Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 19 ( Chapter 19 )

The Swim of Things

By

Ret Nuh

 

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The plane landing was sort of bumpy but not all that bad actually. Both Misato and Kaji had been on flights that were much worse. And after it was all over the pilot came on the intercom and thanked everyone for flying Japanese Airline's nonstop flight from Tokyo-4 to Berlin. He also told everyone that it was now 9:00 am and a beautiful day outside. Highs would be in the eighties and it would stay mostly sunny. That was the funny thing about flying long distances, depending on which way you flew you could either gain or lose a whole day. In this case they pretty much gained a day as it was only three or so hours later in the day than when they left. Time zones are tricky like that.

 

After Misato finally got Keiko to settle down she reached over and placed a hand on Asuka's knee, giving it a little shake. “Hey, Asuka you there? You're home.”

 

“Huh… Wha???” Asuka mumbled as she snapped out of her daze.

 

“Look outside the window” Misato told her. “We're in Germany now.”

 

“Oh we are?” Asuka said as she looked out the window of the plane. It certainly looked like Germany to her out there, well sort of. This was the same airport she left from the last time she was in Germany and already there were some differences in the layout. “Has it really been four years?”

 

“Yup” Misato answered. “Doesn't seem like it was that long ago does it?”

 

“No it doesn't” Asuka replied. “But things look so different already.”

 

“That is time for ya. It passes without you even noticing it and in that instant everything changes. But I'm sure you will find some familiar things” Misato told her.

 

“I hope you're right” Asuka said back. Interestingly enough that comment had nothing to do with Germany and everything to do with Shinji. Asuka then helped Misato get all of Keiko's things together and they got up to leave the airplane. But as she got out in the aisle she noticed Shinji didn't follow right behind Kaji but held up a bit. Sensing that he wanted to talk she did the same.

 

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Misato, Kaji and Keiko were up ahead in the jetway while Asuka and Shinji were among the last to leave the plane. And as they were leaving the plane the two started to smile and talk again. Their nerves and emotions got one hell of a rattling but things were starting to look better now. They both had enough time to think about everything and get their thoughts in order.

 

And as they themselves entered the jetway Shinji whispered into Asuka's ear “Whatever your decision on kid's going to be, I don't care. I'll never leave you.”

 

Asuka brushed her hand lightly across his cheek and whispered back “I know you won't. And I will never leave you either but I know you care. You want to be a better man than your father and become a good dad. And to tell you the truth I don't know if I can give you that chance or not because I really don't know where I stand on the issue anymore.”

 

Shinji sort of looked at Asuka with a little surprise. His girlfriend knew something about him that he had never told her before and also her stance on the current subject had wavered. She went from a definite `No' to an `I don't know.' He was then asked something by her that was very easy for him to answer.

 

“Could you give me just a little more time to think about all this before I give you an answer?”

 

Shinji smiled at her and said “Take all the time you want.”

 

“Thank you Shin-kun” Asuka smiled back and gave him a little kiss as they walked out of the jetway and into the terminal gate. While this issue was in no way over with now they were at a good point and they could go back to the original task off all this traveling, to have a fun vacation.

 

No one was more pleased to see the two all lovey-dovey again than Misato. This wouldn't have been that much fun of a vacation if the two of them acted all weird around each other the whole time. Plus it would have royally messed up her plans as the hotel she made reservations at was booked for adjoining rooms. One for her, Kaji and Keiko and the other for Shinji and Asuka. She was sure they would want their privacy. She added an especially now to that thought as she was standing there.

 

But while she stood there Kaji whispered something into her ear. This wasn't nearly as romantic as what Asuka and Shinji were talking about but it did involve those two. “I bet you a thousand yen that Shinji becomes a man on this trip.”

 

“How could you even think about betting on something like that?” Misato replied acting like the idea was absolutely tactless. Misato then smirked as she told him “Make it ten thousand yen and I bet Asuka doesn't become a woman till we get back to Japan and you got a deal.”

 

Kaji looked at Asuka and Shinji. They were kissing each other again. “Done.”

 

Both of them thought they had this bet in the bag.

 

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If Misato had wanted to she could have arranged to have old friends pick them up from the airport but on Asuka's first day back in a long time she wanted this to be a family thing. They would have plenty of time to meet up with people later. “So Asuka, how much do you remember about Berlin?”

 

“Not as much as you would think” Asuka answered. “Now that I think about it the only thing I really did here was go to college. And basically the only time I was allowed to leave there was when I was with you or Kaji or to go home. And even then I was chauffeured the whole way and we never stopped to take the scenic route.”

 

If that was the case then Misato probably knew more about Berlin than the German teen did. Most of the time she ever took Asuka anywhere it was to training. It was against orders for her to ever go out frolicking with Asuka like she had wanted to due to the special conditions surrounding the pilot of Eva Unit-02. “Say Kaji did you ever take Asuka anywhere nice?”

 

“Hmm? You know what, I don't think I ever did” Kaji answered.

 

“Sure you did” Asuka corrected. “You used to take me to cafés for lunch all the time.”

 

“You were allowed to take her to cafés?” Misato asked astonished. If she would have done that she would have gotten in deep trouble from her superiors.

 

“Not really” Kaji chuckled. “But when you know enough dirt about the right people you can get away with a lot.”

 

“Stop talking about my past like that” Asuka said with a frumpy expression. “I don't want to know that stuff. It's depressing enough thinking back on it without knowing everything.”

 

“Sorry” Misato grinned. “If you want we can visit one of those old cafes you remember. I'm starting to get hungry again.”

 

“I suppose” Asuka answered as she was getting hungry herself. While it was only around 10:00 am where they were their systems were still going by Japanese time and back there it was six in the evening, or otherwise known as dinnertime.

 

So off it was to find a place to eat. They retrieved all their luggage, packed it into the mini-van Misato had rented to get around, and off they went.

 

At first Asuka was the one to try and find one of those cafés she remembered but it soon became clear to her that she didn't remember what was what as much as she thought she had. Most of them all looked the same and the precise names of those cafés from her memories got clouded by time. “Do you remember any of the names?” she asked Kaji who was in the passenger's seat.

 

Kaji shook his head no but started looking up at the buildings around them. He knew they were close to one of those cafés by the street they were on. “Misato stop here.”

 

“You recognize something?”

 

Kaji got out of the van and looked up at a building. “I think I do.” He then made a line with his fingers that directly led to a café.

 

“He did not do what I just think he did?” Asuka whined.

 

Shinji recognized the strange movements that Kaji did as well. He was trained very extensively on how to use a gun. Granted it was a giant gun and his Eva was the one holding it but he was still clear on the whole line of sight deal. “He did.”

 

“For the sake of my few happier memories please tell me this is not how you picked what cafés we used to visit?” Asuka asked.

 

“Sorry Asuka” Kaji said getting back into the van. “There were a lot of things I had to look out for when you were under my care. Your safety being the biggest.”

 

Asuka just covered her face with her hand and rubbed her temple. She really didn't want to know things like that.

 

“Hey, look on the bright side” Misato told her. “At least now we know where we are eating.”

 

“That's not helping” Asuka responded dryly.

 

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At the café they were all sitting around a table together waiting for their food to come. They had surprised their waiter to holy heck as when he first saw the group he was thinking `Oh god, more tourists. I hope at least one of them knows a little German.' His eyes almost popped out of his head when all of them ordered their food using perfect German.

 

Asuka was of course fluent as it was her first language. Misato was a touch rusty but she could still get by. Quite commonly she and Asuka would have a conversation in German just so she could stay on top of things and keep her skills fresh. Kaji was still fluent mainly due to his job. When he showed up to work and his bosses learned he knew German he was quickly made a liaison with some of their German clients. As for Shinji, he had excellent help as Asuka had told him exactly what to say and how to pronounce the words. He probably could have ordered on his own but it might have taken a while. His German was to a point where if he heard someone talking he could take a sentence, translate the words in his mind, rearrange the words into the proper arrangement for his understanding, and then figure out what he just heard. Unfortunately he couldn't do this quickly. By the time he figured out what the sentence meant the person who said it was already many sentences beyond so it was better he let Asuka translate for him.

