Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything associated with it. Gainax created this world, I just play in it.
Last chapter.
Transposed
Chapter 37
Auxiliary Cage Control Room
With the damage done to its usual assigned cage, upon recovery Unit 01 had been moved to the auxiliary cages where it was being closely monitored. It was the morning of the fourth day after its triumph over the last Angel and the pilots had yet to return from the core. Yui had been in brief contact with Lilith to check on everyone the previous day, she had been down herself for a couple of days after the strain of using her AT field and being in telepathic contact with the berserk Evangelion. Being in contact meant that she had been exposed to the rage and in particular the rage and anger of her son.
In a way she was actually glad that he was angry with her. He should be and she deserved it, she deserved every bit of vitriol he felt towards her and she deserved to feel all the same pain and heartache that he felt. She thought that she knew how much she had hurt him but what she felt during that contact showed her that she knew nothing at all. What could she possibly do to ever heal that deep hurt? How could she even begin to make amends?
Despite the couple of days away she still looked a little worn but refused to be away from things any longer. Apparently the pilots were recovering from their ordeal but the hold up in their return was largely due to wanting to make sure Asuka was alright after being told what had really been going on. She could only imagine how hard that had hit the girl. They had all been in rough shape right after the battle and Shinji had been exhausted but Asuka had the added burden of her world being turned inside out for a second time.
Ritsuko was viewing plug data from the battle while waiting for results from diagnostic checks on the MAGI, as well as keeping an eye on the scans and readings from Unit 01. She was fascinated by the plug data and was chomping at the bit to be able to find the time to really get into it and study it. Beside her, Ibuki was coordinating with the rest of the crew on the main bridge as some of the higher priority systems that had been damaged were being repaired and brought back on line. Personnel were being brought back to the base as needed to make repairs and run vital systems while engineers were checking the access points above ground and having buildings raised back into place as they cleared each plot. Except for the area where the battle against the last Angel took place, there had been little damage done to other parts of the city.
Fuyutsuki stood by the observation windows, a cup of coffee in hand as he regarded the the still form of Unit 01. Having just arrived Yui was sitting at a console next to him taking a look at the readings from the unit herself. Nearby was her new shadow, Mari. After disappearing for several hours after the battle to make her report to her mentor, she had returned and taken up the role of bodyguard for his former student. It was believed that all of the invading mercenaries had either been killed, captured, or had managed to escape but Mari wasn't about to leave Shinji's mother unattended. She had visited the places where she knew the mercenaries had been holed up before the attack and cleared them all, picking off a couple of stragglers as she did. He had little doubt that she had also hunted down any she had tracked outside the base as well.
"Are you sure you're up to being here?" he asked Yui.
She smiled at her old professor. "I'm fine. I used to be in worse shape than this at times while I was building the Evangelion."
"That's true enough," he agreed. He wasn't buying it, he could see that something was weighing on her but this wasn't the place or time to address it. "Have you had anymore contact with Lilith?"
She shook her head. "She'll contact me if there's a problem or when they're ready to return."
"I don't think it will be too much longer," Mari spoke up, causing them to look her way. "I can feel people's souls, even theirs while they're in the core and they all feel like they're doing okay, no serious levels of distress. Even Asuka seems to be doing better, it feels like she's calmer. I think someone's teasing Shinji though. He feels a little flustered."
"Misato," Ritsuko and Yui both said at the same time, eliciting a laugh from everyone.
"I have the ability to go in there and bring them out if needed," she reminded them.
"I think you're just impatient to introduce yourself to Shinji-kun," Maya cut in. It was uncharacteristic for her to butt in and with a joke of all things and that was reflected in the reddening of her face. But since getting closer to Ritsuko and having been so deeply involved as of late she was feeling a touch bolder, more sure of herself and her place.
"Guess I can't deny that," the alien girl said happily, suddenly changing her attire from her school uniform to her pink plug suit, which wasn't quite fully zipped up.
"Down girl," Yui said, reaching over and zipping the suit up. "Don't want to give him a nose bleed right off the bat do you?"
"No fair being built like that at her age," Maya grumbled, thinking no one heard her.
"You're fine as you are Maya," Ritsuko said through a smirk without looking up from her screen.
"I'm actually a few hundred years old Maya-chan," Mari laughed. "But I'll take that as a compliment." She sighed. "I just hope Shinji...and the others don't hate me for what I did. Or didn't do I suppose."
"While I can't really speak for the others I'm pretty sure they won't hate you," Yui assured her. "It might be a shock to them but I think they'll understand, especially now that they will know about the First."
"I hope so," the girl said, her true concerns finally bubbling up through her otherwise cheerful demeanour. "I want to have somewhere I can belong, where I can have friends and live a real life. I really hope it's here."
