Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

The Swim of Things

By

Ret Nuh

 

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Li Mei had wanted to thank Kensuke for helping her out but by the time she got out into the hall all she saw was Kensuke let go of Rei and tell her to have a good night, then he was off. Normally she would have just yelled down the hall but her attention was drawn to Rei. The girl looked liked she was completely lost. “Is everything all right?”

 

Rei answered “No” but in a way that made it obvious that the girl really wished she could have answered that question with the opposing response. Rei then bowed towards Li Mei and told her respectfully “I am truly sorry about this but I have to leave now.”

 

“Ummm… sure?” Li Mei answered confused. She really wanted to ask if something had just happened between Kensuke and her but Rei turned around too quickly and looked like she was going to go chase after the delivery boy so she kept quiet for now. Was there something going on between the two teenagers?

 

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After a long hard day Kensuke was pretty tired. He was quick to park his moped in the complex's garage and made his way over to the elevator. He let out a big yawn as he pushed the up button. Today turned out to be a pretty busy day for him. There must have been something in the hot night air because the phones were off the hook and from the time he got back from helping Li Mei till the time the restaurant closed he didn't stop moving. Not that he was complaining about it, he had a bit of extra cash as he counted his tips while riding up the elevator to his floor. Still not as good as what he made in the winter but nothing to sneeze at either.

 

And as he walked out of the elevator towards his apartment he was thinking about what he should buy with the extra bit of money. Even though he didn't have nearly the financial concerns as before he still held on to most of his money. His whole normal paycheck went straight to a savings account that was intended as use for a college fund and his tip money was usually good enough to pay off his few remaining bills along with letting him splurge a little here and there. And splurging is what he was planning to do as he talked to himself. “Cool, I have just enough for two new electrical engine relays.” Big surprise, he was going to spend the money on his bike.

 

All those thoughts disappeared though as he opened the door to his place. “I could have sworn I turned the lights off when I left.” Which he did but someone else had turned them back on since then. And that someone was sitting on his couch. “???Rei???”

 

Rei actually didn't notice him come in. Yes she was in his apartment waiting for him to come home but no more than did she sit down to wait than did a friendly feline come up and sit on her lap. This was actually a very good thing as it had a calming effect on the blue haired girl and Rei decided against being visibly upset with Kensuke over what he had said earlier in the day. But she did look up when she heard him. She let out a sigh as she said “We have to talk.”

 

“How did you get in here?” Kensuke asked before Rei could continue with her questioning.

 

“I have a key to Misato's place who in turn has a key to your place” Rei answered concisely.

 

While that did answer that question Kensuke still had a million more right now. The biggest being of course why Rei was sitting on his couch petting his cat. This wasn't exactly something he ever thought would happen, in fact this was never even a thought of his. “Why are you here?”

 

Rei repeated herself “We need to talk.”

 

“Is this about earlier?” Kensuke questioned. “I really did mean it when I said you have nothing to feel guilty for.”

 

In some ways that did make Rei feel better as he cemented that particular lingering thought in her head but that was not why she was there. “I'm sorry but this has nothing to do with that” Rei answered him. “This has to do with a name you mentioned.”

 

“What name?” Kensuke asked confused. Rei was not making all that much sense to him right now.

 

“Lilith.”

 

Kensuke shut the door behind him when Rei said that name. It was best that he did. “Huh?”

 

“I heard you say that name so I know you know something you probably shouldn't. Otherwise you wouldn't have said it.”

 

Kensuke's confusion really flipped at this point to an area completely different from before. “But you know how I know that name.”

 

That kind of set Rei back a bit as she said “No I don't.”

 

“I'm not trying to be insensitive or anything but how could you not know?” Kensuke asked. “I mean considering who you were and everything.”

 

Rei let out a soft breath. She would have never figured on Kensuke being one of those narrow minded people who accused her of knowing everyone's innermost secrets due to her previous existence. Not that there was actually too many of those people who knew enough about the whole third impact situation to be like that. “When I came back I only came back with my memories of me being Rei, not when I was of Lilith.”

 

“I'm not talking about that” Kensuke answered confusing her even more. “As being around Commander Ikari all the time you had to know about my father.”

 

Actually Rei did not know anything of the matter and now it was her turn to be confused. This situation was nothing like she thought it to be.

 

Kensuke could see this confusion plainly on her face as he questioned “Wait… you don't know?”

 

Rei shook her head no. “What does your father have to do with me?”

 

Kensuke let out a little “Wow” as he sat down beside her on the couch. “I always heard from Shinji how much the Commander like to keep everyone in the dark about things but I thought he would've at least have told you about the person he let spy on you for several years.”

 

“WHAT?”

 

“Ok that was stupid of me, sorry Rei.” Kensuke said as he realized he said that the wrong way. “First, this isn't as big of a thing as you think it is. For a spy my dad was pretty bad at it, to the point where I'm sure the Commander was just using him to fool SEELE about who you really were.”

 

“But your father worked for Nerv” Rei quickly said. “H- how was he a spy?”

 

“I didn't know about any of this till right before Third Impact myself but my dad was placed within Nerv by SEELE in order to find out what exactly you were and how you fit into SEELE's plans for the Human Instrumentality Project” Kensuke explained to Rei.

 

That cleared up a lot of Rei's confusion about the situation. It was also a sad reflection on the affairs of Nerv and SEELE that Rei did not find the situation odd in the least. She could easily see something like this happening. But it still did not answer her question. “So how do you know of Lilith? If your father wasn't very good then he would not have known.”

 

“Near the end of everything something must of got screwed up because he stumbled onto the real truth” Kensuke explained.

 

“There were many things that did not go according to anyone's scenarios near the end.” Rei told him and then asked “Did he tell you everything he learned?”

 

Kensuke actually laughed at that. “Like I said Rei, my dad wasn't a very good spy. I found everything out by hacking into his computer, and if a fourteen year old kid could do that I'm pretty sure the people at Nerv were well aware of what he was doing too. That's why I think he was used by the Commander. And also why near the end of everything when he learned the truth he went missing and I came home to an apartment full of Nerv goons.”

 

Rei sat back against the couch to let this information sink in. It was an awful lot to digest but it also meant something else. “You mean all this time you knew about me and who I was and you never said a thing?”

 

“Of course I didn't” Kensuke answered feeling slightly insulted at his lack of integrity in her eyes. But on the other hand he quickly dropped those feelings. Rei was looking pretty surprised and he could tell this wasn't an act. Rei had dropped her prim and proper appearance and was basically acting her age right now and that was something he knew Rei did not do that often. And from what he could tell from being her friend and classmate she only did that when she was under some sort of emotional stress.

