Neon Genesis Evangelion: Another Way

Chapter 7

Reflections

The night Asuka arrived, my sleep brought me back to the day we all could've died...

Well, that was many times, but you probably know which in particular I'm thinking of:

I remember realizing that was my last time in that stupid thing called an EVA and that I was brutal to SEELE's series, especially after that fake Lance nearly went into Asuka's eye.

My mission was simple yet the opposite: get an umbilical cord to Unit-02 and kill the EVA series.

The first thing I saw were white EVA-like creatures on the ground, with one standing, and EVA-02 using it's AT-field against a familiar weapon.

"It's that Lance! And it's breaking through the AT Field!" I yelled.

I rushed Unit-01 forward, attempting to push Asuka out of the way, but it was too late.

Luckily, it hadn't hit her eye, but I could hear her scream though the intercom.

"Asuka, a-are you-"

I heard a growl, interrupting my question.

"I'm fine," she spat out.

"I-I have an umbilical cord, a-are you sure you still want to fight?" I asked, holding it out.

"I don't I or anyone can live without SLAUGHTERING these things!" she yelled.

I quickly put the cord in.

I sighed, and turned.

"Well, win or lose, this is the end," I said to myself.

Asuka apparently heard me.

"Are you just going to stand there or are we going to end this?!" she yelled.

"You're right. We gotta win this," I said.

The Mass Produced EVAs surrounded us, as we waited for one of them to charge.

"Screw this! I'm going for the kill!" Asuka decided, running toward two of them.

"W-watch out for the umbilical cord! We can't afford to lose this one!" I responded, eyeing one of the EVAs begin their attack.

It grabbed one of the metal weapons of the ground.

That's the thing that turned into the Lance of Longinus. I need to be careful.

It lifted the weapon, but I jumped forward, hitting both the EVA and the weapon, knocking the threat out of its hands.

I threw a powerful punch, tearing through its chest, then pushing forward, I stood on its legs.

I began looking for the core, finding barely visible on it's stomach.

I punched the core, but it barely budged.

I looked backward. I saw that sharp gray blade in the ground, but another EVA raced for it.

"Asuka! Only go for the cores! It might take a while for them to budge, so try and grab one of those swords that turn into the Lance of whatever it's called!" I suggested, leaving my previous subject I still had yet to deal with for one of the sharp weapons.

There was no response, though I heard Asuka there, yelling and growling as she usually did in battle.

The SEELE programmed EVA was about to get its fake hands on the weapon, but not before I would make a jump for over its head, and turn its head to the point of the neck breaking. LCL or whatever that blood of theirs was began seeping out of the damaged neck as it tried to re-adjust its head. I grabbed the weapon before it could do so, and slammed it right into the core. More blood-like LCL sprayed out of the EVA's body, and the EVA fell to its demise. I pulled the sword out of its victim, and turned to the last few EVAs to regenerate that finally got up.

"Come on! What are you waiting for?!" I yelled, wielding the strange weapon.

They slowly moved, as if they were purposefully wasting time.

"Well, I can't waste any time." I whispered to myself.

I rushed toward the group of 4 EVAs, kicking the front one of the way, and stabbing through the core of the one next to it. The other two rushed at me, but just as I was going to stop one of them by holding its neck, but strangely, a familiar power appeared in front of me.

"An AT field? This can't be mine, can it?" I asked.

"You baka! Of course you have an AT field! Not only do you have a huge sync ratio, but you have those stupid angel guts in that EVA!" Asuka yelled, just audible enough to hear over the loud noise outside her EVA.

The two EVAs charging at me backed off, after seeing this. I removed the sword from the now deceased EVA, but in the process I turned off the AT field.

This proved to be a mistake. I felt a giant jerk from behind, soon hitting the ground. The sword was away from both me and my opponents, but if I wasn't careful, one of them easily could've killed me with it.

The EVA I had hit earlier but not killed, and two others began attacking, to which I could not win 100% of the time.

