That's Good For You Chapter 3: Being There, an evangelion fanfic

Legal Obligations: I don't own anything that has to do with Neon Genesis Evangelion or any other works done by Gainax or Hideaki Anno. If I did I wouldn't be writing this, nor would I be a starving college student or an American, but that's beside the point. So the characters thus far are all owned by their copyright holders and their legal team.

It's been a very long time since Chapter II, so I won't waste your time right now, on with the story.

-That's Good For You-

by: _zero

Chapter III:

Being There

Things were silent for a few seconds, with Asuka staring at Shinji in disbelief, and Misato resting a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Asuka…"

"Mein Gott, this… Just… what happened?" Asuka stammered. Her defenses still down as she continued to scrutinize the older Third Child. Shinji glanced nervously at Asuka while trying to find something to say to her to no avail, she appeared to be in complete shock, but he was drawing a total blank. All of his concentration was tied up with just trying to prove that he was indeed himself and he hadn't planned much beyond that. His gaze was locked onto Misato with pleading eyes, for her to do say something. Fortunately, his non-verbal request did not fall upon deaf eyes as it were.

"Asuka," Misato whispered again and hung her head a little, searching for some way to comfort the girl. For her part, the second child stood there motionless glaring at her roommate. "When Shinji was taken into the Angel, he was gone a lot longer than we could have imagined." Asuka could feel herself calming down ever do slightly, but she never took her eyes off his face, still trying to accept such a metamorphosis. The Major continued, "Ritsuko can explain the specifics much better than I can, but it all comes down to this. To us, he was gone for just 16 hours, but for him, it was over five years. The last time you saw Shinji, he was 14 years-old." Misato paused once more preparing herself for the German pilot's reaction. "But as he stands here right now, before you and I, he is somewhere over 20 years-old." Asuka was still examining her altered roommate, in a mixture of terror, curiosity, and wonderment. "That's all I can tell you, because that's all I know."

Shinji remained against the railing, trapped under the red head's gaze. Her eyes expressed that she was just as disoriented as he was with this situation. Misato turned Asuka around to face her. Oddly enough, she didn't offer any resistance, "Asuka, believe me, I know what you're going through. Shinji's probably even more confused." In an effort to save time, she opted to dispense with the pleasantries and went back into Major mode. "Listen, I will talk to you more about this later, but for now Shinji and I have to get him some new clothes." Asuka raised an eyebrow at this, and Misato could immediately tell what she was thinking. "His old ones don't fit him anymore and no, you can't come along. I want you to stay here. That's an order."

It was right about then that Asuka's argumentative tendencies began to kick back in, "But I have to go ba…"

"No you don't," Misato glared at her, "besides, since you're already cutting class, I don't think the rest of the afternoon would matter." The Major knew she was being blunt, but she was upset to say the least, at the second child's attempt to defy yet another order issued within the last 24 hours. "Shinji?"

"Y-yes, Misato?" He was a little scared due to the tone she had just used toward Asuka.

"Are you ready?"

"Oh uh, yeah I guess." Misato's countenance seemed to soften a bit upon hearing this. Shinji, on the other hand, thought it wise to conceal that he still felt utterly overwhelmed by everything that had just happened up to this point and was, furthermore, fairly certain that shopping would do little to improve things.

"Great," she said, seeking to reassure him. "I'll be right behind you." As Shinji gingerly made his way past his two roommates, he observed Misato crouching down before Asuka striving to command her full attention. Misato spared one more glance over her shoulder toward Shinji and smiled at him as he departed for the front door of the apartment. Then, after taking a deep breath, she turned back into the Major to confront the young girl once more. "Asuka, there is one last thing."

Coherent thought finally made its return to Asuka, as she quickly regained her composure. "What?" she practically growled as the fire was returning to her voice as well as her eyes.

"You cannot tell anybody about Shinji."

