Author's Notes: Thank you all for your reviews on the previous chapter. I'm happy to hear that it managed to make an impact.

Here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy. And as always, apologies for the spelling and grammatical errors littered throughout the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

"Pod 01-Dash preparing to enter final operation orbit. The operation will now commence."

A bright violet and dark gray colored two-sided pod, with a small gap in between and two rocket engines attached to it, dropped down closer to the red Earth from space.

The Pilot in the pod grasped the controls as he went through the protocols for this mission while, at the same time, trying to seemingly maneuver to his destination through space. He wore a blue and a very light, almost white, colored plugsuit with a metallic red orb at the center of the chest.

There were blue tapes covering the damages with additional disparities throughout the plugsuit. One around his right arm with the lighter color portions on the right shoulder of the plugsuit removed, revealing the dark layer that lay underneath. Additional blue tapes could be seen around his right torso and left thigh covering more of the patch up more areas.

The Pilot could be heard sighing through the white colored helmet he wore that sported two fins along the top and a reflective dark blue visor that covered the entire face.

He followed all the orders over the radio for any course corrections that had to be made as he got closer to his target.

A female voice could be heard singing over the radio in the background, almost more excited about the purpose of the mission than to complete it. But he thought nothing of it as this was a normal thing for the owner of the voice to do.

He mumbled, "Just focus on the mission."

As the screen in front of him displayed and identified the target, the familiar voice said over the comm, "Eight's low altitude limits it to ninety-six seconds of fire support before reentry. Get this wrapped up before then."

There was a quick affirming nod from the Pilot as he tightened his grasp on the controls, getting ready to face the hard part of this mission. His head went up when he heard the alarms. The screen in front of him displayed the hostile contacts that were coming toward him.

Multiple explosive blasts appeared in front of the space pod he was in. AT-Field was quickly deployed to block any debris and shockwave that came to it. But that didn't stop the pod from shaking from the after-effects of the explosions.

One of the supporting operators said, "Incoming target classified as a Mk. 04A." On the screen, it displayed multiple targets approaching the pod with immense speed.

The target looked to be a drone with the main disc-shaped body housing two red cores. The back had four pylons while underneath it held two long scissor-like blades. The drones were using the AT-Field it generated to accelerate toward the Pilot through space.

As one made contact with the ship's AT-Field, it started to slowly cut through it.

Surprised that it was cutting through the defenses so easily, the Pilot exclaimed, "An Anti-AT-Field?" He clicked his tongue, thinking about his next move.

As it made a hole big enough for its size on the AT-Field, the Mk. 04A fired toward the ship with a shotgun-like weapon that was located next to the blades. The attack managed to land on the surface of one side of the pod.

"Out of the way!" the Pilot said as Unit 01 emerged from behind the damaged side. It was holding onto the damaged portion while still having its back attached to the remaining part of the pod.

But Unit 01 looked different than before. Noticeably both its arms. The right hand was a dark gray and purple accented gray prosthetic arm while the left had the same design except employing a gun-shaped weapon.

Unit 01 slammed the damaged shield down onto the enemy drone, causing it to go out of control as it spun down. It flew away from Unit 01 before it was destroyed by the attack.

Unit 01 gave a quick glance at the temporary weapon he just used before throwing it away. It was too damaged to be used a second time.

The Pilot grabbed the helmet, "This thing… is really irritating!" He threw it aside with post-haste.

Now that he could see clearer, Shinji Ikari, the eye patch still on his left eye, took a quick breath of fresh air within the LCL before leaning forward to continue with the mission. He continued to maneuver the best he could to dodge the other Mk. 04A's as the humming from the radio continued.

To say the least, it finally started to irritate him.

Shinji asked, "Ms. Mari, can you please focus instead of singing?"

One of the enemies managed to collide with the part of the pod that was still attached to Unit 01's back, sending it off course. But the EVA was able to quickly recover back on course.

Shinji quickly deployed another AT-Field in front of him to block another of the drones from colliding with him. As it was starting to cut through the defense, a shot was fired, pushing the drone away before it exploded.

Shinji gritted its teeth, that way too close, "You're slow, Ms. Mari." At least the humming stopped.

A similar hot pink and dark gray colored pod, with a long gun barrel popping out on one side, took another aim.

Inside the pod, Mari, wearing a similarly designed helmet as Shinji's with the color scheme matching her pink plugsuit, smirked as she said, "You're just ahead of schedule. Are you just that eager to finally see your Princess again?"

"This isn't time for jokes. Can you please focus?"

"You're way too serious, you know that? You need to lighten up a little! But you're right. Mission first. Right, Puppy?!" She fired multiple rounds toward the enemies trying to disrupt their operation.

The cover fire worked as each managed to hit their mark, destroying the enemy drones and clearing the way for Unit 01 to approach the black three-dimensional cross-shaped object floating in space near the red Earth.

Shinji said, "Approaching the Tesseract!" He soon blinked when he noticed that their target was slowly moving off course. "It's moving?" Unit 01 quickly turned to have his legs facing towards the Tesseract before aiming its gun-shaped hand at it.

He continued, "No time to correct my orbit. Going to brute through this!"

Unit 01 fired three harpoons at the object from the prosthetic arm, allowing them to latch onto the black structure's surface. Unit 01 went flying ahead, missing its intended target.

But using the torque and tension from the harpoon wires that were still attached to the EVA and its target, Shinji was able to stop his descent. He looked up to the target above him and quickly pulled his controls, causing the wires to start wheeling back into the prosthetic arm. Unit 01 ascended back up to the side of the Tesseract facing the Earth.

Once Unit 01 made contact, the attached rocket engines fully ignited, trying to decelerate the movement of the large black object and adjust it to their mission's destination.

