Second part of two part update.
Unbroken
Chapter 14
Engage!
"Let me make one thing perfectly clear, Third! This is not a fluke!"
The redhead smiled to herself at the warmth of that memory.
"Asuka! Focus! What the hell is wrong with you?"
She was broken out of her reverie by the tension filled voice of her guardian and commanding officer. The scathing reply that she had formed was quashed before it started by the almost continuous rumble of approaching explosions. Which could be felt even through the massive standing frame of her Evangelion.
"Rei," She heard Misato's voice say urgently over the communication channel. "Ready the sniper-rifle; on my mark!"
"Yes, Ma'am." She heard the First Child reply calmly.
'Too goddamn calmly' Asuka thought to herself irritably.
"Asuka?" The Major's tense face appeared in a window before her. Asuka could see the sling that her guardian still wore on her arm.
"Yeah?"
"Don't…" Misato seemed to stumble over the words. "Don't get…" Yet another awkward pause hung heavily in the air. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Yeah… careful." Asuka reply dripped with sarcasm. "That'll be sure to beat that nasty old Angel! How the hell do you think I'm going to defeat "The most powerful Angel we've yet seen" by being goddamn careful?"
Misato winced slightly under the redhead's scorn, before her expression hardened. "Asuka…" She began warningly.
The explosion that cut off the Major's reply was far more deafening than Asuka had remembered.
"Scheiße!" She swore as the world shook violently around her.
"It blasted through all twenty-two layers of special armour in one hit!" The glasses wearing tech, the one with the name she could never remember, screamed ridiculously over the open channel.
'No shit…' She thought grimly as she watched the black cloud of smoke and debris billowing outward and down from the Geo-front's domed ceiling. 'Tell me something I don't already know.'
Instinctively Asuka ducked in her entry plug as what had seconds before been a sizeable area of Tokyo 03's Central Business District began to rain down throughout the Geofront in a lethal hail of concrete, glass and steel. If it wasn't for the LCL she was sure that her face and body would be slick with sweat. She remembered just how powerful this Angel was, just how easily it has disabled Unit 02 and cast her aside like an afterthought. 'Not this time.'
She hefted the enormous progressive axe in the Evangelion's hands as she gazed out of the cockpit, her mouth unconsciously set in a fierce grin. At least she had managed one small victory already. After much arguing, pleading, threatening and god help her even reasoning with Misato, Asuka had finally got her way with the weapons fit out of the two Eva units. It was markedly different from the previous engagement with this, the most physically powerful of all of the Angels. It needed to be, she mused. Those oversized pop-guns were worse than useless last time.
She turned and looked back at the still damaged Unit 00. The blue Evangelion was lying prone, partially obscured behind a small rise in the landscape of the Geo-Front. The enormous bipod supported barrel of the Evangelion sized sniper rifle protruding in front of it as its pilot drew a bead on the epicentre of the explosion.
"This time I'm ready for you, Engel." Asuka snarled. There would be no humiliation and easy defeat this time. The Asuka Langley Soryu that had faced down this Angel, the aggressive but fragile girl that had fallen before the might of Zeruel, was gone. Burnt away in the bloody crucible of Impact. That girl was as dead as the world that she had left behind her on that desolate shore.
"Ikuhayo, Asuka." Asuka muttered to herself as she gripped the control yokes even more tightly, causing Unit 02's hands to flex around the enormous carbon-titanium shaft of the axe. Smaller pieces of debris were still falling around her, but she paid them no heed. Her gaze was locked on centre the massive dome of the Geo-front.
Waiting.
When the dust finally cleared she narrowed her eyes as the impossibly massive body of the 14th Angel breeched the jagged rent in the high ceiling. There was no more time for worrying about the million trivial issues and annoyances of daily life or even the success or failure of her attempts to affect the course of Impact and human evolution.
There was only now.
She was Asuka Langley Soryu. She would not, could not, be defeated again.
The remote gun and missile emplacements that lined the Geofront erupted in noise and flames as they attempted to slow the Angel's progress by launching every piece of ordinance they could in its direction. Hundreds of explosive concussions shook the air around the Evas as each projectile impacted futilely against the giant's A-T field before ever touching its squat and ugly body.
Asuka, and indeed all of those watching, knew that the best that this show of strength could ever hope to achieve was to distract the target, even then only for a moment at best. But it was in the nature of humanity to throw all it could into the fray, she could hardly blame the officer in charge of the gun crews for his enthusiasm.
As suddenly as the barrage started, it stopped. Giant extractor fans built into the Geofront walls sucked the clearing smoke away from the battlefield as the 14th Angel moved inexorably forward.
Asuka concentrated all of her will on neutralising the enemy's A-T Field. Slowly the behemoth moved forward. Its bulk hanging improbably in the early evening air.
"Engage!" Misato shouted over the coms channel.
