Chapter 26

"Alright, I can see that you're kind of upset, but is handcuffing me to the chair really necessary?"

Silence.

"And shackling my legs seems a bit like overkill."

Silence.

"Unless... are you about to punish me-"

"Knock it off," Misato ordered, and the man tied to the chair in front of her went quiet.

The smug look remained on his face, however.

"I'm just saying, none of this is needed now," Kaji finally said, raising his hands as much as he could to show off the metal restraints. They weren't the high-security restraints used to keep dangerous prisoners secured, but they sufficed to keep him in his seat. "My job is done."

"The last time I let you out of my sight," Misato replied, stabbing a finger at the man, "you raided the MAGI for information then completely disappeared from our radar."

"Well, to be fair, I raided the MAGI because you ordered me to ensure that nothing of SEELE would remain a threat to the kids." Kaji attempted a nonchalant shrug. "And I have. Speaking of which... How's Shinji?"

Misato didn't appreciate the sudden topic change, but the agent's now-serious expression convinced her to answer him. "He's... alright I suppose. We're going to give him the best prosthetics possible, but that'll take time."

"No," Kaji said with a shake of his head. "I mean, how is he coping?"

"Oh. Well, Shinji was rather devastated when he found out about his legs. He was worried that he wouldn't be ready in time for the next attack." Misato chuckled sadly. "Despite hating them, he still wants to jump right back in just because he wants to help. Anyway, Asuka's keeping him company right now. Hopefully she can keep him, if not happy, then at least content."

"I see. And what about yourself? Rits told me about that bottle in the drawer before she left me here."

Misato's eyes darted to the drawer in question. She had been somewhat tempted to bring the alcohol back out again, but these days even the Commander of NERV could not be seen to be getting drunk.

"It's... tough," she admitted. "All I could do was sit and watch as the boy I've come to see as my own son get horribly injured in his first real fight since last year. I ended up falling asleep in this chair last night. Take one guess what I dreamed about." Kaji was silent, but the downward slant of the corners of his mouth told Misato that the man understood. She cradled her head in her hands. "The first thing I did when I woke up was to go down to the medical wing and reassure myself that Shinji was still alive."

She heard a clatter of metal and looked up to see Kaji reaching a hand out to her. He grimaced, before clenching his fist and viciously yanking his arm upwards. The wooden armrest of the chair held for only a few seconds before cracking and giving way. Kaji shook his arm, and the splintered wood slipped out of the other end of the handcuffs.

Misato raised an eyebrow as the man placed his free hand on the desk in front of her, before giving him a soft grin and accepting his hand in hers. "Going to ruin the rest of that chair as well, or do you want me to fetch the key?" she asked as he gently squeezed her hand.

"What, for these old things?" Kaji said with a smirk. "Nah, just give me a paper clip and a couple of minutes."

Even as Misato carefully watched him work, she was still unable to see how he managed to undo both the cuffs and the shackles so quickly. "Are you absolutely sure that SEELE is no longer relevant?" she asked.

Kaji placed the mangled paper clip on the desk and replied, "At this point, if anyone popped up claiming to be SEELE, it would be purely name only. Any data that they had has either been destroyed or delivered to NERV for use as evidence."

"Good." The woman reached out for his hand and took it into hers again. "If only the other threat to my kids was able to be dealt with as easily."

The phone on her desk rang, and the two of them quickly shifted back into their seats as Misato answered it. She frowned as she listened to her secretary pass on a report of a sighting at the beach. The flow of people returning from Instrumentality had slowed to one or two every couple of weeks.

Some families had begun to hold funerals for their missing members.

Every time a report reached her about returning NERV personnel, Misato always held her breath as she waited to see or hear the name of one person she did not want to come back. Fortunately, Gendo Ikari was apparently still content to stay in his own perfect little world.

But she was still surprised to hear who the people on beach patrol had discovered. And also rather pleased. Misato ended the call and looked over the desk at Kaji, who raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well? Who is it?" he asked.

"Two people came back. They're not sure who the other person is yet"–a smile grew on Misato's face–"but they recognised Kozo Fuyutsuki."

As she got up to head out of her office, Kaji said, "Now I'm curious about who the second person is."

Misato stopped at the door and glanced sidelong at him. "Well after you've given NERV those cuffs back, why don't you go satisfy your curiosity?"

"Oh? Not worried about me disappearing yet again?"

Turning around to face him fully, Misato replied, "You can try, but the MAGI are now keeping you firmly within their sights, and you're confined to the Geofront until I say otherwise." She grinned mirthlessly. "Not to mention, if you run off again, I won't be able to do this to you..."

Her hand lashed out and grabbed the front of the man's shirt, yanking him out of the chair and into a forceful kiss that lasted for ten gloriously agonising seconds.

"...I see," Kaji said as soon as he got his breath back. "Well, that's a pretty good incentive, Katsuragi."

"Only 'pretty good'?"

The man gulped at the dangerous look in the Commander's eyes.


