The Characters and concept of Neon Genesis Evangelion are property of Gainax. I created this "scenario" in the spirit of the TV series. I made it in the hope that it would open up people's minds and give something to a series that really touched me. This little series that I have created is a piece of fan fiction thought up by yours truly, so if you are going to copy or distribute this work, please give credit where it is due, k? Now enjoy!

Background:

Okay, if you didn't read the last chapter, or you just don't remember, here's a little summary for you!

The morning starts out nice enough until Hikaru Sohma stops by to walk Shinji to school...only to find that he lives with none other than Asuka Langley Soryu!

After the destruction from that bombshell died down, Shinji found himself in the middle of a tug-of-war between Asuka and Hikaru. In his usual manner, Shinji simply tried to stay alive.

Hikaru met most of the NERV Crew and began taking an active role in the organization. Besides that, there were mysteries revealed and haunting nightmares.

Finally, a new Angel revealed itself and dragged Unit 01 into its core after Shinji had managed to save Asuka from the same fate.

Once more, Shinji faced his fears and his secret desires. Upon coming to an important realization, Shinji recovered a very special, very powerful tool some had thought lost. In doing so, Unit 01 was able to destroy the Angel...

However, Chapter 3 ended suddenly, with Ritsuko Akagi's life hanging by a thread...

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(Birds...birds that are chirping.)

(Do you hear bird when you are dead? Being one of the most brilliant scientific minds in the world, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi has always had a problem with the naive comforts of religion.)

Ritsuko (squinting at the bright sunlight that was in her face): ...where?

(She listens carefully and recognizes the senseless chatter of a radio somewhere.)

Radio: When I found out that I was losing my hair, I thought that my life was over. That's when I turned to-

Ritsuko (covering her eyes with her arm): Oh God.

Misato: I see you are awake.

(The doctor starts and looks over at the major. The major has flowers, but her face is a little cool.)

Misato (quietly): How are you feeling?

Ritsuko: ...as well as can be expected under the circumstances.

(Misato looks down at the flowers in her hand.)

Misato (not looking at her friend): You know...I buy enough of these that I should buy my own flower shop.

Ritsuko (arching at dark brow): Maybe you should think about getting something else for those you visit.

Misato: ...you know that we have enough people sent here without anyone doing...things to themselves.

Ritsuko (folding her hands on her stomach, staring up at the ceiling): If you have come here to lecture me, Major, then please step outside and close the door behind you. I'm not in the mood.

Misato (angry): Are you proud of yourself, Ritsuko? I thought I told you that I was there for you...

Ritsuko: ...

Misato (walking to her friend's bedside): You realize that I come here often enough for the Children. I don't want to be coming here for my friends as well.

Ritsuko: ...I'm sorry to inconvenience you.

Misato: ...

Ritsuko: You were gone, Major.

Misato (gritting her teeth): I was kind of busy-

Ritsuko (still not looking at Misato): I take it, since we are all still here, that we won.

Misato (looking away): ... I guess you can say that.

(The major laughs a little, although there is no humor in her voice.)

Misato: I just came from seeing Shinji.

Ritsuko: ...is he okay?

Misato (slowly): He will be. Considering the shape of Unit 01, he's lucky to be alive.

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): What did you do, Misato?

Misato (blinking): Why do you assume it's my fault?

Ritsuko: Because it usually is. Just how bad is the damage?

Misato (quiet for a moment, then): Much of the armor was sheared off. You will have to see the video footage to understand.

Ritsuko: ...

Misato (setting the flowers on the night-stand): He's...learning, Ritsuko. If he can learn to live, then so can you.

Ritsuko: ...

Misato (crossing her arms): You are going to have a chance to relax before throwing yourself back into it all, though.

(This gets the doctor's attention.)

Ritsuko: W-What are you talking about?

Misato (grinning for the first time since she has entered the room): I was able to get down time for some of us. I'm taking the Children and friends up to a special, little spot outside the city-

Ritsuko (scoffing): There's no way in hell that the Commander would authorize-

Misato: I already got his permission. When I asked about taking you, all he said was, "Yes." No explanation, no begging on my part, simply "yes!" He must be getting old.

Ritsuko (looking away from her friend): ...I see.

Misato (leaning down): Please come, Ritsuko. It has been so long since you have been out for yourself...

Ritsuko (sighing): Yes...

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(Within a containment chamber deep within NERV, Fuyutsuki walks toward the middle of the catwalk, right in front of Evangelion Unit 1.)

Fuyutsuki (hands behind his back as he gazed up at Unit 01): Incredible.

(The EVA is almost completely stripped of armor, revealing the human-created demon underneath. The unblinking stare of the creature before him gave him the creeps.)

Gendo (from behind): Afraid, professor? After all this time, one would think that you would be used to it.

Fuyutsuki (not turning to face Ikari): I question anyone who gets used to this sight. Sometimes...I feel like it is watching me...

Gendo (coming up besides the professor on the catwalk, they are eye-level with the naked EVA): This was necessary-

Fuyutsuki: As was the trauma inflicted on the boy?

Gendo (leaning forward with his elbows resting on the rail): He survived, did he not?

Fuyutsuki: You expect too much-

Gendo: I expect what is to be expected in this Age.

Fuyutsuki: Ikari...they are children!

Gendo (calmly): ...I am well aware of that, professor.

Fuyutsuki (quietly): Then...

Gendo: It is a matter of which evil we defend ourselves against. Would you rather the Children be in Their hands?

Fuyutsuki: ...

(The Supreme Commander turns away and begins walking toward the exit hatch of the containment chamber.)

Fuyutsuki (calling softly): How is...she, Ikari?

Gendo (stopping without turning around): ...she is alive.

Fuyutsuki: And...?

Gendo: ...I will give her this afternoon to get a hold of herself. If she cannot manage that, I will take Seele up on their offer.

Fuyutsuki (listening to the hatch door close behind the Commander): Bastard...

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(The morning finds Natasha Karpov sprawled sideways on her futon.)

Natasha (growling): Damned Japanese tradition...

(The Russian woman sits up and pushed a lock of blond hair out of her face. She becomes completely still when she hears something. It takes her a moment to realize that it is the slashing sound of Hikaru's practice sword slicing through the air in the next room.)

 Natasha (thinking): I wonder if she's made another inedible breakfast.

(An image flashes in the Lieutenant's mind: eggs, toast, and a large portion of sausage. A man's loving smile.)

Natasha (lifting her right hand before her face, she looked down at the small, gold ring on the ring finger): ...

(The slashing sound continues as Natasha gets to her feet and scratches the back of her head.)

Natasha (thinking): It's a little early for Hikaru to be going through her forms.

(The Lieutenant slides open her door and pads toward the main room in nothing but her tank-top and underwear. With just her and the girl, the Lieutenant's dubious sense of modesty has suffered greatly.)

Natasha (coming into the main room, momentarily blinded by the light burning through the windows): Hikaru...<yawn>...have you made a Russian breakfast like I had asked you to?

(The girl's back is to her. Hikaru is dressed in a traditional Karate uniform with a white tunic and black flowing leggings. She does not respond, continuing her forms.)

Natasha (lifting a golden brow): I thought I told you that I couldn't stand anymore of that traditional crap you keep making! I need real food!

(Silence)

Natasha (confused and a little annoyed): What is this? The silent treatment? What the hell did I do?