"I think you'll get your wish," Fuyutsuki said. "Despite all of the things they have had to endure I have seen some positive things in those children, especially most recently. Even if it's not immediate, I think everything will be fine."
"I don't think you'll have too much trouble with Misato either," Ritsuko chimed in, finally looking up. "She may have some anger at first considering the her hatred of the Angels and having to send the Children out to fight, but if anyone understands the ugly side of following orders or doing what's necessary...and despising herself for doing it, it's her. She'll understand your situation and she's not such a hypocrite that she'd hold it against you. I just hope she can do the same with me. The things I was doing and the secrets I kept put a hell of a strain on our friendship."
The door to the control room opened to admit Colonel McKinnley and Kaji, with the Colonel looking a little worn himself. Things had been hectic for him as he oversaw the mop up of the battle against the mercenaries as well as the aftermath where he had to deal with the Japanese government and military as well as the UN. He also had several investigations on the go to keep track of but he also had to deal with the loss of some of his personnel and having his two best operators wounded and in the hospital. It was clear to them all that he cared a great deal for his people and those two in particular.
He sat down heavily at an open console and leaned back in the chair for a moment, closing his eyes. Kaji went to the coffee maker they had set up in a corner and drew a mug for both himself and the Colonel. It was odd and almost a bit comical how the former triple agent had seemed to become a constant at the older man's side.
"Are you alright Colonel?" Yui asked.
He took a sip of steaming black brew. "A cup or two of this and I'll be right as rain," he said. "Just so long as I don't have to sit through anymore meetings with politicians. They are the last to get anything and the first to act like they were never issued a brain. And it doesn't matter what country you're in, they all seem to be exactly the same."
"The meeting with the Prime Minister didn't go so well I take it?" Fuyutsuki asked, taking a seat himself. He could identify, he had met with plenty of government officials in his time as Gendo's second.
"It went fine after it was made clear to them that they weren't in charge," Kaji answered.
"A couple of the Prime Minister's cabinet members wanted to try and play the 'this is our country therefore we have jurisdiction' game with us," McKinnley explained. "They needed to be reminded that this and all of NERV's facilities fall under the control of the UN, something that they and every country that has facilities agreed to and signed off on a long time ago."
"Their fall back position was that such agreements should be torn up because the UN had been heavily infiltrated and compromised by SEELE loyalists," Kaji continued. "That ended when they were reminded that one of their very influential and close friends was a member of SEELE's ruling committee and was influencing the Home Affairs Minister. Also that one of their elite JSSDF units was under house arrest for being part of the plan to attack us, and one of their regular force units did turn their guns on us when the attack started."
"When the Secretary General hinted that a tribunal may well be set up at the conclusion of a number of ongoing investigations and that the Prime Minister was giving his full cooperation they started singing a different tune," McKinnley said. "It seems that these two particular ministers may have been involved in some way. Be it inadvertent or deliberate, that is yet to be determined."
"So what will happen going forward?" Fuyutsuki asked.
"Personnel at all NERV facilities will be interviewed to determine who knew what in regards to the true aims of both SEELE and Gendo Ikari," McKinnley answered. "As it pertains to this facility in particular, since I'm already here I'll be overseeing it and two of my best investigators and a forensic psychologist should be arriving within a couple of days to get started. It also means that you all will still be under watch and accompanied by my personnel wherever you go. Personally I have no worries that any of you are up to anything or are about to try and leave but this is a protocol that has to be followed given the circumstances."
"Considering what went on here it stands to reason," Ritsuko said sombrely. "I guess I should consider myself lucky I'm not in a jail cell."
"There were some that were pushing to have everyone with any sort of a position of authority at all locked up and the key thrown away, but most of those people will be under investigation themselves," the Colonel said. "I convinced the Secretary General to let me handle it since I've heard enough of your stories to know what happened here and a lot of the how and why. With that said I must urge and caution you to be absolutely truthful with the investigators about everything because it can make the difference between remaining free or not."
"Absolutely everything huh?" Ritsuko mused. She really didn't want to recount to anyone how she came to be ensnared in Gendo's web, that had been hard enough to talk about with Yui and Maya.
"I've already been interviewed by the people that are coming," Kaji said. "There's no need to worry. They are very thorough and very professional. They are aware of how Gendo did business."
"Will they be interviewing the pilots as well?" Yui asked.
"I'm afraid so," McKinnley answered, his tone apologetic. "I know that they have been through more than enough already, but it is necessary. Ricardo and Robert are the best at what they do. They can break the most hardened criminal or gently get information from a traumatized victim with equal skill. The pilots will be in good hands."
"What's going to happen to NERV after this?" Maya asked.
