One More Final: Unfortunately, I don't own GAINAX or Evangelion. If I did, this is how it would end.
I'll save my ramblings till after this is over. I'll just say that this is intended as a lighthearted but hopefully realistic finale to the story, tying loose ends and just finishing it up. Enjoy.
ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
08. The Beginning
Some time later:
"Come on, stupid! I don't have all day," yelled Asuka Langley Sohryu crossly, standing in the doorway of the apartment.
"Could you move, please?" wheezed Shinji Ikari, staggering under the weight of a very large, very heavy box with ASUKA scrawled all over it in German. "You're in the door."
"Hmm? Oh, yeah," Asuka graciously shifted aside and happily wandered off to her new bedroom, allowing the boy entry.
"Shiiin-jiii…" a paint-splattered Misato Katsuragi called sweetly as he tottered past her bedroom. "Can you get me another…" she savored the word, "beer, please?"
"Um… sure!" Shinji replied desperately. He looked for a place to put the Asuka's belongings amidst the chaotic mess of unopened boxes and jumbled furniture.
"Shinji! Come and give us a hand with this wardrobe," Kensuke called from the hallway. "Touji just dropped it on his foot and he's too busy swearing…"
"Er… hang on…"
"Hey, Ikari, what's taking so long?" demanded Asuka impatiently, momentarily poking her head around her bedroom doorway before returning to her unpacking.
"Ah… coming…"
"Hey, Shinji, what's taking so long?" Misato called disapprovingly, turning her blaring radio up even louder.
All Shinji could do was sigh. Mari thundered past him laughing, a white spot of paint on her nose and Misato's good-natured threats following her. He turned and was about to put Asuka's box down in front of her door when the little girl threw herself at the back of his legs.
"Help me, Shinji!" she squealed.
"Mari… I… aah!" Shinji was pushed forwards and stubbed his toe on another box, tripping himself and falling bodily to the floor. Crashing down, the box he carried burst open and Asuka's clothes flew everywhere. Mari dashed off.
Asuka appeared in her doorway. "What are you…" she began, but stopped when she saw Shinji lying on his stomach on the floor, his face in amongst her clothes, groaning. "You pervert!" she screamed and booted him painfully up the rear end, making him bleat in dismay.
"Hey you guys!" Misato yelled loudly from across the apartment. "Keep it down! And I'd rather not destroy this place just yet, if you don't mind!"
"It's not my fault!" Shinji and Asuka both shouted crossly.
Suddenly, there was a bump, the sound of something hitting the floor and an almighty bellow followed by an impressive string of brutal curses that made Asuka nod approvingly. Turning to the door of the apartment, they saw Touji hopping about with a purple face while Kensuke shook his head in disbelief, the wardrobe they had been carrying lying on the floor.
"You really can't do anything right, can you?" Kensuke commented, annoyed. "I mean, you just dropped this thing on your other foot…"
"RrrghIknowthat!" Touji roared furiously as he tried to limp on both feet, glaring at his unmoved, sandy-haired friend, who was standing there calmly watching him.
"Hey!" Misato admonished. "I didn't ask you guys to help so that you could just stand around, you know!"
"Sorry, Miss Misato!" Kensuke quickly pushed his glasses up his nose and grabbed his end of the wardrobe again.
"We want to get this place looking nice for when Hikari comes over, don't we Touji?" Misato continued shamelessly, giving the tall boy a devilish grin and knowing wink.
Kensuke smugly took a deep breath, about to unleash a torrent of smart remarks, but a wild-eyed glare from his taller friend convinced him otherwise. Muttering incoherently, Touji viciously grasped the wardrobe again.
"It's going to be a long day," sighed Asuka, leaning against the wall as the sound of the wardrobe hitting the ground came again, followed by another hideous stream of blasphemies.
Shinji glanced down the hallway where Kensuke was telling Touji that he still had another five fingers. "You can say that again." He frowned as his guardian sauntered past, humming. "Is it just me, or has Misato been painting very quickly?" he asked.
Asuka's eyes narrowed and she stamped over to the door of Misato's bedroom where she groaned. "Misato!" the redhead called exasperatedly. "You've missed about fifty spots in here!"
"Yeah, I know, I'll fix 'em later!" the former Major called back cheerfully as she began slapping paint on the walls of Asuka's bedroom.
