Disclaimer- I don't own Warriors. (If I did, Hollyleaf wouldn't have died and Leafpool would still be medicine cat).
It was dark in the hollow, but the stars of Silverpelt sparked quietly overhead. Leafpool sat, lost in thought, looking up at the sky. Ivy fell from the entrance of her den, inside she could hear the cats sleeping. The camp was still, the breathing of multiple cats lost in the night air, but the last breath of greenleaf carried with it the smell of distant pine and the river dancing across Riverclan land.
Starlight twinkled, reflecting back in Leafpool's eyes as she looked up at the stars. She wondered if where Cinderpelt was, if she was one of them, watching over her. A part of Starclan. Grief pierced her heart as she quietly mourned the loss of her friend. The stars eluded no answer, mysteries hidden in the night sky.
In the camp, cats slept quietly, tummies rising and falling in time. Back at last, the young warriors had returned from their long voyage into the mountains, weary, but, for the young cats who had never left their territory before, full of new knowledge. Boarders had been restored to the Tribe of Endless Hunting, and Brambleclaw sounded confident the rouge cats now posed no serious threat to the tribe. Tired after the long mountain voyage, it had been night when the cats returned. Though many of the cats from the other clans were eager to return to their homeland, Firestar had insisted all the journeying cats stay the night in the Thunderclan camp. Many of the Thunderclan cats who made the voyage decided to also decided to forgo sleeping in their dens, not wanting to disturb their denmates, and slept instead in the hollow. Leafpool gazed quietly at the sleeping cats, her heart full of love.
Her gaze fell upon her sister, fast asleep beside Brambleclaw. The ThunderClan deputy yawned, moving closer to her. They were a perfect match, she was happy for Squirrelflight. Hollypaw, Jaypaw, and Lionpaw slept, a little ways off in the distance. Leafpool's heart constricted, they looked so young. She felt regret, and love. And pride, that they made the difficult journey and that they were able to restore peace to the Tribe of Endless Hunting. She would always watch over and protect them, even if she could no longer be their.. Her heart broke, and she wondered, yet again if the decision she made was the right one.
She couldn't even bear to look at the last cat she loved, fast asleep in the clearing. They hadn't seen one another since the night Leafpool returned to ThunderClan. Leafpool could still remember the anguish in his gaze as she told him goodbye, and still saw the intensity of his eyes when he told her he loved her. A part of her heart still belonged to him, though she knew she knew her true destiny lay as ThunderClan's medicine cat.
Movement in the clearing interrupted Leafpool's gaze, as she watched her daughter yawn, arching her back and quietly removing Lionpaw's tail from her flank. She didn't see Leafpool, half hidden in her den, as she glanced around the camp. Quietly, uncertainly, she walked across the camp, away from her two brothers. Her paws led her to where Breezepaw lay, murmuring in his sleep, apart from the rest of the group. Hesitatingly, she lay down beside him, not wanting him to spend the night alone.
Anguish pierced Leafpool's heart, she didn't want Hollypaw to be hurt, but knew this could only end in disaster. Sympathy for the two young cats encompassed her, and her sadness grew when she realized who the other cat was. How could she tell her daughter that Breezepaw was already a part of her family? That Squirrelflight was not her mother...That Brambleclaw was not her father. Indecisiveness gripped her, and anguish hit her like a wave. Looking at her daughter, Breezepaw, asleep, who in the moonlight, in memories, could almost be a young Leafpool and Crowfeather. Her heart encompassed, Leafpool looked up again to the sky.
"Starclan, I gave up everything for you. My mentor, my mate...my kits. How do I know the choice I made was the right one."
The stars held no answers, but then.
"Leafpool?" a voice broke out in the night.