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 2:20 A home that never was.

Takes place after 1st season, and the End of Evangelion Movie.

Presumed date is January, 11th, 2019

Asuka sat in the back of the Humvee, as it transported her from Strausburg to NERV Berlin. The patrol had come upon her and Liebchen as they were trotting down the road earlier that morning. They were dressed in NERV security uniforms, and driving a NERV issued Humvee. It was almost a pleasure to hear her native tongue after so many years, of Japanese and Russian.

Now, as they approached Berlin from the East, she could see the large structures that marked the NERV base. She was home. More or less. After all of these years of wishing to be here, now she didn't know how she felt. This was where she'd grown up, but it didn't feel like home. That was reserved for Omsk, or Japan.

These men hadn't even recognized her, despite that this was her home base. She'd always thought that she was the most important person here, but then, that was before she'd gone to Japan. It was odd to think that this part of the world didn't revolve around Asuka Langley Soryu anymore, and yet, she felt it was no great loss.

The Asuka who had been raised here as an Elite Pilot, and the Second Child, was gone. The woman who stood in her place, bore little resemblance to the spoiled and petulant child that had left here so many years ago.

Asuka watched as they pulled through the base entrance and headed for the underground structure that was NERV Berlin. Like most NERV bases, this base was built underground, and the base above it provided support for the facilities. They parked the Humvee and she was escorted through a thorough security screening by the two guards who had picked her up. Inside the scanner, the microwave detector found her small implanted identity chip, in the back of her left wrist, and called up the information on the screen.

The commotion around her and outside the room reached a fever pitch, as many cries of "Incredible," "Astounding," and "At Last," were heard. The two guards escorting her glanced at the computer screen that was confirming her identity, and immediately snapped to attention.

"Pilot Soryu. We apologize for the callous way in which you were treated," the first guard said.

Asuka thought that this was more like it. At last some proper respect. The two guards, no longer half carrying her through the base, instead followed behind her, as one indicated where she should go.

"The base commander will want to see you immediately, please, turn right down the next corridor. Yes, that's it, the last office on the left, if you would please Ma'am."

"I haven't been gone so long that I've forgotten where everything is. Provided you haven't moved too much."

"No Ma'am, the base is much as we found it. We have cleaned up the facility, of course, but the rooms still serve the same purpose that they did in your day."

"Wunderbar," (wonderful) Asuka grinned.

They finally approached a door labeled 'Director Of Operations,' and entered through it, passing through a waiting room, and into the inner door, She came before a desk she'd stood before many times. This was the office of NERV Commander, Berlin, but the man sitting behind the desk was not someone she recognized.

"Ah, Miss Soryu, I was informed that you'd arrived. I must say, that we here in Berlin are thankful to have word of you. We were afraid that we were never going to re-establish contact with Japan," the man sitting behind the command desk said.

"And you would be?" Asuka asked.

"Oh, forgive me, where are my manners. I am Commander Adolfus Rotmal, and I am at your service."

"What happened to the old commander," she asked, even though she was sure of his answer.

"Never came back. I'm the only member of the original NERV staff here in Berlin to return. As such, when we began to awaken, I was placed in charge of the base, and am now Commander of NERV Berlin."

"I don't recognize you," she said.

"No, you probably wouldn't. I was a minor officer with NERV before Third Impact, and not someone who was important enough to associate with the Second Child."

Asuka nodded, and tried to look haughty, but was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Something about this man was not right, and the hairs on her arms and the back of her neck were all standing on end.

"Anyway, as I as saying, we've been waiting for someone to contact us from Nagoya-2, but we never expected they would send you," he finished.

Asuka, blinked. Something about that wasn't right. Then she had it.

"Wait, how do you know that Japan is reforming around Nagoya-2?" she asked.

"Surveillance Satellites. In orbit. Surely you know of them?"

"Well, of course, but in Japan we're only able to access a few satellites. We'd assumed the others were destroyed or disabled somehow," she said.

