Hi there! Yeah, I'm back. Sorry, I am updating this as fast as I can but I have homework and tests and stupid friends and a friend moving away tomorrow and... yeah. I'm kinda stressed, could ya tell? Lols. Anyways, don't own Taz, do own Mikayla (sadly), the rest of it's in the summary, bla bla bla.
Hope you like and please review! :)
Out of sheer exhaustion, Shira had fallen fast asleep again, leaving Diego alone to talk to the pirates. It was awkward, and honestly he wanted her to wake up, but didn't have the heart to wake her himself, as he knew she was very tired what with the cubs, the incident with Gutt, and everything else that had happened to the poor sabress.
"So, Diego," began Gupta, attempting to break the ice a little "How are you?"
Taz raised an eyebrow. "How are you?" she repeated "That's the best you could come up with?"
He shrugged. "Vell, you try something then!"
"Sure thing," she replied, hopping off the small rock she was perched on and cuddling a sleeping Tina "Hey Diego, aren't the cubs just so cute?!"
"Yeah, they really are," he smiled at his children "I hope I can be a better father to them than Soto was to me. Do you know the story of that?"
"Yep, Shira told us after she joined the crew," explained Raz "She went on an' on 'bout ya fer ages."
"Really?" asked Diego in surprise. Raz nodded, grinning. Taz turned to Gupta and gave him the I-told-you-my-idea-was-better look.
"Vhatever..." he muttered under his breath. Taz smirked again, before hugging Tina again. The little cub squeaked happily in her sleep, enjoying the attention even though she wasn't awake. Taz cradled the cub in her arms, laughing as Tina batted sleepily at the possum's new earrings.
"Hey, how'd you get those earrings?" Diego asked, to which Taz smirked even wider.
"Shira," she answered somewhat absentmindedly, as she was concentrating on trying to figure out what Tina was dreaming about. Diego was surprised, but upon realising Taz's utter lack of concentration he decided not to question it. Instead, he pulled Shira closer to him and started messing with her ears. Shira smiled in her sleep; even though it annoyed her, she'd missed it when she was taken by Gutt. Actually, she'd missed everything, even...
"PRECIOUS!" yelled Granny, wandering into the clearing, closely followed by a panicked Sid. Okay, so she hadn't missed everything. The cubs all awoke and started mewling, and Shira herself grunted in irritation. Diego rolled his eyes.
"You really are a disaster waiting to happen, aren't you Sid?"
"It's not my fault!" he protested "One minute she was by my side, the next minute she's gone! I don't know how she does it!"
"It's called walking, Sid," mumbled Shira sleepily "That's how everyone else gets around when they're carrying you. You too, Taz."
"Jeez, someone's moody when they get woken up," said Taz, one hand on her hip. Shira rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Snow White!" snapped Granny, clonking Shira with her cane "Only I get to undermine my grandson!"
Squint leapt through the air, appearing in Granny's face, holding his knife in a threatning pose. "Hit my sister one more time. I dare ya."
Not catching onto the threat, Granny hit Shira on the head with the cane. Before Diego had a chance to react, Squint, Gupta and Raz had all lunged forward. Swiftly, Shira darted in front of them, knocking Granny backwards into Sid and tripping up the pirates.
"If you guys are gonna make a good impression, you might wanna start by NOT mauling Sid's grandmother!" said Shira strictly.
"Yes, Shira," sighed the pirates, as Diego pulled his still slightly sleepy mate to his chest.
"Ooh, cute cubs!" exclaimed Sid, running over and grabbing Kendall, lifting him up "Hey, this one looks like you Diego!"
"Careful!" shrieked Taz, leaping over and rescuing Kendall "You're gonna hurt him!"
Taz gently set Kendall down beside his siblings, who instantly starting nursing. Shira growled in pain at first, but relaxed when Diego kissed her on the forehead. She purred a little, and he stroked her.
"Okay, I guess Sid's too excited to leave the cubs, so we'd better take them back to the herd," said Diego, secretly pleased that they'd be heading home.
"Uh, yeah... I suppose so," replied Shira dejectedly "Time to head home..."
She was happy to see the herd again, as she really had missed them, but she didn't want to leave her siblings in case Manny wouldn't let them stay. Gupta patted Shira's paw reassuringly.
"Don't vorry, Shira. Vhy don't you go and see the herd again, you've missed them."