One smacked Unit-01 over the head, which hurt, and drove me over the edge. I pushed all of them off me, breathing heavily. One was still standing though, and quickly rushed toward me.

I responded with a punch with all of my power to its chest, easily smacking through it.

Next, the soon to be victim of mine still in my grasp, I continuously gave blows to its core, until I felt it shatter.

My fingers began to bleed, which meant the core was broken and I had disposed the beast.

"How many have you killed yet?" I said over the intercom.

No response.

"Asuka?"

Still nothing.

I turned, grabbing the MP EVA's sword, and rushed to where Asuka was currently fighting.

"Asuka!"

I saw two EVAs punching and pushing down on Unit-02, three dead ones surrounding them.

The sight only angered me more than I already was.

"Get away!"

I threw the sharp object at one of the EVAs, forcing it to stumble and fall. I jump-kicked the other, then stomping on it's core twice with only two smashes.

I turned back to a beaten Unit-02 and forced Unit-01 to kneel and pull it out of the hole it was forced into.

"ASUKA! Are you there?!"

Suddenly, communications came back on.

"Shinji? We're restarting the map and the Magi currently! Bakelite's covered the place but we don't have much time! Why aren't Asuka's communications on?" I heard Maya ask.

"I don't know. She's got beaten pretty hard. I've been trying to reach her," I replied.

I began to hear static, then a cough.

"Shinji... I'm pretty much fine, but Mama isn't. We need to get out of here," she explained, over static.

"What? Mama?" I asked.

"There's no time for that! I'll explain later, but the EVA- it's breaking down!"

"Sorry, Asuka, we can't eject your entry plug. The MAGI's still down," Maya pointed out.

"I-I can do it. I can get her in here," I explained.

"The EVAs are still out here! We can't do that!" Asuka yelled.

"Do you want to be a sitting duck out here?! It's now or never!" I responded, finally asserting myself.

Asuka sighed.

"Fine. Do it before the other EVAs come back."

I turned Unit-02 over, and looked for the opening to the plug.

"Take off your nerve clips in case it really hurts," I pointed out.

I waited a second.

"Alright, do it."

I ripped open the piece the kept the entry plug enclosed, and pulled it out.

"Can you open the door, Asuka?

She groaned and reached for the door.

"I can barely move in the LCL!" she yelled.

Despite that, I saw the small hatch open, with LCL spilling out.

I put the pod down and kneeled to where she could get in.

I felt a shake and heard footsteps.

"Let's end this quickly," she suggested.

"Agreed," I replied.

"Where's that sword thing anyway?" Asuka asked.

"In one of the thing's arms. I should go finish it off."

I jumped up out of the hole, only to see the EVA that wasn't killed, still lying there.

I gripped the sword out of its shoulder and stabbed through its core.

"There are two left, then it's all over," I softly announced.

"That's great, but those are two more threats, Shinji," Maya replied, with gunfire in the background.

"Let's finish this then! Charge them with full for-" Asuka began, but before a giant boom covered the sound of her voice, and a consistent shake in the ground began.

I pushed Unit-01's sights to my left, to see a flashing light coming from the direction of NERV.

"What the hell was that?!" I asked, my eyes widened.

"I don't know, Shinji, but if what I think is happening doesn't stop now, we'll all die," Maya responded.

Suddenly, a hand emerged.

"That's the giant angel in Terminal Dogma!" Asuka yelled.

"Lilith..." I muttered.

The hand turned human-like, and stretched in to an arm.

"We need to kill those things before we face another threat," I quickly explained, turning away from the monstrosity coming from Dogma and moved out of the forest to find the last of the EVAs before they found us.

Luckily, they were clueless and we were right on their doorstep.

I leaped into the air, sword in hand, appearing just above the white monster. It was going to turn, but I glided down too fast for him, and lodged the sword right through his back. I waited for it to lose motion, and it was nearly too late, as the other MPEVA rushed to move for the surprise kill.

