Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Third Genesis ❯ Chapter 11

Evangelion Third Genesis: Part Ten

'Revelation can come to us in the oddest places,' Ritsuko mused as she sat behind her desk in the city of Tokyo-3. For the cool blonde it had come out on a crowded dance floor, swaying with Maya in her arms. Looking down at that dark brown hair, holding the smaller woman close, Ritsuko had finally admitted to herself that she loved her.

"Now I just have to figure out how to tell her," Ritsuko sighed softly.

The office that Ritsuko was sitting in was still pretty bare, though a few personal touches had been added. There were her diplomas, a few of her university photos with Misato, and a couple of other items. Some of them had been salvaged from the destruction of NERV, others coming out from her own personal storage.

A firm knock on the door jerked Ritsuko from her thoughts, and she found herself hoping it might be Maya. But instead Misato pushed her way in, and she thought, 'Drat.'

"What do you want to do for tomorrow's promotion ceremony for Maya?" Misato asked as she dropped some papers on the top of the desk.

"She wouldn't want anything big," Ritsuko said with a slight smile.

"We ought to haul her out to the locket and get her drunk," Misato smirked. It was at times like this that the commander of NERV didn't look very much different from when she was just a Major. But if you looked below the surface, you could see the changes. Mostly it was in her expression and attitude, a serious intensity along with a greater sense of responsibility.

"That's not a good idea," Ritsuko shook her head firmly, "you see, I know that Maya is a serious and introspective drunk."

"And how do you know that?" Ritsuko sat up in surprise.

"From the last Christmas party," Ritsuko smiled fondly at the memory. "A wobbly Maya came over to me, blinking owlishly, and tried to have a conversation," she said, "it was cute." Ritsuko didn't add that she now suspected that Maya had been trying to tell her that she loved her.

Misato gave her an odd look, almost like she knew what Ritsuko was holding back from her, but didn't comment. Instead she shrugged, "OK, we'll keep it small. You, me, Rei and Asuka, and we'll give the tech-boys that Maya's been working with the chance to come up, too."

"Yes, ma'am," Ritsuko smiled. The dynamic between them was an odd thing, old friends on one hand, and the suddenly flip flopped roles of commander and subordinate on the other. It didn't help that Ritsuko had to occasionally remind Misato about her being in charge.

"Don't you start," Misato sighed. At Ritsuko's inquiring look she elaborated, "We've had to bring in a lot of new recruits, and they're all 'spit and polish' military types." She sighed, "Trying to just get them to call me Misato is hopeless."

"Ah, the terrible price of command," Ritsuko smirked. Since Misato had been promoted all the way to General, she rather suspected that her friends attempts to be a casual commander were going to be quite hopeless. Deciding to change the subject Ritsuko asked her, "Have Rei and Asuka moved in with you yet?"

"The stuff Rei bought and Asuka's gear should all have been shipped to the new suite today," Misato smiled, "and we'll be doing the sorting of stuff tonight."

"You did clean up first, right?" Ritsuko asked suspiciously.

Misato looked surprised, "Why would I do that? It'll just give them an unrealistic idea about what living with me will be like."

"Oh, god," Ritsuko muttered. "I hope Asuka warned Rei, at least," she sighed.

In an shining new apartment building in another part of Tokyo-3 Asuka lead Rei down the hallway as they talked together softly. Outside of one of the apartments shipping boxes of various kinds had been stacked up, some marked as Asuka's, a few for Rei.

"The place is going to be a total mess," Asuka warned Rei as they reached the door.

"It can't be that bad," Rei innocently commented.

"Trust me, it can," Asuka swiped her card in the door's reader.

The door swung open to reveal what could without much exaggeration be called an disaster area. The layout wasn't bad, a tidy kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms beyond, but junk of one kind or another was scattered all around the room. Empty take out containers, beer cans, cups, plates and bowls were cluttering every surface.

"Oh, my," Rei said weakly.

"Actually, it's not as bad as I remember," Asuka noted.

"It's not?" Rei looked at her disbelievingly.

"Less beer cans," Asuka shrugged. She smiled slightly as she carefully navigated the mess, "Let's go check on Pen-pen."

"Pen-pen," Rei repeated, but it sounded like she recognized the name. They made their way to the kitchen and opened up the fridge.

The penguin laying there in the fridge looked like it was dozing, then one eye popped open suddenly. Pen-pen looked the two of them over, quickly determining that they were not carrying any food, then he managed to pull the door shut himself.

"Now if you were carrying beef jerky, he's be trying to mooch it off of you right now," Asuka laughed as they began to collect the boxes of stuff piled outside.

"This is a very interesting place," Rei murmured as she hefted a box.

"Having second thoughts?" Asuka asked a bit nervously.

"No," Rei shook her head firmly. She looked over at Asuka, "I seem to remember being alone a great deal." A sad smile, "I don't want to be like that any more."

"I'm glad," Asuka smiled. She went into one of the bedrooms, and blinked in surprise as Rei followed her inside, "Did you want this room?"

Rei frowned slightly, "I thought that we would be sharing a room."

Asuka paled slightly, "You want to?"

A gentle smile. "Yes, I would," Rei said softly.

"Ok," Asuka puffed out a breath, "we'll just move another bed in here."

Rei looked at the single bed already in there with a slight frown. Innocently she asked, "Couldn't we just share a bed?"

Asuka paused, trying to figure out how to explain to Rei what problems sharing a bed would likely cause. "Two beds," she finally decided to say, "I toss and turn when I sleep."

Rei nodded a bit doubtfully, "All right."

Misato smiled to herself slightly as she opened the front door to her apartment and headed inside. Carefully sidestepping various piles of junk she raised an eyebrow as both Rei and Asuka stepped out of one of the bedrooms. Peeking inside she noticed some of both girls' items in the room, and gave Asuka a wicked little smile. "Isn't this interesting," she murmured.

Asuka waited until Rei was out of hearing range to whisper, "She insisted, Misato."

"Uh huh," Misato smirked.

"Help me get the other bed in there," Asuka said with a sigh.

"You're not sharing a bed?" Misato actually looked a bit disappointed.

Asuka sweatdropped.

Maya stood in the repair bays, the boyish brown haired woman gazing down from a metal catwalk at the Unit 02. The red humanoid robot had been a complete wreck when the tech teams had gotten it weeks ago, ripped apart by the mass production EVAs. But all their efforts had finally paid off, and it stood there fully repaired before them.

'Or healed, maybe,' Maya mused. The EVAs were in many ways living organisms, and like Asuka itself the 02 had a difficult time restoring itself. Much of it's internal systems had to be rebuilt from scratch, and testing it would likely require more weeks of work.

But at least it was whole once more.

"Maya?" a quiet voice came from behind her, echoing in the massive repair bays.

Maya turned, her eyes widening as she saw the elegant blonde walking towards her. "Ritsuko," she squeaked, wondering what her sempai was doing here.

Ritsuko smiled gently, "I was wondering if I could talk to you."

To be continued...