"Is everything going well?" A soft female voice asked. The young Gendo Ikari turned around in his chair to take in the view of his wife Yui Ikari. She was a beautiful woman who he adored. She was dressed in her typical blue shirt and black pants. She stood in the door way of his small office, "I brought you a visitor."

"DADDY" a small boy three year old boy called happily as he charged through the door and jumped at Gendo. He landed in his fathers lap and immediately wrapped his arms around the older man, "Momma said you are making a wrobot."

Gendo laughed loudly for a second then smiled down at his son, "well little Shinji, looks like Momma's been sharing top secret documents with you again." He smiled over at his wife then looked back to his little boy, "but if you are good you can come and see it."

"Oh, boy oh boy a real life wrobot, I can't wait" Shinji said completely fascinated by the idea of the Giant robot his mother told him about. "Can we go now?" Shinji started to tug on Gendos white lab coat.

"As soon as your Momma is ready too, we will go" Gendo allowed a small chuckle then he lifted his son up and set him down onto the floor. "Now run along" he smiled as Shinji ran off to his mother and gave her a big hug. "Are you ready dear?" he turned his attention to Yui.

She nodded and smiled prompting Gendo to smile back, "let us go then." The young Gendo Ikari got up from his chair and turned off his computer. He then joined his wife and son in the hallway of the Gehirn base in Japan.

"So, doctor Akagi approved has approved my selection as a pilot" Yui said as the threesome walked calmly down the halls towards the research lab. "I thought she wanted to do it."

"Hmm… you are correct dear, she did want to do it, but her authority has been overridden" Gendo smiled glancing at his beautiful wife. "By SEELE" he smiled again as Yui quirked an eye brow up.

Yui thought for a moment then spoke quietly "SEELE wanted me to pilot it first?" This was a startling revelation to her; Yui had assumed that the projects chairperson or another 'Test Subject' would be chosen to test pilot the Eva. But to hear that SEELE had specifically asked for her to do it was, unexpected.

The trio came to a halt at an intersection of the corridor, "this is it, you will go that way to the change rooms." Gendo smiled as his wife wrapped her arms around his neck.

"A kiss for luck" Yui smiled slyly but before Gendo could respond she pulled him in and kissed him passionately. As she pulled away from her husband she smiled again this time a more serine one.

"Good luck dear," Gendo smiled and wiped a small lock of Yuis' brown hair out of her eyes. He soon remembered the other presence and looked down at the small Shinji Ikari, "wish Mommy luck Shinji."

Shinji smiled up at his father then looked at his mother, "GOOD luck Momma." His face was happy and excited though he had no idea why he just said good luck to his mother. "I wove you" he said adoringly.

"I love you to Shinji dear," Yui said as she bent over and pulled her son into a bear hug, "be good for daddy." She got back up and smiled once again to her husband "love you." With that said Yui Ikari walked slowly down the hall on the right towards the change rooms.

Gendo gently took Shinji's hand and they too headed off down the centre hall towards the control room. "Mommy is doing a very important experiment Shinji, it will one day save the human race. And so will you" Gendo spoke the last part in a soft quiet voice barley even noticed by the small boy, Shinji Ikari, the Third Child.

Gendo entered the command room with his son and ushered Shinji over to the large glass plate. Shinji ran up enthusiastically to see his mother out standing on a walkway next to a large purple and green robot, "WOW."

"Who let a child in here?" a woman's voice asked sternly. She was standing next to a computer and taking notes on a notepad. She looked around then asked again "whose child is this?"

"He is mine" Gendo said from his position behind his desk, "I trust there are no problems Doctor Akagi." Gendo shifted his glance from his son to the brown haired Dr Akagi and frowned.

"Ah no, no problem Ikari" with that and a slight frown of her own Doctor Akagi went back to her work. "We are ready to begin test" she said hesitantly.

"Begin" Gendo ordered.

Shinji watched as Yui disappeared into a cylindrical cockpit that was inserted into the back of the robot. He waved happily as the robots eyes started to glow.

"Synchronization at 43% and rising…."

"What's going on?"

"The pulses are back flowing; we can't get any readings on the pilot!"

"Disengage the system, eject the plug. Get Yui OUT of there!"

"It's no use, the signal isn't being accepted"

"Synch rate at 398%......400%"

"YUI"

"MOMMA!"

