"And with one decisive, sure movement, Athena slices through the labyrinth wall imprisoning the Minotaur! Hurgh!"

Asuka swung her sword in an upward arc. At the same time, Hikari let fall the two pieces of scenery she was holding, and the "door" halves clattered to the stage floor.

Asuka held out her hand, and she and Kaworu stepped through the gap together.

"The Minotaur thanks the goddess Athena," he said, nodding his papier-mache bull's head. "For its freedom, and for listening to its side of the story."

"And lo, the beast is befriended!" Asuka declared. "Athena and the Minotaur triumph together, and restore the rule of wisdom and justice – and kindness – to the land!"

Hikari threw flowers over them, and placed laurel wreaths on both their heads.

"The end!" chorused Asuka, Kaworu, and Hikari together.

In the seats below, Rei was first to start clapping, but the rest of the audience soon joined her. Suzuhara whooped and hollered, but was surprisingly not the loudest spectator.

"Brava, Liebchen! Well done! Wonderful show!" In the front row, Mama grabbed the shoulders of Uncle Keel beside her, who looked even more painfully constipated than usual. "Isn't she amazing? My daughter, my hero! Brava, Asuka! Whoo!"

Asuka felt her face heating – those stage lights were brutal after a while. "Mama, you're so embarrassing," she muttered, but (oh dear) Mama didn't hear her, and kept cheering at top volume. So embarrassing! (...Don't stop...)

Then Kaworu took her hand and Hikari the other, and they bowed, and bowed again as the applause continued. The three of them gestured to the back of the hall, where Mr Aoba worked the tech desk with the help of that Hyuga guy from the nerd shop (apparently he was the roadie for Mr Aoba's band; Asuka was certain "roadie" wasn't his only function, if ya know what I mean).

She looked out over the seats as the house lights came up – their friends, the rando students, their relatives (well, the human ones, for Kaworu), and even some of the school staff. Ms Ritsuko had brought Miss Maya, and only let go of the librarian's hand right at the end so they could clap – Asuka shared a grin with Maya, and nodded significantly at Rei, and Maya returned her a double thumbs-up.

Eventually Hikari stepped forward and gestured for quiet. "Thank you all for coming," she said, and once that applause had died down she continued, "There will be refreshments in the quadrangle, please join us at the picnic tables in five minutes!"

Always the organiser, always the host, Asuka smiled to herself, and followed Hikari off stage. There was more than one way to be your best self, definitely.

As Hikari was wearing regular clothes for her all-black stagehand gear, she went straight to the quad to get organised. Asuka and Kaworu, wearing ancient Greek-style costumes, were held up.

"Hurry hurry!" Asuka barked at him in the dressing room. "And don't damage that bull's head, I worked really hard on designing it!"

"I am the one who constructed it," Kaworu pointed out, as he placed it carefully on the top shelf.

"Under my instruction," she sniffed.

As she struggled out of Athena's robe (underneath she had on a bathing suit, otherwise she would have banished Kaworu to the broom closet while she changed), her foot got caught in the long skirts.

"Waugh—!" She wobbled, hopped, flailed, and fell to the flo—

—arm.

Kaworu's arm, looped around her waist, holding her safely off the floor. "Got you."

A smile crept onto Asuka's face. "The Angel saved me."

Kaworu smiled back. "Family help each other."

Then something occurred to Asuka, and she squawked and struggled upright. "Ugh, covering me in stage makeup, ick!"

Kaworu rolled his eyes. "There isn't that much—"

"There's heaps!" Asuka snapped. "I had to blot it all over you 'cause your stupid horny boyfriend gave you so many damn hickeys, you degenerates!"

"The toga covers some of them," he said mildly.

The toga, which draped over only half his torso, and barely skimmed his thighs.

"Ew!" Asuka threw her robe in his insufferably smug face. "You're on laundry duty for that! And forever, until you learn some goddamn discretion."

"Like you and Miss Rei?" he suggested innocently.

