Chapter 32: Completion, Metamorphosis

It's quite the change, actually being in a rural area. I made a brief study of them in the months before I left my home Echo to travel to this one. But no amount of knowledge and research could have prepared me for how… quiet it is.

Even with the cicadas being a constant presence, even with what few farm animals there are here, mostly goats and chickens, it is utterly silent at night. It has had a remarkable impact on the quality of my sleep as well. And the people here are different compared to my baseline knowledge of urban residents. They are far more outgoing, with our arrival still being talked about days afterward.

I am still completely used to living in the city. But I can see why this would appeal to some.

- From the personal journal of Kyu Akagi

Village-3, April 9th, 2028

It was a rather exciting atmosphere that filled the air of the forge today, Daniel watching young Shinji and Asuka making the last preparations for their swords. On a table next to him, several pieces of wood and metal that he'd been working on in his spare time, with Asuka Ikari-Soryu's assistance on the metal, made up the guards, hilts, and pommels that would cover the tangs of the blade.

"So," young Asuka said as she paused for a moment, waving over Daniel to inspect the tang. "After that whole… Eclipse thing happened… what happened next?"

Daniel's expression, carefully hidden excitement, became tinged with sorrow as old, hard memories replayed in his mind. "Well, Guts went off to get revenge on as many Apostles as he could. He used the Brand to track them. The more it hurt, the closer he was to an Apostle."

The tang was satisfactory, a thumbs-up and a nod going to Asuka as Daniel returned to his former position. "I couldn't follow him immediately after. I had to take care of the others. Make sure that, at the very least, their Brands wouldn't cause them any trouble."

Shinji looked up at Daniel as he paused, and Daniel had a pretty decent idea of where he was looking, an all too familiar, scarred over pattern that only now had he gotten the strength to not hide from himself. "So… does it still hurt sometimes, then?"

Daniel shook his head. "No, not in a way that signals danger. And it hasn't in a long time. How that happens to be the case can wait, however. Right now… we get to the finishing touches of your weapons."

He collected the pieces close to him, taking a hammer with a decently small head and starting with Shinji's. "This is both the quickest and most delicate part of the process. You can't smack it too hard, lest things get all wonky and bent out of shape."

The pommel was screwed tight and the part of the tang that stuck out began to be hammered flat. Finally, as it was finished, Daniel tested the heft of the sword for a moment. He nodded as he handed the sword back to Shinji. "Excellent work for your first time, Shinji. Now, let's see Asuka's work."

The finishing touches quickly fell into place on Asuka's sword as well, and Daniel smiled slightly as he held the blade. "And good job to you as well. You two have exceeded expectations, and finished the work in nearly record time for novices such as yourselves."

Asuka smiled, an almost cocky thing that still had tiredness dragging down the corners. "I mean, we're the best of the best, after all. We wouldn't be where we are if we didn't have the ability to pick things up quickly."

Shinji sighed quietly as he nodded. "Well, that's entirely true." he said, the words almost lost over the dinging and clanging of the hammers.

Before either of them could continue, another person stepped in, and all eyes turned to see Asuka Ikari-Soryu, her eyes wide in excitement and her hands filled with bags that no doubt carried their lunches. "So, here they are. The mysterious swords I've been hearing about."

Daniel accepted the lunches, likely courtesy of Hikari and the elder Shinji, and looked intently at the swords. "Do you mind if I hold them?" she asked the two Children before her.

Shinji simply shook his head as Asuka shrugged. "Have at it. I don't know what I'm going to do with it anyway."

The elder Asuka took the younger Asuka's sword first, weighing it with a critical eye. "It's rough, but then again, what do you really expect from a first try? Good… but it still needs a finishing touch."

Daniel arched a brow as Asuka's furled in concentration, then the blade of young Asuka's sword began to ripple slightly. The rippling grew faster, then, as if it were a sunrise, a streak of brilliant orange surrounded by deep scarlet rose up from the guard to coat the blade, the orange going through the fuller of the blade and stopping at its tip as the scarlet continued on to cover the whole blade.