 

“Why?” Rei asked.

 

“For one thing I probably would get into some deep trouble if I said anything” Kensuke stated first. “And for another nothing that I knew mattered anymore. You're not Lilith, you're Rei.” He got another look of confusion for that so he elaborated “Ok when everyone first came back I will admit I was leery of you. Everything I had learned from my dad's findings made me question a whole bunch of things about you being around. But then I noticed how Shinji acted towards you and I figured if he trusted you so should I.”

 

This time it was Rei's turn to let out a “Wow.” But after she got over the shock of that she looked over at Kensuke and asked with some discomfiture to her voice “Is there anything else I should know?”

 

“What do you mean?” Kensuke asked.

 

“Is there anything else about me personally that you know?” Rei said on the uneasy side. She was kind of conflicted about all of this. While this situation wasn't as dire as she thought still she was a bit uncomfortable with Kensuke knowing such private things about her. While he was a friend and all and now she had a growing trust for him, thanks to him keeping his mouth shut for so long, there were still some things in those old files she didn't want known.

 

Kensuke thought for a second “Ummm… I know you really like romance novels.”

 

Rei frowned at him for that. “That's not what I mean.”

 

“Well what do you mean then?” Kensuke asked as he didn't know how personal “personally” meant.”

 

“You know?” Rei answered.

 

While Rei's verbal answer didn't say anything the fact that a slight blush came over her face as she said it spoke volumes. “Oh that kind of personal” Kensuke said developing a worried blush of his own. He may have come across a file or two on his dad's computer that described Rei's measurements. They were mainly files to do with her plugsuit but still they were things a girl would not want a boy to know about them unless that boy was very close. He looked at Rei quickly for a second and then said nervously “If it means anything nothing I learned like “that” is still accurate.”

 

Apparently Rei understood perfectly what he was talking about as he saw her look down with a very red face.

 

Those plug suits were basically second skins and left nothing to a person's imagination. Looking back at those things from her current perspective she was glad she didn't understand what modesty was back then. If she had she probably would have never come out of the locker room while wearing one. And while she still wore tight and somewhat revealing outfits for her sports one of the reasons she was able to do that without too much embarrassment is that they didn't show nearly as much as those old plug suits did.

 

This was a rather uncomfortable situation that Kensuke could tell Rei didn't want to be in so he tried to change the conversation. He started talking about her scooter. How she liked it? Was it fun to drive? Any noticeable problems with it? Did she want help in maintaining it?” Basically anything he could think of to get Rei to feel comfortable again. And you know what, slowly but surely it worked. The two had got past the dodgy subject and were able to return to talking together like the friends they were.

 

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Rei was sitting around her apartment Saturday morning eating an apple and thinking to herself. This had certainly been an odd week. The only big thing that was supposed to happen was her getting a scooter. This whole situation with Kensuke wasn't even something that was out in left field, hell it wasn't even in the ballpark. But a good night's sleep helped her put all of it behind her. Kensuke may have known some things he shouldn't have but at least she knew he would keep that information to himself. This was a big relief but oddly not as big of a relief as the release from guilt she felt. It was all so strange to her and she was left thinking that maybe she should have gone to Germany after all. She was sure it would have been much less dramatic.

 

But then again if she had went over to Germany she wouldn't have gotten to take care of Kensuke's cat. After the two were talking normally again Kensuke mentioned that in a couple weeks he was going away for a few days. Originally he was only planning on asking Misato or Asuka if they could stop over for a couple seconds during the day when he was gone to check up on his cat and make sure he had food and water but since Rei seemed to like his cat so much he asked her if she wanted to do it.

 

She of course said yes and actually showed a little boldness as she asked if instead of just checking in on him maybe she could take care of him at her place? When Kensuke told her he didn't have a problem with that she was very happy. That cat of his was such a little cutie and most likely much easier to take care of than her current pet sitting job, PenPen. That penguin was a little too high maintenance for just a simple pet in her opinion. In fact when she finally got home and went over there to give him some food she found that he was sitting there by the front door tapping his foot. Then the bipedal bird proceeded to chew her out with warks for being late. Such big attitude for such a little bird.

 

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In the kitchen of Shin Seiki's Li Mei was very busy cooking up meals for her customers. There was no rest for the weary even if that weary person was a little worried as well. She was worried that two of her favorite employees, and ones she thought were friends with each other, were having a tiff. But as worried as she was about that she wasn't worried about the new girl working the outside counter of her restaurant. Hikari was every bit of a good worker as Rei had told her. Plus the girl had experience with this type of work before so there was little training to do. That in itself saved Li Mei much time and money as training in new people tended to be a time consuming and expensive experience. The only thing close to a problem Li Mei had with Hikari was deciding where to put the girl at first.

 

From the initial interview Li Mei could tell Hikari had attitude wise what it took to work anywhere in the restaurant. The girl was very bright, had gracious manners, and of course was very pretty. Almost too pretty as Li Mei felt a little jealous of the young woman's bust size. But there was even more as just from talking with Hikari casually you could tell she had an air of authority to her. Most likely from the girl's many years of being a class rep. And there wasn't only authority there was also ambition, you could see it in the brown haired girl's eyes. And if that wasn't enough the girl could cook. A good enough cook that Li Mei was thinking about saying screw it to her waitressing experience and hogging the obviously talented girl all to herself back in the kitchens. Then again she was also thinking of saying screw it to having Hikari work inside the restaurant all together. The girl had some skills and maybe she should put her in her husband's area and have her work in the business side of the restaurant. She had a funny feeling that Hikari would work out there just fine and maybe even better than some of the interns from the business college actually.

 

Then again maybe not as Hikari was pretty insistent on being a waitress or something of that nature. She seemed to have her sites set on that.

 

There were two drawbacks to Hikari though, neither of which was really her fault. The first was that the girl was tall. Unfortunately this drawback was a biggie in certain areas. Hikari was about as tall as the average male and that meant roughly half the grown male customers that dined there would be either looking up at her or at eye level. While this was a very trivial thing it was also a real problem. Part of running a restaurant meant that you had to watch out for egos as people seemed very quick to complain and get offended about the slightest thing. If a middle aged guy walked into the restaurant and was greeted at the door by a male waiter who was taller than him it was no big deal. Some guys are taller than others so no biggie. Now replace that waiter with a waitress and a problem can occur. The common view on life is that guys are taller than gals so when you get a situation that flips the norm you can get people who feel like they have something to prove. This was just one of those ugly truths of life that she had to deal with and knew would concern Hikari.

