Disclaimer: I do NOT own Evangelion or any of it's characters. Gainax Studios, if you sue me, you can only hope to make me poorer than I already am. Which I couldn't care about either way, but it's nice to be able to go to Conventions and have something to buy your products with. This story is meant for entertainment puposes only.

A Painful and Wonderful Paradise

Chapter 2: Paradise Begins

*Sunrise, 3rd Impact +3 Days*

Ikari woke with a start, he knew someone had helped him fall asleep. He distinctly remembered the soft hands stroking his temple as his tortured mind found solace in his subconcious. He looked around, but saw nothing save the burnt wasteland shores of Ocea Primordea, a term he had come to call the red ocean that stretched out to the horizon. Who was it? Where did they come from? Surely Asuka would never have had the soft and gentle touch that lulled him into slumber so easily, well..maybe before 3rd Impact she may have, but he would never find out now.

He set up his Lean-to tinderbox setup again, and spawned another child of Flint and Steel. As he watched the blaze rise, he wondered to himself, "This fire is alive, just like me...it cooks my food, and keeps me warm, and in exchange, I feed it and shelter it from the like me, it survives on other living organsims deaths. What affinity does Asuka share with a creature such as this? Surely she survived the same as me, but it must go much deeper than that." Once again, while retreating into his thoughts, he heard that gentle and serene voice, "Amusing Creatures, you humans are. You sit there, completely absorbed in the task of Self-preservation, yet you have time to think of another of your kind selflessly. Why? She hurt you, she insulted you...she USED you. And now that she has leeched you dry, she despises you. How can you think such things of HER? She would see you suffering, crucified without death to the Tree of Life before ever thinking such thoughts of you." Ikari looked around, wondering where this voice came from, and while it terrified him, he knew exactly where it came from. But, since he knew it came from him, he also knew that meant he had a degree of influence over it.

"Say what you wish about Asuka, I know her, and while she may hate me...it's not because she can't get anything out of me. It's because I failed her, just as I failed everyone. If you can't talk the truth of her, shut the hell up! I know you reside within me, and just like I give you life by existing, I can take away your life by ending my own." Ikari grumbled, unaware of the pair of eyes that could not believe what the ears on the same body were telling them. Ikari was sitting here talking to somebody, but he wasn't aware of the only other human around. Not only that...he was admitting his weakness and accepting responsibility for it, rather than denying it and running away. And she hated him, yes...she couldn't change that, but he still defended her. What was going on here? Had he finally cracked? Had SHE finally cracked? Did he really care for her all along? "Ugh, now I really am beginning to crack!" Mumbled Asuka to herself as she remembered Momma's first lesson: "All Men are Perverts." But, despite this fact, he had food and water. Both were things that she had gone without since before Impact and she was thirsty, not to mention hungry. The rumbling of her stomach attested to this last fact, and it was not a testament that went unnoticed by the young man sitting with his back to her. As he turned around, she saw a coldness in his eyes that rivaled her own stare of contempt. Without a word, he started dividing up the stack of Sweet Potatoes into two stacks, and when he set one stack on one side of the fire and sat on the far side with the other, Asuka knew what he was implying...he offered to share his sustenance with her, but she had to approach him on his terms now. No longer could she rely on herself, no longer could she push people away if she wanted to live.

She could stay foolish and proud, claiming she could take care of herself..or she could humble herself, and gain food from this creature that sat before her, behind the flames. Asuka stood there for a minute, not sure of what to do. Given the look in Shinji's eyes, one that looked devoid of any human emotion, he had flipped. He was an animal. Unpredictable, possibly dangerous. But the hunger clawing at her gut was enough to do the same to her if she let it. She finally let a sigh of defeat pass her lips, and she approached the flickering animal that separated her from the more dangerous one. One that she had formerly known, but no longer existed. The beast that inhabited Shinji's body watched her every move as she approached his Sentry. She eventually sat down with the pile, and the beast before her said with a flat, and honestly scary voice, "wrap them in mud and they bake more evenly."

Asuka listened for a bit more to the silence before she realized what was occuring. This animal not only knew how to survive, he was sharing his hunt with her, and was even sharing comforts with her to make his hunt more enjoyable. Animals did no such thing, but the look on Shinji's face definitely was not human. It had no emotion, no thought. It was an unreadable mask. This was no man before her, it wasn't even a Woman before her. This was either a Demon, or a Saint. Not sure which it was, she would have to watch him just as closely, if not more, than he watched her. She looked at the mud, thinking of wrapping the sweet potatoes in the slop, and her stomach started to flip, wanting to churn out the bile within. "I'll pass..." She told the Beastmaster of Flames. "Suit yourself, I thought as much.", he claimed as he reached for a double sharpened stick. He raised it above his head, and Asuka got ready to run right before he thrust, and it ended up stuck in the ground as he speared the flames with his stake, the point in the perfect position to roast the hunt he shared. Apparently, this creature, this wild and feral Keeper of Hellfire, had no intention of harming her. With the speed that stick flew, he could have skewered her before she reacted, had he wished. Instead, he provided her a tool to enjoy her...no his, since he had hunted and slain for it...meal.

But she knew nothing came without a price. He obviously wanted something out of this offering...the question was what. "What do you gain from this exchange?" Asuka finally managed to squeak out. No longer was she the one in control, no longer the one holding the reins of power. This thing before her held her life in his hands, if only for the immediate moment, and the thought was comforting and frightening at the same time. "I gain a conversant for the night." was the simple statement that came from him. "Well, don't just sit there..talk then you..." she began before slapping a hand over her mouth, realizing the foolishness of her folly. "Why don't you talk instead. You seem to enjoy doing so." came the cold stare and reply, and she knew she would have to walk softly. She was powerless on his territory, to offend him could mean Death, or worse, as she had seen things so much worse than death. And so she sat, eating silently with this creature....wondering what the this Day would bring.