"There are more discussions to be had but the Secretary General would like it to go back to being a research organization," the Colonel explained. "And he'd like the existing personnel to remain to help staff it. Since I'm familiar with the situation here, at least for a while my team will remain to provide security and oversight, and to be honest keep tabs on those who were part of Gendo's plan as well. I'm afraid that has to be part of it."
"Not surprising really," Fuyutsuki sighed. "I will consider myself fortunate if being watched is the harshest punishment I face. I suspect however that my conscience will punish me more than enough as it is."
"I believe that was taken into consideration after Kaji and myself expressed our observations to the Secretary General," McKinnley continued. "And you should know that the involvement of people like yourself and Doctor Akagi will not become public knowledge. Within a few weeks the UN will be releasing as much of the truth as can safely be told. The secret society known as SEELE is the villain who sought to destroy mankind in its misguided aims to force mankind's evolution. The story that Kiel sold to the rest of the Instrumentality Committee will serve well as the focus for this because it can be backed up by surviving members. They had no knowledge of his true aim.
Kiel's and mankind's true origins will not be revealed, nor will the machinations of Gendo Ikari. That should serve to keep NERV personnel here from being unjustly vilified by an angry public and cut down on some of the expected security issues. We want all of the focus to be on SEELE, but there will still be believers in that cause and Angelic cults running around, not to mention the usual criminal parasites who will move in and try to take advantage as this city rebuilds and gets back on it as feet. That's part of the reason why my personnel will remain here and I plan on putting Lake and Riker in charge of weeding out the whackos and crooks once they're healthy enough again. They've been constantly on the go for a long time chasing SEELE all over the world, it would do them good to stay in one place for a while."
"Speaking of those two, how are they doing?" Yui asked.
The Colonel's entire posture seemed to sag a little, again an indication of how much he cared about the pair. "Matt is still unconscious and they had to move Mel into his room since she wouldn't stay in hers. Even with that measure she won't stay in bed where she should be, she insists on sitting next to him and waiting for him to wake up. At least they got her to use a wheelchair."
"One of the doctors threatened to sedate her so she'd stay in bed and she threatened to sedate him with her fist if he tried," Kaji spoke up. "Even all banged up like that she's still scary."
"She's in protection mode because her partner can't defend himself right now," McKinnley said. "He was the same way a couple of years ago after she had been shot and was out for a couple of days, despite the fact that he had been wounded as well." He sighed. "Seems like the only time I can get those two out of the field for any length of time is when they're stuck in a hospital."
"They certainly have our thanks for protecting the children," Fuyutsuki said sincerely. "As unconscionable as it is for us to need them to pilot the Evangelions, to be willing to hunt them down and kill them, for money no less, is beyond depraved."
"And the men hired to do it were some of the worst in the mercenary world," McKinnley added. "At least now they will no longer be a problem for anyone." He smirked. "And on a related note it seems that the German Chancellor had a severe attack of conscience after she was given the sanitized briefing on Kiel and SEELE. She swallowed Kiel's cover as a wealthy if reclusive philanthropist and was manipulated into a few situations that ended up benefiting him. It seems she had also done like a couple of her predecessors had in hiring mercenaries through the Bittrich Foundation to do off the books black ops that she didn't want to be seen as government sanctioned if they were found out about."
"In an attempt to brighten her image and ease her conscience she has loaned a team from GSG-9 to work with the SIS here," Kaji continued.
"Too bad she hadn't had this attack of conscience before hand," the Colonel groused. "We could have used the help during the attack and this particular team has worked with Lake and Riker before and they've worked well together."
"What about the Evangelions?" Fuyutsuki asked. "Now that the war against the Angels is done there are those who will either want them for themselves or be making demands about their status. I hate to bring a dark shadow back over us but we have been aware for some time that certain parties would not be against taking them by force."
"The Secretary General has already had that hot potato land in his lap," McKinnley said. "Since NERV is part of the UN, the Evangelions essentially belong to the UN. However the biggest trump card he holds is the fact the there isn't a single government in the world that has raised this issue that didn't have people in very high positions tied directly to SEELE and he has the evidence to back it up. Because of this if they continue to make too much noise over it they make themselves look like SEELE loyalists trying to further their agenda."
"They are already going to be under heavy scrutiny due to the individuals linked to SEELE," Kaji continued. "They don't want their entire government to be seen as having participated in a potential end of the world scheme. Even they know that's not a situation they can shrug off or sweep under the carpet. There isn't a closet big enough for them to hide that skeleton in."
"UN Military units and intelligence assets are already being deployed to guard against any potential hostile intents," McKinnley said. "Both publicly and through diplomatic channels it is being made known that any action taken against this facility, its personnel, or any attempt that is made to damage or obtain the Evangelions will be met with extreme prejudice. We fought a hostile outside invader, we don't need any human based conflicts to pick up where that left off. We lost half the population at Second Impact and millions more in the wars that followed. Sadly money seems to mean more to them than lives and the toll this all took on the world economies alone should make them unwilling to spend more blood and treasure. The fight took place here, but the world is weary from the fight and people won't stand for more. Hopefully the politicians will have had enough as well."
