Chapter 17

After leaving the Pentagon, in a small restaurant off of the Potomac River, Asuka and Sawyer sat at a table eating a quick lunch outside. To the right the Watergate Hotel stood and in the distance the Washington Monument could be seen.

"Okay." Sawyer said to her. ", You're going to tell me what Inspector Souke told you?"

Asuka smirked. "Well, " she said as she took a bite of her food. ", he called me up in this excited voice to tell me first he got an A on his exam and that the final will be in three weeks. Then, he proceeded to tell me…"

"…Ma, you won't believe it! I can't believe it either but I'm so happy for her! I…just…I am so happy for her!"

"Souke, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Ma! Hope went out ON A DATE!"

"A date? Who?"

"Well, he's her commander at work. Don't freak out, Ma but he's…an American…"

Silence on the other end, as Asuka held the phone and said. "What…is…his…name, Souke?"

"Oh, Sawyer…uh, Sawyer Dell, I think? Doesn't that sound like the name of a corporation, Ma?"

Silence on the other end again.

"Ma?"

More silence.

"Hey, Ma!"

"SOUKE!" Asuka boomed.

" Mom, don't be mad. She's happy. Really. I haven't seen her smile like that in a while. Oh check it out, Ma. I must still have some cop instincts left over from when I used to be one. I walked up, actually snuck up on her, while she was sitting at the table with him, and he tried to kiss her! I caught her though…Ma, it was hilarious!"

"What?" Asuka asked.

"Ma, I know how you get and I'm telling you, don't…. please don't go into your Gaijin, baka or Dumpkopf thing, okay?

"Sawyer Dell?" Asuka blurted loudly.

"Yeah, Ma. Ma, calm down…Don't you want her to be happy?"

"Yes, Souke, but…."

"…. Then let her be happy, Ma."

Before Asuka hung up the phone, Souke heard her yell out…"SHINJI! BAKA, GET OVER HERE….WE NEED TO TALK!"

"Uh….Ma?" Souke asked as he heard yelling in the background.

"Sawyer?" Asuka said as she looked at him.

"Yes, General?" Sawyer asked nervously as his face was bright red as his eyes were wide.

"I told you to keep your hands off of my daughter."

Sawyer breathed in as he looked at her and then said very calmly. "General Ikari, I respect you immensely. You've…. given me many opportunities and I truly believe you are my friend as well. General, I will confess to you that since you gave me the task of protecting your daughter, I have done that. I have protected her and I wanted to motivate her but, what I didn't count on was feeling the way I do about her."

"Damnit, Sawyer." Asuka said as she looked at him. "Harris is breathing down our necks as it is! You don't want to give him any more fuel for his fire! Sawyer, what are you doing?"

"General, I know how you feel. I am telling you it will not interfere with my ability to command."

"Sawyer, you should have told me this before!" Asuka scolded.

"What would it have done?" Sawyer asked. "You knew that I was the best choice for this operation. She is the best choice, and the only choice, for a pilot now. If I was to tell you, that I would still give my life for her, that I would still do what it is required of me…would you believe me?"

Asuka breathed in as she looked at him and then nodded her head. "I would. Sawyer, you may be asked to potentially send in to her to a situation where she could die. You realize that, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." Sawyer said.

"Could you do it?" Asuka asked.

"Could you?" Sawyer asked back. "You'll be in charge of the strike team. You'll be giving orders. Could you do that, General?"

Asuka breathed in and tightened her fists; she closed her eyes as she said. "I've always felt my whole life that my daughter was meant to do something great with her life. Hope has known that too. My daughter and myself are very much alike, even when she tells you she's not like me, she is. I value duty and honor. My daughter is the same way. What needs to be done will be done. If my daughter dies in battle, then I will resign, but I will know that she gave her life for this world and that to me is the best way to honor her and love her."

"Will you tell Shinji?" Sawyer asked.

"Shinji knows all ready." Asuka said. "I hold nothing back from him except for one thing and I will never mention it."

"Does he know about Isao?" Sawyer asked.

"He knows the truth." Asuka said. ", But to tell him that he was purposely given a death sentence? No. I could never say that to him."

"Hope doesn't know?" Sawyer asked. "She doesn't know about Isao or Shinji?"

"No." Asuka said. "Keep it that way. Promise me."

"I promise, Asuka." Sawyer said to her.

"Sawyer, I could order you to not to get personally involved with my daughter. You know that, right?"

"Yes, General I do."

"However, such an order would create suspicion and gossip and it would give Harris the perfect opportunity to really place distrust in our command." Asuka said. "So, I am not going to order you to stop seeing, Hope. Instead, I want to know…Sawyer, how do you feel about her?"

Sawyer took a deep breath as he looked at Asuka and said boldly. "I'm falling in love with her, Asuka."

Asuka took a deep breath as she reached for the wine on the table and took a large sip. "Say that again, Sawyer?" Asuka asked as she held the glass of wine..

"General Asuka Ikari, I am falling in love with you daughter." Sawyer repeated.

Asuka breathed in again and took another sip of wine. She held the wine glass for a minute and then answered. "I see."