The elder Asuka nodded as she handed the sword back to her younger self, who studied the blade with a mix of curiosity, confusion, and admiration as she went over to Shinji, pausing as she began to reach out for the blade before pausing. "Well, I know almost any version of me would be okay with what I just did, but… do you want something like that? I know you're not that flashy of a person."

Daniel looked at young Shinji and waited for his reply, silence, relatively speaking, filling the space. Finally, Shinji shook his head. "No thank you. I don't really need anything like that."

As the elder Asuka nodded, Daniel glanced over at her younger double, Shikinami's singular eye gleaming with focus as she studied Asuka Ikari-Soryu. He wondered for a moment what she had learned even from something so simple as that.

"Well," he said as he stepped forward, "we'll get a place for these figured out. For now, let's go have some lunch outdoors. It's terribly nice today."

It was a somewhat short walk to a line of trees on the hill going towards Kensuke's house, a vantage point that overlooked the rice paddies that went from one wall of the little valley that they found themselves in to the other. The sun gleamed off the water of the paddies as they ate in silence for a moment, Daniel simply letting their bodies, and the minds that had been focused on learning to master them, rest.

He, however, had something else in mind than simply enjoying the view. "So," he said, pausing for a moment as the two Children finished chewing, "there's one last thing now that the physical work's done."

"The lesson," Asuka said, a quiet sigh passing alongside the words, and Daniel smiled slightly.

"Astute as always, Asuka." Daniel paused again. "Do you think you understand the lesson I've been hoping you've learned?"

Asuka considered the question as she looked out at the village, her expression hardening the slightest bit. "Well… life beats you down. It's easy for it to be unfair to you. A lot." she said quietly. "It has a lot of different ways to stretch you out of shape. Make you something different than you used to be. Maybe even something that you don't want to be."

Daniel nodded slightly. "That's not all of it. But that's good."

He looked over at young Shinji. "Do you think you can finish the lesson?"

Shinji clearly looked somewhat uncertain, but his brow furrowed as he set about the task anyway. "It's like what Asuka said. Life's unfair sometimes. But sometimes… it can make us better. Or at least, give us the chance to be better. After all, it took work and heat and pounding on the metal in order to take it from those blocks of metal to becoming… pieces of art, really."

Daniel let the silence afterward hang for a little while, satisfied that his pupils had gotten to the heart of what he hoped to teach them. "You're both correct." he finally said. "Frankly, the swords were just an excuse to get you both to think about it deeply. It's important to realize, fully realize, what you both have. It took me far too long to realize that after…"

He trailed off, cursing himself for both his openness and his hesitation. These kids didn't need him to ramble off-topic like an all-too-reminiscent grandfather. And yet… perhaps he needed to hear it. But it could be for Eleanor tonight. These Children already had such burdens to shoulder.

"Everything I'd gone through." He finally settled on. "But last of all is the most important part. The part that separates you from the swords that you've made."

"And what's that?" Asuka asked quietly.

"Agency." Daniel smiled slightly, the word an almost sacred thing to him. "The chance to choose, as Shinji said. Whatever dictates the course of events, it has no power, here at least, to make you choose something. You can create something better. Even if it's only for yourself. And that power is a gift beyond any that can physically change the world."

They looked out over the village, and Daniel saw within it the culmination of his lesson. Choice, taken to its logical conclusion in stark defiance of facing the end of the world. The choice to band together, to trust those that had skills and abilities in dozens, hundreds of different areas. The choice, even, to give those who worked tirelessly some small token of their remembrance, as he watched a crowd form around the Nagisas, the Kajis, Nozomi, and the now finished statue that floated forward in the air before it gently touched down in front of the town hall. Though he could not see the front of it, he knew that now, between Asuka and Mari, there was the symbol of WILLE; a bird-of-prey, seemingly frozen in swooping down, its wings and a Spear of Longinus chained between them forming a stylized W shape.

