This story is written as a sequel to Ryan Xavier's Unwilling Angel; it would be good if you read that story as well, since many scenes are based on information found on that magnificent piece of work. This story is based on characters appearing in Neon Genesis Evangelion from Gainax and their counterparts from Unwilling Angel; no profit comes out of such endeavors, and thus suing me will produce no results. If Ryan Xavier or Gainax is specifically displeased by my authoring this fanfiction, I will put it off the site. This disclaimer applies to this chapter and any other chapter I write for this story, and thus will not be repeated in later chapters.
Symbology:"Direct speech", 'Indirect Speech', "Character's thoughts",
*Flashback*.
The sun is personified as a female due to Japanese themes. Likewise, the moon is
presented as a male.
Does any of you know why were they calling Asuka, Shinji, and Rei "Children" in singular form, instead of "Child"?
Chapter 00 - Change
It was early in the morning, with the sun casting her lazy pink and orange colours on the cool, dark sky. As a leaf fell to the ground, a young woman looked at the swirling blur of red, thinking of it; thinking of her long-lost hatred for the colour...
Ironic if you have red eyes yourself, she had to admit. Even more ironic if you actually considered the fact that Rei Ayanami, once known as REII to a few people, had expressed that feeling at a time when feelings were so much connected to her as cold is to fire. But times change, and so do people.
It took her a long day to understand the value and importance of change. A day she would never forget. The day she learned she was meant to be no more than a slave, a copy, a... a thing!
But change always finds its way around. It is inevitable... Rei had gone through many changes throughout the last year. The most important to her were two: her becoming a human by losing her core to her replacement, and her current relationship with Shinji. Ikari Shinji Ayanami. Her beloved.
Her heart raced at the remembrance, the telltale flip-flops in her stomach. She thought of their current situation often, and that brought feelings both nice and sad at the same time. Shaking her head in frustration, the differences in her reactions from times past becoming more and more apparent as months waned and passed. She told herself she was getting ridiculous, but that was not her problem, nor the reason of her frustration.
Unable to bear children since she was brought - not born - into this world, Rei had to cope with the consequences of other people's faults and choices; Rei did not miss the irony of that too: "Sins of parents wary their children still..."
"Adam was the closest thing to a child I am ever going to bear." She said that to Shinji once and he told her he didn't care she could not bear a child; and while his heartfelt intentions were well heeded, Rei could not feel empty at the slightest mention of children.
As she moved away from the window she was looking out of, she took care to make as little noise as possible in her attempt to reach their mattress without waking her lover. Lowering herself next to him, she could help a smile from showing on her face. He seemed very peaceful to her, and that made her think of him as cute and lovely at the same time, elements she found more than attractive in Shinji. She crept closer and got under the bed sheets, curling up next to the young man and wrapping her arms around his neck. He did not wake up, but snuggled closer to her, resting his chin on her shoulder. And soon enough, there were two sleeping forms on the mattress...
The following morning ensued a little less wild than it was to be expected, had one not seen the inside of the Katsuragi residence for more than six months: Misato, while not entirely off her bear-gulping ritual, had gotten a little less loud in her acts, since her hangovers were less usual, now that Angels were gone, and Asuka was more easy-going, meaning she didn't literally drag poor Shinji out of his bed, crying out what a perverted moron he was in all languages known to her, from Japanese to English to German...
Instead, the morning was a bit more normal. While that would be far from normal - and none of the people who knew the residents would really expect it be so - it was better than it used to be: Shinji, aside from the love of Rei, also enjoyed the lack of clobbering he was receiving when Asuka felt like it; Rei was no longer treated nastily, except perhaps for a few "good-natured" jokes from the part of Asuka, namely making a fuss over the consumption of products that were not made of animals; Asuka now actually had someone by her side, though that might have made the latter shudder a year ago; and Misato... Well, she was drinking less, now that she was once more an item with Kaji, and her driving had really gotten better! She was also regularly going out with Maya, who was now promoted to Ritsuko's post after her senior's death down at Terminal Dogma, when Casper's conscience, her mother, betrayed her.
As Rei was considering her situation once more in the bathroom while taking a shower, a pain suddenly racked her! Feeling dizzy and unable to do anything else but put her hands in front of her in a vain attempt to break her eminent fall, she passed out.
Maya was standing by a certain tombstone at the cemetery of Tokyo-3 when her NERV standard-issue cell phone rung. "M-moshimoshi?"
"Ibuki-donno, it's me, Rei. I am sorry to disturb you so early in the morning..." Maya could recognise the First Child's voice; from the sound of her voice, she was very worried. She tried to be brave for her sempai, and answered with all the courage she could sum up, wiping the tears off her face in the process.
"Good morning, Rei... How can I help you?" She heard shuffling from the other end of the line. "Rei? What is the matter?"
"I am sorry. I was wondering, if you can... run me through a series of tests? There is something that troubles me..."
Maya sighed: she very little medical knowledge, being more specialised in system analysis instead. "I will schedule an appointment for... what time is best for you?" Rei hesitated a little before answering: "As soon as possible would be best I am afraid..." Maya was startled, but had to accept it; it was her post now, and she had to make her mentor and predecessor proud of her.
"Alright then! I will meet you in half an hour at NERV headquarters, OK?", Maya said. "OK... See you then, Ibuki-donno." Then the line went dead, and the young officer shut her cell off. Bowing for a moment at the tomb, she left the site in silence.
An hour later and once again at the Katsuragi residence, Rei started for Shinji's room when Misato called her out of nowhere. "Where have you been, lady? I don't suppose you were night-prowling, now, were you?" Rei flushed a deep red at Misato sneaking up on her. "Misato-san, I..."
"Oh, cut that out, will ya? It's either Misato or Misato-chan for ya, got it? Anyway, what is it? You seem a little paler than usual..."
