Promises

Ice Age One missing scene. Manny confronts Diego about the intricacies of his plan and whether everyone will be safe. I might write another version focusing on Manny's pov of this scene and what happens after Diego convinces him to let him help them escape since I've always wondered what Manny's reaction would be. Drabbleish. Sure to mess with your emotions/feels, especially if you know what happens exactly after this.

I finally had to break down and write this ehehehe. I was dreaming it, so that's when you know it's bad and I have to write something xD The words from my brain at night didn't exactly transfer as a whole though but I'm satisfied with this. It had to be written! (At long last; I don't think anyone has bothered to cover this.)

Also, my current ongoing Ice Age saga, Cruel Intentions: Lacrimosa has recently been updated with its thirteenth chapter, if you're one of the few who hasn't seen it yet, just putting that out there. :)

"Why are you doing this?" Manfred rumbles, pinioning Diego with his gaze. Diego turns to face him, hearing the tremble of something uncertain in the mammoth's tone. Fear, he realises, and it's not just for himself.

It's an accusation more so than a question; Manny is no doubt worried about the two creatures – the baby and the sloth – under his care, and struggling hard not to show it. Diego doesn't really blame him. It makes sense that the mammoth would still distrust him to some extent, given that he nearly let them all go on to their slaughter if not for Diego stopping them short with his confession that he set them up.

However, he'd convinced Manfred to allow him to help them escape, and now the plan is in motion, with Sid setting out to hide Pinky whilst Manny and the sabre remain alone in the alcove underneath Half Peak where the preparations for the infiltration into the pack occurred, as Diego had chosen for the herd to infiltrate the pack and slip in and out without anyone realising his true intentions when he returned to face Soto again.

Diego glances up at Manfred, noting the flicker of anxiety in his expression that he is taking care to conceal.

"Why are you doing this?" The mammoth repeats, his brows knitting together as he frowns at Diego. The underlying suspicion in his attitude unsettles Diego, but he tries to brush it off by focussing on the successful outcome of his plan to infiltrate Soto's pack to get his herbivore friends, their baby, and himself to safety, without any bloodshed.

He shakes his head, thinking to himself that he'd never expected that he'd use the word theirs in connexion to the child under the mammoth's, the sloth's, and now his protection. The turn of events that brought this about still amazes him when he bothers to mull it over. But the baby is theirs, that much was certain, and it is essential that he's kept safe so that he can find his father again.

Diego sighs, avoiding looking at Manny again, and just as he's begun to wonder if Manny hates him for his confession, a soft touch brushes his shoulder. Diego turns away, still struggling to comprehend the mammoth's forgiveness and kindness towards him. It cuts at him since he thinks that he doesn't deserve it all.

There is a pause, and then Manny breaks the silence,

"I just want everyone to make it through this all right – including your pack."

Diego manages a tiny crooked smile in response but within seconds it vanishes.

The taunts from Soto and the pack spring into his mind, reminding him of his continual failures. Oscar especially liked to pounce on him with mockery that Diego couldn't do anything from hunt well or even capture the baby as Soto ordered.

He winces at the thought, the whispers of the pack creeping into his mind, filling him with self-doubt. What if he wasn't able to get everyone to safety? What if he failed again? What if his failure may cost him the lives of Manfred, the baby, and Sid?

He finds himself wondering why he's not counting the lives of the remaining pack members into the equation and then he convinces himself that he'll return to the pack and persuade Soto that there was nothing he could do; they got away from him. Diego grimaces, the idea of returning to the pack making his stomach turn, and he realises that he wants nothing more than to stay with the herd.

After all, within the pack, he recalls that his failures – from unsuccessful hunts to his ineptitude with the capture of the baby – result in him getting called a good for nothing, and he's aware of the fact that Soto (his half brother) has taken part in the ridicule of him as well, though he often acted like he didn't.

He finds himself staring at Manny again, noticing that the suspicion has left the mammoth's expression but the concern is still there.

"You never answered my question, Diego," Manny says, his voice blunt, as he bends to picks up the log. Diego knows that he's about to head to the post that he's commanded him to wait at for Sid to bring half of the pack along, away from the baby, so that Manfred can knock them out, giving Diego and his herd their chance to escape. Manfred turns to stare at him intently, balancing the log on his tusks, and Diego realises that he needs to give the mammoth some sort of answer.

I'm doing this so that you – and all of us – don't have to lose anyone we care about again, he thinks at Manny, unwilling to actually give voice to his thoughts. Instead, he manufactures a quick reply,

"Because it's the right thing to do, Manny," he says, sending the mammoth his lopsided smile, hoping that acting confident that the plan will work sets both of them at ease and hopeful that it will succeed as he wants, "And because I'm gonna get us all out of here alive." The statement is a promise – and one he intends to keep.

Don't make promises you can't keep, Diego reminds himself. Will I even be able to fulfill it?

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