(Untitled)

[zomg_teh_rei]

In a park somewhere in the city, a pale teenage girl in a high school uniform can be found sitting on a swing, moving gently back and forth. She is watching the masses of humanity go by, for she doubts she will have many more opportunities to see them, and thinking.

About the man who raised her, who she had once loved more than life itself, who will

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[red_devil_02]

Suddenly, Asuka's nearby. When did she get to be as good at creeping up on people as Rei had?

For whatever reason, she doesn't even know, she sits down nearby. For a minute or so, she actually listens to Rei's voice. Of course, she still interrupts eventually.

"Funny. When we met, I figured you'd be the one talking about goodbyes and I'd be the one asking for wings," she observes, only a hint of her usual anger in her voice. Mostly, it's just bitter.

[zomg_teh_rei]

Rei's voice trails off when she hears Asuka. She must've been really distracted to have not heard her.

"Why would you have wanted to fly away?" she asks, not looking at her. "You loved being...you. Being noticed. At the center." Enough of her old memories have coalesced for her to remember that. Yet now, she's surprised not to find any anger or distaste for this girl inside herself. All she can feel is sadness.

[red_devil_02]

"Ha. And I thought you were perceptive, too."

She puts her face in her hands. "There was no 'me' to love being in the first place, First." She laughs unenthusiastically at her week non-pun. "Just a face on a facade, something to hide behind but no one doing the hiding. It was very Jung, now that I think about it."

She sighs. She's been doing a lot of this psychological self-analysis lately. "Not that you care, I'm hallucinating you anyway. What's with that, I could barely even stand you when you were alive...?"

[zomg_teh_rei]

At this, Rei does turn her head to look at Asuka. "I am alive," she says. And then, to her own surprise: "For now."

After a second of hesitation, she continues, "A week from now...probably sooner...I'll be gone." She doesn't mention that everyone else will be, too.

[gattai_dood]

*When did that penguin get there? It's on the swing next to you, suddenly. It turns to look at you with unblinking eyes, devoid of emotion.*

Do you have regrets, dood? About the path you have chosen, about how you've lived your life?

[zomg_teh_rei]

I don't think I chose my path. Just some of what I did along the way.

[gattai_dood]

Proof of your humanity is your right to choose, dood. If you just allow yourself to be someone else's puppet, you can't truly say you're alive.

Your life will be wasted if you don't live for yourself, dood.