Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Hearts & Minds ❯ Summer Storm ( Chapter 2 )

Note: I do not own the characters or major themes in this story they are owned by GAINAX. This is a fan-fiction, no income will be generated in its distribution, it is simply a tribute to a great series.

Chapter 2: Summer storm

2.1 You can't handle the truth!

Authors note:

[[So what's going on? Well you can find out in this chapter, recapping and explanations nicely mixed with character interactions, everyone's back!]]

The next morning was a late start for all, none having the energy to set the alarm the night before. Of the sleeping household Shinji was up first, and headed into the bathroom.

He was back out quickly, dressing before anyone else was awake. Alone, Shinji decided to start breakfast. Setting the water to boil he went out onto the veranda to enjoy the midmorning sun. Leaning against the railing he heard the door slide open behind him, he turned to see Rei, dressed in her school uniform, walking towards him. He turned back, looking out onto what was left of the city.

"Good Morning Rei, did you sleep well?" he asked contently. Rei joined him, leaning against the railing.

"It was..." she paused for a second. "very nice" she finished, a relaxed expression on her face. The two stood there for a while, chatting about the quietness of the still mostly abandoned Tokyo 3. After a while the sliding door opened again, this time Asuka emerged, wearing her yellow summer dress.

"Come on you two, this breakfast isn't going to make itself." she said casually.

Shinji and Rei re-entered the kitchen to help Asuka make breakfast. They were quickly ready and Asuka went off to wake Misato. Soon they were all sitting down enjoying the meal.

Misato worried about the time as they were expected at NERV very soon for the bare-all brief from Gendo, something she didn't want to miss. They were speculating about the expected level of deceit to be exposed by Gendo when the phone rang. It was Ritsuko, she said that the meeting had been postponed until tomorrow as Gendo and Fuyuzuki were still required for "debriefing" by numerous world officials. Misato let out a sigh, and after relaying the information to the others, Asuka and Shinji imitated her. She continued chatting with Ritsuko when a slightly annoyed Asuka suddenly smiled. Jumping up she suggested that they all go shopping to get Rei some new clothes. Misato thought about this for a second, and obviously approved as she started to ask Ritsuko about what their expected schedule would be today. Ritsuko confirmed they wouldn't be needed until about 6pm, as general clean up was still going on. Misato gave a nod to Asuka who smiled triumphantly. Misato finished up by asking if Ritsuko wanted to accompany them, and with a little persistence managed to convince her to join them at noon for lunch. The only question was where, the area around Tokyo 3 had been a war zone only a day earlier and thanks to Shinji's efforts the road and rail link to the south had been cut. They decided to go to a small town to the north west. It had barely been aware of the fighting and today was market day. It was settled then, Misato confirmed with Ritsuko before hanging up and returned to the table. Breakfast was quickly wrapped up and soon all 4 were at the front door.

"Hold on a second" interrupted Asuka. "We have the van right?"

"Yah" said Misato.

"Well can I give Hikari a call. It's always good to have another woman's opinion when you go clothes shopping." Asuka said enthusiastically.

"Sure, why not?" replied Misato happily, 4 kids were no worse then 3.

"Hey can I call Toji and Kensuka" burst in Shinji "I think Toji's out of the hospital now."

"Now what would those stooges know about fashion?" snapped Asuka irritably.

"They're not there for fashion tips, they're there to keep me sane from your girl chatter!" Shinji snapped back, but both with more cheek then venom. Neither however backed down and were soon squaring up to each other, to the obvious surprise, and pleasure, of Asuka.

"Now that's enough you two" said Misato rolling her eye's "There is enough room in the van for everyone, now if you don't hurry up and call we will never get there"

"I've got the phone first." exclaimed Asuka, dashing away. Shinji, not prepared, watched her go with a smirk.

"Shinji" said Misato. He turned just in time to catch the mobile Misato had thrown at him.

Soon they were all in the Van and on their way to the school, a convenient relying point, to pick up their three friends. The city was still in a bit of disarray, after the battle it had seen only yesterday. And they had to stop at the occasional military checkpoint.

The whole situation was to say the least, surreal, whole city blocks had been badly damaged during the assault, not to mention the massive hole created by the N2 mine through to the geofront. The city had been overrun by an invading army only yesterday, and today, emerging once more from the bunkers, were the citizens of Tokyo three, attempting to get on with their lives once more. Shinji speculated to himself that this amazing ability to accept such massive changes to their environment was due to the conditioning of the preceding Angels' attacks. After all Tokyo 3 was a fortress city, even after all the damage it had sustained the sheer number of backup systems meant that even if your next door apartment building was vaporised, you probably still had electricity and water. So people simply got on with it.

He looked out of the window at the passing city, it always surprised him how hardy the trees were, even after all the abuse they were still there, still alive, and looking relatively healthy. He smiled. The drive went quickly and soon they were at the school.

There to greet them were their three friends. The greetings were a little more enthusiastic then usual as the past days had seen some massive changes and Asuka had been out for some time. Hikari gave Asuka a massive hug, afterwards greeting Shinji, Misato and Rei happily. There was a round of hitting of elbows and slapping of backs as Toji and Kensuka congratulated Shinji on a job well done. They also quickly greeted Rei and Misato even managing some happy comments for demon girl, who actually responded in kind, though with a slight air about her. Soon however they returned the conversation to the battle, Toji and Kensuka wanted to know all the details.

So on the trip up to the small town the car was split up along lines of gender. Shinji in the back giving an enthusiastic account of the following days action while in the front the girls also discussed the previous days events, though from a slightly more human aspect.

Upon hearing Asuka ask about Hikari's family, Shinji controlled himself enough to break his retelling and to enquire about his friends experience the previous day. So then the tables were turned, and Hikari, Toji and Aida all explained about how they and their families had hurried to the shelters upon the alarm given out from NERV, indicating an imminent attack. They said that there had been fighting nearby and all were shocked to see armed troops enter the compound. Apparently they were U.N troops and after doing a quick search, they told everyone to stay there and then left. Everyone was really worried, it was the first time troops had entered the shelter, the fighting continues for hours with some massive explosions being heard. After the all clear was given they came back out to see more troops deployed, this time from the JSDF, the damage to the city was awesome. Luckily there were no shelters in the central city area, which had been hardest hit, if not demolished completely, so they knew of no one who was missing. If they thought their world was crazy that was just the start, Toji said that on his way home a young man had run past saying that he had heard in the news that there was mass chaos throughout the world. Kensuka and Hikari agreed, saying that the bulletins were going non-stop, all over the world there were countless assassinations and general political unrest. There appeared to be a seemingly endless string of military and political coup's going on simultaneously. Critical targets had been hit, seemingly terrorist attacks, though no-one was claiming responsibility, no one new who to trust any more, the world political system had seemingly ceased to function. Everyone was in a climate of fear and mistrust, most states had declared marshal law while the upper circles apparently struggled for power. For what reason and to what end, no one new. Misato looked shocked at the news, she had heard reports but it sounded much worse from the accounts of three young adults. She mused aloud at what depth the SEELE organisation really ran around the world. The five turned and looked at her, not knowing much about the organisation called SEELE.

Soon however Suzuhara pressed Shinji to continue his battle accounts and all listened as Shinji gave a graphic and elaborate description of the previous days events. All listened, as none of the pilots had really discussed it yet. Even Asuka was impressed with Shinjis tale of his and Reis exploits, turning to Rei at one stage to ask if it really happened that way, to which she nodded. Then it was Asukas turn, simply saying that she had regained consciousness (a quick gloss over) and found herself in her Eva at the bottom of a lake. She then gave an equally impressive account of her performance until Shinjis arrival, continuing on to tell about their combined exploits. Shinji noted that she didn't try to play up her own contribution and even gave him some complements during her retelling, affording him a few smiles. At the end Shinji asked Rei about her separate fight, compared to the enthusiasm of the other two Reis retelling was short and completely unenthusiastic, though compared to her usual answers it was an accurate, if brief retelling. Misato interrupted to embellish a bit, painting the picture of a guardian angel protecting her troops, apparently captain Muyo had given a glowing de-brief and the entire division was referring to Rei as their Guardian Angel. Everyone including Asuka praised Rei for her efforts. After this the girls (meaning Asuka, Misato and Hikari, with Rei listening) started to discuss clothes while Shinji went into the finer details of the combat for Suzuhara and Toji.

Soon however they found themselves at their desired location, it was a picturesque town situated in a valley with a small river running through it. With a population of only about 6000 it was a bit of a tourist town but the large Sunday market made the influx of people very large. The recent events however meant that the crowds were not particularly large and Misato found a parking space easily. They all jumped out of the car excitedly, stretching in the basking sun, even Rei managed a smile, it really was a beautiful day. The market itself was a sprawling mass of tables in the central square, the setting was perfect, with the tree lined banks of the river on one side and a mixture of shops and cafes on the other. Asuka quickly lead the way, prompting Hikari, Rei and Misato to follow. Rei nodded slightly to Shinji and turned to follow.

Rei now turned away, Shinji noticed Hikari doing some similar silent communication with Toji, though before she turned she noticed Shinjis look and blushed slightly before making her way behind Asuka. Shinji turned to Toji who was trying to look innocent.

"Well looks like we're off already, you boys don't go wondering to far" said Misato, happily walking past the three boys.

"Have fun Misato." called Shinji after her, then turned his attention back to Toji. Waiting until Misato was out of earshot, he said with a devious smile.

"I do believe our dear friend Toji has something he wishes to tell his good friends about himself and Hikari." he said.

"I don't know what your talking about." said Toji defensively, turning slightly red.

"Oh come on Toji it is sort of obvious." said Kensuka coolly, while fiddling with his camera.

"Yah Toji spill the beans" Shinji said. They walked over to the river bank leaning against the railing under the trees and watched the river flow by below.

"Sooo?" prompted Kensuka with a smile, he was enjoying his friends unease.

"Well it just sort of happened… O.K.." said Toji a little angrily.

"AH Ha! You and the class rep! " said Kensuka. " So have you kissed her yet!?" he continued, goading his taller friend.

"Maybe" replied Toji, a little quickly. Shinji and Kensuka traded large smiles, even Toji was smiling now.

"So how was it?" asked Kensuka calming down a little.

"It was…… nice" Toji said a little embarrassed. All three chuckled at their own thoughts.

"You're a lucky man Toji" said Shinji "Hikari is a lovely girl"

This was somewhat more mature then the three were used to and it knocked the silliness out of the air for a few seconds.

"So how long have you two been serious?" asked Shinji in the spirit of the new mood.

"Well…… while I was in hospital, she visited me a lot and helped with my rehab, you know." replied Toji.

"Yah she seemed to be there a lot when I came to visit, always bossing you around saying how you had to recover to get back to school." interrupted Kensuka.

"Yah… well, later she came a lot when you were not there" continued Toji, a smile appearing on his face. "And you wouldn't believe it, but when it's just the two of us she's very different, all caring and such." he said, staring lazily in the direction of the girls.

"And then one day when we were in the garden, it just sort of happened. That was about a week ago." he said finally. The slight pause finally broke the spell of the serious mood, and a mischievous grin returned to Kensuka.

"So you and the class rep ha? Well that's it for you in class now, its going to be all, yes miss Hikari sure thing miss Hikari" said Kensuka in a mock girlie voice. Shinji laughed, and added his own comment to the fray.

"Under the thumb, ha ha ha" he laughed mid sentence "And the biggest thumb of all!" finished Shinji then continued to laugh. Toji, brought out of his thought stream, grabbed Kensuka in a headlock and rubbed his scalp viciously with mock annoyance and soon the three were gallivanting noisily.

Over where the girls were standing Hikari just heard the ranting of the boys over the buzz of the crowd. She turned to see Shinji wrestling with Toji in an attempt to free Kensuka. The sudden thought of the three stooges talking about her made her go a deep shade of red.

"Boneheads" she said to herself. Asuka, who was standing nearby inspecting a jumper, turned to her friend with an inquisitive "Hmm".

Following Hikaris line of site she spotted the boys off in the distance.

"So the three stooges reunited once more." Asuka said, though there was only mock annoyance in her tone. Hikari, startled that anyone noticed her comments, looked down quickly.

"Yahh" she managed simply, though her tone and poise gave her away, Asuka new something was up, and went to the most obvious choice of discussion.

"So how is Toji doing" she asked innocently, though eyeing her friend carefully. Hikari flinched at the name and hesitated in her response, that was enough confirmation for Asuka who turned to see were Misato and Rei where. Misato had spotted some hats and glasses and was making Rei go through each possible combination. Asuka quickly grabbed Hikari and lightly dragged her off to the side a little so that they could talk.

"So" said Asuka eagerly, "have you kissed him yet?"

"Asuka!" responded Hikari in a shocked voice, though soon after she turned red with a shy smile on her face.

"We've kissed" she whispered, her face redder and her smile bigger then before.

"And?"

"It was …. nice" She said finally.

Asuka then continued to press Hikari for information, getting out many details of the developing relationship, she even managed to keep her criticisms of Toji down to a minimum, something unexpected but pleasant for Hikari. They didn't have much time, but after five minutes Asuka ended the discussion with.

"Well I hope he knows how lucky he is, that bonehead had better treat you properly" she said with a smile.

"Don't worry, if he doesn't, I'll give him a bop on the head!" Hikari replied, giving one of her best class rep poses. The two girls giggled to themselves as they went back to find Rei and Misato. They returned to find Rei wearing a petite French beret and a small pair of rim-less round sunglasses.

"Misato!?" said Asuka flustered "Can't I leave you alone for a second"

"What" replied Misato innocently "I think she looks great."

"Do you not like the hat" asked Rei quietly. Asuka put her hand on her chin and gave Rei a once over.

"Actually on you its not bad" Asuka said "But from now on me and Hikari help decide, otherwise Misato's going to have you look like some damn French poet!" she finished. Misato gave Asuka a quick dirty look and all four continued to shop happily. And so it continued for the next 2 hours, the girls steadily made progress, utilising some portable change rooms to have Rei try every combination.

During the same time the boys went off to explore the town, it wasn't very large, though they did find the start of a walking track up to a nearby hill.

They returned to the market place, Shinji leaving Kensuka and Toji to look over some electronics while he looked for the girls.

He found them with Rei standing in front of the other three, showing of the latest combination, a nice simple summer dress with a small cardigan. The three sitting females were looking on with a professional eye and Asuka instructed Rei to spin around. Rei complied but stopped as she caught Shinjis eye. Rei looked exhausted, unlike the other girls shopping did not appear to be her cup of tea. Shinji gave her a pleasant smile, which seemed to pep her up.

"So what to you think Shinji?" she asked pleasantly.

"You look very nice" Shinji replied with a smile. Rei smiled and turned back to the three girls.

"I would like to have this dress" she said simply, but sweetly. Asuka annoyed by having her vote overridden by Shinji let it show a little in her expression, but after 2 hours she was also beginning to have enough.

"Good choice Rei, I agree" she said in the end, Misato and Hikari nodding in agreement. Shinji having noted Reis earlier expression approached Misato.

"Would it be O.K if we had lunch now Misato, we found a lovely cafe up near the bridge" he said looking down at his watch. Misato also looked down, not realising how much time had past.

"Sure thing. Ritsuko is meant to be meeting us in half an hour anyway" said Misato. They gathered together Reis new wardrobe, Asuka making Shinji carry the lot to the cashier. There were about 3 complete outfits as well as some other items. Rei stayed in the summer dress and soon the new and old clothes were bagged and payed for. Shinji was glad to see Toji and Kensuka again, giving 1/3rd of the bags to each of them. Grumbling the boys led the girls up the river to the cafe they had found just across the bridge. All gratefully settled down at a table outside near the riverbank. They let out a small sigh as they finally sat down, even Rei. Misato called Ritsuko to tell her where they were, and soon the waiter came to take drink orders. Soon the air around the table was filled with idle chitchat as they waited for Ritsuko before ordering. The atmosphere was surprisingly friendly (especially considering Asuka and the three stooges were on the same table) but Asuka was mellow today, and the three boys were not quite as silly as normal, so the atmosphere remained civil.

Some things covered in the light conversation included Shinji asking Hikari what cooking she had been up to, and Asuka even discussing the town layout and the hiking track the boys found with Toji and Kensuka (much to their own surprise). Even Rei was relatively chatty, having regained some energy after the shopping experience. The pleasant atmosphere at the table was from everyone's point of view, totally un-expected. Granted a lot had happened over the last few months but the changes seen on this table were, to say the least, a pleasant surprise for everyone. Mostly everyone was still themselves, though now they appeared to consider the others on the table a little more, either toning down their undesirable points or being generally a little mindful of their comments, or forgiving towards others. Misato sat back and watched the children in front of her chat away, smiling to herself.

`It was about time they grew up!' she mused to herself.

About 20 minutes later Ritsuko arrived, just in time too, they were all hungry and ordered immediately upon her arrival. She greeted all, remembering the faces from Misato's party, she scanned the table, lingered on Shinji and Rei who were sitting next to each other. She appeared in a good mood, and asked Toji how his recovery was going. In their discussion it came out that Ritsuko had had much to do with the fitting of Tojis' prosthetics, and proudly they both pointed out it was the most technically advanced set of prosthetics in the world. It was capable of simulating 80% of the limbs original function without any undue stress to the host, and only requiring maintenance every two months or so. All were most impressed and Shinji somewhat relieved his friend could still lead a relatively normal life. The food was fantastic and soon all settled down, content to enjoy the mid afternoons going on. Misato and Ritsuko began to chat about work, though Shinji could tell that they restricted their discussion occasionally because of the company. The good mood on the table was beginning to strain a bit as Asuka's patience with Toji and Kensuka began to ware a little thin.

"Misato?" said Shinji suddenly.

"Yes" said Misato, interrupted from her conversation with Ritsuko.

"I was wondering if we" he indicated the boys "could go on that walking track we found up to the hill near by…… and perhaps if the girls have had enough of shopping?" he gave Rei then Asuka a quick smile. "they might like to come too."

Misato looked at him for a second.

"Sure thing, just make sure your all are back here by 4 pm O.K" She said with a wink. The boys got up to leave. Shinji looked back at the girls.

"Well are you girls coming?"

Asuka looked over at Rei then Hikari, both looking back at her expectantly, she new why, but then again the prospect of more shopping didn't thrill her either. Plus she was up for a bit of exercise.

"Well I suppose someone has to make sure the three stooges don't get lost" she said with a sly grin, and all of them got up and made their way off, leaving a grateful Misato and Ritsuko behind.

The trip up the hill was lovely, there were many small blooming gardens and temples on the way as well as some ponds. Originally the groups were segregated but about 15 minutes later Shinji dropped back and Rei caught up with him, the two talked about Reis shopping experience. They walked like that for the next 20 minutes, the two boys now way in front and Asuka and Hikari just behind Shinji and Rei. Towards the top the going was a little tough and the conversation slaked off as they all concentrated more on breathing. Finally they came to the top, a medium sized clearing in front of a small but impressive temple which had a rocky outcrop behind. It consisted of a fantastically manicured lawn surrounded, and interspaced, with fountains, ponds and ornamental plants. The clearing offered fantastic views of the surrounding countryside. As the 4 got onto the main lawn they looked for the other 2, whom they had not seen in the last 8 minutes or so. Shinji spotted Toji over by the temple sitting by a large pond. He called out, asking were Kensuka was, to which Toji replied he had gone to climb the rocky outcrop. Hikari automatically moved to go to Toji and didn't originally notice that no one followed her. She turned to see the three eyeing a patch of nearby lawn. Asuka turned to give her a smile.

"Well go on." she said simply, Shinji also gave Hikari a smile, which made her blush a bit but she smiled back and made her way to Toji. Shinji made his way over to a shady patch under a cherry blossom tree and collapsed onto the grass. Rei and Asuka soon followed, sitting on a bench nearby, Rei sitting proper, knees together, Asuka slouching, limps splayed.

"So Hikari and Toji finally got together" Asuka said, emphasising the `finally'.

"I hope he knows how lucky he is" she added. There was a pause, birds chirping nearby, Rei turned to look at Hikari and Toji in the distance, he had his arm around her.

"I think he does" said Shinji calmly, his eyes closed.

"So how long have you known?" asked Asuka.

"He spilled the beans just after we arrived." replied Shinji. "And you?" he added innocently. Asuka looked at him for a second before answering.

"Not that it's any of your business but she confirmed to me today as well." she said, leaning back, staring over in their direction, adding. "But she's been after him for quite some time, not that I understand why."

Shinji chuckled a bit to himself.

"I think it was a bit of a surprise for him… I don't think he had any idea." Shinji said.

"I do not understand" said Rei suddenly "They never gave the impression that they had any affection for each other, in fact at school it appeared quite the opposite." she added.

"Well that's the proof isn't it" said Asuka. "She couldn't show she cared so it came out in other ways" there was a slight pause as they all digested that, and suddenly Asuka turned red, adding quickly "But that's not the case in all circumstances."

Shinji, on the ground, kept his eyes closed but smiled a little, he swore he could feel Asukas eyes boring into him from her seat.

"It does not make sense, if you care for someone you should simply show it" said Rei evenly. Asuka turned to look at Rei.

"Are you stup…" she cut herself off, frowning a little at one of her old comments that almost came out. "You can't do that!" she continued instead "What happens if they don't like you back, it would be so…. embarrassing!"

