Disclaimer: Evangelion is owned by GAINAX.
Written by Eva On The Rocks
DREAMS OF EVA
Chapter 2.
Yui sat at the kitchen table, drinking coffee as she scribbled down the fragments of the dream she had awoken from this morning.
Not the encounter with 'Eva', that was etched in her mind clear enough without being committed to paper.
'Over the Rainbow'. That phrase stuck in her head for some reason.
What else could she recall?
A girl in a pale yellow sundress, with fiery red hair and bright blue eyes, a hand on hip completing her supremely confident pose.
'The Second Child'. More words that had stayed with her upon awakening.
"Odd," Yui thought aloud. The Eva had said 'Third Child' when it was speaking cryptically about Shinji. "What is the connection?"
Yui wrote that question down as well.
Red. That colour again, but in what context? Not eyes, this time, she knew that much. Yui struggled to recall more, but the dream seemed to have slipped away for now.
"Damn," Yui whispered, closing what was now her 'dream book'.
The other thing on her mind that morning, her husband smelling of another woman's perfume, still bothered Yui somewhat.
A part of her was suspicious, what with the late nights at work and vague responses to her questions regarding his work. But the optimist in her, who was a large aspect of her personality, reasoned it could be entirely innocent.
"It has to be..." Yui said to herself.
"Has to be what?"
Yui jumped, a cry of surprise escaping her. "Shinji! You startled me," she said. "Good morning."
"Morning," he replied. "I forgot to tell you, Misato asked if you could call her this morning."
"You're not in trouble, are you?" Yui teased.
"I don't think so," Shinji said. "And Rei hasn't done anything either."
"I'll call in a little while." Yui glanced at the clock. "Not everyone's a morning person like you and I."
"Not in this house anyway," Shinji chuckled.
"I heard that," Gendo said, not letting something like a friendly morning greeting get in the way of his first coffee.
Yui set the newspaper aside for her husband and moved to place her cup in the sink. She turned to smile at her husband when a vision made itself known to her.
Gendo, standing high above, peering down coldly through his tinted glasses. He was an imposing figure, devoid of any warmth or compassion, as his voice seemed to boom down at her. "Leave!"
"Mom?"
A blink and the apparition was gone. Gendo was at the table, the newspaper was up, shutting off from the world as the coffee did it's job. Shinji was standing beside her, a concerned look on his face.
"Are you-?" Shinji began.
"I'm fine!" Yui said, a little more harshly than she had meant to. "I'm sorry, Shinji. I'm a little tired this morning, I didn't sleep well."
"Oh." Shinji looked downcast for a moment, before returning the smile. "Maybe you should have more coffee, it seems to work for father."
A grunt was the only response from Gendo.
Yui and Shinji laughed.
"How can you be so cheery in the morning?" Rei grumbled from the doorway. "It's not normal." She stomped away in the direction of the bathroom.
"Go get yourself ready for school, Shinji," Yui said. "I'll give Miss Katsuragi a call."
Yui took the phone into the living room and dialled the Katsuragi residence, figuring that if her children were up by now, then certainly their teacher would be getting ready for the day.
On the sixteenth ring, Misato picked up.
Yui was greeted with an unenthusiastic groan, followed by incoherent mumbling.
"Hello, Miss Katsuragi?" Yui said. "This is Yui Ikari, Shinji said you wanted me to call?"
"Oh...hang on a sec," Misato managed, the sound of footsteps reaching Yui's ear, followed by a fridge door opening.
There was the sound of a handset being set down, followed by what sounded like a can being opened.
Suddenly, Yui felt she could envision a dishevelled looking Misato Katsuragi, popping open a can of Yebisu beer and downing half the beverage in a couple of gulps.
Was that a penguin standing behind her?
"Yeee-haaaa!"
The triumphant cry shattered the vision and Yui tried to tell herself she had imagined it.
A small belch was audible through the handset and suddenly an animated Misato was talking to her.
"Hi, Mrs Ikari! How are you this morning? It's a lovely day by the look of it, isn't it?"
"I'm sorry if I woke you," Yui said, trying not to let her amusement be heard.
"Nah, that's okay. Time to get up anyway!" Misato said cheerfully. "Morning, Pen-Pen."
"Pen-Pen?"
"Oh, sorry," Misato chuckled. "I was talking to my flat-mate. He's one of those new warm-water penguins..."
Penguin?
Hadn't Yui just seen a penguin? Before she could ponder that, Misato continued talking at about the same speed she was reported to drive - over one hundred kilometres per hour at all times, providing there were no obstacles in her path.
"I wanted to ask if you and your family would like to come over for a dinner tonight, it's to welcome my new house guest, Asuka Langley Sohryu. She's just transferred from Germany, I thought it would be nice for her to meet some people, and Shinji said that you know her mother. Familiar faces and all that."
When Misato finally stopped for breath, Yui made a mental note of all the points the younger woman had said. "Tonight should be fine. What time would suit you, Miss Katsuragi?"
"Ah, call me Misato. And um...probably anytime after six."
