Silky white clouds, thin and wispy, dotted the plane above that of earth. They chased each other in the heavens, playfully flitting this way and that, paying no head to the harsh admonitions received from the wind. These clouds had no time for order or rules or laws—they had time only for their own whims. The wind, not wanting to bother with such insolence, retreated into its domain. It left the air untouched; not a breath stirred. Not minding the ornery old wind, the clouds gaily pranced about in the atmosphere. The sky that was the cloud's playing field was just beginning to take on an orange hew now, signaling the sun's farewell to the day. Soon the city of Tokyo-3 would rise from its false grave. Soon the inhabitants of this haven from the Angels would have time to enjoy the sky, the sunset, the fresh air.

From the roof of the school, Rei lay on her back, arms and legs straight and flat on the ground. Her soiled school uniform was beginning to take on the appearance of a jumble of colorful rags, fit only for a pauper. She didn't mind all that much—she had other outfits to wear if she was unable to clean it properly. Her skinned elbow lay on the gravel of the roof, and though it had a bandage upon it, such a thing did not provide any cushioning. The pressure caused a constant, dull sting to emanate from her arm. She didn't mind all that much though.

Rei sighed—a slow, heavy sigh usually accompanying those who had lost hope, who had just given up. The air that left the lungs of such people with this kind of sigh took their hopes for a better life with it. It scattered these dreams into the melee of disbanded wishes that all of humanity was expelling. The air was dense with these discarded dreams—one was bogged down by such fear and abandonment. A soul was slowly choked to death by the wasted hopes of the hopeless.

After the near-fight with Asuka and the subsequent fleeing from Shinji, Rei had not a clue where to go for comfort. Her apartment, though her home, would not placate her frayed emotions; its worn-down walls could not help her. Obviously NERV was no option, since all she did there was follow someone else's wishes. And so she ran to her school. The doors had been unlocked and wide open; the custodians were at work this weekend, polishing up the tile floors and repainting some of the older rooms. It seemed useless to Rei—if an Angel might destroy the entire city in its attack, was there any point in painting? Was there any point in making the school shine like it did when more than a handful of students still attended?

Rei had been laying there, elbow tingling with lighthearted pain, for just about half an hour. Once Shinji hadn't realized that Rei was showing affection for him, her heart had taken quite an impact. She thought that smiling and laughing, and even the sweet embrace she had given him would have shown Shinji that she loved him. Now that he still had no idea as to her real feelings, it was like Rei had failed. Her first try at having some kind of relationship with a person, and that person didn't show any reaction, other than getting utterly confused. What had she done wrong? Had she not said something she was supposed to; had she not done something—a certain gesture, a certain look—that would have signaled her affection? Ideas and hypotheses as to why her try at love had been unsuccessful swam through her tormented mind.

Rei didn't have any experience with emotions, other than the few she had been programmed to have—affection for Gendo, trust in the Eva, a sense of duty, to name a few—and so was completely unprepared for what had happened earlier. After her revelation, she knew that she was to be with Shinji; she didn't have any plan as to how that would come to be, though. In truth, she had run blind into the apartment with no idea as to what was going to happen. She just knew that she had to be with Shinji, and that was what drove her yet. Even still, she drifted in a broken sea of feelings that she had never encountered before, and did not know how to deal with. Rei was helpless, and was feeling the full brunt of the attack that these uncaring emotions threw at the walls of her heart.

The clouds slowly distorted into uneasy, unfocused masses of white. Tears welled up in Rei's eyes, ever so slowly. She fought them back, though; she had lived fourteen years without shedding a single tear—she was stronger than this, she had more self control than this. A sad frown broke her calm visage, and her eyebrows scrunched up. It shouldn't have been such a battle to keep back the salty sadness, but Rei could barely keep it from running down her cheeks. She sniffed and scrubbed the tears from her eyes.

A crunch of gravel sounded behind Rei. She quickly took her hand from her face, flopped over onto her belly and looked up—it was Shinji. His face looked flush and he was breathing hard.

"Shinji…"

"Ayanami. I thought I would find you here."