"Affection does not require reciprocation." said Rei evenly. "It is simply the projection of your feelings to another being" she continued. Asuka gave Rei a slightly confused expression but gave her response some thought, Shinji meanwhile listened intently.

"Yes but how you express that affection may make the other person uncomfortable" she said finally.

"I am not sure why that would be so" Rei replied, looking at the grass, a slightly confused expression on her face. "It is only recently that I have allowed myself to have these… feelings" said Rei. She looked up at Ikari.

"Shinji have I made you uncomfortable?" Rei asked. Shinji's eyes snapped open, he had not expecting the question and was momentarily at a loss, reverting to his old self.

"Well I….. umm … um … well" though then he snapped out of it.. sort of.

"Well, it was a little un-expectant, but it was nice" he said finally, in an almost calm voice. He looked over at Rei and Asuka, both looking back at him. For reasons not even really known to himself, he shrugged a little while exchanging glances with Asuka who was looking the slightest bit annoyed. Asuka turned back to Rei.

"Well I'm afraid we're all a little bit more complicated then that" she said evenly "Shinji here is not a good example of your normal person" she gave him a wicked smile "I wouldn't go around kissing everyone just because you feel like it." thinking for a second Asuka added "And definitely don't kiss me" . Rei looked back at Asuka.

"I am aware that it is inappropriate for me to kiss other girls or adults" she said calmly. "Naturally I do try to consider others when I can" she said, continuing to maintain her gaze on Asuka. Her gaze dropped slightly.

"Though I admit that my experiences are limited." she said, a slight hint of negativity in her voice. Asuka looked at her for a second.

"Well don't worry about it first, you have any question, you just come to me, I'll set you straight." she said reassuringly. Shinji wasn't so sure about that last comment but then again he had no reason to doubt her. Turning on his back he placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, a small smile on his face. Meanwhile Rei gave Asuka a neutral, almost doubtful look though then her expression softened slightly and she smiled a little. She got up, making her way over to Shinji on the grass.

"It is a lovely afternoon" she said off hand. Rei then found a place slightly in the sun and after checking the grass she lay down placing her head on Shinji's chest. Shinji, not overly surprised, only opened his eyes for a second. However a few moments later he opened them with a start as he felt another head on the other side of his chest. He raised his head to look down to see Asuka.

"Well, who would have guessed that Shinji was actually good for something" Asuka said slyly, she was ignoring Shinji but paying close attention for any reaction from Rei. Shinji looked across at Rei who did not appear disturbed in the slightest. Asuka obviously content with this little reaction, ignored Shinji and closed her eyes. Shinji gave up, at least he wasn't in too much trouble, and the two girls weren't too uncomfortable. He sighed to himself and lay his head back down. `Interesting day's' he thought to himself, dozing in the sun. And so it stayed for the next 20min or so as the three Eva pilots looked, for once, to be at peace together.

Meanwhile back down at the cafe, the mood was not indusive of dozing. Misato was all ears as Ritsuko told the little she had been able to find out about the past few days events, specifically what she believed happened to Gendo during the black out periods during his time in unit 01. Unfortunately she had not been able to do much as the JSDF had restricted NERV personnel movement as soon as they arrived. Obviously they weren't about to trust Gendo before they were completely satisfied with his answers. She did find out however that the combination of the 3 AT fields in that particular combination had resulted in a high pitch energy distortion, similar to the ray the 15th Angel had used against Asuka to effect her mind, though in this case an undirected version. Apparently the energy burst associated with the three way AT field had expanded with the pulse. Thus only remaining relatively localised. It did however temporarily effect all minds in the local area resulting in the lapses and (dreams) that everyone had experienced.

"So that's what Asuka experienced" Stated Misato.

"Well not really" replied Ritsuko. "The version we received was more intense but not manipulated, Asukas mind was deliberately attacked, our minds were simply exposed to a general version of what was used against Asuka." Ritsuko answered. "Also Asuka was forced to remain awake, I suspect that us becoming unconscious was our minds self defense weapon. Asuka however did not have that luxury." Ritsuko finished. She took a sip of the coffee she was holding.

"Hmmm not bad" she said softly, enjoying the coffee.

"Do we know exactly what this things effect has on your minds? Not to mention Shinjis or Gendos? There has been some massive changes in those two since their experiences in the Eva, are we sure they're still in control?" Misato asked, her voice harsh because of the subject matter but still caring.

"Well, what did you dream about Misato?" asked Ritsuko innocently.

"What?" Misato responded shocked, though she knew the discussion would turn to this sooner or later. "Ah well…. It was mostly my life… what I've experienced, and the people I've met. There seemed to be another version of me in there, and a lot of talking and reviewing of…" she paused, framing her next words more carefully "decisions I have made, and other personal things" she finished up. Looking down a little shyly, though quickly she looked back up at Ritsuko.

"And what did you dream about?" she asked.

"Much the same as you I would think." Ritsuko said, in her usual over innocent voice.

"Everyone I've talked to about it has given a very similar account. Though no-one wants to go into the specific's about the nature of their personal experiences." Ritsuko said with a wry smile.

"It appears that it is a mechanism for self analysis, a seemingly detached version of yourself, unclouded by the weight of your experiences, analysing our past actions and motives in their given situation." She continued. "Something that may be very hard to hear for some people" she added, looking at Misato over her coffee. Ritsuko was allowing herself to get a little to smug in Misato's eyes.

"Probably all" said Misato, holding Ritsuko's gaze.

"What about Gendo?' asked Misato. "The changes in him are massive, he's like a different man."

She noticed Ritsuko flinch at the name and her gazed wavered and broke. Misato was surprised, it was very rare that her old friend showed any signs of uncomfortableness openly. Something was up, though for once she decided that she should tread carefully.

"What's the matter, Ritsuko" she asked caringly. Ritsuko regained her composure and looked up the valley, staring at some distant object. Misato let her have her time, taking a sip of her drink. There was a pause for about 20sec, then Ritsuko spoke evenly and slowly.

"You know that I am not one to talk about my personal life"

"Gee, do I know that, you haven't told me anything since the day we first met" Misato said with a big grin, though then she made the connection between the last two exchanges, and her happy face changed to one of shock.

"You" she stammered. "and the commander!?"

Misato was shocked.

"How long?" she asked.

"For about 3 years" Ritsuko said simply. Now that it was out in the open she appeared to be more at ease with the topic.

"And in that time, just occasionally I have been able to get a glimpse of what makes him tick, a sample of the real Gendo Ikari."

She turned to face Misato who still had the same shocked expression on her face. "Don't get me wrong he was still that driven determined man that you know him as, that was what attracted me to him in the first place" she said with a smile.

"So, the short of it is that he is still the same man after the incident, I can see that, though his decisions and actions are now no longer effected by his past it seems" she finished up more quickly, recognising that she was letting on to much.

"What about all the things he did to you?" asked Misato still shocked "Only a week ago, I mean only yesterday you were scared to be around him! How could you be with such a man!"

Ritsuko however was remaining calm, she had obviously thought about this revelation before.

"I never said I had good taste in men" she said simply, with an ironic smile "Unfortunately the same thing that attracted me to him in the first place was the thing that allowed him to treat me so badly."

"I was a fool to think I could change the man he was." her face turning to a more stony expression, she continued "My own past demons and stubbornness made me blind to what was happening." she paused. "But the small pleasures received from that relationship is what I used to keep going…… was I not entitled of a little happiness?" she asked, her posture now more demure, that last outburst had been a little unplanned and more revealing then Ritsuko had intended. Misato looked at her friend.

"I'm sorry I raised my voice Ritsuko" said Misato, softly looking at her friend. "It looks like we all learned something from our two little experiences."

Ritsuko looked up at her again.

"Immediately after the incident" she continued, now gaining her composure. "The commander called me into his office….. and he apologised to me?"

Ritsuko could still not really believe her own words. "Apparently during his experience he was forced to not only see, but, to accept all of his previous actions. He said that he would try to right some of his previous wrongs, as much as he could." she lowered her eyes again. "Though he said he would understand if he could not be forgiven for his past actions." she finished up, staring at her cup in her hand solemnly. Misato put on a more determined expression.

"Well considering his recent actions, maybe you don't have such a miserable taste in men" Misato said with a wry smile. Ritsuko gave her a look.

"We will see." she said, not convinced.

"Why is it that every key member of the NERV staff seems to have a history of deep emotional problems?" Misato said in a humorous inquisitive way.

"Hmph" grunted Ritsuko with a smile.

"They're the only ones crazy enough to work there" Ritsuko added, back to her old voice again. The two woman looked at each other, smiling at the ridiculousness of their own past. Both laughed simultaneously. Just then however Ritsukos phone rang and she calmed down enough to answer it with only a semi-laughing "Hello, Ritsuko here"

Misato looked across to see her friend quickly snap back to her business like pose. It was Gendo on the other end. He asked if Misato and the pilots were there, and Ritsuko filled him in on the current situation. Gendo said that he and Fuyuzuki had been in conference for the last 6 hours, and that the council was now in deliberation, Gendo had been allowed leave, under supervision, while the council decided on the next course of action. As his future was still uncertain, he wished to meet up with them so as to explain the current state of events while he still had the option to do so. Upon hearing of their location he advised them to all stay there and to get accommodation, he would come to them as Tokyo 3 was still in a state of disarray. He discussed what he required from Ritsuko, some place with a small private conference centre, adding she should not worry about cost, as NERV assets were still not frozen. When asked about the other children Gendo said they could stay or go if they liked, whatever was convenient, he said he would be there in about 3 hours and excused himself. Ritsuko turned and relayed the information to Misato, they looked at each other questioningly.

"Well, it looks like we get to find out things sooner then we thought." Misato said, a hint of pleasure in her voice. Ritsuko nodded and the two continued to discuss various topics, they chose lighter subject matter, and the two old friends actually started to talk like two old friends.

Meanwhile back up on the hilltop Shinji was woken up by Kensukas shouts, he looked across to see his friend up on the top of the rocky outcrop waving his jacket around. Shinji moved to get up and the girls responded, lifting their heads to allow him to leave, though Asuka mumbled something about being a useless pillow under her breath. Shinji got up, shouting back to Kensuka who said he had found a relatively easy path up to the top, and that he and Toji should come up. Shinji looked over at Toji who had his arms around Hikari, Toji looked at her and she nodded with a smile. Letting her go he went over to Shinji and the two went off under the distant direction of Kensuka. Hikari made her way over to the still lying girls, and joined them on the grass. The three chatted away happily, lying in the sun.

It only took the two boys 5min to join their friend up on the top, and the three sat there admiring the view for a while.

Eventually they came down and the party of six made their way down the hill. They returned to the cafe to find a note from Misato, telling them to call her phone, Asuka contacted her and found out the situation regarding Gendo. Misato and Ritsuko had found a local hotel with a conference room at some thermal springs, and the six were told to meet them there.

They arrived to find a beautiful hotel, built to look like some ancient temple, but decked out in the most modern ways. It was simply beautiful, with the thermal springs looking much like that one Asuka, Shinji and Misato had visited after the defeat of the 4th Angel. Upon discussion Toji, Kensuka and Hikari decided to stay the night, not wanting to give up the chance to stay at such a lovely establishment. They went off to ring their parents/guardians for permission. Ritsuko got 6 rooms, as Gendo had instructed, one for the girls one for the boy's and one for each of the adults including one for Gendos guard. The hotel was relatively quiet and there was no problem organising the rooms. Soon the travelers were off investigating their rooms for the night.

The rooms were spacious, with TV, air-conditioning and luxurious private bathrooms, not quite as nice as the last hotel room he stayed in (thought Shinji) but that one was simply over the top, he thought with a smile. The NERV party was allocated two adjacent private hot pools, one for the boys one for the girls and soon everyone was out relaxing in the late afternoon sun, enjoying the thermal pools and picturesque manicured gardens. The 5 woman were in their element, though the three boys had to concentrate to ignore the fact that there were 5 gorgeous naked woman separated from them by only a single bamboo wall, luckily soon they got over it. They stayed like that till about 6 o'clock when Toji and Kensuka left to explore the hotel. Asuka, Hikari and Rei also left, with Hikari and Asuka discussing ways to fix Reis hair. Ritsuko and Misato were dozing. All was quiet when Shinji heard the door to his thermal pool open. He looked up to see, to his surprise, his father, dressed in nothing other then a bathing towel. Shinji however didn't flinch, remarkably, calmly looking at the man he almost didn't know. Gendo was no-longer wearing the sling, obviously deciding the wound was not that serious, though his shoulder was still bandaged.

"Shinji" said his father.

"Father" answered Shinji calmly.

Over in the woman's pool there were noises indicating that someone had just fallen off a deckchair.

"Misato and Ritsuko are in the pool next to us". Shinji said, pointing with his thumb. Hearing Misato swearing under her breath, Shinji and Gendo smiled.

"Captain Katsuragi, I hope you're O.K" called Gendo loudly. "Ritsuko, I must commend you on your choice of accommodation." he added.

"Thank you Gendo" replied the voice of Ritsuko, relatively calmly, almost playfully "I hope your conference went well" she added, returning to her usual tone. Shinji raised an eye, it was unusual for Ritsuko to use Gendos first name.

"It went as well as could be expected" said Gendo. Shinjis father came over and took a seat in the pool, leaning back on a rock and closing his eyes.

"Ahhh" Gendo sighed, something else unusual for him, for a moment silence returned to the pools.

"What do you think will happen to you? To us?" asked Shinji, interrupting the silence. He closed his own eyes and leant back. It was amazing how calm he was around his father now, totally inconceivable only a month before. This fact did not escape Misato or Ritsuko, who gave each other mildly surprised looks, though listened to the answer intently.

"Well you are all safe, you were not in charge" he said evenly "You are also still too useful to the legitimate U.N forces. My fate however is a little less certain, if my usefulness outweighs my past action or the continuing mistrust in my motives, is yet to be seen"

There was a pause for a second, with the only sound coming from the small waterfalls continuously supplying the pools with fresh water.

"Though that will come out later tonight" he said softly. "As for now, I would like to do what I have been unable to do for some time now, simply relax" and with that he let himself sink into the water until he was completely submerged, raising again slowly and leaning back on the rock smiling.

"Major Katsuragi! Would you be so kind as to organise dinner to be served in 30 minutes?" he called out over the wall. Misato, caught off guard listening by the wall, moved back quickly, giving away her previous action.

"Certainly Sir" she called back, giving Ritsuko an annoyed look while making her way to the door.

"I'll come to" said Ritsuko, loud enough for the males to hear her, and the two woman made their way out of the pool. Shinji heard their door close, and he and Gendo were left alone in the evening air. They stayed silent for about a minute, only a solitary bird breaking the silence with a lonely but beautiful call.

"It is a lovely evening" said Shinji finally, in a reflective way.

"It sure is" replied Gendo "And it's because of you that I am able to enjoy it at all" he added. Another pause.

"That was an interesting experience, the one we both went through" said Gendo, opening his eyes and looking at his son. "Though I wonder… How did you know that I would be able to come through?" he asked off hand.

"I wasn't." said Shinji simply "Though given the situation as it was" he opened his eyes and looked at his father. "It was the best course of action, and worth the risks… Given the alternatives" he said evenly but not unkindly. They held each others look for a few seconds, before Gendo broke off, smiling to himself and looking up at the sky. He chuckled slightly.

"I've underestimated you Shinji, your actions were… very commendable" he said finally, looking back up at the sky. Again a pause. his smile faded slightly.

"I suspect you know that fate and history will not allow our family to operate in any normal sense, even from now on" Gendo said evenly.

"I am aware of this now" Shinji answered thoughtfully. "I no longer have undue expectations, or indeed a need for them."

He paused for a second.

"Like you, I am now able to see others true intent somewhat clearer, and knowing this…. is enough for me" he said finally. He smiled to himself appreciating his own words. He sat for a few more moments then made to get up.

"I will see you at dinner."

And with that he got out of the pool and put on his towel. Putting on his slippers, he was halfway to the door when he heard his father speak again.

"Shinji"

Shinji turned to face Gendo, who was looking back at him seriously. "As I am, I'm sure Yui is proud, and grateful for your actions" he said, then gave a weak but heartfelt smile. Shinji smiled back then turned to go to the door, he opened it, pausing before going through he said.

"Enjoy your bath." and with that, he left.

Shinji returned to his room, showered, and changed into his clean clothes. This hotel really was upper class, their clothes had been sent to the laundry to be ready for them after the bath, as they had no change of clothing. Shinji left his room and ran into Ritsuko who was walking down the hall. The two headed off for the dinning room, Shinji speculating about what strange menu Misato had probably concocted. Everyone else other then Gendo was already there, seated around a large banquet table. Shinji sat between Misato and Kensuka, to Misatos delight, Kensuka had been continually asking her questions about NERV and the Evas. Ritsuko took the place to the other side of Katsuragi. Soon the first course arrived, it looked like Misato had let the chef decide what to serve, the options were delicious and varied, even Asuka didn't mind. They were about 20min in when Gendo arrived. Out of habit some of the NERV staff moved to stand, but Gendo quickly told them to remain seated. He sat next to Ritsuko and started to serve himself. Even though the conversation had not been particularly buoyant before it was dead quiet now. Pretty much everyone was still nervous around Gendo for many different reasons.

Shinji looked up and around, no one looked particularly stressed, but then again no one looked particularly comfortable either. Shinji smiled to himself, funny really, one of his oldest desires was to understand the man his father was. It had always appeared to him that he knew the least about his own father. Now it appeared that he was the only one who actually even begun to understand the new man, while everyone else was incapable of separating the current Gendo from his past, a past they could not understand in any case. Shinji thought about how to best break the silence without getting into discussion about the subject to be discussed later.

"Well this definitely beats NERV cafeteria food" he offered. There were a few smiles at that comment "And its definitely better then Misatos cooking" contributed Asuka cheekily.

"Hay!?" said Misato in a hurt tone, though Ritsuko and Shinji were suppressing a laugh. This broke the mood somewhat and Rei asked Hikari a question regarding the food, having discussed food earlier in the day, and Rei finding out that Hikari was a good cook. They continued to chat through the rest of the meal, with everyone listening, glad that the awkward silence had been broken. They finished up with desert, after which they made their way to the conference room. After a quick discussion with Gendo, Ritsuko, a little surprised, asked if Toji, Hikari and Kensuka would like to join as well, to the immeasurable delight of Kensuka. Soon they were seated at a long business table with proper chairs etc. Gendo sat at the far end with Ritsuko to his right and Misato on his left. After all were seated the room fell quiet, the only sound coming from the air-conditioning vents. Staring at them in his usual pose, Gendo then lowered his hands and began to talk.

The explanation lasted for about 3 hours, the most informative 3 hours of any of the participants lives, bar Gendo naturally. Even Ritsuko was unaware of the full picture, though she helped elaborate for a lot of the confirmed truths that she knew of. The audience was on a whole well behaved though there was some upheaval upon the revelation of Reis Angel origin, though Shinji lead the way in reassuring her that this would not effect their attitude towards her, an opinion which everyone quickly echoed. This appeared to dissipate the one concern Rei had with the debriefing, as she treated everyone to a generous smile. The only other near incident came when Gendo elaborated about what happened to Kaji. Gendo chose his words carefully and was obviously repentant, though Shinji swore that Misato was milliseconds away from loosing control for a few minutes. This all changed instantly when the biggest shock was revealed, Kaji was still alive! Misato almost fell from her chair and Asuka looked shocked, as Gendo described Kajis apprehension and incarceration. Apparently he had been left alive for interrogation about his contacts with SEELE, he was still a captive while the JSDF figured out what to do with him. Gendo was quick to assure Misato that he had made every effort to facilitate his release. Misato looked like she would burst into tears for a while but like the true professional she was held out to the end. The discussion wrapped up with a few questions, mostly from Kensuka, though they were spot on and no one else needed to ask any. The only subject Gendo remained vague on was the exact nature of what had happened to him and Shinji within the entry plug. And Shinji, when asked, did not wish to elaborate either. After giving a brief description of the challenges to come Gendo was finally finished and returned back to his usual pose. After observing the stunned faces in front of him for a while he suggested they all get to bed, it had been a long day. Everyone was still in a relatively large state of shock and almost mechanically began to file out of the room in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Gendo asked that Rei and Shinji remain behind with Ritsuko, of the others Misato was the last to leave, she gave Shinji a reassuring smile before closing the door behind her.

Half an hour later Shinji and Rei were walking down the corridor back to their rooms in silence. They passed a small garden and Shinji asked Rei if she would care to sit and talk for a while, Rei nodded. They sat down on a small bench next to a pond, the moonlight illuminating a wonderfully mild evening. Rei automatically sat close to Shinji, though he backed away a bit so as to look at her.

"Rei" he said. "What do you think about what was just told to us, I mean to only us."

He looked at her evenly.

"I am not sure what you mean." she answered looking back. "Gendo simply stated that the person I was cloned from was your mother Yui Ikari, though genetically I am still mostly an Angel"

Her face did not reveal any emotions towards the subject matter at all.

"I had already become somewhat aware of the experiences of my past 2 lives through my interaction with you, she gave Shinji a smile to which he couldn't help but blush, "Though the commanders descriptions did clarify a few matters" she said finally. She looked at him for a short while, Shinjis mind was racing with how to proceed, suddenly he simply said.

"Why did you kiss me that night after the dance?" he asked suddenly, now it was Reis turn to blush. She looked away for a second though then returned to lock gazes.

