Well, here's the ending of this tragic story that should make this story "complete". To everyone out there who's been following this story, thank you for all the encouragement and advice, and sorry this isn't pre-read, I haven't had time to send it to anyone. Still, hopefully this ending doesn't let you down in any way, nor does it have a feeling of being rushed. So, this marks my first complete EVA fic I've ever created, hope you enjoy.

And if you don't like this ending, I can always post the other alternate ending as another chapter after this, so in the review let me know what you think so I can decide whether or not that is a good idea. Other than that, I hope you enjoy and well on with the story!

Movement 5: Regret and Hope: Love's inseparable bond pt. 2

After telling Misato everything, the feelings of emptiness packed onto her worse than 100 pound weights attaching to her shoulder because of the guilt. Guilt of feeling as if she never should have forgotten him, guilt of never opening up to him, guilt of always arguing with him and never showing a nice side to him. She felt as if she couldn't feel the same anymore, and slowly felt one phrase begin to stick in her head like glue.

"Some questions were never meant to be answered…"

She'd always hated that statement because she believed that every question was meant to be answered, but now, look at her, mess and feeling as if the statement was slowly starting to reveal itself to her as true. It pained her inside that she had to accept this and sometimes would wish that she never went searching for him, however she was glad she looked for him, searched for him in every fiber of her being. She felt as if without figuring out who the boy in the picture was, then she would never be able to live again. With these emotions toiling and intertwining inside, it caused her to hate herself more. It was tearing her apart into millions of pieces that would never be picked up by another.

"Why did it have to be you?" she snapped out into the cold wind of the evening blowing against her face, staring out into the sunset that would once make her feel content and calm only make her feel down. If only he was here, maybe then he would be the one next to her. He could be holding her in his arms, he could be cooing sweet little nothings into her ears, but instead he was gone. Vanished without a trace, and in the end it was hurting her more than anyone else.

She decided to go to the park once again, remembering that they had found a stone statue resembling an EVA fighting another odd-looking EVA. The odd-looking EVA was in the air seeming like it was trying to grab the other EVA on the ground, while the EVA on the ground held stopped the EVA in the air by grabbing its hands and pushing it away. In the end, it seemed to bear as a symbol of humanity's continuous battle with itself; both the odd-looking EVA and the other EVA resembling human nature in everyone's hearts.

"This is to the dedicated pilots of those that saved humanity. May they forever be remembered. This is dedicated to Asuka and Rei, the pilots of the beasts known as EVA." Read the caption on the statue, Asuka sighing while she looked at it.

"It wasn't just us…but still no one remembers you…" she thought while she continued to look at the statue with blank eyes, memories of times with her and Shinji were playing in her head, especially the one date they had. It hurt to remember but at the same time brought happiness to her. Once again those contradicting emotions filled her while the sky began to turn grey.

"I don't get it Shinji…I just don't get it…" said Asuka while her head drooped down to look at the ground, her hands slowly turning into fists. Suddenly, rain began to pour down on her while she stood there in brief silence.

"Why did you have to die? Why did you have to be that way!" began Asuka while her body began to tremble, her fists tightening even more.

"And then, it seems that all of a sudden NO ONE REMEMBERS YOU! YOU DIE AND NO ONE REMEMBERS THAT YOU WERE THE ONE THAT SAVED US!" snapped Asuka while her whole body shook furiously.

"YOU LEFT US, I KNOW THAT YOU RAN AWAY! SOMEHOW, YOU CAUSED US TO FORGET YOU! YOU RAN AWAY LIKE THE COWARD YOU HAD BEEN!" rampaged Asuka while she continued to yell in the air, tears swelling in her face. She hated this feeling, but she had to let it out, it couldn't just sit in there anymore.

"MAYBE YOU DIDN'T CAUSE IT, WHO KNOWS WHO DID, BUT STILL! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO EVERYONE! HOW COULD LEAVE US HERE HANGING AND FEELING LIKE THIS? But most importantly…," continued Asuka while tears began to fall from her face.

