Final Understanding
Shinji
Ikari sat on his bed with his hands in his lap.
"It's
over…finally." It had been a week since the final Angel had been defeated- a
week since he'd piloted his Eva; a week since he'd felt useful. Right now, his position at NERV was
uncertain. His father still held his
position, but then again, he and his father had never communicated.
"Hmm…I
wonder what everyone else is doing." Feeling rather bored, Shinji stood up from
his bed and went to go see if anyone else was home yet.
Upon
walking out of his room, Shinji saw a familiar figure walking into the
kitchen. Her long mane of fiery, red
hair flapped behind her, and he followed after her.
Asuka
cracked open the fridge to see if there was anything decent to eat. She managed to find a microwave dinner that
was still sealed and yanked it away from Pen-Pen before he saw it.
"Asuka?"
The German pilot almost jumped to the ceiling, and she turned around to glare
at a helpless Shinji.
"Dammit
baka, you scared me half to death!"
"S-sorry
about that," he said sheepishly.
"What
do you want?" Shinji blushed slightly.
"Well…um…I
was just wondering if you were feeling any better." Asuka's eyebrows quirked
up.
"What
do you mean…better?"
"Misato
told me that you weren't able to fight during the battle with Kaoru, and I was
just wondering if you were doing any better." Asuka had to hide the smile that
wanted to appear on her lips; she felt something tug at her heart as she heard
the concern in his voice. He'd actually
been worried about her.
"What's
wrong, baka, can't handle your own?" she teased. "Not that's it any of your
business, but I'm perfectly fine!" Asuka knew that she was lying, but the last
person that she wanted to be weak in front of was Shinji Ikari.
"Oh
okay, I was just curious. By the way, I
was going to go see if Rei was doing any better. Would you like to come?"
"Why
would I want to go see wondergirl?" Asuka said with a slight amount of venom in
her voice.
"I…I
don't know. I was heading over there
and just thought I'd ask." Asuka smirked at him.
"No
thanks, but tell your 'girlfriend' hi!"
"She's
not my girlfriend!" Shinji almost shouted.
Asuka burst out laughing.
"Oh…did
I strike a nerve, little boy. Why are
you so concerned about her? Do you love
her or something?" Shinji didn't answer right away, and Asuka felt a pang of
jealousy swirl through her.
"During
the battle with the fifteenth Angel, Rei risked her life to save mine, and I
thought she was dead. But now that I
know that she isn't, I want to repay her for her kindness." Shinji's voice held
a strange determination, and Asuka's eyes widened slightly. Her stomach growled, and the rest of her
thoughts faded away.
"Enough
talking, I'm starved. So unless you're
volunteering to cook for me, get out!" Shinji hastily retreated before Asuka
hit full burn. He headed out through
the living room and let out a much-needed breath.
A
smile crossed his face. He was glad
that Asuka was all right, and he was glad that Rei was going to be all
right. Suddenly, he asked himself why
he felt such an odd feeling inside when he thought about them. True, they were both his 'friends', but
there was something more that he felt for them. Were they like sisters…no, it was different… it was deeper than
that…
The
door to the apartment swished open and in walked Misato.
"Hey
Shinji!"
"Hi
Misato, I was just on my way out."
"Why…you
got a date?" Misato couldn't resist teasing him, even though she knew that
Shinji didn't have a girlfriend. It was
worth it to see him turn as red as a tomato.
"Misato,
that's not funny!" he whined and quickly ran out the door.
Shinji
walked down the endless sections of corridors to NERV headquarters, heading for
Rei Ayanami's quarters. He was just
about there when the internal alarms went off.
"SECURITY
BREACH ON LEVEL 12: ALL STATIONS TO
FULL ALERT!"
Level
12…that was the same level that his father's…the Commander's office was located
on, but how would someone gain access to that.
Although, he nearly hated his father, Shinji decided to
investigate. He ran back down the hall
and jumped back into the elevator.
Normally,
someone would have to punch in several access codes just to gain access to
Level 12. Shinji was planning on
getting off at Level 8 and asking to see his father. However, all the safeguards had been disabled.
