The Real Reason, a warriors fanfic

Disclaimer: if I owned it would I be writing it here. No? Thought not.

I had been told birthing was painful, it wasn't. The kittens' heads were small and got through quite easily. It was not painful.

As I licked the first kitten, I saw that he was male with a white coat, and what a pretty thing was he. He meowed as I got a spasm, and I remembered that he had to eat and I had to give birth.

When all of my litter had come into the world – five of them including the white one – I relaxed, and thought.

I had always wanted to give one of my kittens to Fireheart ever since I found out he was a forest cat. I wanted one of my kittens to be as brave and strong as he. To just decide which one.

I was just thinking of giving him my tuxedo male kitten, when my housefolk came in. I had not realised how much time had passed, I had given birth at midnight – according to the 'clock'- and it was now morning, the late, winter dawn in fact.

They looked at my kittens, the housefolk-kittens cooed, wanting to pick them up, hold them, but their parents telling them, "No! She has just given birth, she'll scratch you, and the kittens are very delicate."

They relented, and my he-folk and she-folk looked over my kittens, when they rested their eyes on my first-born, the white one, they pursed their lips.

"Honey," the he-folk said to the she-folk. "What shall we do with the white one? No one wants a mixed breed, white cat. They don't like to risk the fact that an impure bred cat will be deaf."

The she-folk sighed and said something that left me frozen, "Drown it – no one will know! And we can tell the children that he was very sick and died – they're old enough to understand."

That confirmed which kitten Fireheart would take – and I wouldn't take no for an answer!

I am Princess, and this is the real reason I gave Fireheart my kitten.

Thanks to everyone who has read this, this is just for me to have enough stories to become a beta - I have enough access to a computer to be a beta, not enough to write the Last though, but I gave that to Windy anyway.