Mousewhisker shivered as he trekked silently along the foliage in the forest. Sakura wanted to talk to him, what for? He glanced sideways to the silent she-cat beside him. For what possible reason could she want to talk to him, of all cats. 'Maybe she wants to Mark me,' he thought tensely. He had heard the term from Whitethunder when he was telling the story of how he Marked his father Whitemoon after threatening his mate. 'It seems that being family doesn't matter in Moonclan,' he thought with a sneer.

It took him a while to realize that Sakura had stopped walking, stopping beside a log that, with a horrific and longing realization, he and Cinderheart had laid in before they eavesdropped on the meeting of the others. She didn't slip into the log though; she simply sat outside of it.

Mousewhisker hesitantly made his way over to her. Slowly he sat down and wrapped a bristled tail around his paws, raking his eyes along her figure. Lean, slightly fluffy fur that seemed to shined in any light setting, a long bushy tail that tipped black and wrapped completely around her like a blood filled river, midnight covered legs, night tipped ears and sharp, slanted but bright green eyes. They reminded him of the forest around him. He could make out her muscle, the ones for running and fighting, how even as she sat she only seemed to barely touch the ground, a dangerous perfection sitting prettily before him.

So close, yet out of reach.

It burned him; the grey and white tom closed his eyes in pain. Like a deliciously plump mouse being dangled in front of a restrained starving animal.

So close, yet out of reach.

"Mousewhisker," Sakura whispered. The Thunderclan tom blinked rapidly then fixed his eyes on her face. She looked, guilty. He perked his ears and stared. Sakura took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Mousewhisker flattened his ears in confusion. "For what?"

"For all of this," she hissed. "For Foxe, for our clans, for this! None of this was supposed to happen!" Drawing back in shock Mousewhisker blinked. Sakura clamped her mouth shut and closed her eyes; her chest expanding as she took in and released a deep breath. "I wasn't supposed to shout," she said more to herself than him. She looked directly at him. "I am sorry for being a horrible friend."

Mousewhisker felt something ugly coil up in his chest. "Friend? You are apologizing for being a horrible friend?!" Sakura nodded her head firmly, slightly puzzled. Mousewhisker bared his fangs at her. "I never wanted you as a friend! Maybe in the beginning yes, but only for a short while! I wanted you as more than a friend, Sakura!"

"I know that!" Sakura said quickly. "I-I've been know that."

Mousewhisker paused. "What?"

Sakura pawed the ground nervously. "I-I know that you wanted me as a mate, it was the whole point of befriending you."

A horrifying realization dawned on Mousewhisker as she looked away. "You wanted to make me want you, just so you can turn me down." Anger welled over him and for a brief moment he saw red. "You Moonclan cats are fox hearted crows! You live to feed on another's misery! I never did anything to deserve this, I did nothing to you!" Sakura backed away as he advanced on her. "You made a trap for me just to see me break, didn't you? I bet you even coerced Foxe into mating with Thornclaw and pretend they were my kits just to see me wither away in pain! What better way to tear a tom to pieces than to know that the kits he had with his mate aren't his kits?!"

Sakura opened her mouth to speak but he hissed venomously at her. "Shut up!" Quickly she clamped her mouth shut. "What else have you done that I should know of? Is everything you told me a lie? Are you really here to help us or to break us all from the inside?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes, her mouth partially opened as if she was going to speak, showing the tips of her fangs. Her pupils turned into slits when Mosuewhisker snarled: "Thornclaw was right; you foreign invaders can't be trusted!"

"Now it's your turn to shut up," the enraged she cat snarled. "We have nothing to do with that maggot of a traitor! I never coerced Foxe to do anything! If you will just let me finish, you will know the whole story!"

Mousewhisker's fur was on ends, his blue eyes ablaze in anger and hurt. He wanted to scream at her some more, to insult her and feel every bit as hurt as he did, but the look of pure bloodlust and murder warned him off. At that particular moment though, he didn't care. "Why should I listen to you, so you can plant more sweet nothings and lies in my ears? I am not the gullible, desperate tom you made me to be, Sakura! I'd rather kill you and then myself than let that happen again! And to think I was interested in a badger-hearted kittypet who lusted for nothing but that the color of her own fur!"

Sakura yowled and pounced at him and he let her with eager claws. The two ripped away at each other like sworn enemies. Half way into the battle, when Sakura pinned him down the second time and raked her claws across his chest, did he think he was going to die. He thought Sakura was going to kill him and on one degree he waited for it, he yearned for it. Sakura didn't however, and he kept fighting. Only when she pinned him down the fifth time did he give up, panting and in pain. All the anger seemed to seep out of him, leaving him as lip as a dead adder. He stared up at Sakura with fearful eyes as he felt the silver claws push at his neck. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to die.