"Come on…" Shinji said, trying to focus while feeling the strain of trying to readjust the Tesseract's course.

He could see that it was finally working, the Tesseract was slowing down. "Four… three… two… one." He did it. "Terminating combustion!" The engine's ignition went out as Unit 01 completed its mission to redirect the structure's original course to the mission's rendezvous point.

Unit 01 stayed latched onto the object as the engines detached and went to their next destination.

Shinji took deep breaths before he said, "Successfully seized the target. Awaiting retrieval."

"Roger," their Commander said over the channel, "We'll be waiting at the rendezvous point. The code is Saturn V."

"Roger."

But the mission wasn't finished yet.

The sound of the warning alarm filled the Entry Plug as the warning sign popped up with the words:

PATTERN ANALYSIS

BLOOD TYPE ~BLUE

Shinji gritted his teeth. "Pattern Blue? Where?" He quickly looked around, trying to figure out where the last enemy was.

The black block on the other side of Unit 01 started to open up as it revealed a drone that was hiding within it. The opened surfaces started to extend, taking on a more ribbon-like appearance. They slowly started to surround the Tesseract.

The Operator said over the radio, "The hindering object is Mk. 04B. It deployed a field-reflective coating."

"Of course." Shinji tightened his grip on the controls, "This was too easy to be going this smoothly, wasn't it? Damn it, he was here first." He gritted his teeth, "Is he trying to capture both of us?... No, there would be other ways to do that. So why-?"

He shook his head.

"Stop. Think about that later."

He looked to his partner for this mission, "Ms. Mari-"

Mari took one last shot but missed. The gun was dropped and one-half of the pod was kicked aside by the EVA Unit 08 underneath it. It was a hot pink color EVA with three horns on its helmet aimed slightly backward and eight individual neon green colored eyes.

She said "Sorry, losing altitude here. Can't provide any more support. You're on your own now, Puppy. But look at it this way, you get to be her knight in shining armor here! See you later!" Unit 08 took a quick bow as it entered reentry to Earth. "I promise I'll treat you to something special after this! Good luck~!"

Shinji gritted his teeth as the connection with Unit 08 was cut off with its reentry. "Of all time for you to bail on me!" He started to kick at the enemy drone the best he could in his current position. "Just go away!"

The ribbons started to glow as they started to charge up before releasing a concentrated ray of light to Unit 01.

Shinji screamed in pain as the light seemed to be concentrated on his left eye, "Damn it, why can I neutralize it with my AT-Field?" He tried to cover it with his left hand as Unit 01 mimicked his action. There was only one way out of this. "I have to kill the core, fast!"

As if it was listening to him, the enemy started to slide away from Unit 01. And to add to the pain, warning alarms were screaming at Shinji that they were losing their intended trajectory. "I can't maintain the course like this!"

The Commander said over the radio, "Three Dash, remember your mission. You have a priority to do this."

"I know!"

The concentrated light eventually overheated the prosthetic left hand, causing it to explode. He let out a scream in pain as he held his left arm. Thankfully the attack stopped with it.

"I've got to figure out how to get out of this… Huh?" Shinji's eyes widened as another concentrated light fired toward him, this time, causing multiple explosions around him. He gritted his teeth.

"He… he was one step ahead of us. He read all our moves."

Kyoko, who was sitting with her head buried in her arms while they were over her legs, immediately reacted to the rumbling she felt in her white void.

"What… What's happening?"

For the past fourteen years, nothing like this had happened. This was new. She got up and looked around but soon stopped when she felt someone else in here like all those years ago.

"Is it you again? Are you trying to mess with us, again?"

"I do not understand the nature of that question. What do you mean by 'again'?"

Kyoko's eyes widened as she quickly turned. That was not the voice she expected to hear. She expected to hear a male voice… HIS voice. Not-

"Yui?"

No… this wasn't Yui. This was someone who looked like her cladded in a white plugsuit, and had extremely long hair that went down to her waist. She was-

Rei responded, "I believe you have mistaken me for Shinji's mother. I am not her, I am-"

"From the Ayanami Series. Rei, I know about you. From…" She seemed hesitant about what to say next. "Don't tell her, she's not… she could be with him." "...My daughter's memories… and her dream."

It was a partial truth, it'll do for now.

Kyoko shook her head to focus back on the matter at hand. She crossed her arms as she examined the girl before her. She said, "So strange how much you resemble her but at the same time don't. Blue hair and red eyes were really not the way to go. And that hair… Has no one been giving you a haircut?"

She remained silent.

There was a sigh, "Fine. What do you want? Are you here to gloat and punish me as he did before you?"

"There is someone who needs assistance out there, and currently, the girl you are holding here is the only one who can save him." Rei took a step forward but stopped when Kyoko held her hand out.

"Don't take another step forward. I don't know you. I don't even know if I can trust you. How do you people find your way in here anyways? I didn't invite you in here, so why did you-"

"There is an operation to rescue and retrieve Unit 02. Based on its current trajectory and location, I am able to link with Unit 02's core. I did not, however, expect to see someone else here."

"Rescue and retrieval?" There was a small stifled laugh from Kyoko, "And here I thought that that boy was going to prevent that from happening. Why would he change his mind all of a sudden?"

"I do not know who this 'he' is, but all I wish to do is assist Shinji, and Asuka is the only one who can save him. Even more so with the current situation of the operation."

Kyoko blinked, "Yui's child?" She crossed her arms as her fingers started to shake in frustration, "Great, it's about him again. You people just love to come to me about him, don't you? Tell me, that Angelic boy with white hair… He couldn't do it, could he? He couldn't bring Yui's child the happiness he 'so thoroughly deserved', could he?"

