Nothing Will Ever Change That

Chapter 99: Please Remember

A/N- This chapter was proof-read by Frost-Eva-04. Thanks for the help!

Asuka's Room – Morning

"Asuka! Enough of this! Let me in or I swear I'll break down the door!" even through Cass's yelling, Asuka stayed tucked under her blankets, still in a fetal position. All she wanted was to be left alone, and he wasn't allowing that of her. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? That's all she hoped for, but her hopes were soon crushed as Cass kicks down the door, "Asuka… are you okay?" he slowly walks over to her bedside and sits down next to her. She still didn't make a move, somehow hoping that he would just leave, "Asuka, you know that you've got all of your friends to help you, right?" he sets a hand on her shoulder, making her quiver under the human touch, "Come on out…" he slowly slipped off her covers and looked at her face.

"Please… just leave…" her face was in shambles. Blood shot eyes were being held by bags under her eyes, her face was pale and she had dried tears on her cheeks.

"No, I won't do that," he softly touches her cheek, "God… did you even sleep last night?" she slowly nodded.

"I… couldn't sleep… without Shinji…" she let a tear roll down her face as she closed her eyes.

"Can I do anything for you?" Asuka laid her head back down on the pillow and closed her eyes.

"Just… stay in here… don't leave…" true, she did tell him to leave not thirty seconds ago, but in reality, she wanted him to stay more than anything. Cass began to stroke her hair in an attempt to calm her, and soon enough, she was drifting asleep.

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Research Lab – Same Time

"Damn it… two already dead… you're one stubborn kid, you know that Shinji?" Ritsuko was on her fourth cup of coffee, and only draining that one. She had been working on something all night, and she had already failed twice, "Come on… don't die…" Akagi stared at the life support, praying that the heart monitor wouldn't give out. After a few hours, the heart was still going strong, "Yes… damn this would have been easier if I knew how Rei was created…" she looked into the large glass tube filled with LCL with a small body in it, small, but quickly growing, "Welcome back…" the body soon grew to the size of a young adult. Akagi flipped a switch on the life support and the LCL began to drain, leaving the man lying on the bottom of the tube, slightly snoring.

---

One Hour Later – Asuka's Room

Cass was still in Asuka's room keeping her asleep as she asked. His hand was still stroking her hair, and ever sense she fell asleep, he had been getting tired himself. Somehow he kept himself awake and alert of her condition. A few minutes later, Akagi comes walking in with her hands in her pockets and smiling.

"Hey Cass…" she drew his attention from the red-haired beauty to her.

"Holy shit… what happened to you?" Ritsuko looked down to see her lab coat covered in blood.

"A miracle… wake Asuka up, I have to show her something," with a shrug, Cass gently nudges Asuka in her back.

"Hey Asuka, time to get up…" she began to stir and soon opened her eyes to look up at the person that kept her company for the last hour, "Rits has something to show you…" he looks over at her, "Something of importance, I hope…"

"Oh, it's very important. Come on Asuka," without a word – or even a facial expression – she gets out of bed and follows Akagi down the hall and into the hospital, "So, how'd ya sleep?" Asuka began to get irritated at Akagi's upbeat tone.

"How the hell do you think I slept? I watched my husband blow up and die… how would you sleep?"

"Well… you're half right with that one… he's not dead… well, anymore. Long story short, Shinji's back," Asuka rolled her eyes and began to walk back to her room.

"Real Goddamn funny Akagi…" Ritsuko grabs her shoulder and pulls her back.

"I'm not joking here. I was able to make a clone of him from the remains in the entry plug. Every detail of him is exactly as it was before the crash; from his scares down to his minute finger print pattern. Oh, I was also able to get his hand back! Don't you want to see him?" though Asuka still didn't believe her worth crap, she decided to follow along with it. When they finally reached one room, Ritsuko opened the door to show Shinji sitting up in the bed reading a book calmly, "There he is…" Asuka's eyes were wide as she stared at her husband.

"Sh-Shin… ji…" she slowly walked over to his bedside and he looked up at her, "Shinji?"

"Um… yeah?" in an instant, she lunges down at him and kisses him deep. The boy laid there stiff as a board, eyes wide as Asuka kissed him. All Akagi did was stand back and smile, feeling a sense of gratification that she actually brought him back. Asuka pulls back and looks at him teary eyed. She just stared at her, still surprised and went into a very deep blush.

