Disclaimer: I do not claim anything.

Hey everyone! This is a Neon Genesis Evangelion Christmas Special (I know Christmas is almost over but hey, it's fine right? Right.) I hope it makes you feel all warm inside, it made me feel that way at least writing it. Anyway, have fun!

Merry Christmas

Rei Ayanami closed the book she'd been reading and looked up at her calendar again. The calendar had never been used, as she'd never had a purpose for it until recently. She still didn't know precisely what today was supposed to be. She'd heard some people talking about it at NERV Headquarters and had later asked the commander about it, but he just told her she didn't need to know. To her that would have been the end. However, strangely enough the second commander came up to her later and gave her this book. She looked at the title. 'A White Christmas' She thought to herself. 'But why is this day different from any other day? I don't understand.'

She'd read the book several times and she pretty much knew it by heart by now. It's not that she didn't know what Christmas was supposed to be about, she just couldn't understand it. However, since the second commander had given her the book she assumed she was to indulge herself in the custom.

She glanced over at her school bag lying in the corner of the room. As she could not grasp the concept from the book alone, she decided that perhaps she should just experience it, and maybe then she'd understand. She walked over and kneeled next to her bag, looking at the different colorfully wrapped objects in it.

'Presents… the book said that Christmas is about spending time with those you care about and giving them gifts.' At first she hadn't been sure exactly who that would be, but the book also listed some examples which she used as guidelines. Using her NERV ID she'd been able to take out more than enough money to buy everything she wanted, and buying the presents had been… interesting.

She got up again and walked over to her bed, looking at her alarm clock. She had two minutes left before she had to go to school. In school she'd get the chance to give several people their presents, and after that she was scheduled to take part in a sync test at Headquarters where she would give the rest.

Nodding to herself in satisfaction of her plan, she picked up her bag, slipped on her shoes and started heading for her door, but stopped. Instead she went back and headed towards her closet, pulling out the only item there that stood out, a white button coat. She had purchased it as she could become sick from the low temperatures and then would not be able to do her duty. Slipping it on, she headed out the door.

When she left her apartment building she looked around. There was snow everywhere, it certainly was a white Christmas. Why snow had any pertinence to people caring about one another she did not understand either, just like she didn't understand what pine trees or Santa had to do with it, but those things weren't of any consequence. She started on her walk to school, looking around at the few people that were about.

As it was still early the streets were mostly empty. She saw a couple walking together and cuddling eachother, as well as a mother and child who seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere. She also saw a poor man sitting against a wall. She started walking past him but stopped as she remembered something. She'd read that Christmas was not only about the people you care about but also about spreading 'good will' in the world. She still had quite a bit of money in her coat's pocket that she'd had left over from buying the presents. She walked towards the man.

"Do you need money?" she asked him in her quiet, neutral tone. He looked at her for a moment, then replied "I need a lot more money than a small thing like you can make. Go on, you're still young, you shouldn't spend Christmas alone. I'm sure you have friends to celebrate Christmas with."

She paid close mind to what he told her about Christmas, making sure to memorize everything for later reference, before taking her money out of her pocket and holding it out for the man to take. "Here." The man glanced at her hand and then his eyes grew wide.

"Wha… What?! How'd a kid like you get so much money?! There's like… over 50.000 yen here!" Rei just looked at the man dispassionately and said "I have no need for it. Do you want it?" The man looked at her face and, realizing she was definitely not kidding, felt speechless for a few seconds. After that he reached out a shaking hand, took the bills from her and actually let out a few tears.

"Oh thank you… I can't believe how kind you are dear lady!" The red-eyed girl still just looked at him and said "It's alright, but I have to go now as I am late for school." She turned around and started back on her way to school, as the man several more times said "Thank you so much!"

Even though it was freezing cold outside, oddly enough Rei was not feeling cold at all. On the contrary, she felt warm.

To say the students of class A-2 were surprised when the door suddenly opened and Rei came in would be an understatement. The girl skipped class often enough, and most had just assumed that's what she was doing, but for her to be late? That was just simply impossible.

"Sorry I am late, I was held up along the way." She told the teacher before walking to her seat, ignoring everyone as usual. However, she did notice one thing though.

'Ikari's seat is empty…' she thought to herself as she sat down. 'Odd. I will have to change my plan. I suppose I will ask Soyru why he is absent.' Satisfied with her solution she propped her head on her hand and looked out the window, as usual. Several people were giving her stares, no wonder considering she was never late, and they were also wondering why her bag looked like it had more stuff in it than usual.

