Author's Note: Where we left our heroes Jiro was recovering from his wounds, Mimiko's location is now known, and something seems to be up with Aquariana. Does she truly care about Jiro? Or is she acting that way to shield her broken heart?

Disclaimer: I do not own Black Blood Brothers, but I do own my OC Bluefire and her friends so don't use them without permission.

Dream Realm

(After Jiro's rescue, but before his reawakening)

Innocent, serene, youthful, all words that came to mind when Aquariana carried Jiro back to the cabin they were staying in. He was a bit too heavy for her to handle for much longer, but remained silent to avoid awakening him.

'He's so pale, not that he wasn't before, but he's almost as pale as a ghost,' the Water Guardian thought as she sat down to rest for a few moments. Jiro's head slid from resting on her shoulder to resting on her chest. The blonde was ready to beat her temporary charge when she heard him mumbling in his unconcious state.

"Mommy...Wake up Mommy...D-don't die Mommy! I-I don't wanna be alone! Mommy!" Jiro cried in the loudest voice he could muster up at this point in time. Aquariana kissed his forehead, performing an ancient taboo among the citizens of the Dream Realm...Tapping into one's memories.

Jiro's Mind-Age: 3

From what Aquariana could see Jiro looked relatively happy at this age. He was sitting on the kitchen counter, a bowl in his cute little hands as a woman who looked very similar to him was stirring the contents of a pot on the stove.

"Mommy? When will wunch be weady? Jiwo is hungy," the toddler version of the man she was starting to somewhat tolerate asked. The woman chuckled before ruffling his hair.

"Don't worry my little Jiro, it'll be ready in a few minutes. Why don't you go outside and play with the other children? They seem to enjoy your company," the woman answered, a smile on her face. Aquariana nearly gagged, here was an almost identical version of Jiro except kinder and a woman.

"B-but Mommy, they hurt Jiwo! They say mean things to make Jiwo cwy and take Jiwo's snacks from him," Jiro complained, his stomach growling in emphasis to the last part. His mother sighed before turning to face him completely.

"I know it may be tough dealing with other people and that they may say hurtful things to try and make you feel tiny and insiginfigant, but what they say doesn't matter. You may feel alone when this happens, but you aren't. I'll always be there in your heart, protecting you, praising you, raising you, no matter how old you get I shall always be there for you," she cooed. Jiro wrapped his arms around her neck, kissing her cheek and smiling at her.

"Thank you Mommy. You always make Jiwo feel gooder," Jiro said. His mother sighed again.

"Jiro it's better not gooder you silly little boy," the older woman chided before smiling at him.

Jiro's Mind-Age: 4

(Day of his fourth birthday)

Jiro was very excited as he played with what appeared to be a new toy he recieved on this day. It was a bright red ball, shining in the light of the setting sun. He was throwing said ball into the air and chasing after it to catch it, only to have it bounce off his head this time. Jiro ran as quickly as his chubby little legs could carry him, trying in vain to reclaim his precious toy. It rolled into the river that ran through the center of town, Jiro crying out to make it stop. Jiro ran to the water's edge, forgetting that he couldn't swim yet, and reaching out to grab the ball that was mere centimeters away from his grasp. Jiro stepped closer to it, almost falling in. He was saved though by a very familiar woman.

'Alisandra? What is she doing here?' Aquariana thought, she would have tried to help Jiro, but she was only a mere intangible spectator, even if she could help him out it was forbidden to mess with the past.

"Are you alright little one?" The woman asked, holding Jiro in her arms. He sniffled and started outright bawling, he appeared to be one of those toddlers that was easily upset.

"M-my bally! Mmm-Mommy and D-daddy are going to be angry if Jiro doesn't bring bally home! Jiro doesn't want to get in twouble!" Jiro cried, only having an occasional issue with the letter 'r' unlike his three-year-old self which hardly ever used 'r'.

"Don't worry Jiro, I can help you," the woman who looked like Alisandra said with a smile, wiping the tears from Jiro's eyes. She reached out and plucked the ball out of the water, handing it back to its owner.

