Chapter 18: The rise of Mari Ikari: The day Shinji was no longer all alone.

Shinji did his best to remain calm as he rode shotgun in the very sleek navy SUV being driven by his girlfriend. The previous time he had ridden in a car, it had been one wild ride which made him feel that the car was going to crash and engulf him in a fiery inferno at any second. It had made him detest the very idea of getting in any vehicle. Misato was as incompetent a driver as she was a parent and major.

He had forgotten the sweet sensation of being driven around by a sober and attentive driver who actually gave a damn about the dangers of substance abuse and drunk driving.
And as the sweet ride Mari aptly titled "the Swagmobile" continued to speed forward, Shinji begun to laugh out loud feeling like a kid again despite the urgency of their mission of finding Rei before she got into any more trouble.

Even if Rei had her faults, she was still his friend and his first friend before Mari returned to him. Part of him still felt that by becoming so close to Mari, even if he had technically known her first, he was betraying Rei. It was a feeling of regret that he no longer felt for Asuka, now fully aware that there existed a better kind of relationship in the world which did not involve being shouted at and smacked in the face every few seconds over every little thing that he had zero control over.

He hoped that when he told Rei about his new girlfriend, it would not pierce her heart completely nor would she fly into a jealous rage to become the next Asuka.

"You've made a lot of difficult choices in your life Shinji. I'm proud of you." Praised Mari as they stopped at a red light. "You've been a brave hero, and I respect that from you even if no one else does."

"But soon Shinji. You'll have to be brave one more time. Because soon. You'll have to make the most difficult choice of them all." She warned, her voice taking a queer tone that Shinji couldn't decide was meant to be ominous or amused. It was if she was trying to be serious and at the same time, trying to be funny.

"And what choice is that?" he gulped, suddenly feeling more fear in that one moment than he had felt in all his hellish years spent in NERV, narrowly evading the jaws of death more times than he could count. All his nightmares compacted together wouldn't have hit him with a fraction as much of the fright that Mari's veiled threat was now causing him.
He wasn't in his EVA and he was wishing he was.

"The choice that has been made all the harder because of all the good you've done for the world. The choice that you can only make once."

Mari took a small breath. She wanted to save this for later, but with the world in such danger, every day she delayed without speaking was another day in which Shinji would go to his grave with his choice never made.

"The choice of a significant other. A soulmate who you love as more than just a friend. The choice that will complete you as the great person you are meant to be. And the reason it will be so difficult for you Shinji, more than it will be for anyone else making this choice, is because of just how many people's lives you've improved with your noble sacrifices. You have basically the entire world to choose from, but you can only choose once. And as harsh as it sounds. You will have to live with your choice for the rest of your existence both in this life and the next (if there is one)."

She expected Shinji to squeal in pain or Anguish. She had after all placed upon him one of the most difficult choice any man, woman or child could be called to make, Angel apocalypse, totalitarian world or no.

"You can choose not to choose, but that's another choice which you might or might not like." Mari added trying to seem less frightening.

But though a slight paleness appeared on his face, his voice was clear and unbroken when he next spoke.

"I see. But I think I've already decided. There is no need any more for me to keep running away from what I truly want. I already know who I want, and nothing can change my mind."
He turned his brown eyes to look into her teal ones as he finished this declaration.

Mari's heart was thudding thunderously as Shinji quietly but confidently continued.
"Time and time again, I've tried to begin a relationship in earnest with the few people I could call my almost friends. Not one of them came close to success. I used to think that it really was because, as Asuka and Misato put it, I was a stupid cowardly brat who would never measure up to anything."

He smiled wistfully. "Now I know the real reason. It was because I had made my choice a long time ago. It was because I had complete faith in my past choice, that I was unable to start a new relationship with anyone. After all, I'm not the unfaithful cheater that my dad is. I would never go back on my word once I declared myself engaged to my significant other."

He shook his head, still smiling.

"I've been searching for a certain someone. Someone who meant everything to me but who I had forgotten the name of in the years me and her spent apart (kind of like that film "Your name"). That person thinks they need to apologize when it should be me who's sorry for not recalling them sooner."

His eyes began to moisten, but his smile never wavered.

"You've grown to be so smart and beautiful, Mari. Just like my mother knew you would."

Mari choked back a sob herself. "And you've grown to be so kind, strong and selfless. Just like I knew you would."

The two EVA pilots stared at each other in shared admiration for an endless time as an endless sea of cars and trucks continued to block the road in front of them.

"I know" Shinji announced, his voice serious once again as he briefly turned away. "That the choice I am about to make will make me a forever enemy of the people who once knew me. And that from this day onwards, I will have maybe a million killers outside my door trying to slit my throat. I understand that this is a sacrifice that must be undertaken. But for once in my life, I have decided, and nothing can change that decision. I might die tomorrow but I will not go to my grave an unwed man. Besides, it doesn't suit the son of the chief of NERV to be single."

Shinji's short and poignant speech which would soon be put into every existing history book finally finished, he turned back to his girlfriend and in the most courageous voice he had ever used in his lifetime, asked the brief but heavy question that once asked could never be taken back.

"Mari. Will you accept me to be your significant other?"

Though she had a feeling all along that this talk was coming from the moment she and Shinji reunited, Mari could not help but tremble a little in her driver's seat as even more traffic continued to clog up the road before them and the traffic light stayed resolutely in the red section.

