Lets see how long this one turns out to be... Oh yeah, by the way, I never ask for people to leave a review, because honestly... If you want to review, then you go ahead and do that. Like... You shouldn't do it because I ask.

I guess I just don't like seeing people say "HeY lEaVe A rEvIeW bElOw!" - In short, review if you want, I don't care. It'd be nice, though not mandatory.

Wanna know when I'm gonna post a new part? Check my profile! I've put a tab at the bottom, where I will list upcoming parts!
Now you know when I'm gonna post something new! Go ahead and look for yourself, it's at the bottom. :)

Come on I don't have all day. Check it already.

Last little disclaimer. I don't speak portuguese. I know only 3 words or so. So Google Translate is either my friend here, or my enemy. I hold it responsible for either outcome.

Anyway. Enjoy. :)

Blu was still suspended in the air, in the vice-like grip of Jewel's strength, she was looking up at him with a deadly smile on her face, which made Blu feel awkward.

"You can... You can put me down now..." he told her.

"Can I? Okay then." she laughed, and true to her word, she set him down on the ground, gently.

As if... I tell a lie to you, reader. She did not set him down on the ground in a gentle manner. Instead, she simply dropped him. Blu landed on his feet, however, so he was unharmed.

"Woahhh!" exclaimed Emile, who, for this whole act, largely just stood in one place with his beak wide open. Despite being only young, he knew a strong bird when he saw one.

"Pick me up! Pick me up!" he giggled, running over and nagging at Jewel's left wing. She smiled, and did a similar thing to him, only she picked him up and threw him into the air.

Excited, he did what any child would do when they were thrown in the air, shout "Wheeee!", before gravity took its effect, and brought him back down into her wings again. As he was in the air, Jewel formed a sort of sling with her wings, so that she could throw him upwards again. Once Emile made contact with the soft primary feathers in her wing, she exerted an upwards force, thus bouncing him up into the air again.

Jewel tossed him up in the air around ten times, a big smile on her face all the while, and an even bigger smile on the face of the young bird.

On the eleventh and final toss, she set him down on the ground, gently. Unlike Blu, she didn't drop Emile, but instead set him down, and with a smile on her face. Jewel didn't like Blu that much, but couldn't help but return the smile he gave her.

"Right!" began Jewel, cheerily, "Let's go!"

Blu was still uncertain as to how they were going to go, and voiced his concerns, "So how exactly are you going to carry me?"

"Well... I guess I was thinking of something a little bit like this." she said, before pouncing on his back, and wrapping her talons around his sides, and giving a brazen beat of her wings.

The first generated little to no lift. The second made Blu feel distinctly lighter, as Jewel fought to get him off the ground, and with the third, Blu was clear of the ground.

"Whew! This is gonna kill me!" she laughed, still having great effort trying to keep Blu off the ground.

"Jewel, you know what? I think I'm just going to surrender myself to your ideas. You seem to be able to think of everything!" chuckled Blu.

"I can't say that decision would not be for your own safety, Blu." laughed Jewel, who was now starting to get the hang of keeping Blu off the ground.

And with that, all three were ready to go out on a nice adventure for the day, conquering a nice-sized lunch. The place Jewel had in mind, was not a large distance away by any stretch of the imagination. Around 20 minutes as-the-crow-flies. Or in this case... 25 minutes As-the-Jewel-carries-the-Blu.

"Are you ready for some excitement?" asked Jewel, before adding, "Are you ready to feel the exhilaration that is flight?"

"Uh," replied Blu.

"Good," said Jewel, before he could give a rational answer, her voice oddly quiet.

As she beat her wings harder still, carrying Blu became a much easier task. He didn't weigh as much as she had anticipated. As the three birds gained altitude, Blu was yelling in terror.

"This is scary! I'll be happy when we can get past all of these buildings!" called Blu, tight in Jewel's grip. She simply replied with, "We'll be over the buildings in a minute, and you'll be able to see what flight truly is."

"I'll hold you to that," answered Blu.

As their height increased, and so too did the pitch of Blu's yells, the buildings that lay sprawled in their way, soon found themselves behind our three birds. It was at this point that Blu decided to shut his eyes. "I've had enough of this, just tell me when I can open my eyes again!" he shouted.

Jewel just rolled her eyes, and faced the young bird flying quietly next to her, saying, "What is he like, Emile?"

Emile just looked at her, before looking forward again, his answer simply being, "He's frightened."

To punctuate his statement in Jewel's mind, Blu agreed with him. "Yes. I am. I admit it. You can feel free to make fun of me for that."

