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"Dialogues"
- Thoughts -
"Radio Talk"
Liability Note:
Evangelion, its characters and setting are the property of Hideaki Anno. Any brands, movies and series mentioned in this Fanfic are the property of their creators.
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Chapter 11 - Reunion Part 2
"It's okay Princess." Mari spoke into Asuka's ear, she was still very shocked at the revelation, Shinji still being alive was a lot for Asuka to have to deal with, all her guilt regarding him seemed to have tripled in her head, Asuka continued to hug Mari.
At this moment Misato left the house and was heading towards the van in which they were going to take Shinji to Wunder, when Misato came across the scene, she stopped and looked at the scene, she could understand Asuka, after all she also had her burden to carry, Misato could only hope that she could talk to Shinji and put things in order, at least a little.
After a few minutes, Asuka managed to pull herself together, let go of Mari and sighed longingly as she stared at the ground, Mari wiped the tears from her cheek and spoke to Asuka in a comforting tone as she put her hand on her shoulder.
"Better now, Princess?"
Asuka only nodded, still without lifting her gaze from the floor.
"He'll get better, and when he's better, you talk to him and set the record straight." Mari spoke with determination.
Asuka couldn't control the small smile that appeared on her face, Mari noticed this and also allowed herself to smile, she didn't try to hide it, Mari was smiling from ear to ear.
"Go inside and see if you can help with anything, I'll check on Misato." Asuka spoke as she noticed her former guardian working in the van, Mari nodded and started to head inside the house, never losing the smile on her face.
Asuka approached Misato and saw that she was making room to accommodate Shinji, Asuka leaned on the door and looked at Misato, she didn't know how she was going to start a conversation now.
Misato noticed Asuka standing in the doorway, she already knew what was going on in Asuka's head right now. "Don't worry, when I heard, it hit me with a punch in the stomach."
Asuka let out a small laugh.
"How will it be now?" Asuka spoke when she looked at Misato.
"I don't know." Misato spoke after a long silence. "Let's fix him and then we'll worry about it."
Asuka only nodded and began to help Misato in arranging the space in the van.
Inside the house, Ritsuko was preparing a cocktail of medicines, part to fortify Shinji's body and part to keep him sedated on the way to Wunder, they couldn't handle him making noise until they got him to his makeshift room.
Kaji stood next to Ritsuko and looked at her. "You know Rits, when he recovers, he might be useful in this war."
Ritsuko didn't stop what she was doing, she was applying a serum to Shinji's arm and spoke without raising her gaze. "And may I know how?"
Kaji looked at her as if she hadn't understood a simple joke. "Isn't it obvious? ... He is an EVA pilot after all, one too many pilots can never be too many."
Ritsuko gave him a hard-to-read look. She had already thought about this possibility, Ritsuko was thinking that her dual entry system project could finally be continued, they had four pilots now and two operational EVAS, but she didn't want to give Kaji the pleasure of being right all the time.
"Have you forgotten that he made almost two impacts? ... And even if he gets better, who's to say he'll want to help us after what we did to him? " Ritsuko spoke dryly as she stared at Kaji with a fierce look.
Kaji was used to being contradicted and stared at, he knew that Ritsuko had already thought of this possibility, he returned the stare and kept his original smile on his face at all times.
"Come on Rits, I know you've already thought about this possibility ... And yet, we all know that Shinji didn't mean to do what he did." Kaji replied keeping his tone of voice calm.
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow at him spoke dryly as he went back to preparing another syringe. "That doesn't change the fact that he did it."
Kaji just stared at her, he was thinking that he would have to play a little harder in order to get the result he wanted.
"I'm sorry you think so, even though you're one of the few people who really knew the true power of an EVA and yet you didn't do anything to help." Kaji spoke still facing Ritsuko with a confident look, after all he was investigating NERV at that time.
Ritsuko listening to Kaji accidentally knocked the syringe and vials to the floor, she looked back at Kaji with wide eyes, she was not prepared for this revelation, she believed that this secret had died with NERV. Ritsuko was wondering what else Kaji knew.
