A/N: 1st of all, this is the last chapter. Surprised? Shocked? Well, that was the plan. The ending was suppose to be sudden and unexpected. You'll see why in a minute... :)


Chapter Nine

Jayfeather awoke near sundown. He could feel the sun's warmth on his back beginning to fade. He stretched his legs and yawned. He shook his head to clear the sleepiness, renewed energy seeping through him. Jayfeather was about to turn regrettably back inside, away from the sweet scents of the outside world, when he heard a voice.

"It's beautiful out," meowed Cocoa, sounding awed. "I wish you could see the sunset. From here, it looks like the whole world is on fire." She paused thoughtfully. "It's beautiful," she repeated.

Just like you, Jayfeather thought. He jumped in surprise at his thoughts. What kind of thought was that? He couldn't even see her, for StarClan's sake! And even if he could, weren't these emotions flooding through him against the rules? He was breaking the warrior code by thinking such things. But you don't live in the Clans anymore, a voice reminded him quietly. Before he could push away these confusing thoughts, a voice cut through the air.

"Hello, you lazy sacks of fur!" it hissed. Jayfeather felt Cocoa jump beside him.

"Who's there?" she demanded, her meow ringing throughout the yard.

"What's it to you, kittypet?" the tom's voice sneered.

Cocoa's eyes darted around, trying to see past the trees lining the yard. "How brave you must be, then," she retorted daringly, "making fun of a housecat like me, but too tough to actually show yourself!"

Blue eyes flashed in the gloom suddenly. Cocoa watched, trying not to show her fear, as a large broad-shouldered tom padded out of the surrounding ferns. "Bone," he snarled. "My name is Bone." Bone stepped forward threateningly, his brown and white fur shimmering in glowering setting sun. Cocoa gasped at his sheer size. Despite being obviously underfed, he had brute strength. "Did you really just call me a coward?" he demanded, taking a deliberate step forward.

"N-no!" Cocoa stammered, the usually stubborn she-cat finding herself backtracking. "I…I didn't mean it!"

"It's too late for apologizes now, my sweet," Bone hissed, taking another terrible step towards the housecat.

"Leave her alone!" growled Jayfeather, standing protectively over Cocoa.

"What are you going to do, kitty?" taunted Bone. "Fight me?" The rogue bared is teeth.

"Fine," hissed the blind tom. "But don't touch her."

"Her?" purred Bone without amusement. "Don't touch her? But, don't you see? She's the one I want! She's the one that mocked me! She's going to get what she deserves. Step out of the way and I won't hurt you."

"You will not put a single claw on her," roared Jayfeather. He prepared to pounce, drawing out his claws. His heart was pounding. StarClan, what will I do? I can't fight! I can't even see! But despite his doubts and fears, he knew one thing was for certain. He wasn't going to let this piece of fox dung even breathe on Cocoa. Before he could even lung forward, however, he heard a loud, squeaking sound.

Bone hissed, and Jayfeather heard the sound of his retreating paw steps. The gray tom turned his sightless eyes towards Cocoa. "What just happened?" he meowed with wide eyes.

"Gretchen," she murmured in disbelief. Before she could elaborate further, Jayfeather heard the sound of a screeching twoleg. Suddenly warm furless paws were lifting him off the ground. He could hear the twoleg female murmuring consolingly in his ear.

As they reentered the twoleg nest, Jayfeather was simply relieved that he had made it without a fight- a fight he would surely have lost. More than that, however, he was infinitely grateful that Cocoa was safe. In that moment, he realized how unbearable it seemed for anything to happen to her.

A few moments later, Gretchen set the two cats down on Cocoa's pillow before walking away. Cocoa trembled, realizing how bad that could have ended. After a moment, she whispered, "I'm sorry for taunting Bone. I should never have messed with him."

Jayfeather licked her ear and meowed in an unusually gentle tone, "It's fine. I'm just happy you're safe." They sat in silence for a long while, each of them trying to ease the tension in their bellies. Suddenly, Cocoa leaned into Jayfeather.

"You…" she began in a whisper, "…you were willing to fight blindly for me. You were willing to risk your life for me. Thank you."

Jayfeather found himself setting his chin on her head. Emotions were stirring within him he couldn't explain. "Of course," he responded quietly. "I could never let anything hurt you."

There was another moment of silence before Cocoa wondered daringly, "And why is that?"

Jayfeather twined his tail with hers, realizing in that instant his motives behind trying to protect her. He understood the feelings that had been building within him for so long. There was no denying it now. There was no way out of it. "Because I love you, Cocoa," he purred lovingly.

"I love you, too, Jayfeather," she breathed. She tilted her head back and stared incredulously into those cloudy blue eyes.

They both purred and sat contently next to each other as the night wore on. Jayfeather knew he had never felt such happiness as he did in that moment.


"No!" I screamed, bolting upright in my nest. My breathing was shallow and my eyes were as wide as the moon.

"Half Moon, what's wrong?" came a voice. Furled Bracken was leaning over me with a worried expression. My eyes darted around the Tribe of Endless Hunting for a while before I finally relaxed. I looked back at the fiery tom. I took a deep breath, realization flooding through me. "Half Moon?" he prompted.

"Nothing, Furled Bracken," I responded, relief flooding through me. "It was just a bad dream." As he walked away, my mind shifted back to the dream I had been living just a few moments previously in which Jay's Wing (or Jayfeather) had fallen in love with another she-cat. It had felt as if my heart was being shredded as I watched the two together. It hadn't made sense to me, why Jay's Wing was breaking his promise- to always remember me.

I gave a small trill of laughter at my own foolishness. Just as I had kept my promise, Jay's Wing would always keep his. He would never fall in love with a kittypet. I loved him, and he loved me. Even in a nightmare, I should have known that! I sighed. That was quite a nightmare!

The End


A/N #2:

Yes, I meant to write this last paragraph in 1st person. See below for details.

To those who are lost/confused: This whole story has been truly in the eyes of Half Moon. This is why it was in 3rd person for the most part, because SHE was the one observing it. When she woke up, she was no longer an outside observer, which is why I shifted it to 1st person. It was all just a dream (or truly a nightmare) until Half Moon awakened in the Tribe of Endless Hunting. Think about it. What would be Half Moon's worst nightmare? The love of her life falling in love with another she-cat!

To those who are angry with the ending: Cliche? Perhaps. But you didn't expect it, now did you? ;)

Why I wrote "nightmare" this way: I'd like to explain my thought process on this story. I was asked to make a story about Jayfeather and a kittypet named Cocoa. The person who requested this to me wanted the two to fall in love. I love writing requests and so of course I wanted to say yes! But there was only one problem. Half Moon and Jayfeather are my favorite pairing in the entire Warriors series. I couldn't just have Jayfeather dump Half Moon for a kittypet, so I decided to shake it up a bit. I realized I could keep Half Moon and Jayfeather together AND write a surprise ending at the same time! So that's just what I did.

Review! Please review this! I'm pretty certain half of you are going to love this ending, and half of you are going to hate it. I'd love to know what you think about this.

For all of you who are wondering, I love requests and will be happy to listen to, and hopefully write any of yours! Just PM me, and I'll tell you what I think! :) Don't worry. I'm not that picky as long as I can add a few twists.

Thanks for reading!