Kaji leaned against the wall with a sigh. "That was an excellent meal, Rei," he repeated.

"Mmm, yes it was," Misato agreed.

Rei's cheeks still turned pink, though to a lesser extent than before, as she nodded her quiet thanks.

Kaji smiled. "Well, it's getting late for me now. I think I'll go ahead and head off," he started.

Asuka quickly latched onto his arm and held him down from standing up. "Oh, don't leave Kaji!"

Cirus smiled despite himself. "He does need some sleep, Asuka," he reminded her.

"Yes, Cirus is right, Asuka. I can't stay here all night," Kaji repeated.

Asuka slowly let go of him and then sat in a huff. Kaji sighed, but turned to everyone with a smile and waved his goodbye. "See you all soon."

He left the sitting room and the door could be heard closing a moment later.

Misato stood up. "Well," she turned to Cirus and Rei, "it's late, so why don't you two go home? We'll clean up."

"I'll help you clean up," Cirus replied, standing up.

"Rei might need an escort back to her place," Misato said with a raised eyebrow.

Cirus gave her a 'do you ever stop' look, but turned to Rei. "If you want I will," he said.

"I will help also," Rei replied and stood up.

"Great, thanks for the help!" Misato said happily and the four of them (Shinji was helping instead of Asuka, who was still in a huff) started to clear the table and bring them into the kitchen.

Rei was putting some plates in the sink. She had to stand on tiptoes to reach down straight enough to put the plates down, but then couldn't get her hands out. A tug of both failed and then she finally slipped each out, one at a time. The knife they had used to cut the vegetables was in the sink and the weight of the plates had pointed its blade up. Rei gasped quietly when she felt her finger get sliced. She held her hand up and watched the blood slowly come out the small wound on the tip of her ring finger. She looked at the red liquid curiously as it did so, tilting her head to watch it roll down.

Cirus came into the kitchen with his own load of plates and saw her looking at her hand and then the blood on her hand. He set the plates down and walked over to her. "Are you alright?" he asked.

She turned to him with her hand up and a slight nod. "It isn't deep."

Cirus reached up with his hands, giving Rei a politely inquisitive look with raised eyebrows. She nodded and he took her hand in his.

He was quite surprised to see how small her hands were compared to his own. The back of her hand was so soft... Feeling as though he'd passed beyond a boundary he should have respected, he became very uncomfortable holding her hand. "Y-yes, you're right." He let go of her hand softly. "I'll get you something to wrap it up with," he said and seemed to retreat away from her out into the hall.

Rei calmly looked after him as Misato entered the kitchen.

"Rei! Did you cut yourself?" Misato asked in surprise, hurrying over to her and looking down at Rei�s hand.

"Yes, but it's only a small cut," Rei answered calmly as Misato looked at the wound.

Cirus walked back with a roll of swath. He walked up to the two of them holding it out to them.

Misato decided to take advantage of the situation. "Cirus, would you? I need to help Shinji get Asuka up from the table," she asked, feigning innocence.

"O-of course," Cirus replied, knowing full well what she was up to.

He motioned to the kitchen table to Rei and they both walked over to it and sat down. He started to wrap her finger in a narrow strip of the cloth very gently. Rei looked at his eyes, at least as well as she was able with his glasses, as he wrapped her finger.

"Did I offend you?" she asked.

His head shot up to look at her in surprise. "Not at all, why would you think that?"

"You seemed very uncomfortable when you were examining my cut," Rei answered.

The reminder made Cirus falter in wrapping her hand. "...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that..." he said apologetically.

"Are you embarrassed about something?" she asked, seeing the red starting to show up on his face.

Cirus tried to calm his body down, but it refused to listen. His face was getting hot and his throat was catching on every breath. He finally admitted defeat and nodded to her. "I don't feel it... it's my place to hold your hand," he told her honestly.

She looked at him with calm curiosity. "I don't understand."

Cirus looked from her eyes down to her hand, palm up, in both of his. He suddenly found it very difficult to breathe. He looked back up at her. "...I just get very worried that I will... offend you by holding your hand... like this," he explained, gently cradling her hand in his.

Her skin was incredibly soft and delicate.

"Why would it offend me?" she asked back.

"Maybe not offend, but I don't feel like I... deserve... to hold your hand," Cirus answered slowly.

