Finale
Shinji descended the Pit much too fast. The walls were smooth and cylindrical. There was nothing to hold on to and Shinji had jumped in without thinking. Unit-01 fell, and gained speed, and continued to fall. How on earth was he gonna stop? Why the hell had Dewey told him to come this way? Obviously, when he hit ground, he would go splat!
But what was this? He was slowing down, and yet still falling. It was as if the laws of physics were distorted in this area. Shinji spread Unit-01's arms, and landed softly enough atop a gigantic piece of amber. He saw, only a few steps away in the Eva, his father, who stood pointing a gun at Rei.
"FATHER!" Shinji yelled: his voice resounding through the Eva's external speakers. He walked determinately over to them.
Rei looked up to Shinji, but couldn't speak. "Go to him," she heard a voice say. She looked at the Commander. "Go," he ordered again. Rei was cautious, but her desire to be with Shinji overcame her misgivings.
She broke into a run. "Shinji!"
"Rei!" Shinji lowered the Eva's arm to the ground, and Rei climbed into its hand. Shinji ejected his entry plug, while Unit-01 brought Rei to its entrance. She climbed in without hesitation, and was reloaded with Shinji back to the Eva. "Rei, are you alright?"
But instead of speaking, Rei threw her arms around Shinji. She kissed his neck, his cheek, and lips. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"It's ok now," Shinji brought her back into a loving embrace. "Let's go now."
Rei cried, breaking from Shinji, "We can't." She indicated the the golden collar.
"You both have a job to do," came a voice from the outside. Shinji's blood ran cold. He looked toward Gendo Ikari, standing at the edge of the large amber.
His fear boiled into rage, and he yelled. "Tell me why, father? Why do this?" Shinji was crying now, but, for the first time in his life, it was out of pure rage and hatred. "Why shouldn't I kill you right now?" Unit-01's hand reached out and gripped Gendo's frail, human body.
But the man wasn't resisting, and Rei was clenching at his chest, and Shinji couldn't bring himself to squeeze, yet. Gendo Ikari continued. "There is not easy way up from this place, especially for the Eva. The Cosmic Trigger will destroy Nerv, and everyone will die."
"Dewey will stop it! I have faith in him."
Gendo looked intrigued, rather than defeated. "Unit-02 is irrelevant. Seele plans to fire enough power through Orange, such that a whole fleet of Eva's could not withstand it."
Shinji was silent, but the Eva gripped Gendo tighter. The Commander gave a grunt of pain, but continued. "Nerv will be destroyed and there's nothing you could do. Nothing I could do to stop it. The same is true for Third Impact. But you haven't yet heard my plan, Shinji. I've told Rei that you two could be together, and I wasn't lying. Help me make contact with the Command Cluster. Help me enter the 9th plane. You want it to, isn't that true? To see Yui, again?"
The Eva's grip lessened, more and more, till Gendo Ikari stood back on the amber floor.
"Shinji. . ." Rei put her hand on his cheek. Shinji was looking down at his lap, avoiding Rei's gaze. "Shinji, I don't trust the Commander. But I trust you. Whatever you decide, I'll support you. I'll go with you." She forced Shinji to look at her, with her hands on both of his cheeks. She brought him into another embrace, kissing him more tenderly then ever before.
They broke apart, and Shinji looked at Rei lovingly– his flittered to and fro her eyes and the golden collar. He promised, "I'll always be with you." He too felt the lie in Gendo's words. He spoke to his father. "Alright, what do I have to do?"
Gendo smirked, and took from his pocket a Compact Drive, which was glowing brighter than any light Shinji had ever seen. Shinji and Rei both recognized that this device was the cause and source of the artificially engineered Kute-class coralians. "Artificial Human: Evangelion Unit-01!"
The Eva's lights shone bright, and Shinji panicked. Rei squeezed his hand, and muttered reassuring words. She knew that the Zone was about to be opened.
Gendo bent down and seemed to shove the Compac into the amber, which received it, as if the thing had always been apart of itself. The green light shone brighter, and began to overcome the orangish-yellow of the amber.
The large mound was turning green, and shone as brightly as the Compac Drive. The Inside of the entry plug began to glow with the same color. Shinji could no longer see, but kept a tight grip on Rei's hand, as it he felt his soul and body being caught up in a massive current.
"I'm coming, Yui."
Dewey opened his eyes. He was still inside the entry plug, and Asuka lay on top of him. All the cameras were out, and all he saw was the metallic walls of the plug. But this wasn't right. He had been holding back Orange. He had been caught up in a wave of trappar. He had been sure that Third Impact had begun.
Thankfully, Dewey kept his head, and climbed for the exit hatch. He opened it manually, and kicked the door back. He wasn't in the Eva. Wherever he was, it was bright.
"Dewey?" He looked back, and saw Asuka rousing to her feet. "What the hell is–" But Asuka was silenced. Dewey had jumped toward her, taking her up in his arms.
