Disclaimer
The series, Neon Genesis Evangelion, from which this work of fiction is based, is owned by GAINAX. Characters presented in this document that come directly from the series are also owned by GAINAX. "Lady Pheaura" owns Madison Timlitt. I own all other original characters.

Evangelion: Primum Revelation
Chapter 17: New Direction
Written by T.S. a.k.a. "Kain Tempest"
German Translations by "Steve Vader"

Asuka swallowed and looked sidelong towards Shinji's Evangelion, which stood motionless, paralysed.

"Pull it together." She growled. But the confidence faded as the being took a slow step. Tristan was right after all; the Angels were coming back. But what on Earth did that mean? How were the Angel's able to avoid the same fate the rest of humanity had felt? Images of the crimson lake and the massive crosses where the Eva-series -at least, what Asuka had believed was the Eva series- now hung. Anything Angelic had been destroyed and had been wiped clean from the world. She looked down at the controls. The Evangelions were still here, the weapons against the Angels, the blades that could be covered in their blood was still here. Asuka shook her head. This wasn't the time to think.

Unit-05 raised its rifle and fired off three carefully aimed rounds. The bullets cracked out of the muzzle, only to gently arc around the black behemoth and explode into the water. The Angel stopped and turned to face her, at least, being it's ivory 'mask' to look at her. It gave another high-pitched hiss, a sound that didn't intimidate Asuka in the list. She took a deep breath and felt herself enter her Evangelion fully, bring to bear it's own AT Field. She aimed again and fired. A chip of bone came off as the crushed shell fell away from the Angel. He took a step towards her.

"Shinji, snap out of it and help me!" Asuka barked.

"Asuka, what are you doing?" Tristan snapped into the receiver. The rest of the staff around him, even Septerra were still in shock, but at this point the frenzy in Tristan's heart called him to action. He looked back up to the monitor. "Asuka, wake up!"
Asuka ignored the noise, cursing and taking a step back. She took another shot, only causing barely any damage at all. Tristan's face hardened into a mask of determination.

"Asuka! I said hold your fire!"

"Don't tell me what to do." The German girl growled as she held down the trigger. A volley of bullets exploded from the gun. But the Angel immediately dropped sideways, the flurry of lead passing by it while a few deflected off course and farther along down the coastline.

"Wha-?" Taken aback by the Angel's sudden speed, Asuka wasn't prepared for the monster to lunge out of the water and close the distance.

"Shinji!" Tristan barked into the receiver. Asuka gave a feral cry as she jumped sideways to avoid the rushing Angel. Snapping around the creature turned to face her and to receive another burst of gunfire to its chest. The impact caused it to falter for a second before again it charged at her. Whatever her reasoning, rather than avoiding again, Unit-05 charged forward, the Angel twisted away and crashed down into the sand.

"Leave him. If he's gonna wimp out, then I don't need him." Asuka murmured. She quickly found his footing and got back up, snapping around just as the Angel turned to face her. Out of the corner of her eye, Asuka could finally see Shinji moving. He turned in his direction and took a step back. "What are you doing?"

One of the monster's came down in a sweep as the creature spun around. Asuka barely made a yelp of surprise before Unit-05's feet were taken out from under it. The Evangelion's gun discharged, the burst slapping the Angel's shin, but the majority passing around it.
Asuka winced as she heard Shinji cry out in pain and several expletives come from the captain's end of the line. As the world stopped spinning, Asuka saw the creature bare down on Unit-06, a claw jammed into the Evangelion's side.

"Shinji!" She screamed and the plug gave way to darkness.

Shinji decided to hide in his room. Pen-Pen's German television shows only caused him to worry about Asuka even more. Tristan wasn't home, having been at Tower Four for three days now. He was desperately attempting to run the investigation on Asuka. The boy touched his shin, even though it had been so long, he still felt the sting that the plug's feedback system left. In a dark way, the friendly fire gave the ordnance personnel proof that that rounds given were effective in piercing an Evangelion's armour.

Shinji gave a weak laugh directed to the ceiling. It was dry and he licked his lips, trying to get rid of that discomforting feeling.
What are you laughing at, stupid? Asuka asked in his head. The loneliness inside of the apartment was nearly unbearable, and even an imaginary Asuka was company, even though she was honestly a bully. A bully... Deep down, cruel thoughts like that had been kept locked up, and Shinji always tried to recognize the redeeming factors of people. But sometimes...

