Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Different View ❯ Acceptance ( Chapter 2 )

A Different View

by Keen Drallin

Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is owned by GAINAX. I am making no money from this story.

Chapter 2 - Acceptance

"Damn Akagi." Asuka muttered, glancing up impatiently at the clock on the far wall.

Sitting next to the fiery redhead on the living room couch, Shinji didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. After a moment, he settled on neither one, simply smiling slightly at the entire situation. It wasn't that wide of a smile, though.

The near-euphoric mood that had gripped the two pilots at Headquarters had begun to fade somewhat not long after they'd gotten home. They'd passed the first test of today, but both pilots were aware that another was coming shortly.

They needed Commander Ikari's official approval, solely because of their ages and just what it was they did for a living, but they really didn't care about his personal opinion. Shinji would have preferred his father's blessing, but he was more than satisfied with just his official approval.

Now that the two pilots had that, they were basically in the clear with their relationship. At least... officially.

Asuka glanced over at her fiancée, eyebrow raised. She was irritated with the whole situation; having hidden it for so long, the computer error that had nearly cost them the chance to confront the commander, the fact that Misato would be home soon... everything.

"What's on your mind this time, Shinji?" Asuka asked. "Is it 'nothing' again?"

Despite her irritation, Asuka's voice wasn't quite as harsh as it had been earlier. It wasn't fair of her to take it out on Shinji, she knew, especially after all that had happened. So rather than the outburst that she wanted, her tone was simply one of curiosity.

Shinji took a moment to put his thoughts in order, then the smile faded even more, becoming almost nonexistent. "It's... nothing."

Shinji winced the moment the words left his mouth, knowing that they weren't what Asuka wanted to hear. "I'm sor-"

"Sorry, I know," Asuka said, sighing in exasperation. She really had to get him to stop doing that some day.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the front door sliding open. The two pilots both visibly tensed at the sound.

A moment later, Misato walked into the living room from the kitchen. She nodded curtly to both pilots, then went directly into her bedroom.

Shinji and Asuka traded a nervous glance. This looked to be worse than they'd expected.

Not knowing what else to do, the two pilots just sat there, waiting tensely for their guardian to reappear. Almost unconsciously, Asuka fingered the ring on her left hand. It wasn't all that much really, just a small diamond set in a band of gold.

But it was hers, and she would be damned if she was going to let anyone take that away from her. Without even realizing it, Asuka's face contorted into the beginnings of a snarl.

"Asuka?" Shinji asked quietly, slightly worried at his fiancée's expression.

Asuka turned to look at Shinji, then the snarl changed into a tense grin. "It's... nothing."

Shinji almost smiled, but the sound of their guardian's bedroom door sliding open caused both pilots to turn. Misato emerged, now dressed in her standard civilian attire.

The three just stared at each other for a moment, each trying to find a way to begin a conversation. Finally, Misato broke the awkward silence. "We need to talk," she said, gesturing out to the kitchen.

The pilots nodded, then stood up and headed out to the kitchen, taking seats next to each other at the table. They absently noticed a few bags sitting on the counter, but they were too tense to really pay attention.

Misato sat down across from them, still showing no hint of a smile. "The commander had a very interesting thing to say at the staff meeting."

Neither pilot said anything, so Misato continued, "At first, I thought that it may have been some kind of very elaborate joke. I doubt the commander could be easily convinced to go along with such a ruse, however. Judging from your behavior, not to mention the none-too-cheap looking ring on Asuka's finger," she said, gesturing to the girl, "I'm assuming you're both serious about this."

"We've never been more serious about anything in our lives," Shinji said solemnly.

Misato's cold facade faded at the announcement, her face shifting to something that both pilots could easily recognize; weariness. "Are you really sure about this? Marriage is a very serious commitment. I don't doubt how you may feel, but I'm not sure if either of you are truly mature enough to understand the full consequences of your actions."

"Thanks for the support, Misato," Asuka said bitterly, "we knew we could count on you."

Misato sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to say that-"

"Just what then?" Shinji asked, his voice quiet but heated.

