Chapter 2 - Analysis: Asuka

You can have my isolation.
You can have the hate that it brings.
You can have my absence of faith.
You can have my everything.
(Help me.)
You tear down my reason.
(Help me.)
It's your sex I can smell.
(Help me.)
You make me perfect.
Help me become somebody else.

 You get me closer to God.

--“Closer”, Nine Inch Nails

JAPAN: MAY 7, 2016…

          When morning came, the fire had burned down to glowing embers. Fortunately for the two former Eva pilots, the air had warmed up substantially with the morning sun. Still chilly for post-Second Impact Japan, which was supposed to be summer year-round, but warm enough not to freeze.

          Asuka had been the first to wake up. She was thankful for this, as it gave her time to put Shinji’s shirt back where she had found it and scoot away from the fire before Shinji could wake up and find out she had actually taken advantage of his kindness. Little did she know he had been awake the whole time she was debating whether or not to warm herself with his shirt and the fire last night.

          She struggled to stand, and with a few grunts and groans of pain she made it to her feet. She knew that her injuries were only in her mind, but it would take some time for her body to be fully convinced that her entire body hadn’t been picked apart like a dead rabbit by flock of hungry vultures, and having to sleep on the hard sand hadn’t helped any.

          She moved back towards the rock she had sat against most of last night. The pain that shot through her as she limped was almost intense enough to make her nauseous and with a gasp of shock at a sharp pain in her abdomen she sat down and leaned back against the rock. 

Asuka stared out at the sea of LCL. She shuddered slightly as she saw the petrified remains of the MP Evas. The Second Child wasn’t sure if she believed there was a God watching over them, but because of those abominations she had no doubt about the existence of demons. She wanted to leave here as soon as possible, but she would have to wait for Shinji to wake up.

          Shinji. To say that her feelings for him were complex would be a serious understatement. There were emotions that even she herself couldn’t understand. It had been frustrating at first, but had soon turned to fear. And then, part of her had even begun to hate him. He had threatened her very way of life and ultimately, destroyed it. Yet, she remembered wanting attention, and maybe even affection or admiration from him. These conflicting emotions over the shy, soft-spoken boy pissed her off to no end.

However, she couldn't explain these sensations. She knew she couldn't actually like him. Certainly not some wimpy guy who was only nice to her when it suited his purposes. But still...

          “No!” she shouted out loud. She reminded herself that he was only using her because he was desperate and had no one else to turn to. He didn't really care about her. He was just afraid of being alone.

          But then again...so was she...

          And no matter how hard she tried to fight it, she had to admit that there had been something about Shinji that drew her to him. Of course, she hadn’t really tried to fight it all that hard until she realized it was becoming a threat. But by then it had been too late. When and how it happened, she wasn't really sure, but under the circumstances, it didn't seem to matter anymore.

          It wasn't fair. She had really, REALLY tried to fight it. She didn’t want to need or want him. She didn’t want to depend on him. But the stupid jerk just couldn’t take a hint. No matter what she did to him to make his life miserable or how hard she tried to push him away, he just wouldn’t let up! He had no right to toy with her emotions like he had! Everyone else quickly learned to hate her. Why couldn’t he? Just how stupid was he anyway?

          The idiot was like one of those stupid punching bag clowns with sand on the bottom. Every time she'd knock him down, he'd come right back. A block of ice, as hard as it is, will break if something hits it hard enough. If hit correctly, a six-inch thick block of solid ice will shatter into a million pieces. But not that damn clown. You'd barely touch it, and it would flop right down to the floor every time...but it just never stayed down...

          Asuka had tried to be that block of ice; always strong and unyielding. And she had started out strong. But after time, she had just been chipped away at too much and had been left melting too long. The wall of ice around her heart had slowly become more and more brittle and had finally been shattered by the fifteenth Angel.

