title: Precious
author : cluelesspsycho
fandom: Weiss Kreuz
characters/pairing: Crawford/Ran, Ken/Aya-chan
rating: NC17
warning : AU Fantasy, a little crack, OOCness, OC, weirdness, slash, cross-dressing, some kinks, pirates, guest appearances, lemons, I'm sure there are more.
disclaimer : I own nothing but my crazy writing talent.
summary : Fujimiya Aya was ordered by the Emperor to marry Count Crawford, a nobleman from the other side of the ocean. However, Ran, her big brother, heard that Count Crawford was a cruel man with strange gift. He didn't want Aya to suffer. Ran arranged for Aya to escape with Ken, and showed up at the wedding as the bride.

Part Two: The Most Valuable Gift

Aya was supposed to marry at the age of twelve, as was customary, however, for some reason, Fujimiya Senior and his wife turned down every proposals from those who wanted Aya's hand in marriage. It was still a big question why that had not led to the whole Fujimiya family being beheaded for humiliating those people, however that did not seem to worry Fujimiya the slightest. He let people see Aya bloom past adolescence into a fully grown, beautiful woman, a flower people could only see, dream and long for, without being able to touch or have. Ran thought that it was a game his father really liked to play, as he was only a merchant and had no noble title or blood at all, yet he had a daughter that would make every woman green with envy.

Still, when the words came from the palace that the Emperor would like Aya to marry Count Crawford, he could not walk his way around it any longer. He accepted the proposal, though Ran suspected that his father made a tough deal with the Emperor before agreeing to let some foreign lord take Aya away from him.

Aya was sixteen. She might be what people called a late-bloomer, still the news of her getting married made people beam with happiness and joy. Some sent letter expressing their disappointment that Lord Reiji and Fujimiya decided to have a private ceremony for the wedding where only very close relatives could attend and conveying their blesses to the lovely bride and the lucky groom. The rest sent gifts.

The first cart fully loaded with gifts arrived in the morning after Count Crawford embarked. Ran took time to watch the servants unloaded the boxes from the cart on his way to his literature class with Matsumono-san. He tried not to think about anything but how loved was Aya, even by people who did not personally know him, and that made him feel warm and happy.

When he came back home late afternoon, after his kendo practice, the gifts had filled one wing of Fujimiya's house, the one where Aya's and his bedroom were located. They came in variety shapes of boxes, from one as small as a cricket cage to one big enough to put a real life size horse statue in, and of variety of designs and materials too. They were laid on the floor, on the tables, along the walls, they were everywhere, and still the servants were receiving many more at the gate.

Ran carefully kneaded his steps around the boxes, heading to Aya's bedroom. He almost grinned to see that the bedroom was not invaded at all, save for a large wooden chest sitting in the centre of the room, its lid open. Aya was sitting next to the chest with Momoe-san and Shiro, she was inspecting a glass ball with Momoe-san, Shiro was snoring near Momoe-san's neatly folded feet. Two servants were sitting quietly at the door, just in case Aya wanted them to bring one or some of the boxes in.

"Aniki!" Aya beamed when she saw Ran. "Look at this."

Smiling, Ran went to sit next to Aya. Aya held the glass ball she was holding. It had some little dolls glued to the inside of the ball. "Look!" Aya cheered as she turned the ball around, and little flakes floated down. Aya giggled, so did Momoe-san. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," Ran nodded. It was beautiful. "Where did it come from?"

"It's from The Count," said Aya, putting the glass ball back on its box. "He sent that for me." Aya pointed at the huge chest. Suddenly, Ran felt a lump the size of a ball clotting his throat.

"Aya-chan is very lucky," said Momoe-san in a voice that sounded like affectionate laughter.

"These things are very beautiful," said Aya, pulling out some yards of soft fabric. It was very thin, transparent too, and the thread glinted in the soft light of the bedroom. She ran her palm very carefully over the fabric, afraid that her touch would ruin it. "But I think The Count is very stupid too. Why did he bring me these things, while I'm going with him anyway? We'll have to take these things back to his country, so he might as well keep these there and surprise me."

Ran laughed at the babble, and Aya winked at him secretly. "I think you have fallen in love already with him," he teased his sister.

"Aniki," Aya sulked prettily.

One of the servants entered the bedroom. "Aya-san, your friends want to see you if you'd like to accept them. Your mother has given her permission."

"Of course!" Aya exclaimed happily, and she got up to meet her friends at the door. "Oh I'm so happy you all come to visit me!"

There were five or six girls in colorful kimono, each of them was holding a nicely wrapped box, tied with ribbon. One of them said, "Aya-chan, you're so cruel. How come you won't let us to come to your wedding? I thought we're friends. We want to see the Count too. Now we have to come today to bring our presents for you." And they all giggled and kissed Aya's cheeks and hugged her and Aya herded them inside the bedroom so they could giggle some more and have tea and sweets. Ran only nodded when they greeted him, and he shimmied away, leaving the bedroom to the girls and one cat.