A cunning plan crossed her mind. "I won't make fun of you, on one condition," teased the multitasking female. She gave her condition, in a silky smooth voice, not loud enough to be considered a shout, yet loud enough to be heard, "I won't make fun of you, if you open your eyes."

"No. That's the whole reason I have my eyes closed," he protested.

"Okay, loser. Keep your eyes closed, then," laughed Jewel with a smirk. Emile looked over as she said this, dumbfounded.

"Hey! I am not a loser!" he shouted, reflexively opening his eyes to deliver his statement. His view was met with her face, smiling at him. In the same voice in which she delivered her condition, she said, "Isn't that a view, huh, Blu?" After she delivered her speech, she went back to looking forward.

In all of his seventeen years of life, the male hadn't seen anything quite like what was laid out in front of him. He had grown up in a small place that was covered in powdery white snow, and spent most of his time, cooped up inside a book store. His life has been nothing, compared to what Jewel, and even Emile were living. The sun basked the cityscape as far as the eye could see, and painted its warm glow onto the female's back. He looked up, and saw the wind rustling through her feathery crown. Smiling, he looked back down over the massive, sprawling canvas of tropical beauty below him. He could stand the silence no more, and he wanted to tell the world his feelings.

"This is incredible!" he shouted. Jewel, smiled and said, "See what you've been missing?" Blu's reply was simple in nature, "Yeah!"

As Blu went on with his touristic gawking, their set destination grew near. Emile stayed relatively quiet for the whole trip, but was even more baffled by how Jewel treated Blu. His dream of the two being together, he was starting to realise, was unravelling. The two birds couldn't possibly be together, given that they were both so different.

Jewel was too busy searching for the location of the place they would be dining at. But as she did, her rudeness weighed on her mind. She was used to hurting other birds, as they were never nice to her, something she didn't let on as much, but the thought that Blu was different made her think. She had never had a mate before, because everyone seemed to focus on her looks, and not her personality. But did she really want to be with Blu, a bird who was afraid of flying? Perhaps she would apologise later, if she thought it were appropriate.

Before long, their landing strip came unto them. Jewel had to get Blu to within a few inches of the ground, before simply releasing him from her grip. Blu was good at landing. All the jumping, and climbing over the years, had made Blu able to land himself with great ease. Emile touched down beside him, fluttering to the ground like a sycamore seed. Jewel gracefully suspended her flight, and landed in the fashion that an angel would; folding her wings out to the side and upward, and letting gravity take its effect, before her elegant talons scraped the concrete.

"We're here," announced Jewel, with a smile.

'Here', was the ledge of a large tower block. Below them was likely a maintenance room. It was about half way to the top, and was easily big enough to accommodate Blu, Jewel, Emile and thirty others with space between. There was a large air conditioning unit that was long since ruined, which was used to prop up a blue tarpaulin, which had been tethered to the side of the building as it continued upwards. This acted as a sort of tent. There was a 'door' which consisted of beaded tassels that would part as you walked through them, presumably to stop bugs from entering.

"Uh... Okay," said Blu, nervously. The place seemed fairly shady; not exactly a family friendly establishment. Jewel seemed pretty confident in going in, anyway.

There was a tall, fairly muscular military macaw stood beside the beads eating some sort of biscuit. Upon seeing Jewel, his eyes widened. His Portuguese accent was almost immediately obvious, and punctuated itself further with every syllable he spoke, "I thought we told you never to come back here again! Away! Get away with you!"

Blu and Emile were confused, and stopped on the spot.

Jewel kept on walking, attempting to ignore the bird, even when he started putting his wings in her face in an attempt to halt her advance. Unfortunately for him, his attempts failed, so he had to deter her by force. He lashed out with his right wing in a side-swipe, and without batting an eyelid, Jewel simply raised her right wing to meet his, and swiped him across the face with her left in the same second, like he had intended to do. The force catapulted him onto the hard, dusty concrete floor.

"It's not very polite of you to put your dirty wings on a female like that, Jermaine," said Jewel, a look of mock distress on her face. She clearly knew this bird and what he was like. He still lay sprawled on the ground, groaning in pain, holding his head.

"I have no intentions of hurting any more birds today, mi amigo. I have brought some friends of my own," added Jewel.

"Just... Go away... From me..." was the flat-out male's strangled response.

"That's a lot more gentlemanly of you, Jermaine. Thank you," replied Jewel, sweetly. She turned to face Blu and Emile, and said, a smile on her face, and in a cheery voice, "C'mon!"

