The herd missed him. They all wanted to see Buck again. And, truth be told, he wanted to see them again.

"Manny, you think we should check in on him?" asked Ellie. "Who?" "Buck." "Oh. Yeah, I would say 'yes' but ah…Remember all the mortal peril? Think about the baby," he said, pointing out his mate's , Eddie, and Sid overheard their conversation, and pleaded to go. Peaches looked forward to it also (she was now 5), and finally, the mammoth gave in.

"But how will we get there exactly? He closed off the last entrance! Remember?" Diego smiled slyly, "Oh, I know a way."

"How…Much…Longer?" Panted Sid. They continued traveling in the downward spiraling cave. Up ahead, they saw a light. And then, the most spectacular view EVER. They all rushed forward, eager to breathe fresh air. But they realized all too soon that they were surrounded.

Buck heard the screams of the herd, and immediately recognized them. Eager to see his friends again, he caught a vine and hastily made his way over there before they died. Little did he know he'd soon lay down his life.

Peaches was trapped. On either side of her, a large dinosaur loomed, ready to squish or eat her. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a vaguely familiar figure: a weasel, to be exact. Just as he was about to reach her, there was the earsplitting sound of the earth cracking; and avalanche, and the whole herd was sent tumbling. Just when they thought it was over, after they all had many serious injuries, Buck glanced up in time to push his adopted niece out of the way of a falling rock. Unfortunately, it brought down a shower of smaller, but still deadly (to a weasel), rocks. And one happened to catch his head. The earth began to shake again, and before they knew it, the herd was looking down at themselves, battered and beaten, from…The sky.

All around them they saw wispy, fluffy, cool clouds. "This doesn't look like Dinotopia to me," said Manny. They looked down at themselves, and realized something very shocking: they were mildly transparent. They looked around and noticed a small, pretty human girl of about eleven years of age with dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. "Silly creatures," she said breezily, "You're not in Dinotopia." "Well...then where are we?" asked Ellie. "And how can you speak animal?" Manny looked at the girl suspiciously, remembering the bad things humans had done to him. She laid a hand on his trunk, and Manny realized something. She was different. In that musical voice of hers, the girl answered, "Heaven. Oh, and to answer your question, Manfred, since this IS Heaven, don't you think it's natural for all creatures to understand each other? After all, this is God's land. Well, Earth is too, but you know what I mean." they stared at her in dumbfounded shock. "EXSQUEEZE ME?" asked Sid. "Don't you remember?" she asked, her face darkening, "The ground, the avalanche, the fall?" They shook their head no. The smile was wiped off her face completely. "Oh dear..."she mumbled. Manny suddenly remembered Ellie's pregnancy. "W-What about Ellie, the-the baby?" "All your questions will be answered shortly," she said, then, to herself, "I hope." "What was that?" asked Diego. "Nothing. Right this way!" The girl turned and pointed to a golden path, which lead to the most magnificent structure they'd ever seen. "And don't think you won't ever see that place," the angel girl said to Peaches, "you aren't FULLY dead. Yet, I mean." "Yet?" asked Peaches, confused. "Yeah. Everyone dies eventually. 'Course, I can't tell you when you'll die, but it's far away from now. Trust me. "What's your name?" asked Eddie. "Parisa," she said. An accented voice from behind them said, "Meaning angel..." They all turned, and to their surprise, saw our favorite crazy weasel. "Buck?" breathed Manny. The weasel (strangely) looked shy. "Yeah...Long story. Well, not really, but ah...Well it pretty much intertwines with how you got here and…" The herd noticed that Buck was no longer missing an eye. Parisa looked at them fondly. "Come now, we mustn't waste time. "How old are you?" asked Crash, who personally thought the girl was beautiful. The girl spread her wings-wait, hold on WINGS? The herd gaped at her as she plucked a loose feather from one. They were so delicate, the feathers looked like the merest hint of a small breeze would send them everywhere like dandelion fluff, and the wings themselves looked too dainty to even think of touching. "Oh, just a couple hundred years. Nothing special." "Nothing special?" breathed the weasel. "Yeah," continued Parisa, " I've got a long ways to go before I end up like the Angel Gabriel. Now HE'S something. For an angel, I mean. The real deal is The Father. Now, you may have seen some amazing things in your life, but NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING in this WHOLE wide universe can beat Him. No joke. After all, He did make it out of nothing." Buck nodded absently, taking in the scenery, "Count me out of any doubts I ever had." She flexed her wings, lifting off the ground for a second. "Well," she said, opening the grand doors of the building with some difficulty. "This is where we part. Take one good look at this 'cause the next time you see it, you really WILL be dead. At least for most of you. " She glanced at Buck, who wasn't as transparent as the rest of the animals, then at Manny, and finally at Peaches. And then she shut the door behind them.

The whole place was glowing. The walls were all the colors of the rainbow, and the floor looked like a mixture of all the precious metals and jewels in the world. From ahead, there was a bright light. They walked towards it. Suddenly, it became too bright to look at, and they shielded their eyes. "Hello," came a friendly, but deep and strong sounding voice. Whoever it was sounded wise; mysterious, thought Sid. Somehow they instantly knew who it was. The Big Guy.

"Uh…Hey," said Sid awkwardly. Manny punched him. The Big Guy (well, He WAS big, and He WAS a guy…) laughed. "Don't fret. You'll all be back on earth in good time. But I warn you, though you may say you despise each other, you might regret that. After all, one of you—depending on how you react—may not be with you for long." The herd glanced at each other, confused. "Goodbye," they heard Him say. And they felt themselves disintegrating.

"Ow…" groaned Sid. They all had at least a scratch. Manny was fretting over Ellie when he remembered Peaches. "Peaches!" he yelled, panicking. "Manny, just calm down," said Diego, rubbing his head. "PEACHES!" he screamed, ignoring Diego. "Daddy," came a muffled cry. They all ran to it.

Ellie ran to her daughter. Peaches had a scratch on her side, and a bruise on her cheek, but other than that, she remained unharmed. "Are you okay Peachie?" asked Manny worriedly. Before the five-year-old could answer, there came a muffled groan from behind a good-sized rock. Diego sprang onto the rock to see who it was. He gasped. No. Stinking. Way. "What?" asked Sid. He jumped off and landed on the side hidden from view from the herd. "You guys, help me get this rock off of him," said Diego, pushing against it. "Off of who—oh." "Buck? But…No way, he—he was—is invincible!" cried Crash. The mammoths pushed it off the weasel's crushed arm. "Buck?" whispered Ellie in his ear. She gently touched the wound on his forehead, causing him to howl in pain. She looked worriedly at her mate. "That's not a good sign…is it?" asked Eddie. Sid shook his head. "Sid," ordered Manny, "if you're not too clumsy, get some wood and leaves. Diego, you go with him—make sure he doesn't get killed. "Ellie, can you carry him? We need to find some water. Sid! Diego! Never mind, stick close to us and find it on the way!"

Ellie did her best to place the weasel gently on her back. He whimpered, but nothing more. "Well," said Sid hopefully, "it could be worse! I mean, he could be dead. Or he could be stark raving mad and trying to kill us. Or we could all be having a seizure simultaneously. Or we could all be missing a limb. Or we could be beaches whales. Or we could be lost at sea. Or a Mule/Queen of Hearts hybrid could strangle us. Or we could be dead. Or one of us could be dead. Or Rudy—" "Sid," said Diego irritatedly, "don't jinx us." "Oh. Good point. Zip," the sloth made a motion across his lips, indicating he was zipping his lips. "Eddie, you stay with him. See how he's doing." Eddie crawled up and held his idol's not crushed paw gingerly.