Sorry about the wait. AN at the bottom, as it tends to be.

After their eventful morning, Shinji and Rei chose to have a lazy day. Rei went to sit outside with a novel and a glass of juice, and Shinji laid down on the couch and turned on the TV.

The briskness of the morning soon gave way to a persistent, humid afternoon heat, and combined with the limited Sunday TV programming, Shinji soon found himself drifting into sleep. When Rei came back inside to refill her glass, he was well and truly asleep.

Putting her empty glass in the sink, Rei took a moment to watch Shinji. The few creases and wrinkles his face usually exhibited had disappeared, and the faintest of smiles had spread onto his face. The TV played an old war movie from the 60's, and Shinji's face twitched with the occasional loud noises coming from it.

Taking care not to disturb him, Rei got up and turned the TV down to a whisper. Satisfied with its volume, she took a seat on the couch next to Shinji's sleeping head.

He looks so… peaceful.

Looking at his face, Rei couldn't believe how panicky he'd been just the night before. Their discussion seemed so ridiculous – just a bit of late night paranoia. But they'd both taken it so seriously.

Rei found it hard to believe that she'd felt any doubts about their future.

Is this what he meant…?

Slowly, Rei reached out to Shinji. Taking great care not to disturb him, she began softly stroking his hair. It was smooth – not slick or oily, but fine and soft.

A small breeze blew in from the porch, and Shinji's hair danced around her fingers. The sensation sent a tickle up her arm, and she shivered as the feeling travelled up her spine.

The shiver travelled back down her arm, and Rei's hand tapped Shinji on the face gently. Pulling back as if she'd touched a hot stove, Rei held her breath as Shinji inhaled sharply.

"Mmrgh…"

Shinji opened his eyes sluggishly. Noticing Rei sitting next to him, he smiled up at her.

"G'morning, there."

Her arm still retracted, Rei nodded. A look of bafflement and disappointment was plastered on her face, and upon seeing this Shinji laughed.

"Was I snoring too loud?" he chuckled as he stretched his arms, nudging Rei's leg with his head. Rei shook her head.

Shinji looked at her arm. He'd felt her tap his face, but there was a feeling before then. Like something blowing through his hair…

A devious grin spread over his face.

"…You didn't mean to wake me up, did you?"

Rei lowered her head and shook it.

"No."

Shinji's grin softened into a good-natured smile. Swinging himself into a sitting position on the couch, he put his arms around Rei and pulled her in for a hug.

"It's okay. You do tell me that I shouldn't sleep during the day, after all."

Rei smiled into his shirt.

"I was fine letting you sleep, just this once."

"Really, now?" Shinji pulled away from her, and looked into her eyes. The faintest blush finding its way onto her cheeks, Rei looked away.

"…You looked so peaceful. It made me feel really happy to see you like that, and I just wanted to watch you for a while."

For a moment, Shinji felt like the air had been sucked out of him. Hearing such a sweet, sentimental thing come from Rei made him feel amazing, but hearing her say something so corny tickled something inside of him at the same time. His smile grew into a goofy grin.

"Well, now who's been spending too much time with Kaji?"

Despite knowing he was just having a quick joke, Rei felt a bit hurt nontheless. Pushing him backwards slightly, she turned away from him with a huff.

Shinji caught himself easily, and stood up to stretch.

"I'm joking, sorry. I didn't mean to tease you too much."

Gently grabbing her arms, he got her to stand up with him. Wrapping her up in his arms, Shinji placed a few gentle kisses on her face.

"It was really nice to hear you say that. Thank you."

Taking the chance to poke him in the side, Rei nonetheless sunk into Shinji's embrace.

After stretching for a bit, Shinji stepped out onto the balcony. The air was surprisingly crisp for the time of year, and as he inhaled the coolish air into his lungs, a wave of refreshment washed over him.

As if on cue, Shinji's stomach grumbled loudly.

Taking a look at his watch, Shinji saw that it was 4 PM already.

Well, it's too late for lunch…

Stepping back inside, his attention was drawn to the coffee pot. It had just come off the boil, and Rei was in the kitchen pouring herself a cup.

