I don't own Neon Genesis: Evangelion.

Aaauuuggghhh. It has been so long. Sorry about the promise I made to have a new one out in a couple of days. I had a brand new exam to study for. I hope you like what I have written. Please understand that this is the first Romance that I have written. Danka.

P.S. I don't know if this lives up to the /action/ part of my previous promise, but I like what I wrote.

Misato looked at Shinji uneasily. The young boy was taking his transference to his new residence rather well or so it appeared. Misato had even offered to let him keep Pen-pen to help feel more at home but Shinji had insisted that wasn't necessary. And besides, Shinji knew that Misatos's precious penguin was practically family to her. So instead Shinji had decided he would order a pet and from a non-local newspaper and have it sent to him through NERV's channels. And thus now as Shinji examined his knew quarters, recently furnished with furniture that he had picked himself from a catalog he was followed closely in heel by an eight weeks old Welsh Corgi.

Shinji, with as much grace as he could muster, navigated through the rooms, placing boxes down where appropriate, all while trying not to squash his new little friend.

As Shinji put down the last of the moving boxes he had brought from the truck Misato looked at Shinji wanly. "Are sure you are going to be alright Shinji?"

"I'll be alright Misato. I told you that being by myself is something that I can handle. You shouldn't worry about me."

Misato looked at Shinji, now even more worried than before. Shinji was already beginning to slide back into his shell. Despite the exterior Shinji was trying to project for Misato the young Major sensed that Shinji was not at all happy about leaving his home with her. "If you need anything or just want to talk you can call me day or night Shinji. You and the other pilots are still the biggest part of my job so say the word and I'll be here Shinji. Don't be afraid to ask me for anything," Misato said, looking at Shinji with a soulful expression.

"I believe he already understands this Major," said Rei from behind the Major, "you have repeated these offers to him already and I believe he is fully aware of his options."

Without turning around Misato gritted her teeth and, with a force of will, she composed herself before turning around. Since coming out of the coma, Rei had apparently become even more distant than before; except towards Shinji at least. Misato had once felt a sense of sympathy for Rei's failures as a human being, but that was before the Commander had put an end to Kaji's life. Now all she could think of when she saw the bizarre, young albino was how she worshiped the person who had killed her man. Still, Misato had been trying to reign in those feelings ever since he saw Shinji holding Rei's hand the other day at Nerv. It was not until the day after when Misato helped Shinji start buying new furniture for the new apartment that he had been hastily forced to move into that she had managed to get the story out of him.
* * *

Shinji stood outside of the Pilot's Ward, the room specifically reserved for himself and for the other two Eva pilots. He had been standing outside of the door for a few minutes as he tried to think of the right words to say to her. 'What should I say? I don't even know what she thinks about me anymore. I've never known what she really thinks about anything period.' Shinji had no doubts as to what his father had told him, even if it sounded impossible Shinji in his heart knew that Rei had been acting out on his own impulses rather than her own. That thought alone filled him with a sense of sickness and a sense that he had violated her in someway, making him wonder if it was even appropriate for him to be here. But in the end, whether this was right or wrong, Shinji knew he had to try or else he would have to live with the memory that he had runaway once again. 'Never again. I wont runaway anymore. If I runaway what will I accomplish? If I try than at least I will have peace of mind, however somber that peace may be. But what do I say to her? How can I face her if my /father/ is right about how I used her like a doll? And what in the world do I say to her if he is wrong? While she was sleeping I was sure that the words would just come to me, but now that the doctors say that she's awake I'm drawing a completely blank inside.' Suddenly Shinji's eyes narrowed slightly, his right hand knotted into a fist; straightening himself, Shinji began to walk towards the direction of the Pilot's Ward with his head held high. Shinji decided he just had to do it and no amount of planning out what to say was going to help him. He just wanted to know what Rei really thought about him. If she did reject him than there would be life afterwards but whatever the outcome he wanted to go forward.

