The animal had found him. She had awoken him from his sleep by nuzzling at him again with her nose. This time though, she simply nuzzled at his hand. He opened his eyes to the small thing curling between his side and his arm, snuggling into an embrace. Shippo was so tired he quickly drifted back to sleep. Before he lost the ability, he whispered to the fuzzy animal to stay with him.

That's when things changed. He knew on some level he was dreaming, but on another level it was so sensory strong that he had a hard time buying that concept.

Shippo watched as the small animal at his side fluidly changed into a young woman again. She was in fact a young woman, for she looked to be closer to Kagome's age than his. That's alright. Shippo had found out a long time ago that he liked older girls. Her face was so close to his as she watched him with soft eyes as she stroked his parted bangs behind his ear. She was much darker than him, and her mocha fingers slipped slowly through his orange hair. He gulped and reached out to touch her hair he had been wondering about before. He laced his fingers through impossibly soft wavy-curls and felt his fingers slide through easily.

"Silky…" he murmured "like I thought."

She smiled and bent down to lick his ear as she had done before in her other form. Shippo shivered, but he didn't feel that tight drug-induced hormone charge he felt before. Instead, he felt a soft drifting arousal as he ran his fingers more boldly through her hair. He felt her kiss the side of his jawbone then she rose back up so that she was in his view. That's when he noticed her utter nudity. He blushed fully from head to toe as he felt her press closer to him, her breast to his chest. They lay like that for a long time. Longer than Shippo had ever known he could be still for. His hand woven into her hair, her fingers caressing his hairline and ear. All the while, he felt himself maintain a steady want for her as his blood pumped strongly through him. Her eyes were locked with his, and while he knew his pupils could be easily seen against his light eyes in the dark, he couldn't discern pupil from iris in hers.

She lowered her head toward his and he could smell her breath again. Sweet, but not laced with anything. He could almost feel the pull of their lips. His heart began to pound and his face turned red as he realized she was coming in to kiss him.

His arousal spiked slightly at the thought and he closed his eyes to receive the contact. Only, he never felt any touch to his lips. Instead, he felt someone shaking his shoulder and whispering his name.

"Shippo, wake up. Hey runt." Inuyasha stood crouched over him, waking him.

Shippo sputtered at being pulled out of such a deep dream so suddenly. He looked up at Inuyasha, then quickly glanced around to take in the sight of Miroku, Kagome, and Kaede all safe asleep.

He glared at Inuyasha, who just ruined the best dream of his life. "What the f—"

Inuyasha quickly had his hand over Shippo's mouth to shut him up. "Quiet." The hanyou glanced around and looked back at Shippo. "Look, I'm sorry to wake you, but you were driving me nuts."

Shippo shook the other male's hand off his face and whispered. "What was I doing?"

Inuyasha huffed and lowered his voice so only Shippo could understand. "Are you kidding me? Take a good whiff of yourself."

The younger demon looked at Inuyasha like he was crazy, and then slowly lowered his nose to his sleeve. He pulled back suddenly as the wavering scent of arousal filled his senses. It was fading now, but with how well it was clinging, Shippo was sure Inuyasha could have smelled it on him from across the room. Shippo pulled his arm away and grew horribly red.

Inuyasha chuckled. "Its okay kid, you just kept waking me up. I know it's tough, but you can't be dreaming like that when I'm staying with Kagome. You were actually so strong smelling, you were affecting me." He laughed a little, but Shippo thought he heard a hint of nervous tension. "Almost jumped her."

Shippo's eyes widened, but he felt the words slip out before he could stop them. "Why didn't you?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and groaned. Shippo felt himself snicker.

His friend patted him on the head. "Do you need to go take care of it? Or do I need to sleep outside tonight?" Shippo realized that Inuyasha was willing to put himself out rather than discomfort Shippo. The boy remembered a time when he would not have done any such thing.

The fox shook his head and said "I'll go take care of it. I'll be back soon."

He stood beside the silver-haired demon and saw that he was beginning to catch up with him on height. Inuyasha wasn't overly tall with the monk surpassing him in height just by a few centimeters. Shippo's father had been taller than Sesshomaru though, and he'd hoped that he might beat Inuyasha's height when he got older. It looked more promising now.

"What are you grinning about?"

"Nothing."

"Good then. Go." Shippo started to leave but a clawed hand stopped him gently. "By the way, you trying to bring in a vixen?"

Shippo felt his tail bristle. "Wh-what?"

"All those mushrooms. It's like you're trying to mark your area and pull in some mates."

His eyes widened. "That's not what I was doing!"

"Shhh…okay okay get going, runt."

"I wasn't," Shippo protested.

"I believe ya. Just get the crap out of here so I can sleep."

Shippo was pushed out the door before he could say anymore. That's when he noticed that he was no longer horny, but a bit angry. He decided to take the edge off by walking around and gathering those mushrooms. He didn't want people thinking he was trying to reel anyone in.

