"A beginning?" Gendo asked, still confused. "For what?"
"For what?" she shrugged. "For nothing, if you cannot see it."
"What?"
"You always have to know everything, haven't you?" Yui replied, sitting down next to him.
He raised a hand and put one of her rebel tufts of hair behind her ear. A faint, pale light appeared in the horizon like the very first sign of a far dawn. It seemed, after all, that there was a day in this place.
"Knowledge is important," he shrugged apologetically.
"Is it the only important thing, Gendo?"
"You are important."
"So important that you were willing to destroy the world to bring me back?"
"Yes," Gendo answered without any hesitation. "And I don't regret anything. It was all for you."
"I'm impressed, to say the least. It's... romantic, if you think about it," she smiled. "You really regret nothing?"
"No..." Gendo answered. "Only to... have failed you."
"Failed?"
"This cannot be real."
"Am I not real?"
"I... don't know."
Yui smiled and snuggled agaist him, burying her head under his chin. Gendo hugged her. Real or not, she was there.
"Other people also love," Yui said softly.
"I don't care."
"Shinji loves, as well."
"I..." Gendo found himself without words.
Yui raised her head and looked straigh at him. "You...?" she whispered him.
"I didn't know it..." he stammered.
"You did know it," she replied.
"I..."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Yui."
CHAPTER 4: ARAEL
(Part two)
The meeting room was dark, as usual. Even when a Seele council meeting was taking place, the faint glimmers of the holograms weren't enough to give the big room more than a pale and eerie light, which was -in the opinion of Fuyutsuki, at least- very appropriate for the nature of the discussions that took place there. Four of the five men that were responsible for the Human Complementation Plan were already there, waiting silently for the arrival of Keel Lorentz.
Fuyutsuki was starting to feel annoyed, as he knew that the lack of punctuality of the Swiss was only a practical tactic to ensure that he had control of the meeting. Gendo had also enjoyed such childish things, and often he did that only to make his interlocutors loose their temper, so he could manipulate them better. Besides, the Commander of Nerv had better things to do at that exact moment, with the Fifteenth Angel floating nonchalantly over the gray sky of the city, and only one Evangelion fully operational -as Unit One was still frozen, and Unit Two's pilot was currently at the infirmary as a cautionary measure, until her mental state could be fully confirmed- he only could wait sitting down for the Angel to made the first move. That didn't mean, though, that Lorentz could make him stay forever in a badly illuminated room together with four men whose sanity could very well be a matter of discussion, to say the least.
Finally, with a flash which made Fuyutsuki think of a bad magician trying to catch the attention of his audience, Lorentz appeared at the other end of the table, pale under the bright light of his projector. Or perhaps he was pale by nature, thought Fuyutsuki. He had never met him personally, and as far as he knew, Lorentz could very well be a cripple, as he never had seen him in another place besides the council chamber.
"Commander Fuyutsuki," Lorentz acknowledged him.
He simply nodded in response.
"Do you have anything new to report, Commander?"
"No. We're studying what kind of measures should be taken against this Angel, and all the projects are on schedule. Adam Project, as expected, has been finished last week," Fuyutsuki said.
"Well," replied Lorentz, looking as satisfied as a man that was half composed of cybernetic devices ever could, which wasn't very much. "We have the Fifth Child."
Fuyutsuki didn't answer, for the other man hadn't asked anything, and -much as Rei used to achieve with her silence- one of the counselors felt the urge to fill the silence, and spoke with a screechy, heavily accented voice under his yellow light stream.
"As the Scrolls predict, the Seventeenth Angel has to come from Mankind. And he shall be the one that will bring Complementation to us."
Lorentz nodded. "Indeed he shall. Kaworu Nagisa will be the catalyst of Third Impact."
Fuyutsuki kept to himself that he already had a viable Angel hybrid. Somehow, Gendo had managed to keep the council unaware of the origins of the First Child, and Fuyutsuki considered it a wise policy.
