Get Mother Back
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfiction
By Narzoth
Session 1
He sat in the dark, out of tears. It boggled his mind how he could be so numb and in such pain, both at the same time. She was gone, but she just couldn't be. He couldn't accept that. If she were gone...what was there for him in this world? She was his world.
He could bring her back. The Old Men's plan...a few changes, a few tweaks...he could use Instrumentality. It could work! He could draw Yui's soul right back out of that monster, and then...stop the Impact? Forge a new world inside Complementation for them both? Whatever. It didn't matter.
He'd be riding a razor's edge. The Old Men would kill him without a second thought if they found out. He'd have to make himself indispensable...buy himself tiny increments of leeway to hide the preparations in. The preparations...he'd need his own nephilim, Adam, the Lance...he'd have to bring the Professor in on it.
Of course the Professor would join him. He was the only man on earth who loved Yui as much as he did.
Except maybe Shinji. Shinji, who he'd have no time for...not with so much to ready. He'd just hurt the boy, anyway. Raising a child was something Yui wanted...something Yui could do, not him. He'd send the child away for his own good. Avoid all contact with him, to keep him safe and s-
The door opened, spilling a wedge of light into the room. Naoko stood there (have to find a way to control her - she'd be needed for The Plan) with her hand on Shinji's shoulder. The boy was sniffling, but not crying. He must have run out of tears, too.
Shinji shuffled over, and he nodded a dismissal at Naoko. He looked down at the boy, already hardening his heart to tell him that he wasn't wanted. That he'd be sent off to his godparents', so that his father could work. He looked down and took a breath to speak...
...and Yui's eyes looked up at him, wet and vulnerable. They caught what little light the room held, and locked him in their grip. Pain...fear...the need to be taken care of...all held in these little eyes just like Yui's.
This must have been what her eyes looked like, in that damned entry plug.
Shinji wiped his nose and opened his mouth. His voice shook with helpless grief and terror. "Where's momma, daddy? Where did the big robot take momma?"
He took a knee before the boy, looked deep into Yui's eyes in this little face, and found courage he never knew he had. It must have been her love for the boy, finding its way to him. That was the only answer - everything good in him came from Yui.
He put his hand on the boy's head, and made to speak again, but this time his tone - while not loving - was soft, almost gentle. "The robot took mother inside it, Shinji, and we can't get her out." Before the words could make the boy start bawling again, he continued, "But father has an idea to get her back out."
The boy froze, rapt, startling him. For the first time ever, he could see something of himself in the child. A spark of his quiet determination flickered behind Yui's eyes, and The Plan suddenly changed.
"It may take a long time, Shinji...maybe years and years. Father may have to do scary things, and have many things that will be very, very secret. We can't tell anyone, but we can get mother back. We'll have to use the robot, Shinji...but mother is in it now. She still loves you, so the robot does too."
He marveled as the spark fanned into a flame before his eyes. The small boy looked so grave. It was eerie. It was like seeing his own expression on Yui's face.
"Can you be brave, Shinji?"
The boy silently nodded, his eyes never leaving his father's.
"Can you keep secrets, from anyone and everyone but me?"
The boy nodded again, still not speaking.
"Will you help me bring mother back, Shinji?"
Another solemn nod.
"What will you do to help father bring mother back, Shinji?"
And in an odd echo of the man's tone, the boy's voice answered.
"Anything."
He smiled, then nodded. He stood, and pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. Then he held out his hand. The boy's hand slipped into it, and each gave the other a squeeze.
Gendo Ikari opened the door and - hand in hand - took his son home.
They had much work to do.