Shinji smiled as he felt himself infused with a sense of resolve. 'There's nothing to be afraid of, Ayanami and I are friends after all so its not like she's going to just start laughing at me when I tell her how much I like her and want to be her boyfriend. I'm the only person besides the Old Man that she even cares about. And she died for me. No matter /what/ the Commander said, even he can't get around that fact. I probably could have been her boyfriend for months now if I had just thought to ask.' Shinji reached for the door handle and with that pushed the door open wide. The room was empty. Shinji looked at the empty room which seemed to smirk back at him with all its anticlimactic glory. Shinji's smile melted off his face. Closing his eyes, Shinji let out a deep sigh. After a moment his eyes flew open wide, once again invigorated with determination; purposefully Shinji turned around and walked off to find a nurse or physician or at least somebody who could tell him where he could find Rei. But try as he might, no matter how much he repeated to himself that everything was going to be fine and that he was more than up to the task, he could not deny that with in the pit of his stomach was an increasingly cold pain. As the strong, confident expression on his face became visibly strained Shinji increased his pace.
_ _ _

An hour later Shinji found Rei, dressed out in bandages, sitting in the cafeteria reading a pamphlet of some sort. Rei, as was typical of the young pilot, was so preoccupied with her current endeavor that she did not notice Shinji as he stared at her for a couple of moments just to the side of her a few paces off standing behind a table and a couple of chairs. Finally Shinji decided to make his move. Moving slowly but with purpose, his back straight and his head high, Shinji walked over to Rei. As he neared her table Rei continued to ignore him in favor of the thick pamphlet of papers that she was studying.

"Rei, can we talk?" The moment the words were out of his mouth Shinji instinctively felt sure that they were the wrong ones. The sense of resolve and determination he had been feeling drained from him. Rei slowly put down her pamphlet and turned to look up to see Shinji standing over her trying desperately to hold on to a smile while struggling not to look to tense.

"What would you like to talk about, Pilot Ikari?" 'Huh, can't she guess? I suppose if I /was/ the one controlling her actions than her memories would be hazy about the experience since she wasn't projecting any effort in to them. Plus she could have been unconscious at the time.' *Sigh* 'Doesn't matter, I guess. I still know that she must care about me some, so I'm past square one. Okay, focus.' "I just wanted to ask you about how you were." 'Dumb, dumb, dumb. She's got bandages on and her arm is in a sling, how do you /think/ she's doing.' "I mean, what did the doctors say." 'Okay that's better.' Rei regarded Shinji for a moment, an odd expression on her face, a mixture of slight disbelief and combined with an even greater amount of confusion and uncertainty. Then her face went blank again and her hands began to move towards the papers that she was reading.

"The doctors have informed me that my injuries are mainly superficial and will be healed in a couple of days. I have a slightly torn ligament in my left arm and must be careful with it for the next two weeks." And with that Rei, who had by then retrieved her reading material, went back to studying it. Shinji, who was feeling beginning to feel a sense of relief and frustration all at once looked at what she was reading, hoping that he could start a conversation around it. The pamphlets back unfortunately was blank.

"So what are you reading?"

"I am studying the technical specifications of my next Eva."

"What, there making another one?" 'Good,' Shinji thought. 'Eva is so important to her. It's the only way that she can feel that she isn't completely rejected by everyone. This thought brought back a memory to him, one of being absorbed along with his Eva into an angel of darkness. He remembered the conversation that he had with himself there and how the self which came from the angels perceptions had shown him that he piloted Eva for the praise and acceptance that being an Eva pilot brought him. Remembering this he decided that Rei's need for Eva was something that they had in common. "Congratulations Ayanami! I'm really happy for you."

"..."

"Um, Rei, I was, um hoping I could talk to you privately."

". . . Very well." Rei took the pamphlet of papers in her good hand and stood up. And with that they turned and left the cafeteria.

_ _ _

Shinji at first led Rei on an aimlessly through out NERV. Despite the fact that they both went up and down several flights of stairs Rei never once spoke a work to Shinji as he tried to decide where to go. Finally, standing in a hallway that led to a dead end Shinji turned around deciding that they had gone far enough. No amount of walking was going to calm his uneasiness about this meeting. Something was wrong. He had noticed it when he had come in contact with Rei in the cafeteria. But what it was he could not decide on. And thus Shinji had walked through out the corridors of Nerv, trying to decide on what it was, to afraid to say anything until he had figured it out. But now, faced with a dead end that whose sign read 'RESTRICTED AREA! DO NOT ENTER! TURN AROUND AND LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! ALL TRESPASSER WILL BE SHOT! THIS MEANS YOU!' Shinji decided that he had gone as far as he could and so he turned around to face Rei who was wearing her usual blank expression on her face. He smiled at her and silently reminded himself why he needed to loosen up.

"So, uh, Rei," *coughcough* 'loose, c'mon loose', "there was something else I wanted to ask you."