With an ear-splitting concussion the damaged Unit 00 fired the Evangelion-sized rifle. The armour-piercing projectile, shedding its sabot as it exited the barrel, roared across the Geofront. Asuka's Eva-assisted vision helped her trace its trajectory as it screeched towards the target. For a fraction of a second the force against her own A-T Field grew in intensity, before the blast of the shell exploding harmlessly against the Angel rocked the Geo-Front.
"Scheiße!" Asuka swore as she felt Unit 02 being buffeted by the shock wave. "Fat lot of good that did!"
Before she could say anything more Unit 00 quickly cycled the bolt of its rifle, firing two more rounds in rapid succession at the Angel. Again, despite Asuka's own efforts to neutralise it, they also impacted harmlessly, to the Angel at least, against the A-T field of the target.
"Dammit!" She heard Misato curse over the coms. "We can't seem to touch this thing!"
"Energy spike coming from target!" One of the bridge crew screamed, the sound of his voice filling her plug.
"Rei, Look out!" Misato yelled as the Angel's eyes began to glow white and a high pitched keening wail filled the air.
"Goddamn Wondergirl is a sitting target with that ridiculous rifle!" The thought flashed in and out of Asuka's mind in an instant. Without a further consideration she clenched the control yokes and willed the red Evangelion forward.
"Asuka, no!" Misato yelled in vain at her over the open channel.
But there was no reaching the red juggernaut or its pilot. Large chunks of rock and debris flew up behind it, its feet digging into the soil of the Geofront as it pushed forward at ever increasing speed.
The Angel, its eyes now beginning to glow ominously, appeared to pay the approaching Evangelion little heed as it focussed on the still prone Unit 00. The blue Evangelion reloaded another round into its rifle and fired yet again, causing Asuka to instinctively duck as the sonic boom of the shell passing overhead rocked her entry plug. Once again the round impacted against the Angel's AT-Field causing it no discernable damage at all.
Misato, back on the bridge, watched the giant screen in a mixture of hope and horror as Unit 02 continued its headlong charge. The red Eva moved incredibly quickly, progressive axe held high, pushing headlong towards the floating bulk of the 14th Angel. The enemy seemed to have its attention fixated on Unit 00 and its continued attacks. Maybe there was a slim chance Asuka could get though. Maybe they wouldn't need Shinji and Unit 01 to get involved. 'Just maybe…'
The keening wail coming from the target grew louder and louder. It reached an ear-splitting crescendo as it sent a devastating blast at the prone Unit 00. The earth around the blue Evangelion seemed to distort and liquefy beneath it before the whole embankment was transformed into a rapidly expanding cloud of dust and smoke crowned by a cross-shaped pillar of white fire.
"Rei!" Misato screamed without even realising. None of the other personnel manning the bridge payed her exclamation any mind as they all stood in transfixed horror at the sight.
"What's the pilot's status?"
"Life signs nominal, though it appears that she's unconscious, Ma'am." Maya replied, her voice cracking under the strain. "Unit 00 showing heavy damage to 64 out of 108 sectors. Life support is stable."
"Roger." Misato replied, as long as Rei was stable she was safer inside Unit 00 at that moment. Anyway, to send recovery teams out at this time would be sending those personnel to their probable deaths. "Come on Asuka…" She said fervently as she watched the Red Eva close on the Angel.
Unit 02 was almost within striking distance of the enemy now, the progressive axe held high to strike at its squat and ugly torso. Misato watched in desperate hope as Asuka closed the distance. Maybe if she could hit before the Angel could strike again with its energy beam there was some hope.
The 14th Angel's arms unfurled on either side of its body. With impossible speed the right appendage shot out straight towards the red Evangelion.
"Asuka!" Misato shouted at the screen.
Amazingly, almost as if its pilot had foreseen that the Angel would attack in this manner, Unit 02 ducked and rolled beneath the arm, leaving it whizzing mere centimetres above its body. Staggering to its feet, with vegetation and debris still clinging to its body from the roll, the Evangelion regained its feet and once more continued its advance.
"Kill you!" Asuka's cry as she swung the progressive axe resounded over the speakers on the bridge.
There was a reverberating concussion as the blade met with the Angel's hexagonal AT-Field. Sparks flew out from the point of impact and bounced off the ground and structures around them. Several of them igniting fires in the nearby forest.
"Arrrrrrgh!" The Second Child screamed as she willed her Eva's AT-Field to neutralize her opponent's field. Slowly the axe head began sinking towards the Angels body. Slowly Asuka could feel her enemy's force weakening under the continuous pressure that she exerted against it. Slowly she felt that maybe she could beat this Angel. Maybe things would be different this time.
"High energy reading from within target!" Came the cry over the communication channel.
"Scheiße, not now!" She cried out as she felt the pressure against her own AT-Filed continue to give way. At the same time what could only be described as eye-holes within the Angel's mask began to glow with new intensity.
"Asuka, Lookout!" She heard Misato yell.
"Almost there!" She screamed in reply.
