Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion, its characters, technology or anything else related to the show, so please don't sue me 'cause I don't have anything worth taking.
Note: This is my first fanfiction so please don't judge me too harshly for it. I'll try to keep the characters in character but there will be some occurrences of OOC' ness so please forgive me for it. It takes place just after the events in the end of Evangelion. Characters thoughts are in brackets i.e. ( ).
Chapter 1: The world's Rebirth.
The black haired boy lay on the beach in the same position he occupied for the last two hours as the red waves continued to break against the beaches white sand. The world had become a desolate reflection of its former glory. The dismembered head of the new 'god' continued to settle into the sea. "What did I stop it for? ", the boy finally spoke to no one in particular. " I 'saved the world'. What a joke. I've hurt more people in saving the world than the angels ever did. Even Rei, Misato and … Auska…". The boy choked back a sob as his voice finally broke and he stole a glance at the injured redhead lying at his side. She had not moved or spoken since he had tried to kill her for the second time. Shinji continued to cry as the waves continued to break.
After what seemed like hours of crying Shinji finally looked up. Across the waves he could still see the head of the final Rei, the white of the head contrasting sharply with the red of the sea. "Ayanami I'm so sorry. If I could bring the world back I would but…". Suddenly a soft voice interrupted him, "Why do you refuse to do something that is in your power pilot Ikari? ". Rei appeared in front of Shinji in the now familiar school uniform and looked down at Shinji, "You who have stopped Third Impact have the power to restore the world as it was or remake the world as you see fit. It is in your power to restore the lives of everyone who was lost as a result of your fathers naked ambition and selfishness." Shinji slowly looked up at her and stared at her red eyes. "Ayanami, I…I just don't know. The world caused so much pain and suffering. How can I bring back the world when I know what I'll be bringing back? The greed, hate and pain. HOW CAN I DO IT!".
With this final scream Auska finally awoke. "BAKA… what's all the noise about? Are you still obsessing over your choice? Well stop it. The choice was made Shinji so now you have to deal with it. From what I caught while I was semi conscious was that you don't want to bring back the evils of the world, well that's a load of bull. Haven't you learned anything by now, you can't have the good without the bad. Just remember you'll be bringing back the good people too, people like Misato, Hikari, Maya and even your baka friends! You just have to remember that everything exists in balance, you just have to find the right balance." Auska placed her uninjured arm on Shinji's right shoulder, "I trust you to make the right decision Shinji, I saw your mind Shinji and I know you're the person most deserving of this choice." Rei slowly moved to Shinji's other side and placed her hand on his other shoulder, "Both of us trust you Shinji and we know you will make the right choice. I believe in you my brother. I trust you."
"Thank you. With you supporting me I know I can make the right choice. Just promise me one thing, promise me you will stay with me. Both of you." When both girls signaled their agreement Shinji smiled, one of his rare happy smiles. "Lets do this. I'll try to do what's right, for everyone." Shinji slowly closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the world he wanted to restore, on all the people he wanted to see again, his friends he wanted to see again, his sister and the red headed girl who occupied his heart. Slowly a kaleidoscope of light and color began to spread around the shattered world as Shinji attempted to reform the world that was destroyed by SEELE… and his Father. As the majestic light show faded the three teens found themselves standing on the lookout above the ruined city of Tokyo-3. Shinji looked around and marveled at the world that he had restored, the people he had saved and the future he had assured for the rest of humanity. "Rei, Auska, lets go home."
X
In the underground command center of Nerv sub Commander Fuyutski slowly pulled himself to his feet. The last thing he remembered was seeing Yui and dissolving into LCL. Yet here he was solid and with no Yui in sight, "What the hell is going on? Give me a status report Hyuga." The spectacled man dragged himself to his console and punched in a few commands. "Commander external sensors are back online but there is no trace of the anti AT field, the JSSDF forces or any operational Eva's out there. Unit 1 is currently lying at the bottom of the Tokyo-3 Lake. The remains of unit 2 are lying where they were before. The links to the pilots are down so we can't even tell if the pilots are in their Eva's let alone if they are alive or dead. The SEELE Eva's are all deactivated with no emissions coming from them; their S2 organs appear to be offline. All traces of damage from the SSDF attack are gone, no crater from the N2 mine and no internal damage from the commando attack. In fact there are no casualties, no injuries and no fatalities. All our personnel are either unconscious or just awake. The JSSDF have vanished and everything is relatively normal."
