Neon Genesis Evangelion Pilot's Table
By D.A.
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Title: Better Together
Prompt: Set 1 / Prompt 47 (Broken)
Word Count: 2200+
Rating: T
Summary: Gendo, Ritsuko, Kaji and Misato all learn about the mix of lives the Children lived inside Instrumentality.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion
Notes: Now we have the adults talking about the lives the Children shared. I think this will be a good one. And I'll delve a little deeper into the minds of a few or all of them.
Part four of the "I knew you then" Arc of my Pilot's Table drabble series. Sequel to the "Awakening" arc.
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Gendo sat listening, the normal thing for him both back then as now, as the other three adults reminisced about the happy times from before Third Impact. As he listened, he watched the interaction between his son and the other Children.
In a way, they were the obvious couples. Both Shinji and Asuka, as well as Touji and Hikari, balanced each other. Those two played off each others' strengths and weaknesses, supporting each other. Rei and Kaworu were similar, though their personalities were not the same as the others. Rei was more like him, reserved and seemingly aloof, while Kaworu was the unique one of the group, being optimistic and consistantly friendly and forgiving. Still, they balanced each other. Ritsuko had expressed a passing interest in watching how his nephilium daughter interacted with the young Angel, and he thought he might keep a closer eye on all of them. He had wasted too much time already ignoring family.
When the three young women had moved to the shoreline, Gendo continued to watch them as his son and Suzuhara began putting the extra food and various utensils inside. He'd seen everyone but Rei, whose stance was visibly tense even from this distance, talk privately in pairs and he was honestly curious to know what the topic might be that required all three of them. Or perhaps not, as Asuka stepped away from the other two for a few moments. His daughter, for he did acknowledge fully what she was, seemed to relax as she and Horaki spoke. Good, he thought, it would not do for her and the woman his son had chosen to get into some sort of altercation.
Or perhaps he spoke too soon, as Asuka threw her hands into the air and began loudly addressing Rei.
"Yeah, I am." she began, voice loud enough to draw the eyes of the other three adults and the three young men, "Inside there I lived at least three lives with someone in a stable relationship. One of those I got married and had kids. Of the ten of us to return, I and Touji are probably the most qualified to give out advice."
That was an unexpected announcement, he thought, and only my three companions seem surprised. Gendo himself was unsure how to react to the announcement when combined with the lack of reaction from the Children. It was obvious to him they knew what was being talked about, which implied they had most likely discussed their various experiences with each other. And if they had talked to each other, then perhaps they were not as broken by the events as Ritsuko had told him Misato feared they were.
The three young women looked over the deck as they reached it, still smiling from the back and forth teasing, and saw the shocked and inquisitive expressions on the adults' faces and the chagrin on the boys'. Apparently, they realized, Asuka's outburst had not been as quiet as she believed.
"So," Touji began nervously, stepping over and taking Hikari's hand as she and Asuka froze, blushes rapidly covering the three young women's faces, "I guess your talks jus got extended, eh Shin-man?"
"Asuka?" Misato asked, confused, "What do you mean kids? Why are you and Touji the most qualified?"
"Our lives," Asuka warned, drawing a raised eyebrow from Gendo and Kaji, then sighed as she let Shinji hug her from behind and wrap his arms around her waist, "the six of us had some pretty mixed up lives in there. You guys didn't change up partners at all, either they were there or they weren't."
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko asked gently, leaning forward in her seat.
"The six of us shared the same lives, where the four of you each lived inside separate dreams." Rei continued, "Some of us more than others."
"One particular life, the one you heard Asuka snap about," Shinji took over, cheek to cheek with the redhead, "in it I and Rei were only little kids. She, Touji, Hikari and Kaworu were in their late teens, and fought as Pilots. Except at the end of the war, where in the real world I kill Kaworu, Asuka finds out she's an Angel."
"What?!"
"Misato, SIT DOWN." Asuka's commanding tone instantly has the violet-haired woman back in her seat and feeling like a disobedient child, and Ritsuko puts her hand to her mouth in an attempt to look thoughtful while hiding a grin, "In that life I fell for Touji, and when I stopped Kaworu I did it by destroying Lilith in Terminal Dogma and almost killing myself in the process."
"After we defeated Seele," Hikari stepped in softly, "Asuka and Touji started dating, and so did I and Kaworu. Misato, you took over guardianship of Rei and Shinji. My memories don't go passed Kaworu and I's wedding day."
Kaworu and Touji chuckle at the memory they share with Asuka and Hikari. Gendo merely sits back, continuing to listen as he watches the expressions on the Children's faces and Ritsuko stares at them from the seat to his left. He can see it, now that he knows to look. Not exactly a physical change, really, but more in the way they carry themselves and interact. He finds himself honestly surprised he hadn't seen it sooner, but then he hadn't been looking. All of the Children are only Children by being Pilots, like a title. All six of them, he sees, are more mature than teens their age should be. Perhaps more mature than some adults twice their age, he thinks and glances at Misato, though there is no malice, only mild amusement in the thought.
"That's when those two stepped back, or whatever," Asuka looked to Touji, the faint shine in her eyes matched by his, both knowing they would have to talk about it sometime and wishing it was more private. Her voice catches as she continues, "but our time in there extended until we were in our early thirties. We had two- two kids..."
"Mana and Kyo." Touji picked up, letting Asuka rein her emotions in, "Amazin' little kids. Mana was a daddy's girl, had me constantly wrapped around her finger with the same brains as her mother."
