Chapter 6: Some Kind of Stranger: Reprise

It was 4am in the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo III, a cold breeze swept through the city as the birds were starting to chirp, their song was a relaxing one, bringing feelings of peace to the urban jungle.

A small stone bounced off of the surface of a small forgotten pond, the pond sat in the middle of a derelict park, its benches were all overgrown and falling apart, its trashcans and lamp posts were devoured by the brown infection of rust.
It was a place of true solitude, it's all-consuming silence broken only by a car driving through in the distance, but every time it was broken it always came back, always stronger and more devouring than before.

On one of the park's many destroyed benches sat a nineteen year old man, looking up into the fading stars and moon, it was Shinji Ikari, the man who once fought tooth and nail to protect this city. He gave his all, no matter how dragged down by his weakness he tried his best. Yes, he was weak, not just weak in the sense that all humans are, imperfect and volatile, it was a different, rarer kind of weakness. But despite it all fate seemed to be hellbent on keeping him alive, keeping him in his weak and meaningless existence.

He had some hope left in him, he knew he had a chance to repair his life, and to maybe find a meaning, to become a new man, no longer the ex-pilot, son of a convicted enemy of humanity, husk of a young man, but maybe an average youth with a future. His fate was dangling on a hair, it was all dependent on what one person did, a person that used to be his entire world, now just an object of desire which birthed nothing but self hate, he still loved her, wanted her, needed her, but despite that he feared her like nothing else, he feared her because she ultimately held power over his immediate future.

He made the choice he thought was right, he made the choice to stop running away and confront her finally, it would be just a normal confrontation between two people, but a symbolic confrontation between man and fate, man and cowardice.
The problem is, that once you make a choice you have to stick to it, and he was getting cold feet.

But after a long day of riding trains and walking through the vast city, he decided that he doesn't want to spend this night like his last; on a bench in an overgrown park.
And so he lousily got up on his feet, he stretched, and with a sigh he began a long walk home. As the cold evening hit him shivers started covering the entirety of his skin, once again he was suffering the consequences of not grabbing something warm when running away, but how could have he predicted something like this while he was too busy running for his damn life.

But coldness be damned, he will do what he has to, he will right his wrongs, and he will get the finality he needs.
And so he walked, step by step closer to his ending.
Despite being completely devoid of any internal dialogue or monologue, he couldn't help but be filled with anxiety caused by the events that are to transpire.

He had a small glimmer of hope that this will end just like any other boring romance story, but the absurdity of what happened in the recent past subtly suggested that this might not be the case.
These thoughts occupied his brain as he continued his march towards his fate.

Shinji was lost in his surroundings, barely noticing the occasional passerby, he was completely lost in his thoughts. Naturally he didn't hear the aggravated footsteps that came from around a corner, and when the source of these footsteps rounded the corner and bumped into him, he couldn't have been more shocked, not just at being bumped into, but also at who he bumped into.

His heart sank, all of the confidence and resolve he had built up was now gone.

He was completely frozen, every single atom of his body unable to move, his muscles stopped responding to commands, his consciousness was trapped inside of his petrified body.
Minutes felt like decades as he stood looking straight into her blue eyes. Luckily for Shinji Ikari, the one who stood before him seemed to be in the same situation, completely petrified.

He began to tremble, his cowardice trying to take over again, trying to make him run from her again, but he wasn't going to let it.
He was going to right his wrongs, the best to his abilities that is. His lips trembled, as his mouth let out a malformed undeveloped sound, which was quickly followed up by him saying her name in a scared, cowardly voice.

"Asuka"

He received no reply, at least not a verbal one. What he saw gave him a very slight boost of confidence, he wasn't the only trembling, she was in the same state as him. She was nothing like she used to be, nothing like the arrogant, energetic and confident girl she used to be.

He was getting flashes of his memories, memories of all the times where he failed to approach her. All the times when he completely and utterly failed at being honest with both her and himself.
Not this time, he wasn't going to repeat the mistakes of the past. He gathered all the courage he could find and piece together from the fragments that laid gathering dust somewhere deep inside of his soul.

Suddenly he noticed what she was wearing, his old jacket from their JSSDF days. It was a bit too large for her, but it made him feel some warmth inside, did she care enough about him to wear his jacket? Certainly seemed so, and more importantly he found her cute in it.

Finally after the long silence she uttered a word.

"Shinji?"

Before he had the chance to reply she continued speaking.

"I-I was looking for you"

To which he hastily replied

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have ran out like that! I'm sorry I was just scared! I-"

She interrupted by suddenly taking him into her warm embrace. He felt like he was in heaven, he felt the same safety, comfort, and peace he used to feel in the EVA.

"Please never run away like that, never ever do that again" She said quietly while hugging him

After some silence spent in each other's embraces Shinji spoke.

"Asuka, I need to tell you something…"

She was silent, clearly just listening, so after a pause he continued.

"I love you Asuka"

She immediately tightened her grip around him

"I love you too idiot"

End?