Water dripped from the tap.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Two pieces of bread. Spread a scraping of butter over each, then a knifeful of jam on one. Lay the one
on the other and put the sandwich into a paper bag. A small apple, also.
She put the paper bag in her black satchel, and picked up her few schoolbooks.
School, again. She hated this.
Walking back. Pale blue hair lifted gently by a passing breeze. Another uneventful day.
Unexpectedly, her lip trembled. She stilled it with surprise, slowly becoming aware of the great
yawning pit of emptiness just behind her eyes. An odd dry feeling filled her mouth.
Every day was the same. Every day was just like this one. There was so little that had meaning- ever
more so, now, with the last of their opponents dead. Every day she went to school. She spent every day
at school staring out of the window, her mind filled with blankness and the dripping of water.
Sometimes it rained.
There has never been anything else, she told herself. This is what is. I will not ask for more.
Craa-orc!
The sharp, urgent cry made her blink. She paused, turned her head slowly from side to side. There was
nothing to be seen. A bird, perhaps; rare in this place, but not unheard of.
Nothing. She went on her way, walking with despondant slowness towards a dinner of ramen noodles,
two hours of study, and oblivion.
Water dripped from the tap.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Two pieces of bread. Spread a scraping of butter over each, then a knifeful of jam on one. Lay the one
on the other and put the sandwich into a paper bag. A small apple, also.
She put the paper bag in her black satchel, and picked up her few schoolbooks.
School, again. She hated this.
Walking back. Pale blue hair lifted gently by a passing breeze. Another uneventful day.
At the same place: Craa-orc!
How odd, she thought. That same noise that I heard yesterday. Once more she stopped. Stood. Looked.
The noise came again, softer, pleading. Kriii!
Rei was able to pinpoint the noise this time. Some small living thing, huddled there between the roots
of an ancient oak. The tree struggled through cracked paving cement to spread its shade, a strong one to
have survived all the battles this city had seen.
A dark, liquid eye gleamed. For an instant she was transfixed.
She took two, three hesitant steps forward. A strange creature! She was not even sure what its type was
called, whether it should be imaginary or extinct or both.
It looked at her again. Its gaze was open and astonishingly knowing.
The young girl turned aside and went on her way.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Two pieces of bread. Put the sandwich into a paper bag. A small apple, also.
She put the paper bag in her black satchel, and picked up her few schoolbooks.
School, again. She hated this.
Walking back. Shinji talked to her today. Well, tried to. Not much- she remembered:
"Raining again today."
No response. He hadn't talked to her for a while- he was even more nervous around her than he had
ever been. She didn't know why.
He'd leaned back in his seat. "Well, it's been three months, Ayanami. Do you think the Angels are
really gone for good?"
"Perhaps. Our training means nothing anymore. Maybe it is so."
From the way he blinked, she thought that he hadn't been expecting a response to that either. It was
true. The time spent in NERV was perfunctory and seemed totally without point.
Then the 2nd Child grabbed his arm and dragged him away, chattering wildly at him. Rei did not watch
them go.
Rei's attention snapped back to the present. The small creature was still there at the foot of its tree. She
stopped and observed it. An odd animal- golden and tawny, like a furry bird. About the length of her
forearm, but obviously not yet grown as its feathers were only pins and down. Two wings, yet four
legs- a pattern not observed by the few animals she'd seen.
As she studied the creature, it rose shakily to its feet and stumbled towards her. Its small tail waved
furiously, the only energetic part of it. She saw no reason to fear it, as it was much too young to do her
harm, and allowed its approach.
It sat on her foot.
Rei pulled back a little in surprise. Why would the creature do such a thing? It looked up at her, and
creeled. She regarded it, confused. It was obviously underfed, each rib standing clearly out from its
little body. Perhaps that was what it wanted from her- food.
She hadn't eaten half of her sandwich today, fortunately for the little beast. She retreived the paper bag
from her satchel, removed the half-eaten sandwich, and dropped it to the ground a little way away.
Instantly the beast turned and pounced on it, its hooked beak tearing into the soft bread.
While it was distracted, Rei made her escape.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Put the sandwich into a paper bag. A small apple, also. She put the paper bag in her black satchel, and
picked up her few schoolbooks.
School, again. She hated this.
Walking back. There it was again. As soon as it saw her it leapt to its feet, kiiii- ing in happiness and
expectation. It ran over to her and rubbed its small head against her leg.
A `gryffyn'. No, not quite; gryffyns had the head, wings and forelimbs of an eagle and the hindparts of
a great cat. This creature almost fit the description, but it had the forelimbs of a great cat instead of
those of an eagle. Well, she had to think of it as something, and the name `gryffyn' would suffice.