"Six," Yui nodded. "Now, do you need me to bring anything?"
"Oh, don't trouble yourself. I'll cook up a quick dinner when I finish work," Misato said. "I'll see you tonight, okay? Okay!"
What a strange woman, Yui thought, as she hung up the phone.
Yui stood outside the Katsuragi residence, Shinji and Rei on either side of her, as they waited for the door to be answered.Gendo had been unable to attend, his attention had been required at work, would Yui pass on his apologies?
"Father has been very busy with work lately..." Shinji had commented.
"Dad's work is important though," Rei had said, almost defensively. "I'm sure he would prefer to spend his time with his family."
Yui had sighed at the way Shinji referred to Gendo as 'Father', trying to recall the last time the boy had called him 'Dad', but only drawing a blank. Maybe it was Shinji's way of showing his disapproval, Yui thought, while Rei sought to justify her father's increasingly long working hours.
"Why are we welcoming her anyway?" Rei asked.
"You're just jealous that Kensuke's been selling her pictures all day instead of yours," Shinji smirked.
"Jealous? I don't think so!" Rei held her head high. "I was the first..."
First? Yui blinked, the blue haired girl appearing in her mind for an instant. No, she told herself, they are talking about Kensuke Aida and his photography ring at school.
"...subject for Kensuke's photo ring, it's only right he split the earnings with me!"
"It's definitely jealousy," Shinji teased.
"It's not!" Rei snarled.
Yui smiled, shaking her head, as she pressed the doorbell again. It was just after six, the time Misato had told them to arrive.
The door slid open to reveal an obviously disorganised Misato Katsuragi. The purple haired woman was wearing a simple black dress with a loose fitting red jacket thrown over it, her brown eyes sparkled with recognition and she smiled at them all.
"The Ikaris!" Misato grinned. "Come in, come in! It's a bit chaotic in here, Asuka's stuff just arrived and I haven't had a chance to tidy up yet."
Yui stepped into the apartment and quickly discovered the word 'chaotic' was insufficient to describe the state of the apartment. She lost count of the packing boxes stacked outside one of the bedrooms, the empty beer cans scattered on the living room floor, as she stepped over some discarded snack food containers and school papers.
They entered the kitchen, where a penguin drinking a Yebisu greeted them.
This must be Pen-Pen, Yui thought.
"I thought you said any time after six o'clock?" Yui said, trying not to count the empty liquor bottles covering the benches in the kitchen.
"Err..." Misato scratched her head, chuckling as she surveyed the kitchen. "I told the others seven when I realised there was so much to do." A guilty grin crossed her face. "I meant to call."
"A likely story!" a new voice scolded.
Yui turned around and recognised Asuka Langley Sohryu, looking identical to the girl from her dream last night, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, even wearing the same pale yellow sundress from the dream.
"I just heard you saying how you hoped the Ikaris might give you a hand cleaning up this pigsty!"
"Asuka!" Misato gasped, feigning innocence. She smiled. "This is Yui Ikari, and her children, Shinji and Rei Ikari."
"Hello, Mrs Ikari, my mother sends her regards," Asuka said, smiling politely. She turned to regard Shinji and Rei with a raised eyebrow. "I met you two at school today."
"Yes..." Shinji said, blushing slightly.
"You and your perverted friends were following me around with that damn camera all day!" Asuka pointed at Shinji.
"As if you didn't love every second!" Rei snorted.
"Hmmph!" Asuka placed her hands on her hips again and posed, grinning triumphantly. "You've been replaced by the new model."
Yui found this playful exchange entertaining, and her son's obvious attraction to Asuka had not escaped her eyes either.
The only thing that confused Yui was why she had seen Asuka - exactly as she was now - in a dream.
"Children!" Misato shouted in a commanding tone, which immediately brought about silence. "If we work as a team, this place can be sparkling clean and dinner ready when everybody else arrives."
After some expected complaining, the children set about tidying up, while Yui and Misato tried to arrange what was for dinner.
Yui opened the fridge and barely managed to conceal her surprise at what she saw.
Snacks, that was something to serve guests.
Ice, that served a purpose too.
And fifteen gallons of beer.
"I wonder what kind of life she leads?" Yui whispered, watching as Misato disappeared into the living room, possibly in search of the floor.
Yui saw the amusing side, but was filled with concern and sympathy as she recalled that morning's conversation. Did Misato start every day with a beer? It was clear from the state of the apartment that a lot of drinking took place here, and from the lack of decent food in the place, Yui guessed that Misato did most of her drinking alone.
Misato always seemed so cheerful though, Yui thought sadly.
"Maybe I'll just order take-out?" Misato suggested, strolling back into the kitchen with two more garbage bags.
"It might be easier," Yui admitted with a grin. "We don't have much to work with here."
"I'm not used to company," Misato shrugged. "And people usually don't like my cooking anyway."
It didn't seem as if Misato was on edge, Yui observed. In fact, she seemed quite happy and well-balanced. Not wanting to interfere, Yui simply hoped Misato dealt with whatever inner-demons were driving her to drink so excessively before the habit caused her more harm than good.
