Felicity

The warm afternoon sun beamed down into RiverClan camp, making the smooth ground beneath cats’ paws warm to the touch. The sound of kits playing in the clearing meant leafbare had spared them despite the frozen river and scarce prey. The warriors were well-fed and thankful hearts had emerged when little flooding happened during the thaw.

Mistywhisper’s ears perked up at the sound of little pawsteps tumbling into the den. She glanced behind her, watching her two sons tussle in the den’s entrance. They were only two moons old but were already a pawful for her. “Cinnamonkit, Coralkit, please be careful of the chervil.”

The larger brown tabby kit looked up, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “We won’t, mother. I’m teaching Coralkit some moves Grumblepaw taught me.”

“It’s not fair!” Coralkit squeaked, trying to knock his brother off of him. “He won’t even give me a chance to make a move.” Those yellow eyes of his glared up at his brother with frustration.

Mistywhisper got to her paws, moving towards her kits with a unique carefulness in her pawsteps. She gently lifted Cinnamonkit off of his brother, before helping Coralkit to his paws. “That’s enough, you two. Why don’t you two go play with Minnowfin’s kits? I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to learn some new moves.” The two kits exchanged a glance before nodding and scrambling out of the medicine den. Mistywhisper followed behind them, keeping a distance while making sure they didn’t hit any cat on the way out. The sun his her silver pelt with warmth, and she suddenly found herself wanting to bathe in it for a little while. Her gaze flicked over the clearing, watching as warriors went about their day. A couple of apprentices were sharing tongue in the shade of the reeds, while the only elder in camp was telling stories to a couple of younger kits. A flash of brown caught her eye and she turned to see Tidestar padding towards her, his stride purposeful. Mistywhisper’s gaze narrowed, and she turned to leave for her den.

“You know you can’t avoid me forever.” She felt something brush up against her and she had to resist the urge to swat him away with her tail. Tidestar didn’t seem to mind her tense demeanor. “I saw your sons running around the camp earlier. Cinnamonkit looks so much like him.”

“Don’t you ever bring that cat up again,” Mistywhisper hissed, sending her a leader a sharp glare. “He made his choice to abandon his family. He doesn’t deserve any praise.”

Tidestar softened, pausing to let her walk ahead of him. “I know, and I shouldn’t have brought him up. I apologize.” There was a beat of silence before he continued. “If you ever need help with them, you can always ask me, you know.”

The she-cat paused just outside the entrance to the medicine den, turning back to face him. She wasn’t angry or tense anymore, just… sad. “As you’ve offered many times before, but I don’t want to give my kits a false sense of hope.” Her gaze flicked down to the ground beneath her paws. “I’ve had to fight so hard to keep my role and my kits. I can’t lose them to useless feelings and my sons’ rampant questions about their father. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you stepping in for him, but you have to understand that the Clans are already skeptical of RiverClan because of codebreaking, why give them another thing to talk about?” Tidestar remained silent, as if pondering her words. With nothing else to say, he turned, and Mistywhisper watched him leave. Mistywhisper felt her heart twist with a sense of pain and something else, but she shook it off, padding back into the medicine den to continue her work. She didn’t have time for love and nonsense anymore, so why would she bother even trying again?

————

The evening brought a chilliness that only showed that whatever was left of leafbare was still lingering. Most of the camp was curled up in their nests, huddling for warmth and hoping for the warm nights that would come soon. Mistywhisper was not so lucky. Cinnamonkit and Coralkit were still awake, unable to sleep with the amount of energy they held, even from a day filled with playing and being tossed around by the apprentices. In hopes they would settle down, she took them out to walk alongside the bank of RiverClan in hopes to tire them out. The moon was bright despite only being half, and guided their pawsteps along the soft ground near the water.

“Do we ever cross the stream?” Coralkit asked, staring at the flowing water with wide eyes. “It looks so strong.”

“Maybe to you,” Mistywhisper purred softly as she guided her son away. “But the warriors are strong. To them, it’s nothing. Soon enough you’ll learn how to cross this stream and swim to the island for the Gathering.”

“It looks cold though,” he shivered. “I’m not sure I’d want to cross in leafbare.”

“Cranepool said the water warms up in greenleaf if the sun’s out for a long time,” Cinnamonkit chirped from farther ahead. He was standing on a small rock, looking out over the stream. “But she also said it’s even cooler when the stream turns to ice in leafbare. As long as you don’t slip and fall, you can play games on it.”

Coralkit ran ahead, wanting to join his brother on the rock. Mistywhisper paused where she was, watching the two as they quietly chattered and settled onto the smooth surface. Maybe they were finally settling for the night. She made herself comfortable not too far away, letting the water lap at her paws as she gazed up at the stars. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t hear the sound of approaching pawsteps. She startled, feeling something brush up against her and settle close beside her. Mistywhisper snapped her gaze to find Tidestar looking at her, but not with that familiar mischief she was so used to seeing. “What are you doing out here?”

“I figured you might need some help bringing them back to camp,” he mewed softly, gesturing to where the kits were. She glanced back over at them, noticing Coralkit had dozed off while Cinnamonkit tried to stay awake. “And… I wanted to talk to you. About earlier, I mean.”

“What is there to talk about?” Mistywhisper turned to meet his gaze again, skeptical. “I already told you my reasons.”

“I know,” he reassured. “But I didn’t handle it with as much grace as I should have.” His attention turned to the stream, watching his own reflection in the water. “I wanted to apologize if my advances have been extreme. I thought that maybe I was helping you, but it seems I’ve been pushing you away.”

Mistywhisper blinked in surprise. She wasn’t expecting him to apologize, or at least right away. “I know you mean well, Tidestar, but you have to understand why I’m doing this.”

“I know,” he mewed, “and I don’t want to push you. But, Mistywhisper, I need you to understand that you don’t have to raise them alone. You have a whole Clan taking care of them, and they’re loved by their Clanmates. I may be pushy about some things, but you’re always helping your Clan through your healing. We should be giving back, too.” He finally met her gaze again, tail brushing against hers softly. “What happened all those moons ago doesn’t define you now. You’ve proven yourself, and you’ve proven to your Clanmates that you’re loyal. I want you to see that.”

Her vision clouded for a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by his words. Hesitance followed into the quiet that had fallen between the two of them. Mistywhisper had known her Clanmates had forgiven her, and still trusted their medicine cat, but maybe, deep down, she was still trying to prove that to herself. Did she even trust herself after everything? Maybe her clouded judgment made it hard to see what’s really changed.

Shaking her head, she gently leaned against Tidestar, looking down at her paws. “Maybe I just need help to see it.”

Tidestar seemingly hesitated for a moment before he relaxed, gently intertwining his tail with hers. “If you’ll allow me to, I’ll always be here by your side…” Silence followed once more, the two cats just sitting under the light of the moon. Peace seemed to have returned once more, and Mistywhisper welcomed it fondly.

***

A/N: FINALLY MY GAL GETS SOME SPOTLIGHT. I was really struggling with writer’s block due to falling ill and then still being out of town. I wasn’t planning on finishing this till I got home, but I remembered I had Google Docs on my phone and finally decided to finish it. It’ll be the boys’ turn for the spotlight once I get home. For now, y’all enjoy this cute little chapter.