The Child of Love 2
By David Templar
Note : this chapter contains a special segment written by Axel Terizaki 
himself ! (No, I didn't make it WAFFy enough he says, it's NEVER WAFFy 
enough he says =P) 
Guess which one !

Neon Genesis Evangelion was created by Hideaki Anno. The characters and 
other things from the series belong to Studio Gainax. The Child of Love 
is the idea of Axel Terizaki, and the story, along with any character(s) 
created by him is as such his. This fanfiction is not intended to be 
profitable for the author or his associates in anyway. 

Don't sue me!


NEON GENESIS EVANGELION

"Shin-chan."

The boy's eyelids twitched a little in response to the name.

"Shin-chan."

Shinji responded by rolling over, facing away from the source of the 
voice. 

"Let me sleep..." he said, pulling the sheets over his head. He had been 
up most of the night, helping take care of Teri. And the voice knew 
that. 

"Ok." 

Asuka walked over to the bedside alarm clock, and turned off the alarm. 

"Don't worry Shin-chan," said the voice softly, "I'll take care of 
everything."

Approximately 25 minutes after when Shinji should have waken up to 
prepare for school. 

"Oooow..." Yawned Shinji, slowly getting up from bed, "Asuka? Asuka-
chan?" Scratching his head, Shinji looked beside him to find his bedmate 
missing. Then he looked at the alarm clock. 

I'm gonna be late, thought Shinji's groggy brain, I'd better scream to 
reflect my state of shock.

"AAAAAAAH!" 
--- 
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: 
TCoL2

Chapter #6:0 - trip to the beach
--- 
"AAAAAAAH!" 

Darnit, thought Shinji's brain, someone beat me to it. 



"Asuka!" yelled Shinji, leaping out of bed. 

"Asuka!" the boy shouted again. 

He ran to the kitchen, where he found the girl trying to dose a flaming 
pot of water with more water. 

"Asuka-chan, look out!" cried out Shinji, pushing her out of the way. He 
quickly subdued the flames. "Asuka-chan, are you all right?" he asked, 
turning to look at the girl. 

She was in shambles. Her fiery red hair was in a tangled mess, her 
unblemished face was covered in flour, and there were scorch marks on 
the apron she was wearing. 

"I...I just wanted to make you lunch...I thought after staying up all 
last night, that I could let you sleep in..." Asuka looked as if she was 
about to burst into tears any second. Which she promptly did when Shinji 
embraced her. 

"I was just trying to boil some water!" she cried. "It just burst into 
flames!" 

She must have attended the Tendou Akane Misato's school of culinary 
arts, though Shinji.  

"It's Ok, Asuka-chan," said Shinji, planting a kiss on her forehead (and 
getting flour into his mouth as a result). "Just calm down, I'll clean 
up this mess." 

"Sniff...I...I'll go take care of Teri-chan now, I woke her up," Asuka 
tried to clear all the flour off her face with her burnt apron, but to 
no avail. She turned and headed slowly for the baby's room. 

"What? Teri-chan is awake?" Shinji hadn't heard anything, but a moment 
later a baby's crying could be heard. Shinji shook his head, and looked 
at the blackened remains of the kitchen.

"A mother's touch." 
--- 
"And so under the guidance of the United Nations, humanity raised out of 
the ashes of the 2nd Impact," concluded the ancient teacher. The whole 
class seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as the day's history lesson was 
wrapped up. 

"And now on to physics," said the teacher, switching textbook. 

"Geez, could this..." whispered Suzuhara to Kensuke. 

"No!" Kensuke silently screamed, "you mustn't say..."

Too late, Suzuhara concluded his sentence before he could stop himself. 

"...Any worse?" 

"Oh by the way," the teacher announced, "there is gonna be a test on 
this the day after tomorrow." A few students began banging their head on 
the table, and another tried to jump out the window, but found the 
nearest one sealed shut. Just then, Shinji entered the classroom. 

"Ah, Mr. Ikari, good of you to join us," said the man without a trace of 
sarcasm in his voice. Shinji took his seat quietly.

"Now, let's suppose that a car has a velocity of..." began the teacher. 

Must pay attention must pay attention must pay attention, thought Touji. 

The boy's head collided with his desk, making a loud bang, as he passed 
out from boredom. Also causing a wave of giggles to spread across the 
room.

Well, Touji thought, looking at Takuma who was already asleep, at least 
I lasted longer than he did. He was in the sweet embrace of sleep a 
moment later. 

"STAND! ATTENTION! BOW!" shouted Hikari, with more energy than usual. It 
was necessary to jar certain member of the class from their slumber. 

"Touj...Suzuhara!" shouted Hikari as she charged across the room, as 
angry as she could possibly pretend to be. 

"Hmm..." Touji rubbed his eyes, "is school over already?" 

"Of course not, it's only lunch time!" she boomed, "you fell asleep in 
class, again!" She raises a fist and shook it, "I don't know what I'm 
gonna do with you!" 

Many people around the room quietly laughed at the two, this was not the 
first time. 

"Aww...Hikari, I'm sorry," Touji put his hands together and made a puppy 
face, "I'm trying my best, I mean no disrespect to Mr. Goto-sensei, 
really." 

Hikari's temper seemed to dissolve at the sight of Touji's pleading. 

"Alright," she said, pouting a little, "don't do it again." She handed 
him the special lunch she had made for him. 

"The weather is good, I suggest WE eat outside."

"Yes, ma'am!" Touji trailed Hikari out the door. 

"Second time this week," observed Shinji as the two leave the room. 

"Yep," agreed Kensuke, "I dunno why they bother anymore. The whole 
school knows they're going steady now." 

"ZZZZZ." 

"Mr. Satori!" screamed Kensuke, right into Takuma's right ear.

A split second later, Kensuke was on the ground, with the other boy 
threatening to kill him. After a moment, the excitement subsided. 

"So Shinji, what did you make for lunch today?" asked Kensuke as he 
opened a package of vacuum-sealed meat bun. 

"Actually, I woke up late, and I didn't get a chance to make anything." 

"Poor Shinji, what about you, Takuma?" 

"Same as usual, I'm ordering," the boy pulled out a NERV cell phone(tm). 
"I'll order something for you, too, Shinji."

"That'd be great, thanks." Shinji thought for a moment. "How do you get 
a delivery man pass NERV security? Aren't you worried about someone 
trying to poison you?" The events, which had taken place the previous 
week, were still fresh in their mind. 

"The take-out place he orders from is actually NERV operated," said 
Kensuke, "so don't worry." 

"NERV must be really desperate for money these days..." observed Shinji. 
 A little while later, the box lunches were ordered 
and on their way. By the time Shinji and Takuma's lunch had arrived 
(proudly labeled 'no cooking like NERV(tm) cooking'), Kensuke had 
already finished his lunch and was observing a girl sitting across the 
class. 

"Hey," said Kensuke, "who's that?" 

"Dunno," replied Shinji between bites, "she's one of the new students, 
there's too many to keep track of by name." 

