Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 9: Domestic Life
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

Asuka continued to tap the keys on the laptop, not noticing at first that the list had finally reached its end. No name that she could recognize. Sitting back, she wiped her weary eyes, trying to get them to tear up so that she could actually see again. Looking back at the white screen of names, she gave a defeated sigh. She had been sitting in the same damn place for the last hour only to know that no one she knew existed anymore.

Taking advantage of her connection to a large but limited part of E-NERV's data, she had begun searching a database of 'registered' citizens in the NEC. Those who the government recognized as survivors and now citizens of the NEC were included here. The reason for the list was in order for friends and family to be found and reunited. But it also managed to kill the hope for some people of seeing their loved ones. Deep down, Asuka knew that she had no loved one in Europe when she had first left, but she still felt compelled to look and see for certain.

Asuka picked up the cup of noodles she had prepared and slurped up a mouthful. She looked thoughtfully at the utensil she had used. A fork. For practically a year she had been eating using chopsticks. It felt unnatural to be eating with a piece of metal. For that matter, it was downright ironic that she was only capable of preparing instant Japanese foods like noodles and rice. She really wanted to start eating heavier foods, REAL foods, but she was a pilot, not a chef, so most snacks were simply junk food or noodle cups.

After a few more forkfuls, Asuka put the cup aside and went over the list again, easily spying Tristan's name, and then landing on Shinji's. It wasn't much of a surprise that the boy had managed to survive and that he would be inducted into the NEC, but she retained a feeling of trepidation. Now that he knew that Asuka was aware of her rape and the lengths from which she would go to get her revenge, she didn't know how he would react. More than likely he would shy away even more than before, but Asuka had seen something else when they fought, something far more dangerous. Shinji could very well become the killer he always seemed to have beneath him. After all, he tried to kill her several times, and in the dream-like slumber of rebirth he tried to kill her again. They were now bitter enemies.

Asuka looked away from the computer and outside to the cloudy day in Hamburg. She knew better than to believe that she and Shinji had actually been friends at one time. For that matter, their relationship as comrades had always been strained. Like two people forced together by circumstances beyond their control, they simply had to tolerate one another. Thank God, the real world didn't work like the movies, dodging that stereotype of sexual tension between the two of them. Asuka placed a hand on her abdomen thoughtfully. But she could only speak for herself, Shinji may have thought in the opposite way. Damn that boy's hide. Maybe there was still time to reconsider; after all, beyond the morning sickness she wasn't completely pregnant. Most abortions could be done in the first trimester. They were legal. She could be fine. Asuka forced the thought away for what seemed like the umpteenth time. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she treated her child the same way her mother did. Despite sensing her mother's presence in Unit-02, the exhilarating sensation was soon lost. No matter how much the spirit of Asuka's mother tried to repent, there was no way that Asuka could forgive her. Not completely. She wasn't about to cast away her child life as if it were an inconvenience. But then, it was going to be an inconvenience and a responsibility that Asuka couldn't handle. She would be looking at the product of her rape for the rest of her life, her career as an Evangelion pilot would get in the way, and even though she could get through college, she knew that children were something different entirely. Asuka knew, deep down, she couldn't keep the child. It would be unfair to the both of them.

Asuka sighed again and seizing the cup, pulled another fork full of noodles to the surface. She looked back at the monitor screen and with an annoyed look on her face, tapped a key, causing Shinji's name to disappear onto another page, while another was brought up. Even without the source of her previous train of thought, Asuka still felt depressed about the decision she had settled on. As time went on she knew that she would become more attached to the child, and it would be more difficult to give it up. She would have to maintain her resolve as much as she could. Maybe the feeling wouldn't be so paid and her self-made prophecy not so difficult if she actually had other people to support her. Asuka might become tempted to keep the child out of loneliness and seeing as none of her friends were alive, that would be the most likely scenario.

Thinking about the relationships Asuka had with others, there was little stopping her from immediately calling people she had met to her mind. Shigeru was missing as was Doctor Powell, the little rapist was somewhere in Germany, which left Tristan, Madison, and Commander Septerra, as the only other people Asuka had met. Asuka remembered numerous times that Tristan had spoken about or mentioned someone named Lieutenant Sai, but she never had the change to meet this person, despite the fact that he should have been at the staff meeting Madison had missed.

