Avian

Trust

Jordan was exhausted. He had been running forever it seemed. But he was relieved to finally be free of that awful place.

His eyes cracked open. He was sore all over. The forest was unforgiving. The first thing he noticed was the chatter of birds echoing through the woods. thick leaf covered branches swayed in the clear blue sky. He took a deep breath. Inhaling the warm afternoon breeze.

"What!" Instantly he looked down to realize Ava was GONE! He jumped up, and looked all around. In his lab coat pockets, under him, behind him, beneath him. "AVA!" He shouted franticly. "AVA!"

She was gone.... he fell to his knees. She was his closest friend,... he loved her.... But now she was nowhere. He was alone, and lost.

Jordan inhaled deeply as his eyes began to water. What was he thinking she would do? She was free, she could fly, of course she would try and be free.

As he stood to walk away, he heard the faint sounds of wings beating. He turned to see Ava flying down and landing on the nearby log.

"AVA!" Jordan cheered.  He was overjoyed and rushed down to greet her.

After all they had been through. She could have easily escaped him at any given time. But she returned.

She was holding a large leaf that seemed to be filled with wild raspberries and pine nuts. She dropped it, startled as he reached for her. She tripped into his palm as he reached for her. He could have been a bit more gentle as she fumbled back.

"Jordan, what's wrong?!" she asked as she pushed away his hand away in an effort to understand what had happened. She glared at him teasingly and ruffled her feathers.

"Sorry. I thought you had gone... and wasn't coming back."  He replied. He carefully allowed her to stand back up.

"Jordan, I would never leave you." She told expressed warmly. 

Even though Ava felt that she wanted to stay with Jordan, in the back of her mind she understood that it might be unrealistic, especially if Warren knew what she wanted.  She wished that Jordan could understand when the time came.