When Rei got to her house she went into her kitchen and started to set it up for cooking in general. She put her apron on and calmly went about washing her hands, collecting the vegetables to wash and chop, preparing the rice, and cleaning the sashimi she would need. She worked quite steadily for an hour and a half. She'd already prepared a great deal of sushi, just enough for two people as the book informed her, though to her it seemed rather small, so she added four extra pieces of each roll to the menu for them.

At six forty five she was stirring the pot on the stove of mizo soup smoothly and steadily, her face calmly looking down at it. She hadn't cooked since the night at Misato's house she�d told Cirus about, she had no need of it, but it had given her a very comfortable feeling that night and she was curious if it would happen again. So far it was indeed a very comfortable feeling. She was in her own kitchen--her own kitchen--cooking a meal for someone who made her feel human. She slowly stopped stirring, and looked down at her hands. A faint smile delicately curved her small lips, and then she went back to stirring, letting her smile fade away. When the doorbell rang her eyes widened slightly in surprise. She walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the apron, and down to the front door. Without checking to see who it was, she opened it, and almost stopped short.

"Cirus, I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting you," she apologized, feeling suddenly very embarrassed for a reason she didn't know.

Cirus smiled at her. "No need, Miss Ayanami. I didn't mean to catch you off guard," he replied softly and then pulled his hand from behind his back, holding a bouquet of wild flowers. "I didn't know which flowers you liked, so I picked some on the way."

Rei blushed slightly as she took the flowers numbly in her hands, looking down at them. "...T-thank you," she replied, looking back up at him with wide eyes.

Cirus bowed his head to her. "Do you like them?" he asked with a slight smile.

Rei really didn't know how to answer, she'd never really been near flowers anyway. She brought them to her nose gently and sniffed. "They smell pleasant," she answered finally.

Cirus smiled more broadly. "That's good, at least it's something." He knew she'd never been around flowers, that's why he'd brought them.

Rei stepped back from the door. "Would you like to come in?" she asked, suddenly realizing he was standing at the door.

Cirus nodded once and stepped in through the threshold. Rei led him to the kitchen still holding the flowers in both hands near her face. They walked in, and Rei set the flowers down on the table, not really knowing where to put them. They didn't seem to belong on the table for some reason so she picked them up again.

"Would you like me to put those in some water for you?" Cirus asked calmly, as he took his coat off and draped it over a chair. He could see the worry and anxiety on her face, and didn't want her to feel like she was doing something wrong.

"Y-yes, please," Rei answered quietly, handing him back the flowers. She was relieved to avoid the embarrassment of having to ask what to do with them. She didn't know why she was so nervous; she just didn't want anything to go wrong.

Cirus took the flowers and found a convenient glass that was empty. He filled it with water and put the flowers in it, then set it on the table at the far back wall of the kitchen. As he set the glass down he realized how adorable Rei was when she seemed embarrassed and almost tipped the glass over. He set it steadily and sighed with an amused smile at himself. He hid the smile before turning back around. "Dinner smells wonderful," he said kindly.

Rei tipped her head to him. "...Thank you. It will be ready soon," she replied and turned back to the stove.

Cirus caught himself staring at her as she worked and quickly averted his gaze with another slight sigh. He closed his eyes finally and bowed his head. Everything about her was beautiful. The way her hair hung around her face, her eyes, her soft, pale skin, her delicate voice... everything.

Rei started to lift the pot, but it seemed too heavy for her. Trained for battle she may be, but that was in an Eva. He hurried over to the stove top beside her and gripped the pot around her hands. Ignoring the sudden awkwardness of what he'd done, he helped put the pot back on the stove top and quickly removed his hands. "Where do you want it? I'll move it," he said looking at her, hiding his embarrassment with a warm smile.

"The table," she answered, nodding past him at the table on which he'd just put the flowers.

Cirus nodded to her and picked up the pot, walking over to the table, and then set it down gently. Rei began to set the table and he helped, noticing anxiously that she placed them both at the same corner as opposed to across from each other. At last, he helped her put the sushi on the table, and then they sat down.

"This... looks wonderful," he said, thinking of the right word to use as he looked at the meal.

Rei bowed her head again. "Thank you. We can eat," she added calmly and put some cucumber rolls on her dish.

Cirus closed his eyes briefly before he took one of the cucumber rolls also and then some of the other varieties she had made. Upon eating the cucumber roll Cirus realized it was delicious, the cucumber slices were still cold and crisp with warm rice and a neatly wrapped--but not too tightly--piece of seaweed binding it together. After swallowing the savory bite, he thought of saying her name, but wasn't sure if she would take it the wrong way. Mentally bracing himself he started, "Rei, you are an excellent cook."

She looked up at him calmly and smiled faintly with a nod. "Thank you," she said as she bowed her head.

