Title: Return from Middle Earth
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Spoilers for Eva, no event spoilers for LotR. Must read Children In Middle Earth first.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings or Neon Genesis Evangelion. I would buy them but I am broke.
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth)
AN: Just to clarify in this I am ignoring the whole 'Rei is a clone' thing. She is the original and she bears no relation to Shinji whatsoever. Set just after the eleventh Angel.
"__" means speech (Japanese or denoted), '__' means thought, *__* means ME Common --__-- means computer messages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pain and light faded, revealing the corner where the trio had disappeared from, for them, fourteen years ago.
"We're back. We're home." Shinji said.
"We can't have been gone long, everything looks the same." Asuka observed.
"We should report in." Rei stated calmly.
They made their way to Nerv headquarters and were met at the gates by Ritsuko.
"Where have you three been? You've been missing for twenty-four hours." Dr. Akagi screamed.
"Only twenty-four hours?" Asuka whispered.
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko asked.
"You would not believe us if we told you." Shinji replied.
"Fine. Follow me. You are all getting complete medicals." Ritsuko said, leading them to the infirmary.
After several hours the medical results had come back.
"This is impossible." Ritsuko whispered, staring at the report.
Comparing their recent medical to the one that had been performed two days ago, you would not believe that they related to the same people, despite the fact that their physical appearance was almost the same as previously. All three of the pilots had increased activity in the memory areas of their brains, indicating from the amount of increase what accounted to years of memories. Their physiques and general state of health were much improved with more well defined muscle than before.
The pilots had also sustained a number of scars that had not been present before, some fairly fresh while others seemingly dated back years. The most disturbing thing about the medicals related to Asuka and Rei. They both had definite signs of pregnancy and childbirth, however their last medical showed that they were both virgins. What Dr. Akagi failed to notice was that the most drastic change in the pilots was not physical, it was psychological.
********
After their medical examinations, Misato had taken Shinji and Asuka back to 'their' apartment, leaving Rei to make her own way to her own apartment, much to Shinji's annoyance. When they arrived Shinji went strait to the kitchen.
"Asuka, want a drink?" Shinji called to Asuka who was in the living room.
"Sure." Asuka responded.
To Misato's surprise Shinji entered the living room with three beers. He tossed one to Misato and one to Asuka before cracking the last can and sculling half of it.
"Ahh. Shame there is no Ale, this stuff is too weak." Shinji commented, receiving a consenting sound from Asuka and a shocked stare from Misato.
Misato soon went to bed, stressed after a day where 'her children' were missing and shocked at their alcohol consumption. As the night progressed and the beer flowed semi-freely, as they had school the following day, Asuka began to feel the loss of her love, Faramir and her children who were still back in Middle Earth. Late in the night Asuka finally fell asleep, actually she cried herself to sleep in Shinji's comforting arms, and Shinji carried her into her room before retreating to his own. Shinji, a few hours later, called Rei and they talked on the phone till dawn, both being unable to sleep without the other beside them.
********
When dawn finally broke, Shinji got up and made breakfast of himself, Asuka and Misato. He walked to school with Asuka, both of them unconsciously searching their surroundings for danger. When they reached the classroom, Shinji saw Rei and they hugged, oblivious of everyone else.
*I missed you last night, beloved Wife.* Shinji said in Common.
*And I you, Husband.* Rei responded in kind.
The entire class, with the exception of Asuka, stared in amazement at the two Pilots and their easy manor more representative of a middle aged couple than fourteen year olds. (AN: LOL, remember that under 24 hours prior they were 42 yeas old, physically and they have 56 years worth of memories)
*Get a room.* Asuka joked a she sat down, causing some students to stare at her, mostly because she was not yelling or having a conniption fit.
At that point the teacher entered the room and all the students moved to their seats. Shinji sat next to Rei, moving his desk so that they could easily touch each other, a reassurance for a home that was lost, a lifetime gone and all the things they left behind. Shinji had to nudge Rei to remind her when the teacher called out her name, her maiden name of Ayanami, a name she had not gone by for more than twelve and a half years, from her perspective. Asuka had the worst of it. She had not one to turn to, no lover that could comfort her, and no children that she had raised and loved with all her heart. As the boring lecture continued, Asuka struggled with the loneliness.
Rei and Shinji noticed this and spent the first twenty minutes of class writing a special patch for the student messaging system. The system was designed so that patches were automatically downloaded and loaded by all the student's desks. Then they sent a message to Asuka using the special patch.
