A/N: Splint has been updated as an extended version. This is just a notification of this happening. However, I did compose a small afterward. In the future I'll use futher chapters to explore alternative endings to this fic... I desire at least one of them where Shinji concludes with Asuka without instrumentality.
After
The sun's embers were coloring the sky a hazy purple in the late evening. This was the light that bled into the apartment when Shinji and Asuka finally came home, after the longest day in a while.
They had said little on the way home until they passed through the front door. Shinji announced to the apartment, "We're home!" It wasn't a surprise that there was no answer. Silence as a response had been the norm now for weeks. Shinji had expected it, and now he wasn't even disappointed.
Because standing beside him was The Girl. Her presence was warm now, like a radiator lamp, and he was aware of her every step and swing of her arms as she kept pace with him. Somehow, she knew he was this keen about him too.
They stopped just inside the kitchen. He had halted in the door frame, she had taken a few steps to stand beside the Kitchen table in That One Spot. Shinji saw her silhouette painted in purple.
"Turn on the light." She said.
Shinji reached out and did so. Under that lighting he could look at her face properly, and she him. For a time both of them just stared at one another, now that they were back in this familiar place. Each of them was going over in their minds what they recalled back there, in The Event. Both were not sure of what to say.
This time it was Shinji to speak. "I… back there… I…"
"Yes?" Asuka asked. Her tone, for once, was free from condescending malice.
Shinji blinked and shook his head a little as his fists closed up, trying to recover his nerve. "I… I hated seeing you hurt as much as you were. I… I wanted to help you. I'm… I'm sorry if I crossed a line."
"Do I look upset, Shinji?" Asuka asked him, her arms coming to her hips.
"No… but…" He shook his head, "I… I don't know."
"Shinji look at me." She said. He did. She continued, "Just tell me one thing."
"Yes?"
"Did you mean what you said in there? Near the end?" She asked.
He stared into her eyes. "Yes. Did… did you?"
"I did." She answered.
Shinji blinked, looked at the table to consider his words, then looked at her. "Yes."
She straightened. "Yes what, Shinji?"
Somehow through her tone, he remembered her statement on apologies. He closed his fists again, his heart rate accelerating. "Yes. I… I give you all of me."
Asuka stared back at him. "Do you promise?" She asked, stepping forward to him. Her move echoed the night of the kiss, until she was standing less than a meter from him.
"I do."
"Then…" She said, "Then I'll take you. And you'll have all of me."
Both of their hearts were racing as they stood in close proximity. Asuka leaned forward first, but Shinji leaned in to intercept her. She didn't hold his nose this time. Their contact lasted a lot longer than before, too.
ex. Fin.
