Chapter 2

Never Alone.

It was eerie. One of the largest remaining cities in the entire world…was empty. There were mass amounts of damp clothes scattered here and there, and because of the perpetual power system the city still 'breathed' with electricity, heat, water, as had before. Still, alarms from the multitude of explosions near NERV headquarters echoed off the empty streets, and the smell of smoke burned Shinji's nostrils. The two had been walking for about fifteen minutes, Shinji had a strange feeling inside when they came across a electronics store that had twenty TVs in the window, all playing a prerecorded news broadcast claiming that a "Large Winged Angel" was rising up out of NERV and destroying the city piece by piece. What truly frightened Shinji most was not the fact that it the footage was actually of him in Unit-01 coming out of the ground, but instead by the fact that the video was claiming to be live. With the events truly only happening about 15 minutes ago by Earth's standards, this event oddly made sense.

Rei felt equally awkward, she was practically drowning in her new emotions which annoyed her for they seemed to change every minute: First she wanted to get something to eat, then she just happy to think about being whole, then she was curious and wanted to ask Shinji about what had happened, then she was annoyed and wanted to take off her bandage because it was crippling her movement, then she saddened by the fact that she now held no purpose, then she was nervous to tell Shinji that she had merged with Adam just to protect him. Everything running through her mind was new, and she somewhat missed the past when she had a much better grasp on her thoughts and mind, it now felt as though she was being dragged behind by it.

The silence between the two was broken rather comically, Rei Ayanami, for the very first time in her short life let out a small 'eep' and jumped back when her own stomach growled at her hungrily. Shinji looked at her as if she was someone else and stifled a laugh, something this comical never happened to a girl like her.

Rei on the other hand was freaking out! This was completely new to her, she had no idea what was happening. She of course had been hungry before, but had always fed herself at the appropriate time, and now with her plethora of new emotions, she was at a complete loss.

"What was that?" She asked, a extremely well hidden sense of fear came from behind her whisper.

Shinji looked at Rei, at first he thought she was kidding, but then realizing who he was talking to he realized she simply couldn't be.

"Your stomach growled because you're hungry. Haven't you have experienced that before Ayanami?"

"…No. I believe I would like…that we should eat soon."

Picking up the pace, she began walking toward the food district. Shinji jogged to catch up, how could Rei turn something so simple into a matter of life or death? She was acting like an Eva, when one system went down her body turned all it's focus on restoring that missing piece. Shinji went back to his thoughts, a place where he was safe, talking to Rei or even really thinking about her was something almost unheard of, he honestly felt more at home loathing himself. Something he had spent nearly 15 years perfecting this and he was quite proud of it, but after the voice had told him everyone was happy in their own Heaven's, and he had restored Rei to what he thought she should have been, and her being happy about it, what could Shinji despise about himself? As odd as it sounds, he spent the next 15 minutes trying to figure that very question out, until he was drug out of his silence by Rei's voice.

"Are you coming?" She asked.

Shinji had stopped, by habit, at a 'Don't Walk' sign, and was patiently waiting for it to change. He nodded absent mindedly and jogged to catch up.

When they arrived at the food district, at first Rei was at a loss, the most work she had ever put into a meal was either picking it up from the NERV cafeteria, or throwing a heat up tray into her microwave, luckily Shinji was there, and without a second thought walked straight behind the food counter and moved some of the remnants of it's past employees away, and began preparing a meal. Rei at first sat on the bar stool in front of the bar, waiting for her food, but soon she became bored and looked around the store.

"Yo…you don't like meat, right?" Shinji asked, he had placed a chef hat on his head which made Rei feel warm inside, comfortable. But plainly she replied,

"That is correct." Then stood and began to look around.

Shinji felt sheepish, he knew it was weird for it to be just him and Rei, but didn't they have fun the past few weeks before the incident? They had begun hanging out more outside of work, and Shinji finally was able to carry on a full five minute conversation with the young albino girl, though the most used words in his vocabulary were "ums" and "uhs". He had even walked her home a few nights, though she had told him a multitude of times that she did not need an escort. But now it was different, Rei was different, she was more alert, more aware of everything, she was less of a brick wall that Shinji could just spit words at and more like a actual human being. Thus, Shinji's nervousness overtook him once again. He wanted to say something, to not feel like an idiot around her, and his eyes darted back and forth quickly to find something to say.