          She hadn’t had a family to care about her for nearly 10 years. She didn’t have Eva in her life. She no longer had a purpose for living. However, she still wouldn’t allow herself to open up to him. She was like a dying animal lashing out against an attacker in a futile effort to stay alive.

          But she had still caressed his face. Looking back, she couldn’t understand what had possessed her to open herself up to him that much. Ayanami had placed the fate of mankind in his hands. He could have left them all to die and died himself and they all would have been at peace. Reunited with his family and all the souls of humanity completing one another. Yet, knowing full well that he would be hurt again, he had chosen life. Perhaps that had had something to do with it.

          Maybe she wasn't thinking clearly after her recent resurrection. Maybe her mind was foggy due to the lack of air reaching it at that moment. But for the briefest of moments...she believed in him. And maybe, just maybe, she could open up her heart to him and not worry about being hurt again. But that only lasted for a moment...

          'I feel sick...'

          She did feel sick. Physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Because whatever high she had been on had passed when she saw him break down and start crying like a child. The reality of the situation came crashing down on her and she started to have serious doubts as to whether or not her momentary faith had been misplaced. He hadn't changed at all. For all his big talk during Third Impact, he wouldn't back it up. The same old spineless Shinji. She was disgusted with herself for allowing him to see that "weakness" in her. It would be just one more thing to use against her. As if he hadn't done enough to her already.

          Even if she HAD been interested in him for a while, that didn't change the fact that she hated him. He had taken everything that had ever meant anything to her! He had stolen her identity by surpassing her as a pilot and leaving her as yesterday’s news. And when she was broken and beaten, THAT'S when he had decided to leave her be. To leave her to have her mind violated by an Angel! The prince would rush in on his steed to save his precious Wonder Girl, but she was too useless to bother with... He had only come back to her to violate her while she was in a coma.

          Asuka was starting to get herself worked up. A scowl crossed her face. He actually had the nerve to pull all that bullshit even last night! Acting like he actually gave a damn about what happened to her!  That bastard! If he really cared so much, why the hell had he tried to strangle her just a few hours earlier!? If he really wanted to be there for her like he said, where had he been when she was outnumbered nine to one against those freakish Evas or against the 15th Angel when it was defiling her mind?

          And yet...part of her, buried somewhere deep in a place Asuka had hoped to leave buried forever, felt that she had, in some way, deserved the things he had done to her. Yes, guilt was finally catching up to Asuka Langley Sohryu. Guilt for all the people she had mistreated in her life. She had reasoned with herself that the only way to be safe was to hurt others before they could hurt you. For years this had worked just fine. But now...she couldn't ignore the fact that it was nagging at the back of her soul, like a demon from the past that had come back to haunt her.

          Perhaps had she died at Shinji's hands, it would have been her redemption. But that chance had passed. Besides, knowing that idiot, he'd probably mope around for the rest of eternity in guilt. She found some grim satisfaction in that. She had to. It was the only way she could justify being alive right now.

A part of her screamed to get as far away from Shinji as possible. To leave him while he was sleeping and never look back, because deep down, though she had lost everything, she knew he could still hurt her if she let him.

          But she stayed. Something she couldn’t quite understand held her back.

          Of course she couldn’t tell him any of this. Not now anyway. There were so many issues that she needed to work out, but that could wait.

          Shinji slowly began to stir, knocking Asuka out of her thoughts. She turned her attention to the ocean, ignoring him. Shinji sat up and noticed that it was substantially warmer now. He then turned his attention to Asuka as the uncomfortable silence between them continued.

          Shinji was the first to speak up. “Well, uh…Good morning, Asuka!” He said trying his best to sound cheerful and forcing a nervous smile. No response. “So…um…sleep well?” he tried again. Finally, she spoke.

          “Grab your shirt. Let’s go find something to eat. I’m starving.”

