A/N: I might try and finish this, if people really want me to. The first chapters could do with some editing though, I think...

Light could never have anticipated what it might be like to be separated from the more beautiful part of himself, to watch the caged daemon press her face into the wire of the cage, growling and whining in frustration, and be unable to touch and comfort her. He sat with his hands cuffed behind his back, unable to even reach out to her to express his longing.

Narcissus , at least, had been able to trace the surface of his reflection with the tips of his fingers. Light was unable to even press his hand to the side of his cage, to have his daemon lick his hand, to feel the warmth of creature's body from beyond the wire mesh.

'Getting antsy?' Crooned the black figure from the corner, its skeletal limbs hanging upside-down from the ceiling, its yellow eyes shining in the dark cell. Ryuk had taken pleasure in watching the effect of separation upon the daemon and taunted her often, going so far as to move to her cage and poke his bony fingers through, as if to run them through her.

Light had not wanted his disgust and anger to show on the cameras, knowing that L would be monitoring every flicker of his facial muscles, every movement of his eyes. He forced himself to look calm and placid, resigned to his confinement and sat as still as he could upon the hard floor. He felt his muscles seize up and his body ached but he remained statuesque, unwilling to show the strain that the captivation was placing him under, unwilling to admit defeat.

Always, he kept his eyes upon the golden lynx in the cage, trying to hold her gaze with his and keep her calm, keep her strong.

'I love you,' he thought as he stared into the amber eyes with their sharp, thin pupils, 'always, I love will you. I am here with you, we are together. We are safe and we are strong…we will get through this…' He took a deep breath as he considered the situation, filling his lungs deeply.

'We will win,' he thought frantically, knowing that his daemon could hear him. He thought the affirmation into her mind, 'we will win, we will win this Sayuri.'

She was not quite so easy at concealing her discomfort however, lowering her head onto her paws and whimpering now and again, her cries high-pitched, pitiful. She felt Light's shame when she did this, knowing that she was causing them both to look weak but he was unable to punish or comfort her as he usually would. Without his hands to stroke or scratch she did not feel controlled, as she usually did.

L watched the monitor, his black eyes fixed upon the screen and the immobile figure crouched in the middle of the floor. Half-concealed in his hair his own daemon stared out, blinking her eyes at the wild creature in the cage. Lustitia curled her small claws in L's hair and nuzzled against him, her teeth nipping at his flesh, impatiently.

Slowly L dragged the microphone across the desk and flicked the switch, preparing to communicate with his prisoner.

'Light,' he murmured softly, 'how are you holding up…' he felt his daemon press closer, pushing her small nose into his ear and whispering a wordless encouragement, a purr of excitement. 'It's only been a weak but…you look exhausted…'

He observed Light lifting his head to look at the camera, his amber eyes were dull and vacant, unmoved by L's comments. He moved his lips only marginally when he chose to speak, murmuring his reply.

'Yes,' he hissed softly, 'I suppose…I don't look too great right now…' his eyes flickered, only briefly, to the creature in the cage who was lying still, her head pressed down in her paws. L had observed that she had become more and more docile as the confinement continued, expressing her sadness now and again with desolate little whimpers and moans. She had the form of an impressive hunter and still, now and again her black-tipped ears twitched, but she seemed the very image of despair.

'Still…' Light murmured, softly, 'this pride of mine…' he took a deep breath and L noticed that his daemon's ears twitched again, the fur standing on end. 'I suppose I'll just have to…give it up…'

Light closed his eyes, apparently finished with his cryptic pronouncement. L sat still for a few moments, his finger pressed down upon the intercom button, considering his reply. He watched as Light's head drooped a little then, very slowly, raised again.

The boy peeled his eyes open tentatively, as if it was an effort for him, then his eyes slowly widened. L stared, astounded, as the pupils seemed to widen and every muscle in Light's face relaxed. The vacant mask which he had so carefully cultivated for the last week of confinement slipped away and, quite suddenly, there was a confused and frightened young boy sitting in the cell – a boy who didn't look a day older than eighteen.

'L,' he muttered, uncertainly, lifting his head up higher and addressing the camera, 'I know that it was my choice…to be imprisoned like this…but really, I've just realized – there's no point to this!' He shook his head wildly, his eyes narrowing as he considered his situation, suddenly tormented.

'I'm not Kira!' He explained, frantically, his eyes wide with sincerity, 'I'm not! I'm just not!'

L, paused, listening to the policemen murmuring beside him, astounded by this sudden change in Light. He was preparing to answer Light's claims, to tell him clearly that he must remain confined until all suspicion was gone from him, when his attention was captured by the boy's daemon,

Sayuri had raised herself off from the ground, all traces of her previously dejected demeanor completely gone, replaced by a potent fury. The lynx had bared her sharp teeth, arched her back and was roaring, threateningly. L watched as she began to pace about the small box of the cage, her roars growing louder and louder. Now and again she lashed out, viciously, scratching her claws at thick wire and battering the cage with her heavy body.

'Light,' L said quickly, 'I cannot let you out. Not until I am completely sure that you are not Kira. Please, try and control your daemon.'

