Disclaimer: Don't own Eva....never will...unless i recieve some sort of unexpected inheritance.....nah....
Hey everyone! Late update, sorry! but this time, it's not my fault. This would have been up days ago if it weren't for the site updates. Oh well...the new quickedit looks awesome. Anyway, this chapter has a slightly different format, as promised. the only difference really is the way conversations and thoughts are displayed:
" is for talking, and ' is for thinking. Used quite a lot, but fairly effective. please tell me if this new format does the story any justice. Well with that said, here ya guys go!
Enjoy!
Chapter 12: We're going home….
"Wake up Suzahara."
Toji's long, deep sleep was disturbed by the sound of an ominously beautiful voice. He had no idea who this mysterious stranger is, nor did he really care. All he wanted right now was to get some more sleep; it seemed too early to wake up anyway.
Toji grabbed hold of the jacket and covered it over his eyes. The sun was rising and getting into his eyes. It was still cold out, and he was thankful to have his jacket on hand. Lord knows that he would have frozen to death otherwise. He smiled contently and slowly started to drift back to sleep….
"Suzahara, you must wake up this instant!"
Toji cringed at the sound of the noise disturbing him once again, but he didn't care. He just simply ignored her and flung his jacket over his head some more and closed his eyes tightly. Hopefully, the voice would go away…
"Suzahara!"
Toji couldn't stand it any longer. She was certainly relentless, and probably wouldn't stop until he gave this enigma his full attention. He flung his jacket off and looked in the direction it was coming from, his eyes filled with anger and irritation.
"What is it you stupid- AHHHH!!!!"
Toji stood up and backed up as quickly as he could. Unfortunately for him, there was a log right behind his feet, causing him to instantly fall on his lower posterior. But that didn't bother him too much; he was more worried about the Eva looking straight at him with those orange glowing eyes.
" W-what the fuck is going on?!? Are you trying to scare me to death Shinji?"
Toji voice was shaking from having been frightened half to death. He was sure that this was some practical joke made by the two of his comrades. That was probably Asuka making voices at him, and Shinji controlling the Eva to correspond with the voice. Those cheap bastards.
But then something caught Toji's eye. The Eva was still in the same spot, as well as the plug. And didn't the operator normally need to be inside of the plug in order to control the Evangelion? And if the Eva didn't have a plug inside of it….then who the hell is controlling it?!
Toji turned his slowly back at the Evangelion, his teeth cringing in terror. He stuttered out the only words he could think of at the time.
"Wh-who…are….you?" Toji stood up slowly and stayed backed against the tree defensively.
The Eva stood up slowly as well, but towered over Toji like a spider to a fly. The sun was completely blocked out by the behemoth, making its bright orange eyes glow more intense. Toji couldn't turn away from this daunting beast; it would most likely crush him to pieces if he turned away for one second…..
Then to Toji's surprise, that feminine voice spoke out again.
"Rei Ayanami. Designated pilot of Evangelion unit 00."
Toji was taken aback. This had to be some kind of clever, twisted joke; it just HAD to be. There was no way that Rei Ayanami still existed. She died a long time ago…..
But Shinji had told him directly and seriously that she was still alive, and was fully capable of phenomenal powers. Toji appeared to have accepted that fact last night, but if that was the case then why is he so surprised right now?
This was one of those things he had to see in order to believe.
"Re-Rei?" was all that Toji could stutter out at the moment, although the stammering had become a frequent thing given the current (and mind-blowing) situation.
"Yes. And you must be Toji Suzahara, former pilot of Evangelion unit 03. It is a pleasure to meet you again."
The stuttering and stammering stopped as Toji stared at the Evangelion. His face held an expression of complete bewilderment, and sheer fear. He wasn't going to be the one to carry this conversation anywhere.
Rei, on the other hand, grew impatient of the sudden silence and decided to be the one to speak up.
" Listen up Suzahara," Toji shuddered a bit from the sound of voice." I need you to come with me. Pilot Ikari and Pilot Sorhyu have disappeared somewhere, and they may have encountered some trouble."
Toji didn't answer. In fact, it seemed that he didn't hear a word she said.
