The sky and Tokyo-3 were basked in the warm, orange sunlight. Misato spent a long day at NERV cranking out a boatload of paperwork. All she was concerned about now is going home and relaxing with a can of beer.
"And done!" she proclaimed triumphantly as she slapped down the last form.
Meanwhile, Shinji Ikari had finished cleaning the apartment. He was in his room listening to his SDAT as always. This time, he was working on something special instead of just staring at the ceiling. He was putting the finishing touches on the gift for Misato.
"I'm home!" Misato announced.
Shinji bolted out of his room and met Misato in the kitchen. "How was work?" he chimed.
"Ugh," Misato groaned. "Boring."
She grabbed a beer from the fridge and was about to enter her room before she was interrupted by Shinji. "Hold up, Misato!"
"Yes?" She mewed playfully.
"I, um..I-uh," Shinji stammered. He tried to form the words, but they refused to form anything coherent. He sighed and gave up.
"Here." He said holding out the present. It was a maroon necklace case with a white ribbon on it.
"Ooh. Finally admitting your feelings for me?" Misato teased. Shinji just looked at the floor and started stammering again with a luminescent blush on his face. She giggled at his demure demeanor. She opened the case and found a gold necklace with an amethyst stone. Misato squeaked in delight.
"Oh, Shinji. You didn't have to do this for me."
Shinji gathered enough of his senses to speak. His voice was barely above a whisper. "W-well, you work so hard Misato, a-and I barely use any money in my account anyway."
"Well, I love it." Misato put on the necklace and gave him a peck on the cheek. Shinji face was so bright, it could illuminate the dark depths of the ocean.
"If you need me, just call," she chirped. She grabbed her beer and went into her room. She was enamored with her new necklace, but couldn't help and wonder why Shinji would give this to her. She shrugged and began to cross off the day on her calendar. Then it caught her eye.
"Mother's Day," she whispered.
She took another look at her necklace, and was overcame with wave of sadness. Shinji had no family. His mother was dead and his father only views him as a tool. Throughout most of his life, he had to handle things by himself. She didn't make it any easier. She was a slob; she'd constantly get drunk and placed most of the chores on Shinji. He was more of a parent to her than she was to him.
"Why, Shinji?" she muttered to herself. She didn't want her beer anymore. She mimicked Shinji's routine of staring at the ceiling while trying to re-evaluate her life.
Next morning came, and Misato saw Shinji already making breakfast. She made an quiet entrance while Shinji handed her a beer. "No thanks, I'll just have some coffee," Misato said softly.
Shinji was taken aback. It was uncharacteristic of her not wanting a morning beer. 'Did the Third Impact happen already?' he thought. "Misato, are you feeling alright?"
"Shinji," Misato interjected. "Why do you view me as a mother?"
"W-what?" Shinji was slightly confused by her question.
"I'm sloppy, I'm a drunkard, I have no qualities of a mother..." Misato started to look ashamed. "So why?"
Shinji smilied. "Because you're the only one whom I'm certain that cares about me."
Misato looked into his eyes and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
Shinji's smile got even brighter. "During my battle with the fifth angel, you told my father to 'have faith in your own son'. When I was trapped inside the 12th angel for so long, the first face I saw was yours and you were worried for my well being. When I was trapped inside EVA, I heard you to 'give me back my Shinji.'"
Misato blushed at the last thing Shinji said. He continued, "No one that I've met in a long time could have gone through the trouble and do all that for me." Shinji took another breath. "What I'm trying to say is thank you. Thank you for believing in me and thank you for always being there for me."
Misato started tearing up, "Shinji-" she said before she was interrupted by Shinji's hug. She cried into his chest. For a long time, she had someone she can reside in. She felt that one of the holes in her soul was filled. "And thank you for being there for me," she sobbed out. She looked up to him and gave him a warm smile.
"I have to get going for school," he said as they broke their embrace. "I'll see you later."
"You better stay out of trouble!" She yelled with a teasing tone in her voice.
As Shinji exited the apartment, Misato took another look at the brilliant purple stone and smiled.
