Spots on the Heart

'my only explanation this time is this this time. I would like to give AU credits to the creator.'

Notes on changes to canon:

-Spottedleaf has a somewhat different personality. You shall see, but she only wants to hELp...

-Spottedleaf didn't view Firestar as a lover. Rather, she grew protective of him to the point of thinking of herself as his mother, because I love the "Spottedleaf/Bluestar/or Yellowfang is his real mom" AU I came up with. It also helps with driving her to insanity

-Redtail, Willowpelt, Patchpelt, Spottedleaf, and Leopardfoot are going to have a closer relationship. Redtail and Spottedleaf are pretty close, and Patchpelt even agreed to help raise little Graykit when Willowpelt found she had made a mistake by becoming mates with a loner who did not truly love her (which is why the family tree shows Patchpelt as Graystripe's father at some point, and when she confessed to Whitestorm about this, this led to Willowpelt and Whitestorm growing closer...and closer...and then Sootkit, Rainkit, and Sorrelkit are born).

-Runningwind was, indeed, father to Featherkit and Cricketkit, as shown on the family tree. However, Dappletail wasn't the mother, as it was stated at some point that everyone believed she couldn't have kits. Runningwind fell for a kittypet, of all things, but when she died after trying to reach him to tell him about her kits and was hit by a car, Dappletail and young warrior Runningwind witnessed this. Runningwind was heartbroken over the death of Ruby hehe, so when Dappletail offered to help him raise Cricketkit and Featherkit, he readily agreed. However, Featherkit was deaf and ran away from camp to be eaten by a fox, and Cricketkit caught a case of greencough along with Robinwing's kit, Chesnutkit, and died. Both of them were saddened, and yet Dappletail never left her word, even referring to Featherkit as "her son".

-Cherrypaw and Chesnutkit, from the family tree, exist, and they were from the same litter as Ravenpaw and Dustpelt. Chesnutkit died early on from greencough, and Cherrykit was always a sickly she-kit. She even had whitecough when she turned six moons. However, Redtail felt extremely bad for the kit, and insisted that she have her own little apprentice ceremony, with himself as her mentor. It was there that her illness progressed into greencough, and three days after her ceremony, she died as Cherrypaw. Cherrypaw is also the same cat as Cherrypaw from Spottedleaf's Honest Answer, though this short story most likely won't fit into the Spots on the Heart canon. Dustpelt tries not to talk about Cherrypaw, and buried himself in training with his mentor, Darkstripe. This is one of the reasons he briefly became a follower of Tigerstar. Ravenpaw dislikes speaking about Cherrypaw, and it makes him uncomfortable, so he tries not to bring it up.

-Longtail was not brown. Longtail was not silver. He was a black tabby that was weirdly light-colored, so everyone always mixed up his coloring. This is done for the heck of it, and to stop color debates.

Prologue
He was certainly going to be something.

His appearance fit the bill perfectly, with his short, sleek tabby fur that somehow managed to be thick at the same time, his long, elegant tail, helpful to balancing himself whenever he wished to go anywhere normal Clan cats could not, in the treetops, and his handsome, large, distracting, bright emerald eyes. It was almost like one could fall into those eyes, which always seemed to spark delightedly at every new thing, and never come out from the land of fresh greenleaf leaves and sweet scents of catmint. But what was most wonderful about him was his pelt--it wasn't a dull ginger, like many cats of the Clan, nor was it light and faint and only an orange-cream. He looked like he was on fire when he walked, and his tabby stripes on his forehead only helped that simulation by giving him little "flames". He was a strong little bonfire, a strong little bonfire that could save everyone. He would save everyone.

Yes, she figured, he was the one to save ThunderClan. She'd known it from the moment they'd met, and his spark had captivated her. She knew he would be the hero. He had to be.

So it was no wonder to Bluestar when she, Spottedleaf, main medicine cat of ThunderClan since the death of dear Featherwhisker, began to spend time with him. He never argued, as Spottedleaf was quite possibly the kindest cat he had ever met so far, apart from his new friend who had brought him here unknowingly by fighting with him; and though this wasn't solely for him--she was always polite, always generous, always trying to help, help, help--she could tell it made him look up to her, as most young apprentices and kits did. Who could blame them? Spottedleaf was too kind to pass up immediately.

But something surprised her when they met: she found herself wanting to help him more than others. It was more than just her internal "medicine cat" needs, it seemed, because her help, help, help thoughts never stopped when she was near him, instead of just stopping whenever she was alone. In fact, even when they would speak to each other ever so briefly, her mind came yowling in to HELP, HELP, HELP him. ''Help the prophecy cat. Help him with his heroism. You'll be a hero, too, won't you, Spottedleaf? Want to be a hero? The medicine cat hero? The best hero?'' It also did not stop at this, for she was protective of the young tom. He could not get hurt on her watch. He would not get greencough on her watch. He would stay and grow into a brave warrior that she could be proud of, and his kits would roam the Clan for many seasons--

Dear StarClan, am I becoming a mother? she thought to herself one night, curled in her moss bedding in the medicine den she loved so well. The notion of this terrified her, as well as thinking it in the medicine den, of all things. Said den was a cozy little thing, a crack in a particularly large boulder with a short tunnel of large ferns leading up to it, with the sweet scent of herbs overwhelming any cat who dared to step inside. Kits, who always seemed to gag and fake throwing up when they entered for the first time, never seemed to enjoy anything about the place she held dear apart from Spottedleaf herself. It was like a cruel message from StarClan when this happened: The medicine cat cannot have kits. The words were sickening to the poor she-cat when they rolled around in her head, making her pelt itch uncomfortably and her heartbeat quicken. She loved the code...she couldn't break the code...the code, the code went on... ''The medicine cat puts their Clan first. Mates are forbidden, for a medicine cat may treat their beloved mate before their near-fatally wounded Clanmates out of worry, and death may come upon an able-bodied warrior, or a third of those warriors. If said mate were to die, this could cause the medicine cat to lose their enthusiasm for the job, and to become cold and snappish--or worse, the medicine cat may chose to become forever saddened and never bounce back. If kits are born, then they are taboo, and the code has been tossed away like a rotten magpie. A medicine cats must not have kits...''

No. No, she couldn't be a mother, not in the way that made everyone in camp realize her queen-like attitude towards the apprentice, how she desperately wanted to be a hero with him in his prophecy. He was almost like the son she had never gotten to have. He would become the best warrior he could be, on her watch, and he would rise up to deputy...to leader, even, if StarClan allowed it. Yes... Nobody had to know that Spottedleaf was helping. And Spottedleaf would help, she would help indeed. He would have anything he wanted. He would fulfill the prophecy, with his "mother" by his side, and they would be hailed as heroes by all. Life would be grand, she thought as she turned over in her sleep. Grand...

Her helping...would work...