Well, this was a ball-buster. I've had to rewrite this three times. Since it is the last chapter I didn't want to just do something hasty and just force an ending, I wanted to give something that was worth going through the story.

Since it is the last chapter I will mention I may do a few stand alone stories set afterwards but only short ones, no multi-chapter stuff. I've enjoyed writing this and am glad so many people have enjoyed reading it. The only thing I regret is that it took this long to get here.

Edit: Fixed a number of mistakes that I have missed again. See bottom of page for note...

Looking up at the clear sky, Shinji was finally content with how things were in his life at the moment. Feeling Mari snuggle closer to him he looked over and saw she was grinning at him.

"What are you smiling at?" he asked with one of his own, "Just thinking that we've finally had this picnic that we've been trying to have for such a long time.", "Didn't seem to work out for us, did it? But I'm glad we picked such an awesome day for it." nodding he looked back up to the blue sky.

He had finally finished with NERV, as of two days ago all the pilots were on permanent standby, which honestly was not surprising as they only had Rei's Eva still in use, this gave them a cut paycheck but it was still enough to live comfortably on. Thinking of the meeting that the command staff and pilots had been called into on that same day he was surprised slightly at how calm the UN had been about the whole situation.

On top of restricting NERV's influence on the world stage, they had also scaled back the facility immensely. It's R&D departments were left intact along with their medical facility, but anything related to the Eva's was put into storage. The UN had officially labelled NERV humanitarian and world recovery organization, their new goal was to aid in the recovery of the earth after second impact.

Fuyutski, Misato, and Ritsuko all signed the agreement, however, what the UN had then done was unexpected, they offered Yui the position of head of NERV. Because of her imprisonment in Unit-One they were aware that she could not have had a hand in Gendo and SEELE's plans.
While she had been very reluctant to accept the position, part of her knew that she would not be able to rest easy knowing that her former husband had a hand in second impact. She only accepted on the grounds that all members would be allowed to keep their positions and that she would be the only one to set the schedules of her staff, while she knew that they had a lot of work to do she wasn't going to let the UN boss them into setting enormous targets in a short timeframe.

Fuyutski took a retirement offer, however, he promised to still be around while Misato became Yui's second in command and was very much the people person she needed to help motivate people and help ease the stress of running the new organization. Ritsuko stayed on as well, deciding that her medical and scientific knowledge would be much better put to use help rebuild the world rather than taking a job in a random lab or hospital.

Asuka had admitted that she would have to return to Germany for a while to finish up a few personal things, but she promised she would be back as long as he promised not to give her any more blue hair. He could only shrug and that he was not going to make any promises.

Then there was himself and Mari. Everything between them was back to what it used to be like, no problems and very happy.

"Shinji!" they heard someone call out and saw Rei in a sundress waving to them, it was a shock to him that her personality had come out in full force after her medication had been reduced to only the ones that kept her DNA stable, she had been spending time with Ritsuko to determine if there was a way to remove or stabilize her Angelic DNA for a long term.

"Morning Rei, glad you could make it." Mari grinned, leaning on Shinji to the point that he collapsed back onto the ground, "Thank you. I hope I'm not intruding.", "Rei, you're my sister. And besides if Mari says its okay who am I to say no?" sighing she knelt down opposite them on their sheet they had laid down for their picnic.

"How stressful is it?", "Mother is…very tense. The meetings between herself and the UN have been very testing for her. Along with keeping NERV assets intact that will help with their new goal of helping rebuild from second impact.", "Wait the UN wants to remove what exactly?", "Eva's and the resulting technologies which evolved from their use.".

Mari spoke up from her spot, leaning over Shinji's shoulder, "I can sort of understand that but wouldn't the Eva be useful for helping with natural disasters? I mean with an S2 engine they would be really handy clearing landslides and stuff…", "Yes but they said with only one operational they are a waste of money." Rei answered, "But their being put into cold storage so really it is not as bad as they say it is." Shinji thought out loud, "Under normal circumstances, you would be right but I do not think this situation is anything but normal.".

"Your right our mother comes back from a weird prison inside a giant robot, we stop my asshole father and his buddies from destroying the world and now instead of fighting intergalactic beings trying to destroy us we are tasked with restoring the world to what it was fifteen years ago." he wondered just what was going to happen in the future.

A few months later…

"Get it out of me!" Revy screamed, "Feels like it's going to burst out of my stomach!", "Just breathe! The baby is on its way out now and don't push until I say so." Ritsuko calmly told her, although Shinji swore he saw her with earplugs in.

