The brightness in Unit 14’s eyes faded back normal as its body moaned and protested against the crushing force acting upon it.

A scream over the comm made Cirus look down as Unit 01 surged up, driving its knife straight into the Angel’s mid-section. The Angel roared in pain and Unit 14 dropped to the ground limply as Unit 01 continued its attack, repeatedly driving the blade into the Angel’s torso. But its arms froze on one jab and then was forced back as the Angel stood back up and lifted the Eva into the air. Shinji strained against the forces holding his arm back, but he wasn’t strong enough. “Enough tricks! Fight!” he shouted at it.

Asuka’s eyes fluttered open and she started to move her arm, but pain shot through it and she sat bolt upright. Then she remembered what was going on looked up at the battle. She growled and Unit 02 hopped up to its feet. “Misato! I need a new weapon!” she said into the comm quickly.

“Oh thank G’d, Asuka,” Misato’s voice came back with sincere relief. “Building B-4, now!”

Unit 02 ran to the building, which was only a few hundred meters away, and pulled out an axe. She gripped it with both hands of her Eva and narrowed her eyes at the Angel. “You’ll pay for that.”

With scream of rage, Asuka charged forward, the axe held high and ready. Her Eva reacted to her anger and the focus of it. The eyes flashed and the head split open as its speed built up. The Angel sensed the rapidly approaching Eva and blocked it just before the Eva could strike. Asuka growled at the invisible forces holding her Eva and strained against them. She let out another scream and her Eva’s strength built. Unit 01 was released and it fell back, Shinji looking on in mild shock as Asuka pulled her axe back and then drove it down in one powerful swing. The air distorted in front of the blade as the Angel tried to stop it, but it was overwhelmed and the blade struck, driving straight down and crashing into the ground. An explosion of blood sprayed Unit 02 vertically before the Angel exploded with a scream. The vertical torrent of energy split apart near the top before dissipating.

“Asuka you did it!” Shinji shouted happily.

Asuka smiled satisfactorily as she stood back upright. “But of course.”

“Well done, Asuka. Quickly, help Unit 14 back to a launch pad, we can’t tell how badly injured the pilot is,” Misato ordered over the comm.

Asuka quickly looked down at Unit 14 and her eyes widened. “It was… crushed?”

“Yeah, come on, we have to help him,” Shinji replied as Unit 01 stood back up and the two of them picked Unit 14 up and started to bring it back to a launch pad.

Misato looked to Ayobi. “Where is Rei?”

“On the roof of B-9,” he answered.

“Send a retrieval team and tell Shinji to bring Unit 00 back to the cage.”

Cirus opened his eyes slowly to the bright room where he’d been placed. It didn’t take him long to realize he was in the med-bay, but the amount of pain he was in clouded his mind enough for it to take him a moment. A shadow was blocking the window light from beaming straight into his eyes and he focused on it to see what it was. His eyes widened when he realized it was Rei. “R-“ his own throat cut him off as he fought the urge to cough.

“Don’t speak, you are injured seriously,” she told him quickly.

Cirus nodded to show he’d heard her.

Rei smiled down at him faintly. “…I am glad you’re safe,” she said softly.

Cirus’ face instantly softened and he smiled back at her.

Rei looked down at her lap for a moment before looking back up at him. “…I am sorry if I hurt you… I… I did not…” she couldn’t finish as tears poured down from her eyes silently and she looked back down.

Cirus couldn’t bear to see her like this, she had no reason to feel guilty. “Rei,” he finally got her name out, though his voice was very hoarse.

She looked up at him quickly. He smiled at her and shook his head. Her brow creased and she shook her head. “No… you do not understand… You did nothing… I… I do not wish to hurt you,” she explained, her tone pleading. “He will destroy you if you are close to me…” she finished, her frame curling in on itself as her eyes closed tightly.

Cold realization hit Cirus. How foolish he had been, assuming he had been the cause. Foolish and incredibly selfish at that. He wanted to tell her it was fine, that he wouldn’t let that happen, but his body wouldn’t let him. His anger and frustration at his body compounded with his anger toward Ikari. Rei, don’t do this to yourself! He shouted desperately in his mind.

“I am sorry,” she repeated and quickly stood up from the chair, heading for the door.

“Rei!” he finally shouted, but the door had already shut behind her.

Cirus’ brow creased and he closed his eyes. The air around him distorted and danced up and down his body. It stopped and he coughed violently several times, curling himself into a ball with the sheer force of them.

The urge passed and he gripped the side of the bed tightly with one hand before pulling himself off. He stood up and ran to the door, opening it and looking up and down the hall, but there was no sign of Rei. He went back into the room and changed into his clothes before leaving the room and walking down the hall quickly. “Don’t do this, Rei. Don’t do this to yourself,” he said below his breath as he ran down the hall and came to the turn. Looking up and down that hall, he found again there was no sign of her. He growled and slammed his fist into the wall before leaning his head against it.

The Geo-front, though naturally a sphere, was filled over ninety percent with dirt and water. This gave rise to the forests and the lake that surrounded NERV headquarters. It gave the underground complex an odd little charm while always making it appear to be dusk thanks to the reflected light beamed down into it from Tokyo-3 above.

