Author's Note: Whew! This chapter was intense to write. :)

So thanks a lot by all your reviews! I was surprised about how many I got for chapter two. Oh yes, and before you start reading, I'd just like to say that this chapter focuses more on the relationship between Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight, though there will be hints of growing feelings between the main couple near the end of the chapter.

Oh yes, and also, in this chapter, I'm pretty sure you'll notice the development of the metaphor of the two sisters being like water and fire. One calming, one irritating and frustrating.

I just figured out a theme song for this fanfic. I don't know if you guys have ever done something like this, but often, I try and find a song that's lyrics fit the theme of the fanfiction or novel I'm writing- it helps me to keep on writing, especially if I'm listening to it as the same time as writing. The song is Somewhere Only We Know by Keane.

*SPOILER ALERT!* ;) It's an awesome song, and in it he talks about going to a place where they used to love, which really fits this chapter in general.

Hope you enjoy! :) And yeah, I know it's a long time in the making, but as an author it takes me a long long time to find inspiration to write.

Leaves in Summer

Part Three:

Brambleclaw craned his neck, leaned back and stared up at the sky, closing his eyes. He let out a relaxed sigh, feeling content. For a moment, he almost surprised himself: considering what an emotional wreck he had been in, he felt very at home sitting beside the fresh kill pile with Leafpool.

It had been about a moon since that day beside the lake. Ever since, the two cat's friendship had been growing. Usually, he spent his time with cats like Brackenfur, who had been a loyal friend for him over the years. It wasn't that he didn't spend time with Brackenfur any more but… for some reason, the tom had decided to explore his new found understanding with Leafpool.

The she-cat let out a chuckle. 'Someone's relaxed.' She said, her tail swishing over her prey. Leafpool nudged him lightly on the shoulder.

For some reason, her comment made Brambleclaw feel somewhat flustered. He quickly opened his eyes and sat up properly. Especially when he realised that the action would've… emphasised his muscles. 'Oh um,' he began quickly. 'It's um-'

He decided it would probably be best just to stop speaking when he saw the amusement in Leafpool's eyes. 'Mousebrain.' She teased. 'I was only joking.' She shook her fur, ruffled because of her laughter, and take another bite out of the mouse she'd been eating. 'This is great food.' She added, before sending a disapproving look out into the forest. 'I wish Greenleaf would last forever.'

Brambleclaw followed her gaze and realised what she was getting at. Some of the leaves were beginning to fall off the trees. Greenleaf would end soon. he felt the familiar disappointment; Greenleaf was a time of great peace not only within the clan but outside the Clan as well. Plentiful prey meant less chance of neighbouring Clans invading.

'I know.' Brambleclaw murmured, before casting a short glance around the camp. Clan life was continuing as normal- kits ran cheerfully around the nursery, and warriors sat around, dozing and sharing tongues under StarClan's watchful gaze. Even though it wasn't night, Brambleclaw felt that his Clan was closer to StarClan than they could ever be at this moment, just going about their ordinary lives.

'So Leafpool,' he began, turning back around, but when he saw the cat that stood before them, his mouth instantly snapped shut. Squirrelflight stood above them. A cold look entered the tom's eyes, but he didn't speak out when Leafpool got to her paws to address her sister.

'Hey Squirrelflight!' She said. Brambleclaw's stare burnt into Squirrelflight's unwaveringly. Leafpool coughed, hoping to break the tension. 'So, were you looking for something exactly?'

Squirrelflight stayed silent for a few more moments, before forcing (with what seemed to be an awful lot of difficulty) a smile onto her face. 'Yeah, hi Leafpool. Actually, I was wondering if I could talk with Brambleclaw for a second.' She paused. 'Alone.'

As soon as these words past the ginger she-cat's lips, the three cats suddenly had the whole of ThunderClan's attention in their paws. Whispering travelled round the camp like a wave, as this breaking new development in Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw's relationship was announced.

Leafpool stared at Squirrelflight for a moment, before her eyes widened with an emotion that the tom didn't quite catch. There was excitement and relief, and also a reassuring note in there, but Brambleclaw saw a sign of… apprehensiveness?

The tom himself however, felt like his whole body had been swept into a whirlwind of uncertainty. He could imagine what Squirrelflight was going to tell him in their talk- in fact, he was sure he knew. One part of his body water to scream with joy: he had been waiting for this moment! But the other half just felt cold. Even a little angry!