"After seeing that other couple, I thought it was the best way to show you that I care for you" she said simply, there was a pause as Shinji again struggled to put a sentence together.

"Since I have met you I have changed so much." she continued "You have cared about me right from the start, even though you didn't have to, you are a special person Shinji Ikari"

She finished by giving him a shy smile. He looked at her for a second, his face a mask of concentration, then finally he came to a decision.

"Rei I care for you a lot as well." he said. "In fact it's only now that I realise how much I care for you, and in what way"

He took her closer hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"Even though genetically we are only distantly related, I want you to know that I have come to realise that I think of you as my sister, a sister who I will care for and support as long as she needs me."

He smiled at her, though his eyes were searching for a reaction, he hoped like hell that he had read Reis character and emotional state correctly. His fears disappeared as she broke into a massive smile (the biggest he would ever see her give) and suddenly gave him a massive hug. He hugged her back, immeasurably relived at her reaction, and the two reflected happily towards their new future relationship.

10min later Shinji returned to his room, Kensuka and Toji were already changed and talking furiously from their bunks, they stopped as soon as Shinji entered the room, Kensuke turned to Shinji.

"So what was that all about? Keeping you and Rei back, where there more secrets?" he asked. Shinji closed the door behind him and walked over to the other two.

"No, not really" he replied. "Just some personal stuff, you know"

"You and Rei, Ha" asked Toji slyly. Shinji gave him an odd look and burst out laughing.

"No… no not at all, I just found out she's pretty much related actually" he said calming down. Toji and Kensuka exchanged glances, this day just kept getting stranger and stranger. The topic moved on, and the boys talked long into the night about the days revelations. Over by the girls it was the same. Gendo and Ritsuko also spent a large amount of the night talking, taking a walk along a nearby stream and sitting for a long while in a moonlit garden. In-fact the only person not talking was Misato, who was out in the thermal pools garden with a bottle of saki, looking at the stars, smiling to herself. Though she did say one word to herself.

"Kaji" she said softly, a small smile on her face, a solitary tear falling down her cheek.

Authors notes:

[[The three together, as well as general group dynamics, good to show how they interact with each other, quite liked that section]]

2.2 "When my baby smiles at me I go to Rio… De Janeiro"

Authors notes:

[[A bit of a fast forward to allow for some character set-up and story development. More fun now between another possible combination, great relationship stuff. ;)]]

12 months later, on the outskirts of Tokyo 3.

There was a sudden rustle from the bushes next to the path, and the young man stopped walking, observing thoughtfully. His eyes glanced upwards to track the emerging robins. Though his focus was intense, a side effect of his training, his expression was relaxed, enjoying this aspect of the beautiful springlike weather. Continuing down the path with a relaxed pace the young man allowed his senses the full enjoyment of his surroundings. The sun beating down, the slight breeze playing with his untidy hair, and the sound of ciccadas, seemingly as constant as always, even within the city limits, reminding him of many past events, many pleasant, and many not. Turning the corner he found his objective, a cafe overlooking the sprawling city of Tokyo 3.

Taking a seat on the veranda, under a shade umbrella, he remembered back to when this location had contained nothing but the edge of the road. And to the many times he had ended up at this location, usually to ponder some deep troubling thought, there seemed to be so many back then.

A smile crept across his face as he remembered his own mindset back then, angry, selfish, isolated and mostly, confused. He also remembered back to the situations this mindset had lead him into. The smile broadened, many may have considered this as sign of madness, seemingly taking pleasure in ones own past major mental flaws, and the difficult/painful situations it caused. But closer inspection revealed an expression of calm and introspective, one achieved from a wise self analysis and a healthy dose of humility which gave the ability to find the humour in the situation.

"Humph!" he mumbled to clear his thoughts, he returned to the present, re-positioning himself in the char to get a clearer view of the city,

`Again the only one on time, I wonder were they all can be' he thought to himself.

"Shinji" came a clear feminine voce, as if too answer his question.

Shinji turned to see the source of voice, a young woman standing at the entrance to the patio. Stunningly beautiful, with short blue hair, the same length as always it seemed, slightly more tidy than only a year before, though never completely in control, as if to be a marker for the past. She gazed at him with her soft red eyes, made warm by her inviting smile. She had grown into an even more beautiful young woman with her increased physical maturity, though Shinji always thought that this was possibly mostly due to her massive growth in personality, resulting in her now warm demeanour.

"Has anyone told you, you have the most beautiful smile?" he asked in a forced swave manner, as he raised to great her.

She blushed slightly, giving colour to her porcelain features, she moved to meet him.

They met in the centre of the Patio, both hands clasped and intertwined together in a friendly gesture, he looked down at her smiling, now being almost a full head taller then the girl in front of him. She leant up placing a light kiss on his cheek.

"Sweet as always I see" she said softly giving him a smile. He moved back, making a place for her at the table, then sitting opposite her.

"Where's Hikari? I thought she would arrive with you?" asked Shinji politely.

"She decided to stay back and wait for Toji and Kensuka." replied Rei. "Their sports class ran overtime." She placed her bag on the ground then looked out onto the city.

"Will Asuka be late?" Rei asked.

"Yah, she was still packing when I left" replied Shinji, also looking out at the city. It was a perfect evening with the brilliant yellow/orang sky giving the city a lazy atmosphere.

"Some things about that girl will never change" Shinji chuckled to himself. "Though she didn't complain tooo much when I refused to help her finish."

"She has changed quite a lot in 1 year hasn't she" said Rei calmly, they both stared off at the skyline.

"I think we all have" replied Shinji, he turned to face Rei. "And for the better" he added.

"Well I think you can take credit for a lot of that" she said with a smile. Shinji laughed.

"I think we all can actually" he replied. Sitting back he started to think about all the events that had happened in the last year of his life.

At that moment the waitress showed up to take their drinks order, Shinji immediately ordered a lemonade, Rei though picked up the menu, and with her new found inquisitiveness started to discuss the options pleasantly with the young waitress. Shinji leaned back and watched the two young ladies talk, though he then used the moment to stare out across Tokyo 3. Soon Rei had decided on a spider and her and Shinji started to discuss their current living arrangements.

Much had changed in the last year. Kaji, after long internal discussions within the Japanese intelligence community was released and reinstated at NERV to help combat the secret service of SEELE. He, after all, had simply wanted the truth and after it was delivered to him by Gendo and Katsuragi to his satisfaction he did not hesitate to pledge himself to NERV. He had actually proved immeasurably useful, using is old contacts to set up a counter network against SEELE. Most of his contacts were after all neutral in loyalty, simply wishing to attain the truth like him, and thus many turned to the new objectives of Kaji, now an agent of NERV alone. Kaji was thus however not often home which annoyed his new flatmate Misato somewhat. Misato, knew of his obligations and was herself extremely busy with the rebuilding and future endeavours of NERV. Thus the couple had to contend themselves with sharing each others company when they could.

NERV was back under full steam, Gendo was reinstated as the head of the organisation, though a close eye was kept on him by various JSDF staff. Gendos personal life had changed little and he was as busy as always, though he had managed to spend a little time with Shinji and Rei, something which had turned out to be not quite as awkward as they may have expected. This had not been often however and the three retained a professional (if a little relaxed) attitude to each other at work. Gendos interaction with the rest of the staff had also improved, though the need for discipline made the day to day face of this unchanged. Shinji did however suspect that there was something between Gendo and Ritsuko, as Shinji had had glimpses of something more then just a professional relationship on some occasions when he had interrupted their lone conversations. Shinji always new that he spent a lot of time with her, however the thought of them together had only formulated recently, `Hmmmm' he smiled at the thought, something he may have to bring up the next time he talked to his father.

The upper structure of NERV had remained largely intact, and little changed for the pilots within the organisations routine. Training and equipment changed dramatically however with the new focus on fighting Evas and human forces, the true 18th angel. This was something which greatly bothered Shinji at first, though soon he had little alternative but to accept the reality. Evas remained the primary weapon on the planet, with new developments in battery capacity allowing for a combat operational life of 30min, a great improvement. Their continued dependence of power cords however restricted their implementation. One of the scariest new developments was that of a small conventional projectiles based on the progressive knife. Made of the similar material as the progressive knifes it was now possible for projectile weapons to be tipped with this material and thus greatly effect the stability of an AT field on impact. This material also had greater armour penetration and though most conventional projectiles did not have sufficient kinetic energy to inflict any damage individually on great mass they were quickly able to degenerate the AT field and subsequently the armour. `Death of a thousand pinpricks' was the term that now most scared the Eva pilots. The sourcing of this information by Kaji had proved critical and had allowed NERV to develop its own variant greatly increasing its own capacity to handle enemy Evas. So now the Evas were no longer unstoppable by conventional forces, however their implementation was still super critical for any victory.

The Political situation had continued to degenerate after the revelations of Gendo and the misinformation campaign of SEELE. Japan and the rest of Asia had believed Gendo and demanded that SEELE be brought to justice. North America however had been swayed by SEELE and had been convinced that NERV was the instigators of this horrible plan for the downfall of man, Australia had followed and the two continents were adamant in their demand of the disassembly of NERV. The rest of the world had remained neutral, though the political mood remained tense. The three sides had no trust for each other and a cold war like stand-off had developed. SEELE'S network was immense and there was real initial threat that the neutrals would be swayed to SEELES point of view. This scenario was disastrous as the limited trade with the neutrals was essential for both sides. The cost to balance this situation had been high and had only been restored upon the free transmission of the new (progressive knife) projectile design to the neutrals, thus confirming NERVS non aggressive stance in giving the neutrals the tools to bring down any Eva acting aggressively against them. This act had been crucial and the German branch had announced its halt in operation until further review. This one act guaranteed the limiting of SEELES supply of high quality Eva components, as no other facility in the world now possessed the capability of the German and Tokyo branch. given the recent obliteration of the American second branch.

So now the stage was set. With its short term options seriously reduced SEELE was on the back foot, and the continued counter intelligence activities of NERV were starting to erode the massive tentacles that were the SEELES secret organisation. It was only a matter of time until SEELE was exposed to all. Though would it be soon enough? Already a year had past and the deeper into the lies Kaji and the members of NERV intelligence went, the harder it was to unravel the lies to expose the truth.

At the last major briefing the commander had summarised the current situation well "A wounded animal is dangerous enough let alone when it is cornered" he had said. So it was, that for the last year NERV had remained on alert states while NERV intelligence desperately tried to attain information about SEELES new plans.

It had been a tense time, Shinji mused, though not all the resent stresses had been work related. He smiled to himself as he remembered some of the more tumultuous time in his more immediate life. If life had seemed strange at work Shinjis home life had turned totally lopsided. It had all changed around him it seemed.

As soon as they had gotten back from combat a year ago it was organised that Rei should move into the apartment next to Misatos. This was no problem as most people had moved out during the recent turmoil, though they were starting to return already. Things were soon complicated however by the return of Kaji. The initial celebration had been a blast! With the party going well into the night. Even the commander made a short appearance, though at the end of the evening Kaji had stayed over, after he and Misato got completely lost in a drinking competition. This, staying over, had persisted, and Kaji had started to stay at Misatos regularly. Asuka had been considerably more reasonable then expected, though the situation grated her a bit, and after 2 weeks even Shinji agreed that the apartment was to small for 4 people. So one morning Shinji was totally surprised to hear Asuka announce that she and Shinji were moving in with Rei. Apparently Asuka had asked Rei the night before, to which she instantly agreed, Rei spending most of her time over at Misatos now anyway. It made sense, Reis new apartment was as large as Misatos and only had the one occupant. Shinji was originally surprised that Asuka had included him in the move though she continued in her speech to state that she thought that leaving Shinji at Misatos alone would potentially expose him to bad morals, someone had to look out for him! Though she made it quite clear that before he moved in locks had to be installed on the girls' bedroom doors. Shinji and Misato rolled their eyes, it was after all classic Asuka. But without her old venom it was quite tolerable, even cute in some ways. It was definitely a strange idea, though the more they thought about it the more it made sense and soon the arrangements were made to the delight of Rei. In one weekend all the pilots were in the same apartment, with Kaji also officially moving into Misatos place, though you really would not have noticed. And so a whole new chapter in Shinjis live had begun.

The new household had a strange dynamic. Furniture was ordered and soon it resembled Misato's residence to a large degree. Shinji was still by far the most organised and took over a lot of the chores, with the help of Rei who was eager to help where she could. Asuka did a lot of delegation though pitched in occasionally so that she made sure she couldn't be too harshly accused of being lazy. The three had gotten a lot closer, acting more like siblings now then anything else. In this role Asuka was the older sister, domineering the other two, while Rei was still aloof and quiet, Shinji in the end was simply trying to make the best of things, though he resisted Asuka quite well on a lot of issues. The two having some great rows occasionally, with Shinji being the first to compromise, though insuring that Asuka did too, at least a little. And so it soon became the case that the three were referred to as the triplets by Toji and Kensuka, and though Hikari originally disapproved of Asuka and Rei living with Shinji she soon got used to it, also gigglingly referring to the three as the triplets. As Kaji spent a lot of time away Misato ended up inviting herself over to `check up' on the kids a lot. But even when Kaji was home Shinji simply prepared 5 portions for meals instead of 4 as Misato hardly ever ate at home any-more, while Pen-Pen simply migrated between the two apartments at will. There even was a permanent beer supply in the Eva pilots fridge to avoid unnecessary trips back to Misatos apartment. Shinjis cooking had become very good, as Hikari had delighted in giving Shinji and Rei cooking tips whenever she was over. In fact the pilots apartment had turned into a bit of a halfway house, with friends constantly visiting at all hours. Asuka made quite sure however that only Hikari was to stay over at night, if Shinji wanted a sleep over he had to leave, as far as she was concerned having one `Baka' in the house was quite enough!

And so life had progressed…… and though it appeared on the surface to be completely unsettled it was one of the calmest periods of Shinjis life, as stressful as life would appear to be he was the happiest he had ever been, and it appeared to be the same for the people around him.

Back in the present, Shinji had well and truly zoned out, so didn't notice Asuka walking up behind him. He let out a small yelp as he was grabbed from behind, his arms being pinned behind his back and his body forced back on his chair. He struggled for a second but then relaxed, waiting for a familiar voice, which said.

"Daydreaming again Shinji?" asked Asuka calmly. "All that self defence training and your still caught unaware"

Shinji looked over at Rei who was smiling slightly, she had become used to Shinjis and Asukas interaction and had started to find them amusing, Shinji knew she would be no help at all.

"Considering we're always surrounded by NERV intelligence agents the only one I have to worry about defending myself against is you Asuka." he said cheekily.

"Well I suppose you're never going to be able to defeat me anyway, so I suppose your right to not even try" Asuka said in a mockingly agreeable sort of tone, though not loosening her grip.

"We'll see" said Shinji slyly under his breath, though too loud as Asuka heard. She tightened her grip slightly, getting a small grunt from Shinji.

"Don't count on it second child" she said evilly.

"What is it you want Asuka?" asked Shinji calmly.

"Just want to know why you didn't help your fellow pilot finish packing?" she said in a hurt tone.

"It's not my fault you never learnt how to pack properly…Arg"

Shinji winced as she tightened again. Though she then released her grip and took the seat next to him.

"There are just no gentleman left" she said sorrowfully, leaning back into her chair. Shinji looked at Rei who was still smiling faintly.

"You're no help any more either are you" said Shinji to Rei.

"How do you mean" replied Rei.

"When Asuka assaults me now-a-days all you do is smile, I think you girls are ganging up on me.." he said with a smile on his face. Asuka poked her tongue out at Shinji, she and Rei had actually managed to get relatively close irrespective of their totally different natures.

"She is careful not to hurt you to much" said Rei innocently "Also you both seem to enjoy it in some way" she took a sip from her drink. Asuka and Shinji turned slightly reddish at the last comment and an uncomfortable silence fell for a few seconds, luckily the mood was broken by the sudden appearance of Toji, Hikari and Kensuka.

"Ah the triplets sitting in relative silence, will wonders never cease" said Toji in his usual manner. For once Asuka didn't retort, grateful for a change of topic. She and Toji still maintained a healthy animosity for each other but it was more tolerable now-a-days. It did however usually mean the atmosphere of the group was usually very lively. The three newcomers sat down and ordered drinks, which were quickly delivered as the cafe was somewhat empty at this time of the day.

"So are you ready for your big adventure Shinji?" asked Kensuka after taking a sip of his drink. "I can't believe you get to go to Rio-De-Janeiro!" he said in a whining tone.

"This is the first time we have been away from Tokyo 3 in a year, and we're still on duty, I don't know if there will be any time to do anything fun?" Shinji said.

"You must be able to get out at some point surely" said Hikari "It would be such a pity to go all that way and not be ably to have a look around. It's going to be so exciting!" she finished enthusiastically, though remembering Rei, Hikari turned around saying "Oh.. Sorry Rei I didn't mean to make you feel bad about not going with them".

"Its O.K" said Rei with a smile. "I drew the short straw, someone has to remain here in reserve."

Hikari wasn't completely convinced however and gave her a sad look, she knew that Misato was going as well, which meant that Rei would be on her own for the first time in a year.

"You promised that you would come around and teach me some new recipes, right?" Rei continued to Hikari.

"Sure thing, we also still have that school project to work on, I'll keep you company while those other two are away" Hikari said, peppering up a bit.

"This way I'll finally be able to teach Shinji something in the kitchen when he gets back." Rei said with a smile. Even though the three always cooked together Rei was never able to keep up with Shinji.

"Don't worry Rei we'll all keep you company" said Toji confidently "Its Shinji that I'm worried about, all alone with the demon girl for two weeks, how will he survive?" he finished off quickly, expecting a retort from Asuka. She however was not so quick to bite back now a days, remaining more controlled but just as sharp. After a flash of red crossed her face for a second she evenly said.

"Don't worry I'll take good care of Shinji."

Shinji gave a gulp, he knew that tone of voice.

"I would feel more sorry for Rei now that you've threatened her with the company of two of the three stooges, she may have to move into NERV for two weeks just to stay sane." Asuka finished, smirking.

"Touche" smiled Kensuka. Toji was about to counter again when Kensuka interrupted.

"So your still not sure what the two of you are doing down there? It seems strange to split up the Evas like this, your not told anything?"

"We're lucky we even know where we are going" said Shinji. "Its all hush hush, though given the level of activity at NERV it looks like it's serious."

The small group continued chatting on about this and that for a while longer, they ended up saying their goodbyes, all wishing Asuka and Shinji well.

The three pilots walked back to their apartment. Misato was waiting at her car, it was time to leave. Rei gave Asuka and Shinji a quick hug, they all knew the likelihood of combat was relatively high.

"Best of luck" Rei said simply, she managed to only look a little downcast, Shinji gave her a pat on the shoulder

"I'll bring you back something." he said with a weak smile. Asuka grabbed his arm and started to drag him off to the car.

"I'll make sure its in good taste." said Asuka with a smile. "Make sure you kick Toji out if he starts to annoy you, don't take any crap from those two stooges!" she called out to Rei as they got into the car.

"Good luck Misato" called Rei as the commander got into the car, Misato lowered the window and called out as they were driving off.

"See you in two weeks Rei, take care of PenPen for me!" she waved good bye out the window, and Rei returned the wave as they drove out off sight. She stood there for a second listening to Misatos car drive off in the distance. Silence pretty much returned and the wind played with her dress, solemnly she turned her head towards Misatos balcony to see PenPen watching the, now far off, car.

"Well its just you and me now" she said solemnly.

The flight to Rio was uneventful, though the amount of air-cover that was provided for their transports was astounding to Shinji. 50 of the latest air superiority fighters as well as 3 AWACS aircraft. Shinji took some photos out the transporters window, he was sure Kensuka would be green with envy when he told him about this experience.

Rio-De-Janeiro had been massively effected by second impact, as had all major cities on the coast, though due to the steepness of the hills immediately behind the old city, its citizens had been able to simply migrate up the slopes, so to speak, so its geographic location had changed little. Also the demolition of the old lower buildings had allowed for a gradual slope up to the new coast, thus the New Rio resembled the old Rio significantly in geographical location and many place names had remained the same. Copacabana now stretched a little further, no longer separated by the Sugarloaf and surrounding hills, The Sugarloaf was now an island, with the old chairlift being re routed to cross the small expanse of new ocean. It was still a lively and passionate city and Shinji and Asuka were busy planing a sight seeing itinerary as they began their final descent into Brazil. Their destination was an old airfield about 50km from Rio. The Brazilin government had graciously allowed NERV the use of this as a staging area. Apparently the world opinion was polarising to either NERV or SEELE. South America was leaning towards NERV and Africa towards SEELE. Europe was the only region still professing strict Neutrality.

