Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

The Swim of Things

By

Ret Nuh

 

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Asuka spent a good hour down in the basement basically crying. Crying over the loss of her mother, crying over everything that happened, crying over forgetting all the good times she shared with her mother, crying over how happy she was to have her mother back in her heart, and crying over being able to see these pictures again. Basically she was having just a good old fashion cry.

 

Julia was very happy about this for two reasons. Not only did this lost and lonely girl finally let herself do this but she found someone she could take comfort in while she did. Professor Schneider wasn't the only person in the world who knew Asuka's vow to never cry again was a very unhealthy one emotionally. Actually everyone could see how wrong it was but only a select few cared enough to worry about her in that way. Julia was one of those people, unfortunately Asuka's father was not. That in itself contributed to a lot of Asuka's emotional problems.

 

While Asuka's actions did not surprise Julia in the least it did surprise someone else very much, Asuka's half-sister. When her mother called her home from a friend's house with the news that Asuka was back she came racing. But when she got home and learned Asuka was sitting in the basement with her boyfriend crying over some old photos of her real mom the image she had of Asuka shattered. Catherine always had a grandiose view of Asuka in her mind. Asuka was older than her, Asuka was smarter than she would ever be even back then, Asuka was way more talented than her, Asuka was far prettier than her for sure, and Asuka was just plain out better than her in every way possible. It was no surprise to her that Asuka basically ignored her when she was around. After all if she was Asuka and was perfect in every way possible she would ignore herself too.

 

Basically Catherine had a huge inferiority complex when it came to comparing herself to her older sister. So to see this woman that she had placed so high on a pedestal that she couldn't reach crying her eyes out over a bunch of photos, well it just didn't make any sense. “What did they do to her over in Japan?”

 

“Nothing” Julia told her confused child. “She grew up.”

 

“But she's crying like a baby down there” Catherine argued.

 

Julia smiled as she looked over at her child. Catherine was a young 14 years old so it was no surprise she didn't understand. The difference between a 14 year old girl and a 17 year old girl was as big as the world itself. “I know it looks like that Cathy but this is a very good thing for her.”

 

“How could it be good? She looks so weak doing that.”

 

“That's because she is” Julia answered.

 

Catherine was finding it hard to take this shattering of her image of Asuka. “No she isn't! Asuka has always been tougher than me. She the strongest girl I know.”

 

Julia shook her head no at that. “Being strong and appearing strong are two different things. Asuka always hid her pain and that's not good.”

 

“But..but..” Catherine tried to argue again but didn't know what words to use.

 

“I know you have this exaggerated view of Asuka but she's a lot more like you than you think” Julia explained. “She's very much a real girl just like the rest of us.”

 

This was just too hard for Catherine to believe. And as the girl looked down the stairs at her older sister crying she muttered out a lost “But she's Asuka….”

 

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When Asuka was finally over everything she came upstairs and thanked Julia very much for saving those old pictures. Asuka also learned that those pictures weren't the only thing left untouched, Julia left her room alone as well. She knew it would be just a matter of time before Asuka came back so the nice thing to do was just leave everything the way Asuka left it. Even though Asuka was the daughter of her ex-husband and not really related to her anymore she still cared about the girl. Plus she knew about Asuka's past. And that was not a past she would wish on her most hated enemy. To see your mother not only go crazy in front of your eyes but also hang herself was more than any sane person could handle. The fact Asuka came back at all was a testament to her strong will and desire to live on.

 

Right now though Asuka was going through some of those picture albums with Julia and Shinji. Julia was amazed at the likeness and she remarked “You are the spitting image of your mother.”

 

That made Asuka smile. Her mother was a very beautiful person and if she grew up to look like her she would be very happy. Shinji would be too as Asuka's mom was a babe. Looking at the old pictures of Asuka's mom and Asuka really drove home the point of like mother like daughter. And also that he was a lucky, lucky boy to have gotten a hold of such a beautiful girl.

 

“You know, the one thing I can't understand is why my dad turned his back on my mom. I mean she was so smart and beautiful. Considering the type of person my father was you would think he would have stuck around just for bragging purposes.”

 

“The key word to that Asuka is smart” Julia told her. “Your mother was smarter than him and he couldn't take it. His vanity wouldn't let him.” Julia was speaking from experience in this matter. She remembered all the lies he told her when they first got together about how wicked his wife was but over the years she grew wise to what he said. The man twisted everything so it was always the other person's fault and even before third impact she realized why Asuka's father really left Kyoko Sohryu. That woman intimidated him. She was just too strong of a person for him to control and too smart to fall for his cons. The only thing she suspected that was true about what he told her was that they were headed for a divorce long before he even met Julia.

 

Which was ironic as after being married to the man for several years she too was at that same place herself. She had grown wise to his tricks and lies too. She knew all about his extended absences and that not all of them were solely for work purposes. She was being cheated on. The only reason she stayed with him was for Catherine's sake, her daughter was scared enough due to the angel attacks. She wasn't going to compound those problems by filing for divorce from her no good husband at the same time.

 

Asuka had a good chunk of that very same vanity in her too but she was lucky enough to escape it crushing grasp before it took over and ruined her life again. “Shinji you don't have a problem with me being so smart, do you?” This was not asked in seriousness though, more like Asuka was just fooling around.

 

“Nope” Shinji answered and in the same vain of foolishness answered “Without you my chances of getting into T4-U are pretty much shot.”

 

Both Julia and Adler smiled at that joking around. “So Asuka how long are you going to be around?”

 

“Just for the week” Asuka answered Julia. “We got here on Sunday and we are flying out Saturday morning.”

 

“So you just decided to show Shinji around your birth country then?”

 

“Actually I came here with my family” Asuka responded. “Do you remember Misato Katsuragi and Ryohji Kaji?”

 

Kaji was the easy one for Julia to remember, he was a bit of a lady-killer as she remembered. She could easily understand why Asuka had a crush on him when she was young. Misato took a little more thought as she only met the woman a couple times. “Was Misato the woman with the jet black hair and very curvy body?”

 

“That's her” Asuka smirked. She could tell Julia remembered Misato the same way a lot of other women did, envy. But Asuka couldn't blame her as well, she was envious of Misato's body too. “This is going to sound really weird but those two got married after third impact and are now Shinji and my guardians. They even have a little girl and we all live together as a family.” And just to stress the whole small world weirdness angle she added on “And Rei Ayanami is included in our family but she actually lives down the hall a couple doors from us.”