 

“So what do you think of real German food?” Asuka asked him when they got their meals. Asuka had taken him to German restaurants before but that was in Japan. There was a big difference between Japanese German food and real German food.

 

“I like the sausages” Shinji answered. “But what's this red stuff?”

 

“Rotkohl” Asuka answered in German before translating “Red cabbage.”

 

“I don't like it” Shinji answered. “I thought it was going to taste like sauerkraut but it doesn't.”

 

“It's an acquired taste I'll give you that” Misato said as she purposely ordered something that didn't come with it. She wasn't too fond of the stuff either.

 

“Ah it's not that bad” Kaji contradicted while shoveling a forkful of the stuff into his mouth. “Once you get used to the flavor it's pretty good.”

 

Shinji didn't believe him and he looked over at Asuka. She made a so-so motion with her hand. “I don't hate it but I don't necessarily like it either. Normally I substitute regular sauerkraut for it when I see it on menus.” Asuka then split up the sauerkraut on her plate into two piles and gave some to Shinji. She was pretty sure he would like it better.

 

But while Shinji was open to trying different foods his dining companion sitting across the table from him wasn't. Keiko completely turned up her nose at the food. She basically had a mish-mash of stuff from everyone else's meals but still she wasn't going to touch it. It smelled and looked different and for a two year old that was enough of a reason not to like it. Not that anyone was surprised by this. Misato was hoping she would at least try something but her little girl didn't so instead she was given a little fruit cup filled with mandarin oranges. Misato had packed away quite a few of these things in her luggage as it was one of the very few things Keiko always ate. Hopefully it wouldn't be the only thing Keiko ate on this trip.

 

While eating their meals Asuka kept getting that feeling that someone was looking at her. She looked over at Kaji, who she knew was getting the same feeling as he kept looking around the room suspiciously. “So is it because we look like foreigners or the `other'?” `Other' of course meaning someone who was once employed by the same people as them. This could be a good thing or bad, it just depended on the person or persons in question.

 

There is one easy way to find out and Kaji said sort of out loud “Nerv.” It wasn't like he yelled it but more like he just said something loud while having a conversation with someone. He then looked around quickly and smirked as he said “Bingo, we have a winner.” He was basically looking to see who reacted to the word.

 

Asuka turned around and looked at who Kaji pointed out. It was a middle-aged couple and for some reason the woman looked familiar. “Do I know you?”

 

The woman got up and walked over to her. “Kätzchen?”

 

Shinji repeated the word with the same query as the women “Kätzchen?”

 

Misato and Kaji started laughing. They knew all about that German word and they also knew why this lady called Asuka that. It seems that when Asuka was still a little girl she picked up a nickname. She had never told anyone in Japan about it as she thought it was sort of infantile and she was too grown up for it in her opinion.

 

“How do you know that name?” Asuka asked raising an eyebrow. While it was once her nickname not many people had called her that.

 

“It is you kätzchen!” The woman said smiling. “I didn't think I would ever see you again.” The woman could see the confusion on Asuka's face after she said that. It was clear that while she recognized Asuka, Asuka didn't recognize her. “You were very young when we first met but I was Professor Schneider's teaching assistant.”

 

That rung a bell with Asuka. “Miss Heinz?”

 

“Yup” The woman replied smiling again now that Asuka had remembered her. She wasn't sure if the girl was going to as it had been almost nine years since she last saw Asuka. But Asuka was a rather unique looking person so there was no mistaking who the girl was. “It's Mrs. Franks now though.”

 

“Congratulations” Asuka said politely. “But please just call me Asuka. I outgrew kätzchen many years ago.”

 

It was about this time when Shinji finally figured out what that name meant. “Doesn't kätzchen mean kitten?”

 

Kaji nodded his head yes. “When Asuka was just a little brat a lot of us used to call her that because of her catty attitude.”

 

Asuka gave Kaji the mother of all evil eyes for that one. That was something from her past that Shinji didn't need to know. It had taken moving to a completely different country to shed that childish nickname so there was no way she was going to let it get attached back onto her.

 

It was obvious to Mrs. Franks that Asuka had grown up quite a bit since the last time she saw her so she switched over to just calling her Asuka. “Last I heard you were living over in Japan. When did you come back?”

 

“Actually just about two hours ago” Asuka answered. “My family and I decided to come over here on vacation.” Asuka then introduced everyone to each other.

 

Mrs. Franks was someone Asuka didn't mind bumping into. The woman was always nice to her when she was little and that wasn't something the past Eva pilot could say about a lot of the people who were her teachers or instructors. As for Mrs. Franks, while she definitely knew what Nerv meant she didn't know who was who so she didn't know any of the people Asuka introduced her to. She was only a teaching assistant who worked for a man who himself worked for the corporation. And in fact she only knew the names Gehrin and Nerv, she didn't know about the shadow group SEELE who actually ran everything. “You know what Asuka? You should give Professor Schneider a visit. I'm sure he would love to see you again.”

 

“Is he still around?” Asuka asked surprised.

 

“He's teaching at the university. Actually he is the dean of science now.”

 

“Really?” Asuka asked surprise. “I thought they fired him.” One day he was the professor charged with her education and then the next he disappeared. This happened when she was around 11 to 12 and while she demanded an explanation why her favorite teacher disappeared she was never given one. He simply was gone and that was it.

 

“They did” Mrs. Franks answered. “But after third impact he was quickly re-hired and placed in charge of the School of Sciences.”

 

While that was a pleasant surprise to Asuka, Misato and Kaji shared a silent smirk. One, they both knew why he got fired in the first place. He was not happy with how Nerv was raising Asuka and he stepped on one too many toes expressing himself. He wanted his prize pupil to have a more normal life and for her to be able to socialize more with kids her own age. Obviously the people in charge disagreed with him as that would not raise the type of pilot they wanted and one day he pushed that council a step too far and they removed him from Asuka and the whole situation entirely. The second part of this reason to smirk was the fact he got his old job back and quickly, which could mean only one thing. He knew something. And whatever he knew was probably big as he most likely got whatever he wanted right away in order to keep his mouth shut.

 

“So do you ever talk to him anymore?” Asuka asked her old teacher.

 

“Just about everyday” Mrs. Franks answered. “He's my boss actually as I am a biology teacher for the university.”

 

“I thought I heard you went over to Wiesbaden after you got your doctorate?”

 

“I did, but when I heard professor Schneider was back in charge I applied for a transfer” Mrs. Franks explained. “I loved teaching under him as his grad student plus I have a lot of family around here so I thought it would be a better fit for me.”

 

“Well good for you” Asuka smiled. She then turned to look at Misato “Do you think it would be possible for us to visit him sometime during our trip?”

 

“Of course” Misato told her. This trip was more for Asuka than it was the rest of them so if Asuka wanted to get in touch with anyone from her past that is exactly what they were going to do. “But lets wait till tomorrow when we are all rested up and everything.”

 

“Ok” Asuka answered and then looked over at Shinji. She knew he wasn't paying attention anymore, after all she had been speaking German with her old teacher at a normal conversational rate so he probably wasn't able to keep up with what was said. She asked Shinji in Japanese “You don't mind if we visit one of my old professors tomorrow, do you?”

 

Shinji shook his head no. “Nope.” He then grinned as he added “That's not a problem at all kätzchen.”

 

He got a sort of friendly but also a definite warning type reply to that. “Watch it baka-Shinji.”

 

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After checking into the hotel and getting into their rooms everyone crashed. They were a bit jetlagged, technically to their bodies it was nighttime, and the nice meal they just had deserved a good rest afterwards. Keiko had jumped the gun on everyone as she had fallen asleep in the car ride to the hotel she was so tired. It was past her bedtime after all. Hopefully a good nap would be enough to satisfy the little girl for now as they did have plans to go out later in the day to do some wandering around, just the basic touristy type of thing. Look around town for a while, maybe do a little souvenir shopping, find someplace nice to eat, and try to adjust to the new time frame.

