The moon swept serenely over the night sky, leaving behind a sparkling trail of silver stars. StarClan, can you see us?

Every time she snuck out to see him, her pelt crawled with guilt. She was defying StarClan! She was disobeying the warrior code, the law that all Clan cats lived by! She was a medicine cat, and she was in love.

She sighed softly and curled up tighter next to Crowfeather, basking in the warmth of his scent. Wasn't it the most wonderful thing to be in love?

Crowfeather licked her ear gently. "I wish we didn't have to keep it a secret."

Instantly alert, she opened her eyes and asked, "What?"

"The-the…just…this in general," he attempted to explain, sweeping his tail in a wide arc.

She nodded, sadness clouding over her green eyes. Crowfeather winced. He hated to see her unhappy. Resting her head on her paws, she murmured, "If only we could run away…"

"Why don't we?"

The answer surprised her and she glanced up at him, ears pricked. "What do you mean?"

"Why can't we run away to somewhere else, where the Clans don't exist?"

"B-but what about your Clan?" And mine…she added silently.

"…They can manage without me."

"Yes, but…oh, Crowfeather…"

"It's okay, you don't have to think about it now." He let the last words drop from his mouth like stones as he leaned against Leafpool. She felt shivers jumping up her spine, slowly crawling towards her neck and head.

They remained like that for the better part of the night, and when there was only an hour till sunrise, Crowfeather nudged Leafpool gently, shook off the twigs from his pelt and mewed a soft good-bye. Leafpool looked away and whispered one as well. Turning around, they headed their separate ways, the magical night gone, and returned to their daylight lives. Leafpool padded away, stopping to tear off a clump of horsetail. Continuing on, she paused frequently to collect herbs, until she'd had enough to cover her absence during the night. As she drew ever closer to camp, the sun rose steadily above the horizon until the sky was a tinged pink. She entered the camp, passed Cloudtail who was yawning and preparing to sleep off the hours wasted on watch, and slipped into the medicine cats' den.

"Cinderpelt?" she called softly, after dropping her huge bundle and putting one paw into the mossy crack.

"Here. Leafpool, where were you?" a voice demanded as its owner stepped out into the sunlight.

"Gathering herbs," she replied, nudging the stack of horsetail, catmint, tansy, juniper berries, and cobwebs.

"You've been gathering herbs every night lately," she remarked with cold accuracy. "Is there something I should know about?"

"No." Leafpool looked her mentor straight in the eye. No, there isn't, because how could I ever tell you?