Brambleclaw heard Leafpool open her mouth and say some incoherent speech, but Brambleclaw wasn't listening. As if preparing himself for a race, the tom got to his paws and shook his pelt. 'Sorry Leafpool.' He said, before turning to look at Squirrelflight. 'I'll just be a minute.'

A cloud of suspense had engulfed the camp of ThunderClan when Squirrelflight nodded bluntly and turned around, padding away towards the entrance to the ThunderClan camp. Brambleclaw kept his face unemotional and cool, but his paws were numb with anticipation. Just the she-cat disappeared into the undergrowth of the forest, the deputy swivelled round; his eyes met Leafpool's. For some reason he half expected to see anger in her amber depths, but instead he just saw kind support. Just for a moment, he was reminded of the lake, and the hypnotic way the ripples had moved along the surface, lulling him in.

With that he shook his head, and followed Squirrelflight out into the undergrowth.

The she-cat lead him quite far away from the ThunderClan camp. The soft call of a blackbird echoed through the forest, making Brambleclaw jump. They were moving at a considerable speed, and after awhile, Brambleclaw felt it necessary to match her pace. He fell into step behind her, not daring to meet her eyes.

Finally, they stopped. Brambleclaw inspected his surroundings closely: Squirrelflight had brought him to a mossy clearing. He frowned, feeling like the place was familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it.

Squirrelflight glanced back at him, before sitting down upon her haunches and curling her tail over her paws. She took in a deep breath. 'Do you remember this place?' She asked him.

Brambleclaw padded forward and sniffed the air currents, searching for a scent of some kind that would ring any bells of recognition in his mind. 'I feel like I've been here before…' He said, after careful consideration. Still, his voice was unemotional. 'But no. Not off the top of my head.'

She sighed wistfully, before a faraway and slightly dreamy look entered her eyes. 'I didn't think you would.' She said. 'But I remember this place. For me, it's one of the places where you never forget.'

Brambleclaw looked at the mossy coloured rocks and the exceptionally ordinary bushes surrounding the clearing. As far as he could tell, there wasn't anything special about it. He felt a pang of curiosity. 'Why?' He questioned.

The absent expression evaporated, and it was replaced by a soft and tender expression. The same kind've of look she would've made him when they were still mates. 'Brambleclaw…' She murmured, before stepping a little closer to him. 'This is the place where we first became mates.'

The brown furred deputy's eyes widened in shock. Wha- what?! He thought. He tried to process the information, but it didn't make sense in his head. No. That can't be right! The place where we first became mates was magical. The whole place had been filled with moonlight, and it had made everything glow. It couldn't be this normal!

But then again, it had been a clearing.

Squirrelflight must've noticed his confusion for quickly, she pressed on. 'I know you probably remember it differently to this. At first look, this place is very normal. Almost not very pleasant, but it's at night when it's transformed into the dreamscape that we visited.' She gestured with her tail up to a large gap in-between two trees. 'The moonlight comes in through there. It bounces off the rocks and stocks, illuminating everything and revealing the beauty it holds. Me and Leafpool found it when we first came to the lake.'

Now, Brambleclaw did recognise it. He pictured the scene that he remembered so vividly, and took away the moonlight- it left him with this. The tom felt a feeling of awe pass over him: how can something so normal transform into something beautiful with just a bit of light?

And for the first time in several moons, Brambleclaw looked into Squirrelflight's leaf green gaze, and smiled.

The she-cat returned the smile for just a second, before she shuffled her paws and looked down at the ground. 'Look, I know you probably think this is all very pretentious and such, but the point is…'

Brambleclaw inhaled sharply, waiting for her to continue. He felt like his whole life was revolving around this moment.

'The point is,' Squirrelflight said, looking up. The deputy of ThunderClan was a little surprised to see both sorrow and longing in her eyes. 'I still love you, Brambleclaw, no matter what's come between us, and I can't go on living like this!' Her voice rose to a yowl. 'I can't go on everyday thinking about you, reminiscing in the times that we once had, but acting like everything's all right. Because it isn't.'

Brambleclaw didn't say a word. He was too full of overwhelming feelings to speak. Usually, he wasn't one with affectionate words. He found it difficult to express what he was thinking and desiring, but what Squirrelflight said was so true that he almost started crying.