Kaji seeing Ritsuko's reaction smiled and spoke as calmly as he could. "I think that proves my point."
At this moment Mari was leaning against the wall outside the room, she had heard the entire conversation between the two, Mari raised her eyebrow and gave a small smile upon hearing Kaji's revelation and Ritsuko's reaction.
- This is very interesting. - Mari thought as she turned and walked into the room everyone was in.
"Hi guys, what are you talking about? " Mari spoke cheerfully as she walked towards the bed, both Kaji and Ritsuko looked at Mari. Kaji quickly looked at Ritsuko who had gone back to preparing the medicine again.
"Shinji, we was talking about your recovery." Kaji spoke still maintaining his composure.
Mari nodded as she stooped down next to Kaji. "He's a tough guy, if he could take that, he can take anything." Mari spoke as she looked at Shinji on the bed. - After all he is the invincible Shinji, isn't he? –
After a few minutes, Asuka entered the room and spoke.
"The van is ready." Asuka spoke to as she slowly approached the bed, she began to look at Shinji with her arms crossed, she began to feel angry, she wished she could know who it was that did this to Shinji, she wanted revenge.
At this moment, everyone noticed a Blue glow on Asuka's eye patch, everyone knew that this glow only appeared when she was angry.
"Are you okay?" Kaji asked as he saw the look of anger on Asuka's face.
"Yes." Was Asuka's dry reply, she did not look away from Shinji.
Kaji nodded and looked again at Ritsuko who was still working on Shinji, when she stopped, she turned and looked at Kaji and nodded.
"Right." Kaji stood up and opened a folding stretcher beside the bed, he asked the women to help him gently lift Shinji up and placed him on the stretcher beside him.
"Come on, gently." Kaji spoke as he got into position, Ritsuko cast an annoyed look, she was a doctor after all and she knew how to move a patient from a bed to a gurney.
When the group placed Shinji on the stretcher Kaji took one side of the stretcher while Ritsuko took the other, they began to walk slowly to the hallway, at the entrance door was Misato, she had maneuvered the van to be closer to the entrance.
She looked at Shinji as the group passed her, Misato felt her hand shake as she looked at her face, she took a few breaths to control herself.
After a few minutes of placing Shinji securely in the van, the group went back outside and looked at each other.
"Well, that's the moment when we part ways." Kaji spoke with his smile on his face. "I still have things to do."
"Aren't you going to come with us? "Asuka spoke with a raised eyebrow.
"I would like to, but I have to continue my research, I have to find out everything about Sebastian."
"Sebastian? ... Commander Sebastian?" Mari spoke up as she found herself on the side of the van.
Kaji only looked at Misato, who lowered his gaze.
"I'll update you on Wunder." Misato spoke clumsily.
Asuka huffed in frustration and shook her head, she didn't like being in the dark.
Mari only nodded, she didn't like Sebastian and was always suspicious of him after all, Mari decided to wait for Misato to find out what scheme Sebastian was involved in.
"A friend of mine at Wunder will help you. " Kaji spoke with a smile, everyone was looking at him with a confused look on their face, after all who would this friend of Kaji's be?
The way back to Wunder was silent, Mari was all the time holding Shinji's hand, she noticed Asuka's gaze on her and decided to tease her a little.
"Jealous Princess? ... Afraid I'll steal him away from you?" Mari spoke with a feline smile on her face.
Asuka at this point blushed and spoke in fake annoyance. "Fuck you Four Eyes."
Mari didn't answer, but kept her smile on her face the whole time, Asuka was thinking about Mari's words and slowly held Shinji's other hand, she kept thinking about how things would be when he got better.
Mari was looking at the scene in front of her and replaced the mischievous smile with a genuine smile. She was thinking about the future, she was happy that Shinji was alive and how that could make things better from now on.
- When you get better Puppy, you will see how much you were missed by all of us. - Mari was staring at nothing as she thought, she directed her gaze to Asuka who was holding Shinji's hand.
As the group approached Wunder, Misato was starting to get anxious, they would have to take Shinji to his room and it was a considerable way there.
