Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion is Owned by Gainax. Buy the DVD's of
the Series and the Movies from them. I did, and it was worth every dime.
I don't own anything except my DVD's, and this is done for my own
satisfaction.
Episode 2:16 Birthday Blues
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is December 4th, 2017
The morning dawned cool and brisk. Though not as warm as the summer months, it was still not as cold as Misato remembered it being in the Decembers of her youth. She remembered snow, and skiing and ice-skating. Now there were very few places on earth that still had snow. Second Impact had altered the Earths rotation, as well as melting the poles, and Japan now fell within a region of almost tropical heat. The monsoons were still a persistent problem, sweeping across the Pacific Ocean to wash over the island nation, but they were less frequent than they had been.
She got out of bed, leaving Kaji asleep, and got into the shower first. She was washing her hair, when she heard him stumble into the bathroom to use the toilet.
"Morning love," she said.
"Uh huh," Kaji grunted. He definitely wasn't a morning person. Not that she was, but she certainly had better mornings now that she'd stopped drinking.
She finished her shower, stepped out, and toweled herself off. Kaji leered at her.
"Oh you," she said, flicking his nose as he stared at her.
"You know you like it," he said huskily.
"Yes, I do, but I have to be at the Command Center in 45 minutes."
"You driving or taking the tube?"
"I'm gonna drive. It feels like a nice day, and I think I'm in the mood for a look at the scenery, not a couple miles of well lit but dull shaft."
"Alright, well, I'll take a shower and come with you. Make me some coffee?"
"Okay," she kissed him as he got into the shower, "it'll be waiting for you when you get out."
She went downstairs, and started the coffee. When it was done she poured two cups, one for each of them, into their customary travel mugs, and added milk and sugar to hers. She sat there sipping until Kaji came down, and gathered his cup, taking it into the living room, where he sat down and put on his socks. She followed him in, and sat down next to him.
"Ready?" he asked, looking up.
"Just waiting on you."
"Let's go then," he said, leading her to the front door. Once there they put on their shoes, and stepped through the door, walking down to where her convertible was parked. The got in and drove through the gates of the house that had once belonged to some General, and headed for the NERV Monorail Station and parking structure.
It was a pleasant drive, and the early December sun was still low in the sky when they entered the garage. Fifteen minutes later they were entering the Command Center, to find Maya Ibuki and Makato Hyuga on duty there already. Misato smiled. Since they'd recovered Maya that morning in September, she'd rejoined their staff and had once again made herself invaluable. She seemed lonely however, and Makoto had commented to his commander that she seemed to be pining for someone.
'A lost love whom had yet to return?' Misato had wondered.
Many people were still missing friends and loved ones, but it didn't seem likely that many more people would be coming back. The patrols were still sent out every day, to look for the Awakened, but the numbers were down to a trickle. In the last two weeks they'd only found 34 people. Hardly more than 2 a day on average.
The base, still felt empty, as it rightly should. The JSDF Airbase itself was designed to house over twenty thousand people, and there were just over 7,000 people living here now. Although the NERV complex was designed to function as an emergency shelter, it's original configuration could only hold about five or six thousand. The Expansion was probably easily good for three times that, so there was plenty of room to spread out.
But, with the appearance of the Legionnaires, the people were fearful of being too far from shelter and protection, so most people were staying nearby. But not everyone.
With the completion of the tube system, most people had moved their businesses and workshops to the NERV Command Center or the building immediately adjacent to the Command Centers main entrance at the Monorail Station, simply to feel secure. Misato couldn't blame them, she'd spent many Angel attacks relatively safe in a building much like this, while the world shook around her. The large cargo lifts were now in constant motion, bringing machines, vehicles and all sorts of supplies into the base. With so much extra room available down here, they were collecting quite a stockpile for themselves.
She was just finishing up with the reports, which concluded with a notation that the three diaries were now up and running with more than 400 cattle each, and the first calves should be born some time in the next four to six months.
Her phone rang, and she answered it quickly.
"Yes."
"Mr. Ikari has not shown up for his lesson."
"Sensei? He's not there yet?" Misato glanced at her watch. Shinji was never late for anything, not in the two and a half years she'd known him, but it was 45 minutes after his usual scheduled appointment for his Martial Arts instruction.
"I don't know where he is Sensei, but I'll check on it. Go ahead and take the day off."
"Not a problem, Commander, I just figured you should be aware of this. Goodbye."
She hung up, and dialed Shinji's cell. No answer.
She called Hikari's number.
"Hello?"
"Hikari, it's Misato, have you seen Shinji this morning?"
"No Misato, not since last night."
"Last night?"