" I need you to take temporary command of Unit 01 in the event that we run into an ambush; whilst I search for the two pilots. Agreed?"
PLOP.
Toji had completely passed out. He could handle watching 100 foot Eva's fighting equally towering Angels, but he couldn't handle the site of an Evangelion possessed by a girl from his class. It was all just too much for him.
The Eva stood up to its feet and looked down at the poor boy.
"Maybe I shouldn't have been so direct with him…."
Setting: NERV Headquarters. Early morning hours.
"Commander, here is the information you requested."
Misato openly accepted the envelope and opened it up. This information was supposed to contain all the data they could muster on the event involving Iruel. Maybe they can find a clue on how to stop this thing.
"Is all this information you could find?" It didn't looklike a lot; all they got was the hourly log of what happened that day, as well as some video footage.
The personnel nodded. "Yes commander. It was hard enough to extract the log; we had to be very careful to avoid possible infection from the Angel."
" Yes, the Angel could have left some unwelcome surprises in the logs before we deleted them. It could have infected the backup as well." Misato carefully scanned the contents of the envelope thoroughly.
The personnel stood still, as if waiting for an answer to an unasked question.
"If I my ask commander, why are you so calm about this? We have an national….no…make that INTERNATIONAL emergency on our hands."
Misato tossed the envelope aside and picked up the tape. There was nothing relatively important inside of the log….just a report of where and when it attacked. Nothing on HOW it attacked.
" Because, believe it or not, we have the upper hand. We have more time to analyzeour enemy now."
"I understand that commander, but what about its abilities? It could have infected anyone of us right now…."
Misato was waiting for that question to pop up. Sadly, she had few answers.
"Good question. You see, Iruel told me about 'ritual sacrifice' when I spoke with him. I assume that it meant it hadwith killingspecific people at specific times. If that is the case, then all we have to do is to get a fullunderstandingabout this ritual; down to the basic dogma. Piece of cake."
The personnel smiled and loosened up a bit. He felt a little more eased now.
" I see..but still…..how do we know who's who?
This was a difficult question, and Misato didn't really have a easy answer. She only had one idea on how to detect infection….
" Well, we can safely assume that this angel is like a parasite right? Then how about we do standardized blood tests daily, to check for serious blood abnormalities. If a personnel refuses, then they shall be imprisoned until further notice."
The personnel nodded as Misato continued speaking.
" It may not be the most definite way to indicate infection, but we have no other options available. Besides, the angel could have infected ANYONE in the whole country for all we know. We don't want to take too many unnecessary precautions."
The young personnel's face filled with anxiety once again, "so you're saying that…..we just wait for an attack? Just sit here and wait for…it…to make its move?"
Misato nodded promptly," precisely. We have no other choice right now."
Misato winced slightly from her own words. If they just sat here and waited it out, they would be nothing more than sitting ducks. Was there really nothing else they could do?
No. There had to be another way. If they just waited, Iruel would have enough time to strategize as well. That would give him the primary advantage, and would inevitably result in disaster. They had to do more than search the books for information on a ritual sacrifice that, for all they knew, didn't exist in any text. They may never find that information needed to give them the upper hand.
They needed a solid plan; something that could undeniably detect and destroy the angel…..
Then it clicked.
" …Eva…."
The personnel looked over at Misato curiously; she seemed rather random all the sudden.
" I beg your pardon commander?"
Misato was slow to respond. Instead she swiftly made her way out of her office and down the hallway; the personnel following closely behind.
"commander, what about the Eva?"
" Do we still have radar capabilities? Ones that could reach inside of the mountains?" Misato turned the corner sharply and approached the elevator door.
" Yes we do. wh-"
That's when it hit him as well.
"commander, you don't intend on using the EVA to fight that thing do you?!?"
"that is exactly what I plan to do. Now tell me, can we detect the unit if it is still there?"
"Of course we can; we could have done it from the very start. But what good would that do?"
The elevator doors opened, and Misato stepped in; the young man still following her like a lost puppy.
"….I'm going to ask Shinji to come back."
Now the personnel knew she was crazy. Did she really expect him to come back if she asked him nicely?
" Pardon me for saying so commander, but that's ludicrous."
