Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Last Days of a Pilot ❯ Last Days of a Pilot ( One-Shot )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Last Day of A Pilot I-I can't write an intro for this.

Just, read it please.

The Seldon Planner Presents:






It was raining again.

It always seemed to rain, up in the mountains. Almost every week they had another downpour from the ever-gray clouds that hung above their heads.

Of course, that's why they chose to live their in the first place. They chose to live in that torrential downpour of rain solely because of where they would be living.

Sure it was hard to get food up to their house, sure it was hard to pay off their electricity bills. But they were completely alone up here. Cut off from the rest of the world and left alone to do whatever they wanted.

Shinji stepped out of his small house and admired the view he enjoyed at this altitude. Birds chirped and sang as the ever bright sun woke them from their decidedly wet slumber.

The rain never stopped the birds from singing either, that was another benefit.

One Shinji always enjoyed.

He was getting old now, his sixtieth birthday was just last week. He could feel it in his bones as he woke every morning, that subtle tingle and small ache that always plagued his back and ankles as he took that first step out of his comfortably warm bed.

That didn't stop him though, he had things to do.

And views to admire.

It had been hard at first, trying to survive Third Impact. It had been even worse when Asuka had woken from her deathly sleep, and having him straddling her...choking her.

Shinji let his gaze fall to the steaming cup of tea that warmed his hand. A small pang of guilt surfaced in his chest as he recalled that one instant. It was the one thing he was truly sorry of doing in his entire life. His one regret, his one faltering hesitation.

Shinji shook his head and cleared the memories away, it was so long ago after all...and he would soon never have to worry about it ever again.

Like poor Misato. Now dead and buried nearly fifteen years...alongside the empty grave of her one-time lover, Ryoji Kaji. Life was harsh, and cruel. And then again, life was benevolent and kind. He himself had experienced both spectrums of life many times.

A smile crept across his face as he remembered the birth of his one and only child Rei. His only daughter, his one ultimate pride and joy. Named after the sister he never knew...and always cherished. She was off on her job now, supervising several financial companies in several different countries. Rei was very wealthy, but she never forgot to stop by and visit once a month. She may be busy...but she valued her family. And loved her father.

A sudden, sharp pain flashed across Shinji's chest. Causing him to wheez a bit and haltingly collapse in a chair. In a few moments the pain was gone, and he gently massaged the area with his old and wrinkled hand. His own father...he, he had never returned from the ring of LCL. Several people never did, as far as they knew.

Ritsuko Akagi.

Maya Ibuki.

Makoto Hyuuga.

Shigeru Aoba.

Kouzo Fuyutski.

...Gendo Ikari.

None of them had ever returned, and Rei...well, she would never return at all. Shinji had accepted that during those final, few, precious moments he had with her during the end of Third Impact.

And now...now everyone was leaving him behind. Toji had died several years back, car accident. As he could dimly recall.

Kensuke...he died shortly after he had returned from the sea. He had volunteered for the army just as another war had broken out in central Russia.

The letter, addressed to him of all people, said that he had died bravely. Defending his retreating comrades with the fifty caliber machine gun from atop a disabled APC. The letter said that he had died when several rockets slammed into the APC...it said that he suffered no pain.

He had been awarded a medal, which Shinji had accepted for him, posthumously. It was the highest wartime decoration a soldier could have been awarded. It was what Kensuke had always wanted to have...and he got it, by giving his life.

Japan won that war, eventually.

Hikari had just died recently, her heart giving out after living for so long without the love of her life. Her many children still greeted their "Uncle Ikari" with fond memories at the funeral.

He had received notices from several of his former classmates families, telling of one funeral or another being held at such and such a time. He tried to attend as many as possible, but it was overwhelming him.

He hadn't received one from Asuka, thank God for small miracles. Though, he wasn't entirely sure that she would want him to know that she had died before the "Invincible" Shinji Ikari had passed on.

Another sharp pain wracked his body, but it was fainter than the first one. Easier to ignore.

The rain made such a beautiful sound as it flowed down his roof. It looked so lovely as it fell from high above, only to drift slowly down to Earth.

So lovely.

***

"Mrs. Sohryu?"