The two teenagers looked at one another.
"I wonder how she became NERV's Operations Director," said Shinji.
"The selection criteria must have been really weak," Asuka replied dryly.
Shinji looked about. The place was a mess. He could hear Misato whistling in the other room, Touji and Kensuke arguing in the background and Asuka grumbling at the incompetence she had to put up with.
It feels good to be home, he smiled to himself.
* * *
Shinji, Asuka, Misato, Maya, Touji and Mari had lived in almost total squalor for a few weeks. The UN rescue camp was not the ideal place to live, and there was often dissent amongst the people there.
There was always just enough food to survive and not a crumb more. All of them lost weight. They managed one improvised shower or bath every four or five days as nobody wanted to wash in the LCL ocean.
Even amongst their little group there was tension. Arguments occasionally broke out, other times sullen silence pervaded their campfire at night. Still, they stuck together through it all and slowly things began to change.
More and more soldiers arrived, with more and more supplies. The UN was determined that Tokyo-3 should be assisted in every way possible, as for the past year the eyes of the entire world had been gazing squarely at the city and it stood as a reminder of man's defiance against the odds. Gradually, building equipment was shipped in and the survivors began the process of removing the debris and rubble in any way they could.
Then came the day that the group was called to NERV by Acting Commanders Hyuga and Aoba.
* * *
"What?" gasped Makoto Hyuga into the telephone. "They've all been sighted alive? When? For God's sake, get them down here!"
Just half an hour later, in the crumbling yet still operational remnants of Central Dogma, Shigeru Aoba stood beside Hyuga in front of the gently humming MAGI supercomputers, squirming uncomfortably as their guests arrived at NERV headquarters.
Several Section 2 agents escorted the scruffy, ragged group through the remnants of the Geo-Front and into the dilapidated ruins of Central Dogma. The Acting Commanders went to meet them, feeling a little embarrassed about their new positions.
"Major Katsuragi," Hyuga greeted her with a smile, bowing respectfully. "I'm glad to see you're all right." He gasped in surprise when Misato beamed and unexpectedly hugged him warmly.
Cocking an eyebrow, Maya Ibuki approached the Acting Commander with the long hair, who was currently shuffling his feet and looking quite uncomfortable.
"Hello, Aoba," Maya said, rather coldly.
"Er… hi, Maya," Aoba answered cautiously with a hint of nervousness. As Hyuga stepped back Maya's face finally broke into a smile and the three deck bunnies shared a relieved embrace, laughing as the tension evaporated.
Hyuga and Aoba gladly, and with some relief, gave up their posts as Acting Commanders and as ranking officer, Misato assumed command. Not that there was much to do or even left to command; the UN would be arriving any day now to take control of the entire NERV organisation. Until then, they would remain here.
Shinji, Asuka and Touji were just glad that they had a better place to sleep for the time being.
* * *
Sure enough, the United Nations arrived and accepted command of the shattered NERV facility. All its resources and personnel were brought in under the UN's wing and assimilated, finally bringing the existence of NERV to an end.
For now, this meant very little to those who had worked there. Makoto Hyuga, Shigeru Aoba and Maya Ibuki were to remain and operate the MAGI until the three huge supercomputers could be shipped to a safer location. They would prove invaluable in the upcoming weeks.
Around the same time as all of this, the world began to piece its communications network back together.
Two and a half weeks after the group had relocated their home to NERV headquarters, the world's television networks went back on air, accompanied by several dry comments about the necessities of human existence.
The reborn world was, of course, anxiously demanding to know the details. Fortunately, with Hyuga, Aoba and now Misato's handling of the information left to them by Kouzou Fuyutsuki, along with temporary yet unconditional control of the world's media by the UN, they learned.
Across the globe, televisions would broadcast messages of hope and unity, proclaiming the truth about SEELE and Third Impact, the real truth this time. There was still conflict in parts of the world, wars that took advantage of the relative disorganisation and shifted priorities of the world powers, but luckily everyone in the UN recognised the need for peace in such a time as this and moved swiftly to brutally quell these situations.
Vice Commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki's war tribunal was one of the first things aired on the television networks. The hearing was translated into several dozen languages and aired in every country on the world… but not for reasons people expected.