Tristan, her former rival, her current commander, Asuka considered Tristan as someone who was only a little less frustrating that the old Shinji Ikari had been, but much more difficult, talking back and throwing insults just as quickly as she could throw them. His station in E-NERV made him untouchable, and he kept dwelling in the past. After Third Impact, Asuka thought that if Tristan would return, he would simply be his usual cranky self, a determined pilot and someone she could respect in some way. However, it seemed that he was one to carry a grudge for far too long. The past was beyond both of them now, and they needed to live in the present. The bastard would never see it her way though. Whenever she tried to put a word in edgewise, he would ignore her, as if his work could only be put on hold for him to send a few mean comments Asuka's way. It made her want to rip his hair out. Asuka accented the sensation by curling her fingers in the air as if to grab a clump of an imaginary Tristan's hair.

Madison was no better than Rei in her act of superiority. Asuka could easily see that the girl was completely gaga for the E-NERV captain, and it seemed so typical that the big jerk wouldn't notice. The Aussie should have gotten a clue in how Tristan would always ignore her, but she seemed adamant in the belief that the two of them had a relationship, 'good friends' as Madison had said it. Asuka could never manage to figure out what Madison actually did in E-NERV and Asuka knew it would be pointless to ask, that girl's head was full of air, fidgeting around and acting really dumb. She was a good artist, but what good was that in this time of reconstruction? Of course, Asuka already knew the answer. The people of Hamburg, of the NEC, were part of a very unique generation, much like the one that Misato and Kaji belonged to. They were a generation who had lived through to major eras in humankind and unlike Second Impact, there was really no way once could effectively describe Third Impact in a scientific method. People had changed, and were now stranded in foreign places. Also artists had a closer link to the universal unconscious, a term coined by a Gustav Jung, a fellow who Asuka had studied during college. They were the ultimate linguists, their ideas bridging the chasm of language. Asuka was glad she was a member of these proud few, an experienced musician herself, but she felt no sense of camaraderie with the girl from New Zealand. Deep down, she hated her.

'Hate is a word you don't understand.'

The echo of Tristan's words came rattling back to Asuka. She remembered the argument occurred in the elevator of Tower Four not but a few days ago. She didn't know why they remained, considered they had so little impact. Wasn't it because Tristan was reprimanding her for using such a strong word in everything she did? But it was true; hate was something that spurned away everything and everyone. But it was also something that she could use in order to push away those she didn't want to interact with. Like Tristan and Madison.

Then there was Commander Septerra, more appropriately the Sub-Commander of E-NERV, but no matter how hard Asuka tried, she could never manage to find the name of the real commander of the organization. Assuming it was a he, the commander was an enigma and everyone who she asked as to who the real commander was tended to ignore the question. She wanted to know why however. But until then, she had to settle for the scraps they were giving her. After all it had been a year since she was last a member of E-NERV, a lot of things have changed over that time, I she couldn't begin to imagine what else changed. They were wary, however Septerra was more than willing to give some information. Especially about Asuka's mother.

Looking out the window, Asuka allowed the memories to unfold.
"Do you want anything? Coffee? Juice?" Septerra offered.

