Asuka was drawing in her notebook, the one Hazuki-san had brought her. She
touched the creamy pale green pages with her fingertips and remembered the
cherry blossoms she'd seen outside the other day.
A smile crept onto her face, then quickly vanished as she turned to look at her window. Had someone been watching her?
She remained sitting straight up for several moments, watching the blinds carefully. There was no motion. Asuka turned back to her book and squeezed her fingers around the pencil, watching her nail turn white and back to pink as she lessened the pressure. She was trying to draw the monster she'd seen and been inside, the red thing she knew to be called Eva.
Muffled sounds came from outside her room, and a high, feminine laugh.
Asuka was curious.
She tucked her notebook back under her pillow, where she hid it nowadays, and crept over to the blinds. Things became very silent. She got down on her knees and slid up the wall slowly, an inch at a time, until her eye was level with the windowsill. Gently she pried away one plastic strip of the blinds.
There was no one.
Asuka was confused.
She got back into bed and pulled the thin blanket over her knees, then reached for her notebook and her pencil. Her sketches were proof of her frustration; Asuka had torn out many a page and tossed it into the wastebasket in annoyance. Her latest try had still looked nothing like the Eva she could see so clearly in her mind. She drew another harsh line down the side of the page, dissecting several cherry blossoms as she did so.
Asuka wondered how long she'd been in this hospital. Approximately two weeks since she'd woken up, but she didn't know how long she'd been in a coma—and if she intended not to talk, there wasn't any way to ask Hazuki- san. Her days were dreary, and she was finding herself bored easily. She'd found a convenient way to eat all the fruit she had been provided with and was left with only two oranges and a banana.
She wanted to leave this hospital, but knew in the depths of her heart that there was nowhere for her to go. She had a name now, but still no identity.
It was late afternoon when her nurse stopped in to see how she was doing.
"The purple-haired lady is back, Asuka-chan," she told her, as she straightened out the bed. "She's been here three times today already, but seems to always leave as soon as she sees me."
Misato's back?
Asuka stared, surprised.
"Do you want to see her?"
Asuka thought, and looked down at her knees. Would Misato have changed as much as she had? Would she try to bombard her with memories of the past?
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Asuka-chan," Hazuki-san added hastily.
But Asuka had made up her mind. She sat up quickly, her eyes pleading with Hazuki-san silently as her head bobbed up and down quickly.
Hazuki-san was hesitant. "Are you sure?"
Another series of enthusiastic nodding, until Asuka thought her head might fall off.
The nurse smiled. "I'll go get her."
= = = = = = =
Misato was back again, for the third time—and this way she'd found her way to Asuka's room without having to ask for directions once.
Three days had passed since her initial visit. In those days she had spent plenty of time mulling around her watermelons, thinking things over, and whenever her thoughts got muddled—she drove back to the hospital. There was something calming about simply watching her former charge's simple play.
She was there now, leaning casually against the back wall of the hallway, when the door opened again. Automatically she stepped back to let the nurse pass.
However, she was mistaken; the woman wanted to speak to her.
"Asuka-chan would like to see you," she said simply.
Misato was shocked and surprised. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "I...I didn't bring any flowers."
The nurse laughed. "She won't care. Go on in."
Misato hesitated, not sure what to do, now that she was faced with the prospect of seeing Asuka. Would she recognize her? Would she...
The former Nerv commander's last thought was cut off as two small but well- meaning hands pushed her into room 212 and closed the door behind her.
"Hello, Asuka."
She was sitting up in bed, a pencil in hand, evidently writing something. Her blue eyes were large, fixed clearly on Misato's aging face. Her long, shiny copper hair, always fastened back with two red hairclips, now streamed down her back, restrained only by a pink ribbon.
Misato felt very out of place. Perhaps Asuka would not appreciate her presence at all.
Slowly, Asuka raised her hand and flexed her fingers slowly in a gesture of friendliness. Surprised, Misato came closer and pulled over a chair.
"How are you doing?"
It was hard enough, Misato thought, to keep up a conversation with someone you hadn't seen in twelve years, especially when you'd left off on a bad note, but to do it with someone who was now also mute? She closed her eyes.
