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Chapter 28: "…Happy ever after, please stay for a while…"
Misato looked over at the German while they continued through the convoy of military vehicles and heavy equipment.
Asuka had been silent the whole time, resorting to nods or one-word answers whenever she asked her something. She had been looking out the window the entire drive, but now she had her phone open, seemingly listening to a voicemail.
From the moment Misato saw the girl she had known something was off. She had found her this morning, ready to go with her things packed earlier than her, granted the older woman was sporting a light hangover, but still, she was typically fighting the redhead for the bathroom every morning.
Glancing over again, something else had intrigued her, the girl didn't have her signature A-10 clips in. Granted Unit-02 was now in storage and Unit-03 would use different ones, but there hadn't been a day when the girl had left the apartment without them.
Misato smiled to herself, perhaps the girl was finally looking to get out of her comfort zone. Or trying a new hairstyle to attract some boy.
Asuka seemed frustrated, taking the phone from her ear and looking at it, Misato heard the unmistakable voice of Rei.
"Thank you."
What the Colonel didn't expect was the girl to frown and put the phone away.
"What an idiot, I'm not doing this for her." She mumbled, just loud enough for the woman to hear.
Misato couldn't figure out what was going on with the girl, she simply went back to staring out the window, not saying a word.
"We should be ready sometime this afternoon Asuka." Finally speaking up, Misato pulled her eyes back to the road, not that she needed to be cautious with all this traffic.
"I really am thankful for you doing this. The paperwork's a bit messy, but hopefully, we can get you officially under our jurisdiction instead of dealing with Europe."
Once again, the girl said nothing, instead just peering out the window. Misato frowned, she would have expected the redhead to be chomping at the bit to get back in an Evangelion. The girl had thrown such a fuss over Unit-02's storage that she'd expect her to show some sort of emotion.
ʡʘʘʢ
Misato yawned, even with the massive amount of coffee she had ingested she was still tired. After all, it wasn't coffee from Ritsuko's coffee maker, so it wasn't the same.
Speaking of the good doctor, Misato looked at the time, it was mid-afternoon and after a whole day of preparations, Ritsuko should be landing down soon.
A flurry of callouts were buzzing all arounder her, but only one really had her attention.
"Begin countdown." The colonel commanded, not nearly with enough authority in her tone as she would've liked.
"Beginning countdown. All ground crew to evacuate. Medical examinations of test pilot complete. The pilot is currently on standby in the mobile isolation room."
"Looks like I can leave the rest to Ritsuko now..." she sighed, looking around for a chair to catch a quick nap in. it was unprofessional she knew, but it would be an hour or two before they really started the test.
Eyeing a particularly inviting chair in the corner of the cramped bunker, Misato made a move towards it right as she felt her phone go off in her pocket.
The thought of a quick nap being stripped from her made her irritation flare, but the id on her phone quickly washed it away.
"A secure line, from Asuka?"
Stepping out into the open-air Misato's eyes drifted to the towering humanoid in the distance, cranes and construction equipment rose into the sky around it. She opened her phone, this time with a smile.
"What's up Asuka, you need a pep talk?"
The colonel watched as grounds crews scurried around her, military vehicles were parked everywhere in an effort to move away from Unit-03. One mass exodus from around the black Evangelion.
"I just suddenly felt like talking for some reason…" she heard the girl from the other side. No doubt still on her way up to the entry plug.
"Sure, and like I said I appreciate you for doing this, thanks again."
The distinctive sound of a plug suit sealing rang through the phone, the woman guessed she was getting herself ready, the reason why they couldn't have put a room at the top of the structure escaped her, but the idea of her getting ready in essentially a small suspended tram car wasn't a reality she wished on herself.
"I'm sure you could've ordered me to do this if you wanted." There was nothing hostile in that voice, but Misato wasn't expecting such a neutral answer, she expected the girl to be grateful.
For a moment there was nothing on the line, Misato knew the girl long enough to know there was something on her mind.
The question was, what exactly?
"Are you really torn up about missing Rei's dinner party?"
"No… dinner parties aren't my thing; besides it's exhausting to act like you're having fun while you're not. Have you ever had to do that before?"
"Yeah, I have Asuka…"
"Do you think Shinji acts like that a lot?"
"I don't think I should be talking for him, but how often do you have to do that Asuka? How often do you pretend to have fun?" It wasn't like the girl usually looked like she was having fun in the first place, just her attitude while living together made that clear.
.
.
.
"You know Shinji's a lot better at this than you," Asuka responded quietly, it was probably supposed to be under her breath but it was picked up by her phone.
Well, that was a surprise.
"Oh, Shinji's better at what?" she said slyly into the phone.
Misato was willing to bet that Asuka had her hands over her mouth trying to take back the words before a dejected sigh came over the phone.
"He's… he's a good person to talk to."
