Author's Ramblings:

Hi everybody,

First update to any of my stories in a really, really long time.

Of course I never expected it to be that long, especially since there are parts of the last two chapters already written and had been since I put up Chapter 4.

Anyway, two days ago I got such a nice and friendly review for one of my Mass Effect stories, not only did the reader like the story, no she understood perfectly what I set out to achieve and loved it. She wrote that she has a totally different outlook on some of the characters now while playing the game and if that isn't the biggest compliment for a fanfiction writer then I don't know what is.

So… Chapter 5, like I wrote years ago, this is almost a jump into a total different direction, from angst and psychological trauma to the development of Shinji's and Asuka's relationship.

For those of you who only like the darker parts, the desperation our heroes constantly face, that will be the focus again next chapter or maybe the chapter after that.

Because right now I'm contemplating whether I'll be inserting something like a short in-between chapter to show a little bit more of how Shinji and Rei interact as siblings now.

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Spoken words are set in ""

Thoughts are italic

Bold is the original series script, as far as I could make it out or is being used to emphasis something.

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Disclaimer: I don't own NGE or its characters, but I'd sure like to.

All rights stay with the owner, which is sad, or probably good, because from an artistic point of view, the canon ending of EOE is probably better than all the happy endings we fanfic writers scribble.

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One Mistake:

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Chapter Five:

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The Summer Festival:

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Two years have passed, two years in which Shinji and Asuka have started to see themselves as a couple, where Shinji and Rei settled more comfortably into the role of Oni-san and Imouto,.

Misato has grown into her role as surrogate mother for her wards but struggles with the rest of her private life while being a successful field commander for NERV and being promoted to Colonel after only about a year. She still hasn't managed a real relationship, since she continues to cling onto the memory of Kaji.

The EVAs and NERV are nowadays mostly working as humanitarian aid, fighting natural disasters and sometimes doing some police work.

Since Unit 00 is gone for good, Rei has left NERV and decided to concentrate on school and on learning to cope better with being human.

The remnants of SEELE have been hunted and caught, the world's governments are sure they have eradicated this plague on human society.

SEELE 07 however has managed to stay hidden. Nobody knows that the retired Intelligence director Wilkens once was a member of the cabal.

Safe and with lots of time, money and influence on his hands, he has planned how best to destroy the EVA pilots.

X


X

"Kami! Patience, Misato. Patience.

Asuka! If that Yukata was any shorter everyone could see the colour of your panties. And while you're standing, not just when you're sitting down."

Misato was standing near the apartment's exit, facing her young charge, her arms crossed in front of her generous assets.

She was dressed in a Western Style dark grey two-piece suit. The jacket was open and revealed a button-up shirt in Misato's favourite strong red colour.

The skirt was modest for Misato's usual sense of style, going down almost to her knees and nowhere near as tight as she normally wore them.

Asuka practically growled at her guardian.

"You've got to be kidding me, Misato! You are lecturing me about what is proper to wear and what isn't?

You?! All your skirts are barely covering your ass and thank god that your enormous breasts don't fall out of your ridiculously skimpy tops, at least once a day."

The girl's bright blue eyes were closed to small slits and it looked almost as if sparks were shooting out from these slits. A lot of people would have retreated at the sight, but Misato wasn't fazed.

She wasn't ready to give up just yet, even if, to be honest she was taken aback a bit by Asuka's aggressive statement and behaviour.

"That's beside the point, Asuka! You are barely sixteen years old and I'm almost 31. I'm your guardian and I have to look after you and I'm not sure I should let you visit the festival dressed as skimpy as you are now."

Asuka was close to boiling point, not that it took much to get there.

Her hands clutched into fists, her body rigid with anger, in an open stance, with her head lowered aggressively forward and her upper body bent slightly as well.

She obviously was trying to look intimidating and it might have worked, if she was facing Shinji or another classmate, but to Misato the slim girl looked more like some cartoon character throwing a fit.

"I'm either wearing what I want or I'm not going at all!"

The redhead exclaimed.

"See if I care when everybody starts to hate you because I'm not coming to the summer festival."

As usual reality didn't much feature into Asuka's perception of the world revolving solely around her (in her opinion).

The girl whirled around, ready to storm off to her room, but then stopped suddenly.

She turned back to her guardian, the mischievous smile on her face made clear she had another trump up her sleeves.

"Why don't we simply put it to a vote?"

The German girl asked, her voice suddenly dripping with honey.

She turned back to her fellow pilots and classmates.

Shinji sighed quietly inside, he just knew, he was going to be dragged into this conflict between the two women in his life.

Ever since the school had decided that a new summer festival would mean a further return to normalcy for both pupils and parents, the idea had fuelled Asuka's imagination

This enthusiasm was only stoked higher, when the town of Neo Tokyo 3 chose to use the occasion and decided to expand the school event to a summer festival for the whole neighbourhood, to raise public morale.

Asuka then, had on her part decided for herself that this festival was going to be the best ever, seeing as it was her first Japanese festival after all.

Naturally there had been no festivals during the constant threat of the angels and the looming second impact, and before that she had never been in Japan long enough.

To the young redhead's defence you had to admit that she and Hikari had worked very hard to assure a successful festivity. The two girls had been spending almost every free minute of the last two months with preparations and in Asuka's case with using her considerable charm (if she wanted to, she could of course be quite charming) and beauty to dazzle any male into work for the festival.

No way was she going to miss out on this and no way was she not wearing what she wanted to.

Asuka threw a pose, with her hands pressed against her hips and one leg slightly raised, and then she slowly turned around herself once, so as to show off her brand new Yukata.

It had been bought solely for the festival; even Shinji's had to admit that it was a beautiful piece of clothing.

A really bright red, with a beautiful flower design, the silken kimono fit the redhead perfectly.

The light fabric clung to Asuka's every curve and the traditional piece of clothing only reached one or two inches below her pert behind, showing of her long and perfectly shaped legs.

