Well, the semester is just about over and I haven't been killed by my finals… yet. I made it through and that (and another old story that hasn't been updated in eight years) inspired me to write something where our beloved characters can make it through. So, hope you enjoy.
The story is Once More With Feeling by Crazy88 if you're interested. I mention that because this turned into a half-rewrite of that story. It's a bit confusing to describe, but I wanted to give credit to the original story's author. Anyway, on to the show!
Commander Sarco
"Home is whatever you make it, Shinji."
The words echoed in Shinji Ikari's mind, giving him some comfort for the first time in a long time. Home… that would nice. If I had one.
"You have a home, Shinji Ikari. Would you like to go back?" a low voice broke into Shinji's thoughts.
The boy's eyes opened wide as he realized that he was no longer alone. After Lilith and his mother had left him to capture the souls of all humanity, Shinji had gotten used to being alone. He looked towards the voice, recognizing the figure of a person. A light shone so bright that Shinji couldn't see the figure's face. A strange feeling of peace and love washed over him.
"Shinji, would you like to go home?" The figure asked again, a patient tone in its voice.
Shinji nodded and looked down, towards the "ground", if it could be called that when in a void.
"Good. Take my hand, child." Taking the hand, the former pilot walked with the figure down a beach. One that had appeared suddenly.
"So, Shinji, where do you believe your home is?"
Shinji thought for a moment, memories of his uncle, parents, and Misato rushing through his mind. Where did I feel most loved? A new image of Asuka and Misato appeared before him, both smiling widely at him. He smiled at the image.
"I believe you have your answer," the figure softly said. The comfort Shinji felt from its presence was indescribable. The beach unfolded before the pair, and Shinji looked backwards to where they had come. Strangely, Shinji noticed that he was not leaving footprints in the sand but the figure beside him was.
"Ah, do not worry about the footprints. Always remember: when there is a single set of footprints that does not mean you have been abandoned by those who love you."
A pathway made from gemstones shined brightly, and, ahead of the two, a white city shone in the distance. The figure stopped and turned towards its companion.
"This is where we part, Shinji Ikari. But do not be sad, we shall see each other again. I look forward to that day. Now, go live your life."
The figure touched Shinji's forehead, causing him to black out. A dream came to him (or maybe he awoke from a dream and this was his reality, it was hard to know in Instrumentality). Two small figures laid on a beach, one a boy with brown hair, black pants and a white shirt. The other… Shinji began crying. She had red hair and wore an Evangelion pilot's plugsuit… and she had an eyepatch on.
Asuka. Shinji wept harder, his vision blurring the two figures on the beach. He watched as the boy he now recognized as himself, loomed over the girl. He sat in stunned silence as Dream-Shinji began strangling Asuka. "No!" He shouted, running toward the beach. He reached out toward the figures, stumbling along his way. Crashing into the ground, he could only watch as his visage finished the job. The worst feeling of sadness he'd ever felt overwhelmed him and he buried his head in his hands, weeping.
Nausea overcame him and, his vision spinning, Shinji tightly closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw a green phone in his hand and a postcard with the image of Misato on a beach on it.
"We're sorry, due to the special state of emergency no lines are currently available. This is a recording." The phone chirped.
What the? Shinji looked around. Wasn't I on a beach? Where-? His eyes opened wide as he heard explosions in the distance, catching a glimpse of a huge … thing lumbering toward him. A squadron of UN VTOL gunships hovered around it, shooting at it uselessly.
It can't be… that's impossible… what dream am I in now? The roar of a car's engine broke Shinji out of his thoughts. He turned to see a blue Alpine swing into a spot near him, the door opening wide, revealing a woman with puple hair and sunglasses.
"I'm sorry I'm late, get in!" She yelled and Shinji complied automatically. "You must be Shinji Ikari. I'm Captain Misato Katsuragi, I work with NERV. You're father sent me to pick you up!" Misato cheerily explained herself to a still-stunned Shinji.