"Yes, he was outside packing some things on his bike. Toji said he asked him what was up, but Shinji just told him he was taking care of something, and he'd be back."
"Okay. Toji already at work?"
"Yeah, he left here an hour ago. Mari, Nazomi and I were thinking about going by to visit him later today. I just got qualified to drive a car, so we're going to take a shuttle bus in, and requisition a car."
"Congratulations Hikari, and thanks," she said, hanging up.
Next she dialed Suzuhara's cell.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Toji, Misato, Shinji's missing, and Hikari said you saw him last night."
"Yeah, hang on," there was a pause. "Sorry, I was in the middle of a stubborn transmission rebuild, and my hands were covered in grease. Anyway, I saw him loading up the Goldwing last night with a sleeping bag and his cello. When I walked over to ask him what he was doing, he said he had something he needed to do, so he was going to take today off."
"Did he say where he was going or what he was doing?"
"Nope."
"Alright, if you hear anything, let me know."
"Sure thing Misato," Toji said and hung up.
"Shinji's missing?" Kaji asked.
"Yes," Misato stated simply.
"That's not very responsible."
"No it's not. Which is VERY unlike Shinji."
"So it must have been something he thought was very important," Kaji said.
"Yes, it must be. Hmm. I wonder. Kaji, what's the date today?" she asked him.
"December 4th. Why?" he asked puzzled.
Comprehension hit Misato like a brick wall.
"I know why he's gone, just not where," she said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Kaji dear, you don't mind catching a ride back home with someone else do you? I need to go for a drive. I'll be home tonight, I promise."
"Sure Misato. Going to look for Shinji?"
"Yes. I have a hunch about where he'll be, and I want to go check it out."
"Okay. Keep your secrets and drive safe," he said kissing her cheek as she left.
Twenty minutes later found her driving up the highway, traveling east. This journey was much easier for her than it had been for Shinji and Asuka when they'd first awakened. They'd spent some time moving and collecting all the cars that had littered the freeway after Third Impact. It took her the better part of 2 hours to find the place that Shinji had told her about, but there it was, right on the south side of the highway, at the intersection with a smaller roadway.
She pulled her car into the restaurant parking lot and got out. Walking inside she saw that this place had been cleaned out pretty well. Shinji must have come back here at some point and cleaned it all up. She stepped into the kitchen and checked the freezer and the refrigerator. Bother were empty and looked spotless.
He had spent some time here. Cleaning those two large appliances out had taken time. She turned and walked back into the restaurants dining room and was prepared to walk through the front door when she noticed it. A small glass vase, red glass, and very beautiful sat in the center of a table with a single red rose in it.
The dark crimson color of the flower made Misato immediately think of Shinji's budding rose garden. He'd planted a large garden of red roses behind his house, and spent much of his free time tending them or his large vegetable garden.
She examined the condition of the flower.
'He's been here recently. Within the last 12 hours at least.'
She walked back out to her car, and started it up. She'd followed her hunch this far, now to see if she was just lucky, or knew exactly what was going through his mind. She turned and followed the road down to the beach, and parked in the lot, before a line of dunes. Shinji's Goldwing was here, and a light sleeping bag was poking out of one of the saddlebags.
She got out of the car, took her shoes off, and began to walk towards the ocean. As she neared, a faint thrumming filled the air, and she realized that it was the delicate sound of Shinji's Cello.
She walked over the last dune and found him, seated on a small driftwood stump, sticking out of the sand. He had his eyes closed, and was playing from his heart. There was some sheet music here, but it was under a rock, next to him, and he wasn't even looking at it. She walked up to him, softly, not wanting to disturb him.
"Hello Misato," he said softly, continuing to play.
"Hello Shinji. You know you had us worried. You didn't tell anyone where you were going."
"Sorry about that. I just had to come out here. I figured if anyone really needed me my emergency beeper would go off. Otherwise, I wanted to be left alone."
"Oh. Well I'm sorry to have disturbed you Shinji, I'll go ahead and go back to the base. I just wanted to check on you."
"No. Please. Stay. The fact that you knew where to find me, shows that you knew why I came here."
"It's her birthday. She's 16 years old today," she said, 'provided she's still alive,' she added silently.
Shinji nodded and continued to play. Misato marveled at the music he was creating. After ten minutes she spoke up again.
"Is this the piece I've heard so much about?"
"The one I wrote for Asuka? Yes. I completed writing it a few weeks ago, but I've never played it all the way through for anyone. I had planned to give it to her today, but she's not here, so I thought I'd come here, and play it. Maybe somewhere, she's looking out over a sea like this, and thinking of me as well."
