No offense to anyone who watches this ABC production. ^_^

Another thing : THIS IS NOT A YAOI FIC! ^_^ I recognize the fact that some
yaoi themes might be present in this fic and all I can say is…this is not
even an allusion to a yaoi fic, an invitation to write one, or anything
remotely related to yaoi. I have nothing against people who like yaoi; go
ahead, write and/or as your preference. But remember, this isn’t one. (If
anyone wants to use this as a fic springboard, go ahead, but please note my
strenuous opposition to the fact that this is yaoi. ^_^)

Touched by an Angel

	He is so naïve. So young, and yet so scarred by the world, so innocent, and
yet so despairing. It is any wonder I chose him? He called to me even before
I was formed, I think, his very nature a counterpoint to my melodies. So
very, very naïve.

	Ah, my brothers, you do them wrong to hurt so. We are united in purpose,
are we not? We both seek a resolution to this matter…should we not be
kindred instead? I cannot know. But perhaps we are…I have seen beauty, and
that is one who is part of us and yet not. She shares my face. Questions,
questions. I look at him from up high and must smile, to see the look of
bewilderment on his face. And yet I pity him as well, that such perfect
crystal be already flawed to such an extent. That fate is sometimes cruel is
a fact to be accepted, but to see such cruelty and it’s scars, remain is a
crime. 

	A shaper of that crystal, I decided was, needed. One that would know him,
not try in some blundering way, to either help or hurt that poor soul.
Still, I thought. The light was ever-present here, calm, unchanging. What
business of ours was it to go down below? We needed nothing. Better stasis,
than to share our brothers’ fate, twisted into grotesque abominations whose
ultimate purpose was destruction. No, here was by far my true home. Then
again…they were so strange, scurrying about in pointless lives, wasting
their futile existences in search of a goal that was so glaring evident! Yet
they could also be full of feeling…all of them. Not just him. Not just him,
but then, he was the only one that mattered. Ah, the world below was a
interesting one indeed.

	It took but one more look to decide me. After all, I had always been the
willful one.

*****

	He was just there. It seemed that one moment, I was by myself, looking into
the water for my answers, hearing the birds call to each other, the waves
against the shore. So peaceful, I thought. Then I heard his singing. And
that, in some way brought a different kind of peace.

	He looked at me and smiled. I think that was when I knew he was different.
His smile, and his eyes. Red, like Rei’s. And his hair, show-white…so pure.
But I think it was the eyes. They were strange eyes, full of unspoken
meaning, of hidden secrets deep inside, of unrevealed mystery. They were
willful too, capricious. And yet, I think they most of all, they were kind
ones. That all came in a glance. How he managed to do that, I didn’t know.
But he was different, and maybe that was why.

	Then he spoke. "Songs are nice." he said.

	I nodded mutely. What was I supposed to say? I know something about you,
something that I’m sure you don’t? That I in your eyes I saw the future?
That dimly, somewhere in my memory, is the sound of your voice, the color of
your hair? No, I simply listened to the sound of his voice, the last notes
of the song dying like broken-winged birds.

	He smiled at me again and asked my name. So I told him and asked what was his.

	Another smile. They were so enigmatic, really, both his eyes and smile. Or
maybe is just him, I can’t say.  "Kaoru Nagisa."

	I remember talking with him for a while. About things, inconsequential
trifles, and then other matters, like the way water looked, or how the sun
in the sky could be at once calming and oppressive. We talked about life,
and people. I told him about my father.

	He looked at me. "I’m sorry." he said.

	I didn’t say how long I had waited to hear someone say that.

	I don’t know what it was that made him so easy to talk to, so friendly. It
wasn’t fact that he was different, or his eyes, or even his smile. Not one
had ever smiled like that before. It reminded me of Rei’s first one. It was
something else, but like so many other things about him, it remained hidden,
a glittering jewel of a secret. We talked, and told him about my music.

	He smiled this time. "We should do a duet." And he sang a high, clear note,
as if in invitation.

	I had heard that same note in my dreams. I told him about Rei, and how she
looked like him.

	He was suddenly serious and said that he would like to meet her.

