A/N: Well now that our two lovebirds have found each other what will happen next. First, I'll respond to the reviewers.
Ikari's'R'us - You think Zack is more American than Canadian? Well, actually the only real difference between the American person and the Canadian person is governments. And my ultimate defence for saying Zack is Canadian is in Chapter 2. Just read and you will understand. And who says Canadians can't show off? I show off all the time!
Incognito Girl - Yeah the Gendo plush doll was a riot! Asuka won't be the same Asuka that we all couldn't stand. She'll be a lot nicer now, but that doesn't mean she loses her edge!
i laugh at you - Give it time. This will be for the beginning and R&R chappie, but there is a sinister plot going on.
By the way, what the hell does SI stand for?
And just to refresh everyone's memory. When Zack speaks in English, it will be in italics.
Now on with the story! Shinji and Asuka have just shared their first night together. Who's gonna walk in on them first?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The morning after the fair (Zack's turn to make breakfast)
Zack woke up with a yawn. He was up late last night trying to figure out the parental code so he could watch whatever he wanted on TV. He hadn't gotten it yet, but he was narrowing down the numbers. He would try a few other combinations tonight and maybe, just maybe...
But right now, he needed some clothes. And Asuka was unfortunately going to be in his way. Asuka or no Asuka, he was going to get some clothes. His dresser was still in there.
He went to what used to be his room and gasped at what he saw.
He saw Shinji and Asuka cuddled up on the same futon under the same blanket! And he couldn't see any clothes either.
A Zack styled outburst. "HOLY SHIT! OH GOOD GOD! SHINJI!"
Shinji was awakened by the outburst. "Zack… what are you yelling for?" Shinji was still waking up and was obviously unaware of what was going on.
Zack was assuming the worst had happened between Shinji and Asuka and now possibly a baby was on its way. But Zack had to know for sure and there was only question to ask. "Shinji. Did you wear protection last night?"
"Protection? What protection?" Shinji was still waking up and didn't understand the question.
"OH MY GOD! YOU TWO DID IT ALL NIGHT LONG! AND WITH NO PROTECTION! THERE'S GONNA BE A BABY ON THE WAY! ACK! MISATO'S GONNA KILL ME! IT WAS MY IDEA TO PAIR YOU TWO TOGETHER! AND NOW THIS! I'M DEAD! SO GODDAMN DEAD!"
Now Asuka was awake from all Zack's yelling. "Hey! Stop looking at us you pervert!"
Asuka picked up the Shinji plush doll and threw it at Zack. It hit him square in the face.
Zack was now pretty angry. "What the hell was that for you skank?"
"What did you say Casanova?"
"Exactly what I said, skank!"
Now Asuka was pretty angry. Angry enough to get up out of bed.
Zack honestly thought Asuka had no clothes on. "Ack! Avert thine eyes!" He covers his eyes.
"I'm not naked you pervert!" said Asuka.
Zack felt a little better knowing he wasn't looking at a naked girl. He moved his arms away from his face. Then…
WHAM!
Asuka had punched him in the face. "What does this look like?" she asked him while pointing at her tube bra. She also had panties on too.
'A tube bra? Had me fooled,' thought Zack to himself. He wasn't going to let Asuka get away with it for punching him. He decided to keep his attitude up. "Your boob."
WHAM!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that morning at the table (Wash your hands before eating)
Everyone had sat down to the breakfast Zack had made. He had made a large batch of apple crisp. Misato had also gotten over her hangover too. Zack had not quickly forgotten the punches Asuka gave him and he was NOT about to let that go unpunished.
"Everyone, I have something to announce!" Zack said as he stood up. Shinji was already looking flushed, knowing what Zack was going to say. Asuka gave him a look that said 'If you tell everyone, I will KILL you!'
The glare did not stop the Canadian. "I'd like to announce that Shinji and Asuka have confessed their love to each other and are now going out!"
This resulted in whoops and cheers for Shinji and Asuka. Their faces turned about as red as Asuka's plugsuit.
