HALLELUAH! I finally posted it! Oh dear fudge I am so sorry I took so long to post this! :O But, I finally had a whole day to spend on my laptop! Yeah, I'm staying in all day and doing nothing coz I'm sick. Oh well, there's a chance I might not be in school tomorrow, so hey, every cloud has a silver lining, right? Hopefully it should be good, but I'm not sure. At least it's nice and long for once, lols. Oh, and I can't remember if I put this last chapter or not, but I got the idea for Rhianne and Herbert's mother Fly from the movie Babe, which I think is super-cute :)

Disclaimer: Taz, Dex, and Bronson all belong to scoobs5601 and Rebecca and Diesel belong to Blumacaw13.

"Are you done yet?"

"Wait..."

"...Are you done yet?!"

"Wait..."

"...Are you done yet?!"

"WAIT!"

Shira shrunk back; she'd never seen Izzy yell before. The two months were up, her leg was healed, and Shira was allowed to walk again, much to her happiness. Izabella was just removing the clunky cast Shira hated so much, but, in Shira's opinion, was taking too long to do so. Using Buck's knife, which he had loaned her (with strict instructions on what she could and couldn't do), Izzy cut the last vine. One by one, she pulled away the chunks of wood, leaving Shira's leg free from the stupid contraption. Just a mere week ago, Manny and Ellie had moved her back into her old cave that she shared with Diego, so that she didn't disturb Raz while her cast was being removed.

"Okay, all done," declared Izzy, stepping back, partly to admire her work, but mostly because she was slightly afraid of what Shira might do. Shakily, she tried to stand up, but it became apparent that after two months of being immobilized her leg didn't want to take her weight. It cramped up and buckled beneath her, causing the sabre to fall down onto the rock with a hiss and a curse.

Rushing forwards, Izzy screamed in a high-pitched voice "Diego! Come quick!"

Before she'd even finished her sentence, the orange-furred sabre was in the cave, at Shira's side, holding her close and comforting her. They murmured to each-other, but Izzy politely blanked out everything they said so that she wasn't intruding. Suddenly, she heard crying outside. Ugh, she thought, That's the third time today.

"Shira? Diego? Want me to take this one?" she asked, to which both sabres nodded and thanked her. As the rabbit scurried out, Diego's claw caught something that was around Shira's neck. That vine with the little leaf pouch, the one he'd discovered a while ago but had never had the chance to bring up to her. Until now.

"Hey, Shira?"

"Mm?" she looked up from where she had been staring at the floor, enjoying her mate's touch.

"Just out of curiosity..." he hooked his claw around the vine and lifted it off her neck "What is in this?"

She looked at in utter confusion for a moment, before..."Oh! I remember!" she gasped, taking the vine from Diego and opening the pouch. Inside were several oval-shaped golden yellow seed-like things "I saved them up when I was on the ship, in Gutt's capture."

Diego shuddered in memory of what she must've endured. "So, what are they?"

"Seeds. From this really nice fruit, I'm not sure what it's called. I thought the kids might enjoy it, but I knew that just carrying a load of fruit off the ship would be weird, so I made a little pile of all the seeds, since the pirates smuggled me at least one of the fruit a day," explained Shira, her eyes glossing over as a pang of guilt for what happened to Raz after everything the kangaroo had done for her striking her heart "I hid them under a heap of hay in the cell, but when I went into labour Squint moved all the hay so I wasn't giving birth on the ice. Afterwards, Raz helped me make this, so that when I escaped we could plant them on the island and grow the fruit ourselves."

"Wow..." breathed Diego "That was a really great plan."

"I actually meant to tell you a while ago, when I first came back to the herd, but I just kinda forgot."

Diego chuckled. "Well, I found it ages ago, but I just never had a good chance to bring it up and ask you about it. I was worried it was something personal, y'know, something I wasn't supposed to know about."

"No," Shira shook her head "It's obviously not personal or anything, and you were actually supposed to know. I just forgot because I'm stupid..."

"No you're not," Diego stated firmly, tilting her head up so he was looking into her eyes "You're beautiful."

Shira felt herself go deep red, but she snuggled deeper into his chest to hide it from Diego. It didn't really work though, because Diego purposely leant back so much that Shira couldn't bury herself in his fur. She pouted, wishing he would let her cuddle up and wondering why he wouldn't. She got her answer a moment later, when Diego leaned in and gently touched his lips to hers. Happiness following through her veins like blood, Shira kissed him back, finally feeling as if everything was back to normal. There were no more villains terrorizing them, she was all healed, Gupta's ankle had long ago been deemed better by the doctors of the herd (Squint and Izzy), and according to the rabbits Raz should be back to normal any day now. Everything was perfect...

"Please stop crying!" they heard Izzy whine outside. Shira couldn't help giggling. Okay, so not everything was perfect.

Izzy sat in the grass, rocking a small silver-with-black-stripes cub in her arms. Tina sniffed again, more tears falling from her eyes. The doe had been comforting, or at least trying to comfort, her for what felt like forever, but in reality was a couple of minutes. Despite general and natural worry for somebody crying, the fact that the cub was two months old and too distraught to even speak really worried Izzy, but no matter what she tried she couldn't make her stop.

Taz and Louis were just walking into the clearing, holding paws of course, when Tina let out an especially loud cry. This caught the possum's attention instantaneously, making her drop Louis's paw and shoot across the space like a bullet being fired from a gun.

