I do not own the characters that I choose to use in this fanfiction… And as always my friends, please READ and REVIEW! THANK YOU!

"What were you THINKING?"

Vegeta jerked back from the screaming face of Yusuke Urameshi who was currently berating the Saiyan for leaving Hiei alone on the beach. The prince sneered at the teen in front of him.

"I was thinking that Hiei was getting tired from not eating and needed food."

"Then you should have brought him back!" Yusuke snarled. "Any idiot knows that if there is a dangerous enemy around, don't leave an ally alone, especially if that person has no ability to protect themselves!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiei snapped, angry red eyes boring into the former detective's back. "Are you insinuating that I'm helpless?"

"Hiei, I really don't want to get into this," Yusuke said through gritted teeth, both hands raised in a calming gesture as he turned to address the small apparition.

"No Yusuke," the fire demon growled. "I think we should. Just what makes you think that I cannot defend myself?"

The former detective clenched his fists, not looking at his friend, until finally he raised his gaze to meet the half koorime's. "Fine, if that is what you want, then I'll tell you."

Strutting over to Hiei, the human teen swung a fist straight at the demon. Hiei dodged, but could not see the second attack coming from the side. With a sharp crack, Yusuke slapped Hiei across the face, sending the small apparition flying across the room. Hitting the opposite wall, the fire demon slid to the floor, eyes blazing with fury at his public humiliation. Urameshi cast a grief stricken gaze at his fallen friend, guilt playing across his face as he walked over and knelt in front of the jaganshi.

"I'm sorry, Hiei," Yusuke spoke in a voice hoarse from restrained emotion. "You know that we all respect you as a warrior, and you are one of the toughest guys I know; but without your third eye, or any ki to speak of, you're vulnerable. Today proved that. I'm not saying this to be a jerk, but you know it's the truth."

Gritting his teeth, Hiei opened his mouth to shoot back a retort, but realized he couldn't. Yusuke was right, he was weak, and now was also a liability to the team. Shoulders trembling with shame and anger, the fire demon stood, and flash stepped out of the room, leaving the leader of team Urameshi where he sat. Vegeta sighed, and then prepared to leave the room himself, but was stopped by a voice as cold as the arctic snow.

"Don't you dare step outside that door."

Turning back around, the Saiyan saw a changed man. The sarcastic and goofy teen was replaced by a bloodthirsty demon. Blue tattoos faded in and out on his skin, while claws grew from his fingertips. As the boy stalked towards him, Vegeta recognized it as the stride of royalty, one who was born with power, and demanded respect. When Yusuke reached the Saiyan, he promptly pulled back his fist, and punched him hard across the jaw. Vegeta did not move from his spot, the only indicator of the power behind the teen's punch being that the wood underneath the space warrior's feet cracked and splintered. The Saiyan prince straightened his head back from where it had been knocked, and spat a glob of blood onto the floor. He was impressed by Yusuke's power, and now fully understood why the boys made him the undisputed leader of their crew. But now was not the time for compliments; Vegeta understood that in all reality, he had crossed a very definite line by letting Hiei get attacked today. These warriors trusted him with their friend's life, and he had betrayed their trust by casually leaving the small demon on a beach without any backup in case of an emergency. Yusuke had every right to be angry, and deserved the respect of being heard out, and by the look on his face, he had a lot to say.

Pulling back, Yusuke drew his fist back to his side, his brown eyes overflowing with anger and grief. "That," he whispered harshly, "was for leaving a member of my team behind without protection after you had been told of the circumstances surrounding how he lost his energy. Now I don't know how they do things where you come from, but around here we take care of our own. But I appreciate that you saved him, and to show you that I acknowledge what you did I'm going to give you one more chance. You will train him, and you will make him stronger, but if you ever endanger his life like that ever again, I swear I will kill you."