Taking a mug, Shinji poured himself a cup as well before sitting at the bench. Rei leant back on the end of the sink, and the pair sipped their cups in silence. The warm coffee went down well in contrast to the cooler weather, and both Shinji and Rei made eyes at each other as they enjoyed the comfortable atmosphere.

As the pair locked eyes, Shinji's stomach decided to make its presence known, rumbling loudly. Rei smiled as Shinji's face went red from embarrassment.

"I guess we did skip lunch, after all," Rei mused to herself as she put her coffee cup down. "I'll make us both something to eat."

As Rei opened the fridge to grab some ingredients, something occurred to Shinji.

"Hey, Rei – do you want to go out for something to eat?"

Rei paused for a moment, with her head in the fridge.

"…We did go out just last night, but that sounds nice."

After closing the fridge, both Shinji and Rei went to straighten themselves out. Rather than get dressed up for a late lunch date, the pair decided to just wear what they'd been wearing all day – they were only going for a light meal, and they weren't going to go anywhere fancy.

After making himself look presentable, Shinji grabbed his half-empty cup of coffee as did Rei. Drinking the last of it, the pair got their things together and left the apartment.

As Shinji locked the door behind them, Rei spoke up.

"So, were you thinking about a restaurant?"

"Yeah, something like that," Shinji nodded. "Or somewhere small like a café. Just for a light snack or something."

They discussed locations as they descended the staircase of their apartment complex. By the time they got down to the car, they'd narrowed down their options to a handful of places.

"So we have Cuttlefish Station, Chow Palace and Carmelo's Pizza," Shinji reiterated as he got into the car. "What do you feel like eating?"

"Well, I'm not really in the mood for seafood, so Cuttlefish Station's out," Rei replied as she started the engine.

"Yeah, they don't have a lot of variety, do they?" Shinji put one of his fingers down. "How about Carmelo's?"

"Pizza sounds good, but I don't know if they're open on Sundays."

Shinji put another finger down.

"…I know it's the last place we've got, but I don't really want to go to Chow Palace," Shinji said in a pleading voice. "Their bread tastes like dry dog food."

"I don't think either of us were seriously thinking about eating there," Rei said with a smile as she stopped at a set of traffic lights. Disappointed, hungry and a bit confused, the pair sat in traffic wondering what they were going to do.

Looking out of his window, something on the sidewalk caught Shinji's eye.

"Hey Rei, how about that place?"

Looking over, Rei saw the place Shinji was talking about. The building was painted a light, airy blue, with a darker green painted around the entrance. The tables outside had large beach umbrellas, and the ground was clad with what looked like sandstone.

And in the window, a sign was lit up with colourful LEDs – The Seafoam Café.

Rei thought about it for a moment.

"…Wouldn't they just serve seafood?"

"I thought so too, but there's a menu over there." Shinji pointed to a blackboard near the store's entrance. It had a selection of seafood, but most of the menu was made up of tropical-themed meals and drinks.

As they both thought about it, someone beeped their horn behind them. The traffic light in front of them had turned green.

Giving each other a quick glance, the pair nodded.

"Seafoam Café it is."

As they entered the café, they noticed that the café's color scheme continued into the interior. Waves of green panted the bottom of the room, and clashed against the light blue which painted the upper walls and ceiling.

Taking a seat on the side, both Shinji and Rei picked up a menu. Like the menu outside showed, the café offered a variety of tropical-themed meals as well as different cocktails and mixed drinks.

Rei looked through the menu. A few of the dishes had chicken in them, but most were vegetarian – a majority of them were made up of fruit or salad, and a few dishes had fish or tofu in them.

Shinji's glance through the menu took his eyes straight to the house special: a burger with marinara sauce and a juicy fillet of chicken, topped off with a ring of fresh pineapple. He put his menu down as a waitress came over to take their order.

"Hello, welcome to the Seafoam Café! Can I take your order?"

Something about their waitress struck both Shinji and Rei as familiar. Her light, hazelnut-colored hair was tied back in twintails, and her tanned face was covered in a light sprinkling of freckles. Looking over at Rei, she seemed to have a moment of recognition of her own – but she looked down at her notepad and waited for their order without saying another word.

