Everything was well and truly terrible.

Shinji knew it was going to be terrible. There was no way Asuka was going to be able to talk Kaworu down. And he wouldn't harm her. There was only one way their confrontation was going to end but he couldn't bear to hear it. That was why he had gone to Unit 01's holding cage. Not because he held any fantasies of saving either of them. If only so he didn't have to hear it play out on the command deck.

He was sitting on the catwalk in front of Unit 01 when Misato came to collect him. The alarms had quieted down some time ago but he didn't dare move, as if it would all be real if he did.

"Shinji?" she called quietly.

He looked up at her, his eyes rimmed red from tears. Quietly, he murmured, "It's done, isn't it."

Misato's expression crumbled and she nodded, "It's done. I'm taking you and Asuka home."

"...how is she?"

His guardian shook her head, "Not well. She was nearly catatonic when they pulled her from Unit 02."

How darkly ironic. There was a time that felt so long ago where an Asuka had to pull his own catatonic self from an Entry Plug. Things changed, things stayed the same...and it seemed only the worse things did the latter.

He pulled himself up and shuffled over to her. She looped an arm around him and, only a little forcefully, steered him out into the hallway. She led him back to the locker rooms, where their initial confrontation with Kaworu had taken place. There, Asuka waited, hair vaguely damp and face downturned.

She raised her head slightly and their eyes met. Her blue eyes were foggy and haunted. She only held his gaze for a few seconds before she let her head drop again.

The ride home was even worse than the ride there. No one spoke a word and even, at one point, Shinji heard Asuka valiantly trying to hold back another wave of tears. He stared ahead at the road, knowing better than to acknowledge it.

Once home, Asuka was out and into the apartment first. By the time Shinji and Misato got in, she had already stormed off into her room, slamming the door behind her. Misato called after her, "Wait! Don't you want to eat something?"

"Not hungry!" she yelled back.

Misato cast a helpless look at Shinji who shrugged, "She needs her space. I can try to make sure she gets breakfast in the morning."

"You shouldn't have to put yourself out like that."

"Someone's gotta look out for her now."

Misato looked to Asuka's room then back to him. She asked, "How about you? Do you...need to talk?"

"What's there to talk about?" he dismissed her, looking away, "It's over and done with."

"I thought it would hard to deal with—"

"It is!" he snapped, "But there's nothing to talk about! Talking won't bring him back!"

She flinched and shuffled back a few steps. Shinji knew he should drop it there but he couldn't resist continuing, letting his emotions guide him, "Why would I want to talk with you?! You figured him out and you hated him once you learned what he was! Admit it!"

"Shinji, I didn't know what to think!" she protested, "I hoped it wasn't true!"

"But it was!" he hissed, "And now you hate him!"

"Shinji, I don't know what to feel, okay?" she cried back, throwing out her hands in a wide gesture, "How the hell do I reconcile Kaworu Nagisa, the human boy I knew for months with being an Angel?"

"He always was one," the fire was sputtering out of Shinji's voice and it didn't feel so good to lash out.

He lowered himself into a chair, feeling hot tears streaming down his cheeks. He whispered, "He was an Angel but he was like you and me. But that's why he had to die...why does he always—why did he have to die?"

She inched closer, as if getting close to him would make him explode all over again. When he didn't, she laid a hand on his back, "I don't know," she murmured, "I just know things are so terribly unfair. To you and me and Asuka. And everyone else."

He nodded slowly. She didn't even know a fraction of it. He waved her off, "You can go off to bed...I think I just want to sit here for a little while."

She frowned. Every part of her wanted to insist on staying but if he was asking to be alone, he probably needed it. "Alright, Shinji. Good night," she murmured before retreating to her room.

It wasn't until she was gone did Shinji allow himself to press his face into his arms and break down into tears.

---

A sharp knock startled Shinji out of a deep sleep and he nearly fell out of his chair with how he jumped. Through his half-awake daze, he realized he had never made it to bed and had simply fallen asleep there at the kitchen table. He wiped his face on his arm and looked to the door, finding someone had slipped an envelope through the mail slot.

That jarred him into full wakefulness and he leapt up. "Wait!" he cried, throwing the door open.

But whoever had knocked and left the letter had gone, just as soon as they came.