Asuka's get-up was complimented by a pair of red Getas and small, white Japanese-style socks and her head was of course adorned with her trademark interface-headset, even though her red mane was loose today, without any of the regular ponytails.

All in all, to Shinji she looked like a dream come true.

That was probably way he could only gaze at her with an almost idiotic smile on his face.

Asuka smiled back at her would be boyfriend.

"Well, Shinji-kun? Do you like my outfit? Do you think it is okay for the festival?"

Shinji gasped, feeling trapped by the attention bestowed upon him, both by the beautiful second child and by his guardian, who had now also turned her attention to him with a very demanding look on her face.

"Aa… erm... i-it l-looks n-nice, A-asuka."

Asuka grinned broadly.

"Again please, Süsser. Without the wishy-washy, wimpy weakling voice."

For a moment he thought she might be angry, but if she joked around with alliterations, that wasn't very likely.

"Hai, I think, you look beautiful, Asuka."

Misato smiled inwardly, the boy definitely knew how to take on Asuka, complimenting her and siding with her against their guardian that would score some points for him.

"Well, what do you two stooges think?"

Asuka's attention wandered to the two other boys and both Toji and Kensuke reacted visibly shaken.

Kensuke quickly averted his eyes, which had before been concentrating on Asuka's bare thighs and Toji turned to Hikari and wisely ignored the German pilot.

"I'm not saying anything; I'm not looking at you. No chance! You would just call me hentai and beat the shit out of me!"

That was all the former jock had to say, besides he was much more interested in looking at the class rep, who looked gorgeous to him, in her white and yellow summer kimono.

Both Hikari and Rei also wore Yukatas, but of course much more modest ones compared to Asuka.

Rei's was mainly a light blue, with white decorations.

That left only Kensuke to answer the redhead and Shinji's bespectacled friend added.

"Yes! Misato, just let the red devil wear whatever she wants, it's not worth the argument."

Getting no help from the two boys, besides Kensuke's weak statement, Asuka instead addressed the last two people standing in the hallway.

"Hikari, you do like my Yukata, right? You said so when we bought them."

The modest class rep was torn between said modesty and her friendship to the other girl.

"Yes... I said it looks good on you, but I also told you it is much too short. You'd have to be so careful not to let anyone see..."

"Oh Hikari, just shut up! Maybe I want someone... I mean... Arrgh! Come on, you Japanese go too far with your modesty sometimes, you know?"

Sighing and with sacking shoulders, Asuka turned to her last hope. Of course, the person in question being Rei, that wasn't much of a hope at all.

While Rei had come a long way, from the introverted, emotionless child she once was, the white haired girl still had problems forming or at least voicing her own opinions, on the other hand that could actually be an advantage.

"Rei?"

Asuka asked in a sweet voice.

"Say, Rei... Don't you like my outfit? Help me out here with Misato, okay? Us pilots have to stick together, ne?"

Rei returned Asuka's pleading gaze with a curious stare of her own.

"Gomen, Asuka, I didn't know this featured into the equation. If it is my duty as a former pilot and friend, I will of course support you."

After she said that, Rei turned towards Misato and stated calmly and as always in an almost monotonous voice.

"Colonel Katsuragi, I beg you to reconsider allowing Asuka to wear her Yukata. After all she is old enough to choose for herself what she wants to wear; no matter how sluttish and cheap it may look to some people."

Rei said this so earnest and sincere, that there was no doubt it wasn't meant as an insult, but that in itself was so hilarious, that Kensuke and Touji burst out laughing, both Shinji and Asuka turned beet-red, one in shame, the other one in anger and even Hikari had to hide her giggling.

Misato hid her smile as well and after musing for a moment shook her head.

It would be better to do something to smooth the waves, before the redhead tried to strangle the 1st child.

After all Asuka was sixteen now, they were going in a group, so a negative or dangerous incident wasn't likely and even now Section Two still kept bodyguards close to the pilots.

"All right, Asuka. You can have your will. I just hope it doesn't cause any trouble. Anyway, if something happens just call me or Makoto on our mobiles, we will be somewhere on the premises so that shouldn't be a problem."

Asuka nodded her head vehemently, agreeing with her guardian and clearly seeing herself as the winner in this discussion. A big grin spread on her face as she dropped down to one knee for a last inspection of her sandals, before she slipped into the pair of them.

When Shinji heard that Misato was going to be accompanied by Makoto Hyuga, he felt happy for the bridge crew member.

Although the third child certainly wasn't the best judge of human emotions, even he had finally registered that Hyuga was deeply in love with Misato and that Misato in return did not share this feeling.

Yet the technician never seemed to give up on her, he didn't bother her or anything, but he treated her good and always acted as a pillar of strength for Shinji's guardian.

Shinji understood how much Kaji's and Ritsuko's death had scarred Misato, nevertheless he still hoped that she would one day be able to leave this behind and perhaps find her happiness with somebody else.

And why not Makoto Hyuga, he was a nice guy and from the look of it he loved Misato very much.

X

His train of thought was interrupted by a certain German redhead who asked in a careless voice.

"Shinji, would you be so nice and get my purse?"

As if her own long legs couldn't carry her back to her room to get it herself.

Well, he didn't mind… much.

He was just happy that they got along so well now, even after more than two years, he still was happy that their relationship had changed so much.

Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and miss her presence in his room, after all she had been sleeping there on her futon for almost a year, until the therapy progressed enough for her to be able to sleep on her own again.

He considered losing his roommate a minor loss, because the Shinji from way back when would never have believed that he would one day be able to call Asuka Langley Sohryu his girlfriend.

X

Okay, so far they hadn't done more than hold hands and kiss chastely and cuddle together in front of the TV or while reading, but she was open to him and he was sure she cared for him as much as he cared for her.

From the way she was all over him with her hands and lips sometimes, until she reigned herself in again, he knew she was as interested as he was in deepening their physical relationship.

Not only did he not mind the slow pace, his own inexperience and shyness made him glad that they didn't rush it.

Actually it was the other side of their romance, if he dared to call it that, which bothered him more.

Neither he, nor Asuka had been able so far to voice their feelings.