"It's nothing really." Shinji whispered. Asuka gave a snort and a shrug.

Simple minds, simple pleasures.

"That's not very nice, Asuka."

So what? Shinji frowned

"Have you ever been nice to anyone?"

What are you? Stupid?

"That's what you keep calling me..."

Then you really are stupid.

"But you're dodging my question. Have you been nice to people?"

What's this? The little wimp is growing a backbone?

"I'm not a wimp."

Then why didn't you want to kiss me? It was because it was the anniversary of your mother's death.

"That's not fair."

All's fair in love and war, stupid.

"'All's fair'?"

Yeah, we're at war, stupid. With UNIT and the Angels.

"But the Angels are gone." The imaginary Asuka simply looked away. Shinji sighed and rolled over onto his side. Even an imaginary Asuka was difficult to understand. 'But the Angels are gone.' The words ran around his mind a couple of times before he could bear to consider them. The phrase both saddened and relieved Shinji. There were no signs of the Angel's coming back, and if that was the case, then there was potential for the world to improve.

Unfortunately, the teacher that Shinji lived with prior to going to Tokyo-3 was a little cynical about what the future held. He seriously doubted that the unification of the entire world would last forever. We always have our own agendas, and we would certainly put ourselves before one another. That would explain why UNIT did what it had. They didn't believe the Angels were here anymore and so saw the NEC as a threat. Two fledgling nations were attempting to bring order to the shattered world and they saw each other as a threat. No. Not the nations, but the Evangelions.

'The curse of the Evangelion', a term that Shinji remembered hearing from Misato deep in the belly of Central Dogma, after the Sixteenth Angel, the one that Rei killed, and herself along with it. That was Rei. The girl he saw after the destruction, the 'new' Rei...

A shiver ran up Shinji's spine. Thousands of Rei's all staring at him and smiling. The things from macabre horror movies were coming to realization. Humans had so much potential and yet this is what they settled for. Demeaning life, humanity, and then killing it in a senseless war.

As long as the Evangelions existed, Shinji was stuck in the monstrous mess. Between Second and Third Impact was a dark spot in history, one that should have been erased. If only they didn't know his name, if only Tristan never knew who he was. If only that transmission, those files that Tristan occasionally mentioned, had been lost.

Asuka wouldn't be so lucky though; Tristan knew her and she would be trapped in this Hell alone. Shinji was also responsible, and so it wouldn't be fair if Asuka had taken it all on her own.

A memory of Misato flashed by, as she hollered for him to leave, because Shinji didn't have the nerve to pilot the Evangelion again. He had received an overdose of input in that fight with the Fourth Angel. He had to flee or he would die, he had to protect the people in the plug with him, but why? Did he think he could allow the Evangelion to go berserk like it did in its first sortie?

"But the Angels are gone."

If the Angels are gone, then why do we keep the EVAs?

Because the Lillim-

Shinji snapped awake. He had dozed off there in his bedroom and Kaoru had paid a visit. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the Seventeenth Angel out of his head. Shinji was afraid to close his eyes, to see the ruby eyes of Kaoru.

He was still guilty about what he had to do. That had to be the reason why Kaoru's ghost would never give him peace. Shinji thought he had gotten over it, but even when he told himself, over, and over, again, that it was Kaoru's wish to die. But it was just a lie; Shinji knew deep down inside himself that what he did was wrong in the deepest sense.

Kaoru's last words were hazy in Shinji's head. He said so many things that didn't make sense. The light of the soul, the spirit within the Evangelions, and the life forms... Humans and Angels? Kaoru's image faded a little. Shinji needed to keep his mind busy... To work on things that kept him away from thinking about the nightmares. He pulled himself off of the bed and out of his room.
Pen-Pen made a curious gurgling sound. Shinji looked at the bird, expecting to be the subject of a pair of beady, scrutinizing eyes. But instead, the penguin was looking away from the television and towards the window. Shinji stopped in the middle of the living room and frowned.

"What's wrong?" The penguin glanced up at him and then back to the window. The boy traced the animal's gaze to the window. He blinked once, twice. At first expecting it to be a mirage, but there it was. A small mottled brown bird, no bigger than his hand, sat on the sill of the window, not at all concerned with what was on the inside, but looking out at its surroundings, and giving a few quick chirps.