As the van approached Wunder she saw that the access door was already open and as the van approached she noticed a man get up from where he was sitting and wave to the van.
Misato was feeling her breathing quicken at this point, she was trying to understand who this person was and how he knew they were going to get in there, she took a few breaths and moved the van closer to the entrance.
Koji Takao approached the van and spoke as calmly as possible.
"Colonel, Sub-Commander." Koji saluted his superior officers with his hand who waved back, he could see that they were clearly anxious, Asuka and Mari were attentive in the back of the van.
The moment Misato started talking about his possible exit, he noticed a movement in Koji's mouth, he wasn't speaking but was trying to pass some message, Misato started reading Koji's lips and let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the name Kaji, she looked into Koji's eyes and nodded, he didn't need to speak but realized he was there to help.
As Misato entered the cargo bay of the Wunder, she got down from the van and met Koji, she was still a little reluctant to talk to him.
Koji approached Misato and spoke low. "Kaji called me a while ago, said that you might need help in taking the boy."
Misato raised an eyebrow at Koji and spoke. "How do you know Kaji? ... You know what, never mind." Misato spoke as he started toward the back of the van.
Koji just smiled at Misato and followed her.
Misato opened the back door to reveal Asuka and Mari, they promptly looked with a puzzled look at Koji who only nodded and smiled.
"All right to take him?" Misato spoke in a firm tone beginning to prepare Shinji to be taken away.
Koji nodded and spoke professionally. "Yes ma'am, Hyuga and Shigeru have looped the cameras in the sector area, so we won't have any images showing movement or sound, Lieutenant Ibuki is in the room waiting for us."
"Good." Ritsuko spoke as she approached Misato.
The group removed Shinji from the van and began to take him to the room, while Misato led the way to see possible intruders, Ritsuko and Koji were holding the stretcher with Shinji, Mari and Asuka were at the rear to see possible people who might come from behind.
The group arrived at the place without any problems, Maya was waiting for the group, she was startled to see the door to the room open, she thought she had been caught, but let out a sigh when she saw Misato together with the others.
When Shinji was put to bed, Ritsuko together with Maya promptly started to connect him to the equipment to have a better monitoring of his body.
"Okay guys, now just wait." Ritsuko spoke as she looked at the group who were looking at the women working.
The next day, everyone was in their proper places working on their duties, Ritsuko so she could keep an eye on Shinji, she could see his vitals feed, Shinji was disguised as an ordinary patient who was currently in Wunder's medical ward.
Misato was in her office working on her paperwork, she also had access to this data, she was not a doctor, but seeing Shinji's vital signs helped her deal with the anxiety.
Mari at this point was walking through the halls of Wunder, she was heading for Rei's room, they had been getting quite close since her release at Wunder, Mari stopped outside the room and knocked on the door.
After a few seconds, the door opened and revealed Rei, who stared at Mari with her dull gaze and spoke in her delicate voice.
"Pilot Makinami, what can I do for you?"
Mari let out a small laugh to Rei. "Rei, you can call me Mari."
"Ok" Was Rei's simple answer.
"Do you want to go lunch?" Mari spoke with a smile on her face.
Rei pondered the idea for a few seconds and then nodded, Mari widened her smile and promptly spoke with a voice full of determination.
"Then move forward soldier."
Rei didn't understand the reference and only looked at Mari with a confused look on her face. "Sorry I didn't understand the reference."
Mari let out a laugh and then spoke. "That means for you to follow me Rei."
Rei nodded and began to escort Mari to the dining hall.
Lunch went on quietly, Rei chose her food and sat down to wait for Mari, when she arrived and sat down in front of Rei, Mari started poking at her food and talking to Rei.
"So Rei, how are you?"
"I'm fine ... And you ... Mari?" Rei replied.
Mari smiled to see that Rei called her by her name. "I'm doing fine, thanks for asking."
Lunch followed quietly with Mari asking some questions about her routine and asked how Rei's routine was going.
"So Rei, what are you doing?" Mari spoke as she took a bite of her food.