"Now, why would I want to tell anybody about tha…"

"Asuka, I'm serious! These orders come straight from Dr. Akagi. No one outside of NERV is allowed to know about his condition, at least not yet. If any of his friends ask, we're to tell them that he's still in the Hospital."

"Why does he get all of the special treatment!?" Asuka's short-term memory loss, apparently induced by the shock of recent events was abruptly cured when she received a reminder emanating from inside the apartment.

"Uh, Misato are you coming?" All of Asuka's remaining resistance was depleted the second she realized such deep, mature voice was now coming out of Shinji. As was the case with Misato, Ritsuko, Maya and the others, his dramatically altered voice had quickly become the most disconcerting change for her to get used to.

"I'll be right there!" Misato stood up and backed away from Asuka. "I mean it Asuka, nobody. We'll talk more about this when Shinji and I get back." Asuka just nodded her head as Misato left her standing there, awash within her own thoughts.

The front door opened and closed.

'…' Asuka's mind was a blank, she was still burning the image of the now older Third Child into her memory.

"Misato, I don't think I'm going to need all of these clothes." He pointed with his thumb toward the back seat that was now full of bags. The amount of bounty in the backseat was enough to make any woman jealous. He had started protesting half-way into their excursion through the various shops in Tokyo-3's clothing district. Nonetheless, all the accumulated evidence demonstrated a clear lack of sympathy from Misato.

"Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's impolite to turn down gifts Shinji?" She was teasing him quite a bit, but she just couldn't understand why Shinji was so conservative when it came to splurging on nice things for himself, especially when NERV was picking up the tab.

"N, no, it's not that… sorry." He apologized again as he had after each time she started to tease him over it. She just rolled her eyes.

"Besides, you needed some clothes other than the black pants and white shirt you always wear. Speaking of which, how do you like what you're wearing right now?" He had ditched the NERV uniform after the first shop, in favor of what he was now wearing; a dark blue button up short sleeve shirt with Khaki pants. He also sported a new pair of wire frame sunglasses. After being in the darkness for over five years his eyes had become sensitive to normal daylight.

"You already asked me before. Remember." He blushed profusely, flashing back to the incident that took place when he first tried on his new clothing. Misato was giving her approval so enthusiastically that some of the female employees in the shop were giggling to themselves. "I, I like it, Misato."

"hehe," she snickered with a wide grin on her face as she recognized exactly what he was remembering. Shinji was now rubbing his head, and she now remembered the other thing that he was probably thinking about. "So, how's your head… and your knee, and your shin…"

"They still hurt, obviously," He lamented while glowering at Misato, who was attempting to suppress her laughter and was failing miserably. Another one of the side-effects that Dr. Akagi had mentioned to Shinji was this: Given his 'growth' and not actually being conscious while it took place, he would require time to get used to his new body. In other words, he would try to walk around like he was still in a 14 year old body. Suffice it to say that he had turned into a klutz, and he had the bruises to prove it. The worst of which was incurred while inside the first store; which was by far his most spectacular fall, it resulted in a large knot on his forehead. "It's not that funny, Misato." He frowned a little more, however her laughter finally broke through.

"Oh yes it is Shinji, you have no idea." She was smiling brightly now, while driving well over the posted speed limit. Instead of heading back in the direction of the apartment, however, Misato drove toward the hill that provided the best view of Tokyo-3. Shinji knew why they were making the deviation. They hadn't discussed the matters at hand that were in the back of their minds all day. He took off his sunglasses, squinting and looking at them intently.

'These will take some getting used to, a different way to view the world. I guess I sort of have to do that now…' The blue Renault came to a small screech as Misato wordlessly parked the car and extricated herself from the vehicle.

'This is so awkward, he's Shinji, yet... he isn't…' She walked over and perched herself on the railing overlooking the city. The sun was close to setting. Normally this was the hottest part of the day, but it was cooler up on this lookout over Tokyo-3, 'Just a little bit more time before he has to face the others, and Asuka again.' Shinji got out of the car now with his sunglasses placed back over his eyes. "Taking a liking to those shades there eh, Shinji?" All he could do was nod as he walked over with his hands in his pockets.

