...

   "Shinji-kun's eye will be fine in a week," the Doctor Akagi announced. Meanwhile, beside her, standing quite calmly, was one Shinji Ikari, now donning a patch over his right eye.
   "Now please tell me," Ritsuko asked with a somewhat annoyed pitch in her voice. "How did a hot spring penguin manage to be excited to the point of nearly clawing out a boy's eye?"
   "It's okay, Akagi-san," Shinji said.
   "Well ... let's see..." Misato began, smiling with embarrassment and scratching the back of her head. She gave her explanation of the ruckus that came to pass earlier in the morning, and by the end of it, Ritsuko had to hide her amusement.
   "It's all fun and games, as the saying goes, until..."
   "I know!" Misato yelled. Thoroughly perturbed as it was, she grabbed Shinji by the hand and dragged him out of the hospital ward's waiting room. "Che..." She looked down beside her for a brief moment. "Sorry, Shinji-kun."
   "It's okay," Shinji said, meaning it. Despite the side effect of the events that transgressed this morning, the boy somehow did not regret waking up the way he did.
   "Hey, Shinji!" Touji greeted him again. "Tough luck," he comforted, upon eyeing the patch. "But at least maybe you'll get up next time," he grinned.
   "Yes, yes," Shinji answered with a resigned simper. Then, a thought came to him.
    Misato-san?" Shinji asked. "Why were you up this morning, anyway?"
   "Hm? Oh!" Misato clapped her hands together eagerly. "Par-ty..." she crooned.

...

Misato had insisted on checking the eye patch with maternal detail before she was convinced that it would suffice before they headed out for their holiday shopping. So Shinji sat obediently on the living room couch while Misato conducted her inspection. Touji flipped through the channels offered on the television, doing his best to seem occupied; the class representative Hikari Horaki remained stationed at the front door, while Asuka grabbed what belongings she would need before the she headed off with her friend.
   "Come on!" Asuka demanded, giving Shinji a slap on the back that was a little too hearty as she dashed into her room for her belongings. She was clearly in better spirits after her morning bath, and now that the class representative was at the door, Shinji had to admit that the holiday season was doing well for even and especially the Second Child's spirits.
   "It's the holidays! Holidays!" she rejoiced.
   Is she singing? Shinji wondered, referring to Asuka's singsong tone, pointing a disturbed look at her door.
   Asuka ran by and was about to announce her departure, but for a slight idea. She doubled back, stared down at the Third Child until he noticed. He turned his head like a broken wind-up toy, and asked, "W-what?"
   "The First Child called this morning," Asuka said softly, her eyes narrowing to match her serious tone.
   "What?" asked his puzzled voice.
   "Yeah," Asuka declared. "She told me to deliver you a message."
   Shinji, becoming more frightened by the second and wondering if the German's head was expanding in size as it loomed over his seated being, asked cautiously, "What?"
   Asuka took a deep breath before she gave her answer. It rivaled the loudest screech a ten-foot parrot could manage. "Merry Christmas!"
   Five seconds later, she was out the door with a simple good-bye, leaving behind a very flustered Touji, Misato, and Shinji.
   "Ouch," muttered the woman.

...

Aida Kensuke had no words when he met them outside the arcade. Instead, he chose to blink and readjust his glasses, and think for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak.
   "Bird bite," Touji replied before the question was asked.
   "Damn!" Kensuke muttered. "I was hoping that it was some battle scar or something cool like that. 'Bird bite?'"
   As the otaku went on about the what's, why's, and what could have been's behind an eye patch, Touji and Shinji decided to put on a smile as they wondered what sort of present Misato would be getting the boy. As for the raven-haired woman herself, she hoped that whatever she chose, it would not involve any sharp objects, flammable ingredients, or projectile properties. This scene went on for some non-figured measure of time.
   "But," Kensuke finished, "I suppose it'll make it more difficult for the media to recognize you."
   The three thought back to some of the news they had seen on television involving Asuka Soryu Langley, Second Child and pilot of the world's first production model EVA Unit Two. They nodded together with a sense of bafflement on their minds.
   "Let's go."

...