"She's Taiwanese," said Takuma, opening a can of soft drink, "that's all 
I know." 

Kensuke thought for a moment. 

"Well," he said, standing up, "I'm gonna go introduce myself to her" 

"Why?" the other two boys asked at the same time. 

"Well, I think she's cute." 

"There's a good excuse," observed Takuma. 

"If I had told Asuka she was cute when we first met, maybe we could've 
avoided all the fighting afterwards," said Shinji. Kensuke, with a 
determined look on his face, headed towards the girl. 

"Good luck, Kensuke."

"Do your best." 

As soon as Kensuke was out of an earshot... 

"He's not gonna make it, he's probably not her type." 

"Oh yeah, unless she's like blind or something." The two tried not to 
look at Kensuke as he engaged in a conversation with the girl. He 
returned a moment later 

"She couldn't even pronounce my name right..." he said, looking down. 

"Cheer up," said Takuma, passing him a CD-ROM copy of Jane's Defense 
Review 2016. Kensuke, busy reading the review, didn't notice the girl 
across the room smiling at him. 
(Ok, ok, no more cracks at EVA-R...I'll move on to some other poor 
fanfic >= One more thing: military nuts are people, too. They also need 
love..)
--- 
Launch shaft 12, 550ft from the surface, NERV headquarters
"How's it coming, Ritsuko?" asked Misato, stepping through service hatch 
and onto the EVA launch platform being used at a work area. Looking up, 
Misato could see the purple figure of Evangelion Shogoki suspended above 
them. It size was impressive even at this distance. 

During the terrorist attack last week, it had climbed its way almost to 
the surface of the city, without a pilot or an entry plug, again. It had 
stopped short of reaching the surface, the main armored doors sealing 
the shaft within its easy reach. Ritsuko looked up from her clipboard. 

"Not good, it used its hands and feet to climb up the wall of the launch 
shaft." Ritsuko gestured at the massive claw marks along the wall, and 
large holes kicked in by the EVA's feet. "In the process, it punched 
through all of the secondary armored doors on the way, bent the launch 
railings, and wrecked several of the electromagnets used to propel the 
launch platform," she looked down at the platform they were standing on. 
"We're lucky we even got it this high, we can't reach the EVA from here, 
though." 

"So there's no way we can get it down?" asked Misato. 

"Well," Ritsuko adjusted her glasses, "we could use explosive charges to 
blow the EVA free of the wall, and simply let it drop to the platform 
we're standing on." Misato looked up and did a quick estimate of the 
distance of the EVA from the platform. 

"That's not too bad." 

"However, the locking mechanism of the platform was damaged. An impact 
of that magnitude would just cause the platform to fall with the EVA." 

"So how much damage would the EVA sustain if we dropped it all the way 
back to headquarters?"

"Minimal, but it would completely wreck the launch system in this area." 

"What if we use Unit-00 to retrieve Unit-01?" 

"There's not enough room for two Evas in here, and how is Unit-00 gonna 
get up there?" Ritsuko gestured at the Eva hundreds of feet above them. 

"Oh, damnit. I guess I have no choice but to get Shinji to do this." 

"You mean, you haven't told him?" 

"What? That his EVA tried to escape? Of course not!"

"Well, there might be something else we can try."

Misato's eyes widened.

"Maybe we should just let it fall..."

"Come on, Misato, this is the perfect opportunity to test it. And since 
you have plan for Shinji and Asuka, it's even better." Misato replied 
with a look of uncertainty. 

"We've been working on it for such a long time, it'd be a waste not to," 
Ritsuko smiled as Misato silently gave in. 

"Trust me, Misato, just leave everything to me." 

The light used to illuminate the shaft glared off Ritsuko's glasses in 
an unintentionally sinister way. She then started to snicker fiendishly. 

"Err..." Misato backed up a bit, "have you figured out why Unit-04's S^2 
engine shutdown by itself last time?" 

"As far as we can tell, the EVA just shut itself down. This just further 
reinforces my belief against operational use of the S^2 engine at this 
time."

"Well," Misato took one last look at Unit-01, "I guess it was better 
that it shutdown. At least then we wouldn't have to clean up a mess like 
this one." 

"If it hadn't, the central towers would have been severely damaged, and 
lives lost." 
--- 
"Are you sure that is wise, Colonel?" asked Commander Fuyutsuki, 
standing rather than sitting behind his desk, Misato stood at attention 
before it. 

"Yes, sir," firmly responded the newly promoted Colonel Katsuragi 
Misato. It was generally agreed that Misato was too low in rank to be 
the Vice-Commander of NERV, but that she was one of only two people 
suitable for the task, the other being Dr. Akagi. And since Ritsuko was 
already working three shifts a day, the obvious choice was to keep 
Misato as vice-commander and promote her at the same time. 

"After what happened last week, who wouldn't want some time off?" she 
added. 

"Very well," he turned to look out the window, "how are Shinji and Asuka 
doing?" 

"They're both trying their best to pretend as if nothing had happened." 


"So only the them, and Teri, will be going on this trip?"

"Yes sir, Rei and Takuma will remain on standby here in Tokyo-03."

"Is that wise?" Fuyutsuki turned around to face Misato. "Having Rei, and 
an inexperience pilot, defend the city?" 

"I have full confidence in Rei and Takuma's abilities, and the ability 
of our detection system to give us adequate warning of any Angel attack. 
We'd only need 20 minutes to get Asuka and Shinji back to the city, 
curtsey of the United Nations Airforce." 

"You're taking an awfully big risk just to give them some time off, 
Colonel."

"With our future resting in their hands, both their physical and mental 
health should be our top priorities. Asuka and Shinji NEED this break." 

"Very well then, Colonel, proceed with your plan. By the way, are Rei 
and Takuma ok with not going?" 

"You know Rei, sir. And Takuma needs this time for training." 

"What about Unit-01? Is it still stuck in the launch shaft 12?"

"Yes, sir. Since I don't want to involve the First Child in the 
recovery, Dr. Akagi has suggested that we use the Dummy Plug System."

"And what is your opinion on this?" 

"I think that it's the best option at this time."

"Very well Colonel, enjoy your trip to Osaka-2." 

"Will do, sir."
--- 
"I love you, Misato!" cried Asuka, wrapping her arms around Misato's 
neck, almost breaking it.

"Arrrrrg..." Misato was turning slightly pink. 

"We can bring Teri-chan, right? Of course we can! Stupid question!" 

"Arrrgg..." Misato was now slightly red.

"Have you told Shinji yet?" 

"Arg..." Misato was now as red as Asuka's hair. 

"No? Oh I see, you're gonna let me tell him! Thanks again, Misato!" 

"A..." Misato was now as blue as Rei's hair. The only thing that saved 
her was the sound of the front door opening.

"Tadaima!" a familiar voice called out. 

"Shinji!" Asuka dropped the now near-death Misato, picked Teri off a 
nearby baby chair, and ran to the door. Pen Pen came along and pecked 
Misato a few times on the head. You'd better be taking me, too, thought 
the penguin then wobbled off. 