"Misato… will I be able to see my friends again?" There was a tension-filled moment of silence then Misato let out a sigh.

"I think a lot of that depends on you Shinji. Dr. Akagi hasn't given the go ahead just yet. I will look into it though..." Misato couldn't help but feel some of his pain from the sullen look Shinji's face retained behind his sun glasses.

"I can't go to the school. That much I do know. I'm just a little scared as to what their reaction may be if I see them around. Even though I want to, I don't know if it's right some-how." Shinji's head was swirling. He was still unsure of how anybody outside of NERV was going to handle this.

"Shinji, I realize it's going to be difficult when you do." 'I don't know what else to say to him, there's so much to consider about this… maybe it's just best to let him figure it out for himself.' "That must sound really weak coming from me. But, I guess I just want to say, that I'll be here for you, if you need anything ok." She looked over to him now from the railing. Had she seen his eyes, she would have beheld the expression of someone who was both happy and sad, not really knowing how to feel.

"Th… Thank you Misato" They stood there for a few more minutes in silence, regarding the scenery while enveloped in their own thoughts.

'He's having to grow up overnight now, literally. As if sending children into combat wasn't bad enough, this is so much for him, so fast…' Questions began forming in Shinji's mind.

"When is my next sync test? Ritsuko said they would need to re-fit some things before I could pilot again." Even though he wasn't thrilled about it, he still wanted to know how much time he had left before he was required to go back.

"Two days, the new plugsuit is ready, they're just resizing the inside of the entry plug now. So hey you get two days to rest up!" Shinji was un-enthused, but gave a small laugh anyway. A minute later, Misato's cell phone rang.

"What do you mean the second branch just vanished!?" Misato was running through Central Dogma with Shinji in tow, Hyuga was running along side them as well.

"All we know so far is that they were running the initial S2 engine installation procedures when it occurred. Dr. Akagi is still running the information through the MAGI. There's a briefing in six minutes." They passed through the entrance to the command center.

"Shinji, wait for me in the break area okay?" Shinji merely nodded, Misato glanced back at him as he slowed down next to the room. He watched her as she rounded the corner.

'An entire section of NERV…'

The holo-projection of the incident showed just what had become of the second branch. What was once a base that housed Eva unit-04 and all those devoted to its operation, had been lost in a wave that could not have been predicted. A chill ran down the Major's spine, as she saw a resemblance between this wave, and the shadow that enveloped Unit-01, along with the Third Child "This is horrible."

"Evangelion unit-04, its support group and all of the facilities within an 89 kilometer radius were completely destroyed." Maya Ibuki read the grim report as they continued to stare at the now blank screen.

"Along with thousands of people." Dr. Akagi Added

"Looking at the time schedule, it appeared that they were in the middle of installing the experimental S2 unit from Germany." The long haired tech, Aoba, read his assignment as Maya finished hers.

"Potential causes range from insufficient structural integrity to an error in calculation during the preliminary design stage. That's 32,768 possibilities."

"And that's not mentioning sabotage." The Major was beyond worried.

"But it wasn't really an explosion was it? It just, disappeared." Hyuga Makoto was trying to piece together what happened with the rest of the command staff.

"In all probability they were swallowed by a Dirac Sea, Just as Unit-01 was." Ritusko and Misato started a dark exchange.

"Then the restored S2 engine is..."

"Gone, along with our hopes."

"We're being forced to use things we don't understand."

'Yes, things like the Eva's.' Dr. Akagi's dark thoughts came forward.

"That will be all for now." Sub-commander Fuyutski interjected. "On a related matter, the United States Government has requested that we take custody of Evangelion unit-03. It will be arriving here by the end of the week. Major I will need to meet with you on this development in the morning at 0700 hours. Dismissed."