Vegeta merely nodded his understanding, and without a word, Yusuke walked out the door and disappeared into the forest. With a frustrated sigh, the Saiyan prince walked over and sat next to the old woman, pouring himself a cup of tea and drinking it in one gulp. Genkai assessed the man next to her, and her face decorated with a small smirk, addressed him.

"Even though you deserved it, I respect the fact that you allowed him to punch you like that. Well done."

Vegeta sent the old woman a wicked smile, and refilled his cup. "If I hadn't then it would have become harder in the long run to maintain the privacy I want when training the kid. Letting Yusuke assert his dominance as team leader was the only option if I want things to run smoothly."

"I agree," Genkai nodded, also reaching for the teapot for a refill. "What are your thoughts about Hiei? Will he recover from his humiliation?"

Vegeta paused, gazing into his cup as if it contained the secrets of the universe. "I think so. He's a tough kid, and in all reality, that little love tap he got from Urameshi will only serve as a good lesson about learning how to pick your battles. The fact that he hasn't even learned that yet shows that the boy has never had anything close to a father."

"Oh?" a sly smile lit the old woman's face as a mischievous twinkle gleamed in her eyes. "Does that mean that you are thinking of applying for that position?"

Genkai's question took the Saiyan prince by surprise, and he gazed at the shrine guardian in shock while his mind reeled with possibilities. Him? Become Hiei's father? Of course he had considered taking Hiei home with him, to train and care for among others of his kind, but was he really wanting in some small space in his heart to be the boy's dad? It was certainly a question worth considering.

….

"You want me to WHAT?"

Vegeta allowed himself a boisterous laugh at the boy's face. It had been three months since he first arrived, and during that time Hiei's body had finally fully harmonized with his new energy. Now he was able to call up a battle aura, and though they were far from completing a voluntary Super Saiyan transformation, the prince knew that it was only a matter of time. Currently though he was trying to teach his young charge how to fly. Crossing his arms, the warrior gave the incredulous teen in front of him an amused smile.

"It isn't that hard, Hiei," he chuckled. "You gather your energy around you the way we have been doing for the past few weeks, and then using a steady powerful output of ki, you are able to propel yourself through the sky."

Hiei copied his teacher by crossing his arms, an eyebrow raised in disbelief. "The only place I will be propelling through is the air as I fall to my death."

Vegeta examined the boy, shaking his head in amusement at his reluctance to try out his new power through flight. In truth he had made amazing progress once they had conquered the hurdle of opening his evil eye. Now the boy seemed more comfortable in his skin. Even the way he stood with his tail gracefully wound around his legs bespoke a new confidence in whom and what he was. But after that last observation, the Saiyan prince quickly stalled anymore praise that was coming from his brain. Yes, Hiei had learned a lot, but he couldn't be a member of the Z fighters if he couldn't fly, and so he was going to learn even if he had to… wait…. Well, he could always do that.

Without further ado, Vegeta promptly walked up beside the young demon, drew one leg back, and kicked him firmly on the rear sending him flying over the edge of the cliff where they were currently standing. Hiei's body fell down the cliff towards the ocean, arms waving like crazy as he screamed up at his teacher.

"VEGETA, I'M GOING TO KILL YOOOOOUUUU!"

"Fly you idiot! Fly!" The Saiyan prince guffawed at the boy's falling form, though prepared to rescue him should he not make it and land in the water.

The rushing air blowing hard against his face, Hiei blocked his eyes with one arm, trying to call his battle aura. But the water was getting closer and closer, and a wing of panic began beating in his chest as he remembered almost drowning in the lake just a few months before. With a snarl of frustration, the apparition flipped his legs over his head so that he was falling feet first, and then began summoning his ki. With only one thought on his mind, to stop falling, the fire demon concentrated his battle aura around his feet, and with a bellowing yell, managed a large burst of energy, sending him flying back up to where he came. Unfortunately the small demon still did not understand just how to steer, which meant that yes he may have flown upwards away from the water, but now he was heading straight for the side of a cliff.