Squirrelflight, however, miraculously still had enough strength in her to carry on. 'I don't know if you feel the same way as me.' She whispered, her voice wavering. 'And I know you still haven't forgiven me. I feel guilty about not telling you everyday. It was probably the right choice too as well-'

That was it. Brambleclaw couldn't hold it in any longer. He lifted his paw and brought it crashing down upon the dirt. 'Then why didn't you tell me!' He yelled, his voice full of hurt. Squirrelflight looked shocked when the tom closed the distance between them and pressed his face closer to her's, just enough for their whiskers to brush together. 'I- I could've helped you. I could've, I would've, stayed by you and supported you to the end.'

Squirrelflight simply shook her head numbly. 'I'm sorry.' She said. 'I thought that you wouldn't understand.'

'And that's why I broke up with you.' He retorted. 'When Holylleaf revealed the secret at the Gathering, I realised that the kits I'd be raising for three years were some kind've of horrible trick. I realised that you hadn't trusted me enough to stay with you. Don't you see what that means?' His voice lowered in volume. 'You didn't believe! You didn't believe that I trusted you enough.' Something that may have been a tear rolled down his cheek. 'You didn't believe that I loved you enough.'

Squirrelflight didn't have an answer to that one.

Brambleclaw shifted his weight back onto his paws, and padded away from her. 'And that's why we can't have a relationship until you prove to me that that's not true.'

The she-cat gasped and scrambled up, her eyes wide with hope. 'You're giving me chance?" She asked, hopefully.

The tom nodded. 'I can give you one more moon.' He fumbled around for words. 'No more. In that time, find a way to show me that you do believe.' He hesitated, before reaching forward with his paw and laying on hers. 'Please find a way Squirrelflight.' He murmured. 'For us.'

And with that, the tom disappeared into the undergrowth, back in the direction of the ThunderClan camp...

Leafpool paced nervously around her nest, her mind distracted. The only thing she could think about was the conversation that was transpiring between her best friend and her sister in the forest. She was waiting impatiently for their return to the camp. It would be about time! They'd been out there for ages now! Or at least it felt like ages anyway.

She shook her head and plonked herself down on her nest, exasperated. The she-cat didn't really know what to think. Her mind was a whirlpool of conflicted emotions: every time she thought that she figured out how she felt about the situation, everything crumbled down again in front of her again. Though she'd known the day when Squirrelflight would try and get back together with Brambleclaw as coming, (Squirrelflight had spoken to her enough about it) for some reason, she'd felt surprised. Maybe it was just that-

The thought made her stop dead. Maybe she'd got used to being closer to Brambleclaw than her sister was.

The more she considered it the less insane it seemed. But that can't be true! A tiny voice within her head protested. Squirrelflight is Brambleclaw's ex-mate for StarClan's sake. Most likely not for much longer! Her mind ceased for a moment. How do you feel about that?

Everything was so confused. Nothing seemed right at all.

Suddenly, Leafpool heard the sound of excited meows outside of the warrior's den, and she shot up. They must've come back to camp! Quickly, she ran out of the warrior's den to see Brambleclaw padding in through the entrance.

Her first thought was on her sister's whereabouts. She wasn't with Brambleclaw, so she assumed she was probably going to come back soon. Her second thought was of worry. There was a tired look in his eye: one of annoyance, pain, and what might've been confusion. Her clan-mates weren't exactly swarming around him, but she could see that the tom was uncomfortable with all the attention, so she padded forward towards the mass.

As soon as he saw her, she saw the confusion in Brambleclaw's eyes fade a little, to be replaced with security, as if she was the only thing that made sense in his mind. Leafpool tried calling out to him, but the noise was already too great, so she just signalled with her tail back towards the warrior's den, before turning around and padding back into the place where she had come.

She only had to wait for a few moments before the tomcat ducked into the den after her, leaving the Clan milling around outside. They didn't speak for several minutes. Instead, they just looked awkwardly at the ground or at the ceiling, waiting for the group to disperse.

And eventually, they did.

Almost instantaneously, Brambleclaw moved forward like a blur to Leafpool's side and sat down beside her. Though he didn't show any signs of being upset, she could guess what was probably going on within Brambleclaw's head. Her eyes softened and she reached forward with her tail and laid it comfortingly on his shoulder.