"You will not interfere with his task, Commander," warned another counselor, vaguely menacing under the angry red hue of his desk.
"I will not," Fuyutsuki assured, maintaining eyecontact with the counselor until he blinked uneasily and started to nervously handle a paper. Fuyutsuki hid a grin; his professor's skills were still effective, after all. He returned his attention to Lorentz. "When will the Fifth Child arrive?"
"That's entirely up to us," Lorentz said. "When the moment comes."
"As you want," Fuyutsuki shrugged.
"Well, Commander. Take care of the Angel," said Lorentz satisfied, dismissing the meeting.
When all thecouncil members disappeared from his sight, he leant back in his chair and sighed. Sometimes, and those times were increasing lately, he wished he had never left his post at university, where his only worry was how to give the best grades possible possible without the rector noticing it. Reaching for a button, he made the light of the desk disappear, and darkness returned to the room. Vague shadows, purple illusions created by his mind, started to dance in front of his eyes, as they tried to dig in the black cloud that surrounded him. The last thing he needed right at that moment was a clouded mind. He closed his eyes.
She opened her eyes.
And she saw a white ceiling. The infirmary, she realized.
'I'm still alive,' she thought.
For anyone else, to know that that was true -especially after having suffered a so horrible accident- would be relieving sensation; for anyone else, now the problem would be how to get rid of the siblings and friends that would invade the room, in order to get a tad of rest. It wasn't like that for Asuka.
She shivered as she remembered the last moments of consciousness she'd had. Memories of what the Angel had done to her mind came to her, and she felt an anger she didn't know she had in her. The Angel had raped her, and she couldn't get her revenge because Shinji would have already take care of the situation, saving...
"Are you Ok?" asked a voice. A voice of a shy, concerned boy. Shinji. She looked at him with anger. The boy was still wearing his plugsuit; a reminder of how much of a better pilot he was.
"Leave me alone, stupid," she hissed.
Shinji blinked, surprised. "Asuka, are you ok?"
"Of course I'm ok!" she answered harshly. "Of course, you saved me, so how could I be unwell?"
Shinji reddened. "It was Ayanami," he mumbled, looking down. He knew that she wasn't going to like hearing that.
"What?" Asuka asked.
"Ayanami..." he stuttered, "rescued you."
"Wondergirl? Don't tell me that Wondergirl kill the Angel on her own. Simply wonderful," she said, putting as venom as she could in her voice. "And you sat down, watching how that thing raped me."
Asuka closed her eyes and let her head fall again over the pillow, sighing. That was better for the moment. Wondergirl -a doll, and nothing more, she thought, shivering at the old, painful memories that came to her head with that word- had saved her, and she would manage to rub it over all her face in some sickening subtle way, like she always did.
"Go away, Shinji," she said coldly. She passed a hand through her red fringe, messing her usually neatly combed hair.
"Asuka, I..."
"Where are my connectors?" Asuka asked angrily, noticing that the red devices that she always wore in the top of her hair were missing.
"I guess that the nurse removed them..." replied Shinji shyly.
"You guess?"
"I'm sorry," Shinji whispered, looking down.
Wrath appeared in the blue eyes of Asuka and she got up, now sitting down in her bed, clenching her fist menacingly.
"I'm going to..."
The sudden appearance of a middle aged man wearing a white, creased coat saved Shinji. Reading his printout through the half-gray, half-brown, loose hair that fell over his eyes, the man approached the bed and smiled at Asuka.
"I'm glad you've woken up, Miss Sohryu," he said. "What were you going to do?"
"Who are you?" Asuka asked harshly. "Leave me alone. Both of you."
Instantly, Shinji turned back and headed for the door, looking down. The doctor's smile went wider, making a lot of wrinkles appear on his face around his black eyes.
"Please, Mr. Ikari," he said casually. "Stay around here. I'd like to talk to you later, if you don't mind."
Shinji nodded and left the room. The man turned back again to Asuka.