          She seemed so distant as she spoke. Shinji felt like he was being talked at rather than to, but it was better than being completely ignored. “Uh…Sure.” He quickly grabbed his shirt, choosing not to say anything. He knew she had worn it but decided it was in both their best interests to let it go. He got up and as he was about to follow her, Misato's cross caught his eye. He hesitated for a moment and then glanced in Asuka's direction. After a few seconds, he pried the nail from the cross, slipped the memento in his pocket, and quickly followed Asuka, who was already limping away.

FOUR HOURS LATER…

          Unfortunately, Asuka's hunger would have to wait. The first buildings they came across proved to be a three-hour walk away. The trip was made longer by Asuka who had to frequently stop and rest due to her injuries. The fact that she was too weak to make the whole trip on her own frustrated her greatly, but her body simply wouldn’t allow her to continue. Shinji never bothered to help her, though he had wanted to. And Asuka never asked for help or even asked him to stop. In fact, the whole trip was made in silence.

They finally came across some small housing developments that had fared well during the JSSDF’s assault. This probably meant that they were a ways away from Tokyo-3. Still, they decided this would be a good place to find some food.

          Shinji tested the knob on the first door he came to. “It’s locked,” he said, looking over his shoulder towards Asuka. When he caught sight of her, he saw her picking up a large rock. Shinji’s eyes widened at the sight of it; he cringed as she was about to throw it, preparing for the worst.

SMASH!

          She hurled the rock through the window, stuck her hand in through the now empty frame, and unlocked the door. She looked over at him with a slight, smug grin on her face. “Come on! It’s not like there’s anyone actually living here anymore,” she said as she saw the astonished look on his face.

          It was slightly unsettling for Shinji that it would take destroying the property of others to have her finally showing some signs of life, but if it would snap her out of her funk, he’d let her smash every window in Japan. The smile on her face was short-lived, but that was to be expected. He followed her inside where they searched the house for a source of nourishment.

          "You know, Asuka, we could have checked some of the other houses instead of breaking the first window we came to," he said as they searched through the abandoned apartment.

          "So stealing from the houses is okay as long we don't break anything?" she queried in a, once again, rather distant tone of voice as she opened the refrigerator door.

"Well...uh..." He was stumped there. "I...suppose you have a point," he admitted.

          Again she didn't respond to him. She just started pulling things out of the refrigerator.

Shinji again tried to make conversation with the despondent redhead. "Say...um...since there seems to be no power, I guess you might as well enjoy what's in the refrigerator since it's all probably going to go bad pretty soon anyway." His attempts at small talk weren't working at all for him. She just took a swig from the milk carton she'd found. He couldn't even get her to so much as look at him.

Shinji sighed and his head lowered as he decided to give up for now. "I'm going to look around to see if there's anything we can use for traveling. I'm not sure where you're planning on going, but you'll probably need some supplies." Knowing he wouldn't get an answer yet again, he just turned and left to search other areas of the neighborhood.

As he exited the door Asuka lowered the milk carton and watched the door close behind him. After a moment she sighed and shook her head. "This isn't going to work forever. It'll have to end eventually."

LATER…

          Over the next several hours, Shinji searched many of the buildings in the immediate area. He used Asuka's "special technique" to gain access to the locked apartments. He found several small piles of clothing throughout many of the apartments and a few outside. Knowing that they were where each person had last stood before dissolving into LCL, he shuddered at the sight and avoided going near them as much as possible. He managed to procure a large backpack and filled it with enough dried goods and other necessities to last them a week or so. He decided they wouldn’t be able t carry more than that anyway. And in Asuka's weakened condition, he wasn’t sure she’d be able to travel for a while anyway.

