Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion in any form. All characters of this story are owned by their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

AN: Well, here's chapter four. It's been a while, huh? Sorry about that. Recently, there was a death in the family. She was my cousin and only one year older than me at that. I'd been doing good with typing until then, but after that, I just wasn't ready to jump back into the fic. That time has passed though, so now chapter four finally gets to see the light of day. With that said, Mari is now being dedicated to my cousin. She won't be changing much (if at all) honestly, they had some things in common already. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say aside from giving my thanks for the reviews for the last chapter. I'm glad you all liked it.

Well, on with the show.

What Remains and What Has Changed

White; tranquil. It stretches out – endless. A zone of nothingness, yet it holds so much within its grasp. There was sound; singing. The songs of Angels. They were praise – praise to the Father. Praise to Adam. His children missed him – which is why they were so angry. Most of them, anyway. They couldn't understand. They couldn't understand how one of their own could betray them like this with no regret.

"Sister, how could thee? We had won; succeeded. We bested their warrior – but then you brought someone greater. One of our own, yet not. Different… New." The voice was booming. It was thunder and lightning; a storm that tore through the calm space, ripped away the tranquility, and snuffed out the songs of praise like a weak fire.

"I did what I must, brother. You do not understand… father does not understand. The Lilin are not bad. They create," Leliel defended. Her voice, like the other, was detached. There was nothing in the space. It was empty. The zone of the Angels was simply blank. Here, they had no physical form; here they could only converse.

And Leliel was happy about that.

"They destroy! They claw at the world, defiling its nature! Its beauty! They poison the air and the soil. The Earth will meet its end by their hands – unless we wipe them out," came another voice. It was deep, dark, and commanding. It sounded like a war song. An end of days made into sound. An apocalypse.

"No, Brothers. They are simply misguided. Instead of destroying them we could guide them! Help them –"

"No," boomed the apocalypse, cutting off Leliel in an instant, "They are undeserving."

Who are we to decide that? Thought Leliel, wondering. She wouldn't say such a thing out loud. Her brothers would simply grow angrier and point out the nature of their existence. She didn't care about that though – she didn't agree with them. It wasn't right. They shouldn't get to decide such things as the life or death of an entire civilization.

"And this brethren of ours, the one thou brought from the Dirac," said yet another voice. This one spoke in a much lighter tone than the other two. It was sweet sounding and Angelic, but beneath that was an icy undertone as if any warmth it held was sucked away by some sort of void, "He lives among the Lilin, much like Tabris. What have they done to him? He is powerful, he has killed two of his own family, how could he resist father? And why? For these Lilin? Absurd."

"He was a Lilin. Where he came from, he had been born a Lilin and was changed. I, sister, think it is a good thing. He could be a bridge between us and them. Maybe we wouldn't have to fight –"

"He must be killed," snapped the thunder, interjecting, "To actively move against Father is unforgivable." Leliel heard the apocalypse and void make sounds of agreement and she heaved an inaudible, exhausted sigh. They would not listen; they would not even try to see things from her point of view. She supposed she could not blame them, they had not seen what she has. Even so, she had hoped she could have prevented the bloodshed and violence that was sure to come.

"Fine then," she spoke, a sorrowed sigh ghosting past her lips, "Brother Seraphiel will not back down. You will do battle – and thou shall not attain the victory you seek." With those words, her presence vanished from the endless zone.

"We shall see," replied the apocalypse, "Gaghiel," he calls.

"Yes, brother?" Gaghiel's voice was like liquid. Death in fluid motion – quick and adaptive. Drowning; a flood of sound.

"You will go – and you will end this with the might of a Seraph."

"It shall be an honor, brother. And a pleasure."

==X==

Shinji sighed as the helicopter tore through the air. The last time this happened, Kensuke had called it a MIG-55D transport helicopter, if he remembered correctly. He looked to the side, but Kensuke and Toji weren't there this time. In their place was Rei. He was happy that Rei was here this time around, he'd still needed to build his relationship with her, but there was something that bothered him. It was the reason he'd sighed, in fact.

