Thanx to all my reviewers! You all are great, and keep up all your fics. This new one's at Squirrelflight's POV.

Squirrelflight's jaws were crammed with fresh-kill as she staggered back to camp. She wasn't just fighting the heavy load though; the sorrow that closed in around her was like the jaws of an enemy that she couldn't escape. After stumbling several times she gave up and dropped her kill and sat down, bowing her head.

It never worked out, did it? She had been ready to give Brambleclaw another chance after the Gathering, but there he went again, accusing her of things she didn't do. She hadn't even mentioned Tigerstar, and he thought she was talking about him. Why didn't he believe her when she said she didn't care?

I miss him, Squirrelflight thought bitterly. I miss him so much. But all he ever does is make it worse.

But she knew, in some rational part of her, that she was making it worse too. Still, if it was going to be so hard to fix things in between them, was it even worth it?

"Squirrelflight?"

The ginger she-cat jerked her head up at the voice of her father and she quickly picked her prey up as he appeared through the undergrowth. "Squirrelflight, what are you doing here? I thought you went hunting."

"I did," Squirrelflight mumbled through her catch. "Can't you see that?"

Firestar's eyes widened. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She lifted her head, trying to blink the sorrow and frustration away from her eyes.

"It's Brambleclaw, isn't it?"

The sound of his name made Squirrelflight fall apart. "I don't know what to do," she wailed, dumping her fresh-kill on the ground and leaping over towards him, burying her muzzle in his flame-colored fur. "When I try to speak to him, he always thinks I'm judging him because he's Tigerstar's son, and he doesn't listen to me when I try to warn him about Hawkfrost."

"Do you judge him?" Firestar asked, staring down at her. "For being Tigerstar's son, I mean."

"No, of course not," Squirrelflight meowed instinctively. Her father looked at her closely, and under the gaze of his leaf-green eyes she found she couldn't lie. "Well...maybe," she meowed falteringly. "I didn't use to, not on the trip to the sun-drown place. But now, since he talks to Hawkfrost-"

"You think they're alike?" Firestar suggested gently.

Squirrelflight nodded miserably. She hadn't even realized it herself before he mentioned it. But was it true? Was Brambleclaw right in that she judged him, just like the other cats did? And was she doing the same for Hawkfrost?

"They look alike, Squirrelflight," meowed Firestar quietly. "But does that mean they act alike, too?"

"I...I don't know," Squirrelflight stuttered. "Maybe. Sometimes. Brambleclaw didn't try to take over WindClan like Hawkfrost did, but he always sides with him when they're together."

"They are brothers," Firestar pointed out.

"But that doesn't mean that he should side with Hawkfrost over...over me," Squirrelflight finished with embarrassement.

Firestar bent to give her fur a couple of licks. "I trust Brambleclaw," he meowed. "There was a time, when he was a kit, that I didn't. But he's proved himself to the Clan many times over, and he deserves your trust. More than any cat."

Squirrelflight knew she was right, but something pricked in the back of her mind. "Do you trust Brambleclaw?" she mewed. "Enough to be your deputy?"

Firestar flinched visibly, and he took a step back. "I've already said that I won't make a new deputy until- if- I'm certain Graystripe won't come back," he meowed.

"But, if Graystripe doesn't come back, will you make your deputy Brambleclaw?" Squirrelflight wanted to know. "I mean, he's one of your best warriors, he made the journey to the sun-drown place, he's a good leader. If I didn't hate him right now I'd say he was the best choice for deputy."

Her last remark was intended to lighten the mood, but Firestar's eyes stayed dark. "Brambleclaw is one of ThunderClan's best warriors," he meowed slowly. "I trust him with my life. But deputy?"

It was if he was asking himself, and when he answered, his voice had a high note in it, a note that Squirrelflight had never heard before. "Brambleclaw is a good warrior, Squirrelflight, and I mean that. But I'm afraid that he's just as ambitious as Tigerstar. And I don't ever want to do anything to awaken that ambition in him."

He touched his tail to her shoulder and then set off back for the camp. Squirrelflight stared after him, completely stunned, for the note that she had heard in his voice had been fear.

But Firestar doesn't get scared, she thought, almost puzzled. Never.

Then it occured to her that maybe, while he did get scared, this was the first time he had let her see it.

I put that in because that's why I thought Firestar was being so hard on Brambleclaw in Starlight. I'm going back to Leafpool and stuff in the next chappie, don't worry!