The Vice Commander sat with an air of quiet dignity as he listened to the charges against him. The world, hoping to see an enemy they could blame, was shocked to hear that there were not many charges at all – and all of them were exceedingly minor.
He was found guilty on three of the seven counts and sentenced to 'conditional house arrest, taking into account the unusual nature of the charges'.
There was an outcry. People shouted censorship and government manipulation in the streets. But then they heard what Professor Fuyutsuki had done.
Fuyutsuki had voluntarily surrendered all his total knowledge of NERV's accounts. Even if he was under arrest he was still technically the highest-ranking person in NERV. He donated every last cent of the organisation's massive savings to the UN.
Even the United Nations, who had been secretly manipulated by SEELE, had no idea of just how huge NERV's budget had been. NERV had enough money, of course, for Evas 00, 01, 02, 03 and 04, and each Evangelion had been a multi, multi billion dollar investment. Then there was the fact that they had several branches around the world. Then there was the Geo-Front – almost the all the resources available to the human race had gone into NERV's (and previously Gehirn's) budgets for its construction, repair and upkeep.
After that there was the auxiliary budgets, as well…
Knowledge of NERV's accounts then led to SEELE's accounts being ruthlessly hunted and tracked down. Their monetary value was even greater than NERV's. After all, they had easily constructed nine mass-production Evangelions simultaneously and had funded NERV.
Kouzou Fuyutsuki single-handedly saved the world from another economic disaster. As well as that, the identities of all twelve SEELE members were uncovered from all the new information. If they were ever to return from the LCL they would be spending their rebirth in a one-by-one-meter prison cell. The public outcry ended and the world developed a great respect for the aging man.
Being led from the tribunal building, Fuyutsuki told the microphones, "I only pray that I am redeemed in the eyes of God. I ask the world to forgive me."
When the true scale of Fuyutsuki's actions became apparent, he was exonerated of his remaining charges with the world's blessing.
He then left in a military helicopter to enjoy his retirement in Tokyo-2, his trademark amused, half smile on his face the whole time. With such a massive surge in funds, the UN immediately began the rebuilding process.
And if there is one thing human beings have always been good at, it is patching over their problems.
* * *
Misato's new apartment was built directly over the old one. After all, the plans and schematics for Tokyo-3, the 'perfect city', were still available, and as the saying goes – if it isn't broken, don't fix it. After all salvageable elements of the old NERV base had been rescued, all the rubble was bulldozed into the massive crater that had once been the Geo-Front and Tokyo-3 was rebuilt right from scratch. This time, however, there was never any mention of Eva sockets or armament buildings. Tokyo-3 would be a city, not a fortress.
Its people were glad.
The UN felt that Tokyo-3 had to stand as a symbol of mankind's unity and so it was the first city to be recreated, not quite a testament to its former glory, but standing proud and resolute nonetheless. Almost immediately after the building had begun, the UN handed the project over to Tokyo-3 officials and left. There were other cities, other countries that required attention. Thus, progress around the world was slow but implacable.
New houses were built and people moved in. Businesses opened. A few schools. Churches. Mankind was stubbornly refusing to accept anything other than a normal life.
Shinji, Asuka, Misato, Touji, Kensuke and Mari stood beaming in the living room of the apartment. After Asuka rather surprisingly had taken over a sulking Misato's task of painting, the place looked much better. It looked different to what it used to be… but it still looked like home.
Upon finding out that they would finally be moving, Asuka had loudly demanded a call to Germany. By now the Children were held in a state of awe by the most of the world, and that was fine with Asuka, because she could pretty much get her hands on whatever she wanted.
Her call was apparently successful, because soon a large number of items arrived via airmail from her old apartment at the (now non-existent) German NERV branch. The three of them had already salvaged what they could from the wreckage of their original apartment, a painful experience, but it wasn't much. Misato thought very highly of Asuka as she looked approvingly over the furniture that had arrived.
Back in the present, Misato stretched lazily. "I guess we should get this place cleaned up, then," she said brightly as she plonked herself on the couch beside Mari.
The others groaned as they looked around at the many beer cans, boxes, and other assorted garbage that now littered the floor. "Now now," smirked Misato. "You all promised to help, and I've been painting all day…"
Shinji, Touji and Kensuke delicately edged away from a trembling and heavily paint-stained Asuka, who looked like she was about to explode with rage.