At that moment his phone buzzed with an incoming message. He dug the device out of his jacket and read the text. He let out a relieved sigh as he lowered the phone, leaning back and closing his eyes for a moment."
"Colonel?" Yui questioned.
"A little good news," he said as he sat back up. "That was from one of the officers from GSG-9 that went down to the hospital for a visit. Matt just woke up."
"More good news, they're coming back!" Mari exclaimed a mere second before an alarm at Ritsuko's console warned her of activity in Unit 01's core.
Yui felt a hand come down on her shoulder just before her world blurred and shifted and she found herself standing in front of Unit 01. Disoriented, she nearly fell down but Mari easily held her up.
"A little warning next time maybe Mari-chan?" she suggested to the alien girl.
"Sorry," the girl smiled cheekily. "But it was the fastest way to get here."
The core began to glow and with a loud, wet squelching sound a mass of, naked, intertwined flesh landed before them with a splash. Shinji was on the bottom with Misato clinging to his right side and Rei to his left. Laying face down on top of him was Asuka and holding the whole group together with her arms wrapped around them as best as she could manage was the dark skinned form Lilith. All were unconscious except for Lilith, who proved to be only just barely awake as she rolled off and onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"That...was a lot harder than I thought it would be," she said with a tired sigh.
Yui knelt down next to her long time friend and partner, ignoring the LCL soaking her legs. "Welcome to the outside world," she said. "Thanks to you and them it's still here for you to discover and explore."
"You were part of that too," Lilith said. "If you hadn't spoken to us and calmed us we would have lost ourselves." She looked over Yui's shoulder at Mari, instantly sensing that there was something both different and familiar about the girl. "So who is this?" she asked guardedly.
"That's going to take a little explaining," Yui answered. "But she is indeed a friend."
Mari however wasn't paying much attention to them as she stood looking down at Shinji and the others with her hands resting on her plug suited hips. She was pouting slightly.
"No fair. I am so jealous right now."
Five Weeks Later, The Aurora Restaurant, 45 Floors Above Tokyo 3
For the first time since the end of the conflict versus the Angels, the atmosphere felt relieved if not totally relaxed. There were still a number of investigations going on but the in depth interviews had all been conducted, everyone's role in things had been defined, and their fate going forward decided. The world at large had begun to be told of the boogeyman that had been in their midst that was SEELE and what they had been responsible for. Predictably the response had been ugly and there had been riots and violence but for the most part the entire situation had been steered in the direction orchestrated by the UN Secretary General, Colonel McKinnley, and a small number of others who could be trusted to spin the story even if they hadn't been told everything. There would be rough spots for a while but they were confident that things would be kept from getting out of control.
But politics and the fallout from Kiel's scenario were the least of the concerns on anyone's mind this night. While there would be more celebrations to mark the end of the Angel War this one was a more limited event. For both the aspects of ease of security and a desire to splurge a little, the best restaurant in Tokyo 3 had been rented out for the night. The guests were the senior staff of NERV and the SIS, the pilots, and the defenders of the base from that final battle that were able to attend. While the Secretary General of the UN had been invited his duties had kept him away, though he would be making an official visit sometime within the next month. In his stead he sent one of his senior aide's to convey his gratitude and well wishes to all present.
It was a relatively formal affair but not strictly so. Still, for most it was nice to dress up a bit and eat, drink, and make merry with their comrades and the new friends they had made during the turmoil. One of the most interested observers of it all was Lilith as she stood by the panoramic windows that surrounded the top floor restaurant, on the side looking out over the downtown core of the rebuilding fortress city. She was dressed somewhat grudgingly and uncomfortably in a simple white blouse and dark skirt. Even light and loose clothing felt horribly unnatural and restricting to her and she often refused to wear anything while at home in the temporary apartment shared by herself, Yui, and Shinji. It was amusing how Shinji was almost perpetually blushing because of it and how Yui was slightly put out by it since she had to cover up for Shinji's benefit. She may have a nice body but poor Shinji didn't want or need to see his mother naked and she made sure to tease Yui about it whenever she could.
A quick and temporary renovation had adjoined their apartment to the one next to where Misato, Rei, and Asuka were staying. Rei seemed to have no hesitations about wandering around naked and at times neither did Misato. At least half the time when she was clothed she might just as well have been naked anyway. As for Asuka she kept protesting their actions, reminding them with a face as red as her hair that while the state of being in the Evangelions core world may have been nudity, they were not in the core now. Her protests may have been a good part of the reason why Rei and Misato paraded around naked as much as they did. The other reason of course being Shinji. Poor boy, he and his burgeoning teen hormones just could not catch a break.
