Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Ice Age belongs to the wonderful people at Blue Sky and Twentieth Century Fox.
A/N: This is my first Ice Age fanfic. ^.^ It's not much, just a little idea that popped up and demanded to be written. I hope it doesn't suck too much. ;)
The blizzard had dissipated into a light snowfall, but the wind was still icy and bitter. Diego lay on the ground, the snow soothing his wounds somewhat. He heard, as if from a great distance, a low, rumbling growl, and looked up just in time to see the last of his pack running away. He immediately put his head back down again, as the effort of lifting it had caused it to throb painfully.
"We did it!" Sid cried, triumphantly. The human baby he was holding gurgled, and that's when they saw Diego.
He watched as they approached him, despair showing clearly in their eyes.
"We were…some team, huh?" he managed, lifting his head again despite the pain, to look at his friends. Friends…only a day ago, he would have scoffed at the idea. Only a day ago, they were nothing more than prey, and a very convenient set of tools. But after all they'd been through, he realized he actually liked the two misfits. By the time he'd realized his mistake and made up his mind, it was almost too late. He couldn't blame Manfred for being angry, then; after all, he had intended to kill them. It was a wonder they trusted him after that.
He'd made it up to them. He'd helped set things right. At least he'd die with a clear conscience…
"'Were'? Come on, we're still a team." Said Manfred. He and Sid exchanged glances, then looked back at the fallen saber.
"I'm, uh, sorry I set you up…" Diego said, looking away. He rested his head again, shutting his eyes, to soothe the pain and block out the scene. Worse than any of his physical pain was the sight of Manny's and Sid's faces, and the human baby. All three looked ready to cry, though he doubted the baby really understood.
"Ah, you know me. I'm too lazy to hold a grudge." Sid set Roshan down, and the baby put a tiny hand on Diego's nose.
"Hey, knock it off, squirt," said Diego. "You gotta be strong. You have to take care of Manfred and Sid…especially Sid…"
"C'mon, you can lick this," said Sid. "You're a tiger! Look, I'll carry you...c'mon, what do you say?"
Diego would have laughed at the thought, if he weren't in so much pain.
"C'mon, Diego, come on! Tell him he's gonna be okay, Manny!"
Manfred didn't say a word. Diego could see in his eyes that he couldn't say what Sid asked.
"Listen," Diego said. He couldn't stay awake much longer… "You have to leave me here. If those humans get through the pass, you'll never catch them…"
"You didn't have to do that," Manfred said simply.
Diego looked at his friends one last time. "That's what you do in a herd."
The last thing he heard was the baby's whimpering, then everything went black.
*****
He was walking…
The first thing Diego was aware of was that he was walking. He wasn't sure how, or where. He looked around, but couldn't see anything through blank white fog. He was warm, and dry. The pain was gone, and he could barely remember lying in the snow, on the brink of death. Was it moments ago, or years?
As he moved on, he became aware of shapes moving through the mist. He approached one, and soon recognized the shape as a feline. As he got closer, he saw it was Soto. His expression was vague, and Diego wondered if Soto even saw him.
He passed Soto, and soon realized that the shapes were all members of his old pack. Some had been killed recently by the human tribe, and others had died long before then, when he was only a cub. Some seemed to recognize him, but none said a word.
Walking further, Diego saw another shape through the mist. It stood upright, and he soon realized it was a human. Though he wasn't sure why, he approached it, and as he got close, he saw it was a woman…Roshan's mother.
They stood silently, looking at each other. After a moment, she extended her hand towards him. Diego looked at it, not sure what to do. The human touched him on the head, lightly, then withdrew her hand.
Somehow, though she didn't speak, he felt as if she had told him something. He looked at her face, and saw that she was smiling, faintly. He was forgiven. He smiled back, then realized she was gone. He looked all around him, but he couldn't see any of the other shapes, either. His vision started to black out again, and he felt a sensation in his gut, as if he was moving very quickly.
He opened his eyes, testing them, and realized he could see again.
Then he realized that he was cold.
And the pain!
After feeling nothing for a while, the returning pain hit him like the rock he'd been thrown into. He winced.
But he soon found that it wasn't quite as bad as it had been before. He pushed himself up, slowly and carefully, and found he was strong enough to stand. He took a step. And another. He stumbled, but caught himself, and slowly managed to walk, though he had to limp.
He looked around, and found he was still at Half Peak. What had happened? How long was he out?
Everything came back in a rush. But…he was certain that…hadn't he died? Was that all a dream?
It had seemed too real to be a dream, despite having all the signs of one.
Perhaps he'd been given a second chance?
He looked at the ground where he'd fallen, and found a set of tracks leading away from the spot. One belonged to a mammoth, and the other a sloth. And they were still fresh.
His hope returned, and he followed the tracks, slowly. They led, as he'd expected, down towards Glacier Pass.
It wasn't long, even with his limp, before he was approaching the pass. He could see them…there they were, Manfred and Sid, standing in the middle of the pass. The humans were walking away from them, and there was Roshan, in his father's arms, still looking back at his friends. The baby had his eyes covered, playing peek-a-boo. As he removed his hands, he looked at Diego, and smiled.
Diego smiled back, covering his own eyes with a paw, then removing it and waving, as the humans disappeared over a hill.