"Easy for you to say!" Revy screamed angrily, "And where the fuck is Rock? That bastard did this to me!" Shinji was beginning to wonder that himself, his father figure had yet to show up after Revy's water had broken. If fact no one had seen him all day.

"Shin! Find that bastard and get him here or I swear I will strangle him!" Revy screamed making Shinji jump out of his chair and dash out the room out of pure survival. "It's like that scene from Alien. Except what's coming out of her will be cute…" digging out his phone he called Rock's number hoping that he would actually pick up.

"Hey Shinji, what's up?", "You are an idiot you know that?" Shinji said calmly, "What do you mean?", "Your wife is not only on the warpath but her water broke about an hour ago. She's about to have your kid." there was a moment of silence on the other end before he heard Rock scrambling about and running, either he had dropped his phone or he had not ended the call. "Idiot…" he mumbled before walking back into the hospital room, just in time to see something that would haunt him for a long, long time.

"I did not need to see that!" he shouted quickly covering his eyes, "Oh shut up Shinji! I know you've seen them before!" Revy shouted, "Yeah but not on a woman I see as a mother!", "Push!", "I'm here!" Rock called out skidding to a stop clearly out of breath he went to take his wife's hand only for it to grab the scruff of his shirt, "Where the hell were you!?" she growled letting out a scream as she pushed.

"One more push!" Ritsuko called out as Revy grabbed Rock's hand and squeezed as hard as she could, there was a moment of silence before loud crying could be heard and Shinji felt a smile creep onto his face. "Congratulations it's a girl." Ritsuko gave the baby a once over to make sure she was healthy before handing her to Revy, "Rock…" she panted, "You ever get me pregnant again…I'll cut your balls off with a spoon…".

Once Revy had recovered from the pregnancy experience she looked down at the bundle of joy in her arms, what made her smile was that her daughter had her eyes. "What do we name her?" she asked her husband as she tried to regain the feeling in his hand, "Don't know…any ideas?". The two sat in silence, basking in the new joy they felt at the sight of their daughter.

"Naomi…that's her name." Revy said after a while, "Naomi Okajima…good ring to it." Shinji said looking over at the wrapped up baby, "Welcome to the crazy family Naomi." he greeted her with a smile, "We're not that crazy…" Rock said, "The second day you met Revy you told me you shot down an attack helicopter with a torpedo. If that's not the start of crazy I don't know what is." Shinji said, his blank expression showing that Rock did not have much room to argue.

"But she is cute I'll give you that." Shinji cooed as Naomi reached out for his fingers, "But don't expect me to babysit for you straight away…ask Sawyer.", "What? No way am I handing over my kid to spooky…" Revy said holding Naomi closer, "Why not? She was fine with me. At least give it some thought." both the new parents looked at each other and shrugged, yet again Shinji was right. "Besides at least I didn't say Chang." both quickly shuddered at the thought of the Triad boss raising a child, "No offence Shin but I really don't want another mini-Chang running around. One is bad enough.".

"Is that her?" a new voice asked from the doorway, "Hey mom. Misato." Shinji greeted as she walked in, supporting herself on her walking stick. Even after five months she had yet to recover full use of her legs and relied on it to get around, Misato on the other had her arm in a sling after a car crash, after a sleeper agent for SEELE decided to take revenge and ram her off the road, only to get a bullet in the head for his trouble.

"Say hello to Naomi Okajima." Yui peered at the little bundle and was close to exploding from its cuteness, "She is adorable. Congratulations to you both." Yui was transfixed by the child and briefly wondered how long it would be before she became a grandparent.

"Mom…not now. I'm still in school…" Shinji answered her unasked question, "Couple of years, though, who knows." he got nudged by Misato who was grinning from ear to ear, "You certainly seem to have everything thought out don't ya? But none the less, no funny business under my roof.".

"One, I know more about sex then you likely do Misato and two, when we do get to that point I don't know where we'll be.", "Decided on where you are going to head to after school?" Rock asked, "Wherever Mari feels happy with, we've got enough of a payoff from the UN.", "It wasn't a payoff Shinji…it was at most an early retirement fund.", "On the condition that we don't pilot Eva again…unlike most people mother I read the fine print. It was at least a bribe mom…".

"Still, that is a huge amount of money Shinji…you can go anywhere…" Rock said looking at him, "Well that won't be for a while…" Shinji looked at his mother and smiled, "Besides I've got everything I need right here.".