(Silence)

(Frowning, Natasha walks toward the girl. She notices the sweat that trickles down the girl's neck, revealing that Hikaru has been practicing for some time now. As she comes up besides Hikaru, Natasha sees the tears.)

Natasha: ...I see.

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(Hikari stands in the kitchen of the Katsuragi apartment humming to herself. Touji is leaning against the refrigerator, watching her prepare enough food that it could feed the entire class at their school.)

Touji (hesitantly): I-Isn't that a little much, Hikari?

 Hikari (not looking up): It's better to have too much than to have too little, Touji.

Touji (crossing his arms): I don't know why you were drafted to make all the food. It's the Major's party-

Hikari (her hands moving with practiced ease over the salad bowl she had been working on): I don't mind, really.

Touji (gazing with a little wonder in his eyes): You really don't...

(Asuka sits at the kitchen table watching the two of them. She feels quite frankly sick at the sight of the dumb-jock Touji hitting on innocent Hikari. Asuka bites savagely into the sandwich she is eating.)

Asuka (thinking): Hikari is such an innocent. Touji probably just wants one thing. Boys are all the same.

(FLASHBACK: Shinji: Be well, Asuka.)

(The redheaded pilot's fingers tremble slightly, but she forces back the strange emotion that threatens to overwhelm her. Instead she glares over at the two.)

Asuka (snapping): If you are so worried about her, why don't you give her a hand, you idiot?

(Both of them jump and Asuka realizes that they had forgotten about her. That does nothing to calm her already burning temper.)

Touji (glaring over at Asuka): I don't see you helping! All you have been doing is sit there and sneak sandwiches out of the cooler!

(The boy suddenly flashes a cruel grin.)

Touji (smirking): If you aren't careful, you are going to get fat! Then what would you have? All you do is play off your looks!

Asuka (shooting to her feet): What did you say?! Come here and say that to my face, you jerk!

Hikari (trying to calm the two down): Please, don't fight-

Touji (throwing out his chest): I just might, your majesty! All high and mighty all the time!

Asuka: With you around, feeling superior is quite easy!

Touji (snarling): You bitch!

(Just before the two would have come to blows, Hikari gets in between them.)

Hikari (shouting): Please! Stop!

(There is a stunned silence and Touji looks away from Asuka to see the hurt look in Hikari's eyes. The boy feels his anger drain out of him.)

Touji (blinking): Hikari...I-I'm sorry.

Hikari (breathing heavily): Please, will you two try to keep your egos out of this today? The party is supposed to be a celebration of life...not the lack of it. Please?

(Silence, then)

Touji (setting his hands gently on Hikari's shoulders): Sure...I'll try.

Hikari (beaming up at him): Really? That's all I ask.

(Asuka growls and storms out of the kitchen, leaving the two lovebirds to themselves. She almost knocks Kensuke over as he carries Misato's stereo system toward door. She doesn't even hear the boy curse at her back. She stomps into the TV room and sits down besides Pen-Pen with a huff.)

Asuka (muttering): Stupid Touji...stupid Hikari...

(The bird looks over at her.)

Asuka: He's just a dumb jock... He's just going to hurt her.

(Pen-Pen looks back at the TV.)

Asuka (softly): I'm not all high and mighty all the time...am I?

(Pen-Pen sighs and changes the channel.)

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(Shinji opens his eyes and looks around. Misato had just been there...or had he slept? He isn't sure. Misato had said something about a party...but he is feeling so sore.)

Rei: ...Pilot Ikari...

(Shinji finds that he has never known anyone who could constantly sneak up on him before he had met Ayanami. He is not sure that is a good thing.)

Shinji (looking over at the chair next to his bed): Ayanami...you're here?

Rei (her hands folded in her lap): Major Katsuragi didn't want you to be alone.

Shinji (looking away): I see...you're here on orders.

Rei: ...no. I am here because...I want to be here.

Shinji (felt his mouth drop): Rei...? Why?

Rei: ...I don't know.

Shinji (blinking): You don't know?

Rei: ...yes. It just seemed...important that I be here.

Shinji: ...Rei...

(They sit for a moment in silence.)

Rei: ...Pilot Ikari-

Shinji: Rei, you have called me by my first name before... We are friends, so you can do so now.

(Shinji doesn't see the light shade of pink that flushes Rei's cheeks.)

Rei: S-Shinji...will you be going to the event?

Shinji (drawing a blank): The...event?

Rei: ...yes. The "party" Misato told me to come to.

Shinji: Oh, that...well, I don't know-

Rei: You should go.

Shinji (confused): What?

Rei (looking at her hands): They...they need to be reassured that you are okay.

Shinji: Oh...

Rei: You are important to them.

Shinji: Because I can pilot EVA-

Rei: No...because you are you.

Shinji: Rei...

(Rei looks at the watch Misato had given her. The girl doesn't wear the watch...rather she keeps it in her pocket. While Ayanami is excellent at keeping timetables on a mission...she has a problem with getting anywhere else on time.)

(FLASHBACK: Misato (handing the watch to Rei): Now remember, we will come to pick you all up at 13:00 hours. Remember that Rei. I'm counting on you. ...by the by, is that the only thing you have to wear?)

(Present)

Rei (standing up): It is time to leave.

Shinji (looking under the sheets, blushing): Uh...Rei?

Rei: Yes, Pi...Shinji?

Shinji: Could I have some privacy? I need to change.

Rei (back turned, but cheeks flushed): ...yes.

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(The blue sports car is packed to the limit. With Misato's stereo system loaded into the trunk and four children loaded into the cabin with her, it is a tight fit. Asuka had been determined to be in the front, saying that she didn't want any accidents in back. Kensuke and Touji had just glared at her. When Hikari had started to get into the back, Asuka once again exploded, saying that it wasn't proper to have a girl squeezed in the back seat with two "oversexed" boys. To stop the argument that was sure to rise, Hikari had quickly agreed and squeezed into the front passenger seat.)

Touji: This is ridiculous...

Asuka (glaring over the back of the seat): I don't remember asking for your opinion, you pervert!

Touji (growling): As if any man on this planet would want to talk to you, much less touch you!

Asuka (snarling): What?!

Misato: Guys, calm down. We are almost to the hospital. Try to be nice to each other for Shinji's sake. He's been through enough.

Asuka (suddenly quiet): ...

Touji (leaning back, folding his arms): Yes, ma'am.

(The car pulls up to the entrance to the hospital. Rei and Shinji are waiting outside, Shinji is tucking in his button-down shirt.)

Misato (her eyes concerned behind her shades, thinking): God, I hope this isn't too much for him. It's just that who knows when Commander Ikari is going to give us another chance like this!

(Misato stops the car with a scream of tires and stepped outside, her leather sandals slapping lightly against the cement.)

Misato (cheerfully): Hi again! Ready to party?

Rei (quietly): ...I suppose.

Shinji (sighing): ...yeah.

(Misato grits her teeth slightly at their lack of enthusiasm, then forces a bright smile back on her beautiful face.)

Misato: Well, come on, then! Sorry, but we are all going to have to go in my car.

(Shinji peeks around the major and sees all his friends...and Asuka...crammed into the car.)

Shinji (brows lifted): Uh...Misato?

Misato (already guiding the First and Third Children back to the car): Yeah?

Shinji: I-Isn't it a little...crowded?

Misato (laughing): Of course not! We're all friends here!

Shinji (as Misato pushed him in beside Kensuke): I guess-ouch!

