Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 86: New Level
A/N- This chapter was proof-read by Frost-Eva-04
A/A/N- 300 REVIEWS! YES! Finally broke the three hundred marker! Thanks to all of my readers!
A/A/A/N- Do I hear wedding bells?
Asuka's Room – Two Weeks Later – 5:00 a.m.
"Got any aces?" neither of us was able to sleep last night… so we were playing cards. What? We were bored! We had to leave in about an hour, and then the next time we would see each other would be under the alter, saying our vows. These last two weeks flew by, nothing really happened. The only excitement was sending out the invitations… yeah, lots of fun.
"We should get going, I want to get there early!" she gave me a dirty look.
"Just 'cause you were about to lose…" actually, I was, but that's not why I wanted to go.
"Yeah well, you know me!" with a sarcastic smile, she hands me the cards and I put them in the deck, "Asuka… we're about to get married…" she got up off the floor and met me at eye level.
"Really? I musta missed the memo! Geez, of course we are!" she put a hand on my shoulder, "You know what else?" she whispered in my ear, "Our honeymoon is tonight…" take a wild guess what that meant.
"I know…" we began to walk out of the room hand in hand. Ritsuko was taking us to the beach in her car, she insisted on it. Once again, we knock on her door in unison. The door swings open to show her with a smile ear-to-ear.
"There's my babies! You ready to go?" Wait babies? Did she just call us her babies?
"Yeah," just as I said that, she took our hands and drug us to her car, "Slow down! It's not for another hour!" she looked in the back seat with a smile.
"Like it matters! All the longer for you to get ready!" she speeds off to the beach. She drove faster then Asuka! I guess she was excited about this… "Hold on!" Asuka clenched my hand as she took a wide turn and sent her barreling into me, ending with her draped across my lap.
"Ritsuko! Slow down!" she looked back at me through the rear-view and winked. I help Asuka back up and she instantly puts her seat belt on.
"Okay! Now I see why you guys freak out!" Asuka clenched onto the arm rest and my hand hard. Who would have thought that Akagi would drive like this? She came to a screeching halt and dragged us out to the decorated beach. A few guys were still putting up decorations, putting the final touches on it. I didn't get too good of a view because Akagi took me to a separate tent and threw me inside.
"Okay, you can't see Asuka until you are ready to get married, so stay in here! You're suit is over there," with that, she took Asuka to her tent.
"Man, she's hyper today," I start to walk over to the suit.
"Tell me about it…" I nearly jump out of my skin as I turn and see Toji standing there, "Why wouldn't she be?" he actually looked… decent. For once he dressed up in a tux. He had his arms crossed as he leaned up against a pole.
"Don't do that!" he laughs his normal sarcastic laugh.
"So… you two are finally getting married. You know, I remember when you two hated each other. The three of us would always call her a demon, remember? Kensuke still thinks that, but he's a moron. You're one lucky guy Shinji," like I didn't know that.
"I know…" I pick up the uniform and look over it. It was all dark green with a gold trim that went from around the collar and down where a flap of fabric covered the buttons. A light green triangle stone decorated where the two sides of the collar met, making a perfect circle that would go around my neck. The long sleeves were met with gold trim around the wrist. The pants were the same color as the jacket, only with gold trim going down the sides of the leg. It all finished off with shiny black shoes
"So, why are you wearing that? Why not a tux?" he didn't know about my new position.
"Well… Gendo died so… I'm commander now…" he leaped over to me and met me with wide eyes.
"Are you serious! You're commander? Of NERV? No way!" maybe telling him was a mistake…
"Yeah… just forget about it… I'm going to get changed," I walk into the closet and walk out a few minutes later wearing the suit… I kinda liked it. It made me feel powerful, like I was actually in control for once.
"Now presenting, Commander Ikari! Soon to be married to Asuka Langley Souryu… or should I say Asuka Langley Ikari?" holy crap… hearing that name hit me like a train.
"No, you're not stressing me out, not at all." He smiles as he walks up to me.
"Not bad, I must admit. You look real professional," he picks a piece of lint off my shoulder. "Oh, I almost forgot, I took a look at the guest list… why didn't you guys invite Hikari?" what the hell was he talking about?
"Huh? I… don't get what you're asking…" he had a serious look on his face.
"Come on! You know, Hikari! About ye high, brown eyes, brown hair," was he joking?
"Toji… that's seriously not funny," he gives me another weird look, "You know damn well she's dead! Don't joke about that!" he steps back, "Don't act like you don't know!" he does know… right?