"We'll be fine," added Taz "We'll wait here and see you soon, right?"
Shira nodded. "Definitely. Thanks guys."
Diego and Sid looked confused. "Why don't you guys just come?" asked Sid, to which Diego nodded. They all looked surprised, as they hadn't been expecting the invitation.
"Sid, Manny would blow a fuse," explained Shira "You heard what he said earlier when Peaches offered to go get Raz!"
"Yeah, but anything you want to make you more comfortable," promised Diego "They can come with the herd if you want."
"Really?" she asked, and he nodded "Wow, thanks Diego. Do you guys want to come?"
"Uhm..." the pirates looked at each-other nervously. They all wanted to stay with their sister, but none of them were particularly keen on the idea of seeing Manny and his family again, especially Silas, who'd almost been knocked out of the sky by a rock earlier that day.
"I don't think it's a good idea if everyone goes at the same time," began Taz cautiously.
"Yeah, Manny would freak," agreed Squint.
"As vould his daughter, Peaches," added in Gupta.
"So maybe only some of us should go with ya, Sheila," finished Raz.
"Do you guys practice that?" asked Sid, referring to the way they all finished the sentence. Ignoring him, Shira shruged in agreement.
"Okay, so are any of you coming?"
"I'll come," volunteered Taz "Manny doesn't have anything against me yet anyway, and I guess it would be cool to see Louis and the others again."
"Ah'll come too, if ya want, bu' the mammoth ain't likely ta want me around," said Raz, Silas perching on her shoulder.
"I would come, Shira, but I have already seen ze herd and clearly I didn't make ze best first impression," explained Silas, to which Shira completely agreed.
"Uhm... I guess I can come if you want me too, although it probably won't go down to good..." admitted Squint, memories of when Ellie stood on him flooding his mind.
"Vell... I'll come to, but if that mammoth tries to kill me you definitely owe me one!" Gupta actually sounded kind of afraid, so Shira nodded and promised he'd be okay. Raz loaded the seven cubs into her pouch and helped Gupta, who had hurt his leg when he fell, back to his feet. When it became apparant he couldn't stand, Shira carried him on her back, which annoyed Diego slightly, as he'd wanted to have one foreleg around her when they were walking, to prove to himself she was really with him.
"Don't worry Softie, I'm gonna be right next to you the whole journey," she promised in a whisper, licking his ear.
"We'll stay here and guard ze cave," pledged Silas, with nods of agreement from Boris and Flynn.
"Okay then, home we go," said Shira, flashing a nervous grin.
"It'll be okay, Kitty," replied Diego. Shira pounced on him, Gupta hanging onto her back.
"Don't. Call me Kitty. We've been over this."
Diego grinned. "What? It's my petname for you!"
Shira smiled back, before pressing her lips against his in a passionate kiss.
"Ugh, gag me," muttered Squint, before Raz prodded him with the shaft of her spear.
"Hey Raz," called Gupta, sitting awkwardly on Shira's back "It might be a good idea to not bring that big, pointy spear vith you vhen you meet the herd."
"Huh... good point, Guppy," admitted Raz.
"Don't call me Guppy," mumbled Gupta, but he was drowned out by the small, stifled giggles and snickers from the rest of the crew. Shira and Diego had pulled apart by now, so Shira climbed off him and turned to Sid.
"Alright, are we going now?" she asked. Sid nodded, and lead the way back to the herd. Then, when they got lost, Diego took over and got everyone back on track.
Manny sat on his mossy bed, trying to make sense of what had happened. Shira's reappearance, Silas's presence, everything. Also what Shira had said:
"Yes, I'm with the pirates,"
What had she meant by that? Obviously she was getting along with them okay, as Silas proved, but were they good, or evil? Manny was starting to feel uneasy about Diego going back to the pirates with Shira alone, especially as he had been there all day.
"Aww, they're so CUTE!" squealed Peaches from outside the cave, then Ellie poked her head through the entrance.
"Hey Manny, come see Diego's kids! They're so sweet!"
Hurriedly, Manny exited the cave, and was pleasantly surprised to see Shira lying on her side, seven cubs snuggled against her stomach, with Diego sat beside her, cradling her head. Waiting in the bushes, unbeknownst to the herd, were Raz, Squint, Gupta and Taz. Earlier, Raz had taken the cubs out of her pouch, and lifted Gupta off Shira's back. The plan was for Shira and Diego to introduce the herd to the cubs, and then at a valid point in the conversation the pirates would emerge from the bushes.