 

In Misato, Kaji, and Keiko's room things went quietly. Keiko was already tuckered out and asleep so all they did was lay her down on a bed and then unpacked their things. With everything in their place now they themselves took a little nap to recharge their energy.

 

In Asuka and Shinji's room things were more typical of the teenagers they were. They dragged in their luggage and just dropped it where ever looked ok. There was no sense in unpacking things if they would just have to repack it a couple days later, right? A perfectly legitimate rationalization of apparent laziness in there minds. Plus they were both beat so the only thing they wanted to do was crawl into bed and get some sleep. They didn't even fool around for a bit before going to bed they were so tired.

 

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It was sort of early the next morning when Asuka and Shinji came down for some breakfast. They were pretty hungry but when they got there they found Misato was already sitting at a table in the dinning room. The breakfast area had only been open for about a half hour now and there were only one or two other people there. “So you didn't get her to sleep in?”

 

Misato shook her head no. “She's been up for about two and a half hours now.”

 

“At least she's eating something other than oranges now” Asuka commented. Right now Keiko was watching a TV that had some sort of kids show on. While the girl couldn't understand what was being said it did have a bunch of puppets moving around so it was entertaining enough for her. And the most surprising thing was she was eating the food in front of her. It was just some toast and pieces of muesli (A/N: Basically a German version of cereal that is like granola.) but it was the first thing other than oranges the girl had eaten since landing in Germany so it was a good thing. “Do you want me to get an egg or something for her?”

 

“Nah” Misato responded. “She hates eggs this week apparently so just let her be for now. Maybe we can try to get her to eat something more substantial later.”

 

“Ok” Asuka answered and started to walk over where the food was splayed out.

 

Shinji was already over there and he asked “So am I supposed to make a sandwich or something for breakfast?” In front of him was a platter with all different kinds of meat, cheeses, breads and rolls.

 

“You can if you want to” Asuka answered. “But for breakfast I always just had a bowl of muesli, some toast, and a cup of orange juice.” And that is exactly what she went for.

 

Shinji followed suit but also decided to show an adventurous side as he got a couple more other things that he had never eaten before. Mostly different kinds of cheeses and breads that Asuka told him she liked.

 

As the two of them sat down by Misato and Keiko and started eating Asuka asked “So when do you want to head over to the college?”

 

“Around noon'ish” Misato answered. “I want to hang out by the pool and relax for a bit this morning.”

 

“That sounds good” Asuka answered and with a little nudge at Shinji. “A nice massage in the sauna sounds like heaven right now.”

 

“You know Asuka” Misato interrupted. “This place has some rather nice services that include professional masseuses. You could both get massages at the same time if you like.”

 

“No thank you” Asuka answered nicely as she knew Misato was only letting her know about such things. “But I like Shin-kun's massages much better than professional ones.” She then winked at Misato as she said in German “They make me feel better.”

 

Misato just chuckled at that. “You understood that, right Shinji?”

 

“Yup” he answered while trying a piece of jarlsberg cheese. “She wants me to pay special attention and spoil her rotten this morning.”

 

Asuka smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek for that. He had understood what she said perfectly.

 

All this was interrupted by a little one with very pretty raven black hair just like her mommy's. “Asa, what that?”

 

“What's what?” Asuka asked as she missed what Keiko was talking about.

 

“That?” The precocious little cutie said pointing at the TV.

 

On the television was a kid's show with lots of puppets running around. Unfortunately Asuka had no clue what the show was called or who any of these characters were. This certainly wasn't a show that was on when she was a kid. But she did have an out as she recognized what channel the TV was on. “That's Der Kinderkanal. Can you say that?”

 

Misato could only bless her child's cute little heart as the young one gave it a try. “Da Kineral.”

 

“Close enough” Asuka said rubbing Keiko's head. Keiko was young and cute, accuracy with these things meant nothing when it came to her.

 

Keiko in return gave Asuka a big hug. “Asa so smart.”

 

Asuka breathed a sigh of relief when it seemed to her that Keiko had bought her answer. She also noticed Misato sitting there giggling. In German, so Keiko wouldn't understand her, Asuka said “Well, I didn't know the right answer so I had to make something up.”

 

Misato responded back also in German. “Your answer is more right than you think.” Misato was well aware of the difference between the correct answer and the right answer for a two year old. The correct answer may not get you anywhere and would just bring up more questions or maybe even a tantrum. The right answer was one that would satisfy the little one and get her back to doing the desired task at hand. I.e. eating breakfast and being happy. Asuka had picked the right answer and for now that was the important thing.

 

“Say, where's Kaji?” Asuka asked.

 

“He's getting cleaned up” Misato answered.

 

“So taking shifts then?” Shinji asked. This was in reference about how much easier it was to get a shower and cleaned up when the little one wasn't around. The last thing Kaji needed while trying to shave was for Keiko to walk in and start bugging him. He knew that one from personal experience. He also knew to always lock the bathroom door because Keiko had no qualms about walking in on people.

 

“Yup” Misato replied. “Soon as Keiko finishes eating I'll bring her back upstairs and Kaji will come down to the pool with her and let her play around there for a while.”

 

“Speaking of the pool” Asuka said finishing up her breakfast. “I'm going to go swim a few laps in it while it's still pretty much empty.”

 

Shinji popped one last piece of cheese in his mouth and said “Wait up, I'll join you.” Asuka always swam better when she had company and he knew that. Plus Asuka had bought a pretty little red and orange bikini for the trip and he didn't want to miss out seeing her change in to it.

 

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Asuka was still swimming laps when Kaji showed up at the pool with Keiko. She had been going at it for a good half hour now along with Shinji so she felt she had gotten a halfway decent workout. Normally she would do more but they were on vacation. Plus Keiko wanted to play with her so that in itself was enough of an excuse to stop swimming laps.

 

“Asa, Asa! Me swim in bath too!”

 

“Do you want me to help teach you how to swim?” she asked.

 

Keiko was very receptive of that idea and the two started playing together. Asuka wasn't really going to teach her anything she just said that to make the girl happy. Maybe in another year she would try but for now Keiko was too little, plus she had on so many floatation things it would be impossible for the girl to do anything except float. And since she knew it was Misato who put all those floatation devices on Keiko there was no way she was going to take any of them off. It was Misato's right to be overprotective.

 

While Keiko played with Asuka Shinji got out of the pool and sat down on a lounge chair next to Kaji, who always had one parental eye trained on his little girl. “So you able to keep up with her yet?” Kaji joked.

 

“No” Shinji chuckled. “There are guys on the boy's swim team who can't keep up with her even.”

 

“You know, she might want to think about swimming after high school too. She's certainly fast enough to do it.”

 

“She doesn't want to” Shinji answered. “She likes swimming and all but she doesn't want it to become her life.”

 

“I suppose any college that gave her a scholarship for swimming would demand that of her” Kaji said.

 

“That's what she has been hearing from the recruiters. Although they make it sound like a good thing.”

 

Kaji shook his head at that. It wasn't even an hour after Asuka finished the school year before they got their first call from some college recruiter. Technically now she was a senior so they could talk to her but Asuka didn't want to talk to them. She had already made up her mind that this was going to be the last year of swimming for her. Unfortunately Kaji knew that they would still be getting these calls all summer and most of the school year no matter how many times Asuka said no. Recruiters of any kind are a persistent bunch.

 

“So what do you think of Germany so far?” Kaji asked changing the subject.

 

“It's pretty interesting” Shinji answered. “Not exactly what I thought it would be but I like it. The people over here talk too fast though.”

 

Kaji smirked at that. One of the staples of languages was if you weren't accustomed to a certain language native speakers of said language always talked too fast. “Well just give it a little more time. I'm sure someday you will be able to keep up with the people here.”

