Hi everyone! I am proud to say that after 3 months of waiting I finally saw Ice Age 2: The Meltdown on Saturday night and it was AWESOME! Also, one Manny/Ellie fic has already been posted, so go ahead and post yours; I need 4 more until I can finally put up the community! The decorations at the party to see the movie were awesome! They had this blue cloth hanging on the entrance to their living room, and they had put cut outs of Scrat and the Piranhas on it, then once you walked into their living room, you saw that they had covered the floor with blue paper and cut out white ice flows and taped them onto that… they even had a few ice flows sticking up a little, then they had a tree with cut outs of Crash and Eddie hanging from it, strings hanging from the ceiling with twisted pieces of white and blue paper taped onto that (those were supposed to be water drops!). They even had black 'Vulture' feathers laying everywhere, but the highlight was hanging right above their fireplace…. A specially-done drawing of Manny and Ellie locking trunks! I seriously squealed when I saw it! Even better, I GOT TO KEEP IT! YAY! It's hanging on my bedroom door right now! I and my sister even got to keep one of the vulture feathers too! So the party was very fun, and we played "Sid Says" SO many times that I am just exhausted… but about the movie, it KICKED BUTT! I loved it, and I was excited how they showed the trunk lock at the end. Sorry, I've been ranting on! Either way, this chapter of the story is the last one, and it takes place about a month after Ice Age 2 ends… I will warn you ahead of time, this is going to have LOADS of fluff, so if you don't like reading fluff do not read this chapter, and, don't read it if you haven't already seen the movie either. So without further ado… her we go, the conclusion to Souls Connected…..
Disclaimer: I do not own Ice Age or Ice Age 2: The Meltdown… Tears come from eyes
Souls Connected Chapter 10: Souls Connected
Ellie laughed at a joke her brother, Eddie told her as she walked into the cave where her and her new 'family' stayed.
"Boy Eddie" she giggled as she put her brother down on the ground and lay down in front of him. "You sure are learning some good jokes, where did you learn that one?" Eddie beamed as he puffed out his chest.
"Sid taught it to me!" he said proudly. Ellie laughed even harder.
"Sid?" She asked. "Are you sure Sid could come up with a joke that good?" She then heard someone walking into the cave behind her; she turned around to see who it was. It was her turn to beam when she saw that her new boyfriend, Manny was walking into the cave with her other brother, Crash on one of his tusks.
Ellie had been Manny's girlfriend for about a month now and she had never been happier. Manny made sure to spend at least an hour alone with her every single day, an hour during which they would usually talk about their old families or other members of their group. Sometimes they would lock trunks… this act always made Ellie silent, no matter how she was feeling before-hand. When she locked trunks with Manny, she felt the oddest tingly sensation in her heart… she enjoyed it, but was embarrassed about it as well. She adored Manny, not only had he taught her what she really was, but he saved her life, was the first creature out of her family to EVER call her attractive, was the first real friend she ever had, and to top it off, in order to admit that he loved her, he hung upside down from a tree, just like she had used to do before she met him… She looked at him and smiled, he truly was the most wonderful guy she had ever met.
"What are you guys laughing about?" He asked as he sat down next to Ellie. Manny was quite happy now that he had found Ellie, he was certain she was his true love. She loved children as much as he did, she enjoyed mud slinging, she liked adventures, she always sang to a child to lull them to sleep, and most importantly… she loved him as much as he loved her. He thought she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. He hated to admit it, but she was twice as beautiful as Millie ever was and twice as nice too. He had worked very hard to get Ellie, and was very proud that she loved him like she did. He took special care to make sure she was safe and made note to tell her he loved her every single day.
"Eddie was just telling me that joke that Sid apparently told him." Ellie explained as she smiled over at him, trying her hardest to resist locking trunks or nuzzling around her brothers who cringed at the smallest thought of their sister being in love. Manny laughed as Crash jumped down onto the ground in front of him, grabbed Eddie and ran out of the cave with him leaving Ellie and Manny alone together.