Misato looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah, you're right, we'll only have to do it again later anyway," she grinned. "Shinji! Get on the phone. Order us in the best, tastiest, greasiest takeaway food in Tokyo-3!"
"The phone lines aren't connected in this area yet, Misato," Shinji reminded her as a sinking feeling settled in his stomach.
"Oh. Well, you'll just have to go out, then." She smiled happily, feeling a little tipsy from the vast amount of alcohol she had imbibed. Upon arriving at the new apartment, Misato had decided to give up drinking. Shinji and Asuka had been horrified and had made Hyuga buy a large carton of beer from a rebuilt supermarket. Upon its presentation, Asuka told Misato that if she hadn't finished them all by sundown, she was leaving.
"Yes, Misato," Shinji muttered darkly, stalking to the door.
"Wait up, I'll come," Asuka said unexpectedly. Shinji looked surprised, but then he smiled and nodded.
As the door slid shut behind them, Misato turned to Touji and Kensuke and leered drunkenly at them. "So, boys, it's just you and me for a while, huh?"
Touji and Kensuke stared at one another with wide eyes.
"For God's sake, say something!" hissed Kensuke frantically out of the corner of his mouth, backing off in a terrified daze.
All Touji could do was sweat.
* * *
"It'll be good to see Hikari again, won't it?" Asuka commented as she and Shinji wandered down the street. It was late afternoon, and the ever-present sound of construction would not stop for a while yet.
"Uh… yeah, of course," Shinji agreed after a moment.
Asuka glanced across. "You don't seem all that happy, Third Child."
"Oh no, it's not that," Shinji corrected himself hurriedly. "I just never really knew her as well as you, that's all."
"Well, did you tell Suzahara what I said?" Asuka asked sweetly, cocking her head and daintily clasping her hands behind her back.
"Er…"
"You did, didn't you?" Asuka asked again, a this time with a hint of menace in her voice.
"If you want to tell Touji that he'll die if he tries anything with her, go ahead," Shinji replied crossly. "I'm not going to."
Asuka laughed wickedly but it died instantly when Shinji said, "Maybe you should try worrying about Hikari making a move on him."
The redhead grumbled about low standards for a bit before they fell into a comfortable silence.
They eventually arrived at the only pizza place currently operating in this area of Tokyo-3. They chose pizza because it was the takeout that Misato liked the least, although that wasn't saying much. Asuka paid and Shinji picked up the warm boxes and they began the walk home.
Along the way, Shinji glanced sidelong at the redhead. During their time at the UN rescue camp there had been strained times between them, some of which had broken out into full-blown arguments. However, these occurrences had lessened considerably during their stay at NERV.
Oh, they had bickered. Of course they had. Ever since they first met, bickering had always been a staple in whatever relationship they had. Both of them secretly took a perverse pleasure in it, and didn't mind it a bit. It was one of the things that made them Shinji and Asuka.
"Are you happy, Asuka?" he asked eventually. She glanced across curiously.
"What do you mean?" she asked with a frown.
"I was… just wondering," Shinji said apologetically. "That's all."
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "Of course I'm happy, dummkopf. For the first time, I don't have a reason not to be. Why?" she asked with a sly smirk, spinning to face him fully. "Are you?"
He gave her a lopsided smile. "Yeah."
Asuka sighed in exasperation. "Is that it? 'Yeah'?"
"Well, what else do you want me to say?" snorted Shinji.
"Why are you happy?" she demanded, grinning evilly.
"Why are you happy?" he countered, refusing to back down.
"I asked you first, idiot," Asuka replied, annoyed.
"I guess you'll never know," he replied innocently.
"Oh well, then, neither will you," she remarked casually.
As they walked, they both continued to sneak suspicious glances at the other out of the corner of their eyes. And tried not to laugh.
* * *
"Hikari!" cried Asuka joyfully as she flung herself on the class rep.
"Asuka!" squealed her friend, engulfing her in a hug. Misato, Shinji, Kensuke and looked on smiling, while a seethingly jealous Touji scowled.
"Hello, Miss Katsuragi!" smiled Hikari.
"How are you, Hikari?" grinned Misato, giving the young girl a tight hug. "It's great to see you again.
"Mr Aida… Mr Ikari," gasped the class rep from the depths of Misato's embrace. She released her and Hikari smiled shyly. "Hello, Touji."