Wherever he'd gone, however bleak the world and circumstances, if he looked hard enough, it was always there. It seemed almost intrinsic in people's nature, only scrubbed out by the greatest efforts of fear and hopelessness.

"So…" Shinji said, interrupting his train of thought. "Are we going to make more swords then?"

Asuka looked past Daniel with a somewhat unamused glare. "Don't tell me you actually want to keep doing this. It was exhausting enough as is."

Daniel chuckled. "No, no. No more swords if you don't want to do it. Now, we simply… rest."

The slight smile on Daniel's face disappeared. "Now we wait."

. . .

Athena Ayanami was what one could generously call comfortably familiar with having someone seek her out, and order her to accompany her to a destination. Outright ordering someone was, in all actuality, a rare occurrence in the Village and, as she'd been told, in most life in general. Her life, however, had up until this point not exactly been what one would call 'common'.

That the face who gave her that order was nearly entirely her own, save for the brilliantly white hair streaked with gold that was pulled back into a ponytail, and that she had to set aside her work to go with them, was… curious.

Even the word itself, curious, was a curiosity to her. She found herself ever more inquisitive, even as she felt herself unraveling more and more. It gave her a strange sense of urgency, but at the same time, a deep, resigned acceptance. She would likely degrade, and her experiences would be over. Death. Much like Bunzaemon Horaki's, simply compressed and expedited.

She thought back to the first time that her degradation had become visibly evident.

She was at Nozomi Horaki's house, with Natsumi and Ryoji, the younger as she had to remind herself now, participating in what Natsumi called a 'sleepover'. It was a very odd event, and Ryoji seemed somewhat bored with the event while Natsumi couldn't be more excited to talk to her.

Whatever they were talking about, something that Natsumi described as 'gossip' had lost her almost immediately. She was content to nod along, briefly responding and taking in the idea of speaking about someone, however honestly, in secret. It was somewhat familiar to her, this idea of compartmentalization of information. The information in question seemed so trivial, however.

She didn't know when Natsumi stopped talking, or when everything became so muffled and distant. A feeling of nausea swept over her, and she only vaguely felt Natsumi and Ryoji grab her before she fell face-first onto the floor.

She blinked, things eventually coming back into focus as she took control of herself. "Athena!" Natsumi said urgently, the first thing she'd said clearly in… she'd lost track of how long she'd been unfocused. "Are you alright?"

"The degradation is accelerating," she said levelly, feeling the strange, rippling sensation of parts of her body liquefying into LCL before returning to their previous state. "I will have to return to wearing my Plugsuit in order to slow the rate of decay."

"Oh, no…" Ryoji said, and Athena looked over to see the look of… what was it called?

"What is the name of that expression?" she asked, and Ryoji flinched before looking away. "I saw that look when we helped lay Mr. Bunzaemon to rest."

"I… I guess it's…" Ryoji could seemingly speak no further.

"Anguish," Natsumi said, her voice hollow as she helped Athena to her feet. "We don't want to lose you. Not after just getting to know you."

Natsumi pulled Athena rather suddenly into a tight hug. "You just hold on and be strong, okay?"

Dissolution into LCL did not work like that. It did not care if one was 'being strong' when the end came. But for Natsumi and Ryoji's sakes…

She now strode through the town square wearing her black Plugsuit, drawing stares from the villagers at both her return to an unusual attire, and to the woman who led her towards the village outskirts who could be, much like Rei Nagisa, considered her older sister.

Kyu Akagi paid little heed to the looks and whispered questions, looking down at what she had called a 'clear pad' in passing. "So, when was the first time you felt yourself… unraveling, for lack of a better term? Not the first time symptoms became outwardly evident, but when you first felt them."

Athena considered the question for a moment. Last night's incident had been outstanding, certainly. However…

"March 31st, 10 days ago," she replied levelly, watching as Kyu typed something onto the pad.

