Spinal Injection by James Thomas

by Derpy Rider

Ranma's on his way to new job at Tokyo-3. He meets a young wimp named Shinji on the train there. They talk, and Ranma tells him he needs to grow a spine like he did when he walked out on everything that was wrong in his life. Ranma realizes that they are both headed to Tokyo-3 to work for NERV. Originally on Fubarfics.

Spinal Injection By: James Thomas

Disclaimer: The characters in this story are the property of someone else, not me. If you sue me, I'll give you the two pennies in my savings account.

Chapter One "A Martial Artist's Duty"

Saotome Ranma awoke as the train stopped to pick up another passenger. He scratched his head as he watched the scrawny boy get on and take the only available seat, which was next to him. Ranma knew that most of the crowds would get off at Tokyo-1 or Tokyo-2, most everyone did. People were clearing out of Tokyo-3 for some reason. Oh well, he'd figure it out eventually. Being out of the country for an extended amount of time tended to keep your knowledge of the local news in your homeland down to a minimum. Granted he knew about second impact fifteen years ago, but Tokyo should be settled by now.

He turned and regarded the newest passenger. The boy was around five foot tall, skinny as a rail, wearing a plain white shirt and jeans. He had black hair that was cut short. Ranma was surprised that he could stand by himself with that little muscle. He shook his head. "Some parents." He thought. "They don't know how to feed their kids properly. Kinda reminds me of Gosunkugi in a strange way." Ranma watched as the boy just sat there looking at the ground and listening to near-non-audible music coming from his Walkman. "The boy just looks like he hasn't got a thing going for him in the world. Something about the hopelessness radiating from the boy made him speak. "So! Where you headed?" He smiled at the small boy.

Ikari Shinji looked up at the older man. He saw the warm, trustworthy smile on the older man's face. Shinji did a quick inspection and noticed the gray uniform he was wearing. It looked to be the same material as military BDUs, but no buttons on the shirt, just a flap that velcroed at the shoulder. There was a hint of a scar around the base of his neck. The man had blue eyes and hair that was parted down the middle and hanging at about chin level to either side of his head. Shinji timidly spoke, "I'm going to Tokyo-3."

Ranma tried his best to keep his smile where it was. The voice sounded pathetically weak. This boy sounded like he didn't have a friend in the world and the world was about to end, all in one breath. Ranma had never heard such a lack of confidence in a person's voice before. Of course he usually spent his time around a lot of strong-willed individuals. "Now why is a little guy like you traveling by yourself Tokyo-3? As far as I knew, I'm the only one on this whole train going there."

Shinji took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "My father sent for me."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're not to happy about it."

The younger boy twiddled his thumbs. "Well, I haven't seen him in three years and it's not like we had a great relationship to begin with. I guess I'm a little Nervous."

Ranma put his hands behind his head and leaned back. "Yeah, me and my pops didn't have the best relationship either, especially after I moved out."

"What happened?" Shinji looked to the older man with a look of curiosity in his eyes.

He chuckled to himself. "Let's just say, he wasn't very happy about me leaving him to take care of his business. So what's with you and your dad?"

Shinji's shoulders slumped. "He left me behind with my uncle after my mother died. He said he didn't want to see my face anymore."

Anger flashed in the martial artist's eyes. "Who would do that to their own kid, especially when they just lost their mom?!" He thought. He brought his emotions back into control and continued aloud. "That's really not right. No father has the right to do that."

The boy looked at him with surprise. "What? Leave me with my uncle?"

"No, to say that he didn't want to see your face anymore. That can be pretty traumatizing for a kid." Ranma took another look at the boys features and saw some vague resemblance to someone he once knew. "What's your name anyway?"

"Ikari Shinji."

Ranma's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Couldn't be." The back of his mind was telling him. "Must be a brother's kid. Doesn't hurt to ask…" He was careful not to give anything away with his facial expressions. "Who was your mother?"

"Ikari Yui."

Ranma's eyes went wide. "She didn't get married?"

Shinji turned to him. "What? You knew my mom?"

"Sorta. Did she get married?"

Shinji nodded. "Yes. Dad just took her name."

Ranma had a bad feeling in his gut. "Who's your dad?"

"Ikari Gendou."

Ranma's muscles tensed and his expression hardened. "HE'S your father?"

Shinji nodded his head. "Yes. Did you know him?"

Ranma pulled his hair back over his ears. "I've met him." His eyes stayed hard. He swore to himself that he was going to have a chat with his 'old friend' about the treatment of his son.

Shinji looked a little taken aback. "I…I'm sorry if I made you mad."

Ranma shook his head in surprise. "What?"

"I said, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you mad."

Ranma thought for a second, grabbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "It's not you're fault Shinji. Do you always assume everything is your fault?"

"Sometimes…most of the time…" He looked down at the floor.

The older man felt sorry for the kid. "Hey! I asked your name, but I never gave mine. I'm Saotome Ranma." He held his hand out."

The boy took the proffered hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

"So who's supposed to pick you up at the station?"

Shinji pulled a picture from his bag. He handed it to Ranma. "Her name is Captain Katsuragi."

Ranma looked over the picture appreciatively. The picture showed a woman, perhaps in her late twenties, in shorts and a t-shirt that looked two sizes too small. She was in a crawling position winking at the camera. There were some suggestive comments written on it. "Definitely not bad. I've seen better, but not much." Ranma added in his mind, "Of course when you have the cursed form of a super model, it's hard to find good comparisons."

"Yeah, I guess so." Shinji sounded a little deflated.

Ranma looked at the picture a bit closer. "Hmm. Definitely military, but she hasn't been working out as much as she really should."

Shinji looked at him in surprise. "Are you a detective or something?"

"No, just sizing her up. Like I do an opponent, I find it helps to get to know someone before they really say anything."

"Are you a soldier?"

Ranma shook his head. "No. I'm a martial artist."

"You get paid for that?"

Ranma smiled. "You bet! You'd be surprised at how much money you can make when people recognize skill. Heck, I've spent the past year in America training Special Forces units. Let me tell you, those Americans may be lazy, but they pay REALLY well."

"So what are you going to do in Tokyo-3?"

"I'm going to be training the security forces." He flashed his ID card that they had sent him. "Like I said, you can make money when people recognize skill."

Shinji nodded. "Hey! I've got one of those too!" He dug around in his bag. He pulled out a matching card that had his picture on it.

Ranma laughed. "Looks like we'll be working together."

Shinji chuckled nervously. "I don't think they'd want me to do anything. I mean, look at me."

Ranma smiled. "Yeah, you look like you haven't worked out a day in your life, but that can change."

Shinji looked at him. "How?"

"We're both going to be in Tokyo-3 so there's no reason why you can't work out with me. I can have you whipped into shape in a couple of months." He smiled confidently.

"I don't know." Shinji looked down at himself.

"Come on. All it takes is a little confidence."

Shinji shrugged. "That's something I don't have much of."

"Obviously, you also don't have any spine."

"Hey!" Shinji looked indignant.

"Now that's the spirit!" Ranma slapped him on the back. "When you grow a backbone, life gets a lot easier. If you let everyone walk all over you, you'll keep getting trampled. Once you stand up for yourself, you'll find that life is what you make of it, not what's handed to you."

"Maybe you can help me."

Ranma smiled. "Of course! Martial arts are also a great thing to boost confidence."

"Really?" Shinji looked hopeful.

"Really! Let me tell you about the great life of a martial artist. Of course it wasn't always easy…"

Several hours later, they arrived at the Tokyo-3 train station. Ranma looked around at the deserted streets. "I had hoped this would be a lively town, but it looks like I'm going to be disappointed."

"I thought someone who had led your life would like some peace." Shinji started digging in his bag for Captain Katsuragi's number.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? I've actually found that peaceful times makes one sloppy and lazy. I just can't let that happen to me. What are you doing?"

Shinji was dialing on the nearest payphone. "I'm trying to get a hold of the captain."

"Okay, hope something around here is exciting."

The ground underneath them shook. A loud thunder was heard in the distance. Military helicopters passed overhead and unloaded their compliment of missiles at an unknown target. Ranma laughed. "Me and my big mouth." He suddenly felt an enormous source of chi. He looked to the east and saw an enormous firefight. "That can't be good."

A missile landed in the street a few feet from them. Ranma grabbed Shinji and jumped away before the explosion knocked them off their feet. Just as the smoke was clearing, a blue sports car came to a screeching halt in front of them. A very attractive woman wearing black wraparound sunglasses and a skintight black dress yelled at them from the open window. "Hello, Am I late?" She said in a very amused tone of voice.

Ranma about facefaulted. This girl was completely brainless! "Hey! You maniac! What are you doing driving like that in the middle of a battle?!"

Katsuragi Misato got her first look at the original member of the NWC and about died. "OH MY GOD!" She yelled in her mind. "HE'S A HUNK!" She straightened her clothes. "Hello, my name's Misato. I'm here to pick up Shinji. What's your name?" She batted her eyelashes.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Gimme a break." He walked up and opened the passenger door and motioned Shinji to the back. "Ranma, and your name's going to be blood splatter if you don't get out of here!" He sat down in the car just as the sounds of battle were approaching again. "Now drive!"

"Arrogant little…" Her voice trailed off as she hit the accelerator. The car rocketed down the empty streets just as the UN forces were beginning to launch their offensive at the most terrifying creature the Earth had seen in fifteen years: The third Angel.

The creature was humanoid with a head that was shrunken into the torso and arms and legs that looked too small to support its weight. Its face was all white with black pits for eyes. Its nose was just a point that went down from its eyes. It also had massive spikes sticking out of its elbows. The UN forces were unleashing everything they had at it with no effect. Even when they launched enormous cruise missiles at it, the Angel just shrugged them off like harmless flies.

Misato's car came atop one of the hills between the city and the entrance to the NERV Geo Front. She stopped and got out of the car. She retrieved a pair of field binoculars and looked as the angel approached. "Damn!" She swore under her breath. "They really have returned."

Ranma got out of his side of the car, Shinji closely following. "Why'd we stop? We still need to get to NERV!"

"I needed to check the situation for myself! Oh no! They're going to drop an N2 Mine!" Misato grabbed Shinji and threw him to the ground behind the car.

Ranma was still standing. "What?"

"GET DOWN STUPID!" She grabbed him by the back collar of his shirt and hauled him down hard.

Ranma hit the ground just as the mine went off. The world went white and Ranma felt himself being blown away. He reached over and shoved his hand into the ground in front of Shinji and Misato, anchoring all three of them in place. The force of the explosion picked the car up and threw it over them. Ranma just barely got his head down in time before the flying vehicle took it off.

The winds subsided and Ranma pulled himself up and brushed off his suit. "Thanks a lot you crazy woman! Thanks to your little 'pit stop' we're all irradiated!"

Misato stood up in his face. "Thanks to that little 'pit stop' I just saved all of our lives!"

Ranma gave her a 'you've got to be kidding me' look. "How do you figure?"

Misato pointed to her overturned car and spoke matter-of-factly. "That could have been us you pig-headed jock! We had a much better chance of surviving the N2 blast outside of the car! And what if we had been on the backside of the mountain when that blast had gone off? We would have all fallen to our deaths!"

Ranma snorted. "That was just a coincidence! You didn't know they were going to drop a nuke! You just got lucky! I heard the surprise in your voice when you looked through your binoculars!"

Misato put her hand on her hip and jabbed a finger into Ranma's chest. "You listen here, bucko. I heard the distinct whine of a cruise missile drop system. I stopped the car to see what they were dropping! I expected a daisy cutter, not a friggin' N2! That's why I was surprised!"

Ranma sneered at her. "So what about the radiation?! I could be sterile now, you stupid bag!"

Misato rolled her eyes. "The N2 mine doesn't give off radiation, so you're fine, Einstein!"

"Uh, can we get going?" Shinji had finally picked himself off the ground.

Misato harrumphed in Ranma's direction. "As soon as it's fine with the public safety commission!"

A vein was starting to pull up on Ranma's head. "How do you expect to go anywhere? LOOK AT YOUR CAR!"

Misato stomped off to her car. "It's an electric car made of composites! Shinji and I could turn it over!" She put her hand on it and started to rock it. "Shinji, give me a hand!"

Shinji, not really wanting to be involved at all, simply nodded and went to help her turn the car back over. They struggled for a bit but were having trouble getting the car over. They would get it to where it was almost on its side before they had to let it down again. Ranma shook his head and walked over to them. "Step back." He forced his chi to flow through his muscles and increase the output of his adrenal glands. The burst of strength helped him put the car right side up with hardly any real effort. "Okay, now let's see you start this, woman!" The last word was spoken with a heap of contempt.

Misato got in the car and turned the key. It wouldn't start. She swore and as she popped the hood. She looked under the hood and saw that her power plant had been destroyed in the blast. Everything else seemed in order. She just needed power. "Looks like we need to make a quick run back to town."

Ranma and Shinji facefaulted.

In the heart of NERV headquarters, the chiefs of staff for the combined UN forces were losing hope. They had thrown all their most destructive weapons at the angel to no avail. It ignored tank blasts, crumpled helicopters, shrugged off tomahawks, and simply stood there after being hit with the most powerful bomb that they could unleash without destroying the world along with it. The general in charge turned, in defeat, to Ikari Gendou. "All right, Ikari, you have a go."

Gendou pushed his glasses up on his face. "This was why NERV was created. Come Fuyutsuki!"

The older man in uniform Fuyutsuki Kouzou nodded and followed Gendou out of the room. "Do you think this is wise, sir? Unit Zero is out of commission and Unit One hasn't been activated since the accident."

Gendou nodded. "I have everything under control. Don't worry. We will have an EVA and a pilot by the time we get to central dogma."

The two continued down the hall and into the elevator in silence.

Meanwhile, Ranma, Misato, and Shinji were back on the road. Misato was lost in her thoughts. "This is just great! This car was brand new! I still have fifty-seven payments to go, and now it's a wreck! Everything was going fine and now I meet this totally cute guy, but he's an arrogant, pushy ass! This is just my luck! I only had to pick up the director's son and now I've got an extra hitchhiker that does nothing but give me a headache. On top of all that my favorite dress is a mess, and I looked so good in it! *Sob*" Misato's facial expressions were dropping lower the longer she was lost in thought.

"Uh, Misato?" Shinji tapped her on the shoulder.

Misato's face instantly went back to full beaming smile. "Yes, Shinji?"

"Isn't taking these batteries like stealing?" Shinji shifts his weight to reveal several batteries with two power leads apiece leading back into the side of the car.

Misato sweated a little bit. "Uh, time of emergency! We have to requisition whatever material it takes! We are at war, you know!"

Ranma's arms had been crossed ever since they had started driving again. "Like anyone's going to believe that."

Misato rolled her eyes and picked up her cell phone. "This is Katsuragi. I need a car train to NERV central, an express of course!" She smiled as she hung up. "If we're going to go there, we might as well go there in style! Oh, Shinji! I almost forgot!" She pulled a packet from underneath her seat and handed it to the boy in back. "Here's all the info you need to know about NERV. Do you have your ID?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now Ranma, where can I drop you off?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't just take a civilian into NERV headquarters. Where can I drop you off?"

Ranma pulled his ID card out of his pocket. "You can take me into the main headquarters with Shinji. You can get off wherever you like."

Misato's jaw dropped. "You mean I have to work with you!"

Ranma snorted. "It's not a picnic for me either."

Shinji started to rub his temples to try and stave off the headache caused by the arguing couple in the front seats.

They arrived at the gates and a large door opened up. They drove into the doors and onto a platform that had four tire blocks for the car's wheels. The car locked into place and they began to move sideways and down. They went through several layers of armor before emerging into an area lit up like the daytime. Shinji and Ranma looked around in awe at all the natural beauty that was housed underground. Shinji's eyes lit up in admiration. "Wow! A Geo Front!"

Misato smiled. "Yup! A completely self-sufficient natural environment."

Since second impact Ranma had never seen this much vegetation in one spot. He found almost a homesick feeling at seeing the Earth below them so alive. "It's been a while since I've seen this much green."

Misato heard the hint of sorrow in his voice. "You spend much time in forests?"

Ranma nodded. "Spent most of my life wandering through one wilderness or another. Nature was my home for pretty much the first ten years of my life." He turned to Misato. "Don't you miss how alive the earth used to be?"

Misato nodded. "I was only sixteen at the time of second impact. I hadn't really seen much of the world outside of where my father worked. For the last years before, I had only seen Antarctica."

"So you're twenty-eight. A little young for a captain isn't it?" Ranma sneered.

"Shut-up, you old egotistical jerk!"

Shinji put his hands over his ears and hoped that the end of the line was soon. His prayers were answered as the tram came to a stop and the 'adults' got out. Shinji followed. He picked up his bag. Misato told him they would be back for it later. Ranma stopped halfway to the trunk of the car and shrugged. "So where are we going?"

"This way." Misato indicated the doors at the end of the hall. "I'll show you the way to central dogma."

An hour later, they were traveling down yet another escalator. Shinji looked around. "Haven't we already come this way?"

Ranma took a quick look around and then smacked himself on the forehead. "We're lost! I can't believe it! I travel half-way across the globe to be lead around on a wild goose chase by Ryoga's sister!" He was fuming.

Misato glared at him. "We're not lost!" She thought in the back of her mind, "Who the hell is Ryoga?" She pulled her cell phone out and dialed a quick number. "I've got a code blue. I'm at…" She looked at the markings beside the escalator. "Section G-4."

"We will take appropriate action." The speaker on the phone responded. Seconds later an announcement was heard coming over the P.A. system. "Would head researcher Dr Akagi Ritsuko please meet Captain Katsuragi Misato in section G-4? Would head researcher Dr Akagi Ritsuko please meet Captain Katsuragi Misato in section G-4?"

Inside of the EVA-01 staging area, Dr. Akagi Ritsuko was just coming out of the fluid that was used to hold the EVA in stasis. She pulled off her scuba gear in time to hear the repeat of the announcement. "She's lost again?!"

The lost trio was in an elevator when the doors opened up to reveal a very peeved Ritsuko glaring at Misato. "Lost again I see."

Misato smiled nervously. "Nice to see you again, Ritsuko."

Ranma shook his head as Ritsuko selected the correct floor and faced forward. "So she does this often?"

"Every day she comes to work."

"So does she do anything useful around here, or do you have to carry her?"

"I'm still trying to figure out the answer to that one."

"HEY!" Misato shouted at the two that were talking like she wasn't even there.

Shinji just continued to read through his NERV information packet that Misato had given him, ignoring what had become the norm for this trip so far.

After a much shorter time they arrived at the EVA-01 staging area. The lights came up to reveal the giant robot. Ranma and Shinji's eyes bugged out. "What is this?" They asked simultaneously.

"This is Evangelion Unit one." Her voice took on a lecturing tone. "Don't bother looking Shinji, it's not in the book. This is the one thing standing between the human race and extinction from the angels. It failed its first activation test and we estimate a 0.0000000001% chance of reactivation. Or as we call it the O-ni chance."

"Oh-two?" Ranma asked.

"Oni, like demon."

"So there's no chance in hell?"

"Something like that."

Gendou stepped out onto the platform overlooking the floating catwalk where the others were standing. "Shinji. It's been a while."

"Gendou, it hasn't been long enough." Ranma growled.

Gendou's head snapped to the side. Ritsuko and Misato had never seen him move that fast since the failed activation of unit zero. He squinted at the figure with hair covering his face. "Ranma?" His expression hardened. "What are you doing here?"

Ranma smiled his contemptuous grin. "You're people hired me." He flipped out his card. "I'm the new security trainer. Although I could have wished for a better boss, one less on the heartless bastard side."

Gendou's eyes flashed with anger. Ritsuko couldn't believe the amount of emotion that he was displaying. "What's going on between those two? I've never seen him this worked up." She thought.

"So why did you bring your son here? You going to verbally abuse him some more?" Ranma's eyes had hardened in anger.

Shinji couldn't believe the amount of tension that had suddenly filled the enormous room.

Misato tried to change the subject. "Director, the angel is attacking! What can we do with Unit One without a pilot? We can't use Rei."

Gendou turned to her and pushed his glasses back on his face. "A new pilot was just delivered."

Misato's eyes widened in panic. "We can't use him! It would take too long for him to sync with his EVA! It took Ayanami eight months to sync with hers!"

Shinji was starting to cry. "I knew it! You just want to use me! I won't do it!" He looked to Misato for support.

Misato put a hardened expression on her face. "Do it, Shinji."

Ritsuko nodded. "You're the only one, Shinji."

Ranma's aura was becoming visible. It was burning a deep red. "You don't have to do it, Shinji we'll find a solution." He glared at Gendou and tried to come up with another plan.

Gendou turned to a monitor. "Fuyutsuki." One of the monitors around him lit up with the older man's face. "The new pilot is unusable. Fetch Rei."

"Can we use her?"

"She isn't dead yet." He turned to another monitor. "Rei?"

"Yes?" A soft voice came back, no video.

"You will do it again."

"Yes, sir."

Gendou turned his attention back to the others on the platform. "Have Unit One converted over for Rei. She will pilot it."

The doors at the far end opened and two people in medical scrubs wheeled out a gurney with pale girl with blue hair out. She was bandaged from head to toe with one of her eyes covered and one arm in a sling.

Ranma had had enough. "You coward! You insufferable coward! You would send wounded kids into battle, but sit idly by and do nothing!" He glanced around. He saw what looked like enormous forklifts to the side. He pointed them out to Misato. "Do those catapults go to the surface?"

Misato nodded. "But they're extremely high speed. It'll kill you if you're thinking what I think you're thinking."

"I am thinking what you think I'm thinking, but trust me, I can do it."

Shinji looked at him. "What are you doing?"

Misato turned in disgust from the martial artist. "This pigheaded idiot is going to try and ride the cats to the surface and fight the angel." Ranma cringed a bit at the abbreviated name for the launching systems. "If the gees don't kill him, the angel will."

Shinji looked in disbelief at Ranma. "Why? Why would you try to do something against something you have no chance against?"

Ranma stared at Shinji, his face all business. "It's a martial artist's duty to protect those who can't defend themselves. You can't run away when the odds are stacked against you. If I had done that, I would have been running most my life. You have to face these challenges. You mustn't run away." He turned to Misato. "Tell them to launch when I reach the catapults."

Misato looked to with pleading eyes to Gendou for support. A small smile trailed across his lips. "Let him go." "And get himself killed." He added in his mind.

She threw up her hands in surrender. "Go ahead then, but it will take you a while to reach the…cats?"

Her eyes went wide, as well as almost everyone else's, when Ranma reached the catapults in three bounds, climbing high into the air and covering impossible amounts of distance with each. When he landed on one of the tongs of the cat's fork, he gave thumbs up.

Misato shook herself out of her stupor. She pulled a radio from her jacket. "Launch cat one!" She said into it.

Ranma began to rethink the wisdom behind this maneuver when he felt his stomach sink into his toes from the acceleration, but after a while, he was starting to enjoy it.

A large monitor came on behind Gendou showing the battlefield. The Angel had regenerated and was resuming its assault on NERV headquarters. It was beginning to fire blasts in almost random directions, causing cross-shaped explosions. A hole opened in the middle of the street and a small projectile shot out of it. "WAAAAAAHOOOOOO!" The mics picked up from the surface.

"Baka!" Misato hissed under her breath.

"We're picking up another AT Field!" One of the smaller monitors next to Gendou piped up.

"What?!" Gendou turned to it suddenly. "Another angel? How?"

"It's not an angel, it's another EVA signature, but very weak." The tech answered.

Ritsuko had heard the whole conversation on the floor and turned immediately to main screen.

Ranma was about to reach the top of his arc when he started glowing blue. He put his hands out in front of him and gathered all his energy into his hands, creating a large chi ball. He impacted on the angel's AT Field. The explosion and momentum on the field allowed him to pass through, but he just lightly fell on the angel's shoulder, which didn't even notice that he was there.

Ranma looked amazed that all his power and momentum had been sucked up by the force field that the angel exuded. He also amazed at the amount of chi the angel was giving off. It was like all of his old enemies combined. He set his features and began to gather his confidence again.

The screen showed the little man on the angel's shoulder glowing blue again. "What is he?" Misato asked.

Ritsuko was staring open mouthed at the man who had created his own AT Field and was creating another right before her eyes.

Shinji was amazed such a thing was possible.

Ranma fired his Mouko Takabisha at pointblank into the angel's head. The angel finally acknowledged his presence. He sent his left arm over his right shoulder in order to swat the pest. Ranma turned and ran behind the angel's head, but the hand still followed. He looked forward in time to see the angel's other hand forming a roadblock. Ranma leaped over it, kicked off of the angel's left shoulder and landed on a nearby rooftop. The angel turned and opened fire. Ranma just barely escaped in time before the building was no more.

The Geo Front was rocked by the blast. Inside the EVA-01 staging area, parts of scaffolding and was beginning to fall from the ceiling and crash into the red fluid holding the EVA in stasis. Another blast sent an eight-foot section down directly on the people standing on the floating catwalk. "Look out!" Misato shouted as she and Ritsuko dove out of the way. Shinji was caught like a deer in the headlights as the mass of steel was crashing down on him. He screamed in terror, as he knew that this was the end.

At the last instant, a huge metallic hand came up and blocked the wreckage, causing it to fall beside Shinji and the catwalk to shake violently, sending the injured Rei to the floor. The hand just stayed poised over Shinji's head.

"The EVA activated by itself?" Misato asked with a note of worry in her voice.

"That's impossible!" Shouted Ritsuko. "The entry plug isn't even inserted! It even ripped through its restraints!"

Misato saw the still startled Shinji staring at the poised hand. "It moved to protect Shinji?"

A pain filled groan snapped Shinji out of his trance. He turned and ran toward the fallen Rei. He helped her to her back and rested her head in his lap. She was giving small screams of pain as he moved her. He withdrew one of his hands and saw it covered in blood. "I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away!" He kept on repeating in his mind. He looked at the monitor again just as Ranma caught a glancing blow from the angel that sent him flying through a building and out the other side to the street below. Finally Shinji came to a decision. "I'll do it! I'll pilot the EVA!"

"Prep Evangelion unit one for launch!" Ritsuko shouted and the crews began to move about to ready the EVA for launch. They put Shinji into the entry plug and adjourned to the main command balcony in central dogma.

The monitors showed the stasis fluid draining away from the EVA and the gantry the EVA was mounted to moving toward one of the catapults.

Misato turned to face Gendou with a worried expression. "Can we really do this?"

Gendou nodded. "It's our only hope. Launch."

Misato nodded. She opened up a communication line to the EVA. "Shinji, are you ready?"

"THIS THING IS FILLING WITH WATER!"

Ritsuko came over the microphone. "The LCL fluid will help send oxygen into your blood faster, just breath it like you would oxygen."

Shinji released the air he had been holding and inhaled the fluid. He didn't drown but he looked bad. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Suck it up! You are a boy you know!" Misato shouted into the com. She turned to rest of the crews around her. "Evangelion Unit One, Launch!"

Shinji felt a lurch as the EVA was catapulted to the surface.

"Shinji, don't get killed out there." Misato thought with a determined look on her face.

Ranma's mind was coming out of a fog when he heard an annoying repeating buzzing in his head. As his head cleared he realized it was a clear the area siren. He looked up to see a black and yellow striped square flashing in time with the buzz. The area inside the square split to reveal an access port. Two massive booms went up and received the shoulders of the Evangelion Unit One. As the robot powered up, Ranma felt a familiar tingle in his senses, something familiar, but just out of reach of his conscious mind. He also felt something else. "Shinji. You didn't have to do this." He slowly got to his feet; clutching his side where he was sure a couple ribs were broken.

Inside the cockpit, Shinji was still in his street clothes but had two receptors on his head. "What do I do?" He shouted into the radio.

"Just concentrate on walking." Ritsuko's voice came back. "That's all we want you to do." The doctor muted the mic and turned to her assistant, Ibuki Maya. "How's he doing?"

"His sync ratio is at 41.3%." They both watched as the EVA took its first lumbering steps forward.

"Amazing." Misato mused.

Ritsuko's face lit up in excitement. "He's walking!"

Gendou smiled under his bridged hands.

Shinji felt like he was the one walking. He could feel the ground under his feet, and he could almost feel the breeze on his face. He strode forward, only to attract the attention of the angel.

The massive creature turned and charged at the EVA, shoulder ramming it into a building. Shinji tried to throw a punch at it, but it just grabbed the arm and twisted it over, breaking it.

Shinji screamed in pain as he felt the EVA's arm break. He heard something from the radio, but couldn't make it out.

"It's not your real arm Shinji!" Ritsuko tried to get his attention, but the boy was loosing focus.

"His sync ratio is dropping! All the interlocks are failing!" Maya shouted out.

"Eject the entry plug!" Misato ordered. "Now! Get him out of there!"

"I can't! The EVA's not responding!"

"We can't get a reading on the pilot!"

"No! Shinji!" Misato shouted.

Ranma winced as he ran toward the battle. The snapping of the arm could be heard for miles. He caught up to the battle in time to see the angel pick up the EVA by the head. The spike on the angel's elbow sank into its arm and came out its palm, spearing the EVA in the head. It began to repeat the motion.

A crack of thunder was heard as Ranma powered up for his next assault. "Come on, Ranma. You're the best! You can't let an eighty-foot monster beat you! You killed a god! What's an angel compared to a god!" He built up his confidence for another chi blast. "Your Shinji's only hope. You've got to pull it out right here, or the boy is going to die." His eyes seemed to flash as he managed to stand upright once more. He shot up into the air as he started climbing stories to get to the top of the nearest building to the battle. He came to the top as the angel finally penetrated the EVA's AT Field. The piston pierced the armor and went through the eye of the EVA. The angel dropped the EVA, believing it was dead. It wasn't too far off the mark as LCL fluid, that looked like spurting blood, shot out of the back of its head.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Ranma shouted his aura leaped to levels he didn't even know he could reach. The angel moved toward the EVA once again. "GET AWAY FROM HIM YOU ABOMINATION! MOUKO TAKABISHA!" He unleashed his blast with totality of his strength and skill. The blast went forward and penetrated the angel's AT Field. Impacting against the back of the angel.

The blast had no effect on the angel, but it did get its attention. The angel turned to see Ranma slumped to his knees, his energy drained. The angel walked toward the building he was on, raising his arm in preparation to strike.

Ranma laughed. "Heh, never thought it would end like this, the world's greatest martial artist swatted like an ordinary housefly. I'm sure there's a moral in here somewhere."

The angel had his hand poised, and just as it was about to strike it heard a roar from over its shoulder. It turned to see EVA 01 roaring a challenge. The robot grabbed its severed arm and rammed it over the stump from whence it came. The arm healed instantly. The EVA roared again as it charged forward. It grabbed the angel's hand and broke its arm. With a pivot of its feet it sent the angel flying. The EVA finished its turn and put itself between Ranma and the angel.

Back at operations booth, Misato and the others were shocked to say the least. Misato pointed to the screen. "Is Unit One protecting Ranma?" Misato asked redundantly.

"Unit one is moving again." One of the techs reported.

On the monitors, the EVA unit charged at the reeling angel. It swung its arms in a side hammer blow with its fists, knocking the angel further back. Unit 01 roared a battle cry and charged again.

"Berserker." Ritsuko muttered to herself.

Unit 01 followed up its first blow by leaping and somersaulting in the air to impact its feet into the Angel's chest, knocking it backwards. The EVA charged in again only to hit against the angel's AT Field. Unit one grabbed the field like a curtain and began to pull it apart. It forced its own AT Field into the hole and overrode the angel's. It punched through and began raining punches and kicks on the angel. Finally it kicked it away and then charged into the angel, ramming it into ground.

The EVA unit sat on top of the angel and began raining punches into the attacker's core.

The angel sensed it only had one course.

At operations, they could only watch helplessly as the angel jumped on the EVA's head and morphed its body into a ball. "It's going to self-destruct!" Misato shouted.

Ranma could only stare in shock as he felt the power buildup. "SHINJI!"

The angel exploded with a tremendous thunder and white light. The blast took on the form of a cross as it died away. The thunder was then followed by rain, god's gift to the tired warriors.

Ranma awoke to a hospital room. He sat up and rubbed his head. "Did anyone get the number of that train that ran me over? Never mind that, did anyone get the number of times it ran me over." His high-pitched voice indicated that at this point, he was a she. "Must have been hit by rain", she thought. A clicking noise to her right got her attention. "Great, I haven't been awake five minutes and I already have a gun to my head." She turned and saw Misato standing there pointing a .45 at her head. Ranma smiled. "Usually I have to walk in on a girl in the bath to get a reaction like that." She said before chuckling.

Misato's gun didn't waver. "Who are you and what are you doing with Saotome Ranma's ID card? Impersonating a NERV officer is grounds for execution."

"I can answer all that with a glass of warm water." She smiled knowingly.

"What are you talking about?" Misato pulled the hammer back on her pistol.

"I AM Saotome Ranma. Just get me a glass of warm water." She looked around and spied a basin to the left. "Never mind, I'll get it myself."

"Don't move!" Misato tensed up. In the blink of an eye, she realized that she was unarmed.

Ranma appeared at her right. "You shouldn't play with these. You'll put an eye out." She tucked the pistol into the front of her pants. "Now, just shut up and watch."

Ranma walked over the basin and ran the water until it was warm. She splashed herself and became a he once more. "There now, is that better?" His voice was deep again and his uniform was now filled out in different ways than before.

Misato fainted.

Ranma chuckled and grabbed a glass and filled it with cold water. He walked over and dumped it over her head. "Wake-e, wake."

Misato looked up and saw Ranma standing over her. "Oh, Ranma. I just had this weird dream that you turned into a redheaded woman. Although that would explain why you're so stubborn and bull headed."

Ranma filled the glass again and poured the cold water over his head, transforming into a woman again. "Boo!"

Misato fainted again.

"I could do this all day." Ranma laughed. He transformed back again and woke her up again. Ranma helped the captain to her feet. "Where's Shinji? How is he?"

Misato was still reeling a bit from the shock. "He's in the room next door. He hasn't woken up yet."

"Is he all right? He's not hurt bad, is he?" Ranma's voice was filling with panic.

Misato smirked at getting a glimpse at what was really under Ranma's hard exterior. "He's fine. He just had a bad shock from the battle. He went through a pretty rough experience in the battle. I don't know if he'll pilot again or not."

"Why did he have to pilot in the first place? Isn't there some military pilot that could do it?"

"Only children born after second impact can pilot the EVAs, and the EVAs are the only real weapon we have against the angels. You saw what effect conventional weapons have on them."

Ranma nodded. "So Shinji's our only hope?"

"There is also Rei, but she's in pretty bad shape from the Unit Zero activation test. You met her at the stasis pond."

Ranma winced. "Gendou is going to pay." He thought. He started toward the door. "Let's go look in on Shinji."

"Wait a minute!"

Ranma turned to a very determined look on her face. "What?"

"Could you tell me what the hell the sex changing bit is about?"

Ranma slapped his forehead. "I really need to write my autobiography so I don't have to keep repeating this story." He proceeded, once again, to tell the story of his curse and how water changes him between sexes.

An hour and half later, they went in and checked on Shinji. Shinji was breathing evenly and looked unhurt. "He looks okay to me."

Misato crossed her arms. "That brings up another point."

Ranma turned with a questioning look on his face. "What now?"

"How did you heal so fast, and what were you doing to that angel?"

Ranma rolled his eyes. "I'm a martial artist. If you want more details, wait for the book." He walked over to Shinji's bed as Misato huffed up. He nudged the sleeping boy. "Yo, Shinji. Come on, man, you can't leave me hanging here. Wake up!"

Shinji blinked as he woke up. Of course waking up to Ranma's face isn't exactly what he expected to see. "Where am I?"

Ranma smiled. "You're in the hospital. You don't seem to be too bad hurt. How do you feel?"

Shinji thought about it a second. "I'm fine. I don't hurt anywhere."

Misato softened a bit and relaxed her arms to her side. "The LCL absorbed most of the shock from the blast. We were really only worried about any psychological damage."

Ranma knocked on Shinji's head. "Nope, not hollow. Looks like you're fine to me." He gave the boy an amused smile.

Shinji laughed. "Can I go? I, uh, really don't like hospitals."

Ranma looked to Misato. "Well?"

"I guess he can go. We'll go to NERV headquarters and try to find you a place to live."

Ranma and Misato went out in the hall to wait for Shinji to dress. After he was ready they walked to the elevator. On the way, Rei was wheeled by on a stretcher. The elevator doors opened to reveal Ikari Gendou. Ranma scowled, and Shinji turned his head away. Ranma and Gendou stared each other down until the doors closed.

Misato looked at the man and boy's reaction to the director. "What the story between all of them?" She pondered.

Much later at NERV headquarters, Misato was a little shocked at the revelations on Shinji's living arrangements. "They don't want to live together?"

Ritsuko sighed. "It must be natural for them to be apart."

Shinji tried to put on a brave face. "It's okay. I'll be fine living on my own."

"You not going to live alone." Ranma was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "You're going to live with me. It'll be fun." He smiled.

The allocations officer looked over his records. "Saotome Ranma, you will be living in the barracks. Single room."

"You're going to live in a closet with Shinji! There's no way I'm going to let him live in a cramped place like that!" Misato pleaded.

Ranma kicked off the wall and walked forward. "He's going to live with me. I can find another place to live. I'm not at the mercy of NERV's generosity. I can always camp outside."

"There's no way I'm going to let him live with you!"

"Why?"

"He'll turn out just like you!"

Ranma blinked. "Annnnnd…that's a bad thing?"

"YES! I'm not going to let him turn into an egomaniac like you!"

"Well, I'm not letting him live alone!"

"He can live with me!"

Ranma laughed. "He needs to be taught how to fight! If he's the only hope for humanity, then he needs training and I'm the best one for the job!" He stabbed a thumb at his chest to emphasize his point.

"Then you can both live with me! I've got two extra bedrooms!"

Ranma thought about it. "Okay."

Misato facefaulted.

After loading back into Misato's car, they drove off to the store. "Why are we going to the store?" Ranma wondered.

Misato gave him a playful smile. "Well…I've got two new roommates! That's grounds for a party! We just need to pick up a few things!"

Ranma rubbed his temples. "All right, but make it quick."

After picking up a few essentials, they headed off for Misato's apartment. Upon arrival at the front door the apartment, Misato stopped and turned to her new roomies. "You'll have to excuse the mess, but welcome to your new home." She opened the door to reveal the inside of the apartment.

Shinji shuffled his feet. "I really don't want to intrude."

Misato bend over to Shinji's eye level. "This is your home now. You're not intruding."

Shinji stepped across the threshold and smiled. "Home."

Ranma poked his head in. "Hmmm…Empty beer cans…Empty liquor bottles…and trash everywhere…Shinji, you sure you don't want to live in the woods?"

Misato pushed him into the apartment. "You ARE going to live here, and LIKE it. Shinji, would you put up the groceries?"

Shinji walked over and opened the fridge. "Ice?" Opened the next slide. "Snacks." He pulled out the last slide. "And fifty gallons of beer?!"

Ranma looked at the contents. "It's not too late to leave."

Misato elbowed him out of the way. "Just make yourself comfortable. I'll cook dinner."

"You bought all instant crap, how can that be cooking?"

Misato scowled at him and turned to go to her room. "I'm going to change first."

"Oh, don't change yourself for my sake!" Ranma teased her. He was pleased at the growl that he got in response.

"What's in the other fridge?" Shinji asked.

"Never mind. He's probably still sleeping."

"What?" Ranma and Shinji asked.

After an instant meal (and a few beers for Misato), Ranma decided to start training Shinji. "Okay, Shinji, if you're going to live with me, you're going to be a martial artist."

Misato crossed her arms. "Hey! I'm living with you! Am I going to be a martial artist?"

"Why do you need to be? You don't do anything useful."

"DON'T DO ANYTHING USEFUL!" She jumped to her feet.

Ranma ignored her. "Okay, Shinji, let's start out with a few stances." Ranma started with a few basic stances for long and short-range combat.

"Big deal." Misato, now dressed in a t-shirt with the sleeves pulled up and short shorts, got up and repeated the stances. "I can do that!"

Ranma had an annoyed look on his face. "Okay. How about this one?" He took up a stance with one leg in the air in front of him and held it.

Misato tried it, and fell. She growled and got back up and tried it again. After a shaky start, she fell over again.

Ranma laughed. "Come on! You've got to learn how to move those big hips of yours!"

Misato got up in his face. "My hips are not big!"

"Really. So what are those? Love handles?"

"GAAAHHH! You egotistical, pig-headed…"

"Stuck up, big hipped, brainless…"

The two trailed off as Shinji shook his head. He realized that the lesson was over. Shinji retired to his room for the night, falling asleep quickly from emotional exhaustion.

The next morning Shinji awoke to a pleasant sound, absolute silence. He smiled at the marvelous sound of silence. He stretched and walked into the living room, expecting to see the place in an even worse wreck from the two 'adults' fighting. He was shocked to see the place was as he left it, except for a new addition to the floor. On the floor was a pair of pants followed by shorts, two shirts, a bra, panties and a pair of boxers, all leading to Misato's closed door.

Chapter Two "One Step Closer"

Shinji was still staring at the sight on the floor mouth agape when an arm reached out, grabbed the boxers off the floor, and quickly retracted. After a little bit the arm went out again and grabbed an undershirt. A couple seconds later, Ranma came out, clad in the aforementioned boxers and undershirt. He yawned and stretched. After he opened his eyes, he saw Shinji staring back at him. Ranma quickly went on the defensive. "It's not what you think!" He waved his hands in front of himself in warding gestures.

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "So you didn't have sex with Misato?"

Ranma thought for a second. "Okay, maybe it is what you think, but it's not what it seems."

The boy shook his head, not believing that he would ever understand adults. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ranma began to stretch out his muscles. "It's not like we care about each other or anything, in fact I hate her guts. It was just a hormone thing."

If Shinji had been anything like the author of this fic, he would have said something like, "Yeah, she was moaning all night…" but since he isn't, he just smacked his forehead and groaned. "So what are you going to do about it?"

Ranma smiled. "Train and forget it. Come on, get something you don't mind getting sweaty and we'll go outside and I'll show you a few more things. Maybe this time we won't have any female interruptions."

Shinji couldn't believe that a man could sleep with a woman and try to forget about it so easily. "Okay. Let me get changed."

Ranma nodded and realized that he needed to put some clothes on as well.

They both changed and went out to practice. About a half hour into their training, Misato finally woke up. She stretched out and felt a little sore. Like the proverbial ton of bricks, the memories of what she had done and whom she had done it with came back. She drove her head into her pillow repeatedly. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I SLEPT WITH THAT EGOTISICAL BASTARD!" That and variations on that theme kept on coming from her mouth.

After a little while her disposition calmed. She got up and put on a t-shirt and shorts and walked to her window. She looked down on the city and saw Ranma and Shinji training. Shinji was sitting off to the side watching Ranma run through his katas. His movements slowly hypnotized Misato. She watched as he moved with grace that only came from years of training, the act of making impossible movements of the body look like child's play or a simple dance. She leaned over and rested her arm on the windowsill and then her chin on her hand. Her eyes had a far away look to them. She sighed softly and continued to watch. Somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered that she was mad at him, but it was buried by another thought. "I can't believe I slept with him." She thought with a smirk on her face.

She glanced at the clock. "Time to go to work. Might as well gather the boys and get them moving too. Shinji's supposed to go back in for testing and I'm sure Ranma is supposed to be working. Or at least he should be, the lazy, arrogant, little…" Her words trailed off as she got dressed.

Ranma was finishing up his warm-up katas when Misato walked out the front of the apartment complex. He shook his head and started another. "What do you want?"

She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Shinji's supposed to go back in for testing, and I'm sure you should be going to work too!"

The martial artist smirked. "I'm really not supposed to report until Thursday."

Misato crossed her arms and smirked. "Today's Friday, you idiot. You and Shinji were out for three days."

Ranma stopped in mid motion and fell to the ground. After pulling himself off the concrete he glared at Misato. "Why didn't you tell me that YESTERDAY?!"

"It wasn't important!" Misato rolled her eyes. "Shinji, why don't you get a shower and get dressed. The doctors want to make sure you're okay." The boy nodded and headed to the house."

Ranma snorted. "He said he's fine. Why don't you just leave him be?"

Misato walked up to Ranma and jabbed a finger in his chest. "He suffered through a lot in that cockpit! He could have cerebral damage or worse! Not that an insensitive jerk like you would care about the welfare of someone else!"

Ranma's face hardened, his hand shot out and grabbed hers, and squeezed hard. "I've cared more than someone like you would ever know." He said evenly. "Now, I have to get ready for work, so stay out of my way." He strode off toward the apartment.

Misato wandered what she had done to set him off so severely as she massaged her hand.

Despite the rough morning, Misato was in high spirits for most of the day. She went through all her duties with a spring in her step and a tune on her mind. The day seemed to breeze by. She met Ritsuko in the afternoon. They had already found no physical problems with Shinji and so they put him into the EVA training. Currently he was firing at angels that popped up in the city. In reality he and his EVA were in a room firing a light gun at precise coordinates fed to the simulation computer.

Ritsuko gave him some instructions. "Shinji, just center the target in the crosshairs and pull the switch."

Shinji just moped in the cockpit. He didn't want to be here, but he was the only hope for humanity. Ranma had told him that no one else could do it. "Center the target, pull the switch." He repeated as he squeezed off shots at the computer image.

Misato walked in humming a merry tune as she picked up Shinji's evaluation reports. She continued to hum as she flipped through the pages.

Ritsuko shook her head. She couldn't stand the overly cheery mood that Misato had been in all day, and, from going to college with the girl, she knew the source of the blatant cheer. "So which one was it?"

Misato blinked and looked at Ritsuko like she was seeing her for the first time. "Did you say something, Ritsuko?"

Ritsuko stifled a laugh. "I asked, 'which one was it'?"

The dark haired girl gave the blonde a confused look. "What do you mean?"

Ritsuko went back to looking at the readouts with a knowing grin on her face. "You took two boys home with you. I was wandering which one you slept with last night."

Misato was shocked. "RITSUKO! How can you even imply that I'd sleep with Shinji?!"

"So it was Ranma. I thought so. So was he as good as he looks?"

The dark haired girl turned beet red and tried to find something interesting around the room to look at. "Heh, heh…uh well…it's not like were a couple or anything…it was just a fluke…"

Dr. Akagi had a sly smile on her lips as she stared at Misato. "That's not what I asked." Misato's face went even redder. "That good, huh?"

Misato took a deep breath and glanced quickly to the console. "So how's Shinji doing? Any bad after effects from the first battle?"

Ritsuko decided to let her off easy…this time. She looked back at her notes. "No serious damage to his cerebellum. Sync ratio is increased over the first experience, but not by much. We should be able to turn him into a decent pilot in no time."

Misato looked over the readouts, finally able to adopt a look of professionalism. "How is he emotionally? I was worried that he wouldn't pilot again after the first time."

"Apparently he just does what he's told."

Misato looked at the glum picture of Shinji that the cockpit camera was sending. "Poor guy. It's probably how he gets through life, his own self-defense mechanism."

They both watched Shinji go through his practice shots with looks of concern on their faces. After a few minutes, the door burst open. A smiling Ranma walked in, he looked over the displays at the cockpit pictures of Shinji and the computer composite of what the boy was seeing. "So how's our boy doing?"

Misato rolled her eyes and sighed. "He's doing all right. There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with him." She poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot at the back of the room and took a large drink.

Ritsuko smirked. "How cute. Do you two already think of Shinji as your son?"

Major Katsuragi spat her coffee all over Ranma. He rolled his eyes. "At least it wasn't cold water." He mumbled under his breath. "It's not like that, Dr. Akagi. I'm training him to be a fighter. I've taken the responsibility of being his teacher."

Misato snorted. "Personal trainer more like it."

Ranma gave her a stern look. "You obviously know nothing about being a martial artist." He walked over to the control board. "Where's the mic on this thing?" Dr. Akagi pointed it out, and he depressed the button to turn it on. "Shinji! What are you doing?"

From the display from the cockpit camera they saw Shinji shake himself out of the daze he had put himself in. "I'm practicing."

"Practicing like that will get you killed when you go to real battle! Do you honestly think the angel is just going to let you stand there and shoot at it? Move around! A moving target is much harder to hit. Practice like it's real, or you'll be killed."

Shinji nodded and willed the EVA to move around the confined area of the training room. He worked on increasing his speed on drawing a bead on the angel.

Ritsuko had an annoyed look on her face. "That isn't the stage where he needs to be, Mr. Saotome. This is just weapons training."

Ranma toggled the mic off and gave her a cold glare. "If he trains right from the beginning he'll have a lot better chance of surviving. You get him dependent on waiting for the computer to find the target and he'll die. Nothing will happen to him while I'm here to prevent it." He toggled the mic back on. "You're doing good, Shinji. Just remember that you're fighting for the lives of everyone on the planet. You can do it!" He toggled it back to the off position and turned to Misato. "Misato, I need to talk to you about something."

Ritsuko laughed and headed toward the door. "I'll give you two some privacy. Try not to leave a mess!"

Ranma and Misato glared at her. "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" They both yelled at once.

After fixing her hair, Misato turned to Ranma. "So what did you need to talk to me about?"

Ranma held up his ID card. "It's about security. I'm going to need an ID for my female side. After all, I might come to work and not look like the handsome devil in this picture."

Misato rolled her eyes. "Okay, but I'd suggest keeping the curse to yourself for as long as possible. People around here have a tendency to dissect freaks."

Ranma snorted. "Not likely to happen. The curse always comes up…" SPLASH! "..at awkward times." She finished.

Ibuki Maya looked sheepish as she looked at what she had done. She had only come up here with her glass of cold soda to check on Shinji's sync ratio when she tripped over a ridge on the floor that she had never known was there. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" She finally noticed what had happened to the martial artist. "Y-You-You're a…"

Onna-Ranma sighed. "A woman, yes. It's called a curse. Gimme that coffee Misato." She splashed him with the remainder of her cup. An irritated, but male, Ranma glared back at her. "I didn't need it all over my clothes, you know."

Misato waved. "The end result was the same."

Maya fainted.

Misato looked down at the poor technician. "I know exactly how you feel, girl. Give me a hand, Ranma. Let's take her to the infirmary."

Ranma resisted the urge to clap and helped Misato carry Maya down the hall.

Meanwhile, oblivious to everything on the outside, Shinji trained hard.

That evening, they all arrived home from their day at NERV. Shinji retired early from the exhaustion that he was feeling. Ranma stretched out a little to relieve some of the tension in his muscles. He had had to work over the entire security force to test all their skill and see what level they were. Of course the side effect of showing them all who was boss was also a perk. He loosened up and sat down on the couch.

After sitting there for a while, a penguin walked across the living room in front of him. It looked like an ordinary penguin except for the fact that it had red eyebrows and a tag around its neck that read, 'Pen2'.

Ranma leaned forward to the point that he was eye to eye with the creature. "What the hell are you?"

"SQUAWK!" Pen-Pen replied.

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "You're not an enemy from my past that fell into Jusenkyo and now you're trying to kill me, are you?" The penguin gave him a confused look. "Just checking."

Misato walked in dressed in a towel using a second to dry her hair. "I see you met your other roomy. This is Pen-Pen. He's one of the new warm water penguins."

The martial artist gave her a, 'yeah right' look. "Who ever heard of a warm water penguin?" Said animal raised its wing.

Misato wrapped the towel around her head and went toward the kitchen. "A lot of creatures became extinct after second impact. The warm water penguins are one nature's way of compensating for the loss and change in the environment." She reached into the refrigerator, pulled out a beer, and opened it. "A lot of things have changed in a surprisingly short time frame." She took a generous swig. She was going to go slow tonight. There was no way she was going to let herself get as drunk as she did last night. Although she could have sworn that she only had enough to get a pleasant buzz last night… "I'm going to make some dinner. Do you think I should wake Shinji?"

The raven-haired man laughed. "I think he'd rather sleep than eat your cooking. I know I would."

She glared at him. "Now listen here bucko. I'm not going to let you insult me in my own home!"

He smirked at her. "Like that's going to stop me."

Misato put her hands on her hips. "Listen, I know that you're just jealous that you can't cook any better than I can! You're just a self-centered man that expects everything to be handed to you. Now if you think you can do any better…"

Ranma cut her off mid tirade and walked past her to the kitchen. He said nothing as he took out some vegetables from the fridge.

She looked at him with a questioning glance. "Where did those come from?"

He rolled his eyes. "You're not the only one that can do some shopping. I was determined not to let another woman kill me with her poor excuse for cooking."

Misato could only stand there and gawk as Ranma tossed various vegetables into the air and chopped them with a blur of his knife. The pieces landed nice and neatly into the bowl. He prepared each component of the meal with an efficiency that astounded the towel-clad girl.

Ranma turned to see her still standing there in disbelief. "You know, you might want to close your mouth. Something might fly in there. You might also want to put some clothes on. Dinner will be ready in a little bit."

She clapped her mouth shut and turned dumbly to her room. He chuckled after her.

After about half an hour, Misato came out in her yellow shirt with the sleeves rolled up and her cutoff jean shorts. She took a long sniff of the air. "Mmm! That smells yummy!"

Ranma smirked and put the food on the table. "So what does Pen-Pen eat?"

The penguin was squawking to the side trying to point at the food on the table.

Misato smiled. "The same thing we do. Just give him some food and a can of beer and he'll be good." Pen-Pen nodded in agreement.

The martial artist's face screwed into a looked of disbelief. "You give beer to a PENGUIN?!"

She shrugged. "So?"

"You don't give alcohol to animals, you moron!"

Misato shoved past him to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for her and the penguin. "He's done just fine before you came along. Here, Pen-Pen." She sat the opened beer and a plate of food down for the penguin. The penguin took a tentative taste of the food. His eyes went wide and he started digging in with enthusiasm.

Ranma smiled at the display. "Obviously he hasn't had anything good to eat in a while. He probably doesn't need the beer to dumb down his taste buds like he did with your 'cooking'."

Misato sat down at the table grumbling. "How good could it be?" She took a bite and her eyes lit up. "This is great!"

The martial artist sat down, brushing some hair out of his eyes. "Told you. Jealous indeed." He picked up his chopsticks and started laying waste to the food on the table. In short order he had eaten everything in front of him. He was considerate enough to leave Misato's plate alone.

The NERV Captain's jaw unhinged again as she sat there in opened mouth disbelief.

Ranma wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his uniform shirt. "Now that's home cooking!"

Misato grumbled and finished off her meal. She had to admit, it was a lot better than she could ever make. "So he can cook." She thought to herself. "No big deal."

The martial artist couldn't simply let sleeping dogs lie. "Yep, much better than anything that a brainless idiot like yourself could ever hope to make."

Misato's eyebrow started to twitch. "DIE!" She jumped across the table and knocked him to the ground, choking him.

Ranma shot his arms between hers and knocked her hands off his throat. "You'll have to do better than that."

"You jerk!" She took a swing at him.

They started trading blows as the rolled around on the floor. Ranma rolled on top and then forward, over Misato's head. He rolled back to a standing position and laughed. She got up off the floor and slapped him. "You insensitive, egotistical…"

"Brainless, stupid, fat…"

The two continued to trade verbal blows until Misato jumped on him and started kissing him. In an instant their animosity turned to passion, just like the night before. Also like the night before, they made their way to Misato's bed, shedding clothes the whole way.

The next morning Ranma awoke, looked to his left and saw a nude Misato cuddled up to him. He rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling. "Shit."

The next three weeks proceeded much the same way. One of them would start a fight and they'd always end up in bed together. Ranma always awoke an hour before Misato and grabbed Shinji for morning training. Shinji started school toward the end of the week.

Shinji was having a tough time. He was in a new school full of strangers and no one was really interested in talking with him. Occasionally he'd look over and watch Ayanami Rei as she gazed out the window. She still had bandages on her head; one covering her left eye; and her right arm was in a cast. She'd sit there hours on end staring out the window, completely non-responsive to the world around her. Shinji was staring at her again when the laptop in front of him beeped. A message scrolled across the screen. "Do you pilot the robot? Y/N"

Shinji looked around to try to find the source of the message. He saw three girls at the back of the classroom crowding around a terminal. One of them waved and the message repeated itself on his screen. He slowly typed in Y-E-S.

"WHAT?!" Came the immediate response from the classroom around him. They all crowded him, asking questions about the EVA and how he came to pilot it. He tried to fend off the questions the best he could without giving away any major secrets.

All the class was around him except for three exceptions. One was the class representative that was trying to get everyone back in his or her seats. Two was Rei, who was staring out the window, showing no interest at all. Finally was a tall boy at the back of the room with close-shaven jet-black hair. The boy Suzuhara Toji just sat and stewed at the newcomer.

After class Shinji was knocked to the ground. Toji and his bespectacled friend Aida Kensuke stood over the fallen Shinji. The larger boy cracked his knuckles. "Sorry newcomer, but I had to clobber you. Because of you I've had to spend the last week at the hospital taking care of my little sister. She was hurt while you were taking a joy ride in your giant toy. Now that honor is served, you can go."

Shinji got back to his feet. "I didn't want to do it! I was forced into it! I had no CHOICE!"

Toji turned back punched Shinji again, sending the smaller boy flying. He bounced a couple times before settling to the ground.

"Real big man there, aren't you?"

Toji turned to see a man in his mid-thirties crouching on the top of the fence of the schoolyard. He was wearing a gray NERV uniform, and his hair was parted down the middle and hung forward enough to cover his face in shadows so only the afternoon sunlight reflecting off his eyes was seen. Toji was a little intimidated. "W-what do you want?"

The man kicked off the fence and flew through the air, turned a somersault and landed, standing directly in front of the boy. "A real big man you are, picking on the weak. Why don't you try something more your size?" He glared at the boy who took a step back. "Did you ever stop to think about your actions?"

"W-what?"

"Did you ever stop to think about what you're doing, boy?"

Shinji was amazed that anyone could make the term for a young male sound so derogatory. Never in all the time he had known Ranma had he called Shinji that. He always called him by his given name. Now he called this bully 'boy' and it sounded worse than any of the insults he had thrown at Misato.

Toji took another step back. "W-what are you going to do? Beat me up?" His voice seemed to crack with the last sentence.

Ranma stepped forward. "No. I'm not a bully who picks on the weak to make himself feel better. I'm not a man who takes out his frustration on people who have no ability to fight back…yet."

"Y-yet? Yet as in you are going to beat me up, or yet as in the newcomer could beat me up?"

Ranma smiled an evil grin. "You'll find out. Now what would your parents think about you picking on scrawny little kids?"

Toji's expression fell. "My mom and step-father wouldn't like it. I never knew my real father."

Ranma saw the sad expression on his face. "So why did you punch him?"

The boy looked down. "He hurt my sister. She may only be my half-sister, but I still love her like she was a real sister. A part of a building hit her in the explosion and crushed her. She's been in the hospital ever since."

Ranma's expression hardened again. "So did you think that beating up Shinji would make your sister heal faster?"

"N-no. I just had to do something."

Ranma knelt down to eye level with the boy. "Back to my original question, did you ever stop to think about your actions?" He said it a little softer than before.

"N-no. I guess not."

Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Then think about this. By hurting your sister, Shinji saved her life. He saved her, you, Tokyo-3, and quite possibly the entire world; and you're thanking him with a fist to the face?" Toji's shoulders fell. "Now go to the shelters and think about what I've said."

The boy looked up at him. "Shelters? Why not home?"

"Because another angel is on its way. You all need to get to safety before someone else's little sister gets caught in the battle. Now go!"

Toji grabbed Aida and started running away. The brown haired boy with glasses just waved as he was being dragged away. "Sorry about all this! He's usually not a bad guy!"

Ranma turned back to Shinji. "It's time to go, Shinji. Misato and the others are waiting."

Shinji rolled over and sat up. "Do I have to?"

The martial artist knelt in front of him. "You could always refuse, but that would cost many lives. I'm asking you to do this as a fellow martial artist. I'd do it myself if I could."

"I'm not a martial artist! I'm just a weakling!"

Ranma slapped him. "What have we been doing every morning for the past three weeks?"

"Practicing?"

"Practicing what?"

"Martial arts?"

"Exactly. That makes you a martial artist. It's a martial artist's duty to protect those that are weaker, to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Now, I've tried. I tried and failed. I don't have the power to do this, but you do. You have the power to stop these angels. I've done and I'll continue to do everything within my power to help you. It's still your choice Shinji, but I would really encourage you to protect the people of this city."

Shinji nodded. "I understand." He pulled out his cell phone. "They haven't called yet. How do you know an angel is coming?"

Ranma looked toward the bay. "I can feel it coming. It's giving off enough chi to light up Tokyo-3. It's even stronger than the last."

"Chi?"

"Life energy, the living power that every living thing radiates. The more you learn what to look for, the better you can see it. Also, the stronger you are the more you radiate. Here's an example of what you can do when you become a strong enough martial artist." He held out his hand, and a small ball of blue energy formed in it. "This is chi. When you're in your EVA you give off enough chi to match the angel's. The fools in the science section call it an 'AT Field'. I know exactly what it is, and it's not some man-made power. It's the power of life. It's time to use that power Shinji."

Shinji nodded and his phone went off. A slight figure stepped around the building. The blue-haired, red eyed, Ayanami Rei stepped forward. "There's an emergency. We're being called back to headquarters. I'll go ahead." She turned and fled.

Ranma held out his hand. "Come on. It's time to shine."

Shinji took his hand and stood up. They both turned and ran toward NERV just as the city's alarms were going off.

Several minutes later, after seeing Shinji to the entry plug, Ranma walked into ops. "It's out on the bay. How long until it gets here?"

Gendou scowled from under his bridged hands, and Fuyutsuki narrowed his eyes.

Misato turned to face the martial artist. "What are you doing here? You're not authorized to be here!"

Ranma scowled at her. "I think I have a personal stake in this. He's my student and I'm going to be here for him."

Ritsuko shook her head. "We don't have time for this! The angel is getting closer."

Misato turned around and her expression became all business. "EVA LAUNCH!"

The catapults sparked at EVA 01 shot up through the shafts toward the surface.

Through the water of Tokyo-3 bay, the angel glided through the obstacle course of sunken buildings that used to make up the old city. It looked like an elongated manta ray with a large red ball in its chest.

At the shelters, Toji sat around while Aida looked through his camera/TV. The only thing he picked up was a 'National Emergency' message. "Censorship! I knew it! They never let us know what's really going on! I wish I could see the battle!"

Toji rolled his eyes. "No you don't. You'd just get yourself killed."

"Don't you want to see what'll happen? I mean you could have really shaken the new kid really bad. He might not be able to fight because of you."

Toji gulped. "I guess you have a point, but I still don't think it's safe." Aida gave him a pleading look. "Okay, okay! We'll go. We just have to give the class rep an excuse."

They stood up and walked over to the class rep, Horaki Hikari. Toji pointed over his shoulder. "Hey, class rep, Aida and I need to use the bathroom."

She scowled at him. "You were supposed to go before you came here!"

"But we were here so long before everyone else! It's been too long since we went last."

She shook her head. "Why were you guys here so early? The alarms hadn't even started going off."

"Some guy from NERV told us to get moving, so we did."

She shrugged. "Okay. Just hurry back."

"Sure thing!" They chimed in, left the room, and made their way to the shelter doors.

They made their way away from the shelter and into the woods on the mountainside around the doors. They were in time to see the mountain open and an Evangelion unit rise from the Earth. Aida pulled up his camera and started taking footage. "COOL!"

The bay erupted as the angel broke the surface. Shinji brought his rifle to bear. "Center the target, pull the switch." He opened fire, doing minimal damage to the target.

"MOVE!" Ranma's voice came over the communications array.

Without thinking, Shinji jumped out of the way, dropping his rifle in the process. A flat ribbon of energy shot out from the monster and severed the rifle in two. If Shinji had been a second slower, it would have been him.

The angel attacked again, Shinji was on the defensive, dodging the repeated stabs of energy ribbons from the angel. The EVA unit rolled and found it's back against the mountain where the two spectators were watching. The robot's hand came down and barely missed them.

Misato saw the profiles of the boys come up on her readout. "Those are Shinji's classmates out there. We've got to get them to safety."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "How do you propose we do that?"

"We'll have to let them into the entry plug."

Dr. Akagi looked at her like she was mad. "Are you kidding? That'll kill the synchronization between Shinji and the EVA!"

"We can pull Shinji in and get them to safety and send him out again. No problem."

Ranma shook his head. "Couldn't Shinji just carry them back?"

Misato scowled at him. "Not everyone can take the gees of the boom tube like you can, idiot. They'd be squashed!"

"Good point."

The Captain scowled and pressed the intercom button on the console. "Shinji, we're going to open up the entry plug. Bring those two into the entry plug and get back to the launch gantry. Understand?"

"Yes, Misato." The boy chirped back.

Outside on the battlefield, the back of the EVA opened up and the entry plug came out. Shinji yelled for the two boys to join him in the plug. It was crowded in the entry plug, but Shinji was still able to control the robot. The blue EVA turned just as the angel had come within striking distance again. A ribbon of energy shot out once more and barely missed beheading the robot, thanks to Shinji's quick piloting.

"Get back to the gantry!" Misato yelled.

Another energy ribbon just missed hitting the EVA. Toji shook his shoulder. "Come on, new kid! We've got to get moving!"

The angel shot out another ribbon and severed the power cable to the EVA.

Shinji clenched his fists. "I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away!" He repeated in his mind. Finally, he seemed to snap. "AAAAAHHHHH!" He jammed down on a button on the console.

"Progressive knife engaged! Power cable's been disconnected. Only five minutes left of power!" Maya announced. She blushed a little as she turned to see Ranma.

"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Misato shouted.

Ranma grinned. "He's fighting."

Gendou couldn't help but smile as well.

The EVA pulled its vibrating blade from its casing on the robot's shoulder. The angel lanced out with another energy ribbon. Shinji caught ribbon and pulled the angel forward. The robot thrust its knife into the angel's core with both hands. The boy in the cockpit continued to scream his battle cry as pushed harder on his control stick.

The minutes ticked away as the angel writhed on the blade of the Progressive Knife. Sparks flew from the core as it was cleaved in two. When five minutes had passed, the angel and EVA were both silent.

Misato slammed a fist on the console. "Get crew out there to collect the EVA. Get Shinji back to the debriefing room. I'm going to have a few words with him!" She turned on her heels and stormed off toward the door.

Ranma turned and followed her out. "What are you doing? Are you going to yell at him for doing his job?"

Misato turned around and got in his face. "He disobeyed orders! He has to remember that I am his commanding officer! The decisions I make are what's best for him! What if that hadn't worked? What if having those two kids in there had caused the EVA to lock up? The odds of him actually pulling that off were too low! Do you understand?!"

Ranma took a half step back. "I understand, but still, shouldn't you cool down before talking to him. You might push him away by yelling at him."

She took a deep breath and backed away. "You have a point, but I still need to talk to him about taking orders."

"Okay, just don't get carried away."

Sometime later Misato and Ranma walked in to the debriefing room. It looked like a dark cell with the NERV logo on the wall. Misato stepped forward with her arms crossed while Ranma stayed back and leaned against the doorjamb. The captain stepped forward. "What do you have to say for yourself? Do you know how much trouble your in?"

"Yes." Shinji was still in his blue skintight plug suit, staring at the ground.

"Do you remember who your superior officer is?"

"Yes."

"So you know that you should follow all my orders."

"Yes." Shinji's answers were starting to have some sarcasm in them.

"Don't ever disobey me like that again!"

"Yes."

Misato pointed her finger at the boy. "Don't think that you can get out of this by agreeing with everything I say. What have you got to say for yourself? You could have gotten yourself and those two boys killed!"

Shinji sighed. "I know. Look, I beat the angel. That's all that matters isn't it?"

Misato scowled. "That's not the point! You have to follow my orders Shinji! I'm telling you what to do that's in your best interest!"

"Yes."

"OH!" Misato huffed up and turned toward the door. "Just get dressed and come home. This isn't over mister!" She stormed off.

Ranma watched her go and turned a smile to Shinji. "By the way, Shinji…Good job, kid." He gave the boy a thumb's up and kicked off the wall to follow Misato.

Shinji just smiled as Ranma left and the door shut.

Later that night, after Ranma and Misato had gone to bed AND fallen asleep, Shinji packed a small bag and walked out of the apartment. He managed to get a couple blocks away from the apartment building before he heard Ranma's voice over his shoulder. "Where you going, Shinji?"

Shinji turned in surprise to see Ranma leaning against a wall. "How'd…?

Ranma shook his head. "I can sense chi remember, even yours. I lost feeling of you and it woke me up. I thought you were in danger, little did I know you were running away. Now you're disobeying my orders."

The boy's shoulder's fell. "I keep letting people down. If I keep going this way, I'll kill someone. I never wanted any of this. I just wanted to be left alone. It's horrible in that cockpit. The fluid smells like blood and the pain from the angels is nearly unbearable. I don't think I can do it."

The martial artist put a hand on his shoulder. "Why not? What makes you think you can't succeed?"

Shinji was almost in tears. "Because! I'm a weakling, and a coward, and a sneak, and a cheat…" He started rattling off many other demeaning self-accusations.

Ranma slapped him, for the second time that day. This one sent the boy reeling and falling on his rear end. He just looked a little stunned at Ranma as he rubbed his cheek.

The man got down in the boy's face. "Now you listen here, Shinji! You are not any of those things, and I never want to hear any of that crap coming out of your mouth ever again! Do I make myself clear?!" Shinji dumbly nodded. "Why would you ever think anything like that?!"

"If I'm not all those things, then why would my father send me away?"

Ranma hauled Shinji up to his feet by the front of his shirt. "Now you listen to me, your father is a FOOL! Your father is the one that all those insults described. He's the one who is the coward and sneak! You are a man with worth that has the power to save the Earth! You are worth something Shinji! When you believe that, then there will be nothing you can't do! Understand?"

Shinji nodded. "Yes, sir."

Ranma let go of the front of his shirt. "Now what say we do something to take our minds off this whole angel business? We're already outside and you're already packed, what say we go for a camping trip?"

"Won't Misato be worried?"

"We'll be back in the morning, she'll be okay." He put his arm around the boy and headed toward the forest. "An overnight campout is what the doctor ordered. I'll show you how me and pops used to camp out when we were on our training journeys…"

The next morning, Misato awoke to an empty bed. That she was used to. The sounds of training coming from outside being missing, that she wasn't used to. She jumped up and saw that there was no trace of Ranma or Shinji. She looked at the clock and saw that it was well into the afternoon. She didn't have to be at work until late, but still. Her usual alarm clock wasn't there. She went and knocked on Shinji's door, no answer. She opened the door and saw the note on the table. She read it and collapsed on the floor. "Oh no. He's run away."

The doorbell went off and she opened the door to Kensuke and Toji. They were both awestruck by Misato's beauty. Toji managed to interrupt his drooling to talk. "Uh, Shinji wasn't at school today. So we're here to bring him his homework assignments. I, uh, also came to apologize to him."

Misato jammed Shinji's note into her pocket. "Well, uh, Shinji's in testing now, he'll probably be back later, okay? Okay." "Shinji, you idiot." She thought. "You have two guys willing to be your friends and you've run away."

"Hey, I guess testing is over, eh?"

Misato looked up to see a smiling Shinji and Ranma. Ranma continued talking. "We just had an overnight campout, something to take our minds off of things. So what are you kids doing here?"

Kensuke gave Shinji a stack of papers. "We brought your homework, and…" He elbowed Toji.

The taller boy bowed. "I came to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you. We saw how hard piloting was on you, and we understand how you feel."

Shinji smiled. "Thanks guys."

Kensuke chuckled to the side. "Yeah, you should have seen it. Toji's sister chewed him out for hitting you. It was hilarious! She said basically the same thing that Ranma told him about you saving her life and the rest of the city. It was really embarrassing being chewed out by a second-grader."

"Hey!" Toji shouted, his face turning red.

Ranma smiled at the trio. "Why don't you guys run along and hit the arcade or something? Go have some fun." Ranma handed Shinji some yen. "Go enjoy yourself."

The boys nodded and ran off from the apartment. Misato smiled at Ranma. "I thought we had lost him. I found this on his bed." She handed him the note.

Ranma read over the note. "Not to worry. He knows where his home is, his role here, and apparently he has some new friends to help him out."

Misato nodded her head. "From what I heard you have the intelligence of a second grader."

He turned to her. "What the?"

"Kensuke said that Toji's little sister gave him the same speech you did. I kind of thought that's as far as your intelligence went."

Ranma tensed up. "What the hell? You stupid, idiot! I just kept Shinji from running away!"

Misato stepped up into his face. "You want to take this inside mister?!"

He grabbed her arm and drug her into the apartment, slamming the door shut. "You bet, you sexless tomboy!"

"Sexless am I?" She grabbed his head and hauled him in for a kiss.

"And you can't kiss worth a damn either!" He said once he recovered his breath.

Things proceeded from there to the inevitable conclusion…all according to Misato's plan.

Chapter Three "A Rei to Remember"

The alleyway was dark and dry, except for the blood being spilt on the pavement. Ranma held his chest in an attempt to keep the large wound from getting larger. He hissed in pain as he struggled to get up. He had lost his shirt long ago. It had been sacrificed to save the rest of his hide. He was lucky to have turned the last fatal blow into a flesh wound. Granted it was a flesh wound that would make him bleed to death, but he held on to consciousness by sheer force of will.

He flipped his pigtail out of his face with a turn of his head and scowled at his opponent. The dark haired man laughed at his fallen foe. The man raised his blade over his head. "At last. I will have my victory over you, Saotome. Now nothing will stand in my way!"