"I'm fine."
Misato's brown eyes fluttered open. Had she really spoken? Was she hallucinating? She blinked several times, trying to hide her surprise.
"I'm glad to hear that," she mustered at last, accompanying her words with a smile.
Asuka smiled then, slowly, and relaxed. She leaned back against her pillows and closed her notebook with an easy, jaunty movement and shoved it under the pillow. The pencil she placed on her bedside table.
"How have you been?"
= = = = = = =
The first two words she'd spoken in days were hard to release, but the excitement that shone on Misato's face was worth every bit of initial embarrassment Asuka had felt. Yes, now she was finally ready to talk, and she wanted to know everything.
Misato looked more comfortable now that she had initiated a question, and chose her words carefully. "Well, I've moved out of our old apartment, and into a larger, single house now," she said. "It's got a big garden in the backyard, and children like to come and play in it."
Asuka didn't make the connection between "big house" and "Kaji's old house". Neither did she realize that the "big garden" was filled with "watermelons".
"Is there any beer in your house?"
She remembers the beer? Misato was shocked.
"No, not anymore," she said, laughing a little. "I've stopped drinking since—well, a long time ago."
Silence dominated the next few moments.
Asuka was quiet, wondering if she dared ask the question that had been whirring in her mind. She decided to go ahead with it, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer or not.
"Misato."
"Hmm?"
Asuka paused, then assumed a faint air of confidence. "Tell me about...Rei, and Shinji."
Misato was very quiet, thinking this over.
"Misato?"
She hasn't changed much, Misato thought. "Would you like to know more about what they were like before, or where they are now?"
She half expected the words to earn her a slap in the face. The Asuka she remembered would easily have taken the first half of her sentence as an insult of her usually excellent memory. The second half could get her into trouble because she honestly didn't know what had happened to them.
But Asuka, in her new quiet tone of voice, replied, "Anything you would like."
"Hmm. Let me think." Misato bought herself some time as she frantically tried to think. What could she tell Asuka, that would not be related to Evangelion, the angels, and Nerv?
"Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei were your classmates," she began slowly. "Shinji lived in the same apartment as you and me." She went out on a limb, continuing, "I remember that you liked to call him 'baka'."
"Yes, I remember too," Asuka said, without a hint of vengeance, and shocked Misato yet again. "But I don't remember why I did."
Misato diverted the subject. "What else do you remember about Shinji? Or Rei?"
"Shinji was...tall, and skinny, with brown hair," Asuka said slowly. Her gaze was directed at the leg of Misato's chair. She frowned as she thought. "Rei was... very quiet. I don't remember her saying much."
That's all she remembers, Misato thought. Not much for having spent over a year with them.
"Misato."
"Yes, Asuka?"
"Tell me about Eva."
Her words were direct, each spoken clearly and evenly. Asuka was conscious of herself leaning forward, wanting to know the truth. She had finally met someone who could help her identify herself, and she wanted to milk it for all that it was worth.
Misato said, "Are you sure?"
Without a hint of hesitance: "Yes. I want to know everything."
So Misato pulled her chair closer and began. She told her former charge of the Eva Unit 02 that she had controlled, of the Evas of Rei and Shinji. She told her about the angels, Tokyo-3, and Nerv. There was so much to talk about, Misato mused, as she continued about Ikari Gendo and Akagi Ritsuko, the Magi computers, how the Second Child had been brought to Japan from Germany. How strange this must sound to a girl who had experienced nothing beyond a soft bed, oranges, and a trip to the garden, yet had gone through more than most people her age would ever face.
When she paused, nearly thirty minutes later, Misato was afraid of Asuka's reaction.
Instead, Asuka smiled. "Thank you."
Misato was beginning to wonder if the new Asuka would ever cease to surprise her.
Asuka relaxed and lay back down, crossing her legs. "Tell me about what I was like, Misato."
The commanding Asuka is back.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes. I want to know everything. I want to know what I looked like, what kinds of clothes I wore, what I—"
The door opened behind Misato, cutting the redhead off sharply.