"Greetings, Major," the old man said, lowering the newspaper he had just been reading, as he looked up at the person who had just entered his room. "Or rather... Commander. I had a feeling you would come down to meet me as soon as you heard of my return, ma'am."

Misato covered her face with a hand and groaned. "That sounds so wrong coming from you, sir-I mean... um..."

Kozo Fuyutsuki chuckled. "Is it because I'm old, or because I used to be your superior?"

"Superior. Definitely that one."

He leaned back and placed his hands in his lap. "And I understand that Doctor Akagi now holds my old job."

"That's right... uh..." Misato sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Are you intending to return to work?"

"Commander, I'm afraid that even NERV would not be able to pay me enough to stay here." Kozo sadly shook his head. "I'm sure you can understand why."

The woman let out a sigh of relief. "Good. I was afraid I'd have to find another office. The Gloomy Lair of Ikari was... unfortunately destroyed along with the rest of the pyramid." She grinned as Fuyutsuki's face told her exactly how much of a loss that was. "I ended up borrowing yours since it was the nicest looking one."

"Well you have my blessing to do what you like with it," Kozo replied.

"To be honest, I'm not going to change a thing. You had the right idea for an office, after all."

The old man gave a slight nod and smile. "Thank you for your praise of my decoration ability, Commander."

They chatted for a little while longer, until a doctor came in and performed a final checkup on the former Sub-Commander of NERV. When the doctor left, Misato said, "As thanks for your years of service, tell me what you have planned next and NERV will help however it can. Retirement? I'll make sure you have more than enough money to live on."

"I would be lying if I said that I hadn't thought about retiring," Kozo replied with a low laugh. "But I think I would rather keep myself busy for a little while longer."

"Why not go back to being a professor then?" Misato suggested.

"My field is metaphysical biology. I'd rather stay away from Eva-related subjects."

"Then how about just biology, or something similar?"

As Kozo hummed to himself in thought at the idea, Misato continued. "Teach science at a high school? It might be a bit... below you, but you'll be away from Evangelion stuff while still being well within your element."

This time, the laugh was a bit louder. "Has anybody ever told you that you could be a career counsellor?" Kozo asked. "Alright, I believe I could be a high school teacher. It'll certainly be a relaxing job by comparison, and I've been told my disapproving look is rather fearsome. I'm sure I could keep younger students in line."

"Okay," Misato replied with a nod. "I'll see if the schools here in Tokyo-3 still has any openings. Rei did mention hearing that her own school was a bit short-staffed."

There was a knock at the door, and Misato turned around to see a wide-eyed Kaji leaning on the door frame.

"...You're not going to believe who the other person is..." he said, apparently unable to believe what his own eyes had just seen.

"Ah yes, that was rather a surprise to me too, especially considering their circumstances," Kozo idly noted. He made a shooing motion with his right hand. "You should go and see for yourself, Commander."

Her curiosity clearly getting the better of her, Misato just barely held back a 'Yes sir!' as she left the room. The moment she was out of earshot, Kaji looked at the old man and said, "Today's going to be interesting."

"That it will be, Agent Kaji," Kozo replied, picking his newspaper back up. "That it will be."


Asuka loved Shinji. And he loved her right back. It took her several minutes of silence just to get her heart rate under control. Shinji didn't seem to mind, possibly because he was having a similar reaction to his confession.

And then Asuka began to speak of how she had come to admire, respect, and eventually love him, almost as if she were also trying to justify it to herself.

It had been a slowly growing infatuation over the course of the Angel War. Her role as his caretaker after Third Impact had simply helped the redhead see how much she cared for him.

While she had admittedly not had a good first impression when she first laid eyes on the Third Child, back on the Over the Rainbow, his actions had soon changed her mind. Together they had beaten the Sixth Angel, when alone she might not have been able to. And their synchronisation training had had an unintended, but now not unwanted, side effect.

After looking back at her memories of that time, Asuka put her hand on the glass tube and apologised to Shinji for taking out her frustrations on him during the synchronisation training. He responded by placing his own hand on the inside of the glass directly under hers. While it wasn't the actual physical contact that her hand still twitched for, it helped.

The mood was ruined a little by Shinji's attempt to apologise for his lack of ability during that week, but Asuka waved it off, and claimed that the garish uniforms they had to wear had been a much worse thing to deal with. Something which her sync partner readily agreed with.

Since that week had come up, Shinji admitted that he hadn't been able to find out about 'the Jericho thing' yet. Asuka said that she would help him look it up once he was out of the tank.

While it had been a slow process for her to realise her true feelings, she was surprised at what Shinji ended up revealing in his side of the story.

"Well... I'd really like to say that it was love at first sight," he said. Asuka raised an eyebrow, but allowed him to fully explain himself. "I will admit that when I first saw you on the deck of that aircraft carrier, I was staring at you until... you slapped me."

"I wasn't going to just let you and your stooge friends gawk at me when the wind blew my skirt up!" Asuka replied defensively. "None of you averted your eyes like a gentleman would!"

"Oh... that was what happened?" Shinji asked. "I was too focused on your face and that red hair to notice much of anything else."

