Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.

Thank you for all the reviews and your honesty.

This is the fourth chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.

Catalyst

By: XxRagnarokxX88

The sun was shining brightly in it's endless summer sprawl; illuminating the world that surrounds it's cataclysmic, glowing shell. The endless summer that had engulfed the world after Second Impact had not faltered this day. It's chaotic flares gave the albedo of the Earth an extra hue of radiance. But, Shinji Ikari did not mind it at all-- for once in his short, albeit, sorrowful life, he was ecstatic about being at school; yes, in general-- life. What once brought him nothing but awkward social situations and confrontations, now brought him a chance to see the black-haired goddess of amity and camaraderie-- or so he regarded her as much. If not for her kindness, he might have lost to the angel that burned his hands and pierced his abdomen; he more than likely would have left Tokyo-3; and he surely would have never had made friends.

Friends... something he did not remember, even at a young age, having.

True, his mind argued, placing her on such a dais was a bit foolhardy, emotionally speaking. But what could the third child do? Even the intense heat of the sun did not distract him from the thoughts of the cherished, ebony haired friend of his. And her little sister, Aiko, was quite... different. Her impulsive personality transformations made her hard to predict and sometimes weird, but he considered her, not a comrade by acquaintanceship, but a true friend.

Shinji flushed slightly at the memory of her giving him a peck on the cheek after dinner. He recovered at the memory of, what appeared to be, a bothered Mayumi. Misato's jokes about that was something he tried his best to forget.

Yes, he owed a lot to Mayumi-- but how could he repay her for all she's done, even without intention, for him?

He had little to offer. What could he give besides his companionship and occasional kind word? He sighed and brought his knees to his chest, 'What can I possibly give to her..?' he thought sadly.

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as two classmates sat beside him on the warm cement of the school's track field. Though he barely knew them, Kensuke and Touji had become more sociable towards him, if nothing else. With a few words of greetings they started watching the people run around in circles, eventually becoming bored, and looking upwards to the top of the hill, watching their female classmates swim and dive into the refreshing waters.

It was then that Shinji took notice of a pale set of lithe legs in the shadows. Rei Ayanami, one of the many enigmas of NERV, was leaning against the chain link fence; her knees drawn to her chest, hidden mostly by the shadows of the parasols near the pool. Shinji looked, not really anything having to do with the appreciation of her form; thought he would never admit it was actually part of the reason why, and wondered. She was extremely pale, 'Maybe she's albino?' he thought idly.

'Rei Ayanami-- fourteen years old. The first subject chosen based of the Marduk Agency. The First Child,' he began thinking of what little he knew and what was told, 'The pilot assigned to the Evangelion Prototype, Unit-00.'

He frowned, 'Her past is a total blank. Completely erased.'

"Yo, Ikari! What'cha starin' at?" Touji asked.

'That's what Misato told me, when I asked her about her file.'

"I never figured the ace here da pervert! And he acts like he don't care about nothin'."

'There had to be some reason why all her files were erased...'

"Who ya lookin' at? Horaki?.. Yamagishi?.. Oh I got it! You starin' at Ayanami, aren't ya?" he grinned at his analysis and pointed at her, "You sure go for da sullen ones!"

'I wonder if she ever smiles... or laughs...'

Rei finally took notice of the two staring in her direction and let her crimson gaze present itself towards the two. Shinji flushed a bit after being noticed, but decided to test out something. He just needed to know how it looked when she laughed, for some unrecognizable reason.

Without looking away, he grabbed Touji's nose and hooked two of his fingers inside and pulled his nose outward. Realizing he was about to struggle against him, Shinji grabbed Touji's wrist and put his foot behind his leg, in the crook behind his knee. With him incapacitated, Shinji pulled on Touji's nose some more and waited for Rei's reaction.

Needless to say, all of the girls near the pool pointed and laughed at the appearance of Suzuhara.

"Look at Suzuhara's face!"

"Check out the monkey!"

and

"I didn't think Ikari had it in him!"

The laughter and comments filled the air for seconds, and for an eternity in Touji's case. Mayumi looked down to see the predicament that Touji was in, and who had placed him in such, and immediately laughed with joy. 'Serves him right,' she thought. Her laughter faded when she noticed that Shinji was not looking at her, but instead of Rei Ayanami. For reasons she would not admit, she felt pangs of anger raising inside of her-- at both of them. Hikari grabbed the chain link fence and yelled down at the two-- blaming Touji, mostly.

"What do you think your doing? Touji you moron!"

Rei kept her expressionless mask on and turned away from the source of commotion, much to Shinji's disappointment.

'I knew it,' he frown sadly, 'she didn't laugh.' He let go of Touji, ending the majority of the laughter.

"What da hell d'ya think yer doin!" Touji yelled, practically in his ear.

Shinji's face was deadpanned, 'Maybe she's some sort of robot... nah, she couldn't be.'

Touji raised his right sleeve in anger, 'IKARI! LOOK AT ME!"

Finally taking notice of the angry jock, Shinji face Touji, "Oh! Let's say we're even now!"

Touji fell on the floor with a loud 'thud' and sighed indignantly, "I didn't want you to get me back that way..."

--

Both Eva Units 00 and 01 stood waist high in deep maroon liquid. The Eva cages in which both Units are held are enormous in it's magnitude and size. Everything seemed to echo off the chromium and stainless steel walls, never letting an idle whisper dissipate into nothingness. It probably helped his father keep track of everything.

Father. Ayanami. What is their connection?

As Shinji looked across the sea of maroon water, he saw Ayanami talking to his father, almost with a smile. Almost. Even the one person she seemed to be happy around did not cause her to smile or break the seal of mask. He was still able to decipher what was said, thanks to the echoing walls of the sixth Eva cage.

"Rei. Unit-00's reactivation test is finally coming up tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

His orange tinted glasses seemed to glint in bright lights of the cage, "Are you scared?"

"I'm all right, sir. Don't worry."

"I see," a brief, but sudden smile crossed his face, "I'm sure things will go more smoothly, this time."

"Yes, sir..."

Shinji stood at the back of Unit-01's neck and looked on as the conversation between the two continued on for a short moment. Jealously and passive anger, mostly anger, passed through his eyes, but left quickly. His facial expressions ended with sadden tinged apathy.

'Dad... you'd never talked like that, or even look at me like that, would you?' Shinji looked inside of the Eva and climbed inside to get his Synchronization tests over with. 'What's Ayanami to Dad, anyway?'

--

His thoughts about the blue-haired pilot of Unit-00 did not end, even after hours of sitting on the Throne of the Soul, the questions still kept pouring out. Shinji sat at the table idly picking at the instant food that threatened his stomach. While idly picking at the scraps of TV dinners, he looked down to see the warm water penguin, Pen-Pen, looking at his plate with a confused stare. Why Misato sat down a can of Yebisu for the bird, he didn't want to know. After a few seconds he opened the can and set it down again, to his surprise, the penguin then lifted the can with his flippers and downed the liquid.

After the slightly disturbing scene, Shinji's thoughts returned to Ayanami, 'What could have caused Unit-00's reactivation to fail? Ritsuko said that it was because of a catastrophic change in the pilot's emotions... but... that couldn't be. Ayanami... her face never changes expression.'

The shower ended and, a few minutes later, Misato stepped out into the living room, of course, with as little clothes as she could have on without official calling her underdressed. "Shinjiiiiii..." she moaned next to his ear. Shinji, now somewhat use to her teasing, looked forward with an annoyed expression and then looked to regard his guardian.

"You're still walking around like that, Misato?" he deadpanned.

"Oh, shut up. It's hot okay? Besides, you use to it by now, aren't you?" She stretched and dried her hair with the towel draped around her shoulders.

