Hey, I'm sorry everyone for not making chapter 13 complete. I had no idea, and it was an honest mistake. It ended with Diego looking into the bear's eyes. I will continue that off with this next chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 14: Everything coming together

The bear did not look happy, but not angry either. It looked as if it were innocent and in pain. He almost saw his own eyes in the bear's; the eyes of a carnivore, just like Diego. The tiger suddenly saw a young bear cub coming toward him, and he climbed off of the bear and walked toward his herd.

"Diego, what happened?" Ellie asked curiously.

The tiger looked back at the bear, who was struggling to get up, but with it's own cub by its side, who was giving a small growl.

"Diego, what happened over there?" Manny asked.

"I..." Diego started, and turned to his herd. "I just...felt..." he couldn't tell them. He couldn't tell them that he felt bad for the bear, just because it was a carnivore like him. And also that he felt kind of guilty of killing somebody who was almost like him, and that he was lonely, being the only carnivore in his herd. "...felt that I had enough. She won't bother us again."

The two possums looked at each other curiously, and the two mammoths agreed to what Diego said. But Sid knew that Diego was only trying to protect the bear.

Other animals screaming from the distance broke the silence, and the herd became in shock. Manny looked over, and saw the lava coming their way. He was afraid it would continue. He knew that it would probably not get through the pond that Diego, Sid, and the possums had gone pass. But the way he and Ellie went through, there was no water at all. Besides, it was hot water anyways that the others went across, so the lava would probably connect with it. "We've gotta keep going. Come on!" Manny turned around, and started walking the opposite of where the bears were.

"Come on," Ellie calmly said to her brothers, who jumped on top of her. Sid also started with the others, leaving Diego unsure. He still stood there, looking at the two bears, who weren't aware of the lava. He almost shouted at the bears, away of helping them, but before he could, they roared with fear, and noticed the lava. So Diego ran off with the rest of his herd.

Sandy was panting hard as she ran away from the bear earlier. She was so scared, that she hadn't noticed her two sons gone; until now. The possum stopped and looked back. "Crash, Eddie?" Sandy was high up, and she was close to climbing high up a mountain. She looked down, and called for her sons again, and also for Sid and Diego. No answer.

Sandy started to panic, and decided to run back to them. But before she could go any further than one foot, the ground started to fall, and she screamed as she caught herself, and backed up. The possum gasped, as she looked down and saw pieces of the ground falling down.

"Mama!" a voice cried.

Sandy gasped and looked ahead. "Eddie? Crash?"

"Mom!" another voice called.

"Oh, you're ok!"

The whole herd came over, and noticed the 4 feet gap between them and Sandy.

"What do we do, Manny?" Ellie asked curiously.

There was no plan in Manny's head. Their only hope was to jump the gap onto the other side. Four feet. He could make it that far. And if he could, everybody else could. "Alright, we're going to have to jump this."

Crash and Eddie were shocked of what the mammoth said, and weren't sure if they could do it.

"Manny, are you sure?" Ellie asked.

"Of course," the male mammoth replied. "It's not that far, we can make it. Right Diego?"

"Right," the tiger replied, with no doubt at all.

"Alright then, lets do it." Manny looked ahead curiously, as Sandy waited for him to jump. He bent his legs, ready to make the jump. The mammoth finally went into the air, and made it to the other end.

Ellie sighed with relief, as her brothers jumped up and down with excitement.

"Come on Ellie!" Sandy exclaimed.

Ellie knew, that if Manny could do it, she could do it. She never doubted him after that, so she was going to give it a try. She bent her legs and shook her body a little.

Manny looked across for a second, and realized that something wasn't right for Ellie to jump that second. "Ellie, wait!"

Ellie stopped her motion, and looked at Manny curiously.

"You need to throw Sid over here."

Ellie looked down at the sloth who was nervous, but ready. Ellie's hairy trunk wrapped around Sid's belly, and she lifted him off the ground. Even though it was only 4 feet, everybody still doubted that Sid was not the best jumper. "Ready?" Ellie asked Sid, who gulped.

"Ready," he replied.

"AHHH!" the possum brothers screamed with terror, when they saw the lava coming, about ten feet away.

Ellie gasped, and tossed Sid quickly, who screamed briefly, then landed on the other side.

