A/N: And now, the conclusion of FIAM. There's an epilogue, but this is the last official chapter. I tried not to make it too cheesy.

Chapter 13

"Jayfeather?" Half Moon's yowl traveled across the roar of the battlefield.

Jayfeather's ears pricked and his head swung around, as if he could find Half Moon with his sightless eyes. Had the white she-cat seen what he had done? Half Moon had become the Tribe's first Healer, and she had been taught by Jay's Wing. Would she cast Jayfeather away now that he had broken his promise to protect to StarClan?

The Medicine Cat began running blindly towards the center of the battle, thinking only of Half Moon and how he would explain this to her before she made up her mind. He tripped over something furry; the leg of a cat. Jayfeather stumbled and tried to scent who had stopped him, hoping the leg belonged to someone who was still alive.

"Are you mouse-brained?" It was Ivypool, thank StarClan. "You can't just jump into the heat of battle and hope that you can tell the difference between a rock and a cat!"

"I was looking for Ha... Crescent. She was calling, and I can't see..."

Ivypool sighed. "You have more important things to worry about right now. For one thing, oh, I don't know, Blossomfall's dead!"

If any other cat had been calling for him besides Half Moon, Jayfeather would have stopped in his tracks to find the ThunderClan cat's body. But his mind seemed to have been re-wired, and all he could think about was finding his Tribe mate.

"Well, if she's dead, there's not much I can do, is there?"

Surprise and disbelief rushed at Jayfeather in waves from Ivypool. "Fine. Don't even bother looking for your precious Crescent. It looks like she's already found you."

Half Moon's familiar sweet scent laced with the smell of the mountains flooded Jayfeather's nose as he turned around, forgetting his anger at Ivypool.

"Crescent! Thank StarClan you're..."

A sharp blow knocked him a tail-length to the side. A yowl from Ivypool told him whatever had interrupted him was now going for Ivypool.

"Crescent's gone, you nosy Medicine Cat. My granddaughter was too weak to finish this."

Granddaughter. Realization hit Jayfeather almost as hard as Crescent's swipe.

"But... Crescent, I don't..."

"She's right," Jayfeather cut into Ivypool's question. "Crescent's gone. We're talking to Bright Star."

"Who's that?" Ivypool was cut shot again as a thudding sound told Jayfeather Bright Star had pinned her down.

"It's not just the Dark Forest attacking us... the Tribe's evil ancestors are here as well. But they take the form of a Dark Forest cat because they can't appear as themselves." Jayfeather shuffled to his feet. "Bright Star's one of them."

More calls and the sound of ripping flesh told Jayfeather Bright Star and Ivypool were fighting. "So... I have to kill her?"

Ivypool's question turned Jayfeather's blood to ice. How could they stop Bright Star without hurting Half Moon?

"No. No, there has to be another way..." Jayfeather's thoughts swirled around his head, introducing themselves to him rapid-fire. If he could find a way to speak to Crescent, maybe he could help her regain control of herself.

"C-Crescent, I know you're still in there." Jayfeather padded forward, and with each step he found his dream-vision slowly replacing the darkness that was permanently blocking his vision. "You're the strongest cat I've ever met. I know you can fight this. You believe me, right?"

Bright Star cackled at the futility of Jayfeather's words. He was able to see the outlines of the two cats fighting; Ivypool looked pretty beaten up. Jayfeather wasn't sure how much longer she could fend for herself. The Medicine Cat felt a rush of adrenaline, and he realized what his duty was. He had killed Dustpelt a few moments before in an attempt to save Ivypool, now he needed to save her again without hurting any other cat.

"Before the battle, I told you I thought you could save us all." Jayfeather's words poured out of his mouth, like the water falling down the waterfall in the Tribe's mountain territory. "You said you believed me. When I first took you to the ThunderClan camp, I said Firestar would know what to do. You said you believed me. And when I left the Tribe's territory, you said you'd wait for me forever. I've held onto that belief since I returned to the lake. Now I'm asking you to believe me one more time when I say, I love you, Half Moon!"

Crescent's body collapsed in front of Jayfeather, and Ivypool pushed her off. His dream-vision faded before he could get a close enough to look to see if Crescent was still breathing.

"Is... is Half Moon OK?" Jayfeather was afraid to approach Ivypool, in case she was still touchy about his outburst.

"She's fine, but she's out cold. I'll stay with her, that was probably emotionally exhausting." Ivypool paused, and Jayfeather imagined she was giving him a questioning glance. He kicked himself mentally for mentioning Crescent's Tribe name.

"She's reincarnated, isn't she?" Before Jayfeather could answer, Ivypool shook her head. "It doesn't matter now, go and help the..." Her voice faded completely and Jayfeather was plunged back into darkness.