Dropping to her knees beside the cub and pushing Izzy to the side, Taz cradled Tina's head in her arms. "Aww, shush, sweetie, shush..." she crooned, stroking the sabre cub. Any animal passing by would just keep going, maybe speed up, as the scene was incredibly strange. Or at least they would, if they weren't already used to the strange herd with their strange antics, which most of the island was by now.

"Hey!" Izzy clambered to her feet "That wasn't nice! I was trying to help her! Shira told me too!"

Taz stood up, one arm around Tina still, the other paw on her hip, and gave the rabbit her I-know-what-I'm-doing look. "Uhm, she's my goddaughter!"

This was true. Since Tina favoured Taz so much, she had been Shira's first choice for the youngest cub's godmother. Raz was Hope's, considering she was the child's first word, and Sid was Lightning's godfather, since the cub had always liked the sloth for reasons unknown. Manny and Ellie were Kendall's godparents, considering he already followed the leader of the herd around with an adoring look in his eyes, trying to copy his walk. Kendall absolutely idolized his own father, but Manny was a near second. Buck and Diesel were Jade's godparents, as she'd liked the crazy weasel since she first saw him, and Diesel seemed pretty cool to her as well. Crash and Eddie had been told they were joint-godfathers of Ranger, but in all honesty the independent cub needed none. Lastly, Oscar and Mikayla were allowed to be Casper's godparents, as long as they behaved themselves. But Shira had warned them both "One wrong move, and Granny gets a godchild."

This small argument between Taz and Izzy had distracted Tina long enough for the cub to stop crying, but she was still sniffing, when Izzy surrendered and hopped off to find her brother. Taz whipped around, taking Tina into her arms properly.

"Ah, are we all better now?" she asked softly, flicking the child's ears.

"Uhm...I'm gonna go, uh, find...Peaches..." said Louis awkwardly. Taz looked up, smiling.

"You don't have to, Tina likes you too. Right, T?"

"Right!" squeaked the young cub, beaming as Louis slowly tunnelled over. He popped up next to her, and she squealed with delight. Louis smiled, taking a hold of one of Tina's front paws, while Taz held the other.

"Now, are you ready to tell us what happened?" questioned Taz softly. Tina sniffed once more and nodded.

But before she could talk, a voice sounded behind them. "I beat her in a race and then she started crying like a wickle baby, didn'tcha, Teen?"

"No!" snapped Tina, before turning to Taz "He cheated, he cheated, I know he cheated! He pushed me so I'd fall!"

"I did not!" denied Ranger stubbornly, bottom lip sticking out "She fell because she's clumsy!"

"Actually, she fell because you pushed her, Range," clarified Kendall "I was the referee."

"You don't know anything about being a referee!" shouted Ranger "And anyway, you don't even need a referee for a running race."

Jade bounded up beside Tina. "You do if there's a cheater in the race!"

"I didn't cheat!" insisted Ranger, but Jade ignored him.

"Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater!" she chanted over and over again in a sing-song voice "Cheater, cheater-"

"First of all, pumpkin is delicious! Second, I did not cheat!"

"YOU DID SO!" yelled Kendall, Tina and Jade at the same time. Taz groaned, holding a paw to her forehead and leaning against Louis for support. She had nothing against any of Shira's kids, it's just...she was sick of them fighting. They argued all the time, about everything and anything. But then again, what did everyone expect? That all seven siblings would somehow get along...?

Raz shakily sipped some water from a turtleshell. She was allowed to sit now, but was still bedridden, much to her annoyance. But everyday she had a visit from Hope, her godchild, and her brothers, and Izzy had delivered a promise from Shira that she would come every single day once her leg was healed and her cast was off, which was today, if Raz's memory served her right. And every night she had a visit from...somebody. She had such a great time...but she couldn't tell anyone, she'd been specifically told to keep visitors to a minimum.

Grunting, Raz set the shell down again. "Ugh, if Ah nevah have ta stay still again i' will be too soon!"

"Are you okay?" Hope tilting her head to one side, holding in her giggles.

Raz nodded. "Yeah Sheila, Ah'm fine. Jus' sick o' stayin' on mah back all day!"

"Oh, that makes sense," agreed Hope with a smile on her face "I'd hate it if I was stuck there."

"Yeah..."

Silence descended on the pair for a moment, the only sound being the combined breathing of the kangaroo and the tiger. Hope suddenly felt tears springing into her eyes, and fought valiantly to hold them back. Once she had blinked them back firmly and her vision was no longer blurred, she looked at Raz with a solemn expression on her face.

"Thank you for saving us."

Raz smiled. "We've been ovah this, Sheila. I' ain't like Ah was gonna let you lil' ankle-bitahs get clawed by tha' sabre bloke."

"I know..." sighed Hope "But I feel bad, like this is our fault. Y'know, coz ya got hurt trying ta help us."

"Wow Sheila, you're startin' ta sound like meh!" chuckled Raz, a hint of an emotion she wasn't sure about creeping in her heart. Pride? Joy? Either way she liked it. But what she'd said was a fact; after spending day after day with the kangaroo in the medical cave, the accent was beginning to rub off on little Hope.

Hope puffed out her chest proudly, clearly impressed. "Ya go' tha' righ, Sheila!" she tried unsuccessfully to mimic Raz's accent, resulting in her marsupial companion's laughter to fill the cave.

"Maybe ya should stick with yer normal accent fer now, Hoppy."

'Hoppy' was a nickname Hope had gained from everyone in the herd. It was inspired by how often she tried to copy Raz, in particular the time she had attempted to hop like a kangaroo instead of walk. (1) Considering the cubs were only two months at the moment, and this was a fortnight ago, changing her way of transport was not Hope's best move. She lasted for three days before she got sick of falling on her face trying to get across the cave from her mother's rock to see Raz.

