"Why did you leave Shinji?" Yui asked softly, breathing on his chest.
Gendo sighed and hugged her tightly. He kept silent, that being the only question he was afraid to answer. Not only afraid of how Yui might react, but also of what the answer might mean to himself as well.
"Gendo?"
He had refused to think about it in years. The only important thing in his life had been the Human Complementation Plan and Yui's memory, painful through time. Everything else seemed secondary.
"I'm not sure," he replied vaguely. "I didn't want to..."
"What?"
"God knows. I..." he sighed. "He reminded me of you, Yui, and it was... painful, so painful that I couldn't stand it. It hurt and I... Besides, I wouldn't have been able to take care of him properly. "
"You did so because he reminded you of me?"
"That... that was one of the reasons, I guess," he nodded somberly.
"But you wanted me back, didn't you?"
"Yes, but..."
"You didn't want to think of me?"
He sighed again. Another thing he wasn't sure about. Gendo hadn't thought of another thing that his lost love in the last ten years; Yui was omnipresent in his mind. But, at the same time, he had sent Shinji with his uncle Rei had been living alone as soon as she was able.
"I always thought... think about you."
"That's true," she nodded, seemingly knowing when he was being sincere. "Why, then? He is a part of me."
"I don't know," Gendo shrugged.
"You don't know, or you don't want to tell me?"
"Both things, I guess," he smiled apologetically.
Yui got up and smiled, grabbing his hands and making him follow her across the warm sand. She turned and rested her back against him, with his hands encircling her waist and hers hanging from his neck loosely.
"My poor Gendo," she whispered. "What have you done?"
"I wanted you."
"Would it worth the effort?" she asked. "All these years?"
"Yes, I... I think so... Don't you?"
"You want to know it?"
"I..."
"My son loves and hates with passion, Gendo," she muttered dreamily. "He might be the gentlest of the lovers and the most vengeful of the villains. And perhaps at the same time... Gendo, what have you done?"
With her hair waving freely in the breeze Yui smelled vaguely of fruits, Gendo thought. Shinji was his sin and condemnation, and, as well, one of the keys to his hope. Or he had been. Now, Yui breathed between his arms in an infinite beach next to an impossible house.
He hugged her a bit tighter.
(Part three)
The room was still silent when Rei awoke. Alone in the dark, she let herself relax for a little while enjoying the warmth and the calmness of the awakening. She hadn't checked her clock, but she didn't need to see it to know that it was, more or less, the proper time to get up.
Vaguely reluctant, she slipped out the sheets and grabbed the skirt of her uniform and the rest of the clothing that she had discarded a few hours ago, when she and Ikari had entered the room to sleep a bit.
Ikari... Unit One's pilot was, especially in recent times, a soothing presence. Rei felt relieved in a way she couldn't quite explain when he was near.
She finished putting on her clothes and walked out of the room, rubbing her eyes. It wasn't time to think of that, as the Angel was still hanging menacingly over them. The blue haired pilot headed to the dressing room to get her plugsuit, concentrating on her upcoming task.
Still... It had been nice that Ikari hadn't appeared in her nightmare.
Rei smiled.
To say that Fuyutsuki was stunned was probably an exaggeration. He would be stunned, once the amazement he was feeling disappeared. He ordered the papers in front of him, while trying to bring his thoughts back to order. He coughed.
"I was," he began, looking at the crew in the meeting room, "expecting a report about the Dummy Plug system, not this... Ah, Doctor Akagi?"
"Yes, sir?" Ritsuko nodded innocently.
"Would you care to explain?"
"Well, sir, Dummy Plug's latest versions have revealed a growing unstably that made me think that it wouldn't be safe be safe to hazard its use once more, so..."
"And the older versions? No, wait, I remember what happened. Forget it."
Ritsuko nodded while Maya and several medical officers tried to appear as small as possible in their seats.
"Of course, I can understand it, but... hypnosis?"
"It might be a solution, sir."
"Care to enlighten me?"