 

The other drawback was more Li Mei's fault than anyone else's. She didn't know if she had an outfit able to fit Hikari's tall slender frame. Truthfully though she could always just order one if she had to but she had a better idea, she was going to stick Hikari in an area where none of that mattered. The outside counter area was like an old fashioned diner, you sat down under an awning on a bolted down stool and then the waiter or waitress behind the counter would take your order. There was the inside one of these, where Rei and Kensuke commonly took their breaks, and the outside version. The outside version didn't have a dress code like inside the restaurant mainly due to the heat levels involved. You had the obvious outside temperatures during the summer plus you had the heat from the kitchens. Because of this Li Mei and Zukav let those waiter and waitress dress in only summer clothes. This usually meant t-shirts and shorts, although in Hikari's case she usually wore some sort of nice halter top. Plus since she was behind a counter and you were seated the whole height issue became a non-factor. Overall just a good fit for the girl.

 

Since Hikari seemed like a respectable and smart girl she threw her right into the fray from day one. She partnered Hikari up with another woman who had worked in that area for as long as the restaurant had been open. She was the best person Hikari could learn from. And right now that is who walked into the kitchen to talk to her. “Hey Li Mei.”

 

“Hello Mitsume. How's everything going out there?” While she wasn't too worried about Hikari she still wanted to be kept up with how the girl was working out since she was new and all.

 

“Much better than I thought it would be” Mitsume answered.

 

“So the cooks aren't giving Hikari too hard of a time?” Li Mei asked. Short order cooks tended to be a surly bunch and if they could they would boss around a waitress.

 

“Nope. If anything she's giving them a hard time” Mitsume grinned.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“She's very good at keeping them on task” Mitsume answered. “I can't tell you how many times I have already heard her say “chop, chop” at them when she thinks they're taking too long to get an order out.”

 

Li Mei laughed at that a little. She was known to say that quite a few times to speed people up herself. It was nice to know that there was another person over there that would keep those cooks on their toes. “Have any of the cooks grumbled back at her yet?”

 

“Only under their breaths” Mitsume said. “I think they're a bit intimidated by her. She's pretty tall and right on the first day she went back into the kitchen to help out because an order was taking too long.”

 

“How's she working out with the customers?”

 

“I haven't heard any complaints. She even seems to already have a regular.”

 

“Her boyfriend right?” Li Mei guessed.

 

“Have you seen the size of the guy?” Mitsume said astonished. “He's huge.”

 

“Just like his father” Li Mei told her.

 

“Oh so you already know him?”

 

“Sort of” Li Mei answered. “Boris is friends with his father so I know the family. The whole lot of them are tall and since they work construction they are big too.”

 

Mitsume smirked as she said “So does that Touji kid have an older brother then?”

 

“Sorry, only a younger sister” Li Mei smiled back.

 

“Well that's certainly a shame” Mitsume laughed while walking through the kitchen and heading back to her job. Basically the report was very simple, Hikari was a keeper.

 

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Rei stopped over at the restaurant to visit with Hikari and see how things were going. Like the situation with Kensuke just because they worked at the same place didn't mean they would see each other all that much. While Hikari was a hard worker she wasn't going to do the forty hours a week thing. She had studying for entrance exams to do and she still wanted to have time for fun this summer so she was going to be one of those girls who worked only part time. She was planning on something around twenty hours a week. Maybe a couple more hours if she had the time. Which days she worked floated around for the most part but she decided she was going to work the lunch shift so her main work hours were from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm or so. This didn't overlap with Rei's schedule all that much as Rei was now working from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm Thursday through Monday. Of course those times would vary a bit when the banquet hall finally opened but that was no big deal to her.

 

“Hello Hikari” Rei waived as she parked her scooter on the sidewalk.

 

Hikari waived back. “Hey Rei. You working early today?”

 

Rei shook her head no. “I was just driving around and I thought I would see how you are doing.” Rei then sat down on the only open stool. It was next to a rather grungy and unkempt looking dude, but it was alright because it was only Touji. He was dusty and dirty from working all morning.

 

“Hey Rei.”

 

“Hello Touji. You seem to be working hard today.”

 

“When it comes to making mortar and stacking bricks there's no such thing as a light day's work” Touji jested.

 

A very true statement but you could tell Touji wasn't the only person working hard. In the time it took for that simple conversation Hikari had taken someone's order and was now at the window to the kitchen checking up on another person's. While Rei did come there to talk to Hikari she didn't want to interrupt her while she was working so she continued to talk to Touji. “Has she been this busy when you stop by for lunch everyday so far?”

 

“Nah” Touji replied. “Normally I try to get here sometime around eleven but I got busy today.” It was a little after noon right now so the full lunch crowd was there. And since the people he was talking about were sitting near him Touji whispered the next part to Rei. “I don't like eating with the suits too much. Some of them are assholes.” Touji came from a heavy blue color background so it was no surprise that he didn't like the white-collar people too much.

 

Even though Hikari was hard at work and that statement was whispered he still got a curt “Behave yourself Touji” as Hikari walked by.

 

Rei had to giggle at that while Touji groused “How does she always hear what I say?”

 

“Because I just do” Hikari answered him and then asked “Do you want anything Rei?”

 

Since she was taking up a stool and it was busy Rei figured she should order something “What's on the fruit plate today?”

 

“Watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes.”

 

“I think I will have that then thank you.”

 

“One fruit tray coming up then” Hikari said and gave the order to the kitchen.

 

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Rei was still picking at her fruit when Hikari finally got enough time to say a word or two to her. Unfortunately Touji had left already as he had to get back to work but that wasn't too big of a deal as they were going to meet up later on in the day anyway. “Wow it's hot out today.”

 

Rei liked the summer heat. “I'm enjoying it very much, but I suppose it's a bother when you work outside.”

 

“It can be if you let it” Hikari answered. “But for the most part I try to ignore it. It's just that when it gets super busy it's hard to.”

 

“This job isn't too busy for you, is it?” Rei asked concerned.

 

“Nothing I can't handle.” Hikari answered and then winked “Plus it's close to Touji's worksite.”

 

Rei had already pretty much guessed that was the real reason Hikari wanted to work at the restaurant. “So do you like it here?”

 

“You know what, I really do. It's a bit busier than the last place I worked at but I like the managers here a lot more. They seem more down to earth” Hikari answered. But after Hikari said that she had to get back to work as some new people were showing up. The two said their goodbyes and Rei finished up the rest of her fruit and paid the bill, leaving a nice tip behind because her service was so good in her opinion. She still had some time before she had to go to work so she decided she was going to drive around a bit more and enjoy the hot summer air.

 

But she didn't get very far as even before she could start up her scooter she heard Li Mei call her name. “Do you need me to come in early?”