In an instant the AT-Field in front of her vanished and the progressive axe, robbed of its barrier, slammed into the body of the Angel, leaving a deep scar on its carapace, though frustratingly failing to penetrate any deeper.
"Dieee!" She screamed as she swung the axe once more, putting all of the force she and her Eva could muster into the strike, but before she could land the killing blow the world around her turned white hot as the Angel blasted her Unit with the full force of its energy beam. She could feel, through her Evangelion, the searing heat as well as the impact of trees and boulders hitting her as Unit 02 was flung flailing across the Geo-front, landing in the centre of the lake with a massive splash and cloud of steam that joined the thickening pall of smoke from the burning forest.
Misato looked on aghast as Unit 02 failed to re-emerge from beneath the water.
"Asuka!"
"Misato!" Suddenly a new voice was heard over the speakers. She had forgotten that Shinji was hearing and seeing all of this as well as he sat waiting inside his Eva, which was still held on standby. "You have to let me fight!"
"Shinji, I…"
"Please, Misato!" The Third Child interrupted her, his voice choked and desperate. "She's being killed out there; you have to let me go!"
"Denied." Came the flat tone of the Commander from above where Misato was standing, every face on the bridge turned to look at that distant figure as he spoke for the first time during the battle. "Unit 01 will remain on standby until the Angel breaches the fourth defensive barrier. There is no point wasting further assets on a battlefield where the enemy has such a clear advantage. Would you not agree, Major?"
"But, Father…"
"Major?" The Commander repeated, ignoring his son's pleading.
"Sir, I..." Misato began.
"Goddammit, Shinji!" Came an angry but welcome voice over the coms. "Stop always trying to be the big the big damn hero all of the freaking time! I can beat this Angel without your help, easy!"
"Asuka!"
Groaning the redhead forced the Evangelion back to its feet and clear of the water, shaking her head roughly as she cleared her vision.
"Asuka, are you alright?"
"Never better!" Asuka snarled as she faced the enemy once more, now from two hundred metres away. Unfortunately she had lost the axe, she noticed with a second's regret. Well, there was no point worrying about that. With a thought she opened the right pauldron and grabbed the progressive knife, the Eva's touch activating the weapon as it began to vibrate keenly.
Though her body ached all over the Second Child ignored the pain and once again charged towards the Angel's massive bulk. Her unit closing the distance in mere seconds. Once again the Angel sent its razor-sharp arms flying out at her. This time she was knew what she had to do. Ducking just as it reached her, she grabbed the arm tightly in her Eva's left hand. "Nnng…" She grunted as the hot, sharp pain lanced through her own hand. She had to force herself to keep hold and focus to distract herself from how much it actually hurt. Blood was pouring from Unit 02's fist as it clenched around the Angel's fully extended arm.
"Eat this!" She yelled as she pulled the Angel closer to her, ignoring how her flesh screamed at the sensation of the arm cutting deeper into what felt like her own flesh and bones. She figured that while she had it like this the Angel wouldn't be able to use its AT-Field to defend itself. Screaming to distract herself from the pain she swung the prog-knife with her right arm and wedged it into what could only be described as the Angel's shoulder joint, where its paper thin arm articulated from its squat torso.
Unit 02's feet dug deeply into the earth as its foe tried to pull itself free from its grasp, but Asuka would have none of that. Wedging the knife deeper she twisted and levered at the gaping wound the knife had made in what was one of the few vulnerable parts of Angel.
"High energy reading detected within target!"
"No, not now!" Asuka cried, pushing the knife even deeper into the Angel.
As if in answer to her plea she felt a sickening sensation as the knife finally cut through the final angelic sinew and the Angel's arm separated from its body. Bright Angelic blood sprayed from the wound as a high keening wail rent the air. Freeing her own bloodied hand from the appendage Asuka forced Unit 02 into a crouch as she readied for the next assault. She could feel her enemy's fury at being wounded and could once again see the ominous glow from its empty eye sockets.
"Asuka, lookout!" Misato called out, rather redundantly Asuka thought to herself as she readied herself for the inevitable attack from her enemy.
Just as the wail from the Angel reached its deafening crescendo, Asuka forced unit 02 into a high jump into the air above it. Attempting to follow her rapidly changing trajectory, the Angel fired its beam wildly. Missing Unit 02's legs by several metres the beam blasted across the Geofront and vaporized nearly half of the water in the lake, adding yet more thick mist to the smoke and dust that was already filling the air.
Unit 02 landed feet first onto the front of the Angel, forcing it back further from its goal. Grappling it with the Evas bloodied left hand Asuka kept hacking at the 'face' of the enemy with the prog knife still held tightly in the right. Her ears rang with the blood pounding in them and she knew she was screaming incoherently as she clung to the 14th Angel and pummelled it mercilessly.
She could hear Misato yelling something at her over the comm-channel, but the Major may as well have been speaking Urdu for all the attention and comprehension that the battle-crazed German girl gave it.