I turned back to face him, blocking his attack and pushing him back to what looked to be a few feet from my eyes. I pulled the LCL covered sword up, and slammed down, but his countered with his sword, causing a clash and a stalemate.

I pushed hard, but the EVA's grip and arms wouldn't submit to my attack. It remained like this for a while, before I got an idea from a memory from the Over the Rainbow.

"Asuka! Help me push down!" I yelled.

She rushed over, grabbing the handlebars, her hands above mine.

"Push!" I heaved.

The handlebars slowly moved further and further.

"PUSH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Suddenly, I spotted the sword changing forms.

"Pull up! Pull UP!" I yelled again.

"On 3, we strike!"

"3..."

The sword got thinner and thinner, slowly beginning to resemble its ultimate weapon.

"2..."

Asuka was counting down as well.

"1..."

The sword was almost the Lance of Longinus, and this meant this had to be the final hit, or we lost.

"NOW!" We screamed in unison, bringing the final gauntlet down on the enemy.

The two weapons collided, and the world sat still and silent.

The handlebars were on the verge of breaking from the pressure of our bodies.

I closed my eyes.

Please, DIE!

Suddenly the pressure was released.

The fake Lance split in half, and the sword went through the creature from hell at the speed of light.

The creature stood one last time, before it suddenly burst out blood-like LCL, and split into two.

The ground shaking suddenly stopped too.

Maya's comms suddenly turned on, and the sound of gunfire had stopped.

I recalled that as a moment that the world stopped. It was over.

Suddenly, I heard cheering over the intercom.

"Shinji! Asuka! You guys have done it! SEELE and the other forces have pulled out and there are no signs of other threats!" Maya yelled.

"We did it..." I murmured, breathing heavily.

Asuka fell backwards.

"No more angels... We killed them all..." I continued.

"Oh my god! It's finally over!" Asuka cheered.

I felt arms come from around my seat and around me.

"Shinji..." I heard Asuka whisper.

I breathed heavily and even smiled for one second, before blacking out.

As soon as this happened, I awoke from my reliving of the past in the present.

I checked the clock in the living room, because Misato was sleeping in my room.

6:54.

I had classes the next day, making me groan because I hadn't done the homework for those yet.

I got off the couch and folded the blankets. I then snuck into my room very quietly to not wake Misato.

I looked in the direction of the other two bedrooms.

Maybe I should check on Rei.

I approached her door, and slowly turned the knob.

I heard movement as I opened it, only to see Rei, sitting up in her bed, with a very emotionless yet tired expression.

"Oh, you've woken up," I commented.

She opened her mouth a small bit to yawn.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, you may as well get up. I'm going to make breakfast right about now," I suggested.

She quietly nodded, and I shut the door.

I then made my way to the kitchen and grabbed eggs out of the fridge.

I wasn't feeling like making something too time-consuming, so I just made eggs and rice, with coffee for Father and Misato.

Rei emerged with a shirt and pants Misato gave her, with her hair a mess and small bags under her eyes.

"Here you go, Rei," I said, as set a plate of food in front of her.

She sat, and ate slowly, contradictory to a few nights before.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door.

"Oh, that must be Asuka," I pointed out, exiting the kitchen and rushing to the door.

I opened it to see who was expected on the other side.

She's sure here early.

"Hey. I just made breakfast if want some, but it's not much," I greeted.

"That sounds great right now. The stupid hotel I'm staying at has bad room service," Asuka replied.

I served her a plate and then sat on the couch.

"Hey Shinji, could you show me where Hikari lives? I haven't seen her in ages," Asuka asked.

I sat there for a second.

Didn't Misato mention a surprise party of some sort?

"I don't think she'd be home today, she works downtown somewhere," I answered, twisting the truth a bit.

Although that was mostly true, she didn't work until night, 3 days a week.

"Well, that blows. Does she work tomorrow?"

"Probably not, as I see her around the college on Mondays."

"Then what should we do today?" Asuka asked.

"I dunno. I have a bit of work for tomorrow's classes, so I may need a little time to myself before dinner."