"I do not under-"

"Are you also going to go on a speech about how Yui's child deserves happiness more than my daughter's? More than mine? More than anyone else's?"

There was a visible confusion shown across Rei's face as her eyes widened in response to the information, "Daughter? In other words, you are her mother." "This is… unexpected." She shook her head slightly.

This wasn't the time for this.

Rei walked forward as she said, "Shinji is currently in trouble, as will both you and Asuka be if nothing is done."

The rumbling around them started to worsen.

"In trouble?" Kyoko's hands started to shake in anger, "And why should I trust you? For all I know you could be playing with my hopes only for it all to be crushed by some sick joke. This whole thing could be a setup by you and that boy."

Kyoko let out a sigh before continuing, "But let's say for all intent and purpose, I trust that you're telling the truth, why should I help you?"

Rei stopped about an arm's length from her, "I am not asking for you to help me. I am requesting you to allow Asuka to help Shinji. And if you do know me from Asuka's memories, you must realize that I am not someone who will 'play with your hopes'."

Kyoko unwrapped her arms, letting them dangle next to her. "I'll ask differently, then. Why should I help Yui's child? After all these years, why now?"

"You misunderstand me. I am not asking you to help him. I am asking you to give Asuka the opportunity to protect him like she wished to do all those years ago."

There was no response.

"I may not understand mothership, but I believe a family would wish to allow their daughter to do what she desires. She can save him if she manages to wake up at this moment, allowing Unit 02 to awaken as well to protect him."

Still silence from the older woman as she was taking in her options… the benefits of this. "If… Asuka wakes up and we manage to get out of here, then I'll-...We'll have another chance… But that's only if Unit 02 manages to get freed from this tomb we were placed in. Can I even trust-"

Almost as if Rei heard her thoughts, she immediately added, "You may not trust me, which is acceptable. But what about the Asuka who trusts me?"

Kyoko took a deep breath, "You-"

"The current situation is beneficial for you also, is it not? If the operation is successful, you, as Unit 02's Core, will be able to finally be free from wandering the depths of the empty void in space."

After taking a few seconds to consider her options, there was a deep sigh followed by a nod from Kyoko, "Fine… But under one condition."

Asuka dropped her school bag on the floor before jumping to her bed and burying her face in her pillow. She took a moment to listen to the sounds from the cello strings dance around the apartment. "So… the Idiot's playing cello today. Wonder if something happened?"

She groaned and stretched, deciding that she didn't really care for the reason.

"Finally… School's over for the week."

Asuka took out her game and turned to her back before resuming where she last left off. Since he's doing what he likes to do, mind as well do what she likes to do too. Besides, she needed to pass some time until it was dinner-

"Hey… why…anything?"

She dropped her game on her bed and held her head in pain. "This again."

"Take…self"

Asuka got up and stumbled her way to the kitchen, not caring about the noises she was making as more voices echoed in her head.

"Not…fault."

"...my fault."

"Shin… killed…gone…"

When she reached the cabinets, she started to frantically look for some painkillers, forcing the other bottles and silverware to drop.

"...alive."

"...like you…bye."

"...see him… MOVE!"

"Kill… him!"

Asuka immediately took out some painkillers for the headache from the cabinet and a glass cup. She quickly swallowed the needed pills before chugging them down with some water.

"Damn it." She slammed the glass cup onto the table. "This was the worst it's been."

Something has been feeling off for the past two weeks. But she couldn't figure out what. And it only made it worse ever since these headaches started to appear within the last couple of days.

"Asuka?" Shinji's voice called out behind her from his room. "Is everything okay?"

She didn't want to turn to see him but her body moved on instinct. "How did he hear me through the cello-? Oh…" Her eyes wandered to the mess on the floor. "He probably heard all that."

Her eyes went back to him. Now that she was looking back at him and hadn't said anything for a while, she had to answer instead of standing there like an idiot, "Just… a bit of a headache is all."

"Do… you want something?" He fidgeted in his room as he looked to the floor, "Maybe some tea?"

Asuka's mouth moved on its own, "Sure… yea." "Why? Why is it that every time after a headache my body does this?" But in truth, she did want some tea to calm her down.

He looked at her with a brightened face, "Okay. Sure. I'll… make one right now." He walked over to the kitchen, walking around her as he did to prepare some tea for her.

This time, she was able to hold herself back from grabbing his arm on instinct as he made his way past her.

Asuka really hated this. "Why… why am I acting like this? What's wrong with me?" Her eyes wandered to her housemate who was eagerly preparing her drink. She mumbled just low enough for her to hear, "Why am I acting like some heart-throbbing little girl whenever I see him after these headaches? Why am I-"

Asuka blinked when a small mug was presented to her.

Shinji said, "H-Here, Asuka. Hope you like it." There was a small smile from him.

"Thanks," She grabbed the cup from him and looked at the steaming content within it.

Asuka also noticed that his hands were clenching and unclenching for a few seconds before he finally found the courage to say, "Why don't you… take a seat? I'll clean up the mess, besides it's almost dinner time. Or… do you want to drink your tea in your room until it's time to eat?"

She nodded, "I'll be in the living room. Just let me know when food's ready… and… I'll do the dishes tonight."

Shinji shook his head and he draped the apron around himself, "No, you don't have to-"

"We'll be even. You clean up my mess and I'll do the dishes after."

"Oh um…Sure, I guess that works…" He quickly looked to the floor before looking at her again, as if a question just came to mind, "Anything you want for dinner-?"

"Whatever is fine," Asuka responded as she made her way to the living room while holding the warm drink close to her chest.

After sitting down and getting comfortable, she finally drank from the mug. She could feel the effects of the drink calming her nerves. "This is... nice." After a few minutes, Pen-Pen made his way and sat next to her.