"Thank God. You're ok." Dewey let her go and looked at her over carefully, "You are ok?"
"Of course," Asuka rubbed her head, and stretched out. "How long was I?" Asuka didn't want to say 'asleep', but she couldn't think of another word.
"Do you remember?" Dewey asked. He didn't need to explain. Asuka looked at him surprised and blushed red.
She looked away. "Y-yeah."
"Everything?" Dewey needed to make sure.
"Yes! Everything, idiot!" Asuka yelled at him. Dewey exhaled a sigh of relief, and smiled at her. "Well," Asuka crossed her arms. Dewey looked pleasantly puzzled. "Are you gonna kiss me, or something!" Dewey rallied. He slipped his arms under Asuka's and pulled her close.
Grudgingly, Asuka allowed her self to be cradled, keeping her arms crossed. She glanced toward Dewey, and saw that his eyes were closed. She looked back away, but glanced again. He was leaning in.
Dewey knew that Asuka would never let herself be kissed first: it would be way to humiliating– it would damage her pride! 'He knows me too well. . .' Asuka uncrossed her arms, and looked at the pleading Dewey. 'I guess that's a good thing.' She closed her eyes and leaned in. Their lips met sweetly.
After the first contact, Dewey took the initiative. he kissed Asuka fiercely, over and over. "Hey– hey. . .slow, down. . .Dewey." Her protests her half-hearted, and soon she gave in.
Finally, they broke apart. Asuka climbed half way out of the entry plug and looked around. "Hey, Dewey! Look: The Stairs of the Sky!"
Dewey climbed out after Asuka, and saw that, somehow, someway, their entry plug had been laid at the feet of Ciudades del Cielo's most famous land mark. He looked in the opposite direction, and saw collapsed on the ground, only inches from the entry plug, Unit-02. "Do you think the Eva carried us here?"
Asuka looked over to see what Dewey meant, and she smiled. "Thank you, Unit-02. I won't forget you, promise."
Dewey held Asuka once more, and looked up at the colossal landmark. "You know, Asuka. They're also called 'The Stairs of Heaven.' And people who come here always make a choice. I've always wondered what that choice might be. . .but now, I think I understand."
Asuka nodded. "You can choose to make any place heaven."
Shinji opened his eyes. He was outside– at least, he could feel a breeze. There seem to be no sky, but no ceiling either. And he was sitting up, on bench against a wall. Opposite him was a large shelf case of books. And all around him were similar shelfs. He might of been an immeasurably big, outdoor library. And he was alone.
He panicked. "Rei! Where are you, Rei!" But suddenly, Rei was driven from his mind. He had only run a short way, where he now stood at the shore of large pond, in the middle of which sat a woman, and looking over her was a man.
The man was his father, but younger than he had ever know him, and beardless. Seated in the chair, was his mother. His first thought was, 'So, she looks like that.' But now, they were speaking.
"This is a shady spot to stand in. Yui?"
"Gendo. . .did you take care of Shinji, like you promised?"
"I gave him everything I could."
"–except love."
'I wonder why," Shinji thought. '...my legs won't move.' A tear fell from his cheek.
"I could never love him. Before these monsters took you away, he had taken you from me."
"But you loved Rei, like a daughter."
"No. I felt guilty– as a father. Maybe that's why. . .it was all to see you. You're the only one I could love. You're the only one who could love me. Forgive me."
"But now you would take away the one he loves? Intend to leave him in the same hell you experienced."
"No. If he has the will to live, he can make a heaven wherever he is. As long as he lives, he'll find a chance to be happy." Yui smiled at Gendo, hearing her own words repeated back to her.
'I want to run over to her, but I'm frozen in place.' If there was one thing Shinji could always do, it was run away. He had learned, at Nerv, to stand and fight. But now, when he wanted it most, he couldn't run towards the thing he wanted.
Yui continued to smile as she looked over at her son. "Shinji. You can come to me if you want, you know. . .Is it that you can't move? Or is it that where you really want to go isn't where I am?"
"Shinji! Where are you, Shinji!" Shinji heard it, 'but whose voice was that?'
"I'll always watch over you, Shinji. You can go wherever you want, and I'll still be watching over you."
His father spoke. "Listen. Behind you...she's calling you."
"Ah– Rei!" Shinji turned and ran, and he didn't look back. His surroundings disappeared and reformed, and now he was sitting on a train. He looked next to him, and saw Rei facing forward. He looked down, and saw that they were holding hands.
Before either of them could speak, a girl's voice asked, "Are you ready to deliver your book?" They both turned to see the small, blue haired girl kicking her feet that dangled from the edge of train seat. "You don't have a choice. You can't go anywhere with that."
Shinji looked to Rei, and saw her touching the golden collar around her neck. Shinji looked back to the girl. "Can you take it off?"
"You awoke us."
"You mean Third Impact is happening now!" Shinji exclaimed.