Finally back on the ground, Shinji soon discovered the reason for their sudden deployment when he and Asuka entered the make shift briefing room in an abandoned hanger. Misato and Fuyuzuki as well as Makoto had already set up a small projector, and Maya was organising the software to start the briefing. The room was filled with senior NERV operations personnel, Shinji recognised a few of them. He and Asuka took a seat up the back, sitting on an old bench. The rest of the staff took the temporary seats provided. The air was hot and humid, it being relatively early in the day, Shinji looked out of the open hanger door at the encroaching jungle surrounding the airstrip. He was brought back to reality by Fuyuzuki, who coughed loudly to indicate the start of the briefing. And so Misato started, it appeared that conflict had broken out in central America, the fighting was only sporadic but most disturbing of all, forces had reported seeing Eva like creatures performing insurgence mission within the area. They appeared to be only probing missions but the targets were key infrastructure links, and it looked as if they were setting up for something big. Also of great worry was the development by the enemy of a new jamming system, which made all but visual tracking impossible, this coupled with the hilly tropical terrain made it relatively impossible to defend effectively against the enemy Evas. It was simply too difficult to arrange sufficient firepower in one location to effectively handle an Eva, unless they committed to battle. So at night or during cloud cover, a daily event in the tropics, the Eva was simply unstoppable on hit and run missions, and all the local conventional forces could do was hamper there progress as best they could. Shinji and Asuka watched the maps as information toggled past. Misato continued, apparently NERV intelligence was sketchy on the objectives of this new action, though they had figured out that at least 3 Eva type units would be likely to be in Central America considering the type and amount of support units in the region. The engagement area was massive, stretching from Guada canal, the suspected staging area, all the way to central Colombia. It had been brilliantly planed, with temporary staging areas being formed to deploy the enemy Evas, and then to withdraw them just as quick. They had effectively cut off the entire region to land based movement and their objectives were still unclear. It was however clear that whatever was going to happen was going to happen in the next two weeks, though what that was, was unfortunately still not known. So there they were, the NERV Evas set up for instant deployment, into unfamiliar territory, reliant totally on their battery packs and the ability to be resupplied with new packs by their own forces. Shinji and Asuka gave a slight groan, continual readiness status meant that they could not go and sightsee. Misato ignored them and continued with the brief (kids!) she thought to herself. Soon however the brief was over and only one question was asked.

"Why weren't all three Evas sent over?" asked Asuka.

"Because of the sketchy nature of this operation, we can't be sure that this is simply not a diversion, and even with the new projectile technology it is unwise to leave NERV guarded by less then one Eva." replied Misato. With no other questions the meeting room broke up and Shinji and Asuka were left to await further instructions. Eventually Maya came over and directed the two of them to a small building on the other end of the runway, it was a small barracks with high windows, to allow the heat to escape. Asuka and Shinji entered and threw their bags on the beds. Shinji, having carried his and some of Asukas luggage. The room was smallish, containing only two beds, a desk, two chairs and two large footlockers. At the end of the room was an opening to the bathroom, which was old and dusty but still useable. Asuka had matured a bit in a year and no longer whined about her situation at the drop of a hat. Also having lived with Shinji meant that she generally gave him the benefit of the doubt about being a pervert, and only teased him in her old way on specific occasions.

"We will be provided with screens though I hope" said Asuka to the leaving Maya.

"There are some screen frames and material being brought over from the old infirmary" Maya replied

"Also don't drink the water, simply get bottled water from the canteen" she continued "Remember lunch is at 12:30"

And with that she left the two pilots to their own devices. They were in the middle of unpacking when the screens arrived, they positioned one in front of the bathroom and the other between the beds, leaving Shinji's bed exposed to the entrance. Soon the place had been made quite livable. Shinji lay back on his bed, listening to the stereo he had set up on a chair next to him, meanwhile Asuka finished folding her clothes away.

"Shinji, why don't you see if you can pick up a local station" came Asukas voice from behind the screen.

"Sure thing" replied Shinji, leaning over to adjust the stereo.

"I mean if we can't go and see the country at least we can listen to a bit of it." continued Asuka, the annoyance clear in her voice. Shinji in the meantime fiddled with the receiver, picking up a number of local stations. While he was selecting a station Asuka came around the screen, sitting at the foot of Shinjis bed, Shinji moved his legs to make room.

"Wait, go back" said Asuka. Shinji turned back until he got a clear signal of the last station. A classic samba beat was playing fast and energetic.

"Yah that's the one" Asuka said smiling, her feet beginning to tap to the tune. Shinji moved over a bit so he could lie back down. He looked up at the ceiling.

"None of the advantages and all of the hardship… I mean we even have homework to do for the next two weeks or so" said Shinji lazily. He noticed that Asuka had also lain down in the space he had just made free, her feet were now next to his head. She taped his arm with her right foot, he looked down the bed to see Asuka leaning up with an expectant smile. Sighing he took one of the two pillows he was leaning on and threw it at her head, though she caught it with no difficulty, and used it to prop herself up against the end-board.

"Thank you." She said sweetly. The two pilots lay there, end to end, staring up at the ceiling listening to the radio.

"Hmm.. this is the first time that NERV has been really split up" speculated Asuka.

"We have operated without commander Ikari and Fuyuzuki before" replied Shinji. "And Misato and Ritsuko for that matter" he continued.

"Yah, but never so far away from NERV, and never without clear objectives" said Asuka.

"It's a different world all right." mused Shinji. "And there I was thinking that fighting the Angels was the strangest thing that could happen to me"

"Yah" said Asuka "Just think about the fact that I'm actually lying in the same bed with a hentai like you, and I don't have to kill you for it is proof of that." she finished with a chuckle.

"Funny really" said Shinji in a slightly annoyed voice. "If I were to do the same on your bed you would very quickly kick my ass"

"That's a woman's prerogative." said Asuka airily "Anyway woman mature faster then men, your still not to be trusted."

Shinji laughed.

"What's so funny?" asked Asuka.

"Oh I just remembered something Kaji said" he said "Something about the fact that woman and men will never be able to understand each other"

"That's the way it should be" said Asuka confidently "Imagine how boring it would be if you knew what other people were thinking?" they lay there in silence for a while listening to the radio.

"I think I overheard Misato say that Kaji may be coming down here." she said eventually.

"Hopefully" replied Shinji "I haven't seen him in a month, and there's nothing else to do around here."

"Is that so" came the Mischievous voice of Misato, who had appeared in the open doorway "We'll just have to see about that, you two are needed for some terrain training, and after that I have to ensure that your school work doesn't suffer so your hitting the books!"

Shinji and Asuka let out a groan, suddenly having nothing to do didn't sound so bad.

"And what is going on here anyway!" said Misato teasingly, indicating their current position in the same bed. "Am I going to have to reorganise the entire camp to ensure you two don't get up to anything funny?" Misato finished with a wink, though then quickly had to avoid the two pillows that came flying towards her.

The mobile simulator they had brought along was sensational, Shinji and Asuka could train moving around the local hilly terrain and even moving around at night, getting a feel for the local landscape through its exact replication in virtual reality. The training lasted about 4 hours after which time they had dinner and then hit the books. This wasn't a big problem, as now Asuka had become quite capable of reading Japanese, (thanks to Shinjis and Reis help) and so repaid the favour by helping Shinji with his homework where she could. Though her arrogant tone still irritated Shinji a bit, and his pride only allowed him to ask her when he was really stuck. Soon they fell exhausted into bed. And so it continued for the next two days. There was little for the kids to do, but they did manage to explore the compound and find some interesting animals from the nearby jungle. One of which made an uninvited visit to the pilots barracks. On the third night Shinji almost died of fright when a screaming Asuka came racing out of the bathroom, colliding headlong with the bathroom screen and tumbling over it crashing naked on the floor. Only the screen between the beds saved Asukas modesty and she was able to scramble to her bed before Shinji came racing around the corner. He quickly retreated after Asuka threw the book she had lying on her bed at him, though he was soon called back to remove the offending gecko from the bathroom ceiling. It was a while before Shinji could stop snickering though he did his best to not show it to Asuka, she was not a girl whose pride you even mildly offended, if you knew what was good for you. The next day Asukas mood was still mildly dark, though it soon lifted as Misato came in with some un-expected news. That evening was going to be a full moon and the weather report showed 2 days of no clouds, which meant that there was little to no chance of an attack in the next 36 hours. Misato had managed to convince Gendo of this and he had agreed to a 24 your leave pass for the pilots and the operations commander. They were going to Rio for the day! Both pilots had huge smiles on their faces and quickly ran off to pack for the day trip. They packed bathers and some neat casual attire as Misato indicated that they were going to go out for dinner. Without wasting any time the two were soon outside Misato's quarters, a jeep was already waiting outside.

"Come on Misato!" called Asuka impatiently. The two pilots stood around anxiously.

"No use hurrying, we have to wait for a NERV intelligence officer anyway" came the voice of Misato from inside her room.

"We don't need another babysitter" said Asuka angrily "I mean your there, isn't that enough!"

"I hope he hurries up" said Shinji, looking down at his watch.

"I'm not the one you should be worried about when it comes to holding up progress" came a familiar voice from behind the two pilots. Asuka and Shinji spun around, and found a familiar face waiting by the a jeep.

"Kaji!" exclaimed Asuka excitedly. She raced over to her former guardian who was leaning casual as always against the jeep. He did however right himself to accept a hug from Asuka. Shinji also came forward. Kaji was dressed in shorts and a loose T-shirt and all three looked decidedly out of place in the military environment.

"Its good to see you again Kaji, where have you been?" asked Shinji.

"Oh here and there, you lose track after a while" replied Kaji, in his usual debonair voice, he was just as evasive as ever with his new work.

"You haven't called in ages, I bet you called Misato" said Asuka accusingly. Though she had improved massively concerning Misato's and Kajis relationship in the last year, she still occasionally enjoyed antagonising the situation.

"Ha ha" chuckled Kaji quietly "There exists a woman's wrath out there, who scares me even more then yours Asuka"

Misato appeared from the building, dressed in her tiny shorts and a revealing top, sports cap and small back-pack in hand completing the picture.

"Ah there is our alluring commander in chief now" said Kaji, smiling at Misato. She returned the smile for a second. Though she then put on a decidedly high and mighty expression and strolled up too, and past, Kaji, not even bothering to embrace him in greeting.

"Don't think I haven't heard what you've been saying out here" Misato said to Kaji as she strolled past to the passenger seat. Asuka and Shinji scrambled into the back, being totally non-plussed about the coolness between Kaji and Misato, the two were constantly at each other, or all over each other, it appeared they were quite incapable of a normal relationship.

"I speak only the truth, and you know I only mean what I say in the highest respect." said Kaji, getting in. Misato gave him a coy smile and they headed off, soon however Misato leaned around to talk to Shinji and Asuka about the days program, doing this she let her arm rest on Kajis leg which he overlapped with his own hand, when not preoccupied with driving. Overall the incident was a classic example of their behaviour in public.

Asuka, as always, began to take over the itinerary, but as it was her and Shinji who had first developed it Shinji was quite willing to allow her to dominate. Kaji and Misato relinquished, only managing to alter two points of Asukas busy schedule. Actually the two were simply quite happy to be together, and with Asuka leading the way they were reasonably sure not to be exposed to much of Asukas lingering jealousy towards them as a couple. The terrain kept changing and soon they were on the highway to Rio. The outskirts of Rio had changed somewhat since second impact, it was no longer surrounded by slums (at least not noticeably so) and the majority of the city was relatively clean and orderly. The first destination was naturally Copacabana. None of the 4 were disappointed, the wide stretches of sand leading into the stunning blue ocean was a sight to behold, and as it was a work day the beaches were relatively uncrowded.

Soon the pilots were in the water, Asuka swimming out into the ocean while Shinji, still new to swimming, spent his time trying to body-surf the reasonable waves breaking near the shoreline. Misato and Kaji stayed back to guard their stuff (Copacabana having not changed that much) though looking back Shinji noticed the two were enjoying their time alone. Turning around he dived out into the ocean again.

After a while Asuka joined him closer to shore.

"So managed to catch any waves third child?" she asked swimming up beside him.

"They're not breaking clean, but I've caught a few." said Shinji, looking at the incoming surf.

He was standing with the water up to his neck. As Asuka was now almost a head shorter, she had to paddle on the spot, a fact that gave Shinji a small smile.

"Your just not doing it right, as usual" said Asuka, noticing his smile. It really annoyed her that he had gotten considerably bigger then her, she didn't like the idea of having to look up to him. He had also gotten stronger, though she still was the much more athletic one, one of the reasons she periodically attacked him, so as to confirm her continued dominance. As was usually the case with these two, the swim in the surf soon turned into a competition. Asuka caught more waves but Shinji had the great luck of catching the best one, Asuka having caught a wave just before. It would have continued but Misato called the two in, as her and Kaji also wanted to swim for a while.

Shinji was still grinning ear to ear from that fantastic wave as the two came in, Asuka however seemed less pleased. As Shinji sat down she announced she was going off to buy an ice-cream, Shinji placed a quick order before she got out of earshot and lay back down with a smile on his face. He knew Asuka would not like the request but wasn't nasty enough any more to deny him without an adequate reason. He lay there dozing for a while, finally looking up he saw Misato and Kaji still paddling out in deeper water. It had been 10 minutes and Shinji was starting to worry a little, how long did it take to get ice-cream? He looked around, Asuka was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh well" he said to himself, he new deep down that anyone who started anything up with Asuka would require the saving, not her. He looked around, the beach was still relatively well frequented and all around Shinji some of the best examples of human physique were to be found. Being almost 16 now Shinji couldn't help but allow his eyes to follow the girls as they walked past. `Toji and Kensuka would sure be jealous of this', he thought to himself. It was while his eyes were very obviously following the passing of a particularly lovely example of the female form that Asuka decided to reappear on the scene.

"Once a hentai always a hentai" said Asuka in her disappointed tone. Shinji jumped a bit, though then turned around to look at Asuka, who was blocking out the sun. She handed him his ice-cream, barley melted.

"Oh come Asuka… you can't say you haven't been checking out some of the guys on the beach" said Shinji slyly, deciding to go on the offensive. Asuka sat down next to him, looking out onto the beach.

"Being a woman means that I'm not so easily impressed by such things" said Asuka haughtily, she lent back on some bags and placed her hand behind her head provocatively.

"Anyway with such ample beauty close at hand" said Asuka obviously indicating herself "I would have thought you would have had your fill of looking at beautiful forms." she smiled, and gave a side glance to see Shinjis reaction. Shinji, eating his ice-cream, smiled but did not turn to face Asuka. She had grown even more attractive in the last years, matching Misatos hight and attaining a fantastic athletic figure, something she occasionally allowed herself to remind everyone. Shinji knew however that this line of conversation was a minefield for him, and he suspected secretly a joy to Asuka, and on many occasions he had quite innocently stumbled into very dangerous territory. Though at the moment he was still in an uncharacteristically aggressive mood.

"No not really" he said casually. Asuka stopped mid lick, shocked at the casual response.

"I look at Misato as a guardian now, Rei as a sister, and Hikari is out of bounds" he let the words sit for a second "So I don't `admire' them in that way" again he paused for effect, casually licking his ice-cream. "And at the end of the day nothing is that beautiful that it's worth risking your life to admire"

He turned to look Asuka squarely in the eyes, this was less for affect then to make sure she didn't throw anything at him. Asuka, now-a-days, had more depth to her responses but at the end of the day was still subject to her moods, so quite capable of anything. She gave him a lovely smile and leaned back.

"Who would have guessed, even a hentai can learn" she said.

The day moved on, soon Misato and Kaji returned and they basked in the sun for a while. Asuka announced that she had found beach volleyball fields towards the back of the beach. And soon the 4 where playing, inevitably the teams ended up being girls vs boys as the competitiveness of the two pairs instantly showed itself. Kaji and Misato had not played in a very long time, but both were fit and fired up. Shinji and Asuka had played at School recently and not surprisingly Asuka had turned out to be the best player. The girls started off leading, while Kaji and Shinji orientated themselves. Asuka, aggressive as always, send some blinders towards Shinji, him already having a large red mark on one of his legs. Though this only inspired the two males, and soon they were in the lead. The game got more intense, neither side giving an inch, after a bitter struggle it came to a tie-break. At this stage Shinji was covered in sand, having to do many dives just to keep his side in the game, he was panting heavily. The next point went to the girls after a lucky play. It was match point to the girls, with Asuka to serve. As usual she sent a blinder towards Kaji, he controlled the shot and Shinji sent a wide shot towards Misato, she just managed to control it but sent it spinning back towards the boys, the point continued with good placement stopping either side from organising a spike. Soon however Misato was out of position having send a last ditch effort towards Kaji who stumbled to recover but fell out of the court, Asuka rushed to cover the shot, but got it back. Both Kaji and Misato were temporarily out leaving Shinji and Asuka. To get the last shot Asuka had left the front of the court open, Shinji decided to go for it! He dived forward to accomplish a drop shot, though doing this left his court completely open. Asuka reacted late, not expecting Shinji to commit, though she rushed forward throwing herself full stretch towards the ball, barley managing to connect she sent the unsteady ball back over the net. Sliding, she came to rest under the net next to Shinji who was still down, they watched the ball travelling through the air, it fell back to earth, just managing to slip in the lines, giving the girls the game.

"Yes!" yelped Asuka triumphantly, still lying flat. Shinji, leaning on his elbow, turned back to face Asuka. She had put her hands under her chin and was looking at him smugly.

"Still can't beat me can you Shinji" she said. The look of concentration he had had throughout the game turned into a slight scold though then it suddenly changed into a smile.

"Great game Asuka" he said casually. "It was worth losing just to finally see you have to dive."

He started to get up.

"Though before you get up I would advise you modify your bikini top."

Asuka suddenly froze, checking herself she found that the dive had loosened her bikini top and it had slipped completely out of position, not being designed for such activities, and if not for the fact she was lying face down would have exposed her quite noticeably. Face red, she adjusted herself before getting up. Angered she suddenly became relieved that she didn't immediately jump up to gloat after the girls victory. Angry, relieved and happy at the same time she didn't know how to react, finally standing up she saw Kaji and Shinji congratulating Misato, then Kaji turned to congratulate Asuka, giving her a wink and brushing sand off her shoulders. Asuka's mind gave up and she smiled. The 4 went back down to the water to wash off the sand, Asuka and Shinji joking and laughing on the way down. On the way Shinji happily took a bit of physical abuse and emotional torment, knowing that for Asuka to appease her ego he was `due' some token teasing, something he now regularly took thus `managing' to keep the peace. She had gotten better however and it was less of a chore then an unusual pleasure for Shinji when she was in such a mood now.

A lot of the day had already gone and after a quick lunch at a cafe the 4 began on a sight seeing tour. New Rio was a beautiful town, with many shops and sights it was a pleasant day of meandering, with Kaji and Misato perfectly happy to let the two pilots run off and explore. The two Adults enjoyed each others company as much as the surroundings, Shinji looked back at the pair in-between diving into different shops with Asuka, they really didn't have that much time to see each other, he thought.

"Come on you! No time to gawk" yelled Asuka, grabbing hold of his arm and dragging him of to another market stall.

"Yaaa" protested Shinji being dragged away.

The end of the day found the four at the Christ. A giant statue of Jesus overlooking all of Rio. They were leaning on the railing, looking over the sprawling city, the sun setting off in the distance.

"So what are we doing for dinner?" asked Asuka, interrupting the silence. Kaji un-hooked his arm from Misatos and stood upright.

"Well I have a little surprise for you all" he said casually, all three turned to face him.

"I have managed to acquire a reservation at the legendary Shugerloaf restaurant! A table for 4 at 8pm." He said with a triumphant smile.

"Wow, how did you manage that!" asked Asuka enthusiastically.

"Oh I have my ways" said Kaji slyly. Misato moved up behind him, slipping her arms around his waist.

"So these are the type of connections that NERV intelligence has been working on the last few months" she said innocently.

"We have to come up with something tangibly useful occasionally" he replied.

"Not bad" said Misato.

"So where is this restaurant?" asked Shinji.

"Don't you know anything" said Asuka rashly. "It's only the most famous restaurant in the world" she pointed down to the now cut off island of Shugerloaf, the restaurant and other buildings already sparkling in the evening light.

"Oh what am I going to wear, I didn't bring anything good enough for a place like that!" exclaimed Asuka turning back to Kaji pleadingly.

"We will be fine with what you have" Kaji said reassuringly.

"Ya, don't worry Asuka you look fine" interrupted Shinji encouragingly.

"What do you know about style!" Asuka turned back to him angrily.

"Hey!" replied Shinji, becoming angry himself, he had frankly become sick of his compliments always being turned against him.

The two started to argue and didn't stop until half way to the restaurant. Long arguments between the two had become quite rare with Shinji knowing how to defuse most situation, tonight however he had decided not to take the easy way out. Though the argument was over it was an uneasy truce it was quickly forgotten however upon arrival at the sky cars that travelled up to the restaurant. The four were dressed in neat casual, the girls in skirts and tops and the boys in slacks and shirts, though it was obviously semi casual evening wear, and compared to the other customers the 4 looked rather ordinary. This didn't bother Shinji or Kaji at all, though Misato, and much more Asuka, were very conscious of their appearance, they had expected to eat at a much less flashy restaurant.

