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

Execution Day

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Asuka Langley Soryu sat on the floor of the prison cell, staring at the door. "I don't believe this!" she cried. "Why do I have to share a cell with you two dorks? It's not fair!"

In spite of the insult, Shinji smiled from in back of her. Asuka seemed to be back to her old self again. Not like before when she had been catatonic. He remembered all of the days that he had tried to help her snap out of it, and every day seemed to bring the twosome closer together. At least to him. Of course, to Asuka he was still the same old idiot, but that suited him just fine.

And now we're war criminals, thought Shinji. When the UN invaded NERV, everyone--Misato, Ritsuko, his father, and even the three Lieutenants--had been killed. They were the last ones. And pretty soon, even they would be dead. He sighed at the thought.

Asuka twisted around to look over her shoulder. "What are you sighing about? You don't have to be locked up with a couple of pathetic losers!"

"I'm sorry," said Shinji reflexively.

"It would appear that preparations are complete in the courtyard," said Rei Ayanami as she stared through the bars of their window. The cell was on the third floor, giving them a good view of the other sand-colored prison buildings.

"Shinji?" Asuka's voice beckoned his attention back to her. Shinji went over and sat beside her. "Do you remember the time that I went after that Angel in Mount Osuma? How you saved me after the cable broke?"

"Yes," said Shinji. "I remember."

Asuka looked up at him with a smoldering glare. "Well, that was supposed to be my big moment, and you still ended up saving me," she said. Her eyes softened. "I guess that's when I should have known. I should have known that you were a better pilot than I was. I should have quit right then, before you got another chance to show me up."

Shinji reached out to caress her cheek. "Yeah," he whispered. "You should have quit."

She smiled sadly at him. "I guess my pride got the better of me," she said.

The cell door creaked open, and a three guards entered. "It's time," said one of them. He pointed to Asuka. "You're first. Let's go."

"First?" repeated Asuka incredulously. "First for what?" The two other guards quickly took hold of either arm. "Hey, what are you doing?" she demanded as they began to drag her out of the cell. "Leggo! Where are you taking me?" Her eyes fixed on Shinji, and he saw that they were wild with confusion and fear. "Shinji, do something!" she cried. "Stop it! I want to stay with Shinji!"

Asuka was still screaming as they pulled her out of the cell. From there, her yelling became mostly incoherent, but Shinji could still make out his name being called out in a pleading voice. Asuka's voice got even more desperate as it grew fainter and fainter, until Shinji heard yet another door open. And with a final "Shinji!" the door shut with a loud bang. Then, deathly quiet. It would be the last time he ever heard her use his name.

He went over to the window with Rei, even as Asuka was being lead into the courtyard. "My God," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I wonder if she even understands what's about to happen to her."

"Not on a conscious level," said Rei. "She's still in denial, but she does understand that she'll never see you again. That's why she's so upset."

"I see," said Shinji.

"Perhaps it is better that way," said Rei. "Not knowing that you go to your death."

The guards placed Asuka against the wall of the building on the right hand side as the firing squad entered the courtyard. Shinji watched in shock, his heart beating against his chest as the guards loaded their rifles and took aim.

"Fire!"

Asuka's last scream was cut off by the sound of multiple shotguns firing. Then, she slumped against the wall and sank downward.

Shinji quickly turned from the window, shutting his eyes tightly to block the view from both sight and memory even as he felt his heart jump into his mouth.

"She suffered much during her life," said Rei. "I wonder... Is there really redemption through suffering?"

She turned to Shinji. "I will be next."

"You?" said Shinji. His tone turned indignant. "Now wait a minute..."

"It is not my decision. You are Commander Ikari's son. As such, they'll want to make you suffer. What better way to make you suffer than by forcing you to watch those you love die?" Her tone held a trace of bitterness.

Shinji regarded her. "You're not afraid. Are you?"

"No," answered Rei. She began to gaze out the window again. "I have served my purpose. I am no longer needed on this world. The time has come for me to leave it behind. Except..."

She paused, and then turned back to Shinji. "Shinji, I have... a last request."

"What?" asked Shinji.

"Kiss me."

Shinji swallowed. "Kiss you?" he repeated.

"Yes. Kiss me. A kiss is the one thing that I have not yet experienced that I would like to. If you kiss me, it will be... I would be able to..." She faltered. "I'm sorry. I don't have the words I'm looking for to verbalize what I want to say."

Shinji simply looked at her, unsure how to answer.

"Please?"

She's really serious, thought Shinji. He had never heard her use the word "please" in that way before. It was almost like the first time she'd said "thank you."

Wordlessly, Shinji went over to Rei. Even now, she still held a dignified grace and beauty that was unmatched. And there was something else that Shinji had never actually noticed. Love. Love that Rei could have never expressed. It was a love so complex that it was threefold: A mother's love for her child, a sister's love for her brother, and an Eva pilot's love for her teammate.

He pressed his lips against hers, his arms wrapping around her waist. Rei's lips seemed to press back almost immediately, her arms wrapping around him and squeezing tightly.

Rei broke the kiss as the door opened a second time. "Thank you," she whispered to him. "Good-bye, Shinji." She turned to the guard. "I am ready," she said simply. Not looking back, Rei walked out of the cell.

As Shinji looked out the window into the courtyard, he reflected on what Rei had said to him. They want me to watch my friends be executed. So should I even be watching this? But he had no choice. A morbid impetus stirring within him compelled him to watch, as if he had to stay with them until they took their last breath. And whether he watched or not, he'd be dead in a few minutes anyway. He grimly noticed that they still hadn't removed Asuka's body from the courtyard.

