Chapter 9

Juliet paced about the temporary operations center in Sector 67. Foaly watched the mudwoman move from one side to the other at a frantic pace. Nearby, the Demon Warlock Qwan was treating the unconscious Skuld's shoulder, aided by No1. The two Demons had met the escapees from Haven on arrival in Sector 67. The Council itself was now occupying one of the Demon school buildings.

"How could they have been so stupid." Juliet muttered, "Why didn't I got after them? How could I leave my principle alone?"

"Aren't you being a bit rough on yourself?" Foaly asked.

Juliet grabbed Foaly by the shoulders and shook him.

"NO BUTLER HAS EVER LOST A FOWL AS LONG AS THEY LIVED!!!!" she shouted, "NO ONE!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT CONCEPT!?!?!?"

"…..ice cream…..……"

Juliet and Foaly both turned to see Skuld slowly waking up.

"Ice cream?" Foaly repeated.

"A frozen treat favored by Mudmen." No1 stated.

"By why does a Goddess want it?"

"I don't know." Juliet replied. She inhaled deeply, then slowly released it. "So, can we find them?"

"I hate to say it," Foaly replied, his voice very soft. "But we don't even know if they're alive. And I doubt we'll find out anytime soon."

Juliet nodded, then looked back at the Goddess.

"If anyone one would know, she would."

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Artemis felt a dull pain come from all over his body as he regained consciousness. There also seemed to be a weight on his chest. Opening his eyes, all he could see was darkness.

"Hello?" he called out. His voice echoed around him, and was answered by a groan from somewhere nearby.

Realizing that his hands and arms seemed unbroken, he immediately began to feel around try and figure out what was on his chest. His hands encountered something soft. He continued to feel around the object until he felt a small hand. His eyes widened in shock as he realized he had just felt up Holly!

Thank god she was unconscious.

"Artemis…." Can a low deadly voice.

Oh no……..

The weight vanished from his chest.

"YOU GROPED ME!!!!" Holly's voice shrieked in the darkness. Artemis tried to figure out where she was, but her voice was echoing around him.

"I DIDN'T MEAN TO!!!!" Artemis shouted back, looking in a direction he hoped Holly was standing in.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU…….." Holly's voice went silent. "Hey, I'm over here."

"I can't tell." Artemis replied, squinting towards the sound of her voice. "I can't see a damn thing."

"Why can't…." He then heard a sound of something impacting on skin. "Oh! That's right. Because I live down here I can see better in darkness then you can."

"Makes sense." Artemis replied, "You work mostly at night. Your night vision is probably much better then mine." He then frowned. "Though why the elf eye you gave me isn't working in the dark……"

"The eye I 'gave' you?""

"Traded then." Artemis asked, "What do you see?"

It was silent a moment.

"Not much." She replied glumly, "We seem to be in a tunnel. Only one way to go though, other end has a huge pile of rocks blocking the way."

Artemis slowly rose to his feet. He felt stiff all over.

"That's probably from where we dropped in." he remarked, "By the way, are you injured?"

"No." Holly replied, "You?"

"I don't seem to be." He frowned, "Which considering our fall, seems unlikely."

"I was on top of you remember?" Holly's voice came through slightly annoyed. "My magic healed me……."

"…and because I was in contact with you, I healed." Artemis finished.

"Used up a lot of my magic mudboy……"

"It's not like I planned this." Artemis retorted, "And I thought you were going to stop it with the 'mudboy' comments?"

"Fine 'Arty'."

Artemis winced.

"Ok, Mudboy is fine."

"Whatever." He heard footsteps walking away. He started to follow, but only succeeded in walking into the pile of rocks from the collapse.

"Holly?" he called out.

"What is it?" she snapped back.

"I……"

He heard her let out a sigh, then the footsteps drew closer. He felt a small hand grab his.

"Don't read anything into this." She growled, "It's easier to lead you around."

Artemis decided against saying anything. The two started off, but didn't take more then three steps before Artemis tripped on something. He fell to the ground, with Holly underneath him.

"I'm really going to hurt you Artemis."

"I'm sorry." Artemis replied, "But I tripped on something."

"Your own feet or a rock?"