Misato smiled a little and laughed a little.
" heh…I knew you were going to say that. Don't worry, Shinji will come back if he knows that no one wants to hurt him. In other words......we'll surrender."
The personnel was still unconvinced.
"But…."
" You worry too much," Misato had to shut him up, or else she was never going to here the end of his whining," Get the radar operational and a radio system ready for use. I'm going to try and contact him through radio."
The elevator stopped abruptly; they had reached the bottom floor of NERV headquarters. The doors opened up and revealed the central control room for all NERV operations (aptly named Central Dogma.). Misato stepped off the elevator and took a seat in one of the few chairs surrounding the central controls.
"Do you really think you can reach him through radio waves commander?"
" I'm not sure. But we won't know unless we try," Misato typed in a sequence of buttons and opened up several files; all of which were information about various cults, religions, and their rituals. "We haveno other options left to us except him. Unless you would rather wait it out as originally planned...."
The personnel sighed in defeat. He didn't any other choice but to comply; they had nothing to lose anyway.
"sigh……Understood Commander"
Misato turned around and smiled," Cheer up. We have nothing more to do than to put our faith in Shinji."
The personnel nodded and took his seat in the chair on the other side of the access panels. He typed in a series of codes that should allow operation of the radar.
'I still have my doubts. What if he doesn't want to help?'
The worried young man merely shrugged it off and went back to work. He shouldn't think about things like this right now.
'I just have to keep faith…that's all'
He could hear noises outside. The sounding of water rushing along the earthen coast; the soft chirping of the birds perched on the grass; and the quiet hum of locusts among the tree trunks.
It was clear that Shinji was nowhere near civilization in the least. He opened his eyes slowly and immediately shielded them with his forearm; it was too damn bright out.. He squinted slightly and attempted to adapt his eyes to this unfamiliar brightness.
It must be noon, seeing as the sun was slightly overhead. Shinji didn't know how long he had been here in this forest. He could have only guessed that he had somehow exhausted himself enough to doze off into the early afternoon. What the hell did he do last night anyway?
He just sat against the side of tree like a large rock; unmoving and staring at his deep breaths intently. The air was still very brisk and crisp, meaning that it was a typical late fall afternoon. He loved the way the air felt in the afternoon, especially on those bright fall days like this. He would walk around and just enjoy the smell of air while the large star would radiate as much heat as it possibly could. He could sometimes feel that warmth in the small town he usedworked in…..
But not in the city. Tokyo-2 was always soaked with its own tears; day in and day out. The clouds overcastted the poor city everyday, acting as a barrier to the warm goodness that the sun provided. Meaning that everyday and every night was cold, gloomy, and depressing. You could almost say that the city was slightly touched by Hell; the Hell that was once described by Dante as being a cold, frozen lake, with Satan in the center of the Earth. Tokyo-2 felt like that frozen lake….all the time…..
Still…it was not always so cold for everyone. There were some things in life, even in a world ran by pain, which were always wonderful to look forward to; things that provided 'warmth' within even the darkest shadows of freezing wastelands.
"I feel…..warm…."
It had just occurred to Shinji that he was not freezing like the fresh, cold air around him. In fact, he was actually quite tepidand comfortable for some reason.
That didn't make much sense; then again, nothing made much sense right now, seeing as he had somehow forgotten the past night's events. Shinji looked around and noticed something peculiar lying across his abdomen.
It seemed to made up of a dark blue fabric; the kind you would normally find used in jackets and coats. The fabric was spread across his entire chest region, like a small blanket covering him up. This was most certainly did not belong to Shinji, so whoever gave him this magnificent source of heat must be nearby somewhere….
Shinji felt a soft grip tightening around his belly, and behind the back. He was not aware of this embrace before, seeing as it was so light and barely touched him at all. It was almost like it was part of him. But the grips suddenstrength startled Shinji and almost caused him to jump straight out of his spot. He only made it up a fewmillimeters off the ground when something caught his eye underneath the blanket.
Curious, Shinji flipped the blanket off of him and winced.
"Asuka?"
