Hey guys, here's the sequel. This takes place about three weeks after Squint joins the herd. I don't own Ice Age. And to anyone that hasn't read my Acceptance story, this is a sequel to that, so I recommend you read it first.

Gupta hurriedly ran through the slowly darkening forest, yelling his friend's name. "Squint! Squint, where are you?" he kept up his fast pace, panting hard but refusing to stop. She needed him. "Squint!" he slowed down. "Squint?" his voice was more of a desperate whisper now.

He folded his hands and bowed his head. This was it. She was going to die. And it would be his fault for not finding help. "SQUINT!" he tried one more time, screaming at the sky as loud as he could, hoping and praying the higher being(s) above him would have mercy and let him find help.

Almost as if… whoever or whatever dwelled above them, was listening and wanted to tease him, that mammoth girl they'd once kidnapped burst through the brush. "You?" he was generally confused, and, under other circumstances, would've been angry, had it not been for the situation.

"Aren't you one of…" she trailed off, but he knew what she meant. He nodded.

"I'm looking for Squint, it's important. Have you seen-"

"Hey Fruit Slice!" a voice the Russian badger knew all too well cut through the air, and Squint himself dropped down from the trees and onto Peaches' head. "Where ya been? Party started an hour ago!"

"Squint?" Gupta asked, almost thinking it was too good to be true.

His friend looked at him and his eyes widened. "Gupta?"

"Oh, thank goodness I found you! I need you! It's important!"

"What for?" he asked curiously.

He took a deep breath, his expression depressed. "It's Raz. She needs help."

"Wh-what's wrong with her?" he asked shakily, worried for his kangaroo friend. He may have joined the herd, but he still cared about his pirate friends.

"She's sick. Has been for weeks now. Thought it would just, ya know, go away by itself, but she's gotten worse. Way worse." He closed his eyes and bit his lip to make the tears go away that were threatening to spill. "If we don't get her help soon… I'm afraid it'll be too late."

Peaches gasped. She was deathly ill? "Show us the way."

He frowned. "Who said you could come?"

"Chill Gupta. She's with me." He looked shocked, but considering his friend's life was on the line, he decided questions could wait.

He led them to another part of the island, where the grass was a least a foot thick and very soft, the aforementioned marsupial laying on her back in a small clearing, moaning in her sleep as she shifted restlessly on occasion.

She looked awful. Her fur looked faded and discolored, her expression grim and twisted with pain, and her breathing was raspy and shallow and uneven. You could see her ribs through her skin and fur. Apparently, the sickness made it near impossible to keep food down, not that she had the strength the eat anyway. She hadn't had proper nourishment in weeks.

Gupta slowly walked up to her side, gently touching her cheek. Her eyes slowly opened, her once alive and excited golden pools seemed to be sapped of all energy, glazed and unfocused. She weakly coughed a couple times before speaking. "G-Gupta?" her voice was hoarse with pain and hollow with misery, with a touch on innocence in it, like the type a young child would have. "Is that y…" the words died on her lips, unable to finish as a wave of fatigue washed over her.

"I'm here Raz. And I brought Squint."

She managed a weak smile before coughing again. She moaned slightly, lifting a paw to touch her chest area. "I don't feel so good. My lungs hurt. It's getting harder to breathe."

"I know, but you'll get better…" his eyes finished the thought. I hope.

She shook her head. "No I won't, mate. Look at me. I'm too sick. I'm dying."

"No! I won't let you. They're here to help."

"Th-They?" she murmured questioningly, turning her head and taking notice of a large brown blur through her bleary vision. "Who-"

"Shh…" Peaches spoke, using her softest, gentlest voice. "I'll help you. Don't worry, you're gonna be ok."

"H-How can you believe that, Sheila?" she asked. "My body's weak, anybody can see that."

"But we'll find a way to help you. If there's a cure, we'll find it. Even if we have to go around the whole world to get it."

She frowned slightly in confusion. "Why would you do that for me? You don't even know me."

"I know you're a good person. And that you deserve to live." Raz's milky eyes blinked. Did she mean that? Even if she did, she didn't know the truth. She had been a pirate once, having hurt (and sometimes assisting in killing) a countless amount of usually innocent animals. She wasn't a good person. She may have been when she was young, but not anymore. Her heart was cold now… and was slowly stopping it's pulse. At least, that's how she thought of it.

"That's not-"

She laid her trunk on her shoulder. "Hey, listen. I know what you're thinking. But everyone deserves a second chance. And no one deserves to die, no matter what their past is."

Who was that? With the sweet voice and the way of seeing the positive in seemingly everything? And why did she seem to know her so well?

"C-Can you really help her?" Gupta's voice was desperate.

Peaches shook her head. "I'm not sure. But if there is a way to fix this, we'll find it.

He couldn't help himself from lunging at her and hugging her gratefully, gentle, soft side spilling out. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She looked taken aback for a moment before stretching her trunk over him and hugging back.

"You're welcome. Always glad to help."

Soon realizing what he was doing, he pulled away while trying to regain his tough guy composure. It wasn't working. He was practically radiating an almost childish joy. He was that happy.

Squint approached the ill kangaroo for the first time, expression horrified. He'd never seen her look so… so weak, so exhausted, so sickly, so… lifeless. It scared him, seeing one of his best friends looking so helpless. "Raz?" he whispered.

She looked at him with half closed, dazed, and unfocused eyes. "Squint? Is that you? Are you really here?"

"I- I'm here Raz." His tone was fragile. "Listen, you're gonna be ok. We're gonna help you get better." He whispered. "I pro-"

"Don't promise that." She cut him off. "You won't be able to keep it. I'm not getting any healthier. I'll be gone in a week's time."

"Don't say that! You will get better!" he insisted. "You have to." His voice cracked. "You can't die. We need you, Raz. I need you."

"I know… but you'll be ok without me."

"Don't say that!"

"Face it, Squint. Nothing can save me now. Maybe if we'd tried to treat it a couple weeks back, but-" she coughed weakly. "But it's a lost cause. We'd need something like magic. And we both know that's impossible."

"Why do you keep saying that?!" he exclaimed, angry. "It's like you don't want to be healed!"

"I do. But I don't want ya gettin y' hopes up."

He shook his head. "We will cure you. I don't care if I have to die, but you are getting better."

The fierceness in his voice startled everyone, even him.

And that's a wrap. I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of her being sick, but I needed a reason for her to be weak and in need of help. Also for Gupta to not attack Peaches on sight. Anyway, tell me what you think.