"It didn't feel like a rock." Artemis slowly turned around and felt the floor for what he had tripped on.

After a moment of feeling around, he felt a bit of fabric under his hand. He followed the fabric with his fingertips, until he brushed up against something warm. Grabbing the object, Artemis realized what it was.

An arm.

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Skuld paced around the room, muttering to herself. She'd been doing this since contacting Heaven after being told her Niece was missing.

Foaly typed away on his laptop, still trying to figure out where Underhill was as well as swatting No1's fingers away.

Juliet sat in the corner, watching the Goddess pace about, starting to feel a bit dizzy. After what seemed like the thirtieth lap, she finally stood up and into the way of Skuld.

"Would you please stop the pacing!' she snapped, "You're driving me nuts!"

"Well I'm sorry!" Skuld snapped back, "I'm worried about Sayoko alright!!"

"And I'm worried about Arty and Holly. But you don't see me pacing……"

A thunderclap interrupted them as the Valkyries appeared along with several very surprised looking LEP officers. Qwan came running into the room.

"What was…..?" He then spotted the Valkyries. "Oh….you."

"Yes…..me." One of the Valkyries replied. She then turned as Commanders Vinyaya and Trouble entered the room. "We regret to inform you that much of Haven has been turned to rubble."

"It couldn't be helped, "One of the LEP Officers said, "If we didn't, the civilians wouldn't have made it to Atlantis."

Vinyaya and Trouble sighed in relief with the knowledge that some of Haven's population had escaped. Juliet also felt better, until she saw Skuld's face.

The Goddess looked very grim at the Valkyries. Juliet frowned, wondering why.

"Where are Harmony and Katrina?" she asked.

Juliet blinked as the Valkyrie's dropped their heads. There were only six here. They had arrived with eight.

"They have….moved on." Mist replied.

Skuld closed her eyes in silent prayer. When she opened them, they were filled with a determination that Juliet had never seen before.

"Foaly." Skuld said, her voice demanding immediate attention. "What do you need to find Underhill?"

"A more powerful computer." Foaly replied, "It seems my connection to the Plaza mainframe is gone."

Skuld nodded. "Then we'll just have to go to a powerful computer."

Mist looked at Skuld in shock.

"You can't be serious!" the Valkyrie Commander shouted, "Yggdrasil isn't even at…."

"I didn't mean Yggdrasil." Skuld replied.

Mist looked confused.

"Then what?"

Skuld turned and looked at Foaly.

"Ever been to Japan?"

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Artemis and Holly grunted as they moved the last rocks off of the body. At least Holly had told Artemis they were the last rocks. He still couldn't see a damn thing.

"Well?" he asked.

He heard a grunt and a thump as Holly rolled the body onto it's back.

"It's a Goddess." Holly said, surprise in her voice. "That one that saved us."

"Who is it?" Artemis asked, "Is it Belldandy?"

He heard the sound of a helmet tossed of to the side.

"Looks like her." Holly replied, "And she's alive."

Artemis let out a sigh of relief. Maybe the Goddess could get them out of where ever they were.

"Can you heal her?"

"I'll try."

Holly placed her hands on the Goddess' chest.

"Heal!" the Elf stated.

Blue sparks lit up the space, causing Artemis to blink. The sparks had barely begun when there was a brilliant flash of white, causing Artemis to close his eyes and turn away. At the same time he heard a shout of surprise and a loud thump.

"OW!!" Holly shouted.

Artemis looked around. Now all he could see was the afterimage of the flash.

"What happened?" he asked, not sure where Holly was.

"Something tossed me." Holly replied, her voice slightly pained.

"You mean she…?"

"No." the Elf replied, "It's like, well….I don't know."

"I do." Came a new voice.

Before either Artemis or Holly could speak, a bright glow filled the area. Artemis blinked several times before his eyes adjusted to the light.

Like Holly had said, they were in a tunnel, one end of which was blocked by debris. The Goddess was indeed the one that had saved them, and she looked to be Belldandy. A glowing sphere floated just over the Goddess' shoulder.

He noted that a fine layer of dust covered both the Goddess and Holly. Looking down, he saw that he too was covered in dust.

"So," he said, "How do we get out of here Belldandy?"

'Belldandy' scowled.