She admired the way his fingers danced over the neck of the cello, and his smooth gentle strokes on the bow. Hikari was right. Shinji's love for Asuka was pouring out of this song. This young man loved that young woman very much, and if there were any justice in the world, one day she'd return that love. And come back to him.
She noticed that Shinji was repeating the song again, as she'd heard this part just as she pulled up.
"Playing it again?"
He nodded. "This is the last refrain. I tried to convey my feelings for her within the notes of the music. This part is meant to be melancholy, describing our kiss, her flight, and the promise of her return."
"You did very well Shinji. She'll love it."
Shinji played on, finally coming to the end of the song, and letting the last note fade and be drowned out by the sound of the breeze and the ocean slapping against the beach. He turned and put his cello in it's case, and lay the sheet music on top of it before closing it. Misato noted he had tears in his eyes.
She hugged him to her, comforting the brave young man.
"I know why she had to leave Misato, I just wish I could have helped her."
"You did Shinji. Wherever she is, she knows that you love her, and that is more than that young woman has had in over a decade. With her mother dead, and feeling like her father betrayed that memory by marrying so soon, Asuka never allowed anyone into her heart. Not until you. I know she loves you Shinji. She just has to let herself accept that, but before she can, she's got to come to terms with her own inner demons. While you fight the outer ones to keep us safe," she smiled.
"Thanks Misato," he said.
He turned to look back out at the ocean.
"Did I ever tell you that I tried to kill her, right here on this spot the first morning we Awakened?"
"You did?"
"Yeah. I'd just Awakened from Instrumentality, and looked over to see her. My emotions were so conflicted that nothing made sense. Finally the rage I'd felt at her for all those months of teasing and abuse just overwhelmed me, and I started to choke her. I fully intended to kill her at that moment. Then with my hands wrapped around her, he reached up and brushed my face. And I knew she was sorry for what she'd done, but couldn't bring herself to apologize. I stopped, and began to cry, and she looked at me, and told me I made her sick. I think her exact words were 'You're disgusting' or something like that. I passed out a few minutes later, and when I woke up, it was the next day, and we were both much better."
Misato just stood there and listened. Shinji turned.
"I'm ready to go back to the base now. Can I ask you a favor? Could you take my cello in your car? It's pretty awkward on my bike."
"Sure thing Shinji," she said, taking it from him as they walked back to the lot. Once she had the Cello in her car, Shinji got on his bike and started it. The return trip to Nagoya-2 didn't take them long, and Shinji rode beside her almost the entire way. Before she entered the base, she called ahead, to let the others know she'd found him, and he was alright, but not to ask unless he offered to tell them about his day.
"Want to watch the sunset with me?" he asked.
"Um, sure. Do you mind if Kaji comes along?"
"No that would be fine. Meet me at Ikoygen park about 15 minutes before sunset?"
"Sounds good."
She went down into the base, and met up with Kaji.
"Asuka?" he asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"After you asked me the date, I tried to remember what was so special about it. About five minutes after you left, it hit me. December 4th. Asuka's Birthday."
"Well, we've been invited to watch the sunset with Shinji, and I think we should be there. For moral support if nothing else."
"Great. In the meantime, it seems that this base can not function without you. Here's your messages," he said, handing her a stack of papers.
Misato sighed.
At 4pm Misato and Kaji left the base, and traveled to the park that Shinji had indicated. Not seeing his bike in any of the parking lots, Misato continued to drive around until she found a road leading up to the top of a butte that was at the edge of the park. Shinji's bike was here, and the young man was sitting on top of a picnic table, watching the sun set behind him as he looked out to the eastern sea.
"Uh Shinji, the sun's setting in the west tonight," Kaji noted.
Shinji laughed," I know that Kaji, but when I watched my first sunset from here with Asuka we were looking east. It was a week after we came here, and I remember thinking about how beautiful she was there in the setting sun. The ocean still doesn't look right, you know, and it's been almost a year. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."
Kaji looked at Misato, and his expression conveyed it all. 'Man he's got it bad.'
Misato nodded. They stayed there with him until true darkness had fully fallen, and the moons were clearly visible in the night sky.
"Well, anyway, thanks for coming up here guys. And Misato?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for looking for me. It's nice to know that you care," he said, smiling.
"Turn that charm off right now Mister Ikari, that's my wife you're making googley eyes at," Kaji growled playfully.
All three of them laughed.
"Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go home. Kensuke will be wondering if I'm alright, and I don't want to worry Toji and Hikari."
"How are those two doing?"
"Good. You know they moved in together after Mari Awoke right?"
Misato nodded.
"Well, Toji doesn't say it, but I know he's ecstatic. Kensuke and I teased him and Hikari about them 'living in sin' but Hikari assured us that nothing has happened between them and nothing WAS going to happen until she and Suzuhara were married."
