Answers:
Dude: That was a good debate we had, Thanks
Fanus: I love the stuff you write, I really do
Kaiser: You're welcome
Anon: Misato is a lot more emotional and fragile than you realize

Disclaimer: See Prologue
Chapter 25: Talk to an Angel

"I'm not interested in any strange men appearing at my apartment door."

"Trust me, I'm not strange. Ryouji Kaji. UN." He held his NERV ID up for Hikari's older sister to skeptically examine. "One of our own decided to skip work for a few days and she ended up here-"

"Asuka?"

"The redheaded stepchild of NERV herself."

"She's upstairs. She's just been staying in my sister's room for a while now, hasn't had the decency to socialize."

"I'm going to try to solve that. May I come in, I need to see her home." He flashed a handsome smile as she welcomed him in.

=That jawline, those shoulders...No! You've never even seen him before! =

"Asuka..."

"I'm not trying to be a burden, Hikari. I just need to get away from NERV."

"You aren't burdensome, but abusing my Genesis isn't going to help you." Hikari deadpanned. Asuka threw the classic console's gamepad to the side as Tails got in Sonic's way again and Asuka lost about 100 rings.

"I don't need help. I just need to get away for a while."

"You never told me why you came here."

"It's about my pilot status. Anything more than that is classified-"

"Because of her recent medical treatment, Miss Horaki, Asuka is having critically low synchronization with her Eva Unit." A tall, ponytailed man walked into Hikari's room. "Asuka, I don't particurlarly care if you're not in the condition to pilot right now. Neither do Misato or Shinji. We just want you back home."

Asuka's eyes softened when she saw her handsome guardian come to pick her up, but she steeled them and turned her nose up and away.

"I'm not going back there!"

"All right, that's fine by me. I'll have to start the paperwork to rescind your commission. Your rank and pay are eliminated and you get mailed back to Germany."

"Kaji! You wouldn't-"

"No, I wouldn't. But NERV will, and I don't see any reason for them not to. While you're disabled you were going to continue receiving your pay and privileges, but if you decide to run away, then you're getting cut by the higher-ups."

"Kaji, you're holding me hostage!"

"No, NERV's holding your paycheck hostage. I honestly don't understand why you see it as a negative. I would kill for several weeks' paid vacation."

"Because it's not a vacation! It's me sitting on my ass at NERV's HQ and not being allowed to do anything."

"You still attend school. You go to the pool, the Tokyo-3 malls, whatever the hell teen kids do nowadays, I don't care enough to keep up. You wouldn't just be sitting in a lab somewhere. Hell, you're visiting Hikari right now...Actually, while I'm here Hikari, I can get you a pass to see Touji again, if you want to visit him."

"Really!? When?"

"Right now, if Asuka has the stones to show her face at HQ."

"IS THAT A CHALLENGE!?"

"Yes."

"You idiots think I'm too scared to go to work, don't you! Come on, Hikari, we're making an appearance!" Asuka grabbed her wrist and stomped out the door.

= Works every time... = Kaji knew how to manipulate Asuka, 6 years of care taught him all the right buttons to push.

Shinji found out that Touji had recovered enough to leave his hospital room and go out in a wheelchair. He ran out of the locker rooms, never showing up for the latest sync test, to catch him.

"Touji, I'm sorry-"

"Shinji, Shut Up. I don't care if I'm in a wheelchair. I'm just happy to get out of that room."

"Alright, but-" Shinji offered to help.

"I'm pushing myself. My arms still work, thank you!"

"Okay, okay, where do you want to go?"

"The gym, where else? I've got free throws to practice! If you think that I'm going to let my perfect shot go to waste-"

"Yes, yes, your basketball stats are the most important thing about you right now."

"You're damn right, they are! If my numbers aren't perfect in time for the 2020 Paralympic team, I wont have a chance to get in!"

"Touji...are you-"

"What? Moving on with my life? Making something of myself? Shinji I'm hurt, not dead. If I'm considered long-term disabled, then I'm gonna kick ass from a wheelchair!"

= Touji isn't gone...I guess things are starting to get better after all... = Shinji thought to himself.

