Disclaimer: This is the last time I'll have to say this for awhile. I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Author's Notes: Okay this is it, the epilogue for 'The Angels Return'. Nothing much, just a brief glance into the post-Third Impact world. I'm only really adding this to give people that happy ending I promised a while back. If you don't care about happy endings then you don't have to read it, though some of it might be important for this stories sequel (should I ever get around to writing it).
Epilogue: The Answer
(5 Years After Third Impact, Central Control Reality)
Shinji groaned slightly as he awoke from a deep sleep, squinting his eyes against the light filtering in through his second-story bedroom window. He silently cursed himself for leaving the shutters open last night.
Turning his head to the side he was greeted by the pleasant sight of his wife's sleeping face, the slight force of Rei's breathing tickling his face. Shinji had to smile at the sight, he thought that the blue haired beauty was never more attractive then when she was asleep.
Being careful not to wake his companion, Shinji swung his legs over the side of the bed and moved to rise. His progress was stopped however as Rei's arms reached out and wrapped themselves around his waist, pulling him back to the bed with a single forceful tug.
Shinji's previous smile widened as he found himself once again face-to-face with his young wife. Obviously she wasn't as asleep as he had previously thought. "Good morning Rei-chan."
Try as she might, Rei couldn't prevent a small smile from crossing her face. "It's early, go back to sleep." She made sure to keep her eyes closed the entire time.
Shinji chuckled slightly as he glanced across at their bedside clock. "It's eight thirty Rei, we should get up."
Shaking her head slightly, Rei moved forward and snuggled up to her husband. "No…sleep."
Disentangling himself from the red eyed women's arms, Shinji gently moved away from her and towards the edge of the bed. "Sorry Rei-chan but you'll have to get up eventually."
Rei's eyes finally opened and she pouted slightly. "No fair."
Shinji smiled and was about to respond when the doorway to their room suddenly swung open, prompting both young adults to immediately pretend sleep.
As the door finally opened fully a small figure crept in on tiptoe, approaching the bed as quietly as possible. Reaching the bed's base she pulled herself up on top of it and crept forward on all fours, careful to avoid her parents' slightly sprawled limbs.
Holding her breath, Naoki placed herself between her two 'sleeping' parents and prepared to give them a rather rude awakening. An awakening that would consist of a lot of noise, accompanied by a lot of shaking.
Just as Naoki was about to launch her assault however, Shinji's eyes snapped open and his arms reached out, easily pinning his daughter to the bed. Before the little girl could even voice a protest her mother's arms were suddenly hovering her, proceeding to tickle her stomach mercilessly.
The five year old girl burst into a fit of laughter, trying to wriggle her way out of her father's arms and away from Rei's torturous fingers. The efforts weren't getting her anywhere however so she switched to the whining strategy. "Stop! Stop! Please stop! I can't take it anymore!"
Rei laughed lightly and continued the merciless tickling. "I'm sorry Naoki-chan but you've woken me up one too many times, it's time for revenge." She smiled wickedly.
Struggling to suppress her laughter, Naoki put on the most innocent expression she could. "Please mommy, I promise I'll never do it again."
Finally easing off, Rei lifted her hands from her daughter's stomach. "Well as long as you promise Naoki, I suppose I can forgive you." She poked the blue haired girl in the abdomen for good measure. "So don't do it again."
Naoki grinned mischievously as Shinji released her, immediately jumping off the bed and running to the door. "I promise…I'll do it again." She ran from the room, spurred on by the sound of her parents getting out of bed.
Unfortunately for Naoki, her little legs were no match for her mother's longer ones and she was caught before she could even reach the end of the hallway.
Rei effortlessly hoisted her daughter into her arms, using her right hand to once again tickle the girl's belly. "Now Naoki-chan, I'm sure I must have heard you incorrectly before. I could have sworn you said you'd do it again."
Screaming with laughter, Naoki shook her head in protest. "No, no. I said I wouldn't do it again, wouldn't."
Rei smiled warmly and ceased her relentless tickling. "Oh well in that case…" She placed her daughter back on the ground. "Run along downstairs sweetie, I'll be along to make breakfast shortly."
Naoki smiled widely and ran off towards the stairs, hoping that her mother would follow soon. Breakfast was by far her favourite meal of the day.
Rei continued to smile as her young daughter ran downstairs, the expression only increasing as Shinji came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. They had spent the last five years in this world and so far everything had been great. The three of them were usually the only people in this reality with souls but that was enough. All they really needed was each other.
Originally Nara and Xera had entered this reality as well but they had soon left to build their own world together, with vague promises that they would return if necessary.
Other souls entered this reality from time to time of course, since this was the Central Control Reality, but they were powerless here and soon moved on to new realities. While they were here they remembered nothing of their past lives and believed exactly what Rei and Shinji wanted them to believe.
