Shinji had just been getting ready for bed when the call came in. It was the day after his rather odd nocturnal ramble with Rei - he still wasn't certain what to think of that. Why did she want to go for a walk in the middle of the night? And did she just want to go for a walk, so she asked him to go with her for company, or did she want to go with him specifically. Rei was one of his first friends, but he hadn't been thinking of her as a girl.

Therefore it was no surprising that he was half expecting that this call would be from Rei. But instead it was from Hikari, who he HAD been thinking of as a rather attractive girl (or at least musing about - she had been so aloof lately that he wasn't certain if they were still friends). In fact, it had been several weeks since she had last called, so it was a bit of a surprise.

"Hi, Hikari. What's up?"

"I have a plan," Hikari began without a preamble, "I was thinking about how you go out in the evening and give out food. We should take that to the next level - we can talk to some restaurants, see if we can borrow their kitchen, and get some volunteers and provide food for a lot more people." She was talking all in a rush, the way she did when she was nervous.

"Uhm, Hikari? I don't think I have time for something like that." Shinji liked the concept, but he had school and NeRV and fighting alien monsters bent on the destruction of the human race. His schedule was pretty full. Feeding the homeless was a great thing to do, but for him it was just a hobby, a way to relax.

"I know, I know. I'll be in charge of most of this." Hikari was still gushing, "I just wanted to let you know because, well, I'm doing it because of you. I never really said it, but I think you're a hero. Not in the sense that you fight bad guys and keep me, us, safe - you do that, and I really appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but in the sense that you inspire people, inspire me, to try harder and be better."

"Oh. Thank you?" Shinji wasn't certain what the correct response was. It was a lot to take in - nobody else that he knew was as clear with their emotions as Hikari, so he wasn't used to this level of.. he wasn't certain how to describe it - communication? Flattery? But he liked it. "So what do you want me to do?"

"I guess, I just want moral support. I... I want you tell me that I can do it. Or catch me if I crash and burn."

Shinji paused for a few moments, "Whatever you need, I'll be there."

"Ok" Hikari replied in a quiet voice.

The two teens spent the rest of the night talking. At first it was about Hikari's plan (more of a dream) to save people, but it soon slid into school, students, and pretty much everything. It felt good to finally talk - it had been too long. It was almost 1 am when Hikari finally couldn't stay awake any longer.

"Good night Hikari."

"Good night Shinji. And Shinji? Thank you, for everything." Hikari hung up quickly.

Shinji lay in bed for a, staring up at the ceiling 'What did she mean by that? I don't do anything special.' But it was kind of nice. Usually, he only got praised for doing something Evangelion related. But being appreciated for just being normal... It was new. It inspired the small, quiet part of him that wasn't certain that he wanted to shoulder the burdens of the world. And it was nice that they were back to being friends.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Misato had just walked into her office when her desk phone rang, "Misato, one of the UN satellites picked up something in orbit," Ritsuko announced without preamble.

"From your tone, I'm assuming it's an Angel?"

"Most likely. We're getting more data in as we speak. Come up to the conference room and I will brief you on what we have."

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"Hey, Third. Come eat lunch with me." Asuka demanded. The two were in class, and the lunch bell had just rung. She was still on her mission to understand the puzzle that was Ikari. Unfortunately, she was making very little headway - there was very little to him. The only kernel of something was his missing memories, but he was recalcitrant in talking about those. So after her demand that he detail what he didn't remember was met with an apologetic silence, Asuka was taking another tack - she would tease out the details over lunch. It was a horrible waste of time, but it had to be done. She needed to understand her fellow pilot, for her own safety.

Shinji looked up from packing his bag. The surrounding students were watching as well, to see how this would play out. Asuka was a school idol, though a very unapproachable one, and Shinji was, well, a dweeb.

"I'm sorry, I was planning to eat with Hikari," Shinji replied, glancing self consciously towards where the class rep was still putting her books away, before adding, as a compromise, "You can join us if you want." Shinji never was good at sticking up for himself.