"Those who nominate Shinji-kun to be the one who invites Rei, please raise your hand." Misato finished by raising her own hand, while Touji did the same with his. Aida had left them at the arcade where he met them. This left Shinji, the only remaining passenger in the vehicle, feeling somewhat cheated.
   "But," he resisted, "but she probably doesn't want to come."
   "Who knows?" Misato countered. "No one for sure until we ask. Besides," she winked into the rear view mirror, "she might even have a present for someone."
   "Yeah," Suzuhara agreed, nudging the grimacing boy beside him for good measure.
   "After all," Misato illuminated, "a party is a good excuse to give someone special something special without it seeming special." She looked into the rear view mirror, this time at Touji. "Am I right, Suzuhara-kun?"
   "Ah hah hah..." Touji replied uneasily.
   Shinji, still only rather recently enlightened on the subject of Touji's secret admirer (and unsure of it, due to Asuka's rather ambiguous explanation), wondered for a moment who would be giving what as far as Touji and the class representative went, if at all.
   "So, how about it, Shinji-kun?"
   "But, I don't think she'll have any."
   "Oh?" Misato persisted, "what makes you so confident?"
   "That's because..." Shinji began, stalling for an answer, "that's because..."
   "Hm?" Misato peeked in, leaning slightly back in her seat for a reply.
   "She's never asked for anything. It wouldn't be right."
   Touji grunted and leaned back lazily. "That doesn't really mean anything," he grumbled in a half-felt annoyed tone.
   Shinji mumbled in an affirmative tone, and said nothing more as they arrived home. What am I saying? he wondered.

...

"Have you ever known what snow is like, Shinji-kun?"
   "No," the boy admitted easily.
   "It used to snow during the winter season," Misato mused, her listening focused on the cicadas in the broad daylight outside the kitchen window. "The holiday season is different than it used to be."
   Shinji said nothing and wondered what Misato had to say to him. She would not merely joke around if they were seated at the dining table - a medium of casual lounging during the meals that took place upon it, a conference desk otherwise. And the situation now fell into the latter category.
   Hikari was behind them, having volunteered to prepare some food for the gathering. Shinji had helped for some time before Misato had asked to have a short conversation with him.
   "Shinji-kun," Misato said solemnly. "I just wanted you to feel appreciated. Everyone is very thankful for what you've put into your position."
   "It's fine, Misato-san," Shinji answered lightly. "I know."
   "Shinji-kun," Misato began with a seriously and perhaps even sad tone. "I thought about what you said today.
   "About Rei," Misato explained before the boy could ask. She leaned forward slightly, rolling her drink on the can's bottom rim. "I think what you meant today was that Rei has never asked for anything in return. Right?"
   "Yes," Shinji replied with some hesitation, knowing that what Misato had articulated was closer to what he had meant on the trip home, but wondering if that was fully it, either. Staring at his can of tea offered little aid towards figuring what he meant as well.
   "So, I think we owe her at least a little," Misato reasoned easily.
   Was that it? Shinji wondered. Maybe. Nodding, he stood to leave. Hikari had stopped in the middle of cutting a vegetable and had listened in on the conversation, probably despite her efforts otherwise. Shinji made no note of this, but merely tossed on a jacket instead.
   "Cheer up, Shin-ji-kun," Misato sang in her normal playful tone. "Everyone should be happy during the holidays." She gave him her most encouraging smile.

...

