Lilypetal's POV

"Lilypetal, are you okay?"

I lifted my head from my paws to see that Thornclaw was padding into the nursery, his pale blue eyes glowing with concern. The sun almost seemed to create an orb around him as it began to set in the sky behind him.

The sight of my mate was already seeming to ease the worrisome thoughts I had just been having before he arrived into the den. Obviously he can see that something's bothering me, I realized.

Before I could answer Thornclaw's question, I was interrupted by the squeals of my daughters behind me.

"Father!" Snowkit and Goldenkit exclaimed before running up to the golden tabby tom. Goldenkit grabbed onto his tail with her teeth while Snowkit hopped all around him, her eyes gleaming with excitement. Even though the two of them had almost just gotten back from a long walk around the camp, their energy was far from gone.

Thornclaw purred in happiness. "Goldenkit, that's not a stick, it's my tail," he purred softly as Goldenkit continued to latch onto his tail.

"So what?" Goldenkit meowed, her mouth full of Thornclaw's tail fur.

I purred with amusement as Thornclaw then teased, "You're getting bigger each day! Soon enough, hanging onto my tail might just snap it off!"

Goldenkit quickly let go of her father's tail and let out a mrrow of high-pitched laughter as she rolled around on the soft earth.

"Imagine that!" Snowkit purred. "Telling Leafpool and Jayfeather that you need their help because Goldenkit broke your tail off!"

"They'd probably say that I had strong teeth!" Goldenkit squeaked, barring her teeth.

"Yes, because that is what you should get out of that experience," Thornclaw purred, touching both kits on their heads with his nose. He glanced at me briefly before turning back to Snowkit and Goldenkit, meowing, "I think I saw Blossomkit, Bumblekit and Briarkit playing mossball outside. How about you two join them while Lilypetal and I talk?"

Goldenkit nodded quickly. "Okay!"

"We'll join them!" Snowkit exclaimed.

As the two kits then turned around to trot out of the den, I called out to them, "Don't stay out playing too late! I'll come out to get you when it's time to go to sleep!"

I then let out a sigh as the excited squeals of Goldenkit and Snowkit faded, and Thornclaw padded up to sit beside me in our nest.

"So," Thornclaw began, lightly nudging me on the shoulder, "tell me why those beautiful hazel eyes of yours look so worried."

I immediately hesitated, not sure how much I should share with Thornclaw about what was bugging me. "Well... so..." I stammered.

"You certainly don't have to tell me," Thornclaw insisted, pressing his muzzle to my cheek. "I just know that you typically tell me what's bothering you, which is what worries me."

I met Thornclaw's warm blue gaze, and I felt my heart well up with love, just seeing how truly concerned my mate was for me.

I sighed again, trying to collect myself and get my words together. Thornclaw's right, I realized. I do tell him everything. As much as it may make him freak out, he deserves to know. Letting out an exasperated huff, I then thought, and I've been hiding it for too long in the hopes that it might get better, but it hasn't.

Hiding the fact that Ashfur was still lingering through the ThunderClan forest had been quite tough. The crazy mouse-brain, I suppose, still hadn't let go of the grudges he held, and felt like something would happen if he stayed in his old territory? I still wasn't really sure.

I hadn't told any cat that this was happening. I truly had hoped that if I just waited it out, Ashfur would give up and vanish like any other exile would. But, just moments ago, I had been stressing about the fact that that probably hadn't been the best idea. And that was why Thornclaw had immediately noticed something was off as he walked into the nursery.

Up until now, I had been able to ignore it all somewhat. During the day, life was peaceful, but almost as soon as I settled into my nest for the night, I could hear Ashfur's footsteps through the forest, and clearly catch a whiff of his scent. I hadn't gotten many good nights of sleep lately. Rather, I would lie in my nest with Thornclaw, Snowkit and Goldenkit, and while they slept, I would keep my head up, my ears alert for any signs of danger.

This had been happening for two moons now, which also marked two moons since Ashfur had been exposed for who he really was at the Gathering, and was exiled from ThunderClan. I wonder if Squirrelflight has noticed him too? I thought. As horrible as it would be for Ashfur to go after both of the cats that exposed him, I would like to know that I'm not exactly alone.