"What's up with you?" Asuka smiled and wiped away a tear as she sat next to him.

"Um… well… I-I… uh…" he averted his stare down and stared at his bed sheets.

"Why are you acting like that?"

"I-I've… never… kissed a girl before… sorry…" Asuka jumped back at his comment, but still stayed on the bed.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course you have! Come on Shinji, quit playing around," she had her smile back on, but Shinji still stared at the sheets as he shook his head.

"N-No… that… that was my first time… and how do you know my name? Have we met?" he finally summed up the courage to look into her now wide eyes. Akagi lost her smile as well and rushed to his bedside.

"Shinji, what is the last thing you remember?" he once again looked at her with a confused face.

"Well… I was sent to some place called NERV… I guess I got into a car accident or something… but seriously, who are you guys?" Ritsuko fall backwards and sat on the floor staring up at her creation.

"Oh my God… I-I skipped a step… I forgot to finish it…" Asuka looked back at Shinji with a serious face.

"Shinji, if you're messing around, now would be the time to cut it out. Are you honestly going to tell me you don't recognize me?" Shinji once again shook his head.

"Nope. I mean, you're the girl who just frenched me, but aside from that, nothing…" he had a nervous smile on, "Oh! I think I've heard of you actually! Yeah, some guy told me about another pilot. You're Asuka, right? Wasn't I supposed to meet you later on? I thought that you were coming her from Germany in a few weeks?" she stared at him with tears once again forming in her eyes, "But aren't you supposed to be my age? I mean, you're what, eighteen?" Asuka lowered her head and began to cry, "Oh… did I say something wrong? Sorry…"

"Shinji… I'm your wife… please tell me that you remember me… we've had a child together… I'm pregnant right now… please tell me you know that…" Shinji chuckled a little bit.

"Sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else. I'm not married and I'm still a virgin," Asuka shot her head up and glared at him.

"No you're not! I'm Asuka Langley Ikari, our daughter was Dietlinde!" Shinji was backed up as far as he could go against the backboard.

"Um… Dietlinde?" Asuka got up and walked to a wall, making herself face it as she planted a hand on it.

"God damn it… he doesn't remember a thing… Akagi! What did you do to my Shinji?" she turned her head and yelled at the doctor who was still on the floor.

"I-I… forgot to finish his memory alignment… he thinks he's still fourteen…" As then walked over to the doctor and held her up by her collar.

"What the hell do you mean didn't finish? Are you saying that he doesn't remember anything that's happened?" the doctor slowly shook her head as she stared at the ground, "So he thinks he's fourteen?" Akagi nodded, "Damn it… can't you just make another one?"

"No… I used up the last of Shinji's brain tissue with this one… this is the new Shinji…" Asuka dropped the doctor and walked to his bedside, then stared down onto him with a blank face.

"Uh… did I do something wrong?"

"No…" the woman wiped away the last of her tears and smiled, "That was my mistake, sorry bout that," she puts out her hand to him, "My name's Asuka Langley Ika-… Souryu, nice to meet you," with a smile, Shinji took her hand and shook it.

"You too… so… can I leave?" he looked down at Ritsuko still on the floor.

"Yeah…" she looked up at Asuka, "Asuka… I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" Asuka and Shinji begin to walk out of the room, "You did your job. Shinji here got into an accident, you saved him," Asuka felt the strong urge to hold Shinji's hand as they walked, but she refrained from it. This was no longer her husband, but more of a friend-to-be. She looked over at Shinji, who was looking down at his body, "You okay?"

"Uh… I dunno… what's up with my body? Since when did I actually have to shave?" though his mind was that of a fourteen year old, he was still in his seventeen year body. Those three simple years had changed Shinji's body drastically due to hormones, making him look almost like a different person.

"You… you were in a coma for a few years, that's why that doctor back there was freaking out," Shinji stopped in his tracks, frozen by the sudden 'realization'.

"How old am I? What's the year?" he looked up at her with almost begging eyes.

"You? You're seventeen, and it's two-thousand eighteen… but don't freak out, you're awake now, and that's all that matters," remembering how Shinji was back when he was actually fourteen, she tried to keep him calm.

"And why – may I ask – am I actually muscular?" he poked at his stomach, which was very close to becoming a six pack, "Shouldn't I be like, scrawny after being asleep that long?"