 

Now the Misato and Kaji hooking up part didn't sound strange to her at all. And that those too were her guardians well that was believable too, the Kaji part was a little strange but not really too far out there. She knew the guy genuinely cared about Asuka even back then. But that part about Rei Ayanami, her former competitor, being part of her strange little family, now that was the weird part. But while it was strange and the reasoning behind it probably involved a very long explanation the most important matter to Julia was “So are you happy with your new family?”

 

“Very” Asuka said with a huge smile. “I couldn't be happier.”

 

“Then that's all that matters” Julia replied. So what if Asuka's new family was unconventional, as long as the girl was happy she was happy.

 

But not everyone in the room was happy. Catherine was just sitting there in the living room being very quiet while she observed Asuka. While this woman in front of her looked like Asuka she certainly didn't act like it. It was almost like Asuka was a completely different person. Her mom may have looked very happy and approving of the change but she wasn't sure she was. Asuka may have been a bit of a stranger to her in the past but now she was a total stranger.

 

Unfortunately for the girl she had a unique expression on her face. Well not totally unique as Shinji recognized it and knew what it meant. Not because he was psychic or anything but because it was an expression he had seen Asuka use before. It was a look that indicated uncertainty about whether the changes observed was good or not. Very indiscriminately Shinji alerted Asuka to this look as she was sure Asuka hadn't noticed. But once made aware she asked “Is something wrong Catherine?”

 

Even the way that Asuka asked that question was strange to Catherine. In the past something like that would have been asked in a accusatory type of voice. Now though it was being asked in a friendly and courteous way. Catherine answered it with a typical downtrodden “No” that teenagers commonly use to try and avoid giving any real answers.

 

This of course backfired completely as everyone in the room could tell that she meant yes. Julia was going to raise her voice and tell her daughter to come out with it but Asuka stepped in first. She suggested that maybe Catherine and her should have a private chat. Julia thought this could be a good thing so she agreed with it and Adler, Shinji, and her headed off to the kitchen to leave the two estranged sisters alone.

 

“Ok Catherine, I know we have never been close but we do share some things in common” Asuka started out. “One of them being that expression and I have been busted on using it more times than I can remember. Trust me on this…” Asuka did a huge roll of the eyes “… I rarely get away with it either. So what's the problem? You mad at me for showing back up or not getting back in touch with you guys sooner?” Those were the top two reasons Asuka had in her mind right now, and truthfully she wouldn't blame the girl if she was mad at her for either one. Both were legitimate reasons.

 

Straight forward and to the point, now that was the Asuka Catherine remembered. But her older sister could have been a little more aggressive in how she said that though. It was a bit too friendly. “No… I don't mind you visiting… and… and I think I know why you avoided us. You thought dad was still here and you didn't want to see him after he treated you like he did...” She trailed off after that and sort of looked away. Even though Asuka was acting very different from what she remembered it was still hard to talk to her. She was just so nervous about saying something stupid and getting ridiculed for it.

 

Since it wasn't either of those two reasons and she had become quiet again Asuka asked “What is it then?”

 

“Well it's just that…” Catherine let out a troubled little breath. She really didn't want to say anything. This would have been so much easier if everyone had just left her alone. Then she wouldn't have got stuck in this stupid situation. If she said what she wanted to say it would probably be an insult and she would get yelled at and as much as she wanted the old Asuka she knew back she didn't want to get yelled at by that girl. It would be a very humiliating experience.

 

Asuka got a weird sense of déjà-vu out of Catherine's non-answer. Obviously Catherine had something to say but it was probably something personal that she didn't want to. And since she was already looking sort of embarrassed about the whole thing Asuka figured it might be something that could make her younger half sister look bad. “Will you answer if I promise not to say anything judgmental?”

 

That question worked but not in the way that Asuka thought it would. “That's the problem!”

 

Asuka let out a little “Huh?” as she didn't understand.

 

“You're not Asuka anymore!” Catherine cried out. “You're all soft and nice and let your emotions push you around now. The Asuka I used to know wouldn't be such a weakling like that! What did they do to you over there? Tell me the truth.”

 

Asuka hit the nail on the head just right and she got an explosion out of her half sister. How typically Langley. But that explosion did tell Asuka what she wanted to know. “Let me guess, you think I've totally changed too don't you?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“You know I have heard that so many times on this trip already that I've lost count. And to tell you the truth I can't argue it, I have changed.” Asuka then looked directly at Catherine. “Mainly because I had to. I would have never survived and been happy if I didn't.”

 

“But you're not strong anymore” Catherine argued.

 

“Actually I think I'm much stronger now than I ever was before” Asuka argued back.

 

“But just a little while ago you were down in the basement crying like a baby” Catherine sort of flinched after she said that. She fully expected to get slapped across the face for what she just said.

 

The answer she got though was a confused “So?”

 

“What do you mean SO?!” Catherine exclaimed. “Strong people who can handle anything don't cry like that!”

 

That statement right there was the heart of this whole matter. Asuka was the strong one who could handle anything thrown at her. Half of her blood was the same as Asuka's so while she knew she would never be as smart as her older sister she figured she could be as strong as her. She didn't have to surrender to all these stupid emotions that were running amuck in her right now. She could be strong and not have to act out on them like the other kids her age. After all if Asuka could do it then so could she.

 

Asuka chuckled slightly at that outburst, it was so wrong and so typically 14. “When you get a little older you're going to laugh at yourself a bit for thinking like that. Well that or call yourself a complete idiot like I do to myself now.”

 

The typical answer of “No I won't” came right on cue.

 

It was at this point that Asuka looked directly into Catherine's eyes. “Do you really want to see what being “strong” got me?”

 

Catherine only responded with a look of confusion. But that look of confusion turned quickly over to fear and sadness when Asuka turned her hands so that the bottom of her wrists pointed up. She was a fourteen year old girl so she was around all sorts of people in school. She knew of the cutter crowd and how they tempted fate and made themselves look all angsty by “cutting” their wrists. But the marks on her older half sister's wrist weren't fake, those cuts were very real and very much an attempt at suicide. She could only let out a scared “not…you…” in reply to them.

 

“Oh yes, me” Asuka answered. “There's so much you don't understand Catherine. I was never strong, I was never in control, and I was never happy. Everything I showed the world was a lie. I was horribly depressed and lonely ever since my mother died but I didn't want to look weak to those around me who kept telling me to be strong and that I was something special. I was destined to save the world after all so I put on a mask of arrogance and strength to hide my true emotions. And I wore that mask for so long I thought it was my real face.” This was very painful for Asuka to talk about still and her eyes started to water up a little. “But I wasn't as strong as I thought I was or as confident or as in control. And these truths got thrown into my face in horrible, horrible ways. That pedestal that I got put on, the one I was so proud of, and the one I could look down at everyone else under me from crumbled away in an instant. Every demon inside me, all my insecurities, and all those horrible and scary memories from my past came at me all at once. And you know what? I couldn't handle it. I was so used to always being told I was the best and playing off of it that I couldn't handle life once I stopped being the best. I went from being the best to being worthless. I had no idea how to handle it psychologically and I reacted in the worst possible way. I tried to kill myself.”

