Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion and all rights got to there respective owners. Also all OC's are the creation of JimmyWolk himself.
SPOILER WARNING: This contains spoilers for the fanfic "The 2nd try" by JimmyWolk. So If you haven't read that then you should definitely stop right here and check that out first.
Summary:
Aki's attempt's to get a can of peaches for herself gets her into trouble.
"On The Shoulders of Giants"
She was nearly there. She just needed to reach out a bit more…ok this wasn't working, maybe she needed something more to stand on to get the can that was in the kitchen cupboard.
Why did this seem harder than climbing the big tree outside? She had managed to get up to the kitchen counter by pulling one of the chairs near to it, allowing her to climb on. Unfortunately, she found that she was, to her irritation, still too short, but she got around that problem by piling some thick books from Papa's study room on to the seat of the chair, allowing her to finally reach the counter.
Maybe there was another thick book she could use to finally get the can of pee...
"AKI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" A load yell from her Mama startled her, making her turn her head just in time as she was quickly lifted up by her mother which elicited a little shriek from herself before coming face to face with her mother who didn't look to happy. Aki knew she was in trouble…again.
After a moment of silence Asuka took a deep breath to calm herself of both anger and worry. "Aki tell me what you were doing up there?" Asuka said in a more gentle yet stern voice.
"I…I was hungry mama, so wanted to get the can of peaches," Aki replied honestly while pointing up to the can hoping to ease the scolding from her Mama.
Unfortunately for her this didn't ease the scolding. "Schätzchen if you needed something then just ask either me or Papa...ok?" Asuka said while she continued to hold her daughter close to her in a tight embrace.
Aki just frowned at this despite being held comfortably in the warmth of her mother's arms. "But I could have gotten the can on my own. I just needed something to stand on to get me there." Aki grumpily pouted out.
Asuka sighed at this. "Aki, you need to understand that you're still just a baby and that there are things that you can't do yet as you're too small and could hurt yourself doing it if you're not careful."
"But Mama you always say to me that I'm a big girl," Aki said looking up at her mother while still pouting.
"Yes, you are my big girl. But you're still my baby too and there are thing that you still can't do yet, which is why you should always call me or Papa to get things for you. Do you understand?" Asuka asked while putting Aki gently down on the ground, hoping that her daughter understood things now.
Aki however was still pouting, clearly not liking her limitations. "It's just not fair. I hate being so little and wish I was big and tall and grow up already like you Mama and like Papa too, then I could get things all on my own."
Asuka suppressed a shiver that past through her on what Aki had just said. It was eerily similar to her own childhood and her vow back then to be more grown-up and independent when in reality she was just a scared, confused and emotionally troubled little girl that had just lost her mother.
Logically she knew that Aki wouldn't be like how she turned out and god knew she would do everything in her power to keep that from happening. But it was still an instinctive fear of her precious daughter repeating her mistakes.
Just as she was about to think of something to tell Aki, they heard the sound of the front door opening.
"I'm home!" Shinji announced.
"PAPA!" Aki shouted, already running towards the front door and greet her Papa at the door. Just as he placed his fishing equipment on the floor, Aki came running at him and hugged his leg.
"Hey sweetheart, how has your day been?" Shinji greeted his little girl while he removed his coat jacket while Aki still clung tightly on to his leg for a moment before releasing him.
"It was good Papa! Me and Mama did the garden work extra early today and after Mama took us for a walk round the hills and we played the game I spy with my eye and I thought I saw Mrs cow earlier but when I went to tell Mama, she wasn't there anymore," Aki rapidly told her father of today's events.
"Yeah Mrs cow does that, honey," Shinji said while he sighed. Mrs cow who has become a regular phenomena lately to the small family always seemed to appear and disappear at random. On the plus side the family had fresh milk from time to time when they found it, but they were never able to capture the large animal and bring it back home.
Shinji was already mentally thinking of ways to finally capture the cow once and for all before noticing Aki was still continuing to talk about her day.
"And then I went to get a can of peaches but Mama stopped me," Aki sad while pouting.
"And for good reason, kleines Fräulein," Asuka butted in the conversation before looking at Shinji. "She managed to get on on the kitchen counter and tried to open the shelve by herself, standing on a bunch of books balancing on the chair" Asuka told the situation to her husband.
Shinji looked down at Aki while giving a stern look to which the little girl looked down to the floor unable to meet his eyes in fear of being punished. To Shinji it felt eerily to how he once acted when in the presence of his father, even more so seeing Aki clinching her hand and cursed his genetics in passing on his nervous tick to his daughter.
Sighing, Shinji got down to his knees in front of Aki, before stroking her hair, making the little one flinch for a second but she relaxed soon after. She looked up at her Papa, seeing no anger or a stern look.
"Aki, honey you know that you can't do stuff like that. If you fell and hurt yourself me and Mama would be sad. You understand that right?" Shinji told Aki.
"I know Papa. I'm sorry, it's just that I wish I was bigger and could get things on my own," Aki said to her Papa while looking away to the side, still fearing of what will be her inevitable punishment.
Shinji quickly looked to Asuka behind Aki and saw the uncomfortable look she had, already knowing what was troubling the redhead: Her fear of Aki repeating her past mistakes.
An idea quickly came to him making him smile before once again stroking Aki hair and getting her attention. "Hey, do you know how you can be big and still be the your cute little self?" Shinji asked while playfully poking her nose with his finger eliciting a small giggle from her.
"No, how Papa?" Aki wondered.
"Ok, first turn around honey," Shinji said with Aki doing what she's told before she felt her Papa grab her under the arms. She squealed in surprise as she was lifted up abruptly before she was placed on her Papa's shoulders. Surprised at first as well as a bit scared on being so high so suddenly, Aki grabbed onto her Papa's hair with her smalls hands.
"And there, now you're tallest here Aki." Shinji said while making sure to hold Aki legs securely in case she fell.
Aki looked around the room for a moment. Feeling a bit overwhelmed before brightly smiling.
"Yeah! I'm bigger then then everyone now!" Aki cheered while Shinji took the opportunity to move around the room, making Aki giggle more. Shinji looked again at Asuka, now seeing a content look and when she saw him looking her way she silently mouthed thank you to him.
"Papa, Papa, I wanna go to the cupboard." Aki asked while she tugged a bit on his hair.
Doing as instructed Shinji already guessed what Aki was after and he went to the cupboard to which Aki reached out and grabbed the can of peaches she originally wanted to begin with.
"You know that you can't have those peaches till after we've had dinner first honey." Shinji reminded Aki while reaching up to grab the can from her grasp and placing it on the kitchen table.
"Aww." Aki voiced her disappointment.
For the rest of the day Aki refused to come down from Shinji's shoulders, even during the dinner, which sure was an interesting experience for all, especially for Shinji, who already figured he'd have to take a long shower to get all the bits and crumbs out of his hair again. But as sun went down and the daily bath time and brushing of her teeth came, Shinji and Asuka were forced to tell Aki that the fun was over.
Disappointed, but due her tiredness Aki complied without hassle, especially after Shinji promised her that she can ride on his shoulders anytime she liked from now on.
After a short bedtime story, Aki fell right to sleep and shortly after closing the bedroom door, Shinji was all but dragged by Asuka back to their bedroom to give him some appreciation for today's work.
End.