The next day…

Rei Ayanami approached team RWBY after class. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"What's up?" asked Yang.

"Well, as I explained to Ruby yesterday, I'm no longer capable of piloting with unit-00."

"Is it because your soul is no longer in unit-00?" asked Ruby.

"Yes, I believe so. "

"Have you tried to sync with unit-00 since the incident?" asked Weiss.

"No. That would run the risk of another contact experiment happening, and we all know how terribly wrong that can go."

"So…that means Asuka is on her own," said Blake.

"Precisely, but there is still Shinji."

"We haven't heard from him," said Yang.

"Do you us want to find him?" asked Ruby.

"Well…I don't know," said Rei, "I know we shouldn't force him to pilot again, but it seems like a pretty heavy burden for Asuka to carry alone."

"Asuka's not doing very well either," said Yang, "She was pretty distraught after hearing what happened to her mother."

"She wasn't even in school today," said Weiss, "She shut herself up in her room."

"Well, it is a lot for her to take in," said Rei, "I wish I knew how we could help her."

"I think we just need to be there for her when she needs us," said Ruby.

"Can you do the same for Shinji? I think he could use a friend right now."

"Of course, but we don't know where to find him."

"Well, I have his number, and it's been a while. Maybe he'll be open to talk." Rei got out her cell phone and dialed Shinji's number. "Yes, hello? Shinji, this is Rei. H-how…are you? I see. Listen, we haven't heard from you in a while. Would you like to talk? Oh…I see. Well…what about with Ruby, then? OK, I'll let her know. Bye." Rei hung up and tearfully sighed, "He doesn't want to talk to me. "

"I'm sorry, Rei," said Ruby.

"It's alright. He was nice about it, and he said he would talk to you."

"Mind if I talk to him about you?"

"Not at all."

"Anything you want Ruby to ask him for you?" asked Yang.

"I just want to know what he's thinking about…well…"

"It's alright," said Ruby, "I'll be sure to ask him."

"Well, we'd better head home," said Weiss, "We'll be sure to tell Misato of your plans, Ruby."

"Thanks." With that, the group headed home. Before departing the school grounds, Ruby asked, "Say Rei, where did Shinji want to meet?"

"He said he would meet you at the pay phone. Here…" Rei gave Ruby a map and pointed to the payphone where Shinji would be waiting.

"Thanks," said Ruby. She began to head in the direction of the meeting place, and as promised, Shinji was waiting there.

"Hey," he greeted softly.

"Hey," returned Ruby.

"So, are you here to get me to pilot again?"

"Well, Asuka is all alone now."

"Wait, you mean Rei quit?"

"Kind of…Shinji, why don't you want to see Rei?"

Shinji sighed, "I…just don't know what to say to her. I'm not mad anymore, but…I don't know."

"Can you at least try to talk to her? She was pretty upset when you told her you didn't want to earlier."

"Oh…well, what can I say to her?"

"Just tell her how you're feeling. Look, I know it might be hard, but please try."

"*sigh* Alright, I'll talk to her. Say…how is your arm back?" Ruby touched her arm where the robotic appendage used to be. She hadn't realized that her new body came with a fresh new arm.

"Oh…um…that's…a long story."

"Would you mind telling it?" asked Shinji.

"No, but Rei's kind of a part of it, so let me make you a deal. If you talk to Rei, I'll tell you how I got my arm back."

"Alright, will you go with me?"

"Of course; what are friends for?"

"Thank you."

"No problem. She should be back at her apartment…I hope." Shinji and Rei walked down the street to Rei's meager apartment. Ruby loudly tapped at the door and Rei answered.

"Oh…" stammered Rei, "I…wasn't expecting you. I mean…I thought you said…"

"I'm sorry, Rei," said Shinji, "I didn't mean to upset you. It's just that…I don't know what to say to you. I'm not…mad anymore. I know this must be hard for you too, but…what should I say?" Rei and Ruby could both tell that Shinji was still upset, even if he wasn't technically angry.

"Well, what you're saying right now is a good start," said Rei, "At least I know how you feel, and regardless of what I am, I still…care about you. I…love you." Rei blushed as she said those last three words. Shinji found himself dumbstruck.

"Can I…believe that?" he asked doubtfully.

"That is up to you, but I wish you would."

"Do you think I can help?" asked Ruby.

"How?" asked Shinji.

"Well, there are some more secrets that Rei has to share, I think."

"Ah, yes…" said Rei, "There are some more things I'd like to share with you."

"Alright, go ahead," said Shinji.

"Wait, Rei," said Ruby, "Before you start, let's talk about my arm."

"Your arm?" repeated Rei.

"Yes. As you can see, my robot arm is gone, and I have a normal arm again."

"Ah…I see. Alright, well shortly after you left us, Ruby died. I…somehow managed to take on her soul into my body. I'm still not entirely sure how or why, I found myself possessing all of Ruby's memories."

"Okaayyy…." said Shinji.

