Echo in the Whispering Wind- I'm glad you liked it! :) Who is Lixa's crush? Nobody will ever know! Mwahahaha! XD

Snowcrystal of Thunderclan- I know, it's so weird! XD But it's also cool at the same time! :) Yes! Leroy x Cleo! Their names are similar to Cleo's parents' names because of their parents! :) Cleo is a mix of her parents' names, Cynthia Leon and Leroy is named after Leon because that's what Isa chose to name him.

Unicorn Brownies- I'm glad you like it! I love it too :)

Leroy- a Ten-year-old boy with light blonde hair with darker golden streaks going all throughout his messy hair with orangey brown sunset colored eyes. Leroy is a little shy, unused to people not ignoring him. His style is "I love mischief… please don't get mad at me!" He has barely noticeable and very faint blue streaks through his hair when Cleo and Miles were getting their hair dyed and managed to get it in his hair as well. His usual outfit consists of blue jeans, a plain colored t-shirt, gray and black converse, and a darker blue hoodie with a fuzzy interior that his friend loves to steal and hide. Hidden beneath the collar of his shirt he wears a wooden bead necklace that Cleo whittles each bead for him over the span of a few summers. In his back pocket, he carries a small switchblade connected to a thin silver like chain connected to one belt loop. He carries the knife to protect himself and his mom. Leroy is relatively quiet, preferring to communicate silently with Cleo and reading her body language for a reply. He doesn't mind talking to Cleo and Miles and eagerly participates in their pranks and schemes, to happy about having good friends to care about sometimes getting into trouble. Over the years he and Cleo learn to read each other's body language and predict what they were going to say, what they were thinking, and how the other is feeling. Leroy thinks about everything, evaluating everything and the possibilities of everything that was going on which counters his best friend's impulsiveness.

This one is a little darker, with Isa being a weirdo. Let me clarify something, I don't hate Icecloud, she's a little annoying but I don't hate you, these characters are LOOSELY based on of their warrior characters, Isa has Icecloud's determination and admiration for Lionblaze(Leon) I pay close attention to her in the books and I know about a lot of her hints towards Lionblaze and I promise I don't hate her, I really don't, Isa's just a little… out of it. I might write an explanation to why, but probably not, unless someone asks me too :) I swear, I'm not trying to be biased towards Icecloud, I'm being biased to Isabella as her own character :D

Next Generation Short

No… Cleo, couldn't you have chosen anyone else in the world?!

Cleo's green eyes widened and she took a step back, 'Oh no.' Leroy was looking at her now, confused why she had taken a step back from his mother. Cleo was going to be in big trouble now. "Sorry, Leroy, but I have to go help Flynx with basketball," She lied flawlessly, "It's great to meet your mom, though! See ya!" With that she turned and raced off, searching for her twin brother. Moments later she literally crashed headlong into him, knocking them both to the ground.

"Oooph! Ow Cleo!" Miles complained as she got off him and pulled him to his feet, dragging him behind her and she hid behind a corner, covering Miles' mouth with one hand as Leroy went running past, probably looking for them. "What was that for?" Miles demanded his sister after she let him go.

"Leroy's mom is Isabella!" Cleo hissed to her brother, "remember the person who still bothers mom?!"

"That Isabella?!" Miles gaped, his freckled face draining of color, "We've been friends with her son?!"

"Yes!"

"Hey!" Leroy came running over, "What are you talking about Cleo? Flynx doesn't have a basketball game today… is something wrong?" He looked confused to why the pair of twins were looking hesitant about talking to him. "Did I do something?"

"No, you didn't do anything, Flynx asked us to help him practice and I had to find Miles, that's all," Cleo replied swiftly.

"We need to get going, Cleo," Miles said, starting to drag her away from Leroy and down the hall.

"What's wrong?" Leroy asked, really confused, "Why're you acting this way?" He called to them.

"I'll explain later!" Cleo shouted back before they vanished, leaving Leroy feeling confused and alone once again.

:) :( :( :) :(

"How are we going to do this?" Miles hissed to his twin as they worked on homework in the living room, their parents weren't there, Lixa was there, though, watching over them all, but she wasn't in the room.

"How am I supposed to know?!" Cleo hissed back, writing down an answer, a fierce scowl on her face. "I have no idea!"

"Well, we have to think of something-"

"Think of something what?" Flynx asked as he ran into the room, apparently to energetic to just walk into the room. He plopped down next to his brother, bouncing his leg energetically. "What have you two done know?"

"Leroy's mom is Isabella!" Miles hissed to his older brother and covered his mouth when he tried to yell in surprise. "Sshh! Lixa can't know!"

"I can't know what?" Lixa walked into the room, a pencil tucked behind one ear, hazel eyes narrowing at the situation she found. All three of them looked guiltily at her and she rolled her eyes, sitting next to her sister and looking each of the twins in the eye, "Alright you two, spill the beans."

"Leroy's mom is…" Cleo hesitated, "Isabella." She finished reluctantly, green eyes glimmering sadly as Lixa's hazel eyes hardened at the name.

Flynx removed Miles' hand from over his mouth before speaking, multicolored eyes gleaming empathetically at his younger sister. "Cleo, Leroy isn't his mom, he's your best friend isn't he?" His fingers drummed against the coffee table, tapping his foot in a matching rhythm. "So mom can't blame him, besides, she likes him."