They had talked about how much they cared for each other, about how they depended on the other, needed each other.

They had even told each other how important the other was to each of them, but somehow they didn't seem to be able to simply say what they both knew they felt in their hearts.

They weren't able to say "I love you."

He didn't know why Asuka couldn't or wouldn't say it, but whenever he wanted to say it, his mouth dried out and his gums seemed to be stuck together like glued.

His heart started to race painfully and he started to sweat all over.

In addition he started to believe he was the lowliest snail under the sun, like he was just common landfill, even beneath dirt.-

Some things needed time and he was willing to give her as much time as she needed to lose her fears again or learn to master them. And he wanted to give himself the time to find the strength to tell her how he felt; after all he really was working on it.

And he had changed a lot from the frightened child that had almost allowed the most important person in his live to die.

That's why, when Asuka asked, he just nodded, smiled contently and trotted back to Asuka's room.

As he returned to the apartment's entrance again, he saw that everybody except the German girl had already left.

Asuka was standing next to it, her arms crossed, her right foot tapping on the floor impatiently.

She even had a frown on her face.

"What took you so long?! They are already waiting downstairs; it seems Misato ordered Hyuga to drive us with his van. "

"What do you mean, what took me so long? Your purse was lying under your desk, you must have dropped it.

Besides, I was hardly gone a minute."

She puffed up her cheeks and pouted.

"You know Shinji, I might like the fact that you have a backbone now, but I don't find it attractive that you're talking back to me all the time."

Shinji sort of wanted to reply to that, but he knew some things just were not worth the resulting trouble.

Asuka probably really didn't know how offensive some of the stuff she said sounded and he really didn't want this whole day to be wasted in a senseless argument.

Part of growing up and growing a backbone was to be able to see when it just wasn't worth it to argue.

So he decided to just nod and hand her purse to her silently.

She grabbed it and hurried out the door, without looking back, leaving Shinji alone while he put on his sneakers.

When he caught up to her she had already called the elevator, none of the others was anywhere in sight.

She looked up to him from the console and gave him a smile that seemed at least a little bashful. Then she leaned forward and gave him a small peck on the cheek.

"Sorry Shinji, and thanks for getting my purse."

He nodded and gave a friendly smile back.

Moments later the doors slid open with a short chime signal and they entered the small, battered cabin, with its ugly-green, metal-plastic-laminate walls.

Shinji tried unsuccessfully to drone out the unnerving elevator music, an annoyance which had hardly ever bothered him back when he was listening to his S-DAT all of the time.

Unfortunately his attempts to drone it out, managed to make the "music" even louder to him and he began to feel really irritated by it.

Then a small, delicate hand sneaked her way into his and long, graceful fingers intertwined with his own digits

He glanced over to Asuka and found her smiling at him, and instantly his uneasiness was gone.

He softly squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.


X

They stepped out of the building into blinding afternoon sunlight, the world already had a slight innuendo of sundown's red tinge to it, but so far the sun was still a bright, burning orb, set low in the sky.

Apparently Makoto Hyuga had arrived on time, as their friends were in the process of climbing into his green van.

Asuka leaned closer to Shinji and whispered in his ear.

"Let's ditch them."

And after seeing his questioning expression, she added.

"Why don't we walk to the festival? I mean, we walk this route twice each day. It's not like we really need the car, or is it?"

Shinji shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not? It might take us a bit longer to get there, but if you want to."

She nodded and smiled at him again. Shinji felt something stir in his chest at seeing her peaceful expression.

Sometimes he still marvelled at this beautiful girl beside him and the fact that despite everything they slowly but steadily had improved their happiness, ever since they had stopped Third Impact.

So he approached their guardian with a light heart.

Misato was still in the process of exchanging greetings with the bespectacled, dark-haired bridge bunny.

"Gomen, Misato?"

And as she turned her attention from Hyuga-san to him, he continued.

"Would it be okay, if Asuka and I just walk to the festival from here?

It's such a nice day and we don't want to be stuck in a hot car."

The boy smiled apologetically at Hyuga, who grinned back, signalling "no harm done, I understand."

Or at least Shinji hoped that this was what the technician was trying to convey.

Misato tilted her head and eyed him scrutinising. After a brief moment of consideration she replied.

"Sure Shinji, Why not?"

She smiled broadly at the boy.

"You want to have some quality time alone with her, eh Shinji-kun?"

Shinji blushed a bit, yet he did manage to nod vigorously.

"Hai, Misato. We didn't have a lot of time to ourselves in the last few weeks.

First the flood in India and then Asuka was pretty much occupied with the festival."

"Okay, Shinji. That's alright by me. See you later then.

"Yes, see you Misato. And thanks."

He strolled back to his girlfriend, who was just a tad (a tiny, itsy-bitsy, little bit) impatient due to having to wait for him again.

Shinji knew all too well, that it didn't take much to wear out Asuka's patience, but she really tried not to show it too much and failing that, she kept any anger and derogatory comments to a minimum.

He knew that it was just her way of dealing with stuff, she was high-tempered and had a short fuse, but ever since she was in therapy the amount of malice got smaller and smaller and today, he had no trouble with her high-strung personality, at least most of the time he didn't.

Instead of stopping to apologize he walked past her and when he was about 10 meters away from her he turned to look back at the redhead over his shoulder.

"Are you coming, Asuka? Or are you waiting for something?"

She was stupefied for a moment before she began to follow him with great forceful and energetic strides, all the while ranting on in her usual aggravated tone.

"The nerve of you, Shinji! Sometimes I really wish you would still be afraid of even speaking to me."

"Oh, Come on Asuka. It's not like I've done anything bad."

She had caught up to him now and walked beside him and he chanced a short glance to see if she was really angry.

She was pouting profoundly and his heart instantly wanted him to apologize for whatever possible, just because she looked so cute.

"I don't like it when you make fun of me. It's my job to make fun of you."

She puffed out and crossed her arms before her chest while walking.

Something that looked rather ridiculous to be honest, but still was endearing to him.