"Good girl," Misato said, making Shinji and Kaji smile.
"Anyway, I've got to get going. Hopefully Hikari saved me some dinner. Bye," he waved, and, mounting his bike, rode down the hill.
Misato and Kaji had barely finished dinner when her phone rang.
"Yes?"
"Misato, it's Ritsuko. Are you doing anything this evening?"
"Well we just finished dinner, why? Want to come over?"
"No. I'm working on something in my lab. Could you and Kaji come by?"
"Um sure, Ritsuko, give us a half hour?"
"That will be fine."
Misato showed up at Ritsuko's lab at the appointed time. Shinji and Professor Fuyutsuki were here as well.
"Fancy meeting you here?" Misato said, not feeling pleased at this surprise.
"We have something to show you. Something that we've been preparing in secret, but you have to know about because they're almost ready."
"They?" Misato twitched.
"Yes, Misato. They." Ritsuko turned and walked to a doorway, and used her passkey to open it. She stepped through, and motioned for the others to follow. Misato did so, and found herself on a darkened catwalk, the beam of light from Ritsuko's lab shining on the walk, the only source of light.
Shinji shut the door, and the light vanished.
"Ritsuko! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Misato shouted.
"Just setting the mood," the sound echoed. And echoed and echoed. This chamber was huge.
With a loud click the lights in the room came on, an Misato could see that this room truly WAS huge. Buried down here at the heard of the base, the temperature was higher than normal, and the room was quite stuffy. She discovered that she was on a catwalk stretching into the distance, perhaps a kilometer, and that there the catwalk divided and ran back down each side wall of the chamber, back to the door they'd entered through.
The chamber itself was a large tubular design, the signature of Shinji's EVA assisted construction. She didn't remember having him make a chamber this deep, though, so Ritsuko must have set this one up. The size of the chamber didn't hold her attention for long.
The half dozen forms lying below her in the LCL were too distracting, two of them larger than the rest.
"EVA's," she said, looking from them back up to Ritsuko.
"Close. Shinji calls them the Cherubim. Or Cherubs for short. Winged messengers of God."
"YOU APPROVED OF THIS?" she shouted turning on Shinji.
"Yes. I went to her after the first Legionnaire appeared, and talked to her about this. Get this straight Misato. I asked HER to do this. She wasn't sure, but I convinced her. We brought in Professor Fuyutsuki, because he has intimate knowledge of the creation of the EVA's. I made the decision to keep this from you until now," Shinji said.
Misato blinked. Shinji did this?
"But how?" she asked.
"Not that hard really. We had tankers bring in the LCL, which the clones need to grow in, and then Ritsuko took some samples of vital cells around the EVA's S2-Unit. Placing them within the LCL, and hitting them with the right hormones, caused them to start growing. What you see here is the result of nearly six months of growth," Shinji said, indicating the two largest forms. "They should be ready for bonding in the next three months."
"Bonding?" she asked.
"Yes. The Cherub's aren't quite the same as the EVA series, that we knew. They operate, we hope, like my Unit-01 does now. No Entry plug, just a pilot, absorbed through the S2 Organ, becoming one with the Cherub. We contacted you now because we need to begin the screening process for the new pilots. When the Cherub's awaken, the pilots will need to be present to bond with them. This will imprint a single pilot on each Cherub.
Misato was overwhelmed. This could NOT have been going on under her nose. She was the new commander of NERV, and she should have known about this.
"You say these things are clones of the EVA?"
"Yes. Although not exact replicas."
"How is that possible?"
"The DNA of the EVA is unstable when submerged in the LCL," Professor Fuyutsuki said.
"UNSTABLE?" Misato shouted.
"Not like that," Shinji replied. "More like... genetically pliable. Ritsuko's test have determined that when the Cherubs are ready they'll be about 20% less massive than the EVA, and, because the pilots won't have absorbed part of someone else's soul, they won't have an AT field. That's something only Asuka and I can generate."
"Except for the one that we all have, that keeps us together," Ritsuko corrected.
"Exactly," Fuyutsuki said.
Misato just stood there shaking her head.
"Shinji. Tomorrow after your training session is over I want to see you in my office. We're going to have a little discussion about secrets that you shouldn't keep," Misato said. And, with that, she grabbed Kaji by the hand and drug him out of the chamber.
"I think she took it pretty well," Ritsuko said.
Next on Episode 2:17 of Neon Genesis Evangelion The time has finally come, and the Cherubim are about to be bonded to their new pilots, but a new threat interrupts the proceedings. As Shinji battles three Legionnaires his friends face their own their greatest fears, and brightest hopes.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:17 The Arisen.
