Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. All characters and other related material is the property of Gainax.
He stood tall upon the flaming sands, his shadow long and ominous against the setting sun. There was wreckage everywhere, yet to Shinji Ikari it was still a beautiful place. The strong metallic smell of LCL filled the air, just as the red substance filled the sands around him. He could feel his rage leaving him, and he set his blade into its scabbard. Though he personally could not observe the transformation his body had sustained, his hair began to fade from white back to brown again, his eyes from red back to blue, his ornate scars shrinking.
It had been a victory, though all of the Israeli soldiers had perished valiantly in the fight against overwhelming odds. Shinji sighed.
"It wasn't supposed to happen like this."
The Germans had lied, pretending to want Shinji alive to lure he and Idan out into the open. They had paid, though. He had made them pay. His children; the creatures of this planet.
"I am sorry."
It was at this time that Shinji became aware of Unit-02 standing behind him. The third child smiled.
"Told you I wouldn't leave you," he said, though she could not here him.
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Asuka Langley Soryu watched Shinji silently from her eva, observing his body fade from the colors it had held during the battle. His bare chest was splattered with LCL, as were his arms and face.
"Shinji…What are you?"
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"Shinji Ikari! I gotta tell ya man I can't fucking believe it."
Damon Robinson received the same sad eyed smile that his friend had given him since they met all those years ago.
"So tell us," Kensuke said, "How did you do it? I mean, what happened exactly?"
"Maybe I'll tell you someday."
"I don't even think he knows," Toji said as he downed the last of his drink, while at the same time motioning for another.
"Oh come on man! How did you make it back?" Kensuke pleaded, knowing deep down that Shinji wouldn't tell him how he had managed to return seemingly from the dead.
Shinji sighed.
"Are you so sure I did?"
"Huh?"
Shinji reached across the table and grabbed Kensuke's wrist. He opened his friend's hand and then placed the palm over Kensuke Aida's heart.
"Be good to Nishka."
Shinji pushed his chair back from the table and stood, placing a few yen on the table for a tip while Kensuke gave him a funny look, his hand still over his heart.
"Wha…?"
"Maybe you'll figure it out someday."
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Shinji Ikari stepped out of the restaurant where he had been dining with his friends and embraced the cool night air. They had been celebrating his return from Israel (and from what his friends considered the dead) with a guy's night out. There was a lump in his throat, and what felt like a thorn in his side. A feeling of dread seemed to be coming over him, blinding him, following him from place to place since the battle of Israel. He could feel the end coming, approaching him ever closer. It was unstoppable; unavoidable. It was a speeding train and he was tied to the tracks. Shinji turned to his right and began to walk the silent city streets back towards the house where he stayed with the other pilots. He glanced into one of the passing alleyways and for a moment thought he saw Rei Ayanami. Her body was young, her features pure and beautiful. He blinked. The image was gone. Shinji began to walk again and tried to shake the feeling of déjà vu from his system.
"I must be going crazy."
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"It doesn't have to end this way, Keel."
"This will be much less painless if you surrender now."
"Never."
"This is inevitable, Fuyutski. If you hand over the III it is not necessary for there to be bloodshed."
"Who am I to hold sway over their lives?"
"It will not only be the end for them commander. It will be release for all."
"Then I guess I'll see you in hell."
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Chairman Keel smiled as he hung up the telephone receiver. The end was finally at hand.
"Did he take the bait?" Cain asked.
"Of course. Fuyutski is blinded by his own foolish ideals."
Cain nodded.
"When do we begin?"
Keel coughed into his right hand before he answered.
"The president of the U.S. is entirely under my control. The invasion will begin in 24 hours."
"Fine. I assume they are unaware of Gendo's presence?" Cain found that he had nearly said Father instead of Gendo.
"You refer to him as if he still lives."
"He is not truly dead."
"I suppose that is true to an extent. His soul still lives…Yes. I will prepare the weapon. The plan remains unaltered mind you. Once we manage to acquire Kaji and Nagisa you must get Shinji out into the open."
"I know. Why do you think I went through all that trouble to retrieve Unit-04?"