Light turned to look at Sayuri, his eyes wide and confused. 'A boy's eyes,' thought L, 'a child's eyes. He does not look like he knows what to do – how can this be?' He felt Lustitia move down to his shoulder, her long tail swinging in interest, her head bobbed down to stare at the monitor.

'How?' Light asked, throwing his head back to stare up at the camera incredulously, 'how can I control her…like this? Please L, this is a waste of time! There's no way I could be Kira – you've got to let me out! Please!'

'He's pleading,' L thought, astounded, 'this can't be true, this must be an act but…' he heard Lustita give a soft chirrup and saw that, with her last frantic leap at the cage wall, Sayuri had actually managed to twist the metal wire out of shape. She had now forced her head through and was yowling and spitting, furious and desperate to get out.

'I'm coming down, Light,' L said into the microphone, making his decision in an instant, 'I will talk to you in the cell, please try to remain calm.'

Sayuri had a paw halfway out of the cage when L entered and was reached out, swiping at the air, towards her human. Light was watching from the wall, his hands coiled into fists at his handcuffs, his face anguished.

'You have to let me out, L,' he said. L noticed the sweat trickling down his face, the fear and confusion in his eyes, 'please, you know – you must be being tricked! I swear it…'

'Please be quiet, Light,' L said softly, kneeling down before the cage, 'you must understand that I have not come down to hear excuses. I have compiled a considerable amount of evidence which suggests that you are Kira. I cannot ignore that simply because you have had a change of…heart…' His eyes fixed upon the creature in the cage.

'Sayuri,' he said, very softly, his head a little on one side as he regarded the golden lynx. Light pressed his lips together, his shoulders shifting and his face flushing. He could feel his daemon bursting with emotion, the most prominent of which being fury.

She pressed her lithe boy against the other side of the cage, pushing her paws at the wire and meeting L's gaze with her bright, glittering eyes. She bared her teeth, growled, and then addressed him.

'Let us out,' he hissed at him, 'let us out now! Look at me, look at me now! Look into my eyes – we are not Kira!' L blinked, slowly, staring into the bright round eyes, the dilated pupils. He saw a depth of conviction, a innocence, yet was perplexed by it.

He shrugged his shoulder, not as an expressive gesture but to dislodge his own daemon. Lustitia crept down and moved over to the cage, reaching out with a paw towards the caged Lynx. Sayuri retreated, uncertainly, her teeth bared.

Lustitia pressed her nose through the wire, twitching, and made some pleasant tittering noises, trying to coax the other daemon forward. Sayuri blinked her yellow eyes and moved forward, allowing the other female to stroke at her face, to press its little black fingers into her fur. Lustitia purred, satisfied.

'I know this must be hard for you,' L said, quietly, 'but you must be reasonable, please.'

'I know….that there's evidence against us…' Sayuri whispered, her voice sounded hoarse and strained, she knelt down on the floor of the cage, letting the lemur play with her fur, soothing her, 'I understand how you might suspect us…but it just doesn't make sense for you to keep us locked up like this…this must be a trap. We must have been set up…'

She looked up into L's eyes again, unblinking and full of pleading.

'I am his soul,' she whispered, 'I know what is in his heart and head – I tell you he is not Kira, he has no thought of being Kira, L…' The last syllable was spoken in the sweetest, most imploring tones. It was a shocking exchange. L felt shaken to his core, moved by the purity of the daemon's begging.

Light, he saw, looked hideously conflicted. His face wore a grimace of shame and disgust, apparently horrified to have her communicating with another human being, let alone his enemy. He was embarrassed by her candour and her pleading, but most of all of her mewling, for her neediness. His eyes kept flickering to the point where Lustita scratched and toyed at the golden fur on her back, furiously, but when his eyes met L's they were just as wide and innocent as his daemon's.

L's mouth was dry and his heart was beating fast but he kept his face calm and smooth.

'I am sorry Light,' he said, quietly, 'I cannot release you…not yet…but please be patient. I will make sure that you are as comfortable as you can be.'

'Will you come see us?' came the murmur from Sayuri, unbidden, 'will you come again? We'll go mad, like this...' It was unclear now, from the way she pressed her face into the Lemur's dark fur whether she was addressing the human or the daemon, or both at once.

Light turned his face away, his face burning with shame, and bit his lips, hard. L looked at him, curiously, astounded by the contrast between man and daemon and, more pointedly, the lack of influence of one over the other.

'He seems so like a child, now,' L thought to himself, 'so like a child…he is only a boy but…this is not like Light Yagami. Light Yagami is…' he searched for an appropriate adjective, such as 'strong' or 'exceptional' but his mind found the negative terms like 'manipulative' and 'deceptive' far more easily.

'Yet,' he thought, staring down at the daemon before him, 'he is so exposed now, so vulnerable.'

'I will return,' he said, delicately, 'and I will tell you as the case progresses…' He reached out to scoop up his daemon who chattered excitedly and ran up his arm, tickling his skin as her sharp little claws dug into his jumper.

Light did not reply, but bowed his head. Sayuri lay back down upon the ground and rested her head upon her paws, a rumbling moan working its way through her body.