Relieved, Touji offered her a crooked smile. "Hey, class rep!"
Giving him one last smile, she turned back to Misato. "I have something for you, Miss Misato," she said, hefting a large, square box. "A housewarming gift."
"Ooh, how nice of you!" gushed Misato "What is it?" Before Hikari could stop her, she gave the box a good shake. From inside, there came an unmistakable and very familiar indignant squawk.
"Pen-Pen!!" shrieked Misato joyfully, tugging the squirming bird out of the box and squeezing him for all she was worth. "Oh, Pen-Pen! I'm so glad to see you again… thank you, Hikari!"
"Thank God for small favours," murmured Shinji with a smile.
"Oh man, when it rains, it pours," sighed Asuka, but she was grinning as well.
"Well, let's eat!" beamed a still-tipsy Misato as she placed the exhausted penguin on the floor and rather unsteadily made her way to the table with some help from Shinji.
Touji and Hikari lingered behind for a moment.
"Misato told me that… you were better," Hikari murmured, reaching out and gently touching his arm.
"Yeah… I don't know how it happened, but… well, I can't say I really care either," Touji admitted.
"I'm… really glad you're all right," whispered Hikari, blushing and looking away.
"I'm sorry," Touji said quietly. "I should have told you… about the Eva. I didn't want you to worry."
She looked up at him shyly. "It's in the past," she said. "Let's just… make the most of what we have now."
Touji shifted nervously, looked at his feet and nodded in agreement through a blush of his own.
Hikari went up on tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek before quickly going even redder, turning and hurrying into the kitchen.
Stunned, Touji stood there for a moment longer, reaching up and touching the spot on his cheek where she had pressed her lips. After a few seconds his usual determined expression returned to his face. "No more screwups this time," he promised himself as he followed her in.
Pizza was devoured and Shinji was sent out for more. Beer was consumed and Misato began to sing. The Second and Third Children began an argument over whether Shinji was allowed to sit on the couch Asuka had received from Germany. Kensuke had so much cola he was wired for the entire night. Touji and Hikari secretly held hands for the first time. Pen-Pen knocked over the pyramid of beer and cola cans that had been building up.
As the evening grew and the light turned red from the fading sun, everyone got ready to depart.
"Are you sure you guys are okay to walk home?" Misato slurred, lounging back in her chair.
"Yes, ma'am," Kensuke said, saluting smartly. "Don't have a choice, anyway. My dad lost his car."
"Yeah, mine too," added Touji. "It's not too far."
"What about you, Hikari?" queried Misato, trying to focus on the slightly smiling girl. Shinji shifted in embarrassment and Asuka looked annoyed.
"I'll be all right, Miss Misato," Hikari assured her. "I'd stay longer but my sisters are probably getting hungry."
"You're walking her home, right?" Kensuke said loudly, nudging his taller friend in the ribs. His comment made Touji stiffen and both he and Hikari turn a slight shade of red.
"Ooh, you sly dog," Misato giggled drunkenly, trying to wink at the boy.
"Knock it off, Misato!" yelled Asuka, unable to take it any more. "And you, dummkopf," she narrowed her eyes, pointed a finger at Touji and snarled, "don't get too cozy with my friend or I swear I'll kill you, understand?"
Touji shot her a deathly glare and opened his mouth to retort when Hikari pushed him out the door, Mari in tow, waving goodbye to Shinji, Asuka, and Misato.
"Well, goodbye, Miss Misato," Kensuke said with a low bow. He turned and with a grin, he slapped Shinji on the back, making him wince. "You take it easy, Ikari," he said. "I'll see you around." Finally, he grudgingly turned to Asuka. "Well -"
"Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out," the redhead interrupted sweetly, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.
Kensuke left with a final nod to Shinji, muttering to himself.
* * *
Shinji Ikari stood at the large window at the front of the apartment as the sun set behind the half-built buildings. He could still hear the sounds of drills and electric saws. Misato had passed out and was snoring beside Pen-Pen on the couch behind him. Asuka was nowhere in sight.
He was glad they were here with him, ready to face the future. He knew Misato had become determined to get a teaching degree. Hyuga, Maya and Aoba had already begun work at the UN base, operating the MAGI just like they used to, albeit for different reasons.