He did not walk straight to his bedroom. He took time to examine the gifts. If he could open the lid without breaking the boxes, because some of them were sealed and were not supposed to be opened until after the wedding, he did. There was jewelry and diamond studded hair accessories, kimono made of the finest silk with the most beautiful embroideries, crystal vases, and chinaware made of first class porcelain, and paintings and books.

Aya was indeed a lucky girl.

Later at night, when the whole house had fallen asleep, Ran went back to Aya's bedroom. The chest was still there, next to the futon where Aya was sleeping. Crouching down, Ran opened the chest carefully, in order not to wake Aya up. Still, Aya stirred, and gasped when she opened her eyes and saw Ran.

"Aniki!" she whispered as she crawled to Ran.

"Shush!" Ran put his finger on his lips.

"Aniki, you don't have to do this," Aya murmured, afraid that people could hear her, which was non-sense. The only persons still wide awake were the guards and they were far away at the gate.

"But you love them, don't you?" said Ran as he spread a black cloth on the floor. "Choose, I can't take them all. People will get suspicious."

"No! I can't. I don't deserve them."

"The Count wants you to have them all, but unfortunately you have to choose, baby sister. Or I'll do it for you and you won't be happy with my choice."

Aya blinked, and as usual, she looked like she was going to cry. "I hate this," she sniffed.

Ran stroked Aya's cheeks fondly. "Such is fate, but we're going to beat it. Now be strong, you're not a child anymore."

Still sniffing, Aya nodded. And then she started to choose, the first she picked up from the chest was the glass ball. There were lots of fine fabrics, some came with exotic embroideries, and there were very expensive jewelries in the designs they had never seen before. There was a necklace with pendant made of gemstone in the exact color of Aya's eyes. "Someone must have given the Count the right description of your eye color," Ran murmured, suddenly thinking about what kind of person the Count was who went the length of finding a gemstone that matched the color of his bride-to-be's eyes.

"You said you heard him having a strange gift," said Aya. "Maybe that is his gift, to know without having to see it first."

Shrugging, Ran cuddled the jewelry in his hand, feeling the white gold the gemstone was embedded into. It was hard and cold and it made him want to cry suddenly. "I haven't found you the right gift."

"Aniki! You have found me the most precious one," Aya scolded in stifled voice. "I'm very lucky to have you as my brother."

"I think you better wear this one," suggested Ran. "Nobody will notice. Besides, the Count wants you to, I guess."

"Okay," Aya smiled.

Ran helped looping the necklace around Aya's neck, and secured the tiny buckle at the nape of Aya's neck. The gemstone shone against Aya's skin. He smiled and kissed her head.

Then he quickly wrapped the gifts from the Count in the black cloth. As quietly as he had come, he walked out of Aya's bedroom, carrying the makeshift bag, leaving his baby sister resume her sleep with a big smile on her face.

He managed to find his way out of the Fujimiya's property without the guards catching him, he knew a secret passage, which Aya and he had used during their childhood to escape the house from time to time. He moved fast, concealing himself in the shadows of houses and shops and trees, heading towards the dojo. However, he did not go to the dojo, he walked past, and kept on walking until he found a small house at the far back of the dojo.

Ken got up to his knees at the sight of Ran, grinning.

"Have you found a good place yet?" asked Ran without greetings.

"Yes," Ken nodded. "Nobody will suspect I keep valuable items there, and it's easy to move things when I need it."

"Good." Ran handed him the bundle. Ken winced when he received it, apparently, he did not expect the bundle to be very heavy. "These are from the Count- his gifts for Aya. Aya wants to keep them, so she will. You're not under any circumstances to sell or use them without Aya's permission."

"Aw, Ran-kun, can't you trust me just a little bit?" Ken groaned. "I may be poor, but I know how to honor something."

"Good, because if you don't, you won't live to see your firstborn," said Ran.

"All right, all right," Ken hugged the bundle. "Poor Count, he brought the gifts, I get…"

Ran smacked Ken's head lightly. "Shut up."

Ken dug his teeth on his lower lips, but that did not stop him from grinning.

"The rest of the things I will bring in the next days, you can use them as you wish, as long as it is for Aya's well-being and health."

Ken pouted. "Ran-kun, I'm a man. I know how to provide for…."

"Maybe you won't have the chance," Ran cut him off sharply, "once this starts. So don't underestimate them."

Ken blinked in disbelief, but he nodded anyway. "All right, all right. I've given you my words, I will do my best to enforce them."

Ran nodded. He knew he did not make a mistake, he had taken the right decision. Everything was for Aya's sole happiness.

Tbc