One thing had been confirmed. We were going to war, and I was fighting in it. I didn't know what to feel like, it had been a long time since I piloted an Eva. I wonder what my mother would have thought. I still remember how she had just disappeared into the Eva in front of my four year old eyes. I had lost her. I almost lost Cynthia. I hope she's alright. Damn! Why do those god damn countries have to go and declare war when they only have two Evangelions between them?! It's insane, the war will only bring about two battles. All this was running through my head as I was lying on my bed that morning. I would stare at the ceiling like I used to and listen to my SDAT, but I wasn't in the mood for music. Asuka probably hated me for what I said to her yesterday.
"Shinji, are your things packed, we're leaving in a half an hour!" Shouted Misato from the kitchen.
"Yes!" I shouted back.
She didn't bother to reply. So many feelings at once. Lonliness, depression, anger, fear, joy, happiness. Why does my mind have to be so fucked up?! I'm lonely without Rei or Asuka around. I get depressed thinking about war. I'm angry at Russia and Iraq. I fear hurting someone in the Eva. I find joy when playing my music. I'm happy when I'm with my friends and the people I call family, why does this always happen to me? Am I prone to live a life of mixed emotions? I never noticed that time was slipping by and it was time to leave until I heard my door open. I careened my neck to see who it was. Asuka was standing at my door, wearing her yellow sun-dress that she wore when I first met her.
"It's time to go." She said.
No insult. No cursing at me in German. Just a the four words with no emotion. Monotone. That's what Rei used to sound like. I shouldn't have yelled at her like that. Trying to maintain my composure I got up and picked up my bag.
"Lets go then." I replied.
She turned around and walked to the kitchen where her bag and Misato were waiting. I followed her there before. I had told Rei I would pick her up and bring her to headquarters with me along the way. I said good bye to Misato and Asuka and walked out the door, down all the stairs, and out of the building to where my car was parked. I put my things in the trunk and went to the door when I dropped my keys. I reached down to pick them up when a red flashing caught my eye. I looked up my car and I saw a block of C4 with a timer on it. The timer had one minute left. Shit! I ripped it off my car and threw it as hard as I could into a nearby field. Then, running to Misato's car, I looked and found another bomb. I did the same with that one and waited. One minute went by rather quickly. A huge explosion from the bombs left a large crater in the field. The explosion didn't bother me. What scared me was that someone was trying to kill us. Misato and Asuka bother were running outside while other people were running out on their porches and staring at the crater. Then I remembered that Rei could be in danger.
"Shit!" I yelled.
I ran to my car and started it up. I sped faster than even Misato would usually drive. I was at her apartment in a matter of minutes. I ran to her door and didn't bother to knock. I slammed the door open and yelled.
"Rei?! Are you here?!"
I was about to yell again when I heard a click. It sounded like a gun and it was very close to me. My eyes were closed. His voice sounded malicious.
"This is what you get for killing our saviors!" His voice was very raspy.
I listened and heard the shot. However I also felt a bullet whiz by my face and a thump behind me. I gained the courage to open my eyes. Rei was standing in front of me, still holding a gun up. The man behind me was dead.
"R-Rei? Where did you learn to shoot like that?!"
"Misato had Asuka and I learn how after the first assassination attempt by a cult called the Blue Angels. They're goal is to kill off each and every person in a direct link with Nerv and the Evangelions in Japan."
I was left speechless.
"This happened before?" I asked.
"Yes, while you were in the Mental Hospital, I think."
"Well they tried to bomb my car and Misato's so was have to get out of here. Thanks, I owe you my life."
She nodded, grabbed a suitcase and ran with me out to my car. I took her bag and put it in the trunk. We both got in, strapped in, and I broke the speed limit once again. On the way I asked Rei a few questions.
"Why has Nerv security been neglecting you and Asuka?" I asked.
