Nagisa stood outside a building and raised her fist to knock. She hesitated and grinned ruefully to herself. She knocked on the door and waited. The door opened up and revealed a girl about Nagisa's age with long brown hair and bright blue-green eyes.
"Nagisa? What are you doing here?" the girl asked.
"I came to talk to you Kawai," Nagisa answered. "I was going to earlier, but I had to lose my minders from Nerv."
"Come in," Kawai said and then looked at Nagisa's apparel. "Strange dress, but it somehow fits you."
"Thanks. I wanted to ask about your grandmother."
Kawai looked confused. "You've met her a couple times."
Kawai hesitated and then shook her head. "You are talking about my other one. The one who died a little less than a year before I was born."
"Yes," Nagisa stated.
"I don't know what I can tell you. As I said, she died before I was born," Kawai asked.
"Do you have any pictures or anything from when she was our age?" Nagisa asked.
"Maybe," Kawai stated slowly. "My father handed me a large box upon my sixteenth birthday and said that my grandmother had left it for me. I have never opened it, since I wondered how she knew I was going to be born."
"Would you please get it? I also want to talk to you about those feelings of guilt that you feel whenever you meet me. I found out some things that will answer a lot of questions."
Shrugging in confusion, Kawai went to a closet and pulled out a large cardboard box. She took the box to a table and set it down.
"My dad is constantly complaining about having a foreign table, instead of a traditional Japanese table," Kawai muttered to herself.
Nagisa went over to the table and pulled out a chair to sit down on. Kawai quickly followed suit and opened the box.
"I don't see why you want to see this," Kawai stated and pulled out a small book that appeared to be a photo album.
Kawai opened the book and almost dropped it in shock. Seeing as her friend was in shock, Nagisa gently took the book away from her and looked at it.
"My best friend Nagisa Kano and I at the summer festival," Nagisa read aloud.
The photos at first glance was of the two girls sitting at the table, but the pictures were far older than either of the two girls. Nagisa closed the book and handed it back to Kawai.
"I was right," Nagisa muttered to herself. "You were affected during that time."
"Affected? Affected by what?" Kawai asked in numb shock.
Nagisa gave a sad smile at her friend and shook her head. "What do you think of when I mention Iczer to you? Big Gold? Cthulwulf? Bedem? Void?"
At the questions, Kawai got confused and was about to say something when flashes of something raged across her mind. Kawai quickly held her head as images and feelings went through her.
"Pain. Terror. Helplessness. Disgust, "Kawai muttered to herself and then looked at Nagisa. "You know what this means."
"You are the reincarnation of your grandmother. Your memories haven't came back to you yet. They have me when I was Nagisa Kano."
"I'd say you were completely crazy, but I heard the stories of that giant robot. Iczer Robo?"
"Yes. That is its name."
"You still haven't told me what I was affected by," Kawai stated.
"Do you really want to know?" Nagisa asked.
"I don't want to know. I need to know," Kawai stated firmly.
"Very well. If you trust me enough, I can show you."
"How?"
Nagisa held up her right hand a glowing violet sword briefly appeared in it and then faded out.
"I can show you telepathically."
"What? How?"
"All will be made clear, if you trust me."
"Please."
Nagisa closed her mind and connected to the mind of her old friend. Kawai saw the image of when Nagisa first saw Iczer-1 and then watched as the battles played out. She felt disgust when she saw herself tease Nagisa for what had happened to her. She then felt her disgust turn to horror when she saw herself change into a thing that looked like it wore a horrible mask with a third eye in place of the mouth. Kawai could recall the feeling of Iczer-1 punching her hard enough in the face to crush a normal person's skull. She saw the rodent like thing she had become travel to the Cthulwulf main base and tell them where Nagisa lived. Because she was the only creature that had survived and encounter with Iczer-1, she recalled watching helplessly as Nagisa was tortured and then possessed by something to kill Iczer-1. In a way, she was jealous of Iczer-1 for being a closer friend to Nagisa than she was to the point where they had become sisters of a sort due to temporary merging of their two souls. The images faded after Nagisa had shown the final battle and the restoration of Earth and a strange repeat of Nagisa meeting Iczer-1. Kawai looked at Nagisa in shock at end the telepathic show.
"That actually happened," Nagisa stated and then showed Kawai her recent history.
"That's a lot to take in. I can recall parts that you didn't show me. Why did I reincarnate like you?"
"My best guess is that you were possessed by a Bedem early in the battle against Iczer-1. You were never killed and maybe Big Gold had Sir Violet work on you and improve you in some way. I don't think you will turn back into a Bedem, but..."
Nagisa stood up and went to stand behind Kawai. She placed her hands on top of Kawai's head and a violet aura appeared around her. The aura faded and Nagisa shook her head in exhaustion. She went back to her chair and collapsed heavily into it.
"I just took care of any tendencies that your body might still have to turn into a Bedem. There will be some side effects, but they might be a small price to pay," Nagisa stated. "At least you now have the answer as to why you have felt guilt towards me."
Nagisa held up her fist. "Friends forever?"
Kawai put her fist beside Nagisa's and grinned impishly. "Apparently so."
Nagisa smiled at her old friend. "Normally, I would have chosen you to help pilot the Iczer Robo, but I had another reason. Those three pilots in Nerv are so full of depression it is painful to be around. I think by having Rei as the energy conduit for Iczer Robo, that might head off her depression somewhat. Shinji is already pulling out of the depression. That leaves Asuka."
"You want me to act in sort of a big sister role to Asuka?" Kawai stated more than asked.
"Yes. One of the things I did was key you in to be a pilot of the Iczer Robo, if I am busy elsewhere. Misato Katsuragi should be the big sister to Asuka, but that is going to go down in flames, since apparently she and a person by the name of Kaji have feelings for one another. Asuka has a crush on Kaji. I can't do it, since I have the Iczer Robo and Asuka is very jealous of me due to it."
"How are we going to do this?" Kawai asked.
"Bring that box along and we turn it over to Doctor Akagi. She'll want to start running tests on you as well."
Kawai shook her head and put the photo album back into the box. "If it wasn't for the feelings and those old memories, I still would not believe this. But due to them, I do believe. So, will I turn into something like you eventually?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure. I just did what I could to help you out. I'm still not sure of what all I can do."
"Something that you did not know, Nagisa. I was turned back into a humanoid like being shortly after Iczer-2 was created and experimented on. I think Big Gold was trying to understand human emotions, but could not. That memory of being experimented on is the main reason I believe you, even though you never showed it to me."
"When we get there, don't mention anything about Big Gold or the Cthulwulf."
Kawai nodded and then tried something. 'Nagisa? Can you hear me?'
'Yes. Apparently, telepathy is one of the side effects.'
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(Posted Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:25)
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