Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of its characters…

This is the revised version...

If you have suggestions for the future chapters just send me a message...heh...

Second Chances at Fatherhood

Chapter One: Reborn in to this New World

By Traingham

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Love. The word describes the most wonderful feeling known to man. A feeling that gives one the powers to overcome everything in order to keep it in reach. Memorable tales have been told, spawned around this remarkable feeling and they live on through the ages to inspire those who have yet to find it but despite all the beauty that had blossomed from Love there has always been a dark side. There is always a dark side to everything and that darker side of Love never has a happy ending.

Love can inspire one to do the impossible and quite possibly achieve it, however, there are times when the impossible should not be reached. There are times when Love can become something horrible and turn a person in to a monster. Just as tales of beauty have been spawned; tragic tales are given life through its binding curse. The story we're aware of started out rather simple though. From the first impression one could not possibly predict what the "simplicity" of the story would lead to; A story of titans and the heroes who were able to tap in to their fearsome power and the fear of being consumed by those that we control. The simplicity slowly twisted in to tale of finding one's happiness and the dreaded fear of rejection and loneliness; reaching even deeper twists as it explored the bitterness of jealousy and the pits of self-loathing.

Yes, love inspired the story as it could only take this feeling to allow a man to sacrifice everything for the one he loved; to sacrifice his child; his friends and mentors; his very capacity to grow and love another who only wished for acknowledgement in return. As mentioned from before, this was a tragic tale and most tragic tales don't lead to happiness. Despite the trials this man went up against all was never meant to go as planned and so he fell; he was crushed; and finally devoured by the very thing he fought to retain.

Welcome to the next chapter of this tale or rather a new tale given life by the ashes of another, however, do not allow yourself to be fooled by it's "simplicity" for there is more to what lies on the surface….

Gendo Ikari felt warmth. Now one might think that stating those words was a waste of thought and quite frankly held no importance but there was indeed something rather significant about it. Warmth didn't come to those who passed over to the dark country of death, which held no warmth or solace. Warmth was the last thing he ever expected to feel after having been decapitated by Evangelion Unit-01. He could remember that beast's horrid face very well since there was the absence of its helmet when it carried out his execution. The thick threads of saliva that dripped from its mouth were the only things that occupied his mind accompanied by its yellow glowing eyes.

In all honesty, however, that vision wasn't what he expected to see last. He had different plans in mind but in the end it seemed that things were never meant to go his way at all. He was just another character in a tragedy that was in the control of another person he knew very well. Putting those thoughts aside; Gendo started to feel himself sweating rather profusely and it was at that point that he felt something was amiss. A dead person most certainly did not sweat….so what the hell was he doing perspiring?

Am I dreaming? Wait, how could I possibly be dreaming or sweating for that matter? Why do I feel some pressure on my body? The commander opened his eyes much to his surprise to take in the sight of a large bedroom. There was a dresser against the wall beside a closet; a door on the side opposite of him from the bed leading to god knows where; a night table beside him and another door across from the bed. From the looks of it he was resting in a rather large bed, which he assumed was meant for two people. He couldn't remember the last time he slept in a bed for two but he turned his attention away from such thoughts when he realized that someone had their arm draped across his chest and even more; that someone was resting their head against his chest.

"Who…" Gendo didn't finish his sentence as he brushed the mop of brown hair against his chest to get a good look at his sleeping partner's face. What he saw almost gave him a coronary. The hand he used to brush the woman's hair aside started to tremble and his lower jaw began to tremble as well. Was this just some sick joke being played on him for his past deeds or was this real? "Yui?" He whispered in a voice that betrayed the feelings that were stirring in his mind. Gendo allowed a sigh to slip from him when Yui moaned cutely in response and snuggled up even tighter. The only thing that was keeping him from squeezing her to kingdom come was his fear that she would dissolve in his arms.

What is the meaning of this? Why am I even alive to be immersed in this dream? Is it really a dream? He rested his hand upon Yui's head and started to hope that it wasn't but there was something very bizarre about this situation. Didn't he anger Yui with his plans of getting her back at the expense of the world and even there own son? After being punished by the demonic Unit-01, she was the very last person he ever expected to see much less, find himself in bed with. Then he realized that he was still sweating and reluctantly slipped away from Yui and out of bed to find out what was going on. When his feet touched the carpeted floor he felt shivers run through his entire body. Something about this sure felt real to him.

"Gen-chan?" Yui moaned in her sleep as her body slowly registered that her warmth provider had left her alone.