"I am not my mother." The Goddess grumbled.

Artemis and Holly both blinked in surprise. If her mother was Belldandy, then that made her…….

"Sayoko?" Holly asked.

The Goddess blinked back.

"Uhh…yes?"

She suddenly found herself engulfed in a hug from the elf.

"You grew up!" Holly exclaimed.

"Umm?" Sayoko asked, still wrapped in an elf hug. "Who are you people?"

Holly released the Goddess from the hug and stared at her wide eyed.

"You don't remember us?" she asked.

Sayoko shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't."

"How could you forget us?!" Holly exclaimed, "After all, we did…"

"Holly." Artemis called out softly.

"But Artemis!"

"It was a traumatic experience for her." Artemis replied, "It might have been repressed."

Holly slumped slightly.

"Oh."

"Wait…" Sayoko said, "You….are you talking about when I was kidnapped?"

Holly's eyes lit up. "So you DO remember us!"

"Actually no. Apparently I was given something that made me forget."

Holly sighed. "Well….you are bigger then the last time I saw you."

"We aren't starting this again." Artemis grumbled.

"Starting what?" Sayoko asked, confused.

"She says you grew up, then you reply she's still Short and…OW!" Artemis grabbed his shin where he'd just been kicked by Holly. Sayoko chuckled.

"So," Holly said, turning to Sayoko after glaring at Artemis. "Can you get us out of here?"

"No."

"No!??! What do you mean no?!?!"

"I don't have a medium to travel thru." Sayoko explained, "I need a reflective surface, like a mirror, to teleport."

"But those Valkyrie didn't need a medium." Artemis pointed out.

"Blitz uses lightning." Sayoko replied, "Mist uses….whatever she uses….you get the idea. The others probably 'hitchhiked' along with whoever's medium was the quickest."

"So you can't just appear?" Holly asked.

"No." Sayoko replied, "A God is trying to work out the kinks of that particular technique, especially considering the Demons can do it. Right now there's……. issues."

"Like?"

"Well," Sayoko scratched her head, "it took us a month to get him out of the wall."

Artemis and Holly both winced at the mental image.

"So if we can't leave," Holly started to ask, "How do we get out?"

"We have to figure that one out." Sayoko replied. She looked off down the tunnel in front of them. "This doesn't look natural. So maybe it's an old fairy tunnel. It might lead to a chute."

"And if it doesn't?"

"I'll be unhappy." The Goddess replied before walking off down the tunnel. Artemis and Holly quickly followed.

"So…" Artemis said as they caught up to Sayoko. "What exactly have you been up to?"

Sayoko's eyes flickered to him briefly.

"Not much until eight years ago."

Artemis' mind went back eight years, then he recalled where Sayoko and her Aunt had lived.

"You lived in Japan." He murmured. "The Angel wars."

Sayoko nodded.

Holly stared at the Goddess.

"Did you…" the elf began, "Did you see them?"

Sayoko nodded. "Not only saw them, fought them in my Eva as well."

Artemis and Holly stopped dead in their tracks.

"Your Eva?" Artemis repeated.

Sayoko turned back to face the other two.

"I am, was, the Fifth Child, designated Pilot of Evangelion Unit-4" she said.

"A Pilot." Holly whispered.

"When Juliet finds out she's going to go crazy." Artemis said, "Ever since the Evas were revealed to the world, she's been dying to meet a pilot."

"Foaly's been trying to find out about the pilots too." Holly added, "But he's was never able to get into the MAGI or the NORN."

Sayoko smiled.

"Doctor Akagi is the best."

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UN Base

Tokyo-2

Japan

The NORN facility.

Commander Misato Katsuragi waited patiently beside Doctor Ritsuko Akagi in the control room for the NORN supercomputers. Pacing about the room was Misato's assistant Asuka Langley Sohryu Ikari, former Second Child and Designated Pilot of Eva Unit-2. Seated at a terminal was Major Maya Ibuki. Through a window, they could see the three massive units that made up the NORN: URD, VERDANDI, and SKULD.

"She say when?" Ritsuko asked.

"Soon." Misato replied.

They had been contacted not long ago by Skuld. All present in the room knew exactly what Skuld was. Asuka herself was now a Guardian of Heaven and had her own powers now, though the only time she'd used them was to banish the possessed Unit-1 from Heaven.