Misato sighed again. "Why do you want to get married?" This question was indeed on the forefront of Misato's mind. Just the concept of marriage was vaguely intimidating to NERV's Operations Director. How two fourteen year olds could just up and decide to 'get hitched' completely stupefied her. Major Katsuragi had to make sure that this wasn't just a case of teenage hormones, or a relationship based on anything other than a genuine desire of the pilots to spend the rest of their lives together.

"Why not?" Asuka asked. She was trying to sound casual, but she didn't quite succeed.

"You're only fourteen!" Misato exclaimed.

"So?" Asuka replied, her falsely casual tone of voice becoming even more tense.

Misato took a deep breath, then let it out. "I'm sure you're aware that marriage is not exactly common for fourteen year olds."

"We're not exactly common fourteen year olds," Asuka shot back. "I assumed you would have realized this. You are, after all, our guardian, not to mention our military commander."

"Yeah," Shinji agreed, "Every time we go out against an Angel, we could actually... die. Don't you think that makes us more mature than our classmates?"

Misato looked at her two charges carefully. She saw already that nothing she could say would sway them; both looked more determined than she could ever recall seeing them. She didn't know whether to be irritated or proud.

"You are both quite young to be in a relationship of this sort," Misato began. Both pilots' faces hardened at this, an expression of resigned bitterness that Misato knew all too well. Then the purple-haired woman smiled slightly and continued, "but I can understand why, and I'm very happy for the both of you."

Shinji and Asuka were both shocked for a moment, but then they both smiled in relief. Misato couldn't have actually forbidden it now, but her approval meant a lot to them. She was the closest thing either had to a real parent.

Misato could feel the mood lighten almost instantly and took full advantage of it. "I guess this explains your strange behavior earlier."

Asuka grinned. "Well, you know how it goes..." Beside her, Shinji smiled faintly. They had still been laughing about that when they had gotten home.

"So," Misato asked casually, "Is this just a momentary lapse of sanity, or has something been going on for a while?"

Asuka sighed wistfully. "It's been a while, all right."

"Exactly how long is a while?" Misato asked, her tone of voice not changing at all. The slight narrowing of her eyes, however, belied the casualness of her voice.

"Two months," Shinji replied distantly.

Misato just stared at her older charge for a moment, almost unable to believe it. "You've been together for two months?"

"Yeah." Asuka said, trying to sound casual.

Misato's eyes grew distant for a moment, flashes of half-remembered scenes of life coming to her memory. Arguments that seemed just a little too intense to be real, a touch here, a surreptitious glance there...

After a moment, Misato sighed. She'd never imagined that her two Children charges would have been capable of maintaining such a secret for so long. 'And it was right under my nose all along. Damn.'

"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Misato asked. She thought she knew the answer, but she wanted to hear it directly from the Children themselves. She deserved to hear it directly from them now, after all of this. They owed her that much, at least.

Shinji closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "We wanted to tell you, Misato; we wanted to tell you back when it first began, but... we couldn't."

Asuka nodded in agreement. "We were worried that you might try and break us up. That's why... we had to keep it a secret. We are sorry for lying to you, Misato, but this was just too important."

The fiery German girl sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, she continued on, her voice much more energetic. "I mean, look at how NERV orders our personal lives around; we weren't even allowed to go on a school trip! If we couldn't even do that, how the hell were we supposed to think that they wouldn't want to break us up?!"

Misato was surprised by the girl's vehemence, but she thought she understood all too well what her younger charge meant. "It's okay," she said. "I understand."

"Thank you, Misato." Shinji said.

"Yeah," Asuka agreed. "That... means a lot to us."

Misato smiled, then stood up and walked to the counter.

"What's in the bags?" Asuka asked.

Misato smirked and carried them back to the table. "I decided to pick up something on the way home. I didn't think that you should have to cook tonight, Shinji."

Shinji smiled, grateful for her thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Misato."

"What'd you get?" Asuka asked. She was always ready to try good food, not that this town had very much of it. She knew she had to get Shinji to visit Germany some time, just so she could show him what real food was. She was undeniably relieved as she saw Misato pull out a tray of lasagna, something Asuka hadn't had in years.