"I see. That's remarkably cognizant of you." Kyu looked back, and Athena saw yet another emotion that she still didn't have a name for. It was a common occurrence, the more perceptive she became.

Kyu paused for a moment as they approached a single cabin on the edge of the town, regarding her with all too familiar eyes. "Are there any lingering physical symptoms? Nausea, dizziness, headaches?"

Athena shook her head and looked at Kyu intently as she typed something in. She was familiar, yet indelibly different. She wasn't like Rei Nagisa, certainly, however similar they were in appearance.

Kyu looked back up at Athena and hesitated for a moment. "Do you have any questions for me?"

"Why are you… different from the other Ayanami types?"

Athena recognized the expression that flashed across Kyu's face. It was surprise. "Well, My soul is… different. I do not have any of the memories of my…"

Kyu sighed quietly. "Well, to call them sisters is at once somewhat correct and rather incorrect. Biologically, we are related, but my experiences are entirely my own, distanced from the Ayanami program."

She smiled slightly. "I still get along well enough with my cousins, of course."

She turned back to the cabin. "Come along, then. Let's give you a new lease on life. I'd be more than happy to explain if there are any questions that you have."

"What was that expression on your face?" Athena asked, pausing their walk moments after it started. "When I mentioned the time I first realized my degradation."

Kyu looked back at Athena, again with a look of slight surprise. "That was… an expression of being impressed. As I said, there aren't many that are as perceptive of their own souls like you are."

Athena waited as Kyu fully turned to face her again, concern in her eyes. "Before coming to the village…" she asked quietly. "What was your life like?"

"I spent the majority of my time in a specially prepared LCL tank, and what time remained in a training simulator to pilot the Mark.09."

There wasn't much at all in the way of inflection or emotion in her words. She was still struggling to understand emotion and its personal application, and there was little to lie about. It was simply her life, and the past.

Kyu's face told another story. Athena saw the sorrow on the young woman's face. A sorrow that she'd seen mirrored in Ryoji and Natsumi's faces. "You've experienced so little of life…" Kyu whispered.

She sighed quietly before she continued. "I… was an empty soul within Lilith. Bereft of memories. I had to start my life from scratch, essentially, depending almost entirely on the guidance of my mothers and those that made themselves my friends. But as I'm sure you've seen, the world beyond is a vast, beautiful place."

Kyu smiled slightly. "All that to say that I know where you're coming from. And I promise to help you get the chance to experience as much of this world as you can."

Athena nodded, her expression still level. "Thank you, Ms. Kyu."

Kyu's smile widened slightly as she turned. "Not a problem, Athena. Come along. We've left the others alone for long enough. Let's go make sure my grandparents don't blow anything up they don't intend to."

Athena became somewhat confused as she followed Kyu into the cabin and found herself standing in the midst of dozens of different machines that hugged the walls, several free-floating holograms drifting about the living room of the cabin, and a long table with several equally strange instruments took up the center of the room. The proportions were off as if someone had stretched the inside of the cabin without doing so to the outer walls.

Walking into the otherwise empty room, Kyu arched a brow. "Grandmother, Grandfather. I've arrived with Athena."

"Oh! One moment, we're coming." the voice of a woman, likely about as old as some of the ones that she worked with, called out.

Kyu sighed quietly as she rolled her eyes. "I wonder if we've disturbed them. It's been known to happen."

Athena tilted her head. "What would we be disturbing in the afternoon? Is there some sort of work that they do around this time?"

Another sigh, of a kind that she once heard Bunzaemon describe to her as 'weary'. "I'm sure they would put it like that."

After a few moments more where Athena wondered what kind of work Kyu would roll her eyes at, two people, likely Grandfather and Grandmother, emerged from a back room, their clothes somewhat rumpled as they paused to take in their new guest.

"And I would assume that this is Athena, then, dear?" Grandmother said, brushing back a lock of brunette hair as she regarded them with intent, deep green eyes. "I wondered when we'd get to finally meet you. Welcome to our little house of science, young lady."

