Two halves of a whole (Jay x Briar AU)

Chapter 14

Jayfeather yawned, looking around. 5 moons had passed since the battle, and every cat’s wounds had healed. He stood up, careful not to wake up Briarlight. He left the camp and went out to the forest. 

The sun was shining brightly and the birds sang. It had been peaceful since the battle. The Clans were getting along and prey was plentiful. Bramblestar and Squirrelflight had four kits, but two of them died, so now it was just Sparkkit and Alderkit. Two moons ago, Briarlight had told him she was expecting his kits. Molewhisker and Cherryfall were warriors now, and the Clan had moved on from their grieving. They had made a stick for the fallen, which now included Foxleap and Sorreltail, who’d died from their wounds. His powers were gone, and so were Dovewing and Lionblaze’s. Cinderheart was expecting Lionblaze’s kits. Both her and Briarlight had moved to the nursery, but Briarlight insisted on sleeping with Jayfeather still. Her kits were due any day now. Cinderheart’s would probably be in another moon and a half. Lilyheart had given birth to Larkkit, Leafkit, and Honeykit just a quarter-moon ago. Graystripe, Sandstorm, and Millie had become warriors and Dustpelt and Seedpaw, Lilyheart’s sister, had died. 

He was distracted from his thoughts as he heard rustling near him. He turned and saw Briarlight. “Shouldn’t you be in camp? You need to rest.”

“I can still walk. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll go back later. What are you doing out here?” 

“Just thinking and stuff, I guess, how did you sleep?” he asked. “I slept great. What about you?”

“I slept okay,” she responded. “I'm going to go back to camp. I'm already tired. See you later, my love.” she licked his muzzle and walked off. He watched her until she was out of view then turned and sniffed for prey. He could smell a squirrel close and realized it was in the tree beside him. He climbed it and crept up on the squirrel, which was sitting on a branch with its back turned to him. Once he got closer, the branch began to shake with his weight. The squirrel turned, but it was too late. He leaped at it and killed it, then went back down and buried it. 

He walked further, looking for prey. He found a mouse and leaped at it, but it ran into its burrow before he could get it. “Mouse-dung!” he hissed. He was about to find more prey when he heard a yowl of pain in the distance. It was coming from the camp. He quickly turned and ran all the way to camp, forgetting about the squirrel. When he entered, the yowling had stopped, and cats were crowding around the medicine den. Cinderheart was trying to get them to leave but they were asking too many questions to hear. He pushed past all of them, his tail flicking Irritably as he entered. 

Leafpool was crouching beside Briarlight. He heard another sound. Loud mewling. “She had her kits?” he asked in surprise. Leafpool nodded. “Almost as soon as she came back.”

He looked at her kits. Their kits. They were perfect. One of them was brown like Briarlight and the other was gray like him. He purred. “They're wonderful,” he murmured. Briarlight was asleep, and he lay beside her and went to sleep too. 

When he awoke, Briarlight was awake. “What should we name them?” he asked. “How about Fawnkit and Smokekit?” she asked. 

“They're perfect.”

HEY. THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER, BUT THERE WILL BE AN EPILOGUE. THERE WILL BE NO SEQUEL, BUT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER FANFIC ASAP. A Goldenflower and Tigerclaw one where many things change. The epilogue should be done in maybe 30 minutes to 3 hours. Then the Prologue of the next book will be right after.