Ranma grunted as he lifted his hand with the palm facing his opponent. "You had to have learned by now that I never give up." He started gathering his chi into his hand. The sphere of life energy grew as he concentrated. "And. I. NEVER. LOSE!"

The man laughed again and brought the sword around to a stance with the blade lowered in front of him. "Don't strain yourself. You'll only bleed faster. Why don't you just accept death? There is no way for you to get past my magical blade. This blade gives me the ultimate power! Not even you with your foul ways can defeat me! As you have probably already guessed…"

Ranma gritted his teeth as he continued to build energy. "Can't hold back anymore." He thought. "I can't just disable him any more. He'll kill me the next time. Who knows how many innocents will be caught in his wake?"

The pigtailed martial artist continued to gather his energy. "You will fail, like you always have!" The ball built until it was as large as he was.

"You have no hope! No matter how much energy you build up, you will not get past my sword!"

"Then hold that pose, sucker. MOUKO TAKABISHA!"

The ball of chi rocketed toward the swordsman. He raised his sword and stopped the blast in its path. Windows reverberated with the shockwaves generated by the battle of wills. Sparks flew from the blade as the ball inched forward. The ball and blade went back and forth as the struggle continued.

Ranma's arm became red as more blood escaped his chest. He pushed himself further. Sweat rolled down his face as his blood vessels began to become more pronounced. He growled as he put everything he had into the blast.

The sword began to glow red as chi ball grew larger. The swordsman began to slide backwards from the effort. His confidence was finally was starting to shake when he saw his blade begin to melt. "It…can't…be!"

"HA!" Ranma put his last effort into blast.

The sword exploded as its magic was released. Alley was bathed in light as the ball of chi exploded, blasting the swordsman through the back wall. The light and smoke cleared to reveal the charred body of the swordsman lying in the rubble of the far building.

Ranma fell to his knees in the pool of his own blood. "So this is how it ends. In the end Kuno finally got his victory over the foul sorcerer." He fell limply to pavement.

A newcomer to the battle dropped from the rooftop. The shadowy figure rushed to Ranma's side. "Ranma!"

He rolled his head and gave the late arrival a weak smile. "Goodbye. I'm sorry I couldn't give you what you wanted." He closed his eyes.

The figure stepped out of the shadows to reveal a woman with long brown hair wearing a spandex jumpsuit. She knelt at his side. "Hang on, old friend. You're going to make it. Help is on the way."

Ranma absently ran his hand through his loose hair as he, Shinji and Misato walked through the newly, and hastily erected research center. A series of larges tent and pre-fab buildings were all arranged to enclose the fallen figure of the fallen angel. Crews were working around the clock to analyze and dispose of the corpse.

They toured through until they came to the heart of the complex, the dead angel. Ranma was casually looked this way and that with a nonchalant look on his face. Shinji was looking around with wide-eyed wonder.

Misato walked up to the side of the beast. "So this is what the enemy looks like up close."

"I've already seen it, thanks." Ranma crossed his arms and looked away.

"This is wonderful!" They all looked up at one of the catwalks where Dr. Akagi was looking over the corpse. "It's almost entirely intact! Only thing damaged is the core! We can run all the tests we need!" She walked over and let herself down the lift platform.

Ranma rolled his eyes at the mention of tests. "Great. Why are we touring this place again?"

Misato smiled and walked toward the main research area. "We're taking a look at the only angel corpse in town. It's a very exclusive place!" She winked playfully at him.

"Shouldn't we be training or something more useful?" He crossed his arms and scowled at the captain.

"You're no fun." Misato pouted as Ritsuko joined them.

The Dr. looked over her notes. "With this data we should be able to find weaknesses in the angels. Even someone like yourself should be able to see the value in enemy intelligence." She walked over and started inputting information into the computer.

"You got a point there. I'd just rather do something else and wait for you braniacs to deliver the end product instead of watching you work." He yawned and stretched.

Ritsuko sat down and began inputting all he data she collected. "I'm sure Shinji is finding this interesting. Aren't you Shinji?"

"Huh?" Shinji stopped in mid-movement with a fist poised in the air. "Did you say something?"

"What are you doing?" The doctor asked.

The boy scratched the back of his head. "I was working on the new kata that Ranma taught me this morning, sorry."

"Oh my GOD!" Misato snapped her head around to Ranma.

"What?" Ranma asked as he took a glare that would kill a normal man.

"HE'S TURNING INTO YOU!"

The martial artist had a genuinely confused look on his face. "Why don't you tell me why that's a bad thing?"

"Maybe she's just afraid she won't be able to keep her hands off of him either…" Ritsuko threw over her shoulder as she continued to run the data into the computers.

Misato stood with her hands to her side, gritting her teeth.

Shinji saw the oncoming explosion of anger and sought to get as far away as possible. "I'm going to grab some drinks for everyone, bye." He turned and walked out as casually as he could, nearly running into the doorjamb on his way out.

Ranma saw the oncoming tantrum and noticed something. "Hey, you know with a little training you could get that aura visible. My ex-fiancé used to do that when she was REALLY mad…and…oh shit, you don't own a mallet, do you?"

The blue-black haired girl stopped in mid-eruption. "No, why?"

"Nothing, just asking."

"And what's this about ex-fiancé? You never told me anything about that."

"It's a long story. EXTREMELY long story." He quickly turned to Ritsuko. "So, what have you learned?"

The blonde looked over the readouts. "Take a look for yourself." She turned the monitor around so he and Misato could see.

Misato looked at the readings carefully. "Amazing!"

Ranma looked at it and couldn't make heads or tails of it. "It can play video games with a spiral playing board?"

"No, you idiot! This means that the angels are almost an exact match to humans! This is something totally outside our experience!"

Ritsuko nodded her head in agreement. "The angel's DNA is a 99.89% match to a human being. This is unprecedented."

At that moment Shinji thought it would be safe to come back in. He hadn't made five steps before he tripped over a rock under the thin floor of the pre-fab structure, sending the drinks flying forward. The drinks splattered over the only water magnet in the room, transforming him into a woman in full view of Ritsuko.

Her eyes went wide. "Speaking of unprecedented and outside our experience…"

Onna-Ranma rolled her eyes. "Go ahead and faint. I'm used to it by now." "Well, it was only a matter of time…" He thought.

The doctor was on top of the red head in a flash, checking every square inch of her body. "How did you do that? You changed your genetic structure almost completely!"

"It's a curse." Onna-Ranma said in an idle voice.

"Did you really change sexes completely?"

Onna-Ranma pulled her shirt open. "What do you think?"

Ritsuko saw the breasts, that were quite obviously real, but she also saw the long scar that ran from the base of the redhead's neck all the way to the lower abs. The old wound was almost two inches wide. "Oh my. How did that happen?"

"It's a long story too."

Misato shook her head as the doctor continued to try and grill and examine Ranma. She turned her head and noticed Shinji looking out the door of the computer room. "What are you looking at, Shinji?"

He snapped around and stood straight up. "Nothing."

The captain rolled her eyes. "Shinji, don't you realize when you say, 'nothing' in that tone of voice, it just screams, 'something'! What were you looking at?"

"At my father's hands. They have scars on them, and I was wondering where they came from."

Ritsuko finally let Onna-Ranma close her uniform shirt again. "That happened during the Unit Zero activation test. The unit went berserk and the entry plug was ejected in the test area. Commander Ikari pulled the hatch open with his hands even though it was scorching hot. He was very concerned for Rei."

"My father did that?" Shinji asked, not believing the story.

"He was concerned about someone?" Onna-Ranma asked, not believing the characters.

The next day Shinji was in his EVA while they ran another sync test. He looked over where Unit Zero had been placed in the gantry beside him. It had been taken out of stasis and was being prepped for the activation test tomorrow. He saw the blue haired, red-eyed Rei running checks on her Evangelion's equipment. She was wearing a white skintight plug suit. Luckily this one covered more than the one she was wearing the first time he met her. Brief thoughts of the conversations at school came to his mind. He should know her more, but she's always been a mystery as long as he's been there. Of course there was also the fact that she had only recently been taken out of the bandages that she had been covered with from the first activation test.

He watched her for a while and then his father came up and started talking to her. He looked closely and his EVA's viewfinder automatically zoomed in on the pair. Both of them were talking animatedly and were both smiling. In the short time he had been around his father and Rei, he had never seen either of them this emotional, for lack of a better term. He wondered what they were talking about.

On the other side of the staging area, Ranma watched the conversation with other thoughts on his mind. "Why didn't I see it before?" He asked himself. "She looks just like her. Surely Shinji would have known if he had a twin sister. Why is Mr. Heartless Bastard so lively? There's more here than meet the eye. I'm going to be watching you, Gendou. I'm going to find out what's going on, and I have a feeling I'm not going to like it." The martial artist faded into the shadows.

That night Misato invited Ritsuko over for dinner. She'd show Ranma that she could cook well enough to impress a guest! She cooked up some of her best instant dishes, and large amount of curry.

Ranma slapped his hands over his eyes and shook his head. "Can't you cook ANYTHING?!"

Misato glared at him, and then she chugged a beer. "I'll have you know I cooked all of dinner."

"You call this cooking?"

"Yes!"

Shinji held the pot of curry and leaned over toward Misato. "Do you want some curry on your rice, Misato?"

Misato tore herself away from her argument long enough to address Shinji. "Nope." She moved a plate to reveal a cup of ramen noodles. "Put it in here!" Shinji complied, and then she started stirring the mixture vigorously. "The trick is to put less water in and stir it up to make a yummy sludge! This is home cooking!"

The others all took a bite of their food. They all cringed and spat out the bite. Ritsuko took a heavy pull on the beer in front of her. "Misato definitely cooked! She's the only person I know who could make instant soup bad."

Pen-Pen saw the reactions that the humans had to their food and looked at his bowl of the same soup. Against his better judgment, he took a bite…and promptly keeled over, unconscious.

"Geez, she even poisons her pets." Ranma mumbled.

Ritsuko turned to Ranma and Shinji. "You two should find another place to live. You shouldn't let one bad roommate ruin you."

"Oh, I've had worse…trust me." Ranma went back to trying to make his food edible. It's amazing what a ton of ketchup can do.

Shinji just smiled. "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

The doctor shook her head. "Just invite me over when it's Shinji's turn to cook. I can't imagine Ranma's cooking being much better." Said martial artist raised an eyebrow.

Misato, who was thoroughly plowed now, rolled on her back laughing. "Oh he's a GREAT cook! He'll make someone a good wife someday! Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Ritsuko was slightly embarrassed by her drunken friend. "What is that all about?"

"Ranma's actually a good cook. His stuff tastes like a gourmet restaurant." Shinji said as he took his turn with the ketchup bottle.

"Really." Ritsuko took the bottle after Shinji was done with it. "Definitely invite me then." She started. "I almost forgot!" She dug into her purse and pulled out an ID card. "Rei's ID card expired. Shinji, can you take this to her?" She held the card out to him.

Shinji took the card and stared at it. "She looks so lonely, even in her pictures." He thought.

Misato grabbed another beer. "Awww…You're staring at Rei's picture, aren't you?" Shinji blushed. "Oops! I think I embarrassed him. I'm sooorrry." She slurred with very little sincerity in her voice.

Ritsuko and Ranma both just shook their heads. He turned to the blonde. "So are you looking for a couple roommates?"

"How do you feel about cats?" She asked.

A shiver shot through Ranma's body. "Never mind." He answered quickly.

Shinji looked up. "It's just that she looks so sad."

Ranma mumbled something under his breath. "What was that?" Ritsuko asked.

"Nothing."

Misato kicked back and swirled her beer can around. "Oh, don't take it personally. I just love teasing you, Shinji. You go so ballistic."

"Just like Misato." Ranma and Ritsuko said at the same time.

The drunk woman glared at Ranma. "You'll get yours…"

Ritsuko chuckled. "I'm sure he will…" The glare turned to her. She decided she had had enough for one night. She collected her stuff. "Well, I'll be going now. I'll see you three bright and early tomorrow. Bye!" The others said their goodbyes and she walked out. After shutting the door behind her, she thought, "What did Ranma mean, by it's probably his fault?"

Inside Shinji yawned and stretched. "I guess I'd better get to bed. I got training and school tomorrow."

Ranma smiled. "I see you bright and even earlier in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Shinji turned and went to his room.

The martial artist turned to his drunken roommate. "Okay, now what am I going to do with you?"

Misato got a huge smile on her face. "I thought they'd never leave!"

"Wha…?" Was all Ranma got out before a very drunk and horny Misato mauled him.

The next morning after training, Shinji made his way to Rei's apartment. The neighborhood looked like a demilitarize zone. He thought it should be condemned. "How can a girl live in a place like this?" He thought. He walked up to the buzzer and tried to reach her, but there was no answer. He decided to let himself into the building and up to her apartment. "To think, I probably would have ended up in a place like this if I wasn't living with Misato and Ranma. Of course I wouldn't have this either." He flexed his bicep and there was a definite bulge there. He was actually building up muscle.

He came to Rei's door, and knocked. Still there was no answer. "She has to be here," he thought. He tried calling for her, but there again was no reply. He let himself in and took off his shoes.

He looked around and found a very Spartan layout. No furniture to speak of, just a simple twin bed in the corner, and a single chest of drawers that had various medications and a beaker of water on top. He noticed another object on the chest. It was a pair of glasses. He picked them up and examined them. "These can't be hers." He put them on to see how blind the person was they belonged to.

He heard a sound over his shoulder. He turned to see Rei standing there wearing only a towel around her shoulders. Now before he started training with Ranma, he would have been reduced to a blabbering idiot at this point, but thanks to the fact that cold water always sought Ranma out, and that he always took his shirt off to wring it out, Shinji was more used to a naked woman. Of course he still had a slight nosebleed. "Uh, Rei. I knocked and didn't get an answer, so I, uh, let myself in."

Rei's brows furrowed as she walked toward Shinji.

While being more accustomed to a bare woman, Shinji still cracked under a naked woman walking toward him. He stumbled back as she reached up for the glasses he still had on. He fell back and his book bag snagged on a drawer that was pulled out from the chest of drawers. He tried to catch his footing, but he over corrected and fell forward. Rei managed to pull the glasses off his face before he came crashing down on her.

After the dust had settled, Rei looked at Shinji with an unemotional mask. "Will you get off?"

Now, again, if Shinji had been anything like the author of this fic, he would have said, "I'm trying to, just move your leg a little bit to the left…", and would have been promptly beaten to a pulp, but fortunately he's not. He just looked down and realized that he had his hand on her breast. He stood up straight as a board and turned his head away. "I…I'm Sorry…I came in…the card!" He continued to babble.

While he was babbling, Rei put the glasses away in a case and got dressed. By the time Shinji had recovered enough to talk straight, she was already out the door. He quickly ran after her.

He tried to apologize again and talk to her the whole way to NERV headquarters. Rei ignored him the whole way, and, once she reached the security gate, she tried to swipe her card. The machine quickly rejected her.

Shinji came up and swiped her new card through the reader, opening the door. "It's what I've been trying to tell you. Your security card expired. I've been trying to give it to you."

She swung her hand out and grabbed the card and walked in, ignoring him the whole way. Shinji followed her in.

Ranma walked up about the same time that the two went into the building. He smirked at the pair. "Kinda reminds me of me at his age. Of course I didn't really have girl problems for a couple more years yet, but I'm sure he can take it. Hmm, it might be amusing to eavesdrop. After all, maybe I could give him some pointers." He chuckled as he faded from sight.

Rei was a couple steps in front of Shinji on the escalator down to central dogma. Shinji was wracking his brain on conversation starters. "Uh, don't you have an activation test today?" No answer. "Aren't you afraid?" Still no response. "I heard you got hurt pretty bad the first time."

She stopped and turned to him. "Aren't you Ikari's son? Don't you trust his work?"

"Of course not!" Shinji almost yelled. "I don't trust him at all!"

"Second that emotion." Ranma thought from his hidden position. Rei hauled back and slapped Shinji across the face. "Didn't see that one coming. She's pretty devoted to Gendou, and it looks like I'm going to need to give Shinji some pointers on not leaving himself open." Ranma watched the two make their way to central dogma as he chewed on the food for thought he had. "Why is she so devoted to that slime? Something tells me that I'm definitely not going to like the answer."

Everyone was watching as Rei and Unit Zero began their activation test. The technicians gave play-by-play status reports as the others looked on. In the minds of some of them was the first try at activation where the EVA had gone berserk and tried to kill Gendou and the pilot. Ranma really couldn't blame the robot for trying to kill Gendou. Hell, he'd contemplated doing it a few times. If it weren't for the promise he had made a long time ago, he probably would have.

He crossed his arms as he watched the display of the blue haired girl in the entry plug. She looked so much like her it hurt, but he still looked on. Whatever Gendou had done to this little girl, he would pay for, that was certain.

A small tingling in the back of senses told him that this EVA was bringing its 'AT Field' up. He silently wondered how a lifeless robot could generate chi, or a facsimile thereof. He also felt that Unit One's was familiar somehow, but muffled? He shook his as he considered that. "Why would they limit the power of a weapon?" He thought.

Maya announced that they had passed the zero barrier. "Unit Zero Activated."

Ranma's senses suddenly went on full alert. "Just in time too."

Misato turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"Another angel is approaching!" He turned to his younger roommate. "Shinji, you need to get to your EVA."

Shinji nodded and took off toward the entry plug. Misato turned to face Ranma. "HEY! I'M the one who decides when the pilots should suit up! How do you know an angel is coming?"

"Angel approaching from Tokyo-3 harbor." Hyuga Makoto reported from his seat.

"Abort test. " Gendou stood and had a slight glare at Ranma. "Shinji will fight it."

Misato had an open glare for the martial artist. "You're not going to use unit zero?"

"She's not ready to fight, yet." The commander replied. "The test is incomplete. There is still a margin of feedback error. We cannot risk a second EVA."

Misato growled. "All right. Battle stations! We've got company." She turned to glare at Ranma again. "And you've got some explaining to do after this is all over mister."

"I've learned a little bit about the dispensing of knowledge." He gave her his cocky grin. "It'll cost you."

"Fine! Let's get to ops and launch the EVA!"

Above the street of Tokyo-3, a threat of geometric proportions loomed. The angel took the form of symmetrical octahedron. The only thing that kept it from being a perfect geometric figure was the wide band of black that split the two four sided pyramids apart.

The Evangelion Unit-One was positioned on the catapult. Ranma opened the communications line to the cockpit. "Remember Shinji…"

"I know, keep moving and don't stand still." The boy rolled his eyes at his sensei.

Ranma smiled. "And try not to get yourself killed."

"Roger."

Misato got a light smile on her face as she heard the conversation between the two. She was happy that Shinji had such a great friend and teacher. Too bad it had to be the bull-headed bane of her existence. She straightened up and looked forward at the monitors. "EVA LAUNCH!"

The robot shot through the tubes like the first day Shinji had arrived. He steeled himself as he reached the surface. The lights and sirens announced the coming of an EVA. The street parted as the receiving gantry lines shot up to catch the rocketing robot. Unit-One reached the top of the gantry and the force of the sudden stop shot the unit's head up.

Alarms began to go off in the operations room. "High energy reaction detected in the angel." Maya reported.

"What did you say?" Misato asked redundantly.

"Energy amassing upon itself."

"No!"

Ranma stabbed the button on the communication array. "SHINJI MOVE!"

Before Shinji could react, the black band around the angel lit up bright blue and fired a lance of energy into the EVA unit. The blast continued to hammer on the robot. The room was filled with Shinji's screams.

"Get him out of there! It's boiling him!" Ranma shouted.

"No, Shinji! Retrieve him, hurry!" Misato shouted.

The bottom seemed to fall out from under the EVA as it started descending through the launch tube. Misato and Ranma took off out of the control room and rushed down to the cage.

Ritsuko and the others continued to monitor the situation in the entry plug. Maya started feeding her status reports. "Brainwaves erratic. He's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Give him a heart massage!" Dr. Akagi shouted.

Inside the entry plug, Shinji's plug suit began to contract on him in an attempt to restart his heart.

The EVA came to rest in the cage as the restraints came around and locked it into place. Misato and Ranma arrived just as the back of the EVA's neck opened to eject the entry plug. "EMERGENCY LCL DISCHARGE!" Misato shouted to audio pickups around the room.

The vents at the bottom of the entry plug opened up and expelled the LCL fluid still trapped inside at high pressures. Ranma leapt from the catwalk in front of the robot to the platform beside the entry plug. He made a slashing motion at the plug door, and the door fell off. He carefully removed Shinji from the entry plug and laid him out on the platform. He started administering CPR on the boy.

Misato rushed up the ladders and catwalks as fast as she could. She came up beside Ranma with a frantic look on her face. "Is he okay?!"

Ranma sat back and took a deep breath. "He'll live. Get the medics down here."

Later that evening Ranma and Misato were watching Shinji as he slept in the hospital bed. He would make a full recovery, thanks to Ranma. The blue-black haired captain looked worried as she watched the boy lie motionless on the bed. Ranma stood back and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He alternately looked between Shinji and Misato. He wondered which one he should be more worried for, the sleeping boy, or the about-to-have-a-nervous-breakdown woman.

They had both already learned that the angel had taken up a position directly above them, and had started drilling through the twenty-two layers of armor that separated central dogma from the surface.

Ranma tried to think of something to bring Misato out of her anxiety. "Chi," He said simply.

Misato turned and looked at him with a questioning glance. "What?"

"Chi. That's how I knew that the angel was coming. What you guys call an Absolute Terror Field is actually Chi, or life energy."

She tilted her head. "What kind of life energy?"

"All kinds." He gestured about the room. "You, me, the Earth, we all give off an energy. The simplest term for it is Chi. You asked me what I did to the first angel, remember?"

She nodded her head. "When you glowed like a nightlight?"

He nodded his head. "If you train in martial arts enough, you can learn to use the life energy to do things like that." He held out his hand and formed a ball of Chi. "This is what you guys keep calling an AT field."

"Wow," was all she could say as she bent down and gazed at the light with wide-eyed wonder.

He collapsed the ball with a clenched fist. "Although the only thing I haven't figured out how a robot can generate Chi, much less as much as they do."

Misato sighed and stood back up. "Well, they are an artificial life form. Maybe the scientists figured out how to make something generate a life energy."

Ranma thought for a second before replying. "I don't think so. Something else is going on here. It's itching in the back of my mind, but I can't scratch it."

"Maybe you need a flea dip." She smiled teasingly.

He rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be doing something now? Like trying to figure out how to get that THING off our heads."

She nodded her head. "We should be ready to begin the tests." She turned and started to leave the room. She stopped when she saw Ranma wasn't following. "You coming, or not?"

"I don't know…"

"Don't worry, Rei will be down here. She volunteered to watch over him for some reason."

Ranma shrugged and followed the captain out, taking one more look at the boy and wishing him well.

They reached the control room where Makoto, one of the technicians from ops, was replaying the footage from the range tests that NERV had been conducting. The first test had a one to one scale Evangelion balloon being toted by a ship in the harbor. The Angel promptly shot it down. The second test was on a railed mortar cannon. The huge cannon fired its shell that bounced off the angel's AT Field and was deflected out of the city. The invader promptly returned fire. Makoto began to rattle off his findings. "The angel attacks when something is in range. It's too dangerous for close range combat. Conventional weapons do more damage to us from the deflection than to it."

Misato nodded her head. "It's offensively and defensively perfect."

Ranma leaned back against one of the walls. "Nothing is perfect. It's got to have a weakness somewhere."

The technician indicated another screen where it was running a computer simulation of the angel's drilling efforts. "It looks like it will punch through all twenty-two layers of armor in about twelve hours. It looks like it's taking the fight to NERV headquarters."

"Sassy Bastard!" Misato put her hands on her hips. "It's almost as annoying as Ranma."

"What?!" Ranma shouted from his spot against the wall. "What do you know you moron?"

"More than you dipstick." She returned.

Makoto shook head, stood up, and walked toward the door. "I'm going to grab some coffee and leave you two to your lover's quarrel."

"WE'RE NOT LOVERS!" They both shouted at once.

Ranma thought for a second. "Actually, technically we are."

"But we'd have to LOVE each other to be LOVERS!" Misato pointed out.

The technician shook his head once more and left the room.

"Well, miss know-it-all, why don't you tell me how you plan on beating this angel?" Ranma snarled.

"How about you come up with a plan O-great-martial-artist?" She put her hands on her hips and got in his face.

"Hey! I'm not even really a NERV officer. I'm just a trainer! You're the idiot in charge!"

"You're just mad that you can't do a damn thing! You're totally useless!" She closed the gap between their faces to about three inches.

"I am NOT useless! I'm doing all I can to make Shinji the best pilot he can be!" Ranma leaned forward another inch.

The gap between them disappeared as their lips met. Ranma quickly broke away and stepped back. "That enough! Now you're starting to take shots at me at work!"

"ME taking shots at YOU?! What the HELL are you…" She stopped in mid yell and thought for a second. She snapped her fingers. "That's it!" She grabbed his face and planted a quick kiss, then turned and ran out of the room. Ranma shrugged and took off after her.

Inside the office Misato was laying out her plans to Gendou and his right hand man, Fuyutsuki. Ranma was leaning by the door glaring at Gendou with his arms crossed. Misato finished up and Fuyutsuki gave her a disbelieving glance. "You really believe a sniper shot is the answer?"

She nodded her head. "I've run it by the magi, and this plan has the highest probability of success. It's too dangerous to take on hand-to-hand. We just barely retrieved Unit One before serious damage was done." Ranma harrumphed from his spot on the wall. Misato rolled her eyes and continued. "We'll set up a positron rifle outside of the angels projected range and punch through its AT Field and hopefully the angel itself."

Fuyutsuki still had an incredulous look on his face. "And do YOU think this will work?"

Misato stood straighter and steadied her voice. "I believe that with Unit One and Unit Zero, we can pull this off."

The gray haired man started to open his mouth again, but was cut off by an uplifted hand from Gendou. "Make it so. Do what ever you have to. Stop the angel at any cost. It cannot be allowed into central dogma."

"Yes, sir!" Misato smiled as she saluted. Ranma just shook his head and continued to glare at Gendou.

Gendou nodded from behind his bridged fingers. "Very well, Captain Katsuragi, you're dismissed." Misato went toward the door. The martial artist kicked off the wall and turned to follow her. "Ranma, please remain a moment."

Ranma stopped and waited for Misato to close the door before turning back to face Gendou. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Ikari leaned back in his chair. "Have you thought of any other ideas of stopping the angel?"

"As much as I hate to admit it." Ranma shook his head. "No, I haven't. Misato's idea seems the best chance we have."

Gendou's eyebrows rose. "You mean the Great Saotome Ranma can't improvise a great plan to save of us all."

Ranma glared at the older man. "You're really getting off on the fact that I can't do anything to these angels."

"I just enjoy the fact that you've finally gone up against something that you couldn't beat with your fists." Gendou had smug smile on his face as he bridged his hands again.

The martial artist turned and took a deep breath. "Gloat all you want, but know this, I've made more of a difference than you ever have or ever will. Especially in the life of your son." He left and slammed the door behind himself.

Later, Misato and Ritsuko hashed out the details of the plan. They'd decided to 'borrow' the SSDF's new prototype self-propelled positron rifle for their sniper shot, since theirs had no where near the capacity to pierce the angel's AT Field at the range they were at. They also acquired a piece of a scrapped space shuttle to use as a shield in case of retaliation. Misato also relayed order that they would route all the electricity in Japan to the rifle for the shot. Ranma asked her how she would get along without her soaps for the time. She tried to punch him, but the bastard kept just out of reach.

Preparations were made to take the shot from Mt Futago. Thousands of transformers and technicians were brought in to make the whole thing possible. It was all a logistical miracle, all commanded by Misato.

All in all, everyone was prepared for the operation dubbed, 'Yoshima". Everyone that is, except for one crucial part, the pilot of Evangelion Unit One.

Shinji awoke to the ceiling of the medical ward of NERV headquarters. This was the second time he had woken up to this ceiling. The first time Ranma was there. This time there was no one. Just as he was about to mope the door opened and Rei walked in, wheeling a cart with a well-balanced dinner on it.

Rei reached under the cart and tossed him a new plug suit. "Here is a new one. I'm here to brief you on operation Yoshima." She pulled out a book and recited the timetable for the operation and the shot.

Shinji sat up and thought while she was reading.

Rei finished reading and looked up at him. "Don't show up looking like that, pilot Ikari."

Shinji's eyes lit up as he realized he was quite naked under the sheet. "GAH!" He quickly pulled the sheet around his mid-section. After calming down he looked out the window the geo-front. "So I have to do it again." It was a statement not a question.

"You can stay in bed. I will pilot unit one." Rei offered. "Dr. Akagi and Captain Katsuragi are waiting in cage." She turned to leave. "Goodbye"

"No, I'll do it!" Shinji surprised himself with the outburst. He settled himself and unwrapped his shrink-wrapped plug suit. "It's my duty. Just give me a minute to change."

If Rei could have had a surprised look on her face, she would have. "You may also want to eat and regain your strength."

Shinji nodded. Rei walked out of the room and he dressed and inhaled his food. Ranma's method of speed training may be bad table manners, but it sure came in handy when you're in a hurry. Of course he was nowhere near Ranma's speed.

A couple hours later, Evangelion Unit One and Zero emerged from the mountains outside of Tokyo-3. Several of Shinji and Rei's classmates were there to cheer them on. The two EVA's were carted to the staging grounds where the positron rifle and the rest of the NERV staff awaited them. The two pilots joined their robots on the hill and were debriefed by Ritsuko. "Shinji, you will be firing the positron rifle since you have the higher sync ratio. Rei will shield you with the piece of the space shuttle in the event of a counter attack."

"Are you sure it's safe to use?" Ranma had walked up and stood behind Shinji.

Dr. Akagi rolled her eyes at the martial artist. Misato may put up with him, but she wouldn't. "It's perfectly safe! Shinji just have to make sure he changes out the fuse and lets the gun cool between firings." She turned to address the male pilot again. "Don't forget the compensate for the curvature of the Earth and gravity when you make your shot. The positron beam is still bound by the magnetic and gravitational fields of the Earth."

"So it's just like a howitzer shot?" Ranma asked.

"It's similar. How do you know about a howitzer shot? You haven't served in the military."

"I've trained a lot of them and they showed me their toys." He smiled his cocky grin. "You never know when any combat skills could come in handy, so I soaked up as much as I could."

"Well, just let computers handle this. It will do the targeting. All Shinji has to do is pull the trigger."

Shinji looked over at the rifle that was set up on a gigantic bi-pod. "I've never done this before."

"Just read the manual" The doctor assured him.

"What if I miss and the angel shoots back?"

"Destroy the angel with the first shot and you won't have a problem."

Rei stepped forward. "I'm just supposed to protect unit one."

Ritsuko turned to the blue-haired girl. "Correct. Now go get ready."

As they were leaving, Ranma put his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Shinji."

The boy turned to him. "Yes?"

"Just a tip: Aim about five degrees higher than the computer tells you. That's what all the heavy gunnery teams have told me when they fired their cannons. At this range it should still be in the range finder. Worse case scenario you take its top off."

Shinji nodded. "I'll remember that. Thanks." He turned and followed Rei to the dressing room. Ranma turned and joined Misato and the others in their temporary headquarters.

At the dressing tent, the two kids changed into their plugsuits with a curtain hanging between them. Shinji watched Rei's shape change while he sat down fully suited up. "Maybe this will be our last day alive." He remarked.

"You won't die. I'll be protecting you." Rei finished dressing and left the tent.

Shinji thought about what she had said for a second and then charged out after her. He finally caught up with her on the Evangelion's gantry, sitting on the catwalk beside her EVA. Shinji walked over and sat on the gantry beside his. He tried to think of something to say. "Why do you pilot?"

"I'm bonded to it." She answered simply, but did not say anymore.

Shinji looked confused. "To my father?"

"To all people. Besides I have nothing else."

"What do you mean you have nothing else?"

She stood up and walked toward her EVA's entry plug. "It's time. Goodbye Shinji."

Shinji nodded his head and followed her lead and boarded his Evangelion.

Inside the temporary HQ, an alarm sounded nine-o-clock. Misato turned to the technicians. "Commencing operation!"

Gendou nodded his head. "Good luck, Captain. We're entrusting you with all the power in Japan."

Misato nodded as the reports started coming in.

"Coolant systems operational."

"First stage transformers on line."

"Second stage transformers on line."

"Third stage transformers on line."

Ritsuko turned on the communications line to Unit One. "Load the fuse."

Outside at the bipod, Shinji sent the mental signal to his EVA that made it pull the slide back on the positron rifle, chambering the fuse like a bullet in a bolt-action rifle.

"Forth stage generators on line."

"High energy output in target!" Maya reported.

"Not now!" Ritsuko turned in surprise.

"Fire now!" Misato yelled into the communications array.

Outside, the positron rifle boomed as the blast poured out of it. At the very same instant, the ring around the angel glowed and fired its own blast. If Shinji had aimed exactly where the computer had lined up, the two beams would have hit each other dead on, and the magnetic field between each beam would have warped each of the beams around each other, sending them both into the ground right there. But he had aimed five degrees higher, so his beam went over the angel's, pulling both of the shots downward, but generally in the same direction. The angel's blast struck the base of Mt. Futago, causing it to quake all the way to the top, and Shinji's blast struck the ground where the angel was drilling, destroying the angel's drill bit.

The temporary HQ was tossed around as the mountain shook to the core. Misato, who was the only person standing beside Ranma, lost her footing and fell to the floor. One of the auxiliary radio racks tilted and started to fall over on her. Her eyes went wide as all she could do was watch the heavy equipment fall on her. In a blur of gray, she was scooped up and carried out of harm's way. The rack crashed on the floor, and Misato looked up at her savior. Ranma looked at her with a masked concern. "Are you okay?"

Misato nodded and got up. "Yes, thank you." She was still a little dazed, more from Ranma rescuing her than from almost being smashed. She looked around the room. "Is everything okay? Did we miss?"

Dr. Akagi looked over the displays. "The target is still alive, and it's moving right toward us! Shinji severed the drilling arm and now it's headed toward our position!"

"Hurry the second shot!" Misato commanded.

"We need ten minutes for the power levels to rise again."

Ranma grimly nodded his head. "I'll buy you the time."

Everyone turned to look at him, but he was gone without a trace. Misato involuntarily yawned. Ritsuko looked at her. "What was that yawn about?"

The captain shrugged. "Dunno. I suddenly felt like it was morning already."

Outside the angel was rapidly approaching their position. It was mad, REAL mad. Its mission was a failure, but it would fulfill its secondary objective. It felt two powers on the hill and it was going to destroy them. Suddenly it sensed another power directly below. The angel fired a blast into the ground below him. The power was small, so the blast should have destroyed it. Satisfied that it had finished the insect off, it began to move again. Suddenly the power flared again. Confused, the angel fired again. Again it disappeared, and reappeared!

This pattern off disappearances and reappearances repeated itself with a shot each time.

In the temporary headquarters, the others could only stare slack-jawed as the angel seemed to be firing at the ground around itself randomly. "What the hell?" was the general consensus.

One of the displays in front of Aoba came to life. "Positron charge at seventy-five percent."

Ritsuko brought her attention back to business. "Replace the fuse."

Once more Shinji pulled the slide back and the spent fuse ejected out of the rifle like an empty bullet shell, and the new fuse slammed home. The power readouts went to eighty percent and the rifle powered up.

The angel felt the power grow once more on the mountain. It realized too late that it had let itself be distracted by this insect. It fired another blast at the power on the mountain.

"Another high energy reading!" Maya reported again. "A shot is headed this way!"

"No!" Ritsuko yelled.

The world seemed to slow down as the blast came toward Shinji. At the last instant, Rei jumped in front of the beam, holding the piece of the space shuttle between him and the blast. "Ayanami!" He yelled.

The power reading was only to ninety percent, but Shinji decided to risk taking the shot. He found the target, compensated for the distance, and fired. His blast struck the angel and blew threw its AT Field and body. The lifeless body fell to the Earth.

Shinji quickly turned his attention to EVA Zero. The robot's armor was all melted and shriveled up. He reached up with his Evangelion's hand and ripped the cover off the entry plug. The entry plug popped up instantly and the LCL fluid drained from it.. He carefully pulled the entry plug out and placed it on the ground. He bailed out and leapt to the ground. Frantically now, he grabbed the handles for the hatch and nearly burned his hands trying to get the hatch open.

The hatch came open and Shinji stuck his head inside. "Rei! Are you all right?" She looked up at him and nodded. "Don't say you have nothing else. Don't say goodbye it's just too sad." He saw that she was all right and he started crying tears of joy. Ranma would give him hell about it later, but he didn't care.

Rei looked at the tears with a slightly confused look. "Why are you crying? I'm sorry, but I don't know what I should do or feel at a time like this."

"Why don't you try smiling?"

Rei tried, and Shinji thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. "One more thing…"

Rei looked at him. "Yes."

"Next time, let me protect you."

Back at the temporary HQ everyone was packing up after a job well done. Well everyone except for Misato who was outside trying to find a sign of Ranma. She had a concerned look on her face as she searched the horizon for him.

Ritsuko came out of the ad-hoc base and walked up beside her. "You're not worried about him, are you?"

The captain became apprehensive. "No! Not at all! I, uh, just need him to pay his half of the rent."

The blonde doctor smiled a sly grin. "And to cook. And to keep your bed warm."

"Shut up, Ritsuko!" She turned her face away from the doctor, trying to hide the furious blush.

About that time a tall redhead wearing a scorched NERV uniform trudged up. The two other women turned to look at her, and she grinned sheepishly. "Yo." She greeted them simply with a wave.

Misato tackled Onna-Ranma to the ground. She held the redhead close. "Never do that again you stupid bastard! You about gave me a heart attack when you pulled that reckless stunt! What would Shinji have thought if you had bought it out there?!"

Onna-Ranma shook her head and stood back up, Misato still holding on to her. "Not like you care if I died or not."

Misato's grip tightened. "Never." She lied.

"I didn't know you swung that way, Misato." Ritsuko ribbed the black-haired girl.

The pair quickly let each other go and put about ten feet between themselves.

Later, back at the apartment, Ranma had congratulated Shinji on a job well done, and then sent him to bed to get plenty of rest for tomorrow's training. He turned to Misato who was slowly nursing her first beer. He turned and considered her. Her plan had worked, despite all his skepticism. He had to admire the fact the she did indeed have a brain in that otherwise vacuous mind. He decided it was time to go to bed. "Hey, you dumb broad! Why don't you just chug that beer like the alcoholic you are?"

"What?"

"Don't you know that stuff goes straight to your hips?"

"WHAT?!"

"Lord knows they don't need the help."

Misato steamed and charged at him.

Things went to their usual end, this time it was to Ranma's plan.

Chapter Four "Ballad of Lonely Hearts"

The morning dawned bright and early. The sun peeked in through the blinds and woke Shinji. He sat up, stretched and yawned. He didn't used to be an early riser, but after almost two months of early morning practice, things had changed. Sometimes he got up earlier than Ranma. Of course the nights before those mornings had usually been filled with Misato shouting at the top of her lungs, for one reason or another.

This was a typical morning. Shinji came out in his training clothes and Ranma did the walk of shame from Misato's bedroom to his. Most mornings he tried to wake before Shinji, in order to avoid being caught. Ranma emerged from his room wearing combat fatigues from one of the armies he had trained with in the past. It appeared that the man never bought any clothing. Instead, he only wore the standard issue uniforms. Whenever more formal wear was called for, he clad himself in combinations of dress uniforms. Many of the militaries he had trained with had given him honorary commissions, giving him a right to wear the clothes.

Today it was the forest green camouflage of the American army. He wore the BDU pants with a black t-shirt that showed off his well-muscled frame. Shinji absently wondered why he didn't wear a gi for martial arts training.

Shinji looked down at himself. He was wearing sweatpants and a blue t-shirt that matched his plugsuit. He took a little bit of pride in the fact that you could actually see muscles on his arms. In another month he could probably be pretty well cut. He could already run longer distances than he thought he'd ever be able to, and he had learned quite a bit about Ranma's particular style of martial arts.

With a nod of Ranma's head, they left the apartment through the front door. The older man jumped from the high-rise apartment stairs. He'd catch railings and such on the way down, landing gracefully and almost without a sound on the ground below. Shinji, still a little leery about jumping from buildings this high, opted to take the stairs.

They started their usual morning routine leading off with a short stretch, just enough to work the kinks out from the night before. Ranma almost always seemed to have a lot of cramps to work out, like he was always sleeping in an uncomfortable position. Shinji normally refrained from making any comments and lightly stretched out his arms and legs.

Next up, they ran through a regimen of katas that taught specific receiving and striking methods. The katas were repeated each morning to help the move become more instinctual. That way a martial artist's body would know how to handle a situation before his mind did.

Then they went into the instruction period. Ranma tested Shinji on what he remembered of the lesson from the day before and would then build on it. The younger boy learned quickly that a true technique did not end at the kata. You had to learn how to adapt it to any given situation. He learned a variety of techniques from kicks, punches, hand grabs, body grabs, and so forth.

After the instruction period was finished, the sparring began. The two of them would do light sparring for a half-hour or so. Light for Ranma anyway. Shinji always found himself beyond exhausted while his instructor hadn't even broken a sweat.

They finished the morning training with a light run to work out the muscles and to build stamina. The boy always felt better after the run for some ungodly reason. To finish up their mini-marathon, they ran up the stairs to the apartment. Ranma would grab the bath first before Shinji so he would be on time for work (and avoid Misato). Shinji casually took his bath and dressed for school. After all, he still had a good hour before he had to leave.

When Shinji had about twenty minutes left until he had to leave, Misato opened her door and yawned loudly, adding her part to the daily grind. She scratched her stomach through her white and light-blue open mid-drift sleeping clothes and go straight to the refrigerator for her morning beer. The pajamas consisted of short shorts, and cut-off t-shirt with a small vest sewn on. The outfit did very little to hide her luscious figure. She dragged herself to the table, cracked open the beer, and chugged it all in one go. "YEHAW! Burrrrrrp!"

Shinji's eyebrow went up. "Can't you have something close to normal breakfast?" He held up his toast to emphasize the point.

Misato glared at him. "Don't you know the traditional Japanese breakfast starts with miso soup, rice, and sake?!"

"What's wrong with coffee? Oh, well you're so sloppy; it's no wonder why you and Ranma only get along at night. You'd probably get along with him a lot better if you weren't so much of a slob." He took a casual sip of his coffee.

Misato's eyebrow started twitching. "Now you're becoming TOO much like him, Shinji."

"It's only because what he says about you is true." Shinji got up and gathered his bag and things for school. "So are you and Ranma really coming today for parent teacher conference?"

"Sure! It's part of my job to be there!" Misato was now sitting on the table Indian style chewing on a piece of toast.

"So it's only a job to you." Shinji thought aloud. "I wonder why Ranma does it."

Misato gave him a concerned look, and the front door buzzed. She got up to answer the door.

"Are you really going to answer the door like that?" Shinji asked, looking her up and down.

"Why not?"

"It's embarrassing! I'll get the door." He shouldered his pack and opened the door to reveal Kensuke and Toji.

"Morning Ikari!" The two boys greeted in unison. They both poked their heads in and yelled down the hall. "GOOD MORNING MISS MISATO! We're going to school now!"

Misato's arm waved at them from the dining area. "Have fun boys!"

A trace of drool dripped from their open mouths. Shinji shoved them out of the doorway. "Let's get to school."

When they were out of earshot of the apartment, Toji got a goofy grin on his face. "Man, Misato is such a babe! Ranma's the luckiest man in the world!"

Kensuke smirked. "Well, Shinji here gets to live with her and get trained by the greatest martial artist in the world. I think he's pretty lucky too."

"I don't know about that." Shinji rolled his eyes to the side.

After they had left, Misato picked up the phone. "He just left. Make sure you keep an eye on him." Grumbling over the line. "I don't care if he keeps spotting you! It's not my fault you can't stay hidden! NERV's elite indeed." She slammed the receiver down.

"Why do you have security watching him?"

She snapped around to see Ranma standing behind her with his arms folded. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going to Shinji's parent-teacher meetings, remember? I just got the men started and came back here. Now stop changing the subject and answer the question." He glared at her.

"I'm concerned for his safety. What would NERV do if some crazy decided to kill him?"

"Nothing will happen to him. I've trained him personally. He can take care of himself."

Misato folded her arms. "And what if someone took a sniper shot at him?"

"He'd die. Just like he would if the NERV elite were watching him. They're already behind him in training, so just let Shinji take care of himself."

Misato softened a bit. "I'm just concerned for him."

Ranma sighed. "So am I. I just know he can take care of himself. You have to trust him."

"I guess you're right." The martial artist's expression changed and he looked Misato up and down. "What?"

"You might want to get changed. We need to leave pretty soon."

"Ohhh!" She huffed and stomped back into her bedroom. Ranma just chuckled to himself.

A short time later, the two were in Misato's car driving toward the school. Ranma looked out the window with an almost bored look on his face. "So when did you get a new car?" The one they were riding was red instead of blue.

"I didn't. I just repainted this one. It needed bodywork and a new paint job after going through the N2 mine. I only got it back from the shop last week." She was looking forward as she drove, not looking at her passenger if she could help it.

"That's good."

A deafening silence filled the vehicle. Both occupants were at a complete loss for anything to talk about. In the midst of the silence Misato got lost in her thoughts. "What does he really think about me? Does he feel anything for me? Why do we keep on ending up in bed every night? He's always denying he has any feeling for me, is that true?" Her thoughts kept going in much that same direction. "Why? Why? Why?" She mistakenly said aloud.

Ranma turned to her as if he had just been roused from slumber. "Why what?"

"I, uh, was wondering why Shinji was so much more open with his feelings this morning." She made a good a recovery as she could.

The martial artist just smirked and scoffed at her. "It's the confidence from the martial arts training. He'll be pretty good in a few more months."

"What if more angels attack?"

"He'll handle it. In fact I don't see why we're doing this conference. I'm sure Shinji is doing perfectly well in school." He leaned back in the seat and put his hands behind his head.

"You didn't have to come you know. I could have handled it." Misato growled. "Besides, his teacher was complaining about him starting to fall asleep in class."

Ranma chuckled. "See! Perfectly fine!"

Misato reached over and bopped him on the head. "Idiot."

They arrived at the school and Misato made a big show of getting out of the car. She swayed her hips and tossed her head to the side to let her hair splay out into the wind. Toji and Kensuke drooled from the window. The bespectacled boy had his camera trained on the captain. She flashed the victory sign and smiled for the camera. Ranma just walked beside her with his arms crossed. "You don't have to make such a spectacle of yourself."

She leaned into him. "I'm soooorrry." She said in her pouty voice. "Are you jeeeaalous?"

Ranma pulled his shoulder away from her. "Of course not! Let's just talk to this teacher."

Since school had let out early, Shinji decided to wait by the car for Misato and Ranma. Kensuke and Toji opted to join him. Of course they were primarily there to catch another glimpse of Misato. After a while their efforts were rewarded. They also got an extra treat. A buxom redhead wearing a uniform exactly the same as Ranma's and an annoyed expression walked out with her. She had a wild and dangerous look about her that only served to increase both her mystery and desirability (or so Toji and Kensuke thought).

The two stooges' jaws hit the floor, drool spilling outward. Onna-Ranma smiled. "Looks like you're losing your fan club Misato."

The captain snorted and mumbled under her breath, "I guess those guys will fall for anything with tits."

"They can't help but to fall for a sexier woman." Onna-Ranma smirked at the other woman.

"Grrr…" Misato looked like she was about to pop a gasket and the redhead in the uniform was eager to help.

Shinji thought fast. "I think I'll go ahead and walk to headquarters. It's a great day for a walk. Right guys?"

The pair of hormone-ridden boys were still drooling.

Shinji cleared his throat and grabbed each of them by the back of the neck. "RIGHT GUYS!"

The two finally became conscious of the outside world and looked at Shinji. "What?"

"Let's go!" He turned and walked off the boys said their goodbyes and followed.

Toji quickly caught up to the smaller boy. "So who was that HOT redhead?" He asked with a hint of slobber.

Shinji stopped at the nearest tree and began to pummel it with his forehead.

Later that day, after Shinji had finished the synch test, he, Ranma, Misato and Ritsuko were riding one of the elevators out of central dogma. Dr. Akagi was reading over the status reports. "Unit Zero sustained heavy damage to external armor plating it'll will take some major work to get it fully protected again."

"That's going to take a lot of money." Misato stated idly.

Ranma was leaning against the back wall. "So, aren't you guys above death and taxes? Can't you scare up the cash?"

Ritsuko eyed him over her glasses. "Man cannot live by EVA alone. It takes money to run this operation and the Earth's governments have to fund us for us to continue."

"We've got a big meeting tomorrow to that'll decide where the money goes for the next few years." Misato added.

Shinji looked up at her. "Aren't EVA the only things that can fight the angels?' The captain nodded. "Then why don't they supply the funding?"

Ritsuko looked out of the elevator window toward the Geofront. "Even though we are the only ones that can fight it, the governments still think they can fight it with conventional means. They gave us plenty of money when the first angel arrived. We were actually running out of funding when the Third angel and you, Shinji, arrived."

Ranma scratched his head. "Third angel? What were the first two?"

The blonde continued to stare into space. "If you're going to be here a while then you might as well learn the truth about second impact. It wasn't a meteor that crashed into the Antarctic. It was the first angel. A group of researchers were studying the find when it suddenly awoke, destroying the whole facility and much of the Earth's environment."

An involuntary shudder went through Misato that didn't go unnoticed by Ranma. He watched as she absently ran a finger down her side. From their bedroom romps, he remembered what was there. "Her scar was from second impact?", he asked in his head.

The next morning, Ranma and Shinji had finished their morning routine. Ranma was finishing up his breakfast when Misato's bedroom door slid open. Ranma's eyes went wide like a kid caught with his hand in a candy jar at the sound. His jaw dropped when he turned and saw Misato standing there in a black NERV dress-uniform. The outfit was a skirt suit with buttons running the full length and a cylindrical hat. Her demeanor was all business. "Good morning."

Shinji's eyes also went wide and Pen-Pen dropped a half-chewed fish out of his mouth.

Misato walked by, as if there was nothing unusual about this morning. "I'll be home later tonight. I've got a conference over in old Tokyo. Good-bye." As she walked by, she couldn't help herself. She reached over and lifted Ranma's mouth to the closed position. His mouth shut with a sound like a wood block. He was still too stunned to do anything else. Misato smirked and walked out the door.

Later that day, Misato and Ritsuko were on a NERV helicopter flying over old Tokyo toward the main compound of Jet Alone. Ritsuko was going over her notes when she noticed that Misato was staring out the window preoccupied with her thoughts. "Something the matter, Captain Katsuragi?"

The other woman sighed. "It's hard to believe that this used to be the capital of Japan."

"It pretty much had to be abandoned by the government in the aftermath of second impact. The city was flooded. It was only recently that the waters began to recede and people could live there again."

"So is this new project part of the SSDF's new armaments?"

"No, this is a private venture. They're hoping to get a piece of our budget."

"Lovely." Misato hissed as she continued to stare out the window.

They arrived at the facility and disembarked from the helicopter. Ritsuko noticed that Misato was still not paying much attention to the world around them as they entered the facility. The facility looked like a concert hall with a skyscraper sticking out of the center. They made their way to the main conference area and found their table.

As they made their way toward the front, they spotted a table with NERV printed on the name card. They took their seats and Misato took a look at the empty seats. "You'd think they would have sent more people with us."

"Why? Don't you think we can handle this?" The blonde gave her a teasing grin.

"I guess." She started to stare off into space again.

Ritsuko got an annoyed look on her face. "What's with you this morning? You've been distracted the whole trip."

"Nothing." Misato looked away.

"I know something's bothering you." She shook her head. "What is it? Shinji? The angels? Or is it a certain martial artist?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh why not?" Ritsuko teased her. "So what did he do this time?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it."

"So what did he do this time? Come on, you know I won't leave you alone until you tell me."

"No."

"What could Ranma have done to piss you off this time?"

At the mention of Ranma's name, a pair of ears perked up at another table.

Ritsuko went on. "What could he have done that was worse than insulting your cooking, sensuality, or command ability?"

Misato cradled her head in her hands. "You really want to know?"

"That's why I've been asking."

"Oh all right." The raven-haired girl's gaze went straight down to the table. "The idiot mumble"

"What?"

"I said, the idiot made me mumble."

"Did he make you have anal sex or something? As often as you two have been having intimate relations, I wouldn't be surprised."

"No! The idiot made me fall in love with him!" She nearly shouted.

Ritsuko shook her head. "Oh dear. You poor, poor imbecile."

"I know. I know." Misato's forehead sank to the table.

"Excuse me, but are you two talking about Saotome Ranma? I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I just heard the name and the MO sounded familiar."

The two NERV officers turned to see a woman with short brown hair wearing a gray business suit-skirt. Misato looked her up and down. "Do you know Ranma?"

The woman tapped a finger on the side of her face. "Black hair, martial artist, infuriating ego…Ring a bell?"

Ritsuko smiled at Misato. "That sounds like him."

The woman reached into her purse, produced a picture, and handed it to Misato. "Is this him?"

Misato wearily looked over the photo and then her eyes lit up. "Oh my god! He looks so cute in this picture!" She started fawning over the photograph like a mother would an embarrassing baby picture of their children. "Look at this little pigtail and the Chinese clothes! It's adorable!"

The woman arched an eyebrow. "You mean he doesn't look like that anymore?"

The Captain shook her head. "No. His hair is cropped to about your length and he lets it fly loose, and he only wears uniforms from military units he's trained. I haven't seen any Chinese clothes in his stuff."

"The times they do a-change." The brunette muttered.

"You've got to let me have this picture! This is quality blackmail material!" Misato held the picture to her bosom.

The woman opened her purse and produced another picture. This one was of a young Onna-Ranma posing in a string bikini. "Maybe you'd like this one as well?"

Misato's eyes lit up.

Ritsuko cleared her throat. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

The woman handed her a card. "Tendo Nabiki, Lifetime Investments. My company is one of the financers of the Jet Alone project."

The doctor accepted the card and looked it over. "And how do you know Ranma? We haven't been able to get more than the bare essentials out of him, yet you have childhood pictures of him."

"Let's just say he was almost like a brother to me." Nabiki smirked.

Misato snapped her fingers. "You must be his ex-fiancé's sister! He mentioned something about being engaged!"

The middle Tendo daughter raised an eyebrow. "That's all he said?"

"Was there more?"

"Oh, much more."

"You HAVE to tell me!" Misato had an evil grin.

"It'll cost you." Nabiki smirked.

"Could you two keep it down, the conference is about to start."

Misato wasn't about to let an opportunity like this go by. She produced some cash and started to get all the information out of Nabiki that she could. She didn't even notice Ritsuko starting to question the head of the Jet Alone project.

"So tell me more about kid Ranma!" The NERV officer whispered. "What was that 'much more'?"

"Did he tell you he had at least three fiancés at any given time?"

"No! I didn't think he'd be the type to be a playboy with that charming personality of his."

"Oh, he wasn't. His father just made a lot of 'deals'."

"Tell me more!"

Ritsuko's line of questioning turned into a full out argument about EVA vs. nuclear power with the head of Jet Alone project. The two other women seated at her table were lost in their information exchange. They covered both of their lives with the martial artist, of course Nabiki didn't mention why Ranma left because she honestly didn't know. She just said that he had had enough one day and left. After a while they got into Ranma and Misato's relationship.

"…and we always argue and end up in bed with each other." Misato's expression dropped a little bit. "I don't know if he cares about me or anything."

Nabiki was honestly confused. "The arguing sounds like him, but the sex didn't. The boy I knew would have passed out if a girl got hot and heavy with him."

Misato shrugged. "Things change I guess. So what do you think? Does he care anything about me?"

"Does he do outrageous things to rescue you?"

"He does outrageous things, but I don't know if it's for me. He got me out from under some falling equipment once, does that count?"

"Did he push you out of the way, or carry you?"

"Carry."

"He had to have some feelings for you, otherwise he would have just pushed you. That and the arguing pretty much clinch it with him."

"You think so?"

"Actions speak louder than words, don't you think?"

Misato thought it over and got a goofy grin on her face. "I guess you're right. I'll definitely keep a closer eye on him." She got a suspicious look on her face. "Why are you so anxious to help me? Wasn't he supposed to marry your sister?"

"That was finished long ago. Let's just say I owe him some peace."

"You call arguing constantly peace?"

"Relatively speaking, of course."

About that time the head of the JA project decided that he and Ritsuko had wasted enough time fighting. "And now ladies and gentlemen, we will adjourn for a few minutes, and then we will have the demonstration."

Misato bid farewell to Nabiki and went to the changing rooms with Ritsuko. The Dr looked at the Captain and smiled. "So did you catch any of that presentation, Captain Katsuragi?"

"None. Anything important?"

"Not really. He did know about the AT Fields though."

Misato's eyes went wide. "How in the hell did he know about that? That's top secret!"

"I'm wondering about that myself. Still, they'll never be able to match it with only nuclear power."

"Nuclear power?"

The blonde tsked the captain. "You haven't paid attention to anything these last two days, have you?"

She made an elaborate show of looking at her watch. "Oh boy! It's time for that demo! Let's get going!"

Ritsuko smacked herself on the forehead.

The time passed and everyone was gathered for the demonstration. The main tower in the middle of the complex split in half, revealing the hulking form of Jet Alone. The robot was just as tall as an Evangelion, but had arms that reached nearly to its knees and no head to speak of. It just had a bump with a grill on the front. At the project head's command, the control rods were pulled from JA's core. The six posts came out of the robots back and splayed out and upwards.

"Begin walking." The project head commanded.

Outside the metallic goliath began to take slow steps forward.

"What do you know? It walks!" Misato commented with a smile.

"Big deal." Ritsuko replied.

After the first two steps alarms started to go off. One of the technicians turned around and reported. "Sir! The heat level is increasing!"

"Send the abort signal!"

"It's being blocked!"

"Turn the thing before it hits the complex!"

"We can't! It's not responding to the control signal!"

At that moment most of the spectators scattered. The roof creaked and then broke when Jet Alone's foot went through it as it continued its uncontrolled walk. It left behind a perfect footprint in the debris.

"That thing's as badly behaved as Ranma." Misato commented.

"Sir, the core is headed toward meltdown!" One of the techs reported.

"Impossible!" The project head sagged under his own weight. "Jet Alone was programmed for all contingencies! This can't happen!"

Misato leaned over the rail. "Looks like you're about to have an impossible meltdown. What recovery procedures do you have?"

"None."

"Sir, Jet Alone is headed toward Asugi!"

"It looks like it's NERV's turn to bail you out. I'll need the system password to deactivate that monster."

"I can't give that to you. That's classified information. I have to get proper authorization."

"Then you had better get it!"

For the next twenty minutes the head of the Jet Alone project was on the phone trying to get a hold of someone to give the proper authorization. Misato finally had enough.

"Bureaucracies." Misato swore under her breath. "We'll just do this the hard way."

One of the technicians smashed a console with a crash axe. "The manual controls should be online now."

"How do you plan on stopping it?" Ritsuko asked.

"From the inside, of course. I'm going in through the backpack."

"You're insane!" The head swore. "The chamber will be flooded with radiation!"

Misato pulled out her cell phone. "Hyuga, I need a radiation suit, Shinji, and Unit One. We have to head off Jet Alone before it destroys Asugi."

"I'll be there ASAP!" The tech reported back.

"Hope."

Misato turned to see the head of the project. He was looking down and his shoulders were slumped. "What?"

"The password is hope." He said again in a weak voice.

Misato nodded. "Thank you."

In a matter of minutes, the flying wing transport arrived carrying the items Misato requested plus one. Ranma was standing on the top of the ramp as it opened onto the tarmac. He had a stern expression on his face as he stood with crossed arms. "What do you think you're doing?"

"No time to explain!" She ran by him, grabbed the radiation suit, and bolted toward the dressing rooms.

"Make time!" Ranma dashed after her.

A few moments later, Misato was in the locker room changing into the radiation suit. She didn't mind the fact that Ranma was there watching her, scowling the whole time. "I should be the one to do this." He commented for the nth time.

The raven and blue haired woman shook her head and fastened the primary seals on the suit. "Ranma, you can't even operate a computer effectively. I'm the only one."

He crossed his arms. "Surely there's somebody else…" He was cut off when Misato put two fingers over his lips.

"Shhh." She gave him a serious look. "Ranma, why do you fight odds that you have no chance of beating?"

"Because it's my duty to protect innocents." He answered without thinking.

She smiled. "That's why I'm doing this. It's my duty to protect all the civilians. Just let me do my job."

His scowl deepened. "Then let me come with you."

"No." She shook her head. "We've already been over this. There's only one suit and I'm the only one that can wear it." She reached up and gave him a kiss. "Just wish me luck."

"Good luck." He grumbled.

Misato smiled, turned, and walked out of the dressing room. Ranma followed her out the door and stopped and watched her as she boarded the plane. The powerful engines on the flying wing ignited, carrying aloft Evangelion and Captain Katsuragi. The Martial artist watched until he couldn't see the plane any longer.

"Saotome." He heard a familiar voice behind him. He turned to see a businesswoman with close-cropped hair wearing a gray suit-skirt outfit.

His expression went neutral. "Hello, Nabiki."

She sauntered up to him and looked out toward the horizon. "It's been nineteen years."

He crossed his arms and stared out into the distance as well. "Indeed."

Nabiki steeled herself and took a deep breath. "So…Are you still mad at all of us?"

Ranma shook his head and sighed. "I couldn't stay mad at all of you forever, but I couldn't go back either."

"It was another woman, wasn't it?" Ranma's expression didn't change. "It was another woman. You had three beautiful woman chasing after you, and you fell in love with another woman."

He turned to look at her with a menacing look in his eyes. "What's it to you? I can still make good on the promises I made that day."

Nabiki took an involuntary step backwards. "Those were just threats."

"I don't make threats. I make promises." He sneered at her.

She put her hands in a calming motion. "Easy, Ranma! I'm not here to judge you, or make you angry. I just wanted to know the truth."

The martial artist backed off and looked back to the horizon. "Yes, it was another woman. Satisfied?"

"I guess. So was that bundle of energy that took off out of here Mrs. Saotome?"

Ranma shook his head. "I'm never going to marry. If I marry anyone, but a Tendo, I lose my family honor."

"You're not concerned about Kuonji?" Nabiki asked curiously.

"We resolved our issues where honor was satisfied." He turned to her. "So are you here to try and press the engagement? It's gotten way too old, Nabs."

She grimaced. "That's not it at all. I was just asking a question."

His eyes flashed with an intense emotion and then went back to neutral. "No. She isn't anything to me."

"Heh." Nabiki scoffed. "That's a load of bull if I ever heard any. What was that goodbye kiss?"

He turned to her with a furious look on his face. "You were spying on me!" He raised his fists.

Once again, the middle Tendo daughter was on the retreat. She tried to placate him once more. "Yes, but not for blackmail of anything! I just wanted to make sure it was you! I didn't mean any harm, honest!"

Ranma shook his head and relaxed. "You'll never change. Just like everyone else."

"You're wrong, Ranma. Things did change. After second impact, everything changed. You heard about your parents, didn't you?" She approached him slowly.

"I know. They died in one of the tidal waves created by the meteor." He looked again toward the horizon.

"They were on a second honeymoon trying to salvage their marriage at the time. They actually called me when they heard the tidal wave was coming. Do you want to know what their last words were, Ranma?"

The man stiffened and slowly relaxed as he regained his composure. "Not really."

"Tell Ranma we forgive him, we're sorry, and we love him. Their last thoughts were of you. They loved you. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" She put a hand on his shoulder.

Ranma brushed the hand off. "They had a funny way of showing it. One destroyed our family honor, while the other one was trying to kill me."

Nabiki was flabbergasted. "How can you be so cold?"

He turned to her with a hardened expression. "I learned from the best."

She reeled as if she had been struck. A pained look crossed her face. "I guess I had that coming." She turned away from him with her head hung low. "Akane never married, you know."

"No, I didn't. Couldn't have been from a lack of suitors." He turned back to where the jet had left.

"There were plenty of suitors, just one big problem." Nabiki turned back to him.

He turned his head to meet her eyes, which were filling with regret. "And what was that?"

"She was in love with somebody else. Someone she had hurt really badly, but couldn't apologize to." Ranma seemed to deflate a little. "She thought for sure you would be back within the week, but when you weren't there she became depressed. Kasumi had to practically force feed her that second week, and she didn't eat a full meal for another month afterward."

Ranma looked toward the horizon again and shook his head. "Tell her to get on with her life. I won't be a part of any of that ever again."

"That's what we've been telling her, but she still loves you, Ranma, even after all this time."

"You're going to tell her where I am, aren't you?" He didn't even look at middle Tendo.

"Only if you tell me that you have nobody else. If there's still a chance for her, I'll take it."

"You know I can't answer that without losing honor."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "So you DO care for Misato." Ranma just harrumphed. She shook her head and turned toward the main complex. "So long Ranma. I hope we get to see each other again in better times. And one more thing…"

The martial artist turned to her. "What?"

"Don't waste time with this one like you did with Akane. You're not getting any younger." With that she turned and strode quickly toward the buildings.

After thinking a bit, Ranma finally shook his head and went to the control room to get an update on the JA situation. He arrived in time to see Unit One catch up with Jet Alone and grab it by the backpack. The EVA's hand went forward and Misato climbed onto the access ladder. Ranma gasped when Misato slipped and fell over the edge. He was about to sprint out there when she grabbed onto a rung and stopped her fall. He finally relaxed a little when she made it inside the hatch.

"Stop Jet Alone from going forward, Shinji!" Misato's voice came over the intercom.

"Stop you brainless bastard!" Shinji shouted as the hand of Unit One shot forward and held the head of Jet Alone. He maneuvered the EVA into a stance that Ranma had taught him for stability. Amazingly enough he halted the robot's progress. Shinji was quite proud of himself until the seals on the coolant lines began to rupture on JA. Steam started spraying out of the chassis of the massive metal monstrosity. He swore and started plugging the holes with the EVA's hands. "Hurry up, Misato!"

"Heat level reaching danger levels!" A tech announced at the complex. The declaration did nothing to help Ranma's nerves. He had never felt so helpless in his life.

Inside, Misato was sweating bullets. She reached the control console and pressed the release button. The panel opened up to show the computer screen and the manual system booted up. When it prompted her for a pass code, she typed in HOPE.

The console started buzzing as ERROR flashed on the screen.

"The password didn't work!" Misato's voice came again.

Ranma was about to jump out of his skin. She was toast and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He would burn to a crisp before he ever made it to her. "Please. If there is a god up there, get her out of this." He silently prayed.

"I've got one more thing to try!" Came Misato's voice again.

Inside the control center of Jet Alone, Misato began to push against the internal control rods.

"Core is reaching critical mass!" The tech that Ranma was quickly coming to despise announced.

"Fuck it!" Ranma turned and launched through the foot hole in the roof. He pushed himself beyond his limits to try and get to Misato before the things blew. He topped a hill and saw the control rods on Jet Alone retract into the body. The robot went limp. Ranma stopped and took stock of the situation. "What the?"

After Unit One and Jet Alone had been recovered, and Misato had taken a shower to ensure that she had no radiation residue on her body, she was released as 'okay'. Ranma ran up and hugged her to his chest tightly. "Don't ever do that again, you crazy bitch!"

She just smiled a knowing grin and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's been a rough day. Let's go home."

Later that evening, Shinji retired early. He didn't EVEN want to be around when this round of fighting started up. Misato just sat on the couch staring into space as Ranma stood over her with his arms crossed.

"You got lucky out there. It was a miracle that thing shut down." The martial artist commented.

"It was a manufactured miracle. Somebody planned all of this." She looked out the window.

"Gendou."

Misato turned to him. "Are you sure?"

"He needs the funding for the Evangelions. Of course he set this up."

"Do you think we can get any proof?"

"Not likely, but I think it's time I started keeping a closer eye on him."

"How's that?" She turned and Ranma was gone! "Where are you?"

Ranma faded in beside her on the couch. "Like this. I've got ways of invading privacy that would make reporters green with envy."

"Just be careful."

"Careful?" He raised his voice as he jumped to his feet. "CAREFUL? Who's the insane idiot who jumped inside a radiation bin tonight?!"

Misato sighed. "Not tonight, Ranma. I've got a headache."

Ranma's eyebrows shot up and he turned to walk away. "I wonder how my bed sleeps?" He thought absently.

He suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around him. Misato leaned against his back. "Let's go to bed without fighting."

Something was different about that night. Although they were going through the same actions they had many times before, it seemed special this time, sweeter. Neither of them fully realized that for once they weren't just having sex; they were making love. Steps were being taken that would change their lives forever.

Ranma awoke the next morning and looked at the sleeping form of Misato. He didn't know what he felt for her, but he had no one to blame this time but himself. He brushed a few stray hairs away from her eyes and looked at her tranquil face. A mixture of emotions, old and new, poured through him. Finally, he made his decision to repeat the usual morning routine. He reached down and removed her hand that was around his waist.

Everything had gone like usual until he went to put her hand on the bed so he could leave without waking her. At the top of the arc her hand stiffened and her fingers interlaced with his. She brought their hands down to her side.

She slowly opened her purple eyes to gaze into Ranma's blue. "You don't have to leave."

He looked deep into her eyes and began to get lost. He managed to bring himself back at the last minute. "What about Shinji?"

She closed the gap between them and held began trailing kisses up his chest. "Let him sleep." She said between kisses.

For once in his life, Ranma gave up. He couldn't run away, but he couldn't fight it either. He was still a little confused as to whether or not he really wanted to battle it at all. In the end, he stayed in bed.

Shinji awoke as usual and expected Ranma to be there heading to his room like always. He looked around and found no trace of the older man. He wondered if Ranma had started without him. Well, that is he wondered until he heard the sounds coming from Misato's bedroom. "They still at it from last night?"

After a while Shinji decided to get out of the place, he trained, bathed, and met Kensuke and Toji on their way to the apartment. The two noticed something was different about their friend this morning. "What's up, Shinji?" Kensuke asked.

"Oh, it's Misato and Ranma! She's always being such a slob and embarrassing me, Ranma's always fighting her, and yet they spent this morning messing around in bed!"

"Did you get any video of Misato?" Toji asked. He got a snarl in response.

Kensuke shook his head. "They've both been looking after you this whole time, right?" Shinji gave him a confused look, but nodded his head. "And they haven't acted fake around you at all, have they?" The boy shook his head.

"The poor fool doesn't even realize." Toji shook his head in pity.

"What?" Shinji looked between the two, desperately seeking an answer.

"You really are a kid." Kensuke chided him. "What all that means is that you three are family! Dysfunctional, yes, but a family nonetheless."

Shinji thought about it, and then a joyous smile crossed his face. "A family!"

Chapter Five "Asuka's Assault!"

Onna-Ranma wiped some stray red hairs out of her face. The cargo helicopter they were flying was causing her hair to swing wild. The tresses were, however, the least of her annoyances. Currently something else was bothering her more; namely the two fourteen-year-old bags of hormones that were just staring at her wide-eyed.

Toji pointed at her. "A-Are you really…?" He stuttered out.

The redhead just nodded her head. "Yes, I'm really Saotome Ranma. I got this curse in China when I was sixteen. How many times do I have to explain this?" She flashed an angry glare at the taller child. "My face is up here, boy!"

Toji's eyes snapped up. "Yes, sir…I mean ma'am…arrgh!"

The redhead's wrath didn't stop there. "You too Kensuke! Point that camera somewhere else!"

"Yes, s-, ma-, uh, yes!" He quickly pointed the camera outboard.

Onna-Ranma just sighed as he rolled his eyes. Misato giggled from the front of the copter. "What's a matter, Ranma? Fame getting to be too much for you?" She teased in her playful voice.

"You shut up!" The redhead crossed her arms.

"Why did you come as a woman anyway? It would have saved you a lot of grief."

Onna-Ranma narrowed her eyes. "Misato, what is that stuff we're flying over right now?"

The blue haired girl looked out the window. "Uh, water."

"Ver-ry good." She bit out sarcastically. "Now, what happens to Ranma around any amount of water?" Misato's eyes lit up in understanding. "Now you get it. I thought I'd change now and save God the trouble. We're going to be in the middle of the planet's largest puddle, so I think I'm probably going to get wet. Besides, I don't want to have to explain the curse more than a few times."

"Sorry." Misato replied sheepishly.

"So what are we doing, Misato?" Shinji asked from the back.

The captain gave her young charge a smile and wink. "Well, I thought you guys would be getting bored with staying cooped up in the mountains, so I thought I'd bring you all out on a little date."

Toji's eyes lit up. "A date! Really?! I bought this hat just for today!" He hastily leaned forward and adjusted his new ball cap.

"Sit down!" Onna-Ranma growled menacingly.

"So where are we going?" Shinji asked again.

"Oh we're just taking a cruise on that cute little boat down there." She pointed out the window.

Kensuke peered out and his eyes grew to the size of Buick hubcaps. "Oh my God! It's the super carrier Over The Rainbow and the whole pacific fleet!" He then went into a spiel about the specs of the aircraft carrier and accompanying fleet.

Onna-Ranma's eyes drooped for a second and then she came full awake. She rubbed her eyes a little. "Geez, I thought I was in school again." Misato giggled at that.

"I'm amazed the thing is still floating after all this time. It dates well before second impact." The Captain started to lecture.

