Epilogue Beta 2028
"-and with the completion of the Kaguya mass driver, the stars are now firmly within humanity's reach."
Applause sounded as Frederica Greenfield-Yang completed her speech. The camera pulled back to show the platform she stood on and then the audience of dignitaries that were present for the event. The broadcast then shifted back to a news studio where a well made up woman began speaking.
"And that was the ceremony at the Kaguya mass driver held last week, presided by UN Secretary-General Greenfield-Yang. Dignitaries worldwide were on hand to celebrate the mass driver being declared operational. The General Assembly has also passed a resolution to establish a United Nations Space Command to provide a centralized command structure for all UN space assets, with many expecting WILLE director Lieutenant-General Katsuragi to be appointed head of the command.
"In domestic news, Prime Minister Kayabuki has announced that she will be retiring at the conclusion of her current term of office. The prime minister has held her position for thirteen years and was praised by senior members of the LDP for having seen the party and Japan through the tumultuous period following the conclusion of the Angel War and the subsequent SEELE Insurrection."
"TV off."
The holographic projection, not really a TV but the term was still used, flickered and died as the voice command was acknowledged. Shinji finished tying the ribbon bow and checked the time. It was still a bit early but no one would give him grief for clocking out early on a day like this. After making sure his workstation was locked down he exited his very spacious office and headed for the operations section. Even within Central Dogma security was still tight and so he was stopped at a checkpoint, politely of course, until he swiped his ID. Once his identification was confirmed the guard offered a sharp salute.
"Director Ikari."
"Corporal," Shinji returned with a nod.
It was half past four so Asuka was supposed to be in an operations meeting, not that she would mind if he dropped in. Or maybe she would as the yelling got louder the closer he got to the conference room. He thought these places were supposed to be soundproof, not that he could make out any of the actual words.
"-and the next time we run this simulation I this sorry excuse for a time slashed by half!" the woman's voice thundered as Shinji entered.
Those facing in his direction looked positively relieved at seeing him though with her back to him Asuka was not yet aware of his presence.
"Asuka?"
The woman twirled around, her good eye widened in surprise at hearing her name.
"Shinji? What are you doing here?"
Shinji held up the wrapped present. "Was wondering if you wanted to clock out early today, if you're not too busy that is."
Asuka glanced at her watch and scowled. "Damn, it's this late already?" She turned back towards the table and put on her good girl expression. "Colonel Hyuga, could we perhaps conclude here and pick up next meeting?"
Hyuga cleared his throat and nodded. "I see no problem with that, Major Shikinami. Meeting adjourned."
The other attendees began vacating the room with undue haste, most of them at least. Hyuga offered Shinji an amused smile before leaving while two of the other attendees walked over to the couple.
"Good timing sensei," Toji said. "Your wife was getting ready to rip us a new one-urk."
Asuka made sure to grind the heel of her boot thoroughly on the boy's foot.
"Do take care with your language, Captain Suzuhara," Asuka said with a beatific smile.
Mana simply chuckled at the two's antics before turning to Shinji.
"Done with your work already, Shinji-kun?" the brunette asked.
"Yeah, I made sure I cleared out everything that needed doing," Shinji said with a grin. "Anyway, shall we?"
"I've got shotgun!" Mana declared.
"No you don't," Asuka snapped. "Unless you want me to be driving."
The other woman stuck out a tongue. "You're not supposed to be driving anymore."
Asuka smirked and tapped the left side of her head nonchalantly. "I'm deputy director of the operations section. That means I can do anything I want."
"Like you need any excuse," Toji said.
The cry that sounded this time was much louder.
"Is Hikari bringing Souji herself?" Shinji asked as he pulled the BMW out of its parking spot.
"Nah, Sakura's coming with them," Toji said from the back. "Actually, she should be there already, they were gonna help with the decorating."
"So have you been able to keep the party a surprise from Aki-chan?" Mana asked, having settled for sitting behind Shinji if she could not be next to him.
Shinji chuckled. "She's trying to pretend she doesn't know, but she knows."
"And I'm sure it's not because stooge junior blabbed or anything," Asuka said from up front.
"What was that? You think my boy can't keep his mouth shut?" Toji demanded.
"You guys we're in a car," Shinji interjected before the argument could escalate to physical levels.
Asuka sniffed but refrained from further snark. The rest of the drive went more peacefully, or as peacefully as it could with this combination of riders, as the conversation drifted towards work. As Shinji was in the technical department he was not privy to all of the details of what operations got up to even with what Asuka would tell him at home. Conversely Mana and Toji were almost completely out of the loop on what the technical department might be up to save for the things that directly impacted their own work.
"-and so the new neural interface should be ready for deployment next month," Shinji summed up. "Oh, that reminds me, Toji, make sure that Hikari knows to schedule an appointment to upgrade the system she's using. This one should allow for much smoother motion."
"Gotcha," Toji said, pulling out a smartphone and typing up a note to himself.
"Any new toys that the regiment'll get to play with?" Mana asked.
