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"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel"

hoops of steel - the armor, also the bond created by the armor wearers.

That bond binds them together, and their shared war, their mutual destiny has made them friends. I'd say their adoption is pretty damn well tried - they would've died for each other without a second thought. And so they "grapple [each other] unto [their] soul[s]" with, and via, the "hoops of steel" - the armor bond.

If you asked the guys about whether they'd wanted to fight, I think they'd all give the same answer. They'd each phrase it differently, but it would be the same thing: they could not do otherwise.

But if they'd had a choice...if they could go back and CHOOSE whether or not to do it...I think they'd choose to. For one thing, it's a matter of honor, of proving strength and bravery. It's a rather harsh rite into the world of Manhood, but I think that's what it was for them. But more importantly, even more important than "Saving the World" to them, is the fact that they wouldn't have met the other guys, or if they had, wouldn't have become as close to them. They would've missed out on having someone so close to themselves, someone who understood them with a precision no other human being ever could. Together they belong; they are their own little cocoon. Even Nasuti and Jun aren't part of this cocoon, although they certainly are allowed to visit it once in a while.

At the same time, the "hoops of steel" themselves, the armors, reach for each other, for their own friends whose adoption have been tried.

This selection is from the Act I, Scene III of William Shakespeare's immortal "Hamlet", where Polonius is giving his instructions to Laertes, his son, as he (Laertes) prepares to go off to France; this is also where the phrase: "To thine own self be true" comes from:

"And this above all:
To thine own self be true -
And it must follow,
As the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

(And yes, I highly recommend reading "Hamlet" - it is a wonderful play full of good advice and lots of existential thought - sort of like Evangelion without the giant robots or Angels and the resultant explosions.)

If you liked this story, I'd love to know about it! Hell, if you hated the story I'd like to know about it (no flames - constructive criticism here, people, please?). Drop me a line to let me know, onegaishimasu??