"Water's fine." Asuka responded, still staring at the small table. Septerra nodded and pulled out a glass. The sub-commander's office was surprising spacious in Tower Four. A, wet bar, and seating for guests, were available. This was more likely to belong in a corporate office building than a paramilitary facility. The commander put a glass of clear liquid in front of Asuka and sat down on the opposite side with a mug of coffee. "You do understand why NERV personnel speak Japanese, correct?" Asuka nodded. "German has become such a common language in Europe, and due to the confidentiality of our work, it's best we speak in a less common tongue." Septerra gave a grunt of contentment. "That's a very textbook answer, Miss Sohryu. Have you been brushing up on your manual since you have been here?" "Of course not. I know the rules by heart. Could we..." "Get to business?" Septerra finished. The German girl nodded and he sighed. "Always the most direct. Well, I can't say that I was an intimate friend of your mother's. That is, on a first name basis. I was working in a separate branch of NERV at the time. Sometimes she would work well into the night in order to achieve another milestone in her projects. But that wasn't to say she wasn't unfriendly. She was more focused on her work." Asuka didn't respond. This sounded a lot like her mother. "Professor Sohryu wasn't a shut-in to say the least though. She often mingled with the lowly lab technicians. But no one else. I tried my best to make friends with her, considering we were both peers. However, as soon as we became acquainted, she would drift away back to her own department. Her passion was her projects, as I've said before." Septerra noticed Asuka's silence and paused, taking a sip of his coffee. "But I'm not here to talk about Professor Sohryu only. This is intended to be a two way conversation." "I understand." Asuka murmured. "Quid pro quo, right?" Septerra nodded. "To tell you the truth, I really never knew my mother that well. To be honest, I hoped you had known her so that I would have something... Or... When I was a child I never understood what my mother did, and even now I have trouble coming to terms with it. She was my mother, but at the same time, she was a stranger. The bond between mother and child is supposed to be considered the strongest-" "The bear fights to the death for her cubs." Septerra added.

"But between us, there was nothing. My mother was always at work, and my father was always busy, so I was often left being passed like a hot potato between their workplaces." She looked up at Septerra who seemed unfazed. "Of course, that doesn't matter you, does it?"

"Indirectly it does. From the sound of it, you are already presenting Professor Sohryu in a different light. It's your choice what you tell me, if anything at all. I asked you down here because I wanted to know more about Kyoko, but now it seems that we are indeed going to scratch each other's backs." Septerra took another sip from his cup. "Well then? How was she like at home?" "As you already have guessed, my mother wasn't often at home. In fact, neither I, nor my parents were ever at home. They were at their jobs and I was always alone to be babysat by a lobby secretary. When we were home, we were nothing like a normal family. Hell, we couldn't even sit at the table for a nice dinner without my parents getting into fights about something. For that matter, I don't even know who would cook, considering the amount of work both of my parents did. "I could never understand what they were always fighting about. I was too young to know. But their arguments never upset me, after awhile, I was able to just screen them out and stop listening. In their arguments it didn't really seem that important to them that I was still in the room. I think they thought I was invisible. Their quarrels were more important. "Often, my mother would shut herself off in her office at home. Continuing to work, if she wasn't having a fight with my father, that is. My father would often be fuming; I could often hear him storming around. He was always upset, always under stress. When I think about it, the two of them never would have married if they had always argued as badly as they did. So I know that their arguments were not an old thing.

"I know now that my mother was to develop Unit-02, that she had gotten so enthralled in her research. Though I never understood why. I never understood..." Asuka gave a growl of frustration, more to herself than to the commander. She stood. "I'm not getting anywhere. I don't know what you think but I never knew my mother. And why am I telling you my life story, no doubt you already know everyone about me. I'm sorry, but..." Septerra stood up and looked down at Asuka with soft eyes.

"That is alright Ms. Sohryu. What you have told is enough to tell me a little bit more about your mother." "What is so important about my mother to you, anyway?" Septerra hesitated. "If you have brought me down here, you might as well tell me why." Septerra looked away. "Before NERV and Second Impact, your mother and I were friends... However, when I finally came to NERV she seemed to no longer recognize me. As if I an old friend was no longer important. I wanted to know the reason for her pushing people away. What caused her to-" He glanced at Asuka, as if sensing the delicacy of the matter.

"Kill herself?" Asuka asked. It hurt to say those words, but it seemed that Septerra would forever be trapped on those words if she didn't say something. The commander nodded. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been of any other help."