Shinji
exited the elevator and gasped in shock.
All the security guards were dead, and the computer interfaces were
smashed. Now, he knew that something
was seriously wrong. Although he'd
never been there before, Shinji knew the layout of this level and headed for
his father's office.
Upon
reaching Gendo's office, Shinji noticed that the double steel doors were forced
open. Squeezing through the dangled
metal, Shinji froze in place.
"Don't
move, Ikari!" It was Ritsuko, but she was holding a gun. However, she wasn't pointing at him but at
his father.
"Why
commander?" The man just stood there with a blank expression on his face.
"Ritsuko?"
Shinji spoke softly, and the blonde turned to glare at him. Her eyes narrowed, and Shinji felt someone
behind him. Glancing back, his eyes
came to rest on the form of one, Rei Ayanami.
"You!"
Ritsuko growled and pulled a second weapon from her belt. She aimed it towards Rei, but the young
pilot didn't flinch.
"No
Ritsuko, don't harm her!" It was Gendo's voice this time.
"Why
commander…why did you pick her over me?" Ritsuko's eyes shot daggers at him,
while unshed tears lay in their depths.
"Even
when you make love to me, you still don't care. What's so special about her?
Is it because you used your own wife's cells in her body?"
Shinji
listened in complete silence. He
remembered seeing the clones that Ritsuko had shown him, and how she had
destroyed the remaining ones in a jealous rage.
"Ritsuko,
if it is me you want…" Rei walked by Shinji, and the irate woman trained a gun
on her.
"Shut-up,
you bitch, you're the cause of my problems.
He always cared more about you than anything else; you were his perfect
creation- his perfect woman. Now, I'll
take what he cares about most."
"REI!"
A shot rang out, and the pilot of Eva 00 calmly waited for the bullet to strike
her. She felt no impact and opened her
eyes. Shinji was standing in front of
her, clutching his left arm, which was bleeding profusely.
"Why…why
did you save her?" Ritsuko gasped and backed away.
"Because
she's my friend, that's why. But you
wouldn't understand that!" Shinji spat at her.
"Well
Commander…" Ritsuko turned back to look at him, "…like father like son,
eh? So tell me, you both screwing her
or just Shinji?"
"Shut-up
Ritsuko!" The younger Ikari hissed as he squeezed his hand around his wound.
"My...my…Ikari,
so you do have a temper," Ritsuko laughed.
"Tell
me, Ritsuko, who put you up to this?" Gendo asked. "Did SEELE put you up to
this? What'd they do…promise you my
position if you got rid of me?"
While
the Commander had her distracted, Rei was able to check on Shinji. She tore off part of her uniform and wrapped
it around his wound.
"Thanks
Rei." She let a small smile creep up on her lips; it was one of the rare times
that Shinji had seen her smile.
"No
Ikari…Shinji…you risked your life to save mine." He grinned at her slightly.
"Well…you
did the same for me, so we're even now."
Their attention was turned back to the two feuding adults.
"Actually
Commander, they did promise me your spot, but I said that I'd rather just kill
for the heck of it. So tell me, any
last words?" Gendo snorted and laughed at her.
"Yes. You will never be as good as her; you will
never be as good as Yui." Ritsuko became enraged and fired.
"You're
a bad shot, Ritsuko," Gendo sneered as he held his hand against his abdomen.
"I
missed on purpose." Ritsuko proceeded to unload her entire clip into the
Commander's body. She laughed
sadistically when he collapsed to the floor.
"No!"
Shinji and Rei said at the same time.
"Freeze!"
It was the security patrol responding to the alarm. Ritsuko laughed and aimed for them.
"My
job is done." She fired one shot then was gunned down by the five security
guards.
Shinji
stumbled around the large desk to the prone figure on the floor. The Commander's body was motionless, and the
young boy knelt beside him. Suddenly,
the man's eyes opened, and his head turned towards the young Ikari. Rei knelt down next to Shinji and gazed down
at the man that had made her.