"Oh my God." Shinji murmured. Of course, the impact should have been more significant when Shinji was reunited with Pen-Pen, but there was a significant difference with discovering a lost pet, and seeing the return of true nature. Things were returning to normal. Or at least it appeared to be. The presence of that single little bird seemed to grant the boy a small bit of relief. The world wasn't going to be barren save for humans after all. The world was beginning to flourish once again.

The bird took flight in a flutter of its wings, quickly disappearing from view. Shinji looked down at Pen-Pen, who shared a similar look. He smiled and the bird looked back at the television monitor. Shinji sat down, a small smile on his face as he watched an outdated new report.

"Three days, four hours, thirty-two minutes, and six seconds..." Asuka mumbled. "Damn it. How long is Tristan going to keep me in this cell? I didn't do anything wrong... I didn't- I didn't mean to attack Unit-06 and Shinji. My monitor started forming echoes... Phantoms- Something! I thought it was an Angel and so I acted like I was trained to. There was nothing malicious... Oh what's..." She stopped her monologue. No matter how much she tried to defend her case to the walls of this room, they were not inclined to let her go. Besides, the data from the plug, if it worked against her, would be proof... But, proof of what? No doubt they thought she was crazy... The crazy bitch they locked up after she shot her own... What was Shinji, to her? Certainly nothing significant, that was for sure. A roommate... Former roommate... Companion in arms. The fact that she had to slowly remind herself of that fact did not bode well for that title. Companion in arms no longer applied, she wasn't even fighting any more. And unless any evidence proved in her favour, that was probably going to be the case.

But what would happen if she were no longer able to pilot an Evangelion? That was always a scary thought to consider. She had always wondered about it, but more than ever she was becoming aware of the prospect. There really wasn't an Angel, and her first ever sortie and months had ended with her shooting another pilot.

That was probably what was transpiring at the moment. The last three days was a bunch of officers arguing over what kind of a liability she was. Only a handful of witnesses, both of which were not really on her good side. Shinji probably was probably feeling as though his safety was a concern while being in the same continent with Asuka. And Tristan had a considerable bone to pick with her as well. Real or imagined, he would probably use it against her, or would he? After all, here he was dropping in at her apartment to cook for her. Drive her home when she was ready to have a nervous breakdown... Asuka gave a slight chuckle. She had to admit she lost count on how many she had.

Shinji meanwhile, probably still believed she was a valued pilot. He was so modest it stopped being a positive trait and become extremely annoying. He was a walking, talking, idiosyncrasy. Weak and spineless, but was able to tear apart Angels and Tridents alike. She had to respect his talent, but she wanted to puke at the same time, and the fact that he could easily show her up anytime he wants also bugged her. In fact, both Tristan and Shinji were both being nice guys and jerks in almost the same way. Talk about being separated at birth.
The thought of such a scenario caused Asuka to chuckle and she gave the ceiling a small chuckle. She sat up and looking around the room. A private hospital room, but with a desk.

Asuka recalled when the towers such as these were crammed with personnel. Now it was only the scarce information broker, scientist, or technician, with the occasional runner when another cable broke down in the most inevitable of fashions. With so few people, maintenance was always playing catch up as everyone else was trying to optimize the running of the facility. It was a nightmare.

"Asuka." Startled, the girl whipped her head towards the door and glared at Tristan as he stepped in.

"Knock first, asshole!" She barked. Tristan wasn't amused.

"Command has decided to let you go." He informed.

"Well it's about damn time!" She got up off the bed and put her hands on her hips. "What took so long anyways?"

"Poor prioritization. It only took the board six hours to decide that you are still worth keeping around."

"What! You mean I was stuck here for three days for nothing?"

"It would have been faster if I was allowed to search the database for the relevant information."

"What are you talking..." Asuka stopped in mid sentence and saw the reason. It was miniscule, but having seen Tristan wear the same
uniform for so long, it was clear as day. "You were demoted?"

"Knocked down to Second Lieutenant and I am no longer Operations Director."

"But that means you won't even be part of the operations team anymore."

