Following the deaths of her kits after the end of Veil of Shadows, Daisy has been in a depression for a while. She's also questioning her role in the Clan since there are currently no queens with kits, and her only living kin in the Clan is Mousewhisker.
That's when her ex-mate Smoky shows up, begging her for help: his current mate Coriander is giving birth to kits, but it's not going well. Daisy and her patrol arrive long enough to help deliver the kits and to hear Coriander's dying wish that her kits do not grow up as kittypets or Clan cats, but rather are raised by their father.
They feed the kits pulped prey, but know that they need to find an actual nursing queen in order for them to survive. The pregnant kittypet Smoky had known has been brought elsewhere by Twolegs, so they decide to bring them to SkyClan, which is the next closest queen they know of. Along the way, some of the Sisters help save them from a hawk, and suggest that they bring the kits to them since Sunshine has recently kitted.
A few days later in the care of the Sisters and the ThunderClan medicine cat Alderheart, the kits are doing well, and Smoky names them: the tom is Coriander after the kits' mother, and the she-cat is Daisy (nicknamed Little Daisy), since without the queen they wouldn't be there. Finally, a moon later, they're strong enough to leave, and Smoky brings them back to the horseplace, asking Daisy to stay for a while. Daisy starts to consider staying and being a family with Smoky and his kits.
She has a dream of ThunderClan where nobody seems to realize she's there, and is perplexed. Upon waking, a patrol comes to visit her, and they inform her that Spotfur has had kits and will need help. Daisy feels pulled both ways, and tells them that she'll think about it. She talks with Smoky, offering him to join ThunderClan, but he declines, wanting to honor Coriander's last wish. They discuss how they're still dear friends even though their feelings of romance are gone. Finally, Daisy says goodbye, promising to visit - and to bring her son Mousewhisker along with her to see his kin.
She arrives back in camp and is touched to see how much Mousewhisker had missed her in the last moon. Alderheart offers to bring her to the nursery to meet Spotfur's new kits, and Daisy accepts. She feels she has a purpose - to be there when cats need her - and ThunderClan is where she belongs.
Tropes appearing in this novella:
- Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Daisy feels this way at the start of the novella. She finds her purpose by the end of it.
- A Day in the Limelight: Daisy's only POV, aside from a short story in Secrets of the Clans.
- Dead Guy Junior: The kit Coriander is named after his mother, who died giving birth to them.
- Death by Childbirth: Coriander.
- Death of a Child: Smoky and Coriander's third kit is stillborn.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Daisy thinks that the tom named Tom-Tom hardly has a name at all, that it'd be like being named "She-cat-She-cat".
- Due to the Dead: Although Coriander is not a Clan cat, Daisy suggests sitting vigil for her, and Smoky agrees.
- Last Request: Coriander asks Smoky that their kits do not become kittypets or Clan cats, that instead they be safe with their father.
- "Near and Dear" Baby Naming: After Daisy helps Smoky with the kits after their birth, he names one of the kits Daisy after her.
- Never Say Goodbye: Smoky keeps insisting that Coriander won't die, even after they both know it will happen.
- Posthumous Sibling: Hazeltail and Berrynose have died by the time their half-siblings are born.
- The Promise: Coriander's last words are to ask Smoky to promise her that her kits will be okay. He promises, and she's able to give birth to them before she passes on.
- Someone to Remember Him By: Spotfur is expecting the kits of her mate Stemleaf, who died not long before.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Little Daisy looks exactly like her mother Coriander.
- Surprise Pregnancy: It's mentioned that nobody knew that Spotfur was pregnant - not even Spotfur herself at first.
- Take Care of the Kids: This is Coriander's last request to Smoky.
- Tragic Stillbirth: One of the kits, sadly, is stillborn.
- Unto Us a Son and Daughter Are Born: The two (surviving) kits are a tom and a she-cat.
