"Crowfeather pressed closer to her and drew his tongue over her face and ears with gentle, comforting strokes. "You did follow your heart," he meowed. "Your heart told you to come home. You could never be happy away from your Clan."

Leafpool turned her head and saw pain glisten in his amber eyes. "But what about you?" she whispered.

Crowfeather bowed his head. "Your heart lies here. Not with me. It was never truly with me."

Leafpool felt as though she were being torn in two, but she knew Crowfeather was right. She loved him, but not enough. For a few heartbeats she leaned into him, feeling his warmth and strength for the last time. Then she touched Cinderpelt's fur with her nose.

"It's all right," she murmured. "I'll stay here and take good care of the Clan, I promise. One day we'll meet again, walking among the stars."

…

Leafpool glanced over at Crowfeather, who was still crouched outside the nursery, then turned back to her sister. "I'm glad to be back, too." Crowfeather stood up as the WindClan cats came back into the camp. "Look, it's Crowfeather!" Whitetail exclaimed. "What's he doing here?" Onestar stalked over to stand in front of the gray-black warrior. "Crowfeather, you came back … but not to your own Clan." ~Twilight

Leafpool and Crowfeather's eyes met, and his posture straightened smoothly. The black warrior collected himself and stood in front of Onestar.

"I am sorry that I never warned you that I was leaving, Onestar. That was wrong. However, I cannot return to WindClan yet, not when my heart lies in ThunderClan. If they will have me, I would remain with ThunderClan."

Firestar looked exhausted. His state made Leafpool's fur bristle in worry, partially for her father and partially for her leader. His fur was bloody and matted, one ear was clawed almost in half, and he appeared to be forcing himself to remain on his paws. After studying the young WindClan warrior for a long moment, he looked to where Leafpool waited anxiously.

"Crowfeather is one of the cats of the prophecy. He lead us to our new territories, and ThunderClan thanks him for that. If Crowfeather wishes to stay, there is no reason ThunderClan to refuse a worthy warrior. After my warriors have recovered, I will travel to the Moonpool to speak with StarClan about this," the ginger tom was wounded, but still powerful. He met Onestar's eyes evenly.

"Very well. If Firestar accepts you, I cannot force you to return with us. Good hunting, Crowfeather. You are no longer welcome on WindClan land," Onestar turned from his former warrior to Firestar.

"Onestar, every cat in ThunderClan thanks you," Firestar meowed. "Without you, StarClan would have gained many more warriors."

"You've helped WindClan in the past," Onestar replied. "It's only right that we should come and help you."

"We won't forget—" Firestar began.

He was interrupted by a startled yowl from Thornclaw, who was closest to the camp entrance. Squirrelflight stiffened. Had the badgers come back? She didn't think she could lift a single paw now, even to save her life.

But her exhaustion vanished when she saw two cats carefully picking their way through the scattered thorn branches. The first of them, a powerful warrior with a thick gray pelt, stopped at the edge of the clearing and looked around.

"This isn't what I expected to find," he meowed. "What happened?"

Squirrelflight stared in disbelief. After the badger attack, she had thought nothing else could shock her, but for a heartbeat she forgot how to breathe.

Gazing curiously around them, sleek furred and calm among the shattered Clan, were Stormfur and Brook. ~ Twilight