Note: Yes I wrote this first part while listening to "Ashokan Farewell". If you have the means, I suggest it. It is a beautiful piece of music.
Shinji sat next to Asuka, and watched the sunset from the overlook that sat nestled in the mountain. The sun shimmered as it passed the horizon, sinking slowly into the ocean. The water rippled and reflected the sunlight, sending the golden shafts out in all directions, stinging their eyes. But the pain was welcome, not due to a love of pain, but because a measure of pain is required to affirm life.
Shinji lay back, and felt the grass tickle the back of his neck. He drew Asuka’s hand to his face, and rubbed the back of her hand across his cheek. <Why do I deserve this? What did I do to warrant love of this magnitude? > He inhaled her fragrance, and was high off of just her smell. She was intoxicating.
"I have something for you, but I can’t give it to you here."
"Where is it, Shin-chan?"
"We have to go back to the apartment to get it…"
"Ok, will I like this surprise?"
"I think you will."
Shinji stood, and pulled Asuka up after him. Silently they made their way home, unwittingly using the route as they did they day they fell in love. It was a long way home. Shinji and Asuka had just never noticed it
Arriving at the apartment, they entered to find it dark, no one home, excepting Pen2. He was not to be seen either. Shinji led her to his room, leaving the lights off, and sat her down on the bed. He turned on a table lamp, and went to his closet.
Asuka leaned forward trying to see what he was getting, but didn’t see it until he turned around. Shinji stood there with his cello in one hand, the bow in the other… He took the bow, and rosined it a little, and sat in a chair in front of her, the cello between his knees.
The bow poised over the strings, then he moved, and drew out the first notes. The tune was "Ashokan Farewell". He had found it in a music shop a few weeks earlier. After listening to it, and finding the lyrics, he had cried his eyes out. The slow rhythm of the sound burned him to his core, the sadness and heartbreak melting him. Asuka listened to it silently, taking it in. It was one of the most profound pieces of music she had ever listened to.
Tears welled in her eyes, and rolled down her face. The love expressed in the song, even without words, was evident. It was the pure, untainted love that happens only once in a lifetime. As the music ended, Shinji, leaned the cello against the desk, and lay the bow down. Asuka, no longer cool and composed went to him, and pulled him to sit by her on the bed. They embraced, and stayed there for a long time, sharing in the unity that resulted from it. She sniffed.
"I figured it would get you too."
"That was beautiful. How long did you work on that?"
"Well, I practiced for about the last 3 weeks, and finally got it down a few days ago."
"I didn’t hear you."
"That is because I snuck out, and played elsewhere. I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Ah ha! So, keeping secrets from me then, huh?"
"Well only for a while. Would you rather heard it for three weeks, then hear it again tonight? Heh heh."
"I guess not."
"Asuka?"
"Yes, Shin-chan?"
"That was not the only present I had. I wanted to get you something… Something you could wear."
Asuka looked at him expectantly. She couldn’t help it. <He’s going to give me a ring? Does this mean he wants to marry me? >
"But, were love money, I could have bought you a ring. Instead I got you this." He held up a red velvet box.
She took it gingerly, looking at him the whole while.
"Well, go ahead, open it…." He said with urgency.
She flipped up the top, and saw a necklace with a pendant. The pendant was silver, shaped in a diamond, and paced in the middle was a ruby of the deepest red, inlaid with silver in a heart shape. She caught her breath. If there were anything he could have gotten her other than a ring, this would be it. The gold chain dangled from the case, and she lifted the cardboard retainer and drew out the necklace.
Shinji took it, and as Asuka lifter her fiery locks out of the way, he fastened it around her neck. He sat down behind her, and wrapped his arms around, his chest pressed against her back. He laid his head on her shoulder, and smelled her sweet aroma once more. He was happy. He could live on this moment for the rest of his life. It would be substance enough. They were in the middle of love making when Misato’s sluggish slurred speech interrupted.
The sound of the front door opening. "Okaykaji." She laughed. "Shhhhh!!! Pbbbbbbt." She laughed some more. They heard a "Thunk!" and decided it would be a good time to stop. Asuka got up, and cleaned herself up, and then kissed Shinji, and went to the door.
"Good night. I love you." She opened the door, and peeking out to make sure no one was there, she left. Shinji lay awake for a while, and heard Kaji remarking about Misato.
"Katsuragi, I wonder how you have managed to stay alive. I guess that you only drink this much when there is someone to drive you, or you are at home. Drinking until you puke. That is a little childish, I must say." He heard the door open and close again.
