NEON GENESIS EVANGELION is the property of GAINAX.
ADV Films and AD Vision have the distribution and
translation rights in their respective jurisdictions.
Used without permission and without profit.

SPOILERS WARNING.
DISCONTINUITY/DIVERGENCE WARNING.
MOVIE/MANGA INFLUENCES.
COMPLETE SERIES KNOWLEDGE ASSUMED.


NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: HERZ
Part 2: Omoide (Memories)/Storm Brewing

2027 AD
Tokyo-3
Geo Front
HERZ Accomodation Block 2A

 "I'm home!" called out Asuka as she entered
the apartment.

 "Mama!" Akiko squealed with obvious delight
as the toddler ambled forward so that her mother could
carry her.

 "Were you a good girl today?" asked Asuka as
she ruffled her daughter's soft chestnut hair.

 Akiko nodded vehemently. She gave her best
kawaii look, blinking her big blue eyes for added
effect.

 Asuka reflected on how Shinji's genes seemed
to have overwhelmed hers. Except for Akiko's eye and
hair colour which took after Asuka's German ancestry,
her daughter's features were completely Japanese.
There were times when she looked at her daughter and
saw a very young Ayanami Rei with normal colour and
plenty of emotion.

 She frowned slightly at the memory of her
own behaviour when she first realized the resemblance
and how embarrassed she had been when Ritsuko quietly
explained Rei's origins to her. A surviving digital
image of Dr Ikari Yui served to reinforce Dr Akagi's
point. A printed reproduction of that image now
had a proud place next to the other family pictures.

 "Welcome back, Asuka-chan," Shinji emerged
from the kitchen, straightening his apron. Speaking of
resemblences, Shinji really took after Gendou. However
his manner and voice was as gentle as could be, and that
made all the difference in the world.

 "The water should be getting hot just about
now and dinner is almost ready."

 "Thanks... you're such a neat freak..."
teased Asuka. She was grateful that he had decided
against growing that beard.


 *  *  *


 Things normally looked better after a hot
bath and a good meal. Not this time though. It was
probably because of the impending thunder storm.

 Asuka disliked wet weather. Some of her old
injuries hurt just before and during downpours.
Especially the crook of her left arm and her right
knee.

 As she stood in her underwear before the full
length bedroom mirror, she found herself massaging that
part of her arm. Of all the wounds inflicted by the
Lance replicas, this was probably the most severe. It
was a miracle that the reattachment operation for her left
forearm had gone so well. No, it was a miracle she was
even alive and now a wife, mother and warrior. Still, the
wound still throbbed with a dull but persistent ache when
the weather turned wet, even after twelve years.

 Changing into her night clothes, she pondered over
each and every battle scar that criss crossed her athletic
figure. They were many and of those, many were deep and
livid. Most had been inflicted on that fateful day a dozen
years ago. A few, the bullet scars, were much more recent.

 Another reminder called to her as she removed the patch
covering her left eye. It was glazed, grey and lifeless. The
doctors were of no help and she, unlike Touji, had refused to use
bio-mechanical replacements.

 She remembered the day when the nine Eva-05 series came to
the Geo Front. She had once prided herself for being beautiful
and for being one helluva Eva pilot. Now, she was horribly
disfigured and her Unit 02 long gone, an unsalvageable heap
of metal and flesh. She shuddered at the memory of her struggle,
of those nine spears descending her. Her entry plug smashed,
her body almost torn apart, her futile screams, the pain...

 Asuka hung her head and took a deep breath. But the
memories had begun to flood back. A hot tear ran down her
cheek from her good eye. She felt ugly and her wounds hurt.
She had failed. And she had lost.

 She had lost her mother again. Curled up in the
entry plug as depth charges exploded all around Unit 02,
she realized how desperately she wanted to live and to
survive. Her heart, closed for so long, finally poured forth
her feelings into the heart of Evangelion. And in
return, she had awakened to how her mother had always been
there for her - guiding her, protecting her, loving her.
She had awakened to the human heart and primal power of
Evangelion, and the secret of the Absolute Terror Field.
In her fear of pain, she had closed her heart and thus
the wall she raised to protect her innermost self had
also been her prison.

 "I miss you, Mother..."

 As she struggled to control another long breath,
Asuka felt a strong pair of arms encircle her from behind.
Then he began to nuzzle her neck and the back of her ear.

 "Oh Shinji..." Asuka said as she started to turn around.