"I am reading, Sakura said she could help me, she lent me some books." Rei also spoke as she ate her food.
Mari knowing Rei wasn't one to elaborate her answers much, but she couldn't help but feel she was cute in trying to hold a conversation, Mari felt a little surprised to hear Rei's question.
"Maki ... Mari, can I ask you something?" Rei spoke as she lowered her fork.
Mari looked at her curiously and nodded, Mari was wondering what kind of thing Rei wanted to know.
"I know my origin, I know I was created ... So what am I?" Rei asked as she looked into Mari's eyes who could feel the anxiety in her voice, even if it was little.
Mari took a breath and thought about her answer carefully, she knew this was a touchy subject for Rei. "To me it's not a big deal, you may have been made, be a clone, but that doesn't make you any less human than us ... You just came into the world differently." Mari replied as calmly as possible.
"But then why do I feel like I don't belong there, why don't I feel human?" Rei replied with a downcast voice.
Mari felt sad for her friend, Mari was thinking that it must be hard to know that you were fabricated, to not have a family to remember.
"Rei ... You are human enough for me." Mari spoke hoping to calm Rei's agitated mind, she brought her hand closer and gently held Rei's hand.
Rei can't help but notice her cheeks warming with Mari's touch, she liked the feeling Mari's words and touch caused her, she felt she was calming down.
Mari felt good to be able to see that she helped Rei, Mari noticed the small smile on her face.
- She is very pretty when she smiles. - Mari thought as she looked at the face with Rei's small smile and felt that she was blushing.
"Glad I could help you, we better eat before it gets cold." Mari spoke hoping to calm down a bit and change the subject.
Rei nodded and went back to eating her food, the two ate in silence, but it was not an uncomfortable silence.
When they finished, Mari escorted Rei back to her room, after all there wasn't much for Rei to do, she hadn't earned a role at Wunder yet.
"So Rei, I have to do some things now, see you and Sakura later." Mari spoke cheerfully.
Rei nodded and spoke. "Thank you Mari."
Rei, remembering the books she had read, stepped forward and hugged Mari, even though she was not very good at the thing, she hugged her lightly.
Mari was feeling a bit shocked, she didn't expect that Rei would take the attitude of hugging someone, she returned the hug, Mari felt her cheeks blush at the contact with Rei, she didn't know why, after all she hugged a lot of people.
Shinji's makeshift room
It had been three days since their arrival, Shinji was still being kept sedated, Ritsuko thought it best that he sleep, in fact they still didn't know how they would begin to treat his fragile mental state, but they all knew that they had to wake him up at some point.
Asuka entered the makeshift room and slowly approached the bed, she pulled out a chair and sat down next to it, she stared at her face and reflected on her feelings about Shinji, she had already come to the conclusion that she was in love with him and even assumed that she loved him in front of Mari, but she still didn't know if she would have the courage to tell him.
Asuka reached out and gently ran the outside of her fingers over Shinji's face, she allowed herself a small smile, no one had noticed, but her readings on the panels beside her showed that her heart rate and pressure, had normalized with Asuka's contact.
Inside Shinji's mind.
Everything was dark, all this was due to the sedatives Ritsuko had applied, but slowly Shinji began to feel in a place, the world around him had become Misato's old apartment, he sat up, but she knew that somehow it was impossible to be there, because the apartment must have been destroyed in the mess of the third and fourth impact.
Slowly he found himself walking through the place, many memories came into his mind like the happy times he spent in this place, he looked at the kitchen table and remembered the mornings, with Misato drinking his beers for breakfast, Pen-Pen poking his leg to get his fish and Asuka grumbling about something.
Shinji smiled as he remembered, he would love to be able to come back somehow and be able to change his ways, he began to hate himself for having had a family and being stupid enough for not realizing it.
"So here you are Ikari Shinji-Kun." Spoke a soft voice from somewhere.
Shinji heard the voice and began to search, he turned frantically to all directions looking for this voice, a voice he thought he would never hear again.
"I'm here." The voice spoke again.