"Thank you," Athena replied, then focused on Grandfather. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the somewhat familiar figure. The skin was too smooth, the hair too dark, but even still… "Are you related to Deputy-Commander Fuyutsuki, by chance?"

Grandfather's brows rose before he chuckled. "Well, no. I am, in fact, Kozo Fuyutsuki. Simply a little younger than you might have seen before, and no longer a Deputy-Commander. You can call me Doctor Fuyutsuki instead."

"And more." Grandmother gently elbowed Mr. Fuyutsuki. "I suppose I should introduce myself as well, seeing as my husband probably took you off guard somewhat. I'm Naoko Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko's mother."

"It is nice to meet you," Athena said with a slight bow.

"It's nice to meet you as well," Naoko said with a wide smile before her focus turned to Kyu. "Speaking of my daughter, do you know where your mothers are, dear? It's been a little while since lunch."

"I believe they're still attending the unveiling ceremony for the new statue dedicated to WILLE," Kyu replied as she ushered Athena over to a seat at the table.

"Oh, I see," Kozo said as Athena sat down, Kyu sitting across from her. "What does it look like?"

"In my personal opinion or in general?" Kyu asked the question with an emotion there, ever so slight, that Athena couldn't fully identify. "It's a well-designed statue by all accounts. It simply feels too… bare. There should be something there for others to learn about its meaning. A placard, at least."

Naoko chuckled as she and Kozo sat down. "I guess I should have expected something like that to be your review. So, where should we start with our friend here?"

"I'll start by determining what type of Frame Knot we'll be working with." Kyu pulled her clear pad out from one of the pockets of a sturdy set of cargo pants. "Don't worry about my doing anything, Athena. All you need to do is simply have a conversation."

Kyu looked over at her grandparents, a slight smile on her face. "Perhaps you can help by telling her about some of the research you're hoping to do here."

Both Naoko and Kozo, to varying degrees, seemed to be enthused by the idea. At least, that was what the expressions on their faces seemed to indicate based on what others had told her about it. "That's an excellent idea, dear!" Naoko said with a wide smile.

She set her elbows on the table. "Now, I know that you probably have little in the way of experience with a good amount of the concepts that we're studying, so we'll keep it as understandable as we can make it."

"So, what do you know about the properties of LCL and… well, I guess that you would still call it core material?"

Athena considered the question for a moment. "Lilithian Catalyst Liquiform, or LCL, is an insulator and connector required for synchronization with an Evangelion. Core material makes up the core of an Evangelion, and a pilot must synchronize with a core in order to pilot the Evangelion."

Naoko and Kozo both nodded slightly, their enthusiasm dampening slightly. "I see," Kozo said quietly. "Likely just enough education to pilot the Eva, and little more."

"Interesting name for LCL, though," Naoko said, finding a clear pad of her own and tapping out what was likely a note on it. "Close, but not quite what we have. Some worlds just like being contrarian, I guess."

Athena glanced over at Kyu, who simply looked at her intently before writing out a note, then looked back at the Fuyutsukis. "Are there other applications I should be aware of?"

"Many, many different applications, young lady," Kozo said, sliding into a tone of voice that she'd heard the Deputy-Commander sometimes use. "For one, LCL is a proto-matter, capable of transforming into many different things with the proper mental and Pneumaic stimulation. Usually, the transformation requires a biological component to it, as that is the easiest matter for it to form. Unsurprising really, as it stems from a biological origin…"

Naoko put a hand on Kozo's arm. "Don't get too far into the weeds, honey. I don't know if we have all day," she said meaningfully.

Kozo paused, then chuckled softly. "Thank you, Naoko. Now, as I was saying, it's very easy to transform LCL, natural LCL at least, into a biological substance, which makes it a shoo-in for medical use and constructing a large portion of an Evangelion, among many other use cases. However, it's far more difficult to transform it into inorganic materials, taking up precious time and power with its transformation. Synthetic LCL solves this problem only to a certain extent, but it still largely leaves us with the same problems."