 

“But you were always the best” Catherine maintained. “Dad always said you were the best pilot.” Despite the evidence to the contrary Catherine didn't want to give up on this thought. If Asuka was truly weak that meant so was she.

 

“Dad didn't know shit” Asuka answered. “And the only reason he said stuff like that was so he could get more money. I was just another tool to him to line his own pockets. Throughout the whole angel ordeal our father was kept well informed of what was going on. Early on I got calls from you guys then the second I stopped doing so good all those calls stopped.”

 

“That's because communications with you was cut off during one of the attacks and dad said there was no way to get back in contact.”

 

“No, that is what dad told you, not what really happened” Asuka corrected. “If he had wanted to he could have gotten in touch with me but I was starting to slide and he couldn't brag about me being the best anymore, so he basically abandoned me. The whole time I was falling into depression I was looking for anybody to reach out to. I know he knew that but he didn't do a thing. Even after I tried to kill myself and failed did he give a damn and visit me in the hospital, hell no!”

 

“I… I didn't know any of that” Catherine replied very softly. Already she was feeling like a big fool. Her whole life she had such a towering image of Asuka she never guessed that her older sister had the same kind of emotions as her.

 

“It's ok” Asuka told her calming down. She had got rather riled up talking about her father like normal and needed to take a breath or two. Then again that was one sore point on her that was still hurting and probably would for a very long time. “I don't know what you think about our father but know this, you're better off without him.”

 

Catherine had been told that a million times by her mother but still a part of her wanted him around. After all he was her father. But this was too cruel for even her to reconcile with. That area in the back of her mind that wished for his return just couldn't accept it. How could he do what he did to his own daughter, and worse yet if he could do that to Asuka he could do it to her. Because of Asuka's talents and abilities she was clearly his favorite. All her life Catherine had grown up under the words `Why can't you be more like your sister Asuka?'

 

She looked at Asuka and realized a very painful truth “He's never going to come back… is he?”

 

Asuka shook her head no. “And I doubt you will ever see or hear from him again. We may be born from him but he's not our father Catherine. A father cares about his children, he only cares about himself.”

 

The result of those words was exactly what Asuka expected, Catherine started to cry. The truth of those words hurt the poor girl, they hurt her badly. How could her father abandon her. He may have left a couple years ago but just now it was final, it was the truth, it was reality. Like Asuka she had no father anymore. This truth, combined with what Asuka had just said about herself, there was nothing else Catherine could do but cry.

 

From the kitchen the other three could overhear what happened. Julia was in tears too. Not just for her daughter but for Asuka as well. She had never known that Asuka had tried to commit suicide. She had never known just how far her ex-husband went in the abandonment of his own children. She had never known just how truly cruel that man really was. How could anyone hurt their own children like that?

 

She could only think of one thing to do to get back at him. She had been holding onto something of his that he very much wanted back. It was a key to a security box. Back when the lawyers were around that was the one thing he requested in the divorce settlement. Julia could have everything else, he didn't care, he just wanted that key. Julia though was aware that Catherine still wanted him to be in his life so she gave him a little ultimatum through the lawyers. He contacts his daughter and she will give him the key.

 

Obviously this was an unacceptable term and she was serviced with papers that ordered she turn over the key. Unfortunately for him she “lost” the key soon after being served with those papers. And to prove she truly “lost” that key she even let the police do a complete search of the house. The only thing the police found in their search was his black book with all the names of the women he cheated on her with in it. Since the key went missing the court order was changed to if she ever found the key she had to return it immediately.

 

Julia walked over to her fridge and took a magnet off of it. It was one of those small magnetic picture frames that people keep small pictures in. Usually you can find them on the fridges of grandmas as they love to put pictures of their grandchildren in them. In this case the picture inside was a photo of Catherine when she was only three years old, and right behind that photo was the key. Sometimes the best place to hide something was right out in the open. Whoever would think someone would hide a key behind a picture, I mean it's so corny something like that would only happen in the movies or on TV. Or maybe it was just feminine guile at it's best. Either way it didn't matter as Julia walked back over with the key and put it in Shinji's hand. “Give this to Asuka, it rightly belongs to her.”

 

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A while later after everything was able to calm down things got much better. Both Asuka and Julia were right, a good cry helps once in a while and Catherine learned a valuable lesson. If she wanted to be like Asuka she should aim for the way Asuka was now, not the way she used to be.

 

Actually Asuka told her not to aim to be like her at all and just aim to be her own self. Sounds all great and mature, which immediately meant she was not the source of that great line. Asuka may have been pilfering from the Misato bag of inspirational lines a little. But it was ok in this situation, she could play the role of a mature young women if Catherine wanted her to. Just don't ask her to actually become that same person, it would be impossible.

 

Soon it was getting close to dinnertime and Julia extended an invitation which Asuka and Shinji politely accepted. They also accepted an invitation for them to stay the night as Catherine wanted to talk to her big sister some more. Asuka herself liked this too as truthfully Catherine was the only blood relative she still had left in this world that she could even remotely consider family. It didn't take long before Catherine changed to the more personal form Cathy. It was what all her friends and family called her and now since Asuka was part of that group she wanted her big sister to call her that too. Along with that came e-mail addresses and promises of calling each other, there was no reason that they couldn't stay in touch with each other anymore.

 

By the time Asuka and Shinji got to bed it was pretty late, but not too late for some fooling around. They had to be quiet as Cathy was sleeping right next door so Asuka was doing a very sexy little whisper thing to Shinji. Plus with the bed just being twin size they were forced to be very close.

 

“This bed really brings back some memories, you know that Shinji? Asuka purred.

 

Shinji only answered with a stupid looking grin as he let Asuka crawl on top of him. The girl definitely had something on her mind and he was going to do absolutely nothing to stop it.

 

“There were so many first's on this bed. This was the first place I started thinking about boys. This was the first place I wanted to be with one.” She then smiled devilishly as she continued on with that trail of thinking. “Did you know Shinji that the spot you're lying in is the very first place I had an orgasm?”

 

Shinji's eyes went very wide with intrigue as she asked her follow up question “Do you want to see how I did it?”

 

Shinji didn't need to say anything for her to know his answer. It was written all over his face. The only thing she was wearing right now was her shirt so it took no effort at all for her to strip herself of clothing. And as she showed Shinji the beauty of her naked body she scooted up so she was sitting right on his chest with her legs splayed open.