 

“I'm gonna have to” Shinji answered seriously. “I'm pretty sure this isn't going to be the last time I visit here.”

 

That was a given considering who Shinji's girlfriend was. “At least your English skills are up to snuff so you won't have to worry when you visit the US.”

 

“Is that where our next vacation is going to be?” Shinji asked as he may have heard a word or two about future vacations while listening to Asuka and Misato talk.

 

“From what I heard our next summer vacation is going to be to the states” Kaji answered. “But I'm not sure which ones.”

 

“My guess would be California and Minnesota” Shinji said. This guess was based on the states Asuka lived in when she was in the US for schooling.

 

“Definitely California” Kaji said thinking more about it. “Most of my training when I worked for the DEA was over there and I would like to visit a couple places again. I know Misato would like to visit Denver as she spent a couple months living there while training.”

 

“So has Misato said anything about the winter trip she wants to take this year?”

 

“That trip is up to Rei” Kaji replied.

 

“So someplace tropical then.” Kaji nodded his head yes to that. There was no second-guessing Rei when it came to what she wanted concerning weather. Then again hot and humid wasn't that bad of a thing in their minds. They were pretty used to it already and if it was hot and humid that meant just that much more time that they would get to see their woman wearing skimpy swimwear. Not a bad thought at all. And speaking of girl's in bikinis one was calling for Shinji. Keiko wanted to play with the both her auntie and uncle now.

 

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Asuka and Shinji where in the sauna that was in the pool area right next to a large hot tub. There were actually a couple more professional types of saunas in another part of the hotel but they were the steam rooms that were associated with the gym and salon that was part of the hotel. The problem with them though was that one was for girls and one was for guys, not a separation that benefited either of them. Maybe later on Asuka would take advantage of a salon package but for now it was Shinji who was giving her a massage. She was just laying down on one of the wooden planks enjoying the wonderful treatment. “You know Shinji, I bet you could give any of those pros in the salon a run for their money.”

 

“They can keep their money” Shinji replied gliding his hand down her spine eliciting a little giggle from his girlfriend. “I've already got what I want.”

 

“But what you got may want more” Asuka purred mischievously. Shinji had already did most of the things he normally did during his massages so that meant it was time for Asuka's special massage.

 

Shinji smiled and leaned over giving Asuka a couple kisses along her spine in the area he just ran his hands down. He stopped at the middle of her back “Do you want me to go up or down?”

 

Asuka definitely wanted him to go down but she also heard people outside the sauna walking around in the pool area. It was now late morning so more people were starting to mill around and she knew soon their privacy would be interrupted. “I think you should stop before you get carried away” Asuka admonished with a giggle.

 

Shinji wasn't seriously going to go down on her right in the middle of the sauna, he was only trying to set the mood and maybe get her to want to head upstairs. “Can I carry you away?”

 

Asuka gave him a sexy little smile for that. “What have I told you about being aggressive Shin-kun?”

 

“To stop talking and hurry up because you're a girl who doesn't like to wait” Shinji grinned back.

 

“Exactly” Asuka said and bounced up from the seat she was laying on. And in a flash the two of them were off, making a beeline straight for their room.

 

“Wow, those two lasted longer in there than I thought they would” Kaji commented to the lady in the black bikini lying next to him.

 

Misato tilted her sunglasses down a bit to get a better look. Those two tore out of that sauna in a big hurry, and judging by the look on their faces something good was about to happen concerning them. “I'm sorta jealous” she admitted. She wouldn't have minded a little loving too but right now that was going to be hard to do, they had Keiko with them.

 

Sure there was daycare in this hotel but she knew her daughter wouldn't like it there. Most likely she wouldn't be able to communicate with the other kids and that would cause her to get worried. And when she got worried she would call for her mommy. And if no one was there to answer that call the tears would come out nonstop. Keiko didn't mind other people than mommy taking care of her but they had to be the right people. Sadly the only other two right people on the continent right now were up in their rooms and one of them probably had their face buried between the other's legs so it seriously would not be a good time to ask for some help.

 

“I hear you babe” Kaji responded. “But I hope you have your wallet ready.”

 

Misato shifted her attention over to him. “Who are you kidding? They're only up there messing around. If they were about to do that Asuka would be blushing head to toe in anticipation.”

 

His wife did have a point. “Oh well, maybe later tonight.”

 

“I wouldn't count that money yet Ryohji. I just have a funny feeling that she will wait till we get back home.”

 

“But technically this is her home” Kaji replied.

 

“Is it?” Misato asked.

 

Kaji opened his mouth to answer but quickly shut it again. That was a huge question and much more complex than the two simple words it was comprised of. He let out a sigh “I really wish I had thought of that before I made the bet.”

 

“We'll see” Misato answered. “I give my thought a 50/50 chance of being right. She gets hard to read sometimes when her thoughts are this big.”

 

“True” Kaji responded agreeing with his wife and then looked down to check on his daughter who was sitting between the two of them. She had finished swimming and was now hard at work coloring one of her books. While a little screwing around would be good so was this situation. It was relatively quiet, no big issues happening, everyone was happy, and all he was expected to do was sit back and relax. Something he very much planned to do as he let out a relaxing breath and let himself do absolutely nothing.

 

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

 

Mrs. Franks wanted to surprise her boss and told him an old student was going to drop by and say hi around noon, but she didn't say who. This was not out of the ordinary for the friendly old professor as many of his former students visited him from time to time so he thought nothing of it. He just made sure he was around his office when the person was expected to show up. His biggest worry was whether or not he would recognize the student. There were so many and he was getting up there in years so his memory wasn't as good as it used to be.

 

But his failing memory was not a liability in the least when he saw a head poke into his doorway and say “Hallo Professor Schneider.”

 

The kind old man recognized that beautiful face and red hair immediately. “Mein wenig kätzchen… Ist das du?”

 

“I don't think little kitten is right anymore” Asuka answered walking into the room. “But it's me.” She then gave her old professor a big hug.

 

The old man was in tears. This was someone important to him that he had thought he lost. Asuka wasn't just another student to him she was special, she was considered to be family in his mind. She was the little daughter he never had. He had tried his best to raise her right even in the face of adversity and many different people telling him to treat her in a different way. To them she was the key to a weapon, to him she was his little kätzchen. It had hurt him so much when they took her away from him and he thought he had lost her forever. “Oh kätzchen, how I have missed you.”

 

“I missed you too Professor Schneider” Asuka replied tearing up a little herself. Those pesky emotions of hers were acting up again.

 

But those tears were a good thing and something the professor was happy to see. After the death of her mother Asuka stopped crying entirely and psychologically that was not a good thing. He knew that and he also knew his little kätzchen had placed a thick shell around herself to protect her from anymore pain. The fact that she was showing some emotion right now was a sign she had moved on and that shell maybe had cracked a little. He backed up a step to get a good look at her. “You have grown up so beautifully kätzchen, just like your mother.”

 

Asuka blushed out a “Thank you” at that, but she also let out a little plea. “But I'm not a little girl anymore, you can just call me Asuka now.”

 

Her favorite professor disagreed. “But you're my little kätzchen. I could never call you anything else, it simply wouldn't be right.” The history behind this was that Professor Schneider was the one who gave Asuka that pet name in the first place. Gehrin/Nerv did not like this as they thought he was getting too familiar with the girl but he didn't care. All he saw was a lost and lonely little girl who needed someone to be her friend, not just another person telling her what to do and how to do it. She had plenty enough of those people already.

 

Asuka let out an embarrassed “Professor please!” It wasn't so much that he called her that, in fact she was perfectly comfortable with it concerning it came from him, it was the fact that she could hear snickers coming from outside the room.

 

“Oh, did you bring some people with you kätzchen?” he asked as hear could hear the giggling out in the hall too.

 

With a little tinge to her cheeks she nodded yes and told him “I brought my family with me.”