Episode 2:16 Birthday Blues
Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.
Presumed date is December 4th, 2017
The morning dawned cool and brisk. Though not as warm as the summer months, it was still not as cold as Misato remembered it being in the Decembers of her youth. She remembered snow, and skiing and ice-skating. Now there were very few places on earth that still had snow. Second Impact had altered the Earths rotation, as well as melting the poles, and Japan now fell within a region of almost tropical heat. The monsoons were still a persistent problem, sweeping across the Pacific Ocean to wash over the island nation, but they were less frequent than they had been.
She got out of bed, leaving Kaji asleep, and got into the shower first. She was washing her hair, when she heard him stumble into the bathroom to use the toilet.
"Morning love," she said.
"Uh huh," Kaji grunted. He definitely wasn't a morning person. Not that she was, but she certainly had better mornings now that she'd stopped drinking.
She finished her shower, stepped out, and toweled herself off. Kaji leered at her.
"Oh you," she said, flicking his nose as he stared at her.
"You know you like it," he said huskily.
"Yes, I do, but I have to be at the Command Center in 45 minutes."
"You driving or taking the tube?"
"I'm gonna drive. It feels like a nice day, and I think I'm in the mood for a look at the scenery, not a couple miles of well lit but dull shaft."
"Alright, well, I'll take a shower and come with you. Make me some coffee?"
"Okay," she kissed him as he got into the shower, "it'll be waiting for you when you get out."
She went downstairs, and started the coffee. When it was done she poured two cups, one for each of them, into their customary travel mugs, and added milk and sugar to hers. She sat there sipping until Kaji came down, and gathered his cup, taking it into the living room, where he sat down and put on his socks. She followed him in, and sat down next to him.
"Ready?" he asked, looking up.
"Just waiting on you."
"Let's go then," he said, leading her to the front door. Once there they put on their shoes, and stepped through the door, walking down to where her convertible was parked. The got in and drove through the gates of the house that had once belonged to some General, and headed for the NERV Monorail Station and parking structure.
It was a pleasant drive, and the early December sun was still low in the sky when they entered the garage. Fifteen minutes later they were entering the Command Center, to find Maya Ibuki and Makato Hyuga on duty there already. Misato smiled. Since they'd recovered Maya that morning in September, she'd rejoined their staff and had once again made herself invaluable. She seemed lonely however, and Makoto had commented to his commander that she seemed to be pining for someone.
'A lost love whom had yet to return?' Misato had wondered.
Many people were still missing friends and loved ones, but it didn't seem likely that many more people would be coming back. The patrols were still sent out every day, to look for the Awakened, but the numbers were down to a trickle. In the last two weeks they'd only found 34 people. Hardly more than 2 a day on average.
The base, still felt empty, as it rightly should. The JSDF Airbase itself was designed to house over twenty thousand people, and there were just over 7,000 people living here now. Although the NERV complex was designed to function as an emergency shelter, it's original configuration could only hold about five or six thousand. The Expansion was probably easily good for three times that, so there was plenty of room to spread out.
But, with the appearance of the Legionnaires, the people were fearful of being too far from shelter and protection, so most people were staying nearby. But not everyone.
With the completion of the tube system, most people had moved their businesses and workshops to the NERV Command Center or the building immediately adjacent to the Command Centers main entrance at the Monorail Station, simply to feel secure. Misato couldn't blame them, she'd spent many Angel attacks relatively safe in a building much like this, while the world shook around her. The large cargo lifts were now in constant motion, bringing machines, vehicles and all sorts of supplies into the base. With so much extra room available down here, they were collecting quite a stockpile for themselves.
She was just finishing up with the reports, which concluded with a notation that the three diaries were now up and running with more than 400 cattle each, and the first calves should be born some time in the next four to six months.
Her phone rang, and she answered it quickly.
"Yes."
"Mr. Ikari has not shown up for his lesson."
"Sensei? He's not there yet?" Misato glanced at her watch. Shinji was never late for anything, not in the two and a half years she'd known him, but it was 45 minutes after his usual scheduled appointment for his Martial Arts instruction.
"I don't know where he is Sensei, but I'll check on it. Go ahead and take the day off."
"Not a problem, Commander, I just figured you should be aware of this. Goodbye."
She hung up, and dialed Shinji's cell. No answer.
She called Hikari's number.
"Hello?"
"Hikari, it's Misato, have you seen Shinji this morning?"
"No Misato, not since last night."
"Last night?"
"Yes, he was outside packing some things on his bike. Toji said he asked him what was up, but Shinji just told him he was taking care of something, and he'd be back."
"Okay. Toji already at work?"
