Herald of Light: Okay I'm sure some people who read some of my work are wondering why I am submitting a new story instead of working on the one I already have, but I had this idea in my head after listening to a snippet of the "Spock vs. Q" audio book. I know I haven't done it right, but I find it funny when I go back and reread it, and I will try to make it more interesting as I can, but for now this story is mainly a philisophical "joust" between Asuka and Rei. I will try to write more as I can, and if anyone has any idea on an emotion or simply concept I could use as the catalyst for a chapter, please include it in a review, and I will make sure to dedicate that chapter to you if I choose it to write about. If anyone else wants to write their own chapters on their own to publish that's fine with me also.
I've incorporated a thought I had as I started writing this about the EoE when spoiler Asuka finds Shinji choking her, but that is later down.
Please remember to keep your arms inside the vehicle at all times, and to keep your tray tables in their upright and locked position. In case of an emergency, Asuka can be used as a submersible to sustain us--
Asuka: What was that swine!?
Herald: I was saying that you could be used as a weapon of mass destruction!
Asuka: Oh really now, I'll show you a WMD! cracks knuckles
Herald: I wouldn't do that, I do control your emotions now you know evil cackle.
Asuka: -crying- "Why you little" -laughing- "I'll kill you!" -scared- "I'll show you the" -preppy (aka cheerleader)- "ABC's of torture!"
Herald: Ah...It's good to be king of my own little story. Anyway on with this story, and please be careful of Asuka, she can be rather deadly if you aren't careful.
After Third Impact, all the world was awash in LCL fluid, and only three individuals accounted for the remaining matter that wasn't in that sea. These were Asuka Langley Soryu and Shinji Ikari, placed by fate (or in Shinji's case maybe curse) along the shore only a few miles from Tokyo-3.
Rei Ayanami, on the other hand was placed a little further inland. She awoke at the base of where the giant torso of Reilith had landed, and she silently wondered as to who she was staring at, not having any memories of what the last few hours had held.
She heard a rustling in the bushes and saw the form of Shinji emerge. Her first emotion (not shown of course because she is back to her ice cube self for the most part) was surprise at his survival, then happiness for not being alone. Her heart raced so fast that when she tried to stand, her legs gave out and she passed out into Shinji's waiting arms.
When she next awoke, she was in what appeared to be an auditorium in center stage. A fire was blazing a few feet away, with the smoke rising through to the exposed red sky above.
"So your finally awake Wondergirl." The voice leaked murderous intent that tried to break into her calm, but was easily forgotten.
"I appear to be in good condition, not that you care." The words leapt from her mouth quietly, like a stealth bomber, but that wasn't what surprised Rei. It was the fact that she had just voiced her perception of the Second Child. Normally these thoughts were saved and reviewed later or written down in her small philosophical journal. 'Maybe I am not as well as I thought. No, I am just fine.' "May I ask where Shinji is?"
"That…..thing? He brought you here then left muttering something about firewood." Her eyes seemed to flash with fire that quickly died down. "Have any orders for when we are the last people on the planet?" The question was obviously an attempt at making Rei make a fool of herself, but like the time the power went out and the Ninth Angel made its kamikaze run, Rei only came out with the needed information, and was straight as an arrow.
"There are no such orders for such an event, since it was never forseen we would survive."
Silence loomed as both girls, one akin to ice, the other to the burning pit between them. Both were asking the same questions, yet not able to come to any answers.
'Why are we the ones to survive?'
'What do we do now?'
'What about Shinji?' To this question Asuka added: 'He's the last man on earth…crap.' Rei on the other hand added: 'Is he going to return?'
"How long has he been gone?" Rei finally broke the seemingly hours-long silence.
"Huh? You're asking me a question?"
"Yes, and I would appreciate an answer…please."
'Wondergirl is asking me for help…and adding please? Ooooh maybe the end of the world has some perks after all!' "Hmm…let me think." To add to this torture she tapped her chin as though trying to remember some obscure fact like who charged Kettle Hill in the Spanish American War Teddy Roosevelt by the way to prevent people from frying their brains trying to remember/learn that. "About two hours ago probably. Of course it isn't like I care where that murderer goes, just as long as it isn't near my neck again."
"Not with out good reason I'm sure." Rei did not like the accusation of Shinji being a killer. Sure they all had killed Angels or had accidentally killed civilians, but it seemed that they were all above that when it came to each other, even if they hated each other.
"Of course you'd take his side! Without the Commander around the puppet clings to the son, hoping that he will be able to pull her strings!"
