Vicky Holmes sighed and tapped her nails on her desk. "We've been through this before, you know," she said in the repressive tone like she was talking with an undergraduate who wanted to argue about their grades.

"I know we have, and we're going through it again now," Cloudtail says, his fluffy white tail wrapped tightly across his stomach, and Victoria recognizes that mulish look all too well.

"Cloudtail, really. Is your life in the books really all that bad? I thought you wanted Brightheart as a mate."

"I not saying Brightheart isn't a good mate! But what happened to her-"

"-was completely necessary for a good story, Cloudtail. It made the story more interesting and tragic. And it taught a good lesson for young readers everywhere!"

Cloudtail snorted. "That's no excuse! You can't just kill cats or make them go crazy just because you feel like it! And why did you make Firestar and Graystripe gay, anyway?

"I don't recall having written that, actually -"

" Err…never mind. " Cloudtail reddened, then pushed on, determined. "But I still think that what you did to Brightheart was completely unnecessary!"

The repressive look grew more intent; and Vicky started to feel a tad nervous, and suddenly she wished she hadn't made Cloudtail such a strong warrior in the books."I don't believe that this discussion is really going to do any good, Cloudtail. Raising Storm has already been published, and I can't just go and change it. Now, I have things to do-"

"Bloody right, you do!" Cloudtail yowled. "Why couldn't Swiftpaw and Brightheart have gotten a happier ending? Why are you so…evil? You're worse than Tigerstar!"

Vicky sighed, exasperated. "You know, this really is too much. You're a fictional character, in case you've forgotten. It's hard enough that I had to write you breaking the warrior code and eating kittypet food. You should just be happy I wrote Fireheart to want to rescue you so bad. I wrote you a happy ending, now I expect you to be happy."

"It's not a happy ending, not when Brightheart has so many ugly scars she has to live with!"

The look on Cloudtail's face turned close to being thunderous. Vicky felt her face growing hot. "Look, Cloudtail, I am NOT going to change anything in the story! Now get back in your book before I force you back!"

"Not until you promise me that you'll give Swiftpaw and Brightheart a happier ending! And also, I want you to make it so that it's not against the warrior code to eat kittypet food! That stuff was really good! It's not fair that I can't eat it." Cloudtail's eyes shined at the memory and he began drooling.

Victoria sighed. "Kittypet food isn't everything."

"Please, just do this for me,'" Cloudtail answered quietly. "I thought you would want the best for the characters you created, not the worst…"

Vicky squeezed her eyes shut, rubs a hand across her forehead, and tried another tack. "Daisy -"

"Don't bring up Daisy! She tried to make me fall in love with her and forget about Brightheart!"

"Cloudtail, that's not quite how I remember it. And I promise you that Brightheart is fine"

"You tried to take her away from me and give her to StarClan! I thought she was going to die! And then you made crazy old Bluestar giver her that horrible name-"Cloudtail shivered-"Lostface. What's WRONG with you? Do you expect me to just push this all behind me? Did you think I could, after all I went through?"

Vicky sighed in resignation and opened one eye, wincing at her burning headache. "Cloudtail, what exactly do you want?"

"I want Brightheart to be happy again, and for the warrior code to be less strict."

"I can't do that; the book has already been made. And my fans-"

"That's still no excuse. Change it anyway! Since when do you care more about your fans then your actual characters?

"Well, I suppose I never actually considered that one of them would actually come to life."

"That's your problem, Vicky, or whatever you Twoleg name is. You made the mess, now you figure out a way to clear it up."

"Mess?" Vicky exclaims, indignant. "Please! I was only trying to write a good story for kids!"

"And I'm not saying that the story you wrote isn't good, but can't you make it happier for some cats? Like Ashfur, Scourge, Bluestar, Hollyleaf…and especially my mate!"

A horrible thought sneaks into Vicky's head that was entirely possible that Cloudtail's arrogant character and his love for Brightheart has grown far beyond the bounds that she had intended. She considered the thought sternly and sighs. "If I write a short story about Brightheart's scars being marvelously healed, then will you be happy? It will take quite a while though."

"Well, better than nothing," Cloudtail meowed grudgingly.

Vicky sighed again, resigned, and picked up a pen. "All right, all right. Go on, then, and let me write."

Cloudtail fades from the comfortable room, leaving behind a soft breath: You had better remember what you said…

"Why did I ever right such a stubborn character?" Victoria grumbles, and began to write the story.