A/N: Here's another little one shot for the pile. Hope you like it, (bows) thank you for reading.
Disclaimer: Check back at Christmas, I'm putting ownership of Evangelion and some of my other favorite series on my wish list.
A 'What If' of Mine
The train out of Tokyo-3 goes along the tracks at a steady pace. Early morning sunlight filters in through the windows.
There aren't many people on the train, almost everyone who had lived in the city had left already.
Shinji looks around the train car nervously. He had been woken up by Kaworu a handful of hours ago before dawn. He hadn't told Shinji many of the details, just the rough outline.
Kaworu was an angel, he had been sent here to infiltrate NERV and cause the Third Impact. But that was before he met Shinji. Kaworu told him he loved him, and that he didn't want to see him suffer anymore for any reason.
He was the Angel of Free Will and he was choosing to leave before morning and their future.
And despite having only known Kaworu for a day, Shinji had asked to go with him.
Kaworu loved him. For the first time in Shinji's life that he could remember he was loved unconditionally by someone. Kaworu was always kind and gentle with him, never asking Shinji to do anything he didn't want to. There was just no way Shinji could let go of the only person who loved him and go back to living as if they had never met.
But that didn't mean the boy wasn't scared. The last time he ran away he'd gotten a three day head start because no one had expected such a thing from him. How much time did they have now? What if everyone had already realized that they were gone? There might even be some on the train –
As if sensing Shinji's panicked thoughts, Kaworu grabbed his hand. Red eyes stared intently at the boy and waited for him to return the gaze before speaking. "It's alright, Shinji. We're alright." He punctuated this with a light squeeze to the boy's hand.
The warm, soothing words wrapped around Shinji like a blanket. Easing the fear in his mind and creating a sense of calm.
"Go back to sleep, Shinji." The angel sitting beside him urged. "It's still early and you must be tired. I'll wake you when it's time to get off." A pale thumb rubbed circles into the boy's hand.
Shinji felt his eyes droop and hesitantly laid his head on Kaworu's shoulder. The sound of Kaworu's voice humming Ode to Joy lulled Shinji back into sleep. Anxiety drained out of his mind to be replaced by Kaworu's words.
I love you.
I was born to meet you.
It's alright, Shinji.
We're alright.
Kaworu watched the boy sleep and smiled. He was happy that Shinji had asked to go with him. He loved Shinji dearly and wanted nothing more than his happiness. Running from SEELE wasn't going to be easy, but they could do this.
Shinji squeezed Kaworu's hand in his sleep, and the angel brushed his thumb over the back of Shinji's hand again. "I love you, Ikari Shinji." He whispered.
Yes. They were alright.
End