"Eddie told that joke to Sid, who decided to take credit for it and told him to tell it to you and to say that he was the one who made it up!" Manny exclaimed to Ellie as she watched her brothers exit the cave… once they were gone she smiled in spite of herself.
"Manny," She told him "You do realize that they just left, don't you?" the two lovebirds laughed and shook their heads.
"They are trying so hard." Manny told his new friend as he gave her a short, sweet nuzzle. "I mean just this morning Diego" he stopped short.
"What?" Ellie asked him "What did he do?"
"Uh- Nothing" Manny lied… he didn't want Ellie to know about the embarrassing conversation he'd had with his pal earlier that day--- Start Flashback
Manny woke up and smiled over at the sleeping figure of Ellie laying about 5 feet away from him. 'She's so beautiful' he told himself. He then looked around to make sure that everyone else was asleep, then very quietly walked over to her. Once he reached her he moved the hair out of her face and very softly locked his trunk with hers.
"I can see you." Diego told him as he got up from where he was pretending to sleep and walked over to his pal, who, after finding out he was spotted immediately un-locked his trunk with Ellie's and walked over to his friend.
"So what?" Manny whispered back. "We like each other, is that so bad?" Diego scoffed.
"Like? I don't think it's that Manny, it looks more to me as if you guys are head over heels for each other." Diego smirked as he motioned towards a nearby empty clearing, "I think we need to talk." Manny obediently followed his friend into the clearing and sat beside him in front of a stream.
"What's this about?" He asked, not wanting Ellie to wake up to find him missing.
"This is about you asking Ellie 'The Question'." Diego told his friend as he caught a fish and popped it into his mouth.
"What do you mean 'The Question'?" Manny asked, clearly not understanding what his friend was getting at. Diego laughed to himself as he shook his head.
"You know, 'The Question' the 5 words that are the hardest thing for any male to say? 'The Question'." Diego smiled to himself when Manny's face changed from confusion to shock at the realization of what his friend was talking about. Manny, not wanting to wake up anyone in the camp about 30 feet away tried to keep calm and get a hold of the situation.
"So let me get this straight." He said, "You want me to ask Ellie to be my mate?" he said this last sentence with surprise as though it was the most ridiculous idea in the word.
"Oh come on!" Diego teased, "You can't tell me that the thought hasn't occurred to you."
"Well- I – Uh." Manny stuttered, "The thought HAS occurred to me, but I don't want to ask her just yet, I mean, what if she says no?" Diego smiled…all he wanted was to see his friend truly happy again, sure he was extremely happy now that he had this wonderful girlfriend, but Diego knew that deep inside, Manny really wanted another, REAL family… and he was determined to help him get one .
"How many times did you and Ellie lock trunks yesterday?" He asked a sneaky smile on his face.
"That's a personal question" Manny told his friend…then looked down at the ground, "27" Diego smiled once again.
"So you're telling me, that the girl who locked trunks with you 27 times in one day does NOT want to be your mate?" He said as he stood up and started to walk over to the other clearing.
"You think she'll say yes?" Manny asked, hope in his voice as he walked alongside his pal.
"Of course!" Diego exclaimed "Trust me; she is head over heels for you. She'll definitely say yes, you just have to say it correctly." He then ran on into the clearing.
"She'll say yes?" Manny asked himself as he stopped short and looked over at Ellie who was now in the process of waking up. 'She's so wonderful' he thought to himself for the second time that day, it was then that he realized that he DID want her to be his mate… and Diego was right, there was no reason for her to say no... Manny couldn't take it much longer; He made a mental note in his head to ask her the minute he got the courage.
End Flashback
Ellie frowned at her friend,
"You're lying Manny; I can see it in your eyes." Manny immediately looked at her and once noticing that she was unhappy immediately came up with a truth that would satisfy her yet not give the subject of the conversation away.
