A Reunion of Friends

Chapter #2: The Trip to Tokyo-3
 

When someone takes a trip whether it be by jet, bus, car or as he was, by train it leaves much time to reflect on past events. This
was Shinji Ikari’s problem as a he and his family were making their way towards Tokyo-3 and a reunion with their old friends.
Misato had reserved and paid for this cabin and made all the other arrangements for them. For this Shinji was grateful. From the
car sent to pick them up from their college family dorm apartment, to the tickets waiting for them at the train station, to the free
food given to them all paid for by UN funds. Shinji knew that with what he and the other pilots and the ex-NERV personnel had
done and gone through, the World Community had a great debt owed to them, and with Misato being now in the UN, that would
account for all of the freebies they were getting and Shinji appreciated them all.

Shinji then observed the two loves of his life sleeping before him in a pull down queen sized bed that had come out of the wall of
one side of the cabin. First was his wife, Rei. He let out a quiet sigh as he lifted some loose hair blocking his view of her face as
he stared at her. She was his soul mate! He knew and accepted that from the moment they first met, when she had light blue hair
and piercing red eyes. For a long time she was an enigma to him that fascinated him to no end. Even with the horrible realization
of her use by his father and her involvement in the Third Impact (Which he himself was also apart of) he still couldn't keep her
out of his mind. Even when he avoided her before the last Angel appeared, she was still in his mind.
Later after the events of the Third Impact, where her appearance changed and she came back from the LCL sea, he rediscovered
this feeling he had for her and that with other events led to him and them now.

He then looked at his baby girl, 2 month old Yui, named after his late mother. She was a miracle due to various circumstances. If
things had not gone the way they did, he and Rei would have eventually had to adopt. Simply put, Rei was never meant to have
children, especially due to her reason for being in the first place. But after Third Impact she came back and looking different
hadn't changed this at all.
"I can't believe you are here alive my little Yui." thought Shinji as he gazed upon his daughter.
He wanted to thank several of his friends, for without their help she wouldn't have been born, and that was another reason they
were headed to Tokyo-3. To thank those who helped, as well as apologizing to another who would be there. Shinji then thought;
"Asuka, I'll know hopefully what to tell you, when we get there!"
 

As he looked out the window of the spacious cabin they were given, Shinji was reflecting on the past 5 years and how those
experiences had brought him, and Rei to this trip back in time.

{Flashback: Right after Third Impact, The beach just outside Tokyo-3}

Shinji had just left a dazed and angry Asuka, running away from what he almost did to her.

"Oh God, I almost choked her to death, why did I do that, did I really hate her that much?" Shinji was thinking of this as he ran,
not hearing the red headed pilot trying to call him back with shouts of "It's Ok", and "I forgive you Baka".
He slowly started to make out the words Asuka was shouting when he stumbled on something in his path. He flew over it and
landed face first in the sand a little farther down the beach.

As he rose up to wipe the sand from his face and spit any out from his mouth, he looked at what had caused his fall only to see a
girl with Raven Black hair, around his age and completely naked . He was startled at this until he saw that she seemed to have
collapsed like he and Asuka had. As if she crawled out of the LCL. He moved over hesitantly towards her when he heard Asuka
still shouting at him. He looked up to see her crawling on her back with her badly damaged arm cradled on her chest. She was
using her one good arm and her two legs to shuffle backwards towards him.

"Asuka, wait, I'll get you, after I check on this girl!" Shinji shouted back to Asuka.

She stopped for a minute to catch her breath and accepted his statement with a nod of her head. She then moved up the beach to a
rock and she laid back on it while still keeping an eye on Shinji and the girl lying on the beach.
The girl as it turned out was Rei, as Shinji rolled her over. Though her hair color was now black, and her skin color was more
normal than pale, it was Rei. "What happened to her?" Shinji asked himself as he took off his shirt to cover what he could of her
body. He then felt for a pulse and quietly let out a sigh of relief, she was alive. He then lifted and carried her to were Asuka was
resting. When he got there, Asuka realized who it was he was carrying. "You mean the b***h is alive!" said an enraged Asuka as
she took a swing at the unconscious girl. But Shinji stopped her and said, "If it wasn't for her, we'd be still in there, in the LCL,
bodiless and not our individual selves, Asuka!" He said. "Now I need you to keep an eye on her, I'm going to find some food and
clothes for us!" As he turned to go, Asuka grabbed his arm and started crying out, "DON'T LEAVE ME HERE, PLEASE?!?"
"Now, Asuka, you are shivering, Rei is knocked out and we all need clothes and food. I need to go and find that or we can just sit
here and die. Do you want to do that? Do you? Well, I just went through a life ending experience and we have been given a
second chance at living, and I'm going to take it. Will you let me go so you two can also have that chance too?"
After a few moments she let go of his arm and nodded yes. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, telling her he had understood.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

After a few hours of scavenging, Shinji had gotten enough food, clothes and supplies to last the three of them for about a week.
As he made his way back towards the beach he heard it. Two screams coming from where he had left the two girls and now he
ran as fast as he could to see what had happened, and hopefully to calm his fears!

Next chapter: What happened to the girls, and what other memories does Shinji think about on his way to the Reunion?

Chapter #3: An Awakening of Feelings