"How can this be possible? Third Impact occurred, we should all be dead.", the commander replied. Suddenly an image of Shinji crossed his mind and he knew what happened. "Thank you Shinji, we owe you another one. Aoba try to locate the pilots and get me a fix on commander Ikari and doctor Akagi. Ibuki get recovery teams out there to salvage all the eva's, that includes the SEELE eva's and the remains of unit 2. Get to work." The longhaired man and the young woman snapped to their tasks as the commander continues to give orders. "Hyuga find major Katsuragi and update her on the situation. Get the magi working on what happened out there and get me an explanation on why we are still here, I also want ides on how to adapt the SEELE Eva technology to use on our own units. I also want to know if it is possible to regenerate unit 2. Well get to it!" . The bridge bunnies swung into action to follow his orders and the bridge became a riot of activity. Orders were shouted people ran across the bridge with orders, technicians checked the magi system for damage and people just trying to get a handle on the situation. On his own raised seat above the chaos Fuyutski smiled to himself, " (You greatly underestimated your own son Gendo. You believed he did not have the strength or the will to oppose your plans but he alone stopped the apocalypse and if you are still alive you will have a lot to answer for, not just to him but also to the whole world. But I know it's not over. SEELE will return and Shinji will once again have to be mankind's champion to defend us from another impact. You have placed so much responsibility on that young mans shoulders. I will help him to realize his potential. Gendo you are no longer needed in this world and that fact gives me a profound sense of relief.)"
X
Deep in the bowels of Nerv Misato Katsuragi slowly awakened. Surprisingly she felt pretty good for someone who had been shot. She no longer felt any pain; there weren't any bullet holes, only a small pool of blood on the floor. "What the hell happened to me? How can I still be alive after the shot I took?". The same image of Shinji came to her just like the commander. "Thank you Shinji you saved us after all." Pulling out her cell phone she hit the third button on her speed dial that was picked up almost immediately. " Hyuga give me a status report." "Good to hear from you Major. So far we have determined that something interrupted third impact. We have down eva's all over the landscape, no info on our pilots. All the SEELE eva's are down too. All JSSDF forces have mysteriously vanished, all damage has been mysteriously repaired and we're tying to ascertain what happened. Commander Fuyutski wants you to get up to the bridge right away." "Alright I'm on my way. I should be there in a few minutes." Misato casually thumbed the disconnect button on her cell. "Shinji we owe you another big one and somehow I don't think a deluxe dinner on me is gonna cover it this time. Well time to get moving."
X
Through the ruined streets of Tokyo-3 the pilots walked, trying to find their way home. As usual Rei was encapsulated in her own world, Shinji was reflecting quietly on what happened and Auska seemed to complain more loudly the more they walked. "How much longer Shinji, my feet hurt and in case you haven't noticed I'M INJUIRED!" Shinji let out another exasperated sigh and replied, "Just another few minutes Auska and we'll be home and you can have a good long rest." Rei as usual didn't reply but kept walking. All three had been traveling for hours and the fatigue was starting to show on all of them. Although Auska was too stubborn to admit it she was ready to drop with exhaustion and hat to be supported by Shinji. Rei was just as tired but wasn't as vocal as Auska was. She decided to suffer in silence. Shinji was aware of the girl's problems but could do nothing to ease their pain. One question kept going through his mind. "Did I make the right choice? " Despite what Auska had said he didn't feel confident about the choice he made at all. He had brought two of the most important people in his life back to this shattered city and all the pain and fighting. He knew the eva's weren't destroyed, he knew he would be needed to defend mankind again and it filled him with fear. Would he be able to defend people again, with the memory of his recent failure fresh in his mind?
As they rounded the corner the sight of Rei's shattered apartment building greeted them. There wasn't a single wall left standing. Rei was dumbstruck. The only home she had ever known was a pile of rubble. Rei allowed herself to cry. She sunk to her knees and sobbed. Auska was shocked, "(Maybe I was wrong about her being a doll. I should lay off her a little bit. After all she has been through all we have too.)" Auska knelt down next to Rei and tried to comfort her as best she could, "Rei it'll be okay. Come on you can come home with us, I'm sure Misato won't mind at all. Isn't that right Shinji?" It took Shinji a few moments to recover and reply. He was shocked. For as long as he had known Rei she had never shown a display of emotion as open as this. Not only that but Auska was actually trying to comfort her, "(I thought Auska hated Rei.) Of course it will be okay. Come on we're almost home." With that he knelt down on Rei's other side and attempted to comfort her, "Rei you are my sister and I will never abandon you. All three of us have lived through Third Impact and we share a unique bond. Auska and I will never abandon you, we will do everything we can to help you. Isn't that right Auska?" Auska looked wide-eyed at Shinji and then Rei before she nodded. "Thank you pilot Soryu." " Rei my name is Auska. We're friends so you can call me Auska, pilot Soryu is just too formal." Rei smiled at her new friend, "Very well, thank you Auska." Shinji was overjoyed, "(Maybe I made the right choice after all. They seem to be happy, now if I can keep it that way.) Come on girl's we're almost home." Shinji helped the two up and they continued the trek home.