"Yeah, he left here an hour ago. Mari, Nazomi and I were thinking about going by to visit him later today. I just got qualified to drive a car, so we're going to take a shuttle bus in, and requisition a car."
"Congratulations Hikari, and thanks," she said, hanging up.
Next she dialed Suzuhara's cell.
"Yeah." He answered.
"Toji, Misato, Shinji's missing, and Hikari said you saw him last night."
"Yeah, hang on," there was a pause. "Sorry, I was in the middle of a stubborn transmission rebuild, and my hands were covered in grease. Anyway, I saw him loading up the Goldwing last night with a sleeping bag and his cello. When I walked over to ask him what he was doing, he said he had something he needed to do, so he was going to take today off."
"Did he say where he was going or what he was doing?"
"Nope."
"Alright, if you hear anything, let me know."
"Sure thing Misato," Toji said and hung up.
"Shinji's missing?" Kaji asked.
"Yes," Misato stated simply.
"That's not very responsible."
"No it's not. Which is VERY unlike Shinji."
"So it must have been something he thought was very important," Kaji said.
"Yes, it must be. Hmm. I wonder. Kaji, what's the date today?" she asked him.
"December 4th. Why?" he asked puzzled.
Comprehension hit Misato like a brick wall.
"I know why he's gone, just not where," she said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. Kaji dear, you don't mind catching a ride back home with someone else do you? I need to go for a drive. I'll be home tonight, I promise."
"Sure Misato. Going to look for Shinji?"
"Yes. I have a hunch about where he'll be, and I want to go check it out."
"Okay. Keep your secrets and drive safe," he said kissing her cheek as she left.
Twenty minutes later found her driving up the highway, traveling east. This journey was much easier for her than it had been for Shinji and Asuka when they'd first awakened. They'd spent some time moving and collecting all the cars that had littered the freeway after Third Impact. It took her the better part of 2 hours to find the place that Shinji had told her about, but there it was, right on the south side of the highway, at the intersection with a smaller roadway.
She pulled her car into the restaurant parking lot and got out. Walking inside she saw that this place had been cleaned out pretty well. Shinji must have come back here at some point and cleaned it all up. She stepped into the kitchen and checked the freezer and the refrigerator. Bother were empty and looked spotless.
He had spent some time here. Cleaning those two large appliances out had taken time. She turned and walked back into the restaurants dining room and was prepared to walk through the front door when she noticed it. A small glass vase, red glass, and very beautiful sat in the center of a table with a single red rose in it.
The dark crimson color of the flower made Misato immediately think of Shinji's budding rose garden. He'd planted a large garden of red roses behind his house, and spent much of his free time tending them or his large vegetable garden.
She examined the condition of the flower.
'He's been here recently. Within the last 12 hours at least.'
She walked back out to her car, and started it up. She'd followed her hunch this far, now to see if she was just lucky, or knew exactly what was going through his mind. She turned and followed the road down to the beach, and parked in the lot, before a line of dunes. Shinji's Goldwing was here, and a light sleeping bag was poking out of one of the saddlebags.
She got out of the car, took her shoes off, and began to walk towards the ocean. As she neared, a faint thrumming filled the air, and she realized that it was the delicate sound of Shinji's Cello.
She walked over the last dune and found him, seated on a small driftwood stump, sticking out of the sand. He had his eyes closed, and was playing from his heart. There was some sheet music here, but it was under a rock, next to him, and he wasn't even looking at it. She walked up to him, softly, not wanting to disturb him.
"Hello Misato," he said softly, continuing to play.
"Hello Shinji. You know you had us worried. You didn't tell anyone where you were going."
"Sorry about that. I just had to come out here. I figured if anyone really needed me my emergency beeper would go off. Otherwise, I wanted to be left alone."
"Oh. Well I'm sorry to have disturbed you Shinji, I'll go ahead and go back to the base. I just wanted to check on you."
"No. Please. Stay. The fact that you knew where to find me, shows that you knew why I came here."
"It's her birthday. She's 16 years old today," she said, 'provided she's still alive,' she added silently.
Shinji nodded and continued to play. Misato marveled at the music he was creating. After ten minutes she spoke up again.
"Is this the piece I've heard so much about?"
"The one I wrote for Asuka? Yes. I completed writing it a few weeks ago, but I've never played it all the way through for anyone. I had planned to give it to her today, but she's not here, so I thought I'd come here, and play it. Maybe somewhere, she's looking out over a sea like this, and thinking of me as well."
She admired the way his fingers danced over the neck of the cello, and his smooth gentle strokes on the bow. Hikari was right. Shinji's love for Asuka was pouring out of this song. This young man loved that young woman very much, and if there were any justice in the world, one day she'd return that love. And come back to him.