Shinji turned around and found Kaworu standing against the kitchen counter, he was wearing his usual clothes, a white shirt and black pants, he had his hands in his pockets and had his usual smile on his face.
"Hello dear Shinji." Kaworu spoke in his usual voice and kept his smile on his face.
Shinji smiled and approached Kaworu and hugged him when he got close enough, Kaworu hugged him back, they stayed like that for a while until Kaworu spoke.
"Shinji-Kun, we need to talk." Kaworu spoke as he turned away and looked into Shinji's face, he kept a serious look on his face.
Shinji looked at him with a confused look on his face, he lowered his gaze and spoke in a broken voice. "I'm so Sorry Kaworu."
Kaworu looked him confused in the face. "Sorry for what?"
"For killing you." Shinji spoke as he felt tears streaming down his face.
Kaworu smiled and lifted Shinji's face so he could look into his eyes and spoke calmly. "Shinji it wasn't your fault, I put the exploding choker on my neck, and besides do you remember what I said just before the choker detonated?"
Shinji looked away and began to remember that day, he remembered Kaworu thinking and saying something about having gone from the 01st to the 13th Angel.
"You said you had gone from the 01st to the 13th angel." Shinji spoke as he looked away.
Kaworu smiled and nodded.
"Wait, you're an angel?" Shinji asked confused.
Kaworu lowered his gaze and nodded. "Yes dear Shinji, but that is not the subject for this moment, let's talk about you."
Shinji was confused but he decided to leave this subject for later, he nodded in agreement, but his expression was downcast, an expression that Kaworu noticed.
"What is it?" Kaworu spoke up as he noticed the change in Shinji's face.
"I did a lot of things wrong Kaworu." Shinji spoke as he began to cry.
"That depends on the point of view." Kaworu spoke as he sat down in one of the chairs.
Shinji repeated the act and sat down in front of Kaworu.
"I've ended the world." Shinji spoke dejectedly.
Kaworu nodded his head. "You didn't know that was going to happen."
"But that doesn't change the fact!" Shinji shouted as he put his hands on his head.
Kaworu kept the form in which he was sitting and spoke. "Then help fix it."
"Fix ... Fix how?" Shinji spoke dejectedly without looking up. "Everyone hates me ... You must know what they did to me."
Kaworu nodded and spoke in a downcast voice. "I know ... Unfortunately I know, but I can see that your body is getting better, that person next to your bed now seems to like you."
Shinji was down and depressed at the moment, but he didn't know it, but he began to feel something on his cheek, Shinji described it as a person passing a hand over his face, the feeling of comfort helped him to calm down.
"It's a trick." Shinji spoke with determination. "I don't know what he put in me, but that's a trick."
Kaworu stared at him. "That's not a trick."
Shinji put his hands on his head and spoke. "No! ... If I give in ... I'll wake up in that cell."
Kaworu reached out to take Shinji's hand.
"What are you doing?" Shinji spoke confused.
"I want you to listen and listen good Shinji-Kun, you are no longer in that cell, these people have removed you and are taking care of you, don't you think they deserve a chance?" Spoke Kaworu as he let go of Shinji's hand and faced him with a determined look on his face.
Shinji was thinking about Kaworu's answer and let out a long sigh. "I'm afraid Kaworu what if it's not real?"
"It will be." Kaworu replied as reassuringly as possible. "But first, you have to wake up."
Shinji nodded and lowered his gaze. "A pity this is all a dream."
"Is it?" Was Kaworu's simple answer as the world around Shinji disappeared and he returned to the dreamless sleep state.
Shinji's Room
Ritsuko was working on one of the machines that was on Shinji, she was just starting to turn off the sedatives when she was interrupted by Asuka.
"Don't you think this is too soon? "Asuka spoke anxiously.
"We can't leave him sleeping forever." Was Ritsuko's dry reply.
Asuka snorted, shook her head and turned to Misato who was standing in the doorway.
"You support this?" Asuka spoke as she pointed to Ritsuko who was setting up the machine.
"Asuka, we have to start waking him up, we have to help him recover mentally." Was Misato's response.