********
Asuka was brought out of her memories, thoughts of Faramir mostly but also many thoughts of her twins, Misato and Danny, by the beeping of the school message system. The message read:
-- He will live forever in the garden of your heart as long as you let it bloom. So shall all the loved ones of you life. Shinji & Rei, CoG. --
What surprised Asuka most about the message was the added part at the end of the message, 'CoG' means Captain of Gondor. That and the fact that it was written in Common Tongue.
Asuka smiled weakly as the couple. Her pain was not healed, but now it was more bearable knowing that she was not alone. She had her friends.
********
The three pilots walked along the streets of Tokyo three, talking animatedly. In Common Tongue.
*So anyway, there was an attack on the little village, and this one soldier grabbed me and began pulling me to safety with the other women.* Asuka was saying. *He got about two paces before an orc popped up in front of us. He just stood there, totally shocked, so I grabbed his sword and killed the orc. Faramir and I had left our weapons on the horses. After the raid, the soldiers were so impressed by how I had fought, that they declared me a 'warrior demon come to exterminate their foes'.*
*Touji would laugh to hear that.* Shinji retorted, shifting the sports bag that he was carrying.
The trio entered NERV and quickly made their way to the changing rooms. More out of longstanding habit and years of field conditions, Shinji entered the changing room dedicated to the female pilots, following Asuka and, more importantly Rei, putting all his gear in one of the empty lockers. None of the pilots was uncomfortable with the situation as the had spent years, while travelling before going to Gondor and during missions with Faramir and their troops, in situations where there was no privacy so they had learnt not to be embarrassed by their nudity, not that the plug suits they changed into were very modest.
Major Misato Katsuragi met the pilots outside the changing rooms, not noticing that Shinji exited with the girls. Misato lead them all down to the test plugs and they began the Synchronisation test.
*I forgot why I hate the Eva's so much.* Shinji said when the test started.
*Which is?* Asuka asked.
*Coughing up the LCL after we get out of the plug* Shinji responded with a grin, causing all three of the pilots to laugh.
In the test control room this exchange was completely missed as the technicians stared at the instrument readouts.
"That's impossible, check the results again." Misato said.
"Results are confirmed by the Magi, the numbers are accurate." Maya responded.
"How is it possible that they not only all broke their Sync records but all have exactly the same sync ratio?" Ritsuko demanded.
"I don't know but it's true. They all have sync ratios of 99%." Maya responded.
"Ok, you guys can go." Ritsuko said into the mike.
"Start looking for a possible reason." Misato commanded before leaving the room.
********
Shinji and Rei stood quietly at the grave of Rei's parents. It had been several weeks since they had returned from Middle Earth and things were still hard. Asuka was still hurting from her loss of Faramir, often breaking down for no apparent reason and crying for hours on end. Shinji and Rei were not getting enough sleep as they were forced to sleep apart by Misato, who did not understand their situation, and Shinji's father, who just did not care. In addition, Misato and Ritsuko had been performing a lot of tests since they had returned. In all the activity since their return, Shinji and Rei had not had much time to come to terms with the fact that they were back or the long term ramifications to their lives.
With tears in her eyes, Rei knelt down to the gravestone that bore the name Ayanami and marked the remains of her parents.
"Mother, Father. This is Shinji Ikari, the son of Gendo and Yui Ikari, you remember them. He is the father of your Grandchildren." Rei said quietly before stepping back beside Shinji and holding his hand.
They stood quietly as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. They stood over Rei's parents grave for several hours, internally coming to terms with the changes in their lives. Just before 10am, they started walking to another part of the cemetery. Rei stoped a short distance away from the grave Shinji was headed to. When he got there, he met his father and looked down at his mother's grave. They stood there for twenty minutes before Commander Ikari had to leave, and in that time only five words were spoken.
"I miss her." Shinji said.
"Me too." Commander Ikari responded.
After Commander Ikari left, Rei joined Shinji at his mother's grave.
"Over the years, we've buried too many people." Shinji almost whispered. "But for me, the two that hit me the hardest both bore the name Yui Ikari."
"At least they both died near those who loved them." Rei responded, tears welling in her eyes.
They left the cemetery supporting each other, making their way back to Rei's apartment so that they could greve for their loss in piece.
TBC
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: Spoilers for Eva, no event spoilers for LotR. Must read Children In Middle Earth first.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings or Neon Genesis Evangelion. I would buy them but I am broke.