The martial artist's head began to droop again. "STOP THAT!"

Shinji shook his head at the whole exchange. "So what are we carrying in the cargo bay?"

"Oh. Just an accessory a girl shouldn't be without." Misato stated whimsically.

Onna-Ranma's raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Don't tell me we're hauling a copter load of tampons."

Misato reached back and swatted at him the best she could. "Shut up!"

They landed safely on the deck and everyone stretched out and started walking to the control tower. Kensuke was going nuts with all the military equipment around. He was taking video like there was no tomorrow. Toji ran off chasing after his hat that had blown off his head. Ranma, Misato, and Shinji followed behind with bored expressions on their faces.

"Stop it! Somebody catch my lucky hat!" Toji shouted as he chased the errant headwear.

The hat came to a stop as a small foot stomped down on it. Toji followed the leg up to see an auburn haired girl wearing a yellow sundress and a confident smirk on her face standing over him.

"Well, hello, Misato. How have you been?"

Misato smiled at the younger girl. "Just fine. Goodness, you've grown some haven't you?"

"That's not all. I'm taller and my figure has filled out as well." The girl continued to carry on the conversation obviously ignoring Toji's efforts to free his hat from under her foot.

Misato turned to the others in her party. "Everyone let me introduce the designated pilot of Unit Two, the second child, Soryu Asuka Langley."

At that moment, the wind picked up and blew Asuka's skirt up exposing her underwear. Toji's eyes went wide.

"Perverts!" Asuka shouted as she slapped all the boys.

Onna-Ranma half-flinched, fully expecting one of the slaps to come at her. She relaxed when the slapping stopped. However, she became surprised when she saw why the slapping had stopped. There stood Shinji with his arm raised effectively blocking Asuka's attack.

"What are you doing?" He asked the fiery tempered girl.

"You were looking up my skirt. This is the fee for the peek." She brought her other arm around for another strike while Shinji was looking at her.

The boy put up his other arm and blocked the second attack, almost without thinking. "I didn't look at your skirt! Toji's the only one who did it. You didn't have to slap all of us."

Kensuke coughed from the side, trying to look innocent.

"He's definitely come a long ways in his training." Misato commented idly to the redhead beside her.

Onna-Ranma nodded. "Good thing he doesn't have any hang-ups about fighting girls."

"You mean like someone we know…" Misato teased.

"Shut up. How did you find out about that anyway?"

"A little birdie told me. Of course it cost me a pretty penny." She mumbled the last bit.

The martial artist picked up on it and frowned. "Nabiki."

Meanwhile, the two kids were still arguing. Asuka finally got fed up and tried for a kick to the groin. Shinji sidestepped and swept her standing leg out from under her. She fell back and fell on her pert derriere. Shinji smirked. "Now I've seen you're underwear and pink polka dots are not your type." Onna –Ranma shook her head.

Asuka grit her teeth and pulled her skirt down in rage and embarrassment. "I'm going to KILL YOU!"

"HEY!" Misato stepped between them with a forced smile. "I think that's enough for now. Why don't we all head up to the bridge?" She took Asuka's hand and helped her to her feet.

After she was back on her feet, Asuka tore her hand out of Misato's. "I want to know which one of these perverts is the famous third child."

Misato smiled and pointed at Shinji. "Asuka, I'd like you to meet Ikari Shinji, the third child."

"Ach nein." Asuka shook her head.

A short time later they all arrived on the bridge. Misato held out a stack of papers. "Captain Katsuragi Misato and party reporting. Here are the specs for the equipment that we brought along for the EVA."

The Captain of the ship frowned as he turned to Misato. "From your antics on the deck I had thought that you were the leader of this little Boy Scout troop. I was obviously mistaken."

"Thank you for having us aboard."

"No, thank you for bringing so many more kids for us to baby-sit."

"I think you can curb the attitude, Captain."

The two captains turned to face the redhead standing with her arms crossed.

The ship's captain's eyes went wide. "Saotome! It's so good to see you again. Why I haven't seen you since…" He trailed off as he tried to remember.

"Norfolk." The redhead smiled. "And I see you still haven't learned to be more respectful to women on your ship."

"I'm so sorry!" He turned to Misato. "Forgive me for being so rude. It won't happen again."

Misato was overwhelmed by how easily cowed the ship captain was. She blinked. "No problem. It's all right."

The older man turned his attention back to Ranma. "So what are you doing here? Don't tell me you've joined that damned NERV."

"In a manner of speaking." The redhead narrowed her eyes. "What problem do you have with NERV?"

"They always act like they are above the law and they turned my fleet into cargo service!"

"Well you just happen to be carrying one of the last hopes for the human race, so I think that it is warranted."

"From the sound I thought it was you arguing with the Captain, Misato." came a voice to the side.

Misato's eyes went wide and Asuka turned and shouted, "Kaji!"

Onna-Ranma turned to see a man with about a three-day stubble on his chin and long brown hair tied in a ponytail. He wore what looked like business casual clothes that hadn't been ironed in ages. By the way he was looking at Misato, Ranma took an instant dislike to him. The redhead glowered at him. "So, who are you?"

The man gave her a half-smirk. "Ryoji Kaji. I'm here at the request of NERV. It's nice to meet the famous Saotome Ranma, the only fighter ever to be banned from every fighting circuit on the planet for outclassing all other participants. I understand you got quite a compensation for that."

Onna-Ranma was REALLY not liking this guy. "How did you know that?"

"Let's talk about this down in the lunchroom." The man smiled, turned, and walked to the elevator.

They arrived at the lunchroom after a few 'accidental' gropings in the elevator, which almost resulted in Ranma breaking Kaji's hand when Misato had cried out. They all took a seat at one table and Kaji leaned over toward Misato. "So do you have a boyfriend right now?"

She turned to Onna-Ranma. "As a matter of fact I do."

"So you decided to date a variety platter." Kaji smiled his annoyingly cocky grin.

"He's more of a man than you ever were."

Kaji gave her a look of mock sadness. "I'm hurt!" He turned to Onna-Ranma. "So, is she still so wild in bed?"

"Dunno, she keeps pulling me down to the floor before we get there."

Misato's eyes went wide and then she snarled. "RRRRANMA!"

"She hasn't changed, has she?" Kaji commented casually.

"Apparently not." Ranma agreed. "Let's get back to business. Why do you know so much about me?"

Kaji smiled and leaned back in his chair. "I make it my business to know about great warriors. For example there's Ikari Shinji here."

Shinji looked up in surprise. "Me? Famous?"

The older man gave the boy a warm smile. "Of course. You're very well known in the intelligence community. The famous third child that piloted an Evangelion to victory with no prior training. You have a very special talent."

Shinji sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "It wasn't anything."

Asuka glared at Shinji for being so arrogant while Misato gave the same look at Ranma for rubbing off on Shinji.

A short time later, Asuka was sitting on one of the railings of the ship, kicking her legs, trying to be as close to Kaji as possible. Kaji was leaning on the rail and looking out on the ocean. "So what do you think about Shinji?"

"Oh, the great third child? He's just an annoying brat!" She looked upwards.

"That may be, but his synch ratio was well over 40% without any prior training."

"Mein gott!"

Elsewhere, Onna-Ranma, Misato, Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke were riding an elevator back to the main deck. Shinji looked back at Misato. "That Kaji guy is pretty interesting, eh Misato?"

"Grrr! He hasn't changed a bit!" Misato bit out.

Onna-Ranma raised an eyebrow at the captain. "So how do you know him?"

"Old boyfriend. But that's over. WAY over." She crossed her arms and scowled.

They approached the top of the escalator only to be met by an angry brunette. "You're coming with me, third child!"

A little while later, Shinji and Asuka were transported to the main cargo freighter of the fleet. They walked across the deck and she tore open the canvas that separated the payload from the outside elements. Shinji looked inside. "I didn't know it was red. That's a really interesting color." He followed Asuka as she climbed down into the hold.

Asuka beamed with pride about her robot. She stepped up to the head of her EVA like it was a podium. "Unit Zero and Unit One were the prototype and test type respectively. My Unit Two is the first real production model! It has all the most modern weaponry and armor."

The boy took a closer look. "You're still using the B-type equipment."

"What?" She stopped her tirade about the Evangelion specs.

"I hope you're not planning on fighting in any environment besides dry land. Your 'production model' wouldn't take it with its current equipment."

Asuka stomped her foot. "That's not the point! I've got the best Evangelion in the world and I'm the best pilot in the world!"

"How many angels have you fought?"

"WHAT?!"

"How many angels…"

"I heard that! What do you mean?!" She set her hands on her hips and scowled at the boy.

"How do you know you're the best if you've never been in a real combat situation?"

Asuka gritted her teeth. This wasn't the spineless dweeb that the intelligence reports had said was the third child. This one was an annoying, arrogant jerk! "I'm still better than you, and I'll prove it!"

"Yeah? How?" He had a smirk on his face.

"Grrrr." The auburn haired girl snarled.

As if on cue, an explosion was heard in the background. Shinji's eyes went wide as he ran for the bow of the ship. Asuka followed shortly after. He peered over the edge of the ship and what the fuss was about. "An angel! We've got to tell Misato!"

Asuka just smiled an evil grin and looked back toward the hold. "Wunderbar!"

Earlier, up on the deck of the super carrier, Ranma and Misato were looking out on the ocean. Misato was leaning into the now female martial artist and contentedly sighed as she gazed over the blue horizon. "It's so romantic." She whispered.

"You ever stop to think that you were leaning against another woman when you say that?" Ranma asked snidely.

"Shhh…You're spoiling the moment." She smiled and took one of the redhead's arms and put it around her waist, much to the disappointment/enjoyment of the surrounding sailors. "Why should that bother me? I know you're a man on the inside."

Onna-Ranma shook her head and squeezed Misato with her arm. "You are so annoying some times."

"I know." Misato smiled wider. She was half tempted to steal a kiss, but knew that would be really pushing it. She suddenly felt Ranma tense up. "What?"

The redhead's expression hardened. "There's an angel coming. We've got to tell the captain!" They turned and rushed to the bridge.

A pair of eyes watched the couple run to the bridge. Kaji stepped out and rubbed his stubbly chin. "So he can sense angels, eh." He pondered that in between thoughts of what was between Misato and he when they were in college.

Ranma and Misato got to the bridge. The martial artist managed to get through the door first. "Captain! You need to get the ships into attack position."

He turned and gave the redhead a strange look. "Have you taken leave of your senses? There's nothing but blue water out there."

"Trust me. There's an angel on the way." She insisted. As if to drive her point home, an explosion sounded in the background.

Misato smirked from the doorway. "NERV special delivery. Would you like information on the target and appropriate procedures?"

The older man huffed up. "The sea is still our domain. We shall handle this threat."

"You're in over you're head." The two women commented in unison.

The captain gave them a glare and turned to his microphone. "Ships fan out! Fire at will!"

Meanwhile, back on the barge, Asuka was towing Shinji down into the hold. She stopped at the last landing and pushed Shinji back. "Wait here!" She took her bag and went down the last steps and started to change into her plugsuit.

Shinji was a little confused at the girl's actions. Out of curiosity, he poked his head around the steps and looked in on her.

Asuka stiffened and turned to see Shinji peeking around. At the time he looked she was only wearing her underwear. "Stop peeking!" Shinji quickly pulled his head back. "Why are all boys such perverted jerks?!"

She finished donning her plugsuit and pressed the button that pulled it tight about her body. "Let's go, Asuka." She whispered to herself.

Back on the bridge, the captain was starting to pull his hair. "Why won't it sink?!" He cried to the heavens.

Onna-Ranma shook her head. "We've been trying to tell you! Only an EVA can beat it."

Misato nodded in agreement. "You've got to listen to us captain."

"Listen, captain, you trusted me before. Why won't you trust my word now?" Ranma gave the old man a stern look.

The captain seemed to deflate. "What can I do?"

Misato smiled. "Just get the power cables ready, and locate Asuka." She turned when she realized Ranma wasn't paying any attention all of the sudden. "What's wrong?"

The redhead glanced at her. "I just thought that something's wrong about this. You stay here and run things. I need to check on a hunch." He turned and disappeared down the corridor.

A few moments later, Kaji was in his assigned quarters talking on his cell phone. "I wasn't expecting to see an angel. This isn't how it's supposed to be, is it?"

"That's why Unit two is there, and I've generously provided a second pilot as a reserve. And if worse comes to worse, you can always escape by yourself."

Kaji lifted a set of field glasses to his head and looked out at the ships still firing at the monster. "Of course I can." He hung up the phone and reached for a strange case on the floor. "Looks like you and me are going on alone from here."

"Not really." Kaji spun to see Onna-Ranma standing directly behind him. "Say goodnight." With one swift blow, Kaji was out on the floor. "Escape that."

The redhead untangled the case from the fallen man and laid it on the bed. Seeing the obvious environmental seals on the case's lid, she carefully picked the lock on the case and opened it. When she saw the frozen fetus-like creature inside, she shut the box quickly and held her hand over her mouth. When her stomach had settled she exhaled a deep breath. "And I thought I had seen it all. What the hell is he doing with this?" She looked down at the fallen man again. "Hmm…I'd better show this to Misato. She might be able to shed some light on this case and the creep." She kicked him in the side for good measure and walked back to the bridge.

Back on the freighter, Shinji was standing on the landing in from of Unit Two holding his arms over himself trying to cover the fact that he was wearing a female plugsuit. "I know you're planning on fighting that angel, but is this really necessary? I mean; I piloted Unit One without a plugsuit. Why can't I do it now?"

"I don't want you to dirty up the inside of my Unit Two!" Asuka pressed the button that opened the entry plug for the EVA. "You're Unit One may work with trash inside, but my Evangelion is a precise piece of machinery!" She jumped into the pilot chair. "Get ready for an amazing display of piloting. Just sit down and don't bug me."

Shinji rolled his eyes and tried to make himself comfortable in the space behind the pilot chair. "You sure this will be okay? Shouldn't we ask Misato first?"

"I'll get her permission after we're successful." She began to run through the startup sequence in German.

The boy rolled his eyes. "What a bitch." He thought to himself.

Alarms started going off in the entry plug. The German word for failure flashed all around them. "Looks like a program error." Shinji commented idly.

"It thought noise! I told you not to bug me!" Asuka yelled back at him.

"What do you mean? I didn't do anything!"

"You're thinking in Japanese! Think in German!"

Shinji thought for a second. "Okay, I'll try. Uh, bratwurst… strudel… stroganoff…" "What's the German word for bitch?" He kept to himself.

"Dumkoff!" Asuka swore as she restarted the sequence. "We'll have to do this all over in Japanese. Switch language to Japanese." The power came up on the EVA and the readouts showed green. "EVA Unit Two…GO!"

The red Evangelion stood up and wrapped the canvas that was covering it about itself like a cloak.

"Is that you Asuka?" Came Misato's voice over the radio.

"Yes. I'm going to defeat that angel!"

"You're a goner if you fall in the ocean." Shinji reminded.

"Shinji? You're in there too?" Misato asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. Uh, request permission to launch."

"Go for it!"

Shinji turned back to the one behind the wheel. "How do you plan on fighting this thing? We can't go in the water!"

The auburn haired girl smirked. "We're going to play hopscotch!"

"WHAT?!" Shinji could only watch in terror as he spotted the angel bearing down on the freighter. At the last possible instant, Asuka willed it to leap. It landed neatly on a destroyer beside the freighter just as the first ship was split in two by the monster.

"Not bad, hmm…?" She gloated at her co-pilot.

"LOOK OUT!" Shinji shouted.

The angel had come around for another pass. Asuka just barely jumped out of the way before another ship was sunk. She continued to jump toward the Over The Rainbow."

"The power cable is ready on deck, Asuka." Misato informed them.

"Right." She landed on the deck of the super carrier. The rock in the ship caused a few planes to go into the drink. Kensuke nearly had a heart attack on the bridge.

Asuka attached the cable to the EVA's back, drew her progressive knife, and took an offensive stance. The angel closed on them.

Through the link of the EVA Shinji felt a wave of nervousness come as the abomination approached. He knew it wasn't him; he'd fought angels before. Then it came to him: This was Asuka's first battle!

The angel leapt from the water and opened its mouth to swallow the EVA. Asuka was frozen with fear. In the brief two seconds the angels hung in the air, Shinji shot his hands out and took control of the EVA. He pointed the progressive knife down the throat of the angel, where he had seen its core. He thought the EVA down to a knee to help stabilize the impact.

The monster impaled its core on the outstretched arm of the robot. Life left its body and the mass dropped like a sack of wet rags. Most of the angel's weight was still behind it when it dropped. The angel's body fell into the water, taking the Evangelion with it.

The robot and angel sank rapidly. Shinji pushed away the angel's corpse and untangled Unit two from it.

"Stop messing with my Unit Two!" Asuka shouted as she socked him in the face, knocking him back away from the controls. She tried to get the EVA to swim upward. "It won't move!"

"That's because you're using the B-type equipment! I told you that before!"

"We wouldn't be in this mess if it hadn't been for you messing with MY EVANGELION!"

"We'd be dead if I HADN'T! You've never fought in battle before! You froze on the deck!" Shinji stood up in her face.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Asuka shouted defensively.

"Are you two all right?" Misato's voice came over the com.

"Oh we're FINE!" Asuka bit out sarcastically. "We'd be better if the GREAT Third Child hadn't dumped us in the ocean."

"HEY!" Shinji tried to rally his defense. "If it wasn't for me, we'd be dead!"

"We could still be dead! The fleet doesn't have anything to pull us out of the water with! The only thing that had a crane was the freighter that sank!"

"You mean I've got to stay down here with YOU until we get into port?!"

"Think how I feel! I'm stuck here with a perverted idiot!"

"And I'm being crowded in this pod with your EGO!"

"That's enough you two!" Onna-Ranma's voice came over the radio. "You're too young for that! Now shut up, and I don't want to hear another word out of you two until we reach port. YOU GOT THAT?!"

"Yes, sir." Shinji buttoned up immediately.

Asuka got a confused look on her face. "What did she mean, that we're too young?"

Shinji blushed and looked away. "No way! I'm not going to make Ranma's mistake!" He furiously thought to himself.

On the bridge Ranma shut off the communications and turned to Misato. "Come here. I want to show you what I think the angel was after." He turned and walked off the bridge.

Misato nodded and followed. The two stooges started to follow. "Stay here. Uh, make sure that Asuka and Shinji don't fight." She added quickly. "Have to keep them busy somehow." She thought.

Down the hall, the redhead showed the NERV Captain the case and contents. "Kaji was going to make a break with this. He was apparently delivering this to Gendou. That was the whole purpose for this fleet, not to deliver Unit Two."

Misato saw what was inside and shut the case quickly. "No." She cried softly.

Onna-Ranma looked up with a concerned look on her face. "What is it?"

"I haven't seen this since I was a little girl." She said in a subdued voice. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

"What is it?!" Ranma insisted.

"It's Adam, the first human and angel. This is the monster that the Evangelions are patterned after. This is what caused second impact."

Ranma's eyes went wide. "Oh shit", was an understatement. "What are they going to do with it?"

Misato threw up her hands. "I don't know! I can't let them do it, whatever it is! This thing killed millions and changed the Earth forever!"

Onna-Ranma opened the case once more and thought, "I don't know if I should kill you or thank you. You took care of half my problems, but then again you did take a lot of innocents with you." The redhead pondered several more moments before finally shutting the case. "Kaji will be conscious again in a little while. I'm going to put the case back."

The black and blue haired woman gave him a wide-eyed stare. "You're kidding! Why would you do something stupid like that?!"

"I want to find out the whole story." She exhaled, releasing some tension. "The only way we'll figure out Gendou's plans is if we have more information. I can let him have Adam and watch what he does with it. We can piece together his plan and stop him at a critical point."

"What if you wait too long?" Misato asked anxiously.

Onna-Ranma tensed up again. "We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen, now don't we? Come on. Let's drop this off and check on the boys. I don't exactly trust them alone on the bridge."

"Good call." Misato agreed.

They quickly dropped the case off with the unconscious Kaji (Ranma kicked him again for good measure) and went back to the bridge. They walked in to see the old captain banging his head on one of the bulkheads and the two stooges rolling on the floor laughing. "What's going on here?" Ranma asked.

The captain gave them a weary glance. "Those two boys have been singing love songs quite out of tune over the radio to the two trapped in the EVA that we're dragging along by its power cable. I don't think I can't take much more of this adolescent behavior!"

Toji was about to launch into another nauseating rendition of 'That's Amore' when Ranma wrenched the mic out of his hands. He pulled it to his mouth. "Are you two all right?"

"MAKE IT STOP!" Came the chorus from the EVA below.

"At least now they agree on something." Kensuke smiled from the side.

Misato and Onna-Ranma facefaulted.

Five long hours later, the EVA was fished from the sea in the bay of Tokyo-3. The plug was ejected the occupants quickly flew out and went to opposite sides of the ship. They glared at each other for a little while before Asuka finally stuck her nose up in the air and walked down the gangplank. Not to be outdone, Shinji stuck his nose up and followed with a confident stride.

"Hey! Nice outfit, Shinji!" Toji yelled from the side.

"Yeah, can I have a date?" Kensuke added.

Shinji quickly remembered what he had been wearing for the past six hours. He tried to cover the extremely feminine plug suit that he was wearing. Asuka just continued to walk on, ignoring him and everyone else.

Toward the evening, a slightly bruised Kaji delivered the case to Gendou. "Here is the case as you requested. So this is what all the trouble was for."

"Yes." Gendou answered him with a smug grin on his face. "This is Adam. This first human and the keystone for the Human Instrumentality project."

"I think your plans might have hit a small snag though." Kaji said off-handedly as he sat on the director's desk.

The dark brooding man turned to the disheveled one. "What's that?"

"Although the case was exactly where I left it when he knocked me out, I believe that Ranma got a little peek at your care package there."

Gendou growled and clenched his fist. He thought for a second and then relaxed. "It doesn't matter. He'll never learn of its true purpose, and the fool let us have it back. We cannot be stopped by someone who knows too little."

Kaji nodded his head, leapt to his feet, and walked out the door. "That may be, but I wouldn't underestimate him if I were you." He turned and left. The door closed on the brooding Ikari. Kaji just shook his head and ambled down the corridor. "Fool."

Uncloaking himself from the Umisen-Ken, Ranma nodded his head. "Fool indeed." He pulled out a pad and pen and started writing. "Human Instrumentality Project…" He scribbled down.

The next day, the three boys were taking their usual route to school. Shinji was still a little on edge from the day before. Toji and Kensuke were still giving him hell over wearing the plugsuit and spending so much time with Asuka.

"Well personally, I'm glad she's gone." Toji commented as they entered the classroom. "She was a real female dog, if you know what I mean." He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw familiar figure writing on the chalkboard. "Oh…"

"NO!" Shinji finished.

With a swirl of auburn hair, the girl faced the class. "My name is Soryu Asuka Langley. Pleased to meet you."

Author's note: You're probably thinking that I had Asuka way out of character for this chapter. Well, it depends if you go by the manga or anime. In the manga (the only EVA comic issue I own) they just glossed over the battle and went to the guys meeting Asuka in an arcade. Asuka killed the angel herself, no problem. In the anime, if you look closely you can see that she is really a frightened girl trying to put forth a brave front. You also see as the series goes on that that brave front is the only thing she relies upon. When that fails, she becomes a hollow shell of a human. So…(slaps shut the intro to psychology book)…I think I'm justified in portraying her this way. Don't worry; I won't bore you with any more of my amateur psychology.

Chapter Six "Duet of Angels"

Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke sat on the grounds of the schoolyard scowling. All about them they heard the comments about the new student. "Did you hear about the new student?" "She's so hot!" "She's an overseas student." "She's so cute!"

Kensuke shook his head as he examined a sheet of film. "You hear all that? It's all about her. Asuka, Asuka, Asuka!" He put down the first strip and picked up another.

Toji took another sheet and looked over the thumbnail photographs. "Yeah, you'd think they'd never seen a foreign student before."

"Well, you haven't." The bespectacled teen kidded him.

The larger boy shrugged. "Hey, if all foreign girls are as much of a bitch as her, I'll take good old Japanese girls anytime." He went through an especially candid roll and raised an eyebrow. "Shinji, tell me again why are we sitting here looking at pictures of that female dog." His eyes fell on a shot of Asuka in her swimsuit. "Not that I'm complaining of course, but these don't show how much of a pain she is."

Shinji rolled his eyes. "I've told you guys several times. It's just to piss her off. We take a bunch of pictures and sell them to every pervert in school. A, she becomes pissed off, and B, she has to beat back all the worst scum of the school."

Kensuke shook his head. "This has got to be the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Where did you get it?"

"I got it from a story that Ranma told me about one of his fiancé's sisters doing it to him. It annoyed him to no end even though he didn't show it, so I thought we'd try it on Asuka. Besides, we're making a good profit, why are you guys complaining?"

"I still think my idea was better." Toji murmured.

"What? The stack of love letters in her locker? That was worse than this idea!" Shinji sniped at the larger boy. "She just stomped on them and left them on the ground. I think it just fed her ego."

Kensuke held up his finger in a 'Eureka, I've found it' gesture. "How about we put out an edict that anyone who wants to date her has to beat her in combat! We'll have every boy in school trying to beat her up."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Toji shouted.

Shinji thought for a second. "Wait, he might be on to something…"

"Heelllooo, Shinji!"

All three boys jumped as incriminating evidence disappeared like magic. Shinji spun around to face Asuka. "What are you doing here?"

The auburn haired girl smirked and moved her face close to his. "I'm the most popular girl in school. You should feel privileged to be talking to me." She flipped him in the nose.

"Just go away. You're not wanted here." Shinji scowled at her.

"Well, you're not the only one I can talk to. Isn't the other one here?"

"Other what?" Shinji asked.

"The other pilot of course." Asuka threw her head aside, causing her hair to flow to the side. "The pilot of Unit Zero."

"You mean Ayanami."

"Of course, dumbkoff!" Asuka turned and looked down the school steps and spotted a blue haired girl sitting on a bench reading a book. "There she is." She turned and walked down the steps, stopping beside Rei. She straightened up to her full height. "Hello, I am Soryu Asuka Langley. Let's be best friends!"

Rei didn't even look up from her book. "Why?" She said in an unemotional voice.

Asuka smirked a cocky grin. "It would be convenient, of course!"

The blue haired pilot still had not lifted her eyes from the book she was reading. "If I'm ordered to, I will."

Asuka cocked her head with a confused look on her face. "Freakazoid."

"Takes one to know one." Toji muttered from the side.

Shinji jumped down from the railing above and landing between Asuka and Rei. "Why do you have to bug people like this? First your bugging me, then you're bugging Rei!"

Asuka harrumphed. "I'm sorry I talked to your girlfriend. What's the matter? Feel threatened?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shinji glared at her. "And she's not my girlfriend."

"Yeah!" Kensuke shouted from above. "He didn't spend six hours in an EVA alone with her!"

"You're not helping!" Shinji growled.

The crowd that had been following Asuka around started whispering within itself. Comments about 'lovebirds', 'lucky guy', and other more explicit comments were being made.

Asuka was finally starting to lose that cocky grin she had. "It's not like that! This idiot dumped us in the ocean! We had no choice!"

"Yeah! I'd never do anything with such a bratty girl!" Shinji shouted.

The crowd came alive with comments about 'denial' and 'lover's quarrel'.

At that point Asuka had had it. She jumped down and jabbed a finger into Shinji's chest. "This is all your fault!"

"What's all my fault?" Shinji asked with a confused look on his face.

"First you put MY Unit Two into the ocean, and then you ruin my reputation at school!"

"Did not!" was Shinji's extremely mature response.

"Ahh!" Asuka threw a jab into Shinji's face, which he easily stepped out of the way of. Not daunted in the least, Asuka started raining punches on him. Shinji dodged most of them and knocked the others aside with his hands.

"What are you trying to do?" Shinji asked.

"I'm trying to teach you a lesson in respect!" Asuka continued her assault, in which she still didn't land a blow.

"Whoa, Shinji's gotten pretty good." Toji commented aside to Kensuke.

"Aren't you glad you became friends with him instead of fighting him like Ranma suggested."

The taller boy just nodded his head.

"WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT BACK, YOU SPINELESS WORM!" Asuka shouted in fury between punches.

Shinji stepped away from another blow. "Ranma told me not to fight people weaker than I am."

Asuka's eyebrow twitched. "Weak, am I…" In the middle of her flutter of punches, she hauled back and unleashed a powerful kick to Shinji's groin.

Shinji managed to avoid most the blow, but sometimes a clip can hurt worse than the full thing. He dropped to his knees holding his crotch.

"Now you should know how to give me proper respect. Humph!" She turned with her nose in the air and started to walk off. She stopped when she heard an angry growl coming from behind her. Her eyes went wild when she saw that Shinji was back on his feet. Granted he still had a hand on his crotch, but his other hand was clinched in a fist.

"That's IT!" Shinji leapt forward and the battle was on!

Half an hour later, a battered and bruised duo of Asuka and Shinji sat in the principal's office. They both had matching black eyes and their clothes and hair were a mess. Across the desk, Misato was leaning back in the principal's chair rubbing the bridge of her nose. Ranma was leaning against the wall behind her with his arms crossed.

Misato lowered her hand and looked over at the two pilots. "Tell me again why we're here?"

"It's all his fault!" Asuka pointed an accusing finger in Shinji's direction.

"My fault! You kicked me in the NUTS!" Shinji clenched his fists again.

"ENOUGH!" Misato shouted.

"Shinji," Ranma finally spoke up. "What have I told you about fighting people weaker than you?" Asuka started a slow boil from her seated.

"You not helping…" Misato hissed aside to him. She turned back to the two kids in front of her. "Now who started this?"

"He/She did!" They both pointed at each other and announced at the same time.

Misato put a hand to her head and groaned. She stood from the chair and turned to the man leaning against the back wall. "Ranma, hold up your right hand."

Ranma held it up. "Okay. What for?"

Misato slapped the hand and leaned against the wall. "Tag, your in."

He gave her an uplifted eyebrow and shook his head at the professional wrestling reference. "Oh well," he thought. "Might as well dole out some discipline. I really don't want to hear the whole story." He cleared his throat and addressed the pair in front of him. "Asuka, You're going to doing nothing but janitor work with your free time for the next week. Shinji, you're going to be training four extra hours a day on your martial arts."

"Hey!" Asuka shouted. "Who are you, and why do you think that you can order me around?"

The older man narrowed his eyes. "I'm Saotome Ranma. I'm in charge of training NERV personnel, and I can dispense discipline as I see fit if it's to the betterment of the organization."

"Ranma? I thought that Redheaded woman on the ship was Ranma!"

He rolled his eyes. "It's a long story."

"You're a cross dresser!" The girl exclaimed.

Misato giggled from her spot on the wall. Ranma turned and glared at her. "Now, who's not helping?" He turned back to the teenaged girl. "It's a magic curse, and I'm not a cross dresser. Now you have Janitor duty for the next two weeks."

"Hey! How come I have to do hard work and Shinji gets to have fun?!" She asked with a whiney tone to her voice.

"You don't know Ranma's training…" Shinji trailed off.

"I still think it's not fair!" She shouted at Ikari.

Misato leaned up beside Ranma. "You should probably train her as well. She won't shut up otherwise."

"I have a feeling she won't shut up no matter what we do." He turned back to the kids. "That's enough out of you two! Shinji, I want you in the gym and Asuka I want you on a mop. Both of you will be there immediately after school. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Shinji sounded off smartly.

Asuka still looked indignant. "You're not my father. Or should I say mother?"

Ranma's eyebrow started to twitch, and Misato decided it was her turn to tag back in. "That's enough, Asuka! You'll do as HE says."

The brunette just crossed her arms and scowled.

Later that day, back at NERV headquarters, Ritsuko was toiling away at her computer terminal, trying to finish going through the data from the battle on the Pacific. She still hadn't puzzled out how Shinji was able to take control from Asuka so easily. The Evangelion should have not listened to him since it was programmed for the young German.

She continued on until she felt a pair of arms encircle her. She turned her head to see Kaji behind her. "What are you doing?"

He gave her a roguish grin and replied, "You've lost some weight. Let me guess, you're suffering from unrequited love."

"Don't be so sure." She had a smug smile on her face. "Besides, you might not want to try anything with an audience. She pointed to the observation window where Misato was standing, glaring at the pair.

The captain entered and glared at Kaji. "Oh, don't mind me. I'm just passing through. I'm going to collect my report from Ritsuko and be gone."

Kaji smiled at her with his self-confident smirk. "Feeling a little bit of the green-eyed monster?"

"Hardly." Misato scoffed as she collected the reports off of Ritsuko's desk.

The doctor had an evil grin on her face. "She doesn't need you any more Kaji. She already has a lover that takes care of her needs. Whether she wants male of female."

Kaji got the same grin on his face. "So, I guess I'm outclassed."

"We NEVER!" Misato started up, but before she could continue the alarms went off. "Angel attack!"

The troops were rallied quickly. They moved the intercept operation to the coast as the city had not finished rebuilding or reloading since the attack from the pyramid shaped angel. The city was only at twenty-six percent of its defense capability, so Misato (who was in charge in Commander Ikari's absence) chose to intercept the angel at the shore.

Two flying wings carried Units One and Two to the edge of the sea. They were dropped and each landed at a knee several yards inland. Large trucks pulled up, carrying weapons for each of the EVAs. Shinji took up a rifle while Asuka grabbed a large glaive that was almost as tall as her EVA.

"I don't see why I couldn't handle this by myself! You'll only slow me down!" Asuka complained over her radio to Shinji.

"Misato's only following procedures." Shinji replied with an edge of anger in his voice.

"But two on one isn't fair!" She went on further.

"It's a matter of survivability. Two EVAs are more likely to succeed than one. Of course they didn't take into account an inexperienced pilot like you into that equation." He scowled at the image of Asuka from the communications net.

"Head's up, you two." Misato's voice came over the system. "The angels going to surface in ten seconds."

Asuka had a cocky grin plastered on her face. "I'll take care of this!" She pushed her controls forward and charged toward the sea.

"What are you doing?!" Shinji demanded.

"I'll handle this angel. Ladies first after all!" She cut the line of communication off from the other EVA.

"Don't talk like that you dumb rookie!" Shinji shouted over a dead line.

The angel broke the surface and Asuka's battle cry could be heard over all the general channels. "CHARGE!" Unit Two rushed in and held the glaive double handed over its head. The enormous blade came down in a devastating downward blow, cleaving the angel in twain.

"We'll I'll be damned." Shinji whispered, careful to make sure that none of the audio pickups caught it.

Asuka's face appeared on his comm display again. "A fight should be clean and elegant without waste. Beat that, third child!" She started to laugh maniacally.

"It's not over!" Came Ranma's voice over the system.

Asuka looked at the angel where it was motionless and cut in half. "What are you talking about? It's not going to do anything in two parts."

The brunette spoke too soon as each half of the angel began to writhe with life. The two halves transformed into two separate angels. The last thing Asuka saw was a bright flash of light as the angels opened up on her with powerful blasts.

Several hours later, Shinji, Asuka, Kaji, Fuyutsuki, Ranma, and Ritsuko were in one of the debriefing rooms listening to Maya give the report of the records of the fight. The kids were looking even more beat up and, if possible, more mad at each other.

The images scrolled through showing each of the Evangelions face planted, Unit Two into the bay and Unit One in a nearby field. Maya went through each of the humiliating details of the unsuccessful mission. Even up to the point where the UN had to step in to halt the angel's progress by dropping an N2 mine. The angel was in a regenerative state, but it was far from being harmless. Another operation had to be launched within the next week.

At the end of Maya's debriefing, Fuyutsuki addressed the pair of pilots. "So what do you two have to say for yourselves? Could you please tell me why you decided to embarrass us in front of the global community."

Shinji's jaw went slack. He looked over to Ranma for support. The martial artist's eyebrows arched as he shook his head, indicating that he would not aid the child here. "He's right, Shinji. That was embarrassing. I'm almost ashamed to say I trained you."

"It was all his fault!" Asuka blurted as she pointed to the brown haired boy. "He messed up the entire operation!"

"Me!" Shinji yelled defensively. "Who's the idiot that charged into combat all half cocked and ignored procedures?!"

"Oh yes, the great Third Child always does what everybody tells him!"

"Shut up, you stupid bi-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" The acting commander cowed his young soldiers. "You two WILL learn to work together!"

"Why should we?" They both asked simultaneously while glaring at each other.

Ranma buried his forehead in his palm and shook his head. "Please tell me I wasn't that bad when I was younger."

"I believe you were worse." Kaji smirked at him with a knowing grin.

The martial artist gave the slob a narrow glare. "You know too much, and you have a big mouth."

"Don't worry. There's still a lot about you I don't know. Like your reasons for leaving three fiancés behind and hitting a world tour."

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Ranma turned and left the room.

"Mister mysterious, eh." Kaji chuckled to himself. "I can see why Misato would be infatuated with you."

Shinji stopped arguing with Asuka long enough to ask Ritsuko where Misato was. Ritsuko gave him a shrug. "As the operation commander she has to deal with the paperwork associated with it."

Several hours later, Misato was still pouring over all the bills and complaints from the UN, Tokyo-3, and the world in general. Ritsuko poked her head over one of the smaller stacks of paper. "Still sorting through all the red tape, hmm?"

Misato sighed heavily. "Yes. All of them written by different people, but saying the same thing, 'if you're going to fight like that, fight somewhere else.'"

"Such is war." The blonde doctor commented matter-of-factly.

The captain looked up at the other woman and smiled. "But you've come here with a brilliant idea to solve my problems, right?" She smiled her most winning smile.

"Oh…Maybe." Ritsuko absently tapped a data disk on her cheek.

"Thanks, so much Ritsuko!" Misato grabbed quickly and held it like it was the most precious object in the world to her. "I owe you one!"

"You don't owe me one. You owe Kaji." The blonde smiled at her.

"What?!" Misato gawked.

"It's his idea and operation plan."

The captain started a slow boil.

Back the already crowded apartment, it was getting even more so. Shinji walked in and weaved through all the boxes that had appeared in the place he called home. "What the?" He commented.

"Why are you still here?" He heard a female voice to his side.

"It couldn't be!" He thought. He turned to see his worst nightmare standing a few feet away. "What the hell are you doing in my home?!" He demanded of the girl.

"I live here! I'm going to be living with Misato now! You've been dumped for the new model." She started going over the apartment. "Why are Japanese houses so small? And how can anyone have any privacy without locks?" She asked as she slid one of the doors back and forth.

"It's the Japanese way to consider other's needs before your own." Misato comment as she and Ranma walked in the door.

"How can one person own so much shit?" Ranma commented as he looked disbelievingly at all of Asuka's possessions.

"What's he doing here?" Asuka asked as she pointed at the raven-haired martial artist.

Misato smiled. "He lives here. You, Shinji, Ranma, and I are all going to be living together. You two will be undergoing training to move in harmony with each other. We're going to launch a dual attack with Units One and Two that's in perfect sync so that the angel can't gang up on each of you again."

"And you think this is going to work?" Shinji directed the question to Ranma.

The older man harrumphed. "The idea is sound. Which is pretty amazing considering the source…" He trailed off the last statement aside.

Misato smiled and handed each of the pilots a paper wrapped package. "Here are your new training clothes. Go ahead and change into them. Your training begins immediately and we strike in six days!" The kids nodded and turned to leave the room. Shinji went to his room and Asuka went to the restroom.

Ranma stepped up beside Misato. "So where are we going to put her?"

"She's going to be sleeping in your room." Misato smirked at him.

"So where the hell am I supposed to sleep?" He asked with a scowl.

"Oh, shut up. You haven't slept in your own bed since you got here."

"These outfits are pretty unusual for training." Came Shinji's voice aside.

"The silk feels pretty good against my skin though." Asuka's voice came from the other side.

Ranma turned his head and got the shock of his life. The two kids were dressed in Red Chinese style silk shirts with wooden ties, black kung-fu pants, and black slippers. His jaw dropped and he turned to Misato. "What? How did?" He couldn't seem to get an entire sentence out.

Misato held up another package. "I've got one for you too, if you like."

The martial artist's face hardened. "I don't wear those types of clothes."

"You used to." She commented as she held up the picture of him when he was younger that she got from Nabiki.

"They're not me anymore." He commented coolly.

The black/blue haired woman gave him a questioning look at his sudden demeanor change. She shook her head and pushed the thoughts of what he meant by that statement. "Anyway, I thought they looked good on girls or guys."

"Although I look much better in them than Shinji does." Asuka teased the boy.

"Yeah, you're also more of a pain in the neck!"

"Less talk, more training!" Misato yelled at them. They immediately snapped to. She explained out the battle plan and started them on their synch drills. She started by making each of them listen to the music chosen for the operation and do simple tasks in synch. Their first task was to find a place to put all of Asuka's belongings.

Ranma was slightly disturbed as he moved his few clothes into Misato's room. He had no possessions past the clothes that were given to him. His mind wouldn't get off the fact that this was a commitment. Not a legal one to be sure, but it was a commitment. When he had his own room he could convince himself that his relationship with Misato was a mistake. Now he was moving into her room to sleep with her on a permanent basis (well, at least as permanent as his stay in Tokyo-3).

He took his things to Misato's closet. He noted that she had very few clothes and possessions of her own. He marveled at how much alike they were, and yet world's apart. He pushed the thoughts aside and hung the clothes.

He turned and regarded paper wrapped package that was lying on the bed. He knew what was inside. A set of clothes like the ones he discarded so long ago. He absently ran his hand over his shirt, tracing the length of the scar that bisected his torso. "That's not me." He turned his back on the package and walked out the door.

He walked back in to see most of the living area cleared out. He shook his head while Misato shouted step-by-step instructions at the kids trying to get them to coordinate lifts and steps.

"How will this affect Shinji's training?" He asked the Captain offhandedly.

She turned to him. "His training will continue. You just have another student in the mornings."

"But she can't…" He started.

"Can it, Ranma! She can, and she will. I saw her in combat. If she learns half the discipline that Shinji has, she will live a lot longer. It's no longer Shinji against the world. Rei and Asuka will be with him the whole way. Now swallow your macho pride and join the twenty-first century!"

Her statements took him aback. They rang familiar in his ears. Memories of the strong woman fighters he had known over the years. Then he remembered the source of his male chauvinistic attitude. "You're right. There's no reason why she can't be just as strong a fighter."

Misato was amazed at his quick reversal. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, she went back to giving orders to the working teens.

Three days later Toji and Kensuke were walking to Shinji's apartment complex. He hadn't been at school and they were starting to get worried. They hadn't seen him since the last attack even though the news had said that the pilots were okay. They were so lost in their own speculation that they nearly ran into Horaki Hikari.

"Class rep?" A confused Kensuke asked.

"Two out of three stooges?" She asked back.

"What are you doing here, class rep?" Toji inquired.

"Asuka hasn't been to school for three days. I was coming to check on her. What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to check on Shinji." Kensuke answered.

"What a coincidence that they live in the same apartment complex." She commented aside.

They reached the floor for the apartment. They both stopped in front of the door and stared at each other. "Why did you stop here?" The boys asked Hikari as she simultaneously asked them. All three of them proceeded to press the door buzzer at the same time.

"Coming." An eerie double voice came over the intercom.

The door opened to reveal Asuka and Shinji wearing identical red and black outfits with identical pathetic looks on their faces.

The other teens' eyes went wide. "What's going on here?!" Hikari demanded.

"This is all Misato's fault!" They both complained in unison. "We have to eat, sleep, train, and breathe together!"

"You're living in sin!" The class rep pointed an accusing finger at them.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Asuka and Shinji chimed together.

"This is pretty creepy." Toji commented aside to Kensuke who nodded in agreement.

"It's part of their training!" They all turned to see Misato and Rei with Ranma behind them carrying groceries.

Explanations were made and they all went inside. The non-trainees were treated to sandwiches and tea. They watched as Asuka and Shinji tried to match steps as they moved on what looked like a twister board.

"Why didn't you explain that it was synchronization training?" Hikari asked. "It would've saved us a lot of grief. So how's the training going?"

The monitor behind Asuka buzzed with an error as she missed a step.

"Not very well." Misato remarked dryly.

"How am I supposed to work like this?!" Asuka started her tirade that she had been repeating for the past three days. "No one can work with this idiot!"

"Hey! Uberbitch! Switch to decaf and maybe we can do this!" Shinji's biting rebuttal came. He was getting sick and tired of listening to her repeat herself.

"What did you call me?!" Asuka demanded.

Misato cleared her throat, causing the kids to look at her. The captain turned to the blue haired girl beside her. "Rei, why don't you try it with Shinji?"

"Yes, ma'am." Rei replied without any emotion to her voice. She went up and took Asuka's place. She put the headphones on and waited for Shinji to match the pose.

The music started and the pair began to move in perfect harmony. Every step was perfectly in synch, much to the chagrin of Asuka. "Fine! See if I care!" She turned and ran out of the apartment, tears coming from around her eyes.

Toji looked on in amazement. "Wow. Even the devil may cry."

Shinji looked dumbfounded after the departing brunette.

"Go after her!" Hikari demanded.

His head snapped around to the class rep. "What? Why?"

"You made her cry!"

The boy shrugged and started to leave. Ranma put a hand on his shoulder. "Let me go first. Then you can apologize."

He nodded dumbly. "Okay."

Ranma left the apartment complex and followed Asuka's chi signature. It was easy to find these pilots. Especially when they were upset. He wondered if second impact had something to do with it. He found her at the convenience store next door (the place where Misato usually buys her beer). The pilot was crouched in front of an open freezer door, staring blankly at the cans of beer beyond.

She felt another presence behind her and thought whom it might be. "Let me guess: I've got to pilot the EVA, I've got no choice."

"You do have a choice."

She jumped when she heard the older man's voice. She had expected Shinji to come running after her. After all, wasn't she the damsel in distress? Wasn't he supposed to say he's sorry?

"You can walk away right now and no one will think any less of you. Especially me. Shinji's told me how rough the piloting is. I wouldn't make anybody go through it if I could do it myself."

"So, it'll be up to wonderboy and wondergirl to save the day." She moped as she stared back at the wall of alcohol.

"I know you want a beer, but you're not in Germany any more. You can't have a beer until you're older. Now close that door and come walk with me."

She slowly nodded her head and followed his instructions.

They walked out of the store and down the street into a local park where small children were playing, oblivious to the danger of the angel. Their parents were standing to the side nervously looking about, listening to hear the sirens that would cause them to take their children to safety. Ranma led her over to a bench and told her to sit. She sat down and stared at her feet.

He sat heavily beside her. He had watched the fire that burned in her and it reminded him of himself. The outfit didn't help. He could almost see himself sixteen again in girl form. Granted Asuka was a couple years younger than that, but the same burning desire was there. He took a deep breath. "Why do you pilot EVA?"

She looked up, startled at the question. "To be the best of course!"

"The best at what?"

She looked at him like he was crazy. "The best at piloting, of course!"

He shook his head. "Nothing about saving the Earth or defending your loved ones?"

Taken aback by the question, she turned an embarrassed look to the ground. "Yeah, that stuff too."

"Don't say things you don't mean. You'll regret those words later." He looked up into the sky. "I used to be like you. I was determined to be the best martial artist in the world. I fought a lot of battles and not always for the right reasons."

"You won all of them, right?" She asked hopefully.

He turned a sad look to the young pilot. She was startled at the weary expression he wore on his face. This was not the face of the overconfident man she had been around the last three days. This wasn't the same man that argued with Misato until she or he dragged the other to the bedroom to keep her and Shinji up all night by making love at obscene volumes. This was a man who had seen too much conflict, too much pain. Suddenly she knew that he had more scars than the one on his chest. He let out a heavy sigh. "I always won when it counted. Most the times when I fought to prove my own superiority, I lost. I always had to fight them again to keep them from taking advantage of others by their win over me. The whole cycle could have been avoided if I hadn't of fought for the wrong reasons in the first place."

He lifted her face so that her eyes looked into his. "Asuka, if you're fighting for personal glory, stop now. You'll only get others killed and you'll slowly kill yourself."

Tears started around her eyes. "But, what else am I going to fight for?"

"Fight for those you care about. Fight to defend your family." He answered simply.

She started to cry harder. "M-my father left my mother and I a long time ago. M-m-my mother killed herself on the day I found out I was going to be a pilot. I-I-I was so happy to be chosen, that when I saw her I swore I would be the best there is." Her blurry eyes bored into the martial artist. "I've got no family left!"

Ranma smirked at her. "How about if we give you a new family?"

"You can't just GIVE me a family." Her head dropped again.

The martial artist's face took on a seldom-used soft expression. "Well, I just happen to know of a dysfunctional family that could use a daughter and a sister."

Asuka's head snapped up. "Who are you talking about?"

"You've been living with them for three days now. Me and Misato have raised Shinji more than his father ever did. He's as much our kid as his. I don't see why you can't join us too."

"I-I don't know." She looked back down in doubt. "Shinji hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, but you could be a little nicer though."

"Huh?" She looked at him with yet another surprised glance.

"Yes. I used to be like you. I was horrible to others to try and push them away, but I came to care for them even as they cared for me. The further you push people the harder it is to get closer."

"Thank you, captain obvious." She commented wryly. "I still don't know."

"Then think about this." He pointed at the children at play. "See those kids playing out there, all happy and carefree."

She looked up. "Yeah, what about them?"

"Pilot for them. Pilot the EVA to defend their happiness. Defend their right to live without danger threatening them. Help them to keep their smiles. I'll tell you this. If I had been fighting to defend happiness, I would be a lot happier now."

Asuka nodded in understanding and stood up. She got a smug look on her face. "Aren't you happy with Misato?"

"Hey! This isn't about me!" He got defensive, and then started laughing when she started to crack along the edges of her expression. "Come on. You've got training to complete."

"Let's go!" She held up her hand with a fist in the air and then charge back toward the apartment.

Ranma smiled after her and took one last look at the children. "Fighting for happiness…man, I'm becoming a sap in my old age." He leapt up and bounced across a couple rooftops and started bounded up the wall of the apartment complex. He was already back in and seated when Asuka came in the door.

Shinji saw Asuka and bowed slightly to her. "I'm sorry, for whatever I did."

"Come on, Third Child. Stop groveling, it's time to kick butt!"

They both went back to their training with renewed vigor. Two more days flew past with leaps in their progress. On the eve of the angel attack, they were ready!

It was the night before D-day and all through the house, not a creature was bitching, not even a louse. Shinji was amazed how well Asuka and he were getting along these last two days. She hummed as she came out of the restroom in her bedclothes. Shinji looked up and noticed that she was actually quite a beautiful young woman. He was amazed at how sexy she looked. He squashed that thought and cleared his throat. "Misato and Ranma are going to be at headquarters all night."

"Really?" She smiled at him with her cocky grin. She went to grab her futon to haul it to her room, but stopped as she touched it. They still had to do everything in synch if everything was to go well tomorrow. She just lifted the blanket and climbed in. Shinji quickly rolled over away from her. "Shinji?"

"Yes?"

"Do you hate me?"

His brow furrowed for a second. "No." He replied in a confused tone.

"Good." She turned over and went to sleep.

Shinji rolled back over trying to see her face, trying to figure out what kind of game she was playing, but all he saw was her back as she slept peacefully on her side. "Weird." He shook his head and rolled over to go to sleep himself.

At that moment at NERV headquarters. Kaji was in an elevator with Misato. Currently he was standing behind her with one hand around her waist and the other holding one arm over their heads. Obviously he had countered one of her slaps with a deep passionate kiss.

"Stop!" Misato finally pushed him away. "It's over between us!"

He smiled his roguish grin that had won her heart in college. "But your lips didn't say no. Which should I trust, your lips or your words?"

She slapped him across the face. "Never do that again. I'm in love with Ranma now. There's nothing more we have to say to each other."

"But has he said he loves you?" He asked in a confident tone. He had a very good idea of what the answer would be.

"In not as many words." Misato replied.

"How many less words can you get than three? Three simple words."

She scowled at him. "Well, you could never say those three words."

The elevator opened to Ranma. He saw the disheveled look of Misato and the handprint on Kaji's face. The martial artist's face hardened into a look of pure hate. He lifted his right hand and the palm began to glow. Suddenly, Misato remembered what Ranma had done on his first day to Tokyo three. He had used this power to pierce an AT field!

"Stop! Don't kill him!" Misato tried to pull his hand down to no avail.

"Why?" Ranma quizzed her with a cold voice.

"My paperwork is still in the floor of the elevator. I don't want to have to redo those reports!"

That wasn't the response that Ranma was expecting. He lowered his hand and looked her in the face with a confused glance. His mistake. He saw the smile on her face, and the anger bled away. They both started laughing.

Meantime, Kaji had taken the opportunity to pick up the papers. He handed them to Misato. "I'm sorry, you're right. I'll never touch you again." He stepped back into the elevator.

"You get a reprieve this time, you won't be so lucky next time." Ranma growled.

Kaji smirked back at him. "I'm always lucky." The doors shut cutting off any further conversation.

The next day, Units One and Two were loaded onto the catapults, ready to rumble. Misato looked at the two on the view screen with a proud look on her face. Ranma stood at one side of the room, alternating between glaring at Kaji at the other side of the room and smiling at the children on the screen.

Misato stood tall. "Don't forget to spread your AT fields as soon as the music starts."

Asuka smiled back. "Don't worry, we know. Full power! Maximum performance! You got everything, Third Child?"

"I've got everything, 'Second Child'. We'll be done in sixty-two seconds."

Misato smiled at her two charges. "All right. EVA LAUNCH!"

At her shout the two Evangelions were launched to the surface. At the same instant the cats shot the robots upward, the music that the pair had been listening to all week began playing over all the P.A.S. Ranma smiled his cocky grin in anticipation.

The angel, one mass once more, was walking toward downtown Tokyo-3. Just as it approached the two EVAs were launched into the air. They each threw long energy blades that split the angel in half. It quickly reformed into the two separate angels.

The robots landed in front of the monster and delivered an uppercut followed by an axe kick. The angels landed, righted themselves, and opened fire with energy beams at the EVA. The pair leapt up and over the beams ala Saotome School leaping techniques.

In the control room Kaji looked at Ranma. "That wasn't in the script." The martial artist just shrugged and smiled.

The Evangelions landed to either side of the angels and double hammered them toward each other. The original angel formed again. The EVAs did a back flip to the top of a building and then leapt straight up in to the air. They began to twist in the air on descent. Both of the EVA's feet impacted on the reformed angel's core. Striking both halves at once. With a shower of sparks, the angel's core exploded!

Asuka's and Shinji's moves were in perfect unison. They had danced to the music in a perfectly harmonized step. They had done it. Unit One stood over a knelling Unit Two. The remains of the abomination's corpse were laying flat below. Unit One offered Unit Two a hand up. The red Evangelion took the hand, even though it wasn't really necessary.

The two pilots maneuvered their robots back into the launch gantries for retraction.

The command center became a roar as everyone cheered the overwhelming success. Even Fuyutsuki cracked a smile. Ranma saw Kaji and smiled from the other side of ops. "I'll let you live…for now." The other man just grinned that cocky smile of his.

That night at the Saotome/Katsuragi/Ikari/Soryu residence, they decided to have small celebration. Misato was getting blitzed and Ranma decided to have a beer as well. The two children were chattering away.

"It was all thanks to MY Unit Two that this victory was made possible!" Asuka was bragging.

"Hey! You didn't do it by yourself, you know!" Shinji got up in her face. "If I wasn't there you would have been planted in the ground again!"

"I would not have!"

"Yes, you would!"

"NOT!"

"WOULD!"

The situation just degenerated from there. Both Ranma and Misato took long pulls of their drinks. "Welcome to the family." Ranma commented in a low voice.

Misato looked at him. "What?"

"Nothing."

Chapter Seven "Under Pressure"

Ranma paced across the living room with his hands behind his back, his face knotted in anger. He stomped back and forth almost putting holes in the floor while Misato just shook her head as she lounged on the couch. The martial artist rounded on the captain. "How could you let her be alone with that guy?" He demanded.

Misato rolled her eyes, trying to keep her own temper in control. "I keep telling you, it's perfectly safe. He wouldn't do anything to her. He's over twice her age for God's sake!"

"I don't trust the guy." Ranma rounded on her. "He has too many secrets, and he could be VERY dangerous. I don't care if you used to date him, I don't like him being alone with Asuka!"

"Would you sit down?!" She stood up, grabbed his hand, and hauled him back onto the couch. "They're only going clothes shopping! Like I said before, he won't do anything to her, he's just being nice to her. She's just a little girl with a crush, and he's placating her ego for a little while."

"I don't trust him!" He protested.

Misato shook her head and took her new favorite seat in the house, Ranma's lap. He frowned at her as usual, but still didn't try to push her off. She reached up and ruffled his hair. "Did I ever tell you how cute your paternal instinct is?"

"I'm trying to be serious here!" He practically yelled at her.

Her grip tightened on his hair, causing his head to cock to the side in pain. "And I keep trying to tell you, that there is NOTHING to worry about!" She released her grip on his raven strands of hair. "Besides, you have plenty of secrets of your own that you haven't even told ME!" She snorted derisively. "Too many secrets indeed! Pot this is Kettle…" Ranma made to open his mouth and she quickly stopped any more words with a kiss. She pulled back and looked at him. "If you're going to be worried about the kids, then you best worry about what's important, like their grades. Both of their grades have been dropping. Shinji's even been falling asleep in class again! I thought I told you to let him get plenty of sleep!"

"Hey!" Ranma began to get defensive. "I've been letting him get plenty of sleep! I can't help it if school is boring! I fell asleep in class all the time! It never hurt me!"

"Somehow I doubt that." She commented snidely. "Anyway, I'm going to have to take them off their class trip to Okinawa. They need to catch up on their studies, and they need to be here in case of angel attack."

Ranma looked to the side where Asuka had already packed some of her bags. He noticed that Shinji's bags were nowhere to be seen. "You'll break the girl's heart. She has been wanting to go diving for some time."

Misato smirked at him. "Sometimes you have to be hard on your kids. Even when they're adopted." She added the last part when Ranma started to protest about them not being a family. Misato knew that he treated the children like they were his own, but he couldn't admit it aloud without seeming to stain his honor. She had managed to get that much information out of him. She accepted it and made sure that the kids knew about it, that way they could all be a family, even with Ranma's audible denial.

The captain cradled the martial artist's chin in her hand. "Now are you finished wasting our afternoon off? We've only got a couple more hours left until Shinji gets back from headquarters and Asuka gets back from shopping. Let's see if we can't find better ways to spend our time." He rolled his eyes as she locked lips with him again, but his arms still encircled her waist as he returned the kiss.

The front door slid open at that point and Shinji strode into the room. He took one look at the pair on the couch and shook his head. "You two do have a room for that, you know." He slung his bag over his shoulder and went back to his own room.

"Drat!" Misato thought. "I wanted to spend some 'quality time' with Ranma this afternoon, and Shinji picks today to be back early from his synch tests!" She heard the door slide closed on Shinji's room, and her thoughts continued. "Of course he's probably in there listening to his Walkman…he wouldn't notice a little extra background noise." She leaned into Ranma as he tried to get up, causing him to plop back down on the couch. She broke the kiss and looked into his deep blue eyes. "You're not going anywhere mister! I mean to enjoy my afternoon off, even if you don't!" She pulled his head in for another kiss…

SLAM! "I'm home!" Asuka's voice rang through the apartment.

…and quickly broke it off. The blue/black haired woman swore under her breath. "There goes my afternoon off." She growled to where only Ranma could hear.

Asuka nearly skipped into the front room carrying her shopping bags. She saw her guardian sitting on the lap of her roommate/he-won't-admit-lover. She rolled her eyes and turned toward her room. "You know, you two have a room for that!"

Misato groaned, threw up her hands in surrender, and jumped up off of Ranma. "Well since you're both here, you might as well hear the bad news! Get Shinji and sit down at the dinner table. I've got something important to tell you."

A short time later…

"WHAT?!" Asuka protested loudly. "How can you do this to us! We deserve a VACATION! Everyone else gets to go!"

Misato glared at her from across the table. "Did you guys really think that I wouldn't find out about your grades? You guys are on permanent alert in case of angel attack, and I advise you to use this time to catch up on your studies."

The auburn haired half-German spun around toward Shinji. "Aren't you going to say something?!" She demanded.

Shinji shrugged. "Actually, I kinda expected it. It would be a good chance for me to catch up on my physics."

Asuka started to grind her teeth in frustration.

Misato exhaled a put-upon sigh. "If you're so hot for going diving, why don't you two go to the pool at headquarters? You two can study, swim or whatever. Rei should be down there exercising. You all could get to know one another better. You should know about you're entire team."

Shinji's gaze whipped up to Misato. "Does that mean that they're going to try and activate Unit 00 again? Are all the repairs complete?"

Misato nodded her head. "They're going to try the reactivation tomorrow. She should be ready for the next angel." Shinji smiled in response.

Asuka felt a stab of jealousy at the smile, but quickly pushed it out of mind. She didn't care one way or the other about the baka third child, did she? She stifled that thought faster than the jealousy. She shook her head and grabbed Shinji by the back collar of his shirt. "Let's go Shinji before they make us stay home from that too!"

"HEY!" Shinji protested, as he was drug out of the room. The kids quickly gathered their things and were out the door.

Ranma sighed from where he was leaning against the refrigerator. "They do need a vacation, you know. They are only kids, not real soldiers."

Misato pushed slowly away from the table and turned to face him. "I'll make it up to them somehow. Their studies and the safety of Tokyo-3 come first in front of vacation time."

"I just don't want them to become burnt out and forget what they're fighting for." Ranma's eyes narrowed. "Bad things tend to happen when you lose sight of that."

"Shh…Enough of that." She placed two fingers over his lips. "Now where were we when the kids came in and interrupted…" She leaned in for another kiss, and other things.

The phone on the wall started to ring. She tried to ignore it until the answering machine piped up. "Captain Katsuragi. We have a situation you need to attend to immediately!"

"DAMN!" She swore violently as she turned to go change into her uniform.

Ranma smirked at her frustration, but frowned when he realized that he had actually been looking forward to finishing what she had started. He sighed and began to gather his ID's for NERV headquarters.

Back at NERV headquarters, Shinji was sitting at a table beside the pool, looking back and forth between Rei swimming in a white one-piece and his computer screen. He was finding hard to really concentrate on his homework while the lithe blue-haired girl swam through the water.

"Hel-lo Shinji!" Came a cheerful voice to his right.

He turned his head and came face-to-breast with Asuka. She was wearing a red and white striped bikini and was leaning over the table. He was suddenly glad he decided to keep his jeans on as he stifled the blood that almost came from his nose.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a brilliant smile.

He quickly swung his gaze back to his computer screen. "I'm trying to work on my physics. I'm just having a little trouble with this set of problems."

She stepped around and leaned over him and began typing on his laptop, causing her bosom to sway beside his face. "Oh, Thermal expansion? This is child's play." She began to type away furiously with one hand, finishing the problems perfectly in a few seconds.

"How can you do that and being doing so bad in school?" He asked with a look of confusion on his face.

"Oh these are nothing compared to the problems I had to solve in college." Asuka straightened and put her hand on her hip in a confident stance.

"You went to college?" Shinji looked up at her in amazement.

"I already have my degree. I just don't know all of my kanji. I don't even know why Misato enrolled me into the school system." She waved her hand in an exasperated motion.

"May…Maybe I could help you with that." Shinji slowly offered.

She turned and smiled at him, beamed actually. "I think I would like that, but for right now…you're done with your homework." Her grin turned evil at the last phrase.

"Wha?" Was all Shinji had the time to get out before Asuka hauled him out of the chair and hip threw him out into the middle of pool a-la Saotome School Martial Arts.

She started laughing from the side. "You're all wet Shinji!" She yelled out. She was so glad to finally get the best of the boy.

Just as she was about to sprain her elbow from patting herself on the back, Shinji shot out of the water, landed behind her, and planted a stomp kick in her back, sending her flying into the water. The only thing going through her mind was, "Since when has he been able to jump like that?"

"Now who is all wet?" He chuckled from the side. He threw back his head and let out an enormous laugh, but it was cut short as a hand shot out and pulled his body into the water by his ankle. The two started to wrestle and dunk each other in the water.

They both froze when they heard someone leaving the water near them. They both turned and saw Rei standing by the pool staring at them as she dried her hair. She never spoke, but her whole demeanor screamed, "Disgraceful." She finished drying and turned to leave.

Shinji and Asuka separated quickly. Putting as much distance between each other as they could. Shinji jumped out of the water and went for a towel. Asuka smirked at him from the water. "I guess we know who is the queen of the ocean is? You could never take me in the water!"

Shinji smirked. He held up a small bit of red and white cloth. "Really?"

Asuka's jaw dropped to the water as she looked down and found her top missing. "PERVERT!" She screamed as she rushed to cover herself. He just smirked an exact copy of Ranma's trademark cocky grin and tossed the top into the water over his shoulder as he turned and left.

Back at Central Dogma, Gendou was seated at a table of light surrounded by several other men at similar tables. They ranged across several nationalities and ages, although none were under forty. Fuyutsuki stood beside the director of NERV's shoulder as usual. Gendou gave his report of what they had discovered in the magma of a mountain several miles away, an angel in the chrysalis stage of development. They hoped to capture the specimen for study.

"Are sure that is wise Ikari?" Asked a man with a nose swooped out and low like an eagle's beak.

"It is the best situation we could hope for. It will give us a chance to study a pre-mature angel. We could find a way to prevent them from maturing, and it may also give us the ability to find them long before they attack."

"But will you be able to contain such a creature?" asked a rather plain looking man with brown hair and a thick mustache.

"We have constructed an electromagnetic containment grid that we believe should be able to restrain the angel and stunt its development."

A man sat at the other end of the room wearing a large visor that covered everything on his face above his nostrils. He seemed the apparent leader of this gathering. "I just hope that we do not see a repeat of the last time we tried to study an angel in captivity, or do I need to remind you of second impact?"

Ikari frowned behind his bridged fingers. "No, you don't. I assure you that we have learned our lessons since then."

"Then proceed with the operation Ikari, but if you fail, not even God will be able to protect you. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly."

The leader smiled and leaned back. "Then the meeting is adjourned." All the other people faded except for Gendou and his flunky.

Fuyutsuki looked down at Gendou. "Are you sure we can do this?"

Gendou smiled. "We will do what is necessary. Captain Katsuragi is on her way to the site at this very minute. Let's go and see to our other projects." He stood and the two men left the chamber and walked down the hall for the elevator.

After the pair's passing, Ranma faded into sight. He face was creased in a frown. He was torn between following Gendou to these 'other projects' and his desire to protect Misato at the volcano. He looked down at the clipboard in his hand at the descriptions he had scribbled down and was satisfied that he had sufficient detail to find out who all the members of Seele really were. That may or may not give him more insight into Human Instrumentality Project, but it definitely didn't hurt to know who was backing and halfway controlling NERV. Of course Ranma knew who was really in charge of NERV's operations, and the scumbag had just taken the elevator to lower dogma. Ranma tucked his notepad into his uniform jacket and turned to leave. He rounded a corner and saw Kaji leaning against one of the walls.

"Been busy, I see." Kaji smiled a knowing grin.

Ranma gave him a dangerous glare and turned his gaze back to the hallway and continued walking.

"We can be enemies, or we can be allies. It's your choice. We are after the same thing." Kaji commented in a matter-of-fact tone.

The martial artist continued to walk down the hall. "Stop playing with Asuka's feelings. I don't want to see the girl's feelings hurt."

"Paternal instincts?" Kaji smirked his insufferable grin.

Ranma didn't answer as he turned the next corner and strode to the elevator.

A couple hours later, Misato and Ranma were in the command center of the volcano research facility. At the current moment, Misato was standing over the technician controlling a probe that was being lowered slowly into the depths of the lava. Ranma stood at the back wall with his arms crossed. Misato and Ranma's faces were both deadly serious.

"Approaching five hundred feet." The technician was reporting. "All systems functional.

"Keep going." Misato's voice was controlled and even.

"Approaching one thousand feet." The tech reported a few minutes later. "I feel obligated to tell you that this is crash depth for this probe. Any further and it will be destroyed."

Misato frowned at the man. "Keep going. NERV will pay for any damages."

"You're so sure of that?" Ranma commented from the wall.

Misato turned her scowling face on him. For the first time since he had met her, she looked dangerous. There was a gleam in her eye that promised dire consequences for anyone who got in her way. "NERV WILL pay for it." She turned back to the board. "Keep going."

Ranma shook his head. He couldn't figure out what had come over her. "She can't be that mad about this afternoon. Can she?" He thought. "No. I've seen her frustrated before; this is different. Something else is wrong." He narrowed his eyes as he watched her closer.

"Twelve hundred feet. The hull is failing!"

A sound like tin foil being wadded up came over the audio pickups, and the signal from the probe stopped. Misato turned to where Hyuga Makoto had his laptop plugged into one of the interface terminals. "Did you get the reading?"

The NERV operations officer nodded his head. "Pattern: Blue."

Misato turned back to the other occupants of the room. "This facility is commandeered by NERV. We will begin operations to capture the angel at once! Hyuga, signal Ritsuko and have her get the kids ready." He nodded and did as she asked.

Some time later back at the headquarters, Ritsuko was looking over the data on her clipboard and giving the details of the mission while Asuka changed into her new plug suit. The auburn-haired girl depressed the button on her left wrist and the red suit sucked in to conform to the shape of her body. "I don't see any difference between this suit and my regular plug suit."

Ritsuko didn't look up from her clipboard. "Hit the button on your left wrist."

Asuka hit the button on her opposite wrist and the suit blew up like a crimson beach ball. "Waaaaahhhh! I can't move like this!" She screamed.

"Calm down. The suit is designed to compensate for the increased pressure you will experience when you will be lowered through the lava." Ritsuko took some notes on her board.

"Shouldn't we be more worried about the heat? That IS molten lava down there!" Asuka tried to waddle out from in between two lockers she had fallen back into.

"You don't have to worry about that with your AT field. It can handle the heat and a lot of pressure, but not the amount of weight that a thousand feet of molten rock can put on you." She tucked the board under her arm and stifled a grin when she saw the child struggling for movement. "Come on. The others are waiting." She turned to leave and a dejected teenager followed behind her.

Asuka didn't like the fact that she was going to be the hero this time looking like the Goodyear blimp. She mumbled a few curses about you're supposed to look good when saving the world as the door opened where Shinji and Rei were waiting in their normal plugsuits and Kaji was leaning over a railing, smiling at her. She looked around at her EVA and it had been incased in it's own bulbous pressure suit. It looked like the deep sea diver suits from the early twentieth century.

"AHHH!" She jumped back through the doorway and slammed it shut.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes and opened the door back up. "What is your problem?"

"I can't let Sh-, uh Kaji see me like THIS!" She pointed at the overly inflated suit. "And look what you did to my Unit Two! He looks like a reject from an old underwater horror movie!"

The doctor gave her a stern look. "Well, you going to have to swallow your pride about your appearance and accept the type D equipment on your EVA. Otherwise you won't be going on this mission."

"I can pilot Unit Two."

Neither of the women had noticed that the blue-haired pilot had walked up on them. Asuka looked at Rei and growled. "No! Unit Two is MINE! You can't touch it!" She leapt to her feet, wavered a little, and wobbled her way to her Evangelion.

"Ah, good. I would have been so disappointed if I hadn't have seen you in action." Kaji commented with a roguish smile from the landing.

Asuka gave him a weak smile and walked by Shinji. "So where will you be, third child?"

"Hey, I paid attention to the mission brief." He smiled at her. "Unlike you, obviously. I'll be your backup on shore." His face shifted to serious. "I won't let anything happen to you." Asuka got a brilliant smile on her face. "It's a martial artist's duty to protect the weak."

Her smile quickly turned to a scowl as she turned and stormed up the ramp toward her EVA. Shinji scratched his head in confusion.

Everyone was transported to the volcano in the massive flying wings. Several UN fighters flew over while the robots were being put into place. Shinji watched from the cockpit of his evangelion. "Well it's nice to see the United Nations decided to work with us this time."

"They're not here to help." Misato's image appeared on his heads up display. "They're here in case we fail. If anything goes wrong, they've been ordered to drop an N2 mine and pacify the area."

Shinji's eyebrows shot up and his eyes went wide. "That will kill all of us! What kind of idiot ordered that?"

"Commander Ikari."

The boy could almost hear Ranma's teeth grinding in the background of the conversation. "So are we ready to begin?"

"I'm ready!" Asuka's image appeared next to Misato's, large suit in all. Her voice was a mixture of confidence and playfulness. "Let's get this over with. I still need to show the third child what a REAL pilot can do!" Shinji snorted at that.

Back at the command center Misato shook her head. "Let's get this show on the road, the clock is ticking. We need to capture the angel in the electromagnetic cage or destroy it if that fails. COMMENCE OPERATION!" She shouted the last and everyone around her jumped into action.

At the site, Unit two was being lowered by a huge crane into the red-hot magma by five massive cables. The cable served a double purpose of coolant ducting as well as ascent and descent. Unit One watched from the rim of the volcano crouched on one knee, ready for action.

Back in the command center, Hyuga had taken over the seat the probe operator had used before. "Passing five hundred feet. Everything normal."

"Proceed." Misato had the grave look on her face again.

A couple minutes passed. "Passing one thousand feet. Pressure is close to nominal."

"Keep lowering. We're not leaving until we hit angel." Misato crossed her arms and watched the video display. "How are you doing, Asuka?"

"I'm hot and I need a shower!" She complained, but there was no need in her voice. She acted like she was complaining about a summer day.

