Here it is folks! The long-awaited sequel to Peaches' Sweet Sixteen and Wish Upon a Star! Hope you all enjoy it! Couldn't resist bringing the pirates back in, I think I caught Pirate-Fever from MBSAVfan1! Anyway, the surprises (well, most of them) are revealed in this chapter.

To anyone who hasn't read Peaches' Sweet Sixteen, Wish Upon a Star or Dreams: you will probably need to read them to understand this. Dreams isn't as necessary, but you definitely need to read the other two or you'll be sat reading this thinking 'What in the world is the author talking about?' although you'll probably end up thinking that anyway, but there's less chance if you read those first.

Disclaimer: HA! I put this in the summary for once! Remembering to do stuff is so useful!

Oh, and I'm still gonna do that thing where it's present tense if it's a specific character's POV, and past tense if it's not. Again, it's just easier that way.

Raz awoke with a start, and her arms instantly tightened. But she wasn't holding anything. She suddenly remembered that there was no sleek, warm, silver sabre lying there, and that there never would be again. She sighed, fighting back tears. She'd sworn to herself never to cry over Shira's leaving ever again, as she'd promised the tigress that she was okay with it, and didn't want to break the most important promise she had made to the most important animal in her life. She loved all the crew, but if it wasn't for Shira she'd have never made it through all the years of training and learning the ropes of the ship. The kangaroo sighed and stretched out her limbs. She'd fallen alseep in an awkward position, and although she didn't know it yet, she'd slept like that for a long time.

"Jus' a bad dream, Raz," she muttered to herself "Iss' jus' a bad dream."

Raz gasped in horror. A bad dream?! That must mean she'd fallen asleep! Falling asleep when she was on lookout! That wasn't at all like her! She sighed again and held her head in her hands. She knew exactly why the Shira dreams had come back; Gutt had a revenge plan. Gupta used to have dreams about the silver sabretooth as well, he always used to tell Raz about them, and although there was no actual proof, the kangaroo had a strong feeling Squint missed her too. Hurriedly, Raz woke the other shipmates, apologsing about the late start to the day.

"You oughtta be sorry, Raz!" snapped Squint accusingly, his eyes wet and glossy.

"He dreamt about Shira last night, I heard him mumbling about her," explained Gupta "So did I, actually. I can't get her out of my head recently..."

"Ugh, add me ta tha' lis', mate!" grumbled Raz, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She took a deep breath and hopped over to the Captain's sleeping quarters. She gently shook his shoulder, hoping that he might have died in his sleep somehow, maybe as an extra aftermath to the Siren attack, but she knew that her hopes were fruitless. In moments his eyes snapped open, anger blazing deep inside them.

"Raz! It's midday! What do you have to say for yourself?!" he shouted furiously. The rest of the crew - even Flynn - froze in shock, fearing for Raz's safety. Since they lost Shira, they'd all come to realise just how easily one can lose a person they care about. Raz swallowed hard before explaining.

"Well, Cap'n, Ah wasn't tired an' Ah thought ya'll might need the rest 'cause of the raid we're plannin' an' all," she gabbled quickly, making something up on the spot. Gutt grunted in disbelief.

"Right well, I guess that'll do for now. Have a sleep then if you've been up all night and haven't slept at all," Gutt told her, clearly not believing a word she'd said. Raz nodded obediently and hopped past the crew to the lower deck.

"Bad, bad girl!" taunted Squint childishly.

"Shuddup Eastah Bunny," muttered Raz darkly as she hopped past, to which Squint's ears shot up straight and his nose started twitching. A small smile spread across Raz's lips. Since Shira had left with that herd, someone had to take over the role of the person to make fun of Squint! That someone just happened to be Raz. She slumped into a corner of the cell that would soon be inhabited by her younger sister, once they found her of course, and drifted off to sleep, hoping against hope that the dreams wouldn't come back. No such luck.

Shira sobbed into her paws, shuddering slightly.

"No," she moaned "No, no, no! Not the dreams again! Please not the dreams again!"

They'd come back. The awful dreams she'd tried to get rid of since she joined the herd had returned, and started coming on strong again. She sniffled into her paws again, tears rolling down her cheeks. She felt something furry and comforting on her shoulder, but it only made her feel worse. She missed her big sister, and her big brothers. She missed all of them.

"Shira?" she heard a familiar - and slightly annoying - voice say. She sighed.

"Hey Sid," she said, trying in vain to act as if she was okay "What's up?"