Suddenly the world became white heat again as Asuka felt herself flying through the air once more, less far this time though. 'Stupid, stupid' She cursed as she impacted the nearby wood, burning trees falling around her as she slid to a halt. She couldn't afford to lose her head in the heat of battle. This was one of the most dangerous and powerful Angels that she had faced in the past. The Angel that had nearly cost them Shinji.
At least the Angel had not been able to fully charge its energy beam before it had hit her at point blank range. That small mercy meant that she had only been sent fifty metres or so away from her enemy. Fire clinging to the Evangelion and her ears ringing loudly, she pushed her Evangelion back out of the burning wood and charged back at the Angel. Her prog-knife now gone as well, her only extant plan being to rip the Angel to shreds with her bare hands.
The 14th Angel just hung there in the air, just as impossibly as always. It seemed to be regarding her almost impassively. As if it was mildly curious about this ferocious little insect that it had to keep swatting away.
'Well, this little insect has drawn some blood.' Asuka thought to herself as she closed on the target. The Angel was still bleeding from its missing arm as well as several other wounds that she had managed to inflict on it. She grinned as she surveyed the damage she had already done.
"Now you are mine, Arschloch!" She cried as the Eva broke into a run.
Her enemy seemed to be sitting there just waiting for her to come to it. Asuka didn't care. She was going to send it back to Hell, or wherever it was that Angels came from.
Just as she closed the distance the Angel, with an almost casual grace, flicked its remaining arm out towards the advancing Eva. Unit 02 broke stride for a second as it reached out to grab the appendage.
She was just a fraction of a second too slow as the Angel's arm sliced through Unit 02's outstretched fingers and ripped into the Eva's abdominal armour plating, passing straight through and out through the back armour just as easily.
The Second Child's scream of sheer agony tore at the hearts of the listening bridge crew.
Unit 02 came to a crashing halt as the arm withdrew, the blood-stained and battered Evangelion ploughing head first into the dirt.
"No." Asuka coughed, tasting blood in her mouth and feeling a powerful, sickening pain in her gut. A pain that was all too familiar to her from a battle in her past, and perhaps her future, that still haunted her nightmares. "No!" She screamed again, clutching her stomach, the pain and anger becoming overwhelming.
She attempted the get her Eva to push itself up but her arms suddenly felt too weak to support her. Cold was radiating out from her stomach and she was finding it hard to focus her mind.
"Kill you…" The Second Child snarled as she tried again to push up into standing. Each movement sapping more and more of her strength. She had to kill this Angel. If she didn't it would take Shinji… her Shinji. The stupid boy who had cost her so much worry and toil for so long. The boy who she had nearly killed herself twenty times over to keep alive in the frozen wilderness. The boy that she… that she…
Evangelion Unit 02 crashed again to the ground as the 14th Angel cruised past, paying no more heed to its former enemy than if it were just another part of the blasted landscape of the Geofront. Only the bloodied stump of the Eva's right hand moved, as if still trying to stop the Angel through sheer force of will.
Asuka sat curled into a ball in the entry-plug. Her hands clenched over her stomach and tears streaming and dissolving into the LCL around her as she fought the growing coldness. "Shut down Unit 02, Eject the plug! Do it now!" She heard Misato yelling over the coms.
"No." She said more weakly, her vision becoming dark as the coldness took over her body. "Shinji…"
Loud and insistent banging brought her back to herself.
The interior of the plug was pitch black. Asuka couldn't even tell if her eyes were open or closed. Her body ached abominably and her abdomen felt as if it had been sliced, mashed and beaten.
"Ahhh.." She winced as she tried to push herself up into sitting. "H-Hello?" She called weakly in reply to the banging from the outside. Voices could be heard calling out and the banging increased in intensity. After several seconds there was an angry squealing of metal as the emergency hatch of her plug finally opened and a pale light flooded the interior.
The Helmeted head and shoulders of one of NERV's Emergency Recovery Response Unit team appeared though the hatch.
"Miss Soryu?"
Asuka just nodded and the woman disappeared. Within a few minutes more people swarmed into her plug and she was strapped into a specially designed stretcher and hauled out into the rank and humid air of the Geofront.
Heavy fog and smoke still hung in the air and the floor of the underground fortress looked like a vision from a nightmare. The Command pyramid was spattered with red and showed signs of heavy damage. Several teams were still working to put out the fires that still blazed around the perimeter of the dome. The whole Geofront reeked of scorched earth and raw flesh.
Asuka stared in confusion at the blood and gore that littered the ground as far as she could make out. She tried to sit up on the stretcher to see more clearly , but was held back down by one of the paramedics.
Then she saw it.
Across the other side of the enormous dome, past where a similar team swarmed around the upended form of Unit 00, crouched in the fog was the unmistakeable silhouette of Evangelion Unit 01.
