Okay going with mixed pov between Tigerclaw and Fireheart on this one!!! Don't want to miss both sides of the conversation now do we? I hope this confrontation is satisfying for some of you!!! (I know some of you weren't happy with the original confrontation between Fireheart and Tigerclaw in the "Heart of Fire" main series!!! So maybe you'll find this one to be better?)

This is no longer a one-shot now isn't it?

O0O0O

The morning was awkward. There was no trace of any prey, or none that Fireheart could pickup with a scent, and it's only been since sunup when they left and it was almost sunhigh now.

Tigerclaw was there, too, devouring her with his gaze, staring at her as if the flame-colored she-cat was the most beautiful thing the big, dark brown tabby had ever seen. There was a new, bright light on his face, and it was making Fireheart uncomfortable, hot and cold at once.

She wondered if she should say something, but Fireheart had no words, so she just silently walked on. Tigerclaw cleared his throat, as if planning to say something as well, but then something shifted in his amber eyes and he seemed to reconsider, and he remained silent.

Fireheart skirted around a moss-covered log that was sticking halfway out of the marsh, but Tigerclaw easily jumped over it without any visible sort of effort. A lot of things came easily to Tigerclaw and he hardly ever seemed to have to put in any effort. Though Fireheart knew that Tigerclaw put everything he had into being as great as he was. Or had been.

Finally, it was Tigerclaw who broke the awkward silence between them.

"How did you sleep last night?" Tigerclaw politely asked, and Fireheart blinked. A sickening warmth enveloped her at the sound of Tigerclaw's voice, the echoes of the night all those moons ago when they slept beneath stars of Silverpelt and proclaimed their love to one another. That tone of voice he used was the same. However Fireheart still didn't know what to feel, not yet, and for all she knew, Fireheart could have just misheard.

"Fine," she said sharply, and Tigerclaw nodded before lowering his gaze.

Another awkward silence. Then Tigerclaw murmured, "Why are you here, Fireheart."

Fireheart tried to hide her flinch when Tigerclaw asked the one question that had been lingering over her head, but the former ThunderClan deputy had always been overly observant and caught the unintentional quick, nervous movement.

"Fire--"

"We were banished from ThunderClan." Fireheart blurted out, everything coming out in a rush. "Bluestar banished us not so long after you were. I didn't know what to do. Whitestorm and Runningwind escorted me and the kits outside the border and up till Boulder found us we were on our own. I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I felt like I was losing my fur due to constant worrying about the safety of my kits. I'd have to leave them alone to hunt. I had to lie about why we weren't in ThunderClan anymore, why they couldn't see their friends or Brindleface. Why Mothkit couldn't help Yellowfang and Spottedleaf in the medicine cat's den. It was hard to listen to them go on about becoming warriors. They still play those games where they are pretending to fight rival Clans and Hawkkit is the leader…"

Fireheart had eventually trailed off in the wake of her grief, she had truly lost everything but her kits. And as a cruel twist of fate the flame-colored she-cat was now on a hunting patrol with the same cat that got them banished in the first place.

"Why,"

O0O0O

Tigerclaw could barely restrain his anger, and shame. How dare Bluestar banish his mate and kits. He had come to terms with his own banishment long ago, he deserved his punishment and it was a mild punishment in the face of his crimes in all honesty. But neither Fireheart or his kits deserve the same to happen to them.

Tigerclaw had committed those crimes, not those associated or related to him. They were innocent. It was hard to think that his former Clanmates would take their anger out on them like that. Surely someone had protested on Fireheart and their kits' behalf. Tigerclaw knew why no one protested his exile, not when he brought a band of rogue's to camp and made an attempt to kill Bluestar in cold blood. But they must have cared about Fireheart, she was the one to warn them about Tigerclaw's plan, as much as that hurt to admit.

Tigerclaw felt further shame to think that his former sins had fallen onto his mate and children. The dark brown tabby warrior hadn't thought of the consequences of being caught at the time.

Blinded by his own ego and overconfidence. Dismissive of the possibility of the truth ever being revealed. Heartless to the lives he took, the lies he spoke and the endless manipulation of everyone around him.

Perhaps, Fireheart had been sent by StarClan to be the one to expose him all along. It's fitting justice to think that the one cat Tigerclaw cared for most was the one to destroy him in the end.

"Why," Fireheart breathed, her voice hoarse as she now seemed to struggle to speak, "did you attack Bluestar? Why? Weren't you happy? Was being admired as the best warrior in the Clan not enough? Was having the respect of our friends not enough? Wasn't being deputy enough?

Weren't I and the children enough? What more could you have wanted that outweighs the consequences of your actions." With another strained gasp, Fireheart leaned forward and hid her face away from Tigerclaw's sight . All Tigerclaw could hear in the nearly dead silent pine forest was his own heavy breathing, and Fireheart's raspy intake of air.