Misato cracked a small smile. "There's a hot springs nearby. I'll take you there after we have an angel."

"Okay!" The child's voice came back excitedly.

"Passing twelve hundred feet. Pressure levels approaching redline."

Misato went back to a neutral expression. Ranma, on the other hand, was starting to look a little nervous. "Shouldn't you be a little more worried about Asuka? We don't really know how much that suit can take."

"Asuka will be fine. Keep her going, Hyuga."

"Approaching fourteen hundred feet." A crunch came over the audio from the Evangelion. "The suit is taking damage. She lost her progressive knife."

"Asuka, are you all right." The captain's voice did not communicate any concern for the girl.

"I can keep going."

Hyuga cleared his throat. "This is where the angel should have drifted to by our calculations. We can't find it anywhere, captain."

Misato set her features again. "Keep going lower. We have to capture or destroy that angel. We are not quitting until one or the other occurs."

Hyuga nodded his head and turned back to the operation. Ranma stepped up and put a hand on Misato's shoulder. "Can I have a word with you for a moment." He kept his voice low to make sure their conversation wasn't completely public.

"Not now, Ranma." The words from her mouth sounded irritated and condescending in the same breath.

"It's important." He insisted.

"I said, 'not now'." She hissed. "Nothing is more important than the angel right now."

"Not even Asuka?"

"What do you mean?" Her voice didn't seem to lose any of its edge as she continued to watch the monitor.

"You can't keep driving her lower like this. She isn't a probe you can crunch and have NERV buy a new one. She's a child."

"She knows the risks."

"Yes, but are you ready to sacrifice her?"

Misato's teeth began to grind. "Don't bother me right now, Ranma. I've got to take care of this. We can talk philosophy later." The tone of her voice became a bit louder to where everyone knew that something was going on between the pair.

"Misato, I'm not going to let you kill Asuka!" His voice rose as well. "She's just a child!"

The captain whirled on him and jabbed her finger into his chest. "She's a soldier! She knows the risks and accepts them!"

"She's just a little girl!"

"The angels must be stopped at ANY cost! As far as stopping the angels are concerned, SHE'S EXPENDABLE AS LONG AS SHE GETS THE JOB DONE!" She shouted the last, and immediately wished she could take back all the words of their conversation.

Ranma blinked at her as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes went wide and his mouth formed a small 'o'. He took a step back as if she were carrying plague. He turned and strode out of the room like a man dazed.

"Ranma." Her heart dropped as she reached for the door he had just walked out of. She started to step forward to go after him, but Hyuga captured her attention again.

"We've got the angel chrysalis on our radar. We're only going to get one shot at this captain. The currents will carry it away if we don't get it now."

"Go ahead with the capture operations." She managed to say in an audible enough tone. She slowly drew her hand back to herself and placed it over her heart. It suddenly felt cold and alone.

"Engaging electromagnetic cage." Asuka's voice snapped her back to the operation at hand. "Angel is detained."

The captain mouthed a quick prayer of thanks and went back to the console. "You all right, Asuka?"

From the display screen, Asuka gave her a thumbs up "Everything is A-Okay! We have nothing to fear, but fear itself." She exclaimed triumphantly.

"Bring it back up." Misato sighed in relief of at least one burden. "The sooner we get the angel up, the sooner we can go to the hot springs."

"OKAY!" Asuka's excited voice was followed by the sounds of everyone beginning the extraction process.

A loud groan came over the audio pickups. Hyuga excitedly began typing away at his computer. "We've got a problem. The angel is hatching!"

"No!" Misato cried as she put a hand on his shoulder to look onto his screen. "Can we contain it?"

"No, Ma'am. The containment field is strained as it is!"

"Asuka, jettison the cage!" Misato yelled into the com.

"No, I think I can hold it!" The girl protested.

"JETTISON, NOW!"

"Okay! Releasing electromagnetic cage."

On screen they watched the cage drift away through the EVA's external cameras. The cage shattered, and the angel was free. It looked like a cross between a squid and a porcupine. It didn't waste anytime as it immediately shot forward toward the Evangelion.

Below, Asuka dodged aside in time to miss taking the brunt of the angel's attack. Unfortunately, the angel passed close enough to sever two of the coolant lines. "Asuka!" Shinji's voice shouted over her communications array.

"I'm fine." She said hurriedly. "But I lost my prog-knife! I don't have anything to fight it with!"

"Hold on! I'll send you mine!" Shinji concentrated and felt where Asuka was. He wasn't sure how he did it, but he was sure that this was what Ranma was talking about when he talked about Chi-senses. He hauled back and threw his progressive knife into the lava, straight at her. "Incoming!"

Asuka deftly dodged several more attacks, but eventually the angel got past her defenses and latched onto her face plate and wrapped its tentacles around Unit Two. If it wasn't for the pressure suit, her EVA would have been crushed immediately, but even so, the structural integrity was failing fast. "Where's that knife?!" She asked excitedly.

"It should be right above you!" Shinji exclaimed.

Asuka checked her sonar and saw the knife was almost in her grasp. She reached out and grabbed it. "Ah-HA!" She quickly plunged the knife toward the angel's core. Unfortunately, the blade snapped before it penetrated the dense heart of the beast. "IT BROKE!" She shouted with panic in her voice.

"The shell must have developed because of the high pressure of its incubation environment." Shinji conjectured.

"Thanks, Einstein, but could you skip the biology and find some way to help!"

"Einstein! That's it! Physics!" Shinji exclaimed animatedly.

"Thermal expansion!" Asuka's done reflected his own. With her EVA's spare hand, she reached and grabbed one of the loose coolant lines and jabbed it into the angel's core. The dark sphere contracting on itself, and the monster started flailing wildly. She pulled the conduit out of the angel's heart, and it expanded quickly, so fast that it started to form stress fractures on it. Asuka quickly stabbed the remaining blade of the progressive knife into one of the cracks. Again the abomination flung its tentacles around wildly. With its last strength, it managed to sever the remaining cables on the Evangelion.

The EVA unit was being raised the whole time the fight had been occurring. Asuka knew that she wasn't far from the surface, but she might as well have been at the bottom of the volcano for all the good it did her. She looked down and saw the lifeless angel drifting away from her. "I've done it, but I'm done for." Her voice was detached and hollow. She knew she would die someday, she had just hoped it had been later rather than sooner.

Unit Two began to follow the angel into the abyss, but was suddenly halted. Asuka dazedly looked up and saw Unit One hanging with one hand above the surface and the other grasping the remains of the coolant tubing. She smiled a warm grin. "Shinji, you idiot. Quit showing off." Her voice had no hint of spite or tease. It contained nothing but gratitude and affection.

She could hear his smile as his voice came over her speakers. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you. Come on, Misato owes us a trip to the hot springs!"

Sometime later, the two Evangelions were stowed and shipped back to NERV headquarters. Ranma came over and congratulated Asuka on her victory. The two kids noticed something was immediately wrong when Misato joined them. There was a coldness between the couple that hadn't been there this afternoon. Misato gave much the same praise that Ranma did, but her tone was a little more subdued.

The tension built up thick enough to cut with a knife, so Shinji thought of a way to escape. "Hey! Let's get to that hot spring!"

Misato nodded. "Yes, I did promise. Let's go."

They all started to walk away, except for Ranma who just stood where he was. Asuka gave him a pleading look. "You're coming too, right?"

Ranma looked between her and Shinji and slowly nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm right behind you."

Later, at the nearby hot spring resort, Shinji and Ranma were getting ready when the owner called out that there was a package for them. Shinji went over and signed for it. "Who even knows we're here?" Ranma shrugged. The boy read the label. "It's from Kaji."

"Better make sure it's not ticking." Ranma commented aside.

Shinji popped open the top of the box and Pen-Pen's head popped up. The boy rolled his eyes and pointed toward the water. "The hot springs are that way." The penguin squawked a thanks and made his way there as fast as possible. The other two males just shrugged and followed.

Shortly they were all out in the hot water. The girl's side was uncharacteristically quiet and the boys had no conversation of their own. Shinji couldn't help but keep staring at the scar that traveled down Ranma's chest. The thing started just below his collarbones and traveled down past his bellybutton, widening to over two inches wide over his solar plexus. The older man noticed the attention and absently ran his finger down the length of the old wound.

Shinji swallowed. "How did…? Uh, what I mean is…" He fumbled for his words.

The martial artist sighed. "How did I get this? Is that what you want to know?" Shinji nodded. The older man took a deep breath. "There was a swordsman named Kuno Tatewaki. He was easily one of the top ten percent of the martial artists in the world. Unfortunately the other nine percent lived in his district, including me. We had many fights over the years, most of them one-sided to my advantage. I left Nerima and I thought that would be the last I ever saw of him."

He took a labored breath and continued the story. "Sometime after second impact, he caught up with me. I thought he'd still be a pushover so I didn't give him my full attention. My mistake. He had acquired a powerful magic blade that increased his skill exponentially. I moved and fought as hard as I could, but he managed to slice my chest open. If I hadn't been so skilled, it would have been more than just a large gash, but as it was I was starting to lose blood fast. I knew I would have to do something quick or I would die. I drew out all of Chi and concentrated it into a Moko Takabisha."

"Moko what?"

Ranma held up his hand and a ball of light formed. It shot forward and exploded on the surface of the water, scaring poor Pen-Pen half to death. "It's a Chi blast. When your training comes farther along, I'll show you. Anyway, I shot out a blast that I knew would kill him. It destroyed the sword and swordsman in one blow. I was bleeding bad afterward, if it wasn't for Ukyou I would have been a goner."

"Who's Ukyou?" Came Misato's voice from behind the wall that divided the women's from the men's side of the hot spring.

"An old friend." Ranma's voice was a little louder with a note of irritation. He was a little annoyed that the girls were eavesdropping, but he shrugged when he should have known. He continued on in his normal tone. "After that I mourned his death."

"But he was your enemy! He was trying to kill you!" Shinji pointed out.

"He was still a life. All life is precious to me. At that point I had only killed one other being and that was to save the life of the woman I loved. This time I had killed for no other reason than to selfishly save my own hide. That night the boy Saotome Ranma died and became the man." Ranma drew back his loose hair to the base of his skull in back. His hair came to a perfect flat end there. "When I was younger, I used to wear my hair in a pigtail, it was my trademark. When I became a man, I put childish things behind me. Sometimes when my hair gets too long I catch myself putting it back into the braid, but I cut it off again to remind me of what I had done. A human life is precious Shinji, I don't want you to ever forget that."

"Yet you seem to value every human life, but your own." Misato's voice came again from the other side.

Ranma angrily rapped his forearm against the partition. The wooden wall shook, but did not collapse. He heard two splashes of water that he guessed was the girls retreating away from the wall.

Some time passed and Misato's quiet voice came through again. "I got my scar in Antarctica when second impact occurred. My father was working on the project when it blew up and destroyed the world. I hated my father because I thought that he loved his work more than his family. Then he used the last of his energy to make sure I was saved. I was wounded, but he still gave up everything for me. He did love me, but I never returned it. I vowed to destroy the angels that day." Her voice trailed off and Ranma's face hardened.

Over the course of the next few weeks a tension built up in the apartment they all shared. Ranma's shift's suddenly changed to where he and Misato were never at home at the same time. Whenever she worked days, he worked nights, and vice versa, even when Misato's schedule 'suddenly changed'. It seemed that Ranma was always two steps ahead of her and never working anywhere near her. The kids were beginning to wonder what was going on. They deduced that the two had fought, but they couldn't imagine what could be so bad that the pair couldn't 'kiss and make up'.

Ranma still continued their training, in fact the training seemed to be harder than ever. All of the sudden they seemed to be able to jump to heights they could only dream of before. Shinji had already been well on his way, but Asuka was closing on him fast. Ranma pushed himself ten times as much as the children. He threw himself into his work and his training. Yet sometimes he would disappear for days at a time. Everyone started to get worried.

About a month after the magma dive, Ranma was pacing down the corridor. He was looking straight ahead like a man with a lot on his mind. Today had been a fairly lazy day. Everyone else for the most part were out taking care of chores like laundry, etc that had been stacking up in between crises. He walked up to the elevator and pressed the down button.

"Ranma!" Came Misato's voice from over his shoulder.

He continued to ignore her until the elevator opened and he stepped in. He turned and faced her with a hard look. He jabbed the 'close door' button.

Just before the two doors could meet, Misato's fingers caught in between and the doors opened. She stood in the path of the doors with her arms crossed as he tried stared her down with a glare. He stepped forward trying to walk out around her.

"Oh no you don't!" She put a hand on his chest and shoved him into the elevator. She followed shortly after and the door closed. She hit the button for central dogma command level and turned back to him. "We're going to talk this out."

"Talk about what?" He was still glaring at her.

"About us." She cried out. Her voice contained a bit of desperation. "Ranma, I'm sorry I said what I did, but this is hardly fair!"

"How can there be an us when I don't know you?" His voice had an edge that cut her to the core.

"What are you talking about?! Of course you know me!"

"I'm not talking in the biblical sense, I'm talking about you as a person. You were willing to sacrifice a child in your ambition to destroy that angel." His voice was almost a growl.

"I don't know what came over me! Ranma, I'm sorry! I'll make it up to you and Asuka, just give me another chance!"

"Another chance for what? Your obsession to get us killed again?"

"What are you talking about?" Her voice was genuinely confused.

He glared down into her eyes. "Your obsession with killing the angels. When you were talking at the springs I finally put two and two together. You've been obsessed with angels since your father died. You'll do anything, hurt anyone to kill them!"

"But they have to be destroyed! They'll kill us all!" She cried out desperately.

"What happens when you kill them all, and there is no one else left afterward? What do you do when you killed everyone else to save the world? Do the ends justify the means? Can you honestly tell me that the life of the many, or even one, is worth it? Is it worth the life of a child?"

"Yes." She choked out as tears started to roll down her cheeks.

"You're no better then Gendou."

As if to punctuate his statement, the lights dimmed and the elevator stopped in the shaft. The only light came from the self-illuminated emergency lights. Misato fell to her butt and hugged her knees to her face to hide her tears.

Ranma looked around wildly. "What's going on? This shouldn't happen! We've got backups for the backups, don't we?"

"Yes." Misato choked out. "It should come on any minute." She paused a little bit and spoke again between her tears. "Take it back. Please, take it back."

"What?" He wasn't even looking at her anymore.

"Please. I'm not a heartless bastard like that. I care about Asuka and Shinji. I won't leave them out in the cold." She looked up at his back. "It was a mistake to talk like that at the volcano. Ranma, give me another chance, please."

"I don't know…" He shook his head. "I can't overlook something like that."

Misato's expression quickly turned to anger. "What? You can't overlook MY obsession, but you expect me to overlook ALL of YOURS?!"

He spun around on her with his brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

She stood up on her tiptoes and glared into his face. "You and your obsessions! Your martial arts, your stupid marriage arrangement, and your inability to spend money! Everything you do has to do with martial arts! You eat, sleep, and breathe it!" He took a step back as she continued her tirade. "And that STUPID arrangement your father made! You had no choice in the matter! Why do you let that get in the way of your being happy? Of us being happy?! And don't get me started on your money! I did a little digging and found out you make four times as much as I do! You almost make more than the commander! After looking a little further, I found out what Kaji had been talking about that 'sizeable amount' that you had been paid off to never compete in a martial arts competition again! You have over ten million American dollars! Why are you sharing an apartment with three other people and living in a warzone?!"

Throughout the rant Ranma had been steadily backing until his back hit the elevator door. He opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "Don't talk to me about the splinter in my eye, when you ignore the two by four in your own!" He dropped his gaze and looked away. "What so important? Why do you keep doing these things? You could run away and live happily anywhere else. Why do you stay here and live like this?"

"Honor." He breathed out. He slowly met her eyes again. "My true obsession." He managed to get out before she could say any more. He stepped out from in front of her and sat down against the opposite wall. "Shouldn't the lights be operational again?" He asked absently.

Misato sighed. "They should have. Something must have happened. The facility has three backups and only one possibility comes to mind."

"Sabotage." The one word seemed to sum it all up for both of them.

Misato sat down opposite Ranma and tried to relax. The silence seemed to stretch into hours. The elevator seemed to get a little warmer as the air ceased to circulate. Ranma stirred a bit. "Things just got worse."

"What?" The captain looked up at him. His head was still down. "What could possibly be worse?"

"There's another angel coming." He stood up. "We can't stay here. We have to do something."

Misato did the hardest thing she ever had to do in her life. She stood, walked forward, and pulled Ranma back to a sitting position. "Please, stay."

He looked into her eyes. "Why? Don't you need to be up there commanding the battle?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm trying to take the first step here. We're going to stay here and trust everyone else to do what is required. The kids have emergency manuals and we have battery packs for the EVAs. We're going to sit this one out. I'm going to try and get past my obsession and so are you. Please? It's important to me."

He nodded his head. "Okay." He relaxed a little.

Silence reigned again, and the heat seemed to increase. Misato took her jacket off and laid it aside. More time passed and Ranma removed his shirt. She fought desperately for something to talk about. "Why don't you spend that money?"

Ranma looked up at her. "How DID you find out about that?"

"You'd be surprised how many sites on the Internet idolize you and every event in your life. Most people out there thought that when you disappeared off the martial arts scene that you had taken that money and bought an island off the coast of Japan where you were training your own personal army." She took another breath. "You didn't answer my question."

He sighed. "Actually all my obsessions are related. Martial Arts has always been the core of who I am, and what my family is. The marriage was supposed to reunite the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. I walked out on that. I couldn't go through with the commitment, but I couldn't spit on it either. I couldn't destroy both of our families' honors. I can't marry anyone else, or it's gone completely. As to why I've been hoarding all my money and not spending more than I have to, well, to be honest I'm trying to buy out the obligation."

Misato gave him a puzzled expression. "What?"

"I figured out how much a great dojo brings in over the lifetime of one teacher and multiplied it by ten. That's how much I intend to make and give back to the Tendos. If I give them that, I'm hoping they'll release me from my obligations. Then I can do as I want." He looked up and she saw pain in his expression. "I just want to be free. I've broken the rest of the chains that bind me. I only have the largest to go."

The woman with the blue/black hair crossed over and hugged him close. "You carry a great burden. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, but we all have our baggage."

She lifted his face to meet her eyes. "Ranma, I'll ask one more time. Can you please forgive me? I've missed you so much. I love you, and being without you really hurts! I don't want to be alone anymore."

He looked back at her with a neutral expression. "You'll have the kids."

She took his head in both her hands. "They're OUR kids. We're raising them. They are as much ours as their biological parents. Gendou has signed over all of Shinji's rights to me, and Asuka has no other family. Ranma, forgive me so that we can be a family again. You don't have to marry me, just be there for me and the children."

The stone around his heart began to crack as tears lined her purple eyes. He ran a hand through her hair. "Misato, I forgive you, but I won't let anyone endanger the children needlessly again."

She smiled back at him. "Fair enough." She kissed him slowly and lovingly on the mouth. "It's been over a month."

Ranma smiled. "We may be letting them handle things, but don't you think that's carrying things a little too far? The angel is right above us, and I haven't felt anything from the Evangelions."

"You can feel them as well as the angels?" She asked.

He nodded his head. "I've been doing some extra spying while we've been apart. The EVAs are alive somehow. They aren't just simple machines. Otherwise I could never sense them."

She nodded her head. "What can we do?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know where the kids are and I don't know how we'll get the EVAs going." A smile crossed his face.

"What?" She asked at the curious smile.

"It just became a moot point. Three EVAs just activated." He chuckled a bit.

Misato looked pleased. "Rei is with them too?" A smile crossed her face as well. "With three to one odds they can't lose!" Her grin took on a more seductive look. "So…can we? It's awfully hot in here…"

He returned the lecherous smile. "It IS rather hot. I think we need to get out of these hot clothes…"

A few hours later the lights came back on the elevator traveled a few floors. Ranma had felt the angel die, and it only served to keep him even more motivated. Ranma and Misato were basking in the afterglow of making love when the door suddenly opened. They made a mad scramble to get back into their clothes.

Ritusko and most of the rest of the NERV ops staff just stared. The blonde doctor shook her head and hissed, "Sex fiends."

Later on, they learned of how the children had stopped the angel from boring into central dogma with dropping acid. Asuka had come up with the plan. They had dropped their rifles, Asuka shielded while Rei passed a rifle to Shinji who fired and destroyed the threat. Through perseverance and teamwork, the kids had succeeded.

Ranma and Misato beamed pride at the children when they got home that night. They congratulated them until they were blue in the face. The children went to bed with happy smiles on their faces.

After they had gone to bed Misato crawled into Ranma's arms. "Maybe we should fool around more when the kids are out."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I don't think we should push our luck. They are kids after all. Let's just take one day at a time."

She gave him a deep, passionate kiss. "One day we'll all be free."

Chapter Eight "Futures and Pasts"

Time passes as it often does, seasons change and people grow. After the last angel battle, Ranma invited Rei to join in the afternoon training with the other pilots. After all, she was a part of the team. She did everything that she was told and managed to learn the moves fairly quickly, she just had trouble getting her body to do them. The nagging feeling came back to Ranma that she resembled Yui, but he just dismissed it as coincidence again. Shinji and Asuka excelled at their training; Shinji because of the head start that he had on everyone else, and Asuka because of the excellent physical shape she was in before she started training with Ranma. The fact that they both lived with him and were forced to join in his morning training had something to do with it as well.

Asuka and Shinji insisted on wearing the training outfits that Misato had bought them for the dual angel when they trained. Through the innate sense that all kids have, they knew it irritated their parental figure. Besides, the red silk Chinese shirts and black kung-fu pants were excellent for freedom of movement. Ranma still never wore his, but Misato wouldn't let him throw the outfit away. He got two steps toward the trashcan and she'd guilt trip him with cries of never appreciating what she does for him. He, of course, would grumble, complain, and insult her, but he'd put the clothes back in the closet they shared.

A few days afterward, Ranma took a couple days off work for a short training trip. He left the kids saying it was something he had to take care of on his own. Misato narrowed her eyes at him, but he assuaged her concerns with a promise to tell her all when he returned.

The next evening found him in Tokyo-1, standing on the edge of an office building in the financial district, or what was left of it. He waited for his quarry to appear. He had spent the day tracking her down, and now he had found her. The night had fallen and she was getting off work late. He waited until she was well away from the public eye before moving in.

Tendo Nabiki had just stopped by the bus stop to light a cigarette before heading back to her home. She had been working a hard case of investors that didn't want their money wasted. It took most of the last month to satisfy them, but tonight she had done it. She was going to relax with this cigarette, which she was going to have to finish before she turned the next corner into the house she shared with her sister, and some heavy drinking, which she would also have to hide form her sister. She took a long drag and let out the smoke with a sigh of relief.

"Hello again, Nabiki."

"So much for relief…" She thought. She turned to find a pair blue eyes staring at her from the darkness. "Well, well, well. Saotome. I didn't expect you'd be in the neighborhood…ever. So how's miss Misato? Is she a missus yet?"

A low growl issued from the shadows. "You're asking stupid questions. I'm here on serious business." He stepped out of the shadows and handed her a large envelope. "I need you to do some research. You still do that, don't you?"

The mercenary smirk came to her face again. "Of course, for a price…" She trailed off.

If it was possible, his face got even harder. "All debts will be paid in time. Right now this is for the salvation of the Earth."

She took the package and hid it in her briefcase. "Why do I get the feeling that there's more to this than just asking me to dig up some dirt? Things are never simple around you."

He nodded his head. "This is also insurance. If I disappear, I want you to go public with this information, and when you deliver me the information I request in these documents, I want you or a courier you trust implicitly to deliver it. This is very sensitive information, and cannot be released until my work is complete…one way or another."

Nabiki's eyes hardened, she was all business now, she was at her most dangerous. "I won't let this fall into the wrong hands, and I've been delivering sensitive information for years, I know how to handle my business. You just take care of yours. One more thing, I never want to have to go public with this information, so don't take any stupid risks."

The side of Ranma's mouth quirked up in a grin that didn't quite make it to his eyes. "Gee, Nabiki. I didn't know you cared."

"It's more than just a couple people depending on you now, Saotome. It's the whole human race." She glared into his eyes. "You've always come out on top when it's important. I'm trusting you will now."

He took a step back into the shadows. "It's not on my shoulders. It's a burden the kids have to bear. I'm just doing everything I can to help them carry it."

"Take care of your kids and yourself Saotome. Don't let us down." She lowered her head to take a last drag on her cigarette. When she looked back up, he was gone without a trace. "Typical." She turned and finished her walk home.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the whole interaction had been observed by a third set of eyes. They showed a mix of emotions, but turned and followed the woman home.

Back in Tokyo-3, more time passed. Two more angels attacked, and twice more they were defeated. The first one fell like an atomic bomb from orbit only to be caught by the combined AT fields of the three fully active Evangelions. The second came like a computer virus and tried to destroy the city by causing the three magi computers to self-destruct. The EVA pilots had been caught inside test fixtures while Ritsuko and Maya fought against time to write a program to convince the angel of the error of its ways.

In the midst of all the excitement, Misato had been promoted to major. A small celebration was held, but the only part she wanted was the end of the night when she and Ranma could be alone for some 'private celebrating'.

Several days later found Misato shopping in town for a new dress. Another one of her college friends was getting married in two days and she had already worn two of the dresses she owned and the third no longer fit her. She was getting a little irked that she had started to gain some extra weight lately. She was contemplating training with Ranma in the mornings when the source of her thoughts came bounding down the street with the two kids in tow. She smiled and shouted, "RANMA! GET OVER HERE!"

He stopped his merry hop and bounded over the street to land in front of her. Shinji and Asuka landed atop a stoplight and watched with smirks on their faces. The two of them could almost have passed for brother and sister with the matched training outfits. At least they could have passed for some sort of couple. Ranma smirked at the major. "What can I do for you?"

Misato put a hand on her hip. "Have you bought that suit yet?"

His eyebrow twitched. "What do I need a suit for?"

"FOR THE WEDDING YOU NUMBSKULL!" She smoothed some hairs that had stood on end. "You're coming with me to one of my old friend's wedding and you are NOT showing up in a uniform. You are going to spend a little money and buy yourself a suit to look nice so I can show you off to all my college friends."

"So I'm just a display of meat for an old sourpuss." He chuckled.

She jabbed a finger into his chest. "You got that right, you idiotic jock! And you're going to pay for that crack."

"How much?" He smirked.

"Two kisses, and I demand prompt payment."

He bent down and kissed her three times quickly on the lips. "How's that? Is the bank satisfied?"

She gave him a quick single kiss. "There's your change." She turned her attention to the two kids that looked like they were gagging. "Shinji! Asuka! Make sure he gets a suit before he gets home!"

They both jumped up and answered at once. "Yes, ma'am!"

Asuka paused and jumped down in front of Misato. "Misato, can I borrow some of your Lavender perfume? I've got a date on Saturday."

Misato's eye twitched. "No, you're a little young to be wearing that." Ranma chuckled. "What's so funny?"

"You calling someone else too young for something." He smirked.

"Why you!" She threw a half-hearted swing at him that he dodged be leaping up to the top of the light with Shinji.

"Come on, Asuka. Let's get going." The three of them turned and left.

As Ranma and the kids turned to resume their training, Misato smiled and shook her head. "He'd better get a suit that shows off his muscles." She muttered under her breath. "If I'm not going to be married, I at least should show off an impressive boyfriend." She giggled to herself and turned to go into the next store.

"Excuse me." Came a soft voice from over her shoulder. Misato turned to see a woman wearing a conservative dress with a long dark hair tied into a ponytail and laying on her shoulder. She bowed briefly and returned to meet Misato's eyes. "Pardon me, but was that Saotome Ranma you were speaking to?"

Misato's eyebrow came up. "Yeah, you know him?"

"I knew him a long time ago. We used to be old friends." The woman answered demurely. "You and he are apparently very close. I would really like to know how he is doing these days."

The major smirked and pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "Sure, I'd like to learn more about how he used to be. We'll just trade information while I look for a dress to wear to the wedding."

"You're getting married." The woman sounded scandalized.

"No, just one of my friends. I'm dragging Ranma along for mutual suffering. Come on, I could use an extra set of eyes to pick out a nice dress."

The two girls talked a while in the midst of the grand tradition of buying clothes. Misato thought the girl was rather nice in an old fashion housewife sort of way. She was very soft spoken, but seemed rather intelligent.

At one point the conversation seemed to stall, the woman asked what sounded like a simple question. "Why do you let him insult you like that?"

Misato just smiled. "Oh, that's just his way of saying he loves me. The boy wouldn't admit his feelings unless no one could hear them. You just have to know how to listen to what he says."

The woman put a hand over her heart briefly. "But how can you know that he likes you?"

Misato smiled and her eyes became slightly vacant. "It's in the way he says it and the fact that he goes out of his way to protect me and the kids."

The woman's hand went to her heart again and her breathing became slightly labored. She regained her equilibrium and continued. "You two have kids?"

"Adopted, but we're a family despite no marriage and no blood." Misato laid a dress over her front and looked at herself in the mirror. "I wonder if I can get an uncute out of him if I wear this…" She commented absently.

"That dress may be a little too scandalous." The woman choked out as she once again put her hand to her heart and sank slightly.

Misato noticed the woman this time, she quickly dropped the dress and rushed to her side. "Are you okay? You need a doctor?" She asked frantically.

"I'm fine. It's an old ache. It just acts up in certain situations." She said quietly. She suddenly stood upright. "Is there sometime it would be convenient for me to speak with him?"

Misato was slightly taken aback by the quick recovery, but swiftly adjusted. "Well, we're going to be pretty busy for the next couple days, but how about Saturday night? I'm sure we'll be done with the wedding by seven, will that be okay?"

The woman nodded graciously. "That will do nicely."

Misato gave her the address to the condo she shared with Ranma and the kids and thought how nice it was that one of Ranma's old friends was coming to visit. She thought about the possibility that this could be one of his old fiancées, but this woman was too nice to be one of them.

The next day found Shinji and Gendou standing in a mass graveyard, standing in front of the marker for Ikari Yui. It was the anniversary of her death and they were both there together to honor her. They placed flowers in front of the marker and were staring at the pale white marker.

Shinji crouched down and arranged the flowers while Gendou stood over him. The older man spoke, "It's been three years since we were last here."

Shinji nodded his head. "That's when I ran away. I haven't come back here since. I just don't believe my mom is resting here. I don't even remember her face."

Gendou's expression didn't change. "Burying memories is man's way of surviving, but there are some things man should never forget. Yui taught me that one irreplaceable thing. That is the reason I come here, to confirm that commitment."

"You don't even have a picture of her."

"No photographs. Even this grave is an artifice. Nothing remains."

"It's like my teacher said, you cast everything away."

"Everything is kept in my heart. I'm satisfied with that." A roar of engines was heard as a jet copter landed behind Gendou. "Time's up Shinji."

Shinji just nodded, but started slightly when he noticed that Rei was in the vehicle. He just glared at his father's back as he walked away. The engines throttled up and the craft took off and flew away.

As the craft faded into the distance, Shinji walked back toward the taxi that would take him to the train station. When Shinji cleared the horizon, Ranma faded into view, dropping the cloak of invisibility granted to him by the Umi-Sen-Ken techniques. He walked over and laid another arrangement of flowers on the gravesite. He knelt down on both his knees and stared at the gravestone for a minute before speaking.

"It's been sixteen years since I saw you last." He reached out and rubbed his hand along the side of the stone. "The last time I saw you, you were alive and beautiful. I…I should have been there…I…could have done SOMETHING…" His head sank and a single tear ran down his cheek. "I know how you died. I know that Unit One killed you, but if only I had been there. If only…" His voice cut off with a choke.

It was another five minutes before he could speak again. "So much for the man among men, eh? Crying at a piece of rock that doesn't even have a body under it." He brought a hand up and cleared his eyes. "Gendou may talk about the irreplaceable thing, but he really doesn't know what it is. If he really did love you so much, he wouldn't have sent your son away or let him run away. He treats Shinji like a tool, something to be used and thrown away. How could he love you, and not love the child he had with you?"

He shook his head as if to clear it. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking bad about your husband, but he's always got under my skin. I also know it is mainly because he got to marry you and I didn't. I'm still mad about that. Maybe if we had married you'd still be alive and Shinji really would be my son."

Ranma smiled at last. "Shinji really is a fine boy. You'd be proud of him. He's already saved the city several times. He did have a self-esteem problem when I met him, but being shunned by your father will do that to a kid. I was just happy I could make a real man out of him. He'll be a great man one day, you'll see. You'll be bursting with pride up in heaven."

He reached up and brushed off the dust on the top of the gravestone. "I'm sorry I took so long to see you, but I never knew what happened to you after second impact. It took me coming to Tokyo-3 and following Shinji and Gendou out here to find you, but don't worry. I plan to visit more often." He sat straight up once more. "Don't worry, I have been moving on. I didn't run away from my commitments. I'm doing everything I can to resolve them." The side of his mouth lifted in a smile. "And then there's Misato. Maybe after all this mess is over I'll marry her. I'm not really sure if I love her or not, but I know that you'd want me to keep living my life, so I plan on doing just that."

He stood up and brushed the dust off his pants. "It's been great talking to you again Yui. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss you." He put two fingers to his mouth and then touched them to the grave marker. "Good-bye, my love."

A gust of wind blew through, kicking up a cloud of dust. When the dirt had settled, Ranma was gone, and the graveyard was quiet once more.

Saturday came without much fanfare, Asuka went out on her date that Hikari had set up for her and Misato managed to get Ranma dressed in a suit and out the door for the wedding. About an hour later, the older couple was sitting in a reception hall listening to the singers serenade the newly married couple. Misato had been showing Ranma off to all her college friends the entire time. They had just made it to their designated seats where Ritsuko and an empty space where Kaji should be sitting. Ranma plopped down in his seat with a heavy sigh. The Doctor smirked at him. "I see Misato finally let you have a break."

He picked up his glass of water and downed the entire contents. "Now I know what a show dog feels like."

"At least I didn't put a flea collar on you." Misato chimed in as she drank her wine.

"Maybe it would keep him from itching to leave." Ritsuko openly smiled at the martial artist.

"Hello everyone, did I miss anything?" Kaji smirked as he strutted in and sat at his seat.

Ritsuko waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "Oh not much, just Misato showing off her prize stallion. By some of the jealous looks the girls have been giving her, I'd say he gets the blue ribbon." She looked over where Ranma had blushed furiously. "Or should I make that a red ribbon?"

"Ritsuko!" Misato put an arm around Ranma. "You're embarrassing him!" She smiled widely at Ranma, but turned and frowned at Kaji. "So where have you been? You're always late for everything! And you didn't even shave!"

"He just needs a woman to set him straight." Ritsuko quipped as she took a drink off her daiquiri.

Kaji moved his chair closer to the blonde and put his arm over her shoulders. "You volunteering?"

Ritsuko choked a bit and, after beating on her chest a couple times, took a drink of the courtesy water. "No thanks. I'd rather not."

"Yeah, who'd want to marry you?" Misato teased.

The unkempt man leaned back in his chair. "Well not all of us can have three fiancées and various admirers. I'm afraid Ranma may have taken the monopoly on single women. I've even heard that Maya has a little crush on him."

It was Misato's turn to choke on her drink. Ranma gave her a few helpful pats on the back so she could start breathing again. "You're kidding." She managed to sputter out.

"You're right, I am. I just wanted to see your reaction." Kaji smirked at the major.

Ranma's quick reflexes were the only things that kept Misato's hands off of Kaji's throat. Not that he cared about the scraggly looking man, but he didn't want to have to explain the dead body to the newlyweds. The scene was rather comical as Misato flailed and clawed at Kaji while Ranma had one arm under her arm with the hand behind her head in a half nelson and his other arm wrapped around her waist. "Kill you!", was the only thing intelligible coming out of her mouth.

In the midst of her attempts at homicide, she caught a glimpse of her watch. "We need to get going!" She immediately grabbed her purse with one hand and Ranma with the other and dragged them both toward the doors. She made quick congratulations for the wedding and explanations for their abrupt departure. Ranma just had a lost look on his face.

"Why do we have to leave? I still haven't hit the buffet yet!" He complained.

"We've got company coming. I told them we'd be back by seven. I hope that Shinji got the house cleaned up." She muttered the last under her breath.

"Company? Who's coming?"

She turned and gave him a Cheshire grin. "It's a surprise!"

Ranma's eyebrow shot up. "Why are the hairs on the back of my neck suddenly standing on end, and why do I get the feeling I should make out a will?"

"Come on, silly!" She hauled him out to her car and they made their way quickly down the road.

Back in the reception hall, Ritsuko and Kaji could only blink-blink at the abruptness that the couple had left. Kaji just shrugged and picked up his drink. "I was hoping that we were all going to hang out afterwards. It's been a while since we've all had a chance to hang out like the old days." He put on his best roguish grin and looked Ritsuko in the eye. "Would you like to have a few drinks with me after this?"

Ritsuko looked at her watch. "Just a couple. I've still got some work to do tonight."

A couple hours earlier, back at the madhouse affectionately known as Misato's condo, Shinji had been playing his cello when Asuka barged in and plopped down on one of the floor mats. He didn't even stop playing. "I see you opened your mouth on the date. You know if you wouldn't talk you'd probably get a free meal out of it." He smirked as he continued to play Beethoven.

The auburn haired girl leapt to her feet. "What the HELL is that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh nothing." Shinji gave his most innocent look and gazed out the window. "Just noticing how early you came back."

"How about I just knock your block off?!" She brandished a clenched fist.

Unfazed, Shinji played on. "Can it wait until I'm done with this movement? I'd really hate to cut a song short. Besides, it's always easier to handle something sour after you've had some sweet."

Asuka took two more steps toward him and stopped when she saw that he hadn't reacted in the slightest to her approach. She sighed heavily and dropped her fist. "So what are you doing playing that thing anyway? I didn't know martial artists were allowed to play musical instruments."

Still unfazed, Shinji played on. "Ranma said it's important not to make martial arts the end all, be all of my life. He said it's important to have something else in your life. Wars don't last forever, so what do you do when the fighting is done? If all you know how to do is fight, then you're of no use in peacetime. So I play the cello. It's something I've done most of my life, and it is actually very calming."

She put her hands on her hips. "So what has the great third child so riled up that he needs to calm down? What's the matter? Couldn't take that fact that my sync ratio is still higher?"

"Nothing like that." Shinji came to a long melody line. "I could care less about how we're ranked. I'm piloting EVA to protect innocents. Maybe an egotist like you needs to worry about it, but not me."

You could almost see the steam rising from Asuka's head. She couldn't believe how much this boy had got under her skin. "Listen you idiot! I'm piloting EVA for the same reasons!"

"Then why do you care about the ranking?" He asked nonchalantly.

She stomped her foot and went back to the floor mat. She dropped down in a cross-legged position and pouted.

Shinji kept playing. "So why are you home so early?"

Asuka reclined back and kicked off her shoes. "Oh, that pre-med student was bor-ring. So while he was in line for one of the rides I slipped out early."

"I still think he cut it off early because you opened you mouth around him."

She growled and leapt back to her feet. "What DO you MEAN by THAT!"

He just smiled and kept playing. "Just that you have a knack for saying things about yourself or something else that annoys other people. I don't see why anyone would want to date you anyway."

"I'll have you know that I am a very desirable person! If you weren't such a little boy you'd know that." She crossed her arms with a self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Who's the one who keeps crying for her mommy in her sleep?" He began to hum along as the movement was coming to its climax.

"WHAT?!" Asuka demanded.

"We had to sleep in the same room for a while. I heard you every night."

"Why you…" Her voice trailed off.

The music stopped. Shinji casually put the instrument away and cracked his neck as he turned to face Asuka. He was fixing to let loose another barb when he saw that a tear was rolling down Asuka's face. He slapped his forehead when he remembered that Asuka's mom was dead just like his. "I'm sorry, Asuka!" He said quickly. "I shouldn't have…"

He didn't complete his sentence because Asuka took that moment to pounce on him, bringing both her hands up to choke him out. Shinji fell back and tried to throw her away amidst a roll. The brunette quickly latched onto his arms and rolled with him. The roll continued until Asuka was flat on her back with Shinji on top. They just froze in that position. Usually in their training, Shinji would at this point twist one of her arms to make her submit, but this time neither one could find the will to move except for their faces, which were slowly coming together.

"What's happening?" Asuka asked softly with desperation in her voice.

"I don't know." Shinji answered in a weak voice.

They closed their eyes as their lips met in kiss that lasted for a little bit and then several smaller ones took its place. The pair rolled to their side and continued until they both simultaneously opened their eyes. As fast as lightning, the kids were six feet apart and sitting facing away from each other.

It was several minutes of extreme tension before Shinji finally spoke in a shaky voice. "I…I'm really sorry about the crack about your mother. I…I just wasn't thinking. I know you lost your mother like I did. I had no right…"

Asuka cut him off before he could babble further. "Its…its okay. Really. I understand you were upset."

They sat there in silence for several more minutes before a knock at the door shook them out of the shock they were in. Shinji stood. "I'll, uh, go get the door."

Asuka nodded her head and absently put two fingers on her lips as Shinji stood and left the room.

"Oh, hello." Came Shinji's voice from the entry hallway. "Can I help you?"

"Is this where Ranma and Misato live?" Came a soft voice in reply.

"Sure. They're not back, but you can come in and wait if you'd like. They should be back pretty soon."

"Yes, I'd like that."

Shinji entered with the same woman that Misato had been talking with that afternoon. She took a seat on the couch and Shinji bowed and introduced himself. "I'm Ikari Shinji, would you like some tea?"

"Yes, thank you." She replied.

Asuka finally recovered enough to bow and introduce herself. "I'm Soryu Asuka Langley. Who are you?" She asked bluntly.

"I'm an old friend of Ranma's. I've come to have a chat with him. So are both of you living with them?"

Asuka shrugged absently. "Yeah, we're the kids of the house. Of course sometimes I think I'm the only mature one here the way those two fight."

The woman looked curious. "So they fight a lot?"

"All the time."

Shinji came in with the tea, which he handed to the guest. "There you go."

"Thank you." The woman accepted it gracefully. She took a sip. "This is very good. Did Misato teach you how to make this?"

"No. Ranma did. Misato can't make anything but curry, and even that she does badly."

The woman almost spit out the sip of tea that was in her mouth. She demurely wiped the drop that had escaped from the side of her mouth. "So what does she do with her spare time? Just out of curiosity."

Shinji looked at Asuka with a confused expression. "What does she do with her spare time?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "That's easy. She's either drinking or in the bedroom with Ranma."

"Oh my!" The woman put a hand over her mouth. "That doesn't sound very lady-like."

"Oh she's a tomboy if I ever saw one." Asuka commented idly. "She doesn't do anything a real woman should. She only has a small selection of clothes. She joined the military of all things, and she's always a slob!"

The woman put a hand over her heart like she had just received a fatal wound to the chest. She sat the teacup and saucer down and stood to leave. "I'm sorry I disturbed you tonight. I shouldn't be here…I…I should be leaving."

Shinji scratched his head. "But they'll be back pretty soon. You don't have to leave."

At that moment, the door of the condo slid open. "…and I don't see why we have to leave before the free meal!" Ranma's voice filtered down the hall. "I mean, if you're going to drag me off to some wedding to show me off like a showpiece, then I should at least get a meal…Akane?" He stopped dead in his tracks as entered the main room and saw the woman standing beside the couch.

Misato put a hand over her mouth upon hearing the name. "Oops."

Ranma lifted an eyebrow at Misato before turning toward Akane. He opted to keep his hands to his side and remain calm for this confrontation. "It's been a while. What brings you to Tokyo-3." His voice was neutral, not giving away any emotions.

Akane's gaze dropped to the floor. "I came to here to talk with you. I thought that…" Her voice faded out.

He cocked his head as if trying to hear her better. "Yes?"

She turned her head away from him. "Never mind."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here? Did Nabiki go back on her word and tell you where I am?"

Akane turned back to face him. "No. I…I went out to meet her the other night. I saw you two talking. I forced your location out of her. She knew I wouldn't relent until she told. She fought to keep her word, but she never learned to cook so she'd go hungry if she didn't tell me."

Ranma rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. "Well, what's done is done. As long as you're here we might as well get some business taken care of. Wait right here." He went back into the room that he and Misato shared. He came back in baring a credit card. He handed it to Akane. "Here."

She looked down at it. "What is this?"

"This is a debit card from an account that I've been saving money in for the past thirteen years. I've guessed at how much money I'd have made the dojo and put it in this account. I'm still a little short, but you can use what's in there in the meantime. I figure in a couple months I'll have enough."

"What is this for?" She gave him a stupefied look.

He knelt before her and bowed his head. "This is for the pact between our families. This is to replace me not being there. This won't bring an heir, but it will keep the dojo afloat until someone can be found to take it. I want this to fulfill the Saotome side of the agreement. As the last member of the Saotome clan I offer this as a gesture for the dissolution of our clan's agreement."

Akane took an involuntary step back. "I…I don't know."

He tilted his head up and met her eyes. "Please, Akane. Please take this so we can both be free." He moved his gaze back to the floor.

Misato, Asuka, and Shinji were just standing there agape. They were shocked that the great Saotome Ranma would prostrate himself to anyone. Misato finally managed to recover and shuffle the kids to their rooms. She herself went to her room, but left the door cracked open so she could hear the rest of this play out.

The youngest Tendo just stood there speechless. She looked down at the card. "How much is this?"

"Over ten million American dollars." The card dropped from her hands and her jaw dropped. Ranma took the card and held it back up. "Please accept this."

She sank to her knees in front of the martial artist. "I…I don't know."

"I know you'll have to talk to your father…" Ranma started.

"Father's dead. He…he died two years ago. A year to the date that Kasumi died in her train accident."

He looked up at her with a shocked look on his face. "Kasumi's dead?"

Akane nodded her head as she noted that he hadn't said anything about her father dieing. "She and Tofu died while they were on their way to relief effort. The train had derailed and everyone was killed. Father couldn't handle losing his wife and eldest daughter for long. He withered away and finally passed on, his dreams unfulfilled." Tears welled up in her eyes. "And they're going to always be unfulfilled." Ranma looked up at her and she nodded her head. "But I don't want your money." She reached out and closed his hands over the card. "I just want to know that we can still be friends. The bond between our clans should always exist, even with such a weak link between us."

Ranma eased back on his haunches and looked down at his hands. "Fair enough." He looked up and gave her a weak smile. "Just don't expect me to come over and play shogi for hours on end."

She returned the smile just as weakly. "Deal. But let's do it this way." She stood up and Ranma followed suit. She extended her hand out to him. "My name's Akane. You want to be friends?"

Ranma nodded his head as he realized the symbolism of a new beginning. He reached out his hand and took hers. "I'd like that." They released the grip and took a step back. He reached a hand behind his head and scratched his neck. "So, Akane, you have someplace to stay tonight. We have a couch if you need to…"

She raised a hand to forestall any more conversation. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine." She walked past him and bowed before leaving the room. "It was good seeing you again, Ranma. I hope that we can catch up some time. Don't worry, I'll see myself out."

Before Ranma could say anything else, she was gone. He looked down at the card he held in his hands. Just like that, he was free. The price had been more than the money in the account. The price had been the burden of the knowledge that he had let their fathers die without any fulfillment of their dreams. Two men had died without ever seeing the fruits of their labor.

Ranma flipped the card around and enclosed it in his fist. "I'm free." He thought. "Is this what freedom feels like? This is how it feels to be clear of obligations? It seems like such a hollow victory." He looked up and he saw all his roommates standing in the room staring expectantly at him. "No. This is what it feels like to be the master of your own destiny. This is what it feels like to have all the obligations in your life to be made of your own choices. I still have my obligations to these people." He smiled. "My family."

An hour later Ritsuko was just leaving Kaji at the bar with some parting words of advice to be careful. He just gave her his usual nonchalant smile and waved her farewell. He turned back to the bartender and ordered another drink. "Another round bartender."

The burly man behind the bar set another drink in front of him. "So what are we celebrating tonight?"

"Broken hearts." He took a long pull of the drink.

"Not a smart reason to be drinking, but rather popular tonight."

Kaji looked up at the man. "How so?"

The bartender thumbed over his shoulder at a woman sitting at the bar with a long ponytail and a conservative dress on. "Take her for example. She's been here for about half an hour drowning her sorrows. She looks more the type to be condemning bars, not drinking herself away in them."

Kaji looked at the woman and something started nagging in the back of his mind about her appearance. "Thanks for the info. Maybe I shouldn't be drinking alone tonight."

"Just make sure neither one of you drive."

"No problem." Kaji stood and walked over beside the woman. "Excuse me, you mind if I sit beside you?"

The woman motioned her arm out indifferently. "Sure, go ahead. No law against it."

He sat down and looked at her. "This is going to sound like a bad pickup line, but you look familiar."

She lifted her eyes and looked at him. "Hey buddy, I didn't come down here just to have some unkempt drunken jerk try to hit on me. So just drink your drink and leave me alone."

He gave her one of his most winning smiles. "How about a unkempt, drunken, NERV jerk?"

She turned her face back to the bar in front of her. "No better. I still don't want to talk to you."

"So what brings a conservative housewife out on a night like this?" He asked casually.

She snorted derisively at the comment. "I wish." She muttered. She looked down and pulled at the front of the dress. "This isn't me. I'm not really a housewife. I'm not even married. This was just a mask I convinced myself to wear."

"So why did you choose it?"

She turned back to him. "Didn't I tell you I didn't want to talk?"

He gave her a warm smile. "Too late, we've already started a dialog. Would you please tell me why?"

She shook her head in defeat. "It was something I thought that somebody would like."

"A man?"

"No, a llama. Of course it was a man, you idiot." She slammed her drink and called to the bartender for another.

"So what was this man like that he could convince you to take on that mask?"

The bartender sat another glass in front of her. She took a drink and consumed half of it. "Only the Man Among Men. The greatest martial artist in the world." Her voice was becoming slurred as she polished off the rest of the drink.

Something finally connected in Kaji's mind. "You're Tendo Akane! I thought you looked familiar. I've read about you when I was researching Ranma. What are you doing here?"

She harrumphed as she ordered another drink. "Getting drunk. What does it look like?"

Kaji smiled as he slowly sipped his drink. "Maybe you should slow down a bit. You don't want to get alcohol poisoning."

She turned her head toward him and scowled. "What do you care?"

He casually swirled his drink around the glass before taking another sip. "I just don't want to see the last practitioner of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Arts to die of suicide."

Her mouth hung open for a second until she finally caught herself and sat the half-filled next round on the bar. "What's so good about the Tendo School? It's nothing compared to the Saotome school. Our side could die and the world would never know."

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "The Saotome School may outshine yours, but your both still just two sides to a coin, and if the world doesn't know, then it's the world's loss. You shouldn't beat yourself up that Ranma is so much better than you. He's trained hard his entire life. No one is as good as he is. You can't keep comparing yourself to him."

She took a slower drink of her glass. "That's not why I'm beating myself up."

"So why are you?"

She took a deep breath. "It's because of the great fool I've been for more than fifteen years." She finished off her glass and her words were starting to slur together, but she could still make herself be understood.

"Why is that?" His hand went back to his glass.

She glared at him again through glassy eyes. "What are you, a psychiatrist? I don't need a shrink, I just need a drink." She finished off her glass and ordered yet another.

"I'm just curious about why you feel like you need to do this."

She slowly drank from the next glass and took a deep breath. "Okay, how about this scenario: The person you love comes storming in one day and is terrible to everyone except for one person and then leaves your life for good. You'd probably think that you'd have to be like that person for them to ever like you again. Now imagine that you finally find them after several years. You've done everything you can to be like that one person you thought they liked, but you find them with someone just like you used to be."

Kaji nodded his head. "Okay, how about this scenario. You've been with someone for a long time. You think that you may really love this person. Then one day they leave and tell you there's someone else in their life. You do some research and see that they was lying at the time, but when you see them again they're with someone that has a similar personality, but you cannot compete with even remotely. Then imagine you have to see them everyday being a couple, catching them in an elevator naked…"

"I get the point." Akane finished her drink with a chug. She ordered another, but just stared at it as she swirled it in the glass. After a few minutes she spoke again. "So are you mad at her or him?"

Kaji shook his head. "I'd be mad if I thought that Ranma had stolen Misato from me. The truth is she left me when I couldn't tell her that I loved her. I took too long to tell her and she ran. Are you mad at either of them?"

Akane took a slow sip of her drink. "Lucky for them, part of being like someone else taught me anger management. Now I'm just depressed and need to drink myself stupid."

"So what do you plan on doing after that?" Kaji asked as he finished his own drink.

"I don't know. I really don't have anything left to live for. Ranma's gone. The rest of my family is gone except for Nabiki, and she can take care of herself. There isn't a point to my life anymore." She throttled the remaining liquid in her glass, but when she motioned for another, Kaji waved the bartender off. "Hey! What'd you do that for?!" She demanded in a slurred voice.

"I think you've had enough for one setting. Especially considering I can tell you're not used to drinking a lot." Kaji stated matter-of-factly. "Where are you staying tonight? I can walk you home."

She shook her head. "I'm not staying anywhere. I checked out of my hotel because I was either going to leave tonight or be staying wherever Ranma was. You can take me to the train station."

"I don't think that is a good idea."

She turned on him and growled, "I can take care of myself! I'm leaving!" She stood up and took two steps before listing forward and falling. Kaji leapt just in time to keep her from burying her face in the carpet.

He lifted one of her arms over his shoulders and helped her back to her feet. "Can't hold your liquor. Come on, I've got a spare couch at my apartment. I can't let you out by yourself like this."

She blearily looked at his face. "Like what?"

"Depressed and drunk. This way."

He put his arm around her waist and helped her out the door. A few blocks down, they had to stop to let her puke in an alleyway. After cleaning her up, he had her climb onto his back and ride piggyback. A few blocks down the road Akane finally spoke. "You know I had to carry Ranma like this once."

"You don't say." Kaji gave her a brief look over his shoulder with his roguish grin.

She nodded her head, but set it down on his shoulder to keep it from spinning. "He had hurt his back, and didn't have the strength to walk. He had to turn into his cursed form before he'd let me carry him. We had only met the day before. I thought he was one of most foolish men on the Earth."

"So now what do you think?"

She chuckled softly. "I think I was right, but I was the most foolish woman on Earth for falling in love with him."

Kaji looked up toward the moon. "We're all fools at one point or another. What keeps us from being complete idiots is that we learn from our mistakes."

"So who was that girl you were talking to at the bar?" Akane asked as casually as she could. "She your new girlfriend?"

Kaji laughed. "So you did take notice of your surroundings. No, she's just an old college friend. She, Misato, and I used to go everywhere together. We were the three musketeers for a brave new world. Unfortunately secrets started tearing the group apart."

"I heard her tell you to be careful."

"I'm in a very dangerous line of work."

"What do you do?"

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you." He stopped in front of a fairly nice apartment building. "Here we are. Home, sweet, home. Just a few more flights of stairs."

He carried her up the rest of the way, into his apartment, and sat her down on the bed.

She wearily looked up at him. She suddenly felt very vulnerable. "Please go easy on me. I'm still a virgin."

Kaji chuckled lightly and covered her with the blanket. "I'm not going to take advantage of a drunk woman. Maybe when your sober enough to make a good decision, but for right now just get some rest. I'll be in the living area on the couch if you need anything."

He turned to leave but Akane caught his arm. "Please. I don't want to be alone tonight."

He nodded his head and lay down beside her on top of the blanket.

The next morning Kaji was down in the core of Terminal Dogma. He had finally tracked down the new location of Adam and was finally going to see what human instrumentality was about. He gave a quick look up and down the hallways and then swiped the card for access. The door opened to reveal Misato and Ranma staring up at the almost fully-grown Adam with the Lance of Longinus sticking out of his chest.

Ranma turned and regarded him. "What took you so long, slowpoke? We were just trying to decide if we were going to include you in our little discovery."

Author's Note: Yes, I know that it's really Lillith hanging there, but at this point in the series they think it's Adam. Just had to add this to the chapter after the third email about it.

Chapter Nine "Black Hole Sun"

The air in the testing booth was sterile and on the chilly side. Ranma took another sip of his coffee. He had long since stopped carrying around cold drinks because they inevitably wound up being spilled on his person, triggering his curse. He stood at the back of the room watching the monitor that showed the three kids seeming to do nothing. All the screens around him displayed pertinent information, but no one but he could sense what was happening. The children were doing 'synchronization tests', but Ranma could tell that what they were really doing was conditioning their chi to match that of the EVAs.

He considered each of them in turn. Shinji and Asuka both nearly matched the chi given off by their EVAs, maybe just a shade or two off, but according to the computers there was nearly a fifty percent difference in the chi. Rei, on the other hand, seemed almost to match her EVA, but there was something very wrong with the interface, some irreconcilable difference that could not be overcome. Her synch ratio had always been fairly consistent compared to the other two pilots.

"So where's Misato today?" Ritsuko asked as she looked over the data before her.

Ranma moved the cup of coffee away from his mouth. "She's still out with the flu. She was up all night whining and moaning and then puking this morning."

"Why doesn't she go to the doctor?" Ritsuko turned to him and asked.

He rolled his eyes. "The woman's as stubborn as a mule. She said it would all blow over soon and she'll be back on track, but, if this goes on for another week, I'm carrying her butt to the doctor."

"Well, would you go to the doctor if you had the flu?" The blonde scientist asked him with a smirk on her face.

"That's different! I heal a lot faster than a normal person!" He came back with his defensive remark.

"Sure." Ritsuko gave him the look that most women give a man when he says something they consider to be very egotistical.

Thankfully Ranma's oblivious aura deflected all sarcasm and spiteful expressions. He walked over and leaned over Maya's seat. "So how are the kid's scores today?"

"Eep!" Maya hadn't heard him step up behind her. She was so startled that she spilt her Coke…all over Ranma.

Onna-Ranma just rolled her eyes and dumped her remaining coffee over herself, changing back into her birth form. "Okay, you're not allowed to have any more drinks around me."

Blushing a deep red, she turned quickly back to her duty station. "I'm sorry!" She exclaimed quickly.

Ritsuko smirked from where she was standing. If she didn't know that Maya was socially a very shy and introverted person, she would almost believe that she had a crush on the man.

"Anyway," Ranma took a deep breath. "How're the kid's scores?"

"Well, take a look." Maya motioned to the screen.

The martial artist leaned in and studied the screen for about thirty seconds, nodding his head and making noises as if reading something very interesting, before turning his face to hers. "You know I can't read this." Maya almost fell out of her seat in an attempted facefault, but Ranma's hand on her shoulder kept her in place. "Just tell me how they're doing."

Maya nervously found her voice again. "Shinji has actually managed to surpass Asuka's sync ratio. They've both doing very well, and Shinji has been improving by leaps and bounds."

"So their sync ratio's haven't dropped lately?" He asked carefully.

"No, why do you ask?" She turned and gave him a concerned look.

Ritsuko stepped over to where they were talking. "I've noticed the Shinji and Asuka have been acting strangely lately. Is there something we should know about?"

Ranma shook his head. "The two won't talk to each other. The only time they interact is in training and then they only talk as little as they have to. Whenever they're on their own they run off to their friend's houses to avoid one another. I've tried to ask them what's going on, but they won't tell me."

"Maybe they're worried about Misato. They're both already lost a mother…" Ritsuko commented idly.

"No, that's not it." Ranma stood up and crossed his arms. "They've been like this since we got back from the wedding. I don't know if Akane's appearance had anything to do with it, but that's the only thing I can think of."

"At least it's not affecting their work." Ritsuko commented.

"Hey, how did I do?" The intercom came on with Shinji's voice.

"You're on top, kid. Good work." Ranma smirked as he expected some sort of barb from Asuka.

"Can I be excused? I'm getting sick of sitting in this thing", was her only reply.

Ritsuko sighed. "Yes, you may. Maya, drain the LCL and let the kids get back into their street clothes. We're done with testing for today."

The test plugs lowered out of sight where the children would be allowed to change into their civvies. Ranma grimaced as if he were about to take some very terrible medicine. "So has anyone seen Kaji around? I need to talk to him."

The doctor cocked an eyebrow. "What do you need to talk to him about?"

"Just some stupid guy stuff." One thing that hadn't changed over the years, Ranma was still a poor liar.

Luckily Ritsuko had no reason to suspect him of anything. She dismissed it as 'stupid guy stuff', or maybe he wanted to beat him up for leading Asuka on. "He's called in the past three days. He said he's cashing in his vacation, but I happen to know that he hasn't left his apartment."

"Maybe he's got the flu too?" Ranma volunteered.

The blonde just shrugged. "I don't know, but he sounded fine over the phone."

Ranma shook his head. "Well, it can wait. It's time to put the kids through afternoon training. Maybe I can get Shinji and Asuka to talk about what's eating them."

Back in the girl's locker room, Asuka was fuming. "I can't believe that idiot beat us!" She hastily shucked her plugsuit. "Theirs is no way he could overcome my vastly superior intellect! Not to mention my piloting skills! How did he beat us?!"

She turned and saw that Rei was just casually putting on her clothes for afternoon martial arts training, a white gi with an azure blue belt. "Don't you even care that we're playing second fiddle to the third child?" For some reason she had a notion to try playing the violin. A thought of her and Shinji playing a duet popped into her head. She quickly squashed the thought. "Well?"

"I'm leaving." Rei said with no emotion in her voice as she strode out the door.

Asuka realized that Rei didn't care one way or another, so she just decided to change into the Chinese outfit Misato had bought her what seemed almost a lifetime ago, the same outfit that Shinji was undoubtedly going to be wearing as well. She shook her head once more and finished changing.

Outside, Shinji was waiting a few paces away from the girl's locker room. He waited until Rei came out and then quickly strode over to match pace with her. "So, why were you in the jet copter that picked up father at the graveyard the other day?" He tried to ask as casually as he could.

"I was ordered to." Rei replied simply.

"Why?"

"I didn't ask."

Shinji walked in front of her and blocked her path. "Don't you ever question what he asks of you? Don't you ever wonder about all the attention he gives you?"

"I've asked you before, don't you trust your father?" Her voice started to have an edge to it.

"Yeah, and I still remember the slap, but this isn't about trust. This is about knowing my father. He only called me when he wanted to use me. He doesn't care about people, he just using them like tools. I was just wondering what he was doing to you." He took a deep breath. "I told you that the next time to let me save you. I'm asking for that chance right now."

Rei just stood there with no emotion as she usually did, but Shinji could sense something about her. Concern? Revulsion? Anger? Sadness? What was it? She finally just walked around Shinji and continued on her way. "We need to get to training. Ranma will be waiting for us."

Shinji shook his head as she left and turned in time to see Asuka emerging from the locker room, wearing the same outfit as he. She was just in time to see Rei walk around him and stride away.

Asuka strode over in front of him, hauled back, and nailed him in the mouth with the strongest punch she could.

Shinji flew back and dented the wall behind him. He fell to the floor and slowly stood back up, wiping some blood away from his mouth at the same time. "What was that for?!" He demanded.

She scowled at him. "That's for being a pig!" She turned and stomped off to practice.

The boy shook his head. "What did I do?" He asked himself. Unfortunately no one answered.

The afternoon training was rigorous, as usual, but still Asuka and Shinji wouldn't speak to each other more than necessary. Ranma saw that Shinji wanted to talk to her, but something kept him back. When not in combat, Asuka would take tentative looks at the boy, but would quickly look away from him. Ranma tried to get them to open up, but, not being the touchy-feeling psychiatric type, he couldn't get them to open up.

After releasing the children to their own devices, he went back up to operations center and was surprised to see Misato standing beside Ritsuko with one hand holding a cup of coffee and the other arm across her stomach like she was trying to hold something down.

Ranma scowled and strode up behind the smaller woman. "You should be in bed."

The major turned and glared at him. "I keep telling you, I'm fine!" She turned back around to stare at the technicians running diagnostics on the three coffin-like magi computers. "What are you doing up here anyway? Are the kids already done with their training?"

He nodded his head and stepped up beside her. "The kids are already done. I came up here to see if Kaji was around."

"Are they talking yet?" Misato knew that she didn't have to explain whom she was talking about.

"Nope. It looks like they both want to, but something is holding them back. So, do you know where Kaji is?"

Misato snorted and finished off her coffee. "I've got three kids to look after. Do I look like I have a spare eye to keep on him?"

The martial artist gave her a confused look. "Three? Have you started taking care of Rei too?"

"I'm talking about you, idiot." She strode over and filled her coffee as Ritsuko chuckled into her hand and brought her clipboard up to cover it.

The blonde looked down and saw the diagnostics were almost finished. "Well, I guess the family dynamic needs some adjustment."

Ranma smirked. "Says the single woman. Since we're taking care of Shinji and Asuka, how about you take in Rei? It's a shame that she lives in that dump of an apartment."

Ritsuko fumbled her clipboard before regaining her equilibrium. "I don't think that would be a very good idea." She went to the computer and put in some quick figures, effectively ending the conversation with the taller man.

"Hello, everyone." A cocky, yet somehow subdued voice came from the door at the back.

Misato turned to shout at the man at how late he was, but dropped her coffee as a shocked look reigned over her face.

Ritsuko turned at the sound of cup and liquid spilling. She saw the man standing in the back and her jaw dropped. She was in a state of suspended animation with a stunned demeanor etched on her features. Her clipboard left her fingers and clattered on the floor.

Ranma turned around to see what the commotion was all about and started a bit. "Wow, you look almost like a different person, Kaji. Is there a funeral or something?"

Just striding through the door was indeed Kaji, except for a few changes. His hair cleaned, brushed, and pulled neatly back into a ponytail; his face was clean-shaven; and his clothes were pressed and spotless. He was even wearing a coat and tie! He walked past everyone and looked over the computers. "No funeral but my own."

Misato walked over and openmouthed stared at him as she inspected him from head to toe. "What the hell happened? I think this is the first time I've actually seen all of your chin!"

Ritsuko chuckled. "So that's where you've been the last three days. It's taken you that long to get cleaned up."

A light of realization came on in Misato's brain and she started to twitch. "Three days? You haven't left your apartment for three days?!"

The blonde doctor looked between Misato and Kaji, something dawned on her, and she outright roared with laughter. "You've taken a new lover!" She had to put a hand on one of the technician's seats to steady herself. "Looks like she's looking for a husband at that!"

Kaji grimaced. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Misato finally smirked at the humor of the situation. "So what's she like? Anyone we know?"

"Have you ever had a houseguest that wouldn't leave? And worst of all, have you ever been confused on whether or not you wanted them to leave?" Kaji sighed as he turned from her.

Misato looked over at Ranma. "Oh, I know the feeling."

"Hey!" Ranma strode over and put a hand on Kaji's shoulder. "Come on, I've got to talk to you. We can leave this foolishness to the women."

"Ahh…right when it was getting fun." Ritsuko chortled again.

Kaji and Ranma strode out into the hallway. After they had walked a fair distance, Ranma checked over his shoulder and around the room before speaking. "There was a major shipment that went out of here while you were…ahem…sequestered." He handed a sheet to Kaji. "Here's the manifest, but I can't make heads or tails of the jargon and code words."

The brown-haired man frowned, as he looked it over. "They've really done it, haven't they?"

Ranma gave him a quizzical expression. "Done what?"

"They've completed the dummy plug program. They just shipped out nine units." Kaji folded the paper and put it away.

"What are the dummy plugs?"

"The dummy plugs are automatic pilots for the EVAs that use actual pilot ingrams for control. They're supposed to be backups in case the pilot dies. They can also be used to replace pilots."

Ranma raised his eyebrows. "That's good, isn't it? That means we don't have to send the kids into combat."

"No, it's not so good." Kaji's face was grim. "They used unstable brainwaves for them. They could destroy the angel, or they could go berserk and destroy everything else."

Ranma scratched his head. "So, why did they ship nine units of this out the door?"

Kaji shook his head. "I can't guess. It's too late to implement one for Unit 03. That EVA is already en route to NERV as we speak. Although plans are in work to retrofit Unit One with a dummy plug right now, but I don't see them doing that outside this facility."

"Maybe they sent them out for testing or something?"

"Maybe."

They took a few more steps before Kaji reached into his coat and handed a packet to Ranma. He looked down at it and raised an eyebrow toward Kaji. "What's this?"

"Akane said it was from Nabiki, and she forgot to deliver this to you."

Both of Ranma's eyebrows went up at that. "Akane's your new lover? Man, I didn't think she had it in her for pre-marital sex." He took a closer look at Kaji. "It is pre-martial isn't it?"

"Hell yes." Kaji quickly spouted out. "I still don't know if I want a lover, much less a wife. I've already had to have another bed delivered to my apartment. You're lucky you wound up with Misato, Akane's a tigress in bed."

Ranma shuddered. "Don't call her that."

"Why not?" Kaji smirked at the martial artist. "Ailurophobia acting up?"

"No, you're Kuno quoting. I'd really hate to have to beat your ass on principle."

"Heh." Kaji chuckled. "Fair enough."

Suddenly, Ranma's back went ramrod straight and he looked to the North.

Kaji looked and didn't see anything. "What?"

"Angel." Ranma spoke the word and then tore off down the hallway back to ops.

The martial artist burst into ops and strode up to where Ritsuko and Misato were talking. "You need to call in the pilots. There's another angel on the way!"

Ritsuko nodded and looked up at the display screen where it showed a black and white swirl sphere already moving into town. We've already seen it and the pilots are en route. You're a little late on this one Saotome."

He looked up at the screen and looked at the buildings around the angel. "Something's wrong."

Misato looked at him. "What's that?"

"I should have been able to sense that thing long before now. Tell the pilots to be careful with this one."

"They've been careful with all of them." The major looked back to the screen.

"The children are in their EVAs." Maya reported.

"EVA LAUNCH!"

A short time later, the Evangelions were ducked behind the exposed buildings of Tokyo-3. Shinji in Unit 01 had a pistol drawn and held upward next to his shoulder. Asuka in Unit 02 was further back with the same large glaive she had attempted to kill the dual angel with. Further back and to the side, Rei in Unit 00 had a positron rifle with its bipod set on a smaller building's roof trained on the oncoming angel.

Shinji put a hand out to grab a corner of the building he was behind and pulled himself around to get a look at the angel. "What's the call?"

Misato's voice came over the communications array. "By the numbers. Surround it and eliminate."

Back in the operations center Ranma was looking tense. Ritsuko noticed and stepped over next to him and whispered. "Maybe you and Misato should sneak away to the elevator for good luck."

Ranma glared at her as Misato stifled a laugh. The major turned back to the screen. "One of you will take point and the others flank."

"How about Mr. Number One Big Shot Shinji on point?" Asuka asked mockingly.

"Asuka, that's really unnecessary." Misato reprimanded her.

"It's all right Misato." Came Shinji's voice. "I've got it. Rei you pull off your building and head him off on the right. Asuka you take the left."

"You don't have to sound so happy about ordering us around!" Asuka complained.

"Just shut up and follow orders, you idiot!"

Ranma turned to Misato. "Are you sure we wanted them talking to one another again?"

"They'll handle this." The major hissed. She secretly crossed her fingers behind her back.

Back on the field, Shinji waited patiently as the other two EVAs moved into position. He crouched even as the angel floated on the other side of the building that he was hiding behind. "Are you guys in position yet?"

"Unit 00 in position." Rei's unemotional voice came over the com.

"I'm ready, you jerk!" Asuka sounded off.

"Go!" Shinji pulled his Evangelion around the corner of the building and fired three shots into the beast. Simultaneously, Rei fired a blast from the positron rifle. Asuka moved in for the coup de grace, when the angel suddenly disappeared. "Where'd it go?" Shinji asked in a confused tone.

"Below you!" Ranma shouted.

Before he knew what he was doing, Shinji had leapt to the top of the building he had been hiding behind. Asuka and Rei weren't as quick to react as a shadow spread out from the where the angel was. Buildings and EVAs began to sink into the blackness.

"SHINJI!" Asuka shouted.

The purple robot leapt to a building next to Asuka. "Take my hand!" The pilot of the red EVA complied and she was lifted from the murkiness. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Asuka replied while her EVA hugged his unconsciously.

They both heard a scream come over the radio. "REI!" Shinji shouted. He untangled himself from Asuka on the sinking building. "Get away from here, Asuka! I'm going to get Rei!"

"Not alone you're not!" She shouted at him.

"I said…" Unit 01 grabbed Unit 02 by the arm and inner thigh and hauled the red robot into the air above its head. "GET OUT OF HERE!" Shinji pushed forward on his controls and threw Asuka well away from the sinking buildings.

"SHINJI!" Asuka shouted as she flew through the air.

The purple EVA leapt off the building it was on before the darkness could claim it. He landed on another sinking building and looked to where Rei should have been. What he saw was the head and one arm of the sinking robot. "REI!" He kicked off as hard as he could from the building he was on, putting the EVA into a horizontal dive. He grabbed the raised arm with both hands and flexed his arms inward. When his center of gravity was behind the other EVA, Unit 01 curled into a tight ball and turned his forward momentum into a strong centrifugal force, much like an ice skater that starts a turn with their arms out and then pulls them in to quickly spin in place.

The result of Unit 01's mid-air somersault was that Unit 00 was ripped from the blackness and thrown forward over the purple robot's shoulder. The flight of the blue EVA was enough to clear the shadow of the angel. Having lost all of his momentum, Shinji fell into the murk and was quickly swallowed up.

"SHINJI!" Asuka cried as she started running for the shadow. Unit 02 was stopped short by Unit 00, which had caught her around the waist with her EVA's arm. "What are you doing?! I've got to get Shinji!" She cried desperately.

