Squirrelflight's Dream
Squirrelflight looked up at the sky with tears in her eyes.
Their secret was out.
Brambleclaw hated her.
The whole clan was shunning her and her sister.
It had been one moon since her niece revealed the secret that her and her sister, Leafpool, had kept for many moons; Leafpool, the medicine cat, and Crowfeather, a WindClan warrior, had kits. Leafpool had begged Squirrelflight to take the kits and claim them as her own. Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf are her sister's kits. Hollyleaf was dead, crushed in the tunnels beneath the ThunderClan and WindClan border. That left only Jayfeather and Lionblaze. Even those two hate the both of them.
She suddenly wished she hadn't given up Ashfur.
Ashfur.
The cat who absolutely loved her, from the bottom of his heart, and would do anything for her. The one she left for Brambleclaw.
The tears were now streaming down her cheeks. She wished with all her heart that he was alive.
She sighed and padded into the warriors den, went to her nest, curled up, and fell asleep.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Squirrelflight woke up in a starlit clearing. Confused, she padded over to a silhouetted shape in the moonlight. As she got closer, she gasped.
"Ashfur?"
The figure turned to her, revealing a gray face with dark blue eyes.
"Squirrelflight." He said simply.
Her eyes filled with tears all over again, spilling down her cheeks and onto the ground.
"Ashfur, I'm so sorry! I never, ever meant to hurt you!" she cried to her former mate.
Ashfur padded up to her and wiped her tears away with his tail.
"I know, Squirrelflight. I never meant to hurt you either," he meowed softly. He put his head down, looking at his paws.
"It's my fault your life is ruined. If I hadn't overreacted to you leaving me, you would still have Brambleclaw. If I hadn't tried to kill your- I mean Leafpool's kits, this never would have happened. If I-"
"No."
He looked up to a fierce looking Squirrelflight.
"It's not your fault, Ashfur. I agreed to take the kits from my sister; I'm the one who left you, and I'm the one who lied to my mate. I deserve all I get."
Ashfur looked shocked, Squirrelflight noticed, but she knew what she had said was right. She DID in fact deserve this.
"But your heart was broken; by the very cat who said he would never leave you," Ashfur said quietly.
Squirrelflight looked straight into those deep blue pools of Ashfur's.
"He broke mine by leaving, as I broke his by lying to him," she shot back.
She looked down in defeat. "And I still love him, even if he doesn't love me anymore."
"I still love you."
"What?" She looked up; this time it was her who was shocked. "After I rejected you like I did?"
Ashfur nodded. "After the fire, I realized that you were truly happy with him, and would do anything for him. I was mad, but I wasn't going to tell anybody, because I knew how important it was to you. I was going to settle for loving you the rest of my life until I died; and I did just that."
He twined her tail with his. "And I will love you beyond that; just like now."
Squirrelflight buried her nose in his starry pelt.
"Thank you, Ashfur."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Squirrelflight woke the next morning the last one in the den. She stretched and padded out of the den into the clearing. She saw her sister sitting alone in the corner of camp with an untouched mouse in front of her, looking downcast. She went over, and sat down.
"Ashfur came into my dreams last night."
Leafpool looked up in surprise. "What?"
"He said he still loves me, and that he was sorry for what he did."
Squirrelflight didn't look at her sister. She slouched down to the ground and covered her face with her paws.
"I'm such a mouse-brain. I shouldn't have rejected Ashfur, I shouldn't have lied to Brambleclaw, none of this should have ever happened!" she cried out sorrowfully.
Leafpool stood up and looked down at her.
"We're both mouse-brains, then."
Squirrelflight looked up, shocked.
"What are you talking about?"
Leafpool mrrowed in amusement. Squirrelflight gave her a strange look.
"What I meant was that if I hadn't accepted Crowfeather's advances, neither of us would be in this position…"
She blinked, ears twitching a bit, and she licked her paw. "I suppose so…"
Leafpool leaned over and gave a few licks to her sister's ears. "But hey…three beautiful, brave, talented kits came out of it. And made both you and me proud."
Squirrelflight purred a little. "Yes…you're right. That's all that matters right? Lionblaze is a great warrior. I see him a potential leader one day…and Jayfeather. He's an amazing medicine cat, and he's sure to mentor his own apprentice and make them as great as him. And Hollyleaf…she would have been such a great warrior…"
Leafpool rubbed against her sister. "They're as much yours…as they are mine." She mewed softly. "Now come on. We should make ourselves useful and go on a few patrols."
Squirrelflight stood and shook her flaming fur out. "You? On patrols? That's great." She purred in amusement, nudging Leafpool playfully.
Leafpool mock-growled, and pounced on the ginger warrior. "Oh really? You want to see what I can do? Hunting match. Sun high to moonrise. Whoever gets the most wins."
Squirrlflight twitched her tail. "You're on."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Later on, at moonrise, Leafpool and Squirrelflight sat next to their own little piles of fresh-kill. Next to the former medicine cat, sat three mice, a thrush, two voles, and a squirrel.
Squirrelflight had caught four mice, a vole and a squirrel.
The ginger she cat twitched her tail frustratedly. "I lost! How did I lose?"
Leafpool mrrowed happily. "See? I can do other things aside from just medicine cat things!"
"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Squirrelflight mumbled.
Leafpool looked at her sister, then at the squirrel, nudging it over.
"Let's share this. As a reward for a job well done."
The other she-cat looked at it, then nodded with a purr. "Okay!"
Leafpool purred and took a bite, then pushed it closer to her sister, who took a bite as well.
They sat there as the moon rose higher in the sky, sharing prey and sharing tongues, reaffirming the bond they had as sisters.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Firestar had watched his daughters all day, honestly concerned about how they were fairing with all this nonsense.
It comforted him to know that they weren't hating each other and blaming each other for what happened.
All would be well for the moment, the leader thought as he padded away to his den.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
o-o Oh wow...over a year and a little over a thousand words later, I finish this. I started this fic like, a year and a half ago...it's 5 am, I haven't slept and I just got done now...should I feel proud? Or concerned that I need a life? XD
