Time ceased to exist.

'How long have I been here?'

To Shinji, it felt like he could have been in there for hours, days, maybe even weeks.

'And... just how much longer will I stay?'

In this realm, true existence was impossible.

'Will I... stay here forever?'

Is that what you want?

"Th-That voice again!"

To stay here forever?

"No! I want out!"

But real life is harder.

"I-I- AAAGH! STOP FUCKING WITH ME!"

Do you not wish to stay here? In this realm of nothingness? Where you can rest easy, knowing you won't have to fight the Angels anymore?

"THIS ISN'T ANY BETTER THAN THAT! I DON'T HAVE ANYONE HERE WITH ME, OR ANYTHING TO DO! YES, I'D RATHER BE AWAKE, EVEN IF THE THREAT OF PAIN EXISTS! I DON'T CARE. I JUST. WANT. OUT!"

...

"IS THAT ALL? OR IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TORTURE ME WITH? HUH?!"

Someone else is coming.

"What?"

...

"What's going on?"

"Hello, Shinji..."

'That's not the same voice as before, it belongs to a woman... But why does it sound more real? And... familiar, even?'

"My, it's so good to see you again!"

"Again? Wait, who are you? And... who was that other voice?"

"That other voice was made by none other than you."

"Huh?"

"Your innermost deep thoughts, self-doubts, and all the little hatreds you direct at yourself. In other words, that was your own superego talking to you."

"..."

"I sense great pain within you, Shinji... That breaks my heart."

"Can you just tell me who you are?"

"We'll get to that in just a bit. First, I'd like to talk to you about something."

"Talk?"

Before he could even finish comprehending the new voice's question, the scenery around him changed once more from the abstract realm to the one he had been in not too long ago.

"..."

It was the desert, the one he had been taken to by the train earlier. The attire he had on when he was last there had returned as well, the scene looking and feeling exactly the same as it did before.

"Wait, why am I here again?!"

"There is something I must show you."

"No... please, I think I've had enough-"

"Shinji, do you remember the question Dr. Akagi asked you during that test she gave you? About the tortoise?"

"Question? What question?"

"Let me refresh your memory-"

"You're in the desert walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden, you look down and see a tortoise and it's crawling towards you. You reach down and lay the tortoise on its back. The tortoise is now laying on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that, Shinji?"

"Do you remember now?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Do you remember the answer you gave her?"

"Not really..."

"Here-"

"Well, um, for me to pull off such a dastardly thing, I'd have to be in a pretty bad state of mind, right? I guess I'd just be very angry in that scenario."

"That was your answer."

"I remember now."

"Do you know why I bring this up?"

"No..."

"Because I find that your situation is perfectly represented by Dr. Akagi's question; you are both the man in the desert, and the struggling tortoise."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You are the helpless tortoise, unable to move an inch. You are also the man in the desert, watching as the tortoise struggles while doing nothing about it."

"..."

"Do you see it now, Shinji?"

"I don't think so."

"It's as you theorized... the man must be very angry to do such a thing, to turn the tortoise on its back."

"Yeah, and?"

"What you have done is put yourself in this helpless position with your anger; watching yourself struggle as you do nothing about it. Just like the man who turned the tortoise over just watches, and does nothing to help."

"..."

"You must learn to help yourself, Shinji. Just as the man must help the tortoise."

"I-"

The desert disappeared again, returning Shinji to the abstract realm from before.

"-I've... never loved myself enough to want to do that."

"That's because your previous experiences forced your brain to think this way. Your past hurts, but you must learn to grow from it, not to continue to suffer because of it. Don't fear the future, but don't dwell on the past either."

"Is it possible to reverse this mindset of mine? Where do I even start?"

"You have already started."

"What?"

"You said you wanted out of this realm."

"Yes! Of course I do! This isn't real!"

"Exactly."

"..."