"Would you sacrifice what he risked his life for?" Rei's emotionless voice came over Asuka's radio.

"What?"

"He sacrificed his life for ours. We can't throw that away recklessly. He bought us time to figure out how to defeat the angel."

Tears began to stream down Asuka's face as she pushed her EVA harder. "NOOO! I'm not going to let him die!"

Back in the operations center, Ranma was standing with his brow furrowed and Misato was leaning over Hyuga's chair watching the action on the field. She reached out and muted the communications line. "Shut down Unit 02."

The bespectacled man looked at her. "Ma'am?"

"Initiate manual shutdown of Evangelion Unit 02. She'll only get herself killed trying to pull Shinji out of there. Also, reel in Shinji's power cable see if he's at the end of it."

"Yes, major." Hyuga turned to Maya who nodded her head back. "Initiating Unit 02 shutdown and retracting power cable for Unit 01.

As the red Evangelion stopped moving and the cord came back with nothing but a severed end, tears formed in Misato's eyes. She suddenly became frozen in place by the sight.

Seeing the major's unresponsive state, Ritsuko stepped up behind the technicians. "Has the angel stopped expanding?"

"Yes, ma'am." Aoba answered.

"Then let's get a team down there and figure out what that THING is."

Everyone quickly hopped to their feet and left the operations area, everyone except for Ranma and Misato. Ranma pulled Misato away from the control boards, and she turned and clung to him and cried into his shoulder.

Sometime later, a temporary research facility had been set up on the edge of the shadow. Ranma and Misato arrived to see Kaji physically restraining Asuka, who was still trying to launch herself bodily into the shadow, even though her Evangelion was knelt to the side beside Unit 00.

Ranma ran up and took the girl out of Kaji's arms. "What's wrong with you?" He questioned the auburn-haired girl.

"Shinji's still in there! I can't let him die!"

"No one's going to let him die, now calm down!" He fought to bring her back under control. "Why are you doing this?" She still struggled. "Does this have anything to do with you two not speaking with each other?"

Asuka slumped in his arms with one hand stretched out to the shadow. "It should have been me. He shouldn't have died for me."

Ranma hugged her close. "He's not dead yet. You haven't seen a body. Why should it have been you?"

"I'm not worth it. It should have been me to die saving him."

Ranma turned her around where she was facing him. "What are you talking about? Shinji thought you were worth it! Don't cheapen his feelings like that!"

"But…but…"

Ranma saw the look in her eyes, the look of someone whom had lost someone they loved. He turned and whistled to Misato. When he had her attention, he tilted his head in a 'come hither' motion. She strode over and Ranma handed Asuka off to her. "Tag, you're in."

Misato held her 'daughter' and gave him a confused look. "What?"

"You're more qualified to handle her from here."

"What do you mean?" He reached out and squeezed her breast. "Okay." She looked down at Asuka. "What's the problem?"

Tears came from the girl like a flood now. Through chokes and sobs she managed to relate about what had happened between her and Shinji while Misato and Ranma had been at the wedding even including the kiss and uncomfortable silence.

Misato looked up at Ranma. "I'm not qualified for this!"

"You're more qualified than I am!" Ranma held up his hands and stepped back.

"Okay." She looked back down to the crying girl in her arms. "Asuka, let's sit down and talk about this…" She led the little girl away, leaving Kaji and Ranma standing there.

Ranma looked over his shoulder at the other man. "Any thoughts."

Kaji, who had kept to himself up to this point, spoke up. "None at all." He smirked. "Maybe just a little bruised ego from being rejected so easily."

Ranma rolled his eyes. "About the angel!"

"None there either."

Ranma shook his head and strode out to edge of the shadow where Dr Akagi was going over some figures. He knelt at the edge and stared into the blackness. "So how long does he have?"

"Another fifteen hours if he went into minimal power mode."

"So what is that thing?"

"It's an angel that's six hundred and eighty meters in diameter and three nanometers thick. Within that space is an inverted AT Field, a sea of Dirac." Ranma gave her a befuddled look. "A pocket universe."

He nodded his head. "Okay, so it's a big hidden weapons robe. Inverted AT field?" Ritsuko nodded. "So that's why I couldn't sense it. So what are you going to do?"

"We're trying to figure that out."

Ranma shook his head and reached out for the shadow with his hand. He grabbed a heavy piece of machinery with his other. His hand sunk into the shadow, and felt no pull. He released his other hand and put it with his other hand in the murky sea.

"What are you doing?" Ritsuko asked.

"I'm trying to get a feel for this thing." He closed his eyes and began to glow. A white aura surrounded him, and he shook his head. His muscles tensed as his aura turned blue. An explosion went off and blew him back into the heavy equipment he had tried to anchor himself with before.

Ritsuko knelt down and checked him over. "Are you okay?"

Ranma looked down at his hands and saw they were in once piece, if a little scorched. "Yeah, I'm cool." He flexed his hands to make for certain.

"What happened? What did you do?" Ritsuko asked quickly.

The martial artist stood up from the debris of what was once the heavy equipment and brushed himself off. "You're wrong. It's not quite an inverted AT-Field, it's an anti-human field."

"What?"

"The white glow that you saw was pure chi; no emotion, just power, much like the AT fields given off by the EVAs. The explosion happened when I channeled emotion into it. I may not be a physicist, but I do know that two energies of exact opposite types try to annihilate one another." He crossed his arms and gazed out into the sea of black with a glower on his face.

"So…So could you teach Rei and Asuka how to do that?" Ritsuko asked hesitantly. "Maybe we could destroy the angel and eject Shinji."

Ranma shook his head. "Maybe if I had a couple more months to train with Asuka, I could have her do it, but there is simply not enough time before Shinji runs out of air."

Ritsuko sighed. "I guess we'll have to find another way then."

Twelve hours later Shinji was still sitting in his EVA trapped inside of the black hole angel. He powered up the EVA once more to see if the sensors picked up anything. "Still nothing but static." He commented as he toggled the controls back to life support mode.

He sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Twelve hours and still no rescue or avenue of escape." He looked around the entry plug of the Evangelion. "Well, it's not one of my first choices of places or ways to die, but at least Rei and Asuka are safe…for now."

He reached over and turned the thermostat down another two degrees. The power savings should allow him to last for a few more minutes. He took a deep breath and reclined back in the seat. "Father." Images began to filter through his head of Gendou, images of the look of disappointment of when he ran away, the cool indifference from when he came back, and the scowl of hatred when he looked at Ranma. "Ranma." He remembered their first meeting on the train, the first battle in the EVA when the martial artist had tried to help him, and then images of Ranma and Misato either arguing or kissing, of more…

"Misato." He saw her smiling face when she was having a good time, the scowling reproach when he got in trouble, the motherly concern for he and Asuka. "Asuka." Asuka with her scowl when he got the best of her, her smile when she got the best of him, the way she looked when she was getting ready for bed when they slept together in the living room…the kiss…

"Rei?" Who was she? Where did she come from? Why does it seem like he should have deep feelings for her?

"All of them are my family. I'll miss them all. I…I love them all." His neck went limp and his head fell forward.

Suddenly he felt another presence in the entry plug. "Who's there?"

"Ikari Shinji."

"No. I'm Ikari Shinji."

"There was always two."

"Two?"

"Two Ikari Shinjis. The Shinji you perceive and the Shinji others perceive."

"NO!"

"What?"

"There is only one Ikari Shinji."

"No, there are two, the internal and the external. How you seen yourself and how others see you."

Shinji slammed his fist down on the controls. "NO! There is only me! Ikari Shinji of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, NERV officer, pilot of Unit 01!"

"But who am I, if not you?"

"You're the angel, and you're trying to confuse me! I AM IKARI SHINJI, I HAVE A FAMILY THAT LOVES ME, AND YOU WILL NOT DEFEAT ME!"

Shinji began to glow blue...the Evangelion Unit 01 began to glow blue…Under power other than the reserve battery, the Evangelion began to move. Its hands came forward and the wrists met with the palms facing outward.

"I'm proud of you." Came a female voice in the back of Shinji's mind.

"MOKO TAKABISHA!"

Up on the surface, they were beginning to lay out the plans for bombing the angel with all the remaining N2 mines that the UN had at its disposal with Ranma and Misato standing aside shaking their heads no fervently. Suddenly ground began to shake violently. The shadow of the angel began to crack and fissure like an earthquake.

"What's going on?!" Misato yelled out.

Ranma grabbed her hand and dragged her outside. "I feel a large chi source. It might be Shinji!"

Asuka and Rei came running to the adults. The auburn-haired girl made it first. "Did you say Shinji?!"

Ranma nodded than looked up, while everyone else looked down. The field of black was splintered like a pavement after an enormous earthquake. Up above, the sphere that was actually the shadow of the angel turned jet black, and then started to change into a shade of dark blue. Ranma pointed up and told everyone to turn his or her eyes skyward.

Cracks formed on the surface of the dark sphere, light poured out of them like streams from a bursting dam. At last the small fractures propagated until they met and the sphere shattered! Evangelion Unit 01 dropped to its feet with its arms extended forward. The arms dropped to the side and the hands of the great robot had wisps of blue smoke trailing off of them, and then the robot dropped to a knee. An azure halo faded from around the robot as the entry plug ejected and the LCL fluid poured from the emergency outlets. The hatch slid open with a hiss and a figure stood atop the EVA. The Lilliputian figure leapt from the neck, to the knee, to the ground at a crouch. He stood up and looked at everyone staring back at him.

The young man took a few shaky steps toward Ranma, Misato, Asuka, and Rei. He stopped about fifty feet off. "There is only one. I am Ikari Shinji." His eyes went from hard to glass as he looked at his adopted family. "I just wanted to see all of you again." His eyes rolled up into his head and he slumped to the ground.

Ranma and co dropped everything and ran to meet the boy. By some fluke of physics, Misato made it there first. She swept him up into a large hug. "Shinji!" Tears filled her eyes as Asuka joined in the embrace.

Ranma had stopped a few steps off where Rei was standing. She looked on as Misato and Asuka was coming close to crushing the unconscious boy with their tender affection. "They're crying. Why are they sad?"

The martial artist put a hand on her shoulder. "They're happy to have him back. I would have thought you would be to. He did save your life." She nodded. "Why don't you go join them?"

"I don't understand the situation." The blue-haired girl commented unemotionally.

"Just go hug the boy."

Rei nodded her head and followed his instructions. She walked up and joined the group hug. Misato brought her into the embrace with one arm. Ranma just smiled as he looked on.

"All right everyone, there's plenty of time for that when he wakes up." Ritsuko commented as she brought the paramedics up to take care of Shinji. After a brief fight with Asuka, they managed to get the boy on the gurney and wheeled off toward the ambulance.

Ranma walked up and put an arm around Misato and Asuka, both girls rested their heads on his chest. "Come on. Let's get home. It's been a long day."

The women nodded in agreement as he led them away from the scene. Ranma turned to see Rei still watching the ambulance. "Rei?"

She turned and looked at him. "Yes?"

"Do you want to go with him?"

"I don't know." Came her answer.

"I'm sure if you ask them, they'll let you ride along to the hospital." He smirked at her. She nodded and went toward the medical vehicle.

"I want to go too! There's no way wondergirl is going to one up me!" Asuka complained.

Ranma lifted up her face and looked into her eyes. "If I didn't know better, I would think that you were in love with him."

She quickly disengaged from Misato and Ranma and strode toward the condo in a huff. Misato leaned into Ranma once more. "You do have a way with women."

"Just because I know how to push their buttons doesn't mean I know what I'm doing." He commented with a smile on his face. "Let's get some rest and we'll take Asuka to see Shinji first thing in the morning." Misato nodded and they slowly followed Asuka back toward their condo, leaving the rest of the NERV personnel to deal with the cleanup.

The next morning, as good as his word, he took Asuka to the hospital at the crack of dawn. They arrived to see Rei, whom had changed into her normal school uniform attire, already bringing Shinji breakfast. Asuka ran up to his bedside as Misato and Ranma stood off to the side.

Shinji's eyes slowly opened to see a room full of people. He smirked as he looked at Rei and Asuka looking down on him. He turned toward the auburn-haired pilot. "Does this mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

Asuka nodded with the trace of a tear in her eye. "I wasn't mad at you in the first place."

He turned his gaze to Rei. "It's good to see you Rei. How are you feeling?"

She gazed back at him. "Is this another time to smile?" Asuka gave her a look like she was an alien and Shinji nodded. Rei beamed one of her brilliant smiles at him. "I feel much better now."

Asuka scowled at the thinner girl as she saw how Shinji and her were looking at each other. Oblivious to that, Shinji turned toward Ranma and Misato. "I'm glad you all came."

Misato smiled at him. "Wouldn't miss it for the world. My stomach turning knots from the flu right now, but I'll bear that pain for you."

"And I'll deal with her being a pain about bearing that pain for you." Ranma smirked his cocky grin as Misato growled at him. "You did good kid. Now there's something I need to talk to you about, the rest of you are going to have to excuse us for some guy talk."

"There's such a thing? I thought it only consisted of perverted stuff and sports?" Asuka smarted off.

"Just wait outside for a little bit." He waited until everyone honored his wish, and then walked over and stood beside the bed. "You pulled it off, didn't you?"

Shinji looked up at him. "What?"

"The Moko Takabisha. You shot one off inside of the angel."

The boy scratched his head. "The details are a little fuzzy, but yes I did. I don't know if I could do it without the EVA, but I managed to do it inside of the shadow."

Ranma sat down on the bed. "In case you haven't figured it out, I consider you the son I never had." Shinji nodded. "Therefore there is some father-son business that needs to be taken care of."

"Like what?" Shinji asked. "Please tell me this isn't the birds and the bees speech, I've already heard it several times in the schools I've been in."

"Don't worry kid, I'm sure if I told you the birds and the bees you'd be more confused than any other teenager on this planet. Anyway, what I was talking about." He cleared his throat and stood up once more. "Ikari Shinji, in light of there being no heir-apparent for the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, I name you the heir of the family and school."

"Cool, do I get a plaque or something?" Shinji smirked.

Ranma ground his fist into the top of the boy's head. "You're too smart for your own good. Let's just say you've met the requirements of martial arts and multiple women chasing after you."

"WHAT?!" Shinji's eyes went wild.

Ranma smirked and went toward the door. "You'll find out that the path of a true martial artist is wroth with peril."

"Great." Shinji grumbled. "Does this mean I'm engaged to them?"

The older martial artist chuckled. "No, you got off lucky. In my day…"

"I think we can stop right there."

"You're right." Ranma pulled open the door. "Now I've got to deal with one more peril. Rest up, kid. The whole world is depending on you."

Ranma pulled the door closed behind him and saw Asuka and Misato waiting for him. Misato smirked at him. "So how did the 'boy talk' go?"

He smiled. "Great. I think everything has been taken care of…except for one thing…"

Misato's face twisted in confusion. "What?" He walked over and scooped her up in his arms. She giggled. "What's this about?"

"You're going to see the doctor."

"WHAT?!"

Chapter Ten "Seeds"

"Saotome is becoming a liability."

For Fuyutsuki Kouzou, the one statement summed up his entire report to his superior officer, Ikari Gendou. The older, graying man stood in his uniform with a clipboard in his hand and he watched the younger man with the near-mirror finish glasses bridged his hands as he leaned on his elbows on the desk in front of himself. "What makes you say that?" Gendou's cold voice came from behind his steepled hands.

The older man flipped a manila folder atop the desk. "Dr. Akagi ran a few scenarios through the magi. Unit 01 should have awakened by now. So far we haven't seen any sentient activity from the machine since the first day that the third child piloted it. There are several other deviations from the Dead Sea scrolls that may not be recoverable. Also, even though we don't have the proof like we do for Mr. Kaji, I believe that he has been poking around in places where he shouldn't be." The man behind the desk smirked. "Is something amusing about this situation?"

Gendou shook his head slightly. "You're not going to catch him, but I'm willing to bet that he's been spying also. We'll have to assume the worse, that he's found out about the EVAs and what they truly are."

"We can't have him arrested without any proof. Should we arrange to have him disposed of?" Fuyutsuki put the clipboard behind his back.

Gendou's smirk disappeared. "No. It would be too obvious, even if we did succeed. Of course, the likelihood of us killing him is slim to none. His instincts are too good, and he can sense intent a mile away. How has the security forces training been going?"

The older man rolled his eyes. "Despite all the time he spends with Major Katsuragi and the Children, he has still managed to condition the troops into elite soldiers. We have a significantly greater chance of resisting a direct assault from Seele."

The younger man leaned back in his chair. The wane light coming through the tinted windows reflected off his spectacles. "Do you feel that he should continue to function as the security force trainer? Has he become dispensable in that capacity?"

Fuyutsuki shifted his weight to his right foot. "The security forces are better than almost any other elite force in Japan, but I would not be able to gage them against any other special forces that Saotome has trained before. If Seele marshaled UN troops that included forces that he had trained before, then we could have some difficulties, but overall I would say that his use has not reached an end, but he can be disposed of if need be."

Gendou grunted from his chair. "Once again, I need to remind you that he can't be disposed of. I propose we simply terminate his position. Give him a generous severance pay and send him on his way. He's out of our hair and we can come up with a recovery plan. Seele will not be fooled much longer by our reports of everything proceeding as planned."

"I'm afraid that's no longer an option." He threw another file folder on the desk. "Even if we did terminate his services, he wouldn't leave."

Gendou opened up the folder. "What is this?"

"Major Katsuragi was brought in for a fitness check. If you'll look on page seven you'll see why we won't be rid of the man."

Gendou thumbed to the page and read the bottom line. His eyebrows rose from behind his glasses.

"I'M WHAT!?"

Misato's cry of surprise echoed through the examination room of the NERV hospital. Her knees went slack and Ranma caught her around the waist and held her up. Ritsuko smirked as she continued to read from the fitness report. "You are with child, preggers, got a bun in the oven, expecting…in short you are pregnant."

The major jaw opened and shut as she gaped like a fish out of water. "H-h-how?" She managed to squeak out.

The blonde doctor smirked as she peered over her glasses. "I figured you and Ranma had the mechanics down by now."

Misato shook her head and unsteadily took her feet again. Ranma still kept an arm around her to keep her upright. "No, I mean, how can I be pregnant?! I was supposed to be barren from second impact!"

Ritsuko pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Actually by your physical from the day after you were recovered from second impact, you weren't actually barren. You just had a 0.0000000001% chance of successfully conceiving. You weren't exactly barren."

"Why does that number sound familiar?" Misato's eyebrow rose.

"It was the same chance that EVA Unit 01 would activate with Shinji his first time." She turned her attention to the man that was keeping Misato from falling to the floor. "You're being awfully quiet. I figured you'd have a few comments to mark the occasion."

Ranma looked at her like he had just noticed that she was in the room. "Sorry, I'm just a little overwhelmed right now. I'll talk some more once I get used to the idea of being a father."

Ritsuko put a hand on her hip and smirked at him. "Excuse me, but I could have sworn that you've been raising Asuka and Shinji these last few months in that cramped condo of yours."

"No, I mean having a baby!" Ranma almost lost his grip on Misato, but quickly reasserted his arm around her.

"You never know, it could be twins." The doctor smirked.

Misato swooned into the cradle of Ranma's shoulder. "Don't SAY that!" She put an arm around her lover for support. "But why now? Why didn't I get pregnant earlier?"

Dr. Akagi gave the couple a knowing smirk. "It's hard to say, but you were probably in an infertile period when you and Ranma began your, uh, extracurricular activities, and the constant activity kept his sperm count low. Then, on the month that you were not talking to each other, he recovered."

Ranma snorted. "Great. We get to tell little Ranma that he was conceived in an elevator."

"Glad to see you've rejoined reality, Saotome." Ritsuko smirked at him.

He scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "Oh, I'm still shocked. I'm just starting to get over it."

Misato looked up at him. "What makes you think it's going to be a boy?"

"Hey! It might be a girl!" He exclaimed quickly before things could escalate. Misato seemed to be satisfied and settled back into his arms. "So can you stand on your own yet?" She looked up and glared at him. He quickly turned his attention back to Ritsuko. "So will my curse have any effects on the child? I mean will I have a son or daughter depending on whether or not they've bathed yet?"

The blonde shrugged. "Who can tell? I'm a woman of science. I'd figure your guess would be better than mine considering you have the most experience with magic and curses." She looked at her watch. "Well, I've got more tests to run. Why don't you crazy kids take the rest of the day off and figure out what you're going to do with yourselves." She turned on her heel and left the room.

Misato looked up into Ranma's eyes. "Any chance you'll let me have a drink when we get home?" She asked hopefully.

"Not a chance, but I might have a few."

Later that day, Ranma and Misato were sitting across the table from one another. Misato was in her usual casual wear (yellow tank top with denim cutoff shorts) absently rubbing a hand over her stomach while Ranma was sitting in a white undershirt and jungle camouflage BDU pants. He was twirling an empty beer can around on its base and staring at the table in front of him.

"So?" Misato finally broke the silence.

"So what?" Ranma didn't look up.

"So what are we going to do?" Misato brought her eyes up to look at the father of her child.

"That's what I've been trying to think about." He commented offhandedly. "Just give me a few more minutes to think about something."

Misato looked down toward her stomach where she could imagine her child growing inside of her. She quickly tried to take their mind off the child. "Nabiki and Akane both said that you never had sex while you were in Nerima. They said you were almost scared of it. Why weren't you ever scared to do it with me?"

Ranma looked up at her. "When have you been talking to Akane?"

"We've been talking a lot lately. We have a lot in common actually. We both fell in love with an idiot." She smirked over the table at him.

The martial artist rolled his eyes as he exhaled a large breath. "Great. Can't you talk about anything besides me?"

Misato smirked. "Well if you'd talk about yourself more, then I wouldn't have to keep asking other people, now would I?" She leaned forward and adjusted her weight so she could lean her elbows on the table. "So why didn't you balk at having sex with me?" She asked as she cradled her head in her hands. "If you say, 'because you're so beautiful', you get a cookie."

"Are you going to make it or buy it from the store?" He asked with a smirk on his face. "My answer depends entirely on that."

She gave a slight scowl. "Just answer the question."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Stop asking questions and answer the damn question!"

Ranma took a deep breath, leaned back in the chair and gazed up toward the ceiling. "Where to begin…" He spoke wistfully. "You sure you want to know the answer?" He turned his head down and saw the determined look on her face. "Okay, you ask for it.

"When I left Nerima I went on the tournament circuit. Pit fighting would have made me a lot better fast cash, but the challenge and the fame wouldn't have been there and I needed the challenge to survive and the fame to get a better paying fight. I got into a lot of mixed tournaments, usually winning both the men's and the women's competitions using my curse."

"You never thought that was a little unfair?" Misato smirked at him.

He gave her a condescending look. "Do you want to hear the story or not?" Misato made a motion like she zipped her mouth shut. (Author's note: You better tell the story or my reader's will lynch me.) "Anyway, it was during one of these tournaments that I met a girl named Yuri who seduced me after one of the matches. The next morning I was in the dumps because I thought I would have to marry her. She just looked at me and laughed when I told her so. She explained to me about the whole concept of casual sex. She taught me that sex didn't necessarily mean love or marriage."

Misato's eyebrow shot up. "So how 'casual' were you? Should I be worried about STDs or anything?"

Ranma began to get nervous. "Well, I used condoms most the time."

"Most the time?" Misato growled.

"Hey, there was only once! And she was clean! She was a virgin when we did it!" Ranma threw up his hands in placating gestures.

The major's eyes narrowed. "How can you be sure? Could you trust her?"

"Yes! Come on, can we talk about something else? It's not like you didn't have sex before I came along. Ritsuko told me all about the time you and Kaji locked yourselves in your dorm room and didn't come out until three days later. What was that about?" He leaned over with a look that he hoped intimidated her.

Having her own sex life thrown in her face gave her pause. "Well, we were just kids…"

"Did you guys use protection?" He had a confident smile on his face. "How do I know I shouldn't be worried about disease?"

Misato fidgeted a little in her seat. "Well…I…er…that is…well Kaji hadn't been with too many woman and I had just come out of my shell…" The table became very interesting to her as her face flushed. "Let's change the subject."

His trademark cocky smirk crossed Ranma's face. "So what do you want to talk about?"

Misato crossed her hands in front of her chest and started kneading out her shoulders. Ranma took pity on her and walked around and started working out the knots for her. "What about Shinji and Asuka?"

"What about them?"

"How do you think they're going to react to this?" Misato's arms dropped as she felt the pleasure that Ranma's hands was giving her.

"They'll probably freak out." Ranma answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "They'll probably wonder if we're going to get married."

He felt Misato suddenly tense up. She reached up and put a hand on one of his. She looked straight ahead as she dare not look into his face when she asked him this. "Are we? Going to get married, I mean?"

Ranma took a deep breath. He had talked at Yui's gravestone about marrying Misato, but he still wasn't sure. There were still so many things out there that could harm if she was a permanent part of his life. He looked down at her over her back and imagined where his child was growing in her womb. "Of course a child is a pretty permanent thing." He thought.

After a couple tense minutes, Ranma finally spoke. "Can you give me a little time to think about it?"

Misato finally looked up at him and saw the turmoil that was rolling in his blue-gray eyes. "Are you that afraid of marriage?"

He shook his head. "There are still a lot of people out there that would hurt you just because you're associated with me. Some of them would be very angry at the fact you were my wife. Are you ready to face a lot of danger to be with me?"

Her face held nothing but tenderness as she turned and reached up to caress his cheek. "All that and more, for you," She put a hand to her stomach. "And our child. Take all the time you need, Ranma. I'm not going anywhere."

Ranma was not a man that was used to feeling gratitude to someone else. He wasn't used to a lot of the feelings he's had since coming to Tokyo-3. He'd already been a pseudo-father for Shinji and Asuka for a while and now he was about to a real father. But was he ready for it? Did he want to be a husband too? He raised a hand and covered hers that was on his cheek. "Thank you."

She stood up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "You're welcome, but for making me wait, you get to tell Shinji and Asuka that one of them is going to have to share a room in a few months. I'm going to the bathroom."

She scurried off as Ranma's jaw dropped. How had she gotten the best of him?

Earlier that day, Shinji was standing in a dark room with one spotlight illuminating a circle at his feet and blinding his eyes. He couldn't see anything, but he still held himself upright. He had replaced his old wardrobe with more Chinese clothes and today he was wearing a blue variant of the red shirt that Misato had bought him for training. The color matched his plugsuit and the black pants tied at the ankles made him look like he was ready to fight any angel. He stood with his fists clenched at his side and a scowl locked on his face as the question was put to him again.

"What happened while you were inside of the angel?" The deep, grated voice asked.

Shinji grit his teeth. "I told you, after I made sure that Unit's zero and two were safe, I was absorbed by the angel. Everything is a little hazy from when I was inside, but I managed to bust out."

A few voices mumbled back and forth before same voice spoke up again. "How did you defeat the angel? Your Evangelion unit should have been drained of energy. You should have only been able to maintain life support, and that only minimally."

Shinji stomped his foot. "Listen! I beat the angel! Isn't that enough for you guys?!"

"The reports from your physical reflected some mental trauma. Did the angel try to invade your mind? Did you make contact with it?"

"Maybe! I'm not sure. I remember someone speaking to me, but I don't remember any more!"

The voices conferred again. "That is all. You may leave."

Shinji nodded his head and exited the room. The light where he stood went out and another illuminated Gendou as he sat at a conference table. The voice addressed him, "Commander Ikari, how can you explain this? Are the angels interested in the human mind now?"

Gendou maintained his cool air of indifference. "It is possible. The boy doesn't like to speak about events that are traumatic to him. Since he has been working with our security force trainer, he's been even harder to get information out of."

"Yes, we sent you the best we could find to train your security forces. How did he get a hold of the third child?"

Commander Ikari scowled from behind his hands. He realized that Ranma was a sabotage attempt by his benefactors. Maybe they didn't send him to cause problems. Yes, that's possible. It's also possible that elephants can do handsprings. He cleared his throat. "The two were on the same train coming into Tokyo-3. They interacted and Saotome took the boy under his wing."

"What a coincidence." A nasally voice commented from the side.

"Indeed." Gendou growled.

Outside, Asuka was waiting for Shinji as he stormed out of the room. She was dressed in a blue school uniform with her hands over her head holding her school bag. Shinji's school bag was leaning against the wall behind her right foot. "So how was the firing squad? Were there any survivors?"

Shinji spun around to her. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

She looked off and put her nose in the air. "I was only making sure you made it to school. Don't take your hostility out on me! You forgot your bag." She moved her right toe behind the bag against the wall and kicked it up in the air toward Shinji.

The boy easily caught the bag by the handle in mid-air and swung it to his side. He took a deep breath and turned to head out of the building. "I'm sorry I blew up on you. Come on, let's get going."

Asuka quickly caught up and walked at his side. "So how come you won't tell them what really happened? I mean, you've got to remember more than that."

Shinji raised an eyebrow her with a cynical look on his face. "You were listening?"

Asuka smiled. "Saotome School of Anything Goes eavesdropping technique."

"S'funny. I don't remember that one." Shinji's expression didn't change.

"That's because I made it up!" She smiled proudly.

He rolled his eyes and looked forward. "I don't trust them. I don't trust any of them. Not the Marduk, and especially not my father! They'd find some way to use what I tell them against us."

Asuka shook her head. "I can't believe you! They're trying to gather data to better fight the angels!"

Shinji stopped and spun around on her. "Hey! I can fight the angels just fine! I don't need their help!"

The auburn haired girl put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. "Does that mean you don't need OUR help?"

"You guys are different." Shinji quickly saved himself from bodily injury. "You guys are out there fighting with me. I trust you, Rei, Misato, and Ranma."

"You don't trust Ritsuko or Kaji?" Asuka smirked as they continued walking. "What about the other two stooges?"

"I trust Toji and Kensuke. They're the first real friends my age I've ever had. Kaji's alright, but something just makes me not like him."

She smirked and elbowed him in the ribs. "You're just jealous."

Shinji growled at her. "That's not it! You can have him all you want! But good luck considering he's shacking up with Ranma's ex-fiancé. I guess he didn't want a little girl!"

"Dumbkoff!" She swung her bag at him, but he nimbly dodged. The action repeated itself until Shinji finally jumped away.

The boy looked at his bare wrist. "Look at the time! We're late for school!" He turned and charged out of the building. Asuka gritted her teeth stormed out after him.

They arrived at school in time for lunch. Shinji jumped into the room and flipped over to his desk beside Toji. Asuka stomped in right behind him. "Yo, Toji, where's Kensuke?"

Toji leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "He's on some trip with his family. He'll be back tomorrow. I see you and Asuka made it today. Where's the other pilot?"

Shinji glanced about the room (his eyes moving quickly past Asuka's glaring eyes). "She's not here? Where is she?"

"It thought she'd be with you." Toji smirked. "I know how you like to keep you're harem with you."

Shinji smirked as he dug through his bag. "It's not like that…Hey! Where's my lunch?" He turned toward his roommate. "Didn't you get any lunch?!"

Asuka glared at him and stomped over to his desk. "It was YOUR turn to make the lunches! You're lucky I brought you your books!"

The other pilot stood up in her face. "You knew I wasn't going to be there to make them! You should have known to make it!"

"Oh look, the newlyweds are fighting. Why don't you two just kiss and make up?" Toji smirked from behind his desk. The class burst into laughter as the two pilots blushed furiously.

Asuka growled at Shinji. "You told him, didn't you?!" She hissed under her breath.

"I haven't told a soul!" Shinji defended himself.

"You two have been kissing?!" Hikari exclaimed sounding scandalized.

If the two pilots thought they had been red before from embarrassment, they found even deeper shades that made their previous blush seem pale. Toji elbowed Shinji in the ribs. "You dog! How far have you two gotten? Second? Third? Or have you two gone all the way to home?"

Asuka glared at Shinji. "You say a word, and you're a dead man."

The heir of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts pulled uncomfortably at his collar. He knew he could defeat Asuka. He just didn't know if he'd be justified in doing so. "I'm not saying anything."

At that moment, the chimes for an announcement rang and called Toji to the office. He casually stood up and cleared away the remains of his devastated lunch. "I guess I'll be missing the rest of the fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do Shinji." He smirked and walked out the door. Asuka and Shinji stared daggers at him as he left.

The school day came to a close, Asuka left early to get home. Shinji had remained behind to wait for Toji. Horaki Hikari, the class representative, approached him as he waited at his desk. "Ikari?"

The boy, sitting at his desk with his hands behind his head, raised an eyebrow at the freckled brunette. "Yes, class rep?"

She looked him up and down. "You do know that those clothes are not acceptable for the dress code of our school."

Shinji shrugged and looked away. "I know. When you could die at any moment, does it really matter what you're wearing?"

Hikari held a hand up to her mouth in shocked amazement. "What are you saying? Are you saying you want to die?"

"No. I don't want to die." He turned his head to look at her again. "I'm just saying that I could die in any one of my battles. I'm out there risking everything every time I fight in the EVA."

"So why do you do it?" She took a seat at a desk next to him.

"It's a martial artist's duty to protect those who can't protect themselves." He stated matter-of-factly. He smirked at her. "I figure for saving everyone's hide, I should get to wear whatever I want to school. So why are you still here?"

She looked away briefly with a slight rose tint to her cheeks. "I'm waiting for Toji. I…He has to take Rei her homework for today."

Shinji shrugged. "I can do that." He reached for the package that she had in her hands.

She drew the papers away before his hands could grasp them. "It's his duty today. I'll give it to him to do."

Shinji looked at her for a second and then smirked. "You just want an excuse to talk to Toji, don't you?"

Her cheeks colored even more. "I just want to make sure the job gets done!"

"Sure." Shinji's smiled broadened.

At that moment, Toji entered the room looking a little depressed. Hikari quickly walked over to him as Shinji smiled. "Toji, you need to take this to Rei. It's your turn. Do you need someone to show you the way?"

"Sure." He looked past her. "Shinji. You've been to Rei's before. Let's get going."

Shinji almost facefaulted. "You sure you wouldn't rather take…" He trailed off when he saw that Toji had already walked out the door. He got up and followed his friend out. He turned and shrugged to Hikari when he passed her. "I tried."

As he turned and left, Hikari spoke under her breath. "Thank you."

About half an hour later, Shinji and Toji arrived at Rei's apartment complex. The taller boy looked around in disgust. "What a dump!"

The EVA pilot just shrugged. "I guess this is where she wants to live. Come on, her apartment's over here." They walked to her door and knocked. "Yo, Rei! You in there?"

Toji shrugged. "Looks like no one's here."

Shinji looked down at the overstuffed mail slot. "Look's like we'll have to go in and leave it where she can find it."

"You think that's a good idea? I mean breaking in and all?" The taller boy cocked an eye at Shinji.

The EVA pilot shrugged. "If we leave it in this mess, she'll never find it. Besides, she always leaves her door unlocked." He walked up and turned the handle, and, sure enough, the door opened. "See."

"How did you know that?" Toji asked.

Shinji gave him a nervous chuckle. "Well, I've kinda been here before…"

"You've been with Rei? Jeez, Shinji, you get around!" Toji crossed his arms and smiled at the other boy.

Shinji's hackles rose. "It's not like that!" He indignantly stormed in the apartment, knocking a few letters out of the mail slot when he slammed the door.

"Sheesh, I was only kidding…" Toji pushed the door open and looked around the room. "I take back what I said about the complex. This room is a worse dump."

Shinji shook his head and looked around at all the trash that was lying about. There were even some bloodied bandages left from the last time he was here. He shook his head and grabbed a half-full trash bag from the side and started picking up the mess.

Toji looked at him like he had grown a second head. "What are you doing? Maybe she likes her place like this?"

His friend kept cleaning. "Could you imagine anyone, much less a girl, wanting to live like this?"

"It could happen." Toji shrugged.

About the time that Shinji finished cleaning, Rei walked into the room. Toji panicked and started spouting out apologies and half-baked excuses, while Shinji held up the package of homework that they were supposed to deliver. "Hey, Rei. We brought you're homework for today." He held up the now full trash bag. "I also decided to clean up a little."

"T-thank you." Rei tentatively spoke.

Shinji looked at her. She had so little, and spoke so little. You almost wouldn't know she was there except for the blue hair and the red eyes. "Rei, why don't you get a better place? NERV could pay for a decent apartment. You could even come live with us. I'm sure Asuka wouldn't mind sharing a room with you." He smirked. "I'm sure she'd only complain for the first couple hours." His face turned back to serious. "You should be living better than this."

Rei blinked at him and looked downward. "I'll think about it." She didn't really know what to think. She wasn't used to people being nice to her, even Gendou. She had never used the words 'Thank you' before. She would think about this, a lot.

When Shinji arrived home, he walked in to a smug Misato sitting on one couch, a grouchy Asuka sitting cross-legged on the floor, and a nervous Ranma pacing at the back of the room. The auburn haired girl turned when he entered the room. "Where have you been?!"

"I've been over at Rei's giving her the homework for today. What's going on?" Shinji was amazed. Something really bad must be going on for Ranma to be acting so nervous.

Misato's face went serious. "EVA Unit 04's S2 unit exploded and destroyed NERV's second branch, and Unit 03 is on its way here." Her smug smile came back. "But that's not the big news."

"So what's the big news?" Shinji asked, turning to Asuka when it looked like Misato was not going to be more forthcoming.

Asuka glared back at him. "That's what I've been trying to figure out! Misato said that Ranma had to tell us, but he said he wouldn't tell until both of us was here! You took your pretty time getting here, and I've been dieing of suspense!"

Shinji shrugged and looked back at the now sweating Ranma. "So what's the big news?"

The elder martial artist started sweating. "Well…you see…it's like this…uh…"

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "This could take all night. Just spit it out already!"

Ranma took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Misato's pregnant."

"Cool, when's dinner?" Shinji asked.

"Idiot!" The boy was slapped and shoved out of the way as Asuka crossed the room to grab Misato's hands. "Really?" Misato nodded. Asuka leapt up and hugged the older woman. "Congratulations!" Misato smiled broadly as she hugged the younger girl back.

Shinji turned to Ranma. "This place is going to get crowded."

"You have no idea. It's pretty crowded as it is." Ranma popped his neck.

"Especially since I asked Rei if she wanted to come live with us." Shinji started walking to the kitchen.

"WHAT?!" Asuka asked loudly. "Why did you do that?!"

Shinji shrugged. "She's living in a disaster area, and she doesn't have anything. She only has the dresses she wears to school, no other clothes, and no real friends. I felt sorry for her."

Ranma nodded. "It would also be good if she were able to train as much as you two do. It would be much more convenient if all the pilots were in one place." He turned to Misato. "Speaking of which, you said that Unit 03 was on its way. Any idea of who the pilot is supposed to be?"

She shrugged. "No idea. I'll check with Ritsuko tomorrow. But if Rei comes to live with us, if she wants to, what will we do? We can't live in this condo with five people and a baby. We've only got one bathroom!"

"And that will be less available now that you're pregnant." Ranma smirked.

"How do you know that?!" Misato demanded.

"I made the mistake of walking in between a pregnant woman and a bathroom door. I've never been kicked so hard in my life." He rubbed his side from remembering the incident. "Damned Nerima."

The next day, Misato and Ranma returned to work. They found Ritsuko looking over the data from the destruction of the NERV second branch. Ranma looked over her shoulder at the satellite pictures from the site. "That doesn't look like an explosion to me."

The blonde cocked an eye at him. "Had much experience with explosions?"

"More than I care to have. So what really happened?" Ranma asked.

"It looks like it imploded in another sea of Dirac. The new power plant that the unit was outfitted with obviously had some defects." Ritsuko pushed her glasses back on her face.

Ranma nodded his head. "So it's just like the last angel. So what's this about Unit 03."

The doctor gave him a condescending look. "You shouldn't have that information. That's supposed to be top secret." She turned and glared at Misato who just smiled innocently and waved.

"New EVA means new pilots. I'm in charge of personnel training so I think I have a right to know." He put his hands on his hips. "So what emotionally disturbed child has Gendou decided to put behind the wheel this time?"

Misato looked over the folders that were lying on Ritsuko's desk and found one labeled Marduk Report. She flipped it open while the doctor and Ranma were arguing. She turned until she found the information that she was looking for. She closed the folder, turned around, and tapped Ritsuko on the shoulder. The blonde turned and Misato shoved the folder in her face. "Why hadn't I been informed that the Marduk had issued another report?"

"You were on a need to know basis. You would have been informed before your trip to the test facility for the activation of Unit 03." She answered in a cold, analytical voice.

"What's going on Ritsuko? You've never kept this information from me before, and why am I going?" Misato railed the blonde.

"You are the chief operations officer. It's your job to be there." Ritsuko was unshaken.

"You're not going." Ranma commented vehemently. "We're going to talk to Gendou NOW!" He took Misato's hand and pulled her out of the room and toward the elevators. "I know you read through that report. Who's the fourth child?"

Misato pulled him where he slowed down his pace. "It's Toji."

Ranma frowned. "We've got to tell Shinji."

"Are you sure that's a wise idea? He's been through a lot lately." Misato pulled some errant hairs away from her face.

"I think it will be a lot better to tell him now than later." Ranma quickly went on. "Was there anything else in that report?"

"I found information about Shinji's classmates. They're all potential pilots. They've been specially assembled for that reason." Misato stated calmly.

Ranma quickly took a look down the hallways to make sure they were not being watched or listened in on. He whispered anyway. "You do know that the Marduk is a dummy corporation for Seele don't you?"

The major drew up short. "What?" She responded in the same tone.

"The Marduk and every other corporation that funds and supports NERV are all just dummy corporations for Seele."

"How did you find all this out?" Misato asked.

Ranma continued toward the elevator. "I sent a package of our information to the most cutthroat fact finder and businesswoman I know."

"Nabiki?"

"Nabiki."

They took the elevator to the floor where Gendou's office resided. Ranma stormed in without much preamble. "What's this about Misato being sent to the activation of Unit 03?"

Gendou, unshaken by the sudden intrusion, folded his hands on his desk. "Major Katsuragi, as chief of operations, is required to be at the activation of the Evangelion Unit 03. She is there in case anything goes wrong."

"Why don't you send your uncharismatic flunky Fuyutsuki out there instead?" Ranma demanded.

The other man cleared his throat in irritation. "This is Misato's duty."

"What if she's relieved from this duty?" Ranma's eyes narrowed dangerously as he placed both of his hands on the table in front of Gendou.

"Who would relieve her of duty?" Gendou had a smug smile behind his bridged hands.

"I would." Ranma stated simply.

"And how would you do that?" The commander's voice was still unshaken.

"As the trainer of personnel, I have the same authority as a doctor to relieve anyone from any duty they are not physically able to do. As you probably already know, Major Katsuragi is pregnant. Officers that are with child, who do not take voluntary leave, are excused from hazardous or strenuous duty. Every initial EVA activation has resulted in a berserker rage. Witnessing and presiding over the activation of Unit 03 is therefore hazardous duty. She is NOT going. Do I make myself clear?" Ranma's aura was burning visibly as he leaned close to glare into Gendou's spectacle covered eyes.

The other man nodded his head as if coming to a decision. "Very well, Fuyutsuki will command the activation." His voice sounded like he had come up with the idea himself. "Are you finished here?"

"For now." Ranma stood up and walked out of the room, reaching out and pulling Misato along with him.

Gendou sat there and frowned at the two handprints burned into the tabletop of his desk. "You've won this round Saotome, but my time is coming."

Outside Misato smirked at the martial artist. "So nice to know that you care."

Ranma turned back to her with a deadly serious glare. "No one will hurt you or our child. Not an angel, not an EVA, and certainly not Ikari Gendou."

The next day at school, Toji stood alone at the top of the school building. He gazed out across Tokyo-3 with an empty stare. He heard firm footsteps behind him. "I see you found out."

"Why?" Shinji's voice was calm and steady.

"Why what?" Toji turned wearily to face the other pilot.

"Why did you agree to pilot the EVA?" Shinji asked as he stood in a relaxed stance with his arms to his side.

"They said they would take care of my sister. I'll do anything in my power to help her." Toji eyes lifted to meet Shinji's.

"I know you love your sister." Shinji moved his thumb over his cheek. "But you could die piloting. Each EVA activation has been followed by disaster. Do you want to risk dieing yourself?"

The larger boy turned to look back over the city. "Why do you pilot EVA?"

"Very popular question lately." Shinji mused. "It's my duty to protect the weak."

"That's what I want to do. I want to protect my sister and get the best treatment she can get." Toji folded his arms, but his words lacked conviction.

"I suggest that you don't. You're one of my best friends. I never had many friends before I came to Tokyo-3, and I don't want to lose any." Shinji reached out and put a hand on Toji's shoulder. "I'm still really sorry about your sister, and not just because you hit me afterward."

"I know that you didn't have a choice when you were forced to pilot the Evangelion." Toji stepped past the smaller boy. "I don't have a choice either." He gave Shinji a smirk out the side of his mouth. "Hey, wouldn't it be great to fight the enemy together, side-by-side." He saw Shinji's frown and continued walking away.

Shinji shook his head and turned to take Toji's place looking out on the city.

Toji walked out and Rei was standing beside the door. The larger boy chuckled a bit. "Take care of him, Rei. He has a good heart."

"Why do I need to care for him?" She asked without emotion.

"Because you like him, that's what girls do for guys that they like." Toji smiled at her and walked down toward the classroom.

Rei turned and looked at Shinji standing watch over the metropolis. He stood with his arms crossed and a grave expression on his face, looking like he was preparing for the worst. "Do I really like him?" She asked to herself.

Toji arrived in the classroom and was presented with a small package. "What's this for class rep?" He asked the freckled girl.

She blushed slightly. "I have to cook for three people in the morning and all the recipes are for four people. I thought you might like the extra."

Toji scratched his head as he looked at the bento. "Uh, my mom makes me a pretty good lunch, but I can always eat more. Thanks, Hikari!" He took the bento and went over to his seat.

Hikari stood there with a goofy smile plastered on her face while Asuka walked up beside her with a cocked eyebrow. "What do you see in that oaf?"

The freckled brunette smiled dreamily. "His compassionate side."

Asuka facefaulted.

That night when the mismatched family at the madhouse de Katsuragi sat down for dinner, the doorbell was rang repeatedly by a certain bespectacled boy. Shinji opened the door to see Kensuke begging on his knees. "Get Misato! Tell her to PLEEEEAAASE let me pilot the Evangelion Unit 03!"

Shinji raised an eyebrow. "No." He closed the door and went back to eating.

"Who was that Shinji?" Misato asked.

Shinji calmly chewed his food. "Someone with a death wish."

A few days later, Toji was again missing from class. When Shinji saw this, he left the school with Asuka and Rei hot on his heels. "Where are you going?" Asuka demanded.

"I've got a bad feeling. They didn't tell anyone when the activation test was, and I think that it's today." Shinji keep striding down the street like a man on a mission.

"Why don't we just roof hop and get to headquarters faster?" The auburn haired girl asked.

"Then we'd lose Rei." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh." Asuka looked to her side, noticing Rei for the first time.

They arrived at NERV headquarters and immediate sought out Ranma who was, for once, actually in the training area putting a few of the security men through their paces. He stopped when he saw the three kids standing by the door. He dismissed the class (much to their relief) and walked over to them. "What's going on?"

"Toji wasn't in class today." Shinji stated plainly. "I think today is the activation and I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Some people would call that feeling experience." Ranma smirked briefly, but quickly shifted to serious. "You kids get to your EVAs. I'll get Misato and we'll talk to Gendou."

"Yes, sir!" They all turned and ran for the staging area.

Ranma quickly made his way to the operations area where Misato was already standing with her arms crossed. "Where's the test?"

"Matsushiro, they began a few minutes ago." She looked up to where Gendou was already seated looking over reports. "What are you doing up here?"

"Shinji had a bad feeling and gathered the pilots. They're all prepping their units now." Ranma looked over the status boards. "Any word from the tests?"

"The last report was from Ritsuko telling us that they were commencing the activation." Misato crossed her arms. "I hope Shinji is wrong."

"Me too, but I have the same feeling." Ranma looked steadily at the boards. As the words left his mouth alarms klaxons began to sound.

"Sir! The Matsushiro test site has just exploded!" Maya reported. "We have an angel on the sensors!"

"Call the pilots in and prepare to launch Evangelions zero through two." Gendou stated calmly.

"Hey, I'm supposed to give those orders!" Misato shouted up to him.

"You've been 'relieved'." He leveled a smug grin in Ranma's direction. The martial artist glared back at him.

"The pilots are already in their EVAs and ready for launch." Maya reported.

The commander nearly fell out of his chair. "How can that be?"

"They've been there for the past twenty minutes waiting for launch authority."

Misato smirked at the off-balanced commander. "This is the part where you say, 'EVA launch'."

Gendou frowned at her impertinence. "EVA launch." He deadpanned.

Shinji and the other pilots were arranged in positions to ambush the oncoming angel. Shinji watched the images that were relayed from Asuka's forward position. "We have a visual." Her voice came over the communications line.

An amplified image popped up on Shinji's HUD. "It's an Evangelion!"

Up in operations, the image was being viewed at the same instant. "It's Unit 03!" Maya exclaimed.

"Is the pilot still within?" Gendou asked.

"The pilot is within, but unconscious." Hyuga reported.

"Eject the entry plug and inform the recovery squad." The commander ordered. Ranma nodded from the side.

"The ejection system isn't responding!"

Gendou sat down and his brows furrowed. "Classify Evangelion Unit 03 as the thirteenth angel." His voice rose. "EVAs Units zero through two. Destroy the angel."

"But Toji's in there!" Shinji's voice came over the com.

"Do it." Gendou ordered. Ranma began to smolder from the side.

"I'll disable the EVA!" Asuka's voice came over the com.

"Asuka!" Shinji could only listen in his cockpit as he heard Asuka scream in pain.

"Unit 02 has been disabled." Hyuga's voice came over the line.

Shinji tensed. "I'm engaging."

"Stay where you are. You are the last line of defense." Gendou ordered. "Unit 00, destroy the angel."

"Yes, sir." Shinji knew that Rei had gone into action. Her screams shortly followed.

"The angel is trying to absorb her unit!" Shinji didn't care whose voice that was. He pushed his EVA's speed to its limits and beyond to close on Rei's position. He came to the scene where the possessed robot had its hand around Unit 00's throat. The hand was melting like wax and it appeared that veins were popping out on the blue EVA. Unit 01 charged in and swung its arms like a golf club to knock the enemy away.

Rei's screams were stopped as power was cutoff from her unit. Shinji turned to face Unit 03 in a ready stance. The other EVA crouched down like a dog on all fours and then lashed out with its right arm. The arm extended like a whip the catch the other unit. Shinji nimbly evaded the swipe and its follow up, the angel's other arm. The boy grimaced as he dodged repeated attacks.

In the operations area, everyone watched as Shinji dodged all of the strikes without making any attempts at offense himself. Gendou pounded his fist on the desk. "Attack the angel!"

"But Toji's still in there! I can't fight that!" Shinji's voice came back.

Gendou's facehardened. "Do it! The angel will destroy everything!"

"I won't kill another human!" The son yelled at his father over the line.

The commander sat calmly in his chair as he signaled for the line to be muted. "Activate the dummy plug."

"Sir? But it still hasn't been tested yet!" Maya insisted.

"It's better than the pilot we have." Gendou replied coldly.

Ranma remembered Kaji's warning about the dummy plug. Before he could consciously decide on an action a pencil was in his hand and thrown across the room. It embedded itself in the console right next to Hyuga's hand, jamming the button for dummy plug activation in the up position. "Belay that order." In an instant he was at the control board turning the communications line back on. "Shinji, the next time he makes a swing, duck under it and grab its shoulder from the inside, pull the shoulder down while sweeping the legs." He watched as Shinji followed his orders. "Now trap its legs with your right leg and put your left leg up to keep it from rolling."

"What about those elastic man arms?" The pilot asked.

"It can't use them as long as you keep that shoulder driven into the ground." Ranma watched as Shinji restrained the unit. "Now, use your free hand to remove the entry plug cover plate. Extract the plug and gently lay it aside."

Shinji complied and then continued to restrain the rampant EVA. "Now what?"

"Drive your progress knife through the back and destroy the core."

Evangelion Unit One drew its progressive knife from the shoulder compartment with its free hand and drove it to the side of the spinal armor on the back of Unit 03, piercing the other unit's core. After a few moments of twitching, the unit fell silent, and the battle was over.

Ranma turned to stare daggers at the commander. "You failed that test Gendou. That's the last chance I'll give you." He strode out just as the reports were coming in about the recovery of the pilot of Unit 03. He was alive, but in a coma.

That evening, Ranma rang the bell of the Suzuhara residence with a heavy heart. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what happened to Toji. He thought back to the first time when he had met the boy, when he thought that he had to cow a bully. He had been hard on the boy and now he felt guilty about karma coming back to haunt the boy. He suddenly had doubts about if he really should have volunteered for this duty, but he didn't want to depress Misato with something like this while she's pregnant.

He silently went over the words from the NERV GDM (Generic Disaster Manual). "Hello, I'm Saotome Ranma from the NERV organization. Your son has most recently come into our employ and was injured by unforeseeable circumstances." He didn't know which was worse: the fact that he was actually going to deliver such an unfeeling speech, or that somebody actually wrote this about children! "We apologize for any inconveniences." "like having to bury a child if he has any complications" He added to himself. "NERV will be taking the best of care of him in our facilities. You are welcome to visit within the hours of…" His voice trailed off as he heard footsteps coming toward the door. He abruptly felt nervous and a little ashamed to be there to deliver such poorly presented bad news to loving parents. His eyes went to the ground.

He heard the door open and he began the speech without thinking. "Hello, I'm…"

"Ranchan?" A confused voice asked.

Ranma's head snapped up, and he came face to face with one of the last people he ever expected to see again in his entire lifetime. "Ucchan?"

Sure enough, standing before him was his former fiancé. She was the same height she had been the last time he had seen her, but she had lost a lot of the tone that marked her as a martial artist. Her chestnut hair was tied in a ponytail that ran down her back. She was wearing a housedress of all things, complete with an apron which she had been wiping her hands until he had looked up to meet her eyes.

She took an unsteady step forward, reached up, and ran her fingers through his loose hair. "What did you do to your hair?" She looked at his face and read his mood. "What's wrong? Why are you here?"

"I'm sorry, Ucchan, but it's about Toji." He began slowly.

She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Oh no." She sobbed. Ranma quickly hugged her as she began to cry on his shoulder. When her head hit his shoulder, the dam broke loose and she began to let loose, mourning what she thought was the possible loss of a second child.

After a while, Ranma managed to calm her down and explained that her son was only unconscious and that he had been saved from any major injury. More minutes passed and Ukyou had the presence of mind to invite him in. Ranma sat down in the den and waited as she went in to bring out some tea. He waited until she had poured for herself and sat down before he spoke. "He's my son, isn't he?" Ukyou turned her gaze aside and nodded her head slowly. "You told me you were on birth control." His voice started to fill with anger. "You told me your periods made you so sick you had to take them!"

The words seemed to strike her like punches used to so long ago. The long forgotten image of a month's worth of untaken pills came to her. "I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you that I had stopped taking them when I found you again."

Ranma dropped his hands and let the anger drain from himself. "Why didn't you tell me? I've had a son for fourteen years and I didn't know about it! Why…?"

She cut him off with a hard glare before he could continue. All the sudden he could see the fighter that obviously hadn't been there since Toji's birth. "I made a promise that night, Ranma. You remember, don't you? In exchange for dropping my betrothal with you I wanted something to remember you by with no strings attached. I told you there would be no strings, so I never told you."

"I thought you just wanted I night of sex!" Ranma stood up and threw up his hands. "I didn't know you wanted a I child! If I had known you were pregnant, I would have…"

"You would have married me." Ukyou interrupted him again. "And you would have been miserable because you would have been trapped into it. I wouldn't trap you like that Ranma. I wanted you to marry me because you loved me, not because you were forced to by our parents or by a child. I said no strings attached, and I meant it. I just wanted something to remember you by. A piece of you that would be mine no matter what."

Ranma dropped back down to the couch with a thud. "I don't believe it. I came to Tokyo-3 a single man without any kids. Now I have four." He ran his hands through his hair. "Wonder how many other women lied to me over the years."

Ukyou felt a little guilty about deceiving him, but she also began to get a little angry when he mentioned other kids. Her eyebrow twitched. "Four?"

"Well, only two are actually mine. I'm a guardian for Shinji and Asuka. They're two of the other Evangelion pilots. Then there's Toji and then there's one more on the way."

"So who's the mother?" She asked cautiously.

"Major Katsuragi, the head of operations at NERV. She's the other guardian of the kids." Ranma explained, as he looked her in the eye.

"Whew!" The breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just glad it wasn't Akane or Shampoo!" She leaned forward. "So tell me about this girl. Is she cute?" Ranma started to tense up. "I know she's not as cute as me, but you can tell your old friend about it."

Ranma shook his head. "She has her moments, but she has a stubborn streak a mile wide, she gets on my nerves constantly, she can't cook..."

Ukyou started laughing. "Sounds like you're in love again Ranma!"

"Are not!" He quickly tried to change the subject. "So why did you stop training?"

She leaned back in her chair and absently played with her hair. "Soon after you left the tournament circuit I met my husband and settled down. Toji came along and I found I didn't want to spend my life making only one thing. I know I make the best okonomiyaki in the world, but that gets old after a while. Plus, I wasn't a part of my family anymore so there really wasn't much point in carrying on the art of it. Toji set me free of all that. I found that I could be happy just being a mother and wife."

"So how's your husband? Is he a good guy?" Ranma asked.

"Oh, Suzy's great!" She had a big smile on her face.

"Suzy?" Ranma's eye twitched.

She laughed. "He's almost as bad as you about affirming his manhood. He hates it when I call him that. I just do it to keep him in his place. But anyway, yes, he's a great person, husband, and father. Who else would marry a woman carrying another man's child? He cares a lot for me and his children." She leaned back forward. "Enough about me. So are you going to marry this Misato or not?"

"I don't know." Ranma threw his head back and looked at the ceiling. "How could I drag her and a kid into my life? There are still plenty of people out there that are out to kill me. I'd only be putting them in harm's way. I just don't want them hurt because of me."

"Ranma, they're going to be hurt if you DON'T marry her. Haven't you realized that the women who love you would gladly accept all the danger in your life to be with you? I loved you enough to have a child out of wedlock knowing full well the stigma it carries in Japan, Akane pined her life away for you, and god only knows how hurt Shampoo was. I doubt she could ever find anyone as strong as you to marry."

"So what are you trying to say?" He asked in genuine confusion.

Ukyou leapt to her feet, grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him forward where she was looking him in the eye. "If you don't marry that girl, she'll suffer more than if you didn't. Now go marry her, or I'll pound the snot out of you! I've still got my spatula y'know!"

"What about the kid? What would I do if they got hurt? I don't know if I could handle it like you have. Both of your children are hurt and you're worried about my life!"

The former chef looked away briefly. "It's never easy when your kids are going to be hurt, and you never know how you're going to feel. I've already shed my tears and now I'm having faith that things will be okay. That's the best you can do; just have faith. Plus, helping you with your life helps me take my mind off mine." She turned back to him with a hard glare. "But that still doesn't change the facts! She and that baby need you! Don't forsake them for their safety. They'll just be more hurt by the neglect!"

This was a side of Ukyou he hadn't seen in a while, but the approach finally reached him. He made a decision then and there that would change his life forever.

The next evening Ranma was reclining in the hot springs while he waited for Misato to come out. This whole day had cost him more than he had spent in that past five years, but it had been worth it.

"Ranma?"

The martial artist looked up to see Misato stride in wearing a white kimono with red rose patterns on it. Her hips swayed suggestively as she glided across the wooden planks surrounding the spring. Her hair hung loose and a few strands hid her face, making her seem mysterious and extremely sensual. Ranma, who was already nude in the spring, felt something stirring in the depths of the pool.

Misato stopped at few steps from the water. "Say my name."

Ranma's raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "Misato?"

"No. My full legal name." She smiled like a tigress on the hunt, which made Ranma a little nervous.

"Saotome Misato." The words seemed foreign on his lips.

She reached a hand behind herself and the wide sash holding Misato's kimono closed fell away. "Say it again."

"Saotome Misato." He found the words more familiar this time.

With a little movement in her torso, the right shoulder of the kimono fell away, exposing one of her breasts. "Say it again, now and forever."

"Saotome Misato, now and forever." The words came easily now.

The other shoulder of the garment fell away and the cloth piled up on the wood. A now nude Misato lowered herself into the water and molded herself to her lover. She cradled his head in her hands. He reached up and pulled her in for a passionate embrace.

Chapter Eleven "The Bigger They are…"

"I won't go easy on you!"

"That's the way I like it!"

The peaceful morning was disturbed by the sounds of motion and flesh on flesh impacts. Asuka threw a punch at Shinji's head, which he easily avoided. His leg shot out in return, sweeping Asuka's legs out from under her. She twisted in air to perform a round off that ended with her in a ready stance. Shinji lashed out with a three-punch combo that she weaved through, only to grab his wrist on the last punch. She pulled his overbalance and dropped her shoulder under his arm, throwing him over her shoulder. The young boy made a tight ball in midair to land hip-to-hip with her. He freed his wrist, moved it behind her back, and reversed the throw. Asuka grabbed onto his shirt on her way over, pulling him along with her.

Shinji rolled with it until he was flat on his back and kicked Asuka over his head. She flew forward until she tucked and rolled. Her feet hit a nearby tree, and she used it to kick off of to come back to Shinji's position. She managed to tag him in the shoulder before he got out of the way. She finished with a dive roll that left her, once again, in a ready stance.

They began to circle each other, weighing one another's openings. Shinji, in his blue copy of Ranma's teenaged outfit, sneered at Asuka. "What's the matter, tired already?"

Asuka, in a red Chinese outfit, smirked back. "What's wrong with you? Am I too much woman for you?"

They charged at one another once more, resuming the high paced martial arts display. They carried on like there was nothing else in the world except for the battle. They paid no mind that they were fighting in front of a NERV hospital, and to the fact that two women were watching them from the upper windows. The first one was wearing a conservative housedress with her hair in a loose ponytail. The other wore a pants suit with her hair shorn in a pageboy style.

"It's almost like watching Ranma fight his girl form." Ukyou commented as she pulled her long chestnut hair back over her shoulders.

"It's amazing how good they've become in such a relatively short time." Akane commented as she looked back down on the two combatants. "I know Ranma is good, but I didn't think he was THAT good."

Ukyou smirked. "It's not just him, it's mostly the kids. I've felt it from all the kids in Toji's class. They have amazing natural chi abilities. With just a little bit of instruction, they can go a long way."

"Why didn't you train Toji?" Akane asked.

The former chef sighed. "I wanted him to be a normal boy. I didn't want him to get caught in the life that we all lived. I never even told him he had a legacy of martial arts in the family. Granted he probably would have laughed if he knew it was a cooking art."

The former 'uncute' fiancé smirked. "At least you have a legacy. All I've got is a wasted life, pining away for someone who would never be there."

The other smiled back at her. "Don't you have that Kaji guy now? He may not be mister right, but it's a start."

Akane chuckled. "I've worked to hard on him for just a 'start'. You don't know how long it took me to get him cleaned up. You'd think the guy never shaved before in his life."

The two enjoyed a pleasant laugh. Ukyou looked down toward the kids again. "Where's the other one? The one with the blue hair?"

Akane shrugged. "She comes and goes as she pleases. She's not officially living with Ranma until they finish renovating the condo." She shook her head with a rueful look on her face. "I still can't believe him. The day after a major battle, and what does that jerk do? He dumps three kids in my lap, buys the two adjacent condos to his, hires a contractor to make them all one residence so the kids can't even stay at their own place, and then finishes his day by eloping with his girlfriend and running off for a romantic honeymoon."

"Do you really think it's that romantic?" Ukyou asked. "This IS Ranma we're talking about. He wouldn't know romance if it jumped up and bit him in the ass."

"I just needed something to vent about. It feels good to be myself again. No more living a lie." Akane took a seat and looked over to where Toji was still in a coma from his battle. "So where is his father?"

Ukyou thought about having a form of revenge by telling Akane the truth about Toji's father, but resisted the temptation. She made Ranma swear that he wouldn't tell anyone, and she wasn't going to let Toji think of anyone but her husband as his father, despite his knowledge that he wasn't. "My husband works in old Tokyo. It was the only job he could get and he can't come home for about a week from when an angel attacks. It takes NERV a while to get the rails up and running again after an assault."

"Oh." Akane sighed.

"So, are you enjoying a bout of being a parent to three teenagers?" Ukyou smiled.

The youngest Tendo sneered at the chestnut haired woman. "Those two kids down there are a handful. They're both afraid of getting close to one another, and yet it's so obvious that they love each other. I just want to slap them both!"

Ukyou smirked. "Sounds like a certain pervert and tomboy I once knew…I think its karmic justice."

Akane regarded her. "Were we really that bad?"

"Yes." Ukyou answered simply. There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Hikari timidly walked in carrying her school bag. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding."

"Don't be silly." Ukyou smiled brightly at the girl and walked over to put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm sure Toji would miss you if you didn't show up everyday to talk to him. I know he'll come back for a pretty girl." She winked at the teenager.

The girl blushed slightly and walked over to Toji's bed. Akane smirked as she watched the girl watch over the unconscious boy. "It's good that you talked the staff into letting her come as often as she likes."

Ukyou popped her knuckles. "Yeah, I only had to break a couple noses before they saw the error of their ways."

"Well that's one happy ending on the way. Now if we can just work on another…" They both looked back out the window to the kids outside.

Down below, Shinji made one final move. He waited until Asuka made another punch. He ducked below her swing and grabbed her shoulder and pulled forward. She fell forward and he wrapped a leg around both of hers. She wound up flat on her stomach while Shinji sat on top of her. "I win." Shinji proclaimed as he smirked down at her.

Asuka struggled against him. "It's not over yet! Just let me get out of this!" She wriggled on the ground a while, but Shinji kept a firm hold on her.

The boy smiled down on her. "I guess there's only one way to make you admit defeat. Chinese Tickle Torture Technique!" He ran his arm up her side and started tickling.

"Stop…It…" Asuka barely managed between laughs.

"Not until you give up!" Shinji continued his torture.

"A…student…ha ha…of…giggle Anything Goes…snigger doesn't…give up! snort" Asuka's laughing was getting out of her control.

"Wow, I didn't know you did barnyard impressions! Let's hear a cow!" Shinji taunted.

"I will not do a cow!" Asuka growled.

"Just say uncle." Shinji pinched her side, hard.

"AHH! Uncle!"

"Now say aunt."

"Just let me up!"

Shinji smirked as he let her back up. He shifted to the side, sitting down on the ground cross-legged. Asuka turned where she was and sat facing him. They sat there for a moment catching their breaths, staring into one another's eyes.

The auburn haired girl finally broke the silence. "So where did you learn that lock? Ranma hasn't taught me that."

The boy's smile dropped from his face. "Ranma told me how to do it while I was fighting Toji. I used it to keep his EVA pinned while I pierced his core."

Asuka put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Stop saying it like that! You weren't fighting Toji, you were fighting an angel!"

"I know. I just feel bad about fighting with one of my friends trapped inside." He dipped his head a little.

She saw the pain in his eyes and felt sorry for him. She knew how hard piloting the EVA had been on him when he first started. He had since gotten used to it, but she could still see some sorrow when he had to confront a friend. "Come on, Shinji. Let's go check on Toji. He wasn't hurt, so he should wake up soon, right?"

The boy nodded and followed her lead back up to the room where Hikari, and the adults were watching over the unconscious boy. Shinji walked to the bedside. "Yo, class rep. Any changes?"

The freckle faced girl sighed. "Not yet." Shinji's face looked downcast.

Ukyou walked over and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "It's not your fault he's like this. Actually you saved him."

He looked up at the former chef. "What do you mean?"

She smiled down at him. "He could have been hurt much worse or even killed if you hadn't done what you did. At least this way he's only in a coma and not fighting for his life like his sister."

Shinji looked a little better. "How is she? I heard she took a turn for the worse."

It was Ukyou's turn to look downcast. "We take it day by day. She's in the ICU now. She still has an optimistic attitude though."

The boy put a hand on hers. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to make you sad."

The chestnut haired woman smiled at the boy. "Such a compassionate boy." She thought. "Not putting himself before anyone else. He really does care about everyone." She turned and looked at Asuka, whose eyes were glued on the boy in front of her. Ukyou nodded and reached into her pocket and pulled out some cash. "Why don't you kids go get some ice cream? That'll cheer you up." She turned to the freckled girl. "Do you want some ice cream?"

Hikari shook her head. "I'd like to stay here, if I may."

"Of course you may." Ukyou looked over to Akane who was sharing the knowing smile. "You don't mind if they go off alone do you?"

"Not at all." Akane's smile broadened.

Shinji, who was oblivious to the obvious setup, took the money and went to leave the room. "Come on, Asuka. Let's go. We might see if we can find Rei as well."

Asuka frowned at the mention of the other girl but went to follow Shinji out the door. She was stopped by Ukyou's hand on her shoulder. The former chef whispered into her ear. "If you want to comfort him, give him a hug the next time he starts feeling bad."

"You sure he won't mind?" Asuka asked.

"I think it will do him a world of good even if he does mind." Ukyou smiled. "Now, get out of here and go have some fun."

The two teens headed out from the hospital toward downtown Tokyo-3. They both took it at a leisurely walk. After a bit Shinji's expression started to fall again. Asuka looked at him and considered what Ukyou had said. She stepped in front of him and stopped. Shinji stopped and noticed the determined look on Asuka's face. "What's wrong, Asuka?"

She didn't say a word as she reached out and pulled him in for a hug. Shinji stiffened as she held him tight and rested her head on his shoulder. He stood there, stock still, until finally his arms wrapped around her as well. They hugged each other for a while until a soft cough from the side got their attention. The started and jumped apart when they saw Rei standing beside them. They both looked abashed as Shinji spoke. "Hello, Rei. We were wondering where you went."

Asuka turned to Rei and put her hands on her hips. "Is there a problem, wonder girl?"

Rei walked purposely toward Shinji. The boy unconsciously took a step backward. He tensed up as Rei reached her hands out toward his face. She grabbed him and pulled him in for a kiss. The kiss only lasted a few moments, and then blue haired girl let him go, both of them slightly breathless.

Asuka's jaw dropped. "W-w-what are you doing!" She shouted as she tried to recompose herself.

The first child turned to her. "That was a kiss. Did I not do it right?"

"It was fine by me." A still slightly stunned Shinji commented

"That was nothing. Let me show you how it's done!" Asuka strode forward and pulled Shinji in for another kiss. The auburn haired girl held this kiss longer than Rei and slid her tongue into the shocked boy's mouth. Shinji didn't know what to do. He was put into shock by the fact that the two other pilots were in a kissing contest using him as the guinea pig.

Asuka broke the kiss and spun around toward Rei. "Beat that!"

Shinji dropped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.

Back at the hospital, Akane and Ukyou had stepped out to get some food for themselves and Hikari. The freckled faced class representative still watched Toji diligently for any changes. She was beginning to despair when a small groan came from his mouth. She jumped to her feet and went to his bedside.

Toji slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of Hikari looking down on him. "C-class rep?"

"Suzuhara." She smiled down on him.

"Have long was I out?" He groaned as he tried to sit up.

Hikari helped him to a sitting position. "About three days."

He turned to her. "You weren't here the whole time were you?"

Her face flushed. "N-no! I've just been visiting. Your mother, a friend of Ranma's, and the other pilot's have all been looking after you."

"That's nice of all them." He relaxed back. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell my sister that there's nothing wrong with me?" He groaned a bit as he slid back down in the bed.

"But there IS nothing wrong with you." Hikari raised an eyebrow at him.

He turned his head to her. "Then why do I feel like crap?"

"Because you've been on your back for three days. Shinji saved you from any real injury, you were just knocked unconscious by the angel when it took over you're EVA."

"Wow." He smirked. "I guess I owe him a lot then. Where is he?"

"He and Asuka went out for ice cream." The freckled face girl replied.

"So are they a couple now?" He asked.

"Sort of. They still won't open up to each other." She smiled at the thought of the pair.

"What about Rei? She has a crush on Shinji too."

Hikari gave him a questioning look. "How do you know? I can't read anything from her."

"I just know." He smirked.

At that moment, Akane and Ukyou walked back in the door. Upon seeing her son awake, Ukyou dropped the food she was carrying and jumped to his bedside and smothered him in a bone-crunching embrace. "You're all right!" She began to weep into his chest.

Toji's face turned red as he tried to get oxygen. He started tapping his mother on the back. "Too….tight…"

Akane smirked shook her former rival. "Hey, the kid won't be all right if you break his back."

Slowly releasing Toji, Ukyou came back to herself. "Oh my son. You're okay." Tears were falling freely now. Toji hugged his mother again and she returned the embrace. He slowly rocked her until she settled back down. Akane took that as her cue to step out for a little while.

Hikari started to get up as well. "I'll just leave you guys alone. This is family stuff."

She hadn't gone two steps before Ukyou caught her arm. "No, please stay. I'm sure that my son would not have come back without you." The teenaged girl's face went beet red.

"MOM!" Toji shouted. "You're embarrassing Hikari!"

Ukyou smirked as she watched both of the kids turn humorous shades of crimson.