 

Now that surprised him greatly. One thing about Asuka that he remembered is that she clearly told him she didn't have a family anymore, only people who pretended to be that way with her. It was always a touchy subject that he didn't press. What surprised him even more was who that family was when they came into the room.

 

The first one to come in was a man he recognized easily, it was Ryohji Kaji, the guy who his little kätzchen was absolutely smitten with last time he saw her. For a second there he thought something inappropriate was happening. Those thoughts changed to confusion as he saw Misato walk in carrying a baby. He knew Misato from before as well but that baby surprised him. Just by looking at it he could tell who the mother and the father were. And finally a boy that he had never met before walked in. But even though he had never met this kid before he couldn't shake the sense of familiarity the kid seemed to have around him.

 

“You remember Kaji and Misato right?”

 

“Somewhat” The professor answered. “Did you two meet while taking care of kätzchen?”

 

Asuka threw out another weak plea for him to stop calling her that but it got talked over by the two other adults in the room. “Sort of” Misato answered. “Kaji and I actually knew each other long before we met Asuka but we were separated from each other. Then when Asuka came over to Japan we met up again.”

 

“It seems the meeting went very well” The professor commented while looking at little Keiko.

 

“In the end yes” Kaji answered.

 

The professor could tell what that answer meant. There was probably some tumultuous times that were better off left unsaid. That little mystery he had in his head on how Kaji turned from on object of infatuation into a father figure was something he would never know. But it was best just to let such things lie in the past as things were very much different now than they used to be.

 

Asuka then introduced Shinji. “This is my boyfriend, Shinji Ikari.”

 

That name struck obvious bells in the professor's head. “Did you say Ikari?”

 

Since Professor Schneider was the person who taught her English Asuka knew she could ask him if he could switch over to that language. That way the two would be able to converse with each other better.

 

The professor repeated himself in English this time and Shinji answered him with a nod of his head. And to alleviate any confusion he told the professor “Commander Ikari was my father.”

 

“Ah, I only met him once. A very intimidating man as I recall.” The professor said and then saw a collective nod of the head yes from everyone. But actually that was the wrong Ikari he was wondering if the child was related to. He now understood why Shinji seemed so familiar to him. If Gendo Ikari was his father that meant Shinji was the son of Yui Ikari, someone he knew well. “So you are the son of Yui. You must have been an Evangelion Pilot too then?”

 

Well that confirmed in Misato and Kaji's minds why the old guy got his job back so quickly. He did know something and that something was a biggie. He knew about the Evas and the dark secret behind them.

 

Shinji nodded his head yes again and asked “You knew my mother?”

 

“It was a lifetime ago but yes” he answered. “I worked on many things with her, kätzchen's mother, and some of the smartest minds in the world at the time.”

 

“I thought Shinji's mom and my mom never worked together” Asuka interrupted as that was what she had been told by Fuyutsuki himself.

 

“Technically that is correct kätzchen” Professor Schneider answered. “Your mom worked over here in Germany while Yui Ikari worked in Tokyo. I was a go between for the two as much of their research intertwined with the other's. I got to know both women rather well. Both were very beautiful and exceptionally smart women” He stopped there. He could have said more but that would have led to talking about the “accidents” that took their mothers and he didn't know if either teen would want to talk about that.

 

“Wow” Asuka said a bit amazed at this information. “Maybe our moms did know each other then?”

 

“They never met in person but they knew who each other was” Professor Schneider said. “I'm sure if they would have met each other they would have been friends though. They both were very similar and also very dedicated to you two.”

 

That was something that made Asuka feel very good. All her life she grew up hearing the whispers about how her mother paid more attention to her work than her daughter but what they didn't know was Asuka's secret hiding spot. Under her mom's desk. All that time her mom was doing research Asuka was very near by, you just couldn't see her. Mainly because Kyoko didn't want you to. She wasn't fond of the way people looked at her daughter, she could tell their intentions for her gifted daughter weren't good. Out of everyone Kyoko worked with only Professor Schneider knew of Asuka's secret hiding spot and it felt good that there was another person out there other than her that knew her mother really did love her.

 

“You know what Shinji?” Asuka turned and said to him. “I bet our mothers would be very happy that we're together.”

 

Shinji just smirked at that “I know my mom likes you. Remember when we sat up on the roof last spring?”

 

That got a chuckle out of Misato as she knew the story. She still didn't know if she believed all that twinkling Unit-01 did up there that night was real or not but she wasn't so quick to dismiss such notions anymore.

 

Asuka though blushed. She had purposely tried to forget about all that as it kind of made her nervous. It was almost like some big things were expected of her in the future. She quickly steered the conversation away from this area as she was afraid if someone told Professor Schneider the story he might just want to do a study. He was a curious guy for things like that. “So Professor Schneider… how's your wife and sons?”

 

“They're all doing well” he answered. “The boys are both married with children of their own and working. And Laura is now retired and spends most of her days looking after the grandchildren. So what about you kätzchen? What are you up to? You should be working on or done with some sort of doctorate by now.”

 

Asuka hemmed and hawed at that one. She hadn't even completed a masters yet and she knew she should have. Misato though chuckled as she threw the girl a lifeline. “Actually I put Asuka back into high school. She was having a little trouble with the kanji plus I wanted her to be around students her own age. But she is taking college classes.”

 

Professor Schneider thought about that for a second. “Maybe that's for the best. You are still young, you should be allowed to have some fun. But still I think you should put forth some more effort, you are capable of such great things kätzchen.”

 

“I know” Asuka answered looking a bit down as that was sort of a scolding.

 

“Don't worry about Asuka” Misato answered him. “I put her under the watchful eye of Professor Fuyutsuki.”

 

“Ah, Professor Fuyutsuki. Very smart man, I think he's an excellent choice for guiding young kätzchen.” Professor Schneider knew Professor Fuyutsuki very well actually. They worked together on many of projects back in the day and they respected each other brilliance and resolve. He had lost contact with Professor Fuyutsuki though as the years went by and they started working in different areas of research but he might just have to get back in touch with his old friend if he was indeed in charge of Asuka's education. They would have much to talk about.

 

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

 

There was much for the old professor and his favorite student to talk about and catch up on that the conversation went long and late. So late that it was time for dinner now. Professor Schneider very much wished to talk to Asuka more and also her family. He was overjoyed that Asuka had found such balance and happiness in her life, he could not have wished for anything greater for her. But he knew they must all be hungry so he invited them over to his house for dinner. Asuka was very persistent that they accept the offer. Mainly because she was enjoying herself and also Laura, his wife, was an excellent cook. She didn't really need to be persistent though as everyone gladly accepted the nice offer. Well almost everyone, Keiko was tired, hungry, and overall grumpy so basically a normal two year old.

 

“I'm so sorry” Misato said to Laura. “Normally she doesn't put up that big of a fuss at dinner.” Keiko was less than polite during their meal.

 

Laura though had raised two kids of her own and even had grandchildren now. “Don't worry about it in the least. One of my boys was so bad about dinner time when he was little we couldn't even get him to sit at the table.”

 

“I'll be glad when she finally gets out of this phase and starts to eat again” Misato responded. Ironically the little devil child in question that was such a pain at dinner was right now acting like a little angel. She was just sitting on the couch with her head on her mommy's lap, fast asleep.

 

Laura silently chuckled at that. “My boys were such picky eaters till they were about four. Then it was normal till they hit eleven or twelve.”

 

“I suppose with two teenage boys in the house at the same time you could never keep the fridge stocked.”

 

Laura nodded her head yes. “For a while there I thought they were going to eat us out of house and home.”

 

“I know the feeling” Misato grinned. “He doesn't look it but Shinji can really pack away the food sometimes.” Misato then added on about the other teen that lived with her. “And that little brat can eat just about anything she wants and not gain a pound.”

 

“Ah to be young again” Laura sighed remembering those glorious days when she could eat something without worrying that it was going to go straight to her hips.

 

Misato sighed right back at her and then the two went back to talking about mommy related things. That is the thing about moms, they always have something to talk about.

