Next chapter! I must be pathetic to get so excited over two reviews and a few follows, but still! Thanks everyone! This chapter has a bit of a different tone, slightly lighter. PLEASE, please let me know if there are any errors, or if something doesn't flow right. Like last time, footnotes are at the bottom. Happy Reading!

I am floating…

Where am I? Have I died?

I don't feel dead, but how does being dead feel?

Wait… No… I'm back at the camp… Why do I feel so small?

Hey… isn't that… Mimi?

New girls were being brought in, but one looked…different. Interesting. She kept looking around, and when Mastered yelled, she didn't jump or flinch like the others.

I was only about seven, still relatively innocent. After they were pranced around so Master could get a good look and put a price on their heads, I went to find the strange one. When I found her she was sitting with her back turned to me.

"Excuse me…" I said. She just kept sitting. "Hello?" She sure was rude. She kept acting like she didn't hear me. Finally I went up to her and tapped her shoulder. She just about jumped out of her skin.

When she finally calmed down, I smiled and said, "My name is Suteki, what's yours?"

She just kept staring at my mouth, looking confused. Was she stupid?

Then her eyes lit up. She dug in her pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper and a broken pencil that looked like it had been chewed on to keep it sharp. She started to scribble on it and then showed it to me. Luckily an earlier girl had taught me the basics of reading and writing. Luckily I was a fast learner.

'Can't hear. Name is Mimi*, what yours?'

Can't hear… Is she serious? How can someone not hear? I almost walked away right then but something told me to stay. I found a stick and carefully wrote my name in the dirt. She read it then started to make gestures with her right hand. The first one was a fist, the second she held her pointer and middle finger up with them pressed together. Third her thumb tucked between her pointer and middle fingers in a fist, and then she made what looked like a clawed hand. Finally she splayed her pointer and middle with the thumb still between pointing to the side and then simply held up her pinky.**

I cocked my head to the side in confusion. She seemed to laugh, a muted laugh. Then she repeated the signs, and after each one she pointed to a letter in my name, going in order.

Oh, she was spelling my name. But how does a hand gesture mean a letter? She seemed to think for a while, then made the gesture that was supposed to be "S" and made a circle around her face. Once again I was lost. She did it again and then pointed to your whole name in the dirt. So, wait… what?

She grabbed the stick from me and wrote in the dirt: 'Your sign name. I give to you. S and beautiful together.'

I smiled and mimicked the movement.

For a year after that day I spent every minute with Mimi. She taught me everything she knew about Sign Language. We would talk for hours, using only our hands. I was ecstatic to learn something so different, and she was happy just to have someone to finally talk to.

But all things must end. She was sold just like all the others. I still don't know why she was kept for so long. Maybe it was because Master saw how happy I was and was reluctant to end it. Or maybe he wanted to break me. Either way she was taken from me. I kept signing, teaching some of the younger girls the basics so they have something to keep their minds of the fact that they had entered hell.

Wait a second… Where am I going?

Was this a dream? How is that possible? I feel like I'm being sucked through a small tunnel…

FOOTNOTES!

* It's short for Mimigakikoenai which means deaf in Japanese. (Really original right?)

** Yes, I realize that Japan has their own Sign Language, but as I'm not familiar with it, I'm using ASL. Also, if you know ASL and notice something wrong, or that can be improved, please let me know. But please take into account that I'm from SE Arkansas and dialects DO come into play. Also if you can think of a better sign name for the character, let me know! I've never received a sign name and I'm not sure if the one I gave her even makes sense.

Well, that's it for this one! I know, I know: too short and no boys. I hope the people that liked the first one like this one just as much! If not, tell me what needs improvement! I like to think of myself as open-minded, so whatever you think, just tell me and I will try my very best to accommodate. I know that this chapter was put up pretty fast, but I honestly don't think the next one will be up as quick. Please remember that me continuing the story solely depends on reviews/ratings/how bored I am at work.