A frown formed on Hope's lips. "Hey...that was two whole weeks ago..."

"Ah'm jus' messin' with ya, kid," Raz managed to get out between her laughs. "Ah'm honestly kinda proud tha' ya like meh so much."

"Well, of course I do," Hope shrugged "You're amazing."

Raz chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Ah swear, ya sound jus' like ya mum did when she first came on the ship."

"Vith the exception of you don't apologize every five minutes," Gupta spoke up from the back of the cave. As soon as his ankle was better and he was allowed to walk, Gupta practically vowed to use it as much as possible, and he'd done a good job of keeping it. Izzy had come up with the theory of, since he spent so much time up on the mast acting as a flag on the ship, it had actually weakened the bones in his legs. Obviously it heightened his climbing ability and his strength, but because his back legs just flapped in the wind for hours on end the bones and joints were more fragile than usual. She'd recommended that he exercised them more to strengthen them up, and he'd really taken her words to heart.

"Yeah..." Raz smiled wistfully "Those were the days, righ' Guppy?"

He nodded. "Indeed."

Hope sat between the two adults, a huge grin plastered on her face and a look of intelligent understanding in her eyes, despite the fact she didn't have the slightest clue what the Hyrax they were talking about.

Sid marched proudly through the trees, one arm linked with his Granny's, the other swinging at his side. At his feet were Rhianne, Herbert, Lightning, Casper and Kate. After hours of pleading, Sid was finally given permission to open his childcare camp, 'Campo De Sid'.

"Why is this camp called 'Campo De Sid'?" inquired Rhianne "What does it mean?"

Sid beamed proudly. "It means 'Camp of Sid'!"

"Congratulations," said Lightning dryly, but he was joking "You're now an idiot in two languages."

"And you're now exactly like your father," responded Sid grouchily "But with different fur."

Lightning pouted a moment, thinking he had truly upset Sid. To make the sloth feel better, he rubbed his head against Sid's leg, purring adorably, with his amber eyes wide. He'd once overheard his mother telling his sisters, "If you have wide eyes and a cute purr, you can get around anyone in this herd." Apparently, she was right, because Sid scooped him up and cuddled him.

"Don't worry little guy, I was just kidding," he cooed softly. Lightning smiled and thought, works every time.

After several more minutes of walking, they finally arrived down at the beach. The glistening yellow sand stretched in every direction, and in seconds Lightning and Casper had shot off, leaving trails of dust behind them. Rolling her eyes, Kate jogged after them, knowing that she was supposed to keep an eye on them. Herbert stayed by Sid's side to ask a question, and as the siblings never separated, Rhianne stayed with the sloths too.

"Hey, Uncle Sid?" asked Herbert. All the kids in the herd, even Rhianne and Herbert, who technically had no family link to the herd, called Sid their uncle, and absolutely everybody called his grandmother Granny. It was just how things worked.

"Yeah, Herb?"

"Why did we come down here?" Herbert looked at Sid curiously. The sloth shrugged.

"I thought you guys would enjoy it. Besides," Sid altered his stance, and his voice, alerting everyone that he was going into a speech. "Kids today spend too much time inside their caves, isolated from the fantastic wonders of nature! Children are the greatest part of our life, and you deserve to, no, you need to experience the grand outdoors in a way you will appreciate, for example, a beach day."

A moment of silence passed as the words sunk in, before..."So, basically we're taking Granny to see Precious, right?" Rhianne raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm..." Sid seemed uncomfortable "Maybe. Now go enjoy the wonders of nature."

Laughing hard and loud, Rhianne and Herbert took off running into the sand, quickly joining the other cubs as they were the eldest, and naturally faster. All five cubs played happily for a while, giving Sid a chance to take Granny down to the ocean to see Precious.

Forty-five minutes later

"Granny," Sid tried to keep his desperation out of his voice "Haven't you finished talking to Precious yet?"

"No!" she retorted, without even looking over her shoulder at her grandson "Me and Precious have a lot of catching up to do!"

"But Granny the kids-" Sid began, but was cut off by a pained cry from further up the beach "Oh, no!"

Sid ran as fast as he could back to the kids, completely forgetting about the purple sloth clambering into a whale's mouth and crying "Giddy up, Precious! Let's go!", as he was so afraid for the safety of such young kids. Internally, he was praying it wasn't one of Diego's kids that had gotten injured, because he knew Shira's cast had come off today and there was a high chance she'd attack him. But when he sprinted onto the scene, he discovered it was in fact Kate that had gotten hurt.

"Kate sweetie, what happened?" he asked, gently lifting her up in his arms. She had a sharp shard of wood stuck in her paw, and although there was only the smallest trickle of blood, it looked very painful.

"We were playing tag and I stood on some wood!" she whined, the words pouring out of her mouth without pause because of her desperation to hold in her tears.

Sid cradled her to his chest. "Oh, you poor thing..."

"Should I take her back to Aunt Mikayla and Uncle Oscar, Uncle Sid?" offered Casper. Sid looked wary.

"Are you sure you can take her? She probably can't walk," he warned the cub, but Casper was persistent.

"Please!" he begged "I can help her!"

Kate joined in. "Yeah, please Uncle Sid?!"

Finally, Sid caved. "Oh, fine...but stay safe, both of you!"