The visit to the Over the Rainbow was happening too early. There should have been a few weeks until this happened. He and Rei should have fought Ramiel first, though he wasn't looking forward to that… aside from Zeruel, Ramiel was the strongest angel he'd ever fought. It's sheer destructive power was overwhelming. Banishing the thoughts of Ramiel from his mind, he focused on his current situation. If Gaghiel attacked like it did the first time, it would mean that in this dimension, the angels might not all come in the same order as they did in his own.

Shinji now had more questions for Leliel. She'd said she be back when he woke up – that had been two days ago. He doubted she'd just forgotten to get back to him, but then that brought up more questions than he already had.

"What is wrong, pilot Ikari?" Shinji turned his head, meeting eyes with Rei. This would be the first time in this dimension that he's seen her without some sort of injury, something he was quite happy about. After discovering that they were basically siblings, he'd come to care for her even more than he had before. Her fate from his dimension – he wouldn't allow it to repeat itself.

"Nothing really, Rei," he replied, foregoing his way of usually addressing her as Ayanami. There was no real reason for it here, "How are you, though? You don't have any more bandages I see."

Rei simply nodded and turned away, but she felt something inside that she didn't quite know how to put words to. She hadn't really had anyone aside from the Commander Ikari worry about her. She was (though she didn't quite understand it) surprised.

"I bet you're just ecstatic to be with her again. I know how you looked at her back home. I bet now that she's alive again you're going to enjoy doing all sorts of things with little miss wonder girl." Shinji frowned as he looked back out the window. His Asuka was "gracing" him with her presence again. Aside from the disgust he felt at what she'd just suggested, and not so subtly at that, he chose to ignore her.

"We'll be landing soon you guys. If you look outside you'll be able to see the Over the Rainbow up ahead," called Misato. Neither Rei nor Shinji made an effort to look at it. Rei didn't really care and Shinji had seen enough of it the last time.

"You're gonna meet me now, huh? I wonder what she'd do to you if she knew about all the dirty little things you did while I slept. Or if she knew that you killed her? Oh, I can't wait to see her straighten you out here. Finally, you'll receive some justice for all your sins."

Mentally, Shinji rolled his eyes. He wasn't as submissive as he used to be. Too much had happened for him to stay that way. The odds of this dimension's Asuka having a chance at treating him like trash like the last one were next to impossible. The only thing he worried about were the memories. A lot had happened between him and Asuka; some of it was widely known while some was never going to become public knowledge.

As the copter landed, Shinji's thoughts drifted back to his first meeting with the redhead. A small smile graced his lips as he remembered her commanding aura and confidence as she greeted them all – then he scowled remembering how he'd been slapped for seeing her panties when it wasn't even his intention. How was he even supposed to turn his head away that quickly? No one had been expecting it.

"Okay you two, let's go," called Misato. Shinji followed her absentmindedly, Rei did the same, though she was quite attentive. Shinji continued to think as he, Misato, and Rei came to a stop and waited for the future member of their "family."

==X==

Mari and Asuka looked out the window to see Misato stepping out of the copter along with a blue haired girl, whom they knew to be Rei, and a boy neither of them had ever seen before. The two of them knew a non member of Nerv wouldn't just be allowed onto the ship so that only left one answer as to his identity.

"So that's the Third Child," said Mari, licking her lips in the process, "He's cute." Mari eyed Asuka, waiting for her to respond. Based on the very subtle appreciative look on her face, Mari already knew she thought the same – she also knew she wouldn't admit it if her life depended on it. Not right now, anyway. She'd need to pester about it for a while before forcing her to spill.

Not surprising Mari in the slightest, Asuka snorted. "He's a twig," she replied, "I bet the wind can blow him over and his face isn't all that attractive. Let's just go meet Misato." The two were about to walk outside when a feminine voice called out to them.

"Asuka, Mari…" Mari turned with a smile and Asuka froze, slowly turning herself.

"Yes?" chirped Mari. Her disrespectful reply earned her an exasperated sigh from the woman who'd stopped the two.

"Behave. Both of you," replied the woman, earning a wink and a smile from Mari and a stiff nod from Asuka, "I'll be speaking with the Captain. After you greet Misato and the other pilots take them to him. We will be waiting. That's all, run along girls." The woman proceeded to walk away leaving behind a still chipper Mari and a sighing Asuka.

