Note: I do not own the characters of Ice Age, just Natalie, and Damien.

Chapter 11:

Damien bared his teeth, a growl ripping from his throat with such intensity any animal in their right mind would cringe at the sound. Diego didn't budge and returned Damien's roar with one of equal power. Damien sprung forward, bounding toward Diego. Diego side-stepped lightly, Damien skidding to a stop beside the saber. Diego reached out and swiped Damien, a red line forming on Damien's neck. Damien hissed in anger and lashed out on his own accord, striking Diego's face. Diego bared his canines and ran forward to Damien, body slamming him in his side. Damien, knocked out of breath, stumbled slightly and shook himself. Diego sprinted and met Damien paw in paw as the two stood on their hind legs. Damien scraped Diego's arm constantly, the saber's orange-tan fur soaked in red. Diego bit and got a bit of Damien's ear, taking it off. Damien roared out in pain and went back down on all fours. Diego, claws exposed, landed on top of Damien, digging into his back and neck. Damien bucked, attempting to get Diego off. Diego landed on his haunches, dazed for a moment. Damien took advantage of Diego's momentary lack of concentration and rammed into him, sending him skidding into the tree behind him. Diego stood up and soon Damien had him pinned to the tree, both now back on their hind legs.

"Now, you listen here, outcast," Damien said, panting helplessly. "Natalie is mine and you cannot have her."

"But you don't love her, you simply want her for your own reasons," Diego accused, his breathing rapid, insistent.

"That may be, but she'll never know. It'll be like it had been before."

"Not after what you did to her, it'll never be like it used to be between you two."

"And I plan to do that to her every night from here on out and you won't be able to do anything about it. Cause you'll be dead." Damien smiled, and pushed harder, Diego groaning in pain. "Poor Diego, tried to save pathetic little Natalie, but you failed. She's mine now."

Diego hissed and tried to push forward, Damien only pinning him tighter to the tree.

"And I hoped this would be a decent fight," Damien mused before scraping Diego's back down the length of the tree. Diego lay at the bottom of the tree and blinked, everything going black as the blood trickled down his back. "Pathetic."

And everything went black.

~*~

Damien spit on the ground in front of Diego and as he started to turn around, felt something run into his side with such force, he felt one or more of his ribs crack. He lay on the ground dazed and stared up at Natalie, struggling to stay on her feet.

"Natalie?"

"You liar. You never loved me."

"Natalie, life isn't fair sometimes, you gotta deal with it."

"That's right. Life isn't fair." Natalie raised her paw and struck Damien. Hard. Damien roared in pain before laying his head down on the ground. Natalie looked up to see that the four sabers had regained conciensness and she hissed at them, sending them running back to wherever they had come from. She looked down at Diego and trotted over to him.

"Diego…?" she asked, hoping he was still up. Diego didn't answer. "Diego please get up," Natalie said, whimpering now. "Please…" She lie down and let the tears poor out of her eyes.

"Please get up. I-I lo-love you." Natalie cried harder after she had admitted her secret she had held back for over a week now. She loved him and needed so much and now he had died. And trying to save her no less. "You shouldn't have saved me! I'm not worth it!" she lay her head down on his chest, tears running helplessly down her face. She cried for a few minutes before she felt the rise of Diego's chest.

"Diego…?"

Diego coughed, his eyes fluttering.

"You are too worth it," he whispered. Natalie smiled as wide as she ever had.

"You're alive! Oh thank goodness! I was so worried; I thought I'd lost you!"

"You ain't getting rid of me that easily," He told her, smiling. They sat there for a few minutes, simply relishing the prescence of the other. After a few minutes, Diego spoke up. "Come on, let's get back to the herd."

There it is! Be looking out for the next chapter!