Prologue
Spottedleaf watched with gentle amber eyes as a leaf drifted lazily down a starry stream. She wasn't surprised by the rush of pawsteps and rustle of undergrowth behind her, or the shaky call of her name that echoed through the forest.
"Welcome, Leafpool," the StarClan cat didn't turn to look at the lithe tabby as she stumbled towards her, only invited the medicine cat to sit beside her with a sweep of her tail.
"Spottedleaf," Leafpool all but wailed. "I can't take this anymore, I just don't know what to do... I love him so much, but..."
The starry tortoiseshell touched her tail-tip to Leafpool's muzzle, silencing her distraught mew. "Be at ease, little one." She murmured gently, flicking her ears towards the stream and the lonely leaf that traveled on it. "This is not a decision I can make for you," Spottedleaf began softly. "All I can tell you is to follow your heart. As long as you follow your heart, you always find your way."
Leafpool turned to the StarClan cat, her eyes growing wide. "Follow my heart?" She echoed.
"Yes," Spottedleaf could practically feel the medicine cat beside her warm as she thought about what she had said. "And remember that no matter where your heart may lead you, you will never walk alone."
With that, the dappled she-cat stood, prompting Leafpool to jump to her paws.
"But Spottedleaf," she gasped. "My feelings for him, surely those come from my heart.. Does that mean that our love is okay? Is it truly okay for me to choose to be with him?"
Spottedleaf didn't answer, she only bekoned again towards the stream as she began to fade away. Leafpool turned back towards the water, watching with amber eyes that begged for answers. Spottedleaf watched beside her as the leaf tumbled down as series of small waterfalls, dipping under the surface once or twice, but always coming back up. As they watched, a feather, large and golden, drifted down on the breeze, landing beside the leaf in the stream, bobbing alongside of and occasionally bumping into the leaf as they journeyed together through the starry water.
Spottedleaf turned, walking away as Leafpool's eyes lit up, shining with more hope and love than Spottedleaf had felt even for her beloved Firestar. Good luck, little one... She thought quietly as the young medicine cat woke from her dream and scrambled to her paws, racing away from the Moonpool and not towards ThunderClan's territory, but further around the lake. The path you've chosen is long and hard, but you will never walk it alone, even if I am not the one at your side.