"You still think she's mad at you?" asked Mari as the two walked out to where Misato and company were waiting.

"Well… She did yell at me earlier this morning."

"Of course she did, Asuka. She'd had a long night and you woke her up with your loud cursing when Misato didn't answer another call. You'd think you'd have learned your lesson after the day you'd called her when the angel attacked." Asuka frowned at being called out, but said nothing in reply.

The two of them soon stood face to face with Misato, Rei, and Shinji. Asuka looked over them analytically. Misato was sporting a smile and Asuka smiled back. She enjoyed talking to Misato quite a bit. Next she locked eyes with Rei. The pale girl held a disinterested look and didn't look away when Asuka flashed a brief glare at her. The red head was slightly shocked, she usually had no problem intimidating people, but this girl seemed totally unfazed. Slightly frustrated, she turned her gaze to the Third Child.

Asuka had heard much about him, he was practically a celebrity in their line of work. Having a sync ratio of 200% on his very first sortie was like a miracle. No one had ever achieved such a thing, and she was honestly jealous. He hadn't even trained as much as she had! Asuka desperately wanted to discover how he was so good. She'd originally thought his sync ratio was just a fluke, maybe some malfunction in Nerv's machinery. She knew the odds of that were excessively slim, but she hadn't wanted to accept that he was even decent at piloting.

Unfortunately, the German bombshell had to accept it when he defeated the fourth Angel, Shamshel. His sync ratio hadn't been in the two hundreds but it had started in the ninety's and entered the hundreds near the end of his battle. He'd taken out two Angel's by himself already. And with relative ease too. It frustrated her immensely.

She glared at Shinji now, a much more menacing glare than she'd given Rei too, but the boy continued to look forward. Not at her, but past her. She knew there was nothing too interesting behind her, so she quickly realized he was lost in thought, which angered her even more.

"Hey there Asuka, Mari. How have you two been?" asked Misato, cheerfully.

"I've been fine. Asuka here has been too, although," she says, smirking mischievously, "she has been getting into trouble a lot lately. Too many loud phone calls – or, almost phone calls in her case." Misato held back a small giggle, knowing exactly what Mari was talking about. Asuka called a lot recently, so much so that Misato had been turning off her phone a lot more lately.

Asuka's cheeks flushed ever so slightly and she looked away from the two women with a scowl. Misato smirked seeing this, but decided they best start introducing themselves. Looking to Rei first she told the silent girl to tell them her name.

"I am Ayanami Rei, the First Child and pilot of Unit 00," replied Rei monotonously. Asuka silently fumed. She was really disliking this girl so far, furthermore she hadn't even said "nice to meet you." Trying to put it to the back of her mind, she waited for Shinji to speak up. They all waited and after a bit of silence it became apparent that he was not paying attention.

Asuka's ire rose. If there was one thing she absolutely hated, it was being ignored. She was just about to give the rude boy a piece of her mind when Misato tapped him on the shoulder. He blinked, slowly regaining focus in reality.

"Uh…" started Shinji as he looked around. Asuka and a girl he didn't know were in front of him. He hadn't even noticed them pop up. Remembering Asuka's issue with being ignored briefly, he wondered how long they'd been there. Meeting her eyes and seeing the death glare she was shooting him, he came to the only logical conclusion. They'd been there for a while and he was screwed.

Some first impression, he thought to himself. Still unsure of what to do, he looked to Misato and raised an inquisitive brow.

"Introduce yourself," she replied. Turning away from her, Shinji did so.

"I'm the Third Child and Unit 01's pilot, Ikari Shinji. A pleasure." He looked at the two girls and thought he saw Mari lick her lips while looking him up and down, but ignored it. There was no way he'd seen that right. That's what he tried to convince himself of anyway.

"Now you two," said Misato, looking at Asuka and Mari.

"Hallo!" exclaimed Mari, Shinji noted she'd pronounced the word oddly. "I don't have my Eva yet, but from what I know, I will soon. I'm the Fourth Child, Mari Illustrious Makinami! It's great to finally meet you two," she smiled, before sending a naughty little smirk Shinji's way. "Especially, you, cutie."