 

“No, no” Li Mei answered. “I was just wondering if everything is alright… You know after what happened yesterday between you and Kensuke.”

 

“Don't worry about that” Rei answered her concerned friend and boss. “It was just a little misunderstanding but everything's fine now.”

 

“Thank goodness” Li Mei said looking visibly relieved.

 

“You shouldn't worry about such things so much.”

 

“I know” Li Mei answered. “But you two are such good friends and I hate to see friends fight.”

 

It was people like Li Mei that were growing Rei up. Misato had told her that the more she opened up to people the more she would learn that people really would care about her. Li Mei was proof of that. This was a person who not even six months ago was a total stranger to her, but now the woman was one of her closest friends. Rei reaffirmed that everything was all right and then said bye as she left to go do some exploring on her bike for a bit.

 

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When Rei went on her break that night for dinner something she guessed was going to happen did. When she went on break so did Kensuke. Most of the time when they met up on break it was coincidental but it was obvious to the both of them that today wasn't one of those cases as Li Mei forced Kensuke to take a break, and at a much earlier time than normal. “Um Rei, do you know what's going on with Li Mei? She's been acting really weird around me for the last couple days.”

 

“She thought we got into a fight yesterday” Rei answered him.

 

Kensuke just shook his head at that. “You know, if she wasn't such a busybody she wouldn't have nearly the amount of trouble that she does.”

 

“She's not a busybody” Rei corrected. “She's just concerned and you should appreciate that.” There was no malice or anything behind that as Rei said it very casually.

 

Kensuke let out a very sarcastic “Yes dear.”

 

Rei was well aware of the sarcasm but she was also aware of something else. This remark was more aimed at the person who was “too busy working to listen in on their conversation” than it was her. If she had noticed Li Mei craning her neck towards their direction from the kitchen she was sure Kensuke had as well. “I think you like to create trouble just as much as you complain about it.”

 

Kensuke chuckled at that one a bit before telling Rei “Quiet honey, you don't want her to find out the truth.”

 

Now that one got Rei to smirk as she saw not only did Li Mei crane her neck but she sort of peaked at them too. “You're going to get it if you keep this up” Rei warned.

 

“What do you mean sweetie?” Kensuke said raising his voice. “No one could possibly overhear us…. And what kind of person would viciously spread rumors about our secret relationship.” And after saying that he couldn't help but start to laugh. That would definitely get some ears burning.

 

Rei though just shook her head and said “Next time you should heed the voice of reason.” Rei then got up and left as her break was over. She quietly giggled to herself as she went up the stairs though. The look on Li Mei's face was priceless. It also told her that Kensuke was going to get an earful for his little joke.

 

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Rei woke up early on Sunday morning and headed to the airport in Misato's car, driving like a nervous Nellie the whole way. If she had it her way this would be the last time ever that she drove Misato's car. Things just got worse when she got to the airport. Now Rei was a very responsible girl so she got to the airport early just in case she had to wait in some sort of line. She didn't want to get there late and make her family wait for her after all. Unfortunately there was no chance of this happening as when Rei looked at the flight plan she noticed the flight Misato and the rest of them were on was running two hours late due to some bad weather over the Himalayas. She let out a soft sigh as she walked over to the terminal gate where the flight would eventually come in and took a seat. She was going to be in for a long wait so as she sat there she leaned her head back against the wall behind her and decided to take a quick catnap. She hadn't gone to bed till after midnight and it was only 6:00 am now, maybe the delay wasn't as bad as she thought.

 

She was awoken some time later by a soft and reassuring hand placed on her shoulder… “Rei sweetie wake up, it's time to go home now.” And as she did she saw it was Misato. She quickly got up on her feet and gave Misato a big hug welcoming her home as she really did miss her. As she hugged Misato she saw the rest of her family there too, well almost all of them. “Where is Asuka?”

 

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“Did you see that?” Asuka groused. “She purposely waived your keys in my face.”

 

“Oh calm down Asuka” Misato told her as they walked down the jetway to the plane. “She just bobbled them a bit, that's all.”

 

“Bobbled my tushy”Asuka had to censor herself due to Keiko being right behind them in her daddy's arms “that was all out rubbing it in my face.”

 

“If I promise to let you drive home will you just drop it?” Misato asked hoping to quell this little bit of sibling rivalry. This was going to be a ten to twelve hour flight and the last thing Misato wanted was to hear Asuka complaining the whole time over nothing. Well almost nothing, she knew damn well that Rei did in fact flaunt the keys in Asuka's face but she wasn't going to admit it. Even if she found it funny.

 

“Really? You'll let me drive?” Asuka said doing a complete180 mood swing.

 

“If you want, sure” Misato said trying to make it sound like no big deal.

 

Asuka let out a very happy “Cool.” She really did like to drive but so rarely got to. Misato was just so tightfisted with those keys of hers. But still she was better than Kaji who would totally ignore you if you asked to drive his car. She figured it would probably take fourth impact to get him to give up his keys.

 

Asuka's didn't play the role of happy girl for very long though as when they got onto the plane Asuka started to take a left turn down the aisles towards the front of the plane. “Where do you think you're going?” Misato asked as she took a right turn towards the back.

 

“You mean we're not flying first class?”

 

Misato turned her head over to Shinji. “How many times do I have to tell you not to turn your girlfriend into a completely spoiled brat?”

 

Shinji just chuckled at that while Asuka became a little more serious as she was kidding about the first class thing. She knew there was no way Misato would do something like that. “Seriously now where are our seats?”

 

“Just keep following me” Misato said and kept walking back. As they kept walking back they passed through the doorway separating business class from coach.

 

“C'mon Misato. I knew first class wasn't going to happen but we could have at least traveled Business class.” This time Asuka's complaint was legit.

 

Misato though answered her with “Are you kidding me?… I'm taking a two year old on a plane for the first time and you want us to sit in an area designated for people taking business trips?”

 

“So?” Asuka replied. Personally she didn't really care about the other people, she just knew the difference between the two classes. Business Class had little TV screens on the back of every chair and coach didn't.

 

“Sorry to burst your bubble kiddo but we're sitting in the back with the rest of the vacationers with crying little ones” Misato told her and then pointed at their seats. They were basically four rows from the back of the plane.

 

“You got to be kidding me?”

 

Misato shook her head no. If she had it her way they would have been even further back.

 

“But we don't even get to watch TV back here. What are we going to do for the whole flight?” Asuka complained.

 

“Actually…” Misato said reaching into the bag she brought on flight with her “…I already thought of that.” It was just her normal diaper bag she always brought with her when she was out and about with Keiko but she had squirreled away some extras in it this time. One of the extras was a small portable DVD player. Misato then said something rather mean. “I hope you brought some good DVD's because all I got are Keiko's favorites.”