Zack was laughing by far the hardest. His payback scheme had worked perfectly! Or so he thought. When he looked up he noticed Asuka and Shinji both hit him with a simultaneous kick that sent him flying through the balcony door. That's where he finished his laugh.
Misato and Rei were the only ones not laughing. Ivana did cheer for a bit. But Zack did the most and that's why he was on the balcony in a daze from being sent through the glass. And now there's broken shards of glass everywhere.
"Well I think it serves him right," said Misato. "Anyhoo you two," she continued looking at Shinji and Asuka. She wrapped them both in a big hug. "I'm happy for both of you. As for him, I'd think we'd better help him up. But he DID have it coming."
One fixed balcony door later (glass door filled with cardboard), the kids and Misato got some summer clothes on. They knew what day today was: The NERV BBQ party in the Geofront! And everyone from NERV was invited!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geofront - BBQ Party
At 12:00pm, Misato and her artificial family arrived at the Geofront. They had also brought the CD player and everyone brought some of their favourite CDs. The rest of those who had come were already there. Kaji was manning the grill, making sure the burgers and hotdogs were cooked to perfection.
"Hey Misato, glad you could make it," said Ritsuko who was also there.
Everyone got together and conversed. Lots of things were talked about. The simulator battles, Misato's beer funneling at the beer tent AND the Tokyo-3 party, Shinji and Asuka's newfound relationship, what happened to Zack when he tried to embarrass them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Grill
Kaji was placed in charge of the grill. He was doing his best to keep the food properly cooked. He felt he was doing a good job, with all the burgers, hotdogs, and sausages being turned and grilled accordingly.
He observed Shinji and Asuka. He was right about what he was saying to Misato last night. They were great for each other! Perhaps there would be little Shinjis and Asukas one day!
Suddenly, someone pushed Kaji out of the way. It was Gendo Ikari! Kaji was confused. "C-Commander, what are you doing?"
Gendo gave a monotone reply. "The grill is too high."
"What?"
"There is always a one degree difference between success and disaster. I will handle this operation from now on."
Everyone else laughed at Kaji who was just having difficulty coming up with a response. He was just shoved off the barbecue by the Commander.
Zack took this time to interject. "Well Shinji, I think it's clearly obvious who you get your cooking talents from."
"Y-Yeah. If you say so."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey how about a beach volleyball game?" That came from Shigeru.
Makoto thought it would be fun too. "Yeah! Let's play!"
"What are the teams?" asked Misato.
Ritsuko had an idea. "Let's make it the staff vs. the Children!"
"Bring it on! You're all washed up!" shouted Zack.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" came the outburst from Misato.
Asuka was fired up too. "C'mon Shinji. Let's kick those coots off the court!"
"A-All right."
A/N: Just for fun, and a little fan service, all the girls are wearing bathing suits. One piece or two-piece is totally up to you.
The teams would look like this. (How the starting lineups on the court would look with the top line being the closest to the net.)
Team EVA
Ivana Toji Zack
Shinji Asuka Rei
Team Old School
Makoto Misato Maya
Ritsuko Shigeru Kaji
The game started off with the first serve going to Team EVA. Rei made the opening serve. It wasn't a very hard serve though. It was easily controlled by Kaji who hit the ball up in the air with a bump. Misato then volleyed the ball, setting up Makoto. When Makoto spiked the ball, it blew by Zack and Toji and nearly decked Asuka. But the ball was still inbounds.
Old School 1, EVA 0.
Now Kaji was serving to team EVA. His serve was like a missile. It hit Shinji square in the head, knocking him off his feet. But the ball went up in the air, remaining inbounds and falling in Ivana's direction. Ivana set up Toji for a spike. Poor Misato didn't have much of a chance against the boy's powerful spike. It blew right through her and Ritsuko.
Old School 1, EVA 1.
"Way to use your head Shinji!" called Asuka.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gendo Ikari was right about one thing. Kaji did have the grill too high. It would be tricky, but he figured if he turned down the grill by the same amount it was too high by and with some skillful flips of the burgers, hotdogs and sausages, he might just be able to save the food.