Shinji was only mildly surprised by this, seeing as this was not the first time this happened. He took a sigh of relief knowing what the source of the embrace was, and soon the memories of last night's memories began to came back to him at full force.
'oh…that's right. Asuka was sleepwalking again. Yeah…..then she dove off that cliff and....I saved her..…..but….what happened next?'
Shinji shut his eyes and tried, as hard as he could, to scavenge what was left of his forgotten memory.
….there was a branch that held them aloft…..the sound of his hands clutching the dirt walls of the canyon cliff…..the painof yet another annoying Asuka rant….the soft warm sensationdriven by a kiss….
At that moment, Shinji gaspedas the sound of his words began to echo softly from the back of his mind and out of his lips.
"….I love you…"
Shinji grimaced from the sound of his words. He couldn't believe that he told Asuka, the object of his undying affection, the way he truly felt about her in those three simple yet meaningful words. Did he really have the courage to do such a thing? Did Shinji, the submissive boy who grew to be an assertive (yet slightly submissive) man, really confess something so deep and meaningful willingly?
…..Of course not. He was probably too weary to even care what he was saying at the time. Plus, Asuka must have fell asleep when he told her. In other words, that part of the conversation never happened between them.
'She must've not heard me. Yet still…..would I prefer it if she did?'
Shinji grabbed onto Asuka's shoulders gently and lifted her off his chest. He shifted away from the tree and placed Asuka back against the side of it. She shuffled slightly in her sleep, but she still remained in slumber land.
Shinji stood up and stretched. He felt rested enough for another day, regardless of what happened last night. Today, they would attempt to find out more about their enemy through Rei; the one and only objective for the time being.
The problem was, Shinji had no idea where the hell they were at still. All he could guess was that they were still somewhere deep in the forest, far from the camp and the Evangelion (not to mention the phone. meaning that contact with Rei was out of reach.). So he really had no idea of where to go from here. Probably just wait, and hope that Toji would find out about the Eva's little secret.
But in the meantime, Shinji desperately needed to bathe. Or wash his face in the very least. He could hearthe sound of a creek coming from the right of him; and it didn't sound too far away.
Shinji looked back at Asuka, making sure that she has not woken up after Shinji stirred himself off the ground. She was still sound asleep, content with the warm jacket over her body. Shinji really hated to leave her alone here, but he really needed to clean up.
'Who knows how long we'll be able to go back to civilization…' With that logic in mind, Shinji forced himself to move from the spot and headed towards the sound of the crystalline creek. But the minute Shinji had disappeared behind the bushes, someone else was beginning to come to as well…
"umm…..Shinji?"
Asuka opened her eyes and looked to make sure that Shinji was out of sight. He was gone; the truth of matter being that she saw everything that Shinji did. She was awake ever since Shinji had woken up.
Asuka rested her back against the side of the tree and looked up at the sky through the orange autumn leaves.
" He said he….loved me…." Asuka's mind began to wander with confusion and disbelief." Why? Why does he love me? What have I done to make him happy.?"
It was true that Asuka was completely outdone by Shinji when it came to happiness. He would always do things to her that would make him happy, like cleaning, cooking; heck, his very presence just made her happy…
Is that all it took to make him happy? Just her being there for him?
If that is what love was, then Asuka must've found it at long last. The love she had been craving for the years since her mother had died.
Love is support and understanding, with just a pinch of passion in-between.
Asuka smiled a little and tilted her head to side. She didn't Shinji to see her blushing if he should ever come back any second.
'he said that he loves…me…'
Asuka knew what she had to do know; for the while when she thought that there was no way it could work out between them, it was the polar opposite that was true. Just being there for each other was enough to make the both of them content with their lives.
And if that really was true, then they would be the perfect match for each other.
Asuka lifted herself off the ground and put the jacket over her body. It was still pretty cold out, but now they could at least bear the temperatures a little bit better.
…Shinji was probably freezing right now….
Asuka zipped up the blue jacket and started walking the down the apparent path that Shinji took.
Shinji couldn't believe how good the water felt, even in this temperature. He was right when he said that it was crystal clear, but he had never expected it to be this clean. And sure enough, the water washed away all the mud anddebris that came onto his face (the dirt from the canyon walls being the hardest to get off, seeing as it solidifiedalmost instantly).
