Disclaimer: See part
1.
Part 3
Belief
By
Random1377
It
was not going well. Shinji had his
hands clasped over his ears as the cello made a terrible screeching sound. Asuka had stormed out an hour prior,
mumbling something about going to a construction site for some quiet. It was two
weeks since the first lesson, and Rei had not improved… at all.
“Th-that’s enough for today,
Ayanami.” He yelled, blinking at the sudden quiet.
“I
do not understand why I cannot play this melody, it is fairly basic.” Rei said
calmly, ignoring Shinji’s thankful sigh.
“Let’s go out on the
balcony,” he suggested, “it’s hot in here.”
They moved to the balcony
and looked out at the sky.
“Why am I not improving?”
Rei whispered.
Shinji looked at the sky,
“Think of it like… Atlantis!” he said suddenly, as inspiration hit, “Up until
the year Two Thousand, people still looked for the legendary city lost at
sea.”
Rei’s reply was flat,
“Atlantis is a fictional city created by the philosopher Plato to illustrate a
point to one of his students about excessive pride… seeking it would be
useless.”
Shinji shook his head, “How
do you know it was fictional?”
Her
brow creased very slightly – she did not understand his line of questioning, “It
was written in our textbook.”
He
leaned forward, excited, “Yes, but what if the textbook was
wrong?”
“Then they should not be
using them to teach us.” She said simply.
Shinji groaned and tried
another approach, “Ok, how do you know that the textbook is
RIGHT?”
“Because I am told that it
is,” she said, losing interest in the conversation.
“Yes, but… WHY do you
believe!?” he pressed.
She
blinked, “I…” she closed her mouth, feeling that she had been tricked somehow,
“If I do not believe, I will not be educated.” She said
coolly.
He
smiled, seeing an opportunity, “Yes… that’s true,” he conceded, “but if the
textbook said that Atlantis DID exist, you would believe THAT, wouldn’t
you?”
“Yes,” she said, “I
would.”
He
leaned in closer, and asked quietly, “Why are you bad at the
cello?”
She
started, completely unprepared for this question. She was composed again in a second, “I
do not yet have the necessary skill to-“
He
cut her off, “You play another stringed instrument just fine, the skill and
theory should be the same for someone as talented as you,” he blushed
self-consciously, but went on, “by now you should be able to at least play a
simple tune… why can’t you?”
She
was confused, “Because I…” she trailed off, uncertain.
He
spoke reassuringly, “I think it’s because you don’t believe that you can. When
the old sailors went looking for Atlantis, they did it because they believed it
was there, even though textbooks said it wasn’t.” He leaned closer to her, “Just believe,
Rei. You know how to make the
notes, you know how to hold the bow, just believe that you can do it.” He looked at the ground, “I believe in
you, Rei…”
She
looked at him, blushing slightly at the praise, “We should… go back inside…” she
said after a moment.
He
smiled sheepishly, “Yes, we should…”
They went in the house and
she practiced some more. Though Rei
was not immediately better, Shinji felt like she could be. ((She just needs a little time and
someone to believe in her)) he thought happily… unconsciously laying his finger
on everything that was wrong in both of their lives.
Continued…
Author’s notes: Just a quick
note here. I don’t play a stringed instrument, so if I’m wrong about any of
Shinji’s comments in that regard, I apologize.