"Hey, Earth to Ikari! Stop being the moodiest teenage guy on the planet and let's go!"

"I knew for a fact that I'd find you in here." Kaji brought two girls with him into the NERV fitness center. Shinji and Touji were on the free throw line at the basketball courts when they heard Kaji's voice from the door.

"Hey, you're that UN Inspector Misato hooked up with, right?"

"Yeah, I certainly am. I brought a friend of yours to work today." Hikari darted from Kaji's side and ran to Touji's seated form. They awkwardly hugged as best as they could, considering Touji was now shorter than Hikari.

"You two are even more disgusting than Idiot and Wondergirl."

"And you're jealous that we can get a date, Asuka." Touji mocked.

"JEALOUS!?" Asuka steamed, red faced in embarrassment. "There's nobody in Japan worthy of Asuka Langley Soryu's company!"

"Nobody in Japan would want it."

"Wow, princess, Touji here is making you look bad from a wheelchair!" Mari snuck in behind Kaji, quickly hijacking the conversation. "Why not just chillax for a while?"

"Who the hell are you to tell me to 'chillax'!?"

"Well...I blew up a chunk of Russia, took your Unit-02 for a joyride, and saved the Sub-Commander's life. What have you done, lately?"

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT HIJACKED UNIT-02!?"

"Actually, the term would be 'helped save the planet,' but yes."

"You girls want to settle it on the court?"

"No, Stooge, I'm not going to justify your childish game."

"Well, heck, I'll play you, Touji!" Mari chirped, bubbly as she always is. "Come on, Hikari! I say boys vs girls! Ryouji, go find us three more wheelchairs!"

"...Thanks, you three..." Touji quietly offered his appreciation, Shinji, Hikari, and this girl he just met were playing on a level field with him.

"Rei, you're the one most likely to know where Shinji is, any ideas?" Misato asked from the test control room.

"He heard someone mention that Pilot Suzuhara was no longer bedridden; he ran out of the entry cages, still in his plugsuit. I would assume he went to medical to see him." She answered, looking up from the controls mid-sync.

"...I'll chew him out later, I guess. If Touji is recovering, I don't have the heart to be mad at him."

"You've been at a 70% sync for a while, now, Rei. Concentrate. You need to go deeper." Ritsuko analyzed, her voice cold.

"I will try." Rei cleared her mind and focused. She felt herself growing closer to Unit-00.

SEELE-01 SOUND ONLY: And what authority do you think you had to throw away the Lance of Longinus?

"The authority to eliminate the Angel at the range that it was attacking us from. It was invulnerable to the Positron Cannon, only the most powerful weapon we humans ever built. This Thirteenth Angel, the Bird of Light, was even more powerful than the Sixth, which did fall to it. The Second Child's psychological status is proof of the Thirteenth's power."

SEELE-02 SOUND ONLY: The Third Child was reported to be unaffected by the Thirteenth Angel.

"It would appear that the Angel used a form of psychic communication as its attack. Captain Soryu fell victim to frightening and hurtful memories that the Angel uncovered. First Lieutenant Ikari instead began to verbally debate the Angel, acknowleging the topics that it revealed, then rebutting them. It was apparently an effective method of mental defense."

SEELE-02 SOUND ONLY: I believe your statements, but your choice to decommission Unit-01, leaving only one active Evangelion Unit, was a poor choice to make.

"Unit-01 can still be reactivated, is simply under investigation regarding its previous berserk state. As for poor choices, kidnapping a harmless individual like Fuyutsuki will be met with extreme retaliation, as evidenced by Inspector Kaji's heroic actions. You will not be able to use him as a tool any longer. His allegiance lies with those who do not rely on petty crime and subterfuge to achieve their goals. If you wish to investigate NERV, you will do so through official channels. Kidnapping a 70 year old man is embarrassing."

SEELE-01 SOUND ONLY: It was done to expose your treachery, Ikari.

"And it has only proven that NERV protects its own."

Sirens blared throughout NERV's facilities.

