[ ♛ ]

ɪɴ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ, ɪɴ sᴏᴜʟ

There was a gentle floral scent to the air. Bearpaw was lying flat on the ground, his limbs splayed out around his body. He felt no pain, but there was a desperate longing in his heart that he wished was quiet. The air was warm and birds were chirping merrily.

Bearpaw snapped open his eyes in surprise. Birds? Warmth? The void had been most cold and unwelcoming. It couldn't be possible he had escaped the void. But he gazed around his surroundings, and saw the forest. Sunlight dappled the ground. It's all just a dream, Bearpaw thought immediately, determined not to get his hopes up.

But would a dream feel so real as this? He got to his paws and peered into the treetops, his eyes far away from the ground. As he watched the trees, a single amber leaf did a floating pirouette down onto the forest floor, twirling and dancing in the uplifting breeze. The amber, Bearpaw realized, was the exact shade of . . . Sablepaw's eyes.

He looked down miserably at his paws, though his heart was still so full of the forest's views. It seemed the lonely void had answered his cries. Then Bearpaw gasped out loud, his eyes filling with tears. He was so confused, so so confused.

"I'm . . . not starry. . . ." he murmured to himself, marveling at his normal, star-free paws. This could only mean one thing. Well, two things. Bearpaw stared harder at his paws. He either went to the Dark Forest, or . . . I can't be - impossible.

A glint of light reflected out from the left edge of his vision made him look around intently. There was a shimmering pool of water. Bearpaw took a deep breath and leaned over it to look at himself. His pelt was fluffy like it had become in StarClan, but his eyes were wide and a liquidy brown. He pondered himself, testing out each of his muscles in turn.

There was a sudden rustling sound from about twenty fox-lengths away. Bearpaw jerked his head upward. It was Sablepaw. She was standing, wobbly and unsure, and gaping at him. She shook her head as if she couldn't believe it. Then she looked closer at him and her eyes grew wide as moons. Bearpaw watched with bated breath. Sablepaw shook leaves from her pelt, mouthing wordlessly at him.

Bearpaw couldn't move. He was frozen. But this wasn't a forced frozen like the void's. He felt the strongest happiness he had ever felt in his small life.

His mind whirled as Sablepaw suddenly started bounding forward. "BEARPAW!" Sablepaw screamed. She was sobbing. Bearpaw forgot how to breathe. Sablepaw reached him in just a heartbeat, and when she thrust her muzzle against his fluffy brown tabby fur, it didn't go right through him. Bearpaw's heart lifted until he thought he could fly. He almost hesitated to believe it. But this couldn't have been a dream. It was . . . it was. . . .

It was a miracle.