"Asuka!" called out Shinji as Asuka came into view. He planted a kiss on 
her lips, and looked down to the little baby. 

"Have you been a good girl today, Teri-chan?" he asked. Teri giggled in 
response. He took the child in his arms, "that's a good girl." 

"Hey folks," greeted Kaji as he came in the apartment. 

"Hey Kaji-san!" said Asuka, "Misato's in the living room." 

"Ah," he took his shoes off, "thank you." He moved past the three, 
smiling at Teri as he walked by. Teri smiled back in response. 

"Oh Shin-chan," said Asuka happily, "I've got great news to tell you!" 

"Nani?"

"Well Katsuragi," came Kaji's voice from the living room, "sleeping in 
your work cloth again?" 
--- 
"Bathing suits, we need bathing suits!" cried Asuka, sending Shinji into 
motion. 

"Yes, Asuka-chan..." 

"Don't forget the beach towels," she called out. Shinji hurried as best 
as he could to find the items, while Asuka sat on her bed with Teri, 
packing the items. 

"So Teri-chan," said Asuka in a soft voice, "do you wanna bring Bear-san 
or Pikachu-san?" Teri responded by gesturing at both with her little 
hands. 

"You can only pick one, sweetie, so how about Bear-san?" Asuka placed 
the teddy bear into the traveling bag. 

"Asuka," called out Shinji, "I can't find your swim suit." 

"Have you checked where I told you? It's the red and white horizontal 
striped one." 

"I know which one! I just can't find it!" 

"Ok, hold on," Asuka looked around the room to see if there's anything 
hazardous to a baby. When she couldn't find any, see looked at Teri, 
"Teri-chan, stay right there, mommy need to help daddy for a moment." 
With that, Asuka went off to help Shinji with finding her red and white 
swimsuit. 

Teri looked at the bag containing Bear-san; he was going on the trip. 
Teri looked at Pikachu-san, lying outside the bag; he wasn't going on 
the trip, but she wanted him to.

"So, you want me to come to Osaka-2 with you?" asked Kaji with a smirk. 
Misato was sitting across the dining room table from him, drinking a 
beer. She looked at him wearily. 

"I know what you're thinking, don't even think about it."

"Why else am I going?"

"To help me keep an eye on the kids, of course." 

"Of course," he agreed slyly, "I'll be strictly 'working' on the trip." 

"Get serious! You'll be leaving tonight to inspect the location." Misato 
pushed a traveling order across the table. 

"What? You mean we won't be flying together?" 

Later that evening... 

Shinji collapsed on his bed, exhausted, while Asuka went over a 
checklist "I think we've got everything," she said, "except a swimsuit 
for Teri-chan, but Misato says that's covered." Asuka proceeded to zip 
up all the bags; she reached the one containing Teri's things. 
Strangely, she had a great deal of difficulty zipping it up. 

"Shin-chan," said Asuka, "will you zip the baby bag up?" 

"Ok," he said. 

"Asuka, I need to talk to you," said Misato, poking her head though the 
doorway. Asuka followed Misato out to the hallway. 

Misato handed Asuka a box of NERV(tm) condoms. 

"I'm giving this to you, because Shinji would blush like crazy if I gave 
it to him." 

"When you need protection as good as an AT-Field," said Asuka, reading 
the label on the box. 

[Absolute promise that this will be the last time that I use the above 
line.] 

"And this, too." Misato hands Asuka a box of NERV(tm) morning-after 
pills. 

"In case your AT-Field is pierced by the Lance of Longinus..." read 
Asuka, "who comes up with these things?!" 

"The marketing department, they're all powerful and quite sadistic. Just 
remember to use those items properly, we don't need another little baby 
floating around in your stomach." Misato pointed at Asuka's abdomen, "we 
still need you as a pilot."

"But Shinji and I can have more kids, right? Well, after the Angels are 
gone anyway."

"Of course you can, everyone will be able to lead a normal life after 
the Angels are gone." 

"Great," cheered Asuka, "so how many more are there? When's the next one 
gonna show up?"

"..."
--- 
Next day
"Nani?!" boomed Touji, standing in front of Takuma's desk, "just like 
that?" 

"They went on vacation? Where?" gasped Kensuke. 

"Sorry," replied Takuma, "but I can't tell you where they went, top 
secret you know." 

"Ah damn! I feel sorry for you and Ayanami," said Touji. 

"It's not that bad, I've been to where they're going. And so has Rei." 

"Not that," explained Touji, "it's just that now you have to take that 
stupid calculus test with the rest of us." 

"Huh? Oh right," tears begin streaming down the boy's face, "I'm gonna 
fail this test, I just know it..." Everyone scattered to their seat, as 
the teacher entered the room. 

"Rise! Attention! Bow!" called out Hikari.
--- 
"Ladies and gentleman, this your captain speaking, we're currently 
cruising at 20,000 feet, our ETA is 40 minutes." The small egg-white jet 
had stopped its ascend into the heavens, and was flying southwards 
towards port city of Osaka-2. 

"Look, Teri-chan, we're flying!" said Asuka, holding the child up to the 
window of the Lear jet. Beside her sat Shinji, also looking out the 
window. Fascinated by the white clouds and blue sky passing below them, 
the small child pressed its hands and face against the window. Pen Pen, 
being a penguin, was also fascinated by the sensation of flight. 

"I've got a present for you two!" said Misato, sitting on the other side 
of the cabin. She reached for her carry-on bag, while Shinji and Asuka 
stared eagerly at her.

"To document the momentous occasion of Teri-chan's first time on an 
airplane, as well as the trip itself," Misato reached into her carry-on 
bag, "your very own camcorder!" She withdrew a small digital video 
camera, and pointed it at the children. The little red light at the 
front of it turned on. 

"Hiya!" cried Asuka, waving wildly at the camera, "this is soon-to-be 
Ikari family's first vacation!" Asuka held Teri towards the camcorder, 
leaning over Shinji and forcing him to bend down. "Smile at the camera, 
Teri-chan!" 

"Whoa, Asuka," said Misato, "calm down!" She lowered the camera, 
"Shinji-kun, would you like to try it out?" She held the small device 
out to the boy. Shinji took the device, and looked on its side. In clear 
white letters were the words 'property of NERV Security'. Misato saw 
where the boy was looking. 

"A little scrapping will get that right off," she reassured him, 
"beside, they're not gonna miss one little camera, are they?" 

"NERV owns thousands of home electronic products, they're not gonna miss 
one. Shinji-kun, just hold that button and point at whatever you wanna 
record. It auto-focuses." 

"Ok," Shinji pointed the camera at Asuka, who smiled warmly in response. 
She held Teri up higher; the sun shining in from the window, plus the 
sight of the blue sky, made it a moment that was forever etched into 
Shinji's mind. 

"Misato-san," said Shinji after a while, passing the camera to Asuka, 
"how are we gonna get back to the city if there's an emergency?" Asuka 
took the camera and recorded Teri up close. 