 

Asuka pouted “Misato!” How could she have known to do something like that.

 

Misato took a page out of Asuka's own book and stuck her tongue out at the girl. Asuka could entertain herself if she had to, Misato's main worry was keeping her little one's attention occupied.

 

With the population of the world being only a fraction of what it once was you can pretty much guess that the big air buses weren't as popular for travel as they used to be and the seating arrangement for the plane was typical of a setting on a DC-10. Three seat rows by the window, four seat rows in the middle, and another row of three seats by the other window. Obviously all of them wouldn't get to sit together so some splitting up was in order. But not too much as Misato had gotten a row of the window seats along with the next two seats in the middle row across from them. For now there was going to be some strategic seating as Asuka took the seat next to the window and Misato took the seat next to the aisle, sandwiching Keiko between the two of them in the middle seat. It was just better this way as more thought was put into keeping Keiko happy than anyone else. She had mommy on one side and her favorite person to play with on the other.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

A little more than a half hour later the plane was sitting on the runway waiting for its turn to take off. Misato was coming back from the bathroom for the second time already and Asuka got the true sight of why they were sitting where they were. Keiko was still in the middle of potty training. Misato must have gotten tickets with the specification of being close to the bathrooms.

 

When Keiko sat back down in her seat she turned to tell Asuka “The water is boo Asa!”

 

Asuka smiled back at the little cutie. “Did you go potty this time?”

 

The precocious two year old proudly nodded her head yes while her mommy told her “You did such a good job Keiko. Your mommy and daddy are so happy.” Misato then put a pair of head phones back on her little child and hit play on the DVD player. Her strategy was to distract Keiko with her favorite movies or coloring books for as much as she could during this flight.

 

“So did she actually go this time?” Asuka asked as the first time they got up to use the potty Misato had the look of nothing happened on her face.

 

“A little bit” Misato answered. “But she tried to play around more than anything.”

 

“Figures” Asuka said not really surprised. She was heavily involved in the potty training of Keiko as well so she knew what the process was like. Potty breaks were more an excuse to play in the bathroom than for their intended use. They then heard the pilot announce that they would be taking off in fifteen or so minutes. “It's about time.”

 

While the wait time was pretty typical Misato didn't contest that point. She was getting anxious to take off as well. One thing she never liked about flying was all the sitting around on runways and waiting. Much like Asuka she had gotten very used to the quickness involved with flying on private planes and the such while working at Nerv. “So are you excited about going back home for the first time in a long while?”

 

“Sorta” Asuka answered. “There are people I want to see and say hi to over there and everything… but there are just as many I want nothing to do with.”

 

Misato could understand that. “We will try to avoid those people then ok?”

 

“Thanks” Asuka answered with a half smile. “But tell me one thing, did you really plan all this out in just a week?”

 

“I'm very used to making big plans in a short time period” Misato answered her. “I used to do it all the time.”

 

“And you're also very good at making people believe you don't have anything up your sleeve” Asuka said as her half smile turn into a smirk. She had detected the smell of a finely laid plan and was wondering if Misato had planned this vacation out well ahead of time.

 

“I have no idea what you're talking about” Misato said looking away from Asuka's questioning eyes.

 

“So do you want to play around for a bit or should we just cut to the chase?” Asuka then asked.

 

Obviously the girl knew something she wasn't supposed to. More than likely Asuka was just waiting for a chance to spring it on her when she had the raven haired woman's apt attention. Misato though wasn't in as playful of a mood as Asuka would have liked though and Misato looked at her with the mommy stare. “Alright little miss smarty pants, what is it that you think you know?”

 

Asuka turned her head away a little “Stop playing dirty.”

 

Misato lightened up a bit “Ok, ok. We can do it your way but just give me the short of it. And in the future don't be such a snoop. A little bit of mystery can be a fun thing you know.”

 

“I know Misato” Asuka said flatly. She knew Misato hated it when you figured out her plans. “It's just that I found a receipt in the trash a couple days ago. You realize the Kempinski is a pretty posh hotel and requires plenty of time to make reservations for no matter who you are?” Another clue was that the payment date for that hotel was marked several months before. Misato must have made the plans a long time ago and was just waiting for Asuka to say something. That way it would look like she did everything on the fly.

 

“I know” Misato answered. “It's just that I never got to stay there when I was in Germany and I always wanted to.”

 

“And you call me spoiled” Asuka kidded.

 

“That's because you are” Misato responded teasing her right back.

 

“Then there was no reason that we couldn't have gotten first class tickets then” Asuka said playing upon the established fact.

 

“Sure there was” Misato answered. “Humility.”

 

“C'mon Misato, that's a cheap answer” Asuka chuckled.

 

“Cheap but good” Misato answered back shrugging her shoulders. They were then interrupted as the pilot announced that they would be taking off soon so everyone had to put their seat belts on. Before Misato did that she had to get Keiko ready with a kid adapter for the plane's seat belt. “Can you give me a hand?”

 

“Sure” Asuka answered and the two of them got Keiko situated before they put on their seatbelts themselves. But after that was done and the stewardess was giving out all the safety instruction Asuka whispered to her. “You know posh hotels are very expensive. So how are you going to afford it?”

 

Misato whispered back “That's none of your business.”

 

“Really? Because Shinji is eighteen and I will be too soon so don't you have to tell us?” This was actually Asuka's really big question she had been wanting to ask Misato, and for a while now too. She was no dummy and could tell Misato had considerable resources at her disposal. The woman had just bought too many big things without ever worrying for Asuka to believe they were simply middle class and on a budget.

 

“That doesn't mean anything” Misato told her.

 

“I don't know about that” Asuka smirked. “As legal adults won't you legally have to.”

 

“Nope” Misato answered. “You forgot something about being a native of Japan now. The legal age over here is 20, not 18.”

 

“Really?” Asuka asked. This time it wasn't sly or whispered like her questions before, the girl was truly confused about that.

 

“You mean you didn't know that?” Misato asked genuinely as this was something Asuka really should have known about. Then again Asuka did have the tendency to be completely clueless about some of the simplest things concerning Japanese society. Much of that had to do with her growing up in Germany and America rather than Japan though.

 

But Asuka didn't as she shook her head no. Asuka then sounded a bit down as she followed it up with “I probably can't ask anymore questions about this topic, huh?”

 

“Sorry honey, not for a couple more years” Misato told her.

 

“Crap, there goes my Beamer.”