 

Shinji brought his hands up after that and cradled her ass.

 

“Nah uh Shin-kun. I didn't have anyone feeling up my ass when I first came. It was just me, all by myself.” And she made Shinji tuck his hands under his back and lay on them so he couldn't give her a hand in the matter. Then sitting right in front of his face and creating a sexy little mess on his chest she masturbated by rubbing her pussy until she came.

 

“So you like that kind of show?” Asuka asked with a feigned innocent voice.

 

“Uh huh” Shinji answered while nodding his head yes. He was very flustered by Asuka's action and there was only one thing he could think of doing that would show his appreciation for what she just showed him. He took his hands out from behind his back and pushed Asuka up further so that now she was straddling his face. Asuka didn't fight his actions one bit and ended up grabbing on to the headboard of her bed as Shinji licked her off.

 

When he was done though she turned around on his face and bent over to pay him back. But no more than did she wrap her lips around his manhood than she felt Shinji's tongue dart inside her again for more. This was an awfully fun game they were playing and they spent a good hour in this position trying to see who could get who off more.

 

When it was all over Asuka turned around so she could look into his eyes. She loved to see how happy they were after they did things like this. “I won Shin-kun.”

 

“But we came the same number of times” Shinji answered back. And technically if you counted Asuka pleasing herself he was up by one.

 

“Trust me on this Shin-kun” Asuka told him while smiling a very grand smile “I won.”

 

Shinji chuckled at that. “I think I won just being able to be with you.”

 

Asuka kissed him for that. She was very appreciative and complimented him regularly on his abilities when it came to playing with her body. The boy just seemed so inquisitive and really delved into the subject anytime it was presented to him. But now she had a different kind of reward on her mind. She had been thinking about this for some time now and decided this was the perfect opportunity. “Shinji how would you like another first to happen here?”

 

Shinji could tell exactly what Asuka meant by that. She wasn't using a sexy little whisper anymore and the flush on her body had nothing to do with the fooling around they just did. “Are you sure?” he asked.

 

Asuka nodded her head yes and they switched positions so that he was on top of her. She then wrapped her legs around him and braced herself for what was about to happen. She was about to give herself completely and willingly to him.

 

Or at least that is what she wanted to do. Shinji didn't even get inside her enough to take her virginity when he saw the panic in Asuka's face. He quickly stopped and asked “Are you ok?”

 

“Sorry Shin-kun” Asuka said taking a couple breaths to calm herself down. “Just me being my over-emotional self. Let's try it again, I'm ready this time.”

 

But she wasn't as she had another panic attack right before Shinji got inside her. There was something definitely wrong. But it was Asuka who was more mad about this than Shinji. “Dammit! What the hell is wrong with me?”

 

“Maybe you're just not ready” Shinji answered backing off. He wasn't going to push this if Asuka was reacting like she was. He didn't want their first time to be something they looked back upon and frowned. He wanted it to be a memorable experience that would make them both happy. Mostly due to a large number of their other first's weren't all that happy of memories. The first time they saw each other didn't exactly go smoothly. The first time they kissed was absolutely damaging to the both of them at the time. The first time one of them physically showed a sexual attraction to the other was really fucked up. Even Asuka showing her true emotions on that beach for the first time was messed up. He wanted this first to be very different from the other ones.

 

Asuka though wasn't appreciative of this. She would rather have him be mad at her right now than be understanding. She could handle it as she was mad at herself for being such a wuss about all of this. “Trust me Shinji, I'm ready for this. Don't stop this time and just ignore my face.”

 

Shinji raised an eyebrow at her when she said that right before he shook his head no. He was sort of hurt that she would even ask him to do something like that.

 

He wasn't the only one though as no more than two seconds after she said that and saw his reaction did she realize what she had told him to do. “I'm sorry Shinji. I.. I don't know… I just can't figure out what's wrong with me.”

 

“It's ok” Shinji replied forgiving her. “I just don't think you're ready for it. Otherwise you wouldn't have gotten a panic attack.”

 

“But the opportunity couldn't be more perfect” Asuka argued back.

 

That was a pretty good argument as Shinji had nothing to say to it. This was after all Asuka's home and even her room, a girl couldn't ask for a safer place than that to lose her virginity. “I guess not even you being home and in your own bed is enough.”

 

That statement struck Asuka like a bolt of lightning. She didn't have to yell at herself anymore about why she didn't feel ready because she knew why. It was really simple actually. “Shinji you're one hundred percent wrong… and I couldn't be happier.”

 

“What?” Asuka's out of the blue statement made no sense to him whatsoever.

 

“Maybe I'm not ready because this isn't my home and this isn't my bed” Asuka answered trying to clear things up. “My home is in Japan with our family and my bed is back in that home and the one I share with you every night. Can you please wait just a little longer till we get back home? I promise I will make it up to you.”

 

“Anything for you Asuka” Shinji answered and gave her a kiss while rolling to his side so they could go to sleep. He then whispered into her ear “I love you kätzchen.”

 

She in turn gave him a little kick for that before turning to her side as well. “You're pushing your luck there baka Shinji.”

 

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After a delicious breakfast the next morning Asuka said her goodbyes, there was actually a lot of hugs involved as you would guess, and her and Shinji grabbed a cab to head back to the hotel. Once they got there they met up with Misato, Kaji, and Keiko. “See I told you things would go smoothly” Misato told her.

 

“I know, I know” Asuka said fully accepting the I told you so from Misato. “But I wouldn't be who I am if I listened to the voice of reason.”

 

Misato chuckled a “True” at that as it was correct. “So anything really interesting happen?” Misato added on. There was a good amount of yen ridding on this answer.

 

“Actually yes” Asuka answered. Kaji got a big smirk on his face while Misato let out a little groan.

 

But what Asuka was referring to had nothing to do with their bet as Shinji said “Julia gave us a key that belonged to Asuka's father. It's for a security box at the Deutsche Bank down in Frankfurt from a long time ago.”

 

Misato covered her daughter's ears as she let out a gruff “Son of a bitch!” with Kaji adding on “Sorry guys but we're going to have to take a detour from our vacation and go down there.”

 

“I figured as much” Asuka answered back. It wasn't so much that it was a key to a security box as it was a key to a security box that existed before third impact and belonged to a man who knew a great many things about some very sensitive issues. Stuff like this had to be checked out. And as they were among the few people who knew the most it was commonly asked upon them to do the checking. Mainly this pertained to Misato and Kaji but considering it was Asuka's father they were talking about she had a right to see what was what as well.