Misato: You're next, Rei-

(The girl quietly gets into the back seat next to Shinji and is pressed against him when the door closes.)

Rei: It's...tight.

Shinji (blushing): Yeah...

(Asuka is glaring back at him and Shinji ducks his head.)

Shinji (thinking): What did I do now?!

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(Outside Hikaru's and Natasha's apartment building, the woman and girl are preparing to set out on the Lieutenant's powerful, red and black motorcycle. The woman is entirely in leather which is about as form-fitting as a plug suit. The girl is in pale shorts with a red tank top. The girl's head is bowed.)

Hikaru (quietly): I don't see why I have to go.

Natasha (pushing the motorcycle helmet onto the girl's head): Because I'm not going to have you moping around the apartment all day. This is ridiculous!

Hikaru: You weren't there, Ms Natasha... It was horrible...

(Natasha's eyes cut to the girl behind her wrap-around shades. Hikaru isn't watching her guardian, but is staring at the bright sky, in a world of her own.)

Natasha: Humph. I will never understand children. In any case, that Ikari boy is going to be there.

Hikaru (her eyes snapping wide behind the visor): Oh! He shouldn't be moving around yet!

Natasha (shrugging): Well, her high and mightiness, the Major, decided that the boy needed to be up and about.

Hikaru: I-Is he okay?

Natasha (straddling the sleek, super-charged motorcycle she had shipped from Russia): I guess. I don't know what you see in that child! He is so...weak!

Hikaru (quiet): Not weak.

Natasha: ...?

Hikaru (getting onto the bike behind Natasha): He fears pain...but he isn't weak.

Natasha (shrugging again as she revved the superbike): If you say so.

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(Within the inner chambers of Commander Ikari.)

Gendo: ...

(He is staring at a framed photograph in his hand. It was taken a very long time ago. It seems like another lifetime to the Supreme Commander now. His hand comes up and reaches towards the picture.)

(Suddenly, the doors of his chamber slides open and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki walks in. Gendo looks up at the older man and slowly puts the picture away within a secure drawer of the desk.)

Fuyutsuki: ...Is there a reason you have decided to give all key personnel a 24 hour leave?

Gendo (folding his hands on the desk): Because they needed it.

Fuyutsuki (confused): Since when did you give a damn about people's limits?

Gendo: ...

Fuyutsuki (sighing): I'm sure you have your reasons. What if an Angel attacks while they are all out?

Gendo: Then we will fall back on the Dummy system.

Fuyutsuki (confused): Was this so important that you would be willing to put our lives in the hands of such a...creation?

Gendo: ...yes.

(Fuyutsuki stares at the man he thought he knew. He can't help but wonder what had happened to the Commander in the depths of Terminal Dogma.)

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Shinji (gripping the seat for all he was worth): Um...Misato? Is it really necessary to be going this fast?!

(The blue sports car is screeching around the curve of the twisting road.)

Misato (grinning wolfishly): Oh, come on! When do I ever get to drive like this in the city?

Shinji (nervously as the car rides on two wheels): Do you have to ask?!

Rei (quietly): Major Katsuragi...Shinji is still recovering. Please reduce your speed.

(Touji, Kensuke, Shinji, Hikari, and Asuka all turn and stare in shock at Rei who gazes calmly at the back of Misato's head.)

Touji (awed): Whoa...

Kensuke (pinching himself): Not a dream!

Shinji (looking toward the blue-haired girl): Rei...

Asuka (turning violently towards the window): Humph!

Misato (blinking): Uh...yeah, sure, Rei.

(The car slows down and eases into the next turn smoothly.)

Touji (whispering to Kensuke): Did you see that?! Ayanami stood up for Shinji! What's going on there?

Kensuke (whispering back behind a cupped hand): I don't know...but Asuka doesn't seem to be taking it well! I wonder...

(Asuka isn't paying attention to the two of the "three stooges" behind her. Nor is she noticing the concerned look she is getting from Hikari. Rather, her attention is focused inward.)

Asuka (thinking): Why is it that Wonder Girl is always there for him?! Why is it that I feel that I am missing something here?!

(Asuka glares over her shoulder at Shinji who is still gazing at Rei with a dazed look. The girl has braced her elbow on the armrest next to her and is gazing out the window while supporting her chin on her palm.)

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(The countryside is beautiful, hilly, and is partially covered by small forests. Clouds float overhead like small islands, while butterflies dance over wild-flower patches.)

Misato: It's an ideal spot for a casual party. There's a small lake for swimming, an open field for sports, and Hyuga said he would bring his portable cooker, so we are all set!

Shinji (peeking over Misato's seat): Hyuga? The computer guy from the Command Center?

Misato (nodding): The same. I figured that we all needed some rest. We were lucky.

Shinji (blankly): Lucky?

Misato (softly): ...the commander was generous.

Shinji: ...

(Misato pulls the car off the dirt road and on to the grass. A small campsite appears before the vehicle. Shigeru and Hyuga are pulling a table out of a beat up 4X4 and Maya is supervising the effort. From the looks on the guys' faces, they are none too happy about her duty.)

Misato (surprised and a little annoyed): Oh!

(Asuka squints, then bares her teeth.)

Asuka and Misato: What is she doing here?!

(The females in question were Natasha and Hikaru. Natasha is unzipping her leathers next to her motorcycle, revealing a black tube top that showed off her firm, smooth stomach. She is also wearing a pair of shredded denim shorts that showed off her thighs. Hikaru is sitting under the tree that stands at the top of the hillside. Her legs are folded and she is gazing out at the lake. The lake is like blue fire due to the bright sky. The wind is gently playing the with girl's black hair.)

Misato (thinking): ...how did she...?

Asuka (thinking): Don't give me that innocent look, you bitch! I know what sort of flirt you are underneath!

(Both Natasha and Hikaru seem to sense the presence of Misato and Asuka. Natasha sees the blue sports car and flashes a small, cocky grin. Hikaru sees Asuka in the passenger seat and her face becomes grim. The others suddenly notice Misato and the kids.)

Maya (waving): Hello! Hey, this is a great spot, Major!

Misato (casting a wary glance over at Natasha before replying): Yeah, it's been a while since I have been up here. It's good that you all made it.

Shigeru (panting after he put the table down): No problem, Major. It feels good to have a day off like this!

(While the adults chat, Hikaru stands up and walks slowly toward Shinji.)

Hikaru (quietly): H...How are you feeling, Shinji?

Shinji (trying for a bright smile): Better, thank you. I heard about what you did when I...during the mission! Thank you-

Asuka (coming up beside Shinji): Yeah, if it weren't for the rookie, she won't have had to do anything!

Hikaru (her eyes flashing): After what I did? Need I remind you that we were out of options?!

Asuka (scoffing): "Out of options," she says! So you vaporize the ground from under my feet!

Hikaru (flushing): I-I didn't mean to! There was no way-

(Touji and Kensuke roll their eyes at each other as the two girls exchange verbal blows. Hikari stands beside Asuka and Hikaru, wringing her hands, concerned as she looks back and forth between the two. Rei watches it all from the hood of Misato's sports car, where she has sat down. No one noticed Shinji Ikari sneaking away from it all.)

Misato (looking around): Hey, where's Ritsuko?

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(Shinji sighs as he leans against a tree some distance from the camp. His body is throbbing, but the pain-killers have done a fairly good job of blocking most of it. The boy's eyes are closed so it is a surprise when he hears another voice speak.)

