A shadow slipped from the crowd of starry warriors, and Squirrelflight’s heart clenched.
“Hi, Squirrelflight," she said in a small voice.
"Hollyleaf," Squirrelflight breathed.
Every hair on her pelt ached with longing as it had when Dandelionkit and Juniperkit had appeared. She wanted to rush to Hollyleaf like she'd done with them and cover her face in licks, but Squirrelflight stilled her paws. She didn't know if Hollyleaf would appreciate such a gesture.
There was so much still unresolved between them. Hollyleaf had died so soon after she’d returned ThunderClan, and then Squirrelflight's time with her in StarClan after she'd been badly injured had been even briefer than that. A part of Squirrelflight still didn't know where she stood in the eyes of her adoptive daughter.
But, Hollyleaf seemed to be almost equally as unsure of her. She hung back instead of approaching right away as Squirrelflight's other life-givers had. Dandelionkit and Juniperkit departed from Squirrelflight, trotting over to Hollyleaf to rub against her legs. Hollyleaf only broke eye-contact with Squirrelflight to affectionately nudge them along, and the two kits returned into the crowd of StarClan cats.
"I need to ask, because I wasn't sure..." Hollyleaf murmured, shuffling her paws awkwardly. "I mean... Do you want me to be the one who gives your next life?"
"Of course!" Squirrelflight exclaimed, her ears angling back at the implication otherwise.
Hollyleaf dipped her head, staring down at her feet.
“Very well then," she said in a low voice. She breathed in deeply. "With this life, I give you forgiveness. I was hurting in the last few moons I was alive, but the way I acted wasn’t right. It only served to hurt myself, you, and the rest of our family— the cats who I care about the most. Do not do as I did and allow anger and stubbornness to blind you when you feel wronged. Instead forgive, and learn to ask for forgiveness in return.”
Hollyleaf finally lifted her gaze to blink at her, a seasons-old grief and regret swimming in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
Squirrelflight inhaled sharply, her chest aching.
“There is nothing to forgive,” she whispered. “I love you so much, Hollyleaf. No matter what, you will always be my daughter.”
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