The Herd's Growing Family (Ice Age)

Late Night Worries

Redwood sniffled once more. She wiped away her tears and smiled softly at the weasel. For someone who was crazier than the world he lived in, Buck was very comforting and managed to get Redwood to actually rethink and feel better about her situation. This was definitely what she needed to hear, and she was very grateful for it.

She pulls Buck in for a hug, which he reciprocates, feeling happy that was able to put a smile on her face again.

"Thank you, Buck".

"You're welcome... Redwood. Just know that I'm here if you wish to talk again". They pull away from the hug and Buck gestures back to the campsite. "Now go get some sleep".

Redwood nods but as they head back to the campsite, Manny suddenly yells in fright as he wakes up, probably from a nightmare. "Aaaaah!"

He looks over at Ellie who's still asleep and sighs with relief. Not soon after, she wakes up along with Avery next, and the two look at Manny. "What's going on? Are you okay?" Ellie asks.

Manny sighs. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to keep you safe and now you're in the most dangerous place in the world".

"Manny, it's not your fault". Avery says.

Ellie agrees. "She's right, you know. It's bigger than all of us. We have to get Sid".

"Yeah, but if I had been a better friend to him, we wouldn't be here". Manny says, feeling guilty.

"Better friend?" Buck joins the conversation. "Are you plucking my whiskers? You risked your life, your mate, and your baby to save your buddy. Not the best husband or father, but a darn good friend". He grins and walks off.

That last part caused Diego to open his eyes and start thinking about something. Which was very quickly interrupted when Scrat's acorn hits him on the head, followed shortly after by Scrat and Scratte chasing after it.

"Hey!" Diego grunted as the two saber squirrels jumped onto him.

Redwood snickered a bit at that, which caught Avery's attention. "Red, what are you doing still up? You look exhausted".

Buck walks back over and answers for the human. "She was with me. We were just talking and she was about to head back to sleep now".

"It's true", Redwood yawned. "Well, goodnight". She walked back over to the tree she was sleeping against, but then hesitated. She thought something over for a minute before moving to another tree that was closer to Diego. She sat down, leaned against it, and shut her eyes, looking more comfortable than she was before.

Diego and Avery noticed this change and were slightly puzzled. Diego's mind just assumed that maybe she was getting over her anger for him and was finally calming down, which made him slightly happy but still didn't take away the guilt he had from earlier.

As for Avery, she turned to Buck, assuming that this had to do with them talking. "Did you tell her something?" She asked.

Buck, not wanting to say too much in case Redwood wanted to keep their conversation private, gave Avery a vague yet acceptable answer. "Just some advice. Something she needed".

Avery softly smiled and looked impressed. "Well, whatever it was, it looked like it made her feel better. You're doing a lot for us, and I really appreciate it".

She then went over to Buck and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which really surprised him.

Avery tried acting confident about what she did, but that was quickly washed away and she started stammering again. "Alright... uh... I-I think I should... turn in for the night... again... uh.... goodnight?... again?"

Without another word, she rushed back to the spot she was sleeping in, not daring to look back at Buck, who was blushing bashfully with an adorable smile on his face. Avery was leaving an impact on him with all the small moments that they were having recently. And the kiss was just enough for Buck to finally confirm something that had him confused and wondering since the moment he first saved Avery....

....He was definitely falling in love with her.

END CHAPTER
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A/N: A bit of a short chapter, but hey, at least I updated again.

Remember when the last 2 movies had emotional scenes like this? I used it as an excuse to write a "(step)parent/child" moment for Redwood and Buck (with some help from a friend, of course). And I kind of want to give Redwood some development as a character by writing something I'm sure most people can relate to.

Anyway, please comment and tell me what you think of the chapter.