He turned down the grill and flipped a few patties, which needed flipping.
This was when Vice-Commander Fuyutski came up to him. "Who's winning?"
"Whoever wins is irrelevant. But the score is now tied at 16. And Team EVA is serving. Shinji is serving at the moment."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere else in a location not known by anyone. (Not sure if it's even known by our speakers. We can't see who's speaking because the sleezeballs behind the scenes for some reason don't like being seen. )
Voice 1: Is the operation ready?
Voice 2: Yes. And we have a pilot who's willing to do the job.
Voice 3: With a threat like this on their hands, they will submit to our will, or be destroyed.
Voice 1: Where was this one built?
Voice 2: Cuba.
Voice 1: And the certain other has agreed to help us right?
Voice 2: Yes. If he believes it is necessary, he will lend his aid.
Voice 3: Let's see them handle a threat 250 miles above the earth!
All voices start laughing with an evil tone to it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Geofront (It's a close game. And the food is almost ready)
The score was now tied at 34. Originally, volleyball games are only played until one team reaches 25 by two points. Otherwise go to 26 or beyond until one team has the two-point lead. But both teams agreed that first to 35 even by one point will win the game.
At the end of the game though, Zack called a timeout. He wanted to put together a special formation. He wanted to win this game in style. He whispered the plan to the team. They liked it, but warned Zack that if this failed, he would be going first in the dunk tank.
This was the formation Zack had in mind.
Rei Zack Asuka
Toji Shinji Ivana
The six (except Rei) shouted, "Break!"
And so began the final play. Kaji made the serve. It was a missile just like all his other serves. But Toji was able to control it and bumped it into the air.
Shinji began running towards Zack. Zack steps to his left and Asuka moves in towards the center. They cup their hands together.
Toji had bumped the ball towards Rei. She volleyed the ball high into the air towards where Zack was.
Shinji jumped into the cupped hands of Zack and Asuka. And the two propelled him high into the air.
Shinji in midair saw the ball and went for the spike. BOOM! The ball flew… flew… right into Misato's forehead! BAM!
The ball then flew out of bounds, thus ending the game.
Team EVA, 35. Team Old School, 34.
Misato was out cold for a few minutes. Everyone else was cheering. Shinji did feel bad for decking his guardian though.
Suddenly, Gendo spoke up. "Lunch is ready."
So they all sat down to lunch. Gendo was an amazing cook. The food was cooked to perfection!
After lunch, they got out the dunk tank. Toji was first to sit on the dunk seat. Kaji took the first few throws at the dunk seat. The first ball missed the target. But the second ball hit home, and Toji got soaked. This resulted in whoops of cheers from everyone else around.
Toji had already had enough. It wasn't easy, but they managed to get Shinji up next. Of course Asuka wanted to be the one to dunk the Third Child. She missed twice, but the third time was the charm. Shinji was all wet now too.
With lots of struggle, Asuka was up next on the tank. Shinji managed to take Asuka down on the first throw. She wasn't happy at all. At least she was wearing a bathing suit. But she wasn't ready to give up yet. Toji managed to sink Asuka. And so did Zack.
The group then suggested Rei goes on next. She agreed without a hitch. After being sunk by all the children, Misato told Rei she didn't have to do it anymore.
Then Zack went up. All the female staff Zack had hit on, and Asuka and Ivana, and Misato wanted to sink him. They each did so three times over.
After Zack was Kaji. Misato wanted this one for herself. Misato managed to sink Kaji four times in four shots. Ritsuko also sunk Kaji twice.
So everyone went on until they were all soaked thoroughly. Then Misato had an idea. She told Shinji to wait aside while she told everyone else the plan. She then had Shinji close his eyes. Shinji felt someone place a ball in his hands. Then he heard what sounded like a great struggle. After about five minutes of non-stop struggling, Shinji was told to open his eyes.
"SURPRISE!" came the shout from everyone else. Shinji opened his eyes. He nearly choked on his own breath when he saw who was on the dunk tank. His father, Gendo Ikari!