"You wish to leave this realm of nothingness, when deep down you wish to not exist. To not truly live. By returning to reality, you are showing that you do actually have the desire to exist-"

"Yes... I do. I want to go back."

"-even though your life is full of pain, you're willing to face all that again. This is the first step to accepting yourself."

"It... is?"

"Yes, my beautiful son..."

'Son? Wait... I do recognize that voice-'

"It's been a long time, my little Shinji."

"N-No... it can't be..."

"You've grown up so much!"

"...Mother?"

-29 DAYS AFTER CORE MALFUNCTION-

JUNE 8th, 2015

NERV HQ, GENETICS POD LABORATORY

4:48pm:

"What's the status of the reconstruction's current stage, Ibuki?" Ritsuko asked.

"Stage 3 of reconstruction is 89.3% complete, doctor." Responded Maya. "At this rate, the 4th and final stage should be reached some time tomorrow." Ritsuko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, good. We're almost there then..."

She drew in smoke from the cigarette she held, adding to the control room's noticeable scent of burnt tobacco and freshly-brewed coffee after a months worth of consumption by the stressed and sleep-deprived workers.

NERV's science team were able to make good progress throughout their month of relentless work, successfully piecing most of the quantum particles from Shinji's body within the L.C.L. Now, only stage 4 remained.

Stage 1 of reconstruction was securing the quantum particles that made up Shinji, while stage 2 was piecing each particle together to make him one again. Stage 3 was the healing of his wounds, while stage 4 would consist of taking back his psyche from the core and back to his own body.

"Dr. Akagi, the psychograph has detected high levels of stress coming from Ikari before... If he has a breakdown during the 4th stage, the core might not allow us to extract his mind from within." One of the crew members warned.

"We'll have to run that risk, there's no telling if we'll truly be able to pull this off." Ritsuko stated. "Not with how unpredictable the core's been lately."

The crew's greatest concern right now was the possibility of having the core react negatively to anything they tried doing with it. So far, they had no reason to suspect anything would go wrong. But like Ritsuko had just said, the core was acting in a highly unpredictable manner.

*KNOCK KNOCK*

Everyone's heads turned to the already-opened door, where to everyone's surprise, Rei Ayanami stood waiting for an answer.

"Hello." She said quietly, noticing Ritsuko's immediate frown.

"What do you need?"

"I heard from Miss Misato that the extraction was nearing its final phase. Is this true?" Rei asked.

Ritsuko walked towards the girl with the intention to get her out of the room as fast as possible.

"Yeah, it is. Now please, if you'd just let us get ba-"

"Then that means Shinji will return soon, correct?" Rei interrupted.

"Yes! Now please, just let us get on with our work. You're a being a distraction." Ritsuko said as she gently pushed Rei back into the halls and closed the door on her.

She stood in front of the door for just a few seconds after being shunned by Ritsuko, wondering why she was being treated so harshly after what happened all those weeks ago. Even when Rei did absolutely nothing wrong, all she got from that woman was a bitter attitude.

Part of her felt genuinely bad for asking Ritsuko about the team's progress, since it did in fact halt the process of safely returning Shinji, even though it was by just a few seconds. But she knew Ritsuko's anger was uncalled for, and that it wasn't brought on by Rei's 'interruption'.

She knew there was something else driving Ritsuko's current disdain for her.

'All I wanted was to know when I should expect him to return.' She thought.

Then he entered her mind again. It had been almost an entire month since he was taken into NERV's hospital, only to disappear into the core after an experiment with the genetics pod went horribly wrong. The past month without him had been really tough for Rei and his friends, who began to wonder if they'd ever see him in person again.

Toji was almost convinced he was dead, and even Kensuke was having severe doubts about it.

But Rei refused to believe he was gone for good, for her it was too soon to tell. Whether it was a gut feeling, or just pure denial, she didn't know. But what she did know, is that she wanted to be there when the day came to finally retrieve Shinji.