"Which is why we're here!" Naoko said. "Core material, what we call Corite, is something of a rarity where we're from. And seeing as the Evangelion Memorial Museum wants to keep the original cores of our Evangelions "authentic" and "museum quality", we can't pull from here. But, with Corite in rich supply, this world offers us a chance to really tinker with the stuff and see what applications we can get out of it. Hopefully, we'll be able to make something that can expand the borders of the village quickly, opening up supply routes, farming grounds, and housing areas, something I'm sure the mayor of this town would appreciate."

"Alright," Kyu interjected, "the examination's complete. I know what we're dealing with."

Naoko and Kozo looked over at Kyu at the same time Athena did. "And what scale of measurement that's new to me are we pulling from today?" Naoko asked.

"The Ju'ruushi categorization of Frame Knots," Kyu replied, handing her clear pad to the pair as the door opened and closed from beside them. "According to my observations, we're dealing with a Type 3 Knot."

"Type 3?"

All eyes turned to see Ritsuko and Maya Akagi, whom Athena had already been introduced to, as they took a seat at the table beside their daughter. "What kind of type is that?" Maya continued.

"According to Ju'ruushi, Type 3 Frame Knots are largely sapient, with some impediments to a full range of expression. Emotion, in particular, is muted or nonexistent."

"I see," Ritsuko said, cupping her chin in thought. "Is there any way we can climb up the scale, so to speak? Adding Frames isn't an impossible task, I wouldn't think."

"It's a rather time-consuming process, from what I can tell," Kyu replied as she retrieved her clear pad. "One that requires the proper medical facilities on hand, which we, unfortunately, don't have."

She was silent for a moment, her lips pursing as she continued to read. "And it appears that, depending on how advanced the unraveling is, such a thing would only work as a temporary measure."

"No," Kyu continued, "we need a permanent solution. The problem right now is that I don't have any idea what that might look like."

"It might help if we had everyone here to brainstorm," Ritsuko said, looking over at Naoko and Kozo. "Do you know where Gendo and Yui are?"

"They're collecting Corite samples for us," Kozo replied. "There's interference from their position, so we can't exactly call them and ask at the moment. Either way, they'll likely be sure to try and help."

Kyu nodded, looking over at Athena with a slight smile. "You're in good hands, Athena," she said encouragingly. "In this room are going to be some of the most intelligent people in their fields of study. All to help you."

Athena found herself silently surprised as she felt… something, stirring within her. Emotion. The tiniest spark of it, and yet it still touched her as she nodded. "Thank you."

. . .

Young Shinji Ikari walked out of the house, assuring Asuka Langley that he wasn't running off this time. No, this time he simply needed some time to himself today. He pondered on her response as he left. She hadn't brushed it off, but his assurances had somehow seemed… unnecessary. As if she knew he'd be back.

It had, nonetheless, still been a long day as he entertained those who knew of his and Asuka's work by showing them the swords in question and talking about their experiences. Kaworu, in particular, had shown a particular interest in 'the work of his hands'.

For now, though, he just… needed a moment. The rice paddies were empty, the workers going off to have dinner with their families. It gave him a place to sit down and look out at the sunset, dipping down past the hill that separated them from the old NERV base.

So many people interested in what he'd done. Praising him for something that had been guided largely by Daniel. He'd simply made something up and learned a lesson from it.

'Then again, isn't that just life sometimes?' he wondered. Maybe it was. Besides his music, it was one of the few things that so many people had been vocally proud of. Piloting the Evangelion, a far grander task, had, in comparison, given him so little. Simply loneliness and pain.

'Misato was proud of me. At least, back then she was.' Could he be proud then, too, of his piloting?

"I always wonder what you're thinking about."

Shiji jumped slightly as he looked back and up at Kaworu, the young man smiling slightly, the sunlight passing through his immaterial body and somewhat lightening the shadow that he cast. "You must think deeply often. I wonder if inner strength is derived from such thoughts."

