Neon Genesis Evangelion: Aftermath
Chapter One: The End Brings the Beginning
"Kimochi warui…" I managed to say after he let go of my neck, as he looked at me with that dorky, exasperated expression of his… Mien Gott! What the hell was wrong with him! What an idiot…
He turned his back to me finally. Good, now I didn't have to look at that damned face of his. I continued to stay still, though, I didn't feel like moving, turning to face the ocean… My mind told me it was best not to. Last I remembered before all this was being ripped apart by those… things… I should be dead. Those white, winged, freaks… They ate it, they ate my prize possession, my reason to exist… I should be dead. I wish I was dead… Mama, I wish I could join you. I've got nothing now… except him. Ick. I'm stuck with Ikari, of all people!
I finally stood up, I finally turned to the "ocean".. and that's when I realized what it was…. It wasn't the ocean, it was… the geofront… It was completely flooded… Buildings stuck up from the liquid, their shadows rippling slowly. I looked back at… him… he was still sitting there. No complaining, no muttering, no whining, nothing but silence. I turned once again to the strange, terrible sight before me, scooping up some of the stuff in my hand.
I took a small sniff of it. ….! This… isn't water, it's… it's… it's LCL. The world… is flooded with LCL. How was it possible! How could there be so much! I threw my hand down, the stuff splattering onto the ground. Mien Gott…. Ugh! I really wish I was dead now. Dead like the world now before me. I looked at him again, he was still in the same position. What if he was dead?
I walked around him, to his face, and gave him a jab in the chest with my hand. He let out a snort, fell to his side, and… I realized he had fallen asleep. Figures. Stupid Ikari. Stupid, typical, Shinji Ikari. And then I noticed my hand was wet… not from the LCL, but from… He had silently cried himself to sleep. What a big baby. But…. He had reason this time around. As did I, but the tears wouldn't come yet. And so I sat beside him, looking out at the sea of LCL.
I just looked out at it for what seemed like hours, before the tears finally came. I hoped this was a dream… I hoped I would find myself waking up in the hospital, or Misato's apartment like nothing had happened. How I hoped. Before I knew it, I had propped him back up, rested my head on his shoulder, and it was only mere moments later that sleep came.
"The end is the beginning." a voice called out.
"What?" I called back.
"Everything is gone. But you still live."
"Why! Why should I live! I've got nothing, now. "
"Untrue."
"I have no mother, I have no reason to pilot, nothing to pilot!"
"But you enjoy being by yourself."
"Not if I don't have purpose!"
"You have one. You have a purpose. This is why you were spared. This is why he was spared."
"…I wouldn't do what you're suggesting if HE was the last man on earth!"
"Then you have no purpose. But he will live on. He will live to be an old man. But he will be alone."
"He seems to enjoy it."
"Does he, now?"
"Yes! Doesn't he?"
"Does he? Or was he never alone in the first place?"
"I guess so."
"But do you KNOW so?"
"No."
"You have a lifetime ahead of you, he has a lifetime ahead of him. Why not spend it together? Even if you die without continuing life, without making it flourish anew?"
"I… don't know."
"Not now. But someday, you will. When, that is up to you."
"Who are you?"
"You will know if you follow the path you need to."
"Show yourself! Even if I don't know."
Suddenly, someone took my hand. It felt warm. It also felt small. I turned. There, holding my hand was a child. A little boy. He wore makeshift clothing made from old materials. His hair was a fiery red, his eyes a cool blue.
"You will know." he said.
"You… you're…"
"I am?"
"If I choose the path I need to take… You're my child."
"Yes, my son." called out my voice, only it seemed… different.
"Who!"
Another figure appeared. It was me. Only taller. Only older.
"He is my son. He is your son. He is…"
"Our son." came a voice I recognized…. Commander Ikari. Wait, no… Then, he appeared. It was him at first glance. But he seemed different. The Commander was strong, he never had the face this man showed. It was that stupid look. It was HIS stupid look.
"Oh dear God."
"Follow the path." the boy said.
"Follow the path." my future self mimed.
"Follow the path." future Shinji mimed after.
"Follow the path." came another voice, as the other three suddenly turned to dust and blew away. I… didn't like it.
"Who?"
"Ignore them. They are stupid. You don't want Shinji. You don't need that idiot."
I turned. A figure, wearing somewhat tattered black robes, their face hidden by the shadow of their hood.
"Go away. I don't need to hear this. Not from them, not from you. I am Asuka Langley Soryu! I follow my own path!"
"Do you, now? Choose the path you know you'll enjoy. It is the path to me."
"Who are you?"
"Your true path."
"I already told you, I follow my own path. Go away, leave me be. I will be the one making the decisions."
"No. I will be the one making the decisions, now."