"I know." Tristan stepped toward the window and looked toward the blue-mirrored class on the caverns wall. "Everything is now on a
need to know basis. Everything!" His lips tightened, and Asuka half-expected him to punch the glass.

"And I suppose you're going to blame this on me?"

"No. But I do have to apologize."

"This ought to be good." She crossed her arms.

"I have been a little too hard considering my rank as a captain."

"You mean with all your high expectations, including wanting to be called 'Captain' and not Tristan?"

"Yes."

"So?"

"My rank was a field promotion."

"A field promotion? You mean it was intended to be temporary."

"That's right."

"I should have known. You are such an asshole... Of course you couldn't have risen to the rank of captain that quickly. Hell, I am amazed that you made it to being a second lieutenant. What were you when I left, a corporal? I should have known that it was all bull shit. You are a poser, Tristan!"

"I get it, Asuka. You can give it a rest. During the next synch test I will begin to update the synch profile for Unit-08. Until then, there is still the matter of meeting your new operations director. You and Shinji."

"Oh I get it now. You were demoted because your replacement has arrived." He nodded.

"But I don't think you will like the replacement."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out tomorrow. Until then, I'd guess you'd want to get a shower." Asuka looked away nervously. That was a bit of a touchy. It was understandable because she had been stuck in the same room for the past three days. Even Tristan had to admit that it was unwarranted, and he didn't like how the command board was handling things. He wasn't even sure if taking him off of the operations team was a wise idea considering the investment he had made on his pilots, who were now his equals once more.

Asuka on the other hand was downright upset. She wasn't about to show it, but it was a subject of concern to hear that Tristan was going to be transferred to being an Evangelion pilot. His synch tests he showed her so long ago showed he was on par with what Rei had with her Evangelion. He was capable, and her tests still showed her progress to be stunted. The psychologists all said it was because of her emotional baggage, but she knew that it was all bullshit. Shinji was probably one of the most screwed up people she knew, second only to Wonder Girl. As far as she saw it, she was the most normal in this sideshow of psychological garbage piles.

"Come on, I'll take you home." Tristan went back to the door and motioned for Asuka to leave. She frowned at him and went through in silence. After a few feet, Tristan caught up and walked next to her. The German girl remained silent, looking ever forward, and not giving the now- second lieutenant the satisfaction of the sidelong glance.

"I'll be fine getting home on my own, Second Lieutenant."

"You're going to rub that in at every opportunity, aren't you?"

"That's the least I should after gave me all of that high and mighty crap. I have the mind to rip your heart out and feed it to you on a
sodium-reduced, soda cracker." Tristan laughed.

"It's been so long since you told me that."

"A year and three months." Tristan's mirth was killed. Awkward silence. They arrived at the elevator are signalled for it to head for the top floor. The silence persisted for several minutes. "I didn't mean to injure, Shinji." Asuka murmured.

"I know."

"Like Hell you did. You probably think I lost my mind."

"Based upon your record, quite the contrary. If you had lost your mind, you would have taken the same strategy that you did before. You would have shut out all sensory input. Instead, you reacted to what occurred and so it wasn't the same as your breakdown." She looked at him, unimpressed.

"Stop acting smarter than you actually are."

"That's not very nice." She shrugged.

"So who is this replacement?"

"Consider it a surprise."

"I don't like surprises." Tristan didn't respond. The elevator chimed at the designated floor and the car slowed to a stop. Asuka was the first to head out, Tristan following along behind.

"Are you sure you'll be fine going home on your own?"

"Yes." She responded flatly. Tristan nodded to himself.

"Then I want to see you here at eleven-thirty in the morning to meet your new operations director."

"Fine." Passing through the main entrance doors, Asuka took a deep breath of fresh air. Turned away and down the street. Tristan stood in the parking lot and watched her leave. Tristan looked skyward, he had to be prepared for what tomorrow was going to entail.

"Good morning, Asuka."

"Guten morgen, Shinji." There was nothing snide behind the phrase; it was just how she felt. Shinji climbed out of the car and walked up to her. She regarded him with an odd look. It was as though she felt superior but was also apologetic, like that of a greater peer. Shinji chose to ignore it and turned to watch Tristan approach the two of them.

"Guten morgen, Asuka. Good to see you on time." The girl gave a snort in the second lieutenants direction.

"The sooner we meet this new operations director, the sooner I can go home and get some sleep."