Today she had intentionally eaten only half of her sandwich, and had readied the other half as she
walked here. She dropped it to the creature, which ate it in two bites, and then jumped up to butt its
head into her hand.
Today Asuka had called her `wonder girl' again. She did not understand that, and did not like the way
it made her feel- the image it conjured up, of her fist striking the girl's face. Hikari had tried to talk to
her. Then she had fumed when Rei did not reply.
She took out her apple too. The gryffyn ate that as well, but with less enjoyment than it had showed for
the sandwich. "You are not nearly as confusing as they, little gryffyn," she murmured softly. It creeled
happily at the sound of her voice, sitting on her foot again. "You are simple, like me." She reached
down to remove the golden-furred lion's tail winding around her ankle. "All you want is food. That's
easy enough. I can handle that."
She nudged her foot out from under it and went on her way.
Plunk.
Plunk.
Four pieces of bread. Put the sandwiches into a paper bag. A small apple, also.
She put the paper bag in her black satchel, and picked up her few schoolbooks.
A week of school. Nothing happened.
Then the most unexpected thing- laid low by a human. As Rei exited the school, walking slowly as she
did every day, a large black car racing down the main street slammed its brakes on- to no point.
Rei felt the impact like a sledgehammer against her thigh. Wordlessly, soundlessly, she bounced onto
the bonnet and off it again, striking the road with an explosion of pain. She rolled over several times,
limply, like a rag doll, feeling each time her body heavily struck the asphalt.
She heard the sound of running feet before the world faded away from her.
Something different. A hospital bed. Familiar, too, in its way- she had spent a great deal of time here
also- but different. She looked down and saw with a sense of detachment that her leg had been broken,
and large patches of skin scraped off all over her. Her shoulder was sore. Skin missing there too,
probably. And an ache in her ribs suggested that a few of those had been broken. She closed her eyes.
She was used to pain- but it had been a while.
Coldly and methodically, she isolated every pain in her body, then reached (with a wince) for the chart
hanging above her head. Yes, they were all explained. Her body would heal.
"It will heal," a deep voice rumbled, echoing her thoughts. Commander Ikari. She turned to where he
stood by the bed. "Are you in pain, Rei?"
"Some," she answered honestly. She could never lie to him. "It will pass."
"The driver who hit you wished to send his apologies. Our agents investigated the situation, and it was
just an accident." Then there was warning in his voice. "You should always look before stepping onto
the road."
"Yes, sir."
He stood there for a moment longer. "The Angels may be gone, Rei, but your purpose is not yet
fulfilled. Don't go dying on us."
"No, sir."
He smiled at her- a gentle smile, one that she longed to see- and left.
Rei closed her eyes, letting her head fall to the side. She was not certain exactly what he had meant by
that. Was not her purpose to fight the Angels? Surely that was gone. There was no reason for her
further existance, not that she saw. But the commander was wise beyond her knowledge; perhaps there
was something else he needed her for before she could cease existance.
Curiosity was a bad thing, something she shouldn't feel, but she did.
Some time later, she heard the door to her large hospital room slide open, and footsteps move inside.
The visitor walked with uneven steps to the side of her bed, standing there for a moment before sitting
in the chair nearby.
Before she heard his voice she knew that it would be Shinji. "Oh, Ayanami," he murmured, thinking
her asleep, "I hope you're gonna be okay."
She considered whether to reply to that or not. Was it not self-apparent that she was not gravely
injured?
"Why am I here?" he asked himself out loud.
She was silent, only breathing slowly.
Shinji continued in his soliloquay. "I don't understand this, Ayanami. Rei. I can hardly bear to see you,
even now. I know it's not your fault. You had nothing to do with it. But I've seen you die so many
times. I hate it! Damn it, Rei! You can't do it again, you have no chances left! You didn't even look.
It's like you want to die, or something." His voice cracked a little. "I mean, there's a lot of bad things
to deal with, but there's good things too. Your life is worth living."
Finally he fell silent, somewhat awkwardly.
Rei's thoughts were troubled. She did not understand, either. What things in life were there that were
so good? To see the Commander smile that way, that was good. To feel peace, that was good. When
her purpose was fulfilled, he would smile and she would be given peace. That would be good.
That was a lie- she did not want to die.
Immediately she felt guilty of the thought. When it was time, she would go quietly and without
complaint. But. she did not want it to be time just yet.
Suddenly her eyes opened, and she turned to the seated figure.
He gave a tiny gasp of surprise at her movement, and the look in his eyes said that he had not meant for
her to truly hear those words. She did not comment on them, but spoke her own.