"Thank you nice lady. I'll do something nice for you now!" Jiro said with a smile, his tears slowing to a mere trickle. His nose was a little runny and his eyes were glistening with the unspilt tears. The woman giggled before ruffling his hair.

"Don't worry, I'm sure when you get bigger you will be able to repay the favor," The woman stated before putting Jiro down. He waved to her before racing home to his parents. Aquariana was about to follow him when she felt herself being pulled back.

"Aquariana! What do you think you are doing here?" A familiar voice chided. The blonde turned, her blue eyes meeting Alisandra's own aqua orbs.

"The asswipe was calling out for his mother, begging her not to die. I felt that I needed to know why," Aquariana responded, looking towards the direction Jiro ran in. He tripped and fell, scraping his knee and crying...again.

"You could've waited until he was ready to tell you about it. There's a reason why tapping into one's memories is forbidden," Alisandra said before trying to drag Aquariana away. Just then they heard a scream fill the air. The water guardian taking off towards the direction of it, her older friend running after her.

When they reached the source of the noise neither one was fully prepared for the sight before them, lying there in a pool of blood was Jiro's parents. His mother had her eyes closed, pale and the front of her dress slightly ripped from being cut so many times. His father had a blade impaled through his stomach, his eyes were open and dull, and his mouth was slightly open. Jiro was on his knees gently nudging his mother and crying for the third time.

"Mommy! Wake up Mommy! Daddy! Wake up Daddy! I don't want to be alone! Daddy! Mommy!" Jiro cried before stopping, looking at his little hands. Blood dripped off of his crimson red palms, making in scream and cry even harder.

Dream Realm

Alisandra and Aquariana carried Jiro into the cabin, being mindful of his injuries. When they entered the cabin Kotaro ran up to them, looking ready to cry at the sight of his battered and bruised older brother.

"I-is Brother-" Kotaro started before Alisandra knelt down and kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry Kotaro, your big brother is going to be alright. He's just a little roughed up right now," she cooed as Aquariana took Jiro to the bathroom. She stripped Jiro down to his underwear, staring at how perfectly toned his chest was. She prodded his shoulder, Jiro yelping in pain. She turned on the sink, putting a plug in and filling it to the brim with the clear aqua from the nearby lake. She poured a little soap in before dipping a washcloth into it. She wrung it out and started cleaning Jiro's wounds, he panted heavily as his body steamed a bit from the contact with the water.

'He's so big and heavy, if only there was a way to make him smaller and lighter. It'll probably be much easier than washing his fatass now,' the bonde thought as he turned Jiro over to wash his back. There were numerous wounds on his back, some creating criss-crossed patterns with other ones.

Kotaro stood on the little stool in the kitchen, stirring the contents of a pot rapidly. He had a cute little apron on, evidence of what he was doing very clear on both the apron and on the kitchen counter. Kotaro thought back to when he was small and often helped his dear brother out in the kitchen.

Kotaro's Mind-Age 5

Kotaro sat on the counter, watching Jiro gather some vegetables from the fridge.

"Brother? What are we making today?" Young Kotaro asked excitedly, his little fangs flashing in the light. Jiro chuckled and ruffled his curly mop of hair.

"Crow is not feeling very well today. The best thing for someone who's ill is hot soup, so as a thank you for his kindness we'll make him some soup for lunch," Jiro answered. Kotaro watched Jiro intetly, in awe at how skilled he was with the knife. Jiro noticed Kotaro staring at him, pausing in his chopping and smiling at him.

"I'm guessing you'd like to try cutting some vegetables," Jiro said, getting an excited nod in response from Kotaro. "Well you are a little young to use a knife like this, but I suppose it would be alright if I guide you along." Kotaro cheered in joy, sliding off the counter and standing in front of his older brother. Jiro set his knife down and walked to the corner of the kitchen to retireve a stool. Jiro helped Kotaro wash his hands and stood behind Kotaro and held onto his hand.