"You had a rough night, Asuka?" Shinji inquired.

"No, stupid. You appreciate a warm bed more when you've been stuck in a prison cell for three days."

"You're over exaggerating." Tristan mumbled.

"I doubt it. You were probably never put in that same situation."

"And you think a significant demotion is a sweet drink?"

"Guys, could we please stop arguing? We need to make a good impression with the new director, right?" Shinji suggested, he hated having to play the peacekeeper, between these two or when Misato and Asuka had their usual quarrels. Especially when it wasn't to Asuka's benefit, which was often. And there it was, the glare. Whenever Shinji had some sound reasoning, she would stare at him like that. Either spoiling the fun of the argument, or looking her look foolish for not being the first to suggest it.

Back when there was such a thing as school, Asuka would often have her head in the clouds much like Rei would. However, Asuka was attentive enough to know when to glare at Shinji when he answered one of the questions the teacher had asked the class in general. She also seemed to want to take the questions, but only after the fact. Was it really true that she finished college before coming to Tokyo-3?

"Shinji, hurry up!" Tristan barked. The boy blinked and quickly caught up to the two Germans, who were already halfway down the hall. Keeping pace when them, Shinji looked and regarded their expressions. Tristan was looking ever forward, his lower ranking pin standing out starkly on his collar. A mark of shame for the former captain perhaps. Shinji wondered if Tristan would have some choice words about the new operations director once they were away from the ears of Tower-Four personnel.

Looking to Asuka, Shinji finally noticed that she was wearing Misato's red jacket on this occasion, the silver pin of a major still on the collar. Was she hoping to try and intimidate the new leader of the pilots with a supposed rank herself? Doubtful. In reality she was probably using it as salt in the wound with regards to Tristan's loss. On the outside, the two showed no signs of ever being friends.
Even Shinji couldn't call himself Asuka's friend. They had been roommates, nothing more. The synchronization exercises they did after their first sortie together didn't even bring them any closer together. Rather, they simply complicated things and help to further brand Shinji as a pervert. Whenever he made a mistake like that, she would never let him live it down. It was frustrating, especially considering how awkward being a teenager was.

A teenager. Shinji had never even realized that he was still a teenager. Despite having to fight to the save the world, and now fighting to save the NEC, he was still a kid. It was disturbing when he examined it in his head. There had been plenty of comics created of ordinary school kids doing extraordinary things, but never did Shinji ever realize he would be doing the same thing. But on the other side of the coin, he would be considered an adult at this age, back in the ancient times. He would be have been fighting and killing other teenagers. Shinji shuddered from the thought, and from the memories.

"What's up with you?" Asuka prodded, having noticed Shinji's reaction. He blinked and looked at her, Tristan slowed down and took to the back of the group to let them speak clearly to one another, and so that he could see the whole of the conversation.
"It's nothing. Just a chill."

"For a man, you're awfully sensitive. I bet a stiff breeze could probably knock you down, you wuss."

"You know that's not true."

"Tristan of all people can knock you down."

"Of course, he's a soldier." Asuka snorted at the remark and then looked to Tristan.

"I have received military training, but not like you think Shinji. If you actually wanted to, you could beat me in a fight."

"That demotion must have taken a real hit to your self-esteem, Second Lieutenant. Now you think that this stooge can beat you?" Tristan raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose I should thank you for the compliment."

"That wasn't a compliment, you imbecile."

"Well there is something in there."

"Why don't you shut the Hell up, Tristan?"

"Despite what the pin on your jacket says, I am still a higher rank than you."

"And you think you can cow me with that? Get real!" They stopped in front of the elevator. Looking up, Shinji noticed the indicator for where the car was, was rising to their level. In the background, Asuka and Tristan continued to bark at each other like angry dogs. It was a welcome change that Shinji wasn't the one always being picked on by Asuka anymore. The boy then observed that no one had pressed the button to call the car up, someone was coming up on their one. Shinji stepped to the side of the door and looked to his two compatriots.

"Guys, someone is coming out." He announced. The two regarded Shinji and the elevator door and stepped over to the same side, as Shinji was on before continuing the argument. The elevator chimed, and the door opened. The figure to step out caused Shinji to go pale. Tristan took a double take before turning to face and give a quick salute. Asuka, perplexed, looked to the newcomer and froze. The two pilots both looked as though they had seen a ghost, and in their minds, that was what they saw.

