Can you imagine what it's like to sacrifice your life for the daughter of the love of your life who chose another over you? I do. From the very day I was appointed as Firestar's apprentice, I fell head over heels for him. I went out of my way to get his attention, despite the fact that it costs me quite a few moons picking out fleas in the elder's den! Looking back, I realize that he must have seen me more as an irritating kit as opposed to an attractive she-cat, especially now that I know the full story of what he was dealing with for the duration of my apprenticeship. His best friend Graystripe fell in love with a RiverClan cat, he was secretly visiting his kittypet sister, and on top of all of that, he was one of two cats (the other being a barn loner, Ravenpaw) who knew the true secrets of the treacherous deputy, Tigerclaw. Nevertheless, I valued every precious moment of our training and strived my hardest to be the best warrior in all the forest for him.
He never loved me. He loved Sandstorm. Sandstorm had his kits, Leafkit and Squirrelkit. It was uncanny how much Squirrelkit resembled me. Then Leafkit chose to become my apprentice. I trained her to the best of my ability. If I could never be with Firestar, at least I could try to be as good a mentor to his daughter as he was to me. She learned quickly; it was clear that being a medicine cat was her passion. She reminded me of Yellowfang, not for her personality certainly not for my mentors sharp tongue, but her dedication to our life as caretakers of the Clan. I missed having a constant companion. It killed me when she left ThunderClan to be with Crowfeather, and not just figuratively. StarClan told me that in order to save my clan from the badgers, I would die. In the end, the sacrifice was worth it for one reason. Leafpool made the same decision that I made about Firestar all those moons ago. She chose her passion, not to mention the safety and wellbeing of her Clan, over a tom.
Crowfeather blew away like a feather, and Firestar blew out quicker than a fire. Sometimes it's more important to be happy on your own than happy because of someone else. In the end, the sacrifice was worth it.
In the end, we were worth it.