Three years later…

"Your shitting me…" Shinji said dryly, staring at Balalaika and Dutch who were both wearing knowing smiles, "Not at all Shinji. I'm getting too old to deal with the business and everyone is doing their own thing. Benny is with Jane more often than with us, so the Lagoon Company has pretty much been closed the last year." Dutch explained finishing off his drink.

The two had shown up at the apartment about an hour ago and had spent some time catching up before telling him that they would like to hand over the reigns of the Lagoon Company to someone who could do the job without, in their words 'fuck it up'.

The idea would be that Dutch would hand over the title to the company while Balalaika would allow him use of her warehouses and even fund enough money to buy the ships. With the restoration of the world being planned, a safe and reliable cargo service would be extremely useful and with Shinji's contacts with the major players in Roanapur and in Japan, he would be able to deal with any problems that might interfere with the transports.

"You are qualified to do this Shinji, you know how to run the business from all the time you've helped us." Balalaika said, "Your mother has already given us her blessing. In fact, she would be ready to hire the company as a private firm, you would work alongside NERV in delivering their personnel and equipment to some of the more damaged areas that are still recovering from wars and second impact.".

"What about the people, though? I can't exactly do all this myself?" Balalaika had to smile at the remark, "Well it seems that you have more influence then you realise Shinji…Members of my own forces and that of Chang's have wished to go straight." she reached into her business jacket and pulled out a list of names and handed it to Shinji.

"While only twenty men and women, it should be enough to start you off. When they heard of our idea they jumped at the chance. They saw this as a way to keep in touch with their friends still working for us.", "Alexi and Olga? I did not expect two of your best to leave…", "Yes well, they have become rather close over the last two years and wish to start a family and in our line of work that is rather dangerous.".

"All you have to do is sign it Shinji and you carry on the Lagoon Company." Dutch said calmly, "What if I don't…?" he asked, still mulling over the idea in his head, "Nothing. This only starts if you want it to start Shinji.", "Start what?" Mari asked walking in, Shinji had forgotten that she was going shopping with Rei for dinner.

"Ahh Mari…perfect timing. Shinji had something he wishes to discuss with you. At least I believe that's what you were about to ask isn't it Shinji?" Balalaika asked with a knowing smile, and she was right. "Dutch and Balalaika have offered me the Lagoon Company. But based over here.", "Really?", "Yeah…even warehouses and people… everything. They've already spoken to my mother about it and she gave the go ahead…".

"But you wanted to know what I thought?" Mari asked sitting next to him and taking his hand, "Of course. Things have been going so well for us I didn't want to just do something that might ruin that…" he admitted, "Go for it." she answered with a beaming smile, "Really?", "Yes. Shinji as long as we're together I'm happy. And besides it would be kind of cool…", "Okay…on one condition you two.", "What?" Dutch asked wondering what Shinji had in mind.

"The Lagoon Company will no longer be simply transport and cargo service, plenty of salvage out there.", "You want to expand into salvage as well?" Balalaika asked, surprised at the change, "Yup. As I said there are plenty of ships out there with their cargo still waiting to be recovered, plenty of money in it too.", "You've planned this didn't you?" Dutch asked with a chuckle.

"Well I was planning to set one up or at least invest in one with my payoff from the UN.", "I don't see why not…it will be your business from now on Shinji." signing the paper he got a passionate kiss from Mari who whispered something in his ear making him go wide eyed.

Business for the new Lagoon Company was steady from the beginning but as time passed it steadily became more and more profitable for the company. There work with salvage added to their profits as many companies requested them to recover cargo that had been lost during storms or even from second impact.

But their cargo transport service was more frequent which Shinji did not mind but it was a bit of a challenge to plan out the shipping timetables so they would not get swamped with work. At the moment he had access to two ships and a salvage vessel, he had a deal in the works for another more up to date salvage vessel which was larger than the one he had now, he had the personnel to spare for a new ship, but it would be at least another two weeks before the deal was finalised.

"I still can't believe how amazing your set up is Shinji…" Misato said walking into Shinji's office in the main warehouse, "Misato…didn't expect to see you here? What can I do for you?", "Just came along to deliver your next contract." she answered with a smile, "Delivering supplies and materials for flood defences to Malaysia? That's simple enough. I take it the local aid workers will help with the drop-off?", "Yup, all you have to do is deliver it all on time.".

