Thanks for coming back for another chapter! This one might seem a little short compared to others that I've done, but I didn't want to keep people hanging for as long as I did last time. And guess what? Next time I'll FINALLY be bringing you the friggin' Christmas chapter(s) that probably should have been published a month ago! Now please, read!

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My mother's cello

By GeekViking86

Chapter 4: An old friend

"I hope you enjoyed my class for this semester, and with any luck maybe I'll see some of you again next year." Professor Kozo Fuyutsuki said enthusiastically to his pupils. However, despite being the last day of class for the until January, Asuka didn't feel terribly excited.

There were plenty of reasons for her to feel stress, after all… She had an intercontinental trip next week to prepare for, and on top of that she had been putting off her Christmas shopping till the last minute; something that every year she said she vowed to avoid, yet rarely did. But really, that wasn't what had gotten to her… She knew she was still feeling sorry for Shinji, and it had been eating away at her that there may be some dilemmas in Shinji's life that were beyond her power to fix.

Asuka didn't realize it, but during her moping she had become the only person left in the classroom, save for Professor Fuyutsuki, who was currently filing all of his papers and the class's final exams into his briefcase. He clearly noticed that Asuka was at least a little troubled, and called out to her.

"Miss Langley? I thought that you'd have left with the other students by now."

"Oh, it's… nothing." Asuka said in surprise.

"If it's about the exam, there's no need to worry. You were an excellent student this year, and I'm sure you passed with flying colors."

"Thank you." Asuka said, trying to be cheerful. "I wasn't worried though."

A thoughtful look came over Fuyutsuki as he observed Asuka. He'd been teaching classes decades before Asuka was born, and in doing so he'd gotten pretty sharp at knowing when a student had a problem.

"Are you sure there isn't something bothering you?"

"Thanks for your concern, but I'll be fine."

"If that's how you feel then I don't want to pry. But just remember, I'm never too busy to listen to my students if they want to talk."

Asuka hung her head low to clear out her mind for a moment, and then looked back up at the aging professor.

"You see, Shinji and me had a bit of a disappointment a few weeks ago—Actually, Shinji was the one who got upset, but for some reason it's been bothering me a lot."

"That's perfectly understandable. You two are getting married, and part of that responsibility is sharing each other's problems."

Well if that's the case, I'm really getting the better half of the deal. Asuka frowned to herself.

"If you don't mind my asking, what happened that got him upset?"

"Well… Shinji doesn't really have much memory of his mom, and he doesn't remember what she looked like. So we went to this place where she used to play cello looking for information, but we only found some music that she wrote." Asuka sighed.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Fuyutsuki said as his mouth went downwards into a frown.

"Shinji needs closure, but I'm starting to wonder if he's ever going to get it."

"Well, I think you came to the right person then." Asuka gave him a slightly puzzled look. "Follow me." Fuyutsuki said as he picked up his briefcase, and Asuka followed him as he led her down the hallway.

"Are we going to records room? Shinji already checked those when we first came here."

Fuyutsuki laughed lightly as Asuka tailed behind him.

"No. Don't worry, I know where we're going." Fuyutsuki said as he came to a door, and took out a key to unlock it. As they entered and turned on the lights, it was quickly evident that the room they were in was very disorganized and dusty—old furniture, file cabinets, and cardboard boxes were everywhere, and it all had a slightly musty smell to it.

"What is this place?" Asuka asked in confusion.

"Gendo Ikari did a very thorough job in erasing his wife from the public eye, that can't be debated. However, he only went to all the obvious places, like you and Shinji did. The student records are easily accessible and listed alphabetically, which wasn't difficult. A place like the faculty storage room, on the other hand…" he grinned. "Almost no-one comes back here, because it's just unsorted junk." Fuyutsuki began looking around the room carefully, trying to find something specific. Asuka didn't know what he was looking for, so she decided to just poke around the room at random while he looked.

"So Professor…" Asuka began "Why did Gendo want so badly to stamp out his wife's memory anyway?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it just seems like he went through an awful trouble to make sure she was forgotten."

"Well, Yui's death did hit him hard, but he most certainly didn't want to forget her. After all, he did always keep a picture of her close to him."

"Wait, but he told Shinji that he destroyed all of them!"

"Well, if there's one thing that you should know about the commander, it's that he was an excellent liar. However, not all pictures are paper and chemicals."

"What? Now I'm confused." Asuka said in frustration, but Fuyutsuki merely chuckled.

"You'll understand in a moment."