"If I am such a puppet, then why are you the one with a stick in you?" Rei pointed as she returned to her seat after retrieving more wood for the fire and Asuka turned her head to see what she meant. A small twig had been lodged between her buttocks.
'How the…heck did I not feel that? Damn arm's giving me so much pain I can't feel anything else.' She winced at the thought of the injured limb. Shifting around to relieve the now uncomfortable position, she realized that she was down two to nothing. "What's going on? Am I really stuck with a souped up Wondergirl?'
"Wood or not, it doesn't change the fact that when I awoke, Shinji was on top of me trying to choke, me!"
"Did you ever for a second think that maybe he was trying to keep you from living in this world?"
"…..no….I didn't." Asuka was shocked at the accusation that Shinji was trying to be merciful. Although it did fit his personality of being self-sacrificing, she refused to believe that that was his intent.
"I'm sure that Shinji would not have tried to kill you without crying. It's obvious that he cares for you." Rei paused to check a noise from one of the doors. "He's more human than either one of us."
"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN ICE CUBE!"
"Must you prove my point? Shinji's a being who feels and expresses sadness, happiness, fear, pain, and all of the other emotions that define being human. I, however, feel them, yet don't know how to express them. You use emotions to defend yourself, acting proud and angry in order to keep a wall between you and others. Shinji is the balance between us."
"You have to be kidding. Shinji's a pathetic wimp! He's a failure as a pilot, and didn't even come out to help me when I took out the enemy in the last battle! To think that I am left with a pervert such as him instead of a man like Kaji!" She humphed and tried to cross her arms only to remember that she had a 'wing injury' and winced.
"Yet this failure got a 40 synch ratio on his first sortie."
"Luck."
"Luck is a part of strength. You also don't give him credit for dealing with you."
"What's that supposed to mean!?"
Sighing, Rei saw Shinji in the distance through one of the windows trudging with a large backpack. "Even when injured both physically and mentally, he still cared for you hand and foot, and took the mental barrage you handed down on him. You ask why he tried to kill you. I ask why he didn't try sooner. Any other person, including myself, would have killed you long ago. Forget Mr. Kaji, Shinji is the better specimen of a man."
"Oooo, sounds like the puppet has a crush! Riddle me this Wondergirl, in this world what's the point of having such feelings?" She asked the question for both of them, even though she would never have let on that she wanted to know the answer for real.
"Love…." Rei tried to remind herself of what the word meant and the emotions connected to it. "Love in this case will be our only foundation to rebuild on. If we don't learn to love each other, we will surely die."
"Me!? Love you!? EWWW!!!" Asuka put her uninjured hand up and felt bile enter her mouth. "This isn't some sick fanfiction or pervert's wet dream you know! We are stuck in real life with our lives in the balance!" She sighed and saw Shinji much closer now, holding what seemed to be a large box.
"Believe me, I…dislike the idea as well, but think about it. Shinji may be strong, but we are his weakness. He cares deeply for us, and to see us hurt and in pain causes him even greater pain."
"WHERE WAS THAT WHEN I WAS OUT GETTING KILLED!" Asuka's voice roared through the auditorium and even made Rei jump.
"Probably the same place where your kindness was placed…in hell." Rei whispered. "Not that we aren't there now…." She hugged her knees and waited for Shinji's return.
It took several minutes, and by then Asuka had managed to calm down, and Rei was able to avoid the death glares that were meant for her by staring into the fire. During this time she resolved that if Asuka wasn't going to care for Shinji, then she would pick up the slack and be there for him like he was always there for everyone else. 'I'm not completely human, but maybe by being with him, I can learn.' She finally resolved.
"Oh…You're awake Rei." Shinji's voice broke her of her thoughts and startled her. She stared straight into Shinji's eyes, and immediately she felt a need that she couldn't place. Her arms were tingling even.
"Yes. I have been awake for some time now."
"I'm sorry for the rude company you were left in." Shinji risked a glance to the demon, but was rewarded with a string of obscenities that would cause this manuscript to be unfit for publishing. "Anyway, at least someone survived that wouldn't hit me every five minutes and whom I can halfway talk to…" He smiled as he took off his pack and started to rummage through it. "Let's see…blankets…MRE's…water…" He dragged out the items and set them out in front of the fire for both girls to see. "And finally, an offering of chocolate for the both of you." He handed a bar of chocolate that could of easily been gotten from just about any vending machine or convience store. "And for our injured lady, and as a sort of apology offering…" He shuffled the box towards Asuka, who was lost in the taste of chocolate. Rei finally had to cough loudly to get her attention.
"What?"