 

That got Misato to laugh. “Don't worry, if you work hard enough someday you might get to buy one... But first I got to install a work ethic into you and your boy toy.”

 

“Work, shmirk” Asuka answered. “My ethics are good enough as they are. And Shinji has great work ethics” Asuka smiled as she added on “Especially when it comes to me.”

 

Misato was going to blast her one for that little comment but she heard something else that got her attention instead. The stewardess just asked everyone to turn off all their electrical devices and return all trays to the upright position as they were about to take off. Misato sort of pouted as she told Asuka “Remind me to tease you about that later, this isn't going to be fun.”

 

Asuka was well aware of what Misato was talking about. The combination of Misato turning off the DVD player and the plane starting to move was not a good one. Not only did Keiko start to cry but also just about every other little one in that section started wailing. Now Asuka really did wish she was flying in first class as she was sure they would have some ear plugs up there.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

It was about an hour later and everything was finally calming down. Misato was able to turn the DVD player back on to occupy Keiko's attention, they were flying smoothly and quietly so no one was scared anymore, and everyone's ears had popped.

 

Asuka let out a “Thank God that's over with.”

 

“You can say that again” Misato said with a wipe of her brow. Keiko's first experience at taking off on a plane had happened just like she expected, poorly.

 

“It could've gone better if we got some help” Asuka said rather loudly and at two people sitting across the aisle from them. She only got a reply from one of them though.

 

“And just what could we have done?” Kaji answered. “When they say you have to stay seated and keep your seat belt on, I truly believe they mean it. And we wouldn't want to make the job for these stewardesses any harder now would we?”

 

“Next time why don't you try saying that when the stewardesses aren't in earshot” Asuka sassed back.

 

“Hey let the man work his magic” Misato though argued quietly. “We can use all the extra bags of peanuts we can get.”

 

“Ah” Asuka said quieting down. This was just a con job to get some extra snacks for Keiko so Misato wouldn't go through all the ones she had squirreled away in the diaper bag so quickly. But Kaji could work his con just as well over by Misato and Keiko as he could where he was right now and Asuka decided the time was ripe for a seating change. She did this by unceremoniously crawling over both Keiko and Misato to get to the aisle. Keiko didn't notice she was so engrossed in her Little People's movie but Misato groused “What're you doing now?”

 

Asuka though walked up to Kaji and commended “Git.”

 

“But I'm comfortable here” Kaji teased.

 

“Then get uncomfortable” Asuka told him plainly and proceeded to pinch his arm.

 

Kaji let out a little “Ouch” as Misato just shook her head at the brash girl. But the action worked as Kaji chuckled “Alright, you win this time Asuka.” Kaji's voice then lowered to that of a parent “But this is only for the flight. When it's time to land everyone's going back to where they were before.”

 

Asuka nodded her head yes to that as she could tell she really didn't have a say in the matter. In this family there was definitely a time for playful banter but also a time to just shut up and do as you are told. That second part was rather hard for her to adjust to in the beginning but by now she had gotten used to it. As for right now though she had gotten her way so she sat down next to a Shinji who had his eyes closed and a pair of earphones in his ears. Asuka pulled one of them out “You sleeping Shin-kun?”

 

Shinji shook his head no and wrapped an arm around Asuka. “Just resting my eyes.”

 

“Sounds like fun” Asuka said back with a little yawn. She then reached into the fanny pack she carried onto the plane with her and took out her little I-pod too. She quickly put the earplugs in and laid her head down on Shinji's shoulder, saying softly “Let's rest our eyes together.”

 

Shinji smiled and held her a little closer as the two just rested there together, and as you can guess they fell asleep.

 

Kaji chuckled to himself again “That was certainly quick.”

 

Misato looked over from where she was sitting now (she had taken oven Asuka's spot next to the window so Kaji wouldn't have to crawl over her to sit down, Keiko was still in the middle) at what Kaji was pointing at. “I figured she was going to fall asleep pretty quickly” Misato said. “I don't think she slept very well last night.”

 

Kaji nodded his head yes to that. “She's hiding it but she is very nervous about this trip. Can't say I blame her for it either.”

 

“I just hope she can find some happy memories in Germany” Misato said still looking over at Asuka and wondering if that was possible.

 

When she was over in Germany with the girl many years ago it may have appeared that Asuka was proud of what she was doing and happy but she now knew the truth. All that bravado and arrogance was just a bluff Asuka used to hide her pain and loneliness over the loss of her mother. One of Misato's biggest wishes for this trip was that Asuka could see past that horribly sad fact and enjoy herself in the land of her birth. And while she never told Asuka this Misato had planned ahead in case Asuka couldn't. Inside the diaper bag were two sets of tickets for the return flight home. One set was for the end of the week and the other was for tomorrow. If this was too traumatic for Asuka she wasn't going to make the girl suffer.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka and Shinji weren't the only ones who needed a nap as shortly after they went to sleep Misato herself requested a pillow from one of the flight attendants. A quick little nap would suit her well and help pass the time between now and when lunch was served. So that meant it was up to Kaji to keep Keiko entertained. A task that could be very easy or near impossible depending on the little one's mood. Right now though it was relatively easy. Keiko was done watching movies for now and had the tray pulled down in front of her. And on that tray was a box of crayons and a coloring book, Kaji was even allowed to help her color. “So what color should I use for that cloud?”

 

Keiko looked at her box and thought very hard like little ones tend to do when faced with difficult decisions like this. The clouds outside the plane were all big and fluffy and very white but she didn't want clouds like that. “Gween daddy.”

 

“Ok green it is” Kaji answered reaching for that color. And while he colored this particular cloud green Keiko was hard at work coloring the ground blue. Keiko was not one of those kids that had to have all the colors be correct, she liked some variety in her books. But one thing for sure was that the whole page was going to be colored. The main picture, the ground, the sky, the background, and everything else on the page had to be colored in. She was very persistent about that sort of thing. Sometimes this persistence was a hassle as if they had to go somewhere before she was done coloring she would put up a huge fight but in this case it was a blessing. It would take her quite a while to color everything so it was helping to pass the time.

 

Well the coloring and the potty to be precise. Keiko seemed to find the potty on the plane to be the most fascinating of mysteries. The water was a brilliant neon blue and it flushed very differently from the potty at home so a mandatory trip to it was essential ever half hour or hour. It wasn't like Kaji was the only one on the plane in the same situation. Usually he met the same people coming and going from the bathroom and shared a knowing smirk with them as he passed by.

 

Since school was over this was a popular time for family trips and most of the coach section was filled with families of various size and ages. There was of course a couple people grumbling about all the whining and commotion going on but for the most part people were cordial with each other. Those with little ones knew exactly what he was going through and those with older ones could easily remember those days.