"H…hey Ayanami!"

She stopped walking and turned her head slightly, giving him a side profile of her face, it pierced through him like a knife.

"U..Uh…um…ya..yaknow…um…ugh…" Shinji couldn't think of anything to say until Rei turned the rest of the way around and put one hand around her elbow while the other one hang gently. Her torn plug suit! That was it!

"He...hey aren't you uncomfortable in that thing? I-I mean your plug suit."

"I have worn it before, I have grown used to the way it feels." She replied, and paused for a moment, waiting to see if he was done talking. But something was plaguing her, the plug suit was different, it was uncomfortable, sticky, and smelled like blood, also her bandage was bothering her again and for a moment she wondered where she got it.

"Oh…ok…I was just going to say, there's some clothing stores over across the street, if…if you wanted to wear something else." Shinji spoke, then, feeling like an idiot again, went back to his cooking. If there was something he was good at besides self loathing, it was cooking, and to make up for his verbal sins he was going to cook Rei an excellent dinner.

Rei watched Shinji for a moment, working feverishly on their meal, she then turned and began to walk across the street, to the nearest clothing store.

As the First Child entered the mall area she glanced around for a female clothing store, passing the music, candy, and shoe stores she felt very out of place. She was not used to shopping, if she had ever needed anything, she would simply ask for it, and it would be hers. She never truly desired, or wanted anything, she only picked out what she truly needed, and so, had no real reason to shop. The mall was also somewhat nerve racking by the way everything was moving, glowing, and speaking just like it would have if all it's inhabitants had not just vanished less than hour ago. As she walked passed the plethora of annoying and flashy advertisements, she finally reached a location where she could purchase replacement attire.
Shinji had not really noticed the disappearance of Rei and thought to himself more about the young girl. Ever since Dr. Akagi had shown Shinji all the 'husks' of Rei he had been afraid of her, and since distanced himself as far from her as possible, he was honestly scared of her. Not really her as in Rei III but moreso her eyes, when he had entered the chamber where her 'sisters' rested, they had all seemed to stare at him in particular and smile, as if his very presence gave them something to live for. Even in their deaths, which were quick, they continued to stare at him until they dissolved into nothing. Suddenly Shinji noticed his hand was shaking in fear, and he quickly decided to start thinking about something more pleasant, like what Misato's last words were…

This is acceptable. Rei thought to herself as she changed in the middle of the store, knowing quite well there was no one left to see her in the nude, she had no reason to change inside one of the dressing rooms. The blue haired girl had picked a dress as similar to her school outfit as possible, it pushed out the memories that her plug suit gave her, and replaced them with a much more pleasant feeling. As she finished changing she looked back toward what she had really desired, or should I say, what her newfound emotions desired, a pair of comfortable loose jeans, and a regular t-shirt. Though her emotions had practically screamed at her to buy them, her mind knew that they would not help her remember her passed memories, and thus, found them useless. As she walked toward the exit of the mall, one of the advertisements caught her eye.

When Shinji finally looked back up after he had finished making dinner he was surprised at the absence of his 'friend'. He set the two plates down at the nearest table and began to grow increasingly worried. He walked up and around the entire restaurant, then he ran outside and looked up and down the lit up broadway, he heart raced. What had happened? Had she become bored and left him, had she really never been? With everything that had been going on the past few hours Shinji didn't think he could handle this, he started to scream, terror and fear of actually being alone gripped him and his eyes began to water.

"Ayanami! Ayanami where are you! Aya-"

"Is something wrong?"

Shinji froze, he spun around and there Rei stood, in a completely new outfit, holding a multitude of bags in her hand, her face questioning, wasn't it he who had suggested going across the street to look for clothes?

