A/N: So... yeah, I haven't been around for awhile. Writer's block hates me, and I hate it. But the important thing is that I'm back with a new chapter! And this is a juicy one. I should let you know that all Louis and Peaches know about Sapphire is that she has a scar.

Disclaimer: "Take it away Becca."

"Awesome! Grace doesn't own Ice Age but she does own me! Wait, that sounded weird."

"Yeah but you don't exist so its okay."

"Not existing sucks."

After many minutes of waiting, Peaches finally showed up at the clearing and instantly noticed a missing member of their group.

"Hey Louis. Where's Sapphire?"

Louis snapped himself out of his daze, "Oh, uh, Becca came over and told me she got grounded for coming home late last night and she can't hang out for three days."

Peaches winced, "She looked pretty freaked out when she left last night. I guess her parents really went off on her and stuff. So what do we do then?"

"Sapphire is usually our idea person. Without her we never knew what to do. I'm drawing a blank." Louis answered.

"Yeah, me too. How about we just walk until we think of something."

Louis shrugged and followed Peaches into the woods. Wanting to stave off the awkward silence that was quickly building, Louis revealed some information he learned from Becca, "You'll never believe what I found out about Sapphire from Becca, Peach."

"What? Was she born with a third arm or something?" Peaches asked comically.

"Uh, no. She has a nickname. Becca calls her Gem because she was named after a gemstone." Louis answered.

Peaches was suddenly excited, "Ooh that's a pretty name! Why didn't she tell us? Doesn't she like it?"

Louis shrugged, "I don't know, maybe we should ask her when she comes back."

"Yeah, and then start calling her Gem to no end. It's so pretty and awesome I won't be able to not say it!" Said Peaches.

And over the next three days, Peaches and Louis went about doing what they did before they met their newest friend. They managed to have fun doing what teenagers do best but it wasn't the same. Both of them, especially Louis, longed for the quickly coming day the girl with the scarred eye would return to them.

Sapphire did not have nearly as much fun those three days as her friends did. As part of her punishment she cleaned the burrow from top to bottom, babysat Jackson and Molly and let them play with her very roughly, and dealt with Zach (who was supposedly her older brother but didn't act like it) taunting her to no end. But on her first day of freedom, she escaped the burrow before her younger siblings could awake and drag her into another rough play time session to meet Louis and Peaches at the pine tree clearing. When she got there Peaches was already there.

"Oh my god, you're back! It was so boring without you, Gem!"

"Yeah, I am kind of the one who come up with the-", she stopped, "Wait, how did you find out what Becca's nickname for me was?" She asked confused.

"Oh Louis told me and he heard it from Becca. Why didn't you ever tell us?"

Sapphire muttered under her breath, "Leave it to Becca to open her mouth." She addressed Peaches, "I never told you because it just never came to mind and only Becca ever uses it."

Just then Louis appeared out of the ground and rubbed the dirt out of his hair. Sapphire nearly squealed with joy, "Louis, oh my god hi!" She pulled him out of his hole and hugged him as tight as she could, not wanting to let him go.

Louis struggled to breath in Sapphire's death grip, "It's good to see you too Sapphire but I can't breath." He said in a chocked voice.

Sapphire, then realizing that she was chocking her friend and that friends generally don't hug like that, quickly let go of him, "Oh, yeah, uh sorry." She said awkwardly rubbing her arm.

Peaches saw what happened and took mental note of it, but put it in the back of her mind to torture them later. She focused on something more interesting at the moment, doing something with Sapphire for the first time in a few days, "So Gem, what are we going to do?"

"Oh, I was just thinking we could walk around and talk. I've been working my butt off lately."

The trio walked off into the woods lazily talking about everyday things and enjoying each other's company. But after a few minutes, they found a topic of interest that has been sitting on Louis and Peaches' minds for three days.

"So Gem," Peaches started, "Your parents must have really gone off on you since you got grounded for coming home late."

Sapphire stopped in her tracks but quickly regained her composure. The time for that dreaded conversation has finally come. She thought it would be best to play it cool rather than breaking down and crying like she thought she might. She fought the lump in the back of her throat as she continued talking.

"Well, no they d- didn't." Both of Sapphire's friends looked confused.

"But you got grounded for three days. Weren't they just a little mad?" Louis asked.

Sapphire took a deep breath and let it out. They had to know, there was no hiding it anymore, "They didn't get mad because, because,"

"Because why?" Peaches asked.

"Because their dead!" Sapphire exclaimed perhaps a little louder than she anticipated. At that moment, Louis and Peaches froze and stared at her. But for her, it was the look in Peaches' eyes that hit a soft spot. They looked sympathetic and yet understanding, like she somewhat knows what she's going through.

"My parents almost died," Peaches said. "I get how that would be hard."

Louis looked at Sapphire like he witnessed the death of her parents like she did. He stayed quiet, not knowing what to say or how to say it. All he did as Sapphire tilted her head down and began to cry was wrap his arms around her and hope she was comforted. She sank into him and let the tears flow, grieving over the parents she lost only two years ago. As she cried in Louis's arms, Peaches picked them both up and held them close in her trunk, wanting to let her friend know she was there for her.