The convincing he'd tried to do just moments before went down the drain. Shinji noted that she was cute, her casual appearance of a tank top and a skirt with flip-flops seemed to fit her. She didn't seem the type to care to much about appearances, but that was just his opinion at first glance. He could be wrong.

"Mari!" came a frantic whisper from Asuka, her blue eyes boring into the brunette disapprovingly. Mari simply shrugged, muttering that Shinji was cute and that she couldn't help it. As Asuka sighed, shaking her head and recomposing herself, Mari winked at Shinji. The pilot of Unit 01 almost sputtered, now knowing that'd he'd been wrong earlier. She had been checking him out.

"I'm the Second Child, Asuka Langley Soryu; the pilot of Unit 02," Asuka paused, looking over at Mari, her yellow sundress flowing in the wind, before sighing and gesturing towards the brunette, "I also happen to be Mari's cousin."

Shinji's eyes widened. This had definitely not occurred the last time. She never spoke of any cousin's in his dimension and they certainly hadn't been Eva pilots. He frowned, trying to determine what effect this would have on the events to come. Especially today. If Gaghiel attacked, would things stay the same? Or would Mari being here somehow change things completely…? Before long, the Third Child was lost in thought and had to be roused by Rei when everyone had begun to leave.

"Pilot Ikari. We are going." Shinji, nodded, walking forward absentmindedly before letting something slip he would not realize until later that day.

"Yeah, sorry sis… let's go…" With that, the Third Child stalked off and Rei stopped walking. She looked at him oddly, filing his words away for later discussion with him or the commander. The two of them caught up with the others and from there Asuka and Mari gave a brief tour of the ship. Shinji nodded and commented at certain moments, feigning interest. He already knew the ship, there was no real point in listening.

Instead of paying attention, he wondered if there were any changes in Kaji. If nothing else, he hoped he wasn't a spy like in his dimension. If he got suspicious of Shinji, the young pilot wasn't sure how long he'd be able to keep everything secret.

"Well, that's the ship," said Mari, drawing him out of his thoughts. The five of them were standing in front of the room he assumed the captain was in.

"Now that we've shown you around, I assume you want to speak with the captain. Hopefully you can get us off this god awful ship." Shinji snorted to himself. He'd burst her bubble if it wouldn't bring up more problems – and it would – so he kept his mouth shut.

"I'll see what I can do," replied Misato before taking the lead and stepping into the room. The three girls followed after her and Shinji brought up the rear. He looked ahead, expecting to see just the captain and one other person, maybe Kaji if he'd gotten here before them. What he did not expect was what he was looking at now. Shinji stared, eyes wide at the woman before him.

"It's nice to see you again, Misato. I'm glad you had no trouble getting here. I also hope my daughter and my niece didn't give you too much trouble."

"None at all," Misato giggled, "Kyoko." Asuka's mother could have been mistaken for her twin if not for the age difference. She was Taller than Asuka, though not by much and her hair was short instead of the long tresses her daughter sported. She had the same blue eyes too. She wore a lab coat, much like Ritsuko, and beneath that was a black dress that clung to her form. At this point, the Third Child's mind had slowed to a halt. Asuka's mother – the mother that was dead in his dimension; the mother that was the driving force behind all of Asuka's quirks and trauma's – she was alive here.

Then… how does this affect Asuka? How could she have changed…?

Shinji noticed that the Asuka his mind conjured up was next to him, mimicking the reaction his Asuka probably would have had. Her eyes were wide, tears rolled down her cheeks and she had this look on her face. It was as if she was trying to smile and cry at once. Quickly, she rushed over and began crying out to Kyoko. Hoping beyond all hope that the woman would be able to hear her. Obviously, being nothing but a figment of Shinji's imagination, Asuka could not be heard, seen, or felt. She was crying out in vain.

And despite his better judgment, the scene hurt him. But he didn't bat an eye.

"This is one of the scientists that was instrumental in creating the Evangelions, as well as Asuka's mother and Mari's aunt, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu," Misato introduced. Rei bowed prompting Shinji to do the same despite his well-hidden shock.

"A pleasure to meet you," said Shinji, restricting his discomfort from meeting Asuka's "dead" mother.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Shinji. Although," she trailed off and Shinji, in his curiosity raised a brow in wonder, "This isn't really the first time we've met… I don't expect you to remember though. You were such a small thing then, a newborn wrapped up in your mother's arms."

