Interlude: "The Cunning Women"
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2005
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"It's been a little while."
When Naoko Akagi heard about Yui's accident, her first instinct was to pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate. When she heard Yui had returned and was allegedly stark-raving insane, Naoko popped open yet another bottle to drown her sorrows. God was spitting in her eye. Yui was the one person Gendo Ikari possessed unconditional love for, insanity was no object to him.
Ritsuko called Naoko's reaction to the whole situation crass. Naoko tried teaching her the ways of the world, out of love or a simple need for her not to drag down the Akagi name. If you wanted something, you either took it or stood aside. There was no other rule than this. And after some soul-searching and finding some concerning information about the nature of Yui's departure, Naoko realized Yui had something she needed.
"Naoko." Gendo turned. The light from the glass pane behind him silhouetted him. "It's not a good time."
"I want to see her."
"Not a good idea," Fuyutsuki said. "Kyoko's in there. Yui seems to tolerate her. But you…"
"I can handle myself."
With a sigh, Gendo rapt his knuckles on the glass twice. Naoko stepped forward but Gendo held up his hand. Wait. Odd that Gendo was actually worried about Naoko's safety, or perhaps the man thought Naoko would unbalance what little remained of his wife's mind. Gendo curled his fingers toward Naoko. Come.
The emaciated, ragged mess that Naoko assumed was Yui Ikari wavered unsteadily in her chair as she entered. Her hands were tied behind her chair in a slapdash fashion. Naoko sincerely hoped Kyoko was better at designing bi-pedal war machines than tying knots, though Yui wasn't exactly a powerhouse even in her prime. She was unlikely to break the restraints anytime soon.
There were papers strewn across the table between Yui and Kyoko. From a distance they made no sense, and Naoko wasn't certain their contents would be any clearer up close. Kyoko was in the middle of some sort of rant, as Naoko could hear her shrill voice echoing from the stairs she entered from.
"I need to know, Ikari," Kyoko was saying. "I need to know how to save her. There has to be something you can tell me."
Yui opened her mouth and a short stream of nonsense come out, little more than the gurgles and sad attempts at speech Ritsuko would make as a toddler. Naoko didn't know whether Yui was even lucid.
"Ikari, I need you to focus. Try and focus." Kyoko punctuated every word with her fingers, stressing each syllable. "Is this all that's left of the brilliant Yui Ikari? A babbling invalid? You were perfectly capable of holding a conversation earlier."
A glint caught Yui's eye, the woman lifting her head and gazing past Kyoko. She locked eyes with Naoko, and some sense of reason returned to her.
"Had to see this for myself," Naoko said.
"Does this bring you satisfaction?" Yui said, her words slurred. "Seeing me this way?"
"Not as much as I thought."
Kyoko turned, her face twisting with barely concealed disgust as she noticed Naoko standing behind her. "What did you want, Akagi? I don't have time for petty marital spats."
"Doctor Soryu. A pleasure as always."
"Go fuck yourself. I'm trying to save my daughter. You just came here to gloat."
"I have a daughter as well, Soryu."
"A daughter who hates you."
How could a woman be so intelligent, and yet so naïve? "She might. I don't care. I know what's best for her, and I'm going to protect her even if I have to drag her kicking and screaming to salvation."
"It doesn't matter," Yui said. "it's over. They won."
"Are you the only person on Earth capable of coming up with a plan, Yui?" Slowly, carefully, Naoko approached the table. Yui's eyes were on her the whole time. "You had a strategy. A good strategy. And, clearly, you were willing to sacrifice yourself to see it fulfilled. But now, your plan is a bust and we need a new one. That's all."
Kyoko followed on the heels of Naoko's words. "Ikari, I am not letting Keel-fucking-Lorenz dictate my daughter's life. I'll kill her myself first. And I'll take your son and Akagi's daughter with her. I know you understand where I'm coming from, considering your recent actions."
A morbid notion, the thought of killing your own child to spare them a worse fate. Naoko would hesitate to end Ritsuko's life, if only because she was old enough and intelligent enough to think of a solution which eluded the three of them. But Shinji and Asuka were children, and still would be children when SEELE's insane prophecies came to pass. What could they do against the old men of SEELE?
The relationship between Naoko and her daughter was, simply put, distant. Ritsuko would often send subtle jabs Naoko's way to annoy her or drag down the Akagi name. But Naoko still loved her daughter, against her better judgement. Ritsuko would be the caretaker of Naoko's magnum opus, the MAGI, in the increasingly likely event of her death.
Thinking about the situation, no. A mother knew best. If Naoko couldn't think of a way to save her daughter's life, then that was that. But they needed Yui and her Unit-01.
"Yui," Naoko said. "we can hardly cure your condition with a pep talk…I know. But I need you to try. For Shinji."
"I can't. My mind…I can't trust myself."
"I know. You won't ever be whole, but we can make you functional. With a lot of work and some luck. Working together." Naoko nodded towards Kyoko then leaned over, her face nearing Yui's. "I hated you because you married the man I loved. I smiled when you were gone. But right now, I need you. I need you to help us outwit the devil we sold our souls to."
"How?"
Kyoko rotated her wrist and weaved her fingers like thread flowed between their gaps. "Magic used to be God's domain alone. But now we work from his fabric. And when his servants finally come for us, we'll take the power we need."
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