Asuka leaned in close and narrowed her eyes. "That's the truth, is it?"

"I'd never seen anybody with red hair before!" Shinji shifted away slightly from her accusatory look. "And you looked... um... uh... b-beautiful..."

Her cheeks pinking up for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Asuka held the stare for a few more seconds, before leaning back and saying, "...A-alright, I guess I'll believe you. It's still rude to stare though, regardless of my beauty." She turned her head away, crossed her arms, and mock pouted.

Shinji smiled at her, and continued his story after a moment. He had found himself wanting to know more about her, and was going to ask Misato, but the Angel attack had been a rather major interruption.

He realised he was starting to fall for her when they had defeated the Seventh Angel and were getting out of their Evangelions. Despite the argument that they had just had, Asuka had been incredibly cheerful for the rest of the day. And it hadn't been the usual smirk on her face, but a proper smile.

"When I finally got Rei to smile, I felt like I could take on an Angel without my Eva," Shinji said. "But when you smile, properly smile with your whole face... I feel like I could bust the Fourteenth Angel's core just by spitting at it."

Asuka couldn't help herself.

She smiled.

There was nowhere near enough time for Shinji to enjoy the smile, as Misato burst in through the door, wiping the smile off Asuka's face as she saw the serious expression her foster mother wore.

"Asuka... you need to see who just came back from Instrumentality," Misato whispered as she got close to the two teenagers.

"Who?" queried Asuka and Shinji at the same time.

"You won't believe me unless you see for yourself." Misato completely ignored their synchronised response. That alone told Asuka how serious this was. Not to mention that she had not even so much as glanced at the tank where their hands mirrored each other.

Casting a worried glance at Shinji, Asuka got up and followed Misato out of the room, nodding at Rei as she passed. Rei returned the nod and took her place next to Shinji.

The walk only took a minute, but the Second Child's mind was racing the entire time, wondering who could have returned to shock Misato like this. She was rather surprised to see Kaji waiting outside the door that the woman stopped at. The scruffy man was just as serious-looking as Misato, and said nothing.

Both of the adults were now staring at Asuka, who was starting to get nervous. As she opened her mouth to speak, Kaji shook his head and jerked a thumb at the door. It hissed quietly open as Misato pressed the button, and Asuka walked in. The room's lights were low, and she couldn't make out who was in the bed. She stepped closer, inching forward, until she finally noticed an obvious detail about the bed's occupant.

Red hair.

"...Mama?"

Asuka felt her legs start to give out, and she was only saved from collapsing by Misato and Kaji, their hands suddenly gripping her upper arms. After a long moment of staring at the woman on the bed, she gently shook out of their grasp and stepped towards the bed.

This was no trick. Nor a dream, unless she had somehow fallen asleep while with Shinji; the thought of their joint confessions being false was instantly thrown out of her mind.

Her mother was back.

The girl's vision was beginning to blur, and she roughly wiped an arm across her face to get rid of the wetness in her eyes. Nothing was going to get in the way of her gazing upon her mother's face.

In spite of her physical appearance, that of somebody who appeared to be suffering from both malnourishment and chronic fatigue, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu still looked serene. Asuka was compelled to gently shake her in an attempt to wake her up. Several calls of 'Mama?' went unheeded, and Misato soon spoke up behind her.

"She's not asleep, Asuka. Doctors say she's unconscious."

Asuka whirled around. "But she's okay... right?" she asked, fear beginning to creep into her voice.

"It's too early to tell, I'm afraid," Misato replied. "They'll need time to find out exactly what's wrong with her, if anything. You can see how bad she seems. It's strange... nobody else that came back from Instrumentality looked like she does. Fuyutsuki came back at the same time, and he's sitting up in bed reading a newspaper already."

Turning back to her mother, Asuka gently ran a hand over the woman's forehead, brushing some loose strands of hair away from her face.

"What I'd like to know is how the heck she managed to return in the first place," Kaji mused. "After all, she did die just over a decade before..." The man trailed off as Asuka looked up at him. "...Sorry, Asuka. Didn't mean to bring the mood down."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't wondering the same thing," the Second Child said. "Mama even told me when we met in Instrumentality that she didn't think she could return, due to not having a real body."

Kaji and Misato looked thoughtfully at each other. "Maybe Lilith helped?" the unshaven man wondered.

Misato shrugged. "That's one possibility. I'm also curious about the fact that she still looks to be in her early thirties, but she was thirty-one when... she died ten years ago." She shot an apologetic look at Asuka, who simply nodded in response.

"Huh? You can tell so easily that she's still that young?" Kaji scratched his head. "And don't say it's one of those 'woman's intuition' things."

Both females glared at him, and he wisely decided to shut up.

"You're right though, Misato," Asuka interjected. "Mama looks exactly like I remember her. And I mean exactly."

It would be impossible for the girl to forget how her mother looked during the woman's final days, as they had been involuntarily seared into her mind by the events of that time. If her mother apparently hadn't aged at all while her soul had been interred in Unit-02, did that mean that she was still technically thirty-one years of age? If not, well, they could just claim that her mother was naturally youthful.