Now that he was a little cleaner (and feeling good about it), Shinji took the end of his white shirt and wiped away the evaporating water from his face. Maybe he should tell Asuka about this creek; she must dead tired of being so filthy…
"There you are Baka!"
Shinji turned around abruptly and spotted Asuka standing underneath one of the trees. She was wide-awake and smiling at him.
"I was wondering where you went to. Why'd you leave me all alone?!"
Shinjikept his guard upto avoid Asuka's latest rant, but remained cool nonetheless.
"Sorry Asuka, I just had to wash my face that's all."
"What do you mean that's all? you left alone in that cold dark forest so that you can wash your dirty face!"
" Aren't you kind of exaggerating?" Shinji sighed with exasperation," it is the middle of the day after all…"
Asuka walked over to Shinji with her hands promptly placed on her hips, "I don't think so baka. you know that its not nice to leave a lady all by herself."
"well then if you see a lady, tell me…." Shinji whispered.
"What was that?" Asuka asked suspiciously.
"Oh, nothing! Just mumbling how sorry I am…." Shinji was quick to recover, though that probably wouldn't fool her.
Asuka simply shook her head and smiled back at him," You never did change that much did you Shinji? I asked you to stop apologizing all the time, and yet you're still at it."
"Likewise for you Asuka," Shinji retorted.
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Asuka asked curiously.
"Well, you're still nagging at me all the time," Shinji rubbed the back of neck," and you still call me baka. Seems you haven't changed that much either."
Asuka was a little irritated," Hey! I only call you baka because it's….a pet name! You don't seeme calling anyone else that…"
"…..I'm a pet?" Shinji replied stupidly.
Asuka's eyes just stared at Shinji in bewilderment," I don't mean literally Baka! You usually give someone a pet name when you really care about that person!"
Asuka just realized what she just said and immediately gasped. Her face glowed bright red.
Shinji's face also grew very red as all sorts of thoughts entered his mind.
They both just kind of fell silent for a moment; the only sounds they could herewas the soft rumble of the creek. Thetwo of themjust stared at one another intently, there eyes widening as they did so.
"….Asuka…."
Asuka recoiled from the sound of her name being called," yes Shinji?"
"…..does that mean that….you cared for me this whole time; even before third impact?"
Asuka knew what the answer was. She had been calling Shinji baka for a long long time, and her feelings for him really did began a short while after they moved in with Misato. She couldn't let him know her feelings though, because of her pride as a pilot. As a result, here caring for Shinji was sealed away forever into the depths of soul…
But after six long years, those emotions finally broke free, and it was all thanks to Shinji.
Asuka took a deep breath," yes baka, I do care for you. Ever since that day we spent training together, I have grown to liking you…."
Shinji gasped a little as his eyes grew brightly back at Asuka.
Asuka continued speaking," the problem was that I never could tell you…because of my career. I always thougt that being an Eva pilot came first in life, but I was horribly wrong. As a consequence, I eventually stopped feeling that love for you; since that feeling was gone, I assumed that meant I…hated you. Hated you because you were a better pilot than me…"
Shinji was still in surprise from her confession. Never, in a million years, did he expect Asuka to love him for so long. He knew that something happened between them on that night when he followed her to Tokyo-2; but he never expected to find out that those feelings had already been developed long ago.
She loved him before he knew it.
"You see Shinji? Ever since you came back, I didn't feel so threatened anymore; my pride no longer controls me. My deadly sin….is gone. Ever since you came back, things have been better."
Asuka took a couple of steps towards Shinji and opened her arms for yet another embrace.
"Thank you Shinji."
Shinji willingly accepted the embrace and held Auska tightly. Words could not expressthe joy that he was feeling right now.
'is this…..real?'
It was real all right, he could feel it in his heart. Shinji had been dreaming of this day for the past seven years, and now…it was finally here. The day that Shinji and Asuka were finally a team.
"It must be the end of the world," Shinji whispered quietly into her ear.
Asuka giggled slightly," why do you say that?'
"Because I never expected us to be this close, ever," Shinji replied quietly.