"Well, milady, as much as I'd love to obey your orders, I'm afraid I cannot, at the moment," he said making a bow. "I am your doctor."
"I do not need medical attention," Asuka said, trying to get up.
"I know. We checked you while you were unconscious," he said, taking a few notes in the notebook.
Asuka didn't respond", leaning back again to stare blankly to the ceiling.
"Well, I have to give you a little test, Miss Sohryu. I will be brief," the doctor shrugged.
"I don't want to take a test," she replied, hiding her face beneath her hands. "I don't want anything."
"I'm afraid that it's an order from the Commander, milady. Your rotation will start in three hours, I've been told, and we should end quickly with this if you want to get some rest."
"Rotation?" asked Asuka surprised.
"Yes," he replied. "Ah, of course, the young Ikari hadn't told you, had he?"
"What?"
"The Angel is still up there, I think -although of course, I don't know the details- and the Commander has established sentry rotations. We're waiting for it, I guess."
"It hasn't been destroyed?" Asuka asked.
It hadn't been destroyed; it was still up there. If she hadn't been able to destroy it and both of the other pilots hadn't, then she still had a chance to destroy it. One word appeared in Asuka's mind. Vengeance. She would pay it back for what it had done to her, and the Angel would know that Asuka Sohryu paid back her debts. With the highest interests. she sat up on her bed again and)looked at the doctor with renewed energy, pushing into the furthest corners of her mind the memories of the attack. She had to stay calm, if she wanted the psychiatrist -which was what that man was, quite obviously- to declare her able to pilot.
"You should ask Ikari, I think he will be able to answer you better than I. But of course, if you don't want to pilot again, I could inform that..."
"No!" Asuka interjected nervously. "I want to pilot again."
"Well, then, if you don't mind..."
"Of course, yes..."
"Well. I want you to answer a few questions. Try to answer as fast as you can. Tell me your full name."
"Asuka L. Sohryu."
"The L stands for?"
"Langley."
"Favorite color?"
"Red."
"What was the color of Ikari's shirt?"
"White, of course," Asuka smirked.
"What did you eat yesterday?" the old man continued to ask quickly.
"Noodles, I think. And ramen."
"You're walking for a desert and you see a turtle..."
As ordered -Shinji never thought that it could be a request, rather than an order- he was sitting on a bench, not far from the door of Asuka's room. The corridor was empty, well illuminated and quiet; from his seat he could see, at the very end of the corridor, the vague silhouettes of two security guards. He knew, from the previous times he had spent there, that this was the high security branch of the infirmary, where the pilots were supposed to stay, safe from any possible menace.
A thin but large plant hung lazily from the column at his side, the leaves' bright green being the only note of color in the white, aseptic corridor. He took a leaf in his hand. It looked much like the ivy that used to appear in the old houses of Osaka, and he frowned for a second, thinking if it might be poison ivy. Of course, he realized immediately, nobody would put that kind of plant in a hospital. It was what it seemed to be. Plain, innocent, green ivy.
He stared at the leaf in his hand, and it happened to occur to him that he had killed it. He didn't do nor see another thing which didn't involve death lately, though. It wasn't anything new; first, Mari Suzuhara. Seven ships sank down in Tokyo Channel, deep coffins for the sailors of the fleet of the United Nations. A VTOL exploding over the station of Tokyo III. Touji, half dead and bleeding in the Entry Plug. Buildings falling in the middle of each battle. His father, his blood mixed with Eva's. The head of Asuka's Eva, ripped off and fallen in front of him in the shelter where he was hiding, with the four blind eyes staring at him. Rei bleeding and panting in his arms. Asuka screaming through the speakers.
He crunched the leaf in his hand. All what he could give was death and destruction, and he only could get hatred and pain back.
'Why do you pilot?' Rei had asked him what seemed years ago.
"Why do I pilot?" Shinji asked to himself. "That's a good question."