"Yes, sir," she shrugged, getting up. "Magi's projection - here you have it, although I doubt you want details," she began, pointing to a pack of papers. Fuyutsuki just waved away. "Ah... they show us that the Angel doesn't have a particularly strong AT Field."
"Then why didn't the positron rifle beat it?"
"It was too much far, sir. Aaanyway," she continued, "I doubt that the Angel has any other means of attack other than its mental intrusion."
"Why?"
"Well, it was a comment from Maya," she smiled. "If the Angel had other methods of attack, it would have attacked already."
Maya blushed and looked down, embarrassed. Fuyutsuki chuckled a bit and nodded. "Let's suppose you're right, Doctor Akagi. Please continue."
"Of course. As far as we know, the Angel invades the mind of the pilot, causing a trauma that is associated with the memory functions. Ayanami and Ikari aren't likely to fare any better against that attack then Sohryu did, I suppose. However, a careful preparation through clinical hypnosis might provide the pilot with a certain protection."
"How?"
One of the medics got up, uncertain. Ritsuko nodded to him. "Doctor Ueda, if you please."
The old man seemed unsure. The main psychiatrist of Nerv never had to speak to the commander before that. His work was mainly to supervise the psychiatric services of the infirmary and, from time to time, talk with the pilots. But he never had talked directly with the Commander. He was very nervous, although it was lucky that the Commander was no longer Ikari.
"Theoretically," he said slowly, carefully, "it might be possible to make a subject blockade temporally certain areas of his mind through a process of hypnosis. But how much it would stand..."
"Could you perform it?"
"Possibly, but I'm not sure..."
"And there would be any consequences for the pilots?"
The medicant sighed tiredly. "Certainly not from the therapy, but I don't know if... I mean, in the battle..."
"Of course, Doctor. Don't worry about that. Well, if this is what we have... Doctor Akagi, Lieutenant Ibuki, I want three models of the battle, following this scenario with each Child on my desk in two hours. Doctor, begin to design your treatment. You and your team have got assigned all the resources you might need. Just ask."
"I only need an adequate bibliography and some access to the Magi, I suppose," he shrugged.
"Well. Let's begin," Fuyutsuki said, getting up.
The crew did the same and began to walk out of the meeting room chatting nervously.
"A word with you, Doctor Akagi?"
Ritsuko was about to exit, but Fuyutsuki's words stopped her. She nodded and whispered instructions to Maya. She waited until the Commander and she were alone.
"Ritsuko," Fuyutsuki said slowly. "Are you sure?"
"We have nothing else."
Rei looked outside from the windows that appeared in the walls of her Entry Plug. It seemed that something had changed, as the technicians that before were waiting idly around the launching gates and the Command Center were now working in the Magi stations. She moved a bit in her seat, trying to get comfortable.
She was able to see, as well, the garish figure of Unit Two's pilot, leant against a guardrail and staring at her red mecha. Sohryu seemed furious, Rei thought. Frustrated, impatient, tipping with her fingers on the metallic band, the redhead had been there a good hour and a half before her shift was to begin.
Rei was also a bit frustrated. She wanted to fight the Angel and stop waiting, for the free time she had became free time to think. She was becoming accustomed to the bitter grip in her lower stomach, and nightmares like the one she'd just got a few hours ago were worryingly increasing.
The war would end someday, when all the Angels were defeated. And when that day arrived, Rei, who had spent all her life in the core of Nerv would be an useless item. Rei softly caressed the controls of her Unit. It was all she'd ever had; the only thing that ever had given a sense to her life.
Rei wasn't sure about what she was supposed to do after the end of the War. The new Commander was elusive about the matter, and the old was comatose. The man who had directed and programmed her life from the same moment of her birth wasn't anything more than a vegetable. Ikari once had an scenario and she had been the essential part of it. She had been needed, then.
"Rei?"
Then again, she always had been replaceable. Another Rei could be brought back again and again, for all time. It wasn't herself what the commander had needed; only her body, her genetic background that Ikari needed to bring his wife back.
"Rei?"
Damn him.