I then told myself that now that I was telling Thornclaw, I wouldn't be alone. I was two moons too late to be telling any cat, I knew that now, but I already felt a little better knowing that I was getting it out.

I took a deep breath and looked into Thornclaw's pale blue eyes. I hope that he's not angry that I waited a bit to tell him...

"Ashfur is still in ThunderClan territory," I told him evenly, immediately trying to read his gaze after I spoke.

My mate's eyes immediately widened.

"What?!" He exclaimed, standing up. "Are you sure?"

I stood up too, nodding. "I'm sure," I meowed. "He comes around every few nights, and sometimes I can hear him behind the nursery."

As I feared he would, Thornclaw then asked, "Why haven't you said anything before?"

I shook my head slowly. "I asked myself that as soon as you walked into the den!" I admitted. "I figured that if I gave it some time, the mouse-brain would just leave."

Thornclaw then let out a sigh, I assumed to try and calm himself down. "I understand that," he muttered, touching his nose to mine. "And I have to admit, I've been woken up lately by some rustles I thought that I heard, but I've just brushed them off."

Thank StarClan, I thought to myself. That makes me feel a little better.

I managed to let out a faint purr of amusement. "Okay, so we're both idiots," I teased, nudging Thornclaw lightly.

Thornclaw gave me an affectionate look before shaking his head quickly, almost as if to bring himself back into business. "Have you actually seen him?" He asked.

A pang of fear shot through my stomach as I was brought back to the morning after the Gathering, when I had first heard noises from behind the nursery. I had snuck out of camp briefly to see what was going on, and traveled through the dirtplace trail to find Ashfur's speckled-gray fur nearby. He had disappeared out of sight since then, but certainly not in scent.

I nodded to Thornclaw again and briefly described the morning that I had discovered Ashfur out in the ThunderClan forest. Thornclaw listened intently, his eyes still wide with alarm.

As soon as I was done with the explanation, I flicked my ears as Thornclaw ran past me and out of the nursery. "Well, this is something Firestar should know!" he called back to me. "I'm not risking you, my kits, or anyone else in this Clan falling back into danger because of that fox-heart!"

For a moment, I just stood in awe, satisfied at how well that conversation had gone, before I saw Thornclaw's head pop back into the nursery.

"You coming, Lilypetal?" he meowed, tilting his head. "You're going to be doing most of the talking. I'm just there for support!"

I purred with amusement once again. Thornclaw could be so adorable, and he didn't even realize it most of the time. "Yes, I'm coming," I purred before following my mate out of the nursery.

Almost immediately, I paused again as my gaze fell on Goldenkit and Snowkit, who luckily were playing with Millie's kits as Thornclaw had told them to do.

"What about the kits?" I called to Thornclaw.

As Thornclaw paused as well and was about to give me an answer, I noticed that Goldenkit had separated herself from the mossball game and was padding over to stand in front of me.

"Don't worry, Lilypetal!" She insisted. "We can be good!"

"Yeah!" Snowkit meowed, joining her sister. "You don't need to worry!"

I exchanged a wary glance with Thornclaw. "They are going to be apprentices soon," I realized out loud.

"I suppose that it is about time that they learn to be on their own for a few moments," Thornclaw murmured, briefly glancing sadly at his two daughters. He's probably just as sad as I am to watch our daughters grow up, I thought.

My mate and I then exchanged another glance, almost as if coming to a silent agreement.

"Okay, you two," Thornclaw meowed to Snowkit and Goldenkit, his gaze serious. "We're going to trust you to stay here without us for a little bit."

Both Snowkit and Goldenkit's mouths dropped in astonishment. Goldenkit then began to jump up and down.

"You trust us? You trust us!" Goldenkit exclaimed, before seemingly calming herself down. She then lifted her head up as she meowed. "And you have every reason to!"

Snowkit nodded in agreement. "Definitely!"

"I know I do," I meowed softly to my kits before continuing to travel over to Firestar's den with Thornclaw. "Please behave! Stay with the other queens!"

As soon as I caught up to Thornclaw, we began to walk to the Highledge to leap up and into to the ThunderClan leader's den to share our news.