Stage: THREE
I Am Your Friend

	"Father, why do we have to leave?" a young boy asked.
	"Because, there is no longer anything left for us here." his father answered.
	"But why must we go so far away?" he asked again.
	"Because it is the best place for us right now." his father replied in the same bland tone of voice that he had adopted ever since the boy's mother died.
	"Father?" the young boy started. "I... I don't want to leave... I'm happy here. I have friends..."
	"Are they really your friends? Are you sure they aren't just plotting to betray you when you least expect it?" his father said, a hint of anger in his voice.
	"N-no... They wouldn't..." the young boy said, "They're my friends. We play together. We said we always would. We promised."
	"They're lying. Friends never last." his father said bluntly. This curt response froze the little boy.
	"Liar! Why do you lie! We promised! We... We promised! You don't break promises!" the little boy cried out. He broke free from his father grasp. Tears had begun to roll down his face.
	"Joseph*... please..." his father begged.
	"No! You're a liar! I... I hate you!" with that, he turned around and ran. It was useless, and he knew it. An airport security guard soon caught him, and after finding out who he was, escorted him back to his father, who had already boarded the airplane. They sat in silence much of the trip, before his father finally spoke.
	"I'm sorry for what I said to you." he said quietly, "But one day you're going to have to realize it's true. Friends can never last. You have two choices. You can either make friends and get hurt, or you can do the smart thing and live apart. Focus your life on your career. Become the best you can from that. Find joy in that, rather than with something that will cause you to get hurt." And that was the end of the conversation. They didn't speak with one another for the rest of the day. When they finally arrived in Germany, they didn't spend long to look at any tourist attractions. They went straight to their new home to unpack, and afterwards, to the Gehirn facility in central Berlin, where Joseph* would meet Kaji for the first time, and soon, meet Asuka outside of Gehirn.

	What was her name...? The girl who lived beside him. She looked like the same age as him. He had heard her mother call her by her name several times. 'Asuka.' The blonde girl who lived next door to him, whom he had never met, but he was so desperate to do so, even though his father told him that, in the end, making friends would only hurt. But even if it hurt in the end, the rest of the time was joy. The good must outweigh the bad. He had to meet her. The girl who always looked so sad and serious. Maybe... Just maybe, he could cheer her up. He had made up his mind. Next time he saw her, he would talk to her. As long as Father didn't catch him. However, his chance to finally talk to her wouldn't come for another several days, but eventually, he saw her playing outside on her front lawn with the same doll that she always carried. He walked over, and stood beside her for several minutes in silence, working up the nerve to say hi. It had never been this hard before. Was this a good sign, or not?
	"What do you want?" she finally said, little to no emotion in her voice. She seemed more focused in her doll.
	"U-um... I-I... I moved in next door not long ago..." he finally stammered out.
	"Yeah, so?" she responded, the same lack of any enthusiasm, or even annoyance, in her voice.
	"W-well... I-I haven't really had any times to meet anyone, or make any friends..." he said. He gulped nervously.
	"And what do you want me to do about that?" she said. She finally looked up at him, a blank and hollow look in her eyes. Her eyes. Perfect blue orbs upon her face, but they lacked any emotion whatsoever. Or... Did they? The longer he stared into her eyes, the more he saw past the hollow exterior to a hidden, inner anguish. A longing for something, which he could not place. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his father's voice.
	"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Get away from that common street trash!" he yelled, the anger, which had invaded his personality as of late, apparent. At least it was better than no emotion. Or... Was it? "Did you hear what I said, boy?! Move!"
	"Yes, Father..." Joseph* replied obediently, "Bye," he whispered to the girl, who had returned to playing with her doll. Either she didn't care that she was called 'common street trash,' or she was used to worse. He walked back to his house, ready for the scolding that was sure to come. He'd have to try again another day. But, yet again, that day did not come for another several. He had started to patiently watch from the window in his room, and, when he finally did see her come out of her house, her continuous companion of a doll in hand, and sit on the front lawn and start to play, he checked his Father's study, where, surely enough, his Father was busy reading some thick book. He quietly snuck to the front door, opened it, slipped outside, and closed it as quietly as he could behind him. He walked back over to the girl.
	"Hi..." he managed out this time. There was a long pause
	"Why are you here? Won't you be yelled at?" she asked. Was she concerned?
	"Only if he sees me." Joseph* answered, adding a note of disgust on the 'he.' She once more looked at him.
	"Why are you so interested in me." she asked.
	"W-well... Because you seemed so lonely. I always see you playing here with your doll." he answered half-truthfully. In truth, he needed someone, anyone, to take the monotonous boredom, and the earth-shattering lonliness.
	"What makes you think that makes me lonely?" she asked in the same hollow voice, as she looked back toward her doll.
	"This may sound weird but... I saw it in your eyes." he answered. She didn't react.
	"You're right." she said simply.
	"That it sounds weird?" he asked, "Yeah, I know..."
	"No... That I'm lonely..." she looked up again. Her eyes had started to fill with tears. "I-it's so lonely... No one ever talks to me... All I have is this doll... Those people don't even care about me... They just have to take care of me..." she said bitterly.
	"Those people...? Aren't they your parents?" he asked.
	"Kind of... They're my foster parents. I never knew my father. Whenever I ask, they say no one knew him in the first place." she said.
	"And your mother?" he asked, already sure of the answer.
	"She died. She committed suicide. I found her body." she answered, as if it were the plainest thing in the world, but it was no doubt meant to shock him, possibly scare him away. This pest had already caused too many emotions to stir up in her. It was time to be rid of him. She had worked hard to bury these worthless feelings. They were only slowing her down. But what happened next would never cease to not only amaze, but comfort her as well. He hugged her.
	"I'm so sorry to hear that. It may not sound like much, but all I can do is say I'm sorry you had to suffer that. I know I can't do much more than that, but I want you to know this... You're not alone." he looked up at her, tears in his eyes as well. She stared at him, amazed. Whenever she had revealed this to someone else, they called her a freak, someone devoid of emotion to say such terrible things so heartlessly, or would simply flee, too scared to face the harsh truth of reality. She reached around him, nervous, almost unsure of how to proceed, but eventually, she was able to amass the courage she need, and hugged him back.
	"Thank you..." was all she could manage out.