 Resting her head against his shoulder, she took another
ragged breadth. Letting it go, she melted into the embrace and
basked in all the attention he was giving to her.

 After a few long moments, their bodies pulled apart.
Still, their hands were joined.

 "Let's get some sleep," said Asuka quietly.

 "Just sleep?" asked Shinji sheepishly. He gave his
best lost-puppy-dog look but his tentative grip on her
delicate hands told Asuka that her husband would defer to
her at this point.

 She bowed her head slightly, allowing some of her
long chestnut hair to partially obscure her face. Her eyes
averted to the floor, she nodded coyly as she began to pull
him towards her.

 Asuka leaned into the kiss. Her pain was real but
it did not haunt her. Nor did it gnaw at her. Nor did it hollow
her out. She had lost much and suffered terribly, but from the
ashes, she had risen anew. She had also gained things she had
not dared to hope for in the past, a past which seemed like a
lifetime ago. She had her work, her husband and her daughter.
And her life.


 *  *  *


 Everything seemed like it had happened yesterday.

 In the depths of Terminal Dogma, she had been
gazing up at the huge white figure of Lilith from the
base of the cross when the entrance, known as Heaven's
Door, began to open.

 She turned around and levelled her gun at him.

 "It's all over," she said as she pushed a button
on her remote control. Nothing happened. CASPAR had
refused the auto destruct signal. She had been betrayed
by a shadow of her own mother. The woman that was her
mother.

 "I really did love you," he said as he pointed
his own gun at her.

 "Liar."

 A shot ran out. The bullet tore through her flesh
and bone. The force of the impact hurling her from the
platform. As she plummeted towards the bottom, the shock of
betrayal was replaced by the shock of realization. The
realization that Gendou had the courage to shoot her.

 Her body struck one of the metal scaffold's bars as
she fell and she felt something snap inside. The numbness
was immediate. Her limp figure glanced off the structure
like a rag doll. Falling. Falling. And then finally hitting
the LCL. She remembered that it was thick, viscous
and slightly warm. "This must be what the pilots feel like,
surrounded by this fluid..." she mused as she descended
into darkness.


 "Ritsuko-senpai? ...Senpai?" asked a voice.

 Prof Akagi Ritsuko stirred in her wheelchair and
blinked several times. She looked up to see Maya's face.

 "Are you alright?"

 "Oh, just an old woman day-dreaming."

 "I'm sorry, I can't help worrying about you
sometimes," said Maya as she cradled a mug of tea in
both her hands, presenting it to her mentor.

 Ritsuko cupped her hands around Maya's.

 "Maya..."

 "Senpai?" Maya was blushing slightly.

 "Thank you for your... concern. And for taking
care of me like this."

 "It's alright. Really."

 "Maya... I... I've always known..." whispered
Ritsuko as she removed her hands and took the mug.

 "Let's go in. There's a storm brewing," said
Ritsuko. Maya smiled softly as she took the handle bars
at the rear of the wheelchair and helped Ritsuko from
the apartment balcony into the living room.


 *  *  *


Tokyo-3
Geo Front
HERZ Headquarters
Commander's Office

 General Katsuragi's office was usually well-
lit when she was in. At this time, it called Gendou's
preferences strongly to mind.

 "So...I take it there has still been no news?"

 "Yes, I appreciate your continued best efforts."

 "Yes... yes. I understand."

 "Thank you. Let me know if you find anything."

 In the darkened room, Misato hung up the phone.
She buried her head in her hands as she leaned her elbows
heavily on the desk.


 *  *  *


Over the Black Forest
German Sector
European Union

 Over the darkened skies of southern Germany,
the willowly old man adjusted his spectacles in mild
annoyance as the helicopter pitched back and forth.
The intermitent thunder was deftly punctuated by the
roar of an explosion. Close, very close indeed.

 The fireball to the right meant that they had
managed to get the other escort helicopter as well.
He clutched the briefcase's carrying handle.

 Scowling as the warplanes begun to make another
pass, firing their guns at his craft, he noted that his
pilots were doing their best to evade the hail of ammunition.
But it was not enough. There was the sound of metal
tearing into metal. And then there was nothing but fire.


End of Part 2



Comments and criticism are most welcome!
Mail me at: toheel@singnet.com.sg

Previous works archived at
http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~toheel/

Production notes
Begun 24 Aug 98.
First draft 3 Sep 98
Pre-readers 5 Sep 98
FFML draft 6 Sep 98