"Oh….um…al…alright…..I just…I just wanted you to know that dinner was ready…." Shinji stammered, he couldn't help but smile at her.

"Understood." Rei replied and turned and walked back toward the diner.

Shinji looked down at his feet and shuffled them slightly. Maybe he had been foolish, how could he have forgotten that it was he who told her to go shopping. He immediately remembered the time he was in a grocery store with his mother when he was very young, turning to look at a flashy toy he quickly lost sight of his mother and became practically paralyzed in fear. Bawling wildly she came running back within seconds, holding him close. Though he had just lost sight of her for a few moments, the negative thoughts that he may never see her again ripped through his body faster than anything he'd ever felt before. And nothing made him happier than her return…maybe he had been wrong before…maybe he truly didn't want to be alone.

Though Shinji could tell she was starving, Rei took such small bites, and seemed to actually be counting how many times she chewed them each time before swallowing, some of her actions were so inhuman sometimes, and just so systematic. Shinji on the other hand was not quite as hungry, the taste of sea water and blood still in his throat, and the memories of the past 24 hours stole the hunger pangs from him. Rei looked up at him, she could tell he was lost in thought, and was once again feeling uncomfortable, so she delicately put down her chopsticks and reached inside her bag, pulling out the closest thing she found to Shinji's usual attire. A bit backwards, the button up shirt she had found was black, the undershirt white, and the only pants she could find where khaki's.

"These are for you. The clothes you're wearing now are wet from the beach, you must feel…uncomfortable."

Shinji took the clothes and looked them over, he couldn't believe Rei had done something like this, and upon further inspection of Rei herself, he couldn't believe how the clothes she wore now were as similar as the ones she used to wear to class.

"Why did you pick those clothes Ayanami?"
"I do not understand your question."
"I mean…why…why did you pick clothes that look like everything you used to wear…when you could have gotten anything? I…I don't understand."

Rei looked at him in the eyes, still somewhat confused, and for a moment almost blew this question off, but his eyes stayed glued to hers, and she felt compelled to respond.

"These are my non-NERV clothes, they are proper dress for civilians such as ourselves."

Shinji smiled at this answer, something he had expected down to the T. But he was still curious on how she felt about this new existence-voided world.

"What…what are we going to do Ayanami?"

"Eat." She replied.

"I don't mean now, I mean in general…what are we going to do since we're the last two people on Earth. We could do anything, go anywhere…what…what do we do?"

"I…I do not know."

"Isn't there anything you've ever wanted to do more than anything."

"Piloting EVA has been my only purpose."

"You've never dreamed of doing anything else…Rei?"

"Yes, and I did do it…I saved your life."

Shinji looked upon her with awe, but she simply returned to her meal.

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence, Rei stared intently at her meal and Shinji stared intently at Rei. What had she meant by that: saved his life? He had no idea it was she who had merged with Adam and rose up to meet Shinji in Eva-01. He thought it was just his mind that was bending when the giant god-Rei came and spoke with him. Shinji was so curious to ask her what she had meant, but he was too nervous to do so, and so, he finished his noodles. Afterwards the two rose, Rei with her bags and once again, in silence began their trek home, The Third Child walked passed a crashed moving truck, it said DHL on the side, just like the moving van that had brought Asuka into his home, Shinij's eyes began to water he heard.

"What are you doing?" Rei asked, from the middle of the street.

"What? Oh…right…" As he began he noticed Rei was no longer walking toward Misato's apartment, in fact, she was headed in the complete opposite direction.

"Ayanami…wh-where are you going?"

"Home."

Shinji was at first going to let her go, and for a few second he watched her as she walked away, Macy's bags in hand, but then remembered something.

"Ayanami!" He yelled to her.

"What is it Ikari?" She asked. Having Rei say his name, even if it was his last name, struck a cord with him, and for a few moments couldn't speak. Rei on the other hand was waiting almost hopefully for a response that brought them to stay together.

