Conversations and Observations Chapter One Part 3: Body and Soul

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Author's Notes:

Ah, I had some time this weekend to work on this.  This part will be shorter than the others – mostly because I want to be sure that I do a good job with it.  I do not wish to disappoint anyone out there – after all, you are the fans who may end up buying the original fiction I plan on publishing eventually :).  In fact, I might try publishing something very soon… I feel like my current employer's boat is sinking rapidly.  [Author watches as the last two rat families quickly pack tiny suitcases and rush off said ship.  One stops and timidly hands a very tiny scrap of paper to the author.   Author grabs a magnifying glass and reads the miniscule writing: "I'd start looking for another job if I were you" said the note in tiny, but flawless script.  The rat pats a tiny claw against the toe of the author's shoe and scurries away.  Author shakes his head then continues] So… If anyone has any suggestions – please feel free to email me pvalpha@yahoo.com.

Ah, where was I – yes… that was the place.  Ok, now I haven't put anything in here yet that would up the rating.   Although these are fictional, animated 14/15 year olds, there may be content that you will find disturbing.  As always, Don't let children under the age of 17 read this unless your looking over their shoulder.   Of course, if you're looking over the kid's shoulder, you should be covering their eyes as well.   

All in all, it's not that bad, I promise.  It is the beginning of the intimacy between Rei and Shinji.   It's also where I'm going to start showing my lack of experience in this subject (Subject: Sex – Author Experience = 0) – so please read and review.    Remember this story is primarily a Shinji/Rei story, but I have a battle going on whether or not to give Asuka a shot as well :) that is hinted at in this chapter.

Enjoy.

PitViper

-

Tuesday Morning.  

Rei's slumber suddenly ended at 4:59am.  Actually, this time it wasn't a instant end to the dreamless world she often experienced when she closed her eyes – she had began to awaken at 4:58am, and after about a minute of slow stretches and eye/nose rubbing – which was a chore because she was still entangled with Shinji - she finally was able to separate the upper eyelid from the lower one on her left eye.  With that task accomplished, she managed to crack open the right eye.   The vision she glimpsed would be considered by some to be disturbing – to others inviting.   To her – it was simply perfect.  She looked at the entangled form of Shinji, and smiled.  'I like this warmth.  I... must never allow what happened yesterday morning to happen again.   I will live, Shinji.  I will try my hardest to do that.  It is for both of us.'

"Rei..." Shinji muttered, his dream incorporating her into its complex dance.  Her motion and minor movements had started to pull him to consciousness.  

She stroked his hair back, understanding his wishes – he didn't want her to leave, he didn't want to wake up.  Neither did she, but she knew she had to.  Even without her mechanical alarm clock, she knew that it was time to wake.   The darkness outside was beginning to take a warmer glow.  Still night, but close enough to the dawn to make a difference.   Her alarm clock would be silent this morning, since she did not set it.  She focused on his face, "I love you, Ikari Shinji." 

"Luv... Rei... Too..." Shinji replied sleepily.  "Happy..."

-

"I love you, Ikari Shinji..."  The words echoed in Gendo's mind as he watched the audio-only display of the Third Child's surveillance monitor.    

He stopped the playback, and hit a control on his desk.  "Discontinue audio monitoring of the Third Children's room immediately." He said.    

"Yes Sir." The voice replied, then hesitantly asked, "For how long, Sir?"    

"Indefinitely," Gendo allowed his fingers to push up his glasses, then brought his fist down upon the controls of the link to security.   "Damn her." He whispered. "How... it must have been him... somehow.  No doubt exists... he is my son." Gendo sighed to himself almost in defeat.

Gendo cautiously opened a hidden drawer in the desk.  "Yui... Why?" He whispered, gazing at the small ivory framed picture of Yui, Shinji and himself.  "His own sister..."

"Not quite." A voice came from the shadows.  "Remember, I was involved as well in her genesis." Fuyutsaki came forward into the light.  "I think that Yui would be quite amused by this."  He smiled softly as if in memory of better times, "Perhaps, she might encourage it.  Rei isn't Yui, after all…"

"Damn her, Kouzou." Gendo spat, having ignored most of Kouzou's comments.  "Rei - she should not have been able to do this.  She hides something from me." 