"You see Shinji," said Misato. "We know he's been a lousy father to you. So here's your chance to get him back. But he's agreed to let you only have one shot. So make it count!"
"Go for it Shinji!" shouted Asuka.
"You can do it man!" shouted Toji.
"Sink your old man!" shouted Zack.
'This'll be payback you bastard!' thought Ritsuko. 'Not the kind I was hoping for, but it will do.'
Shinji and his father stared at each other for about a minute. A tumbleweed blew by. Wild West styled music began playing on the CD player.
Suddenly, a sinister smile came on Shinji's face. "You know father. I don't know exactly what went on during Third Impact, but I bet you saw Mom. And I hope she kicked your ass for what a shit father you were to me!"
Gendo could only stare with the same stare he always had.
Shinji continued. "You abandoned me when I was just a child. You've done nothing but use me when I was considered useful. We've only had one real conversation since I was four. You haven't supported me on anything I have done or wanted to do!" The sinister smile came back. "I am so going to enjoy this." He wound up. "THIS IS FOR MAKING MY LIFE A LIVING GODDAMN HELL!"
He threw the ball like a missile. (135 kph) The ball connected with the target. The target was hit so hard that it broke. As for Gendo, he went splashing into the tank. Everyone else cheered and was laughing. Even the Vice-Commander was laughing. Shinji got congratulations all around for finally sinking his father.
Later that day, they started a large bonfire. Sticks, marshmallows, chocolate, and gram crackers were passed around. Everyone was making smores. More stories were exchanged, laughs were had. For just a short while, the NERV staff could just be regular people again and not always out trying to stay alive.
Asuka tried, but she kept burning her marshmallows. She looked beside her. There was Shinji, roasting his marshmallows to perfection. "Ooooohhhhh Shinji. Be a good boy and roast me a marshmallow."
Shinji of course, bent to the will of Asuka and roasted her a marshmallow. When he was done, it was perfectly roasted on all sides. Asuka would never be able to understand how anything he cooked could be done so well.
Elsewhere around the fire, Misato was having a beer. Asuka kept count, but with the smores going around, she stopped counting after five. Misato could have had anywhere between seven and eight by now. A few others were singing songs they knew. The other kids were bugging Zack. They called him a philanderer or something.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An hour or so later, most of the people had fallen asleep somewhere around the fire. Misato was off somewhere, throwing up after the ninth beer. She did mutter something about being so close to ten before she ran off to purge. Shinji noticed that all the children except him had fallen asleep. Asuka had practically fallen asleep on his shoulder.
Suddenly, Shinji heard someone calling his name from somewhere behind him. He decided to investigate. He laid Asuka down on a pillow and went to go check out the source of the voice.
After wandering in the Geofront for about a minute. He found a figure sitting down on a log. He couldn't see really well in the dark, so he lit the flashlight he got from Zack. The light illuminated the figure of Gendo! His father!
The anger quickly came back to Shinji. "What do you want?"
Gendo replied. "I just want a few minutes of your time. That is all."
Shinji was hesitant, but he sat on a rock, sitting about 3 metres from where Gendo sat. "So what did you want to tell me."
Gendo's expression did not change. "After the dunk tank incident, I did some thinking. I thought about my actions that I have done for the past 10 years."
"Nothing can change what you did to me!"
Gendo bowed his head down. "I just wish to explain. After Yui disappeared during an activation trial of Unit 01, it tore me apart. I was no longer the same person I used to be."
Shinji listened with interest to a man who he usually saw as the world's greatest asshole.
"The reason I abandoned you was so I could get Yui back."
Shinji was curious. "Then why did you suddenly want me back?"
"The Angels were coming to initiate 3rd Impact. Before that, not long after Yui disappeared, I used the DNA from her and Lillith to create Rei. And for 10 years I waited for the Angels to come back. I needed you and Rei to help me with this purpose."
"Then what was Asuka's purpose?"
"She was just seen as another Child who could further boost my plans along. But you and Rei were the most important."