At about that moment in the streets of Tokyo-3, Shinji was just waking up from his sensory overload. He absently rubbed the small bump on his head from fainting and absently wondered how two women could fight over loving someone and not care if they were hurt or not. He looked up to see the two girls staring daggers at one another. Well, Asuka was staring daggers. Rei just looked mildly perturbed. He shook his head and stood back up.

Shinji was in the midst of trying to find his way through the dense forest that was woman, when he felt something coming. "Uh, Rei? Asuka?" The girls continued their stare down. "Uh, guys?" They weren't paying any attention whatsoever to him. He shrugged and charged in between them, grabbing each under an arm.

"HEY! What do you think you're doing?" Asuka asked incredulously. Rei just enjoyed the ride with a small smile on her face.

"I'm getting us to headquarters. You two weren't paying any attention to me when I tried to tell you something was wrong!"

The auburn haired girl had a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

"Can't you feel it?" Shinji picked up the pace, as the feeling in the pit of his stomach got worse.

"Feel wha-?" Asuka cut herself off as she opened her senses. She felt something enormous coming toward Tokyo-3. "Why didn't I feel that?"

Shinji gave her a condescending look. "I wonder…"

They made their way to NERV headquarters as fast as Shinji could carry them (Asuka wasn't about to let Rei upstage her again by being carried the whole way). He rushed past the guards and made his way to the staging area. Shinji dropped the girls unceremoniously as he charged up toward his EVA. Asuka recovered quickly and rushed to her own. Rei had to run toward the repair dock where the arm of her Evangelion was still being repaired after the last assault.

Up in the operations area everyone was scrambling for his or her posts. Someone had sounded the general alarm when the children had come charging through like bats out of hell. They scrambled to their scopes desperately trying to find what was causing the alarm.

"Report!" Gendou shouted from his desk.

"Unit's 01 and 02 are activating. Unit 00 is being prepped even without an arm. Unit 03 is still inactive for lack of core." Maya read from the status displays. "Units 01 and 02 will be on the catapults in two minutes."

The commander folded his hands. "Launch when ready."

A flash of electricity went up as the magnets were instantly charged on the enormous catapults that sent the EVAs surface bound. Shinji popped his neck and calmly put his hand on the control handles in front of him. He knew that these controls were mostly superficial, seeing as how the robot ran mostly on thought, but he still gripped them like a weapon. Asuka's hands tensed as she took a hold of the controls. A grim smile of anticipation crept across her lips. Rei's face held a look of determination. She was not going to let anything happen to the third child, if there was any way she could prevent it.

"So what's the plan?" Shinji asked.

"Intercept the angel and keep it away from NERV headquarters at all costs. We'll advise on strategy when we know the nature of the attacker." Gendou replied.

"That's just GREAT information." Asuka commented sarcastically on a private line to Shinji's cockpit. "So what are we REALLY going to do."

Shinji chuckled nervously. "Keep them away from headquarters and we'll figure how to do it when we get there."

"There's the mighty third child in action. Like father like son." Asuka commented snidely.

"Hey, it's all we can do."

Three sets of blast doors opened and the gantries came up, ready to receive the Evangelions. The robots soon follow and were quickly released from their restraints. They quickly reached for power couplings that they attached to the receptacles on their backs. Shinji and Asuka each grabbed a rifle from the hidden arsenals, while Rei grabbed a pistol, hoping to be of some use. They sat back in anticipation while they waited for the angel to rise over the hills.

At last their patience was rewarded as the enemy topped the hill. It looked like a man with no neck or arms. Its face was like a robot with its mouth stuck open. In its eyes a deadly light glowed.

"Engage the city defenses." Gendou's order came over the EVA's communication systems.

The city erupted as all the hidden gun and missile placements opened up and emptied their contents onto the angel. Shinji and Asuka opened fire as well, both of them targeting the creature with unerring accuracy.

After a minute or so Shinji dropped his rifle. "First bit of intelligence, conventional arms don't work, big surprise."

"Hey, that's the first bit of intelligence I've ever heard out of you." Asuka quipped.

"Ha, Ha."

"Seriously, aren't we negating his AT field?"

Shinji looked at his displays. "Nope. We're having no effect at this range. We're going to have to move in and go hand to hand."

The sound of popping knuckles came over the com. "Then let's go, third child!"

"Rei, stay back." Shinji dropped his rifle and drew his progressive knife from his shoulder holster. He looked behind and saw that Asuka had her trusty polearm at the ready. "Where the hell does she put that thing?" He thought to himself.

As they charged forward, Gendou and the rest of the operations crew watched the Evangelions go into action. Fuyutsuki, wearing a few bandages from the botched Unit 03 activation, walked in and stood beside his commander. "Shouldn't you be issuing a few more orders? The kids seem to think they can run these intercepts anyway they choose."

Gendou's expression didn't change behind his bridged hands. "Unfortunately, thanks to experience and Ranma, they know how to handle this better than we do. We'll just be here when something goes wrong. Is doctor Akagi awake?" The graying man nodded. "Have her come up here as soon as possible."

Back on the battlefield, Shinji and Asuka were just closing on the angel, when its eyes flared and a blast emitted from them. The two EVA dove to the side to avoid the blast. They both rolled and came back to a kneeling position.

"You okay, Asuka?" Shinji brought his knife back to bear.

"I'm fine, but take a look behind us."

He turned and saw an enormous crater behind them. He listened to the status report as it came in over the communications array. "…blast penetrated the first eighteen layers of armor."

"Damn it." Shinji stood back up. "Let's keep this thing busy and make sure it doesn't fire anymore." At that moment, two squares of white appeared on the angel's torso approximately where the arms should have been. The two squares unfolded like old printer paper.

"I don't think we need to worry about that." Asuka jumped up and swung her massive halberd down toward the abomination's head. At the same time, Shinji charged in with his knife.

The angel waited until they were totally committed and then unleashed its attack. The paper like arms straightened out and went straight for the oncoming EVAs. It was only their honed reflexes that kept them from taking damage. Unfortunately, both of them were left staring at the severed ends of their weapons.

"That was my favorite axe!" Asuka shouted as she charged in again. She started raining blow down on the angel, but the monster nimbly avoided them. Shinji charged from the side and added in a few kicks and punches of his own. They managed to land a few blows, but they apparently didn't cause any damage.

They fell back to reevaluate their situation. Asuka keyed into Shinji's private line. "Should we try the Saotome Final Attack?"

"Things aren't that bad yet." Unit 01 got into an offensive stance. "We just have to keep beating it into submission." Shinji keyed to the operation line. "Rei, get us some more weapons."

While he was giving orders, the angel's eyes began to glow again. Shinji felt the buildup of power. "Move, Asuka!" His shout came a split second before the beast lashed out with its eye beams.

The land rumbled with the force of the blast. Unit 01 charged into the remaining smoke and debris to find the other EVA. The dust cleared in time for Shinji to see the angel preparing to strike a damaged Unit 02 with its arm razors. He charged forward, dove forward, and shoved the injured Evangelion out of harm's way. Unfortunately, Unit 01's power cable was severed in the process.

Shinji's breath quickened as he watched the five-minute timer go down on his power. He had to do something quick. "Asuka, can you still fight?"

"Too much damage. If I'm lucky I can limp back to a retraction gate after the diagnostics are done." She answered as she cursed her machine under her breath.

"Clear out of here as fast as you can. I've only got five more minutes. I hope Rei found some good weapons." Unit One charged forward once again. In brutal display of martial arts, the large robot still failed to effectively harm the monstrosity before it. Shinji felt his link with his EVA as he tried to push it for more performance. He felt a barrier. He had felt it before when he was doing his synch tests, but he remembered the last time he had broken that barrier. In the back of his mind, he remembered his first battle when the EVA had gone berserk. On some level he knew that he had broken the synch barrier then, and it was all coming back to him now. The only problem was he didn't know how.

With a powerful kick to the angel's midsection, the timer expired. Shinji's eyes went wide as he tried to will the EVA to move again, but to no avail. He yelled in horror as the angel counter-attacked.

The first blow came from the razor-arm, severing Unit 01's left arm at the elbow. The next strike came for his chest. It didn't pass through him like he thought it would. The razor went through the first plates and impacted on his AT Field protected core, sending the robot flying into a mountain that surrounded Tokyo-3. Shinji could only sit helpless as he watched the angel lash out at the core of his EVA.

A flash of movement in the corner of his eye got his attention. He choked as he saw Rei appear with a positron cannon mounted on her good arm. She was drawing a bead on the angel when it turned to face her.

"NOOOO!" Shinji shouted as he helplessly watched the angel sever Unit 00's remaining good arm with its own. The damaged EVA was still standing, so the angel advanced for the kill.

Shinji released a primal yell of frustration, pain, and anger. He felt the chi gathering within himself again. His felt the power climb, but he felt the ceiling again. Knowing it would cost him his consciousness and, quite possibly, his life; he knew what he had to do. He surrendered to Evangelion Unit 01.

Everyone in the operations area's spine went ramrod straight as they heard that terrible roar. They all remembered the first time Shinji had gone to battle and the terrifying sound that the berserk EVA made as his came to life. Ritsuko had just arrived, head still bandaged from the wounds sustained at the last EVA activation. She charged up behind Maya and demanded a progress report.

"His synch ratio is over 400%!" The young tech reported.

Ritsuko frowned. "She's awake."

Gendou and Fuyutsuki smiled from their terrace above the others. "Finally something happens according to plan." The gray-haired man commented.

"At last, it begins." The commander's grin became more feral in nature.

On the battlefield, Unit 01 roared in rage as it rose from its resting place. It turned on its heel and delivered a powerful kick to the side of the angel, sending it reeling away from Unit 00. The purple robot then grabbed its severed arm and set it against the stump from whence it came. The arm was joined to the body once more as if no damage had ever been done to it. The armor creaked around the face of the robot as it mouth opened for another blood curdling roar.

The angel had regained its balance and unleashed one of its razor arms again. Unit 01 caught the paper-thin extrusion and pulled on it, causing the angel to come rocketing toward the robot. Unit 01 aligned its shoulders for maximum body structure and stability with its fist extended. The angel's face impacted on the fist. The fist didn't move, but the angel continued its forward flight, driving the fist through the angel's head. The evangelion withdrew its fist with sickening squishing sound when it withdrew.

The angel staggered backward like a gunshot victim that was still standing from shock. Unit 01 released another terrifying roar. As everyone in the operations area watched in fear, the armor creaked and strained. At last the restraints gave way and the steel-plating feel away from the robot's body, revealing a hideous creature underneath. The monster lashed out and kicked the angel's legs out from under it. As soon as the angel hit the ground, the EVA was on top of it. It swiped its hand across the angel's chest, causing it to open wide. The Evangelion then proceeded to begin feasting on the innards of the enemy.

Back in the control room, almost everyone was staring in shock, everyone that is except for Gendou, Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko, and Maya. The first two were watching with a smug look on their faces, the third was smiling knowingly, and the last was retching from the sight on the screen.

"She's breaking out of her restraints." Ritsuko continued to look proud.

"It finally happened, it's aware." Fuyutsuki stated.

Gendou smiled at the scene playing across the monitor. "She's taking the S2 unit into herself."

The people in operations weren't the only witnesses to the gruesome event. Atop one of the remaining standing buildings stood Akane and Kaji. Akane had both of her hands covering her mouth in an attempt to keep her lunch down. Kaji looked between the feasting Evangelion and his new lover. He at last decided to speak. "This is the world I live in. Now you know why I never told you what I do."

"This is terrible! What is that THING?!" Akane gasped.

Kaji took a deep breath. "The Evangelions were created by man, in man's own image. They are an artificial life form with a human will inside."

"Why are you showing me this? What does this have to do with your job?" She finally pulled her eyes away from the carnage to stare at Kaji in disbelief.

"I have a lot of secrets that I keep, Akane. One of them is now public knowledge as it stands out there eating the enemy." He turned to her with a sorrowful look on his face. "I have two jobs, one for NERV and the other for Japanese intelligence. My second job has become public knowledge. I was sent here to be the bell around Commander Ikari's neck, and now he knows."

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked cautiously.

His countenance hardened. "They're going to be after me soon. You have to leave the country and take your sister with you. Get as far away from me as possible. I will not have you hurt because of my mistakes."

Akane's face firmed into a look of determination. "Is it a male thing to send their women away at the first sign of danger?" She stepped up and jabbed a finger into his chest. "Now, you listen and you listen well. I'm used to being around someone whose life is always in danger. How many times do you think someone has tried to kill Ranma over the years, and still is? I'm not afraid, and I can take care of myself. The only way I'm leaving the country is if you are in the plane riding beside me. Is that perfectly clear?" She turned to leave the rooftop. "Now lets get to the headquarters and see what we can do about the children. We still have that duty."

Kaji nodded absently as he rubbed the spot on his chest where Akane had poked her finger. "I guess I can't argue with that." He thought.

After a few hours, Evangelion Unit 01 finally wore itself out. The crews recovered it and moved it into the holding cage in the staging area. The other two EVA were recovered and placed in their designated spots for repairs as well. When Rei and Asuka were released from a medical examination, they both ran to the operations area. "Where's Shinji?!" Asuka nearly screamed.

Ritsuko, who was a little shocked to see the pilots standing there, pointed toward the screen where a screen was showing a blue plugsuit floating in LCL. Asuka gasped and Rei's eyes got wide. "He was absorbed by Unit 01. He hit 400% synchronization ratio."

Tears threatened Asuka's eyes. "But you can get him back, right?"

The doctor frowned at her. "We have a salvage plan and data, but there's no guarantee that we'll be able to bring him back."

"Asuka? Rei?" Came Akane's voice from the entrance. The auburn haired girl turned and ran into the woman's arms, crying upon contact. Rei slowly followed, but made no move to join in the reassuring embrace. Akane reached out and brought her in as well. The blue haired girl hugged the woman back.

Gendou looked down on the scene with some dismay. "Even when Ranma's not here, his influence still remains." He thought.

Shinji awoke with a buzz in his head. He seemed to be floating in a dim haze. "So this is what death is like?" He thought. "Wow. I thought it would be singing, flames, or something other than just nothing."

At that moment his mind was struck by myriad images. He closed his eyes and watched as random images from his life flashed before his eyes. The images passed quickly, but soon they started to focus on the angels. He saw each one he had fought and thoughts began to come with the images. "The angels? Each one has different powers. Each one has a different name."

"Are they the enemy?"

"Who is my enemy?"

"Those who try to hurt the weak are the enemy."

Images of his father flickered in between the scenes of the angels.

A memory of him and Rei traveling down one of the NERV escalators. "Why do you hate your father?" She said this time.

Shinji turned around to her with a determined look on his face. "He thinks that the world exists only for him to manipulate. He thinks everyone should serve him." His hand shot out and seized Rei by the throat. "WHO ARE YOU?!" He demanded.

Several days had passed in the real world. Most of the NERV personnel were working frantically to get the salvage operation under way. Toji had been released from the hospital. At this moment, he and Asuka were on the platform in front of Unit 01. The armor still hadn't been replaced, so the eerie human-like visage was staring back at them.

Toji looked like he was trying to stare down the uncovered EVA. "So this is the true form of Evangelion. They're monsters just like the angels."

Asuka shuddered and hugged herself. "I don't care. They're just tools, a means to an end. Why not use angels to kill angels?"

The taller boy turned to her. "Don't you care that your driving something that's alive?"

"I don't care. I don't care about any of that!" Asuka turned violently until she was facing away from the uncovered EVA, her arms still wrapped around herself.

Toji reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know you're worried about Shinji, but don't worry. I'm sure they'll get him back."

Tears welled up in the second child's eyes. "I…I don't want him to die. I want him here yelling at me. I want to yell at him."

"You have a funny way of showing you love somebody." Toji teased.

"I'm not in love with him!" Asuka protested.

Toji tilted his head and looked at her. "Then why are we here? I swear I haven't seen two people more in love then you two. If either of you would back down on your pride a little, you'd be a happy couple."

Asuka gave him a stern look. "What about you an Hikari?"

"The class rep?" He asked with a confused tone. "What about her?"

"She's in love with you, dope! She was there most the time that you were unconscious!" Asuka had moved her hands to her hips. "Your mother was practically arranging the marriage."

Toji nervously scratched the back of his head. "You think so?"

"Duh!" Asuka glared at him.

He chuckled nervously. "My mother's funny about marriages. She seems to want to get me married off as soon as she can. But Hikari wouldn't be too bad…"

Asuka had a self-satisfied smirk on her face seeing Toji crawl in his own skin in nervous agitation. She turned back toward Unit 01 and the smile left her face. Toji noticed the change from playfulness to sorrow and put a hand on her shoulder. "Do you really think he loves me?"

"Yup." He nodded. "But you might have to share him with Rei. She has a crush on him as well."

Asuka had a pleading look on her face. "Who does he love more? Which one of us will he choose?"

Toji smirked at her. "I don't know. You'll have to ask him." He turned back to the EVA and frowned. "I sure hope they bring him back."

"Why?" Asuka asked out of curiosity.

"If he doesn't come back, then I'm stuck piloting this thing."

Inside of Unit 01, the standoff was still in progress. Shinji stood with his hand around the false Rei's throat, subconsciously keeping the scene from changing by sheer force of will. "I'll ask you one more time. Who are you? Are you another angel?"

The girl gave him an even look. "Why do you think there is someone else?"

"Listen, I don't like people messing with my head!" He squeezed her neck. "An angel tried this on me once, and I wasn't too happy about it then either!"

The scene shredded like paper and swirled in into a vortex in midair and then disappeared, leaving a landscape that looked like a barren beach at sunset. A shade of red covered everything and all he could see to his left was sand, and water to his right. "What is this place?"

"This is the void." Shinji heard a voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. "This is the place between death and life. This is where I dwell now."

Shinji had heard this voice before. He remembered it from when he was trapped in the black hole angel, and he also remembered it on some other instinctual level. "I remember your voice. Who are you?"

As if stepping through a hidden doorway, a woman appeared. She was just a little taller than Shinji with hair styled like Rei's. Her features looked a lot like Rei as well, the only differences were that her skin had a tint of life to it and her hair and eyes were brown. Shinji memories flooded again. He looked at her with a great longing. "Mother? Is that really you?"

Ikari Yui nodded her head. "Yes, my son."

He ran to her, threw his arms around her waist, and cried into her bosom. "I've missed you so much, mom. Why didn't you tell me you here this whole time? God, I've missed you!" He cries went over and over along the same lines for several minutes.

Yui just continued to hold her son until he had finally wore himself out. At last they both sat down on the beach. Shinji dozed off as Yui held him and watched over him affectionately.

After a few hours, Shinji came to again. He gazed up into his mother's eyes and smiled. "Why didn't you show yourself earlier?"

She looked up from his eyes and gazed out onto the see. "The void inside the Evangelion is an infinitely large place, and my consciousness has been spread over it to the point of madness. I've wander around in a phantasmagoric haze that is like a hallucinogen-induced state. Its only brief instances like this that I can pull myself together for a 'moment of clarity'. Those moments are few and far between, and I'm only able to do it briefly for you."

"Why have you been able to be with me this long then?" He asked.

She smiled at him. "It's thanks to your willpower. It's your ability to hold onto yourself through the void that provided me the chance to find you."

"Was that what all those images were about?"

"That was the void pulling your consciousness out. It tears you to pieces slowly, and momentarily gives you insight into your life, a focus. If you hadn't locked onto that one scene you would have drifted in and out of lucidness forever."

"Mom..uh…" Shinji had an uncertain look on his face.

"Yes, Shinji?"

"Is Gendou really my father?"

Yui looked at him with an inquisitive face. "Why do you ask that?"

"I've gathered that you and Ranma knew each other a long time ago. He still has some feelings for you, but he never talks about it."

Yui laughed. "That man is as stubborn as a mule." She calmed her features before continuing. "We did know and love each other a long time ago, but Gendou is your father. Ranma and I never did anything more than kiss."

"Oh." Shinji looked downcast.

She lifted his head so that she could look in to his eyes. "Shinji, your father is not an evil man. He just loved me to the point of obsession. He felt that if he succeeded in our work, he could bring me back. I loved him as well, Shinji, remember that." The boy nodded.

They sat there for a while and talked some more, getting to know each other. At last Yui stood up. "Shinji, it's time for you to go back."

He had a confused look on his face. "What?"

Yui smiled down at him. "Someone is calling for you."

"Huh?"

She motioned with her hand and a rift appeared in midair and expanded into an oval. Shinji looked on as he saw Asuka clutching his plugsuit to her chest, crying out for him at the top of her lungs, tears rolling down her face. He looked back and he saw Ranma and Misato looking on from the side, holding each other tightly as they watched Asuka with sorrowful eyes. Rei was there as well. She stood on the other side of Asuka from Ranma and Misato, her eyes watering.

Shinji looked on with wonder. "They're all there for me?" Even though he had been living with most of them for a while now, he still couldn't believe the emotion being shown.

His mother nodded. "They all love you Shinji, and I couldn't think of a better set of people to raise you." She gathered him into a hug and kissed his forehead. "Go, my son."

He looked up at her. "What will happen to you?"

She smiled reassuringly. "I'll go back to the fog of the void, but I will always be here for you."

Shinji nodded and hugged her back. "But how do I get back?"

"Just will yourself back."

As he watched she faded from sight. He turned back to the view screen that he assumed was the view from the EVA's eyes. He watched as Asuka sobbed uncontrollably and shook off any form of comfort. "Asuka…" He longed to comfort her. He never wanted her to feel that bad ever again.

Suddenly the world around him swirled and twisted.

On the catwalk in front of the restrained EVA, Asuka continued to cry. Ranma and Misato had tried to soothe her feelings of loss, but she wouldn't let anyone near her at this moment. She had lost someone else she had dearly cared for, and didn't want to open her heart again. The Saotome couple had just got back from their honeymoon in time for the failed extraction operation. They clung to each other for support, and mourned the loss of Shinji's life and Asuka's heart.

Just then they all heard a sickening crack that sounded like bone breaking. The exposed core of the EVA had formed a crack long enough to eject a nude body onto the deck. Asuka jumped over to him and pulled him close to her.

"Baka Shinji!" She cried in between tears of joy into his chest. "Baka, baka, Shinji!" Suddenly she felt something poking her. "Shinji, you PERVERT!"

She would have hit Shinji with the slap if he weren't already diving for his plugsuit. He grabbed the clothing, wrapped it around his waist, and leapt what he felt was a safe distance away from Asuka, which landed him with his back to Rei. The blue haired pilot put her arms around him from behind, much to his surprise.

Asuka's eyebrows twitched. Not to be outdone, she launched herself over toward him to glomp onto his front.

Ranma chuckled from the side. "You know, one of them is going to have to let go if he's ever going to get dressed." Misato nodded in agreement with a large smile on her face.

Chapter Twelve "The Making of a Man"

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known."

1 Corinthians 13:11-12

1995

"RANMA NO BAKA!"

Ranma was used to these trips via air-malletsama. The same thing would happen everyday. He'd get up, argue with Akane, spar with his pop, argue with Akane, eat breakfast, argue with Akane, go to school while arguing with Akane… It was a repeating cycle. Even after the events of Jusendo and the failed wedding, nothing had really changed. This was going to be his last year of High School. This was supposed to be a big year of change.

He sighed inwardly. Of course he was going to hit something really hard, because, naturally, Akane could always aim him toward the hardest objects in the vicinity. He looked down where he was heading. "Oh crap! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

There was a girl that looked to be about his age. She had long brown hair, dressed in an odd school uniform. She looked like she maybe weighed a buck twenty-five soaking wet and carrying a sack of potatoes. He knew instantly that she wouldn't be able to withstand the impact.

Using his advanced skills in the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, he managed to alter his course enough to catch a telephone poll with an outstretched arm. He felt the muscles in his arm pull against the momentum his body had built up while falling. He spun around the poll and turned his fall into a skid on the sidewalk.

Ranma stood up and brushed himself off. He looked down and saw where part of the leg of his pants had been burned off from the sidewalk friction. "Well, there goes that pair of pants." He thought. "Might as well go home and change before heading back to school."

"Excuse me, are you okay?" He heard a voice behind him.

He turned around to see the girl he had barely avoided. He scratched the back of his head with his good arm and smiled a nervous grin. "It's nothing. Happens all the time."

She gave him a concerned look. "Really? You mean this doesn't hurt?" She poked the shoulder of the arm he had used to snag the telephone poll.

"OACH! What'dya do that for?" He cried out in pain. He turned to glare at her and saw something that astonished him, genuine regret.

"I'm really sorry. I…I just wanted to help." A tear welled up in her eye.

"Oh, no. Please don't…" He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. It just hurt when you did that."

She smirked. "So you were just being macho before, eh?"

"Yeah, I mean, No…" Ranma's shoulders slumped. "Listen, I'm sorry about the yelling and almost landing on you. I'll just be going." He turned to leave.

"Wait a minute." He turned back to her. In her face was a look of concern. "Let me take a look at that shoulder. You might have pulled something."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, I mean, I've got to get going." He tried to cover his exit gracefully, failing miserably. She gave him the puppy dog eyes. "Don't do that." She put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Okay, just one question. Are you here to marry, or kill Saotome Ranma?"

She gave him a funny look. "No. Never heard of him. I'm just passing through here on my way to college prep school."

"Oh good." He heaved a sigh of relief.

"Are you Saotome Ranma?"

"Yeah."

"Does that sort of thing happen to you often?"

"More than I could ever want." He rolled his eyes.

She pointed over her shoulder to a nearby park. "Come on. You and I can sit in the park. While I fix your shoulder, you can tell me all about it. Okay?"

"What do you get out of this?" He asked cautiously.

She gave him an unbelieving look. "Nothing. I just want to help you. Why are you so suspicious?" She watched a haggard look passed over his face. She could almost see the painful memories playing across his face. "You're not used to charity, are you?"

"Charity? What's that?" He asked.

She took a deep breath. "Thought so. Come over here and I'll show you what charity is. It's giving something without expecting anything in return. Now let's take a look at your shoulder." She started walking toward the park.

He followed her at a sedate pace. He was really confused. Didn't all women want to marry and/or kill him? Didn't they always expect something in return for something they do? Sure, Dr Tofu had patched him up a few times, but he got paid. Why was she doing this? Wait a minute, didn't she say she was on her way to school. She's going to miss school because of him. He couldn't let anything bad happen to her because of him. He didn't even know her. "Hey, aren't you going to miss class or something? I don't want you to get into any trouble cause of me."

She turned and smiled at him. He blushed slightly. "Don't worry. My grades and attendance are good enough that I can miss a day. Besides, I've already taken the practice college entrance exam a thousand times, and have aced it the last hundred or so."

He scratched the back of his head. "Wow. You must be pretty smart."

"I'm going to be a doctor." She smiled again and ushered him to a park bench. "Have a seat."

He sat down and she started to examine his shoulder. Luckily he was wearing one of his sleeveless Chinese shirts today. He felt a few sharps pains as she poked around. He started to talk to take his mind off of the pain. "That's great that you're going to be a doctor. I'd never be able to do that with my grades."

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "You look pretty smart to me. I'm usually a pretty good judge of that."

He smirked. "If it's martial arts, I can do anything, or learn anything. I just never found school interesting. Plus I spent ten years of my life on the road, so I missed a lot of the work and have been behind a while."

A look passed over her face that he knew all too well. It was the same look he got on his face when there was the prospect of a new martial arts challenge. The excited look of anticipated, enjoyable challenge. "Maybe you need a tutor. I could help you get your diploma. What year are you?"

He chuckled a bit. "Senior."

She smiled brilliantly. "You're the same age as me!" She finished up his shoulder by applying some ointment from her purse. "I could tutor you and then you could go on to a university."

Ranma didn't really know what to think. "Uh, okay." He thought for a second. He was failing most of his classes. Akane would pass him on if he didn't graduate. He definitely wasn't going to get help around his normal crowd. And his family? Let's just say it wasn't 'manly' to ask for help. "Sure, but how about this. I meet you at this park after school everyday. We can study here or your house."

"Why not your house?" She asked curiously.

"Here's the part where you hear my life story…"

She smiled. "Well, before you start, I haven't introduced myself." She gave him the best bow she could, sitting on the bench. "My name is Ikari Yui."

2015

Ranma had been working on the condominium, trying to finish the renovations, when the phone rang. "Hello?"

"Ranma?" It was Akane's voice and she was hysterical.

"What is it, Akane?" He asked quickly.

"Kaji's disappeared! He told me about his jobs. I'm really worried about him. I can't find him anywhere." She was starting to come unglued.

"Keep looking. I'll see if I can find him around headquarters."

"Thanks, Ranma." Her voice had some relief in it. "Look at the bright side, at least this time your not saving me."

Ranma nodded grimly. "Thanks." He hung up the phone. No sooner had he hung up the phone that it rang again. "Hello?"

"Ranma?" It was Misato this time, with a little bit of panic to her voice.

He groaned as he put a hand to his temples. He knew today was going to be one of those days. "Yes?"

"Didn't you hear anything I said while we were on honeymoon?" Her voice took on its playful tone.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes…dear. What's going on? Akane just called me frantically wanting to know where Kaji is."

Misato went into full serious mode, her voice at a whisper. "It's about Kaji. They think he's kidnapped the vice commander. They're locking me up for the time being because of my past with him. He's doing something foolish, I just know it. This is my one phone call, Ranma. Make it a good one. I love you." With that she hung up the phone abruptly.

"She was being watched." He thought. "No doubt the line was tapped. That's why she didn't go into detail." He sniffed himself. "I need a shower and change before I do anything."

He went into the master bedroom and looked for a change of clothes. Everything was still piled up for laundry. They hadn't had a chance to take care of it since arriving back. Plus the fact that when they got off work Misato thought they were still on honeymoon. He looked around for a clean set of clothes, and found nothing but the paper-wrapped package that she had given him what seemed like a lifetime ago.

He unwrapped the package and looked at the contents. "Well, if I'm going to go rescue someone, I might as well wear appropriate clothing." He pulled out the red Chinese shirt.

1995

Ranma tugged nervously at the collar of his red Chinese shirt. She would be here any minute. Any time now, she would show up and help him for no other reason than the challenge to make him a good student, and succeeding so far. They had been meeting for a while now, and it still unnerved him that she wanted nothing in return. He wanted to do something to repay the kindness, but what?

"Ranma?"

He turned to see something that made his heart seize. "You cut your hair!"

She smiled back at him as she ran a hand through her now short hair. "It's what all the college girls are doing this year. What do you think? Do you like it?"

He thought about it for a little bit. Her hair was thinner than Akane's, so it wasn't as full, but there was enough there to frame her face perfectly. There was only one word for it. "Kawaii…"

She beamed her beautiful smile at him. "Thank you, Ranma." She frowned as she got a closer look at his face. There was another bruise there. "What happened this time?"

He absently rubbed his bruised cheek. "Ah, that stupid tomboy decided she wanted to play with P-Chan again. I'm trying to save her from Ryoga, and she hits me for it."

Yui shook her head. "I still don't see why you don't just tell her about him." Ranma had told and shown her long ago about Jusenkyo. "All he's ever done is use your honor against you. I'd say he doesn't deserve it any longer."

"I'm glad somebody is on my side, but still, my word is my honor. I can't break my honor. It's the only thing I have that I can truly call my own." He sighed. "And that macho chick won't listen to me." He rubbed his cheek again.

Yui gave him a withering look. "Ranma, hasn't anyone ever told you; if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all?"

He gave her a dumbfounded look. "Uh, no."

She raised an eyebrow and then let out a sigh. "I keep forgetting you didn't have any real parents. Come on, while we study I'm going to give you a few hints about getting along with people…"

Ranma was smiling broadly as he made his way home. Yui had helped clear up a lot of things. Hopefully, some of what she told him would actually work! He whistled a little tune as he entered the dojo grounds. "I'm home!" He shouted as he came in.

"Look who's mister cheery today." Nabiki deadpanned.

"And good evening to you Nabiki." He quipped back with a smile.

Akane stood up from in front of the TV. "Ranma, where have you been? I've been wondering if you needed help with your homework."

He smiled broadly and pulled out his completed homework. "Already finished, but thanks for the concern." "Must keep voice genuine…" He thought.

"Let me look at that." Nabiki took the paper and looked it over. "Hey, most of these are right! Wow, if this wasn't in your handwriting, I would have said you've been having someone doing your homework for you."

"Nope, just found a good place to study." He smiled.

"Probably with Ukyou I bet." Akane scoffed from the side.

"So why don't you show me this miracle study place?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma snatched back his paper and stuffed it into his school bag. "Nope. First, I tell you, you sell it to everyone, and then I can't study anymore. Do you want me to be uneducated forever?"

The middle Tendo daughter raised an eyebrow. "Who are you and what did you do with the real Ranma?" She asked.

He smirked. "He's still here. He's just making sure he doesn't get stuck in High School all his life."

Akane smiled. "Well, since your doing so well, maybe a little celebration is in order. I'll make some dinner for you!"

"That's nice of you, Akane, but you don't…" He couldn't complete the lines that Yui had taught him fast enough. Akane was already gone from the room and the destruction of the kitchen could be heard from where he stood.

Nabiki gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Damned if you do. Damned if you don't." She smirked and headed up the stairs.

Ranma just stood in place. "Mustn't insult anyone. Mustn't insult anyone." Kept on repeating in his mind. He thought quickly what he could do. Then he had a wide grin on his face when he remembered the martial arts dining. He'd just have to modify it a bit.

That evening Akane indeed served one of her 'masterpieces'. Ranma was getting nauseas just smelling it. "Couldn't she at least make her curry?" He thought. "At least that's partly edible." He decided he'd take one real taste, just to see if it had any redeemable value. Miracles are known to happen.

He took a small bite. It took every bit of his strength to keep his face from twisting into a grimace. He covered it with a faked surprise look. "This is actually decent Akane." He then started moving his hands faster than he had ever before. Everyone just thought he was using his usual gusto at eating.

He stood up and patted his stomach. "That was good Akane. I'm going to go grab a bath." He left the room.

Akane was glowing from the compliment. She couldn't believe that he hadn't said one bad word about her cooking.

Soun and Genma were proclaiming the power of true love and how it helped Akane over her cooking handicap. Kasumi just smiled her vacant smile at everyone's antics. Nabiki was the only one to notice the koi in the pond out back floating to the top.

Time passed and summer turned to fall. It was too cold for Ranma and Yui to study in the park anymore, and, since her parents would have a cow if she brought a boy home, they started going to some of the eateries around the park to study. They had met a few times for their little 'dates'. As Ranma progressed with his studies, learning at the same rate that he learned martial arts (thanks to Yui), they spent less time studying and more time talking, laughing, and such.

One day toward late October, they were eating sandwiches at a coffee house near the park. Yui looked up at Ranma. "You'd think that with all the trouble in your life, you'd be more worried about someone following you here."

Ranma smirked his usual cocky grin. "It's no problem. Thanks to my pop's Umi-Sen-Ken technique, no one can follow me. I have had to ditch a few watchers, but otherwise there's been no problem."

"You mean nothing bothers the great Saotome Ranma?" She smiled an amused grin at him.

"There is one thing I worry about." He took a bite of his sandwich.

"And what's that?" She asked.

Ranma finished chewing his bite (something Yui had taught him to do early in their dining times), and spoke. "Ryoga. I'm afraid he'll show up and mess things up."

"You mean he'll find where you're going?"

"No, he'll stumble on it accidentally. He's about the only one who has a chance of finding my special study place." He smiled at her. "Or my special tutor."

She blushed a bit. "Thank you, Ranma."

"For what?" He looked confused.

She couldn't help but smile at how naïvely cute he was. "For thinking so much of me."

"I think a lot of you."

Akane couldn't believe it. Ranma was actually doing his best to get along with her! They hadn't had a real fight in a long time. Of course there were still times when she had to pound him for being stupid or a pervert, but otherwise things were looking up. He was even eating her cooking! Could he really love her? In fact he was coming home from another study session. She had tried to get more information out, but he was extremely tight lipped about it. She had given up after a while. After all, if it helped them get along better, then it couldn't be too bad, could it?

Nabiki watched as Ranma came wondering in with that sickeningly bright smile on his face again. If she didn't know him better, she would swear he was out getting laid. She was too busy with her college work to give him her usual attention, but if he kept on coming home this damn happy, she'd have to do something. The least he could do is wipe that smile off his face before he came in.

Ranma just greeted them all like before, was nice to Akane, complimented Kasumi cooking (which he oddly didn't eat as much as usual), and he was even partly civil to his father.

Of course life progressed as normal for Ranma. Akane got kidnapped again. Ranma had to cut out of his last class to go catch him. Ranma didn't even bother to get the guys name, school, or serial number. He just burst in beat the crap out of the guy and carried Akane out.

She was so grateful (yet again), but when she went to thank her savior. He looked at a clock on a storefront. "Oh crap! I didn't realize it took so long to find you! I'm going to be late for study!"

A myriad of emotions played over Akane's face. The first of which was surprise that those words had actually escaped Ranma's mouth. Several more played over her before she settled on anger. Here she was ready to give him a nice reward for saving her (maybe a kiss, the way he had been acting lately), and he just turned to leave! She brought malletsama to bear.

She cracked him over the head with her might hammer with a satisfying crunch. Ranma pulled himself out of the concrete. It was the first angry expression on his face she had seen in a while. "What'dya do that for?!" He demanded. "I just saved your butt, and that's the way you thank me?!"

"That's for ignoring me!" She shouted back.

"Ranma, for the way you've treated Akane, PREPARE TO DIE!"

Ranma turned in time to leap out of the way of Ryoga's umbrella. While he was dodging Ryoga, Akane decided she needed to add a few more lumps of her own. And of course things went downhill from there. Mousse and Kuno eventually showed, and Happosai dropped by, just to keep things interesting. He knew that he was definitely going to be late to meet Yui.

Yui was getting worried. Sure Ranma had been late a few times, but not this bad. He was over three hours late. She'd have to be getting home soon if he didn't show up. She was getting afraid that he wasn't going to show. She knew something bad must have happened if he hadn't shown up. She was about to go call the police when she heard her name being called softly from the side. She turned quickly and saw Ranma walking toward her slowly while he leaned on a walking stick. "Oh my god! Ranma! You're hurt!" She ran to his side and lifted his arm over her shoulder.

"Don't do that." He said softly. "You'll get blood on your clothes."

"Like I care about that right now!" She walked him toward a bench in the park and sat him down. Ironically it was the first bench they had sat on together four months ago. "What happened to you?"

He leaned against the bench and his head rolled back. "Oh, you know, the usual. I save Akane from someone else who wants to kidnap her. She hammers me for a thank you. Everyone else joins in the fun."

"Why didn't you just escape?"

"They would have tailed me all the way here. I couldn't risk them finding you, I had to defeat them."

Yui's face was full of pity as she cleaned up his wounds. Luckily, since she had been hanging out with Ranma, she had always packed a first aid kit. At the very least some bandages. She patched up the cut on his sides and arms and then worked her way up to his face. "Ranma, Ranma, Ranma", was all she could say as she worked on him with a sad look on her features. She tilted his head up so she could look at his face. He had a small cut above his eye and a skinned cheek.

As she was cleaning up the blood from over his eye, his arm came up and grabbed her hand. She looked at him with a questioning look. "Yui?"

"Yes, Ranma?" She had a concerned look on her face at the pain in his voice.

"You would never hurt me, right?"

Tears welled up in her eyes. She saw a man in front of her that had been through too much. He had no one he could count on, no one he could trust. Her heart went out to him. She had thought she might have been falling for the pigtailed martial artist, but now she was sure, but she was still rational. "Ranma, I can't say that, because people hurt each other without meaning to. We are, after all, human. But I will promise you this: I will do everything I can to take away the pain and I will never intentionally hurt you."

That seemed to satisfy him. He let go of her and she went back to cleaning him up. She sopped up the blood and bandaged the cut. As she was applied ointment to the scrape on his cheek, her rubbing turned into caressing.

Their eyes met. Electricity went through their bodies at the contact. If asked later, neither one of them could say who started it, but it happened. Their faces neared each other and their lips met. The kiss was clumsy from two inexperienced teenagers, but it was the entire world to them right now. They held this kiss for a small eternity.

They pulled away from each other. Ranma looked deep into her eyes. "Yui, I love you."

Tears were coming down her face as she smiled broadly at him. "I love you too, Ranma-Kun." She put her arms around him and they held each other until the sun went down.

2015

Misato was getting bored. She had been sitting in this holding cell for hours now. She was glad that she wasn't further along on her pregnancy, otherwise the baby would be giving her fits right now.

"Misato."

She turned her head and saw Ranma fade in from the shadows. "I'll never know how you do that." She smiled at him. She suddenly noticed what he was wearing, and her smile grew wider. "You finally wore it."

He walked over and kissed her forehead. "We need to do laundry when you get out of here."

She leaned forward and chuckled into his chest. "I thought that's what we had kids for."

The martial artist took a step back and lifted her face up. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." She soothed him. "They make sure that I get food. Even my odd tastes thanks to little Ranma here." She patted her stomach.

He put his hand over hers on her stomach. "Take care of him or her. I'm going to go after Kaji."

"Be careful, Ranma."

He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I will…dear."

She smiled as he faded from view again.

1996

Ranma was whistling a merry tune on his way to the park. Graduation was coming soon and he would be walking out with a diploma thanks to Yui. In fact, they were meeting today to celebrate! No study, just her and him. Absolutely nothing could go wrong today!

Of course having that thought pass through his mind, something had to go wrong.

"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!" Ryoga's all too familiar battle cry sounded.

Ranma turned to him. "No! Not here, not now!" He cried in his mind. He spoke up when Ryoga charged in. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to destroy your happiness!" Ryoga growled. The lost boy had made that threat several times before and Ranma never really reacted. But this time he watched as his nemesis' eyes narrowed and his muscles tensed.

Ranma knew that threat all to well, except this time he had actually been happy. Ryoga made his taunt, and the first thing that popped into Ranma's mind was Yui. Yui, the woman he loved. He was NOT going to let anything happen to her. "This is your only chance, Ryoga. Leave while you're still able to move."

The lost boy gave him an arrogant smirk. "Like you can back that up, Ranma. This time I will defeat you. I've been toughening and strengthening up since our last battle, and this time it will just be you and me. I'll prove once and for all who deserves Akane!"

Ranma smirked. "You can have her."

"What?" Ryoga got a really confused look on his face.

The pigtailed martial artist just smiled his cocky grin. "If you want her that much, why don't you just take her." He stopped and tapped his finger on his chin. "Oh yeah, I remember why you don't. If she finds out you're P-Chan, she'll kill you. Silly me." He squared off on the boy. "Why don't you just get out of here while I'm still feeling generous with your life."

"DIE!"

Ryoga charged in for a full assault. Ranma managed to turn most of the blows aside and dodged the rest. He waited until Ryoga left a punch out too long. He let it pass in front of his chest. He grabbed the arm with his right hand and drove his left elbow into Ryoga's face as hard as he could.

The directionally impaired martial artist staggered back a bit, holding his face. Ranma had a smug look on his face. That was until Ryoga started laughing. He pulled his hand away from his face to reveal that there was no injury. "Is that the best you can do, Ranma? If that's all you got, then I'm sorry I wasted the effort looking for you."

There was an audible thunk when Ranma's jaw hit the ground. "What in the hell?"

Ryoga smiled his toothy grin as he pulled his bandanna off. Underneath was a small gold wire frame circlet with a red jewel in the middle. "The old man said that I could defeat you with this, but this is too good to be true! You're powerless Ranma."

"Of course, he couldn't beat me without help." Ranma thought to himself. "So you've found yet another crutch to help you beat me." He spoke aloud. "Not surprising. You never could take me fair and square."

The lost boy popped his knuckles. "Today you die Saotome. Kiai!"

The battle became fiercer this time. Ranma pulled out everything he had and then some, but nothing affected Ryoga while he wore that circlet. He tried Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken, no effect. The Moko Takabishi? He shrugged it off like it was nothing.

The battle raged around the little block. Buildings were destroyed, walls crumbled, and people screamed at their approach and fled. Ranma had to bring Ryoga back to the park to try and contain the damage. Ryoga got in a lucky blow and sent Ranma flying into his and Yui's bench, splitting it in two. It was an eerie omen as Ranma found himself looking toward the entrance of the park. Yui stood there with wide eyes of terror.

Ranma's danger sense flared and he rolled to the side in time to avoid Ryoga's crushing fist. The lost boy's hand created a large crater where the bench once stood. Ranma jumped back and fired a Moko Takabisha to keep Ryoga's attention away from Yui. He couldn't cry out for her to leave because in the state that Ryoga was in, he would probably hurt her without thinking. He remembered what he did to Akane's hair. He didn't want the same thing to happen to Yui's neck.

"I've got to end this!" Ranma thought. He finally decided on a course of action. "Yo, Ryoga! Even if you win, you'll never get Akane. She'd never love you! The first time you change in front of her she will have bacon the next morning! And who would want a directionally challenged freak like you!"

His taunts had the desired effect as the air began to crackle with the power the lost boy was shedding with his anger. Suddenly, Ryoga charged forward in a blind berserker rage. Ranma, with a serious expression on his face, began leading the lost boy into the spiral. At last he came to the end of it.

"Hiryu Shoten HA!" Ranma threw his fist up and the tornadic winds swirled about him, carrying the lost boy aloft.

In the midst of the cyclone, laughter sounded once more. "You fool, Saotome! You think that this could beat me? I'm invincible!" Amidst his turning in the wind, Ryoga started firing his own chi blasts.

The balls of energy were wild and erratic, but it forced Ranma to keep on his toes. The winds were picking up, as Ryoga's power seemed to increase more. He was effectively trapped, but he was still dangerous.

At last one of his energy blasts went toward Yui. It fell short of her, but blew up the wall she was hiding behind. Her small frame was quickly swept up into the maelstrom.

"YUI!" Ranma shouted.

Ryoga couldn't understand what Ranma had said, but he heard him call out. The lost boy turned to see a girl trapped in the twister with him. "Oh no!" Ryoga shouted and tried to make his way over to help her out.

Down on the ground, Ranma saw Ryoga trying to claw his way toward Yui. "Oh god, he heard me!" He thought. "He's going to kill her! There's only one more thing to try. I never actually tried it before, but I saw Kumon Ryu do it enough in our fight, I think I can pull it off."

Ranma leapt toward Yui using all of his strength. He caught her with one arm a few feet in front of Ryoga. With his other arm he made a wide slashing motion. "Kijin Raishuu Dan!"

The vacuum blade hit Ryoga square in the forehead, shattering the circlet. As Ryoga passed out the storm died. Ranma set Yui back on her feet and stomped over to the unconscious lost boy. "Never threaten her like that again!" He hauled the other boy up by the front of his shirt, turned around, and launched him into the ether.

Satisfied, he dusted off his hands and turned back around to Yui. "Hey, you all ri…" His words died in his throat as he saw her standing in place, trembling almost violently. "What's the matter?"

"You and he did all this?" She waved her hand around.

Ranma looked around and saw the aftermath of carnage that was left by he and Ryoga's battle. Nothing unusual to him in fact… "It doesn't look as bad as it usually does when he shows up with a new trick."

Her face had a look of sheer terror. "I thought you were kidding."

"What?"

"I thought you were kidding about your fights. Guys like to boast and make their adventures seem larger than life."

"You didn't react this bad when you saw my curse!"

"A magical curse is one thing. This," she swung her arm wide, "is something entirely different. A lot of people could have been hurt or killed!"

"Come on, Yui. Let's just go get some dinner, you'll feel better afterward." He reached out and tried to put his hand on her shoulder.

She pulled back from him. "I can't do this, Ranma. This isn't something I'm equipped to handle."

"What?" His face had a look of dread anticipation on it.

"I can't live in your world. This is too dangerous! I have to go."

"We could run away from this!"

She looked at him with some pity. She had promised that she wouldn't hurt him intentionally, but she couldn't take what kind of danger Ranma's enemies were to those around him. "If you run away, they will follow. I can't fight them, and you can't watch over me twenty-four hours a day. I'm sorry, but I have to leave."

"You can't, I love you! I'd leave everything behind for you!" He was pleading now. "I'll leave behind all the engagements, the dojo, even honor. Anything for you!"

"Ranma, you mustn't run away. You have to deal with your problems before someone you care about gets hurt!"

He reached out one last time, but she turned away quickly, tears flying form her eyes as she turned and fled.

Ranma began to feel numb. He had driven her away. He had loved her, told her so, did everything in his power, and he still drove her away. Was it because he was a freak? She was scared. She was scared of him.

"No." He looked down at his hands as he flexed them. "No, not a freak. A monster, a dangerous monster! NOOOO!" He shouted as he leapt toward the nearest building. He came down on the roof hard and began to cry. Why was he this way? What had made him so terrible?

He wallowed in his misery for what felt like an hour. In the midst of his lamentation, he had an epiphany. Suddenly he knew why he was the person he was. He knew exactly why. It was them, they, everyone, all those around him! They made him the man he was. He stood up and wiped his tears away. He had to deal with his problems, eh? He would deal with his problems, once and for all.

He leapt from the building and made his way back into the Nerima district of Tokyo. He landed and decided to just walk the rest of the way back to the Tendo Dojo.

Inevitably, someone came from the shadows. "For what you've done to my darling Shampoo, you'll pay Saotome!" Mouse sprang like a panther from the shadows behind the pigtailed martial artist.

Ranma didn't even turn around to face him. He just extended his hand behind himself and unleashed a powerful chi blast. The ball struck the blind Amazon and sent him flying though a wall of a nearby building. As unconsciousness began to overtake him, Mouse got one last look at the green wisps of smoke trailing from Ranma's hand. "Shishi Hokoudan?" He asked no one before darkness finally took him.

Without turning back once, Ranma continued his grim march. It wasn't long before another of them crossed his path.

"Ranma-Sama!" Kodachi jumped up onto a parapet of a nearby building and twirled her ribbon, starting her standard grand entrance. "You're all mine now, my love!"

Ranma turned and threw a vacuum blade that severed her ribbon into small pieces and sliced through the parapet she was standing on. She dropped to the ground unceremoniously on her rear end. With a look of cold anger, Ranma stood over her.

"Leave me alone! You have no claim on me! If you ever mess with me again you will die! Got that? DIE!" He clinched his fist to punctuate his statement. When he felt his point had been adequately conveyed, he turned to continue his grim walk.

"You can't mean that, Ranma-Sama!" She pleaded.

Ranma turned and threw another vacuum blade. The attack went straight for her in a single line, tearing up the concrete in its path. Right in front of her feet, it split in two and demolished the remaining wall to either side of her body.

"You will die. Tell your brother, the same applies to him." He continued on, for he knew this night was long from over.

After a few more steps, he wasn't disappointed. "Airen!" Shampoo glomped onto him. "Is lovely night to take Shampoo to date, yes?"

He pushed her away violently. "Get off of me! I never have or ever will love you! Why don't you grab Mousse out of the crater I left him in and take off?!"

"Son-in-law. Love or not, you're still bound by Amazon law." Cologne's voice came from behind him.

Ranma steeled himself. He decided to use some of the legacy Yui had left him. "For everything you've taught me, I thank you honored elder. But I cannot live in your world. My ego would destroy your tribe. I would rather die than be subservient to women. Trust me, it's for the best. I think your tribe would rather accept Shampoo back as she is than face destruction at my hands." He turned and continued his march.

"Airen!" Shampoo shouted and tried to pursue him, but she was brought up short by the matriarch's staff. "Great-Grandmother?"

Cologne knew the look of pain and hatred in Ranma's eyes. Something had happened to him that was very traumatic. No one had died because he was still walking and talking. If they were to take him now, there would be no more Amazon tribe. They were too late. "That's enough Shampoo. He's right. It's time we accepted the truth. Go get Mousse and we'll be gone."

"Should leave here. Would serve stupid Mousse right."

"You're right."

He made it to the Tendo Dojo without further ado. Akane was there to meet him at the door.

"Where have you been?"

"What? No one to hit around here without me?" He asked in a biting tone.

"I just want to know where you were!"

"None of your business."

"Ranma no baka!" Once again she brought her the mighty malletsama into play.

She was shocked when she didn't hear the satisfying crunch. She looked around to see Ranma holding up the head of her mallet. A small flicker of energy left his hand and suddenly the mallet exploded into splinters! She was surprised beyond words. "Look what you've done!" She threw her hardest punch at him.

Ranma caught the punch and returned a punch of his own. He punched her in the stomach and she went flying back until she hit a wall, cracking it with the force of her impact.

His grim expression remained the same. "This is my last martial arts lesson to you. Don't swing at someone unless you expect to get hurt." He looked down on her with a look that scared her. "Gather the everyone in the dining room. I will be down in half an hour. Do not disturb me until then." He turned and strode up the stairs.

Upon reaching his and his father's room, he shut the door and blocked it. Then he reached over and grabbed his traveling pack. He neatly packed his meager possessions and, when he was finished, he sat down in the middle of the floor in the lotus position, meditating in preparation of the upcoming conflict. "I mustn't run away," was his mantra as he waited for the half hour to expire.

At last the time ran out and he stood. He gathered his bag and unblocked the door. He walked down the stairs, calm and determined. He walked into the dining area and looked at who was there. "Good," he thought. "Both families and …"

"Nice to see you, Ryoga."

"For hurting Akane you will pay!"

"SIT DOWN!" Ranma stomped the back of Ryoga's knee and dropped the lost boy in a sitting position in extreme pain. Ryoga was obviously still weak from the previous conflict.

Ranma walked until he was looking out the open doors out toward the koi pond. He took in the sight, as he knew it was the last time he would as a welcome guest. He turned to address those gathered in the room. "I have to solution to the engagement problem." He paused, waiting until he had everyone's full attention. "I won't marry anyone!"

"Foolish boy! You'll destroy our family honor!" Genma protested.

"You are the last to lecture anyone about honor, you who are without honor! Only one of the obligations is remotely my fault, and that's Shampoo. But that wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't a said, 'Hey look, a buffet!'" Ranma shouted back.

"Ranma, you have to follow your father's wishes the alternative is…" Nodoka patted the sword at her side.

"Gimme that!" Before she could react, Ranma took the sword and slung it over his shoulder. "How could you ask your son to kill himself from a vow made before he could walk, much less make a mature decision. You are a terrible mother to kill your only child over a stupid pact."

"Son, think about Akane!" Soun wailed.

Ranma's eyes seemed to flash. "You should have thought about that a long time ago! You should have tried thinking about your kids before you force someone into their lives that they never even liked!"

Akane started to wilt at that. Nabiki, seeing her sister's pain, had to do something. "If you leave, I'll make your life hell."

Ranma walked over and bent over until he was face to face with the mercenary. "The engagement is lost. There's nothing standing between you and a bloodstain on the wall. No one here can defeat me or protect you." Nabiki turned white.

Ryoga stood back up. "Hold it right there, Ranma!"

"SIT DOWN!" Ranma swung his arm again and released another vacuum blade. It knocked Ryoga back into the wall. His battle hardened, and trained stone skin was the only thing that kept him from being cut in half. As it was, he had a nasty cut across his chest. It was a light wound, but it still started to bleed profusely.

The pigtailed martial artist returned his attention to Nabiki. "Better yet, I won't kill you. I'll just rip out your tongue and pulverize your hands. I'll leave your ears perfectly intact so you'll be able to hear all the information in the world, but there won't be a damned thing you can do to take advantage. Understand?"

Nabiki was genuinely frightened for her life. She had never seen anyone in a killing rage, and she wasn't about to find out what a person in such a state could do. She backed down immediately.

Coming about once more, Ranma faced Kasumi. His stone expression seemed to melt a little. "I'm truly sorry you had to see all this, but you had to see what your family really is. Don't waste the rest of your life imprisoned by them. You're much too sweet and beautiful to be trapped here. Go out and live a life of your own." He finally turned to Akane. His expression hardened back to its previous state. "And you."

Akane got on the defensive. "You're not going to blame this on me!"

"Why don't you go fuck Ryoga?! You're already sleeping with him!" He blared his final revenge.

"What?"

Ranma took one of the forgotten drinks on the table and flung it on Ryoga, triggering his curse. Akane saw the transformation and her aura leapt up around her. "DIE!" She picked the pig up and punted him out the door. Lucky for Ryoga that wounds are proportional to your size with Jusenkyo curses, or that certainly would have been the end of him. Akane looked back at Ranma and then realized what a fool she had been. "Oh Ranma, I'm so sorry." A tear was starting to come to her eye.

"It's too late now Akane." Ranma shoved the Saotome family blade into his pack and shouldered it. "I dropped so many hints and you refused to believe me. I even shouted 'Ryoga' at 'P-Chan' the entire rhythmic gymnastics match and you never thought twice!"

Akane was weeping openly now.

"I'm sorry. I loved you once, but not anymore. If you had kept to your offer to be friends, it would have been magical. But not anymore, the magic died on the head of your mallet."

"But I really do love you." She managed between her tears.

"Too late." With that he turned and walked out of their lives forever.

Unfortunately, his night wasn't over yet. He ran into his last fiancé on his way out of the district. "Ranchan?" The okonomiyaki chef had a concerned look on her face.

Ranma turned and looked at her with some regret. "I'm leaving, Ukyou, and I'm not coming back. The only way to save everyone's honor is to not marry anyone." He took a deep breath to keep from losing his resolve. "You were always my best friend. If you had returned as my friend and not my fiancé, you would have had me. It's too late now, it's too late for all of you."

He faced the outskirts of town and never looked back, even when Ukyou's loud wails of grief followed him into the night.

2015

Ranma shook his head as the ghosts of his past haunted him once more. He hadn't found Kaji yet, but he had located Fuyutsuki. He was in front of a bunch of monoliths that represented Seele, the real Seele, not just the committee that he had seen before.

The vice commander was telling all about his past and evolution of GEHIRN into NERV. He went back and talked about how he had met Yui and Gendou. Ranma remembered that year all too well.

1999

Ranma sat alone in a bar. He was back in Tokyo for the first time in three years. He wondered if he would ever have come back if the martial arts tournament tour hadn't come to town.

He'd been traveling with the tour for the past two years. It had taken him a year to get the recognition he needed to get on the tour, winning all the major tournaments male and female. He made all the fights look good, but for the most part they were not challenging at all. In fact he hadn't found anyone in his class in a long time. He kind of wished Ryoga would show up, but he hadn't seen the lost boy since he had left Nerima. Ranma frequently took time off to visit Herb in China just so he could have a decent challenge.

Now he was a big star of the tour, one of the headliners everyone came to see. His name on the bill was one of main reasons why he was sitting here in blue jeans and a t-shirt with his hair unbound. Yui had seen his name on one of the promotional videos and flyers and had managed to thread through the read tape to get a message to meet her here. He checked his watch once more; she was late.

The bartender shouting brought his attention to a man sitting a couple stools down. Apparently someone had drunk too much and had run his tab out. Ranma shrugged. "Alcoholics." He muttered under his breath as he took a slow drink of his beer.

The man was becoming belligerent. He refused that the bartender wouldn't give him another drink. He started begging after a while, but got nowhere. The man finally gave up on the bartender, but he noticed Ranma sitting at the bar.

The man was rather scraggly looking, thin, with an unkempt mop of black hair on his head. The rings under his eyes and the slightly gaunt expression reminded Ranma of Gosunkugi. The man approached him. "Hey, friend, I seem to have left the rest of my money at the house. Can you buy me a drink? I really need it."

Ranma swiveled his eyes over and glared at him and then went back to his drink. "No."

"Come on, man. I really need it." The man went on as he sat next to Ranma. "I'm supposed to meeting my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend today. The way she talks about him, you'd think he walked on water."

"Maybe she should have stayed with him." Ranma grumbled. "Now, go away. I'm not going to buy you a drink."

"Please friend?" The man put a hand on Ranma's shoulder.

The martial artist took the drunk's hand off his shoulder and twisted the man's arm with it. He had to go a little bit further (straining some muscles) then he usually would have, just to make sure the man felt it through his stupor. "I said, no, and never touch me."

The man held his arm like it was in pain, but still he persisted. "Come on, friend!" He stepped up once more.

Ranma rolled his eyes and backhanded the drunk across the face. He went flying back and crashed through a table. The martial artist went back to casually sipping his beer. He did throw some extra yen on the bar for the damage.

The bartender came over and took the money. "I'll call the cops to take him to the drunktank for the night."

"Thanks."

The cops eventually came and took the drunk away. About ten minutes afterward, Yui walked in the door. She smiled brightly at Ranma, she only got a slight smile in return. Nonplussed, she looked around the bar and sat down next to him. "It's been a while, Ranma."

"Three years since you ran from me." He didn't look at her as he continued to nurse his beer.

Yui looked saddened. "I'm sorry, Ranma. I shouldn't have been like that. I helped you to be understanding of other people, but I didn't try to understand you. Can you ever forgive me?"

He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Why shouldn't you be scared? I'm a monster after all."

She looked shocked at him. "No, Ranma! No you aren't! I…it was my fault! You needed me and I ran from you."

Ranma set his empty beer on the counter. "Let's just drop it."

Yui wasn't satisfied with that, but she went along with his wish. "Why are you dressed like that with your hair down?"

He turned and gave her a half smile. "I'm traveling incognito. I'm a big star now. Have to dodge the press and all."

"I saw that." She smiled at how he was starting to open up. "You're all the rage on the fighting circuit. I always knew you were great."

"But you didn't want to believe it when you saw it."

Her face went sullen again. She reached over and hugged him. "I'm so sorry, Ranma." She started crying into his shoulder. "So sorry…"

He softened a bit and returned the embrace. "It's not your fault, Yui. I'm not normal. I shouldn't have endangered your life like that."

She pushed back. "Can we just put it in the past and start over?"

He smiled. "Okay."

She looked around a bar. "Where is he?" She wondered aloud.

Ranma's brow furrowed. "Who?"

"Gendou. I wanted him to meet you."

"What does he look like?" She described the drunk that he had just punched out. His eyes narrowed. "Why did you call me here?"

She looked a little surprised at the edge of his voice. "I wanted to you to meet my boyfriend. I wanted all of us to be friends. Ranma, I've missed you. I wanted to be friends again." He paid for his drink and stood up to leave. "Where are you going?"

He brushed a lock of his hair out of his face. "I'm leaving." He turned and walked toward the door.

"WHY?" She asked in a tearful voice.

He spun around on her with an angry expression. "Friends? FRIENDS? You want to be FRIENDS! I love you, Yui, more than I ever loved Akane or any of the other fiancés! You think that I would be able to be around you and know that we couldn't be anything more than friends? Do you think I would be able to stand watching you with another man? Did you think I could take watching you have his kids! I'm sorry, but I couldn't stand the pain. Goodbye, Yui. I hope he makes you happy." With that he left without another word, leaving yet another woman crying in his wake.

Ranma didn't go straight back to his hotel room. He made a stop by the police station. Using the Umi-Sen-ken fade, he made his way through to the drunk tank. He found the haggard man there in the midst of sobering up. He dropped the veil and the man jumped. "Listen, Gendou, you had better not hurt Yui, or I'll make sure you leave this world in several more pieces than you came into it." To punctuate his point he punched one of the bars of the cell, making an impression of his fist. When he saw that the man had sufficiently wet himself, he turned to leave.

As he was about to reached the door, he turned back toward Gendou. "Oh yeah, and don't bother calling Yui to bail you out."

A while after Ranma had left, Gendou was sober enough to call someone to bail him out. He didn't dare call Yui, so he rifled through his pocket. He had the number of his new advisor in there somewhere…

Ranma went to the tournament that night with a vengeance. Most of his fights were over before the start bell had finished resonating. The crowd was wondering if he was sucker punching all the opponents before the bell. Just the fact that they judges had digital video playback was the only way they could tell that he had indeed been on his side of the ring as the bell was being struck.

Before his final match, one of the tournament coordinators approached him. "Saotome, I know you must be bored with this batch of fighters, but could you please take a little more time? These people came to see a show!"

The pigtailed martial artist rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever."

The match started and Ranma stood staring at a man that looked like a mountain of muscle. He was a real brawler, but nothing Ranma couldn't handle. The bell rang and Ranma stood his ground. The other fighter slowly stalked forward.

"What's the matter? The great Saotome Ranma is scared of Bruiser!"

Ranma gave him a withering glare. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can."

The man smirked. "Cocky, ain't'cha?" He hauled back and punched Ranma square in the jaw.

His head swiveled to the side slightly, but turned back to the larger fighter. "Again."

Bruiser threw a punch directly into Ranma's stomach, no effect.

"Again!"

The cycle went on. Ranma taunted the large man, but still he felt nothing. The larger fighter started to panic and throw several punches at once. After a while Ranma's commands of 'again' changed to something else entirely.

"It doesn't hurt." He said with some remorse. "It doesn't hurt." His voice began to shake. "IT DOESN'T HURT! GOD DAMN IT, WHY DOESN'T IT HURT!" With the final yell, he punched the other out of the ring, through the stands, and into the far wall. The paramedics were on Bruiser like flies on a dead carcass.

Ranma just walked out of the ring and back behind the stage area where the other fighters were. He headed back toward his dressing room, went in, shut the door, and dropped into his chair.

After a couple minutes a knock came at his door. "Come in."

A thin, athletic woman dressed in tights and a karate gi top walked in. She had a cute face with long hair braided to her hips, Yuri Sakazaki, one of the other fighters on the tour. "Looks like you had a rough night, Ranma. Care to talk about it?"

He turned back to his mirror. "No."

She came up behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. "You need to relax, honey, and I know just the thing to helped you out."

He turned and pulled one of her hands off his shoulder. "I've told you before, Yuri. No."

She set her hands on her hips. "What are you saving yourself for Ranma? You don't have a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter. Why don't you relax a little?"

Ranma thought for a second. What was he saving himself for? Marriage? That was never going to happen thanks to his stupid father. Yui? She was probably already having sex with that toothpick Gendou.

While he was thinking, she sashayed up to him and started tracing circles on his chest. "I'll make it worth your while. You'll enjoy it, I promise."

Coming to a decision, he looked down and took her head in his hand. He started kissing her. With his other hand he loosed the belt on her gi.

2015

Ranma was still soaking up information that was being thrown around when they came to Second Impact. They played some stock footage to make a point. Ranma was probably the only one in attendance that heard the "Where the hell am I now?" Right before the screen went blank. He smirked. "I always wondered what happened to Ryoga." He thought.

He hadn't moved from his spot for two reasons. First of all, this was valuable information. He now knew almost everything that he was missing about NERV's purpose and creation. Second, he had a feeling that Kaji would be showing up here soon.

Seele and Fuyutsuki went on to the events following Second Impact.

Ranma himself remembered what happened shortly after the disaster that had only recently come to haunt him in a different way.

2001

Ranma awoke in a strange bed with his chest wrapped up. Suddenly the events of the previous night came flooding back. He had killed someone. He had killed Kuno. He would have cried if he had any tears left.

Ukyou came into the room with a fresh change of bandages. She was still in the tights she was wearing the previous night. She had obviously brought him back to her place and patched him up, trusting in his innate healing abilities to take care of the wound.

She had joined the tour recently, shedding her family martial arts in favor of a more practical form of hand-to-hand. She had even rekindled her friendship with the pigtailed martial artist. And now here she was, putting him all back together again.

"How are you feeling this evening, Ranchan?" She asked in a cheerful voice.

"Evening?" He asked with a confused voice.

She nodded her head. "You've been out for a day. I've had to put some water down you and force feed you to make sure your body had some material to heal with."

He smiled. "Thank you, Ucchan. I just wish there was something I could do for you."

She looked longingly at him. "There…there is something you could do."

He got uneasy. "Listen, you know I can't marry you. Everyone else I'm engaged to would lose their honor."

"You mean the Tendos." She walked over and sat on the bed. She started changing his bandages. When she pulled away the dirty ones, he saw that she had stitched him up expertly.

"Maybe you should have been a doctor." He smirked.

She nodded as she finished changing the bandages and looked into his eyes. "Ranma, I'm going to offer you a deal. Just make love to me once, no protection, no strings attached just as if you were my husband. If you'll do that for me, then as the last member of my family, I'll relieve you of your obligation of marriage."

He looked at her in panic. "What if you get pregnant?"

She smiled. "I've been on birth control for a while. My monthlies make me sick if I don't take the pills. There's no worry about that. There's also nothing to worry about disease because I'm still a virgin."

He looked at her. "You've been waiting for me?" She nodded. His heart dropped. "Ucchan, I'm sorry, but I can't do that to you."

She started to get angry. "Sure! You'll sleep with every other woman on the tour, but you won't sleep with me! What's wrong with me?! Am I not attractive enough? Do I smell?"

Ranma shook his hands in warding gestures. "No! No! No!" When she had calmed he went on. "It's just that you're my best friend. I couldn't do something like that to you."

She glared at him. "Ranma, do you know what it's like to be with the person you love and know that you'll never be more than friends? Do you know how much it hurts to do that? Do you know how often I've wanted to run away? Ranchan, I've stayed with you through all the pain, this is the least you could do for me."

"I…" His voice caught in his throat as he remembered his last encounter with Yui. "It would hurt too much…" He remembered himself saying. At last he finally understood his friend. At last he knew what he had put her though all these years. She was right; this was the least he could do.

He nodded as if making a decision. When she finished putting the bandages on he put his arm to the base of her back and drew her close. "You win, Ukyou. Tonight you are my wife."

She smiled and brought his face in for a kiss. More followed, each more passionate than the last, until the night came to its ultimate conclusion.

The next morning, Ranma woke up and looked at Ukyou, who was still fast asleep. Guilt flooded his mind as he stood and gathered his things. As he finished dressing she awoke. He fumbled for words, but she cut him off. "Go, Ranma. You've fulfilled your end of the bargain, and now it's my turn. No strings attached, remember?" He nodded and turned to leave. "I hope you find happiness, Ranchan." She said quietly.

"You too, Ucchan." He breathed as he left the room.

Ukyou felt guilty as she opened the dresser drawer next to the bed. Inside was a pack of a month's worth of untaken birth control pills.

Ranma looked out upon the Pacific Ocean. He stood with the Saotome family blade in his hand. "I know you can hear me mother, and I know you're disappointed in me. I'm no longer the boy you once knew. The boy you knew wouldn't leave his best friend behind. The boy you knew wouldn't kill. Therefore…" He unsheathed the blade and pulled his pigtail back. With one smooth motion he cut it off at the base. "The boy you knew as Saotome Ranma is dead. All that is left is the man." He threw the pigtail and the blade far out into the ocean. "I'm going to prove that I am a man among men. I'll resolve all our family obligations before ever seeking my own happiness. Seeking my own happiness first is what got me in this mess in the first place. I won't let the family honor down."

2015

Ranma's patience was rewarded when Kaji came in and freed the vice commander. "You'll be in a lot of hot water for this." Fuyutsuki warned him.

"You let me worry about that. This was the last mission I'm doing for Seele." He said as he untied the older man.

Fuyutsuki stood and massaged feeling back into his wrists. "You'll be hunted by both sides."

He nodded his head. "I know. I'm meeting one more contact and then I'm leaving."

"What about Misato and Akane?"

He smiled. "It will be better this way."

They exited and Ranma followed them. After a while, they parted ways and Kaji started walking toward the industrial part of town. Ranma sensed several tails and went to take care of them.

Kaji stood in the abandoned warehouse waiting for his contact to show up. At last he heard movement. "Hi, you're a little late, aren't you?" He had a shocked look on his face as a NERV intelligence officer stepped out holding a gun.

Before he could pull the trigger, he was knocked out from behind. The officer's body fell to reveal Akane standing behind him, wearing all black. "So you were just going to leave without even saying goodbye."

He smiled his roguish grin, he figured it was the only way he'd get out of this with his skin attached. "It was the only way I could think of to keep them from using you to get to me."

She cocked an eyebrow. "That's the BEST you can come up with?"

They both jumped when they heard several bodies hit the floor. They looked around the room and saw several more intelligence officers out cold.

Ranma dropped from the rafters and stood in front of them. "You need to be more careful when you go out." Kaji smirked at him. "But seriously, you two need to get out of the country."

"Where could we be safe from NERV and Seele?" Kaji asked.

While he turned to Akane, Ranma spoke. "I've already called Nabiki and told her to go visit Shampoo. I suggest you do the same thing."

"Why would we be safe there? I haven't seen her in years!" Akane asked.

Ranma smirked. "They might not be friendly when you get there, but you have a better chance there than anywhere else. Plus, tell Cologne this: if I show up and you guys are dead, it'll be very unpleasant for their tribe."

"You're going to China?"

"Not immediately, but maybe later. Now get out of here." Ranma cloaked himself with the Umi-Sen-Ken and left them alone.

When Ranma arrived home, Misato was already in bed. He came into the room, disrobed, and joined her in bed. She opened her eyes when he started rubbing her stomach. "Good evening, lover."

He kissed her. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now." She sat up. "They told me that Kaji was being dealt with. Did they kill him?" Her voice had a lot of worry in it.

Ranma smiled. "Didn't you know that Saotome Ranma always saves the day?" She shared his smile, wrapped her arms around him, and held him tight.

He held her close for a while until, "honor before happiness," went through his mind. He loosened his hold and pushed her away, not far enough for her to let go of him, but enough that she looked up at him with a concerned face.

"What is it, Ranma?"

"Misato, I've got a story to tell you."

Chapter Thirteen "Lovers in Dangerous Times"

Ranma walked purposely down the halls toward Dr. Akagi's office. People all but dove for cover at seeing his grim, determined demeanor. He paid no attention to any of their reactions as the scene from a few hours earlier played through his mind.

He had held Ukyou close as she wailed loudly through her tears. She had just been informed that her daughter had just passed away in her sleep. The doctors had feared for her, but there was nothing they could do. She had internal hemorrhaging from the first angel attack that had finally caught up with her. She passed on with her gentle smile on her face.

