Tug of War

Okay so, like I said in the summary, I came up with this at my Auntie's house playing tug of war with her Boxer dog Adam (but we all call him Addie). Unfortunately, I didn't have wi-fi at the time (incredibly tough to survive without!), so couldn't upload until right now. Well, today anyway.

Disclaimer: Dude, if I owned Ice Age, I might actually have a life!

Oh, and I know that tug of war is generally a dog's game rather than cats, but who cares. Addie actually does remind me a lot of Diego, so that's kind of what made me think of this. I know it seems kinda random... but I'm a random person.

There's quite a lot of DiegoxShira in this, just because I couldn't resist, but I've tried to include a little MannyxEllie for a change. Also a little attempt at LouisxPeaches, but mostly Dira. In case you haven't figured it out, I'm a HUGE Dira shipper! :) Sorry if it annoys anyone, I just think they're soo cute together! Also sorry if anyone gets annoyed by LouisxPeaches, but I personally think they're adorable! :D

Anyways, hope you enjoy it! ;)

Manny, Ellie, Crash, Eddie, Sid, Peaches, Louis (but no-one really noticed him, he was just sat on Peaches' head) and Granny (although she was ignoring everyone and sucking on a kiwi) were all gathered together in the herd's clearing. It wasn't officially their clearing, but it had become fairly well-known that the herd hung out there.

"Oh, where are they?!" Sid wondered aloud.

"You know, I still don't understand why you're so anxious for Diego and Shira to get back," stated Manny simply, rolling his eyes at the sloth. Sid frowned.

"Because I want to see if this works!"

"Okay, I know I'm gonna regret this, but," Manny sighed and took a deep breath "See if what works?"

"You'll see soon, Daddy!" giggled Peaches, which made Louis laugh too. He quickly stopped though, he was still afraid of Peaches' family a little bit. Before Manny could ask any more questions, Diego padded into the clearing. Peaches, Louis and Sid all started giggling childishly, which was acceptable for the teenagers, as they were technically children, but just plain strange for Sid, a fully-grown adult. Diego tilted his head to one side in confusion, and Manny just shook his head with an 'I have no idea!' look on his face.

"Hey Diego, where's your little girlyfriend?!" teased Crash. Eddie smirked.

"Yeah, is she all tired out after your night together?!" he added. Diego blushed under his orange fur.

"You possums better shut it," he warned "Unless the idea of being lunch is appealing to you."

"ELLIE!" shouted both possums at the same time, running towards their sister. They clambered up onto her back, quivering with fear.

"So, where is Auntie Shira?" asked Peaches casually, recovering from her giggles "Is she coming soon?"

"I don't know," replied Diego with a shrug "I haven't seen her since this morning. I presume so."

"Kk," she said quickly, unable to get out any more because she'd started giggling again. Diego rolled his eyes at his niece and turned back to Manny.

"So, what's with all this fuss over where Shira is?" he asked. Manny shrugged.

"Don't have a clue. Ask the sloth."

"I have a name, Manny!" whined Sid, folding his arms.

"Sid," hissed Diego.

"Yeah, that's right! See Manny, Diego can remember my name!"

"Sid!"

"Oh, yeah buddy?"

"Why do you want to know where Shira is?"

"Oh right, that," Sid smirked "I have a surprise for you two! But since she isn't here, I guess I'll just to test- I mean, give it to you."

Diego looked unsure. I mean, Sid's not the most, uhm... normal of mammals, to say the least. Sid darted towards the nearby bushes and retrieved something from them.

"Here ya go, buddy!" Sid held out whatever the surprise was. It was three or four vines plaited together, covered with small dried berries and flowers. Diego tilted his head to one side again.

"What is it?" he asked. Sid smiled and held it even closer to Diego's mouth.

"Just put it in your mouth."

"Did Crash and/or Eddie touch this?" Diego sounded worried at the idea of putting something that the possums had touched into his mouth. Sid shook his head, and pressed the vine against Diego's mouth. The sabre sighed and took one end of the stupid thing in his mouth. What harm can it do?, he thought to himself.