This reality's history was not quite as simple as others. Unlike the other realities, every last one of the soulless bodies here were replicas of the bodies of real people, bodies they could retreat to should their own realities collapse. As such the Central Control Reality was a decidedly 'normal' world. It was quite similar to how the world had been before the occurrence of the Second Impact, though with a significantly higher population since it contained every human being who had ever lived.
In this world Shinji and Rei were a married couple and both were now twenty-one, with Rei having given birth to Naoki at sixteen. They appeared mostly as they had before the Third Impact, only a little older and lacking the wings and the red circles on their palms. The slightly older replicas of their friends were their friends here also, though being soulless it wasn't quite the same. Still, they had each other and that was all that mattered.
Heading downstairs, Rei prepared a surprisingly quick breakfast of bacon and eggs for her family, much to the delight of the easily excited Naoki.
Though Naoki was not herself aware of the control she could exert over her existence with her thoughts alone, she had grown up in a world were she got everything she wanted when she wanted it and as such was a very happy child who saw wonder in everything she beheld. Including the food she was now shovelling into her mouth.
Shinji smiled at his daughter inhaling her food. "You really should try chewing Naoki. You might choke if you don't." Such a thing would never happen in this world but that didn't mean the little girl shouldn't savour her meal.
Naoki smiled through her food but continued eating at her rapid pace nonetheless, causing Shinji to reach over and ruffle her soft blue hair.
The small family was interrupted from their meal by a knock on their house's front door. Rei and Shinji knew who was at the door and knew that she had been pulled here by Naoki's subconscious will, so they didn't object when their daughter jumped to her feet and declared that she would get the door.
The red eyed girl sprinted all the way to the sturdy wooden door and stood on tiptoes to open it. Naoki was not a particularly tall girl for her age and so still had to stretch to reach the large door's handle.
When the door finally did swing open Naoki smiled brightly, happy to see the redhead who stood on the other side. "Auntie Auska!" The woman in question was not truly Naoki's aunt but she chose to refer to her as such.
Asuka, or rather her replica signed. "For the last time Naoki it's Asuka, not Auska."
Naoki's smile only widened. "I know, but I like Auska better. Just like Uncle Naha and Auntie Era." For the most part the young girl preferred not to refer to people by their real names.
The twenty-one year old gave in and chuckled quietly. "You're a lost cause Naoki. Where are your parents?"
"They're in the kitchen!" Naoki announced the comment with far more dramatic flare than necessary, proudly marching towards said location.
Signing again the Asuka replica followed the perpetually happy girl to the kitchen where Shinji and Rei were waiting for them. "Heh guys."
Rei smiled warmly. "What brings you here so early Asuka. Where's Ryo."
The redhead took a seat at the kitchen bench and rested her arms on its marbled surface. "He's at home. Mom's looking after him for me. That's actually why I'm here. I need to borrow some baby stuff, Ryo's getting bored with his current toys."
Ryo was Asuka's son and had been born almost two years ago in her own reality. Since he was the child of a controller, Shinji and Rei had given him a brand new soul of his own, and as such a replica had to be created for him in this world, a body for him to fall back to should the world he shared with his mother collapse. An unfortunately common event when more than one soul shared a reality.
The replica Asuka of course was not with the child's father as he had been nothing more than an imaginary figure created by the real Asuka's mind. In this world he was nothing but a forgotten memory. No-one cared that he was absent.
Shinji raised an eyebrow at Asuka's question. "Borrow? Last time you decided to 'borrow' things from us, we never saw them again."
Asuka waved a hand dismissively. "Surely you're not going to hold one bad case against me. I mean my record with you two is otherwise spotless."
The black haired male wasn't impressed by the response. "Asuka, you've done it at least five times. And last time I checked you owed us a few thousand dollars." He smiled. "Still, I suppose we can help you."
Rei smiled also and reached over to grip her friend's hand. "Come, I'll show you where we keep Naoki's old toys." She led the blue eyed woman away, with Naoki following close behind them, intending to make sure her mother didn't give away any of her favourite toys.
Shinji just laughed quietly and went back to his breakfast. These last five years had been great. Watching his daughter grow, with his lovely wife by his side, he didn't think this world could be any better.
(2 Hours Later, Central Control Reality)
Having finished their interaction with the replica Asuka, the small family had gone out for a walk in the park. Shinji and Rei strolled along hand in hand while Naoki ran around in front of them, entirely intent on seeing everything their was to see along their path.
The five year old was happily licking at a large ice-cream cone as she ran, one of a seemingly endless line of cones given to her by complete strangers. In fact no sooner did Naoki finish her current cone then a stout man in a business suit suddenly produced one from the briefcase he carried and handed it to the little girl.
Naoki smiled as she received the ice-cream. "Thank you!"
The man smiled warmly in response. "My pleasure little girl." And with that he promptly closed his briefcase and went about his day, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.
