Author's Note: So! After all this time, I'm back with another Diego/Sid ficlet. I loved the third movie tons, and since it was pretty lacking in any decent fanservice for my favorite pairing, I was inspired to write something for right after the movie :D I really have no idea where the idea came from to make this into two parts. I guess I just got a little carried away with this first part, and just decided to split it into two separate chapters. So this one's just to get you all into it, and the second chapter is where it'll all be at ;D and yeah, it'll only be two chapters total.

So without any further babbling on my part, here you all go!

"How Strange"

If Wishes Were Blue Skies

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"Manny, have you noticed anything strange about Diego or Sid?"

Manny glanced up, his trunk still busy tucking Peaches in for the night. The tiny mammoth cooed softly in her sleep, and her father gave her one last stroke of her fur before giving Ellie his full attention.

"Strange, as in…?" he inquired, not exactly sure what she was talking about.

"Well they've been fighting a lot lately," she stated.

Manny blinked. "It's Diego and Sid. They always fight."

Ellie rolled her eyes, thinking to herself that she probably shouldn't have expected any better. But still she pressed. "I know that Manny, but it's been worse than usual! You seriously haven't noticed? Or is it just one of those 'guys don't talk to guys about guy problems' thing?"

"Hey now!" he countered. "I'll have you know that Diego agrees with me completely on that, so it's not just me."

Ellie made a face, but sighed. "Well maybe I'll go talk to one of them this time. Since last time I sent you off, Diego nearly left for good."

Manny said nothing, though his ever so slight annoyance all but disappeared as Ellie laid herself on the ground next to Peaches, nuzzling her gently with her trunk. He took a step closer and settled down on the other side of the one-and-a-half-week old. Silence passed over them, Manny's thoughts going over what Ellie had been saying.

A bit hesitantly, he asked, "You really think they're fighting more than usual?"

Ellie looked up, seemed to think about it for a moment, and then nodded. "The most they ever seemed to ever do was really small. Y'know, just teasing and picking on each other. But since we came back up, it just seems a lot more serious. You know what I mean?"

Manny didn't completely, but nodded anyway. "I think…?"

"The other day I swore they were gonna start fistfighting!" she added. "Like they were gonna just start whackin' away at each other!"

He raised an eyebrow, completely surprised. "Really?"

Ellie nodded again, looking serious. They were silent once again, before she glanced directly at her mate, an expression in them he couldn't quite place.

"Do you think…" she bit her lip, trying to form the question in her mind the best way possible. "Did you ever think that maybe, uh…" Again she paused, not knowing how exactly to continue.

Manny looked on at her, curious now. "Think what?"

Ellie felt herself blush. She'd been thinking about it for some time now, but talking about it with Manny had never crossed her mind. And now that she was about to, somehow she felt a little embarrassed. But she figured it would be best to just get it out there.

"Do you think that maybe Sid and Diego… that they… well, you know?"

Her only response from her mate was a blank stare. "Know what?"

Ellie groaned. "That they might y'know," she said with more emphasis, moving her trunk in a suggestive manner as to try and give him a clue. But he just continued to stare at her, completely oblivious.

"Know what?" he asked again.

Oh how she could've bopped him one. "Oh come on Manny, even you're not this clueless. You know!"

But Manny didn't know whether to be more confused at her, or what she was trying to tell him. "No I don't," he stated simply.

"Yes you do!"

"No, Ellie, I don't!"

"Yes, Manny, you do!"

"Ellie, for crying out loud, why don't you just tell me!"

She glared at him, momentarily hating him for being so obtuse. Well, if he wanted her to say it, then she would say it.

"I think… Diego and Sid are attracted to each other."

The clueless stare she'd received moments ago from Manny was nothing compared to the look she was getting now. She might as well have sprouted an extra head and expressed the undying love she'd harbored for Buck since the last they'd seen him.

For a minute Ellie wondered if she'd surprised Manny into muteness, for he'd looked like he was attempting to speak a few times, but no sound would come out, and he kept making odd faces at her.

"Oh Manny would you just say something already?"

He was stumped for a few moments more, until finally he was able to push a single word out.

"Attracted?"

"Yes," she answered.

More silence, and then, "… To each other?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you want me to just leave you to repeat the whole statement to yourself a couple hundred more times?"

Manny however was still too baffled to catch her sarcasm. "Like… attracted attracted? Like mates, like… you and me?"

Ellie could've laughed at how hard he seemed to be concentrating on this. "Yes."

Manny chuckled awkwardly. "Nah, they couldn't!" he proclaimed, waving his trunk in a finalizing gesture. "I mean, they… well you know, they just…" but he trailed off, at a loss for words. Ellie gave him a 'now let's be serious' look.

"Manny if you haven't noticed yet, our heard doesn't exactly follow the cycle all other animals are accustom to. How odd would it really be if it was true?"

He was silent, unable to deny that she had a point. But still… could it really be? Sid and Diego… a pair? And now that the notion was out there, he also had a hard time denying that it couldn't be true. Since he and Ellie had decided that they'd wanted to have a baby, almost a year ago, they'd insisted on privacy away from the group. They'd situated themselves in a spot not far away from where the others would spend the night. And he knew for a fact that Crash and Eddie slept like rocks once they were out, and were always far up in a tree, so in all that time, who knew what could've been happening between his two best friends.

Still though, it wasn't something he could just easily imagine or adjust to right away. He met his mate's glance. "So, what, you think they're having some kind of… lover's quarrel or something?" he forced out.

Ellie shrugged and glanced upward at the night sky. "I dunno, it could be. But then again, maybe I'm thinking too much into it."

Manny certainly hoped it was the latter, but was far from voicing so.

"I guess it's just my feminine overdrive kicking in, worrying about them. But who's to say a sloth can't fall for a tiger?" Her eyes cast back down and looked into those of her mate's. She smiled and lovingly caressed his face with her trunk. "After all, you fell in love with a possum, right?"

Manny couldn't help but smile at her words, and place his own trunk atop hers. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Ellie's eyes shined happily, and then she yawned and laid her head down. He did the same, their trunks coming together in front of where Peaches lay sound asleep. The two said their goodnights, but Manny had a hard time not thinking about their conversation as he tried to fall asleep. Somehow the thought of Diego and Sid being attracted to each other just seemed to unfathomable. He'd never thought of it before, nor did he think he ever would have, if Ellie hadn't said something.

And she had made too many points that he'd be ready to admit out loud. Or ever approach either of the two about it, heaven forbid. Though now, thanks to this, he would probably be paying closer attention to them, and maybe he could come to his own sort of conclusion.