"No."

"Anyway, here," she extended her hand and gave Shinji a card, " It's your new security card."

"Oh, thanks."

"Take this one, too." Misato handed her charge another similar card, "It's Rei's new card. Ritsuko says she forgot to give it to her."

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"Give it to her, of course. Would you mind dropping it off at her place before you go to HQ?"

Shinji looked at the card and inspected the picture in the middle, a small blush developing on his cheeks as he noticed a pair of chocolate-colored eyes staring at him. He was caught off-guard, once again.

"Say, why are you all flustered?" she teased lightly. "You're blushing!"

"What!" Shinji went wide eyed, he knew that he was about to get it.

"Oh, wait a minute... Shinji!" she developed her own blush, just to add to the effect, "You little devil! You, Rei, and Mayumi? Well my, my, my."

His whole head seemed to turn red. "That's not it at all! I just don't know her very well!"

"Well, it isn't exactly the era of strict morals, maybe they'll agree to your little fantasy..." she added with a sly grin.

Afterwards, Shinji didn't get that peaceful night sleep he was looking forward to.

'Damn you, Misato! I'll never get to sleep now...'

--

It was the weekend, so Shinji did not have the pleasure of talking to Mayumi or Aiko, which did sadden him a bit, but did not lower his spirits too much. Walking down the cracked pavement of the sidewalk, Shinji was astonished at the rows upon rows of analogous high-rise, cheap apartment buildings. Misato had called it the 'bottoms,' he didn't understand why then, but now he had a clue. To think that Ayanami lived in such a place was saddening.

Shinji looked at the poor excuse for a map Misato had gave to him and somehow managed to get the right apartment building. He climbed the desolate and seemingly deserted stairs and up to designated room number. The sign over the room read '402'. He didn't want to disturb her by knocking, so he pressed the button on the intercom-- nothing. It didn't work, and by the looks of the building and surrounding areas, it hasn't been working for some time. 'Ayanami lives alone in a place like this?' he thought as a frown appeared on his face. He grabbed the handle of the door, hoping it didn't open.

The door opened to reveal a rather dirty tile flooring. He didn't step in, fearing that he might be intruding on her personal space. "Um... It's Ikari... Ayanami? You there?"

Not hearing any indication of anybody inside, he took off his shoes and stepped in inside as quietly as he could. "Is anybody home?" He walked into the apartment and saw a large set of blinds that let very little light through it's thin cloth. The room was so empty it made the trip all the more uncomfortable. The bed was askew and messy; there was a box of bloody bandages in the corner of the room; and worst of all, the room was devoid of all unnecessary items. He hadn't been expecting a lot of personality inside of Ayanami's room, but to have nothing but the bare essentials seemed so sad, lonely and too much like him.

It was then that he caught of a glimpse of a broken pair of glasses on the drawer near the center of the room. He walked over, letting curiosity get the better of him, 'Huh? These glasses, I didn't know she wore them...' After a little bit of inspection, he notice something printed on the side of the frames, G. Ikari.

'They're dads..!'

The sound of soft footsteps echoed in the small room, making Shinji freeze in place. Looking back, he saw the lithesome form of Rei Ayanami, draped in only a towel. Such luck could only have happened to Shinji, which it seemed to be the cruel joke of numerous omnipotent forces; one couldn't possibly be able to ruin his life so thoroughly and instantaneously.

Shinji's heart skipped one beat, no more than that, as he looked at her pale body. Finally regaining the ability to do something, anything, he backed away and dropped the glasses he had been holding, letting them create a resounding crack as they hit the floor. Rei's eyes seemed to expand slightly at the sight before her; not Shinji raising his arm over his eyes and looking away at her nude form, but the now further broken lenses of the glasses. She began to walk towards him, a look of utter terror crossing his face, believing that he may, if not emotionally, physically die in apartment 402.

"I-I'm sorry..! I- Oh!" seeing her bend down in front of him to calmly lift the glasses that had fell proved to be too much for his frail mind to take, "Sorry!" he covered his eyes and ran forward. "I didn't see anything..!" This movement proved to be an even worse mistake. His foot hit Ayanami's ankle with little force, but enough to send her and him both falling to the cold tile flooring. He felt something soft and supple slide across his right hand, not really having his eyes open, he didn't know what it was.

After was seemed to be perpetual silence, he opened his eye to see the small amount of light that the room allowed gracing the pale form of Rei. Her eyes stayed still, calm, cool, and collected-- despite the small gasp that escaped her lips when he landed. This did nothing to help him. Why wasn't she trying to get him off of her? Why wasn't she throttling the life out of him? She just stared at his face, her crimson eyes simply looking at his navy blue irises. The air conditioner was the only sound that could be heard in the apartment, it's constant sound bringing Shinji back out of his trance.

He scrambled off of her and held the strap of his shoulder bag with uncertainty and excessive force, making his knuckles turn white under his slightly tanned skin. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"What can I do for you?" She asked in the same monotonous voice of her's, slowing getting off the floor, as if nothing happened.

"Wha..?" he whispered with confused and fright.

The snap of the glasses being placed inside of its case and closing woke him up again. "Uh... I... What was it again? The card.."

He looked away as she began to place her panties on, "Your card... It's been renewed, so Misato... she asked me to drop it off..." he clutched at his undershirt, feeling the same fear overcome him, "I- I rang the doorbell, but it looks like it's broken... Your door was unloc--"

"Leave the card over there, then." she commented as she slipped her bra on.

All the color left his face. Why did she.. ? Not being able to think clearly anymore, he closed his eyes and placed the card on the drawer near him. "Sorry." Shinji said apologetically before picking his shoes off the floor and running out of the apartment. Once the door was closed, he leaned against it as the world around him seemed to haze in and out of existence.

--

Shinji crushed the can of decaffeinated coffee, a drink that he had become almost addicted to, and threw it in the trashcan next to him. He was sitting on a wooden bench near the vending machine that he often passed on his way to NERV. He was angry, but not at the world around him, or his father, who had basically just shoved him inside of the giant purple Eva. No, he was angry at himself. Only he could pull off such an awkward situation and suffer enough to survive, only to think about it some more.

'Damn it... She probably hates me now...'

He looked down and found the shadow of the familiar blue-haired girl. He began to feel nervous all over again. Her face remained the same as always, something he began to dislike. Not knowing what to say, he mumbled out a 'Hi,' which he mentally slapped himself for.

Ayanami only glanced at him and continued walking down the street. Shinji lifted his shoulder bag up and called out to her, "Ayanami! Wait up!"

Shinji continued walking behind her, contemplating what he could possibly say or do to apologize to her. The walk towards the giant pyramid that was NERV HQ was quiet, until Shinji finally thought of something to talk about. "So, it's... your reactivation test with Unit-00 is today, isn't it?" He felt his confidence rise slightly as the words did not stumble out as he had expected, "You aren't scared, are you, Ayanami?"

"Of what?"

"About, you know... getting back into your Eva... I heard about what happened the last time."

"Are you scared of yours?" she asked quietly.

Shinji looked down and threw that question around in his mind. His memories brought back the pain he had felt inside of the Eva. The angel with the dagers in it's elbows and how it pierced his Eva's right eye. The way the snake-like angel pierced his abdomen and almost killed Mayumi. Anger boiled inside of him at that thought. The Eva brought him pain, but saved the life of the girl who had entered his life and made it slightly more bearable. No, he did not like it, but it was something he had to do, to fight the monsters that threatened the few people in his life that mattered. He wondered if Ayanami might be one of those people.

"No. Scared isn't the right word... but I think it's stranger not to be at least a little scared of it."

