rico concluded. "See you then." He walked out.

The only remaining birds in the club were Blu, Jewel, Nico, Pedro, Ivan, and Margaret.

"So," Blu said to Margaret, "where to from here?"

"I'm going back to where Peter is," Margaret replied, smiling a little. "I may not be able to be right next to him, but being near him is good enough for me."

"And thus proves again that love really is the strongest emotion!" Rafael chimed in after overhearing the conversation. Blu, Jewel, and Margaret laughed.

"Well then," Margaret prepared to leave. "I hope we all meet again!"

"You're always welcome at the club!" Pedro announced. Nico said nothing.

"Drinks are always on the house!" Ivan added.

"We'll see you soon!" Jewel said her goodbyes as Margaret left and took to the skies. She turned to Blu. "I think it's time we headed back to Rafael's and pick up the kids!"

"Might not be a bad idea!" Blu joked, looking over at Rafael. "Rafael! You coming?"

"Ay carumba, you're right!" Rafael leapt from his bar stool and headed for the door. "Eva's going to be worried sick!"

"We'll talk to you guys later!" Blu looked back at Nico, Pedro, and Ivan as they exited the club.

"Peace, bros!" Pedro replied.

"Good night to you all!" Ivan boomed.

"See ya," Nico said softly. Pedro looked at him funny.

"What's wrong wit' you?" Pedro was unhappy.

"I don't know," Nico frowned and walked behind the bar and opened the door to their sleeping quarters. "I just don't know anymore." He walked inside and shut the door.

"What is his problem?" Pedro tried to shake it off.

"He needs his beauty sleep," Ivan joked. They both laughed. They sat there for the rest of the night and talked about random events in their lives before passing out in their barstools.

Earlier, Blu, Jewel, and Pedro had left the club and were heading home. They arrived back at Rafael's nest to retrieve their kids.

"Mommy! Daddy!" the three kids said in excitement as they hugged their parents.

"Oh my little angels!" Jewel wooed her children. She turned to Eva, who was in the arms of Rafael. "I hope they weren't any kind of problem to you."

"They're like family to me," Eva replied smiling. "They're always welcome here with our little pumpkins! They have so much fun together!"

"I'm so glad they're behaving," Blu shared his happiness. "Well, I don't wanna be a party pooper, but I think we should get to bed."

"Hey I don't blame you," Rafael replied, letting his wife go. "Fighting bad guys takes everything outta you!" He laughed.

"Yeah," Blu laughed. "Good night!"

"Good night!" Jewel said as well.

"Good night!" their three kids came in.

"Night, friends!" Rafael said his goodbyes as the Blue Macaw family left for home. With their kids in bed, Rafael and Eva nestled down for some rest.

"Another day spent with my true love," Eva laid close to Rafael.

"Yes, another day spent with the lady I chose to spend the rest of my life with," Rafael kissed Eva on the head. "Good night my love."

"Good night my best friend," Eva went off to rest. Not long after, the entire Toucan household was fast asleep.

Blu, Jewel, Bruno, Gabriela, and Ramon arrived back at the nest and wasted no time cuddling up and getting to bed.

"Night kiddos," Blu said softly to his three kids, laying down with his one and only Jewel.

"Good night," the three kids said in unison.

"Ah," Jewel relaxed, getting close to Blu. "All our problems are taken care of once more. Hmm hmm. Oh you're so warm."

"I'm not sure why I generate so much excess heat," Blu joked. "I guess it's just for you."

Jewel looked into his eyes and kissed him. "I love you. Don't forget that."

"I don't plan on it," Blu smirked, kissing her back. "There's a reason why they say 'till death do us part'. I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to forget."

"Well some people leave each other," Jewel argued.

"Well that's certainly not going to be me," Blu countered. "C'mon. Let's get some sleep."

"Not gonna argue with you on that one." Jewel kissed him one more time. "Night, my nerd bird."

Blu playfully kissed back. "Good night, my gem of the forest."

Everyone's favorite Blue Macaws drifted off to sleep, and the Sanctuary was suddenly very quiet, yet very bright as the stars gleamed above the city.

The Hyacinths returned to their massive nest on the north side of Corcovado Mountain, and like their friends, they came for one thing: good sleep.

"Something really bugs me," Newton admitted to his friends as they prepared to sleep. "As our friends mentioned before, Peter's not behind all of this. Someone's pulling his strings, and that bulldog may hold the key to who's behind it."

"Save it for tomorrow," Einstein added in. "I've done too much running around today."

"I second that," Plato added. "Beauty rest, here I come."

"Do any of you really believe that Leo will return? Ow," Kepler asked randomly.

"Minimize the talking, Diego," Newton told Kepler. "But honestly, I've begun to have my doubts. After thirty years, you begin to lose sight of dreams like that, you know?"

"I affirm," Kepler added. Snoring from Einstein was heard. "Save it, ow, for later."

"Rest shall guide us then," Newton concluded.

"It overwhelms me…" Kepler dozed off. Newton said nothing and shut his eyes. Their nest was silent.

Margaret flew back to the Conservatory from the Samba club. Posting up on the windowsill, she peered inside and hoped to see her mate.

Tulio was still inside, talking to the surgeon that had just completed Peter's operation.

"Is he going to live?" Tulio asked.

"He's a very lucky son of a gun," the surgeon affirmed. "That was the last pacemaker we had here. He wouldn't have lasted another 10 minutes. The anesthesia should wear off in a few minutes or so. I think he'll be good to go in just a day or two of rest."