"Oh Come ON!"

Giving another short laugh, Vegeta blasted off the cliff and sped towards his endangered student. Turning his back towards the cliff wall, he neatly caught the boy, and shoved him towards open air. "You know," he yelled towards the flailing figure, "it would be easier to fly if you stopped waving your arms and kicking like that."

"Oh sure!" Hiei snapped. "Criticize the guy who has never flown before, much less had any experience in the matter."

"What do you call riding on my back after the beach incident?" Vegeta chuckled. "If memory serves, I can safely say that I was not flailing around like a fish out of water."

"I find that analogy vaguely inappropriate considering who's doing the flailing here," the apparition grunted.

"It doesn't take much thought," the prince sighed. "Just think that you want to fly, and extend your energy to help you do so by manifesting your ki in an outward physical form. It isn't that much different from the way you describe using that dragon technique of yours."

"I reiterate," Hiei growled. "Another inappropriate analogy, especially since I told you how difficult it was to master that technique. Not exactly something that you can say 'doesn't take much thought.'"

"Please," Vegeta scoffed. "You put your ki in your arm, pointed it towards your enemy, and turned yourself into a type of living cannon, how hard can that possibly be?"

The small demon rolled his eyes at his teacher's arrogance and inability to understand the sheer power of the darkness technique. "Harder than you think."

"At any rate I think it's time we head back to the temple," the Saiyan said jerking his thumb in the shrine's general direction. "There is something special planned for tonight, and I'm sure you won't want to miss it."

"Something special," Hiei asked, his curiosity causing him to lose concentration and sink a few feet before regaining his battle aura. "Like what?"

"Like I'm telling?" Vegeta asked, one mocking eyebrow rising to accompany his mischievous smirk. "If you want to find out, you're going to have to fly back to the temple with me."

"Well then," the small demon said, his eyes lighting up at the challenge. "I suggest you try and keep up."

With a large blast, both warriors took off at full speed towards the temple, one flying in graceful loops, the other trying to copy his teacher's form while also concentrating on not crashing into trees.

….

"You should have seen him!" Yusuke cackled, a full bowl of rice in hand. "I walk out of the temple because I heard a crash, and there's Hiei, stuck headfirst inside a tree!"

"Yeah," Kuwabara chimed in. "You should have seen the way his legs were kicking like crazy. He couldn't get out so Vegeta had to pull him out himself!"

The entire table, minus Hiei of course, enjoyed a round of laughter at the image. The entire team was over at Genkai's for dinner, and while the girls chatted about clothes and new sales, the boys were giving Hiei a hard time about his latest training lesson. The fire demon however was shooting daggers with his eyes at the two people currently telling the story of his less than stellar first landing. "If we are going to be telling stories on people," the small apparition snarled, "then maybe we should talk about how the strongest fighter in the Makai has somehow found himself completely under the thumb of his girlfriend. The whole idea is quite shameful really."

Kuwabara let out a long bellow of laughter, and turned to his wilting friend. "You have to admit," Kuwabara chuckled, "Shorty's got you there!"

"Aw shut up!"

Once again the table laughed at their favorite team's antics, while Kurama sent Hiei an approving smile. With a short laugh, the kitsune leaned over and whispered quietly in the fire demon's direction.

"You handled that well, and here I was worried I would have to intervene on another murder attempt."

"Please," Hiei scoffed, doing an amazing impersonation of his teacher. "Like I would rise to their childish, petulant taunts like some amateur, you truly underestimate me Kurama."

"Indeed." The fox smiled happily, then leaned over to grab himself another crab roll.

Vegeta watched all this with amused eyes, happy that tonight was the night he would finally set the choice for his student to consider. It was also the night that he informed him of something very important, something he probably should have said long before. Without further ado, the Saiyan prince cleared his throat, garnering the attention of all eating.

