Author's Note: Welcome, everyone, to your generic, plotless sibling bonding fanfiction featuring Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf! I'm not even sure if there's a point to this fic (it's rather short), but my sleep-deprived self decided to crank this one out at 1 AM.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors. Erin Hunter does.

"You're back," Jayfeather says, directing his gaze at the black she-cat standing in next to him in the secluded forest clearing. He cannot see her, but he can sense her emotions. They are sharp and cutting, full of grief and anxiety and relief and their intensity overwhelms him to a degree he has never experienced before.

"I am." Hollyleaf's voice is quiet and softer than it has ever been, Jayfeather notes. She has always been decisive and confident, and it unsettles him how unsure she sounds right now.

He has dreamt of hundreds — thousands — of scenarios where his sister is still alive, where she has not been buried by the falling rock, where she is happy and vibrant and breathing, back where she belongs. He has dreamed these impossible dreams with a type of yearning that ate away at him from the inside for so long that it is all he knows.

But now, Hollyleaf is standing right in front of him. She is there, all flesh and blood and solid warmth. Still, there is something holding him back from leaping at his sister and covering her face with licks and purrs, like he has imagined for such a long time.

"You're back." Lionblaze repeats Jayfeather's words, but his tone is much lighter than his brother's. "You're back and that's all that matters."

Jayfeather stands still as Lionblaze rushes towards their sister and presses himself against her, purring. For a moment, he envies his brother, whose mind is free from all of the doubts and worries that Jayfeather is experiencing.

"Jayfeather," Lionblaze says, noticing his hesitation. "What's wrong?"

He shakes his head. "Nothing."

Hollyleaf closes her eyes, her beautiful green eyes that he thought would never open again after that horrible day…

"Jayfeather, if it's about—"

"No, it's not about anything!" He snaps. "Nothing is wrong! Nothing except you leaving us and not coming back! How could you just do that?"

He is breathing hard, his chest heaving up and down. Hollyleaf's hurt at his words hits him hard, like a wall, causing him to feel a load of sudden guilt.

"I —" Hollyleaf stammers. Her words are shaky and Jayfeather hates it. He hates the way that the world has ruined her, reduced her once steady and confident voice to rubble.

StarClan, are you happy now? Are you happy with what you have done?

"I couldn't stay," Hollyleaf continues, her voice small and scared. Jayfeather wants nothing more than to run to her and comfort her, but he restrains himself.

"We don't have to talk about this now." Lionblaze wraps his tail around his sister's shoulders as his gaze flashes anxiously between his two littermates. "We'll deal with this all later."

"No," Jayfeather snaps, "We'll deal with this now." Because, by the stars, he is tired of waiting. He cannot wait. He will never wait again.

"I couldn't stay," Hollyleaf repeats. "Not after what I did."

"You mean killing Ashfur?" Jayfeather finds his voice shaking, but for what specific reason, he does not know "Yeah, that was a horrible thing to do. But he tried to kill us. He would've killed us if he'd gotten the chance. You don't think he would've shown us any mercy, do you?"

"He was a psychopath," Lionblaze adds. "All he ever wanted to do was hurt Squirrelflight, and he would've killed us to hurt her."

"So?" Hollyleaf's voice is high-pitched and shrill at this point. "So what if he would've killed us? That doesn't mean I should've just murdered him!"

"You shouldn't have," Lionblaze says, pressing his nose against his sister's cheek. She flinches, but she does not move away. "But we can't change the past."

"You should've come to us." Jayfeather's mind is running wild with what if, what if, what if — "We could've come up with something. You know we could have."

"I know," Hollyleaf hisses. "You think that I don't hate myself for it every day? That I don't regret it with every part of my being?" Suddenly, there is a deep shift in her emotions, and Jayfeather can feel something cold and ominous creeping in the air.

"Have you ever killed a cat?" Hollyleaf asks, her voice dripping with emotion and resentment and unfiltered, raw pain.

"Well —" Lionblaze begins.

"I don't mean Russetfur," Hollyleaf says. "You did that in battle, to save Firestar. No, I mean, have you ever hunted a cat down like prey? Dragged your claws across his throat as he laughed at you in his last moments?"

"Hollyleaf —"

"I can still smell the blood," Hollyleaf says huskily. She prods at her dark fur. "It's like it's still clinging onto me, and I can never be clean. Do you know the last thing he said to me before he died?"

Jayfeather does not speak. He does not want to hear, he does not want to know, he does not want to feel.

But he listens.

"I hope it's worth it." Hollyleaf lets out a humorless purr of laughter. "And the worst part? Back then, I did think it was worth it. I'm evil, Jayfeather. I'm a murderer. I belong in the Dark Forest, with Tigerstar and Brokenstar and all of the others. There's nothing you can do to save me from my fate."

Jayfeather's ears are ringing with the weight of his sister's confession, but he lets out a deep breath and forces himself to say what he has been thinking all this time. "Maybe not," he says, "Maybe I can't save you. Maybe no cat can. But you… you can save yourself from this, Holly."