"Okay, got it in there?" Sid examined the vine to see if it was in Diego's mouth. Diego just nodded, unable to speak thanks to the vine. Sid grinned evilly, glanced at Louis and Peaches, and suddenly pulled on the vine, hard. Out of instinct, Diego clamped his jaw down on the vine as Sid pulled, biting into it and refusing to let go. This continued for several minutes, until Sid passed the vine to Peaches.

She smiled at tugged at it, laughing as her uncle struggled to hold on. Diego felt utterly humiliated, and to make it worse, he didn't even know why he wanted to hold onto it! He felt he didn't have a choice; it was like playing with twine, shameful, but involuntary. After Diego started actually growling, Manny quickly took the vine from Peaches, planning to just give it to Diego, but he couldn't quite resist having a go himself. He found it was extremely fun, even though it made a fool of one of his best friends, but he did offer the vine to Ellie. Surprisningly, she refused.

"Oh, uh-uh! I'm not humiliating one of my best friends, thank-you very much!" she said firmly. Manny sighed and released the vine, allowing Diego to finally stop pulling too. The tiger looked away, embaressed. Granny, who'd finally showed some interest in the herd's activities as soon as Diego was being embaressed, hobbled over to Diego's sulking form. She reached down and quickly grabbed the free end of the vine and pulled very hard. Diego almost flew through the air at the sudden force, but only Ellie was paying attention to that.

After about ten minutes, Sid convinced Granny to let go. Diego ran off in shame, bright red in the face. It was around then when Shira finally showed up.

"Hey guys," she said with a smile "What's up?"

"Oh, not much," Manny rolled his eyes "Just a stupid sloth coming up with a stupid toy that made a certain tiger lose his pride."

"Really?!" gasped Shira, before collapsing with laughter "That's hilarious! Way to go, Sid!"

"Hey!" protested Peaches "We helped!"

"Good job, Peach!" laughed Shira "And you, Louis!"

The little molehog blushed slightly, and Peaches giggled again, a smile spreading over her face. Manny sighed again, and Ellie noticed his discomfort. She wrapped her trunk around his and squeezed it.

"What's wrong, Manny?" she asked gently.

"I'm just worried that Diego's seriously upset or something," sighed Manny, then he whispered "And I think it would be easier for him if he could rely on Shira's love as a comfort."

Ellie nodded, a mischevious twinkle lighting in her eyes.

"One step ahead of ya!" she whispered, before turning to Shira "Hey Shira, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uhm, sure thing..." Shira sounded confused.

"Don't worry, just a little girl-talk."

Ellie lead Shira into the forest, away from the rest of the herd. The two females found a nice little spot free of any animals, and started their talk.

Peaches slumped against the nearby tree, sulking.

"Why couldn't I go with them for the girl-talk?!" she complained "I'm a girl!"

"Yeah but, I think Ellie wants to talk to Shira about something personal," suggested Louis "You know, something that we're too young to hear about."

"You mean like, mating?"

"Yeah..."

Both friends shuddered.

"That is a TERRIBLE mental picture!" declared Peaches, trying to shake it out of her head. Louis, on the other hand, seemed awkward all of a sudden.

"Well, it's not completely disgusting..." Louis's voice trailed off.

"Hmm, fair enough," agreed Peaches, smiling as she met Louis's eyes "I guess it depends who it's with."

Louis went bright red, but couldn't look away from Peaches' eyes.

"Uh-huh... that's right. Anything can be nice if it's with - or for - the right person."

"Like, standing up to a freaky ape-thing and risking death to rescue someone?" asked Peaches, smirking.

"Yep," Louis blushed again, even redder than before. He took a deep breath, wondering whether or not to say what he wanted to.

"Louis?" Peaches whispered, meeting his eyes again "I love you too."

"Really?!" he asked, his eyes wide with joy "You do?!"