"Until now, they didn't need to worry about our safety. I believe they were under orders not to follow us anymore. It's a necessary evil when you think about it."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, be happy that you were under protection at the Hospital."
"No! I can't stand it when you talk like that! How can you think about me first when I was so messed up I was considered as a threat to society!?"
This was another mistake on my part. Once again I didn't think about what I was saying before I spit it out.
"God. I'm sorry Rei, I didn't mean it like that."
She looked a bit hurt. I wanted to hug her and whisper soothing words into her ear, but I couldn't. All I could do was spit out apologies like some asshole.
"What I meant was, please, be afraid for your safe-"
"I am. I've been that way for 2 years!" She cried out, cutting me off.
We neared headquarters and I pulled the emergency brake when we parked on a tram.
"Rei, I never understood how you could hide things so easily, but now, I think I understand better. I'm sorry about what I said. I wasn't thinking when I said it."
She tried to smile, a weak smile. I couldn't stop myself. I reached over and hugged her. It felt like she melted in my arms. She cried on my shoulder for quite some time.
"It's been hell living alone for so long. Never talking with someone who cared, always feeling lonely and depressed.
"I wish my life could have been easy. I wish I could have lived in safety in a Mental Hospital for a few years. I would learn more than I did alone." She said. Her tears stopped flowing out her eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I never thought it would be like that for you." I said.
"Now that your back I feel better, but I don't know how to feel about everything else. You're the only person that I think could understand. I tried to talk to Asuka and Misato about it, and even Vice-Commander Fyutski, when he was here."
There was nothing I could do to help her. All I could do was comfort her in this time of need. Before the tram stopped, we released each other. Both of us didn't exchange any other words, only a smile. I parked my car, we took our things out of the trunk, and walked to the awaiting van which would bring us to the JSSDF airport. Once we reached the airport we boarded the awaiting plane. Once we were inside and seated, we saw Misato, Asuka, Major Kano, Dr. Ibuki, and a few other people who would be accompanying us on this mission. I didn't feel like talking with anyone for a while. All I knew was that I was going to war and I was beginning to lose my heart to Rei. This, I knew, would make Asuka jealous. She already was wondering if there was anything between us when all I was trying to do was comfort her. I wouldn't know how to deal with Asuka if Rei and I were in a relationship. As I lost myself in such thoughts I slowly became aware that I was falling asleep.
'Oh well, might as well *yawn* sleep. . .'
I fell asleep for the remainder of our trip to the hidden Nerv Base in the heart of the Sahara Desert. In my dream I felt a strange and relaxing type of bliss. Not sexual, but calming. I felt one with my own mind and soul at that moment. If it was a possible conscious dream at all. It was a sort of fuzzy feeling, a feeling of complete trust and safety. I slowly opened my eyes to see a sleeping Rei leaning back in her chair. I was about to close my eyes when the jet hit a bit of turbulence and she moved a bit. She slipped down and drooped over so her head was positioned on my shoulder. She looked very calm and serene, meaning I shouldn't wake her up and take her out of whatever happy place she was in. I simply closed my eyes and fell asleep once more. However, this time I had a nightmare. It was worse than anything I had every felt in my life. I felt death and hatred. Everyone was dead, and it was all my fault. And that damn grin. That fucking menace of a grin looking at me with those blazing eyes. It was Unit-01, that evil god cursed beast. But suddenly a wave of white light flashed and everything was changed, and I saw her.
"Mother?" I asked, "Is that you?"
The woman nodded. She looked like Rei, only she had dark brown hair and those blue eyes
like mine. It was her! My mother.
* * *
I woke up to Rei nudging me. I nodded to her and got up. I stretched myself and began to follow Rei to exit the plane. We both got out and looked at our surroundings. The base was so well hidden it looked like a piece of the desert itself.
"Some place, neh?" Said Rei.
I smiled. A great place to start a war.
"Hey Shinji!" Shouted Asuka.
"Huh?"
