Skypaw's blood turned to ice. Her thoughts began to race as she comprehended what the ShadowClan medicine cat had just said.

He loves me? We're in different Clans! He's a ShadowClan cat! I belong to ThunderClan! He's a medicine cat! I'm only an apprentice!

Skypaw stared blankly at Hawkspirit. His eyes were pleading, and Skypaw knew that the ShadowClan medicine cat was waiting for her to repeat those words to him.

Not only was Hawkspirit a ShadowClan cat, he was a medicine cat. He wasn't supposed to choose a mate from his own Clan, let alone from ThunderClan. Skypaw's mind was screaming frantically at her to run, but her heart told her to not move a muscle.

And she listened.

She sat there, despite the fact that the sky was turning pink due to the rising run. Dawn was approaching, and it was approaching fast.

"Skypaw," Hawkspirit's voice was soft and gentle. "I...I know we're from different Clans. I know I'm a medicine cat. Trust me, I know," The shadowy tom's deep blue eyes bore into her own. "and it haunts me everyday. There is not a moment where I don't wish I could be with you, in ThunderClan's camp, a warrior. There isn't a moment where I don't wish we could raise kits together. I would trade anything, even the stars in the sky, to be with you. Please tell me you feel the same."

His words made Skypaw's heart pound a billion beats per minute. His words scared her, but strangely gave her a sense of relief, almost as if she had been waiting her entire life to hear him say them.

Skypaw's mind traveled to the first time she met Hawkspirit in ThunderClan's forest. She was having a discussion with Willowleaf near the old Thunderpath about the prophecy. It had been right after StarClan had given her the first sign she had ever received from them. Nightflare, ShadowClan's medicine cat, and Hawkspirit came padding through the forest. He had been Hawkpaw then, just a mere apprentice. She remembered how friendly he was the second time she had seen him in the forest, and the way they had sat together at the last Gathering.

She recalled how she always looked forward to their meetings at the Gathering place. She remembered all the sleepless nights she suffered because of their meetings, and how she never regretted a thing in the morning. She remembered all the times she had put her status in the Clan at risk by going to meet him, and how she knew it was worth it every time.

The voices inside her head told her how wrong it was, all of this. They told her once again how he was a ShadowClan medicine cat, and she a ThunderClan apprentice. 

Her heart told them she didn't care.

She would become a warrior in less than a moon, anyway. It's not like she had Clan judgment to worry about her choosing a mate so young, because her Clan simply would never know.

It was at that moment Skypaw realized that she had loved Hawkspirit since the first time she saw him. He had left an impact on her from the very beginning, an impact that she would never be able to escape or erase. Her heart had chosen him, this gray ShadowClan cat, as the one for her, she had just never realized it until now.

"I love you too, Hawkspirit," She breathed, their tails intertwining under the dawning light.

THIS IS SHORT, I KNOW, BUT THIS WAS A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT CHAPTER, IN CASE YOU GUYS DIDN'T NOTICE.

YOU GUYS WILL READ THIS TWO DAYS FROM NOW (IT'S CURRENTLY 8/29/16 AT 2:04AM), AND I QUITE FRANKLY HAVE NO IDEA HOW I'M GOING TO KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT FOR TWO DAYS. BUT I WILL DO IT.

LADIES, MAKE SURE YOU FIND YOURSELVES A HAWKSPIRIT. DON'T SETTLE FOR A SUNSTAR, MK? 

AND GENTLEMEN, BE A FREAKIN HAWKSPIRIT, NOT A SUNSTAR, MK?

MK.

THANKS FOR READING. FEEL FREE TO FREAK OUT IN THE COMMENTS BECAUSE, GIRL, SAME.

9/31/16: Hi friends! Sorry that I didn't update yesterday, I had a friend spend the night so I was out and about all day. I had school registration today (insert tears here) but here's Chapter 10! Again, I know it's short, but writing shouldn't be about the quantity, but the quality. Thanks for reading!