The girl's train of thought came to a halt as she noticed that there was one thing that was out of place on her mother. She tilted her head in curiosity as she looked at Kyoko's hair. Carefully avoiding the monitoring devices and intravenous drip, she pulled the woman's body up slightly and confirmed her suspicions.

Upon Kyoko's admittance to the mental ward after her disastrous Contact Experiment, her long red hair had been practically hacked off, reduced to roughly the level of her neck. Asuka, being only a small child at the time, didn't know why that had been done, but she still remembered how sad it had made her. Of course, that point in her life had been filled with sadness, so it had just been one more bad thing added to the pile.

Now, though, her mother's hair was back to being full-length. If it weren't for the fact that the woman was horizontal, it would have cascaded down past the small of her back. The realisation that there was one more good thing about her mother's return brought a smile to Asuka's face.

Kaji made a silent exit, marked only by the hissing of the door as it opened and closed. Misato stepped up beside the Second Child and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"So... I guess you're no longer my foster daughter..." Misato murmured, a hint of sadness evident in her words.

Asuka looked up at the woman, and patted the hand on her shoulder. "I guess not," she replied ruefully. "But... you still have Rei and Shinji. And you have Kaji back. Unless you end up killing him, you'll be able to have some real kids of your own."

"True. If he disappears again, we're going to have problems." Misato chuckled. "Maybe I should put a bomb collar on him. Ritsuko said she found one that NERV created back when Rei was still... new. Something about it being a contingency in case she attempted to start an Impact-level event. Ritsuko even offered me the manual trigger for it, and said she'd be happy to put the collar on Kaji."

"A hundred yen says he'd still find a way to get out of it."

"No bet. He got out of handcuffs and leg shackles with a paper clip."

The smiles on their faces were weak, but they were genuine.

"What are you going to do when your mother is able to leave the hospital?" Misato inquired. "Will you be moving into a house with her?"

Asuka winced, before sighing and looking down at her mother. "Damn, you have to start asking the tough questions already, don't you? I really want to... but Shinji still needs me." She suddenly stopped talking as yet another blush began to creep across her face, brought on by the memory of Shinji saying those three words, and she couldn't stop a tiny smile from breaking out.

Unfortunately for the girl, it didn't go unnoticed.

"Oooh, I must have missed out on something. What was it?" Misato asked.

"W-what? N-nothing!" Asuka stammered as her face turned fully red.

"Come now, Asuka. Would you really be blushing that bad if nothing happened?"

Asuka stifled a growl, sullenly turning her head away from the prying woman and choosing to calm herself by focusing on her mother instead. She gently cupped one of Kyoko's hands in both of hers and began to run a thumb across the back of it. "Just knock it off, alright?" she hissed.

Clearly, Misato realised that it wasn't the time. In the space of a second, she went from 'teasing older sister' persona to her much more motherly attitude. "Hey... I'm sorry, Asuka," she softly apologised, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah..." muttered Asuka. She was glad that Misato had chosen to drop the matter, seeing as how there was a much more important one laying right in front of them. But she knew that it would get brought up later. "Just... give me some time with Mama, please."

"Of course."

Misato stopped at the door, and looked back. "Do you want me to tell Shinji and Rei?"

Asuka thought for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, I'll tell them myself."

The woman nodded and quietly left, leaving the Second Child alone with her unconscious mother. Not long afterwards, a couple of doctors came in to examine Kyoko. Asuka sat by and watched them cautiously; if they were unnerved by her, they didn't let it show.

Half an hour passed, and Asuka stayed next to the bed, holding her mother's hand. She was just beginning to doze off when another doctor entered the room, accompanied by two orderlies.

"Ms. Soryu?" the doctor inquired, getting Asuka's attention. At her hesitant nod, he continued. "We need to run some scans on your mother."

Once again, Asuka worriedly asked, "Is she going to be okay?"

"That's what the scans will tell us," the doctor replied. "Your mother is the first person to return from Instrumentality in such a... depleted state. Just from our initial findings, it appears that she's both malnourished and dehydrated. Patrols along the beach are still regular enough that she would have been found well before those problems could have set in normally."

Asuka frowned, but remained silent as she moved aside and watched her mother get taken away. Her mind began to conjure various bad theories for her mother's condition, but she was soon thankfully distracted from them by the ringing of her cellphone, with a worried-sounding Hikari on the line.

"Asuka? Is everything okay? Miss Katsuragi called us a few days ago and asked us to look after Pen-Pen, and I haven't heard anything from you since then."

The frown turned into a smile. "I'm okay, but... things didn't go how we expected in the last battle."

"Oh no! Who's hurt?" The worry in the class representative's voice increased.

"...Shinji. He got knocked around pretty bad." Asuka sighed, and recounted what she believed she could to a civilian about that day.