"Bloody males" Asuka muffled under her breath to Misato. Misato, just having noticed the elegant evening dress of the lady next to her, nodded in agreement. The 4 got into the sky car after Kaji showed the usher their reservation, Shinji and Kaji either not caring, or not noticing the ushers glare as they went by. Again Masato and Asuka soon forgot their initial reservations as the sky car lifted off into the night. The view was quite simply breathtaking, and only got better as they neared the restaurant. If that wasn't enough the restaurant itself was simply stunning. Almost sticking out of the rocky cliffs of the Shugerloaf the main restaurant was a massive 3 story high half circle of glass, with multiple level eating areas, seemingly hovering in mid air. These were connected to a central floor via stairs. The enclosed volume was immense, the steel frame holding it together shimmering far above Shinjis head. The lighting was spectacular, with elegant lights hanging down appropriately to cover each table with a soft light. The majority of the rest of the eating area remained relatively dark to allow the patrons to fully enjoy the unprecedented view of the city lights, below to the right, and the stars in the sky above. Each eating level was so placed to afford each patron a great view of the ocean as well as the city. They quickly went and found their table with 3 other groups on the middle level. Shinji took a seat affording him a great view of the city. Looking back down at the main floor he saw that it double as a small dance area with space for the band at one end, the bar along the wall and the entrance on the other. Looking around he saw that the clientele was a mix of all nations, everyone being dressed very elegantly and looking great. Shinji smiled, remembering the restaurant he Misato and Rei had been to a year or so before, he had quite a lot of luck when it came to restaurants. He and Misato exchanged a knowing smile, no mention had yet been made about the cost of that trip a year ago to Misato, apparently the records had been, misplaced… Asuka had largely forgotten her self consciousness and was enjoying herself again. Soon they had all ordered drinks and started chatting about the day. Dinner arrived and they all began to eat, down below the band had arrived and was playing light music while the patrons ate. Misato had convinced everyone to join her in a glass of champagne, and the 4 toasted their rather enjoyable day. The champagne had its desired effect, and the simmering hostility between Shinji and Asuka mellowed a bit. They chatted happily throughout desert and only stopped when Kaji and Misato suddenly got up.

"Where are you two going" asked Asuka blankly.

"We're just going for a dance" said Misato happily, and the two went down to the main floor. The two pilots watched the couple go down, it was a slow song and the two were moving around arm in arm. Shinji returned to the topic at hand, though Asuka was mildly distracted. She still wasn't completely over Kaji and the champagne was not helping her resolve. She held out for a small while but during the next slow song Misato put her head against Kajis shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, this was to much for Asuka who turned her head, eyes downcast.

"Is there anywhere else we can go to?" she asked, not hiding her emotions well. Shinji looked from the dance floor to her, a frown on his face.

"There is an open aired bar on the sea side of the rock if I read the map right" He suggested, she nodded. Asuka got up, moving quickly to the exit past Misato and Kaji on the dance floor, not looking up at either of them. Shinji followed quickly, giving Kaji a shrug of his shoulders on the way past, Kaji simply gave Shinji a wink and returned his attentions to Misato.

Shinji, a little bewildered, caught up with Asuka and led her to the sea side of the large rock. She was trying to mask her feelings with a joyful tone and Shinji played along. They arrived at a small cobblestone courtyard. One side was open to the sea, a small stone fence guarding a cliff edge falling 100m to the sea below. They had arrived from a narrow natural walkway between large stone formations opposite the sea, though further cliffs flanked the courtyard. Some large trees overhang the courtyard, fairy lights were strung from branch to branch and were the only source of illumination. Near the stone fence were some cast iron chairs and tables, each with its own candle. To the one side was a stone structure, it was open at one side and doubled as a bar, a single barmen was working behind via candle light, soft music playing from a speaker sitting on one side of the bar. Shinji looked around, other then 3 couples between the bar and cliff the barman was the only other person. It was actually one of the most romantic scenes he had ever seen. Asuka however was in the wrong mood to appreciate it, spotting a free table near the small wall opposite the couples and bar, she gave Shinji a drink order and made her way to the table, overhung by a willow of some sort. Shinji watched her go, then went over to the bar. Luckily it was connected to the main accounts system and Shinji was able to order the drinks from the table tab. He was surprised that he was given Asukas request, being underage he was expecting a lecture from the barman after asking for two margarites, instead he simply produced two glasses filled with a sticky colourful liquid, gave them to Shinji and added a smile and wink. Shinji, smiling, returned to Asuka. She was sitting, leaning on the stone wall and looking out into the dark warm night. His smile faded, he placed her drink in front of her, taking a nearby seat and followed her gaze out onto the ocean. They sat there in silence for a while, music, light chatter, and soft laughter in the background. Shinji sipped at his drink. Distorting his face, he gave the glass an odd look.

"Errg" he said.

"Shinji" said Asuka, taking her glass.

"Hmm" said Shinji, turning his head towards her.

"You love Rei don't you?" she said casually, still looking out into the dark. Shinji froze, though he had never discussed his history with Rei with Asuka he was sure Rei probably had.

"Um well" he hesitated, but then he though ` I have nothing to hide' and continued with "Ya well yes I do…… as a sister."

The champagne was starting to hit home with Shinji as well.

"But she isn't your sister is she?" asked Asuka. Shinji absent mindedly took another sip, it wasn't so bad the second time around.

"Well genetically, no, she's more of a distant cousin if anything at all" he said "But that's the way I think of her" he took another sip "I think that's….. I think that's the best for both of us" he finished.

"And you can decide in what way you love another person?" asked Asuka, now facing Shinji. She took a sip of her own drink. Shinji looked at her evenly. Then looked back out onto the sea.

"Well yes, I think so" he said "A lot depends on the way you view things"

He remembered back to his experiences after the fight with Kaworu. "I care for a lot for people now a days, though depending on how I view each one I express it differently." he was serious now, but the alcohol was loosening his tongue.

"So your not attracted to some of them?" asked Asuka, she was quite happy with the amount of information she was getting from Shinji. Shinji wrinkled his brow a bit, this whole line of questioning was not going well, and he wanted to find a quick exit.

"Well of course, sort of" he paused for a second "After a while it's not an issue any more. For the people I think of as family, it just doesn't figure any more."

He was hurrying to complete this line of questioning "And I just have to keep myself in check with the others" he said though he raised his eyes and locked gazes with Asuka at the lst part of that sentence. They stayed like that for what felt like awhile until Shinji realised what he was doing and kicking himself mentally, turning red and hurriedly averted his gaze. `Damn!' he thought to himself, stupid champagne, at this stage he new it was starting to have an effect. Asuka herself was a little shocked and uncomfortable due to that display, and she herself turned slightly red. She looked back out onto the ocean.

"And what about Mana?" asked Asuka, taking a sip of her own drink, she was now observing Shinji out of the corner of her eye.

Behind the two pilots one of the three couples had started to argue a bit and moved away from the group, standing closer to Asuka and Shinji, though neither of the two noticed.

"Mana… well Mana was a long time ago" said Shinji looking out into the darkness solemnly, he had not heard a word from her since their parting, despite his efforts to get information out of his father and Kaji. In his mind though he was incredibly annoyed with himself for letting something so personal as his reaction before be displayed, and quite frankly was becoming annoyed with the one sided personal questions.

"So you still have feeling's for Kaji" he asked suddenly. Now this really was the alcohol talking, even though they had gotten close in the last year or so, Shinji had never asked Asuka a direct personal question like this, she had only opened her self a little to Shinji when she had wanted to. The two had had some pretty personal talks and he was quite happy with his progress, though he knew that his last question was stepping into a whole different arena. Asukas natural reaction was to scold but she was taken off balance and couldn't get too angry quickly.

"I don't think that's any of your business" she said defiantly. Shinji knew he was in trouble but he felt it was time to go for broke, he had felt their friendships openness had been one-sided for a long time now and it had been building to this point.

"Oh come on Asuka" he said "Considering the type of questions you have been asking, and which I have been answering, I think I can expect a little openness from you." he managed to push out. He knew he wanted to say it though he was incredibly uncomfortable doing so, and if it wasn't for the champagne it would not have been possible. He kept his gaze on Asuka, in his expression was only minimal aggression, more uncomfortableness but determination. Confronted with this she hesitated, it wasn't like 1 year ago for her either, she wouldn't simply just start a tantrum, though at the moment she really wished she could.

"Fair enough." she said holding his gaze, but looking uncomfortable herself. Shinji relaxed a bit. "It's not that I'm not happy for Misato and Kaji…. Its just that" her eyes wavered a little. "Its just I've really cared for Kaji for such a long time…. It's difficult" she finished lowering her eyes and taking another sip from her drink. Shinji looked at her for a while, contemplating.

"There are many ways to care for some-one" said Shinji more evenly, a smile on his face. Asuka however was not smiling.

"And what about love? I'm not sure you know what love is." replied Asuka, there was some defensive venom in her voice, though her expression changes quickly to one of hesitation. Shinji however was taken a little aback by this comment and his emotions start to build despite his best efforts.

"I know what love is" he said defensively. "At least I know what it means to me" he avoided her gaze.

"Well if you did you definitely don't show it" replied Asuka, becoming defensive herself, though for what reason she was unsure. She leant back in her chair and crossed her arms. Behind Shinji the other couples arguments has also heated up. Still this was not apparent to the two young pilots lost in their own thoughts.

"Just because someone doesn't cry doesn't mean they feel less pain, and just because some-one does cry, that doesn't mean that they feel more hurt then someone who doesn't" replies Shinji eventually, but with conviction.

"You can't even try to understand another persons emotions until you try to understand them, they way they are" he continued, again pointedly. Remembering back to her own highly emotional views on crying, Asukas view on the conversation took a whole new personal level and thus she felt that Shinjis last comment was taken as directed at her.

"Have you tried to understand me?" she asked, her eyes narrowing, the conversation had become entirely too personal for Asuka and she was reverting back to her old cover, anger. However Shinjis next comment threw her.

"I'm trying my best, but its bloody hard when you won't let me see the real you… and keep attacking me every time I try" said Shinji quickly, his voice raised, and looking at her accusingly. Asuka was again off balance… Trying, wanting desperately to open up, emotions washed though her thoughts, uncertain, she again resorted her normal emotional response, aggression.

"Why should I open up to you! It's not like you could ever understand the loss that I have had." Asuka spat out in a raised voice. Shinji recoiled, shocked. Then however his eyes went cold, and he locked his gaze onto Asuka with a disapproving, hurt and disappointed stare. Asuka realised his new expression, finally comprehending the magnitude of her last comment, her expression became distraught, moisture apparent in her eyes as her mind worked through her last words.

"Shinji I'm …. I" she started. Just then however, behind Shinji the other girl had finally had enough, slapping her boyfriend loudly. Both Shinji and Asuka were surprised and irritated by the loud noise and turned to see what the matter was. The young lady yelled something in Portuguese then turned, running off to the entrance of the courtyard. The two other girls looked at their respective boyfriends and then followed. Shinji watched the lady run out then turned to look at the young man. Who rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, noticing Shinjis gaze he turned to face him, he saw the upset faces of Shinji and Asuka and with a thoughtful and defeated face he said to Shinji in broken English.

"I hope you have more luck with your girlfriend then I had with mine."

Shinji looked at him for a second, his own mind still awash with emotions from Asukas last comments, he narrowed his eyes.

"She's not my girlfriend" he replied coldly in his own broken English. "She's to self absorbed to let `anyone' close to her" he continued bitterly, now in Japanese. It then struck him what he just said, his expression turned to one of shock and he swung back around to Asuka. To late, she was already half up out of her seat.

"Bastard!" Asuka yelled, getting up and running towards the entrance. Shinji jumped up, knocking his own chair over. "Asuka I didn't mean that! Asuka!" he called after her. But it was to late, she was already on her way back to the restaurant. Shinji moved to follow, though the young man put his hand on Shinjis shoulder, lightly restraining him.

"Let her go" The young man said knowingly. Shinji however was now too angry to be reasonable. He brushed the young mans hand off.

"If it wasn't for you that never would have happened, I was so close, so close! And now she's more pissed then ever." said Shinji desperately, again in English.

"I don't think it was any comment I made that made her feel bad" said the young man levelly. Though this only annoyed Shinji more, almost growling Shinji clenched and unclenched his fists. The young man however seemed still at ease.

"Look, I'm sorry for the bad timing, there is nothing I can do about that now. But you know that following her now will only lead to more trouble. You must let her cool off, otherwise you will both only say things you don't mean and it will only get worse."

He said this calmly and with a disarming smile, Shinji couldn't help but calm down slightly, the young man extended his hand.

"My name is Pablo, why don't you join me and my friends for a drink?" Shinji hesitated, though then his mind admits defeat on the whole Asuka issue and he extended his hand a little unsurely.

"Shinji… nice to meet you" he said in a less then convincing tone.

"Well Shinji" said Pablo "Lets go and commiserate your continued struggle with the female species" and once again Pablo places a hand on Shinjis shoulder, leading him over to his friends at the bar. Shinji, still miserable about Asuka, couldn't help but perk up a bit in this new social environment, though he was still distant, his mind not capable of letting his thoughts on Asuka go.

Meanwhile back in the restaurant Kaji and Misato were still tenderly dancing. Out of the corner of her eye Misato saw the emergence of a very upset Asuka. Asuka stopped at the edge of the dance floor, spotting Misato and Kaji.

`Is there nowhere on this bloody rock I can be alone!' Asuka thought to herself. Looking around she noticed the sign for the toilets at the other side of the bar. Crossing the edge of the dance floor Asuka deliberately avoided eye contact with her guardian and entered the restroom. Misato watched her go past.

"Oh oh" whispered Misato into Kajis ear. Kaji, lost in his own world, opened his eyes.

"What is it my dear?" he said as smooth as ever.

"Looks like Asuka and Shinji had a bit of a fight" replied Misato. Still moving to the music.

"Ah, a lovers quarrel" said Kaji

"Don't even go there!" said Misato, in a hushed, surprised voice.

"I'm not the one that allows the two to have accommodation alone." replied Kaji slightly teasingly.

"That's for security reasons" replied Misato defensively, the two continued dancing automatically. "Anyway there's no way those two would ever get together, they're just too different. I'm worried about their cohesion as team members" she finished.

"Ahh always the commander" said Kaji, Misato gave him a frown.

"(No way), is a rather big assumption" continued Kaji smiling "but I will admit it is unlikely."

They kept dancing.

"Though they have become close, you must admit that" he said.

"All the pilots have" answered Misato, looking back over Kajis shoulder at the bathroom door.

"That's just circumstances, their bond as pilots is what brings them together. Without that someone like Shinji and Asuka would never become close."

"Oh I don't know" mussed Kaji, he paused in thought. "Perhaps if they had grown up together, they may have ended up childhood sweethearts."

Misato pulled away slightly and gave Kaji an odd look.

"Just a thought" said Kaji sweetly. They danced on.

"Well to keep the piece tonight, we had better go check on the two" said Misato, as the song comes to an end. They finish by applauding the band.

"I'll meet you back on the dance floor." said Kaji, giving Misato a light kiss and a wink before leaving for the door. Misato watches him go, then made her way to the toilets.

Opening the door she saw Asuka leaning over the basin, staring at herself in the mirror, a harsh expression on her face.

"Is everything O.K Asuka?" Misato asked.

"Everything's fine Misato" replied Asuka in a less then convincing tone. She was still somewhat upset.

"You can go back to dancing with Kaji" she let slip, though instantly regretted it. `Damn this anger' she thought to herself. Misato let the comment go, fully aware of Asukas feelings on herself and Kaji.

"Have you and Shinji had a fight" Misato enquired.

Although the two girls had remained stand offish because of the Kaji issue, when alone, Misato and Asuka had managed to become relatively close in the last year.

"Fight? Why would we have a fight!" said Asuka defensively. "That little jerk was just being a bastard that's all" snapped Asuka.

Misato moves closer. "That doesn't sound like Shinji" she said "I'm sure there would have been some reason for his words" said Misato calmly. Asuka spun around to face Misato.

"What! So your saying it's my fault! Lovely little Shinji could never say anything cruel! It always has to be big bad Asuka who is a bitch first!" yelled Asuka, squaring up to Misato. Misato strained to maintain her composure, staring down Asukas outburst.

"That's not what I said Asuka" she replied soothingly.

"I'm sure you both said things you regretted" she continued. "I'm not blaming you or him, I'm just trying to clear your perspective… So there was nothing you said in that argument that you regret?" Misato asked. Asuka took a step back, her eyes wavering slightly and then turning down.

"Well…" Asuka paused slightly. "Argg! Why does he have to be so damn infuriating!"

She let go of her emotions again, turning to face the mirror.

"He's a male, they just are" said Misato sympathetically "Its difficult when two people care for each other." she continue.

"What?!?!" yelled Asuka, turning her head to give Misato an accusing look.

"Not like that!" replied Misato "But come on Asuka, two people can't work, and live close together for as long as you and Shinji have with out at least caring for each other a little bit."

Asuka continued to stare at Misato for a while.

"Well I never asked him to care for me." she said simply, almost resentfully.

"That's just the way Shinji is, and considering how many different people there are out there, he's not to bad." Misato said. Asuka gave Misato a probing look, but all she saw was a pleasant, non hostile face. Her anger largely spent, she only had one last argument left.

"Well he's still a jerk." she said simply.

"Considering he's a 16 year old boy, I'll classify that as a compliment" said Misato happily. Generating a small smile from Asuka.

"Come on, let's go back and have a coffee." said Misato encouragingly, putting her hand on Asukas shoulder. Asuka regained much of her composure and nodded, together the two left. They arrived back at the table and ordered two coffees, started to talk about other matters. Though, in the back of Asukas mind she was still muddling over her conversation with Shinji.

Meanwhile back outside Kaji had found Shinji and his new bunch of commiserating friends. Going up and introducing himself the 4 males chatted happily for a while. Shinji still had lingering effects from the margarite and was a little under the weather. Kaji skillfully managed to excuse himself and Shinji from the group and soon Kaji and Shinji were sitting in front of two coffees, where Shinji and Asuka had been sitting earlier.

"So, anything you want to talk about" asked Kaji innocently, taking a sip of his coffee.

"About Asuka?" replied Shinji "Other then the usual crap, nothing new" he said bitterly, the alcohol was only now starting to wear off, his past feelings began to re-emerge in force.

"You care for her a lot don't you?" said Kaji evenly. Shinji looked up at Kaji. `Again with this personal garbage' he thought to himself.

"I care for a lot of people, so what of it?" he said defensively. Taking a drink of his coffee, Shinji slightly burning his tong, he winced. Kaji grinned.

"Patience is a virtue, often it stops you getting burnt" Kaji said philosophically.

"Hmph" muttered Shinji, taking his next sip more slowly.

"You're a very brave young man Shinji, woman are difficult to understand, and Asuka is one of the most complicated of the lot" Kaji said softly

"Hmm" muttered Shinji "Then why do I feel that I'm always resented for trying, maybe I should just give up" he said. Kaji looked at Shinji for a while.

"Do you think you're helping her?" asked Kaji. Shinji looked at him for a second.

"Well I would hope so, I'm not taking all this abuse for nothing, I just wish she would open up to someone." replied Shinji, Kaji gave him a smile.

"All we can ever do is try, we must do what we feel is right" Kaji said, looking out at the ocean. Shinji however was not to impressed by such a vague response.

"You're doing well Shinji, I'm sure she appreciates your efforts deep down. I think you know that too" he gave Shinji a sympathetic look "in your heart" Kaji gave him a knowing smile.

"Ya well, I wish I could get a little encouragement from her occasionally" replied Shinji, though now he was back to his neutral self once more.

Thinking back to just after the fight with Kaworu he tried to remember his mindset back then, it was so clear, for a few days he could do no wrong, everything was obvious and he finally understood… well everyone! Or at least he had felt like he could. Since then however a small amount of his previous self doubts had re-emerged and he was not so confident any more. It's a pity he couldn't have remained like that, but given the experience he had had to go through to attain that clear state of mind, he wasn't so sure. Shinji turned his head to look back out into the ocean. Even though he had reverted slightly he still was a vastly improved person since that experience, and he was quite happy with his life at the moment, and confident that it would continue so, despite his incomprehension of a lot of circumstances.

"Come on, lets go back inside" said Kaji, finishing his coffee. Shinji snapped back to reality and finished his own coffee. The two went back inside after Shinji wished Pablo and his mates good luck with their girlfriends. Arriving back inside they found Asuka and Misato back at the table also drinking coffee. They went up to them just as a new song was starting. Kaji acknowledged Asuka and gave her a smile, which she returned. Just after Shinji sat down Misato suddenly got up, indicating to Kaji that she really wanted to dance to this song, then she said to Shinji and Asuka that they would leave afterwards, it was already getting late. The two left the pilots alone and went down to the dance floor again. Back at the table it was an uncomfortable silence between Shinji and Asuka. It lasted for about 30 seconds until Shinji let out a long breath and finally said quietly.

"I'm sorry about what I said to you Asuka, you know I didn't mean it"

"Then why did you say it" replied Asuka. Both pilots watching the dancers below.

"Well I was upset with your comment" said Shinji, still trying to remain calm. Asuka knew what he was speaking of, but her emotions had begun to stir again, and her pride was quite sick of her showing her softer side all night.

"You're the one who was a jerk, I don't know what your worried about" she said quietly, but with venom.

"What?!?" said Shinji shocked. That was it, he'd had enough, swarming with emotions his mind snapped.

`Bitch' he thought to himself, `let her be.'

Without any further comment from Shinji, Asuka eventually looked over at him. He was sitting there, a furious expression on his face, staring at the lights of Rio off in the distance. She looked down at his hand on the table, it was uncharacteristically calm, clenched into a fist but calm. `fine' she thought to herself. And so it remained, Misato and Kaji returned and the four headed back to the airbase. It was 10:30pm and the streets were relatively quiet.