"Asuka-chan! Why didn't you tell me you could speak perfectly?"
The young woman was suddenly at a loss for words. The expression on her nurse's face was one of surprise and hurt. Hurt, Asuka realized with a sinking feeling, that Hazuki-san had done everything for her, yet she had opened up to what was practically a complete stranger instead.
"I," Asuka began awkwardly, "...wasn't ready to talk."
It was Misato who quickly intervened.
"I'm sure Asuka will be willing to speak with you later," she said quietly, in a formal tone that implied the end of the matter. Hazuki-san nodded and, not meeting Asuka's eyes, closed the door again.
"Asuka?"
Asuka, who had temporarily been very busy studying Misato's chair leg again, quickly swung her gaze back up. "Yes, go on."
Misato chuckled. "You were always very direct about your opinions, especially to Shinji. You often liked to call him 'baka' and seemed to regard your missions as a competition of who was a better Eva pilot. As for Rei, she was the favorite of Commander Ikari, and it would annoy you immensely when she disagreed with you. You, me, and Shinji lived together in my apartment, along with my pet penguin Pen-pen—"
Asuka looked as if she were trying to keep from bursting out in laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"A pet penguin," Asuka replied, "with red feathers growing out of the top of his head. I remember him."
Misato smiled, though the image in her mind was of the many lonely nights she'd spent on the front steps of Kaji's house, looking up at the stars and thinking of the past. She would put her arms around the penguin and rub her cheek against his soft feathers, hoping he understood her feelings.
How lonely she still felt sometimes.
"Ne, Asuka." Misato leaned in closer. "When you get out of this hospital, would you like to come and stay with me?" The door opened behind her and the nurse stepped in again. Misato knew it was her time to leave, but she stood her ground.
"Yes, Misato, I would like that very much."
Misato smiled. "Then I'll be waiting." She got up and left.
Author's note: For all you Shinji fans, I promise he'll be here! Not quite sure when, but he's on his way! And as usual, drop me a review, this certainly wasn't my favorite chapter but I'd like to know what you thought.
A smile crept onto her face, then quickly vanished as she turned to look at her window. Had someone been watching her?
She remained sitting straight up for several moments, watching the blinds carefully. There was no motion. Asuka turned back to her book and squeezed her fingers around the pencil, watching her nail turn white and back to pink as she lessened the pressure. She was trying to draw the monster she'd seen and been inside, the red thing she knew to be called Eva.
Muffled sounds came from outside her room, and a high, feminine laugh.
Asuka was curious.
She tucked her notebook back under her pillow, where she hid it nowadays, and crept over to the blinds. Things became very silent. She got down on her knees and slid up the wall slowly, an inch at a time, until her eye was level with the windowsill. Gently she pried away one plastic strip of the blinds.
There was no one.
Asuka was confused.
She got back into bed and pulled the thin blanket over her knees, then reached for her notebook and her pencil. Her sketches were proof of her frustration; Asuka had torn out many a page and tossed it into the wastebasket in annoyance. Her latest try had still looked nothing like the Eva she could see so clearly in her mind. She drew another harsh line down the side of the page, dissecting several cherry blossoms as she did so.
Asuka wondered how long she'd been in this hospital. Approximately two weeks since she'd woken up, but she didn't know how long she'd been in a coma—and if she intended not to talk, there wasn't any way to ask Hazuki- san. Her days were dreary, and she was finding herself bored easily. She'd found a convenient way to eat all the fruit she had been provided with and was left with only two oranges and a banana.
She wanted to leave this hospital, but knew in the depths of her heart that there was nowhere for her to go. She had a name now, but still no identity.
It was late afternoon when her nurse stopped in to see how she was doing.
"The purple-haired lady is back, Asuka-chan," she told her, as she straightened out the bed. "She's been here three times today already, but seems to always leave as soon as she sees me."
Misato's back?
Asuka stared, surprised.
"Do you want to see her?"
Asuka thought, and looked down at her knees. Would Misato have changed as much as she had? Would she try to bombard her with memories of the past?
