Chapter One
The sky was dark. Waves were crashing against litter and debris on the beach. That sound was the only thing that could be heard... the only thing that was heard except for the sobbing of a young man on the beach. There he was, straddling a motionless female body on the sand. He held his face in his hands and wept. He had a lot to cry about.
What have I done? He thought to himself.
What the hell happened?
He continued to cry and weep, letting all of his confusion and emotion pour out all at once. He wished he were dead.
No one cares! No one loves me! These words ran through his mind constantly.
"Asuka... help me." he sobbed, huddled down over her cold, motionless body. He was all alone now. Everyone he knew was dead. Misato, Ritsuko, even his father who he so hated. His friends Kensuke and Suzuhara... all dead. All destroyed.
They're all dead... and I'm alive...
They're all dead, so how am I still alive?
How am I alive after all of this?
WHY AM I ALIVE?
He was shouting at himself inside his mind. Shinji felt so scared... so alone. As if he were the last human being on the face of the planet... if the planet had a face. If the planet had a face, it was completely destroyed just moments before... What was actually left of the planet? The lonely beach? Maybe that was all that was left of the Planet Earth. It had to be so. Shinji couldn't hear anything else. Only the crashing waves and his own pitiful sobbing.
"Asuka... help me." he said in a soft tone. He couldn't even hear it over the sound of the waves.
"Asuka... help me." once again, this time louder. Shinji repeated himself.
"Asuka... help me." he said again, and again still, louder each time.
"ASUKA... HELP ME!" he shouted, and he clenched his head in his hands, screaming and shouting hysterically.
"Asuka, why did you leave me? Why are you dead? Oh please Asuka, help me. I need you..."
He felt as if he could do nothing more than lay with the body of the girl who loathed him... the girl who he hated... and the girl he had so admired... sexually.
"How disgusting..." a voice said. It was a quiet voice, but Shinji heard it. He knew it wasn't in his mind. He raised his head slowly, wiped the tears from his eyes, and saw a single blue eye staring up at him. The other was covered by an eye patch.
"Asuka?" he called out to her. She blinked her eye once. "You're alive?" he sniffled. He had stopped crying now... finally. She stared up at his face, wet with tears. "No one likes a crybaby male." she groaned. She was actually alive, and Shinji even smiled at her rude comment. He was glad that the bitch was alive. She was a bitch... but he had grown to care for her, even more so since this Third Impact. He wasn't alone, and for that he was glad.
"I'm so sorry, Asuka. I'm sorry I didn't help you! I'm sorry for calling you names and being mean to you all those times. I'm sorry! Please forgive me. I swear I'll never do it a-" Shinji was cut short as Asuka placed a finger over his lips. He saw her smile, and heard her say, "It's alright, Shinji. You don't have to apologize. I should be apologizing to you."
"Not at all." Shinji shook his head, and he allowed his body to collapse on top of Asuka's. For once, she didn't slap him or yell. She just held his head against her shoulder and closed her eye, and Shinji did the same. He felt comfort. For once he wasn't afraid. Someone cared for him. Someone loved him. He felt as if he were invincible now. Asuka stroked his hair gently, and the exhausted Shinji fell fast asleep in the arms of the Second Child... Asuka Langley Sohryu.
End Chapter One