Disclaimer: Check the Prologue.
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AN: Alright, this is it, the Epilogue. Afterwards, I'll be writing the sequel "Ends up owning you!", but first I'm going on vacation, so to speak. In mid-February, the Prologue and First Chapter will be appearing. My brain does need some relaxation (as if my job would do me any good oo').
Due to mood shifts, and personal opinions of mine, I came up with two Epilogues, this and the other, which will be quite darker, where the villain wins and the hero loses. Don't ask me why, it just appeared on my mind… Ahh The damnation of the eternal "what if"…
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This is narrative.
"This is a dialogue."
"THIS IS SHOUTING."
'This is a quote/EMPHASIS made either during a dialogue or narrative.'
These are thoughts.
These are mouthed and facial expressions before, during, and after, a dialogue.
This tells where and when the following happens.
(These will be Author Notes)
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"Hitting bottom is not a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! Let go!"
-Tyler Durden
Unit's Cages, NERV HQ, Geofront
Shinji, exiting the Plug, looked around and, much to his joy, heard several calls and cheering from NERV personnel.
Smiling, he went to the catwalk, receiving several pats on his back. Turning around, he saw Rei approaching him with a smile on her face. He, after deciding to definitely throw all "normality" to the winds, gave her a strong hug, eliciting a blush from her and boisterous whoops from the male techs.
Drawing himself back, he saw her smiling, and faintly blushing, face, therefore eliciting an honest-joy smile from him. Holding her left hand with his right, he turned and headed towards the doors. Reaching them, he pressed the button on the wall-keypad, opening the doors. On the other side, though, the Vice-Commander was coming their way. Shinji stood motionless, waiting for him, still holding her hand and giving it a small squeeze.
A moment passed. Fuyutski, now standing in front of them, with the open doors serving as a non-visual barrier, spoke stoically
"Pilot Ikari, the Commander wants to speak with you." Fuyutski then turned around, and walked away, into the corridor. Shinji, gulping, gave Rei's hand a final gentle squeeze, and followed him.
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The Commander's OfficeShinji, now standing as stiff as a statue, in front of his father's desk, faced his excruciating gaze for several minutes. Finally, the Commander straightened in his chair, took out his glasses, and rubbed his eyes with his left, no longer gloved, hand. Hearing an almost-imperceptible sigh from him, Shinji asked, trying to keep his emotions in bay
"Why am I here?"
The Commander, looking at him with a stoic expression, said
"Do you know why I wanted to do all of this, the why of causing the Third Impact?"
Shinji, clenching his right hand, replied
"To place Humanity in God's seat, to force our next evolutionary step!"
The Commander, arching an eyebrow, replied, in a weary tone, as a father who kept repeating the same sermon to his son
"No, Shinji… I did what I did to see Yui again…"
Shinji, frowning, said, now angered
"First you place her soul in Unit-01, now you come with that bullshit?"
Gendo, scowling, replied
"I never agreed with her in being the first to test Unit-01! But I never thought that… that I would lose her…"
Now turning his own gaze downwards, Shinji murmured
"And so I paid the price for your folly."
Gendo, banging his right hand on his desk, replied
"WRONG! I placed Yui in front of you, yes! TO ME, SHE WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU! I LOVED HER… I love her (1)… I… I abandoned you, and ensured that your life would place you in the right mood, so that you wouldn't hesitate to cause Third Impact… So that I could be with her again…"
"And to Hell with everybody else, right? Who cares if you're causing misery and grief big enough to fill the whole world? As long as your plan works, nothing else matters! NOT EVEN YOUR OWN BLOOD!" Shinji, with his soul raging in anger and sorrow, turned to the doors. Gripping their handles strongly, he was going to open them, when he heard
"You don't know yet…"
Shinji, curious, though angered still, asked, without turning to him
"Don't know what?"
"What it feels like to love and be loved… To have someone at night, embracing you in bed, the warmth on another body and soul, comforting yours, with no words or gestures. Just… companionship…"
Shinji, frown still in place, though subsiding just a bit, replied
"Yes, thanks to somebody we both know, I don't know what love is!" Then, he opened the doors, and went, down the corridor, leaving his father's domain in a foul mood. Comparatively, the abyss that separated them now grew larger and wider. By this rhythm, these two, father and son, would never be in peace with each other…
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Female Locker's AreaRei entered the area of the lockers, intending on taking a long shower. However, she saw Asuka sit on front of her own locker, emotionally empty, by the looks of her. She heard her voice, as cold as the water in her apartment used to be
"Why?"