"No, not at all. They are all working quite well. Well, except for one or two that impacted with Lilith as she rose up from the Earth. Those are still up there, but aren't working properly," he said.

"But how?" Asuka asked.

"The Magi system. We have a 2 mega-byte data encryption system in the Magi system. All of the newest Surveillance Satellites and Military Communications Satellites were designed to work exclusively with the Magi systems, so they have the same level of encryption. The Shepherd computer that you have in Nagoya-2 is obsolete, and was only supposed to be used as a backup server for Tokyo-3. Shepherd doesn't have the proper software or hardware in place to run the 2 meg encryption, and, thus, can only access the older satellites. That's why we haven't been able to contact you before now."

"Oh," said Asuka, nodding sagely.

"Still, after no answer came to the seven emissaries we sent out, we assumed that they'd never arrived."

"As far as I know, they never did," Asuka said.

"Then you aren't here in response to our emissaries arrival in Japan?" he asked.

"No, I came on my own, to settle some personal business," she answered.

"Ah. Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm grateful that at least we have at last had word from Japan."

Asuka nodded, not quite ready to tell him that she'd left Japan almost two and a half years ago, and, except for some very real dreams, she hadn't had any contact with the people there.

"Yes," she nodded, "and it is good to find the Berlin base in such capable hands. I see that your people are well disciplined, and efficient. It is good to know that Japan is not the only place to come together after the Awakening."

"Yes, well we did have our problems. For the first few months as we began to Awaken, we were pretty disorganized, but I tried to get people to follow along with me, and re-activate the base here. Some of them seemed content to simply live off the remains of what was here, but we have striven to unify the people under my leadership. It was not difficult, but even the most ardently independent people came to follow me. Eventually," he said with a grin, and Asuka felt decidedly uncomfortable, despite his reassuring manner.

"So. Now that you are here, we can prepare some dispatches for you to take back to NERV in Japan, to see what we can do to coordinate our efforts, and then we will do our best to see you on your way when the time comes for you to leave," he said.

"Certainly, if you wouldn't mind though, I'd like something to drink. I've been riding on horseback for months to get here, and this morning was an especially hard ride," she said.

"Oh, but where are my manners. Of course you are tired, from your long journey, I will have a lieutenant assigned to escort you through the base." He buzzed his outer office. "Please have an escort arranged for Pilot Soryu," he said releasing the button.

A moment later, a young man, in lieutenants uniform, came in and saluted.

"You are to escort Pilot Soryu around the base, and see to her every need," he said.

"Yes sir," the young man said.

Asuka stood up, "First, I think something to eat and drink. Then a bath, and a bed."

"At once, ma'am. Please follow me," he said, and escorted her out off the office.

The commander reclined back in his leather chair and steepled his hands before him. So none of the emissaries had made it to Japan, but still the girl had come here. 'For what purpose?' he wondered. He'd have to keep a close eye on Soryu, that was certain. It wouldn't do for her to disrupt all his careful planning.

In the Cafeteria, Asuka sat down with a large tray full of food. Certainly more than she'd eaten since leaving Omsk, and Sophia's kitchen, and began to eat. Part way through the meal, she noticed several large plasma screens stuck to the walls, showing surveillance footage from all over the planet. Every few seconds the view would switch, and a new scene would be displayed, with the location displayed in large bold text in the lower right corner of the screen.

After about ten minutes, the view showed a darkened cityscape, and a few lights glowing dimly, outlining the streets. The Caption read "NERV Nagoya-2, Local time 9:15 pm"

"So, you really have been able to see what's been happening in Japan?" she said.

"Oh yes," he nodded, "We activated the surveillance systems almost as soon as we had power running to the entire base. We watched everything, from the recovery flights that were sent out, to the most recent Angel attacks."

'Angel attacks. What? Shinji didn't say anything about… no wait. He said that there was a new threat. Without communications, these people wouldn't know that they were any different from the Angels they'd seen attack us before,' she thought quickly, trying to keep her face from betraying her initial surprise.