"It would appear that NERV is needed to defend the Earth once more, gentlemen." Gendo left the humiliated leaders to grumble to themselves.

Shinji and Touji had realized that Hikari was a much better 3-Point Shot than her normal 'busy student' persona let on. She and the very athletic Mari were roundly beating the two boys on the court as the Angel warning sounded.

"Do you two have any idea how lucky you are that Shinji has to go to work? I guess we have to leave you to lick your wounds for a while!" Hikari was flashing a terrifying grin to Touji who learned not to underestimate his girlfriend that day. Mari bailed out of the wheelchair she was playing from and ran over to Shinji, squeezing him in a bone-crushing hug.

"Go win out there, Puppy Boy!" He stumbled around, dazed for a moment, then ran to the Eva bays as Kaji approached Asuka on the bleachers.

"You're needed in the hangars, too, Asuka."

"No I'm not! I'm not worth anything-"

"I don't care what your sync number is. You and Unit-02 are a team, you go there and you win! That's what Asuka does! This moping around and feeling worthless is going to make you worthless. Even if you aren't in the condition to fight, you need to get to Unit-02 and try. Touji was nearly killed in Unit-03, but he hasn't given up on life, are you going to let him outdo you?"

"No. I'm not." Asuka stood and proudly walked to the locker rooms to get her plugsuit.

They found a ring of two interlocked helixes rotating above Goura Railway Station. It was stationary, not approaching the center of Tokyo-3. Unit-00 was already prepped for launch and broke through the upper limit of the city and took point on a hillside a distance from the suspected Angel.

"We don't know anything about it, Rei." Misato announced over the radio. "Just hold steady there and continue feeding us video and sound."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Rei doesn't need to be fighting alone!" Shinji suddenly appeared on a video monitor from Unit-01's cage. "Send Unit-01 out already! We can handle it!"

"Unit-01 is still considered too unstable to launch. You'll only be going out if the emergency need arises."

= This is stupid and wrong! They have no idea! Unit-01 isn't unstable, Mom only wants to protect me- =

He heard Maya's analysis from the MAGI. She reported that the Blue Match was created. This thing was the Fifteenth Angel.

"Rei," Misato called. " Start making your way back. We're going to let the MAGI handle the investigation from here on out-"

"No! It's coming..." Rei sensed and whispered over the radio.

The twin helixes merged into one thread and split the ring. It snaked down from the sky and speared Unit-00 through its AT Field. Rei cried out as she felt pain and pressure in her abdomen.

"WHAT THE HELL IS UNIT-00 DOING?" Misato yelled over the bridge crew.

"We don't know!" Hyuga shouted in realization. "Its AT Field is still up, but the Angel punched right through it!"

"We've got a medical reading!" Aoba announced. "The Angel is absorbing the muscle and nerve mass of Unit-00 and replacing it with its own! It's almost like the Angel and Unit-00 are...becoming one somehow?..." He announced in realization.

Rei cringed. The pain had been replaced by pressure and heat. She felt as if she were being...invaded. She grabbed the Angel's long, shaft-like body and attempted to tear it away while firing her rifle into it, the rounds simply shattering and sparking away from it.

"Is Asuka at Unit-02 yet!?"

"Ma'am, her entry plug is being inserted as we speak!"

"Then launch her out! Move up close and unload into that bastard! Take some of that heat off Rei!"

Unit-02 slid up the launch rails, unlocked from the elevator and...froze.

"ASUKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"I...can't...It's not responding! It won't...even...move..." She said, her voice broken, while trying to engage the controls.

Hyuga read the synchronization estimation. "Asuka's sync is somewhere around 10%! She has sensory perception but not much else!"

"...Then bring Unit-02 back. We won't have Asuka in danger for nothing. START MELTING THE BAKELITE ON UNIT-01!"