After another few minutes of wading through the storage room, Fuyutsuki seemed to find what he was looking for. It was a dusty old wooden office desk, and from inside of one of its drawers he pulled out a metal lockbox, which he just happened to have the key for. Asuka watched in anticipation as it clicked open, and Fuyutsuki lifted the lid, and removed a moderate sized piece of paper.

"I think this is what you were looking for a few weeks ago." Fuyutsuki said as he handed it to her.

Asuka examined the glossy sheet, and saw it was a photograph of a beautiful young woman in an elegant blue evening gown; she had brunette hair, enchanting blue eyes, and soft, delicate facial features that conveyed a sense of kindness; in one arm she held a bouquet of yellow flowers, and in the other she held the neck familiar looking cello. Asuka could see a lot of Shinji in the woman's face, but there was something else in there too… Something she recognized… And that's when it hit her.

"Wondergirl!?" She shrieked in alarm. "That's impossible!"

"Asuka, calm down." Fuyutsuki said in a vain attempt to ease her.

"How am I supposed to!? I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone!" She blurted back at him. Fuyutsuki quickly pulled up an old office chair and had Asuka sit down, afraid that she would fall over if he didn't act quickly.

"Now, I think an explanation is called for." Fuyutsuki began. "Remember what I told you about the commander's picture of Yui?"

"Yeah. But it still doesn't make sense." Asuka mumbled as she rubbed her forehead anxiously.

"I'm pretty sure you know by now that Rei wasn't just any ordinary girl. She was genetically engineered from the ground up, and since the Commander designed her…"

"He… He wanted to make her look like Yui?"

"Yes. But he didn't stop at just her physical appearance. He also gave her some of Yui's personality attributes—namely her loyalty, and her compassion."

"I get the loyalty part, but Rei never seemed particularly compassionate to me…" Asuka scowled But then again, I was never very nice to her in the first place. She scowled regretfully. Now it makes perfect sense why Shinji liked her so much… It's that whole Freudian thing.

"Asuka, I know that all of this is a bit hard to swallow, but at least you know the truth. And there's more in that box, if you want to look."

Asuka took in a deep breath and exhaled it as she slumped into her chair, and didn't say anything for at least a minute. Then finally, she picked up the lock box, and carefully began to further examine the rest of its contents. But as she did an idea hit her, and even though she still had mixed feelings about what she'd found today, she knew that it was something that she needed to do… Shinji needed it, and that was enough to compel her into action.

"Professor, can I take this stuff up to the computer lab for a while?"

"Actually, I'd prefer you kept all of it."

"Is… That really okay with you?"

"Yui was like a daughter to me, but Shinji is her son, and I think he needs this a lot more than I do."

Asuka closed up the lockbox and tucked it under her arm, and Fuyutsuki escorted her to the door. Just before Asuka left the building though, she surprised Fuyutsuki by wrapping her arms around his torso and giving him a tight hug.

"At my wedding, I'll make sure there's a seat saved for you on Shinji's side." Asuka said as she pulled away from her professor.

"You really don't have to do that." Fuyusuki sheepishly responded.

"If Yui was like your daughter, then wouldn't she have wanted you to see her son get married?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Miss Langley. I suppose I'll have to agree." Fuyutsuki said with a gentle laugh.

"Thank you."

"You can tell Shinji that if he ever wants to know more about Yui, my office door is always open."

"Well, we're going to Germany for Christmas next week, but I'll make sure he knows."

Just as Asuka was about to leave, Fuyutsuki had one last thing to say to her.

"Oh, and Asuka?" She looked back at him momentarily, and he gave her a kind smile. "Yui would be very proud to see her son marry a woman like you."

"Thanks again." Asuka said bashfully, although she clearly appreciated the comment. And with that, she headed off to the computer lab to see if her plans were possible.

End Chapter

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Another tally mark on the ol' wall! I hope you liked this chapter, even though it might seem a little rushed. My classes are starting up again next week, and since the schedule changes I made to my job haven't gone into effect yet, I'm going to be major swamped until the week after, and ontop of that I need to apply for a student loan so I can buy a laptop, which I'll probably be paying for until after I've graduated. So… I don't know when I'll be able to finish the next one, but hopefully I can get started really soon. And hey, at least I was able to get an entire chapter done within a 24-hour window! Now I've got to see if I have any Christmas spirit left even though it's the middle of January, because I said there'd be a Christmas chapter, and gosh darnit there will be! I guess this is a tast of what it's like for people who make movies about holidays…

Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God bless!