"There's gonna be a converted supersonic bomber ready to ferry us back, 
if anything should happen. Don't worry Shinji-kun, just relax, 
everything has been taken care of."  
--- 
Launch shaft 12, 550ft from the surface, NERV headquarters
"Sempai," said Maya, clinging her laptop to her chest, "are you sure 
about this? I mean, there must be another way." 

"No," said Ritsuko, "we've ran out of options. We have to use the Dummy 
Plug System."

"Can't we use one of the other pilots to retrieve Unit-01?" 

"How are we gonna explain how Unit-01 got there in the first place? This 
is why Misato didn't want to tell Shinji. Besides, there's not enough 
room for another EVA in there." 

"But...we never tested...the system...it's not right!" 

"The value of the system is too great to ignore. With it, we can cease 
to completely rely on the Children."

"But..."

"I can understand why you disagree, but precautions can be necessary to 
grant our survival." 
--- 
The plane touched down smoothly on the runway, and was promptly taxied 
into a guarded hanger. Kaji, having arrived late last night, was there 
to greet the group as they disembarked the aircraft. 

"Ohayo, Kaji-san," said Shinji and Asuka in unison. Shinji held up the 
camcorder Misato had given them. "Look what we got!" 

"Hey folks," he responded, "that's great!" He walks up to Misato and put 
his arms around her shoulders. "Let's go head for the beach," he 
gestured at the SUV parked in front of the hanger.  

Asuka, with Teri in her arms, and Shinji ran to the brand new Range 
Rover and got in the back. Kaji and Misato were left with the bags. Soon 
the vehicle was driving down a highway by the beach. The air was thick 
with excitement as the SUV passed beaches after beaches. 

"This is gonna be great!" said Asuka. 

"Yeah," agreed Shinji, "too bad everyone else is stuck in school."
--- 
"Rise! Attention! Bow!" called out Hikari, for the last time of the day. 

"Class dismissed." 

Touji yawned loudly and stretched as he got up from his chair. 

"What a terrible day," he said, "that test was impossible." 

"I didn't think it was that hard," said Kensuke, "what about you 
Takuma?"

"I failed I failed I failed I failed..." he repeated. 

"Well," said Touji, packing up his bag. "You're an EVA pilot, you don't 
have to worry about this too much." 

"Hey, you're right," Takuma picked up his bag, "as long as there are 
Angels to fight, I'll never be out of a job!" 

"From what I've heard, you just stood there during the last Angel 
attack," said Kensuke. 

"Hey, there was nothing I could do!"

"Takuma, we have a synch test in an hour," said Rei, appearing out of 
nowhere behind Kensuke and Touji, scaring the two. 

"Oh right," he got up and follow the departing girl, "later folks." The 
two walked in silence, as usual, towards NERV headquarters. Once they 
were relatively alone, Rei unexpectedly spoke up. 

"There are two more Angels," she simply said. 

"Really? Only two more? Misato-san told me that no one really knows." 

"There are only two more, after which the EVAs would probably be used as 
weapons against man." 

"As in weapons of war?" 

"Hai."

"So they would still need us." 

"Would you like being a doll? Being used by others all the time for the 
express purpose of killing your own kind?" 
--- 
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeah!" cried the kids as they exited the SUV, running towards 
the cabin. Misato got out from the passenger side, and followed them, 
leaving just Kaji to carry the bag. 

"Come on Misato-san!" gestured Asuka and Shinji, "open the door!" 

"I think I'll let you kids have the honor," she said, handing the keys 
to Shinji. 

"Go ahead, Shinji!" cried Asuka while Teri tried to grasp at the shining 
keys. Shinji proceeded to unlock the old style door. 

"Misato, can you hold Teri-chan for a second?" asked Asuka. 

"Sure," replied Misato, taking the baby. 

"Shinji?" said Asuka, lifting up her sunglasses and looking at Shinji 
with an evil smile. 

"Yes, Asuka?" replied Shinji, not knowing what she was thinking about 

"CARRY ME IN!" she leapt into his arms. 

"Aaah!" he screamed, catching Asuka. 

"Asuka, are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Misato. 

"Yep! Come on Shinji, consider this as a practice run for our wedding 
night!" 

"Errrk..." Shinji strained to keep Asuka in the air, as he navigated 
into the cabin. 

"Take it slowly, Shinji-kun..."

"You're doing great, Shinji!" 

"Shinji-kun, watch out for that..." 

"AAAAAH!!!"

"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!" 

*THUMP*

"What's going on?" asked Kaji, carrying enough bags to completely block 
his view. Missing the funny sight of a fallen Asuka on top of a fallen 
Shinji. "Can someone give me a hand with the bags? I'm not you folks' 
bellboy you know." 

"Shinji," said Asuka as she picked herself off of him, "we need to 
practice this."

"Ow..." Shinji rubbed his back. "Yeah..."

10 seconds later. 

"Wow," cried Asuka, "look at all these beautiful furniture! They're real 
hard wood!" 

15 seconds later. 

"Wow," said Shinji, "I've never seen a bedroom like this one before" 

"Look at the size of that bed!" said Asuka; "it's great!" 

20 seconds later.

"Look at the view!" said Misato, watching the beach from a pair of large 
glass doors.

"Hey, let's go take a closer look at the beach!" suggested Asuka as 
Misato passed Teri back to her. 

"Ok," said Shinji, "but we don't have our bathing suits." 

"We'll just take a look for now, silly." 

"Well then," said Misato, "let's go." She opened the glass doors, and 
the five headed towards the beach. 

"Hey, are you folks going to help me or not?" asked Kaji, still standing 
at the front door with the bags. 

It was a white sand beach, with some sun-bleached driftwood here and 
there. The water itself was a deep blue color, almost as deep as the 
color Asuka's eyes. The couple held hands as they walked barefooted 
through the warm white sand, the bright sun nearing the horizon. Asuka 
stopped near the waterline, and so did Shinji. The two watched the water 
surf gently breaking itself close to their feet. As Pen Pen wobbled his 
way into the water, Asuka bent down on her knees. 

"Teri-chan, would you like to feel the sand?" she asked, holding the 
small child. Asuka lowered Teri just enough, so her little feet could 
touch the warm sand. At first, Teri was frightened by the unfamiliar 
sensation She pulled her feet as high as she could, away from the 
strange feeling ground. Asuka looked at the child warmly, reassuring her 
that it is safe. Slowly, Teri put her feet back on the ground. 
Eventually, she giggled, and even wiggled her feet in the sand. "Feels 
good, doesn't it?" said the mother. Shinji kneeled down beside Asuka, 
and they watched the crimson sun disappear below the horizon. 

Misato watched the scene from a little distance away. 

"The family they never had."
--- 
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: 
TCoL2

Chapter #6:5 						A moment when the tension 
mounts...
--- 
"Increase both plug depths by 0.2," ordered Ritsuko. 

"Yes ma'am," replied Maya, "increasing depths. Both pilots' synch ratio 
holding steady." 