It also didn't help him that on their transition out of the core she had de-aged Misato a little as repayment for having yanked her into the core in the first place. One of the great things about having your body reformed when you came out of the core was that it was essentially a new body with no mileage on it. You couldn't change what you looked like since that was defined by your soul, but you could peel back the years. She and Misato had discussed it and as much as she would have liked to be a teenager again, Misato would have still carried the same adult memories and mindset despite her own admitted level of immaturity at times and would have felt far too much like what she would have been, and adult in a child's body.
There was also the headache it would cause with the outside world as to how she got that way which would end up in revealing who Lilith really was and that was not knowledge that the rest of the world needed or would be able to handle. So they decided that when the time came they would compromise and shave a few years off. She taught Misato how to visualize the way she wanted to be. She wouldn't be able to help too much with it since she would be concentrating on getting them all out of the core intact. In her excitement Misato almost went to far and had to scramble to fix it before the emerged and came out looking more like a twenty year old than a near thirty year old. A young twenty at that. It was a bit of a screw up but they could work out an explanation to cover it far easier than if she had came out looking fifteen.
While she may have been the entity that gave rise to the human race, Lilith had never had the opportunity to truly observe them and she was finding it to be a fascinating thing to do, especially up against her knowledge of the highly advanced race she came from. While she could read thoughts and minds if she so chose, it was not the same as being able to watch the people and learn about them just through simple observation.
The way the people came back to this city in the aftermath of the war was nothing short of amazing to her. They had built the city, they had built lives here and it was in mankind's territorial nature to not want to give up what they invested sweat and blood into. The majority of those who had left came back and began to rebuild anew and those that had never left took a leading role. There was a smattering of discontent between the groups with those that had risked everything to stay here being critical of the views and ideas for reconstruction coming from those who they felt couldn't abandon the city fast enough during the conflict. It was a not unexpected problem and there were people willing to mediate a compromise to keep the peace.
Her observations however also served to remind her of something she hadn't really taken into consideration while she was still in the core. She knew virtually nothing about the modern world or how to live in it and she was totally dependant on Yui, Misato, and the children to help her navigate through what had turned out to be a totally alien existence to her. Just the sensory experiences of the world alone were almost too much at times, far more acute and defined than her senses in the Evangelion had let her feel. For a very long time as she was in her semi slumber, she could sense her creations all around her and feel things from them but it wasn't the same as her own reactions and experiences, Even after she became 'awake' inside the core her only real experiences came from Yui and from synchronizing with whoever sat in the pilot's chair. Feeling and experiencing things first hand on her own now was a long forgotten and very different thing.
There was also the trust factor that weighed upon her. While few knew just exactly who and what she was, there were some who did who feared her and didn't know if they should trust her even if they didn't openly show it. Most of those fears had eased over the last month or so but it still lingered there and she couldn't blame them for it. While her seed body had been used as a bait lure and her soul inhabited one of the weapons that defended them, she was still covered by the stigma of being an Angel. She could understand how they felt but it didn't make it hurt any less given that her intentions were anything but malicious. She just wanted to live and experience life and enjoy it with the people she had grown to care about.
As such, she contented herself for the moment in observing the rest of the party goers as she stood by the windows with drink in hand. A non-alcoholic cocktail at that since she had never drank before and was a horrible lightweight in that regard and she had learned that the hard way. Considering what a hangover felt like she wondered why people drank at all. Though, it had been kind of funny when Misato discovered her new body had no alcohol tolerance and she was smashed after a couple of beers. It actually made her reflect on her heavy drinking from before and she was determined not to become that kind of besotted mess again.
Across the room Yui was talking with Ritsuko, Maya, and Misato. Yui had been the one to bring her back to a sense of humanity when she was little more than a beast and she was her guiding light again here in the outside world. She didn't think she could have coped with everything without her, including her own questioning since she came out of the core. She had to hand it to the interrogators, who were currently talking to Fuyutsuki and Kaji. As advertised they were extremely professional. Despite knowing what she was they were completely unbiased when interviewing her. They let the information they gathered from her and others lead them to their conclusions which ultimately led to her being allowed her freedom, although just like everyone else who had been involved at the highest levels of things, she would be kept under some level of observation. She could live with that.
She owed Yui so much and didn't know how to begin to repay her for all that she had done and continued to do for her. Though Yui had needed a little help with a few things too since she had been gone from the outside world for ten years herself and there were some things she wasn't up to speed on either. Misato had helped fill in the gaps and had done so with a great deal of teasing and humour as one would expect. She knew that Misato's antics were also something that she used to heal herself, to get back to normal after everything that had gone on. The ordeal against the Fifteenth had ripped into her hard just as it had Shinji but she was continuing to heal from that everyday and a return to her usual ways helped. She teased people because she cared about them and a laugh and a smile was better than frowning and brooding.