Without turning around, she responded, "Can't you have faith in your father's work?"

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. She soon stopped herself and looked back at the third child, "No. There's no way I can. Not in a father who abandoned me and one day called me out of the nowhere, simply because, 'he had a use for me'."

Rei did not know about the young Ikari's situation with his father, but the word abandoned seemed to resonate in the back of her head. Subconsciously, that word had a profound and enigmatic meaning to her, but it did not matter right now. She couldn't deny his words, for he did appear at NERV suddenly and without prior knowledge of the Eva; he fought. Fought ferociously, tapping an inner strength that he could never see in himself.

She finally finished analyzing his words and came to her conclusion. "You are correct, Ikari. You have no reason to have faith in your father, but I do. The only thing in this world I have faith in is the Commander." And with that, she turned around and left Shinji with those bittersweet words in his ears.

--

Eva Unit-00 stood in the white, stainless steel and chromium confinement of the #3 test bay. The heavy restraints on it's rigid shoulders shone in the extremely bright white lights that illuminated the room. The single optical eye reflected the everything and everyone in the orange room across from the Eva, even Shinji Ikari.

"We will now commence the reactivation test for Unit-00." Ritsuko stood next to her protégé, Maya Ibuki and began stating the procedures.

"Rei," a gruff voice came from the external speakers in the orange room, "Are you ready?"

Rei Ayanami sat inside on her saffron colored Eva and awaited further orders. "Yes, sir."

"Initiate Primary Contact." Gendo commanded as he pushed his glasses higher on his nose.

"Main power, contact."

"Operational voltage critical point, cleared!" informed the brown haired protégé.

"Roger," said Ritsuko before turning towards Maya, "Shift format to Phase Two!"

"Begin linking pilot to Unit-00."

"Pulse and harmonics normal."

"Synch is green."

"All nerve links connected."

"No abnormalities in C.N.S."

"List items 1 through 2590 have been cleared."

Shinji stood next to his guardian, behind the orange glass that separated him from the yellow Eva and Ayanami. He was nervous; worried about the safety of his fellow pilot, and a girl he knew. She might hate him, but he couldn't help it, it wasn't in his nature, with the exception of his father, to not care about the people that he knew. Even Ritsuko was something, rather than nothing, to him; not that it really did anything for him in life.

He watched his reflection in the single red eye of Ayanami's Eva and thought about the days events. He lowered his view and frown. Why did things like that happen to him, anyway?

"2.5 until absolute borderline."

Rei voice rang inside of his head, 'The only thing in this world I have faith in is the Commander.'

"1.7... 1.2..."

'Why?'

"1.0..."

'Why does she think so much of him?'

"0.6... 0.4... 0.3... 0.2..."

'It's weird...'

"0.1"

'Why am I so concerned about her? Why am I so concerned about everyone else, except me?'

"Borderline cleared!" stated Maya, "Unit-00 has been activated. Now commencing Linkage Test."

Shinji looked to the left of him after hearing the sound of a phone being slammed down. He saw the tall white-haired man that his father always seemed to be around, looking very serious-- not that anyone besides Misato and him in NERV wasn't.

"Ikari! An unidentified flying object is heading this way..." he the old man looked at commander, "It's most likely an angel."

Shinji and Misato both turned to the black suited commander of NERV with nervous expectation.

"Abort the test," he finally yelled, "All personnel, go to level one battle stations!"

The white haired man stood next to Gendo, "Can we use Unit-00?"

"It's not battle-ready yet." He always kept that controlled voice. It didn't falter now. "What about Unit-01?"

Ritsuko spoke up, "We can have it up in 380 seconds."

"Then make it so."

Both Ritsuko and his father stared at the pilot of Unit-01. His father spoke, "What's the matter? Get going!"

Shinji's expression of indifference didn't change much. "Yes... sir." 'He won't even wish me good luck'.

The younger Ikari climbed inside of the entry plug and placed himself on the Throne of the Soul, and waited for them to shoot him out of NERV to fight the invading angel. The purple biomachinal weapon stood rigid against the walls of the catapult which would take him to the top of Tokyo-3 and the ensuing battle. He wasn't scared anymore, just upset. 'But even if I can't believe in my father... all I can do is get in my Eva and fight.' His thoughts continued to wander through the anxiety before combat. 'I hope Mayumi and Aiko are safe...'

The internal speakers inside of the entry plug came online, "Target is now above Lake Ashino," came the voice of a male technician.

"Unit-01 is ready for take-off, " announced the female voice Shinji had often heard in combat, "Eva-01-- Launch!"

Shinji braced himself as he and his Eva were launched from the safety of the geofront and NERV HQ, expecting nothing. Meanwhile, the large geometric shaped angel floated over Tokyo-3, it's diamond shape giving off the look of a large floating structure rather than a monster of unknown origin. The center of the angel, where the two halves of its pyramid shaped bodies met, began to hum and glow brighter. The motion of light and magnetism seemed to become a whirlpool in it's semi-transparent body.

The male technician's voice returned in disbelief, "I'm getting a high energy reading from within the target!"

"What was that!" Misato said in surprise and shock.

"It's accelerating on it's periphery! Starting to converge!" the same male voice shouted.

Misato's eyes went wide, "Can't be-- A particle beam weapon!" She watched in forlorn anger as the purple Eva reached the streets of Tokyo-3, standing in front of the perilous view of the angel and one of the most powerful weapon known to mankind. She nearly had a heart attack as the Eva stood in the street, held by the shoulder restraints that kept him from moving in the catapult. "No! Shinji! Get out of the way!"

Shinji didn't have time for more than a "huh" as a bright light made even the daytime sky of Tokyo-3 seemed to dark. He moved his head in time to see the source of the light-- only to see the twinkle of the sun coming from the diamond shaped angel. He gasped as a extremely thin stream of light pierced the sky-- and the building in front of him, melting it at an impossibly fast rate sending liquid metal onto the tarmac of Tokyo-3.

His eyes went wide as the beam came directly at him.

--

Mayumi sat inside of the sat in the corner of the school shelter hugging her little sister, Aiko. It was the weekend, so being at school did seem weird, but it was the closest shelter in the surrounding area. The siren had been going off for the past few minutes, but ended minutes after a while, 'Probably because everyone is in a shelter... everyone except...' She closed her eyes and sighed.

She was mad at him for staring at her. For staring at Ayanami. She didn't hate him or anything, but why did he look at her? Sure, he was a guy so it would only be natural for him to look at other girls, and it wasn't as if they were in a relationship, but,..

Incoherent thoughts continued to spew into her head until she lost herself in deep thought, idly stroking her sister's hair. She was sleeping on her lap, lightly snoring; a fact that she would eventually use to keep her sister in check when they argued. It was funny, her sister wasn't too much younger than her, but she acted like an eight year old. It was just how she dealt with her-- no, their past. Aiko had told her everything, something that was a perfect example of their sometimes bittersweet relationship. The memories of Aiko... such a cruel fate for someone so young. The older Yamagishi stroked her sister's hair again-- such thoughts always made her want to shield her sister from anything that would harm her.

Soon it would end; and Mayumi slumped against the wall of the shelter and dreamed.

For some reason, the dream was too real. She heard a scream, from someone she knew. It wasn't the scream of anger that echoed in her mind, no, it was an even more pained scream. Mayumi closed her eyes in her restless slumber-- Shinji was hurt, she couldn't say why she felt this way, but she knew that it was true. Then it came back-- that tugging feeling close to her heart, it's unrelenting yet almost.. palliative feeling was smothering her chest. It seemed to fade in and out, steady with her own heartbeat, leading her gaze towards the door of the shelter. Refusing to leave her sister's side, she held Aiko closer and shut her eyes.

