Spottedleaf's Honest Answer is a short story written as a prize for Reading Warriors, a summer reading program to encourage children to read by awarding themselves the title of "apprentice", "warrior", etc. after they have read a certain number of books. The first year the program was created, fans were given a code for each rank, and were meant to enter the code after achieving the rank to recieve their reward. The prizes included a screensaver, two essays about the series by Vicky Holmes, and an excerpt of Eclipse (notable in that Outcast wasn't even out quite yet). Spottedleaf's Honest Answer was one of the prizes. It is no longer available on the official site, but it can still be read here
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Spottedleaf, in StarClan, greets the reader, who appears to be in the role of a young Clan cat. She responds to questions the reader evidently asked - how does she feel about Firestar and Sandstorm? Wouldn't she have given up on him by now, accepting that they can only be friends? She starts to talk about how hopeless this is, but then stops herself, saying that the young cat asked an honest question and it deserves an honest answer.
She knows that Firestar will never be hers, he belongs to Sandstorm, even though she will watch over him forever. It wasn't love at first sight, she says - she had been a medicine cat for moons, loving every part of the job. She finds it ironic how one of her last signs from StarClan foretold Firestar's arrival. She says at first he was just another apprentice, but after Yellowfang arrived, she started to see him differently when he refused to be intimidated by her and respected her despite her ShadowClan past. She began to watch him more, and talked to him whenever their paths crossed, and she grew very fond of this kind, brave, loyal young cat.
Spottedleaf wishes she had not died so early, and she moped for a moon afterward. If she had lived, even if she would always be a medicine cat, at least she could still see him and talk to him, but instead, she is forced to watch from afar, sometimes not being able to see him clearly, sometimes not being able to see him at all. She did her best to guide him, and she knew how much he looked forward to seeing her - which hurt her, knowing he was closer to her after her death than in life.
When Firestar became Sandstorm's mate, he attempted to tell Spottedleaf in a dream that he could not be in love with a memory anymore. That hurt her more than anything, but still, she will forever love him and watch over him. She knows she cannot give him what Sandstorm can: the warmth of a living cat, kits, a mate to support him as he leads the Clan, someone to grow old with. She knows the two love each other very much, and she accepts that Sandstorm is a good mate for him. She loves their daughters as if they are her own, even though there are times she dearly wishes she could be their mother instead, and she plans to watch over both of them and guide them as well.
Spottedleaf then notices that it is getting late, and time for the reader to return to their Clan. She calls over a StarClan apprentice, Cherrypaw, to lead them home. She advises them to not say anything about this conversation to anyone, especially Firestar. What matters is that he and Sandstorm are happy, and that nothing can change the past. She ends with, "I would not change a single heartbeat of my life, nor all the time since, if it meant losing a moment of Firestar’s friendship", and bids them goodbye.
Tropes appearing in this story:
- Dead Person Conversation: The start and end of the story establish that you are a young Clan cat speaking to Spottedleaf, who is in StarClan.
- I Just Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Spottedleaf towards Firestar. She sees that Sandstorm is his mate and how happy they are together, and although she wishes it could be her, she harbors no ill will toward Sandstorm, and she loves their family as if they were her own.