"Don't worry, your time will come." Asuka looked up at the commander, who turned and gave her a friendly grin. "You are home Asuka."
Home. That was the last thing he had said before she left. They were words of encouragement to be sure, but there seemed to be a deeper meaning in them. Septerra was a friend of her mother, but he seemed more interested in satisfying his own quandaries, rather than hers. How like others. But perhaps he simply wasn't satisfied with her answers, that she was too held back. God, what was with this raging sense of inadequacy she was feeling? Asuka almost felt like she was licking the boots of her superiors. She was so pathetic. With the prospect of becoming an Evangelion pilot again she seemed to be trying to do everything within her power to receive that honour again. Did she only live for Eva? How pathetic could that be? No, she lived for her glory and the best path was with Eva, so it was natural that she wanted to impress her superiors. Except for one.

Tristan never deserved her respect or anything for that matter. He didn't even deserve the honour of being considered her rival. He was nothing but an irritating little dog, barking away to act tough. His façade had managed to get him a ditzy girlfriend out of Madison, no matter how much either of them denied it. Asuka was so glad that he had failed to become Unit-02's pilot. He didn't have the spine for it.

Who was she kidding? Asuka had lost the war; both Shinji and the Angels were able to beat her. But how, when she had such incredible test scores? She was the best? What failed her, what could have been lacking in her or her Eva? A flash of a white demon crossed Asuka's mind. Her mother was fighting with her, through the Eva, when Asuka faced the Eva series. Could she have been what was holding her back, a selfish woman who knew her death was...

Flashes of the Lance of Longinus and the Eva's circling like buzzards came to mind. Asuka's mother knew she was going to die. It was a last ditch effort to redeem herself, to try and make herself seem like her daughter's saviour. However, that lie was blatant, she only cared for herself. Given the chance, Asuka would have thrown herself into the void of death to escape this horrid reality. But that choice was lost, stolen by Shinji. Asuka grit her teeth. That bastard would never leave her alone. Asuka looked at the cup of noodles and her lip curled in disgust.
The situation felt familiar: Shinji standing at the door to an apartment with a superior officer open the door for him. It was like his entrance into Tokyo-3 all over again. The officer turned to him.

"Come in. My home is your home." The young man offered. Shinji hesitated. If he protested was he going to get the same reaction as he did from Misato?

"Maybe I should just get my own apartment, sir." "We're not in NERV anymore, you can dispense with the formalities. You can call me Tristan. As for where you are staying, I could understand your trepidation in living with a superior officer, if you hadn't bunked with one already in Tokyo-3. I want to ensure that you have a comfortable acclimatization to living in the NEC. Besides, you don't even know any German, do you?" "Well, I know a little." "Perhaps if you want to pantomime your wants and needs all day. You might not think this, but living in a completely different country isn't very simple. You might have not been able to see it, but I am sure that Ms. Sohryu had difficult adjusting to living in Japan." Shinji shifted his weight on the mention of anything related to Asuka's name. Tristan noticed it. He was clearly still uncomfortable about talking about her. No surprise.

"I don't want to be a bother." Shinji protested again. Tristan frowned.

"You make it sound like my home isn't good enough for you. I am making it very clear as to how prudent it would be to live with a German. I can assure you that you will not be a bother, besides, it would be nice to have someone to talk to." Shinji shifted his weight to the other foot, still uneasy. "Would you stop being so difficult? Come inside!" Tristan barked. By no means was he Misato. For that matter how could he? She was dead after all.

The boy took a cautious step toward the door. Before he could reconsider, Tristan nudged him the rest of the way in. Shinji looked over his shoulder as Tristan stood at the doorway, blocking his exit.

"See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" Shinji stepped across the threshold and turned back to Tristan. "I guess not. Are you-"

"Yes! Positive! Absolutely! In fact, I'm tickled pink!" Tristan responded, closing the door. The captain knelt down and untied his shoes. Shinji looked down at his attire. Khaki shorts, red T-shirt and black sneakers, the possessions that he had actually kept were very few and sparse. But it felt right to have something that he could call his own. Setting down his bag, to took off his shoes and put them neatly against the wall. Tristan was already done and passed his new roommate.

"I'm home." Tristan announced to the silence. Shinji looked at him strangely. "Do you always do that?" "Yes, it's become a force of habit." Shinji blinked and frowned. Had he unwittingly volunteered to live with a lunatic? "Home sweet home. You can leave your bag wherever you wish. I have to put these files away. Make yourself at home." Tristan disappeared down a hallway.