The only thing she saw was a blinding light; with Shinji's screams, the only sound of life in the blinding rays.

--

The particle beam tore through the building as if it didn't even exist, soaring over the city with lethal accuracy. Shinji stared at the light with amazed panic, not being able to move, he could only wait for the inevitable pain. The light hit Unit-01 with unprecedented speed, sending molten pieces of armor to the surrounding buildings, splashing with a sickening squelch. The thin beam bored into the purple beast, splitting the chest armor and liquefying it's outer shell.

Shinji grabbed the controls of the Eva and pulled on them franticly, telling it to move, run-- anything but stand still. The LCL around him, and inside of his body, boiled instantaneously. The searing pain from the boiling liquid had no mercy, nor did the angel that implemented such an attack. He screamed in agony, his skin seared red by now. He couldn't open his eyes to confirm this, for the pain was too much. This pain probably kept him from going blind in the sweltering LCL.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Misato stared at the main hologram suspended in the command center, "SHINJI!"

Ritsuko looked on in trepidation, shocked at the power of the newest angel, and fearing for the life of the third child. She looked at the hologram in the air and clutched her left arm, subconsciously imagining about the pain their tragic hero must being going through.

Blood spewed from the side of Shinji's mouth as he started gagging at the fire that entered his heart.

"Get him back! Hurry!" Misato ordered, her voice wavering at the sight of Shinji dying inside the Eva.

The restraints clicked and locked on the arms and shoulder armor of Unit-01 and dragged in down the catapult that had lifted him onto what would have been certain death. The particle beam that had shattered everyone's' hopes of a victory followed the Eva until it hit the streets of Tokyo-3, causing an anticlimactic explosion. The diamond shaped angel hovered in it's periphery, waiting.

"The target has gone inactive!" yelled the male tech.

Taking in the last of the battle information, Misato turned to the bespectacled tech near the Maya. "How's Shinji!"

"EEG Abnormal! Pulse faint!"

Maya typed uncontrollably onto the keyboard in front of her, "Unit-01 to Cage #7, retrieve him!"

Misato ran from her former position in the command center, "I'm going to the cage!" she looked back at the blonde scientist, "Ritsuko! Get the medic team ready-- stat!"

Finally recovering from her initial shock, she responded, "Got it!"

Rei stood passively at the retreating figure of NERV's main tactician and frowned slightly. She would have to reconsider Shinji's words a bit. She returned her placid gaze towards the giant diamond shaped angel in the sky.

Shinji's eyes flicked in and out.

"Pilot brain waves erratic!"

Shinji's chest stopped moving up and down.

"Pulse faint!-- Correction, pulse has stopped!"

Ritsuko took command of the situation, the young Ikari's life now took priority. "Set life support system to maximum! Commence CPR!"

A pained gasp escaped Shinji's mouth and his upper body jagged forward, but no other response followed.

"Again!"

Another jagged movement in the pilot occurred, forcing the boy to breath in the steaming liquid.

"Pulse confirmed!"

"Hurry! Force-eject the entry plug!"

Unit-01 stood inside of the seventh Eva cage, the back of it's neck lurching forward to let out a white cylinder from it's depths. Steam slithered out of the back of it's neck, clouding the vision of the nearby engineers and work crews.

"Emergency LCL flush!" Ritsuko shouted, now in control after the pilots life signs were confirmed.

Several openings in the entry plug shot out with blistering hot orange-yellow fluid. A hatch in the middle of the plug opened up, letting the steam inside to free itself from it's metallic chamber. It was at this time that Misato made it to the Eva cages. "Shinji!" She called out as the Throne of the Soul was brought out of the plug by a crane, with Shinji's limp form laid across it's steel embrace.

"Hang on, Shinji!" She yelled as the crane was dropped and her charge was lifted off the seat and onto a stretcher. She looked at the medical team that had made it before her, "Get him to the ER! NOW!"

Meanwhile, the giant flying angel floats over the center of the city, idly bidding it's time, knowing that it has stopped NERV's only truly effective weapon, the Evangelion. On the bottom of the two pyramid halves, a large drill slowly begins to lower directly over the powerless NERV HQ. It hits the tarmac of Tokyo-3 with no real effort, slowing down only slightly as it began drilling back the deep earth.

Ritsuko looked over to the bespectacled man near her, "What's the enemy started doing?"

"It's drilling into the geofront-- towards NERV HQ!"

"It's trying a direct attack!"

--

Several hours later, a large inflated scale model of Unit-01 made it's way towards the angel, moving over the water by a large trimaran. After reaching the estimated parameters, the angel reacted and launched it's particle beam towards the mock-Eva, destroying it instantly.

"Dummy vaporized"

Misato sat in the darken tactics room, analyzing every possible angle and variable involved in attacking and defeating the impregnable flying fortress. She had made arrangements to test out the range at which the angel could reach with it's particle beam weapon. The first test should that it attack anything within a specified distance. The second...

"Next."

A large train mounted cannon moved forward to it's designated location in the outskirts of Tokyo-3. Misato kept her eyes on the angel, not at the cannon, she knew it would be destroyed, but it was necessary to see the angel's defense capabilities. The large mounted cannon released a similar, but nowhere near as powerful, stream of particle energy towards the angel. The angel remained still and continued to drill towards NERV HQ. A large transparent-orange hexagonal field appeared in front of the angel, shielding the angel from the pathetic excuse for firepower and retaliated with by sending it's own beam towards the cannon.

"Type-12 self-propelled mortar destroyed."

A thin and shaved bespectacled man walked towards Misato, bringing forward the results of her two ploys. "According to the data collected thus far, it seems that the target automatically eliminates enemies within a fixed radius."

Misato cut it-- she knew what she needed to know, "The instant they enter that radius, its particle cannon destroys them with 100 accuracy," she paused briefly as her thoughts returned to the brown haired boy, "Which means we can't get the Eva close enough to neutralize its A.T. Field for close-quarters combat... but what about the enemie's A.T. Field?"

"Still active," he adjusted his frames, "It's so powerful that you can actually see the phase-shift space within the naked eye."

Misato reclined against the chair she sat on and bit down on her pen slightly before speaking again, "It's practically perfect in both attack and defense."

She looked at the main hologram in the tactics room, "So... what about that drill?"

"A bit with a diameter of 17.5, currently drilling towards NERV HQ... currently, it's reached the #2 armored plate."

"What's its ETA to reach HQ?"

"Tomorrow morning, at zero hours, 6 minutes and 54 seconds," he flipped through the pages of his report, "By that time, we believe it will have cut through all twenty-two layers of armored plating and reached NERV HQ."

"Less than ten hours, then..." Misato turned to her console and opened communications with the Eva crew, "Dr. Akagi, what's the status of Unit-01?"

Ritsuko, in this case Dr. Akagi, stood next to her protégé, "The chest is completely melted down to the third armor plate," she raised her vision towards the cranes that lifted the, now cooled down, pieces of deformed armored plating on the Eva's chest, "We're lucky that the functional center wasn't damaged."

Maya Ibuki spoke next, "Given a few more seconds, it would have shot right through the Eva."

"We'll have the armor swapped out in three hours."

Misato turned to the alternative, "What about Unit-00?"

Ritsuko raised the radio closer to her, "Reactivation is no problem. But there are still some feedback problems."

"Damn... She's just not battle-ready, yet!" The pilot of Unit-01 crossed her mind, she regretted the almost certain option of using him to fight the angel that was just seconds away from burning him off the face of the Earth, "And Shinji? What's the status of Unit-01's pilot?"

