A/N: Edited by Hamstadini. Yay.

The Sun Sets

By DarckRedd

The birds, yeah, they're silent now,

The skies, yeah, they're spreading wide.
The lights, yeah, they're goin' out.
Yeah, yeah, the sun's settin', the sun's settin'.
And it's never gonna rise.

Rei looked up. The upstairs neighbors were playing music, loudly. Rei was not one for music; Commander Ikari called it a distraction. He face twisted into a faint frown. If this was a distraction, it would be best to remove herself from it, but where was she to go? NERV? No, there was no use in going there, as she was not desired for Synch Testing or duties in Terminal Dogma. It was the weekend, so there was little to be gained from going to school. She was vaguely aware that most girls her age would be going to the mall or on dates, but Rei was not like girls her age, nor did she know where the mall was, nor did she have anyone to 'date.'

The music reached a merciless crescendo, roaring guitars coupled with a male vocalist's inarticulate howls of rage. Rei began to change from her pajamas to a school uniform. She had never experienced a headache before, but she was getting some idea of what it might feel like. As she did the buttons, the music abruptly stopped. She froze, listening for a few moments. Did they stop, in their infinite magnanimity and mercy?

The next track started, this one louder and more grating then the last. Rei could not discern any musical or tonal difference between the two compositions, beyond volume and greater lack of talent. Still frowning, she finished dressing and stepped outside, escaping the tones. As she walked down the road, she passed by the other denizens of her apartment complex: they all looked tired and weak. Many of them worked the minimum wage jobs for many hours a day on the week; the weekend was the only chance they got to rest.

She exited her apartment without incident.

-

Rei was used to having a plan, and here she had none. Her usual plan was to follow a plan devised by her superiors, and so without her superior's commands she was rather directionless. She boarded a train to take her south, into the center of the city. Commander Ikari warned her that, while Section 02 made sure that her apartment was safe, she was in somewhat more danger wandering around the area. This seemed like good advice.

The train station was busy, as always. Families were going to the park, young couples going to the mall, the rare depressed weekend worker going to his menial job. Trains rushed in and out with all possible speed; conductors hurried their charges through full schedules. The noise was constant. Rei was about to board when she saw something curious. Another monorail had just pulled in, and disembarking from it was her fellow pilot Shinji Ikari.

Rei froze in front of the entrance to the train. Ikari-kun looked very nervous, as if he were in a completely unfamiliar environment. He had come to her house before, but that was a rather awkward occasion which involved molestation and glasses.

The mono's door closed, leaving Rei outside.

Lacking any other course of action, she made her way to her comrade. He seemed very lost, and, after all, she was ordered to assist the other pilots whenever possible.

Rei was standing behind him. "Ikari-kun?"

The boy started and turned around.

"Oh! H-hey Ayanami…"

"What are you doing here, Ikari-kun?"

"Just… err… going for a ride."

"Why, Ikari-kun?"

"I don't need an excuse to go for a ride!" There was a pause. "Umm… Sorry. I'm nervous, that's all."

Ikari-kun was behaving in a very odd fashion; Rei wondered if she should her Section 02 tail and have him brought in for psych evaluation.

"Do you want to… go somewhere?" asked Shinji, shiftily.

"Why, Ikari-kun?"

"Just… because."

"Because why, Ikari-kun?"

"Because…" The boy ran a hand through his hair. "Well… if you have something else to do…" Now he seemed somewhat put out.

A series of connections formed in Rei's head.

This is the behavior expressed by adolescent males when courting a potential mate; I have observed it at school. The traditional responses would be for the courted partner to acquiesce, gently refuse, or physically assault him. Rei had already slapped Ikari-kun once in her life, but based on the precedent established during the first incident, this was hardly a justifiable response in this case. He had, after all, done nothing to insult the one of the few men with the vision to see that humanity's only hopewere the Evangelions.

Rei quickly searched her mind for some suggestion of how to react. She did not, after all, want to give Ikari-kun the idea that they would copulate, as two of her classmates had been caught doing in the cleaning supply cabinet the prior week. Rei wondered if she should be flattered that such an event had brought any such interest in her, above all the other girls in the class, to the front.

"Ayanami?" stuttered Shinji, breaking her reverie.

