The clans had several non-clanborn members who picked up Nofur words and occasionally used them. Husband, wife and spouse were three. No living member of the clans- save for Dawnstar, perhaps- could say who started the tradition of marriage. But to say it wasn’t the sweetest of ceremonies was a lie.

In Doveheart’s humble opinion, she’d been through too many ceremonies. First her apprentice, then her warrior, then her gender change and now her marriage. But she loved Blizzardtail with all her heart and soul. She couldn’t just say no when the white molly proposed to her.

Willowgaze purred happily, grooming down his daughter’s fur. Featherspots was weaving white flowers into his sister’s tail. Silverflash sat beside the silver-spotted tom, but didn’t help or say much. Doveheart tapped her paws against the earth, not very sure what her vows should be. She hadn’t ever needed to tell Blizzardtail anything more than an “I love you.”

It was greenleaf, the sun low in the sky, which was a good mix of pink and orange with dawn. It was a good, warm morning, a perfect day for a marriage. The waves of the lake slapped lightly on the sandy shore and up the back of the Lakerock. Dawnstar and Jittertail were sharing tongues under the face of it, in front of the den.

Blizzardtail’s family were primming her in the elder’s den, which sat across the way from Doveheart, and right beside the camp exit. The lichen and bramble tendrils out the front were closed solidly, and the only thing Doveheart could see were dull movements from the family of white-furred cats. Just as Doveheart let her mind drift toward however Aspentail and Gullsong, another set of married cats, were decorating her wife-to-be, Smokewing stepped out and padded toward her. Featherspots raised his head.

“How are things?” asked Blizzardtail’s brother.

“Alright,” Doveheart shrugged with a tilt of her head.

Smokewing smiled and picked up one of the flowers from the bundle beside Silverflash, passing it to Willowgaze. The tom smiled and purred, licking the stem and putting it under a tuft of fur on Doveheart’s head. He purred a bit louder as he stepped back and admired his daughter.

He made a sound and pressed a paw to one brilliant green eye. “Oh,” Willowgaze whimpered, “You’re so pretty, Dovey. I’m so proud of you.”

Doveheart dipped her head embarrassingly and stared down at her paws.

“Done!” exclaimed Featherspots, sitting up and purring. Doveheart looked back and swept her tail over the ground, very content with all the small white flowers adorned in it. She smiled and nodded up at her brother, who beamed back before putting his cheek against Silverflash’s.

Silverflash turned to Smokewing, “How’s Blizzardtail?”

Smokewing let out a happy, quick purr. “She’s good! Aspentail and Gullsong really wanted to deck her out,” he then looked down to the last few flowers at the black tom’s feet. “What flowers are those?”

Silverflash faced Featherspots and nodded for his mate to answer. The warm tom laughed a bit before he did. “They’re primroses. What did Gullsong choose?”

“Oh,” laughed Smokewing, “Lots. I think it’s mostly mallow and tulips, though. She found some morning glories in that birch forest on our other border.”

“They sound pretty,” Doveheart mewed, a bit flustered at the thought of her mate somehow becoming even more beautiful.

“Do you think the ceremony will be soon?” Willowgaze asked Smokewing. He nodded happily, so Willowgaze turned to his daughter. “Do you have your vows ready, Dovey?”

Doveheart gulped hard. “...n-no.”

Willowgaze fanned away the other warriors with his tail and laid down, tapping the ground to invite Doveheart to do the same. Doveheart laid and slunk forward, placing her head on her father’s back.

“Do you remember Swallowwhisker and Sunfeather’s wedding?” he asked her. Doveheart shook her head, so Willowgaze went on. “I remember. Swallowwhisker said that he’d be there for her no matter what. But also said he didn’t know everything and may need help sometimes. Sunfeather said that she wasn’t perfect and knew that, but said she would try her absolute best because Swallowwhisker couldn’t carry the entire relationship.”

Doveheart huffed, thinking.

“Sunfeather also brought up a miscarriage they had. She said she couldn’t hardly bear to look at Swallowwhisker and thought their relationship was over. But Swallowwhisker had always supported her from afar.”

“Blizzardtail and I haven’t ever had a miscarriage,” Doveheart reminded, a bit angrily, “We haven’t even tried to have kits.”

“No,” Willowgaze admitted, “But there was that time when you were both apprentices….”

Doveheart made a loud, long noise of discomfort. She unsheathed her claws and pressed them deep into the earth.

“My point is,” Willowgaze laughed, “You got past it and you’re getting married now! If Blizzardtail hadn’t forgiven you, you wouldn’t be here!”

Doveheart hummed and sat up. “Okay. I think I have an idea of what to say.” She turned toward Jittertail and Dawnstar. Gullsong stood in front of them, and Dawnstar turned bright green eyes toward Doveheart. The molly nodded back, and Willowgaze gave her one last lick.

The cream leader hopped atop the Lakerock. Jittertail and Gullsong, the deputy, sat on either side.

“Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Lakerock for a clan meeting!” cried Dawnstar.

Hailpaw was the first cat to rush out. He shot up beside Willowgaze, who was taking a spot a tail-length from Smokewing under the Lakerock. His mentor said something Doveheart couldn’t hear, and, very disappointedly, the apprentice took a spot on the opposite side.

Rabbitfleck and Sunfeather, shoulder-to-shoulder and holding two curved leaves, padded proudly through the crowds, flower petals falling. Once they reached the start of the crowds, two tail-lengths from the Lakerock, they circled around and took places.

“Doveheart,” called Dawnstar. The molly gave her chest one last embarrassed lick and started to pad down. Everycat’s eyes burned into her fur, but she kept her head high and tail straight out. She sat a half-tail from the point of the Lakerock, turning to see Willowgaze, Featherspots and Mistblaze, her mentor, smiling proudly.