"...son."
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. He'd put up with the teacher's incessant rambling about the Second Impact. He cooked dinner as always, because Asuka wouldn't do it and Misato's cooking was a nuclear hazard. And of course, it wouldn't be normal day without the obligatory verbal and/or physical attacks from the irate German. He did notice that Misato seemed to be holding back on the beer a little and there was less trash to clean up, but Shinji knew why after what happened this morning.
As the sun disappeared over the horizon, a slight drizzle started in Tokyo-3. Moment after moment, the rain intensified until it was a heavy shower. Shinji looked at the torrent of water that washed over the city. To him, the sound of rain was Mother Nature's lullaby. Shinji laid on his bed and closed his eyes, feeling consciousness slowly slipping away.
Five minutes later, Misato exited her bedroom and tip-toed to Shinji's room. She saw him in a peaceful slumber, snoozing the night away.
"I'm glad I met you," Misato said in a hushed tone. She brushed his hair away from his face. "For once in my life, I feel like I have an honest-to-God family."
She gingerly sat on Shinji's bed and continued. "I watched you change before my eyes. At first, I saw a reluctant boy who would shut himself out from the world. He liked to run away and he depended on other people to drag him back. The boy I see right now is still a timid person. He still has a couple of kinks he needs to work out, but now I see that he possesses a new-found confidence in his heart. He doesn't run away anymore."
She lightly pulled Shinji in a soft embrace, trying not to interrupt his sleep. "I want to continue seeing you grow up. I want to see you finding that true happiness. And I want to help you along the way."
Misato kissed his forehead and started to head back to her bedroom.
"Sweet dreams," she whispered.
A blur of colors was all he saw. Slowly those blurs morphed into shapes. Then, they came into focus to form recognizable objects. Shinji found himself at a playground. The orange sky and the sun barely looming over the earth told him that it was late in the afternoon.
"Hey Shinji, come on!" One child called.
"Let's build a sandcastle!" Another child added.
He saw his younger self playing with two other kids, but the looks of those two kids seemed rather odd. They had large plastic looking eyes and their skin texture was similar to rubber. All they did was stare at the broken sand pyramid while the young Shinji patted it down. Their time together was short-lived.
"Look! Momma's here!" One child exclaimed.
"We gotta go now," The other child said to Shinji.
"Bye!"
Shinji looked at his young counterpart and felt something he was all too familiar with. Loneliness. Solitude. Young Shinji couldn't find anyone around to play with. He wanted to cry, but he was told that boys shouldn't cry. So he held back the tears as best as he could and continued to build a sandcastle all by himself.
Shinji started to walk towards his younger self to accompany him until someone entered his line of sight. He saw a woman with purple hair and brown eyes. She wore a sundress and two necklaces. One was brown and held a cross pendant. The other was gold and held a purple gem. She donned a familiar warm smile.
The purple haired woman approached the lonely boy. "Hey there, kiddo! What'cha doin'?"
"Hey momma!" The young Shinji cried out. "You wanna build a sandcastle with me?"
"Sure, sweetie! We'll build a huge castle! One with lots of towers!" The woman exclaimed.
Shinji watched the small, but happy family build their fortress together. They made up a story about protecting 'Castle Ikari and Princess Misato' from monsters, dragons, and evil wizards.
"It could have been this way," Shinji muttered to himself. "Things could have turned out a lot better."
It could have. Shinji probably wouldn't have so much trouble gaining confidence. He probably could have made friends a lot more easily. But the fact of the matter was that it will never happen. The Shinji Ikari that exists in the real world is the pilot of EVA Unit 01. But it's okay, he thought. There's no use worrying about the past. No one can change it no matter how much they wanted to.
"If I keep dwelling on what could have been, then it'll be the same as running away."
Shinji decided that what's important now is the future, and making sure mankind will still have a future. But that can wait until I wake up, he thought to himself. For now, he stood there watching the mother and son enjoying their time together and smiled.
"I love you, momma." The young Shinji beamed.
The woman smiled and touched his cheek.
"And I love you too, my son."