"Yes? Can I help you?" Asuka Langley Sohryu glanced up from her desk and leveled her infamous gaze on the unwitting mail boy that had dared to interrupt her. She was getting on with her years, but her hair still held that lustrous auburn color that brightened any dark room. And her body was still in top shape and near-perfect form for one pushing that golden age of sixty. At odd times, she wondered how many years she had left before she would loose that perfect figure...such as now. She chided herself for thinking in such a way and then motioned for the boy to come forward.

"What is it?"

"A letter just arrived for you Ma'am. Priority class."

Asuka's glare could have burned a hole in that offensive little scrap, "Leave it. Thank you."

The mail boy nodded and followed her instructions. He fled as soon as he could from the presidential office, she didn't like to have her quiet time invaded. As all of her employee's knew well.

The letter sat there for the rest of the day. And just as she was closing up her drawers, Asuka noticed it once again. Slowly, she lifted the letter up and read the return address.

Her eyes grew wide and her fingers scrambled as she hastily ripped the envelope open.

She read the letter three times.

And then she cried.

***

A week later, Asuka walked calmly through the foggy mass of granite markers. Her heels sank slightly in the soft, wet ground of the cemetery. The air seemed to be liquid. Her hair hung in wet tangles.

Soon she came across the newer section, she began to trail down through the markers until she came across the last headstone in a long row.


Asuka felt tears well up in her eyes as she stood watching that headstone. She felt a great darkness well up in her soul as she read and re-read the elegy.

"...You...Idiot. You've gone and left me again...and now I'll never get you back..."

Her hand flew to her mouth as she stumbled over the last of her words. It was painful, remembering. It always was painful.

"E-Excuse me...do I know you?" a soft voice asked from the side.

Asuka quickly turned her head and looked at a small square of white cloth gently proffered in a gloved hand. She gratefully took the proffered handkerchief and wiped away her tears with it.

"I-I don't know, what is your name."

"Rei...Rei Ikari," came the soft, mousey reply.

Asuka suddenly snapped her head around and looked sharply at the girl. She was just under Asuka's height, possibly weighing a little less than her as well. She had deep brown hair, and a hard jawline. Her hair was cut short, and it curled inwards at the cheeks so that the sides of her hair trailed along the lines of her jaw. Her lips were a soft, light pink...and her eyes.

They were a deep, ocean blue.

"Your...you're his daughter. Aren't you?"

The girl nodded, knowing instantly who the strange, red haired lady was talking about.

Asuka gave a short, choked laugh, "H-he never told me that he had a daughter." She started to weep again.

The girl closed the distance and wrapped Asuka up in a hug, "You knew him very well...didn't you?"

Asuka continued to cry for a moment before she could muster her response, "If certain things hadn't happened the way they did...I would have been your m-mother."

Rei let her eyes close and she tightened the hug on the crying woman.

"We should go...he wouldn't want you to cry anymore."

"Y-Yeah...the idiot would probably try to come back and apologize for it," Asuka withdrew from the hug and dabbed at her nose with the handkerchief. Rei slipped an arm through Asuka's and gently pulled her away from the headstone.

"Come on...let's go find some place to talk?"

"I-I'd like that," Asuka agreed.

The pair started walking off, but before they moved out of eyesight of the grave, Asuka turned back one more time. And she gasped.

Shinji Ikari, standing with a thin and translucent Rei Ayanami, and one other...who looked for all purposes and intents like an older, more mature Rei; waved goodbye to the retreating pair.

The two women faded, and left only Shinji. He glanced once over his shoulder and then turned back to face the moving Asuka once more.

Even at the distance she was, Asuka could see the tears rolling out of his eyes. She shivered once as his voice, so soft and delicate, drifted across the air and into her ear.

"Goodbye Asuka. I await you on the other side...I love you. I always loved you. Please take care of Rei for me..." And then he was gone as well.

"Are you okay?" Rei asked.

Asuka blinked once, twice, "Did you-?"

Rei stopped and turned halfway to face the startled woman, "Did I, what?"

Asuka glanced to the younger girls confused face, then back to the grave. A bank of fog rolled across the view and blocked it out.

"Never...mind. Lets go."

Rei nodded her agreement and then turned back.

Tears poured out of both of their eyes as they walked to their respective cars. And across the masses of granite headstones, two voices could be heard with crystal clarity as they discussed a certain, former, Evangelion pilot.

Shinji smiled from overhead.