"No permanent physical damage," the head of the medical team finally speaking up, "The nerve pulse is a bit unstable, but within acceptable parameters. He's still under sedation."

Misato rested her head on her right hand and sighed, "Doesn't look good, does it?"

"Shall we raise the white flag?"

"Nice idea," she said sardonically, "But before we try that... we've gotta try everything we can." She tapped the pen against her in though and grinned, "We'll have plenty of time to regret out decisions when we're dead."

--

'The only thing I'm good at, and I couldn't even do that for you, could I?'

Shinji laid in his hospital bed, sleeping restlessly after his near death experience. Inside his mind, he saw Mayumi and Aiko, huddled in the corner of a shelter, afraid for their lives and counting on him to save them from the angels.

And he failed them, so thoroughly and so utterly failed them. He didn't even have a chance to fight back or even raise his hands in defense. How utterly pathetic.

Rei... she probably hated him. The reason he even piloted the Eva in the first place was because of her. He remembered her, sprawled on the floor after falling from the medical stretcher. He remembered holding her close to him, her blood staining his clothes and arms, and how could not let her pilot the Eva, not when death was assured.

He let her down too.

But, did he really owe anyone anything? The pain he felt inside of the Eva, could it be worth the same amount of human contact he had acquired? His mind raced with questions; questions that second-guessed his stand on piloting Eva.

Tears stung at the corners of his closed eyes as he slowly regained consciousness. He blinked as he saw the face of Mayumi.

No, the long sabled-hair transformed into short unruly blue; the light peach colored skin that seemed lively transformed into the cool pale skin of Rei. She was watching over him. He rolled his head over in her direction, surprise by her bedside presence. A large blush developed over his face as soon as he remembered why he was so nervous around her recently.

"A-Ayanami..?"

She did not respond at first, instead she brought over a tray of food and placed it near his bed, "Here's some food." She moved the cart that was near the door and moved it near the her fallen pilot, placing the tray on it. "They said to get you something to eat once you woke up."

Shinji sat up in his bed, "I don't feel like eating anything./."

"I think you should eat something before we go." After a period of silence, she continued, "We leave in 60 minutes."

"Huh?.."

Ayanami pulled out a small black book, "Here is the schedule for the operation that will begin in zero hours, tomorrow." She flipped through the small pages and found what she was looking for, "Pilots Ikari and Ayanami will assemble at the cage at 1730 hours. At 1800 hours, Eva Unit-01 and Unit-00 will be activated. 1805 hours, launch."

Shinji watched as she stood in the middle of the room, reciting everything in the same voice, "At 1830, arrive at the temporary base on Mt. Futago. Await further orders. Commence operation at midnight."

It was quiet for awhile, until Rei spoke up once again, "Don't show up looking like that."

Shinji looked confused for a second before he noticed that the sheet that covered his body lowered a bit too much. He pulled the covers over himself quickly and drew his knees to his chest, "Sorry..."

"Rei... I'm sorry..."

His second apology was different than the others he seemed to say so often, it sounded sincere; not the same as the apologies he mumbled out every so often, so she had to ask what he was apologizing for, "For what?"

"For not being able to fight better... I should have been able to do something other than stand still, and if I did you wouldn't have to risk getting hurt again."

Rei tilted her head to the side; it was a strange thing to say. Were they not both pilots of the Evangelions? "I do not understand. We are both pilots, so we both share equal risk during combat."

"I know... I just... never mind." He could never look into her crimson eyes for too long; so piercing and unrelenting.

--

"How's the positron rifle coming!"

Misato stood in the command center, barking orders out at every moving and nonmoving person that crossed her path. She held the communication button and looked at the main monitors.

"I swear we'll have it done in three hours. You have the word of the technical development department on that!"

Turning away from the screen and back towards the three ever-present NERV officers in the command center, "Aoba, how's the outlook on the energy system?"

"It's currently 3.2 percent behind schedule, but we'll make it by 2310 hours-- somehow."

The Commander sat on a higher platform from Misato, his elbows on his desk and finger's interlaced in front of his face. His eyes were hidden behind the orange tinted lenses of his glasses. No doubt he was analyzing the situation, the future scenarios, maybe even the future of NERV itself. It was not impossible; he was the supreme commander.

The white-haired man that was always with the Commander; second in-charge, the sub-commander, stood near Gendo Ikari. He rubbed his chin, impressed at the speed and effectiveness that their main tactician took hold of the situation. "I'm amazed the JSSDF Labs allowed you to requisition that positron rifle! And then to requisition every watt of power in Japan for a sniper shot at extreme range... you've come up with a rather bold plan, Captain Katsuragi."

Turning around to regard the sub-commander, Misato spoke with her full authority, "It was the most effective option, given the time that we have. If we can't neutralize the enemy's A.T. Field, our only chance is to punch through it with a concentrated high-order energy point!"

Gendo Ikari finally got out of his constant state of thought, "I see no reason to oppose your plan. Go to it."

On the main monitor, the sun gleamed off the semi-transparent diamond in the sky; it's main objective only hours away. The drill that sprouted from the bottom half pyramid that formed it's geometric shape was moving closer and closer to NERV HQ. With the pilot of Eva Unit-01 wounded and Eva Unit-00 not completely ready for combat, things looked grim.

"The enemy's drill has penetrated through the #9 armor plate! Six hours and forty-five minutes remaining to contact!"

--

Touji and Kensuke stood on top of their school building's roof; Kensuke with his a camcorder in hand and Touji with his hands in his pockets, idly looking towards the orange sun in the sky. The intense orange glow reflected through the body of the angel in the middle of Tokyo-3, making the school look as if it were glowing.

Though most people were inside of the shelter, Kensuke had managed to 'find' some files in his father's computer. His curiosity gave him the opportunity to see the Eva's in action. Touji had tagged along, only because he had nothing better to do. Also, he knew that Kensuke was not too insane; they would leave when things got too dicey or too dark.

It would be a pitch black night that day. It was reported that there would be a country wide black-out later that night, though they did not really say why. With it being the weekend and all, they did not see Shinji or Ayanami; the school shelter was just the closest one. No doubt they were preparing for battle against the flying diamond in the sky.

Getting impatient, Touji faced Kensuke, "Yo, Kensuke! You sure about da time? We're suppose to be evacuated by now!"

"I took a peek at dad's data. This is definitely the right time!"

A large piece of the nearby hillside started to shift and move into itself, revealing the gutted out innards of the hill and the machinery that lay underneath. Both watched with amazed facial expressions as the face of the large purple Evangelion appeared from the hillside, followed by another orange Evangelion. Kensuke raised his camcorder at, what he thought was, the most beautiful image in his life.

"There it is!" He stated with tears of joy at his corners, "The Evangelions!"

Touji looked up with mild amusement at the both of the Evangelions before looking at the unfamiliar one, "So Ayanami's with him this time." He raised his left fist and cheered the mechanical saviors on, "Ayyyyyyy! Kick some ass!"

--

The night sky was clear, but revealed little of the stars surrounding the Earth. That would soon change. Operation Yashima would soon go into full effect, and with that, also the death of the slowly invading angel.

Misato stood in the center of a large circle of wires and trucks carrying main and reserve power supplies. The sheer amount of trucks and large cylinder cooling systems was simply staggering. The few lights that were used to illuminate the area pointed towards the rows of machinery and onto the location of the angel and Misato Katsuragi.

Misato stood in the center of the enclosure; Ritsuko, Shinji and Rei stood in front of her.

"All right.. the enemy bore has already breached the #17 armor plate," stated the captain, "It will be about three hours and 55 minutes until it reaches HQ."