"Aren't you forgetting that I have a degree? I can help you," she declared.

"You can't read Kanji, so you can't help with my Japanese assignment and I don't know how much you know about Music."

Asuka sighed in defeat.

"Well, we still have plenty of time anyway. Where do you want to go, Rei?" the red-head asked.

I was going to intervene, before backing to let Rei answer for once.

"I have been asked to stay indoors until my mental state is used to consciousness by the hospital," Rei responded.

It looked like Asuka was about to start the whole "Are you going to do it just because he/they/she asked you to?" argument, before realizing the futility in that. Not only was it doctor's orders for her health, but also her hesitancy to throw this potentially new relationship off it's course.

Instead of sourness coming out of Asuka's mouth, pity flowed through instead.

"Well, that blows. I hope that'll end soon so we can show you the world again. Maybe even things that you still don't understand from before you were in that coma," she explained.

I heard a door open from the end of the hallway, meaning someone had gotten up.

Father turned the corner, rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning, kids. You sure are up and ready early."

I fetched him a cup of coffee.

"Morning, Com- Gendo," Asuka greeted, stopping mid-sentence to correct herself.

"Good morning, Ikari," Rei said, in a very monotone voice.

I look up at Rei.

What's up with her?

I didn't say anything, but I didn't think Rei was acting like herself, well at least herself at that point.

I shook my head and went back to business.

"I guess I haven't given you a tour of the town yet. We could head downtown and I can show you places I've been over the years. Does that sound like a good idea?" I suggested.

"That sounds okay. Are there things that I would find interesting in particular?" Asuka asked.

I knew what she was referring to, but I decided to play dumb.

"There's plenty of stores and cool things to look at. I don't remember everything, though."

"I better bring my wallet then. I may have forgotten it at my hotel room," Asuka replied, searching her bag.

It was still pretty early, so Asuka and Rei sat and watched TV and Father did some work on his computer while I cleaned the kitchen.

Misato was still sleeping, so I didn't have anyone to talk to about our potential plan.

"We'll leave in an hour or two. Maybe Misato will want to come with us," I suggested.

The conversation faded from there.

I sat and looked out the only window of the house from a chair seated next to it. The others kept doing what they were doing, with Asuka attempting to make conversation with Rei.

I was going to join out of boredom, but I felt as if Asuka needed to make amends on her own. I listened as they spoke of what Rei missed in the world whilst in her coma, but then immediately tuned out as Asuka began to talk about teaching Rei to use makeup.

I felt a buzzing in my pocket, realizing it was my phone.

I used to panic when I first started using my phone for purposes other than NERV, as I thought a buzz or beep meant an angel was coming.

I turned on the device and saw that I received a message from none other than Toji.

Toji: yo, shin-man! what's up?

Me: Nothing much. You?

Toji: same here. how's life?

I realized that I had to lie for now.

Me: Normal. I'm getting by. How's it back at the apartment with Hikari?

Toji: great! we got the place set up pretty nicely. it is small, tho. i'm easily movin up the ranks in my job so we might be able to get an upgrade by next year. hikari's great!

I know I had to make some sort of move for this plan to be put into action.

Me: That's good. Are you and Hikari free tomorrow night?

Toji: i think so. i work early and i'm sure hikari's open as well.

Me: Cool. I was wondering because I was thinking of having you guys come over. It's been a while, so maybe we catch up a bit.

Toji: sure, man! it's been wayyy too long. i'll talk to hikari. she'll be all over it. i'll get back to ya.

Me: Alright! See you around, Toji.

Toji: see ya shin-man.

I turned off my phone from there and continued waiting for Misato to wake up.

It was an hour and a half later. Asuka was really getting tired of waiting, (frankly, so was I) when Misato stumbled out of my room, looking like a tired mess.

"Well, someone finally woke up," Asuka scoffed.

"Morning. Breakfast is in the microwave," I said, as Misato rubbed her eyes.

"Thank you, Shinji. Just like old times," the lazyhead replied, making her way toward her meal.

