Cold air filled the streets of Tokyo-3. Ten years had passed since the catastrophic Third Impact had occurred. Leaving behind two broken teens in a world where Humanity ceased to exist. Looking back on it, Shinji could not believe that a decade had gone by since that terrible day. For four years, they struggled to survive in that shattered world. In those dark days, however, it was his friends and family who helped him. Misato Katsuragi, the woman who took him in, offering him the motherly affection and bond he lacked. Kensuke Aida and Touji Suzuhara, his two best friends, allowing him to keep his head up high. Finally, how could he forget her? Asuka Langley Soryu. For three years they have been together. In the beginning, their relationship was complicated. The amount of personal trauma from before and after the Third impact proved to be a large obstacle. The two of them were now married and were as happy as can be.

"Idiot, you're starting to creep me out."

Shinji snapped back to reality with a small grin.

"Sorry, it's been too long since we've set foot here again. I… I just felt nostalgic." he said to Asuka.

Asuka looked at him for a moment and softly smiled; she took his hand and began to look around the city she lived in during the Angel war. Though there were a few exceptions, most of her memories were fond.

"Yeah, I know, it really has been a while," She looked at him and said. "let's save the reminiscing for later. Right now, we have some people waiting for us... oh, and a penguin."

They both laughed. It had been a while since they had seen Pen-Pen as well.

"Hey, Shinji, why not go hunting for some gifts for everyone while we're here?" she asked, eyeing a clothing store to her left. Shinji grumbled out a response. Asuka turned her head to look at Shinji with a pout and said.

"What? You don't want to spend time with me? Your beautiful and intelligent wife? Jeez, honey, quit being so uptight all the time, enjoy yourself for at least a little bit." she said, shaking her head.

Shinji chuckled. "I know, I know. You tell me that every day. Besides, I never said your company wasn't enjoyable. I love you a lot Asuka… and I can't imagine a world without you," his voice turned somber. The memories of the Eva series circling around the Geo-front like vultures while carrying disemboweled pieces of Unit-02.

Asuka was blushing a bit till she noticed his solemn voice. It was no surprise to her. She recalled the many days they spent in therapy together. How hard it was to open up about what she had seen, both before and after her death.

She raised her hand and caressed his cheek, much like she did at the beach those many years ago; she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"I know Shinji. God knows how much I mean to you. I love you too, but you have to stop thinking like that. It's been 10 years. We went through all of that already." she said.

Shinji remained silent and kissed her. They stayed like that for a while till they heard giggles from behind them. They separated and looked for the source of the laughter. Smiles grew on their faces as they saw two children run to their parents, still giggling.

"Alright, enough of this. Let's just go inside and get this over with." Asuka said, dragging Shinji by his hand. He groveled at the likely amount of time they were going to spend inside.

As he predicted, they had to spend what felt like an eternity in the store because his dear fiance had a difficult time deciding whether to buy Hikari the green dress she saw or the yellow jacket. In the end, she got the yellow jacket for Hikari and a pair of high heels for Misato. For Touji and Kensuke, Shinji bought some sports clothes and a new camera.

XX

A thought crossed Shinji's mind while they exited the store. He had been so caught up with both the new year's celebration they were having and the gifts for everyone, that he had forgotten about getting something for Asuka. Usually, there was no problem with gifts for her. But now that they were married, he felt it was imperative to give her something that showed how much she meant to him.

Unbeknownst to him, Asuka was having a similar problem. Unlike Shinji, however, this gift wasn't something one could just buy in a store or some catalog. No, this was something that could come from two people who loved each other very much. She hesitated to tell Shinji. It felt terrible to keep such a secret for so long… but she wanted to tell him on New Year's. She could not deny how nervous she was about telling him. Only time would tell as to how he would react to the gift.

They arrived at Misato's apartment shortly after. Shinji rang the door buzzer, anxiously awaiting their former caregiver.

"Coming!" said Misato from inside. Judging by her tone, she might have been expecting some people. Depending on who they were, it would certainly have made it easier for them to deliver their gifts to everyone.

While waiting for the door to open, Shinji remembered something.

"Hey Asuka, you did tell her we were coming, right?" he asked.

"I thought you were going to tell her," she replied, looking at him with wide eyes.

Before Shinji could say anything, the door opened, and out came their former guardian. She hadn't changed much, except her hair was shorter and touched her shoulders, and her face was free of wrinkles. She was wearing her typical attire, some jean shorts and a yellow

They stared at each other for a moment with wide eyes until Misato screamed their names.

"SHINJI! ASUKA!" as she jumped and hugged the pair while kissing both their cheeks… multiple times. It started to irritate the redhead.