 

Misato let out a little sigh “And I already had reservations for the two of us at the spa today.”

 

“Not fair!” Asuka whined back. This was her last full day in Germany so all she wanted to do was relax, have a good German dinner, and then maybe sit outside and enjoy the sights and sounds of Germany. Just about all of that was going to be cancelled out now and it was a real bummer.

 

But the group had no time to sit around and grumble about it as they all loaded themselves up in the van and headed over to the train station. The fastest route between those two cities would be by train but still each way would be about three and a half hours. That meant a good seven hours out of their last full day in Germany was going to be spent staring out a train window.

 

“So did Julia have any clue as to what's in your father's box?” Misato asked just trying to pass the time.

 

Asuka shook her head no. “She's not even supposed to have this key so she was too afraid to check it out. She was ordered to give it back to him in the divorce settlement but she hung onto it as a bargaining chip to get him to stay in contact with Cathy.”

 

“Smart move” Misato commented.

 

“I guess so” Asuka responded “But it's better that it didn't work out. Cathy's better off without him.”

 

“How's she taking it?”

 

“The finality of it hit her yesterday when we talked about him. And it hit her pretty hard but I think she can get past it. The guy Julia married is a really good person and a big upgrade over my father so at least now she has a real man to turn to when she needs one.”

 

“That's good” Misato answered. “You're planning on keeping in touch with her aren't you?”

 

If Asuka hadn't planned on that before she sure as hell would be now. She very much detected the motherly tone in that question. “We exchanged e-mail addresses and I think I will call them about once a week.” And just because Misato used the mommy tone on her she added onto that with a touch of attitude “Of course you do know I gave them the phone number for the apartment and not my cell phone so your bill is going to go up, right?”

 

“You know a responsible young woman would get a job and pay for such things herself.”

 

“Good thing I'm a spoiled rotten little priss then” Asuka shot back sticking her tongue out in the process.

 

“You got that right” Misato said returning fire. She then gave a little kick to Shinji in the leg as he was sitting across from her. “I wonder whose fault that is?”

 

Shinji only answered with a sly grin. Asuka was much more fun when she was being spoiled and considering what she wanted to do when they got back to Japan she was going to be spoiled to the max for a while.

 

Unfortunately for the girls who were looking for something to do that is all Shinji did. He was just sitting there listening to his music with his eyes closed and right now it didn't look like he wanted to do anything else. They couldn't turn to Keiko or Kaji either to help pass the time as the little girl was taking a nap on her daddy who himself was zonked out as well. “Mein Gott! This is so damn boring!”

 

A valid point by Asuka that Misato nodded her head to. “So…. What do you think's in that box?”

 

“Most likely money and other valuable things that he was hiding from people” Asuka answered. “Trust me on this Misato, I wasn't born greedy. I learned that bad nature from a pro.”

 

Misato leaned back into her seat and sighed out “That sounds like my father too. Just too busy with his own work and advancing himself to care about his family.”

 

“At least your dad did something honorable to redeem himself” Asuka pointed out. “I sure as hell wish mine would.”

 

It was a good point that made Misato smile a little. If it wasn't for her father saving her she would have died during second impact as well. At least she had one good memory of her father. “I take it anything you find in that box you're not giving back?”

 

“If he wants what's in that box he can come and get it from me himself” Asuka said back. Even though the confrontation between Asuka and her father would probably be a rather bad one Asuka still wanted it just so she could get past it. And considering he gave up everything he had in the divorce in exchange for the key in her pocket she had a sneaky feeling what was in that box was very valuable. Otherwise he would have fought tooth and nail for everything else.

 

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

 

After the long train ride they finally got to Frankfurt and took a taxi over to the Deutsche Bank. Visiting this nice historic town could have been fun if it was in their plans and they were sightseeing but that was not the case as Misato walked up to one of the receptionist and asked “Could I talk to the Historical Affairs Officer please?”

 

“Just a moment please” the receptionist responded kindly and picked up the phone. “Mr. Hauser there is someone to see you out front… Yes sir…” she hung up the phone and looked back up at Misato “He will be with you in just a minute.”

 

When the Historical Affairs Officer showed up he looked at Misato first and smiled “When I said keep in touch the other day I didn't think I would be seeing you two days later.”

 

“Neither did I Dolf” Misato answered back.

 

There was a good bit of familiarity between Dolf and Misato dating back to her days in Germany. He also knew Kaji very well along with Asuka too. In a previous life he was the head of security for the German branch of Nerv so it was only natural that he became a Historical Affairs Officer. Which itself was a thinly veiled code for someone who worked at banks and watched over old accounts and security boxes to make sure nothing dangerous was inside of them. Many of the larger banks had these officers and all of them were former Nerv employees, usually ones that were rather high on the food chain at that. People liked to squirrel away information for rainy days and it was these officers jobs to make sure that information never left their hiding spots. Or if they did they were the ones making it leave.

 

Unfortunately due to privacy laws they couldn't just go through all the security boxes in the banks looking for stuff but laws had been passed that these people must be present when opening any security boxes that existed before third impact. Those laws were what kept a lot of people quiet as to be found with an illegal document of the type those officers were interested in resulted in lengthy jail sentences.

 

Asuka stepped up at this point. “Hallo Mr. Hauser, it's good to see you again.”

 

Dolf smiled at the girl “And it's good to see you again. So what brings you here?”

 

“Nothing good” Asuka answered fishing the key out of her pocket. “Through various means I got this key, it belonged to my father.”

 

Dolf went from happy to troubled upon hearing that line. He massaged his brow while saying “And I was really hoping for an easy day today.”

 

“Well it's better my father than his” Asuka responded and pointed to Shinji.

 

There wasn't a Historical Affairs Officer on the planet that didn't know who Shinji was. He was connected with the biggest fear among them all. Basically they were all terrified that one day he would find a key to some box somewhere that had belonged to his father. Just the though of what could be in that box horrified them all. “Please don't scare me like that ok Asuka…” Dolf said with a worried chuckle. He also was looking straight at Shinji when he said that.

 

“No keys yet” Shinji answered wiping a whole ton of fear off the guys face.

 

They all heard Dolf let out a little “Thank God” before he told them to follow him back into the vault area. Once they got back in there he asked “What number is on the key?”

 

Asuka looked at it and answered “7473.”

 

“Ok… lets see…7400…7450… 7470… 7471…7472… ah here it is 7473.” He then took the box out of it's assigned holding area and brought it over to a table in the middle of the room for Asuka to open it up. “Here's hoping that it's only filled with money and jewels.”

 

“For your sake I hope so too” Asuka said back. If there was anything else in there ol' Dolf Hauser was going to be up to his eyeballs in paperwork for the next month and a half.