Cirus could tell by Rei's expression that she still didn't understand why. In actual fact it relieved him. He smiled at her and slowly pulled his hands away from hers.

Rei reached up with her other hand and took his right hand in both of her own, pulling it back towards herself as she intently looked down at his hand with shining red eyes. Cirus stopped himself from speaking when he saw that she was just trying to see if she experienced the same emotion. Her touch was enough to make him have to fight his body to avoid the tears from coming down his face, she was simply so gentle. He closed his eyes behind his glasses and bowed his head slowly, forcing himself back to a calm state.

Rei noticed his hand shaking and looked up at Cirus' face. He let out a quivering breath and looked up at her with a forced smile.

"Do I deserve to hold your hand?" she asked.

Cirus tried to speak instantly, but at first his voice failed him. "...O-of course you do, Miss Ayanami. I-I just d... don't..." he couldn't finish the sentence. He couldn't stop his tears this time and so he covered his face with his other hand. ...So innocent.

Rei looked at him in surprise, her cheeks turning slightly pink again. "I-I am sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

Cirus shook his head, unable to communicate in any other way at the time.

"Then why are you crying?" she asked softly, calming a small amount.

Cirus looked up at her, unable to remove his glasses because of the others. His voice slowly came back to him. "...Because you're so beautiful," he said finally through the silent tears on his face.

He felt her hands stiffen under his and saw her eyes widen in shock as her cheeks turned pink with another gentle blush. He winced, immediately regretting the words. "I... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," he apologized with building speed and started to pull his hand away from hers. He had trespassed long enough.

He was caught by surprise when Rei reached out and grabbed his hand again, pulling it slowly back to where it had been. She held it with one hand and reached up to him with the other. Her face was very calm as she caressed the side of his face with her hand. She felt him quiver at her touch. "Are you cold?" she asked.

Cirus took in a deep quivering breath and let it out slowly. "N-no, Miss Ayanami. It's just that..." and finally the proper words came to his mind. He calmed himself and smiled at her calmly as he nodded, "...I've never felt so human."

Her cheeks turned a deeper pink. "How does this make you feel human?" she asked as she ran her fingers over his face again.

Cirus smiled at her calmly and reached up, taking her hand with his free one and gently pulling it back down to their others. "I don't know how to explain it to you," he answered honestly. "H... how did you feel when I did it to you?"

Rei's face became more calm as she looked down at the table, trying to recall exactly how she had felt. "...I'd never felt a sensation like it before, so I don't know how to explain it."

"Exactly," Cirus replied softly.

Rei looked back into his eyes as well as she could because of his glasses and nodded calmly. She then took her hand out of his and cupped his other hand with both of hers. "You can touch my hand, if you wish," she said softly. She still didn't understand fully what she was experiencing, but she didn't disagree with what she'd said.

Cirus swallowed a lump in his throat as he took in the sensation of her hands holding his. "...Thank you..." he said in a voice so soft it was barely audible.

"You're welcome," Rei replied calmly.

Misato and Shinji peeked around the doorway to look at the two of them. Shinji started to ask her something, but she clamped his mouth shut with her hand, smiling as she saw the two of them looking into each other's eyes at the table. She pulled herself and Shinji back into the hall and dragged him back into the sitting room.

About an hour later Cirus and Rei were standing outside Rei�s apartment. They had left shortly after their talk and slowly walked there together. He was officially her escort of course.

Cirus smiled at her and opened her door. "It was a very good dinner, Miss Ayanami. You should consider cooking as a hobby, if you don't mind me saying so," he added.

"I don't have a kitchen," she replied with her usual directness as she stepped through the door and turned around to face him again.

"Would you like one?" he asked her simply with raised eyebrows.

She bowed her head and looked down at the ground. "...I don't know. I'm not used to any of this," she answered.

He smiled at her warmly. "Fair enough, I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Don't worry about it."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you," Cirus corrected her with a light tone, smiling at her more gently. He then tipped his head to her and said, "Good night, Miss Ayanami."

"...Good night, Mr. Trent," Rei replied with a nod of her own and then quietly closed the door.

Cirus went back to his own apartment then. The journey took him almost half an hour on foot, but he wasn�t bothered by the amount of time. He opened the door and walked into his room, throwing his coat on the chair closer to the door. Then he sat down in the other chair and picked up the phone. He dialed a number from memory after checking his phone for taps.

