A/N: I am very sorry for not getting this up over the weekend. I simply did not have time this week. Between a friend in trouble, bathfitter coming to the house, hosting three people for the Halloween weekend, there simply was no time to write.

I promise I will have another chapter for you at the usual time this coming weekend in addition to this.

This won't happen often--I hope never again for this story.

It had occurred to Shippo while sitting against the filthy wall that Sumi had been here before. He didn't really understand how he knew this to be true—it just was. The woman stayed crouched beside him, shivering against the damp coolness. Shippo wondered if the heavy clothes weren't keeping her warm. Perhaps it was more than the cold.

Reaching out to touch her—they'd been there together, touching every so often, but never remaining in contact for more than a few moments. He reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulders, and she fell softly against him with a sigh. He wished he could talk to her—to understand what she did. She began to pet his long hair around the nape of his neck. He groaned; sure it was going to be matted after all this. He wished he had braided it today.

She looked at him, the whites of her eyes seeming to glow what minimal light there was. She was considering something, he could tell that much. Her brows were pushed together and her lips were tight just like Kagome's always were when she worked on hard math homework. Was she thinking about how to escape? Had she escaped once before? Is that when he spotted her rushing through the forest?

Quietly he murmured, "How did you get out?" He knew she heard him, but he could tell from her blank expression that she did not get it.

He felt her fingers twist softly through his hair and it soothed him. He released a tense breath and felt himself sit back into the touch more, closing his eyes. He didn't notice at first when she gently began to hum, he had nearly dozed off. It was calming and he could feel his scalp stretch and let go of its tight hold on his skull. Her tune was one he didn't know at all, but it fell in waves around him and seemed to rock him slowly. He knew he was close to unconsciousness, and he didn't feel at all like fighting it. He lazily allowed himself to drift through a soft dark sea.

Her beast.

He felt himself jolt up slightly, and back into the waking world. His eyes flew open and he blinked quickly. There was a bind on the building, messing with youkai instincts and powers, but did it bind the beast? From what he understood, that seemed to be something completely different than blocking aura and attacks and senses. Sumi's beast could fit through the bars. She was tiny. She could get out and find Inuyasha.

"Sumi! My beast form is too big!" He grinned, not realizing that he would be making no sense to someone who could understand Japanese, let alone a woman who had no background in the language. "My best form is too big, and I can feel I can't use fox magic in here, so I can't make myself small enough. But Sumi! You are small!"

The girl stared at him as he stood up and walked quickly around the cell. She stood slowly, but kept herself against the wall behind her. With a grin, the older boy across the cell from her began to shift. She could barely make it out in the darkness, but she could sense the change in his biology. Taking a step forward, she found she could make out a fox the size of a small horse. He barely fit in the cell. His chest rumbled deeply as she stroked his ear with two hesitant fingers.

"Shippo." She pulled her hand back and smiled softly as the large furry creature shifted back into the boy she had come to know.

He cracked his back and stretched. "Ehh…that's always rough." She stared as he pulled himself together. He looked at her when he was finished. "Can you do that, Sumi?

With her head slightly tilted, he was sure she didn't understand what he was trying to say. The young fox cleared his throat and made another stab at communication. He held up his hands and pressed them to his chest. He tapped a few times before she nodded.

"Shippo." The statement was confident—as they usually were with her when she fully comprehended.

"Right, me." He then took his hands from his chest and spread them out around him. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced her way. She had a lock of hair in her hands and was involuntarily running her fingers through it. Nope, not getting it. He brought them back to his chest once more, and again she said his name. He nodded and then bent onto his hands and knees and attempted his best to look like a fox in this form. He hoped he wouldn't have to transform again, he was already drained. The cell's power didn't keep him from using that ability, but using it did seem to exhaust him quicker.

She bit her lip as her brows drew forward. He repeated the movement sequence. She looked to the side for a moment, then turned her face back to his and muttered something he could not understand. The nodding, however, he could. She got it.

He smiled and stood back up. "Sumi?" He pointed to her.

"Sumi." She indicated she understood.

He nodded and then took his hands and held them apart at arms' length, before pulling them back together, palms together. Again, she seemed to take this in and nodded after a moment. He clapped and smiled but quickly stopped as her nod turned to a head shake.

"You—" he thought. She had understood hadn't she?

She made the same motion with her hands, repeating what he had just done, then nodded looking him in the eye. Without removing her stare, she then shook her head in the clear universal symbol of "no."

Shippo threw his hands up into the air and let them land at his sides. "But, why?"

Even that, seemed to be universal. She shook her head once more and keep her gaze on his eyes, though hers softened dramatically. Another idea that transcended language. I'm sorry.

"You can't control her." He felt his head fall back against the wall, and let himself slide down the stones. She was quickly by his side, touching his face, checking for temperature changes. He shook her off lightly, and touched her hand. "I'm fine." He sighed. "Just tired."

She looked at him with apologetic eyes and he chuckled, trying to lighten her mood. She didn't need to be worrying about him right now. His fingers traveled up to her cheeks and he smoothed his palm over her too-thin skin. She was still beautiful, even in the dim light.

Shippo felt his stomach growl and he blushed. How long had they been here? He didn't think too long, but they had skipped dinner. She needed to eat, she was so malnourished.

He sat up quickly, holding the sides of her neck against his palms. He stared into her eyes. They were watering and he thought—finally—he knew why.

They weren't going to feed them at all.

Shippo felt himself swallow realizing that this was where Sumi had been, and why she was so thin. What had this young woman done to cause such imprisonment?

What had he done?