"Oh jeez, am I too beautiful for words?" she teased light-heartedly, bringing Shinji's attention back to the present. He blushed as he realized he'd been staring at Misato after sitting down, not even bothering to buckle his seat belt.
"Uhh…" he replied intelligently. Shaking his head, he tried again. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Katsuragi. You need to stop in this tunnel!" He shouted, remembering the last time he had been on this ride. Startled, Misato slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop. She looked at him, confused.
"But, we need to get you to your father. Don't you know why he called for you?"
Oh, I know alright, Shinji thought, angry at what his father had put him through. "It can wait. I think the military is going to use some kind of big weapon on that thing. They had heavy VTOLs heading towards it. We should probably sit in here until afterwards."
Misato thought for a second, then seemingly agreed with the boy next to her.
"Alright, makes sense. They are probably going to drop an N2 mine on it." Realizing what she'd said, the woman's eyes became wide. "Oh man, that totally would have destroyed my car! Good thinking, Shinji!" she complemented, ruffling his hair with her hand.
Slightly embarrassed and very confused, but grateful Misato was alive again, Shinji shyly put his hands in his pockets. Where he felt the familiar shape of a cross. The same cross Misato always… he looked at Misato, the cross hanging around her neck. Stunned once more, he secretly moved the cross in his pocket so he could see it. Yup, same- his thought halted as he saw his cross had something red splattered on it. Misato's blood! Shinji barely held back his tears as he remembered his guardian's last moments.
Sensing something wrong, Misato looked to the boy. "Shinji, are you okay?"
No, I just went through Hell for the past year and a half and now I'm back at the start. And I don't even know how or why! Swallowing down his sadness, Shinji resolved to do things differently, since he was given a second chance. I will make things different this time.
"I'm fine, Ms. Katsuragi. Just thinking about my mom." Not entirely a lie, he realized.
Misato's quizzical expression shifted to a sad smile. "Yeah, I understand that. Well, we should get going." Looking towards the end of the tunnel, Shinji realized the explosion had past, given the amount of debris scattered around.
The ride to NERV HQ was one spent in quiet. Shinji thought about what had happened and how he got here. Then, his thoughts shifted to the future… or past… or whatever. After making peace with the fact the Figure (as Shinji began calling it) had whisked him to the beginning of his life with Evangelions, Shinji began planning out what he could do to make things different. His thoughts returning multiple times to his would-be guardian and other roommate.
The vision of himself and her on that beach resurfaced, steeling Shinji's resolve. Time to do things right.
A tunnel that Shinji knew led to a car train station then down into the Geofront came into view. Misato, using the car's phone, dialed NERV HQ. Confirming her location and requesting a train be ready for the incoming pair, she hung up rather quickly.
"Well, I guess that is taken care of," she chirped. "So, Shinji, I never did thank you for saving my car. And our lives," Misato added, giggling.
Shinji smiled back at her. "You're welcome, Ms. Katsuragi."
"Just call me Misato," the black-haired woman threw out casually. Shinji smiled at the care-free Misato he remembered. She smiled back, ruffling his hair again. "You know, I could get used to having you around, Shinji."
Blushing at that, and the memory of living with Misato previously, Shinji's smile grew. "I could get used to being around."
"Well, it should have been right here…" Misato said, hopelessly lost in the Geofront's huge complex. Shinji, of course, knew it like the back of his hand. They should have taken a left instead of a right four turns ago. He sighed, despite being "lost" with Misato, he was happy to re-live the ramblings she went on while wandering around. Mostly talking about how much NERV had put into the complex she was lost in, it was a bit of irony that she had helped to assign rooms to inferior officers. Walking with Misato, Shinji chuckled at just how lost she could get and tried to sneak the cross from his pocket to his backpack. Successfully doing so, he recentered his attention on the captain traveling with him.
"Ah, I found it!" Misato gleefully shouted. Hitting the button on the elevator she'd led the pair to, Misato became confused when the door didn't open immediately. "Well, I thought I found it," she muttered.