He threw the mashed leaf in a can and looked again at the end of the corridor, where the two guards were still standing firmly. The high security zone, he thought again. It was more than likely the part of the hospital where his father was, lying in a deep coma that might perhaps never end.
"Doctor Ritsuko Akagi is needed at the Command Center," a female voice spoke softly on the speakers.
At the same time, the man that had been checking Asuka walked out of Asuka's room. He saw Shinji and started to walk towards him, but before he could reach the bench, Ritsuko walked out of the room next to Asuka's.
"Doctor Akagi," the doctor said.
"Ah, it's you," Ritsuko coldly acknowledged. "Have you finished with the Second Child?"
"Yes," he said. "My recommendation is that she should be allowed to keep piloting. She's affected by the attack, of course -I would worry, if she weren't-, but I think she can get over that without any major problems. That is, with a bit of help," he stated, looking at Shinji. "I'm going to talk with the young Ikari, right now."
"Well," replied Ritsuko, satisfied. "The Commander will be pleased to hear that."
"Ah," he said, as if the thought had just happened to flash in his mind. "One other thing."
"Yes?"
"Despite my opinion that she will be able to pilot for the present time, and in despite of the fact that a quick return to active duties will have a beneficial effect on Sohryu, I'd like to keep an eye on her. She has certain issues that could aggravate with the passage of time if they're not handled properly."
Ritsuko narrowed her eyes. "Everybody has issues, doctor Ueda,"
"But not everybody has fourteen years and such a work."
"I doubt she wants therapy. I have to go, doctor."
The old man watched thoughtfully how Ritsuko walked along the corridor. He waited till the blonde woman reached the exit of the corridor and saluted to the guards before turning to Shinji.
"Good day, Mr. Ikari!" he said cheerfully.
"Shinji," was the quiet reply of the young boy.
"Pardon?"
"Just Shinji," he repeated a bit more loudly.
"Of course. Well, Shinji, I'd like to talk to you about Miss Sohryu's status."
"How is she?"
"Sleeping, or so I hope. She still needs a bit of rest," he said, pausing briefly before continuing. "However, I'm sure you're aware that she suffered some kind of mental injury during the last skirmish."
"I heard her," he whispered.
"I'm sure, also, that you've heard the little chat I've just had with Dr. Akagi, right?" he winked an eye, making Shinji blush. "Don't worry. However, what I've said to her is true."
Shinji nodded again, not really knowing what he was being asked for.
"As I've been told, she had a very small circle of relationships. Only you, Major Katsuragi, miss Ayanami and a girl from your school called Hikari Horaki -you know her, don't you? -are in contact with her on a daily basis. She has pushed away everyone else."
Shinji didn't like what he was hearing. He was a master in what involved avoiding closeness. The hedgehog's dilemma: to hurt and be hurt was the only thing he could do properly; give pain and receive hatred. While Ueda waited for him to reply, he remembered the screams of the redhead resounding all over his Entry Plug; he had known her pain and anguish, and he had felt her agony, and his own frustration when Fuyutsuki denied his requests to help her had grown beyond measure.
Seeing that Shinji was lost in his thoughts, the psychologist followed on. "I don't know what kind of relationship you could mantain with Miss Sohryu," he said, raising a hand to cut Shinji's prompt reply, "and it's none of my business. But I'd want you to be patient with her."
Shinji nodded. "I will try," he said, quietly but determined. He owed her that, at the very least.
"Well," the medical officer replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm afraid I have to go."
Shinji nodded, and after bowing politely to him, the doctor walked away following the same path that Ritsuko had. However, Shinji was too busy staring at the white door of Asuka's room to notice the doctor's departure. It was one thing to say that he would help Asuka and another -deeply different- was to do it. He gulped, and pushed the door, entering the room.
As Ueda had said, Asuka was asleep again, with a small frown on her face. Shinji couldn't help but smile when he heard a faint snore from the redhead; he sat down in the chair next to her bed.
Asuka sighed and smiled in her dream, and Shinji stared at her now contented face.
