Hola! Waz up? I'm updating again! WARNING: this chapter is really bad. I rushed it, okay? I just... don't like this chapter. Whatever.

THANK YOU TO REVIEWERS: S. Elise, Whitestar17, Tangleflame, Queen Of The Pens, Pencil37, and Icethroat21

Chapter Thirty-Seven

The moon glinting in the cold night, Newleaf hurried to her father's side as they returned to the ShadowClan camp. She tried to wait patiently as he spoke with Dawncloud, but she needed to talk with him. She cleared her throat, and her parents pricked their ears, turning to her.

"Yes, Newleaf?" asked Nightpelt.

She looked at her mother uncomfortably; luckily, that was all her mother needed to know she needed to speak with her father alone. "Dad, I didn't like how you fought for hunting rights in the river. Nor was I thrilled when you wanted to keep hunting in the moorland."

"Where else are we supposed to hunt?" he asked her dryly, and she knew he was not in any way pleased that his own daughter was criticizing his way of leading.

"How about here, where we're supposed to hunt, the place StarClan gave us instead of stealing other Clans' grounds? This is what Brokenstar did. You want to be another Brokenstar?" she hissed, fur beginning to bristle. "You promised to make ShadowClan better. Is this better? We want peace, Dad. We don't want to fight anymore for many moons."

"Well, if you think you can do better as leader, go ahead," he growled. "Then you can watch your Clanmates starve because you were too selfish to leave it to your father."

Selfish! Her father thought her selfish? All she ever thought of was her Clanmates; her friends, her family. How could he think this? Newleaf's eyes flashed with fury, and she whipped around without another word.

Selfish. Her, selfish. The very idea was impossible. All she ever thought about was others! She only wanted to warn her father, to tell him not to take the same paths as Brokenstar. At first, she'd known not to worry; Nightpelt was her father, and he most certainly was nothing like the bloodthirsty leader. Now, she wasn't so sure. Now Nightpelt wanted to hunt in the moorlands and didn't want to bring WindClan back, and…. This was all wrong!

Selfish. Was her father teasing? No, his eyes hadn't betrayed any amusement or affection. He'd meant it. But she didn't want to be leader; she just wanted there to be peace and quiet for once. She didn't want to worry about hunting rights or patrols or anything like that.

Wearily, Newleaf pushed into the warriors' den and curled up next to Darkwing. He blinked up at her, and asked, "What happened?"

"Nothing," she muttered, scowling.

Her friend sighed and stretched, peering at her curiously, though Newleaf only wanted him to shut up and go to sleep. But with Darkwing, that was hardly possible. "C'mon, Newleaf. You and I both know it isn't "nothing". Why don't you tell me?"

Because I don't have to. She thought, and immediately pushed it away. This was Darkwing. Her best friend. She could trust him absolutely with her life, and if she trusted him with her own life, then she could rely on him for anything else, right? She sat up and looked up at him, tail twitching in annoyance. "It's Nightpelt."

"You told him, didn't you." It was a statement, not a question. "I told you, Newleaf, leave him be! He's your father, and he knows better than Brokenstar how to lead the Clan. You have to trust him to make good decisions for the Clan."

She opened her mouth to argue that leaving WindClan deserted was not, in fact, better for the Clan, as each Clan needed one another to survive, but Darkwing quickly cut her short. "The Clan, Newleaf. I know you have this ideal that everything should be perfect, no war, no starvation, no quarrels, but that just doesn't seem possible, you know? It isn't the way of the warrior cats."

"So you're a leader now?" she growled impatiently. "It isn't an ideal, Darkwing. It can happen. We just need to work on –"

"I doubt it's anything more than an ideal. There will always be some sort of disagreement –"

"No there won't, because I –"

"You always think you can fix things, Newleaf. Maybe that's pride. Maybe –"

"I'm not prideful; I just do what must be done because there's no one else willing to do it!"

A heavy silence hung in the air as she said the last words and they just looked at each other, anger and annoyance smoldering in both pairs of blue eyes. Newleaf had stood and her black-and-white fur was fluffed up and her lips drawn back in a snarl. Darkwing was growling up at her, his eyes flashing cobalt lightning.

Darkwing's voice was quiet and calm now, though he still looked furious. "Maybe, if you'd have given me the chance, I could've done just what you did. Maybe, if you payed me any attention, you'd have admired me for something more than just my fighting skill!"

His words stung like a bee sting, and she winced as the pain pierced her heart. She began to make an apology, her voice choking, but he took no notice of it. He stood and brushed past her, out of the den and into the late night, not looking back.