Around the door's corner was Ayanami Rei, looking out to see who had come. Standing outside, trying to find a compromise between looking back at those deep jewels of crimson and being a rude intruder, was the commander's son.
   "Ikari-kun," she greeted.
   Shinji realized quickly, as he had half-expected, that Rei, having nothing to wear other than her school uniform, was garbed in little more than a shirt and underwear. She was a conglomeration of black and white from head to toe. So pale, she seemed, contrasted against the darkness behind the door. Her eyes, on the other hand, were brightly lit. "Ah, yes," he addressed in return.
   "Are you alright?" she asked.
   "Ah? Yes," he answered once he figured out that she was referring to the eye patch he wore. Shinji would realize a moment later how miserably out of place he sounded. Not a good beginning to an invitation.
   "Come in," she offered, opening the door fully and heading back into the room. Shinji complied, but not without a moment's pause. As the door opened fully before she turned to go, the afternoon's light poured in, and in a heartbeat, Ayanami's persona had been lit with an aura of acceptance, life, and luminescence. And it was in this was that Shinji Ikari was welcomed inside. As he shuffled off his shoes at the entrance, the sound of the stove lighting up could clearly be heard.
   Shinji decided to wait before getting to the point.
   The room had yet to change. The walls were rotting with mildew, and indoor lighting were desperately needed. Bandages and blood littered a corner of the floor. Cold dust rendered the window pale, which in turn transposed the room's only source of light into a ghost tone of white. The construction outside sounded as if it would not be completed in a lifetime. The interior of Ayanami's fridge was probably the most inviting aspect of her entire living space. Perhaps, he could offer to help her clean it some time. If he would, that was, or if she would bother.
   "Here," Rei suddenly offered, holding out a warm cup of tea. Broken out of his line of thought, Shinji accepted the cup uncertainly.
   "What is it?" she asked as she lifted her own cup.
   "Oh," Shinji began, "I, or Misato, or ... that is, everyone, everyone was wondering if you would like to come to Misato's apartment ... to celebrate the holidays."
   A brief moment of silence fell upon the room as Shinji recounted how much easier he had thought this task would be in theory than it actaully was in practice.
   "I think," Shinji explained, "that Misato has presents for everybody - she likes to do this stuff, and Asuka probably as some, for some people, and..."
   "I do not have any gifts," the pale girl apprised to him, "for anyone."
   "Oh," Shinji murmured, scratching the back of his head slowly with his free hand. "I don't have any ... either," he thought aloud. He glanced to his side, and was noticed immediately by a pair of dark red eyes.
   "I ... I suppose I should be sorry for not getting anyone any gifts," Shinji admitted with an effortful note of laughter in his tone.
   "Then," Ayanami calculated, "I am sorry also."
   For some reason, Shinji felt his something in his stomach sicken at her words.
   "Oh," he managed.
   "What happened?" she asked.
   "This?" Shinji replied, pointing to his eye. "It was a cruel joke," he chuckled. "It will be fine soon, even if it's a little inconvenient."
   "I see," Rei replied evenly. "It is good that it is only a slight injury."
   "Oh ... yes," Shinji agreed, turning away to stare at his tea. "Then..." Without anything more to say, he simply nodded, put his cup down, and began to turn towards the door.
   She followed him so much as to open the door as he shuffled on his shoes. The door screeched open slowly, ringing sharply in Shinji's ear. Once the noise ended he let go of a breath he could not before, his mind a twirl.
   "Are you alright?" asked a calm voice. She sounded just as she probably meant it - that is to say, professionally. Though, her eyes might almost have whispered a hint of care.
   "Yes," Shinji answered, nodding his head so that he would not have to look at her as he exited.
   The door creaked behind him as he walked. Inside, the First Child focused her attention at her hand on the door's handle, holding it down as the door swung shut. It did not. Instead, a hand slammed the other side of the door and held it open.
   Curious, Ayanami looked around the corner. It was Shinji Ikari, peering back at her steadily, albeit not without some exertion. Before Rei could ask, he answered.
   "You shouldn't be sorry," he informed her. "That is ... I mean ..." Despite his shaky tone, the Third Child seemed rather calm when she could only see him with one eye around the door, and only a slim half of him with that. He blinked once, and then, in spite of the daunted expression he was probably wearing, continued now in a more saguine tone. "No one," he said, "can ask for more."
   With that, his eye shut, and he nodded firmly, or bowed slightly. "Thank you, Ayanami-san."
   With only a slit of view between the door and the wall frame, Shinji could not see how Ayanami reacted. Most likely, she did not react much at all, but he hoped, nonetheless. Her reply then made anything he wished to see inessential, redundant.
   "Oh," she breathed.

~fin

Author's note: special thanks to Toh Ee Loong, especially for pointing out a small but critical scratch in the first draft.