During that time, Asuka had carried out a search of her own. Like Shinji, she had noticed the piles of clothing. They made her quite uncomfortable, so she tried not to look at them. She was rather sore and getting a bit tired due to her injuries but she had managed to find a few sets of clothing and undergarments in her size. After weighing her options, she decided that traveling in a skirt wouldn't be the best idea, and considering how the temperature had mysteriously dropped last night, she figured shorts might not be a good idea either. Eventually she decided on a pair of blue jeans that fit her snugly, and a simple yellow sleeveless blouse. She carefully undid the bandages on her arm and winced every so often as she put her injured arm in an uncomfortable position. After that, getting undressed from her plug suit was even more difficult since it required a bit more movement. She was glad to finally get out of that plug suit, which had become stiff and uncomfortable once the internal batteries had run out. Using some fresh bandages she found in one of the apartments, she wrapped her arm up again to keep it somewhat immobile, and put on the clothes she picked out. She packed away a sweater for when it got cold and an extra set of clothes in a small sack she'd found. She knew she couldn't be picky about when she got to change her clothes or even take a shower with things being as they were, but she decided to be prepared. Some deodorant, toothpaste, and toilet paper and she was pretty sure she'd be alright for at least a week or two provided Shinji had found something large enough to pack food in.

She then decided to turn her attention to the bandage on her eye. Using her good arm, she slowly unwrapped her bandaged head. As the final piece of the bandage was removed, the wadding over her eye fell away. The light flooding in the room from the drawn curtain was painful to her damaged retina even with her eyes shut. But after a few minutes she was able to adjust. Her eye, as well as the rest of her body, was still hurting, but since her wounds weren't physical, she would just bear it and carry on.

A quick check of her supplies and clothes and she was ready for if and when they decided to leave. Now there was just one more thing left weighing on her mind...

APARTMENT 5A…

          When Shinji returned to the apartment where he had left Asuka, he found that she wasn't there. Fortunately, looking in the opposite direction from which he had just come, he only had to follow the trail of broken glass left in her wake to catch up with her.

          When he found her, she looked over at him and for a moment their gazes caught one another. This was quickly broken up by Asuka returning to her bag and pretending she was actually doing something. Shinji could only turn his gaze to the ground. Another awkward silence fell upon the room. Both had something important to say, but neither knew exactly how to say it.

          They had to start talking. They needed to figure out what was going to happen from here. He was afraid to ask her anything because he knew she would probably just ignore him, but this had to end. Whatever she decided, he would accept it, but he had to know where he stood with her. He started clenching his fist spasmodically. Before any plans could be made, the tension in the air had to let up a little. She probably had a million good reasons to hate him; he could understand that. But he needed to hear it from her. It was the only way he'd be able to walk away from here, with or without her, and still be able to live with himself.

          He took a deep breath, summoning whatever resolve he could muster. This was it... "Asuka..." He hesitated for a moment as his voice almost caught in his throat. "...We need to talk." She continued to sift through her bag as if he wasn't even there.

          He didn't know it, but her heart had picked up its pace as he said those words in that tone. She had been avoiding this for most of the day. Ever since last night she had tried to steer around this confrontation, but every utterance from him brought the words closer to her lips. Because of that she decided not to speak at all for fear that something might slip that she'd regret. But there was no avoiding it and there would be no turning back. It had to be done, and it had come to a head. She knew it would eventually come to this if they were to survive in this strange, new world. She just never expected it to be this soon.

          "Asuka...Listen...I know you don't want to talk to me...and I can't blame you for that after all that's happened," he persisted in a calm but firm tone of voice. "But I need to know right now if we're going to stick together or go our separate ways from here. We have to decide where we go from here." To Shinji's credit, he did a good job of keeping his voice and body from trembling and keeping his breathing calm. His heart was fluttering. Every instinct in him told him to run away from this girl and never look back, but he knew through experience that if he ran away now, she would haunt his soul for the rest of his life regardless of whether or not he ever saw her again. "If you have something you need to tell me so that we can get on with our lives...then you have to tell me now." He paused for a moment and took another deep breath. "Ignoring me won't do either of us any good."