I turned around and almost had a heart attack. Asuka was right in front of me and it freaked me out. Every time she could, she'd get the jump on me and freak me out.
"Asuka, please, this isn't the time. We've got a mission to start."
"Yeah-yeah. . ."
She was obviously bored of me when I got serious. She hefted her bag and walked ahead of me, sticking her tongue out at me on the way. Rei came up to me smiling. At least she was feeling better.
"Asuka's perky today." I said.
"Wow, that's new, isn't she usually fun loving? What happened?" Rei put on this mock tone.
"Ah, shaddap!" I said to her.
She giggled and smiled at me again.
"Just kidding with you Shinji! You shouldn't get so defensive, it can't be good for your health."
I didn't bother to reply to her. I just followed her to the base. Since there was no special place we'd be staying, we dropped our things off in the rooms we were assigned to. We were then told to get in our plug suits and start the first operation. It was about 4:00 p.m.
I was ready, I had to be. I walked to the cage where they held Unit-01. I remembered how I flipped out when I found out that mother was Unit-01. I nearly killed my own father for what he did.
"Hello mom, it's good to be back." I said to it.
I walked up the stairs leading to the plug and climbed in. I closed the hatch and activated Unit-01. I waited for my orders.
"Now that you're all situated, I'd like to say a few things before we start the mission," said Major Kano, "For all of you this must be painful. You've fought to protect our lives and now you are doing it to protect yourselves from your fellow creatures. I'm sorry about that, but this war is for the sake of the world. You target is Bagdad, Iraq. Your testing with the s2 organs was flawless and you shall activate them for the battle. We believe that they have control of a series 2 Evangelion, Unit-00B. That is your secondary target, try to capture it, however if it becomes impossible, you must destroy it. This is to take out Iraq. Most likely it will go as planned. Your orders are to destroy all N2 processing facilities and weapons factories. You will then destroy their air and land bases. Good luck, those are your orders, commence operation!"
I felt the rumbling as the Eva was moved to the launch pad.
"Eva launch!"
The g-forces didn't affect me as much as they used to, since I had piloted it various times when I was young.
"Unit-01 take van guard, Unit-02 take point, Unit-04 bring up the rear. Evangelions move out!"
Since we were only on the rim of the desert, we made our way easily to the Red Sea and crossed through it. We remained on the look out for Submarines the entire way. When we were about 3 miles away from the Coast of Bagdad, I saw a radar blip, a submarine. Then I saw a second blip, very small and moving at an incredible speed. An armor shredding torpedo.
"Evasive maneuvers!" I yelled.
I jettisoned myself out of the water and saw the dark shadow of the Submarine. I maneuvered myself to land next the sub. When I hit the water I grabbed the submarine in both hands and jumped out of the water yet again. Holding the submarine carefully I swam my way to the end, following Unit-02 and being followed by Unit-04. We reached the coast and I set the sub down on the sandy beach, setting it so the crew could get out. We then put up a sprint towards the first target. The only resistance were a few tanks and planes. I brought up my rifle and fired a shot at the building. It didn't do much. Asuka shot a few positron shots, while Rei fired the sniper rifle. We were rewarded with a rather big explosion. However we did not succeed in not killing anyone. I saw many tanks explode from the building's explosion. I shut the thoughts of betrayal out of my mind. They were my enemy and I promised to fight my enemy, no matter what, or who!
"Evangelion Unit's. Stop the attack! Fall back, Fall back! They're launching severl N2 Bombs on you right now! Get the hell out of there!"
We ran like mad back to the city. We knew they wouldn't bomb their own capital. However, would have to deal with Unit-00B. When we reached the city we saw the panic among the people and Unit-00B came lumbering out of the center. It jumped over the masses and stopped a hundred meters in front of us. It looked exactly like Unit-00 did, only it had a black body armor color. Who ever was piloting hailed us. I opened the com.