"Can you get ready soon? Shinji and I were going to go downtown but he wanted to wait for you." Asuka spat out, in a somewhat complaining tone.

I guess there is a little bit of old angry Asuka around.

"Really? Well, I'd best hurry," the older woman replied.

Misato actually wants to get up? Now this is something you don't see everyday. That baby must be doing something to her brain.

After quickly eating, she moved to my room to get changed and then to the bathroom.

Suddenly, I remembered seeing the apartment for the first time after Tokyo-03 was destroyed for the second time.

"Well, here it is," Misato said.

Misato then tried to open the door with both keys and keycards. Turned out that the door was stuck and that forced me and Misato to pull it open.

After 5 minutes of pulling, we (along with Asuka) went inside to find almost everything broken or knocked over in a way.

"Damn. I guess we better find anything we can before the place gets demolished," I pointed out, making my way to my bedroom.

I wondered if my cello was in a repairable state, so I looked for that.

The other two did the same, although it seemed that Asuka was done quick and didn't take very much, at least compared to what she brought.

I just stuck to cleaning out what was left of my room, which I found a lot of stuff under the debris.

Suddenly, I heard a shriek coming from Misato's side of the apartment.

Asuka and I rushed to see what was the matter and opened the door to Misato's bedroom.

"What in- Mein Gott!" Asuka yelled.

In my sight was Misato, sitting on her room's floor surrounded by a smallpile of empty bottles and some glass shards.

"What was a pile of bottles doing in your closet?!" Asuka asked.

"I-I can explain," Misato responded, with a nervous smile.

"No point in cleaning it now. Are you alright? Any glass on you?" I asked, holding my hand out for my former guardian to grab hers.

Misato gripped my hand and I pulled.

"I'm fine. Nothing hurts, really," Misato responded.

I checked the time.

"It's gonna get dark out, we'd best be going," Asuka pointed out.

It probably be a little weird to say that it was getting dark, but most of the power was out in the parts of the city that weren't underwater. The Geo-Front was just barely saved.

After gathering what I could, I entered the NERV vehicle Misato borrowed and shut the door. As it started, my mind flashed back to the future, where I was leaving the apartment.

"Bye, Father. Bye, Rei!" I said as I shut the door behind me. I faintly heard Father say bye and I could see Rei wave through the crack in the door as I left.

"Are we taking my car or the train?" Misato asked.

"I think the train would be a better idea. It'll show you guys what's here more," I answered.

And off we went to the train station, which was the fourth time there that week.

I went up to the kiosk and bought two extra tickets for the downtown train.

We passed the checkpoints and entered the area where we waited for the train.

Rei

I sat where I had been since I had awoken: in the kitchen at the table.

I looked at my surroundings.

Is this real? I've only been here for two days and...

...it's all still so new to me.

Ikari came out of his chamber as he tied his tie.

"Ikari?" I called.

"Yes, Rei?" he replied.

"Where are you occupied now?" I asked.

"Well, I work in a lab where we research biological anomalies and activity that doesn't seem normal," he answered.

"If you have the funds such as NERV's leftover sum, why do you have a job?" I asked

Is this what Asuka called "pushing it" or "being nosy"?

"Not only to provide for our future, but I have to fix what I have done and make sure the threat of Angels are gone for good."

"But weren't you-"

"Rei, don't bring what's in the past back. It's 2019, not 2015."

Ikari looked as if he were about to leave. before I made one last move.

"Why can't I go anywhere?" I asked, adding a little bit assertiveness in my voice.

"That isn't my decision to make," he replied.

"How should I know that?" I retorted, nearly yelling.

We both stood silent. In my mind, I was taken aback. I had never felt unsuppressed stress, anger, or disgust such as that before. Not even the time when I denied Ikari's request to bring his wife back or when I slapped Shinji. I wanted to yell at him. I desired to bring him pain for all of the deception and torment he had put me through. I finally realized it.

I was changing.

"We'll talk about this later. I have some business to attend to," Ikari continued, as he grabbed his briefcase and left the house.