Above him he could see the scarlet streak of Lilith's blood slashed across the sky, testament to the foolishness of a select few. It would always remain; perhaps humankind would take it as a reminder that their place is on Earth, not in a fabricated Heaven of their own design.
It was the same with the LCL ocean. The military had stationed special outposts along every beach that bordered it, in order to retrieve and treat anyone who suddenly appeared.
Not many people returned these days. Many souls preferred to remain as One. Many, who had experienced nothing but a life of hardship and pain, were happy as they now were. Some met lost loves and saw this existence as a kind of Heaven, where they could remain together literally forever. Others were afraid to go back. Still others hated who they were in the world and were happy to remain in this place, where they existed without existing.
A million choices, a million reasons for staying or going. Shinji fervently wished that everyone he knew would come back. He wasn't naïve, though, not any more, and realised that it was probably wishful thinking.
Still, it made him slightly sad. He knew Misato was feeling a little guilty about Ritsuko. They all doubted the brilliant but troubled scientist would return. He knew his father would not. Kaji? Misato had finally told Asuka and himself about their meeting in Instrumentality and what he had said. The news that one day he would see the person who had been as close to a father as he had ever had made Shinji glad, of course.
But mostly he hoped for someone else.
"Maybe she'll come back, maybe she won't," Shinji murmured to himself. "If anyone deserved a chance at a normal life, it was her. All I can do is hope." He smiled faintly. "It's… not so hard for me, these days. If I was being honest… I think I'll see her again. I think she has the strength. She just has to find it."
"What are you mumbling about?" a familiar voice demanded loudly. Asuka stamped up behind him to look at him curiously.
"Nothing." He smiled crookedly. "Hey… er… you were right. It was good to see Hikari again."
"Well, yeah, especially if your name is Suzahara," Asuka snorted.
"You know… school's starting soon," Shinji commented.
"Yeah, I wonder how they'll act?" Asuka mused vaguely. "One thing's for sure, it won't be easy for your fellow Stooge," she grinned evilly. "I owe that dork big time for the photo thing. I just have to think of something for Aida."
Shinji sighed. "They'll just get you back again."
"They won't want to," Asuka snapped. "There's no way I'm going to lose a credibility war with those two jerks."
They stood side by side in silence for a while, gazing out over the city-wide construction site. Eventually, Shinji shifted. "Hey… Asuka?"
"What?"
"Could you… tell me something?"
"Maybe." She glanced at him suspiciously. "Maybe not. What is it?"
"I was… just wondering if you have any regrets," Shinji said in his quiet, mild voice.
"Huh?" Asuka asked, confused. "Why are you asking me now?"
"I don't know," the boy admitted softly. "It just seemed like the right time."
Asuka paused for a moment, considering. "Well…" she began slowly, then her brow creased. "Of course I have regrets, Shinji. Looking back over the things I've seen and done, I have more regrets than I can count."
He laughed hoarsely. "Yeah… me too. You know, for a while, I… I thought that my life itself was a regret."
"But you don't think like that now, right?" Asuka asked in her direct way, eyebrows raised.
"No." Shinji paused and blinked a few times. "I… If there's one thing I've learned… from my life here, piloting Eva to fight, living with you and Misato, it's that… well, I never gained anything by running away."
Asuka continued to gaze at him.
"Things might not… always be great," Shinji admitted, "but as long as I can make it through the bad times, I understand now that things can always get better. A-and if I get hurt in the process, well, I think… I think I can accept that. After all, if you understand the hurt, you can better know the happiness.
"I might not be the strongest, or the smartest, or the greatest person in the world, Asuka, but I have to accept that, and so does everyone else. I am… who I am. Shinji Ikari. Nothing more and nothing less."
Asuka grinned reassuringly at her housemate and easily slid her arm around a startled Shinji's shoulders, leaning companionably into him. "I know who you are," she smiled, ruffling his hair and making him whine. "Probably more than I should," she added.
Shinji laughed shortly. "Yeah," he agreed. "But I… kind of know you, too."
"True," growled Asuka. She suddenly detached herself, smiling sweetly at him. "One way or the other though, it's good to be home, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm… glad you're… staying here," Shinji said awkwardly. "I mean… not going back… to Germany."
"Me too."