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"MOMMA" Shinji Ikaris eyes flew open and he jerked up in bed. His head was throbbing and his sheets were soaking with sweat, he couldn't breathe. Gasping for air he fell forward and rested his head on his knees, "mother."

A moment later the only sound left in the room was the periodic sniffling of the fourteen year old boy, pilot to Evangelion Unit-01……

"YEEEEAAAAHHHHH" the enthusiastic cry of Misato Katsuragi echoed through the apartment, "that's the way to start the morning." Misato had of course just gulped down an entire can of beer in one mouthful, as per her usual routine. One thing she neglected to notice was the fact that the Third Child wasn't there to complain on her old and stupid habits.

"Yo Shinji, you awake yet" She yelled in the direction of the Third Childs bedroom, there was no answer. "Hmm…wonder why he isn't up yet, maybe he's just tired" she frowned at the reason for his lack of energy, not that he had much in the first place.

"It's Ritsukos fault, she made him do a million tests yesterday. I think I'll let him stay home today." Misato thought for a moment then she smiled at her bright idea, "I know I'll take him with me today, it will do him good to get out of the house."

She pulled herself out of her chair and walked, a little shakily, down the hall to her young wards room. "Hey Shinji I'm comin in" she yelled in her cheery tone then unceremoniously pulled the door open.

"What's up kiddo?" she said happily. The violet haired woman's smile turned into a saddened expression to see Shinji bent over his knees crying, 'the second time this week.' After making her mental note she then moved over and put an arm around the boy.

Shinji automatically tensed when he felt a strong yet gentle arm wrap around him, he had not noticed his guardians' entry into his room. "M-Misato?" he questioned through a small set of sniffles.

"It's ok Shinji…I'm here" Misato said in a soft caring voice, she pulled her other arm up around the boy and held him tightly in her arms. "Nightmares again?" she questioned, of course she knew it was the only reason he woke up crying and in a sweaty daze.

Shinji just nodded his head and then leaned it against Misatos shoulder. A half an hour later he pulled himself away from his guardian and faked a smile, "I'm ok now, thank you Misato."

Misato reluctantly let the boy go and then stood up, "Shinji." Once she knew she had his attention Misato began to tell him of her plan for the day, "Shinji you don't have to go to school today. In fact I'm ordering you to come with me for the day, and bring your two friends…you know, Suzuhara and Aida. Tell them I'll handle the school."

Shinji looked at Misato with a puzzled face "uh ok, where are we going?" he asked thinking this was not very unusual for the NERV operations director.

Misato smiled and walked to the door, "we are going on a boat ride, to pick up the Second Child and Eva Unit-02."

"Oh" Shinji said cheering up a bit, "is that the girl you said would be staying with us for a while?"

"Yup, so it'll be good for you to meet her" Misato smiled back at him, "you two will get along just great." With a quick and mischievous wink Misato left the room leaving Shinji alone to get changed ready for the day's events. Little did he know it would be a big day and a major turning point in his life.

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"COOOLLL" the overly excited cry of Kensuke Aida rang throughout the flight deck, "this is so awesome." The transport carrying Shinji, Misato, Toji and Kensuke had landed just seconds ago. The Military nut Kensuke had his camera out already and was filming everything in site including the crew.

Of course the crew were happy to be on 'TV' so they were more than willing to wave and joke into the camera. For Kensuke Aida this was the best day of his life, apart from when he got into an Eva entry plug. For Toji Suzuhara it was a nightmare. His special hat he had brought to impress the good Captain Katsuragi had flown off as soon as they landed, and he had been chasing it ever since.

"Oh come here, come here" Toji yelled as he ducked between people and equipment to chase his precious hat. "Hey come on, Shinji gimme a hand" he yelled back to his friend who was still sitting in the transport they had just come from. Toji was surprised when he found a foot step down and scrunch up his hat, "Got ya."

Misato walked up to where Toji was and smiled, "it's good to see you again."

Toji looked up to see who exactly was standing on his hat; it was a girl an exceptionally beautiful young redhead. The girl smiled, "good to see you too Misato. What's with the dorks?" she said pointing to Toji then over to Kensuke.

At that point a large gust of wind blew and the yellow sundress that the girl was wearing flapped up, giving Toji a good view of her undergarments. "What you PERVERT" the redhead promptly slapped Toji on the face and he jumped back, more like flew back actually.

"What was that for" he yelled rubbing a very red very sore cheek.