	Several weeks had passed since the day Asuka had told Joseph* about her mother, and he had shocked her by embracing her. Not long after, in fact, he confided in her about his own mother, who had died when he was younger.
	"So... How did she die?" Asuka had asked.
	"I don't know." he answered.
	"How can't you know? She was your mother, wasn't she?" Asuka had cried out indignantly.
	“I can't remember. And everytime I ask, I get yelled at." Joseph* said as he looked away.
	"Oh... I'm sorry..." she said, a little embarrassed. However, the awkward silence that had suddenly invaded didn't last long.  Asuka suddenly jumped to her feet and cried out; "I've got it! I read about this in one of my mother's books! It said if you hypnotize someone, you can help bring back their old memories! Just wait, I'll get a pendulum from my room." With that, she ran off towards her house, kicking up as much dust as humanly possible. All Joseph* could do was sigh. He knew exactly why Asuka was doing this. She had a lot of pride in herself usually, but after finding her mother's corpse and being forced to live with her foster parents, she became extremely depressed, but when Joseph* had revived her emotions, her true personality quickly became apparent, and her pride would not allow her to stop trying to help Joseph* deal with his problems, as he had with hers. She was an odd person, but nevertheless, one whose company he enjoyed. She didn't know this yet, but she had already helped him more than he could ever help her. She had given him life, where he had only returned hers. When she had merely lost her courage, he had given it back, when he never had any in the first place. Truly, she was his blessing.
	"Thank you, Asuka..." he whispered.
	"Eh? Damn! Did you see me coming? I was going to sneak up on you!" she said, as she crawled from her hiding spot.
	"Wh-where did you come from?!" Joseph* cried out, his face white as a sheet.
	"Oh, so you didn't see me coming? You must've been thinking about me then. We've only know each other a few weeks, but have you already fallen for my obvious charms?" Asuka asked, flipping her long blonde hair behind her.
	"No, actually, I was thinking about how stupid you were, thinking hypnosis actually worked. You should've snuck back earlier, I was laughing hard." Joseph* replied blankly. Something he would've never said a few weeks ago to anyone. Truly, Asuka had changed him. "But then I thought you must've done it because you were either worried about me, or you were really bored. So I guess I thanked you. No big deal."
	"I-idiot! Who would be worried about you?! You're right! I... I was bored!" Asuka said decisively. That was it. He didn't need to know anything more than that.