She noticed that Shinji was repeating the song again, as she'd heard this part just as she pulled up.
"Playing it again?"
He nodded. "This is the last refrain. I tried to convey my feelings for her within the notes of the music. This part is meant to be melancholy, describing our kiss, her flight, and the promise of her return."
"You did very well Shinji. She'll love it."
Shinji played on, finally coming to the end of the song, and letting the last note fade and be drowned out by the sound of the breeze and the ocean slapping against the beach. He turned and put his cello in it's case, and lay the sheet music on top of it before closing it. Misato noted he had tears in his eyes.
She hugged him to her, comforting the brave young man.
"I know why she had to leave Misato, I just wish I could have helped her."
"You did Shinji. Wherever she is, she knows that you love her, and that is more than that young woman has had in over a decade. With her mother dead, and feeling like her father betrayed that memory by marrying so soon, Asuka never allowed anyone into her heart. Not until you. I know she loves you Shinji. She just has to let herself accept that, but before she can, she's got to come to terms with her own inner demons. While you fight the outer ones to keep us safe," she smiled.
"Thanks Misato," he said.
He turned to look back out at the ocean.
"Did I ever tell you that I tried to kill her, right here on this spot the first morning we Awakened?"
"You did?"
"Yeah. I'd just Awakened from Instrumentality, and looked over to see her. My emotions were so conflicted that nothing made sense. Finally the rage I'd felt at her for all those months of teasing and abuse just overwhelmed me, and I started to choke her. I fully intended to kill her at that moment. Then with my hands wrapped around her, he reached up and brushed my face. And I knew she was sorry for what she'd done, but couldn't bring herself to apologize. I stopped, and began to cry, and she looked at me, and told me I made her sick. I think her exact words were 'You're disgusting' or something like that. I passed out a few minutes later, and when I woke up, it was the next day, and we were both much better."
Misato just stood there and listened. Shinji turned.
"I'm ready to go back to the base now. Can I ask you a favor? Could you take my cello in your car? It's pretty awkward on my bike."
"Sure thing Shinji," she said, taking it from him as they walked back to the lot. Once she had the Cello in her car, Shinji got on his bike and started it. The return trip to Nagoya-2 didn't take them long, and Shinji rode beside her almost the entire way. Before she entered the base, she called ahead, to let the others know she'd found him, and he was alright, but not to ask unless he offered to tell them about his day.
"Want to watch the sunset with me?" he asked.
"Um, sure. Do you mind if Kaji comes along?"
"No that would be fine. Meet me at Ikoygen park about 15 minutes before sunset?"
"Sounds good."
She went down into the base, and met up with Kaji.
"Asuka?" he asked.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"After you asked me the date, I tried to remember what was so special about it. About five minutes after you left, it hit me. December 4th. Asuka's Birthday."
"Well, we've been invited to watch the sunset with Shinji, and I think we should be there. For moral support if nothing else."
"Great. In the meantime, it seems that this base can not function without you. Here's your messages," he said, handing her a stack of papers.
Misato sighed.
At 4pm Misato and Kaji left the base, and traveled to the park that Shinji had indicated. Not seeing his bike in any of the parking lots, Misato continued to drive around until she found a road leading up to the top of a butte that was at the edge of the park. Shinji's bike was here, and the young man was sitting on top of a picnic table, watching the sun set behind him as he looked out to the eastern sea.
"Uh Shinji, the sun's setting in the west tonight," Kaji noted.
Shinji laughed," I know that Kaji, but when I watched my first sunset from here with Asuka we were looking east. It was a week after we came here, and I remember thinking about how beautiful she was there in the setting sun. The ocean still doesn't look right, you know, and it's been almost a year. You'd think I'd be used to it by now."
Kaji looked at Misato, and his expression conveyed it all. 'Man he's got it bad.'
Misato nodded. They stayed there with him until true darkness had fully fallen, and the moons were clearly visible in the night sky.
"Well, anyway, thanks for coming up here guys. And Misato?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks for looking for me. It's nice to know that you care," he said, smiling.
"Turn that charm off right now Mister Ikari, that's my wife you're making googley eyes at," Kaji growled playfully.
All three of them laughed.
"Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and go home. Kensuke will be wondering if I'm alright, and I don't want to worry Toji and Hikari."
"How are those two doing?"
"Good. You know they moved in together after Mari Awoke right?"
Misato nodded.
"Well, Toji doesn't say it, but I know he's ecstatic. Kensuke and I teased him and Hikari about them 'living in sin' but Hikari assured us that nothing has happened between them and nothing WAS going to happen until she and Suzuhara were married."