He frowned, closed the door, and bent over to grab the envelope. It smelled of blood.

No...it smelled of LCL.

"Shinji, who was that?"

He startled at the sound of Misato's voice and quickly stuffed the envelope under his shirt. "It was nothing, Misato!" he stammered, "I guess I was just hearing things!"

He turned to face her, finding her studying him through hooded, sleepy eyes. He stammered, "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah but it's fine. My alarm was about to go off."

She looked into the kitchen and, finding he hadn't started making breakfast or coffee or tea, continued, "Wait, did you fall asleep out here?"

He nodded quickly, "I didn't mean to! I was, uh, actually going to go and lay down for a bit. I screwed up my back pretty badly sleeping at the table."

She smiled at him, eyes soft, "Go do what you need to. You don't have to do anything today, just make sure you and Asuka eat something, alright?"

"Mhm, gotcha," he agreed before retreating to the hallway and to his room.

He lingered at the door, half-expecting Misato to follow him. But, when he could only hear her talking to herself while she started coffee, he decided he was free to investigate the envelope. He withdrew it and flipped it over in his hands. He wasn't much surprised to find it was unlabeled.

He brought it over to his desk and, carefully, opened it, extracting the letter from it. He unfolded it and, as he read, a sense of relief came over him. Even with the terrible, horrible night before...something had gone right.

---

Asuka had only been sleeping for a few hours when she came out of it slowly. Someone had come into her room, turned on the light and was now shaking her. "Asuka!" they whispered sharply.

Her focus snapping sharply into full overdrive, she rolled onto her side, using her momentum to punch the offender. They yelped and crumpled to the floor. She finally got a good look...to find it was Shinji! She gasped, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

"No," he groaned from his position on the floor, "I deserved that."

"You absolutely didn't deserve to get punched!"

He pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing as he rubbed his cheek. She got into a sitting position of her own and scowled, "Why the hell did you come in here without my permission?"

"This," he answered, picking up an envelope that had fallen beside him when he collapsed. It was slightly rumpled, indicating he had already read the contents.

She pulled the letter open and began to read. Once she was done, her jaw dropped, "He...he actually did it."

Kids,

I've got the plans for an invasion into NERV, just as you asked. There must be some God out there because things fell right into place. Bring whoever else you think needs to know about this to where we talked after I first caught you.

R.K.

"Someone just slipped it into the mailbox," Shinji told her, "Though, I've got a sneaking suspicion it was Mari."

Asuka sniffed it and pulled a face, "Is that why it smells weird?"

He chuckled, "That's why I figured it for her. So who are we "bringing into the fold", as to say."

She hummed as she thought. "Misato, definitely. She'll believe us and she is the only one who can execute any plan we come up with."

"I was thinking Dr. Akagi too, along with Miss Maya."

Seeing Asuka's eyebrows shoot into her hairline, he explained, "After I left the Eva, me and her had this...really weird conversation. I think she was trying to clue me in that it was my mother inside it and that she was keeping me there. She didn't know I knew so she must have thought she was doing me a favor."

"Isn't she in league with your father?" Asuka asked, wrinkling her nose, "That's like waving a big sign talking all about our plans."

"I'm not so sure about that. If she was, why would she tell me all that? And even if she was, I think she can swayed away. She's got someone she cares about now."

"...Maya," Asuka realized.

"That's right. We invite them both because I'm sure it'll get back to her anyway. She's always helping Dr. Akagi."

"Probably not just with work," Asuka joked.

Shinji shuddered, "Please. I don't want to think about what they do with their downtime."

He began to pull himself off the floor and continued, "Speaking of her. I'm going to go talk to her now. I'm sure he...," he nodded at the letter for emphasis, "...is going to want to talk to us as soon as possible."

"What am I supposed to do?"

To her dismay, he shrugged, "I dunno...I didn't think you wanted to go...back down there. Do you?"

Mulling over his invitation, she shook her head, "No. I don't. Not right now."

"I thought so," he nodded in understanding, "So sit tight here. Misato's already left for work so have to wait for her to get back to tell her. Um...make sure you eat. Misato wanted me to tell you."

"I think I heard that last night when it sounded like you two were fighting."