A few hundred yards from the central complex of NERV Rei sat under a tree, her knees curled up to her bowed head and her arms curled around her legs. Emotions were surging through her soul that she’d never really felt before, never even knew existed. She wanted to believe what Cirus had told her, that she had a right to exist for her own purpose, but that conflicted with everything she’d known for her entire life so far. It seemed too good, too fanciful, to be true in this world she knew. She was angry with Ikari, but she didn’t know why anymore. She just wanted to be left alone. Cirus was so kind to her, and so were Shinji Ikari, and Misato Katsuragi.

Rei lifted her head slightly and looked down at the ground over her arm, tears silently falling from her eyes. Please… I do not want to do this…

“Rei?”

The voice startled her and made Rei spin her head around to see who had spoken. When she saw Cirus standing there, her cheeks turned a soft pink. “…You are well?” she asked softly.

Cirus nodded slowly once before looking at her with a gentle smile. “May I sit down?” he asked, motioning to the ground near her.

Rei looked away from him and pulled her knees closer to her body. “…Please don’t…”

She heard him sigh softly. “I take it you would prefer I left?” he asked back softly.

Rei pulled herself in tighter. She didn’t want him to leave, in fact she wanted him to be near her, but if she was just going to… cease to be in a few days why should she hurt him like that?

Cirus patiently stood there wordlessly. Only an idiot would miss that Rei was extremely torn at the moment, otherwise she would have answered almost instantly in her calm, gentle voice.

“I am afraid…” she whispered finally.

Cirus stepped close, and got down beside her, his face deeply concerned. “Of what?” he asked softly.

“If I tell you, he will hurt you,” she answered quietly, a quivering breath following her answer.

Cirus gently reached up with his hand and stroked her cheek with the back of his finger. She turned her head as he pulled his hand back and looked up at him with her tearful eyes. “I do not want him to take you away…” she whispered.

Cirus shook his head with a gentle smile. “He won’t, Rei. I promise you that,” he said calmly, but with resolution.

Rei closed her eyes and bowed her head. “…How can you stop him?”

Cirus picked her chin up with his finger and looked at her sorrowful eyes. “Because I must.”

Rei uncurled her arms and reached out for him. He came closer to her and embraced her as she quietly cried into his shoulder. “I’m sorry… I did not mean to-“

“Rei, stop apologizing, please…It did hurt, yes, but that is not your fault or responsibility. He told you something that shocked you, and you wanted to protect me,” he finished with a slight laugh. “If anything I owe you my deepest thanks,” he added warmly.

Rei tightened her grip around him and listened to his heart beating. “…Please don’t leave me,” she said softly.

Cirus stroked her hair gently. “I’ll never leave you, Rei.”

He felt her body relax as soon as he said the words and she sobbed softly. It felt so comforting to just hear him say it.

Cirus gently pulled his head back and looked down at her as she pulled back from him. “What did he tell you?” he asked softly.

“…He said he had found another purpose for me… and it will be soon,” she answered slowly, looking down at the ground.

Cirus’ frame sank closer to the ground as full realization came to him. No wonder she’d been so hurt. “Why were you so afraid for me and not yourself?” he asked slowly.

Rei looked up at him calmly. “I knew that if you lost me it would hurt you, I did not want that to happen so I tried to make you stop.”

Cirus was relieved he was already on his knees because he would have fallen to them had he been standing. He quickly dismissed his selfish shock and looked at Rei, taking off his glasses and looking her in the eyes sincerely. “…Do you want this to happen?”

Rei closed her eyes and shook her head. “…But if that is why I was created I must.”

“Rei, you do not need to die just because you were created by a man to do so. Why is that so hard for you to believe?” he asked back desperately.

“…Because no one has ever told me that before,” she answered slowly, her eyes tightening.

Cirus’ mouth opened slightly as pain tore through his own heart for her. She did not even know she had a right to exist. “…What that man has done to you isn’t just or right, Rei,” he said calmly. “You of all people have a right to exist, please believe that,” he continued pleadingly.

“How can I know?” Rei asked back sorrowfully.

Cirus’s mouth opened as if he was going to speak, but it closed and he looked down at the ground. “I don’t know how to prove it to you… Please, Rei… don’t do this to yourself,” he said finally, looking up at her weakly.

“I want to believe what you say, but… I… I don’t know.”

“Rei,” Cirus said her name softly, looking down at the ground, “I believe you have a right to exist for your own reasons. No one can take that right away from you. Not Ikari, not me, not anyone or anything.”

Rei finally just let more tears fall from her eyes as her body went limp slightly. “…I want to believe that… I want to be with you, I don’t want to be alone again.”

“Then don’t be,” Cirus replied with a warm smile, his hand reaching up and softly brushing the tears from her face.

Rei reached up and held his hand to her face as she smiled and closed her eyes. “Is that true?” she asked finally, her eyes softly pleading for him to tell her the truth.

“Absolutely,” he answered with a warm smile.