 

This was how things went for the next couple of hours until the stewardesses came around asking people what they would like for lunch. Misato was awake by then and was just talking with one of the passengers seated behind them. They were both moms with little ones so they had ample things to chat about. “Excuse me ma'am, sir could I get your order?”

 

“Um yes” Misato answered. Right now it looked like Kaji was resting so she handled this. “We will take the seasoned rice with calamari and peppers and miso soup meal… and I'm sorry but I missed what the announcement said was in the kids box.”

 

“The kids meal is some plain rice with chicken pieces and a dipping sauce, along with a snack and a juice box” The stewardess answered politely.

 

“What's the snack?” Misato asked as Keiko was sort of picky about her treats now.

 

“A fruit roll-up or some cookies.”

 

“Give her the fruit roll-up” Misato answered.

 

“Ok then” the stewardess said writing down what she was told. “And what about those two? Should I wake them up and ask them?” Most flight attendants can tell who is flying with who even if they aren't all sitting together.

 

“Why don't you let them sleep a bit more” Misato answered. “Just get him” Misato pointed at Shinji “the same thing we're having. And for her” Misato pointed at Asuka “do you have anything other than Japanese meals? Maybe something more western.”

 

“Yes we do” the stewardess answered. “We have an assortment of box lunches that come with a sandwich, chips, and some fruit, along with a pickle spear. At this time we offer chicken, beef, or ham.”

 

Misato thought for a second. “Why don't you get her the beef. She would be happiest with that.”

 

“I will do just that ma'am” the flight attendant responded courteously and then asked “Is there anything else you would like?”

 

“No, that should be fine” Misato told her and then the stewardess bowed politely and moved onto the next row.

 

“Ah remember the good old days of flying” Kaji said with his eyes still closed. “Back when all you got was some stale food like substance and some peanuts.”

 

Misato smirked at that “I bet you ate it anyways.”

 

“Well of course” Kaji said back. “You almost had to back then. It was either that or a MRE.” (A/N: MRE = Meals Ready to Eat) Obviously the flights they were talking about weren't the same as normal peoples. Remember, both of them came from a military like background hence their later positions in life.

 

“MRE's weren't that bad” Misato said thinking back. “I always liked the ones that would heat up by themselves.”

 

“Yech” Kaji said back apparently disagreeing with his wife. “I could never stand the hot mushy stuff. Always made me think someone had already eaten it and puked it back into the pouch.”

 

“Well that's certainly a pretty image” Misato said jokingly and gave him a little shove.

 

“Hey, just calling `em like I see them babe” Kaji joked back.

 

“Ah the good old days” Misato reminisced. “Neither good nor….”

 

“….Old enough” Kaji finished thinking the same thing as her. That was a sentiment that many people of that time period shared. Having a short memory was very commonly the best key to surviving happily now days.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka was awaken by a little peck on her cheek. A rather nice way in her opinion and so much better than the blaring of a stupid alarm clock. But as she slowly started to wake she saw her lunch in front of her. She asked a drowsy “Welche Zeit ist es?” while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

 

“Noon” Shinji answered breaking his chopsticks apart getting ready to eat his meal. While Shinji wasn't fluent in German he knew quite a few short phrases, this being a very common one as Asuka usually asked it when she first woke up. Typically it took Asuka a minute or two before she woke up enough to start talking in Japanese.

 

Asuka blinked a couple times and only looked at her meal through a sleepy haze. She rubbed her eyes again and tried to snap herself out of her daze. Her little catnap ended up lasting over four hours and for a couple seconds there she wasn't even sure where she was. Once she got her bearings straight though she noticed that most people were eating around her. As she looked to her side she saw Misato feeding Keiko while the child sort of and sort of not cooperated. Now that was a typical sight and Asuka let out a big yawn as she stretched out, not failing to notice the boy sitting next to her was checking out her body while she was doing that. It was little things like that, that made Asuka feel most attractive. “Gimme a kiss.”

 

Shinji of course put down his chopstick and gave Asuka a better version of a kiss than before. Nothing too showy as they were on a plane and all, not that he didn't want to give her a hotter one though.

 

“Mmmm” Asuka purred. “That was nice… and is that calamari and peppers?”

 

Shinji blushed just a fraction as he nodded yes. “It's a lot better than I thought it would be.”

 

While Asuka had noticed she had lunch in front of her before she just now noticed that it was different from Shinji's, and as she looked around it was different from Kaji's and Misato's too. “Umm… Misato. Did I order in my sleep or something?”

 

“Nope” Misato answered. “I got that for you. I figured you'd like it better than what we're eating.”

 

“Oh” Asuka said and lifted the top bun off her sandwich. “Hey, roast beef and cheddar. Thanks Misato.”

 

“You're welcome” Misato responded. It wasn't nearly as hard to figure out Asuka sometimes as most people thought. But as Asuka was looking over her meal Misato noticed she started digging in it. “Is something wrong?”

 

“I'll say” Asuka answered. “Who ever heard of serving a roast beef sandwich without any horseradish sauce?”

 

Misato had gotten an extra package of wasabi with her meal when the flight attendant passed them out so she offered the girl a trade. “I'll trade you a package of wasabi for your pickle?”

 

“Deal” Asuka quickly said. Wasabi wasn't called Japanese horseradish for nothing and it could easily take its place in a pinch. But as Asuka passed the pickle over to Misato she added on “I wasn't going to eat it anyway.”

 

“What's wrong with it?” Misato asked as she took the pickle and gave Asuka the package of wasabi. “I thought you liked pickles.”

 

“I do” Asuka answered. “But only if they're crunchy and cold. I don't like the warm soggy kind.”

 

“Picky, picky, picky” Misato chastised.

 

“I don't care” Asuka responded and stuck her tongue out.

 

While this was just Asuka being her usual little sass mouth Misato really wished she hadn't done that right in front of Keiko. Asuka had such an influence on the little girl and no more than a second later did Keiko coo “Asa funny.” And then the two year old turned to look at her mommy and said “I dun ca” and she stuck out her tongue.

 

Misato sighed as she said out loud “Why do you only learn bad habits from that girl?”

 

She got an answer from her husband “Because that's the only habits Asuka has.”

 

There was another answer to that as Asuka let out an offended “HEY!” and tried to swat Kaji in the arm from across the aisle.

 

Kaji easily avoided the swat though and turned this into a lesson as he looked at his little daughter. “Now remember Keiko, hitting people is bad. You shouldn't do it.”