Blu had a horrified look on his face, at how the bird that he was supposed to be mates with, had just decked a macaw that would have made him a laughing stock in combat, seemingly for no reason.

"J-Jewel. I have many questions," stated Blu.

"And what questions are those, my friend?" asked Jewel, in the same sweet voice. Blu responded with, "What sort of... connection, do you have with this place?"

Jewel's response to his question was, "Not a very good connection. But let's just get this over with, if you're not so keen to be here," and Blu agreed with this with a nod.

Emile found his 'mother' knocking out another bird somewhat entertaining; he didn't really understand what she had just done.

The beads parted, and Jewel was the first to enter, with her distinct, elegant stride. The interior of the tatty, makeshift building was mostly bare. Beams of light illuminated the floor from the small part where the tarpaulin, used as the roof, didn't quite reach the floor. The right wall was solid iron, from the old air conditioning unit, and the left was the concrete of the tower block. There were a few crudely fashioned tables and sitting spots, and that was all. There was a panel in the side of the ruined AC unit that had been removed, and the food and drinks were stored within. The guts that made the unit work had long since been removed, leaving behind a shell, that was perfect for preparing bird sized dishes.

There were various breeds and shapes of birds, mostly military macaws, perched in their spots around some tables, and some at the ordering point; the panel missing from the AC unit.

Jewel's lustrous feathers seemed to glow in the dim light, thus, everyone who was eating looked up at her. Some just thought nothing of her, but strangely, some others on the tables that saw her, as she strode by, seemed to have visible fright in their eyes. Some Portuguese murmurings could even be heard, comprehensible to one spoke that language, "Oh god... It's her," and, "Get down."

Jewel pretended to look puzzled, and said, "Quem é ela? O que você está olhando?" "Who's 'her'? What are you staring at?"

She received no reply, and just kept on moving towards the ordering point, at the far side of the AC unit, Blu and Emile in tow. Neither Blu nor Emile could speak Portuguese, so Blu asked Jewel, "You know them?" To which she replied, "Not exactly," with a smile.

As they made their way to the ordering point, one of the military macaw customers, who looked like he despised bath time, sauntered by. As he did, he knocked into Emile, who was minding his own business at Blu's side.

He let out a squeak of pain, and was moved back a few steps. The military macaw simply said, "Fora do caminho, Criança!" "Out of the way, kid!" before moving off back towards his table, which was with the other birds who seemed to show fear at Jewel's presence.

Blu was about to object to this bird's rude behaviour, before Jewel silenced him. "Shh. Leave it. That's just what this part of town is like," she said. Blu was dumbfounded that Jewel would let a scumbag move such as the one done by the military macaw slide. Blu just looked at her incredulously, and Jewel laughed. "You look cute when you make that face," she said, and put a wing on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. He won't get away with it if I have a say in the matter."

Back at the Macaw's table, his pals were telling him, in Portuguese, a few things about the bird he just crossed. Jewel heard this, and smirked internally. His friends told him that he had made a big mistake, and Jewel agreed with them in her thoughts. "It seems that this guy needs to be taught not to mess with me, or, anyone else for that matter."

The military macaw who had committed the vile act, didn't seem afraid at all of Jewel, even saying at one point, "O que ela poderia fazer comigo?" "What could she possibly do to me?"

Finally, they reached the ordering point. The bartender initially smiled and said, "What can I-" before cutting himself off, letting Jewel's facial features soak in, and his mind clicked, as he realised her identity, and its significance.

He looked at her for a full second, before saying, "I told you not to come back here, Jewel. I told you not to come near this place, and yet here you are, snooping around with this guy, and some kid. What do you think you're doing?"

Jewel looked unimpressed, and said, "Well, you might well have told me not to come back, Hao, but, here I am. I'm here now, aren't I? Are you going to serve me, and this guy who's done nothing wrong, and this kid here, who, might I add, was intentionally harmed by one of your customers, or are you just gonna stand there, looking at me as if I'm some sort of joke. We both know I'm not. In fact, I'm on my best behaviour, aren't I, Blu?"

"Yes," agreed Blu, before saying, "Wait. What?" which Jewel ignored.

Hao, the bartender, let out a heavy sigh, and said, "Who gave you the trouble?"

"I can't give you his name, but, he's that grubby little oik over there," she said, while pointing a smooth primary in his direction.

Leaning out from the hole in the unit, he shouted, "Ay! Murray!"