The elevator door opened suddenly, startling the pair waiting for it, to reveal Ritsuko Akagi, looking only really annoyed, instead of livid, to be disturbed. She was wearing a one-piece swimsuit with her lab coat hastily thrown on over. Snickering silently at her dress, Shinji listened intently to Akagi and Misato's conversation this time.
"Her sync ratios fell five percent in the last test. I think you need to give her a rest, she's certainly earned it. She shouldn't be expected to test constantly, she's had enough." Misato seemed a bit defensive of the "her" she referenced.
"She might, but she's done longer stretches in the past. Her body and mind should be used to this by now. If she can't adjust to this, she will not be any use to us in the future." Akagi put rather rudely, in Shinji's opinion.
Misato huffed in annoyance. "She's been training since she was eight, I think she deserves a bit of a rest. And expecting her to be able to go this long is kind of unrealistic." They're arguing about whether Asuka deserves a rest? The answer is a definite yes.
Akagi rolled her eyes and directed her glare at Shinji, who acted like he hadn't heard the argument.
"So, this is him?" She said rather smugly, dismissing Shinji from the outset.
"Yup. This is Shinji," Misato turned toward Shinji. "Shinji, this is Doctor Ritsuko Akagi. She's our chief scientist." Shinji gave the doctor a shy smile, refusing to shake her outstretched hand. "He's a bit shy, hasn't said much since I picked him up."
Ritsuko huffed. "Like his father."
Shinji faced the doctor with a dark look on his face, surprising himself, Misato and Akagi. The doctor obviously wasn't expecting it and took an unconscious step back. "I am nothing like that man," Shinji growled out.
Misato blinked, Shinji glowered and Ritsuko raised her eyebrows. Well, only when I need to be, Shinji reflected sadly. The women exchanged a look that told him they thought he was very similar in that moment, but neither said anything.
Turning back to the door as it opened, Shinji steeled himself for the upcoming meeting with his absent parents. I guess this is it. The real start of a "new" life. Smiling bitterly, Shinji entered the huge room he now knew was the cage for Unit 01.
And in the cage sits-
"This is man's ultimate fighting machine," Ritsuko boasted. "This is Evangelion Unit One, built here in secret, it is mankind's last hope against the monster you saw. We call them Angels, and there will probably be more, we expect." Shinji nodded, already knowing just how right Akagi was.
"So," Shinji projected his voice through the cavernous room, knowing another person would be present. "This is what you've worked on."
A silhouette Shinji had focused on stepped into the light, revealing a man in orange sunglasses standing above them. Gendo Ikari narrowed his eyes slightly. "Correct. It has been a long time, son." Gendo forced the word out, trying to leverage his power over Shinji.
Not this time, father. This time, I have all the cards. "Well, father," Shinji spit out the word like it was a poison, "I would have stayed away if not for your brother. Lucky for you he convinced me to give you another chance at being a parent. So far though, I'm disappointed."
Shinji felt Misato and Ritsuko step away from him, as if he was about to be incinerated.
Gendo merely smirked and looked at Misato. "We're moving out, Captain. Doctor."
"What? You're not thinking of… but, it hasn't been tested yet!" Katsuragi protested.
"It's the only way," Ritsuko flatly stated.
Misato scoffed. "I guess if you're serious."
The doctor turned toward Shinji, and he knew what she was going to say. He nodded, stopping her in her tracks.
"I'll pilot it."
Misato began protesting about his experience and how dangerous it would be for him. Ritsuko simply nodded back at him and Gendo… Gendo stood still, not showing any emotion.
Not satisfied with his father's reaction, Shinji decided to pull a new card. "Sure," he said sarcastically, "I'll pilot the monstrous thing that killed my mother."
Everyone in the room stopped dead in their tracks, Misato looked confused before dread clouded her eyes. The casual nature Shinji said this had the intended effect on Gendo, as the older Ikari looked shocked for just a second. Long enough for Shinji to get satisfaction at throwing his father off-balance.