Shinji slowly walked through the living space, taking in the almost alien feel of the place. The apartment was surprisingly spacious, but oppressive at the same time. With little lighting, carpets, and the permanence of wooden doors, it gave the apartment a stuff feeling. It was also different and something Shinji was unused to. Before Asuka went for his throat, they had stayed in a place similar to this one, though for the life of him, he couldn't recall where they had been.

"Hey." Shinji turned to see Tristan standing in the hallway, sans his jacket to reveal the tank top and bandages on his forearms, the same ones in the sketch Madison had made of the captain. "Are you just going to stand there looking like to haven't a though in your head." Shinji blinked.

"Oh, uh, sorry." Tristan jutted a thumb over his shoulder. "Your room is the second door on the right. The first is the bathroom." Shinji nodded. Tristan passed him and started walking into the kitchen. "Um... Captain?" "Tristan." He corrected. "Sorry." Shinji paused. "Thank you for your hospitality." Tristan turned and gave the boy a faint grin. "That's the smartest thing you've done all day." The captain crossed his arms. "Hearing some gratitude is very fulfilling, and it often encourages someone to persist with that behaviour." "Positive reinforcement?" "That's right." Shinji looked at Tristan quizzically for a moment. Although they were striking up a conversation, it seemed odd to Shinji. "You seem to know a lot about psychology." "Uh, well it's nothing really. Just basic stuff." "Actually, not many high schools talk much about psychology, even in the senior year. Oh, I forgot. You're from Japan." Shinji nodded. "But why don't you just put your stuff down, we can chat in the kitchen when you're done." The boy watched as his host turned his back and walked away. There were a lot of adjustments in life Shinji would have to be prepared for. Unlike moving to Tokyo-3, however, living in the NEC was going to be a complete shift in culture. Maybe, in some way, he could understand what Asuka must have been going through when she moved to Tokyo-3. The time before Third Impact seemed to be fading fast, the memories already aging and fossilizing, being buried under these new experiences that he was witness to. It was a frightening prospect to be forced to forget, but he couldn't cause time to stop, he wasn't God. And if he could, it wouldn't be fair to all others. It was bad enough one person vilified him.

Shinji turned the doorknob and opened the door to his new room. Sunlight shone from the half-blinded windows onto a floor of blue carpet. The room was Spartan, much like his room when he first came to Tokyo-3, but more spacious. Clearly, it was NERV's policy to completely furnish the living quarters of any personnel, but it seemed the meaning of fully was a lot clearer now. Unlike last time, Shinji didn't have that many possessions in order to call his own. Food and clothing in a knapsack was all there was.

Shinji placed his bag down on the foot of the bed and scanned the room again. Again he thought about Asuka. She had also been recruited into NERV. God help him if they were ever to meet.

Shinji looked out the window. Why did he agree to become a member of NERV again? There was the Vanguard Report to be sure, but that was simply a theory. What also puzzled him was the fact that Tristan claimed that they already had acquired several Evangelions from other NERV compounds, but he never explained how that was possible. He had denied that any Evangelions beyond the third unit were deployed to Tokyo-3 on any sort of mission. The problem was, though, what were the creatures that Asuka died fighting? Whenever Shinji tried to find out that answer, Tristan or one of the other NERV staff would dodge it. It wasn't in Shinji's nature to press his quandaries, but it seemed as though NERV was still trying to keep secrets away from him.

Although Shinji hadn't seen these Evas that NERV had, he was certain that they were going to ask him to pilot one. He had expected that from the start, when they gave him the offer. But he seemed not so troubled by the prospect of piloting. Was it like an addiction? A fascination with becoming the mind behind a mortal god?

A memory seemed to bubble to the surface, a montage of images of snarling faces and kind words, but Shinji couldn't place where the memory came from. A memory from rebirth, obviously. Any sort of madness such as this would always be dismissed as memories of rebirth. It felt as though there was something necessary to that train of thought, as if he could analyze the dream or his thoughts concerning the vision in greater detail, but that was just another case of his brain over analyzing. He no longer felt jaded. Hypersensitive seemed like the right word however.