Shinji sighed and hung his head, cheeks burning from shame, "We weren't fighting...so much as I was lashing out…"

Asuka frowned, trying not too hard to think of their shared loss. She tried to joke, "That sounds like more of a 'me' thing that a 'you' thing."

To her relief, he chuckled slightly, "I guess so. Um...well, I'm going now. I'll try to be back soon."

With that, he left her alone with her thoughts. She sighed deeply once she was sure he was out of earshot. While immensely relieved that not only Kaji was alive but had found what they needed, the idea of having to plough on forward was nigh unbearable. She wished the world could stop spinning for a few days, just so she could lay down and grieve.

"What would Kaworu say if he was here?" she murmured into the empty air, "'What's the saying? If you're going through hell, keep on going?'".

---

Ritsuko's work had dwindled down to what might actually be called a normal workload, something that felt downright surreal. Kaworu had been the final of the Angels and that they shouldn't have to worry about more. But the Commander had implied he was concerned about retaliation from the Japanese government or the UN.

It made sense; now without a job to do, who was to say Gendo wouldn't use the Evangelions as a conquering force?

Of course, she knew where his ambitions truly lied. And unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do now about it.

She had checked out the self-destruct mechanism of the MAGI and, unfortunately, confirmed she would need all three of them to agree. She still had her doubts about all three of them agreeing with her...but she might have little other choice. Perhaps, she could clue Maya into what was happening. That way, so she could have a choice in what was going to happen to her. She herself would have to be here to activate it...but if Maya could get out before then, she oughtta give her that choice.

Maybe Misato too? She owed her as much.

No, she'd want to go down with the ship, clawing, screaming all the way up until the end.

She scowled and snubbed out the butt of her cigarette, unable to shake the feeling she was running out of time.

A soft knock on her door alerted her and when she opened it, she was surprised by which Ikari it was. Shinji smiled tightly at her, "Dr. Akagi, are you busy? I have a question."

"Not so busy I can't take a few minutes," she answered, unable to keep her eyebrows from raising.

He knocked his hand against one of hers and when she looked down, he was handing her a folded piece of paper. She accepted it, her eyebrows furrowed. She read:

Please come to this location later tonight with a brand-new laptop, having never been connected to Internet or the MAGI. You can bring Miss Maya with you if you want. Don't make any verbal indication I handed you this.

At the bottom was directions to what seemed like a location out of town. Eyebrows still furrowed, she asked, "Why, is everything okay?"

He nodded, "I thought maybe, if you had a second, you could come talk to Misato. She's been really worried about Mr. Kaji and I think she needs a friend."

So, if he wasn't just lying, then whatever this was was going to have something to do with Misato and maybe even Kaji.

Then again, what the hell did Shinji get out of lying to her?

Kaji had been quietly let go from NERV and quickly after had disappeared without a trace. From her guess, Gendo hadn't cared too much on tracking him down—perhaps reasoning he couldn't cause any harm if he wasn't even in Tokyo-3.

Folding the paper and tucking it into her pocket, she gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile, "You're a kind boy, Shinji. I believe I should be able to come. I'll bring Maya along and we'll make a girl's night out of it."

He smiled brightly, "Thank you, Dr. Akagi!"

As he turned to leave, she impulsively asked, "How about you, Shinji? How are you holding up? I know you were close to Kaworu."

He shifted uncomfortably, eyes cast downward before answering quietly, "It really does hurt, even if he was an Angel. But...he would want me to keep going, if he really cared about me. And I think he did."

Ritsuko had to admit his words stoked a bright curiosity in her; after all, even if Kaworu was an Angel, he undoubtedly had human emotions. Sure, he could have just been playing them all for fools but that would require him to hold that facade—perfectly—for months at a time. Even the Commander decided to show no emotions at all, rather than fake them.

But she didn't press him further. Instead, she nodded, "Keep hanging in there then. I know if you didn't, it would crush Misato."

He smiled, "Don't worry. I'm in this for the long haul, whatever it takes."

---

Misato came home relatively early that night, as her work remained slow and quiet. The whole base hummed with the energy of anticipation, as if everyone was holding their breath. She expected the main house to be empty but instead found an almost normal scene. Shinji was cooking dinner and Asuka was at the table, staring off into space. When she walked in, both snapped to attention to look at her. She commented, "I didn't expect to see either of you today."