Hikari was predictably horrified at the extent of Shinji's injuries, and only settled down a little upon hearing how NERV was going to heal him. She briefly considered mentioning her mother, but then realised how confusing -and possibly rule-breaking- it would be to explain everything that had happened. After stating that she needed to stay at NERV for a while longer, Asuka changed the subject to how Hikari and the Stooges had been doing. She relaxed in her chair and let the recounting of a normal teenage life wash over her.

Toji had taken Hikari out on a simple dinner-and-a-movie date the night before. Surprisingly for Hikari it hadn't been a mindless explosion-filled action flick, rather it had been something they both enjoyed. Another surprise had been that a girl from their class had approached Kensuke the day after the latest Revenant attack, and had nervously asked for 'help with her studies'.

Asuka could hear the inverted commas around that statement.

The two girls spent a little more time chatting, before Hikari had to say goodbye and prepare dinner. As the call ended, Asuka looked at the time on her phone. Only twenty minutes had passed, and she had no idea how long it would take for the doctor to finish the scans on her mother. Hikari's mention of dinner made her stomach grumble but she wanted to check in on Shinji and Rei first, mostly to tell them the good news.

She saw Rei first, standing outside the room and staring at her cellphone. As Asuka drew near, the bluenette looked up at her.

"Asuka," she said by way of greeting, before glancing back down at her phone and back up. "You are well-versed in social interactions, correct?"

The strange question stopped the redhead in her tracks. "Uh... yes?" she tentatively replied.

"Perhaps you can explain what Kensuke just said to me. He called shortly before you arrived here, sounding very nervous, and said that we should see other people." She appeared to not notice the sudden widening of Asuka's eyes as she added, "Is he attempting to say that we should be trying to make some new friends?"

It took several long minutes for Asuka to patiently explain that Kensuke was breaking up with her.

"Oh!" Rei quietly exclaimed as she finally understood. "He believed that we were in a romantic relationship?" Asuka nodded. "Strange. Maybe it is because I am... unskilled in social interactions, but I never believed we were anything but friends."

"I'm... pretty sure that must have been purely on Kensuke's side," Asuka replied. "Did you ever go out with him anywhere?"

Rei thought for a moment. "We did go to a ramen place two weeks ago. Kensuke paid for my meal as a way of thanking me for helping him with his studies. He also apologised that he couldn't afford to take me somewhere better."

Asuka sucked in air through clenched teeth. "Yyyeahhh... that was most likely a date, Wondergirl. As much of one as Nerd Stooge could manage." For a moment she considered telling the oblivious girl about what Hikari had said about another girl asking Kensuke for 'study help', but eventually discarded the thought for the time being. It had been confusing enough to explain the concept of ending a romantic relationship, and she was getting hungrier.

"Okay... um... Sorry to hear that, First," she eventually said. "I just came here to make sure everything was fine before I got myself something to eat. I'll never get used to cafeteria food after the meals Shinji's made for us." A confused frown crossed her face. "Speaking of which, how are they actually feeding him while he's in the tube?"

"Fortunately, that's a question that doesn't need to be answered now."

Asuka turned around to face the newcomer. Another doctor was standing nearby, with two more orderlies and a gurney. She peered intently at them, trying to work out if they were the same ones that had wheeled her mother away. Like Section Two, the orderlies seemed to have been made from a mould, so it was impossible for her to tell.

"We're not exactly sure why at the moment," the doctor continued. "But Shinji Ikari's recovery rate in the healing tank has exceeded our expectations. He's now as healed as he'll ever be, so we can finally get him out of there and into a hospital room."

Only Asuka picked up the subtleties in Rei's voice as the bluenette replied, "That is wonderful news."

As the doctor and the orderlies set to work on decanting Shinji, Rei and Asuka were asked to avert their gaze while they took the boy out and cleaned him up before dressing him in a standard-issue hospital gown.

The orderlies took a suspiciously similar route as they wheeled Shinji through the medical wing, Asuka and Rei following close behind. As they entered a room and began to transfer the boy to the bed, the redhead looked at the room number, frowned, and looked at the next door over.

She smiled.

Somebody had arranged things so that Shinji's room was right next to her mother's. And she didn't need to guess who had done the arranging. Asuka made a mental note to thank Misato later.

The orderlies left, a mumbled thanks directed by Shinji at their retreating backs.

"So how does it feel to be out of that tank?" Asuka inquired as she sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"...My skin feels kind of weird," Shinji replied, absently rubbing his chest. "Like I'm still in the tank. I swear I can still feel the stuff coating me."

"Might just need a good scrubbing to get rid of whatever is left. Bring that up with Akagi the next time you see her." The redhead leaned forward in her seat as a grin split her face. "Anyway, I've got something that ought to take your mind off of it."

Asuka happily filled him and Rei in on her mother's return. While Rei gave her congratulations in her usual low voice, the smile on her face covered for her lack of audible emotion. Shinji, on the other hand, was almost as excited as Asuka herself had been, until he began to stare at her.

"What, do I have something on my face?" she asked.

"No, um... Sorry if this sounds strange," Shinji replied. "But you don't seem as excited as I thought you'd be."

