Chapter 4: Makeshift Mother; The Woman Who Threw Her Life Away For Her Children

"Wait…so you're saying there's a chance that isn't Rei at all?" Shinji spirit spiked in a positive way as the scenario was laid out before him. Asuka groaned and shook her head as the three of them went up the stairs of a home made safe house. Although they had only been free for just short of a week, Asuka and Misato's survival skills were top notch and knew what course of action to take as a result. Closing the door to their safe room, they all sat at a table that was in the middle of the room.

"We don't know, but judging by how forceful she is being with keeping you by her, it's a high chance it's not her. Then again, you helped create this world Shinji, so you should be telling me stupid," Asuka rolled her eyes as she laid her chin in the cradle of her hand, turning her eyes to look out the windows that faced out into the street.

"That's besides the point I'm afraid. Wither that truly is Rei or not, your best hope at breaking out of this dome that Lilith has put you in would be to kill her. I'm not saying I agree with it, and I don't want you to hurt more than you already are, but it is our best bet. Shinji thought for a moment, laying his head in his crossed arms on the table to think. If it wasn't Rei but Lilith in Rei's form, where would that put Rei in this world? Would she be alive? Would she be dead? All sorts of questions about her began to race through his mind only to be derailed by Asuka slamming her fist on the table. Shinji popped up in surprise, his gaze immediately turning to her.

"I think we should get this over with…I already know that I am dead, so this world, as delightful as it is, adds insult to injury to what I did to try and save your dumb ass from being in this situation! Asuka growled, still coming to terms with the fact that the only reason she had returned to a solid form was due to Shinji's desires. It was if he was their God, and it was severely pissing her off.

"It looks like it's still my fault after all…" Shinji sighed, causing the boiling pot that was already steaming to nearly explode. Asuka got up from her chair, glared at Shinji, then stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Shinji stared, covering his ears with his hands as tears welled up in his eyes. Misato shook her head and put on her best smile, turning his chair and removing his hands from his ears.

"Shinji, no one in this world would be able to do any better of a job than you in your position. You've had it really tough for a kid your age so this whole scenario is nothing more than complete insanity to you. I know you're stronger than this now Shinji, otherwise you wouldn't have brought Asuka and I back into a physical form, even if this is a place born of your subconscious. Heck, that situation alone is going to forever have a lack of reasoning. So please Shinji, be the grown-up boy I know you can be and pull it together, OK?" Misato wiped Shinji's freshly developed tears away with her thumb, planting a gentle kiss on his forehead to try and ease his nerves. Shinji's shaking slowly ceased, with his eyes looking into Misato's with a renewed hope.

"Thank you…Misato," Shinji said, now wiping his tears out on his own. A sudden yell managed to push its way through the out looking windows, causing Misato and Shinji to bolt towards the window. Outside the viewing glass, Asuka was staring down a very distraught Rei with a large knife in her hand. Upon closer inspection he noticed Asuka holding her arm with great pain in her eyes. Misato and Shinji sneered, turning away from the glass and running down the stairs to try and assist Asuka in some way shape or form. Kicking out the door, Misato caught sight of Asuka as she was ready to make a reckless charge at Rei with a glass bottle that she had found upon the ground. Misato shook her head, immediately grabbing around Asuka to hold her back from the deathly scenario. Shinji followed up behind Misato, who was now struggling to hold back an enraged Asuka.

"LET ME GO! WE HAVE TO END THIS THING NOW!" Asuka growled at Misato, her hurt arm being the only reason she was unable to escape her grasp. The moment Shinji came into Rei's sights, a smile curled on her lips despite her teary, murderous eyes that were glaring them down.

"See Ikari? I'm trying to rescue you from these two…they are trying to manipulate you…you know that I love you Ikari…just like all those times we made love…remember the past few days? Those nights were magical…" Rei blushed, keeping her eyes locked on to Shinji. Asuka stared in disbelief at Shinji, her stomach turning enough to make her want to throw up from frustration.

"Rei this has to stop! I don't want you hurting anyone else! Please, just stop," Shinji said with confidence, turning his hands into a pair of fists at his sides. Rei's smile grew wider as she slowly approached Shinji; the blade of her knife was pointed away from him as she eyed him intently with her demeanor clearly coming off as deceitful. Shinji was the only one who couldn't see that she was raving lunatic; to him is was just an incredibly bad misunderstanding that he wanted to work out. Rei's murderous gaze snapped Shinji from his unreasonable realization, causing him to take one step back for each step forward that she took towards him. Asuka finally broke from of Misato's hold, tackling Shinji to the ground as Rei took a swing at him with her knife.