The pair shared a lingering glance before Shinji answered, "Well, we both got hungry and cooking helps occupy my mind."

Asuka simply grunted in agreement.

Misato was getting the sense they weren't telling her something. But she quickly discarded the idea. It was more than likely neither wanted to talk to her about what was really on their minds and for good reason.

She was still having a lot of trouble reconciling Kaworu the person from Tabris the Angel. For the time being, her mind seemed to subconsciously pretend Kaworu had simply up and disappeared once that Angel alarm went off. As if the Angel had slipped into his skin and walked off with his body.

Not the most healthy of ways to think of it but it was the best she had until she actually began to process it.

"Come on and get some dinner," Shinji invited, already spooning out portions for the three of them.

Together, they ate dinner. Misato had planned on leaving to her room after, figuring the pair would rather be alone, Shinji actually stopped her. Putting their dishes in the sink, he held a hand up, "H-hold up, Misato. Em...me and Asuka...we wanted you to take us somewhere."

"Take you somewhere?" she tilted her head, thoroughly confused, "Where?"

He retrieved a piece of paper from the counter and handed it to her. On it, he had written instructions to some place, way out in the outskirts of the city. She narrowed her eyes, first at the paper, then him, "Why…? Why would you want to go somewhere like that?"

"Please, Misato?" he pressed his hands together and gave her his best pleading looked.

Baffled but cracking a bit, she turned to Asuka, finding her giving her a downright intense look. She deadpanned, "Just...don't ask questions, alright? It'll make sense when we get there."

She looked from one to the other than back again. They knew something. How exactly and what exactly, she couldn't fathom. But there had to be some reason for all this subterfuge. And what could she lose other than maybe a couple hours sleep? It wasn't like she was getting much anyway.

She owed them at least to see at least what they wanted her to see.

She rose and pulled her jacket back on, "Alright, kiddos. I'll hear you out. Ready to go now?"

The pair nodded and so, they headed out.

---

Misato was already confused when their route lead them out of the city and into the derelict outskirts. The route Shinji has given her was long and winding, seemingly on purpose. As if he was paranoid of being followed.

Her bewilderment grew when she found two cars were there ahead of her. One of them she didn't recognize but she could tell the other one was Ritsuko. It helped that the woman in question was leaning up against her car, taking a long drag off a cigarette. Seeing her pull in, she watched with a slight expression of curiosity from behind her cigarette.

"You called Ritsuko all the way out here too?" Misato asked as she parked, "You two better start explaining quickly."

"We will," Shinji promised, "But I think we should get out first."

He exited first, crossing the space over to the doctor to thank her for coming. Asuka emerged after, looking for someone. Finally, Misato got out and called over to her friend, in a light tone, "What brings you here?"

"Same as you, it looks," Ritsuko nodded towards a bashful Shinji.

"Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on?" Maya asked as she stepped from the passenger seat.

"Alright, good. Looks like everyone's here. Misato, I guessed but Rits? And I suppose you can't have Ritsuko without Maya."

Misato's head whipped around, eyes wide with recognition. Emerging from the shadows was the one and only Ryoji Kaji. Tears immediately welled in her eyes and she ran to him, practically tackling him in an embrace, "You jerk! I thought you were dead!"

He gave her a small sad smile, "And here I was hoping I made it clear that wasn't my intent."

"Stupid double-talk. Had no idea what to think," she buried her face into his shoulder.

"I'm sure you understood the reason for that. But we're not quite out of the woods yet," he gingerly pushed her away even though he had to admit the warmth of her body was a comfort unlike any other.

Even pushed away, she didn't leave his side, watching him with a mixture of curiosity and fondness. He shook off the sentimental feelings and pulled a thumb drive from his pocket, "Now, I hope one of you brought something to put this in."

Shinji nodded at Ritsuko who furrowed her eyebrows thoughtfully. She commented to Kaji, "How did I know you were involved in this?"

Kaji grinned a Chesire Cat grin, "You already had me figured for sticking my nose where it didn't belong."

She gestured Maya to retrieve something from the car; a laptop, "As you requested with my presence: a brand-new laptop that's never been connected to the MAGI's servers or any sort of internet connection. If this is anything like what I think it is, that was some clever thinking on your part, Shinji."

