Medicine Cat Relashionships--Alone Together

I understand that this is a tender subject, but it has been bugging me for a while and I wanted to see what others thought about it. I mean nothing obscene in any way, I am just curious about this. I will also not point fingers at any particular character for no apparent reason.

In Warriors, we see a lot of undying loyalty in the characters, and as far as we go, no reason to believe that their love life it anything other than what you would naturally see in nature with feral cats.

But some characters either don't or can't take that path. Medicine Cats are forbidden to have kits, and as we saw especially with Leafpool and Crowfeather, that is a hard, hard thing for them. Medicine Cats and their apprentices form an incredible relationship, closer than family. This is their mentor, their partner, and their friend.

So is it possible that it could escalate--dare I say it? Love? More love than the normal love for a friend, or peer. They both share intimate feelings, and are part of a life very different from the rest of the Clan. They both harbor deep faith in StarClan, and are a part of Clan life that is seen by no one except Leaders, who only scratch the surface.

It is natural that they would seek each other for support, because they cannot tell the rest of the Clan what they experience. They have only each other. For the less fortunate cats that no longer have their mentors (like Mothwing, for example), the stress becomes enormous. She is constantly seeking out Leafpool for support.

The cats that do, are able to lean on their other. I saw this very strongly between Cinderpelt and Yellowfang. Both of them had their own problems: Yellowfang was a ShadowClan outcast and Cinderpelt was crippled. On top of that, they had the crushing weight of responsibility and StarClan. It would be so easy for them to love each other almost like mates.

Cinderpelt was crushed when Yellowfang died, even more so than Leafpool was when Cinderpelt did (although Cinderpelt did not have Yellowfang still living in the Clan after her death). For Cinderpelt, it was worse than losing family and a teacher. Yellowfang was more than a friend, mentor and teacher to her, but what was she? Just how far did their passionate friendship go?

And is this just ThunderClan sentiments, or have all Medicine Cats felt that way? They long (inwardly, of course) to be able to have the same material relationships with the other cats in their Clans, to have mates and kits. It only makes sense that they would seek condolence with their mentors or apprentices. But if both of the cats felt this way, what sort of love would it (and does it) lead to?