"Hail, Jappo! I am sorry we have not met on kinder terms, but it is my duty to destroy you."
The voice was digitized meaning the pilot did not speak Japanese. But it was what he called me that pissed me off.
"You bastard! You started this fucking war!"
I threw myself at him, knocking Unit-00B down to the ground. I punched and punched and punched. Never stopping. I could hear the squish of the organic tissues as the armor was broken through. I heard him scream. I kept punching. I stopped and came back to reality when Unit-04 grabbed me and threw me to the ground holding me down.
"Rei?! Let me finish it!"
"No! You'll kill him!"
"He was going to kill me!"
"It doesn't matter! Unit-00B ceased activation as soon as the armor was broken! Please stop it!" She screamed.
I didn't know what to say. This left me speechless, yet again. Rei never made such outbursts. Perhaps she had changed a lot more than I thought.
"Command! This is Unit-02. Mission had been accomplished. Secondary target has been captured. However certain damage has been done to the Unit. Orders?" Asked Asuka.
"Destroy the Units plug and bring Unit-00B back to headquarters." Said my Father.
"NO!" I yelled.
"That is an order!"
"I told you no!"
"I almost killed him! I'm not going to do it!"
"Unit-02, neutralize Unit-01 and 04 and complete the mission."
"Yes sir."
"What?! Asuka Noooooooooooo-"
I was cut off as a loud explosion knocked my consciousness away.
When I woke up in that hospital room I felt only one emotion. Not pain, suffering, sadness, or even anger. I felt pure hate. A hatred that I knew I could not rid myself of. Asuka had killed that Iraqi boy. She killed him even though I already disabled him so he couldn't pilot. She followed my fathers orders. What had happened to her? She would never have taken a life back in the old days. Then it dawned on me. The old days were dead and gone and Asuka had changed in the worst way.
"I hate this."
I got up, feeling a bit sore and picked up my clothes which had been placed on a chair next to me. I dressed and simply walked out. I didn't give a shit what the nurses or that damn doctor had to say. I didn't care if I would die on my next step, I needed to speak with my father. On the way I casually looked in each room. I saw Rei sleeping in one of them and decided against disturbing her. To my surprise Asuka was in the next. What could have happened. I opened her door and sat in a chair next to her bed, waiting for her to wake up. I listened to her breathing, slightly shallow. What had happened? I saw her begin to stir. Her eyes opened, she looked up at me. She looked helpless, like a child who broke something very special of their parents and didn't know what to do.
"I tried to get him to just leave. He-he-he wouldn't listen to me."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I didn't kill that kid. He self destruct the Eva. He woke up. I tried to tell him to just get out of it. He blew up Bagdad as well as his own Eva. He killed himself. I wanted to just take his plug out and throw it somewhere safe, but I couldn't. I'm so s-sorry."
I was shocked. So she didn't kill the kid, like I thought. At least that helped, but I could not rid myself of this hatred for my father. It refused to leave me and I didn't know what I should do about it.
"I-I'm sorry." I said.
I got up and stumbled out of the room. She looked hurt by this action but I couldn't help her with anything. She did, after all, knock me and Rei out.
"Father, you bastard!"
I ran the rest of the way to his makeshift office where he was sitting in his chair.
"Why?" I asked.
"It was necessary." He replied, his cold harsh tone always present.
"It was not! You only said to capture Unit-00B not murder the pilot."
"In war, every life taken is murder. One is not going to matter among the other million."
"You bastard! You're nothing but a cold hearted coward of a man! You don't even deserve the praise you are given."
"Silence!" He yelled.
"Fuck you!" I yelled back, "I'm through with being silent and not voicing my opinion! From now on, if You order me, Rei, or Asuka to kill someone when they are already beaten, I swear to god, I'll kill you with my own hands."
I stormed out of the office, not caring what could happen next. I stalked my way to Rei's hospital Room. She was still sleeping, good. I tried to push aside my thoughts as I entered her room. I sat down in a chair next to her. The beeping of her heart monitor was going steady.