Rei watched -again- the small screen that appeared in the clear fluid of the plug. The Angel, indifferent to the frantic efforts that the three supercomputers and dozens of technicians down there were doing to find a method able to destroy it, was still floating in the void of space far over Japan.
Rei sighed and looked at a bubble of air floated in the LCL.
Rei was glad to be back in Unit Zero, but everything had a limit. She had spent the last four hours there, doing absolutely nothing. Soon Sohryu would relieve her, though, and she would be able to take some rest.
However, she felt a slight annoyance about the idea of leaving her post to the German redhead, but she couldn't precise why. It was, though, the same vaguely frightening feeling that she'd had when the Commander had allowed Sohryu to take her place.
Rei let another bubble to reach the upper part of the plug.
Everybody seemed to be waiting, now. Except for the Magi system and its operators, all the maintenance crews had finished all the small tasks that the engineers had managed to concoct, and she had checked twice -and some systems even more then that- all the systems and subsystems of Unit Zero. Everything was ready to fight the Angel, but it didn't come. It was like a chess game, with the two players waiting for the other to make the first move.
Another bubble joined the first two.
If one was searching for Kozo Fuyutsuki and had checked that he wasn't in his office nor in the Command Center, the next place to search was without a doubt Unit One's cage. And there Ritsuko found him, sitting down at the edge of the orange pool and staring at the eyes of the horned Evangelion.
"Commander?" Ritsuko called.
"Ah, doctor Akagi," he said, without showing any intention to get up. "Do you have something new?"
"Not really," she sighed, sitting down next to him. "Asuka is fine, as expected, and she will be able to relieve Rei in fifteen minutes. I have spent the last three hours in front of the Magi, trying to find a way to do something with the Angel, but it's impossible. It has quite a strong AT Field, and even the direct impact of several N2 warheads won't give him more than a slight headache."
"Let's play at his own game," he said, swinging his feet over the orange cooling liquid. "We'll wait for him to do something. Then we'll strike back."
"Yes, Sir," Ritsuko nodded.
Both stayed silent for several minutes in the empty cage.
"How is Ikari?" Fuyutsuki asked finally.
"There hasn't been any changes," she shrugged. "You know, even after all this time, I never had seen him asleep nor slept with him. It's kind of funny," she said thoughtfully, "I'm closer to him now that he's in coma that before the... He wouldn't like it, I think"
Fuyutsuki smirked, but didn't respond.
The cooling liquid only reached till the shoulders of Unit One, which were moored to a massive column, strong enough to keep a bulk carrier maintained in the air, but it seemed small and useless compared to the purple arms that disappeared beneath the orange fluid. Unit One was there only because it was the will of the mecha to stay there.
"I'm so tired," he said. "Tired like I've never been before, tired like I never thought I could be. I could lie and sleep forever."
"Perhaps you may," Ritsuko answered. "If the Angel succeeds."
"I know, but it's not still time for sleep," he said thoughtfully getting up. "Not yet. But soon..."
Ritsuko got up as well, and she erased the wrinkles of her skirt. "Well," she said, "I'd better return to the Magi, I have work to do."
"Of course. I will relieve Katsuragi, as well," he said, glancing one last time at the purple Evangelion. "By the way, remove the restraints to Unit One and tell Ikari that he will relieve Sohryu in four hours. He should get ready and rest as long as he can."
"Why are you unfreezing it now?"
"It's a moment as good as any other. Good afternoon, doctor Akagi," he said, walking out the cage.
Ritsuko shrugged and she followed him, leaving the purple machine alone in the cage.
Asuka finally awoke, and she stared to the white ceiling, blinking sleepy with her still heavy eyelids.
She yawned, and raised her hands to her face to rub her eyes in a vain attempt to get rid of the cobwebs of sleep that clouded her sight.. She realized then that Shinji was sitting down next to her bed in a chair, asleep in the most uncomfortable way possible, with his neck in a strange angle that would give him a less than enviable sore neck when he awoke.