"What's up with you? You've been lying here crying!"

"Not much, just some bad dreams..."

"Aww, poor you!" Sid attempted to hug the sabre "Come here, let old Sid give you a hug!"

"Yuck, no thanks!" retorted Shira, but she hugged the sloth breifly anyway. After a short amount of time, Shira released the sloth and pushed him away. She then climbed to her feet and shook her head fiercely.

"What are you doing?" asked Sid curiously, his head tilted to one side. Shira smiled pathetically at him.

"Trying to shake the bad dreams away," she admitted a little sheepishly, blushing as she thought it sounded stupid. That's what her mother used to say to her before she lost her, and Shira later went on to tell Raz the same thing every single time she had a bad dream. Surprisingly, Sid patted her on the back comfortingly and nodded.

"I understand Shira, it's not weird. I do the same thing!"

"No offense sloth, but the fact that you do it makes it weird!"

Sid was, as usual, unaffected by her insults, and carried on.

"That little trick helped me through all the nights that I woke up crying because I missed my family," he sighed softly. Shira's ears pricked up then. She didn't actually know anything about Sid's family, beside the fact that he and Granny had been abandoned together.

"Sid," she whispered gently "Would you mind telling me about your family?"

"Nah, of course not," answered Sid, pleased that someone was showing in an interest in him "I'll tell you all about them!"

"Thanks a lot!" Shira smiled at the smelly sloth. He got on her nerves, but she was desperate to know his life story, just out of pure curiousity.

"No problem, it's nice that someone actually cares!" replied Sid, patting her on the head "But I'll tell you on the way to the clearing, okay? The herd's all waiting there, just hanging out."

Shira nodded, and the two started walking, Sid telling her about his life before he'd even met Manny and Diego, something that is so secretive even the original herd members didn't know!

Manny, Ellie, Diego, Crash, Eddie and Granny were all sitting around a campfire, all minus Diego enjoying some lunch. He was waiting for Shira, so that they could hunt together. They were chatting about nothing in particular, mostly random things like the weather or an interesting conversation that they'd recently had with somebody. Crash and Eddie were just interrogating Diego about his 'night alone' with Shira, when a very strange sight greeted them. Sid and Shira walked into the clearing side-by-side, talking happily about Sid's family, which would've been surprising in it's own, as Sid rarely spoke of his family. They both waved as they came towards the herd, Sid flopping down lazily beside Granny, while Shira sat down gracefully beside Deigo, who licked her fondly behind the ears. She batted his face with her paw, but cuddled into him all the same. He wrapped his forelegs around her and purred contently, causing Crash and Eddie to shriek with laughter.

"Ew, get a cave!" shouted Crash.

"Yeah, didn't you two have enough fun last night?" agreed Eddie, laughing even harder as Diego and Shira both blushed at the same time.

"Hey, give it a rest you two!" said Ellie sternly, glaring at her brothers but holding back laughter. Even Manny sniggered a little bit, but he shut up as soon as he looked Diego in the eyes.

"Yeah Ellie's right," he said, trying to help his friend out "Let Diego have some fun with his siren!"

"Siren?" repeated Shira, her eyes wide with pleasure at the thought of being Diego's siren. Diego went bright red and hid his face.

"Yeah! After you saved us from the pirates, we sailed for days-"

"Hours, Sid, not days!" interrupted Manny, rolling his eyes.

"Whatever. Anyway, we ended up in Siren Cove-" continued Sid, before Shira interrupted him.

"Wait a second, Siren Cove?!" she exclaimed "That place is real?!"

"Of course it is!" Sid paused to giggle at Diego, who gritted his teeth and mouthed 'Please stop!' to the sloth "And you'll never guess who Diego saw!"

"Who?" asked Shira eagerly, even though she pretty much knew the answer, she wanted to hear it come out of someone else's mouth, just to make it more official. Sid smirked at Diego, then turned to Shira.

"You!" answered Sid, before Diego could stop him. Everyone went "Aww!" which only made Diego blush even more, and feel even more vunerable. That was the one thing he didn't like about spending time with Shira; she made him soft, she made him weak.

"No I didn't!" mumbled Diego, trying to save his pride. As if to prove his point, he released Shira and looked away from her.

"Huh?" Shira was confused. She was Diego's mate, he must've seen her! Right?

