A Little Bit of Sunshine is a romance/humour fanfiction that, rather than following an overarching plot, will have self-contained stories within each chapter, like a one-shot book or a collection of short stories but with the same characters. The chapters will be published every time the edginess of whatever else I'm writing is too much for me and I need… well, a little bit of sunshine. I hope you'll join me in indulging in some pure and joyous fluff every so often.
I recommend listening to You Are My Sunshine as you read. On repeat if you're slow.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
Chapter 1: Sunshine isn't a good liar
"Oh, finally, I thought there wasn't a single rose in this whole twolegplace!" Sunfire exclaimed to herself, leaning forward to nip the rich red flower on its thorny stem. "Now the question is… lots, or just one?"
She rocked back on her paws, studying the bush before her. The fluffy golden SkyClan warrior had already amassed a pile of of other flowers that sat under a hedge by the border of the twolegsplace, but there was no way in StarClan that she was leaving without a rose. Now, it was simply a matter of deciding whether a single rose was more romantic than the boughs of trees overflowing with the flowers.
One is poetic. Dozens is beautiful.
Sunfire tilted her head, squinting at the flowers.
One is pretty.
But never let it be said that I don't overdo in every situation.
Once more, she leaned forward to nip the stems of the blooms, careful to avoid being nicked by the thorns, and began to gather the roses in a pile. It was only when she had divested half the bush of its ruby blossoms that she realized that it was going to be very difficult carrying these all from the twolegs garden.
Oops.
Shrugging, she bent down and took a rose carefully between her teeth, trying not to crush it. The eye-watering scent filled her mouth and she wrinkled her nose. I can't carry them one at a time or I'll be here all day. She tilted her head thoughtfully and then twisted her neck around to try to poke the shortened stem into her thick golden pelt.
After a moment of weaving her neck back and forth like a snake and frowning when the stem jabbed through her fur, the rose was thoroughly caught in her pelt. Now let's just do that fourteen more times.
Finally, she had succeeded in tangling all the roses into her pelt, the roses hanging off her like kits on an elder playing ShadowClan-invasion. Sunfire stifled a giggle when imagined what she must look like with all the flowers stuck in her pelt.
One more for good luck. With a longer stem, this time. She picked one out and bit down, then flinched as another rose's thorns scraped across her nose. "Ouch," she mumbled through the stem and retreated, trying not to move too fast in case the roses stuck in her pelt dropped off.
Now back to the rest of them. She lowered herself to the ground and crept forward as though she was stalking a bird, aware of how the roses swayed slightly on her pelt with every movement. Well even if one falls off, I'll have the other twenty.
Eventually, the hedge where she had stashed the daisies and lilies that she'd stolen - harvested, she corrected herself with a guilty purr - came back into view and she tip-toed over to it, ducking beneath it and dropping the long-stemmed rose on top of the pile with the rest of the flowers.
Sunfire surveyed the fruits of her labour and grinned. Perfect.
She arranged them so they were all lying in the same direction and then opened her jaws as wide as she could to take the entire pile. It took a couple tries before she'd gotten every single flower in one go, but finally she succeeded and backpedalled out from under the hedge.
Sunfire sent a silent thanks to StarClan that there was a gap in the twolegs' fence that she could duck through instead of trying to leap over it with a mouthful - and peltful - of flowers. Even so, squeezing through the hole created by the wood being worn away over time was a trial when she was trying to keep all the roses firmly in her pelt.
As she padded across the border and into SkyClan territory, she felt something dribble down her muzzle. Mouse-dung, that scratch is bleeding, isn't it? She couldn't shake her head to dispel the droplets or she'd risk the roses dropping out of her pelt, and she couldn't stick out her tongue to catch the blood or she'd drop the flowers in her mouth. Guess I'm stuck looking like I just tore apart a piece of fresh-kill like a starving rogue.
A bloody muzzle, a mouthful of flowers, and a pelt covered in roses… I'd better get to the spot without any of my Clanmates seeing me so they don't drag me to Ripplewatcher to make sure I haven't got bees in my brain, she purred to herself, shaking her head as gently as she could in a failed attempt to displace the blood.
Luckily, she didn't encounter any cat in her path to the copse of apple trees near the ThunderClan border and continued on, covered in flowers and a bit of blood without interruption. When the low-growing trees came into view, Sunfire let out a sigh and dropped her flowers. They hit the long grass with a tiny puff of pollen that made her sneeze.