After placing their order, the pair sat back and had a look around. The walls looked like they'd been painted fairly recently, and the walls still gave off a faint smell of paint. The table they'd both chosen was near a window, which gave them a nice look over a nearby residential area. The place was well-lit – instead of artificial light, the café relied on several major skylights which lit the inside with natural lighting. There were lamps higher up on the wall, but none of them were on.

"They must have built this place recently," Shinji said absently. Rei nodded.

After a few more moments of looking around, Shinji lent over the table and whispered something to Rei.

"…Hey, did you recognize our waitress as well?"

Rei nodded. "She did seem familiar, yes."

Looking over at the counter, they could see her arranging glasses on a shelf.

"I'm pretty sure I never saw her at NERV, and she seemed to recognize you too." Shinji whispered. "This is kinda weird."

Rei nodded, and started looking through the menu again. She didn't seem too interested, but it kept weighing on Shinji's mind.

Regardless, he put it to the back of his mind and began striking up conversation with Rei.

"So, uhh… how has work been in your division?"

Not taking her eyes off the menu, Rei responded.

"It's been going okay. Asuka's the same as ever, and we're getting a new co-worker soon."

"A new co-worker? It's not every day NERV brings someone else in, especially up in that department."

Putting down her menu, Rei smiled a bit.

"I know, but she seems like an okay worker. I think Mr. Aoba said that she was recently out of college, so she probably has a good idea of what to do."

"I bet Asuka wasn't happy," Shinji smirked.

"She wasn't." Rei sighed as she reclined a bit in her chair. "She got a bit belligerent, and I had a stern word with her."

Shinji's face lit up.

"You told off Asuka?"

"I wouldn't say that." Rei glanced off to the side. Regardless, Shinji was rapt.

"Either way, I'm impressed that you managed to talk back to Asuka about anything."

Rei looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she's a bit of a violent person," Shinji said as his gaze dropped a bit. "If I ever spoke back to her, it feels like she'd try and slug me. I'm a bit scared of her, to be honest."

Seeing him retreat a bit as he thought about Asuka's wrath, Rei found her face relaxing into a warm smile. As the warm feeling spread throughout her body, she reached across and took Shinji's hand gently.

Shinji came back to reality, a bit surprised by Rei's actions.

"What are you doing, Rei?"

She met his gaze without saying a word. Gently raising his hand, she lent down and kissed the top of it.

The soft feeling of her lips making contact with his skin made Shinji's heart jump, and he blushed as she sat their hands back down.

"What was that for?"

Gazing into his eyes, Rei responded.

"…You are just really cute sometimes."

The unease between them melted away, and the atmosphere from the café seemed to lighten up. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't just Rei's warm words – the setting sun was beginning to shine through the café's windows.

Warm beams of light hit the scattered tables and chairs around the restaurant, stretching their shadows across the floor. Rich, orange sunlight washed over them, lighting up the few dust particles that were swirling in the air around them.

For a moment, Shinji felt lost. The shining dust particles and the orange light seemed to transform Rei into a completely different person. Her hair looked like it was bordering on purple, and her skin glowed a radiant golden colour. Looking into her red eyes, they seemed to shine with an intensity that he had never seen before. For a split second, it was like he'd fallen in love all over again.

Looking back at him, Rei was equally taken aback. Shinji's relaxed face shone with affection, and the sunlight high-lighted the few fine stress lines around his mouth. His sea-blue eyes sparkled as they moved slightly, taking in her features. She felt as if they were living inside a photograph – like time had stopped, and they were free to experience the moment for as long as they liked.

Squeezing her hand, Shinji barely spoke above a whisper.

"…I think our food's coming."

Rei looked over, and sure enough, their waitress was coming over with 2 plates of food. The heat of the moment hit her all at once, and she retracted her arm as fast as possible as her face went beet red.

As the sun sank further and further into the horizon, the light inside the café got dimmer. It wasn't too long before the wall-lamps were switched on.

Between servings, Rei and Shinji talked about work, home, the past – anything that came to mind. Eventually, the topic shifted towards their wedding.

"Have we thought about the cake yet?" Shinji asked as he took a bite of his burger.

"I don't think we have, actually," Rei replied as she poked at her tropical-themed salad. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Shinji thought about it for a moment. After swallowing his food, he replied.