Techs in the cages began applying solvents to the purple epoxy compound currently covering Unit-01's body while Shinji climbed into the entry plug. = Yeah, I'd call this an 'emergency need,' Misato. If Rei is harmed while I'm stuck down here I might have to knock down the pyramid again!...I'm coming Rei, please hold on, for me. =

"Target's penetration of Unit-00 is unchecked! More than 5% of Unit-00's biomass is now the Angel's flesh!" Ritsuko was reading the Magi's analysis of the attack. She genuinely feared for Rei's safety. = This isn't even theoretically possible! What the hell is happening to her!? =

"How much longer until this purple shit is gone?!" Shinji growled over the radio. He has really had enough of the stupid decisions NERV's leadership repeatedly made.

Rei gasped. She no longer felt pain. She felt as if her body was being...taken. The Angel continued to burrow into Unit-00's flesh and into Rei's mind. Fractal veins formed and branched through the flesh of the pilot and her weapon. Rei's mind became clouded...she saw...herself?

"Who...is this?..."

= In the Eva...I sense somebody other than myself is here, as well... =

"Who...are you?" The voice was female, but distorted and alien.

= ...The Angel? Are you one of the beings we call the 'Angels'? = Rei looked down and saw her own feet levitating a few centimeters above a sea of LCL, not unlike the lake below Lillith's prison. She looked forward and saw a perfect copy of herself, standing waist-deep in the alien liquid.

"Do you want to become one with me?"

= No. I am myself. I am unwilling to merge with another being. =

"I sense within your mind. You have lied to me. You are willing to merge with another being."

= You speak of my original purpose. I have now found a purpose of my own. To merge with the being of my creation will only create pain. I now understand. I do not wish to create pain. =

"Pain? I know of pain. Let me share my pain with you. Do you recognize this pain?"

= This pain you share. It is Loneliness. =

"Loneliness?"

= Yes. Loneliness. =

"You are the one that is alone, aren't you. We were not alone, until those that created you began to destroy us. You are alone amongst those that created you."

Rei had learned, from Shinji, that happiness could be found by anyone, including her. = I am alone no longer. =

"Loneliness and fear fills your soul. I can feel it. You know that the one you claim to have overcome your Loneliness fears you, you know that the one you claim to have overcome your Loneliness knows nothing of your purpose, you know that the one you claim to have overcome your Loneliness knows absolutely nothing of your origins; you lied to him by preserving his ignorance of these facts.

= "My origins are of no importance, why should he be concerned with where I came from? =

"What do you think he will do to you when he learns the truth of your origins? Your creators see us as abominations. You are the greatest example of your creators' hubris and ignorance." The Angel's perfect mimicry of Rei's face twisted into a disgusting smile.

Rei was snapped back into the real world when she felt wet droplets hit her thighs. = The LCL is supposed to be vaporized- =

"Tears...these are...my tears?" Rei, a teen girl, had never cried before. "Am I the one who is...crying?" She never had anything of value before, so she had never felt loss, before. Now, the Angel attacked her new emotions with feelings of the loss of Shinji, the one who had awakened those emotions within her.

"What is Unit-01's status?" Commander Ikari's voice overtook all other sounds in the bridge.

"Commander, it's out of the bakelite. We can launch when you give us permission." Ritsuko answered from her terminal.

"Launch it immediately!"

"Shinji! Raise your field to its max and get Rei out of there!"

This is the second time Shinji saw someone he cared about being mentally attacked by an Angel. As Unit-01 broke loose from the elevator's restraints, Shinji found an alternative course of action. He forced Unit-01 to blow the power coupling and concentrated, diving the plug deep in the LCL and artificially increasing his sync to Unit-01.

"DR. AKAGI!" Maya screamed, terrified at the implications of Shinji's actions. "He's operating in isolated mode, again! We can't disconnect him! He's just forced his sync to 320% and...He's holding it there! I don't know what he's doing!"

"I do, Maya, he's learned to use the power source he absorbed from the Fourteenth Angel. There's nothing we can do to hold him back, now. Everybody pray that Shinji is of sound mind, otherwise he is going to kill us all."

Shinji found himself drifting in Unit-01's LCL, right where he hoped to be.

"Mom! Where are you!? I need your help!"

"I'm right here, Shinji. I'm surprised you were able to come back here on your own."