"Of course I do!" she smiled "You've been with me my whole life! I can't imagine not having you around!"

"Oh, well that's... AMAZING!" Louis grinned widely for a second, but then his face fell.

"What's wrong?" asked Peaches, tilting his head up so that she could see if he was crying.

"It's just... I know you know how I feel now, but I always wanted to say the words to your face. You know, make it more official."

"Then why don't you?"

"Okay," breathed Louis, staring at Peaches with great love in his eyes "I think I will. Peaches, I love you more than anyone could ever imagine, and I always will."

Peaches smiled at him, glad that he'd finally found the courage to tell her.

"Feel better now?"

"Absolutely!"

The two friends stared into each-other's eyes, both planning and plotting for the future. Neither wanted the moment to end, but they knew it had to.

"I've gotta get back to my family..." sighed Peaches.

"Mind if I come?"

"What part of 'I can't imagine not having you around' didn't you understand?!"

Both laughed cheerily, pleased at what they'd found. True love. Louis climbed onto Peaches head again, and she took off through the trees. As she swung on the branches, a wide smile spread across Peaches' face. She'd known the second Louis stood up to Gutt that they were made for each-other. Now she had that relationship she wanted, and someone who truly cared for her and didn't see her as just another female. She couldn't have been happier. She just hoped that things worked out like that for Diego and Shira.

Ellie wrapped her trunk around Shira, steadying the sabre as she struggled to stand from laughter.

"Oh my gosh, that's such a great idea!" laughed Shira "It'll be hilarious! Thanks a lot Ellie!"

"No problem girl, but you'd better go find him before he gives up on that vine-thing all together!"

Shira nodded firmly, but she still couldn't stop laughing.

"Okay, I'll go in a sec, but first I've gotta figure out how to stop laughing!"

"I take it laughter wasn't common on Gutt's ship?" commented Ellie jokily, but Shira took her seriously.

"That's right. Laughter, well, real laughter, was incredibly rare back on that dumb ship. The only time we ever laughed was when we were capturing or threatning prisoners, or when we were on a land-raid, and that wasn't proper laughter."

"I feel sorry for you," sighed Ellie, patting the sabre on the shoulder "I've never had a shortage of laughter in my life, you know, growing up with Crash and Eddie and everything."

"Lucky you," replied Shira, attempting to smile "You know, I think I'm ready to go mess with Diego."

"Okay," Ellie still sounded a little concerned for her friend "See ya later?"

"Hmm, I might not be back tonight," admitted Shira "And don't be surprised if Diego isn't too."

"Ha, okay then! See ya tomorrow Shira," Ellie smirked "Have fun!"

"Oh, I will!"

"But we're expecting Diego back in one piece!"

"No promises!"

Both females chuckled to themselves as they went their seperate ways.

Diego lay in the entrance to an empty cave, chewing on the vine miserably.

He didn't crave it anymore, he was just kind of bored now. Unknown to him, Shira walked up in front of him, smiling like a siren. To alert him of her presence, she purred softly.

"Huh?" said Diego, still with the vine between his teeth. He relaxed when he realized it was only her. Shira leaned in closer to him, walking forward, making him blush. She knew she was making him nervous, and she knew he was lost in her eyes. She was counting on the latter as a key part of her plan. He stared, dumbfounded, into her azure eyes, not paying attention to anything else, which helped Shira a lot. He was so entranced by her eyes that he didn't notice her drop her head to the ground and grab the other end of the vine in her mouth until she pulled on it.

Going by instincts, Diego pulled back, and neither tiger felt like giving up. Shira couldn't help but find it funny that Diego took this seriously; she was just having some fun, getting under his skin. The two circled each-other, biting into the vine and pulling firmly. She giggled, planning to put her plan into action.

She pretended to weaken, allowing him to take control of the vine. As a result, he didn't pull anymore, worried in case something was up. Well, Shira wasn't one for backing down, he thought she might have a sore jaw or something. He took one step closer to her, and she smiled evilly. Before he knew what was happening, she threw herself backwards, and Diego got pulled forward too. She landed on her back, and he landed on top of her, chest-to-chest, face-to-face. Once he realized what had happened, he grinned and spat out his end of the vine. Shira knew where he was going, and did the same.