"The sedatives are still in his body, he may start waking up in about two or four hours." Ritsuko spoke as she turned off the machine.
Both Misato and Asuka nodded, they were clearly anxious, Misato from seeing what one of Shinji's attacks had looked like last time, Asuka from wondering what attacks Shinji had done before.
"Now just wait." Was Ritsuko's response as she started toward the bedroom door.
Misato was standing next to Asuka looking at Shinji, she turned to Asuka and spoke.
"Asuka ... I want to tell you something, find Mari and go to my office." Misato spoke as she turned and began to walk back to her post.
Asuka was looking at Shinji and nodded, she wanted answers about everything that was going on, she turned and left the room.
As Asuka was walking, she was heading towards her room hoping to find Mari so they could see what things Misato wanted to tell them in his office.
When she arrived in her room, she found Mari lying on the couch, she had her fingers crossed and was staring at the ceiling with a thoughtful look on her face.
Asuka thought that scene was strange, but she wouldn't think about it at the moment. "Four Eyes up, Misato wants to talk to us in his office."
Mari only nodded slowly, she took a breath and let out a long sigh. As she stood up, Mari ran her hand through her hair and began to put on her shoes.
Asuka noticing that Mari was moving much slower than her usual, looked at her with a confused look, "What is it, Four Eyes?"
Mari glanced back at her. "Hmm?"
Asuka rolled her eyes and spoke again. "You look weirder than usual, what's wrong?"
Mari pondered the idea for a moment, she was thinking about the moment she spent with Rei, she couldn't get the feeling she felt when being held by her out of her mind, it was occupying Mari's mind, she just shook her head and spoke as normal as she could. "Nothing, I just don't have anything to think about."
Asuka could see that there was something bothering Mari, but she didn't have time to deal with it now. So Asuka nodded and spoke in a firm tone. "OK, then let's see what the colonel wants with us."
Mari nodded and finished putting on her shoes, the two girls were trapped in their own worlds when they left their room and headed towards the command bridge where Misato told them to go, they went silently the whole way.
When they arrived at the bridge, Asuka went to the door of Misato's office and knocked on the door, the two girls waited for Misato's permission to enter, after a few seconds of waiting, they heard Misato's answer and entered her office.
Before anyone spoke, Misato activated Kaji's device to block any eavesdropping and beckoned them to sit down.
After a long period of silence, Asuka spoke up in annoyance.
"Well, we're here." Asuka snorted.
"OK, you guys know that Shinji was practically kidnapped don't you? ... And is pronounced dead." Misato spoke as he looked at the faces of the two women standing in front of him. They both nodded their heads.
"Shinji was caught by Commander Sebastian, Kaji found that out ... That son of a bitch did everything he could on Shinji these three months." Misato spoke in annoyance. Mari was still quiet, she was angry knowing that, the only difference was that she knew how to control her anger better than Asuka.
Asuka was shaking her hand to keep her anger under control, she wanted revenge. "Are you saying that Commander Sebastian tortured Shinji?"
Misato nodded to confirm Asuka's question.
Asuka closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Why? ... Why did he do that?
Misato looked down and spoke calmly, but his mind was very agitated. "He wanted to know how Shinji awakened an EVA."
Both Asuka and Mari stared at her with a look of shock on their faces.
"What does he want to know how to awaken an EVA for?" Mari spoke as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Misato only shook his head. "I don't know, Kaji is looking for the reason to be able to act against him now ... and who knows what Shinji might know."
"I can't believe it, we have a crazy new boss." Asuka spoke sarcastically.
Mari let out a sigh and squeezed the space between her eyes, she nodded in agreement with Asuka, she raised her gaze to Misato and asked. "How's the puppy?"
Misato looked at Mari, her gaze changing from anger to concern. "Ritsuko has taken off the sedatives, she wants to wake him up, but she said his body is showing signs of improvement."
Mari smiled at this information, she showed a genuine smile.
After a few hours, Ritsuko was in the counter room of Shinji's makeshift room, she noticed that he started to wake up, she stopped her notes and started to look at Shinji's form.