"Umm, not really, sorry Mana," Shinji said apologetically. "But, didn't we just deliver the Mark IV powered armor last month?"
"Well yeah, but now that we've seen what the technical department can do all of the guys are just drooling over what you'll cook up next."
"They're not the only ones drooling are they, Major Kirishima?" Asuka said with a smirk.
"I do not drool," Mana said primly. "I anticipate with eagerness."
Both Asuka and Toji snorted at the response while Shinji allowed an amused smile. Further conversation was forestalled however as the BMW dipped down into the parking ramp and maneuvered through the garage. Not that many spots were filled at the moment, but that would change as the evening settled in and more families got home. The housing complex, one of the nicest ones in the rebuilt Tokyo-3, was dedicated solely to WILLE personnel and had security measure in place to make sure no one could harm the residents. It was perhaps a sign of the times that the residents did not pay much mind to the armed soldiers that manned the checkpoints surrounding the community but no one was prepared to risk a repeat of what happened five years ago.
"Here," Shinji said, handing the present off to Mana. "We're going to freshen up a bit and bring Aki-chan over in thirty. If anything comes up, let us know."
"Yes sir," Mana said with a mock salute.
The party split off once they reached their floor with Shinji and Asuka headed to their apartment while Toji and Mana to where the party would be held. As they opened the door the sound of footsteps could be heard and a young girl with dark red hair dashed over.
"Mama! Papa!"
Asuka smiled and bent down to swoop her daughter into her arms. "Hey there Autumn, you've been a good girl today?"
Autumn Ikari, called by everyone except her mother Aki-chan, smiled brightly and nodded. "You can ask Madoka-oba! I've been a very good girl!"
"It's Madoka-nee," a seemingly exasperated voice protested as the girl in question appeared in the hallway. "I'm too young to be an oba-san."
Autumn giggled and hid her face in her mother's hair.
"Thanks for looking after her," Shinji said to his younger sister.
"No problem Shinji-nii," Madoka said with a smile of her own. "So long as you remember what's coming up next month."
Shinji chuckled wirily. "Yes, I won't forget."
"Mama and Papa need to freshen up a bit, and then we're all going out for dinner," Asuka said as she put Autumn down, "so hold on for just a bit okay?"
"Okay!"
The energetic girl raced back to the living room and returned to the video game she was playing with PenPen. Asuka raised the eyebrow on her good eye.
"Is it just me or is that penguin getting smarter as he gets older?"
"Not sure he's getting any older," Shinji said offhandedly. "I swear he's immortal."
"Did Mom say if she was going to make it for tonight?" Madoka asked.
"She got held back at the conference in Geneva," Shinji said. "She was, less than happy about it and I think the Security Council will be paying more attention to her schedule in the future."
Madoka smiled wirily. "That's Mom alright. Too bad, she really wanted to be here."
"And Aki-chan would have wanted that too," Shinji agreed. "I'm sure Mom'll figure out a way to make it up to her."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Madoka said dryly, eliciting chuckles from the adults.
Half an hour later after the adults had gotten a change of clothes and PenPen and Autumn's match concluded, where the penguin somehow managed to engineer a convincing narrow loss, the quartet of humans plus one avian left the apartment and headed down the hall to one just a few doors down. Autumn was almost brimming with excitement even before they heard the noise emanating from their destination. Once they were before it Shinji gave his daughter a sly smile before knocking on the door three times. There was no immediate answer but a few seconds later the lock clicked and the door opened to reveal a gaggle of kids waiting behind.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Autumn squealed in delight and rushed in to join her friends while the adults simply smiled at the sight. Eventually they were able to herd the kids into the living room where an assortment of balloons and ribbons were festooned to the walls and ceilings.
"I see you went all out," Shinji remarked.
"Yes well I expect you'll be on hand for Souji's birthday as well," Hikari said with a smile before walking over to the kitchen.
The evening passed quickly with the kids playing games and munching happily on snacks before being called over to enjoy the large cake Rei brought out. Shinji had to admit, his other sister had a way with baked sweets that he would never match. Even as the kids played the adults hung out in their own corners, rotating who watched over the rambunctious crowd.
"But man, I gotta say, that wife of yours is a slave driver," Toji said. "She's planning a twelve hour simulation next week, how does she even find the time to put those together?"
"I have no idea," Shinji admitted. "Sometimes I think her brain's a computer and when she's asleep it's precomputing everything she wants to do when awake."
"That's not a very nice thing to say about Asuka-san," a voice said from behind, causing the men to start.
"Oh, Asuna-san," Shinji said with a wary smile. "I, didn't know you were there."
"I somehow guessed that," Asuna said with a smirk before glancing at her own husband. "Kirito-kun, Yui-chan's starting to get sleepy."
"Alright, I'll go get her stuff," Kazuto said.
"So you still call him by his net nick," Kensuke said with bemusement.
"Well it's his fault for introducing himself that way," Asuna said with a huff.
"Yes, yes, everything's always the guy's fault," Kazuto said with a grin.