 

Asuka stuck the key into the lock and opened the box up. At first things looked good as the top was layered with bundles of American bills. But the bundles weren't that big and right under them was some manila envelopes. Dolf's little slip of the word schisse pretty much summed up everyone's feelings at that point.

 

“Why don't you go through that stuff?” Asuka told the adults as she really didn't want to know what was in there. Instead she and Shinji would count the money.

 

Kaji and Dolf went through each of the files they found. Due to their previous positions they knew a large amount of what they were looking at along with the names they encountered. “Well on the plus side” Kaji told Asuka “Most of this info isn't bad in the Eva, Angels, and HIP research type of way.”

 

“What is it then?”

 

“Accounting practices and lists of names of who was in charge of what?” Dolf answered the redhead. “Most of this stuff we already know but my guess is that your dad was going to try and get at these files as a way to blackmail people.”

 

“He wouldn't be the first ex-Nerv employee to try that con” Misato commented while keeping an eye on Keiko. She was just letting the little girl run around in the big room so she would be entertained.

 

“And probably not the last” Kaji sighed as he still heard of such things through various old sources of his.

 

“Well I suppose I will go file these away with the UN agency” Dolf added on as that was the standard practice concerning this kind of thing. Luckily most of these files were benign in nature so he wasn't going to get saddled with too much paperwork. If it had research info in them then there would be a whole lot more work involved.

 

Well that was until they got to the last folder in the box. On the folder was stamped `Confidential' along with the name `Gehirn.' This was a really old file and worse yet there was a name on the label to it. `Kyoko Zeppelin Sohryu.'

 

Asuka looked away and only said “I don't want to know.”

 

“I understand” Kaji answered and walked away with the file. He opened it up and shivered. This was a report on how they turned Asuka's mom from a loving mother into a crazed and delusional woman. Worse yet Asuka's father's name was all over it. This was something that no child should ever see. But as he kept flipping through it he found a piece of jewelry paper clipped to a document. He read a little about its origin and smiled. At least one good thing would come from all of this. He then took a lighter out of his pocket “You know Dolf, it's a sad thing that we didn't find any documents leading back to the days of Gehirn.”

 

Dolf turned his back. “Yup, that it is.” If Kaji was breaking the law by burning this document he must have had a damn good reason. Some things didn't deserve to be shown the light of day.

 

After the document was turned to ashes Kaji walked back to Asuka with a necklace dangling from one of his hands. “Look familiar Asuka?”

 

“Gott im Himmel!” ….. “That's my mother's necklace!” ….. “But that was lost a long time ago???”

 

“And now it's found” Kaji told her and added on as he put the necklace around Asuka's neck. “I think this rightfully belongs to you and may you pass the tradition on.”

 

“What do you think?” she asked Shinji as she showed it off to him.

 

“It's really pretty” Shinji answered. “It looks like an antique.”

 

“It should” Asuka responded. “If I remember what my mom told me when I turned four this necklace dates back to the 1800's and was passed down from mother to daughter as a sign of Prussian lineage.”

 

Dolf was attracted by those words and took a look at the necklace too. It wasn't this big extravagant necklace but a just a simple gold necklace with a little garnet stone balancing in the middle of it. But from the design he could tell something. “That's looks like the style used by Prussian royalty.”

 

“Well my mom was a Zeppelin” Asuka answered as matter as factly.

 

That made sense to Dolf as that was one of the old lineages associated with Prussian royalty. “So I take it you want to keep that piece of jewelry then?”

 

“Of course” Asuka answered. “By all rights it belongs to me anyway.”

 

Dolf agreed with that and he left the necklace out of the report he was putting together for what was in the box. If he wrote that he found it in there he would just have to give it to a commission who would then review what it was and try to authenticate it. Eventually Asuka would get it back but considering how slow the governments of the world worked it would have taken several years. By not reporting it he was just saving some time and money. As for the money he couldn't leave that part out. “So how much is there?”

 

Shinji had just finished counting it out. “$152,000 US.”

 

“Maybe I can get my beamer after all” Asuka kidded.

 

“Keep dreaming girl” Misato told her. Asuka could have the necklace but she wasn't getting the money.

 

“I was just kidding” Asuka replied as she knew there was no way they were going to let her keep it. “But who gets the money?”

 

“I'm not sure” Dolf answered. “That will be up to the commission to decide.”

 

“Any way you can influence who gets it?” Asuka asked.

 

She got a little motherly look from Misato for that as Misato didn't like where this was going. Asuka didn't need that money. But the look was for naught and Misato was surprised by Asuka's next action.

 

“It's not for me Misato” Asuka explained. “I was just wondering if there was a way Julia and Catherine could have it. I highly doubt my father's giving them any child support money.”

 

“You know, let me write that down” Dolf said. “Issues like that are commonly taken into consideration when finding large sums of money like this. And considering we found some illegal files along with the money I doubt the UN commission is going to be too lenient about giving the cash back to your father.”

 

That made Asuka happy. At least now there was a chance that the money could go to someone who deserved it. But before Asuka closed the box and surrendered the key to Dolf she left a little note for her father. `If you want any of the stuff in this box back you will have to get it from me.' And then she signed her name. It was an empty threat that she knew would never materialize but it made her feel better about the situation.

 

That wasn't the only letter that was placed in the box though. Right before they left the bank Kaji handed a note to Dolf and asked him to do him a little favor and put it inside the box before he mailed the key to the courts as technically it was their property. Legally they had to give it back to Asuka's father. But if/when Asuka's father ever showed up to reclaim his belongings he would find that there wasn't only an empty threat in that box, there was a real one too. After what Kaji read there was no way he was going to let this man get close to Asuka ever again. He didn't deserve it after what he did to Asuka's mother.

 

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

 

The whole train ride home Asuka was entertained by the sight of her necklace. This was something that was very valuable to her and not because of the tradition behind it but because it had once belonged to her mother. This combined with the photos she got made this whole trip well worth the emotional rollercoaster she got put through. And she even got to do some of the things she wanted to today. They didn't get back to Berlin till about nine at night but still they found a nice little outside eatery and enjoyed one last authentic German meal. What surprised them the most about all of this was that Keiko actually tried some of the food and found something she liked, schweinehaxe.

 

“Oh sure, you throw a major temper tantrum anytime I put a piece of ham in front of you but you eat that?” Basically Misato was grousing about the general pickiness of her two year old.

 

Her child's answer though was “Asa, Shini eat.” This was of course in reference to both Asuka and Shinji eating that particular dish as their meal.