"Sh, Shinji" she briefly muttered, amazed at how bravely he was managing the ordeal that brought most battle-hardened combat veterans to their knees. He really was the perfect saviour that the world needed the most.

"Will you take me now, for better or for worse. And promise to love me in both sickness and in health as I vow the same for you?" Shinji was never an expert on the bible, but he had heard that one-line countless times in the films his tiny amount of free time allowed him to see.

It usually came only in the final episodes when he and probably every other follower of the series had long since quit the series on account of how late the obvious declaration between two obvious lovers came. This would not be another one of those bad series. He was declaring his relationship with his lover honestly in episode 1 and leaving nothing to chance.

And if he got nothing but rejection or heartbreak, at least he would have the rest of his life to brood over his failure. Not that he hadn't been rejected before, but this one would sting the hardest out of any he had been through.

Of course, Mari didn't answer right away. This was a serious moment that always deserved its due respect. She sat there in tense silence uncharacteristic of a normally excitable and feisty jester for a few seconds which seemed to crawl by like years.

"Not to scare you or anything Shinji. But you do know that if you choose me, you will gain the everlasting hatred of just about everyone you care about. Just about everyone who you're close to at this moment, is going to have their heart shattered to pieces. That includes Asuka, Rei and yes even Misato and Dr Akagi. I mean, I love you as much as you love me and I am very grateful to be chosen, but are you really sure this is what you want?"

"I'm sure" affirmed Shinji, his voice burning with a passion which would have intimidated Asuka. "I've spent my life being as generous as I could to everyone. And just this once, it's time for me to be a little selfish. As I stated before, I made my choice a long time ago. And I knew when I made my choice, what the consequences would be. So, let them hate me. They'll hate me anyway. They hated me when I was a coward, and they'll hate me even if I became the bravest person alive. It doesn't change my love for you Mari. Nothing can change my love for you, and you should know that by now."

"Spoken just like a true hero." Mari proudly said to herself. "Oh Yui, if you only lived to see your son right now."

"Everyone and anyone could make me feel hated. But only you could make me feel loved. Everyone gave me the urge to die and end it all. You gave me the will to live. You've given me so much Mari, and now, this selfish and stupid brat asks for just one more thing. I ask you to come with me, till death do us part. And I mean it."

"And I accept" replied Mari, this time with no pause. "You gave me someone to care about after everyone I held dear was killed by NERV. You gave me a purpose in life after I had lost everything. Whenever, wherever. We're meant to be together."

And after Mari said those words, she unbuckled her seatbelt after taking a quick glance at the still red traffic light (safety first) and planted her lips upon a completely surprised Shinji who very nearly reeled away but forced himself to stay strong and accept his girlfriend now wife's token of affection.

Electricity seemed to pulse through his body as the kiss continued. It felt a billion times better than he imagined his first kiss would be in his dreams. Only this wasn't a dream. He had pinched himself very hard to make certain of that.

He begun to run short of air and his brain begun to swim giddily with nausea, but he resolved himself not to pull away just yet as he pushed his lips into Mari's harder.
If he were to die right now in some sort of Angel attack, he would be perfectly okay with it.
His one purpose in his miserable existence of finding just one kindred spirit who returned his feelings of affection had been fulfilled and the burden chaining his soul to eternal torment was finally gone.

Now he could live and die knowing that his efforts to bring joy to a joyless world, were not completely wasted. He had finally found his way out of the boulevard of broken dreams. No longer would he have to check his vital signs to know that he was alive and that he walked alone.
He was certain that in this blissful moment, he was alive through the sheer euphoria of sweet victory.
And he was certainly not alone any longer.

He had not been forced to settle for mediocrity nor consolation prize. Mari was everything a battle scarred and angsty boy could want in a girl, not without her imperfections but all the better for them.

His mum once said to him before she passed away that you were no one until you were somebody to someone. Well now he was somebody. Somebody valuable and worthwhile who was certainly not an idiot or a brat.

The sweet kiss continued for a few more moments until the traffic which moments ago Shinji wished would dissipate as soon as possible but now wished to continue forever, seemed to clear instantaneously causing the traffic light to instantly shine green. Usually the colour of serenity and safety in stark contrast to its more foreboding and dangerous cousin red, but today the colour that Shinji absolutely abhorred as Mari was forced to pull away, pull on her seatbelt and continue driving forward as the car behind beeped twice angrily in quick succession.

There had been no rings, no dresses and tuxedo and no ceremony but Shinji didn't care. As he had learned over his years of seeing his father mishandle relationship after relationship, a wedding really was sometimes just a formality and a piece of paper that meant absolutely nothing.

As far as he was concerned, the girl sitting beside him driving him onward was his wife now.
As Marie Simon Bishop had died to make way for Mari Makinami Illustrious, so did Mari Makinami give her life to give rise to Mari Ikari.

The smile he could see on his girlfriend from a window reflection told him that she was just as elated by the upgrade in their relationship as he was.

His huge grin twitched very slightly as he settled back into his seat and had a flash of all the lives both innocent and guilty that he had completely ruined with his decision.

"Let them rage." He apologetically but calmly whispered to himself as the car continued onward.
" This is my reward and I earned it fair and square."

Short chapter. Thanks everyone for reviewing and please keep them coming if you can. Thanks for reading and I will see you back next time hopefully. Bye for now and thanks. Notice me Senpai.