Shinji beamed with the praise.

Maya set the laptop on the hood of her partner's car and went through the motions of booting it up. She accepted the drive from Kaji and inserted it. As she perused the contents, her eyes widened and widened until she clapped her hands over her mouth in shock. Ritsuko peered over her shoulder and her eyes went wide too when she realized what she was looking at. "Kaji, what is this?" she asked.

"That is the JSDDF's contingency plan in case NERV goes rogue," he explained, "They'll come in and...terminate all personnel then take control of the facility."

Misato shook with anger, fists balled at her sides, "Why would they need to do that?!"

"In case a certain someone seeks to start an Impact event."

Ritsuko looked away and he smiled tightly, "Are we going to have to be concerned that you know we know, Rits? I would hate to have to find a nice dark hole to squirrel you and, by extension, Miss Ibuki in until this is all said and done."

Ritsuko shot him a glare and threw a hand in front of Maya whose eyes went as big as plates at the implication. "You don't need to be concerned, Kaji. My...affections for Gendo Ikari ran out a long time ago," she said coolly.

Behind her, Shinji shuddered and stuck his tongue out at the implication. Kaji, ever casual, smiled, "Good to hear you're on the right side this time, Rits."

"This time?"

"Hold on!" Misato cried, "How did you even find this...hell, how did you even know to look into this?!"

"I believe now I must give the floor to our young pilots," Kaji gestured to Shinji and Asuka, "I'd say you'd want to sit down for this but we don't have any chairs."

With a deep inhale to ground himself, Shinji went first, "Me and Asuka both. We have lived through...versions of what we've gone through."

All three of their guests' eyes widened in shock. Misato found it in herself to talk first, "Hold on...what you two getting at?"

"It's like a loop," he explained, making a motion with his finger to form a circle, "It's not the absolute same every time but it's close enough. Certain things never change but other than that, it can be completely different."

She blinked and gawked at him. Slowly, she began, "Shinji...I know it's hard now with Kaworu gone but…"

"He's not having some delusion!" Asuka snapped, "And neither am I!"

She flinched, as if struck, "But you two, this is unbelievable…"

"Hold on," Ritsuko cut in, one hand on her chin, "Let's hear them out."

She whipped around, "You, Miss Science, believe this?"

"Multiverse theory has long been the realm of sci-fi fiction and conspiracy theorists but we have first hand experience that confirms separate dimensions exist. Remember Leliel and its Dirac Sea? It's not too far out of the realm of belief. And how certain patterns persist between loops? It reminds me of the Fibonacci sequence, which we've observed in nature in pine cones and cabbage and—"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Misato cut her off, rubbing her temples, "No more science talk!"

"Like I said," Kaji cut in, "Let's give the kids the floor and hold all our judgments until the end, okay?"

She shot him a helpless look and then gestured for Shinji to continue.

The pair, once again, recounted their stories. Misato's expression only changed in intensity; becoming one of disbelief and a touch of horror. Meanwhile, Ritsuko seemed...thoughtful. Once they were done, it seemed their guests needed a few moments to process things.

Surprisingly, it was Maya who spoke up first, "You two...you went through all that?"

Grimly, the pair nodded. Maya looked from one to the other than crossed over to them to give them a hug. Completely caught off guard, it took a moment for the pair to relax into the embrace. She let them go—only for Misato immediately pick up where she left off, crushing the pair into another hug. Shinji squeaked in surprise. "Oh god, it's all true, isn't it!" Misato cried.

"That's what we told you," Asuka grumbled.

"We didn't tell you before because we didn't know if you'd believe us, Misato," Shinji explained, wrapping an arm around her, "And it just wasn't safe to."

"You're probably right,. I have no idea what would have happened if, god forbid, someone like Shinji's dad found out," Misato disentangled from them.

With a scowl, Shinji said, "The first time I came back I tried to completely cooperate with him. But he sent me away after that. He knew something was up…"

"Or he caught him completely off guard," Ritsuko guessed, "I imagine he wouldn't have known what to do with you if you ended up completely different than how he expected."

Shinji sighed, "That's probably right. I've always had to put on a little bit of an act at first."

Once more, Misato cut in, "And Kaworu knew all this too?"