X
In commander Fuyutski 's office, Misato was receiving a thorough debriefing from the commander. "As you know major someone has stopped third impact and spared us from SEELE. I believe that it was Shinji, as do you. The more important question is, where is he? The recovery teams reported that the entry plug was still inserted in unit 1 but Shinji was nowhere to be found. Likewise the plug was in unit 2 and Auska was also missing. We have had no luck finding them, doctor Akagi and Commander Ikari. However although we can't find them we believe them…" The comm. System in Fuyutski's desk beeped and he answered. "Ibuki here sir." "Go ahead lieutenant." " Very well sir. We still have had no luck in locating the pilots but we believe we have located doctor Akagi and commander Ikari. We believe they are in terminal Dogma and …" "Very good lieutenant, continue looking for the children and I will deal with this situation, Fuyutski out." He shut off the comm. System, "major would you like to accompany me?" Misato smiled and pulled out her glock pistol, "Wouldn't miss it for the world, its time for the commander to answer to me. And trust me I won't be gentle." Misato pulled back the slide and the distinctive sound of a round being loaded was heard. "After you commander."
X
The bridge was still in chaos as the staff attempted to come to terms with what happened in the last few hours. First there was the JSSDF, then SEELE and third Impact, the memory of Shinji in pain and finally waking up as if nothing had happened. The bridge bunnies were exhausted but they had to continue to work and attempt to turn the chaos into order. "Recovery team one concentrate on the recovery of unit 2 and place it in the repair cage. Team-2 recover unit 1 and place it in cage 1. All remaining teams concentrate on the SEELE Eva's and place them in subsequent cages. That is all." Maya let out a sigh and pulled her headset off. "How long has it been now?" Aoba looked over at her and said, "It's been 36 hours straight, no breaks, no sleep and…" his stomach let out a growl, " no food."
"I hear that, what's happened to the relief team that was supposed to be here four hours ago?" Hyuga asked from his station. " I heard that they were drafted into one of the recovery teams for the Evangelion's. Apparently bridge staff welfare is a low priority for the new commander." Maya looked puzzled, " Is commander Ikari really dead? I mean just because we haven't heard from him doesn't mean he's dead." "I, for one, hope that he is long gone. He used us right from the beginning. He lied to us and expected us to follow him to hell and back without question. I hope he didn't make it back from third impact. It would do the world a favor if he didn't." Aoba's passion scared Maya so she kept quiet cut Hyuga started from the other side, "if he isn't dead he's gonna be hung out to dry. Now that everyone knows what he tried to do he will have no support either here or in the international community. My money is on Fuyutski to take over from him. If he isn't dead I bet Misato and Shinji would like to remedy that problem." Now Maya was worried,"(This is a mans life we're talking about. There's no denying that he has done terrible things but if we just kill him then we become just as bad as he is.)" With the worry still evident on her face Maya returned to giving orders to the recovery teams.
X
Deep in the bowels of the geofront two people stood in front of the massive doors to terminal dogma. "Its time major are you ready?" Misato's gun made its appearance, "As I'll ever be commander. Open the door." Fuyutski swiped his ID card through the reader on the door. The door opened slowly as the machinery fought to open the heavy door. The first thing that the officers noticed was that the red cross stood alone at the center of the LCL sea. Lilith has gone. Both officers moved slowly into the cavernous room slowly. Fuyutski constantly looking around trying to comprehend what happened, Misato was sweeping her gun from side to side, determined not to let Ikari get the drop on her. After advancing a few meters Misato stepped on the tattered remnants of a black jacket. "Commander I found something!" Fuyutski rushed to her side and inspected the bloody garment closely. " What happened here Gendo?" he muttered to himself. "He's gone, unit 1 had its revenge on him. He has lost his immortal soul and he will never return to this life." Both officers whirled around and Misato trained her gun on the intruder. "Ritsuko! Is it really you?" Misato was shocked at the sight of her friend. Her usually immaculate lab coat was tattered, torn and stained with LCL. The thing that scared Misato most was the haunted, empty look in Ritsuko's eyes. "He's gone Misato, Shinji had his revenge." Ritsuko knees buckled and she fell to the ground. Misato was there in an instant, cradling her friend's head in her lap, and trying to get her to wake up. Fuyutski pulled out his cell and dialed a number, "Medical Section this is commander Fuyutski. Dr. Akagi has collapsed in terminal Dogma. I need a medical team here immediately." He disconnected and stared grimly at the scene in front of him. "(Don't give up Ritsuko. We'll need you if we're going to beat SEELE.I have a gut feeling that we haven't seen the last of the 'old men'.)" He could do nothing but wait for the med team to arrive.