She didn't sleep at all. How could she, if she and Darkwing were in such a fight? Newleaf realized that this was the most serious argument she'd ever had with him. All the other ones before now were silly and kit-like, but this argument was… this was the angriest she'd ever been with him, and that had been the angriest she'd ever seen him with her. She had once thought that Darkwing would understand everything that was going on in her life, but now… What was going on, to raise this kind of tension between them? Not even the stress of Brokenstar's rule had made them turn on one another like this. So why now, when there was peace and tranquility between the Clans?

The sun made her squint as she stretched, washing herself. She realized today was when her father would receive his nine lives from StarClan. It was a trip only he and Runningnose would make.

She padded out of the den, hoping to catch them before they set out. She wanted to apologize to Nightpelt for last night.

A thought was nagging at the back of her mind, but she wasn't ready to face him yet. Not so soon. The argument with her father was one thing; she just needed to say the words, and she was forgiven. Nightpelt wasn't cruel. Especially not to his own daughter. But apologizing to Darkwing needed to wait until both of them had cooled down a bit.

She knew she was only delaying her apology because she was afraid Darkwing wouldn't forgive her. Mouse-brain, she scolded herself. Don't you know Darkwing at all? He doesn't hold grudges. Forgive and forget, that's him.

Newleaf still wasn't anxious to apologize to her friend though. She saw Nightpelt and Runningnose padding toward the camp entrance, and hurried to them. "Nightpelt! Wait!"

Her father turned around slowly and narrowed his eyes as she came near. "What is it, Newleaf? Make it quick; I need to share tongues with our warrior ancestors."

"It won't take long at all." She mewed, looking down at her paws. "I wanted to apologize for last night. It wasn't my place to speak. I forget you're my leader as well as my father now."

"You forget yourself too much, Newleaf," she glanced up in surprise as she heard Nightpelt purr. "But that isn't your fault. You just need to learn to hold your tongue!"

She dipped her head. "Yes, Father. I'm sorry again. I didn't mean to criticize you. I only wanted –"

"What was right," he finished for her, and cuffed her ear affectionately. "I know, I know."

Newleaf nodded. "Right. Well, um, good luck, Dad!" She touched noses with him, purring. "You'll be a great leader."

"Next time you see me, I'll be Nightstar."

"I'm proud of you," she whispered. "Now, go! Don't keep StarClan waiting!"

Newleaf joined the sunhigh patrol, but she was too stressed to be focused. She had apologized to her father; now she needed to say those words to Darkwing too. But apologizing to Darkwing would be much harder, she knew that very well.

Darkwing hadn't come back in camp. She'd gone out of her mind with worry, but her impatience just made her get out into the forest. She'd joined the patrol to look for Darkwing, not to check borders.

Now they were heading back home, and his scent wafted up into her nostrils. Fresh scent. He'd gone home. Good.

But she was dreading seeing him again. Every step towards camp was torture, because she knew that his nest was right next to hers, and she couldn't get away from that. She knew that the sooner she apologized, the better, but she was afraid to be rejected, as stupid as it was. Darkwing wasn't like that. So why was she delaying?

Once she set foot in camp, she saw Darkwing, lying in the shadows, blue eyes glinting as they watched her. Unsettled, she ran to the nursery to speak with Foxfur. Her former mentor was lying in a comfortable nest of moss. Flintfang was purring to her quietly, so Newleaf backed away politely. Obviously the two wanted to be alone.

She gazed at Darkwing, debating whether or not to pad up to him. She mustered her courage and walked up to him. "Hi."

"Hey," he replied gruffly, and she noticed how his muscles had tensed as she neared him.

Silence.

Then:

"I'm sorry," both mewed at the same time.

Newleaf shook her head. "My fault. I'm too stubborn. I –"

"Forget it, Newleaf." He whispered. "We were both acting rashly last night. We weren't careful with our words. Me especially."

"But you were right," she admitted. "I should've let Nightpelt be. He's leader. It's his decision."

"True," he meowed. "But I wasn't looking at things from your point of view. I just saw that Brokenstar was gone, so what was there to fix?"

"Maybe nothing," she said. "Still, I was too worked up last night. Sorry."

"Sorry."

"Friends?"

Darkwing grinned, his black fur swaying in the light afternoon breeze. "Now who ever said we weren't friends?"

No, not done yet! Still have more chapters than I anticipated. Please review! The reviews motivate me. ;)

Also, in the poll, Newleaf is in the lead! I think that's interesting; usually people don't really like the main character. If you haven't voted, I'd love some more votes!

Whitestar: No worries; it happens! Thanks for reviewing, though.

Queen Of The Pens: I still love The Hunger Games.

Pencil: Things are slowing down a bit, but I have to prolong this story because there's ONE more important thing that'll happen...

Everyone else: Thank you for reviewing!

~Coqui's Song