Author's Note: This is my first fic and I'll admit the crossover is rather strange, but please read and review. I'd appreciate the comments. Also, this an A/U so be prepared for some rather odd turns of events

"blah"- Talking

'blah'- Thinking

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, Love Hina, or Dark Cloud. They are all the property of their respective creators. Only the original characters are mine.

A Moon's Shadow

Chapter 1: A Chance Meeting, a New Home

If one were to witness the goings on at a small train station outside Tokyo-3, they would likely be heartbroken at listening to the small 4 year old boy that was crying his eyes out outside the station. Trying to wipe the tears from his eyes, he watches a taller bearded man walking away without a sound, surrounded by a group of men in black suits that looked like a bunch of Secret Service rejects.

The boy, thin as a rail with light brown hair and blue eyes that, while usually bright and happy, were now rendered rather dull, attemped to run after the other men, only to be shoved back by one of the black suits. "Don't try to follow me anymore Shinji. I don't need you anymore," the man in the center told the boy, not even bothering to turn around while he said it.

This man, Gendo Ikari, was young Shinji's father and apparently wasn't bothered that he was leaving his only son alone at a train station with no one to look after him.

"You're teacher should be here soon to take you with him, at least until I have a use for you again," Gendo said, still walking away with his back turned to Shinji.

"No daddy, please don't go! I'll be a good boy, I promise!" the younger Ikari yelled, wanting to run to his father but fearing that one of the other men would push or hit him again.

Without a single word, Gendo just entered a car that had just pulled up and, as soon as its passengers were inside, drove off and left Shinji there to fend for himself.

Sniffling, Shinji turned around and tried to look for anyone that might be the 'teacher' that was supposed to pick him up. Alas, there was nobody around except for the youth. Picking up the small bag at his feet that held his few precious belongings and some clothes, Shinji began shuffling his way to the station door to wait for his teacher.

Unknown to the little boy, however, he was being watched by somebody who had held a considerable amount of influence over the entire earth for thousands of years, even if he never did flaunt it like most others in his position would have done.

Still making his way towards the train station, Shinji felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as if he wasn't alone. Startled, he snapped his body around to see who was behind him. Unfortunately, the young boy didn't realize that doing something like that so quickly would shift his center of gravity.

End result: Shinji Ikari meets good old gravity and falls with a loud "OOMPH" as his rear end becomes intimately acquainted with the sidewalk.

Hearing laughter, Shinji looks up at his new companion. 'I didn't know people got that old. Wait a minute...' he thinks as he stares at a wrinkled old man, dressed from neck to toe in a gaudy yellow robe with a red oversash bearing the yin-yang symbol, a bowl-shaped pointed hat with a bright blue crystal at the base on the top of his head, and holding a gnarled wooden staff that was taller than he was.

The man's clothes and apparent walking stick weren't what got the boy's attention, though. No, Shinji had by now noticed that this man was floating at least six inches off the ground. Being only 4 years old, Shinji didn't freak out as most people would have done. He simply stared, curious as to how the gentle-looking old man was doing what he was.

"E-e-e-excuse me, sir," Shinji stammered, still unaccustomed to being around strangers, "but how can you be flying like that?"

His curiousity piqued by the boy's reaction to his flying ability, the elderly man simply smiled and ruffled the youth's hair. "My boy, I must admit that you do surprise me. When most people see me doing that, they just stare until they pass out," he said with a chortle, remembering the last human he flew in front of. While he felt sorry for the poor fellow, watching him walk face-first into a wall while he stared open-mouthed at him was just too hilarious.

"Oh my, where are my manners," he exclaimed, shaking his head in embarassment, "allow me to introduce myself. My name is Simba, however most people simply know me as the Fairy King"

"Fairy King?!" Shinji said, looking at Simba in bewilderment. "Fairies are real?" This was turning into a weird but interesting conversation for the youngest Ikari.

"Indeed they are, child. We just try to stay out of public eye when we can. But enough about that, I saw what happened with your father," at hearing this, Shinji looked towards the pavement in sorrow, his tears threatening to come out again, "and I have a proposition for you, a deal of a sorts," the Fairy King told him, noticing the child's look of interest.

"W-what kind of deal, Mr. Simba"

"I would like to take you somewhere where you will be loved and can strive to become a person much better than you would be if you stayed here," was the reply.

As soon as the words left the elder's mouth, Shinji's face brightened. A place where he would be loved?

"I sense that your father, Gendo, has nothing but darkness in his heart and I would never want to see such an innocent child as yourself be tainted by that darkness if I can help it." Saying this, Simba placed his hand on Shinji's shoulder and, in a flash, they vanished. Shinji's teacher never showed up at the train station that day, or any other day, not that it would have done him any good.

By now, Shinji realised that they weren't at the train station anymore, and, in a display worthy of home video, freaked out. "WHERE ARE WE!!" Shinji screamed, wheeling his head from side to side in a vain attempt to figure out just where he was and how he got there. Poor Shinji, however, ended up spinning his head one too many times and ended up dizzy, stumbling around like a drunk that had downed one straight vodka too many. Hearing Simba's good-natured laugh, the boy instantly turned on him.

"Mr Simba, how did you do that and where are we?"

"Relax Shinji, we are in Norune Village, a small hamlet in what used to be New Mexico of the United States. This village has been around for thousands of years, and some of my fondest memories are of this village."

Now knowing his location, Shinji asked another question, "So this will be my home from now on?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"You are correct. Though you may not know it, you have family here in this town and they will be raising you and training you."

That last statement was enough to toss Shinji's entire world on its head. "I have family! Here?" he exclaimed, believing it too good to be true.