As the staff exited the room Misato tugged Ritusko back lightly. Both waited until they were alone.

"Ritsuko, we need to talk for a minute."

"What is it Major, I'm really busy right now."

"It's about Shinji, he can't stay in that apartment forever, he has to get back out into the world."

"What are you getting at Misato? We're designing a tutoring program for him right now, I'd like him to come in tomorrow for some initial tests."

"That's, not what I meant Ritsuko." Misato was a little miffed with the good doctor's quick responses. "He keeps asking if and or when he can see his friends again." Dr. Akagi regarded the Major in thought for a moment.

"He can see them whenever he likes now, I don't think there would be any harm in doing that." Her mood turned less cold all of the sudden. "In fact, it would be for the best if he could return to some semblance of a 'normal' life with his friends."

'Whatever normal is' thought Misato, "He'll be happy about that, I'll let him know." The Major started to leave the room when it was Ritsuko's turn to grab hold of her elbow.

"Misato, I've been real short with you lately, like just now. For what it's worth, I'd like to apologize." The lavender haired woman looked at her for a moment, taken aback at her seemingly distant friends action.

"We all have a job here Ritsuko, I know how everything can get to us after awhile. It's ok, don't worry about it." Dr. Akagi released her friends elbow, "I'll tell Shinji the good news." Misato then exited the room, leaving the good doctor behind.

Shinji sat in the break area for an hour, alone with his thoughts. Numerous NERV personnel had run through the break room during his stay. He was leaning forward with his chin resting in hands.

'What the… oh.' Shinji absently ran one hand the side of his face, feeling the stubble that was forming along his jaw line. An image of his father came into his mind, causing the Third Child to visibly frown. 'I will not look like him…' He continued rubbing his cheek, when someone casually walked into the break area. The other man didn't pay much attention to him at first. That is until he noticed Shinji wasn't in a uniform.

"Not only are you out of uniform, but you should be at your post." This caught Shinji a little off guard snapping him out of his thoughts back into reality.

"Huh? Oh, hi Kaji. They haven't called for the pilots and Misato told me to wait here." Shinji thought nothing of his response, but Kaji was stunned. Not for long however he would piece it together quickly. Kaji had already gone through Dr. Akagi's reports from, even though, technically, he wasn't supposed to have access to those just yet. None of the reports however, had contained a picture of the elder Third Child. "My my Shinji, you've grown haven't you." This solicited a weak chuckle from the Third Child.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that..." Shinji stood up from the bench he was sitting on. He was now as tall as Kaji, if not slightly more so.

"You're also working on a five o'clock shadow there." Shinji's face went slightly pale.

"I know." Kaji perceived the cold tone in his voice.

'I can only imagine why he wouldn't like that.' Thinking back to his last meeting with the Commander, "Say Shinji, do you mind if I ask you a question?" the young man shook his head. "You don't… know how to shave do you?"

"Oh uhmm, uh, no I don't" Shinji blushed slightly

"And you do!?" In an ironic twist of fate, or just good timing, Misato chose that exact moment to enter the break room.

"Hello there sweetheart, Shinji and I were just discussing guy stuff, you know." Kaji presented her with his best lady killer smile, sadly to no effect.

"Oh yeah I know, that's why you're going to stop, and don't sweetheart me." Misato was now The Major once more. "Don't you have some sort of job you should be doing right now?"

"Well I was about to perform a service for NERV here. I was going to propose that I teach the young man how to shave." Shinji was caught in the middle of the bickering adults, although Kaji's comment did catch his attention.

"How noble of you, but since you're the only one who has offered." She looked toward Shinji with a cocked eyebrow. "How about it Shinji?"