Asuka was not enjoying herself, she and Shinji had not exchanged another word, though he was pleasant enough to Misato and Kaji, even thanking them for a lovely day. This only enraged her further. He was uncharacteristically quiet and would not look at Asuka, in fact any indication that he even noticed her only resulted in a somewhat scary and determined face. This was the first time that Asuka had seen Shinji like this, usually he simply apologised and took whatever demands Asuka made. She was still angry with him, though due to his current attitude very worried about him as well. This brought up a whole heap of emotions that were uncomfortable for her. She wanted to say something but her pride simply wouldn't let her. Unable to deal with these uncomfortable emotions she transferred them to what she new best, anger, but this in turn only made her want to talk to Shinji more which made her worry and so it continued. The trip home was too long, allowing both pilots to stew in their respective hostile thoughts. Asuka could not contain her anger and let slip a few catty comments which only managed to anger Shinji more, increasing his resolve. He only sat there in silence becoming more angry. This again only served to increase Asukas annoyance until by the time they finally got back to base you could have cut the air of hostility in the back seat with a knife. Asuka jumped out first, her shopping bags in hand. She thanked Misato and Kaji for a nice day in a pleasant tone, but gave Shinji a very dirty look before quickly running off to the barracks. Shinji got out slowly and watched Asuka go, turning to Misato and Kaji he thanked them both again.

"Are you going to be alright Shinji?" asked Misato, she knew that, when angered, Asuka very easily used physical aggression towards Shinji. Shinji looked at her levelly.

"I will be fine" he said calmly. Then after wishing them goodnight he turned to walk back to his accommodation. Misato watched him go, she was worried, Shinji was acting very strange.

"Maybe we should go and check up on them" she said to Kaji when Shinji was out of earshot.

"They'll be fine" said Kaji wrapping his arms around Misato from behind. "Some things are better worked out by the participants alone"

And with that he gave Misato a kiss on the neck. Easily convinced Misato turned and gave Kaji a kiss.

"So where are you staying tonight, `agent'?" she asked slyly.

"Actually I was hoping to do some `internal investigation' to determine the loyalties of a particular high ranking NERV commander" he said softly.

"Sounds like dangerous work" replied Misato.

"Some things are worth the risk" said Kaji slyly. Misato giggled, and the two of them turned in for the night.

Shinji returned to his barracks. Entering the half open door and closing it behind him he found Asuka hanging up her swimwear to dry near her bed. Throwing his own clothes in the corner he moved to go to the bathroom. He was just at the entrance when Asuka spoke.

"Wait a second, I need to go first." she said, moving up behind him. He concentrated for a second, then began to move out of the way to let her past. Not waiting for verbal approval Asuka pushed her way through, closing the curtain roughly behind her. Shinji, annoyed, only said "Hurry up!"

Then walked back to his bed. As expected Asuka took her time, as Shinji knew she would. He was listening to his walkman when she re-emerged, not even bothering to call out to him that she was finished. Eventually he got up and walked past her, neither saying a word. When he came back out, Asuka was looking at some of the clothes she had bought today. Walking past her, he went to get his towel and Pj's for a shower. Coming back he walked past her again and was about to enter the bathroom when again from behind came.

"Where do you think your going?" asked Asuka coldly

"To have a shower" replied Shinji in a similar tone.

"You know I always shower before you" said Asuka evenly. She moved to grab her own towel and Pj's.

"Not tonight Asuka, I'm tired and want to go to bed." said Shinji, standing still not facing her. She moves up beside him.

"And who are you to decide this?" she asked moving to go past him. Shinjis right arm shoot out and connected with the wall heavily, blocking her path. Not expecting this action Asuka ran into it. Shinji had still not turned to face her.

"Who the hell do you think you are!" asked Asuka, getting angry. Using her free hand she grabbed Shinjis arm and raised it violently to go through. Shinji however swung around and placing his left hand just bellow her neck, pushed her back heavily. Asuka, completely off guard, stumbled backwards and landed heavily on her bed.

"Who the hell do you think YOU are?" demanded Shinji, the anger in his voice now apparent. Bewildered for a second Asuka became furious, her now narrow eyes boring into Shinji, whose expression now reflected hers.

"What's this!!?" spat Asuka "Little Shinji doesn't know his place, am I going to have to kick your ass again am I!?" she ranted. Over the last year Shinji had received the same self defense training that Asuka had had in her time in Germany. Though not as practiced, he had attained a very high skill level in that time.

"No element of surprise this time Asuka!" retorted Shinji. "I wouldn't be so sure of myself" he spat back aggressively, standing as confidently as he could. A flash of red crossed Asukas face, moving quickly she launched herself from her bed and cleared the 1m towards Shinji, positioning her shoulder to impact square on Shinjis chest.

"Arrggg!" She screamed. Shinji, caught in the doorway, couldn't evade. He rolled back to absorb the impact, throwing Asuka past him as effectively as he could. Luckily the bathroom area was large and Asuka rolled easily without hitting anything. Rolling-up her momentum carried her into the far wall and she impacted against it. Shinji was back on his feet quickly, he looked at his arms, some deep scratches were glowing red on his skin. Asukas hair was a mess, but Shinji could see her satisfied grin, shining menacingly from behind her hair.

Completely overcome with rage Shinji snapped.

"Come on then, bitch!!" he yelled, taunting her.

She moved towards him quickly, sending a side kick towards his kidneys, he deflected and took a step forward, trying to send a flat handed jab towards her stomach. She deflected with a grab of her left hand, spinning around, she sent her right elbow into the side of Shinji. He gasped, Asuka spun back around using her whole ark to try and deliver a massive blow to Shinji's middle. Recovering quickly Shinji deflected the blow, this opened her up to a short range open-handed hit into her mid section. She recoiled. Shinji made a grab for her arm, wishing to get her in a hold. She spun elegantly, ducking low to cork one of Shinjis leg with her knee. Sending out a yelp, he began to falter. Before he fell he swung her violently into the wall next to the door, Asuka let out a yelp and Shinji used the respite to roll out of the bathroom into the sleeping room. He stood up, but was unsure on his feet. He looked at the bathroom entrance panting heavily. Asuka appeared slowly, clearing her hair from her face she noticed Shinjis unsteadiness, and give Shinji a purely evil grin. She moved in for the kill, Shinji backed off sending blows at Asuka to keep her at arms length. She however was too quick, and even though Shinji managed to land a few hits and kicks to her face limbs and torso, he received more then he delivered. Knowing he was loosing he suddenly closed for a hold, taking a few hits he soon had the advantage. Asuka squirmed to get out of his grip. Used to stronger opponents, she started to break the hold. Shinji, out of desperation, threw her away from him towards the small wooden table, she impacted awkwardly and the table collapsed. She let out a loud yelp. Shinji, exhausted, got ready for the next attack. Asuka however wasn't getting up, groaning she put her hand to her head. Shinji, for the first time, noticed some blood on her arm. Completely shocked he looked down at his own hands.

"What have I done?" he asked himself. His hands started to shake slightly. He took another look at Asuka, who is sitting up awkwardly. All previous anger vanished from his system as he took in the whole scene. Running over, he bent down next to Asuka, raising her head to sweep her hair away. Asuka looked up at him with a bewildered expression.

"I'm so sorry Asuka" said Shinji, the sorrow evident in his voice. "I don't know how I let this happen." He grabbed a nearby shirt and started to wipe away some blood on Asukas cheek, caused from a small cut.

Other then a few small cuts the only damage to the two were bruises. Asuka came back around, her eyes focusing on Shinji.

"I'm sorry Asuka" Shinji said again. Asuka looked at him for a second still bewildered, then however anger started to take over her expression again.

"Who the hell are you to feel sorry for me!" she yelled, pushing him back so that he fall onto the floor. She got up unsteadily, Shinji did the same, only slower. A look of pure hatred in her face, she moved to close the distance.

"I never asked for your damn pity!" she yelled. Coming into striking distance, her emotions overflowing, she was no longer capable of organised combat. She moved to slap Shinji, who caught her right hand as it swung towards him. She tried with the left, though Shinji caught that as well, and the two stood face to face. Asuka, enraged, stared into the sad face of Shinji.

"I don't know how to help you Asuka." said Shinji, releasing his grip. She took a step back and sent a slap towards him, he didn't evade and the vicious blow impacted loudly.

"I never asked you to care!" she yelled at him. He turned his head back to face her

"I'm sorry" he said simply, lowering his eyes. This was too much for Asuka, her rage so high her eyes begin to moisten. Grabbing Shinji by the collar she pushed him viciously up against a wall, using her whole weight to hight-en the blow. He impacted heavily, and it took him a few seconds to recover, a small amount of blood trickled out of his nose. Beside him his hands went limp, he looked square into Asukas eyes, nothing but sadness and pity visible in his own. Asuka was shaking, her gaze locked with Shinjis, she released her right hand and raises it for another swing at him.

"Do as you will" said Shinji unwaveringly. He continued to hold her gaze, unflinching.

Asuka mind fought desperately to gain control, there is no way out!

She suddenly remembers back to her childhood, `I will not cry, I will not cry!' her emotions were overflowing. She could not hit this boy, this boy who cared for her so much he is willing to receive physical harm not to hurt her any-more. He is not a coward, (He is staring straight at her! Unflinching!) He is not beneath her, (he has fought well) he doesn't think he's better then her, (his eyes are reflecting nothing but sympathy. there is no way out! `Damn you Shinji!' her mind screams. `Why do you care!', `Why do you care!!!'.

Shinji, still holding her gaze, prepared for the worst, though only calmly closes his eyes, head still not turning, when Asukas hand begins to move towards him.

Expecting a blow, he awaited the inevitable. His mind however almost shuts down in shock when instead of a hit he suddenly felt Asukas lips press against his. His eye's snapped open to see Asukas face, eyes clenched, pressed against his. Her hands came up to shakily grab the back of his head, with a little too much force she pressed herself against him. Wrapping her free hand around his back. Shinji, bewildered, was slow to recover, not knowing how to proceed he simply began to kiss her back. This however was not easy as Asuka, still stressed, was using a lot of force. She softened however as soon as Shinji placed one arm around her and used his other hand to gently caress her face. Asukas expression softened and her hold lightened, as if she had been waiting for an accepting sign, much to Shinjis immediate relief. Now fully engaged, they then proceeded to share the most passionate, if slightly awkward, kiss that either of the two pilots would ever experience. It continued for a couple of minutes as much of the frustration and emotions that the two had experienced was seemingly poured out in this one act. Shinji could feel Asukas slightly swollen lip and the taste of blood was in both their mouths, though neither cared. Asuka finally broke the kiss, leaning back she looked into Shinjis eyes with a blank expression. He looked back, still slightly surprised and unsure of the situation.

"Asuka?" he said uneasily. Asuka however only took a step back, holding his hand. She then guided him to his left and rather unceremoniously pushed him onto his own bed. Shinji, still shocked, could only watch as she climbed on top of him and began to kiss him again. Completely at a loss, he simply played along. Her expression remained largely blank, though it was undeniable that she was enjoying herself when in contact with him. They kissed passionately, Asukas hands ran up and down Shinjis body, Shinji likewise doing the same. Asuka hands were becoming `very familiar' and Shinjis eyes sprang open in shock. His hormones finally began to kick in, and his hands returned the favour, achieving some moans from Asuka at certain times. This continued for a while and soon Asuka was removing Shinjis clothes. It didn't take long before Asuka and Shinji were reduced to panties and underpants respectively. Shinjis mind was a mess, his body was effectively on hormone autopilot and not doing too badly at all, both pilots were breathing deeply at this stage.

Though his mind was not happy at all, this whole thing was very wrong, though Asuka was obviously enjoying herself he couldn't help but notice some residual tension. Also the few times that she had pulled back and looked at him he had found himself staring into a largely blank expression, though it did not register any negative feelings at all, it also did not register any positive attributes either. This fact was the one thing that disturbed him most of all. The situation was becoming `very' intense and Shinji's mind fought for control. Asuka was now sitting on top of him, he leaned upwards, putting himself and Asuka in a tangled seating position. He took a large gulp as he fought all kinds of sensations that were flooding his mind. Being the first time he had taken the initiative, Shinji kissed her passionately one last time. Still feeling the rather mechanical response from Asuka he pulled back from her, pausing for a second to gain his breath, Asuka moved to continue but he held her back.

"Asuka" he said "You're the most beautiful person I know, someone I respect and admire, I will gladly continue" he paused, thinking back to his last words before this new development, suddenly the words `do as you will' had taken on a whole new meaning than what he was expecting.

"But are you sure you want to do this?" he looked into her eyes sympathetically. Asukas eyes began to water slightly and they sparkled a little in the light of the room, otherwise however she did not really respond, silent she moved to kiss Shinji again. He again pulled away, though it was incredibly difficult to do.

"All you have to say is yes" said Shinji. He watched Asuka, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

In Asukas mind, the game was up. Her mind had not used the last 10 minutes or so to work through anything, being effectively bottled up after her decision to kiss Shinji. Her last avenue of denial was in turn denied her, all she had to do was say yes, but this required her to contemplate her response and thus the last mental support crumbled in the face of a mostly naked, caring Shinji. Her mental walls of denial collapsed. The single tear was the first indication. Finally her expression changed. Shinji had never seen such a sad face in his entire life. Suddenly all the rest of Asukas emotions were released and she began to cry. Starting off slowly, she soon began in earnest. Shinji was shocked, once again unsure, he once more put his arms around her and gave her a hug. This only released the floodgates, Asuka grabbed Shinji, burying her head in his shoulder, and only cried more. Massive tears flowing she began to sob loudly, the convulsions were so intense that Shinji had to concentrate to maintain his grip. Asuka continued to cry, soon her whole body became limp, her energy being used in her emotional release. Though her energy was failing due to the intense emotional release her arms remained strong, clinging to Shinji. Shinji couldn't hold his position so lent back down allowing Asuka to fall on top of him, she continued to hold on dearly, burying her face in his chest. Shinji kept holding on bewildered, but somehow relieved, allowing Asuka to continue crying, while stroking her hair. Her experience being so intense that the effects could be felt through her entire body. She continued in this way for a while occasionally gulping for air between the tears, though at no stage letting go. It seemed like a long time, though in reality it only lasted about 2min, Shinji was still stroking her hair when her grip suddenly loosened. Exhausted by the effort of letting her emotions go, she had finally collapsed, and she drifted off to sleep. Shinji lay there for a while, while the reality of the situation sunk in. He was relieved, though the practical side of the evening soon began to sink in. His chest and the bed below him were drenched from her tears, and on top of him lay a practically naked Asuka, emotionally and physically exhausted, and asleep. Something had to be done. Kissing her forehead lightly he decided he had better do something, He managed to get out from under her, only mildly disturbing the sleeping girl. He found a towel and cleaned her up as best he could. He decided he had better but her Pj top on at the very least and she mumbled sleepily as he propped her up and dressed her, it was a surprisingly difficult exercise, Asuka's exhaustion only allowed her to become semi conscious during the whole experience. Shinji talked her through the process soothingly. Soon Shinji was finished. He would have left her on his bed but for the fact that it was now wet from tears and some blood. He picked Asuka up, only now did he begin to notice some of the larger bruises inflicted by this same girl earlier this evening. Clenching his teeth he managed to get her into her own bed. He straightened up gratefully and looked around the room.

"What a mess" he said softly under his breath. He felt a hand on his leg, looking down he saw the barely conscious eyes of Asuka looking up at him.

"Shinji" she said softly. He had been here before, leaning down he stroked her hair.

"I'll be back in a minute, you won't be alone" he said softly. Asuka gave him a smile and leaned back, falling asleep. Shinji got back up, he `had' been here before, he shook his head, a smile on his face, `twice?' he smiled lazily to himself.

Changing quickly into his own Pj's, he looked around for a way to warn himself of approaching people tomorrow. He didn't want to have to look into the disapproving face of Misato again. Eyeing the chair he moved it over to the door, placing it under the hinge on an angle. He heard Asuka stirring behind him, looking back down he was satisfied that the chair would at least afford him some warning. Turning off the lights he went back to Asuka, she quietened as soon as he approached. He tenderly moved her to one side and lay down, lifting the light sheet up. As expected Asuka snuggled up to him, laying her head on his shoulder and placing her arm across his chest. Shinji drew the blankets over the top of them both and made himself comfortable. Asuka slept quietly, and Shinji listened to her breath. He was becoming quite good at this, he thought to himself, smiling in the dark. Quite contented Shinji placed his hands behind his head, and fell asleep with a smile on his face, feelings the rhythm of Asukas heartbeat next to his own.

The next morning found Misato relatively late to rise. Separating herself from a still sleeping Kaji she looks at the clock, 9am. Not to bad, she had expected this, nothing was scheduled until 11am today anyway. Soon she was ready to face the day, and made her way over to the pilots barracks, on the way she ran into a guard. He reported hearing some strange noises from the barracks the night before. When asked to elaborate he simply stated that it sounded like fighting. The guard however was a NERV veteran, and didn't think that the pilots fighting was a particularly strange event. Misato nodded knowingly, and hurried over, given their state last night she was still a little worried about Shinjis health. Arriving at the door Misato calmly tried to open it. Encountering resistance she gave it a little shove. As the chair was on a smooth floor it slipped away, falling to the ground with a crash.

Shinjis eyes burst open, his mind was already firing on all cylinders. He found himself wrapped around Asuka in the spoon position, jumping up he fell backwards off the bed, crashing to the floor. Standing quickly he placed the covers back over Asuka before Misato had even entered the room fully. Looking around Shinji made a dive for the bathroom, turning on the faucet and grabbing his toothbrush. Meanwhile Misato had finally entered the room, looking around she inhaled sharply in shock. Between the destroyed table and other disarray there were obvious signs of blood on Shinjis bed. Due to the division in the room Misato couldn't see Asuka or the bathroom.

"Shinji! Asuka!" Misato called out with concern. Meanwhile Shinji was splashing water on his face in the bathroom and was trying to wash off some of the dried blood from his face. He gave up and raced out to see Misato, toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. He came out of the bathroom just as Misato dashed around the divide.

"Shinji!" Misato exclaimed, she quickly checked Asuka's bed, Asuka meanwhile was awake and was leaning up, though still half asleep.

"Shinji, Asuka, what on earth happened here last night!?" asked Misato desperately. Asuka had developed a slightly swollen lip overnight while one of Shinjis eyes was slightly dark. Misato didn't know who to go to first, spotting Shinjis dried blood she moved to him first, trying to get a closer look at his face.

"Oh my god, are you two ok?"

Bewildered she looked from one to the other.

"It's O.K Misato" said Shinji, backing slightly away from Misato, as she tried to grab his face to inspect it.

"What on earth happened?" demanded Misato, stopping her advance. Asuka, now awake, sat up in her bed.

"It was only a small sparring match that got a little out of hand" said Asuka casually, giving Shinji a small smile, which Shinji returned. Misato, unconvinced, looked from one to the other.

"I was a little worried about leaving you two alone last night, but I didn't think you would try to kill each other!" she stated concerned.

"It wasn't that bad" replied Asuka "Last night we just got a little, spirited, that's all. It won't happen again, I promise"

Misato was still not convinced, looked between the two with a confused expression, both of them gave her reassuring smiles, she gave up. Dejected Misato let out a long breath then place her hands on her hips.

"I can't have two of my pilots injuring each other, is that clear!" she said in a more authoritarian voice. "If it happens again the two of you will have to come under review, do I make myself clear" Misato scolded, having again reverted to her commander voice. She looked at the two, who nodded. Completely defeated Misato lets out a discouraged groan.

"You two!" Misato said bitterly, turning on her heals she marched out the door. Just before she left however she turned to add one more comment.

"And make sure you clean this place up! I expect you both at the mess hall in half an hour!" and with that she slammed the door.

Left on their own Shinji took the toothbrush out of his mouth and smiled at Asuka. She smiled back, and they shared a little laugh. Shinji however became quickly uncomfortable as he waited for a reaction to last nights happenings. Asuka yawned and stretches innocently, getting up, she walked past Shinji into the bathroom, leaving the curtain open. Joining her at the second basin, Shinji looked at himself in the mirror, he started to wash his face properly. Asuka looked at her face in the mirror too, touching her swollen lip she winced a bit.

"You're not a bad fighter Shinji, you got in a few good ones" she said lightly. Shinji looked over, smiling, he got back to cleaning the blood from his face.

"Still not good enough, I think I ended up with more bruises then you" replied Shinji. They continue to clean themselves up, Asuka started to brush her hair.

"Shinji"

"Yes" said Shinji looking up.

"Thank you." said Asuka simply, continuing to brush her hair. Shinji paused, the only sound, coming from the running water.

"Shinji"

"Hmmm"

"How do you think of me?" asked Asuka, Shinji was sort of expecting this, but still unprepared none the less.

"I mean what type of relationship do you think we have?" Asuka asked, turning to face him. Again Shinji paused, searching for an answer in his own reflection in the mirror. Coming to a decision he straightening up and faces Asuka.

"Well…..I would like to think of us as close friends" he said.

Asuka looked at him evenly for a while, Shinji being careful to maintain a sincere face.

"After last night I think we might almost classify as intimate friends" implied Asuka, with a slight smirk, though she herself was also very uncomfortable. Shinji turned a light shade of red and broke eye contact, smiling shyly.

"Yah I suppose so" he said, his voice was kind but also a little unsure. Asuka watched his reaction, nervously.

"I think your right though, close friends would be best" she said eventually, again trying to gauge Shinjis reaction. Looking back up at her, his smile grew.

"I would really like that" he said confidently. Asuka noticeably relaxed, and was glad that that was over with. They looked at each other for a few seconds, then Asuka took a quick step forward, placing a kiss on Shinjis cheek.