X
Finally the pilots had arrived at the Katsuragi apartment. Rei and Auska slept peacefully but despite his fatigue and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't follow them. He stood on the balcony and reflected on the day and his role in it. The one memory that repeated in his mind was Auska's death. He saw it over and over in his mind and wallowed in his own helplessness. "(Why could I not help her? I had the power and the ability but still I couldn't help. WHY? She means more to me than anything but I just stood by and let her die. What right do I have to be near her, I don't deserve to be in her presence.)" While absorbed in his thoughts Shinji never heard the door opening. The first indication that he wasn't alone was when Auska placed her hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Shinji why aren't you sleeping? You've got to be more tired than Rei or me but your still awake. Why?" Shinji turned to her and she gasped at the pain she saw in his eyes. "Auska, I don't deserve to be near you at all. I left you to die and didn't even try to help you. I'm pathetic. I don't deserve to be near you. You deserve far better than me. When Misato gets back I'm gonna leave. You'll be much better off…" "Shinji if you finish that thought I will throw you over that balcony, injured arm or not! Can you be a bigger baka than you are now! Who cares if you weren't there the first time? You did so much more than just save my life Shinji, you saved my soul. You saved the souls of everyone on this planet. You faced pain and suffering greater than anything in this world and you still managed to bring it back. You are a hero Shinji Ikari and I can think of no better person to have here with me than you."
Auska wrapped her arms around Shinji and put his head on her shoulder. "Auska thank you. I…" "Shh. Don't say anything Shinji. I understand. I saw your mind remember I know how you feel about me and guess what I feel the same. Now come on you have to get some sleep." Auska led Shinji away from the balcony and back inside as they passed Shinji's room he asked, "Auska my room is back there, where are we going?" "Rei's sleeping in your room stupid and I'm not gonna let my savior sleep on the couch. You're going to sleep in my bed with me." "With … you (oh man!). Wait don't you think we should talk about this? I…I…I mean we're so young … don't you think we should talk …" Auska cut him off with a glare, "Don't be a baka. This is sleep, that's all. If you get any funny ideas then I'm gonna hurt you so badly that you'll never be able to sleep with a woman in the future, got it Third Child?" Shinji quickly swallowed and nodded meekly. "Good now lets go." Shinji spent the night in Auska's arms as they brought some peace and comfort to each other as well as a refuge from the memories of Third Impact.
X
The night passed and the morning sun began to creep over the city as a new day dawned. Most of the Evangelion units had been recovered and the repair work had already begun on units 1 and 2. In the Katsuragi house three teens had woken up to the new day. Shinji was the first to wake up and he spent a few minutes just watching Auska sleep. "(My God she's beautiful)." As he watched her she slowly opened the eye that wasn't covered by the bandages and smiled at him. "Guten Morgen, Shinji." "Good Morning, Auska. Would you like some breakfast?" "Would you mind Shinji, I'm really hungry." Shinji slipped out of the bed and made for the door, "Sure, just give me a few minutes." As Auska watched him leave she thought to herself, "(Why didn't I see his worth before? How can he still stand to be around me after all I've done to him? I treated him like he was lower than dirt and still he wants to be around me. He even thinks he's not good enough for me. I'm really lucky to have met someone like him.)" Shinji's voice snapped Auska out of her thoughts and back to reality. She scrambled out of bed to go eat and found breakfast waiting on the table waiting for her. "Hey Auska. Help yourself. I 'm gonna go wake up Rei." As Shinji headed towards his room Auska could hear him calling out Rei's name. "(No it's I'm the one who doesn't deserve you Shinji Ikari, not the other way around.)"