"Uh, um yeah, sure." He managed a weak smile

"Then it's settled, how does tonight sound?" Shinji nodded in reply. "Great, I'll see you in an hour or two then, I'll have everything for you when I get there." As Kaji, started to walk away, he passed by Misato and gave her his best lady killer smile topped off with a wink, to which she turned her head in response. A moment of uncomfortable silence lingered upon Ryouji's exit.

"Is everything okay Misato?" Shinji decided to inquire about the current situation that had NERV up in arms for the last few hours. The Major looked worn down again. The aftermath of the most recent battle coupled with the stress caused by the frenzied pace at the end of the day was starting to show through her usual facade.

"Well Shinji, yes and no. There was no angel attack, but," she paused "the entire second branch of NERV vanished while they were testing unit-04. It was similar to the twelfth angel's shadow, the Sea of Dirac." Shinji's eyes conveyed the conflicting emotions within him: he was worried, sad, angry, and relieved. He started shaking a little. 'And now this, what more does he have to go through?' Misato was able to read his unspoken reaction. "Shinji, don't worry." 'Can't you think of anything better than that?' Misato silently kicked herself.

"Still, all those people." Shinji's mind flashed between his experience with the twelfth angel, the incident at the second branch. He then imagined the same thing occurring to his friends. 'It could, it could happen right here.' He was broken from his dark reverie when Misato placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Shinji, it was an accident. There was nothing anyone could do." Shinji nodded slightly after looking into her eyes, seeing her honesty, finding a degree of comfort there.

"Let's go home okay? We've got to get rid of that stubble." She was playing with him again, hoping to distract him from the gravity of the day's events.

"Alright." Shinji smiled briefly. It wasn't one that dissipated though. It lingered with him as they walked through the Geofront to Misato's blue Renault.

"We're home!" Misato announced their arrival back into the apartment. Something quickly caught her attention though; Asuka was talking rather cheerfully to someone. Shinji was behind her in the entryway, lugging several large bags of clothing that were his spoils from the day's shopping spree. "Just what are you doing here?"

"My presence was requested if you recall Misato." The voice belonged to Kaji. "NERV did not require my rather unique talents today, so I got off duty a little early, Asuka was more than happy to keep me company." The girl in question was displaying her usual cheerfulness whenever Kaji was around, still trying to latch herself onto his arm.

"A likely story." Just then, a large thump was heard throughout the apartment.

"AHH, damnit." The perpetually unshaven man and the two women ran around the corner… and proceeded to stifle their laughter at the sight that greeted them. There was Shinji lying in a heap of bags and clutching his head slightly. Having lost his balance once again, the bags he was carrying broke most of the fall except for the impact his head received.

"You okay Shinji?" Misato asked, as she was the first to compose herself with a worried comment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I suppose I should be used to this by now." Kaji and Asuka stopped chuckling now. Shinji was gathering the bags around him, Asuka spoke.

"Gott, baka, think you bought enough clothes?" Before Shinji could say anything, Misato, was already fed up getting a little fed up with Asuka's earlier antics, interjected in the young man's defense.

"Well what did you want him to do Asuka, walk around in that uniform all the time?"

"Ladies, ladies, let's all calm down now and relax. It's been a long day for everybody." Kaji's words brought glares from both Asuka and Misato, which he expertly ignored and walked into the living room. Kaji waited a few more minuted more while Shinji hauled the rest of the bags into his bedroom before knocking on his door. "So, Shinji, are you ready to learn just how to shave?"

"Yes." He gave his answer with strong affirmation, an image of his father still fresh in his mind. This wasn't lost on Kaji, he took note of his reaction.

"Great, oh I have question."

"What's that?"

"Do you want to try electric or the razor?" Kaji produced a plastic blade holder and an electric trimmer. Shinji just stared blankly.

"Just what is taking them so long in there?" 'They wouldn't even let me watch.'