"Oh? What were you expecting, Third?" Asuka levelled an interrogative look at the boy.

He shrugged nervously. "Um... well... exuberant. Practically bouncing off the walls. But right now it seems more like you've just been told you broke your sync record."

The redhead almost shot an answer back immediately, but then she stopped and considered. Eventually, she said, "I'm happy. Very happy. But Mama didn't come back like other people did. She's... weak. There might be something wrong with her."

"You are afraid of getting your hopes up," Rei quietly said.

Asuka froze, then slumped in her seat. "...Yeah," she muttered. It was something she had been afraid to admit to herself, but the First Child had hit the nail on the head.

"Hey, now." Shinji reached over as best as he could and, somewhat anxiously, patted the Second Child's shoulder. "Your mother will be fine. She's your mother, after all."

Though they were simple, his words of encouragement worked. The smile returned to Asuka's face. "Yeah, you're right. Us Soryus are too damn stubborn to just roll over and die! I mean, just look at me! Death only slowed me down for a little while."

Shinji's own smile turned brittle. Asuka caught the change, and her hands swiftly latched onto his before it could retreat. "Hey. What did I say before about the past?" she demanded. "Don't tell me you've forgotten already, dummy."

"Um... no, I remember. It's just... going to take some time I guess." He stared down at where their hands met for a moment, before looking up into the steely sapphire eyes of the Second Child.

"Yeah, I know," Asuka replied. "But I'm going to keep reminding you until you stop."

Two rumbles cut off whatever Shinji was going to say next. Both he and Asuka blushed as their stomachs complained in perfect sync. A few seconds later, Rei's stomach echoed the sentiment.

"Uh... maybe Wondergirl and I should get us some dinner."


While waiting in line at the cafeteria, at least one part of Asuka was always either drumming or tapping as she wished that everything would hurry up so that she could be back by Shinji's side.

Her nervousness about having to 'choose' between her mother and the boy she had finally confessed to had abated slightly thanks to the room arrangements, but she still realised that time spent with one was taking away from the other.

But at least Shinji was awake now, and she wouldn't feel as bad about leaving him alone, seeing as she had managed to do as she had promised herself and be there when he woke up.

At the thought of the hospital rooms, Asuka remembered to text Misato, both thanking her for what was undoubtedly her idea, and requesting another bed for Shinji's room so that she could sleep there. It would probably be awkward to get the beds close together, but she had yet to find something she wouldn't do in order to help Shinji.

A couple minutes after sending the text, her phone alerted her to a reply. Misato had passed on the request for a bed just fine, but it was the second half of the message that gave Asuka pause.

"I wouldn't mind taking the credit, but it was actually Ritsuko's idea for the room arrangements."

Oh.

Huh.

Rei noticed her expression, and Asuka showed her the message upon her polite query.

"She is trying to make amends," the First Child noted.

Asuka nodded. "I suppose so. Guess this means I'll have to be nice to her."

"That would be logical, seeing as she is attempting the same thing."

Asuka would have continued the conversation, but they finally reached the front of the cafeteria line.

In the end, it had taken just over twenty minutes for the girls to get food and return to Shinji's room. When they arrived, the girls saw a doctor attaching what looked like a department store mannequin's arm to the Third Child's right side.

"Please tell me that's not the best prosthesis NERV has available," Asuka observed as she placed Shinji's portion on the table next to the bed.

Shinji looked up and smiled upon hearing her voice as the doctor replied, "With the loss of his arm, his body is no longer symmetrical. This is a temporary measure to stop it from trying to adjust to the lack of weight on one side, which can cause back problems, until the prosthesis is ready."

The man signalled for the boy to give him his left arm. "How does it feel now, Mr. Ikari?" he asked as he thoughtfully weighed the false and real arm together.

Shinji shifted his shoulders for a moment. "Um... my left side still feels a little heavier."

"Yes... that is my impression too." The doctor dug into his pocket and brought out a couple of cylindrical metal discs. A hatch on the side of the false arm was popped open and the discs were inserted. "How about now?"

It took a few more minutes of adjustment, both of the weight and the harness holding the arm on, before Shinji was both satisfied and comfortable. After the doctor left, Asuka let Rei take the chair next to the bed while she left to get another one. This also allowed her to check in on the room next door, but her mother was evidently still being scanned. The slightly disheartened redhead took the chair in that room and left.

Fortunately for Shinji, the shape of the bedside dinner tray that his plate now rested on was designed to prevent things from slipping off. This allowed him to easily eat his dinner, a simple meal of diced chicken and rice, with one hand and without needing to ask for help.

Despite his handicap, he was the first to finish eating. Clearly ravenous, and perhaps unconsciously desperate to fill a brand new stomach, Asuka was almost expecting him to literally lick the plate clean, as he hadn't eaten for close to four days at this point; an intravenous drip would provide nutrients, but did nothing for an empty stomach.

Just as the redhead was considering going back to the cafeteria to get him more food, Rei beat her to it, placing her mostly-unfinished bowl of salad on Shinji's tray.

