Happy Birthday to me~ It's my b-day today!

Oh boy, another reminder that I'm older and September is getting closer! But anyway, I've got nothing particularly special that I'm doing today. Except for posting this chapter. Sorry, it's kind of a short one today. But I felt the BrambleSquirrel plot point needed to be addressed here. I know the two don't get back to immediately being mates until the end of Bramblestar's Storm, but then there was that unnecessary drama with Jessy and bleh no, we're just going to have them talk things out without everything turning into another love-triangle thanks.

So if I screwed up with the dialogue here and Bramblestar still seems toxic/abusive/whatever, PLEASE let me know so I can delete this and think of something else. Or maybe not. I just don't want to do my Brambleboi here an injustice.

Reviews are super appreciated! :) :) :) :)

Bramblestar's jaws opened up in an involuntary yawn. The cold of leaf-bare was seeping into the leaders' den, which not only made it hard for him to stay warm, especially since he was alone and surrounded by warms pelts within the warriors' den, but also made it hard for him to stay awake.

Cold and drowsiness were an expected part of leaf-bare though, with starvation and sickness being the norm. Most cats wanted to curl up and sleep until the first bloom of new-leaf, but they were all but required to stay vigilant- making sure they didn't starve, making sure no one dies of sickness, making sure their borders were secure from desperate, starving enemy clans, rogues, badgers, or foxes.

He forced his body into a stretch, relishing the burn from within his muscles as its sting coursed through him and jolted the rest of his body awake. He poked his head of the den. Rosepetal was greeting the sun-high hunting patrol back, albeit with some disappointment at their lack of haul. There was one mouse and a thin looking squirrel between them.

It would have been a bad sign of things to come if there wasn't a giant black and white creature where the fresh-kill pile was, cut up into small, manageable pieces. It had been extremely generous of Firestar to bring it back for them, considering that he needed one of these things to fill him up sufficiently. They couldn't ask him to keep bringing these creatures back for them though.

Speaking of Firestar...

The dragon was curled up on top of the hollow, tail lazily hanging down into camp. He looked drowsy and uncomfortable as the bare tree branches behind him poked at his wings. He clearly had hardly any room to himself.

"No luck?" he rumbled to Rosepetal as he forced himself out of his den, some cold wind blasting him in the face. She shook her head, fur puffed up in the cold.

"I'm surprised we managed to catch anything at all. With leaf-bare and the forest having been burned down..." she murmured, trying to keep her voice down. He couldn't blame her for that- Firestar heard everything that went on in camp. The last thing he needed was to feel more guilt about burning their territory down.

"But maybe this is a good sign? We're finding prey, so that means prey must be returning. Hopefully everything will be back to normal once new-leaf comes around," he said.

"Maybe," she sighed. She turned her head over to the fresh-kill pile.

"We can't have him keep bringing back prey like this," he meowed, knowing what she was thinking of.

"Because he needs the prey himself?" she asked, eyes glancing up at the drowsy dragon in question.

He snorted. "That, but also because we can't be lazy now can we? No need for him to do all the work for us when we've got the claws to do some hunting ourselves." They needed their warrior skills sharpened, not dulled during these times.

"I suppose so..." his deputy mumbled. "Anyway," she trailed off, eyes gazing around camp. "Molepaw!" The apprentice jolted from his spot next to the apprentices' den. "Come on! We've had battle training planned for today!"

"Yes Rosepetal!" he called back, getting up onto his paws.

"If you happen to see any prey out there, bring some back would you? We won't need much for today, thanks to Firestar, but it's nice to have something just in case," he meowed to her. She nodded, ears flicking to acknowledge him as she trotted up to Molepaw, and then the two left camp, leaving him to himself.

Maybe Firestar wouldn't mind if he joined him?

"Hey," a soft voice sounded behind him. Squirrelflight. He turned his head to stare at her as her intense green eyes bore into his amber ones. "Can we talk?"

"I... yeah, sure. You want to...?" he gestured to the camp entrance, and she nodded.

Guess he would have to wait a little longer until he could warm himself up by Firestar's side.

They walked in silence until they were deep into Thunderclan territory, away from camp, away from any borders, and away from anyone who could potentially overhear their conversation(except for maybe Firestar and his hearing, but the dragon was so tired these days that he would probably be too sleepy to notice).

