Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Sibling Bonds ❯ Isolation and Freedom ( Chapter 8 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimers:
Neon Genesis Evangelion and all related characters, concepts, etc. are
Property of ADVision and Gainax. I only *wish* they were mine.
Please try to be good to me; this is my first stab at an Evangelion "Only" Fic.
If you have read this whole fic, I do state now this is a Waffy fic, with a bit of action as well!
Thanks to Andre Laval for pre reading this chapter!

Sibling Bonds

Chapter #8 : Isolation and Freedom

It was ironic that Shinji was in a place where for most of his life (other than the past week) he had wanted to be left alone
and wanted a place to run away from all his problems and frustrations. But the last few weeks had started to change Shinji's
perspective on that idea. If the Angel had taken him a week earlier there might have been a chance that Shinji would have
willingly died there as he felt it would have been an appropriate tomb for a meek, wimpy nobody like himself.
Oh, but this week did change a particular person's view on life. In that glorious and fantastic week, Shinji not only gains the
trust and love of the girl he had fallen for at first sight but better yet, the only other girl he had feelings for is found to be
his sister, which defines his love for her and Asuka.

Now reality slips in, he was in a void effectively with no way of escape and slowly his EVA's systems were dying. This
realization gave Shinji's heart a squeeze as he had much to lose if he died now. His thoughts started to concentrate on his
loves and his friends. Kensuke whom he saw on the command bridge before he descended to the locker rooms. His friend
was standing next to Maya's station. ("Why is he here? I've got to find out why he's here, that is if I get out of here!). His
thoughts then drifted to Touji, the 3rd stooge. He knew of his feelings for Hikari, the class Rep. Shinji made up his mind that
when he got out, he was going to have a talk with him and get him to act on his feelings. He'll even show him how. ("If even
I got the girl I wanted, why couldn't he").

He then thought of Misato. He smiled briefly about how much she cared about himself and Asuka . He acknowledged in his
own mind her importance in his life and that of his feelings for his friends, especially Misato, Asuka, and Rei. He made up
his mind that he was going to get out of this at least long enough to see them once more. Then he tried to sleep knowing that
this would keep the LCL from degrading more slowly if his body was at rest. So, he drifted to sleep and he found himself on
that familiar train where he had his discussions with his younger self. As he discussed his current predicament with himself
he was startled when first Rei, in her white plug suit, then Asuka in her red plug suit, appeared in front of him and his
younger self.
They were both sitting in a lotus position, each holding each other's right hand and then placing their left palms on each
others foreheads. "Asuka, Rei, what are you doing here?" he asked what he thought were his hallucinations of the girls.
Shinji then was startled when Rei answered, "Shinji-kun, we are in a trance outside of the Angel. We have found that we
have a way of communicating psychically with each other." Both girls looked at Shinji as Rei spoke.

"Huh?!" asked a confused Shinji.

"My baka, what wondergirl is saying is that we can talk to each other in our heads," drumming her fingers on her forehead.

Now having a thoroughly confused look, Shinji said, "Then how can you guys be here, now, inside my head while I'm still in
this Angel?"

"We don't know! (They said in sync) It seems that it might have to do with being in close proximity to our EVAs," answered
Rei.

"You're both are sitting next to your EVAs right now?" he asked before quickly adding in concern, "Doesn't Misato or
Ritsuko know you're in a trance?"

"I don't think so, Shin-chan. They told us to get some sleep since we had a..... disagreement," answered Asuka.
Furrowing her brow, Rei looked down to her lap avoiding the boy's gaze.

