Kitsune in the Shadows

[Raynelle POV]

It was a cold, crisp morning. The last week had been nothing but rain, but it seemed that the sun had finally decided to show itself. Ava and I had both been woken up at the crack of dawn because we’d forgotten to close the curtains the night before.

“It’s coming up on two years soon…” I spoke to myself while gently rocking back on my chair, “Almost hard to believe…”

“What was that?” Ava stepped out of the kitchen carrying two plates piled high with breakfast.

“I was just thinking about the past,” I quickly got up from my seat and took one of the plates from her, “Lately, I’ve just been getting that feeling, y’know? Wanting to just… look back on things again.”

Looking at the plates, it seemed that Ava had once again managed to get her hands on a new recipe from Ana. She had prepared some kind of dish made from diced potato and meat with a poached egg in the centre. I couldn’t wait to dig in and started making my way back to the table.

“Should I go wake our little fox up now?” Ava called out with her hand already on the door to Kierra’s room.

“No… just let her sleep in today,” I said, pulling out the chair next to me and gesturing for Ava to come and sit down, “She’s really been pushing herself with her training the last few months. She could do with a good rest.”

“If you say so,” She took her hand from the door before making her way over and sitting down next to me.

As soon as she was seated, she started digging in. Naturally, I followed her lead, shoving a forkful into my mouth. The flavour was strong and incredibly savoury, making my mouth continuously water involuntarily.

“Ava, what did you put in this?” I asked after swallowing that first mouthful, “I think I’m about to start drooling all over the table whether I want to or not.”

“You don’t need to exaggerate so much. The only new thing I used was a sauce made from mushrooms, and to be honest with you,” She quickly ate another bite, “I think I need to try using this in other dishes.”

A sauce made from mushrooms?

You can make mushrooms taste like this?

I thought they were just watery and bland…

…

We both wolfed down the rest of the food. However, right as I took the last bite, a thought crossed my mind.

“Um Ava… You did set some aside for Kierra, right?”

I really don’t want to be blamed for making Kierra miss out on breakfast.

“Of course I left some for her. It’s sitting in the kitchen. I can just warm it up whenever she wakes up,” Ava said with a smirk, “I’m not exactly going to let her go hungry now am I?”

Thank goodness… I really don’t want to make that mistake.

…

…

Maybe I should still check… just in case…

“Alright, then I’ll clear up”  I got up and picked up both mine and Ava’s plates before walking towards the kitchen, “But don’t go anywhere; I have something I want to talk with you about,”

As soon as I had set the plates down in the kitchen I went looking for the food Ava had set aside. Thankfully, there was still some more food left in the pan. As soon as I was happy that Kierra wasn’t going to miss out on breakfast, my eyes found themselves wandering over to the pot sitting next to the pan. Inside was a very dark sauce, which was probably the mushroom sauce Ava had mentioned.

“Hmmm?…”

Surely, I can have a taste.

I grabbed a spoon and took a small spoonful of the thick sauce.

…

There weren't many ways to describe that flavour other than simply a lot. It wasn’t bad, but it was incredibly strong, probably too strong to be eaten by itself like I just did. As soon as I had swallowed the sauce I reached for some water to try and dilute the flavour.

“Gods… that’s strong.”

Probably best to leave that to Ava…

 Just a little too much of that, and I’m pretty sure it’d be all you could taste.

After washing down most of the taste, I made my way back to Ava, although as soon as I stepped out of the kitchen, I saw a cheeky smile spread across her face.

“Was it a bit too much for you?” She asked, her smirk never fading, “I let it reduce a bit more than the recipe asked for as I know both you and Kierra prefer ‘stronger’ flavours.”

“Go take a spoonful of the stuff yourself before you act like that,” I replied before sitting back at the table with a loud thud, “I would be more worried if someone didn’t have the same reaction I did.”

We both just burst out laughing, being careful to at least keep it a little quiet so as not to wake Kierra on accident.

Once we had both calmed down enough, I was the first to speak, “So… Ava… you know how it’s been almost two years since we arrived here… since we took in Kierra?”

“Is that what you were talking to yourself about earlier?” She responded.

“Yeah… I was just looking back on everything,” I leaned back in my chair, “Time just… moved so quickly, y’know? I didn’t even realise just how much time had passed until I sat down and actually thought about it.”

“So? What exactly are you wanting to talk to me about?”

“Well… it’s been about two years, but… I noticed something that was missing when I looked back on everything. Something which should have come up at least once.”

“And what exactly do you think was missing? Just tell me instead of slowly leading me on like this every time.”

“I was talking about her birthday,” I immediately responded, “It’s been two years, but we never celebrated… it should have come up at least once by now.”