He thought about Asuka. Ashokan Farewell playing over and over in his mind. The song was about lost love, and the authors hope of rejoining. The love that the author felt apparent in the music. It brought tears to his eyes. While sorrow was a comfortable emotion, it was not enjoyable. But he felt like a king in those moments before he went to sleep. He was in love with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and she with him. Things were finally starting to go right. He was coming out on top for once. He fell asleep in minutes, and was surprised to find Asuka waiting for him. <She is starting to turn into a little nympho. > He could tell what she wanted to do by the look she was giving him. <But, that’s not so bad a punishment, now is it? >
"Commander, are you sure that these will work?" Dr. Akagi gestured to the large restraining systems that had been designed for the Evas. Not only did it restrain, but also its design amplified the apparent AT Field. In tests, the metals used channeled it well, and the projection even magnified.
"They will. They are also necessary, Dr. we can’t have the Eva’s hurting each other now can we?" Gendou smiled his half smile, and looked over his interlocked fingers.
Ritsuko didn’t like the sound of that. For the first time, he wasn’t telling her something. She had been left in the dark about this one. She took the diagrams from his desk, and turned away from him, and strode to the door, and glancing back at him, she left.
<I think that sitting there alone has done something to him. He is going crazy. What am I saying he has been crazy for some time now…>
Gendou reflected on his work. For many long minutes he planned and worked out details in his head. Things were going exactly to the schedule.
Shinji and Asuka were awoken early the next morning to sirens. Shinji jumped out of bed. Asuka kind of fell out of bed. She walked around dazed for a few minutes, trying to get her bearings. "No! It’s my birthday party. I don’t want to go fight right now!"
Shinji heard here and let out an audible "Huh?"
After finally figuring out what was going on, Asuka started getting dressed. Shinji who had slept in his clothes was already up, and trying, unsuccessfully to wake the catatonic Misato. "C’mon Misato!!! The Angels are attacking! What the hell? AUGHHGHGHG!" He finally screamed. It was hopeless. Asuka appeared in the hallway and asked hi what was happening.
"Misato is out cold, and I can’t seem to wake her up." He said. Peering at the prone Misato, he noticed that she must not have moved much at night. She was lying on her back, hands at her sides.
"Well, you get her arms, I’ll get he legs, and we will take her to the car."
"Who is going to drive?"
"You will, Shinji." She stated.
"Me? I can’t drive. Didn’t you see what happened the last time?" He argued.
"Well, that is much better than my driving experiences. Most of them have ended in total disaster." She said at length.
"Ok, ok. Here." He bent down, and got Misato’s arms and Asuka got her legs. They half dragged half carried her out to the elevator, and then out of the building to the car waiting in the parking lot. "Man is she heavy. I don’t know if it is because she weighs a lot, or we are just weak." Asuka observed.
After loading her in the sports car, Shinji took the keys out of her pocket, and eyeing Asuka, he started the car. After putting it in gear, and revving the engine a few times, he pushed a little on the gas, and let off of the clutch slowly. The car lurched forward, and almost died, but he saved it in time. He didn’t want to have to start off again.
After getting it up to 4th gear, he let it at that. They were flying down the road at a frightening pace, but because everyone was evacuated, there was no traffic. They ran red lights, and sped towards HQ, and got there just as the last building was accommodated. The car train sped them below ground, and they were soon in front of NERV. After calling a couple of guards to help the awakening Misato from the car, the two teens sped off to the command center. When they got there, utter pandemonium is what they encountered.
Ritsuko was typing furiously on God knows what, Maya, Shigeru, and Makoto are making reports to Gendou, and he is ordering things about with abandon. He points at Shinji and Asuka.
"What are you doing here? Get to the cage. You have to fight." And with that the one sided conversation was over.
They didn’t waste time changing into plug suits, they climbed into the pilots seat, and were inserted into the entry plug, and then were poised above the Signal Plug Terminator, waiting for the familiar "shink, whirrrrrrrr, zzzhhhhhhhhhhhh" that signaled startup.
The briefing started as soon as they were inserted.
"Shinji. Asuka. Rei is already activated, and waiting for you, she is on the launch platform. What we know is very little. We have identified two of the Angels as models that we extrapolated. They are variants of models 17.44 and 19.38. Plan accordingly. Unfortunately that leaves us with three other angles of unknown nature." Ritsuko had here serious expression on.
"What?! We are expected to fight five angels? And how are we going to do that?" Asuka yelled.