They sat there in awkward silence, unsure of how to proceed. Truthfully, he was half daring Squirrelflight to go first, considering that she was the one who wanted to talk.

They hadn't gotten to talk like they had wanted to after the battle. They had been just too busy rebuilding camp and making sure that everyone was alright and fed.

She finally sighed. "Okay, I'll go first." He flicked an ear, listening. "I'm sorry."

He blinked, not quite understanding.

Squirrelflight looked visibly agitated as she tried to find the right words. "I didn't tell you about the kits because it wasn't my secret to tell." He mentally rolled his eyes. Yet she dragged him into the secret anyway. There hadn't been a need to trick him like that. He voiced that thought out loud.

She cringed. "Yeah, looking back, I should have disregarded Leafpool's wish to keep everything a secret from you specifically. You should have known just who you were raising with me, and I just- arrgh! Why is this so hard to say?!" she cried. She sucked in a deep breath, frustration building in her eyes. "What I'm trying to say is that- I was trying to protect you too!"

He narrowed his eyes. Protect him? From what?

Guessing what he was thinking, she continued. "You had just become deputy. I didn't want to drag you into a secret that could have cost you the position that you had worked so hard to achieve," she meowed. "After everything with Hawkfrost, I thought that you deserved to have some peace in your life without getting tangled into Leafpool's mess, but... I suppose you ended up getting into it anyway?" she sighed, some tension leaving her previously bunched up shoulders. He figured that there was more to it- maybe she thought that with his new position as deputy, that he would have been forced to report the sisters to Firestar.

Would he have? He would never know what he would have done at that point. There was only the here and now.

After a few moments of silence, he figured that she was done with her piece.

He sighed heavily. "I understand where you're coming from," he began. "If Tawnypelt had come to me asking for help with something, I would have given it to the best of my ability. But Squirrelflight..." he gazed into her scared eyes. "You deluded yourself into thinking that I could only love those kits if they had been really mine. I would have loved them just the same; you didn't need to trick me like that. Plus, I was a grown cat then. I know you wanted to protect my integrity, but I can make my own decisions. I could have made my own decision, but we'll never know what that could have been, because everything's said and done now," he sighed. He paused, letting the cold wind ruffle his pelt.

"Being deputy wasn't as important as my family," he said quietly. "Becoming deputy was just an idea Tigerstar put into my head. It would have stung to have lost it, but it wouldn't have been a total loss if I had been demoted back to a warrior."

Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze were his kits, his family. He would still love them, even though he wasn't really their father.

Kind of how Firestar loved him, even though Bramblestar wasn't really his son.

He felt Squirrelflight's pelt press up against his own. His fur bristled, but he didn't shy away from it. Firestar's feral side occasionally forcing them into the same den had lessened his anger towards her. Plus she was warming him up, and that was always appreciated during leaf-bare.

"I don't think I can just jump back into being your mate again Squirrelflight," he murmured. "How can I trust you again, after everything that's happened?" he asked her softly.

She hummed, thinking it over. After what seemed like the day had passed them by, she spoke. "I don't know," she finally answered. "I just want us to stop with the anger and resentment. I don't want to fight or have arguments anymore." Truthfully, he had started getting tired of constantly giving her the cold shoulder all the time. But he had been so angry, so heartbroken.

"Can we just start over then? Just... talk things out like friends would? Meet every so often and get to know each other again?" she asked him.

He would like that.

"I'll start. I'm Squirrelflight, and I'm one of the best hunters this lake has ever seen," she purred.

He let his muzzle stretch into a small smile. "I'm Bramblestar, the leader of Thunderclan, and I would really love to get out of this Starclan-forsaken cold right now!" She snorted at him, and together began making their way back to camp, hoping to snuggle against Firestar's warm scales soon. Their pelts weren't quite touching each other as they padded through the forest, but the previous omnipresent tension that had lingered between the two had vanished into the cold breeze.

Seriously, please tell me if I screwed up the relationship here.

I'm thinking of taking a bit of a break next week. It's a big maybe, but don't be surprised if I don't post anything next week.

Tell me how I did.