"Amazing," said Ritsuko, "both pilots increased by at least 4.5 points 
since the last test."

"Looking at both Asuka and Shinji's last test, I'd say if this overall 
improvement keeps up, we won't have to worry about the Angels anymore." 

"With both the EVAs and their pilots functioning at their full capacity, 
the future of humanity is secured." Ritsuko pressed the intercom button, 
"good job, you two. We're finished now." 
--- 
"AAACHOOO!" sneezed Takuma.

"One more time," said Ritsuko. 

"AACHO!" sneezed the boy again, clearing his lungs of LCL. 

"There," observed Ritsuko, "your lungs should be able to absorb the 
remaining LCL." Takuma blew his nose into a tissue paper. 

"I can still feel some in my lungs," he said. He moved quickly from side 
to side, feeling the liquid splash around inside his chest. 

"If you want, I can have someone hold you upside-down and shake you. 
That should get the rest out." 

"Err...no thanks." Takuma backed up a bit. "Ritsuko-san, I passed Unit-
01's hanger earlier, why was the area sealed off?"

"Hmm...it...uh oh..." 

"Not just that area, but other places I can normally go, too." 

Ritsuko began sweating feverishly, and her mind rushed to formulate 
plausible answers. 

"Maintenance," she said, "since Shinji is on vacation, we thought we'd 
do some repairs in the area, install new security equipment, things like 
that." 

"Takuma-kun, how are you doing in school?" 

"Err...I'm...kinda...so-so..." sweated the boy. 

"When are Misato-san, Shinji, Asuka, and Teri-chan coming back?" 

"In about a week," said Ritsuko, glad her plan worked. 

"That's good..."

"Yes..."

Both nodded, and an awkward silence descended upon them. 

"I think I'll go home now," the boy turned and left. 

"Later, Takuma-kun," said Ritsuko. 
--- 
*A keyboard, traveling at hypersonic speed from France, nails the writer 
in the head for writing that last part.* 

Medic... 
--- 
"Isn't it a little late?" Misato asked through the door, holding a half-
empty (or, as some might say, half-full) can of beer. She's standing 
outside Asuka and Shinji's bedroom door. 

"Well," Asuka responded from inside the room, "we didn't get a chance to 
swim today..." 

"But since we're in the land of perpetual summer," finished Shinji, 
"there's no reason we can't go at night." 

"Just look at the moon outside, it's so full and bright, perfect for a 
swim." 

"Ok, fine," said Misato; "I'll watch Teri-chan while you two are gone." 

"Thanks Misato-san!" came the reply in unison. 

"Just don't go out too far, or for too long," her footsteps could be 
heard as she retreats down stairs. 

"Shinji, can you help me with this?" asked Asuka, trying to zip up the 
top of her red and white swimsuit. 

"Oh ok." 
--- 
Meanfwhile, downstairs 
"Hey, that tickles!" 

"Sorry, is that better?" 

"No, I think you'll have to pull your weight into in." 

"Like that?" 

"Yeah, a bit harder."

"How about this?" 

"Even harder."

"Like so?" 

"Yeah, that's great! Keep going!" 

Misato and Kaji looked up at the ceiling, wondering if Asuka and Shinji 
knew that it wasn't very sound proof. 

"I thought you said they're going swimming..." said Kaji with a big 
sweat drop beside his head. 

"I guess they changed they changed their mind," replied Misato, also 
with such sweat drop beside her head. 
--- 
"Got it!" said Shinji, finally zipping up Asuka's swimsuit top. 

"Thanks Shin-chan," she said, giving him a light kiss on the cheek. She 
walked to a large mirror in the corner of the room. 

"I haven't worn this thing since I had Teri-chan," said Asuka, "it's 
tighter than it was before. Perhaps I should of fed Teri-chan a little 
more during dinner." 

"It was very tight when you first bought it," said Shinji, looking at 
her. He still remembers the first time she wore it in front of him. 

"I think I gained weight," she turned to Shinji, "do I look fat, Shin-
chan? Be truthful." 

"Asuka, I think you look as lovely as the first time I saw you. Perhaps 
even more so, because now I can see not only your exterior beauty, but 
your inner beauty, too." 

"Aww..." the girl ran up to Shinji, and gave him a big hug. "Thank you 
Shin-chan, I love you." 

"I love you too, Asuka-chan," he said with a smile, "now let's go 
swimming." The two grabbed their things, and went downstairs. To their 
surprise, they found Misato crying. 

"Tha...that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard Shinji-kun..." sobbed 
Misato; she blew her nose into a handkerchief. 

"What?" asked the two kids. 

"We could...kinda hear you from down here," said Kaji, "sorry." 

The two kids turned very red, and then they ran out the door at full 
speed towards the beach. As they drew away from the cabin, they could 
hear Misato's voice. 

"Why couldn't you ever say something like that to me, Kaji?!" 

Unknowingly to the two children, they are being watched, as the slowly 
approached the beach. 
--- 
3/4 miles out from the beach
"Sir," reported a sailor, "we have movements on the beach." 

"Up periscope," ordered the captain of the submarine. 

"Up periscope, aye." A small metallic pole broke through the surface of 
the waves, and trained its low-light optical camera towards the shore. 

"That must be the Children," observed the man, watching the video 
screen. "What are the status of the SEAL team?"

"They're on standby, sir," reported the XO, "in the airlock." 

"Very well," said the captain, "down periscope." 

"Down periscope, aye." The metallic pole submerged beneath the waves.

"I can't believe it skipper," said the XO, "they've got us babysitting a 
bunch of kids!" 

"Those kids," responded the older man, "are apparently the only things 
standing between us and doomsday. But that doesn't mean I like this one 
bit." The nuclear submarine, carrying an elite US Navy SEAL team, had 
orders to stand watch close in shore. They were suppose to protect the 
Children if anything should happen. The orders even stated that the boat 
and its crew were expendable, as long as the Children were protected. 

"Conn, sonar, we're picking up...splashing noises, the Children are in 
the water." 

"XO, you have the Conn, I'll be in my stateroom," the man put on his 
baseball cap, labelled SSN-21, "trying to sleep through this stupid 
assignment." 
--- 
Asuka laughed, as she waded through the shallow water. The water was 
quite warm, and the moon above them provided more than enough lighting, 
not to mention enhancing the mood of the evening excursion. 

"Come on Shin-chan," beckoned Asuka, as she moved from the shallow water 
into the waist-deep area. 

"I'm coming, wait..." Asuka splashed him, "AAH! Hey!" 

"Come on Shin-chan," Asuka splashed him again, "let's have some fun!" 

"This means war!" Shinji tried to splash Asuka back, but missed. 
Instead, Asuka did one huge splash that temporary blinded Shinji. 

"Ow," he wiped the water from his eyes, "you wi..." He regain his sight 
just in time to see Asuka tackle hugging him. 

"AAAH!" the impact cause both of them to go under water. Shinji, not 
able to swim, panicked. Asuka pulled his head above the water.

"Help! I can't swim!"  