"Oh, really? I thought you usually ate lunch with Rei?" Asuka didn't really care who Shinji ate lunch with - it wasn't like she was attracted to him. But she had a sneaking suspicion that Rei DID have a thing for him (Why?!) and the memory of what Rei could do if she flipped out was still vivid in her memory. Asuka wanted to have advanced notice of when it was a good time to stay home from school for a couple of days.

"That is correct. Shinji will be eating lunch with me on the roof," Rei interrupted in her typical no-nonsense tone. Unseen, her fingers spasmed into a claws. "That has been our standard procedure for some time now."

"Um, there is no need to argue," Shinji tried to step between the two, only to find himself glared at by both girls. "I really need to talk to Hikari.." Shinji tried desperately to make his escape, only to find that both of the other pilots had followed him over to Hikari's desk. He could feel their eyes boring holes into his back.

The students still remaining in the class stopped and watched the incipient soap opera. Several were comparing notes - none of them had realized that Shinji was such a babe magnet.

Kensuke pulled out his phone, to record this for his YouTube channel. Even if the expected explosion didn't occur today, it would happen eventually, and this would be his 'before' clip (to contrast with the bruised and battered Shinji of the 'after' clip).

"Um, Hi, Hikari. I know we were planning to go out to lunch, but do you mind if Rei and Asuka join us?" He could feel the temperature drop.

Now there were three girls glaring at him.

'I don't understand - Hikari used to be friends with Rei. Why is she so angry now whenever Rei is around? Did something happen?'

He could ask. Except he was Shinji. So instead he stood and hoped her anger would go away on its own.

It was almost a relief when all three pilot's cell phones went off.

Hikari watched as the three pilots rushed out, leaving her behind. 'I'll ask him tomorrow.'

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"The UN space observatory satellite detected it four hours ago. It is definitely on a course for Japan, and we just got confirmation that it is emitting a blue signal." Misato listed the sum of what they knew about this most recent threat to the three pilots as they stood at attention in front of her. "Two hours ago, it began dropping small pieces of its own mass down to Earth, as kinetic kill vehicles. It will be over Tokyo 3 in another hour. We are not certain what its game plan is, but there is a good chance it involves bombarding Tokyo 3 from orbit. You will all be stationed at opposite sides of the city, to intercept it."

Seeing the bewildered looks on the pilots faces, Ritsuko added, "The Evangelion's AT fields can deflect that much kinetic energy."

"What if the whole thing comes down from orbit at full speed? It will smash through everything!" Asuka questioned.

"Actually, that is the scenario I am most concerned about. In that case, you will have to project your AT field up, to slow the Angel enough for you to catch it." Misato smiled brightly.

Asuka gaped at the patently absurd plan. "That will never work."

"Actually, it might." Shinji corrected.

"Seriously? You're not worried? Your synchronization score isn't high enough for you to project your AT field that far."

"I seem to have a talent for using my AT field as a shield. I just visualize it as a large multi layered shield, like Ajax was said to use."

"That.. is strangely specific." Misato had heard Shinji shout something when activating his AT field for defense, but she had never heard the story before.

Asuka on the other hand, nodded as her brain buzzed, "Maybe visualization is the key to an improved synchronization."

"I wouldn't know. We can do some experiments. Later. But for now, just stick with whatever works best for you. Go get changed." Misato ushered the teens to the changing rooms.

"It is still an insane strategy!" Asuka re-focused on what was important - not dying.

"I completely agree, but it is the only option that offers any chance of success. Remember, you will have to be quick: whichever one of you is closest will only be able to slow the falling Angel - you will need to all join your AT fields together to actually hold it."

"Maybe you want us to write out our last will and testament before we go?" snarked Asuka.

"That will not be necessary," Rei replied and left the room, heading for the changing room.

"Hey, after this, I'll take you guys all out to dinner!" Misato called out, attempting to raise morale.