"MISATO, WHILE I ALSO MISSED YOU VERY MUCH. BUT CAN YOU KINDLY STOP? YOU'RE KISSING MY HUSBAND, WOMAN!" yelled Asuka, beet red from the hug.

Misato backed down with a nervous chuckle but soon stared at them again with wide eyes from what she heard from Asuka's mouth.

"Wait… your… husband?" said Misato while pointing at Shinji, trying to catch his breath.

Asuka grinned and nodded. She hadn't said anything to anyone. Save for her parents. Misato appeared unconvinced and turned to Shinji for confirmation. He gave a little nod, his cheeks turning red in color.

After a long silence, a smile grew on Misato's face while she hugged the two of them. No one noticed the tears on each other eyes… until she started to tear up.

"You... you two were gone fo-for so long," Misato said, in between sniffles, "and you come back and tell me t-this," she said, chuckling slightly.

Shinji and Asuka tightened their hold on her. They remained like that for a moment before someone walked over to the door.

It was Makoto Hyûga, ex-Lieutenant and technician of NERV and now fiancé of Misato for 2 years.

"Is everything alright, Misato-" his words died on his mouth when he saw who was holding her.

"Hey, Mr. Hyûga," said Shinji.

Makoto looked shocked briefly before collecting himself. He shook his hand, having long let go of Misato.

"W-well, this is a surprise. Man, it's been a while since we last saw you two. How's Germany been?" asked Makoto.

"It's been alright. Had some problems getting the language down. But thanks to Asuka and some instructors, I can hold a complete conversation" Said Shinji while shaking his hand.

"Hey, Shinji, wird deine Frau hier nicht vorstellen?" chimed in Asuka, speaking in her mother's tongue.

Shinji turned his head. "Entschuldigung liebes," Asuka smiled. Shinji wouldn't often say Dear or Honey in public, in one day no less.

Makoto raised his eyebrow, not knowing the language in the slightest.

"Sorry, Hûga, I wanted to introduce you to my wife Asu-"

"YOUR WIFE?!" asked Makoto. Shinji and Asuka winced at the volume of his voice. "I-I mean, I knew you two had a thing for each other. That much was obvious. Bu-bu-but married?!" He said, a smile growing on his face.

The four of them shared a laugh with each other for a moment.

"While I am happy about the reunion. Let's get inside, it's chilly out. I'm sure the rest we'll be as surprised as we were about the... news." said Misato, going back inside.

Soon after, everyone arrived. Each of them shared hugs and handshakes. An eruption of cheers occurred upon everyone hearing the news. Of course, Touji and Kensuke made their usual jokes about how Shinji taming the "Red Devil" and marrying her.

Some drinks and catching up later they all started to exchange presents with each other. A collective feeling of disappointment fell upon everyone as they did not have gifts for Asuka and Shinji. The two brushed it off. It was their fault for not telling them they were coming. After the gift exchanging concluded, the group returned to visiting each other. It mostly them recollecting the fun times they had.

While no one was looking, Asuka quietly led Hikari to the balcony. Shinji noticed but didn't think much about it. Long before they were married, they agreed on not keeping secrets from one another.

XX

Meanwhile, on the Balcony...

"Hey… can you keep a secret, just between us?" asked Asuka.

Hikari raised her eyebrow. "Um... sure. I don't see why not,"

"Okay, there's something I want to give to Shinji. But I don't know how to go about telling him. I'm scared of how he'll react." she said, looking down at the floor.

Hikari became confused. What kind of gift was this? "Asuka, I'm not sure if I can help unless I know what the gift is. I can't imagine Shinji leaving over a gift. Besides, this is the happiest I've seen him in years." she said, holding Asuka's hand to comfort her.

Asuka debated whether she should just give up and say it was a scarf that she made or something. However, the way Hikari held her hand convinced her enough to just say what it was.

"I'm... I'm three weeks pregnant," she said.

Hikari stood, stunned at what she heard. For a moment, they stayed silent. Before Hikari began to giggle hysterically. Asuka frowned.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just… you're pregnant, with Shinji's child no less. I remember when I found out I was pregnant with Touji's." she said, with a subtle smile and dreamy eyes.

"Wait… you and the stooge had a baby?!" asked Asuka

Hikari nodded. "Yeah, not that long ago. A year or two, maybe," she said. "It wasn't easy at first. I'll tell you that much. It caught us off guard at the beginning. But thankfully, Touji took responsibility and decided to work double shifts to support the baby and me,"

Hikari began to elaborate on the struggles she and Touji had during the pregnancy. Luckily, Misato soon caught wind of this news and helped the two of them. It acting as an apology after what had happened with Unit-03's activation test.