The gray molly let out a breath and faced the aisle, sitting up straight and curling her tail around her hide. Then Blizzardtail, beside Aspentail, stepped down the small, rocky steps of the elder’s den and, in Doveheart’s mind, it suddenly clicked why they were preparing her in there.

She was beautiful.

Several small purple flowers adorned her slim figure, though mostly bundled on her head, the back of her neck and her shoulders. She also had a few in her blue-and-cream tail, of course, but Doveheart couldn’t take in one part at a time. Her mate was just so pretty and somehow her parents had made her even more so.

At the starts of the crowds and a tail-length from Doveheart, Aspentail pressed his nose to his daughter’s cheek and set her off before taking his place on Smokewing’s other side. Doveheart subconsciously dipped her head in greeting, though her gaze never wavered from her mate’s face. Dawnstar jumped down from her post and nudged Gullsong’s shoulder. With that, the deputy padded around them and sat beside Aspentail instead, her eyes bright with water. Jittertail took her mother’s place.

“We are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Doveheart and Blizzardtail,” the medicine cat announced, “They have quite the history,” she said, gaze flickering between Blizzardtail’s parents and Doveheart’s father, “They shared the nursery together and weren’t ever seen more than a pawstep from eachother. As they grew older, their friendship grew stronger. And, when the time was right, Doveheart asked Blizzardtail to be her mate.”

Doveheart had managed to tear her gaze away from the beautiful white molly in front of her to listen to Jittertail’s speech. But when the lilac medicine cat mentioned Blizzardtail and mate in the same sentence, she couldn’t help herself but to look back. Blizzardtail caught her out of the corner of her beautiful green eyes and smiled lovingly.

Jittertail smiled and took a deep breath, eyes hanging around the two mollies under her. “Today, we observe their marriage. Do either of you have any words for eachother?”

Blizzardtail faced her mate and nodded. “Doveheart…” she whispered, “I love you with all my heart… I never knew how bad I needed you, but now that you’re here, I can’t imagine a life without you…” She sniffed and her voice broke, “And I need you with me forever because I’m a mess. But you make me feel less messy…. There isn’t a word to describe how long I want to live and love you, because eternity and forever aren’t long enough.”

Blizzardtail’s eyes watered and she pressed a paw to her face as one flooded. Doveheart longed to shoot forward, lick her tears away and comfort her, but Blizzardtail knew her too well. The molly tapped her cream-tipped tail against the ground, telling Doveheart to stay still.

Looking back up at the Lakerock, Jittertail had nodded down at Doveheart.

She gulped. “I feel… the same, Blizz…” she looked back toward her father for approval. He lifted his tail slightly and bared his teeth in his smile. Doveheart sighed and shut her eyes tight. “I never… thought we would be here… I thought when…”

She felt a lump choke in her throat and her voice crack. She cleared her throat, but it didn’t do any good.

“I thought when Smokewing fell in the lake and… got bitten by that turtle,” she couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at the ridiculousness of that situation. Blizzardtail’s brother still had that strange gait in his hips from where he’d been attacked. “And I ran to get help instead of saving him…” Doveheart took a deep breath, “You wouldn’t look or talk to me for… moons. And I thought our relationship was over right there. But… for some star-forsaken reason, you started talking to me again.”

Blizzardtail smiled gently up at her, which was the only thing Doveheart needed to keep going.

“I don’t know why you did. But I’m so happy you did, Blizzardtail. I love you so much and I can’t imagine a life without you… or a life where you still hate me… the thought keeps me up at night,” she sniffed, “You’re right. I will love you forever and ever… and even more after that.”

Doveheart gave Blizzardtail one solid nod, which she returned, then the both of them looked back up at Jittertail. The molly had laid down on the Lakerock, but now the focus again, stood.

“Wonderful,” she purred, then looked up at the dawn sky, “StarClan, we ask that you look down upon these warriors. They wish to declare an eternal love, greater than matehood, and we wish you see and approve,” she then looked down at Blizzardtail, “Do you, Blizzardtail, take Doveheart to be your wife, to have and love, in sickness and health, in life and death, from this day forward?”

Blizzardtail, her voice still shaky and her eyes still watery- maybe even moreso, what with Doveheart’s vows- managed to weakly mew, “I do.”

Jittertail turned to Doveheart, “Do you, Doveheart?”

Doveheart sniffed and, voice alot more broken than she thought it would be, mewled out an “I do.”

“Then,” Jittertail meowed, rather proudly, “By the powers of StarClan, I declare you two wives!”

A purr rumbled in Doveheart’s throat, and she rushed forward to press her nose to Blizzardtail’s, rubbing her head over her chin and pressing closer. Blizzardtail licked her chin and cheek while Doveheart sobbed on top of her. The clan called out their names, but their parents, siblings and mentors voices were the most distinct.

The cries slowly started to fade out after several, several heartbeats. With that, Jittertail hopped down and Dawnstar waved her brown tortoiseshell tail for the crowds to return to their duties. The newlyweds didn’t move, but neither Dawnstar or Jittertail had any intention to make them.

After the two left, Blizzardtail slunk her head out from under Doveheart’s and licked a piece of fur on her chest down. She laughed a bit as she spoke.

“You had that up the entire ceremony.”

“Oh, noooo!”

Blizzardtail laughed, “It’s okay! It’s oka~ay! I love you.”

Doveheart sniffed and wiped her face with her paw, “I love you too.”

“I can’t believe we’re married now!” Blizzardtail exclaimed breathily, “Doesn’t hearing wife just feel so good?”