"Rei!"
"Yes?" she asked softly.
"Its time to change shifts, Rei," Maya said sweetly. "Go eat something."
"Yes, ma'am."
After a quick shower -she disliked the LCL's taste in her mouth, especially if she were about to eat- she headed for the dining room of the cafe. She wasn't particularly hungry, but a brief meal would be welcomed. Something hot, she thought, would comfort her a bit.
She crossed with several technicians as she entered the cafe. Katsuragi had organized two different shifts, so that the technicians who weren't resting were at the cafeteria. A pretty large queue of them was waiting to be served; still, she didn't need to wait, as everybody let her to step before them.
Rei looked around. Again, all the attention she received was due to the fact she was the First Child, not just Ayanami. She got a bowl of ramen and sat down alone in a table, knowing that no one would bother her; she would eat alone. As always.
"May I sit down?"
Rei looked up to find the sea blue eyes of the Third Child. She studied him for a second before giving him a little nod. The young pilot grabbed awkwardly the chair and sat down besides Rei.
"Did... did you sleep well?" he asked slowly.
"What?" she said confused.
"I mean..." he swallowed, "After the nightmare you had..."
"Yes, I did," she said, blushing a bit.
Shinji always managed to calm her down. All the niggling thoughts that had been crossing her mind all the day suddenly vanished to be replaced by a soft quietness; Rei didn't quite understand her reactions when she was near him. She was confused.
"I'm glad," he said, paying attention to his food.
Rei studied him curiously while he was looking down. He seemed uneasy, as if something was bothering him, Rei decided. She didn't know what could be worrying Shinji, although it might -she thought- be related to his father. Or perhaps not, as she really didn't know him.
Rei found herself growing more and more uneasy as she saw the somber expression in Ikari's face.
"Ikari," she heard herself asking softly.
The brown haired pilot looked up from his bowl, and Rei stared at him. Ikari gulped and blushed under the careful stare of Rei. She really wished to say something, but she didn't find the words, nor did she know what she wanted to say. She just gazed at him, without adding anything else for a long time. Finally, trying to fill the uneasy silence, he began to talk awkwardly.
"You know," he said, resting his chin on his arms. "I often wish that I wasn't an Eva pilot but, sometimes..."
"What?"
"Sometimes... sometimes I understand what Asuka means when she says that she wants to fight... Aren't you tired of waiting? For the Angel, I mean."
"Yes," Rei said, blinking surprised.
The young boy sighed, relieved by the tiny change in Rei's attitude.
"We're saving Mankind..." Shinji added. Rei realized that he was thinking out loud. "I suppose I should feel proud, but it's not like that."
"No?"
"Do you enjoy being a pilot?"
"I..." Rei murmured. "I don't know. It's my duty," she said, looking down, "for everyone."
"You told me that once," he remembered, smiling a bit. "I guess that it's a good way to see it."
Rei nodded slightly. It was what she'd told him before the battle with the Fifth Angel, she could remember it as well. The blue haired girl recalled another thing.
She smiled warmly at him.
Misato frowned as she looked at the screen. Together with the bright image of the Angel appeared the face of an officer of the United Nations.
"It's no use, Major Katsuragi," the military was saying with a heavy accent. "If Nerv doesn't do anything, we'll act."
"We're still studying the menace, Colonel," she said dryly.
"Studying? For two days? No, ma'am. We cannot stand for such a Damocles' sword hanging over us. The launching of the N2 warheads is scheduled in three hours, and unless Nerv shows us a real, convincing battle plan, we'll go ahead with our attack."
"The fight against the Angels is an exclusive responsibility of Nerv," Misato reminded him.
She hated the officers of the UN Army. Arrogant even in defeat, they had never recognized that Nerv was the only way to defeat the Angels, considering the Evangelion program as a lesser evil. Although she knew that, in a certain way, the Evangelions were hiding too much things for the military be at ease with them, they were winning the war.
She was winning the war, damn it!
"A responsibility given by the Security Council, ma'am. As easy comes, easy goes."