"When's the delivery getting here?", "Tomorrow morning." Shinji looked up and checked through his timetable, "Good nothing planned for tomorrow morning or afternoon. Shouldn't have any trouble loading it all on board.", "Can you handle it?", "Of course. Not even twenty yet Misato and I've got a business.", "And your mother gives you big money contracts…" she grinned getting a glare from Shinji.

"Am I getting paid extra for dealing with you?" he asked, "Nope." she almost proudly, "Besides you still live with me. I can pester you all I want.", "I'll steal your beer." calmly he levelled his gaze at her and then smiled, "You wouldn't…", "Such a tasty brew.", "Your evil, all this power going to your head." she pouted.

"How's Mari anyway? How is she coping?", "Four months pregnant, I actually feel sorry for her having to put up with my mother sending update messages every day. Making sure she's eating right, if she's feeling ill…wish she would just pull back a bit.".

"But I have to admit Shinji that finding out you got Mari pregnant was a bit surprising. I mean you won't have any trouble supporting your family, will you? Not with all this?" however Shinji remained quiet, silently pondering what Misato had said, "Shinji? Is something wrong?" she asked worried about his sudden silence.

"Nothing…just thinking.", "You want to visit him don't you?", "Not after last time…I can't believe he used that piss poor excuse to defend his actions. It's a good thing those bars were between us, I would have ripped his throat out." Misato nodded silently and looking at Shinji's grown physique she believed he would do it.

Of course part of her wished that she was young enough as Shinji with his runner's build was just slender muscle and the six pack he liked to show off when he could. 'God you are such a pervert Misato.' she thought, "Well you'll be happy to hear he ended up in the hospital again. Turns out he tried to boss around the other inmates." Shinji just chuckled dryly at the mention of his father's second hospital visit in three years.

"Well serves him right…How is everything? With all this going on we haven't had much time to chat have we?", "Well, Yui wants to plan a giant family get-together sometime next week. With Ritsuko and Maya's anniversary coming up she wants to do something special." Shinji mused it over for all of a second before agreeing. "Sounds fine to me. Wouldn't mind seeing everyone together again.", "Well…not everyone will be there…" Misato admitted sheepishly, "Again!? This is the second time she's cancelled Misato, what did she say this time?".

"She didn't tell me Shinji and I didn't ask. It was clear she wasn't in the mood to talk about it and I wasn't going to push." groaning in frustration he thought about the short tempered red head who had kept pushing back her visits as of late. While Asuka had kept in touch after moving back to Germany just to sort herself out and tie things up with her family she had ended up splitting her time between Berlin and Tokyo-3, however over the last six months she had kept refusing to visit, whether she was in the country or not.

In fact, he was sure that the only person who had actually seen her was Hikari and she had been sworn to secrecy, not much good that had done as Shinji had easily gotten it out of her but not the reason .

"Just give her space Shinji…whatever the reason is I'm sure it's a good one. Now if you'll excuse me I just remembered I have to get ready for a date." Misato said standing up, "You and Kaji back together?", "No…we tried but it just didn't work between us anymore. Besides he's bouncing between here and the UN so it would be a little straining.", "Who's the lucky guy then?", "Not going to say. I was sworn to silence." she said grinning as she ruffled his growing hair.

"I could randomly guess…Fuyutski?" he could have sworn she choked on her own breath, "No! And you'll find out…later." she grinned quickly flashing him a peace sign before leaving the office.

"Day just keeps getting more and more strange…" he thought aloud to himself. Whoever Misato was dating she clearly did not want him to know about it, at least not straight away, meaning it was either someone he knew personally or it was just one of those times where you did not really know how to introduce someone the right way without making it awkward.

Walking through the halls of the hospital a single tired looking doctor approached a guarded room, two armed police officers stood outside. However, they allowed her to pass without checking her as she had been to the room several times before that day.

However, this would be her last visit. Closing the door behind her she looked at the beaten man still in his medical induced coma, "You are…the most evil…being in existence…" she whispered, her voice strained and raspy, "Too bad…it won't last anymore…" reaching into her coat pocket she pulled out an empty syringe, "For…all your crimes…you deserve much…worse than this…".

Calmly she injected the air into his bloodstream, far from a small amount she knew it would be more than enough to kill him. It would also give her enough time to leave the room and get out of sight.

Leaving the room she managed to turn the corner before alarms started blaring signalling that a patient was in danger. Of course in the sudden confusion, she was able to slip out of the hospital with very little effort. "I'm just a cleaner…" she chuckled to herself as she approached a waiting car, "But this is one mess I'm happy to clear up.".