They continued eating quietly for a few moments until Cirus looked up and saw Rei hold her neck with one hand and massage it as she ate with the other. He forced his nervousness to the back of his mind and polite concern dominated his face. "Is your neck sore?" he asked.

Rei looked at him in mild surprise. "J-just a little. It will go away," she answered calmly with a slight shake of her head.

"How did it get sore?" he asked.

Her bright and dark crimson eyes remained open with soft uncertainty "...I believe it was from looking down too much," she answered.

So it was because she was cooking. Cirus winced slightly as he realized it was basically his fault her neck was aching. He stood up from his chair. "Here," he said and walked around behind her.

"What?" she asked calmly, seeing him move behind her.

"Lean back and relax. I'll see if I can help your neck feel better," he explained.

Rei did so, mixed between curiosity and awkwardness. Cirus pushed her head gently forward, letting it lull down to her chest. He put both of his thumbs at the top of her neck and gently started to push them down in circling patterns, kneading the muscles out into a relaxed state. Cirus swallowed a lump in his throat as he gently rubbed her neck, having difficulty keeping his mind on her well-being instead her immensely soft skin.

Rei suddenly seemed to relax fully and her shoulders slumped, letting him hold her back to the chair as he massaged her neck. He shoved the nervousness to the back of his mind again. The feel of her skin was so soft and delicate to his touch. G'd you're beautiful, Rei. He admitted to himself as he closed his eyes, feeling like he was only able to barely touch her, and that was thanks to her permission.

It felt wonderful to Rei. The pain in her neck was disappearing more and more with each motion of his hands and she was able to let her body relax because he was holding her up gently. It felt very comforting.

"Better?" Cirus asked, forcing a calm tone into his voice.

"...Yes, thank you," Rei answered.

"Wonderful," he replied and let go slowly enough to let her hold herself up.

He sat down again with a smile and they both continued to eat. Guilt weighed down on Cirus for how he'd acted. He should have waited for her to ask him to help, not just done it. But then she wouldn't have asked because of how she was. He was torn between being elated and being incredibly guilty.

"Are you all right?" Rei's voice gently glided into his thoughts.

Cirus came out of his trance and forced a smile. "Yes... yes, thank you. I was just thinking of some distracting things, I'm sorry," he apologized, bowing his head slightly to her.

"What was bothering you?" Rei asked, her beautiful eyes calmly curious.

Cirus was beginning to realize he had a very difficult time keeping anything from her. "N-nothing of importance."

"You seem to think of them differently," Rei responded, maintaining her tone.

Cirus reluctantly nodded. "How do you do that?" he asked her honestly, looking up into her eyes with a soft smile.

"What?" Rei asked back, honestly ignorant of his question.

"See right through me," Cirus explained.

Rei averted her eyes and looked down at the table. "I-I am sorry, I didn't mean to do that..."

"No, Rei, it's alright," Cirus said in an assuring manner. "Don't apologize, it was just a question."

Rei looked back up at him. "...I don't see through you... It's on your face... I can see it easily," she explained slowly, still somewhat hiding her eyes from him. She felt ashamed, and she felt that way because she thought it was what made Cirus nervous around her.

Cirus smiled at her. "Thank you for telling me," he replied. "Now why are you so worried?"

Rei glanced from her plate to the ground. "...I did not mean to make you upset."

Cirus pulled back slightly in surprise. "Upset me? How?" he asked honestly.

Rei looked back up at him. "When you were touching my neck, I could feel the fear in your hands. Why do I scare you?" She asked, her eyes and tone begging for an answer.

Cirus felt a pang of guilt shoot through his system like a lightening bolt. "Rei, you don't scare me, not at all," he answered, smiling faintly.

Rei's brow creased. "...You still fear harming me, don't you?" she asked calmly, suddenly realizing.

Cirus nodded with a reluctantly admittant expression. "Yes... that and feeling that I don't deserve to be so near to you," he explained plainly, finally just letting it out of his system.

"Why?" Rei asked, not understanding him.

Cirus winced. The only way he could think to explain would leave him very open to her shock and surprise, and possibly a very adverse reaction. He tightened his fist under the table. "...I'm afraid that if I answer that question I'll hurt you further," he explained finally, his voice strained.

Rei looked at him, slightly puzzled. She leaned closer to him and reached out with her hand to his glasses, pulling them off gently and setting them on the table. She saw Cirus' eyes looking back at her and saw that tears were starting to come down from them. "Why are you crying?" she asked, concern coming through her voice as well as her beautiful red eyes.

Cirus looked into the bright crimson depths, wretched in shadow himself, and found them welcoming, they stared right back at him without wavering and they didn�t have any animosity behind them, just calm concern. He started to reach up with his hand to her face, but stopped himself and averted his eyes, feeling like he was trespassing too far this time. "I'm sorry, Rei, I shouldn't have let you see this," he apologized, trying to get his eyes to stop crying. He heard her chair shift and he closed his eyes tighter. Stop, just stop!

