Everybody Needs Somebody

Lilackit was racing through the fallen leaves outside the nursery, laughing with glee. She might have been alone in that very moment, but boy was she having fun! Was her mama and papi watching her now? She didn't know, and now she was feeling sad. She didn't like being sad, it was such a bad feeling. She sat down, slouching, not even worrying about the red leaf that still rested on her head. She wanted her mama and papi back.

Lilackit was unable to stop the sobs that escaped her. Why did StarClan have to take them? Didn't they know that she needed them? Why did they go? Did they still love her? Or did they forget she was here?

When Lilackit had been born, Olivestar had rejoiced alongside her Clan at the news of new life, the pitter patter of little paws through the camp and through the piles of leaves that had been blown onto the moor from the neighboring forest. The joy had been short-lived, though, as the little kit's parents had been called to StarClan shortly after Lilackit's birth, leaving the kit in need of a family to call her own. The leader knew what it was like to lose both of her parents at a young age, and she hoped that she and Zinnia could be what Elmskip and Arcayus had been to her.

Olivestar found Lilackit by the small sobs that sounded from under a large red leaf, and the leader approached the kit, sitting down beside her and wrapping her tail around her. She flicked the leaf off of Lilackit's head with her tail-tip, and laid down, so that she could be closer to the kit's eye level. With a small, reassuring smile, Olivestar asked,
"Is everything okay?"

Lilackit looked up as the leaf had been flicked from her head, a tail wrapped around her. She had to admit, she was a little shocked to see her leader there. What was such an important cat doing worrying about a kit like her? She sniffled a little, forcing a smile. One thing worse than being sad was others knowing you were sad. That would only make them sad, and she didn't want to make anyone sad!

"Yeah, I'm okay. I was just thinking, and sometimes what I think about makes me sad. I'm sorry if I made you sad too, I don't like making others sad." She scanned Olivestar. She didn't look very sad. Just worried. But she didn't like worrying others, either. So it wasn't much of a relief. So her blue eyes moved to the ground in shame. She felt bad for making her leader worry for such a silly thing.

As the kit piped up about sad thoughts, Olivestar nodded a little, the soft smile never wavering.
"As the leader, it's my job to look out for and care for everyone in the Clan, from the oldest elder, to the youngest kit. Everyone matters, and I want everyone to know that I'm all ears to their problems and concerns, and that I'll do my best to help them."

As Lilackit looked to the ground in what seemed like shame, the leader brushed her tail tip under the kit's chin, in a way to prompt her to look back up.
"You know, I lost both of my parents too, when I was a kit. I was actually born to a pair of loners, right outside WindClan territory. When my brother and I were born, our father was already long gone, and our mother passed a half-moon afterwards. We don't know what happened to her, but we were then found by Elmskip and Arcayus, who brought us into the Clan, and acted as our parents afterwards. They both roam the starry plains of StarClan now, but I thank them every day for raising me to be the cat that I am today. Without them, I wouldn't be here."

Lilackit stared up at her leader with wide eyes. How had she not known this before? The leader was so much like her in ways she didn't even realize! And it was a guilty pleasure, but it kind of lifted her spirits, knowing someone like her knew what Lilackit was going through, knowing she had someone to turn to who understood completely.

Lilackit offered a shy smile, shuffling a little closer to Olivestar. "Thank you, Olivestar. And, uh, I'm sorry you lost your parents too. And Elmskip and Arcayus. They sound like amazing cats." She chuckled nervously. She needed to work on what to say in moments like these.