"Pilots Ikari and Sohryu, I'd like you to meet Ma-"

"Misato!" The raven-haired woman looked to Shinji and her face was filled with surprise and relief at seeing the young man. Shinji couldn't move and he was stuck in place, paralysed by the overwhelming emotion that was coming through him. Her expression turned to a soft smile as she placed a hand on Shinji's shoulder. Her body was stiff, and all could tell that it was the only thing keeping them from embracing each other, like a mother and child long since separated.

"S-Shinji... It's been a long time."

"It took you long enough." Asuka grumbled. She crossed her arms and lowered her head, trying to hide the weak smile that was coming upon her face.

"It's good to see you again, Asuka." The tension and level of awkwardness was enough that even Tristan couldn't come up with any expression other than the cheesy 'cut with a progressive knife'. Three friends, who had once been the closest thing to a family, were now trying to hide their emotions for the sake of posterity. It was humorous enough that Tristan couldn't help give a small chuckle.

"Welcome to E-NERV, Major Katsuragi." Misato nodded towards the Second Lieutenant in acknowledgement.

"I guess we have a lot of catching up to do, don't we?" Shinji nodded, beaming. After three months of change, there was finally something that was going to help get things back to normal. Misato looked from the young man to her German pilot.

"Wait a minute. Isn't that my jacket? Where did you get that?" Asuka shrugged.

"Long time ago, found it in the ocean."

"It looks good on you." Misato began to tear up and wiped one away as it started to go down her cheek. "Oh God, I never thought I'd see you guys again."

"W-We missed you too, Misato." Shinji seemed almost like a child, the way he was speaking. He was happy.

"So where have you been, Misato?" Asuka queried.

"Italy. Now that I think about it, the NEC has made surprising strides in forming a coastal watch for survivors." She looked between the two young pilots who had once been her charges. "Now I know that you two managed to save the world, somehow."

"That is debatable." Tristan murmured under his breath. Misato gave a sidelong glance of concern toward the second lieutenant, who simply looked away. But after a few moments he looked back. "You folks will probably not have much time to socialize after today, so it might be best that you go out to lunch now and you guys can catch up." Misato smiled at the former captain.

"That sounds wonderful Lieutenant Nevril." The young man nodded.

"I also was able to reserve a pier table at Bobby Reich."

"Isn't that the place that Madison has been chasing you around to go to several months ago?" Asuka prodded. Tristan simply shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. Besides, I think you will all enjoy the food there. Besides, I still owe you and Shinji lunch that time you sprained your ankle, Asuka."

"You don't have to remind me of that."

"Why don't you come along to, Lieutenant. I think we'd appreciate the company." Tristan shook his head.

"Sorry, but this is time for you three."

"No, I insist, besides, I'd like to know your point of view on how things have been going when I wasn't around."

"You're probably trying to dodge having to pay the bill, aren't you?" Tristan blushed, caught in the act. Asuka laughed triumphantly. Shinji approached the Second Lieutenant.

"Come on, Tristan, it'll be fun. Besides, we're friends and as I see it, you're all our friend too."

"That's debatable." Asuka grumbled, trying to sound like Tristan had over the subject of Third Impact. The boy took a breath.

"Fine." Shinji smiled.

"Thanks." He whispered. The lieutenant shrugged again.

"Has the Italian peninsula actually been populated?" Asuka asked.

"Not really. The rescue personnel probably can't be counted as part of the populace, even then they only populate the small cities nestled in the hills. But even then, their communities resemble military base camps rather than domestic towns." Misato responded, running her finger on the rim of a mug of beer.

"The NEC has made an effort to try and populate areas that are better covered by NERV's sphere of influence. Consolidation and centralization are paramount at this stage of reconstruction."

"How long to do you think it will take until the human population starts returning to all the cities?" Shinji asked. Tristan and Misato both looked at each other.

"Twenty years, I would imagine." Misato answered.

"Three tragic generations." Tristan added. "The generation to survive Second Impact, the generation of Third Impact, and those who have to clean up our mess." Misato nodded, as did the other pilots.

"So you two, what have you been up to?" Asuka and Shinji exchanged glances. Asuka was the first to look away with a sigh.