"Ano, Asuka. To be honest I was sure you'd yell at me because you had to wait.

That's why I decided to…"

He heard her pearly laughter and when he turned to her again, he found her cerulean orbs alight with mischief. She gave him a big, joyful smile and again he felt something tug in his chest, almost painfully.

"I'm just goading you into apologizing, you dummkopf."

She laughed again.

"I'm sorry, Shinji. I really don't know if I'll ever grow tired of fooling you this way. You are just too easy."

The boy wondered for a moment whether he on his part should try to feign annoyance, but decided otherwise and instead he tried something else.

"I have no problem with that Asuka, as long as you smile at me like this afterwards."

Now it was her turn to blush, she averted her eyes from him and mumbled something about a "Dummkopf" again, but somehow her hand miraculously wandered into his and their fingers entwined once more.

They continued on their way quietly.

Contrary to her former "Shinji no baka," Dummkopf while basically meaning the same in German, was used almost as a form of endearment.

The sun was shining warmly from the blue sky above, as if it was signalling its acceptance for the plans the people had today.

The two teenagers walked really close, Asuka's arm nestled between Shinji's arm and body and her head leaning on his shoulder from time to time.

Shinji had a warm fuzzy feeling inside his chest. In his opinion nothing beat the feeling of a peaceful and happy Asuka next to him and of her gentle caresses.

He really did love her fiery temper and her high-strung reactions, because he adored everything about her, but these quiet and gentle moments were simply rarer and that's why he treasured them so much.

X


X

They reached the festival almost too soon, since their way to it had been that enjoyable.

The noises coming from the low rows of stands and shacks of the festival had been their companion for a while already, despite the relatively early hour; the street in front of their school where the attractions began was already filled with a crowd of people.

Shinji never had been good with people, so he automatically hesitated and stopped for a moment, but his girlfriend gripped his hand a little tighter and gave him a bright, reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Shinji. You are here with the most beautiful girl in the whole school. The worst that can happen is that every boy and some girls will be jealous of your."

The boy couldn't help snickering a little about the proud declaration.

It carried no hint of the hysteric need for acknowledgement that had been a motivation for Asuka for so long; instead he found that she had been saying it with humour and a quiet confidence in herself.

When he nodded and wanted to continue on his way, her hand against his chest stopped him short.

"Wait a minute, buster. I'll have to check if you are presentable enough to accompany Asuka Sohryu Langley to this event."

She stepped closer and Shinji's nose was filled with the mixture of Asuka's own fresh smell and the light, flowery fragrance of her perfume.

He caught himself from sniffing; Asuka probably would find no end in teasing him, if she found her smell alone was enough to dazzle him.

The Redhead stood on her toes and both her hands ran through the boy's dark hair to make it a bit more unruly, as that was the look Asuka preferred.

Then she took a step back, cocked her head to the left and gave him a critical look-over.

She pouted a bit and complained.

"I don't know why you always have to wear these boring black trousers. Jeans would be nice from time to time."

She sighed and continued.

"At least your shirt looks better and isn't white. No reason for you to look like a 30+ salary man, when you are the ace EVA pilot."

Shinji's hands automatically went to his shirt collar and tugged at it.

The shirt was a dark blue colour with a deep red collar, cuffs and button-down front, that corresponded nicely with the colour of Asuka`s Yukata. He did feel a bit more restricted than in his usual attire, but he had to admit, it made him look a bit broader and more mature.

Shinji was still a slender and thin boy, but ever since he and Asuka had grown closer, she had insisted that he accompanied her to her martial arts training, as she refused to be friends with a wimp.

With a last critical glance up and down, Asuka nodded halfway satisfied, stepped closer to him again, took both his hands in hers and gave him a tender kiss on his lips.

Without a conscious thought his arms moved forward and gently took hold of her slim waist.

Asuka leaned back and her bright blues met his dark ones both with a deep emotion in them that created a warm smile on their lips.

The girl cupped Shinji's face with both hands and once again kissed him, still gently, but longer and with a deeper, stronger feeling behind it.

Then her hands slid down to his shoulders and their foreheads came together.

"Shinji…"

The usually so strong voice of the German EVA pilot, was quiet but full of emotions.

"Shinji, I… lo… like you."

Without showing his slight disappointment, the boy replied.

"Hai, Asuka-chan. I like you too."

Asuka blushed a bit and stepped out of his arms; she cleared her throat and unnecessarily straightened her dress.

"Okay then, let's hit the party, right?"

He nodded and she gripped his hand again and dragged him to the nearest booth.

X


X

The next few hours flew by in a haze of games and food and sweets.

Yakisoba, Takoyaki, Taiyaki and red bean paste filled buns and cotton candy.

Then there was goldfish catching, cutting out animal shapes from candy, throwing darts, throwing balls, even a haunted house.

Colourful lampions lined ropes hanging between the wooden booths and on the walls of the school buildings closest to the festivities.

It was basically everything a foreigner would expect to see during a Japanese Summer Festival.

Asuka stuffed herself mostly on sweets, excelled in shooting and throwing balls and darts at cans and balloons, winning an armful of stuffed animals that she instantly gifted to smaller children running around the fair.

She did however keep the small stuffed doggie that Shinji won for her.

Shinji held back a bit, since he usually preferred the food he made himself, but he still enjoyed himself immensely. After a while they had encountered Toji and Hikari and spent some time walking along the rows of booths together, when they went their separate ways, it didn't take long until they met Misato and Makoto.

Misato was highly inebriated of course and hung on the bridge bunny's neck, to stop herself from falling over.

Not that Hyuga seemed to mind. He had one arm wrapped around the Colonel's waist and manoeuvred her gently and carefully through the crowd.

What hadn't changed was that Asuka didn't care much for Misato in this state and while their Guardian had a much better control over her drinking habits now, when there was a reason to party, she usually partied.

To both teens it was a clear sign that Misato still hadn't dealt with her love for Kaji and his death, but Asuka still couldn't stand it.

