Sorry that this chapter is so short. Another one soon, probably. So yeah, a word to describe me: inconsitstent. I just can't seem to keep up with uploading chapters plus everything else. I will write as often as I can, because I really love to write (even if I suck at it). So I love all of you who constantly review this story and take my false promises seriously.

As for the story, this chapter is fluffy. If you prefer action, get the crap outa here. xD

Ivypool POV

The cool gravel beneath her paws made a faint crackling sound as her weight shifted from one paw to the other. A simplistic thing, the sound of gravel. Nothing in her life was anywhere near as simple.

Ivypool's stomach lurched. Again. She felt so awful, in every respect. Ivypool had thought finding her destiny would bring her peace and contentment. She had thought that knowing where her true place was would help her to work out everything.

Alas, once again, Ivypool was dead wrong.

Dovewing's reaction to her decision had just made it worse. She had expected Dovewing to blow it off, maybe tell her off for loving Tigerheart, whom she had formerly loved. But Dovewing had demanded why she was leaving her, as a sister. And Toadstep, and Whitewing, Birchfall, and Brightheart, and all of her friends.

The truth was, she would never stop missing all of them when she left. She would wonder if they would forgive her if she asked them to. But she had to go with Tigerheart.

And yet, it wasn't fair, to just disappear out of the blue. She had to tell them, or at least hint to them, that she wouldn't be seeing them again.

Toadstep carried a skinny thrush through the camp entrance. After depositing his catch on the fresh-kill pile, he swiveled his head left a right a few times. His amber eyes lit up when they caught on her, standing just inside the warriors' den.

For about the millionth time that day, Ivypool felt like she was about to vomit. She knew how he felt about her. And in, in some senses, she felt the same way, in small amounts. Somehow, she had to say good-bye, say that she was sorry that they couldn't be together.

Ivypool envisioned herself calling him over with a smiling on her f ace, and sweetly saying, "Hey, I know you are in love with me, and I kind of love you too, but I am about to leave with this other tom and you are probably never gonna see me again so, uh, bye."

By then, Toadstep had made his way over to her. He touched his nose to hers, a soft electirc charge flowing between the two. "Hello, Ivypool. How are you feeling?" he inquired casually. Ivypool just smiled weakly at him, failing to come up with a reply.

Their pained conversation was abruptly interrupted by a sudden commotion on the opposite side of camp. All ears swiveled over to pick up the source of the sound.

It was Cherrypaw, her skinny body heaving. She had apparently ran as fast as she could from wherever she had previously been. She was also yowling at the top of her lungs as she gulped in air.

"Mousewhisker is-is wounded! We were at-attacked by ShadowClan at the border, and he needs to be he-helped right away!" she shouted between breaths.

Leafpool immediately answered her summoning. "Lead me there," she stated flatly, not hesitated to act. Without any more said words, the pair of cats departed, shadowed by Jayfeather, who was slowed because he was carrying various assortments of possibly needed herbs.

A few other cats followed as well, to see if they could help. Ivypool realized that ShadowClan must be attacking them because they had found her ThunderClan scent, and it was her fault. This only intensified the feelings of regret that were weighing the silver and white tabby she-cat down.

Toadstep seemed to sense her discomfort. "Is something wrong? It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," he said softly. Ivypool appreciated his understanding.

"Thank you, Toadstep. I'm alright, though." Her voice came out just above a whisper. Toadstep brushed his flank against hers soothingly. For a few long moments, they just stood there, lending each other their warmth. The other cats around them chatted, and went about their business.

Ivypool felt content, pressed up against Toadstep, her smaller frame curled into the curve of his. But she felt closed in the camp, where other eyes could gaze down on them. She wanted to be away, to be free.

Again, Toadstep read her mind. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?" he asked, looping his black and white tail around her striped tail. Ivypool nodded, her mood lightened. And they padded out of the camp.

Once out into the forest, the crisp air filled their lungs. Ivypool felt more alive than she had felt in a long time. White sunshine stream down trough the bare branches, gracing the pair of cats with a shimmering, angelic sparkle.