 

“Fine then” Misato said looking at her child. “If you want to eat what uncle Shinji and auntie Asuka are eating why don't you try some of this?” and Misato put a forkful of sauerkraut on Keiko's plate. Both Asuka and Shinji played along with this and they both took big bites of sauerkraut to try and entice the little one to try some herself.

 

And for once this trick worked and Keiko tried some sauerkraut. Less than a second later though you could guess what happened as the little girl did not like it at all and was pulling at her tongue trying to get the flavor off of it. The other people at the table just giggled at the comical reaction and Misato gave Keiko something else, something she was sure the little one would like. It was a fried fritter but Misato called it a donut. And donuts are among the treat category so while two year olds will reject about anything that is healthy for them they will never turn down a treat and she dug into the new food she got from her mommy.

 

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

 

“So Asuka was this trip worth it?” Kaji asked as they all relaxed and looked out on the busy night streets of Berlin from a balcony at the hotel.

 

“Oh yes” Asuka answered. “I'm sort of sorry that we have to leave tomorrow.”

 

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. “I'm sure you will get many more chances to get back here if you want.”

 

“I hope so” Asuka responded. “I think someday I want to come back here and just explore the whole country. I really think that would be fun.”

 

Misato smiled while thinking about doing something like that herself. “… And taking a whole month to do it.”

 

“You know it” Asuka said agreeing with Misato completely. “I had a great time and all here but this trip went by way too fast and was way too frantic on my nerves. Next time I come here I want to take my sweet time exploring everything. So what about next year? Is there a shot at a return visit.”

 

“Maybe” Misato answered as she wasn't exactly sure what they were going to do next year yet. “Right now I'm trying to decide between going to the states when Keiko is three or waiting a year till she's four. I really liked your idea about Disney World, and I'm sure Keiko would love it, but I want to make sure she's ready for it first.”

 

Kaji looked over at the little girl in question, she was fast asleep in her mommy's arms right now. “Speaking of Keiko, I think all the traveling really tuckered her out.”

 

Misato looked down at her little girl. “Yeah and we have another big day of traveling a head of us. I think it's time that we head back to our room now.”

 

“Goodnight then” Asuka told the two. “I think Shinji and I are going to sit out here a little longer.”

 

“Ok, have fun” Misato told them and she and Kaji got up. But as she walked away she turned around for a second and looked back. Asuka had already snuggled into Shinji's arms and the two of them were sitting there very peacefully and serenely. And to her they just looked a little different, almost more grown up for some reason. “You know what Ryo-kun?” Misato said smiling at him. “I think you might have won our bet.”

 

Kaji turned around and took a look for himself. “Maybe… maybe not. But I think this trip did a lot in making Asuka a woman in many other ways.”

 

Misato simply smiled at that idea as she agreed with it. That was a very good thing.

 

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

 

The next day started at the crack of dawn with an early breakfast and a mad dash to pack everything up and get to the airport. Asuka and Shinji had stayed up very late the night before so having to hustle along two drowsy teens didn't make the task any easier. But Misato and Kaji got the job down and they were all on the plane now waiting for it to take off.

 

“So what time did you two get to bed?” Misato asked Asuka.

 

With a yawn Asuka answered “Not till something like three thirty or four. I wasn't really paying attention to the time.”

 

Asuka got a dirty smile for that “So you must have really had fun then.”

 

“Sorry to disappoint ya miss busybody but nothing like that happened. Truthfully Shinji and I just sat out there and did nothing. It was very relaxing.” Asuka yawned again after saying that. “Plus staying up late would make sure falling asleep on this flight would be easy.”

 

Misato looked down at Keiko who was seated between them. “I sure wish she shared your line of thought.” The little one sure picked a bad time to become accustomed to the time change, the day before they left.

 

They then felt the plane starting to move. This of course triggered the whining, sniffling, and panicking of little ones on the plane. Asuka though tried a preventive measure with Keiko. “How would you like a really special treat Keiko?”

 

“Treat?” Keiko said looking at her wide-eyed and completely forgetting she was worried.

 

“Your auntie Asuka got some gum. You want a piece?” This was part of Asuka's routine for taking off and landing, the gum made it so her ears didn't pop. She figured maybe it would help Keiko too.

 

Normally Misato wouldn't let Keiko chew gum at such a young age but in this case she approved. “Now remember Keiko, you don't swallow gum. You only chew it. And when you are done you can give it back to me ok?”

 

Keiko nodded her head in a grand fashion as she had never had gum before but she had seen the grown ups around her chewing it so this was a big thing to her.

 

Asuka took a piece of gum out of her pack and broke the stick in half as a whole piece would be too much for the little girl. “Open wide now Keiko.” Keiko let out a little squeal of glee as she got the gum. It was yummy and tasted like a strawberry. “Now remember Keiko only chew it, don't swallow” Asuka reminded the little girl. Keiko nodded her head yes while she noisily chewed her piece of gum. Asuka then held out the pack to Misato “You want a piece?”

 

“Sure” Misato said taking one. “Thanks.” And then the plane took off in earnest. Asuka's plan had worked as Keiko didn't utter one cry, too bad the same couldn't be said for the other little ones on the flight. It didn't matter how tired she was there was no way Asuka was going to fall asleep on this flight till they leveled off.

 

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

 

A little bit later when they were finally finished with the take off but before the captain turned off the seat belt sign Asuka let out a sigh of relief. “Thank god that's over with.” She then looked down a Keiko “You were such a big girl. You didn't cry once.”

 

Keiko totally ignored that compliment as she took the gum out of her mouth with her fingers. “Gum icky.” Misato quickly reached over with a tissue and took the gum away before the little girl made a mess of it. “Do you want to color in you book now?”

 

“Yeah” Keiko answered excitedly. Coloring was fun.

 

“Well that went smoothly” Asuka said.

 

“A lot better than I thought it would” Misato stated while giving Keiko a big box of crayons.

 

“So do you like flying then?” Asuka asked Keiko in a cute way.

 

“What fwy-ing?” Keiko asked confused.

 

“It's what we're doing right now” Asuka told her.

 

“Nah ah” Keiko quickly corrected. “We coloring.”

 

“Oh ok sorry. We're coloring” Asuka smiled. Maybe it was a better thing if Keiko didn't understand what was happening so she dropped it.

 

But then there was a little bump in the road, or in a plane's case some air pockets. This was followed by an announcement from the captain. “Sorry about that folks. Looks like we have some unexpected turbulence up here today. Please stay in your seats till we get through this. Thank you.”

 

“Oh crap” Asuka griped as she really wanted to go changes seats with Kaji right now.

 

Misato though was worried for a different reason. How was Keiko going to handle this. Already there was other kids crying as the plane shook to and fro.