Ritsuko (quietly amused): Running away, Shinji Ikari?

Shinji (voice high with surprise): D-Doctor Akagi!

(The blond doctor is standing a mere few feet away from him. Her eyes looked tired, but she is alive. She is wearing a simple, blue blouse with a pair of trim, black pants. Her hair is in its usual, casual style. Her hands are tucked into her pockets and she is watching him with a faint sparkle in her eye.)

Shinji (shaking himself mentally): I-I didn't know that you were here.

Ritsuko (walking slowly toward him): It wasn't by choice, I assure you.

Shinji: ...?

Ritsuko (looking around his shoulder at the people on the hillside some distance from them): Blame your guardian. The woman is a complete pain in the ass.

(Shinji just stares blankly at the doctor. She notices this and sighs.)

Ritsuko (leaning against the tree next to Shinji): Shinji, did you ever hear of the expression "a deer caught in headlights?"

Shinji (blushing): I'm sorry.

Ritsuko: Hmmm.

(There is a loud shout and the doctor looks back up the hill, while Shinji bows his head with a sigh.)

Ritsuko (dark brows raised): Ah, so that's the reason. Asuka and the new girl are fighting...again.

Shinji: Yeah.

Ritsuko (her eyes growing serious): So they do share something...

Shinji (looking over at Ritsuko): Huh?

Ritsuko (shrugging it off as she looked up into the tree-tops overhead): Nothing. Just talking to myself.

Shinji (obviously uncomfortable with the doctor): Oh...well, I guess you want to be alone-

Ritsuko (softly): I didn't say that.

(Shinji gazes at Ritsuko with wide eyes.)

Shinji: Huh?

Ritsuko (pushing herself away from the tree): Are you up to a walk, Ikari Shinji?

Shinji (looking into Ritsuko's gently smiling face): S-Sure.

------------------------------------------------

Natasha: Lost your charge, eh?

(Misato is sitting on the picnic table, silently gazing out at the lake. Her eyes grow hard as she looks up into the Russian woman's laughing eyes.)

Misato: Shinji's his own person. He-He can do whatever he pleases!

Natasha (sitting on the table next to the major): Oh, really? Then, why are you brooding?

Misato (gritting her teeth): Who said that I was brooding?!

Natasha (leaning back on her elbows, gazing up at the sky): You're eyes. They are sad.

Misato: ...

Natasha (her eyes cutting toward the Major): ...or is it this place?

(Misato jumps and looks toward Natasha.)

Misato: W-What are you implying?!

Natasha (lazily): A pretty place like this...it is ideal for a...romantic intrude.

(The tell-tale color spreads across Misato's cheeks before she turns violently away from Natasha.)

Misato (angrily): What would you know?

(Natasha is enjoying herself too much to listen to the anger in the Major's voice. The woman is so easily annoyed.)

Natasha: I'm thinking...blanket on the hill, picnic lunch, skinny-dipping in the lake...

(The Lieutenant looks over her shoulder casually.)

Natasha: ...carving your initials with that special someone inside a heart in the tree.

(Misato looks over her shoulder and simply can't believe that it is actually visible. A heart is carved into the trunk of the tree. It is obviously an old mark because the wood inside the carved lines have become dark gray. The initials "M.K. + K.R." lay revealed for all to see.)

Misato (quietly): ...how did you know?

Natasha (reaching into the cooler at the edge of the table and popping open a cool beer): I'm good at what I do, Major, no matter what you may think of me. You would be wise to remember that. How long has it been?

Misato (closing her eyes): Years. I-I, well, I guess I blocked it out. I just remembered this place. I remembered how beautiful it was in the summer. I didn't think about that.

Natasha: Sometimes, we forget about the most important things. But we have to remember sometime...or we loose a part of ourselves.

Misato (sipping slowly from her own can of beer): ...you speak from personal experience?

Natasha (her fingers touching the ring on her right hand): ...it was a long time ago...but I still cherish every moment.

(Her eyes are on Hikaru who is standing just out of Asuka's range. Touji and Kensuke are having real problems holding the redhead back.)

Asuka (distantly): Coward?! I will show you who's the coward, you bitch!

Hikaru (turning away): Yeah, yeah...

(Misato looks from Natasha to Hikaru. She suddenly realizes that while the Lieutenant seems to have been totally briefed on her, she doesn't know Lieutenant Natasha Karpov as well as she should.)

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(The path is obviously a nature trail. It was made by nature's hands and has rarely seen human feet. Shinji and Ritsuko walk slowly down the path, each in no great hurry. Shinji glances nervously over at the doctor. While she doesn't incite the cool fear that his father always has, this woman is mysterious to him. Never one to talk about herself, Ritsuko always seemed to be cold and composed. She doesn't seem so distant...now.)

Shinji (looking around): Nice weather...we are having...

Ritsuko (laughing lightly): I guess. I personally am more comfortable in the controlled environments of NERV Central.

Shinji: Why?

Ritsuko (blinking): I...don't know. I suppose it is because nature is so unpredictable...so uncontrollable.

Shinji (feeling suddenly cold): Like...EVA.

Ritsuko (her shoulders tensing): ...yes.

Shinji (peeking around at Ritsuko's face): Y-You spend so much time with the EVAs. Do you...well, understand them?

Ritsuko (staring straight ahead): Understand them?

Shinji (nodding): Yeah...I don't know. When I am inside Unit 01 it feels like...I'm on the edge. Below there is an abyss of chaos, waiting to swallow me whole.

Ritsuko: ...

Shinji: B-But then, I also feel...comforted there...inside EVA. I-I don't want to pilot it, yet, I always find myself coming back to it.

Ritsuko: It is your lot in life.

Shinji: It's not much of a life.

Ritsuko (looking over her shoulder): I won't say that.

Shinji: Huh?

Ritsuko (looking forward again and stepping over an exposed root): What did you have before NERV, Shinji?

(Shinji blinks and the memories rise like a demon within him.

LONELINESS

FEAR

PAIN

TEARS

MOTHER

FATHER

GONE...)

Shinji (sighing): Not much...but I wasn't in the hospital so much.

(They come to a clearing and they find themselves staring out on the lake.)

Ritsuko (smiling slightly): Beautiful. I see now why they came here so often.

Shinji (turning toward the woman): You lost me again.

Ritsuko (grinning): Yeah...before your time.

Shinji: ...?

Ritsuko (laughing): Sorry...still thinking about the past. I should really stop doing that.

Shinji: No one around here talks about themselves. I feel that Misato...well, sometimes I feel that her bright attitude is all a facade. Asuka never talks about herself...but I think it's because she hates me-

Ritsuko (shaking her head, chuckling): Oh Shinji...

Shinji (blinking): What?

Ritsuko (sitting gingerly down on the grass): Nothing, go on.

Shinji (casting a strange glance at Ritsuko): And...Rei...we know about Rei...but still-

Ritsuko: ...

(Shinji sits down next to Ritsuko to give his throbbing joints a rest.)

Shinji: Rei...surprises me-

Ritsuko: Really, in what way?

Shinji (slowly): It's hard to explain... Every time I think that there is nothing there but some...shell, created by my father, she says...stuff...

Ritsuko (looking over at him): "Stuff?"

Shinji (shifting uncomfortably): Well, not really what she says...it's more how she says it. She's still as cryptic as ever...but I feel sometimes there is...more there...

Ritsuko: ...

Shinji: ...and my father...I don't know.