She had been keeping tabs on the science team's progress through Misato, who was more than willing to do so for Rei's sake. But Misato had political affairs to handle that day, and couldn't provide Rei the information she wanted. So she decided to check for herself. Of course, Ritsuko didn't take this lightly. But only because it was Rei that asked this time, since she never gave Misato a hard time for interrupting any of her work.

Rei had much bigger worries than that, though.

'Miss Misato says they are close to bringing him back.' She mused. 'Soon... I may be able to finally see him again.'

JUNE 10th, 2015

6:03pm:

Ritsuko took another sip of her coffee, placing the mug down right next to her ashtray, where she picked up her cigarette again to take another drag. This was it; the fateful hour had finally come. If the extraction was to be a success, it would prove to be one of her, and NERV's science department's finest hours.

If it failed, it would dismantle all those years she dedicated to working for NERV's cause.

'But then again, it's not like Ikari will be serving if he is to survive this.' Thought Ritsuko. 'He's still got that pending investigation for using BR-ZRK in the field...'

Either way, what needed to be done had to be done.

"Okay, listen up-" She began, getting the attention of every crew member in the control room. "-everything we've worked towards this past month has lead up to this crucial moment. This process needs to be executed perfectly, since even a single hiccup will throw us off course. I expect a flawless performance from all of you, is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am." The crew said almost simultaneously.

"Alright, let's get on it then." Said Ritsuko.

Over at the window overlooking the vast laboratory, where the pod still remained shut, Misato watched eagerly as a medical team was on standby. She wondered if anything about Shinji's appearance would have changed by now, having stayed an entire month inside the pod by now.

Her right foot tapped rapidly as she waited for all the science talk to begin, which she always found completely incomprehensible.

'If only Rei were here.' She thought. 'She asked me if she could come, but Ritsuko isn't letting anyone else in right now. The only exception she allowed, was me...'

And so the 4th and final stage of reconstruction had finally commenced.

In the halls not too far from the lab where Shinji's final stages of extraction were beginning, Rei waited eagerly just as Misato did. This was it, the fateful hour. The hour that determined whether Shinji was going to live, or whether he was gone for good. She stood completely still, holding her hands in front of her heart, almost as if she was praying.

Rei was never the religious type, but only because she was never ordered to practice faith. Still, she didn't truly see the point in praying to a god.

But that didn't mean she didn't believe in higher deities. There was a strange feeling inside her, that there was some kind of god in this world. But she knew it wasn't the old fashioned 'big bearded man in the sky' type of god. This was something else.

Something no one could even begin to imagine.

And so she didn't pray, but she begged. Begged for Shinji to be returned to this world, to her. She wasn't exactly sure who she was begging to, but she begged nonetheless.

"I never took you for the religious type, Ayanami." A man said from behind her as he happened to be heading that same hallway.

When Rei turned to see who it was, she found none other than Kaji walking in his usual nonchalant manner. She put her hands down, feeling a little embarrassment for being caught in such a vulnerable pose.

"Hey now, I didn't tell you to stop." He added. "Nothing wrong with a little faith, y'know."

"Hello Mr. Kaji." Rei finally greeted, to which he nodded back to her with his usual smirk.

She had only ever seen one other man smirk in her entire life, that man being Gendo of course. What seemed to her like a normal expression of satisfaction, really turned out to be a cocky gesture of his power over others. But when she saw Kaji smirk, she didn't get that same feeling from him.

He seemed genuine.

"You okay there, Rei? You look a little spaced out." Said Kaji, his smirk now gone as he wondered what had caused this uncertainty within one of the most stoic people he had ever met.

"I'm fine." She responded. "I think..."

Kaji knew what was troubling her.

"Worried for Shinji, huh?" He asked. "I am too. He's a good kid, so I'm sorry that what happened... actually happened."

Rei nodded, unsure of what to say to the man. Kaji reached into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes.