Toadstep leaned down, and grasped something between his teeth. Ivypool craned her neck to see what it was. He turned, and she could see a yellow blossom that he had plucked up from the earth.

It was a small, slender thing. Poor in appearance when it comes to flowers, but strong. It had pushed up through the snow, bobbing it's yellow petals in the wintry breeze.

"It's the most beautiful flower I have ever seen," she told him in a singsong voice. Just then, it started to snow. Large flakes began to flutter down from the sky. The were like stars, sparkling and twinkling. They fell with ease, carefree, and going with the flow of the wind.

Ivypool had never been particularly fond of snow. It brought the cold, and the lack of prey. But at this moment, it was actually kind of pretty. A flake landed on her nose, and she sneezed. Toadstep laughed, and she shoved him to the side gently, her laugh joining his. Toadstep swung her weight against her, unbalancing her. She rolled over onto her back, and he pinned her, his face beaming down at her.

Their chuckling rose up in a melodic chorus up into the air. A bird somewhere twittered. A dancing wind rustled the branches.

Toadstep released Ivypool, and they sat together, his chin resting on her forehead. Ivypool hummed a short tune to herself, a lullaby her mother used to sing to her in the nursery. Toadstep sighed, and his breath froze in the air, creating a small cloud of fog.

"Ivypool," Toadstep mewed, shifting his head so that he could look into her eyes. His were like topazes, and hers like sapphires. She looked back at him, her eyes half-lidded.

"Yes?" she uttered quietly in response, as if to avoid disturbing the peace.

"I... um, I..." Toadstep stammered. His gaze left hers, as he attempted to gather his thoughts. Ivypool waited. Finally, he looked back at her. "I have to confess something."

The song of the woods sounded around them. Perfection reigned above everything. There was not a stone out of place. Romance flitted around them in air.

Ivypool looked up at Toadstep. She wasn't truly paying attention to the words he was saying. She was simply taking in everything about him, the shape of his face, the angle of his shoulders, and the curve of his muzzle.

Toadstep inhaled a deep gust of the cold air. "I," he began, and then paused. "I... I lo-love you, Ivypool," he breathed, and closed his eyes.

The words took Ivypool by surprise. She shook her head, and blinked, jolted back into reality. Wait a second, what was she doing? She was here to say good-bye to him. She loved Tigerheart, not him. And yet here she was, cuddling up to him, toying with him just to push him away in the end.

Tears stung her eyes. This was going all wrong. Why was love so painful? She just wanted to run away, right then. Ivypool mentally looked at all the main pieces of her life. Dovewing, Tigerheart, Toadstep, and the rest of her clan. It was all a puzzle that just didn't fit together.

She loved Tigerheart so much, but she couldn't be with him if she stayed in the clans. She also loved Dovewing, and maybe Toadstep, too, but she couldn't stay with them if she was going to leave.

She recalled Dovewing's hurt face. What about me? Her words echoed in Ivypool's head. She suddenly had a vision of her kits. She was going to have many of them. Maybe four or five. Ivypool imagined a little she-kit that looked like her, and a gray one with Tigerheart's eyes, and a little tabby one with green eyes. Her nieces and nephews. Would Dovewing tell them about her? Their aunt Ivypool who had run away from the clans before they were born?

How could she not meet them one day? How could she leave while Dovewing was going through such an important time? She couldn't. She just couldn't.

Ivypool had made up her mind. She would stay here in ThunderClan until Dovewing gave birth to her kits, and then she would leave, as she had said that she would.

Toadstep still waited patiently for her response to his confession. Ivypool didn't know what to say. She just wanted to melt into him, to get lost in his beautiful eyes. But she couldn't. She already loved someone else.

"Oh, Toadstep..." she mewed, her voice cracking. A tear trickled down her cheek. Toadstep leaned in closer to her, so that their noses were less than a mouse-length away from each other. She inhaled his warm breath.

Slowly the black and white tom closed the space between them, until their muzzles brushed. Guilt seeped out of every pore in Ivypool's body. This was wrong, everything about it. But in that magical moment, Ivypool lost herself in Toadstep's affection. She purred as he rasped his tongue over her face, and allowed herself to fall from reality, and sink into Toadstep's warmth.