Rei disappeared from the train
The sound of the trails of cold steel was the only thing that boy could hear.
His senses were dull, he felt really awake only when talking to that girl. But now that short intermission was over, and he remained alone in that train. Before the girl's appearance Shinji couldn't really feel the time passing by, he was in a mild, comforting slumber. Now that he was alone again, he waited for that feeling to overcome his body again. But that was not the case.
He closed his eyes, trying to invoke his own slumber, but a voice echoed through the silence.
"Hello Shinji"
Shinji didn't recognize that voice. It was not Rei's, nor Asuka's, neither Misato's. It was a male voice, but it was so soft and soothing. The boy looked around, and saw who was talking to him. The voice was from behind the glass door, which separated Shinji's wagon from the others. The figure that seemed distant and hold his ticket was now right in front of the door, and Shinji could see his face. The grey hair and red eyes were kind of intimidating, as if that boy on the other side was some kind of divine figure, after all his white skin seemed like it was glowing too.
"Who are you?"
"I'm the one who has to bring you happiness. Such is my vow to you"
"I never recalled asking for that, nor knowing you…wait, you are that voice. The one from the other day, while I was fighting the Angel"
"That's right Shinji. I descended upon you, I wanted to save you, to bring you happiness, but something didn't work out as I thought. It seems like you couldn't accept it"
The boy with the grey hair showed Shinji the ticket, it was different from the one the boy gave to Rei short before. It was much more elegant, and had a clear destination written on it. "To the promised land". It seems like Shinji knew already the destination of the train and that the boy had his ticket. But no one told him beforehand, he just knew.
"And even now, you can't accept it. It's funny that's a ticket here, I suppose you had to travel a lot by train. But I don't understand…do you know where this promised land is Shinji?"
"No"
"Do you know why you have to go there?"
"No"
"Do you know why you want to be there?"
"To be happy, I suppose"
"And what will you find there, what will make you happy"
"I…don't know. Maybe I'll find my mom, maybe if my mom is there dad won't have to be so cold to me. Maybe if I had a family, I could be better. Maybe if I had a family…I could be less of a burden for those around me"
"Shinji. I don't know what awaits you at the final stop of this train. But if happiness is what you seek, we can work on that. Together. There's no need to live in the past, we can make the present the best place to live"
"But the present does not have mom. In the present I'm hated by my dad, I'm a burden to Rei and Asuka, I'm messed up. I cannot continue living there."
The train was not stopping, instead it was ramping up in speed, with every word out of Shinji's mouth the train accelerated. After a while it started trembling, it seemed like it was on the verge of derailing.
"So, it seems like you cannot accept reality yet."
The boy stepped back from the glass door and gave his back to Shinji's.
"It seems like your happiness cannot be obtained while this current reality persist. Either you accept it, or reality itself changes. Until then, you won't be able to accept the ticket."
The boy started walking back to his place
"Wait, where are you going? At least try to gave that to me, don't ignore me."
The boy said one last phrase before returning to be an undefined black shape, but Shinji could not hear was left there, screaming to the door, trying to get the boy's attention. But it didn't work. After a bit he was not screaming anymore, the feeling he longed for, the warm slumber, enveloped his body.
—
Inside Unit-06 cockpit, Kaworu regained consciousness. The EVA systems were on survival mode, it seems like he slept for past the 3 minutes he had to move the EVA without the cable plugged in. The radio communications were active though, and he listened to the HQ proclaiming the Eleventh Angel's death.
Another one bites the dust. Another step towards the Instrumentality project. Kaworu knew about that project, knew about the aims of both Gendo and SEELEE, even if they didn't share the same objectives. He was deciding on what to do about that, now that he was not one of the Thirteen. He could work against the project, work towards it or just accepting once again to become the Thirteenth angel. This time he had no-one to stop him.
But his vow was dedicated to Shinji's happiness. And his action had to work towards his own objective. He first thought on forcing Shinji to accept reality, and then save that reality with him. But now, he understood that the boy could not accept the world they were living in. So if the world cannot shape the world, than the world will be shaped after the boy's desire.