Sapphire didn't care that she sounded like a baby crying the way she was with her friends; she didn't care about anything at that moment. All she knew is that Louis and Peaches didn't care what she sounded like, and that's all that mattered to her. Her sobs turned into soft crying, and from soft crying to sniffling. Only then did her friends dare let her go. When she was back on the ground and she was no longer in Louis' embrace, she calmed herself down and sat on the ground, followed by her two friends in front of her.

"I think I should tell you guys what happened now." Sapphire decided.

"You don't have to, you know." Louis replied.

Sapphire looked up at her friends and just stared at them, something she normally doesn't do, "Yes, I do. I can't just hide everything from you guys. You want me, this is me summed up in one story. I would pay attention."

Louis and Peaches only nodded, confused out by their friend's strange behavior.

"Well it happened two years ago but I think it started before I was even born."

It started with a molehog named Roger and his friend Keith. Roger and Keith both worked as gold miners in their day and were the most odd pair of friends, considering Roger was a molehog and Keith was an ape. And for years, it seemed like nothing could break them apart. That is, until they met Michelle.

Michelle was also a molehog, full of life and energy. She came to the mine after she left her parents burrow to explore the world. Both Roger and Keith fell madly in love with this girl and started competing for her love. It started friendly, like it was just a game that didn't matter. But as the game continued, the more serious the two friends got. They eventually grew to hate each other, and this greatly concerned Michelle. But out of no where, they seemed to have made up. This was because they did, for awhile.

Their attempt to make amends didn't last long. Soon Michelle had to make a choice between two guys she had a crush on, Roger or Keith. And her choice would seal her and her future family's fate.

She chose Roger over Keith.

She chose him for a few reasons. For one thing, he was her own species, and second she had a much better connection with him than Keith. But one of the most important reasons was because Keith always walked a fine line of mental instability that not even Roger could deny. This instability only increased when he was angry and he was always one to hold a grudge. That was the day Keith left the gold mine and the last day Roger and Michelle would see Keith for almost twenty years.

Many years have passed since then and Roger and Michelle have become mates and have had five children together. They never thought they would see Keith again, even though he vowed to kill them and any children they may have. They were wrong though. On a cold winter night they woke up to their oldest daughter Sapphire screaming and their burrow filled with smoke. They took their two youngest children, Jackson and Molly, and ran into the living room lit up with fire. They shoved their smallest kids into the arms of their two oldest while Michelle put out the fire consuming her daughter's face. They told them to flee and run to safety, not to look back.

Their oldest daughter, that thirteen year old girl Sapphire, ran with her hand covering her burnt eye. She was scared, for herself and her parents and knew they only had two choices: they could stay in the burrow and choke to death in the smoke or they could try to escape the fire that had just consumed the whole area around their home. She initially did what her parents told her to do and ran with her brothers and sister to safety but curiosity got the better of her. She wanted to know what happened to her parents so bad she stopped and turned around to see if they were okay. And what she saw nearly made her throw up.

Her parents laid dead and charred on the ground at the entrance of her home, having decided to face the flames rather than the smoke. She screamed in horror at the sight and then felt her brother John grab her arm and start pulling her away screaming "Come on, we have to get out of here!" into her ear.

In the distance, all five of the children saw a large ape- like figure standing on a snow covered hill. The figure didn't appear to see them but laughed maniacally into the night and ran away. That was also the last they saw of the strange man who killed their parents.

"And that's all that happened. We haven't seen the guy we assumed to be Keith since. We've been on the run constantly in case he knew we weren't dead until the continents split. We ran away from the giant rock wall until we reached a boat at the shore of a beach and it took us here. We figured we didn't have to keep running after that because we didn't think he'd ever find us."

Sapphire then laid on the ground and gazed up at the trees. Peaches and Louis sat stunned with her mouths half open in shock. They were utterly speechless and had no idea what to say. Sapphire closed her eyes and let the tears flow freely down her face at the memory of her dead parents that haunts her in her dreams. Louis laid down next to her, folded his hands behind his head, and just laid there in silence for awhile. When Sapphire stopped crying, Peaches broke the silence, "We know someone who tried to kill us."

Sapphire turned her head to face her, "Really?"

Louis spoke, still looking into the trees, "Yeah, his name was Captain Gutt. He was a pirate who had something against Peaches' dad and he wanted to kill her and her mom for revenge. He was an ape too"

"Oh, that's terrible. Sorry."

"You don't have to be, not with what you've been through." Peaches told her friend.

"Captain Gutt and Keith, they sound very similar don't they?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah." Louis stated. "You don't think they're the same person, do you?"

Sapphire shook her head, "I don't think so, Keith would have no reason to become a pirate."

"Well no matter what, we'll always be here for you." Peaches said comfortingly.

Louis took Sapphire's hand and looked her in the eyes, "No matter what, Gem."

A/N: Whoa, what a doozie! Also the longest chapter I've written! Did you guys like me telling the story in flashback form rather than Sapphire telling it in the present? I thought it would look better. So now onto the next order of business, reviewer shout outs!

IceAgingTitans- You are so awesome. And yes, there is soooooooo much more in store for everyone. ;)

Aqualina111- Updated! Your welcome. :)

Lorithemolehog123- Becca is actually really easy for me to write because she's based off of someone I know. ^^

scoobs5601- Louis is going to get bombed with confrontations. (And I feel no remorse. Muahaha!) And John grounding Sapphire for three days was him being protective of her since their parents died. He can't help but be an over protective big brother I suppose. :/