"Rei, what do you visualizes as you fight?" Shinji asked as they all left the command room.

"I do not."

"Neither do I, although apparently Shinji fantasizes that the Evangelion is a large German woman." Asuka smirked. Rei turned to look at the subject of the discussion, a small frown tugging down at the corners of her mouth.

"It's not like that. People have been naming ships after woman for centuries. This is sort of the same. And she's British, not German."

"Whatever. You have about an hour before you have to get into your entry plugs, so you can go get some lunch." Misato went back to planning how to position the Evangelions so that they could access the whole city in the least amount of time.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Shinji went to the changing room to wait – he was too nervous to eat, and he didn't really want to be around other people right now. But just as he sat down, his phone rang – it was Hikari.

"Hello?"

"Shinji? Are you ok? What am I saying, I'm being stupid – you're probably getting ready to fight one of those things again. They told us to get into the shelter." Hikari was babbling.

"Are you inside now?" Shinji asked. Worrying about Hikari actually distracted him from worrying about himself (which helped him relax).

"No, not yet – there is no cell phone reception inside, and I needed to call you. I wanted to wish you good luck. I mean, 'good luck!'"

"Thanks. I really mean it - talking to you helps keep me from getting stressed."

"Well, maybe you should be a little stressed – I don't want you to be too relaxed and make a mistake. Oh, shoot – Sensai just saw me! I have to go back inside!"

That was twice that Hikari had called all of a sudden. Had something happened? 'Does it mean she likes me?' Or had she been avoiding him up to now because something had been bothering her, and he had been completely oblivious. And she had finally resolved whatever it was. Without his help. Shinji stomach sank. 'She needed my help and I wasn't there for her.' Instead, he had had been taking walks with Rei.

He absentmindedly activated his plug suit, gasping in shock as it unexpectedly pulled tight around his crotch. 'I hate that.' He took a deep breath. 'I can't worry about this right now. First, we need to save the world.'

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"I can't believe that worked." Shinji was sprawled on a bench. It was two hours later, and the Angel had indeed plunged from orbit. And he had caught it on his AT field.

And held it long enough for the other two Pilots to kill it.

Now it was time to eat.

Rei was sitting next to him as they waited for Asuka and Misato at the food court. Apparently Misato's offer of 'dinner' meant a Raman stand (well, it was Misato, after all). His hands were still shaking a little from the residual adrenaline. They only did that AFTER the battle, though.

Rei nodded. "Your visualization technique resulted in a very effective shield. I will attempt it in the future." She paused before turning to Shinji with a small frown, "But visualizing 'Eva' as a blond European woman is a waste of resources. For optimal performance, you need to maintain your concentration on the battle."

Now Shinji was confused, "But it works for me."

Rei nodded. "Yes, but it would be easier for you to maintain the image of a Japanese woman, as they will be simpler for you to visualize," Rei swept her hand, pointing at the assorted diners in front of them, almost all of whom were Japanese.

"Okay..." Shinji was just figuring out how best to respond to that when Rei quickly added, "A Japanese woman with short hair. Possibly dyed."

Shinji turned to look at Rei at that oddly specific request. Rei continued to look out at the crowd of diners, not acknowledging his inspection. "You have short, dyed hair."

Again, Rei did not respond.

The two sat like that for a moment. Shinji was just opening his mouth, still not certain what to say when a loud voice startled him.

"There you are! This place is a zoo! Sorry, I didn't think it would be so crowded." Misato called out as she arrived, followed by Asuka.

Rei used the interruption to quietly take Shinji's hand. Shinji cast a quick smile at her, but she was assiduously not look at him.

"Less yapping, more ordering. You promised us food!" Asuka interrupted. She was not pleased. Not only had Misato reneged on her offer of a steak (which was the only REAL food, as far as Asuka was concerned), but now Asuka was missing out on a Shinji quality meal to get some greasy take-out from a cheap mall stall.