"So what are you doing out here all alone? I figured you always had somewhere to be, since I don't see you wandering HQ's halls very often."

"I am waiting for Miss Misato, who is currently watching the final stage of the extraction with Dr. Akagi." Said Rei.

"Ah, not allowed in there, are you?" He asked. She nodded again.

'Figures.' He mused. "Tell you what, I'm pretty familiar with the layout of HQ. Dare I say it... even more familiar with it than most of the personnel that works here."

Rei stared at him blankly, not sure exactly why he was relaying this information to her.

"What I'm getting at is this; if you're able to stay quiet, I can sneak you into the lab through this entry point I know of so you can witness it firsthand..." He finally offered.

Rei widened her eyes.

"Yes-" She answered almost immediately. "-I would like that very much."

Yui felt some kind of change in her environment. She didn't know what it could be that felt different, and wondered what could have caused her to get that impression. But the more she thought about it, she realized what it might be. Could it be what she thought it was? Could it be-

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, sorry Shinji. I can't quite tell. Something just... feels funny."

"Oh... In what way do you mean?"

"I'm not sure. It's like there's a foreign presence in here with us, but it's not another person. It isn't a mind, or even alive for that matter."

"That's... interesting."

Shinji wasn't sure what else to say or even ask her about it. He didn't feel any different himself, which is why he wondered what made his mother stop talking.

"So, you were saying?"

For the past month, Shinji had spent his time conversing with his mother about his life. Of course, neither knew that a month had passed while they discussed such topics as 'purpose' and 'self-love'. Shinji still had his self-doubts, but had taken keen interest in his talks with his mother who he hadn't seen since he was 4.

'She's been here all these years, yet she probably isn't aware just how long it's been.'

Meanwhile in the back of his mind, a desire grew like a cancerous tumor. One of staying in this realm forever, where he wouldn't have to deal with pain, or the overwhelming pressures of dealing with other people. He tried his hardest to shut that thought down, and mostly ignored it. But even now he couldn't deny he had the fear of going back out into the world. Staying in there for so long had disillusioned his mind.

'I know I shouldn't want to stay here... this isn't good at all.'

"You're right about that."

"Ah... I forgot that you could look into my mind."

"Hehe... I can see how that slipped your mind. But seriously, you don't want to stay in here forever."

"..."

"If you did, then what would all those talks we had about learning to care for yourself have been for? I know neither of us are exactly sure when you'll return, but you need to keep your head up. Please Shinji... your life is worth living!"

"..."

"I sense you have something you want to say to me."

"You can read my mind, can't you?"

Yui was quite surprised at the attitude he just gave her, it being the first time he had done so in his time with her.

"You already know what I'm thinking."

"And you're right about that. But I'd rather hear it from you, and not have to rely on looking into your thoughts."

"What difference does it make?"

'Ugh... he's a teenager after all.' She thought. 'If this change I'm feeling is what I think it is, then he's going to have to learn this final lesson from me. At least for now.'

"So? What am I thinking of, mom?"

"Please just tell me with your own words."

"Why? Can't you-"

"Because if you expect people to just immediately understand you and everything you've been through, then you're in for a big disappointment, young man! So just say what you need to say to me now, because real life isn't that easy!"

"..."

This was the first time Shinji felt babied since his childhood, right before he lost his mother to the same core he currently found himself in.

"I... was just wondering why you don't seem so inclined to leave this place as well. You keep telling me that someday I'll leave this realm, and that I shouldn't want to stay here. But it doesn't sound like you want to get out of here yourself..."

Yui stayed silent for a few seconds.

"Am I right? Do you intend to stay here forever?"

Then Yui felt that sensation from earlier strengthen a lot more, to the point that even Shinji was feeling it now.

"Wh-What is this?"

"It's time."

"Electromagnetic waveform fixed at -0.3." Said one of the scientists in the control room.