As she liked to do when observing others she opened up her senses so she could feel the nature of their souls and better gauge their moods and state of mind. Misato had a sense of relief about her as she reconnected with her friend Ritsuko, while the doctor herself shared some of that same feeling, she also still felt unsure and anxious. She was finding it to be a tough battle to forgive herself for the things she had been a part of and still saw herself as more perpetrator than victim. She was both of course but she had yet to be able to accept that the vast majority of the things she had done were due to being under Gendo's control. He had known exactly which buttons to push to tie her to him and make her do as he wished.
It was a good thing that she had Maya to lean on and the younger woman's resolve and support of her was ironclad and unwavering and her affection for Ritsuko made her soul light up like a beacon. She was growing, showing a strength and resolve that she never knew she had and was gradually leaving behind the timidness that she had carried for the majority of her life. She would make sure that Ritsuko got through this and she was determined to see the damaged woman be happy and she would do whatever she could to make that happen. She would have an ally there in Misato since she knew from the many conversations that they had in the core that she wanted her old friend to get back to feeling some of that same joy and happiness that she had felt when they were in college. Gendo Ikari and his control over her was gone. It was time to start fresh.
She looked over across the room where others had taken up a spot by the windows, namely the two wounded SIS operatives. The pair were both dressed in the standard blue dress uniforms of the UN forces, though they had forgone the suit jackets. Lake's arm and leg were still in casts and Riker was sitting next to her in his wheelchair, the doctors having yet to give him clearance to be rid of it. A day and a half after he woke up he was knocked flat by an infection for better than a week. He insisted he was strong enough to get around on his own but the doctors weren't willing to let that happen just yet and he had been further overruled by both his partner, their blonde friend from Germany, and the Colonel.
They were talking quietly as they watched the sun begin to set, the peacefulness of the scene belying the blood and thunder she felt in their souls both from battles past and those yet to come. Despite their frayed edges and the scars of loss, their souls had an almost frightening strength in them. They were also deeply intertwined and that brought a smile to her face. They were exactly who they each needed in their life and at some point they were going to fully realize that and the light of their souls would burn even brighter than it already did.
She was also glad that once they were healthy and back on duty that they would be the ones to watch over NERV and the city, taking the fight to the criminal elements and cultists that wanted to prey upon the healing wounds of Tokyo 3. Hostile foreign elements would also no doubt try to gain a foothold to watch NERV and try to make inroads to either gather or steal information or do harm. She almost felt sorry for all of them because they would have no idea what they were going to be facing in these two and whoever stood to fight at their side.
A slight commotion caught her attention and she smiled again when she saw the cause. The pilots and Mari, loaded down with drinks and snacks courtesy of the restaurant staff were headed to join the two soldiers. A connection had been made between them during the training before the attack and as the two soldiers risked life and limb to escort the pilots to their Evangelions. Having witnessed the explosion that swallowed them up Shinji had been so relieved and happy to find out that they had survived, even if he was extremely worried about the condition they were both in.
Unobtrusively connecting with Rei she listened to a bit of the interaction. Matt cheerfully pointed out that they should take note of the rare sight of Mel in a dress uniform and she retaliated by saying that maybe she would trade his broken down carcass for Shinji. He responded by claiming both Rei and Asuka as her replacement. The ongoing banter had the desired effect of making them all smile though she could see that even through her smile Mari looked like she felt that she was intruding.
The fact that she was with them meant that they were accepting her but it was a slow process. They were pretty shocked to hear who and what she was and that she had been here all along and had the power to stop all of it. Being who she was it was easier for her to understand why Mari had not been allowed to intervene and she did her best to explain it to them. But they had been on the sharp end of things and had suffered greatly for years and they needed time to take it in and think about it for themselves. She reminded them though to take into account that Mari herself was one of Kiel's victims and that it had to have been very hard for her to follow her orders rather than step in and end the problem as soon as she could.
The pilots may have been damaged but they weren't stupid and they actually sat down and discussed it among themselves and they recognized the similarities between them and her. She had been used and abused and for far longer than any of them could even imagine and all she really wanted now that she was free of Kiel and had a life and a purpose, was to live that life, make friends, and just be something close to a normal girl. She just wanted to belong somewhere, just like the others did. It was taking a little time but she was getting there and she was gaining their trust and their friendship.
As for the Children, Asuka was making slow but steady progress. Her actions towards Rei and the turning inside out and upside down of everything she had thought and believed had placed her on a long road to not only recovery but of self discovery. The fall out from the incident with Rei had forever changed who she was and knowing the truth about things now had pretty much erased everything that she had been. She was virtually a clean slate now and that presented a daunting future for her. But she had support. In their own ways the other three were all in the same boat to varying degrees, with perhaps Rei and Mari being the most able to identify with what she was going through. She would have to build a new life for herself and hopefully this time she would be able to do so without burning everything in her wake and moving at breakneck speed.