Several days later Shinji found himself standing outside the park where his mother and the others were waiting for him to arrive for their get together. He had just gotten off the phone with Fuyutski, who had been trying to call him all morning, he had been trying to get a hold of him to inform him of his father's murder.

When he had asked how he had died the method rang familiar to him and he had a hunch at who it was but was not going to say anything, as far as he was concerned Gendo deserved it and he surprisingly felt a little hurt inside that he had died in the first place.

"Don't know why I feel bad…he was a monster." he thought aloud as Mari walked back towards him, "Shinji…are you alright? You've been quiet all morning." she asked gently rubbing her slightly swollen stomach, her usual dual ponytails were tied back into a single one and even though she was still tired from the pregnancy she still held her seemingly ever present mischievous glint in her eye.

"It's nothing, just thinking about something. Come on let's get to the picnic before Misato starts eating everything." he said forcing a smile to reassure her before linking his arm with her own. "Your lucky your mother is the one doing most of the cooking, I don't think I could handle Misato's cooking along with this pregnancy.", "Still feeling under the weather?", "No, well not as bad as recently. I thinking of going for a walk like this is good for me.".

"Good, but if you feel ill just tell me and I'll drive you home, alright?" Shinji asked he had made the promise once he had found out about the pregnancy, not to be anything even remotely close to Gendo, "Don't worry Shinji, I'm not going to ruin today. It'll be nice to just sit down with everyone and enjoy today." giving him a reassuring kiss they headed into the park.

When they saw Yui cooking at a small grill they had set up they saw Misato standing there with her arms around her seemingly looking like she was trying to pick up food only to have her hand smacked away by a wooden spoon that appeared out of nowhere.

"I said no Misato, not until everyone arrives.", "Come on just a little taste…" she giggled as she tried to reach for one of the burgers on the grill, "No!" from where Shinji was he could hear the smack from the wooden spoon hitting Misato's wrist. "I regret getting that for a gag gift." she moaned as she rubbed the sore spot, "You get what you ask for. Until everyone's here we are not going to start." she smiled warmly at the woman and rested her forehead against her own, "Or are you just that hungry?" she gave the former major a sly grin only for her to turn red. She turned redder when Shinji coughed loudly.

"Am I interrupting? Or shall we come back later?", "Shinji!? I didn't see you there!?", "Tall guy wearing sandals with the most awesome girlfriend in the world? No, no way you could have seen us." he teased as he looked between the two over the top of his shades, "But I believe an explanation is in order? Were you dating my mother all this time Misato?", "It's only been a few months Shinji…" she said not meeting his gaze. "Hey I'm not mad or anything…I'm happy for you. Maybe my mother can teach you how to cook?" he chuckled only for his mother's wooden spoon to smack him in the forehead.

"Young man that isn't something to joke about…Misato tries her best and that's what counts." she giggled as Misato looked at her with her mouth open in shock.

"Wow. Now that was unexpected…But seriously Misato you only need to lay off the spices when you make curry, one smell is enough to make me feel like I've been maced.". Shinji enjoyed being the one to do the teasing, and the fact it was all turned onto Misato just made it all the sweeter.

"So how did you two end up together? If you don't mind me asking you don't exactly seem connectable?" Shinji said trying to choose his words carefully, only to see his mother smile warmly at him.

"The saying was true. Opposites attract. We spent so much time together trying to get NERV back in business again, long nights side by side it was only natural we grew closer. First, it was as friends but then I saw just how much of life I had missed out on and Misato was the one to show me. Then I was… well, overly thankful to her." Yui explained.

"Meaning you slapped a lip-lock on her." Shinji chuckled at Mari's blunt answer, "Come here." Shinji said wrapping both his mother and Misato up in a hug, "I'm happy for the both of you." Shinji said as Mari snuck around behind them and picked a few pieces of food and stuck one piece in his mouth.

"Shinji…" Yui warned as she leant back out of the hug, "What? I'm hungry, didn't have much time for breakfast this morning. Had to get to the warehouse and finish the paperwork from the last job.", "Fine…but next time, ask." she waved the spoon at him before tucking it away once again.

Shinji had to admit, given the news of Gendo's murder, the day together went well. Ritsuko and Maya were still going strong and he had to admit the good doctor looked much better as a brunette rather than a bottle blonde, it suited her.

Hikari and Touji had gotten together shortly after they left school for a break after the Gendo and SEELE were removed and still had those awkward moments in public such as when their hands would touch and all they would do is blush. It made him laugh, they were still madly in love with each other like they were when he first met them.