"That looks pretty good, Misato." Shinji said.

Misato smiled faintly. "That wasn't all I picked up."

Asuka grinned. "You got more food?" She wasn't really that hungry, but any opportunity for good food was enough for her. Shinji was a decent cook, but for some reason he seemed to enjoy making only Japanese food.

Shinji groaned, but couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face at his fiancée's enthusiasm. She had mentioned, more than once, how much she would appreciate some non-Japanese food. He had been able to oblige her, once, a few weeks ago.

Next to him, Asuka smirked, also remembering that night. Things had been beginning to get tense between them by then, the stress of total secrecy really starting to cause a rift. That night, however, had considerably helped lessen the stress, and may have even helped them keep the secret longer than they would have otherwise been able to.

Misato looked back and forth between her teenage charges, wishing she could understand just what was going through their minds at that moment. She had always prided herself on being able to predict what the two would do in any given situation. Now, though, the purple-haired woman finally began to realize just how complex they truly were.

When Misato spoke, she had a strangely solemn expression on her face. "No more food, I'm afraid."

Shinji and Asuka both looked at their guardian, curious as to what else she would have bought. If it wasn't food, what was it? And why was she even mentioning it?

Misato still looked strangely solemn as she pulled a bottle of champagne out of the second bag. The teens look confused for a moment, then Asuka nodded, smiling faintly. Shinji still didn't quite understand.

"I thought you would like something to celebrate your engagement," Misato said.

Asuka smiled. "Thanks, Misato."

"But... we're not old enough to drink," Shinji protested.

Asuka turned to look at her fiancée with a raised eyebrow. She didn't quite know whether to be amused or exasperated at his argument.

"Are you old enough to get married?" Misato asked casually.

"Yes." Shinji said, his voice quiet but determined.

"Then you're also old enough to drink," Misato responded evenly.

Shinji nodded after a moment. "Well, it's just... I never drank before."

Misato smirked. "You've never been engaged before, but you don't look to be having too hard of a time with it." Asuka smirked, but Shinji blushed faintly at the implied praise.

"And besides," Misato continued, "your blushing bride doesn't seem to have too much of a problem with it."

Asuka smirked. "Why would I?"

Shinji turned to look at her. He could guess well enough what she would have to say on the subject.

---

Misato smiled slightly as she looked across the table. The food was gone, and the champagne showed no sign of lasting through the night. She herself wasn't quite drunk yet, but both of her charges were beginning to look pretty tipsy.

They had made small talk over dinner, mainly of inconsequential things like school and synch tests. NERV's Operations Director had wanted to wait until both her charges were sufficiently relaxed and comfortable before really talking about the specifics of their relationship.

On a certain level, she felt kind of guilty about doing this; getting them drunk before probing for information. She had wanted to ask while they were still sober, but she wasn't sure if she could trust them to be completely honest.

The thought hurt, but the fact was that they'd concealed a relationship for two months. If they felt threatened by her questions, it was all too possible they would lie to her again. And as much as she cared for them both, she couldn't allow any more dishonesty.

"So," Misato asked, "why'd you wait so long to announce it?"

Both teens looked deep in thought for a moment. When they spoke, Misato knew the alcohol hadn't affected them as much as it had seemed to. Their voices were both slurred, but not as much as she'd expected.

"We only got engaged yesterday," Asuka said, "But the whole time, we didn't... we couldn't... let anyone know."

Shinji nodded. "We thought that if NERV found out, they would order us separated. That's why we had to... lie. We're sorry, Misato, but... we couldn't do it any other way."

Misato nodded. She knew they had reason enough to think that. In all honesty, had the commander not already approved it, she may have given serious thought to doing just what they feared.

She cared about them both almost as if they were her own children, but they were only fourteen years old. And she didn't even want to think about how this would affect their duties. 'Although', she admitted to herself, 'it hasn't hurt them so far...'

She blinked, suddenly realizing something. "Your synch ratios," she said slowly, "this is why they've been going up, isn't it?"

