EPILOGUE

LOVE BRINGS THE HERD TOGETHER

When the flood ended, all the animals that were safely on the boat started piling off it. They were all glad that the flood was over and everyone can go back to doing their daily routines. Some have decided to stay on the boat and make their new homes. Others go back to living the way they normally do.

Crazy Carol jumped off the boat. "We made it! I knew we would make it. Well, back to what I normally do. Trading. Who wants a new shell?"

Brooke was walking with her two mammoth friends. She was happy that a miracle did come for them. "You know, I'm thinking about starting up a swim school."

"Don't even think about it, Brooke," Ellie said.

"I think I'll call it...Brooke's Beautiful Swim School." She looked to her right and screamed. She was surprised and terrified to see the mini sloths.

"All hail, Goddess of Fire!" the blue sloth shouted as the other small sloths cheered.

"The mini sloths are real?" Manny asked.

"Hello there," Brooke said, hiding behind Manny.

"Goddess of Fire avert flood. Join us, O great and noble flaming one," the blue sloth said.

"No, not so fast," Ellie told the group of sloths, "You all make a quality offer, but Goddess of Fire has a prior commitment. A herd needs her. She is the gooey, sticky stuff that keeps us together. She made this herd, and it would be incomplete without her."

Brooke gasped with tears of happiness welling in her eyes. "You mean it?"

"I do." Ellie smiled. Brooke ran up and hugged the female mammoth, who hugged her back. "Besides, you're like a sister to me."

"So are you, Ellie. Well, I better go check on everyone else. I'll be back."

Once Brooke walked away, Manny made his way towards Ellie. "Ellie, now that this whole flood business is over, I was wondering if...well,..."

"Yes, Manny?" Ellie asked.

"I was wondering if you would...well, I don't know exactly how to say this."

"Manny, are you trying to ask me out?"

"Uh, yeah. That's exactly what I was going to ask you. Will you go out on a date with me?"

"It took you some time, huh? After talking to me before, you were too nervous to ask me out. At least you had courage. That's one thing I like in a man. Yes, Manny. I'll go out with you."

"Great. How does tomorrow night sound?"

"Sounds great. See you then." Ellie was about to walk away when she saw something out in the distance. She gasped. "Look!"

All the animals turned their heads to see an entire pack of saber-tooth tigers walking up from the trail, making their way to where they need to go. Everyone was bewildered. After all the times they said that sabers were going extinct or that Shira was one of the last few existing, they were proven wrong.

Shira almost fainted. Diego's excitement got the best of him when he saw what he thought he'd never see in his life. "We're not the last ones anymore. This is awesome!" The male saber made his way over to the pack, but he turned his head to see Shira just standing there. "Aren't you coming? This is a saber pack, after all."

"You wanna go with them?" Shira asked.

"I am a saber, aren't I? I should probably be with a saber, don't you think?"

"Well, yeah, unless..."

"Unless?"

"Unless I...Diego, those guys over there are pretty much the only family I have. They care about me as much as I care about them. Don't get me wrong, I care about you, too, but I've had bad experiences in the past with saber packs. I'm better off with being part of a herd. That's my decision. You can go wherever you wanna go. It's your choice. I wish you the best of luck. And I...I..."

"Yes?"

Shira sighed. "I hope you find everything you're looking for."

Diego's smile turned into a frown, but he still looked Shira in the eye and pretended to be happy about it. "Oh, well,...I hope you find everything you're looking for, too. Maybe we'll see each other again."

"Yeah. Maybe we will."

Diego smiled as he turned away and made his way over to the pack. Crash and Eddie followed him, but not before the waved goodbye to the herd. Shira walked away, finding a puddle to look at her reflection. It was once again just the two of them. She knew that's how it'll always be.

Brooke and the others walked over to Shira as the female sloth placed a paw on her shoulder. "Shira, you've come a long way since we've met and I give you credit for that, but you need to let go of your past so you can have a future. I don't know what happened during your childhood, but I know it's holding you back from all that's going on right now. You care about Diego as much as you care about the rest of us. Go on. Don't let him get away."

"You really mean that?" Shira asked.

"Well, what are you standing around here for?" Ellie asked, "Go get him, honey."

Shira smiled. "Thanks, guys." Shira started running to Diego. "Diego!"

Diego heard Shira calling his name and stopped in his tracks along with his possum brothers. "Shira." He looked to see Shira hanging upside down from a tree by her tail.

"Diego, I don't want is to be together because we have to," Shira said, "I want us to be together because we want to. And I wanna be with you, Diego." She couldn't hold on by her tail any longer as she fell and hit the ground. She got up on her own and chuckled. "What do you say?"

"Well, all I have to say is,...you're possum enough to me."

They both nuzzled their heads together for the first time. It was a moment that was meant to last. All the sabers that were standing around them started roaring in happiness, knowing that true love finally sparkled for Diego and Shira.