"Stand up, Shin-chan," said Asuka, grabbing onto his frantic arms.

"I can't swim..." he felt the sandy bottom underneath his feet, "oh, 
oops." 

"I'm sorry I forgot you can't swim," apologized Asuka, leading him to 
shallower water, "Shin-chan."

"No, it's partly my fault. With all the excitement, I forgot myself." 

"Well, since we have a week here, I'm gonna teach you how to swim!" They 
both sat down in the water, which only came to their waist. 

"You will? I'm not a very fast learner with these kinda things."

"Don't worry," Asuka leaned against Shinji, "remember your teacher is 
the great Asuka." 

"How could I forget?" Shinji leaned over and kissed Asuka on the lips. 
--- 
"Maybe I should go get them," suggested Misato, taking Bear-san and 
Pikachu-san out of the crib, and placing Teri in. Misato watched the 
sleeping baby; "it's getting awfully late." 

"I think we should leave them alone," said Kaji as Misato walked out of 
Teri's room, and closed the door behind her. "Beside, it'll leave more 
time for the two of us alone." He smiled in his usual fashion. 

"I don't think so, Ryouji," said Misato as she went downstairs. Kaji 
followed her to the living room, which had a view of the beach. 

"Come on Misato," said Kaji with a sly look on his face, "we're all 
alone here." 

"We're supposed to be watching the kids."

"The UN Navy is watching the kids right now." 

"Well..." Misato sat down on a chair, facing the glass doors. "I..." 
Kaji cut off the rest of her argument with a long kiss. However, before 
he could do anything else, there was a knock on the glass doors behind 
them. She quickly pushed Kaji off, who fell roughly to the floor. Misato 
opened the glass door for Shinji, who was carrying a sleeping Asuka on 
his back. 

"Thanks, Misato-san," he said, "sorry we took so long, Asuka fell asleep 
on the beach and I didn't want to wake her up. Well, I'll leave you and 
Kaji-san alone, goodnight." He carried the girl upstairs, and went into 
their room. 

"Well, Misato," said Kaji, still on the floor, "now the kids are asleep, 
how about if we go to bed, too?" 

"Well...I..." 

Asuka and Shinji's bedroom door opened, and Shinji walked out. 

"Of course not, you pervert!" scolded Misato. 

Shinji went to check on Teri, then went back to his room and closed the 
door. Misato breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Your room or mine?" asked Kaji. 

"They might hear us, how about the SUV?" 
--- 
A dark figure glided stealthily through the corridors deep inside NERV 
headquarters. The figure traveled in complete silence, and moved from 
shadow to shadow. After a short distance, he reached an area sealed off 
by yellowed tapes marked 'Danger! Keep out!' 

"Heehee," Takuma made a sound for the first time since entering NERV 
headquarters, "I'm sure Ritsuko-san wouldn't mind me taking a look at 
what's really going on." 

"I am quite certain she will," said a voice behind him. The boy turned 
white, then his skeleton attempted to leap out of his skin. 

"Wha...Rei! What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"That is not important, what are you doing here?" 

"I just wanted to see what's going on..."

"This way, then." 
--- 
Emergence point, Launch shaft 12, Tokyo-3
Maya stood underneath a large tent, which completely covered the door of 
the launch shaft and the surrounding area. The door to the shaft itself 
was open, and a large crane was positioned over it.

"Dummy Plug is in position, sempai," reported Maya.  

"Good," Ritsuko looked at her watch, "we should be able to commence the 
recovery operation in 15 minutes. Did the Dummy plug have any trouble 
accepting the new codes?"

"No ma'am, it should be able to pilot down the shaft and position it on 
the catapult platform." 

"Good," Ritsuko took a drink from her coffee cup, "evacuate the launch 
shaft, let's get the show on the road." 
--- 
"What are they doing?" asked Takuma, peering though the grates of the 
ventilation shaft cover. 

"They are installing the Dummy Plug into Unit-01," answered Rei, also 
peering through the cover. 

"How did it get up here?" he asked, turning to face Rei.

"I must have your assurance that you will not reveal this information to 
anyone else," she said, looking at him. Her pale expression was 
partially hidden by the darkness of the ventilation shaft.

"Uh...ok," agreed Takuma. 

"It climbed up here," she said, looking back towards Unit-01. 

"What? How is that possible?" 

"EVAs have will, just like human beings." 

"I thought they were just machines..." The two watched as the Dummy Plug 
was inserted into the EVA, and the crane hoisted back up the shaft. 
--- 
"Signal reception confirmed," reported Makoto, sitting in front of a 
portable computer console. 

"Dummy plug has been accepted," reported Shigeru. 

"All nerves are now connected to the Dummy system."

"32.8% of the emotional factor is unclear," reported Maya, "unable to 
monitor."

"It doesn't matter." Ritsuko adjusted her glasses. "Release the system. 
Commence the recovery." 
--- 
Below them, Unit-01 began to move. Slowly, it pulled one hand out of the 
side of the wall, causing debris to rain down. The EVA lowered its gaze, 
looking for a handhold. Since it couldn't find one, it just sank its 
claws into a lower point on the wall. Slowly but surely, the EVA began 
to climb down. 

"Oh my God!" shouted Takuma over the sound of tearing metal. Beside him, 
Rei watched the EVA silently. 
--- 
"All systems are normal," reported Makoto. 

"More increase in gain," Shigeru. 

"Looks like this is a success," said Ritsuko, looking at the readouts, 
"these readings...they're almost as good as the real pilots." 
--- 
"If they have that thing, why do they still need us?" asked Takuma. 

"Not every EVA would accept a fake." 

"It's almost at the platform," Takuma leaned against the vent cover. 

"Takuma, no!" said Rei, but it was too late. The boy accidentally pushed 
the cover off, causing it to fall.

Right on to the EVA's head, which looked up in response. 

"Uh oh," said Takuma, turning almost as pale as Rei. 

Rei suddenly got a strange urge to hit the boy. 

"An..." she mumbled uncertainly, "an...anta baka..." 
--- 
"Intruder in the launch shaft!" reported Makoto. 

"Enhance grid 12-7!" ordered Ritsuko. The main display zoomed in on the 
ventilation shaft just in time for them to see Takuma and Rei pulling 
their heads back. 

"Oh damn!" cursed Ritsuko, "have those two brought to my office, now!" 
--- 
*Ring*

"Errrg..." 

*Ring*

"Someone get the phone..."

*Ring* 

"Damnit..." Misato remembered where she was as she got up from the back 
seat of the Range Rover. She groggily searched through the pile of 
clothing on the floor for her cell phone. Finally she found one and put 
it up to her ear.

"Hello?" she said, but there was no answer, because she had mistakenly 
picked up Kaji's phone. 

"Here," Kaji handed her the correct phone. 

"Thanks," she took it, "hello?" 

"Took you long enough," came the stern voice from the other end. 

"Ritsuko-san?" said Misato, looking at her watch, "what are you doing 
calling this early?" 

"We've got a problem, someone saw our Dummy Plug System test."