Asuka, talking with someone? Talking to someone? That was ridiculous.
Even more, ridiculous was the idea that it was Shinji who was doing the listening.
Then it hit her.
"Oh, really?" Misato asked with a smirk, starting to pace in front of the bunker. Perhaps the two of them had been becoming rather close, perhaps the 'harmonizing' had worked a little too well.
"He's, a lot like me you know?" Misato could almost imagine the slight grin on the redhead's face in her mind's eye.
"Shinji? you're joking."
"No, really, he gets me." That voice she was hearing, it was so sure of itself like she had the utmost confidence in the boy.
Perhaps something more than just talking had occurred.
The thought of her two teenage wards being alone for more and more time as she got swamped in work crept its way into her mind. That age, those hormones, Misato frowned, she needed to sit them down if she thought this could go further.
How could she have missed this? The memory of catching Asuka red-handed as she tried to cook rushed back to her, and she mentally kicked herself for not seeing more signs.
But Rei's dinner party…
If Asuka wasn't annoyed that the other girl was having Shinji essentially all to herself, that meant she was incredibly confident that he wouldn't leave her. That he felt the same way.
Of course, she could also be confident in her ability to bring him to the edge of death if he did leave her for Rei.
"Hmm, you should have seen him before you got here." She mused, the idea of that quiet boy she had picked up all those months ago sweeping the redhead off her feet was just too much to comprehend.
Maybe this was what the two kids needed.
"What do you mean?"
"Did Shinji ever tell you what he was like before NERV?" the Colonel didn't know if it was her place to tell her this, but it couldn't hurt.
"A bit, he was sparse on the details though," Misato noted the hesitation in her voice at first, was there something she didn't want her to know?
"When I picked him up, he was the most introverted boy you'd ever seen." She recalled with a smile, remembering the kid who could barely talk to her, yet whose eye's blazed with amazement at the sight of the GeoFront.
"He was just quiet, and he was always listening to that music player too, it never seemed to leave him." The Misato frowned "After the Sixth Angel… he just seemed more alive."
"It's hard to imagine Shinji being so timid." Asuka mused, "He's just so… real, I've never had time for phony friends, but Shinji… he sees me, he sees the real me somehow without even trying. I thought before all I had was the EVA, but…" her voice stopped.
"Asuka?" Misato asked, wondering why the girl had stopped talking.
"Do you have anyone like that Misato? Someone who just listens to you and makes you feel warm?"
Misato's eyes widened, Asuka wasn't just close to him, she had those kinds of feelings for him.
Oh, she was defiantly going to have to sit the two of them down tonight to have a little talk.
Clearing her voice Misato composed herself despite the fact the girl wouldn't even be able to see her "I… do Asuka, I do have someone like that."
Kaji, her mind drifted to the man. The one who she had just laid in bed with for a whole week and between doing more… physical activities… she remembered how they had talked.
How she had shared her feelings of confusion and rage against her father to him and how he had shared his greatest failure, how he betrayed his brother, to her.
In a way, it was a more intimate experience than anything they did with their bodies that week.
"And what's that like? How does that even work?"
"What do you mean?"
.
.
.
"I've… never done this before, I've never had this before."
Asuka admitting she's unsure of herself? Asuka asking to talk to her, one on one? Misato smiled to herself, perhaps no matter how much NERV and the Angels stripped from them, teenagers would always be teenagers.
Now Misato would be put in an unfamiliar situation. How the hell was she supposed to talk to her about this? She had been catatonic from the Second Impact when she was Asuka's age.
"Then how about after this we talk about it, we can go get steak instead of that slop they have at the cafeteria in the GeoFront."
"That'd be nice… thank you Misato."
The colonel smiled to herself, perhaps there was still hope that all of them could live a normal life eventually.
Including herself.
ʡʘʘʢ
There in her plug suit, Asuka just stared at herself in the mirror.
She didn't recognize that girl in the mirror, the girl that talked to people so openly, that craved the warmth given to her by sleeping next to her favorite idiot, the face that seemed more interested in getting back to Shinji tonight to talk instead of piloting this new Evangelion.
What was it that had changed so fast?
Had she always been like this? Did she just push this down inside her and somehow Idiot Shinji had found a way to pull it to the surface?
Of course, that's what happened, but did she want this?
That same part of her that had been dominant for so long, that part of her that had protected her, that had driven her, whispered that everything was a trap, that she didn't need Shinji or Misato, that she was perfectly well off on her own.
That same part of her that had her run from Shinji the night after the Eight Angel, that had made her leave the first warmth she had felt from the boy.
Shinji.
The thought of the dark-haired boy's arms wrapping around her was all she needed to push that part of her down, she wrangled it, silenced its lying mouth, and tossed it aside.