"I can't believe we're just sitting here." Asuka grumbled.

"What else would we be doing?" Misato asked.

"Finding that asshole that's threatening the world!" Asuka shouted, "We ARE the UN after all!"

Misato sighed. "Asuka, you know I'm the Commander of UN Forces here in Tokyo-2 right?"

"Yeah."

"And you know there are a dozen or so Commanders like me around the world?"

"Yeah."

"So would it surprise you to know that there are people under me, and them, working on this?"

Asuka's face turned a slight shade of red.

"Ok, I get it." She said, "But I'd rather be doing something you know?"

Misato gave her assistant and evil smirk.

"Doing something? What about your husband?"

Asuka's eyes went wide, before narrowing into deadly slits.

"Warum Sie alte verdorbene Hure gerunzelt haben!!" she snapped.

Misato's eyes now narrowed.

"What was that?" she growled.

"Weibchen!!" Asuka snapped.

"Can you two behave?" Ritsuko shouted, "For crying out loud! There's a Goddess arriving here!"

"Um, Sempei?" Maya spoke up, "She's already here."

Misato, Ritsuko, and Asuka all whirled about to see Skuld, staring at them with a look of disappointment. Just behind her stood a blond haired woman who was staring at them in shock.

"I uh…." Misato stuttered.

Asuka quickly threw on a pleasant grin.

"Hello Auntie."

Skuld's face flashed quickly to annoyance.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me Auntie!!"

"Ok Auntie."

Skuld placed her face in her hands and let out a sigh of frustration. When she looked back up, she indicated the woman beside her.

"This is Juliet Butler. A bodyguard under the employ of Artemis Fowl."

Ritsuko blinked, "The Shipping Magnate?"

"Don't forget sometime criminal." Misato muttered.

"That's him." Came a voice from somewhere in the room.

Ritsuko, Misato, and Maya all looked around confused. Asuka however was looking at the spot just behind Juliet. There seemed to be something there, the air was shimmering slightly.

Asuka pointed at the spot and looked at Skuld.

"What's there?"

Skuld and Juliet didn't even look other at the spot.

"Well," Skuld began, "You four know about the existence of Gods and Demons so this may not be a complete shock."

She nodded at the shimmer. Suddenly two beings were standing there. One was a Centaur wearing a tin foil cap on his head. The other was an elf, complete with pointed ears, in a green uniform. Neither was much taller then three feet.

"These are fairies." Skuld explained.

"Like Morgan?" Asuka asked.

The Fairies both turned and looked at Skuld curiously.

"I'll explain later." The Goddess said to them, before looking back at Asuka. "The subject of Morgan le Fay is something for her to explain. These Fairies are different. The Elf is named Trouble Kelp, and he's with LEPrecon. And the centaur is Foaly."

"And they're here because?" Misato asked.

"Foaly is LEP's computer genius." Skuld explained. Foaly seemed to puff out his chest proudly at that. "Trouble is here to keep Foaly out of trouble." Foaly deflated slightly and glared at Skuld.

"But why are they here?"

"You caught the little bit at the end of that guy's message right" Skuld asked. Seeing the nods, she continued. "He's a fairy, and he's now taken over a fairy city. They are here because they've have a better chance of finding him, with your help."

"And how can we help?" Ritsuko asked.

Foaly walked forward, holding his laptop.

"We've been able to trace his message through several servers." Foaly explained, "We just had a possible breakthrough when we were driven out of Haven."

"What breakthrough?" Misato asked.

"The guy's a Demon." Skuld stated.

Misato raised an eyebrow.

"More Demons?" she asked.

Skuld shrugged, "They don't give up."

Misato turned to tell Ritsuko to help, but the Doctor and Foaly had already wondered over to the main NORN terminal, rattling off technical phrases that cause her head to spin.

Looking back at Skuld, she asked. "So where's Sayoko?"

Both Juliet and Skuld stiffened slightly before the goddess answered.

"Underground somewhere with Fowl and an Elf."

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"So what was it like?"

Sayoko glanced over her shoulder.

"Eh?"

"Piloting an Eva." Holly said, "How was it?"

