Here we go with the third chapter now. This one isn't as light hearted as the first two, more feelings of sadness creep in. Also I would like to extend my personal thanks to Rahhel for giving me the info I needed to help get Aoba's character more correct than I would have done on my own. Hope you enjoy.

The soft pluck of the strings was unmistakable in Shinji's ears. He did not know whom, or possibly what, could be playing the instrument but it was definitely the sound of a guitar nearby. Soft ground patting beneath their feet, the two former Eva pilot ran as fast as they could down and the knoll they were on and then back up a second one, following the sound of the sad melody. It was not long before they saw a silhouette in the distance.

Shinji squinted, trying to make out who was sitting atop the nearby hill. It was hard to tell, but he knew by the width of the person's shoulders it was probably a man, although the noticeably shoulder length hair made it difficult to tell. Shinji crouched down behind a bush, motioning for Asuka to follow.

"Asuka, can you tell who that is?"

"I don't know; it's still too dark to see from here. Wait, why are we hiding? If someone else is alive we should try to see if they're able to help us."

"That's just the thing though, we don't know who we can trust anymore. It may be a looter or a gangster. We can't be sure."

"You know, Shinji, you can still be pretty dense sometimes. If this person is the only other person around here then what good would it do for him to hurt us?"

"Asuka, keep your voice down. We don't want to…"

Shinji was interrupted suddenly when the stranger leaned over the bush, his body rustling the leaves. Asuka and Shinji both leapt back with a shriek, caught completely off guard by the man's approach.

"Shinji? Asuka? You're alive?" he asked.

"Mr. Shigeru?" the two asked in unison.

"Well what do you know," Aoba said with a laugh. "I thought I was the only one left, and yet here you two are alive and well. It's nice to see that I'm not the last person here."

"Mr. Shigeru, what are you doing here? How did you survive?" Shinji asked.

"Wish I could tell you. When the soldiers sent by Seele stormed NERV I was in the control room with Maya. I don't remember exactly what happened, but I got shot and blacked out. All I know is that when I came too NERV was in ruins and Maya was gone, completely."

Shinji noticed that there was a hint of mourning in Aoba's voice when he mentioned that Maya was missing. 'Perhaps Mr. Shigeru was in love with Maya,' he thought. It was a shame then; Mr. Shigeru probably wouldn't ever be able to share his life with the woman he loved. Thinking about that, Shinji felt a little better about his situation with Asuka. 'We're lucky, Asuka. Mr. Shigeru won't be able to share what he feels with Maya the way we share what we feel with one another.'

"Mr. Shigeru," Asuka began.

"Hey now, let's not be so formal. Just call me Aoba. No real need for formalities anymore."

"Oh, ok then. Um, Aoba, why were you just sitting there? You must have seen that a good section of Tokyo 3 is still intact."

Aoba's face became sullen. "I did, and that was the first place I went. I was hoping that maybe I could find more survivors, but, as you saw, there was no one else. No one except for us anyways…"

"You were looking for Maya," Shinji said. "That's why you came here, because you couldn't find her."

Aoba smiled. "You're pretty smart, Shinji. Yeah, I was looking for Maya, but I couldn't find her anywhere. The whole time I prayed that she would be alive, prayed that I could find her and help her through this mess. I guess you can tell how far praying got me."

"You loved her, didn't you?"

"Yeah. I never got to admit it either. I even wrote a song for her, something I was going to use to tell her how I felt. It's a song that falls on deaf ears now, though."

Shinji could see the tears beginning to well in Aoba's eyes. He understood how Aoba felt. For quite some time Shinji had nothing to hold on to in life either, before he became an Eva pilot; before making real friends that cared for him and looked out for him. Before he was able to admit how he felt to Asuka.

"Aoba, that song you were playing," Asuka began.

"You heard it huh? I know what you're wondering. Yes, that was the song I was going to play for Maya." Aoba moved over the shrub Shinji and Asuka were seated behind and sat next to them. A sob and a sniffle escaped him as he sat. "I can only hope she heard it wherever she is."

Shinji glanced at Asuka, his eyes conveying the same thought…the same feeling she had. In the back of their minds they could feel Maya's consciousness. She was sobbing, but it was out of happiness, not pain. Shinji smiled slightly and nodded to Asuka as she placed a hand on Aoba's shoulder.

"I'm sure she heard it Aoba, and I'm sure she loved it too."

Aoba sniffled and smiled at the two of them, nodding. "Thanks you guys. Hey, I'm gonna head back into the city. If you two are alive too then there's still a possibility that more survivors are out there."

Shinji and Asuka nodded as he headed off towards the city. As Aoba walked off, they looked back towards the east as the sun began to rise and watched the still, beautiful dawn unfold.

"That's really sad, about Mr. Shigeru I mean," Asuka said.

Shinji simply nodded, adding a quiet "yeah."

"It's really a shame that he can't really tell miss Maya how he feels," Asuka continued.

Shinji simply nodded again, looking on at the sunrise, many thoughts going through his head. Thoughts about Aoba, about Asuka and himself, and about their friends. Aoba was alive so perhaps their friends were too…

"Hey, Shinji, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Well…the thing is…it's about Ayaname…"

"About…Rei?"

Asuka nodded. Shinji could tell by the look upon her face that whatever she was going to ask was something that had been trying at her for some time.

"Shinji, did you…do you love her?"

Shinji knew that he shouldn't have been, it was an expected question, but he was still taken off guard by what she asked. 'Ayaname…do I love Ayaname…' Deep down Shinji knew that he did, but was it the same?

It took Shinji a long while to answer Asuka, and he could see that she felt uneasy at his silence. He did love Ayaname, and he loved Asuka too, but it wasn't the same with Asuka. It was more…genuine? No, that wasn't the word… 'What is it? What is it that makes me love them both?'

"Ayaname…" he began. "Yes, I do love Ayaname…but it's different with her. I can't explain it exactly, but it's not the same love that we share."

"Oh…I see…" Asuka said, her face conveying a feeling of sadness.

"I'm sorry, I don't really know how to describe it. It's like…I'm not sure…" Shinji became lost in thought once more, and suddenly the realization hit him. "Rei…I don't know why, but she reminded me of my mother. I can't really explain what it was, but somewhere in the back of my mind she always reminded me of my mother. I think that is why I love her, because she brings back the same memories of my mother."

Asuka looked over at Shinji, a look of both relief and sadness in her expression as she embraced him.

"Shinji, please don't ever leave me."

"Asuka…"

"If you left me I don't know what I'd do. So please, just don't ever leave me."

Shinji kissed Asuka softly on the cheek. "I promise you, I'll always be here."

Asuka smiled, and leaned against him once more. They sat watching the sunrise for a short while longer before returning to what remained of Tokyo 3. After all, with one more survivor found there were sure to be others and Aoba was going to need all the help he could get.