He felt himself brooding on the situation for quite a while, but by the time he was gathering up the last of his mushrooms, the anger and embarrassment had ebbed. He dipped his hand down to catch the last mushroom, scowling at how childish the things were. Maybe he would work on that. They were useful, but he didn't need the big gooey eyes on them anymore.

He heard a small rustle from a nearby bush and caught a familiar whiff. It was her. He nearly leapt into the undergrowth but rather than frighten her away, he cautiously approached.

"Yo?" He called out softly. "I'm coming through the bushes. Please don't run away."

He parted the branches of two fur bush and stepped through.

It wasn't the animal. The figure in front of him…had a figure. It was the girl version of the animal standing before him with eyes locked onto his. Shippo blinked and felt his heart thud. She was real.

The girl growled slightly and dropped down to a crouch. Her long hair fell over her back and hid her nudity better in this pose. She continued to growl at him with a lifted lip as she followed his movements. He crouched in front of her, making himself smaller than her to show he was of no threat. He also lowered his eyes from hers so as not to present a challenge, but kept his eyes on her mouth with the little sharp teeth inside.

"It's alright." Shippo felt himself cooing softly. "I'm not going to hurt you. Remember me?"

The girl gave no indication that she understood a word he said. Shippo found that very odd since she obviously had understood his need to get down out of the tree earlier that day. In her other form. Perhaps he was mistaken. Maybe they weren't the same animal after all.

Shippo shook his head. The smell was exact. Not even similar, but dead on exact.

The girl had stopped growling and was now settling back on her heels just a bit more at ease. If the boy was going to attack, he'd have already done it. She kept her eyes on him though.

Just then, Shippo remembered he had a small candy bar stowed in his haori. He dropped his eyes and moved slowly to reach inside. The careful movements kept the female from jumping away, but the fact that he was pulling something out of his clothes had her tense again. Shippo noted this as he pulled the chocolate out of its wrapper. The crinkly sounds made small shivers drag over her skin. Shippo thought it was a wonder she hadn't run from him before he came through the bushes.

Holding out the chocolate bar to the girl, Shippo broke off a piece and tossed it into his mouth and chewed it. He exaggerated the sounds of pleasure from the taste, but his reward came fairly quickly when she reached out a brown arm to the bar and snatched it quickly from his hand. She moved back a few extra steps before she nibbled on the candy, and Shippo smiled softly.

There was a small moan from the girl as she swallowed her first bite, but after that the chocolate was gone in a flash. It was then that she looked back to him with expectant eyes.

Shippo sighed. "Ah, crud. Really?" He heard her stomach growl then and truly saw her body. She might have once been the soft skinned beauty from his dream with ample curves to spare, but now he could see that as she breathed, her ribs exposed themselves too much. Her collar bone was just too prominent, and her hip bones jutted out from her pelvis. Even with her underweight state, Shippo could tell she was not meant to be a tiny girl. Her pelvis was wide across and her hands were not dainty. When he really looked at her, he figured she was probably taller than him. Close to Miroku's height maybe. It was clear she was not just slightly underweight, she was emaciated.

Shippo felt himself groan; more at the state she was in, than the fact he was about to go out of his way to get food for her. He couldn't fathom how she had gotten so weak. There was plenty of good hunting and fishing in the area, and the girl looked like she was meant to be hunting by the looks of black claws longer and thicker than Inuyasha's which protruded from her finger tips. She might have been too weak now to chase down anything, but Shippo couldn't understand how she would have gotten to this state. It was as if she couldn't get to any food.

He needed to tell her to stay here while he got the left over stew he hadn't eaten. He didn't figure she'd be able to understand him if he told her what he was going to do. He felt himself patting at his clothing to see if he had any more food on him. No such luck.

The…mushrooms? He'd never eaten them before, but he knew they weren't poisonous. He would have never left them out around children if he did. But…maybe she could be appeased with a few for a while until he could get her to understand.

"Uh…" Shippo flipped open his hand and on his palm rested a single teary-eyed mushroom. "Maybe you can eat this?" He reached over to her and held out his hand with the mushroom resting on it.

The girl eyed him over like he was insane, but gracefully stepped over and took the mushroom quickly from his hand. She sniffed at it and looked at Shippo again like he was utterly crazy, then turned and licked at the small fungi. She recoiled with an odd look on her face. Not of disgust, but more of shock. She licked it again and this time tried to nibble at it, but again pulled back and made a face at Shippo.

"Sorry. I tried."

She listened to his words, but didn't show any signs of comprehension. She turned back to the mushroom and was obviously interested in it, but not to eat. She kept sniffing at it, rolling it around in her palm as she pushed at it with her nose. A couple times she took her nose away and craned her face toward Shippo and sniffed at him. Comparing it would seem.

"Hehe…okay."

When the girl seemed completely entertained by the scent of his mushroom, the boy slipped away and jogged toward the hut.

