It had been a hell of a week, all told, and yet...

Somehow, hearing that their vulpine adversary (but had he really been an adversary? Or had he been just one more of their teachers?) had passed on had hit the twins hard.

So Phi and Shirayuki walked out into the garden, where they had stalked- and been stalked by- Hsieh-Hsieh.

They carried an old kimono of their father's- long retired now, after it had done duty as a fox's garment. And a small tea set. And the eggs they'd procured that morning.

They set them out near one of the hedges and knelt. Each offered a few prayers for the old beast.

Then... silence. For a moment.

"You know the other foxes out here are just gonna eat the eggs, Phi."

"I know, 'Yuki. But at the same time... you can't tell me he'd be upset by the idea."

"Not nearly as upset as he was the first time we caught him."

"Or the time you baited him with one of Uncle Yuzuru's kimono."

"Yeah..." Shirayuki giggled... and started to cry. "He was a tough old fox, wasn't he?"

"The toughest. The way he and Dad would stare each other down was always so funny to me..." Phi's tears were also flowing.

"So, how long are we going to give Het-Het before we make a move?"

"Oh, we can be gracious. He's new. We won't try anything until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Should we ambush him, or..."

"I think it only fair. You KNOW he's going to come sniffing around for breakfast the first chance he gets."

"He might be different. We've been dealing with Hsieh-Hsieh since we were five, after all... do you really remember the one before?"

"No. But up to a point, a fox is a fox."

"Except when he's also a friend."

"Except when he's a friend, yes."

[/Scene]