Unfortunately for all of us, I have recently been attempting to get back into crocheting and have basically spiraled down the textile rabbit hole from there. *Over a month's worth of apologies*

Bodhi knew that Manfr…Manny and Sid were still angry at Diego. Everyone did. It was such common knowledge that after he'd figured out where he was and who had found him, he'd been shocked that they'd bothered to help him at all. Diego had been very clear about how angry they were after he'd told them the truth, and Bodhi had chosen not to bring it up those first few nights since they already seemed to be on edge with him around.

But still not as on edge as they should have been, and it became clear rather quickly that they had every intention of not only helping him but making sure he wasn't going to go off and do something stupid. Which was infuriating. And made him feel guilty for accidently intruding.

Now Bodhi walked ahead of them, trying to think through how he wanted to handle this.

He hadn't thought much of it when Sid showed up that first night and they'd indicated that this was their herd. Brian and Merle's territory was such a mix, he'd gotten used to herbivores sharing space. So what if these animals had banded together and called themselves a herd? With an extra mammoth and possums that had clearly joined them after the events up north, it hadn't even occurred to him. Not even Sid's name had tipped him off at first. He knew the story of course, and he knew their names, but it wasn't something that was often on his mind. It took him until the morning of the second day to realize who they were.

It was getting close to nightfall, and the possums had been sent off to look for a place to bed down for the night. Bodhi had tried to get the mammoths to let him do it himself since none of them knew what they were doing (the constant remarking on geological features and general anxiety made that obvious), but they'd refused. Apparently scoping things out was something that the possums were "good at" and so they'd skittered off into the darkness together, laughing and whipping through pine needles.

"They're just going to screw around." Bodhi could tell, the longer they walked, that he definitely wasn't anywhere close to feeling okay, and even though he didn't like how whiny he sounded, he couldn't help himself.

"We know," came Ellie's response, and when he glanced back at her, she grinned at him. "But they've been riding all day and they'll be able to find something faster."

"I'm not tired."

"I know," Her sweet response came. "But the offer is still open regardless."

Bodhi grumbled, turned back around, and walked a few steps farther ahead, trying to block out his thoughts with the sound of Manfred, ugh Manny, he was never going to get this, and Sid arguing about whether or not Sid should be allowed to ride on his back the next day too. The mammoth kept repeating that the sloth should be perfectly rested by now, and their bickering escalated as Bodhi led them along the twins' route in the deepening darkness.

They weren't as far as he wanted them to be, and Bodhi was hoping that if he could convince them to get a move on before sunrise tomorrow, they could make up some time. But he was also finding it more and more difficult to tell them straight that they were going too slow. Or that he didn't want a ride. Or that the more he thought about it, the less likely their children would be anywhere near where he had possibly seen them. That he knew things about them that they would probably prefer he didn't know.

They'd been travelling for a few days now, and the dynamic that crept in that first morning had settled into a comfortable routine. That was the last thing Bodhi wanted.

"We found a place!" Eddie reappeared from the trees in front of them suddenly. He motioned impatiently and turned to disappear back the way he'd come. Bodhi picked up his own pace a little to follow, trying to adjust in spots the mammoths wouldn't be able to get through. He hadn't accounted for having to constantly think about the route in this way, and that was probably also slowing them down.

They arrived at the spot a few minutes later, and Bodhi allowed himself to stop for a second and let his aching muscles breathe. Ellie and Manny walked past him, looking around at what the possums had chosen.

It was a small clearing, so space would be tight for all of them, but it was also well-hidden, and Bodhi wanted to travel as anonymously as possible. (A "herd" of just two mammoths would be a welcome target for any packs they passed, and he had absolutely no interest in finding out who would win). And, apparently, the possums would take any chance they got to go on a mission. He suspected that they knew more and were smarter than they often let on.

Now, they grinned at him, basking in his slight nod of approval as Ellie called to them that it was time for bed. She settled down as well opposite Bodhi, snuggling the bulk of her body into the ground and looking around one more time. "Guys, get down here!" She shouted a second later as the volume in the trees escalated. The possums, surprisingly, came tearing down a second later. Well, Crash did. Eddie pretty much fell, glaring at his brother as he stood up and dusted himself off. As soon as Crash wasn't looking, he launched himself on top of him and they resumed wrestling.

Ellie obviously had some kind of a threshold that she used to decide when to intervene, and now that they were on solid ground, she let them claw and topple over each other, turning to look at Bodhi where he'd taken a seat and was busy listening to the background noises and noting the scents so he'd know if any new ones came within smelling distance. "So, you said that Brian is pretty busy. Could we talk to Merle if we need to?"

Bodhi came back to himself – everything seemed to be in order in the surrounding area – and flicked one ear at the thought. "Merle can be counted on to leave the mammoth herd alone as much as he can. If they do go through there, I'm sure Merle will forcefully not notice."