As Shinji came back with a sleepy looking Rei in tow, Auska called out "Morning Rei. Did you sleep well?" "My rest was satisfactory Auska" was Rei's reply. "Man we have to work on your social skills Rei. You have to stop talking so formally when you amongst friends and family. Okay?" "I will attempt to Auska." Auska noticed that Shinji was on the phone and she wondered who he could be talking to. All the phone lines were down, weren't they? "Alright Misato, it's good to hear you too just don't shout into the phone alright…. Yeah we're all right but could you send someone to pick us up, I want to get Auska's injuries seen to… No, no, no nothing serious…Yeah Rei is here too…Just send someone to pick us up and I'll explain everything…Yeah that's fine…See you soon."
As Shinji walked back into the kitchen Auska bombarded him with questions, "Who was that Shinji?" "Misato, she's sending a section two car to pick us up in thirty minutes so you guys better hurry if you want to be ready in time." Shinji was ecstatic, Misato was all right. Inside he knew she must be but it was always good to get confirmation on his gut feelings.
X
Misato was crying when she put down the phone. "(They're all right. Thank god they're all right.)" Her work wasn't done yet though, she still had a few calls to make, "Section two this is major Katsuragi I need you to send a car to my apartment to pick up the pilots…Yes all three are there…I don't care what's going on down there, I want that car heading to my apartment in the next five minutes or you are going to be out of a job, got it bub…Yeah well its too late for apologies now just do your job, understand…good." She still wasn't finished as she dialed another number, "Commander, major Katsuragi here. Tell Hyuga to call off the search for the pilots they have been located…My apartment sir…Yes I already sent a section 2 car to pick them up…Understood sir, I'll get conference room one ready for their arrival…And sir could you please have a doctor present, Shinji mentioned that Auska has injuries…No sir he didn't say…very well sir." As Misato left her office one thought went through her head, "(I need a beer)."
X
An hour later the children and senior Nerv officers had gathered in conference room one for the debriefing including a newly recovered Ritsuko, apparently she was only suffering from fatigue. Commander Fuyutski was chairing the debriefing. "Now we have all heard the pilots accounts of Third Impact and the match with what little we know at this time. People I believe that we have been given this second chance for a reason. There have been no reports of activity from SEELE since we have returned from Third Impact. My theory is that the council has gone underground in an attempt to avoid being captured. Every government in the world now knows what SEELE is and is making preparations to launch a huge manhunt for them." The commander paused and looked around at the gathered personnel. "However just because that SEELE has been forced underground does not mean that their threat has vanished. They are one of only two organizations on this planet that has the knowledge and technical resources to produce evangelion units. The other is of course us. The UN has reestablished our legal protection and we are to be the first and only line of defense against any further aggression on behalf of SEELE. To this end we are receiving increased funding to rebuild the city, regenerate the damaged unit 2 and construct four new evangelion units." A hand was raised among the staff, "Yes major Katsuragi." "Sir isn't four new Evangelions a bit of an overkill?" The Commander pressed a button on the screen behind him and a picture of the SEELE mass-produced Evangelion appeared on the screen. "This is the SEELE Eva. It has been dubbed the omega series by the science directorate. The unit is equipped with an S2 organ that gives the unit an inexhaustible supply of power. In addition to this the primary armament of the Eva is a duplicate of the Lance of Longinus and a progressive knife." The footage of unit 2 being skewered by the lance was played on the screen and Auska flinched. Shinji noticed this movement and put his arm over her shoulder to comfort her, meanwhile Fuyutski continues. " In addition the unit is capable of being armed with any of the weapon systems available to our Eva's. This means that these things are brutal killing machines."
"However we believe that SEELE has lost access to the dummy plug system so the will be forced to rely on human pilots. This is where we have the edge, we have the three most experienced pilots in the world on our side." Motioning towards the three pilots as he spoke. "By the time they manage to build up a sizeable enough force we will also have our six evangelions ready to go. We will not let SEELE get a shot at starting Fourth Impact. Dismissed." As people began to file out of the room the commander motioned for Shinji to stay. After a few minutes and some quick words to Auska, Shinji and the commander were alone. "Shinji I know I can never understand what you have gone through but I really need you to stay and help us. You are the best pilot that we have and unit 1 is the most powerful evangelion that we have, not to mention the only one that we have operational at this time. Please Shinji, will you help us?" In his mind Shinji relived the terrible memories of evangelion. But he also remembered what happened the last time he refused to pilot unit 1. Auska paid the ultimate price for his failure and he had promised himself that he would never let that happen ever again. "I'm not going to run from my destiny anymore commander. I will pilot unit 1. You don't have to worry about me running off again. I've found something worth protecting in this world and I will fight my hardest knowing I have to protect it." "Thank you Shinji. You have given so much to us and we have no way to repay you for it. Thank you Captain Ikari." Shinji spluttered, "C…Captain?" "Of course, if you are going to lead the evangelion team you are going to have some sort of formal rank within Nerv. I think a captaincy suits you." Shinji seemed to think it over for a second, "Well, thank you sir. I guess."
