Well, the final chapter. My muse put up one hell of a fight while I was trying to get this written, so I hope it's good, though I wouldn't bet the house on it. :)

Special Thanks to Deitarion for being my emergency editor on this one.

Epilogue. To The End.

“Hey, Shinji!” The voice came through his door, its annoyance clearly audible even through the hard wood. The form that was curled up in the small bed under the room’s only window tried to ignore the sound, snuggling into his covers. “Hey, can you hear me? I said wake UP!” The voice called again, banging more loudly this time.

Shinji Ikari sighed, removing his head from its comfortable resting place in the warm darkness and gazing blearily at the door. As he did so, memory started to trickle in, and he threw off the rest of the covers. “I’m up, all right!” He called, as he heard the voice on the other side of the door revving up for a first class swearing fit.

“Good. Your mom says that breakfast’s ready.” The voice, who he now identified as Asuka, snapped before her footsteps could be heard going away from the door.

‘Who’s bright idea was it to have her stay with us, anyways?’ He wondered, but smiled. Truth be told, if Asuka left he’d miss her, especially since Misato and Kaji were on their honeymoon. His mind drifted to Ranma and Rei for a moment, but he shook that thought off. After slipping on his usual white dress shirt and dark pants, the boy exited his room, entering the main hall of the apartment that he and his family had been assigned in Tokyo-2.

Entering the living room, so similar to that of Misato’s place, the fourth child couldn’t help but marvel, once again, at the sight that he saw there. His father, still as hard as ever but somehow seeming… different, was sitting at a desk in the corner, reading over a bunch of papers. “Hello, father.” The boy said, as he passed him and entered the kitchen.

Even after over two weeks of similar events, it still surprised Shinji that the older man mumbled a quiet "Good morning" in return as he passed.

“It’s about time you got moving.” Asuka said, snidely, as she sat at the table. She had a half plate of food in front of her.

“I couldn’t sleep last night.” Shinji muttered, slumping into a seat across from her.

“Worried about what’s happening today?” Came a different female voice, as an older brown haired woman walked into the room, holding a cup of coffee.

Shinji wasn’t sure what part of today his mother was referring to. This was the day when a lot of things happened. For one, he and Asuka were going to go back to school, which was why she’d been so impatient to get him up. Looking back to the living room, he saw that his father was still busily preparing for the second big event of today, though now he was periodically sipping from a cup of something that Yui must have given him.

“Don’t worry, everything’s going to go fine.” Yui said, resting a comforting hand on her son’s shoulder.

Asuka snorted. “Unless he gets punched in the jaw again this time.” She snickered.

Shinji just nodded, soon digging into the meal his mother placed in front of him.

HR.

“This is driving me insane.” Asuka said, breaking the silence that had held between the two companions as they walked to school. Shinji just looked at her, not saying anything and waiting for her to continue. He’d seen that she’d been getting more agitated over the past week, and had expected an outburst eventually.

“Look, Shinji, doesn’t it bother you that we fought a huge army of UN Troops three weeks ago, and now we’re going to school like nothing ever happened?” She shook her head. “I… I don’t know, this feels wrong!”

“Well, what else was supposed to happen? We defeated the angels, it’s over.” Shinji said, shrugging.

Asuka growled. “Our EVAs are being held and studied by the government.” She shuddered. “I don’t want to THINK of what they’re doing to Unit 02, and what about Ranma and Rei? We haven’t seen either of them since…”

“I know.” Shinji said, softly. “But there’s not much we can do about it, is there? Asuka, it’s over for us. I know it’s hard to figure out, I mean, hell, I see the mother I thought was dead for ten years every day, but… Look, father’s trying to get Rei and Ranma released, and we can finally live some form of normal life. Can’t you be happy about that?”

“You and your normal life, I…” Asuka started, glaring over at Shinji. Unfortunately, her lack of attention cost her as she plowed into someone who was just rounding a corner. “Oh, would you watch where you’re going?” She demanded, picking herself up off of the ground with Shinji’s assistance.

“I apologize, Asuka-san.” Came a cool, only slightly inflected voice that the redhead recognized. She quickly snapped her eyes up, seeing a familiar blue haired face staring impassively back at her. “Rei?” She asked, confused.

“Hello.” Rei said, simply.

“Where… wha?” The redhead asked, blinking at her.

“I am going to school. Can I accompany you?” The blue haired girl asked, looking over at Shinji for an answer since Asuka’s mouth was still hanging open.

“Erm, sure.” The fourth child said. “And we should probably get going. We’re going to be late.”

Rei nodded, and the two started walking quickly away. After regaining her whits, Asuka quickly tagged after them, mumbling something rather rude in irritation.

“So, when did they let you go, Rei?” The second child asked. “And why?”