"It's personal, a guy thing. It would make you feel uncomfortable, trust me." He told her, she looked at him as if she didn't believe him, and then shook her head.
"I know you're trying to hide something from me, but I'm not going to nag you until you confess, I respect your boundaries, I can see I'm crossing one, let's just change the subject." She told him kindly. She then gave him a look of great affection as she locked her trunk with his. "You're so funny sometimes." Manny locked his trunk around hers then nuzzled her. He smiled when her eyes met his, and she smiled at him. It was this smile that did it for him. That one smile gave him the courage to do the one thing that most males are terrified to do. He unlocked his trunk with Ellie's then stood up and started to walk out of the cave.
"What's wrong?" Ellie asked a little hurt that this tender moment between the two of them was oddly ended. Manny kept his back to her and looked down at the ground. It was time…..
"Ellie," He said, "When I'm around you, I-I'm different, I'm twice as happy as usual, I feel 10 years younger, and everything else in the world is not there, almost as if it's just the two of us together..." Ellie stood up and started to walk towards him.
"Is that bad?" she asked, a little worried about what he was getting at.
"No, not at all!" he told her turning around so she could see that he wasn't angry, "In fact, it's the most wonderful feeling I've ever had!" He then walked closer to her and locked his trunk with hers, still staying about 1 foot away from her so their trunks were hanging loosely between the two of them. Manny took a mental gulp, 'This is it' he thought to himself 'ask it, just 5 simple words, will-you-be-my-mate. It's not that bad. Don't break down, do it for Ellie.' He looked Ellie straight in the eyes and began "The truth be told Ellie, I love you more than anything else in this world. You are the single most amazing creature I have ever met in my entire life and…" Manny gave a big sigh to make sure that Ellie was paying attention. "Ellie…Will you be my mate?" the second the words came out of his mouth Ellie unlocked her trunk with his and just stared at him, with a shocked expression on her face… "Ellie?" Manny asked concerned, "Are you ok?"
"You… you just asked me to be your mate." Ellie said as tears started to form in her eyes. "You want me to be your mate!" She then sat down, tears flowing out of her eyes. Manny walked over to her and sat next to her.
"Yes, I do Ellie." He told her, "I love you. I want you to be my mate. I really do." He then put his trunk under her chin and pulled her face up so she was looking in his eyes. "I really, truly, do." Ellie then immediately locked trunks with him and buried her face in his trunk, her tears now practically a mini waterfall flowing down her face.
"I don't believe this." She told her friend, "I didn't expect to find a boyfriend, but never in a million years did I expect to find a mate!" Manny smiled as he un-locked his trunk with hers and used it to wipe the tears off of her face.
"I'm not trying to be funny Ellie." He told her. "I truly love you and want you to be my mate." She immediately smiled as she wiped the remaining tears off of her face.
"Yes." She said happily.
"Yeah, this is sure something isn't it." Manny asked her as he gave her a nuzzle. Ellie laughed.
"Manny… I didn't mean 'Yes, this is crazy.'" She smiled as she gave him a nuzzle in return.
"Then, what did you mean?" Manny said, now knowing fully what she meant but still wanting to hear her say it so he could be sure it wasn't a dream.
"I meant… Yes, I'll be your mate." Ellie said with a big smile on her face. Her eyes started to fill up with tears of happiness as did Manny's. The two now mates-to-be sat down, locked trunks, nuzzled and finished their tender moment from before. Once they finished, they both unlocked trunks, and stood up still facing each other.
"Meet me at the entrance to the cave at sunset in 5 hours." Manny told Ellie with a huge smile on his face. "We can do the ritual tonight."
"I'll be counting the minutes." Ellie told him as she gave him a short but sincere trunk lock.
"Go on" Manny told his friend, "Go enjoy your last day being single!" he then playfully pushed her towards the direction of her favorite clearing. Ellie smiled at him as she headed in that direction.
"I love you." She told him then started running in that direction. Crash and Eddie's favorite dung pile was that way as well, and she couldn't wait to tell them the good news.
