Celia and Lance were walking toward Ryan's house, and upon rounding the last corner before their destination, the twins saw two people they had never seen.  One was a young boy who appeared to be a red fox from the Far East.  He wore a diaper and a bath towel fashioned as a cape, and in his right hand was a string that held a shiny red balloon.  His left hand grasped his mother's.  The woman was like nothing the twins had seen.  A fox with golden fur and four tails.  A creature they had only read about.  This species lived in the Far East, and they had never seen one in person.

The mother and son smiled as Celia and Lance neared.  Once close enough, Celia knelt in front of the young fox so she was at eye level.  "Hi there," Celia smiled.  "I've never seen you before.  My name is Celia, and this is my twin brother Lance.  What's your name?"

The fox looked up at his mother, who returned a nod of approval.  "I'm Kenny, and I'm two."  The boy held up two fingers of his right hand, but kept his other fingers tightly gripped to his balloon string.

"Hi Kenny.  It's nice to meet you," Lance smiled.  Shifting his attention to the boy's mother, Lance blushed slightly.  "Umm...We've never seen a golden fox before..."  Celia glared at her brother, which caused the older fox to giggle as she sensed the hostility.

"Oh, we're just visiting family.  My name is Hitomi, by the way."  Celia shook her head causing Lance to shrug his shoulders.  Still kneeling, Celia looked back at Kenny, and started looking at his cape.

"So what's with the cape, Kenny?  Are you a super hero?  Will you come rescue me if I'm in trouble?"  Giggling, Celia put the back of her hand to her forehead and leaned backward, her head tilting back, as if to appear like a damsel in distress.

"Uh-huh.  I'm da bestest super hero ever.  I'll save you."  Kenny pumped his fist in the air, but the sudden motion let the balloon string slip from his grasp.  The little fox gasped as he watched the balloon start to drift away.  Thinking quickly, Celia jumped to her feet and grabbed the string just before it got out of reach.  Pulling the balloon back down, she handed the string back to Kenny, who had already started crying at the loss of his beloved red friend.  As he sniffled and wiped the tears, the young fox eagerly grabbed the string and jumped into Celia's arms.  "Thanks for saving him!"

Celia hugged Kenny and tousled his hair before the fox walked back to his mother.  "Thank you Celia.  Kenny loves balloons, and it would have broken his poor heart if that one had gotten away."  Hitomi smiled at the twin cats.  "Well, Kenny, we'd better get going.  Be sure to keep hold of that string, okay honey?"

The twins watched as mother and son walked down the street.  Smiling, they resumed walking to their friend's house, hoping they would be able to see the foxes again someday.