Ava let out a sigh in response, “Well, we can’t exactly celebrate a day we don’t know.”

“I know… but it’s just… she never even seemed down about it or anything… I’m pretty sure she hasn’t even thought about it,” I said, putting my elbows on the table, “Even when we did something for your birthday, she didn’t seem to react at all.”

“That’s probably because I didn’t want to do anything too special for my birthday. All that happened was that we had a cake after dinner. We did the same thing for yours.”

“That’s even worse… isn’t it? What if she’s never thought about it because she’s never had one? I wouldn’t be surprised if she just doesn’t know when her birthday is… or if she just… ended up forgetting about it after everything she went through…”

“Well then… what do you want to do? If she doesn’t know her birthday, how are we supposed to figure it out?” Ava asked, “Are we supposed to just make one up?”

“…” I stayed silent.

What else can we do?…

“Really?”

“I just want to give her her own day, y’know? It’s something she’s probably never had before…” I paused for a moment to collect my thoughts, “We don’t have to call it her birthday… just… I want to do something special.”

“What did I say about leading me on?” Ava leaned in closer, “It sounds like you already have an idea of what you want to do, so just tell me already. Honestly… I would have thought that after two years of taking care of the little fox, you wouldn’t need to consult with me about stuff like this all the time.”

A brief silence fell over the room.

…

“Come on Ava. I just want to make sure I’m not overreaching… you just happen to be the closest person to talk to,” I said, although, in all honesty, it was a bit embarrassing that I was still asking my daughter about things like this.

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Ava said with a small chuckle under her breath, “Now, will you tell me what you were planning on doing for her.”

Ava really has grown up so fast… she’s even comforting her mother now…

…

What am I even thinking about?

I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts.

“Well, in four days, it’ll have been exactly two years since we took her in…” I said, “We could just put something together for that, then… after asking her about it… maybe we could make that day her birthday? If she says no, then that’s fine; it’s still a day worth celebrating after all.”

Once again, silence fell over the room. However, this time, Ava was the first to break it.

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” She leaned back in her chair, “Although… there is a ‘slight’ problem with that plan.”

“A problem?”

“Well… isn’t that also the day she’s going to the temple this week?”

Wait…

How didn’t I realise that?

…

It’s…

…

“It’ll be alright… probably… We can just… do something in the morning and the evening… It just wouldn’t mean as much if we moved the day around, y’know? And I’m sure we can make it work, even if there’s a slight hiccup along the way.”

“Well… if you say so Mom,” Ava got up from the table, “So, now that that’s been decided on… anything else you wanted to mention?”

“Well… I wanted to bring it up a few days in advance so you’d have some time to put together a gift for her… if you wanted to.” I replied, “I’ve already put in an order for something a while ago, but I’m sure you’d rather get her something yourself.”

“I was already planning to do that as soon as you mentioned we’d be celebrating,” Ava laughed, “I’ll go and visit Ana later today. There’s something I’ve wanted to try putting together for a while now, and this is as good an excuse as any to give it a go.”

She already had something in mind?

I guess I wasn’t the only one wanting to do something like this.

“That’s good…” I spoke as I got up from the table myself, “Actually, on that note, while you’re out, can you go and pick up what I ordered for her? I’ll probably be doing some more weapon training with her today, so it’d be best for you to sneak it back home while we’re out.”

“Sure thing, just tell me where to go this time,” A smirk once again crept over Ava’s face, “I don’t want to be forced to check every store down the street again.”

“Oh come on, that was only one time,” I dug through my bag until I found a small slip of paper with the details for the order, “Take this to the smithy, the one right at the end of the street run by that tall lad with red hair.”

I handed the note to Ava, who immediately folded it and put it in her pocket.

“Not your usual place?” Ava asked.

“No, I needed something a bit different to the usual gear. That kid just happened to be able to do what I wanted. Should’ve seen his face light up when I mentioned my idea to him. It was as if he had been waiting for a request like this.”

“So, I’ll go to Ana first, then on my way back, I need to pick up your order from this smithy and bring it back before you’re done with Kierra,” Ava spoke as she walked to the kitchen, “Sounds good. Now, go wake up our little fox, I’ll warm her breakfast through for her.”

With that, Ava disappeared into the kitchen, and the smell of breakfast once again wafted through the house. Without saying another word, I turned and opened the door to Kierra’s room; inside were two foxes still sleeping peacefully on the bed.

“Good morning you two!” I shouted as I sat down on the bed, jostling the two of them slightly, “You’ve slept in quite a while today.”

Now, I just need to make sure to act the same as usual to keep it a surprise for her.