Ritsuko (sighed and lays back on the hill): Shinji...you're father and I...are...lovers...

(The boy's eyes snap wide.)

Shinji (shouting): WHAT?!

------------------------------------------------

Seele: It happened too soon.

Seele: We did not foresee this.

Seele: Our sources have failed us.

Seele: What of the Illusion?

Seele: It vanished the moment the boy retrieved the Lance.

Seele: What of our scenarios? This was not written in the Dead Sea Scrolls!

Seele: Calm yourselves, gentlemen. This is not a time to let it all fall apart. The reappearance of the Lance simply means that we will have to step up our schedule.

Seele: It is only a matter of time before she remembers. Such continuous contact with the Vessel will ensure that.

Seele: Can the woman be trusted? She has become close to her charge. She has let personal matters mix with business.

Seele: If she forgets her place, we will remind her.

-----------------------------------------------

Hikari (holding out a can of soda): Here. Feeling better?

Asuka (taking the can while she continued to glare at Hikaru down toward the beach): I'm fine. You didn't have to play referee, Hikari.

Hikari (sitting on the grass beside Asuka): It comes naturally. I'm always playing the mediator in class, I guess it is a part of who I am.

Asuka: ...

(Asuka is watching the dark-haired EVA pilot pull a deck of cards out of her shorts' pocket and show it to Touji and Kensuke. The two boys seem more interested in gazing at the girl than at the cards.)

Asuka: Hey.

Hikari (looking over the rim of her own soda can): What?

Asuka: I thought that you and that dumb jock...Touji, were a couple. Aren't you a little...jealous right now? He's got that perverted look in his eyes that baka, Shinji, always has!

Hikari (holding the can gently between her hands): I'm not worried.

Asuka (looking over at Hikari, skeptical): No?

Hikari: ...no. I know that Touji...would never do something like that.

Asuka (scoffing): He told you that, huh?

Hikari (blushing): ...yes.

Asuka (with a snort): Yeah, right. That's what the guys alway say to get into a girl's pants! It's just like him to use such an outdated trick!

Hikari: B-But it's not a trick!

Asuka: ...really?

Hikari: Y-Yeah. He...cares.

Asuka (laying back on the grass, staring up at the sky): Whatever.

Hikari: ...he saved my life.

Asuka: ...!

(Hikari's eyes seem to grow distant, as if they were looking at something from some other time.)

Hikari: M-My apartment building collapsed during those earthquakes we had a few weeks ago. It had been weakened from the constant Angel attacks, I guess. I was told afterwards that if I had stayed in that building fifteen more minutes, I would have been dead.

(Asuka lays there, staring in shock up at the sky. She wonders what else Hikari was keeping from her. She had always thought that Hikari was her best friend...her only friend.)

Asuka (taking a long gulp from her soda): So...what does that have to do with Touji?

Hikari (setting the can of soda on the ground in front of her): I-It was his idea to go to the shelter. I owe him my life...

Asuka: Don't start playing the "grateful damsel" for that pervert, Hikari! You will only be hurt!

Hikari: ...

Asuka (snorting in disgust): You are so weak.

------------------------------------------------

Ritsuko (quietly): It started years ago...when my mother...passed away. I was stuck between hating her and grieving for her loss. I was thinking "how could she leave me like this?! How could she just die like that?!"

(Shinji is silent. This sounds a lot like the Ritsuko he had seen in the depths of Terminal Dogma...when she had killed Rei's sisters. While he wants to run away, he feels that if he did that...something horrible would happen.)

Ritsuko (her head bowed): I spent weeks after that wandering NERV Central, trying to find some solace...some grounding. I never returned to college. It didn't matter anymore. Maybe I was doing it all for my mother...to get her attention. To make her praise me.

Shinji (thinking): Just like I used to...with father...

Ritsuko (pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them): It was during this time that I found my way to the EVA containment area. Unit 01 had been put into stasis after...the incident... The LCL had seemed so...inviting... I realized then that it was only right that I...join mother. I had nothing else to give. It was then that it happened.

Shinji: What?

[FLASHBACK: (Young, dark-haired Ritsuko stares up at the passionless eyes of Evangelion Unit 01...the scars were still there.)

Voice (coldly): What are you doing here?

Ritsuko (jerking, having not been aware of anyone else in the chamber): Who's there?!

(Ritsuko turns and sees the dark shape of Gendo Ikari on the catwalk twenty meters from her, gazing up at the EVA. Ritsuko hastily wipes the tears she hadn't known she had been shedding.)

Ritsuko (stuttering): M-Mr. Ikari-

Gendo (not looking at her): Why are you here?

(Ritsuko looks back to the LCL pool that seems to call to her.)

Ritsuko: ...I...want it to stop...

Gendo: ...you seek your death.

Ritsuko: ...yes.

Gendo: Are you that weak?

Ritsuko (tearing a slow, trembling hand through her hair): Yes!

Gendo: Then, I will not stop you.

Ritsuko (closing her eyes as she moved towards the pool): Thank you.

Gendo: One thing, first.

Ritsuko: What?

Gendo: Will this impress your mother?

(Ritsuko's gasp echoes off the cold walls of the containment chamber. The young woman shivers uncontrollably and collapses to her knees.)

Ritsuko (sobbing softly): Please...

Gendo: ...

Ritsuko (desperately): ...help me...

Gendo (still gazing up at Unit 01): I cannot do that. It is up to you to stand on your own. No one can make you wish to live.

Ritsuko: ...you are so cruel!!

Gendo (quietly): ...I know.

(Ritsuko sobbing.)

(After long minutes pass, Gendo lifts a hand, pushes his glasses up on his nose, and turns toward Ritsuko. His footsteps on the metal tread are very loud in the chamber. He stops just before Ritsuko and stares down at the top of her bowed head.)

Gendo: ...If you come with me you may never be able to stand on your own. You will belong, but your soul will never be your own again. Do you understand?

(Sobbing)

Gendo (sighing): Come with me.

(He reaches down and tips her chin up with his fingers. Ritsuko gazes up at Gendo and gasps when she sees his eyes within his glasses.)

Gendo (softly): Perhaps...we both need to forget for a while.

Ritsuko: ...yes.

(Present)

Ritsuko (softly, face turned away from Shinji): ...It has been a long time since I remembered that.

Shinji (bowing his head): That sounds just like my father...

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): He saved my life, but for his own purposes. I'm...just like my mother. I fell for him so easily...

Shinji: I'm sorry.

Ritsuko (laughing at herself): It was my own fault.

Shinji (quietly): My father was wrong.

Ritsuko (blinking): Huh?

Shinji: You are your own person, Ritsuko. Sometimes, you might think that you are alive only because my father wished it...but it was you who chose life over death.

(The woman and boy sit there for a long moment in silence. The wind stirs the trees and birds are chirping idly somewhere.)

Ritsuko (choked): You-You don't know what I have done!

Shinji: But you are here now. That's all that matters.

(Ritsuko blinks and looks over at Shinji in shock. The boy smiles gently.)

Ritsuko: Why? Why do you care?

Shinji (shaking his head): Does there have to be a reason? Should a person always have a reason for helping another?

(Silence)

Ritsuko (closing her eyes): I knew you were different the moment I saw you.

Shinji: Huh?

Ritsuko (cracking a smile): Like father...like son... Your methods are just different.

Shinji (gently): Feeling better?

(The boy is shocked when he feels the doctor take his hand and give it a squeeze.)

