Disclaimer: I don't own either Ferdinand nor Rio, the rights to both films belong to Blue sky studios and nobody else! ESPECIALLY NOT ME!

Gift of a friend

The sun was raised high into the sky, beaming with its bright yet gentle light.

There were gentle gusts of wind that blew across the valley across from a small Florists farm and, sat on top of a hill as he took shelter beneath his favourite tree, Ferdinand the bull calf was just taking in the beautiful sights. Ferdinand deeply inhaled the fresh scents of the flowers, closing his eyes and taking in all the glorious surroundings, and he exhaled happily through his mouth.

It had been a month or so since the black bull calf had arrived on the farm after running away from a Bull training arena in Santa Cecilia, Mexico, and he had settled in quite nicely -especially after befriending the farm owner's daughter, Nina- and he found that he couldn't be happier then he was right now. Unfortunately, however, Nina had left for school and her father left for the morning but the former had promised to be back at noon and whilst the young bull did feel a little saddened by that he knew that it was a good opportunity for him to get some alone time.

The little bull blinked, disturbed from his blissful reverie, when he heard a strange sound. He looked down when he heard his stomach rumble and clench with hunger.

"Oh," He smiled, "Breakfast time."

He turned around and then started to make his way down the hill and over towards his home which he only recently claimed as his own, as well as all whom lived there. He felt the grass tickle his legs as he walked and he couldn't help but notice the flowers that grew around his hooves but he made sure not to tread over a single one -he didn't want ruin their beauty.

The young calf trotted over towards the stables which he called his small shelter that wasn't the house or the tree on top of the hill, hoping to find some carrots or maybe some other vegetables that Nina had placed around for him to snack on or something...but as started to take notice of something odd happening around the tall picket fence that surrounded the tiny shed.

Curiosity taking hold, the small bull swallowed fearfully and decided to investigate and his eyes widened when he noticed a tiny cerulean blue ball just laying in the dirt huddled against the fence.

Natural curiousness hit hard.

What could that be?

Ferdinand approached cautiously, snuffling as his stepped slowly towards the tiny creature covered in pretty bright blue feathers. As he inched closer to the little thing he started to notice that not only was it shaking like a little cerulean blue maraca but it was also whimpering and sobbing quietly as though not really aware of anything but it's own despairing emotions. He started to realise that not only was it a bird but it looked like some sort of parrot or something...

Snuffling, he found his nose accidentally bumping into the little bird and this elicited a sharp scream from the chick.

Ferdinand jumped back, taking several steps back as he fell back on his haunches in startled shock. He yelped as he fell back on to the dirt and he could feel his chest heaving in and out as he breathed heavily to try and get over the shock and he looked at the little parrot in surprise.

"A-Ahhh!" The tiny blue bird squealed, curling up into the tiniest ball it could manage and squeezing its eyes shut.

Ferdinand scooped up the teeny feathery ball, shovelling it on to his nose, and he smiled gently as he sat back down on his haunches and let his ears flick backwards and he relaxed to try and give off a non-threatening energy to make the poor frightened thing more comfortable.

"Hey, it's okay...I'm not going to hurt you." He reassured the young bird.

The blue chick didn't move, still frightened, but Ferdinand wouldn't be discouraged.

"What's your name?" He asked gently.

The little bird uncurled from her ball slightly and fearfully peered up at the big calf standing overhead, trying hard not to start shaking and shivering. He sounded nice enough but she couldn't help but be suspicious -especially since he was much bigger than she was and she hadn't met a bull before.

"...J-J-Jewel." She stammered hesitantly.

Ferdinand let a friendly smile tug at the corners of his lips and his baby blue eyes softened as he gazed at her as she lay on his nose.

"That's a pretty name," He had to admit that he had never seen a bird like her before, she wasn't like any blue bird he'd seen. He couldn't help but ask her as he dipped his head slightly towards the left, being careful not to let Jewel slide off the side of his nose as he did. "Jewel, I've not seen any bird like you before. Where're you from?"