Shinji was feeling his head heavy, he opened his eyes and saw that he was in a room, it looked like a hospital room, he remembered Kaworu's words about giving it a chance.
- Okay Kaworu, I'll give it a chance. - Shinji thought as he felt his body wanting to go back to sleep due to the sedatives that were still in his body, but he didn't want to stay in a bed anymore, he slowly started to try to get up, but felt weak to do so and fell back onto the bed.
Breathing for a few seconds he tried again, he managed to sit up in bed, he looked around and realized that this place didn't look like his cell, his mind began to churn, but he remembered Kaworu's words and began to calm down.
His chest hurt and he was moving carefully, he slowly started to turn around to try to stand, his body felt heavier than normal, he put one of his feet on the cold floor, he leaned on the bed to have somewhere to stand, he felt his leg was weak, but he miraculously managed to stand.
Ritsuko allowed herself to smile at the image in front of her, she picked up her communicator and brought it to her mouth to speak.
"Ritsuko to Colonel Katsuragi." Ritsuko spoke into her radio.
After a few seconds Misato's voice sounded over the radio.
"This is Colonel Katsuragi." Misato asks professionally.
"We have a bonding situation here." Ritsuko spoke, that was the code they agreed on for when Shinji woke up.
"Okay, I'm on my way." Misato spoke, Ritsuko could tell the anxiety in her voice.
Katsuragi's office
Misato was updating Asuka and Mari with all the information Kaji had given her, she stopped talking when she heard Ritsuko's voice calling her over the radio.
"Ritsuko to Colonel Katsuragi." Ritsuko spoke over the radio.
Misato looked at the radio with a raised eyebrow, she looked around to see Mari and Asuka's looks of expectation, she picked up her radio and answered professionally.
"This is Colonel Katsuragi." Answered Misato professionally, she still kept her gaze on the women in front of her.
"We have a bonding situation here." Ritsuko spoke, that was the code they agreed on for when Shinji woke up, Misato could feel her body go rigid, she felt the adrenaline coursing through her body, she took a few breaths to calm herself down and responded as best she could.
"Okay, I'm on my way." Misato spoke anxiously.
Misato got up from her chair and looked at Mari and Asuka, an atmosphere of expectation settled in the place, they all knew that one day they would have to face Shinji at some point.
"Right." Misato spoke as he nodded and headed toward Shinji's temporary room.
Asuka and Mari were following Misato a few steps back, they walked in silence to where Shinji was standing.
Misato, Asuka and Mari entered the counter room, they looked at each other and saw that Shinji was looking around the place, he looked confused about the whole thing, Asuka could feel her body going rigid, seeing Shinji standing up and awake was making her have butterflies in her stomach, Misato was in the same situation.
Mari was smiling the whole time, she was very happy to see Shinji alive, living proof that he was alive and recovering.
"Well, who's going to try to talk to him?" Ritsuko spoke as she turned to the class in the counter room.
After a few seconds of silence, Misato spoke up.
"I will."
"Right." Ritsuko spoke as she turned to look at Shinji through the glass.
Asuka was feeling upset, she really wanted to talk to Shinji, she was angry with herself for not having the courage to speak first.
"Make slow movements and speak as calmly as possible." Ritsuko said to Misato who was turning to leave when she heard the advice. She just nodded and opened the door.
Outside the door that would give access to Shinji's room, Misato felt her body trembling, she closed her eyes and inhaled and sighed several times before pushing the button that would open the door.
At the sound of the door sliding open, Shinji felt his body become stiff as stone, he recited Kaworu's words in his head to calm himself down, he heard few footsteps entering his room, he was not brave enough to turn around, he was afraid to turn around and find Sebastian or one of his companions.
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Misato was looking at Shinji's back, she took a breath to calm herself and spoke slowly.
"Shinji?" Spoke Misato trying to sound as calm as possible.
She saw Shinji's shoulders stiffen, she repeated her sentence.
"Shinji? ... How are you?" Misato mentally scolded herself for not having thought of another question.
Shinji knew whose voice that was, he was paralyzed with fear, he was desperately thinking about Kaworu's words and his mantra that had become over the past few years.