"We have some preliminary ideas. First you two are going to be induced to sleep. Your entry plugs will have the pressure turned up, and you will black out for a while. You can be revived if the need arises, but for now this is necessary. We are going to have you hidden in one of our decoy buildings that has been constructed. There, you will neutralize the AT fields for Rei."
"But Rei is nowhere good enough to fight all of them!" Shinji pleaded.
The 'Sound Only' box came on, and his fathers calm voice filled the LCL. "That is none of your concern. It has been dealt with. Do as you are told." It amazed Shinji how one minute, his father could be excited, and in command, and shouting orders, and the next, cool, and decisive. The sound only box went off, and Ritsuko came back on.
"Allow Rei to deal with them. If anything happens that is going to endanger the mission, we will go from there, we haven'’ been able to plan that far ahead, but it will do for now. We have to launch. They are starting their attack. They will be exiting the mountains from the North and East within a few moments. Any questions?"
"No ma’am." They said in unison, dejectedly.
"Move Units 01 and 02 to the Launch platform with Unit 00. Set up launch sequences to converge 01 and 02, and move them to the building. Launch Unit 00 to the 7th sector. I want her behind some cover. And find Misato!"
The Evas were relocated to the platforms alongside Unit 00. At the command, they were launched, losing site of each other as girders and crossbeams whizzed by and the shower of sparks darkened the photosensitive viewport. Shinji and Asuka found themselves in a large warehouse type building, but suited for the Evas to stand facing each other in the middle.
Rei stood near a set of apartment buildings, watching a camera feed of the angels coming down a pass from the mountains. They were as varied as any others they had encountered. The first to appear was a large tangle of a mesh like substance. It flowed rather than walked. The next was similar in movement technique, but very different in looks. It was vaguely amoebae-like, but more solid looking. It poured and oozed into the streets. They came from the eastern side.
From the North, came the other three. One walked upright, and looked very much humanoid. It had soft looking skin, and no armor apparent. Another floated, and continuously changed from sphere to flat circle shape. It would have looked funny had there been some boisterous music, but there was nothing funny about it. The final enemy was detected, but could not be seen easily. It cast shadow, but for some reason was only visible when it moved quickly.
They spread out, aware that a threat was present, but unable to ascertain where it lay.
In the control room, Misato, propped by a staff-person, half walked half dragged into the room, and plopped into a chair.
"Ms. Katsuragi. For the remainder of the campaign, would you refrain from using alcohol to escape reality in such quantities as you did last night? It would benefit us greatly if we had our staff awake and sober." Gendou stared through his tinted glasses at her, his folded hands framing her.
"Yes, sir." She said, wincing at how loud her whispering voice was. It sounded like a cannon in her head. "What is our status?" She asked Ritsuko.
"Unit 00 is deployed, and waiting to attack, Units 01 and 02 are getting ready to deploy their fields."
"You mean Rei is fighting alone? How could you do that?" She asked Gendou and Ritsuko at the same time.
"There are things that you have not been made aware of, and that will be revealed in today’s fight. In the future you may make use of these procedures to help better your command of combat." Gendou stated coolly.
In Shinji’s plug, the pressure was increasing slowly. It was comfortable at first, then oppressive, then it was black. He found himself floating, among flowers and trees. The smell of spring stung his nostrils lightly, and he sneezed. This pushed him back, and right into Asuka.
"Oh! Hey, watch it, buddy! Oh, I’m sorry, it’s you, Shinji."
Shinji blushed, and said his normal "sorry". Then he remembered their task. He took Asuka’s hand, and thought to her. <We need to start powering the AT fields up. Rei may not have much time. >
<OK. Powering up, now. >
The ATF extrapolator showed the permeating AT field expanding and getting darker. It grew from the building, and then moved across the street, then surrounded the block, then surrounded that quadrant, then that section. The Evas lay dormant, only using power to keep up the nerve connections and powering the field. The angels’ fields started converging on the expanding field of Shinji and Asuka’s.
Rei leapt from behind the building, and struck at the humanoid enemy first. It took the blow, but then formed around the Prog knife, and yanked it from her. She spotted it’s core, but it was being constantly covered and swirled around by the liquid like flesh. She kicked hard at it, and launched the angel across the city, only to be confronted by another. This one, the invisible one, punched her in the side, and then moved away. It was playing with her.
Her emotionless stare searched for the angel’s form, moving from building to building, seeking it, but now seeing it. She spotted it, and pulled her other prog knife out, ready to throw, when a shadow fell across her, as another angel bore down on her.
