Interlude 5
Mana sat silently on the couch in the living quarters assigned to Shinji, herself, and Yoko. Before her, Yui was explaining what she, Dawn, Kristine, and Cayla were planning to do. When Yui reached a point she was unsure of, one of the other three, usually Dawn, would explain further. Mana listened to everything they said, as well as their reasons. Once they had finished, Mana told then what she thought.
"I think you're crazy."
"Mana!" Yui said, "We've worked very hard on this. Hell, we've been planning for this possibility for years!"
"It's the only way we can be sure that Yoko will have a long and fulfilling life." Dawn added.
"You," Mana said, pointing at her 'daughters', "want me to send away 'your' sister. Send her away from everyone she knows, from everything she knows." Mana rose from the couch, her pose was very menacing, as was the fact her eye had begun to glow red. "Send her away from everyone that LOVES HER!"
Cayla and Kristine backed away from Mana, but Yui and Dawn stared down their 'mother'.
"If she stays here," Yui said, very slowly, "She will die. But she will also see everyone she knows and loves, die, as well as everything be destroyed. Do you really want to her to see that."
Mana's eye returned to it's normal green.
"She won't see it because it's not going to happen." Mana stated.
Yui's eyes went wide.
"What do you mean?"
"Heaven won't fall." Mana replied.
"Won't fall?" Yui stared at Mana incredulously, "Look around you Mana! All we have left is this building! The only reason we aren't dead yet is because Mist trained her Valkyries damn well!"
Mana's eye began to glare again.
"Heaven will not fall." Mana repeated. She then turned and left the room for her bedroom.
"Heaven fell once before to the demons!" Yui shouted, "There isn't an army of Demons to save us this time!"
Mana gave one final glare at Yui before slamming the bedroom door.
"I don't believe this!" Yui shouted, kicking the couch. "We're doing this in Yoko's best interest and she……."
"…….is also doing what she thinks is in Yoko's best interests." Dawn interrupted, "Remember, she raised me back when I was mortal. She was very protective of me."
"This is going to far though." Yui replied, "Her over-protectiveness so going to get Yoko killed."
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Mana was on the floor, her back against her door, her head resting on her knees. She could still hear Yui and Dawn as they argued, occasionally interrupted by either Kristine or Cayla.
"You know……." A voice said, "they could be right."
Mana slowly lifted her head. There sitting in front of her was the ghostly figure of Sayoko. The ghost stared at her with her ghostly blue eyes.
"She's my daughter." Mana said softly, "I don't want to lose her."
"If she stays here," the ghost said softly, "you'll lose her."
"MANA!" came a scream from outside her door.
Mana was on her feet in a second and hurried through the door.
"What?" Mana shouted, "What is……." Her voice trailed off.
Standing in the doorway to her quarters was Rei Ikari. The guardian had a look on her face, a look Mana had seen few times.
Usually only after someone they knew closely had died.
Mana felt a tingling sensation start in her stomach.
"Rei," she said, "what's going on?"
Rei continued to stare at Mana. Then Mana saw it. A tear formed at the corner of Rei's eye, then traveled down her cheek. More followed.
"Mana," Rei whispered, her voice choking up, "I tried……."
The tingling sensation grew.
"Rei," Mana said slowly, "Where is Shinji?"
"I'm so sorry………"
"Rei…." Mana repeated, her body was going numb, "Where is Shinji."
"He was beside me." Rei said, "Then the Demons attacked, and he wasn't beside me anymore. Valkyries came and drove them off. I looked around for Shinji." Tears now flowed from her eyes. "I….I….I…found…….he……he…was……."
Mana couldn't take it anymore.
The world spun and then went black.
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When Mana awoke, she discovered she'd been moved to her bedroom and laid on her bed at some point. She started to glance at the alarm clock, but then cursed silently when she realized that the alarm clock she was going to look at was laying in the remains of her destroyed house.
"You're awake." Came the voice again.
Mana turned her head. Sayoko's ghost was sitting in a chair beside the bed.
"Please tell me you didn't move that." Mana whispered.
"Yui left it." Sayoko replied. Her voice had a slight echo to it.
"Oh." Mana turned her head and looked at the ceiling. Not even a second past before Mana's head snapped back to the ghost. "Shinji! Is he……"
The ghost closed her eyes and nodded. Mana grabbed her pillow and put it over her face, smothering a cry of pain and rage. The ghost sat beside Mana and waited. She could do nothing else. She couldn't even comfort her friend by offering a shoulder to cry on, which irritated her.
Finally Mana pulled the now thoroughly soaked pillow away from her face. Her uninjured eye still had tears flowing from it, while blood dripped from under her eye patch.
"Mana." The ghost said, "You know what has to be done."
"She's all I have left of him." Mana whispered, "We made her together."
"If they are right, she'll live." The ghost replied, "Then her life will be the proof that your love existed."
Mana could only nod. She sat up and started towards her door. Before she opened it, she paused.
"Sayoko," she whispered, "You think you'll go with her?"
"I don't know." The ghost replied, "It's possible though, considering the connection we have."
Mana nodded. "Then I want you to be there for her. Tell her about me and her father."
The ghost smiled. "I'll tell her everything."
"Thank-you." Mana opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom.
Cayla and Kristine were leaning against each other, asleep. Dawn seemed to be struggling to stay awake. Yui was near the main door, talking quietly to Rei. Both turned and went silent when Mana exited the bedroom.
"Alright." Mana said softly to Yui, "We'll do it your way."