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Asuka-chan," Hazuki-san added hastily.
But Asuka had made up her mind. She sat up quickly, her eyes pleading with Hazuki-san silently as her head bobbed up and down quickly.
Hazuki-san was hesitant. "Are you sure?"
Another series of enthusiastic nodding, until Asuka thought her head might fall off.
The nurse smiled. "I'll go get her."
= = = = = = =
Misato was back again, for the third time—and this way she'd found her way to Asuka's room without having to ask for directions once.
Three days had passed since her initial visit. In those days she had spent plenty of time mulling around her watermelons, thinking things over, and whenever her thoughts got muddled—she drove back to the hospital. There was something calming about simply watching her former charge's simple play.
She was there now, leaning casually against the back wall of the hallway, when the door opened again. Automatically she stepped back to let the nurse pass.
However, she was mistaken; the woman wanted to speak to her.
"Asuka-chan would like to see you," she said simply.
Misato was shocked and surprised. The first thing that came out of her mouth was, "I...I didn't bring any flowers."
The nurse laughed. "She won't care. Go on in."
Misato hesitated, not sure what to do, now that she was faced with the prospect of seeing Asuka. Would she recognize her? Would she...
The former Nerv commander's last thought was cut off as two small but well- meaning hands pushed her into room 212 and closed the door behind her.
"Hello, Asuka."
She was sitting up in bed, a pencil in hand, evidently writing something. Her blue eyes were large, fixed clearly on Misato's aging face. Her long, shiny copper hair, always fastened back with two red hairclips, now streamed down her back, restrained only by a pink ribbon.
Misato felt very out of place. Perhaps Asuka would not appreciate her presence at all.
Slowly, Asuka raised her hand and flexed her fingers slowly in a gesture of friendliness. Surprised, Misato came closer and pulled over a chair.
"How are you doing?"
It was hard enough, Misato thought, to keep up a conversation with someone you hadn't seen in twelve years, especially when you'd left off on a bad note, but to do it with someone who was now also mute? She closed her eyes.
"I'm fine."
Misato's brown eyes fluttered open. Had she really spoken? Was she hallucinating? She blinked several times, trying to hide her surprise.
"I'm glad to hear that," she mustered at last, accompanying her words with a smile.
Asuka smiled then, slowly, and relaxed. She leaned back against her pillows and closed her notebook with an easy, jaunty movement and shoved it under the pillow. The pencil she placed on her bedside table.
"How have you been?"
= = = = = = =
The first two words she'd spoken in days were hard to release, but the excitement that shone on Misato's face was worth every bit of initial embarrassment Asuka had felt. Yes, now she was finally ready to talk, and she wanted to know everything.
Misato looked more comfortable now that she had initiated a question, and chose her words carefully. "Well, I've moved out of our old apartment, and into a larger, single house now," she said. "It's got a big garden in the backyard, and children like to come and play in it."
Asuka didn't make the connection between "big house" and "Kaji's old house". Neither did she realize that the "big garden" was filled with "watermelons".
"Is there any beer in your house?"
She remembers the beer? Misato was shocked.
"No, not anymore," she said, laughing a little. "I've stopped drinking since—well, a long time ago."
Silence dominated the next few moments.
Asuka was quiet, wondering if she dared ask the question that had been whirring in her mind. She decided to go ahead with it, although she wasn't sure if she wanted to hear the answer or not.
"Misato."
"Hmm?"
Asuka paused, then assumed a faint air of confidence. "Tell me about...Rei, and Shinji."
Misato was very quiet, thinking this over.
"Misato?"
She hasn't changed much, Misato thought. "Would you like to know more about what they were like before, or where they are now?"
She half expected the words to earn her a slap in the face. The Asuka she remembered would easily have taken the first half of her sentence as an insult of her usually excellent memory. The second half could get her into trouble because she honestly didn't know what had happened to them.
But Asuka, in her new quiet tone of voice, replied, "Anything you would like."
"Hmm. Let me think." Misato bought herself some time as she frantically tried to think. What could she tell Asuka, that would not be related to Evangelion, the angels, and Nerv?
"Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei were your classmates," she began slowly. "Shinji lived in the same apartment as you and me." She went out on a limb, continuing, "I remember that you liked to call him 'baka'."
"Yes, I remember too," Asuka said, without a hint of vengeance, and shocked Misato yet again. "But I don't remember why I did."
Misato diverted the subject. "What else do you remember about Shinji? Or Rei?"
"Shinji was...tall, and skinny, with brown hair," Asuka said slowly. Her gaze was directed at the leg of Misato's chair. She frowned as she thought. "Rei was... very quiet. I don't remember her saying much."
That's all she remembers, Misato thought. Not much for having spent over a year with them.
"Misato."
"Yes, Asuka?"
"Tell me about Eva."
Her words were direct, each spoken clearly and evenly. Asuka was conscious of herself leaning forward, wanting to know the truth. She had finally met someone who could help her identify herself, and she wanted to milk it for all that it was worth.
Misato said, "Are you sure?"
Without a hint of hesitance: "Yes. I want to know everything."
So Misato pulled her chair closer and began. She told her former charge of the Eva Unit 02 that she had controlled, of the Evas of Rei and Shinji. She told her about the angels, Tokyo-3, and Nerv. There was so much to talk about, Misato mused, as she continued about Ikari Gendo and Akagi Ritsuko, the Magi computers, how the Second Child had been brought to Japan from Germany. How strange this must sound to a girl who had experienced nothing beyond a soft bed, oranges, and a trip to the garden, yet had gone through more than most people her age would ever face.
When she paused, nearly thirty minutes later, Misato was afraid of Asuka's reaction.
Instead, Asuka smiled. "Thank you."
Misato was beginning to wonder if the new Asuka would ever cease to surprise her.
Asuka relaxed and lay back down, crossing her legs. "Tell me about what I was like, Misato."
The commanding Asuka is back.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes. I want to know everything. I want to know what I looked like, what kinds of clothes I wore, what I—"
The door opened behind Misato, cutting the redhead off sharply.
"Asuka-chan! Why didn't you tell me you could speak perfectly?"
The young woman was suddenly at a loss for words. The expression on her nurse's face was one of surprise and hurt. Hurt, Asuka realized with a sinking feeling, that Hazuki-san had done everything for her, yet she had opened up to what was practically a complete stranger instead.
"I," Asuka began awkwardly, "...wasn't ready to talk."
It was Misato who quickly intervened.
"I'm sure Asuka will be willing to speak with you later," she said quietly, in a formal tone that implied the end of the matter. Hazuki-san nodded and, not meeting Asuka's eyes, closed the door again.
"Asuka?"
Asuka, who had temporarily been very busy studying Misato's chair leg again, quickly swung her gaze back up. "Yes, go on."
Misato chuckled. "You were always very direct about your opinions, especially to Shinji. You often liked to call him 'baka' and seemed to regard your missions as a competition of who was a better Eva pilot. As for Rei, she was the favorite of Commander Ikari, and it would annoy you immensely when she disagreed with you. You, me, and Shinji lived together in my apartment, along with my pet penguin Pen-pen—"
Asuka looked as if she were trying to keep from bursting out in laughter.
"What's so funny?"
"A pet penguin," Asuka replied, "with red feathers growing out of the top of his head. I remember him."
Misato smiled, though the image in her mind was of the many lonely nights she'd spent on the front steps of Kaji's house, looking up at the stars and thinking of the past. She would put her arms around the penguin and rub her cheek against his soft feathers, hoping he understood her feelings.
How lonely she still felt sometimes.
"Ne, Asuka." Misato leaned in closer. "When you get out of this hospital, would you like to come and stay with me?" The door opened behind her and the nurse stepped in again. Misato knew it was her time to leave, but she stood her ground.
"Yes, Misato, I would like that very much."
Misato smiled. "Then I'll be waiting." She got up and left.
Author's note: For all you Shinji fans, I promise he'll be here! Not quite sure when, but he's on his way! And as usual, drop me a review, this certainly wasn't my favorite chapter but I'd like to know what you thought.