Shinji held Rei's hand. It was small, but firm. It was nice.

Misato just rolled her eyes. "Come on, kids. Step right up and place your orders!" She led the way to an out of the way food stall that was nevertheless surrounded by customers. Soon, all had their choice of raman (pork raman with extra pork for Asuka, vegetarian for Rei, and 'what ever is easiest' for Shinji).

Misato put her (very) thin wallet back in her pocket and joined Asuka in heading for someplace with seating. Shinji and Rei had taken the lead, heading for a table in a less crowded section.

Misato eye quirked up, followed by a smile. "Hey, you see that?" Misato nudged Asuka, pointing. "How long has that been going on?" The other two pilots were holding hands.

"Has what been going on?" Asuka replied shortly. "It's not like he's pledging his undying love or anything." Not that Rei would understand if he did.

Misato glanced at her, "So it doesn't bother you?"

"No, as long as Shinji continues to prepare my meals, it's all good." A beat later, she added as an after thought, "and walks to school with me."

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

The next time they came in for testing, the other pilots practiced 'visualizing' as well: Ritsuko instructed them to try imagining that their Evangelions was actively helping them.

Maya glanced over at her Sempai. She had been working too many hours again. "I don't think it's working - neither of the girl's sync scores have increased. Asuka's has actually dropped incrementally. I know you want to figure out the root cause for Shinji's anomalous scores, but I think for now we should approach this as engineers instead of scientists and just work with the tools we have." The teens had been in the tubes for an hour, and the sync test was winding down (they had to give them time to do their homework, after all).

Misato thumbed on the intercom, "Asuka, what are you visualizing?

"That's none of your business." Asuka snapped. There was no way she was describing the buff guy to Misato. Not over an open mike. He was taller than her, with messy hair. He wore a long red coat (or maybe armor - she couldn't decide) and he dual wielded the way Shinji had that time in the simulation (because it HAD been pretty awesome). A small smiled crept onto Asuka's features as she slipped into her fantasy.

"Well, stop it - it's not helping."

"Fine," she growled. "Next time, I'll do everything normally."

"Oh, maybe not normal - next time we're doing the naked sync test," Misato quipped.

"Wait, what?" Asuka yelped.

Shinji looked left and right - the test plugs were just glorified glass tubes. He could clearly see the other two pilots. His face turned a bright crimson.

"She's just teasing. We can't pilot in the nude!" Asuka realized.

"Actually, she's not. Not completely," Ritsuko explained, "We will be testing you, one at a time, in a special plug set up in a separate room. The idea is to see if removing all extraneous barriers improves synchronization."

"Oh," Shinji relaxed.

"Anyways, you're done for the day."

The teens made their way to their respective changing rooms. "So, Rei, who did you visualize your Evangelion as?" Asuka asked as they stepped into the showers.

Rei ignored the other pilot.

"I bet it's Shinji."

Rei just turned on the water.

In the other changing room, Shinji sneezed.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

That night, as soon as dinner was over, Shinji pulled on his shoes. "I'm going to go for a walk," he yelled to Misato as he headed out the door. The nice thing about Misato was that she wasn't really parent material - she didn't really check up on him or even care where he went, as long as he showed up to NeRV on schedule and didn't mess up too much in school.

As was quickly becoming his routine, Shinji snuck out that evening to visit Rei. They usually met up at her apartment before going for a walk around the city. Though they agreed to meet up a little earlier in the day then they had the first time.

They talked only a little - Shinji had trouble coming up with new topics of conversation, but he soon realized that Rei did not mind silence. They just walked and held hands.

Shinji periodically glanced at his companion, wondering if he dared to ask her out. He still wasn't certain whether she liked him as anything more than a friend - Rei was at the opposite end of the spectrum to Hikari when it came to communication. But each night, he chickened out – it was safer to just stay with their normal.