The pair's demeanor immediately slipped. Shinji hung his head and Asuka flinched, trying to not think too hard about their final conversation. "Then why," Misato murmured, "Did he just walk to his death?"

"He didn't think he had a choice," Asuka explained quietly, "I think he tried to get out of it any way he could and eventually...he just gave up. He thought there was no way out for him so he decided to keep going so Shinji...," she nodded towards him, making him slump further, "...and all of us got a fighting chance."

"I still don't get it...he was an Angel, what did he get out of us living instead?" Misato asked.

"He was human too!" Shinji cried, making her flinch. Seeing her expression, his insides knotted uncomfortably.

Flooded by guilt, he continued, his tone dropped, "He spent so much time around us, he came to love humanity. He wanted us to live instead."

Misato simply sighed and, for the time being pushed all her contradicting feelings on the boy from her head. She squared her shoulders, "Alright. What's the plan?"

"The JSDDF is going to launch that attack any day now," Asuka thrust a finger at the still-open laptop, "We've got to be able to repel them so we can focus on what's really important. Stopping Shinji's dad from starting Third Impact."

"According to the documentation Kaji brought us, they're going to start by taking control of the MAGI. Me and Maya can go back tonight and start coding a firewall to protect it along with a protocol to lockdown the base. That alright with you, darling?" Ritsuko cast her gaze to Maya.

Maya beamed, "Whatever it takes!"

Shinji couldn't help but beam too at the accidental use of his mantra. Misato could only groan, "So no more secrets on that front, huh?"

Ritsuko gave her an uncharacteristically sly smile, "I think we're past the time for secrets, Misa."

"Urgh...alright, never mind that. What else?" Misato hummed in thought, "I'm going to have to be in there early every morning until it happens so I can make sure there's no cracks any soldiers can slip through. That about covers the plan of attack. What else are we missing?"

Asuka and Shinji exchanged a look of dread, "...The Eva series."

Misato frowned, "Hyuga did tell me some time ago they were pushing ahead their development. They're probably done by now. So they're going to be part of the attack force?"

Seeing Asuka look away at the very mention, Shinji shouldered the burden, "Not quite. They're there as well to usher in Third Impact. It's not just my father after it...its those SEELE people Kaji told us about."

Ritsuko's eyes widened and, seeing Misato confused, Kaji quickly explained, "They're the committee."

"Oh...if I had to take a guess, then the same one the Commander had me meet with, to get them off Asuka's back after Unit 02 pulled her stunt," she crossed her arms, "These people want to start it too?"

He nodded and explained, "SEELE has deep coffers that they don't mind emptying in the pursuit of their goals. After all, they can't take it where they're planning to go. I'm guessing they're going to make their play at the same time as Gendo."

"Don't worry, Asuka," Shinji turned to her, "This time, you won't be alone."

She smiled weakly at him but said nothing, finding nothing adequate enough to say.

"Okay, we've got the JSDDF covered and we've got the Eva series kind of covered," Misato said, "That leaves the elephant in the room. Gendo."

"It isn't looking good," Ritsuko frowned, "He's got Adam, he's got Lilith and he's got Rei. While I'm inclined to say she won't want to follow him, I can't say for sure."

"I don't think she wants to," Asuka cut in, "She...told me something a little while ago. She tried to subtly clue me into who the final Angel was...it completely flew over my head. But she seemed really concerned with helping me. She was really fixated on her purpose."

"That unfortunately makes sense," Ritsuko frowned, "With Zero decommissioned, she probably felt her only purpose was to help Gendo. It's likely she doesn't want to go through with it."

"So what do we do about that?" Misato asked.

"We have to keep Rei away from Gendo," she said, "Without her, his plan should crumble. Which should leave one of us able to intercept him, capture him and, ideally, use him as leverage to get the government off of us."

Seeing Shinji cringe at Ritsuko's wording, Misato assured him, "We don't want to hurt him. Hopefully, we should just be able to, rightfully, pin this all on him."

Turning back to the group as a whole, she groaned, "Alright, that's about it?"

Kaji mused, "I'll have to get Fuyutski out of the picture so you will have complete control of the command center."

"Good call," Misato told him, "Now that's it?"

"That's about it," Asuka confirmed.