"Hurry!" Manny exclaimed at the others.

Crash and Eddie were ready to jump, one by one. They both bent their legs, and jumped, first Crash, then Eddie. Crash almost got to the other side, but only grabbed a hold of the ledge with his hands, with his brother holding onto his trail.

Sandy gasped, and ran over to her two sons, who were in peril. She grabbed Crash's hand, and pulled him up, along with his brother. They sighed with relief when they got up, and hugged their mother.

"Ellie, go!" Diego exclaimed.

"Ok," Ellie said calmly, but also in a fern voice. She looked ahead at the others who were waiting for her to jump. "Come on!" Sid exclaimed.

Diego looked back at the lava, which was only five feet away. "Move it!"

Ellie gasped, knowing that the lava was coming up, and she quickly jumped to the other side. Diego also jumped right after, and everybody sighed with relief, thankful that everybody was safe.

That lava quickly came to the edge of the gap, and Sid gasped, not thinking about what would happen. But the lava slowly went down, and everybody became calm.

"Yes, yes!" Eddie exclaimed, and cheered with his brother and mother.

"We're safe!" Sid exclaimed, and everybody looked down at the lava, which fell in a big pool of water, which was probably not as hot as the other water they came to.

"Yep, we sure are," Diego replied to Sid's comment.

The possums cheered again, along with Sid, and Diego, who just smiled.

"You ok?" Manny asked, as he got closer to Ellie.

Ellie giggled, very happy that she was safe, and that Manny could still talk to her after the horrible situation of the volcano. "I'm fine."

After a little while, the herd made it back closer to ground, and all the animals were getting settled after the horrible situation. The herd looked at everyone, who seemed to overcome their fear of the situation. "He took my acorn!" the small beaver whined to his mother.

"Glad to see everybody is ok," Ellie said to Manny.

"Yeah," Manny agreed. "Glad to see that you're ok, too."

Ellie just smiled after the comment, and kept walking with him and the others.

Scrat got very excited that he was safe, and so was his acorn. He hugged it tightly, and hopped away, ready to find a perfect place to put it.

After the herd stopped at a resting spot, all three possums chatted, and the two mammoths chatted. Sid looked at Diego, who sat by himself, smiling at everybody. He walked over to his tiger friend, and was ready to start a conversation.

"So," Sid started as he sat next to the tiger, who looked at him. "You ok?"

"Yeah," Diego answered, not wanting to get angry at him.

"Are you gonna tell them?"

"Tell WHO WHAT?"

"About the bear."

Diego knew what Sid was talking about, and in his mind, he got very angry. But he relaxed, and tried to say something. "You want me to tell them that I am guilty, and it's my fault that you almost got killed by that bear?"

"Uhh...no Diego. About the bear, and her cub. And that you felt bad."

"Oh." Now he had no idea what to say to the sloth. Sid was right about the situation, and all Diego could do was go along with it. "Oh, I was just..."

"You miss being with other carnivores, and you cared about the bears."

"Yeah."

"And you...some how wish you could be in that life again?"

"No. I now know my place now. And that's with you guys."

Sid smiled. "I heard you say to the bear 'my best buddy'. Did you mean it?"

Diego's body tingled, and was shocked that Sid heard him say that earlier, even though he was unconscious. "Of course. Even though you're...sensitive, you're more wise and kind than any guy I ever met."

Sid smiled, and then knew that when Diego said he had a best friend who was "sensitive", he knew he was talking about him. "Really, Diego?"

Diego smiled at the sloth, knowing that Sid knew what he meant. "Really." Diego knew that he was a little sad about being the only carnivore. But his herd looked after him. And no friend has ever been so close to him, and so wise; even if that friend was a little annoying. He didn't care. He loved his herd no matter what.

"Awww!" Sid cried out, as he hugged the tiger, who didn't do anything. "Aren't ya going to hug ME?"

"I'll choke you if you let me do that."

"Oh." Sid wasn't sure if it was a threat or not. But he didn't care. He continued to hug his friend.

Diego knew that he loved Sid and his other friends. But he couldn't get through this mushy stuff. He suddenly made a fist, and pounded on the sloth's head, very hard, causing him to fall. Diego smiled, and walked toward the others.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Manny asked Ellie.