 

Now Asuka was trapped. She couldn't try to swat Kaji again because she would then look like a bad girl and as much as she didn't like it she couldn't say anything to counter argue that point as it was true. The problem with Keiko was the little girl wasn't old enough to understand that her precious auntie was just horsing around and Asuka knew that. For know she just conceded defeat and took a chomp out of her sandwich. She had every plan to get back at the scheming father figure in her life though.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Like normal after Keiko had something to eat she got tired so she crawled up on her mommy's lap and snuggled in.

 

One thing that always amazed Asuka was the total change in appearance Misato went through when something like this happened. Misato went from being the Misato she knew into a very maternal looking version of herself. Her guardian, and the person she most thought of as her mother next to her real one, was sitting their gently cradling her child in her arms and humming softly as the child slept peacefully.

 

This was a sight that gave Asuka great comfort while at the same time great worry. One of the reasons she was so adamant about not having kids is she was secretly worried she wouldn't be able to make the same switch Misato did in becoming a real mom. Right now she was woefully unprepared to take care of a little one and she knew it. But on the same note, if Misato could make the switch why couldn't she? While she wasn't as nearly anti-child as she used to be this issue was still as much of a conundrum as it was in the past and she let out a sigh.

 

“Something wrong?” Shinji asked.

 

“Huh?” Asuka said surprised at first. But quickly followed that up with a “No, I was just thinking to myself about something. Just go back to watching your movie.”

 

Shinji was better at preparing for things than she was so it was no surprise to her when he pulled out a movie from his carry on stuff. She should have known it was up to her to bring something to watch on the plane if she wanted to and actually felt a little bad about what Shinji did. Not only did he bring a movie for himself but also brought a movie that she liked too. He had planned ahead for her not remembering to do something. It was things like this that really frustrated her sometimes. For all the growing up she had done she was still far behind Shinji in some ways. And the baby front was one of them.

 

One day at school she had overheard Shinji and Touji talking. She acted like she wasn't paying attention to them but she was. They weren't talking about the usual boy stuff but were having a more mature conversation. Basically the two were talking about their future and Touji had brought up the subject of children. She already knew what Touji had thought about children and what was probably in store for him as Hikari had told her. Basically they both wanted a medium sized family with three or four kids, hopefully at least one of each sex. But what she wasn't prepared for was Shinji's answer. He said he wanted kids too, and worse yet he had a good reason why. He wanted to prove to himself that he was a better man than his father.

 

That stung her a lot. But what stung even more was something that Touji asked. “What if Asuka never wants kids?”

 

Asuka was very candid about her feelings on having a kid herself so this was a legitimate question for Touji to ask. Shinji didn't really have an answer for that as he only sighed out an “I don't know” in response.

 

It was one of those depressed kinds of “I don't know”s at that. At the time Asuka just brushed this off as she told herself it wasn't that important of an issue and she didn't want to think about it, but as she sat there on the plane right next to him, with his arm around her no less, she couldn't escape the thought. This was a big issue. This had to do with Shinji's dreams. This had to do with her dreams. And this had to do with their future dreams together.

 

While sitting there watching his movie Shinji couldn't help but notice Asuka. She had one of those “something heavy was on her mind” faces. And it must have been something really serious as Asuka wasn't even trying to hide her appearance. Well that or what Asuka was thinking was so serious that she wasn't even aware of her appearance. Shinji had been in this relationship long enough to know he had to do something, just leaving her like this would not be the right thing to do. “So what's so serious Asuka?”

 

The timing of that question caught Asuka completely off guard and she spoke before really meaning to. “Shinji, would you be disappointed in me if we never had children?”

 

“W-wh- what???” Shinji stammered. This was a good bit higher on the scale of serious things than he was thinking.

 

Asuka though quickly realized what she asked and backtracked immediately. “Forget what I just said. We're not even out of high school yet and that was a really dumb question. Sorry.”

 

“But Asuka….”

 

“Just forget it Shinji and go back to watching your movie” Asuka quickly said cutting him off. “I don't want to talk about this.”

 

Shinji could tell Asuka was serious about that last part but like hell was he going to be able to forget this and he ended up sitting there in his seat with the same expression on his face as Asuka. A major land mine in both their heads had just officially been stepped on and it sent both their minds racing for a cover that no longer existed.

 

All of this did not go unnoticed. While it looked like Kaji was only innocently reading a newspaper he had been keeping one of his carefully trained ears on Asuka. Shinji wasn't the only one around who could tell what that look on her face meant and he was a little bit concerned about her right now so he was keeping a fatherly ear on the two of them to make sure everything was all right. What he heard though greatly surprised him. But while it surprised him it also made him smile. He looked over towards Misato and got her attention with a nod of his head. Since Misato was busy taking care of their sleeping child he knew she wasn't paying attention to the other two like he was. But when he mouthed what Asuka said he got a large chunk of her attention as she mouthed back “Really?”

 

Kaji nodded his head yes and Misato mouthed out “It's about time.” Kaji smirked at that again and went back to reading the paper. This time he knew he didn't have to pay attention to anyone for a while now. Keiko looked like she was down for the count and he was pretty sure Asuka and Shinji wouldn't be saying anything for a while, possibly even for the rest of the plane trip.

 

As for Misato, she meant what she said. Even though children, if any, were many years down the road for the two of them this was an issue they had to confront. This was a pivotal point in their relationship they had to get past if they wanted to stay together and have a future. If they couldn't it would be a horrible step back and best if they broke up before things got even more involved. But if they could it would be one giant step ahead in their relationship. Which direction they stepped was completely up to them now.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Several hours later the captain announced for everyone to go back to there seats and buckle up as they were approaching the airport in Berlin. Shinji and Asuka actually looked relieved to be separated from each other as everyone went back to their original seats. There had been nothing said between the two teens the whole time and both of them looked oblivious to the world. And even after they switched seats neither of them said anything. Not even the sight out the window of Asuka's homeland rapidly approaching them from below could distract her thoughts, nor the sound of many screaming and crying children as the plane landed. The fact that one of the loudest screamers was sitting right next to her didn't even phase the confused and scared teen.

 

And sitting across the aisle next to Kaji was a boy who felt the exact same way. Things weren't happy in his mind right now and this vacation was the furthest thing from his thoughts.

 

(A/N: So I cleared up Rei's problems only to create a whole bunch more for others. And does Rei not seeing Asuka with the rest of them as they got off the plane have anything to do with the ending of this chapter? If you want to find out you are just going to have to be patient and wait for the next chapter as this is the end to Chapter 18. Have fun till next time. I Re-re-edited. Changed a few words around. Fixed some grammar. Broke up some of the bigger blocks of text. And expounded on some parts to make them clearer. Basically gave this a good once over to improve its quality.)