"Love you too!" Manny called to her as he yet again smiled then walked toward where Diego and Sid had gone to gather some more firewood with the same intentions as Ellie had.
Ellie ran excitedly through the woods towards her brothers' dung pile. After running for about 3 minutes. She breathlessly skidded to a stop about 5 inches from the pile a huge smile still on her face.
"Ellie!" Eddie said happily from the top of the pile and then jumped down and hugged her trunk, dung still all over him. Ellie smiled then shook the dung off of herself. "What are you so happy about?" At this moment Crash came out of the pile, also covered in dung.
"Why aren't you saying anything sis?" He asked curiously, both boys stood in front of Ellie, arms crossed and looking up at her. Ellie blushed underneath her fur and wiped beads of perspiration off of her forehead.
"Sorry" She said, still trying to catch her breath… "It's just…" She turned her head down in an embarrassed style.
"Is something wrong?" Eddie asked, concerned for his sister. Ellie looked at him and gave him a hug.
"No, nothings wrong! In fact, this day could not get any better for me." She then stood up and started to walk around the clearing which the pile was in. She found a flower, picked it, and started to walk around holding the plant in her trunk and humming. Crash looked at Eddie.
"Yep, something's wrong with her." He said. Ellie looked over at her brothers and then sat down in front of them.
"Do you guys PROMISE not to freak?" She asked, putting down the flower.
"Why would we freak?" Eddie asked.
"And do you PROMISE not to act all disgusted?" She asked them.
"Why would we act disgusted?" Crash asked.
"Please, just… This is a special day for me; try not to make it bad." She told them, secretly throwing them hints.
"Why is it a special" Eddie started to say but Ellie swatted him on the head with her trunk. She then gave a big sigh and looked down at them.
"Manny asked me to be his mate." She exclaimed.
"HE DID?" Crash and Eddie said in unison.
"And… I said yes." She told them with an embarrassed tone in her voice.
"YOU DID?" Her brothers once again yelled in unison. Ellie smiled and nodded. Eddie immediately started dancing and cheering while Crash plopped down onto the ground and gave his best pouty look. Ellie rolled her eyes and picked him up with her trunk.
"Crash," She asked him "What's wrong sweetie?" He looked at her with small tears in his eyes.
"I don't wanna lose you!" He cried sadly then started bawling. Ellie was touched. She didn't realize that her brother cared for her this much. He never really acted like he enjoyed Manny that much. Ellie thought he was just being rude, but she now knew that he just missed spending time with her.
"Oh, Crash." She said as she gave him a firm hug. "You're not going to lose me! We're still going to stay with you guys. It's just going to be… different." Crash still wasn't satisfied.
"I like things the way they are!" He complained as Ellie put him down. Eddie sat down next to his brother.
"Don't think of it as losing a sister Crash, think of it as gaining a brother!" He said happily.
"Gaining a brother? What do you mean by that?" Crash asked, tears still in his eyes. Ellie smiled, she got what Eddie was saying.
"You're right Eddie!" She said happily, "Since Manny's going to be my mate now; it'll be like he's your big brother!" She then gave Eddie a wink of appreciation and he gave her thumbs up in return.
"But" Crash started… he was interrupted by Ellie.
"Crash, what did you do with Manny this morning?" She asked, smiling at the memory of Manny insisting that he spend some time with Crash, wanting to get to know him better. Crash immediately stopped crying and jumped up.
"IT WAS SOOO COOOL!" He said excitedly. "He showed me all these freaky flowers. There was one that looked all white and ghosty, but when you touched it it turned black! Then there was another one that looked like Mammoth heads. But the coolest one had a really fuzzy stem! It was so fun!" Ellie smiled then laughed. 'Manny sure knows how to entertain them' she thought to herself. 'He's going to make a great big brother.'
"I'm glad you two had so much fun together!" She said happily. "Now that he's going to be my mate, you boys can do that kind of stuff whenever you want! Maybe I can even join you sometimes! Would you like that?" Crash beamed.