Rei was progressing but it was a slow if not somewhat painful progression at times. Mood swings and emotional outbursts that she didn't understand and withdrawal symptoms from the witch's brew of drugs that she had been taking for so long plagued her, even as she was slowly being weaned off of them. Compounds that may ease one set of symptoms might conflict with something else in her system so it was hard to find anything that would help her. She was determined to fight through it though since she had a much better life ahead of her now and she relied a great deal on Shinji to help her cope. He didn't always know what he should do to try and help her but his presence alone seemed be the best thing for her.
As for Shinji, venting all of his pain and rage during the final battle had taken a lot out of him and he had been the last of them to reawaken after leaving the core. As much as she had hated bringing that out, purging and burning off all of that had probably been good for him in the long run, heading off an inevitable explosion and meltdown at some point. The lingering effect had been in realizing that not all of that rage and pain was directed at his father for all of the ill treatment and indifference of others he had suffered for most of his life.
Realizing that a significant portion of that rage had been directed towards his mother after finding out the truth had been hard for him to deal with. Through talking with Dr. Tokita and the psychologist that had arrived with the SIS investigators, he realized that some of that anger had actually been rooted in her 'death'. While a great deal of it grew and revolved around his father abandoning him, some of it came from a sense of being abandoned by her. Being so young at the time meant he had no ability or to rationalize it. As his young life continued in a downward spiral his child's mind went through the usual thought processes of one so young losing someone so important.
Death was a concept he didn't yet understand so it was more a sense of his mother leaving him. Did he make her leave? Did he do something to make his father so angry that he sent him away? Buried deep underneath everything that happened to him until they were reunited was the root seed that his misery all started the moment she was gone. It was irrational to place the blame there but there it was. Finding out the reasons for her leaving his life had uncovered that particular bomb and lit the fuse. As usual he kept that anger suppressed and his love for Yui and his relief of having her back in his life helped keep the truth of his anger with her hidden from him or at least compartmentalized in a place where he didn't have to confront it.
He felt ashamed to be angry with her. Part of him felt that he had a right to be and another part of him was sickened by it, that he must be a horrible son for feeling that way. Yui couldn't blame him for feeling that way because she felt that he was right, that he had every reason to be angry with her. She was so afraid that her actions would cost her her son just when she had gotten to be with him again and Shinji worried that he would push her away because he had been angry. Even now he still feared that he would find himself alone again.
Their relationship wasn't strained by it, but it was awkward. All of the actual feelings of rage and anger had been burnt out of him and he instinctively knew that Yui had seen and felt it all during her link with them. Some part of his mind had registered her presence through the haze of their berserker state. The biggest issue of it for him now was accepting that what he had been feeling was not abnormal or even unwarranted even though it had been directed toward someone that he loved so much. Time would heal the awkwardness between him and Yui as they moved forward. With the help of the psychologists it was slowly being resolved and he was finally starting to recover. The love and support of those around him helped and the fact that Rei was relying on him was also a positive and gave him something else to focus on as well.
Misato tried to spend as much time with him as she could and they were continuing to work out the kinks from being subjected so intimately to each others memories and feelings. It was killing the woman to not be able to show her true affections for him publicly. Part of her wanted the world to know how much she loved and cared for Shinji, but that same revelation was not exactly socially acceptable considering the differences in their age. Once he was older it would be much less of a problem but it preyed upon her insecurities. The heart and the soul may know what it wanted and what pieces fit where, but in the real physical world that wasn't always an easy thing.
As for herself she found the nature of her feelings about Shinji to be a little confusing. There was no doubt that she indeed loved him, how could she not love a soul such as his? But what form that love would take and what it would become seemed a little unclear. Even though she was a Seed of Life, she was not unfamiliar with love but she lacked experience with relationships and how the two meshed together at their varying levels. During her time in the core she had grown to love Yui as the closest of friends and over time as loneliness and despair washed over them they became more than that, giving each other comfort and pleasure both emotionally and physically and she was sure it had prevented them both from going mad.
She supposed that in time things would find their own level and that it was far too soon to be worrying about such things and their were other pressing matters that would need to be taken care of first, namely creating an identity for herself. Currently, herself and Mari fell into the same category as Yui did upon returning from her ten year absence. Top Secret and Need To Know were handy elements and gave them time to create an identity for them both and there were already some ideas in the works. Thus far it had been agreed that she would take on the last name of Makinami and be listed as Mari's guardian since she would need one. A story was being considered where she would be a coworker of Yui's, that her 'accident ' with Unit 01 had been sabotage and she had been placed in hiding along with her due to threats being made upon them and they had only recently been able to resurface into society. It was in the early stages of its creation but eventually they would have a complete profile for her that could be utilized when it was necessary.