The formal planning over, Misato crossed the space back to Kaji, taking his hands. Sensing it was their cue to leave, Ritsuko gave them a 'good night' before her and Maya got back into her car to return to base.

Kaji squeezed Misato's hands, "You'll have to forgive me for putting off my promise just a little longer."

"I think I'll have to, considering the circumstances. But why don't I get a little advance, first?"

Brazenly, she took a hold of his collar and yanked him down into a kiss. His eyes widened before he relaxed, accepting the kiss. The two kids gasped then turned away, making overdramatic sounds of embarrassment. Misato came out of the kiss, laughing brightly. Comfortably, she looped an arm around him and turned to face the kids. Seeing them, her momentary bright mood dulled, "I really hate to be putting the weight of the world on you kids."

"It's nothing I haven't been through before," Shinji smiled tightly.

"That doesn't make it okay!" she tilted her head to Asuka, "And you Asuka...I should have helped you more back then."

"Oh no!" she marched up to her, "You don't get to apologize for something another Misato did! Just like Shinji doesn't have to apologize for something another him did either!"

Shinji nodded, "She already gave me this spiel," he smiled sardonically at his guardian, "I don't even know what I—or I guess, he did to her."

"And if I'm lucky, you never will!" Asuka insisted, "You've more than made up for it so...there!"

He smiled at her, a smile she felt comfortable returning. The quartet stood in silence a little longer before Asuka pointed out, "Hey, Kaji. In your letter, you said things fell 'right into place' for you to get that documentation."

"You'll never believe it but while I was rooting around the server rooms in the JSDDF headquarters, who might I meet but the Americans' missing pilot!"

"Mari?!"

Shinji rubbed his chin, "She always seems to be right where she should be, huh?"

Kaji chuckled, "Right you are. Turns out we were looking for the same thing to ferry back to you. So between the two of us, there was enough work to cover our tracks and get out scot-free. I think the only reason she's not here right now is because she said she has one more thing to set up. Whatever she means. She did do me a favor to bring you guys the letter."

"Makes sense why it smelled like her," Shinji commented and Asuka wrinkled her nose, "She has a smell to her?"

"For some reason, she always smells like LCL," he shrugged.

"Huh...guess I never noticed."

Having learned of Mari from the two kids' stories, Misato commented, leaning up again Kaji as she did, "Well, I guess I'll have to buy her something nice for getting you out scot-free."

"Yes, indeed. She even said that "Miss K better owe me for bringing her beau back"!"

"...or maybe not. Cocky little brat."

She tilted her head back to look at the sky. Out here, outside of the city lights, there were more stars than ever and the full moon hung in the sky. Beautiful in any other case but it felt like something ominous. She once more thought of Kaworu, putting himself on the line so someone else might live.

Another face, that of her father's, flashed through her mind, and she squeezed her eyes shut to dispel it. What an odd comparison for her mind to make.

Opening them once more, she said, "We've got a long day tomorrow, don't we?"

---

Rei couldn't sleep. No, she wouldn't sleep.

Her dreams were becoming indistinguishable from reality. They bled into the waking world. This morning, she waded out of bed to find the red sea had seeped into her apartment, leaving it half-flooded. She tried to turn on the stereo, to calm her mind a bit, but the song that came from it was equal parts alien and familiar. Everything she drank or ate tasted of blood so she hadn't ate or drank anything as well.

Her whole body ached and more than once did she find she had gotten somewhere without remembering how she got there. Walking was a chore with how her legs would sometimes wobble under her, as if they'd break right then.

Her time was running out.

In other words, she was dying.

Without her various medications, her body was tearing itself apart at the seams. Angel and human didn't quite mix and her half-soul yearned to return to its source. A source she refused to go to. To go there would be to condemn her friends to death. And likely, lose everything she was.

Her only hope to live was to follow her purpose: to usher in the end of the world.

But since she refused to do that, she supposed she would just die.

A part of her felt so helpless she wanted to walk down the hallway to Asuka and ask her to hold her, if only she may be afforded one last creature comfort.

In this moment, she regretted her treatment of Tabris, no...Kaworu. What terror did he feel as he realized he was running out of time? How helpless did he feel when he realized there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide?

She couldn't say she agreed with him on the matters of fate. But it was fast appearing he was correct in at least one way.

Her purpose was inevitable.