"YEAH! That would be fun!" He said happily, then hugged Ellie's trunk. Ellie smiled.
"So you're ok with me and Manny being mates?" She asked her brothers curiously.
"SURE!" They said in unison. Ellie smiled, tears of joy starting once again to come into her eyes. 'I was wrong' she thought, 'this day just keeps getting even better.'
Manny happily walked through the woods, planning how he was going to tell his friends what had just happened. He decided to trick them into thinking he chickened out then explain what really happened. He found his two pals with a large pile of firewood, trying to decide amongst themselves how they would transport it to the cave.
"I'll carry it all!" Sid exclaimed as he flexed his muscle-less arms.
"You'll break your back." Diego claimed, "We could each carry one and take several trips."
"But I don't wanna do that!" Sid complained. Manny rolled his eyes then walked into the clearing.
"I'll carry them if you want." He said, smiling as he used his tusks like a hook to pick up the logs while Sid carried an armload of twigs that he found.
"You seem happy today." Diego said as he followed his pals. "Anything new?" Manny looked back at Diego.
"Well, I had a lot of fun with Crash this morning. I think I'm really starting to break through to him." He said, trying to postpone the good news until later.
"That's nice." Sid said happily as he started to spin one of his sticks like a baton, accidentally throwing it and hitting Diego on the head.
"OW!" Diego yelled. "Cut it out, those aren't for playing with!" He then turned to Manny "So did you speak to Ellie yet?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Manny said in his best sad voice.
"You chickened out didn't you?" Sid teased him.
"Did Diego tell you about the conversation we had this morning?" Manny asked irritation in his voice. Diego looked at the ground, slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry." He said, "I thought you could use an extra boost of confidence." Manny smirked.
"Oh yeah." He said half laughing, "He's definitely a boost of confidence." Sid didn't hear this comment so he just walked ahead, spinning another stick.
"Sorry about you chickening out buddy." Diego told Manny as they continued up the hill to the cave. Manny looked down at Diego with a sly look on his face.
"Funny." He said "I don't remember telling you that I chickened out. In fact, I don't remember chickening out at all!" He then gave Diego a huge smile to show what he meant. Diego's face was one of shock.
"You mean." He said excitedly.
"Mmm-Hmm" Manny nodded.
"And she said yes?" Diego could hardly stand it.
"Mmm-Hmm" Manny said excitedly. Diego immediately gave a huge smile.
"All right! I knew you could do it!" He said as they finally approached the cave. He then called to Sid who was heading over to where the Possums were. "Hey Sid! Come back here! We have to leave Ellie and her brothers alone today!" Sid turned back.
"WHY?" He asked.
"Because, she's not supposed to see any of us." Diego answered him.
"How come?" Sid asked as he walked up to his friends. Manny smiled.
"Because she's not supposed to see her mate-to-be or any of his close friends from the time until she answers to the time they do the ritual." He exclaimed.
"But we're not…" Sid started… then stopped immediately "OH MY GOODNESS!" He squealed as he started to cheer and dance around in circles. Manny laughed then used his trunk to pick his friend up.
"I appreciate the congratulations party Sid" he told him, "But it's starting to make me a bit dizzy." Sid happily nodded then Manny put him down.
"So what was her reaction like?" Diego asked his friend. Manny smiled.
"At first, she was shocked, and then she started to cry because she couldn't believe that someone like her was actually going to get a mate…" Diego smiled.
"Aww, HER not get a mate? Oh come on!" he teased. Manny smirked.
"I know, well, after a few minutes she calmed down… and then said yes." He smiled, satisfied with his story. Diego and Sid smiled.
"That's SOO romantic." Sid said as he fell off of the rock he was sitting on. Diego laughed.
"Yeah Sid, Maybe you can take some tips from him." All three friends laughed at this remark.
"Can you imagine?" Manny laughed, trying to catch his breath, "Me trying to play matchmaker with Sid?" This caused a whole new batch of laughter.