"Rei makes her own decisions now, Gendo." Fuyutsaki intoned, the smile becoming cold.  "I had wondered if she'd see the light one of these days.   After all, it was you who trapped her.  She knows your bargain and knows that your end was not kept.  The price of immortality is knowing how long you've been alive, and knowing that time will continue far past the time you've already lived. After all, what is a bank of never-ending Ayanami clones if not immortality?"

Gendo couldn't help but smile, "Ah, Fuyutsaki-sensei.  You truly believe that?"

"I know it." Fuyutsaki said, the smile gone.  "You don't get to be as old as I am without learning it along the way." 

"I will not stand for this." Gendo said.  

"You have no choice.  The... only time you will be able to do... it... is during the next angel attack.   You know that killing her outright is not a possibility.  It would alienate the Third.  I don't think that you would want to deal with _that_ fury combined with what Unit 01 would unleash."

"It would certainly be 'Red Earth'" Gendo mused.  "But not the way I envisioned it."

"The earth would turn red, Gendo.  But only where you stood," Fuyutsaki said.

Gendo sighed, "I did breed that malice in him, didn't I?"

"A father who rejects his son.  I am sure he feels for you the exact love you have shown him." Fuyutsaki said sarcastically.  

Gendo laughed at this, "He is too much his mother to return my love in the same manner as I have shown him."

"The world is a better place for it, I might add." Kouzou whispered softly, and then smiled at the Commander.  It was another cold smile.   

Gendo chose to ignore it, "He would probably trigger Instrumentality himself for that.  Just to return her.  Funny - we have the exact same tastes in women." Gendo mused.  

"Not exact, Gendo." Fuyutsaki countered, "He loves a thing that should have been incapable of returning that love.  That says a lot about our theory. And even more about what Yui gave him - what he possesses is a powerful thing, he changed her heart.  It means those scrolls are damn useless."

"It only means that Rei needs a memory loss - Induced by death.  The thirteenth angel will see to that.  Shinji's punishment will be to watch Rei die, then have his revenge removed from his by the dummy system."   

At this, Kouzou felt a cold, harsh chill creep up his spine.  Killing Rei was one thing – since it wasn't really death… but this?  "This is wrong!  Yui would never approve!"

"You sat by as I did when she made the decision to pilot Unit 01.  We knew the theory - and the possibility.   She knew as well.  You think her judgment would stop me from doing this!  I should have stopped her then, threw Naoko into that beast - but no!  I stood by, following her plan. Well, her plan's out the window Kouzou - Rei just forever undid what innocence Third Children had possessed.   I should kill them both for it... I just may do that anyway." 

"I don't know you." Kouzou said, backing away from the man who's glasses were not offering a comforting barrier.  'Of all the times to see this man's eyes – crazy eyes, empty eyes, soulless eyes…' 

Gendo sneered, "You never did." 

"You won't succeed." Kouzou said haughtily.  "You can't kill me."

Gendo smiled, "I don't have to."  He looked at a small device sitting next to the picture in his drawer.   'This was what she used.  Had we only known - but it serves a more powerful purpose.  It can recover a soul.'  "Kouzou, I will retire you now.  But you will be in this office tomorrow morning, without a clue what happened."  Gendo produced a gun.  But he also wanted Kouzou's fear.  So he also held up Yui's thought transducers - her original design.   

Kouzou instantly recognized the device, "You... Wouldn't dare!" 

"Technology has advanced much since then.  You won't remember anything in the morning.  I promise." Gendo said - pulling the trigger.  

The shot rang out - and the sound of a body thudding to the floor was all that could be heard after that.  Gendo admired his handiwork from his desk – 'how easy it has become…' Gendo mused as he got up and moved to loom over the freshly dead body.   He used the boot of his shoe to move Kouzou's now dead form slightly, revealing the bullet wound that entered his chest, destroying that precious muscle known as a heart. "Not exactly what you expected, was it, sensei?"

