As a special Thanksgiving present to you all, I'm posting one of the stories I've had in the drabbles for a while but never bothered to make a full story!

Happy Thanksgiving to all those celebrating it!

Vali was not in a good mood and it had almost everything to do with how amused that asshole Azazel was at his situation. How the hell was he supposed to know there was a teenage girl in the dragon lands in the same general vicinity of the current Sekiryuutei and that she would take one look at him and fall under dragon charisma?!

Damn hormones. Damn Azazel for finding his dilemma hilarious. And damn his luck being so annoying that the only person in two hundred miles who had any idea where the current Red Dragon Emperor was also happened to be the teenage girl with a ridiculous demand for the information.

Vali's face twitched.

"So just to be clear, if I want the information on the Sekiryuutei I have to play with you."

"Yup," chirped the girl.

"And what exactly does this 'play' involve?" asked Vali, already having a headache.

"Just try not to die or be maimed too badly that you can't play again later," said the girl with a far too chipper smile.

Wait, what?!

That was the only warning Vali got before she tried to cave his head in with claws made of fire. There was a bright amber colored flame burning merrily on her forehead and her eyes seemed to glow the same color.

Azazel whistled in appreciation.

"It's been a while since I've seen Dying Will Flames used creatively like that, never mind Sky flames. Try not to hurt the human girl too much," he commented.

"Wait, she's human?!" said Vali, dodging her attacks. Not even flight helped him in that regard...the orange fire allowed her to 'step' on air unaided to continue her attacks with glee. He was so calling bullshit on that!

"Dying Will Flames are only accessible to mostly humans. Only reason it's not more commonly known is because they keep getting snatched up or born into the human criminal underworld and they have some really pissy enforcers who are very strict on the secrecy thing. Once you awaken them, then you generally either end up in the criminal underground or killed off, no exceptions. Especially if you're a Sky like this little lady," explained Azazel cheerfully. "Of course there are exceptions... I bet the only reason she hasn't been snagged is because she's been living here."

Vali found himself respecting the human girl a bit more than he had initially.

"Why challenge me then?" he asked her.

"Because I'm too strong for the hatchlings to play with except to practice their skills which is boring and the older ones only see my human heritage as a reason to hold back," she admitted honestly. "You have a dragon in you, and you're not really inclined to treat me like glass, hence why I was so eager to play with you."

Vali could respect that reasoning...if he had a lack of potential sparring partners to properly test his skills against, he would have gotten bored enough to challenge a complete stranger asking for something too!

A fierce smirk came across his face as he went after her with renewed intent. If she wanted to 'play' (read: beat the crap out of each other in the name of a good fight), then he would be more than happy to oblige her.

It was because his complete attention was on her that he missed the shorter newcomer who easily jumped onto Azazel's shoulder with amusement.

"It's a surprise to see you here."

"Vali wanted to fight the Sekiryuutei, but didn't think to ask what they were like before coming."

"Do you want to tell him or should we let him figure it out on his own?" commented the other figure with open amusement at that.

"Let him figure it out himself. If she's as much a battle junkie as he is then they're just as likely to end up in bed together when she's older as they are to try and kill each other," commented Azazel with glee. Vali seriously needed to get laid. "So what are you doing here Fon?"

"Long story short, Ddraig managed to kidnap me and begged me to fix his mess," snorted the robed figure from Azazel's shoulder.

"Okay, I have to hear this story," said Azazel grinning wickedly.

Fon smirked.

"Some idiot went and tried to seal her flames, only it woke Ddraig up in the process. He couldn't exactly awaken without a trigger and you know how territorial dragons get...so the first chance he had, he tried to break the seal from within. Except it didn't go as planned and somehow his attempts shifted into him accidentally sending his host straight into the dragon realms where, after they got over laughing their scaly asses off at his situation, they took her in."

"I'm sensing there's more to this."

"She was barely six at the time," commented Fon.

Azazel winced at that.

"Naturally you can see how that could so easily backfire, and being raised by dragons caused her to take more after them than her own kind. So the second he found out where I was and that I was alone, Ddraig managed to convince her to kidnap me without any warning and bring me here and practically begged me to re-teach her how to be human since it would be far too dangerous for her to convert to dragon without some sort of buffer...such as being turned into a devil or an angel, for instance. Once I realized what she was, I agreed to help...it really didn't hurt that she has a natural knack for my preferred form of fighting and was an enthusiastic student," said Fon serenely. "Or it could have been the amusement factor of having to hear Ddraig explain what puberty is to his host when she was more in tune with dragon maturation cycles which are entirely different."

Azazel snorted at that with open amusement.

"Looks like they're about wrapped up," he commented.

He had to hold back his amusement when, after Vali finally managed to pin the girl down, she seized her chance and kissed him on the lips. He could see from where he was standing that her eyes were slit like a dragon's.

She might not have made the full conversion, but some parts of her were no longer human.