"Well, he technically is the one who paired you two up isn't he?" Diego asked.
"What do you mean?" Manny questioned.
"Well, he IS the one who convinced Ellie and her brothers to travel with us in the first place, so I guess you could say that this is all his doing." Diego exclaimed, as he was saying this Sid beamed. Manny smiled.
"You're right" he said, then walked over to Sid. "I never thought I'd be saying this, but thank you." Sid smiled. "I don't know how you knew she was perfect for me, but you did… and I'll never forget you for it. You're right; I guess she does complete me." Manny continued then gave Sid a sincere smile. Manny spent the next few hours getting the food for him and Ellie ready and choosing the perfect spot for the ritual. When he finally found the spot he was looking for, it was time to head back to the cave and get her….
Meanwhile, Ellie was with her brothers in her clearing, nervous and excited at the same time.
"10 minutes, 10 minutes… why couldn't it be 10 seconds? Can we go up there NOW?" She asked excitedly. Crash and Eddie sat on top of a rock, watching her.
"No." They both said in unison for the 25th time that day. Ellie was getting desperate; she REALLY wanted to see Manny.
"This is TORTURE!" She complained as she plopped down onto the ground and just sat there. "9 minutes, how long does it take us to get up there?"
"5 minutes." The boys said, once again in unison. Eddie sighed
"Sheesh Ellie, relax why don't ya! You'll get to see him, don't worry!" He said as he patted his impatient sister on her head. Ellie gave a big sigh.
"It's just, I love him so much… and I know that tonight is going to be wonderful… I didn't even get to spend more than 30 minutes with him!" She complained as she bonked her head against a tree. "7 minutes." She said as she once again lay down on the ground her legs spread out. Her brothers looked at each other sympathetically. Crash jumped down and walked up to Ellie.
"Cheer up sis." He told her, "In a few minutes we'll head up there ok? This reminds me of when I was in love with Rose…" He sighed, "She was so beautiful. But she chose someone else… It broke my heart. You are very lucky to have a guy like Manny, Ellie. I know that he'll never leave you." Ellie smiled at her brother and gave him a hug. Eddie jumped down and joined the group. After a bit, Crash jumped up.
"Time to go!" he said happily. Ellie immediately jumped up, grabbed her brothers, and ran for 4 of the five minutes… The last minute she spent walking and making sure that she looked nice.
"You look fine!" Eddie told her when they were about a yard away. When Ellie saw the clearing where the cave was, tears of joy once again formed in her eyes.
"I can't believe this is happening!" She said tearfully. Crash and Eddie rolled their eyes.
"GO!" They said eager to see their friends as well. Ellie took a big gulp and stepped into the clearing.
Once he saw her, Manny beamed. 'She's so perfect.' He told himself happily. Ellie was just standing there, at the entrance to the clearing, with a huge smile on her face. Crash and Eddie jumped off her back and ran over to Sid. The three 'children' as Manny and Ellie playfully called them ran off to play in an adjacent clearing.
"You look… beautiful." Manny said his voice full of joy, relief and excitement. Both his and Ellie's eyes were filling with tears of joy. Diego smiled.
"I'll just… leave you two alone." He then walked over to the clearing where Crash, Eddie and Sid had gone to. Once he left, Ellie and Manny immediately ran to each other and locked trunks.
"I missed you SO much!" She said happily as she nuzzled him.
"Me too." He said, doing the same. They stayed there for about 5 minutes, just happy in one another's presence.
"Come on." Manny said happily as he unlocked their trunks. "I chose the PERFECT spot for tonight." He led Ellie to a beautiful Cliffside about 7 minutes from the camp. The whole time they walked there, they would randomly sneak looks at each other, every once in a while catching each other and laughing or smiling.
Once they arrived at the site, Ellie was amazed. It was the most gorgeous place she had EVER seen. There were fireflies everywhere, the trees were gorgeous. The flower that looked like Mammoth heads was all around and there was a small waterfall to the right. She looked over at him and smiled.
