Run Away Bravely (Stormwind)

Leafpool gave Crowfeather a nod before separating from him and heading to the medicine cat den.

It had been long enough since Leafpool and Crowfeather left that the guard had changed. Sedgewhisker watched the pair come across the bridge with a raised brow, but let them into the camp without a challenge.

Leafpool leaped up onto the log bridge behind her mate, following him across to the island.

Crowfeather smiled back at Leafpool before leaping onto the log bridge, beginning to cross with nothing but thoughts of his mate on his mind.

Leafpool glanced back at her mate and gave him a smile. "We will."

“We have to do that again, and soon,” murmured Crowfeather. While they could be seen from the island now, that only meant they had to regulate their actions. They could continue to say whatever they wanted to one another up until they got halfway across the log bridge.

Leafpool obliged the tom by stepping forward and pressing her muzzle to his for a brief kiss. It only lasted a few moments and she stepped back afterwards, resuming their trek towards the island.

“Can I have one more kiss...?” Crowfeather Mewed quietly, finishing his grooming of his pelt.

It only took a couple of minutes for Leafpool to groom Crowfeather's scent out of her pelt. Once done, she ruffled it and glanced at the tom to see if he was done.

Crowfeather sighed, unwillingly beginning to groom Leafpool’s scent out of his fur.

Leafpool winced a little as she realized something. "Our scents are all over each other." She started to groom her pelt. If they were going to at least attempt to hide it, they couldn't smell as if they'd done exactly what they did.

Crowfeather nodded, pinning his ears back slightly. This was going to be difficult, to say the very least.

Leafpool sighed. “I might not care but I don’t want to risk everything immediately.”

Crowfeather looked off to the side, letting the She-cat decide for herself wether she was ready to put everything on the line for him right away.

Leafpool blinked. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Do I need to hide that I’m with you when we get back?” The tom finally managed to ask.

Leafpool blinked at him curiously. She couldn’t read minds; she wasn’t Jayfeather.

Crowfeather only pulled away after several heartbeats, a pang of regret coursing through him as he realized he might have to pretend to not be her mate once they reentered the camp, at least until they found out if Leafpool was or wasn’t pregnant. The tom looked questioningly to The she-cat, as if expecting her to read his mind and answer his question.

Leafpool closed her eyes and let herself kiss the tom back.

Crowfeather listened to Leafpool’s words, his eyes wide and mouth agape by the time she finally professed her love for him. The black tom found himself unable to put together the right words in his head, nothing anywhere near as good as what she said. So he used action instead of words, stepping across the minuscule gap between them and pressing his muzzle to hers in a kiss.

Leafpool stepped closer to Crowfeather until they were almost nose-to-nose, staring into his blue eyes. "Crowfeather, I left you once already," she said, taking a deep breath. "I left our kits. I ran away because I was frightened. I will not run away again, not even to protect my reputation and position as a medicine cat. I have made many mistakes but leaving you and abandoning our kits is not one I will make again." Her voice was dripping with both sorrow and sincerity. "Crowfeather, I love you."

Crowfeather pinned his ears back as he glanced at his Leafpool. “I hope you’re right.”

Leafpool smiled, a bitter thing without any amusement in it. "We can't afford to lose any medicine cats. They might shun me or cage me but they can't strip me of my title. If it were a time of peace they would but not now, not with the infected."

Crowfeather’s eyes widened slightly at her admission. “If you lose your medicine cat title though...” that had been her biggest worry in the past.

Leafpool stilled, the corners of her muzzle curling down into a worried and thoughtful frown. She hadn't thought of that. After a few moments of thought, though, she came to the startling realization that she didn't care. "I don't care," she said out loud, marveling at her lack of care. She'd never not cared about what the Clans thought of her before.