"How could you leave me here to feel like this? How could you leave me here alone when you knew I didn't like being left alone? Didn't you get it? Didn't I show you that?" continued Asuka, her yelling ceasing to exist, and now, her true and raw emotions came fleeing away from her.

It seemed now, looking back at the times that she had spent with him when they were EVA pilots. All the bickering and the fighting, all the insults, all the mistakes she made as the snappy and angry EVA pilot. Now, she can't but feel that she was truly an idiot during those times, and she should've been different, but instead she focused too heavily on her past, maybe she should've worked on what could happen in the future. She was afraid of being hurt, that in the end she let herself get away from the world that only seemed to be pain and sadness, so that no one could hurt her again, no matter how much she cared for them. In the end, he was the one slowly getting through the barrier, but when he left, no one stood a chance. Not even Misato has been able to break that barrier, until she finally let it down about seven years ago.

"I don't get it, didn't you realize anything about me? Didn't you realize that…that…" she said with a hurt tone in her voice, the pain feeling as if swords were being jabbed into her sides.

"I loved you?"

Asuka waited in silence as if waiting for an answer, and still no answer was given out loud. No answer to comfort her, give her warmth and closure, nothing, as if an empty void just stood there with no purpose in life. She felt hollow inside, carved out from the inside in which once contained little heart.

"Why was I so stubborn to tell you this? Why did I let myself stay from telling you the truth of how I felt towards you, even though I acted like I hated you by berating you, making you feel as if you had to say sorry. Now, I realize I should be the one saying sorry to you…" the rain began to die down, the sky clearing up little by little.

"Still, Shinji, why did you have to leave us all here, to act as though you're not here? How could you just leave us like this and expect us to continue while instead we suffer continuously knowing that you're gone?"

"Asuka….he had a reason for it all and maybe you're not understanding it…" began a familiar voice that began to get closer to her, her face turning instantly at the direction of the voice.

"I don't know why or how it happened and neither do you, but he died saving us all from something that a corporation called SEELE was working on, "Instrumentality". He saved us all from a horrible fate." Continued on the voice as it moved closer to her, these words that became so revealing as if an epiphany was coming to her.

"What do you mean Misato?" asked Asuka with shock, Misato stopping as she was in good distance to really talk with the now shocked Asuka.

"From what I read when I did research on him, Shinji was going to be a major factor in a project called "Human Instrumentality", or as we like to call it, "Third Impact". With his EVA, Unit 01, he was to trigger a cataclysmic amount of events and cause the destruction of all humanity. To put it simply, to make us all become one being." Said Misato, causing Asuka to give a confused look and a shocked look at the same time that made Misato think she got it a little bit. How could this be? How could everything that had happened be for something as horrible and as sinister as this?

"However, even if Shinji did or didn't know this, he stopped any chance of it by killing himself with the other EVAs sent to attack us and thus ending the chance. You see, he saved us all from that horrible fate, he made the right choice." Misato finally finished Asuka starting to feel rage coursing through her veins

"I can understand that Misato, but how could he be forgotten by everyone, it doesn't make sense! The only way it could've happened is by him running away! He was running away again, like he always does!" snapped Asuka while Misato stood there with anger mounting inside of her too.

"Asuka, didn't you think of what I just said earlier? He wasn't a coward, because if he was then we wouldn't be standing here talking like this! You wouldn't be here crying because he was gone, but instead he sacrificed himself for us all! How can you consider that cowardice!" snapped Misato while she could see Asuka's anger leave in a split second as only shock filled her eyes, and sadness at the truth of the words piercing her heart, "Still, you insult him when he did it. I'm sure he was thinking of you when he died too!" Asuka's face began to cringe at tighten at the words while the tears began to fall little by little, "I don't know if he caused himself to be forgotten, but if he did, maybe he thought it would be easier for us to not remember him, to act as though we didn't know him so he didn't have to worry about someone being hurt…"

"He's an idiot then! He shouldn't have done that! It hurts worse thinking that we had forgotten him than actually remembering him and never forgetting him! Then the pain wouldn't be as hard as this!" snapped Asuka while her tears finally came bursting out, her yells of pain coming out as she began to cry once again, feeling vulnerable to it all. Misato smiled and slowly walked up to her. Suddenly, as if calculated movement, she placed an arm around Asuka, pulling Asuka closer in a warm embrace. The tears and sobbing continued while Misato wrapped a second arm around Asuka, holding her in a true warm embrace to comfort the poor red haired girl in front of her.