When he returned to the bushes where he left her, she was still there inhaling the scent of the mushroom slowly. Shippo barely got a glance from her as he placed a covered pot down in front of her. He didn't bother filling a small bowl with the stew as he figured she'd want the whole of what was left. He lifted the lid and stepped back, knowing the stronger smelling broth would catch her attention soon enough.

And it did. Before he was able to settle into a sitting position, she had grabbed the pot and was tipping it up to her mouth, gulping the tasty dinner Kagome had spent so much time over. Shippo grinned, knowing that Kagome would be happy the leftovers went to such a good use.

She finished it all, just as he thought she would, then sat back—actually sat back on her butt, rather than crouching on all fours as if she was ready to run at a moment's notice—and burped.

Shippo's eyes widened and he felt his face crack apart in a large grin as he laughed. The sound made her more alert, but she was getting used to his voice and the noises he made. He reached out for the pot and pulled it back to where he sat with the lid and covered it again. When he looked back up to her he saw that same needy look in her eyes. She was begging for more food.

Shippo opened his mouth wide. She couldn't be hungry—but then he looked again at her sharp shoulders and understood that she could.

"I'm sorry. I don't have anything else right now." He looked at her and felt horrible. "Any way, you can't eat so much so suddenly after having so little—" or no food at all, Shippo thought, "—for so long. You'll get really sick."

She stared at him with moist eyes and he nearly screamed out in frustration. He was no good at tough love, but he knew she would in fact get very sick if she ate much more right now.

Water. She could have water, all she could take in, and it would help to fill her stomach some. He had to get her to a stream though. Luckily, there was one fairly nearby, but he'd have to get her to follow him.

Shippo reached out his bare hand, palm up, and held it there. She looked at it, but saw nothing being offered to her. He held out his hand until his arm started to shake. He wanted to walk over and put her hand in his, but he knew she had to come to him. She'd bolt or fight if he tried to take over the established distance himself. So he sat with his arm shaking, shoulder starting to ache, until finally the girl tentatively reached out and placed her hand on his. He wanted to sigh and drop his exhausted arm, but he couldn't yet. He lightly wrapped his hand around hers, leaving enough room so she could pull away if she wanted to. She did. He kept his hand out, palm out again for a short, but maddening period of time until she reached out again, and again he wrapped his hand around hers. This time she didn't pull away immediately. She held his hand, wrapping her fingers around his, then let go and pulled away. She was testing her ability to get away if need be, and Shippo understood. Finally, one last time, Shippo held out his burning arm, palm up, and she took it and didn't let go after he wrapped his hand around hers.

Shippo sighed in relief and slowly began to stand. He felt her pulling back and so desperately wanted to tighten his grip so she wouldn't slip out. He couldn't though. He could see her trying to yank away and panicking, then bolting and never trusting him even this much again. So instead of gripping tighter, he kept his hand consistent and stopped moving to stand. She stopped pulling back as he stopped with his legs bent, halfway straight. She gave it a minute, but then began to move her feet under her to stand with Shippo. Shippo let out a breath at the tightness in his thighs and slowly resumed his standing.

When they were both standing fully, and she still had her hand in his, he slowly turned in the direction of the stream. He slowly took a step forward and said a slight prayer of thanks as he felt her follow behind him without the link of their hands going taunt. She followed along behind Shippo as he slowly lead her to the stream. If she stopped, he stopped with her and allowed her that time. She always came back to walking with him just after a short moment. She was always just making sure she could stop if she wanted, that he wasn't going to forcibly drag her if she refused to go. Shippo knew this behavior well. It was how the few horses in the village tested their boundaries and grew to trust during their training. He had watched the process a lot over the past year, and had learned patience just from watching the trainers.

When they arrived at the stream, Shippo could have cheered. He lead her right up to the edge of the water, dropped her hand slowly, and knelt down carefully to drink by cupping his hands into the water and bringing it up to his mouth. She watched him, then knelt herself and did the same. She drank much longer than he did and with much more vigor. After, she lay down on the grass, spent and at ease. Shippo thought she must have been running on fear, and watched as she closed her eyes and her breathing evened out. He himself felt like he had just been through war. His shoulder and legs ached, and his head felt like he was coming down from a twister. He watched for a bit, surprised at how comfortable he was with her nakedness now, even though he blushed every time he reminded himself of the fact. Her hair had splayed out and it almost looked like a fan drawn around her. She was indeed beautiful. Her face was too narrow now with her lack of weight, and her lips were cracked and red from dehydration he expected.

What happened to her that she couldn't even find water? Shippo frowned and unwrapped his haori from his waist. He pulled it off so he was left in his under clothes and gently wrapped it around the girl's now sleeping form, tucking her in as best he could. He lay down beside her and found himself wiggling over to press his side to hers. As he drifted off against her, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, he felt his fingers lace through hers. He fell asleep holding her hand.

A/N: Sorry this is a day late. I ended up in Williamsburg, VA at a hotel where internet access would have cost me an arm and a leg. Frankly, I didn't feel like wearing automail for life.

Thanks for reading.