"Yes?"
"Of course," he smirked disagreeably, "we'll keep you in touch."
"How considerate."
"Thank you. Now, Major Katsuragi, I have a battle to plan. See you."
The screen went blank. Misato still kept her angry face for a second, and then she turned to the Commander and smiled.
"They're going to do it, sir."
"Perfect," Fuyutsuki nodded. "Follow the strike carefully, and be ready to attack the Angel as soon as it descents."
"If it descents," she shrugged.
"Of course," Fuyutsuki conceded. "But what else might we do? We cannot launch the units to the space."
"Let's hope that the strike itches him enough to start moving," Misato yawned. "I think that I'm going to get a few hours of sleep before all begins."
Fuyutsuki nodded, and the purple haired woman left the Command Center. It had been her idea to let the UN to attack the Angel. At any rate, Nerv would have ended doing the same, so why not let the army work a little?
If the Angel was destroyed it would be a good thing, since the plan they were developing was far from perfect. If not, well, they would be waiting for it. However, Fuyutsuki would have liked to have more options available.
A soft whistle caught his attention, and he turned to find that Ritsuko was standing behind him, just like he used to be behind Gendo. He chuckled quietly while the blonde scientist smiled amused.
"Yes?" he finally said.
"I've got the simulation you asked for before, sir," she smiled, handling to him three folders.
Fuyutsuki grabbed them and gave the reports inside a quick peek. They were the Magi opinion about which pilot should be used to perform Ritsuko's plan. He didn't feel like reading them all at that moment, so he looked questioningly at her.
"So?"
"Sohryu."
"Sohryu?"
She giggled. "I think that Ueda is a bit scared of Ayanami, so he discarded her almost instantly. So, between Ikari and her, Magi says that Sohryu is the best choice, properly handled."
"Hm. Properly handled? That girl is like a hurricane. I doubt that anybody might handle her."
"If she thinks that she's going to be able to repay the Angel," shrugged Ritsuko, "she will do it."
"Poor Angel, then. OK, you've got permission to proceed. Get Sohryu out of there and begin to prepare her. Debrief Katsuragi about that, so she's able to prepare the battle plan. I think you'll get to talk to her before she falls asleep," he chuckled.
"So I hope," Ritsuko smiled. "I have to talk to Maya; I'll tell you later how's going everything."
"Good."
Rei didn't understand why such a small thing as a smile could disturb Shinji so deeply. His face had turned on a bright red and he stammered several things that Rei couldn't quite discern. A bit worried, she regained her neutral expression when the speakers of the room required the presence of both pilots at the Command Center.
"We must go," she said, brushing past him.
She wasn't facing Shinji, so she couldn't see how he sighed deeply before closing his mouth and follow her.
"Do you think that the Angel has arrived?" he asked Rei once he was next to her.
"No."
"Why?" he said puzzled, struck by the blunt statement of Rei's.
Rei sighed. "Because it is not a general alert."
"Oh."
They walked together in silent for a time. Rei realized that, three or four times, Ikari had tried to say something. He had stopped himself all the times, though, so she didn't ask him what he wanted to tell her.
When they entered the Command Center they discovered that the people had ceased their vigil to begin working again. Asuka was talking with Ritsuko and Misato, seemingly not very convinced by the explanation she was receiving.
Misato waved to them. "Just a moment and I'll be with you two, couple," she said winking an eye.
Rei just nodded. After Misato ended her conversation with Asuka she turned towards the two remaining pilots and sighed.
"Here we go, boys," she said tiredly. "In a few hours, the UN will drop several N2 mines against the Angel. If the Angel does anything, like, try to descent, we'll go for it. Asuka's going to act as a spearhead, while both of you will remain as a backup."
"Yes, ma'am," Rei said softly.
"But Misato... Won't it happen again the same?" Shinji asked worried.
"I hope not. Besides, Asuka's going to be prepared for it... Which reminds me. As of this moment neither of you are to contact Unit Two by radio. Asuka needs complete silence while she's in the Eva."