Vali's expression was hilarious, to say the least...and the look on his face when Azazel calmly asked him "So how do you like the current Red Dragon Emperor?" had him breaking down laughing his ass off.

"Wait. She's..."

Azazel nodded, and Vali had this look on his face that the Fallen leader would treasure forever. Mostly because Fon was quick enough to catch multiple pictures of it on camera.

Vali eyed the tiny robed figure on Azazel's shoulder.

"Who are you?"

"Fon!" said the girl happily, scooping up the small man in red to cuddle with.

"He's from the human faction of the Triads, a neutral enforcer. Seven poor bastards get cursed once every thirty-five years or so into toddlers in order to maintain some balance," clarified Azazel. "Never really believed that to be honest, and I suspect some god or another got it in their head that the war between the three factions caused an upset in the natural order and is trying to correct it with a flawed system."

"That would explain so much. Ryuhime, did you wear yourself out?" asked Fon with open concern.

"I'm out of practice," she admitted, yawning.

Vali almost felt guilty, but to be honest it was the most fun he had in a while. The fact she managed to hold her own until he pinned her without the crutch of her Sacred Gear had caught his open interest.

"Well, since you're the one who wore her out, you get to carry her to whatever den she's made."

"Wait, what?" squawked Vali indignantly. Then he blinked at the odd wording. "Den?"

"Dragons live in dens, caves and other places where they can stash their hoards and hostages. As she has been raised for quite some time as a dragon hatchling since they had no idea how to raise a human child, she has picked up more than a few of their habits. However due to the fact that she is still quite young by even human standards and because the older ones aren't used to training humans for prolonged periods of time, her ability to defend a proper den has stagnated considerably. The fact she is exhausted means she won't be able to chase of any challengers for her temporary home," explained Fon from her arms. "She has mostly made due with taking shelter in areas too small for any dragon of age to challenge her for it to bother with."

With how arrogant dragons could be, those old enough to live on their own or even thought they were often targeted her first if they found her. She had gotten used to moving around multiple dens until the pecking order settled every time the general season it happened arrived.

While she could fight using her Balance Breaker, her ability to get around was severely limited and most of the older dragons barely tolerated her presence to begin with. It was easier to slip around unnoticed until she was strong enough to prove her right to be there.

Vali grumbled at the amusement Azazel had about the entire situation, but scooped up the positively tiny girl into his arms. Fon settled back on Azazel's shoulder.

He would adamantly deny the blush on his face when the girl settled into his arms and ended up falling asleep without any fear or hesitation at all. Vali glared at the Fallen for smirking at the situation he was in.

Upon reaching the den (which was barely bigger than Azazel's apartment and had a narrow opening), he quickly put the girl down on the rather small 'nest' which had her curling up into a ball to retain warmth. The dragon lands was mostly covered in snow, as their internal heat allowed them to live in the almost inhospitable plains.

Fon covered her up with a nearby blanket, and she snuggled closer with a happy smile on her face.

"Any particular reason why you didn't tell me it was her?" demanded Vali.

"You didn't bother to ask what the current one was like before you all but demanded to fight them," said Azazel. He grinned. "Besides, you got a kiss from a very cute girl out of the deal."

Vali glared at him.

"So now what?"

"I would not be adverse to you showing up regularly to 'play' with Ryuhime," said Fon. "I am literally the only human interaction she has since Ddraig refuses to open up a Dragon's Gate to where he took her from until the idiot who sealed her is found and eviscerated."

"Any idea who it is?" asked Azazel curiously. For Ddraig to have not killed whoever pissed him off, the fool must be very well hidden. Or too annoying to get at easily.

"I have a few ideas," admitted Fon.

"...Would you be adverse to her coming with us?"

Mostly for the fun of seeing her around Vali. The kid had been getting more uptight and bitchy since he hit puberty.

"Considering who the boy is, not just yet. I am afraid that it's still too soon for her to return to 'society', especially since her habits are too deeply ingrained to readily get rid of. And there's the not-so-small issue of the fact that because she was taken from home so young she has almost no idea how to handle modern society or the social norms. Never mind how to use technology," said Fon, shaking his head.

Azazel rubbed his beard.

"And if we were to get her slowly acclimated to being around humans again?"

"If you could help ward a den properly against being found by outsiders it would help considerably. She's had to move around a lot and slowly letting her get used to others would do nicely."

"And I bet you know the perfect area, don't you?" said Azazel smirking at him. "Or you made one."

Fon didn't bother to deny it.

"I may or may not have been planning to introduce her to my grandson when I realized the rather difficult issue of her clashing with him over perceived territory. Kyouya is almost as bad as a dragon when it comes to a potential rival," admitted Fon. "However he might tolerate her presence long enough to become her first proper Guardian if I could trust that some fool wouldn't figure out that she's a Sky and attempt to kidnap her. The last thing she needs is a meeting with the Vindice because of how she was raised."

While he had little doubts how that would end, he worried about how the Vindice would react to her Sacred Gear or the fact she had limited experience being around humans.