"No!" She screamed, causing intense pain to course through her viscera. "Shinji… Noooo!"
"Calm down, Miss." The man carrying the back of her stretcher said. "You've lost a lot of…"
"H-He can't have…" Asuka cried, the horror weighing heavily on her. "I-I was supposed to save him!"
"Miss Soryu…"
"I've fucked everything up." Asuka tried to put her hands up to her face, but they were strapped down firmly by her sides. "I've fucked it all up again!" She wailed, hot tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as she saw the collapse of her world beginning around her "Nononononono…" She moaned over and over again, feeling the hot swell of hysteria beginning to engulf her battered body as she began to struggle futilely against the restraints.
The stretcher bearer behind her nodded to the medic walking alongside and suddenly Asuka felt a small sting in her left arm. "Wha… What was…?" She slurred as her vision started to blur. She fought vainly against the growing stupor, her last sight before unconsciousness took hold of her struggling mind was the dead vacant eyes of Unit 01 mocking her from across a sea of gore.
The red shore seemed more desolate than she remembered. Asuka collapsed down onto the ground, feeling the rough sand against her bare skin as she curled herself up into a ball.
How long she lay there and sobbed she wasn't sure. She felt rather than heard the presence of the other standing over her, but she simply ignored it. She didn't need its holier-then-thou disapprobation to know that she had failed. Even after all she had done to try prevent it Shinji had sortied against the 14th Angel. If she couldn't even prevent him from being absorbed by Unit 01 then everything she had done, all of her plans and effort had truly been for nothing.
Maybe this was the end. Perhaps Lilith had finally brought her back to this place to rot and die for her failure? In some small way she welcomed the chance to fade away alone and unregarded. Spared the judgement of others. She was tired. Mortally and spiritually exhausted.
The presence standing over her made no move of sound. It simply waited as she sobbed quietly into her arms. Finally Asuka's tears dried up. After several more minutes she lifted her head and look up at the figure of Lilith, in the form of Ayanami Rei, that stood above her. Its crimson eyes regarded her with something akin to pity.
"Don't say it…" Asuka said in a harsh croak. "I've failed. I already know it"
Lilith regarded her for several seconds. "It seems that I have misjudged you, Soryu."
Asuka sighed deeply before pushing herself up into sitting. She stared out across the red sea. "So that's it then? You're going to leave me here to rot, all alone, aren't you? Seems strangely fitting I guess."
"You misunderstand me." Lilith replied. Her tone causing the redhead to turn her head up to face her ethereal nemesis. "Your ability to effect change in the pre-Impact world was greater than I had imagined."
"So… Wait… what?"
"I admit that we held little hope that you alone would be able to achieve more than to die heroically against either the Angels or the machinations of the Human Instrumentality Project." Lilith continued. "Thereby leading others to expose SEELE or inspiring Shinji to greater efforts and thereby prevent the atrocity of Third Impact. The path you have taken is both surprising, and yet typical of your more… emotional nature."
"I don't get it." Asuka answered with a sniff. Her annoyance building at the feeling of being used in such an underhanded and callous way.
"As I said, I… we have misjudged you." Lilith said reaching out her hand to Asuka. The German girl grabbed the offered hand and pulled herself up into standing. The blue haired being stared into her eyes and gave a small smile. Despite herself the redhead was speechless at the peace and beauty that smile radiated. "You may continue as before. I think that this will be the last time that we meet before the end, Asuka."
The use of her first name caused Asuka's eyes to widen. "I-I still don't understand what the hell is going on here!"
"Farewell, Second Child." Was the only reply she got. The shoreline slowly faded to black and a feeling of peace and healing enveloped the weary teen as she let herself drift into the darkness.
beep… beep… beep… beep…
The steady rhythm of the electronic monitor was her only connection to the world outside for an indeterminate period of time. When it finally ceased she almost felt a sense of loss, as if she was even more alone now with its absence.
She became vaguely aware of voices around her, their meaning and purpose beyond the grasp of her foggy mind. Firmly but gently she felt hands grab her and lift her onto another bed followed by the sensation of movement mixed with the echoes and sounds of a long corridor. Finally the movement ceased and all was quiet once more. Asuka let herself fall back into the silence.
When she came back to some form of awareness the room seemed brighter, at least as far as her groggy brain could determine from behind her closed eyelids. Her left hand was weighed down by something warm and soft. She clutched at it like a lifeline and felt its grip also tighten. Struggling towards consciousness her head tossed from side to side and she let out a weak groan in frustration. Quickly her distress was soothed by a warm hand stroking her hair and a familiar voice speaking softly to her. Once again she felt her body relaxing at the touch as the warmth and darkness, somehow a little less lonely now, retook her into its embrace.
Like a deep-sea diver finally breaking the surface Asuka felt full awareness wash over her. The rattle of air-conditioning and the sounds of a busy hospital were all around her now. She could feel the steady rise and fall of her chest against the starched sheet that all too tightly held her against the mattress of the bed that she lay in. Her left hand was above the covers, though it still felt the warmth and weight of contact with another.