"Huh? You went ahead already? Did it work?" 

"Yes, it worked fine, Unit-01 has been retrieved. But Rei saw the whole 
thing."

"So? Rei was part of the project, wasn't she?"

"But Takuma was there, too."

"Oh damn," Misato pulled a jacket over herself, "is he there? Put him 
on."

Ritsuko looked sternly at the two kids standing in front of her desk, 
and handed her phone to one of them. 

"Err...hello?" Takuma said into the phone, "how's your trip, Misato-
san?"

"You don't know how much trouble you're in..." came the reply.

"I'm sorry, I promise I won't tell anyone," the boy pleaded.

"You'd better not, cause if you do, I'll see to it that you're fed to 
the next Angel." 

"I'm really really sorry Misato-san..." A pale Takuma handed the phone 
back to Ritsuko. 

"Don't worry about it," she said to Ritsuko, "I don't think he'll tell 
anyone. Although we'll have to keep an eye on how he reacts to what he 
saw."

"Agreed, later," Ritsuko hung up the phone and glared at the boy.

"Err...I'll just go home now," he quickly retreated out the room. 

"Rei," demanded Ritsuko, "why did you let him see the test?" 

"Because he wanted to see it," she replied without any expression.

"That is the most ridiculous excuse I've ever heard!" said Ritsuko, 
slamming her fist against her desktop. "Why would you agree to something 
like that?! What, he is a replacement for Gendo or something? Do you 
constantly need someone like that in your life?" The outburst surprised 
Ritsuko herself more than Rei. I thought I got over that bastard, she 
thought. 

"He is not Commander Ikari," Rei said. For a moment, Ritsuko could of 
swore she heard tension in the girl's voice. 

 Thought Ritsuko. "You do realize if 
anything results from this," she said, annoyed at the whole situation, 
"it'll be your fault."

"Hai."

"Make sure nothing happens," ordered Ritsuko, "keep an eye on him."

"Hai."
--- 
Misato searched through the pile of clothes on the car floor, looking 
for what belonged to her. 

"Where are you going at this hour?" ask Kaji. 

"I'm going back in the house, what do you think?" she replied. 

"Come on, the news wasn't that bad." 

"No, I just don't want to be caught naked in the back of a car with 
you!" She climbed out of the car, wearing some of her clothes, while 
holding the rest. "How do you think Asuka and Shinji would respond? 
We're supposed to be watching them, not having sex in the back of a 
car." 

"Katsuragi-san..."

Misato slammed the car door close. 
--- 
"Hey, look what I found!" said Shinji, running over to Asuka and Teri, 
whom were on a large beach towel. 

"Aww..." Asuka removed her sunglasses and looked at the collection of 
seashells Shinji had found. There were many different shapes and sizes, 
as well as many dazzling shades of colors. "They're beautiful, Shin-
chan." She picked a red and orange one up, and held it up to the sun. 

"Uh huh," nodded Shinji, "I thought we can make something out of them, 
like a hand-made shell wind chime or shell spinning top for Teri-chan!" 

"That's a great idea, Shin-chan!" Asuka kissed him, "you're a great 
father!" 

"Well, I hope we get to vacation here every year," said Shinji. 

"As soon as we defeat the Angels, Shin-chan." Asuka took Shinji's hand 
in her own. 

"As soon as we defeat the Angels, we can live a normal life," Asuka 
said, smiling at Shinji. The bright sun hung directly above, its warm 
glow reassuring everyone that all was right with the world. 
--- 
"NERV has conducted their first successful test of the Dummy Plug 
System," announced the monolith labeled SEELE-08. 

"They have pilots, they won't use the Dummy Plugs for field operations 
unless they have to," said SEELE-01. 

"In any case, we must step up our own DPS program," noted SEELE-04. 

"We have the director of the DSP program here," said SEELE-05, "he'll 
brief us on the current status of the program."

A Caucasian man appeared in the center of the monolith circle, 
illuminated by a white light. 

"Herr doctor," said SEELE-01, "you have our complete attention."

"Thank you, Mr. Chairman," said the man politely. "As most of you know, 
we are currently 1.7% behind schedule, due to certain difficulty with 
certain...biological elements of the plug. I've gone over the test 
results we obtained from NERV, and I must say I'm impressed. However, I 
can assure you all that our current DPS, code named 'Blau', will out 
perform anything NERV has, or can ever come up with."

"Even their pilots?" asked SEELE-07. The man paused a long moment, 
before responding. 

"Yes," said the German, "even their pilots."

"When will you be ready to test the system?" asked SEELE-03. 

"With the generous increase in the project's budget and resources, we 
should be able to test the plug in Unit-03 in 3 weeks," replied the 
doctor. 

"Excellent," said SEELE-01, "once the tests are completed to our 
satisfaction, Unit-03, its pilot and its support elements will be 
transferred to NERV headquarters, that will be all. Thank you for your 
time, Herr doctor, we will let you get back to your work now."

The man disappeared from the center of the circle, along with the white 
light. 

"There is the issue of Unit-03's...'pilot'," said SEELE-10. 

"Can we trust him?" asked SEELE-09. 

"It's not a matter of if we can trust him or not," said SEELE-01, "all 
that matters is that he believes our version of the truth, and as a 
result, he will act exactly as we planned." 
--- 
Asuka and Shinji are sitting on the warm sand of the beach. It is a 
cloudless night, with a crescent moon hanging in the night sky Asuka's 
wearing her two-pieces swimsuit, while Shinji's wearing a pair of shorts 
and a T-shirt. Teri is in a stroller, right behind them, and sleeping 
peacefully.

"The air is so warm tonight..." said Asuka. She threw her long hair 
back, and it caught slightly in the gentle breeze. 

"I'm glad Misato-san have let us take some holidays," said Shinji. 

"Yeah, holidays for our little family."

"A family..." Shinji said softly.

"You, Teri-chan and me. We all make a family. Our family..."

"You're a wonderful mother for Teri-chan, Asuka."

"I know that, silly," chuckled Asuka. 

Shinji looked into Asuka's deep blue eyes. 

"I mean, you're always holding her... I think you're giving her what 
neither of us did have. I find it wonderful. She'll be happy. She'll 
live happily in the future."

"It's up to us to make it better for her..." said Asuka. 

"Yeah..." 

Shinji edged closer to her, and put his arm around her shoulders, gently 
massaging it.
Asuka, putting her left hand on her massaged shoulder, on top of 
Shinji's hands. 

"Hmmmm..." breathed Asuka. 

"Your skin is so soft and warm..." said Shinji, "I'm almost afraid of 
making it dirty just by touching it..."

"Oh no, you'd never..." She rubbed his hands against her shoulder. "If 
my body was owned by someone, it would be by you."

"Is this an invitation?" asked shyly Shinji. 

"Maybe," said Asuka, with a playful wink. 

"I still can't believe what's happening, you know... I still have a hard 
time believing."

"Believing what?" asked Asuka. 

"You, Teri-chan... How all of this happened..."