"Shut up! Go away!"
"No. I do not go away. I never go away. Even if you try to ignore me, I will always exist. As I have for a long time. As I will forever"
"GO AWAY! AWAY, AWAY, AWAY GO!" I screamed, charging them. They stood still, unmoving, until my body made contact, sending us both flying, falling to the ground. I got up. The hood had fallen off. I looked. I screamed. It was my face, scarred and broken. It grinned at me with disgusting, rotten teeth, a few missing. Dirty, stringy hair flowing behind. And it smelled like rot. I realized, then, it… she.. I… was dead.
"No…" she began, repeating what she last said.
"SHUT UP!"
"…always exist. As I have for a long time. As I will…"
"SHUT UP!"
"As I will forever and ever and ever and ever and ever!"
"NO… NO…"
"NO!" I screamed as I woke up. It was daytime. I knew this because it was brighter than it had been and the LCL had taken a more, familiar bright orange color. I looked around. Damn it, I hadn't been dreaming this. I don't know what was worse, finding out this was my life now, or that dream. I didn't want either to be true.
"Asuka, are you okay? I heard you scream"
I looked up. That's when I realized Shinji wasn't there anymore. No, he was over there now, standing there, his clothes soaked.
"I'm fine."
"Okay."
But I wasn't fine. And I was pretty sure he wasn't fine, either.
"Where did you go?" I asked.
"Tried to look for something to eat. There's nothing. No fish, nothing at all."
"That's because this isn't water, you nitwit. This is Tokyo 3, the geofront to be precise, or did you fail to notice the buildings sticking up from the water!"
"Oh."
"I thought you were past that crap. Or don't you remember last night? Already back to your old ways, Ikari. No spine at all."
"I have a spine." he grumbled.
"Oh, really? Just don't tell yourself you have one. Don't just tell me you have one. SHOW me you have one!"
He stepped up to me.
"I have a spine!"
"Weak, spineless, loser."
"I HAVE A SPINE!" he screamed, hands wrapped around my neck once again.
"That's b-b-better." I choked.
"I have a spine." he said, letting go.
"You have a spine. Now all you have to do is show it a lot more often."
"So, are you really okay?"
"No."
"And why is that?"
"You know why."
"Because we're the only two people left on earth? Because the world is ruined? Because you don't know what to do or how you're going to handle it? Because you can't admit it yourself? Is that it, Asuka?"
"Impressive. You got almost everything right. So, what are we going to do, Shinji? Do you have the answer?
"I wish I did. But I don't. I guess all we can do is figure it out."
"Together?"
"Maybe."
"I don't want to hear a 'maybe'. Yes or no, Shinji Ikari?"
"I…"
"YES OR NO?"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"Fine, be that way. I'll leave you to think about it. Don't follow me."
"I…"
"Do you hear me? Don't follow me or I'll throttle you."
"Fine. Goodbye."
With that, I left, turned around for a minute, he was still in the same place. He wasn't following. So I continued on, until he was out of sight. And I kept going. To be with him and start a family in this horrible world, continue the human race. Or to never see him again, to become bitter and rotten and die alone.
At the moment, I wanted neither. If anyone had a lot to think about, it wasn't him, it was me.
To be continued…
Author Notes - Another older fanfic of mine that I never published. Actually, this one's even older than Love's Definition. When I first made this, I was already thinking of an Asuka-centric, post-3I story. That's probably why I never did publish this til now, considering there are a lot of Post-3I stories out there, making this but another small fish in an enormous sea. Also, I learned new things about Eva after I wrote this, and I started to not like this story because of it, despite the fact it's a pretty interesting story. Rereading this, however, has made me change my mind. So, maybe it's been overdone. But it makes for an interesting thing, still.
As for it being updated, unlike LD, this was not meant to be a one-shot, so you may get more chapters. However, it should be noted, my novelization of Star Ocean 1, and my other Eva-related fic, a crossover with Sonic the Hedgehog, entitled Sonic: GENESIS, my attempt to do such a crossover right, without resorting to OOC comedy and silliness, these two come first. Still, I do have some interesting ideas for future chapters for this one, so it's likely you'll see more of this.
Also, NGE: Aftermath is a rather generic name, so it may change. Suggestions are welcome (as long as they aren't snide or anything, so if you don't have any nice suggestions, don't suggest at all, mmmkay?) for a better name.
Also, I need to mention this, but FFN needs to fix the problem with rhetorical questions that has been a plague for a while, you know, what should be "?" and "!" appearing together, but losing the "?" instead. It's really annoying to have rhetorical questions come out as a simple exclamation. And from what I've noticed, there's no getting around it. But, uh, that's going off-kilter. I'll see about updating this story if you like, just don't get yer hopes up, okay?