Misato pointed towards a large rifle set up nearby, directed towards the angel in the city. "This is a positron rifle," she began, "NERV requisitioned it from the Japan Strategic Self-Defense Force Research Labs; it's still pretty much an experimental weapon, though."

Ritsuko took her cue, "According to our calculations, it can punch through the enemy's A.T. Field even at this range.. however, it's a precision instrument, not intended for field operations-- and a system we've thrown together in a big hurry." Ritsuko looked towards Unit-00, which was kneeling down near Unit-01, "And about that shield.. We've jury-rigged it from the bottom of a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that was given an ultra-electromagnetic coating. It can withstand the enemy's beam for seventeen seconds."

"Shinji will be the gunner in Unit-01." Misato said as she faced the pilot of Unit-01 directly, "And Rei will handle defense in Unit-00."

Shinji looked towards Rei and saw that, will she was not in any visible pain, she was clutching her arm, the arm that had been in a cast recently. He frown and faced towards the ground. 'I'd rather handle defense.. she still might be hurt..'

Misato took notice of his hesitation, but decided it was best to leave him be and talk to Rei; trying to assure him in some way. "Rei.. Shinji will handle the rifle because the synchro rate between Shinji and Unit-01 is higher. Precise operation is absolutely necessary this time."

It was Ritsuko's time to talk, "Now, Shinji... positrons are one type of antimatter particle. While a stream of positrons are practical weapons in the endless vacuum of space, where normal matter in the path of the beam would be tenuous, a positron beam in the Earth's atmosphere would be like putting the barrel of your grenade launcher right up against a wall and then pulling the trigger... The matter/antimatter reaction, in other words, would start to occur within nanometers once the positrons leave the magnetic containment field within the barrel of the sniper rifle." Ritsuko drew her arms across her chest as the cold air began to get to her. "Now I can't get into detail, but we have managed to generate a type of neutrinos that will surround the beam until it hits the target, in this case, the angel. But because of this, it will not fire in straight line. Don't forget to correct for that."

All of the science entered into his head, but not too much stayed there. "But.. I haven't trained for stuff like that yet."

"Don't worry, just do it by the book. Just pull the trigger when the markers are centered on the target. We will handle everything else."

"So you'll all help me, right?.. but what if the first shot misses?"

Misato's expression harden, "It would take twenty seconds to cool, recharge, and fire the second shot. We anticipate a counter-attack within that time. If you can't dodge it.. it's all over." The next words that she spoke made a cold surge run down Shinji's spine. "In the last extremity, Rei's shield will have to protect you."

'If the shield only lasts for seventeen seconds,' Shinji felt a lump in his throat, '.. there won't be a second shot.'

"It's time. Get ready, you two." Misato ordered.

Both answered, "Yes ma'am."

--

Slowly, the lights of Japan, which have hidden the stars from the eternal night, faded into nothing; darkening the world around the Evangelions and their pilots. Billboard signs and streetlights shut-off, leaving the empty streets with nothing but the howling winds to travel through their darkened concrete and steel. The constant hums faded out of existence; except for the lights that brought a wraithlike glow under the angel, the Evangelions, and the two bridges that stood near the Eva's, that held the two pilots.

"All the light's have gone out..." Shinji commented idly, trying his best to start a conversation with Ayanami.

He turned his head and saw that Rei was staring off into the black hills, her knees drawn to her chest and her face, as usual, expressionless. Feeling unnerved, he faced away from Ayanami and spoke the only thoughts that echoed into his head, "I guess we may be dead soon."

"Why?"

Shinji looked down; she seemed so calm. So still. So composed. This only made him feel like garbage. "How can you be so calm? You've been put through so much danger already..." No longer being able to stand the silence, he asked something that had been bugging him for some time, "Why do you pilot the Eva?"

Rei intertwined her fingers and placed them on her knees, drawing them closer to her. "Because... it's my link."

"To my dad..?"

She looked down, not showing a hint of true sadness-- but Shinji could feel it in the air that seemed to surrounded her. "I have nothing else... It's like I was born to pilot an Eva." Rei looked towards the pilot of Unit-01. "If I stopped being a pilot, I would have nothing left... That's the same as being dead."

She turned away, but Shinji thought that she might still be listening, "The same as being dead..? Well, then... I guess I was like that before I came here." Rei returned her gaze at him, "I hated everything. I was totally apathetic, I just didn't care about anything. But I put up a quiet front, playing the good little kid. I... I guess I was just going through the motions of living. Doing what I was told." 'Why am I telling Ayanami all of this anyway..? Because we're in the same situation?'

'No... maybe it's because Ayanami has even less than I do. I don't know, but it feels that way.'

Rei closed her eyes and looked at the small watch that was built into the left hand section of the plug suit. It read 21:10. There was still some time left, and her curiosity was still not fully satisfied. "Do you still think that way?"

The question caught him off-guard. It was a question that was not too hard to answer... but he didn't feel certain. He no longer was 'apathetic'; he had honestly been happy on a few occasions in his short time in Tokyo-3. Misato... she was almost... well she was someone that he knew he didn't hate; he actually like her, but to what extend was still something he hadn't wanted to ask himself. Mayumi and Aiko... he didn't have words to describe them. The half-sisters had brought a small amount of joy into his life, but was his appreciation for them too excessive? His whole life was nothing but loneliness... did the few days in Tokyo-3 change him that much?

"Not too much... but I think I'm at peace with what I have to do."

Rei looked down at the time and got up. "It's time. Let's go."

"Oh... sure."

As Shinji was about to climb into his Eva, Rei called out to him. "Ikari." Her monotonous voice did not change.

"Yes, Ayanami?"

"You won't die." Ayanami turned and looked into the eyes of Ikari. "I'll protect you."

Shinji stood in front of his entry plug, his mouth slightly open after hearing Rei's words. His arms hung loosely at his sides, and he could not move for some reason. "Goodbye." Those words resonated in his head even after he got inside of his Eva."

23:59:57
Countdown 00:00:03

00:00:00

Countdown 00:00:00

--

"This is it." Informed the bespectacled computer technician.

Misato stood in the temporary sub-station, close to the Evangelions. Her commanding voice never faltered in command. It would not be an exception this day. "Shinji... all the power of Japan is in your hands."

Outside of the temporary sub-station, Evangelion Unit-01 laid on it's abdomen, it's arms outward, holding the experimental positron rifle. The white slit of light that appeared as the eyes of Unit-01 glowed an eerie magnolia against the illuminations that kept it visible in the dark skies of Tokyo-3. Shinji tensed and relaxed his trigger finger, anxious about the upcoming assault. Sweat was slightly visible and then disappeared into the transparent LCL, his breath was even, but harsh; the wait was always like that. "Y-Yes, ma'am," he stuttered out, trying his best to be strong.

Behind Eva Unit-01 stood Unit-00, the orange machine held a large shield shaped like the outline of a space shuttle. Ayanami waited and only watched the angel that glowed like ice in the distance. The mock-shield would have to do against the enemies particle beam cannon; even though it would not last the full amount of time needed, it would have to do.

"Commencing primary connections... Begin transmission of power from blocks 1 through 803."

The mountainside that supported the numerous trucks and coolant cylinders lit up in began humming at an increasing rate. From a distance, it almost appeared as if the sun was slowly rising from the east.

Misato faced the main visual screen and folded her arms under her chest, "Commence Operation Yashima!"

"Voltage rising... increasing pressure!"

"Cooling systems at MAX output!"

"Positron influx nominal"

"Secondary connections complete!"

"Accelerators engaging!"

"Activate convergence unit!"