"Why?"
"It would be complicated to explain, Shinji. Just trust me, will you?"
Rei gazed how Shinji nodded somberly. He was worried by the Second Child's welfare, she supposed. After all, she had been badly injured in the first skirmish. It was a natural thing that he was preoccupied.
Before they split to head to each one's unit, Rei wondered for a second if he would have been so worried had she been the one to attack. She found herself hoping so, although she'd not have been able to tell why.
Asuka sighed and tried to relax while the LCL rose above her head. Hypnosis. Of all the stupid things that ever happened to occur to Misato and Ritsuko, that one surely would win a prize. Why simply they didn't let her to slay the Angel? Then again, although she'd never admit it, she was grateful that they'd found a way to evade the mind attack of the white being. She didn't need to remember her mother's death so vividly again.
"Asuka?" she heard through the speakers.
"Shinji?" she asked back.
"Yes, ummm... Just before this goes silent... Be careful."
"The Angel's the one who needs to be careful, Shinji," she laughed. "Not me."
"Sure, Asuka," Shinji smiled. "Good luck."
"Thank you, Third," she replied, softening her tone. "See you later."
"See you."
Just before Shinji cut the channel, a small sign -reading 'restricted channel'- appeared in her console. 'Well, here we go!' she thought for herself.
"Miss Sohryu?"
"What's he doing?" Misato asked, looking at the old man speaking quietly through the microphone.
"Sedating her," Ritsuko replied, looking up from her station. "This isn't like in a magic show, where people fall in a trance in seconds. He needs to make Asuka relax enough to begin the hypnotic procedure. That's why all the therapists have a so monotone voice."
It was true, Misato noticed. While his voice wasn't particularly garish, he had lowered it to a soft, repetitive murmur while he read the first of a huge amount of paper's pieces on his desk. From time to time, the redheaded answered with a sharp affirmative, although her tone began to fall with the passage of time.
"And how many time is this going to endure?"
"Oh, around two hours, more or less."
"So much?!"
"I told you, this isn't a Copperfield show," Ritsuko shrugged. "It takes its time."
"I see," Misato replied, leaning back on her chair. "I never thought that Asuka would accept so quickly."
"Hidden and twisted are the paths of vengeance, Misato. Asuka considers it as a personal thing."
"I guess. Do you want a cup of coffee?"
"Sure, thank you."
Asuka was about falling asleep. She felt like if she was floating in a vast, dim pool of warm water, hearing in the background the quiet murmur of the psychiatrist. She was, for the first time in many, many years, absolutely in peace.
She wished to sleep, and with a final refrain of the weaving voice she closed her eyes, falling in a dark, yet peaceful realm and forgetting everything she thought she knew.
Indifferent to everything, the Angel just bided its time, enjoying -if an Angel could enjoy- a privileged view of Earth. If it whad been gazing downward, it would have seen the vast Pacific Ocean, the populated China and Japan, the Yellow Sea and what remained of the Russian peninsula of Kamchatka; but it stood there, blind to anything else than the call of the white being beneath Tokyo Three.
The time had arrived.
Far from Tokyo 3, in one of the bases occupied by the international armed forces of the United Nations, ten N2 warheads were being aimed at the floating Angel. Enough firepower to wipe away a whole nation from the face of the Earth was going to be launched against a target not bigger than a block of apartments.
The Russian Colonel stared at his screen, where the last of the ten red signals has finally turned to an aseptic green which showed that the last of the missiles had finally locked its target.
He sighed.
"Open fire."
Only three of the ten white streams that left Kamchatka hit their objective, already falling from its high observatory. The only thing that the satellites revealed was the orange pattern of the AT Field, effectively shielding the Angel from the vast destructive power of the N2 warheads.
At the Geofront, there wasn't a great deal of surprise. They knew the power of an AT Field, as they trusted in another one to defeat the Angel's. In a religious silence, the technicians waited for the arrival of the Angel, not daring to say anything in an effort to avoid bothering the dormant pilot of Unit Two.
