Even though it is no longer forbidden for a medicine cat to take a mate, Jayfeather shows no interest in any ThunderClan she-cat.

Cherrypaw suns outside his den so often that Jayfeather begins to instinctively step around her as if she was merely another rock in the terrain. The she-cat eventually addresses it more directly, coming in with minor injuries until Jayfeather begins directing her to Leafpool at first complaint. The camp does not know what transpires between the she-cats, but eventually Cherrypaw refuses to enter into the medicine den even after border skirmishes.

He turns away beautiful Blossomfall and sweet Rosepetal as if they were annoyances. For many moons, the Clan speculates that he has taken Briarlight for his mate. The she-cat sleeps in the medicine cat den so often that Leafpool can occasionally be found in Crowfeather's nest in the warrior's den for lack of room. Eventually Squirrelflight enlarges the nest and makes her own smaller so she can sleep near her sister.

Jayfeather is kinder to Briarlight than to her sister, but the she-cat never seems to pursue him and never moves into the nursery. The only cat Jayfeather shows any true interest in is Featherpaw, who he teaches to treat minor wounds and favors as a guard in the forest. It is not completely uncommon for the apprentice to take her catch to the medicine cat den to share with him after a patrol. Rumor spreads quickly that he is her father, but Jayfeather and Hollyleaf are not particularly close and Lionblaze's kits are just as welcome, if more rambunctious. Neither sibling will says anything on the rumor, and eventually the Clan settles for not knowing, although Rosepetal and Cherryfall insist that the kit is his until even Daisy loses interest.

He does not bother to explain to cats who would never be capable of understanding that he waits to walk with a snow white she-cat among the stars. He remembers her glowing green eyes and the sweet scent of her fur, accented by cold, damp air and carried on large, snowshoe-style paws with a gracefulness that even the best ThunderClan hunter can only imagine.

He dreams of her, of her belly heavy with kits, and it takes him many nights to realize that the kits in her belly belong to him. The night she gives birth, he wakes sore and shaking, fur standing on end. He curls into the sunlight outside his den much as a new queen might, and allows the warmth to penetrate his fur while repeating his kit's names in a breath so soft Dovewing cannot make out his words. One was blind, with long grey fur and large paws, the other grey and white with brilliant blue eyes. In the nights that follow he watches as the blind she-kit becomes one of the best hunters he's ever seen. She catches an eagle by scent and walks with cautious paws across ledges that set his fur on end.

Leafpool says nothing about him sleeping in or sunning, only offers poppy seeds for dreamless sleep and suggests he sleep in the warrior's den where he would be surrounded by other cats. Jayfeather does not correct her assumptions. He wakes earlier and works harden instead, driven by dreams of a tom named Broken Feather and kits grey with pelts speckled and dark. He breathes in their scents and tries to memorize it before he wakes. Before he dies, he will follow Quiet Rain and Stone Song's kits through many moons of their lives.

Jayfeather's dreams are only interrupted by the scent of a white cat with her paws echoing with destiny arriving with the coming dawn.