Diego brushed the vine away from them, all interest on Shira, and leaned in closer. Shira smirked and slowly ran the tip of her tongue over his lips, leaving him slightly stunned. He dropped his head in embaressment, causing Shira to laugh. He smiled, watching her with a cheeky look on his face, and snuggled into her, kissing her chest, her neck, her cheeks. But Shira wasn't satisfied. She wrapped her forelegs around him, holding him close to her. She gently nipped his ears, and he licked the back of her neck. The two sabres looked each-other in the eyes for one moment, and pressed their lips together. They held the kiss for as long as they could, both smiling happily.

Ellie and the rest of the herd stood in the bushes, watching the sabres as they showed their love.

"Told you it would work," smirked Ellie.

"Never should have doubted you," replied Manny with a smile.

"I guess I'm not the only Match-Maker in the herd," agreed Sid.

"Match-Maker? You?" laughed Crash and Eddie, before their sister shushed them.

"Yeah, why not? I set up Manny and Ellie, and Diego and Shira, so I think I'm pretty good at it!"

The others murmured their agreement.

"Hey Mom, Uncle Sid?" asked Peaches "If I ever say, had a boyfriend, do you think you could do something for me and him?"

"Maybe Peach," answered Ellie with a smile "As long as they're not dangerous or anything!"

"No fear!" laughed Peaches, glancing at Louis "The guy I've got my eye on isn't dangerous!"

"Yeah, you can have a boyfriend when I'm dead, Peaches!" said Manny firmly "In fact, three days later! Just to make sure I'm dead!"

"It's okay Louis, he'll warm up to you!" promised Peaches quietly. Louis nodded. The rest of the herd was oblivious to the new couple, too interested in watching the two tigers as they cuddled and kissed each-other.

"Hey, isn't it kinda wrong to watch them?" asked Louis timidly "I mean, what if they do something... dirty?"

Crash and Eddie laughed hysterically, picturing what Louis meant.

"Don't worry Louis, they won't!" Peaches assured him "Oh, wait a second... uhm, should us kids leave or something?"

"We're all going to leave Peach," stated Ellie firmly "ALL of us!"

She glared at her brothers when she said the last sentence.

"Ellie's right, let's give them their privacy!" Manny lifted Sid and Granny onto his back and turned to leave.

"Aw man!" complained Granny "And it was just gettin' good!"

The herd left, showing the lovebirds some respect.

Shira pulled away from Diego, who laughs with her.

"They totally bought it!" she giggled.

"Yeah, I can't believe the forgot the number one rule of a stake-out!"

"Don't talk?"

"No, don't take Granny!"

Both sabres laughed, and nuzzled each-other.

"You know, Crash and Eddie are gonna really tease us later. About, uhm... what they think they saw," Diego warned Shira, who smirked.

"Well, why make them liars?"

"Huh?" Diego knew exactly what she meant, but he was sort of hoping he was wrong, because he was very nervous.

"Shut your mouth, Diego. You're gonna need your lips for something else!"

"What?"

"This."

Shira pulled him closer and kissed him full-on, leaving him paralyzed. She giggled, and took the opportunity to lick him again. He snapped out of his trance and tilted her head up so he could look her in the eyes.

"Cute," he commented "Now it's my turn."

"What should I do?" she asked. He grinned.

"Just lie still, alright?"

"Aye aye!"

And after that, neither sabre ever minded if Crash or Eddie teased them about their relationship. Mostly because, the possums weren't lying anymore.

Soo, what didja think? Good? Bad? Pointless? (Okay, kind of, but it was still fun to write).

Not planning a sequel or anything, but hey if you want one just ask, coz I never get tired of writing Dira stuff, or LouisxPeaches, or MannyxEllie. Thanks for reading and please review! XD