Most people would wonder how the young girl could consume so much food and yet never put on any weight. The reason was simple however. Naoki didn't want to be fat and therefore she wasn't. In her case it was that simple.
Shinji and Rei just smiled as Naoki began licking furiously at the new cone. Their daughter's will certainly manifested itself in mysterious ways. A fact that was confirmed as they turned a corner only to see that a circus had been set up in the middle of the park, one that had free entry.
Squealing in delight Naoki took off towards the large circus tent, only stopping briefly for her parents to catch up before running into the pavilion.
The rest of the day continued in much the same manner, with the family visiting everything from a zoo to a strange theme park known as 'Sugar World' which was in truth little more than a massive candy shop.
One would think that Naoki would eventually grow bored with the same or similar events happening everyday, but somehow the petite child never ceased to be amazed at the things she saw. To her everyday was as fantastic as the last, if not even better.
When the family finally did get home Naoki was not even tired, gulping down her dinner at the same speed which she had breakfast. When Rei suggested that she should go to bed however, she suddenly found herself overcome with a desire to lie down and go to sleep. Almost falling to sleep on her feet, the blue haired girl allowed herself to be picked up by her mother and carried off to bed.
When Rei returned to the dining room she sat down next to Shinji at the table, casually leaning her head against his shoulder. "How do you think the others are doing?"
Shinji rested his head on top of his wife's. "I'm sure they're doing great. After all they're in realities where their every dream can and will come true."
Snuggling up more to her husband's side, Rei signed in contentment. "You're right Shin-chan, I'm sure they're just fine."
(Asuka's Reality)
Asuka Langley Sohryu, twenty-one year old mother of one was busy nursing her young son, smiling at the warmth of the child's body pressed against her own.
The boy's father was not around at the moment, busy at some sort of business conference. Not that it really mattered to Asuka. Her husband was a good man and one of her best friends but she did not care for him anywhere near as much as she cared for her son. All she ever really wanted was a child.
As he finished suckling, Ryo rested his head against his mother's chest and began to drift off to sleep. He signed slightly as his green eyes slowly closed, bringing another smile to Asuka's face.
Standing up, the redhead carried her child to his small cot and carefully laid him down among his baby toys, kneeling down herself to watch the infant sleep. As always the little boy looked completely peaceful as he slept, his small chest rising and falling evenly and his light scattering of red hair moving slightly with the breeze coming through the window.
Asuka didn't need anything else. As long as she had her son, she was happy.
(Nara and Xera's Reality)
At the center of Tokyo-2, largest city in the world stood the tallest building in the world. Aya-Corp Central, the main building of the world spanning Aya Corporation, this realities premier supplier of…everything.
At the very top of the eight hundred meter tall, two hundred and fifty storey structure was a large penthouse, from which practically the entire city was visible. On the balcony of this penthouse stood Nara Ayanami, looking down at the busy streets below.
Nara was the head of Aya-Corp in this reality and had been for quite some time, having supposedly dragged himself up from the streets to become the richest man in the world. That of course had never actually happened. Though Nara considered the struggle he had had to go to in order to permanently suppress the Angels within him was somewhat akin to it.
While standing on the balcony the young adult was wondering how much damage he could do if he threw a coin over the balcony. He wasn't actually going to throw a coin but he was mildly interested in what the result would be. At this height it would certainly be destructive.
Nara was taken from his thoughts by the sound of the screen door behind him sliding open. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Is he asleep?"
Xera came to stand next to Nara, joining him in his contemplation of the streets below. "Yeah, he's sleeping like a baby." She only realised the slight stupidity of that statement after she said it.
Nara realised it too and chuckled slightly at his wife's mistake. "He is a baby."
Though she simply glared at her husband at fist, Xera eventually let out a small chuckle herself. "It was a slip of the tongue Nara, leave off it."
In this reality Xera was Nara's wife, with a similar history to him. She too had crawled her way up from the streets, eventually becoming an important executive within Aya-Corp. That had been five years ago, when this reality actually came into existence.
Soon after the two had married and a little over two years after the Third Impact Xera had given birth to a baby boy who they named Hisahito.
Like his parents Hisahito had blood red eyes and pale skin, a complexion complemented by his glossy white hair. Like Ryo, this boy had received his own soul and a replica in the Central Control Reality. He was as real as his parents.
Taking his attention from the streets below, Nara turned to smile at his wife. "You're cute when you're angry."
Any lingering traces of annoyance vanishing, Xera smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Why thankyou." She pulled his head down until their lips met in a deep and sensual embrace. Not their first kiss, though certainly not their last.
As Nara wrapped his arms around Xera's waist the two closed their eyes and simply enjoyed the moment. Here, together, with their son, they were happy.
End Notes: Well that's it. 'The Angels Return' is finally finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it. At some point I am going to write a sequel to this story which will be based at some point in the future of this strange new world. As always I'd appreciate it if you reviewed and told me what you thought.