She could be free. If she really wanted it, freedom was hers. She didn't suspect her Mistress of lying, not now. Not anymore. Kat sat in the garden, enjoying the breeze, and thinking. The wind rolled over her like a sigh, rustling her hair and cooling her off. It was freeing. It was freedom. She could taste freedom.

Only, it wasn't really, was it? A strange thing was happening to her. She wanted to serve Mistress Alexa more and more. Not just by doing her chores, but by bringing her Mistress coffee, or massaging her, or other small things. For some reason, Mistress Alexa's smile soothed Kat now, more than ever now. She wanted to see more of it. To please her, in a way. And after the night of intimacy they'd shared, she wasn't sure she wanted to let that go.

It was funny, life. The way things changed in the ways you least expected them to. It had blindsided Kat, hit her like a truck, but it was there. The change. The growth. It was real. And for a moment, she thought she could feel content somewhere deep down, deep in the hurt that'd been inflicted upon her by the beast known as life. And she smiled. She was happy.

What if she stayed with her Mistress, after she was freed? Would her Mistress even let her? Maybe they would get married someday, or something ridiculous like that. The thought of it brought a blush to her face. How embarrassing, she thought, to be thinking like that towards her Mistress. And there it was again. The want to serve.

But there was still one lingering question at the back of her mind. She stood and stretched, yawning under the pleasant warmth of the sun, before heading around the house and back inside. There, she started searching the rooms for her Mistress, starting in the kitchen, and then finally, checking the study.

Her Mistress sat there, door open, reading something. It was a thick tome, but fresh and new. Kat knocked on the door, and then knelt. Mistress Alexa jumped, but seeing Kat, chuckled and sighed, saying, "Come in."

Kat crawled into the study and knelt before her. She closed the book, and only then did Kat see that it was called On the Legal Binding of Slaves. Kat stared at it for a moment, before realizing that her Mistress was watching her expectantly.

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Shaking her head, she said, "Mistress, if I may, I have a bold question."

Mistress Alexa nodded and hummed. "How bold?"

"Very," Kat whispered, looking down. It was a question that'd run through her head nearly every day since she'd been offered freedom, and it was something she needed to know. "Mistress, am... am I a replacement for Sarah?"

Mistress Alexa leaned back and crossed her legs. "Ah, I see."

Kat flinched, but knelt still. "I-I'm sorry if it is too bold of me Mistress. I just... I just worry that..."

"No, no, that is a fair concern," Mistress Alexa said, nodding. "I've asked myself that question too, you know. I've wondered if that's what you were to me. Just another Sarah."

Kat winced at that, but her Mistress continued, "But do you remember our conversation? About what it means to be a slave?"

"Yes, Mistress," Kat said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I see you as human, Kat. Just like I saw Sarah. And... no matter how hard we try, we can't replace people. We can only replace things. No, you're not a replacement for Sarah, and you never could be. But you're Kat, and I'm happy with that," she said, smiling wistfully.

Kat thought on that, chewed on it, before nodding. "I... see. Thank You Mistress. I think I understand."

Mistress Alexa smiled. "Anytime sweetie. Now then, have you thought on what I asked you to? About your freedom?"

Kat opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. Of course she'd thought about it. It'd been the only thing running through her head for most of these past few days. But she still didn't know what to do. What her Mistress wanted her to do. What she wanted to do. Kat sighed and hung her head.

"Yes Mistress. And..."

And what? Some part of her niggled at her mind, shounting of the joys of freedom. The release from her bonds, the freedom. The freedom. The freedom. But what exactly did that mean? Burdening Aria again? Theft, again? Hunger, no warm bed? And most importantly, losing her Mistress? What kind of freedom was that?

But then, what kind of freedom was it to serve? To give joy to someone? To protect them, make them happy, be rewarded by them and punished and to grow and learn from them and...

She shook her head. Freedom. That was what she wanted right? Freedom? She'd take it, then.

"And I want freedom, Mistress," she said, a pang of... something, stinging her heart. Was it grief? Sorrow? Remorse? She wasn't sure. It felt like a disgusting combination of all three. As if she'd just swallowed some hard-to-take pill without water. She'd be free, though! She needed to hold onto that, to look forward to that. Right? That was something to look forward to, right? So then...

Why did she want to cry?