"the riverclan cat?" he says, incredulous.
"yes," snowfur says.
stunned silence, then a smaller, younger voice.
"my papa is thrushpelt!" the patched face looks up at him, eyes shining. "i missed you, papa. come play with me!"
thrushpelt's eyes water. snowfur smiles, and leaves them to their play.
oakheart enters starclan. "my daughter," he says warmly to mosskit, who looks at him and sees a stranger. "thrushpelt, who is he?"
thrushpelt swallows his tension.
"this is…your other father, mosskit." he has been waiting for this moment. it came several seasons too early, the tragedy.
oakheart and thrushpelt meet eyes. amber on green. river and thunder. the reddish tom is somber, thinking.
"i took my - your daughter from you. if i knew…if i knew what would happen, it would not have been so. do not forgive me," he says, quietly, never breaking his gaze.
mosskit plays with oakheart's brush-like tail. thrushpelt is silent.
oakheart speaks. "all i ask is…to let me be there for her. to do what i could not have in life. it is all i have ever wanted. it is the least i can offer her."
thrushpelt thinks. oakheart feels like breaking all over again.
"i have made up my mind," thrushpelt starts, and oakheart's fur rises. "blood means nothing. i know that. you know that. but i have seen you, with mistyfoot, with stonefur…and i see nothing but the great love you harbor in your heart for them."
oakheart nods slowly. he listens. thrushpelt continues, "i am not one to deny my daughter love. she deserves it. and you have it in full. this is…an invitation." thrushpelt looks over the edge of the sky, down below, to thunderclan treetops.
"i cannot claim full of parentage of these three. bluestar is out there…thinking of you, thinking of them. and i want her to be part of this, this, whatever this will be. this family. and i know she would not feel it complete without you."
"so…oakheart of riverclan. you have my permission." whatever breath oakheart was holding was released. "you have my permission to raise mosskit alongside me. you can be her father as much as i am, and have been."
the reddish-brown tom's heart thudded in his chest as he nodded. "i will not disappoint you, thrushpelt, thank you," he croaked out, throat dry of the usual honey of his words. oakheart managed a smile, and thrushpelt returned it. the two toms stood in silence. snowfur watched from afar.
even mosskit stops her fidgeting and looks up at oakheart. "so…that means i have two papas?" she asks. thrushpelt nods. she thought for a moment, then shrugged. "mmkay." her small pink mouth stretched into a yawn. "can i sleep now, papas? i'm tired." "of course," they said in unison.
mosskit skipped away to meet snowfur, who shared a look with thrushpelt, whose brows furrowed. 'what?' he mouthed, and snowfur shrugged, then smiled cheekily. she left with the kitten, leaving oakheart and thrushpelt alone in the ether.
coughing awkwardly, and gaze skirting away from thrushpelt's, oakheart states, "i suppose we should get to know each other." something unnameable thrummed in thrushpelt's heart. "i suppose," he replied, his tone light, playful, yet encouraging.
oakheart. the deputy. the charmer across the water, his enemy, the lover of the one who didn't love him back. his words were said to be as honey as his eyes, and they were now looking between his paws, dumbfounded at how to continue.
thrushpelt found himself in the strange position of having to forward the conversation. "this is the cat bluestar fell in love with?" he ventured. oakheart looked up at him, and thrushpelt resisted the urge to look away (he wasn't usually this bold). "i'm teasing." the other tom smiled.
"and you're the cat bluestar didn't fall in love with," he said, with a gentleness thrushpelt wasn't expecting. "yes…that is me."
the boldness surged again. "come. walk with me." thrushpelt flicked his tail. he knew a good spot up in the treetops that gave a good view of the camp.
"do you like trees?" thrushpelt asked, offhandedly.
"more than you'd know."
thrushpelt walked, and oakheart followed.
"i have a lot of questions," thrushpelt said, slowly.
"and i have the answers," oakheart replied.