Maya focused deeply on the task at hand, as the computer monitor she sat in front of displayed a visual representation of Shinji's psyche inside the core. It was mostly calm for now, but she knew that once the process began, his stress levels would increase. This would make the team's job a lot harder.

"All ego boundary pulses connected." Said Maya. "We're 'go' for extraction, doctor."

"Alright. Begin the salvage procedure!" Ritsuko ordered.

"Sending the first signal!" One of the crew members said.

"Maya, is the core letting the signal go through?" The blonde asked. Maya nodded.

"Receipt confirmed. No rejection from the core. Begin sending the second and third signal!"

Misato observed the scene nervously, trying to keep her cool as best she could as her leg remained jumpy.

"Target cathexis nominal." Another crew member said.

On another end of the lab, Kaji and Rei stood on a catwalk placed high up, where they could still observe the pod without being spotted by any NERV personnel. Kaji's cigarette was almost fully consumed by now as he rested his arms on the railing. Rei stood right by him, looking calm on the outside, while actually feeling really scared on the inside.

Kaji turned his head towards Rei, and although there wasn't any readable emotion on her face, he could tell she was extremely anxious just by how much she focused on the pod.

"Hey-" He said to her as she looked back at him. "-he'll be okay, I'm sure Dr. Akagi knows what she's doing. Trust me."

Rei nodded, appreciating the support he was trying to give her. In the past month, she had gained an overwhelming amount of support from Shinji's friends and even both Misato and Kaji. At this point, whatever the Commander 'taught' her about the waste of time human connection was had been leaving her mind entirely.

"I hope you are right..."

Shinji felt like he was being pulled back at light speed, the first sensation he had his whole time in the core. That, and the one he had felt in a long while.

"What's going on?"

"As I thought... they're trying to bring you back, Shinji."

"What? Who is?"

"The real world."

"The... real world?"

He was suddenly afraid of returning to reality. Afraid of all the pain it brought, and of the miserable life he lived while out there.

"No-"

Just thinking about the pressures of the real world made Shinji impulsively decide against going back. All this time, he wanted a way out of there. But now that he had it, he chose to reject it.

"I-I don't want to go!"

"What? But it's time for you to go back! You wanted this... don't fight it, Shinji!"

"NO!"

The control room's master alarm went off, signalling a massive error within the salvage operation.

"Doctor! The pulse has become fixed in a loop!" Maya warned.

"God damn it!" Ritsuko cursed. "Set for omni-directional rebroadcast! Transmit over entire range for waveform!"

The display on Maya's monitor went red, and showed no signs of improvement. She was beginning to panic.

"Negative! The core is fighting me, doctor!"

"Can anyone confirm to me if we're looking at another core malfunction or if it's an instrumentation error?" Ritsuko asked.

"I-!" One of the scientists tried answering before stopping abruptly. Ritsuko looked over at them.

"What? What is it?"

"I can't really tell... it shouldn't be possible, but the scanners are reading a quadruple failure! It's gotta be instrumentation!" They tried explaining.

"No, the pod's readings fall in line with that report!" Maya confirmed. "It's the core!"

"Shit! Then that means the signal's trapped in a klein space!" Exclaimed Ritsuko.

The pull Shinji felt only grew stronger, but he managed to fight it off pretty well. By now he understood what was going on, but refused to leave this place.

"I'm not going back! They can't have me back!"

He refused to leave the only person he felt ever truly loved him, the person he hadn't seen in more than a decade.

"I've done enough for them! All they want to do is send me back to fight those things... Well I've had it! No more! No more being used! No more pain!"

"But that's not actually living, Shinji..."

"I DON'T CARE! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT ANYMORE, IT HURTS!"

"Please-"

"I'M STAYING! I'M NOT GOING BACK!"

Misato was now extremely worried, seeing everyone else in the room begin to lose their cool. She took a gander at the computer monitors, but couldn't understand a single thing is displayed. Then she approached Ritsuko.