The blood on her muzzle flew in droplets, landing on the grass and her own chest. "Mouse-dung," she muttered, suppressing another sneeze and quickly licking her own nose before the pollen or blood could irritate it further.
Once the little red drops were cleaned off her chest, Sunfire began picking the roses out of her pelt, wincing as the thorns brought some of her golden fur with them. Finally, her pelt was free of flowers and she had a pile of blossoms in front of her.
Now, where to arrange them?
She surveyed the clearing and her eyes landed on one of the lowest trees, practically an apple bush. Perfect. It didn't take long for the daisies and lilies to be carefully tucked into the knolls in the bark, hanging out as though the tree had grown them itself.
The roses, however, were another matter entirely; the stems were too short to stick into the bark. Thinking fast, Sunfire dropped them into the dip in the wood created by the branches that split barely a tail-length off the ground. When she was finished, she frowned thoughtfully at the tree. She was pleased with how the daisies and lilies hung out of it, but the roses were barely visible.
I need something to pack into the hole that the roses can sit on top of… moss, maybe.
Sunfire gave the tree one last once-over and then dashed out of the clearing, bee-lining toward the SkyClan camp. I'll borrow some from Ripplewatcher. She's always got extra.
Squeezing through the bracken that framed the entrance of the camp, Sunfire headed straight across the grassy clearing toward the little stone overhang where Ripplewatcher kept her herbs and moss.
"Sunfire, were you out hunting?" Redsun, the deputy, called to her.
The golden warrior froze, then whipped around, trying to keep the guilty look off her face and failing miserably as the deputy padded over. She tried to stall. "Hmm?"
Redsun gave her a look and repeated the question.
"Oh. I- uh, no. Actually, yes," Sunfire stammered.
The puzzled look only grew.
"That is- I was hunting. But… while I was hunting, I stopped," she explained quickly. "By which I mean- when I was hunting, I decided to stop hunting… and come back to camp."
Redsun nodded slowly and backed away. "Okay… sounds good… Let me know if you're up for a border patrol later."
Sunfire nodded enthusiastically and cringed at her own awful attempt to lie. Note to self, next time you have to lie, just play dead, instead. It'll be as convincing - if not more so.
Sighing, she padded into the medicine den and called out, "Ripplewatcher? Can I borrow some moss?"
The gray and white patched medicine cat poked her head out of the back of the den and peered at her. "I suppose. It's the last of my stock though, so tell one of the apprentices to go get more, would you?"
She faltered. "Oh- um, actually, why don't you keep it? I'll just get more myself."
I shouldn't be taking moss from the medicine cat when I can easily get some myself, she chided. "I'll bring you whatever's left over."
Ripplewatcher brightened. "Thanks so much!"
"No problem," she purred and flicked her tail, retreating out of the den and back into the sunlit camp. She glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, then quickly hurried back out of the bracken and into the territory once more.
Get some moss, catch a golden chaffinch, and get some more flowers if I have time, she mentally sorted through what she still had to do before dusk. And clean my pelt, StarClan above, I feel like I was dragged through a bramble bush backwards.
Sunfire wasn't prone to worrying over her appearance and knew that there were times when she looked like she'd been rolling around in dirt all day and didn't notice, but her mother Icestar certainly could tell and after enough moons, her voice would sometimes pipe up in Sunfire's head to let her know that she looked like a rogue. It was welcome on a day as important as this. Wouldn't do to be surrounded by flowers and fresh-kill and have a ragged pelt, she decided.
When she arrived at the knoll where moss grew thickly under the giant, shady oak tree, Sunfire nearly choked on her own air when she saw who was there. Mouse-dung! It's her!
She turned on her tail in a flash and dashed back under the cover of the trees. Her heart was racing as she peeked out from behind the elderberry bush to watch the other she-cat pick up a ball of moss, tucking it neatly under her chin, then leaning down to carry another in her mouth.
Finally, the warrior padded away in the opposite direction of Sunfire.
The golden she-cat let out a breath. That was close. Somehow, I don't think playing dead would work if she tried to ask me what I've been up to today.
With the moss tree now clear of other cats, Sunfire hurried over and began to claw up swathes of it. How much… hmm, this should fill the tree, and then some more for Ripplewatcher… It didn't take long for her to amass a suitable pile of the spongy green material and she tried to roll it into the same neat balls to… some success. She sighed at the straggly bits that hung out of the otherwise perfect spheres but tried to scrunch them under her chin all the same.
