Summary: Maya has lost the only thing that mattered to her, will she ever get it back?…
Genre(s): Angst/Romance
Character(s): Rei A., Maya I., Misato K.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis: Evangelion
Author's Notes: Set after Rei self destructs her Eva.
Author's Notes 10/5/10: Improved this story for better reading. Enjoy!
* I'm So Happy *
The early morning sun broke over the horizon, shining its golden red light through the window of one of Tokyo-3's many apartment complexes and onto the form of a sleeping woman. The woman tossed and turned in her bed.
"No…" she mumbled as she tossed again. "Please…don't…" tears began to stream down her cheeks and onto her pillow.
"…Rei!" she cried out as she jolted awake in a cold sweat, panting heavily.
Maya Ibuki sat up in bed and touched her cheeks, then wiped the tears away.
"Another nightmare…" she mumbled somberly as she swung her feet out of her bed and set them on the cold floor. She stared down at the floor for a few moments, working up the will to get up. Maya glanced over at her nightstand: a single picture frame, face down, was on it.
She picked the frame up and stared longingly at the picture; it was a photograph of most of the NERV personnel, including Asuka, Rei, and Shinji.
Maya ran her fingers down the part of the picture where Rei stood. She was standing behind Rei in the picture, smiling happily, which starkly contrasted the stoic indifference on the blue haired girl's face.
"Why did you have to do it..?" Maya asked the girl in the picture as tears welled in her eyes. A single tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto the picture before she placed it back onto the nightstand, face down again.
Even though she still did not want to, Maya knew that she had to get up and go into NERV. She stood up from her bed and headed into her bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror: her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and deep rings gave her eyes a sunken look.
After finishing her morning bathroom routine, she quickly dressed and headed for the door. She had not felt up to eating for the past few days so she just skipped breakfast and exited her apartment, and headed to NERV.
* Evangelion *
Maya slowly dragged herself into Central Dogma. All was quiet in the normally active combat center, and only the hum of the various machines and the whispered chatter of bored staff broke the peaceful silence. Maya sat down at her terminal, her shoulders slumped, but only stared blankly at her screen. The computer detected her presence and booted up automatically. Her thoughts filled with images of Rei as she continued to stare at the screen.
Misato maintained a vigilant watch over Central Dogma. The final Angel could attack at any second and she had to be in a constant state of high alert. She scanned the room, in general checking on everyone, making sure nobody was goofing off. Her gaze settled on Maya, who was still sitting idly at her station, staring at her terminal screen. It had only been a few days since Rei had self destruction her unit 00.
Everybody had been affected by it: Shinji very badly of course, but Misato could tell Maya had been devastated the most by it. Misato had noticed the way Maya would look at Rei, praise her more than anybody else for a job well done, despite the fact that all the attention had been ignored by the stoic girl.
'Maya…how could you fall for a high school girl?' Misato shook her head and sighed, she knew it was true, the signs were more than obvious. Misato was startled out of her thoughts as her cell phone rang.
"Yes?" she answered. "This is her, what do you need?" Misato's eyes went wide and she nearly dropped her phone from the response.
Maya had finally mustered the will to do her work when a hand landed on her shoulder. She looked up at the hand's owner to see who it was.
"Captain Katsuragi…I was just about to start working, I'm sorry for the delay…" Maya said, her voice sounded as bleak and exhausted as she looked.
"Maya, there's something you need to know."
* Evangelion *
A lone blue haired girl stood in a hallway in the Tokyo-3 hospital. She placed her one good hand up against the window pane as she stared out at the forest landscape. Maya ran down one hallway, and then another, frantically searching for the Intensive Care Unit. Finally, she found it, and shoved the doors open - a short distance down the hallway was Rei, staring intently out of the window.
Maya's heart nearly stopped at the sight. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, but Rei was still standing there. Rei noticed Maya's presence and turned to look at her. Both girls just stood and looked at each other for a moment before Maya rushed over to Rei and embraced her. Rei was startled as Maya hugged her tightly, but she soon relaxed in Maya's arms.
"I thought you were dead…" Maya said as her voice choked with emotion. She pulled back from the embrace and gazed into Rei's eyes, her own brimming with tears. She smiled a watery smile then embraced Rei again, holding her even tighter than before.
"I'm so happy you're ok," Maya mumbled quietly as she laid her head on Rei's shoulder and let the tears fall.
END
Author's Commentary: All feedback is happily welcomed.