 

As for the others, they were in another part of the house. Professor Schneider had turned one of his kid's rooms into a nice little den. Right now Kaji and him were enjoying something Germany is famous for, a good beer. One thing about Kaji was that he would never drink alcohol in front of Misato. He still drank once in a while but only if he was somewhere out with the guys or something like that. Misato gave up alcohol completely when she came back from 3rd Impact, it had done nothing but create problems in her life. Since she was basically given that life back she knew that was one of the first things she had to correct. Sure it was hard at first as let's face it, she was an alcoholic, but over time and with the help of her husband she got past it. Kaji supported her the whole way and even though she told him he didn't have to go so far he still never drank in front of her.

 

But while Kaji was having a beer he stopped at one, he just nursed it for a long while. They were all talking in English so everyone could understand each other and Shinji and Asuka were telling him some of the truths about what happened. Professor Schneider was someone who could be trusted with that. And afterwards he looked out the window at the moon, the stone sentinel reminder of what happened, like always, was staring back at him. “You know even back then I never believed that your mother's accident was really an accident. There were just so many unanswered questions about how and why it happened.”

 

“Professor Fuyutsuki told me that he believes my mother knew more about the Evangelions than anyone else… even the leaders of SEELE” Shinji told him.

 

“Oh I'm sure she did” The professor answered. “SEELE may have acted like they knew everything but what happened to your mom was a complete surprise to those people. I remember about a week after the incident chairman Keel was still livid about what happened.”

 

“You knew Keel even back then?” Asuka asked.

 

“Most of the research I was in charge of I gave directly to him” Professor Schneider answered. “I didn't know what SEELE was at the time but everyone knew he was one of the big bosses. He was a man you didn't cross and never said no to. It was a rather dangerous thing to do career wise and if you listened to rumors health wise.” He then thought for a second “You know, to this day the only person I ever saw say no to his face was kätzchen's mother. I think Kyoko learned much more than she was supposed to about the Evas and that's why she was dead set against Asuka being involved in the program in any way.”

 

“How much did she know about what happened to Shinji's mom?” Asuka asked as if she remembered correctly the timing of Yui's accident eerily coincided with the downfall of her mother.

 

“Nothing really” Professor Schneider answered. “I wasn't even all that knowledgeable about what happened. I was told there was an accident and that was it. I didn't learn about some of the other things that went along with it till several years later, and even then I knew I wasn't supposed to know such things. As for your mother I was only allowed to tell her that her counterpart in Japan was no longer involved in the project. But you know, I could tell she suspected something odd was happening. Your mother had an amazing sixth sense about those sort of things.”

 

“More like a motherly instinct” Kaji interjected. He could say the same thing about Misato now as she had it. The woman just seemed to know what was going on around her even if she wasn't supposed to.

 

Professor Schneider thought about that for a couple seconds. “I believe you are right.” The professor then decided to steer the subject away from the area they were in as he asked “Have you heard from your father kätzchen?”

 

“Hell no” Asuka snapped back before tersely explaining “After 3rd Impact I tried to play the part of a good little daughter. Kaji gave me an e-mail address that belonged to him and I sent my father a long e-mail asking if he wanted to talk. A week later when I got no response I sent him another, only to have it bounce back to me as the e-mail address no longer existed. He can rot in hell for all I care.”

 

Professor Schneider looked down and shook his head to that answer while saying “So he abandoned you too. I'm so sorry kätzchen.”

 

“What do you mean me too?” Asuka asked confused.

 

“He disappeared after third impact leaving Julia and Catherine all by themselves” the professor told her.

 

Asuka was conflicted by this news. Julia was her step-mom and Catherine was her half sister, although neither of them was really family to her in her mind. She may have been related to Catherine by blood but she really wasn't a sister to the girl. She wasn't around enough to be and also there was some resentment towards the girl because she felt her father had replaced her with Catherine. And as for Julia, she was nothing more than her father's replacement wife to her so in some ways Asuka was happy about this because those two got exactly what was coming to them.

 

But also a part of her felt sad for them. When her father abandoned her mother he essentially abandoned her too in Asuka's mind. That did not feel good at all and it was hard to wish those kinds of feelings on other people. And truthfully those two weren't all that bad. Her mindset had changed as time and reasoning played a bigger role in her life. Julia was ok as stepmothers go and she didn't have any real beef against Catherine anymore. Plus you could add in the fact that it wasn't Julia who stole her father away from her mother, he left on his own accord and went after her. The relationship between Julia and her father was based on a bunch of lies on his part. And as Asuka had grown up she was able to remember many things about her past and one of the sad things was Julia and her father's relationship was basically the same as her mother's and his. Plain out her father just wasn't a good guy and a very selfish individual. He wanted what was best for him and that was about it.

 

“So do they know where he ran to?”

 

Professor Schneider shook his head no. “I believe the only contact they have had with your father was through a lawyer when Julia was served the divorce papers.”

 

“That son of a bitch” Asuka growled. “He was too gutless to confront them himself. God he never changes.” At this point Shinji wrapped his arm around Asuka. When it came to bad fathers Shinji always thought his could take the cake but in reality Asuka's was worse.

 

But the effect of this little action made Professor Schneider feel very good. Asuka was visibly pissed off but just with a little loving comfort from her boyfriend she calmed down. In the past something like this would be unthinkable concerning the girl, when Asuka was mad she stayed mad for a long time. But now she was happy again, this was all it took for Professor Schneider to accept Shinji as his little kätzchen's boyfriend. All he ever wanted for the girl was to find someone to make her happy. “You should go visit them if you have the time.”

 

“I don't know…” Asuka said hesitantly. “I don't know how much they would want to see me and without my dad around we don't have any real connections to each other anymore.” Asuka then added on to that thought as she thought of something else “Plus I have no idea where they live.”

 

“At your home” Professor Schneider answered. “At least as far as I know they still live there.”

 

“Really?” Asuka wondered. While she wasn't sure of the attachments she had with the people living there she did sort of want to go back to the house she lived in. She had some sentimental fondness of that house as it was where she was born and some of her best memories of her mom happened there. She kind of pushed those thoughts aside for now though, the last time she was there was when she was 13. There was no guarantee that what was there now was what it used to be. More than likely it would be completely different.

 

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

 

After the pleasant visit with her old teacher was done and they were all back at the hotel Asuka was sitting on the bed playing with Keiko. The doors to their adjoining rooms had been open so this was the little one's big chance to run back and forth between them. An absolutely phenomenal thing for a two year old. It was sort of late at night though, not that the little one had noticed, so Asuka was trying to get her to keep her voice down. “Keiko, if you sit there and be a good girl I will give you some cookies.”

 

Keiko's eyes lit up at that while her mother chuckled from the other room “Nice bribe there Asuka.”

 

“Eh.. whatever works” Asuka said back digging into a bag. She had packed along a little bag of cookies to munch on during the flight if she got hungry but had never got to them so she knew they should be around her room somewhere. Somewhere being the pivotal word as the room wasn't the best organized and she didn't know where the bag was.

 

It wasn't long before Keiko jumped off the bed to help her look. “Where cookie?”

 

“I think it's in here” Asuka answered the little girl. She then found her carry on pack and dug out the cookies. “Oooo… Look what auntie Asuka has for you.”

 

The raven-haired cutie squealed for joy, completely forgetting that she was supposed to be quiet. Then again that was sort of expected, this was Keiko after all. But after a little reminder that she was supposed to be quiet so she could get the cookies Keiko quieted down again. Not the best dinner for the little girl but at least it was something. More than likely this meant she would eat a good breakfast tomorrow. Two year olds typically only eat one good meal a day and Keiko was no exception.

 

While Keiko sat on the bed munching on the bag of cookies Asuka hopped up right beside her and wrapped an arm around the little girl. Keiko had no problem snuggling right into Asuka and the two decided to watch TV together. Actually Asuka was just flipping around the channels indiscriminately trying to tire out Keiko. The girl's sleeping pattern was completely out of whack right now so in order for Keiko to go to bed with the rest of them you had to tire her out first. That was the main reason they let her run around the rooms, and now hopefully just being in a bed and relaxing a little would put Keiko to sleep. And it was working too as those precious little eyes started to droop.