Looking a bit miffed, he crossed his arms and said, "Did you two have a fight?" He looked at them intently, while Rei stares
up at her brother emotionless he can tell by a slight eyebrow twitch and a quivering of her lip that something happened.
Asuka could hold a secret in normally but it was Shinji who was staring holes into to her deep blue eyes, so she looked down
instead.
"Ok, ok, we got into a heated discussion on why we didn't get you out of that Angel in time and it took several people
including Misato and Ritsuko to separate us." Asuka laughed at the absurdity of the fight but she then saw Shinji again and
knew that he wasn't pleased. She then sat quietly still looking down at her lap, unknowingly copying Rei.
Shinji for his part was angry but amused at the same time. They fought yet they made up enough to try this outlandish idea
of theirs. "Boy they both look so goofy with their arms on their foreheads, and them both holding their hands like that.
Shinji almost chuckled, but kept his composure so both of them wouldn't see how funny they looked to him. Then with a
straight face he said;
"Why did you two fight, over what? Me?" (They slowly nodded guiltily with their heads together in unison) "Look, I
understand you'd be worried about me, but damn, I thought we had come a long way this week. Haven't we come far enough
for you two not to fight?" To say that Shinji wasn't happy would be like Ronald McDonald singing the Opera, La Traviatta!
He yelled at them but with a smile on his face. Luckily they two girls didn't look up at that time to catch Shinji's expression.
Finally, Asuka spoke;
"Shin-chan, I'm sorry we fought. I know it simply was a way for us to relieve the tension we had, we are worried about you
Shinji!" Asuka then carefully disengaged herself from Rei, who had a worried look of her face when she did that. When
neither disappeared both smiled and Asuka made her way across the train car to sit next to Shinji, giving him a tight hug.

"Shinji-kun, I am also sorry for fighting with Asuka-chan. I cannot say why I fought back, I seem to have been frustrated by
your current situation." Rei then made her way across the train car as well and sat close to her brother, on the opposite side.
Shinji took her hand and held it as he hugged Asuka back. "Please don't do that again, I don't think any of us would be happy
if we fought like this. OK? I don't want to be the cause of any conflicts, especially between you two."
The girls nodded their heads yes and all three sat there huddled together.

After a few moments Shinji collected his thoughts and spoke.

"Well are you two going to tell me how they're going to get me out of this blasted angel?" he asked.

"Funny you should say blasted, baka!" said Asuka, putting her free hand behind her head and smiling weakly.

"What do you mean Asuka-chan?" Now with a concerned look on his face.

"They plan on using all remaining N2 mines to obliterate the angel," stated Rei flatly though she looked away from her
brother.

"You, you meeean, me too. Don't you Rei?"

"That is why we were trying anything to contact you. Then Asuka-chan mentioned meditation. I had some experience in
this."
(Rei in her tank communicating with the clones!!)
"So, I made mental contact with Asuka and she responded, rather loudly," stated Rei (One of her longer statements!)

"I was surprised! So, I overreacted Ok, sorry Rei-chan," said a perturbed Asuka.

"I accept your apology Asuka-chan," answered Rei, still wearing her emotionless mask on her face.

"But, that still leaves me with 900 odd mines raining on my head! How am I going to get out of this!"

"We don't know my Shinji (hugging him harder) But we're trying everything we can to ..." replied Asuka.

Suddenly Shinji was violently taken from Asuka and Rei 's grasps and awoke back in the entry plug to a gagging sensation.
The LCL was clouding up, the filters were shutting down and the temperature was dropping. Shinji suddenly realized that he
was going to die very soon. He thought, "Why me, why now when I have something to fight for, when I can make a
difference! Now they're going to blow me up. No, I can't go like this, I can't! I won't go like this! I MUST LIVE NOW!!"
He fought to keep awake but the cold was slowly consuming him. Shinji's thoughts were getting sluggish and almost
incomprehensible. As he felt his last breath being taken, a fleeting, transparent form seemed to pick him up and take him
away.

("Mother!") That's all he thought as he was losing consciousness.

As the bombers were making final preparations and the Japanese Army and the 2 remaining EVA's were encircling the 600
meter wide gray Sea of Dirac, which was the angel, Asuka and Rei were keeping a mental conversation with each other, both
worried for Shinji who in a flash was gone from them and from their mind link they had.

"What can we do Rei, I can't have him die on us!" (Asuka was crying quietly, while both were sitting on the ground. Asuka
behind her arms was faking sleep in her EVA so as not to cause the Bridge crew to see her.)

"I... do not have an answer Asuka-chan, I can only hope and wonder. I have seen him come out of other battles before.
Maybe he will succeed," answered Rei, who still had her emotionless mask on.

Then in a moment a ripping sound followed by a deafening roar came from the Angel, the ground shook and split open
followed by the reappearance of the black and white swirling marble. It soon became apparent that the marble turned smoky
in color and then a something burst out of it. ["Mein Gott, Am I really piloting a thing like that!"] Thought a frightened
Asuka, as Evangelion Unit 01 burst out of and killed the angel. It then let out a deafening roar.