He turned his head to hear and gave out a loud, "Wark."

Asuka immediately moved the cup further away from him by twisting her body in the opposite direction, "No, this is mine."

He shook his head and pointed to the TV remote next to her.

Trying to hide her embarrassment, she quickly grabbed the remote and tossed it to the penguin, who almost dropped it as he struggled to catch the remote with its small arms.

"Should've just pointed to that first."

Pen-Pen took a deep sigh in relief after managing to catch the remote. He gave out a low "Wark" before turning on the TV.

Asuka turned to have her back turned towards him with her legs now also on the couch and her knees close to her chest. She took another sip with both hands around the cup.

She let the ambient sound of the TV program that Pen-Pen was watching play in the background with the scent of tonight's dinner filling the apartment. She was too deep in thought to care about any of it, however.

"What's with these weird voices? This first happened a couple of days ago, and this one was the worst of them. Maybe… I should talk to that Fake Blonde Doctor about it." She took another sip. "I'll go see her tomorrow."

"Food's ready!"

Pen-Pen immediately turned off the TV and threw the remote behind him, smashing against the back of Asuka's head and breaking her out of her thoughts. She quickly put down the mug onto the table next to the couch.

With a growled, she turned while covering the injured area with one of her hands, "You dumb penguin! What was that for?"

But the pet had already made his way to Shinji who started to feed him his portion of the food. She let out an exasperated sigh as she made her way to the table.

Asuka gave Pen-Pen a quick glare as if to say, 'I'm going to get you back for it.' But the animal seemed oblivious to the glare as he seemed at bliss eating the food in front of him.

Shinji placed a bowl on her usual spot on the table. There was a dumb, yet genuine, smile from him as he said, "Hope this is good enough."

"Yea… whatever," she took her seat, grabbing the chopstick on the table and taking a quick bite. "Damn it… this is good." He never disappointed her whenever it came to food, not that he did disappoint her within the past couple of weeks, oddly enough.

She started to devour the content before her as her anger towards the penguin disappeared.

She almost blushed when she saw that smile from Shinji that screamed, 'I'm happy that you like it.' Asuka shook her head to regain her composure, "What are you looking at, Idiot? Aren't you going to eat?"

"Oh," Shinji blinked, realizing that he was staring at her. "Um… yea. Sorry." He quickly took off his apron and grabbed his food before he joined both her and Pen-Pen at the table.

The three ate in blissful silence as they enjoyed their meal. No words were exchanged as they were all content eating together. And she was okay with this. She preferred eating in silence right now, especially after that headache.

No idiotic fights or arguments. Just peace and quiet.

DING

The doorbell rang, breaking the silence. As Shinji got up, Asuka beat him to it, "Just sit. I'll get this one. You get the next one."

Shinji said, "Oh… Sure. Thanks Asuka!"

Why? Why did she do this? She reacted on instinct. Normally she'll let the Idiot take the door, so why did she suddenly feel compelled to answer the door?

And who could it be at this hour? Hikari was busy with the Jock. Misato was at NERV, and First had an appointment with that fake blonde doct-

"First? What are you doing here? And why are you in your plugsuit? And what happened to your hair?"

Rei was there to greet her on the other side of the door. And she wasted no time walking into the apartment, causing Asuka to take a few steps back, surprised by her actions.

The visitor said, "Asuka, you need to-"

"Rei?" Shinji walked over, "What are you- Why are you-? Why is your hair-?"

But she ignored him, much to Asuka's surprise, "You need to wake up. He needs you right now."

Asuka shook her head and held her hand out, signaling her to stop, "Okay, you need to backtrack. Who needs me? And you didn't answer my first questions."

Rei immediately grabbed her hand and started to drag her out of the apartment, "There is no time to explain. The longer you stay in here out of your own volition, the more danger both you and he will be in."

Before Asuka's leg stepped out of the apartment, she managed to break free from Rei's grasp. "Just stop for one moment. You can't just waltz in here and tell me that 'he' needs help without telling me anything and who 'he' is."

Rei turned to look back at Asuka as the moonlight reflected off her light sky blue hair, surprising the redhead that it was already this late. "Asuka. There is no time to-"

"Well, make time." She crossed her arms, "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me what's happening."

Rei took a deep breath and recalled what the mother named Kyoko said to her.

"She's been living in a peaceful dream world for what feels like two weeks to her. I've made sure all those painful memories were sealed away. You need to help her remember the real-world events and help her distinguish between the dream and the real world. If she's going to wake up, she'll have to do it on her own, that's the condition I've placed upon her a couple of years ago just in case something were to happen to me."

Rei thought to herself, "She also informed me that time here was originally slowed. But now, she has changed the flow of time in this dream world to be faster while I am in here, giving me time to help her remember. The most she can do, supposedly."

And now that Rei had been given a chance, she needed to do this. She needed to help Asuka remember. Not for herself, but for both Asuka and Shinji. She said, "Asuka. You are asleep. This is all a dream."

"Oh great, you're telling jokes now."

"Asuka, do you not remember the battle with the Angels?"

She tilted her head slightly in confusion, "What are you talking about? We haven't had one in over a few weeks. Are you talking about the one that tried to crush us?"

While it did seem strange to Asuka that there were no Angel attacks for a while now, it didn't matter to her. She'll just have to pilot the EVA when the time calls for it-

…

Wait… "We also haven't had those annoying regular Synchronization tests in a while."

Noticing Asuka's quick uncertain glance at the situation, Rei pressed on, "Have nothing else been out of place to you? Something that was a regular that is no longer a regular?"

