Chapter 1

"Princess, are you really going to just leave?" The playful, yet unmistakably sad, voice called out to the departing girl.

"For the last time," Asuka Langley Shikinami started, "I'm not a Princess. I'm not you're Princess. I'm not anybody's Princess!" Asuka claimed, her anger rapidly rising along with the volume of her voice.

Mari Illustrious Makinami, smiled, despite the sudden pain coursing through her caused by Asuka's stinging words. "I still think the title suits you very well," Mari replied, casually, and let a smirk tug at the edge of her lips. Relentless in her easygoing demeanor.

Asuka had little patience to begin with and the infuriating girl before her was testing her self-control to its limits. "Tch!" Asuka clicked her tongue, and with a brandish of her hand, swept her hair back in a dramatic fashion.

Mari's smile widened. For one claiming not to be a princess, she certainly acts like one, Mari couldn't help but think.

"I've had enough of your games, favored four-eyes," Asuka retorted, with the nickname she dubbed the bespectacled girl. "I can't stand being in the same room with you anymore," Asuka concluded, and folded her arms as she peered at Mari with her right eye – the left covered by a black eye-patch.

Mari's smile never faltered and she leaned back against the wall, not saying anything – she knew she had already won the argument, and felt it best not to goad the fiery red-head any further. Mari's silence annoyed Asuka even more than when she spoke, and her temper was reaching its boiling point. Asuka couldn't understand why the girl before her could rub her the wrong way so easily.

Asuka took long and determined strides towards Mari who was standing on the other side of the room. Mari watched calmly as Asuka approached her like an angry bull. Asuka looked up at the taller girl – her one eye revealing a rage which neither frightened nor intimidated Mari. Instead, she found Asuka's angry side rather… appealing.

Mari looked on with amusement at Asuka shaking and scowling before her - she was simply incapable of taking the smaller girl seriously. "Like a little Chihuahua," Mari giggled, light-heartedly, and poked Asuka's cheek causing Asuka's face to glow red with anger.

"Grrr," Asuka growled in frustration which only enhanced the image of Asuka as an eye-patch wearing Chihuahua in Mari's active imagination.

Mari giggled again in spite of Asuka's obvious rage. Upon hearing Mari's blatant disregard to her seriousness, Asuka felt something snap in her brain – or more like a click - and all she saw was red.

Asuka pulled back her arm and propelled it forward, forming a fist as she did so. For a fraction of a second, Mari's cheerful expression turned into one of shock. Asuka's heart skipped a beat once she realized what she was doing and at the very last moment, she redirected her fist at the wall to the side of Mari's head.

As soon as her fist made contact with the slab of concrete, Asuka felt her knuckles flare up in excruciating pain. She had overreacted again and her poor hand was paying the price.

Asuka retracted her arm and cradled her right hand in an attempt to lessen the severe pain shooting across her knuckles. The low-brim of her hat hid any signs of hurt on her face from Mari, and Asuka was thankful for that.

Mari was still half-dazed by what had just transpired and she stood frozen before the enigmatic Asuka. When she saw the girl trembling, Mari hesitantly reached out a hand with the intention of a comforting gesture, but Asuka abruptly turned her body away. Before Mari could stop her, Asuka was walking out of the door, leaving Mari alone in the heavy silence of the room.

"Princess…" Mari softly said, and turned to stare at the newly formed crack on the wall.

Asuka walked quickly down the quiet hallway, her body in a state of complete disorientation. "I… I can't believe I almost hit that idiotic favored four-eyes," Asuka fervently whispered to herself. She balled her hands into fists and walked with her head bowed down. "She really was pushing me too much though," Asuka continued to talk to herself as she tried to rationalize her impulsive action. She stopped in the middle of the hall and looked over her shoulder, half-expecting and maybe even half-hoping Mari to be behind her, but she was alone.

"Stupid," Asuka cursed herself, and continued to walk back to her room – nearly running now. Once she was inside her sanctuary, Asuka shut the door firmly behind her to close off the rest of the world. She sighed and tiredly took off her trademark hat, and placed it carefully on a hook on her door. Asuka collapsed on her bed and stared glumly at her bruised knuckles, lifting her hand before her face to inspect the purplish-blue bruises marring her creamy skin. She curled herself into a fetal position and touched her lips to her injured hand. In the darkness, the silence was amplified and Asuka could barely stand the nerve-wracking stillness any longer, but it was all she ever knew.