He has not fully changed, he has just grown soft.

I turned away from the door as he left.

I'm the third and last form of what is known as Rei Ayanami. I am me. If this is true, what is happening to my being?

No answer to my thoughts, unlike my dreams in the blackness of my 4-year slumber. Lilith was still there. Lilith was the only thing there for me, although I wasn't necessarily aware of it. I didn't know what kept me alive, whether it was a subject of luck, logic, or Lilith herself.

I peered out the only window of the house. The sun was hidden behind it's solitude we call clouds, as the day of autumn began to rise. I never understood weather, as it was explained differently in school than it was in reality due to Second Impact.

I just wondered when I'd be able to visit the sun again.

Shinji

The train ride was short and sweet. We arrived at the next station, to where we would go into town. We passed the gates and we arrived at the street.

"Where do you want to go first?" I asked.

It was still morning, so I was hoping they'd pick like a recreational district where we could go see a movie or go to a museum, but of course, they had to already say:

"Let's go shopping!" they cheered in unison.

I rolled my eyes.

"Ok then, let's go," I replied, sighing.

I led them to the shopping district. Luckily for me, some of the large clothing stores where closed. The one Asuka hoped was there was open, so I was dragged in as Misato followed.

I sat on a bench outside a changing room as the girls browsed.

After about 10 minutes, Asuka entered a changing room.

"Don't look or I won't be a very happy Asuka!" I heard her say behind the door.

I rolled my eyes again.

After a couple more minutes, Misato (who was surprisingly bagless) sat next to me.

"Hey kiddo, is Asuka in there?" she asked.

"Yeah, she is," I replied.

"Well, since she's distracted, how about we speak about our little plan?"

"I already invited Toji and Hikari over for tomorrow night."

"And?"

"Toji said he'd get back to me. I'm planning on inviting Fuyutsuki as well."

"What about Kensuke?"

"In the air force."

"Oh, that's right."

"Can you possibly get Aoba or Hyuga down here?"

"I'm sure Hyuga's free, since's he been Mr. Stay-at-Home dad except for doing spreadsheets for a company on his computer. Aoba probably isn't even home."

"Ok, invite them if possible. We're going to surprise everyone."

As soon as I said that, Asuka bursted out of her dressing room, wearing a very tight, black dress. I nearly fell backwards at the sight of it.

"Whaddya think?" the redhead asked, with a smile and a wink.

"Seems a bit skimpy, but it's cute," Misato complimented.

"What about you, Shinji?" Asuka asked.

I blushed and laughed in embarrassment.

Looks like more than just her personality matured.

"Yeah! Um, you- I mean- Uh, i-it l-looks great, Asuka!" I spat out.

She smirked.

Oh boy. She's gonna mock me.

"Thank you," she replied, stepping back into the dressing room.

I was dumbfounded. I mean, I definitely knew she changed, but I was sure she'd still call me names like pervert without realizing it.

"Anyway, are we set for tomorrow?" Misato asked, chuckling.

"I just gotta throw it by Father and make enough food," I replied.

I took me a second to realize that Misato still had a smirk on her face.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked, suspicious.

She stopped.

"Oh, it's nothing. It was just your reaction to Asuka, that's all."

"Oh. Okay, I guess that's not that- Wait, what's that supposed to mean?!"

She burst out in laughter.

"You should have seen your face! Based on what you looked like, I'm starting to think you really were a perverted 14 year old boy," Misato explained.

"It's not that! It's just-"

The next thing you know, Asuka came out in a red, two piece swimsuit this time.

I proceeded to fall backwards from the bench, nose bloody and face red.

Misato was now hysterically cackling away at the sight.

"This is gold! I never thought you would act like this!" Misato spat out, laughing to the point of crying.

"What's going on here?" Asuka asked.

I swear to God, Misato was about to open her sorry mouth before I immediately sat up and yelled:

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

After an hour of that, it was about 10:45, so we left to go get some early lunch. And before you say anything, yes, they did make me carry the bags.