"Don't be afraid. He's not going to leave you. Knowing Shinji, he'll probably just stutter like crazy and start crying tears of joy,"

"Thanks, Hikari," said Asuka, giving her friend a hug. "I'm glad I became friends with you, especially at a time like this,"

XX

Hikari and Asuka rejoined the others. When Shinji asked what had happened, she told him to not worry and that she would talk about it after the countdown was over. Everyone had gathered around the living room, observing the TV while counting down.

"3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!" everyone yelled in unison.

After sharing some hugs and kisses with each other. Asuka dragged Shinji to the balcony for his gift.

"Hey, Asuka, before you give me your gift. I want to say I'm sorry," he said, looking down.

Asuka became anxious. What prompted Shinji to apologize out of nowhere.

"For what?"

"I… I'm sorry I didn't manage to get you a gift for the new year," he said." I-I just got so caught up in buying gifts for everyone one else and..."

Asuka sighed, realizing that she panicked over nothing. She began to kick herself for even thinking that Shinji would leave her or had cheated on her.

"There's no need to apologies for something like that, you are enough for me… besides… you've already given me a gift..." she said with a smile.

Shinji raised his head and gave her a puzzled look. Seeing that Shinji was confused, she closed the gap between them. "Now, you better not try to run away from me, Ikari, for I will hunt you down to the very ends of the earth, understood?"

Shinji nodded. 'How is she able to say something like that so sweet?'

Asuka stared deep into his eyes and took his hands and told him. "I'm pregnant… been for three weeks now. I didn't tell you because I was scared you were going to leave me... and I also thought this would be the perfect gift for New year's," she said, tears streaming down her cheek.

Shinji froze until he noticed Asuka was crying. He swept away a loose tear. "Asuka... are you saying that... I'm going to be a father?" he asked in a low voice.

Asuka nodded with a small. Shinji picked her up and swayed her around. "I'M GONNA BE A DAD! HAHA! I'M GONNA BE A DAD!" he shouted in glee. He put her down and kissed her. The balcony door swung opened.

"What's with all the shouting? We have neighbors, y'know? " Misato asked.

Shinji stopped kissing Asuka and looked at Misato with the biggest smile he ever had on his face. "A-Asuka's pregnant, I'm going to be a dad!" he said.

Misato screamed and threw herself onto Shinji and Asuka, hugging them tightly. She was joined by Hikari and Maya soon after. The rest began to congratulate them.

Shinji looked up at the Moon. It still had Lilith's bloodstain from decades ago. 'Thank you mother… thank you Rei. For everything...'

Unbeknownst to him, while he returned inside. The ghost of Rei Ayanami observed from high above, a grin on her face.

"No… thank you for everything, Ikari..."

THE END.

Author Note's:

Hello everyone I just wanted to say first of all a Happy New Year to all of you. This is the first time I've made a fanfic so my apologies if there is something I missed on my work or if I have forgotten something.

I wanted to give a big shout out to my beta reader and a dear friend Orcalalot who for those that are new is the creator of the fanfiction Dreams & Premonitions, another big shout out is for all my friends on discord who have been with me for a long time ever since I joined the NGE fanbase and were cheering for me and been there when I needed them the most.

Oh I almost forgot I am a beta tester for another NGE fanfic called Neon Genesis Evangelion: War by Hidranick and of course to the famous NGE writer here Glory-To-Our-August-King, please if you can go visit this guy's out they make great fics and are overall very nice people.

Um if you enjoyed this one shot or have any critics please don't mind writing in reviews what I should fix or should keep in mind in the future if I ever will continue making fanfictions.

That is all for now I wish you all and your families a Happy New Year and I guess we will meet another time, Goodbye!

Edit: If you got a notification about this fanfic being updated It's just me fixing some grammar mistake (Thank you very much to YourBlandestNightmare).

I also have a small announcment and some info about this one shot. The information first: this one shot was made in 2 days and in hurry so I could have had it ready, originally this was going to be posted on 30 January but I hadn't made a account here yet so I had to wait 12 hours before posting.

Now for the announcment. when I read your reviews (thank you all for the kind reviews) I stumble in one saying they wouldn't mind a series based on this one shot. So after talking with my friends on Discord and the writer of Dreams & Premonitions, I have decided this one shot will have a series based on they're life after this party, the problem they may stumble on they're days etc etc.

Another think I wanted to do was help some new readers/ asushin fans with fanfics they may enjoy. This is my recommendation:

Future Freaks Me Out by hidinginplainsight

NGE:Genocide by rommel

and The second try by JimmyWolk.

That is all for now and the sequel to this one shot will start being worked tomorrow everyone have a nice day.