AN: The details of the battle was simplified since I really don't want to spoil more about the movie. This is an AsuShin fanfic so don't pay much attention to technical details. Sorry :/

I do not own EVA.

Chapter 5: Neon Genesis (Epilogue)

"…wake up! You're not supposed to sleep during work!" An angry roar dragged her back to reality. Opening her eyes, she found her resting her head and arms on what looked like an office table; looking around, it was a fairly big office, and a fuming adult male who looked like a manager was shouting into her ear. Everyone in the office was turning their heads in their direction, looking at them amused. Her reflex kicked in, and she shot a soul-piercing death glare back to them, and it worked immediately.

Her mind finally cleared a little and she began gathering her thoughts. She didn't know this place. She was bewildered. She was in her EVA, wasn't she? She was going to kill herself since she was the last Angel. She should be dead by now.

Nothing made sense to her.

"Do I need to repeat myself, or you don't want the job anymore?" The manager yelled again, "Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you, Soryu!"

She blinked. "What did you call me?"

"What's the problem, Soryu?" The manager spatted, "can't even remember your name?"

She burst out from her seat and pushed the surprised manager away, rushing out of the office. She ignored the angry curses and threats behind her. Running down the corridor, she found a bathroom. Breathing heavily and nervously, she entered the bathroom and looked into the mirror.

Red hair. Check.

Blue…eyes? Not that she minded.

Breasts…bigger.

Height…taller.

And she was wearing a formal office suit.

"Oh Scheiße…" She muttered to herself.

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Asuka walked down the street aimlessly, didn't know what to think. Nothing made sense to her. One moment she was inside the entry plug and dying, the next second she woke up in an office. And it's likely that she had just lost her job.

She searched her pocket and was relieved to find a wallet full of cash, and a phone. And she was again disappointed to find the last call the phone received was one month ago, from somebody she couldn't recognize. Presumably work-related. How sad she was still alone even in this world.

Scrolling down the contacts page, she recognized none of the names, although there were only five of them. She was sincerely hoping to find Mari, Misato, or even Shinji in her contacts. She did a cross-check with the call log; one of the names belonged to the manager, and the other four…she didn't even make a single call with those. It was like she added those people to the contacts list and never paid attention to them ever again.

What was she supposed to do? Clenching her jaws, she decided to call the latest phone call she made one month ago.

"Hello? DHL Express…" Beep. She hanged up.

The day was getting late. She needed somewhere to sleep. And the best choice seemed to be a hotel.

Luckily the city she was in resembled a similar structure of Tokyo-3, she was able to find an acceptable hotel very quickly.

Laying on the bed, the tiredness quickly overtook her, and she drifted into sleep.

She opened her eyes.

Red sea. Beach. Blackmoon hanging in the sky. Shinji sitting beside her.

"Baka Shinji? I…was asleep again?"

Shinji smiled at her, "Asuka, thank you for saying you love me. I love you too, Asuka. Goodbye, Asuka. Say hi to Kensuke for me."

She blushed but was confused, "what Kensuke? Where are you going?"

"Goodbye, all the Evangelion."

Asuka shot open her eyes and jumped out of bed, "SHINJI IKARI!"

She couldn't believe it. That brat saved her again. He kept his promise. And apparently, he created this new world, and threw her in here. 'What kind of idiot says I love you and then leaves?' She fumed, 'I will find him, beat him half-dead, and kiss him senseless!'

XXXXXXXXXXXX

It's been one week since she got here. Nothing new happened. She didn't even lose her job, much to her surprise. Not that she minded, though. She wasn't a pilot anymore; she needed a job to survive.

But she still couldn't find that idiot.

She didn't want to believe it, but it was likely that he sacrificed himself to save the world. Asuka had no idea of how the mechanism works, but she was sure to eliminate the EVAs he needed to pierce the cores with the Lance. If he was inside the EVA when it happened…she dared not to think further.

Luckily, she found out where her apartment was. It was located in the outskirts, and it seemed no one was sharing the building with her. Maybe that's the reason she chose the apartment in the first place.

'And the doorplate wrote 'Soryu', I wonder where that comes from,' She thought. To her surprise a part of her seemed accustomed to the name. She shook it off since she had a more pressing matter at hand.

To find Shinji. Or at least to make sure that he's dead.

It was another normal working day. "Soryu, a client is coming. We need you to meet him, as the reception."

Asuka snapped out of her thoughts, "Yeah, sure. Whatever. What's his name?"

"Shinji Rokubungi."

She blinked. "Where…is he?"

"He should be waiting in the reception room…"

Without another word she rushed out of the office.

She was running. She was running in the hallway; even though she had been slipping on the wet floor, she still hurriedly regained balance and rushed forward, to the grey-ish door of the reception room. Although she only kept running for one minute, she felt she had been running for another fourteen years. Standing outside the room she was panting heavily, palms supporting on her knees; looking at the door which normally requires only a single push to open, she felt a strange feeling of distance. Without adjusting her breath, she started reaching for the knot. Finally, she put her hands around the knot; just as she was about to turn it, she suddenly stopped.

"What am I (looking forward to) scared of?"

At the moment she remembered why she had hated him for all these days. She hated him for he had to sacrifice himself to save her, and left her alone in this strange new world. She had always thought if they exchanged places during that time, she could have done much better than he did.

If…he was actually there.

What if… it's not him?

She didn't want to face the other possibility, which was the most probable one.

"But, this can't be your excuse to escape!"

The door was finally opened; she breathed heavily under nervousness, eyes wide open, scanning around the room. She hoped her fear was only a possibility, but not reality.

And then she saw him.

Dark-brown hair, cobalt eyes. Much older looking, she noted to herself. And he saw her as well, his eyes widened first, but then he smiled…

The smile. She knew that smile.

The only way to confirm that he was her Shinji was to…

"Third Child." She said coldly, glaring at the smiling man.

He gulped, but his smile turned into a wide grin. "Captain…Shikinami? I'm sor…"

She took a step forward.

SLAP

Everyone in the room was shocked, except Asuka. "SORYU! WHAT THE HELL-" The manager trailed off as he saw what happened next.

Asuka leaped forward and pushed Shinji against a wall and kissed him with hunger, rage, relief, joyfulness, and love. He immediately wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss.

Everyone in the room was dumbfounded, staring at the former pilots who's been through hell and came back multiple times.

Shinji and Asuka paid no attention to them. At the moment all that mattered in the world was each other.

(END)

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AN: Phew! It's finally done! I didn't write how Shinji got out from the minus space because it's in the movie, like I said I'll spare the unnecessary details since I don't want to spoil too much.

The reason I changer her name back to Soryu is because Shikinami is a name appointed to the "clones" of the pilots, and having that name means she still can't get rid of her past.

Hope you enjoyed the story, and my greatest gratitude to everyone who commented, followed, faved, and read my story. 3