"Yes. This is Trent. I need you to take care of something for me..."

Misato pulled herself out of bed the next morning and drowsily brushed her teeth. She dragged herself to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and popped a can of beer one-handed before chugging it down in almost less than thirty seconds.

Shinji, Asuka, and Pen-Pen were all staring at her with quiet disgust. She looked at them over her beer and the kitchen table with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"Nothing," Shinji and Asuka replied as Pen-Pen vigorously shook his head.

"Thought so," Misato replied grumpily as she sat down at the table.

The phone ringing made Misato almost fall back out of the chair. She reached over sourly and picked it up. "What?" she asked again, this time to the person on the other end of the phone and with a sour tone.

Her face turned to shock instantly. "What...?" she asked again, this time almost wistfully.

"What is it, Miss Misato?" Shinji asked.

Misato furiously waved him down to be quiet as she listened intently. She hung up the phone slowly after saying a quick thank you and good bye, and then turned to them. She finally appeared to come out of her trance and she smiled at Shinji and Asuka.

"He did it. The little bastard did it!" she shouted.

"Who did what?" Asuka asked in bewilderment.

Misato calmed down and looked at Asuka. "That was Ritsuko. Two thousand workers just arrived from SEELE to start working on Tokyo-3!"

Asuka and Shinji stared at her in disbelief.

"It's true! Come on, let's go! I have to see this!" Misato said energetically as she ran back into her room and coming out five minutes later in her red jacket and black dress, though her hair was still messed up.

Shinji and Asuka ran out with her leaving a very bewildered looking Pen-Pen alone, spinning, in the kitchen.

Half an hour later, the three of them ran into the command center where Ritsuko was looking up at the large, diamond-celled screen. Misato, Shinji, and Asuka looked up at the screen in shock as they saw what was happening.

Unit 14 was moving in already completed buildings as the workers quickly started prepping the cover for their installation. Not only that, but the cover had been finished. The area that Tokyo-3 had taken up before was now a massive circle of metal in the mountains.

"When did they get here?" Misato asked, still awestruck at the sight.

"About five hours ago, when it was still dark," Ritsuko answered. "They completed the covering in a hour with Unit 14's help and are already starting to rebuild the city itself," Ritsuko explained.

Misato nodded dumbly.

Some comm chatter could be heard over the main comm.

"Alright Unit 14, we won't need you 'till tomorrow. We have to prep the cover," someone said.

"Confirmed," Cirus' voice replied as Unit 14 slowly stalked over to its launch pad near the Geo-front itself. Unit 14 disappeared down into the covering then, and couldn't be seen.

Misato walked over to her usual spot in the command center, in the center of the three sensor stations. Hyuga, Ibuki, and Ayobi were already there.

"You must have gotten his attention at dinner, Major," Hyuga commented as he hit a few keys on his keyboard.

"No kidding," Misato replied.

She stood back and just watched as pylons were shifted to make room for the buildings' bases, new tracks were put in for trains, streets were completed, the old defense systems being replaced, utility systems re-routed. The entire city was coming back to life at last.

After about ten minutes, Cirus walked into the command center, his coat fluttering behind him as usual. "Ah, good morning, Major," he said calmly.

"How did you...?" her voice trailed off as she looked to him, pointing at the screen.

Cirus looked up at the screen. "That? It's tactically unsound to have your only stronghold against an enemy wide open to assault. Wouldn't you agree, Major?" he asked back with a wry smile and a non-to-subtle insinuating tone.

Misato suddenly lunged at him and grabbed him in a hug. Cirus smiled after his initial shock and looked down at her as she pulled away from him.

"Thank you," she said, more calm.

"Don't mention it, I owed you one," Cirus replied lightly, but still calm, dismissing the issue with a toss of his hand. He then looked up at the screen again. "They should be ready tomorrow, and with four Evas helping them I think the city will be done in a week."

Misato looked up at the screen herself with a wistful smile. Then she realized something. She turned back to Cirus with an inquisitive expression, "Why did you owe me one?"

Cirus smiled wryly at her and started to leave the command center. "Dinner," he answered back over his shoulder as he disappeared out the door.