Leafpool’s Wish

“You have to be,” Squirrelflight told her, her amber eyes fierce in the darkness. “Come on!” She propped Leafpool’s head against her shoulder and held her close as yet another spasm rolled through Leafpool’s body. This time the kit slipped out easily, a pale gray tabby even smaller than its littermates.

“Another tom,” Yellowfang announced, efficiently peeling off the sac and delivering the mewling bundle to Leafpool’s belly. “Two sons and a daughter. Congratulations, Leafpool.” There was warmth in her voice, and Leafpool caught a spark of emotion glistening in the old cat’s eyes.

“Thank you,” she whispered. She bent over her babies and started licking the stickiness from their fur.

Above her, she heard Yellowfang telling Squirrelflight that they both needed to get some rest, then Squirrelflight could fetch prey and more water. “Wait for the kits’ eyes to open before you go back to the hollow,” she mewed. There was a pause. “If you go back.”

As she slipped into the stillness of sleep, Leafpool thought she might stay in this hollow tree forever. Everything that matters to me in the world is here.

She woke to a strong, meaty scent under her nose. Blinking open her eyes, she saw Squirrelflight pushing a shrew toward her. “You haven’t eaten for two sunrises,” her sister meowed. “Come on, share this with me.”

Leafpool half sat up, aware of an empty feeling in her belly. She looked down and saw her three kits curled tightly against her, fast asleep. Her heart swelled with love, more fierce than anything she had felt before. I would die for you, she thought. The hollow was cold and there was a strange white light filtering through the narrow entrance. Leafpool craned her neck and saw thick flakes drifting down from the sky to settle on the forest floor.

“It’s snowing!” Squirrelflight mewed. “It’ll make hunting more difficult, but at least it will hide our scent.” She watched Leafpool tuck into the shrew. The black she-kit wriggled free from her brothers and wailed when she felt cold air on her pelt. At once Leafpool stopped eating and tucked her daughter gently back into her belly fur.

“See?” Squirrelflight purred. “You know exactly what to do! I knew you’d be a brilliant mother.”

There was a ring of sadness in her voice, and Leafpool recalled Yellowfang’s prophecy that Squirrelflight would never have kits of her own. She felt a stab of guilt that she had ever doubted these kits should be born. They were a blessing, like Brackenfur had said. Thank you, StarClan, she whispered.

Squirrelflight curled her body around Leafpool’s, blocking out the draft from the entrance. Leafpool felt her sister’s breath warm on the back of her neck as they drifted into sleep. A slight shift in the air made Leafpool open her eyes. Outside the forest was still and silent under its pelt of snow. She could hear the tiny breathing sounds of her kits, muffled against her belly, and steady snores from Squirrelflight. And something else…

A glittering outline appeared in a shaft of starlight. Warm eyes glowed from the shadows, and Leafpool detected a faint, half-remembered scent. Not Yellowfang this time. Feathertail!

The pale silver she-cat stepped forward and looked down at the kits. Her purrs rumbled against the hollow tree, and Squirrelflight stirred. Leafpool felt her sister stiffen in surprise.

“Feathertail!” she gasped. She scrambled to her paws and tried to press herself against the starlit shape, her tail curled over her back in delight. “I never thought I’d see you here! Have you come to see Leafpool’s kits? Aren’t they amazing?” Squirrelflight broke away and leaned down over Leafpool. Very gently, she moved the kits into view one by one. “A black she-cat and two toms, this golden tabby and this gray. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my life.” Her voice cracked.

Feathertail’s blue eyes brimmed with love. “They are perfect. Crowfeather would be so proud.”

With a jolt, Leafpool remembered that Feathertail had been Crowfeather’s mate first. Had she come all the way from the Tribe of Endless Hunting to tell Leafpool that Crowfeather deserved to know he had become a father? As if she could tell what Leafpool was thinking, Feathertail shook her head.

“These kits are more precious than you could possibly know,” she mewed softly. “Cats will speak of them for many seasons to come. They must stay in ThunderClan, for all the Clans’ sakes, with a mother and father who can be proud of them, who can share them with their Clanmates to be raised as strong, loyal warriors.”

Leafpool opened her mouth to protest that this was impossible, her Clanmates would never accept Crowfeather as their father, and might reject her too, knowing that their medicine cat had destroyed the code. But Feathertail was looking at Squirrelflight.