"Hey... did you really mean that? When you said you thought of me as a friend?"

"Of course I meant it. Life is a short and lonely thing. It would be pointless to lie about something like that."

End of Evangelion

Tabris' Finale

Misato sighed in relief. Asuka had been so worried about Shinji that even their guardian forgot she was a trained professional for a second. She wondered to herself if that was how she looked when Kaji ran off to do who knows what.

There was no time for such thoughts, however. If she let her mind wander too far no one would be seeing anyone ever again, much less her seeing Kaji. She stepped forward, eyeing the video feed of Unit 01 and Unit 02 engaging the Evas, just like they had done once before.

"Ayanami, what's your status?"

"Thirty seconds out. I apologize for the delay."

"What were you doing down in Terminal Dogma?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Rei answered. "I was... attempting negotiations."

Misato tilted her head. "Huh?"

"This is a tactical combat line, please refrain from unprofessional vernacular," replied Rei, a slight bit of amusement tinging her voice.

Maya raised an eyebrow, "Did Rei just... make a joke?"

Unit 02 kicked the Eva impaled on its knife, sending it flying into the group.

"Don't worry about destroying the Eva Series, break through and stop the angel!" shouted Misato.

Asuka clicked her tongue, "Think I don't know that?! Let's go Shinji!"

"Right."

We charged.

The unit she had kicked was already standing, along with the few that it had knocked over. "Damn, guess I didn't stab deep enough."

The group of eight ran towards us at once.

"Don't let them swarm us!"

We split off from each other, nearing the walls on the opposite sides of the gigantic hall. I went left, Asuka went right.

I jumped, feet first into the far left unit, taking it with me as my momentum propelled me forward.

I rolled to recover, causing the ground below me to shake.

Unit 02 grabbed two units by the arms, pulling them forward and back. She shoved them into the other units that were gunning for her, and kept running.

We were almost to the door.

I felt a lurch, and a sharp pain in my back as one of the units tackled me from behind.

"Shinji!"

A deep crash echoed through Terminal Dogma as Unit 01 hit the ground. The damn thing was right on top of me, tongue hanging out of its mouth. "Get the hell off me!"

I struggled, but its grip only tightened, and its mouth opened wider.

Then, its head started to spout blood, soaking the right side of Unit 01.

My eyes widened, and as the torrent calmed, I saw it. A progressive knife sticking out of its skull.

"Shinji, Asuka. I am here to render assistance."

"About damn time!"

"I apologize."

Unit 00 was a blur. It crashed into the Eva that was attached to me, sending it tumbling.

Rei stood over me and held out her hand, "Please refrain from panicking. We must remain calm."

I grasped it and she pulled me up.

Once more we three stood together, backs facing each other as the Eva series circled us.

This time I wasn't just imagining it.

These things were definitely laughing.

"I've got a really dumb idea," said Asuka.

I was starting to get used to us all having dumb ideas. "Well, let's hear it then. Can't get much worse than this."

"Rei, you and me are gonna throw Shinji."

"Excuse me?"

"I agree, that would be the most prudent course of action."

"What?!"

"We have very little time," said Rei, "Our goal is to break through and stop Kaworu Nagisa. In order to facilitate this, Asuka and I will remain to combat the Eva Series, and you will run ahead. If a unit pursues we will intercept."

"They're right Shinji." Misato's voice. "We're running out of time. Go."

I sighed and turned my controls. Just as Unit 01 began to turn three of the Evas charged us at once.

"Quickly!" shouted Rei.

I held out my arms, and they were grasped by both units.

I felt my feet leave the ground, and then I was flying.

I landed side first and slid along the ground through the door. I pushed myself up and broke into a run. I reached the LCL pool, the sounds of combat fading further and further as I moved.

There he was, floating right in front of the monstrous Lilith.

As I waded towards him, he spoke. "I see you have retrieved the lance." He turned to face me.

I reached out with my right hand and wrapped it around him.

Everything went black.

Makoto's eyes widened. "The ego border on Unit 01 just vanished!"

Misato broke into a cold sweat, stepping forward. "P... pilot status?"

"Alive, nerve connections still stable, sync at... 100?" said Maya.

I leaned forward over the railing. This was the same dock Asuka had taken me for our date, the same place we had ran into Kaworu. The sun was already setting, leaving behind an orange hue as it slowly made its way past the horizon.

I heard humming to my left, and moved my eyes.

I didn't turn fully, but I could see him still, sitting on the railing with his legs dangling over the edge.

Once again, an Ode to Joy.

Suddenly, he stopped. "This was a good choice," he said.

"You said Rei gave you an ultimatum too."

"That she did. I was rather surprised. Unfortunately I am not in a position to make such a deal. She is much luckier than I am."

"How so?"

"I am compelled to this place by my very nature. Ayanami-san has a choice, you see. She was created by the whims of a man who wanted to initiate Instrumentality, but she is still ultimately human. Humans possess free will, as do angels. I have no such fortune."

"That doesn't make sense. The angels all did the same thing you're doing right now."

He chuckled, "Ah, yes, but they had a choice in the matter. If I had such a thing we would not be in this predicament."

"You don't... you don't want to be here?"

"I do not, but I am glad I got to see you again Shinji-kun, even if it was only for a short while. Souryu-san... she seems nice."

"There you go with that again. We never met before."

