Firestar POV :

I had high hopes. I had high hopes for Squirrelflight and Leafpool, my two beautiful daughters. They were supposed to be Thunderclan's pride and joy. Then Leafpool got pregnant and Squirrelflight lied to everyone she knew.

But I knew that they had already faced the consequences of their actions, it was crystal clear.

How Squirrelflight's green eyes flooded with despair when the truth was finally dug out, and how the pain made its way towards defeat when Brambleclaw left the gathering, left her.

I didn't try to stop him, he wouldn't have listened. A leader enforces command, but doesn't abuse it, and when someone is in pain, a little bit of space is all that's needed.

I caught Sandstorm's light green gaze, and my confusion and pain about the whole situation was reflected in her.

Leafpool had seemed so….so-indifferent about the entire situation, but it was a mask. It had to be. No one can be so rigid, so impassive after they just lost everything.

A small cough from Blackstar snapped me out of my daze, and I gave him a polite nod.

Hopefully he didn't see me mentally conspiring everything .. I think, dead serious.

"Attention!" I yowled out, hoping to catch everyone's attention, but hardly anyone seemed to pay me any mind. "I-right here!" I called out, and to my horror, a few cats did glance my way, but just TURNED back.

Am I just entertainment or something? I asked myself, truly wondering what the answer of the question was.

The medicine cats shot me sympathetic looks, and I personally agreed with them.

The other leaders were absolutely NO help whatsoever, just gossiping by themselves.

I threw them a stinky look that went by unnoticed, but nonetheless, I felt a little bit better about myself.

Giving up, I jumped down from the Great Rock, and oh so now everyone looks at me. Wonderful.

I gave them all a dry look, though they probably didn't understand why I was giving them that look. "Where are you going?" Berrynose called, and at that moment, I didn't understand what Poppyfrost saw in him. Like at all.

"I'm going to Starclan," I responded drily. At his confused look, I really had to shove down that urge to go and knock some sense into him. "No mouse-brain, we're going back to camp." I mewed defeatedly, and nudged him along the path.

Sandstorm came up at my side, brushing her fur along mine. I pressed my nose to her ear in a sign of greeting and she purred softly, before taking on a concerned stance.

"I'm worried about our daughters.." she admitted slightly, head drooped slightly.

I sighed and nodded along. "Me too, though I can't say it's not well-deserved." I said firmly, and my pale-furred mate nodded. "Good intentions, but wrong way."

"Exactly." I agreed, before a lightbulb went off in my head. "Wait, should we check up on Leafpool and Squirrelflight, maybe have a small talk with them?"

Sandstorm's eyes lit up, and she hastily agreed with me, congratulating me on this idea.

I puffed up my chest, being completely proud of myself. I said something smart!

"Doesn't happen often." Graystripe, my best friend since we were apprentices, commented as he padded past me.

I ducked my head, embarrassed, as I realized I said that out loud.

A couple cats purred from around me, and I joined in, glad that the tension in the air was lessening, even if it's at my expense.

"Ok so, tomorrow at dawn, we'll gather Squirrelflight and Leafpool. Then we'll ask them why they did it, if it was worth it, and all that stuff. We have to be firm, but not angry, because they're already going through enough. Sounds good?" I asked, re-confirming with Sandstorm in case she wanted to add anything or had something to say about it.

"Mhm." She agreed, looking off in the distance, eyes clouded.

I got the notion that she wasn't listening to me, so I cleared my throat and decided to test her.

"What did I just say?" I asked her nonchalantly.

"Uhh something about prey, and the gathering." Came the response, and I groaned.

"You didn't hear a single thing I said."

"Right on point."

I nudged her affectionately and she purred, blinking at me. "Sorry, just kinda lost on how this all happened, and how I missed out on so much."

I licked her comfortingly around the ears. "How we missed out on so much." I acknowledged back, gesturing to the entire clan with my tail. "None of us knew about this, or saw it coming at all."

She sighed, and looked at me with depressed green eyes. "That's right, I .. I should stop overthinking." And I agreed with her, overthinking won't help any case.

We finally reached our camp, and the news about everything that happened spread like wildfire, the elders shooting sneaky glances and the queens looking very disapproving.

I knew no matter what I said, it won't stop, so I let it go on, and with Sandstorm, we went to our nest and curled up together, trying to block out the whispers.

Trying.


Sandstorm's POV:

I woke up at the break of dawn, but Firestar was still curled up beside me, a ball of ginger fur.

He decided to have the conversation at dawn, and then didn't wake up. I think sarcastically, but nudge him awake nonetheless.