The sloth placed the mountain lion cub carefully on the ground, directly next to little Casper, whom she quickly leaned on for support. It was kinda odd; the four people in the herd that Casper was closest to were Tina, Kate, and his parents. Other than that he kept away and stayed quiet as much as possible, unlike his brothers, who enjoyed projecting their voices.

As Sid watched Kate limp along, leaning heavily on her godbrother, he sighed. "This is not going to be good for my babysitting business..."

Peaches plucked a beautiful flower from the rosebush she stood in front of, and threaded it into Meghan's hair. The two females were having a bit of a girly day, since Louis was out with Taz. Or he was earlier, at least, for all they knew they could've gone home to the herd now. They didn't officially live with the herd (well, Taz did), but Louis and Meghan were both incredibly at home with the mixed-up bunch of animals, and plans had been created for the future.

In fact, that was actually the current conversation between the two mammoths.

"K'so, you and me could share a cave for a while, y'know, before we find mates and everything..." mused Peaches, and Meghan nodded.

"Yeah, and if things work out for Louis and Taz they could be our neighbours!"

Peaches nodded. "Sounds perfect!"

"So," Meghan handed Peaches another flower "Where will the cave be? Like, where on the island? Roughly, of course."

"Uhm...we could get one kinda near the herd, for a while at least," suggested Peaches "I don't think I'm anywhere near ready to leave the herd completely yet, despite how annoying some of them can be sometimes."

"Yeah..." agreed Meghan "Plus, everything's finally calming down in your family. We don't wanna rock the boat by moving out fully just yet."

"What do you mean?" asked Peaches.

"Well, Shira and Raz are both nearly healed now, the cubs are all getting along fine, all the couples are happy again...everything's getting back to normal," explained Meghan "I wouldn't want to get your parents- okay fine, your dad, upset again. And it wouldn't just be him, I bet the whole herd would be devastated if you left."

"Thanks, Meg," Peaches smiled. Suddenly, Ethan, Steffie, and the rest of the teenaged mammoths appeared in the small, flowered clearing. Steffie had a necklace made of a lump of gorgeous pink rock on a piece of string, and her hair was dotted with small flowers. Katie's hair was styled in an almost crown-like shape, and was sprinkled with shimmering little leaves. Clearly, they were trying to look pretty, maybe to make Peaches and Meghan jealous.

"Ethan?" gasped Peaches, dropping the trunkful of flowers she was holding.

"Hey, Peaches," he sounded kinda, nervous?

A moment of awkward silence hung in the air. "So, why are you here?" she finally asked.

"Well..." Ethan bit his lip "I, well, we wanted to formally apologise."

Peaches was about to point out that he apologised a long time ago, but he mouthed 'Don't!' to her, and she understood that he'd gone behind the other mammoths' backs to apologise to her in private, and now he'd finally convinced the rest of his group to apologise too. She felt a fluttery feeling in her heart, knowing that he'd gone out of his way and risked his image as Cool-Guy to let her know he was sorry for everything he had done. But, she still wasn't sure if she liked him 'that way'...love was confusing.

"Oh, really?" she sounded confused, as if she knew nothing at all of them thinking about apologising, but not in a way that seemed impolite "Thank-you, that really means a lot."

Steffie gave her a sickly smile. "Yeah, we knew we were wrong and we felt very bad about it."

"Wow, it takes a very mature mammal to come out and say that," commented Meghan. Obviously Ethan had given his crew strict instructions on what to say and how to act...Peaches wasn't quite sure if she liked or hated that. Meghan, on the other hand, or paw, whichever was more appropriate, found it rather amusing that Steffie and the rest of the fickle mammoths were having to force scripted apologies from their lips. The fact that they were that desperate to please Ethan was funny in itself to Meghan, but Peaches, having never been part of the mammoth crew, just found it a little sickening.

"Yes, I suppose it does..." agreed Katie absently, seeming far less disgusted by her words than the rest of the group.

"Well...uhm, thanks, guys..." Peaches finally spoke after a long minute of silence. It felt weird being scrutinized by the half-hidden glares of the other mammoth girls without Louis either by her side or on her head; she hoped, no, she prayed his new relationship with Taz wouldn't have a long-term effect on their friendship. It hadn't so far, but it had only been two months, anything could happen in the long run.

Don't get the wrong idea; it wasn't that she disliked Louis and Taz together as a couple, she thought they were pretty adorable in actual fact, but she really treasured her friendships with Louis and Meghan (and, as of recently, Taz too), and she didn't want them affected or destroyed by the strains of relationships, like her crush on Ethan had almost done.

"So are we all like...cool, now?" Ethan broke the silence.

After a side glance at Meghan to get her okay, Peaches smiled sweetly. "Yeah, I think we're cool."

"-but, just as Rudy's foot came rushing towards me, I dove to the side, flipped around, and ran up onto his head. Obviously, he wasn't too happy about that, but I ripped a vine off a tree and threw around his mouth, so I could control where he was going," Buck was vividly telling his fan-group, also known as Crash and Eddie, about one of his amazing adventures, while the two possums hung on his every word.

"Wow...impressive," commented a voice behind him. Buck yelped and spun around, only to find the newly familiar face of Diesel staring back at him, hanging upside-down from a vine.

Prodding her shoulder playfully, he faked a frown. "Hey! You scared me!"

"Seriously?" she giggled and rolled her eyes "You fought all those dinosaurs and I scared you?"

"Well...dinosaurs are easier to notice..." he mumbled. Diesel clamped her lips together for a moment...before promptly bursting out into fits of laughter. Buck smiled at her for a moment.

