DISCLAIMERS TODAY ARE: These characters do not belong to me, so there. You can distribute
my work, just don't mess with the way it's written. Format it if you want to, I'm too lazy
to do it in HTML...

This whole idea was inspired by a piece of writing titled 'Angel' by Sakura (if you read
this...lovely fic, I thought), about Shinji and Kaworu based around Sarah McLachlan's
song of the same name. It was a film-clip of the song using the characters from NGE, which
I thought was such a good idea, I wanted to replicate it using the Goo Goo Dolls song
'Black Balloon' (which I urge everyone to go and listen to...it's a beautiful song.),
about Shinji visiting Asuka in hospital after the fifteenth Angel...

Black Balloon
Music and lyrics by the Goo Goo Dolls
Directed by Derek Zischke
Inspired by the Anime series 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'

(Shinji looks up at the hospital where all Eva pilots go when they are critically injured.
He starts his walk towards it, to see Asuka, as the guitar begins to play. He begins to
remember things that have stood out, in his mind, about her, as he enters the large doors.)

Baby's black balloon makes her fly
(Eva Two, standing in its bay, with Asuka looking up at it appreciatively: it is the only
thing in her life that gives her motivation.)
I almost fell into that hole in your life
(Shinji walks home from the sync test before the Twelfth Angel attacks, feeling strong and
confident.)
And you're not thinking 'bout tomorrow
(Asuka, via Unit Two, charging the fifteenth Angel, regardless of her injuries.)
'Cause you were the same as me
(Asuka and Shinji suit up, both seen through each other's eyes as shadows on the partition.)
But on your knees...
(Shinji listening helplessly as Asuka screams over the intercom while the fifteenth Angel
invades her mind.)

A thousand other boys could never reach you
(Asuka crushes the various paraphernalia that regularly falls out of her locker.)
How could I have been the one?
(Asuka kissing Shinji, after saying she was bored.)
I saw the world spin beneath you
(Asuka, triumphant over an Angel.)
And scatter like ice from the spoon
That was your womb
(Asuka huddled in a foetal position, enduring the fifteenth Angel.)

Coming down, the world turned over
(We go back to Shinji in the hospital. He asks where her room is.)
And angels fall without you there
(Somebody gives him a room number and points in the general direction.)
And I go on as you get colder
(He thanks the person and turns away.)
Or are you someone's prayer?
(We see Shinji walk off down a crowded corridor, the light from the window/wall casting
shadows from the afternoon sun.)

You know the lies they always told you
(Shinji walks out of the hospital elevator, and begins to think back again, free of having
to talk to others.)
And the love you never knew
(Asuka whispering 'Mama' in her sleep.)
What's the things they never showed you
That swallowed the light from the sun
Inside your room?
(Shinji, in the hospital, walks past a non-transparent part of the wall, blocking out the
sun momentarily.)

Coming down, the world turned over
(Shinji remembering one of the few times he saw Asuka talk to him like a person.)
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
(Asuka yelling 'I hate everything!'.)
Or are you someone's prayer?
(Shinji watching her in her sleep, before he almost kisses her.)

(Shinji now stands outside Asuka's room in the hospital as the music slowly winds down. He
checks the number on the piece of paper he holds, and then checks the number on the room:
they are the same. He debates for himself for a moment, uncertain as to whether to go
in or not. The music pauses.)

(He places his hand on the door handle, as the instruments resume their tune, seeming
stronger than ever.)

And there's no time left for losing
When you stand, they fall, yeah
(Shinji opens the door, to see Asuka lying in her bed, asleep. The light shines into the
room, giving the entire shot a surreal effect. Only Asuka's face is showing, besides her
hands that rest on the sheet, and as she sleeps, Shinji sees the face of an angel.
(Author's Note - not an Angel, an angel...sorry, Jeffery Wong.))


Coming down, the world turned over
And angels fall without you there
And I go on as you get colder
All because I'm...
(Shinji walks slowly toward Asuka, seen from different angles.)
Coming down, the years turned over
(Shinji kneels down next to the bed.)
And angels fall without you there
(He looks over at her, watching her breathe.)
And I'll go on; now I'll lead you home, and
(He raises his hand.)
All because I'm...
(The shot seen again, from a different angle.)
All because I'm...
(The shot seen again, and ends with Shinji placing his hand on Asuka's.)
And I'll become
(He squeezes her hand, in a 'good luck, get better' gesture.)
What you became to me
(Asuka's hand squeezes back, and she smiles slightly in her sleep.)

Did I say I didn't want to write about Asuka? Well, this kinda makes up for it...

-Derek Zischke
ageless_Strange@optusnet.com.au

"Do you suffer from long-term memory loss? I can't remember..."
-Chumbawhamba