"Once again, you are correct. Through your mother, you are distantly related to the mayor of this village and descended from not one, but two of the greatest heroes to have graced the Earth," the Fairy King said sagely, waiting for the young man to absorb everything before continuing.

Here, Shinji caught the last comment and looked stupified. "Wait, I'm descended from two heroes? How? I'm just a scrawny useless Japanese boy," the youngest Ikari said, by now completely entranced by his companion's tale.

"Well, that is a story to remember. Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" Nodding, Shinji sat down on a nearby rock, looking excited at the prospect of learning about his family.

"Long ago, before many of the countries you are now familiar with ever existed, the Earth was known as Terra by its inhabitants and there were actually two moons in the sky. Since then, one was destroyed but that is a story for another time. Now then, even back in those times, Norune Village was still around and it was here that I met your...well, let's just say grandfather and grandmother. Too many greats for even me to keep track of. Anyway, it was roughly 6000 years ago when an great and terrible evil was created and wreaked havoc upon Terra. It was known as the Dark Genie, and held many of the powers that we fairies possess. It was so powerful, even my magic was unable to damage it. Fortunately, with the help of the inhabitants of Terra's yellow moon, the Moon People, the Dark Genie was sealed inside a massive urn, its powers held down by the combined forces of fairy and moon magic. However, the peace came at a terrible price: over half of Terra was obliterated in the Genie's wake. Even more unfortunate, it only took 400 years for a man from East Terra by the name of General Flag to obtain the urn and release the Dark Genie," Shinji gasped at hearing this tidbit of information, "Flag wanted to use the Genie's terrible power for war, and succeeded in wiping out most of West Terra in a single night with its help. I, however, managed to seal eveybody into magical spheres called Atla so that the people of West Terra would be kept safe. Now comes the part where your grandfather comes into the picture. His name was Toan, and he was a young man that lived here in Norune Village when the Dark Genie attacked. I saved him from the Genie's attack and gave him a powerful magical stone called the Atlamillia. Only someone with a pure heart like your grandfather would be able to utilize the stone's power to drive back the Dark Genie and release the fragments of West Terra that I had sealed into the Atla. Using the Atlamillia, he journeyed around Terra, restoring many of the cities that were blown apart by Flag and the Dark Genie. It was on this journey that Toan met and befriended your grandmother, whose soul was as pure as his own. Her name was Xiao, and while she was a lycanthrope, part cat and part human thanks to a magic potion, she was Toan's most trusted ally in his fight against the Dark Genie. Eventually, using the Atlamillia's ability to travel through time, Toan and his allies were able to destroy the Dark Genie at its source, freeing Terra from its terrible influence"

At this point, Shinji nodded and looked up at Simba, "But if my grandmother was part cat, how did she and my grandfather have children?"

Being the son of Yui Ikari had some advantages, and Shinji was no fool, even for a 4 year old. He knew the general theory behind reproduction and at least knew where babies came from.

The Fairy King chuckled and said, a smirk gracing his lips, "That, Shinji my boy, was my doing. I knew that Toan and Xiao loved each other with all their hearts and so, using the remaining power of Toan's Atlamillia, cast a spell that turned her completely human. One of my better ideas, if I do say so myself."

Smiling, Shinji nodded again and looked around, "So, are we going to see my cousin, I guess?"

"Yes we are," the Fairy King replied, taking Shinji by the hand and leading him to a large house that looked strangely like an old pre-Second Impact submarine, only made of wood. Knocking on the door, it opened to reveal a young man of around 26 years old, with a short crop of dark brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing black cargo pants and a white short-sleeved muscle shirt that did nothing to hide his well toned frame.

Upon seeing the old king of fairies, he now sported an obscenely large smile instead of a look of confusion at being bothered in the middle of the night. "Simba! It's good to see you again old friend. How have you been?" he asked, wrapping the older man in a warm hug. Noticing the pint-sized guest with him, he said, grinning like nobody's business, "Since when did you babysit, Simba? I know for a fact that being the Fairy King takes a lot of time. Or were you jerking my chain?"

Smirking at the young man's joke, Simba replied, "You'll be the one babysitting from now on, Arthur. This is your distant cousin, Shinji Ikari, and you'll be raising him since he was abandoned by his father."

"WHAT!!" the man, now known as Arthur, screamed, looking at Simba as if he just sprouted a pair of extra heads. "His own FATHER abandoned him!? Then don't say anything else, old man. I'll take the boy in and raise him as if he were my own"

Nodding to Arthur, the Fairy King smiled down at Shinji, who was just getting over his cousin's screaming fit and now looked a kid who just won an all-you-can-eat candy buffet, "Well then, Shinji, this is where we part for now. But I promise that I'll visit when I can so listen to Arthur and heed his advise. He's a good man."

"I will, Mr. Simba."

"And stop with the Mr. stuff. Just call me Simba, since Mr. makes me feel older than I really am," came the reply, with a loud chuckle by both of the older men.

"And if you become strong enough later, I'll have a present for you." Waving to the two cousins, Simba instantly vanished to the Fairy Realm. Turning to stare at his older cousin, Shinji cringed at seeing the smirk that was plastered on Arthurs round face.

"You're mine now, little man."

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

There's Chapter 1, everyone. Hope you liked it. I'll try to get the next installment out as soon as possible.

Next time on A Moon's Shadow, Chapter 2: A Family Reunion For the Ages. Gendo orders Shinji back to Tokyo-3. How will the young hero react? Hopefully by going and causing as much trouble as he possibly can!

Have fun till next time, you all!