Mari snuggled into his shoulder as he helped her through the apartment door, she was barely able to keep her eyes open. "Come on Mari, let's get you to bed.", "Last time you said that I wound up pregnant…", "Don't worry. Your way too tired for me to try and seduce you.", "…bit late for that…" she giggled before letting out a long yawn. "Aren't you coming to bed?" she asked not fighting as her head hit the pillow, "I'll be there in a minute, I've just got to check something.".

Grabbing his laptop he walked out into the living room and opened it up, glad for the privacy they had while Misato and Yui had headed back to NERV along with Rei. "It's going to nag at me if I don't try…" opening up Skype he was somewhat glad to see Asuka was online and sent out an invitation to for a video call.

Five seconds quickly turned into five minutes as he waited and waited for her to answer his call. "Really? Giving me the cold shoulder…so much for trusting a friend." closing his laptop he was not going to spend the night trying to contact her if she did not want to talk.

Asuka stared at the screen in front of her. She had been wanting to click to accept Shinji's call but could not for some reason. "Asuka? What's wrong?" Hikari asked over the call, "Nothing…" Hikari gave her a sceptical look for a moment, "I've seen that look before. It was Shinji wasn't it?", "…yes.". Hikari rolled her eyes as she pleaded with her friend, "You have to speak with him. You two haven't spoken in six months. What happened to you being friends?", "I can't…not like this.", "Asuka do you really think he'll think less of you? Look Mari's pregnant, Misato and Shinji's mother are dating and Shinji is getting a strange mix of annoyed and worried about you not calling them.".

"Mari's pregnant?", "Yup. Four months along. She's still smiling like she always does, though I'm guessing that will change when the baby comes. Judging from what Shinji described Revy going through, it wasn't easy.", "You're not making this any easier." she said glaring at her friend before looking down at her stomach, "Seven months…", "Asuka…just come over sometime, please. It would be nice to meet you without all the secrecy.".

She stared at her for a moment and Hikari thought that the call had frozen for a moment before she finally said something, "Okay…I'll talk to you later Hikari. And thank you.".

Ending the call she looked down at her stomach again and sighed, "Seven months and I don't even know who the father is…this is so fucked up.".

It had been about seven months since Shinji's last attempt at talking to Asuka, now at a year since he last heard from her he was wondering if she was still thinking of them. Hikari told him that she was coming but with every passing week, he doubted it more and more.

Sure they hadn't always seen eye to eye but when you go through what they did you could not help but be friends with someone.

"Shinji! Boss you in your office?", "Yeah Alexi!" he called out the window as the Russian waved up at him, "You've got a guest outside! She's keen to see you!", "Who is it?" he asked walking down his stairs to the warehouse floor, "Didn't give a name but she's got a kid with her.".

Sighing to himself he said he would handle it, making sure Alexi knew that the new salvage job was due to start tomorrow. Their latest one from the Japanese government was to recover any cargo that was being carried in a sixteenth-century cargo ship that had meant to have sunk during a storm.

They had no idea what the cargo was but from their scouting trip earlier that week everything looked like it was still intact.

Walking out to the front of the warehouse he froze when he saw a familiar mane of red hair in front of him and couldn't help but crack a smile. "Well, well. Long time no see Asuka." he said leaning back against the door with his arms crossed, "Shinji…I want to apologize…I know it's been about a year since we last talked but I…I didn't know what to do.", "You could have said something. Hikari is the only person you talk to about whatever kept you away Asuka, I think it's rather harsh that you didn't trust Mari, myself or even Rei and Misato about whatever was going on.".

Asuka had certainly grown up well over the years. Her hair was slightly longer and she was certainly beautiful but Shinji would not say that out loud in case Mari found out. But now in front of Shinji, she seemed more, calm. The attitude she gave off was gone as far as he could tell and she just seemed to be far calmer then she had been the last time he saw her.

"Well, that's why I'm here. Shinji, say hello to my son. Jannick." she showed him the small bundle in her arms who giggled and waved at him, "Cute…but my daughter is way cuter than that.", "Hikari told me Mari was pregnant.", "Yeah…there were some complications during the pregnancy, she started losing a lot of blood, they had to drag me out the room while they helped her. They're both fine now.".

"Do you want to have the tour?" Shinji asked after a moment of silence, trying to lift the mood a bit, "It's alright. I'm heading to Misato's next, I just wanted you to be the first person I talked too.", "Fair enough. See you around though right?", "You bet. I'm…I'm actually moving back here. For good.", "Really? Why? I thought your heart would always be back in Berlin." he asked only for her to shake her head.

