#I'M SO SORRY IF I WROTE THE WARRIOR CATS STUFF WRONG I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING.

[shattered-reflections-au]

Fluffvember 17, Favorite book/story / “I wanted to share this with you”

--- --- ---

"cleaning day, huh?" Vio asked, leaning against the door jam of Red's room.

Red sat on his bed, a box of his childhood items sat abandoned.

"oh you know," Red muttered, putting aside the papers in his hand, "memory lane."

Vio gave a bittersweet look, sitting down beside Red.

"what are we looking at?" Vio asked, immediately going quiet as the photos of their past came flooding in.

a picture of Red and Vio, nine or ten years old. Red in a frilly pink dress and crown, and Vio in a vampire costume. halloween.

Vio never realized it. how scared Red looked. how sad his eyes were. Vio remembered that night. photos taken moments before disaster. moments before Red's mom got spooked by a teenager and demanded they head in for the night. Red has only gotten a few meagre pieces of candy, his pillowcase looking still hollow.

Vio sighed. he remembered smuggling coffee crisp and kit kats to his cousin during lunch breaks that year.

another photo, a summer pool party, sixth grade. Red sitting on the edge of a pool, only his feet in the pool, Vio beside him smiling. the day Vio learned that Red never had learned how to swim. He remembered getting yelled at by his aunt when one of their other relatives pushed Red in.

Red never wanted to go to the beach after that.

Vio sighed again, putting the photos back into the box with the rest. Rose coloured glasses had blurred the red flags in their childhood. Red flopped on his back. "i was so blind, wasn't i?" he wondered.

Vio joined him. "we were kids. of course we were."

"hey Vio?" Red called.

"yeah Red?" Vio answered.

"remember when we ran away and hid in your treehouse?" Red asked, "we thought we were so bad, eating baby carrots in there until i went home for dinner?"

"yeah," Vio smiled. "that was the day I got you hooked on the warrior cats series, right?"

"of course, VioletShadow." Red said with a sly grin.

"oh not that again, BerryHeart." Vio laughed.

Red laughed. "it's been a while since i thought of those books."

"i still have all of mine," Vio mentioned.

Red sat up abruptly. "where?" Red demanded. vio blushed. "uh, don't laugh." Vio muttered. "where." Red demanded.

--- Vio shoved aside his folded summer wear, the bottom of a storage tub lined with piles and piles of old books.

"oh. my. Hylia." Red breathed, reaching in and pulling out one of the copies.

"not a word to anyone about this." Vio muttered, pulling out another book. all of the spines were broken, the more loved copies having pages and pages dog eared to hell and back.

--- another day, Vio walked by Red's bedroom door, a faded piece of paper in hand.

"hey," he hissed, catching Red's attention. Red perked an eyebrow at him, temporarily putting down his phone. "what's up?"

Vio handed the papers to Red. "i wanted to share these with you," Vio left the room before Red had a moment to look at them. Red laughed, the childish drawings of Vio and his cat personas they had made. their own narrative drawn out pulling on fond memories. the drawing on the bottom though. it was newer. Vio's art style had changed, but his ability to draw cats hadn't. "to: berryheart. i'm glad you're in my clan now."