Rain is lying beneath a tree with her eyes closed. It's the warm season, which means that the sun is slightly more out than before. The branches and leaves of the tree and the grass around her shield her from heating up too much. Until a couple of seasons ago, she had been fighting to free herself and others from Superior rule. Although it still feels strange to not be in charge of everyone and constantly come up with battle plans, she thinks it's nice.

        Just as she begins to doze, a rustling sound nearby startles her. In one swift movement, she sits up and peers at the source of the sound. To her surprise, a white cat is standing a few cat tails away from her paws. She automatically recognizes the cat as Mirage by the scar over her left eye, but she looks more cleaned-up than during the war. Her fur is now smooth and free of dirt.

        "Sorry," Mirage mutters, her gaze falling down to the grass.

        Assuming that the apology was for waking her up, Rain brushes it off with a friendly swish of her tail. "Oh, it's nothing. I appreciate the distraction. I don't know why I'm so-"

        Mirage shakes her head. "No. Not that. I meant that I'm sorry for the war."

        Rain falls silent for a moment as she tilts her head at her, trying to process what Mirage just said to her. "You're sorry for the war? Oh . . . But shouldn't I be more sorry?"

        "What do you mean?"

        "I mean, I'm sorry for killing Tornado."

        Did Rain just apologize about his death? Mirage tries not to show it, but on the inside she is overcome with shock, and to be honest, she has no idea what to say. Should Mirage forgive her? Should she even believe that Rain feels guilty about killing him?

        "Be honest," Mirage growls as her fur rises up in defense. She attempts to sound intimidating, but her voice is cracked and hoarse. "Are you actually sorry?"

        Rain bows her head down, closing her eyes as she considers the question. Then, she looks up and gives a firm nod. In a quiet, gentle voice, she says, "Yes. Honestly, I didn't like hurting anybody during the war. And I still wonder why I did that. You know, before Tornado switched sides, I liked him. He was such a great cat and really funny. But of course, when he abandoned us for the Superiors, I felt so betrayed and angry. I guess that was part of it."

Mirage stares at her, not saying a word. Maybe she's starting to believe Rain's apology, but she doesn't want to show it just yet, so she shows not even a hint of emotion in her face.

        Rain stares ahead into the distance, trying to find a way to distract herself. After a while, Mirage finds it safe enough to walk closer and sit down next to her. They watch as Forest and North stand in the distance arguing about something again, as usual. Rain sighs and slightly shakes her head at them. She doesn't understand why they are together so often when all they do is fight.

        Mirage squints her eyes and stiffens when she notices Forest. "Is that Forest? Didn't all of the Earth cats leave several seasons ago?"

        Rain glances at her, tilting back her ears in surprise. "What? Of course Forest is still here. He decided to stay. You didn't know that?"

        The white she-cat shakes her head. Surprisingly, the rebels haven't tried to punish any of the Superiors after they surrendered. Many of the Superiors decided to integrate with everyone else, but some, like Mirage, still keep to themselves. Lately though, Mirage has been rethinking her entire mindset, mostly from guilt of what she did during the war.

The two she-cats maintain their awkward silence as Forest and North continue to argue in the distance, but Mirage finally says something after a while.

"Listen . . ." Mirage drags off, avoiding eye contact with Rain, who perks up her ears and expectantly peers at the bigger, white she-cat.

What is Mirage supposed to say? She doesn't feel ready to trust this sudden softness Rain has exposed to her, but it just doesn't seem right to chase her off, either. When she makes up her mind on what to do, she stands up and directs her brown gaze toward the other cat.

Mirage says in a cool, polite tone, "I'm sorry, but I can't accept your apology right now, Rain. It's too soon. But . . . maybe I can try to get to know you better."

"Of course," Rain meows, unbothered by Mirage's final response. "Do you want to meet me at Silver Lake at dawn tomorrow? We could forget about the war and talk."

Mirage stands, meeting Rain's eyes. After considering Rain's proposal, she slowly nods. "Fair enough."

Without another word, Mirage waves her tail in farewell and turns around to leave. However, Forest has appeared next to them, waiting patiently. Mirage briskly nods at him before walking past them and disappearing in the long grass.

After Mirage leaves, Forest quietly meows, "Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Of course I do! I've been having a strange day," Rain purrs. She's happy to see Forest after that odd encounter with Mirage; maybe he will break the tension that she now feels running through her bloodstream. Forest and Rain have been closer than ever after the war ended. They're still friends, and they've been together to the point where Rain now knows all of Forest's moods. For example, she can tell that Forest is currently feeling nervous by the way he keeps licking his shoulder as if a plant is stuck there.

When Forest doesn't say anything, Rain inches closer to him and nudges his chest with her nose. "Come on, what's wrong? You know you can tell me!"

The brown tabby takes a deep breath and glances around, checking to make sure North didn't stick around to eavesdrop on them. Fortunately, the annoying, long-haired tom is nowhere to be seen, although there is a suspicious-looking movement in the grass a couple tail-lengths behind him when he turns to Rain again. Forest has been contemplating this conversation with Rain for days- no, definitely more than that. He can't believe he's going to ask this, but he knows that he needs to say it before he chickens out and runs.

"Fine," Forest murmurs, attempting to keep his voice steady. "Um, this might be really weird, but, uh . . . I like you. No, I actually really, really like you. So, um, I've been wondering if you've been feeling the same for me, and, you know, if we could be mates."

Rain jumps back, widening her eyes in shock. Heat flushes through the skin under her fur as she sputters, "Is this a joke? North didn't dare you to ask me this, did he?"

"No. This is not a joke." Forest flattens his ears, ready to flee and hide somewhere. He licks his shoulder again as he nervously awaits her response.

When the surprise wears off of Rain, she purrs in amusement and calmly grooms her ruffled fur back into place. Then, she meows, "Dude, Forest, of course not! Don't take it personally though, because I don't want to be anyone's mate! It's too early to settle down. I don't know about you, but I'd rather continue to run wild for a while."

Forest nods, feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment. Somehow, he knew that she was going to say no; he doesn't know why he bothered to ask. "That's alright with me. Well, I guess I'll see you around."

Just as Forest backs away and begins to go, Rain cuts in, "Tell you what, though."

She hesitates at first, wondering if she should actually promise this to him. But once she fully decides to say it, she steps closer to him and whispers in his ear, "If I eventually decide to settle down, as long as neither of us find anyone better by then, you'll be first on my list for a mate."

"Wow," Forest stammers as sparks fly in his heart, "okay."

Rain purrs in laughter at his reaction, her tail rising towards the sky. She playfully slaps his face with her tail as she strides past him. Forest flicks his ears at her and walks away in the other direction.

As she starts to walk toward the South Tunnel, a long-haired, silver tom suddenly leaps out from the grass. Rain jumps back, startled. She relaxes as soon as she recognizes the random cat as North. "Hey! What were you doing in there? Eavesdropping?"

North snorts, "Of course I was eavesdropping! I knew Forest had the hots for you. He wouldn't admit it to me, and I needed to find out."

Still purring from her conversation with Forest, Rain shakes her head at him. "You're a horrible friend to him. Are you here to give another love confession to me?"

"No," North retorts, "unless you want to give one to me."

With a final swish of his tail, he speeds away past Rain to make fun of Forest.

Rain sits down next to the South Tunnel and shakes her head in disbelief. She mutters under her breath, "What a strange day."

She's very glad that certain things are finally starting to heal from the war, though.

~~~~~
The end