	For the past 5** years they had been living as neighbors, playing with each other nearly every day. His father, after the first few months of them playing together, had eventually stopped trying to keep Joseph* away, and, for some reason, started to subtly encourage Joseph* to go outside and play, knowing that it would be with Asuka, and he no longer referred to her as 'common street trash' either. Although incredibly suspicious, Joseph* chose to ignore those feelings, and just be grateful he wasn't being pulled away from Asuka as he had often been with others. They were 11 years old when they finally revealed who they really were to each other.
	"I... I have something important to tell you." Asuka said. For the entire day, she had been relatively quiet, as if contemplating on something. "I feel like I should've told you this a long time ago, but I was sworn to secrecy. I don't care if I get in trouble though. I want you to know."
	"Well, if it's something that might get you in trouble, maybe I shouldn't know." Joseph* replied, as he pumped his legs, causing him to go higher and higher on the swing he was sitting on.
	"Too bad, I'm telling you anyway!" she responded proudly. She would be the same for ever. No one could tell her not to do something, because she'd instinctively do it. It was a neat trick to use sometimes, in order to get her to do something. "Years ago, I was recruited by this organization called Gehirn. Apparently I was chosen to pilot this thing called an..."
	"Evangelion." Joseph* had finished for her quietly. He had stuck his legs out, causing him to stop.
	"How did you know?! Have you been following me around?" Asuka demanded, suspicious of how a commoner like Joseph* could be chosen for such an elite project that she was involved in. She had been chosen, one of the elite gene pools. It was obviously a project made for the best of the best, so how had Snowflake been chosen.
	"Did you ever wonder why I came to Germany all the way from North America?" Joseph* asked quietly. It was starting to make sense, why he and Asuka had been neighbors, how much they had in common, why his father had stopped resenting him playing with her. It was all a set up so they would get along with each other, and therefore, possibly pilot these things together more successfully. It was a huge set up, and they played right into what was Gehirn's, now Nerv, palm.
	"Why...?" Asuka finally asked, all though she already knew the answer.
	"To work at the base in central Berlin, to be tested, and to get ready for the project. In fact, I heard a base is being established in central Canada, so likely I'll go back there when it's completed." he answered matter of factly, looking away from Asuka. "After all, the only reason I'm here is to be a test subject. I've never mattered. There's always a replacement. That's probably why the two of us are here. In case we have to replace each other. Neither of us matter. We're completely expendable." Asuka suddenly slapped Joseph*.
	"How... How can you be such an idiot! You may think you don't matter, that you're useless and expendable, but you should know that isn't true! After all... You matter to me..." she sobbed. Shocked at this sudden confession, Joseph* turned his head back toward her, tears welling in his eyes.
	"I'm... I'm sorry I said that we're expendable... I should've known it's not true. Especially not for you. You will always matter Asuka. Always." he stood up, and, after an awkward moment of not being certain of what to do, he embraced her. This was the second time that he had ever done this, but the first time in this fashion. "I'll never leave you, Asuka, not as long as you're alive, I will always be with you, if not beside you, then in your heart, and you in mine."

* Not actual character name. I've yet to create the actual character name. Suggestions welcome. Last name suggestions also welcome (must be naval craft from North American fleet, WWII preferable.)

** The number of years they've known each other is not yet certain. I picked 5 because it's a nice number, and it gives plenty of time for emotions between the two to build, and to make them more familiar with each other. In fact, character age isn't even set yet. I'm thinking between 14 and 17. And although that completely disagrees with NGE, as all the events in it took place in a year to under a year, this is also an alternate universe, much like other fanfics as well as manga. If you want to read something exactly like NGE, why not read the script to it? :P

There's one thing I ask, and that's that you SHOW YOUR EDITING. I don't care if you highlight it, put asterixes, bold, use brackets, or send me a letter where you made all corrections in dog shit, I just want to see where you've edited. Otherwise, I'm bound to miss it.
Thanks,
Terry.