Both pilots looked blank at Misato's words. After a moment, however, Shinji's eyes widened in slight amazement. Asuka also looked surprised.

"This has helped us... I guess," she said, then paused thoughtfully. "It's a shame we didn't realize that earlier. That would have been a good argument to use against Commander Ikari."

Misato looked thoughtful for a moment. "How did that go?" she asked, "all he said at the meeting was that you two were engaged and that he'd given his approval."

Shinji sighed. "We went to his office right after the harmonics test."

Misato nodded. "I noticed that you both looked a little edgy."

"Wouldn't you be?" Shinji asked with a frown, "Depending upon what he said, we would either be engaged, or...something else." He didn't want to think about what that something else may have been.

"Fuyutsuki was also there. I think they were getting ready for the meeting when we walked in," Asuka said. "The commander asked what we wanted, so we told him. He didn't look the least bit surprised. Fuyutsuki..."

Shinji started to say something, but he shut his mouth before any words could come out.

Misato looked back and forth between them, all too aware that another secret was playing out again before her. "Fuyutsuki, what?"

Asuka grinned nervously for a moment, then her expression shifted over to her more normal look of haughty arrogance. "Fuyutsuki was also surprised, of course."

Shinji nodded quickly in agreement, but there was still a hint of nervousness in his features. Had Misato seen it a week ago, she may not have picked up on it at all. Now, however, she was on full alert for any signs of deceit.

She didn't look it, though. "So the commander wasn't really surprised?" Misato said, trying to change the topic back. She could find out the rest later, after she knew more about the relationship itself.

Asuka's grin fell slightly for a brief minute, but she was quickly able to overcome her outward nervousness. She could tell Misato didn't buy it, but she also knew that their guardian would let it go. For now, anyway. "Yeah. He didn't really look all that surprised."

The girl was about to throw in a comment about how cold-hearted their supreme commander was, but a question from her fiancée mentally stopped Asuka in her tracks.

"Do you think he knew, Asuka?" Shinji asked quietly. She didn't respond, but the slight widening of her eyes betrayed her thoughts on the subject.

Misato looked back and forth between her two charges. She could easily think up several scenarios as to why the commander may have known. The first was that Ikari was a very observant person; he may have noticed a few subtle signs that everyone else had missed. The second was that maybe surveillance had reported something out of the ordinary. The third was...

Oh, God. She knew all too well what the third one was. Without consciously doing so, Misato thought back on the standard policy for the pilots' bi-monthly physical exam results; any irregularities were to be immediately reported to the commander. As far as Misato knew, the pilots weren't even aware of that rule, but, if they had actually...

"We can talk about this tomorrow," Misato said, her voice firm. "We will talk about this tomorrow."

Shinji and Asuka nodded. They were determined, but also apprehensive. They could guess easily enough what their guardian was thinking of, and they also knew that she was right to think that.

Misato could feel the tension in the air, an almost tangible thing. She wished she could figure out how to lighten the mood some, before things got so tense that they started actually yelling at each other.

The purple-haired woman's eyes widened as another realization dawned on her. 'The yelling... the fighting...'

When she spoke, her voice was quiet, almost as if she was talking to herself. "The fighting was all fake, wasn't it? It was just a diversion."

The Children traded a tired smile. "Not all of it," Asuka said, her voice distant. "Some times we couldn't leave it alone when we were by ourselves."

Shinji closed his eyes for a brief moment and sighed. "Yeah. When we were alone, we argued sometimes. It... got worse as time went on."

Major Katsuragi's instincts were on full alert as Shinji said this, her mind coming to a conclusion that she couldn't allow. "You... fought?"

Both pilots looked at their guardian curiously, slightly unnerved by the icy tone. "Yeah," Shinji admitted quietly.

"We already told you we fought," Asuka said. "You've seen us fight. Why are you making such a big deal out of all this?"

Misato looked back and forth between the two again, her eyes narrowed. "Precisely how did you... fight?"

"Huh?" Asuka looked at Shinji, completely unaware as to how to answer the question. The Third Child was likewise confused.

"What do you mean, Misato?" He asked.

