Before you read any further, for those who have not read the last two OotS, Spoilers!

Okay, so I want to post a short, canon characters one-shot about one of my favorite warriors: Hollyleaf.

During my rereading of the entire series, I was reminded how desperately Lionblaze tried to prove to Hollyleaf that she was the fourth before it was revealed to be Firestar. I wanted to post a little something that came to mind when rereading that part.

So without further adieu, If You Truly Cared.

As the sun slowly peaked through the trees, Lionblaze padded alone. The rest of the hunting patrol had already gone off after their own prey, leaving the golden-brown warrior with nothing but his thoughts. The persistence of the Dark Forest and looking for the fourth weighed heavy on his mind. However, he was sure he knew who the fourth was. It was obvious. To him, anyway. He lifted his head and sniffed the air, catching the scent of his littermate. He stalked quietly and stopped when he saw the solid black pelt of Hollyleaf. In a flash of black she had caught a plump, brown vole.

"Great catch." He inwardly flinched as he realized he had startled her. Her fluffed out, dark pelt calmed as she met his amber eyes.

"Thanks, Lionblaze." She mewed through a mouthful of vole fur. She placed the prey carefully at her paws and sat down, wrapping her tail neatly around her paws. She then gave him a funny look. "Shouldn't you be hunting too?"

Lionblaze shrugged off her question. "You were really fast right there."

"It's only a little vole, not a squir-"

"Maybe that's what your power is." He offered, but her pelt only bristled in annoyance at his words. She rolled her eyes and picked up the plump little creature at her paws. She got to her paws, storming off as if what he said offended her. Lionblaze bounded over to the black-furred she-cat. "What's wrong?"

She stopped and put the vole down again, tail lashing back and forth. When she turned to face him, there was anger in her holly green eyes. However, he noticed two other emotions flickering behind the anger. They were sorrow and hurt.

"Lionblaze, if I was the fourth would you really care for me any more?" The question baffled him and nearly left the warrior speechless.

"No, of course no-"

"So does me not being the fourth make you care any less about me?"

"Hollyleaf, that's a mouse-brained question! Of course not!"

"Then why care if I'm the fourth?"

"Because-" With a wave of her tail she cut him off.

"Lionblaze, if you truly cared about me you wouldn't care if I was the fourth or not." She let out a sigh. "Why don't you understand? I'm a normal warrior, I'm not special,"

You're special to us. To me and Jay.

"I don't have powers,"

I wish you did, Holly.

"I'm just a normal warrior." With that she picked up the vole and started to pad off. She stopped for a heartbeat and looked back at Lionblaze. For a moment the golden-brown tabby was expecting her to admit that she was the fourth, but what she told him next was far from what he wanted to hear. "I know you want me to be, but let's not be mouse-brained here. I'm not the fourth and I never will be. But no matter what, I am your littermate, and I would care for you whether you have powers or not. Why not do the same for me?"

Lionblaze watched as she vanished through the thick forest foliage. Did she not understand how he felt about this whole thing? His shoulders slumped and he turned away. He slowly recalled back when they were Lionkit, Jaykit, and Hollykit. They would always be there for each other. The thought-to-be kits of Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw. He remember how lies after lies tore them apart, as well as the truth that their littermate was not the third. He recalled the mixture of joy and heartbreak he felt when Dovewing turned out to be the third. Joy because the third was found. Heartbreak because it wasn't the she-cat he thought it would be.

"I just wanted you to be as special as us..." But his words fell of deaf ears. Once again he was left alone with nothing but his thoughts and his worries.

And with that I'm done.

Did Hollyleaf and Lionblaze seem in character? That's always my biggest worry with doing stories like these... If there's a problem with their characterization, please tell me and I'll quickly go back and fix it.

I would love a little critique with this one shot. Any complements or complaints? Is there anything I can do better? I would love to hear you opinions!

With that said, I really do hope you enjoyed this one shot!