	I turned to say something, and I caught him staring at me. It was a
strange, piercing look he gave me, as if in one glance he could discover
everything about me. Or perhaps he already knew…deeper, it ran, into the
rivers and falls, mountains and valleys of my soul, it was all in a look
that I knew he was, he was…

	He turned away, and I could see no more. I couldn’t decide whether that
made my happy or not.

	"Let’s go back to NERV."

 I didn’t ask him how he knew about it. He just did.

We began the walk back, still talking. He hooked his thumbs into his
pockets, I noticed.
	
*****

	He was even more than I expected. His eyes, they spoke of love unknown and
sorrow, of wishes unfulfilled and dreams undreamt. His hair, black as the
sky above us, against my own white mane…the way he walked, a slight slouch,
more revealing than he knew to one such as I. I looked at him and drank in
every detail, every little thing, from the folds of his clothes and light on
his hair. Certainly, there were others on this barren plane, but for me,
here and now, there was only him. This gem was all the more beautiful for
it’s imperfections.

	But he had turned away from my gaze. 

	My eyes followed him up the stairs, through corridors and landings,
searching, always searching for what I knew to be there. And I talked to
him. There was a special light in him when he spoke, and I smile to think
that is was I that caused it. Truly, he was a lonely soul. As we turned a
corner, I was struck by a sudden sadness, and stopped. 

	Tears fell.

	He was so scared then. So innocent…how I longed to take that perfect
crystal in my hands and shape it, smooth away all the many scars that marred
it’s surface, give it new life from the warmth of my hands, then look on it
again and marvel at the beauty of the soul that I am sure lay inside. I saw
sadness in the one look he gave me, concern, and shock as well. It was the
wonder that struck me the most. I could not fathom that.

	"Kaoru…what’s wrong?" So naïve. As if he could understand.

	"Nothing." I merely smiled back in return. "Let’s go on."
	
	The look of relief on his face gladdened me, and perhaps did something
more. I couldn’t say for sure.

	I thought of things, of love lost and regained, of hope and dreams and the
nature of sadness, of beauty of flesh and of the soul. I talked to him, and
took the features of his so-delicate face once again. So it was only when we
reached the bath that I realized it. 

My pockets were empty.

	I smiled.

*****

	I wondered about him all the way to the bath. (How he had known I was going
there?) Rei and he…so alike, and yet so different.

	I think it was that simple fact. He was different. Different than all the
others.

	When he cried, I longed to reach out to him, to tell him that I felt the
same, to comfort another fellow sufferer. I knew, somehow, that he was sad
like me, for the same reasons. I saw the clear drops hit the floor and
thought how like diamonds they seemed they lay there.

	Then I looked to him again, and I saw that I was right. And I saw something
more. Something different.

	He reassured me, and we went on. I enjoyed the conversation. Not only for
the words but for the sounds of them…I wanted to hear him sing again. I
wondered if Rei could?

	I neared him, impulsively, as we reached the door. I don’t think he
noticed, because I stepped back a second later. I smelt something. Something
strangely familiar. 

*****

	The water soothed my skin as I entered it. It was nice and hot, just right.
I enjoyed the sight of the rising steam as it traced lazy spirals in the
air, travelling ever so gently up to the ceiling.

	I let out a sigh, and he let his gaze drop down to me. I blushed. I had
never shared a bath with anyone before, and the strangeness of his eyes…it
was more pronounced now.

	He was shy. Innocent…naïve. Strong, in his own way. I smiled at him and I
wanted him to know that this was one of understanding and welcome. He seemed
to take it well, for I noticed the slump of his shoulders loosen, the
ever-present tension disappear.

	I felt at ease with him. That was it, the feeling. Maybe it was the water. 

	He, no, I, sang a wordless tune to nothing as the minutes went by. For a
while, I let my mind drift to thoughts of home. It seemed all too near now.

	He was so strange. So different.

	I looked to the ceiling.

	I felt the loneliness dissipate, and I edged closer.

	He looked into my eyes.

	I looked into his.