The macaw who had knocked Emile looked over and shouted back, "What you want?" in uncertain English, heavily punctuated with a Portuguese accent.

"Don't be knocking into the kid, okay? We don't have that sort of behaviour around here, yo! I not gonna have to throw you out again, huh? Get your act together!"

Murray's reaction was to curse at Hao, and since this is supposed to be a somewhat child-friendly fanfiction, I won't mention the sentence he used.

Hao got frustrated, and yelled back, "One day, someone's gonna come by and teach you a lesson about manners! You finish what you having, and get out, you understand me?" His English wasn't perfect, but it spoke a clear message. At least to Jewel.

He didn't let Murray respond, instead, lowering himself back inside the hole. "This kid. He acts like he's invincible. He's driving me around the bend," complained Hao.

"Oh no," said Jewel. The irritated bartender continued with, "I just can't seem to get rid of the-", he cut himself off mid sentence. The light from the lightbulb that flashed on in his mind seemed to radiate out of his eyes.

"Hey. Jewel. You know I don't like your... ways... in this place. But, just this once... You get him out of here, and I serve you," offered Hao.

"Sounds good to me, except one thing. Serve me first, and then I will get rid of him," countered Jewel.

"Fine..." growled the bartender, "What'll it be?"

"You sound like you don't believe me," she began, then lowered her voice to a whisper, and bobbed her head in closer to his and said, "Do you think I'd ever walk away from the chance to get a bit dirty," she glanced over at the dirty figure, known as Jerome, and finished her sentence, "so that the world gets a bit cleaner?"

Hao shook his head, and tried again, "What'll it be. Hurry now, I have not all day."

"You have not 'got' all day," she corrected him, and gave her order, "Mango juice and wild berry, if you please."

"Of course," he said, and turned to Blu and said, "What for you?"

Blu, who had zoned out a little, was unsure of what to order, and this came out verbally, "Uhh..."

"Just give him the same as me," said Jewel, "Else, we'll be here all day!"

"Uh, Yes. Yes please," agreed Blu.

While he was saying this, Jewel turned to Emile and said, "And what would you like, little guy?"

Emile said, "I wanna get out of here, is what I want."

Jewel frowned, and said, "You don't like that guy that pushed you, do you?"

"No. He's a jerk," the child replied.

"He is, isn't he? Don't worry. In a minute, I'm going to make sure he doesn't do that to you, or anyone else again, okay?" the female confided.

Emile didn't know quite what she had in mind to persuade him, but he agreed, and said, "Okay," before adorably wrapping himself around her waist, in a hug. She smiled, and embraced it. "You're quite welcome, kiddo. Now, what would you like to drink? You must be quite thirsty," she asked him.

"I don't know... Whatever you are having, I guess," he said, still attempting to cuddle Jewel.

She gave a short laugh, and said, "Alright, but, you gotta let me go."

Emile looked downcast at her demand, but reluctantly did as she told.

"Since we all have no better taste than me, that'll be three rounds of mango and wild berry, if you will," smiled Jewel.

"As long as you get that... Jerk... outta here, then its yours," he grumbled, before disappearing inside the unit to, no doubt, prepare their beverages. Jewel walked away as he went inside. Blu, just following her lead, left along with her, bringing Emile with him.

Jewel paced over to one of the shabby tables, hopped onto one of the 'chairs' and lowered herself into a sitting position, with Blu and Emile following suit. Emile sat next to her, as he wanted to be as close as possible to his saviour, and thus, Blu was seated across from her.

Blu was the first to speak, for a long time, "What on earth was... all of that?" he asked.

"Let's just say that me and this establishment haven't gotten along too well," she said.

"But... If that's so, and this is a shady place, as you say, then, why would you risk bringing Emile here? You might be strong, and all that, but, these guys band together, and bad things could happen," he argued.

"You haven't half of me, yet, Blu. Next subject, please..." she finished. Unfortunately, this sparked a silence.

Blu then noticed something else, about his supposed-to-be mate. "This is a rough part of town, do you always sit with your back to the entrance?" he asked. Jewel simply said, "Doesn't matter who comes in..."

"You seem so... Confident. I couldn't keep the amount of cool you do in such a place... How are you able to do that?" he asked.

"I've been coming here since..." she began, cutting herself off, her face visibly softening to a sad glance, before sucking it up and saying, "I've been coming here for as long as I can remember."

"How long is that, may I ask?" quizzed Blu.

"I knew Hao when he was a kid. His dad used to run this place, and he did so when I first came here. I don't know what happened to him... It was a long time ago. Probably ten years," answered Jewel.