The part that really made her weep was the fact that they didn't allow her to see the body of her daughter. They had taken the body directly to the gravesite to 'clear out space'.

The martial artist fumed again as he remembered the next part. Ukyou had shown him something that had arrived in her mail the day before, a notice that Toji was to be re-admitted into the EVA program. He would once again pilot Evangelion Unit 03.

"Too many coincidences." He thought. "Unit 03 couldn't move without a new core, and, conveniently, Toji's sister dies the day after her brother is told he would pilot it again." Shinji had told him about Yui being within Unit 01. It didn't take him long to figure out what had happened.

He made his way toward Ritsuko's office and slammed the door open and closed as he entered.

The blonde doctor looked up from some reports she was reading through with a surprised look on her face. She hadn't seen him this worked up in a long time. "What's gotten in to you, Saotome?"

"Funny you should say it like that." He growled as he threw Toji's letter on the table. "What's the meaning of this?"

She picked up the note and glanced over it. "It means just what it says. We've repaired Unit 03 and we need the fourth child once again."

Ranma's hands slammed down on the table, offsetting several of the objects on its surface. "You put Toji's sister in it, didn't you? How could you do that to a small child!"

Ritsuko gave him a level glare that almost abated his temper. "She died and was buried to make room for more expected casualties. Anything else is classified. You do understand that, don't you, Saotome?"

The table cracked as the martial artist dug his fingers into the tabletop. "Too many secrets, that's what it means." He stood up and turned to leave. "One day those secrets will tear you apart."

"What about your secrets?" She challenged him as she pulled a folder from her desk drawer.

He stiffened a bit and stopped in his tracks. "What are you talking about?"

She leafed through the papers she was holding. "Seems a few interesting things came out in Mr. Suzuhara's latest physical, some VERY interesting things. Or maybe I should say, some interesting things came out of Mr. Saotome's latest physical."

Ranma spun around to her with a threatening glare, that Ritsuko met with a knowing smirk. "What are you talking about?"

She calmly sat back in her chair with the folder in front of her. "I think you know what I'm talking about, 'daddy'. It seems we found out quite a few interesting facts like that Mrs. Suzuhara used to be your fiancé when you were both teenagers. Imagine what trouble would crop up if poor Toji were to find out about his real father. Not to mention everyone else involved. Poor Misato, believing that she's carrying the first born of her beloved husband…Gah!" She quickly threw the now aflame report to the floor.

Ranma still stood with a smoking finger pointed at her. "Be careful of deadly secrets. They always cut both ways. That could come to light, but it won't kill me. If your secrets were exposed, it would be fatal for everyone involved in the Evangelion creation. I'm giving you a lot of consideration out of your past friendship with Misato. Stop this madness while you can." He turned to continue his exit.

"She volunteered." Her voice stopped him as he was about to open the door. "She wanted to do everything she could to help her big brother. The activation test is today."

He looked over his shoulder toward her again. "You had better pray that nothing goes wrong this time." He finally left her shaking in her chair as she fought to keep tears back.

Ritsuko opened a desk drawer and looked at the picture of her and her mother. "What have I become, mother?"

Misato watched from the upper deck above Unit 03 as they made the preparations for the activation test. Enough time had passed that is was obvious that she was carrying a child. Her uniform stayed much the same except she had opted to trade her tight mini-skirt for a loose skirt that came down almost to her knees. She absently rubbed her stomach as she watched the preparations.

She stood there watching for a while until another hand joined hers on her stomach. She leaned back onto her husband's chest. "Good morning, sweetie. How'd the chat with Ritchan go?"

He growled a bit. "She admitted that it was Toji's sister. She also tried to keep my mouth shut by holding Toji's ancestry over my head."

She shook her head. They had no secrets left between them. The night that Kaji had left, Ranma had told her everything about his life, including his short affair with Ukyou. She was a little jealous, but she understood both sides of the story. Of course, no one else needed to know everything that went on between them, or that Ranma had told his wife everything. "I almost feel sorry for her. She must feel so lonely keeping all that in."

He held her to him as he watched the technicians ready the Evangelion. "Are you sure you should be here? What if something went wrong with the activation? I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby."

She waved her hand in dismissal. "So far we have three tests to substantiate that the second activation always goes off flawlessly. Besides, where would I go? I'm not going to leave town without you or the kids."

"Speaking of the kids…" Ranma trailed off as he looked around for them. "Where are the little troublemakers anyway?"

Misato chuckled. "They're outside practicing. I swear, they're grades would be sooo much better if you hadn't taught them martial arts. Seems like that's all they do anymore."

"Well, when you're the only hope for the future of mankind, you tend to concentrate more on fighting ability than schoolwork. Besides, doesn't Asuka already have a college degree?" He smirked.

"Details, Details…" She turned around and gave him a kiss.

Up above them, two pairs of eyes watched the couple on the catwalk. Ritsuko shook her head. "I swear, if I have to watch anymore of their public displays of affection, I'll puke."

Gendou just stared at the couple. "They are unimportant right now. Are you ready for the activation test?"

The doctor heaved a sigh of resignation. "The test is on schedule. We are just waiting for the fourth child to arrive."

"What's the status of Unit 01?" Gendou asked in the same monotone he always did, but Ritsuko knew better.

"Unit 01 has been fully repaired, but is still in cryostasis. The third child has been checking on its progress ever since the incident." She had a little apprehension in her voice as she continued. "Do you think he knows?"

The commander nodded. "I believe he does. He was extremely tight lipped at the debriefing afterwards. At this stage of the plans, it's not important. There is nothing anyone can do to stop us. Unit 01 has become a god now with the ingesting of the S2 unit from the last angel. All we have to do is wade through the last three angels and our plans will be complete."

Ritsuko gave him a hard stare. " 'Our plans'?" She thought dubiously. "Your plans, you mean. After all this time you're still doing all this for a dead woman, nothing else." She scowled at Gendou as he continued to stare coldly down at the inactive Unit 03.

Outside the confines of NERV headquarters, Shinji was finding himself with other thoughts on his mind. He was walking back to the condo with Asuka on one side of him and Rei on the other. They had been at his side almost the entire time since he emerged from the core of Unit 01, Rei trying her best to show affection and Asuka trying to constantly one up her. It was clear to Shinji, that both of the girls had feelings for him, but the problem was that he had feelings for both of them. How could he have one and not hurt the other? Ranma had told him about his fiancé problems, Shinji could sympathize now.

Asuka stepped closer to him and looped an arm around his. "What's on your mind, Shinji?" She asked as sweetly as she could.

He sweated a moment before he could come up with a decent lie. "Uh, I was just thinking about the activation test. Are we sure it's safe to have it in NERV headquarters?"

She brushed her hair back behind her shoulder with her free hand and answered confidently. "Everything should go as planned. So far an angel hasn't tried the same type of attack twice. It should be perfectly safe. Besides, second activations have always gone smoother than the first." She noticed that Shinji didn't look any better. "Are you that worried about Toji?"

He shook his head. "Not really. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to spar some more when we get home?" She smiled her evil grin that he had been getting way too often lately.

"Sure. It might help me take my mind off things." He turned his face forward and tried not to look at her again.

Rei, at this point, had noted Asuka's actions and had taken Shinji's other arm to emulate her. Shinji's head just dropped to look at the ground at his feet.

As the trio walked by, they passed a park where Toji and Hikari sat and watched them pass. Toji just shook his head as he watched Shinji's antics. "He's either the luckiest man in the world, or the stupidest."

Hikari smiled from his side. "Are you jealous?"

He harrumphed an answer. "He'll be lucky if Asuka doesn't kill him."

"She's not that bad!" She protested in the defense of her friend.

He shook his head. "I've got enough worries on my mind without keeping up with Shinji's love life."

She looked up into his face. "How do you feel about this activation? Scared?"

A looked of apprehension swept over his face. "A little. Just…" He slowly turned to her. "Would you promise me that you and your family will be in one of the shelters when the activation test is going on?"

She nodded her head. "I can't promise that I can get my family, but I can promise you that I'll be there."

He looked over at her. "Thanks. I've already lost my sister. I don't want to lose anyone else."

She wrapped her arms around him and held him close. "You're going to have to work hard to get rid of me Mr. Suzuhara."

Later that day everyone was gathered for the activation test. Toji sat in Unit 03 waiting for them to begin the procedure. Asuka and Rei sat in their EVAs in case something went wrong. Shinji was in the control room with the adults. Unit 01 was still in cryostasis, but he had his plugsuit on anyway, standing by in case they needed him. Ranma was nervous as he watched the procedure begin. Misato quietly stepped up behind him and grasped his hand, holding it between them so it wasn't obvious to everyone that the mighty Ranma needed support.

Ritsuko began making the commands to commence activation. Everyone read off statistics as the operation ran its course. They passed the critical threshold and nothing exploded. Everyone released a sigh of relief.

The blonde doctor walked over to Maya. "So what's his synch ratio?"

"Holding at 32%. Well within operating parameters." The young tech responded.

Ritsuko nodded and turned to Misato. "You can tell the kids that they can…" She was interrupted as the attack klaxons began to blare. "…that they can stay right where they're at and prepare for launch."

The NERV personnel (well used to the drill) went about the preparations for EVA launch. Most of the work had already been done for Units 00 and 02, so they were quickly moved to the catapults. Shinji rushed to Unit 01, but found several guards standing in front of it. One of the officers stepped forward and raised a hand to halt him. "Unit One is still in cryostasis and is still deemed to be dangerous. Sorry Shinji, but you can't board the machine."

The boy glared at the NERV security officer. "How dare they?" He thought. "Mother would never be dangerous." He walked over to the side and propped himself against one of the rails of the catwalk in front of the Evangelion where he could see one of the topside monitors. "There's no way I'm going to let Rei and Asuka go through this alone." He swore silently.

In the operations area; Maya, Aoba, and Hyuga were at their tech stations while the officers took their usual positions. Misato and Ritsuko were on the ops deck while Gendou and Fuyutsuki were on the command deck above them. Ranma took his spot leaning up against the wall below Gendou keeping constant vigil over his wife.

Misato turned and regarded him. "Why didn't you warn us this time?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I can't feel anything. I don't know how the alarms triggered."

Ritsuko looked up from where she was looking over Maya's shoulder at the incoming data. "I may have an answer." She flipped a switch and the main screen showed a white creature with wide swept wings hovering in outer space with the moon as a backdrop. "The orbital sensors caught this one. None of our earthbound sensors picked it up. I would be totally astounded if you could sense it."

He shrugged. "Hey, everyone has their limits."

Misato rolled her eyes and stepped forward. "Get the new positron rifle on the surface and launch the EVAs. Unit Two will fire the rifle while Unit Zero backs her up."

The two Evangelions were sent hurdling through the boom tubes that led to the surface. When they reached the surface, the forward face of the nearest high-rise slid down to reveal the positron rifle. Unit 02 took the rifle and pointed it toward the heavens.

In the cockpit of the red EVA, a large visor came from behind Asuka's head and settled to cover her eyes. She looked in the visor and saw the angel. The automatic tracking system began to lock onto the orbital object.

Just as the crosshairs were about to center, a shaft of light shot down from the angel and an enveloped Unit 02.

In the operations area, alarms were going off everywhere. "What's going on?" Misato asked.

Maya frantically read her displays. "The pilot's psychograph is going crazy. The beam isn't doing any physical damage, but it appears to be effecting the pilot mentally."

"Asuka!" Misato shouted into one of the pickups. "Can you hear me?"

The only response they received was terrified screams.

Inside of Asuka's head, she was seeing hell, again. She roared in anguish as she relived her childhood where she watched her mother slowly go crazy as she devoted more time to her work than to her child. She wailed as she relived seeing her mother coddling a redheaded doll inside of the insane asylum. She once again experienced her mother's body hanging from the ceiling from suicide. After that was done, the sequence began to repeat. She had not had any true tears of pain since that day, until she thought she had lost Shinji to the black hole angel. She cried now, as her soul was being rent asunder.

The AT Field around the unit started turned a sickly green. Asuka managed to get the robot to fire several blasts at the angel with the enormous particle weapon, but all of the shots fell short.

Down below, in the holding area, Shinji heard Asuka's screams coming over the audio pickup. He ran up to the guard that had stopped him before. "You've got to let me into my EVA!"

The guard shook his head. "Orders kid, I'm sorry."

"But Asuka's dieing up there!" He pleaded.

The officer continued to stand firm. "We can't let this unit mobilize."

Another scream coming from the monitor caused Shinji to leap into motion. He threw an uppercut at the guard in front of him, causing the man to fly back several feet and land on his back. In two leaps, the boy reached the entry plug before any of the other guards could react. He sealed the plug and sent a message over the external speakers. "I suggest you clear the area."

The guards ran for the exits as the entry plug screwed down into the EVA. The eyes of the robot flashed and the beast moved. Expanding it's AT field, Shinji busted through the stasis fluid and crossed quickly to the catapults. He stood in the stirrups and shouted, "EVA LAUNCH!"

Back in ops, everyone was frantic at what was going on. They had registered the activation of Unit 01 and realized quickly that there was nothing they could do about it. They anxiously monitored Unit 01 and 02's status as the former rocketed to the surface and the latter continued to scream and increasingly turn the light around itself to a sickly green.

Ranma was floored by what he was seeing. Asuka was subconsciously causing her EVA to power up for a Shishi Hokoudan. He didn't know what would happen if she didn't get rid of that energy safely.

Clear the area sirens sounded as Unit 01 broke the surface and began running for the fallen Unit 02. Shinji pushed his machine until he leapt into the air, landing straddled atop Unit 02 on all fours. Unit 02 by this time had curled up into the fetal position, so was easily covered by the purple robot. A safe shadow formed above the red evangelion, but Shinji would pay for his good deed.

Inside of Unit 02 Asuka was about to give out from the strain, when all of the sudden it stopped. All the images were gone, and she was looking at the controls of her machine. "What the?" She quickly brought her external cameras back online. What she got was a view screen full of purple. "Shinji!" She pleaded to the boy above her. "Get away from here!"

Shinji couldn't hear her cries. He felt the impact of covering Unit 02, and then a blinding light blanked out his senses for a moment. He regained his equilibrium quickly and checked on his roommate. "Asuka, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Her weak voice responded.

The area around them flared with light once again. When he could see again, he was shocked with the vision of Unit 02 beginning to convulse as electrical arcs traveled up and down it. "Asuka!" Shinji shouted pleadingly.

"SHINJI!" Her voice screamed out before Unit 02 exploded with a blinding light!

Unit 01 was thrown backwards and slammed through a building. When his vision returned, his displays were telling him that all his main movement servos had been damaged. Auto repair was underway, but they were too slow for him to do anything about the orbiting angel. He checked over and saw the positron rifle had been destroyed.

A sudden change in lighting caused Shinji to look up and see the wide beam of light tighten into a smaller shaft. The ground underneath the light began to sizzle and crackle like bacon as concrete and asphalt boiled up. His eyes widened in horror as the beam shot across the street toward Unit 00, slicing building and vehicles in half as it went. "REI!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, but his cries went unheard as the beam cleaved the blue evangelion in half. The two vertical halves fell a few meters apart before they exploded in mid-air.

"REI! ASUKA!" Tears formed stung Shinji's vision. He tried desperately to will Unit 01 to heal faster, but it wasn't mending any more rapidly. His eyes widened in horror as the beam traveled across town to settle above where he knew the geofront was. The beam once again turned into pure light, but still a tight rod. "Wha?" was all he could say before his sensors began to register an enormous buildup of energy in the outer atmosphere.

A large ball of energy fell like a meteorite down the shaft of light and slammed into Tokyo-3. An enormous explosion went off and blew all the buildings, cars, and other debris away from the impact zone, partially burying Unit 01 in rubble. Shinji managed to get his EVA moving enough to free itself and gaze into the now exposed geofront. He could see right down to the command center.

Everyone's frantic cries came over his intercom as his sensors alerted him to another buildup. He willed everything he could into the movement of the evangelion. He pushed his EVA to jump out and try to protect everyone below with its bulk. But, because it had not completely finished it's self-repair, its flight fell short when the second blast slammed onto the roof of the exposed command center.

Screams of terror filled his cockpit and then everything was silent. The EVA continued its fall down into the geofront, landing on its face with a resounding crash.

Inside the cockpit Shinji was crying openly now. "Asuka, Rei, Misato, Ranma, father…I couldn't save them." He took a deep breath. "I COULN'T SAVE THEM!" He wailed as he beat the control handles of his EVA until his hands were bloodied. He curled up on himself and began to weep more, all the insecurities, uncertainties, and doubts he thought he had long since buried surfaced all at once.

Inside the operations area they watched as the EVA unit stood poised protectively on all fours above the fallen Unit 02. The green aura they had seen on Unit 02 before was now building around Unit 01, only bigger.

Misato jammed a finger down on one of the communications mics. "Asuka, are you okay?"

"Yes." The pilot's weak voice replied. "But what about Shinji? The beam shows you things to destroy your morale! You've got to get him out!"

A tear lined Misato's eyes. "We've tried. The Evangelion won't accept the dummy plug, and Shinji's synch ratio is plummeting rapidly. Soon he won't be able to move the unit at all."

Gendou stood up. "Send Rei for the lance."

Misato spun around and looked up at the commander. "But if an EVA comes in contact with central dogma then that will set off another impact!"

The commander shook his head. "No, it won't. Send Rei for the Lance of Longinus."

"A lie!" The major thought. "If that was a lie, how much more of our information is a lie?"

Ranma put a hand on her shoulder. "We've got a bigger problem."

Ritsuko turned to him and regarded him with a questioning stare. "What do you mean, Saotome?"

He pointed up to the monitor. "That green shade to the AT field is a buildup of a powerful attack. If we don't bleed off that energy, he could blast through Asuka and several layers of the armor above us."

Misato dove back to the microphone. "ASUKA! WITHDRAW!"

The child hesitantly complied and withdrew toward one of the extraction elevators. "What about Shinji?"

Misato looked up to Ranma who shook his head. "God help him." He whispered in a sorrowful voice.

"Synch ratio dropping below ten percent!" Maya shouted.

"He won't be able to move at all if he drops any more." Ritsuko added.

"Unit 01 is moving!" Aoba reported, shocking everyone.

"Wha?" was the common question as all eyes went to the view screen.

What they all beheld was the sickly green aura expanding and swirling about the EVA like a whirlwind. Debris started flying up into the vortex, and buildings began to strain at their foundations as their roofs were ripped from them. The cyclone intensified as Unit 01 defiantly raised its right arm into the sky.

"The power of a man made God." Fuyutsuki breathed in disbelief. Gendou just nodded from his chair.

The power coalesced into a ball in the palm of the evangelion's hand. When all the power had been centralized, a beam of dark green shot upwards toward outer space. Everyone in operations shielded their eyes as a momentary flash blinded them. When their vision was restored, Maya quickly checked the angel's status. She brought up the orbital camera, nothing appeared. "Angel has been destroyed."

Ritsuko looked at the backdrop of the scene on the monitor. "That's not all."

"NASA's not going to be pleased." Misato deadpanned.

Ritsuko turned a wry grin toward the major. "Maybe they'll call it Mare Shinji."

Ranma smacked his forehead and drew his palm down his face. "Doesn't anyone care about Shinji?"

Everyone quickly checked the status of Unit 01 and it's pilot. Gendou silently told Rei to leave the Lance of Longinus where it was.

Hyuga gave his report first. "Synch ratio is zero. Pilot is unconscious. Recovery teams being dispatched. Unit's zero and two returned to staging area."

"Let me know the minute Shinji has been recovered." Misato turned to leave the room with Ranma falling in quickly behind her.

After the major had left, Ritsuko looked back up toward the monitor. "He's lucky to be unconscious. This way he won't have to go to the brig for pulling Unit One out of crysostasis against orders."

Shinji was moved into the NERV infirmary. He had lain there three days staring blankly at the ceiling. During all the time he had been there, Asuka had sat in a chair next to his side. She was silent as everyone came to check on her and him, but when they were alone she tried talking about everything she could to get him to wake. Right now, she was sitting in silence as she sensed the adults on the other side of the door. She listened closely as they talked.

Outside the door, Ranma, Misato, and Ritsuko looked in at the room and reviewed Shinji's condition. Dr. Akagi flipped through the clipboard in her hands, reading over the latest report of the Third Child's condition. "He's gone into a comatose state, but we can't determine what's happened to him, or how to bring him out."

Misato remembered something from the last battle and turned to Ranma. "Ranma, you said that green shade of the AT field was a power up for an attack. Could you tell us more about it?"

The martial artist frowned as he watched Asuka watch over Shinji. "Remember at the hot springs when I told Shinji about the Moko Takabisha?" Misato nodded, but Ritsuko had a confused look on her face. "Okay, Ritsuko, remember when I first got here and blasted through the angel's AT field?" She nodded in the affirmative. "The Moko Takabisha was the chi blast that I used to burst through. The chi blasts I've known have been based on emotion. The Moko Takabisha is a confidence attack."

"So Shinji was confident?" Ritsuko asked in a confused voice.

Ranma shook his head. "No. The blast he pulled off at the battle was a Shishi Hokoudan. It's a blast based on depression. If what Asuka said during the battle was true, that the angel's attack stole morale; then Shinji was hit with images that made him loose hope. When he was depressed, he channeled all of his evangelion's power into a single blast."

Ritsuko put her hand on her chin as she digested what the martial artist had just shown her. Finally she nodded her head. "So his depression was multiplied through the evangelion. The feedback of emitting that much negative emotion must have overloaded his psyche, putting him into the coma."

The major raised an eyebrow. "Shinji's resisted mental attacks before. Why did this one effect him?"

"I dunno." Ranma turned around and leaned on the wall beside the door. He thought for a second. "Shinji told us that before he had been bombarded with random images that flashed him outside of his EVA. He said the images were so out of place that he could tell that they weren't real."

Misato snapped her fingers. "The angel must have used a continuous image of him inside the EVA, so he couldn't tell the difference."

The doctor's eyebrow was twitching violently as the couple theorized what had happened. "Are you guys saying that Shinji remembered EVERYTHING from his mental attacks?"

Misato and Ranma stopped talking at the same time and sweatdropped as Ritsuko's ire started to build. Ranma scratched the back on his head. "Uhm, we were just, uh…."

"Shinji told us he didn't remember anything." Ritsuko grabbed the lapel of Misato's jacket. "You're a NERV officer. You were supposed to give all information about any angel attack to us. If you two have known this since the occurrences, why haven't you said anything?"

The major knocked the blonde's hand away. "Don't tell us about what information is supposed to be shared. You've kept plenty of information to yourself that would have made a difference in a mission."

"Like what?" Ritsuko crossed her arms in front of herself.

"Two words." Misato matched the other woman's posture. "Jet Alone."

The doctor became defensive. "What are you talking about?"

The major dropped one arm to poke Ritsuko in the chest with her other hand. "You know what I'm talking about. The robot had been hacked by a world-class programmer. There was only a small window in between preparation and ignition, and that was the only time the guards left the mainframe. I saw you at work against the virus angel that was eating the magi. You are the only one fast enough to be able to reprogram Jet Alone to rampage and almost go critical. If I had known you had done that, well, first of all I would have stopped you. Second of all, I wouldn't have gone into a nuclear reactor about to go critical!"

By the end of her tirade, Misato was yelling at the doctor. Ranma wisely decided to avoid the argument and slowly make his way behind the raging woman. He knew the violent mood swings that Misato was going through, and he didn't want to have a part of this one.

Ristuko stared back at Misato as the blue-black haired woman began to pant for breath. "Too many secrets."

Misato caught her breath and glared once more at her one-time best friend. "Do you really want to know why Shinji never tells you anything?" Before the doctor could say anything, Misato answered her own question. "He doesn't trust you. He doesn't think that you and Gendou have the Earth's best interests at heart. I'm inclined to believe him. You and Gendou have lied and schemed, and don't think for one moment that I don't know that you two are sleeping together. Do you really think he loves you? He's still pining for his wife! He's just using you, just like he does everyone else. Just like your mother!"

SMACK!

Ritsuko's hand was trembling as she lowered it. Misato glared at her even as her cheek was turning red. "He'll use you, abuse you, and eventually kill you. Just like he did your mother. You don't really think that was suicide, do you?" Misato turned and hooked an arm around Ranma's. "Let's go home. The smell of denial is making me nauseous."

Ranma haltingly started walking with her. "What about Asuka? We can't just leave her here. The hospital personnel will throw her out after visitation hours."

Misato popped her knuckles. "Ukyou told me a little about persuading hospital staff."

As they were about to leave, Ritsuko finally spoke. "Why do you do it? If you know so much about what's going on, why do you stay, knowing that you're endangering yourselves and the baby?"

Misato angrily turned back around, but, before she could speak, Ranma put a calming hand on her shoulder. He gave the doctor one of the softest looks he had ever given her. "We're doing it for the kids, and everyone else who can't fight for themselves. We're fighting for a better tomorrow for everyone, not just Ikari Gendou. Ritsuko, I'd advise you to think more about why you're doing all this." With that, he turned himself and Misato around and walked out of sight.

Ritsuko stood there for a while as the information started to trickle through her brain. She looked once more into the room where the children were. Asuka was holding Shinji's hand, looking at him with pleading eyes. Some part of the doctor remembered a time when she had been in love, in love with a man whom she thought loved her as well. She wondered if she hadn't known the truth all along, and that's why thinking of him didn't bring up the feelings that it once did. Gendou had known her mother, in every sense. He knew her as well. Did he know that she didn't love him anymore? Did he know that she would think about betraying him? She just didn't know. What she did know was that Ranma was right, she needed to reevaluate why she was here. "For a better future for everyone." She silently spoke as she strode away.

Inside the room, Asuka sensed that all the adults were gone. She stood up, walked over to the security camera and unplugged it. She also gave the room a once over, in case NERV security had put any bugs in the room while she had gone to the bathroom. When she was satisfied that no one was watching or listening, she sat back down and took Shinji's hand again. "Don't worry, Shinji. I'll watch over you like you've always watched over me. I know you don't need it, and your overgrown ego wouldn't let me, but I promise to watch over you as long as I can."

Later that evening as Gendou was leaving his office for the day, he had an unexpected visitor appear behind him. "So what's next on the agenda Gendou?" Ranma growled as he materialized out of thin air. "You've lost your son's consciousness three times. How many more will it take until you turn your back on your insane plans?"

Gendou turned slowly, coolly and gave the martial artist a cold glare. "How long until you abandon your attempts to 'save the world'. I plan to make a better world, why are you against me? Wouldn't you like to see a world without suffering, without pain? Wouldn't you like to see a world shaped in man's own image?"

Ranma's expression turned colder than Gendou's. "I may not be the most religious person in this world, but I do know there is at least one god out there. I can't imagine that he'll take what you're doing lightly. Almost every religion's god is a jealous one."

The commander's expression didn't change. "I'm making a better world, if you continue to oppose me, I will find a way to get rid of you. There'll be no one to save you like you were there for Kaji."

"You have no proof." Ranma smirked.

Gendou smirked as well. "True, but who else could it have been? Don't try to get in my way, Saotome. This is your last warning." He turned to walk away.

Ranma glared at his back and replied in a voice loud enough to be heard by the commander. "If you get one of these kids killed, I'll kill you."

Gendou didn't even miss a step. "You should leave with your lovely wife and go somewhere else to raise your family. This place is too dangerous for a pregnant woman."

The martial artist picked up the subtle threat and his aura began to rise. "If you do anything to hurt the baby, the only new world you're going to see is the new world of pain I'm going to show you."

Time passed and the alarms once again sounded an angel attack. Everyone prepared to go once more into the breach. The usual crew was gathered in ops and called the pilots to their EVAs. Rei and Toji responded immediately, but there was a slight snag with calling the second child to action.

"I'm not coming!" Asuka's stern voice came over the speakerphone. She was still in Shinji's room at the infirmary, calling them on her cell phone. "I'm not leaving Shinji alone!"

Ristuko bristled slightly at the girl's response. "You'll do Shinji a lot more good right now in your evangelion. Get suited up, NOW!"

"Get Wonder Girl and Stooge Number Two to handle it! I'm staying right here with Shinji!" With that, the line went dead.

As Ritsuko was reaching for the redial button, Misato caught her arm. "Leave her be. She won't come out no matter what you say. She doesn't trust you either."

The doctor's expression fell for an instant as Misato's verbal blow struck her. "Then you tell her to put on her plugsuit and help defeat the angel!"

Misato sadly shook her head. "Nothing short of a mortar will get her out of that room. We'll just make due with what we have."

Hyuga nudged Maya. "Hey, who's Stooge Number One?"

Maya shrugged. "If I were to guess, I'd say Shinji."

"Enough chatter," Misato commanded. "EVA Launch!"

At her command, Unit's 00 and 03 were rocketed toward the surface. Large, shielded doors on the surface opened to allow them access to the open air as gantries raised to arrest their upward movement. In a matter of seconds, a black and a blue EVA stood facing their latest opponent. The people watching the robots emerge hoped that this was not an omen for a bad bruising.

In the sky above them what looked like a wide ring of light whirled in place. Upon closer inspection, the ring looked like a wide belt with a double helix for a band. It hovered above Tokyo-3, slowly spinning in place.

Immediately, The two units went into action. A building opened up to reveal an enormous rifle, which Rei grabbed and pointed at the enemy. Toji pulled a sub-machine gun out of another building and ran around to try and out flank the angel. When he reached the side opposite Rei, he reported in to ops.

"Unit 03 in position. It's not doing anything." Toji's voice came over the ops communications board. "What should we do?"

"Just hold position until it strikes. It's AT field is too strong for you to get through right now. The Angel should open up before it strikes." Misato silently prayed that her advice was good.

At that moment the angel stopped rotating and the helical bands fused into a single bright cord of light. Rei and Toji opened fire, but the fire was shed easily by the abomination's AT field. The luminescent cord broke and one end shot out toward Rei, which she narrowly avoided by diving aside, thanks to Ranma's training. The angel shot through a building and turned back around to find its prey. Rei rolled with the dive and came up with her rifle trained on the angel. She tried to cancel the angel's AT field and opened fire with the weapon to no avail. For her troubles, the forward end of the bright tube of light shot through the chest of her evangelion. She watched in horror as large veins popped up around the point of impact. She screamed when the feedback finally reached her.

"Angel is infecting unit 00!" Maya shouted. "Rei's psychograph is going crazy!"

Misato slammed a fist down on the back of Hyuga's chair. "Damn it! The angel's are obsessed with getting into our heads." Ranma folded his arms and frowned.

"Tell Unit 03 to attack." Gendou ordered from up above. "Tell him that he mustn't fail."

Ranma looked up and glared at Gendou. The commander knew full well about Ranma's relationship to Toji and that the boy had not had nearly enough time to train for this confrontation. "You'll get him killed!"

The commander gazed down with his unemotional mask. "He knew the risks when he entered the entry plug."

The martial artist clenched his fist until his knuckles popped. "I meant what I told you before."

Gendou smirked at the impudence that Saotome showed. The doors opened to the side and several NERV security officers appeared at the doors. Ranma glared at them, and they started to quake in their boots.

"You've got to kidding me." Ranma commented as he rolled his eyes.

Back on the battlefront, after realizing how useless the guns were, Toji discarded his machine gun and drew his progressive knife. He leapt toward the angel and slashed with the vibro-blade. The blade miraculously sliced through the angel about a half-kilometer away from the end that was flying free. The piece dropped to the ground like a dead worm, but, before Toji could go for another cut, the severed piece exploded, sending the black evangelion flying backwards.

Unit 03 was tossed back through one of the munitions buildings, setting off a chain reaction explosion of all the ammunition within. The ground shook as the volatile materials expended themselves in a violent display.

Earlier in the hospital, Asuka hung up her cell phone and slammed it into the ground, shattering it into several pieces. She looked back at the unconscious Shinji. "I'm not going to leave you." She swore.

The auburn haired girl walked up to Shinji's bedside. She heard the whine of the catapults and knew that the EVAs were in action. She nodded to herself and kicked off her shoes. She would stay right here with Shinji, right beside her love.

She sat down on the bed and reclined to lay beside Shinji, pulling him into an embrace. "Come back to me, Shinji. Please."

At that moment the room rocked with the explosion of the angel's piece and the munitions detonation. The room rocked with the force of the blast. The light fixture above the bed started to creak and then fell toward the bed. Asuka quickly pulled Shinji to her harder and rolled off the bed. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Shinji was the first one to his the floor, banging his head loudly on the floor.

Asuka quickly picked him up and started running her fingers through his hair searching for a wound. Finding none, she pulled him close again. She looked around the room warily probing for more dangers.

Her search was quickly ended when she heard Shinji groan. She saw him mouth something and pulled his mouth to her ear.

"…couldn't save them…"

She pulled him away, trying to determine if he was coming to or not. She couldn't tell, but she decided to use the more direct approach of reviving him. "WAKE UP, YOU STUPID MORON!" She started to shake him violently with no results.

Her momentary energy spent, she laid him down across her lap. She looked along his body and couldn't help but remember everything they had been through. From the meeting on the aircraft carrier to their last kiss, she looked back on it all fondly. She ran a hand down his chest and marveled at how well toned he was. He was on his way when they had met, but now he was a full-blown beefcake. She smiled slightly as she continued to feel around. "After all, you'd have to be built to get a beautiful woman like me."

Her tour around his body ended with her hand traveling up to cup his face. "Come back to me, Shinji." She spoke softly as she leaned down for a kiss.

Up above, Toji was just getting his bearings again when the angel lashed out toward him. He managed to dodge aside a couple times, but ultimately the angel struck him with the end of its tail. He felt pain lance through every part of his being. He suddenly noticed what looked like veins popping up where the angel had struck him. The veins began to spread as the pain built in his body. He shouted out as it cut him to his core.

At that point, Rei wasn't doing too much better. She felt the angel overwhelming her and she had even had visions of the angel talking to her, asking for her to become one with it. Her body was bursting with pain and the veins had spread from her EVA to her body. She fought with all her might, but could not will her EVA to move any longer.

She looked up and saw the angel invading Unit 03 as well. She knew that this was Toji's first real battle. She could tell that he was being overwhelmed faster than she was. He would not last much longer if something drastic wasn't done.

At that moment she remembered something Ranma had said while they were training. "You must always protect those who can't protect themselves." She stated in a determined voice. She also remembered that a lot of people would suffer if she didn't stop the angel, especially one person in particular. "Shinji-kun." The last was whispered with longing.

She nodded, as her choice was clear. She touched the mechanism that revealed the auto-destruct switch. She started concentrating on the act that she knew would be her last, but it would be worth it. She would die more than just a soulless doll.

In the operations area, everyone was frantic. Neither of the EVAs were making headway; in fact they were both being taken over by the intruding angel, slowly but surely. Ranma stood with his fists clenched to the point that his knuckles were white. Fury at his own helplessness rampaged through his being. He knew he couldn't do anything as he watched. He wished he was strong enough to take the angel on, but he knew he would fair infinitely worse than the two evangelions.

"Unit 00's AT field is reversing!" Maya shouted.

"What?!" Ristuko and Misato both demanded.

"Auto-destruct activated!" Aoba reported.

Everyone breathlessly looked up at the screen. They all had heavy hearts when they saw the angel being absorbed by the robot, and then the EVA exploding in a bright burst of white energy.

The explosion that rocked the infirmary was worse this time. Asuka broke the kiss in time to see a section of the ceiling falling on her. She knew that she had nowhere to go. She was thankful that she would meet her end with Shinji. She wouldn't have it any other way.

At the last instant she was propelled to far side of the room as the debris fell to the floor. She looked down to see Shinji's face buried in her breasts. He looked up with surprise. "ASUKA! You're alive!" He hugged her close in affection, but quickly realized that he was burying himself further in her bosom. His eyes went wide as he tried to jump away. His back hit the wall before he had gone a foot from her. He looked around for another route of escape, but the room had collapsed around them. He felt panic settle in as she started to slowly crawl toward him.

His terror turned to shock as she locked lips with him. They held the kiss a little while before she finally pulled back. "Never leave me again, Shinji."

He looked at the pleading expression and his softened. He had nothing to fear, so he pulled her close once more. "I won't leave you, Asuka. Just don't leave me."

"I won't." She smiled warmly as she brought him in for another kiss.

Back in the operations area, things were about to erupt all over again. Ranma turned toward Gendou with a menacing look on his face. Misato quickly threw her arms around him. "Don't do it, Ranma!" She hissed into his ear.

"Why not? He just got Rei killed, and he would have killed Toji!" He whispered back with venom in his voice.

"We'll get him with the law! When all the angel's are stopped, we'll have him put on trial for his crimes!" Her tone was pleading, but still quiet so that no one else was privy to their conversation.

Fuyutsuki shook his head as the couple held each other tight and apparently whispered sweet nothings into each other's ear. "Is this display of emotion really necessary?"

Misato glared up at him. "This is very necessary! I'm the only thing stopping Ranma from killing the commander!" There was a sharp intake of breath from the other ops personnel, Gendou excluded.

The commander simply gestured with his hand and the security guards advanced with their guns ready. Ranma looked at them and seemed to calm down. "Let me go, Misato. You're right, we'll let the courts decide this." He whispered.

"Promise me you won't kill him!" She quietly insisted.

"I promise."

She released her hold on him and stepped back. When she had backed away from him and the path of the guards' weapons, he disappeared. The next thing anyone knew, the guards clothes disintegrated and their weapons fell to pieces. They would have been embarrassed, if they hadn't fallen on their faces unconscious.

Everyone's eyes were drawn upward as Gendou shouted and came flying down from the deck above. Fuyutsuki was already subdued by the time they had heard Gendou's shout. He crashed down on the ops deck with Ranma on his chest, holding the commander's lapels in his hands. "You can't hope to stop me." The martial artist said as he drew his fist back.

"Misato, kill him." Gendou ordered in his unemotional voice. "You're still a NERV officer."

"No!" She protested.

"Do it." Ranma said with a smile on his face.

"What?" Misato had an astonished look on her face.

"Go for your gun." His insufferable cocky smirk was plastered on his face.

Not knowing what to think, Misato reached for her sidearm. It was gone, as well as her backup. She shook her head, as she should have known. "He probably frisked everyone in the room." She thought with a smirk on her face.

Ranma smiled as he reached into his uniform jacket and produced her weapon and set the end of the barrel between Gendou's eyes. The commander's eyes were wide. "What's the matter, old friend? You're looking a little pale. Maybe you're suffering from a lead deficiency. Maybe a nice injection between the eyes is called for." He pressed the barrel of the cocked semi-automatic pistol further into the commander's head.

He held it there until a bead of sweat ran down his face. Ranma pulled the trigger and eased the hammer down slowly, rendering the weapon harmless for now. "Misato spared your life this time, but she won't a second." He put the weapon away, stood up, and walked over to Misato. He kissed her lovingly and replaced the weapon into her jacket. "Take care of the kids." He whispered.

Everyone was still frozen in shock as the couple talked.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'll be a wanted man as soon as I step out of that door, and it's time for the end game. Don't worry, I'll be back." He kissed her again before stepping away.

She hugged him fiercely before he could get further away. "I love you."

He lifted her head and said the words that he thought he would never say again. "I love you, too." With a final kiss, he stepped away and faded from sight. The room erupted in activity immediately afterward.

Two days passed, Asuka and Shinji had been saved from the wreckage a few hours after the angel had been defeated. Toji and Unit 03 were none the worse for wear, maybe a little shaken. Rei turned up to be alive in the NERV hospital.

Shinji and Asuka walked nervously hand and hand to where Rei had been released. Shinji knew he had made his decision, but he also knew that he had to tell Rei. He knew that he felt something for her, but he couldn't deny the one who had never left his side.

They turned a corner and saw Rei sitting on a bench, wearing hospital scrubs with a bandage around her head and an arm in a sling.

"Rei! It's good to see you made it!" Shinji called out. He looked around. "That's funny, I'd thought father would be here."

Asuka rolled her eyes and then looked at Rei. "How did you survive the destruction of your EVA? Nothing should have been able to survive that!"

Rei looked at her. "I don't remember."

They both looked at the blue haired girl with a confused look on their faces. They both noticed something was very different about the girl. "What's wrong, Rei?" Shinji finally asked.

She looked up at him; none of her new found warmth that she had been displaying in the past few months was apparent. "I don't know. I think I am the third."

Dr. Akagi walked heavily toward the terminal dogma. She had been sent before Seele by none other than Gendou himself in defense of the first child. She had been violated and shamed, but she would not go down without a fight! She was determined to see this through to the end.

She reached the door she was looking for and, before she could put in her passkey, a gun was put to her temple. "This is the final secret, isn't it Ritsuko?" Misato's voice was commanding and hard as a nail.

Ritsuko nodded her head. "This is the last one. I'm surprised Ranma hadn't found it yet."

"This was the only place he couldn't enter. Kaji had to tell me about it." Misato didn't waver. "I'm going to see it now."

"So will he." Ritsuko commented almost haphazardly.

Misato turned to see Shinji standing there in his blue version of Ranma's teenaged clothes. He nodded his head and walked forward. "What did you want to show me Ritsuko?"

They went down the long elevator and walked through a room that Shinji immediately realized looked like Rei's. Ritsuko told him that is WAS Rei's room. She had been born and raised. They went on to the next room where there were disembodied heads, spines, and other skeletal parts of the EVA series. Ritsuko told them that these were the failed experiments. She also informed Shinji that this was where his mother was taken from him. He smirked at her and answered. "I know where my mother is."

Ritsuko nodded and led them to the last chamber. A large brain-looking object was held above the floor with what should have been the spinal cord coming down to a glass chamber big enough for a single human.

"This is the source of the dummy plug?" Misato asked, but she knew the answer.

"It's time you knew the whole truth." She punched a button on her remote and the walls around them alighted. Floating around in LCL fluid were numerous replicas of Rei.

Shinji was shocked but then came to himself. "That's why Rei doesn't remember! She really was killed!"

"These are the sources of the dummy plug." Ritsuko went into a lecturing voice. "These are all empty vessels and replacement parts for Rei. Man found God and tried to enslave him. For that, man was punished! That was fifteen years ago, and the God they found disappeared. Then man tried to resurrect God with his own hands and created Adam. That is EVA."

"So they're human?" Misato asked.

"Yes, they are human." Ritsuko's voice took on an almost whimsical tone. "We put supposedly mindless souls into the EVA, but all the souls were salvaged souls. Rei was a receptacle for those souls. These are empty containers. They have no souls." Her voice became harder. "So, I want to destroy them, because I hate them." She hit another button on her remote and the LCL began to boil and the Rei look-alikes began to disintegrate.

"STOP IT!" Shinji demanded. "They're still human!"

Ritsuko turned to him with tears in her eyes. "They are not! They only have a resemblance to us! A mockery of our life! But I lost to these dolls, and I couldn't win him." She was weeping openly now. "I would have done anything for him, but he…he chose…GOD I'M AN IDIOT!" Her voice quieted as the tears increased. "Mother and daughter both fools. Kill me if you want to. I'd rather die."

Misato put away her gun and pulled Ristuko into a warm embrace. "I'd never kill you. Someone taught me that all life was precious, but I just learned something he didn't teach me."

The doctor looked up at her with tears still in her eyes. She held onto her old friend like her life depended on it. "What?"

"That no one is beyond redemption." She hugged Ritsuko close. "I've missed my friend."

The two women just stood there and cried as Shinji looked on awkwardly. He knew that without Ranma he'd have to be the one to defend them all. A lot rested on his shoulders as the time of the final angel was approaching.

Chapter Fourteen "Armageddon It"

Asuka narrowed her eyes as she stared across the ruined landscape toward her opponent. She dropped herself into a neutral stance with one hand forward and the other back toward her face for defense. Her opponent matched her with a cocky smirk on his face. "I'll get you this time." She thought as her brows furrowed.

A gust of wind blew across the battlefield causing a bit of debris to fall over. With the sound of the crash, the two combatants launched themselves at one another.

The second child found herself on the defensive as her opponent opened with a rabid succession of one-two punches. She cut back and forth at forty-five degree angles from the punches. A leg swung out to knock her forward leg out from under her. She lifted her leg to let the sweep go through with no effect and answered the attack with a kick to her opponent's stomach with the tips of her toes.

With his grunt she pressed her advantage. She let loose with a barrage of punches and kicks. Her opponent nimbly evaded them all taking much the same evasion tactic that she had used before. When she thought she had him off balance, she swung out with a high kick at his head. He dropped below the kick by rolling backwards. Mid-roll, he put his hands to the ground and pushed upward with all his might. He propelled himself straight up. With a shift of his hips and turn of his legs, he landed upright atop what used to be a storage shed.

Asuka snorted in derision as she leapt up to join him. He jumped upwards and avoided her completely. From then on, the battle took mostly to the air. The two of them danced in an aerial ballet of skill, grace, and danger. One would have the advantage at one moment, but, in the blink of an eye, the tables would be turned.

From the sidelines Rei watched with what looked like nominal interest. She followed their movements precisely, but no emotion played across her face. She sat cross-legged on the ground wearing a white gi with a blue t-shirt underneath passively taking in the match.

Meanwhile, Asuka was on the defensive again. Punches and kicks were starting to come hard and fast. She crossed her arms in front of herself to protect her face and upper body. She dropped low to hook one of her opponents feet when he went for another kick. He leapt up into the air to evade the counterattack. She looked up to follow his movements. To her shock and dismay, he had managed to jump right into the setting sun. Before she totally lost vision, she saw her opponent's silhouette against the sun, a poised figure with arms raised out like a crane and his feet tucked under his body with the forward knee pointed toward her and the other pointed to the side. Two thoughts crossed her mind right then. One was that he looked very powerful, graceful, and striking, all at that still moment. The other thought was, "This is going to hurt."

He plunged down on his blinded opponent and planted his knee firmly between her breasts, driving her into the ground. His arms shot down and trapped her arms as her breath rushed out of her. He regarded her with his roguish, cocky grin. "Give up?"

"Not in your dreams, Shinji!" Asuka took a deep breath and brought her legs up to grip his body from behind. She hooked her feet together and tried to squeeze him with the leg lock as he held her upper body pinned. A smile crossed her face as a grunt escaped his mouth. "Break that!"

Shinji smirked and dropped down to where his weight was placed on his left forearm, bearing across her shoulders above her chest. With his right hand he reached behind and goosed her on the rump.

A startled, "EEP!" escaped Asuka's lips and she lost her hold on him. He calmly sat down on her stomach and wrapped up her arms around his right, and leaned down toward her.

"Now do you give up?" He smiled his self-satisfied grin again.

"That's no fair!" She complained as she tried to twist her shoulders to get loose.

"Hey, anything goes." He calmly smiled and held her prisoner.

She snarled at that, but then an evil smirk crossed her face. "Well, if THAT'S the way you want to play it…" She hauled back on her arms with all of her might, pulling her upper body up toward him. Their faces impacted together at the lips.

Shinji expected something like this, but he didn't expect the impromptu game of tonsil hockey. You could imagine his disappointment when one minute his mouth was full of Asuka's tongue, and the next it was full of dirt. This wasn't so bad, but Asuka sitting astride his back with one of his arms pulled up behind his back in a painful lock was.

"Anything Goes Final Attack! The Kiss of Defeat!" Asuka gloated with a smug smile on her face. "Or maybe I should call it, 'Kiss Your Ass Goodbye'? What do you think Shinji?"

Shinji tried to pull his arm free, but only got pain for his efforts. "Okay! You win!"

Asuka continued to smile as let go of his arm. She gracefully rolled back into a relaxed stand. "Told you I would beat you eventually." She smiled confidently.

Shinji arched his back up, pulling himself into a ball, and rolled forward until he planted his feet and came up to a standing position that reflected Asuka's. "It only took a dirty trick and six months after Ranma left."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "Anything Goes, buster!"

He shook his head a little bit and then looked around. "Where's Toji? He's supposed to be out here with us practicing."

Asuka gave a non-committal shrug. "Last I saw him he was still on the phone with Hikari."

"He's supposed to be out here sparring with Rei!" Shinji threw his hands up and walked over and sat down against a ruined wall of what used to be a house. "Why is he always on the phone with her?"

Asuka went over to their cooler and pulled out a drink for him and her. She tossed one at his chest, and went and sat down beside him. "Duh! He misses her, you insensitive jerk!" She opened her drink and took a large swig. "You'd call me if I had left wouldn't you?"

Shinji opened his and took a drink. "Why would I do that?"

"Jerk!" Asuka elbowed him in the side.

He smiled as he coughed a little bit. He took his eyes away from Asuka long enough to look at Rei. "Rei, since Toji's not here, why don't you just practice some katas? Asuka and I will tell you what you need to work on." The pale, blue haired girl nodded, stood up, and started going through the basic katas.

Shinji thought as Rei began her katas. They'd had to start practically from scratch with her since the detonation of Unit 00. The last time that her memories had been backed up was back when he had visited his mother's gravesite. She didn't remember anything of what had happened since, and her feelings for him were somewhat dimmed. He felt sorry for her, but it was better this way. He and Asuka could be together and Rei wouldn't be hurt.

He and Asuka both started telling Rei where she still needed to work, move a foot here, square a shoulder there, but as they talked Shinji's mind still wondered. A lot had happened quickly after Unit 00 had blown up. Many homes were destroyed and most of the citizens of Tokyo-3 had left rather than rebuild. Tokyo-3 seemed like a lifeless shell of its former glory with the non-retractable buildings laying about in ruins and most of its citizens gone. Because of the last battle, Hikari had left with her family for Tokyo-1. Misato asked them to take care of Pen-pen until she could come back for him.

Misato. She would be due any time now with her first child. She kept on calling it her 'first child' because she fully intended on having as many as possible with Ranma, whenever he returned. They hadn't heard anything from Ranma since he left after the battle. He hadn't had the time to say goodbye to them, but they had all found personal farewell and I'll be back messages under their pillows.

Things had been pretty slow since Ranma had left. Everyone had been chomping at the bit waiting for the final angel to arrive, but so far nothing had happened. There had been several reports of Marduk Foundation organizations being shut down and executives arrested for crimes against humanity, but nothing had happened to their main organization in Tokyo-3, NERV. There had even been rumors that Seele had stopped contacting NERV headquarters. Everyone in the upper command echelons took that as a sign of a coming invasion, but Shinji, Asuka, and Misato all knew that it had to have been Ranma's doing.

Asuka looked at Shinji as he got lost in his thoughts. She knew that he had been greatly wounded emotionally by the last angel he had faced. She also knew that he had suffered it all for her. She had watched him spring back well from his time in a coma, but she still thought that maybe those doubts and insecurities about being able to protect them all were still there. She reached out and took his hand. Shinji turned his head toward her and gave her a reassuring grin. He squeezed her hand in affection as he turned back to give Rei some more help with her martial arts.

In between making comments to Rei, Asuka spoke to Shinji. "Are you okay?"

He turned briefly to her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," She thought briefly about how to word her concerns. "I mean, do you think you'll be ready to take on the last angel?"

His features hardened a bit. "It's not a matter of being ready. I HAVE to do it. Otherwise everyone will be killed." Asuka fake-coughed into her free hand. Shinji's expression faltered a bit, and then went back to stoic. "Okay, WE'VE got to do it."

"That's better." Asuka had a self-satisfied look on her face as she went back to watching Rei.

"Do you mind if I practice with you?"

Everyone turned to look at the new arrival. He was a boy around their age with red eyes and a mop of gray hair. He was wearing a gray gi with matching pants standing in a relaxed position.

Asuka stood up and turned to him, assuming a relaxed stance herself. She was startled that she hadn't felt him approach. "Who are you supposed to be?"

He gave her a friendly smile and announced, "I'm Nagisa Kaworu. I'm the new pilot, the fifth child."

Sensing Asuka's apprehension, Shinji stood up beside her. "Why do we need another pilot? We've already got four pilots for barely four EVA."

He shrugged in a non-committed fashion. "I don't know. Supposedly, one of the pilots was out of action, so another pilot was sent."

Shinji's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Were you sent here to replace me?"

The other boy looked at him like he had grown another head. "No. There was supposed to be another, but that's all irrelevant at this moment. I would still enjoy having a sparring match."

Shinji started to step forward, but Asuka held him back. "Go ahead and spar with Rei. If you're not too tired after that, then one of us will spar with you." She turned and smirked to Shinji as she spoke aside to him. "Don't worry; I won't use my secret techniques on him. Those are only for you."

The third child blushed slightly at the husky tone she had just whispered to him in. "Go ahead and take on Rei. I'm next though." He ignored the miffed look that Asuka shot him.

Kaworu walked out into the open space where Asuka and Shinji had been sparring before and where Rei had just been practicing. He stood in a relaxed stance with his hands to his side as Rei dropped into a guarded stance with her hands up to guard her body. They stood there for about thirty seconds without moving. Rei, deciding that he wasn't going to make the first move, launched an attack with a high faint with her hands and a low kick. Kaworu jumped slightly to avoid the kick. It looked like all he did was raise his legs off the ground as Rei's foot passed underneath without moving the position of his torso. Rei followed up with a stomp kick to his chest followed by a right-cross. His body just seemed to flow around her blows and he finished face to face with her, well within her comfort zone. His red eyes met hers as he spoke softly. "We are the same, you and I."

She leapt back from him with her eyes wide. "How are we the same?" She thought. She shook it off and went in for another combination attack. Again, Kaworu lithely dodged all of the blows. Finally, in the middle of one of Rei's kicks, Kaworu stepped aside and hooked his foot around her grounded foot and pulled away from her body, dropping her to the ground. He finished by trapping the leg between his, twisting, and sitting down, pinning her leg painfully underneath him.

Kaworu smiled as Rei tried to struggle free. "Do you yield?"

Shinji and Asuka glared at him as he continued to apply pressure to her leg. At last Rei tapped out and he released her. He stood up and faced the onlookers. "Are you ready, Ikari Shinji?"

The third child's jaw almost dropped. "How do you know my name?"

Kaworu smiled at the boy. "Everyone knows about you, the great Ikari Shinji, the third child."

"Where have I heard that before?" Shinji thought absently.

Asuka stomped her foot down. "Well, does everyone know about the great Soryu Asuka Langley?"

Kaworu looked over at her with a confused face. "Never heard of her."

She crossed her arms and glared at the new boy. "She just happens to be the best evangelion pilot in the world! So what do you say about that!"

He smiled at her with a smug grin. "I would say that she has an over inflated ego and is prone to delusions of grandeur."

You could almost see the steam coming out of her ears as her face started turning red in anger. "All right, buddy! You, me, right now!" She clenched her fists and strode out toward him.

Kaworusmirked as she stepped forward. "Ah, but Shinji has already challenged me. I am obligated to spar with him first."

Shinji stepped forward and held Asuka back with one arm. "You want me. You got me." He walked over to where he and Rei were previously sparring and then dropped into a ready stance. Kaworu strode confidently over to face him and dropped into a similar stance.

The gray-haired boy smiled a warm grin. "Winner takes all, Shinji."

The third child had a confused look on his face. "Hey, this is just sparring. Who said anything about something up for grabs?"

"Even sparring matches have a way of meaning something." Kaworu started to pace around Shinji. The third child turned to match his every step. "Now, let's see how strong you are."

Kaworu led off with a high punch that Shinji ducked under and jabbed at the other boy's open ribs. Shinji then bought his foot up for a stomp kick, but the bottom of the fifth child's foot met his shin half way. He tried a quick jab-cross combo, but Kaworu easily evaded all the blows, answering with sharp jabs into each of Shinji's wrists. The third child's hands recoiled in pain. Kaworu saw the opening and went in for a quick three-punch combination of his own. Shinji, seeing the oncoming onslaught of fists, leapt up and over his opponent and kicked him in the back upon landing, sending the fifth child flying forward. The boy turned his forward momentum into a roll and came back up facing Shinji in a guarded stance.

Kaworu bent his spine back and forth to work out some of the kinks caused by Shinji's blow. "Indeed you have grown strong. I would not have thought that one among the lillum would be able to offer me a challenge. You are indeed special Ikari Shinji."

Shinji clenched his fists, causing his wrists to pop back into place. "You're not too bad, Kaworu. What's say we take it up a notch?"

"Let's." The fifth child agreed.

At that the pair leapt at one another. In mid-air, they met and traded several punches and kicks, seeming to hang suspended in mid-air. They landed to each other's back and turned to face one another again. With the next leap, Shinji went more up than out, bringing him to a higher altitude than the other boy. He lead with his leg outstretched, expecting to pin Kaworu to the ground. The gray-haired boy managed to grab his foot, spin in mid-air, and reverse the move that Shinji was trying. His foot came down hard on Shinji's chest, causing him to loose his breath. The third child kicked his leg up in a desperation move and caught Kaworu in the small of the back with the point of his toes, sending the other boy tumbling forward. Shinji quickly leapt to his feet, and jumped away from the other combatant.

Shinji pointed his forward hand at his opponent's eyes, closing his openings, as he tried to catch his breath. "What's going on? How could he do that? He shouldn't have had any type of leverage to do that!" His thoughts all ran along these lines as he prepared for another bout.

From the sidelines, Asuka could only look on in awe at the two fighters. She knew that Shinji had pulled out a few stops, but this new kid managed to meet him, blow for blow, and he did it all with impressive speed. She started to believe that it was better that Shinji challenged him first. She knew that Shinji always held back with her since they had brought their feelings for each other out into the open, that's how she could beat him with a little help from her personal stash of forbidden techniques. As she watched them start to fight again, she knew that Shinji would have to go all out if he wanted to win this match.

The two combatants mesmerized Rei as they began their deadly dance once more. She watched them start to move faster than she had seen Shinji go before. Yet, he was still keeping up with the gray-haired enigma. "How are we the same?" She thought once again.

Shinji found himself at a loss. He stepped up his speed and power, and Kaworu met him pound for pound. The third child was starting to push his non-chi enhanced strength, and the other boy wasn't even breaking a sweat. It was like he was able to match his power exactly. He shook off these thoughts as another hail of fists and feet rained on him. He kept his hands close to his face as he juked and dodged out of the way. He launched a counter-attack striking the outstretched limbs of his opponent.

Once more the pair sprang away from each other to catch their breaths. At least Shinji need to get his wind back. Kaworu still looked like he did when he started. The third child narrowed his eyes and decided it was time to go to the next level. He began to concentrate and bring his aura to bear. The luminescent blue barrier surrounded him as he felt his chi empowering his muscles. For once, Kaworu didn't match him.

The gray-haired boy looked back at him and smiled a knowing grin. "It's so much more refreshing settling this without the use of the crude machines life forms. It's a testament to the lillum culture that we can face each other as equals now."

Shinji narrowed his eyes at the second reference to 'lillum'. He didn't know what it meant, but he was sure that something wasn't quite right with his opponent. "Enough talk!" Aura blazing, he bounced back into action.

The martial game of tag seemed to take a more serious turn with this exchange of blows. Shinji's face was frozen in a stern look of concentration as he used his chi make him move faster. Kaworu still managed to match his speed, but still had that knowing smirk on his face.

The third child threw a left and a right, the fifth dodged right and left. He swept low with a kick and then came back with a high. Kaworu's feet left the ground but his body didn't move. He managed to easily duck the high kick and begin a rush of his own. He repeated Shinji's attack, but at greater speed. He managed to dodge most of the blows but the last kick caught him in the jaw, sending him flying back.

"SHINJI!" Asuka yelled. She started to get up, but Rei's arm restrained her.

"Don't go. He's more than what he seems." The blue haired girl continued to watch the fight with an emotionless mask.

"What's going on?" Asuka sat back down with a scowl on her face.

Rei shook her head. "I don't know, but something is not right with that boy."

Shinji stood back up and rubbed his jaw. "That hurt!" was the only thing going through his mind. "This is getting serious." He dropped back into his stance and renewed his assault.

With the same ease and grace he had displayed for most of the fight, Kaworu once again easily evaded the attacks. He seemed to weave seamlessly and smoothly through all of the strikes that Shinji brought against him. Shinji remembered Kaworu's earlier battle with Rei and realized that he was being toyed with.

After another heated exchange, Shinji had decided to pull out all the stops. He leapt backwards and landed atop a ruined wall of a department store. He cupped his hands out in front of himself and called upon all of his confidence. "Moko Takabisha!"

Kaworu stood still and smiled as the chi blast propelled itself toward him.

Shinji's eyes widened. "Get out of the way!"

The gray-haired boy just smiled as the blast exploded in front of him, revealing an invisible barrier of rough concentric circles.

"He has an AT Field!" Asuka shouted.

"He's an angel!" Shinji shouted back.

Inside of NERV headquarters, a door was opening for the first time this week, permitting the first bit of light to shine into the dark interior. The fluorescent light from the hallway illuminated the maple leaf NERV symbol that decorated the wall. Below the insignia was a blonde woman sitting on the lone bench in the room. The only features in the room were the bench that doubled as a bed and a toilet with no enclosure to hide anyone using it. The blonde sat with her eyes to the floor wearing a dirty white lab coat that had seen better days. Her head turned slightly, enough to see the feet of the person who had walked through the door. The feminine slippers tipped her off to the obvious conclusion. "Hello, Misato."

Casting a long shadow into the room, Misato stood with one hand on the doorjamb supporting her weight and the other around her swollen stomach. She was wearing a red sundress that was tailored for a woman in her condition. "How are you holding up, Ritsuko?"

The doctor looked up at her with a wan smile on her lips. "Still alive…for the moment. How's the pregnancy?"

Misato smiled as she caressed her unborn child. "Definitely Ranma's child with the way they've been kicking."

"They?" Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to have twins now?"

"No! No! No!" The major waved her hands in warding gestures. "I just didn't want to call it a boy if it's a girl and vise versa."

The blonde chuckled lightly. "I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. I still don't understand why you don't want to know what it is. They do have sonograms for that you know."

"I just don't want to know without Ranma, that's all. I want us both to find out at the same time. Do you mind if I share your bench?" The major motioned toward the seat.

"Be my guest." Ritsuko moved over and extended a hand toward the empty space. "You know you'll probably find out before him anyway. We haven't heard anything from him in the past six months. When are you due anyway?"

Misato heaved a long sigh as she sat down. "Any day now."

"And you're bound and determined to have it naturally." Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't know why anyone would do that willingly when there is such a thing as a cesarean -section."

"Just the joys of parenthood." The major gave the doctor a lopsided grin, which she rolled her eyes at. Misato's expression turned serious. "So have you heard any of the new information?"

Ritsuko gave her a sardonic stare. "I live in a ten by ten cell with no lights with the only thing keeping me alive is Gendou's thinking that he may need me again in the future. Do you THINK I would hear anything? I usually don't hear anything except my toilet flush when I use it!"

Misato her palms up to the other woman in a placating gesture. "Sorry! I just didn't want to tell you something you already knew!" She went back to serious again. "Anyway, everyone is worried about the lag between the last angel and this one. According the Marduk reports on the Dead Sea Scrolls, the last one should have arrived by now."

The blonde stood up and started to pace the floor. "Something must have delayed the beast."

"Or someone." Misato added with a smirk.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow at the comment. "You don't really think that Ranma could stop an angel?"

"Well, try this on for size." Misato sat straight up on the end of the bench. "What if Seele were the ones sending the angels the whole time? You already told us the EVA were created by man, what if the angels were as well? What if they are just agents of the committee?"

Risuko stroked her chin as she contemplated what Misato was saying. "That would make a bit of sense."

"Just look at the facts." Misato began to tick off points on her fingers. "First, Evangelions are the only things that can stop them. It's a pretty convenient way to get funding if you think about it. Make an unstoppable enemy, and supply the only means of their destruction. Two, they sabotage the competition. You helped them out on Jet Alone, so I don't think I need to elaborate on that. Three, we get our power shutoff as another angel attacks. Then later we download an angel, and then they send us an angel inside of an EVA unit!"

Ritsuko thought for a moment. "You could have a point there. But why go to all the trouble of having these huge charades and costly battles? Why not just strike consecutively and created third impact?"

"I don't know." Misato leaned back against the wall. "Maybe they're trying to fulfill the prophecy of the Dead Sea Scrolls."

"But how could they know that we would succeed?" Ritsuko asked. "I don't buy it, something else is going on."

The major sighed. "At least we'll be ready this time. Toji and Rei have been playing catch up to Asuka and Shinji, whom have been hard training themselves as well. Units 01 through 04 have all been repaired. Unit 00 has been rebuilt out of all the spare parts from the other Evangelions and the new parts that were sent to us after the destruction of Unit 05 and the NERV second branch. It looks like a walking Frankenstien's monster, but it activated."

"What did they use for a core?" Ritsuko asked with a confused look on her face.

"They used the dummy plug from Unit 01. It would never activate anyway, so the commander decided to put it to good use." Misato explained.

"His use you mean." Ritsuko began to pace again. "Sometimes I just think the angels are the trials of humanity. Seele may be aiding them, but I don't think they are behind them."

"Maybe Chairman Keel is an angel." Misato shook her head. "Anyway, that leads me to the next bit of news. The Marduk foundation is being slowly dismantled. Each one of the committee members have been placed under arrest except for Keel. Word is he went underground with Seele's remaining resources."

"Time is growing short." Ritsuko murmured as she sat back down beside her friend.

"One more bit of news. We're supposed to receive the fifth child today." Misato added as an afterthought.

Ritsuko's eyes went wide. "You IDIOT! That's the seventeenth angel!"

Misato's eyes went wide a moment before she bolted out the door. Ritsuko rubbed her temples as the darkness surrounded her again. "First they send us an EVA with an angel inside, and now they're sending a pilot."

Back at the battlefield, things were not going well for humanity. Asuka and Shinji were both bent over with their hands on their knees trying to recover their breaths. Rei stood aside watching the whole match, waiting for a chance for her to strike with her lesser hand-to-hand skills.

Kaworu stood a few feet away looking as fresh as he started. "It has been fun playing with lower forms of life like you, but I really must be going. Adam awaits me inside of terminal dogma." He held up his hands and a large ball of energy formed. "This is an interesting way of using your life energy, very similar to the way my brothers and sisters have used theirs. I must thank you for showing it to me." The ball grew bigger as he powered up his own Moko Takabisha.

With a flick of his hand, the ball of chi began its flight toward its breathless victims. Asuka and Shinji could only stare as the ball came closer. At the last instant, Rei leapt in front of them. The blast exploded several feet in front of its intended targets, revealing another AT Field.

Kaworu smirked as Asuka and Shinji gaped at Rei. "I told you we were alike. Both crossbred with angels to produce a powerful, but controllable doll."

"I am more than a doll." She swore in a low voice.

"As you say." He held up his hand and prepared another blast. "But I regret that this one will go through your AT Field. Goodbye Evangelion pilots. I'm sure in another life we could have been great friends."

"SPANG!"

The energy dispersed as the angel's eyes rolled up into his head. He fell forward to reveal Toji hefting an enormous spatula. "Hey, did I miss anything?"

Asuka's eyebrow went up in disbelief. "We were saved by Toji? Now I know the world is coming to an end." This earned her a baleful look from the fourth child.

"Where'd that huge spatula come from?" Shinji asked in curiosity.

Toji absently twirled it around in his hand. "Mom left it to me before she and dad left town with everyone else. She said it was a part of her family's martial arts."

"What kind of art uses a giant spatula?" Asuka asked in a sarcastic tone.

The boy shrugged. "Don't know. She just told me to carry this around and hit people with it and call them a jackass." He turned his head toward the fallen angel. "Jackass."

Shinji went over and pat his friend on the back. "Well, I guess it's a good thing you showed up."

Toji looked down at the fallen angel. "So do we have to kill him or something?"

"I don't know." Shinji gave the angel a second glance. "It seems kind of cold blooded when he looks just like us, like we're killing a real person."

"Uh, guys?" Asuka threw out her hands in an exasperated gesture. "This is still an angel! We have to kill it, or it will trigger third impact. Everything may not be peachy in this life, but I still don't want it to end! If we don't kill him now he could kill us."

"Quite right."

All the pilot's eyes widened as they turned to the origin of the voice. The instant their eyes fell on Kaworu, his aura exploded outward sending them all flying. They all managed to roll over to their back, but they were all in one place, in front of the angel with the now blazing aura/AT Field.

The angel slowly paced forward as lifted his arm for another blast. The children looked over and saw Rei had been knocked out from his awakening. They knew that no one would be there to save them this time.

"You could have just stepped aside, and I wouldn't have been forced to kill you, but you've left me with no choice. I would have loved to have gotten better acquainted with you all and learn more about the lillum culture, but, alas, it was not to be." He lifted his had with the burning sphere of chi energy. "Now you shall taste of the life force, your AT Field."

The ball leapt from his hand and traveled the distance between him and the pilots. Just when it looked like it was going to be the End of Evangelion (A.N.: sorry, had to make that joke), a peal of thunder was heard and the energy sucked into itself.

"How about that? A just my size angel."

Everyone turned to see a sight that filled their hearts with hope. Atop one of the ruined buildings, wearing a black and red NERV uniform was none other than Saotome Ranma. His hair had grown longer and he had it pulled back in a short ponytail held back with a small rubber band.

Ranma smiled one of his annoyingly cocky grins at the abomination. "How about you and I talk?" He cracked his knuckles for emphasis.

"The chaos bringer!" Kaworu shouted. "You are the one who keeps disturbing the natural order!"

"Come again?" The martial artist asked with cocked eyebrow.

The angel's features settled into a pool of rage. "You are the one who killed Saffron! You destroyed one of our harbingers! He was to lead the way and protect Adam until he was full grown. We had to trick the lillum into believing they had created him! Now you've destroyed our plans that were laid out so long ago in the Dead Sea scrolls! There was only supposed to be one pilot here! You have brought forth this chaos. You are the cause to our suffering!"

Ranma gave the angel a level glance. "If you say, 'Saotome Ranma, prepare to die', I'll scream."

"I'd think your death was a forgone conclusion, don't you?" Kaworu quickly fired another chi blast at the older martial artist, which he easily avoided with a high leap into the air.

As he flew through the air, he shouted at the kids, "Get out of here. I'll deal with this one!" The kids quickly nodded their heads and turned to leave the area, Shinji stopping to scoop up the unconscious Rei.

Ranma continued to dodge the angel's attacks until he was sure that the pilots were safe. Finally, he landed in an offensive stance. "It's time to end this, angel!"

Kaworu rolled his eyes as he matched the martial artist's stance. "If you must address me, you can call me by my given name, Tabris."

"Just as long as you don't call yourself Blue Thunder, we can still be friends." Ranma again had that annoying smirk on his face.

With a loud shout, Tabris sprang forward. Ranma dodged to the side and planted a knee into the angel's chest. He came back around to follow with his elbow, but the monster jumped away.

Tabris slowly rubbed the area where Ranma had struck. "I actually felt that."

"Good." Ranma continued to smile as he crouched back down into an offensive stance. "You're going to feel the next one as well."

Once again, the angel matched his stance. "And what one would that be?"

"Oh nothing really, just a secret technique that left the last emperor of the Tso dynasty quaking in his booties." Ranma leapt into the air and descended on the angel. "Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"

At the last instant before impact, Tabris' AT Field came to life. Undaunted, Ranma continued to rain down chi-enhanced punches until his hands started to turn red with seeping energy.

The angel began to smirk in triumph. Well, he did until his AT Field started to dent inward with each punch. Suddenly, one of the punches came through and struck him! What followed shortly thereafter was a cascade of high speed strikes that pummeled him into the ground.

"GET BACK!" Tabris shouted as his aura blazed outward, sending the martial artist flying.

Ranma easily turned over in the air and planted his feet on the side of a building. On impact, his legs compressed and sprang outward, shooting him back into the fray even faster than he had left. Unfortunately, Tabris had had enough time to reconstruct his AT Field, so the martial artist's extended leg met with the barrier. Flipping backward, he landed back on his feet.

"You are indeed powerful." The angel looked over the man with an appraising eye. "And you defeated Saffron when you were much younger, powerful indeed. But you still have to deal with my life force."

"Saw this one the first time I met one of your kind." Ranma strode up to the barrier, put his hands together, and shoved them through the field, forcing his aura into the hole he had made. Tabris could only stare in shock as the martial artist ripped his field apart like a cloth curtain. After walking through, Ranma raised his hand up in the air with his fingers pointed toward the angel. "Now for the finish."

With a final kiai, his hand shot forward and embedded into the angel's chest. Ranma slowly drew his hand back with a wet slosh. His hand was dripping with blood as he watched the angel stagger backwards. His eyes softened as he watched the life blood drain from the human-like angel. "I'm sorry. I had no choice."

Tabris gave him one last look and choked out, "You are correct. cough But I believe the lillum will make it through their trials if there is someone here cough as strong as you." With that, he wheezed and fell over dead.

Ranma looked down at his bloody hand with a regretful look. "Will we have what it takes to survive?" He thought to himself. "YES!" He said aloud as he clenched his fist and started walking toward NERV headquarters.

At that moment, just as the kids were coming into headquarters, they ran into a frantic pregnant woman on her way out. Luckily it was only figuratively. "Where's Ranma?" Misato demanded.

Shinji poked a thumb over his shoulder. "He's back there fighting an angel. We have to get to our EVAs to help him."

She smiled down at him. "That won't be necessary."

The children gaped at her. "Why not?" Toji asked.

The Major had a proud look on her face. "Because Ranma has already destroyed it. I was on my way out to go see him when I ran into you guys." She looked around the area. "Now where's that good for nothin'…"

"You might check over your right shoulder." A voice came from behind her.