Keel nodded.
"Good. In less than 24 hours perfection will be ours at last."
Cain did not smile.
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Commander Fuyutski slammed the telephone receiver back onto its cradle and put his face in his hands.
"How much time do we have?" Kowaru Nagisa asked.
"Probably 24 hours. Keel won't waste anytime."
Fuyutski slammed his fist down onto his oak desk.
"Damnit!"
Kowaru frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"You know damn well what's wrong. This wasn't what the scrolls said."
"Perhaps something has changed," The fifth child suggested.
"They are coming for you, ya know. You understand that, right? You and Kaji and Shinji. And if that happens the rest of the Wraiths will finish instrumentality. If all three of you fall there will be nothing to stop the third impact."
"I know that. But I believe that there may just be another force at work here. Something…unseen. Perhaps even Keel does not know of its presence."
"I think that you assume too much," The commander said flatly.
"What do we do?"
"Tell all the pilots of the situation. Tell them that they have 24 hours to get their affairs in order."
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When Misato Katsuragi returned to the apartment that she shared with Ryoji Kaji after work she found the interior destroyed. It was obvious that a struggle had taken place. Shelves were overturned and art had been knocked to the ground. There were several bullet holes in the walls, though there was no sign of any bloodshed. Kaji was gone.
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"Commander?"
"Yes, go ahead Misato."
"They took Kaji."
"What? How?"
"I don't know. It looked like a SWAT team. There were flash-bang canisters left behind."
"My god…"
"Where is Kowaru?"
"I sent him home to tell the other pilots to get their affairs in order, why?"
A split second later it dawned on the commander what Misato was trying to say. He quickly hung up the phone and proceeded to dial the number of the section 2 agent assigned to Kowaru Nagisa. There was no answer. The commander collapsed back into his chair again. The phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Do not be alarmed. They are alive."
"Who is this?"
"Tell Ikari hi for me."
"What?"
"Tell him that I will see him tomorrow."
The phone went dead.
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Shinji Ikari let out a deep breath as he hung up the living room telephone. He could see the eyes of all of his friends pointed on him; concentrated on him.
"Was that Fuyutski?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"We are to report for pilot duty at NERV tomorrow. We're being invaded."
"And until then?"
"We have twenty-four hours to live."
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Unit-03 and Unit-V sat quietly in the chambers below central dogma.
Toji Suzahara and Hikari Horaki lay in bed silently next to each other.
"Toji…I don't want to fight."
"I know."
"I've never even been in a real battle before."
"Neither have I," he reminded her.
"I know. I just never thought that my life would end like this."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No. It was worth it. To have been able to be with you…it was worth it."
"Hey. Hikari…We aren't dead yet. Don't lose hope, okay? We very well could win tomorrow. I mean we have Shinji on our side."
They both knew that the next day would hold their deaths.
"Toji?"
"Yes?"
"If this is our last night, then I want it…I want it to be special."
Toji Suzahara began to kiss the ninth child.
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Unit-I and Unit-07 sat quietly in the chambers below central dogma.
Kensuke Aida and Nishka Zalomai strolled quietly through Tokyo-3's Tanaka park.
"Well I suppose this is it," She said.
"I guess so."
"You finally get to go to war. Are you happy?"
"I don't know. I can't say that I'm not a bit excited. I mean, this is going to be the most amazing battle in history. I mean, we are being invaded by America. You can't ask for something much more epic than that."
Nishka laughed and hated herself for it.
"How can you be so casual about this? We could die."
Kensuke suddenly turned and tackled his blonde haired companion onto the grassy hillside beside them.
"Then we'll go down together in blazing glory. There's nothing more romantic than dying for the ones you love."
"That's depressing."
"Look. There is no sense in being sad about it, okay? I mean, there is no way out of this. It's not like we have a choice. This is it. It's either them or us, and I'm gonna give everything I have to make sure that it ain't us."
Nishka's eyes fell from Kensuke's where he held her on the ground. She found herself suddenly embarrassed that she feared death.
"Look at me. If we don't stop this tomorrow then everything we love is going to be destroyed anyway. So I figure we might as well give it all we've got."