"Thanks for being there for me." she said lightly, and gave him a cheeky smile. Turning on her heels, she went to the doorway.

"And for being such a good friend, I will allow you to use the bathroom first today" she said in her over emphasised gracious way. Leaving the bathroom she pulled the curtains closed behind her to leave Shinji standing there speechless. A slight smile started to appear on his puzzled face.

"But if you use all the hot water I'm going to have to kick your ass again Shinji!" yelled Asuka happily. Shinji turned to the basin. Happy with himself, he began to whistle a tune.

Half an hour later Shinji and Asuka arrived at the mess hall. Inside Misato and Kaji were already eating.

"You should have seen the room!" whispered Misato to Kaji under her breath. Their conversation was interrupted by the appearance of the pilots "And you said they would be O.K." scorned Misato, taking another mouthful of her breakfast. Kaji looked up casually, watching the pilots enter.

"I don't know what the problem is my dear Major, they both appear to be smiling" said Kaji casually, but quietly.

"Well take another look, and you'll notice that it looks like they have been in a bar brawl!" hissed Misato. Kaji took another look as the two line up to be served. They did appear quite happy, though the NERV personnel around them couldn't help but stare slightly at some of the more obvious injuries.

"It would appear that their methods may be a little extreme" said Kaji returning to his breakfast, "But if all results of physical fights were as pleasant as that one appears to be" Kaji took another bit, chewing slowly. "I would intice you to fighting more often" he finished. Misato, speechless, looked from the pilots back to Kaji, a dumbfounded expression on her face. Shinji and Asuka made their way over, full trays in hand.

"You wish" slipped in Misato under her breath, before Shinji and Asuka arrived.

"I hope your quarters are back in order." Misato said loudly with a frosty edge, not looking up.

"It's all tidy" replied Asuka, sitting next to Kaji. Shinji took a spot next to Misato.

"I'm sorry Misato but we couldn't fix the table" Shinji said "We left the pieces just outside the barracks."

Kaji give the pilots a smile, looking at each for a little while.

"I see you've improved Shinji" said Kaji lightly "Asuka appears to have at least as many injuries as you"

Asuka and Shinji stopped eating, exchanged glances and looked at Kaji, Misato was doing the same.

"Yah" said Shinji suddenly smiling. "Though I think my sudden show of competition caused the… slight increase in intensity" he replied, finishing in a playful tone. Asuka took another bite then added haughtily.

"Its good to finally have a slight bit of competition"

Misato, bamboozled by the conversation, simply observed.

"Just make sure that you take it easy on him Asuka" said Kaji. "Remember we're here to fight the enemy, neither of you is good to us without a wingman." he said smiling. Asuka, Shinji and Kaji shared a quiet laugh, Misato however was still looking on unamused, seeing the more serious side of the whole affair.

The day progressed, Shinji and Asuka were ordered to visit the base medic, and both were given some ointments for their respective superficial injuries. Misato, still unimpressed, incorporated a strenuous physical work-out into today's training, one which made both pilots quite aware of the injuries they sustained the previous evening. It was tough going and even though the two pilots were in obvious discomfort their moral was higher then ever. In fact Misato couldn't remember a time when the two had gotten along better. Surrounded by this continued high spirits, Misato couldn't help but start to forget her own dark views on their recent behaviour. The day was almost over already and both pilots were stiff and sore. Misato gave one more attempt at playing the commander, but when she was met with only good humour, she caved, sending the two off to the showers.

Shinji and Asuka showered and changed, meeting Misato back at the mess hall. Dinner was relatively good, and afterwards the entire camp was treated to a movie, shown in the mess tent. The evening became more relaxed. Misato again in good spirits, joked with the pilots before sending them to bed. The entire day had been superb. Both pilots had remained nervous about the others true feelings about their current standpoint towards each other. Though as they had both continually reinforced the line of good friends in their actions towards each other during the day, both became reassured about the others true feelings. Preparing for bed Shinji started one of his tapes, playing softly on the new table that had been arranged. Wishing each other good night the two pilots fell asleep contented, listening to Jazz playing softly in the background. Though the past evenings actions had not come up for discussion again, there actions all day had done more then words could have. Cementing their new relationship, a new friendship that had only been exposed after the torrid and extreme actions during the destruction of their old friendship the night before.

The next day was much the same, the situation had mellowed much and Misato had returned to her light hearted state. Soon the day was over again.

Authors note

[[Well that was quite intense, a lot of fun to write though. To be honest such a confrontation was the only way I saw the two pilots ever getting together, other then the whole childhood friendship thing. The sociology of the whole thing could easily be questioned but I don't think it was too far fetched. So now my views on the two relationship possibilities have been revealed. What will happen next?]]

2.3 Grey skies are gonna clear up, put on a happy face.

Authors note:

[[Enough with this mushie stuff, time for some more combat! In this chapter we meet Mana Kirashima the character from the Evangelion game Girlfriend of steel or iron maiden, if you don't know the game check out Jazzam's Mana Kirashimas picture gallery for more info.]]

4am the next morning. Misato was woken from her sleep by Makoto at the door, information was coming in from Gendo. Quickly dressing, she and Kaji were soon joining Fuyuzuki at command & control. They entered to see the faces of Gendo and Ritsuko on the monitor. Starting immediately Gendo said that information had arrived about the imminent deployment of the enemy Evas. Satellite reconnaissance had picked up activity at a couple of locations. A map appeared on the projector screen and the locations were illustrated. Ritsuko continued, and information appeared on the map, given the strategic targets in the area the Magi had calculated the optimal staging area of the NERV Evas so as to be able to intercept any possible incursion. The brief continued and Ritsuko transferred the limited information she had concerning what type of enemy Evas they were to expect, and what type of weapons it was expected to have. Gendo interrupted, asking that Kaji make his way to a chopper already organised by Gendo, he was to receive his own brief on rout to a new assignment. Saluting, Kaji made ready to go, asking Misato quietly to wish Shinji and Asuka goodbye. In professional mode, Misato only glanced sideways at Kaji who himself only gave a slight smile, she nodded slightly and their eyes locked for only a second. While at work the two were professional, but considering how close they were, tiny signals had developed, ones not noticeable for most people. Kaji quickly retreated from the room. On the screen Gendo excused himself and left to give Kaji his own briefing. Ritsuko continued and before long the orders were issued for a re-deployment.

Shinji and Asuka were awakened, and through a hive of activity made their way to Misato. Back in the control room, Gendo had reappeared and the NERV commanders were busily organising strategy. After greeting Shinji and Asuka, Gendo and Ritsuko got back to serious talk with Misato and Fuyuzuki. Asuka and Shinji listened in for a while, but it was mostly strategy. Noticing them out of sorts, Maya asked them if they wanted to talk to Rei. Grateful, the two pilots were soon in a side room sitting around a small Lap-top, with a camera attachment. And no sooner had they sat down then a picture of Rei appeared on the screen, smiling.

Shinji and Asuka said hello happily, as they both squashed together to appear on the same screen. Quickly however a look of concern crossed Reis face, the two pilots had forgotten about their injures, which were still slightly visible. Shinji and Asuka exchanged glances, having totally forgotten. Hearing Reis concern they laughed, Asuka gave a good appraisal of their last couple of days, though omitting most of what happened two nights ago. In an inspired piece of light good natured teasing she did end the account by stating to Rei what a charming caring young man Shinji had become. At this comment Shinji turned red. Rei, smiling, helped rub it in and soon Shinji's eyes were looking at the floor, embarrassed. The two girls used this opportunity to share a sympathetic expression. Shinji, still embarrassed caught the exchange out of the corner of his eye. He was starting to suspect that the two were closer then he had first thought. Continuing the conversation the topics remained light, Shinji and Asuka found out what Hikari, Toji and Kensuka had been up to and what Rei had been doing at NERV. They were still going on when Makoto entered the room, saying they were moving out. The three pilots said their good byes, Rei wishing them well.

Soon Shinji and Asuka found themselves on a transport helicopter. The flight was long, and strenuous, the only consolidation was the spectacular views offered the youngsters by flying over 1/2 of Brazil to Colombia and Venezuela. They arrived at late morning to a remote looking airfield, in heavily mountainous terrain. Landing, they were greeted by the local commander. Provisions for their arrival were well under way. There was no time to wait and everyone helped with the difficult task of organising a temporary base, even Shinji and Asuka were used for physical labour. At about 6pm the Evas arrived, dropped in by their transports the two Evas landed heavily close to the base. Shinji and Asuka were transported to the drop-zone were they activated their Eves and made their way back to the airfield. At 8pm it was finally finished.

The entire staff was exhausted and received only a basic field meal. Fuyuzuki ordered everyone to get some sleep as a night deployment was expected. There were no complaints from the collected assembly and soon all NERV employees were fast asleep.

One massive Mosquito tent had been erected near the airfield which contained the eating area and the collective sleeping area, being a tropical climate the temperature was still high and the humidity intense. Given this, no one complained about the lack of privacy, being happy to have an open sleeping area. Everyone collapsed into their respective bunks and hammocks still fully clothed, soon only light snoring could be heard about the airfield.

The airfield did not have a large permanent staff, and everyone other then the communications staff had helped in the set-up, and so it was that a strange silence had descended over the airfield. Being a remote location, other then the snoring of the exhausted staff, the only man made noise was a continuous hum from the flood lights illuminating the Evas and the slow turning radar at the far end of the airfield. Occasionally this silence was pierced by an animal noise coming from the surrounding thick jungle, as well as the respective insect noises vying for sound domination against the hum of the lights.

It was a clear night and soon the stars were out, a peaceful scene, even the occasional lighting strikes and thunderclaps coming from an approaching storm far on the horizon only added to the lazy atmosphere. And so it stayed for the next 2 hours or so.

At the control tower the main door was suddenly thrown open, and a lone figure ran across the airfield to the sleeping tent. Entering, the young Venezuelan private made his way to Fuyuzuki, gently shaking him awake. Fuyuzuki stirred, after a short conversation the commander was up, quickly raising Misato, Maya and Makoto, they made there way over to the tower. Shinji, stirring, saw the figures go before rolling over and falling back to sleep. Soon he was back awake however as Misato called for an alert ready status. Everyone sprang into action. Shinji and Asuka grabbed their plug suits and got changed. Soon they were in the tower, awaiting their briefing. It appeared that the enemy was using the storm as cover. Three suspected Evas had been detected by boarder units, no visual ID was made to confirm however. Ritsuko and Gendo appeared on the link again, apparently the Magi had narrowed their possible targets down to one highly probable. Given the fact that all three known enemy Evas were this time engaged it was believed that this incursion was probably the pivotal attack of the enemy campaign. The aims of which were as mysterious as ever. The suspected target was the Intracon satellite communications facility, a massive antenna array. This was one of the strongest satellite communications installations in South America, and the only target of technological importance in the area, thus the suspected target. Tactical data was still coming in, but the two Evas were to make their way immediately to the installation, and there await further instructions. Getting well wishes from their superiors the two pilots nodded and made their way to their respective Evas. Running, they were quickly there. Both hesitating slightly before they split up.

"Well this is it" said Shinji, the seriousness of the situation sinking in.

"Ya, you take care out there you hear" replied Asuka, attempting to remain positive, they were after all about to go into combat, something they had not done for a year. Shinji gave her a weak smile.

"Now no showing off out there" teased Shinji.

"Lets show them we can work as a team yet" replied Asuka happily. And with that she took a quick step forward and gave Shinji a kiss on the cheek, he was about to blush when she followed up with a vicious punch in the arm.

"Argg" muttered Shinji, happily rubbing his arm. Asuka gave him a smirk and turned to run to her Eva. Soon the two Evas were active. Their new battery packs were installed, giving them power for an extra half an hour over the ½ hour that their internal batteries could manage. Assault riffles slung around their backs and extra clips on the slings, the two Evas made their way off, to the cheers of the ground crew.

The going was tough, with the terrain being very hilly and forested. Both Evas were waste deep in old growth rainforest. Continually in contact with Misato, now aloft in an areal mobile unit, the two Evas made their way through the jungle. About 50 minutes later they had crossed 200 km of hilly terrain. Both pilots panting heavily. Misato had organised for a battery drop 5 Min from the target area. It was as they were changing batteries that frantic calls started coming in from the communications facility. They were under attack by three Evas, the personnel had been prepared, and the facility was abandoned as soon as contact was confirmed. The surveillance system had been left on deliberately and soon images of the approaching Evas were transmitted. The storm had reached the facility and the heavy rain was obscuring the image. Large dark shapes could be made out on the horizon. Soon three massive figures could be seen in the rain. They finally cleared the surrounding forest, one large dark figure leaning down while the other two remained vigilant. Suddenly a large lighting strike lit up the scene and the enemy Evas were exposed. Shinji, watched the live-feed from his Eve, suddenly took in a deep breath, they looked exactly like old unit 4, Tojis old Eva. The one leaning down appeared to be holding a large container, appearing from it was a small squad of men, soon after that the camera went blank. Asuka's intercom came on line

"My god, they're piloted Evas just like ours." she said.

"I was expecting the robotic Evas from our last contact, where did they get the pilots?" said Shinji, uneasily. Misato suddenly appeared in the screen.

"We were suspecting this might be a possibility, Shinji" came in Misatos voice. "You were told this might be the case." she said in an authoritative voice. "Unfortunately they are simply fighting for the wrong side, there is nothing we can do about that."

Asuka and Shinji shared an unhappy look.

"You both know what's at stake here". Misato finished up.

"We are aware of that Misato, but its still difficult" said Shinji eventually, Asuka meanwhile was putting on Shinjis last battery for him. Asuka nodded in agreement.

"I have discussed this scenario with Gendo" said Misato "he is quite aware of your history"

Everyone was suddenly taken back to Shinjis fight with Tojis Eva. Shinji for the first time in a year had hostile thoughts about his father as he remembered back to the events, he shook them off however.

`He was a different person' he reminded himself, though he still was unhappy. Around the two standing Evas it began to rain heavily as the tropical storm reached them.

"In the current scenario we have changed the operation to a capture profile" Misato spoke on.

"All your weapons and targeting systems have been calibrated so as to minimise the potential risk to the enemy pilot. But in the end they may not hold the same opinion as you, so it will be your skill on the battlefield that decides not only your lives, but theirs as well."

Shinji looked over at Asuka, her Eva having retrieved its assault rifle from its back. Standing in the dark, rain streaming down, a lightning flash illuminate unit 02 as it stood there, menacingly. Looking back down at his console Asukas image nodded at him determinedly. Unnoticed to Shinji his hand had been clenching and unclenching by his side, suddenly it clenched into a fist, he nodded at Asuka determinedly. Retrieving his own rifle, he cocks it, placing the first round into the chamber. The strap, now removed, he placed it around the waist of Evangelion unit 01, like a belt.

Misatos mobile command centre had now landed on a nearby hill, the staff quickly getting out, setting up communications equipment in the pouring rain. Ritsukos picture appeared on the screen. The tactical data had been transferred to the Magi, and scenarios were already being developed. The two Evas were told to move out and Shinji and Asuka took one more look at each other before making their way off to their starting position. While moving, Shinjis mind began to wander. He was about to attack another child, a child like himself, something that only a year or so before he had been willing to lose his life for to avoid. He frowned. So much had changed, his morals, his views. It had only occurred to him later how much of a coward he had been back then, not physically but emotionally. He had been unwilling to make a moral decision on his own, he had been lead by the will of others, allowing himself to be manipulated. And it had nearly cost Toji his life. Not only by the fact that the dummy system had almost killed him but also by the fact that it had almost not been given that chance. If Shinji would have died then not only Toji but all of humanity would have died. Something at the time his narrow view point had not allowed him to see. But this time it was different. Back then his father had been wrong too. If he had disabled the dummy system earlier Tojis leg would have been spared. But then it was mistakes that were perpetuated, one on top of the other, which caused the whole miserable episode. Now however his father had recognised the grievance, and though tactically dangerous, had made plans to incorporate the pilots wishes, not to aim for a destruction of the target, but for capture. Even though Shinji knew that Gendo still had a very cold and leadership viewpoint of the lives of combatants, it was a point of view he was willing to address, much to Shinjis relief. `I won't let you down' he said to himself, the aim was to capture, but if need be he was now strong enough to accept the reality of combat. Quickly his Eva was in position, two gullies away from the target facility, about 5km as the crow flies. Looking down the valley to his right he saw Asuka take up a similar position on the right flank. The Magi had predicted the enemies' movement, and had suggested possible locations of the enemy. They were apparently interested in only controlling the facility nothing more. Shinji and Asuka powered down while awaiting further instructions. Asuka sat in her entry plug, the sound of the rain hitting her Eva penetrating through to her.

Back at the command centre Ritsuko suddenly appeared on Misatos screen.

"We have just cracked a series of transmissions from American satellites and our own satellites have confirmed. They are trying to use long range N2 missiles to knock the lance of logenous into a descending orbit!" informed Ritsuko

"What!" replied Misato, "There trying to get back the lance of logenous, is that even possible?"

"According to the Magi, Yes, the initial blasts and atmospheric re-entry only has a point 009 chance of damaging the lance." continued Ritsuko.

"What do they need from this outpost then" said Misato suspiciously.

"It's a incredibly difficult calculation, even with the help of the Magi. After the initial blast smaller blasts will be needed to correct its trajectory otherwise its final drop-zone could be anywhere. They obviously need this centre as a relay point to direct a phase of the calculation and calibration. This type of operation is something that will require a direct line of site with sensitive equipment." finished Ritsuko. The fact that she was impressed with this plan as a scientist was obvious in her voice.

"So if we shut this place down, what then?" asked Misato, ignoring her friends empathy with the enemies plan.

"Only a short while ago we detected a large explosion in deep space, the lance is already on its way, it will re-enter now regardless. The only thing we can do know is disable this section of their plan. Their Australian relays will be SEELE friendly, so hopefully knocking out this link will be enough to insure that the lance lands somewhere were they don't want it too."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan" scoffed Misato "So what do we do once it lands"

"Then it's a race to see who gets there first" Ritsuko stated innocently.

"Sounds like something that can quickly get out of hand." conjectured Misato, mostly to herself.

"Well at the moment all we have to worry about is that they don't make it land in America, if that happens its all over anyway" said Ritsuko poignantly to bring Misato back.

"What's so important about the lance anyway?" Misato asked impatiently, annoyed at the implied tone of Ritsuko.

"We don't have time for that now Major, according to the calculations just in, you have 10min to destroy that satellite dish outpost. I suggest you move out" replied Ritsuko.

Misatos, arms folded, scolded Ritsuko for a second before minimising her comms window, looking back at the map she relayed strategic data to Shinji and Asuka.

"So we only need to destroy the facility?" asked Shinji hopefully.

"That's correct, you don't have to engage the enemy Evas if you can avoid it." said Misato, both Asuka and Shinji smiled, relieved.

"Why don't we just bombard with our rifles, like Rei did that one time?" asked Asuka hopefully, as confident as she was, she was quite aware that it was 3 vs 2.

"I'm afraid that's not an option, our topographical data is not that good, and the stormy conditions would only give you a very low chance. Also as soon as you fire the enemy will know where you are and close. So we can only expose you if we're sure of a hit." directed Misato, scanning over the maps.

"Actually that's not a bad idea" said Misato suddenly. "Asuka I will give you a firing point from where you are to try and bombard the target. If you fail, pull back and hold off the Evas that come after you. Shinji you use this time to creep in and destroy the target. Then we all pull back. O.K" finished Misato.

"O.K" came the reply from the pilots. Both links disappearing.

Asuka powered up unit 02 as the data was transferred. Awaiting a small timer she started to move out. Meanwhile Shinji got his position data, and with rifle in hand, slowly crawled over the hill to sneak into position. Given the ferocity of the thunderstorm and the height of the forest Shinjis action remained largely unnoticed, even though his Eva felled 40m high trees as it crawled along the ground. He closes to 2 km to the target. Peaking through the trees, Shinji could see the next ridge, the last before he could get a clear shot at the target. Quietly Shinji scanned the area for the enemy Evas. Asuka meanwhile had moved around the target, she was moving low, and soon she come to an intersection of valleys. From Shinjis elevated position he looked down to his right, during a lightning burst he could just make out Asukas Eva running in the distance. Looking back around he scaned for movement between the poring rain. Asuka was kneeling low, hesitant to make the last dash to her firing position. She was in an exposed location and was not happy about the dash across. Luckily she knew that Shinji occupied the highest peak, scanning around she made a judge of the lightning strikes, hoping to dash across between flashes. Shinji was still scanning the area when he looked back down at Asuka, until she fires he was to remain still. Looking down to her position a lightning flash showed the edge of her crouching Eva positioned behind the ridge. Suddenly Shinji noticed a large shadow, but the lightning flash was leaving an echo in his vision. Unsure of himself Shinji rubbed his eyes, and again looked at the ridge Asuka was hiding behind. Tensing, he tried to see, but there was no flash, the storm was not helping. Getting nervous Shinji hesitated to break radio silence. Slowly he got into a kneeling position bringing his gun up to bare. Asuka had missed the lightning lull. Angered at having not gone she waited to run immediately after the next one, regardless. Shinji looked again, that ridgeline was definitely moving more then it should have in the high winds. Suddenly another flash illuminated the terrain. Shinjis eyes shot open, an enemy Eva could be seen on the ridge, gun raised and lined up for a shot at Asukas back, who was still crouching in the valley below.