Jewel looked a tad saddened at the question but responded anyway and she started to survey her surroundings and glanced around.

"I'm from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil...where is this?"

The young bull frowned. He was sure heard of that place before, maybe he could have a look to see if he could locate this place on the little globe object that Nina has in her bedroom. She explained to him that it shown every location in the world and she even shown him some books about many different countries...maybe this 'Rio de Janeiro' place was one of them.

He tilted his head towards the left, confusion etching on his little face and his pink moist nose wriggling a bit, "Uhh...you're in Ronda, Mexico."

Jewel instantly looked panicked. How in the world did she end up so far away!? The winds were powerful but she had no idea that they could be that powerful! Maybe she wound up on a plane whilst she was unconscious and was carried on more winds and she happened in this location in that manner but this was too much for her to process!

This was absolutely impossible!

"Mexico!? H-How did that...How did that happen?!"

The young calf jerked backwards in response to her shriek of disbelief, shocked. Why did she seem so surprised? He glanced down sadly at the tiny disheartened bird with his ears down. Judging from how sad she sounded, Brazil must have been very far away...he wanted to help her but he was trying to wrack his brains on how he could-

His train of thought stopped dead in its tracks when he heard a sudden noise and he looked down at little Jewel.

Her tiny face creased as she bunched herself up, her stomach growling and churning. She suddenly remembered that she hadn't eaten in awhile and she felt starved especially as she had been forging for herself and she was still a bit too young to take care of herself.

Ferdinand chuckled, knowing what this meant.

"Hungry?"

The response he got was a timid nod of the head, "Mhm..."

Without another word, the bull calf leapt to his hooves and cantered over towards the house where Nina lived with her father, Juan, and he leaned his head in through the window and grabbed a mango into his mouth from the wooden fruit bowl that sat nearby and he took it back over towards Jewel. He slowly strode towards her, being careful not to trip and soil the mango, and he proceed to lower his head back down and put the Orange/reddish fruit down in front of her.

The Spix macaw chick hardly hesitated before she sunk her beak into the mango and started to devour it with ravenous hunger and it was after that she finished eating that Ferdinand allowed Jewel to perch on one of his growing horns.

Then she proceeded to explain the story of how she ended up on the flower farm.

She explained to him that she had gotten separated from her family in the tropical rainforest of Rio during a horrific human-related accident and has been trying to fly back to them, yet she also explained that after that she had taken refuge in Rio and had recently gotten caught up in several hurricane storms where she'd been tossed about carelessly thus she ended up rather bruised but otherwise unharmed...this was probably how she ended up all the way here.

Jewel sighed solemnly, dipping her head.

"I want to go back to my home country, but I need some very strong winds to help my wings carry me through the air because my wings aren't full-grown so I can't fly like the grown up birds yet..."

Ferdinand hummed to himself as he pondered on what to do, then an idea struck him and he started to make a suggestion. "Why don't we wait until Nina comes home? Maybe she can-"

But he was abruptly cut off when Jewel started to scowl at him darkly, momentarily forgetting how big he was compared to her, she started to flail and flop around like a fish out of water and she was at risk of falling right off the calf's head. "NOO! H-Humans are terrible! They took everything away from me, they made me lose my familiá and-and-and...!"

Ferdinand panicked yet he also sympathised with the poor little parrot.

The humans from the training area weren't all that fantastic either, what with their ropes and their harsh ways at times and he knew that they could be scary...but he also knew that, while humans could do bad things, there had to be some good in them somewhere and it was his belief that everybody had some good in them. Alas if Jewel disliked humans then he had to respect that even if a part of him wanted to try and convince her that they could be good.

"Shh! Okay, alright! Calm down! We won't get Nina! It will just be you and me -we'll work this out together ok?"

Jewel seemed to calm down when she heard that and she looked into the black calves eyes with huge fearful teal ones. She heaved a deep breath and calmed herself down as she ceased moving and flapping around, her pulse ceased stirring and she hung her head once more.