"Well… yeah but…" she quickly came up with a lie, "There's some kind of medicine made for coma victims that that keeps their muscle mass up," she thought that it was a pretty good lie. How would he know how far technology has come?

"Well… you can't just take a pill and hope for results like this… I mean, I understand keeping what you had, but to actually build on it without any work is impossible, that's been proven," once again, Asuka recovered from the boy's intellect.

"Nah, that theory was full of it. Look, just forget about it, let me take you to your room," as they walked down the hallway, they eventually came to Cass leaning on the wall. He turned to look at Asuka, and went wide eyed as he saw Shinji standing next to her.

"Holy crap!" he ran over and actually picked up Shinji in a hug, "Yes! Man you're alive!" Shinji – still stunned that he was being picked up by a stranger who knew his name – stayed stiff as a board.

"Cass! Put him down!" Asuka yelled at him and he did what he was told, "Come here, I need to talk with you," she guides him a little further down the hall, away from ear shot of Shinji, "To answer any oncoming questions; yes, Akagi cloned him, but she screwed up. He doesn't remember anything past from when he first came to NERV. You, me, Sam, Rits, he doesn't remember anyone. In fact, he still thinks he's fourteen. So, any questions?" Asuka's brief explanation left him baffled to say the least.

"I hope you're joking…" he looked back at Shinji who was messing with the door's keypad, "Please tell me you're joking," an alarm went off from the keypad and Shinji jumped back. He saw the two adults staring at him and blushed.

"Sorry… think I set off an alarm or something…" he laughed nervously.

"Shit…" Cass is taking in the fact that what Asuka just said was true, "Can't she just make another one?" Asuka closed her eyes and shook her head.

"No… this is the last possible one…" a small tear leaks from her closed eye, "He's gone… my husband's gone…" slowly; Cass took her into his arms, trying to comfort her.

"No he's not; he's standing right behind you. He may have a few lost memories, but that's still him," Shinji just stared at the crying girl, not knowing what to do.

"A few? Cass, that was three years gone… he doesn't even know my name!" she cried a little heavier into his shoulder, "How can we ever be the same when he can't remember anything about me? Our wedding, our children, he doesn't see any of it as his!" Cass brought her back and looked into her teary eyes.

"Then remind him," actually, there wasn't a matter of remembering. This wasn't a case of amnesia, he didn't have those memories. They simply don't exist, and never existed in this Shinji. Asuka wiped away her tears as best as she could.

"I can't… Shinji, come on," she walks into her room – now without a door – and Shinji follows in after her, "There's a fridge full of food, a bathroom, the basics. Feel free to make yourself at home here," Shinji jumped back a little.

"I-I'm sleeping in here? With you? What about your family that you talked about before?" Asuka smiled as best as she could.

"Forget about them, and yeah, you're living in here from now on," Shinji awkwardly sat down on the sofa, "You okay?"

"Yeah… it's just really weird… I've been awake what, five minutes now? I've already gotten my first kiss, I'm sleeping in a room with YOU, and people are staring at me like I'm a monster… is that normal?" Asuka couldn't help but chuckle.

"Long story, as for the kiss, think of it as a welcoming gift," right then, Shinji thought that he should go into comas more often.

"Wait… what about the angels? Was there a third impact while I was asleep?"

"Um… no…" frantically, she came up with yet another lie, "We defeated them all I don't know if you heard about her, but Rei was the only one that actually died fighting. Sam and Cass – the other two pilots – are the main reason none of that happened," even if Shinji DID remember all of the last three years, he still would have agreed with her. Sam and Cass had been proven to be invaluable in combat.

"Oh… so… what's the point of staying here?"

"In case another threat arises. You see, while you were asleep, another form of enemies came up, the seven sins. Each one represented a different sin, Greed, Lust, Gluttony, Wrath, Sloth, Pride and Envy," Asuka shuttered as she spoke the last word.

"Oh… so basically, I'm going to be here for the rest of my life?" Asuka nods, hoping it won't freak him out, "YES! Finally away from those assholes!" Asuka jumped back at what he said. She had never heard of where he came from, so how would she know what he was talking about? "Sorry…"

A/N- Hey, I didn't lie. Shinji is dead, just the Shinji we know. So yeah, talk about a plot twist, huh? All of the memories, all of the love, everything (including 332 pages of text) gone! Not much I can really say here, but find out what happens in the next chapter; Nightmares, until then, keep on keepin' on!