But then another boy spoke, and Shinji recognized it. "Rei is now the new Command Cluster. She's keeping Third Impact from truly commencing." Shinji's gaze shot over to the opposite end of the train. There sat the brown haired boy, and with him, sitting hand in hand, was a green haired girl Shinji didn't recognize. They both were emanating a jewel like glow from there foreheads– perfectly in synch with one another.
"You mean, she can't leave this place?" Shinji clenched Rei's hand, and looked at her face. It was expressionless. "Can she hear me?"
"She can hear everything," the green haired girl answered. "But she can't talk."
Shinji gulped. He looked back to the little girl. "What's this book she wants?"
The boy answered, "It will decide what happens next. It will decide whether or not humans and coralians can live together."
"But what is it?"
"It's her heart," the green haired girl said simply. Shinji looked down at Rei's lap, and saw that he free hand was holding a small book.
Shinji reached out for it, but stopped himself. "Rei? I'm going to take your book. I'm going to let the Coralians see it. Is that alright?" Rei didn't stir. "Rei, you can definitely hear me," Shinji believed the boy and girl, though he couldn't say why. "So, if you don't want me to, just slap me. Really hard, ok?"
Shinji saw Rei's grip loosen on the book. It was ever so slight, but she had definitely moved. He took the book, and handed it to the little girl, who laid it on her lap. She began to look through it, and Shinji could see the pages.
The first ten were blank. Then there was a bad drawing of Unit-01. For a few more pages, there was only the Eva, but the drawing's improved.
Then there was nothing– or, at least, Shinji thought so. But then as the blank pages went on, he saw that the same picture was simply being drawn over and over again. It was a man, drawn so lightly, less than a shadow on the page. But then the lines became darker and darker, and the man became bigger and bigger upon the page. Half way through the book the man was clearly visible as the Commander of Nerv, Shinji's father, Gendo Ikari.
The man continued to dominate the following pages, but other people were being added to the pictures as well. Misato, Ritsuko, Kaji, the Nerv staff, and classmates. Yet the man in the center of the page was clearly the biggest and well defined.
Then, suddenly, three fourths way through the book, all of the Nerv staff disappeared, and standing next to the man, was Shinji. He was a head shorter than his dad, just as in real life, but he was equally as well defined.
The Coralians stopped hear to stare at the picture for a while, and then flipped to the next page. This time, the Commander wasn't in the middle of the page, to the left, and Shinji was to the right. The first words of the books were written all around Gendo Ikari, clearly on the left side of the page. Words like: orders, eyes, lips, hair, hands, chest, command, gloves, and glasses. There were no words around Shinji.
On the next page, the left side of the page stayed the same, but Shinji's side had gained two words: 'Eva' and 'son'. On the next page, another word: pilot. On the next page: uncomfortable. And so on and so on, Shinji began to have words around him: the same, protect, sorry, warm, confusing, help, thank you, tea, please, happy.
Once all these words had appeared, the next few pages showed little change. But then Shinji noticed again, that something was happening to the picture of his father. It was lighter and lighter on the page– and Shinji picture was moving toward the center.
Shinji was eager for the book to continue– he saw that they were almost at the end. But the Coralian had paused on one page. Shinji wondered why, before he saw it. Just above the picture of himself, was a small, drawn heart. The next page was flipped, and more hearts appeared. And more and more, till suddenly, the words had disappeared, and the page showed only the drawn Shinji and hearts.
The page after that didn't have Shinji on it at all. It was covered in hearts, and in the center was one word: Love. The Coralian flipped the page once more. This time there weren't multiple hearts. Instead, drawn across both pages was one large heart, and in the middle were the words: Shinji and I became one.
The Coralians stopped here. Shinji had tears in his eyes. He sniffed, and wiped them off. Then he said, "You can't have it." The girl looked up at him. She looked like Rei, and yet so unlike her. It was her eyes: they were the color of lavender and so unlike Rei's. Shinji explained, "Rei's heart belongs to me. I won't let you keep it." Shinji held out his to take the book back.
The Coralians seemed stunned. The girl looked toward the end of the train, where the boy and girl sat, smiling back at her. Then she looked back at Shinji. She nodded. The Coralians handed him back the book, and Shinji took it. He was about to give it back to Rei, when he felt his hands being squeezed.
Rei was looking into his eyes with pools of love welling up inside her. She said, her voice shaking with affection and longing, "Let's go home." The collar unlocked and fell from her neck.
Shinji barely noticed that their surroundings had disappeared, and that now they were standing together on the shore of a vast ocean. Shinji nodded, and answered Rei, "Let's go, together."
A voice sounded around them, but Shinji couldn't tell if it was the boy, the girl, or the Coralians speaking. It might have been all three.
"You two are the beginning. You have proven to us that is better to experience pain in the hope of living together in happiness. Love has given you wings. Go. And we will follow: to make heaven with you."