I left the den to go find my daughters, leaving Firestar alone to figure everything out and do a quick grooming.

I peeked into the medicine den and whispered. "Leafpool," before coming to the sad realization that she isn't a medicine cat anymore. Before Jayfeather wakes up and yowls at me to get out, I exited the den.

Making my way into the warriors' den, I felt a pang hit me as I realized that Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw weren't sleeping together anymore.

Oh how this secret has caused so much pain..

Finding my daughters curled up, I gently nudged them. They awoke drowsily, dark green and amber eyes looking at me with confusion. "Come here." I murmured quietly, and they immediately understood what I was talking about.

As one, they stood up and shook out their legs, before trotting out of the den with me.

Firestar would probably be by the Sandy Hollow already, so I led us all there, and sure enough, there he was, looking like a flame in the rising sun.

Not needing to say anything, we all sat down in a tight circle, and the tension was increasing rather quickly.

"You start," I muttered to my mate, and he shot me a horrified look.

"No you start." he argued.

"You're the father, so you have to start."

"Well you're the mother, and you saw them first, so you start."

"You're the leader, and the leader always goes first."

"As the leader, I command you to go first."

"Someone just start!" Squirrelflight broke out, apparently getting tired of our banter.

Firestar sat back on his haunches, looking as stubborn as ever, and I knew I would have to start.

"Fine, I'll start," I mewed graciously, throwing a nasty look at Firestar, who returned it cheekily, dark green eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

"Was it all worth it?" I asked bluntly, and my mate leaned in close to me. "Weren't we supposed to ease into it?"

I glared at him. "Well, since I started, this is going my way." He purred with amusement at that and resigned.

Leafpool spoke up for the first time. "Yes."

"What?" Me and Firestar echoed.

She looked at us, completely serious. "It was worth it. I love Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf so much, and I will fight Starclan for them. My happiness is a small price to pay."

I couldn't tell if she was being selfless or selfish at the same time.

Before I could say anything, Firestar spoke up, looking disappointed. "What about her happiness?" He mewed, pointing at Squirrelflight, whose gaze was diverted to the ground.

It seemed to click in Leafpool now, and she immediately looked guilty. "I'm...not sure. Was it?" She asked her sister, and Squirrelflight looked up, completely helpless.

"I-it was. I don't think I can have kits, so raising my sister's was a wonderful experience. It felt really pleasant and even if things aren't the best right now, i-it was worth it." She said, eyes clouding with happiness as she thought of the memories.

I didn't understand how they can forget that this affects other cats too. "Brambleclaw. What about Brambleclaw?" I said, the soft edge to my voice gone.

"He's probably hurting so much right now. You both have your mother, your father, each other. What about him? His father's a bad cat, mother's dead, and sister's in another clan. Now he learns that his mate betrayed him and those kits aren't even his, so what about him?" My voice grew higher and higher, to the point where I was almost yowling my anger out.

At first I felt sympathy for my kits, but I also viewed - no - I still view him as my son. Squirrelflight was completely silent, and when I glanced towards Firestar, he looked completely impassive towards Squirrelflight too.

"I'm sorry." She whispered softly, the guilt evident.

"I didn't realize..I have to go make it up to him." Squirrelflight whimpered out, and my anger cooled.

Me and Firestar exchanged a glance, before mutually coming to a decision.

"We forgive you, and we love you. Please just, think twice before making such big decisions, and how it may affect others." Firestar spoke, looking rather regal in front of the orange sky and golden rays.

"Everything will get better, and soon enough, the pain will lessen." I added, hopefully sounding helpful.

We all pressed up against each other, facing the sunrise. It felt pretty good, like a new start.

And when I looked over at the cats I loved so much, I knew that despite our differences, our good and bad qualities, it was the perfect blend, even though we're all furballs.

I had high hopes. I had high hopes for Squirrelflight and Leafpool, my two beautiful daughters. They were supposed to be Thunderclan's pride and joy. Then Leafpool got pregnant and Squirrelflight lied to everyone she knew.

But who knows? If the future's as bright as this dawn, they will be Thunderclan's pride and joy.

I had no doubt about that.

Thank you so much for reading! Firestar and Sandstorm are my OTP ship, so I really wanted to expand on their relationship! *Even though it's my second story on them but let's forget that - From Dusk to Dawn - check it out* I never really supported Squirrelflight and Leafpool on their decisions much, so I wanted to show the pain they caused other cats, not just themselves. If you enjoyed, drop a review down below!