Realizing he had left Tristan waiting in the kitchen, Shinji turned away from the room. Tristan was seating in a chair and leaning against the table.

"What took you so long? Did you get lost?" Shinji frowned, feeling a little offended by the remark. "No, it's just that..." Shinji trailed off, he really didn't know how to describe it. Tristan simply sighed and looked away, not really seeming all that interested in picking a fight.

"Big day?" The captain concluded. Shinji looked at him.

"Yeah. Kind of." "It takes awhile to adjust to any change, but humans are adaptable. You'll get used to Third Impact, the last generation managed." Shinji nodded. Tristan gestured towards one the chairs at the table, offering the boy a seat. He took one directly opposite to his commanding officer.

"So what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything. I'd like to get to know the famous Third Child and since we are going to be roommates you probably want to know a little more about me." Shinji already felt a little withdraw, the use of the name Third Child was something that only Asuka referred to him as for the longest time. God, he couldn't seem to get the redhead off of his mind, it was getting bothersome. "Hey are you even listening to me?" "Sorry, I got... Lost in thought." "Is it everything or nothing?" Shinji blinked. "I would guess the latter." "What?" "What you're thinking about. You seem so distracted, as if you were paranoid or something. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, what with your report saying you were prone to fits of depression." "My report?" "Of course, seeing that you are a pilot, your data is in the universal NERV databases so we could easily find out everything about you, my friend. Excluding a couple of months prior to Third Impact, you are an open book." "Are you authorized to know that information?" "I'm a captain and an operations director, this is important information." "Oh. I thought Madison was just kidding about you holding such a high rank in NERV." "Even a cockroach that can manage to breath the same air as the Red Devil deserves a twenty-one gun salute at its funeral." "The Red Devil? Do you mean Asuka?" Tristan nodded. "You lived with her?" This question startled the captain however. "What? No, no! Nothing like that." Tristan quickly calmed down and leaned forward. "We grew up together. We both attended the same schools and college. Both of us were being trained to become Evangelion pilots in Berlin." "You were going to become an Evangelion pilot?"

"That's right. Or rather, I was supposed to become an Evangelion pilot." Shinji stifled his surprised and waited for the explanation. "Asuka and I were both hard working students in both the classroom and in the entry plug. We constantly competed to see who was the better Evangelion pilot. It was a sick twist of fate that caused Asuka to be chosen as Unit-02's designated pilot." There was a silence for a moment. Neither of the youths spoke.

"What happened?" Tristan leaned back in his seat with a sigh. "It's nothing really, I really don't want to go into detail about it." Another lengthy pause. "How is Asuka anyway?" Shinji asked. Tristan looked at the boy, but he could tell that it was concerning a different appraisal than when they first met. It was as if he noticed something different about Shinji. As if some drastic transformation had occurred while Tristan wasn't aware. The look faded into that of neutrality.

"She's doing fine I suppose. You should already know that she has also decided to rejoin NERV. She already has an apartment nearby and she's living on her own."

"That's good." Another length of silence. Tristan sniffed the air. "I don't mean to be rude, but when was the last time you bathed." The question was direct and blunt and Shinji was surprised that his host would ask such a question. But the truth it, he hadn't bathed at all to his knowledge. He might have gotten a bath while he was unconscious but that was probably doubtful. He was probably fairly ripe after two months out on the road. "Why don't you grab some extra clothes and go take a shower. Use as much soap as you need."

"Okay." Shinji rose from his seat and took his exit into the hall.

"And if he gives you a hard time, tell him I'm making his lunch." Tristan called after his roommate. Halfway down the hall, Shinji looked over his shoulder. That seemed odd. Grabbing a set of loose clothing from his room, Shinji tapped on the bathroom door. He heard nothing from within. "You in there?" Shinji asked the unknown visitor. There was no answer. "Tristan said he's making lunch now and I should take a shower." Still no answer. After a pause, Shinji gripped the doorknob. "I'm coming in!" He announced. Much like the rest of the apartment, the bathroom was something that Shinji wasn't used to seeing. The sink, toilet, shower, and bathtub were all in the same area without any divider. Several towels hung from a rack and several others were stacked on a shelf. One more was folded neatly on the closed toilet. Two plastic pails were placed between the bathtub and the toilet. Shinji scanned the room and couldn't see a soul. "In a splash of could water, something's head popped out from the tub and made a noise of contentment. Shinji stared at astonishment at the sight. The creature, sensing the visitor, snapped its head around to stare at the intruder. Green eyes met blue and the bather opened his mouth to respond. "Wark?" Shinji blinked, spluttering in order to form words. The creature cocked its head at him, giving him a queer look. "Warr...?"

