Lilypetal's POV

I couldn't suppress a startled hiss as yowls of shock rippled among the Clan cats. "Oh, no no no..." I muttered just loudly enough for myself to hear. This secret was supposed to stay with me, Leafpool, and Squirrelflight! Now all four Clans know that these ThunderClan cats have been living a lie.

I then whipped my head quickly over to Hollyleaf, who was simply watching the reactions unfolding in front of her. Why did you do this? What did you expect to happen?

Among all of the voices merging together on the island, one stuck out more than the others. My heart sank as I caught Brambleclaw's voice come from bottom of the tree where the deputies sat.

"What?" He meowed sharply, getting up to his paws. "Squirrelflight, why is she talking such nonsense?"

I let out a sigh, looking down to the ground and shaking my head. I figured that Brambleclaw would find out about this at some point, or Squirrelflight would decide to tell him, I admitted to myself. But I didn't want it to happen this way...

I then looked over to Squirrelflight, who was quite a few tail-lengths from me. She looked as if four badgers were standing right in front of her. Then, her gaze softened, and her green eyes seemed to be filled with nothing but sadness.

Is she going to admit it? I wondered, my tail twitching anxiously.

"I'm sorry, Brambleclaw, but it's true," the dark ginger she-cat forced out. "I'm not their mother, and you are not their father."

My stomach twisted as I then looked back at Brambleclaw. His amber gaze was burning into Squirrelflight's. "Then who is?" He demanded.

I suddenly felt the impulse to run up to Squirrelflight and stand at her side. I was too nervous to look directly into her gaze, but I simply padded up to stand beside her, my fur lightly brushing against hers.

I watched as Squirrelflight turned to face Hollyleaf, whose green eyes were glittering with pride.

"Tell them, Hollyleaf," she meowed clearly to the cat that she had claimed as her daughter for moons and moons. "I kept the secret for seasons; I'm not going to reveal it now."

"Coward!" Hollyleaf barked back at Squirrelflight before sweeping her gaze around the clearing once again. I unsheathed my claws and dug them into the ground. As much as I wanted to stop Hollyleaf from causing more harm than she already had, I knew that the damage was already done.

"I'm not afraid of the truth!" Hollyleaf went on. "Leafpool is our mother, and Crowfeather - yes, Crowfeather of WindClan - is our father."

I let out a gasp and shut my eyes. Well... that's that.

As Hollyleaf shouted these words, more yowls of surprise rose up in the clearing. "These cats were so ashamed of us that they gave us away and lied to every single one of you to hide the fact that they had broken the warrior code." I then felt another pang in my stomach as Hollyleaf lashed her tail over to where Leafpool was sitting with the medicine cats. "It's all her fault. How can the Clans survive when there are cowards and liars at the very heart of them?"

I didn't think that it was possible, but the yowls and gasps among the Clans managed to grow even louder. I found that my heart felt as if it was almost physically in pain. It was hurting for Squirrelflight and Leafpool, and although it had been their choice to keep this secret for so long, I couldn't imagine the amount of loss and grief they were feeling at the moment.

A new voice was able to make itself heard among the crowd, and I almost immediately recognized Crowfeather. Great StarClan, what will he have to say about this?

"It's not true!" He insisted, his gray-black fur bristling, turning to face Breezepelt and Nightcloud. "She's the one who's lying!"

I then turned my head back towards the large oak tree as I noticed that Leafpool was standing up. I almost could hear the crack of my heart breaking as I saw the immense amount of sorrow in her amber eyes.

"It's true, Crowfeather," she meowed, her gaze meeting her former mate's. "I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you, but there was never a right time."

I looked back at Crowfeather, anxious to hear his response.

"You mean nothing to me, Leafpool," the WindClan tom meowed coldly. "That moon has passed. My loyalty is only to WindClan, and I have no kits other than Breezepelt."

I then had to try my hardest to suppress a hiss, my claws continuing to dig into the ground. That mangy... I thought angrily. Maybe there is a coward among us.

I then turned back to Leafpool, having had to move my head back and forth as if I was watching a game of mossball. Leafpool was dipping her head, proceeding to turn her head to look up at Firestar. My heart felt like it was breaking a second time at the tabby-and-white she-cat's next words.