She returned to camp with slightly smaller bundles of moss, having lost bits along the way when it refused to stay under her chin and headed back into Ripplewatcher's den.
"Brought shome mosh!" she announced through the mouthful and dropped it on the ground, sticking out her tongue and wrinkling her nose at the taste. "Here you are!"
Ripplewatcher turned from where she'd been wedging sprigs of yellowish-green grass into a crevice in the stone and gave Sunfire an apologetic smile. "Actually, Littlefawn already brought me some. Maybe check if the queens need new bedding?"
Oh, come on! Does she really have to be a forward-thinking, compassionate, kind-hearted- She silenced her own thoughts with a shake of her head. StarClan help me. Stay focused. "Alright! No problem."
She gathered up the moss once more and strolled out of the den, heading for the nursery. It wasn't until she ducked into the milk-scented alder bush that she realized she'd made a grave oversight.
Of course she's bringing the queens a sun-high thrush or two! Of course! Because she's the most thoughtful, wonderful-
"Hey, Sunshine," Littlefawn greeted her with a warm smile. "Want to share a thrush?"
"I have to go!" she blurted, her words blurred by the moss.
The dappled tabby cocked her head. "Oh, okay. Later then?"
"Later is yesh!" she exclaimed through the moss, then flushed with heat at her 'sentence'. "Um!"
Play dead!
"Are you... alright? Hey, what happened to your nose?" Littlefawn asked, leaning closer to Sunfire with a concerned glint in her eye. "You smell like roses… did you get scratched?"
She's so smart! StarClan help me, she'll have it figured out in a heartbeat if I stay here any longer! "Mosh for neshtsh! Goodbye!"
She dropped the moss as fast as she could and dashed back out of the nursery, cursing her tongue. I guess no cat will ever worry that I'm lying to them since apparently it's not possible for me to do it.
Trying to retreat into her pelt out of embarrassment, Sunfire rushed back out of camp toward the apple tree copse. I need to practice lying to my reflection or something. Or just do a better job of avoiding Littlefawn.
She returned to the clearing and put her front paws up on the short tree, nosing the roses aside carefully to pad the bottom with moss. When she allowed the roses to return to their makeshift nest and dropped back down to all fours, she was pleased to see that they were all bundled in a pile that was visible from the forest floor. Awesome!
Letting out a little purr of excitement, she hopped to her paws and began to run back to the twolegsplace for more flowers. She's gonna be so surprised! As long as I don't have to lie to her face again… because then she'd figure it out for sure…
…
"Mouse-dung!"
The pile of daffodils tumbled back out of the nook in the tree.
For the third time, Sunfire nosed them back into a pile and scowled at the dip in the tree that wasn't cooperating. She glanced around, then her green gaze fell on long, flat piece of bark. Maybe I could use that to kind of hold the daffodils in… hmm…
She piled the flowers onto the lump of wood and lifted it up carefully, then dumped them into the tree. As expected, they began to overflow over the top, but she held the bark in place, barring them from falling out the sides.
Now I just have to make it stay there… Sunfire huffed a laugh at her own failure to consider that the wood wouldn't float and carefully twisted her body to lift a back-leg and hold the bark in place. She hopped over a couple steps, keeping her back-paw pressed against the bark, and picked up a rose that had fallen from the other tree and replaced it in the moss.
Wind gusted through the tree and all of a sudden, the pile of roses teetered and toppled over, dropping back to the floor.
"Mouse-dung!" Sunfire repeated and, her legs quivering with the effort of keeping her balance with one back-leg up while leaning down to pick back up the roses.
She'd successfully groomed every bit of dirt and debris out of her pelt until she shone like her name, she'd managed to ask Redsun to send Littlefawn to hunt by the apple trees without breaking down, she'd gathered dozens of new flowers…
But she couldn't make them stay still.
Sunfire looked up at the sky where the fiery dusk had begun to set in, a stark contrast to the dull grays that had heralded night throughout leaf-bare. It really is the first day of new-leaf. Just like all those moons ago…
She remembered the nervous butterflies all day, the knowing look in Redsun's eye when she'd asked the then-senior warrior to tell Littlefawn that Sunfire was waiting by the apple trees, the call of "Sunshine?" and then later, the answer of "Yes!"...