 

And it wasn't long before Asuka took the bag of cookies away from the sleeping child. Misato noticed Keiko was asleep and walked into their room. “Thanks Asuka. I'll put her in her bed now.”

 

Asuka though offered another suggestion. This whole day had been about her and instead of visiting old friends and colleagues Misato and Kaji were with her. That was a really nice thing for them to do so she decided to pay them back. “Why don't you let her stay here for the night? It's no trouble really. That way you guys can have some privacy.”

 

“Are you sure about that?” Misato asked. Taking care of Keiko during the night could sometimes be a chore.

 

Asuka nodded yes at her. “Have fun, ok.”

 

Misato smiled at her and told her thank you again before closing the adjoining doors between the rooms.

 

A couple minutes later Shinji came into the room, Kaji and he were out in the hall getting some ice and drinks just in case anyone was thirsty. The first thing he saw was Asuka on the bed with Keiko fast asleep snuggled right into her. Then he noticed the doors between the rooms were closed. He gave her a questioning look.

 

“I'm letting Misato and Kaji have a chance at romance” Asuka answered. “You don't mind if Keiko stays with us tonight do you?”

 

Actually Shinji had romantic plans himself, some of which involved the ice he brought back. But Asuka's reason trumped his thoughts as he realized she was only trying to pay the two back for today. “That's ok” he answered. “But I wish you had picked a better day to do this.”

 

“Oh did you have big plans for tonight” Asuka smirked devilishly at him.

 

“Yes” Shinji smirked back but then walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains. It had started to rain outside. “But I was talking more about the thunderstorms we might get tonight.”

 

Asuka let out a quiet “Oh no.”

 

Thunderstorms and Keiko did not go together at all. The little girl was pretty good about sleeping in her own bed, or in this case the other bed in the room, except in the case of a thunderstorm. She was very afraid of them and at the first clap she went running for her mommy or daddy. And during the whole storm she would be attached at the hip to one of them and if it was at night she would be in their bed. And if neither of them were around Asuka or Shinji was an acceptable substitute for them. There was going to be no sleeping close together tonight as they knew a little child would be between them the whole time.

 

This was proven about a half hour later with a small clap of thunder. Keiko's eyes flashed open and she looked around with a scared expression. “Where mommy?”

 

“Your mommy and daddy are having some quiet time together” Asuka told her. “You want to sleep with us tonight?”

 

Keiko knew the phrase quiet time. While she did not know what it really intended she knew it meant her parents wanted to be alone for a bit. It was a mommy and daddy thing just for mommies and daddies. Asuka's suggestion though was acceptable and she let out a scared little “Uh huh” and curled up closer to Asuka. And there she slept for the rest of the night between the two teens, crying every once in a while for a couple seconds when she got startled by some thunder only to fall back to sleep again a few minutes later with a reassuring hug.

 

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

 

The next morning when Kaji and Misato came down for breakfast they found Asuka, Shinji, and Keiko were still there too. They were a bit surprised at this as it was already 8:00 am. They figured those guys would already have eaten and been off playing in the pool or something. And most surprising was that Keiko was eating anything put in front of her. “Jeeze what brought on this miracle?” Misato asked.

 

Keiko quickly turned around and exclaimed happily “Mommy” while hopping off her chair and running towards Misato.

 

Misato picked her up and walked back over to the chair and sat down, with Keiko on her lap. If the little girl was eating she didn't want to stop this action. “How about if you eat breakfast with mommy?”

 

“Ok” the precocious two year old answered and went back to eating happily.

 

Kaji then asked “Why are you guys down here so late?” while walking over to the food.

 

Shinji was the one to answer him as he went back for more. “Actually Keiko only woke up a little while ago. We kind of had a rough night with her.”

 

“Really?” Misato asked. “What was wrong?”

 

“The thunderstorm” Shinji answered looking at her like she should have known that.

 

“We had a thunderstorm last night?” Misato asked as she didn't even know that.

 

Asuka just chuckled at her for that. Being so amorous that you didn't even notice a thunderstorm outside the window was pretty bad in her opinion.

 

Misato though responded to Asuka's chuckle with “Don't judge you little priss. You may be guilty of something like that too someday.”

 

“I sure hope so” Asuka answered.

 

That answer sort of confused Misato. She didn't know if the girl was teasing back or being serious. More than likely it was a mixture of the both but figuring it out wasn't an important thing right now as Keiko started asking “What dis?” about everything she was eating. She was also asking what was that about everyone else's breakfasts as well. Basically she was just being curious.

 

So as everyone ate their breakfast the plan for the day was set out. Asuka and Shinji were going to walk around town and maybe do some touristy things like going to an old castle or something. Basically just spending the day together and having some fun. Misato was going to go out in the morning and do some visiting while Kaji took care of Keiko. Then later on this afternoon they would switch up and Kaji would visit some old friends while Misato took care of their kid. And tomorrow Asuka and Shinji would take care of and watch Keiko while Misato and Kaji went out and got to act like the typical tourists they were. A pretty good set up that let everyone share in the responsibilities and fun.

 

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On Thursday morning Asuka had several problems, the first was a bit on the nominal side. Ever since Shinji had heard the name kätzchen he had been trying to get it to stick as his pet name for her. In all the time they had been dating he had never really had one for her as he could never think up one he liked. While Asuka did not mind this and actually liked the idea of having a pet name, why did the baka have to decide on that one? It was just so childish in her opinion. He had even used it several times over the past couple nights while they were being intimate. The first time she scolded him for it but the second he was ruthless in his use of it. He used the line “I love you kätzchen” right in the middle of her having an orgasm. Now that was fighting dirty.

 

But that little problem was nothing in comparison to the idea that had been placed in her head by Professor Schneider. The more she thought about it the more she realized she wanted to visit her childhood home. While the potential for a messy situation existed she really wanted to see if she could find some old photos she had left behind. Unlike Shinji's father, her dad didn't go bonkers and destroy every picture of his old wife. (Actually thanks to Fuyutsuki Shinji did have a picture or two of his mother now) He just threw all those old family pictures into a box and exiled them to the basement. Ironically most of those pictures were of just Asuka and her mom as her dad wasn't even around all that much during the brief happy times. Back when she was thirteen she didn't think she needed these pictures and left them behind, now she wanted them pretty badly. The off chance that those pictures still existed was enough to make this risk worth it.

 

So on Thursday when Misato asked everyone what they wanted to do Asuka mentioned maybe stopping by her old house for a second or two. Personally Misato couldn't have been happier for the girl. While she now doubted Asuka would ever get past the estrangement between her and her father at least Asuka was willing to meet up again with the closest thing she had to family left over here. “So do you want us all to go over there with you?”

 

“I don't want this to turn into a big scene or anything if it doesn't work out” Asuka answered Misato while shaking her head no. She then turned her attention over to Shinji and asked kind of hesitantly “Do you want to go with me?” While she did not want everyone with her she was afraid to do this alone. She would feel much more comfortable if she had someone with her.

 

Without even thinking about it Shinji nodded yes to that. He would have to be an idiot not to answer this way in his mind. Asuka was asking for his help dealing with something very difficult to her and there was no way he was going to back down and run away in her time of need.

 

“Ok then” Misato answered. “But if you run into any snags just give me a call.”

 

“Thanks Misato” Asuka smiled weakly feeling a bit uneasy all of a sudden now that this was official.

 

Misato responded to that with a reaffirming arm around the nervous red head's shoulder. “Don't worry. I'm sure everything's going to be just fine.”