"She's truly amazing." Sawyer told her with a smile. "She's beautiful and smart, funny and she's got a fire that I've never seen before in anyone. She's courageous and strong. I've only known her in actuality two weeks but truth be known, I felt something for her the minute I picked up her file and read her story and heard you explain to me all about her. The first time I saw her picture, I wanted to meet her. General, when we went out that night, we only went to go play mini-golf and as silly as it seemed…that whole night was incredible. No, General, before you ask…. I didn't…well, you know…. we didn't do that. However, that night was so great! We just laughed and had a great time until one am. I haven't felt like that in so long and from what I saw of her, neither did she. Her whole demeanor changed after that, she was so full of confidence. She passed the test without any trouble! I think I'm helping her."

"I see." Asuka said as she glared over at him.

Sawyer looked down for a moment and then said. "You are my superior officer." He raised his head and breathed in. ", I will respect any decision that you make and follow any order that you give me. If you tell me to stop seeing her socially and make it purely business, then I will. I don't want to jeopardize the mission but after this mission is over, I want to follow up on how I feel about her. It's up to you. I will follow your orders, General because I respect you and regard you as a good friend and my mentor.."

Asuka took a look at him. She thought long and hard about this. Sawyer had been completely honest with her always. He had trusted her and she in turn trusted him. She had given him an enormous responsibility and perhaps, when she entrusted the care and protection of her daughter to him, as well as the command of NERV, she felt, in the back of her mind, maybe…. this wasn't to be unexpected and maybe, as she had told Shinji, maybe, Sawyer was what Hope needed.

Sawyer was everything that Asuka originally did not like. Young. Cocky. Brazen. Flirtatious. Worst of all, he was an American. She hated Americans. Land of the free, home of the brave, flag waving, patriotic red, white and blue! The great bald eagle as their symbol! The way all of them believed in their fictitious happy endings and delusional states of euphoria! The way the majority of them would rather watch their televisions then pay attention to the actual news of the day! Americans! Bah! Fools!

The first time she had met him she had thought, "Stupid baka American gaijin dumpkof" as well as a slew of other German and Japanese profanities and insults. Yet, she had seen his bravery tested a thousand times over and had witnessed his dedication to his work.

Harris was the worst type of American; he was a biased, fat-assed, boorish, pompous son of a bitch.

Sawyer was one of the best; he was honest, forthright, dedicated, and patriotic.

After meeting and getting to know Sawyer, and after having met the President, Asuka's view of Americans changed slightly…not much but, slightly.

General Ikari knew she was respected.

The UN Peacekeeping Tribunal held her in high regard and believed in her. The Japanese Prime Minister offered her the position of Defense Minister three times, after Misato retired, and all three times, she had turned him down.

Most of all, Sawyer held her in high regard and so did the President.

Americans helped her whenever she needed it. Americans were there when nobody else would heed the call. Americans helped their people and made a society where anyone could aspire to be something greater.

Okay, so Americans weren't all that bad.

In so many ways, Sawyer reminded her of Kaji. The first crush she had as a girl always made her smile. Yet, one thing was true of both Sawyer and Kaji.

They both fought for the woman that they loved. Sawyer loves Hope?

Would it be so wrong if he was to be with Hope? Hearing the happiness in Souke's voice on the phone, I could just imagine my daughter's elation. Hope has an enormous task in front of her; she has to keep her focus.

But then, she thought of her and Shinji when they were younger. She always knew that Shinji loved her. It was obvious. She hid her feelings from him. She was too proud to admit to it. Love that idiot? Ha! You must be joking!

Yet, she had seen that very same "idiot" risk his life time and time again for her. She remembered all that they endured during Third Impact and what he had done for her and her alone.

One thing was always preached to their family and it was a belief that every Ikari held close to their hearts.

"Love is the source of your strength."

Hope needed it. Sawyer had it. Shinji had given it to Asuka and that made the walls around her heart shatter and his love wrapped around her like a warm blanket. That same love bought them three children, all strong, all successful. Hope was a soldier. Souke, a former police officer, was now studying to be a lawyer and Reina was so musically inclined. How did we get so blessed and so fortunate? How can I deny Hope that same opportunity? This man loves her. Why should I stand in the way of it?

Asuka looked back to Sawyer and said. "If you're asking me for my blessing," taking another sip of wine she sighed and answered. ", I begrudgingly have to say…yes."

"What?" Sawyer asked.

"Go ahead, Sawyer!" She growled. "Date my daughter. Make her happy. Make her smile however, I don't want this to interfere with our operation." Asuka told him. "Yet, I want her to be happy. Do you think she feels the same way?"

Sawyer smiled at her and said. "I think she does."

"Have you told her?" Asuka asked.

"Not yet." Sawyer said. "I didn't want to rush so quickly."

"Good." Asuka stated. "Just keep your eye on the ball. Do what needs to be done. This operation is your main priority."

"I understand, General." Sawyer said. "Thank you."

Asuka with a sigh picked up her wine glass and sipped it. Then with a smirk, she nodded her approval.

Could be worse, she thought, An American. Gah! I might have an American son-in-law…ugh! Shinji, I hate to say it. You were right. I hate when you're right. Idiot.