There was also something in the works to create a similar scenario in regards to Asuka's mother if they were able to remove her from Unit 02. That however was probably going to be a lengthy process if they could accomplish it at all and Yui and Ritsuko were already exploring options. One thing that was certain was that they would have to keep testing with Unit 02, having Asuka make continued contact with Kyoko. Drawing her out into more contact with her daughter and discovering more of the nature of the red Eva's resident consciousness would help them formulate methods for getting her out. They had to both loosen the resident consciousness's hold on her and get her to want to leave.
Reconnecting with her daughter would help that and if all else failed they could always take her out forcibly, but there was always a risk of causing further damage to her soul. With Unit 02 being made from Adam she couldn't do that, but Mari could and had already offered her help if they needed it. They also needed a body for her soul to migrate to. Any form of soul transference like was utilized to move Rei's soul between bodies would not work. There was too much risk that the Eva's consciousness would try to latch onto Kyoko's soul and go with her. An actual body constructed with her own DNA in the plug would be a better scenario and they would have greater control and better be able to separate the two entities. Just as with Lilith's own old seed body, the soul permeated every single spec of a person's being. There would be a minuscule trace of Kyoko's soul attached to the sample and it would grow within the clone and act like a beacon and given the absolute territory of the soul, it would be much harder for the core consciousness to try and follow.
If Kyoko couldn't form a body for herself from the LCL on her transition out, that meant that a body really would be needed to be cloned for her and that was likely their best chance for success anyway. Problem was cloning was highly illegal but their was really no other option. They should be able to secure a DNA sample for Kyoko since there should be one on file at NERV Berlin. If not, then they would have to try and utilize Asuka's DNA to make her a body. None of this had been discussed with Asuka yet, more planning and groundwork needed to be done and she needed to have more time to recover before it was presented to her. One thing was certain though, they would be doing their utmost to retrieve Kyoko from Unit 02. Not trying wasn't even a consideration. They were determined to give Asuka back her mother.
Yui walked up to her, a soft smile on her face. "Engaging in your favourite hobby of observing everyone?"
"Can't help it," she responded. "Especially when I feel joy and hope in them."
"There hasn't been much of that for a long time," Yui lamented. "Not even for us, but now that all of the world destroying threats are gone it's like we had been all holding our breath and can now finally breathe again."
"So much has changed for them," Lilith commented, looking at the pilots. "In such a short time their lives have turned completely around."
"It's hard to believe that with everything they've been through and everything they've learned that they are even able to progress they way they have," Yui said. "I know it hasn't been easy for them by any definition, but it could be so much harder than it has been."
"Resiliency seems to be the human way," Lilith mused. "So long as there is just a little bit of effort in it and a desire to be something other than a victim, one can continue to move forward."
"You know what they say," Misato said as she made her presence known. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. In which case we should all be like Superman by now," she added cheekily.
"Who?" Lilith asked, confused.
"I'll explain it later," the purplenette said airily waving her hand. She kind of enjoyed confusing Lilith like that. She smiled. "It's nice to see him like that isn't it?" She was referring to Shinji who even though he still had a shy air about him, was smiling and even laughing a little at something Captain Lake said to him as she offered him a Sharpie to sign the cast on her arm with. Captain Riker said something that got the girls giggling and Lake gave him the finger, though she was smiling as well.
"It is," Yui agreed. There was no better sight to her than to see a genuine smile on her son's face. "And I'm going to make sure that smile stays there too. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure he's never sad or lonely again and that he knows he's loved."
Lilith took her hand and Misato placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't think that will be a problem," Misato said as they continued to watch him and the others. "You'll have plenty of help to make sure of that."
Please leave a review if you would be so kind.
And while you're here, check out my other stories.
I am never really entirely happy with the endings I come up with, but, there it is. Glad to finally be done with this after all of the trouble I had over the last couple of years as I slogged to finish this. Not all of those problems were related to the writing, they were mostly personal and depression (or something close to it) related, but certainly did impact it. I got sick to death of falling into those dark little holes then trying to crawl out. Writing is one thing that is supposed to help me with that but in this case it made this fic seem like the story that would never end.
But, no one wants to hear about my shit. I hope this story was entertaining for most of you...I know there were a couple of ignorant trolls who would say otherwise but I'm pretty sure I don't give a shit about the opinion of an ignorant troll.
Now I can completely turn all of my attention to whatever the hell I'm going to do with A Chance Encounter and Lonely Exile. And whatever else happens along. I do have another multi-chapter thing sitting in dry dock that I started at the same time as this one. Maybe I'll get at it too.