Asuka Langely Shikinami would not let it rule her again, not when for the first time, she had something more than just the EVA, not when she found herself able to sleep a dreamless sleep every time he wrapped his arm around her.
Asuka Langely Shikinami loved Shinji Ikari.
That was the truth she hadn't been ready to tell herself, the truth she hadn't been ready to admit to herself.
The lips of the girl in the mirror began to curl until a small smile sprouted in place of the normal scowl she so often wore.
When was the last time she smiled, truly smiled out of true happiness?
Perhaps this was the first time.
Gathering up all her belongings, she tossed them all into the duffle bag she had brought them in. Looking down at the doll that had found itself with her, the girl's gaze lingered on it for a moment, remembering that woman who gave it to her.
She should track her down and thank her for it if she ever went back to Germany.
Zipping up the bag, the cable car finally found itself coming to a stop at the top of the structure housing Unit-03.
All personal had started to leave the immediate area as soon as she had entered and Asuka wasn't surprised to simply see the entry plug open and waiting for her.
After stowing her belongings, the redhead took a deep breath and climbed inside, an anxious feeling that she hadn't gotten since the first time she had entered Unit-02 bubbled up in her stomach, but she forced it down. The image of her going back to the apartment, laying down next to Shinji, and just talking motivating her.
She barely noticed the rising LCL as it washed over her, there was nothing new in the entry plug, all controls were the same, and as the familiar flash of multiple colors ran over the view in front of her, she couldn't help but realize how beautiful the view was.
Asuka ignored the callouts ringing over the comms, the technical readouts, and other jargon that didn't mean anything. She just looked out over those green mountains, thinking about how Shinji would react to the view from the Austrian Alps.
Then she heard that noise for the first time.
That horrible noise that sounded like a mix of metal being crushed and ripped apart, a mass of deep pulsing red filled the initial part of her view, only to spread, its growth was in intervals, starting and stopping, until it filled everything in sight.
At first, she thought it was a technical glitch, some system error until the feeling of weightlessness took her.
It was as if she wasn't in the seat anymore, it just disappeared, as pink crosses began to flow towards her, passing her.
She looked around, grasped around for any controls to press the emergency eject, but there was nothing, it was as if there had been nothing here in the first place.
Then there was the laughter.
The childish feminine laughter that filled her ears, and it didn't sound like just one source, it sounded like dozens of children laughing softly.
Her back suddenly became cold as she was pushed forwards, looking behind her all that was visible were two plumes of what looked like pink gas, propelling her forwards.
Looking back in front of her, the red turned to blue, as a massive cross with rings around it began to grow bigger, or she was just being pushed closer, it was hard to tell.
All she could do was watch as she went further one last thing escaping her mouth before colliding with whatever was beyond.
"Help me… Shinji."
Two Seconds to Midnight…
You know throughout this whole story I've been really wanting to ask you guys this, it's been so interesting to me (well for all time travel stories) that we all know where things are going, you know, I know, and it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion while knowing it's going to happen. So, I've actually felt guilty, because I've given the characters just that bit more light and happiness than they otherwise received, and now like Shinji thought to himself, the other foot had dropped.
SHOUTOUTS!
SwaggySpoon – Well… sorry about this….
Bwanagator – I'll never tell… at least not now, but get some more tissues ready.
Su Exodus – Oh, you have no idea what we got in store.
UltraSpink of Da USA - Thanks, I'm trying haha.
Greg242 – Warm up or shut down?
BigBlueSmile11 – Thank you, there are times when even Shinji snaps back, though no matter how justified he'll always feel guilty, or should in my mind.
skyf0x – No we haven't seen what happened to Soryu, but trust me, we will get that. The ending has been decided, and I doubt it will change much, but I think most will find it acceptable.
EvaPilotFair – Thanks!
Guest – Oh, we're gonna keep that going lol.
Calborghete – Thank you!
Berix – One thing that bothered me with the rebuilds is that souls in the cores don't seem to matter outside Unit-01 so I'm assuming NGE rules only apply to Unit-01 shrug. I would say (if you found the right song) that you shouldn't look at the music video, instead look at the album and the story from it. Happy hunting. And Shinji will get a chance to sample some of our bluenette's food, next chapter of course.
jimothy – Here's to hoping we get to see more Soryu in the future.
A Guy - *Sigh* No I have not read Re-Take mostly because I didn't know about it before this and I stick to this site, but now given how many times its been mentioned I have to read it lol. I thought the whole 'I don't see X' was a cliché, apparently not. Yes, we'll get a memory of that night.
GeHirNunDherZ – Haha, thanks.
Hoodiebud – Hopefully we keep it that way!
Alright, next time we get a nice sit-down with our favorite family, or at least one bluenette, a time traveler, and a dick, so let's have some fun before we get our hearts ripped out? Think Shinji will ask Gendo about Yui's cooking? I'm looking forwards to it.
Until Next Time.