Gendo placed the thought transducers onto the corpse of Kouzou, then went back to his desk, and pressed a few buttons - accessing the Magi.   The words "Transferring..." appeared in a holographic screen above his desk. He had samples of Kouzou's DNA, and knew that the cloning process that created Rei was perfected.   For a human - to be transferred to an identical shell of his former person... it was a simple task.   After all, Corpus Eternum refused such bonding, but Corpus Mortalis accepted it without fail.  'But then why did Unit 01 steal my Yui?' Gendo asked himself.  

"Why?" Gendo asked again, looking at the dead corpse of Fuyutsaki Kouzou. He thought of Rei, now.  His dear, sweet, innocent Rei - he already longed to have her back.   'I will not display my knowledge until after the Angel attack... then it would be fitting.  A tool to use against Shinji.  Yes.  A valuable tool...' 

-

"Concentrate." Rei instructed, her voice formless yet substantial in the mental realm. 

Shinji and Rei had already achieved synchronicity - Their AT-Fields were touching as they shared the intimate dance of mental energies.  Tendrils of thought harmonized into intricate patterns: patterns that took shape into a world familiar to both minds.  Together they sat upon a wide stretch of grassy land, billowing white clouds filling a rich, blue sky.

Of course, their bodies were sitting in Rei's apartment.  But that's not where their minds were at this time.   They were exploring each other on levels never before touched by human souls.   Gentle nudges and delicate probes allowed Shinji to hone his reflexes in the mental realm, while learning incredible things about the depth and extent of Ayanami's mind.  In his mind, Rei was a glowing being – whose human arms and hands were but two of many delicate appendages that stretched out from her form.  The illusion was of a glowing angel – an angel of the kind noted in the Bible and other religious Christian texts.  

"You are beautiful, Rei.  Inside and out!" Shinji said within the mental realm. 

Rei smiled grandly for him.  "Thank you, Shin-chan."  The communication was for her beloved only - Asuka still refused to relax, and still failed at synchronization.  She knew how Shinji perceived her mental image – her soul – but did nothing to dispel the belief that she was anything but gentle and kind.   For those glowing appendages that represented her mental 'hands' were for a far more devious use than the gentle caresses and calming touches she was directing now.  Those gentle tendrils could, in a thought, turn into viscous, barbed spears of psychokinetic energy.  They were designed to impale and eviscerate an opponent, or to form together to produce an unyielding barrier that would protect her sensitive, innermost light.  Rei looked at Shinji as she gently probed him, seeing tendrils that had tightly wound themselves around his light loosen slightly.  With a little training, Shinji would be as adapt as she at directing the light of his soul.  She smiled at the thought, then directed her mental energy towards Asuka.  The lone tendril sent in her direction met a barrier that was so tightly wound together that her tendril – no matter how fine she tried to make the thread of its existence – could not find a single opening.   Rei frowned as she realized that Asuka had not been able to even lower her barriers to the point of sensing her presence.  As it was now, Asuka was even more introverted than before.  With a small sigh, Rei faded slightly in the mental realm as she focused more on her physical form.  

Ayanami's eyes opened in the real world to see a scowling Asuka.  Sweat was beading down her furrowed brow, and her eyes were squeezed shut. Ayanami shook her head.  "I said relax Asuka.  Not strain yourself." Rei watched emotionlessly as the girl's eyes snapped opened widely.  

"Well... It's got to be soooo easy for you and Shinji-sama over here," Asuka jutted a thumb in Shinji's direction, "Been practicing outside class?" Asuka asked with a sneer.  

Rei frowned slightly.  "Why can you not accept it?" 

"I have!" Asuka said.  "He loves you," then added silently, 'And Me.'

"You have not.  Understand, Shinji-kun makes his own decisions..." Ayanami started but was interrupted by the fiery red-head. 

"Damn you.  He can't think straight with you plastered all over him...  I know he spent the night with you Sunday night, and you spent the night with him last night!" She said.  

"How..." Rei started and suddenly realized her error.  'She didn't know. She was baiting me...' 

Asuka's eyes widened in shock and horror.  "Mein Gott...  You... He... You're sleeping together?" 

Rei looked at the Second Child, tears were beginning to fill her azure eyes. Rei tried to calm her fears, "It is not what you think..."

"Oh no?  I'd suspect that it was worse," Asuka intoned angrily, "So how did you like your first time?"