The girl, who had lost faith in both their parents and had for years tried to live without anybody but Kaji to trust, needed their guardian to be responsible, sturdy and trustworthy and when Misato was drinking, she was none of that.

Thankfully she didn't allow her mood to be ruined by this and soon they said goodbye to the two adults.

After darkness the couple found themselves in an empty classroom on the fourth floor of the main school building. They stood before an open window and watched the fireworks signalling the highlight and end of the festivities. They felt warm and secure, all alone in this room and both were a little bit tipsy from a few cups of sake booth owners had forced on them, who had recognized the young couple as the two famous guardians of Neo-Tokyo.

The last hour or so they had spent with Rei, they had met the 1st child standing at the edge of the lighted area, looking a bit forlorn.

Rei's face had lit up with one of her small smiles when she saw her Oni-san and Asuka and she had happily agreed to tour the festival once more with them.

It had been surprisingly funny for Asuka. She had at least had experience with German and American festivities and fairs, but Rei's strange and lonesome upbringing never included anything like that, and even if it had, she might not have been able to value it, before her changes.

Everything was new for the pale, white-haired former pilot and together with her two "ex-colleagues" it had been surprisingly funny.

When the time of the fireworks grew closer, Rei had shown unexpected sensibility, as she decided to go and look for Misato and leave the two would-be lovebirds alone.

To see better they'd turned the lights off and they were high enough above the light from the booths, to have a really good view.

Maybe it was the darkness, maybe it was the great time they just had, or maybe he just was bolder than before.

Whatever the reason, he wrapped his arms around Asuka and gently pulled her to him, until she was standing with her back to him, resting in his embrace. The girl snuggled into him and let out a contend sigh, that made Shinji's heart thump harder in his chest from happiness that it was his embrace that had caused it.

He tightened his grip a bit and leaned forward to bury his face in her red threads.

Her hair was soft, like silk and it smelled of the fruit essences in her favourite shampoo and conditioner, it mixed well with the summer and flower fragrance of her perfume and the slightly spicy, fresh scent that was Asuka herself.

The teen pressed his lips on that wonderful fiery mane and kissed Asuka's head, while the last lights from the rockets faded out.

The redhead turned around in Shinji's embrace and like earlier their eyes bore deep into each other. Asuka's hands gripped his shirt chest, as she lifted her chin slowly, closed her eyes and sent her lips on the way to his.

They kissed and Shinji once more realized that he would be happy to never taste another pair of lips in his life.

Those sweet, soft lips of the girl who held his heart almost from the moment he had seen her, even if it had taken them both so very long to realize their feelings,

They had hurt each other, they almost died, they were wounded, hurt and desperate, but in the end they had found themselves.

All this was in his mind, during that long tender moment, and then he felt Asuka's lips open and her small tongue flicked against his, clearly demanding entry.

After a moment of fear, he complied and her tongue darted inside his mouth, searching for his.

It was a deep kiss, but still gentle. Their lips and tongues moved slowly, exploring each other, tasting, massaging.

When they ended the kiss, after what seemed to be a mere moment and a long time at once, their breathing was a little faster and their faces flushed. This was the first time they had actually French-kissed and both teens were quite agitated by it, in a positive way.

They looked into each other's eyes again, dark and light blue, both shining with their feelings for the other. Asuka's hands wandered from Shinji's chest up to his shoulders and wrapped themselves around his neck, pulling him down to her lips again until they met for another hungrier kiss.

As the kiss grow more and more intense, Shinji let his hands wander up and down Asuka's back and sides until in a bold move they travelled down to the hem of Asuka's Yukata and then up again, grapping the tight buns of her behind.

The girl squealed a bit in surprise and jumped slightly, but she soon settled down again, without breaking the kiss and instead pressed herself closer to her boyfriend.

Shinji felt himself almost swoon from the feeling of her breasts against his chest, through the fabric of his shirt and her Kimono.

Like every other thing in and on Asuka they had grown and matured in the last two years and it wasn't as if they hadn't already been formidable before.

They simply felt wonderful and he couldn't help letting a small moan escape into their kiss.

When they broke from each other again, this time they were both panting heavily and Asuka's eyes looked a bit glazed over.

The couple continued to hold each other tight in their embrace, while they calmed down a bit and then began plant gentle and slow kisses on the other's lips again.

Asuka leaned back again and her cerulean orbs searched his.

"Shinji…"

"Asuka…"

They both smiled, when they began speaking at the same moment.

"You first."

Shinji declared softly.

"Shinji. I… I…"

She paused and suddenly her expression changed to surprise and then disgust.

"… Have to go to the toilet."

And with that she pried herself loose and ran out the bathroom, leaving a perplexed and slightly disappointed boy behind.

X


X

The next day wasn't off to a good start. Shinji of course followed his girlfriend and found her in the next girls toilet, entering alone made him uncomfortable enough, but he didn't want to leave Asuka alone, who seemed to retch up everything she had eaten and drunk that day.

So he did his best, holding her hair clear away from the mess, rubbing her back, telling her it would soon be over and when she had finally finished, providing tissues and helping her clean herself up.

Of course the mood had been absolutely destroyed afterwards. Asuka was ashamed that the alcohol and the many different dishes had gone to her and Shinji felt frustrated, because everything had been going so well up until the redhead got sick.

The walk home had been quiet and Asuka had instantly excused herself to clean up and then go to bed, prompting Shinji to follow that example, since there was nothing he wanted to do, figuring then he might as well go to bed.

Morning found both teens with a bit of a hangover, while Asuka had consumed more alcohol, Shinji just wasn't used to it at all, so he had to suffer even with the small amount he drank.

That had of course not kept him from making breakfast as usual, if a bit lighter, just for the two of them, since Misato didn't seem to have returned for the night, probably staying with Hyuga.

Or rather she was finally passing out somewhere, with Hyuga deciding to spare Misato's wards the stress of dealing with their drunken guardian.

When you considered the foul mood Asuka was in already, the few sharp remarks about their guardian's slutty behaviour weren't really bad for her usual sharp tongue.

