"Do you trust me? I really believe you do."

"I do, but I could never be..."

"You already are, so just relax and let me in, because I want to help."

Gendo sat in the chair at his desk and looked at his hands, his fingers twisted together. "I'll... never amount to anything. Just like my father. In a small apartment, with a dull job, and... and no-account kids and an ungrateful wife."

He looked up to see her staring at him in shock. "I don't want to drag you down into the only life I've ever known."

"You don't have to end up like that. You can be different than your father," Yui said softly, sitting down on the bed, resting her hands primly in her lap. "You can break that cycle, and I'd like to help you."

"Don't you understand? After all these years, I'm still in college with no real prospects, I don't have a life... I'm just like my father!"

"No, you're not. You can't be because you will never have an ungrateful wife. Not while you have me."

The two looked at each other, no words being spoken. It was far too late for anything to be retracted; everything was out there to be... not discussed.

"That's what I mean. That's what scares me. I just don't know. Everything's so... unstable. Should I move in with you, shouldn't I... Should I..." Gendo growled in frustration. "I want... more than maybe I deserve, but I don't want to be denied it either."

Yui considered it for a moment. "Maybe you haven't said as much, but I believe you trust me, and since you do... Move in with me. This isn't a question."

"I can't make you..."

"You're right. This is why I'm telling you that you're going to be doing this. My choice, and what I think is your choice too. Now don't bother arguing because it won't change my mind. I'm going to keep a close watch on you, and the easiest way to do that is to have you living with me." Her voice was quiet and understanding, but also commanding.

"Okay," he replied meekly.

"And don't act like that. It doesn't become you; it's not really who you are. Maybe it's how you think you are, or think you should be." Yui stood and stalked toward Gendo.

She put her hands on either arm of the chair he was in and leaned down. "Gendo, please..." Yui really had nothing else to say, but it was obvious that he just wasn't able to deal with the root of his problems.

"Sometimes, at night, when I'm not with you, I feel like I'm in a completely different place, and it's cold and dark. But then, when I see you in the morning, before class, you're like an angel, and I would do anything for you." Gendo stood slowly, his body pushing Yui's away, their noses touching.

"So is my angel going to save me? Because I think I'm in desperate need of it, and I only want it from her."

"Happily. Just don't think that you won't amount to anything again. It's not true, and I'll make you see that, no matter what." They were standing, face to face, their bodies barely in contact, and the tension that had been thick between them dissipated.

"I hate feeling like that. I try to not think about it, but sometimes I just can't help it." That was exactly it; with her so close, so willing to help, she was his light when the darkness of depression threatened to swallow him whole. "I need you."

Yui smiled. "That's good because I'm not leaving any time soon. So how does me making you move in with me sound? Better than before?"

"Yeah. And I think now I can say, a bit tentatively, that I trust you. And I love you."

"I will never be an ungrateful wife. Never."