"It's perfect." She said happily. They then ate dinner, during which they talked about their friends' reactions. Ellie was relieved when Manny agreed that he would enjoy outings with her and her brothers every once in a while. Then they watched the sunset, and once the sun had gone and the stars were out, they both looked at the stars, another thing that they enjoyed doing together. Ellie scooted over closer to Manny and locked trunks with him. They stayed like this for about 2 hours, trunks locked, just looking at the stars together. After those two hours, Ellie turned to Manny, still keeping her trunk locked with his.
"This has been the most wonderful night of my life, you know that?" She told him happily. "Thanks." She then gave him a soft nuzzle. Manny smiled.
"I thought you might want this." He told her as he unlocked their trunks, stood up, walked over to some of the flowers, picked them, walked over to Ellie and put them behind her ear. Ellie reached back and took them out so she could see them. Once she did, her eyes filled with tears of joy.
"Oh, Manny." She said happily. "They're beautiful!" She then put them back behind her ears and smiled at him yet again. "You know, no one has ever given me flowers before."
"Really?" Manny asked her as he gathered some wood then put it in a pile. "I find that quite hard to believe."
"It's true." Ellie told him. "Before you, no guy ever took interest in me. You were my first boyfriend and now…" her eyes started to overflow with tears of joy. "You're gonna be my mate." Manny smiled, sat down next to her and locked their trunks.
"I promise you Ellie." He told her, "I am going to make you as happy as I possibly can. I will never, ever, let you get hurt. If you are ever in any kind of danger, just trumpet, and I am going to be there immediately to help you." Ellie's heart overflowed with love as she smiled at him.
"That is the single most endearing thing anyone has ever said to me." She told him happily. Manny laughed.
"Boy, I'm just doing everything right tonight, aren't I?" He said smiling as he grabbed a nearby rock and propped it on a couple of sticks on his pile sticking up, he then put rocks around the sticks to keep them steady. After that he found a small rock, and hit it against the propped rock, the two rocks immediately made sparks which fell on the wood, creating a campfire. Ellie looked in wonder as Manny walked back over to her.
"How in the world did you do that?" She asked amazed. Manny smiled.
"Sid taught me, said it was his present for us becoming mates, isn't that nice?" Ellie beamed.
"That is so cool!" she said as Manny sat down. For the next 50 minutes they sat next to the fire, talking and laughing with each other. After that, they discussed their future. They decided to wait at least a year before trying for any children and to always stay with Sid, Diego, Crash and Eddie. They also decided that if either of them ever found any females of one of the other species in their 'family' they were to tell the other immediately and they would, together, decide what to do.
This conversation was drastically changed by Manny when he suddenly realized something.
"Ellie." He said, "Just 10 more minutes and its midnight… that's when the ritual is supposed to take place!" They both looked at each other smiling with tears in their eyes.
"I'm not sure how to do it." Ellie said worried. Manny smiled.
"It's not bad at all." He explained, "All you have to do is, at midnight exactly, lock trunks with me and then we'll trumpet in unison… and after that, we'll be mates. It's that simple." Ellie looked at him, still confused.
"How are we gonna trumpet in UNISON?" She asked. "Don't we need to know the pattern the other is going to use?"
"That's the cool part about it!" Manny said happily. "For some weird reason, the pair getting mated always ends up doing the exact same trumpet… every…single…time." Ellie smiled at him.
"I can't wait." She said excitedly. He smiled back.
"Me either." He then laughed a bit… "You know, let's make this trumpet REALLY loud so that our group hears it!" Ellie burst out laughing.
"Do you know how much that would freak them out?" She said.
"Exactly!" Manny smiled, "That's going to be the fun of it! Come on!"
"Sure, I don't see why not!" She said smiling. They spent the next few minutes, getting situated, sitting facing the moon which was off the edge of the cliff with their backs to the fire, their faces illuminated by the lights of the moon.