Asuka shut her right eye. She inhaled deeply and exhaled the air slowly from her lungs, repeating the process as she focused on nothing else but her rhythmic breathing. The lull of the night drove on and the sound of her breathing calmed her busy mind. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.

Back in her room, Mari still had her eyes fixated on the fist-shaped crack on the wall. The level of rage Asuka had shown was one she wasn't used to. Sure, they got into their usual argument every now and then (for Mari's amusement) but this… Asuka had never almost physically hurt her before. "Maybe I did push her too far this time," Mari sighed, and pouted. Mari looked around her room and hated how boring and lonesome it always was at night – the silence always nearly drove her mad. She desperately needed company. Anything to quiet the frightening thoughts when one is left alone.

Mari made her way to Asuka's room, not really processing what was going through her mind. All she knew was that she really needed to see her – to see if she was okay. Mari reached Asuka's room and stood outside the closed door. She stared at the only obstacle between her and Asuka. The sign on Asuka's door read, 'ENTER AND DIE!' Mari smiled at the sign. Asuka had the habit of hanging the sign up whenever she was really mad. Asuka was no longer fourteen, but she still acted like it at times.

Mari laughed softly and said, "Oh Princess, when are you going to grow up? Oh, that's right, I suppose you never will," Mari sighed, alluding to the EVA's side-effect of preventing its pilots from aging externally. "A blessing and a curse," Mari softly mused, and reached out her hand to grasp the doorknob and paused. Should she knock first? Mari pressed her ear to the door and listened for any sounds. With some effort, Mari caught the faint sound of light breathing – it appeared Asuka was already asleep.

Mari knew it was best if she didn't hesitate and opened the door to the sight of Asuka asleep on the bed. Her hat was off and her long hair was splayed out all around her. Mari's breath hitched in her throat, and she nearly turned away to exit the bedroom – thinking she really might die if she entered Asuka's room without permission. But despite her rational conscience, Mari's legs moved forward instinctively towards the bed. She stopped when she stood over Asuka's sleeping form.

Asuka appeared almost vulnerable when she was asleep – a side she rarely, if ever, showed. Mari smiled slightly at the rare sight and crouched down to get a closer look at Asuka's face. Mari was close enough to feel Asuka's hot breath tickling her lips and she involuntarily shivered from the sensations running through her body.

Asuka mumbled something in her sleep, but Mari hadn't caught what it was she said. Turning her ear towards Asuka's lips, Mari listened intently. She wanted to know what sort of dreams manifested in the Princess' mind. "M-mom..." Asuka muttered once, and whimpered.

Mari gazed at Asuka's sad expression and saw a lone tear making its way down her cheek as she continued to dream of distorted memories of the past. Mari continued to stare inquisitively at Asuka's expression twist from sad to a look of utter despair.

Mari brought her hand to gently wipe the tear descending slowly down Asuka's cheek and Asuka stirred from Mari's touch, but she didn't wake. Asuka was mumbling in her sleep again. "M-m—" Asuka started to say, as if breathless.

"Still dreaming about your mom, huh?" Mari sympathetically said, and brushed the loose bangs away from Asuka's sweaty forehead.

"M-Mari," Asuka finished, and continued to murmur inaudibly. She then turned over on her side and brought her knees up into a fetal position. Asuka clutched onto the pillow beside her as if hugging it longingly.

Mari felt a deep blush spread across her cheeks from such an endearing sight. It appeared Asuka was now dreaming about her. It's a wonder Mari's nose wasn't bleeding from cuteness overload. Mari touched her nose just to make sure a nosebleed really hadn't started. She sighed in relief when she discovered her nose was blood-free. While Mari was still preoccupied with rubbing her nose, Asuka had woken up to the sight of Mari's strange self-evaluation.

Asuka immediately bolted upright still clutching her pillow and Mari froze wishing she could disappear. They stared at each other in silence for a long moment. It felt like an eternity to Mari as she awaited Asuka to blow off on her. Mari saw her life flash before her eyes because without a doubt, Asuka was going to kill her for entering her room without permission.

"H-Hey, Princess," Mari dumbly said, unable to find anything else to say.