The others smiled in happiness as tears of happiness were shed. Even Crash and Eddie were crying seeing that their brother was happy. It wasn't a happy moment after Eddie blew his nose on his brother's tail. That was just plain gross.

The remaining herd members smiled, happy to see their friends were happy. Brooke smile was wider than anyone else's. "Well, I guess that's that. It's just us now. Two bachelorettes on a journey together to find our place."

"What are you talking about?" Ellie asked, "Manny's coming along with us. He and I have a date tomorrow night."

"Well, you won't be a bachelorette for long. Mind if I tag along with you two?"

"That's fine, but just so you know, we are not carrying you," Manny said.

"That's fine," Brooke said, "I suppose this female hippie sloth was made to walk."

"I'll carry her," Shira said, pulling Brooke next to her and Diego. Crash and Eddie were sitting on top of their brother's back.

"But your here's leaving," Ellie said.

"We are now."

"Shotgun!" Brooke exclaimed, hopping on Shira's back, "Shira, who do you like better? Me or Ellie?"

"Ellie," Shira said, "Don't get me started on favorites, Brooke."

"Shira, you can't choose between your kids," Diego said.

"Brooke's not my kid. She's not even my dog. If I had a dog and my dog had a kid and that kid had a pet, it would end up being Brooke."

"Shira, can I have a dog?" Brooke asked.

"I'll think about it," Shira said.

"Diego, can I have a dog?"

"I'm going along with what Shira said," Diego said.

"You know, Diego, I have a feeling you'll make a great dad," Shira said.

"So are we officially a herd now?" Brooke asked.

"Yes!" everyone exclaimed, walking down the trail. They were on their way to find a new home wherever the road took them. They knew they would always be a herd.

Meanwhile, in a giant iceberg floating in the river, Two creatures were frozen solid once again, but the ice was not melting for a long time. There was one thing a mammal couldn't miss was the movement of both the tiger shark's and crocodile's eyes.

A magical place was seen in the clouds as Scratte woke up from unconsciousness after diving inside a pond of water. She looked around to see where she was at. Her mouth dropped and her eyes sparkled with tears of happiness and the glimmer she saw in front of her. It was the gates of heaven. This wasn't any ordinary heaven, though. This was acorn heaven. Scratte was so excited that she ran through the gates and made her way over to the pool of acorns that were scattered all over the place. It was a place that the female squirrel never wanted to leave.

Something happened, though, and it ended up removing Scratte from the pool of acorns. The glorious place was vanishing right before her very eyes as she was pulled away from her magical acorn heaven and total darkness surrounded her.

The first thing she saw when her eyes opened up was Brooke smiling at her. "Hello there, little darling squirrel. I just saved your life. Oh, I'm so glad you're okay." Scratte was not happy as she started attacking Brooke. Her magical acorn heaven was gone and it was all because of the female sloth. "Hey, I just saved your life. You should be thankful." Scratte wouldn't stop attacking her as Brooke ran off, not knowing where she was going as she screamed and ran in the distance, ending another glorious adventure.

Waiting for Tonight

Like a movie scene,

In the sweetest dreams,

I have pictured us together

Now to fell your lips,

On my finger tips,

I have to say is even better

Than I ever thought it could possibly be

It's perfect, it's passion, its setting me free

From all of my sadness,

The tears that I've cried, I have spent all my life

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight

Tender words you say,

Take my breath away,

Love me now, and leave me never

Found a sacred place, lost in your embrace,

I want to stay in this forever

I think of the days when the sun used to set,

On my empty heart,

All alone in my bed

Tossing and turning emotions were strong, I knew I had to hold on

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight

Gone are the days when the sun used to set,

On my empty heart all alone in my bed

Tossing and turning,

Emotions were strong

I knew I had to hold on

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight, Oh

When you would be here in my arms

Waiting for tonight, Oh

I've dreamed of this love for so long

Waiting for tonight, oh

WELL, THIS IS IT. THE LAST UPDATE FOR THIS STORY, BUT DON'T WORRY. I'LL HAVE MORE FOR YOU GUYS COMING SOON.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL MY READERS AND REVIEWERS FOR ENJOYING THIS STORY. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST.

NOTE: THE SONG ABOVE DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. IT IS OWNED BY JENNIFER LOPEZ. I DO WANT TP THANK A.G. WICKED FOR REQUESTING THAT SONG. OH, AND SHIRA SINGS THE SONG ABOVE. I'M SURE YOU KNOW WHY.

WELL, I'LL HAVE PLENTY MORE STORIES FOR YOU GUYS FOR THE NEW YEAR. UNTIL THEN, PEACE OUT!

PLEASE REVIEW. I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU GUYS.

lovesgod12 OUT!