The calf gently carried the small fledgeling atop his nose and he started to make his way up back the hill. He strode slowly and it didn't take long until Ferdinand stood on the hilltop once more and bowed his head to inhale the beautiful scent of the flowers that decorated the grassland.

He closed his eyes as he done this as he let the amazing and beautiful scent flow through his nostrils and clear his mind.

Jewel watched the valley, too, and she could feel her teal eyes fill with nostalgia as she wanted nothing more than to go home and just reunite with her familia in Amazon, but a part of her knew that would probably never happen and she knew that, at the very least, she wanted to see Rio again...but then she noticed the young calf sniffing flowers and she couldn't help but react in both impressment and feeling a bit odd about her new friend.

Giving one of the strangest looks she's ever given anybody, craning her head to look the calf in the eye and twisting her neck so she could turn her head upside down to avoid him getting an upside-down view of her face. "You are one of the most estranho creatures I've ever met..."

Ferdinand happily ignored the fledgeling's comment whilst he lifted his head back up and looked down at the valley just beyond the hilltop he stood on, feeling the breeze bristle his pitch black fur coat and tousle the tuft of "hair" in-between his growing horns. He let a determined glare settle on his little face, his baby blue eyes narrowed into a scowl that had them gleam with this thought that he wasn't going to allow himself to fail and let his new friend down.

He had an idea.

Then, without warning, the flower-loving bull calf took off galloping down the hill with his coat, ears, "hair", and tail blowing in the winds that whipped behind him, much to Jewel's surprise as she had a very hard time keeping her balance and not tumbling off the bull's head. She yelped in panic as she dug her teeny talons into his forehead, causing him to flinch in slight pain, and she gasped.

"What are you doing?!"

Ferdinand replied, glancing up at her, smiling wide as he called to her over the winds that started to accumulate. "What does it look like?! I'm going to help you fly again!"

Jewel was stunned when she heard that answer. He was going to help her? Really? She supposed he had been very kind to her yet he had no idea he'd go that far for her? She had to wonder why...? Why would this young flower-smelling beast (or at least to her, due to how little she was) go so far for someone that he's hardly met? She wanted, no, she needed to know.

"B-But why? You hardly know me...!"

Ferdinand glanced up at her with a smirk, still running as fast as he could as he tried not to trip over one of his many skinny calf legs. His heart was pounding and his hooves were on fire and running through the flowers made it all the more exhilarating as the blood rushed through his body at a fast rate and the wind caught his slick black fur coat. He was really enjoying this, plus he felt so happy to know Jewel and he wanted to assist her in any way he could.

"That's a silly question! It's because that's what friends do."

Jewel pondered on this. In all her life she'd been treated with kindness and she appreciated it all...but she never felt as appreciative as she had now since this bull calf had no business in helping her yet he shown her such kindness and hospitality that she'd never seen any other creature display so much of and now he was trying to help her back into the air, if she hadn't been raised to be a bit on the tough side then she would've shed a tear or two.

She retracted her talons from Ferdinand's head and rolled backwards, only just grabbing on to the calf's flying tail.

The young fledgeling Spix macaw felt her own heart pound in anticipation as she flared out her wings, spreading them as she let the sharp winds beneath her feathers and she narrowed her eyes determinedly. She could still feel her chest beat like a drum, she could feel the rhythm of her heart pounding inside her and she was instantly reminded of Samba back in Rio. She smirked.

She was ready to take to the air and soar!

Ferdinand looked back at the little blue macaw latching on to his tail as he galloped and he asked her, the breeze now reaching razor points now, "Are you ready to fly?"

Jewel nodded her head once.

"I'm ready!"

Ferdinand braced himself as he saw a small mound jutting out of the ground and he realised that he could use that as both a ramp and a launching point as he suddenly used it to spring up high into the air and the little blue macaw was catapulted through the air.

The wind that had accumulated before caught itself against her primary feathers and she started to flap them as madly as she could, hoping and praying that she wouldn't just drift to the ground like an Autumn leaf falling off of a tree like all the previous attempts she'd tried to do this on her own. Time seemed to slow down for her as she closed her eyes tight, still feeling her heart do the rhythm of Samba, and she beat her wings hard against the air but not as frantically as a second ago.