Shinji blinked for a moment, then sighed as he fully processed what Kaworu was talking about before sighing quietly. "Yeah. I just wish it led to me actually being brave sometimes."

He paused. "I'm kind of surprised to see you out here, Kaworu. I was kind of trying to be alone."

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Kaworu's face as he stepped back. "My apologies, then. I will leave you to your contemplation if you so desire."

Shinji considered the offer for a moment. 'Well… what would having one more person here do, really?'

He nodded slightly. "Take a seat. I'm just watching the sunset."

Kaworu, evidently somewhat relieved, sat next to Shinji. There they sat in silence, simply taking in the mundane majesty that played out before them.

"So," Shinji finally said after a moment, "how's making friends coming along?"

"It is an… interesting process." Kaworu cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Each person is utterly unique. Even the similarities that they possess have such… distinction to them. Speaking with them, unfurling their personalities and foibles, has been a fascinating endeavor."

He looked over at Shinji, his usual slight smile having far more warmth than Shinji had seen in it during their time together in Central Dogma. "Thank you for having faith in me. I owe so much of this experience to you."

"Oh, come on, Kaworu," Shinji said rather bashfully as he scratched the back of his head. "Daniel's the one you should be thanking. He's who made it so that you could be here in the first place."

"And yet, it was your idea to open the world to me by introducing me to other people. A new body would mean nothing if my soul was crippled. Again, thank you for that."

Shinji nodded after a moment, still uncertain. "Well, you're welcome."

Shinji looked out around the village and found himself thankful as well. It had become a sanctuary to him. 'Maybe I should stay here, after whatever happens.' he mused. It certainly wasn't the worst idea.

As he looked around, he caught another person, a little ways away from them to the left, walking out of the tree line and sitting down under the shade of a tree.

It was Daniel, surprisingly enough. No one followed after him. And if he looked hard enough, he could see the expression on his face.

It was… exhausted. His face was drawn into a weary mask that looked at once completely out of place on the usually optimistic man and utterly natural to him.

How long had he hidden such tiredness from everyone else? Shinji studied the face for a moment, Daniel seemingly not noticing them, before it clicked as to why that face felt so familiar. He'd seen that look after a mission against the Angels whenever he looked in the mirror. It had returned while he'd been imprisoned in the Wunder.

As he realized that, Shinji felt a pull to go over to him. 'Doesn't that defeat the whole point of being alone, though?' a part of him pined. All this effort to go and take a moment for himself, to simply wander over to someone infinitely stronger, more capable than him, and try foolishly to comfort him?

And yet, that strength seemed so far away as Daniel leaned against the tree, a deep sigh escaping him unheard by Shinji and Kaworu.

"I wonder what brings Mr. Theisman out here?" Kaworu said, noticing Shinji's stare.

"I don't know," Shinji said quietly. "I've never seen him like that before. Or at least, not to that extent."

Shinji stood. He didn't know why, entirely, but he found himself resigned to it anyway. "I'm going to go talk to him. Do you want to come with me?"

Kaworu considered it for a moment, then shook his head slightly as he stood. "No. I do not want to get in the way of whatever must be said. Be free with your words. I believe you will choose the right ones."

The pale boy smiled slightly as he began to walk away. "See you later. I believe that's right…"

With that, Shinji looked across the way at Daniel once again, then took a deep breath as he walked over to the man. Daniel barely even seemed to register his approach before he stepped in front of him, a look of surprise becoming a resigned smile that barely touched his eyes. "Oh. Shinji. I should have guessed that you'd be watching one of these sunsets."

"And how is that the case?" Shinji asked before shaking his head slightly. "Never mind. Are… are you okay?"

"At the moment? Not really. Take a seat. Let's enjoy the sunset. One can only see so many."

There was a pregnant pause as Daniel's smile faded. "Usually." he nearly whispered.

Shinji slowly took a seat next to Daniel, and they watched for a long while as the sun started to become a jagged sliver on the hilltops.