"Oh, I see what you mean. But why asking how it happened, when it 
already did?"

"I don't know. I think I can't help it."

"Stop asking questions, Shin-chan..." ordered Asuka with mocked 
seriousness. 

"You're right," laughed Shinji, "I should concentrate on the future"

"By the way," said Asuka, looking into the night sky, "I had a 
discussion with Misato about... our wedding."

"Yes?" 

"She said we can't really get married right when we'll both be 16... 
Because we need the agreement of both our families if we are still 16."

"But... we don't have any anymore!" exclaimed Shinji.

"I know..." Asuka sighed. "But legitimately, you have your father, and I 
have mine and a stepmother as well... We can't wed without their 
agreement."

"Damnit..." grumbled. 

"That's okay... We'll wait. It will only make things more enjoyable."

"But... those people don't count as our families..." said Shinji with a 
look of disgust on his young face. "They weren't there when we needed 
them..."

Asuka interrupted. "I received a call two weeks ago from Germany..." she 
looked down, "from my step-mom and my father... They congratulated me... 
For Teri-chan. It felt good, you know..."

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Shinji, quite surprised. 

"Don't misunderstand me, please..." pleaded Asuka. "I didn't think it 
was very important for you, so I didn't bother to tell you."

"Well... I would have liked to hear this from my father... at least," 
admitted Shinji, looking down at the sand.  

"You would like to see him," Asuka looked straight at Shinji, "even 
after all the things he did to me? To us?"

"He's still my father," said Shinji dryly. 

"Oh," she looked back down the beach.

A long pause followed, during which they stared at the waves crashing 
one after the other on the beach.

"Let's pray that the tragedies of our families will never happen to us," 
Asuka finally said. 

"No way it could," said Shinji, as confidently as he could sound. "I'll 
always be there for Teri..."

"And what if you make sweet love to me again," suggested Asuka, "and we 
have other kids?"

"I'll love them all. But I'll love you even more."

"Oh, that's too sweet for me...!" blushed Asuka. 

Shinji smiled at the compliment. "I love you, Asuka." 

"Even if I'm not strong...?" asked the girl. 

"Not strong...?"

"You've seen how weak I can become sometimes..." she said, looking away. 

"In that case, haven't I showed you that I could be weak sometimes as 
well?"

"But I have to be strong, for Teri-chan..."

"Asuka, I don't care at all if you're weak or strong..."

Asuka looked at him. "Really...?"

"Definitely," nodded Shinji. 

Asuka leaned over him, and gently kissed his lips.

"Shinji?" whispered Asuka. 

"Hm, yeah...?" 

"Make love to me tonight..." she whispered seductively into his ear. 

"You already want a new child?" asked Shinji surprisingly. 

"No. Tonight we'll use protection again... I'm not ready to be pregnant 
again, yet."

"Let's go back to the cabin first, okay?"

"Okay," nodded Asuka. Shinji helped her get up off the ground. Asuka 
went for Teri's stroller, while Shinji gathered up their possessions. 
Together, the little family headed back towards their temporary home, 
under the tranquil moonlight. 


END of Chapter #6.0 version 4 (01/23/00)
Version 1 dated 01/03/00
Version 2 dated 01/18/00
Version 3 dated 01/21/00

You folks know what I always say here, so I'm gonna skip it this time. I 
dare you to read the rest of his page without passing out from boredom! 

Author's words: 
Hey folks, I dunno if Osaka-2 would actually make a good beach resort or 
not (since the ocean around it use to be a city), but it's the second 
name that came to my mind and the closer of the two. My first choice 
being Okinawa (Asuka would have loved to go there even more), but after 
some calculations, found it to be impossible to get back from in time in 
case of an Angel attack. As some of you might have guessed, it's also 
kind of a reference to Garden of Eva. Oh, I didn't know italics didn't 
show up in text files, so past chapters were written without the use of 
< > for thought bubbles. That has now changed.  Could everyone tell 
which part Axel had written? =) BTW, I apologize for my lateness. I'm 
not very good at managing my time, and school doesn't help. I'll try 
very hard and change; it'll be one of my New Year resolutions. And I 
guess if people are reading this, we all survived Y2K =\ Don't worry, 
there's always Second Impact =) A final note, this is the last real 
happy chapter. From this point on, everything goes somewhat downhill, 
much like in the original series. Don't worry, everything turns out all 
right in the end.

At least, that's what the voices in my head tell me. 

The voices say: Later folks. ^_^

My e-mail: damnit@intergate.bc.ca
My ICQ: 8155557
Also, please (very please) visit Axel Terizaki's wonderful, award-
winning website, at: http://asukanotebook.tsx.org
He great, he wise, he Axel. 

My wonderful prereaders for this chapter:
Axel, EBJ, |ncubus, Disaster, Rajen, Yousef Al-Shamsi, and Nschinden.

Preview of next chapter/episode:
Gendo sits inside his jail cell, in front of a desk. Suddenly, he...

^_^ Not gonna tell you anymore! Have to wait and see! Muahahahahahaa! 
Oh, maybe just one more thing. 

Teri-chan will finger paint for the first time in her life! 

Asuka: That's right, she'll demonstrate how she's a talented artist just 
like her mother! 

Dave: Hey, I thought Axel told you not to bug me while I'm working! 

Asuka: Well...Err...I'm not really here...I'm the Asuka inside your 
mind...yeah...*runs off, holding something* 

Dave: Oh, I guess that was all in my hea... Hey wait! Where did all my 
cookies go?! 

Rei: *appears* I am the Ayanami Rei in your mind. *leaves* 

Dave: Oh that's nice...hey, my chocolate milk is gone! 

Axel: *appears* Oh Dave, I just wanted to you if you're done...

Dave: You're gonna steal my food, too, aren't you?! 

Axel: ???

Dave: Well, I'm not gonna give you the chance! *picks up a large mallet 
from out of nowhere* Magical anime mallet attack! *bump* 

Darkness descends upon the great Axel. 
--- 
Out-takes for this chapter (a.k.a. ideas too insane and/or stupid to 
actually include in official text): 
"Nani?!" boomed Touji, standing in front of Takuma's desk, "just like 
that?" 

"They went on vacation? Where?" gasped Kensuke. 

"Sorry," replied Takuma, "but I can't tell you where they went, top 
secret you know. If I told you, then Rei would have to kill you." 

"If I am ordered to," said the girl with out a trace of humor. 

"That's fine," said Kensuke, pulling out his laptop. "I'll just hack 
into NERV and...presto! They went to Osaka-2!"

"Rei," said Takuma. 

"Hai," replied the girl, getting up from her seat. 

"That wasn't so har...AAAAAHHH!" screamed Kensuke as Rei judo chopped 
him in the neck, then threw him out the window. 

"Hey, I didn't hear anything..." said Touji, "AAAAH!!!!" Rei threw him 
out the window, too. 

"I don't think I feel like taking the test today." 

"Hai," Rei threw the old teacher out the window, too. 
--- 

    Source: geocities.com/aa_chan01/archive/tcol