private i imagined a future with you in it // heavy snow

[BRIGHTSHINE!]

// @HEAVY SNOW

Her steps are light and high as she trots about the moorland, her much larger mate in tow. She’d invited him out for a hunt, just the two of them, but not because she wanted to actually catch anything. No, the grin slapped across her face is a little wider than usual. She’s got something up her sleeve, a bit of news she just can’t wait to tell him. But she wants it to be perfect! So she takes him to their favorite spot: the Horseplace! She remembers all the silly times they shared here sitting on the fencepost, trying their best to imitate the funny animals on the other side. Perhaps not the most romantic place - the smell makes sure of that - but it holds good memories.

When they arrive, the small she-cat bunches her muscles and leaps up onto the post before looking down at the white tom expectantly. “I wanna tell you something before hunting,” The calico trills, eyes twinkling with excitement. With a flick of her tail, she beckons him up. When he does join her, she twines her tail with his fluffy one, already beaming with joy. “You know how much I love you, right? And I mean everything about you! Your kindness, your courage, but most of all I love how you accepted my family as your own. When my kits didn’t have a dad, you helped teach them to fight, and the best ways to catch birds, and you played with them the way a dad should.” She smiles even bigger as she recalls the memories of him scuffling with Mallow and Echo when they were young, before leaning to press her nose against his affectionately. “I should’ve realized then you were the one for me. I can’t believe it took us so long to decide to be together!” The next words burn on her tongue, waiting to come out, but she wants to wait for his response.​

 

[HEAVY SNOW]

Heavy Snow is not a cat who requires terribly much to be happy. His mate always had a way to bring a smile to his face and he had always admired her way of keeping spirits high even in the darkest of times. For that, she was his guiding light. His sunshine in the darkness. Horse-place was, by all accounts, romantic in no way and if not for the time they had shared here together he would not even deign to think of it as the spot to go to. But as he finds his snowy paws being led there a warm smile erupts on his face, a purr rumbles in his throat. He remembers just as well as she all the time spent here, the laughs, the talks, watching chickens scramble about in the dirt. He would lift a paw and point to one and say 'that one looks just like you' with a laugh upon his maw. Whenever they came here he knew that he would leave in better spirits. "Now this is way better than hunting" he says with a small laugh as he gathers his muscles and jumps up onto the fence next to her, fluffy white tail twining with hers as he leans closer, mismatched eyes looking out across the pastures, watching the inhabitants graze.

'I wanna tell you something before hunting' her words break him out of the reverie he had found but he doesn't mind. He tears his gaze away from the distant horizon and looks down upon his mate. Her words are no surprise to him, they are sentiments shared before but even still, he cannot hep the warm glow of affection burn in his chest and his gaze softens into that of pure adoration. Taking care of Echolight and Mallowlark had been like second nature for him. Her and her family had taken him in and given him a home when he had needed one most, it was the least he could do to be there for them. "Of course I know that, as long as you know I love you too" he says, pressing his nose to the top of her head "I love them like they were my own flesh and blood, it was only right I taught them what I knew" he would have to have a void in place of his heart to not.

He pulls away then, far enough that he could look at her, study that familiar tortoiseshell embellished face he had come to love so much "Surely you did not bring me all the way out here to tease me for being thick-skulled" he says in reference to her bringing up how long it had both taken them to admit their feelings for one another, it was something they had talked about before. She hadn't been ready at the time and that was okay, he would've waited forever for her. "Wha'ts really on your mind Sunshine?" he uses the name she had borne when they first met now mainly as an affectionate one. Brightshine was a good name too, but her old one would always hold a special place in his heart.
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[BRIGHTSHINE!]

She can hardly keep still. Her paws knead the wooden post as she stares at him, leaning forward with a gleeful grin. Green eyes lock onto his mismatched gaze and she can’t keep her mouth shut any longer. “I’m pregnant,” She blurts out eagerly, voice rising in pitch. “You’re gonna be a dad, Snowy!” She erupts into giddy giggles and leans forward, into his fur and nuzzles his shoulder hard. Of course, it’s a scary thought…bringing kits into a clan like WindClan isn’t ideal. But they have no choice. This is what is happening now, and there’s no changing it. All they can do is make sure these kits are loved, and raised to know empathy and laughter and kindness amidst a clan filled with fear and anger. She’s determined to make it work.​

 

[HEAVY SNOW]

He knows that WindClan is not a good enviroment for kits. He remembers with a certain clarity the day that Juniperfrost had died, remembers Sootstar calling for her own children, making them look upon the body of the slain warrior. He understands that death is a part of life but to him there are better ways to teach the youth such things. These are the worries he has whenever he looks upon the kits of WindClan currently, it is what he thinks whenever he wakes from dreams where he is surrounded by a family of his own.

When she says the words he is stunned into silence for only a moment. "Pregnant?" he echoes, his usually strong voice cracking and a huge smile erupting on his jaws. All of his worries melt away for the moment, replaced by only the pure joy he feels at the idea of kits. Of course, in his mind, he already had children. Mallowlark and Echolight were not related to him by blood but he considered them family all the same. But they had both gone from WindClan, leaving a hole in his heart that he is certain is present in his mates heart as well. "We're going to have kits" he says, his voice an excited whisper. And then his eyes start to tear up "Im going to be a dad!" he says, a purr rumbling deep in his chest. He leans forward and rests his muzzle on the top of Brightshines head for a moment, pulling away to give her a loving lick behind her ears before pulling away again, overcome with excitement and happiness. "And you're going to be a mom again" he says with a warm laugh. She would be just an excellent mother to this litter as she had been to her first, of that he is certain.

"We're going to have to start thinking of names" his voice is filled with wonder as he looks back out across the horseplace, thoughts already swirling in his head. Would they look like him? Like her? He just hopes that they're healthy, that they grow up to be happy and strong.
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