- I can't run away. - Shinji thought.
Shinji began to slowly turn to look at Misato, when they finally looked at each other, this was the first time they had seen each other since the whole mess had begun. After a few seconds of silence, Misato took a step toward Shinji, who reacted by lowering his gaze and taking a step backwards.
"Calm down Shinji, I'm not going to hurt you" Misato spoke as calmly as possible.
"Mi ... Misa ... Misato ... is that really you?" Shinji stammered looking down.
"Yes Shinji, it's me ... You're safe here, no one will hurt you." Misato spoke keeping his tone calm.
Shinji was almost having an emotional breakdown, he was thinking again about Kaworu's words, he decided to really give fate a chance, he needed to have some comfort after all he had been through.
Misato looked at the mirror beside her, she knew Asuka, Mari and Ritsuko were watching everything, she didn't notice Shinji shoot forward and hug her tightly.
Misato was in shock, she didn't know what was happening, she noticed Shinji clinging to her body, she cautiously raised her arms and put them around Shinji's body, she noticed that he started to cry, she could feel her own tears starting to form.
"Misato please forgive me! ... I know, I know I made you sad ... I was such an idiot" Shinji cried as he squeezed Misato as hard as he could.
Misato felt tears streaming down his face.
"All right Shinji ... calm down." Misato spoke as he felt the tension leaving his body. "We'll talk about it later, now calm down."
Shinji hearing Misato's words eased his grip, Misato not releasing the embrace, whispered in his ear. "Thank you ... Thank you for coming back to us ... Thank you for coming back to me." The two stood there just holding the hug and feeling the comfort they both gave him.
On the other side of the glass, everyone was wide-eyed, they didn't expect that Shinji would practically throw himself at Misato, they were thinking that maybe it would be easier to get Shinji back after all.
Mari was grinning from ear to ear, she couldn't wait to hug Shinji too, Ritsuko was holding her pose, but she was happy to see that he could still be useful for her project. Asuka was looking at the two of them, she was wondering when she would be able to talk to him, she couldn't deny that she was a little jealous of the situation she was seeing in front of her.
After a few seconds, the two calmed down enough to be able to separate, when the two let go, Shinji was looking down.
"Shinji, look at me." Misato spoke as she placed a hand on his chin and raised her gaze.
"I have to go now, but I promise to come back as soon as possible ... You understand?" Misato spoke looking into Shinji's eyes.
Shinji was still very affected by everything, but he nodded.
Misato smiled at him, gave him a quick little hug and turned to leave, but before she opened the door she heard Shinji call out to her.
"Misato ... How are the others?" Shinji asked as he took his gaze to see Misato.
Misato flashed a genuine smile, she was happy to see that Shinji still had her concern for others.
"Well Shinji, they were all happy to hear that you are recovering and thinking of them, Mari, Sakura, Rei and Asuka." Misato pondered Asuka more emphatically. "They are behind that glass."
Shinji turned to look at his reflection, he didn't know how, but he could feel Asuka's gaze on him, it seemed they were looking at each other face to face, Asuka raised her hand and put her palm on the glass in front of her.
"So long Shinji, I'll have someone bring you something to eat ...I'll be back ... I promise." Misato spoke as he left and closed the door.
Shinji nodded his head and looked at his reflection again, he instinctively raised his hand and placed his palm on the glass, little did he know that he was placing his hand in the exact spot where Asuka's was on the other side of the glass.
Author's Notes: Please review, your critiques (Good or bad) are very important to me, you know that I take a lot into consideration what is said and it also gives me strength to continue this translation project.
Well folks, I hope the translation is good, this is really hard for me, English is not my mother tongue and my proofreaders are on vacation, for sure there will still be errors (hopefully few), but with time the chapter will be updated and improved.
The next chapter is in advanced progress, so it shouldn't take long to come out.
Don't forget to also like the Facebook page, search for "Calborghete" and locate a picture of Shinji and Asuka, on this page I will post updates and it will also be easier for you to contact me.
Well, see you next time.
