I do not own any of the characters that I choose to use in this fanfiction…

Hiei stared across the sand, his ruby gaze narrowed in concentration. Slowly reaching behind him, the jaganshi drew his sword, and assumed his battle stance. Not twenty feet away stood the S class water demon, his face smug and his eyes sparkling with amusement. Shaking his head, the large apparition gave a low chuckle.

"Come now," he said in a voice one would use with a small child. "You don't honestly expect that you can fight evenly against me do you?"

"Well I seem to remember beating the crap out of you last time we met," Hiei stated with a mischievous grin. "But then again, you probably don't want to recall because your defeat was so emotionally scarring."

"I'll show you emotionally scarring," Kalos snarled as his face twisted with fury. "I'll rip it right out of your hide!"

As one the two fighters sprung forward, leaping over the sand that separated them, each of their faces was set in grim determination to tear the other to shreds. As the water demon soared, he called forth water from the lake twisting it around his arm to form a razor sharp blade. Hiei presented his sword, and swung it in a wide arc from his right hip up towards the left shoulder, but right when the blades met, something peculiar happened. The fire apparition's sword went right through the water blade. At first Hiei let a smug grin light his features, but then a look of panic quickly replaced it as the water reformed, and slashed his unprotected torso.

With the speed that he was born with, the demon used Kalos' chest as a springboard, and jumped away in time before the water sword bit too deeply into his flesh. Blood flowed from the open wound, and Hiei snarled in frustration.

"Interesting weapon you have there," he said with feigned nonchalance. "I'm sure it's going to cause me some trouble if I'm not careful."

"Since I'm a water demon I obviously have the ability to manipulate liquid," Kalos explained, swishing his sword around with confidence. "But it also means that you can't break my sword, and nor can you defend yourself. My sword can pass through anything as water, and then reform in a split second as a blade sharp enough to take your head."

Hiei growled, assessing his options before his eyes suddenly lit up with an idea. Bending low, he sprinted close to the sand, seemingly aiming his sword at the water user's legs. Kalos gave a condescending laugh, and lowered his sword for the defense. But instead of slashing his weapon, Hiei plunged it deep into the sand, using the momentum of his body to dig both feet into the earth and kick a wave of sand into the water user's face. His sword was sucked up by the earth, and for one moment, he was defenseless. Abandoning his blade stuck in the ground, Hiei gave a punch packed with all his strength behind it right into the man's abdomen, grinning as he heard the sound of crushing bone.

Jumping backwards, Kalos coughed and gasped painfully, both hands gripping his ribs. His face clenched in a grimace of pain, he sent a wry smile at the little fire demon. "You're smarter than I thought, kid."

"Smart enough to kill you, old man," Hiei snarled in response.

"Then try this on for size!" Kalos roared.

Swinging both arms up, he summoned water to cling to his arms, lengthening and narrowing until they formed two liquid whips. Flailing his arms, Kalos immediately began targeting the small demon with his weapons. Hiei flash stepped all over the sand, weaving in and out of flashing aqua lines, but try as he might he couldn't get close enough to attack the water user. Landing ten feet away, the fire demon's keen eyes saw one clear pathway right up to Kalos' right side, and with a roar of determination he sprinted towards it. The water demon saw Hiei flashing towards him, but merely smirked at his attack.

"You fell right into my trap," he snickered.

Suddenly the water whips that were flashing on either side collapsed into liquid form again, but this time they surrounded the fire demon, encasing him in a bubble and hardening into an icy shell. Hiei beat against the sides of the bubble, trying to break his way out, but to no avail, he was stuck. Laughing victoriously, Kalos strode towards his captive, and with a snap of his fingers, allowed a small crack to slice through.

"Don't be fooled," the water user cackled. "That crack won't help you escape. I made this ice to be resistant to every kind of energy I have ever faced, and not even something like fire, or boiling water can melt it."

"Heh," Hiei scoffed. "Some assassination attempt, I thought you were trying to kill me, not trap me in some fishbowl."

"Ironic that you say that," Kalos sneered, "because a fishbowl is exactly what is it about to become."

Focusing his energy onto the icy bubble in front of him, the water user levitated it up off the sand of the beach, and then flung it far out into the middle of the lake. As it sunk to the bottom, Hiei continued his assault against its impenetrable walls, but just as his enemy had said, they were unbreakable. Eyes wide with panic, the fire demon watched his doom begin to spurt through the crack, and spray onto the ice floor below. Raising his hands, he covered the crack as best he could, and getting soaked by water in the process. Gritting his teeth, he did the only thing he could do in this situation, he began to try and open his cursed eye in the hope of contacting Vegeta.

….

Up in the temple, the Saiyan prince sat on the floor reading a newspaper, and drinking coffee. Just ten minutes or so before Yukina had found him in the kitchen and had offered to make them both bento lunch boxes, and being that Vegeta hated to cook, he gladly acquiesced. So now he was waiting as she prepared the food. Turning a page, the Saiyan sighed at his growling stomach, and took another sip of coffee. Hopefully by the time he got back, the boy will have made some progress. Pursing his lips pensively, Vegeta allowed his thoughts to stray in that particular direction just a little farther.

