A/N: Sorry for the delay; school's started & I've got a ton of stuff to do. This chap doesn't advance the plot much, but it's necessary for the story. Speaking of, we're nearing the end of this fic...rather bittersweet.

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Sunfire couldn't tell if she was dreaming; the grass had a thick coating of frost, many trees were more than half bare, and the ground smelled cold and dry. She might have been dreaming; she might have been awake. A soft crunching noise sounded behind her, followed by a gentle voice.

"Tell him."

She twisted an ear to hear better, but did not turn, though she would have been comforted to see the speaker. She did not respond.

"Tell him," repeated her visitor insistently. Soft pawsteps told Sunfire he was coming closer. "He needs to know."

Feeling a pang of guilt, Sunfire turned slightly to see Firestar sitting beside her, looking not at her, but at the silver stars reflected on the still lake. When she did not answer, Firestar sighed softly. "It will be alright." His voice was calming, promising.

Then Sunfire woke.

The den was completely full; it was very early. Stars coated the sky, showing no hint of dawn. Three days after Nero's attack–and her revelation of the prophecy's components–and Sunfire had yet to tell Icestorm why she'd accused him of betrayal. Inside, she feared he would reject her–though he had every right to do so. Hadn't she essentially expressed that she completely mistrusted him? With another guilty jolt, she remembered she had for a time.

She repeated Firestar's parting words softly. Did she have enough faith in her ancestor to trust him with something so important? Yes. With a gulp, Sunfire stepped out of the den. The air was much colder outside without all the circulating body heat, and a shiver ran down Sunfire's spine. Sniffing the air, she caught Icestorm's scent–he had, for some reason, left the den. Without any idea on exactly what she planned to say to him, Sunfire steeled herself and began following his scent.

What was she going to say? Would he even be willing to hear her out? Sunfire padded swiftly through the forest, staring unseeing at the forest ahead of her, letting Icestorm's scent guide her. She paused as she caught a lacing of salt on the air, and finally took in her surroundings: she was nearing the sun-drown-place. Swallowing hard, she pressed on, trying to appear calm despite the feeling that a dozen snakes were writhing inside her and nervousness crawled over her pelt. She shivered as she stepped onto the cliff, which was freezing due to the cold night.

Icestorm stood out against the dark rock, the frosty starlight making his silver-white coat shimmer. Taking a breath, hoping she wasn't emitting fear-scent, Sunfire padded slowly up to stand beside Icestorm. He seemed to have been expecting her.

"Hey," said Sunfire softly. Icestorm murmured a greeting, his gaze fixed on the rushing ocean. Sunfire, her voice surprisingly steady, meowed, "It's time I explained myself."

He gave an almost imperceptible nod, keeping his gaze fixed on the ocean. "There's a prophecy..." began Sunfire. She, like him, was staring out over the water, and didn't see his reaction. The story was hard to tell, and nearly impossible when Sunfire told him how she suspected him to be the ice mentioned in the prophecy; her normally confident, strong voice turned shaky and anxious, but certain.

The faintest hint of dawn hung in the sky when she finished, her throat sore from talking. Nervously, she turned to look at Icestorm, who remained in the exact position he'd been in when she first came up. He made no move to speak. This frustrated Sunfire; she'd just explained why she'd shunned him for the past half-moon, explained why she'd accused him of betrayal; couldn't Icestorm have the grace to say something?

"Look, I'm more sorry than you could ever imagine," she said quietly, all fire gone from her. "You've every right to reject me. I'll understand if...if you don't love me anymore." It hurt to speak, and not because of her raw throat, though as she said it, Sunfire could've bit herself: couldn't she have thought up something a little more original to say? Shrugging it off, Sunfire glanced at Icestorm, who remained unmoving, and sighed. Slowly, she rose and began to leave, pushing down the choking sensation as her throat constricted.

"Don't leave."

He spoke so quietly Sunfire thought she'd imagined it. Turning, she saw Icestorm looking over his shoulder at her, blue eyes sad and happy at once. "Come back," he whispered. Quivering, Sunfire did, feeling hope coil in her chest; was she being forgiven?

"I wondered why you'd been acting strangely around me," Icestorm said once she was beside him again. "Even before you saw me talking to Shadowfur, you'd avoid me suddenly, then just as suddenly get close to me. First I figured it was a she-cat thing," he added, a half-smirk on his face. "Then, after you said I'd turned traitor, well...I knew it was much deeper," he said somberly.

Sunfire stared at him, heart pounding; she was hopeful he would forgive her, yet also didn't quite dare to hope. Still quivering, she listened as he continued: "And when I was with Shadowfur? I'd been hunting around the WindClan border and saw him heading across the moor for our land. I hid and surprised him at the stream. I stayed calm, and gave him a quiet warning. That's when you came up; I suppose it must have looked like we were having a casual conversation. I just thought a calm, controlled warning would be more effective than if I'd hissed and spat unintelligibly at him."

Inadvertently, Sunfire gave a tiny whimper, feeling like a kit. She'd been so stupid. She knew Icestorm well enough to know that he would give a quiet warning rather than a loud, openly furious one. StarClan, why didn't I let him explain?

Hearing her whimper, Icestorm rubbed his cheek against hers, sending heat and comfort through her. "I can see how you would have thought that I was part of the prophecy," he added. "I was the most obvious answer, and, well, that's what you do, Sunfire: you jump to conclusions. It was just your personality at work."

Her heart beating so erratically Sunfire feared she would faint, she stared at Icestorm, relief sweeping through her so powerfully she felt lightheaded. She was unspeakably lucky to have found a cat so patient and understanding, so willing to have heard her out. That was far more than she'd done for him.

"So," she said in a vain attempt to sound offhand, "we're good?"

Icestorm purred. "We're good." He finally met her gaze and smiled at her.

Sunfire glowed, feeling like she stood in a patch of greenleaf sunlight rather than on an icy, moonlight-bathed cliff. Suddenly feeling the need to laugh and cry at once, she leaned over and nuzzled Icestorm's cheek, a purr bubbling up her throat and mingling with his. Firestar was right. It turned out fine.

Her purr deepening, she pressed against him, needing contact after a half-moon of determined avoidance. Icestorm rumbled his own throaty purr, slid his head underneath her chin, then rubbed his cheek along hers. Trembling, losing herself in his deliberate caresses, Sunfire decided to forget that the Tribe could come up at any moment, wanting to completely absorb the moment.

"Love you," she whispered.

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When something is that intense

You can never tell what will happen next. Single Gun Theory, From a Million Miles