Chapter Text
The sound of whimpers and groans awoke Manny. His eyes shot open, immediately fearing the worst. Glancing around, he quickly determined that both Peaches and Ellie were fine, still soundly asleep, nestled up against each other as the sun began to paint the insides of the cave in soft hues of yellow and blue as it climbed into the sky.
Nearby, Sid and the possums snored on their rock beds. Manny frowned, wondering what unquiet within the cave had so disturbed him. Another whimper crept out, and Manny’s eyes focussed on the alcove where Diego preferred to rest.
The tiger was writhing in his sleep, apparently wrestling with demons of some sort. Manny clicked his tongue sympathetically as he rose to his feet.
He lumbered over to the tiger. Stopping next to him, he nudged him with his trunk, whispering, “Diego, wake up. I’m here. You’re having a bad dream again.”
The sabre winced visibly at Manny’s touch, shaking his head almost in disbelief. To Manny it looked like he was still trying to escape the nightmare.
“That same dream, again, huh?” Manny probed, knowing that Diego hated opening up.
Diego blinked rapidly, and Manny thought he saw tears glint in his eyes.
“Yeah, that dream,” Diego admitted, his voice hoarse. “The one where I was unable to save you and the baby and Sid. There was so much blood… if I had taken that path I would never have forgiven myself.”
“But you didn’t,” Manny soothed. “You nearly died to save us.”
Diego averted his gaze from Manny, and the mammoth heard him sigh.
“I nearly didn’t, though,” the tiger said in a murmur. “And in the nightmare, I’m not able to save you. There’s always some spanner in the works - I don’t wake up quick enough after Soto bashes me into the rock, Soto gets to you before I could intercept him…”
A quiet pause enfolded the two as sobs erupted from Diego’s chest. Awkwardly, Manny stroked Diego with his trunk, not knowing how to comfort him.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Manny whispered, faint memories of rocking his son after similar nightmares flooding through his mind. But Diego wasn’t his son. Diego was his friend.
Diego accepted Manny’s touch, leaning in closer to him so that it became a snuggle. Manny found himself half-smiling, Diego was loath to show affection at the best of times, it was almost appropriate that displays of affection happened during the worst of times. (It wasn’t a true hug though, Manny knew - Diego would never voluntarily hug anyone in the herd if he could help it. Dignity and all.)
“I just wish that nightmare would stop,” Diego groaned. “The past haunts me already. I still have nightmares about Pinky’s mother.” He sought out Manny’s eyes before glancing away. “I still don’t understand why you still let me stay with you; I’ve been such an awful individual.”
“You’re not that individual now,” Manny said, cutting to the quick. “You’re different. You’d willingly die for me, or Peaches, or any of the herd. You’re not that selfish sabre I first met trying to wrangle Pinky away from me.”
Diego chuckled at the memory.
“I’m not,” he agreed, “but my actions from the past still haunt me. It’s like this nightmare is meant to make me relive what my selfishness might have caused.”
Manny sighed. He’d been over this several times with Diego, but still the tiger insisted on mentally beating himself up over a situation that was averted years ago.
“You don’t need to do that anymore,” Manny urged. “Diego, it’s over! It never happened!”
“But it almost did,” Diego replied in a voice holding back as much emotion as possible. “And either way, it’s all my fault. I would’ve sent you to your death to save my own skin.”
For a moment the cave was silent again as Manny ruminated on Diego’s words, thinking how best to respond.
Before he could say anything, Diego spoke again.
“This is the only punishment I have for my misdeeds in the past. I should just accept it.”
“NO,” Manny felt the urge to bellow.
“No,” he said in a smaller voice, careful not to wake the others in the herd. “Diego, no. This isn’t fair to you or anyone in the herd. I forgive you. Sid forgave you. Pinky forgave you. That covers it.”
For once, Diego seemed to consider Manny’s words deeply.
“And what’s more, you need to forgive yourself for the past and stop overthinking the ‘what ifs.’” Manny managed a small, sad smile at his friend. “Trust me, I know. There were too many ‘what ifs’ after my family died, and they almost killed me. We in this herd love you too much to let that happen to you.”
Diego held Manny’s gaze, a smile beginning to erode the fear and pain previously present on his face.
“Thanks, Manny,” he said. “Again.”
“Don’t mention it,” Manny muttered, trying to be as gruff as possible, knowing that Diego wasn’t fooled. “It’s what we do, in a herd.” He sent Diego a wink.
“Now, I’m going back to bed,” Manny went on, “for whatever little shut-eye I got left, so you think on what I said, okay, Buddy?”
“Will do,” Diego promised. “Thanks for being here, partner.”
“I’m always gonna be here for you,” Manny said. “Never forget that, okay? Now get some sleep, you need it.”
The last image on Manny’s mind before he closed his eyes again was Diego curling up on his rock bed, the flicker of a peaceful smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
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FIN
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