"Rei's in danger! Just like the Angel that attacked Asuka, it's attacking her mind! I can't fight against a psychic attack, I don't know what to do! I need your help!"

"Shinji, you can fight against a psychic attack. You've done it once before; you just need a little more power this time. Look outside."

He complied, and watched as Yui blew the chestplate off of Unit-01, exposing the glowing red core underneath. "I'll tell you what to do when we're ready. For now, get back to the controls, your girlfriend needs you."

Shinji rematerialized at Unit-01's controls and forced the monstrosity to run towards Unit-00 and Rei. The Angel's free tail sensed him and whipped towards Unit-01, only to be caught in the Eva's hands. Fractaling veins appeared in Unit-01's arms and Shinji felt the pain of infection.

= Come on, Mom! Any time, now... =

"SHINJI!" Misato's voice broke through the radio. "What the hell were you doing!?"

"Tactics." He answered. "I needed some time to think."

"Well here's a solution for you! Use your knife and stab the damn thing!"

"Right!" He ejected the knife from his shoulder holster and stabbed it into the section of the Angel's body in his hands. An ear-splitting scream erupted from Unit-00. Shinji realized that Rei would feel anything that he did to the Angel. The Angel spoke to Shinji's mind through the infection.

"Please, Ikari! Don't hurt us! It hurts! It hurts, Ikari!" The body of the Angel reformed into another mirror image of Rei, shaped from the waist-up and moving to kiss Unit-01's faceplate. "Isn't this what you want from us? Become one with us, Ikari!"

Rei, in Unit-00, heard and felt everything the Angel thought and said to him, and came to a realization. "Is this what my heart and soul desires? To become one with Ikari?...No, this is not what I want. I do not want him to come to harm! You will not harm him!" She opened a panel in Unit-00 and pulled the handle it uncovered.

"Rei!" Misato's voice came over the radio. " Don't you do it!"

"It is the only way to protect Shinji." The Angel began to retract inside Unit-00's body.

"THEN EJECT, DAMMIT!"

"No, if I leave Unit-00, the AT Field will collapse, and the Angel will escape."

Shinji was coming to his own realization.

"Isn't this what you want from us? Become one with us, Ikari!"

= Wait...My core is exposed...The Angel is attacking the body of Unit-00. Unit-01 has absorbed an Angel through its core, before...Thanks, Mom. =

"Ohh, I'll 'Become One' with you, alright!"

Shinji grabbed the Angel's mockery of Rei before it could be drawn away, and crushed it against the exposed core. It glowed bright red and began absorbing the Angel's body away as well. The two Evangelion Units began a sick game of tug-of-war, each trying to draw the Angel's body into itself. Shinji dove and forced himself back to that perfect sync, 320%. He had learned that he could sync to that point and merge with Unit-01, then return to form at will.

"The AT Field has stopped drawing the Angel...Why?" Rei realized that the Angel was stretched to a hair's width between the Units. "What is Shinji doing?"

She found herself floating above the sea of LCL again. The Angel was there, still wading in the LCL in front of her, staring in shock at Shinji's form, floating before her.

"I'm going to use my powers of deduction here and say that you're the bitch responsible for Rei feeling hurt." He said to the Angel, his voice seething. "You don't deserve to even think about her, much less copy her shape and face!" Rei could sense the power of Unit-01's living core inside him. "People that hurt Rei tend to end up eviscerated by Unit-01. Want to add to that tradition?"

"You are the one that she spoke of. Tell me, do you know the truth?" The Angel answered him, smiling frighteningly at him, but Shinji wouldn't buy it.

"What truth? I know that you're attacking her right now! That's a truth for you!"

"Then you do not. Let me show you what she knows is true."

Shinji and Rei realized that they were suddenly feeling each other's thoughts, minds, and souls. They saw each other's past. Rei, in Unit-00, cried out in fear: Shinji would see the parts of her that she secretly hated. Unit-00 and 01 were held in a stalemate, Unit-00 not able to draw the Angel in and self-destruct because of Unit-01's pull. Shinji would know of her history. He would be disgusted by her.

She became distracted, not by that fear, but by a torrent of memories filling her head.