Misato and Ritsuko stood silently. The blonde scientist showed only minors signs of nervousness; the slightly shaking hands in her lab coat's pockets and the way she slightly bit on her lip were evident signs of it. Misato looked like any captain should during an operation; eyes stern and showing no signs of weakness in the face of the enemy, the angel in this case. Her lips were pressed tight against each other, not wanting to allow her worry for her charge and Rei, was justification enough.

"Transfer all power to Mt. Futago Temporary sub-station!" Misato ordered out loud. "Release final safety system!"

"Tertiary connections nominal."

The bespectacled tech, Motoko Hyuuga, yelled, "Pull the hammer!"

Taking his order in and squinting his eyes in both fear and anxious anger, Shinji willed the Eva's hands to pull the hammer on the positron rifle. A section of the Throne of the Soul lifted itself out of place and lowered over the eyes of it's occupant. He looked upon the geometric shape in the sky and two other shapes closing in the center. Shinji's breath increased its rate as her waited for the three shapes to center on each other.

"Error correction for Earth's rotation is +0.0009."

Shinji clenched his teeth together as the shapes slowly met each other.

"Seventh and final connections engaged... Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle."

The Eva stood still and ready.

"Ten seconds to discharge.. nine... eight... seven..."

Inside of the sub-station, Maya Ibuki swiveled in her chair and faced her captain with wide eyes, "High energy reading within the target!"

'Damn, it's spotted us!' Misato bit into her lip. 'But if we can get in the first shot... we have a chance!'

The three shapes that faced Shinji finally center on each other. "Fire!"

Finally the time had come! Shinji bared his teeth in ire and alarm and willed his Eva to pull the trigger that his finger had been hovering over. An explosive light burst from the positron rifle, showering the nearby areas with the sun's presence. The angel's beam shot out simultaneous to it's enemy, The two swirling beams of luminous energy headed straight for each other. They were on the other's collision course; equal in power, speed, and malice.

The beams did not collide and they did not miss. Instead, the light meet each other in their paths and intertwined around each other, causing the lake underneath them to split in the epicenter. Once the beams of antimatter intertwined, they continued to their targets as best they could.

An immense explosion occurred when the angel's particle beam collided near Eva Unit-01, missing it by a few meters. The intense heat that was emitted only brought back recent memories for Shinji. He felt his still raw-feeling skin tighten as the Eva was taken in a cloud of dirt and smoke. His breath caught in his throat and he struggled not to pass out. Inside of the sub-station, the main monitors shattered into large and minute pieces, showering over the three techs, Ritsuko, and Misato. Everyone ducked where they could, but shards of glass embedded into the shoulder of the Hyuuga and left arm of Ibuki.

The beam that was sent towards the angel crashed into the mountainside near the outskirts of Tokyo-3; it missed completely.

"I missed..!"

The drill that had been digging into the very ground over NERV Headquarters pierced the final armor layer and punched through the hanging building that had sunk inside of NERV Headquarters. The center of the drill missed the buildings, but sent the debris that it had caused crashing onto the pyramid that lay underneath it. It did no damage to the reinforced armors of headquarters.

"The enemy drill has penetrated the geofront!" shouted Hyuuga, ignoring the small wound that had occurred.

"Shinji! The second shot-- hurry!"

Regaining his control, Shinji pulled on the controls of the Eva and willed the Eva to pull the hammer once more, dropping a large transparent shell on the ground below.

"Ex-changing the fuse now!" Ibuki staggered out her voice. The cut on her arm slowed her typing commands in down. "Begin recharging!"

"Get the barrel cooled down!" Misato ordered to the other male tech, Aoba Shigeru. Knowing that they were now blind on the outside scene, she opened voice only communication and did was she could, "Move it, Shinji! Buy us some time!"

The Evangelion lifted the positron rifle and pulled on the cords that acted as it's power source and jumped down the mountainside, crashing down within a few seconds.

Shiregu looked down at his console, "I'm getting another high energy reading from the target!"

'Damn it..! It's too soon.'

The angel released another particle beam cannon, sending it directly where Unit-01 just finished setting up the positron rifle. Shinji looked at the oncoming beam and his eyes went wide. All he heard was someone screaming his name as a scene from his life passed before his life.

A small boy was walking, walking down the cracked and dirty streets of the desolate city. It was raining, but the rest of the world was not seen; only heard. Sounds of the rain hitting the empty cans and random pieces of machinery strewn about. His shoes hit the pavement with a 'clack', but nothing else but the rain touching everything around, and him, was heard.

A small light appeared over a large clump of trash; but there was something that caught his eyes in the pile, a bicycle. The boy reached down and picked it up. It was slightly dented, but it was workable. He lifted it up and sat down on the seat. He started to peddle, slowly, making sure that he would not fall. Eventually, he was riding down the street. The water moved away from the steady speed of the tire, splashing against the bottom of the child's shoes.

The child had a small smile on his lips; he was smiling again! The rain hit his face with a little more force, but he didn't care. He was leaving behind the troubles in the wind that could not keep up with him.

A small white cat was ahead of him, but he could not stop in time. He started to brake and swerved to the right, trying to avoid the small feline, but the rain made the sidewalk too slippery and he had stopped to abruptly. He slide on the pavement, his knee taking most of the damage. The boy got up and clutched his knee, looking at the trickles of blood that covered him and then washed away. After a while, he noticed something soft, but wet, touch his leg. The small white cat purred against the child.

It was about a minute before he tried to get up. He managed to get on his feet with only a small amount of pain. He started walking, looking for someone that could help him. A female police officer was walking by, and he waved to her, calling out for some help. She walked by and bent down to inspect his cut. The small boy looked at her, and she looked up at his wet face.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Shinji Ikari..."

"Do you feel ok? Does it hurt much?"

"A little..."

Taking the young boy's hand, she began walking towards a distant location. "C'mon, I'll get that fixed up and then I'll call your parents." Hearing no response or defiance, she continued, "Who might they be, anyway?"

The answer came back with a bit of an edge, "Gendo Ikari."

"Oh... Well don't worry, we'll get you home soon."

Following both the female officer and the young boy, the white cat keep it's pace.

The scene changed. The young boy sat across the table from the police officer; her long no longer concealed by the hood of her raincoat. Her long hair was bound near her neck, but continued into a long ponytail, but her eyes were concealed by the bangs of her hair. She lifted her head and hung up the phone she was on.

"Your..." She could not think of words to convince the boy that his father was happy to hear from him. "Your father said your legal guardians are your uncle and aunt. Is this right?"

"... yes."

"Well... I'll call them to pick you up, ok?"

"Ok..."

The woman frown at the boy's obvious sadness. Normally, she would not care, but the boy seemed too much like someone she remembered. The memories were too much, so she walked up to boy and dropped to one knee. She looked into his sad blue eyes and placed her hand on his shoulder. He obviously knew that his father would not come, but he had asked anyway. "Hey... it'll be ok... look at me."

Hesitantly, he looked at her bay-colored eyes. She smiled at him and ruffled his hair playfully. "You shouldn't be so sad."

The boy lowered his gaze and said nothing. A knock was heard in the darkness of the room. The woman got up and opened the door the boy could not see. "Yeah..?" She looked back, "Mr. Ikari... your aunt is here."

"Mr. Ikari?.." he whispered quietly. He got up and walked towards her before stopping. "Miss... what's your name?"

"My name is Taini. Taini Yamagishi."

"AAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

Shinji's life did not end, as he thought it might, instead the beam collided with something ahead of him, splitting the center of the blast and sending it around the obstacle. The light enveloped the world around him, the speed and rate of the particle beams fire caused the surrounding vegetation to be ripped apart and charred instantly.