"You're right…I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. It's not your fault that you're a normal human being," Kensuke said with a smile.
"You've always been stronger than me."
"That's not true."
"Just look at how calm you are Kensuke! Just look at how willing you are to die for what's right!"
"Nishka?"
"Yes?"
"Do you know the moment that I fell in love with you?"
"No."
"It was the exact instant that I realized you took that sword meant for Asuka, that night that I came back from the black moon. Right then I knew, as you laid there dying in my arms, coughing up blood, without a conceivable chance in either of our minds of you surviving that night. That's when I knew how wonderful you are. That's when I knew that I loved you."
"Oh Kensuke…" She managed to say as her tears came.
Kensuke Aida pulled her sobbing frame close to his own as he remembered what Shinji Ikari had said to him earlier that day as his hand rested over his heart. Be good to Nishka and maybe you'll figure out how I came back someday.
Kensuke Aida began to whisper into Nishka's ear.
"Don't worry about what tomorrow will bring. Be with me here; hold me now, and just know that true love transcends death."
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Unit-X and Unit-05 sat quietly in the chambers below central dogma.
"Do you come here often?"
"Not really. It just helps me remember were we've been."
Rei Ayanami nodded solemnly as she gazed at the view stretching out before her. She sat next to Damon Robinson on the roof of the building where Shinji had fought the fourth Wraith.
"Are you ready for tomorrow?" She asked.
"Doesn't really matter does it?"
"No. I suppose not."
"But that's alright though. I've lived a fulfilling life. If I had to die right now, here, with you, I would go happy."
"Why is that?"
"Because I love you. Because you're all that really matters to me now. Everyone else I've loved is already dead."
"I see," Rei said.
He watched her as she walked to the edge of the building.
"You want to go now? Get it over with?" Damon asked.
He approached the edge as well. They both stood, feeling the slight cool updraft from the streets below and looking outwards past the city lights.
"To jump you mean?"
Damon nodded.
"We could do it together."
"Then how would we get to heaven?"
"I…I don't believe in heaven anymore," Damon said, "So whatever happens, well, it just happens. There's nothing else to it. Whether we jump here, or die tomorrow, or live to we're old, I just don't care. As long as I'm with you nothing else matters to me."
She kissed him, balancing on the edge of eternal peace.
"I don't want to die. I want to live on. I want to see future generations. I want to have children. I want to grow old. I don't want to die…I'd rather just fade away."
Damon pulled Rei into a soft embrace and then stepped back onto the safety of the rooftop.
"Then that's what we'll do."
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Unit-01 and Unit-02 sat quietly in the chambers below central dogma.
Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu sat side by side gazing upon one of Tokyo-3's many angel made lakes.
"Is it going to be like before? I mean, like the first time?"
Shinji shrugged.
"I don't know. I wouldn't worry too much. It's not you they're after."
"They weren't after me the first time either."
"I won't abandon you this time. I promise."
"Is this really going to be the end this time?"
Shinji nodded.
"Yes. I think so. For good or for worse I think that this is it."
"Shinji?"
"Yes?"
"What's it like to die?"
"It's like falling into the ocean. At first it's a shock, and it's very cold and frightening. But then it's peaceful and you just sort of drift away."
"To where?"
"I don't know. I don't think it's the same for everybody."
"Oh. Well," she said in a tone that seemed to bring some finality to the conversation, "I suppose it could be worse. But, I would miss you."
"Don't worry. I'll find you."
"How?"
"I'll find a way."
Silence passed between them.
"What if you do find me? What happens then?"
Silence again invaded for several moments.
"Then we wake up."
"Wake up?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"Where would you like to awaken?"
"Someplace wonderful," she said.
"Eden?"
"No. I want to awaken in a place just like this."
"On the lakeshore?"
"Yes. I want to sit up from the shore with you by my side and be able to hear the waves on the white sand."
"Alright. Then that's how we will wake up, with the lake sprawled out for miles around us, and the sand under our feet."
"Would that be heaven?"
"Yes, Asuka. I think that that would be heaven."