a minute from home, but i feel so far from it

“Hey,” said Jewel, and a handful of nuts fell from her beak.Handful, Blu repeated in his mind. Gosh.“Hey, Blu, what’s wrong?”He sank farther into the little tent his wings had made, even as he felt Jewel bend down to nudge at him. “I miss Linda,” he told her, followed by a dry laugh as he realised how absolutely insufficient those words were at summing it all up. He wasn’t sure he’d have found better ones, had he had the time and presence of mind to try.Still, it seemed to get at least some of the meaning across. Jewel paused, frozen in her hunched position for a moment, before something in her eased, as if processing that he was not in any real danger. Just upset for no reason, and also every reason under the sun. Just inconsolable about something he couldn’t even name without dropping that name, the one person his life had revolved around for as long as he could remember, the only person who had mattered until—Well, until./////Or: Blu grieves something he will never have again, even in the face of something he loves even more.