They were inseparable. People around them started calling them lovebirds as it is wont with young couples. Always cooing over each other, feeding each other bite-sized sweet treats, just for the pleasure of touching each other's lips. Where one would fly, the other would soon follow until people could not imagine they'd had separate lives before. They themselves did not remember ever being separate beings, a boy named Luke and a girl named Alicia. They were one - Luke-and-Alicia.
Their mating song, which they sang at all hours, were enraptured iloveyous. They'd renew their vows of love each morning as they woke up in each other's arms and in that warm fuzzy moment just before falling asleep in each other's arms. Just like lovebirds do. I love you.
Time flew by and people saw less and less of the Luke-and-Alicia being. Nesting, probably, they thought. That's what lovebirds do.
When they happened to see them around people noticed something was wrong with their feathers - they were losing their colors. Luke's orange head was turning black, while Alicia's bright yellow was rapidly fading to white. But they still flew together, at least sometimes they did. Oddly enough, it was the male that was more drawn to the nest, always urging his mate with quick urgent noises to follow him back to their sanctuary.
And than one day people were shocked to see Alicia flying solo, soaring high into the sky then diving back again, not stopping anywhere as if she could not get enough of it. Higher and higher, faster and faster. They noticed she was white as a dove by now. She was beautiful.
Perched up in a tree, black-headed Luke watched her too - his beautiful Alicia, his shiny treasure.
Late that night he did the one thing he could do not to lose her. With two bites of his powerful black beak he clipped her flying wings. So he could treasure her forever in his nest.
No one saw them for a long time, until one day Alicia came hopping down the road. From time to time she flapped her wings that would not fly.
It was only then people understood they were not birds of the same feather. He wanted to hoard her, but she wanted to fly.
Story written for @mariannewest's freewrite challenge. Today's prompt was: "describe a bird". New prompt every day. Check out her blog.