 

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Even though Misato had told her everything was going to be fine Asuka was still very uneasy the whole cab ride over to her place. She lived in a town about an hour out of the way from Berlin so she unfortunately had a lot of time to think about all the things that could go wrong. And truthfully if it wasn't for Shinji being with her she would have told the taxi driver to turn right around the second she got into her home town. Asuka's inherent insecurity was showing through right now and she wasn't even hiding it behind a veil of brashness like normal as she sat in the cab being very quiet.

 

When the two teens got to the door in front of Asuka old home she stopped before ringing the doorbell. “Wait, this is really stupid. It's the middle of the day on a Thursday, there's no way anyone is going to be at home. Julia's probably at work or something, lets just get another cab and go back to the hotel. We can try again some other time when they will be around.”

 

Shinji just looked at his girlfriend and shook his head no. They didn't come out all this way just to run back home without even trying and he rung the doorbell for her. Plus it was Asuka herself that told him earlier that there was a good chance she would be home as Germans tend to take very long holidays in the summer.

 

Asuka gave him a look that meant two conflicting things. It was a look of “why in the hell did you do that?” while at the same time also “thank you for doing it for me.”

 

Asuka didn't have to wait long for an answer to if anyone was even home, it came rather quickly as a man with blonde hair answered the door. Asuka had no clue who this guy was and wondered if one of the things she thought could go wrong just did. Namely her old stepmom and stepsister had moved out. “Umm… excuse me but is this the Langley residence?”

 

“Actually this is the VonRichthofen residence now” the man answered. “But I'm betting you're looking for Julia.”

 

Asuka looked at the man strangely as he called for her former stepmom. He was right about who she was looking for but how did he know? This guy was a complete stranger to her. But that question had to wait as when Julia came to the door a look of complete shock came to the woman's face. While giving her a weak wave Asuka let out a sort of questioning “Hi?”

 

Julia looked Asuka up and down for a couple seconds before shaking herself out of her shocked state. “Oh… I… ummmm… Hello Asuka. What are you doing here?”

 

“If me being here is a problem, I can leave” Asuka quickly said and would have taken a step back if Shinji wasn't standing right behind her. But she was trapped so she added on just as quickly “I'm over here on vacation and just stopped by but you look to be busy so I will leave you alone.”

 

“Nonsense” Julia told her in a friendly way. “Come on in. This place is your home too.”

 

Shinji had picked a really bad time to be able to keep up with a real German conversation in Asuka's opinion as no sooner than did her previous stepmom extend the welcome than did Shinji give her a little push from behind.

 

Shinji wasn't being pushy because he had a whole bunch of guts and confidence that Asuka didn't, it was just that he didn't want her to run away so to speak. The only thing that got him was a lot of pain and misery and he didn't want that for Asuka. Plus it is a whole lot easier for you to give someone else a push in the right direction than it is for you to give yourself that same push.

 

With the encouragement of her boyfriend Asuka did come in. She looked over at the blonde stranger again and asked Julia “Did you remarry or something?” as that was the only real explanation for the name change and new person in the house.

 

Julia nodded her head yes “About a year ago Adler and I got married.” She then introduced her husband to Asuka. “Adler this is Asuka Langley Sohryu. She was my stepdaughter when I was married to her father.”

 

Adler nodded politely and said “Nice to meet you” while holding his hand out.

 

Asuka may have been rather uncomfortable and nervous right now but she wasn't without her manners. She shook Julia's new husband's hand and returned a nice greeting to him. After that she introduced Shinji. “Julia, Adler, This is my boyfriend Shinji Ikari.”

 

Shinji gave them all the best “Guten Tag” he could and extended his hand out. Adler was the one to shake it. Julia though replied with a flabbergasted “Wait… You're dating an Ikari?” And before Asuka or Shinji could answer that she added on “You aren't related to Gendo Ikari in any way are you?”

 

Because she said that fast Shinji missed most of it, he did catch his fathers name though. Asuka was a bit confused as when it came to knowing who was who Julia was pretty much at the bottom of the list. She was simply a nurse and that was about it, how she knew about Shinji's father was a complete mystery. But that mystery got interrupted as Shinji asked for a translation. He wanted to start out on a good step concerning Julia so he wanted to answer her question. After Asuka told him what her former stepmom asked he answered “I am his son.”

 

That really floored Julia and she could only look at Asuka with astonished eyes. “You must not be in contact with your father either.”

 

“Actually I haven't talked to him since before third impact” Asuka told her now wondering what her father had to do with all this. “Why?”

 

“Trust me on this Asuka” Julia told her. “If your father knew you were dating Gendo Ikari's kid he would probably lose it. He absolutely hated that man.”

 

Asuka translated what was just said quickly and Shinji became just as confused as her.

 

Julia could tell this required further explanation but she was worried some of the confusion was being caused by the language difference. While she did know a little Japanese it wasn't enough to be able to talk in that language so she asked “Do you happen to know English?”

 

Since that question was asked in English Shinji answered it that way “Yes.”

 

“Thank God” Julia quickly said switching over to her second language. The last thing she wanted was for there to be a whole conversation based on possible miscommunications. (Actually it wasn't much of a stretch that Shinji knew some English as it was pretty much taught at schools worldwide. It was already the most common second language in the world and where it was the first language tended to be economically strong nations so it was no surprise that it was becoming a universal language around the world. It allowed for people to communicate better and, this is the main reason, better communication meant more money.) “So you're the son of Gendo Ikari?”

 

Shinji answered yes again just so everyone was on the same page and then asked “How do you know who my father was?”

 

Julia's explanation made everything perfectly clear. “Asuka's father and your father were both in charge of raising pilots for the Evangelions. Apparently there was a pretty heated battle over money and resources that was based solely on who had the better pilot. Asuka's father came home many nights absolutely furious about your father getting what he thought was supposed to be his funding.” She then thought for a second more “Wait… I thought Gendo's kid was a girl.”

 

Asuka started to smile as she understood everything now. “The person you are thinking of is Rei Ayanami and yes she was my rival early on. Shinji was the third pilot thrown into the whole situation and had nothing to do with any of that stuff.” She could have said a lot more but it was better if Julia was left in the dark about the true situation.

 

“Well then it's a pleasure to meet you Shinji” Julia said extending her hand.

 

While Shinji politely shook it and greeted her back Asuka asked “Did my father take anything from here before he took off?”

 

“No” Julia answered “But I gave most of his belongings to charity.” Her ex-husband may have been a good for nothing jerk but at least his things could benefit people in some way was why she did that.

 

Asuka looked down upon learning that, she thought her chances of finding those old photos had just gone out the window. She wasn't going to blame Julia for it though, hell she sort of agreed with the woman and if it was her she wouldn't have been so reasonable. She could clearly see herself gathering up all his old things and creating a large bonfire out of them if she was in the same situation. “Shoot. I was hoping to find some pictures of my mom that my dad stored in the basement.”

 

“Oh those are still there” Julia told her. “I went through just about everything. I got rid of his stuff, not yours.”

 

Asuka let out a very heartfelt “Thank you” and sort of forgot her manners at that point as she raced towards the basement door and clunked down the stairs in a big hurry.

 

Shinji though had a little more tact than his girlfriend. “Sorry about that.”

 

Julia though chuckled “I wouldn't have expected anything less of that girl. I can tell she has changed quite a bit but she's still Asuka.”

 

Shinji nodded his head yes to that while displaying a slight grin and then excused himself properly to go follow Asuka. When he got down there he saw Asuka was already sitting on the floor with a box open in front of her. He could see a label written on the side of the box written in German, he translated it to `Asuka's photos.' As he walked closer to Asuka and looked over her shoulder he could see she had an old photo album in her hands, it was open to a page that had pictures of her mother holding her lovingly when she was just a baby. A second later he saw a tear splash down onto the page. He sat down behind Asuka and held her from behind. “It's ok. You can let it all out now.”

 

(A/N: And this is the end to chapter 19. Seems like the trip is going pretty well for Asuka and the rest of them. I am sure they are very appreciative of that. Not much more I can say about anything I wrote except I hope you enjoyed this chapter and also see you all next month. 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.)