Rei sat up, laying her legs to the side. The gravel dug into them, though she didn't care all too much. "How did you know?"

"I figured that you wouldn't want to go home, since it's always so desolate there. I thought you might have gone back to NERV, but after you acted so strangely earlier, I figured you wouldn't find any consolation from the Eva or my father. So the best place to look was the school." Shinji looked at the ground—he had actually had a pretty tough time figuring out that Rei would be here. After Rei had ran from his house, Shinji had sat in the kitchen, trying to understand the whole situation. Asuka had come in and told him how she felt about Rei, then patted his head and went back to her room. Shinji was happy for the attention, and was overjoyed that someone was finally being nice to him, but it seemed unjust. He shouldn't be so happy when Rei and Asuka hated each other. He shouldn't be so happy when Rei had cried right in front of him. "May I sit with you?" he asked.

"Yes, please," Rei said, watching him sit in front of her.

Shinji looked into Rei's eyes—they were bloodshot and a little swollen. "Rei…um, can you tell me what happened?" She looked at him, no expression on her face, no movement of her body—there was no hint that she had even heard him speak. Shinji turned his head, looking across the sky to the setting sun. Her gaze had made him feel awkward, like what he asked was the one thing she didn't want to answer. Doubt began its take-over of Shinji's mind. "I've never seen you like you were back there. You were smiling, and laughing…" He swallowed a lump in his throat. "And you hugged me…" he said bashfully, but only loud enough so that Rei could barely make it out.

Rei moved closer to where Shinji sat; they were only a few inches away now. She tilted her head and moved it forward a little, trying to catch Shinji's gaze. He turned to her, and their eyes locked. He looked so innocent and…cute. "I had come to your apartment to tell you something. I hadn't planned on getting hurt on the way, and when Asuka wanted to fight with me, I forgot about telling you. She angers me, Shinji. I believe she hates me as well."

"I wouldn't say she hates you…" Shinji said, knowing full well that Asuka wouldn't mind if Rei had a fatal "accident."

Rei knew he was lying, of course—he wasn't good at being subtle. She didn't say anything about it, though. She looked up into the sky. The clouds were taking on a dark blue tinge, and the sky was coming closer to the color of blood.

"May I ask you something, Rei?"

She looked back into Shinji's eyes. She nodded.

"What happened that made you change so suddenly?"

After a few moments of hesitation, Rei said, "I was coming to tell you that when I showed up at your abode." Her cheeks heated. She had to tell this right; she had to say what she felt; she had to tell Shinji how she felt about him. If she didn't do it this time, she didn't know when she would have a chance. She took a deep breath. "I believe I am in love with you, Shinji."

Shinji, to say the least, was taken aback. His eyes went wide, almost impossibly so; his eyes seemed to jump from their sockets. His jaw dropped. "W-wha…w-w-wh…b-b-but…" He couldn't make any words come out. His mind and heart raced side-by-side, headed for a finish line that held the key to understanding what Rei had said. His mind soon crashed and burned, and his heart took a turn too fast, flying off of a cliff face.

It was all too sudden.

Shinji scrambled to his feet, almost falling backwards in the process. Rei quickly stood, worried that she had hurt him somehow. "Shinji! What is the matter?" she asked.

"I-I-I c-c-can't be h-h-here anymore!" He ran for the roof access door, throwing it open. "I'm sorry, Ayanami!" He flew down the stairs, away from Rei—away from her love.

Rei did not move. There was no time to catch up with Shinji. A flock of birds flew over the school, calling to each other. The wind picked up, though it was but a playful little breeze.

And the tears did not come. The pain was there—the pain of failure—and the tears did not come. Rei lay back down her head upon the gravel and gazed towards the heavens. The sky, bloody and limitless, gazed back. It knew of Rei's troubles. It knew she had tried her hardest. It shared her pain, it shared her despair and gloom. The sky knew of an unknown amount of troubles, felt by millions across the globe. It smiled sadly and took Rei's pain into itself, knowing that the human down there on the ground did not notice at all. The sky sighed and did its duty in silence.