On the plus side, the number of people calling the police about a creepy stalker following them to their homes plummeted.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"So we really have to do this?" Shinji asked. The pilots were back in the lab, for the dreaded 'naked sync test'.

"Yes, you really have to do this. Who wants to go first?" Misato asked three pilots standing in front of her, in their street clothes

Asuka pretended to be interested in whatever was on Ritsuko's screen while Shinji suddenly found his shoes fascinating.

"I will go." Rei volunteered, striding towards the the hastily set up curtain partitioning off one of the test plugs as she began to unbutton her blouse.

Shinji quickly turned away, blushing 'She really doesn't care about nudity.' In retrospect, it was really surprising that in all of the times that he had visited her apartment after that one time, she was always dressed. "Um, Misato, I thought you said it would be in a separate room, not like this." He pointed to the white curtain.

Misato sighed, "the budget is getting tight. Word came down from on high that we have to cut non-mission critical costs."

Shinji nodded and grabbed a folding chair, to sit down next to Asuka and wait.

Asuka glanced over at the other pilot. He was only sitting next to her because they were both pilots, and the rest of the room was cold and unwelcoming, 'It would be nice if somebody saw me as a girl - as a woman - instead of just a pilot.' Asuka sighed. She knew that part of the fault was her own, but she wasn't THAT standoffish. 'But the Baka doesn't even want to talk.' It occurred to Asuka to that she could initiate a conversation herself, but she was at a loss as to what to talk about. 'What do girls that are not pilots talk about?'

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"Hey, stop trying to peek down there! She's underage," Maya called out as Aoba peered out through the command center window. The two of them were managing the data collection from the main Magi terminals, while audio-conferencing with the lab below.

"I wasn't! I was just noticing that the replacement LCL pump is rusty already - I guess cost cutting isn't always for the best." He pointed to the mechanism attached to the wall above the lab space.

Maya glanced at it nervously, "Sempai, did you hear that? Should we abort?"

"No - I have sensors on the LCL line, and they're reading all green. We'll have the technicians replace it after this battery of experiments" Ritsuko started the link between Rei and the dummy plug that was in the Evangelion. Ritsuko had not seen any need to explain the actual purpose of this sync test to the Children (or Misato). "All good so far... shit!"

An alarm began to sound as the LCL monitor registered a spike in contamination.

"Something's in the LCL. Abort the test. Maya, drain it and get Rei out of there!"

"Draining!"

Suddenly, red lights started to flood across the screen as more and more systems showed contamination.

"This is spreading too fast!" Ritsuko tried to isolate the damaged section. "It's active - maybe some sort of nanomachines."

Misato grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall and ran over to the contaminated pipe, spraying it with freezing foam in the hope of slowing the spread.

"Sir, we have a blue signal!"

The spray curled around the pipe without touching it.

"The infestation has an AT field! It's an Angel!"

At the same time there was a scream from behind the the curtain.

Shinji had been standing, wondering what he should do to help. As soon as he heard Rei's pained scream, he ran towards the curtained off partition.

"Shinji keep back - it's too dangerous" Misato tried to stop him, but he ignored her, running inside. Rei was collapsed on the floor, still covered in LCL, writhing in pain. Shinji ran up an, grabbing hold of her. She continued to spasm, smearing LCL stains over Shinji's clothes.

"Everybody, evacuate! Have Section 2 bring welding torches," Misato commanded before turning to Shinji. "This way!"

Asuka watched as Shinji staggered in, carrying Rei in his arms. 'She's practically an animatronic doll, but he treats her like a person. Why don't I have somebody like that?' She followed, steadying Shinji as they ran through the door that Misato held open.

"There is an emergency shelter down there. Get in it!" Misato pointed down the hallwat before running back into the lab to direct the battle.

Shinji staggered down the corridor. The finished concrete walls soon gave way to rough stone, with bare bulbs strung from the ceiling, making it look more like a tunnel. Rei wasn't heavy, but Shinji wasn't particularly strong. Nevertheless he staggered forward, refusing to slow down. It felt like he was running forever, until finally Asuka darted ahead and yanked open a steel bulkhead door. As soon as the other two were in, she slammed it shut and spun the wheel-like handle to lock it in place.