"All of the 13th district, including where your apartment is…was destroyed"

This news did not trouble Rei one bit, she would simply relocate into her 'other' home, the place where she would rest and shower after syncing with the dummy plug. Knowing she had nothing of interest in her old apartment, NERV would make a much more suitable living environment, there was no longer a need to be observed 'normally' as the Commander put it by living in the apartments instead of at NERV, and this would give her an excellent opportunity to do research on herself to find out exactly what the Third Child had done to her. So, with these thoughts in mind, which took her no more than a few seconds to calculate out, she turned in a different direction and began to walk.

Was she not listening, Shinji thought to himself. He had just told her that her home had been destroyed, and in his own little way, kind of offered her a place to stay and she ignored him, Rei just subtly changed her direction and began to walk once more. Though it was in Shinji's blood to desire solitude, he could not fathom what he would do if anything were to happen to her, it would be entirely his fault! Rei was brand new, she was first and she was last…she was also the second to the last person on Earth, and if nothing else, Shinji knew he could not fail her. With much nervousness in his voice, Shinji began,

"Uh…u-um Re…Aya-Ayanami?"

She slowed to a stop, and gave him a side view of her face, to show she was listening.

"Wh-Where are you going?"

"NERV." She said calmly, and thinking the conversation was complete, began to walk again.

"Ayanami wait…"
She paused again, this was getting somewhat irritating, but for some reason she felt compelled to listen to what the young boy had to say. He had in fact, not only saved her life, but at one point before third impact, told her that she was his friend, a comment that not only startled her, but made her feel more comfortable in having conversations with him, even as far as to let him walk her home.

"Yes, Ikari?"

"I don't want you to…I don't think we should split up. I-I mean we're the last two people…here. Shouldn't we, don't you think we should stay together."

"Do you need companionship Ikari?" Rei asked, she was completely understanding if Shinji simply was afraid to be alone.

"No…it's…it's not that, it's just, I don't think we should leave each other…we should stay, and protect each other." He mumbled out.

Rei looked at him in the eyes, she was somewhat disappointed by this answer but still, the feeling of being with someone, especially Shinji was semi-appealing.

"If you need protecting, then I will protect you." She said plainly. This would have excited Shinji if she would not have spoken with such boredom in her voice, but like Rei, he was still happy she agreed to join him.

The two began to walk in silence, and suddenly a thought came to Shinji, just what was Rei doing here. It was true that Shinji had recreated her as whole, but he did not bring her to this world, or so he could remember. He had inwardly believed that everyone would choose their own person Heavens and he would be left alone. Something that was a fear for most, but a Heaven for Shinji. Lost in his own thoughts he didn't even realize that he had once again stopped at a blinking red crosswalk sign. Glancing up Shinji noted that Rei was already almost to the other side and quickly tried to catch up. He was about call out to her when he first heard it: an huge explosion. Barely even registering this because of all the fires and post-Third Impact aftershock explosions, the only reason Shinji looked up was because it sounded very close, almost too close…

Ikari! Rei thought as she turned back to look at what had caused the noise, Shinji was practically frozen in fear, and as Rei quickly followed his gaze he saw that a four door car, which had been crushed up against a wall by a convertible finally broke itself free by igniting it's gaze tank from the fires by the closest building. The convertible was shaken off of the sedan and nearly flipped over, still in neutral because of whoever's wet clothes sat in the drivers seat, the car quickly began to roll right toward Shinji!

Faster than the bat of an eye Rei moved, she slammed her fragile little body into his to move him from his path. She then turned and looked at the falling car and her impending doom…with bored eyes.

As Shinji was pushed he stumbled on his own feet and pivoted on his left heel causing him to spin completely around, it was then he saw the look on Rei's face, and that's when it felt as though time had stopped. She was bored! The girl was looking death right in the eye, and registered nothing. Not even the tiny movements in her face that Shinji had just started to noticed before he stopped spending time with Rei that showed if she was happy or sad were existent. She was going to die, and she did not give a damn about it.

With lighting quick reflexes that only an Eva pilot could truly admire, Shinji's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, bringing her down on top of him, in a backwards and more dressed version of when they first had 'met'. The car screeched and bounced right were the two were standing and continued it's destructive course to the bottom of the hill until it came to a rest wedged between a stop light and a cemented-in park bench.