She turned to face him. He stood quite rigidly, staring out the window. She watched him, amused, for a few moments, before her impatience grew too much for her to bear.
"Mein Gott, Ikari, help me out here!" she said wryly with a half smile, rolling her eyes at the same time.
Slowly, he turned as well, glancing at her apprehensively. "Asuka… are you…"
"Don't worry," she whispered, with a smile.
Shinji's mind went into overload. Asuka whispered…
She beamed at him, that infinitely appealing Asuka smile he had never been able to resist, and her azure eyes sparkled mischievously as she spoke again. "Just don't say anything and it'll be all right."
He nodded tensely.
Asuka gently placed a hand on each of Shinji's shoulders and slowly leaned in, eyes closed. Shinji hesitated a moment, breathing shallowly, making the redhead smile faintly. "It still tickles," she whispered.
The memory made Shinji smile quietly, too. He hesitantly placed his hands lightly on her waist and closing his eyes in trepidation, leaned in to meet her.
For the second time in the turbulent, explosive history of Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Sohryu, their lips met. And it would later prove to be that this time would mean more to either of them than they could ever explain.
Their experiences had left them older and wiser beyond their years, but although they may have lost much of their childhood innocence, they had gained a greater understanding of things they could not possibly have known otherwise.
Right now though, all Shinji could think of was how soft Asuka's lips were.
Asuka tightened her hold on his shoulders and he tried to respond by shifting his feet and moving in closer. Against the odds, both of them relaxed a little.
After a long and timeless moment, the kiss ended and they released one another. Shinji blinked in a surprised daze and he unsteadily tried to shake away the lightheaded feeling he had. Asuka grinned devilishly and punched him in the shoulder.
"I'm tired," she said, not dropping her smile. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, Third Child. And the next day. And every day after that. All right?"
"Wait," Shinji said softly, and took her hand.
They stood looking at one another, a deep-rooted admiration and respect evident on their smiling faces…
…and a whole lot more.
Holding one another's hands, the two of them gazed over their city, the city they had saved with their own blood and sacrifices countless times. They would never have to save it again. Together, they had fought and suffered for and with one another and all mankind. They had seen Hell first hand.
But that was the past, and it didn't matter, and now both of them knew that. All the future was waiting out there.
Shinji took a deep breath and calmly looked into her eyes, searching for some final words. "Thank you, Asuka."
Asuka smirked as she moved in closer and rested her head on his shoulder. "Glad to be of service, Third Child."
And with that, Asuka Langley Sohryu laughed, and Shinji Ikari quickly joined in. Together, they shared one last hug and a final thought passed through both their minds.
Yeah. All is right with the world.
THE END.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well. I'm finished. I hope that you laughed, cried, nodded your heads, farted, or whatever, this was a good experience for me and really fun to write. It's my first story at FFN and I've found the Eva community here to be extremely supportive and I hold a great respect for all of you. I thank you.
Kay. Next I'm going to stick up 2 originals I wrote a while ago, they're Action / Adventure, so if you like that sort of thing, you might like to have a look, otherwise… um… I wouldn't bother. I'm trying my hand at an Eva humour piece, so keep an eye out for it. It'll be a first time for me, so I can only hope it'll be funny, but don't worry, I'll have ALL my excuses when I post it.
Oh yeah, I said I'd talk about the one-shots. I do want to do them, but I really don't have great ideas at the moment. I'd make them a kind of 'day in the life' stories, I suppose, with twists and turns. I read 'The Entry Plug Trilogy' where the crew gets kidnapped by SEELE, and I'm thinking of doing something similar but with a more 'everyday' kind of kidnapping. You know, the 'give uz tha money or tha kids get it' type. But if anyone feels an irrepressible urge to do anything with this fic, be my guest but email me first. I won't say no to anything, but I'd like to know out of fascination more than anything.
I submitted AIRWTW to Evafics.org. It's being processed as we speak. I don't know how to post to Darkscribes.org, or I'd try it there as well. Otherwise, I don't really know any fanfiction sites that are regularly updated.
Anyway, it's been fun. Thanks to ST Pika, you're a legend, thanks to Autophage (because your comments are what gets me out of bed in the afternoon) and thanks to all my regular readers and reviewers.
Ladies and gentlemen… thank you, and goodnight.
RENEGADE
renegade_y2j@hotmail.com