"I know that I cannot be ThunderClan's medicine cat any longer," she meowed. "I'm so sorry to you, Firestar, and to all my Clanmates. Please know that I tried my best, and regretted what I had done with every single breath." She paused, swallowing before she continued. "But I couldn't regret having my kits. They are fine cats, and I will always be proud of them."

The Clan then watched in silence as Leafpool took one last glance at Crowfeather before padding across the clearing, away from the crowd of cats, and then out of sight.

Poor, poor Leafpool, I thought as I watched her disappear. I then turned my head as more movement came from the edge of the clearing, and I nearly gasped as I saw Brambleclaw approaching Squirrelflight, who was still next to me.

The ThunderClan deputy's eyes were filled with hurt as he meowed, "Why?"

"I had to!" Squirrelflight meowed desperately. "She's my sister!"

"And you couldn't trust me?" Brambleclaw questioned, his voice shaking. I could barely stand to look at him as he spoke, so I moved my head to look at Squirrelflight, who simply stared back at her mate without flinching. Is she not going to speak for herself? I wondered.

When Squirrelflight continued to not reply, I turned back to Brambleclaw just in time to watch him almost come to a conclusion, his eyes now glowing with betrayal and disappointment. "You couldn't trust me," he repeated. "Don't you think I would have helped you, if you'd told me the truth? But it's too late now."

Through my surprise, I barely realized that my mouth had dropped open. No! I pleaded to Brambleclaw in my head. Let her explain! But in that same instant, Brambleclaw turned away from Squirrelflight without another word.

"Brambleclaw-" Squirrelflight called, beginning to follow after her former mate, but my eyebrows raised as I watched her almost immediately pause, hanging her head low to the ground. I looked down at her and then let my gaze look after Brambleclaw, who was shouldering a path through the crowd.

This can't happen! I thought. If only Brambleclaw knew how difficult this was for her, how much she wanted to tell him!

I then found myself following after the dark brown tabby tom. This secret being revealed has turned a lot of things completely upside down, I thought angrily. But if there's a part of it that can be fixed, I might as well try at it, right?

I chased after Brambleclaw. "Brambleclaw, wait!"

To my luck, Brambleclaw turned to face me as soon as I had called him. I could see that he was trying to appear strong and stoic, but his eyes clearly gave away the hurt and betrayal he was feeling. "What?" He rasped in a voice just barely above a whisper.

"Can I please talk to you for a moment?" I asked, kneading my paws into the ground.

Brambleclaw rolled his eyes. "I know what this is about," he meowed bitterly. "And your attempt isn't going to work, Lilypetal. You can't convince me to forgive Squirrelflight when she's lied to me for seasons."

I sighed. "I know, I know," I muttered. "But-"

"What do you mean?" Brambleclaw demanded, taking a step closer to me with his eyes narrowed. "You've known?"

"That doesn't matter now," I insisted, shaking my head quickly. "Brambleclaw listen, I'm not here to fall to the ground and beg you to take Squirrelflight back-"

"Hm, you might as well," Brambleclaw muttered, looking away from me. "It would just be another addition to the dramatics of this Gathering."

I ignored the tom's bitter tone, returning to what I had been saying. "I'm not asking you to forgive her," I repeated. "I just want you to know how difficult this was for Squirrelflight. Trust me, I wouldn't like the idea of my mate hiding a secret like that from me, either..." I hesitated, and then continued to speak. "But... Squirrelflight only did what she thought she had to do to protect her sister."

When Brambleclaw didn't respond, I went on, shifting my paws back and forth on the ground. "If you want to hold a grudge against her, I can understand that. She did lie to you," I murmured. "But... I just thought that I would try. Squirrelflight would need your support now more than ever."

Then deciding that I should probably just leave Brambleclaw with his thoughts, I simply gave him a nod and turned away from the tabby tom to try and find Squirrelflight. But my ears flicked up as I heard Brambleclaw's voice calling back to me.

"Lilypetal..."

I paused and turned my head around to look at Brambleclaw, who was slowly padding up to me. "Yes?"

He seemed to have predicted where I was going. "Can... can I come with you?"

I raised my eyebrows at the Clan deputy. "Really?" I questioned him. "Are you sure?"

Brambleclaw hesitated for a few heartbeats before nodding and answering simply, "Yes, let's go."

I couldn't help but well up with pride. Words can really be powerful if you use them the right way... I realized. That has been proven many times tonight already!

"Okay," I whispered to Brambleclaw as I began to walk again. "Let's go."