          Asuka stopped sifting through her bag and stayed very still for several seconds. Shinji couldn't see her eyes from his standing position as she was still kneeling on the ground by her bag. They appeared to be hidden by her hair as it cast a shadow over them. "You don't like being ignored, Shinji?" she said in a dark, grim voice that sent a chill through Shinji's spine. She continued as she slowly got up and turned towards him, her eyes still hidden from view. "Would you rather I told you how much I HATE you? How you make my life miserable and I wish you'd just go to Hell!?" Her voice was starting to rise, and Shinji knew that this was just the beginning. But suddenly her voice got quiet again. "Well...now you know how it feels..."

          Shinji had been expecting one of a million things, but this wasn't on the list. So he was more than a little puzzled as to what Asuka was getting at. "Asuka?" he whispered quietly. But she just continued on as if he hadn't said anything. She began to slowly stalk towards him, causing him to start moving backwards to keep some space between himself and the rather frightening Asuka.

          "Tell me something, Shinji. Where were you when SEELE's Evas were picking me to pieces? Or how about when the fifteenth started raping my mind? Why didn't you decide to show the world how GREAT you are then?” she asked in a low yet sarcastic tone.

          "I..." Shinji struggled to find an answer for her as he was still trying to grasp what she was getting at. Surely, Asuka Langley Sohryu wasn't hurt because she thought he'd abandoned her...was she? He never got a chance to finish a sentence before she cut him off again, pouring it on thickly as she still hadn't met his shocked stare.

          "I'll tell you why you didn't come! It's because my life wasn't worthy of the attention of the Invincible Shinji once I wasn't of any use to anyone, but you came running in a heartbeat to the rescue of..." Asuka, despite her fury, managed to catch herself before she said something she'd really regret. Finally Asuka raised her head to glare at him. Her eyes had tears forming in them, but there was a fire in them that, to Shinji, felt like it was trying to burn a hole right through him.

Shinji felt his back hit something, and to his horror, he realized that he'd been cornered against the wall. Asuka closed the distance between them and got right up in his face. Shinji attempted to save himself by pleading, "Asuka, wait! Please, listen. That's not the way it..."

"Shut up!" she cut him off yet again. She then fell silent and backed away from him.

          "Where is everyone, Shinji?" she asked in a sad voice that was barely above a whisper.

          "I don't know,” he answered in a similar tone. He was scared, hurt, and incredibly confused by all that was going on. He was just playing it by ear, hoping she'd give up soon. What would happen after that, he had no idea.

          Her quiet tone didn't last long unfortunately, as her voice once again rose to a shout. "Don't give me that! I was there too, you know! YOU were the one who decided what happened to everyone! So why are we the only one's here!? Were you so afraid of everyone that you had them all killed!?" She continued to scream at the poor helpless boy as she made him pay for his every sin. Her voice started to sound more and more choked up as she pressed on. She had to say this, and she had to know why he'd done all that he had. Unfortunately for him, in her clouded overly-emotional state, she'd chew him out first and then get her answers.

          "What!?" he asked in a mixture of shock and horror at the accusation.

          "Was that it?! So no one could hurt you, you killed everyone, you coward?!"

          "No!"

          "Of course, I'm not even significant enough to hurt you, am I? Did you bring me back here so you would be able to mock me for the rest of my life?!"

          He shook his head. "No!"

          "Or maybe you brought me here so you could kill me yourself like you tried to do on the beach!"

          He put his hands on his face and shook his head furiously as if her words were digging into his skull and he was trying to force them out. "Asuka, stop it, please!"

          Both of them had tears threatening to fall at this point. Before Asuka could break down into sobs in front of him, she turned and ran out of the apartment. Shinji's face was still buried in his hands as he slid against the wall down to the floor, where he sat and broke down into sobs of his own...

APARTMENT ROOFTOP…

          Despite her pain, Asuka slowly made her way to the roof of the complex. With tears in her eyes, she sat down, leaned against a brick chimney chute, and cried.