Ritsuko (softly): You're in the wrong profession. You're good that this.

Shinji: ...you tried to do...something, didn't you?

Ritsuko (sighing): Is it that obvious?

Shinji: Only to me. You always seem so strong, like Asuka and Misato-

Ritsuko: Shinji, I'm going to let you in on a little secret before I let them have you back.

Shinji (blinking owlishly): "Them?" Them who-

Ritsuko (softly): Sometimes...it is the strongest ones who have the softest hearts.

Shinji (confused): Wha-

Asuka (calling): SHINJI!!

Touji (muttering loudly): I can't believe it...only Ikari could get lost in a place like this!

Hikaru (calling): Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Asuka: I don't remember asking you to come, Sixth Child!

Hikaru: That's because I came on my own, Second Child. You can't be trusted in a matter such as this.

Asuka: What did you say?!

Shinji (covering his eyes with his hand): Ritsuko?

Ritsuko: Yes, Shinji?

Shinji: Tell me you have some sort of brilliant plan of evading them.

Ritsuko (chuckling as she stood up): Sorry, my dear, but there are two things in life that you can never get away from. One is your friends...no matter how much you would wish it to be otherwise.

Shinji (peeking over at the blond doctor as he stood): W-What is the second thing?

Ritsuko (smiling gently down at him): Your heart.

------------------------------------------------

(He sits with his back against the tree. His fingers move over the strings of his guitar. His eyes are shut and the music coming from the amp is slow and relaxed. Rei stares at the man before her. She does not remember his name, but she knows that he works with Commander Ikari and Major Katsuragi. The other adults are sitting around, some drinking the alcoholic drink the Major  brought.)

Rei: ...

(Shigeru humming a tune along with his music.)

Rei: How do you do that?

(Shigeru jerks, making him skip a beat and he looks up at the First Child.)

Shigeru (startled): Huh?

Rei: How do you make that sound with emotion.

Shigeru (his fingers moving effortlessly on the guitar): "Sound with emotion?" Hmmm, never thought of it that way... I guess it just sort of comes from the soul.

Rei: ...soul?

Shigeru (gazing at Rei): You...never heard of the term, Ayanami?

(The long-haired tech shrugs his shoulders and plays a few cords.)

Shigeru (thoughtful): I guess the soul is what you are...the essence of you. Some people think of it as a spirit. Others think of it as a piece of God...or something like that. Me, I think it is my music!

(The man grins up at the blue-haired girl and she just blinks down at him.)

Shigeru: Huh... Oh, well... Do you have any requests, Ayanami? I can play a lot by ear.

Rei: I...do not know any music...

Shigeru (sighing): Oh.

Rei (sitting down before him in the grass, crossing her legs carefully): But I would like to learn this.

(Shigeru smiles and makes an affirmative rolling of sound with the instrument.)

Shigeru: Sure! No problem. Let's see...I know! I call this one "Fly Me to the Moon..."

(The man and girl do not notice Misato and Maya gaping at the two.)

Maya (whispering): I would never have believed it if I hadn't just seen it!

Misato (nodding): Rei...is different. She's changing, slowly, but surely. Maybe after spending so much time around normal kids, she is starting to understand what it is to be human.

Maya: Sometimes...it's easy to forget about the Children.

Misato (quietly): Well, they're always there. Without them we would be helpless. With them, we just have to deal with guilty consciences. I suppose over time we have convinced ourselves that one is better than the other.

Maya: ...

------------------------------------------------

Hikari: I can't believe you just said that, Suzuhara!

Asuka (smug): I knew you would step in it eventually! I'm just happy that I was here to see it!

Touji (growling): Well, it's the truth! Right, Shinji? Kensuke?

Shinji (gulping as the females in the small group turn to glare at him and Kensuke): Leave me out of this! I won't touch that subject with a ten-foot pole!

Kensuke (thoughtful): There is a larger ratio of men than women that are good at-OUCH!

(The boy looks over his shoulder and finds a fuming Hikaru behind him, her hand ready to give him another chop across the back of the head should he open his mouth again.)

Kensuke (sweat forming on his brow, adjusting his glasses): Eeek!

Asuka (setting her hands on her hips): You didn't give a clear answer one way or another, Shinji!

(Shinji backs away from the furious Second Child and looks around for help. His eyes fall on Ritsuko who stands in the shade of a nearby tree, amusement dancing in her eyes. The boy groans as he realizing that he is going to get no help from that corner.)

Shinji (rubbing the back of his head): I...don't know.

Hikari: You don't know?! I'm disappointed in you, Ikari!

Hikaru (coming in front of Shinji): How could you say such a thing?! Are you sexist?!

Shinji (shaking his head): What?! No!

Touji (arms crossed solemnly across his chest): What is it, Shinji? Are you afraid of a bunch of girls?

Shinji (cautiously): Do I have to answer that? Remember, I live with one of the girls here!

Touji (scoffing, looking away): No balls at all.

Shinji: Hey-

Asuka (her eyes glinting maliciously): Okay, we'll see who is better at sports... I CHALLENGE YOU TO A MATCH OF VOLLEYBALL!!!

(Her finger is right in Shinji's face as she makes this announcement. The boy staggers a step back, wincing as he does so.)

Hikaru (her eyes suddenly softening as she sees the flash of pain in Shinji's eyes): Oh! Shinji, are you all right-?

Touji (wrapping his arm around Shinji's neck): Of course he's all right! We are going to stomp you girls into the ground!!!

(Shinji sighs and bows his head in defeat.)

------------------------------------------------

Natasha (gazing toward the lake): It looks like the Children are back.

Maya: Wow, it took them some time...hey-they have Dr. Akagi with them!

Misato (mouth full of one of Hikari's sandwiches): It's about time! She's supposed to be relaxing and she runs off! Some people...

Maya (looking at her feet): Um...Major?

Misato (glancing over at the younger woman, swallowing): Yes, Maya?

Maya: A-Are the rumors true? The rumors about Dr. Akagi...about her trying to kill-

Misato (waving the rest of what the young woman had to say away): Oh, no. I've heard the same rumors and I can tell you that they are all lies! It's just that it is so rare for Ritsuko to be in the hospital, so there was bound to be some speculation. You work closely with Ritsuko...you know how strong is she!

(The pretty, young woman smiles, relieved.)

Maya: Oh, that's so good to hear! Excuse me for a moment, I'm going to see if Dr. Akagi is hungry!

(Misato keeps smiling until Maya is hurrying away. Then, she frowns and gazes at Ritsuko. It is strange, but Misato finds that the shadow that had hovered around Ritsuko in the hospital seems to have vanished.)

Natasha (quietly): Why did you lie to her?

Misato (sighing): You haven't been here long enough to understand all the relationships and connections the people here have with each other. Maya...kind of looks up at Ritsuko. If Maya were to know about...well, know about that, it could cause some unnecessary friction.

Natasha (folding her hands behind her back): So you did it for Maya's sake or Ritsuko's?

Misato: ...I'm not sure. Maybe both of them.

(Misato studies Maya's beaming face and Ritsuko's embarrassed smile. It seems that the younger woman is complimenting the doctor about something.)

Misato (softly): They work well together. It is almost like a relationship of master and apprentice. I just pray that...

Natasha (lifting a brow): "Pray that..."

Misato (taking another bite of her sandwich): Pray that when Ritsuko has taught Maya everything she can, that the girl doesn't become hard like Ritsuko.