"I'm fine!" Ellie smiled. "Gosh, I never knew how much you..." Ellie stopped and looked at Manny. She never knew this would happen; that she would feel like this. She knew that Manny was feeling it to, but she couldn't say it aloud. She couldn't say that...she loved him. Instead of making words, she just smiled.

"Ellie," Sandy's voice came in place, and she walked over with Crash and Ellie. "I'm glad that you're safe, and that we finally...met each other again."

Ellie smiled again. "I know! I'm so happy." Ellie got excited about the fact that there was no sense in her mother going back home.

"I'm glad about your new herd, and...your mate."

Ellie looked back at Manny, who was smiling. She looked back at her mother happily, and waited for her to continue.

"You learned to take good care of your herd, and your brothers. And they managed to take care of you, too. It's just obvious, that I have to do the same thing...to my the rest of my possum family at home."

Crash and Eddie both gasped in shock. "Mama!" Eddie exclaimed.

"You know that there are others who I am living with."

Crash and Eddie knew that they were her only children. But the other possums depended on her as if she were a mother to them, too.

"So you're going back home?" Manny asked sadly.

"I"m afraid so," Sandy replied.

Ellie only lowered her eyes, and the two possums started to cry, Eddie sobbing the most. They both hugged their mom.

"I will miss you guys."

Sid and Diego walked over to the possums and mammoth, and soon understood what was going on.

"You can't go." Crash whined.

"I have to. You guys have been taking good care of your sister. I want you to continue doing that. You need to live with her, and your new herd."

Both possums nodded, and hugged their mother one last time. Ellie also hugged her mother goodbye with her trunk, and released her.

"My home is about a mile away from here."

"Won't you need somebody to go with you?" Manny asked.

"No. We live in different directions, and I'm sure that others will go my way, too, and to help me fix up the damage the volcano has done.

"Good luck on your journey."

"We're going to miss you!" Sid exclaimed, trying to hold his cry.

"It will be ok, honey," Sandy replied. Good luck to you, too. I will miss you all."

"Goodbye," they all replied.

Sandy started walking away from the herd slowly. She was sad that she had to leave her children again, but knew that they could live their life on their on. She looked back at them again, hoping that they would be alright. That nothing will get in their way; any carnivores, or the heat.

All of a sudden, dark clouds covered the sky, which flash a light, and thunder started to roar. All the animals looked up, and whispered to each other curiously.

About 10 seconds later, a small drop came from the sky, and hit Manny's head. He then looked up with the others, and more rain drops started to pour down. Ellie gasped, and looked at the possums, then looked at other animals who were starting a cheer. "It's raining!" Ellie exclaimed.

Crash and Eddie started to jump and cheer. Crash sat on his knees, and put his arms up in the rain. Eddie was drinking the drops with his mouth, and Sid did the same thing.

Scrat's plan was to dig up some sand and burry his acorn. After digging so hard before the rain came, Scrat sat his acorn down. "AHHH!" Scrat cried, as he saw his acorn sink into the sand, which obviously became quicksand.

Sandy looked at her herd happily, and Ellie gave her a big smile, showing that everything was alright. The possums turned around and continued walking with other animals, who were heading in the same direction.

Ellie smiled at Manny, who smiled at Diego, who smiled at him and then at Crash, Eddie, and Sid.

The herd happily traveled in the rain, letting their fur get wet. "I love this," Sid started.

"Love what?" Diego asked curiously, walking by Sid.

"I'm happy that it's finally raining, and everybody's happy."

"Yeah."

Sid suddenly stopped, and looked at a female sloth he never saw before.

Diego stopped and looked with him.

"Did you ever think about finding a mate?" Sid asked his friend.

"Na, I'm happy the way I am."

"I think you should, Diego."

"Why, 'cause it would be easy for me?"

"Oh, you would have terrible trouble finding a girl!" Sid started to walk off with the others.

Diego turned around, and walked after him. "Oh, and you think you can do any better?"

"Of course I can." Sid finally caught up with the others, and so did Diego, and they continued their journey back home.

SW- well, that was my 14th chapter! But wait, it's not quite done yet! Wait for my last chapter, and the story will end! it's so sad, I know! LOL. But there will be more stories from me to come later after.