__________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________

After the Evas were retrieved;

As the clean up commenced all the rescue squads, which included Misato, Ritsuko and the two remaining EVA pilots headed
to the ejected entry plug. First in was Misato weeping and squeezing the groggy pilot inside. As she was doing that Shinji
looked over her shoulder at Asuka, then Rei behind her. "I just wanted to see them one more time," Shinji stated, then he
reached up to them while in Misato's arms but the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him first.

Kensuke Aida just couldn't believe it. He was staring at the huge view screen in Central Dogma as the clean up had begun. He
stayed behind assisting the bridge crew as Ritsuko and Misato went off with the rescue teams. He was staring at what his
friend had just done to the 12th angel and it froze him on the spot . A yell from his left brought him back. "Well, are you
just going to stand there or are you going to help us Mr. Aida?" asked an irritated Maya Ibuki.
"NNo, No ma'am! What can I do for you!" answered a bewildered Kensuke.
"I want you to take these hard copies of the data from the EVA units and their pilots and deliver them to the commanders
office on the double!" stated Maya. In a flash Kensuke grabbed the data sheets and headed for Commander Ikari's office.
After he left, Maya let her emotional mask down and sighed deeply at what she had seen.
"What are we really dealing with here with these EVAs?" she said to herself as she was becoming more worried on what the
Commander's true goals were for the EVAs and the children who piloted them.

As the three pilots were driven to NERV's infirmary, both girls tried to contact Shinji mentally. This required both to keep
quiet and concentrate. This obvious lack of verbal communication causes both Misato and Ritsuko to notice and when they
tried to talk to the female pilots, neither acknowledged them. So, Ritsuko became concerned that they were going into shock.

In the cramped transport vehicle they laid both girls down on the second gurney and on the floor and became more
concerned when all three seemed not to awaken. "Step on it!" Ritsuko said to the driver. "What's happening to them Ritsu?"
asked a concerned Misato. "I don't know, but they all seem to be in shock. We need to get to the infirmary ASAP!" replied a
worried Ritsuko.

Shinji was in a dream world again, back on the maglev train, this time alone. He remembered his last view of Misato, Rei
and Asuka. He sighed happily, then looked around. He was alone. "Maybe I'm dead and I'm stuck on this train," he thought.
But within 3 minutes Rei and Asuka materialized in front of him. He leapt up and grabbed both girls in his arms giving them
a fierce and tight hug!
Both girls startled at first, but returned the hug he gave them. After a minute of holding each other, the three children
parted.
Shinji, now showing the spine he had developed over the past week, kissed Rei on the cheek and then turned and gave Asuka
a warm and passionate kiss. Rei blushed lightly on observing them kissing.

"Well, how are you Shin-chan?" asked a slightly breathless Asuka.

"I feel much better knowing you two are OK!" answered Shinji.

"I would like to point out, that in the real world, we are unconscious and might be worrying Major Katsuragi and Dr.
Akagi," Rei pointed out.

"Ok, you two get back there and when my body wakes up we'll talk then, OK," Shinji proposed.

Both girls nodded yes and after a quick peck on the cheek for each of them, they disappeared.

Shinji is still perplexed about the sudden appearance when he feels a falling sensation and he wakes up staring at an all too
familiar ceiling. "Maybe I'll tell them to paint clouds on it. It sure would look more interesting," he thought.
As he adjusted to his all too familiar surroundings he feels both his hands being held.
As he looks first to his left, then to his right, he sees the two most important women in his life. Asuka, holding his hand with
both of hers and sleeping with her head on his bed on his left, while a quiet and smiling Rei was holding his hand on his
right.

"Hello, brother are you well?" asked Rei. Shinji smiles. "I am now."

How will the next angel affect the children, and what has SEELE and the commander got planned for them next?
All will be found in Chapter #9: Betrayal and Retaliation

Author's Notes:

First if you haven't figured it out yet, this is a Shinji/Asuka story. Yes Rei is almost like a third wheel here but as stated in
the title, this is also about how a perceived story could develop if Shinji learned of Rei's relation to him earlier in the series.
Also, you will see a bit more angst, drama, and then more romance as we go. Hope you like the story so far. Now, thanks
again to Andre Laval for his excellent help as my EVA pre-reader. I don't know how I could have a good story without
him!
Thanks, Andre!
Finally, I have not decided where or when I'll finish this story. This is the second major re-write and I haven't decided on
the ending just yet, so keep your fingers crossed and we'll get there hopefully sooner and better than ever.
Dennisud