"Hey, Shinji…-"

Asuka took a few steps back as the voice with the headache returned. She held her head as her back touched the wall. Shinji immediately made his way to her and held her shoulder, "A-Are you okay, Asuka?"

Rei walked closer with a glint of hope that this was working, "That is not the real Shinji. Do you not remember what happened to Shinji with the Ninth Angel?"

"Hey, Shinji… why… won't you say anything?"

"Take care of yourself."

"Shinji… he's considered KIA… as of yesterday, he's considered deceased… he was killed with the Ninth Angel. He's gone."

"Do you not remember the pain you have endured?"

"It's not your fault."

"It's my fault! It's my fault that he's dead"

"Do you not remember the hope you have obtained and given me during the battle against the Tenth Angel?"

"Yes Asuka, Shinji's alive."

"Asuka," Shinji said, finally managing to break her out of her headache. His concerning dark blue eyes met her terrified, yet confused, sapphire ones.

Asuka locked eyes with him and grabbed his wrist, almost reassuring herself that this was real. What she was seeing and what she was witnessing… All these feelings were real.

She took a deep breath. The touch was able to get rid of any uncertainty and confusion in her mind. She gently pushed Shinji aside and said, "Don't worry about, Idiot. I'm not going anywhere."

Asuka looked back at the visitor and said to her, "First, stop with jokes and lies. Did you catch on about my headaches a couple of days back and decide to probe me for my headaches to return? Well congrats, you did it." Then added with a sarcastic tone, "Not like I was going to go tomorrow to see that Fake Blonde Doctor for this, anyways."

Rei's hands clenched in frustration. She was so close. But she couldn't do it. If Asuka decided to stay and push those memories away, then there was no way for her to wake up. But Rei needed to do something. But what? How?

"First, just go back home. I'm pissed that you would do something like this."

Shinji stepped in, "I'm sure that Rei had her reasons for doing this." He gently touched his housemate's shoulder, "Go lie down for a bit. Forget about the dishes, I'll do them, you can do the next one."

"No, I said I'll do them today, so I'll get them done." She took a deep breath to calm herself, quite faster than usual since he was next to her. "First, you're allowed to stay if you're done with your little probing. If not, just go home. If you want a fresh change of clothes to get out of that plugsuit, I can lend you some of mine." Asuka walked deeper into the apartment. "Hell, I'll even give you a haircut for free."

Rei took a step forward, "Wait-"

"Damn it, Asuka!"

A voice echoed throughout the apartment that only seemed to have been heard by the two girls. Asuka froze in place when she heard that. "That… that was the Idiot's-" She turned to look at her housemate with the same uncertainty and confusion from before returning. "But he's right there. Who was-"

"What are you doing?"

Shinji tilted his head in confusion, "Um, Asuka, is everything okay?"

"How long are you going to be sleeping? Wake up and do something, already! Asuka!"

Asuka blinked. "Wake up? What do you mean wake-? That sounds like the Idiot but he's right here-..."

"ASUKA!" Shinji's desperate voice screamed in her head. Her eyes widened as she now started to remember the battle with Unit 03. That was the voice when Shinji was asking her to kill him. Back when she thought she killed him.

"And I… like you… and goodbye."

Asuka looked to Rei as she now remembered the battle with the Tenth Angel. The time she was willing to risk it all just to see him again.

"I don't care if I lose myself. I don't care what happens to me! I just can't let the Idiot get hurt again. I… I'm going to see him again. So, move! I don't care what happens. JUST MOVE!"

The SDAT, with the earphone strapped around it, appeared in her hand. Her undivided attention went to the device in her fingers, remembering the goal she gave to herself during the battle against the Angel.

"Kill the Angel… To protect him!"

She clenched tighter on the SDAT in her hand, "That's right… I was supposed to protect him. I was going to see him again. This isn't real… I… I have to get back." She looked at the fake housemate before her, "This isn't the Idiot… This… is a dream. I have to wake up. I don't have time for this!"

Asuka's breath stopped for a second as she remembered all the times this Shinji was with her.

The time whenever she was in trouble with homework, he would come in with snacks to help cheer her on, give a small recharge, and sometimes even help her to finish it. The times that they would walk, or run, to school together. The times that the two would play games together just to help pass the time. The times when this Shinji would give her the bento with a dumb smile even though she never asked for it.

The time he would just play the cello, bringing peace to her mind whenever she was feeling stressed. The playful times she had with both him and Pen-Pen.

The peaceful, and sometimes eventful, meals that they shared with just them two and, sometimes, others.

But… all of it was just a dream. All of it wasn't real.

She needed to go back.

Shinji grabbed her shoulder, breaking her out of her thoughts. He said, "Asuka… You… um, changed your mind and want to go with Rei, don't you?" Before she could respond, he said, "Then go. I'll make sure that your food is warmed for you when you get back. I'll even brew a new tea for you."

She bit her lips and looked away, unable to look him in the eye, "Sorry…"

There was a small laugh from him, "That's something I say normally, isn't it?" He dropped his hands, "Go with Rei. I'll let Ms. Misato know that you went out with her, so you don't have to worry about Misato yelling at you for not letting her know that you went out."

Asuka nodded as she grabbed his wrist again with her free hand while looking to the floor. She allowed her bangs to cover her eyes, "Thanks… for everything…"

He gave his goofy yet warm smile while closing his eyes, "See you soon, Asuka."

With another quick nod, she ran past him. And as she ran past Rei as well, Asuka yelled, "Out of the way, First!" "Just wait, Idiot Shinji. I'm coming!" She then screamed, "Idiot, I'll protect you this time!"

She ran out of the apartment, not looking back nor did she think to look back. She continued to run forward, leaving the peaceful and happy two weeks behind her. She made a promise to herself to see him again. And she'll be damned if she can't keep a promise to herself.