Shinji opened his eyes and saw Unit-00 holding a shield in front of it, blocking his once imminent death. "Ayanami!" He lowered the positron rifle that he had lifted as a mock defense and pointed it towards where the angel would be. The shield started to melt and disintegrate under the might of the angel. It would not last.

"Ayanami!"

"The shield isn't going to last!" yelled the wide-eyed scientist.

Misato turned towards Hyuuga, "Are we ready to fire!"

"Ten more seconds!"

Shinji looked into the image of the angel and the two other geometric shapes that were trying to merge and tried his best not to panic. "Hurry... come on... she's going to die!" He pleaded to himself. Soon, too soon, the shield melted away, leaving Eva Unit-00 directly in the middle of the powerful blast. "AYANAMI!"

The yellow-orange Eva unit held its arms out and braced it's legs on the Earth beneath it's feet. The particle beam pushed it back, but the real damage was being done to the armor; which was already melting under it's rays. A small mass from the arm of Unit-00 melted away and allowed part of the beam to hit Unit-01 in the chest. Shinji grit his teeth and placed the rifle beside the falling Eva and waited for the procedure to finish. Too long... it was already going on too long. Then the images centered on one another; he would obliterate it for even thinking of killing her!

He pulled the trigger and bared his teeth in anger, feeling his revenge was at hand.

The positron fired and sent the stream of antimatter straight into the center of the angel. The lake was split in the wake of the beam and its waves reached it's height mark only after the beam shot straight through the angel, which sent the innards of the flaming wreckage flying over the city.

The whole of NERV cheered as they saw the angel's beam fade off. "We did it!"

Shinji, on the other hand, saw the angel tip over in the air and fall onto Tokyo-3 with only minor relief. There was still one thing left to do, the most important thing left, in his mind; the life of Rei Ayanami. He looked down from the his seat and saw the fallen figure of Unit-00. The armor had already melted to a degree. The mercurial metal shifted and sloshed onto the forest floor. "Ayanami!" Hearing no response in his vid-screen, he clutched the controls. The Eva grabbed the back of Unit-00's neck and lifted the seal that kept the entry plug inside. Tossing the panel aside, the entry plug was pushed out of the Eva and released it's heated LCL. 'Wait for me!' He grabbed the entry plug and set it down as gently and quickly as he could on the forest floor. 'I'll save you... I have to..!'

He pulled back the controls and his entry plug was released from the Eva. Quickly, he exited the plug and climbed down the purple machine and ran towards the entry plug that was still clutched by Unit-01's right hand. Once he reached the door, he slammed his fist on the plug and called out to her. "Ayanami, you okay in there!" No response. He placed his hands over the superheated hatch and pulled them lose. He felt the heat burnt through his plug suit's material, but he didn't care. With all the force he could muster, he twisted the hatch's handle and pulled the door open. Shinji covered his eyes as smoke poured out, but entered anyway. "Ayanami!"

Stepping in the warm LCL that remained, he walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her, trying to wake her. "Ayanami! Are you okay? Ayanami!"

Her eyes slowly opened. The smoke had not cleared, but she saw a figure over her, trying to its best to revive her. "Commander?.." Once the smoke cleared out and the cold air entered the plug, the image became clear. "... Ikari?"

"Ayanami!.. I-" he wiped at the tears that were building at the corners of his eyes. "I'm glad... that you're alive."

She didn't response right away. What a strange thing to say, after all. "You're... crying again..."

Shinji stopped wiping away the tears. "You were crying yesterday... in your sleep." Shinji kneel down next to the throne of the soul and placed his hand on it's cold steel frame. "Why are you so sad?" That questioned seemed unreal.

"That's not it, Ayanami! I'm crying because I'm happy... I'm happy that you're alive."

"...because you're happy? That I'm alive?.,. So you cry when you're happy, too." Rei laid back into her seat and crossed her arms over her stomach, "I'm sorry... I... I'm not sure what expression I should make at a time like-- like this." Shinji wiped at his tears as she continued, "Even though I should be happy."

"Well, if your happy-- you should smile." He emphasize his point by smiling the best he could.

Rei looked back towards Ikari and looked at the expression on his face. The silent went on only for a few seconds this time; she tried to get up, but could not.

"Can you stand?" Shinji offered his hand, which she looked at first. She placed her hand over his and looked directly at him. Shinji was confused as to why she did not attempt to lift herself, but soon found himself speechless. Rei Ayanami was smiling, a smile that he could only describe as what that smile had done to him. 'Breathtaking...'

"What's the matter?" She asked. He was staring at her with his mouth slightly parted.

Realizing that he had been staring at her for far too long, he blushed faintly and draped her arm around his shoulder. "Ugh... nothing... L-Let's go." Shinji walked lifted her up and, as gently as possible, carried her out of the entry plug and placed her feet down on solid Earth. He would had gladly carried her the full way to safety, but the cold air didn't do a thing for him, but it did, apparently, for her.

--

Mayumi awoke from her sleep with a minor haze. She did not feel the small frame of her sister in her arms and she began to panic; that was until he looked up to see the class representative standing over her, with Aiko standing beside her. Hikari had a smile on her face; not a rare thing by any means, but seemed a bit too much like her sisters. "Hikari? Why are you looking at me like that?" Mayumi asked, dusting off her pale yellow vest.

"Well.. it seems like your 'Shinji' has done it again!" teased Hikari.

Mayumi's eyes went wide and her back straighten up. Teasing did not seem to be something that the class representative would be good at.. unless.. "Aiko! What have you told her!" she asked with a small huff.

Aiko looked away and started to whistle.

The class representative smiled and offered her hand to Mayumi, "I'm sorry, but Aiko told me it would be fun."

"Hmm.. it wasn't for me!"

Aiko turned around and smiled mischievously, "So what are you gonna do for your boooooyyfriiiiend? I mean, he saved our lives once again.. maybe he deserves a kiss?"

"He's just my good friend!" She argued, "He's just... Shinji is not my boyfriend!"

--

"Ayanami..."

Both Rei and Shinji sat near a tree that had not been uprooted by the explosion. They would have continued forward, but Shinji thought that Rei was in no condition to be on her feet, at least not now. Her legs were weak and there was a pain in her arm; and despite her petite and supple form, he would not be able to lift her all the way to safety, especially since he was injured as well. The pain in his heart never fully went away.

"...please don't say "goodbye," when you leave on a mission... it makes me worry about whether you'll be okay or not..."

Ayanami looked a him, but he did not look back. He had more to say.

"We might not have anything besides the Eva program right now... but, well..." Shinji stopped as he felt a small trickle of blood escape his lips. Taking notice, he quickly and subtly wiped it away. "...as long as we stay alive... someday we'll be glad that we survived."

The lights of several rescue workers appeared in the forest; and Misato's voice was clear. "Shinji! Rei!"

Shinji placed Rei's arm around his shoulders and gently lifted her towards the lights and Misato's voice. "It might be far away in the future... but, until then... let's try to live on, Ayanami."

Rei looked at the expression on Shinji's face; but seeing only the look of deep thought, she continued to listen to him. "Even on a black and empty street... if we go together... we might one day find something."

Rei's grip on Shinji, subconsciously at first, got a bit tighter.

"Like the moon that floats in the darkness."

--

To be continued

--

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

It's been awhile since I last updated, I suppose. I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait.

All in all, I think it came out good enough. As for the story being all late and shit, this originally was meant to be two chapters, but I realized that it would just look and sound better together. I've been busy with school (it is my senior year, after all), and the pressure is mounting up! That and I'm hoping to go to a good college. So yeah.

Who is Taini Yamagishi? You'll just have to wait and find out. (It should be pretty obvious).

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

XxRagnarokxX88