Rei looked up at Shinji, he was furious. She slowly moved herself off him and stood up, not even trying to help him back up, and rubbing her arm tenderly. He stood up and began to yell, his eyes tightly clenched as he screamed, trying to keep the tears he felt inside from escaping.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?"

Rei stopped rubbing her scuffed elbow and responded impassively,

"I do not understand your question."

That's when Shinji truly lost it.

"What do you mean you don't...Ayanami you could have been killed!"

Almost unnoticeably Rei squinted her eyes, trying to zero in on the Third Child. Why did it matter to him? Death meant nothing to the young girl, for right now, where they stood, she had no purpose. Every purpose she had ever held dear she had failed it. She first lived to assist the commander in returning his wife, she was unsuccessful at this because she left him at the last minute, then she lived just to be released, but instead she now was very much alive in a universe created by the brown haired boy who was screaming at her, and finally she had been rejected to become one with the same boy during Third Impact. So, Rei answered him truthfully.

"I have failed my purpose, there is no reason for my existence."

Shinji began to tear up, he had given Rei her own soul and this is how she uses it? It was too much to take, and Shinji clenched his fist and began to cry. Instead of speaking he delved deeper into his mind, and new that this was entirely his fault. So, the two began to walk, and been doing so in silence for nearly ten minutes when Rei finally broke the silence.

"Where are we going Ikari?"

Rei too was was deep inside her own mind, why did it feel as though the two had taken to one step forward and two steps back since they had first met? The two had almost become one, they were spending more time together outside of NERV, and Rei knew she had fallen in love with the young boy. The small amount of goodness she had loved about Gendo was practically Shinji's entire being, he was perfect, and on more than one occasion, including the most recent, Rei felt as though she had saved his life. Shinji had rejected her offer to become one with her, but not did not want her to die? This made absolutely no mathematical sense. Her memories from her previous lives were weak at best, and as she struggled to remember them, she felt her lips move, echoing out the question of their destination.

"To Misat…to my home. You-you can sleep there, in Misato or Asuka's room…if…you what."

Rei continued to walk beside Shinji, this must have meant that she was fine with his plans. Shinji suddenly felt weak, not exactly tired, but just weak all over, as though ever ounce of energy inside him had been melted away, he wanted nothing more than to reach home and go to sleep. He had no idea what he was going to do now. Lost in a world where he was ½ of the entire population frightened him nearly to death, and with all the Angels and Eva's destroyed, he felt a little like Asuka when he asked himself, "What do I have now?"

The two finally reached their apartments, both were so confused now they could not think of what to say or do. Their prayers came true when they both heard a familiar voice speak gently,

"Do not worry, your answers will come in your dreams."

They looked at each other, Rei's crimson eyes nearly glowed in the dim light of the apartment as Shinji stared back at her, immediately knowing she too had heard the voice. Instantly Rei's desire to go to sleep increased 10 fold, and she looked at Shinji, wondering where she would sleep.
As if reading her mind, Shinji began to open Misato's door, but when a handful of beer cans hit the floor when the blinder had only just began to open, he instead led Rei to Asuka's room. It too was a mess, but nothing compared to Misato's….or Rei's old room.

"You can stay here if you like." Shinji's complete feeling of weakness was robbing him of his normal nervousness.

"Understood." Rei whispered as she passed him.

"Goodnight Ayanami."

There was no response, but he heard her quickly undress and lie down onto Asuka's bed.

Shinji walked over to the balcony, the sun was setting and the environment that surrounded him seemed to be just another day. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, everything around him has changed, the world, his life, everything. The golden sky and purple and pink clouds calmed him slightly, but for just a moment he thought of the events that had occurred over the past few months, and he fell to his knees, gripping the bars on the balcony until his knuckles turned white like snow, and cried as hard as any man ever had. For a moment it felt if someone was there, standing beside him, watching him weep, but before Shinji could think twice about it exhaustion grabbed hold, and he passed out.