Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion and all rights go to their respective owners. Also all OC's are the creation of JimmyWolk himself.

SPOILER WARNING: This contains spoilers for the fanfic "The 2nd try" by JimmyWolk. So If you haven't read that then you should definitely stop right here and check that out first.

Summary:

A bored Aki end up in a difficult situation when her favourite red ball ends up stuck in a tree.

"Little Tree Monkey"

"I'm soooo bored."

Yes Aki was bored, so very very bored of playing by herself with her favourite red ball in the open garden. Earlier she wanted her parents to play with her but her Mama was busy working in the garden and doing other jobs around the house and her Papa had already gone to the lake to catch more fish.

Aki grimaced a bit at the thought about the fish. Remembering the time when she learned that the fishies her Papa had always brought home from the lake were made into dinner. For a while she adamantly refused to eat any fish related dishes her Papa made after that.

It got to the point that her Mama and Papa had tried to sneak fish into parts of her other foods but Aki quickly caught on to their schemes.

Eventually the two parents had enough, set her down firmly and told her the reasons why she needed to eat fish (many of which she didn't fully understand), so in the end Aki yielded but the girl made it clear she didn't wish to see her Papa hurting any of the fishies anymore.

Shaking her head of the memory, Aki was once again back to her current predicament, trying to relieve herself of her boredom. She did consider playing with the chickens but they didn't like playing, other than chasing them, but that got boring after a while.

She also considered exploring but she also remembered that she was told very firmly to never wonder off to far and out of sight away parents. Aki even asked her Mama if she needed help but her Mama told her that some of the chores would be dangerous for her.

Pouting Aki kept lazily kicking her ball while still trying to come up with something to do when she heard her Mama walking by. Happy to see her, Aki grabbed her red ball and began to run over to her mother, who she noticed was holding and covering her hand with a cloth.

"Mama!" Shouted a happy Aki.

Her Mama who was about to enter the house looked at her daughter and smiled at her while still holding her other hand in the cloth.

"Hey Schätzchen."

Thinking her Mama was done with the chores, Aki held the ball up to her. "Can we play now Mama?"

The look her Mama gave her didn't give her much hope that she would play with her. "Nein, Schätzchen, I'm still working."

Aki pouted at this answer. "Oh but Mama I'm sooo bored!"

Asuka sighed at this and gave her daughter a tired smile. " I know Schätzchen but I promise when everything is finished we'll do something fun ok."

Aki was disappointed but excepted it. Just as Aki was about to walk away she noticed the cloth that was wrapped around her Mama's hand was stained red and realised she was bleeding.

Clearly worried Aki dropped her ball got close to her mother. "Mama, you're hurt!"

Seeing her daughter worried about her Asuka gave Aki a reassuring smile. "It's ok Schätzchen, no need to worry. I just accidentally cut myself on one of the garden tools. So I'm going to get the first add kit inside, so stay here in the garden ok?"

Aki nodded but still clearly concerned for her Mama, even when she left to go inside the house. After a minute Aki was still clearly worried and in such a state kicked her red ball a bit too hard which resulted in it getting kicked so high and ended up being stuck in the nearby tree just outside the fence.

"Oh no."

Seeing her favourite ball stuck between the tree's branches, Aki didn't know what to do. She could wait for her Mama to get it down but she was inside patching up her hand and Papa was still out fishing.

Looking back to see if her Mama wasn't watching. Aki went out outside the fence and ran towards the tree. Looking up Aki could see that the tree wasn't that tall, it was about the same height as the house. At first Aki tried throwing a few stones to see if she could knock the ball off the branches but it wasn't budging so she ultimately decided to get it herself seeing as the tree wasn't that tall.

Slowly climbing the tree, a wave of fear started to hit her as this wasn't the same a climbing the ladder to the roof of house or exploring the rubble in the city, but Aki continued bravely knowing that if her Mama were to find her, it would be much scarier then this.

Much to her surprise Aki managed to get up to the branches very quickly and got the ball free and watching it fall back down to the ground. Feeling proud of herself for doing this on her own without the aid of her parents but now she had a different problem. How was she going get down?

From up there, it suddenly seemed much higher than before, and she felt a small sense of nausea.

Getting up here was easy but now that she looked down it seemed to be much harder and scary then she had thought. Maybe she should call her Mama for help after all? Surely, she'd get her down safely, she could do everything. But Mama would probably be upset. And worried. And she was already hurt.

No, she had to do it herself. Taking a deep breath, she firmly hugged the trunk and bravely, though very slowly, made her way down. There was one scary moment when she slipped, but she was almost at the ground and just jumped off.

Her little heart beating heavily in her chest, she picked up her red ball. With it in hand and walking back to the house, Aki looked back and it dawned on her that she accomplished that all on her own. A feeling of pride filled her. If she could do that, maybe she could climb something even higher next time...?

"Aki!"

Aki jumped at the voice of her Mama who she turned to see was wearing a stern face and now sporting a bandage dressing on her injured hand. She knew she had been caught red handed doing something she shouldn't have.

"Schätzchen, didn't I tell you stay in the garden?" Replied her Mama who had her hand on her hip in an intimidating stance. "You know you're not supposed to go outside the fence without me or Papa around!"

Aki was slightly surprised as she expected her Mama to severely scold her for climbing the tree, remembering the time when she went on the roof and was punished for it. Seemed she was lucky this time that she had managed to avoid being seen doing that little stunt and that her Mama was just upset for her going outside the fence without them.

Still Aki knew she did wrong with going outside the fence. "I'm sorry Mama but I was just getting my ball that's all." Aki knew it was a half truth but thought that what Mama doesn't know won't hurt or upset her.

Her Mama kept the stern look for a moment before sighing and given her daughter a tired smile before picking up her little girl.

"Ok I'll let it slide this time Schätzchen, but just remember next time to call for me or wait till I get back ok?"

Aki nodded as she was carried into the house.

End