"I don't think we should go too crazy, but I do like chocolate cake. But we should have another flavour just in case some of the guests don't like that."

Rei nodded in agreement.

"We should probably consider having a gluten-free choice as well. I think Mr. Aoba has a gluten allergy."

"That's a good idea," Shinji agreed as he took another bite of his burger.

The pair took a few moments to focus on their meals. The temperature inside the restaurant was dropping slowly, but due to either the lamps or the company of each other, the atmosphere still felt warm.

After a few solid bites, Shinji spoke up.

"Y'know, I'm thinking of maybe a late summer ceremony. It'd still be pretty warm, but the heat wouldn't be stifling."

Rei thought for a moment.

"…It would be nice to have the ceremony before it starts getting cold. And it would give us a few months to make the arrangements."

"That's what I was thinking," Shinji replied as he scraped some of his burger's loose ends together on his plate. "I mean, it's only March right now. That gives us until… the end of August?"

Bringing a fork of salad to her mouth, Rei nodded.

Taking the last bite of his meal, Shinji stretched his arms over the back of his chair. The slight chill in the air made itself known, and he shivered as he felt it for the first time that night.

As Rei finished the last of her salad, a bell sounded from the counter. Looking over at the source of the noise, they both saw that the bell was being rung by a young man around their age. With blondish hair and round spectacles, another strange feeling of nostalgia washed over the pair as he called out to them.

"Hey, we're closing up soon! Can ya finish up over there?"

Looking over at each other to confirm they were both done, the pair waved the man over. As he stacked their plates, he seemed to have the same nostalgic feeling about them. Looking over at Rei for the third time, something seemed to click – leading to him nearly dropping their dishes back onto their table.

"Well, if it isn't Rei Ayanami! It's been a while!"

Surprised by his statement, Rei gave the man a closer look. A similar look of recognition dawned on her face after a few seconds.

"Mr. Aida, I assume?"

"That's me!" Grinning from ear to ear, the man patted Shinji roughly on the shoulder.

Mr Aida? Aida… wasn't that…?

"…Kensuke Aida?"

"How've ya been, Shinji?" Kensuke offered his hand to him. Still surprised at the revelation, Shinji shook it.

"We've been alright, Mr. Aida. We just came in for a late lunch." As he he extended it, Rei took his hand and shook it gently.

Upon hearing that, Kensuke looked out the window.

"Looks more like you guys are having dinner, if you ask me."

Looking out at the darkened sky, Shinji nodded slowly.

"I… guess we are."

Taking a second to compose himself, Kensuke gathered up their dishes and took them back to the kitchen. Shinji and Rei were dumbstruck for a moment, before seeing Kensuke returning with their waitress from earlier.

"what'd I tell you, Hikari?" Kensuke grinned happily. "It's Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami, from high school!"

Taking a quick glance at Shinji, Hikari's face lit up.

"Well, this is a surprise! Welcome, both of you!"

"Hello, Ms. Horaki." With a soft smile on her face, Rei accepted a hug from her. Shinji offered his hand for a handshake, but Hikari hugged him anyway.

Pulling up a chair from a nearby table, Hikari sat down with them.

"So what brings you around to my café?"

"Well, we stayed at home today and had a rest," Rei began. As she was about to continue, Kensuke interrupted.

"You guys work at NERV, right?"

"Yes, we've been working there for the last few years," Rei confirmed. Seeing Kensuke nod to show his understanding, Rei continued.

"By the time we were both hungry, it was already late in the afternoon and neither of us felt like cooking. So we looked around for somewhere to eat and found this place."

"We were rattling off places to go," Shinji chimed in, "and this place looked like the best place to eat. If it helps any, you won over Carmelo's Pizza and Cuttlefish Station."

"That's fair enough," Kensuke smirked. "We only opened up a few days ago, and we haven't had the chance to get the word out yet."

Hikari nodded in agreement. "To be honest, I'm kinda surprised you found us at all. It's like no-one even knows that we're here."

"Anyway," Rei moved on, "how have you both been?"

"We've been alright," Kensuke grinned. "Well, I've been alright, anyway – I only saw Hikari a few weeks ago myself."

