Disclaimers:

Neon Genesis Evangelion and all related characters, concepts, etc., are

property of ADVision and Gainax. I only wish they were mine.

Published: 04-23-02 - Final Chapter revision Updated: 1-25-05

"Romance Concerto"

Prologue: Memories Recounted

Shinji Ikari was staring out on an unfamiliar city, the twentieth so far in the Osaka Symphony Orchestra's current tour. It had been an exhausting tour with the Orchestra playing three to four dates each week for the last three months. As well as added side trips for him to do solo and duet concerts to help fund their symphony halls' renovation.

But soon the tour will be over and he can return to his home he shared with his roommate, and dear friend.

Normally looking at a city at night would entail thought provoking or insightful thinking in most people, but Shinji wasn't what most would call normal. He had never been up until six years ago when his roommate moved in with him and helped straightened him out.

He looked back in his memories, as he stood alone on the balcony outside of his hotel room in a brisk night's air.

Had it been ten long years ago that he and Lillith had remade the world? Was it that long ago that everyone who wanted to had came back from the gelatinous state that they had become when they were a part of that LCL sea? Was it truly a decade since he had seen that blood red ribbon in the sky just after his decision had been made?

Then, he smiled simply because so many had returned.

His friends, and some of those that were once a part of Nerv. His thoughts were happier since he was going to be visiting their cities as soon as the European leg of their tour was over. The young man was happy that he could visit them and catch up on their lives. All that was left was a one week three city Japanese tour that took them to Toyko-2, Kobe, and finally back in Osaka-2 for a final closing concert.

Even with so many of his friends' back in Japan he never felt too lonely on tour as two of them traveled with him. One was his roommate and best friend, while the other was their old friend, Makato Hyuga who definitely had an interesting job,

Being the Osaka Orchestra's manager, which made him Shinji's boss. Well one of them, the other being orchestra conductor Toshiro Mikune. Makoto was the one who booked all the dates, organized the tour, and was the boss of the business end of the Orchestra, while Toshiro Mikune, the conductor, was in charge of the artistic end of the creative enterprise.

Plus Shinji knew he had an interest in his roommate, which he had concerns about! He had to keep her safe that was the job he was giving himself for all the help she had given him and still does.

Shinji then took another drink from a rapidly cooling cup of tea as he remembered his friends, the ones that had returned. He smiled again at the thought that he would be seeing them soon and happily anticipated those visits after the tour.

However his thoughts then came to someone he would be seeing the next day. Throughout the tour, his orchestra had invited the local Symphony Orchestra's first chair violinist to play the solo in one the five pieces of music they have been playing since the tour began.

This was Makoto's brilliant idea, and it had worked wonders with more attendance in their concerts than anticipated. All of the musical pieces had solos because the orchestra was banking on drawing in more crowds based on the local soloists' notoriety.

As he thought of it more Shinji became more worried of the coming performance. This soloist was someone he had been close to so long ago, someone who he parted with in not the best of terms.

As he thought of this, a warm hand was placed on his back. He turned... and smiled at his roommate. The hand then moved down and around to his waist encircling it, squeezing tightly.

"Why are you out here in the cold night air?" asked his female friend, and companion.

"I had to think about some things," he said as he turned his gaze away from her and towards the brilliantly lit city.

"I don't want you to catch cold. You should come inside." she replied.

He smiled at her concern for him. She was always so concerned for him, and he was the same for her as well. He gathered her to him by bringing his arm around her shoulders.

"Well, I probably will come in, ... in a few minutes." He then kissed her on the cheek and she smiled back at him.

Then she noticed the sad expression in his eyes. She looked at him intently and said, "Is it she that concerns you?"

He lost his grin and looked out in front of him, not taking his arm off of her shoulder. Then he hung his head and said: "Yeah, I ... don't know if I can see her again, ... and not break down."

She remembered when the two had parted. The one that concerned him had left the city. He cried for two straight days in her arms, as she tried to comfort him. He then sunk into a depression for six months, ... until she got him out of it by moving into his apartment and with her indomitable will and spirit, forced him to deal with life. It was her that encouraged him to pursue his music, in his unfocused life and in turn, he had caught her up in his new enthusiasm of music enough to have her join him in the same career. He with his cello, she with her viola. Both had come from his mother.

After a few more moments of silence, she knew she had to alleviate his fears, so spoke out. "Shinji, tomorrow, if you need my support, you know that I will be there for you."

She paused making sure he understood what she said.

"But, you should talk to her." Rei looked at him intensely. She placed her small hand on his chest right above his beating heart. "You still feel for her." She smiled her small quaint smile at her brother, her eyes never leaving his.

"You need to tell her."

He sighed, eyes watering, and caught Rei in a tight but caring embrace. She hugged back. "I did that nine years ago Rei, and she left because she didn't believe me when I told her the truth. So she blamed me for it." Shinji sighed heavily.

She looked up at him while still in his embrace and spoke to him again in a calm and surprisingly caring tone. "No, she blamed me because she forced you to choose between having my love as your sister, and her's as your lover. She said she wanted "All of you, or none at all." She paused to make sure he understood what she had said, then went on. "In her view, she felt threatened by our sibling bond because she didn't have all your love," said Rei in a soft, but stern voice.

Shinji knew she was right. That girl had made the decision to leave, not he, and as his heart broke that night he had started to blame himself, when the real blame wasn't his.

Then he looked back at his sister admiring her stoic stubbornness. Through these ten years Rei had grown not only physically (She was two inches taller, and a vision of loveliness men would die to claim) but emotionally as well.

Though still reserved in nature to those she didn't know as friends, she was now warm and affectionate in her own unique way, especially to the brother she was so fond of.

It was hard to see at times when they were 'in public', but it was there.

It took him the same amount of time to become comfortable with strangers so it was a shared trait. But sharing that mistrust of strangers did bring them closer as siblings.

He hugged her again and continued. "I know she left me, and I know she did it on an impulse. So, there's a chance she might want to talk to me. But I'm still scared that I might say something wrong, or that she might not want anything to do with me anymore, just so her pride is satisfied."

Then a stoic look came over Rei's face, reminding him of how she looked ten long years ago. "Then you will have you answer Shinji." She kept looking intently at his face forcing him to look at her and into those intense crimson eyes of hers.

No one could see them and lie, because they never lie, at least to him. "You can then move on with you life, or you can renew your relationship with her. Either way this will cause a change for you, Shinji-kun, and what ever happens, you must face it."

"But, she can't be here for me. She is the First Chair violinist for the Frankfurt Symphony!" he stammered as they stared out on to the great German city before them . . . and the person hidden somewhere amongst it all. The person that filled him with both fear and a slight, faint but searching hope.

He sighed with Rei silently holding him tight to show her support.

"It is cold," Rei repeated as she shivered slightly in his arms.

"Yes. Let's go inside."

Hope you all are interested. I am going to be putting most of my quality time for the next few years to see if I can get a good story out with the most excellent help of Andre Laval, and Datexan

Chapter #1: Reunion Rehearsal

Author's Notes: The story's Setting: 00-Prologue

Now I don't know where this will go but this idea came to me as I took a day off of everything! (work, and writing fics.) As I was on the beach resting under a palm tree, (Lucky me, I live In Florida!) I was listening to some various CD's of Instrumental music. One CD was of Beethoven's "Violin Concerto, Romances for Violin and Orchestra 1 and 2." Hence the title of this story. More music will be added, but being instrumental music, this is obviously not a song fic. If you go and listen to the music then hopefully you can get an idea of why it was used. Thanks all, and enjoy!

A final note; This will be the final revision to this chapter and hopefully we can get this thing going again!

dennisud