"No I didn't!" repeated Diego, louder this time. Soto had always taught the pack that for a male to show any break in their pride for a female was a weakness. Many of Soto's teachings had died away from Diego's mind long ago, but up until meeting Shira he hadn't even thought about any of the rules about females. He hadn't even spent any time with a female that wasn't his mother, except for one faded memory about a female sabre cub that had saved his life when he was younger... But he had no experience with females, so he went off what the pack had taught him.

"I didn't see Shira!" he denied it again, because everyone was giving him that 'Yeah, as if!' look.

"Well of course you did Diego!" insisted Manny, seeing Shira's crestfallen expression "You were mumbling her name in your sleep that night!"

"I was not!" Diego could actually feel his pride breaking "I ABSOLUTELY DEFINITELY DID NOT SEE SHIRA AS MY SIREN!"

Shira squeaked quietly beside him, trying to hold back her tears. Diego suddenly realised what he had done.

"Wait, Shira I-"

"Save it!" she snapped angrily, losing control of her tears.

"But I just-"

But he was too late. She was already gone. She ran and ran into the forest, losing her way but not caring.

Peaches' POV

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I can't believe that just happened! Louis is pulling on my hair, but I think it might be because I'm swinging too fast in the trees and he's trying not to fall off my head. Right now, I don't care. No, I do care, Louis is the only friend I have left now, but just not as much. I can't believe Ethan! Stupid, stupid Ethan! I'm crying so hard and swinging so fast I don't even notice Auntie Shira until I crash into her. Oh, it would be her I ran into, wouldn't it?!

"Ugh... sorry Peach, didn't see you there..." she murmurs, rubbing her head with her paw, not meeting my eyes. Even though my own vision is still slightly blurred, I can tell she's been crying. A lot.

"Auntie Shira?" I ask softly, sensing that this is going to be a touchy subject "What's wrong?"

She mumbles something and starts crying quietly again, but it wouldn't take a genius to guess what the rough idea of it was.

"Uncle Diego?"

"Got it in one..." she sighs unhappily, nuzzling her head against my shoulder. I push my own worries aside for a moment and wrap my trunk around my auntie, holding her close. Louis drops down from my head and lands on Auntie Shira's back, and I know this because he manages to kick me in the face as he falls. I act like he didn't though, because Louis is very easy to upset, and I'm not the key concern at the moment. I decide it's also not a key concern to tell Auntie Shira what's wrong with me at the moment, as it involves her. Oh man, it was awful...

Me, Ethan, and the Brat Pack were hanging out down at the Gyro-Drop. Steffie and Katie were having their go, when the platform tipped and they both fell down.

"STEFFIE, BABE!" yelled Ethan, which stung a lot. The others were screaming from them too, and I joined in too, but I didn't even anticipate what Ethan would say next. We watched them drop to the ground, and waited in terror to see if they'd get up, which thankfully they did. Ethan turned to me, hatred blazing in his eyes.

"This is your fault, Peaches!" he snapped angrily.

"How is it my fault?!" I demanded, forgetting that I had a HUGE crush on him.

"It's because of your stupid new aunt's fur! It's cursed!"

"That's ridiculous! If anything, Auntie Shira's good luck!"

"My parents warned me to stay away from the silver sabre with the cursed fur, and I ignored them!" groaned Ethan, still glaring at me.

"Same here!"

"Me too!"

"I should've listened to my parents!"

I gawped in awe at my so-called friends as they blatantly insulted my amazing new aunt.

"How dare you?!" I shrieked at them, tears forming in my eyes "Auntie Shira's great, and she's really sweet now! She's not cursed, or a bad luck charm, or anything else you might make up about her! And if you really think all that, I guess you're not my real friends after all! So goodbye!"

And I turned on my heels and stormed off. Louis followed close behind, after giving Ethan a good telling-off, which was both amazing and hilarious.

I sigh and try to push that horrid memory away for now; my auntie needs me. I hug her lovingly, murmuring a load of rubbish about how it'll all be okay, and all that junk that she definitely doesn't believe. She seems to have calmed down a little though.

"Thanks Peach," she sighs, smiling at me "And Louis, of course!"

He blushes from where he is sat on her head. I sigh.

"Yeah, Louis is very dependable," I say wistfully, glancing back in the direction of the Gyro-Drop. I feel kinda bad, but it's not my fault! Me and Louis told them not to go on it in the first place!

"Peaches?"

Oh shoot. I forgot that I was speaking out loud!

"Oh uhm, I was just... daydreaming..."