"It started to be repetitive, plus too many bad memories there. At least here it was never boring.", "That is true. Revy and Rock seem to think so, they moved here about a year ago. Which honestly surprised me but the Lagoon company in Roanapur ended when Dutch signed over the company to me.".

"I'll see you later then. I finish up here about five today. Mari is hanging out with Misato today along with Rei.", "How is Rei?" Asuka asked wondering just how much the blue haired girl had changed, "I swear you wouldn't actually recognise her. Her personality is a complete one-eighty. She's looking to start training to be a doctor." he wasn't going to warn her about the little trick she liked to pull on people, he still fell for it even after four years.

Spending a few more minutes talking he wished her well as she headed off to Misato's apartment. He could have asked exactly why she was moving back for good but decided that it was her story to tell, but he guessed it had something to do with her son.

Four years later…

Shinji sat staring into the deep blue eyes of his daughter as she stared back at him, he was reminded why she took after her mother, she had his eyes but Mari's looks.
"Natsumi…where is your mother?" he asked only for her to shrug with an adorable smile on her face. "You can't keep playing hide and seek with her without telling her princess…she gets upset when you wonder off. So do I.", "Sorry daddy…". Hearing the door to the office slam open he looked up and saw Mari standing in the doorway and looking out of breath.

"Shinji! Mari is…right there.", "Yeah…she snuck into my office a minute ago.", "Natsumi you can't just wander off like that, I don't want anything bad to happen to you just because I forgot something in the car and you decide to run off." she said wrapping up their daughter in a hug.

"I swear it's Naomi, those two are nothing but trouble when their together." Shinji said with a small smile if he played his cards right he could get Rock and Revy look after her for a few hours while he and Mari had some alone time together.

"I'm sorry mommy, are you mad?", "No hunny I'm not. But please be more careful in the future." she nodded rapidly and hopped off her chair, "Daddy said he has something amazing to show us!", "Really?" Mari asked raising an eyebrow, she knew the last time he had said that they didn't get out of bed for three hours. "Take your mind out the gutter Mari, it's not that. Certainly not with Natsumi here…Found a wreck off the coast and got the all clear from the government to recover the cargo.", "Another one?", "Yup. This one is special, we had to bring it up and place it in sea water to keep in intact until we get it to the museum.".

Natsumi was pretty much buzzing by the time they reached the docks, he always found it funny how excited she got when he told her about what they found on their salvage dives. Of course, when he told her about the transport jobs she would just drift off.

"It was another cargo ship but it was the cargo that surprised us." stopping by their first salvage ship he watched as the container was lowered down off the ship onto a flatbed. "What is it?", "Do you know who Ryujin is sweetheart?", "Dragon god of the seas." she answered easily, "Exactly. Inside is a statue of him, we haven't seen what it's made out of yet but it's very sturdy and in great condition if not a little bit dirty." he explained as the container was firmly secured.

"Hopefully, the Tokyo-3 museum will have it as their centrepiece in the main entrance.", "Wow…that is actually really impressive." Mari said with a smirk, "I'm not falling for that again Mari…" Shinji said looking at her. "You fell for it last time, and the time before that. Think of it as personal motivation.", "Yeah right…challenging me to eat a bowl of jalapenos.", "I didn't know you had an iron stomach.", "Have you had Misato's cooking?".

"Shinji…" Mari started only to be cut off when Shinji was tackled off to one side by a tattooed woman who started messing up his hair as she laughed joyfully, "Damn it Revy! Get off me!", "Oh come on Shin! Haven't seen you in ages." she smiled as she held him at arms length and looked him over, "Still look the same.", "And you have grey hair." she said matching her smile.

"Smart-ass. Mari, how are you? And little Natsumi, you know Naomi really wants to play with you again. Would you like that?" it was then that Shinji's daughter looked like someone had just given her a six pack of red bull, "Revy…why are you here? I doubt it was to kidnap our daughter for a play date.".
"Oh…yeah…here." fishing out a set of worn looking keys from her pocket she handed them over and he recognised them instantly. "These are the keys to the Lagoon…why?", "Dutch…he's doesn't want to see it rusting in the docks. He's getting too old to keep the old girl running in top condition, he wants you to have her. Give her a good home.".

"Don't know what to say…the Lagoon was everything to him. He pretty much repaired her from scratch.", "And he taught you how to do it." Shinji thought about it for a moment and finally nodded, having the Lagoon would be very useful in short distance transports along the coasts rather than sending out his larger ships.