X
Meanwhile in the infirmary Auska was having her injuries checked. As the doctor removed her bandages she was quite amazed. "Well Ms. Soryu, you appear to have no physical injuries what-so-ever. You are in perfect health. You are free to go." "Well about time, " Auska grumbled, "(Now where is that baka Shinji? He better not have left without me or he will be so sorry.)" The now bandage-less Auska stalked out of the room and nearly tripped over Shinji who was sitting just outside the door. "Watch where you decide to sit baka or next time you'll be sorry" Shinji stood up massaging his arm that Auska stepped on, "Sorry Auska I just wanted to know if you were all right." "Well the doctor gave me a clean bill of health and I'm okay to go. So where's Misato?" Shinji jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "She went with Rei to get some food 'cause she thought you might be hungry." Auska began to walk down the hall Shinji pointed to, "So what did the commander want?" Shinji slightly hesitated before answering, "H…He wanted to know if I would continue to pilot Eva. When I said I would he made me a captain." Auska stopped dead in her tracks, " He made you a what? Why you and not me? After all I'm the one who died. I've been piloting longer than you too. Man there's no justice in the world I tell ya." Meanwhile Shinji was desperately trying to calm the volatile Auska down. "Hey relax Shinji, I'm kidding. I couldn't think of any more deserving person than you." "Do you mean it Auska?" Auska glared at him furiously, "Of course I mean it you dolt! But if you ever try to give me an order I'll make sure you regret it, understand?" Shinji nodded quickly and Auska seemed to calm down. "Good now lets find Misato and get the hell out of here cause I'm starving."
X
Back at the Katsuragi household another delicious dinner complements of Shinji had just been consumed and the topic had strayed to last night. " So Rei I heard that you spent last night here where did you sleep?" "I slept in Shinji's bed. I do not know where my brother slept." Misato went to take another can of beer from the fridge when she stopped. "Hold it! Did you say brother? How is that possible?" Shinji decided to step in knowing the subject would be hard on Rei. "Misato, my father made Rei using my mother's DNA. Therefore she's the closest thing to a sister I have. Which makes me her brother. Understand?" Misato seemed to think for a moment before answering. "Actually it doesn't but the world stopped making sense to me a long time ago so I'll just accept it. But if she took your bed where did you sleep, Shinji?" Auska chose that point to enter the conversation. "Actually Shinji slept in my bed with me…" Misato exploded, "What? What the hell do you think you were doing Auska? I know you like to practice kissing with him but having…" "Misato!" Auska and Shinji yelled together. "Misato," Shinji continued in a lower tone of voice, "There was nothing like that going on between us. I love Auska, Misato, and after nearly losing her during Third Impact I never want to lose her again. I couldn't sleep because I was haunted by my failure to protect her. But when I held her all the bad memories left me and I found peace. I love her and I never want to lose her again but we will not rush into something like that. I'm happy to take our relationship slow and she is too. But I think that we have done enough for this world to earn some trust and to not have people jump to conclusions about us. Please Misato I don't ask for much so please give me this small happiness?" Misato looked long and hard at the two and thought hard about it, "(Maybe they're right. They do deserve a little trust from me. They finally found something worth fighting for in this world and it's each other. I can't take it away from them. All right I'll give them a chance but if they mess up…) All right you can continue sleeping together provided nothing 'unseemly' happens, understand?" As both teens nodded she continues, "I'm going way out on a limb here guys so don't make me regret it. Rei, if you want you can continue to use Shinji's room and live here with us our you can find another place to go, it's up to you." Rei nodded solemnly before answering, "Thank you, I will remain here with my brother."
Misato nodded. "Well that's good to hear. It's time to get some sleep because we've got a busy couple of weeks ahead of us."
To be Continued…XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Well that's the first chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Fourth Apocalypse. Any compliments, suggestions or criticisms, please send them to garygregan@eircom.net. Please don't flame me too much.