When brake time came she followed Asuka and Hikari outside, where the two sat down at a table chatting with eachother. She walked over next to them. The two girls stopped talking when they noticed her, Hikari gave her a smile and said "Hey Ayanami, uhm, do you need something from us?" Rei looked at her and said "Yes." Then she looked towards Asuka and asked "Do you know why Ikari-kun is not here?"

Asuka hit her forehead with the palm of her hand and groaned. "I should have known… the only reason you'd come over to talk with us would be to ask about that pervert." Then she just looked at Rei indignantly. "But if you really wanna know, he's sick, so he won't be coming to school or to our sync test." Rei nodded her head at that information. She wanted to tell the redhead something else too however, but her mouth didn't seem to be working. 'How peculiar.' As she didn't feel like she was going to get anywhere she just turned and walked away, gaining her an annoyed expression from Asuka.

'Ikari-kun is at home sick. Therefore I will not see him at school, or at our sync test. I have no choice then but to visit him at Major Katsuragi's apartment after our sync tests.' Thinking about visiting his house made her feel odd, even though she had been there in the past, but she could not understand the feeling so she paid it no mind.

Nothing eventful happened after that, until brake time came again. Rei noticed Asuka and Hikari leaving the classroom, but even though she still had to talk with the Second Child she had something else to do first.

She looked around and saw Touji and Kensuke still in class. They didn't feel like leaving so they just hung around there. She walked over to them, causing them to stop talking with eachother and look up at her.

"Huh? Oh, Ayanami, what's up?" Touji asked her, kind of surprised she'd just come over to them like this. Well, Kensuke was a lot more surprised, as Touji had actually talked to her before.

Rei looked at him then looked away, not sure what to say. "…here." She eventually just said, taking one of the presents out of her bag and presenting it to him.

Now, the jock was surprised, and kind of embarrassed. "What, ya' got me a Christmas present?" Rei nodded, then said "I was told that on Christmas you are supposed to give presents to people you care about, including people who have helped you or given you advice." Hearing this Touji smiled at her and said "Thanks a lot, honestly. Sorry I don't have anything for ya' in return."

"That's fine." Rei just replied. "…I still have something I need to do so…"

"Sure, go on. I'll see ya' later." Rei nodded and started walking away, but the jock suddenly called "And hey Ayanami!" She turned back around to see him grinning at her. "Merry Christmas!" Rei looked at him and, feeling sort of 'nice', she tried to do what the book had told her. She slightly smiled and quietly said "Merry Christmas," before turning around and walking again, leaving an amazed Touji and Kensuke behind. Somehow, even though there did not seem any point since they couldn't see her face anymore, she kept smiling for a few more moments.

She left the classroom and continued on towards her next 'target'. As she had had trouble talking with her directly, and noticing the way a lot of other people gave away their gifts, she determined this was the best course of action.

Asuka was seriously annoyed. Her locker was stuffed with useless Christmas junk all the guys had given her, trying to hit on her. 'It's so irritating! Not one of those guys is good enough for me. Like Kaji…' A dreamy look briefly crossed her face, before she looked at the presents in disgust again. "And they can't even bother to give me real presents." She took one of them out. 'Here, this is from that Shito guy from B-1,' she threw it down on the ground and took out another one 'And this one's from Alex… I don't even know anyone with that name!' She continued through the pile of presents like this, until she came across a present that seemed different. It was smaller, and it didn't have wrapping that looked like it needed to compensate for the awfulness of the actual present. Curiously, she looked at the card that was attached to it before her eyes widened. 'What the?! No way!'

As the last hour of the school day ended, Rei left the school and started on her walk through the snow to NERV Headquarters. As she looked around she found it strange she didn't see the Second Child, but she couldn't do anything about it so she just went on. It had become a bit warmer compared to that morning, though there still weren't a lot of people about. She assumed most people were celebrating Christmas right then. Eventually she arrived at Headquarters and used her ID to go in, before making her way to the right room. When she got there Ritsuko greeted her, and then frowned. " Isn't Asuka with you?" Rei shook her head, so Ritsuko just told her to get suited up, which she did.

The Second Child groaned as she looked around the shops. She had no idea what she was even looking for… so busy was she looking at the displays, she didn't notice someone was in front of her until she bumped into him. The guy turned around saying "Watch where you're… Asuka?"