Misato's eyes narrowed even more for a second, then she relaxed slightly. Perhaps her initial guess had been completely off. She hoped it was, anyway. "When you fought, did you actually... fight?"

Shinji stared at Misato for a moment, still puzzled. Then he realized exactly what she meant. He opened his mouth to speak, but Asuka interrupted him.

"You mean physically?" The redhead asked. At Misato's nod, the girl shook her head. "No."

Misato was slightly relieved, but she still wasn't completely convinced that the two were telling the truth. "You never touched each other?"

Both pilots blushed, then Misato replayed her words. She mentally kicked herself in the head for letting her instincts get the better of her. A question like that could only alienate the two further right now.

"Not... like that," Asuka managed to force out. She hated being tongue-tied on those rare occasions when it actually happened, but right now was even worse. She glanced at Shinji briefly, but he still looked as red as a tomato.

For his part, Shinji was possibly more embarrassed than he'd been all day. Things were somehow different when they were alone. When no one else was around, it almost seemed like the world belonged to the two pilots, that nothing they could do was wrong. Now, though, he was almost mortified just by the unintentional meaning of Misato's question.

"So, how exactly did all of this begin?" Misato asked, trying desperately to change the topic. The none-too-subtle shift in conversation was not lost on either pilot, but both were more than willing to go along with it.

"I guess you could say it started the night I killed the Eighth Angel," Asuka said dismissively. "It went from there."

Misato quirked an eyebrow. "You're some storyteller, Asuka."

Asuka smirked. "Why don't you ask us when we're sober, Misato, instead of getting us drunk and pumping us for information?"

Shinji blinked. "What? You're... taking advantage of us?"

Misato smiled faintly. "I suppose that's what I was doing."

"Why?" Shinji asked, slightly hurt, "Don't you trust us?" The moment the words left Shinji's mouth, both pilots' eyes widened as they realized the trap they had fallen into.

"Yes," Misato responded evenly. "I trust you to perform to the best of your abilities as pilots. I trust you to be generally upstanding people. I would even trust you with my life if necessary. I do not, however, trust you to tell me the truth in regards to your relationship." Shinji and Asuka were slightly hurt by this, but they knew their guardian had more than adequate cause for saying that.

"Even if only as a joke, I asked you many times if there was anything going on. You always said there wasn't." Misato paused, then continued in a more sympathetic tone, "I can understand why you did that. But from now on, I want no more secrets or lies in this house. Do you understand?"

Shinji and Asuka both nodded solemnly. Misato continued, "No matter what you have to tell me, I will not get mad or forbid it. They only thing I will get mad about is you lying to me any more."

"You won't get mad about anything?" Asuka asked quietly.

Misato's expression softened. "I may get a little upset about certain things, but I promise that I will be as understanding as possible."

There was a brief moment of silence, with the two pilots trying to decide just how things should be now between them and their guardian, just how much they could tell and how much they couldn't.

"So," Misato asked, "is there anything else that you think I should know?"

The two pilots traded a brief glance, still mentally weighing what they should tell the purple-haired woman. She had a right to know, really, considering who she was to them, both personally and professionally.

After a moment of almost deafening silence, Asuka said, "I thought you wanted to talk about this tomorrow."

Shinji nodded in silent agreement, not wanting to discuss it, but knowing at the same time that they would eventually have to.

Misato leaned back in her chair and sighed. She'd never actually expected this to happen. Tomorrow it was, then. For tonight...

"So," Misato asked, changing the topic once again, "just why did you finally decide to go public with it?"

Asuka sighed, grateful for their guardian's silent agreement to wait until tomorrow. "It was getting... hard, keeping it a secret like that."

"It all happened yesterday," Shinji said quietly. "We talked it over."

Asuka nodded. "We just couldn't keep it up anymore. Even when we were alone, we were snapping at each other constantly. We'd just had a pretty bad fight. We apologized right after, but we could both see that we were reaching our breaking points. We either had to end it, or go public... where we thought NERV would end it for us. It was a lose-lose situation."