It struck with a heavy blow across the back of her neck, nearly slicing through the armor that protected the entry plug. It’s long arms reached out, and it grasped one of her arms. Try as it might, Unit 00 could not free itself. It writhed and fought, but still it was locked in the angel’s grasp. Then with its other hand, it took hold of her opposite leg. Flexing its muscles it pulled, and the muscles in her leg and arm were stretched. They bulged, trying to retract to a normal length. Then with a loud ripping sound, the leg popped out of joint, and hung limply towards the ground.
In the control room, Gendou was looking at a file containing information on the dummy plug system. He closed the file, and looked back at the screen. <Is it ready? Will it work? This test will tell. >
He whispered quietly into the console at his right. "Begin dummy plug initiation."
In Unit 00, Rei, writhing in pain at the loss of her leg, and the slice along the back of her neck, wept openly from the exhaustive torture. Then everything in the entry plug went black. She felt no more pain. The screen remained off for a few moments, then started up again. Only this time it was tinted with a sickening color of red.
The Eva’s eyes glowed red, revealing the destructive nature and ability that lay within. It screamed. The roar stopped time, and made all those who witnessed it shiver with fright. The free leg kicked out, and caught the angel in its head area.
By reaction it released the Eva, and stumbled backwards. Now on the ground, Unit 00 propped itself up, and looked at it’s leg, dangling from the joint, still attached, but wrenched from it proper place. It concentrated, and the leg moved back into joint. The laceration on its neck healed, and slowly, as though it regretted it, stood up, and faced its enemy once more.
The angels right arm shot out again, but this time, the Eva caught it
with it’s right arm, and twisting and pulling right, broke the skeletal
structure, and tore off the arm with a sickening "splorch". Thick green
and blue liquid flowed freely from the wound and in to the streets. Unit
00 shot it’s hand forward, and grasping the angel by a mouth lick structure,
yanked its jaw out. Using it as a weapon, it stabbed and hacked at the
angel for many seconds.
"Looks like they may have tricked the dummy plug." Fuyutsuki stated.
"Don’t be so sure. The fight isn’t over." Gendou returned. He could see the ruse at work. The angel that was being beaten was a decoy. It would die to allow the others time to neutralize the Eva.
"They have it cornered now. They will begin their attack at any time."
In the dream, Asuka saw what was happening too, and she shouted at Shinji. "We have to do something!"
"I know, if father doesn’t call me soon, I will be forced to go out."
"I may not like her much, but I can’t stand to see her killed. We have to do something. I want to fight. I hate the defense!"
The amorphous angel pounced first, enveloping Unit 00 in it thick viscouse fluid self. Acids from vacuole like spaces started eating the armor. The Eva quickly sliced at one of the vacuoles, opening it to the rest of the angel. The acids and enzymes poured out, digesting the rest of the angel, slowly, agonizingly slowly, but doing it none the less. Seeing it’s fallen comrade, and feeling the loss, the invisible angel moved in again, this time reaching through the amorphous angel, and grabbing Unit 00 again by a leg, only this time, yanking her out, and throwing her against a building.
She landed on her feet, and jumped to the side to miss the next blow
that was coming for her. But, she jumped right into the tangled angel,
and found out what it was about. Electricity jolted through her, sizzling
flesh and burning it away. Sparks flew all around, and despite its attempts
to get away, it was unable to escape the electrical assault.
Gendou looking through his steepled hands, not wanting to think about the pain that his Rei was experiencing thought about the usefulness of the dummy-plug system. "We are going to have to tweak its aggressiveness up a little. It seems a little unwilling to fight."
"Yes, sir. Fuyutsuki said, not taking his eyes off the screen. "Should we scramble Unit 01 and 02 into the fight?"
"I don’t think that will be necessary, it is being taken care of as
we speak."
In the dream realm, Shinji and Asuka watched the battle unfold in rapt attention. They had not noticed the woman who came up behind them. She was wrapped in shadow, and difficult to see. Shinji tried to turn to look at Asuka but found that he was unable to turn his head. A whisper at his ear told him that everything was all right, and the he needn’t worry about anything. <My dear Shinji. Stay here with her. She needs you, and you need her. I will go to fight this battle, and you will protect her and all of them down there. > He knew who it was, and was both frightened and comforted. Frightened of the unknown that said that his mother was still alive, and comforted in knowing that she was there with him. They’re with them…
In the control room, all kinds of things were going crazy. The computer had just received a request for additional amounts of power to be accessible to Unit 01, and they had been OKed and carried out. Then several orders were given, and the computer complied. Makoto, Maya, and Shigeru all looked at each other, and then at their screens. Ikari held up a hand at their inquiries, and told them to just take it the way it came.