"Wow Diego, seven kids? Is that normal for sabres?" asked Manny. Diego shrugged.
"Kinda. The general size for a litter is 1-6, most commonly 2-3," explained Diego "But sometimes you get seven."
"Two of them are pretty small, though," added Shira, patting Tina and Casper's little figures as they nursed again. Peaches petted them with her trunk.
"They're still the cutest things I've ever seen," she replied with a casual shrug.
"Same here," agreed Meghan, to which the rest of the herd nodded general agreement, except Louis. He had another certain someone in mind for the cutest thing he had ever seen, and unknown to him she was hiding in the bushes watching. Ellie stepped forward and stroked the cubs with her trunk like Peaches, but little Jade stopped nursing and curled up in Ellie's trunk, purring softly with comfort.
"Aww, Jade likes you Ellie!" Shira smiled at her friend. Ellie blushed slightly, but was quite happy the cub had taken a shine to her. Louis gently patted Casper on the head, and recieved a big lick in return. Louis laughed and hugged the eager cub, cuddling him.
"And Casper's taken a liking to Louis," confirmed Diego "Wonder if any of the other cubs will have a favourite member of the herd?"
"Well little Tiny seemed to like Taz," commented Louis randomly, not realising his mistake.
"Who's Taz?" asked Manny warily. Shira sighed. Guess now's as good a time as any, she thought to herself. She sighed, and turned to the bushes where she knew the pirates were.
"Guys, you can come out now," called Shira, waving them forward with her paw. Diego leaned close to her ear and whispered "You sure about this?" She shrugged and waved her paw again. After a lot of rustling and faint arguing from the bushes, a figure, namingly Taz, fell forward and landed in the tall grass.
"Ow..." she muttered, rubbing the back of her head "Hey, shoving is SO not cool!"
She was ignored, and shifted uncomfortably from foot-to-foot as Manny stared her down. Shira patted the ground beside her invitingly, and Taz hurried over,. whispering her thanks to the sabre as she did. Upon seeing Taz, Tina's big blue eyes lit up, and she crawled through the grass to greet the possum herself. Next to come out was Squint, but he had no weapons with him in case his, uhm... shall we say, problems, kicked in. He kept his paws behind his back, as he had a peace offering.
As soon as he saw Squint, Manny took immediate action. He shoved Peaches and Ellie closer to the caves, Meghan and Louis moving with them, wrapped his trunk around Diego, pulling him away from a startled Shira, and retrieved the seven cubs. Shira looked at Peaches for an answer, but got a shrug, shake of the head and the Don't-ask-me look.
"Manny? What's going on?" asked Diego and Shira in unison, before grinning sheepishly at each-other and blushing. Taz and Squint both looked at each-other and gagged, earning a glare each from Shira.
"What's going on is that she's still working with those pirates, and thanks to Diego and Sid leading her back here we're all in danger!" ranted Manny. Hurriedly, Squint pulled whatever-it-was out from behind his back.
"A peace offering," he stated, advancing towards Buck. The weasel's eye grew wide, as the 'peace offering' was his own dino tooth knife.
"Me knife..." he breathed in amazement "How didja get me knife?"
"Cap'n took i', tha's how," came a voice from the bushes. Raz emerged, still carrying an immobile Gupta. Manny tensed, and even Ellie seemed slightly worried now. Squint passed the knife to Buck, and sat down beside Taz and Shira, as did Raz, setting Gupta down on the grass. Shira patted her brother on the head, comfortingly.
"Don't worry, Guppy, your leg'll heal soon," she promised. Gupta glared at the use of his 'nickname'.
"Thanks, Shi-Shi," he answered, somewhat smugly. He knew that Shira hated being called 'Shi-Shi' unless it was Raz saying it, but with her and Gupta being the youngest they generally had to suck it up and accept the fact that all of their siblings called them their annoying nicknames.
"Don't call me that!" she complained. Sid looked confused.
"I thought it was Kitty that we weren't supposed to call you?"
"That too!" she snapped. Diego laughed, padded over to her despite Manny's warnings, and cuddled her lovingly. This seemed to reassure Ellie slightly, convincing her to introduce the herd properly to the pirates.