"Took a boat from what was left of the Japanese islands to China. Went along the southern coast and started working our way to Europe. Got separated, met up again here."

"That was pretty scarce." Tristan commented.

"Along the way we ran into Lieutenant Aoba." Shinji added. Misato nearly spilled her drink.

"What?" She sputtered.

"We ran into him in China and travelled with him until we ran into another community." Recognizing this part of the story, Tristan nodded,
affirming Shinji's accuracy.

"Where is he now?"

"Lost." Asuka grumbled. "Taken by a bunch of soldiers." Misato looked to Tristan for an answer.

"UNIT troops must have attacked the community. Some of our personnel were in the area searching a NERV storage depot. No doubt the troops wanted to use the town as a base of operations to attack. The search team cleared out as soon as we had a blip on the radar." Misato looked puzzled.

"I thought UNIT was situated in North America."

"They are, but it appears that they have the resources necessary to get anywhere they want in the world. It's made our salvage operations a little complicated. Worst still, we have been stuck on the defensive for so long that UNIT has had free reign over several depots. The false attack three days ago was simply a diversion so that they could get into bunker in New Zealand without us harassing them."

"God, I swear it's just like the Angels. All we can do is wait for them to attack us." Asuka grumbled. Misato leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Not necessarily. Unlike the Angels, we just have to wait for an opportunity to attack back."

"That time may be coming very shortly. UNIT sent a distraction this time around, rather than actual military force. I think they're going to let up a bit. In that time we can mount a counter attack." Tristan added.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"We're not just going over there to attack UNIT, we're going to have to mount an invasion force so that we can end UNIT's military capabilities. That is something that can't be done in a single day."

"I know that, but I'd rather be getting there rather than just waiting for the bureaucrats to tell us when it's too late."

"We shouldn't be too anxious to go, Asuka." Shinji added. "We're going to be severely outnumbered and our EVAs won't always have reliable power sources."

"This coming from the pilot who defeated two Tridents in five minutes. How sad."

"At least Shinji is aware of how dangerous it's going to be when we do decide to invade." Tristan took a sip of his drink.

"Oh, of course. And if I were staying with the director of operations I would know the same thing." The second lieutenant glanced at Misato, then back to Asuka and shrugged. Silence lingered for a few moments.

"So you're staying with Tristan, Shinji?" Misato asked. The boy nodded. "And what about you Asuka?"

"I'm living on my own."

"Barely." Tristan muttered.

"Well it's excellent to see the two of you are able to function after everything that has happened."

"Getting as far as you did right after Third Impact is indeed impressive." Tristan added.

"And I have also heard that your synchronization ratios are improving. Especially yours, Asuka." The redhead smiled at the compliment.

"All I need now is to get some actual combat experience and I'll be on the saddle in no time." Misato then looked to Tristan.

"And I hear you're finally going to be piloting." The second lieutenant nodded. "Have you been keeping up with your tests and training regimen?"

"Of course. I put these two on a similar system, considering the conditions of this conflict, it seemed logical for them to be able to fight another human being rather than just Evangelions and Tridents."

"I wouldn't call it training so much as a death march." Asuka growled.

"Only because you weren't keeping up with it your original program when you went to Tokyo-3."

"So what, I was too busy fighting Angels. I didn't have time to worry about physical training."

"Nor did you seem to be worried about your studies." Misato shot back.

"Well Shinji wasn't doing too well with his studies either, but I bet you're going to cut him some slack because he was such a great pilot."

"Scholastic difficulties are normal in teenagers." Said Tristan.

"'Normal'? How is Shinji normal?"

"I'm right here, Asuka, you don't have to act like I'm not." Shinji murmured.

"Normal people don't graduate from college at fourteen."

"Well then you're just as much a freak as I am then, Second Lieutenant."

"I didn't say the opposite of normal was being a freak. But if that's how you want to see yourself..." He gave a little chuckle.

"You ass! I oughta-"

"Okay! Okay. Asuka we get the point. Would you two stop arguing? It was annoying years ago and it's still annoying now." Shinji tilted his
head, perplexed by the major's comment.

"'Years ago'? You knew Tristan from before." Misato of course nodded.

"I would occasionally have to come down to E-NERV headquarters in order to give an assessment of Asuka and Tristan's performance. Though I must say, it was simply a performance to get them to speak to each other, the way they argued like an old couple."