Unit 01 stood, its eyes shining a bright light, and tore its way from the building. Several of the buildings had been storing power for the last few seconds, and suddenly three of them catapulted up as they were forcefully extended. The angels that were standing on where they had been retracted were catapulted also. Many miles away, they landed, and after the shock wore off, the started back to the city to finish the fight.
Unit 01, roared, and for a moment it sounded like a guttural laughter. It lunged at the wiry angle, and kicked Unit 00 out of its grip. The Eva slid away, and rested against a hillside before standing up again, and looked around for the other angles. Unit 01 was staring at the wiry angel, daring it to move. It breathed hard. Anyone watching would question that. They had never seen the Eva’s breath before. Finally tired of waiting, the Eva made a sweeping gesture with one arm, and cut the angel nearly in two. Green ichor flowed freely from the many thousands of wounds. The mass reformed on itself, and became whole again. Then it attacked. It sent many silvery tendrils forward, trying to grab the Eva, and pull her in, but it had not realized that the Eva, although inhabited by someone very much sane, had gone totally berserk, and was now fighting to rid it of it’s enemies. Through instinct, and primal strength, it evaded strikes and dodged blows, both physically carried out, and formed through the AT field.
By this time, the other angels were coming back in, and a one of them was within attack range.
Unit 01 reached out, and grabbed the shape-changing angel that until this point had stayed silent. A wail rent the air, and it slowly drooped and sagged, trying to make itself a cumbersome a load as possible. Yui would not be thwarted so easily however. She lifted it above her head, and with as great a force as she could must, slammed it down on the ground, crushing what was left of the amorphous angel, and dropping the wiry mess that was the other close angel. She picked I t up again, and slammed it down again. This was getting her nowhere.
She pulled out her prog knife and set to work, slicing pieces off, but they reformed on the body, and replaced the parts that she cut off with grim efficiency. The wiry angle advanced on her from behind, and locked onto her left leg. It started reeling her in slowly. When she started to struggle, it jerked her off of its flattened comrade, and into its messy interior. The electricity arced, and splayed over her body, tightening muscles here, and relaxing them there, making her totally useless. Then she got mad. The electricity stopped working the way it should. The battery backups on her back started filling, the energy being pumped into them through sheer force of will on Yui’s part. When they reached maximum, she ejected them, and picked them up again. The angel stopped its attack, to start powering up again.
In Central Dogma, everyone was watching on curiously. Trying to figure out what Unit 01 was doing with her batter packs. Life signs showed that Shinji was still asleep, and the monitors showed his chest still rising and falling rhythmically, and his eyes still shut. On the screen, Unit 01 knelt, and forced the two batteries to connect on opposite ends, then wound electric line around it, and thrust it deep into the mass of tangles that comprised the attacker. She ran.
"That’s a neat trick, there. I’ll have to rem, rem, remmbember that one." A still slightly drunk Misato stated. Ritsuko looked at her and shook her head. Misato had woken up just enough to watch for those few seconds, then fell asleep after her brief monologue.
The explosion shook the ground for miles around, not only did it incinerate the relatively unprotected electrical angel, it damaged the invisible one that was standing close by. Blood flowed freely from it wounds, and the gore covered the streets.
Shinji watched the battle, and nearly threw up a couple of times. The fury and rage that the Eva, his mother, showed was terrible. Although her knew that she loved him, and that she was doing this to protect both him and Asuka now, he was amazed that she could do things like that.
The Eva narrowed its eyes, and searched for the last angel. The invisible form would not be hard to see now, it was splattered with its blood, and it was not very hard to see the ooze floating above the streets, as well as falling into them.
As she turned a corner, she spotted it, it had fallen onto one knee, and was propping itself up on it stump of an arm. It was so pitiful, kneeling there like that, as though it was praying to its God, asking it for deliverance, or a quick death. It’s death came fast enough, however, as Unit 01, and winding up, brought it’s fist down on the skull, doing so much damage that the fist ended up being buried deep within the chest cavity.