"Now that you have seemed to snap into your senses," Sakura growled gutturally, her pupils near invisible, "you will listen to what I have to say and cease the nonsense that you have seemed to pull from your tailhole." Mousewhisker nodded stiffly and sighed in relieve as she moved off of him. He laid there on the ground, too tired to get back up.

The scarlet colored she cat stepped back and began to meticulously clean her fur of blood as well as her wounds. Mousewhisker did so as well, although with more haste. He finished before her, so he was forced to wait patiently until she was done. After Sakura had finally gleaned her last claw she set it down and stared at him for a full minute. Then she began to speak.

"Leafpool and my mother formed a quick bond that you should know of," she mewed blankly. "So when they found out Cinderheart was actually mated to you and was leading Lionblaze on Leafpool was angry. Lionblaze's heartbroken accusations of you stealing her from him didn't help your cause much."

"I never stole Cinderheart from him; she asked me if I would be her mate!" Mousewhisker hissed.

"And yet you said yes," Sakura growled.

Mousewhisker shrugged. "She was pretty and I did like her..."

"Let me finish," she sighed. "Cherry and Leafpool put together a plan to get back at Cinderheart and you. Squirrelflight, Sandstorm, Bramblestar and myself agreed to it, and after talking to Lionblaze about it he agreed as well. He wasn't exactly happy about it, but getting back at you was stronger than the real picture."

Mousewhisker narrowed his eyes. "So you befriending me and being there for me, that was all a part of the plan?" Sakura nodded guiltily. Mousewhisker looked down at his paws. "This all started when we both grabbed that squirrel." Again Sakura nodded. "So then why are you apologizing? You achieved you goal, shouldn't you be celebrating?"

The hurt and coldness in his voice made Sakura shiver. She tensed, expecting another attack, while looking calm. "No, because our plan was messed up when Cinderheart started intervening and changing things. When she started manipulation you it caused problems. At that time it wasn't about the plan really, I really did want to help you out." Mousewhisker snorted. Sakura sighed. "I'm serious."

"I can tell," he spat sarcastically. "So what did Cinderheart's intervening have to do with the plan?"

"You weren't supposed to hear us at our meeting and had she not tried to eliminate us you wouldn't have fallen for me too hard like you did. On top of that her...lies...made everything worse." Mousewhisker flattened his ears. Sakura gulped. "The kits screwed up everything."

"Then why did you continue if you knew the kits would mess up everything?"

"Because we had to finish it. Letting it linger would've turn you into something more...more..."

"More pitiful, gullible, destructive?" Mousewhisker listed off acidly.

Sakura narrowed her eyes nodded. "I didn't want that to happen."

"So rejecting me and public was the best way to end it?" Mousewhisker growled.

"Lionblaze was rejected in public," Sakura defended. The grey tom tossed his head. Sakura groaned. "I just wanted to apologize and try to make up for it. If I didn't then I wouldn't be comfortable with myself." Mousewhisker's glare at her filled her with dread. All the adrenaline from the fight before completely vanished and she wondered if Mousewhisker was going to truly hate her. She expected it, but it still would hurt. Her dread spread as the tom stood and walked off. Sakura cautiously followed him.

After a while Mousewhisker sat down by a bush of roses and stared at nothing. Sakura hung back, unsure of what to do. "I don't expect you to forgive me," she mewed after a while.

Mousewhisker gave a sad chuckle, which shocked her. "Funny, because no matter what I think I can't not forgive you." He looked at her. "I still love you."

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. He wasn't going to give up it seemed. 'Great.'

"We can't be mates."

"I know, I just need time to get over it."

Sakura walked over to him and sat down. "I-is there anything I can do to help?"

Mousewhisker stayed quiet. After a moment he said, "I'll make a deal with you." Sakura flicked her ears. "I still want you, so be my mate until sunset." Sakura opened her mouth to object, but he shook his head. "No, just until sunset. Maybe them I can find some peace with the fact that I had you for at least a short while."

Troubled, Sakura looked away while thinking just how that was going to help him. After what felt like forever she looked back at him. "Alright, but as soon as sunset hits we are not mates."

"Right, we will go back to being just friends," Mousewhisker agreed, excitement in his eyes. Sakura nodded, shocked that he still wanted to be friends with her. Mousewhisker hesitantly moved closer to her before brushing his muzzle against hers. Sakura tensed, but she returned the affection. Mousewhisker sighed and curled his tail with her, and she let him.

'Just to help him,' she thought as she let out a deep purr. 'Only until sunset.'

'Lionblaze is not going to be happy about this.'