"What the hell does all of that mean?!" She asked.

Ritsuko then had an ugly realization just as Misato asked the question.

"Shut it down..." She ordered.

Misato's eyes widened, still not understanding a single thing that was happening.

"The core has begun rejecting the signal!" A crew member warned. "The pod pressure is rising!"

"Abort the sequence! Cut all incoming power now!" Ritsuko ordered. Maya turned to her in a panic.

"The pod is also rejecting the signal! The pressure is beginning to over-"

Then the pod's main hatch burst open.

All the L.C.L that stayed inside the pod for a month spilled out, the all-too familiar orange liquid splashing all over the platform below the pod. Everyone in the control room gasped in shock, and a stunning silence followed. The mission was a failure.

"SHINJI!" Misato shouted, running out of the control room to run over to the opened hatch.

From the catwalk they were in, Kaji and Rei continued to observe the scene. Kaji sighed, looking down in disappointment as he watched Misato frantically look over the leaking L.C.L. She knew he wasn't going to be there, but her denial was too great. Kaji felt really bad for her, and more so for Shinji.

'He didn't deserve any of this.' He thought.

Then he looked at Rei, whose hands covered her mouth in shock. She looked extremely devastated, her eyes turning red as they began to water.

"I'm... I'm really sorry, Rei." He said in an attempt to comfort her.

Back down on the platform by the pod, Misato found Shinji's hospital gown amid the settling pool of L.C.L. She was in tears by now, sobbing her soul out as she fell to her knees and grabbed the gown.

"Hhh- um- ugh..." She let out, her hands shaking as she examined the last thing Shinji ever wore. "D-DAMN IT! WHAT'S THE POINT?! WHAT'S THE POINT OF ALL THIS IF IT CAN'T EVEN SAVE ONE LIFE?!"

From within the control room, all the team could do was observe. They all truly felt bad for not being able to successfully extract Shinji, though it wasn't their fault at all. Ritsuko felt the worst out of all of them, not only feeling responsible for the operation's failure, but for watching her closest friend weep helplessly on the platform below.

Up above, Rei continued to cry silently. The moment she had waited so long to come never arrived. She felt the void in her deepen, now completely overtaking her thoughts and emotions. Like Misato, she was on her knees as well as she cried once more. Her hands gripped the railing hard, as her eyes now shut. The image of only a hospital gown where Shinji once sat was too painful to look any longer at.

'Shinji, are you choosing to stay? You want to reside in the core?' She thought. 'Please... come back to me. You shouldn't stay there. I-'

"I need you."

Kaji was puzzled when first hearing Rei say that, but realized she wasn't saying it to him once he got a look at her. Her eyes had opened again, this time looking towards the submerged core. She knew it was positioned directly below the genetics pod, and that the large pool of L.C.L it was submerged in was what allowed Ritsuko to manipulate the core's abilities. An idea began to form in her head.

'Can I- no, it's not possible... Is it?' Rei wondered. Then she stood back up and took the path Kaji showed her back to the halls of HQ. She decided that if even the skilled scientists of NERV couldn't save him, she sure as hell could give it a try. Whether her idea would work or not, she wasn't sure. But she would give anything a shot if it meant bringing Shinji back.

"Rei, where are you going? Get b- Ugh..." Groaned Kaji. 'I won't even bother to try to stop her, she won't listen.'

Then he looked back down once more at Misato, as she cried over Shinji's hospital gown.

'God damn, that hurts to look at.' He mused. 'Poor guy suffered his whole life... Sorry you were dragged into this mess, Shinji.'

Some minutes later in the control room, Rei burst through the main door. It was the only entry point to the main lab where the pod was at. She noticed how quiet the control room was, assuming the devastation was also affecting the science team as well. In return, everyone noticed the tears running down Rei's face.

Ritsuko, though still at a loss of worrds by everything that had gone on, was in no mood to see Rei right now.