"So… what's wrong?" Shinji asked, almost afraid to break the silence.

"Right now, nothing. But… there's a burden on my shoulders. Enough to make the whole world, the whole sky, seem like a paperweight by comparison. I've put on a brave face about it on three different worlds, but even I need moments like this to just… relax. Process it all."

"That's one more lesson I want you to learn, Shinji Ikari. That you don't need to be strong forever. You don't need to be the big damn hero all the time. No one can be. You need to take moments of seeming weakness to be truly strong when it counts."

Shinji nodded, and the ghost of a smile returned. "Good. You've always been a smart kid, Shinji. No matter the world."

Shinji pondered silently on what Daniel had said. It felt… strange. But if Daniel was saying it… maybe he just needed to focus on relaxing now while they were still here in the village.

Then, Shinji thought about what else Daniel had said. 'Three worlds…'

"What was the first one?"

Daniel, whose eyes had begun to drift closed, looked over at him. "Hmm?"

"The first world? The other versions of me and my friends were probably the second, weren't they?"

Daniel slowly nodded after a moment. "It was another world like this one. But I only stepped into the picture after the first battle with the Angels. It… didn't work out."

"Oh. Okay."

Again, they let silence accompany them for a little while as the hilltop finally consumed the sun, rays of light still lancing into the clouds.

"So, why?"

Daniel's brow furled. "Why?"

"Why go through all this trouble to help me and everyone else when you can just… worry about magic-ing away the Scions, the Angels, all these things that threaten us, and just be on your way to give everyone a chance to sort things out themselves?"

Daniel was silent, pondering the question. "To start with the short answer, I'm still human. I have to remind myself of that every once in a while. As for the long answer…"

Daniel's face began to lose its weariness slightly. "Because you matter, Shinji. You and Asuka and Rei and Misato and everything on this world matters. If I'm going to protect it, I need it to matter to me as well. It's something this Scion Revival has lost sight of in their quest for perfection, I think."

"And because… look at this sunset."

Shinji looked back out at the hill as twilight fell and Daniel continued. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Every world has a different sunset, utterly beautiful in its simplicity. Every world has a different sight that brings… hope. Whether that's a sunset on Village-3, or Tokyo-3 coming to life after a battle, or the sight of humanity building something from the ashes of the old world to be better, however imperfect those attempts may be."

Daniel shook his head slightly. "There isn't a place in all Reality that doesn't deserve a beautiful sunset. Too many do but go without. Or no longer have suns in the first place."

"Because of you?" Shinji asked, barely above a whisper, flashes of what Daniel had shown him at the Fourth Impact reeling through his mind.

"Yes."

The admission was equally quiet, filled with a guilt that almost felt beyond measure.

"So," Shinji said after a moment, "that still doesn't fully answer my question, I think. Why help me? You already have a version of me that you pulled out of what I go through. Why go through it again?"

"A third time?"

Shinji looked over at Daniel, realization dawning. "You mean…"

Daniel's gaze dropped, and he sighed quietly. "Yes. The one world I never showed you then. I was a part of NERV on that first world. In Tokyo-3, even. Trying to help a Shinji Ikari that was a lot like you were in the beginning. Alone. Doubtful. Afraid. I was afraid too. Of interfering too much and losing everything for my folly."

"In the end… it didn't matter anyway. That was how I failed you. That was how I ended the world without meaning to, drove all humanity into the night. Another world without anyone to appreciate a sunset."

It was silent again, then Daniel looked at him, longing in his eyes as he put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "If I could be there for every version of you that needed help, if I could give all of you the love and support you deserve, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But I can't be everywhere at once. Not in the form that you need."

The hand slipped from Shinji's shoulder. "I'm sorry for that, Shinji. But I'm here now, for you. And I'll be here for you until you no longer need me."

Finally, he began to really smile again, a little warmth in it. "And I think that time's approaching quickly. But for now… let's just take in the beauty of nature."

And there they remained, even as twilight became night, and the stars began to wheel above.