"That's because Leroy's a lot like Leon, both in looks and personality," Lixa said stiffly, remembering that dark night.

"Lixa?" Cleo looked at her older sister, "Can you tell us why mom doesn't like Isa?"

"It's her story-"

"Please!" Cleo asked despairingly.

"Okay, fine," Lixa said, reluctantly agreeing to tell them the story. "Mom told me that when she and dad were kids she had to essentially fight for dad's attention against Isabella and Hannah, when they were teenagers Isabella was a wedge in between our parents, keeping mom away him and confusing her-"

"Why?"

"Because Isabella kept sticking to dad like a squid, she wouldn't let dad do anything with mom, even though she was his best friend for years. After they reached college and had me they thought Isabella had given up, but she hadn't." Lixa's voice darkened and she scowled, "I remember what happened next, I was only six years old when it happened. Dad wasn't home until really late, and even then he seemed off, horrible balance, he could barely talk and seemed angry and frustrated. Flynx and I were hiding on the stairwell while mom tried to see what was wrong with him."

"What happened?"

Lixa's hazel eyes darkened to be haunted, "It was the first and last time I saw him hit her." The other three stared at her as she continued, "I could tell something was wrong when she didn't block it, seeming to be too shocked to actually stop it, he got her on the cheek, and Flynx and I rushed down to go help her when she crashed to the ground, but she yelled at us to stop and that she was fine, Flynx stopped, waiting at the stairwell while I ran over to her anyway."

"No! It's okay, I'm fine, don't come over here!" Cynthia yelled to the two kids, worried about what Leon would do. She had no idea what was wrong with him but she didn't want to risk the kids getting hurt. Lixa rushed over anyway and Cynthia got to her feet, standing in front of her as Flynx joined his sister, sniffling like he was going to cry. "Leon stop!" She shouted, her voice loud enough to further scare the two kids, "You're scaring them!" Leon faltered, looking like he was struggling against something. "Don't do this to them," She spoke, backing up slightly, forcing the kids back

"She tried to tell him to stop and that it was scaring Flynx and me, but it didn't work and she shoved us into the living room, sprinting up the stairs with him on her heels, her phone was on the ground, open to Jay and Holly's numbers. So I scrambled over to the phone and managed to call both of them, I didn't understand what was going on at the time, and when I ran up the stairs with Holly I found dad stumbling back away from mom, in their room, his face pale and confused."

"What happened to mom?"

"You know that scar on her face?" Lixa asked her siblings and they nodded, "That's where she got it from. I found her unconscious, lying on her side near a wall, blood glinting on her face."

"Mom?" Lixa asked timidly, scampering over to her and froze, seeing the blood gleaming on her face in the moonlight. "Mom?"

"Later, I found out that Isabella had drugged dad, what he did wasn't on his own volition and mom had hit him in the head hard enough to break him out of it. Mom hates Isabella, for that reason."

"Woah." Miles said before looking over at his brother, "Do you not remember any of that?"

"A bit," Flynx took off his cap and scratched his head, his face screwed up as he tried to remember, "I can remember the fear and mom's yelling, but nothing else. But, then again, I have a horrible attention span."

"Yeah, you do." Lixa rolled her eyes.

"So… what about our predicament?" Miles asked his older sister, Cleo doing the same.

"You have to tell mom that Leroy's Isabella's son."

"Are you crazy?!" Cleo shrieks, throwing her hands into the air, "She'd ban m-us from being friends with him!"

Lixa raised an eyebrow as Cleo's falter and the girl blushed slightly but didn't look embarrassed. "It doesn't matter, you have to tell her if you don't you're going to have more issues."

"We can't!" Miles complained, but Cleo contradicted him.

"I'll talk to Leroy tomorrow and we'll talk to mom tonight."

Lixa smirked at her younger sister, "Does someone fancy a certain blonde?"
"No." Cleo retorted perfectly normal, throwing that suspicion out the window. Lixa rolled her eyes but believed what her sister said, unlike Miles who knew otherwise.

:) :) :) :)

"Hey, Mom? Can I talk to you about something?" Cleo asked her mother, sitting next to her in the parents' room.

"Fire away Cleo," Cynthia said with her eyes closed, leaning back in the reclining loveseat they had up here.

"What would you do if you met Isabella's kid?"

"Treat him like a normal person," Cynthia replied, keeping her eyes closed and body language relaxed.

"You would?" Cleo asked in surprise, staring at her mother in blatant surprise.

"I know what it's like to be ridiculed or have bad experiences, so there's no reason to judge the poor kid who has to have her as a mother," Cynthia replied easily, the corners of her lips twitching into a faint smile as she connected the dots between the question and her daughter's best friend. "Let me guess, Isa's Leroy's mom?"

"Yeah, I'm glad you don't blame him, though," Cleo sighed, slumping back against the cushions as well.

"Eh, I feel bad for the kid, the last time I checked, she was still trying to find a way to get Leon from me."

"Seriously? Aren't you over thirty or something?"

"Yup."

"I don't get it."

"You don't need to Cleo, you aren't a teenager, daddy's princess."

"Thank Starclan."

"You can say that again."

:) :) :) :)