"I remember them..." Misato whispered, a memory dawning on her as her gaze goes distant, "I-I came over for lunch, and played with them while you made sandwiches and Touji worked on a bike. It's... It's the only thing I know about that life, but it has hints of the things you mentioned like Asuka being an Angel..."
"Then you've been communicating your firm emotions to each other?" Gendo speaks low and quiet, a faint rumble to his voice, "That's wise of you."
The six Children look to each other, expressions questioning and open, before Shinji turns to his father with a slightly bemused expression at the older man's choice of words.
"We're family, one way or another." Shinji says, gaze soft and tone forgiving as he continues, "I won't ignore my family for any reason."
Gendo winced behind his clear lenses, nodding to Shinji in acknowledgement of the gentle rebuke. Ritsuko watched the exchange, and wondered if perhaps this was Shinji's way of offerring a hand of peace to his father and accepting his attempts to be better.
"It's good to see you talking to each other and working things out," Kaji grinned, eyes a little sad inspite of his words and smile, "I admit I was afraid I'd never see Asuka as honestly happy as she is now."
"I'm content now," the redhead blushed, turning her head enough to kiss Shinji's cheek before continuing, "it easier to be happy when you're content with what you have."
"I believe we all merely wish we had seen what it is that we had sooner than we did." Kaworu quietly comments from beside Rei, the two Nephili reaching for each other's hand at the same moment.
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Later, once the Suzuharas and Nagisas had left, the four adults sat in the main living room downstair while Asuka and Shinji went upstairs for bed. The nicknames for the couples had been rather amusing to find out, especially because Rei was the one to initiate the teasing, and Misato had taken the ideas and run with them. They sat quietly, enjoying the small central fire place and glasses of herbal tea Shinji had made for them before saying goodnight.
"So," the ex-spy spoke softly, casually, as he watched the fire, "What do you think of their interconnection, commander?"
"It is-" Gendo hesitated for a moment, thoughtful, "it is amazing. And does not worry me. We can see for ourselves it aids them in continuing their lives, and in helping each other. I suspect it is the reason we returned so close together, and bound the way we are to each other."
The other three nod in agreement. Soon after they started their trek to Ritsuko's cousin they had discovered they could pin-point their significant-other exactly. By the time they reached their destination, the adults had all discussed their new abilities and chose to not worry about it for the time being. They had watched the Children, more worried that they might be hiding how broken they were than concerned with themselves. Until today they had assumed the Children had gained no abilities from Third Impact. Now it was looking like the Children were not broken, or at least were healing, and had merely kept whatever abilities they had gained a secret like Gendo and the others.
"Do you think it might have given them more than what we got Rits?" Misato asked of her friend, "I mean, Kaworu is a full Angel and Rei is partly one."
"And in one life Asuka herself was an Angel," Ritsuko added, expression thoughtful and a little pensive, "It is possible... But I'd need the resources of NERV to be sure. So I suppose we'll simply have to wonder."
"Perhaps not."
All eyes turned to Gendo as he reached into his coat pocket and revealed an official envelope with the NERV logo on it.
"What-?!" Misato began, and silenced when Kaji gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I received this today," his voice authoritive, "Asking me to return to Tokyo-3, which is under reconstruction, and take over as commander once more. It would seem no one outside our circle knows what happened to cause Third Impact nor what stopped it."
"Why would they want NERV back?" Kaji eyed the envelope, "The Angels are all gone, and so are the Evas..."
"Humanitarian aid." Ritsuko murmured, then chuckled, "NERV's use of Evangelion technology gave us access to advanced regenerative and cyber-implant technology. We had the ability to replace limbs, eyes, organs. We just focused on the macro-scale Evas and not humans."
"So a giant medical firm or something?" Misato queried, looking at the others for clues.
"Para-military company," Kaji voiced, and grinned lopsidedly when Gendo confirmed it with a nod, "The Japanese government probably wants to jump start national defense with NERV energy weapons and defense sites."
"Believe it or not, "Gendo grinned as Kaji suddenly ran out of steam when the former commander spoke, "They want NERV to be more a civilian defense contractor than a military arm. With stated goals being medical relief in combat zones and defense of supply lines and civilian evacuations."
"They want us to help rebuild, using Evangelion technology." Ritsuko said, restating her earlier guess, "Complete opposite from before, I think it'll feel good to be fixing things."
"Are they trying to get the Evas back?" Misato demanded, tense in her chair.
"No." Gendo says, voice firm as he watches the fire, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and hands tented in front of his face, "All Eva material vanished once Third Impact was collapsed. There will be no more Evas."
"That's a relief."
The voice behind the group of adults caused all of them to jump except for Ritsuko, who had seen the person round the corner from where she sat. Asuka stepped into the room, her nighttime attire hidden under a dark purple robe.
"I felt Misato and Kaji worrying, couldn't sleep. So, what will we be doing if their are no Evas?" she asked, yawning and ignoring Misato's confused look, glancing at each of them before settling on Gendo, "Well, commander? I know you must have planned something out."
Continued in part-two: "And the Walls Came Down" chapter 5 of the I Knew You Then arc of Pilot's Table.
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A/N: Surprise! Two-parter and I set myself up for a possible third arc for this mini-series. ^.^
First, I want to thank Tazermon's Partner and Gemini011 for their wonderful and thought out reviews. It got me thinking about adding in Kensuke, and a bit more thinking over the relationship between Kaworu and Rei, as well as Gendo and Ritsuko. Kudos to you!
Next, I want to ask you to read The Cat Who Walked Through Walls by Laryna6. That's where I got the inspiration for telepathy and such.