"Rei! I already told you, you can't- Hey, get back here!" She ordered as Rei completely ignored her, leaving the control room to accompany Misato on the platform.

She rushed down the steep steps that lead to the platform, Misato still crying as she acknowledged Rei coming towards the pod.

"R-R-Rei..." She tried speaking through sobs, seeing that Rei herself was crying as well.

Rei also disregarded Misato, but not out of frustration like she did with Ritsuko. She kneeled on the edge of the platform and looked at her hand again. The hand she kept looking back to all this time for comfort because of the memory she cherished with it.

'Please come back to me.' She thought as she placed her hand into the L.C.L and closed her eyes.

"So that's it, then?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Reality means nothing to you, and you've just severed your only way out of here because of that? You're refusing life, and you feel nothing about it?"

"Not when it's given me nothing but pain... no one out there loved me like you did. No one..."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Of course I do! All those people at NERV did was use me! I was nothing but a pawn to them! Father never loved me! When I got that draft notice, I was hoping he'd at least care that I was going to face death so often! Or that he'd be proud of me! But he wasn't... I'm just another soldier to him."

"Have you forgotten about your friends?"

"..."

"What about those people? The people who matter to you? I can see all your memories, and what I'm seeing is that although your life has mostly pained you, that you've still had moments of joy! Laughing with your friends, bonding with your caretaker, and walking with-"

"M-Mother?"

Yui was reading into his mind even more, having discovered the memories he had of all the times he ever spent with Rei. The emotion she was getting from all those moments, was that of love.

"Are you alright? What's the matter?"

"My... you really like this girl, don't you?"

"A-Ah... um, well-"

She wasn't sure how she felt about Rei, even though she was more than happy that someone had been able to make Shinji feel so good about himself. Still, she couldn't help but feel just a bit unsettled. Then Yui felt another change.

"I... feel something again."

As did Shinji.

"Gah!"

He was pulled back once more but was able to fight it like he did the first time. This pull was noticeably stronger, giving Shinji a much bigger challenge the second time around.

"No! I need to stay here! I need to-"

"Hold your hand out, Shinji."

"What?"

"Just do it."

"Alright..."

Shinji did as he was told, and soon he felt as if someone was actually holding his hand.

"Mother? Is-Is that you?"

"Yes Shinji, it is."

"Where are you, then?"

"I am here with you, but you can't see me. Not yet."

"Wait, wh-"

"Shinji, please listen closely. I need you to go back, to save everyone you know."

"B-But-"

"No, Shinji. I'm not done. Go back and fight, but not for NERV. Not for your father, but for yourself. For your friends, and for the world that is your home. You cannot depend on others for your happiness, you must love yourself first. You must love yourself."

"..."

"You can hold your loved ones' hands, but you can't hold on forever, Shinji. That is why I'm holding your hand one last time-"

"Wh-What?"

"-before I push you back towards reality."

"NO! PLEASE! DON'T DO THIS! DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!"

"Oh, Shinji... I never left you. Even before now, I've always been watching over you. You'll be fine, I promise!"

"But what about you, then?"

"Me? There's a another world, you know. Away from me. A place of all beginnings, where you must live. I'll always watch over you, Shinji. You can go wherever you want, and I'll still be watching over you."

"You will?"

"Of course, you're my son! I always have to make sure my little one is safe. Now go, there's a world out there waiting to receive you..."

"W-Wait, you never answered my question..."

"Ah..."

"Well? Do you intend to stay here forever?"

"For now, my stay within this realm is indefinite. I can't say I'll leave yet, not until what needs to happen actually happens."

"Needs to happen? I don't understand..."

Then Yui felt another hand in the realm. It was most unusual, but she could immediately tell who it was. And just a few seconds after that, Yui could even hear a voice calling out to her.

'Please bring Shinji back.'

'That must be her...'

'Give him back to me...'