Shinji gently lowered Rei to the ground. She had relaxed some, but as soon as he let go of her, she grabbed his arm. "Don't let go."

Shinji sat down and took her into his arms. 'Please don't die'. He hated not being able to help. He held Rei tight – it was all he could do, and it seemed to make her feel better.

Asuka stood off to one side, watching, before awkwardly turning to look around the shelter. The room was just a large cave, with a pool of water at the far end, and the steel bulkhead door sealing off the one entrance. There were a couple of bare light panels providing illumination.

Asuka went over to the pool and sat down, periodically glowering at the other two pilots on the far side of the room when Rei gasped in pain.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"Isolate Central Dogma!" Misato called into her radio. Heavy bulkhead doors slid down blocking off the Prinbow Box, the cages and the other significant parts of the command center from the rest of the Geofront. She was still in the lab space, standing back as a pair of Section 2 agents used acetylene torches to cut off the section of equipment contaminated with the the Angel.

The torches had no effect directly on the angel, but they were trying to remove the contaminated equipment for disposal.

"It's spreading too quickly."

"It's spreading towards the cages."

"Launch the Evangelions using elevator A8," Gendo's voice came from the radio as he arrived at the command center.

"Launching." The Evangelions shot out, one after the other, into the lake. At least there they were isolated form the contamination.

"What about Rei? Is she contaminated?" Maya asked.

"I'll send somebody to check on the Pilots" Misato replied, She looked around for a person, but before she could say anything, Ritsuko interrupted her.

"The Angel has made contact with the Magi. Fire wall breached. Locking down all communications." Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she concentrated on her own battle, ignoring the Section Two agents as they pried at the contaminated pipes with crow bars just a few yards away.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Rei could feel it. Something was in her head with her. It was bludgeoning away crudely at her consciousness, triggering assorted impulses in her brain.

Her body moved on it own as nerves sent signals not her own to her muscles. The Angel reached into her, and all of a sudden she could taste sky and everything smelled purple. She felt something brush against her face and her nerves lit on fire. It was the most erotic sensation she had ever felt.

Her only anchor to sanity was Shinji. Half the time, she couldn't feel him, but she knew that he was there. She could smell him. He was always with her. Suddenly she wanted to… consume him? To envelop him? She didn't have a name for the sensations that poured through her. It was like the Hunger, except different. 'Get out of my head!' She pushed at the alien presence, trying to wrestle her mind back onto its usual track.

Shinji clutched Rei tighter as her back arched in a spasm. She stayed like that for a minute before slumping back down. Rei lay in his arms panting in pain. Her eyes were open, but they weren't seeing anything. At least nothing that as in that room

Shinji brushed the hair off of her face, and rubbed the LCL away from her nose.

Asuka tried to relax, to ignore the battle that was going on a few meters away. A battle that she couldn't fight. 'It's creepy how quiet she is.' Except for that one time, Rei hadn't screamed in pain once.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"Melchior is contaminated – the Angel has gained control," Ritsuko announced. "I am trying an active purge from Balthazar."

"Can't we just shut it down and re-install everything?" Misato asked.

"That's a last resort - it will take Melchior off-line for two months - these aren't laptops." Ritsuko replied as her fingers flew across the keyboard. She wasn't certain if containing the virus would actually stop the Angel.

Misato radio crackled to life "Sir, we have the affected pump removed."

She nodded (not that the section 2 guys could see her), "Good. Coat it in Bakelite and take it out to the quarantine site." They were finally getting ahead of the Angel.

Little by little, they contained it.

The attack on multiple fronts finally proved too much for the Angel. Over the next couple of hours, Ritsuko and Maya managed to push the Angel out of the Magi as the technicians, assisted by Section Two, identified and destroyed any piping that could be contaminated.