"Alright, alright, I guess you got me..." he sighed. Diesel opened her mouth to respond, but he grabbed her paws and pulled her down from the tree, holding her to his chest and pressing her face into his fur. "...or maybe not."

She tried to wriggle away, but, anticipating this, Buck tightened his hold on her, forcing her to stay in her position. He felt Diesel's reasonably dull claws scrabbling at his chest, so he leaned back, checking if she was okay. Alright, so he did have to admit, underneath her fur she was looking a little bit blue underneath her fur but...she was fine, right?

"Hey, D, are you-" he began to ask, until she jokingly punched him in the arm.

"You almost choked me!" she snapped accusingly, folding her arms across her chest, a pout forming on her lips.

He sighed, before cuddling her again, lighter this time. "Okay, I'm sorry...are we good now?"

"Hmm..." she pretended to think it over, but didn't really succeed in faking him out as she was smirking like mad "Yeah, I suppose we're good."

They both laughed gently, snuggling closer together, completely forgetting about two certain possums...who were currently rolling around on the floor, in stiches laughing, trying to mock the pair but failing because of their uncontrollable laughter. Nevertheless, they both attempted to repeat the words both weasels were saying, resulting in Buck and Diesel pelting the twins with dirt-stained rocks.

"Hey!" whined Eddie.

"What was that for?!" demanded Crash.

Buck and Diesel turned to each-other, rolled their eyes, and returned their gazes to the possum twins. "GET OUTTA HERE!" they shouted simultaneously, causing both Crash and Eddie to scurry away in fear, grumbling to themselves about one thing or another.

Grinning, Buck took a hold of Diesel's paw. "So...where were we?" he asked, leaning in to kiss Diesel on the lips...

"Not there," clarified Diesel, pressing her paw against his mouth. Sulking, he leaned away, but moved his arms to cradle her to his chest.

"Here?" he asked hopefully, which made Diesel burst into giggles again.

"Sure, why not?" she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck. They both lay there for a while, at the foot of the tree Diesel had first hidden in earlier that day. Until, of course, the familiar sound of Manny trumpeting, the sound that told the herd to return home, echoed throughout the forest. Sighing, they both clambered up, before racing each-other home.

Silas glided freely through the air, enjoying the salt-free air. Sure, he had been on land for two months now, but he still couldn't get rushed to the fact that he no longer needed to patrol the salty seas for trespassers and intruders under Gutt's command; he was, excuse the pun, as free as a bird. And of course, his whole crew were too. That was the best part of being away from the massive ice-ship, that he had his crew, no, his family here with him. Finally, they could call themselves a family all they wanted, with no fear of threats or punishments from the authority figure of the ship. Although, that was impossible now, as even though Manny was the leader of the herd, the authority figure would always be, in the pirates' eyes, Raz, as she was always in charge when Gutt was busy for as long as any of them could remember about their time on board.

"Ah, zis is ze life..." he sighed blissfully, landing on a branch above Squint and Boris, who were casually exchanging conversation with each-other. That was another great thing; Boris could talk now, as much as he wanted, no longer forced into silence by the threat of Gutt's claws.

"Exactly," agreed Squint, patting the sleeping rabbit doe Silas hadn't noticed earlier. He smiled; he was glad Squint had been reunited with little Izzy, who was currently unconscious in his lap.

"...away..." she murmured, batting Squint's paw off her head in her sleep, causing all three boys to chuckle. Apparently, taking off Shira's cast and then trying to calm Tina down had really tuckered the little rabbit out.

A moment of silence passed, before Boris spoke up. "Hey, guys?" he said "It's getting kinda late, maybe we should head back?"

"Nah, we don't need to," Squint shrugged, careful not to disturb Izzy. Manny's trumpeting reached the ears of the three members of the old crew who were awake, signalling they needed to get going. "Now we need to."

Mikayla lay sprawled out on a smooth rock near a soft cliff, Oscar lying beside her, with one of his forelegs around her shoulders. She smiled contently; it felt as if the whole world was perfect. Of course, she knew it wasn't, a perfect world was impossible, but she just had one of those feelings inside telling her everything was alright for a change. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from the bushes.

"Auntie Mikayla! Uncle Oscar!" yelled Casper, breaking through the leafy greenery with Kate stumbling beside him, leaning heavily on the younger boy, as she had a large splinter of wood stuck in her paw.

"Oh gosh, Kate sweetie, what happened?!" gasped Mikayla, leaping up and rushing over to her injured adoptive daughter, Oscar following.

Casper, after receiving the signal from Kate that she didn't want to speak, finally spoke up. "We were playing on the beach with Lightning, Rhianne and Herbert, and then Kate got the wood stuck in her foot," he explained.

"Aww, poor thing..." sighed Mikayla, cuddling Kate close. Oscar ruffled the fur on top of her head fondly, having never been one for mushy expressions of feelings or comforting words that had no point to them. He was raised in a harsh pack; emotions and kindness were both very rare. Diego seemed to have outgrown that, though...Oscar hoped to someday do the same.

"C'mere kiddo, let's see if we can get Izzy to bandage that up for ya," he commented casually, but with a touch of the loving fatherly nature he'd been working on in the last two months. Kate nodded, letting Mikayla place her on Oscar's back. He padded off towards the bushes, but turned back to Mikayla with a look that said "Aren't you coming?"

She smiled. "I'll catch up in a minute with Caz," she told him, placing a paw on Casper's head. Oscar nodded, before trotting off into the forest, chatting away to Kate, probably trying to distract her from the wood in her paw. Apparently it worked, because just before she left, Kate waved with her un-injured paw at her adoptive mother and Casper. As soon as they had gone, Mikayla turned to Casper.