"Huh? You're not hungry, Rei?" Shinji asked, looking curiously at the bowl.

"I could eat more, but you need it more than I, brother," the bluenette replied. "Besides, I can always have something to eat at home."

With a tilt of his head, Shinji conceded the point and began to dig into the salad. It disappeared almost as fast as his own meal.

"How was your dinner, Asuka?" he asked as soon as the bowl was empty.

Asuka shrugged. "Eh, it filled a hole-" She stopped and winced at her choice of words, then shook her head. "What about yours? Is that new stomach sufficiently broken in?"

Shinji let a small chuckle loose as he patted his gut. "Yeah, I guess so. Feels a little... weird down there though."

"Weird? As in something that might need a doctor?" Asuka worriedly asked.

"No, no, nothing like that. It's really hard to explain..."

"Then don't worry. Just make sure you let someone know if it starts feeling wrong."

Shinji nodded, gently drumming his fingers against his stomach.

They continued to chat for a while, until Rei collected the dishes as she got up to leave. She said her goodbyes, but only reached the door before Asuka called her back. The First Child was confused, until Asuka walked over to her and quietly spoke, low enough that Shinji couldn't hear.

"Do you mind bringing in Shinji's SDAT next time you visit? From what I saw when I took him to the mall, it seems to do pretty well at distracting him from the... memory surge or whatever you want to call it." Rei nodded her assent, and turned to leave again, but Asuka wasn't done. "By the way, since you're family, there's something you can give Shinji as part of a goodbye..."

The bluenette's eyes widened as Asuka whispered what that thing was in her ear, and she walked over to the bed and drew Shinji into a hug; an act that stunned the boy for a moment until a loudly cleared throat reminded him to return the gesture.

After Rei left, it was not long before another identical orderly arrived with a bed. If the man was curious about why a room with only one patient needed a second bed, he gave no indication of it as he set it up opposite Shinji's bed. He wasn't even gone a minute before Asuka began moving it to its proper position.

"Um, Asuka...?"

The German girl looked askance at him as she rearranged the furniture. "Don't even think about asking why I'm doing this. We've slept in the same room for long enough that the answer should be obvious."

To his credit, Shinji didn't immediately blush at the words she used. Instead he looked away, a glum look on his face. Asuka held back from consoling him for the moment; bed preparation first, then comfortable comforting.

The wheel locks ensured the beds wouldn't slip apart, and there was was only a tiny gap between the mattresses with the beds flush against each other. Satisfied that neither of them would wake up on the floor, Asuka turned down the room lights before taking off her shoes and hopping onto 'her' bed, shuffling her body under the covers. Shinji soon awkwardly followed suit, and she absently reached out for his hand.

Normally, their hands practically just rested together, one occasionally lightly squeezing the other as they slept. This time, Asuka was feeling brave, and did something different. After all, they had both confessed to each other. There was nothing wrong with what she was about to do.

Her fingers began to ever-so-slowly slither in between his, and Asuka smiled at the quietly shocked gasp that Shinji uttered. Turning her head to the side, she grinned at the shade of red the boy's face had turned. But then he did something that surprised her right back.

Shinji's own fingers pressed in on the back of Asuka's hand, locking the hold. Now it was her turn to gasp, and she was pretty sure that her face was now also matching his.

"...Asuka..."

"...Yeah?"

Shinji took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. When they opened, Asuka was pierced by his cobalt stare.

"...Thank you for everything you've done for me," he quietly said, punctuating his words with a squeeze of their linked hands.

Asuka smiled and squeezed right back in response. She wanted to lay there and stare at his eyes forever. The semi-permanent expression of a kicked puppy had been banished, and Asuka hoped his eyes would no longer return to such a sad state.

Sadly, the Evangelions were still needed to fight the Revenants, so there was always the chance that something else would go wrong.


The next day saw the return of Kyoko to her hospital room, but it was small comfort to Asuka. As Shinji had been spirited away to prepare him for his prosthetic legs, she was left alone in 'their' hospital room and decided to pass the time with her mother.

When she went in to see her, the doctor looking her over stated that the preliminary results of her scans revealed that Kyoko's body was excessively depleted of vital nutrients and minerals; much more than mere malnutrition should account for.

One possibility was beginning to stick out in Asuka's mind. She had stood and watched as her mother's body was lowered into the ground a decade ago; too long ago to have been reduced to LCL during Third Impact. Something had happened to give her mother a new body, perhaps in a way similar to how Suzuhara had lost an arm before Third Impact and returned with both. Asuka sighed as she leaned over the bed, gently stroking Kyoko's forehead.

Obviously, the process hadn't been perfect.

The next week saw no positive change in Kyoko's condition, but there was no negative change either. Shinji seemed to pick up on Asuka's sombre mood whenever the girl returned to their room, and did what he could to cheer her up.

She was glad to be distracted by hearing of how Shinji's prosthetic legs would be ready far sooner than his arm, and that he was looking forward to at least being able to walk again. Being pushed around in a wheelchair, even if it was Asuka doing the pushing, didn't sit well with a boy who hated to be an inconvenience.