"Asuka, calm down, it's his first time shaving you know, that takes time, I think anyway." 'They wouldn't even let me watch.' The two sat fairly quietly trying to catch any piece of conversation that the two men could be having. Although they could hear a yelp every so often, resulting in stifled giggles from them. For the most part the conversations were purely instructional. Asuka was sitting at the table with her head down while Misato was leaning against the wall by the bathroom still nursing her recently tapered amount of beer.

"Misato?"

"Yes, Asuka?"

"He can't be changed back, can he?"

"No, Ritsuko said pretty bluntly that they can't reverse the aging process."

Simultaneously Kaji and Shinji were having a conversation away from the 'art of shaving'.

"So are you going to go back to school Shinji?"

"I can't, Misato said that Ritsuko is developing some sort of accelerated tutoring program." Shinji looked sullen.

"But you miss your friends, don't you."

"Yeah."

"Companionship in one form or another is the one thing that all people seem to seek out. Don't worry Shinji, I'm sure you'll get to see your friends soon." Shinji merely nodded in return. "Now, let's see. Ah yes what to do about those cuts you have there."

"Ristuko said that he could see his friends again. But, he can't go back to school." Misato was smiling now, 'I don't know if Shinji would seek them out on his own.'

"He gets to stay here while I go to school! It's not fair!"

"Asuka, how would you like to be 20 years old and still going to the eighth grade?" Asuka blushed at this retort, silently admitting that the Major had a point. "I do have an idea though." Just then the door to the bathroom opened

"So you two, hear anything that interested you?" Asuka and Misato stopped their whispered conversation suddenly. "I see." The still un-shaven man gave a small laugh.

"If it's all the same to you Kaji, I think I'll try the electric razor next time." Shinji appeared with a few cuts and razor.

"Now remember Shinji, it won't be as close of a shave, you'll have to do it more often."

"That's fine with me." Asuka was watching the conversation from the corner of her eye while Misato on the other hand was looking on with avid interest.

"Looking good there Shinji." Saying this made the young man blush furiously.

"Uh, thanks Misato."

"I'm surprised Kaji could actually pass on such knowledge, considering he doesn't use it himself."

"I may be out of practice Katsuragi but I'll have you know…" Misato continues to give an ever growing look of displeasure.

"Have me know what Mr. Ryouji?"

"Uhh, um, nothing." He says scratching his head. The room was silent for a few moments. "Well I should be taking off now."

"Aww, do you have to leave so soon Kaji?" Asuka bolted up from her resting place, latching onto the long haired man's arm.

"Afraid so, I have an early shift tomorrow." Kaji relinquished the redheads hold as they reached the front door. "I'll be seeing you."

"Thank you Kaji, for uh you know showing me how to shave." Shinji spoke up.

"Not a problem Shinji, if you need to know anything else just ask, got it?"

"Got it."

"See you later." All three waved there salutations as the door closed in front of them.

"Shinji, I almost forgot." The Major spoke as they went back into the living room. "Ritsuko wants you to come back to HQ tomorrow morning." Shinji shuddered slightly, "It's not for more tests, at least that's what she told me."

"Am I going back to school?" He spoke with a hopeful tone.

"No, it's most likely about the program we talked about. I have a meeting in the morning as well, so I'll take you in the morning." Asuka was staying fairly silent through out this whole affair, still not knowing how to handle this new grown up version of Shinji.

'He's not just this stupid little boy anymore, but he is! He has to be, he's just… taller and stronger now. But he's still a wimp, he has to be!' Shinji broke Asuka from her reverie passing by her on his way to his room.

"I'm going to bed, goodnight Misato." He paused in front of his door, "Goodnight Asuka." Asuka hmphed at the blue eyed boy, "Well I see something's haven't changed around here." The door slid behind him as Asuka registered his retort in silence.