The girl was not very eager to speak when anyone could come up right behind them and over-hearing what she had to say... "Misato-chan, will you come with me for a walk? Others might hear us..."
Misato got her point, and nodded in approval. "Hai! Just let me get ready, so that others won't search for us." And with that she took Rei's hand and led her to the kitchen. While the latter sat on the chair that Misato had bought just six months ago for her, the Major went to the bench, took a pen and a pack of Post-it, scribbled something down on one of them, and stuck it on the fridge door, while she opened it with her other hand, and then she took a 6-pack of Yebisu for her and 2 sandwiches for both of them. "Let's go!"
The two left the house soon after, the door closing behind them. It was not a quarter later on when Asuka woke up and went to get something to it, to notice one of Misato's weird notes; Asuka didn't miss the fact that the hearts drawn by the Major were covering as much area as the actual words she had written: "Konnichiwa! Me and Rei are going for a ride; we will back soon, so don't worry for us!" Tossing the whole subject aside as much as the note, she went to make her breakfast, thinking she should take advantage of the incidence and have some eggs with bacon and sausages for a change... "Man, I would kill for some weisswurst with sweet mustard and pretzel!"
Katsuragi-shousa and the First Child, as most people knew them, were now out of town, in a little green hill that seemed so much out of place after all the destruction that had taken place in this area; "Shugoi!", Rei thought, without realising she said that, however low.
"Hai... It is marvellous how this small piece of land survived such a catastrophe. Why don't you sit down?" Rei looked at the wet with morning dew grass with reluctance. "Would you like me to spread a cloth over it? I always bring one with me in the baggage compartment, just in case." Rei nodded, and Misato had done as she said in a couple of minutes.
As the two women lay on the improvised picnic carpet, Misato resting on her right elbow, Rei looking up at the clouds, the Major could no longer hold back the question: "What was it that worried you so much this morning, Rei?" Seeing that her newest charge looked at her in shock, she playfully said: "Hey, I am a military officer; if I couldn't hear you speaking to the phone, more people than just me would have died in a number of occasions!" Rei could not help remember the last time her elder woman made an unexpected appearance, saving both her and Shinji from certain death.
"I am sorry... I just didn't know what should I do!" Rei suddenly felt a hand resting on her shoulder, making a patting motion. "It's alright; I am here to help you relieve yourself of some of the worry you got; if you don't remember it," she added with a grin, "you are my third charge!"
Rei smiled a tiny smile at this; one that faded almost as soon as it appeared. "Misato-chan, I... I was taking a shower today, and... well, I started bleeding...."
Misato seemed clueless for a second, then got it. "Oh! You had your menstruation!" Then she thoughtfully added: "Was that your first time?" Rei nodded, but looked away. "It sure came a little late," Misato added, "but this is not abnormal; you just grew physically up late, that's all! One of my friends at high school had her period start at sixteen..."
"I am afraid this is not the problem..." answered the younger girl. "What do you mean?"
Rei made a motion of confusion with her hands, then lay them both on her abdomen. "Misato, I have to tell you something; only Commander Ikari and Ritsuko-san knew of this, and I told Shinji-kun some six months ago about it, but nobody else knows... Will you keep what I tell you a secret?"
Misato wondered what was it that was so personal to Rei that she would want to keep a secret, especially after having seen her clones, a request Rei herself had made to her best friend, Akagi Ritsuko... Being a little fearful of what else would be so important that she would keep a secret from her but tell to Shinji, she gulped down in frustration. "Alright; I swear to keep this conversation, as well as what we exchange during it, between just the two of us, unless you tell me otherwise.", Misato added, thinking it was best.
Her idea proved right, for Rei nodded in agreement. "I take it you know that me and my clones bore a Super Solenoid Core, am I wrong?" Misato agreed. "This is not the whole truth; in order to put the S2 Core inside one's body, you would have to take something out of it. Since you have not seen a human sized core, I should tell you it is not any bigger than a clenched human fist, maybe just a little bigger. What does your anatomical knowledge tell you would be the best candidate organ for removal, if such a thing was to placed within a mostly humane body?"
Misato leaned back on the cloth and looked thoughtfully at the sky, trying to understand what the girl obviously was going around. "What would I take out? The liver, kidneys, pancreas, the other intestines, all are important! A human would not be able to survive for a long term if he was missing any of them! Except for..." Misato turned her head sideways to look at the expectant eyes of Rei. "You don't mean... your..."
Rei turned her own head now to look at the sky, he hands still resting over her abdomen. "Indeed. I... I have no uterus or ovaries. I can bear no children, Misato-chan."
Misato, not knowing what to say, went closer to her charge and wrapped her arms affectionately around her. Rei leaned into the older woman's chest. "Honey, are you sure we can't do anything? I mean, Touji is back on his feet, why do you think they can not help you any?", Misato said.
"It's not the same; Touji lost legs he was supposed to have, so they just grew new ones from his own cells. In my case, I am not supposed to have any of those! My genes have been altered so that I cannot have them; my body would reject them!" Rei cried out.
Misato thought of something else, though: "How did you have your first menstruation without an uterus, then? And don't tell me I have not noticed how you grew up these last six months. You have become a fine young lady..."
As Ibuki Maya was analysing the incoming data from Rei's tests, she let out a gasp of shock. "Oh my God..."
"I know, but I was not supposed to have a menstruation cycle; it might as well have been something else and not my first menstruation... Nor was I supposed to reach puberty..."
Misato was getting more and more confused at Rei's revelations. "What do you mean? What could have possibly caused it then?"
Closing her brimming eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek, she said it: "It... It could be a tumour..."
Author's Note
I know, I am evil to put a cliffhanger here, but don't worry, it is not as bad as it seems. I swear!