DISCLAIMER: I do not own warriors. Erin Hunter does. :)
Squirrelflight gazed around her, at all the cats that were in her life, day to day, and tears welled in her eyes when she saw Brambleclaw. Her bones felt tired and weak, like her mind and thoughts. She suppressed more tears when he caught her staring and flashed a stern and cool look.
She looked away, feeling helpless for one of the first times in her life. She gasped in a breath, and failed to keep from shaking. Atleast she wasn't crying, she thought.
She remembered every single happy moment spent with Brambleclaw, her ex-mate. She remembered how every small fight had ended with the best sex she had ever had, each time better than the last.
She remembered their old morning ritual. Each morning, he would whisper, "I love you" and wake her up, then bring her fresh kill in her nest. Afterwards, she would groom him, and help him organize patrols for the day.
She smiled for a split second before she burst out in silent tears. She felt cats all around her staring, and she spun around, suddenly hating all of them; with their speculating thoughts and words.
As she raced blindly to the spot she knew she'd find her sister, she remembered all the memories she shared with her 'kits'. She realized how much she loved them, and how much she actually wanted them to be her kits.
All the days that she and them had gone hunting with Brambleclaw, a perfect family, loving and teasing one another, and sharing happy and wonderful moments...and she wondered how Leafpool was feeling...
Meanwhile, Leafpool sat by the edge of the lake, pondering over everything: her life, her love, her kits, her mistakes, problems, and regrets.
Leafpool felt her whole body quiver and tremble as she thought of the time that she and Crowfeather had gone off together; leaving behind everyone and everything just for the sake of their love. And she questioned herself: was that a mistake?
She recalled the death of her mentor, and how Crowfeather had surely resented her ever since she rejected him to stay and help her clan. After the first tear, she knew it was impossible to stop the flow.
All her memories fell like broken bits of glass around her, and she closed her eyes, emitting gasps as she sobbed her heart out. The gut-wrenching sobs made her shake so hard, she bent over the Windclan river border and got sick.
She opened her eyes just enough to catch a glimpse of her barf flow downstream before she retched again...
and again...
and once more...
Once she had control over her tears, she sat up straight and blinked twice, trying to open her eyes to the burning sunlight. She felt her stomach rumble, and she shivered beneath her thin fur.
Leafpool heard pounding pawsteps behind her, and knew that gait by heart.
She huddled against her sister beside the river, and they poured out their salty drops into the ever-moving stream.