A cell phone rang. It was Shinji's phone, but that didn't awaken him. Asuka smiled to herself and leant over him, holding her breath. She tilted her head, her lips parting.
"Idiot, wake up!" she yelled, her mouth merely inches away from his ear. She watched amused how he fell off his chair with a loud clatter; Shinji started to babble incoherent excuses even before getting up.
"I... what... I didn't... I..."
"Shinji!" she said. "What did you think you were doing?"
"I'm sorry," he answered still half asleep, "I..." The phone rang again. Getting up, Shinji took the small, black device and answered the call.
"Yes?" he yawned.
"Shinji? Ritsuko here. Is Asuka asleep?"
"Uh?" he babbled, glancing guiltily at her . "No, she's awake."
"Perfect. Tell her that she has to put on a plug suit and go to her Eva's cage. By the way, the Commander has decided that your Eva is to be removed from cryostasis. You will relieve Asuka in four hours; so try to rest as much as you can, ok?"
"Right, but..."
"Well, then," she cut him off. "Bye!"
Shinji looked at the disconnected phone in his hand and shook his head, surprised.
"Whats going on?" Asuka asked, sitting on the bed.
"Uh?"
Asuka rolled her eyes. "You could at least try to look at my face when I'm talking to you, pervert! Whats going on?"
"I wasn't..." Shinji blushed. "I... Ritsuko told me that you should get a plug suit and go to the cage of Unit Two..."
"Wunderbar. Now get out of here!"
"What?"
"You know," Asuka said in an insinuating, sultry voice, "I'm only wearing a hospital gown, Shinji, so... Get out of here! And get me a plug suit!"
Shinji went red and got up, stumbling to the door. Asuka watched him walk out, and she smiled again. Things seemed to be going somewhat better for her. She hadn't been judged unfit to pilot by the psychologist, there had been no nightmares, and she still could defeat the Angel, as it was still up there.
The Angel. Her smile faded away, as she saw again the hanging figure of her mother, slowly turning from the ceiling.
'Die with me, Asuka,'
'No!'
'Asuka... Die with me...'
'Mama!'
She shivered and closed her eyes. The Angel was going to pay for that. As certain as her name was Asuka, it was going to die by her hand.
She leant back on the bed and waited patiently for Shinji to bring her a plug suit.
Unit Two's footsteps echoed loudly as it walked towards the launching gates, where Asuka had to spend her rotation. She skillfully placed the red mecha in the launch ramp next to Unit Zero and smiled as the locks of the elevator grabbed her Eva's shoulders exactly at the prescribed points. A perfect maneuver, she thought.
She reclined in her seat and waited for any indication of orders. She didn't get any, so finally, after a few minutes in the LCL, she opened a comlink with the Command Center.
Looking both amazingly bored and awfully tired, Makoto appeared in the screen and looked at her, blinking heavily.
"Yes, Asuka?"
"And now? What's the plan?" she asked.
"Plan?" Makoto yawned. "Oh, the plan. Of course, we have a plan. Well," he said, typing boredly with two fingers. "Activate the diagnosis procedure. We're going to check your Eva."
"And the Angel?" Asuka asked dumbfounded.
"What about the angel?" he replied irritated. "When it lands, we'll catch it."
"That's all?!"
"That's all. Now, switch on the DP, and..."
Half-amused, Shinji listened to the conversation between Asuka and Makoto. The redhead seemed to be more then a little excited about the upcoming battle, a concept absolutely foreign to him. He would have given anything to be out of there. He turned to Ritsuko, only to find that she was yawning, too. Everybody seemed to be on the verge of fall asleep at their posts.
After stretching herself, the blonde gave Shinji her attention.
"I was wondering," Shinji mumbled, "how long are we going to be here?"
"Untill the angel is destroyed, Shinji," she smiled tiredly.
"And if it doesn't land?"
"Oh, don't worry. The UN army will strike him with several dozen N2 warheads. In fact, the boys in blue already have a itchy trigger finger, and they want to nuke it."