Asuka felt the back of her neck flame. "That's none of your business!" Also yes, she thought as she turned her back on him. There was a reason Athena's robe was so un-authentically modest, after all. Heh.

Once fully dressed, they eventually dashed out to the quad, where as well as Hikari (disappearing behind a tower of food platters) they found Rei and Shinji already helping.

—For varying definitions of 'help'; while Shinji was actually setting up a pair of trestle tables, Rei seemed perplexed by a half-unfolded plastic tablecloth.

Kaworu floated over to Shinji and kissed his cheek. "Can I help?"

Shinji blushed, smiling like the biggest fool the Earth or Moon had ever seen. "Um, I think we're nearly done – thanks, though."

Asuka yanked a lock of Kaworu's shaggy hair. "You can help," she hissed under his complaint, "by keeping your godverdamnt feet on the ground."

Kaworu blinked and looked down. "—Ah." Obediently he descended to the planet's surface.

Asuka huffed. "Idiot."

"Nagisa's levitation can be useful," said Rei at Asuka's shoulder, making her jump. "He was able to retrieve Arakiel when she climbed onto the playhouse roof."

"Arakiel's a cat, she's supposed to climb things," Asuka said. The little white kitten with ochre eyes, result of Rei and Shinji wanting to care for an Earthling pet, was already an expert altitude acrobat. Shinji had added a collapsible stepladder to his prepared-for-anything stockpile.

Moving on to nicer topics, Asuka slung an arm around Rei's shoulders. "Thanks for coming today, even though you'd already seen it."

Her girlfriend (girlfriend! that's never getting old!) nodded briskly. "Of course I came to support Asuka. —And I had been told there was an amended script, so I would not be seeing the same play twice anyway."

She retrieved a book from her satchel and held it out – the mythology collection Asuka had lent her. "There were some textually and thematically interesting choices in your adaptation. I'd like to discuss them with you sometime, if you like."

Asuka felt she must have been beaming brighter than any Moon or Angel could've dreamed of. "What's that, Rei? You've got book opinions? Wow, how did you know that's my favourite thing – you talking about your favourite thing."

Rei blushed and smiled and shook her head. "Asuka is my favourite thing," she corrected, then faltered. "Not – thing, I mean – you aren't an object – but … subject. Asuka is my favourite subject."

Asuka giggled. "I know what you meant, I just like to hear you say it. Or anything, really."

Rei glowed at her.

Somewhere in the background, Asuka was aware of Kaworu taking Shinji for a quick airborne waltz (incorrigible damn Angel!), before a growing noise of chatter signified people approaching. Soon lunch was served, and her efforts (and Kaworu's and Hikari's, and even Mr Aoba's) were celebrated.

All her favourite people were in one place, and rather than commanding and demanding them Asuka was just … enjoying being herself.

Being enough.

Okay. So. First, thank you all for coming, and for all your support.

Second, I couldn't have done this alone, so thanks to my players and crew. Give 'em a hand! ...Louder! ...Acceptable.

Now. The third thing you've gotta know is that my cousin Kaworu is a huge weirdo.

—Dude, stop agreeing with me, I'm talking about you, not to you!

Anyway. When he arrived in Tokyo-3 we actually didn't know each other too well. But he stepped up to help with the play even though he had no experience, or knowledge, or anything. And he didn't let his total ignorance bring me – uh, us all, the team – down.

And while we all worked really hard, and turned The Atheneiad into the huge success I – it deserved to be, I got to spend more time with Kaworu, and got to know him better, and I learned a lot about – well, all sorts of stuff – him, the world … myself...

...Ahem. None of that would've been possible if Kaworu wasn't exactly who he is, exactly how and what he is.

So yeah, Kaworu's a weirdo – and that's awesome.

As a token of my appreciation, this is for you. Don't open it yet! —Just, to let you know, it's a bunch of family photos. Y'know, your side of the family. I … found them. And since they're … meaningful to you, I figured you should have them. Keep them. In case you ever feel … distant, you can remember that wherever you go, you're not alone.

—Dude, stop hugging me already!