“The military finally believes my statements that I cannot cause third impact at will.” Rei replied, actually sounding annoyed. “It took them a large amount of tests that told them almost nothing to come to that conclusion, though.”

“So, the government’s been holding you?” Shinji asked, surprised. At Rei’s nod, he frowned. “But if they let you go… where’s Ranma?”

Rei’s face darkened. “They appear to believe that Unit 01 still poses a threat, and due to Ranma’s connection to the Unit they are holding him for an indefinite period.”

Shinji was just about to ask more, but the three of them had just entered the school yard. “I guess talking about classified NERV business in a public school yard isn’t a good idea.” He muttered, evoking a nod from both Rei and Asuka, though the German did so reluctantly.

HR.

In a large, wood paneled room in Tokyo-2’s “New Diet Building,” Gendo Ikari sat behind a small desk, an impassive look on his face. In front of him stood another man, who was just nearing the end of his speech. “…and child abuse. The ‘SEELE council’ and its underlings have all been brought up on charges, but we neglect the one man who, on his own, is most responsible for the near destruction of mankind. Thank you, sirs.” The man bowed, sitting down at a desk on the other side of the room.

The group of three men who sat on an elevated platform in the front of the room looked at each other for a moment, before the one in the center spoke. “Mr. Ikari, you chose to represent yourself in this matter, as previously mentioned. All of the facts have been reviewed, what is your closing argument?”

Gendo stood, one hand clenched into a fist at his side the only thing that betrayed that he was at all anxious. “The angels were a real threat.” He said, simply. “If they’d gone unchecked, even without Adam and Lilith to bond to, they would have destroyed this planet within years. Given that I did NOT know of the Anti-AT weaponry that SEELE had developed, I felt that the Evangelion Units were our only hope of survival. The pilots of these units MUST be children, and Jet Alone was taking valuable funding that we needed to reclaim, or NERV would have been forced to shut down. In short, I did what I had to do.” He said, simply.

The statement wasn’t the most elegant, and he had intended it that way. He’d given the reasoning he’d followed, and merely that. There would be no clever misdirection of blame, or legal maneuverings. He wanted to be weighed on what he had done versus what he had saved. His mouth turned up a little. It was only fitting, after all.

HR.

Several minutes later, Gendo waited outside of the courtroom while the judges deliberated, Yui standing next to him. “I’m curious.” He said. “I… asked you to pretend, until this time, that I hadn’t done all of the thins I have, to give me some time before I’m jailed… why did you agree?”

Yui smiled back at him. “I think you know the answer.” She said, evenly.

Gendo smiled, and for the first time in a very long time, it looked like his face was made for the expression. “Thank you.” He said, softly.

“Mr. Ikari, you are to return to the courtroom.” A young military officer, who had been watching him, said after receiving a message on the small communication ear piece he wore.

Gendo nodded, squared his shoulders and marched back into the room.

HR.

The door opened, throwing a beam of light over the form inside of the small cell. A shadow fell across the floor as a lab coat wearing woman walked in. “Oh my god! what on earth happened to you?” Dr. Ritsuko Akagi gasped, as she saw the form that lay on the small bed in the corner of the room.

For the most part, he looked as healthy as he ever had. That was, of course, other than the few deep cuts, and what seemed like tiny pin holes, that were scattered across his one arm, part of his chest and his head.

He snorted. “They just kept poking.” He muttered, sourly.

Ritsuko growled. “Bastards.” She muttered, taking some bandage material out from a bag she’d brought in with her. “It took them this long to get tired of poking at the EVAs and call me in to explain things.” She continued talking, insulting the parentage of several of the JSDF’s best scientists as she worked.

Ranma smiled. “Gee, thanks doc. That mean you’ll be the one poking at me from now on?”

“No, that means that I’m going to tell them that you can’t possibly affect the EVA without being inside its entry plug, and that poking it may cause it to go berserk.” She smirked.

“But that’s not…” Ranma started, before being quieted by an upraised hand.

“I know that, and you know that, but do THEY know that?” The doctor asked. If she had to lie to someone, at least it was to help rather than hurt. “Just promise you won’t make Unit 01 destroy Tokyo-2, and we’re even, all right?”

“You’ve got a deal.” Ranma confirmed.

HR.

“Miss Ayanami, pay attention!” Rei’s head jerked away from the window, and she felt her cheeks heating slightly. “Now, as I was saying, when did Canada become the fifty-second state in the United States of America?”

“They didn’t. Canada is still its own nation.” Rei mumbled, annoyed that she’d been taken from her train of thought.