Rei stumbled back when Asuka pushed her aside. When she looked in Asuka's direction, the girl was already gone. She placed both her hands on her chest, "Please… help Shinji…"

She turned back to the dream version of Shinji. Her mouth moved, almost as if she wanted to say something but hesitated to do so. Rei closed her eyes and opened them when she decided to say her piece, "I… While you are a dream, it was still nice to see… his genuine smile after all these years."

"Take care of her, Rei," Shinji said with the same smile as before.

She froze with eyes widening.

She remembered that Shinji had requested the same thing from Rei on the day of Unit 03's activation should something go awry. "I…I…" There was a nod, "I shall do my best." Rei ran in Asuka's direction before disappearing as well.

"Wark." Pen-Pen walked over next to Shinji.

He smiled at the pet, "They'll be okay, Pen-Pen."

There was a nod from the bird as he waved to the hallway in front of them where the two Pilots ran down before disappearing. It may have been too late, but he still wanted to give them one last farewell.

"I'm sure they got your message."

Soon the building and everything around it began to disappear into the blank white void. Pen-Pen followed soon, but not before giving Shinji one last hug and managed to get out a quick, "Wark."

Shinji knelt down and petted the bird's head, "Thanks Pen-Pen. And good-bye." All he could do was helplessly watch his favorite penguin disappear.

The final object to disappear was the smiling boy's face while a one tear fell down his cheeks as he got back up. He turned to say his final farewells to the two that were no longer here.

"Good-bye, Rei, please… take care of her. And good-bye, Asuka… the past fourteen days were… fun. I… I hope you were happy here. Stay safe, and be happier out there."

Shinji grunted as the explosion started to worsen around him with the tendrils still surrounding both Unit 01 and the Tesseract. He tried to call out to Asuka in the hope that she'll wake up but there was no response.

Does he have to resort to using-

BOOM

His head went up and saw that a rainbow beam of light had shot out of the black object and started to cut through the tendrils like butter.

It soon disappeared and the surrounding ribbon-like appendages all broke apart besides one long appendage that still remained attached to the Mk. 04B's main body.

Then from the Tesseract, a spear made out of rainbow light was fired towards the main body of Mk. 04B as the drone was trying to make a getaway. But the spear managed to home into its target despite the distance the drone was trying to make. It managed to pierce through all the tendrils and objects the drone tried to put in the spear's way until the attack finally managed to penetrate through Mk. 04B.

The drone exploded as blood splattered out of its body and a cross-shaped explosion took its place.

Shinji watched in awe of the explosion and towards one side of Unit 02's face that became visible through the red lens on the small crack it managed to create.

"Asuka…"

Had his voice managed to actually get her to-?

But he wasn't out of the woods yet. Another alarm siren went off, warning him of multiple "Blood Type ~Blues" that were coming his way. Swarms of Mk. 04A Nemesis series started to rush towards them from above with the intent to finish what their allies had started.

They appeared to be almost endless.

"Damn it," he tightened his controls, ready to engage against the enemy the best he could.

But before he could properly respond, multiple waves of beams of light rushed past Unit 01 and the Tesseract from the Earth below to the enemies above. The attacks managed to cleanly eliminate the entire enemy lines. Cross-shaped explosions filled the void above him and illuminated through the dark depths of space.

The Commander's voice called out, "Three Dash, this is Wunder. Prepare for an emergency landing."

Shinji let out a sigh in relief and nodded but still kept his eyes on Unit 02's visible face, "Roger." Now that the threats were all cleared, all he could do was look at the EVA Unit that saved him after he called out to its Pilot.

He didn't question why the Commander would risk sending Wunder to this high altitude close to space to retrieve the two. Nor did he question why Wunder was out of position at all, diverting from the final stages of the operation.

All he could do was let Unit 01's head touch the black surface as the two started to get close to the giant ship that was coming up behind them.

Kaworu, wearing a white middle school uniform similar to Shinji's with a black choker around his neck, looked up to the ceiling in a strange room with a glass in between the room he was in and the large room next to him. He smiled, realizing that the mission was a success.

"Asuka Langley Shikinami… I do not understand, but you are my only chance to bring a smile to Shinji's face once more… the last chance for his happiness." He closed his eyes, "I pray that your 'mother' will not interfere, lest more complications arise."

He now turned to the glass window and said, "In addition, I'm surprised that you have decided to get involved at this stage of the operation and also risk the entire ship to this magnitude. It's not yet prepared for this high altitude."

"..."

There was no response, just an empty silence. But he still continued to talk as if someone was there, "I apologize, had I had known that you would do this, I would've notified you about her beforehand. Tell me, how did you do it? How did you reawaken Unit 02?"

"..."

"Ahh, so it was ultimately his voice that reached her."

"..."

"Yes, I will not interfere with them."

"..."

"Oh, a deal was made with her?"

"..."

"I understand. That… was something I was originally planning to do as well."

He walked up to the glass window and looked up to Unit 00 in the other room, hooked up to various cables and wires that were connecting to the wall around it.

Kaworu said, "You should rest. This move by you not only took a toll on the ship but must've exhausted you as well."

Almost as if the Unit heard him, the glowing singular red orb in its head dimmed. Words came out of his mouth before he realized and had the chance to stop them, "Rest well… Ayanami."

Asuka took a big gasp of air and she shot her bare right hand out to the well-lit ceiling.

Where was she? Why wasn't she in the Entry Plug? "Where-"

A brunette, wearing a weird white and gray dress uniform with a black beret on her head and a blue scarf around her neck, poked her head into Asuka's vision. She said, "Oh, you're awake."

"Who are-"

"Do you know who you are?"