"That was the viewing fee" she said angrily then smiled deviously "quite a bargain nicht."

Toji stood up and yelled back at the girl, "it's over priced." He then, being the stupid stooge he is, smiled to himself and replied "here's your change." With that he unceremoniously dropped his pants giving the girl a view of his….

Whack! Toji found himself now harbouring two large red hand marks on both cheeks he fell back, again. This time he chose to get up and make a tactical retreat, he could tell this girl weren't worth the pain to drool over.

"So where is the famous Third Child?" the redhead asked smiling to herself for her victory over the male gender. She shifted her gaze back to the perverse boy who caught a glimpse of her and groaned "ach nein."

"Don't worry Asuka, it's not him." Misato shook her head and waved her hands, "it's…" She looked around and couldn't find a certain brown haired boy "where is he?"

"I'm here Misato" Shinji yelled from inside the helicopter which they had come in, since they got there he hadn't even left it. "I'm coming out" he yelled as he stood and exited the transport. He saw three figures in the near distance but couldn't make out faces, just the unmistakable figure of Misato.

Asuka stared off at the transport as a boy exited the main hatch, she couldn't make out any of his features due to her eyes being caught by the suns glare. As the figure approached she found herself speechless, "it can't be" she whispered to herself.

Shinji approached the group and started laughing at Toji as he saw the red marks on his friends face. "What happened to you?" he asked jokingly, Toji just glared back at the young redhead, "what the?" Was all Shinji could say, his mouth promptly dropped to the ground.

Misato looked at the look on Shinjis face and smiled, 'looks like he's got a crush already.' She then said out loud "Well you two should meet this is the Third child Sh…"

"Shinji Ikari" Asuka jumped in finally confirming her suspicions her frown from before completely dropping and a fresh pleasant smile formed. "It really is you" she said as she came closer to the boy.

Shinji began to stammer still getting over the shock, "A-Auska, is that you?" His mouth dropped even further when the Second Child nodded and smiled. "It really is, oh my god."

Misato Kensuke and Toji watched in shock and horror for Toji as Asuka and Shinji wrapped their arms around each other bringing them into a tight embrace. "Did…I miss something here?" Misato said still bewildered.

Shinji and Asuka stood there smiling broadly as they embraced "it so good to see you, I thought I never would again" Asuka almost giggled. Misatos jaw officially hit the ground and her tongue rolled out like toilet paper.

"Ok what's going on?" Misato and Toji both yelled at the same time to get the teens attention. "How do you know each other?" Misato continued on her own.

Shinji and Asuka reluctantly broke their embrace and smiled once more at each other, "we are old friends." Asuka informed, "After my mothers' death I was sent to live in Japan for a few years, I lived with a boy named Shinji Ikari." She smiled back at Misato happy that she was reunited with her most dearest friends.

"How long has it been since you left to go back to Germany?" Shinji asked since he seriously didn't remember.

Asuka turned back to her friend and smiled, "Almost seven years ago." She sighed a little then smiled again, "and as you know for me that is WAY to long." She looked him over and smiled even more "hey Shinji you're still as cute as ever, still listening to the SDAT I gave ya?"

Shinji nodded his head with a big grin, he always listened to the SDAT player she had brought for him as a birthday present. It was his fifth birthday and she had to celebrate joining the family so she dragged him downtown and asked him to pick what he wanted. "You're more beautiful then I remember, though you were always the most beautiful to me."

That was Tojis and Kensukes que to fall over and start hyper ventilating. They had never ever seen Shinji Ikari the Third Child talking so freely with someone especially a girl, and for him to be making passes at her that was unheard of. Though they guessed that he wasn't making passes at her seeing as though they both knew each other.

"So you are the Third Child?" Asuka asked her old friend she smiled even wider at his simple nod, "good, now I get to spend some more time with you."

"Ah you'll be spending plenty of time together" Misato said looking between both teens, "you'll be living with me Asuka in my apartment."

Asuka looked puzzled "how does that let me spend more time with my Shinji?"

"Ah, Asuka I live with Misato as well, so we'll technically be living together" Shinji informed, his reward was of course another tight embrace from the redheaded German.

"That's soooo good, now it will be like the old days, you, me and a whole lotta FUN" Asuka smiled again absolutely over joyed to be back with Shinji. She knew it had been to long since they saw each other…

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Japan: Late 2004