"Is that what you meant by the fighting getting worse over time?" Misato asked, still slightly embarrassed by her earlier gaff. Shinji nodded in response, his eyes distant.

"So what happened?" Misato asked.

"Shinji proposed. I accepted," Asuka said casually. The faint smirk on her face, though, told Misato that things probably hadn't been quite that simple.

Shinji nodded in agreement to Asuka's words. His thoughts were on the complexities of yesterday, but he didn't want to bring that up now, if ever. "We confronted my father earlier today. We expected him to forbid it, but he didn't."

Asuka sighed. "Two months of worrying, two months of keeping it hidden. It was all... for nothing." Both Children frowned thoughtfully.

"Well," Misato said optimistically, "just look on the bright side; you don't have to hide it anymore. And... I would imagine that you two are closer for having kept it to yourselves. It may have been painful to do so, but you've both suffered pain before. And as much as it hurt at the time, it made you better people in the long run."

The two pilots stared at their guardian for a moment, digesting the words. On one level, they made sense, but on another level, they just didn't fit. Shinji sighed and closed his eyes momentarily, but Asuka just smirked faintly.

Misato relaxed back into her chair, content to share the comfortable silence with the two adult children sitting across from her. Her thoughts wandered randomly for a moment, before finally settling on her curiosity about the past two months.

As much as she cared for the two pilots, Misato had realized long ago that neither was the most... social... person that she'd ever met. For them to fall into a relationship like this, without anybody to give them advice or reassurances... it must have been intimidating, at the very least.

"Secrets well kept," Misato muttered, almost unaware that she spoke out loud. Her two charges heard what she said, though.

Asuka smirked faintly, but the expression didn't have its usual energy. "I guess you could say that."

Misato thought for a moment, then her expression hardened slightly. As much as she didn't want to alienate the two Children any more than she already had, there were a few questions that she had to ask. "Was it... hard?"

Shinji closed his eyes, his guardian's question bringing to mind thoughts he'd had every single day. "Yeah."

Asuka sighed. It had been hard all right. When they were alone, they'd been... together. They hadn't had to keep up all the secrets and facades they wore at school and at NERV. They could just be themselves.

Misato frowned. There was a question she wanted to ask. Not as the Children's guardian or as NERV's Operations Director, but rather as just a person. "Did you keep secrets from each other?"

"No." Shinji said quietly. Had he looked over at his fiancée, the Third Child would have seen her trademark grin appear for a brief minute.

Asuka knew how bad it had been on Shinji to keep their secret, and also to keep secrets in general. But she also knew that thinking about it now would do nothing. They'd kept their secret for two months, but those two months were over now. "Actually," Asuka said crossly, "Shinji was keeping one secret from me."

Shinji blinked. "I was?" He tried to think up anything that he might not have told her. He couldn't recall anything even mildly important.

Asuka could see his confusion and smirked slightly. While it may have just been the alcohol clouding his mind, he had seemed remarkably sober so far. Exasperated, she held up her left hand, the ring catching the light in just the right way, almost seeming to sparkle.

Shinji looked at the ring, still confused for a moment more. Then realization sunk in and he blushed slightly.

Asuka smirked at her embarrassed fiancée a moment more, then her expression softened. "I know why you kept it a secret, and I'm not mad. I would, however, like to know just when you picked it up."

Shinji nodded, honestly relieved. He'd thought Asuka was mad at him. Even with all that had happened, he couldn't predict her at all. "Well," he said, "it was... a few days after the Ninth Angel."

Misato was slightly surprised by how far ahead her older charge had thought; the Ninth Angel had been more than a month ago. But what really captured her attention at the moment, however, was the thoughtful expression on Asuka's face, almost as if that date held some special meaning.

Asuka looked at her fiancée carefully. "Was it before..."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah. A couple days."

"Before what?" Misato asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"You said we were going to wait until tomorrow to talk about that," Asuka said, her eyes never leaving Shinji's face.

After a moment, Misato nodded tiredly. That was indeed a subject for tomorrow. Tonight was for celebrating.

---

Kaji was idly whistling a classic lounge song as he rang the doorbell of the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu apartment.