Misato looked around - everything seemed to be coming under control. As she considered her next move, she started. "Oh, shit. Rei!" She took off at a run for the shelter.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Rei slowly returned to consciousness. It was a strange experience. Usually she was awake, or she was not. She opened her eyes to see an unexpected ceiling above her. 'That's right. I was injured.'

She turned her head to see if she was in the NeRV hospital, or in Ritsuko's lab.

It was the hospital, but what surprised her was Shinji, asleep in a chair by her bed. He was still wearing his school uniform, with orange-red LCL stains smeared all over it.

A small smile quirked her lips as she slumped back into her pillow. It felt good to have him here. 'It would be optimal if he was always with me.' Rei paused to consider the implications. She knew people did that. But she also knew that it required that both parties agreed. A spike of fear lanced through her stomach. 'I will need to ask Shinji.' But what was she asking? Usually, she spoke her mind, not caring if the listener misunderstood her or not. But now it mattered. It was critically important that Shinji understand what she was asking.

'So what do I say? WHAT am I even asking?' She still didn't have an answer when she fell back asleep.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Shinji got out of the car and look up the cemetery hill.

"I'll wait for you here, ok?" Misato asked.

"Yeah, that's fine," Shinji hadn't wanted to leave Rei alone, but the nurse had informed him that she wasn't likely to wake up until tomorrow. And he had an obligation to his mother - today was the anniversary of his her death.

He took a breath and began the long march up to his mother's plot. He had been so young when she died, that he didn't really remember much about her, but he knew she had been warm and caring. Something his father was not.

The cemetery was huge, with many of the victims of Second Impact buried here. Her plot was a half mile walk from the closest car path. As he approached the site, he saw his father standing there.

Shinji walked up and stood next to him. Neither father nor son looked at each other. This was the first time they were together outside of work since... Shinji couldn't remember. Probably last year at this same time.

"We haven't been here together for three years," Gendo's statement came unexpectedly.

"Ok." Shinji glanced over at his father. He had the look of a hard man, with his face always hidden by his beard and his glasses, so you never knew what he was thinking.

'Why was I so intimidated of him?' He remembered wanting his father to be a bigger part of his life, but never knowing how to ask.

Shinji turned back to the grave. They stood together, not speaking any further for a few more minutes. Finally, a helicopter came to land a short distance away, and Gendo turned towards it.

Shinji watched his father walk over to the vehicle, 'Why did I want him to love me?' It was strange. If he wanted to get to know him, he could just ask. But he found he didn't have any interest in spending time with this aloof stranger. 'At least Misato tries to be supportive, in her inept fashion.' With a start, he realized that the person who's company he missed most was not his father, but Rei. It was her that he had been thinking about while he was supposed to be paying his respects.

He turned back to the grave of his mother. "Sorry," he muttered, and put the bouquet of flowers down before turning back towards Misato.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

Rei lay on the hospital gurney, a small wire studded helmet over her head, as Ritsuko scanned her mind for Angelic contamination.

She stared at the ceiling. 'It is too bad Shinji is not here.' She hadn't really expected him to be, but she hadn't expected him yesterday either, yet he had been there.

The Angel had tried to invade her mind by triggering strong sensations. It had been strange - usually she kept herself distant from everything. That was how Ritsuko, even Gendo had raised her. The only exception was the Hunger. The Angel had changed that, for a few painful hours.

Now she was again insulated. 'But do I want to continue like this?' The experience the Angel had inflicted on her had not been pleasant, but when she had discovered Shinji sitting with her, she felt...

She did not know what she had felt, but it had been something unique. Something special. She wanted to experience more of it. The first step was to reciprocate what Shinji had done for her. 'He asked me to smile. I will do that for him.'

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

The following day, Rei was still not back. Shinji ate lunch with Hikari, who was unusually cheerful, to the point of being playful (not something she normally did). She even offered to feed him, when he zoned out (which Shinji politely declined).