Asuka blinked and looked at the guy, realizing it was Touji. "What are you doing here?" She immediately asked him. The jock looked at her in annoyance but answered anyway "I'm just doin' some last-minute Christmas shopping. What 'bout you?" Asuka was about to say something, but suddenly changed her mind. "Actually, I think I'm here for the same reason you are."

Touji looked at her quizzically, before his eyes widened in realization. "So… there's a Christmas party at Misato's apartment tonight, huh? Is she comin'?" Asuka thought for a bit before answering. "She doesn't know there's a party but I'm sure she'll be there, just to see that baka…"

"Sorry I'm late!" Asuka shouted as she ran through the control room into the changing rooms before anyone had time to berate her. Ritsuko looked at her in bewilderment before sighing.

Rei was already done with her test, she'd just finished changing into her normal clothes when Asuka came rushing in. She came to a complete stop when she saw Rei though. The albino girl blinked at her, and walked past her without saying anything like Asuka would expect her too. However, just before Rei closed the door she softly said "Merry Christmas," causing Asuka to whirl around, but she'd already closed the door. 'That girl is gonna give me a heart attack if she keeps being so… normal! Ugh!' She then turned around and proceeded to change into her plug suit.

Rei made her way through the corridors of NERV Headquarters, the complex was huge but she knew the way exactly. She stopped when she saw the second commander heading in the opposite direction. The man smiled when he saw her and walked towards her.

"Good afternoon Rei," He politely greeted her, which she returned. "Did you read that book I gave you?" The First Child nodded. "I did not fully understand everything that was said, but I... believe I am beginning to." Fuyutsuki was a bit surprised to hear that, but still smiled at her. "Oh really?" Rei nodded again and reached into her bag, taking out two of the presents which she then gave to him.

"You got me presents?" Fuyutsuki said in surprise. Rei nodded once again. Fuyutsuki gave her a warm smile as he proceeded to unwrap them, which kind of confused the red-eyed girl as she'd heard people generally do that later, but it was only a minor difference. The first present actually contained two, a silver broach which said 'Best Friends Forever' and an action figure of Unit 00, which made the second commander chuckle. "But why did you give me the broach?" Rei just looked at him neutrally and said "You'll see." Which is a line she heard people in class use a lot in situations such as this. Fuyutsuki blinked but shrugged and started opening the second present. It was a teddy bear.

Now, to most people this wouldn't have been much of a special present, but to the second commander of NERV it was, and Rei knew that. "I only talked about that once, you were paying attention?" She nodded. "I heard you talking about that a long time ago. Your son gave you something such as this for Christmas once, before Second Impact." Fuyutsuki's smile widened and he said "Thank you Rei, I really appreciate it."

Rei nodded and smiled slightly again before saying "Merry Christmas." The second commander's eyes widened and then softened, as he said "Merry Christmas to you too Rei." Before continuing past her again.

'This is becoming easier.' Rei thought to herself as she started walking in her original direction again. She soon found herself in front of two fairly huge double doors. She pushed them open and entered.

Gendo looked up from his screen to see Rei come in. When she was standing in front of his desk he asked her "What is it Rei?"

"The second commander gave me a book about Christmas, which said among other things that you're supposed to give the people you care about presents."

Gendo, being the planning bastard he is, wasn't too surprised to hear that. "And?" At that the blue-haired girl reached into her bag, rummaging around a bit to get the right presents, before putting them on the desk in front of the commander. "Here."

'…Of course, if Fuyutsuki gave her a book that told her to buy people presents, she'll take it as an order…' Gendo thought to himself as he reached out his gloved hands and unwrapped the first present, revealing two objects. The first was an action figure of Unit 01, and the second was a silver broach saying 'Best Friends Forever'. "If you are wondering about the broach, 'you'll see'."

Gendo looked at his Rei, not having really expected either the kinds of presents or what she said afterwards, so he just continued with opening the other present. However, what he saw when he'd opened it made him lose his composure and gasp.

In front of him was a picture, but not just any picture; a picture of his wife. "Yui…" Gendo whispered to himself staring at the picture. 'But it can't be Yui… So…'

"I dyed my hair and put in colored lenses, and took a picture." Rei explained. "I wanted to give you a present you wanted, but I could only think of one thing you want… commander."

Gendo looked away from the picture and at Rei, slowly regaining his composure at seeing what looked exactly like his wife for the first time in so many years. "I see. Thank you… Rei." Rei smiled at him then and said "Merry Christmas." again, and the commander smiled back at her and said "Yes. Merry Christmas, Rei."