"Don't call it that!" Asuka cried. Shinji noticed a twinge of melancholy on Tristan's face. He really hadn't gotten over Asuka. No wonder he was practically attached to everything she did. It was kind of sad, in a way that Shinji, retrospectively, could understand himself. Third Impact happened so quickly that things were never resolved in a way that Shinji found all right. From Tristan's pained silence, Asuka trying to raise as much Hell in order to hide her feelings, and the strange, detached mask on Misato's face.

Misato, out of the three roommates, shed the least tears from their reunion, but the occasional shudder in her breath, or struggling smile show that there was a lot under there that she didn't want to show. Was it to save face? She had only shown real emotion in front of Asuka and he, and when at work, she was the model of professionalism. She was in the presence of a legitimate co-worker. Despite he was now a pilot, Tristan still had a rank, and that was probably why she refused to show her true self.

A flash of insight, like that from a distant dream, crossed his mind. A hot apartment with a diminutive fan trying to cool the large room. The thought quickly evacuated and Shinji started. Tristan seemed to notice, but didn't directly comment on it. The image had seemed familiar, but Shinji honestly never saw the place his entire life. A memory that wasn't his own?

"Don't tell me you're not hungry." Asuka growled. Shinji blinked and glanced down at his dinner plate, seeming to have appeared out of thin air. He blinked once and then twice. How long was he off in space?

"No, it's nothing like that."

"After the swill that Tristan probably had you eating this stuff will be Heaven." She laughed.

"It'll take some getting used to Shinji, it is a heavy meal, don't make yourself sick." Misato warned.

"I won't. I'm not a little kid, besides, Tristan has been getting me into heavier meals." He glanced at Tristan, and the second lieutenant felt as though there was a second layer behind the boy's statement. He frowned. Was Shinji still angry about the argument at Asuka's home? It soon dawned on the former operation's director why Shinji was so angry. It was somewhat embarrassing that he didn't acknowledge, but beyond the girls treating him as a child, and him coddling him, that anger was envy.

No, that couldn't be intentional of Shinji. It had to be trick of the light. Right?

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes
Long time and no chapter. Sorry for the long wait, hope no one has given up on reading the story. No doubt a bunch of you were practically seething after the last chapter... And the one before that even... So I can only assume that the reviews that I do get are simply the tip of a much larger, and mixed iceberg.
A lot of you are becoming concerned about how little interaction there is between Shinji and Asuka. From my perspective, however, this proposal is easier said than done. For one thing, I have completely engaged myself in drying to nail down this monster of a plot and looking back at the grotesque number of chapters once again, it seems that I am still having trouble settling on things to move them forward. But also, I still think there are still some wrinkles between Asuka and Shinji that I need to let smooth out, our favourite red head's outburst was a good start, but I think time and sufficient opportunity is needed. Let's hope I can finally get onto track what with this latest, and maybe final, development before things get underway. (God and Muse willing.)
The end of the chapter did indeed have a bit of me trying to cover my own ass; it has been so long since I even studied Misato's character that I can't even think about how to write her properly. The restrained emotion is one such way, and I didn't want to just fill three pages with emotional, gushing, drivel. (Though I suppose that was the end result anyway.)

A very astute reader in the past also noted an "error" in that Misato's jacket would have a hole because she was shot. Misato's body was also probably turned to past after the explosion where she was. But at the same time, note that bandages had materialized on Asuka's person after washing up onto the shore. Further, Instrumentality turned every corpse into LCL. 'Rough edges' sounds to be too harsh of a word when giving a name for these attributes of Third Impact and the questions that arise from it.

I think that Post Third Impact fan fictions are not necessarily the breeding ground of Shinji / Asuka romances, but also places where, indirectly, authors can attempt to fill in the blanks that they saw in the Evangelion saga and share them with everyone else. Your input also, plays a part in the development of the story through your thoughts on not only how things are going, but also giving your observations. I may be a suck up to my audience with how many times I tip my hat to you guys, but I still feel obliged to do so. Thank you for reading New Direction.

By the way, with the summer winding down and my second year of college on the way, you may be seeing more chapters of Primum Evangelion than the paltry amount that the fan fictions second year has seen. Now on to another productive year!