"Ikari, there is a thing I must ask of you."
His mouth closed, and she hastened before he could deny her, "It is not for myself that I ask this. I
know- I know that you don't like being near me, that you aren't - comfortable when I am near. I don't
know why. That is unimportant. Will you do this small thing?"
He looked down. "What is it?" he asked.
"There is- there is an animal that I feed. It is very young. I do not think it can feed itself. Please, Ikari, I
need you to feed it for me until I may leave this place."
She could see that he was surprised, and interested. "You have a pet?"
"I feed this animal, but I do not keep it."
"Oh. Well, sure, okay! Where is it, what does it eat?"
"I have been making an extra sandwich or two for it. I do not know if that is what it should eat, but it is
what I had. Also apples, but it does not like them." She tried to formulate directions. "It is halfway to
my apartment from school. On Itaikon Road. There is an old tree in front of a small house. It is always
nestled in the roots of that tree. It makes an odd sound, you will find it by that."
"What kind of animal is it? A cat, a dog?"
She didn't answer, but tore a strip of cloth from the sleeve of her hospital robe. She handed it to Shinji,
who took it, bemused. "This smells of me. It is more likely to accept food from you if it can smell this."
"That's a good idea." He folded the strip and tucked it into his pocket. "Has it eaten today?"
"No. I was on my way to it when." She looked at her leg. "I have its food here for today, if you wish
to take it."
"Um- sure."
Her shoolbag was by the bed. She retrieved the brown paper bag from it and handed that to Shinji too.
"Its name is Gryffyn," she volunteered.
"Okay," he nodded, standing to leave. "You- will you be alright?"
"I'll be well in a short while," Rei answered.
The nervous boy paused with his hand on the door, as he heard Rei say softly, "Thank you."
Itaikon Road. Shinji clutched the bag with its sandwiches, looking around for a tall tree. He wandered
slowly down it- and there it was, an ancient tree bursting through cracked pavement. She hadn't even
told him what sort of an animal to look for, he remembered. And surely sandwiches couldn't be a
healthy food for any young animal.
He still couldn't believe that this was the favour Rei had wanted to ask. Who would have thought that
she would feed an animal even once, much less make a habit of it? Not that he was being mean to her,
just. that was so far from what he had seen of her nature.
He couldn't hear any `odd sound', so he walked over to the tree and looked into the deep crevasses
between the roots.
Then sprang back in shock.
The young gryphon was curled between two roots, deep eyes watchful on him. Its fur and budding
feathers were a rich, buttery gold. Needle-sharp claws showed from each of four feline paws. Its
lionlike tail slapped upon its flank, wings folded flat to its back, and its hooked eagle's beak was a few
shades darker than the rest of it. Pinfeathers spilled from its head and wings down its shoulders and
chest; when it was fullgrown, they would make a thick ruff.
Full-grown? It must have been nearly two feet long now! It would be huge when it was grown, if it was
that big as a baby!
This was Rei's pet?!?!!
Feeling his shocked eyes on it, the gryphon cub hissed furiously, mantling its wings in a show of
warning. Shinji backed off a few steps in response, and the hiss eased its intensity. Cautiously, he
pulled the strip of cloth Rei had given him from his pocket, and slowly extended that hand toward the
creature.
Warily, the gryphon let his hand approach- then nabbed the cloth with a lightning-swift beak. Shinji
clamped down on his muscles to prevent jerking his arm away- he had more sense than to make such
sudden movements near such an untrusting animal. How had Rei, as shy and gentle as she was,
managed to tame it? The gryphon was rubbing its head against the strip of cloth, and a slow creeling
came from its throat- obviously one day was enough for it to begin missing its mistress.
Shinji slowly drew his hand back, and took the sandwich out from his bag with that same slowness.
The beast's eyes locked on it- it knew what it wanted. Shinji sat on his heels and carefully dropped it
near the tree's roots. "There you go," he said in a low and reassuring voice. "That's from your mistress.
She won't be able to come for a while, I'll be feeding you until she can come back herself."
He watched the gryphon sniff the proffered sandwich; it evidently approved, and tore into it heartily
with its viciously hooked beak. The odd long ears that had until now been plastered along its neck
swivelled forward, and its tail was lashing in satisfaction. Overall, it was a very handsome little
creature. The gold colouring was quite lovely, and it was pleasantly proportioned with a sweet face and
large round eyes. Not a bad pet at all, really, even though it was a mythical animal- wasn't it? And how
lucky Rei was to find it now! When it was full-grown, if it remained loyal to her, it would surely be a
powerful ally.
But he shouldn't spend too long near it. He stood, slowly, and walked away.