"We slept Asuka... Not had sex, just slept."  Rei assured the girl.  "I told you, that I was tired of being alone... Why does it surprise you that Shinji would be equally as tired of being alone?"

"Because... He.... Is the only decent boy I know," Asuka whispered.  "At least he was."

"Do you wish to sleep with him?" Rei asked, knowing that Shinji would have a tantrum if he had heard any of this.   

"You wouldn't just let me sleep with him!" Asuka accused, "No.  You wouldn't." 

"Why not?" Rei asked.  "Oh..." Rei said, suddenly seeing Asuka's point of view.  "I mean sleep as in sleep.   You mean sleep as in sex."

"And you're telling me that you were able to spend two nights in his bed..." 

"We embraced." Rei added.  "Our bodies touched."

"And you don't call that SEX!" Asuka screamed.  

"No.  He never penetrated me.  I was wearing my night clothes, he was wearing his.  We simply shared warmth.  Do you wish to share with us tonight?"

"EEW!!! Disgusting!" Asuka said.  "I can't imagine that Shinji-kun can control himself that well..." 

"Try it and see." Rei suggested at a whisper.  Part of her did not want the second child there; however, another part knew it was necessary.  It was that logical part that won over the emotional part – if only because logic was something she was familiar with.  'Why then is there this ball of ice in the pit of my stomach?' Rei mused to herself as she observed the Second. 

"What... you're... you're serious!" Asuka exclaimed, befuddled.  

"Of course.  Although I think Shinji would be quite upset..."

Asuka looked at Rei – an emotion-filled, pleading look - and Rei sighed. 

"You look at love differently from me.  You both would recoil because your minds have a preconceived notion that things such as sharing warmth are disgusting and perverted because they are tied to other notions in your minds that are disgusting and perverted.   Sharing warmth is not the same as Shinji putting his seed in your body.   Sharing warmth does not mean that Shinji and I are making love - although it's an intimate part of our love for each other."  

"This is insane." Asuka muttered.  "I think that I would have liked the synchronization training better."

"Your problem does not stem from the condition that exists between Shinji-kun and I." Rei stated. "Something else troubles you.  Please, you must trust us.  We will not invade your mind.  What you share in the synchronization is your choice."

"I can't trust that baka..." Asuka said, looking at Shinji, "To stay out of those places I might try to hide.  How can I trust him?  I barely know him despite almost a year living with him."

"Then join us tonight." Rei said.   "You will discover that there is nothing to fear... unless you try to do something with Shinji.   I warn you this once, if you try to force him - I will show you the true terror of my power."

Asuka looked into the clone's red eyes, "What is that?"

"I will share with you my time imprisoned beneath the GeoFront.  All of it - Eleven MILLION YEARS of absolute nothing." Rei stated coldly.   "I lost myself after a millenium.  I wonder how long it would take you to lose yourself in your own mind... you see, the worst things you ever have experienced come to haunt you in that time.   Trust me when I say that you wouldn't like what you found after a year, let alone a thousand.  After a million, you would long for even the painful memories – because you would have nothing left in your mind." 

Asuka simply stared.  

"I would have a sister when you awoke the next morning... Oh yes, I can do it so that you experience that in one night.   I could repeat the process every night there after, if I so chose." Rei stared into her eyes.  "After eleven million years, I took the first deal I had with Gendo to escape. You'd do the same thing, I'm sure."  

"You couldn't do that..."  Asuka stated haughtily.  After all, who would believe such a ridiculous story?

Rei stared at her for a moment, and Asuka's eyes fluttered for a instant, and when they refocused...

"GOD!  NO!" She said.  "Where... Am I?"

Rei blinked once, "In our apartment, Asuka."

"What... what day is it?"

"It is Tuesday - the same day that you experienced a week ago.  That darkness, the eternal drip of my wounds - that was my only company towards the end."  

Shinji had frowned slightly.  Ayanami was trying to keep him calm. Despite his submergence in the trance like state he shared with Rei, Asuka's scream was loud enough to be heard by even him.  

"Y...You did... that..." Asuka said, looking at her hands, and her body. "I..." 

"Do not ever forget, that was what I experienced for countless millennia." Rei said.  "I have served a time for punishment.  I will not willingly return to it unless the circumstances are grave." 