"….What other proof do you need? We kissed 3 times for the love of God!" Asuka teased.
Shinji loosened his grip a bit and retorted," hey, one of those times doesn't really count ok? I didn't even get a chance to enjoy it."
Asuka knew he was referring to their infamous 'choking kiss'., and it was obvious that Shinji didn't enjoy a single moment of that kiss.
It was time for a little repentance.
" Well then Shinji, let's really make it three."
Asuka went in for the kill as her head tilted towards Shinji. Shinji awkwardly repeated Asuka and moved his face towards heras well. Within the last few seconds, there faces were merely fractions of a millimeter away from each other, on the verge of touching.
Then the rumble came.
It was a sudden tremor that could be felt from miles away. The birds in the trees and on the ground flew off in distress. Shinji immediately moved his head away from Asuka and looked around in the sky urgently.
"What the hell was that?!" Asuka yelled.
Shinji simply looked all around and waited for the expected. He really did know what to expect, after all.
"About time."
Before they knew what them, a giant, purple figure crashed landed onto the ground just a few hundred feet away. They could feel the impactvibrate all the way up to their skulls. The purple blur then rose out of the splintered trees, revealing the form of Evangelion unit 01.
Shinji and Asuka sighed in relief to discover that they had finally been rescued. Then the Eva's soft, voluptuous voice rang out.
"Here there are Suzahara."
The Evangelion stretched out its hand and offered the two lost passengers a lift upward.
"Hey guys! You wandered out pretty far last night; took me a while to finally find you!" Toji sounded slightly irritated by the whole thing, but he also seemed excited to be piloting the Evangelion for a change (it took some time though. he had passed out for a whole 30 minutes after all, and wasn't keen about piloting at first.)
"Hey Toj-" Shinji stopped in mid-sentence as Asuka took a couple of steps toward the Eva.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, YOU MORON?!" Asuka shouted at full voice.
Toji was expecting a little gratitude for rescuing them, but he should have known better with Asuka. "HEY! I DIDN'T SEE YOU RUNNING AROUND AND LOOKING FOR US!" He shouted back in retort.
"Suzahara, they had no choice. If they moved and looked for us, they would undoubtedly encounter trouble. It was best that they stayed put." The Eva replied in a nonchalant manner.
Inside the plug, Toji just crossed his arms and spoke quietly, "oh, so you're going to take the Red Devil's side then…"
All became quiet then. Asuka twitched a little from that name, but she didn't speak a single word. Instead, she reached over for Shinji's hand and grabbed onto it. To Shinji, it felt like his hand was strapped in a vice and held there tightly
"Lets go Shinji…"Asuka whispered as she pulled Shinji towards the Eva's extended hand.
"O-okay…..ow…" Shinji cringed in pain as Asuka's vice grip hand relentlessly refused to let go. Nonetheless, he willingly followed Asuka to the giant metallic hand and the two of them stepped aboard it. The hand elevated into the air and stopped just a foot over the entryway for the plug. The plug itself ejected slightly, revealing the steaming hot doorway that lead to the cockpit.
The door cranked opened, as gallons upon gallons of LCL poured out. The contents of the plug dripped down the unit and onto the ground below. Toji peeped his head out (careful to avoid Asuka)of the doorway, seeing as the plug had finally emptied itself.
He grinned smugly at Unit 01's true pilot, "It's your turn now Shinji."
Shinji smiled slightly, though his hand was still in pain from Asuka's grip. She immediately let go though as she darted towards Toji and gave him a quick punch across the face. Toji was unable to react to her super quick punch, and flew backwards into the pod.
"Never…call me Red Devil…ever again.." Asuka clutched onto her fist and began breathing heavily.
Toji just looked at Asuka with horror and gulped,"y-y-eah….okay…."
Shinji came up from behind Asuka carefully and grabbed onto her shoulders, "Asuka, please relax.," He spoke with mild hesitance.
Asuka slowed her breathing down and relaxed her body slightly.
Shinji smiled, "thank you Asuka. I'm sure he didn't mean it…" The two of them entered the pod, and Shinji took his place at the pilot's chair. Asuka sat behind him, but often gave some foreboding glares to Toji hiding in the corner.