"You
two have done well," the older man coughed as blood dripped from his mouth.
"However, time is short, and there are several things that you must know."
"Please
Commander, save your strength, the meds will be here any minute," Shinji
advised.
"It
doesn't matter; I won't survive either way." His eyes turned to Rei, "Rei, you
have wondered why you were created, I shall tell you- for him." And he pointed
at Shinji.
"What
do mean for me?" the boy gasped. Gendo
actually smiled at him.
"When
your mother passed away, there was no one left to look after you. I was in no condition to take care of you,
so I created someone who could watch after you. Someone who could stand by you when you needed help or just
listen to you when you had a problem."
"Commander,
am I a clone of Shinji's mother?" Rei asked.
She had secretly wondered about this since the moment she drew her first
breath.
"No,
Ayanami, you are not. I merely used my
wife's cells as part of your genetic structure. I wanted to create someone that Shinji would feel comfortable
around, and who better than his mother."
Shinji
and Rei looked at one another in shock.
They…they were supposed to be compliments of one another. Rei was created just so Shinji would have
someone to talk to and console him.
"Commander,
why would SEELE want you dead?" Rei inquired.
Gendo was gagging by now, but he forced himself to stay conscious.
"I
am the biggest hurdle that they had.
They wanted me out of the way so they could proceed with their plans."
"What
do they want?" Shinji nearly demanded.
"To
become the Ultimate Lifeform. That is
why they built the Evas in the first place- to understand what human beings
could become if they were induced with knowledge of 'Adam'."
"Shinji,
you must stop them. If they succeed in
creating such a lifeform, nothing will stop it; NERV, Tokyo-3, everyone will be
destroyed."
"What
should I do? I can't defeat them on my
own." For the first time in his life, Shinji saw Gendo look at him with
affection in his eyes.
"My
son…you have become the man that I wanted you to be; now, you must ask your
mother for help. She has been with you
since you began to pilot Eva 01."
"Wait
a minute! You mean Eva 01 is…is…is…"
"Yes
Shinji, it is your mother, Yui." Gendo coughed up his own blood, and he raised
his hand. Shinji took his offered hand
and clutched it tightly.
"Father…please,
don't leave me now."
"It's
all right, my son, even though I will die, you will not be alone anymore. Rei will be with you, and I'm sure that
Asuka and Misato will stay by your side as well. You aren't alone anymore so don't be afraid. The only thing I ask is for your
forgiveness, my boy- for being a pathetic excuse for a father."
"Of
course, I do!" Shinji nearly cried. Gendo smiled at his son.
"You
have a good heart, Shinji, just like your mother. Now please, finish the work that I started and free mankind from
its own mistakes." Those were last words that Gendo Ikari uttered before his
eyes closed for the last time.
"FATHER!"
Shinji's cry could be heard in all of NERV.
His shoulders were shaking as tears fell from his eyes. Rei put a comforting hand on his shoulder as
she was meant to and let him let loose his emotions.
"Shinji!"
a voice called from the doorway. Misato
ran into the room and skidded to stop when she saw the gruesome scene.
"Oh
Shinji, I'm sorry." The young Ikari wiped the tears from his eyes and stood up.
"What
is it, Misato?"
"We're
under attack. It looks exactly like an
Eva. It came right out of the depths of
Terminal Dogma. I've never seen
anything like it. Asuka is headed out
now, but she can't handle it alone."
"Rei?"
Shinji asked turning his head towards her.
"Let's
go." Misato then noticed Shinji's left shoulder.
"Oh
my gosh, your arm!"
"I'm
fine, Misato. Where's the Eva now?"
"It's
about three levels below our control center.
If it hits that, we're all finished…" Shinji's eyes narrowed, and they
filled with a determination that Misato had never seen before.
"This
ends now!" He ran out the door, heading for the docks.
Author's
Notes: I apologize if my character
traits or storyline are a little off.
I've only seen a few episodes of Evangelion so bare with me please. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter cause
next time, it's the final battle.
