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Hi people!! Back for more? Good to have you on the reviewers' panel!! Yes, reviewing is a very good habit to pick up...and if you aren't much of a reviewer, then humor me, here...^-^;

I do not own Weiss Kreuz. (Wouldn't it be kewl if this were animated? @_@)

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Trade Your Fate::Act Two

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The redhead had his arms crossed, back to the black-haired man. He growled in frustration, impatiently awaiting an explanation. This was not supposed to be how things happened...His little sister's eyes would drift open as he watched expectantly and she would take one look at who was at her side, and wrap her arms around her brother...

"So..." he began hesitantly, "...I was half-lying when I said I would wake your sister up." Aya remained silent, gazing out across the field. "...What I did...well, you could almost call it...trading fates. Basically, I switched your fate with that of your sister." The assassin turned to meet his gaze slowly, quickly diverting his eyes to the ground. His brow furrowed as he contemplated what he had been told.

"That's why you aren't awake...you're actually in a coma. And your sister...she's with your friends..."

"...My...friends..." he repeated slowly. Images floated throughout his head, pictures of the flower shop, Omi, Ken, Yohji...And then other images. Thoughts of those same friendly guys at night, killing next to him. Killing...

'No!!' his mind screamed. He sank to his knees, trying to comprehend what was going on. If he was comatose, would Aya-chan become an assassin? 'No...' he told himself, grabbing fistfuls of the lush green grass. "...no..." he whispered, as everything faded away from his sight.

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Omi was silent as he watched the girl play with her older bother's red eartails happily. She seemed so cheerful around Aya, even though he was unconscious...

"...And when you wake up, we'll go for ice cream!! So you had better hurry, Ran!! I'm not waiting forever, cause I'll go find a boyfriend and have ice cream with him instead!!" She laughed.

"Hmmm..." He turned to look at Yohji. "What do think he did?"

"You mean, what happened to him, Yohji-kun?" he asked the blonde.

"Same thing. You think it was--" he stopped abruptly, glancing to the chatty Aya-chan, who was completely absorbed in her conversation with her unresponsive brother. He motioned to Ken and Omi to follow him outside.

"Erm, Aya, we'll be back in a while...okay?" Ken asked as he followed the other two assassins out the door.

"Alright!" she chirped, not even glancing their way. The proceeded down the hall a little before stopping and turning to each other.

"....Schwarz? You think?" Yohji began, carefully watching his friend's expressions for reactions. Omi turned his eyes towards the floor.

"If it WAS Schwarz, what do you think they...did to him..." he flinched at his own words. Did to him?

"It could've been anything, but I'm guessing that telepath messed with him." Ken crossed his arms, almost proud of his deduction skills.

"But we don't know that Schwarz attacked him..." Omi reasoned. "He's unconscious....someone must have found him, or something...." he put a hand to his chin. "We should ask around to see what we can find out."

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"Schuldich!!" Crawford bellowed in the direction of the door. "Come here!!" Turning back to the computer in front of him, he continued typing. Annoyed, he stopped his work and turned back to the door. "Schuldich!!" he called again. Receiving no answer, he climbed out of his chair and moved towards the door, looking out into the main room. "What are you doing?" he growled at the telepath.

The German was unresponsive as he sat with his back towards the Schwarz-leader. Crawford wearily walked around to the other side of the orange-head. The man was perched on the couch eyes closed, sitting up straight and unmoving. Losing interest and deciding that Nagi would be a better candidate anyhow, he quitted the room, leaving Schuldich to his own...twisted...devices.

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Mind cruising was a great way to kill time and boy it was entertaining....One of the German's favorite pastimes. He listened to the thoughts of one person after the next:

'What should I do? He doesn't love me back!!'

'...Great, I lost my job!! What do I tell my wife?!'

'I want french fries soo badly right now....'

'That woman stuffs her bra!! I can see it from here!!'

The telepath laughed mentally, freaking out whoever's mind he was in. Man, this kinda thing could always get a laugh out of him. He grew tired of these regular people....Listening to the thoughts of the mentally tortured assassins, otherwise known as Weiss, was even more fun.

He skimmed the conciousneses of all the people he could at his range, a bit disappointed to only find three little kittens...the loud guy, the playboy, the kid...Where the hell was number four? He cursed. The living ice-sculpture was great to screw with...