Warmth suddenly touching his face made his eyes flare open in surprise as he looked down straight into Rei's eyes. His mouth opened slightly as she caressed the side of his face with her hand. Her touch was so soft and gentle that Cirus gave in and let his tears flow quietly as he looked into her eyes.

"Please tell me. Why are you crying?" she repeated softly, her voice carrying delicate concern with it.

Cirus reached up with a shaking hand and gently held her hand to his face with it, his loose grip cradling her hand softly. Dark pools closed calmly and the young man took in the pure beauty of the sensation. His eyes opened again slowly and he smiled through his tears at her, his hand still shaking. "...B...because you're so beautiful, Rei," he answered softly, his hand letting go of hers to let her pull away if she wished.

Rei did pull back slightly, but only because she was so shocked. Her eyes widened and she blushed. "B...beautiful?" she asked numbly, not fully able to accept what he'd said.

Cirus nodded. "Yes... the most beautiful thing I think I've ever had the privilege of seeing," he added, his voice cracking slightly as his tears finally just came out completely. "Even seeing your face is a gift beyond my ability to describe it... but your touch..." he closed his eyes again at the thought, feeling so truly undeserving of such a beautiful gift.

Rei's mouth was agape slightly and her eyes were starting to let their own silent tears flow. "...Y-you think I am... beautiful?" she asked again.

Cirus smiled through his tears again and nodded.

"No one has ever said that to me..." Rei said slowly and shaking her head numbly.

"And that is what saddens me," Cirus replied. "The fact that you're so beautiful, but I'm the only one, the most undeserving, that notices it. The way your hair gently holds to your face, the way your eyes look into mine so innocently, the way you ask me questions, everything about you is beautiful, Rei."

Rei suddenly lunged up and grabbed him around the neck with her arms, holding herself to him tightly as she started to sob into his shoulder. Cirus let himself hold her in return and he put his arms around her shoulders.

"You're not the most undeserving, Cirus," her voice came to him muffled as she started to calm down. "...You're the only person to treat me so kindly..."

Cirus clenched his jaw. G'd, Rei, please don't talk like this... "Rei, that's just common decency. You deserve so much, much more than that," Cirus replied desperately.

"...No..." Rei replied quietly, but powerfully, "you make me feel... When I'm around you I... I feel happy," she chose the word realizing it fit, it was the emotion she was feeling. The comfortable warmth she felt around him that made her smile.

She felt Cirus shrink slightly under her arms. "...I don't deserve this," he said, his voice softer than even the times before. His quiet pain was enough to make Rei turn her head in his shoulder and look into his eyes.

She smiled faintly and reached up with hand, caressing his cheek with it. Cirus looked at her, his face visibly caught between fear and happiness. "...I think you deserve this," she said softly.

The words wrapped around Cirus' soul and made him feel whole for the first time in his life. He could feel her head resting against the side of his face and her hand gently caressing the other, and she wanted to. He looked into her eyes and gently pulled her hand down from his face, smiling at her. He reached up with his hand and gently brushed the hair out of her eyes with it, letting his hand caress her face on the way down. Rei smiled at him and nodded. "You do," she repeated.

"...Thank you..." Cirus replied, his voice low and soft.

"No," she gently shook her head, "thank you."

Cirus wiped off his eyes and smiled at her again. She nodded and then stood up. "Are you well now?" she asked, smiling softly.

Cirus laughed slightly and nodded. "Yes... very much so, Rei. Thank you."

She nodded, still smiling, and stepped back over to her seat, sitting down slowly as Cirus turned back around.

"...I'm not sure what else we should do now," she said quietly, looking down at the table.

Cirus had to admit, neither did he. "Neither do I," he replied, still somewhat weak from the relief of his anxiety. He felt that this was much more than a crush, but then crushes always seemed that way, didn't they? Tell me somehow, he begged whoever could hear his mental plea.

"...May I ask you something... about your Eva?" Rei asked hesitantly, looking up at him.

Cirus looked up at her with calmly raised eyebrows. "Yes, what?" he asked back calmly.

"It operated without you in it after the battle... Can you tell me how?" she asked, her eyes showing that she didn't wish to hurt him with the question.

Cirus calmly looked down at nothing as he thought of how to respond. He trusted her, implicitly, but that wasn't why he was wary of telling her. It could make her wary of him, and especially after what they had just been through he was not eager to do that to her. "...Rei, the answer to that question could... change your feelings toward me. Are you sure you want to know right now?" he asked her honestly.

Rei considered that for a moment before looking back up at him and nodding. "I owe you much for what you have done for me," she explained.