Rei, tilting her head to her right said, asked
"Why what?" Seeing Asuka clench her own two hands, she heard her voice, which now carried some more aggressive tones
"Why didn't you ask me to help you? Why didn't you told me about NERV and SEELE? Why didn't you tell me the whole truth about EVA?"
Rei kept a moment in silence, and then he approached her, and sits on her left side. Asuka diverted her own gaze to her for only a fraction of a second, before resuming her empty stare at her locker. Rei, mimicking Asuka's stance, said
"Shinji didn't want to drag you into this, he thought that you would never believe nor accept the truth. According to him, you live to pilot. You believe in what NERV tells you, and more, you depend on it. It was not his duty to aid you in this personal matter."
Asuka, now with mock written all over her face, replied
"Of course, he's too good for me, isn't he? He fights every Saturday just for the kicks of it, so why should he care about me?"
Rei, pivoting her face to Asuka, asked
"Why would you want to be cared about him, of all people? Every time you speak with or about him, your words carry disgust."
Asuka, hearing this from Rei, rises from her seat, and turns to Rei
"AND HE EARNS EVERY OUNCE OF IT!"
Looking from down to up, Rei says
"Then why do you want him to worry about you?"
Asuka, now gritting her teeth, replied
"I DON'T WANT HIS PITY!" After this shout, Asuka turned her back to her.
Rei, wondering for a moment, said, while looking at her own feet, as if in silent contemplation
"You find something within you when you think about him, a feeling akin to friendship, maybe even more… - hearing only a repelling Pfahh from Asuka, she continued – In whole, the chain of events so far lead you to want to deepen your feeble relationship with him."
Asuka, turning only her head a bit to Rei, replied
"It's not him who I want!"
Hearing this, Rei smiled. Asuka, seeing such, said, now with a tone carrying some soul-sickness of sorts
"Now you can be happily-ever-after with him. Don't bother to send me a card when your babies are born…"
Rei, keeping her smile, replied
"No, I am happy, in fact, to give you the news that Mr. Ryouji will not end his mission deceased."
Asuka, confused, asked her what she meant with that. Rei, still smiling, answered
"Mr. Ryouji sought to find out the truth, the motives propelling SEELE and NERV. Shinji, though, gave him that, much to his disbelief. As payment for the liberation of such confidential subjects, Shinji asked him for his aid in spreading globally the whole truth about the fanatical goals of SEELE. If Shinji had not done so, Mr. Ryouji would be assassinated, by both SEELE and NERV, for plunging far too much in their secret matters. As it is, he is currently in an unknown location. Shinji has convinced him that, this way, he can keep aiding us safely."
Asuka, hearing this, punches her own locker with her right hand. She then murmurs
"Me, the best pilot, get knocked out by you. Nobody wants my help…"
Rei, now rising, says
"First you must accept our help."
Asuka, now fully turning to her, replied
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP, WONDER GIRL!"
Rei, now with a sympathetic face, said
"Yes, you do. Scrupulous individuals, in order to suit their ultimate goals, have manipulated our lives. We must cling together to arise from their dark hole."
"AND WHAT DO I NEED YOUR HELP WITH? THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH ME!"
"Yes, there is. You block all your memories of love, because they remind you of hurtful moments. You keep admitting that you love Mr. Ryouji, but, if you do love him in the first place, is only because he caught you in a weak moment, and you grew convinced that he was the best man for you, only because he loved you, cared about you. The same has happened with Shinji. He caught you in a frail moment, and your heart now seeks his warmth."
Asuka, scowling heavily, replied
"Give me ONE proof of that, Wonder Girl, and I'll sleep with him tonight!"
Rei simply shook her head, and said
"You do not need a proof from me, but from yourself. Perhaps you should try to be with him, just for one day, and give him the benefit of a doubt. You have nothing to lose any way." Rei, ending her speech, passed by Asuka, whom was now looking down, letting her bangs hide her eyes, though her lips were pressed hard against each other.
Rei entered a shower cubicle, twisted the dial for hot water, and embraced its temporary soothing warmth. From Asuka, she heard another punch, or kick, in a locker and, a minute after, the Swwissh from the doors. Grimacing, she hoped only that Shinji would not respond in a bad manner to her during dinner…
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TBC
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1 – Note the change in 'love'; it's not a typo, OK?
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AN: And that's it. Not what I had first planned, but, then again, nothing ever ends like we planned in the first place, right? In a few hours, I'll post the second Epilogue, and, 2-3 months from now, the sequel will come. I gotta get things straight and plot the whole thing first…