When his mother died, Wingwater thought it was just unfortunate. Really, really sad, like to make him be sad and lie down, for a long time, but just an unfortunate event. Cats get injured by foxes, and wounds get infected a LOT of time.

When his sister died, he thought it was still only an unfortunate coincidence. That didn't stop him from being really, really sad, though. He missed his sister. But drowning was still a common form of death, especially in floods. The medicine cat died too, so it's surely just a coincidence.

His heart would always ache if he saw his mother's favourite sunning spot or his sister's favourite prey, but thinking it was a coincidence still kept him going. After all, the ever-curious Wavepaw would want a lot of stories when he finally joined her, right?

Then he meets Willowpaw - Willowbird, who's really like his mother, even in her name, and maybe that's what gets him to approach her at first. But he spends time with her, and he feels a blooming feeling in his chest, one he only had felt when his mother and sister were here, only more stronger. 

And then - then Pebblespeck, his former mentor, dies and maybe he feels it's just the world sabotaging him, just a little bit, and he's sad, a lot, but he still feels like he can live this since Jadesky - his aunt - and Willowbird's here and maybe he can move on, then-

Wingwater's supporting Jadesky, just barely as he's also similarly injured like her, as they fight and fight in front of the nursery, slashing bravely at the crowd of rogues as kits peek around their mothers inside. A rogue catches his muzzle in one claw and he yowls, Jadesky there to strike him back just there.

Then a shriek rings out in camp, and Wingwater turns, just a little bit, to see what's happening, except he wishes he hadn't turned just there.

Because it's Willowbird going down, blood streaming from her throat where a rogue tore it out, a last final scream cut sharply as the cat looks down at her with bloodstained teeth. Stained with her blood.

And Wingwater can't even go to her because he knows she's already dead, and he can't even go because he needs to defend the nursery. He watches, slashing blindly, as Mistwing staggers up to try to save her and goes down as well, as three cats pile on top of her. He can't even close his eyes, because the second he does a rogue might make it past him. 

After, he lies on his makeshift nest in the medicine den, eyes now closed but too late, for his mate, his beloved mate's death is still running through his eyelids, and he curls deeper inside. And he thinks, that it's just Jadesky left for him now, and if she dies as well-

Well, if that happens Wingwater cannot imagine a life for himself.

A moon later, while he's lying in his nest yet, he feels a strange urge to go out. He doesn't know if he's imagining it, but he thinks he hears Willowstone's and Willowbird's voices, together, telling him to go to the border now.

He finds himself outside, padding through well-trodden trails blindly, when a tiny voice pipes up.

"Hi! Who are you?" As he watches, he sees the kit looks so similar to both his mother and mate that he's knocked into a stupor. She watches him for a moment, then continues. "I'm Willow! Er... My friend Wave's here too, but she' out hunting a bit." 

Wingwater waits for Wave with Willow, then the blooming feeling he felt with Willowbird returns, with a motherly tinge for him. He finds he wants to adopt her.

After all, third time's the charm?

[625 words]