"Ten years?" said Blu, incredulously, "Where were your parents?"

Jewel inhaled and with visible cues of sadness in her face, answered, "They're gone."

"Gone? How?" asked Blu, intrigued.

Jewel gave Blu a look that spoke volumes, and it was clear the fate that befell her parents, and sealed her life as one lived alone, and with great troubles.

"I- I'm so sorry," he apologised, extending his wing over the table to place it on her shoulder.

She accepted his gesture, and took the comfort from it, and said, "There's no need to be sorry. What could you have done?"

"There isn't anything I could have done then, but there is something I can do, now," he answered, now patting her on the shoulder, and offering her a warm smile.

Jewel couldn't help but thank him and smile back. "That is very thoughtful of you, and I will not forget this," she informed him.

"That means something to you? But, that's just basic living emotion. The general respect for fellow birds. Nobody gives that to you?" asked Blu, confused.

"Not really. Respect goes out the window when people see what I look like," she laughed, before continuing her miniature rant, "There are a few people. Nice people. They tend to be older, but, there you go. Everyone was like it once upon a time, except for those who had to live with it," finished Jewel.

Blu sighed, "It makes me sick that people treat you like some sort of museum exhibit, or toy."

Jewel looked at him, confused, "I have no idea what either of those things are."

"Nevermind," answered Blu, "It's pretty much just a metaphor for the ways people treat you."

"Don't 'nevermind' me, Blu. I would be intrigued to hear about human things," admitted Jewel, "Raised by a human... Whatever next. You must tell me about that, some time."

"Well... We've got time now," said Blu, before asking, "What would you like to hear?"

"How do you eat? How do you gather resources?" came Jewel's questioning, which Emile added to, "Yeah. How do you live in a cage?"

"Ah, there you go. Someone owns me, so, they feed me. The humans would call me a 'pet', and that means that they own me, and have to look after me, since I can't get my own food. They buy food in these big square things, boxes, and then they empty it out in bowls for me to eat. But Linda would feed me herself," told Blu.

His story intrigued Jewel, and she asked, "But, don't you ever wish for freedom? Doesn't the cage ever get cramped and lonely?"

Blu remained silent for a second, then looked at the ground, and said, "Yes. I definitely do, now."

Jewel looked at him, and it all clicked in her mind, "So, how was flying, for you?" she asked, sweetly.

Inhaling, and pondering her question, his reply was simple, and comprised of a single word, "Amazing." Jewel smiled, and said, "I'm glad to hear that you've finally had the experience that every bird that possesses the power to fly, should be able to experience from a young age, at the ripe old age of around... nineteen."

"How did you know how old I am?" asked Blu, puzzled. "You look aged. Cage life hasn't been kind to you," answered Jewel.

"So it would seem. Where are our drinks?" he questioned.

"I don't know, but they should be out, soon. Tell me about what it is like to be a pet, I am intrigued," replied

"Maybe another time," said Blu, sensing he might be made fun of, before asking her, "What about you? What is it like to be free?"

"What is it like to be free?" she began, moving into a 'thinking position', putting her top primary on her right wing under her beak, and stroking her chin, thoughtfully. After a few seconds, she removed said feather, and said to Blu, with a hopeful smile, "Freedom is the best feeling you, or any other animal can experience. Freedom is having nobody to tether you in place, and not having anyone to rely on. Don't you want that?"

Blu gulped, and replied, "I don't know. It sounds a little lonely."

Jewel's smile slowly snapped back to neutrality, although not all the way; she still had a faint animation on her face, and with that, she said, "That's alright. Maybe you will be able to experience it one day. You won't be a pet forever, surely."

The male gulped again, and told her, "I don't know if I am ready to be on my own."

Jewel inhaled, and said, "Don't worry, you'd have me. I'll be around. I'm not your number one fan, but I don't want to see you suffer."

Perplexed, Blu sought confirmation, "Really?" he asked.

Jewel caught on to his skepticism, stating, "Yes. I'd help you out if needs be. Isn't that right, Emile? If Blu wants to be free, we'll help him out, won't we?" The young macaw, who was listening keenly into the conversation nodded keenly.

Blu was about to state that he had no intentions of leaving Linda, when Hao emerged from his bar with a tray containing three glass objects with liquid inside them; the drinks that were ordered for Blu, Jewel and Emile.

"Ah. Here are our drinks."

A longer chapter for you. Are you thankful? You had better be. I'll be following this up soon, don't worry. :)