He sighed, "No, I suppose not."

There was a long pause. We both stared out at the horizon. In the distance, I heard a cicada.

Finally, he spoke again. "Shinji-kun... you need to grasp your future with your own two hands. If you let me live, I could turn away from Lilith, yes. We could go to school and spend our days happily. However, one day, even were it against my will, my purpose would be fulfilled."

"But..." I turned fully now, and Kaworu was facing me.

The smile he had now was the gentlest I had ever seen. "You have earned a bit of happiness after all you've been through."

"Asuka, look out!"

The red-head side stepped an attack.

The Eva Series were moving even stranger than before. They almost seemed too coordinated.

Rei grabbed the arm of a unit charging her and tossed it to the ground, plunging her prog knife deep into the core. It screamed and flailed.

She dug deeper, and the unit stopped moving.

Another two charged Asuka, but her attention was on the one behind Rei.

She moved, jumping over Rei and colliding with the unit sneaking up on her. After a tumble, she was on top of the unit, and decided it would be a good idea to start punching it.

"Thank you."

Asuka smirked.

I remembered the tanks and jets. The people I had to kill to make it this far, just to survive.

The people SEELE had sent to their deaths. Now I was finding out the angels had a will of their own as well. There was no longer any avoiding it. From the beginning, I had blood on my hands.

"Is it really that simple?" I asked, turning back to the setting sun. "Just kill you and keep moving?"

"Conflict is rarely simple. You have fights with people you care about (Asuka). You are friends with people who should be your enemy(Rei). I think there's something to be said about carrying forward the memories of the people that were lost so you could make it this far."

I stood straight from my lean, grasping the railing with my hands. "That's not fair to you," I mused.

"No," he said, "It is not, but life is rarely fair. Death for me has little meaning."

Another moment of silence.

"Hey," I said. "That thing you did at the apartment, what was that about?"

A bemused laugh, "Ah, yes. Our AT Fields were incompatible. I simply tuned mine to the same frequency so you could empathize."

I remembered reading about the Third Impact, and how AT Fields are possessed not just by angels and Evas, but all living things.

He continued, "That's what Lilim do when they empathize, you know. AT Fields are not just boundaries. They can shape themselves, interact with other fields, and even ever so slightly open."

"I see..."

"You once swore that you would go on living, Shinji-kun, even if it was painful."

I didn't remember making such a promise, but it sounded like something I would do.

"Perhaps this is the result of that oath, but I think there was something more. You needed someone who was there for you."

"Haru," I whispered.

"Yes."

Unit Zero stumbled under the onslaught of the three attacking it. One of the units reached out and grasped its right arm, yanking down. Rei screamed as she felt her arm being torn from her body. Her right arm fell limp at her side, and she yanked the control in her left hand as hard as she could, attempting to pull away from the Evas and retreat.

"Rei!"

Asuka moved to help, but was intercepted by her own three attackers. "Get out of my way!"

A kick to her chest.

The Evas descended on her when she fell, mouths agape.

Fear.

She screamed as one of them sunk its teeth into her left arm.

"Asuka!" cried Rei.

"Shinji!" yelled Misato, leaning over the comm station. "Shinji, please wake up! You have to kill the angel! Rei and Asuka are..."

"When my father abandoned me... it broke me..."

"And yet here you stand, stronger than ever. You've already accepted that you can't save everyone. What's the life of one more angel?"

The cicadas were growing louder.

The orange light from the setting sun was starting to fade. The sky began to darken.

"It's almost time to go," he said. "I would hate to keep you from Souryu-san any longer."

"Hey... did you really mean that? When you said you thought of me as a friend?"

"Of course I meant it. Life is a short and lonely thing. It would be pointless to lie about something like that."

My grip tightened on the rail. "Are you sure there's no other way?"

"There is none."

I took a deep breath. "Kaworu?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Unit 01's right hand clenched.

Kaworu's head fell into the LCL below.

The Eva series collapsed.

The alarms stopped.

The city, the world, was safe, and my friend was dead.

The garage elevator leading to the geofront was empty that evening, save for Misato's car. I sat in the passenger seat, head leaning against the window and staring at the passing lights on the wall.

Misato and I hadn't spoken a word to each other when the three of us were pulled from our Evas. Asuka and Rei were carted into the hospital for recovery, but the injuries they sustained weren't terrible.

Asuka's sync rate was getting pretty high, so there was a nasty gash on her arm from where the Eva bit her, but she was otherwise unharmed. Rei's arm was once more put in a cast.

I found myself wishing they had been discharged.

Even with Misato, there was a creeping loneliness that I started to feel ever since my final conversation with Kaworu.

"It's not right," I muttered.

I heard Misato shift in her seat.

"He was just like Rei," I said. "He didn't want to do this." My fists clenched, "It's not right. He should be here."

I heard the click of a seatbelt, and felt Misato's arm wrap around my shoulders. She leaned over fully, pulling me into a hug. "Shinji," she said softly. "I'm so sorry..."

I leaned my head over, pushing it into her shoulder.

"It's not your fault. I chose to be a pilot. If the angels were just like us... that's a consequence I'm going to have to learn to live with."

The hug tightened. "No child should go through this," she whispered. "It isn't fair."

"Life is rarely fair," I said.

Kaworu's smile had been so kind at the end.