"Pen-Pen!" Shinji cried out. The penguin gave a similar outburst of surprise and joy, leaping out of the tub. In the spray of icy water, the two old friends embraced. Tristan, having come to investigate the commotion, stood at the doorway seeing the two. He really wasn't sure how to react but folded his arms and watched.

Shinji, his front drenched in water, looked up at his host and smiled. Tristan smiled back and the exchange added a third person as the penguin looked between the two young men. "Hey bird, I'm making lunch." Tristan announced. Pen-pen immediately realized what that meant and pushing away from Shinji, scampered out the door and towards the kitchen. The captain watched the bird leave and then looked at Shinji. "That's amazing. I- I can't believe he's still alive." "The bird? Of course. He came out of the ocean only a couple of weeks after I had." "Why do you just call him 'bird'?" Tristan shrugged. "I didn't know what his name was at the time and he seemed to not mind being referred to the name I chose." "Well, he used to have a collar connected to a..." Shinji paused; realizing that describing the coolant apparatus that used to be on Pen-Pen's back would cause more strange looks than understanding. "Well, just a collar, with his name." "Well he sure didn't have it when NERV found him." "Why is he living with you?" "I don't know. I guess I kind of felt lonely living here alone, so I thought it would be nice to have some kind of a roommate. Especially one that doesn't complain." Tristan paused. "What's his name again?" "Pen-pen. At least, that is was Misato had called him." Tristan nodded. "Oh yes, your guardian in Tokyo-3." Shinji nodded. A thought occurred to him. "Are you supposed to be my guardian?" Tristan looked at him strangely. "No, I don't think so. After all, we are both the same age and it's assumed that most Evangelion pilots do live alone so they should be responsible enough. That's why Asuka is living on her own. The only reason you're rooming up with me is because you don't know the city or the language. Okay, we've been through this." "I know." Shinji got up off the floor. He glanced over to the full tub.

"You can drain the tub now, I'm sure he's finished." Tristan stated, pre-empting Shinji's question. "Take a good shower and wear some fresh clothes. I should have our lunch finished by then." He closed the door, leaving Shinji in the solitude of the bathroom.

The boy stepped over to the tub and unplugged it, listening to the gurgle of the pipes, the falling water, and the gradual slide of the ice cubes still remaining in the tub. Even though Germany was much closer to the northern circle than Japan, it seemed the warm water penguin still enjoyed his ice baths. At least that stayed the same. The question was where did he live now? Shinji didn't see any extra refrigerators in the kitchen, perhaps that would be something to ask during lunch.

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes
And with that another character that didn't have much influence is returned to the story. This new arrival will likely stir up plenty of questions and those will probably be answered in later chapters.
You may notice that the 'feel' of Tristan's character has changed. You may end up noticing these shifts from time to time depending on character perspective. Just like in the series with "Asuka's Lament", Shinji would see Europeans as a more bold and blunt kind of people. I wanted to maintain that Japanese perspective in the case of Shinji, but make the tone more serious when Asuka is speaking because she doesn't see things the same way as Shinji. Or this could just be a smokescreen in order to obscure this clear screw up. Call it what you will, this is my first fan fiction after all.
A recent review has also reminded me that I may have continued to be careless not with my German, what with signing Steve on board the good ship PRE, but the fact that I am forgetting about summarizing what is being said. Mostly this is only an issue with conversations experienced through everyone but Shinji's perspective. I will try and catch these errors and fix them in later chapters. Further, I will not cheat or cop out by simply translating things; I see it only causing more trouble in the future.