"The scariest thing I'd ever done." The Goddess replied, "after all, I was only fourteen."

"Only fourteen?!" Holly stated, "How could they let a fourteen year old pilot an Eva and fight monstrous creatures."

"You don't quite understand." Sayoko explained, "All the pilots were fourteen. I happened to be the second oldest of the bunch." She faced forward as they continued down the tunnel. "From what I understand, when Second Impact wiped out Antarctica, it put out some particles that affected children still in the womb. The result was that only those born after the Impact could pilot Eva."

"So what made it scary?" Artemis asked, "The Angels?"

"Yeah." The Goddess replied. She seemed to be walking a bit quicker. "But what made it really bad was during the fight, you felt what the Eva did."

Artemis and Holly's eyes went wide, the elf's more so. Foaly had found a few video files that showed several of the fights between Eva and Angel and he'd showed them to Holly. In one of them, an Angel had driven it's tentacles through the chest of Unit-1. The Eva had continued to move, driving it's knife deep into the Angel's core.

"So if the Eva was stabbed through the chest?" Holly asked.

Sayoko nodded. "You felt it. But that wasn't the worst one."

"What was?" Artemis asked.

Sayoko stopped dead in her tracks. She slowly turned and looked at them. Her face was startling. It held no emotion as she spoke.

"Two of my friends went up to face an Angel that was hovering in space." She said in a monotone voice. "It never left space, but it attacked Asuka. It forced it's way into her mind, pulling her deepest and darkest memories out." Her eyes closed. "The other pilot couldn't hit it. It's AT-field, it's shield, blocked her shot. They launched me to try and get Asuka out of the way. But it got me too." She opened her eyes. The neutral expression was gone from her face, now replaced by one of pain.

"It……" Her voice trailed off. She shook her head. "I spent almost two months in a coma. Asuka closer to three. We both had nightmares afterward of the attack………and the memories that had been brought up. And because I'm a Goddess, I can never forget it." She then turned and walked off down the tunnel, leaving Artemis and Holly behind.

"So that's the price of being a God." Artemis whispered. "And why she was given something to suppress her memory."

"Huh?" Holly turned and looked at Artemis curiously. "What do you mean?"

"You heard her." he looked down at the elf. "She can't forget. She'll always remember."

"So she has a good memory." Holly replied, "So what?"

"Holly." Artemis said softly, "She's immortal."

Now Holly understood. With a life of infinite, Sayoko would remember every event, both positive and negative, that happened to her, including those she could never forget.

"She'll remember everyone she meets." Artemis whispered, "and be forced to watch them grow old……and die."

"Artemis." Holly quickly said. She realized that it was her fate, in a way. The Fairy life span was longer then a mud man's. Far longer. She'd wouldn't even be near middle age when Artemis and Juliet……….

Artemis noticed the look on Holly's face. He had an idea what was running through her head. He was a genius after all. Taking a deep breath, he placed his arm around her and pulled her closer to him.

"Don't think about that." He said, "It's still a long way off."

Holly nodded and the two started after the Goddess.

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Ritsuko, Foaly, and Skuld worked silently, each somehow knowing what the others wanted. Occasionally one of them would ask Maya to do something. The Major carried out the command regardless who spoke.

Misato, Juliet, and Trouble watched the four in awe.

"How do they do that?" Juliet asked.

"I'm not sure I want to know." Trouble replied.

The door to the control room opened, admitting Asuka. She walked quickly up to Misato.

"She called." Asuka stated.

"And?" Misato asked.

"She's on her way here."

"Right." Misato looked at Juliet and Trouble. "You two ought to come along."

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Misato entered her office and sat down behind her desk, Asuka right behind her. Juliet and Trouble both sat down on a couch set against the wall.

"Commander?" Juliet asked, "Who is coming?"

"A friend." Misato replied, "I took care of her daughter back in Tokyo-3."

"A pilot?" Juliet asked. She knew that the Commander had once been the tactical officer for the Evas in Tokyo-3.

"Yes." Misato answered, "And if I understand it correctly, you met her."

"I did?" Juliet frowned.

"Yes. Sayoko."

Juliet and Trouble both stared at the Commander.