"That's because your cooking has been known to send people off to hospital with food poisoning, Misato," a new voice said.
Yui turned around to see Ritsuko and Maya standing either side of a young man, around thirty years old, with long brown hair pulled back in a pony tail and a flirtatious smirk on his stubble-ridden face.
His dark blue eyes seemed to shine as they settled on Misato, awaiting a reaction to his comment regarding her cooking.
"Kaji," Misato growled, her eyes narrowing. "Asuka said you had travelled with her from Germany, I didn't expect to see you."
"Kaji!" Asuka squealed, coming to a halt when she saw Ritsuko. She looked questioningly at Kaji.
So, Asuka has a crush on this man, Yui mused. He was handsome, in a rogue and unruly fashion, but it wouldn't have hurt him to have a shave.
"Would it have killed you to shave that awful stubble?" Misato asked.
Yui smiled, remembering how she used to nag Gendo about his stubble, and wondering briefly if that was why he had grown the beard.
"I would introduce everyone," Ritsuko said. "But it seems the children are too busy tidying up after Misato."
"Grrr!" Misato scowled. "It just looks messy with all of Asuka's stuff still unpacked."
"Misato, for you, the apartment is tidy."
"Why did I invite you again?" Misato went to the fridge, getting everybody but Kaji a beer.
"No, thank you," Maya said, raising her hands.
"Can't let good beer go to waste!" Kaji winked, plucking the beer intended for Maya from Misato's hand. He gave Yui a friendly smile. "Misato, aren't you going to introduce me to this gorgeous woman?"
Yui laughed, dismissing his flirting with a wave. "Kids! Can you come here a second?"
Shinji and Rei stepped into the kitchen, Shinji clutching a garbage bag in one hand and Rei holding her hands clasped in front of her.
"Right." Misato looked at everyone. "This is Yui Ikari, her children, Shinji and Rei Ikari," Misato gestured to Asuka, almost spilling beer on the red haired girl. "Asuka Langley Sohryu," Then she pointed to the new arrivals. "Ritsuko Akagi, Maya Ibuki, and Ryoji Kaji."
"Yui Ikari!" Kaji grinned. "You look far too young to have children."
"Kaji." Misato rolled her eyes.
"You'll excuse these two," Ritsuko said, pointing at Misato and Kaji. "They were a couple eight years ago and, no offence Yui, tend to act as if they're married."
"Huh?" Misato and Kaji stared at her in horror.
"Is this everybody, Misato?" Asuka asked.
"No." Shinji shook his head, giving Asuka a shy smile. "Toji and Kensuke and Hikari are invited."
"So there'll be the three stooges." Asuka wrinkled her nose. "Hikari seemed nice though, and I have Rei to talk to." Asuka smiled at Rei.
Seeing the three children standing there, smiling at one another, Yui felt an enormous sense of happiness. For some reason, they seemed to complete each other, with Shinji being the medium between the extremes of the personalities of Rei and Asuka.
As small talk erupted around her, Yui amazed herself by not falling down in dead faint at the sight of the 'Eva' materialising behind the three children, it's eyes glowing brightly as it stared at her.
"Yui?" Ritsuko was beside her, holding her arm. Shinji was watching her intently, his eyes filled with concern.
"Just..." Yui blinked, the figure disappeared. "I just need a little air."
"The balcony," Ritsuko suggested.
"You okay, Mrs Ikari?" Misato asked.
"Call me Yui," replied Yui. "And yes, I'm okay."
"It's probably all the filth in this apartment," Ritsuko said, her teasing leading to laughter and easing any
concerns. "It would make anybody sick.""Oh, shut up!" Misato stuck her tongue out, and then slapped a cold beer into Yui's hand. "Hope that helps!"
On the balcony, overlooking Tokyo-3's skyline, Yui took a few deep breaths, then cracked open the beer.
"Visions again?" It was more a statement than a question.
"Ritsuko, I think I'm losing my mind..." Yui whispered.
"You most certainly are not," Ritsuko said. "You're tired, stressed over something. Find the cause and the problem will disappear."
"I saw something last night, a figure, it called itself 'Eva'. And I just saw it then, standing behind the children."
"Eva? As in 'Eve'?" Ritsuko asked.
"That's what I thought," Yui said. "I had another dream last night, I wrote down what I remembered though, like you suggested."
"And?"
"I saw Asuka," Yui said. "She looked just like she does tonight. Exactly the same."
"There has been lots of talk about her arrival, maybe you saw a photo somewhere-"
"I haven't seen a photo of Asuka for seven years!" Yui whispered. "It doesn't make sense."
"Yui," Ritsuko said. "I can prescribe you medication if you want, but I think you can sort this business out without it. Face this thing head on, like you have done everything else in your life. I'm saying this as your friend, Yui, I know you can work this out."
"Ritsuko...I hope you're right."
"Of course I am," Ritsuko said. "And as your doctor, I say you drink that beer, come back inside and have a wonderful evening."
Yui nodded, smiling. "You're right."