Summary: After fourteen years and a new life in Middle Earth, Shinji, Asuka and Rei return to Tokyo 3 twenty-four hours after they left, reverting to teenagers again. (Sequel to Children In Middle Earth)
AN: Just to clarify in this I am ignoring the whole 'Rei is a clone' thing. She is the original and she bears no relation to Shinji whatsoever. Set just after the eleventh Angel.
"__" means speech (Japanese or denoted), '__' means thought, *__* means ME Common --__-- means computer messages.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pain and light faded, revealing the corner where the trio had disappeared from, for them, fourteen years ago.
"We're back. We're home." Shinji said.
"We can't have been gone long, everything looks the same." Asuka observed.
"We should report in." Rei stated calmly.
They made their way to Nerv headquarters and were met at the gates by Ritsuko.
"Where have you three been? You've been missing for twenty-four hours." Dr. Akagi screamed.
"Only twenty-four hours?" Asuka whispered.
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko asked.
"You would not believe us if we told you." Shinji replied.
"Fine. Follow me. You are all getting complete medicals." Ritsuko said, leading them to the infirmary.
After several hours the medical results had come back.
"This is impossible." Ritsuko whispered, staring at the report.
Comparing their recent medical to the one that had been performed two days ago, you would not believe that they related to the same people, despite the fact that their physical appearance was almost the same as previously. All three of the pilots had increased activity in the memory areas of their brains, indicating from the amount of increase what accounted to years of memories. Their physiques and general state of health were much improved with more well defined muscle than before.
The pilots had also sustained a number of scars that had not been present before, some fairly fresh while others seemingly dated back years. The most disturbing thing about the medicals related to Asuka and Rei. They both had definite signs of pregnancy and childbirth, however their last medical showed that they were both virgins. What Dr. Akagi failed to notice was that the most drastic change in the pilots was not physical, it was psychological.
********
After their medical examinations, Misato had taken Shinji and Asuka back to 'their' apartment, leaving Rei to make her own way to her own apartment, much to Shinji's annoyance. When they arrived Shinji went strait to the kitchen.
"Asuka, want a drink?" Shinji called to Asuka who was in the living room.
"Sure." Asuka responded.
To Misato's surprise Shinji entered the living room with three beers. He tossed one to Misato and one to Asuka before cracking the last can and sculling half of it.
"Ahh. Shame there is no Ale, this stuff is too weak." Shinji commented, receiving a consenting sound from Asuka and a shocked stare from Misato.
Misato soon went to bed, stressed after a day where 'her children' were missing and shocked at their alcohol consumption. As the night progressed and the beer flowed semi-freely, as they had school the following day, Asuka began to feel the loss of her love, Faramir and her children who were still back in Middle Earth. Late in the night Asuka finally fell asleep, actually she cried herself to sleep in Shinji's comforting arms, and Shinji carried her into her room before retreating to his own. Shinji, a few hours later, called Rei and they talked on the phone till dawn, both being unable to sleep without the other beside them.
********
When dawn finally broke, Shinji got up and made breakfast of himself, Asuka and Misato. He walked to school with Asuka, both of them unconsciously searching their surroundings for danger. When they reached the classroom, Shinji saw Rei and they hugged, oblivious of everyone else.
*I missed you last night, beloved Wife.* Shinji said in Common.
*And I you, Husband.* Rei responded in kind.
The entire class, with the exception of Asuka, stared in amazement at the two Pilots and their easy manor more representative of a middle aged couple than fourteen year olds. (AN: LOL, remember that under 24 hours prior they were 42 yeas old, physically and they have 56 years worth of memories)
*Get a room.* Asuka joked a she sat down, causing some students to stare at her, mostly because she was not yelling or having a conniption fit.
At that point the teacher entered the room and all the students moved to their seats. Shinji sat next to Rei, moving his desk so that they could easily touch each other, a reassurance for a home that was lost, a lifetime gone and all the things they left behind. Shinji had to nudge Rei to remind her when the teacher called out her name, her maiden name of Ayanami, a name she had not gone by for more than twelve and a half years, from her perspective. Asuka had the worst of it. She had not one to turn to, no lover that could comfort her, and no children that she had raised and loved with all her heart. As the boring lecture continued, Asuka struggled with the loneliness.