He searched more carefully this time; he WOULD find the guy eventually. The fact that he couldn't find the red-head made Schuldich want to find him even more...Aha! He picked up the man's mind, only faintly. Either he was too far away from the last Weiss kitten, or he was unconscious. It was what, five 'o clock?

He went deeper, letting himself fall into the mind of the swordsman. He could see a flash, and then a field materialized around him. Green grass and wildflowers. How charming. The orange-haired man glanced around nonchalantly, wondering where his victim could be. The grass only reached his ankles, but he could hardly see the shape of someone lying in the grass a few yards from him. Smirking, he strolled across the meadow towards the shape.

Schuldich found himself looking down on the redheaded Weiss, who almost seemed to be asleep. His eyes were closed as he lay in the grass, arms behind his head. His violet eyes opened slowly.

"What's doin, Weiss?" he smirked down on the man, who didn't really seem interested in the German's intrusion on his mind.

"There's nothing here." He stated the words blankly, looking past the telepath into the blue sky.

"We can change that..." the telepatah smirked evilly.

Aya sat straight up in the grass. The field had burst into red flames, the blue sky now gray. He was surrounded by roaring flames with no where to go. The smoke stung his eyes and lungs as the heat made him feel as though he would suffocate. He broke into a coughing fit, completely forgetting that he was inside his own mind. He was imagining all of this. He fell to his knees...It was all so real, he could feel the leaping fire closing in on him. He shut his eyes tightly against the fire and smoke. Suddenly, he felt the heat disappear...his eyes snapped open, as he climbed to his feet. He was surrounded by blackness; Schuldich was no where to be seen.

"That doesn't mean I left..." he laughed, the voice echoing through the endless dark.

"Schwarz..!!" Aya growled. "Get out!!"

"Heh...don't be so harsh...I really didn't care for that field and I know you didn't either." The redhead's face twisted with anger as the telelpath appeared in front of him. "The darkness suits us both much better..." he smirked.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Mind." His expression held venom as he glared at the German.

"I can stay here as long as I please." He shoved his hands in the pockets of his snow-white suit, turning to look around. He carefully contemplated possible reasons for the other assassin's mind to be in such a state; the pathetic thing wouldn't be quite so malleable if the Weiss was awake...And if he wasn't awake at five-thirty in the afternoon, he could be unconscious...He searched through a few coherent thoughts he found floating around, seeing mental pictures of a black-haired man offering to wake up Fujimiya's sister, and then saying that the Weiss-leader was comatose. A smirk crossed his face. "I think I've had my fun for now..." He continued smirking as he floated off of the proverbial "ground" a few feet and faded away into the nothingness that was Aya's train of thought, leaving the red-head alone in the darkness...

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There was nothing here. There really wasn't anything there before, but now there was no grass, no sky, no flowers...The flowers had helped him escape, almost, the sweet scent taking him back to the Koneko No Sumu Ie...But here he was. Nowhere.

Sighing, he went back to lying on his back, staring up into the darkness. He should've enjoyed the field while it was there...It would be like this for some time. He had to make the best of it. As long as his sister was awake, he trusted that his teammates wouldn't let her get herself into any sort of trouble...

Yohji...Omi...Ken...How long had he been asleep? Aya remembered falling asleep on the side of his sister's hospital bed. By now, he was probably in one of his own...Had they come to see if he was all right? Had they even found out that he was comatose? Could they possibly be worried about him...? Aya had always taken his relationship with the other three members of Weiss for granted. It was a working relationship, not a friendship. They arranged flowers together, and they killed together. What else could there be?

He wondered...did Yohji, Omi, and Ken think differently?

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"Excuse me!!" Omi called after the doctor that had just left Aya's room.

"Hmm?" The gray-haired doctor turned to Omi, slightly wrinkled face crumpling as he smiled. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

"The man in that room-" he pointed back inside the door at the unconscious red-head "-is a friend of mine, and I was wondering if you could tell me what's wrong with him..." The doctor put a hand to his chin, brow wrinkling with the rest of his face as he held his clip-board up to look at it.

"Well, he seems to be comatose, but we aren't exactly sure why..." he told Omi. "I think it was his sister who found him sleeping on the corner of her bed when she woke up..."

"His sister?" the hacker inquired. The doctor nodded solemnly.

"Very ironic, really...she had just come out of a coma, herself, when she discovered her older brother..."