She saw Yui Ikari, being lowered into Unit-01 and vanishing, then being found by Shinji 12 years later after he destroyed the Fourteenth Angel; saw the happiness and love his mother had for Shinji when they were reunited, even only in spirit inside Unit-01.

She saw Shinji cradling her in his arms when the Fourth Angel attacked the base and shook her off the hospital bed.
= Shinji...you cared for me even then? =

She saw Shinji's father leaving him at three years old and felt loathing for the man she once worshiped. She saw Shinji's comfortable childhood at the hands of his Sensei and realized that he was allowed to grow into a truly good, caring, and selfless person in his corrupt father's absence.

She saw Shinji's embarrassment at stumbling into her nude form while she walked out of her bathroom.
= He has seen all of me...I want to see him like that as well...Are my thoughts...distasteful? =

She saw Shinji's fear for her when he helped her out of Unit-00 after the Sixth Angel burned it to a crisp.
= He asked me to smile...He does not need to ask, anymore. =

She saw Shinji's infatuation with her whenever he was around her, be it at her apartment doing her housework for her, showing off his cooking and cello skills, ogling her while she was wearing her plugsuit or swimsuit, or any of the times they'd kissed since his first, futile attempt.
= Are those actions the behavior of one that is...in love? Is that what...love...looks like? =

Shinji, on the other hand, was smoldering with rage.

He saw his father ordering Naoko Akagi to use the Artificial Evolution Laboratory's resources to grow a collection of artificial human clones from the body of the Second Angel, Lillith and from blood samples from Yui Ikari; something he realized she would not be happy with when she found out that she was being cloned without consent.
= I HATE HIM! =

He saw Rei's first clone being extracted from LCL and being raised by Gendo as a happy young girl until he manipulated her into the suicide of Naoko Akagi.
= THAT BASTARD DID THESE THINGS. HE DOESN'T DESERVE TO BE SHOT, I'LL KILL HIM WITH MY BARE HANDS!=

He saw the second Rei's lifeless, accelerated growth, until the fateful activation of Unit-00, the Unit going berserk in the test chamber, crashing against the walls, firing Rei's entry plug into the ceiling and floor, and her receiving the injuries she had when he first saw her.
= My god...Rei's body is only FOUR YEARS OLD. That bastard just kills her off and replaces her when he thinks he can't control the current one! I'LL KILL HIM! =

He saw Rei's confusion and fright when he would show her his brand of random kindness. She genuinely had no idea why he would treat her with common human decency when the Commander had treated her as a piece of equipment and conditioned her to think that that treatment was good and loving.
= HE'S DONE NOTHING BETTER THAN BRAINWASHING HER!=

He saw her inside the LCL chamber, head in pain and memory clouded, as Ritsuko stepped up the memory backups being performed on her, another thing Rei was conditioned to accept.
= Ritsuko better give me a damn good reason not to kill her as well. =

He saw her slowly beginning to return his affection as he explained, with logic and reason supporting him, why she deserved the kindness and friendship he offered her.
= Has nobody ever tried to befriend her except me!? What the hell is wrong with people!?"

He heard the countdown of Unit-00, preparing to self-destruct in order to save Shinji from the Angel he was currently bonded to.

= NO! SHE'S NOT KILLING HERSELF TO SAVE ME! =

Shinji synchronized as closely to Unit-01 as he could, Unit-01's eyes igniting bright red. He felt himself clawing his way down to the core of Unit-01 and turning outwards to the Angel's thread-like body. His senses became overwhelmed as he pushed through the Angel. The world around him dissolved into a kaleidoscope of blue, yellow, and green bolts of light streaking past him as he crawled through space. The only constant thing he saw was the distant end of this tunnel he found himself in as Unit-01's armor burst away from it, revealing the flesh of man-made god surrounding the glowing Core in its chest.

"What's happening, Ritsuko!?" Misato asked from their place in the bridge.

"...It's tearing away the bonds of mortal humanity! Shinji is creating a divine being on Earth!"

"He's doing what!?" Misato shouted as she watched a halo of plasma and heat form above Unit-01's head. "...I've-I've seen this happen before!"

