-THE SAME DAY, TIME UNKNOWN- NERV COMMAND CENTER, THE BRIDGE TOKYO-3, JAPAN

"Eva rejected the signal!" Maya called to her sempai. Her fingers dashed over the keyboard, trying to compensate where her data showed they were going wrong. Somehow it didn't seem enough.

Shigeru Aoba wiped his brow and continued monitoring Shinji's wildly-fluctuating vital-signs, from within Eva Unit-One. "His ego formation in the LCL is breaking up!"

"Pressure is increasing in the plug!" Makoto said directly after Shigeru.

"Stop all operations!" Ritsuko commanded. The project to retrieve Shinji from the Eva may have failed, but she'd be damned if she'd let him disappear forever. Better to abort now, and try again later after studying the data.

"Cut the power supply!"

"No good. The plug has activated," Maya screamed. As one, they stared in horror at the monitor screens as the entry plug unscrewed itself, and released the cockpit, spewing forth its contents. Yellow LCL gushed over its sides, and Shinji's empty plugsuit floated limply atop its foam.

Misato's fists tightened into balls. "Shinji-kun!" she screamed.

-THE SAME DAY, TIME UNKNOWN- WITHIN EVANGELION UNIT-ONE ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

Mother... Shinji's bodiless thoughts floated noiselessly. He wanted to scream for joy, to throw his hands in adulation, but held his breath, hoping to hear the other voices alongside him.

"Have you decided?" Yui asked, but not to Shinji.

"I'll name it Shinji if it's a boy," Gendo Ikari said. His voice had none of the hardness or loneliness in it. It was the voice of a husband talking to his wife. It was a fatherly voice. "I'll name it Shinji if it's a boy," he said again, "And Rei if it's a girl."

Though he couldn't see them, Shinji could see smiles draw across both their faces, even his father's. "Shinji. Rei. Beautiful names," Yui said.

Mother...

-THE SAME DAY- EVANGELION UNIT-ONE HOLDING CAGE

Misato had run from the command center down to the holding cage, not caring who got in her way. She was ranked as a Major, true, and thus they'd have gotten out of her way in any case, but she still ran, shoving aside people in her rush.

When she got to the holding cage, she saw that none of the engineers dared to move. Shinji's ingredients were somewhere in that fluid, and none dared to approach it, save Misato.

She ran, and threw herself before the ejected entry plug, not caring how the chemicals stained her red dress, or soaked straight through her leggings. She'd been trying not to cry all the way down to the cage, but she didn't care anymore who saw her.

The LCL gave her skin a slight itch as she pressed the empty suit against her breast, and the liquids were still warm, straight out of the entry plug. She raised her eyes to the heavens, searching for a prayer to call the poor boy back to her, but all she saw were the impassive eyes of Dr. Akagi staring down at her, watching over her.

"What good is science if it can't save even one person," she pleaded to no one in particular. "Give back Shinji-kun! Give him back...!"

WITHIN EVANGELION UNIT-ONE ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE

Smell. I smell someone Shinji thought. He could see his body again, and his brown hair waved softly in the unseen currents of wherever it was he was in. Misato-san? Ayanami? No, it doesn't smell like them. I know. It smells like Mother.

"It is a pity that this child will live after Second Impact, in this Hell," Gendo's voice continued, speaking to his wife.

An image dissolved into view. A young boy suckled at his mother's exposed breast. There was no way for him to know it, but Shinji knew that the newborn was himself.

"Well. If he wants to live, anywhere becomes Heaven," Yui's voice replied softly, lovingly. "Because if he really lives, he will find the chance for happiness anywhere."

Gendo paused, and Shinji could sense him smiling. "I see," he said simply. "You may be right."

Mother.

Shinji saw a light, far off in the distance. It flickered faintly, and it was hard to see, but it was calling him, he knew it.

Mother, he thought, as he approached it, floating weightlessly. I have to go back.... I have things to do. I have to find my happiness. I'll see you again, though.

Mother!

And then the world turned white.