Tigerclaw flinched at the slight scold he received. He didn't want to upset Fireheart. He just- he needed - he couldn't-

"I never thought I'd see you again," Fireheart carried on, not seeming to mind the lack of a response. "But in my mind, I'd fantasize about what I'd say to you if I did find you. I was going to yowl, and hiss and probably attack you. I was going to tell you how much I hated you for all that you've done, for abandoning us. But when I saw you I found that I couldn't. Every feeling I had for you changed in an instant. I had so much time to think about this last moon."

"So have I." Tigerclaw said softly. "And that's okay."

"Don't you hear me?" Fireheart hissed, still not looking at Tigerclaw and instead at the ground. "I've hated you."

"That's okay." I understand why.

"I might still hate you?!"

"That's okay too." And I'll always love you.

"I may not want to be around you."

"Then I'll be here when you do." Always.

Fireheart sounded as though she was now getting frustrated, "I might not be able to talk to you."

"I'll wait until you can." He could be patient and give Fireheart however long she needed. Even if it was forever.

Finally, finally, Fireheart turned to look at Tigerclaw with disbelief, "Who are you?"

That was a question Tigerclaw was unsure about. Compared to who he was, to who he was now and who he strived to be it was all confusing and left him tired on good days and frustrated on bad ones. He was lost in the unknown with no clear way to navigate it or even what the destination was supposed to be. He was lost, he was admittedly scared, and alone. But he wasn't going to let those things stop him.

"I just want to be better than who I was." Tigerclaw admitted, "I no longer have the ruthless ambitions that I once had. I now see that there is a difference between what is truly weak and

what true strength is, I was weak to fall to temptation and do those things that I've done. Murder, lies and manipulation, those are what makes someone weak. True strength is doing the right thing even when it's hard, even if it means giving up on the things you've strived all your life for and owning up to one's own mistakes. My desire to be respected and feared by every cat. Why had I thought that I needed those things? Only those that mattered most to me should be the ones I should care about, but I've lost that. I no longer want to be feared, because those who are feared are worthless and unrespectable."

Tigerclaw let out a sigh, him now being the one unable to look at Fireheart as he continues, "I'm a hypocritical liar; I hate traitors, but I'm one myself, as I have betrayed my own Clan, kin, and allies in my quest for power. I have also often criticized and condemned those who break the warrior code, but have bent, broken and twisted it many times in order to make my ambitions come true. I despised kittypets and half-Clan cats, believing their 'impure blood' makes them untrustworthy, and was willing to get rid of them in order to 'purify' the Clans." Tigerclaw's massive head was practically hanging between his paws, his self-disgust at the things he had once spoken and thought making him sick.

"I've thought that way since my father left to live the easy life of a kittypet when everyone needed him most. Only until I met you did I realize that being Clanborn isn't what made a good warrior. It's what one puts into becoming a warrior that makes you a part of a Clan. I love you knowing you were once a kittypet, I love our kits that are considered half-Clan. I have also occasionally formed alliances with rogues or allowed them to join my entourage in order to complete my goals. Even now some still follow me, but they, like myself, are turning over a new leaf. I…I've also been perfectly willing to kill my friends and innocents to get what I want. I'll never forget what I have done to Redtail, or how I threatened Ravenpaw. It's unforgivable and I will live with this guilt for the rest of my days."

Gathering his genuinely fearlessness and courage he normally expressed in battle, Tigerclaw turned his amber eyes towards Fireheart, her own jade green eyes expressed his own; lost, scared but this time he wasn't alone.

"I think," Fireheart meowed softly, gently laying her crooked tail tip on his shoulder. "that we need to take things slow. It's a lot to process right now, for both of us."

Tigerclaw took in a deep breath, before nodding in agreement. It was more than he could have asked for in the way of reaction from Fireheart. It wasn't positive but neither was it a negative response. It was something that Fireheart had to think about and Tigerclaw would wait for her to decide what she believed.

"Okay furball, lead the way." Fireheart said, suddenly gesturing to him to take the lead. "This is your territory after all so you'll know the right places to hunt." Tigerclaw shot her a look over his shoulder, though it looked more curious than annoyed.

As they progressed, their patrol of two was in light conversation and the air was warm and inviting. Though an unsettling feeling was in both of their stomachs, something, different.

O0O0O

Fun facts:

Tigerclaw knows Ravenpaw is alive. That was revealed in "Forest of Secrets" but he has no desire to ever see him again nor does he hold anything against him. Infact, Tigerclaw is ashamed of what he had planned to do to his former apprentice.

Tigerclaw will forever live with the guilt of killing Redtail.

Basically everyone is still alive back in ThunderClan...I have not read Tigerclaw's Fury unfortunately so I really need to figure out the timeline for where this is going. (I'm going off Wikipedia)

I hope you are satisfied with this chapter!!!