Asuka blinked as she dropped her hand and gave this person a confused look, "What kind of question is that?"

"This is just for proper procedure," the brunette sat back down with a clipboard at hand. She asked, "Let me ask differently, the way I asked the question may have come out wrong. Is your name Asuka Langley Shikinami?"

She sat up and noticed that she was in a bright sky-blue colored hospital gown and no longer in her plugsuit. She touched the top of her head and felt the A10 interface hairclips still on her head. Asuka looked around and noticed that it was just the two of them. The person, who she's never seen before, was sitting in the chair next to the bed she was in.

After realizing that this person was waiting for her, Asuka answered hesitantly, "Y-Yes, of course, I am. And where-?"

The girl smiled as she checked off a section in her clipboard before quickly following up, "I hope you don't mind, but we ran a few physicals on you as a check-up." She then made a quick report through the radio in her hand.

Asuka blinked and looked at her gown again. Is that why she was out of her plugsuit? What happened? "No, wait. I shouldn't be thinking about that. What about Idiot Shinj?" "Where is-?"

The girl made a few more notes on her clipboard before taking out a mirror from underneath her seat, disrupting Asuka mid-sentence. The mirror was pointed to the Pilot, "Do you know who this is?"

Asuka sighed. What was with all these redundant questions? "Is this supposed to be a joke? That's me." The silver lining with this stupid interrogation, she could now tell that there was nothing wrong with her, or at least with her face.

Now… It was time for answers.

Before the brunette could say anything or write anything on her notes, Asuka asked, "What happened to the Angel? Where's the First? Where's Misato?"

"Please-"

"Where's the Thief that took Unit 01?"

"All will be answered in due, there's a process to follow first before we can-"

"Where is the Idiot? I need to see him."

The strange girl sighed as she put the mirror under her seat and placed the clipboard on her lap while the radio was still in her hand. But her kind smile didn't disappear. "Can you please describe who this 'First' is?"

Asuka groaned in annoyance, "You're obviously new here. 'First' as in the 'First Child'. Rei Ayanami. The Commander's…-" "No…" She shook her head, "I promised I wouldn't call her 'Pet' anymore."

She made eye contact with the stranger once more, "The First Child. Sound familiar?"

"Ahh… I see…" she seemed to have made a mental note about this. "Can you tell me who this 'Thief' and the 'Idiot' is?"

Asuka groaned once more. This girl just loved to ask questions. "I don't know who this Thief is. She took Unit 01 against the Angel. That's all I know. As for the Idiot, guess since you're new here, you wouldn't know him either."

She tried to grab her waist to where she last placed the SDAT player but it was no longer there. There was a small fear that swelled up in her chest. She can't have lost this already, it had barely been a week-...

They must have taken it away from her when they took her out of Unit 02.

Asuka quickly followed up while trying to mask her rushed yet worried tone, "The Third Child, Shinji Ikari. And where is that Idiot's music player that was with me?"

There was a visible flinch from the brunette as her smile disappeared and was replaced with a scowl when she heard that name. She held her head down as she bit her lips and her hands started to shake as they dropped to her side.

Asuka noticed this but chose to ignore it, "Well? Aren't you going to make some excuse about 'procedure' or ask me some more questions?"

No response.

"Where are we, anyway? I don't recognize this room to be a design at NERV. But since you won't tell me where he is, I'll go looking for the Idiot and get that outdated player myself-"

A new, yet familiar voice said through the mic in the room, "This is not NERV. This is WILLE."

One wall on the other side of them started to clear, revealing two figures on the other side of the now clear glass wall. One was sitting down with a laptop in front of her while the other was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. Both, Asuka could recognize to some degree.

The one sitting down had short blonde hair, shorter than the last time Asuka saw Doctor Akagi. She wore a black sleeveless turtleneck, fingerless gloves, and dark red pants with her coat resting on the chair she was sitting on.

The other one took a bit longer to recognize. But Asuka knew that figure anywhere. It was Misato Katsuragi except she was wearing a different red commander's uniform with a red hat over her head, covering most of her hair, and black leather pants and boots.

It also didn't help that Misato was wearing shades to cover her eyes, but Asuka could most definitely recognize the woman's features and hair color anywhere.

"Finally, someone who's not new here and can give me real answers," Asuka said as she practically jumped out of bed and made her way to the window.

Sakura stayed quiet as she got up as well while wrapping both arms around the clipboard with the radio still at hand. She followed closely behind her patient to her two commanding officers. "I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't know you would be coming this soon."

Misato held her hand up, telling her that everything was okay. And, seemingly having ignored all the pleasantries, immediately asked Asuka, "What is the last thing you remember before waking up?"

Asuka stopped when she was about an arm's length from the window. "Well… that's new. I would've expected her to be crying over me, happy that I finally woke up or something. And Commander?" "I was battling against the Angel, but that's all I remember before…" "The dream…"

She shook her head. That's… that's just a dream. She had to forget that. She had to focus on the now, "What happened to it? Did we win?"

Ritsuko made a quick note on her laptop before turning to face her, "The classified Tenth Angel has been eliminated."

Asuka let out a small relief sigh. She didn't care how they won, she just cared about the fact that they won. "That's good…" Wait, "The promise!" She turned to Misato to ask her next question, but Misato asked before Asuka had the chance.

Misato asked, "What do you remember about the battle?"

"Great, more questions." But she complied since it was from Misato. "What do you mean? First, the Thief piloting Unit 01, and I were fighting against the Angel until it was just me using that mode… and… and…" She held her head in pain. "Ugh… why… why can't I remember after regaining power for Unit 02?"

Ritsuko looked at Misato, "It is not surprising that she doesn't remember that event. It's probably for the better."