"Tell, me Ma'am, what's it like. Fighting an Angel I mean."

"Terrifying. They're unlike anything we can imagine, and yet somehow, very familiar."

"We've archived all the battles, for future reference, but we've taken to viewing the older battles at night, as a form of entertainment. We've even burned several DVD's of the battles, so that we can watch them in our down time."

"I'd like to see some of them if I may," she said.

"But surely, it's more exciting to be there, than to simply watch them on screen?" he said.

"Certainly, but we used to use the surveillance data to do image training after each battle, seeing what we could have done differently. I haven't been able to see any of our most recent battles," she explained.

"Of course, I'll see that a set is made available for you this evening. All done?" he asked, noticing that she had finished her meal.

Asuka nodded. The young man policed her plate, and then came back, waiting for her lead.

They spent several hours touring the base, while he showed her how they were surviving in this Post Third Impact world. They had set things much as she and Shinji had in Japan, gathering people and supplies, until they had established a viable community.

"When did the Commander Awaken?" she asked conversationally.

"Oh, he was the first of us to Awake, and as others Awoke on the beaches, he got us organized, and kept us from reverting to barbarism."

"Who did he awaken with?" she asked, more out of habit than anything else.

"Why, no one. He woke on the beach alone, a day or two after Third Impact."

That got Asuka's attention. She and Shinji had been the first to awaken in Japan, and it had been more than a week before anyone else had awakened. She had never heard of anyone Awakening by themselves. There was always someone else nearby. If he hadn't woken alone, where was the person who had awakened with him? And if he had Awoken alone, why was he the only one that she'd ever heard of who'd done so? Very curious.

The tour winding down, the Lieutenant brought her to the quarters that had been assigned to her, a suite of rooms inside the underground facility, that would function as her private apartment. Even by civilian standards the room was well appointed; the walls were covered in rich tapestries and material.

There was also a large television here, and a DVD player. A stack of DVD cases waited beside the player, and had a note reading 'Pilot Soryu: Japan / Angel and EVA surveillance footage. Post 3I.'

She bid the lieutenant good evening, and, as soon as he left, walked over to the television, selected the first DVD, simply labeled "Angels: 2016", put it into the DVD Player, and closed the tray. She flopped down in a large overstuffed recliner, and hit 'Play All' when the main menu appeared.

The screen came up, and immediately began to play. The date stamp on the lower corner of the window indicated that it was June 12, 2016. The day after she'd left Japan. There was a wide view, as if merely a surveillance overview of the entire base, and then a bright object, no two, flashed into the screen, and the flare nearly blinded the view. A few moments later, the view zoomed in to focus on a hospital. The base Hospital, in Nagoya-2. There in the parking lot kneeled Shinji's EVA, and what could only be the Lance of Longinus, impaled into the ground next to it.

She watched as a naked Shinji ran out of the hospital and beneath the EVA. Then the EVA was moving, taking the Lance, and motioning about something. Too bad there wasn't any accompanying audio, or this would have been even better. She wondered what had been being said. The scene shifted, and the time stamp showed that it was a few minutes later, and some sort of animal was charging into the base. It looked like it had had its skin ripped off of it, an was oozing a nasty fluid from it's body. She saw it knock the EVA to the ground and begin to savage it. For minutes it savaged the EVA, ripping great bloody chunks out of it, out of HIM she realized, recalling why this battle seemed familiar. This had been the battle where Shinji had nearly died, and had first contacted her mentally.

Then he was up, the injuries healing themselves, and the thing was dead, head cut off by the Lance transformed. The scene ended with him crushing the skull and destroying the S2 Unit.

'Oh Shinji,' she thought to the ether, 'I'm sorry I ever doubted you. I'm even more sorry I left. I wish I could be there for you now.' She sniffed, and her eyes began to water.