The doors shut as the plug was once again placed inside of the Evangelion. The whole pod filled with the familiar orange liquid, and Shinji took his position at the controls. Thewholecompartmentwas cramped once again with all three pilots.
Shinji pressed a few buttons and steadily held onto the controls, "all right. So what do we do n-"
"Ikari, you have an incoming message."
Shinji stopped all of the sudden and looked at the holo-screen. His face was a mixture of both utter joy and slight fear.
"M-Misato…"
"Did we get through? We did! Shinji! Hi!" Misato shouted gleefully. She was happy to finally see her adopted son once again.
Shinji smiled back at the screen," Hi Misato! This is a surprise…."
"Yes, but don't worry Shinji. My calling you here is purely for peace. I mean no harm." Misato said urgently in hopes of not scaring him off.
Asuka pushed Shinji aside and appeared on the holo-screen down in central Dogma. "Of course you do! Why would you try to kill off your own children?"
Misato smiled brightly again," Asuka! My god….I thought I would never see you again…" Her began to swell with tears.
"Get a grip on yourself Misato! It's good to see you too." Asuka stated as Shinji shoved his way back onto the screen.
"Toji's here too Misato, but he's a little paranoid of Asuka right now…."
Misato took a deep breath and sighed," I understand. Give him my regards though."
Shinji nodded, "yeah, I will." Asuka once again shoved her way onto the screen.
"So what is it that you want Misato?" Asuka asked; almost in an eager tone.
"Let me tell Shinji, Asuka. This concerns him too."
Asuka pouted and moved aside for Shinji to sit," Ok Misato, what is it?" He asked with concern.
"Listen Shinji,…..this may be hard for you to believe…..but I want you to come back to NERV headquarters."
Shinji could hardly believe his ears. Was she really asking him to come back? He just sat there silently, listening intently to her story.
"Shinji, you know as well as I do that there some force out there that is causing all this trouble. This force got into Geffen and General Tsubake, causing them to do these horrible things." Misato explained carefully.
"………."
"It is all a long, complicated story Shinji. But all you really need to know is that our enemy is not what it appears to be. Geffen and Tsubake were not the ones we were after. We were after the entity that got inside of them. That entity is….an angel. An angel that we never killed completely.
Shinji's grew wide, "…..th-there's still an angel?" A great anxiety filled Shinji quickly, but was abruptly interrupted as Asuka pushed his head down, putting herself on the screen once again.
"MEIN GOTT! Are you serious?!" Asuka was just as surprised as Shinji was, "but how?! How is that possible?!"
Misato shrugged her shoulders," this angel was different from the others we thought. This angel was built completely from nano technology, making it invisible to the naked eye."
Asuka had an idea of Misato was talking about, "You mean the angel that infected the Magi? I thought that Ritsuko destroyed it!"
Misato nodded in agreement," So did I. But apparently, the angel had the ability to disguise himself as ordinary computer data. Completely undetectable by our technology. It has stayed inside of oursystem for years, dormant and unrecognizable. That is, until we dismantled NERV. The results lead to the angel's inevitable escape….and the rest is pretty much history."
Asuka kept her hand pushed down on Shinji's head as a dozen questions filled her head," Then what is it after? Third Impact has already happened, what could it possibly want with us?"("Afuka, I cant Breaf….." Shinji managed to muffle.)
Misato rubbed the side of her temple," I know that you have a lot of questions Asuka, but I'm afraid that I can't answer them all right now."
Asuka nodded," So you wants to go there then? Back to NERV?" (Shinji's arms began flailing in the air. "….need….air…Afuka….")
Misato smiled and bowed her head," yes Asuka, I would. Don't worry; no charges will be brought to Shinji. He managed to escape with our line of defense. I have a feeling that he knew something bad was going to happen, and that's why he took the Eva. He feared that we wouldn't believe him, and he's probably correct. We wouln't have believed him easily. Isn't that right Shinji?"
"……."
Misato eyes proceeded up the screen and widened in bewilderment. "ASUKA! LET GO OF SHINJI!"
"hmm?" Asuka scanned her arm and found that she was pushing Shinji's head down into the chair cushion. She was literally suffocating him.