"Asuka watch out!" screamed Shinji, breaking radio silence. Bringing his gun up he fired a long volley at the enemy Eva. Asuka, surprised at the sudden shouting of Shinji over the communication, saw Shinjis fire coming in from her left, her reflexes saved her and she dove forward into the junction without a seconds hesitation. The enemy Eva on the hill could see the tracers coming in, but too late, it pulled its own trigger in an attempt to at least hit Asuka, who luckily had dived forward. Shinjis fire impacted around its legs, loosing balance but still holding on to the trigger the enemy Eva threw itself over the edge of the ridge that Asuka had been hiding behind moments before. Its tracers swept up in a large ark, massive explosions tearing at the ground around Asuka. She rolled forward, coming up gun in hand. Aware of the fire behind her she ran forward. Coming through the thrown up dirt from the enemy Evas volley into the next ridge. Emerging through the dirt she found herself face to face with the second enemy Eva, running down the same gully from the opposite direction. Both Evas, too shocked to react, collided headlong, Asuka lost her riffle in the process. Recovering quicker Asuka sprung to her feet and moved in to close on the enemy Eva. The enemy Eva was slower to react, bringing up its gun to fire at Asuka, but to late, Unit 02 did a sweeping kick before it could fire, Asukas Evas foot impacted against the gun, causing the magazine to explode, throwing both Evas back again. Asuka was again quicker to recover. Drawing her progressive knife she dove into the smoke caused by the exploding gun. The enemy unit however was more prepared this time, deflecting the thrust and throwing unit 02 against the Valley wall. Asuka landed hard and opened her eyes just in time to see the enemy unit close on her, its own knife at the ready. Deflecting the knife the attackers blow landed into the mountain next to Asukas Evas head.

"So you want to play rough do you!" screamed Asuka thrusting her own knife towards the neck of the enemy Eva. This in turn was stopped by the free hand of the enemy Eva and the two, holding each others knifes, are caught in a battle of strength. Struggling, the two roll back into the dirt clouds.

In the meantime however Shinji had not had it much easier. Having fired at Asukas attacker he was preparing to go in when a stray shot from the falling Eva illuminated the third enemy Eva on top of a ridge someway off to his left, gun raised. Diving, Shinji was barely able to avoid the incoming fire. He scrambled for cover as the earth near him was torn to shreds by the fire. Sliding to a halt Shinji spun around and raised his gun to let off a volley at the new attacker. His rounds streaked across, forcing the 3rd enemy Eva to seek cover. Head raised Shinji took an aimed shot at the third attacker. His rifle ran out of ammunition and Shinji was forced to crouch. The enemy Eva utilised the lull to scamper over the ridge to close in on Shinji, firing as it progressed. It itself rans out of ammunition and it sought cover, still about 1km away. Shinji huddled as the hillside again took a beating. Putting in the next clip he looked over to where Asuka was, he could see her still struggling with the other Eva about 5km away.

"Damn!" he spat, the whole operation was not going to plan at all.. Misato's face suddenly appeared on his screen.

"Shinji that's it!" she yelled "He's changing clips, make a run for the communications centre now! Once you have destroyed it swing back around and help Asuka you'll have cover over the other side."

Nodding, Shinji finished cocking is riffle. Without hesitation he started to run towards the centre. Firing a quick volley towards the position of the 3rd Eva. He turned his head back, concentrating on running. Huddling during the quick volley the third enemy Eva had finished reloading and had stepped out from its cover to line up a shot on the running unit 01.

"AAAAAAHH!" screamed Shinji, unit 01 activated super speed and the ground was ripped up by the tremendous velocity. Unprepared for the burst of speed the third enemy unit fire fell behind the racing Shinji. The hills behind Shinji exploded as he raced the last distance. Sprinting up the last ridge he jumped on the last step. Spinning in mid air Shinji brought his gun to bare at the dishes passing below him. Squeezing the trigger as he flew, the installation was raked with fire, explosions completely annihilating it. Shinji continued to fall, the fire from the enemy Eva still following just behind. Landing elegantly Shinji rolled into a run, sprinting around the next ridge, one that would lead him around to Asuka.

Meanwhile Asuka and the enemy Eva were still locked in mortal combat. Rolling into the clearing Asuka found herself on top of the enemy. Teeth clenched Asukas tried to force down her knife into the head of the enemy Eva. The other pilot was quick however, rolling, it brought up its leg onto Asukas torso, kicking out. Asuka flew over the top of the enemies head and landed hard on her back. Both Evas spun around and were up quickly. With Shinji still running around, and the 3rd enemy Eva out of range, the two were the only ones in combat. An eery silence fell as the two pilots square up to each other, circling slowly, knifes drawn. Asuka, aware of the time factor lunged, the enemy Eva was quick and deflected, spinning around with its own attack. Both Evas are evenly matched and after a couple of attacks they were again squared off. This time the enemy Eva moved first, Asuka counters and after a fierce exchange landed an elbow on the side of the enemy Evas head. Stunned the enemy faltered, stumbling. Asuka followed up with a kick to the mid section, sending the enemy flying down the clearing away from the compound. Landing heavily the Enemy had dropped its knife. Asuka shouted triumphantly, the fallen enemy slow to move, collapsing back down in its first attempt to rise. With the light of the flames from the compound behind her, Asuka moved forward towards the stricken Eva. About 200 m away she stopped, noticing a glint out of the corner of her eye as lightning again flashed around her, she turned. It was the first enemy Eva! One leg heavily damaged it was standing awkwardly on the other. It had taken all this time to get back around but now it was standing, gun in hand, with Asuka only 400m away. Asuka froze, unable to move as it brought up its gun to fire, cringing she waited for the worst. Suddenly however Shinji appeared on the same ridge that the first enemy Eva had first appeared on when sneaking up on Asuka. Gun raised and in full run, Shinji fired on the damaged unit. Unable to calculate properly the failsafe could not function, Shinjis rounds impacting into the side torso, legs and arms of the armed enemy Eva. The rounds cut deep and the Eva fell heavily to its side. Impacting roughly, it slid to a halt, motionless. Shinjis momentum carried him over the ridge, and he finally slid to a halt 500m from the fallen enemy Eva. Asuka, still frozen, stared as Shinji came to a halt.

"Thanks" said Asuka over the comms link. Before Shinji could respond however a round impacted against Asukas shoulder, the third enemy Eva had finally gotten into range. Firing while running, only the first two rounds of the long volley impacted on Asuka the rest falling all around.

"Quick, over the ridge!!" shouted Shinji, sprinting over the ridge that Asukas mallee enemy had fallen on. Asuka, hurt slightly, ran forward to the fallen enemy unit, sending a vicious blow to the head, satisfied the unit was momentarily stunned she grabbed the Eva with her good arm and pulled it over the ridge with her. Just as they cleared the ridge the 3rd enemy unit had reloaded and sent another volley at them. Awaiting his turn Shinji raised and fired back, finally stopping the 3rd enemy Evas advance. Ducking for cover the enemy Eva dove behind a ridge as shots barley missed it, quickly recovering the enemy unit got into a firing position, and soon the two sides begin to exchange fire.

Asuka meanwhile had the second enemy unit pined to the ground. Shinji checked his comms link, their connection back to Misato has been cut, all he had was a direct link to Asuka.

"So what do we do now?" asked Asuka panting. Her Evas arm was now malfunctioning and she was effectively sitting on the enemy Eva, using her one hand to restrain it.

"Get him to eject, then I'll destroy the Eva" replied Shinji, firing another quick burst. "Use all channels."

Asuka looked down at the Eva, opening all frequencies she sent a signal.

"O.K you in there, give yourself up. Eject now and surrender and we'll spare your life" commanded Asuka, still angry at being injured. Shinji was still in the comms loop and was shocked as the enemies link suddenly appeared on his screen.

"Mana!?!?" exclaimed Shinji in shock. True enough on his screen appears Mana Kirashima, even though it had been one year, her features were unmistakable.

"Mana?" said Asuka, also shocked. Completely taken aback, Asuka let go, falling back to lean against the ridge.

"Shinji, Asuka" started Mana desperately, though suddenly shots flew close by Shinji. Completely surprised he had lifted his head, exposing it, a round from the third enemy Evas volley had caused a gash on Eva 01 face. Shinji yelled out and ducked his head.

"Musashi" called out Mana "Stop firing!"

Shinji, still huddling, prepared to return fire. Looking back over the ridge, he could not see Musashis Eva.

"Mana call him off!" yelled Shinji forcefully. "He's to open comms and indicate his position" he continued. Asuka and Mana looked at Shinji, not used to this forcefulness. Before either could answer however Musashis screen comes up.

"Why the hell should I show you where I am Ikari, you have already dropped Keita" came the snide voice of Musashi. "Not to mention the people you killed at the installation. How do I know you won't simply finish me and Mana off as well?" he sneered. Shinji, shocked, replied desperately.

"I wouldn't do that!! I love…" he stoped suddenly, looking at Manas screen briefly, the pause lingered uncomfortably. "You know I wouldn't do that" he shot back. Angered at his slip up, he moved up towards Asuka and Mana, scampering up the hill to a new firing position.

"Shinji! Musashi! Stop!" came the distraught voice of Mana. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Musashi they had no way of knowing it was us. And I know.." Mana hesitated a little "Shinji wouldn't do something like that." Shinji and Musashi looked at Mana then at each other. Suddenly a massive burst of light immerged from two ridges away. Musashi was firing into the air, showing his position, he had used his last burst as cover to cross the clearing and was now behind the ridge that Shinji had crossed to fire at Keita. Now that everyone had calmed down a strange quiet returned to the battlefield, the heavy rain still audible to all the pilots as it bounced off their Evas. Suddenly Keita appeared on the lower screen, his entry plug red with emergency lights.

"Keita you're alive!" said Mana happily.

"Yah, looks like my systems are down but I've managed to re rout some emergency power. That was some nice shooting Shinji" said Keita weakly.

"I'm sorry Keita, I'm glad you're alright!" said Shinji, greatly relieved. Musashi in the other screen was not so sure but was happy to see Keita o.k.

" You did well Keita" said Musashi. "He got off a lucky shot originally, you fought well."

"Sorry for interrupting" interrupted Asuka "But what exactly are you three doing here fighting for SEELE?"

"Wait a second, are you all in communications with SEELES command?" interrupted Shinji.

"No not at the moment, the atmospheric conditions are getting in the way" replied Mana.

"Good lets keep it that way, I'm going to move to the top of the ridge, Musashi you do the same and we'll open up a line of sight link only, agreed? "

Shinji looked at the monitors. One after another they all nodded. Expecting to be the only one moving Shinji was surprised when all the mobile Evas joined him on top of the ridge. Soon all four mobile Evas were sitting on the ridges in full view of each other, Keitas unit occupying the Valley between them. Mana had helped the damaged Asuka up, sitting close to her. Soon the microwave link was established.

"So what's going on exactly?" asked Asuka again. There was a silence as the three pilots formulated their responses. Mana took the initiative.

"After I said goodbye to you back in Tokyo 3 Musashi, Keita and myself were taken to a remote location. And held for questioning. We were kept there for some time, under arrest."

Shinji expression turned a little dark. Mana was looking at him.

"About a year ago suddenly everything changed. We were told that NERV had split from the organisation and gone rogue. We were offered to be reunited with our parents and friends if we would pilot for SEELE. Naturally we jumped at the opportunity. " she said a little guiltily.

"It was the sensible thing to do" interrupted Musashi. "After we joined up we were told the truth about NERV"

"What truth!?" asked Asuka accusingly.

"That NERV was planing to orchestrate 3rd impact. That they were planing to destroy mankind in some religious martyrdom" replied Musashi.

"That's not our plan, that's SEELES" retorted Asuka.

"Its irrelevant in the end" came the quiet voice of Keita, somehow his weakened voice was more effective in grabbing attention then Asukas or Musashis shouting.

"Continue Mana" he said.

Mana looked at him gratefully, continuing.

"Well after we got back, some of us decided that we didn't want to fight any more" Mana looked over at Musashi, who turned away with a scold on his face.

"And that's when it got nasty" Keita interjected.

"We were told that if we didn't fight the safety of our parents would no longer be guaranteed" Mana said, looking away.

"Not only that, but if we failed in combat…." said Keita quietly. "There would be a similar review of our parents health"

"Those bastards!" spat Shinji.

"So you see, we had to fight" said Mana sadly.

"Though you didn't have to go for the kill shot!" interrupted Asuka coldly, she was looking at Mana accusingly.

"What , what do you mean" Mana replied, hurt. "We were going for the head, that should have simply disabled you, we all decided this a long time ago"

"Well, I'm afraid that's another lie you've been told" said Asuka coldly "In Evas the nerve feedback is simply to strong, a head-shot on your Eva, is effectively a head-shot on you" she said. All three of the SELLE pilots looked shocked at this.

"I'm… I'm sorry" said Mana sadly.

"That's O.K you weren't to know" said Shinji, still emotional from her comments before.

"Goes to show that everything about SEELE is a lie. They're not the ones trying to stop third impact, they're the ones trying to start it" continued Shinji. "And if they succeed everyone, including your parents, will die"

"We still don't know if that's the truth either." said Musashi defiantly. "All we know is that if we don't fight and win, our parents die. So this is all I can do at the moment, you can't expect me to sacrifice them to simply trust you!" he said with distain.

"Why you little!" spat Asuka, her Eva making to get up.

"Asuka!" yelled Shinji, stoping unit 02 in its tracks. " Calm down, he's right, we would do the same. Lets think about this."

Asukas Eva lent back down. Shinji, out of the corner of his eye, saw Musashis Eva do the same, he had been preparing to ready himself. Silence returned once more, Shinji could see the depressed faces of the SEELE fighters, they really couldn't see anyway out. Suddenly he hit on an idea.

"What about if we were able to get your parents out?" he asked suddenly. "Do you know where they are being held?" he asked. Mana looked up a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"Yes, back at our main base." she said hopefully.

"They use them as constant reminders of our agreement" said Keita hatefully.

"Its no use." interrupted Musashi. "We don't know where that is. We are only given tactical data from our temporary staging areas, other then that we don't know where we, or our base, are at all."

Again Shinji thought for a while.

"If we can locate them and get them out, what then?" he speculated.

"Well then I suppose we might be open to defect." said Musashi arrogantly "But you still haven't said how you'll do this." he crossed his arms defiantly.

"I have a plan. Mana I'm going to come over, I want you to eject your entry plug I'm going to give you my emergency bacon from my plug suite." said Shinji his Eva already moving.

"Great idea!" said Asuka enthusiastically.

"Won't our side detect the signal though?" asked Keita.

"No stupid" replied Asuka. "Each beacon has its own frequency, set so only its double can pick up its location effectively, no other equipment will be able to pinpoint it." she finished, then added "Musashi, in the meantime you use your internal navigation system to draw up a detailed plan as close as possible to your bases layout."

Mana was already moving towards Shinji.

"This is crazy, your just going to launch an ariel strike on us. How can we trust you!" said Musashi impatiently."

Shinji looked straight into Manas eyes, the sincerity apparent on his face.

"I trust him" she said softly.

"Me to" came the voice of Keita "Those SEELE bastards have done nothing but lie to us, I don't see any other way out, as risky as it might be."

Musashi looked down at his screen, all the other pilots were looking at him expectantly.

"ARRRG. Fine!" he spat, lowering his link to work on the map.

Shinji and Mana had finally closed together, Shinji had retrieved his progressive knife and had placed it near the ground. Lowering his Eva, he manually ejected. Sliding down the wet side of his Eva he looked across to see a figure doing the same, the rain was still coming down hard and thunderclaps and lightning strikes still filled the air. The two pilots raced towards each other meeting up right next to Shinjis progressive knife. Slowing down a bit, Shinji finally saw the face of the girl he had last seen over a year ago. Mana doing the same, then threw herself at Shinji, the two catching each other in a fond embrace.

"Shinji, it's so good to see you again" Mana said overjoyed. Shinji just hugged her back happily. Soon however he broke the embrace.

"We have to hurry, we have both been quiet on the comms for too long, soon our sides will begin to wonder."

Nodding, Mana let him go and Shinji removed the top part of his plug suite. Using the giant blade of the progressive knife he cut into his plug suit, leaving himself only dressed from the navel down, working quickly he isolated the internal beacon, about the size of a computer mouse with an antenna. Putting the remains of his plug suite back on he presented the beacon to Mana,

"You know how to activate this?" he asked her.

"Yes, ours is almost identical" she replied. Taking the beacon in her hands the two simply looked at each other, the rain falling around them. Shinji had a weak smile on his face.

"You know your quite quwai in that plug suite" he said finally. Mana, blushed slightly, remembering back to their first meeting.

"This time I will be waiting for you Shinji Ikari" Mana said, repeating the last words Shinji had said to her.

"We had better get going" said Shinji finally. Mana looked at him, her face turning to a frown, she was still unable to move. Shinji, noticing her down turned expression, suddenly stepped forward, and placing his hand lightly on her face and guided himself in for a tender kiss. Water falling all around them and lightning illuminating the sky, the two stood there for a while, locked together. Finally Shinji broke away, steeping back he said.

"I'll see you soon Mana"

And with that he turned to run back to his Eve. Mana watched him go

"I'll see you soon" she said quietly, then turned to run to her own Eva.

Back in the Eva, Shinji reinstated his local comms. Set to standard, Asukas screen came up first, revealing a cool but somehow very puzzling face of Asuka.

"Lucky you. Kissing two girls in less then 3 days" said Asuka. Shinji, still daydreaming about Mana snapped back to reality, he looked at Asuka carefully as his Evas systems re-initialised.

"Yah I suppose so" he said evenly, uncertain how to proceed. Though suddenly his protocol re-booted and the external feeds came on line, soon all pilots were back in communication.

"Well that's it, the file is transferred." said Musashi, his disapproval still obvious. "We had better move out, we've been out of the loop for about 5 minutes now".

"Well good luck you three" said Asuka more cheerfully, she looked at Mana "We'll wait for you to cross the ridge. Then we re-initialise external comms and fire some rounds at each other for show, O.K" she said more seriously. Musashi, nodding, had already moved down the ridge to help Keita up. Getting to his fallen comrade he threw his riffle at Mana who promptly caught it. Mana and Shinji started to look at each other again.

"Well you had better move it little girl, I start shooting in 30 seconds" said Asuka, her comms line switching off. She had moved next to Shinji and snatched his rifle away from him.

"Good luck Keita, Musashi" said Shinji, nodding the two pilots comms lines switched off. He looked back to Mana.

"You know when to activate that?" he asked her.

"As soon as I hide it somewhere safe." she said back. More confidently the two shared a quick smile.

"Good luck" Shinji said simply, giving her a wink he switched off his comms. Left standing Mana watched him back off, while Asuka, with her one good arm, reloaded her rifle more animatedly. Realising she wasn't joking Mana turned to run to her comrades. Reaching them quickly she helped Musashi lift Keita over the ridge, only a millisecond after reaching cover, the hills behind them started to explode with fire. Ducking hurriedly the earth and dust enveloped the three. Turning Mana fired at Asukas position. Comms re-established it didn't take long for both sides command and control to reconnect with their respective pilots. Back in combat mode, Mana and Musashi mounted an effective counter attack, driving off Asuka and Shinji, now armed with only one rifle. As Asuka was still damaged the get-away became a close issue, Shinji having to throw his progressive knife at Mana to keep her back at one stage. Misatos commands proved effective and soon the battle was disengaged.

Congratulations all round, Misato praised both pilots for their efforts, for some odd reason not noticing that Shinji had a hole in his plug suit. Wary about the signal being monitored, Shinji and Asuka gave a dodgy appraisal of the (blacked out stage of the fighting). Misato, a little doubtful, let the matter rest, for now.

In the control centre Ritsuko was back on line, the lance of loginous's final landing position was being calculated.

Misato gone, Asuka and Shinji were again left alone. With still 30 minutes of walking ahead of them, they walked side by side casually. Microwave link reestablished they were free to talk.

"Well I never saw that one coming" said Shinji jokingly. Asuka was looking ahead, tired.

"Do you really think it will work" she said, seriously.

"Well I hope so" said Shinji, serious now himself. "If we have to face them again, there most likely won't be another blackout we can utilise"

A frown crossed his face.

"And I don't want to have to think about what will happen then." he said staring forward again, a silence fell between the two. The storm had finally abated, the rain now easing to a light sporadic shower. Suddenly Asuka spoke.

"You really do have a lousy taste in woman, you know that" she said mischievously.

"What?" replied Shinji, honestly confused.

"Lets see, of the two woman you live with, one is a violent, energetic and opinionated, and the other is a recovering emotionless dole, who's at least half Angel and cloned from your mother." Asuka said happily. Shinji, still confused, gave her an odd look.

"And considering you were just in a fire fight with your first love, I would say that you are probably better off becoming a priest in the future."

She finished with a smile.

Shinji looking at her for a second, then he chuckled.

"That wont be necessary" he said confidently.

"No?"

"You'll always be there to look after me" Shinji said with feeling. Asuka looked over at him, their eyes meeting and holding.

"Damn right Shinji Ikari" she said sweetly. Smiling, the two continued through the night.

[[Well there you go, combat, Eva style. Now that I think of it having Girlfriend of steel characters makes it really easy to incorporate more Eva pilots. And the storyline just keeps getting more interesting for good old Shinji.]]