After the Fall

A post-Rebuild fanfic.


"Ikari-kun."

Through the blind darkness, he heard her, her soft voice barely audible in the roaring din.

"Ikari-kun."

He struggled to get up. His clothes clung to his body, reeking of LCL and sweat. Sight slowly returned to him, along with his memories. He remembered being picked up by the mangled Unit 2, and then, seeing Unit 0—Ayanami-be eaten by the angel...

Blinking, he looked up and saw her, sitting on the dusty ground, naked. Her skin was pale and flawless, and stood out in sharp contrast against the crimson sky.

"What happened?" he asked. Then Shinji remembered: how he had uttered those three words-"give back Ayanami"-before marching in. Before smashing the angel, before ripping her free from it. The pain that had come afterwards, then the blissful feeling of holding her close, her body soft and warm clinging to him-

-blushing, Shinji cleared his mind. It was odd to feel that way about Rei—he had saved her, because... because she was important to him. Precious to him.

He had saved her. She was alright. He began to cry, with relief.

Shinji felt Ayanami's hand on his back, as he wept. Then she pulled him close, and he felt her heart beat, as he calmed down. He remembered how the Eva smelled—how LCL smelled—how his mother smelled—and there she was, Ayanami, so comforting.

"We were pierced by the Lance of Longinus," said Ayanami.

"The... what?"

"A weapon, pulled free from the surface of the moon. You passed out then, from the shock."

"Oh." He remembered the piercing pain on his side, then the sudden loss of consciousness, how he had blacked out. "Who was it?"

She shook her head. "I do not know. I woke next to you."

"How long ago was that?"

"About an hour, I believe."

An hour... Shinji looked at her. Still naked. She was shivering a bit, he realized, but true to her character she had neither complained or shown any signs of discomfort. He quickly peeled off his shirt and wrapped it around her shoulders. Her eyes widened a bit, in shock—then she looked down, and Shinji smiled. It was oddly comforting to care for her like that. And he owed her for staying with him the past hour.

Then-

"What about the Eva?"

"Look behind you, Ikari-kun."

Shinji looked back, and there was the hulking form of the Unit 1, pinned to the ground by a giant lance. Just looking at it made him feel sick to his stomach. He wanted to go out there and pull free the lance, but that was impossible, he knew. Still, the Eva shouldn't be left like that...

"I wonder why Misato isn't here," he said to Rei. "There should be medical crews treating you right now."

"It's possible that they are in need of aid, themselves."

"Oh."

And that was that. He remembered attacking the angel in the control room, seeing Misato's shocked face pass by as he tackled the monster through the wall. Rei's probably right, he thought.

"Ikari-kun..."

"Yeah?"

Was she blushing? It was hard for her to hide that, with such pale skin. "Thank you."

"No, it was n-n-nothing," he stammered.

"Thank you for coming back," she whispered. And Shinji was struck by how beautiful she was. And how vulnerable. Like porcelain. He wrapped his arms around her, and she clung on tightly to him. That's all I need, he thought. Not the world. Not myself. No one else, nothing, I don't care, just...

...give Ayanami back. And, oh god, keep her safe.


The two of them held hands as they walked to the Unit 1. It loomed over them, pierced and pinned to the ground by the Lance, yet as they neared it Shinji felt calm. It smells like mother, he thought. It smells like Ayanami.

I feel calm there.

"I used to..." Ayanami began to say. Then she fell silent. Shinji, curious, looked at her—then noticed her feet. They were bloody from the rough ground, and she had no shoes. Cursing himself for being such a fool, he asked her to stop.

She looked at him, curiously, as he pulled off his shoes and gave them to her.

"Put them on," he said. "Your feet are bleeding."

"It's okay," she whispered back. "You-"

"I have my socks, so don't worry about me. It's not too far away, anyways."

Nodding, she put them on. They were a little too big for her.

"So what were you saying earlier, Ayanami?"

"Oh... Ikari-kun. I just wanted to say." Another moment of silence. "That. I used to feel safe inside an Eva. Like I belonged there."

"That's just like me. I think all of us children do. It's like home for us."

"No," she said. She smiled, just a little grin. "I just wanted to say that... that I feel the same way, around you."

It would be a little creepy if I told her that she smells like my mom, he thought to himself. So he kept those thoughts to himself, and they walked, hand-in-hand, towards the impaled Eva.


"I see a car approaching," said Rei.

Shinji looked at where she was pointing, and he could see a jeep race towards them, through the wreckage of what was once Tokyo, and the Geofront. I wonder who that is, wondered Shinji. And the two children sat, still holding hands, on the ground and held each other as the car neared their location. They felt natural, being so close. What had happened within the Angel, as he pulled her out, had eliminated all shyness between them.

It turned out to be Misato. She brought the Jeep to a halt and ran out of the car. A few quick steps and she was upon them, holding them both, weeping and laughing at the same time. Shinji was a bit shocked—he had never seen her this emotional—but she drew back, and said to him:

"Good job."

And that was that.


Author's Note: I don't intend for this to be a long series, at all. It'll deal with what happens after Eva 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance, which if you haven't seen yet is so awesome! Obviously a Shinji/Rei pairing, a pairing for which I developed a new appreciation for after watching the movie. Asuka (a.k.a. Big Bossuka) will show up as well. Thanks for reading this far.

-Note: the usual gobbledygook about me not owning Evangelion, it's all Anno and Gainax and all that.