Slowly prising her eyes open the brightness of the room assaulted her mind like a physical force.
"Unnngh…" She moaned closing her eyes again. Instead she lay there and listened for a few moments. Beneath all the usual hospital sounds there was a heavy, regular breathing. She focused in on that sound. She knew that rhythm intimately; it had guarded and comforted her nights for so long it felt like a part of her. Once again she, gingerly, opened her eyes. The stark white of the hospital ceiling, with sickly green walls either side burnt into her retinas. She lay there blinking rapidly for a good minute or so until her eyelids stopped rasping and her eyes stopped stinging.
After a couple of deep breaths she looked to her down to her hand. She actually couldn't see much of it as it was covered by another hand. She knew that hand. Almost not daring to hope Asuka turned and looked to her left. Her heart swelled with joy when she laid eyes on the somnolent form of Shinji Ikari. His head lolled on the hospital armchair that he must have pulled to her beside while she was asleep. His hair was unkempt, his clothes wrinkled and a small trail of drool trailed from his lower lip.
Asuka thought that she had never seen him look so handsome. She could see that between them was a small table with what appeared to be the remains of a meal left on it. Bracing herself she pushed her body up into sitting. Surprisingly her body felt good. She prodded her abdomen for any signs of damage or tenderness, but there was none there to feel.
"Ikuhayo, Asuka." She said, or at least tried to say. The raspy croak that came out startled her. Looking over at Shinji's partially eaten meal she quickly spied some orange juice. Reaching out her arm she picked up that plastic cup. She couldn't believe how thirsty she was! Her mouth felt like the bottom of a parrot's cage, or at least how she imagined one would be. Greedily she slurped the cup dry. It tasted so good to her.
Shinji murmured and stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake. Feeling her strength returning more and more Asuka pushed further up the bed and reached for the plastic spork that lay unused by the plate. Grinning evilly she gently unwrapped it and held it point down in her right hand. After a moment's hesitation, as if wrestling with her conscience, she gripped the implement firmly and jabbed it down into Shinji's hand.
"Waaaaaaagh!" The Third Child screamed only seconds later.
"Oh good, you're awake!" Asuka said cheerily.
"A-Asuka!" Shinji stammered, clutching his stinging hand. After rubbing the red mark on it for a few seconds he collected himself and looked up at her, his eyes staring into hers searchingly as moisture began to collect in them. "Y-You're… I mean… It's good to see…" Lost for words he stumbled into silence.
"Hi Shinji." The redhead answered him with a gentler smile. "Oof" was the next sound to escape her lips as she was drawn into a tight bear-hug by a suddenly sobbing Third Child.
"IwassoscaredthatyouwerenevergoingtowakeupeventhoughMisatosaid…."
"Shinji!" Asuka gasped, the wind having been knocked out of her. "Calm down… I'm alright! Or at least I was until you decided to crash-tackle me in my hospital bed!"
"Huh?" Shinji said before suddenly leaping away from her. "Sorry! Oh god, I'm so sorry Asuka! I-I didn't hurt you did I? I'm so sorr…"
"Ach! Please stop apologising!" Asuka said with mock ire. "I'm fine! I'm not sure how or why, but I feel fine!"
"I'm glad!" Shinji replied with a sniff. "I was so worried about you! You've been asleep for over a week!"
"A week!" Asuka exclaimed, her voice still hoarse. "You mean I've been lying here for a week?"
"Well, for the first four days you were in the ICU." Shinji replied. "Doctor Akagi wouldn't let me come see you. After that they brought you here and kept you sedated while the drugs were flushed out of your system. I've been here ever since then."
"So I've been here all alone and unconscious with you this whole time?" Asuka asked in a teasing tone. "You didn't try anything weird with my prone and defenceless body did you, Shinji?"
Shinji looked at her with a confused expression. "Weird?" He asked. "What do you mean… Oh…" He suddenly trailed off, his face growing red. "O-Of course not! I would never do…"
The redhead held up her hand . "I was kidding.. Jeez! As if you would do anything like that to me! Well, while I was unconscious anyway!" She reached over and gripped his hand tightly, drawing him closer to her and looking deeply into his eyes, her mouth upturned in a predatory smile. "Of course, seeing that I'm awake now… Well that's a different proposition altogether!"
She had to laugh at the open-mouthed look that Shinji gave her. She quickly pulled him in close to her and kissed him deeply. She couldn't hide how happy she was that he was there, next to her, not trapped inside Unit 01 like she had feared at the end of the battle. This, though, led her to some very important questions.
"So, Shinji." Asuka said after finally breaking their lip-lock. "What the hell happened out there with the Angel? Last thing I can remember is things weren't looking so great for our side."
"Well," Shinji began. "After you…after you were…"
"After I got my ass handed to me by the Angel is what you're trying to say, I think."