Her eyes lit up and her expression brightened to the point where it almost matched the sun. She spun around and threw her arms around him. She had to lean into him to hug him around her stomach. She pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

After a few hours (well it seemed like that to the kids), the two adults separated. Ranma smiled at his wife. "You've gained weight."

She would have slapped him if he weren't holding her wrists. "It's all your fault y'know. You did this to me! I think you've gotten older!"

He chuckled a bit. "Having such a high strung wife did it to me."

"Baka." She hugged him close and nuzzled her nose into his neck.

Asuka smiled as extended her hand toward Shinji, hoping that he would hold his hand like a good romantic. Unfortunately Shinji didn't take the bait so she had to wrench his hand away from his side. She smiled sweetly at his startled glance.

The (somewhat) romantic moment was broken by the sound of several rounds being chambered in automatic rifles. The group turned to see Gendou standing among several NERV security forces. He had a satisfied look on his face. "I knew that you would return Saotome. I knew that if I was patient I would see you behind bars."

"No!" Misato shouted as she tried to place herself between Ranma and the other men. Ranma pushed her back with his hand and flashed her his cocky grin.

"Trust me." He said to her aside. Then, to the Gendou, he gave them the same smile with a malicious twist. "You wouldn't want to do that Gendou. It would only add to your sentence." He turned to consider the guards, all of which he had trained. "And do you guys want to lose your career as well as your dignity by challenging me?"

Everyone gave him a blank stare. Gendou finally stepped forward. "You'll have to forgive me my ignorance, but what the hell are you talking about? You're the one about to be arrested for endangering the further existence of human life."

Ranma reached to the small of his back under his uniform and produced a black package. He held it up to where everyone could see the United Nations insignia on the front in white. "Most of the other Seele or Marduk operations and members have already been put under arrest. There's also speculation that the whole angel crises was a fabrication by the organization."

"That's a lie!" The commander shouted. "We did what we had to! The world would have been destroyed if we hadn't formed NERV!"

The martial artist stepped forward, undaunted. "But you still planned on destroying the world. You just wanted to make it in your own image. The UN knows that the NERV first branch is the only thing that can stop the angels, so that's why I'm here."

Gendou eyed him speculatively. "Why did they send you here?"

"Oh, only to take command of the NERV first branch and ensure the elimination of the angels and the dismantling of all other operations, including the EVA series." Ranma commented nonchalantly. "I'm taking over by order of the United Nations, duly approved agency of authority by the Japanese government."

"I won't let you kill her!" Gendou shouted.

"Subdue him." Ranma ordered.

The guard standing behind Gendou hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle, knocking the former commander unconscious. The guard looked up and saluted the martial artist. "Welcome back, sir."

Ranma nodded and smiled at Misato. "It pays to get to know your students."

"It also pays to beat the living snot out of them too." She commented back.

"That too." His smile broadened.

Asuka stepped forward. "So does that mean it's over? Everything? That was the last angel, right? And the bad guy's behind bars, so it's happy ending we all go home?"

Ranma gave her a despairing look. "I'm afraid not."

"But you said everybody was already taken care of!" The second child was tensing up.

"I said, 'most'." Ranma had a regretful look. "We still have one more battle to face."

"Who?" Shinji asked tentatively.

"Seele." Ranma let the word hang in the air for a little while before explaining. "Lorenz got away. He has nine completed Evangelions powered by the dummy plugs we shipped him along with an army of JSSDF troops. From the preparations I've seen, he'll be here in three days. We've got to stop him before he triggers third impact."

Misato gave him an exasperated glare. "You said you were backed by the UN! Why does he have JSSDF troops?"

Ranma chuckled nervously. "He was faster than I was. He got to the Japanese government before I did with my UN sanction. He took the troops and sequestered them elsewhere before I came through. The government couldn't get a hold of their troops so they sent me on to come here. I searched for a while and I found them…yesterday. We've got to get the remaining non-combatants out of the city before they strike and we better get ready for one hell of a war."

"War?" Toji asked nervously.

"Yes, war." Ranma slowly turned to him and the other kids. "We just finished the war with the angels, and now we have to start the war with Seele. This one should be decidedly shorter, but it will still be a war." He looked them over one-by-one. "If any of you want to leave you can, but remember that you'll be leaving the others to fights alone."

"No guilt trip there." Misato commented aside.

Ranma gave her a quick glare before coming back to the children. "It's your decision. I'm going to ask each of you. Rei?" She nodded her head in the affirmative. "Toji?"

The boy shifted on his feet. "Third impact will finish off humanity, won't it?"

"Yes." Came the martial artist's simple reply.

"Then I'm in." Toji firmed his standing. "No one is going to hurt my family again."

Ranma nodded and went on to the next one. "Asuka?"

"Do you have to ask?" She put her hands on her hips with her chest sticking out proudly. "Of course I'm in."

"Shinji."

The third child, the boy who had fought the angels from the third stood up, but not quite as proudly as Asuka. "I don't like it, I thought you said we should never kill another human being?"

"I don't care if you don't like it." Ranma growled. "In fact I want you to hate it. I want you to hate it more than anything else you have ever hated in your life. War shows us what animals we humans really are, no matter how civilized we think we are, we are still animals, territorial animals. We are also very protective animals. We guard our young as well as our homes.

"I know I've told you it's wrong to kill another human, but sometimes you just don't have the option. In a duel, or match, you have the option to leave your opponent alive. One opponent can be watched, taught, or, if all else fails, jailed. When you are fighting many opponents after your own life, you don't have the option. It's kill or be killed because while you're working on subduing the final ones, the first ones are waking up and rejoining the fight. They will last, you won't.

"It may seem like it goes against everything I've taught you, but it doesn't. You are still going on the basic principal, to defend yourself and others that can't defend themselves. Killing was never part of the code. That was added on by personal preference. When in war, you kill them or they kill you and everything you care about."

Ranma looked once more at Shinji as he gathered his breath once more. "War is terrible because it shows the true nature of humanity no matter how much we don't want to believe it's there. I'm going to ask you one more time: will you fight? You're not going to enjoy it, and you are certainly not going to be the same person you went into it, but it's necessary because the other side will not permit us to 'talk this out'."

Shinji looked at the burning eyes of his teacher, and somewhat father. "I understand. I'll do it."

"Good." He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm going to be right there with you. There's going to be ground forces coming into the headquarters looking for you pilots. More than likely I'm going to get involved and I'm going to have to kill just like you will, and it will tear me up inside, but I know that I have to do it. I have all of you, Misato, and my unborn child to protect. I'm not going to let anyone harm any of you."

Shinji nodded, feeling a little bit better. "So what are we going to do?"

Ranma stood up and looked at Misato. "First thing we're going to do is get rid of any innocents. We evacuate all the noncombatants."

The major smirked. "Well, COMMANDER, you're in luck. Most of the civilians left after the destruction of Unit 00 destroyed their homes, and the non-essential personnel have been sent abroad, unnecessary budget hang-ups." Her smile grew more evil. "We still have the lawyers. Want me to move their offices toward the entrances?"

"No." Ranma matched her grin. "But keep that thought." His face went sober once more. "And get Ritsuko out of her cell, we're going to need her. The last thing is to bring all the civil defenses online and get ready for their assault." He looked around at all the people around him. "This will be the final battle. Let's make them wish they had never set their sights on NERV!"

The troops cheered at the shout, but the kids and Misato looked wary. They also knew that these three days could be the last of their lives.

Two days passed and the preparations for the assault were completed. The city weapons were all reloaded and ready for attack, the staff was drilled on their battle stations, and the pilots were trained hard for the upcoming battle. Dusk fell and everyone went out to make the best of it. Many of the staff raided the remaining alcohol stores that were left behind by the former bar owners, while many others took time to call their loved ones. Ranma, Misato, and the pilots all went back to the rooms that were prepared for them inside of NERV headquarters for a (relatively) peaceful night's rest. They all retired early so that they would be ready for early morning they would all be faced with.

Ranma and Misato were lying in bed holding one another. They couldn't be together like they wanted to because of obvious impediments, but they were content to be in one another's arms once more. Misato ran her hands through his hair while he caressed her belly.

"So what should we name it?" Misato asked with a small smile.

"It? You mean you don't know what sex our child is going to be?" He raised an eyebrow. "I thought chicks went nuts over that stuff."

She blushed slightly. "Well, I didn't want to do it without you, and we've been too busy with preparations these past two days to take care of something like that."

Ranma thought for a second. "How about Nodoka if it's a girl and Genma if it's a boy."

"You want to name our children after your parents?" She gave him a bemused look.

He shrugged. "It seems only right. I think it's the only way I could be at peace with them. Despite everything they did to me, I still loved them. It's hard having despicable parents and still loving them."

"I guess you know how Shinji feels." Misato sighed. "Have you told Toji the truth yet?"

He shook his head. "No, I haven't had the heart to tell him. It would be so awkward tell him that the first time he met his real father the man made him piss his pants."

"You didn't!" She giggled.

"He was picking on Shinji for hurting his sister." Ranma smiled. "I decided to turn up the intimidation because I hate bullies. I didn't find out until much later he was my own son. I think he'll be better off not knowing. The last thing we need to do is shock a kid's brain before he goes to battle."

"True." Misato let out another sigh. "We'll let him run up the phone bill talking to Hikari, and send him off to battle. The whole thing seems kind of unfair. We should both be out there with the kids."

"I know." Ranma took a deep breath. "It is unfair to ask anyone that age to kill, but we have no choice. War forces us to do a lot of things we would not do otherwise. I'm going to do all I can from ops, and, if the ground troops penetrate further than the fourteenth level, then I'm going out to deal with them. I'd let you come with me, but, while you may be a soldier, he…" He rubbed Misato's stomach. "…is not. If you would have let me get away with it, I would have sent you away."

"But what would you have done for a tactical officer?" She smirked. "And I'm not separating from you again, so get rid of all those thoughts right now."

"They're gone." He put his arms around her and pulled her close. "I'm sorry I left you."

"You can think me after I have our first child." She winked at him.

"First child?" Ranma raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the world does have a population depletion problem after second impact. We have to do all we can." She leaned over and pecked him on the lips. "You're going to be a heavy contributor if I have anything to say about it."

He rolled his eyes. "So should we name the first child Rei?"

"Nah." She laughed lightly. "I don't want to name our fifth child after an angel." Her smile turned lecherous. "And I want more than five."

Ranma's eyes went wide. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"No." She stated simply.

He sighed. "Well, just as long as that's clear."

At that moment there was a quiet click sound that seemed to echo through the halls. "What was that?" Misato asked. "Everyone is supposed to be bedded down for the night."

"That was just Asuka sneaking into Shinji's room." Ranma stated matter-of-factly.

"WHAT!" Misato sat bolt upright in the bed. "They're too young for that! We've got to stop them!"

She went to throw the bed sheet aside, but Ranma grabbed her hand. "Don't Misato. This could be the last night of their lives."

"But what if it's not?!" She demanded.

"Misato." Ranma gave her a serious expression and level tone. "We've decided that they're old enough to die in battle. I think we should let them be old enough to have sex."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I don't see why you're not going nuts about this."

He shrugged. "You do things in war that you normally wouldn't do."

Inside of Shinji's room, he was startled awake by another body landing in the bed beside him. By the smell of her, he could tell who it was. "Asuka? What are you doing here?"

She wriggled around in the bed a little bit and then threw her clothes onto the floor. "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're trying to seduce me." He commented.

He could almost see her smile in the dark. "Got it in one."

"But don't you think we're a little young. I mean, what if you got pregnant?" He tried to pull himself back from her fingers that were removing his bedclothes.

She kissed him and then turned on the bedside lamp. "Give me a little bit of credit. I have something with me that Ranma and Misato never thought about."

"What's that?" He asked with his curiosity aroused.

She held up a foil wrapped package. "Condoms. Never go to bed without them."

He looked up into her eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you love me?" She asked simply.

"Yes." He answered.

"Then I'm sure. Now get out of those clothes!" She abandoned any form of convention for removing clothes as she just started tearing them off of his body.

A second later, as Toji was talking on the phone with Hikari were talking on the phone, a scream was heard. "What was that?" The girl on the other side of the line asked. "It sounded like a girl screaming."

Toji looked around for a second. "No, I think that was Shinji."

"Okay…" She trailed of as she realized the conversation just took an odd turn. "So how are the two lovebirds getting along?"

"Sounds like better by the minute." He started to put on his clothes. "I'm going to have to call you back on the cell phone. Otherwise we won't be able to hear each other. They should have really thought about sound insulation when they built these rooms."

Before dawn the next morning, the final preparations were in place. The above ground weapon systems were armed and ready, everyone was at their battle stations, the passageways were already flooded with LCL, and the Evangelions were ready on the catapults for launch. Fuyutsuki and Gendou were in holding cells under guard. They couldn't be allowed to move about freely or they might try to enact the plan they had prepared years before. Ritsuko was down with the magi. The access ports were already in place and she was ready to combat any hackers into the system. She had had enough preparation time that she could run the cables outside the cavernous computers out to a comfortable desk outside them and had several layers of expert firewalls in place with nasty backlash programs. Maya was to be her backup above. Aoba was watching the ground for movement while Hyuga watched the air.

Behind the three ops workers, Ranma stood at Misato's side as she sat in a chair that had been placed in the place she usually stood. The martial artist's hand was on her shoulder, and her hand had his firmly grasped. The air was thick with tension.

Shinji sat in Unit 01 trying to collect his thoughts. Asuka's picture came up beside his head. "What's wrong, Shinji? You look like you're about to jump out of your skin."

He smiled nervously. "It's kinda hard to sit in Unit 01 after last night."

"Why's that?" She asked with an inquisitive tone.

He shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's the fact that I'm sitting in a machine with the soul of my mother and I'm linked to it. I'm pretty sure she knows what we did, and I just hope I don't hear about it. I feel like she's scolding me right now."

"Well, deal with it. I'm not ashamed of what we did." She gave him a confident smile.

"That's because you can't shame the shameless." He deadpanned.

She shrugged and smiled. "At least Misato didn't give us any crap about it. Even when she woke us up this morning."

"I will give you two a lot worse than crap if you two keeping talking about it on the tactical net!" Misato's voice echoed through their cockpits. "I was trying to ignore what you two were doing, but you make it hard by ADVERTISING IT!"

Shinji chuckled nervously. "You didn't hit the direct line Asuka."

"I knew I forgot something." She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well."

"So when's the wedding Shinji?" Toji's lighthearted voice came over the speaker.

Shinji groaned. "So much for keeping it to ourselves."

"Don't worry." The other boy replied. "I'll only tell Hikari…Kensuke…and everyone else in our class."

"I'm going to die." Shinji moaned in remorse. He suddenly wished that the EVA could absorb him again, but he couldn't do that because then his mom would tear him a new one.

"We've got movement on the ground. The first ground troops are coming into the area. We've got a battleship in the harbor and tanks on the satellite views." Ranma's voice alerted them. "Prepare for launch."

Back in the control room, Misato stood up from her seat. "Wait until they're well within range and then turn the machine guns on the ground troops. Immediately after, launch missiles at the roads the tanks are taking into the city. As soon as the guns go off their going to know that they were expected. That will be the first blow to their moral. The second will be four active EVA's appearing around them. Asuka will come out of the bay and take care of the battleship. Shinji and Toji will come out of the mountains behind them, and Rei will come out of the city." She tensed slightly as she grabbed onto the back of the chair in front of her. "Remember, they have an N2 mine. If they drop that I want Shinji and Asuka back in the city to bolster Rei's AT field to protect us from the blast similar to what we did with the tenth angel." A hand went to her stomach. "EVA LAUNCH! AHHHH!" She fell to her knees.

Any exclamations from the pilots were lost as they were shot out through the boom tubes toward their designated positions. Ranma ran to her side and helped lay her on the floor. "What's wrong? And what's all this water doing here! You didn't…"

"MY WATER BROKE YOU IDIOT! I'M GOING INTO LABOR!" Misato shouted at him.

"Oh shit." No truer words have ever left Ranma's mouth before in his life. He shot up and ran to the rail overlooking the magi. "Ritsuko! We need your help!"

She looked up at him. "What for?"

"Misato's about to have the kid!" He was becoming hysterical

"Now?" The doctor gave him an unbelieving look.

"Yes!" He features had taken on a crazed look.

"Oh shit!"

"That's what I said!"

"Couldn't she have waited until after the big battle?" Ritsuko asked rhetorically.

"Unless you know of a way to stop it." His voice was sarcastic now.

"We could give her some alcohol to relax the contractions." Ritsuko suggested.

"Wouldn't work. We don't have enough alcohol up here to get her drunk!"

"HEY!" Misato shouted. "TELL HER TO JUST GET HER ASS UP HERE!"

"Send Maya down here, and I'll be right up." Ritsuko set a couple final barriers in place. "Send the guards for linens, some hot water, and a sedative."

"You going to knock her out?" Ranma asked frantically.

"No, the sedative is for you." She commented as she stepped onto the operations deck. "You're about to go to pieces. I thought you were some tough martial artist, not afraid of anything."

"It's a father's prerogative to go nuts when his child is being born." He stated matter-of-factly. He turned to Aoba and Hyuga. "How are the kids doing?"

Asuka emerged from the undersea opening and stood straight up, picking up the battleship on her way. She came up right in the middle of the tank lines on either side of the bay. They opened fire on her, but her AT Field shrugged off the rounds.

Her thoughts were elsewhere as she mechanically threw the ship at one of the tank lines. "Who's in my EVA?" She thought. "Shinji's mom is in Unit 01. Toji's sister is in 03. One of the Reis is in Unit 00, but who is in Unit 02?" She thought more as swatted away assault helicopter like flies. "Who?" Unbidden an image of her mother hanging from the ceiling of her room came to mind. Someone who had been very close to the construction of Unit 02 and was close enough to be a compatible soul. "Mother?" She said aloud.

All of the sudden she felt her synch ratio rising. She could feel the EVA responding faster, and the AT Field growing stronger. "Mother!" She shouted excitedly. She charged forward and punched out a section of bridge on the opposite shore where she had thrown the ship. "You didn't leave me! You were here all the time!" She was ecstatic at the revelation. All the doubts that she had before the battle were gone. She knew that she could do whatever it took as long as her mother was with her.

"Shinji!" She exclaimed happily into the tac net. "I found out who's in my EVA! It's my mother!"

"That's great." He deadpanned back. "She can rip you a new one for what we did last night. Now if you don't mind, I've got a few tanks to take care of."

"What?" She asked.

"Tanks."

"Your welcome."

Shinji groaned into his communicator. "I'm going to get you for that." He opened a line to Toji. "Ready to move in Toji?"

"Let's do it." The other boy responded.

The two EVA's emerged from their hiding places behind Seele's troop lines. They cupped their hands, shoved them into the road, and started running forward with their legs, pulling up the roadway with them. The ground started to roll in their hands. Tanks, APCs, and other mobile armor were crushed in the roll. Shinji pushed until he hit the battleship that Asuka had thrown into the mountain, and Toji stopped when he dropped his roll through the hole that she had made in the bridge. The remaining tanks and missile carriers opened fire on the EVAs. The scene was reminiscent of the attack of the third angel. Armed forces throwing all that they had at the monster, but with no results. All was the same except for…

"N2 mine." Rei's calm voice came over the com.

Shinji jumped over the ship and charged into Tokyo-3 as Asuka used her AT Field to push the bay's water back far enough so that she could jump easily jump to shore. The two raced into town as Rei brought the hands of her EVA up and spread the AT Field. The mine seemed to hover in midair above her. Asuka and Shinji made it there just in time before the mine went off.

The three pilots strained to keep the AT Field at one level from all the force that was pushing down on them. Toji was just doing his best to stay in one place and not get carried off by the blast. The ground shook with the force of the blow.

In operations the room shook like an earthquake hit. "Damage?" Ranma shouted.

"Minimal." Hyuga responded. "The EVAs have deflected the blast."

"Maya!" Ritsuko shouted. "How are you handling?"

"They can't get through your first barriers." The young tech responded. "You still have five layers they haven't seen yet."

Ritsuko smirked. "It's amazing what I can do when I've got time to prepare. Of course hacking their system and putting up barriers within their own systems helped too."

"Hey!" Ranma shouted. "Aren't you going to do something?"

Ritsuko looked up at him as she squatted between Misato's legs. "I am doing something."

"What are you doing?" He asked. "All I see is you sitting there doing a good impression of Johnny Bench."

"It's what they taught us in medical school. They woman pushes, we catch. It's that simple." She answered snidely.

Ranma shook his head and looked down at Misato as her upper body rested in his lap. "How you doing, Misato?"

"How about I shove a watermelon up your ass and then you ask me again!" She shouted. "This is all your fault! You've been nothing but trouble since first time I saw you! You…"

He quickly clapped his hand over her mouth before she could go much further. "So does this mean that this will be an only child?" She glared at him.

"We've got troops entering the base. They're in the first pool of LCL fluid." Aoba reported.

Ranma nodded. "Open up the intercom it's time to let them know who they're dealing with." He reached over and grabbed the cushion from the seat that Misato was sitting on and put it under her head. He kissed her on the forehead as she glared at him. "Be strong, dear. I'll be right back." Her expression calmed somewhat when he said dear without the slightest bit of hesitation.

The martial artist strode up and took the mic from Aoba. "This is Saotome Ranma, appointed commander of this branch of NERV by the United Nations and JSSDF. You are hereby ordered to cease and desist all activities at once." He moved his finger across his neck in the cut-off signal and Aoba turned of the intercom. "Can we hope against hope that some of them listened?"

Hyuga looked at his displays. "Half of the troops have left the LCL fluid leaving behind contamination."

"What is it?" Ranma asked anxiously. "Some sort of toxin?"

Hyuga shook his head and smiled. "Fecal matter."

The ad hoc commander chuckled. "I guess those were some of my old students. Tell the security forces to wipe out the rest of them, but keep their heads low and do not pursue anyone retreating."

"You got it." Aoba sent the orders. "Begging, your pardon, sir, but why didn't we broadcast that to all the troops out there? Wouldn't we be able to end this quicker?"

Ranma shook his head. "We couldn't do it now or before, thanks to their radio silence. Keel made sure that they couldn't hear any news of the world, or of our change in command. He's been blinded by his ambition to trigger third impact."

"RANMA GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!" Misato shouted between groans of pain.

"You guys hold down the fort." He patted the two techs on the shoulders. "I'm going to take some more abuse from my wife."

"Oh the joys of fatherhood." The two techs silently swore never to have children.

Outside, Toji had finished up the armored vehicles while the others were recovering from the N2 blast. Shinji looked out over the carnage that had already been wrought. There were shattered tanks, downed helicopters, the burned out hulk of a battleship, and various other armored vehicles strewn about along with several levels building from the backlash of the N2 blast. They had managed to contain the brunt, but some of the shock waves had managed to pass through. Shinji checked with ops, and, when he learned they were fine (if a little stressed from the woman in labor), he communicated it to the others.

"So is that all of them?" Toji asked as Unit 03 strode up beside the other three EVAs.

Shinji panned Unit 01's head around the landscape. "Looks like it. The rest of the armored divisions are retreating. There were still several troops that got through into the base. I asked Ranma if we should help with them, but he said we were supposed to wait for the EVAs."

"What EVAs?" The other boy asked.

"The ones with the dummy plugs, dummy." Asuka answered snidely. "They're the real reason why we're out here. Don't you think the city defenses could have handled a few tanks and choppers?"

"They wouldn't have been able to stop the N2 mine." Toji stated matter-of-factly. "And probably would have been destroyed fairly quickly with all those tanks coming in."

"Enough you two." Shinji commanded. "We've got to be ready for anything."

"Who put you in charge?" Asuka demanded. "I'm the best pilot out here!"

"Yeah, but I've been doing this longer." Shinji blew Asuka a raspberry. The response he got was a satisfying growl from the other end of the line.

"Incoming from the South-Southwest." Hyuga's voice came over the tactical net. "Nine EVA air carriers. Everyone make sure you're plugged in and ready."

The pilots checked the power lines to make sure there were no problems and then sat themselves in a ready stance to fend off the new threat. The planes came into view, filling the air with the sound of their engines. Through the enhanced vision that the EVAs granted them, the pilots say the dummy plugs being inserted into white Evangelions.

"They're going to be destroyed if they dry a drop from that high." Asuka commented.

Shinji remembered the one carrier drop he had made when he had fought Jet Alone. "When I made mine, it was at a much lower altitude and it still rattled my teeth."

The white EVA's detached from the carriers and fell for several feet before wings sprouted out of their backs. They had the general body forms of the earlier Evangelion series, but they had a distended head, eagle wings, and no shoulder guards. They circled around in the sky above the other four robots like vultures over a corpse.

Toji watched them warily. "After we're through with this battle, I know what upgrade I'm getting."

"After we're through with this battle, I quit." Shinji muttered. "Things are getting too weird."

Asuka went to one of the arms buildings that was still standing and withdrew her new halberd. "Come on you guys. Get ready for action!"

Unit 03 and Unit 00 went to another arms building and pulled out a pair of large machine guns while Unit 01 drew its progressive knife. As the enemy robots came nearer, the pilots saw that they were carrying long double bladed staffs.

Shinji shrugged and held onto his knife. "This is going to be interesting."

The nine white evangelion's landed softly with both feet on the ground and surrounded the original four. The human pilots formed a ring with their backs to each other and weapons pointed outward.

"What do we do, Shinji?" Toji asked as he moved his machine gun between the robots in his sight.

"We do this by the numbers. Each of us will take two and I'll take three. Just think of them as angels. Neutralize the AT Field and attack." He brought his progressive knife up to a ready position. "Any questions?"

"Yeah! Why don't we stop talking and start fighting?!" Shinji felt a power build up and turned around to where Asuka was. He was treated to the sight of the red evangelion shooting forward and bringing its halberd down in a overhead cut, cleaving the white EVA in two. She turned and swept her weapon up at the adjacent EVA.

Shinji missed the rest of her fight when the rest of the angels charged. Unit 01 leapt into the air and cleared the other EVAs. He spun around in midair to land facing the back of one of them. Grabbing the head, he pulled it back to expose its neck. He quickly ran the progressive knife across its throat, spilling a substance that looked like blood all over the city.

Rei and Toji remained back to back and fired outward at the remaining EVAs. It seemed to keep the occupied until one of them shot forward. Thinking quickly, Toji brought the butt of his gun up and caught the beast in the jaw. He paused momentarily when he saw that the thing actually had teeth. He quickly turned his gun around and opened fire into its mouth.

Rei continued to plug away at the ones that approached her. One leapt into the air to try and bring her down. She jumped aside and rolled into a crouched position and opened fire on the fallen EVA. When two more approached her, she took cover behind one of the still remaining buildings and fired from behind.

On the other side of the field, Asuka was going staff to staff against the second EVA she chose. The large cumbersome weapons that the enemy was using were much stronger than she first thought. Finally, she waited for another swing from the white evangelion, and then she shot into the air, swinging her halberd around and cleanly taking the head off the EVA.

"Ha!" She proudly shouted. "Two down already, Shinji! You'd better hurry up, or I'll get your third!"

A loud explosion sounded on the field as Unit 02 turned to face Unit 01. The purple robot stood there with its arm extended with blue residual energy wisps coming off its hand. In front of Unit 01 were two more white EVAs with gaping holes where their stomachs should have been. "That's three for me. Hurry up slow poke!"

Growling, Asuka searched the field and saw Toji locked up in hand-to-hand with another of the pale robots. The two were pushing at each other's hands, trying to force the other one back so they could grab one of the discarded weapons. She stormed across the field and grabbed Unit 03 by the shoulder and pulled him backward, causing the white Eva to fall forward. She raised her other hand to catch the head of the beast and concentrated her AT Field. "Moko Takabisha!" The blue blast at point blank range vaporized the monster's head. Headless, the white robot fell backward. "There! We're even!"

At that moment they turned to the sound of gunfire to see Rei putting the last one down. They surveyed the field and didn't see any more standing.

"Are we done?" Toji asked hopefully.

Unit 01 scanned around some more. "I guess."

"Uh, guys?" Asuka's tentative voice came over the line.

"Yeah?" They both responded.

"I got three, Shinji got three, and Toji and Rei each got one." She took a deep breath. "We're short one."

They all started to look around the ruined city to try and find the missing EVA. They couldn't find any trace of it.

"It didn't go inside the Geofront did it?" Shinji asked hopefully.

"There'd be a hole or something around here if it did." Asuka deduced. "It couldn't just phase through the concrete and armor."

Sensing danger, Shinji turned to see one of the battle staffs of the white EVAs flying right toward him. He quickly threw up his AT Field to block it. Before his eyes, the staff shape-shifted into a trident with a tine missing.

"The Lance of Longinus." Shinji and Asuka exclaimed at once.

The weapon made no time in passing through Shinji's field. Only Shinji's quick reflexes saved him from taking the weapon in the chest. Instead it lodged into his shoulder. He yelled out in pain.

"SHINJI!" Asuka cried out. She quickly rushed to his side to pull the lance out. "That better?"

"I've got bad news!" Toji reported.

"What could be worse than the last EVA has a Lance of Longinus?!" Asuka questioned.

"The other ones are getting back up!"

Asuka turned in horror to see the ones that they had felled stand once more. The mouths at the end of their distended heads were grinning a malicious grin as they all retrieved their lances.

Back in operations, the two male techs looked on in horror as the beasts came back to life. Hyuga turned around to where Misato was heavily breathing with her upper body being supported by Ranma and Ritsuko waiting patiently between her legs. "We've got problems! The Seele Evangelions each have a Lance of Longinus!"

Ritsuko gave him a stern look. "We've got one of our own! Send one of the kids down to get it!"

Hyuga nodded and relayed the message. Meanwhile Aoba started opening the passageways to terminal dogma.

Shinji was doing his best to fight off the white monsters. The damned things just wouldn't stay down! Finally he got Ritsuko's message. "Rei! You go after the lance! The rest of us will keep these things back!"

"Acknowledge." Rei's flat voice came back. Unit 00 turned and ran toward the platform that Aoba had opened for her. The platform began its descent.

Deep inside of NERV headquarters, Ikari Gendou was being held in the same cell that he had Ritsuko into for the passed six months. He found it ironic that by putting him in this cell they had put him that much closer to Terminal Dogma. The whole time that he had been there inside the cell, he had sat on the bench/bed with his elbows on his knees and his hands bridged in front of his face.

A trace of light seemed to pass over his glasses. "It's time." His voice was low and unemotional.

He stood up and walked toward the door and lifted his hand up toward the door. Light filled the room as the door was blasted off, the guards outside killed instantly. He turned toward elevators that would eventually lead him to the core of the Human Instrumentality Project.

Fuyutsuki heard the blast from his cell and could only smile slightly. "Say hello to Yui for me." He whispered under his breath.

Up in the operations area, the jailbreak didn't go unnoticed. Aoba quickly reported it to the commander, major, and doctor. Ranma looked up with a grim expression. "He's still going to try for it." He growled before looking down at his wife. "I'm going to have to take care of this. You just be strong for our child." He ran a hand across her face.

"You can't do that!" Ritsuko protested. "There are still soldiers between here and Terminal Dogma! You'll never get through!"

Misato took his hand. "I understand." The blonde doctor gave her a shocked look. "Just make sure you come back." She managed through the pain.

Ranma nodded and replaced his lap with the chair cushion once more. "I'll be back, and Saotome Ranma always keeps his word."

"You'd better." She managed a painful grin. Another contraction hit, and her face clouded with pain. "They're getting closer now!"

"I love you." Ranma gave her a quick peck on the lips before rushing out of the door.

He made his way outside, down the halls, and to the first elevator he found. The path to Terminal Dogma wasn't straight down so he'd have to make several elevator changes. The first floor he came to was clear, but the next found him facing the guns of several JSSDF officers and the bodies of several dead NERV security officers. The martial artist's eyes narrowed at the carnage.

The opposing soldiers didn't even so much as ask him to surrender; they just immediately opened fire. Ranma faded from sight as the hail of bullets came his way. Within seconds, the troops all lay at his feet, dead.

"No one threatens my family." He growled before continuing his journey.

The story was the same for several of the floors. He encountered places where his men had the upper hand and the JSSDF were dead, but for several others, the blood of his students stained the walls and floors. Anger built in him as he approached the floors that had been flooded with LCL. He seemed to fly past the troops by corkscrewing his body, creating an underwater cyclone that flattened the troops against the wall. He went through a few more floors until finally he unleashed the deadly Yama-Sen-Ken techniques. He'd throw several vacuum blades that would suck the troops into themselves, or he'd send a single blade forward and allow himself to be pulled through the liquid to the next elevator.

At last he passed into the final elevator that would take him to Terminal Dogma. The sight that greeted him stopped him in his tracks. Unit 00 had already made it down this far and was kneeling before Gendou. The back of the Evangelion opened up and the entry plug twisted out. Rei climbed down to stand in front the former commander.

"Stop right there, Gendou!" Ranma shouted.

The man turned to smile a sardonic grin at Ranma. He turned his head slightly and spoke to Rei. "Just a moment and then you will fulfill your destiny." He turned back to Ranma. "You cannot hope to stop me. I've been fused with the angel Adam and you cannot stop me now."

The martial artist growled and charged forward, only to flatten against an AT Field. He fell back and rolled to a crouch. When he concentrated, he could see the field that Gendou was emitting.

"I thought Adam was nailed to the cross inside the vault." Ranma wiped a trickle blood away from his mouth as he spoke.

Gendou chuckled. "That, you fool, is Lillith. Adam was fused to me while he was still in embryonic form. That will make me the new god of this planet. I shall remake it better than it was before." His voice dropped. "And I'll bring Yui back."

Ranma's heart seemed to drop, but he shook his head and anger filled his senses. "You'd destroy the world to bring Yui back?"

"I'd do it all and more to have her with me again." The former commander said with a voice of confidence. "I thought you would understand, if you truly loved her."

"But to kill everyone on Earth?" The current commander stood to his full height. "That's genocide. I may have loved Yui, but the price is too high."

Gendou sniffed in derision. "That was the part of you that always angered me about you. You were always perfect. Yui would go on for hours about how moral and strong you were. You were the epitome of manhood to her. Even though she told me I was all she needed, you were still better. And then when we met in that bar, I was ready to beat up an overly inflated character from her memories. But, it seems, she was on the money for her descriptions of your martial prowess. I hated you from that moment on."

Ranma smirked his cocky grin. "I just hated you because you had Yui and I didn't. She drove me mad, literally, but the madness gave me the power to leave my old life behind me." His expression hardened. "But I don't hate you for that anymore. I hate you now for what you've done to your son and what you would do to the world to achieve your goals."

"Then the battle lines are drawn." The thinner man brought his hand forward. "Goodbye Saotome. I will enjoy this." The martial artist saw the gesture and began to laugh. "What's so funny about your death?"

"You're the fool!" Ranma exclaimed. "Haven't you paid the least bit of attention to my life, or to the past three days for that matter?" He stood up his full height and puffed out his chest. "I killed a god when I was seventeen. I just finished killing an angel three days ago. What make you think that you can defeat me?" He started walking forward with a dangerous look on his face.

Gendou put his hand up and erected another energy barrier. Ranma reached up with one hand and pulled it apart. The other man took a few steps back and put up another, which was dealt with similarly.

The scene replayed itself until finally Gendou tried to just blast him with the power. Ranma easily sidestepped the blast and shot his hand forward, catching the other man by the wrist. "W-why doesn't it work?" The former commander asked as he stared death in the face.

"You don't know the first thing about the power you are using." Ranma stated with a scowl on his face. "The power of chi cannot be forced the way you're doing it. All your fields and blasts are too weak because you don't know how to focus them. I'd suggest that you learn more about the energy you're using before you try using it." Ranma tightened his grip, causing Gendou to cry out in pain. "One more thing…"

"W-What?" The former commander managed through the pain that was shooting through his wrist.

The hand that was holding Gendou's wrist began to glow brightly. "If you try to merge yourself with a more powerful entity, try to have a little bit more commitment than just your hand." Ranma loosened his grip and a powerful Moko Takabisha fired from his palm. Gendou fell to his knees, clutching the cauterized stump of his right arm.

While the former commander was crying out in pain, Ranma turned to the blue-haired pilot. "Rei, you are more than a doll. You are a real person, and right now I need you to do everything you can to save all the others."

She stood up and looked at him, Gendou's influence gone with the destruction of Adam. "What must I do?"

"Get back into Unit 00 and I'll instruct you." She did as she was told and brought the organic machine back to life. "Proceed into where Lillith is and take your progressive knife and destroy her core." He yelled loud enough for her external pickups to hear him.

With a smooth motion she drew her knife and plunged it through the head of the crucified angel. "What do I do now?" Rei asked over her external speakers.

"Take the Lance and finish off the Seele EVAs." Ranma smiled as he reached down and hauled Gendou up back the back of his shirt. "I'm going to take Gendou on a tour of the world he created."

As Unit 00 strode out with the lance in hand, Ranma drug Gendou back to the elevator, intent on showing him all the bloodshed on the way.

The outlook on the battle above was looking grim. Nothing appeared to stop these inhuman monsters. The faster that they knocked them down, the faster they came. Shinji had tried wrestling away one of their lances and using it against them, but it transformed back into its original state when he tried to use it. In the meantime he had a larger weapon than his progressive knife while Asuka only had the haft of her halberd left. The blade had be severed minutes before. Toji wasn't faring much better. He couldn't use the advanced techniques that Asuka and Shinji could so he was forced to use his AT Field as only defense while he dodged lances in hopes of landing a good blow.

All the children's attention turned when the warning sirens went off around one of the EVA deployment hatches. Unfortunately, this also brought the attention of the white Evangelions. Four of them immediately converged on the lance-bearing Unit 00. Rei spun at the first one, delivering a heal kick to its head. She thrust the lance into the next one, expecting it to fall. To her surprise, the white EVA grabbed the lance and pulled itself toward her. At that moment the other two tackled her and brought her to the ground. They tore at her armor and began to feast on the flesh underneath.

"REI!" Shinji shouted as he charged, double-bladed staff forward, through the two baring his way toward the fallen ally. The blades cleaved the two abominations in half as the purple Unit 01 ran past.

As Unit 01 approached the group, Shinji threw the staff at the EVA to the right of Unit 01. The one that held Unit 00 on the left and the speared one in the center looked up at his approach. Shinji shoulder rammed the one on the left, sending it flying with the momentum that the purple EVA had built up. He then grabbed the Lance of Longinus and heaved upwards, cutting the EVA in half. He looked down at the corpse of the monster with a sense of accomplishment. They had a lance of their own and they could now give them some payback.

Suddenly his expression soon turned to horror as the white EVA began to reform once more. "No." He whispered to himself. "That's not possible! The lance was supposed to kill them!"

Asuka and Toji felt their hearts drop when they say the man-made angel regenerating. They both set their jaws and prepared to fight to the bitter end.

Shinji, lance in hand, jumped back away from Rei, hoping to draw the EVAs away from her. He succeeded all too well. All the white EVAs followed him as he retreated from the others. He turned to run to the countryside for a more open battle. As he turned, he came face-to-face with another one. He leapt to clear the beast's head. He managed to clear the monster, but it grabbed his power cable, severing it from the force of the jump and the pull. The third child's eyes narrowed as his five-minute counter started. He ran until he was clear of the city and previous war zone.

"What am I going to do?" He thought desperately. "The Lance of Longinus won't stop them. Moko Takabishas won't stop them. How do we kill them?" He thought a moment on everything that had brought him to this moment, all the battles, all the training, all the friends, and all the family. If he had to do it all over, he wouldn't change a thing. He had surrendered to Unit 01 before and it had absorbed him. He knew that it had more power now after eating the S2 unit from the fourteenth angel. He felt he would have to give himself fully to the machine again to defeat these enemies.

"Don't give in! Use the power!" A disembodied feminine voice seemed to echo through the entry plug.

"Mother?" Shinji looked around his pod but saw nothing. "Power? What power?"

He racked his brain until he remembered what he had been told about his battle with the angel in orbit, of the power that could shoot an angel down from the heavens. He looked back at the view screen and saw the others quickly approaching. He set his jaw and willed the EVA to unleash its full potential for one lethal blast.

The back armor of Unit 01 exploded as wings of red chi shot out. The air shimmered with the heat being generated from the Evangelion as it's aura flared up. Gusts of wind seemed to pour off the mighty robot as it waited for the enemy.

The white EVAs seemed to smile as they saw what was their signal to begin the operation for third impact. They blindly charged forward, intent on capturing the power of the living god to bring the culmination of the Human Instrumentality Project. They joyfully rushed toward the overwhelming source.

The eyes of Unit 01 flared as the beasts came ever closer. The robot crossed its arms in front of itself and waited. Shinji waited until he could see points on their teeth before flinging his arms outward and unleashing the power he had built up.

Dusk had been falling as the battle was wearing on. The blast lit up the area brighter than the daylight as it radiated outward, first with an enormous shock wave and following up with a deadly sphere of energy.

After being lost temporarily during the blast, Shinji's sight returned moments afterward. He opened them in time to see his timer go to zero on his EVA. He reached out with his senses and couldn't feel the other EVAs any longer. He could also tell that the energy had been depleted from his. He had burned out the S2 unit in the final apocalyptic blast.

He worked the manual releases and managed to get his entry plug to screw out, allowing him to see the battlefield once again. What he saw was a level plain with no trees, grass, or anything but raw earth. He could see Asuka approaching his position and Toji bending over where Shinji thought Rei's EVA had fallen. He smiled as he watched the red Unit 02 come toward him. It was over at last.

Inside the operations area, Ranma had just arrived with Gendou over his shoulder, knocked out cold. He dropped the former commander and ran to the panting Misato's side. Her breath was getting ragged as she tried to force the baby to come into the world. Hours of exertion had left her hair matted to her head with sweat. Her eyes were strained and were showing signs of rings. Ritsuko had been trying to cool her down with wet towels, but nothing was helping. Ranma lifted his wife's head off the pillow and set it once more on his lap. "Hang in there, Misato. You can do this." He looked up at Aoba and Hyuga. "How are the kids?"

Hyuga looked back at him. "Unit 00 is down, but the pilot is okay. Unit 03 is recovering her. Unit 01 has destroyed the other EVAs, but used up his remaining power. Unit 02 is going out to retrieve Unit 01's pilot."

Ranma nodded as he turned his attention back to his wife. "How are you doing, dear?" She immediately reached up and grabbed his bottom lip. (A.N. If you know this joke, then you're a Cosby fan too.)

Alarms began to go off again. Aoba spun around in his chair to report. "Another AT Field has emerged! One of the White Evangelions survived.

"That's the least of your problems."

The NERV personnel turned to see a group of soldiers appear on the dais above. The apparent commander stepped forward with his gun raised. "You are all will hereby be executed for crimes against humanity." He looked up as another group came up from the magi area with Maya in tow. They threw her down in from of Ranma and Misato and brought their weapons up as well. All of them had heavy battle gear with full-face masks, the same as the team above, except for the speaker. The leader spoke again. "This is the end of NERV."

Outside Shinji could only gaze in terror as the final beast rose from the displaced earth. It's body was badly mangled, but it was regenerating, albeit slower than before. The third child watched as Asuka dropped into a stance and prepared to do battle again.

Inside her cockpit, Asuka was slowly losing hope. She had seen what it took to destroy the others and knew she didn't have that kind of power to throw around unless…

She opened up her communications to all channels. "Goodbye everyone. I love you all. And one of you tell Shinji that I loved him most of all." After saying that she released her power cable, triggered the timer on her self-destruct sequence, and charged forward at the last enemy EVA. Unit 02 pulled its fist back while running and threw it forward when it reached striking distance, driving it's fist through the beast's barrel.

Asuka ran with the impaled monster further away, trying to get a safe distance away from Shinji. She looked back once more as tears began to pour down her face. "We will die together mother. Maybe you'll get to meet Shinji in the next life."

As the timer approached zero, the four eyes of the red Evangelion lit up and shown like stars in the night. The back neck plate of Unit 02 went flying backwards. Asuka gasped as she found herself ejected violently from her robot. After she reached the top of her arc from the force of ejection, the emergency jets fired, sending her even further away.

"MOTHEEEEER!" She shouted as the two Evangelions went up in a ball of light, both consumed in the conflagration of life energy.

Shinji shielded his eyes from the blast and looked up again to see Asuka's entry plug gently falling to the ground from the three parachutes it deployed. Taking several leaps, he made his way down his Evangelion and across the field to meet her.

In the operations area, the strike commander was smiling as he watched the people below him stare death in the face. They were all gathered around the one giving birth. The great Saotome Ranma was covering her with his body, knowing full well that while he could dodge their bullets, she couldn't. The man waited until he found the right moment to kill them.

Just then, the tactical net came alive with chatter. "Goodbye everyone. I love you all. And one of you tell Shinji that I loved him most of all." Moments afterward a blast was felt and heard.

"Asuka!" Ranma and Misato yelled in despair.

"That leaves one more EVA after we finish with you, but since we can cut off its power, it won't be a problem." He raised his hand. "One the count of three. One…Two…"

The team below brought their guns up and opened fired on the commander and the troops above, killing them all to a man. Using hand signals, the leader of the group below sent some his troops up to make sure they were finished.

The last commander standing approached the group as he lowered his gun. Ranma looked up at him. "So who are you? One of my old students?"

The man shook his head. He then reached up and undid the clasps on his mask and pulled it off to reveal a handsome face with close-cropped black hair. "Just a man who owes you a debt of honor. Saotome."

"Mousse?" Ranma raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

The man chuckled. "The second impact left a lot of us in strange places. I was stranded in Japan and found myself conscripted into the military along with my wife."

Ranma turned to the woman in uniform who came and stood beside Mousse. She pulled her mask off to reveal an elegant face with long black hair. Ranma's jaw dropped.

Mousse reached out and gently took her hand. "I believe you know Kodachi. Imagine my surprise waking up in a pile of rubble to find Cologne and Shampoo had left for China, banishing me from the tribe. I was walking toward the dojo when I heard sobbing out of another pile of rubble. I found her and we've been together ever since."

Misato's cry of pain brought everyone's attention back to the fact that there was a woman giving birth in the room. "I see the head!" Ritsuko exclaimed.

"Keep pushing and breathing, dear." Ranma encouraged her, intentionally using the affectionate dear she preferred to show his support.

The major cried out between pushing and breathing. The head came out followed by the shoulders, and, after a relatively short battle, the new baby girl came into the world. Ritsuko cut the umbilical cord, cleared its mouth, washed it, and laid it in the arms of a very exhausted Saotome Misato. She held the baby carefully and began to cry uncontrollably. Ranma pulled her close, and, if you looked closely, you could make out a tear on the edge of one of his eyes.

After the afterbirth came out, they decided they didn't want the celebration of new life to be surrounded by death. They all left the command center to find the other children. Hyuga and Ranma helping Misato and the baby out.

Ritsuko remained behind to shut down the systems. She looked at Gendou, who was forgotten in the soldier's attack and subsequent birth. She walked over and picked up a pistol from one of the fallen soldiers and pointed it at him.

Gendou's mind cleared to find his vision filled with a barrel of a gun.

Her face was clouded over with rage. "You left me in a hole for six months! When this was all over, were you going to kill me as well? No. You were probably going to have Rei kill me, just like my mother. You screwed and killed her, and you were going to do the same to me." She pulled the hammer back on the pistol. "Ranma may have spared your life, but I won't. I won't ever forgive you."

A lone gunshot filled the empty silence of the all but abandoned command center. Ritsuko dropped the gun and walked out of the room. This would be the last time that someone would manipulate her. She was free now, free to discover the new world for herself.

Out on the barren field left behind from the two climactic explosions, Shinji strained to release Asuka from her entry plug. He couldn't help but remember when he pulled Rei out of hers. It was that moment that had started them on their path of endearment. This time it would be a new beginning, a beginning without angels, Evangelions, or death. He looked in and found her curled up into a ball mourning the second loss of her mother. He climbed into the plug and wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked her as she cried herself out.

"I lost her again." Asuka sobbed.

Shinji hugged her close. "I saw. She gave her life for you Asuka. It was the greatest gift she could give you." She looked up at him and finally put her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder.

He put his arms beneath her and carried her out of the plug. He was greeted by twins beams of light. Above them towered the form of the last functioning Evangelion, Unit 03. The robot knelt down and put its hand on the ground in front of the pair palm up. "Get on." Toji's voice came over his external speaker. "I'll give you a 'hand' back to headquarters."

Shinji rolled his eyes as he stepped onto the massive hand. He saw Rei sitting there already, none the worse for wear. He smiled at the first child, and she slowly returned it. He looked up into the glowing lights of the EVA. "Take us home Toji. It's been a long day."

"I'm going to take you back to base. I can't get any response from them." Toji replied as he lifted the rest of the pilots into the air and carried them back toward the base.

Ranma and the others exited the base into the empty streets of Tokyo-3 to be met with the floodlights of the EVA. The black EVA knelt down once more and lowered its hand to reveal all the other pilots. They all shared a smile as they all took in the sight of the other survivors and the new life that begun on this tragic day.

Unit 03 shut down and the entry plug ejected. Toji made his way down and joined the party. Ritsuko also joined the party at that moment.

Asuka approached the haggard Misato and looked down at the baby. "So what's her name?"

Misato looked at Ranma and they shared a gentle look of affection. "We talked about it on the way out of the base, and decided on…"

"Hope." Ranma spoke softly as he smiled. He looked over at Toji. "Could you see if our condo was still standing when you came back?" The boy nodded. "Then let's all go there and crash. It's been a long day and there's enough room for everyone." He looked to the pilots. "Family…" He looked over at the techs and Ritsuko. "…and friends."

Author's Notes:

Wow, another finished fic. I'm not saying that an epilogue isn't forthcoming, but the story is finished, surprisingly with very few deviations from my original brainstorm. I believe that Waldorf and Statler said it best when they said, "All's well that ends well." "I don't care, just as long as it ends." Anyway, it was a long and tiring road and I'm glad it's finally done. I'll miss my every chapter e-mailers, but I hope that I will continue to hear from you as I work on my other fics. I end this chapter with a few minor laughs and a Trigun wish for Love and Peace. As always, send all compliments, comments, and flames to JamesThomas , I always love hearing from my readers!

Omake:

Toji looked down at the fallen angel. "So do we have to kill him or something?"

"I don't know." Shinji gave the angel a second glance. "Do you think we should stab him?"

Toji looked at him. "That's a little cold-blooded, don't you think?"

Shinji stroked his chin in thought. "Well, we could shoot him."

"That's a little loud, isn't it?"

"Hey, do you want to kill him or don't you?" Shinji threw up his hands in exasperation. "It's not like I'm asking you to look inside a dog for a diamond or something like that!"

"The chaos bringer!" Kaworu shouted. "You are the one who keeps disturbing the natural order!"

"In the quiet words of the Virgin Mary, Come again?" The martial artist asked with cocked eyebrow.

"Wait…he's really pale, right? With red eyes? Anyone got a stake?"

Epilogue "The Real Instrumentality Project"

Ranma floated in the midst of a red sea. He was seemingly suspended in the midst of a red fluid, sitting in the lotus position, breathing normally. He meditated about his current circumstances. "It does smell like blood." He thought. "In midst of everything I never noticed before, always too busy to notice. I hate blood. I never want to smell it again."

The 'air' that he was breathing became damp like the summer sun coming out after a summer rain. He continued to breath normally, reaching out his senses to his surroundings. Then the humidity increased until it felt like he was breathing in a dense fog. Slowly he felt the change take place. He felt his body shrink and his skeleton shift. Hard pectorals became soft breasts. Heavy muscles became lithe and supple. He, now a she, stretched out her body and kicked her legs.

With a soft splash, Ranma's head broke the surface of the vat of LCL fluid. After taking a deep breath, he swam to the side where Ritsuko was awaiting him. "That should be a good enough mix." He commented as he pulled himself out of the liquid.

The blonde doctor nodded her head. "It seems we were able to introduce enough water into the LCL fluid to trigger your curse and still allow you to breath. Did you have any difficulty?"

"It began to feel like breathing in a morning drizzle of rain." He explained as he dried himself off. "But it was still tolerable. We should be able to proceed with the next stage.

The doctor nodded and started issuing commands to a pair of female techs that was standing nearby. They walked over to where a plastic barrel was sitting and removed its lid. They slowly poured the powdered contents into the LCL pool. Subsurface level jets in the vat caused a current that gradually dissolved the substance and mixed it into a homogenous mix.

As the solution was being created, Ranma looked over at Dr. Akagi as she watched the red waters begin to spin like a whirlpool. He suspected that she had killed Gendou before joining the rest of them after the last battle. Everyone accepted the theory about suicide since the gun that had put a bullet through his skull was only a short distance from his outstretched hand. People had their suspicions, but no one voiced them. Most people believed he committed suicide to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. Fuyutsuki, who was on his way to the world's court to answer for the crimes of NERV, thought that Gendou had done it because he couldn't face the possibility of failure.

Deep inside Ranma knew better. He knew that there was a reason why Ritsuko had stayed behind, but he elected not to say anything. It was best left unmentioned. He wasn't justifying his inaction; he just felt that Ritsuko needed healing not alienation. If he were to say something, then she would be forced to confess and would be taken away like a common criminal. She deserved better than that. She deserved to live a normal life where she was more than a pawn for a ruthless man.

Trying to kill time while the solution was mixing, Ranma decided to take his thoughts away from anything related to the final war with Seele. "How is the reconstruction of Tokyo-3 coming?"

The doctor looked over to him. "It's coming along right on schedule. The retracting buildings and shelters are being rebuilt now. They are still some time away from rebuilding them, but they are coming along nicely. The world community is watching us, you know."

The redhead nodded. "I know. They want to make this a 'model of modern civilization', or some such nonsense."

Ritsuko smiled at the martial artist. "You have to admit it's true. The city will already have shelters for any disasters. The shock absorbing isolation on the retractable buildings prevents earthquake damage and the fact that they are retractable and suspended above the geofront makes them ideal for surviving typhoons and flood. The power grid and utility systems are the most efficient that the world has seen in human history. As the world finishes its recovery from second impact, this will be the model for all the cities to come."

"Well I'm glad they have such a dedicated woman leading them into the new era." Ranma smiled at the other woman. "You did well with the EVAs, now you get to build something for peace."

The doctor gave him gave him a wane smirk. "Yes, community service for my crimes. You make it sound so noble Saotome."

Ranma shrugged. "Don't look at it as punishment. Look at it as training. Training for being something better than you were before."

She shook her head at the man turned woman. "It's all about training with you, isn't it? How does Misato put up with you?"

"Through much pain and suffering."

They both turned to see the major walking out to meet them, Hope in her arms and Shinji at her side. She walked up and pecked the redhead on the cheek. "How's the operation coming?"

He looked out over the swirling vat. "Should be about ready."

Shinji walked toward the edge and looked into the pool. "So what is this for anyway? How is this going to destroy the EVAs?"

Ranma sent a mischievous grin to the boy's back. "Here, I'll show you." He walked over and kicked the boy over the edge.

"SHINJI!" Misato and Ritsuko shouted at the same time. Ranma held a hand up and waved the open hand in a placating gesture.

"What'd you do that for?" Shinji shouted in a higher voice. He grabbed his throat. "What's wrong with my voice?" He looked down at his body…and screamed.

Ranma was rolling on the ground laughing when a very irate blue haired girl pulled herself out of the pool and grabbed the older woman by collar of her uniform. "You think this is funny?! You gave me a curse! Now I'll be just like you!"

"Why is that a bad thing?" Ranma managed between guffaws.

Ritsuko rolled her eyes and turned to the technicians. "You can shut the water jets off now. The solution is good. Start preparations for the next stage."

Ranma was still laughing as Shinji held her by the collar with a murderous look in her eyes. "I won't be normal again!"

The martial artist finally managed to get his laughter under control. "Relax. It's only temporary. Go take a hot shower, and you'll be back to normal."

Shinji finally released the other cursed woman and scowled. "What is that stuff?"

"Instant Nyannichuan. It's an extract from the Jusenkyo spring. It's not permanent, but it will serve our purposes." Ranma looked down Shinji's form. "Besides, you look pretty good as a girl.

Shinji's hands started to twitch as he used every bit of his self-control not to murder Ranma on the spot.

At that moment, Asuka wondered into the room. "Hey, Misato, where's the…Shinji?!" She saw the boy turned girl. She felt the aura, so she knew who it was, but he looked so… She quickly dropped to the floor and started howling in laughter, which, of course, sent Ranma back into a fit of his own.

Shinji scowled and started to stalk out the door. "I'm going to go take a nice hot shower, and then I'm going to kick the crap out of both of you." The voice was level and serious. The others would have taken it seriously if it hadn't been several octaves higher than is should have been.

"Don't go yet." Misato called after the boy turned girl. "You'll miss everything."

The blue-haired girl turned to the major. "What's going on?"

"You'll just have to watch and see." She teased.

At that moment, Rei walked in and came face to face with a near mirror reflection of herself. She blinked a couple of times. "Were you activated before the tank was destroyed? Why were you activated before my time was done?"

Shinji gave the other girl a scornful glare. "It's not you, it's me, Shinji. Ranma gave me his curse."

"At least you got a nice face out of the deal." Rei walked past, leaving a stunned curse victim in her wake. Shinji couldn't believe that this was happening to him. Most of all he couldn't believe that Rei had cracked a joke!

Back at the LCL poolside, Misato decided that Ranma had been having too much fun. "Ranma, could you hold the baby for a little bit?"

Ranma stopped rolling on the floor in mid guffaw and looked up at her. "Not while I'm a girl, please. She keeps trying to breast feed when I hold her."

"Well, you do have the right equipment." Misato smirked down at him.

"You just have to ruin my fun don't you?" He said with a sardonic expression.

She gave him a sweet smile. "I'm sorrrr-ry." She spoke in a teasing voice. "But, what are wives for?"

Ranma shook his head and stood up, taking the baby from Misato. "It's a good thing I like you, otherwise I'd smack you." She just smiled as he, without thought, cradled Hope gently.

Ritsuko stood there, arms akimbo, tapping her foot. "I hate to break up the family fun, but are we ready to move on to stage two?"

Ranma nodded. "Let's do it." The redhead turned and strode out of the room, everyone else following in accord.

They went down to the level below where Unit 01 stood in the ready gantry, chest deep in LCL fluid. Ranma looked over the setup and nodded his head. "Begin stage two."

Ritsuko spoke into a hand held communicator. "Blow the armor."

The room seemed to shake as several explosions went off all over the EVA's body. Heavy pieces of armor fell away, falling to the bottom of the holding tank with a crash. The helmet fell away to reveal the true terrifying face of Evangelion.

The martial artist nodded his head in approval. "Begin stage three."

Loud roars like a rapids flow filled the room as all the fluid drained from the room, showing an EVA with it's armor stripped away and lying at it's feet. Other technicians quickly went to work and looped nylon straps around the shoulders, applying the pressure so that there was constant tension on them. The cord was hung from the ceiling above like they intended to hang the beast by its arms. After the okay was given they pulled away and prepared for the final stage.

"Now the fourth stage." Ranma handed the baby back to Misato.

Ritsuko again took the communicator. "Flood the chamber."

A massive door above the Eva opened and the solution they mixed earlier poured into the empty chamber. The man-made life form disappeared. When the water finished pouring, Ranma jumped in and swam out to where the nylon cords were coming out of the surface of the liquid. He dove under. After a few second the straps retracted with, holding nothing. After a little more time passed, Ranma broke the surface, holding the body of a woman. He set her down and motioned for Ritsuko to come over. She checked the woman's vitals.

"She's alive, and breathing normally." The doctor pronounced.

Ranma motioned to the two female techs that had followed them down. "Wash her quickly with COLD water, and make sure you use the soap I gave you." They nodded and brought out and lifted the woman and carried her away. The martial artist nodded and turned to Ritsuko. "I'd call that a success. Pump the solution back up the vat and tell Toji it's his turn." The doctor smiled and relayed the orders into the communicator.

Ranma walked back and stood beside Misato. She gave him a narrowed eyed stare. "Temporary? You didn't tell me that part of the plan. You've got something up your sleeve, don't you?"

The redhead nodded. "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. What's the use in a weapon that can't go out in the rain?"

"But what happens the first time they take a hot shower?" She asked.

"That's why we're taking the trip to China. First off, it wasn't feasible to transport enough water from the springs to drown an EVA, so I had to use the instant, which can make a lot of cursed water with very little extract from the spring. Second, when we get to China, I'm locking them into their cursed forms. They'll live normal lives unless the EVA are needed again, and then I'll be the only one in Japan that will know how to revive them." He took a deep breath. "I know it sounds like a Gendou plan, but I have to think about the world here."

Misato nodded, accepting the explanation. "I just wish you had explained it all sooner. What's with the soap?"

Her husband smirked. "That's so we don't have any accidents on the way to China. It's waterproof soap. It will protect them for a little while so we don't have to worry so much about hot water."

She looked back at the lowering water level. "Does Shinji know what we've done?"

Ranma smiled. "I wanted to surprise him."

"He'll be surprised all right." Misato deadpanned.

The chamber was drained and the process was repeated with Unit 03. After a few hours had passed, Shinji (after a hot shower) and Toji were escorted by Ranma, Misato, and Ritsuko toward one of the recovery rooms at the NERV hospital. They met the staff doctor at the door. He smiled as they approached. "The patients are awake and appear to be healthy. Their memories are a bit fuzzy, but they should live normal lives from here on out."

Ranma, now a man again, chuckled. "Like that's going to happen with me around. Come on guys, let's go inside."

They filed inside the room. There was a curtain down the middle of the room obscuring the second bed. Toji was the first to speak. "Sis!"

The young girl in the first bed, whose chestnut colored hair was splayed out on the pillow, seemed to glow with excitement. "Toji-Chan!"

He ran forward and hugged her close. "You're back!" Tears began to leak from his eyes as his smile seemed to take up his entire face.

She pushed back enough so that she could look him in the face, but not enough to break the embrace. "And even better! I'm all better now! I don't hurt at all!" She exclaimed with a joyful voice. Toji pulled her close and continued to cry tears of joy.

Shinji tilted his head to the side at the sight. "Toji, what is your sister's name? You always talk about her, but you never told us her name."

The girl smiled up at him. "My name is Ranko!" She proclaimed proudly.

Ranma sputtered and had to beat his chest to breath again. He finally cleared his throat. "Uh, well…let's check on that other patient."

"Ranma?" A female voice came from behind the curtain. "Is that you?" The martial artist quickly ran behind the curtain and to the bedside to see a beautiful woman with short brown hair that he thought he would never see again. "It is you!" She proclaimed as she hugged him close.

Misato, who was following shortly behind, had a slight tinge of jealousy in her expression.

Ranma smiled as he stepped back to look at her. "What do you remember?"

Ikari Yui thought for a second. "The last thing I remember clearly is the Unit 01 test." She smiled at Ranma. "Somehow I knew that if something went wrong, you would be there to save me." The smile left her face. "After that, it's sketchy. It's almost like I was trapped in a dream."

At that moment, Shinji stepped around the curtain and stopped in shock. Yui looked up at him. At first, a confused look came over her features, and then it lit up in recognition. "Shinji?" She pulled she sheet away, got out of the bed, and walked over to him. She reached out and cupped his chin in her hands. "Oh my baby. I'm so sorry." Tears came to the corners of her eyes.

He looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "What are you sorry for?"

She lifted his chin once more and looked into his eyes. "You've grown up and I haven't been there. I missed you filling out into such a strong young man. I can see it in your eyes that you've been through a lot, and I'm mostly sorry that couldn't be there to take the pain away." Tears were coming down in full force now.

Shinji collected his mom into a warm embrace. "It's okay mother. You're here now, and that's all that matters."

After she had cried herself out she stood back up and looked around. "Shinji, where is your father?"

He tensed up. "That's a long story." He looked toward his mentor for help.

Ranma took a deep breath. "I'll explain to you on the way to China."

"Ranma?" Yui's face looked frightened. "What happened to Gendou?"

The martial artist tried to maintain his calm. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

"Why are we in such a hurry to leave?" She crossed her arms as she looked at him. "I've just been reunited with my son! Why do we have to go so soon?"

"Because we only have so much time before the waterproof soap wears out." He turned to leave. "Come, we have to go quickly. Asuka has clothes for you and Toji's sister when we get the jetcopter."

With little more protesting, everyone made their way to the aircraft. Asuka was standing in the door tapping her foot when they arrived. She looked at everyone that was coming, Ranma and Misato with Hope in tow, Shinji, Toji, and two others she didn't recognize. "Ready for our trip, Shinji?"

He gave her a withering look. "You make it sound like a vacation."

She smiled. "We can make it a vacation!"

He stuck his tongue out at her, she responded in kind.

Yui giggled at the proceedings. "I take it this is your girlfriend, Shinji." Her giggle turned to laughter when Shinji turned a deep red in embarrassment.

They all piled into the jetcopter with Hyuga at the helm. With a roar of the powerful engines, they were off for their excursion into China. Thanks to clearances that Ranma had gained beforehand, they made their way into the interior of the country with no trouble. They made their way to the Bayankala mountains of the Xinghai Province. Ranma climbed into the passenger seat and directed Hyuga to where he should land. After a few minutes of misunderstood directions, they finally touched down outside a large castle.

Three men greeted the party as they disembarked. The first was a brawny man with black eyes and brown hair with tiger striped clothes. Next was a smaller man with black hair and black eyes wearing a wolf skin pelt. The last was a regal looking man with long white hair and black eyes. He stepped forward and greeted Ranma with an extended hand. "Hello again, old friend. It's been a while."

Ranma smiled and shook the extended hand. "It has Herb, but this time I'm not here to spar."

Herb looked over the group behind him. "Indeed. It looks like you're taking your wives and children on a picnic."

Ranma sputtered while everyone else laughed. "Only one of them is my wife." He recovered his composure. "Herb, I'm here for the Chiisuiton. Two of my companions need to be locked into their cursed forms." He indicated Yui and Ranko.

Herb looked them over. "And they are consenting?" They nodded their heads. The Musk Prince turned to the smaller man. "Mint, go fetch it….MINT! STOP STARING AT THE WOMEN AND GET THE CHIISUITON!"

The man, who had been gawking open mouthed at the women, quickly shot up and ran away at speeds the newcomers couldn't believe. He returned shortly carrying a bucket with a ladle. Herb took it from him and walked over to the woman and girl. He carefully ladled water over both of their heads.

He stepped back and handed the bucket to Mint. "It is done. Put this back in the vault." The man sped away again.

Ranma heaved a sigh of relief. "Okay. Now we only have one more stop and then we're heading back to Tokyo-3."

Herb gave the martial artist a faked hurt expression. "What? Without sparring?"

"You know." Ranma shrugged. "I got a lot of responsibilities. By the way, I'd like to introduce you to my wife and daughter." He waved Misato forward. "Prince Herb meet Saotome Misato and our child Saotome Hope."

Misato looked slightly out of sorts. "Hi, uh, your majesty."

He gave her a critical up and down look. "You're not a powerful fighter. How did you manage to tame the wild horse?"

She gave him a withering look. "With much frustration and perseverance."

Herb laughed. "She's a match for you, old friend." He turned back to Ranma. "I wish you both happiness on your journeys through life."

Ranma nodded. "You too. I'll be back some other time for our sparring match."

"I'll be waiting." The prince smiled. "I can't wait to see how soft you've become."

"Hey!" Ranma clenched his fist. "Who's gone soft?"

Herb laughed. "Still as easy to anger as ever. Get going before you lose daylight. Where are you going anyway?"

"Joketsuzoku." Ranma stated simply.

Herb raised an eyebrow. "Why in the world would you want to go back there? Wasn't your first trip there enough trouble?"

The martial artist rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but I've got to pick up some friends."

Herb shook his head as he turned to return to his castle. "Beware the new matriarch. That's the only bit of advice I'll give you."

"Thanks." Ranma turned to the rest of the party. "One more trip and we can call it a day."

They piled back into the jetcopter and hopped a short ways to the village of the Amazons. They landed about one hundred yards from the gates of the village. They disembarked and trekked to the entrance. When the guards got one look at who was leading the party, they took off into the interior of the village.

Misato turned to her husband. "You sure do know how to leave an impression on people, don't you?"

He shrugged. "When you best their leader, you got to expect some recognition."

One of the women came back. "You wait here. Matriarch come soon." She told them in broken Japanese.

After a bit, a small procession made their way toward the visitors. At the head of the column of armed women was a tall, shapely woman with long lustrous locks of lavender hair. Her presence screamed dangerous, but her looks told nothing but a story of beauty. The woman looked over the group and finally her eyes rested on Ranma. "So my husband finally returns."

Misato's eyes went wide. "I thought that was taken care of!"

"It was!" Ranma hissed to her before coming back to face the matriarch. "Yo, Shampoo. How've you been?"

"SLAP!"

Everyone took a step back as Ranma's face had a fresh handprint on it. Shampoo glared at him. "How dare you come back with children from other women!"

"Children?" He asked. "Only the baby is mine!"

"Don't lie to me." She glared at him. "The boy is yours."

Ranma looked right behind him where Shinji was. The boy was wearing his blue version of Ranma's Chinese outfit. "He's not mine. He's just the heir to my school."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not him." She pointed at Toji. "That one! He's your son! By the looks of him, I'd say he's also the son of Spatula Girl! How could you! I WAS YOUR WIFE!"

Toji went into shock. He couldn't believe what that woman had just said. He remembered his mother telling him about a Shampoo girl and how she used to call her Spatula Girl, but how could Ranma be his father?

Ranma was finding himself at a loss for words. He didn't want Toji to find out like this, and he certainly didn't want this confrontation with Shampoo. He had hoped on just getting Akane, Kaji, and Nabiki and heading out, but he should have figure in his own dumb luck.

"Still gathering women about you, eh Saotome?"

The martial artist turned to see a man and woman walking toward him. Kaji looked none the worse for wear as he swaggered up, but Akane looked like she was ready to kill as she stalked forward.

A look of panic came over his face. He was at a loss for words. All of the sudden, flashbacks of Nerima came to mind and he knew that he was about to be hurt…bad.

At that moment, Yui stepped forward. "So these are the fiancés. I wondered when I would meet them."

Shampoo and Akane both turned their eyes toward the woman they didn't recognize. "Who are you?" Shampoo asked.

"Ikari Yui, a friend of Ranma's." She smiled brightly. "Surely we can resolve this peacefully. I think that we can come up with a solution that could satisfy all parties."

Shampoo glared at her. "I'll be satisfied when I'm bearing Ranma's children."

Akane glared at Ranma. "And I'll be satisfied when Ranma explains why he slept with Ukyou."

Yui took a deep breath. "At least one of you is easy to take care of. Just calm down and Ranma will explain all about it." She turned to Shampoo. "You however, are not so simple. I'm sorry, but I don't think Misato would let you bear his children."

"DAMN RIGHT!" The major shouted.

"Uh-hem!" Yui cleared her throat. "Perhaps if some other agreement can be made."

Shampoo eyed Shinji. "How about that one? He could marry one of the girls of the village. Being the heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, he should have fighting ability."

Asuka latched onto Shinji and glared at the older woman. "Try again."

"Then maybe the son." The matriarch looked at Toji.

"I'm not really much of a fighter." He hedged.

Shampoo turned back to Ranma. "Then we are at an impasse." She looked at the woman carrying the baby in one arm and holding onto Ranma protectively with the other. She strode forward and looked down at the baby. "May I hold it?"

Misato looked up at Ranma who nodded his head. She passed the baby to the other woman. "Her name is Hope."

Shampoo held the child gently and traced her face with her finger. "She will be strong and beautiful. He sure does sire beautiful babies."

"Too bad they grow up ugly." Asuka couldn't help but shoot at Toji who finally came out of his stupor and glared at her.

Shampoo smiled as she looked from the auburn haired girl back to the baby. "I have a solution." She looked up to Ranma. "You visit more often, and I teach your daughter what I can of Amazon ways. I want to treat her like the daughter I never had. Is that satisfactory?"

Ranma nodded his head. "That is."

She nodded. "Then come!" She smiled at the group. "We will celebrate the birth of a new Amazon! All of you must come and feast with us tonight!"

"We really need to get back." Ranma commented.

"Nonsense!" Yui smiled. "We can stay for a night. You all need a night off anyway. From what you told me on the trip over, you've all had a rough time."

"Sounds good!" Misato chimed in.

"Okay." Ranma finally conceded. He then turned toward the pilots. "Don't fight anyone! Am I clear?"

"Why?" Shinji asked.

"Because you don't want to wind up dead, or worse, married."

"Good answer." Shinji backed off.

They all feasted and celebrating the birth of Hope and toasted to the new beginnings for the world around them. Things would be bright for all their futures. The angels were gone and the world was recovering. So all the portents pointed to a bright time to come.

That night Shampoo insisted on taking care of Hope, leaving the Saotomes alone in an Amazon guesthouse. Misato walked around and looked the place over. "Not a bad place." She turned to Ranma who had come in and plopped down on one of the chairs in the room. "So do you think Yui will marry again?" She asked absently.

Ranma shook his head and smiled. "I think she's had enough of marriage to last a lifetime. Her last one ended with her stuck in a giant robot. She'll probably be a little gun shy after that."

Misato smiled and accepted the answer. She looked at him once more with a different look entirely. This one was that of a predator on the hunt. "You know what?"

He looked at her with a confused expression. "What?"

"Hope is a month old." She said as she sauntered over to him.

"Yeah, so?" He asked, not quite getting the point.

"So…It's time to make another baby!" She exclaimed as she pounced.

Next door, Shinji and Asuka were both getting acquainted with Yui. Shinji turned his head as he heard the sounds coming from the other house. "Don't those two ever get enough?"