"You wished to speak to me?" he asked politely.

"Yes," she confirmed "I did. Look, I just wanted to say...thank you."

"What for?" inquired Casper "What did I do?"

Mikayla hugging him close with her paw. "Well, for being a good godbrother. You were there when Kate needed you; that's all we could ever expect from you. Other than, y'know, you not becoming a heartless mass murderer or something...that'd suck."

Knowing she was joking, Casper laughed gently, cuddling closer to his godmother. She nuzzled him softly, cradling him against her stomach.

"C'mon Caz. We better get back to the herd. Any minute now Manny'll-" she was cut off by the 'Return Home' signal "-be doing that."

Manny stood in the clearing, trumpeting loudly to call the herd home. Unknown to him, Ellie walked up behind him, a kind smile on her face. She knew he was worried; everything had been working out okay in the past two months, and he thought that there was a good chance that something would go wrong, something awful. Personally, she didn't think it was likely, but she didn't want to upset her mate, since she didn't want to put him in a bad mood.

"Manny, sweetheart?" she asked softly, resting her trunk on the side of his face and stroking his cheek "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, Ellie..." he sighed "I'm fine. It's just..."

"You're worried?" she guessed.

Surprisingly, he shook his head. "No, I'm happy, I mean, everything is working out okay...but..."

"But...?" prompted Ellie.

"I just don't know what's going to happen next. I mean, Diego and Shira have their cubs, I suppose Mikayla and Oscar will be raising little Kate..." he broke off as Ellie started giggling "What?"

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough..." she answered mysteriously, smirking. He raised an eyebrow.

"What do you-" he began, but Ellie cut him off by grabbing his trunk.

"Look, just trust me Manny. You trust me, right?" she looked into his eyes for confirmation.

He smiled. "Of course I do."

"Good," she stated simply "Coz I hate being uncertain about stuff."

"So...just how soon am I gonna find out about whatever this is?" he questioned. Ellie shrugged, then spotted Oscar entering with Kate on his back.

"Oh, probably in a few minutes. Something like that," she commented slyly, before calling "Hey, Oscar?!"

He spun around, smiling at her, or at least, trying his best to do so. "Yeah Ellie?"

"When are you and Mikayla gonna-"

"Later," he interrupted "I just need Izzy to fix up Kate's paw, since she hurt it at the beach."

Squint, walking through the bushes with a sleeping Izzy lying in his arms, laughed. "That could be kinda difficult, considering she ran up to me about an hour ago then passed out in about three minutes. She hasn't woken up since, but she's okay. Want me to take a look at Kate's paw? I'm not as good as Iz, but..."

Oscar grinned. "Thanks Squint. Let Izzy get her rest, but we'll need to wake her up pretty soon. Me and Mikayla have something we wanna say to the whole herd."

Nodding, Squint passed Izzy to Boris, and headed over to the now whimpering mountain lion cub, who had remembered about the splinter rammed into her paw, now that people were talking about it again. Forcing himself to work through the pain spreading, as Kate weighed nearly the same as him, considering the size and species difference, Squint carried her through to the cave.

Manny turned back to Ellie, who was still focused on Kate, Squint and Oscar. He linked his trunk with hers again, hugging her close. "Thanks for being there for me Ellie, even though I can sometimes be a bit..."

"Protective? Paranoid?" she suggested jokingly "No problem. You're my mate, Manny, and I love you."

"Love you too."

One by one, the rest of the herd members filed into the clearing, gathering in their various groups and talking about anything. Peaches and Meghan stood with Louis and Taz, telling the two smaller creatures about the Brat Pack's apology. Buck and Diesel were perched together on a branch of a tree, discussing what had happened in Dinotopia since Buck had left all that time ago to join the herd. Crash and Eddie were just being themselves, also called running around crazily having a good time, and getting in everybody's way without a care. Mikayla arrived with Casper, who she sent over to his siblings, before heading into the cave to check on how Kate was doing with her injured paw.

Casper sat down beside Tina, who was playing with a flower. Hope had now left Raz's cave, and was lying on her back in the last rays of sunshine. Jade rested her head on her paws, yawning sleepily, struggling to stay awake. Kendall and Ranger were having a play-fight, neither trying to hurt each-other, just jokingly clawing and pouncing. Lightning emerged from the bushes with Rhianne, Herbert, Sid and Granny, and hurried over to join in the fun. Rhianne and Herbert sat a little way away from the other kids, chatting amongst themselves. When Kate left the cave, paw now bandaged, she padded over carefully, entering the conversation with her two best friends.

Sid led Granny over to her special rock, since she didn't like walking or standing much lately as she was getting older now. The pirates gathered in small groups, Gupta staying in Raz's cave to keep his sister company. Soon, she'd be able to move and stand, but for now she was still immobile, thanks to Soto. Diego lay on his back in the grass, Shira sprawled across his chest, watching the kids play amongst themselves.

Smiling, he looked down at the silver head resting on his shoulder, eyes closed. "So, how does it feel being out of the cave again?" he asked her, grinning widely as she opened her blue eyes.

"Amazing," she replied, snuggling deeper into his fur "You wouldn't believe how boring it gets being stuck in the same spot for two months."

"Actually, I would. I was there with you most of the time," he pointed out, before licking her ears.

She shrugged, trying not to purr. "Fair enough."