A new date appeared on the lower screen, about three months after the first one, and she watched another battle unfold. This time Shinji appeared more confident in his battle with the creature, that resembled a large crystal or jewel. She was reminded immediately of the Angel that had drilled it's way into NERV, before being destroyed by the team of Unit 00 and Unit 01. Rei Ayanami had nearly been killed in that battle, shielding Shinji from the things attack.

This time, though, there was no-one to shield Shinji from attacks, and he didn't have a positron cannon using the entire Japanese power grid as an energy source. She watched as his EVA burned under the huge beam of fire that this thing unleashed. The armor flaked off, and the skin beneath crackled, but the EVA pressed forward, and finally, she could see the flare of conflicting AT fields. The EVA drew back the Lance of Longinus and pierced the thing in a single blow, blasting through it's tough hide.

Watching the third, and last fight on the DVD, she saw that this one was dated for December 22nd, 2016. Asuka watched as Shinji fought off something that had emerged out of the crater left by Lilith's egg. There was a VTOL dangerously close by, but the footage didn't reveal what it was doing there, it was too focused on the fight between Shinji and the thing.

Then the VTOL flew clear, and Shinji and the thing began to trade serious blows. She had a start, as the thing pinned him to the ground, and looked like it was about to finish him, but Shinji managed to wrest a victory from the jaws of defeat, and stood overlooking the things body, before beginning to walk and then run back to Nagoya-2.

The disk concluded, and returned to the main menu, so she ejected the disk, and checked the notes written on the inside of the case. Apparently there was a new creature appearing every two and a half to three months. She glanced at the stack of DVD's sitting next to the player.

'Shinji, my dear Shinji, what have you been going through, while I've been in hiding?' she asked herself.

For some reason, though, he needed her to be here, so she'd do this. But as soon as she could, she was going to return to Japan. She needed to see him again. She needed to be sure he was alright. And she needed to know more about these new Angels, these Legionnaire's.

Asuka grabbed the next DVD from the stack; this one labeled "Angels:2017." She repeated the steps she'd taken before and was soon watching this second chronicle of Shinji's battles in Japan.

She watched the first battle as Shinji faced twinned opponents, and won with a last minute burst of energy. Shinji's battles were growing more desperate, and several times he was facing more than a single opponent at a time. Late into the night, she watched Shinji's lonely battles, against the Legionnaire's, until March of 2018, when there were suddenly two more EVA's at Shinji's side.

She couldn't identify something that was bothering her until she'd seen it often enough that it had become readily apparent. Something about the way his EVA was moving, the way it was fighting. By the end of the last disk, she had it figured out; this was more than Synchronization. Then she remembered something Shinji had said in her dreams. He WAS the EVA. Certainly the EVA was moving faster, and with greater range of movement than she'd ever seen before. It had also picked up some stunning new moves, and she didn't doubt that Shinji was spending some serious time training between fights.

She began to think over some of what she'd learned here today. She'd definitely needed to gather some more information before she could do whatever it was Shinji needed her to do. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she knew it was out there. She just had to find it.

She readied herself for bed, and crawled beneath the large plush covers, snuggling them up, as she slept in the first bed she'd been in since leaving Omsk.

'And then you're all mine, Shinji Ikari,' she thought sleepily.

Within his office several floor above her room, Commander Rotmal sat, watching the surveillance footage of Asuka's sleeping body.

The Second Child had not come as an Emissary of the Japanese NERV branch, he was now certain of it. But if not here to establish contact, why was she here? He'd keep a close eye on this Asuka Langley Soryu. A very close eye.

Next on Episode 2:21 of Neon Genesis Evangelion A loss of one of their own devastates the Cherubim Pilots, but no one is taking it harder than Shinji Ikari. Leader of the elite force, he suffers as no one else does, and the secret relationship between himself and the deceased young woman is exposed. In his vulnerable state, something will happen that will send Shinji into a state of deep depression.

It's Evangelion Episode 2:21 When the lights fade, and darkness comes at last.