Auntie Shira doesn't look like she believes me, but she doesn't question me further. There's an awkward silence, that Louis was about to break, but suddenly something jumps out of the bushes. Actually, someone.

"Gutt!" screams Auntie Shira, eyes wide with fear. His crew are close behind, all armed of course, and I can't help but feel intimidated by Raz's spiral shell spear. Captain Gutt grinned maliciously at us, his eyes focusing on Auntie Shira hungrily.

"Hello again, Shira!" he held out his hand to her in offering "Did you miss us?"

"Yeah, of course I did!" she replies her voice dripping with sarcasm "I totally missed being starved, beaten and straight-out lied to!"

"Oh and we missed you!" drawled Gutt "We missed being betrayed by one of our own crew!"

He tries to tickle her under the chin but she snarls and bites his hand fiercely. He swears and slaps her, but she acts as if it doesn't hurt. She growls deeply, but he just laughs.

"Aww, still is violent and feisty as ever!" he cooes "Such a great example to set to these two young children!"

"Hey! We're sixteen!" I yell, and Louis nods along with me. Auntie Shira actually seems kinda affected by that comment though. She takes a deep breath to calm herself and turns to us.

"Alright, you two retreat! No violence!" instructs Auntie Shira, to which Louis and I nod. Gutt turns to Squint, looks him in the eyes and nods. Squint sighs and prepares to attack, but Auntie Shira leaps forward and whacks him with her paw. Apparantly she didn't pick up on the slightly hesitant sigh, because she hit him so hard he whizzes through the air so fast he hits Silas. They both collapse on the floor in a heap, groaning, while Auntie Shira casually inspects her claws.

"What happened to a non-violent retreat?" I ask cheekily.

"Do as I say, not as I do!" retorts Auntie Shira, waving us away with her paw "Now go!"

We do as we are told, but I regret it. As we leave, I hear Captain Gutt yell "Attack!"

"That can't be good..." says Louis nervously. I roll my eyes.

"Thank-you Captain Duh!" I snap back, but I'm not angry, just worried. And I should be. Several minutes later, as me and Louis hurry through the trees, I hear my only aunt scream in pain. I try to turn back, but Louis hangs from a lock of my hair and looks me in the eyes.

"Look Peach, the best thing we can do for her now is get help!" he tells me sternly. I nod numbly, and run as fast as I can.

Normal POV

Captain Gutt laughed cruelly.

"Thank-you Master Squint," he says, handing Squint his knife back "That'll do for now."

The pirates gathered around Shira, observing her as she bled. Gutt had slit a long line down Shira's back, right along her spine. Raz didn't think it had cut deep enough to hit bone, but she couldn't be sure. Shira moaned softly, a sound that made even Squint feel incredibly sorry for her. They'd never got along thatg great, but there was that brother/sister bond that he'd always tried to ignore.

"Captain?" asked Flynn "How're we gonna get Shira back to the ship? She can't walk!"

"She can't move either!" muttered Shira angrily, which thankfully only Raz heard.

"Ah'll carry 'er," offered Raz, acting as if she was doing the crew a big favour, not helping her sister and reducing her pain "But the weapons in ma pouch might cut 'er a lil' when Ah'm hoppin' coz they bounce a bit..."

"Great idea, Raz!" Gutt praised her, totally buying her act "And try to bounce extra-hard, okay?"

Raz nodded, but she had every intention to keep Shira safe. She carefully scooped the sabre up into her arms, holding her so that her back was facing the sky, so that the blood didn't run. Raz cradled her younger sister against her chest, and hopped as carefully as she could, trying to fool Gutt and stop the weapons from hurting Shira.

"Just hop properly, Raz!" hissed Shira, but Raz shook her head.

"Not happ'nin' Sheila, Ah'm keepin' ya safe an' that's final!"

Shira sighed in defeat and snuggled into Raz lovingly. Whatever would ensue on this adventure, Shira was sure glad her older sister was going to be there with her.

Ta-da! Did you like? Sorry if it's no good, it gets better as it goes along! Just perservere, okay? Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW! I love reviews! They boost my self-esteem! Oh and DiegoxShira, I hope I did that scene the way you wanted, and if I didn't, sorry, I'll do a seperate one-shot of it if you want. Will try and update soon, but knowing me that might fail epicly. Anyway, like I said before, please review, and if you haven't read 'Christmas Fears' by MBSAVfan1 you're seriously missing out, but you'd better hurry up and read it before Christmas season is over! XD