Shinji was a bit worried. Asuka had spent the last twenty minutes with her eyes closed, only with the tiny rise of her chest as signal she was alive. Misato had remembered him strictly not to talk to her or to otherwise distract her. He hadn't even talked to Rei, although he thought that the albino wouldn't talk to him if Misato had told them not to. He trusted the purple haired woman, but he wasn't sure if Asuka would be able to defeat the Angel without suffering the same fate as last time. He didn't want her to go through the same ordeal; the memory of Asuka's screams still send a chill down his spine.
He changed his view to the main screen of his entry plug, which was showing the descent of the Angel to the Earth. At the moment, it only showed a more or less opaque, bright ball, as the air of the atmosphere brushed past the AT Field that surrounded the Angel.
Everybody stood quiet while the Angel descending. The Magi had already set the landing point in a valley a hundred kilometers away from Tokyo 3, and Misato had decided that Asuka wouldn't be launched until the Angel was near them.
The light ball that surrounded the Angel began to diminish as it slowed its speed of descent. Finally, the Angel could be seen while it fell freely to the ground. It gave the impression that it would collide with the land.
Then it opened its white wings, and everybody in the Command Center stared in awe at it. They were massive, yet delicate, with a soft pattern of bright rays that resembled to a spider web. Two pairs of impossible wings hang from the small body of the Angel, all of it made of bright light. Beautiful and terrible as only a God's messenger might be, the Fifteenth Angel began to cross the skies softly, taking impulse only from time to time.
The Magi went frantic giving the new predictions of course and destinations, but Misato didn't need to look at them to know where it was going. She nodded at the old doctor, and he sighed and murmured something softy to Unit Two's pilot.
Asuka blinked and looked at the spear her Unit was holding with clouded eyes. Shinji couldn't help but shudder when he saw them: Asuka's gaze seemed empty, void; more lifeless that Rei's eyes had ever looked. By reflex he looked at Unit Zero's pilot, and he saw surprised that Rei was frowning.
The noise of Unit Two's launching pad prevented him from thinking anymore in that. The red Evangelion was going alone to face the Angel of Birds.
She didn't remember her name, or even who she was.
She didn't remember why she was there.
She didn't remember anything.
The young girl looked unsure outside from her Evangelion, and she saw it. A few kilometers away, the white being was slowly approaching the city. She pushed a button, and she smiled with the slightest of the smiles as she heard the spinning sound of the sonic edge.
She knew only that it was her duty to defeat that cruel creation of the Gods. And, for some reason unknown to the girl, it was a soothing thought. She didn't need anything else than that enemy and a weapon to defeat it.
Suddenly, a bright ray of light came from the creature and hit her unit straight on.
The orange liquid she was submerged in was cold, she remembered, and it had a disagreeable taste. She couldn't get rid of the thought, but iit didn't matter. In a few seconds she would reach it, and then it would be erased from the face of Earth. The girl without name smiled as she turned to face her enemy, with a strange joy in her heart.
She charged against the Angel across the rainy fields of the city.
In the middle of the ray of light she arrived upon the Angel and stabbed it with the spear. The AT Field shone around the head of her spear, preventing it from reaching the body of the bird-like being, but the momentum that had carried the red mecha made it crash against the Angel. Both fell to the ground in a mix of red and pearly white parts.
Asuka fought desperately to grasp onto her spear while the Angel pushed and bit her Unit, without breaking through the red armor. With a yell of victory, Asuka finally managed to grab the spear and lifted it over her head to strike with all the force that her Unit was capable of at the red core that the Angel had where its head would be.
Suddenly, the Angel's legs grabbed her by the shoulders and the arms and carried Unit Two away with it, taking off and flying several dozen of meters before releasing it.
Shinji watched worriedly as the red unit landed with a loud crash. Asuka screamed in pain at the fall when the Angel, suspended over her launched a ray of light that blinded Shinji for a second; then Asuka's yells raised in volume. The redheaded began to scream in German, and Shinji, who didn't speak a word in that language, recognized notwithstanding what she was saying. It was the same as what she'd screamed the last time.