Mikayla and Oscar exited the cave together, Oscar holding Mikayla's paw. Sure, it made walking pretty awkward, but she needed the support to say what she needed to tell the herd. Looking into her mate's eyes for reassurance, Mikayla clambered onto a large stone and started calling for the herd's attention. Unfortunately, her nerves quietened her voice, so she failed to penetrate the herd's ears.

"Don't worry sweetie, I've got it," promised Oscar, before throwing his head back and roaring loudly. This, obviously, caught their attention, so everybody turned to the couple.

"Uhm, see...I, I mean, we have something to tell you guys..." she began sheepishly. Taking a deep breath, she continued "I...I'm...pregnant."

This news caused the entire herd to explode into various words of happiness and congratulations for the pair, even Granny getting excited by the prospect of new little kittens joining the heavily-extended family. Once the initial buzz had died down a touch, Diego and Shira, who still stumbled slightly, made their way over to the other sabre couple.

"Congratulations Oscar," Diego smiled at his former pack mate "Never thought I'd see you settle down with a mate."

"Likewise," replied Oscar, gesturing towards Shira with his head "But thanks...y'know, I can't believe we both spent so long with Soto, and then...the second he left...everything got better."

Diego nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Pretty strange, right?"

"Definitely."

Meanwhile, Shira approached Mikayla, who suddenly got very awkward. "Look, Shira, I just wanna say, I am so sorry but if you'd just listen you'd see my reasons for liking your mate were totally justified and I-" she babbled, having not really spoken to Shira at all during her time in the herd.

"I'm not mad anymore Mikayla," Shira interrupted.

"You're not?"

She sighed. "No, I guess not. Obviously the idea of you hitting on my mate while I was captured on a pirate ship isn't all that appealing..." she giggled lightly to show Mikayla that she really wasn't angry "...but you've gotten over it, so I've kinda gotten over it too."

"Really?!" Mikayla wasn't sure whether or not to believe her "You're not gonna like...come after me in my sleep, right?"

Shira laughed. "Nah, we're good."

"Phew..." Mikayla breathed a sigh of relief "Y'know, that's really mature of you. You're seriously awesome."

"Actually, I spent the first month of my recovery planning how I was gonna get my revenge," admitted Shira "But when you're stuck lying in a cave for a full two months, you have a lot of time to think. And I guess I kinda...thought my way out of killing you."

"Well...I'm very glad you did," said Mikayla, smiling "So are we like...friends, now?"

Shira considered it, before shrugging. "Yeah, I suppose. As long as you never go near Diego again."

"No fear, I have Oscar now," she reassured her.

"Cool..." Shira paused for a moment, staring at the floor, before looking up at Mikayla "I'm really happy for you guys, you know that, right?"

"I do now," Mikayla told her "But I gotta admit, I kinda figured you'd hate the idea of me being happy."

She blushed. "Yeah well, like I said, at first I did. But then I thought about it more and I worked out...I didn't then - nor do I now - know anything about you, so I shouldn't be making decisions as big as like, attacking you...yet," seeing Mikayla's fearful look, she added "I'm just kidding, seriously, we're fine."

"Thanks."

After bidding Mikayla goodbye, Shira left Diego to talk to Oscar, and sat down on a bank of moss.

"Hey Auntie Shira," came a voice behind her.

"Hi Peach," she responded, not needing to turn around to know that the mammoth teen was stood behind her "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to say I'm glad everything worked out for you."

This piqued the sabre's curiousity. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Peaches sat beside her aunt "You're pirate family is here, you have your little family with Uncle Diego, and the herd's all happy. It's like, all smiley and cheery for once, considering some of the stories you've told me about your past."

"Yeah...thanks Peaches."

"No worries..."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Shira spoke up. "Hey, how about we all have some karaoke fun?"

"Sounds awesome!" declared Peaches, before dashing off to round up the rest of the herd. Shira smiled joyfully, as Peaches had been right; everything had worked out for once in the tigress's life. And she couldn't be happier.

"C'mon guys, let's have some campfire fun!" shouted Peaches. Sid obediently struck two rocks together to make a spark over a pile of wood, which he quickly coaxed into a burning flame. The pirates took up their various instruments, luckily Raz was involved too, as Sid had purposely set up the fire near the entrance of her cave.

"Alright, party time!" yelled Peaches, and the herd cheered happily.

A/N: Credit role time! Just imagine whatever the background looks like, since I'm not sure.

The entire herd appear, side-by-side in their various groups or partnerships, and, with no music in the background, chant:

"We've only just begun
Hypnotised by drums
Until forever comes
You'll find us chasing the sun
They said this day wouldn't come
We refused to run
We've only just begun
You'll find us chasing the sun."

*music starts*

I'm better
So much better now
I see the light, touch the light,
We're together now

Louis and Taz walk on, arms linked. Lauren skips up, does a twirl, blows a kiss to Louis and gives him the flirty fingers. Taz snarls and waves a fist at her, until Louis kisses her on the cheek and she blushes red.

Josh Gad as Louis

scoobs5601 as Taz

Shakira as Lauren

I'm better
So much better now
Look to the skies, give me life
We're together now

Diego comes on screen dancing, until the cubs tackle him. Shira pads up beside him, grinning.

Denis Leary as Diego

Jennifer Lopez as Shira

Jason Biggs as Kendall

Zendaya as Hope

Sean Austin as Ranger

Leon Thomas lll as Lightning

Ariana Grande as Jade

Cole Sprouse as Casper

Miranda Cosgrove as Tina

We've only just begun
Hypnotised by drums
Until forever comes
You'll find us chasing the sun

Zeke, Lenny and Oscar appear on screen. Oscar steps away from the others and nuzzles Mikayla, who runs up to him. Kate stands awkwardly beside them, until Mikayla hugs her and Oscar licks her head.