	Then I knew why he was different. He wasn’t like all the others. No, that
wasn’t it. He wasn’t like all the others, the ones he was forced to fight,
the ones which did nothing except cause destruction. He was someone who was
not one, something that was not known, from a time and place that he could
only guess. But he had been…he had been…

	Realization dawned in him. I would have smiled but for the things I saw in
him. I knew now his past, his present, all the others which had affected
him. I knew his father and the pain which that carried for him, and how he
was so like the Morning Star. I knew his mother from what fragments of
memory which still lay in his mind, and how she was like…I knew, no, I had
just begun to know him.

	He pulled away suddenly, and I was left wondering which of us was the stranger.

*****

	I had to go home after that. So I said goodbye, and went, noting the sad
smile he gave me when I left. It reminded me of Rei’s face.

	Misato and Asuka were away. I wished them well, though. I ate my dinner by
myself, not a lonely one, and went to sleep.

	My bed…as I got in, noticing my empty CD player, I thought of him. His
face, his eyes, his smile, his voice…most of all the sad smile he gave me.

	I slept a dreamless sleep that night.

*****

	I thought of him as I looked at the stars.

	I had no need to eat, to drink or to sleep. I was free, unfettered by the
bounds of mortal existence…even now I flaunted the rules by which they lived
each day by soaring high above their spider’s web  of steel of concrete. A
web to snare that from above. Above…I was above, but somewhere down there in
those towering structures was he.

	My brothers. I mourn for you and yet mock your folly. Did she know of your
intentions? As I looked up to the vastness of space and the whirling mass of
lights, I knew why humans loved the sky so. 

	I knew as well their quest for life’s meaning.

	I wondered about her. Child of two worlds. Acting on impulse, I flew to
her, masked by the night and my own innate mystery. Mankind has ever been
one to seek the unknown, but few know how the pierce the barrier their own
eyes create. He is one of them.

	I did not enter her home, such as it was. Austere was too kind a term. But
she sensed me nonetheless.

	We talked.

	I set out with new resolution. Tomorrow would be the resolving of this.

	The stars beckoned to both of us.

*****

	EVA-02’s fist slammed into my palm, the shock sending waves of pain racing
through my arm. I ignored it and shoved savagely forward, only to be pushed
back by the Unit’s red form. Red, the color of blood. That was what he
smelled of. I could almost see Asuka screaming inside…screaming as if her
soul had been torn out of her. Like mine was.

	Why? Why? WHY? Does everyone I care about have to be taken away?

	And he was still smiling that sad smile.

	I struggled futilely against my opponent and my soul, directing all my
anger and hurt into the fight. Nothing. Still the endless stalemate. 

*****

	His feelings hurt me. But I could do nothing. Mergence was at hand.

	I do not think he saw the tears fall.

*****

	He could not do this. Not him. He was different, kinder. I did not want to
fight him, or even to hurt him in any way. I wanted…I don’t know.

	I let my arms fall.

*****

	I could not kill him!

*****

	Our gazes locked.

	And we saw the other revealed.

*****

	The stalemate broke. The crystal shone. The tears were forgotten amidst the
light.

	I looked at him, and he at me. Both in mutual understanding.

	I held out my hand. He took it.

	Then we were one.

	We descended into destiny.

*****

Author’s Note :

	They just keep getting longer, don’t they? ^_^

	Just another non-yaoi reminder : try thinking of Kaoru not as male but
another being. This was intended to be an introspective, thought-provoking
piece in the manner of EVA…focused on a very interesting and unexplored
character. Two actually.

	Well, C&C is of course, appreciated. And I have discovered the joys of
posting on the FFML. More comments makes for a happier writer. ^_^ This is
still to be considered a first draft, however; I think the ending is rather
sketchy and lacking in detail. It was intended to create a surrealistic
effect, though, so I await other’s thoughts on the matter.

	This fic is dedicated to humanity. May there be no wars and universal love.
	

Zhou Tai An (kain@pacific.net.sg) "There is no one simple truth." - Rune Walsh

"Who is this? This is I. Who is I? What is I?		   - Rei Ayanami
I am myself. This object is I. The figure that forms me."

When someone stands in the light but does not give it out, a shadow is created.

The ways of nature and of life are strange and deep. They are not to be
understood. In the midst of angers and of wars love's secret work goes on,
and binds us all by blood, and this, whether love is denied or bestowed. -
Pearl S. Buck