"Asuka!" he yelled. "Misato, we have to help her!"
"Shinji! Rei! Get ready to be launched! Rescue Asuka and..."
The quick orders of Misato ceased when Unit Two got up again and jumped, making the Angel fall with it. This time, the edge of the spear was aiming at the S2 organ of the Angel, and when both collided, the combined weight of the Angel and the Eva made it penetrate the AT field and break the bright red sphere into two pieces.
The resulting explosion made the images in the screens vanish for a second.
"Asuka!"
"Mama... Bist du das?" Asuka babbled from her fallen Unit.
Shinji saw in the screen as he was being launched that the red Eva hadn't suffered too much damage in the explosion.
"Asuka!" he repeated, frantic.
"Shinji!" she said, this time understanding him. "Where am I? What the hell I'm doing here?"
"Asuka, wait!" Shinji sighed relieved. "I'm coming for you."
Shinji, Rei and Misato were waiting outside of the hospital room where Asuka was standing under observation. The doctors had insisted that she needed to be checked, although she seemed to be fine, just a little confused.
The old psychiatrist that had supervised her all the time walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Shinji and Misato jumped towards him, while Rei just got up politely.
"How's she?" Misato asked.
"Surprisingly good," the medicant smiled, obviously relieved. "She has recovered from the battle very quickly, and she's even better than before, I daresay."
"Can we see her?" Shinji asked softly.
"No."
"Why?" Misato said menacingly.
"Because, she's going to change her clothes. She's going home. Now, if you let me, I have some things to attend," he smiled, leaving them alone.
Misato sighed relieved.
"Will you come with us, Rei? Shinji's going to prepare a dinner to celebrate Asuka's victory," she asked to the blue haired girl.
"Am I?" Shinji echoed surprised.
"Of course you are, unless you want me or Asuka to make it. What do you say, Rei?"
While Shinji quickly muttered his agreement, Rei considered it for a second.
"I would be grateful," she nodded softly, sparing a glance to Shinji.
"You come? Great, the more the merrier!" Misato cheered. "I'm going to talk later with Ritsuko and Maya, and we'll see if we can set a party, and..."
Asuka walked out of the room, already dressed in her school uniform.
"A party?" she asked, grinning. "I hope that it's one in my honor."
"Asuka!" Misato said, hugging her. "I was so worried!"
"Why? It never had a chance."
Shinji couldn't help but laugh, and Asuka finally looked at him. "What are you laughing at, stupid?"
"Nothing," he smiled. "Nothing."
Misato pushed vigorously the three teenagers along the corridor, awashed by relief.
"Let's go home!"
Fuyutsuki stared at the crater in the suburbs of Tokyo 3, while several Nerv's teams were working on the remains of the Angel. Another one had fallen. Only two Angels left, and the Human Complementation Plan would be able to begin, according to the Scrolls.
It was now a matter of momentum, he thought. Just keep doing the same things, and for the same reasons, although soon everything would change. The world was changing, though he did not know if it was for better or for worse.
He sighed.
Author's Notes
It was about time that I updated my ongoing fics. In first place, thanks go to Inanis Machina for his help with the grammar of the fic, and as well to Steve Vader for his suggestions, specially regarding Rei's characterization.
I did some research about clinical hypnosis to write the scene, although I'm not sure that such an amnesia might be inducted through an hypnotic treatment. If it's not, please accept is as one more of Eva's strange things. Nobody complained about the positron rifle, after all ^^''
After the hiatus of the previous chapter, the story keeps focusing on Rei. I've tried to avoid Shinji as the protagonist, as he has seen too many times, and it's something almost automatically in a Eva fic.
I hope that Gendo's reflexions don't cloud too much the story. It's an opportunity to focus on one of the adults without deviating the gaze from the Children. Ah, and by the way, Asuka's words in German means 'Mama... is that you?'
Until the next chapter - An Unforeseen Scenario, Chapter 6: Just Shinji.
See you!
Athos