Asuka was rather surprised to learn about how Shinji had been asked for his preference for the design of his new limbs; she had just been expecting them to just be made to look like real ones. According to the man who had posed the question to Shinji, some people preferred the artificial look, and some even got their prostheses coloured in their favourite sports team colours.

Strangely, Shinji didn't seem as fond of the idea of looking like a 'badass cyborg' as much as she did.

"Really? You don't even want an awesome arm?" Asuka incredulously asked. "Okay, maybe you don't have to get one that looks like you ripped it off an evil robot..." She paused to grin as she imagined Shinji with an arm cannon, causing the boy to give her an almost fearful look, "But after everything you've been through, you deserve one that says... something like, 'I fought monsters and won'."

Shinji at least seemed to consider it after that conversation.

When there was no news to talk about, Shinji would instead offer the music player to Asuka, and they would listen to the songs together. One time, when she was feeling particularly down about her mother, the boy did something that would have been normal for any other couple, but was incredibly brave coming from him.

He put his arm around her in the first hug that he had ever been the instigator of. That alone kept Asuka going for at least two days. By then, there was something new to occupy her time.

Shinji began his physical therapy sessions to learn how to use his new legs, and Asuka insisted on being there. It didn't take long for her to be able to sense when he was about to fall or stumble, and she was almost always there to help him up before the therapist that was assigned to the Third Child.

While the woman did seem affronted that Asuka was doing part of her job, she seemed to know that the girl's presence was inspiring Shinji to do his best. He progressed through the therapy much faster than anticipated, and was soon haltingly walking to and from the sessions unaided.

Holding hands didn't count.

After a few days, Shinji made up his mind about the design of his arm, and told Asuka first.

"So you've decided to get a normal-looking one?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. Some of those designs you showed me did look rather amazing, even the more subtle-looking ones. And I'm sure some of the people we know wouldn't mind seeing me with an arm that looks like Unit-01... but I'd just feel better if I'm not standing out because of my prosthesis."

Asuka also nodded. "Mm. Yes, I know you, Shinji. You've never liked to have attention focused on you." She put an arm around the boy and began to gently rub his right shoulder, just above where the temporary prosthesis began. "In the end, it's your body and your decision. If you want to get an arm that looks natural, then I wouldn't be much of a..." she coughed nervously, "...g-girlfriend if I tried to force my own opinion on you."

"Thanks, Asuka," Shinji replied with a warm smile, which the girl mirrored.


"Damnit, another Pattern Orange already?"

Ritsuko nodded. "The MAGI have confirmed it. It will arrive within approximately two hours."

Misato sighed deeply. "We're still down a pilot, and this one's going to be stronger than the last."

The scientist hesitated as she prepared to send the automated alert to the pilot's phones. "Asuka's already at NERV. Shall I send her a personal message instead? Shinji may try to tag along if he knows there's another attack. He's doing well with his new legs, and might try to get into Unit-01."

Misato thought for a moment. "Send Kaji to look after him. I don't want Shinji on his own, and maybe that stupid man will be able to keep him from sneaking off to the cages."


Shinji's head shot up from where it had been resting on Asuka's shoulder as the text message alert on her phone went off. Asuka lazily stretched her left arm out to grab at the phone, unwilling to move too much and ruin the warm moment they were having.

The content of the message did a good enough job of that. Asuka fought to keep her face from changing as she read it.

"What is it?" Shinji asked curiously.

"Uh..." she thought quickly. "Misato wants to chat with me about something, but she's too busy to leave her office right now. I should be back in time for your therapy session though." That part was hopefully truthful at least.

The boy appeared to sense no deception, and nodded as he ended the side hug he had been giving her. Asuka hesitated for a moment as she made to get up from the bed, before throwing her arms around Shinji and squeezing him in a tight hug for a few seconds, making a satisfied noise as his warmth flowed into her.

It was with great regret that Asuka broke the hug and left the room. She passed Kaji on the way, who said that he was going to 'keep Shinji company'. The Second Child urged him not to let the boy fight, to which the spy stated that Misato had already given him that order. Something in his demeanour seemed suspicious, but there was no time to stop and think about it as Asuka hurried on to the changing rooms.

Fifteen minutes later, the red and blue Evangelions were in the launch cradles, ready to head up to the surface.

"You two ready to go?" Misato asked.

"Damn right I am!" Asuka replied. Rei replied more sedately, but there was still fire in her eyes.

There was a surprise standing next to Unit-02 in the cradle that everybody hoped would tip the scales in humanity's favour. The false Lance of Longinus that the Fourth Revenant had brought with it had been repaired, and there had been no question as to who would get to use it. NERV hadn't been able to work out how to make the weapon shift between forms, but Asuka didn't mind as she wanted it in its spear configuration.

"It's time for a little payback!" Asuka muttered dangerously, her mouth twisting into a grin at the thought of revenge.

"Give 'em hell, Asuka! Evas, launch!"