"What? Wait… Hikari's dead…" he literally falls back, "Please… tell me you're joking…" he was pale and had wide eyes. Akagi told me she sent someone to tell him about it, why didn't they? "I thought… she was in America…" I see tears start to form in his eyes, "why did they lie to me?"
"Toji… I'm sorry…" he buries his face in his hands and sobs.
"Don't tell me she's dead! Please… tell me you're lying!" I knew that they liked each other, but damn. They've been dating on and off for three years now, and I know that he liked her… apparently more then I thought, "I was going to ask her… I was going to ask her to marry me!" he was? Ah crap… I lean down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't touch me!" he pushes me away and runs off. I really should have seen that coming. Wedding checklist, minus one best man; just great! You know, I really should be more upset about this, but I was worried enough. I sit down on a fold-up chair and élan back my head.
"Damnit…" I reach over and take out the wedding ring from my jeans pocket, "At least I have this," I open the box and stare at the one-and-a-half karat diamond. This thing cost quite a pretty penny. It had fourteen-karat white gold that came up with a little fancy design that met with a diamond. On the inside was engraved 'Nothing Will Ever Change That'. All together, this cost me 500000 Yen, and basically emptied my bank account. It was more then worth it though, as long as she likes it. I sit there for ten minutes as I listen to people arrive and take their seat, I also heard Kensuke getting hit for walking in on Asuka.
"Hey Shinji…" I look over and see Ritsuko in a white dress, "How do you feel?" like shit.
"Fine… Toji ran off… for some reason the people told him Hikari was on vacation… so he freaked when I told him. So no best man... Beside that, great!" with a sigh she walks over to me.
"We don't need one… are you ready? We can start early, everyone is here," my heart sank into my stomach, "You should see Asuka, she's beautiful. Are you ready for this?" I stand up and straighten up my jacket.
"As ready as I'll ever be… is it normal to feel like vomiting right now?" she laughs and puts an arm around my shoulders.
"Yeah, that'll go away eventually. I'll go tell everyone that we'll start early. But first," she pulls out a glove, "Let's make you look pretty!" she took my hand and began to crack the fingers in place. It didn't hurt at all, it was just the sound of it that creeped me out, "Okay, done. Now let's just put this on," she slips the glove on, completely hiding it, "Now, I'll go start this thing!" before I could say anything, she walked out.
"Oh crap…" I seriously feel like I'm sick. I hear wedding music start to play; "Oh crap…" the tent whips open and Akagi was waving me over.
"Shinji! Get down there!" I start to walk down the aisle – alone by the way, which sucked – and feel the stare of everyone on my back. I hear a few of them question my uniform, but I just ignore it. When I get to the end and look down on the crowd. All of them had a wide smile on. I look at Sam, who was in the front row, already close to crying. She held Dietlinde in her arms and Dietlinde was staring right at me with a smile.
"You nervous?" the priest whispers in my ear.
"As hell… I don't exactly do this everyday… what do I do now?" I hear him chuckle.
"Just wait, she'll be out soon," and he was right. I see Asuka's tent start to open and her walk out of it beside Akagi.
"Oh my God…" I stare at her… she's never been so beautiful. She was amazing! The dress fit her perfectly; it was damn near a second skin. The V-cut collar showed… lets say enough cleavage. She had a slight blush as she walked down the aisle. It seemed like it took an eternity for her to reach my side, when she did though, Akagi left. I took her hand in mine as the priest began.
"We are gathered here today to join Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Souryu in holy matrimony." My heart is pounding as I stare at him. He turns to me and begins the routine, "Shinji Ikari, do you take Asuka Langley Souryu as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?" this was literally killing me!
"I do…" I didn't stutter! That was a good sign!
"Asuka Langley Souryu, do you take Shinji Ikari as your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, so long as you both shall live?" I could feel Asuka's pulse on my hand; it was going faster then mine!
"I-I d-do…" she was stuttering? That was new!
"May I have the rings please?" I reach into my pocket and pull out the black box. Akagi hands Asuka a grey box… we really should have had a ring bearer. I take her hand and slip on the ring. Her eyes went wide when she saw it and she looked up at me. With a nod from me, she takes out my ring. Nothing special, just a gold band, but it's what it represented that made it special. She slid it over my finger, and smiled at me.