"No! It's just that…" He trailed off after the German girl fixed him with a meaningful look. "Well, after that… and Rei was unconscious too. Ummm… the Angel, well it breached the fourth defensive barrier and Father released Unit 01 to fight." He swallowed briefly and looked to his orange juice, but noticed that it was empty. "I-I drove it back up into the Geofront, and I-I guess that I beat it." Shinji finished simply.
"Hmmm…" Asuka said. "Don't take this the wrong way, Shinji-kun… You suck at story-telling!"
"Huh?"
"I do remember one thing." Asuka answered, "After I was taken out of the entry-plug, I-I saw Unit 01. It was covered with blood! There… there was blood everywhere! What the hell happened?"
"I-I guess that I went a little crazy when I saw how badly damaged Unit 02 was." Shinji said almost sheepishly. "I think that maybe I got a little c-carried away."
Asuka flopped back on the hospital bed, suddenly very tired. "Baka." She said softly, there was no malice or anger in her tone, only affection. "You need to take more care of yourself. I don't want you rampaging around trying to be the big damn hero and putting yourself in danger, Shinji. You understand me? You're too important to me to take risks like that! What if you hadn't come back?"
The Third Child's face was a study in unfettered joy as he smiled down at her. "Then maybe you understand why I went crazy like I did." He said warmly. "You're th-the most important thing in the world to me, Asuka. If you had been… If you'd gone… I don't know what I would have done!"
"Baka-Shinji." Asuka said with a huge yawn. "I'll always be here, don't you ever forget that!"
Shinji smiled, his eyes welling up again. "Sure, Asuka. I won't forget."
The only reply was a light snore as the exhausted redhead gave in the desire to sleep once more. The Third Child smiled down at her and stroked her hair lightly. Even he could feel the change that had taken place inside of him recently. Asuka had changed too. It wasn't only Shinji that saw it. He still lived with the fear that it would all vanish in an instant. That his happiness would suddenly be ripped from his grasp and there would be nothing that he could do to stop it. But, for once, he felt comfortable enough to enjoy the moment for what it was.
He settled back and made himself comfortable once more in the chair. Within minutes he too was sleeping soundly beside the girl he loved.
The car trip back to the apartment was a surprisingly calm affair. Sure, the speed limit was treated with the usual amount of disdain, but on the whole Misato kept the violent swerving and tyre-squealing to a sedate minimum. Their guardian seemed to be treating Asuka as if the German girl needed to be wrapped in cotton wool after her extended stay in the NERV infirmary. Asuka smiled to herself as she clutched Shinji's hand tighter. If she didn't know better she'd almost suspect that Misato had been worried about her for the week or so that the redhead had been unconscious.
She broke her gaze from the darkened streetscape of Tokyo-03 that was flashing past the window and looked over at Shinji. The brown haired teen gave her a shy smile and squeezed her hand back. She really was surprised at how good she felt. She guessed that being at the pointy end of the frontiers of biological, military and medical science wasn't such a bad thing all things considered. Doctor Akagi had been quite clear that Asuka had been on a knife edge of survivability after her battle with the 14th Angel. Her synchronisation with Unit 02 during the battle had meant that she was suffering considerable internal injuries and blood-loss by the time she had been placed in the 'Incubator' at NERV infirmary's ICU and pumped full of the latest in accelerated healing drugs.
Not that she could tell, eight days later. Apart from feeling a little weak from the lack of activity she felt fine. More than fine actually. Shinji was right there by her side, not trapped inside Unit-01 for another three weeks like he had been at this point last time. All three Eva Units were locked down for extensive repairs, but she knew that the next Angel attack was weeks away and even though thinking about the 15th Angel still brought her out in a cold sweat, she was determined not to worry about it until closer to that time.
Right then and there, things were good. During wartime all you ever had was the here and now. She was determined to enjoy it.
The Alpine A110 squealed into the parking bay and its three occupants quickly headed for the lifts. Misato was prattling on about 'Welcome Home' parties and a million other trivialities but the two pilots just held hands and said very little on the ride up to their apartment's level.
Once inside the apartment Asuka found herself rapidly guided into one of the chairs at the kitchen table as her two flatmates bustled around her. Within quick succession she found a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a freshly made sandwich on a plate placed in front of her.
Finding her stomach suddenly growling with hunger the redhead set to her modest meal with gusto, demolishing the sandwich in record time before cradling the hot chocolate lovingly in her hands.
It was good to be home.
Home…
She smiled to herself. This little apartment was more of a home to her than anywhere she had ever been in her whole life. It was good to be there. It was a modest epiphany, but an epiphany nonetheless. She gave a small chuckle at the ridiculous track her thoughts were taking.
Misato, now dressed in her standard cut-offs and tank-top, sat down across from her at the table as Shinji pulled up a chair next to her.