"W... Why?  Why are you like that, Ayanami?"

"I do not know." Rei said honestly.  "I did... Something.  I do not know what.   I will never know, probably.  Like I said, after a million years, you long for even a painful memory to dispel the nothingness of existence." 

"I'm sorry, Rei." Asuka said, and for the first time in her life, she meant it. 

Rei nodded softly, "Now, let us try again.  We have until Friday to learn the Trinity.  If we do not, I fear for our continued existence."

-

Tuesday Evening.

Shinji stared at Rei, "You what?!?"

"Please, Shin-chan.  Trust me." Rei said at a whisper.  

"B-But..."

"Shinji-kun?" Rei asked the near panicked Shinji, "She must learn to trust us.  Otherwise the Trinity will never occur."

"I...I..." Shinji studdered.  

"She will only be with us..." Rei said. 

Shinji looked at her oddly right before he shook his head sharply, "That's not the point!  I want you, Rei.  Not her...  It's wrong..."

Rei sighed, "What's wrong, Shinji?  Sleeping with another who is your friend?  We use the affectionate for each other, but we are still little more than friends.  Close as we may be, we have not yet crossed that chasm to the intimate.  What you say is wrong for Asuka would then be wrong for us.  Do you believe that Misato's argument is right?"

"N-no, Rei-chan." Shinji said, dejected, "But... you... I thought that we progressed beyond the friend stage." 

"We are still only friends.  Boyfriend and Girlfriend." Rei said. 

"That means more than just friends!  You call me your 'boyfriend'?" Shinji asked.  

"What is more?" Rei said emotionlessly.  'I think that they call this teasing...' "You are a boy.  I am a girl.  We are friends.  Therefore we are Boyfriend and Girlfriend." She knew though, that it was indeed more.    

"Ayanami, those terms mean more.  Kaji is Misato's 'boyfriend.'" Shinji stated.  

"Kaji is Misato's lover." Rei stated.  "So you believe that the term I used belongs in that category?"  Rei smiled internally, "Then I have lied."  Her face turned to a frown, "I have dishonored myself, for what I have said is not truth...  But there is a way to make that truth..."  

Shinji backed up, "What do you mean?"

"Make love to me." Rei breathed seductively. 

"I... I can't.  Not yet," Shinji stuttered. 

"Ok… Then, perhaps, something different - I am to understand then that Boyfriend and Girlfriend are more than regular friends.  They are intimate, but are they intimate on a sexual level, or something else?  I need not remind you that kissing is sexual, do I?"

"It's different.  I am a virgin..."

"This shell is also a virgin." Rei replied.

Shinji looked at her, "You said 'shell', that implies that you are not a virgin, and that you have experienced it before." Shinji reflected, 'She splits hairs with me.  What is she up to?'

"If I am of Lilith, then I have - because I have given birth before.  It is the story.  But I know nothing of it.  I have no memory." Rei said sadly. 

"I see." Shinji said tersely. 

"So..." Rei said, "You wish to not have intercourse with me.  Do you wish to do other things with me?"  She realized that Asuka would be returning from Hikari's within an hour - she wanted to do something more meaningful with Shinji before they were forced to share.  'I wish to make him mine... Is that wrong?'

"I... I am not averse to kissing." Shinji said. 

"You would kiss me on the lips?" Rei asked mischievously.  

Shinji nodded.  

"How about on the neck?" She whispered, and Shinji nodded again.  "Those are innocent places." Rei confirmed.  'Well... not really, but...' "Would you be 'averse' to holding me?" Rei asked next.  

Shinji looked at her, "Have we not awakened to each others' embrace?"

"We have." Rei confirmed.  "But would you go farther than simple hugging?  Would you… touch me?"

"Where?" Shinji asked her, gulping in the same instant.  

Rei walked forward, and began running her hands over Shinji's shoulders, then cupped his face.  "Like this." She said, running her hands delicately down his arms, and taking his hands to her own shoulders, and moving them up to her face.  She felt a slight blush on her cheeks.  

"I..." Shinji said, not moving his hands, but letting Rei manipulate him.  

"Do not ever call me a 'Doll' Shin-chan." Rei said, smiling.  "For you are like a marionette within my hands..."