"Yay! I get to be a big boy like Brother!" Kotaro said in glee, Jiro was amused by Kotaro's eagerness.

"Alright Kotaro, listen to me carefully. You must be totally calm when holding a knife, you don't want to accidently cut yourself," Jiro stated, Kotaro nodded. Jiro's larger hand covered Kotaro's smaller one, holding onto the handle of the smaller knife Jiro brought out for their little lesson. Jiro walked Kotaro through the motions for properly cutting a vegetable before allowing Kotaro to cut a tomato on his own.

Dream Realm

Kotaro sat there by his brother's bed, the latter in a state of delerium. He acted like he was a young child, calling Kotaro 'Bid Bwudder' and other sorts of childish things.

"Bid Bwudder, can we go simming? Jiwo feels hot," Jiro asked, his voice sounding off as he spoke.

"No B-Jiro. I-its too cold to go swimming. M-maybe you'll feel better after a nap," Kotaro suggested, Jiro pouted, but complied with his request. With Jiro asleep Kotaro managed to feed him his soup, the elder Mochizuki mumbling something incoherent under his breath. Kotaro set the empty bowl on the nightstand before leaving the room, after he was a safe distance away he started crying. It hurt seeing his strong brother being so weak, much more than any other sort of pain.

An Hour After Jiro's Awakening

Jiro sighed as he stared up at the ceiling of the hut, being confined to a bed often led to incredible boredom leading one to do things such as staring at ceilings. He noticed Aquariana standing in the doorway, her blonde bangs concealing her light blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jiro asked, bringing the girl out of her reveries.

"I should be asking you the same question," she sighed before walking over to the chair next to Jiro's bed and sitting in it.

"You seem to be bothered by something. Is there anything I can do to help?" Jiro said before Aquariana held onto his shoulders. She gulped before smashing her lips against Jiro's, feeling his futile struggles to break off the sudden kiss. He stopped struggling after she bit his bottom lip, making an opening to his mouth. Quickly her wet tongue surged into his moist cavern, overpowering the Old Blood's muscle easily. Jiro moaned, pure lust starting to emerge from deep within him. He pinned her to the bed despite only having one good arm, breaking away for some much needed air. Their breaths mingled as the blonde girl wrapped her arms around Jiro's neck.

"You..," Aquariana trailed off as she cupped Jiro's chin before devouring his lips again. Jiro chuckled before breaking off and trailing kisses down from her lips to her neck. Once he reached the crook of her neck Jiro licked a patch of skin there before sinking his aching fangs into it. The skin was so soft and supple, so easy to break even a new born Black Blood could break it. Jiro moaned as her crimson gold hit his tongue.

'Mmm, it tastes like ambrosia. So sweet and filling yet I crave more,' Jiro thought as his eyes darkened with ecstasy. He broke away after a few mouthfuls and lapped up the blood that bubbled to the surface. Aquariana mewed as he fed off of her precious life source, the shocks of pleasure masking the pain of his fangs penetrating her glistening skin. Before they could kiss again the door opened, revealing a shell shocked Alisandra and a clearly confused Kotaro.

"O-oh I see you two were er-bonding. Well we should get going Kotaro. We need to buy some groceries," Alisandra stuttered as she took Kotaro's hand and backed out of the door way.

"Eh? But I thought we had plenty of food," Kotaro complained as he too backed out.

"Well lets get ice cream!" Alisandra snapped before running out the hut and slamming the door behind her. Jiro's cheeks were a nice shade of red after this incident and upon inspection Aquariana too had crimson colored cheeks.

"B-bastard. Don't get used to me being all sweet. The minute you get better I'm kicking your ass," she muttered as she broke eye contact with Jiro. He smiled before wrapping his arms around her waist and nibbling on her ear.

He huskily whispered, "Then I hope I have a long, long recovery."

Author's Note: And end chapter. Please remember to clean up any blood from a nose bleed you may or may not have sustained from reading this chapter. Review box is right below this message and remember to tip your waiter or waitress. Thank you and please read again.~Bff#3