We arrived at a cafe about 15 minutes later.

"What do you even do for fun around here, Shinji?" Asuka asked.

"Personally, nothing much around the city. I browse shops from time to time," I responded.

It was true. I wasn't known to many around the city because no one knew who I was as a pilot, but that was fine by me. I really only hung around the house, went to school, and shopped (until recently, at least).

I only knew my way around because my high school had many city trips.

Speaking of high school...

4 years prior...

"H-hi, I'm Shinji Ikari. I-I like books and music," I introduced myself to my new class, bowing.

"Shinji here just got discharged from the now disbanded defense group NERV," the professor stated.

I personally wanted to punch the man for that, but I resisted the temptation.

Suddenly, all the attention was pointed right at me.

Thanks, teach.

"Shinji, you shall sit between Toji and Kyoko to the left," the teacher pointed.

"Yes, sir," I responded, feeling slightly uncomfortable in my new uniform as I walked.

I sat next to Toji, who immediately punched my shoulder.

"Welcome back, Shin-man!" he greeted.

"Thanks," I replied, giving him a pitiful smile.

I looked down at his leg. It was completely prosthetic from below the knee, but it didn't seem any different.

Thankfully, no one really bothered me about the NERV thing on my first day, except when I talked to Toji and Hikari about it.

This all went down during lunch.

"So... how was it?" Toji asked, with a concerned look on his face.

"Toji, he may not be comfortable talki-"

"No, it's fine. I should tell you guys," I said, interrupting Hikari.

"Are you sure, Shinji? You're not one to take things like this well," Hikari asked.

"I guess I learned my lesson. Do you want the whole thing or just the outcome?" I asked.

"The whole thing," Toji answered.

I sighed.

"Well, it all started on the morning of New Year's Eve. I decided to visit Asuka, who was catatonic, in the hospital for the only time. I... don't know how to put this, but I did something terrible to myself and her in that room. It terrorized me for the next two months and it still haunts me dearly. I immediately realized what I had done, causing me to break down. This was when those bastards from SEELE sent in their troops. Misato had to come get me after I almost bit a bullet. She got me all the way to the cages before getting shot. I thought she had died, but someone got to her before she bled out. I was sent up to my EVA, which was about to end up in Bakelite, but I was able to get in before the room was filled with it. After breaking out of it, Asuka, who was somehow out of her catatonia, was fighting these... fake EVAs. I helped out, but nearly died multiple times in the process. Luckily, after getting Asuka out of her incapacitated EVA, we killed the rest of 'em. That was the end of their attack. Ayanami was knocked into a coma and we stayed back at HQ for two months until everything was shut down. Asuka flew back to Germany, Misato moved a few towns over, and me and my dad are trying to fix things. I currently live with him," I explained.

"Wait- Asuka's gone?!" Hikari asked.

"She said to say good bye for her. She was called back, she didn't choose to. We were even getting along. It hurt to see her go," I answered.

"So you guys really didn't hate each other. Should I say that you guys..." Toji suggested, trailing off.

"I wouldn't go that far, but at that point, you're kinda close," I replied, with a sad smile.

"Is Rei expected to wake soon?" Hikari asked.

"No one knows," I replied.

"Man, that really sucks. I feel there's a hole with the she-devil, Rei, and Kensuke gone," Toji confessed.

"I just hope they'll be back," I said, before being pulled into a hug by Hikari.

Since that day, I had come a long way. The next thing I knew, almost everyone was back.

It's almost as if there can't be a happy ending in this melancholic story.

A/N: Thanks for reading to whoever is still out there. This took me a while because of finals, break and writer's block. This is easily the longest chapter. I'm trying to get better at writing this long of a chapter on average. The next chapter will be Shinji and Misato's plan coming into action, though it isn't much. I like this route of plot I'm taking, mixing memories with the present timeline. Hopefully they will go more indepth, though. RR!

Cheers, ciao, adios, get in the robot, stay cool,

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