"Rei?"
She didn't stir.
"Rei, I think I've done something wrong."
She still didn't move.
"Rei? Please will you wake up?"
I gently nudged her. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned.
"Shinji?," she said, "is something wrong?"
"I threatened my father that I would kill him if he forced us to do what we did yesterday."
"Why did you do that?"
"I can't trust him Rei. I've been a fool for all these years. I never thought my own father could be such a cold hearted bastard." I said. The anger was present in my voice.
"Maybe it was a good idea. Shinji, you finally did what you should have done years ago. Misato will be proud of you." She told me, smiling.
I smiled back at her. Just to hear Rei say something like that and smile at me reassuringly was enough for me. I almost thought it was a dream until the Klaxons blared throughout the base.
"An attack?" Asked Rei.
A loud explosion rocked the building. A light panel fell from the ceiling crashing to the floor.
"Shit! It's a ground invasion. We've got to get to the Eva's!"
Rei tried to get up. She failing in doing so. Asuka must have beaten her pretty hard when she immobilized us. I picked Rei up and ran to the door, kicking it open. I ran out where Asuka was waiting.
"We've got to get out of here." I shouted.
Asuka and I ran down the hallways to the cages, Rei in my arms, I knew she was too weak to possibly keep up with us on foot. I put her down on the floor to catch my breath. There was another explosion from above. I loud screaming noise, a jet had come into the room through a jump lift.
"Oh shit!" I yelled.
I closed my eyes tightly and it opened fire. However I never felt the bullets rain down on me. I opened my eyes to see the orange hexagonal pattern of an AT Field protecting us all. Rei was starring at the jet, her eye's were a swirl of multiple colors revolving around red, green, blue, and purple. The AT Field moved as she walked towards the jet smashing it into the wall and causing it to explode.
"Rei? You-your. . .an-"
She blinked quickly and her red eye color returned. She clutched her head with her hands, crying.
"NO! I'm not supposed to have those powers! Dr. Ibuki said I lost them!!" She cried out.
"Lets talk about it later. First, we've got a battle to fight!" Shouted Asuka.
Rei seemed even more weakened by the ordeal.
"Rei's not going to be able to pilot it and you know it," I said, "you have to get to Unit-02, get there as soon as you can and beat the shit out of these bastards. I'll try and get Rei to Misato and Sora."
"Right!" Asuka said, turning and running away to Unit-02.
Another explosion rocked the building. Was Rei really an Angel? Or just a modified human? Then I remembered what Dr. Akagi told me. Rei had DNA from the first angel, Lillith, therefore she was half-angel, half-human. In truth the AT Field could be controlled by anyone, it was the barrier of the soul, as Kaoru had explained to me that fateful day. But you had to be at one with yourself. Something not many people were.
"Shit! We have to get you to Misato." I said.
Rei clutched my shirt and I could hear her crying into it.
"I don't want to be like the others, I want to be a normal human being. I don't want this power!"
Others. She must have meant her first selves. The Rei I knew, and the one I never met. I ran and ran the entire way to the Main Bridge, Rei's face buried in my shirt.
"We're almost there Rei. Can you walk?"
"I can try."
"I can't risk your life."
"You need to rest," she said.
She looked around and spotted a fire extinguisher. She went to pick it up and looked up. She was looking at a ventilation shaft, like the one we were forced to climb through when the 9th Angel attacked. She looked like she was ready to smash it in, but I stopped her.
"We can't let troops know where we are if they invade."
I looked for the opening switch. Finding it, I pressed it and helped Rei into it. I then pulled up the fire extinguisher with me. I closed the shaft panel and rested with Rei.
"Asuka must be giving them a fight." I whispered.
The sounds of Unit-02 attacking the force outside was easy to hear. The explosions were close. I could hear some one talking through a radio also.