"You know that, I know that, but for him, he thought it was the best way," began Misato while Asuka continued to sob some more, her body trembling, "he didn't know how to express himself, nor did he seek the comfort that others brought, he only considered himself a burden to anyone around him, wishing to be nothing of that sort to anyone, he seemed to have asked that he would be forgotten or something unexplainable to where we all forgot him and lived life." she finished with those words, hoping they would truly comfort Asuka, who stopped crying and trembling and looked up to Misato seeking more answers.

"Still, I wish she was here, it hurts that he isn't here, it hurts that I can't tell him anything at all, it hurts that I can't be at his side. I just wish he was here, that way I wouldn't feel so alone…" continued Asuka while she stayed in Misato's calming embrace that felt like a mother to her.

"Asuka, you don't have to feel alone, as long as you remember him and carry him in your heart, than he's not gone. He's with you forever, but not to where you can see him. He's inside of your heart, and in the end he becomes a part of you. Don't you get it Asuka? Sometimes a person isn't always there, but does that mean they aren't with you? They are, so long as they reside in your heart and stay there. Like you, you are in my heart and if you left me here, I might be sad that you're gone, but then I would feel as though you were here with me, because you are in my heart." Said Misato with a smile while Asuka had a perplexed look that still seemed to be curious to know more, seek answers that she never knew existed before.

"So I won't be alone, I never will, as long as I remember him and keep him in my heart. Then that means that he is here with us, that he will always be with me, even until I die. So as long as I carry on the memory of him, he will never truly be dead?" asked Asuka with innocence and curiosity in her tone, a smile slowly forming on her face with Misato smile genuinely and with a motherly/sisterly affection.

"That's right Asuka, he's never been dead and never was forgotten, as long as we carry him on in our hearts, then he's never been dead this whole time." Said Misato while she felt arms slowly wrap around her, looking down and seeing Asuka's beaming smile.

"Thanks Misato, thanks for being here for me now, I needed it more than anything." said while she slowly released Misato from the embrace, Misato doing the same.

"Asuka, you know I'll always be here for you because you're like a daughter/sister to me, you've grown on me, what can I say?" said Misato with a calm and content tone.

"Well Misato, you've become like the mother I've never had, and the sister I wish I had." Said Asuka while continue to hold that genuine smile, something she hadn't experienced in months.

"Well Asuka, what do you say we get over this and try to start a new life with remembering him? Why don't you live your life now instead of living in the past? This time, worry about the future." Said Misato while she saw Asuka blush a little from what seemed embarrassment. After all, Asuka told herself she should've done that with Shinji, except for now it was time to put this into practice.

"Yeah, I'll do that now Misato, it's better than to sulk and be depressed, it's time I looked out for myself instead of focusing on my mistakes in the past." Said Asuka while Misato gave a affirmative nod.

"Asuka, we learn from mistakes and apply them to our lives, not dwell on them. That's a major factor in life; that we have to learn from mistakes and put what we learned to practice. So you know what? This is a good start, how about we go and eat somewhere and talk some more? Then we can start this new life of yours?" said Misato with a smirk, Asuka nodding back at her.

When all of this was said and done, and with the day passing by, Asuka took the picture out of one of the pockets so she could look at it one last time, seeing something that she never had seen before. What she saw puzzled her and made her wonder how it happened, but shrugged it off and left it on the table.

In the picture was the boy smiling and staying in the same spot but turned to the side and blushing, looking at a beautiful red-haired girl who smiled back. It seemed they were happy together, as though they were together as a couple, and it seemed under the bright sun they were never meant to be separated. Before Asuka had left, she knew who that girl was that was in the picture, because no one else was like that. It was herself, except as a fourteen year old, and it seemed for once it fit how she felt; happy.

"I'll never forget you Shinji. I love you."

The door to her place shut and with that, the new life of the once famous Asuka Langley Sohryu began.