"Stop being such an idiot Shinji! She just tried to kill you!" Asuka snarled rolling with Shinji to the side until they were safe to rise back up to their feet. Rei immediately dashed after them, leaving Misato to act quickly before she had a moment to think.

"I wasn't…trying to kill you…I thought that she was going to hurt you…I don't want anyone hurting you…that's why I'm trying to rid of them Ikari…so they don't have a chance to hurt you…" Rei said, her words fusing themselves with a creepy fit of laughter. She made a leap forward, ready to stab down on the disoriented children when suddenly Misato's arm came into view. A scream left her lips as a large gash formed from the knife's stab, immediately draining blood from its tear.

"Get out of here you two! Go!" Misato cried, trying her best to smile as they scrambled back onto their feet. While Shinji was ready to take off, Asuka refused to take flight while Misato was still alive and breathing.

"I'm coming for you wonder girl!" Asuka shouted, grabbing her bottle off the ground before shoving Misato aside, the knife still stuck in her arm. Shinji quickly turned around, heading towards the stumbling Misato who was grunting in agony as she grabbed a hold of the knife's handle. Rei simply stepped to the side of the stumbling Asuka, raising her toes up to trip her with ease. A shriek came from Misato's mouth as she finally pried the knife out.

"Asuka! Eyes on the ground!" Misato shouted as she threw the knife along the ground with her uninjured arm. Asuka kept feeling around until finally the handle managed to make its way into her hand, she smirked at Rei who was now approaching her from behind.

"Take this wonder girl!" Asuka shouted, swinging her body around to jam the knife into Rei. Asuka's eyes lit up with horror as the knife struck an invisible surface, waves of light reflecting off of the strike point with Rei's eyes now glaring down at her.

"Shit! It's an AT field!" Asuka shouted, scrambling up onto her feet. Rei shook her head and smiled as Asuka continued to try and assault her, her swings and stabs being knocked back by the invisible shield.

"It's pointless to resist…you'll only wear yourself out…" Rei said with a small giggle, reaching out and grabbing Asuka by the throat. Asuka growled as she grabbed a hold of Rei's wrist, punching her arm as hard as she could to drop her grasp. The harder Asuka struggled against her, the tighter her grasp became. Asuka felt her whole world coming to a close as her body began shutting down, dropping the knife to the ground as she struggled. Rei was suddenly thrown off balance as Misato ran up and bashed her shoulder against her, which allowed Asuka to break free of her death grasp. Misato's world began to grow blurry as her loss of blood ceased to stop, her arm slowly growing numb in the process. Shinji immediately ran to Misato's aid, trying to help her off the ground to which she collapsed. Misato shook Shinji grasp off of her frantically as she tried to maintain consciousness. Asuka, now back on her feet, tried to help Misato as well, only to be shaken off as well.

"Just run you two! Get somewhere safe! Run and never look back…you can fix this when it is all over Shinji…so just run!" Misato groaned, pushing them away with what little strength she had. Shinji tried again to reach for Misato but Asuka pulled him away, dragging him away by his arm as hard as she could.

"Let me go Asuka! We can still save her! I don't want her to die because of me again! LET ME GO!" Shinji struggled and thrashed, trying to break Asuka's grasp but to no avail. Asuka yanked Shinji close to her as Misato let out a deafening scream. Once they were from view, Asuka growled and pinned Shinji up against a building wall, his back slamming into it with a thud.

"Tighten your shit up Shinji! Misato and I were already dead before this; that means you can bring us back again you idiot! If you die here Shinji, we're all screwed, the world is screwed, and everything is screwed! GET IT TOGETHER," Asuka laid it down on Shinji as harshly as she could, unable to take anymore of his whining in this world that he helped create. Shinji grit his teeth, tightening up his muscles to fight back the tears that were inevitably trickling down his cheeks. Asuka, in fit of compassion, released Shinji, resting her back up against the opposite wall of the alley, cooling off her body that was lit up with furious anger. Shinji slid down the wall until he was sitting in a puddle, trying to regulate his breathing, temper and emotions. Once he finally cooled off and took time to think about their situation, he sighed gentle, still averting his eyes.

"When Misato died during the operation against NERV, it was kind of like this…she had me pinned, telling me that I need to get it together for the sake of everyone else…thank you Asuka, thank you for reminding the promise that I wished to keep," Shinji smirked the best he good as he raised his eyes up to meet Asuka's. He was startled to find her lips pressing up against his own, her eyes hidden by her drooping bangs as she cupped his cheeks. He had forgotten that Asuka also liked him as well, but he could never think of the words he needed to say to her. He decided that now was not the time to think, and closed his eyes. He pulled Asuka down to him to give her a warm embrace as they shared their sorrows through their actions.

To Be Continued