"Alright…I'll do it.", "Great, should be here by the end of the week.".

"Crap…Sorry Mari, we got interrupted what were you going to tell me?" Shinji asked turning to her, "I'm pregnant…", "Again?" Revy asked only for Shinji to glare at her, "Are you sure?" he wrapped her up in a hug resting his head on her shoulder, "Yes…", "I couldn't be happier Mari…", "I'm scared though…after what happened last time…" she was close to crying as he gently lifted her chin, "It will be fine Mari. I promise. We'll get Ritsuko to be there just in case. Rei too.".

He had been surprised to hear that his sister was following Ritusko's line of work along with aiming to be a doctor. Though she did have the personality now for it, along with the smile to go with it.

Feeling a tug on his pants leg he looked down and saw Natsumi looking up at him with shining eyes, "Am I going to get a little brother or sister?", "Yup. That's right Natsumi, would you like that?", "Yeah!" she said jumping for joy, "My wish came true! You hear that aunty Revy? I'm getting a brother or sister!" Revy just looked at the two and grinned, "Not too much pressure.".

Rock sat alone in The Yellow Flag, he was meeting someone and promised Revy he would be on the first flight home while she was helping Mari though her birth. Sensing someone sight down next to him he looked over and saw the scar first, "Last payment already?" the woman nodded and took the envelope that was passed to her. "Sorry, we had to do it like this. It was the only way for it to not look suspicious that I could think of.", "It's not a problem. I would have done it for free." the new ultra voice was a lot smoother than her old one and still carried that teasing tone she would use from time to time.

"I feel bad doing this in secret, though…I know he was a monster but he was still his father.", "Rock…you're an idiot…Gendo was destined to die, one way or another. He would never be allowed to grow old and pass peacefully. If I didn't do it, either Chang or Balalaika would have sent someone.".

"I know…" nursing his drink he was still uneasy about it even after almost five years, sending Sawyer to kill the man who would destroy the world, "Doesn't make it any easier.", "You've manipulated events before and it led to death…never by your hand. Why should you think of this as being different? Gendo would have ended the world. Billions would be dead Rock, consider that worth it." Sawyer said pocketing the envelope and getting off the stool.

"Give Shinji my best. I'll be dropping by next month, but don't tell him. I want to surprise him.", "Thank you, Sawyer…for everything. Past and present.", "Don't mention it…take care and don't drink too much. Your wife would be angry if something happened to you.". Giving him a pat on the head she walked out into the cool night air of the city he once called home.

"Who am I kidding…I doubt you'd be hard pressed not to find someone who would have killed Gendo for free…" he mused finishing off his drink he decided to head back to Hotel Moscow, where Balalaika had been nice enough to let him stay for his visit, "Starting to wish I had done it when I had the chance…".

Shinji just about made it to his bed when he face-planted into it. Being a parent had to be the hardest job he ever had, but he couldn't deny that it wasn't worth doing.
Naomi and her little brother Saito were curled up next to each other, Mari was sleeping peacefully, even though he had just collapsed into their bed, and he had just gotten back from a late job, it had taken longer than he had hoped to deal with the problem of helping to locate a shipment that was meant to be at the warehouses two days ago. But thankfully it was now all sorted out and he could get on with having some time off with his family.

Looking over at Mari he gently took her glasses off her face, wondering how she could ever fall asleep with them on. Setting them aside he kissed her gently on the lips, "I'm the luckiest man in the word, especially when I first met you Mari." kicking off his sandals he snuggled up to the love of his life. "Love you more every day, even more, when you keep me in line…" he chuckled softly as he closed his eyes, "And our weird little family.".

So here it is. Last chapter done and dusted.

I made Yui and Misato a couple because I wanted to do something different, and it's different because I don't think there is a single story with those two as a pairing. I don't know. But anyway I snuck a little reference with Yui in the park if you know what it is then fantastic.

Here's on to the next story, whatever it maybe.

AN: I know I should not have to do this but I'm human, I make mistakes. Less than 3% of this chapter was wrong and I have had people digging at me because of it. That is less than 3% out of eight thousand words. A lot of you enjoy this story the way it is and I thank you for it, however, while I make mistakes I will not bend over backwards to appease Grammer Nazi's.

A lot of the mistakes that were made were just down to me pressing the wrong key or missing a key, and not noticing it. Everyone does it from time to time, and I will be making sure to keep all mistakes to a minimum.