Now Shinji was a tad boggled. "What was my purpose in your plans?"
Gendo continued to tell his story. "There were many ways to initiate 3rd Impact. One is for an EVA to come into contact with Adam, the 1st Angel. Another is for one of the Angels to come into contact with Adam. Also Rei could fuse with Adam. That was my plan. The plan I had with you was to abandon you, then suddenly have a use for you. You would be filled with so much hatred, that you wanted to help trigger my version of 3rd Impact. Where everyone's minds would be crushed together to form one being of what I believed to be paradise for mankind. But it didn't work."
"What do you mean?" asked Shinji.
"I underestimated Rei. I thought she would listen to me no matter what I told her to do. Instead of merging with Adam, she merged with Lillith forming Reilith. You were given the choice to end humanity. However, Reilith helped you show that humanity doesn't hate you, and gave you a second choice. And you chose to save everyone and return the world to the way it was before 3rd Impact by killing Reilith, thus aborting 3rd Impact at the last second."
"What? Does this mean you will try again?" Shinji asked.
"No. Even if I could, I wouldn't do it again. During the time humanity was merged together, I did see Yui, your mother once more."
"What did she say?"
"She was very, very angry with me. She told me that she was shocked that I had no shame for the atrocities I had committed, like the deaths of many people, trying to play God. But worst of all, she was angry with me for abandoning you when I should have been there."
Shinji was shocked. His father had revealed his plan that he had been scheming for 10 years. But he continued to listen.
"The reason I called you here tonight, is because I wanted to apologize. Apologize for everything I have done to you, and everyone else. If you do not wish to forgive me, I understand. I just want you to know I am deeply sorry for what I have done."
Gendo got up. "I must be going now. But before I do, I wish to give you this." He hands Shinji a box. "When you get the time, but not here, you may look at it. Goodbye Shinji."
Shinji watched his father disappear into the depths of the Geofront. Then he wandered back to the bonfire. On his way back, he opened the box. There was something inside, but the first thing he pulled out was a letter. He read it.
Dear Shinji,
I know you are still reeling from the conversation we just had. I believe you will never forgive me. I do not expect you to. I am not sure how to start being the father you should have had. But this is how I will start. I have two things I wish to tell you.
If you ever need anything, I will do everything in my power to see that you get what you need, whether it is money or any other sort of aid.
I am aware of your relationship with Asuka Sohryu. I know you have made a good choice and I know you will take good care of her. You have my full support in this matter.
Enclosed with this letter is a gift I have for you. I know you will like it. I wish you the best, my son.
Sincerely,
Gendo Ikari, your father
After reading the letter, Shinji pulled out the item from the box. It was a locket! He opened it up. It was a picture of his father, his mother, and himself when he was still just a baby!
The sight of this almost brought Shinji to tears. He just stared at the picture for several minutes. Then he heard another voice.
"Shinji! Where are you?" It was Asuka.
'Shit! She must be worried sick,' thought Shinji. He quickly pocketed the items. "I'm over here!"
The two quickly found each other. "There you are! You had me worried sick you idiot!"
Shinji bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry. I just went for a walk."
Surprisingly, Asuka wasn't angry. "You don't have to apologize! I'm just glad you're okay."
She gave him a quick kiss and took his hand. "Come on. We're going home."
Then Shinji remembered something. "Isn't Misato too drunk to drive?"
"Yeah she is. But for some reason, there's a limo waiting to take us home. Come on! Let's go!" she said before going to catch up to the others.
Shinji then realized who prepared the limo. "Thanks father," he said into the air. "Hey Asuka! Wait for me!"
A/N: And there you have it. Shinji's confrontation with Gendo. Hopefully, things will get better between them. Hey nick2951, I hope you liked this. I'm sorry it took so long. And if I juggled any of my facts, I'm sorry, but my memories of those events aren't perfect. But I did try my best.
Now who are the voices? It's a secret! Even I don't know who they are and I'm the author! But here's one thing I do know: There will be a battle in the next chapter. Until Number 14, be cool!