Natasha (shrugging as she began walking toward the children): Well, how we live our lives is always up to ourselves. No matter what we may think, we are always the masters of our own destinies.

Misato (turning to look at the other woman's back): If you believe that...maybe you are in the wrong profession.

------------------------------------------------

(Natasha is walking toward the children, interest lighting up her sharp features. The girls look grim while the boys Kensuke and Touji look coolly aloof. The Third Child is the only one who looks like he would like to be somewhere else, anywhere else.)

Natasha (grinning): My, my, such looks on your faces. What's happening?

Asuka (cracking her knuckles): We are going to put these sexist pigs in their place!

Hikaru (her chin high): I still can't believe it! I could have expected this from Touji and Kensuke...but not you, Shinji!

Shinji (shaking his head): I-I didn't-

Hikaru (wiping unseen tears from her eyes): Well, I guess, the only way to set you straight is by pounding you into the ground in a good game of volleyball!

Shinji (pleading toward Natasha): Please, Lieutenant Karpov! Talk some sense-

(The boy stops when he sees that the Lieutenant is nodding in agreement with the girls. Shinji's shoulders sag and Ritsuko chuckles.)

Ritsuko: Oh, come now, young Ikari. We're all friends here!

Shinji (looking sadly over at the doctor): That's what I'm afraid of...

------------------------------------------------

Ritsuko (sitting on the bench next to Misato): Ah, these children...

Asuka (calling from behind the truck as she is changing): And don't peek, you perverts!

Touji (shouting from behind Misato's car): As if we would want to, you witch!

Misato (sighing): Yeah, but at least it takes their mind off of...things for a while.

(Ritsuko looks over her shoulder and makes sure that Maya is a ways off, getting her something to eat. She lets herself relax as a soothing, slow tone starts on Misato's stereo system.)

Ritsuko (quietly): You've done a good job, Misato.

Misato (looking over at her long-time friend): What do you mean?

Ritsuko (nodding toward Misato's car): With the boy. I don't think that he would have been so...open when he first came to us.

Misato (shocked): Y-You were with Shinji?

Ritsuko (nodding as she closes her eyes): Yes. Sometimes, I see the Commander in him...other times, I see his mother in him. It is during those times that I don't...fear him so much.

Misato: ...

------------------------------------------------

(His footsteps seem to echo forever in this place. The high-powered lights far overhead hardly pierce the darkness here. His eyes flash behind his glasses as he gazes at the rows and rows of incomplete EVAs. Some have eyes that stare into the endless night. Others are nothing more than brain-cases with spinal columns. Ritsuko had once called them the true form of the Evangelions, but that wasn't really true. Berserker. That was the true form of the EVA, when it reverted back to its original mind-set.)

Gendo (thinking): I always wondered how Shinji survived those times when the EVA did that. He is the only one I know of that came out of such incidents untouched.

(FLASHBACK: Unit 00, its plug firing from its socket, slamming into the ceiling of the activation chamber. Rei, within the plug, barely conscious, blood draining from wounds on her head and body.)

Gendo (thinking): Is it luck, or does she have something to do with this...

(The Supreme Commander of NERV shakes his head and continues through the chamber. His hands are folded behind his back and he seems in to be in deep thought.)

Gendo (thinking): How much longer will they wait? I can only stall them so long. The Digger was only the first of many, I'm sure.

(The Commander lifts his head as he comes to a giant, active cylinder. It is much like the cylinder Rei had sat in during the design and creation of the Dummy System. Only this time, it is wrapped in metal that is dark, frosted, and much, much larger. The frosted metal sweats and the water bleeds down the massive container like so many tears. Printed in black paint near the top of the massive container is the inscription "UNITS 000-999.")

Gendo: ...

(Not even Ritsuko or Fuyutsuki truly knew about this. This pact with the devil...his last legacy. The beginning and the end. His first scenario would never work now. The First Child was more than she had been when she had first been created. Joining with Lillith was an impossibility for her now. Thus, the Infinity Solution. The problem was...could Gendo trust her? Could you ever trust someone whose hand you've forced?)

(The Supreme Commander of NERV reaches out and touches the control pad of the container. The servomotors of the outer installation shutter to life and begin to pull back the mighty shell of the cylinder. Gendo looks up and feels a cynical grin tug at his lips.)

Gendo: ...you never did respect us, did you?

------------------------------------------------

(Touji spins the volleyball on the palm of his left hand. His eyes glare at the redhead on the opposite side of the net.)

Touji (sneering): Don't say I didn't warn you!

Asuka (scoffing): That's my line, idiot! They are going to have to pack you up in a little jar and send you back to your sister when I'm done with you!

(Asuka is wearing her red and white two-piece swimsuit she had bought with Kaji so many years ago. She is wearing a grin of absolute confidence on her lovely features as she braces her feet apart in the white sand. Hikaru is next to her, wearing a dark blue, single piece swimsuit. Her hair is tied back in a top-knot. She is trying to look determined and arrogant like her partner, but her eyes keep going to Shinji who looks pale in the afternoon sun. Hikari is behind both pilots, in a conservative green and sky-blue two-piece. Her hands are set on her hips and she is glaring at Touji.)

Touji (bring a fist in front of his face): We'll see, little girl! Come on, Kensuke, serve already!

(Kensuke smartly catches the ball that his friend tossed back at him. He is in camouflage shorts and tank-top, standard issue. He adjusts his glasses, then rolls the ball between his hands, and tosses up for an overhand serve.)

Kensuke (shouting): Let's go!

------------------------------------------------

(Rei is sitting in the grass, watching the match from a safe distance. Behind her, Shigeru is shaking his head in amazement, gazing suspiciously at his own guitar. The First Child is interested by the mock combat going on before her.)

Rei (thinking): Anger, but not fury. The Second and Fourth Children are fierce in spirit, but yet, they do not wish each others' death. Competition is the word. The need to prove one's superiority to others.

(Shinji dives for a spike delivered from the vengeful Asuka. The sand explodes around him and his hand gets under the ball just in time. The ball bounces up into the air and Touji rockets up to send the ball back where it came from. His eyes grow huge when he finds Hikaru in his way.)

Asuka (laughing): In your face, Touji! Our serve!

(Hikaru giggles and Shinji sighs as he pulls himself to his feet.)

Shinji: I knew that this was a bad idea.

Rei (thinking): The Third Child is not fierce as the others. Does he not believe in the competition...or the concept behind the competition?

(Rei wraps her arms around her legs and rests her chin on her knees.)

Rei (thinking): What is the purpose of competition? The battle of superiority...

Asuka (holding her hand high, one finger up): That's one! Where's your male pride now?

Touji (scowling): Shinji! How could you let that one through?!

Shinji (wincing): Sorry...I'm a little tired.

Kensuke: Here, take my spot. I'll cover the front.

Hikaru (leaning around to see Shinji): Shinji...are you okay?

Shinji (flashing a tired smile): I'll live, thanks.

Rei (thinking): The Sixth Child. She fights in the competition, yet, she shows kindness to an opponent. Does this make her stronger?

Asuka: Hey! Hikaru, no flirting with the enemy!!

(Both Shinji and Hikaru blush in embarrassment. Asuka's fingers tighten savagely around the volleyball. She tosses it up and strikes the ball with all her strength.)

Shinji (looking over his shoulder): I'll get it.

Asuka (savagely): Damn it!

Hikari (soothingly): Don't worry, we'll get it back.