"That sounds like Manny." Crash smirked at the mammoth, and Manfred narrowed his eyes slightly.

They had not taken the unorthodox arrangement between the mammoth herd and saber pack as calmly as Bodhi had thought they would.

"There are two leaders?" Manfred had questioned after they settled down around Sid's fire on the first night. Ellie was confirming that Brian was the leader whose area they were headed toward and Bodhi had offhandedly mentioned that it was actually Brian and Merle but they'd probably end up talking to Brian.

"Brian is the leader of the mammoth herd and Merle is the leader of the saber pack. They share the territory."

And that's how he'd figured out that they absolutely did find this information to be a big deal.

"The sabers in Merle's pack only eat fish." Bodhi had added at the sudden outburst of questions, feeling taken off guard himself and trying to calm them down at the same time. "The area is a mix of animals, actually, much like where you guys live. There's this huge lake, and there's more than enough food for the pack and a few other carnivores who live there. It's been this way for a long time."

"Do they get along?" Ellie had asked, looking like she was struggling to comprehend the sudden atmosphere change just as much as the information itself.

"Yeah, they get along just fine. As far as I know, there haven't ever been problems. The sabers who live in Merle's pack are there because they want to be; they know the rules, and they abide by them. To be honest, they all like the arrangement." But he'd caught the glance Manfred and Sid gave each other off to the side. His ears went back in apology as he looked around at all of them. "I'm…I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. You don't have anything to worry about though."

"Sweetie, it's okay." Ellie was quick with reassurances, but for a moment, it hadn't made him feel better. Because her and the possums' reactions weren't the ones he was worried about. And that silent look between the mammoth and sloth had told him everything he needed to know about the state of their feelings about Diego. And as he tentatively filled in more details, he was fairly certain they were starting to pick up on what he wasn't saying.

Now, Manny (ha!) just rolled his eyes dismissively and looked around their current clearing. "We can worry about this when we get closer. Let's just get some sleep."

"Agreed." Bodhi said, trying his hardest not to limp as he made his way over to his impromptu spot next to Sid. The sloth had plopped down contentedly when Manfred – dang it, that's what he got for getting cocky – had relieved him of fire duties (it was too windy and too warm tonight), and Bodhi laid down a few feet away from him.

Sid pretended not to notice, going back to trying too hard to go to sleep. The sloth still hadn't quite warmed up to him, and truth be told, he didn't mind. They had every right not to trust him. In fact, he didn't want them to trust him.

Diego had searched for a long time – years – and come up with nothing. And Bodhi had slipped, literally, right into their lives by accident.

Based on their lack of acknowledgement or mention of it, Bodhi figured they didn't want to discuss Diego or anything that happened at Half Peak. That was fine with him personally. But if they couldn't find their children and had to go to Brian, they'd probably end up running into each other. For as much as Bodhi didn't want to push them into talking when they didn't want to, he also knew that this was something they needed to sort out before they got to that point.

While a part of him worried that this was just setting up an even worse situation and Bodhi would have to watch the look in Diego's eyes when these two definitively reassured him that there wasn't a place for him in this herd, Bodhi wasn't going to betray Manfred and Sid. Their herd had taken him in, and Bodhi wanted them to at least have a chance to sort out their feelings and feel like they had some control in the situation. And he knew Diego wouldn't want them to be blindsided either because the last thing the other saber wanted was to hurt them again. In fact, he knew that Diego couldn't imagine anything worse than accidently causing them more pain. So his heart would break at the inevitable glaring and avoidance, but he'd understand and wouldn't push it.

And Bodhi knew that he'd have to go along with it all no matter what he did or didn't feel. It wasn't his story or his business, and getting too involved – too close – with them now was only going to make everything that much worse.

So the sooner they got this cleared up, the better.

000

When they stopped for a short break midafternoon, Bodhi didn't allow himself to stop and rest for long.

As soon as Manfred made his way into the trees in search of something to eat and it was clear the rest of the herd would be staying around the small frozen marsh they'd stopped to drink at, Bodhi stifled a groan as he pushed himself up. Sometimes it felt like he was actually getting worse.

A quick glance at the others told him they hadn't noticed the wince he hadn't been able to keep off his face, and he walked slowly after the mammoth.

Manfred had only gone a few yards, stopping near a clump of densely growing young evergreens, and he glanced over at Bodhi once as he shoved a trunkful of the broad leaves into his mouth. Bodhi nodded at the mammoth in greeting.

He had insisted that they get up before the sun rose this morning. To his surprise, they'd actually agreed, and he'd been spared from pretending to himself that he wouldn't have felt bad if they'd complained. Now it was late afternoon, and they were all dragging, himself included.

