#free time chapter

"That's an old dish! Not old old, but old! Yes, let's! Master has never had ochazuke before. Not Master Brett, either. We should save them some. Oh, but... no meat. What to do with no meat," he mused. If he presented umeboshi to the Norwegian, he was sure to make a face.

“An old dish for two old men.” Said, of course, with sincere warmth.

The rice cooker was unearthed from its living quarters. “We can replace the salmon in Mr. Bo’s portion with tofu. There’s some marinating in the refrigerator.” He’d intended it for mapo tofu but they could always marinate more.

"What does Sky want?"

The fox laughed. “Salmon it is. I’ll make the rice.” He put his tools away in their case and went to join the cat in the kitchen.

All of this talk of life and death, he was suddenly ravenous.

"Olek makes food. Does Sky want?"

Sky nodded. "We are whatever is required. That is dictated by our fate and our karma as much as the bond with our master itself."

The fox looked up from his scroll and smiled kindly at Olek. "No, they don't. Wherever they are, I believe it's somewhere better." That was all the living could hope for the dead.

"Would Sky... Would you die for any of them?"

"Yes," Sky said without hesitation. "I've been fortunate. Most of my masters have been taken by time and old age. But..."

He very nearly hugged the paper before remembering himself.

"Is there no mystery you ache to understand? About your master, or a stranger? Not reincarnation - unless that's it. About anything."

“Though many things make me wonder, none make me ache. If an opportunity to understand crosses my path, and if that understanding will bring no strife or harm, then I will take it.”

And would he look at Bo the same way, if he knew he was Ignacio Marqués? He would like to think that he would be thrilled to reunite with his least loved master, but...

"Mysteries are mysterious," he concluded, sliding up and to his feet.

The fox’s smile held infinite fondness. “Exactly as they should be. Mysteries are essential to life. One cannot and should not know everything, otherwise existence would hold no meaning.”

It occurred to him to look for a Buddhist temple nearby so he could take Brett to make merit. He had a feeling it would comfort his young master to do so.

"You could find out. Couldn't you? If Master Brett is someone you once loved."

The fox nodded. “Exactly. No two individuals, however similar they or their lived experiences may be, will ever be affected in the exactly same way.” Even if, as Sky privately suspected in this particular case, one was a reincarnation of the other.