"Thank you very much," Omi told the man as he smiled, and gave a shallow bow before running off to find Ken and Yohji. The three had dispersed themselves to gather information from the hospital staff and the young assassin had hit the jackpot with that doctor...

"Yohji-kun!!" he called as he ran down the hall towards the lanky blonde. The man looked up as the boy jogged up to him.

"What's up, chibi?" Omi frowned.

"I told you not to call me that, Yohji-kun..." he warned. "I talked to a doctor...he said that Aya-kun may be comatose." Yohji's sunglasses slid down his nose, revealing the surprise in his eyes.

"Comatose...?"

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"Aya-chan sat silently, having chatted herself into exhaustion. It wasn't the same to talk to her brother when he wouldn't answer her. It depressed her to see his pale skin look even more so in the oppressively white room. Earlier, a nurse had told her that she had been comatose for two years. Two whole years. Also, the nurse had told her how much her older brother visited her and missed her while she slept. She had to keep chatting happily after finding out that her brother was possibly comatose....she HAD to stay cheerful, or else her heart would've broken in two.

She reached out a hand and ran her fingers along her brother's cheek. He wasn't moving besides his barely noticeable breaths. When would he wake up, if ever? What would she do until then? Her parents were no more, and her brother wasn't going to be able to help her out....Where would she stay until he awoke? What would happen to her?

Aya sighed. She could hear voices outside the room and didn't see Ken, Omi, and Yohji as they entered for her back was turned, eyeing her older brother's sleeping form.

"Hey..." Ken addressed her. Aya replaced her happy smile before turning to them.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"We were wondering..." he began, "...do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Errm..." she stuttered, "I barely know you guys..." She looked down as she twiddled her thumbs.

"Like we said," Yohji cut in, "we're pretty good friends with your older brother. He wouldn't be very happy if we didn't take care of his baby sister." The blonde grinned.

"I can stay with you guys...?" she asked them hesitantly.

"Of course!" Omi told her cheerfully. "Hopefully, Aya-kun will wake up soon, though..." he added quietly, turning to look at the man in bed.

"What?" Aya asked him, thinking she heard her name.

"Nothing!" he smiled nervously. "Maybe we should all go home and get some rest..."

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Black. Everything. It tortured him. It frustrated him. There was nothing. He wanted to scream. He wanted his katana. He wanted...he wanted...his little sister to be awake and happy. He wanted her to live her life. That was good enough. He could endure this forever if it meant she would be content.

He rolled over onto his side and curled up in a ball. The redhead had plenty of time to contemplate; he wondered how he could exist inside of his mind. If he held up his hand, he could see it. If there was a mirror around, he would've seen himself. But he was inside of his mind. He could think inside of his mind. Maybe this was just the way he thought, how his brain worked...Either way it made his "head" hurt thinking about it.

"How are things going for you?" He didn't move at the sound of a voice echoing through the darkness. He could recognize who it was coming from. "I can probably switch things back...you look pretty miserable, and your sister doesn't look much better."

"No..." he whispered, uncurling himself and sitting up, looking out at the black-haired man. "She's awake...that's what matters." He reached up and touched his earlobe; the earring was still there. It had almost become part of him over the years. He tugged on it.

"If you ever wake up, you'll have gone insane already..." The red-head turned away, gaze downcast. "These two weeks have been hard on you. I can tell." Aya looked up suddenly, eyes confused.

"Have I been asleep two weeks...?" The black haired man nodded slowly. The redhead seemed dazed, just like a lost little kid.

"Your friends and sister come to visit you a lot...I've been watching. They're worried about you...I can change things back I just need to--"

"No!!" Aya interrupted, his sudden outburst startling the man. "Aya is awake!" The man smiled sadly.

'If he ever wakes up...' he thought to himself, '...that guy will be a mess on ice. I can't watch this.' He approached the trembling redhead slowly. He extended an arm, carefully poking the man in the forehead. Purple orbs rolled back in his head as his body went limp and faded away, going deeper into unconsciousness.

"I'm going to switch fate back."

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Hey, is it just me or did Aya-kun get a little pathetic by the end, there? ^^;; Whoops...Oh well, I like the way that turned out. And if YOU didn't, I don't wanna hear about it!! (Oh, and Eris, I KNOW you're reading this, so you had better FREAKING review...I KNOW where you LIVE!!) Thank you for reading, everyone!! :D