Epilogue

Diego sat alone on his clifftop, overlooking the herd. He was in the same position he had been the day he'd attacked Peaches, so long ago. He was calm where he sat, soaking up the warm sunshine that had come with the first thaw. The snow had begun to melt, leading to another one of Sid's swimming schools and waterslide arenas. Peaches, Manny and Ellie were having an afternoon nap, snuggled together in a hairy heap. Peaches was between the two adults, her face a mask of happiness even as she slept. Crash and Eddie were with Sid at the swim school, making as much mischief as possumly possible.

The pack had returned to the Underworld, Rudy and Buck with them. They still visited from time to time, but mostly at night, so that they wouldn't alarm any of the other animals. The herd's neighbours had adjusted to one sabre living among them; having a fully-fledged pack was something none of them were ready for. But in any case, it had worked out. Everyone was happy in their own way, having accepted the events of the last few months as being completely over and in the past. The lessons had been learnt; the (heavily edited, courtesy of Sid) stories were already being retold to avid audiences - the proud sabre who had risked everything to defend his family...

Diego sighed to himself, stretching contentedly. The sun was warm, his stomach was full, a soft breeze was blowing, and the sound of laughter was drifting up from the pools of melting snow. Everything was as perfect as it could possibly be at that one moment in time. He rolled over into a more comfortable position, and with a last protective look at Peaches, closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.

/\ THE END /\

I hope you enjoyed this. It's been a long story that's taken far too long to complete, but thank you all for sticking with me throughout it.

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Wishing all of you the best with everything you're undertaking at the moment.

Good luck, and again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.