A/N: Not much to say here. I just always thought that Diego's change in attitude during the first movie was just incredible, and I don't think they dwelled on it enough. I thought it would just be fun to write out how he must've felt about the situation, you know? Well anyway, I apologize in advance if I have any of the dialogue wrong, though I'm pretty sure I got most of it right.
So, on with the story! -
Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age or any of its characters, wheeeeeeeee.
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"Trust"
by: If Wishes Were Blue Skies
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I was always taught that loyalty was the best trait one could have. Strong loyalty shown to ones' friends or family was the best show of pride and one's dignity. And I stood by that. But now…
Those two have completely thrown me off my own tracks. Manny risking his life to save mine, Sid being the first to truly make me smile… they looked out for me and now considered me a close friend, though just days ago none of us were close at all. Less than three days ago, I fully intended on leading them and baby here to Half Peak to be served as an entrée to the other sabers.
"Hey Diego, you frozen back there?"
Manny's voice called back to me, further setting in the choice that I had to make. I watched the mammoth, Sid trotting alongside him with the baby in his arms, just about to go into the tunnel-like structure. My heart was pounding. I prayed that they would stop, so that maybe I wouldn't have to tell them to. How could I explain to them what I'd done? They would at me with the utmost hatred, and never want me with them again.
But then I realized that as long as I could get them away from here safely… I didn't care what they did to me. They had shown me true companionship, and for that I owed them everything.
I ran up to them, now underneath the dark rock. "Get down!" I ordered sharply.
"What?" asked Sid and Manny in unison, looking at me in bewilderment.
"Just get down and follow me," I hissed, beginning to get nervous that one of the other sabers would overhear.
"What's going on?" Sid asked.
I couldn't look up at either of them. I didn't want to see the anger in their eyes when I told them. I was silent for a moment, actually scared to tell them.
"At the bottom of Half Peak," I began. I paused and took a breath. "There's an ambush waiting for you."
I looked down at the snow, a horrible silence hanging in the air. I waited for what the both of them would do.
"What do you mean, 'ambush'?" Manny questioned. He thought to himself for a minute, and it only took a few seconds for him to put the pieces together. "You set us up." His words were filled with finality and disbelief. Itaffected me more than I thought it would.
I began to panic. "It was my job," I protested. Though I knew it wasn't an excuse. But I kept going in hopes that maybe they'd forgive me. "I was supposed to get the baby, but then –,"
"You brought us home for dinner!" He shouted, fury very clear in his voice. I inwardly winced, feeling so much more terrible than I imagined I would. I wished more than anything that I could go back in time and change everything.
"That's it, you're outta the herd!" Sid stated, pointing accusingly at me. I only looked at him for a minute, contempt etched all over his face.
"I'm sorry!" I half shouted, wishing there was a better way for me to voice how much I regretted bringing them here.
Suddenly, I felt something hard come up from under me, and thrust me up against the cave wall. It took me a few moments for me to realize that Manny had his tusk holding me there by my throat. My paws came up to the tusk in attempt to hold myself up just enough to get some air into my lungs.
"No you're not," Manny told me with malice. "Not yet."
I looked into his eyes, pleading for him to stop, but all I found in them was anger and betrayal. For a moment, I turned my gaze down to Sid, who was looking on at the scene in shock. I guess he hadn't expected Manny to actually hurt me, despite what I'd done. But the sloth remained silent.
With every passing second, Manny applied more pressure on my throat, and I wondered if he actually planned on killing me. But it was then that I realized…
"Listen, I can help you!" I tried. Manny just narrowed his eyes.
"Stay close, Sid," he said to the sloth next to him, but not taking his eyes off of me. "We can fight our way out."
… I couldn't let him kill me…
"You can't," I stated desperately. "The pack's too strong. You're gonna have to trust me.
Manny looked at me, even angrier now. "Trust you!" he shouted at me, louder than ever. "Why in the world would we trust you!"
… not because I wanted to live after the danger I've put them in, but…
"Because I'm you're only chance."
Seconds passed in silence. Manny kept me pinned to the rock and kept his glare locked onto me, but the shifting in the eyes told me he was thinking.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and I glanced down to see Sid walking forward, the baby sitting unusually still in the crook of his arm.
"Manny," Sid said. "I think we should listen to him."
I raised an eyebrow at him, and Manny finally looked away from me and down at the sloth with an expression that read, 'what on Earth are you thinking?'
But Sid had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. He looked once at me, then back to Manny. "Come on, Manny, if he wasn't sorry for what he did, he would've left us to keep walking. We'd probably… be dead by now." The sloth gulped at the thought.
Manny kept quiet, so Sid continued. "Look, if what he says is true, we need him to help us if we want to return Pinkie here."
The baby cooed in response. His tiny eyes looked up at me, sad. My need to protect the three of them grew even more.
Manny wasn't entirely convinced, though. "How do we know this isn't just part of his plan?" he asked. Sid just smiled and looked up at me.
"Because he's Diego, he's part of our herd. And I trust him," he answered. I might've laughed had it not been for the situation. Sid was actually making sense, which was almost comical. But for that, I told myself to thank him later.
After a few seconds, I finally felt the pressure lift from my throat as Manny slowly pulled away. I fell to my paws on the snow, grateful for the breath of air. I coughed a bit.
"Thanks," I was able to choke out. Sid just smiled, but Manny looked at me impatiently. "Just tell us how we're going to get out of this," he ordered.
I looked from Manny, to Sid, then to the baby, all of them waiting for me to speak. They were the only ones to show me how it felt to be cared for, and to care for someone. They showed me friendship, and there was no way in this world that I was going to let them be killed. I would get them out safely.
"Okay," I said. "Here's what we're gonna do…"