"Shinji got you a peace offering." Rei offered her pale finger to distinguish the box from among the other items now strewn across the stage.
The redhead took another bite of her bar and set it down and cautiously moved forward. "Don't think you're getting off that easily Third…" She stopped as she looked inside and saw that Shinji had put together a set of normal clothes, a couple bags of beef jerky (her favorite spiced flavor too), a med kit along with some over the counter painkillers, and to her surprise, a small picture frame that had her picture of her and Kaji back when they were in Germany.
"How'd…." She started, but couldn't help but stop as a tear broke through her barrier. "You forgot something though….I don't have any shoes." She said softly, trying to keep from sobbing.
"I have them right here. Size 6, right?"
She really didn't have anything left to say, and could only crawl over and wrap her arm around Shinji. "….thank you for going back to the apartment…" The picture had given that away.
"Hey. Anything to repay you back for what I tried to do earlier…and…for what I didn't do…."
"Shinji, why did Asuka find you trying to kill her when she awoke?"
Rei's question noticeably hurt Shinji, but he soon had a handle on it and as he held a now crying Asuka, started to answer. "I've been asking myself that same question Rei. At first I thought it was because of my anger towards her for always beating me down for things I never did. Then I thought it was because I was killing the person that tried to kill me during my trials in Third Impact limbo. I think now though that I did it because I didn't want her to keep suffering for my mistakes. I am the one who caused this because I didn't even try to launch Unit-01, and when I did get out, I only played into SEELE's hands and became the vessel for this to happen."
"Why then did you not finish her?" Rei asked out of curiosity. She figured that she knew the answer, but wanted to be sure.
"Be…Because she…because she's my friend, and I want to protect my friends, not kill them." Shinji let a couple of his own tears fall on Asuka's head, who then leaned up and stared into his eyes.
"You mean that after all I've done…you consider me a friend?"
Shinji looked down and pulled Rei in with his left arm. "Yes. You and Rei are my friends. Maybe you don't get together well, and you both have a tendency to hit me once in a while, but I still care for the both of you. And that's not because we are all pilots. In another life…I would like to think I would have been both of your friends anyway."
"Pfff, you wish. You know I would have been out of your league."
"Like head cheerleader or something?" Shinji looked down and smiled only to be rewarded with a kiss on the forehead.
"We all know I can't stand peppy. Maybe Wondergirl here would be the cheerleading type, she likes to follow orders."
"Stop that." Shinji reached down and flicked her ear.
"OW! HEY! I'm injured remember! Stop picking on me!" Asuka recoiled and brought her hand to her ear.
"Then stop treating Rei like a doll. You should be counting yourself lucky that Touji or Kensuke weren't sitting there. At least now you have someone to help you when you change your clothes." He chuckled at the thought, and he even got a rise out of the two girls.
"Maybe your right. At least I can count on not getting raped in the middle of the night by two boy perverts. Even with one arm I can protect myself from you." Asuka went back to her box and got the clothes out and noticed something she had missed before.
It was another picture, one of the three of them, taken for the NERV newsletter in order to keep morale up in the final attacks. Asuka had her normal superior smile as she swirved in front of an annoyed Shinji and calm Rei. What hit her was the fact that it was the only picture that the three of them had ever taken together, even though at one time or another they had each risked and protected each other's lives.
"How sad…" She said as she passed it to Rei.
"What do you mean? That day was like any other."
"Not that. That is the only picture of the three of us…"
"Yeah. I remember that you were always saying that you were the only one deserving to get credit since you were the superior pilot and all."
"Shinji…I think we can agree that piloting doesn't matter anymore."
Silence loomed between the three Children as they pondered the ramifications of what Asuka had admitted. Each now had no reason to live besides what they could come up with. This proved that they were now in a world where they were on their own, and would have to survive the best they could by relying on each other.
Herald: Okay I know its OOC, but I can't think in 'bitch' for too long. I'm sorry for Asuka's be-
Asuka: I HEARD THAT SWINE!!!! -Chases author with pitchfork-
Shinji: Please read and review! I'll see if I can help him out, although I'm sure that the author has a trick up his sleeve for this kind of thing.
Rei: I do not believe that would matter anyway. I didn't know a male could bend his back that way...
Herald: Sorry folks, I'll post the second chapter (already written) later this week after I see how things work out with this publishing, and hope it didn't turn out like the last new story...or how I think the other idea I had would turn out. Although I must part with this: Am I the only person to see any resemblence between a Shinji and Asuka relationship being like Peg and Al Bundy from Married with Children (if Asuka were...human, not a devil that is)?