"In the power invested in me by the city of Tokyo-3, I pronounce Shinji and Asuka husband and wife. You may kiss the bride," about friggen' time! She lunges at me and our lips lock hard. A wave of applause roars over the beach. We stayed like this for a short time, and then we both pulled back and look at each other with smiles.
"We're married…" all she muttered was that. An upbeat tune started to play and another wave of claps and cheers could be heard. I look back at the crowd, all clapping their hands. Sam was crying, and Dietlinde was actually smiling at me! I glance at the very back row and see a few people that caught my eye. There were three women and a man, all clapping and smiling. The three women… they were Rei, Misato and my mother… all staring right at me. What the hell? The man was Gendo! Am I drunk or what? Asuka puts a hand on my chin and makes me look at her again. With a smile, she leans in and the kiss starts again.
"Let's let the bride and groom cut the cake!" Akagi yelled over everyone as she rolled out a tall cake. I look back over the last row, now empty. I try to brush it off, it was probably just my imagination. With a smile, we walk over to the cart, "Congratulations you two, you both deserve to be happy." She handed me a large knife, "I hope this lasts forever," that wouldn't be a problem. Asuka puts her hand next to mine on the handle and we cut the cake together. We cut the first two slices and spoon feed the first bit to each other.
"You know, Kensuke has kept his mouth shut this whole time…" I look over at him to see him tied to a chair with duct-tape on his mouth, "Ritsuko took care of him." even though I'm sure Asuka did, she didn't want to sound like she beat up Kensuke, not on her wedding day.
"Shinji! Asuka!" I see Sam walking over to us with tears in her eyes, "Congrats!" Asuka put a hand on her shoulder.
"Why are you crying? This is a happy thing!" Sam smiles, "There ya go!" they begin to talk, but I was a little distracted. Some guy with a long red beard has been staring at us for awhile, and I don't know who he is. It didn't look like he was with NERV either… I wave Akagi over.
"Did you need something my new groom?" I'll be hearing that for a good month.
"Yeah, who is that guy?" she shrugs, "Well then why is he in here? I thought we had a guest list," those guards weren't supposed to let anyone in that wasn't on the list!
"I don't know, I'll go talk to him," she walks over and says something to the man. She goes wide eyed as he says something, then she runs into Asuka's tent. What the hell just happened?
"Now it's time for the couple's first dance!" a guy comes over the microphone and a slow song begins to play. I brush off and offer my hand to Asuka.
"May I have this dance?" people make a circle around us and left more then enough room for us to dance. She put her arms around my neck and I put mine on her hips.
"Yes you may…" she laid her head on my shoulder and I felt the burning blush rise over me as people stare at us with smiles. I tried to ignore it and just enjoy our first dance as husband and wife… hell, our first dance, "Shinji… I love you…" she whispers in my ear.
"I love you too Asuka… and I love this moment…" she chuckles a little. Just then, the song ends.
"Hey Shinji!" I turn and look at one of the NERV employees.
"Um… I'm kinda busy right now… can we talk later?" he smiles and pulls out a gun.
"No… no, I think you can talk now," he aims it at me. Does a day ever pass without a gun being pointed at me? A few people gasp, some scream, frankly, I didn't care.
"Asuka… can you wait for me over there?" she stared at him wide eyed. I softly push her into the crowd and people hold onto her, "Okay, who are you with? T-Bone, YY? What about SEELE?" I start to walk over to him with my hands in my pockets.
"You killed our leader," SEELE, "now I'll kill you," I run up and pull the same thing I did on the plain; I thrust my palm onto the gun barrel.
"Pull the trigger. Think of it as a gift." He just stared at me with a confused look, "Heh… wanna hear a joke? There was a guy that completely fucked up another guys wedding, right? Then when he finally had a chance to finish it, he chickened out, take a wild guess what happened…" I knee him in the groin and he falls to the ground, "He got his ass whooped," with a groan, he aims the gun back at me.
"Die!" a loud bang echoes through the beach, once again some people scream, some gasp, and I hear Asuka scream. I look down and see him with bloody sand all around his head… what the hell?
"You can thank me later Shinji!" I look back up to see the guy with a beard holding a gun, aiming down at him, "By the way, congrats on finally getting married to Asuka! It took you long enough!" that voice… I know that voice…
A/N- There's the new married couple! Okay, SEELE obviously has made a move, but who is this mysterious man? Why did he save Shinji? What voice was Shinji talking about? Find out in the next chapter; He's Back, until then, keep on keepin' on!