Rei and Shinji noticed this and spent the first twenty minutes of class writing a special patch for the student messaging system. The system was designed so that patches were automatically downloaded and loaded by all the student's desks. Then they sent a message to Asuka using the special patch.
********
Asuka was brought out of her memories, thoughts of Faramir mostly but also many thoughts of her twins, Misato and Danny, by the beeping of the school message system. The message read:
-- He will live forever in the garden of your heart as long as you let it bloom. So shall all the loved ones of you life. Shinji & Rei, CoG. --
What surprised Asuka most about the message was the added part at the end of the message, 'CoG' means Captain of Gondor. That and the fact that it was written in Common Tongue.
Asuka smiled weakly as the couple. Her pain was not healed, but now it was more bearable knowing that she was not alone. She had her friends.
********
The three pilots walked along the streets of Tokyo three, talking animatedly. In Common Tongue.
*So anyway, there was an attack on the little village, and this one soldier grabbed me and began pulling me to safety with the other women.* Asuka was saying. *He got about two paces before an orc popped up in front of us. He just stood there, totally shocked, so I grabbed his sword and killed the orc. Faramir and I had left our weapons on the horses. After the raid, the soldiers were so impressed by how I had fought, that they declared me a 'warrior demon come to exterminate their foes'.*
*Touji would laugh to hear that.* Shinji retorted, shifting the sports bag that he was carrying.
The trio entered NERV and quickly made their way to the changing rooms. More out of longstanding habit and years of field conditions, Shinji entered the changing room dedicated to the female pilots, following Asuka and, more importantly Rei, putting all his gear in one of the empty lockers. None of the pilots was uncomfortable with the situation as the had spent years, while travelling before going to Gondor and during missions with Faramir and their troops, in situations where there was no privacy so they had learnt not to be embarrassed by their nudity, not that the plug suits they changed into were very modest.
Major Misato Katsuragi met the pilots outside the changing rooms, not noticing that Shinji exited with the girls. Misato lead them all down to the test plugs and they began the Synchronisation test.
*I forgot why I hate the Eva's so much.* Shinji said when the test started.
*Which is?* Asuka asked.
*Coughing up the LCL after we get out of the plug* Shinji responded with a grin, causing all three of the pilots to laugh.
In the test control room this exchange was completely missed as the technicians stared at the instrument readouts.
"That's impossible, check the results again." Misato said.
"Results are confirmed by the Magi, the numbers are accurate." Maya responded.
"How is it possible that they not only all broke their Sync records but all have exactly the same sync ratio?" Ritsuko demanded.
"I don't know but it's true. They all have sync ratios of 99%." Maya responded.
"Ok, you guys can go." Ritsuko said into the mike.
"Start looking for a possible reason." Misato commanded before leaving the room.
********
Shinji and Rei stood quietly at the grave of Rei's parents. It had been several weeks since they had returned from Middle Earth and things were still hard. Asuka was still hurting from her loss of Faramir, often breaking down for no apparent reason and crying for hours on end. Shinji and Rei were not getting enough sleep as they were forced to sleep apart by Misato, who did not understand their situation, and Shinji's father, who just did not care. In addition, Misato and Ritsuko had been performing a lot of tests since they had returned. In all the activity since their return, Shinji and Rei had not had much time to come to terms with the fact that they were back or the long term ramifications to their lives.
With tears in her eyes, Rei knelt down to the gravestone that bore the name Ayanami and marked the remains of her parents.
"Mother, Father. This is Shinji Ikari, the son of Gendo and Yui Ikari, you remember them. He is the father of your Grandchildren." Rei said quietly before stepping back beside Shinji and holding his hand.
They stood quietly as the sun slowly rose over the horizon. They stood over Rei's parents grave for several hours, internally coming to terms with the changes in their lives. Just before 10am, they started walking to another part of the cemetery. Rei stoped a short distance away from the grave Shinji was headed to. When he got there, he met his father and looked down at his mother's grave. They stood there for twenty minutes before Commander Ikari had to leave, and in that time only five words were spoken.
"I miss her." Shinji said.
"Me too." Commander Ikari responded.
After Commander Ikari left, Rei joined Shinji at his mother's grave.
"Over the years, we've buried too many people." Shinji almost whispered. "But for me, the two that hit me the hardest both bore the name Yui Ikari."
"At least they both died near those who loved them." Rei responded, tears welling in her eyes.
They left the cemetery supporting each other, making their way back to Rei's apartment so that they could greve for their loss in piece.
TBC