At that Rei turned around and left the office, and NERV Headquarters. She still had three presents left to give, and she'd find two of those people in Major Katsuragi's apartment, so she started making her way there through the snow-filled streets. 'I feel… 'good'.' She thought to herself as she went.

She arrived at the apartment without accident and rang the doorbell. She heard footsteps approach before the door opened to reveal Misato. "Hey… eh? Rei?" "Good afternoon Major Katsuragi." The First Child greeted her. She smiled and said "Hey. Uhm, did Asuka… tell you about the party?" she said, only realizing half-way just how unlikely that idea was. Rei just blinked. "No she didn't. I came to see Ikari-kun and you."

Misato looked at her. "Shinji and me?" A breeze suddenly blew by them, so Misato told Rei to come in. "Sorry about the mess, since Shinji's sick it all just piles up." Rei found herself oddly surprised when she looked around the apartment. 'Ikari-kun was not sick two days ago.' She thought to herself, slightly put off about how much mess someone can make in so little time.

"Shinji's in his room, but you said you wanted to see me too right?" Misato asked the girl, who nodded before reaching into her bag and giving Misato one of her presents. "That's for you, I thought this would be something you're interested in. Is it okay if I go see Ikari-kun now though?" Rei told the bewildered Major. "Uhm, sure, go ahead." At that Rei started walking towards Shinji's room but Misato called after her "Oh but Rei, any minute now people could be coming for the Christmas party, just so you know!" Rei didn't reply, so Misato sat down on the couch and opened up her present. It was a set of sexy black lingerie. '…Rei bought this? well, it is something I'm interested in… wait, how does she even know my sizes?'

As Rei stood in front of the door labeled 'Shinji's Lovely Suite' she felt oddly nervous. All day she'd felt strange when she had to give people their presents, but somehow also all day this moment had made her feel the most strange. She swallowed and knocked on the door. After hearing him say "Come in." she opened the door and walked up to his bedside.

Shinji looked to his side, expecting to see Misato, so he was pretty surprised when he saw the red-eyed girl. "H-Hey, Ikari-kun." She greeted him softly. Shinji sat up in his bed and smiled at her, though he still felt a bit confused she was even there. "Hey Ayanami…" He greeted her back. Seeing she seemed to have trouble saying anything, Shinji continued "You came by to see me?" Rei looked at him and nodded, before hesitantly asking "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright, just have to rest is all." He answered her, to which Rei replied "That's good." After that they were both silent for a bit, until Rei reached into her bag and pulled out the second to last present. "Uhm…" she began as she held the present in her hands. Somehow it felt a lot harder to give this present than the others. She stretched out her arms anyway and held out the present for him. "This is for you…" She said quietly while looking away, as she felt her face heating up. Shinji thought she looked adorably blushing like that, though he was pretty amazed he was actually getting a present from Rei. "Th-thank you Ayanami." The Third Child said smiling as he took the present from her, before unwrapping it.

It was a hand mirror, with a note with a poem on it.

As he read it, his eyes slowly widened, until he was done and looked at her again. "I thought that suited you, because in my opinion you do a lot of those things…" Shinji was stunned, but then he smiled at her again, his own face feeling pretty warm now too. "Thanks Ayanami. It's really beautiful." Rei looked at him and seeing him smile, smiled a small smile back at him. "But could you do me a favor?" He continued, pointing at one of the drawers in his dresser. "Could you get what's in there for me?" Rei stopped smiling and said "Yes." before getting up and moving towards the dresser. When she opened the drawer she saw several presents lying there.

She looked at Shinji, who was still smiling and told her "The one is for you." Now Rei's eyes widened as she looked in the drawer again and took out the package. She closed the drawer again and walked back over to the bed, sitting down at the opposite end from Shinji. She looked at it for a bit until Shinji chuckled and said "Go on, open it!" She glanced at him again, her face turning warm again, and she started unwrapping her gift. It was a necklace, of a blue-greenish color, with flower shapes and tiny circles in between them. The way it caught the light made it look even more beautiful.

Rei was amazed, she hadn't expected to receive anything in return and especially not something like this. She really thought it was pretty. "Uhm, what do you think Ayanami?" Shinji asked her.

"It's really beautiful," Rei replied softly, making the Third Child blush again, though it also made him smile even more. "Should I put it on you?" Shinji asked timidly. Rei nodded and moved over so he could reach, and he secured it around her neck. "It looks great on you." Shinji told her, making her smile again, only this time it wasn't a small smile, but a real one.

