For the full story of Angel of Light, you can find it in WeeBee's Vault. All of it, except for this following bit which he decided to cut for his own reasons but I have been given permission to use as the basis for my own story. If you want to full story first I recommend checking his out, it's pretty great.
Anyway, on with the show.
The two sat alone in the darkened room, several dozen pieces of high tech machinery humming and whirring to themselves as they went about keeping one of them alive. He smiled down at her, holding her hand as she lay, her blue-white hair dishevelled around her, in the bed. "Thank you for staying with me today." She said, almost too softly for him to pick up. "I know that the commander has you running most of the time."
He smiled. "Don't worry about it. You shouldn't be talking right now. The doctors told you to take it easy, remember?"
"I remember." She said, before pushing herself up. "You know that is only going to delay the inevitable, right?"
"But I…" He said, not sure of what to say.
"No, I just want to tell you one thing…" She said, looking intensely into his eyes even as her eyelids tried to force themselves shut. "Thank you, for showing me what the world was really about." She smiled softly. "I love you."
When she stopped talking, she slumped back immediately. He was about to ask her if she was all right, when a reddish glow began to emanate from her chest. He shielded his eyes for a moment, as a ball of energy burst free, unfurling into twelve sections. In its center was a red core, about the size of a softball.
It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, but as he reached out for it, it darted away. Flying towards the window of the room, it smashed through and flew into the sky. Ranma frowned. What he had seen had felt like Rei's life energy, but it hadn't had any of the emotional overtones he'd gotten used to in her over the years. In front of him lay the body of his wife, and the soul had gone… but he didn't know where.
HR.
"Commander Ikari, the sub-commander is here to see you." The voice of a receptionist echoed around the large office, as its sole occupant leaned back casually in a chair.
"Send him in." The commander said, straightening up. Moments later, the door to the room opened, and a man, perhaps around forty, with a long black pigtail marched in.
"Ah, Engelkind." The commander said, smiling and brushing some of her graying red hair out from in front of her eyes. "What can I do for you?"
Ranma sat down in the free chair on the other side of Asuka's desk, looking a lot more stern than usual. She winced. She had a vague idea of what Ranma was here for, and she didn't think she'd like it.
"I've gotta go."
Yep, she didn't like it one bit. "What?" She asked, confused. Ever since NERV had been re-established in order to maintain the three remaining EVA Units with her in command, in 2025, Ranma had been surprisingly good at professor Fuyutsuki's old role, and she didn't like the thought of losing him, especially since she was going to have to leave soon. "Why'd you decide this now?" She demanded, though she was pretty sure she knew.
"You know about Rei, right?" Ranma said, simply. Asuka nodded. The cloned woman's health had started failing relatively recently. 'Telomere degeneration,' they called it. "She's dead." He said, flatly.
Asuka rocked back as if she'd been slapped. "She's…" She said, slowly.
Ranma nodded, and then looked away. "Asuka, I'm getting tired. When Akane died, I wandered around, pretty well good for nothing, for over a year. I'm not going through that again." He whispered.
"So, you're going to commit suicide, what?" Asuka demanded. "What about the EVA? The others have all been decommissioned. You know we need Unit 01, and if you die so does it." She hardened herself, knowing that what she was about to say sounded a bit cruel. "Besides, Rei's dead. I'm sure she wouldn't want you to follow her. You have to move on, you've done it before."
Ranma smiled at her, sadly. "I've lived a full life, and I've been happy for the past twenty-five years." He shrugged. "And don't worry, Unit 01'll still work if you need it to."
Asuka growled. "Damn it, Saotome! You're not gunna do this…" She stopped, however, as he started to disappear. He'd long since mastered the abilities that his merging with the EVA had given him, and making his physical body vanish into the air was an easy enough task. The last thing he saw was Asuka screaming at him. Not precisely the best image, but it was kind of funny.
Within seconds, the angelic martial artist's mind was back within the metal and flesh structure that truly contained it.
HR.
In the small control center that serviced the only Evangelion left under NERV's control, the on duty technician looked up, surprised at a soft beeping noise.
Wheeling his chair over to the console that had made the noise, he blinked. Unit 01's S2 engine was always active, to one degree or another. Now, however, its activity was falling off towards zero.
He reached over to call Dr. Ibuki, still watching the numbers fall, until they leveled out at just above the shutdown threshold.
"What the hell?" He wondered, as almost all of the EVA's electronics spun down to a halt.
They didn't move again for a long, long time.
This is where WeeBee's story ends and mine picks up years later. Hope you enjoyed it.
Ja Ne
Mority