Rei quickly decided that it would be constructive to enter a better rapport with her fellow pilots, to add to their efficiency in battle. This was a poor excuse and she knew it, but she could do nothing else except waste time, which, according to the Commander, was one of the worst things one could possibly do.

"Where would we go, Ikari-kun?"

"I dunno…" Shinji offered, nervously. Rei reflected that his planning was every bit as poor as hers, but made no comment. "They opened a new restaurant down in the mall, we could go there…" he offered, nervously.

"It will be crowded," observed Rei.

"That's true." There was a long silence. "Wait, I have an idea."

-

Rei could not shake a peculiar, unshakable sensation in her abdomen as she sat across from Ikari-kun, eating ramen. It was a very low-key area; only a few people were there.

"So, Ayanami," Shinji began. The boy was practically in cold sweats. "What do you do when you're not piloting?"

How was she to answer that? Rei mused on her activities when she was in her Evangelion. There was terminal dogma (classified), combat training (classified), meetings with Commander Ikari (probably upsetting to Ikari-kun), and spending time at home (unclassified, but disinteresting).

"I swim," she said, lamely.

"Oh." Ikari-kun seemed disappointed. Rei wondered why.

Suddenly, the small chimes sounded, indicating a new customer entered. Rei instinctively looked back and saw, much to her surprise, Sohryu walking in. The moment the redhead caught sight of her, she stepped back and barred the entrance.

Sohryu stared at Ayanami.

Ayanami stared at Sohryu.

"Come on, let's go somewhere else," muttered Sohryu, and she turned and ran.

"Hey, what-?" a vaguely familiar voice demanded, but was cut off.

"That was odd," observed Ikari.

-

Rei and Shinji walked through the park. Rei saw that other couples were in the park, and dearly hoped that Ikari-kun was not getting the wrong idea. The boy was extremely depressed as it was.

"I really liked this, Ayanami," Shinji continued. He had been talking for some time, but Rei was only listening close enough to listen 'yes' or 'no' when appropriate. She enjoyed feeling the breath of the air, enjoyed the watching the ripples of the lake. "Ayanami?"

Rei's head swiveled towards Shinji. When she looked at him, that strange sense of sickness she felt in her stomach grew stronger. "What is it, Ikari-kun?"

"It's nothing," the boy said, suddenly, looking away.

Rei looked back towards the water. As she did, however, she saw a large dog, standing by the shore. It had bright, orange eyes and a black coat. It appeared to be some kind of huskey, although which type she could not define easily. Its mouth was opening, but saliva did not drip from its tongue. A series of subliminal messages fired rapidly.

There is a Hawk. It circles above me, screeching periodically; its voice ricocheting across the valleys. I look down, and I see the stag, watching me solemnly from between the trees. I turn around, and I see the Hound.

"Ayanami?! Please, say something?!" a voice calls, but I cannot see who speaks.

The hound stares at me solemnly. I cannot tell whether he attends to attack me or simply watch. He is a guarded creature. I turn back around, and see that the stag is getting closer, slowly. It is a majestic creature.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" someone calls, but I pay them no heed. Slowly, I walk towards the Hound and crouch before it. It looks at me, and I look at it. I reach out and scratch behind its ears, as I have seen others do. It seems pleased, whimpering softly. I look around and I see the Stag is gone. I look up, and I see that the Hawk still circles. Suddenly, it descends, talons extended with a scream. It gets closer, closer-

-

Shinji sat in the waiting room, dully staring at the geometric pattern on the linoleum floor. At his back was the fig leaf of NERV – God in his heaven, all's right with the world. Nothing was right, and Shinji could attest to that.

Suddenly, Misato burst in, closely followed by Asuka. "Shin-chan!" calls Misato, rushing forward and embracing her ward. "Shinji-chan, what happened?"

"I don't know," Shinji choked out.

Asuka looked on in disgust, but said nothing.

"One moment she was standing, and the next- the next, she was just on the ground…"

"You can't even manage one date without something going awry," said Asuka, derisively. "Nice one, dummkopf."

Misato flashed Asuka a dirty look. "Don't worry, Shinji. Everything will be fine."

-

My eye is bleeding. The wetness crawls down my face. It doesn't hurt. I fashion from a strip of my clothes, as I was taught.

I am on a cliff. Before me is the sea. Out across thousands upon thousands of miles, the Sun Sets.

The Sun Sets.