"I hope you're eating." Man-Manny broke the silence, and Bodhi was so surprised by the comment, he couldn't bring himself to say anything for a long moment.

"Yes…I am." He finally answered carefully. He'd been trying anyway. But the stress of being in the middle of all this was distracting, and he'd held off going after anything that could seriously hurt him if his focus slipped. Manny could obviously hear the lie in the gray space of that statement and didn't look pleased. But Bodhi was here to have a different awkward conversation, and it was time to have it so that he could get back to hunting successfully. "But I wanted to talk to you more about Brian and Merle's territory. Just so you're not, um, surprised."

He raised one eyebrow. "Have you seen this herd?"

"Yes, and that's the reason why I wanted to talk to you."

He wasn't always sure what to say to Manny, and the mammoth seemed to be tolerating his presence so far with exactly the same attitude Bodhi had always imagined he had with Diego.

"Like I said," Bodhi went on before Manfred could change his mind. "It's a mix of a lot of different animals. Most of them have migrated there over the years…ones that you…you know…know and may not necessarily get along with. Particularly sabers."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Manny scoffed, looking down at him with an expression that clearly said, Is that it?

Bodhi hesitated for half a second, just long enough to gather his courage and conveniently ignore how much harder this was turning out to say than he'd thought. He'd been hoping a not-so-subtle hint would be enough to clue the mammoth in and get an answer without completely opening the topic. But if Manfred suspected, he clearly wanted the information outright to confirm it. Not that Bodhi could blame him after everything that had happened. Now, he wished that he'd been practicing this in the few moments of silence on the trail or falling asleep at night. Just so it wouldn't feel like he'd already gotten this wrong… "I know. About everything. You. Sid. How you were migrating and the waterfall and the baby and the lava and…I just...I know who you are. And I wanted you to know that before we get there. I don't want you to…well…walk in blind like you did, um, up north. Because you guys will probably run into each other, and…"

"It's fine." Manny cut him off.

"It…is?"

Manfred looked almost amused as Bodhi stared up at him in momentary shock. Or maybe he was just putting up a front. His mouth twitched slightly to one side. "We'll deal with it."

"Oh, um, okay." He hadn't known how Manfred would react to this news, and he even more so didn't know how he felt about the mammoth's calm answer. "I wanted you to know, though. And well… if you wanted, I was thinking that I can set up a meeting for you."

"A meeting?" Manny's eyebrow raised again, but he didn't say anything else, and Bodhi decided to go ahead and not take that as an explicit "no."

"Yes. And, that being said…if you want to talk…I think that it might go better than you think. I would be more than happy to set it up and even…stick around? Only if you wanted me to, of course." Or he could run far away from there to avoid the horrible awkwardness and feelings. At least on Diego's end.

"We don't need a formal meeting." Manfred didn't even pause, and Bodhi couldn't stop the surprise and other, more confusing emotions from avalanching over him as Manfred added, "I don't want to get mixed up in anything there. We've had enough drama over the years as it is. We just need to find our daughter and make sure that she's safe."

"I understand," Bodhi answered quietly, trying to get ahold of himself as Manfred stared him down calmly. There was no hesitation on his face, and Bodhi focused on that as he collected his thoughts enough to nod. "Then I'll handle that side of things if need be. You don't have to worry. I'm here to help you and Sid and your family. I want you to know that."

"I appreciate it." Manny nodded, obviously surprised, but Bodhi could tell that he believed him. And that he meant what he'd just said.

"We should be going soon." Bodhi took a few steps away from him, turning to head back to the marsh without waiting for Manfred to say anything else. "I'll go get everyone ready so we can move on."

It felt like he was running as he walked away, but he didn't care.

It was a no. He'd said no. And now it was over and Bodhi could get back to hunting and stop thinking about all of this. Things were better now. He didn't have to worry anymore.

000

The conversation with Bodhi earlier had definitely taken a weird turn.

Although, to be honest, Manny had half been expecting this. He kept an eye on him for the rest of the day, shaking his head occasionally when the saber stepped a certain way to compensate for his still-healing injuries. Bodhi had spent the better part of the last week running himself down and unsuccessfully trying to hide it from them, and it was obvious that he was slowly breaking from exhaustion. His agitated, mostly incoherent rambling earlier was a dead giveaway.

Manny made a mental note to have a conversation with Ellie about figuring out how to force him into riding for the next couple of days.

I have been waiting to write the Bodhi/Manny conversation since this fic started. I knew it would take me forever to pin down because they both have to walk away satisfied and completely unaware that they've just gotten two very different messages from the conversation.

If you haven't noticed, I'm total trash for the miscommunication-leads-to-everyone-thinking-this character-is dead-but-they're-actually-NOT trope. I'm enjoying this drama immensely, and I make no apologies. After all, they're tropes for a reason.

Field trip to the cliffs next time, kiddos.