"Oh," Shinji replied.
"What is worrying you?" she asked. "Come on, you can tell me."
"I was thinking in the people of the city," Shinji murmured. "In the shelters and all..."
"That? Don't worry," she laughed. "The city has been evacuated as of a few hours ago."
"I see."
"You know, you will take your turn in four hours. Why don't you try to sleep a bit? It's kind of late."
"I..."
"There are some unused quarters... down here, Maya knows where. Ask her." Shinji nodded, and she yawned again. "You don't know how much I envy you right now, Shinji. Now, I have work to do, I'm afraid."
Shinji nodded again, and Ritsuko turned back to her computer. He walked towards the desk of the young assistant of Ritsuko and coughed, trying politely to catch her attention.
After receiving very detailed and comprehensive instructions -that even included a map drawn by her own hand- from Maya, Shinji found that it was still very easy to get lost in Nerv's corridors. He never had really understood the way they were organized, and he decided to wander around till he found a familiar place. Taking into account that he was near the Command Center and the cages, that shouldn't take too much time.
Anyway, he checked the map Maya had made again and shook his head. In despite of her neat, organized appearance, Maya's handwriting was messy and impossible to read for any other living being than Maya. She could have very well written the map in ancient Norse, for all that he was able to understand.
'Is that a 'Labs'?', he asked to himself. God knew, but perhaps...
"Ikari."
Surprised, Shinji turned around. He had been so distracted trying to decipher Maya's map that he had walked past Rei without noticing her. The albino girl seemed to have taken a quick shower after leaving her Unit, as she was already dressed back in her school uniform but she had her hair still her hair was still soaked.
"Ayanami!" he said. "Uh... Hi?"
"Hello," she replied calmly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Searching for you," Rei stated.
"Why?" Shinji asked puzzled.
"You were lost," she said, a drop of water falling from her hair.
"Well, kind of..." admitted Shinji, blushing. "Thank you, Ayanami."
She shrugged and started to walk. Shinji ran a few steps to match his pace with hers.
"I guess that you are tired and stuff, after staying in there for so long," he said, trying to start a conversation.
Rei didn't reply. Shinji sighed; that was pointless.
They arrived to crossing-point, and Rei, apparently knowing much well than him where they were going, choose the left path. They walked silently in an well-illuminated corridor, and Shinji started to recognize the area.
"I am," whispered Rei softly, surprising him. "I wish to sleep."
"You have near eight hours, till you have to go there again, haven't you?"
"Yes. I will relieve you by the morning," she said, stopping in front of a door. "Those are the sleeping quarters for the pilots," Rei added, opening the door.
"Here?"
"Yes."
"I mean... in the same... I can't..." Shinji stuttered.
"What's wrong?"
"I..." Shinji blushed. He looked down, ashamed.
"There is more than one bed, Ikari," she said, entering the room.
Shinji followed her, and he discovered that, as Rei had assured him, there were more plenty of beds in the sleeping quarters. There were around ten small beds, arranged neatly against the walls. It was the first time Shinji had to spend the night at the Geofront, but it seemed that Rei had been already there, as she walked promptly to one of the beds and started to remove her shoes and socks. Anticipating what would follow that, Shinji turned back and stared politely to the wall, studying the metallic ornaments of the door.
"Ayanami?" he asked without turning back.
"Yes?" Rei replied through the silky sound of clothing in motion.
"Do you think that the Angels are going someday stop coming?"
"Yes."
Since Shinji was still staring to the wall, he couldn't see how Rei, while refastening her shirt after removing her bra, frowned and looked down. Shinji's question disturbed her more than he ever could have known. He couldn't have known that, she thought, or he wouldn't had asked. Only three Angels remained, and after that Rei, who had grown fully aware of her final purpose -her only purpose- would be useless.
A void. Nothing to do. Nobody who cared for her.
She slipped between the sheets of her bed and closed her eyes tightly, hoping for a sleep she knew would take almost all night to come.