"Anyways, recently there was an angel attack, and I was sent out in unit-00. During the fight, I achieved a 400% sync rate which caused my AT field to collapse and my body burst into LCL fluid, releasing both my soul and Ruby's."

"That's possible? How?"

"I'm not entirely sure myself. You remember what happened, right Ruby?"

"Uh huh," said Ruby, "I remember being without a body in uinit-00. You went off to contact some 'presence' that you felt within the EVA. Shortly after words, I fell on the ground with a new body. I'm not sure what happened."

"Nor do I, but my best guess is that once I reunited with the other part of myself, unit-00 had no more use for you, so it released your soul with a fresh AT field and body." Shinji sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, Shinji. This must be hard for you to believe."

"Yeah," said Shinji, "But it doesn't seem like you're lying. I guess there are a lot of things I don't know. So, what is this about the other part of yourself?" Rei explained the nature of the soul that was formerly trapped within unit-00.

"And…now it's gone?" asked Shinji.

"That is correct," said Rei, "I managed to join the two parts of myself to become a complete being."

"So…is part of my soul in unit-01?"

"Um…not quite. Unit-01 possesses the soul of your mother, Shinji."

"My mother?"

"Yeah…" said Ruby, rubbing her palm on the back of her head, "It's…a long story."

"What about unit-02?"

"That only has part of Asuka's mother's soul," explained Rei, "However, there probably is no way to restore the rest of her soul considering that her only body is dead." Shinji couldn't come up with a response.

"Asuka…didn't take it well," said Ruby.

"Perhaps you should talk to her," said Rei.

"Yeah…" said Shinji, "Maybe I should."

"Don't worry, Shinji. I'll help you," said Ruby.

"Thanks, and thank you, Rei."

"So then, are we friends again?" asked Rei.

Shinji thought hard for a few moments. "Yeah," he finally said, "I'm sorry I upset you."

"Don't worry about it," said Rei warmly.

"Well, we'd better be going," said Ruby, "Will we see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yes, I believe you will."

"Great. See you then." With that, Shinji and Ruby headed home. They were about a mile from Rei's house when Ruby suddenly clutched her head in a weird daze.

"Ruby, are you alright?" asked Shinji with alarm.

"Huh?" said Ruby distantly, "Oh…right. Sorry, just got a little dizzy for a second. I'll be fine." Shinji didn't answer, but eyed Ruby with concern. Once they arrived at Misato's apartment, they found the atmosphere to be uncannily quiet. The rest of team RWBY was seated peacefully on the floor in various locations in the living room, but Asuka and Misato were nowhere to be found. It wasn't hard to guess where Asuka was, but what about…

"The vice commander was kidnapped today," explained Yang, "They're suspecting Misato's boyfriend, so they're keeping her for questioning."

"What about Asuka?" asked Shinji.

"Still in her room," said Blake, "She's been in there all day." Ruby and Shinji both looked at each other. Ruby had said that Asuka didn't take the reality of her mother being in unit-02 very well, but was she this distraught?

"Should I…still try to talk to her?" asked Shinji.

"Hold on. Let me see how she's feeling," said Ruby.

"Um…I wouldn't do that," said Weiss.

"Why not?" asked Ruby.

"She's very upset," said Blake, "I think it would be best if she were left alone." At that very moment, Asuka emerged from her room. Her eyes narrowed furiously at Ruby, her teeth and fists clenched and her face a boiling red.

"Why are you still here?" she asked spitefully.

"What do you mean?" asked Ruby.

"Why do you get to come back to life, when my mama…" Asuka paused to catch the lump that was forming in her throat. "It's not fair!" she said through shuttering breath, "I wish you were dead!" With that, Asuka slammed the door. Everyone else stood in stunned silence at Asuka's cruel words, especially Ruby. Shinji laid a hand on her, but she recoiled.

"Leave me alone," she said through tears.

"Ruby, I'm sure she didn't mean…"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Shinji found himself dumbfounded as Ruby stormed into the other room, slamming the door behind her.

"Ruby wait…" Yang caught Shinji's arm. She shook her head sternly. "But, I want to help," protested Shinji.

"This isn't going to help," said Yang.

"Then what can I do?"

"Right now, nothing; just wait for her to calm down." Shinji sat on the floor, dejected. Yang sighed, "Look, it's not that you can't help her. Now just isn't the best time."

"How long before she calms down?" asked Weiss.

"It usually only takes around 15 minutes, but she's been known to take longer," explained Yang.

"Do you…think we could at least check on her?" asked Blake.

"She'll come out. Trust me. This sort of thing has happened dozens of times. It's her way of dealing with strong emotions without having a temper tantrum." True to Yang's word, Ruby did eventually emerge from her room. However, she still appeared to be extremely upset.

"Do you…want to talk about it?" asked Weiss. Tears were beginning to fall down Ruby's cheeks. It wasn't long before she broke down completely. "I…I don't want to die," she sobbed, "I don't want to die. I don't want to die…." Yang tenderly hugged her sister.

"You're not going to die," she said solemnly, "There's no way I would let that happen; not again." Ruby offered Yang the faintest of smiles, but the fear and worry persisted.