It didn't take too long for her to realise that everything was very quiet and several thoughts raced through her mind: Did their attempt fail? Was she back on the ground? She didn't feel the grass on her talons nor Ferdinand's short yet soft fur coat...she just felt weightless...she hesitated when it came to peeling open her eyes out of fear of what she would discover and, what she did discover upon opening them, was something so miraculous that she almost had a very hard time believing it was happening.

She was properly flying!

Jewel found the courage to open her eyes completely and her teal eyes widened as she glanced down at the young bull calf just two feet below her and found that he looked just as overjoyed as she did as he stood up on his hind legs and wriggled his forelegs whilst he raised his head and gave an outcry of triumphant series of brays and calf sounds, giggling all the way.

Jewel smiled down at the little bull whilst she was twirling and spinning around joyfully yet gracefully in midair; she couldn't remember the last time she felt so happy! "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

She sang beautifully, looking down at him with cheery eyes.

"Like lah lah lah hoo hoo! One for the jungle família, like bah bah bah boom boom! Calling the beautiful creatures~"

"I have to say goodbye now."

He froze. Even after they spent such a short time together, Ferdinand didn't want her to leave and he could feel his heart sink when he realised that she was probably all alone. How could he say "goodbye" when herself was all the company she had? Maybe he could convince her to stay with him? It was worth a shot...

"Jewel..." He began cautiously as he started looking a bit timorous. "M-Maybe you should stay with me? I know you don't trust humans b-but I don't want you to be alone..."

Jewel's expression softened on her little face, her eyes were soft and gentle as she lowered herself to meet him more on eye-level as her small wings continued to beat through the air in order to keep her airborne. She used a talon to stroke his head gently as she responded with a small and saddened shake of her head, "I'm sorry. I need to find my family..."

Ferdinand smiled sadly and shuffled his hooves in the dirt beneath his hooves, trying to hide (yet obviously showing) how disappointed he was although he expected that kind of answer.

Jewel still had a smile on her tiny beak as she raised herself higher into the air. "No matter where I go, I won't ever forget how kind you were to me!"

She glanced down at the flowers quickly and noticed a beautiful red corsadía growing out from the ground, her eyes lit up when an idea struck her. She glided down to the beautiful red flower and looked to Ferdinand with eyes filled with cheer and hope as she fixed her pleading eyes on him. "Umm. Before I go, can you...?"

Ferdinand giggled half-heartedly as he knew what she was asking and he picked the flower up into his mouth, coiling his tail around the stem, and he used the tip of his tail to gently placed the corsadía into Jewel's head feathers. She bowed her head to him gratefully as she took higher into the air once more.

"Thank you, minha amiga."

He joyfully as he watched Jewel fly away, gliding away beautifully into the horizon as she let the wind take her on her way back to whence she came. She sang loud as she flew off and her voice was just as beautiful as the flowers he was surrounded by.

Ferdinand couldn't help but smile, still slightly saddened and worried for the blue bird but he felt better about her departure. She was clearly a bird of her own accord and needed to be wild and free where she belonged...

He felt his ear flick and he whirled on his hooves when he saw the little car Nina and her father drove in pull up into the little dirt driveway of their flowery home. He felt overjoyed at the thought of about to be the recipient of warm cuddles and bundles of love and attention from the sweet little girl he'd called his best friend.

"Ferdinand!" The little girl cried, running towards him with arms outstretched towards him. The bull calf felt his heart swell as she thrown her arms around his neck and nuzzled her face lovingly into his fur coat, and his heart became even bigger when he knew that he'd made a brand new friend that he would cherish forever.

He couldn't help but glance up at the beautiful blue skies in awe.

Wherever she was, wherever she flew, he knew that Jewel would forever be his friend.

A/N: Here is the end of this little Xover one-shot, and I hope you guys like this.

Please review.

-Chloemcg