"Sorry, I'm a little distracted - Rei was injured yesterday."

"Oh, is she going to be ok?" Hikari asked, becoming serious again, 'I'll ask him tomorrow'

"Yeah - she's tough. Ritsuko said that they are going to keep her sedated for a couple of days, but that she should be back to school tomorrow." Though Shinji was hoping to swing by the hospital before then, after school.

The interminable day dragged on. Finally, as the bell released the students from the endless school, Asuka strutted to the back of the classroom.

"Hey, Shinji. Let's go to the mall."

Shinji stopped, surprised. Asuka usually ignored him in school, except on the rare occasions when she tried to interrogate him. But how she was asking nicely, not in her usual domineering fashion. It was a pleasant change, though it made him nervous. He glanced around the classroom to see if the rest of the class was watching or anything, but Kensuke (who recorded everything around him and posted it on Youtube) was trailing out the door after Touji, Hikari had left (apologetically) as soon as the bell rang to work on her food bank project, and the rest of the class was focused on their own personal issues.

Shinji considered - there was no sync training today, as the lab was still covered in fire suppression foam and Bakelite. 'I should visit Rei.' The abuse that the most recent Angel had put her through was horrific. And he had been useless throughout the ordeal - all he had been able to do was sit there and hold her.

He glanced at Asuka. She was trying to hide it, but he could see that this was important to her. "Ok." He would visit Rei afterwards. He felt a little bit bad putting her off, but the doctor had said that she needed to rest. 'She probably wasn't even awake yet.'

Also, he was a little embarrassed to go visit her: he was ashamed of not being able to help her against the Angel.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"I thought you wanted to go to the arcade." Shinji complained.

"That's childish." Asuka replied before glancing at Shinji. "Not that there is anything wrong with it, but I am a woman." They were currently in a hat store, and Asuka was modeling a hat for Shinji.

Seeing his disinterested look, Asuka put the hat back with a sigh. "Ok, how about I buy you dinner instead?" 'He's so exasperating!' This had worked with Kaji, when he had taken her swimsuit shopping. Well, it WOULD have, if he hadn't been mooning over Misato. But Shinji just smiled and acted polite. Why couldn't he just appreciate her? He was worse than Kaji!

"Ok."

"Come on, I read about this steakhouse down the street. That's where I thought Misato was going to take us after that falling Angel. The reviews are all stellar." Asuka took Shinji's arm in a familiar fashion. For once in her life, Asuka didn't have a game plan – she actually wasn't certain why she was doing this, but she urgently wanted SOME guy to acknowledge her as a woman. 'Maybe I'll give Kaji a call again.'

Shinji tried not look around nervously, to see if anybody was watching him walk with Asuka holding his arm. It wasn't like she was clutching it close to her chest or anything, it was just.. what old fashioned couples used to do as they walked together.

/\/\/\Beautiful/Night/\/\/\

"I can't believe the prices at that steak house! It was completely absurd!" Railed Asuka.

"It's ok. I was kind of expecting it." Shinji replied. The two were walking back home from the restaurant that Asuka had selected.

Without having had dinner.

"Is that your reply to everything? Every time you don't get something you want, you just say 'I was sort of expecting it'?" Asuka imitated Shinji tone of was in rare form, ranting at the injustice of the world & all of its inhabitants.

"You were the one who wanted to go. I am just as happy eating at home. I'll make something nice, to make up for you not going to the steakhouse."

Asuka fumed. She hated having to go back on her word, but there was no way she could afford those prices. She also hated how Shinji was trying to cheer her up, like she was a child. She glanced at him and frowned. Maybe she was the one who should apologize – he was trying to be nice, in his inept dweebish fashion.

But before she could say anything she was interrupted.

"Why are you here?"

Asuka looked up to see Rei standing in front of her, hands balled into fists, her body rigid, radiating a cold fury like she had never seen from the girl before.