The unshaven spy knew that NERV's Operations Director had wanted to talk to her two charges alone, but the meeting had ended more than five hours ago. By now, they were either laughing it up or sharing a cold silence.

Kaji wasn't quite sure which, though; Katsuragi was amazingly difficult to predict at times. Her two charges were as well, though. Kaji had never really expected something like this between them.

He had occasionally wondered about it, though. They were teenagers, after all, and they were actually quite similar if you looked past the surface. One of their shared similarities, however, was their desire to have as little human contact as possible.

Altogether, was indeed quite anxious to see what was actually going on. As unrealistic as it seemed at first, he was reasonably sure that the two pilots were indeed serious about their relationship. Asuka was known to have quite a sense of humor, but Kaji knew that she would not joke around about something like this. And even if she somehow did, Shinji would never go along with it, not if meant having to confront his father.

And while it was all rather strange, Kaji was... happy... for them. As cliché as it sounded, they deserved each other. He knew both pilots fairly well, and the NERV agent prided himself on his ability to judge character.

He really did hope that they could make it work. Despite their hidden maturity, they were still only fourteen. They had both the wisdom of adults and the strength of youth. They also, however, had the impatience of youth, something that had been the downfall of many relationships.

Despite his worries, he didn't think they would have any serious problems. If they were determined enough to get engaged, then he was reasonably sure that they were also determined enough to deal with any problems that may arise.

Kaji grinned as the door opened. Once he saw who it was, his grin became even wider. Standing before him was NERV's Operations Director, always a sight for his sore eyes.

At least now he knew the basics of what had been transpiring beyond the door. Misato was smiling. Not a full blown expression of joy, but rather just a small, satisfied smile. She looked... happy, for the first time in a long time. "Miss me, gorgeous?"

Misato quirked an eyebrow, but she couldn't altogether keep the humor out of her voice. "Not quite, but I suppose you can come in."

"I'd like to talk to you for a moment, actually," Kaji said, much more serious than before.

"About Shinji and Asuka?" Misato asked.

At Kaji's nod, Misato smiled faintly. "I thought you might. I needed to talk to you anyway."

Kaji raised an eyebrow. "What about?"

Misato looked both serious and amused at the same time. "Well, it's like this..."

-End Chapter 2

Author's Notes

My apologies for the lateness of the update. Things have been quite busy for me the past few months. I'm adapting well, however, so future updates should become more regular.

Also, this chapter was originally much longer. There was a collection of interludes and many scenes that I'd typed up, but they ultimately just didn't add to the chapter in any meaningful way.

I'm also one of those people that doesn't like permanently deleting things, so I almost always end up saving any scrapped scene that is longer than one paragraph in length. As of right now, I have over six thousand words in just the deleted scenes for this chapter, more words than the chapter itself has.

I'm still working on my other stories as well. I expect the third chapter of Standing at the Shore will be done within a month or so, and I also hope to finally get out chapter two of Sorrowful Reflections. I'm also working on a few different one-shots, and I'll most likely have at least one or two of those up within the next month or so.

I'm also still working on the prequel to this story. As it spans a two month period, it will be quite long. I have most of the basic ideas hammered out, and I have scenes here and there typed up. Most of it, however, remains in script format. The main thing I am unsure of is whether I should make it a one-shot or an eight chapter story.

As far as ADV itself goes, I am reasonably sure of where the story is going. When I first started this version of it, I had almost an entire outline typed up. If you've ever typed up an outline for a very long story over the course of one week, however, then you know what happens to the basic ideas over time.

Because I've changed around quite a bit of my outline, I have nothing set in stone for the rest of it. I know almost exactly how chapter three is going to go, and I'm pretty sure about chapter 4, but chapter 10 is still very much up in the air.

The only thing I am sure of is that it will eventually stretch to the equivalent of EoE, and that it will be at least sixteen chapters long, but probably even more.

As always, any comments, questions, or criticisms are welcome at omegahunter1@netzero.com

Rough Draft Started 3/18/04

Rough Draft Finished 4/15/04

Final Draft Finished 7/06/04