The silence afterwards is thick as Hollyleaf takes in his words. All Jayfeather can hear is birdsong. He wonders if she is planning on leaving them again, if these words will be enough to convince her to stay. Please don't leave, he begs her silently. I need you. We need you. But this is Hollyleaf's decision, and he cannot allow himself to take the choice away from her.

Lionblaze is the one to break the silence. "We hoped you would come back, you know," he mews.

Hollyleaf raises her head silently, listening.

"I always thought there was a chance you were alive," Lionblaze continues. "That you would find your way back to us."

"I wanted to," Hollyleaf says, "But —"

"You couldn't, I know," Lionblaze says. "But you're back now, and stars, I've missed you."

He leans back against his sister, purring intensely. Jayfeather feels a deep warmth inside his chest, and all of his reservations melt as he rushes to join his littermates. For a while, with his chin on Lionblaze's shoulder, and his pelt pressed tight against Hollyleaf's, it is like they are kittens again. Like they are curled up together in the nursery, innocent to all the dangers of the world. He breathes in Hollyleaf's scent, so familiar, yet so foreign now, and he never wants this moment to end.

But it does. (It always does.)

"They don't know the truth," Hollyleaf says, pulling away from her brothers' embrace. "Brambleclaw made that story up."

"Like I said, we can worry about that later," Lionblaze says. "You're home. You have the chance to prove yourself to our Clanmates, to StarClan."

"I don't deserve to be here," Hollyleaf rebuts, burying her face in Jayfeather's shoulder.

A spark of anger flares in his heart. "Don't say that," he hisses, shifting to look Hollyleaf in the eye. "Don't let me hear you say that again. ThunderClan is your home. Nothing will ever change that."

"In the tunnels," Hollyleaf says hollowly, green eyes unblinking, "I dreamt of you two. Every night."

"You could've come home," Jayfeather says. He is breaking, crumbling, and it is causing him to release his emotions in ways he normally would scoff at. "You should've come home, but you never did."

Hollyleaf seems to be fighting with herself. He can sense it in the air, the way that she is tearing herself apart in her search for words. But finally, her voice sounds, small and uncertain. "I didn't think you would want me."

"Hollyleaf, have you not been listening to anything that we just said?" Jayfeather asks, exasperated. "Of course we wanted you back! You're our sister, and no one can replace you! No one! Just because you're too mousebrained to realize it doesn't make it not true!"

"Besides," Lionblaze adds, "If you weren't here, who would sneak out of camp and fake signs from StarClan with us?"

The black she-cat lets out a purr of amusement, a real one this one. "You remember that?"

"Of course I do," Lionblaze says. "And that time we trespassed on ShadowClan territory? Firestar was so angry!"

"What about when we went fox hunting when we were kits?" Jayfeather says, brushing his sister's pelt with his tail. "We got into so much trouble for that one."

Hollyleaf purrs, curling into her brothers' touches. "I missed you two, too."

"I would be offended if you didn't," Jayfeather says dryly. "As far as littermates go, I feel like I'm the best."

"Definitely not," Lionblaze says, his eyes sparkling with humor. "If anything, I'm the best brother."

"Oh, stop it, you two!" Hollyleaf laughs, giving Lionblaze a shove.

"Hey!" the golden tom complains, shaking out his fluffy pelt. "You'll pay for that!"

"I'll pay for it later." Hollyleaf's voice is warm and soft now, lilting slightly as she rests her head on Lionblaze's shoulder. "For now, I just want to be with my brothers."

"Don't get all sappy on us," Jayfeather says, rolling his eyes jokingly.

"Shut up, Jayfeather."

After a period of quiet, Lionblaze shifts. "I'm kind of hungry. Let's go hunting."

"You're always hungry," Hollyleaf says with a dramatic sigh.

"Food is great," Lionblaze says. "It tastes good. It might even be better than the two of you combined."

"Shut up, Lionblaze."

For a moment, there is silence as the three littermates rest against each other, content with the world and everything in it. For all that he has suffered, Jayfeather thinks, it seems to be worth it because his sister, his precious sister, is alive and well and back with him. All is as it should be, and he forgets about the Dark Forest, about the prophecy, about everything. He will hold on to all the warmth and love there is in this moment, and he will never let go. He will fight to keep things like this, to preserve this moment of beauty and peace.

"Hollyleaf?" Jayfeather breaks the silence.

She lifts her head sleepily. "Yes?"

"I'm glad you're home."

And that is all. As I said, I'm not sure if there's a point to it, but it does seem like a waste not to publish something I've written. For my next fic, I'm planning to write a longfic that is the typical AU "What if Leaf and Crow didn't return home?" involving Holly, Jay, and Lion and coming back to ThunderClan after not being born there. It's still in the early steps, but stay tuned!

Anyways, please comment and provide feedback, as always!

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