Rei regarded Shinji with an expression that was completely neutral. Suddenly in a flash of insight Shinji realised what was wrong: Rei was treating him the way she treated others. Rei usually treated Shinji in a way that was unique for her. When it came to others (except for the commander) Rei acted entirely indifferent. But, when it came to Shinji, her attention, which was usually unfocused to at least a superficial extent, always seemed to subtly draw itself to Shinji whenever he was around. But now when he looked into her eyes he saw no sense of familiarity towards him, nor did he sense the understanding that the two had seemed to share before the Angel of Might had come into there lives. Rather what he saw was Rei treating him with the exact same regard that she gave to everyone else. Cold, neutral, emotionless. Shinji paled slightly, unsure of himself or what he should do now.

"Rei, I would like to know what you think about me." Shinji looked at Rei, not sure of what to expect.

Rei blinked once, for the first time showing some hint of emotion. "You are my fellow pilot, is there something else that I should feel," she asked softly.

Suddenly all of the waves of doubt that Shinji had been suppressing started to crash down on him. Frustration, which led to a slight sense of anger, started to creep in. The last vestiges of the self assured exterior he had put on for Rei's benefit crumpled. Now Shinji stood there, standing in a lonely hallway, in a gigantic facility that was armed to the teeth with military personnel who were constantly on edge, standing before a girl that he had liked but whom he was now convinced didn't like him back, feeling more insignificant, embarrassed, and alone than he ever had in his entire life.

"Look Rei, I guess. . . I don't know. It's just that I . . . uh. . ." Shinji suddenly decided to say it and be done with it. "I just wanted you to know that I like you. Sometimes I don't know what to say to you but I've always felt happier when you were around. It can be rough being an Eva pilot, but when I have friends like you around the burden seems lighter. I'm not sure how you feel, but I just wanted to tell you how I felt. Also, I've heard that the theater was reopening in a few days and I wanted to know if you would like to go out with me. I thought maybe we could have fun together." Shinji thought that his words sounded weak but was proud that he had done as well as he had. He felt like he was about to throw up Rei regarded Shinji with her usual blank expression, causing Shinji's feelings of pride to dissipate rapidly and instead be replaced with more feelings of frustration. What was /wrong/ with her? Was she angry with him? Did she know that he synched with her, controlled her, made her act out his fantasy the way she had? Suddenly Shinji, as Rei stared back at him silently, wished to be elsewhere. Far, far away from Nerv, Rei, Eva, his father, and everyone else.

Suddenly Rei broke the silence. "Yes."

"What?"

"I would like to go out with you. I wish to be closer to you."

From there Shinji and Rei discussed what time they would meet before the first upcoming performance and where.

* * *

Rei III looked at the Major from the corner of her eye as Shinji took the box of china plates from her. She knew that the Major disliked her and this bothered her somewhat. Not in a personal sense, but rather it bothered her in regards to how it might effect the perceptions that Shinji had towards her. Being near Shinji brought to her the some of the same feelings of familiarity and closeness that being near his father brought to her. Or had brought the other Rei at least. Rei III's memories from the previous Rei held a small handful of instances in which the previous Rei had received expressions of kindness and warmth from the Commander which brought the second Rei feelings of warmth and being needed. But what ever warmth the second Rei had received from the Commander she herself had not inherited it from the second. On the contrary, the Commander had been disturbed when he had first laid eyes on her back in the tank in one of Nerv's secret laboratories. He had asked her if she understood her purpose and when she said that she did he had turned around and left. He had not spoken to her since then, but rather he had instead communicated to her through Dr. Akagi and the Sub-Commander. Rei could only guess at what had left him so shaken. But in the Commanders absence the third Rei felt the emptiness that had composed most of the being of the second Rei at full force within her. Fortunately that vacuum had begun to be filled by Shinji almost as soon as she had come into existence. For the past couple of days Ikari-kun had been spending time with her, and though she herself had not been talkative she had done as best as she could to encourage his continued attention. Above all else she had remembered to smile for him. She remembered from Rei II's memory that when she talked to the Commander that she would smile for him to get the best effect from him. The same seemed to be true for Shinji.

Rei heard the door open from down the hallway as Shinji appeared from his new room. "Rei, I need some help with getting the new TV upstairs. Could you help?"

