The walls of the EVA's cockpit were disappearing around Shinji, while the mecha slowly started flying.

The Halo on the 01's head was now glowing, while a cross of light appeared on the EVA back, like if those were its wings. The world was revolving, waiting for the final decision, at the core of the Impact, a white giantess with the face of a young girl was raising the actual core of the revolution on the top of the planet. It seemed like a white tree with a red glowing seed at its top. But none of this mattered inside the core itself, where Shinji's reality was morphing into something else. Understanding that the cockpit of the EVA was just a dissolving cage, Shinji closed his eyes, to let the Impact take him wherever it needed to go.

"Shinji"

A mature, yet pure voice called out to him. A sweet fragrance came under his nose, a nostalgic yet unrecognized one. Shinji opened its eyes, to find himself sit on a chair, staring toward a familiar, yet unknown ceiling. A gentle light entered through the windows, lighting up a simple room in a small apartment. Outside the windows some other houses could be seen, and the noise of life pierced through the open curtains. Shinji never loved the city noise, but in that moment he couldn't help but feel refreshed of hearing some.

"Shinji, come on, eat up"

The voice called out to Shinji again, so that the boy finally directed his eyes towards it. A good looking mature woman, with short brown hair just served him a tasty looking meal. Her face was familiar, yet unknown to the boy.

"Are you an Angel?"

"Oh boy, do you think you should try to flatter your mom?"

"M..Mom?"

Yui Ikari, a presence always looming onto Shinji's life, yet never truly alive in its eyes. Yui was just a faint light of a past he couldn't remember, the happiness he was denied as a child. He could finally recognize her properly.

"Yes"

"Why…why are you here now?"

"I'm not here now, or it's better to say I was always here in a way. After all, you know where "here" is Shinji?"

"I'm inside Unit-01 right?"

"Yes, this is the first time you came this deep consciously"

"So…you were inside here?"

"Well, let's say Unit-01 took something more than just my life. I became a part of it, or maybe I should say I became "it". Like if I'm the soul inside the soulless puppet we created."

"Why you never reached me before? I was fighting inside here"

Yui's eyes were saddened, Shinji understood how his words were saddening her. The woman took his face and stared through it with her pure eyes.

"I tried, Shinji. I really tried. But unfortunately, I couldn't really do anything. I could only make the EVA go berserk, to save you that one time. But aside from that, I was trapped here."

Shinji reached to Yui's hands with his own, and started crying. The feel of those hands touching him lovingly on the cheeks was touching for him, a lone children to which love was denied by the father.

"But I could see you Shinji, I saw your struggles, I saw what you did to save Rei. You did good, I'm proud of you"

"I didn't resolve anything though"

Shinji continued crying, he felt like all the pain and regret he had inside could be externalized as long as that conversation continued

"You did plenty, you gave that girl a meaning. You know, she piloted Unit-01 for quite some time while you were inside here. And I could see her, feel her. She's a really strange girl you know? Really shy and not good with emotions, but even if she couldn't really handle her feelings properly, she was honest. And that's a rarity. It's funny, if you were born as a girl, me and your father would've called you Rei, like that girl"

Hearing about Gendo made Shinji think.

"Can I ask you something, Mom?"

"Go ahead, dear Shinji"

"Why did you love Dad? I tried in every way to connect with him, but I can't. He's manipulative, emotionless, cruel…and so disinterested in me. If he loved you, why would he neglect me? Shouldn't he keep me near as a memento? Instead he pushed me away…"

Yui chuckled a bit as he embraces her son.

"I loved him because he made me feel like he loved me. I know it's not a good explanation, not a really romantic way of describing my love towards your Dad…but, you know I always think about this one scene. The moment I think I fell in love with him. We were still young, and after we got to know each other we started going out. He was a strange guy, at time he was nice, at times he was a jerk. A lot of people hated him because of this latter side. But I always saw that side as a facade, something he put up to deal with his weakness. He doesn't show it, but he's really bad at handling his emotions. Even so, I started getting sick of this two sides, and our relationship deteriorated, so, one day he came to my apartment with a lot of blue roses, professing his love and saying he was sorry for being a jerk. In that moment he splurted out everything, why his behaviour was the way it was, why he hid himself behind a mask. He showed his vulnerable side and was so ashamed of it. But he did it nonethless, and I felt that to be sincere…and as I said about Rei, honesty is a rarity I think."

"Was it really this simple?"

"Showing our weak side to someone is not simple, it never is. The fear of being hurt surpasses the courage of trying."

"I can't believe that to be the same Dad I know…"

Shinji could feel Yui's body shaking, she was trying to resist the shaking, but she couldn't fake it.

"I think…at the end…he hurt himself too badly. He exposed everything to me and we loved each other for years. I could feel his love to be genuine and strong, and the more genuine the feeling, the more it hurts its backlash. By coming inside here, by failing that experiment, I took the most important thing away from him. I…I think he never…recovered. I know it's hard, but please, try to understand him"

"I'm sorry. I cannot"

Shinji detached from her mother embrace and got up.

"Even knowing the reason why he neglected me, I cannot justify it. Even injured, he could have still kept me. I still cannot love him, and he cannot love me. He exposed himself once to you, and he never intends on doing that again. This dilemma cannot be solved, not in this world. But this is why I'm here."

A higher noise came through the window, Shinji immeadiately recognized it.

"I was glad to meet you Mom, but I have to go. I'll find a solution, to everything. Just, look over me until the end"

"Just think about it Shinji,I know what you want to do. To make everything whole, is that a good choice?"

"Our existence is a perpetual stalemate, no one can make a move, no one will make a move. In a way, the only reason I was even born was that Dad tried to break that stalemate by showing his weaknesses. But that backfired on the longterm,but gave birth to me. If I make a world where there's no boundaries between people, I also make a world where we can't hurt each other in any way. I have to act toward that goal, just like Dad acted towards his. And he was always marching towards its goal, he was always trying to get you, even as the NERV commander. And now…I think I get him in a way, longing for something so much to endanger everything to get it, I think I get it. After all, I'm the same. I will make everything whole, just to get to my goal, to overcome the limit of our boundaries."

"Is that worth losing our individuality?"

"What has individuality ever done for us?"

With those words Shinji walked out of the window, and found himself into the train. This time, he was alone in it, and the doors to exit were open.

The promised land, the core of the Third Impact awaited outside.

Shinji stepped outside, but a strong quake made him fall, the train disappeared alongside the promised land, and the cockpit returned all around Shinji.

The EVA 01, fell on top of the Giantess head, and together with it another Evangelion, red like the liquid in which they were standing.

"Got you, Stupid Shinji"