"What, Ivypool? What is it?" Jayfeather listened, and realized something was wrong. There was no more yowling, no more cries of war. In fact, there were thumping sounds all around him as each Dark Forest cat fell to the ground, and dissolved into the ground of the Moonpool.

There was a moment of murmurs and confusion as all the Clan cats wondered what had just happened. Then Lionblaze's yowl of triumph broke through the wall of silence. He was soon joined in by the rest of the Clans, and their cries seemed to resonate off the trees surrounding the clearing.

"I... I'm sorry, Ivypool. About Blossomfall. I didn't mean..." Jayfeather stammered, trying to explain his sudden outburst.

"It's OK. I'd seen the way you look at Crescent. I should have known."

"But I can't look..." Jayfeather cut himself off. Every time he looked in Crescent's direction, he saw her outline. He knew his response would have been a lie.

"H- Hollowpaw!" An anguished cry sounded above the yowls. Jayfeather didn't need to examine the body to know Hollowpaw had died.

"She's dead." Ivypool whispered.

"Does any other cat look hurt?" Jayfeather prompted Ivypool.

"Um... Nightcloud. She's by the reeds on the other side of the clearing. Crowfeather's with her."

With a nod in the new warrior's direction, Jayfeather skirted the edge of the clearing, tripping over rocks and other debris in his hurry. He skidded to a halt before he could crash into Crowfeather, bent over his mate's body. He scented Leafpool as well.

"What happened?" Jayfeather asked Leafpool quietly.

"Bad stomach wound. I don't think..." She trailed off, that was all Jayfeather needed to know.

"She's going to be OK, right? Why aren't you helping her?" Crowfeather's voice was laced with anguish and fear.

"Crowfeather..." Leafpool rested her tail on Crowfeather's shoulder.

Jayfeather padded over to the other side of Nightcloud's body, and pressed some cobwebs to her wound. He had never much liked Nightcloud, but his recent encounter with Bright Star had taught him the true meaning of what it meant to be a Medicine Cat.

"Don't waste your supplies, Jayfeather. It's too late for me." Jayfeather pulled away from Nightcloud at her croaking protest.

"Don't say that! I can't loose you." Crowfeather bent his head close to his mate's.

"You know that's not true." Nightcloud's voice was forced, but still surprisingly strong. "I saw you and Leafpool fighting. I've known you've never stopped loving her since we met. I was just in denial until now." Nightcloud interrupted herself by coughing, and Jayfeather rubbed her chest to avoid feeling useless. "The more you rejected me, the more I followed you. I thought I was furious at you, but now I realize there's no one I should blame but myself."

"I... I'm sorry, Nightcloud. I'm so sorry... please, Nightcloud!" Crowfeather's pleads drowned out Nightcloud's last breath.

"I'll handle this." Leafpool addressed Jayfeather, then returned to Crowfeather's side.

"Good. There's someone I need to talk to." Jayfeather didn't have to go far. He found Mothwing standing by the Moonpool, probably staring at her own reflection.

"Some battle. I imagine Millie's beside herself." Jayfeather sat down beside his fellow Medicine Cat.

"She's stoic. Probably still in shock. But I think she's become stronger after she lost Graystripe and Blossomfall." Mothwing turned to Jayfeather. "But you didn't come here to gossip with me about the fight, did you?"

When Jayfeather didn't respond, Mothwing continued. "You and Crescent, huh? She seemed very nice. And a surprisingly good fighter. Until that cat... Bright Star, right?"

"I've broken my promise to StarClan at least twice in the past day." Jayfeather hung his head. "First Dustpelt, then Crescent... I don't know what to do."

"Well, it seems to me you didn't have a chance to be with Crescent in your past life, did you? And Cinderpelt was reincarnated to follow a different path than the one she took before. Maybe you should think about doing the same."

"Before I end up like my parents." Jayfeather finished for Mothwing.

"You seemed to know what you were doing when you were fighting Dustpelt." Mothwing reasoned. "Am I correct in assuming you can see when you're looking at Crescent?"

"Yes. But I've been a Medicine Cat for so long, I just don't know how I'd live with myself either way."

"It might be easier to deal with the pain if you have someone to share it with."

Mothwing's logic impressed Jayfeather, and he realized she was right. It would be harder having to look at Crescent every day and know they couldn't be together than having to deal with resigning his Medicine Cat position.

"Do you believe in StarClan now?" Jayfeather changed the subject, feeling in better spirits than he could ever remember.

Mothwing laughed, "I guess I don't really have a choice, do I?"

A/N: I hate putting author's notes at the end of stories, but I must respond to a review and I didn't want to spoil anything at the beginning: for WildCroconaw, and anyone else who I didn't make this clear enough to, Crescent is not dead. She just collapsed. I've edited the story to make it more obvious. I apologize for the lack of clarity.