There was a nod from the Commander, agreeing with her statement.

Asuka was about to retort but her mind was on something more important than her pride. "Idiot Shinji-"

Ritsuko said, "Shall I proceed to ask more questions to confirm that it is her?"

"That won't be necessary." Misato said, "This is enough."

"Then should we stop-"

"No. I have a promise to keep, and I intend to keep it." She took out a radio from her pocket and said, "Enter Pilot Three Dash."

The side door hissed open as a smaller figure entered the room, one Asuka immediately recognized even looking at the side of his partially covered face with a black cap. The figure wore a dark blue jersey with white stripes from the shoulder to the wrist, it was zipped all the way up covering his usual but damaged blue plugsuit underneath.

"I-Idiot Shinji?"

Shinji finally turned, revealing the eye patch in his left eye. When the two made eye contact, Asuka flinched.

She was finally seeing him after so long. This is the first time she's seen him in person after thinking that he was dead… that she killed him. After that day with Unit 03, she wished to see him again. She longed to talk to him again. She prayed that he was alive. She wanted to go back to the happier days.

And her wish and prayers were all granted. He was alive. He was there, standing on the other side of the wall. They can now go back to the better days before.

But now that she saw him, what-... What is she supposed to say? She opened her mouth to speak but her throat felt dry, nothing came out no matter how hard she tried to speak, her brain also refusing to form words.

Asuka was too taken aback by the situation to notice Shinji's one available eye widening for a split second. "Asuka…" But his eye went back to its cold demeanor as he continued to stare at her before she could realize the quick change in his facial features.

The brunette next to her started to grip her clipboard tighter with her teeth grinding against each other. She glared at Shinji, almost as if she wished to-

"Well?" Asuka finally broke the silence after finally finding her voice and getting the gears turning again. "Aren't you going to say anything? Do you realize what you've put all of us through with what happened with the Ninth Angel? I thought I killed you!"

There was no response. Shinji continued to stare at her with his hands in his jacket pockets.

But she continued, "I... I noticed that you got an eye patch." "Is that... my fault?" She shook her head. She.. she can't get emotional now. Not especially in front of all these people.

So, instead, Asuka asked, "What happened to the Angel? Where is the First? What happened to the Thief that took your Unit 01? Where are we?" She looked around at the strange environment, "And what did Misato mean by this isn't NERV?"

There was no answer from Shinji. He continued to stare at her in the same position.

"Why aren't you answering me?" Still, no response so Asuka continued with a different approach, "How are you okay? What happened to you? I heard that your no good of a father was hiding you in some secret basement, how'd you get out? Did Misato help you? When did you wake up?"

No response from him only made Asuka nervous, making her worried that she was still dreaming. She placed her hand to her chest, getting more desperate to hear him talk.

"You have to remember the letter you left behind, about giving me the opportunity to talk about what happened that night or just let it be. Well…"

She swallowed, trying to put down any pride, and pushed forward to finally getting him to talk, "Well, I want to talk. We can't just act like that night never happened."

His continuous cold stare caused her hand to tightly grasp at her chest.

"So, let's go home together so that we can finally talk. And you can answer my questions there if you don't want to answer them here."

Still no response.

"Why…" she gritted her teeth, finally having had enough with the silent treatment. "Why won't you say anything?!"

She held her head down and let go of the hand holding onto her chest. She used the palm of the same hand to slam against the see-through wall with what little strength she could muster after just waking up. The clear wall shook as the hand smashed against it.

"Say something!"

She breathed heavily after saying those words.

After a few seconds, Asuka quietly continued, "Just… Say something already. Don't ignore me. No again…" She held her head down, "Just… say something, anything." And she finished with the thought, "Please… Show me that this isn't another dream. Show me that I didn't wake up from that dream only to be put into a nightmare. Prove to me this is real."

Shinji did not stop keeping his gaze on her.

But after a few seconds, which felt like an eternity to Asuka, he finally walked toward the clear wall. As the sounds of his footsteps filled both rooms, Asuka's head twitched in response.

He took out his hand and mirrored Asuka's actions, placing his hand over hers on his side of the wall. Her head went up as she looked at his still cold eyes. But she could tell that there was something there. She could've sworn the light reflection danced within that one visible eye of his.

Shinji took a deep breath and quietly said just low enough that everyone in the room knew he said something but couldn't fully make out what, "You're… just like the day we last saw each other…" Because, despite how she may be looking now, to Shinji…

"You're just as stunning as I remembered you to be."

But all Asuka and everyone else heard was, "You…-ther."

Not that she, herself, was paying too much attention to it. Having heard his voice, no matter how low it was, her nervousness and fears had all disappeared. Hearing his voice soothed her and put all those notions aside.

She was now gazing at both their hands and realized that she could somehow feel his warmth through the thick wall. She realized how nice it felt… How real it felt. More so than that dream.

Asuka said with newfound hope in her eyes, "Idiot Shi-"

He quickly placed his hand back in the pocket. Shinji turned with a nonchalant look to Misato and said the following words in a cold tone that Asuka was not expecting to hear from the once timid pilot:

"Is this good enough? Can I leave now, Commander?"

Author's Note: Thank you all for reading this chapter and making it this far. We are now in the 3.0 territory. Moving forward, there will be certain events that will be different.

Thank you to all that left a review on the previous chapter: Guest Reviewers, MooseTracks101, Greg242, AsteroidOdin, YourBlandestNightmare, AirGuitar035, Alfredo12StarLegionaire, LetsPilot, Corydon Ex Circo, calborghete, tomdj1701, Lordban, engel17white, Captain Bardiel, and everyone else who left a separate review on the discord server (if I forgot anyone, I apologize!)

Again, hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Till next time.

Take care.