Shinji's mouth opened – then closed. It repeated the action a couple more times as he tried to work up a response to what she'd just said. He was at a loss. He couldn't believe she actually knew him in this dimension.

I'm definitely going to need time to process all of this…

After the bit of knowledge he'd gathered from Kyoko, the conversation went on much like it did in his dimension. The captain refused to let them take Unit 02 and they were quickly escorted out of the room. Kaji didn't show up, but Shinji figured he wouldn't need to this time. He'd been Asuka's guardian before, but since her mother lived here, that would obviously change things.

Does she even know Kaji? Shinji wondered; little did he know, he'd be getting his answer – and a lot more – sooner than he thought.

"Where's Kaji, Kyoko? I thought he would be coming with you," asked Misato. Shinji's brow furrowed at this. She wanted to know where he was? Last time the Third Child checked, Misato hated his guts.

"He had some sudden obligations. You'll have to wait a little longer to see your husband."

Shinji almost tripped.

"W-What?" he asked, wide eyed as he looked to Misato, "You're married?!"

Misato's eyes flashed with something Shinji didn't recognize right away, but when she smirked mischievously at him he ignored it.

"Yeah, why? Were you hoping to hit on me or something Shinji?" teased Misato. For the first time since he came to this dimension, Shinji sputtered. He had no idea what to say to that. It wasn't true of course, but she'd just embarrassed him and it was taking a bit of time for his mind to catch up with everything.

"N-no!" He denied, "I was just surprised. You hadn't told me," he finished, finally composing himself again. Misato giggled and made some offhand remark that translated into not believing him. The other girls, aside from Rei, got a small laugh out of the situation before the ship rumbled. Shinji frowned.

Gaghiel's attacking a lot earlier than predicted…

==X==

Gaghiel had just been defeated. There were no real changes from the previous time it was killed except for the fact that Asuka had not dragged Shinji along. Instead, Mari had gone with her and Shinji had the luxury (or torture) of watching them go to battle without being able to do anything himself. Thankfully, nothing unexpected had occurred.

This incident did raise a question in his mind though. It hadn't seemed like Asuka even considered asking him to come with her. If that was the case, did that mean she wasn't as focused on proving her superiority in this dimension? He would assume so; her mother was alive here, and that was the driving force behind her inferiority complex back in his world. It wouldn't be a leap to say with her alive, Asuka was more stable as a human being… but another thing came to mind at this too.

If her mother was alive, whose soul was trapped within Unit 02? Shinji frowned; he was starting to have more questions than answers – again. Seeing as how he was alone in the room provided for him shortly after the attack had begun, he was about to try and reach out for Leliel. Before he could though, someone interrupted him.

"Pilot Ikari." Shinji's head whipped around to the door. Standing there was Rei, still clothed in her usual school uniform. Now that he thought about it, he didn't often see her wearing anything else – if ever.

I'll have to take her shopping one of these days…

"yes, what is it Rei?" he asked, a disarming smile appearing on his face.

"Earlier, when I informed you that we were going to be left behind… you said something that I wish to inquire about." Shinji raised a brow. He didn't remember saying anything important.

"Go ahead."

"When we were catching up to the Lieutenant Colonel and the other pilots, you called me 'sis.' What exactly did you mean, Pilot Ikari?"

Shinji stared at her wide eyed (he was doing that a lot today, in his opinion) as he once again stammered.

What did I just get myself into?

==X==

Deep beneath the ocean floor, the tiniest fragment of Gaghiel's destroyed core shined. Its glow brightened as the water around it began to converge on its form. From the core came a voice. It was a flood of sound – death in fluid motion.

"The time has come, my brethren. The Lilin believe me dead; defeated, but I still live. In the name of our father, I shall show them true despair. I shall smite them with my power. The might of a Seraph is upon them."

Review please! I'd love to hear what you guys think about this chapter. What do you think of Kyoko being alive? Of Misato being Married to Kaji? What changed do you think have occurred in Asuka? And what exactly is a Seraph? Also, can you guess which angel is which based purely on the descriptions of their voices?