"It's good to hear you laugh, Asuka." Misato said. "I know that you might think that I'm just your commanding officer, but you guys are much more than that to me! We're practically family!"
"Family…" Asuka repeated, as if she were trying out the word to see how it felt coming out of her mouth. "I…I think that I'm okay with that."
"I'm glad to hear that." Misato answered. "Although I don't think any of us has much experience of what actually makes a family, but hey, that doesn't matter. We'll just make it up as we go, how about that?"
"I think I'd like that, Misato." Shinji said.
Asuka thought about it for a while and then simply nodded, cradling her mug as if for protection.
"Good." Their guardian continued. "It makes me glad to see you happy, both of you. And I think that I know why."
"What… what are you talking about Misato?" Asuka asked. There was something in the woman's tone that made Asuka suddenly uneasy. She looked over at Shinji and saw that he was beginning to blush.
'Uh-oh.' Was all that she thought.
"While… While you were in the infirmary, Shinji and I had a talk. Quite a long talk actually." Misato began. The redhead could see that Shinji's blush was growing deeper and suddenly the Third Child seemed to be unable to take his eyes off of the table top.
"Th-that's nice." Asuka answered, her mouth strangely dry. "What was it that you talked about?"
"I think that you know what it was Asuka." Misato replied. "Please don't be angry at Shinji for telling me about what… what the two of you did the night before the battle. I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be. In some ways I knew that it was inevitable… Two teenagers in love under the same roof, sleeping in the same bed… I guess that even though I tried to pretend that it wouldn't happen in a way I'm glad that you've both found strength in each other. I-I guess that it makes me a terrible guardian, having you two sleeping together while under my care…"
"You're not a terrible guardian, Misato!" Shinji interrupted.
"Maybe not," Misato continued. "But you know what? I don't give a fuck! If you two can be happy, even for a short time, what gives me the right to stop you. As if I could anyway! Shinji made that pretty clear during our conversation! I'm glad that he told me. Keeping something like this from each other, it can only poison everything. Secrets… all they do is hurt and damage people. I don't want that to happen to you, to Shinji, to any of us!"
Both of them stared at the redheaded girl. Asuka sat there
"I-I'm sorry, Asuka." Shinji said. "Please don't be angry at me! I was j-just so scared I was going to lose you! I couldn't keep it… I didn't want any more secrets between us! Secrets and lies... those are what Father uses" He said plaintively. "I don't want to be like him."
A heavy silence filled the kitchen.
"Hmmm… Secrets…" Asuka said pensively.
The other two looked at her. Shinji's expression was puzzled and more than a little worried. Misato, on the other hand, had a far more appraising look on her face.
A long and awkward silence filled the apartment. Asuka just looked at her hands as they lay on the table, while her flatmates watched her with worry in their eyes.
"You've been hiding something else from us, both of us, haven't you Kiddo?" The Major said gently. "Something's got you terrified. Something that's been weighing you down for at least a couple of months now."
Asuka's eyes were glued to her hands as her fingers wrung around each other. She could feel her stomach turning in knots.
"Asuka… You can tell us." Misato said. "You know that we won't judge you. If… If it's about your past… if it helps I already know a lot of it. You've done nothing wrong, you know that."
"It's not that." Asuka said with a croak. "I… I just can't… You wouldn't believe me."
"Why not?" Shinji said. "Why wouldn't we believe you?"
"Y-You don't know where I've come from… What I've been through to get here. I'm scared that if I told you… you'd think I was insane or something!"
"We've all come from some pretty fucked-up places, Asuka." Misato answered. "If anybody's going to believe you, understand you, it's the two of us!"
The Second Child sat perfectly still in her seat for nearly two minutes. Eventually she stood up, her chair scraping in the linoleum loudly. She looked her two flatmates in the eyes, each in turn, her own eyes red and brimming with moisture.
"Wait here." She said. "I'm gonna take a shower."
Abruptly she turned and walked to the apartment's tiny bathroom. Within a short time the hiss of falling water could be heard as Asuka Langley Soryu took a long and very hot shower. Misato and Shinji sat where they were. The older woman reached over and clutched at Shinji's hand firmly, reassuringly. The teen smiled, though his eyes remained worried. There they sat for nearly twenty minutes before the water was finally turned off. Eventually the bathroom door opened and from the cloud of steam that billowed from it the figure of the Second Child emerged. Glowing from the heat and wearing her red bath-robe.
Purposefully she strode into the kitchen and looked down at her two flatmates. She raised an eyebrow when she saw their hands still clasped but made no mention on it. A broad, but nervous smile formed on her lips.
"Not here." She said.
"Huh?" Shinji replied. Misato just waited for her to elaborate.
"Tomorrow." Asuka said.
"Tomorrow?" Misato and Shinji asked at the same time.
"Tomorrow we're going out." The redhead continued. "I'm sick and tired of doing this alone. Tomorrow… I'm gonna tell you something that will blow your tiny minds!"
End Chapter 14