"Ahh! Sorry Shinji!' Asuka immediately withdrew her hand and propped Shinji in a upward position. He gasped for air and began taking deep breaths.
"…It's…ok…Asuka…."
Misato sighed with a mix of relief and exasperation. " Okay….now that I got attention from both of you, do you understand what I'm asking?"
Shinji nodded in agreement, "all right Misato. We'll come back. But promise…..and I mean really PROMISE ME…that you will not do anything to harm us. I know that you would never intend to hurt us Misato, but I'm a bit concerned with the NERV council….."
Misato waved her hand at Shinji and smiled," oh, don't worry about them! They can't really do anything to stop you anyway. Heh…..in fact, they are almost scared to death of you."
Shinji rubbed the back of his neck and replied shyly," oh well….I really didn't mean to scare them…"
Asuka scoffed, "well you shouldn't be surprised Baka. You did do some pretty amazing things with this Eva after all…."
Shinji blushed and laughed weakly, "y-yeah…I suppose I did….."
Misato was a little surprised, "Wow Asuka, you certainly changed. Usually you would insult him and tell him how worthless he is…"
"…….she still insults me….." Shinji teased.
"Watch it baka…" Asuka said in a semi-dangerous tone.
Shinji backed away a little from Asuka and laughed weakly.
"Well I'm glad to see that you two are finally getting along," Misato smiled, "So when can we expect you to arrive?"
"We'll leave right away Misato. We should be there in no time at all!" Shinji remarked brightly.
"All right, then I'll preparations made immediately. So until then….I'll see you two later!" Misato waved her hand in farewell.
"Thank you Misato. We'll see you there." Shinji nodded in farewell, and Asuka waved back. Then the whole screen went blank as the communication line went dead.
Misato sat in the chair and leaned back against it. She smiled and stared at the ceiling, "it's finally over. They're coming home."
Shinji laid back against the chair as the screen went blank. He looked over at Asuka and smiled. "It's finally over Asuka. We're going home…."
Asuka looked ecstatically at Shinji and nodded in agreement. She grabbed Shinji by the collar and pulled him into a tight embrace. Shinji could swear that she was crying; crying tears of joy and happiness. Shinji really couldn't blame her either because this chase finally came to an end. And most of all, the end of thispursuit resulted in peace. That was the important part.
"At last, Commander Katsuragi realizes our situation," Rei stated. She almost sounded relieved as well. "Ikari, it is safe to return now. We can go home."
Shinji nodded and pulled away from Asuka. He buckled his restraints along the chair and took hold of the controls as Asuka took her place behind the chair.
Then Shinji just realized something, "crap! Asuka, how's Toji?'
Asuka turned around and spotted the familiar dark haired boy. He was still in somewhat of a dazed state of mind; one that Asuka and Shinji didn't understand.
"Wow Asuka, you really must of hurt him this time. He's afraid to even speak." Shinji looked at Toji with worry, "Toji, are you all right?"
Toji's dazed look faded as a small smile crept along his face. He turned towards Shinji and revealed a face that couldn't be any happier.
"Are we….really going home Shinji?"
Shinji nodded with relief, "Yes Toji. We are."
Toji leaned his head against the side of the plug and closed his eyes.
"Thank God for that…Thank God….."
Shinji grasped the controls and launched the Eva into the chair, landing about a half a mile away from its initial spot.
"Ok Shinji, Let's do it! Take us home." Asuka said to him encouragingly.
Shinji nodded in confirmation
Their next destination was realized. Their next stop really was….home….
End of Chapter 12
This chapter.....I dont know....its seems kind of awkward. And maybe a little too straight foward....
oh well, better luck next time I suppose. Anyway, I will be honest in saying that the next chappie won't be up for a few weeks. Finals are approaching fast, and I have already recieved a few projects to worry about.But by the time Christmas vacation comes around, I'll be sure to post again. Who knows? maybe I'll get more than onechapter done over break (I should..).
Sorry if there is any inconvience. My hand is being forced. Besides that, I would (like always) appreciate reviews. Please keep it up!
Well, that is all I have to say. Goodbye, and see you all next chapter!