He watched as Rei was placed against the same wall that Asuka had stood. The firing squad reloaded and took aim on command.

"Fire!"

Once again, the cracking sound of shotguns firing filled the courtyard. Rei dropped; a puppet with her strings cut, no longer useful.

Just as before, Shinji quickly turned from the sight, his gorge rising. As he slumped against the wall, memories flooded his mind.

He remembered the night, just before the Mount Futago operation, when he had had his first real conversation with Rei. He could still hear the quiet strength in her voice as she told about her bond to her Eva.

He remembered the time he and Asuka had both piloted Unit 02 against the Sixth Angel. He could still feel her pounding on his head as he attempted to operate the controls.

He remembered Rei in class, wringing out a rag and reminding him so much of someone's mother.

He remembered Asuka, crying out for her mother in her sleep, a tear running down her cheek.

And then the door to his cell opened and the guards came, this time for him. Numbly, he allowed himself to be lead to another door. This door went to the stairwell, and he dimly realized that he was going down the stairs to the place where he was going to die.

No plant life of any kind grew in the courtyard, and dry sand covered the ground. Even in the daylight, it was a desolate place. Shinji looked over to the wall that was to be his destination.

They still hadn't removed the bodies. Rei was right. They do want to make me suffer. And it's not enough that I watch them die. They want me to see them dead up close. The guard placed Shinji between the two corpses. In spite of himself, Shinji's eyes wandered to his left.

Asuka slumped against the wall. Her eyes were wide with both betrayal and fear as she stared blankly at Shinji. Blood from the bullet wounds poured from her chest and down her shirt. In the other direction, Rei lay on her side, sleeping forever in the sand, the dirt absorbing the blood that leaked out of her body.

Then, Shinji averted his gaze to the firing squad before him.

"Ready!"

The guards loaded their weapons. Once again Shinji's mind drifted back, this time to a memory of himself. It was when he had first started school, after classes when Touji had beaten him up.

"Aim!"

The soldiers all pointed their rifles at him.

"I didn't even want to pilot the stupid thing!"

And with that thought, Shinji snapped.

"Wait!" he cried. "This is all a mistake! I'm not the one you want to kill!" He looked at the firing squad. "Don't shoot! I'm innocent! I didn't want to pilot it!"

"Fire!"

"NO!" The sound of shotguns firing drowned out Shinji's scream...

---

Shinji screamed as he sat up in his futon. Darkness permeated the room that he was in. Where was he?

Then he remembered. He was in Misato's apartment. Misato had been put on night duty for the week, leaving both him and Asuka alone for the night.

He saw Asuka come into the room from the kitchen. "What was all that screaming about?" she demanded. "It's a good thing for you that I was already up getting a drink of water. Otherwise I'd kick you right out of here and make you sleep on the porch!"

"I...I'm sorry," said Shinji. "I...uh...I had a bad dream."

"A what?" cried Asuka. "Geez, I don't believe it! A bad dream. Why don't you grow up and act like a man for once?"

"Sorry," said Shinji again.

With an angry groan, Asuka went over, threw the covers off of him, and lay down next to him.

"Uh, Asuka?" said Shinji. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think, dummkopf?" cried Asuka. "Since you can't even sleep without peeing yourself, naturally it's up to me to protect widdle Shinji from the bogeyman." She paused as she pulled the covers up over them. "You didn't really wet the bed, did you?"

"Of course not!" cried Shinji indignantly.

"All right, then." Shinji felt her arms locking around his waist. "Just don't try anything icky, otherwise I'll knee you in the groin. Got it, pervert?"

"Sure," said Shinji. "Misato'll have conniptions if she catches us sleeping in the same futon as it is."

"Nevermind about that," said Asuka firmly. "When the time comes, I'll handle Misato. Okay?"

"Okay." She's so confident, he thought. But she said that she was up already. And this isn't exactly like her. I wonder...

"Asuka?"

"What?"

"I was wondering... when you got up for a glass of water, did you have a nightmare?"

Asuka snorted. "What are you, stupid? Of course not! Do you honestly think someone as mature as I am would really have nightmares?"

"No," lied Shinji. And even if you did, you wouldn't tell me. "Asuka?"

"What now?"

"I was just thinking... We're doing the right thing, aren't we? I mean piloting Eva. We're protecting humanity, right? When all of this is over, people will thank us for what we've done, won't they? We're really heroes in the end, right?"

Asuka's only answer was to hold Shinji even tighter.

---

Afterword

Number one: I did this fanfic because I can.

Number two: Bitch at me about OFF and I'm likely to become irate.

'Nuff said. Except...

Challenge to the Reader

Did Asuka have a nightmare? And was it the same nightmare as Shinji's? And if so, would it be logical to assume that even Rei had the same nightmare? Also, if Asuka did have the same nightmare as Shinji, then why? Was it because their bio-rhythms are still synchronized from With One Accord in a Flash and Manga Volume 4, or something more sinister?

Did Shinji have a nightmare? Or is Scene II his afterlife? Or could it have possibly been both? And if it is his afterlife, is it a good afterlife or a bad one? Or is this fanfic something completely different than what was shown?

Why does Rei really want to kiss Shinji? If this was just a nightmare, then is that merely Shinji's image of Rei that wants to kiss him? Or, if both Asuka and Rei had the same dream as Shinji, are all three mentally projecting themselves onto another plane of existence, such as in the train scenes? Consider how Rei leaves Shinji. Is it in the manner of a normal human leaving the one she loves, or a clone having accomplished all that she wanted to in her life?

Explain your answers, and keep in mind that there isn't really a correct one... yet.