Then they heard the doorbell. Shinji glanced in the direction of the door. "I guess the others are here." Shinji dropped one of his legs down beside the bed and asked Rei "Uhm, do you wanna stay here? We're gonna have a Christmas party, so…" Rei glanced away from him. She felt like she should decline, but then she remembered what that poor guy had told her that morning, before she gave him her money. 'You shouldn't spend Christmas alone. I'm sure you have friends to celebrate Christmas with.'

'Friends…' she thought to herself. She smiled at Shinji again and was about to accept, when Asuka came barreling into the room. "I heard that Third Child!" Shinji and Rei looked at her in surprise at her sudden appearance. "And if you think for even one second I'm gonna let Wondergirl just leave, you're sadly mistaken!"

After that Touji entered behind her and said "Besides, Rei hasn't even seen the presents we have for her yet!" Rei felt surprised at that. They bought presents for her? Before she really had time to contemplate that Touji moved over to Shinji's side and helped him up, and Shinji asked Asuka and Rei to carry the presents he'd bought into the living room. Asuka smirked and said "Sure, come on First Child!" and moved towards the dresser. Rei stood there for a second, before moving after the redhead.

'This isn't exactly how I planned it…' she thought to herself. 'But I think I am… happy with this.' And at that she smiled to herself.

"Commander! We've detected an Angel!"

The two commanders looked at the screen that was now displaying a small image of an Angel, due to the distance. "It'll arrive here in about six hours," Makoto continued "If we get the pilots over here right away we can deploy the Eva's further from Headquarters, and the sooner we deploy them the easier it will be to take an advantage over the Angel!"

Fuyutsuki looked at his ex-student. "Well? What are we going to do?"

Gendo was silent for a moment, looking at the personal screen on his desk, showing the view of the live security camera in Major Katsuragi's apartment, and then at the object lying in front of it. "We'll wait." Several people looked like they were about to object, but Gendo immediately silenced them by saying "Five hours from now we will deploy all three eva units. That's final."

As Gendo and Fuyutsuki made their way back to Gendo's office, Fuyutsuki looked at what Gendo had in his hand, a picture of Yui. "So, I see she gave you a present as well?" He took the other's silence as a confirmation. "And I suppose that in doing this you've decided to give both her and your son a Christmas present?" Again he took the silence as confirmation. "Well, I'm not about to disagree." They walked on a bit further.

"Though I really don't see why we can't wear those broaches. They're kind of cool."

A glare from the commander quickly put an end to that train of thought. They continued walking.

"Feel like doing an Eva battle, Unit 00 vs Unit 01?"

Today had, in Rei's opinion, honestly been 'fun'. She'd given presents to all the people she cares about, and received several back as well. And she got to spend time with her… 'friends'.

Of course, that'd all ended when, after four and a half hours, they were suddenly called to Headquarters due to an Angel attack. Still, she was 'happy' with the day up till then.

However, she still had one present left in her bag.

There were fifteen minutes left until the start of the operation, so she had exactly enough time. She used her AT Field to hide her presence, and slowly made her way to Terminal Dogma.

She opened Heaven's Doors and continued forward, up to the cross Lilith was nailed to.

"I'm sorry that, like I can't really give the commander his wife, I can also not truly give you what you want." She told the Angel as she stood at the foot of the cross. "But I can give you this… at least… I'll unwrap it for you since you can't…"

At that she took out the final present from her bag and unwrapped it, before putting it beside the cross. It was a tiny, cute, cuddly Sachiel doll. She then smiled up at Lilith and said "Merry Christmas." before turning around and heading back to the Eva cages.

They had a world to protect, after all.

The mirror

The good you find in others, is in you too.

The faults you find in others, are your faults as well.

After all, to recognize something you must know it.

The possibilities you see in others, are possible for you as well.

The beauty you see around you, is your beauty.

The world around you is a reflection, a mirror showing you the person you are.

To change your world, you must change yourself.

To blame and complain will only make matters worse.

Whatever you care about, is your responsibility.

What you see in others, shows you yourself.

See the best in others, and you will be your best.

Give to others, and you give to yourself.

Appreciate beauty, and you will be beautiful.

Admire creativity, and you will be creative.

Love, and you will be loved.

Seek to understand, and you will be understood.

Listen, and your voice will be heard.

Teach, and you will learn.

Show your best face to the mirror,

and you'll be happy with the face looking back at you.