Still, Shinji didn't like it when Asuka put the woman they had both grown to love down, just because she was in a bad mood and an uneasy silence followed, as Shinji not only didn't instantly agree with her, but even let his displeasure show.

Afterwards it got no better. They tiptoed around each other for the whole morning and midmorning, both too stubborn and too embarrassed to talk about the evening before.

Asuka grew more and more tense, as this continued and started to blindly lash out against Shinji, who chose to take it in stride.

While the boy had certainly changed, harmony was still very important to him and he felt it would only escalate the storm brewing in the apartment if he started to fight with Asuka over her careless remarks.

That in return of course fired the energetic redhead to even more outrageous snide remarks and complaints, until finally she screamed at him and disappeared into her room for a few hours.

X

Shinji went to the bathroom and splashed a few litres of cold water in his face, to literally cool down a bit, since in the end the German pilot had brought him close to the end of the line. A few more insults and he'd have reacted in the same vein.

He decided to venture into the kitchen once more and make some tea to calm himself down.

A year ago, after they had made do with the banged up, half-broken remains left after the final battle, Misato had finally decided to spend what she declared as her fortune on a new, modern kitchen.

Since Shinji was going to be the one mostly using it he had also gotten to choose the kitchen and the appliances, he went with classic white and chrome, but otherwise with all the modern equipment he could get.

Of course he loved spending time in his kitchen now more than ever, cooking, baking and cleaning to his heart's content.

As he poured the hot water over the leaves and breathed in the aromatic steam drifting up from the teapot, took out a cup and a small plate to hold a few cookies, he felt how the tension slowly left him and started to relax,

When the tea was finished, he arranged everything on a tray and carried it to the living room and placed it on the small coffee table in front of the old worn couch, which did not have the luck to be replaced, and sat himself down

A few moments later, the tea was poured, the first sip and the first bite from his cookie taken, Shinji rested his back against the couch and used the remote to turn on the TV. After just a short search, he found the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra playing some Bach, adjusted the volume, took another bite of his cookie and slumped down against the couch to relax.

Later in the evening a few hours later Asuka appeared again, when she came out of her room, she saw Shinji, still on the couch, with closed eyes, listening to music with his headphones.

The Redhead smiled, she felt a lot calmer now and seeing Shinji so open and relaxed in the living room, instead of hiding in his room, despite her earlier outburst, gave her a warm feeling inside.
She tiptoed to him, careful not to be too loud and bend down low over him and planted a short peck on his cheek.

Shinji twitched a bit in surprise and opened his eyes, gazing up into the beautiful face of his girlfriend, who smiled at him while mumbling something about being "sorry, to lose my temper."

That went a long way when it came to Asuka.

The boy nodded and sat up to make room beside him on the couch, on which she instantly popped down.

When she nudged his shoulder gently with hers, he knew that was the sign for him to put his arm around her and indeed Asuka snuggled up to him, rested her head on his shoulder and sighed contently.

The later evening found the teens watching TV, Asuka had a few of the bigger cushions propped up against the table and used them as a makeshift backrest while she slouched in front of the big screen.

The German was crunching down on a bag of tortilla chips and gulped a cold soft drink.

This had been practically her favourite way to spend her time, after she had moved in with Shinji and Misato, back when she still treated Shinji like an enemy.

The boy in question at first sat on the couch, but had later joined his fellow pilot on the floor.

He lay flat on his stomach, his elbows resting on the carped and his head propped up on his palms, his feet leisurely moving up and down in the air.

Asuka found herself watching him fondly, but her expression turned a bit bitter, when she remembered the fiasco that had been the end of the festival yesterday.

Why was she not able to tell the boy she loved that she did so?

More than two years and she still hadn't found the courage.

A peaceful and mostly contend private life, hard at times, when her therapy put her through an emotional wringer, but still the affection and love she finally allowed herself to feel coming from her guardian and her then roommate, made it a good experience.

For an action junkie like Asuka it was great that this quiet life was interrupted by short sorties with the EVAs.

Since both EVA 01 and EVA 02 were now self-sufficient, they were sent around the world fighting against catastrophes and natural disasters.

In the beginning it was mostly protecting food and supplies so that everybody got as fair a share as possible, while the world's economy struggled to get back on its feet, after years of Angel attacks, wars and devastating catastrophes, but the more time passed, the more diverse their work got.

Asuka had soon found herself loving piloting her EVA again, every time she swam in the LCL, she felt like in the warm embrace of the part of her mother's soul that the monstrous machine had swallowed and apparently that was how it had become for Shinji as well. It was as if most of the psychotic and animalistic urges in the two giants had gone and the minds that were trapped in it had found some form of closure and peace.

What also helped was that Misato had convinced Fuyutsuki to restrict the usage of the two EVAs to twenty hours a week and that the kids would not be send into armed conflicts to kill.

A few non-lethal weapons, like sonic guns, smoke and tear-gas bombs were added and the pilots learned to use them to great effect.

All this went through her head, but mostly she was concentrated on the boy lying close to her, pondering the problem of still not being able to tell him how he felt. Not that Shinji-no-baka had managed to say it, but considering his more introvert nature, Asuka was sure that it was her job to broach the subject.

Shinji concentrated on the program, it was nothing special, but it was interesting enough to keep him occupied, so it took a while for him to realise that the German girl was watching him intensely.

Her upper body was bent forward, away from her makeshift resting place and she had her hands folded together in her lap. Her whole body seemed tense as if under a lot of pressure and Shinji couldn't really see what was wrong.

He looked back at her a questioning expression on his face.

Asuka didn't react to it and instead continued to watch him.

"Asuka, is something wrong with my face?"

The redhead snorted.

"Shinji no baka! O-of c-course s-something is wrong with your face, it's butt-ugly."

"Oh, if it's so ugly, why do you keep staring at it so long?"

She huffed and her cheeks reddened in anger or embarrassment.

"I wasn't! I wasn't! I was... watching TV and your giant, ugly head was in the way... And so... and so I just wondered whether you could surgically make it smaller."

