Nothing Will Ever Change That
Chapter 98: Move On
A/N- This chapter was proof-read by Frost-Eva-04. This chapter was also written in omnipresent view.
Same Place
"SHINJI!" Asuka watched helplessly as a huge explosion engulfed her husband. She fell to her knees sobbing full force, "Shinji!" the man slowly un-cuffed her, feeling that this was not the time for her to be restrained.
"H-He's…" Akagi stared at the screen wide eyed and the pillar of fire grew higher, "Are… are there any life signs?" she looked back onto the bridge staff, all looking away from her and covering their faces.
"No…" Asuka pounded the floor with her fists as she sobbed. Hearing that there were no life signs only made it all the worse.
"Shinji…" Cass stared just as memorized as Ritsuko at the sight.
"What about his AT field?" Akagi desperately tried to find any sign of hope for the child.
"He shut it off right before impact… he had no protection…" it would later be found out that he did this for one specific reason; to simply make a bigger explosion. The boy was so fixated on saving the ones he loved, he sacrificed his own life.
"Pilot Shinji Ikari has… been defeated…" the next leading commander – Fuyutsuki – spoke over the intercom, "Pilots Simmons and Pilot… Cass, engage any remaining – if any – Evas…" only smoke remained over the large battle field, which soon cleared to reveal masses of lifeless Evas, not one standing. Above all of that Evas, a single purple arm stuck up through the hill of Evas, "SEELE has been neutralized…" the sound of Sam whimpering over the comm. could be heard along with Cass trying to hold back tears, and failing.
"He's not dead! Shinji's not dead! It's a lie… he'll make it through like he always does… come on Shinji… get up…" Asuka had her forehead to the ground as she sobbed, "Please… please get up… get up damn you!" his Eva didn't make a move, not even a flinch.
"Cass and Sam… come back to NERV…" the kids do as they were told in silence. After changing back into normal clothes they went to the bridge to see Asuka still sobbing.
"Don't leave me… please don't leave… he's okay… I know he is… he's always okay…" Ritsuko leaned next to Asuka and put an arm around her shoulders, "He won't die… he said it himself that he won't die…" she cried into the doctor's shoulder.
"I know…" she didn't say that he was alive or dead, she was just trying to comfort the widow. In reality, chances are that there is very little – if any – fragments left of him.
"He's okay, right?" she looked up at Akagi with tears running down her face. Ritsuko just closed her eyes and kept quiet, "Right?" she had a begging voise at this point, and was met with another silent answer, "Answer me damnit!"
"No… I'm sorry…" even as a doctor – who was accustomed to death – still cried over this boy.
"You're lying! He's alive!" Asuka was now showing signs of denial, but who wouldn't? A human never wants to face the truth, no matter how much evidence there is. Asuka pushed away from the doctor's grip and ran to her room in tears. No one bothered to follow her, no one even made a move.
"So… Shinji's really gone?" Cass was the only one that didn't have constant rolling tears, but some were present tucked in the corner of his eye.
"Yes… the chances that he is alive are flat zero…" the woman that spoke to him not five minutes ago had tears running down her face, even though she only knew the boy for a very short time.
"I… want the recovery of Unit 01's entry plug by the end of the day… be sure to retrieve any shards of it…" Fuyutsuki once again came over the intercom.
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Skies Of Tokyo-3 – Same Time
"He died in honor… he died defending his country…" the leader of the squadron Razgriz spoke with a heavy voice, "To all squadrons of Japan… please join me in saluting… Commander Shinji Ikari…" they all formed one large V-shaped flight pattern and jettisoned towards the sky, then did a back flip, ending with all of them falling towards the earth. At the last second, they all bailed out and flew back to base.
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NERV – One Hour Later
"How's Asuka doing?" Ritsuko was talking to Cass abut the widow. Sam herself was in her room crying softly to herself.
"Not so good. I tried to get into her room awhile ago, but she didn't even make a sound. I think that you should keep a close eye on her, Asuka's mind is most likely unstable right now. She'll do things without thinking about it, remember that. After seeing how she reacted before, I wouldn't put it past her to commit suicide. Just a warning… listen, I gotta go back to Sam. She's getting pretty bad too," Cass waved a shaking hand as he walked out of Ritsuko's office. Heeding Cass's warning, she turned on the camera set up in Asuka's room. After focusing, it showed her on a chair with a rope around her neck. Instead of running to save the girl, Ritsuko stared at the screen.
"You won't do it… you won't kick that chair away…" and she didn't. The German girl simply stood there looking down at the chair holding her from death for ten minutes before getting down.
"I'll do what you said… I'll take care of your baby…" she laid on her bed with her hands on her stomach crying.
"There we go…" Akagi got up from her desk and began to walk out of her office. The retrieval of Unit 01's entry plug began about an hour ago, and still very little progress had been made. She was going down there to either sulk or simply stare at the work being done. She was a professional woman, she couldn't shed TOO many tears, even though she wanted to so badly. Holding back her well-deserved tears, she walked to the sight of Unit 01's plug.
"Any progress? Any at all?" just then, the crane was able to force the plug from under the rubble.
"Actually, yes as of right now…" blood-red LCL poured out of the large hole blown by the warhead, "Ah crap…" Ritsuko had to look away from the sight, she couldn't stand the fact that she was looking at Shinji's innards, "Now why the hell would Fuyutsuki want this?" once all of the LCL was drained, a boy could be seen still sitting in the piloting seat. The plug suit was torn to shreds and most of his skin was burnt off. A very large chunk of his head was blown off and exposing his left lobe, leaving only half a head. The sight – to say the least – was revolting.
"Oh my God…" she couldn't help but stare at the sight. The boy she had grown to love was lifeless sitting in a destroyed entry plug, and there was nothing she could do. Quickly regaining her composure, she closed her eyes, "Have Shinji's remains sent to the research lab. Do not grant any access to that room aside from myself, do you understand?"
"Um… yes ma'am…"
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Asuka's Room – Same Time
"Shinji's not dead… he's not dead… he promised me that he'd never die… he… he wouldn't lie to me…" Asuka mumbled under her breath as she softly cried. The sobbing had been replaced with an obsessive behavior of his death. Her mind was still refusing to believe that Ikari was gone, it wouldn't allow itself to accept his death.
Asuka was hugging her knees as she sat on her bed. Her face a buried in her knees. This fetal position was what the girl would always convert to when she was alone and crying, but this time, she knew that she'd be alone for the rest of her life. Deep down, she knew that she'd never become social again. With Shinji gone, who would she have to fall back on? He was the only person in her life that she actually loved, and he was gone.
"Asuka?" a knocking at the door and Cass's voice could be heard, "Come on Asuka, let me in, we need to talk about this," she would later regret not letting him in. I could have saved her more trouble than she realized, "I know you're upset, we all are, but you can't just go into submission. You have to come out eventually," Asuka still kept silent, "Fine… I'll just keep on coming back though…" the man walked away with his head hung low.
"I-I won't… I won't give up…" she began to sob once again into her knees.
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NERV Hospital – Research Lab
"I'm not letting you go Shinji… I refuse to let you go," Ritsuko fumbled with Shinji's dead body in a dark, "I don't give a fuck what 'morals' say, I'm not just going to sit back and watch Asuka go insane…"
A/N- Whoa… wonder what Ritsuko's doing… you all thought that I was playing around with Shinji's death, weren't you? Nope, he's dead. What do you think Ritsuko is doing, huh? How is Asuka doing? Find out in the next chapter; Please Remember, until then, keep on keepin' on!