"Well, let's just hope that event doesn't happen again." He looked around in mock confusion. "What is everyone doing? Let's get this thing going, we have a monster to beat."
With a nod from Gendo, the room of technicians resumed their work preparing Unit 01.
The ding announcing the end of his elevator ride to the head of the Evangelion Unit caused Shinji to acknowledge just what he was about to do. The last time he had piloted, he gulped. Put that out of your mind. This is a new start, just like the Figure wanted for you. "Live your life."
Taking a breath, Shinji crossed into the entry plug of the Unit. The startup sequence's flashing colors felt oddly comforting to him.
"Alright Shinji, all you have to do to move this thing is think. It's that simple!" Maya Ibuki's cheery voice filled the space. He nodded, knowing that the camera feed was on and she could see him.
Already knowing how to control his Eva, Shinji walked over to the chute that would put him onto the surface. Taking a breath, anticipating the coming onslaught from the Angel he knew was Sachiel, Shinji again nodded to the camera.
Shooting to the surface, Shinji thought about the last time he had fought Sachiel. Alright, let me think. Oh right. Toji's sister. Well, I can't let that happen again. Shinji gritted his teeth, anticipating the door opening. When it did, mankind's greatest weapon leaped into the air, Shinji searching the ground for his target. Finding it, he landed and sprinted off towards the Angel.
Sachiel turned and put up its AT field, causing Shinji to throw up his own. He vaguely heard Ritsuko's surprised gasp, and Misato's confused questioning. AT fields clashing, Shinji threw his everything at the Angel's, shattering it. Grabbing the limbs of the monster, he pulled them across its chest, squeezing both until the limbs were ripped off. Not to be outdone, Sachiel fired a beam straight into Unit 01, causing it to stumble backwards.
Growling in a manner similar to the Second Child, the Third grabbed the progressive knife from the pauldron of his Eva. While not the greatest of the pilot trio at hand-to-hand combat, he had picked up more than a few tricks from Asuka. Sprinting towards Sachiel, Shinji baseball slid to avoid another blast, kneeling at the end to slice the Angel's legs with the knife. Compounding that with an overhead strike that struck the core, Shinji reversed his grip on the knife, Asuka-style, and stabbed it into the core.
JUST DIE! Shinji's mind shrieked, eerily similar to Asuka's final screams. He stabbed the core again, putting all of his machine's force behind the strike. The core shattered, and Shinji threw his AT field up, encasing the Angel in the diagonal field. The following Crucifix was contained by the Eva's field, preventing it from causing any more damage to the surrounding city and its inhabitants.
Shinji let out a breath he didn't know he held, the adrenaline draining from his system, leaving him a bit shaken.
"Shinji! Shinji, are you alright?" Misato's voice sounded over the intercom.
"Ye-yeah! What happened?" Shinji remembered just in time to sound confused.
"You did it is what happened! We're going to get you out of there, so stay put. Great job, Shinji!"
Shinji smiled at the praise he received. I forgot how great actually being appreciated feels.
"Shinji! That was great!" Misato exclaimed when he got out of his entry plug. "How did you do that?"
Shinji's smile faltered for a millisecond, before he recovered. "Uhh. I don't know," he forced the lie out, knowing it was better if he played it out like before.
"Well, whatever you did was incredible! Did you know that your synch ratio was ninety-four percent?" Though she acted excited and put the question forward innocently, Shinji knew better. Misato was probing him, probably thinking he was in on a scheme with his father this whole time.
He shrugged. "I had no clue. I just knew that the Eva was beating that thing. Maybe the machine took over?"
"That could be," Doctor Akagi interjected. "It probably sensed it was in danger and acted on impulse. That's an issue we've been trying to sort out." She added more to herself.
Misato simply shrugged the scientist's thoughts off. "Anyway, this calls for celebration! Come on, I'll take you to this great ice cream place in Tokyo-3."
Shinji smiled shyly and obeyed Misato's beckoning.