 

Keiko did have a problem with the turbulence, but not one of worry though. “Rwoad too bumpy mommy.” All the shaking around was making it hard for her to color.

 

Misato wiped some sweat from her brow as that was a big relief. For a second there she thought Keiko was going to start bawling. “How about we watch a show instead until the road stops being bumpy?”

 

“Ok” Keiko answered happily.

 

Asuka gave Misato a hand with the setup and everything and before long Keiko was so engrossed in some Disney movie that she didn't even notice the turbulence anymore. Afterwards though she let out a big yawn again. “I wish this stupid turbulence would just get over with already.”

 

“Just be patient” Misato told her in a motherly fashion.

 

“Speaking of patience” Asuka said remembering something she had wanted to ask Misato. “How much patience are you going to show Shinji and I in finding jobs this summer?”

 

“You got till next Wednesday” Misato told her.

 

Asuka gave Misato a little look of disbelief. “You got to be kidding me? There's no way Shinji and I will be able to find jobs that quickly. I don't even think we would be able to set up interviews by then…..” Asuka stopped in mid rant as a thought occurred to her. “We don't even need to look do we?”

 

Misato shook her head no. “Nope. If I left it up to you guys you would still be looking halfway into August.”

 

“Hey, we're not that bad” Asuka said rolling her eyes at Misato. “Let me guess, Shin Seiki's?”

 

“Natch” Misato answered switching her attention over to Keiko now.

 

The quick change of attention spoke volumes to Asuka. It basically told her this was not something she could argue and that it was best if she just sat back and accepted it because there was going to be no changes in Misato's plan concerning this issue. But then again it wasn't all that bad. She was rather fond of the restaurant as it had good food and at least this way Shinji and her would be working together.

 

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

 

Several hours' later things were more how people wanted them. Shinji and Asuka were sitting together fast asleep and Keiko was back to work coloring in her book while sitting in between her mommy and daddy.

 

“So how did Asuka handle the news of her employment?” Kaji asked.

 

“She had to accept it” Misato answered her husband. “I didn't really give her any other options. What about Shinji?”

 

“He shrugged his shoulders and said it was fine with him. I don't think he really cares where he works” Kaji answered. “The big question is whether Li Mei will be able to handle them.”

 

“I told her to keep them both on a short leash. Shinji really is a good worker if you prod him correctly and deep down Asuka does have a work ethic” Misato said. “Otherwise she would not be as smart as she is now. She just needs to be interested in what she's doing.”

 

“Hmmm?…” Kaji wondered out loud. “Will anything she does at that restaurant interest her though?”

 

“Probably not” Misato answered. “But the money she gets will.”

 

“It's the only way she is going to get any from now on” Kaji told Misato.

 

Misato though looked at him funny. “What do you mean?”

 

“I made a deal with the two of them while you were napping on the train back from Frankfurt. I would forgive what they owe me in exchange for no more allowances. They're a bit too old for that kind of thing anyway.”

 

“Yeah, I suppose….” Misato replied trailing off. While that was a good thing Misato was hesitant about doing it herself. As much as she wanted Shinji and Asuka to grow up she also wanted them to stay the way they were. Her reasons were both for their well being and also her own selfishness. She wanted them to enjoy being kids for as long as they could before they had to go back in the real world of adults. But she also was hesitant because she didn't want to let go. They were as much her kids as Keiko was in her mind and it is always hard for mothers to let go of their children when they grow up. If Asuka and Shinji wanted to postpone their adulthood by a couple years she wouldn't mind it.

 

Kaji could read his wife like a book at times like this. As much as she told the teens to grow up her bottom lip would always quiver when it looked like they were doing it. “Don't worry honey, it's still going to be some time before they leave the nest.”

 

“I know” Misato said looking over at the two teens sleeping side by side. She then looked back at her own daughter. It didn't matter how much trouble it was or would be, raising these kids was worth it. Just to be able to see them all be happy filled a big role in her heart and as she sat there looking at her daughter the little one looked back up at her with a smile.

 

“Color wiff me mommy.”

 

“Of course” she told her little one and grabbed a crayon. She picked a red one and started to draw hearts in the sky of the picture. Keiko had to ask why but when she was told it was because her mommy loved her so much the cute little one gave her mommy a big hug. This was what being a mother was all about.

 

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

 

Misato was the first to walk out of the jetway. She wasn't really surprised to see Rei sitting there asleep, waiting for them. It was pretty early in the morning for the girl that she knew was much more of a night owl than a morning lark. She placed her hand on Rei's shoulder gently and told her serenely “Rei sweetie wake up, it's time to go home now.”

 

Rei was a little confused at first but once she woke up enough to realize what was happening she quickly got up on her feet and gave Misato a big hug welcoming her back. She really did miss her a lot. But as she hugged Misato she could see the rest of her family there too, well almost the rest. “Where is Asuka?”

 

“Asuka?” Misato said letting go and looking behind her. “She was right behind me a second ago.”

 

No more than did Misato say that than Asuka stepped out of the jetway grumbling. “These stupid sandals broke already.” She was standing there with a sandal in her hand that had a strand on it snapped in two.

 

Misato just shook her head at the teen. “I told you not to buy those.”

 

“But they were so cute” Asuka argued back.

 

“Cute or not it doesn't matter” Misato told her. “Never by those sorts of things from airports. It's always cheap junk.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever” Asuka replied totally blowing off Misato's wise advice while putting back on the shoes she had originally gotten on the plane with.

 

Rei only smiled at this exchange. Her family was the same now as when it left. And while they walked over to the baggage claims Rei handed Asuka the keys to Misato's car. “You can drive it home if you want.”

 

“No thanks Blue” Asuka answered though surprising her. “I'm feeling really jetlagged right now.”

 

Rei frowned on that answer and tried to give the keys to Shinji but he too turned them down for the same reason as Asuka. Eventually she turned to a smirking Misato. “What? You don't want to drive us home?”

 

Rei shook her head no and said quietly “I don't like driving a car. It makes me nervous.”

 

“Oh well” Misato answered her with a sly grin. “I guess you will just have to find some other way to get around.”

 

Rei displayed a guilty smile and that answer told Misato everything she needed to know.

 

(A/N: And that is the end of chapter 20. Asuka had one hell of a trip and I think it was good for her. Granted she still has another big “trip” ahead of her now that they are home but I suspect that this one will go a little more smoothly. Plus now that it is summer we may get some fun in the sun before the start of the next school year. Well that is unless Asuka and Shinji become workaholics and spend the whole summer working. (How's that for an April Fools joke? :-p) 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.)