That made Cirus feel worse about it, but he resisted the urge to wince. He didn't want to do this. It was like reeling her in and slapping her across the face, or at least it could be. He took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. "Rei... I have no parents, I never did. I was created, fourteen years ago, as a project related to your own origin," he started slowly, seeing how she would react.

She tilted her head in curiosity, but she was still calm. "You were created like me?"

Cirus nodded. "I was created as the original Eva prototype was being developed. We were made with the same genetic information, just slightly different, so that I was human, and it was an Evangelion. We were literally made for each other. Two bodies... one soul..." he explained further slowly. "Eva Unit P Neo-A, which you know as Unit 14, is part of me, if you want to think in that order. I hold the mind, soul... and heart... it holds the power."

Rei understood instantly as he spoke. He knew what it was like to be treated as a tool also, she now realized that. "But you seem so... human..." Rei replied slowly.

Cirus nodded, he understood what she meant. She didn't know what it meant to feel certain emotions that he seemed to know naturally. "SEELE saw the value in having a real human pilot, not just a puppet. They gave me the mental capacity of a grown man and then trained me."

Rei nodded somewhat distantly. She was putting what he said into her mind. They saw the value in a human, not a puppet.

"Rei... what they didn't understand is either way I would have been human. Just because they don't teach you how to feel human, doesn't mean you don't deserve to," he said softly, looking into her eyes.

Tears came down Rei's face quietly. He knew exactly what she'd been thinking. "But he did not want me to," she replied, her voice low.

Cirus knew who she was speaking of and his face turned to quiet pain in sympathy. He reached down with his hand and took hers in it softly. She looked up at him in quiet surprise as he smiled at her warmly. "He failed, never forget that."

Rei looked down at his hand holding hers and smiled, then looked back up into his eyes. She squeezed his hand with hers gently. "I won't."

The phone ringing made them both jump, but they calmed down and both smiled at themselves. Rei stood up, Cirus letting her hand slip out of his, and walked over to the phone on the wall near the door of the kitchen. She picked it up.

"Yes?" she asked.

She seemed to be surprised by the response and turned around to look at Cirus. "It is Misato," she explained, covering the receiver end of the phone.

Cirus gritted his teeth, but calmed down. It was indeed eight o'clock. I should have said eight thirty.

Rei's eyes widened slightly more. "I-I don't know..."

Misato smiled slyly on the other end of the line, but she wouldn't do what she thought of. "It's up to you, Rei, I don't mind."

Rei looked back at Cirus and suddenly realized something. "Was Cirus invited?" she asked Misato.

Cirus felt distinctly uncomfortable now. Misato was wide open to go in for the kill.

Misato smiled, she had the perfect opening, but wouldn't, she'd promised Ritsuko. "Yes, he was."

"Will he come?" Rei asked.

When Cirus heard that question he realized Misato was being fair for once.

Misato honestly couldn�t avoid this answer this time, so she went ahead. "He said he would come if you said yes." Rei's eyes glanced at Cirus for a split second. "...Then I will come," she replied calmly.

"Wonderful, can you get here by eight thirty?" Misato asked back, her voice very happy.

"Yes," Rei answered.

"Great! See you then, Rei. Bye!" Misato replied and hung up.

Rei hung up the phone and turned around to look at Cirus. "Why would you not come unless I was?" she asked calmly.

Cirus cleared his throat and looked down at the ground, his cheeks turning red. "...B-because I would only be interested if you were there," he answered, honestly, but nervously.

Rei's eyes widened again, her cheeks turning pink and her mouth opening slightly. She felt wonderful around Cirus, comfortable and not alone, but she had thought he was just doing it to be polite, though nervous. He actually wanted to be with her? No one had ever wanted to be with her.

"I'm sorry, did I offend you?" Cirus asked, looking up at her.

Rei shook her head numbly. "...No... you did not."

"Then what's wrong?" he asked, slightly bewildered.

"...N-no one has ever said that to me," she answered.

Cirus' eyes widened. Of course... everyone thought she was cold, they wouldn't want to be near her. It had simply never occurred to him because he so desperately wanted to be near her. "I... I..." he had no idea what to say in response.

Rei rushed over to him and grabbed him in another hug. It took Cirus a moment to regain his composure and return the embrace from the shear speed at which it had happened. Then he felt her relax as she hugged him, her head resting against his.

"Thank you," she said softly again.

Cirus� mouth was slightly agape from the feel of her head resting against his. He calmed himself and smiled warmly. "You're very, very welcome, Rei."

Rei pulled back, a slight smile on her lips. She nodded at him and then stood up straight. "I need to get some things from my room before we go."

Cirus nodded. "Of course."

She smiled again and hurried out of the kitchen.

Cirus closed his eyes and bowed his head, a gentle smile on his own lips. Thank you...