          She had wanted to eventually confront him, but not like this. She wanted him to know she was angry, but didn't want to have that much of a show of emotion. She didn't want to show that she was hurting. But it did hurt. And now he knew. If she ever spoke to him again, she made a mental note to tell him that some of what she had said was a result of stress. Frankly, that wasn't too far from the truth.

          Shinji had been rather outgoing since Third Impact. But she knew how outgoing Shinji could be when he was desperate. That was the only reason he had been watching out for her.

          Even yesterday when he built that fire. He acted like he didn't care, but she wasn't dumb enough to fall for that bullshit. She had to admire his generosity, but it certainly wasn't for her sake. By keeping her alive, he was dealing with his own guilt. She had a good mind to let him suffer with his guilt. He deserved it. After all, he was just using her.

          But she was using him too.

          If she had her way, she'd leave Shinji and never set eyes on him again. It just hurt too much. But where would she go? There was nowhere left to go. She was either with Shinji or she was alone.

"We have to decide where we go from here."

She knew he was right. This would probably be one of the most important decisions of her life and she didn't want to rush it. But something had to happen, and if she wanted a say in it, she'd have to speak up now. She knew that any initiative Shinji had would only hold up for so long before he gave up and reverted back to manic-depressive Shinji. Her choice had to be made now.

It was time they had a talk.

MEANWHILE…

          The night air was cold. Not as cold as the previous night, but cold enough to make Shinji shiver right down to the bone. He was sitting in an open field of grass outside of the apartments.

          The cicadas were chirping in the night; much quieter than usual, probably due to the cold, but chirping nonetheless. It showed that this planet was still alive and well. But that sound made Shinji feel all the more dead inside. Every human being on the face of the Earth was now gone, and yet, the world carried on. Business as usual. No moment of silence. No mourning for the passing of humanity. It was as if the world didn't even care that all he had ever known had been wiped out in the course of one day. Maybe the cold weather was symbolic of the cold attitude the world had taken to the end of Man.

          Not that he could blame it, of course. For the way Man had treated the world he lived in, the Earth should be rejoicing at his extinction.

          Shinji looked down at the cross hanging from his neck and his thoughts were then turned to the woman who had given it to him. He gently clasped it in his hand as he stared at it. His eyes welled up with tears once again as he remembered his final moments with her. She had meant so much to him as a guardian. As a mother. As a teacher. And yet, he had never told her how he felt. He had acted cold and distant toward her. And because he had been too busy feeling sorry for himself, she had been shot dead. Now that the rest of the world had died, Misato's death should have felt just as horrible as any other, but it was more to him. It was much more.

          Before, he could turn to her for advice whenever he didn't know which way to go, but now...he was lost. He knew that his chance to run away had passed. He had to act. But he didn’t have a clue as to how. He turned his gaze to the starry sky, now blemished by the blood of Lilith...

          "Misato..." he whispered quietly as if she'd be able to hear him. A small, sad smile crossed his lips. "I guess you're with Kaji now. I hope you two can make it work out this time around." The smile fell from his face as he bit his lip. "Misato...are you still watching out for me?"

Silence.

"If you are...then I wanted to say...thank you. You were the only one who really made me feel like I was welcome. I guess you tried so hard to help me because you were trying to conquer your own demons through me and maybe you were lonely. I didn't understand that then, but I get it now. In a way, maybe you were using me for your own purposes. But it's okay!" He added that last part quickly, as if she could hear him and misunderstand what he was saying. "I suppose I used you too. I used everyone and when I was needed, I couldn't do anything..." Even if she couldn't hear him, Shinji was opening himself up and getting some things off his chest. As he spoke to the stars, clutching Misato's cross, this was his confession.

