Yeah uhh one more A/N. I hate canon Bramblestar (I've seen the video as well lol) but I think he can be greatly improved by the power of ~ Fanfiction ~ and I'll endeavour to do that in some one-shots. Please do not read my altered version of him as me trying to downplay or excuse his treatment of Squirrelflight in canon.
One thing that became clear to Hollyleaf in the tunnels was just how much Squirrelflight had risked. She was angry for a long time at her adopted mother, yes, but little by little, the rage ebbed and in its place, respect flowed in. She knew that her mother's relationship with Brambleclaw was one of the most important things to her, and that she had put it all on the line for the sake of her sister, and for the sake of Hollyleaf and her brothers.
When she returns, she sees Squirrelflight's strength in welcoming her back, in the way that she's persevered with her relationship in tatters. She looks at her father and is uncertain that he would do the same. He values ThunderClan above all, she knows. He will put his Clan and the code and his own loyalty before anything else.
But when rumours begin to spiral, Brambleclaw proves her wrong, and she is dizzy with gratitude. He steps in front of the angry, confused Clan, and lies for her. She sees it in his eyes; not a contradiction of his loyalty to ThunderClan, but a reinforcement. And with that, an assertion that the tom that wanted to hurt you is not a part of this Clan. You are my daughter and you are ThunderClan. It has a feeling she has almost forgotten; what it is to be uplifted, to have a dozen warriors you trust at your back. To have her father at her back.
Firestar nods. "What happened was a tragic accident," he says, and Hollyleaf does not believe him. Her kin will come to her side to protect her and uplift her, and that is all she can ask for.