A/N: On la plane. Almost there. Left later than expected. Lol. I wrote the chapter last night and only posted it today so lol the timing is a bit off.

Replies to Reviews:

Sky of Stars: thanks for all the constructive criticism! It does build a bit in the 14th chapter, don't worry. I'll be in Austin and Dallas- where you at?

Birdflame: bahahah.

Falconadventurer: it contributes to the plot in the long run.

Zion the Cookie Empress: thanks! Here's your order of more now. :P

EradrinSkyleaf: really? Haha I loved writing that scene- Dovewing can go die in a pit for all I care. SUCH. A. MARY. SUE. Ivypool is completely cast aside when she does even MORE than Dovewing does- and then Dovewing starts feeling sorry for herself like OMG, STAPH. Anyway, enjoy the chap :3.

…

Blossomfall's eyes opened slowly. It had been a quarter-moon since she had first moved into the nursery, expecting kits.

She yawned, the light bouncing and reflecting off of her white teeth. She rose to her paws, just to have an invisible force pull her down. She glared at her belly and struggled to stand, her belly swaying. She gasped as she almost fell over. In an instant, Ivypool was at her side, steadying her.

The silver-and-white tabby queen smiled at Blossomfall before darting away and back to her nest of sleeping kits.

She had just squeezed through the nursery entrance when she collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain. Her belly rippled and her whole stomach clenched up. She yowled and barred her teeth, waiting for the pain to subside. It didn't, in fact, it only grew more intense.

"Jayfeather!" Icecloud called out from somewhere across camp. Within a few moments the grey tabby medicine cat was shoving her towards the nursery. Daisy and Ivypool emerged to help.

"What's happening?" Ivypool asked Jayfeather.

"She's kitting!" Daisy replied, even though she hadn't been asked.

Ivypool's eyes widened in fright and she continued rolling Blossomfall to her nest.

She had just been set down when another ripple passed through and she yowled. Ivypool flattened her ears against the agonizing sound and regretfully moved to comfort her kits.

Daisy and Jayfeather worked together to hopefully deliver these very premature kits successfully, though the odds that even one of them would make it past nightfall was very slim.

The first kit slipped out, dead. Jayfeather checked it for even a tiny pulse and then pushed the bloody body to the side. She was black-and-ginger.

Another body slid out, also dead. That kit, a she-kit, was a russet tabby. Like Foxleap.

Blossomfall suddenly started sobbing. She had failed her kits, and ThunderClan. Ivypool rushed to comfort her and Daisy murmured kind words. Jayfeather silently carried the bodies out of the den without glancing at Blossomfall, though she sensed that the medicine cat had the same sense of failure as she did.

"Blossomfall," Ivypool started gently, "Would you like to raise Smokekit, Stormkit, Mistkit, Duskkit and Shadekit?"

"Bumblestripe should decide that," Blossomfall sniffled, though she raised her head at the suggestion.

"I'd like that," he meowed from the den entrance. His eyes sparkled with tears for his still-born nieces and for his grieving sister.

Ivypool plopped the kits gently into Blossomfall's nest and they immediately started nursing. Ivypool wiped up the blood with some stray moss and retreated back to her nest to sleep more.

Blossomfall watched her new kits for a while before allowing herself to drift off.

She was half a mouse-length from sleep when Smokekit squealed. Mistkit had just knocked her out of the nest. Blossomfall swept her back instinctively with her tail and let her eyes close. One-by-one, her new kits stopped suckling and whined gently as they settled to sleep. She watched them all drift off before allowing herself to follow them into the peaceful void of sleep.

It was sunhigh when the sleepy queen awoke. She asked Daisy to watch her kits and then stepped out of the den, marching to the fresh-kill pile. She found some new confidence rise within her and she puffed out her chest. She was a mother now, and she wasn't going to fail these kits. Her heart still ached with sorrow for her original kits but she felt a strong connection to these ones already.

She grabbed a small mouse and retreated to the nursery, but she was stopped in her tracks by Bumblestripe. He gave her a large, fat squirrel before taking her small mouse for himself.

At Blossomfall's questioning look, Bumblestripe meowed, "You're nursing five kits. Not to mention, they're my five kits. So I want you to have as much prey as you can."

Blossomfall purred and flicked her brother's shoulder with her tail before retreating to the dark, cozy nursery.

She settled down in her nest while Daisy entertained the kits and devoured as much of the squirrel as she could, giving the rest to Ivypool. The queen graciously accepted the food and dug in like a famished rogue.

A few moments later Bramblestar ducked into the den. He nodded at Ivypool and Daisy before confronting Blossomfall, "I'm sorry about your kits."

Blossomfall just nodded and looked away, but the leader continued, "Did you name them?"

A wave of shock went through Blossomfall's body – she hadn't named her kits! They were wandering around StarClan right now, clueless and nameless.

She brought up a mental image of the small bodies. The black-and-ginger she-kit and the russet tabby she-kit. She decided not to tell Foxleap that one of the kits had looked like him…and probably had been his.

"The tortoiseshell is Flowerkit," she decided, "And the ginger one can be Flamekit."

Bramblestar nodded and ducked out of the den with a swish of his tail.

Smokekit, Duskkit, Stormkit, Mistkit and Shadekit were transported from Daisy's nest to Blossomfall's. She smiled and licked them each over the head, and then proceeded to groom a tuft of spiky fur on Duskkit's forehead.

Another body slipped through the nursery entrance- this time it was a grey tabby rather than a dark brown tabby. Jayfeather padded over to the kit's nest and sniffed them each, and then wordlessly leaving.

Blossomfall, content that her kits were safe and healthy, let her eyes close again and was soon overcome by tiredness. She let the uneven breathing of her five kits against her side lull her to sleep.

A grey paw shook her awake. She stared up at Bumblestripe, yellow eyes groggy. She glanced at her kits- they were all sleeping.

"Bramblestar is calling a meeting," he explained.

Blossomfall nodded and nimbly got to her paws, not even jostling the tiny bodies beside her. She made sure the kits were all sleeping before leaving the den.

She followed her brother over to the Highledge and sat down, curling her tail around her paws.

"Blossomfall's kits were stillborn last night," he meowed, "They both were she-kits, Flowerkit and Flamekit."

The leader paused so the rest of the Clan could offer condolences. Graystripe gave her a sympathetic look, but his paws stood rooted to the ground beside Millie, who hadn't even twitched her nose at the sad news, though Blossomfall swore she saw a flash of sadness in her mother's blue eyes.

"The cats coming to the gathering tonight will be Spiderleg, Birchfall, Whitewing, Sandstorm, Graystripe, Dustpelt, Foxleap, Icecloud, Seedflame, Lilyfeather, Cherryfall, Molewhisker, Bumblestripe, Rosepetal, Toadstep, Jayfeather, Squirrelflight, Purdy, Snowpaw, Amberpaw, Dewpaw and me, of course," Bramblestar chuckled despite the sad cloud that had settled over the camp.

The cats all dispersed and Blossomfall trotted back to the nursery to tend to her kits. She purred as she saw Smokekit yawn, lick her lips and go back to sleep. She let her eyes close, but this time, instead of sleeping, she just laid there, thinking about her and her kit's future.

…