"Yeah, this business is a really sudden thing," Hikari continued. "I was setting up the café, and my cook bailed out on me. I happened to run into Kensuke down at the markets."

Kensuke nodded. "I'd been unemployed for a few months, so when Hikari mentioned the café, I asked if she had any job openings. Lucky for me that I did a couple months of work at Chow's Palace, so when she mentioned needing a cook, I pretty much had the job in the bag."

"And here we are," Hikari concluded, throwing open her arms. "The Seafoam Café."

Both Shinji and Rei were smiling from ear to ear.

"That's a really great story!" Shinji grinned as he shook Kensuke's hand happily. Both Kensuke and Hikari blushed at the attention.

Looking at her watch, Rei's eyes widened. She turned to Kensuke and Hikari.

"It's been good to see you both, but it's 7 PM. I think it might be time for us to go."

"That's okay, we're closing up anyway," Hikari smiled. Taking the bill out of her apron pocket, she handed it to Shinji and Rei. The pair glanced over it, and both reached for their wallets.

As they both threw a few bills in, Kensuke piped up.

"Payin' for your meals together, huh? I guess you guys are a couple now."

Shinji looked at Kensuke in confusion.

"We've been a couple since high school, y'know. Weren't you around when we started dating?"

Kensuke thought for a few seconds, and shook his head.

"I left that school pretty early, to be honest. I probably left before you both got together."

"Fair enough," Shinji shrugged.

"Yes, we're still a couple," Rei confirmed. "Actually, we're engaged now."

Hikari's mouth opened in surprise. Taking care not to scream, she nonetheless reacted enthusiastically to this news, holding her closed hands over her mouth and moving in place.

"You guys are engaged?! That's so wonderful!"

Shinji rubbed the back of his head, blushing with embarrassment. Rei's face shaded itself pink, but she nodded in response.

"Well, that's really something!" Kensuke patted Shinji on the back roughly. "Congratulations to you both!"

Shinji laughed nervously. "We've been engaged for a few months, but thank you."

Having paid the bill, Shinji and Rei passed it back to Hikari. As she took it back to the till, Kensuke began walking Shinji and Rei to the door.

"Man, I guess anything could happen after 7 years," Kensuke mused. "Sometimes I think back to my last weeks of high school and wonder where the time went."

Shinji hummed in agreement. "We're all getting older, but sometimes it feels like time's moving too fast."

Kensuke nodded. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

Hikari caught up as they group reached the door. As they said their goodbyes, she chimed in quickly.

"Feel free to come by any time, you two! It'd be great to see you around!"

Thanking them, Shinji and Rei walked towards their car as The Seafoam Café closed for the night. As soon as they both got in the car, Shinji spoke.

"It was nice running into them like that, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Rei agreed. "To be honest I don't remember them too well, but it's always nice to see a familiar face."

As they began driving back to their apartment, Shinji couldn't help but think about the future. Just last night, the thought had filled them both with dread – but having discussed their wedding earlier that night, the thought put Shinji at peace. But there were still questions that needed answers.

"I guess we're gonna have to decide on a wedding date, huh?"

Rei sighed.

"I guess so. We'll have to start looking at venues."

"Yeah." Still lost in thought, Shinji put his head back on the headrest.

We're actually getting married. We keep talking about it, but it's actually starting to feel solid.

Shinji couldn't help but grin.

"So, August then?"

Rei glanced over at Shinji for a moment. He had a dopey grin on his face, like he was lost in a fantasy.

Smiling, Rei replied.

"August it is."

AN: And so, Chapter 12 is finally complete. It only took me three months! If you think that was long, just wait until Chapter 13 sees the light of day – the Rebuild 3.33 dub will probably be out before then.

I jest, I jest. Honestly, I am so sorry for the wait. I only picked this chapter up again very recently – like in the last 3-4 days. I won't bore you with personal details down here, because that's what the devblog is for. You can find a link to the blog on my profile page, it has status updates and little ideas I have for the future of this story.

Quick note: I've posted updated versions of chapters 2, 3 and 4 - along with edited Author's notes. Just thought I'd let you all know. Thank you all for being so patient, and I hope Chapter 13 will find its way into existence in a far shorter timespan than this chapter.