"In about 3 minutes, we're going to feel this really weird tingly feeling all over, like when your foot is asleep, but it's our bodies. At that moment we need to lock trunks, and trumpet as loud as we can so that everyone around us can know what is going on." Manny said as he looked on.
"Manny?" Ellie said.
"Yes?" He replied.
"I'm scared…" She said in an excited tone of voice.
"Me too." Manny smiled as he gave Ellie a gentle nuzzle. It was during this nuzzle that the feeling that Manny talked about came. The two Mammoths, as if they were hypnotized immediately locked trunks, and gave the loudest trumpet they could…. in unison. They remained in their spellbound state for about 2 minutes afterwards, and then once they were out they looked at each other, huge smiles on their faces.
"We're….mates." Ellie said, tears of happiness streaming down her face.
"Mates…" Manny repeated tears also flowing down his face as well. The two mates now immediately snuggled as close together as possible and nuzzled happily, tears still flowing down their faces. After a while, Ellie pulled back. Manny looked at her with love in his eyes, even with her face all wet from the tears, she was still the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
"Ellie." He told her. "I love you so much… I am just so happy to be here with you right now. You're so beautiful. Even now, with tear stains on your fur… you're gorgeous. I just… wanted you to know that." Ellie looked at him with as much love in her eyes as possible and nuzzled him once again.
"Oh, Manny." She told him. "I love you SO much. You can't even begin to imagine. This has been the best day of my life. Every time we lock trunks… I feel this weird tingly feeling in my heart… I dunno what it is, but I love it. I'm feeling it right now actually." She said smiling. Manny's face changed to one of confusion.
"I feel it too! The weird thing is, I never felt it with Millie… only you." His face immediately came into one of discovery… "Ellie!" He said excitedly… "My parents were true loves, which is why they died so close to each other. I remember when I was little asking my dad how he knew they were true loves and he said that usually when you lock trunks with someone, you don't feel anything supernatural. But when you're true loves and you lock trunks… then you feel this amazing tingling sensation in your heart. Ellie… that's what we're feeling, we're true loves!" New streams of tears fell down their cheeks as they locked their trunks even tighter and just absorbed each other's presence. After a while, the fire went out.
"We should probably go to sleep now." Ellie said sleepily as she yawned. Manny yawned as well.
"Yeah, we probably should." He said, and then looked down at her. "I love you."
"I love you too." She smiled back up at him. They then fell asleep, trunks still locked, looking forward to the new life ahead of them. Both of their hearts were full, and both were truly happy. They were in fact true loves, and now that they were mates… their souls were connected, and because of this simple fact, they would never, ever, be lonely again.
The End
Wow, what a story huh? Hey! I almost beat my friend's record of 14 pages (I have 12) HI MELISSA! YOU'RE STILL NUMBER ONE! Either way… This chapter took me 2 count them 2 days to complete, so I hope you like it! This ends a 3 month period of my life… when I was preparing for Ice Age 2… and now… I don't know what to do! cries Oh well, I'll find something!
Also, those flowers that I mentioned are ALL REAL! The white one that DOES turn black is called a "Corpse Plant" or "Indian Pipe" The one that looks like Mammoth heads is called (Surprise Surprise) "Elephant Heads" and the one that is all furry is called a "Western Pasqueflower" I thought it might be fun to share some Botany with you guys today! (That's the study of plants!)
Another thing, I have officially named myself the leader of the "Wooly Wonders" which is my own personal Manny/Ellie fan club. Let me know if you want to be a member! I'd be honored to have you on the team! Thank you; once again for reading this story, I am extremely proud of it as it is my first BIG project for let me know how you liked this chapter… I'm going to leave you with a quote from the movie….
"Ellie, I don't want us to be together because we have to, I want us to be together because we want to. And I want to be with you, Ellie… so what do you say?"
Manny- Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
Goodbye Everyone.
Taffyabc- Funkywatermelon's Assistant.