Unaware of her concerns, Shinji finally turned back and looked at her. Rei was lying on her side, back turned to him, in a bed at the other corner of the room. Thankfully, Shinji noticed that she wore at least her shirt.
Trying to do it as fast as he could, Shinji took off his pants and shirt and got into the bed. The few hours of sleep he had gotten in Asuka's hospital room hadn't been enough. It being past midnight for quite some time now, and having had a stressful day, Shinji didn't need much time to fall in a heavy sleep, with the faint sound of Rei's soft breath as background.
Rei needed near three hours to fall asleep.
'You are a doll, and nothing more, Wondergirl,' said Asuka, smirking disagreeably.
'You have been created with only one purpose, Rei,' the Commander told her coldly.
'You're supposed to keep piloting your unit, of course,' Fuyutsuki ordered her.
She was sitting down in a chair, a crowd surrounding her. She didn't like crowds. She didn't like what they were saying, but she couldn't move.
'Rei? The Commander's little toy, and nothing more,' Ritsuko pointed cruelly. She had heard the blonde say that once, long time ago, when the scientist was thinking she couldn't hear her.
'A doll,' Asuka repeated, this time dressed in her plugsuit.
'You must carry me to Yui. Any other purpose is irrelevant,' Gendo smiled.
Rei put her hands to her face. She didn't wish to hear that. She didn't want to be there.
'Ayanami.'
She didn't wish to hear them.
'Ayanami!'
'Shinji?' she thought, shaking her head 'Shinji... I'd wish...'
"Ayanami!" Shinji repeated, shaking her shoulders gently. "Ayanami, wake up!"
Rei awoke with a gasp to see Shinji's concerned features over her face. Rubbing her eyes, she sat dup on the bed. A glance around was all that she needed to recall where she was and why. Shinji, already fully dressed, sat down in the bed, next to her.
"Are you well? You had a nightmare."
She blinked surprised -and relieved- for a second, then she regained her composure.
"I am well, Ikari."
"Oh," Shinji said. "I'm sorry, for having awakened you. I thought... you were a bit agitated, and... I was concerned...'
Shinji's speech lost volume as he felt himself blush under Rei's intense look. Guiltily aware of the bare skin he could see through the unfastened buttons of the upper part of her shirt, Shinji quickly looked down, ashamed.
"There is no reason for concern." she assured him calmly.
Shinji didn't look up. She lowered her gaze as well, and she realized that he was holding her hand; when he had slipped his hands from her shoulders, one had eventually ended there.
It was lucky for her that the lights of the sleeping quarters, designed to allow people wander around without waking up other sleepers didn't let Shinji perceive the faint blush on her cheeks. She was perfectly able, though of seeing the bright red that had come to his face.
Stammering an excuse, Shinji got to his feet. He mumbled something about relieving Asuka and the red-faced boy made his way to the door; when he was under the doorframe, Rei spoke, stopping him.
"Ikari?"
Shinji turned back and looked at her, concern again in his eyes.
"Thank you," Rei said softly.
Shinji smiled brightly, relieved. "You're welcome, Rei," he said, walking away and closing the door.
Rei lied down again and she rolled over her side. She looked at her hand; his had been warm and soft... Now she was strangely calm. 'How odd,' she mused.
Rei sighed and closed her blood red eyes.
Author's Notes
And so, we have another chapter. First of all, thanks to my prereaders: Steve Vader dealt wonderfully with the characterization issues, while Inanis Machina somehow managed to correct my grammar mistakes. Thank you both!
Remember that I had said that I would resolve the battle in this chapter? It's not like I had lied, but let's say that it's simply delayed a bit. Originally, the next chapter and this one were planned to be only one, around 4000-5000 words, but well, one isn't always own of his words.
About this chapter, not much else to say. Of course, the psychologist is doing a Voigt-Kampf test to Asuka -a little tribute to Blade Runner, mind you?-.
See you!
Athos