She paused for a moment and then continued as if a thought had just flared up in her mind.

"It would be good for you too, since you wouldn't look so gross anymore."

Shinji sighed. That was Asuka for you. Honestly, there was no more malice in her, when she started to insult him this way, but it was still her fall-back position, when she was unnerved:

"Okay, Asuka... I'm ugly and my head is too big. That just makes me wonder more, why you would look at it for so long."

The girl didn't answer.

She didn't really understand what was happening here. Yesterday at the festival it had all seemed so easy. She had been sure that this was the time and it was going so well up until her stomach acted up.

She was so happy when he had embraced her on his own; she was so close to finally telling.

And yet suddenly it felt so awkward between them again, she'd even attacked him verbally again and had reacted angry to him just now.

This wasn't what she wanted at all.

"Haven't I earned it? Why is it so hard to take this step?"

She asked herself.

"I've been in so much pain for such a long time and even after the whole ordeal with the Angels was over, I had new problems...

Verdiene ich nicht das mich endlich jemand liebt? Don't I deserve someone who loves me?!"

She was absolutely sure that Shinji did love her and she loved him, but she needed him to say it to her and her to say it to him, she needed to hear it and not just this once, she would probably need to hear it again and again each and every day, so that all of her would believe it to be true in the end.

She wanted him to touch her, hold her and love her.

She wanted to, she really did, yet she couldn't and right now it felt as if she never could.

Certainly she wasn't going to, not before he had pledged himself to her.

He had to declare his feelings for her. She just had to be sure of him, before she could reach out.

But Shinji, timid, scaredy cat Shinji... would he ever do something so daunting?

It was unbelievably frustrating, it made her want to scream out loud, made her tremble inside with rage.

She didn't let it out; she knew exactly what would happen. He would just back down again and all the trust and friendship they had managed to build over the last two years would simply vanish into thin air.

And then weeks of slow torturous work to get back to their current state of relationship.

It wasn't as if this hadn't happened time and again.

They both were so fragile and both had enormous weights tied to them.

The redhead felt desperate. What was she to do? How could she ease him on? There was no way and perhaps no hope for her.

It had taken a long time and many sessions with Doctor Walker to get that far.

Slumping back against the pillow she let her legs drift out to the left and the right from under her and let her chin sink down on her chest.

"Nani? A-asuka? G-gomen! Did I say anything wrong?"

She lifted her face again to look at him.

Her bright, blue orbs were misted over and Shinji could already see the first tears forming in her eyes.

Slowly one of it started to descent over her cheek.

Shinji's heart ached in sympathy, he didn't know what he'd done to make her cry or if it really was him who had done anything, he really didn't, but seeing it still knotted his intestines up into a tight, heavy mass.

Instinctively his hand reached out to wipe the tears from her eyes, but then he stopped, afraid of his own daredevil-act.

There was no way to know how the fiery and already aggravated girl would react.

Then he shook his head. No. He wasn't allowed to act like this again.

He wasn't the same frightened kid he'd been and Asuka wasn't either.

Yet she still had these episodes from time to time.

Her self-esteem would crumble suddenly and she'd fall into despair. Asuka had even told him herself, that the problem still existed and that neither the therapy, nor the medication or the actual change for the better in her life, had been successful in banishing this problem completely.

When she had told him that, it was probably the moment that he realized that Asuka had been hurt much more than he ever had been.

Of course he'd probably already known it mostly, but this had left him no choice but to finally acknowledge it.

Were the things that happened to her worse? Some yes, Shinji was sure that losing his mother so early, while hard, was not as hard as having the almost empty shell of her mother deny her and choose a doll over her, not as hard as finding her corpse dangling dead from the ceiling.

He was also sure that her experience with the EVAs and Angels was much more horrible than his. He had to fight through fear and loneliness, through every form of physical and emotional abuse, but her mind had been invaded, raped, almost destroyed by Arael, on top of all the other nightmares they had to suffer.

Yes, it was definitely Asuka who had been broken the most and that was why he had to be the one to take the next step.

He moved closer to her and carefully embraced her and pulled her body into his.

Asuka showed no sign of anger and fury or pain anymore; instead her eyes were wide open and appeared incredibly fragile, she didn't fight the embrace, instead her arms met behind his neck and she held onto him, while never losing eye contact.

An expression of hope and wonder was on her face.

Time seemed to stretch like molasses or hot tar, but finally after an almost awkward amount of eternities had passed, Shinji Ikari's lips slowly and tenderly closed over Asuka Langley Sohryu's and their mouths met in a searing kiss.

It seemed to last forever and Shinji again lost himself in the fresh and exciting taste of Asuka's lips, but at last they had to part sometime.

The redhead's eyes were closed and her face was calm and serene for once.

Shinji, instead of backing away a bit, leaned in even closer, his cheek running along hers, feeling the silken touch of her skin on his heated face and when he reached her ear he breathed in a coarse whisper (he wasn't really able to do anything else but whisper, he had no strength left to speak any louder).

"Aishiteru, Asuka. Suki dayo."

And after that, a moment of trying to remember the words, he had tried so hard to imprint in his memory and of fighting with the strange pronunciation.

"I-Ich lieber dich. Ah, no! Liebe! Ich liebe dich, Asuka. I love you"

As if every last ounce of power had left her, the second child almost fell forward into him, her arms hanging limb by her side.

Shinji gripped her shoulders and caught her in his arms again, cherishing the warmth of her body against his.

And yet the way she hung in his arms almost lifelessly was a bit discouraging.

"A-Asuka?"

He gently propped her up a little bit and searched her face, she still had her eyes closed, pressed shut to be precise.

A faint smile was on her lips, but while he was still watching, it slowly turned into a broad happy grin.

Without words of warning her hands once more sneaked around his neck and she pulled herself against him, even harder.

Her lips pressed down on his hard and hungry and without any restraint she simply shoved her tongue into his mouth, which he had opened in surprise a millisecond earlier.