"Hmm, that sounds a bit close." I whispered, then turning to Rei, "stay here, I'll be right back."
I crawled carefully in the shaft where I spotted another little door. I looked through the grates and saw a soldier standing there. He wore a desert camo gear outfit and had a sub machine gun, a handgun, and a belt with extra clips and 3 grenades. I was thinking of ambushing him when I saw him run down the hall and I heard Rei scream. Oh shit!
"Where are the other kids!" The man shouted. He spoke fluent Japanese.
I carefully crawled down the shaft to where the fire extinguisher was still waiting. The panel was closed. I crawled over it without making a sound. There were no lights, so I struggled to find the key for the extinguisher.
"I don't know!" She shouted.
He slapped her. I flinched as she screamed and he slapped her again.
"Where are they!?" He yelled.
I pulled the key out and threw it into the panel. It made a loud clang. I held the hose and aimed it at the panel, my hand tense on the trigger. Sure enough the soldier opened the panel and pulled himself up. He was looking the other way.
"Hey, asshole!" I shouted.
He turned and I blasted him in the face with the fire extinguisher's coolant. It must have blinded him instantly. He screamed and I smashed the extinguisher over his head. He cried out before slumping downwards and falling out of the tunnel. I jumped down on him, pulled out his handgun and shot him once in the face to make sure he was dead.
"Rei? Are you alright?" I asked.
"I-I-I'm fine. I'll be ok. Thank you, you've saved my life."
I smiled at her. Pulling off the soldiers utility belt, I strapped it on and handed the handgun to Rei.
"You know how to fire it already, so use it if necessary."
I made checked the clip on the machine gun. It was full. I strapped it around my shoulder and helped Rei up. We both ran to the main bridge, knowing the ventilation shaft was no longer an option. We made it safely to the bridge. Misato, my father, Sora, Dr. Ibuki and many UN soldiers as well as Nerv technicians were in the room.
"Shinji? Rei!? Thank God, you two are ok!" Shouted Sora.
"How's Asuka holding up?" I asked.
"She could use some help. They've got an Evangelion out there, it's all of Iraq's forces. They seem a bit pissed off about what happened to Bagdad. They're retreating, but the Eva's are both locked in combat. Get out there and help her!"
I was about to leave when Rei stopped me. What happened next felt like an eternity. Rei wrapped her arms around me and kissed me. Normally I would have freaked out, but under the circumstances, things were a bit different. She put her heart and soul into that kiss. It wasn't a good luck kiss, or a thank you kiss. It was a loving kiss and from Rei it was the most honorable thing that could happen to me. It wasn't only lips either. Our tongues were clashing for dominance for a while. It seemed like forever, even if it was short. She broke it off.
"Please don't get hurt out there." She pleaded.
"Don't worry, I plan on coming back." I whispered.
She let go of me and I nodded, before running to Unit-01. I ran the entire way without any interference. I got into the plug and activated the Eva. I then was moved to the launch pad, and shot out into the desert.
"Asuka? Where are you!"
"It's about time!" She yelled.
I saw Unit-02 and the enemy Eva to my left. I looked at the data readouts on my screen. The enemy Eva, Unit-00A looked identical to the late Unit-00B only it was a rich brown color. It was not piloted by a person however, it was manned by a Dummy Plug.
Picking up a positron cannon I aimed the unit.
"Asuka, get out of the way!" I yelled.
Unit-02 jumped to the side and I opened fire. Beam after beam smashed through Unit-00A cutting off it's arms and making holes in it's middle. The Eva had a core though. An s2 organ. Aiming at the organ I was about to open fire when it began to charge at me. Throwing the gun down I pulled out my progressive knife. It collided with me, head butting me and kicking me. Tossing the pain aside I shoved the knife with full fury into the core. It showered sparks before cracking and dying. The Unit then fell to the ground limply.
"Mission is accomplished. Iraqi ground forces have retreated." Said Sora.