"Very well," Rei said, smiling at him, the same smile that the second Rei once used for the Commander, and was rewarded to see a shy smile returned to her.
* * *

'It wont end this way,' thought Rei II. Rei II could see through the eyes of her double and hear every word that she said or was spoken to her. Despite the fact that they made this Rei aware of the fact that she was an angel from the beginning of her existence the second Rei could sense that the third was a far weaker entity than she herself was. The Second took an odd amount of satisfaction in this fact. Even though she had been discarded it helped her inside to know that she was superior to this new entity. She was jealous of the third. This thought had come to her with a shock a couple days ago, but when it did come to her she knew it was the truth. Rei had examined this emotion when it had come, trying to ponder its meaning. At first Rei II had assumed that she was jealous of the third Rei for the Commander's affection, but she discounted this as she saw that the Commander had all but ignored the third just as he now ignored the existence of the second. She then assumed that she was jealous of her because she now had her duties as a pilot, and would have the link to the lilim that she so treasured. But no, she herself had sacrificed her precious Eva along with her own life. What exists that could be so important as to sacrifice these things? Shinji. Rei had not realized just how much she had drawn from him if only as a warm and stable place in her life until almost a week of being locked down here had begun to sink in. She herself had admitted that she knew nothing what sort of person the Commander was. Deep down she suspected that the smiles which he gave her had been false, the warmth she received was merely an illusion.

And thus she concluded, that Shinji was literally the only person in the world that she could truly trust. She had been willing to die for him because she felt a bond with him that more real than the ones which she invented in some fashion or other. And for his part, Shinji had even begun trying to initiate a relationship with this forgery after her selfless act because he had thought that the third Rei was the one he had known and come to care about.

To be wanted was an almost alien feeling to the second Rei, who had always been an outcast to others. Even the Commander did not hide the fact that he saw Rei as a tool, however prized. But to know that someone did value her for what was inside her and was now giving that warmth to another was something that Rei II found maddening in her confinement. The intensity of this emotion almost scared her, and she attributed it to the way in which the Angel of Might had forced her to confront her emotions.

But what was she to do? She could not leave this cell. The Commander and SEELE would never give her peace. Rei thought about this and flexed her AT field with in while she brain stormed. Meditation and practice seemed to help exercise it and give it better utility, even if all she did was merely investigate the relations between the atoms in her fork, thus causing her to suspect that use of her AT field was mostly instinctive and could be thoroughly mastered with time.

Rei cast her senses to where the third Rei was now, apparently she and Shinji were enjoying an interesting conversation about the movie they wanted to go see when the theater reopened.

Rei, sickened, directed her senses elsewhere. She sensed that one of her 'sisters' had just been removed from dummy plug and was being released back into the tank. Wondering what sort of state it was now in she directed her senses into the empty vessel. Her senses flowed gently into the body, which, as it lacked soul, was a simple matter of entering and scanning. All in all, the body was in descent shape, apparently the test for it had not been anything strenuous. Through her connection to it through her AT field Rei intensified her connection to the clone and flexed its hands into a fist and stretched its body. Slowly its eyes opened and Rei was able to see through them. It seemed to be in good shape. Rei was about to let her senses drift back to where she was when suddenly inspiration struck like a thunder bolt. For the first time in her life, Rei let a grin slowly appear on her face.

* * *
Rei III and Shinji walked to school. It was still slightly damaged, but enough students had returned or stayed to warrant reopening it, although parts of it were closed off. Fortunately there were not /that/ many students left so there was still plenty of room to go around.

Shinji glanced at Rei III as the two of them reached the school and began walking up the stairs. She was looking distant now, but at least she was smiling, although he sensed that it was a smile that she merely put up for his benefit instead of any emotion she was feeling. Trying to get close to her was hard, although Shinji still wanted to try.

"Hey, dumpkhof, will you and wonder girl hurry up? Class is starting." Shinji glanced up the stairs to see Auska standing above him glowering.

"Yeah, coming."

"Hurry up. You have just GOT to see the new girl. I think Rei must have a sister or something."

Rei's head jerked up incredulously at Auska's words. Grabbing Shinji's hand she ran up the stairs half dragging him behind her. She stopped at the doorway of the class, her eyes wide at the spectacle before her. Shinji, who was paying no mind to this, but rather, had his attention focused on the cracks in the classroom and thus didn't notice the odd child standing before the rest of the class while they gawked at her.

The instructor cleared his throat and then said "students take your seats. We have a new student today." Shinji turned his eyes to the new students general direction and froze. The student standing before him was roughly his own age, but the similarities ended there. The student was a girl with deep crimson eyes, grey to near silver hair, and skin so pail that she was clearly an albino. The girl smiled before the other students, and Shinji thought that she seemed to be looking at him in particular.

"Hello, my name is Kawru Nagisa. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."