The unit shut down, it had long ago run out of power, and now, since it’s purpose had been spent, it no longer needed to be activated. Crews would be out shortly to attach power cables, and then he would activate, and move to the recovery area. Rei’s Unit 00 had been shut down earlier in an attempt to keep her from being targeted by the angels. If anything had happened that threw the situation more out of control than it already was, she would have reactivated, and assisted Unit 01. Unit 02 was still in the shredded building. Yui had been in such a hurry to get out; she had not bothered with the doors.
While they were still sleeping, Yui appeared once more. "Shinji. I don’t want you to think about what happened out there. There are some things happen with you thinking about them. Instead I want you to concentrate on loving this woman next to you." Asuka took his hand. The ridges that made up her finger prints, the fine hairs on the back of her hand, the minute wrinkles on her palm, were all he could feel. The over sensitivity of the dream realm enabled him to feel her in the greatest detail. "Always remember that I love you, and know that I will be her always to help you. Now, go on, and get out of here, and back to your lives, there are a few people who might be worried about you."
Asuka and Shinji sat on the steps to the Ancient Shinto Shrine that had been the dawning for their love. Once again the sun was setting into the sea, and once again they were watching it.
"Asuka, I love you. What an amazing feeling. Since I met you, the seeds of my love were growing, and now, after sprouting, I feeling truly alive. Before that, I was just an empty shell that looked like me. People can’t go on alone. The sense of solitude and agony are overwhelming when there is no one to hold and share you self with…I-I love you."
Asuka absorbed this a minute, and after careful reflection, spoke. "Shinji, promise me that we will always be together. Promise me that. I don’t eve want to leave you, and I don’t think I could take it. Our love grows daily, deeper and wider than any ocean." Sniff " I love you too."
Close by, standing in the shadows, hands at her sides, Rei watched the couple. She could feel from that distance the love the two shared. It was almost tangible, and it pressed on her heart. She had never felt anything like it, and it both hurt her, and brought her pleasure. She eyed them for a long time, making sure not to actually look at them for too long. They would feel her eyes, and turn around. She had longed for so long to feel what love was about, and, without knowing, Shinji and Asuka had given her that. Her quest had come to a close, and now, she opened a new quest, what it was she didn’t know, but it was noble, and true. Something worth it, and only time would tell where her pursuits would take her.
Misato sat at home, waiting for the two lovebirds. She knew that they had had sex, and she was not disappointed in either of them. She saw the love for what it was, and did not want to deny them the physical aspects of love, when they had already delved into the emotional ones. She also suspected that they had had sex long before the physically had it, while in the dream realm. She remembered the video feed coming from Asuka’s plug, and it confirmed her suspicions. When they came in, she asked them to have a talk.
"You both know my stance when it comes to your relationship right?"
"Actually I am not that clear on it." Asuka stated flatly. It had been a long time since their last discussion on this subject, and things might have changed.
"Well, it alright with me that you have it, and now, I think you both have matured a great deal, I want you to enjoy it. That does not mean wanton sex all over the house, but that means that you are as free to do what you want as I am. I don’t want you two to get into trouble, so play it safe a little OK? I know that there is no guaranteed safety except for abstinence, but, well, you know." They nodded their heads, they knew. "Also, I wanted to say how proud I am of both of you. You have found what many people never find, and the fact that you have found it so young is amazing. Many people search their whole lives for their soul mates, and they never find them. I remember saying once that air-conditioning was man’s triumph over nature, but it isn’t. Do you know what sets us apart from the animals? Our love. I have not seen one animal yet that I can say without a shadow of doubt that it loves its mate. Now pen-pen, I love him, and I think he tolerates me. That could be seen as something like love, but I don’t know" She suppressed a laugh. "Any way, you two be careful, I have work to do tonight. We are reviewing a report on the 5th child tonight, and I don’t want to invoke the wrath of your father, Shinji, so I think I will be there early and sober." She waved to them, and left, patting pen-pen (who heard the entire conversation, and was a little angry that she could talk of him that way) on the head.
They sat together, and wondered about the future. True tough times would greet them both, whether in the near future, or in the distant future. They could handle it together, and they would be the mounting odds.
The angel hung high over head, pondering the images it had taken of the battle not so long ago. After the failure of its brethren, it had sent requests for more forces. The next of it’s kin would be infecting the newest model of android fighter. From now on, they would not send multiple opponents. They would have to be more subtle, more tricky…
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Yes this is bit of a sudden end, however, Episode 19 occurs immediately after this. If there is some problem in this series somewhere that you feel must be rectified, contact me, and tell me how I can fix it. I plan to start another series soon (this one hopefully better) so stay tuned.