"Rei!" Shinji screeched. 

"It is truth!" Rei stated - a pout on her face, "You do nothing of your own."

"But... Rei..."

"Why?  Why do you not wish to join with me?" Rei asked sadly, keeping his hands in relatively innocent places. "It could be… nice."

'I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away... I mustn't run away...' Shinji repeated this mantra to himself.  This made any erotic dreams he had previously pale considerably.  "I... I don't... I - I've heard... I would hurt you!  I don't want anything with us to be associated with pain." 

"And you think that by withholding from me, you cause me less pain?" Rei asked softly.  "Baka." She said at a whisper. "I know you are not ready for intercourse.  But this refusal to join with me, in other ways, is frustrating.  I need you, Shin-chan.  To me, this is pain - but it is not the pain I feel compared to being without you.  I can tolerate this pain, until you are ready." Rei admitted. 

"Y-you want me... to..." Shinji said, bringing up his hand.    "I would expect something like this from Asuka.  She is forceful.  But this... from you Rei?"

"I..." Suddenly Rei realized what she was doing.  It struck her that she was attempting to break their bargain, just to bind him more closely to her.  That was wrong, she didn't want that. "I... I'm so sorry, Shinji. I... feel this need.  I want you forever.  But... I'm afraid.  I cannot lose you to Sohryu, now that I've experienced what this feeling of love truly is." 

"So you are like Asuka." Shinji said.  "You... want me... you think of this as a competition between yourself and Asuka?"  At this he brought his hand to her face, "I would hurt you if I gave in to your request for that." Shinji said, softly caressing her cheek, "It would demean the entire act.  It wouldn't just hurt you, I would hurt as well.  So would Asuka." 

"I... I don't know what came over me." Rei said, grasping his hand and holding it to her face while she leaned into it.  

"Jealousy," Shinji said.  "You are jealous that she might yet hold a piece of my heart." 

"I...It... It may be true." Rei said softly, refusing to relinquish his hand.  "Do you love me, still?"

At this, Shinji smiled, "Of course."  He felt Rei relax a bit.  "I do love you, Rei."

"Time," Rei whispered.  "Why do I feel that it is against us?  I am so in need of your... love.  I don't know why..."

"Is it near your time?" Shinji asked, and then added, "That time of the month?"  

Rei's eyes came wide, "Shinji!"

"I am tempted, Rei - very tempted.  Your smell is intoxicating." Shinji replied, nuzzling her hair for a moment.  "Is it just a mating response?"

"I am not some animal!" Rei stated boldly, moving away from Shinji slightly.  

"You are an animal, as am I." Shinji countered.  "We overlay our base lust and drives with logic and knowledge.  A patina of civilization, but it is just a patina.  It is no deeper than our skin when it comes to such things."

Rei was trembling now.  'Could it be... I have always been regular.  The time is close.  Could there be an ovum within my womb?' 

Shinji saw Rei's trembling, "I... I didn't mean it that way... Not completely anyways.  It's just that we do have drives, Ayanami.  No drive is more powerful than the drive to procreate.  Humans have shielded it behind centuries of civilization; yet, it is always near the surface.  All we have done is to push such animalistic drives from our conscious existence.  It does not mean that they are not still there."

"There are those who would have acted upon those drives." Rei said, "Without regard for the feelings of the other."

Shinji held his hand to her, "As I told Misato.  If our relationship had been based on lust, I would be the first to agree with her.  Love is not lust.  It is what we have shared for the last two mornings.  It is what I wish to share for a third.  It is an intimacy, but it is not lust.  I wait until I am sure that all the other things - those things that really matter - are there before I give into primal desire.  Do you not wish that to be so as well?"

"Of course..." Rei said.  "It is just that it is so frustrating.  I am so close to you... but I can do nothing!  I long for your touch, the way lovers touch." 

"We have only become friends in the last four days, Rei-chan." Shinji said sadly, "I need more time than that.  We must make sure that this is what we want.  Believe me; touching you has been on my mind since Sunday."

"Then touch me." Rei said, "Kiss me.  Fill me with love.  Do what you can, I give you that permission - I... seek it from you."   Rei looked at him longingly, "Hold me, if that is all you can do - for I have been so empty, for so, so, long." 