"Asuka does have a point," said Weiss, "It's not fair that Ruby came back to life while her mother is still dead."

"That's just the way it happened," said Yang harshly, "I'm not giving up Ruby again." Eventually, Ruby calmed down, and she moved on to hug Shinji.

"Don't worry. I'm better now," she said. Shinji smiled.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked. Ruby smiled back at him.

"You're already doing it." Shinji hugged Ruby tighter. The rest of team RWBY smiled at the intimate exchange that the two shared. Eventually, the two pulled apart. Shinji looked towards Asuka's room.

"I wish there was something we could do for her," he said.

"Maybe she's calmed down," said Ruby. She knocked on Asuka's door, and the young pilot opened, looking even sourer than before.

"What do you want?" she asked irately.

"We were just wondering how you were doing," said Ruby simply.

"Well, it's none of your business, so just leave me alone! Spare me your pity!" With that, Asuka slammed her door again. Ruby sighed, "I wish she could just tell us what's wrong."

"It probably has something to do with what she found out about her mother," said Weiss.

"Yeah, but if that's true, then why doesn't she just talk to us about it?" asked Blake, "It's not like we'll be offended."

"Sometimes, it takes awhile for people to open up," said Weiss, "Ruby only needed 15 minutes. Asuka may need longer."

"I wish there were something we could do for her now," said Ruby, "Bottling up your feelings like that can't be healthy."

"That's true," said Yang, "But that's a lesson she may have to learn on her own." At that minute, Misato walked in the door. She seemed…tired. Instead of the usual greeting, she noticed a blinking light on the phone.

"Did none of you notice that someone left a message?" she asked with a somewhat upset tone.

"Oops. I guess we didn't," said Ruby sheepishly. Misato sighed and pushed the button to play back the message. It said…

Katsuragi, I know you're tired of hearing from me. I'm sorry. I…would like to ask…a favor. I've…been growing a flower. I'd like you to water it. Shinji knows where it is. If…I see you again, then I'll say…what I couldn't say eight years ago. The truth is with you. Move ahead.

Everyone recognized that the voice belonged to Kaji, Misato's boyfriend and suspect in the kidnapping of the vice commander at NERV.

"What…happened?" asked Ruby. Misato didn't afford an answer. She was already a sobbing wreck.

"You…fool!" she sobbed bitterly, "You were always such a…fool!" Ruby looked helplessly at her teammates. Shinji took the initiative. He laid a hand on Misato's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said somberly, "Whatever happened, we can get through this." Misato looked up through her tears. Her face seemed to cast doubt on the concept of we. Shinji couldn't really blame her. After all, he had spent his whole life keeping others at a distance. This was going to be hard, but he was still willing to try. He had already been hurt twice; first by Ruby and then by Asuka, and somehow, he was still surviving. Maybe…maybe pain was worth it, if he could help someone. By this point, Ruby had afforded her own hand on Misato's shoulder. "Shinji's right," she said, "We'll get through this…together." Misato once again looked up; and this time, smiled.

"Thank you," she said.
"I'm sorry," said Weiss, "But why are you crying? Did you and Kaji…break up?"

"No," said Misato, wiping tears, "He's…most likely dead."

"How do you know that?" asked Blake.
"Well, Kaji…wasn't all that he seemed. I know that he probably looked like some suave playboy on the outside, but his secret life was much more complicated. He was a key player in a high-stakes game of espionage. He's been spying on NERV."

"Wait, so he's a bad guy?" asked Shinji.

"Not necessarily. He's also been spying on SEELE and on the Japanese government. He's been working from all sides trying to determine the truth of what's really going on. As we all discovered recently, NERV has been keeping secrets from all of us. Kaji was working to uncover those secrets."

"I imagine NERV wasn't very happy about that," said Ruby.

"Well, I think the commander knew what Kaji was up to, but Kaji was still useful to him, so he kept him alive. However, not everyone was privy to Kaji's actions, and now with the incident with the vice commander, his fate was all but sealed."

"What happened with the vice commander?" asked Shinji.

"I don't know for sure, but based on what I overheard while in custody, it seems like he was kidnapped by SEELE themselves. I then heard that…Kaji was the one who rescued him. I may be naïve, but I'm not stupid. SEELE isn't going to sit by and let their plans be disrupted like that. I'd…like to hope that he's still alive, but…"

"Why did SEELE kidnap the vice commander in the first place?" asked Shinji.

"I'm…not sure," said Misato after a long pause. A smile soon came to her lips. "You know, I'm rather impressed with how mature you all are. I don't know where you got it, but it sure wasn't from me."

"Well, we had good role models, for one thing," said Weiss.

"And we've learned a lot from experience, including making mistakes," said Yang.

"But we're still growing," said Ruby.

"Yes," said Misato, laughing affectionately, "Yes you are."

"Well, I think I'll check on…ngh!...unnghh..."

"Ruby, are you alright?" asked Yang. Ruby didn't answer. Her vision spun around her as she collapsed to the ground.

To be continued…