"I have an announcement to make," he said loudly.

"What?" Yusuke snickered. "You're going to start teaching Hiei how to land tomorrow?"

"No," Vegeta spoke over the laughter, an amused smile gracing his face. "Something much more important than that."

Turning to where the small demon sat on his right, the Saiyan prince continued his public announcement, but all his attention was on the boy. "I understand that this information is long overdue, but I kept my silence only because I thought it the best course of action."

"Well, what's the big news?" Botan asked excitedly.

A chorus of voices agreeing with the ferry girl quickly picked up, and Vegeta waved them all to calm down before continuing. "Hiei," he said softly "about three months ago I received word that apparently you and I are bonded by blood. Your father is my younger brother, making you my nephew."

Gasps of shock and delight rang around the room, but the person who was receiving this news was not happy. Hiei gazed at the man, his eyes filling with confusion, and hurt.

"What?" he asked forcefully.

"It's true," Vegeta nodded, "and since I found out, I have been taking your welfare into deep consideration; and now after thinking long and hard about it, I have decided that if you wish, you are more than welcome to come home with me. You would be taken care of, and my son is a very powerful warrior, so you would be afforded others of our kind to train with in order to grow stronger, but most of all you would have a family. So what do you say?"

Hiei felt like his entire world had fallen apart, what was he supposed to do? His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe from the tsunami of emotions crashing through his trembling frame. Looking around at everyone's expectant faces, waiting for his answer, the fire demon couldn't get past one very crucial piece of information.

"You knew?" he gasped. "This whole time, you knew who I was, and you never said anything?"

"I'm sorry, but there was just no good way to tell you," Vegeta said with serious eyes. "I didn't think you would be able to handle the information."

"No," Hiei scrambled backwards away from the man, flinching from the concerned hand and look that were directed towards him by the kitsune. "No, you can't say that."

The fire demon stood on shaky legs, his breath coming in short shallow gasps as he began to hyperventilate. "Don't you dare tell me what I can and cannot handle!"

"Hiei, please-" Kurama reached out, trying to soothe his friend.

"NO!" The fire demon jerked away, his fists clenched as he stared at the floor, his face awash with shame as he felt his chin and bottom lip begin to tremble. His whole body shaking with the torrent of betrayal and hurt that was crashing through him, Hiei began to shout at the Saiyan, unable to hold back the emotions and pains he had kept bottled up for years.

"Why should you care?" he yelled. "What on earth would make you want something like me? My own father didn't want me!" Looking up, the small apparition cast grief filled eyes at his uncle. "When I needed him most," he said softly, voice shaking, and cracking, "my own father didn't care enough to rescue me, so why should you? Why did you wait till now when I was finally starting to have my own happiness after a life of utter misery? Why did you wait till NOW to come and say that I could have a family? WHY?"

Suddenly a clatter rang out around the room, and as everyone looked down, time seemed to slow as all eyes watched a solitary dark gem bounce and roll across the floor. Yukina's mouth hung open in shock as she turned her gaze from the gem, up towards the one who had shed it. Her face twisted with some unseen emotion ranging from surprise, all the way to anger, but all the fire demon saw was what he thought would inevitably be there, disgust. Hiei felt the room tilt as his breath came in ragged gasps, and with a stifled sob, disappeared from the room. Silence fell on the chamber, and none could quell the shock of seeing the normally antisocial tough demon shed a tear. For the longest time, no one spoke, lost in their thoughts as they tried to understand just what had transpired, while the Saiyan prince sat overwhelmed by the bitterness that had been directed at him.

Finally Kuwabara scrambled to his feet, his eyes angry and full of sympathy for his friend. "Well," he said in a harsh whisper, "if no one else is going to check on the little guy, then I am."

Feet thudding across the wood flooring, the tall psychic barely stopped to put on his shoes before running out into the forest, his voice calling out the fire demon's name, praying that his small friend was alright.