"Yui. Be here when I come back." Gendo thought aloud before turning away from her to leave the room using the door he assumed was the way out. He stepped out in to a dark hallway; only giving him the choice of going left since his bedroom was apparently the last room I the hall, and made his way past three other room before finding himself in the living room. From the looks of it Yui and him were living in a very spacious apartment. "I have no idea what Ikari did during Third Impact but this is just…unbelievable. The boy managed to actually do some good despite his lack of knowledge regarding the entire scenario I had planned." The commander was inwardly hoping that he would never see the boy again. He and Shinji were much to bitter towards each other in the past to simply co-exist again.

Gendo's eyes spied the passageway in the right corner of the living room leading to the kitchen and he made a straight beeline for it. He hadn't gotten anything in to his stomach at all since Seele's siege on Nerv earlier…in the day if he was accurate in the time frame of this world. He had only woken up until recently so he assumed that the world was just reborn. Naturally any other person would still be questioning their very existence but Gendo now had Yui again so all was right in the world. Nothing could possibly bring this fantasy to an end.

Gendo heard the toilet flush in the bathroom…

…NOTHING! Nothing could bring his fantasy to an end….right?

The sound of someone washing their hands followed…

"No…Unless Yui left the bedroom as well…" Gendo watched unblinkingly as the first door in the hallway opened, allowing the light from inside to pour out and a shadow appeared when the occupant stood in front of the golden passage. Gendo couldn't prepare himself for the moment Shinji Ikari stepped out of the bathroom and simply regarded him with a sleep-dazed stare. The young man's eyes were squinting back at the commander as a million thoughts went through Gendo's mind. He was staring Shinji face to face in an empty hallway and all the boy would do is stare back at him, rubbing his eyes. He expected him to rush him and punch him or throttle him to death but this was the last on the list; hell, this scenario didn't even make the list!

Is that really Ikari or has Third Impact affected him as well despite his part in it? Do the key players experience memory loss? Gendo kept observing Shinji from afar, daring not to close the distance between them until Shinji suddenly asked…

"What's wrong father?" The calmness and casualness in his voice irked the commander. The very fact that he decided to yawn after questioning him made Gendo's left eye twitch. Never before had a pilot, a subordinate, addressed him so casually. Not only that but Shinji had not even hesitated or stumbled over his words even once when he spoke to him. There was something different about this Shinji. That was for sure. After a while it seemed that Shinji was no longer content to just stare at his father and turned away to return to his room.

"Wait, Ikari." Gendo suddenly called his name.

"Y-yeah father?" Shinji asked, a slight hint of nervousness in his voice. The commander was satisfied enough to get at least that much from the young man. It assured him that there was still some part of the original boy in him.

"…Nothing. You may retire to your bedroom." Gendo replied after much thought. The young man nodded in response and did as he was told, thankful to be out of the commander's sight, and in to the comfort of his room where his beloved SDAT awaited him. Even in this reality the sweet sounds from the small music player was able to carry him away to distant places that everything else couldn't reach him. After hearing the sound of a closing door register, Gendo resumed his original objective and entered the kitchen to get a bite to eat. He opened the fridge and found so left over food from this night's dinner, which made him quirk, an eyebrow since he didn't recall having dinner earlier. It seemed, however, that false memories were somehow being implanted in his mind even as he regarded the food in the fridge oddly.

"Confusing." Said Gendo as he pulled out a pork bun that was sitting on a plate in the fridge. He set it down on the kitchen counter top to find something else to heat it up in but he gradually came to a halt when he felt the temperature in the room drop. He turned back to see if he left the fridge open but it was closed shut. "Perhaps a window is open." Gendo mused as he stepped out of the kitchen to see if he was right but he found something else that sent shivers running down his spine. His eyes met crimson pools as a familiar person who had not been sitting on the living room couch earlier decided to appear…

"Commander Ikari." The voice regarded him icily.

"….Rei?"

To be continued….

Hello! Ok, so I guess you wouldn't really be able to call this an update but I decided to make some changes to the entire series. Maybe I'll even add some chapters that were originally scrapped in the past. I've made quite a few errors on this story since it was my first work anyway so I've decided to finally get to it.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the entire flow of the story will change though. I'll keep most of the chapter elements intact but I intend to make some improvements. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this revised chapter cause there are more to come!

Traingham…

P.S: Fragile Reality will be put on hold until I sort out a few things with my other fics. I don't intend to let it die though…