"Yes...This is the creation of a being of pure energy...the exact course of events during the Second Impact...and the destruction of all life that came before it!"

She opened a channel to Unit-01's radio, if Shinji could hear it. "Shinji, stop this! There's only death and destruction with this choice!"

Only static answered her.

Shinji clawed his way forward through the tunnel, beginning to see the opening on the other side. He was able to see a window into Unit-00's entry plug; he saw Rei writhing in pain, the Angel's veins criscrossing her entire body.

"HOLD ON, REI!"

Unit-01 began to levitate, just off the ground.

"I'M COMING!"

"You shouldn't." Shinji heard her voice drifting through the merged bodies. "You should protect yourself. Leave me."

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I DO THAT?!"

"Go. If I die, there are replacements...there are replacements."

"NOT FOR LONG! YOU'RE THE REAL REI! AND I WILL (NOT) WATCH YOU DIE!"

Unit-01 began ascending to the sky as that sky grew red and dark.

Rei was repeatedly pulling the self-destruct activation, asking Unit-00 why it refused to die and end her pain. She gasped in shock as Shinji appeared before her in Unit-00's plug. He smiled and drifted up to her face.

Shinji leaned in to Rei, wrapped his arms around her, and began planting soft kisses on her cheek and neck. After a moment, he spoke to her. "Pointlessly killing youself when there's a...better solution is something a doll would do. You aren't a doll, Rei."

She felt herself get snapped forwards, dragged at the speed of Shinji's will through Unit-00 and the Angel into Unit-01, where she saw the two of them floating in an infinite expanse, filled with a light blue haze that perfectly matched the shade of her hair. She felt safe and warm in the arms of Shinji, still holding her, but it didn't stop her from feeling disgusted and sick of herself and her questionable status as a 'human being'.

"Shinji, let go. I am not-"

"Not what? Normal? Sure, neither am I nor anybody who works at the insane asylum we call NERV." He started kissing her along her neck and shoulders.

"No...I am-"

"What? Based on the DNA of Lillith because my dad is enough of a fool to think he can resurrect the Second Angel and rule the world? The only- ONLY -success he ever had was creating you, and he doesn't even deserve that!" He moved to her lips and she broke away.

"No, I am based-"

"Oh yeah, my dad used my mom's DNA as well because he thinks he can resurrect her...I'll let him find out about her opinion about both those things when she's able to make an appearance."

"Shinji, I feared telling you in the past, but in doing so I have lied to you...What I am is-"

"What you are is the perfect girl, Rei! They had to create you in a lab because 'normal' women are a pain in the ass. I love you, Rei. I know for a fact that I do. I love you because of who you are, not despite it!"

Shinji began kissing her again, moving against her lips and splitting them open with his tongue. Tasting another person's saliva is either disgusting- if you're French kissing a stranger -or the greatest moment in a teenage boy's life, because it means that he's intimately kissing his dream girl.

Unit-01 sucked the entire body of the Angel into its core, Unit-00 dropped away from its point dangling below Unit-01, and the self-destruct vaporized a section of Tokyo-3 when it exploded. Wings of Light sprouted from Unit-01's back and a black hole opened above it, a gateway for the absorbtion of mortal life.

Ritsuko, Misato, and the bridge witnessed Unit-00's destruction, the Angel's absorption, and Unit-01's apotheosis from the command room. Ritsuko verbalized the shared opinion of the rest of the staff.

"This is the Third Impact. This is the end of the world!"

That end never came when a red spike stabbed Unit-01 and pinned it to the ground. Someone returned the Lance of Longinus from its supposed grave on the moon.

Evangelion Unit-06 finished its deorbit, coasting on its AT Field. The pilot surveyed the battlefield before him before flying to Unit-01's pinned state. He drew the Lance from its body and re-shouldered it; there was no point in leaving the ultimate weapon to waste on the ground, was there?

"Perhaps, Shinji Ikari, my Third attempt to save you will end with success. Perhaps, I can even show myself happiness, this time."

A/N: Damn I'm good!