The silence remained, and the time passed by between them like the rising and setting of the sun. It may not have seemed like there was anything going on, but for the two cats, the moments were like looking into a room full of darkness and seeing light; between them, their stretched minds relaxed and unwound. Slowly but surely, with the massaging motion of Leafpool's tail on his shoulder, Brambleclaw calmed himself down, restoring some clarity and lucidity of the state he had been in with the very same she-cat, before he had gone out into the forest with Squirrelflight.

For some reason, Brambleclaw was once more reminded of water. Not the kind of hypnotic, almost deadly, water that had tempted beside the lake, but the kind of water that you saw within a stream. Soothing water. You could stare into the simplistic rushing of a brook like that forever- it's course would never change. It would keep on rushing forward. Ceaseless. A continuous movement… something secure that you could rely… something like Leafpool, for example.

Finally, Leafpool removed her tail from Brambleclaw's shoulder and smiled at him, trying to keep it optimistic. 'What happened?' She said, her voice like honey.

Brambleclaw looked up at her, before sighing and shaking his head. 'I don't know if I should tell you, Leafpool.' He said, troubled. 'It's all… all very private. At least it should be anyway. Sometimes, I feel like my personal life is being read out to the whole Clan nowadays. Everyone knows what's going on and wants to know what's going to happen, when really, it should be confined to just me and Squirrelflight.'

Leafpool nodded, understanding. 'I know that. And I feel for you.' She stopped. 'I know what it's like to have your scrutinised at every move, and because of that I know that it helps to talk to cats about that, like you and Squirrelflight have done.'

Brambleclaw just looked at her, trust filling his eyes. He considered not telling her for a few moments, but then he realised that she was right. He wanted to tell her. He would've told anyone how he felt at that moment. He just needed someone to talk to.

'She took me to a clearing.' He said carefully, look up at the ceiling. 'It was the first place that we became mates.' He glanced at her. 'Apparently, you and her found it when we first came to the lake.' He noticed Leafpool's eyes widen at this. Her face contorted with what looked like embarrassment. 'She- she told me that she still loved me despite keeping the fact she didn't tell me about the secret.'

For the first time, it struck Brambleclaw how odd it was that he had such a seemingly strong friendship with Leafpool. After all, he should probably hate her. It was technically her fault that his relationship with Squirrelflight was like it was, but the tom was also coming more aware everyday how much he understood her. How much he liked her company. How much he lo-

What?! Brambleclaw quickly shook the odd thought (that was obviously incorrect as well) from his mind and continued telling her about Squirrelflight's speech in the clearing.

After he'd finished, the tom finally once again plucked up the courage to stop looking at the ceiling. Leafpool seemed to be deep in thought. He waited for her response like a dog waiting for his master.

'Brambleclaw…' she began, cautiously. 'How does getting back together with Squirrelflight make you feel?'

The question made Brambleclaw's eyes contract. He thought about what she was saying, puzzled. 'What do you mean?'

'I mean,' she said, her voice guarded. 'How is what my sister's suggesting making you feel? I mean, do you feel happy about it? Annoyed? Angry?' She inhaled very deeply. 'Do you feel good or bad about it?'

The question made Brambleclaw's head spin as he thought about what she'd said. How does getting back to ether with Squirrelflight made you feel? The ThunderClan deputy wasn't entirely sure. 'I guess good.' He replied, hesitantly. To be honest, he wasn't really sure whether he was telling the truth or not.

'Good?' Leafpool pressed, her amber eyes now full of a burning intensity. 'Be truthful. It's important.'

Brambleclaw didn't understand what Leafpool was trying to say. For some unknown reason, he felt like he didn't need to. Everything around him was swirling like a whirlwind of gold and white as he and Leafpool's gaze locked into each others. It was like a war between the two stares of amber- a war for dominance against the other.

He breathed in. There faces were inches away from touching. Almost sub-conciously, Brambleclaw's tail snaked forward, brushing lightly against hers-

And suddenly, Leafpool shot up. Brambleclaw almost let out a kitten like yelp of surprise as she shook herself, a bright red blush upon her cheeks. 'Well think about it Brambleclaw.' She said abruptly, before disappearing out of the den.

Long after the moment had ended, Brambleclaw was still sitting in the nest, both shocked and somewhat… disappointed?

In the end, Brambleclaw had no idea what to think.

Yeah yeah, I know. It feels kind rushed as an ending. BUT I HAD TO GET UP THE CHAPTER! The gulf between updates was getting far too big.

Please RR!