"Aaah" Shinji awoke with a start, sitting straight up in his bed with a cold sweat running over his body. 'At least, it wasn't real.' Shinji's dreams were filled with visions of himself in unit-01 fighting all of the previous angels, only to eventually slip into the shadow of the twelfth angel, and then into nothingness. 'Four A.M… I don't have had much more time anyway,' withdrawing the covers from himself, he walked out of him room and into the darkness of the apartment with SDAT in hand. In the living room he saw that Misato was on the floor in front of the now silent television asleep

'She hasn't been drinking as much as she used to, I wonder if she's ok…' He looked around seeing that it appeared that Misato still hadn't finished the beer that she was drinking when Kaji was over. Shinji draped a blanket over her sleeping form. Walking into the kitchen and retrieving a glass of water. Draining the contents of it quickly he set that glass back down and made his way over to the balcony door. Managing to slip through the glass door with relatively little sound, Shinji sat in one of the chairs and watched what stars appeared over the Tokyo-3 night sky listening to his music. Trying to forget his nightmares, with his eyes passively on the night sky, semi-conscious thoughts swirled about in his mind.

'She was there for me… She was there, waiting for me… It doesn't seem true, somebody waited for me…' The grown boy's eyes closed as his head leaned back trying to picture the images of the woman who had been there for him, who was comforting him. "Nobody's ever done that for me before". Just as Shinji finished his sentence he felt a hand on his shoulder. He let out a quick gasp, his eyes quickly opening as the hand gave his shoulder a small squeeze.

"Ever done what?" Misato was leaning over from behind him, their eyes meeting each others.

"Oh um uh nothing that is." Shinji stammered as he always did, however comical as it was now with his changed voice.

"Something's never change I guess, Shinji what have I told you before about evading questions?" The memory came back into his mind. He brought his head down averting his eyes embarrassed.

"I uh well…" Shinji paused as Misato walked around his position and sat down on the ground in front of him, leaning against the balcony railing with the blanket wrapped around her. "Nobody's ever really waited for me Misato." The Major looked on with interest "Ayanami has visited me in the infirmary before… but… no one has ever really waited…" Shinji was fighting back his emotions.

'Has anyone ever really cared for him?' The lavender haired woman drew up and took the elder Shinji in her arms, wrapping the blanket around him and drawing him down to her position on the ground in an embrace. "Shinji…" She shook her head slightly as Shinji slowly returned her embrace wrapping his arms around her. He slumped to the ground into a more comfortable position. Legs to the side his head resting on her right shoulder slightly, still wrapped in the blanket he gave her earlier. Shinji was crying slightly, still holding back most of his emotion. She ran her hand up and down his back slowly. 'After all of this, no one has really cared for him, not even his own father.' "It's ok Shinji, I'm here for you." She kissed his forehead lightly. Shinji's grip grew tighter around her. 'Is he afraid I'm going to leave?' "I'm here…"

They remained in this position for sometime. Misato's mind was clouded with fatigue and emotions. Then a click sound came, Shinji's SDAT reached its end, and the lavender haired woman's mind became clear for a moment. She could feel Shinji's slower heart rate and his breathing had become deep and methodical, he had fallen asleep in her arms. The Major resigned herself to her position while absently stroking his longer hair, 'he seems less troubled now...' Misato was left with her thoughts the remainder of the early morning. 'He's been alone… truly alone…'

--More to Come—

Ok, the story will be progressing from here on out at a faster pace, however I said that last time, or at least I promised myself that last time and it was something that was not to be. So let's just say 'I hope' it will be so next time. So where have I been? Why has this chapter taken so long to write? College and moving out, so I took about a month to totally settle in and start work once again on this installment.

I would like to thank my pre-reader/editor BC Baron. His effort has brought a lot of needed insight in the development of this chapter, I'm sure he will have as much impact in the future, I tend to leave a lot of words out when I write, so his pre-reading has been indispensable.

As I say every chapter: chapter IV is in the works and will be out, well sometime in the future. Barring any tests, papers, homework, and/or seven headed dragons rising in the East…

_zero

Comments and suggestion at balky82@hotmail.com or the review board.