          "Misato...I'm sorry. I can never make it up to you though, can I? I can't make it up to anyone anymore. Because, except for Asuka, you're all gone." Shinji sighed as his thoughts turned once again to Asuka. "I've done horrible things to her too. I can't stand all the guilt anymore. I can't remember why I wanted to come back. I just want it all to end now." Shinji paused again. "But I can't do that either. Because...if I go...what happens to Asuka? I can never make it up to her either, but if I run away now, then that makes me even worse. That's why I have to stay with her even if she hates me. But Misato, I don't know how to help her." His voice once again began to tremble as it became more desperate in search of an answer. "How can I help her if she won't let me? What do I do now, Misato? ...Rei? ...Kaworu? ...Anyone!" Resigning to the notion that he wouldn't be getting his answers, he could only look down at the ground in defeat. "Please..." A lost soul seeking an impossible redemption.

          ...Or so he thought.

          "Do you always talk to yourself like this?"

          Shinji nearly jumped in the air as he heard Asuka's voice behind him. His heart caught in his throat as he turned around to face her. He didn't know what to say or do at the moment, but he was half expecting the worst from her. They stared at each other for a long moment. Asuka's eyes didn't have the same rage in them that they had before, but they weren't exactly inviting either. The tension that Shinji felt in the cold, night air was too thick for him to dare release his breath. She stared hard at him, not so much with resentment, but more like she was searching for something in him. When Shinji finally found his voice, all he could muster was a meek whisper.

"Asuka..."

INSIDE, HALF AN HOUR LATER…

          Shinji had once again built a fire. This time in the fireplace of one of the apartments. Neither of the teenagers had said a word since Asuka had first come down from the roof. It had begun to get cold, so she finally spoke up and asked Shinji to come inside and start another fire, saying that it was freezing outside. Desperate to break the awkwardness of the situation, Shinji willingly cooperated. It was a much simpler task this time around since he was easily able to locate lighter fluid and matches inside the apartment.

          Fire tends to have a distracting, yet calming effect on a person when they stare into it. Shinji and Asuka were almost entranced as they watched the flames flicker and dance. Their pain, their fears gone as if consumed by the tongues of fire. Their minds dwelt on their situation as if from afar, where they could never be hurt by it. But eventually the reality of the situation would catch up to them and they'd again have to face it. And each other.

          "Listen, Shinji," Asuka began suddenly. Shinji looked up at her startled out of his daze. "I've been doing some thinking and maybe it's in our best interest to stick together for the time being," she said as if nothing had happened just an hour ago.

          Shinji could only stare and nod dumbly, unable to understand her complete mood change. He didn’t want to bring up the subject and had decided to push it off to the side for the time being. He knew she must have been avoiding their earlier conflict for a reason, and decided not to pry.

          "Good. We need to decide where we're going and how we'll get there," she added.

          Shinji only nodded to her. Both turned back to the fire and stared at it again until a thought came to Shinji’s mind.

          “Are you...hungry?” he asked meekly.

          Asuka really didn’t want to rely on Shinji to do any favors for her, but she knew she’d have to. So she forced herself to swallow her pride and nodded.

The rest of the evening was spent in silence. Shinji cooked some meat over the fire and after eating their simple meal, they went to sleep in front of the fireplace without another word.

Continued…

A/N: It’s been a little under a month since I posted the first chapter. I added some pre-readers and really did some tough revisions on this one. Considering how much pre-reading I’ve been doing these days, I’m amazed I got this done in time. I’m too old to be pulling these all-nighters. ^_^;; I only hope I can meet my deadline next month too.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter because it wasn’t easy to do, but it does feel good to have accomplished it. I wanted to cut down on the rehashing and reviewing of the series and start progressing the plot. At the same time, I wanted to focus more on Asuka’s character and show the perspective of the series I’m using for the purposes of this story. Now that I’ve done that with out two heroes, I plan to get the story on the fast track. We can start the drama, suspense, action, romance, murder, and mayhem. ^_^

As always, props to my brilliant team of pre-readers. This story would suck exceptionally if it weren’t for them. You guys rule.

Red Horseman

Vicil 2000

JoeDoeBell

Rommel

Alnilam

Lord Malachite

Thanks again for reading. Please be kind and spend a moment to drop me a review, and let me know what you thought.