Sunfire's heart gave a happy little jump, then she broke herself out of her memories and remembered what she was doing. Come on, flowers, work with me here.
Straining, she lifted the last rose back onto the pile with its fellow flowers and let out a relieved sigh.
The sigh knocked the top rose off the stack.
"Mouse-dung!"
Just as she was leaning down to grab the errant rose, she was startled by a call she'd heard before.
"Sunshine?"
Sunfire jumped, her back-leg slipping off of the bark that she'd been holding in place. Right on cue, the wind blew again and the roses and daffodils cascaded out of their respective tress' nooks, all dropping directly onto Sunfire.
"Mouse-dung!" Sunfire groaned again, buried in the blossoms.
"It's Littlefawn, actually," the other she-cat corrected with a mrrow of amusement. "Uh, what's going on here?"
"Nothing! Look away!" she exclaimed, poking her head out of the pile of flowers, then sneezing as the pollen tickled her nose.
"Is this for me?" Littlefawn asked, peering at the two golden chaffinches that Sunfire had caught earlier and laid on the rose petals that had come off when she'd tried to transport the second load of roses.
"No! I mean- yes! But-" She cut herself off by sneezing again. "That is-"
"Do you… need help?" Littlefawn pressed her mouth shut, her pale green eyes twinkling with amusement.
"No!" Sunfire yelped, then slipped on the bark that had managed to squeeze under one of her fore-paws and fell face-first back into the flowers. "Maybe," she mumbled into the daffodils and sneezed again.
"Sunshine, is this all for me?" Littlefawn asked, her tone full of wonder after she'd managed to school her features in less of a I'm-going-to-laugh-at-you-until-I-cry face. She leaned down to help the golden she-cat out of the pile of flowers and Sunfire got to her paws awkwardly and shook the flowers out of her fur.
"Yeah… it was… supposed to be presented differently," Sunfire admitted with a guilty purr. "I was going to be sitting with the chaffinches, between trees with flowers- not, uh, drowning in them. It would have been very cool."
"I'm sure," Littlefawn agreed, purring, and Sunfire couldn't help joining in. "Why all this though? Not that I don't appreciate it! This is- it's amazing, really, but… why?"
Sunfire sneezed. "Ack- sorry, pollen. Well, last leaf-bare- or I guess last new-leaf… the first day of new-leaf was when I asked you if you wanted to be my mate, remember?"
Littlefawn's eyes widened. "It was today!"
Holding in another sneeze, Sunfire nodded. "I thought it would be nice to do something again," she explained, her eyes watering as the itching in her nose intensified.
"So you-" Littlefawn cut herself off and squinted at Sunfire. "You can sneeze, it's okay."
The dappled tabby purred as Sunfire let out a relieved breath and sneezed again.
"Why don't we move away from all the pollen?" Littlefawn suggested with a grin.
"I got the flowers 'specially for-" She cut herself off with a sneeze, then began again, "'specially for you!"
"Here, we'll just go over here," Littlefawn suggested, shaking her head at Sunfire. "We can look at the pretty flowers… from a distance."
"Okay," Sunfire agreed, the itch finally subsiding as they padded away from the pile of flowers. "Sorry, I wish they hadn't fallen."
"I think they look lovely," Littlefawn decided with a purr. "Thank you, I love them."
Sunfire purred and pressed her muzzle to Littlefawn's, then drew back with shining eyes. "The finches are for you, but I won't stop you if you want to share." She winked.
Littlefawn tossed her head and purred. "How generous. Come on, let's eat!"
They sat down together, tails twining without thought and began their meal. After a moment of chewing with her eyes shut blissfully, relishing in her favourite food, Littlefawn opened one eye and glanced at Sunfire.
"So that's why you were acting so weird earlier…"
Sunfire purred. "You've caught me."
"I caught you earlier," Littlefawn teased. "How is it possible to be such a terrible liar?"
"I'm very talented," Sunfire answered with a grin. "Also I've discovered that flower arranging is not among my skills."
Littlefawn's gaze slid to the piles of flowers that were very much not where they were supposed to be. "The lilies are nice," she said with a straight face.
Sunfire giggled and shook her head. "They cooperated."
Littlefawn joined in her purring and then rubbed her muzzle against hers. Sunfire felt her purr rumbling in her throat and closed her eyes, trying to hold onto the scents and sounds and feelings of the moment and lock them into her memory forever.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away