"Sayoko was a pilot?" Juliet asked, "But she's so young!"

Misato picked a picture frame off her desk and handed it over to Juliet. Juliet held it in her lap allowing Trouble to see it as well.

The picture didn't look that old. Misato was standing in the center of a group of teens, wearing a red flight jacket and a beret. The teens were dressed in skintight outfits, almost flight suit like, each with a number on their chest. Three teens stood to Misato's left, the other two to her right.

Juliet and Trouble both easily picked out Sayoko. She was the only one with markings on her face and cheeks. Her flight suit had the numbers 04 on it. They were surprised though when they discovered Misato's red haired assistant also in the photograph, 02 on her suit.

"You were a pilot?" Juliet asked the assistant.

"Asuka Langley Sohryu Ikari," Asuka said proudly, "Second Child and designated Pilot of Unit-2." She then smirked. "Charmed I'm sure."

"Actually, my favorite was Unit-1."

The smile vanished from Asuka's face.

"What is it with that damn Eva?" She muttered as she turned away, "Everyone loves the freaky Unit-1."

"I was actually partial to Unit-4." Trouble spoke up.

"Sayoko's Eva." Misato said, "She was the Fifth Child."

"Hey Misato." Asuka called out, "She's here."

Misato looked over at the mirror on her wall. Juliet and Trouble looked as well. The mirror was glowing, flashing a variety of colors. For a brief moment, they caught sight of a beautiful city before a figure appeared, blocking the view. Then figure burst forth from the mirror and landed lightly upon the floor of the office. Juliet and Trouble both recognized Belldandy from the earlier communication in Haven. There was no mistaking Belldandy for a Goddess now that she was present in the room. She was far more beautiful in person, and she had a powerful presence to her, one of innocence and caring. But she seemed weary and tired, most likely because of the current situation with her daughter.

"Hello Belldandy." Misato said.

"Hello Misato." Belldandy replied, a small smile appearing on her face. "Asuka, how are you?"

"Just fine." Asuka replied.

Belldandy glanced over at Juliet and Trouble.

"I remember you from earlier." She said, "Hello again."

"Ma'am." Juliet said with a nod. She didn't know just what to call her. Her presence was that powerful.

Trouble was only able to nod. He could feel the magic of the Goddess, far stronger then anything he'd felt yet, even more so then the Valkyrie.

Misato indicated the chair before her desk. Belldandy sat down in it and let out a sigh.

"Rough day at the office?" Misato asked.

"Saturn may have figured out what's going on." Belldandy replied, "He's become far too interested in where Skuld and the Valkyries have gone. More so since we lost Harmony and Katrina."

"He's always been a prick." Misato said with a nod.

"You've been listening to Skuld rant again."

"Hard not to."

Belldandy smiled. "She can get worked up, can't she? The problem right now is Demonic."

"Have you asked Hild?"

"No. Hild has enough on her plate."

"What about Mana?"

"Occupied with something according to Mara."

"I'm sure she'd drop it if you told her." Asuka spoke up.

Belldandy waved the suggestion off.

"The way Mara put it, I don't think it could be dropped that easily."

Silence.

"How's Keiichi handling it?"

"Like me I suppose." Belldandy said, "At least she's alive, even if we aren't quite sure where." The Goddess looked down at her hands. "She'll be alright, don't you think?"

Misato raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you the one supposed to be telling me that?"

"I don't know anymore." The Goddess' voice was practically a whisper.

"She'll be fine." Asuka stated firmly, "She survived several Angel attacks, she survived Mana and other Demon, and she kicked Loki's ass. She'll be fine."

"Besides she's with Artemis and Holly." Juliet said from the couch, "They've been in tough spots before and gotten out fine."

Belldandy nodded.

"Thank you," she said, "I needed to hear that." She rose to her feet. "Now I need to see Keiichi." With a wave, she vanished into the mirror.

"Now I know we're in trouble." Trouble said.

"What do you mean?" Misato asked.

"We're reassuring a Goddess."

"We told her the truth." Asuka said, "The truth as we know it at least."

"And that helps how?" the elf asked.

"She would have known if we lied." Juliet pointed out.

"And we believe that our friends will make it." Misato added, "The fact that we believe means more to her then you can possibly know."