I let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank God." I said out loud.
"What the?! Blue WAV length form detected. Target position unknown!" Shouted Hyuga.
"What?! No. It can't be!" I shouted, looking at the now visible angel. It was the Unit-03, recreated. The 13th Angel!
"What the hell is that still alive for! Unit-01 destroyed it!" Shouted Asuka.
"We don't know. You must destroy it. There is no plug this time, we had no idea it was back into use!" Said Sora.
So. The Iraqi's only retreat so they could unleash Bardiel on us. Figures, they'd be that drastic.
"Just kill it."
I was about to move when I felt something tap my mind."
"I'm back," It said. It's voice was low, malicious, and raspy "and I'm going to kill you this time."
"Fuck you!" I yelled.
I leaped at full force at the angel, smashing him down to the ground. He tried to punch me and kick, missing in each attempt as I began to choke him. When his neck looked like it was about to snap I let go and punched him with all my force. I could hear the crack as my fist broke through his armor plating.
"That was for Touji!"
I punched again, hearing a squish of flesh.
"That was for Asuka!"
I punched again, hearing a crack of his ribs.
"That was for Rei!"
I picked him up by his throat and smiled at him wickedly.
"And This is for me!" I yelled.
I channeled all of my anger and hate into that punch. I punched right through him I heard his whisper.
"Y-you . . ."
"Die!" I shouted.
I threw him down and kicked him in the head smashing into his brain case and destroying
him. I suddenly began to feel light headed. I reeled towards Unit-02 and fell down, losing
my own consciousness.
* * *
"Dammit." I said to myself, as I woke up coughing. However this time I was not in a hospital room. I was in a moving vehicle.
"Wha-? Where am I?" I asked.
I looked around. The bed I was in was in a small room that must have been something from a jet. I didn't try to get up, feeling to fatigued to do so.
"Shinji?"
I looked to my right, Rei was sitting next to me.
"What happened?"
"We had to abandon the base. It was destroyed, we couldn't risk using it when the enemy knew where we were. How are you feeling?"
"A bit dizzy, that's all." I said.
She smiled. We were on a plane, that I noticed almost immediately. We would probably be looking for Russia's troops now. Somehow I knew that it would all come down to taking Nerv's 3rd Branch back. I would find Cynthia as well.
"You had me worried. Even though the doctors said you were just tired, you slept for two days."
She leaned over and kissed me lightly on my forehead.
"And I think you might be getting sick." She said.
"I'll be fine." I told her.
How did I really feel. I felt sick to my stomach. Having Rei watching me wasn't bad though. I knew she was more than a good friend now. But I couldn't let my feelings cloud my own judgement. Rei was half-human, half-angel. That was the one thing that scared me from her. I never thought she was cloned that way until I remembered what Dr. Akagi had said.
"We used the DNA of your mother and the first angel." She said.
So that's why she reminded me of a mother. Of my mother. How could I act around her? I knew that she was more human now, but she was almost like a half sister. NO! I would not act like I didn't love her. I loved her. I had to admit it to myself. I had fallen in love with her again and there was nothing that was going to come between us, no matter what my father had to say.
"Rei?" I asked.
"Yes?" She answered.
"I. . .uh, I appreciate what you did for me back there." I said, unable to ask my true question.
"Shinji?" She asked, knowing that was not what I had meant to say.
It reminded me of Misato's words.
"You know Shinji, evasive actions only draw more attention."
"What I really meant to say. Is. . .I, I think, I. . .I think I'm in love with you." I whispered.
She blushed slightly, her eyes widened. Her eyes were shining. I saw a single tear trickle down her cheek. She threw herself down on me, showing an immense amount of emotion, crying into my chest.
"Oh Shinji! I've wanted to hear those words ever since you came back!" She cried.
"So. . you feel the same?"
"Yes. . ." She said.
More To Come Next Month. . .