"Turn around and face your fears. You must get going now."

"I don't know if I can..."

"Another hand awaits you, Shinji."

"Huh?"

"Please, turn around."

"..."

"Don't hesitate, look!"

"Why?"

"Because... behind you, a voice is calling out. The voice of someone you cherish."

"..."

Shinji finally turned around, and felt his mother's grip let go of him. He was no longer being pulled from behind, but was facing forth towards the light. The light shined brighter and brighter, until all he saw was a white void. Then, black.

The air inside the control room was no longer tense as it had been in all those weeks of hard work. A depression plagued every crew member in there, as some of them were even crying. Maya continued to wipe her face as she watched Misato helplessly bawl over the last thing Shinji had on. She could tell the Major was seriously hurting, and had never seen this side of her before.

Ritsuko looked the most defeated of all of them, almost feeling like she had taken a life herself.

"Get... a cleanup crew down there... I'm- I'm going home." She said weakly.

But just as she was about to walk to the door, an alarm was going off. Maya's head perked back up, and was surprised to see the L.C.L pressure rising, even though the pod was emptied by now.

"Th- L.C.L... rising!" She tried saying in between heavy sniffles.

More alarms went off, until a large bang was heard coming from where the core was submerged. More L.C.L forcefully spewed out like a mini-geyser from within the pod, partially splashing Rei and Misato at the platform.

Rei pulled her hand from the large pool, and waited for more of the liquid to drain from the opened pod. Once there was enough out, she began to climb the pod herself, since the ladder hadn't even been propped up on it yet.

"Rei! What are you doing, get back from there! That thing's malfunctioning!" Misato tried warning her, but was ignored once again. From the control room's point of view, Maya spotted someone inside the pod that hadn't been there before.

"Doctor! Someone's in there!"

"What?" Ritsuko asked, puzzled by what had just happened.

Rei was finally able to reach the interior of the pod, finding a naked boy inside. At first, she wasn't sure if it was Shinji at all, since the hair on his head was much longer than Shinji's. But she quickly realized it was him when she moved his newly-formed bangs away from his eyes.

It was him alright, and she cried upon realizing her idea had actually worked.

Shinji's eyes began to open once he heard sniffling in front of him, the return to reality being such a strange thing to go through after all his time inside the core. At first his vision was mostly blurred, so he couldn't tell where he was, or what he was looking at.

"Sh-Shinji..."

But once he heard that voice, he knew who sat before him. His vision cleared up, and he once again looked at Rei's face.

"Rei, what's... going on?" He asked, noticing the tears flowing down her face. "Why are you crying? Is everything okay?"

Rei continued to sniffle as she wiped more tears off with her arms. But a smile came upon her face the more the reality of the situation had set in. Shinji was given back to her, and she couldn't be any happier.

"I'm crying... because I'm happy..." She admitted to him, followed by a deep embrace.

It was the very reason he cried for her when he saved her life. This was almost like a completely different Rei to him, but Shinji didn't mind it at all. In fact, he was pleasantly surprised by this change.

He was too stunned to say anything to her, since he was still adjusting to his return. But the first thing he encountered after being sent back to this harsh reality, was a hug.

A hug from someone he cherished deeply.

Misato witnessed the moment Rei had with Shinji and was overjoyed. Her crying was now that of happiness, and not grief. Shinji was back, and he was safe. That's all that mattered.

And all the way up at the catwalk, Kaji still stood having seen everything.

'You're back after all, little man!' He thought. 'Glad to have you back, Shinji.'

Over at the control room, the crew were ecstatic. What was once a devastating scene, was now that of pure joy and even celebration. Maya herself jumped up once she realized Shinji was still alive, but didn't know Rei had anything to do with it.

And neither did anyone else, for that matter.

"H-He's back!" Maya exclaimed excitedly. "You... you did it, doctor!"

"But, it wasn't me..." Ritsuko said.