Shinji leaned forward, and touched her face.  He felt heat rise from the skin as she closed her eyes to the touch.  He then moved forward and kissed her gently on the cheek, feeling the fire where his lips touched.  Then he moved his lips to her ear, "I love you, Rei-chan." He whispered, hugging her in the same instant.

Rei melted into his embrace.  The feeling of his hands gently exploring her back, and her shoulders... his lips every so often touching various parts of her face, and her neck.   She felt her body heat rise in anticipation.  These things were being done by someone she loved intensely.  She wanted more, but for now this simple contact, innocent kisses, gentle touches, were driving her wild.   "Don't stop." She commanded. 

She didn't realize how erotic this all was to Shinji.  'She does not understand what this does to me!  I take pleasure from this, though.  I am not violating her.  I will not violate her.' 

"You are gentle, Shinji." Rei said breathlessly.  "I like this." 

"I do too, Rei-chan." Shinji replied. 

"Do not be afraid," Rei reassured him, and brought down his hand to her chest.  "I want your touch here.  I give you permission."  She directed her gaze into his eyes, "Please."

Shinji looked into her eyes, and allowed his hands to explore further.

Making delicate contact with her body, his light touch began to drive Rei insane with desire. 

-

Rei was exhausted by the time they had finished their mutual exploration - A half-hour of almost non-stop stimulation.  Yet, always, Shinji was delicate.  His touch leaving trails of ghostly warmth on the surface of her skin.  She knew she wanted more than that.  But, for now, it was an experience that she would never surrender. 

But like all experiences, this one was destined to end.  Both Shinji and Rei had lain in silence awaiting the arrival of the unstable Second Children. They both knew that Asuka was on the edge of sanity - she had been riding that razor sharp edge since they first knew her.  While the couple did not know the source of this disturbing enigma that was Pilot Sohryu, they knew that they would not be able to accomplish their ultimate goal until the Second's emotional barriers had been lowered.   

Rei looked to the door, sensing the presence outside.  "Are you prepared, Shin-chan?"

Shinji nodded, knowing that Asuka would soon enter.  He delved deeply into her blood red eyes, looking for any sign that she regretted the last half-hour spent together.  As he searched those crimson orbs, he could find no trace of regret – only the dying embers of a fire that burned deep inside – a fire waiting the moment it could be rekindled by his touch.

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Author's Notes:

Ok, I'm a tease… I hope that this was an effective chapter.   I suppose that the heavy-petting scene seems just a little too 'Adult' – Adult as in 'These are kids, the conversation is too deep for 14 year olds.'  Under normal circumstances I would agree – please remember, these are not your run of the mill 14 year-olds.   (God, what a boring show Evangelion would have been if they were!) Shinji cares for others more than he cares for himself – of course, this isn't always the case with our spineless (substitute 'Human' in there for 'Spineless' where you wish) hero.  His 'erotic' touches were just him exploring the first unresisting female body he encountered… after all he is a 14 year old, he'd not be a teenager if he were able to completely resist a scantily-clad Rei Ayanami.

As for Gendo killing Kouzou… I think that if he can clone an angel, a human being must be child's play.   Why have him kill the professor?  Gendo is a cold, calculating bastard… but he's a human one – a human with human fears and frailties.  Kouzou is always a heartbeat from being able to betray Gendo if he figures the true motivations behind the Commander's plans.   Gendo wields a lot of power, and Fuyutsaki is his most trusted advisor… Killing is no great effort for Gendo, but he does not discard useful things.   Being able to regenerate Kouzou is one of those things that gives him more flexibility in being our favorite bastard.  

I hope you enjoyed this part, and I look forward to the feedback.  Remember, if you made it this far, the review button is only a little further down and to the left.  

I don't know when the next part shall make its appearance.   I will try to keep things moving.

Yes, there is OOCness… How can Rei and Shinji get together without it?  I just hope that the level is tolerable, and that the pace is slow enough.  Remember, these kids live with a deadline constantly above their heads – emphasis on "dead".  Such situations tend to hurry romances, no?

Oh well, please review!

By the way, any similarities between this and other stories are completely coincidental. 

Thanks,

PitViper.