Just the day before when Hiei had passed out during training, the thought had struck him that it would be in the boy's best interest to come home with him. The warrior didn't know why, but now every time his gaze rested on the lonely demon, the idea came back to the forefront of his mind. There was just something about it that seemed right. The boy needed a father, and though Vegeta would never admit it out loud, it might as well be him. Bulma was also proving to be an excellent mother, and his children surely wouldn't mind a new sibling. In fact Trunks would probably be ecstatic at the idea of having a new sparring partner in the Gravity Room. Folding the newspaper, the Saiyan found himself liking the idea more and more. Hiei needed a family, period. And it would just make it better for him in the long run because he will have plenty of family, and fellow Saiyan warriors to spar with in training.

Suddenly beeping sounded from the warrior's pocket, and after digging around, Vegeta pulled out a slim communicator. "Yes?"

"Hey!" Goku's smiling face appeared on the screen "How you holding up?"

"Fine," Vegeta growled at his rival. "Now why are you calling me?"

"You asked me to tell Bulma to test that kid's hair, remember?"

The Saiyan prince's eyes widened as he began to recall the mission he had asked Goku to accomplish. Heart beginning to beat wildly in his chest, the warrior leaned forward, curious expectation written across his face. "And? What was the result?"

"Don't ask me how it happened," Goku began, his image doing a confused shrug, "but the tests reveal that that boy is your nephew."

Vegeta's mouth fell open in shock. Hiei was his nephew, but how? His mind went back to his younger brother Tarble, and how he had been sent away due to his uselessness in battle. He had been sent to another planet populated by extremely weak natives, and had somehow found a wife there. But on the way, was there a chance that he had stopped by Earth first and met Hiei's mother? The possibility, though farfetched, wasn't impossible and Vegeta found himself actually becoming angry with his younger sibling for abandoning his son. The fire demon's father issues, though sad, had never mad Vegeta this angry before. But now knowing the truth of how closely bonded he was to the child, the injustice done to him was practically unforgiveable.

"Hey Vegeta," Goku's voice shouted from the speakers, barely registering to the infuriated space warrior. "You okay?"

"No, I'm not Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted into the screen. "I just found out that my younger brother is a complete idiot and the boy I've been training is actually a part of my royal bloodline!"

"Hey don't get mad at me!" the image cried, waving his arms. "If you're so angry, then do something about it. I'm just trying to help."

Vegeta pursed his lips in an angry silence. Kakarot was right. If Hiei was truly his nephew, then he was responsible for the boy. Just as the Saiyan warrior was about to open his mouth and answer back at his rival, a piercing agony shot through his brain. Vegeta dropped the communicator, groaning in pain, and clutching his skull. Doubling over, he lay on the ground, and something formed through the fog of pain. Vague and incomprehensible, it slowly appeared out of the mist, and gained shape. It became a voice, and then, words.

"Help! Vegeta help me!"

Hiei's voice, panicked and desperate, came crashing through the Saiyan's brain, causing him to gasp at the sheer amount of emotion packed behind it. Scrambling to his feet, he ignored the screaming of his rival from the forgotten communicator, and flew out the door, his energy turning his body into a living rocket as he soared at full speed towards the beach. Willing himself to go faster, Vegeta followed the cries of his student hoping that he wasn't too late.

Kalos looked up into the air, a smile lighting his features as Vegeta appeared over the treetops and landed on the sand a scant five feet away.

"Glad to see you could make it to the party!" he laughed fiendishly.

"Where is Hiei?" Vegeta bellowed.

"Things got a little too hot for the little guy," Kalos smirked. "So he decided to take a swim and cool off."

The Saiyan prince cast wide eyes out to the lake, searching for any sign of his nephew, but the waters were still. Turning a venomous gaze onto Hiei's attacker, the space warrior snarled his fury.

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing too violent," the water user shrugged. "All I did was capture him within a sphere of impenetrable ice, and set him down in the lake. Oh, of course I did make sure that he could breathe by putting a small hole on top, but then again it probably doesn't work too well under water, huh? I guess I never was one who was able to consider things all the way through."

Vegeta felt his limbs begin to tremble with the fury coursing through his veins. Every moment wasted talking to this fool was another moment his charge was closer to death! His face a disdainful sneer, the Saiyan pointed at the man he planned on defeating in a very violent way.

"Unfortunately for you," the prince spat, "this was not the best time for you to come barging in here attempting to kill the boy. I just found out that my sorry excuse for a younger brother had been to Earth before, and apparently fathered a child, which makes that boy my nephew. And if you aren't as stupid as you look, I'm sure you realize that makes him royalty, and my responsibility."

"All that to say what exactly?" Kalos said, with one eyebrow raised sarcastically.

"That you are about to die," Vegeta snarled. "I will make sure of it."

The water user smirked, summoning a halberd out of water, and attacked. The Saiyan prince gave a small chuckle, and cracked his knuckles. "I don't have time to waste on you."