(She glances over at Touji.)

Hikari: Just look who we are up against!

Touji (insulted): Hey!

Kensuke (patting his friend's shoulder): Don't dwell on it, my friend. They are girls, after all!

Hikaru (chopping the air): Watch your words, Kensuke! You might have to eat them later!

Shinji (panting slightly): Ready!

Misato: Um...Rei?

Rei (blinking, having not heard the Major's approach): Yes?

Misato (gesturing to the grass next to the pale girl): May I sit?

Rei: Why are you asking me?

Misato: Well...uh, it's good manners to ask.

Rei: ...I see. You may sit next to me, Major Katsuragi.

Misato (sitting next to the First Child): Rei... you can call me Misato, like the other Children.

Rei: Why?

Misato (shrugging): Because I said it's okay.

Rei: ...

Misato (looking at the volleyball match): Rei...that was a really beautiful song you played on Shigeru's guitar! I didn't know you played.

Rei: ...I didn't.

Misato (blankly): Huh?

Rei: I did not know how to use a guitar until today.

Misato: My God!

(At Rei's confused look, Misato explains quickly.)

Misato: Rei...that's a little unusual. People usually can't play an instrument so well on their first try!

Rei (quietly): I see. So what I did was wrong.

Misato (shaking her head quickly): No! No, it was just...incredible! I didn't know you had an interest in music! 

Rei (softly): I didn't. It just...came to me.

Misato (a little dazed): I see.

(The woman and girl gaze out at the game before them, seeing that it has heated up quite a bit in the last few moments.)

Touji (in a huddle with the two other boys): I don't believe we are being whipped by a bunch of girls!

Shinji (hands braced on his knees): You're the one who pissed Asuka off... If you hadn't made that crack about being kept bare footed and in kitchens, we wouldn't be in this situation now!

Kensuke: I guess it's too late to ask for a retreat...

(Touji glares over at Kensuke and Shinji sighs.)

Hikaru (calling through cupped hands): What's up, boys? Ready to give up already?

Touji (fuming as he scowls back at the girl): I'll show you who's ready to give up! Come on, guys!

Kensuke (sighing): Hopeless.

Shinji: Yeah.

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Hyuga (gravely): It was sad.

Shigeru (nodding his head slowly): Yeah...

Natasha (slinging an arm around either of the guys' shoulders, more than a little drunk): So you guys are saying that it is an insult to be beaten by a team of girls? Is that it?

Hyuga (wincing): I-I didn't say that!

Shigeru: Y-Yeah, we would never say such a thing, Lieutenant!

(Natasha frowns at both of them, looking for lies in their eyes.)

Natasha: It must be a part of being a "man." Oh well. Come on, there's plenty of beer left over!

Hyuga: B-But-!

Shigeru: That is-!

Natasha (dragging them toward the picnic table): Don't make me order you guys. Besides, a good swig of liquor will put some hair on your chests!

Shigeru and Hyuga (sighing in defeat): Yes, ma'am.

(Under the tree, Ritsuko and Misato watch as the Russian woman pushes beer cans into her "friends'" hands. The light is fading as the sun sets behind the foothills that surround Tokyo-3. Maya has fallen asleep, her cheek resting on Ritsuko's shoulder.)

Misato: That woman...

Ritsuko: Well, some wait for people to come to them. Others...use...different tactics.

Misato (shaking her head): I hope she doesn't get both of them drunk! Someone's got to drive the truck back to the city.

Ritsuko (resting her head against the tree): If worse comes to worse, I'll drive.

Misato: ...are you feeling well enough for that?

Ritsuko (small smile on her lips): I won't take everyone with me, if that's what you're asking.

Misato: ...

Ritsuko: Sorry, bad joke.

Misato (looking over at Maya's sleeping face): I guess that this is the first time she's really had a drink. Sometimes, I forget how young some people in this organization are.

Ritsuko: At least she can hold her liquor.

Misato (stiffly): And just what are you implying?

Ritsuko (shrugging her free shoulder): I never had to carry Maya to her bedroom where she could sleep in a drunken stupor...

Misato (blushing): That was a very long time ago.

Ritsuko: What was this I heard about you getting yourself blind drunk a while back? I heard that Kaji had to drag you to your room.

Misato: ...yeah, that was a while ago...wasn't it.

Ritsuko: ...are you okay? I never asked, but I never really thought about it. Selfish of me, sorry.

Misato: It's okay. I'm...better.

(Misato rolls her head back against the tree trunk and gazes up at the heart over her head.)

Misato: ...who would have thought that I could lost him twice. I think that's a record for me.

Ritsuko: ...

Misato: You know what the worst of it is? I...never told him. I never opened to him.

(Misato lowers her head.)

Misato: I...ran away from him.

Ritsuko (sighing): I'm sure that he knew. He...was very good at that sort of thing. He wasn't stupid.

Misato (softly): No. He wasn't.

(Ritsuko turns her eyes toward the Children. They have resorted to sitting on the beach now, gazing out at the dark, purple lake and bleeding sky. The girls have finally stopped bragging about their victory. Ritsuko can sense a storm brewing, though. The girl, Hikaru, has Shinji's hand between her own and she is giving what looks like a palm-reading. Asuka has a fierce look in her eyes as she gazes at the two.)

Ritsuko: You know, Shinji started getting close to Kaji before...well, before. I can almost see a bit of him living on in the boy. While Kaji was a bit of a chauvinist and a slob-

(Misato opens her mouth to protest, her eyes flaring.)

Ritsuko (continuing): -but, he was a kind man. I know that he talked to Shinji on several occasions. In fact, I think at one point it was him that guided the boy when he felt lost. He was able to connect with Shinji in a way that none of us could have. If nothing else, there is that.

Misato (gazing at Shinji who was in the middle of another argument between Asuka and Hikaru): Yeah...

(A faint smile graces Misato's face.)

Misato: Only someone with Kaji's temperament could let himself be pulled in two directions by two attractive girls.

Ritsuko (sighing): And...there is that.

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(Night falls on Tokyo-3. Shadows stretch and deepen. Trees sway and whisper. The moon fills the sky with its pale glory. Within the foothills just outside Tokyo-3, night birds panic and take to the air. Only they see a particular shadow move of its own accord...)

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To Be Continued...

Author's Notes:

That does it for Chapter Four. It was different from the other chapters simply because it took the pace a step down and let the characters relax...or some of them, anyway!

In this chapter, Shinji found himself speaking to Ritsuko on a level he hadn't known existed. I believe that Ritsuko would have needed a release like the one I showed here, or she would have eventually destroyed herself. They really talked this time and formed a sort of relationship that can possibly grow in the future chapters...(I'm not going to tell!)

A battle of the sexes...<sigh>, sorry, I had to put that in there. It was bound to happen with Touji and Asuka going at each others' throats all the time. I would like to think that Touji learned something from this,(but I won't hold my breath!)

Thanks a lot to my prereader, Axel Terizaki (author of Child of Love) for the input and advice!

I never really thought about it until now, but if you want to be a prereader for SBTA (or any other project that may come up in the future) just drop me a line at the email address at the bottom! (No experience required...)

That's all for now. Please send your C&C to gargoyle64@hotmail.com! It is always appreciated!

Coming soon, Chapter Five: When All is Said and Done, I'm Still Here. Some teasers for ya: ...Shadows that lurk, the enemy within, and "Join with me..."

Until next time!