Shinji was shocked at first, but Asuka devoured his mouth so feverishly, so driven, that he couldn't help but respond; besides it wasn't like he was averse to more passionate kissing between them, now that he'd finally told her how he had felt for so long, far from it.
And judging from her reaction, it appeared to be what she felt too.

He could swear he could hear her moan into the kiss, a deep, and husky, almost animalistic sound which nearly drove him nuts and awoke a reaction in him stronger than ever.

Every single kiss he'd shared with Asuka had been sweet, well except for the very horrible first time, yet this time was different for a reason.

For once he felt no need to hold himself back, he didn't fear her reaction anymore, when he acted on his impulses

He wasn't afraid to let her see how much he enjoyed being this close to her, feeling her, touching her.

Shinji's right hand slowly left it's resting place around Asuka's waist and wandered upward over the warm, bare flesh of her stomach onto the smooth surface of her small yellow top until it reached a new resting place on the red-head's perfectly shaped left breast.

Asuka gasped and Shinji was afraid for a moment that she would shirk away from him now but then he felt her move to get even closer to him, resulting in the delicious sensation of her pressing her breast against his palm.

For the next few minutes nothing was heard in their apartment, but the sound of lips against lips, moans and sighs and hands rustling over clothes.

Finally Asuka pulled back a bit, breaking the kiss. She sucked air in hard and fast, panting like she'd just run a marathon. Her cheeks were rosy from the heat she felt.

"Oh! Oh mein Gott, Shinji! I would never have thought you had it in you.

I mean, I always knew you were a little hentai, but who would have guessed that you can kiss me like that."

Her eyes took on a threatening glare.

"You didn't practice with anyone else, did you? Because then I'd have to kill you, you know Third child!?"

Shinji felt a tinge of fear, mixed in with annoyance.

"Ano, Asuka!? You know perfectly well, that I never kissed any other girl. I only ever kiss you... Oh, well and Misato and Rei of course, but not "kiss"-kiss...

I just kiss them in a family way, I mean... Like they are my mom and my sister and then of course I wouldn't react like..."

He stopped himself when he saw a mischievous glimmer in the beautiful German's eyes. She giggled brightly, a wonderful sound.

"You are rambling, my Shinji-kun."

Shinji wanted to be annoyed, but couldn't manage more than a half-hearted tsundere reply.

"Well it's your fault, for making me live in fear of your jealousy that I even have to defend myself when I'm just talking about..."

"Shut up, dummer Shinji. I like it when you stammer like this. I think it's cute as long as not every second sentence is an excuse."

Asuka entangled herself from his arms and fell back against the pillar of pillows she had erected earlier.

She picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

Shinji stared at her, unable to grasp what was happening.

After he studied her for what seemed like minutes, the redhead glanced up from the screen.

"What?!"

"A.-are we f-finished? I mean... no more kissing?"

Asuka growled at him, but there was no real threat involved.

"Shinji-no-Baka!"

She sighed, but sent him a small apologetic smile at the same time.

"Look, Shinji. We were getting a bit carried away there, and no matter how much I enjoyed kissing you, I'm not really ready for anything more right now."

"B-but I wouldn't. I didn't... I"

Asuka's eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Well, Dummkopf! Maybe, I would have! Maybe, I had to stop myself."

Shinji felt relieved, despite the frown on her face.

"Phew! That's good. I thought I did something wrong, but it was you..."

He stopped himself, before saying something that might really annoy her.

"A-anyway, I'm just glad I didn't do anything you didn't like. But I'm a bit sad, because there really is nothing as sweet as holding and kissing Asuka."

Thankfully that seemed to work, as the shadow lifted from the redhead's face and she even blushed a little.

"B-baka!"

And after she mused for a moment.

"It's not like we can't kiss anymore today."

She tapped the floor beside her with her hand.

"How about you join me here and we see where it is going from there?"

Shinji nodded and crawled up to her and let his back sink against the cushions as well. Without asking, Asuka wormed herself under his arm and nestled her head against his chest, drawing his hand down to rest on her hip, so that his arm lay protectively around her body.

Shinji could smell the intoxicating smell that was Asuka, her hair, mixed with her fruity shampoo, her flowery, light perfume and her own spicy scent.

A unique and very nice smell, that stirred something in his heart and he drew her a little closer and let his chin sink down on her hair.

They watched some meaningless old sitcom and just enjoyed each other's company.

After a while Asuka spoke in a small voice.

"Thank you Shinji, for saying it. I might never have been able to say it first. And the fact that you said it to me and that you knew you had to, without me telling you... All that makes me very happy."

She turned her body around and snaked herself up to his face.

"Just so you know, boyfriend. You won't beat me. I love you. I love you. I love you! Ich liebe dich, mein Shinji."

She blurted out the words hastily, as if it still was hard for her to do and she needed to get it over with.

But the kiss she planted on his lips afterwards, wasn't hasty at all, it was slow, sweet and full of promises of things to come.

X
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Interlude:

X

Finally, after two years of preparation, his plan was about to be set in motion. He didn't mind the time, he wasn't young anymore and two years went by fast. The only important matter was that the three pilots would be completely destroyed and ruined before they died.

Just like SEELE's plans had been completely ruined and destroyed through their actions.

Two years, but now all players were in place, all that he needed to do for his revenge was to give the "go ahead."

Taking a small sip from his whiskey glass and savoured the taste, before swallowing and then felt the liquid heat spread inside him.

He pressed a button on the intercom.

"Mrs. Daltrey, give me Shimata,"

"Yes, Mr. Wilkens, at once."

Only a moment passed and then Shimata's calm, controlled voice reported in.

"Hai, Wilkens-sama?"

"Konnichiwa Shimata-san, please proceed as planned and send the information and ready your men."

"As you wish, Wilkens-sama."

The line went dead again. SEELE07 smiled, it was no good smile.

X
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A.N.

That's it for this chapter. The next update will probably for another story, but I plan to get back on this one soonish.

I hope this will be readable, as the site once more is proving problematic when it comes to retaining the editing, from my original doc.