Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it. Wish I did though.

A/N: I had so much fun doing this, actually. This is set before Squirrelflight chooses Brambleclaw.

AshfurxBrambleclaw

Requested by WarriorsFan

Shafts of sunlight wafted through the lines of trees, the sleek tom breathing in the pleasant scent of flowers and honeysuckle, before letting a sigh part his jaws. He opened his pale eyes, watching the reflection of the lake ripple as birds dove beneath the surface and plucked fish from it, cats swimming carelessly in the shallow water to cool themselves off on this hot day.

The sleek-furred tom purred in amusement before closing his eyes, sighing in contentment as he sat upon the hilltop that bordered just inside ThunderClan territory before it joined with WindClan territory. A river ran to his left, but he paid no attention to it as water trickled down it and splashed into the lake.

He plucked a flower from atop the hilltop and flicked his grey dappled tail, admiring the pleasant weather before glancing down at the boring dandylion. They were spread across the hilltops and down along the moors, as far as he could tell. Ashfur began to pluck one petal off at a time, not tearing his gaze away from the meek flower.

"She loves me," he breathed out, softly, almost uncertainly, as he plucked the first petal off. "She loves me not." There goes another. Perhaps he should have counted the petals of the flower before starting - he almost dreaded the answer. He closed his eyes, biting off another petal.

"Loves me."

"Loves me not." There went another one.

"She loves me." His breath was catching in his throat, and he suddenly wanted to throw the disgusting flower down and scream. Maybe today would be different, maybe today it would finally ... would finally be right. Maybe. It should be, because really, what were the chances of it happening three days in a row? Maybe he should stop plucking petals off of flowers to find out if Squirrelflight loved him. He was down a few petals now.

"She loves me not," a petal fell off, "she loves me," then his breath caught as he stared down at the flower, a lone petal staying attached to the base of the flower, and he set it down, not daring to breath for a few moments. "She loves me not," he finally murmured, closing his blue eyes, his grey shoulders shaking after a few moments. Three days in a row, three flowers of three different types, three chances of finding out if Squirrelflight loved him by the most classic of ways and three times it failed.

"No! Squirrelflight, stop splashing! Augh, I'm not a RiverClan cat, and you're not an apprentice, really. Would you stop that? Firestar wanted to see you and ..." A loud voice drifted up to Ashfur as he sat alone atop of the small hill, and he opened his eyes again, his darker grey ears flicking as he observed the riverbanks again, dapples of water splashing up as the ginger warrior laughed and continued to splash anybody who came near. Her sister, and the current medicine cat apprentice, frowned in disapproval as she tried to gather a few herbs that grew solely around the riverbend.

There were a few other cats as well, such as Spiderleg and Brightheart, the brown tom and the ginger-and-white she-cat looking at the three in amusement as cries of protest rose from Leafpaw. "Squirrelflight, stop! Listen to Brambleclaw!" she bellowed, her voice rising above her normal peaceful attitude. Ashfur, despite himself, smiling a little in amusement. He heard Brambleclaw growl out something at Squirrelflight, probably to get her back to camp for something that Firestar wanted.

The grey warrior watched the well-muscled tom, his long fur damp and sticking to his body, his long limbs making him tower over the newly named ginger apprentice, his dark fur making him look almost black in some places as his dark brown fur smeared with his near-black tabby stripes. Ashfur twitched an ear as he watched him talk with the she-cat who looked bored and was rolling her eyes, as far as he could tell.

Slowly, he reached out to pluck a daisy from beside him, frowning to himself after a moment, as he watched the broad-shoulder warrior cuff the white-pawed she-cat over her ears. Spiderleg howled with laughter and Ashfur himself found himself smiling a bit. He pulled a few petals from the daisy, murmuring the words like a mantra. "Loves me."

"Ashfur, what are you doing up there? You must be hot! Come down here!" Squirrelflight cheered, completely ignoring whatever the amber-eyed tom was saying. Tigerstar's son huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes, glaring at the grey dappled tom as if it was his fault. He murmured the next few lines as the next petals fell off.

"I don't like getting wet," he hollered back, before plucking another petal off. "Loves me not."

"If it's going to get Squirrelflight to camp, then get your tail down here," Brambleclaw meowed, twisting his tail and having a smug look on his face. His features pulled into something that resembled a smile before it was gone as the leader's daughter began to babble about something.

He pulled another petal off. "He loves me."

Ashfur moved to pull another petal off but then froze, glancing down after a moment in surprise and mild horror. His breath caught in his throat as the bare flower was perched in his paw, no petals clinging to the base of the flower anymore. He stared at the green stalk in his paws, a startling contrast to the pale of his fur, but he did not move from his position. There were no petals left.

No matter how many times he had done this to how many flowers, to numerous she-cats, none of them had ever ended with "loves me" - until now. A shiver rippled through his pelt as the lifeless flower dropped from his paw and he shakily stood up on his paws. He glanced over at the riverbank now, as Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw were openly yelling.

It had never worked for she-cats. So why did it work for Brambleclaw? The dappled tom swallowed and began to descend down the hill, his breath catching in his throat as he approached the cats, his pelt feeling hot and disturbed. Brambleclaw had been his best friend when they were apprentices, but then they had drifted apart the moment that Squirrelflight decided to spend time with Ashfur. But maybe ... the flower was right this time. There was only one way to find out.

"Hi, Brambleclaw."