"Hello there," she said, in her typical quirky voice "I guess we all kinda got off on the wrong foot. I'm Ellie, this is my daughter Peaches, my adoptive brothers Crash and Eddie, say hi boys," the two possums waved nervously "Peaches' best friends Meghan and Louis, our old friend Buck, and I think you already know Manny, Sid, Diego and Granny. Obviously introducing you to Shira would be pointless."
She half-heartedly laughed at her attempt at a joke, and picking up on this, Shira giggled too. Diego smirked, and the pirates copied Shira by laughing softly. Ellie then turned to Squint, knowing what needed to be said next.
"Squint. right?" when she recieved a nod, she continued "Can I just say that I am very sorry for that whole squishing-you-into-the-ground thing during the battle on the ship. It was the heat of the moment, I was protecting Shira and, well... at the time you were evil," she explained. Squint just smiled.
"Apology accepted. If I could do that to people, I would too," he began to laugh "And anyway, I did deserve it! I definitely let being First Mate go to my head... I mean, I was about to attack my little sister! So in a way, I'm glad you stopped me. Although, being stepped on by a mammoth was not an experience I'd like to repeat... or remember, for that matter..."
Ellie laughed nervously. "Yeah... I can imagine it was pretty unpleasant."
Suddenly, Raz remembered something from earlier that day:
"Sid, Manny would blow a fuse," explained Shira "You heard what he said earlier when Peaches offered to go get Raz!"
She'd meant to ask Shira what she meant by 'when Peaches offered to go get Raz'... so she figured now was an okay time.
"Hey Sheila, wha' was tha' 'bout this mornin? When Peaches offered ta come get meh..."
"Oh, right, I remember that!" exclaimed Peaches before Shira could speak "This morning Shira was, uhm... shall we say, unhappy, so I thought it might cheer her up if her big sister was around!"
Diego grew embarressed all of a sudden, and gripped Shira closer, horrified that he could have upset and hurt her so much, especially after he had missed her for so long. She promised him it was okay, and kissed his cheek. Relaxing instantly, Diego rested his head on hers and turned to Manny.
"See Manny? They're fine now!" insisted Diego "They aren't evil anymore!"
Manny glared at Raz, whom he had the most hostility for. "How do I know Shira didn't talk you into helping them? We all know you'd jump off a cliff into a raging river if she told you to, even though you're terrified of water."
"Okay, one: I'd never tell him to do that. Two: I suppose you think I talked Peaches, Meghan and Louis into 'helping' us too, because they don't have a problem with the pirates either. Actually, they were the ones that convinced me to come back to the herd in the first place. If it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have spoken to you guys again."
Worn out from her rant, Shira snuggled into Diego and licked him kindly. But Diego was confused, and pulled away from her.
"Huh? Why wouldn't you come back?" he asked, hurt.
She sighed. "I told you about what I saw-"
"And I told you the truth of what happened. Now, why else? Because I can tell there's more."
Shira opened her mouth to speak, then shut it again. All eyes were on her. She tried to hide her face in Diego's fur, but he refused to let her. He gripped her shoulders, forcing her to face him. He repeated his question.
"Why else?"
She caved in. "Manny, okay? Manny. I was scared that he'd get really mad at me for being with the pirates again, and for bringing them back here and I was afraid he'd hurt me again."(once again, Wish Upon a Star reference) She started to cry fiercely. Diego pulled her close again quickly, stroking the back of her head and soothingly whispering to her. Manny walked closer and draped his trunk around her shoulders.
"Shira, I'd never hurt you on purpose, you know that, right? Everything that happened last time was an accident, I just-" he choked up "I didn't realise you were so afraid I'd hurt you. Okay, why don't the pirates stay in the spare cave?"
Shira looked hopeful. "Really?"
Manny nodded. Shira smiled and thanked him, which allowed Diego to wipe away her tears without more taking their place. While everyone was getting everything organized for the pirates, and Shira had run back to tell Silas, Boris and Flynn, Raz came up to Diego.
"Hey, good job calmin' the lil Sheila down, mate."
He smiled at her. "Name's Diego," he offered his paw "Friend."
Raz shook his paw, smiling back. Peaches hoped, for Shira's sake, that this was the spark to light the fire of the friendship between the herd and the pirates.
Finally! I hope you guys like this (I've been slaving away at it long enough! Seriously, I had a serious fight with a certain ** called Writer's Block), and I'm so sorry for the wait! Thanks for reading and please review! :D