"Good girl," Misato said, making Shinji and Kaji smile.
"Anyway, I've got to get going. Hopefully Hikari saved me some dinner. Bye," he waved, and, mounting his bike, rode down the hill.
Misato and Kaji had barely finished dinner when her phone rang.
"Yes?"
"Misato, it's Ritsuko. Are you doing anything this evening?"
"Well we just finished dinner, why? Want to come over?"
"No. I'm working on something in my lab. Could you and Kaji come by?"
"Um sure, Ritsuko, give us a half hour?"
"That will be fine."
Misato showed up at Ritsuko's lab at the appointed time. Shinji and Professor Fuyutsuki were here as well.
"Fancy meeting you here?" Misato said, not feeling pleased at this surprise.
"We have something to show you. Something that we've been preparing in secret, but you have to know about because they're almost ready."
"They?" Misato twitched.
"Yes, Misato. They." Ritsuko turned and walked to a doorway, and used her passkey to open it. She stepped through, and motioned for the others to follow. Misato did so, and found herself on a darkened catwalk, the beam of light from Ritsuko's lab shining on the walk, the only source of light.
Shinji shut the door, and the light vanished.
"Ritsuko! WHAT'S GOING ON?" Misato shouted.
"Just setting the mood," the sound echoed. And echoed and echoed. This chamber was huge.
With a loud click the lights in the room came on, an Misato could see that this room truly WAS huge. Buried down here at the heard of the base, the temperature was higher than normal, and the room was quite stuffy. She discovered that she was on a catwalk stretching into the distance, perhaps a kilometer, and that there the catwalk divided and ran back down each side wall of the chamber, back to the door they'd entered through.
The chamber itself was a large tubular design, the signature of Shinji's EVA assisted construction. She didn't remember having him make a chamber this deep, though, so Ritsuko must have set this one up. The size of the chamber didn't hold her attention for long.
The half dozen forms lying below her in the LCL were too distracting, two of them larger than the rest.
"EVA's," she said, looking from them back up to Ritsuko.
"Close. Shinji calls them the Cherubim. Or Cherubs for short. Winged messengers of God."
"YOU APPROVED OF THIS?" she shouted turning on Shinji.
"Yes. I went to her after the first Legionnaire appeared, and talked to her about this. Get this straight Misato. I asked HER to do this. She wasn't sure, but I convinced her. We brought in Professor Fuyutsuki, because he has intimate knowledge of the creation of the EVA's. I made the decision to keep this from you until now," Shinji said.
Misato blinked. Shinji did this?
"But how?" she asked.
"Not that hard really. We had tankers bring in the LCL, which the clones need to grow in, and then Ritsuko took some samples of vital cells around the EVA's S2-Unit. Placing them within the LCL, and hitting them with the right hormones, caused them to start growing. What you see here is the result of nearly six months of growth," Shinji said, indicating the two largest forms. "They should be ready for bonding in the next three months."
"Bonding?" she asked.
"Yes. The Cherub's aren't quite the same as the EVA series, that we knew. They operate, we hope, like my Unit-01 does now. No Entry plug, just a pilot, absorbed through the S2 Organ, becoming one with the Cherub. We contacted you now because we need to begin the screening process for the new pilots. When the Cherub's awaken, the pilots will need to be present to bond with them. This will imprint a single pilot on each Cherub.
Misato was overwhelmed. This could NOT have been going on under her nose. She was the new commander of NERV, and she should have known about this.
"You say these things are clones of the EVA?"
"Yes. Although not exact replicas."
"How is that possible?"
"The DNA of the EVA is unstable when submerged in the LCL," Professor Fuyutsuki said.
"UNSTABLE?" Misato shouted.
"Not like that," Shinji replied. "More like... genetically pliable. Ritsuko's test have determined that when the Cherubs are ready they'll be about 20% less massive than the EVA, and, because the pilots won't have absorbed part of someone else's soul, they won't have an AT field. That's something only Asuka and I can generate."
"Except for the one that we all have, that keeps us together," Ritsuko corrected.
"Exactly," Fuyutsuki said.
Misato just stood there shaking her head.
"Shinji. Tomorrow after your training session is over I want to see you in my office. We're going to have a little discussion about secrets that you shouldn't keep," Misato said. And, with that, she grabbed Kaji by the hand and drug him out of the chamber.
"I think she took it pretty well," Ritsuko said.
Next on Episode 2:17 of Neon Genesis Evangelion The time has finally come, and the Cherubim are about to be bonded to their new pilots, but a new threat interrupts the proceedings. As Shinji battles three Legionnaires his friends face their own their greatest fears, and brightest hopes.
It's Evangelion Episode 2:17 The Arisen.