Jack Black as Zeke

Alan Tudyk as Lenny

Diedrich Bader as Oscar

Daniella Monet as Mikayla

Jennette McCurdy as Kate

They said this day wouldn't come
We refused to run
We've only just begun
You'll find us chasing the sun

Squint and Izzy spin on-screen, showing off their moves, seemingly locked in some kind of dance-off, until Flynn belly-flops out of nowhere and they scatter.

Aziz Ansari as Squint

Kerry Williams as Izabella

Nick Frost as Flynn

Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun

Raz and Gupta appear dancing, Silas flying overhead, before landing and joining in the dancing. Boris also dances with them.

Rebel Wilson as Raz

Kunal Nayyar as Gupta

Alain Chabat as Silas

Frank Welker as Boris

Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun

All the mammoth teens are high-fiving with their trunks and swaying to the music. Ethan pulls Peaches aside and strokes her fringe back behind her ear, causing her to turn red.

Keke Palmer as Peaches

Drake as Ethan

Alexandra Romano as Meghan

Nicki Minaj as Steffie

Heather Morris as Katie

Jason Fricchione as Gator*

When the daylight's fading
We're gonna play in the dark
Till it's golden again

Manny barges on-screen, pushing Ethan away from Peaches and ushering the other kids off. Peaches sighs in annoyance, rolls her eyes, and walks away. Ellie comes up, lightly nudges Manny in slight irritation, before grabbing his trunk and making him dance with her.

Ray Romano as Manny

Queen Latifah as Ellie

And now it feels so amazing
Can't see it coming
And we'll never grow old again
You'll find us chasing the sun

Granny hobbles on, closely followed by Sid, and they both dance around for a bit, until Granny gets bored and walks off, causing Sid to chase after her.

Wanda Sykes as Granny

John Leguizamo as Sid

I'm never
I'm never down
Lying here, staring up and you're looking down

Crash and Eddie hurry on-screen, slapping each-other. They stop fighting for a while and dance, until Crash bumps into Eddie and the slap-fight resumes, causing the two to bounce off-screen.

Seann William Scott as Crash

Josh Peck as Eddie

I'm never
I'm never down
Live forever, forever
With you around

Buck swings in on a vine, but it breaks and he hits the floor. Diesel lands neatly beside him, laughing until he leaps at her, playfully attacking. She blocks him, and they play-fight without hurting each-other for a bit, until he chases her off.

Simon Pegg as Buck

Anne Hathaway as Diesel

We've only just begun
Hypnotised by drums
Until forever comes
You'll find us chasing the sun

Kenzie and Alex appear, dancing together. Ashling comes up behind them with Rebecca on her shoulder, and Kenzie drags them into their dance. Jasper leaps out of the water and arches over their heads, earning some impressed nods and smiles.

Romi Danes as Kenzie

Rebecca Soler as Alex

Jennifer Stone as Ashling

Nathan Kress as Jasper

They said this day wouldn't come
We refused to run
We've only just begun
You'll find us chasing the sun
The sun, the sun, the sun
You'll find us chasing the sun

Dex, Bronson and Rebecca appear, the two males dancing while Rebecca stands and rolls her eyes at them for a few seconds, before dancing discreetly on the spot.

Jack Black (2) as Dex

James Earl Jones as Bronson

Christina Perri as Rebecca

Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun

Rhianne and Herbert dance on-screen, Hollie fluttering overhead, before Fly pull sthem offstage.

Taylor Swift as Rhianne

Logan Henderson as Herbert

Genevieve Hannelius as Hollie

Miriam Margolyes as Fly

Oh oh oh oh oh oh Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun

Gutt and Soto fly in ghost form above the stage, Soto snarling and Gutt brandishing his claws, before a blast from Precious sends them flying.

Peter Dinklage as Gutt

Goran Višnjićas Soto

When the daylight's fading
We're gonna play in the dark
Till it's golden again

The whole herd comes back onstage, both sets of pirates included. They all dance together, laughing and smiling.

And now it feels so amazing
Can't see it coming
And we'll never grow old again
You'll find us chasing the sun

You'll find us chasing the sun

When the daylight's fading
We're gonna play in the dark
Till it's golden again

And now it feels so amazing
Can't see it coming
And we'll never grow old again
You'll find us chasing the sun

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You'll find us chasing the sun

And...yep, it's officially done! Oh my gosh, I don't even know if I'm happy or sad right now...I'm sad to see it end, but I'm happy I FINALLY gave you guys the (really long) Epilogue that I've left sitting in my Documents unfinished for what feels like roughly a year. Obviously it's not, but it feels like it has been!

(1) Thinking about possibly doing a one-shot of Hope copying Raz as she grows up...thoughts?

*Gator is Ethan's dumb friend, but I called him Drake coz I didn't know his name at the time

(2) Yeah, I know Jack Black voiced two characters, but they were both small roles.

Anyway, I'm gonna go eat some Ben 'n' Jerry's ice cream, probably work through my Inbox (ANOTHER thing I've left for ages!), and hopefully take some kinda medicine at some point coz I feel all sicky :(

So...thanks for reading, please review and...bye for now, guys! I'll see you guys a) next time I update one of my other long-forgotten stories, b) post 'Can You Keep A Secret?' or c) get around to my next story. Bye!

~MusicRocks807 xxx