With a yell, Vegeta powered up and his hair turned bleach blond, his energy causing the sand to swirl and dance around him. A confident smile lighting his face, the Saiyan sprinted forward, dodging the halberd with ease, and using his battle speed to get back to back with the demon. Grabbing the water user's green hair, he flipped his enemy up over his head, slamming him hard into the sand. But the battle wasn't over.

Out of nowhere, manacles made of ice wrapped themselves around Vegeta's arms and legs, forcing him to the ground. Kalos stood from where he had been body slammed, slapping off the dirt from his clothes, his face smug with victory.

"How sad that I can't kill you," he practically purred. "If I had known you were this weak I would have just asked my boss to let me kill you and Goku for the extra cash."

"Boss?" the Saiyan repeated, straining against the manacles. "Are you saying that you were hired to kill the kid?"

"Ha!" Kalos laughed. "Not just him! My mission was to-!"

Suddenly the water user stopped, his eyes wide with panic, and as he stood there a dribble of blood flowed from his open mouth. Both arms wrapping around his abdomen, the demon twitched, and shuddered as he fought some unseen assailant within his body. Vegeta watched, his face both confused and intrigued at the sudden change, and gasped as torrents of blood began spewing from the water demon's nose and mouth. Kalos fell on the ground, gurgling screams coming from his throat, and slowly he drowned in his own blood and lay lifeless on the sand. The Saiyan stared at the dead body, shock etched across his features, but he was jolted from his reverie when a loud snap alerted him to the manacles breaking apart, unable to hold their form without the aid of their master.

Remembering that Hiei was at the bottom of the lake, Vegeta dashed towards the water, diving in. Swimming with all his strength, he searched for his nephew's energy, praying that he was not too late. Letting his senses guide him, it was about five minutes later till the prince found the remnants of the now shattered sphere; amidst the wreckage floated a deathly pale form of Hiei, not moving. Diving forward, he caught the lifeless figure into his arms, and then used his energy to propel him up out of the water, and onto the beach.

Flinging the boy onto the sand, Vegeta was shocked to see how grey the child's pallor had become. His lips were blue from lack of oxygen, and not even an ounce of air was left in his lungs. Folding his hands over his nephew's chest, the Saiyan prince began pumping out the water, begging the boy to open his eyes. Bending down, he tilted Hiei's head back, and plugged his nose, giving mouth to mouth resuscitation, and then once again began pumping the boy's chest. After what seemed like hours of repetition, the warrior's efforts were rewarded with a gag, and then a violent cough followed by a gallon of lake water being spewed from his mouth. Rolling him onto his side, Vegeta gave firm slaps to the boy's back, aiding him in getting all excess lake water out of his lungs.

Chest heaving, Hiei coughed and sputtered, bringing huge gulps of air into his shivering body. Looking up from where he lay on the sand, the small fire apparition smiled sarcastically at the older man.

"Took you long enough," he choked out.

"Can't you swim?" the Saiyan ground out, using his frustration to hide his immense relief.

Hiei turned away from his teacher, his face coloring slightly as he gazed at the sand in embarrassment. "No," he muttered guiltily. "Being that I'm a fire demon, I don't do well in water. I have never been able to learn to swim because it weakens me, and eventually I lose even the strength to move."

"What about when it rains?"

The fire apparition opened then closed his mouth, unsure how to answer. "It depends," he finally said, words soft with shame. "If I can find adequate shelter, then it isn't too bad. But if I get caught in it, and am unable to find warmth, then I get sick and can even slip into a coma."

Vegeta growled at the image, his protectiveness for the boy growing as he processed this new piece of information concerning Hiei's Achilles heel. "Good to know."

Then, standing up to his knees, the prince grabbed the small demon under the arms, and flung him onto his back. Wrapping the boy's legs on either side of his ribs, Vegeta held onto him and used his energy to fly up into the air. Hiei had flown before on Puu and had experienced the sensation of freefalling, but this was something else entirely. His mouth hung open at the feeling of pure freedom that his teacher's energy afforded, and as Vegeta sent a burst of power to propel them forward, Hiei couldn't hold back a delighted yell. Clenching two fistfuls of the prince's shirt, the fire demon clung to his back, reveling in the feeling of true independent flight.

As they jetted towards the shrine, Hiei couldn't help but feel an odd sensation from his teacher's aura. It felt familiar somehow, like he had touched it somewhere before. During training, when Vegeta would power up, the fire demon often was overcome by a sense of déjà vu, like he and that man had met when he was just a child. But try as hard as he might, Hiei just couldn't place where he had seen him before, and he knew that he had never experienced energy like this any time during his life. But now, as he hung onto the man's back, completely enveloped in his energy, the fire demon knew. There was certainly something familiar about this power, and for some reason, it made him feel at home.

Eyes starting to droop, Hiei laid his head on his teacher's shoulder, a happy smile quirking his mouth. "Hey Vegeta?"

"What?"

"I opened my third eye today." The demon's voice was slurred with fatigue, but Vegeta could still hear the proud smile in it.

"I know," he replied. "That's how I knew you were in trouble, you did very well today."

But the Saiyan's words were wasted on Hiei. Enveloped in the energy of a long forgotten memory, the demon had already been lulled into a deep, comforting sleep.