"I don't think that it would be a good idea to release him back into the wild," Tulio cautioned. "If his species wasn't capable of surviving, he wouldn't last much longer. We need to run more tests. If we can profile his DNA, we may be able to label the genetic deformities and isolate the bases. In other words, we may be able to save his species by cloning him."

"He's your project," the surgeon stated, walking towards the entrance. "I imagine that he'll be quite the talk of the lab tomorrow."

"It's not every day that you discover a bird that was recently thought to be extinct," Tulio replied. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Have a good one," the surgeon replied, walking out the main door.

Tulio packed a few papers together and walked towards the front door. He walked outside, got into his truck, and made his way back home for the night.

Little did he know, Margaret had swooped inside the door as Tulio was walking out. She flew to the other side of the room and found Peter still unconscious, locked in a large cage.

"Peter?" Margaret used her soft voice to call to him. "Are you okay?"

Peter still laid there.

Margaret started to cry. "Please wake up. I'm so lost."

As if on cue, Peter flinched and his eyes opened slowly. He vaguely saw a figure outside of the cage he was in.

"Wh-who's there?" Peter called with a raspy and quiet voice.

"Babe I'm here!" Margaret was overjoyed.

"Just gimme some time to rest, honey bunch," Peter rolled over on his side. "I'm not feeling well right now. What happened to me? I remember bright lights and a spinning world."

"You almost died," Margaret was frank. "Your heart condition got the best of you, I guess. Remember that big blue bird that you had chained up? Yeah, he and his friends saved your life. And technically, they saved mine, too. They brought you here and they fixed you, somehow."

Peter couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean to tell me, that my enemies treated me like a friend?"

"They're good birds," Margaret advocated. "They want to help us."

Peter thought for a few moments. "We'll help the best we can. I almost feel as if something was controlling me. Some kind of force. Now that I've been freed, I feel the need to make up for what I've done."

"We'll worry about all this tomorrow, okay?" Margaret nestled up against the cage. "Get some rest. You need it."

The two of them stopped talking and hit the hay. The Conservatory was dead silent, and few shadows made their way inside.

Tulio arrived home and entered the house. Linda and Fernando were watching a news story about the bird formations above the city.

"Can you believe all this?" Fernando exclaimed. "It's like they're really intelligent or something."

"They're much smarter than we thought they were previously," Tulio replied, putting his materials down on the table. "This is going to rewrite the textbooks."

"So what took you so long?" Linda was wondering.

"I figured that some bird was gonna get hurt after all of this," Tulio explained, "so I went to the Conservatory just in case. Guess I was right. Next thing I know, a one of a kind bird gets brought to me by his friends. Our surgeon happened to be in and saved his life. He's resting now."

"That's great!" Linda was happy. "What is he?"

"He's a Glaucous Macaw," Tulio told her. "We thought they were extinct. We'll have to see happens." He yawned. "I'm very tired. I'm heading up to sleep." He kissed his wife and then his adopted son. "Good night."

"Good night," Linda and Fernando replied. A smiling Tulio walked up to bed and quickly changed, brushed his teeth, and made his way into bed. Later that night, Fernando and Linda came up to bed as well, and it wasn't long before the household was silent.

Luiz was the last one to get to bed. He figured that it was time to go home, but he was clueless as to how he would manage to. Walking to the main street that runs along Ipanema, Luiz stood at the corner and pondered.

His luck would prevail, however. Standing at the crosswalk activated the red light. At the red light stood a pickup truck. Excited, Luiz ran over to the truck and jumped in the back, hoping it would drive to somewhere near his house.

Luiz lived in the Santa Teresa neighborhood, which was near the center city portion of Rio. The truck did not get him to his neighborhood, but it did get him to the Aqueduct that carried the tram across the city and up into Santa Teresa.

Luiz jumped off the truck and climbed a staircase onto the Aqueduct. From there, he began following the tram tracks back home.

It was quite some time before Luiz got up the hill to his garage. He was tired, cold, and hungry. He hopped up onto a box and input the code into the metal door, swinging it open and granting him access to the home he longed to return to.

"I deserve a medal for this one," Luiz joked to himself, laughing at his own joke. In the corner of the room were his bed and some food and water. If he had been more awake, he would have eaten and drank plenty, but he was so tired, that he collapsed onto his bed and fell fast asleep.

The city was peaceful once more. Lights twinkled as far as the eye could see, and the only sounds heard were a few cars and the sounds of bugs in the forest. Magic was happening all over Rio, from the newly formed love between birds, to the magical force that controlled Peter and Margaret. At this point, everyone's favorite group of birds had probably come to the conclusion that there was a break in the action. However, they had no idea as to how long this break was there to stay. Unknown to them, forces beyond their control were working to bring miracles, and horrors, straight to their doorsteps. The culmination of fourty years of drama and suspicion were upon Rio, and the events that had showed themselves thus far were only a taste of what was to come.

Wow. I never would've imagined that this final chapter was going to be this long! What a daunting task it was! Originally it was going to be out Tuesday, but school got in the way again, and I got stuck behind. I've officially returned from my month-and-a-half hiatus, and I am here to stay! We've learned so much more about Rio 2, and it's getting so close, we can almost taste it! It's sure to be a great success.

Keeping everyone updated on my current progress, this completes Book One. Book Two will not be far behind, and my new crossover will hit the site in a day or two! I want to thank everyone that somehow managed the patience to wait for this chapter, because I put so much effort and time into getting back on track, that I really hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and the book overall. It's been almost a year since I began, but I promise that things will run a lot smoother from here on out! As always, message me with questions!