Ignoring her husband's quip Asuna turned to Shinji. "Thank you for inviting Yui-chan, she had a lot of fun."
"No, thank you for coming," Shinji replied. "I'm sure Aki-chan was glad to share today with all her friends. Oh, before you two go, there's an announcement we wanted to make."
"Oh? Okay."
Shinji walked over to the living room and using a metal spoon he tapped the rim of his glass. The ting rung loudly enough to even cut through the chattering of the kids.
"Aki-chan, come over here for a sec," Shinji said.
The little girl did so, her crimson eyes wide in curiosity as to what her father had to say. Asuka walked over and picked up her daughter.
"I know it's getting late and some of you will be leaving soon," Shinji said, "but before you do Asuka and I have a little announcement."
The guests, adults and children both, faced the family with anticipation as to the news.
"Autumn," Asuka said to her daughter, "in a few months from now you're going to become a big sister."
The girl looked at her mother in confusion while more than a few gasps sounded from the adults. Shinji wrapped an arm around his wife and smiled widely.
"That's right, Asuka and I are expecting our little family here to grow," he said happily.
Applause sounded, first from the women and then from the men. The children simply looked on politely, a bit too young to truly grasp the relevance of what was going on but aware that this was somehow important.
"Congratulations," Hikari said. "Do you know whether Aki-chan's getting a little brother or sister?"
Shinji and Asuka exchanged knowing looks before the redhead turned to her friend with a joyous smile. "Both."
The evening was coming to a close and a sleepy Autumn was tucked away by her mother. The little girl was asleep even before the blanket was pulled over her and Asuka gave her daughter a goodnight kiss for good measure while Shinji watched from the doorway.
"She's growing so quickly," he remarked. "Before long she'll be just like you when we first met."
"You've got close to a decade before then," Asuka reminded her husband. "And if you miss diaper duty you'll be getting lots of practice soon enough."
"No, I do not miss diaper duty," Shinji said emphatically even as he grinned.
The man drew his wife in and held her tightly in his arms.
"We've been through a lot."
"Hmm," Asuka agreed. "But it was all worth it. Every scar, every loss, it was all worth it."
"Yeah, it was," Shinji said. "I might not have agreed back then, but we're who we are because of everything that's happened. And looking at Aki, it was worth it."
Asuka snuggled in her husband's arms contentedly. "You know, if things had turned out different, you might be holding someone else."
Shinji gently stroked her hair. "But I'm not."
The woman smiled and looked up. "No, you're not."
Hands clasped together the two headed for their own bedroom. Along the way they passed a wall full of photos, memorizing countless events in their life. A photo of their wedding, and then the wedding of their various friends. Of Autumn's birth, of the pilots of the Garde Corps all gathered together. Of the arrival of Shinji's little sister, of the visits with the Langley household in Germany. And at the end, a single picture from so long ago where a bunch of kids visited a marine preserve and took a commemorative photo. All of them were smiling, ready to take on whatever the world had to throw at them. Much had changed since that fateful day, bonds forged, broken, and renewed. Yet the smiles there did not fade away, instead looking upon what these children had become and offering their blessings.
End of Epilogue Beta
I've added years to the epilogue titles so that it's clear just when these are taking place. The previous epilogue took place in 2023.
Anyway, this epilogue could be considered the epilogue of the hypothetical sequel to In Tune. I decided to put it out because I have no idea if I'll ever actually write said sequel and I didn't think it fair that I leave things hanging with a massive cliffhanger like I did in the previous epilogue. Not that you guys have any idea how the actual situation was resolved since I intentionally did not provide any details on that. This epilogue does however provide what I consider to be the 'happy' ending to the current generation of pilots that neither the last chapter nor the previous epilogue provided since there were so many loose threads.
The scene with Hikari and Toji in the last chapter was intentionally ambiguous as to whether she's actually living with him or she's just over to help him pack for the trip to Germany. It could really be interpreted either way. The way I wrote Hikari I tried to avoid the completely flat straitlaced character that canon often portrays her as. As some of you may have noticed my version of Hikari was perfectly willing to resort to minor blackmail to keep Kensuke and Toji in line and she participated in the note exchanges for the history lectures with the other girls. Hikari has a strong sense of duty, but I wanted my version to show a certain degree of flexibility. So, it's up to all of you to interpret that scene however you wish, at least until I definitively answer it if I write the sequel. That and keep in mind she did nearly die. I'm told that near-death experiences tend to, shift a person's perspective.
Regarding Madoka. Consider the timing of when Misato found out she was pregnant. And consider who Misato was sleeping with.
I do not dispute the fact that the Children could probably prevent Third Impact, or at least delay it. But stopping Third Impact is not the same as defeating SEELE, not by a long shot. That is the point that I believe too many fans gloss over when they try to write a story with a happy ending for the pilots.
Anyway, two more epilogues to go. The next two involve major timeskips so will not involve the current set of characters. Or, at least not the current set from this timeline.