The teacher nodded. “Good, well you have been paying some attention. That idiot in Tokyo-3, most of you don’t even know what the People’s Liberation Army of China is. Keep mentioning second impact.” He muttered, before shaking his head clear. “Anyways, as I was saying, the…””

Returning her gaze to the window, the first child wondered why things had to be so complicated. Three weeks ago, when the third impact had been averted and they’d all been standing in the rain, things had seemed so simple. Now, though… She frowned.

All she’d wanted then, and all she wanted now, was to spend the rest of her life exploring the feelings she’d uncovered, preferably with Ranma by her side. Unfortunately, he was still locked up wherever they’d locked him up.

“Rei?” Shinji asked, interrupting her contemplation again.

“Yes?” She asked, looking over towards him.

“Class is over.” He said, quickly. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Oh, yes.” Rei replied, getting up. It was the last class of the day, which meant that she could go home… to the small apartment she’d been provided by the military, alone. “Shinji-san?” She asked, “Can I accompany you home?”

“Erm, yeah, sure if you want.” The fourth child said, confused. “I’ve got to go meet up with Asuka, though.

Rei nodded. “I’ll wait at the front gate.” She said, before exiting the room.

HR.

Several minutes later Rei stood at the front gate to the school, waiting for Shinji and Asuka. Looking out at the city in front of her, she smiled slightly. Ranma was missing, yes, but he would be released eventually, and they, all of them, had saved the world.

“Hey, Rei.” She heard, and looked around in confusion. “I’m over here.” The voice came again, as a familiar figure in what looked like an over-sized NERV Uniform walked up.

“Ranma?” She asked, taking a few steps towards him. He smiled, though she saw that he had bandages covering his right eye, and a bumpy section under his uniform shirt showed that there were bandages on the left arm, too.

“They let me out.” He said, cheerfully.

Rei didn’t say anything, merely running up and hugging him.

HR. – Years Later.

The two sat alone in the darkened room, several dozen pieces of high tech machinery humming and whirring to them selves as they went about keeping one of them alive. He smiled down at her, holding her hand as she lay, her blue-white hair disheveled around her, in the bed. “Thank you for staying with me today.” She said, almost too softly for him to pick up. “I know that the commander has you running most of the time."

He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. You shouldn’t be talking right now. The doctors told you to take it easy, remember?”

“I remember.” She said, before pushing herself up. “You know that is only going to delay the inevitable, right?”

“But I…” He said, not sure of what to say.

“No, I just want to tell you one thing…” She said, looking intensely into his eyes even as her eyelids tried to force them selves shut. “Thank you, for showing me what the world was really about.” She smiled softly. “I love you.”

When she stopped talking, she slumped back immediately. He was about to ask her if she was all right, when a reddish glow began to emanate from her chest. He shielded his eyes for a moment, as a ball of energy burst free, unfurling into twelve sections. In its center was a red core, about the size of a softball.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, but as he reached out for it, it darted away. Flying towards the window of the room, it smashed through and flew into the sky. Ranma frowned. What he had seen had felt like Rei’s life energy, but it hadn’t had any of the emotional overtones he’d gotten used to in her over the years. In front of him lay the body of his wife, and the soul had gone… but he didn’t know where.

HR.

“Commander Ikari, the sub-commander is here to see you.” The voice of a receptionist echoed around the large office, as its sole occupant leaned back casually in a chair.

“Send him in.” The commander said, straightening up. Moments later, the door to the room opened, and a man, perhaps around forty, with a long black pigtail marched in.

“Ah, Engelkind.” The commander said, smiling and brushing some of her graying red hair out from in front of her eyes. “What can I do for you?”

Ranma sat down in the free chair on the other side of Asuka’s desk, looking a lot more stern than usual. She winced. She had a vague idea of what Ranma was here for, and she didn’t think she’d like it.

“I’ve gotta go.”

Yep, she didn’t like it one bit. “What?” She asked, confused. Ever since NERV had been re-established in order to maintain the three remaining EVA Units with her in command, in 2025, Ranma had been surprisingly good at professor Fuyutsuki’s old role, and she didn’t like the thought of losing him, especially since she was going to have to leave soon. “Why’d you decide this now?” She demanded, though she was pretty sure she knew.

“You know about Rei, right?” Ranma said, simply. Asuka nodded. The cloned woman’s health had started failing relatively recently. ‘Telomere degeneration,’ they called it. “She’s dead.” He said, flatly.

Asuka rocked back as if she’d been slapped. “She’s…” She said, slowly.

Ranma nodded, and then looked away. “Asuka, I’m getting tired. When Akane died, I wandered around, pretty well good for nothing, for over a year. I’m not going through that again.” He whispered.

“So you’re going to commit suicide, what?” Asuka demanded. “What about the EVA? The others have all been decommissioned. You know we need Unit 01, and if you die so does it.” She hardened herself, knowing that what she was about to say sounded a bit cruel. “Besides, Rei’s dead. I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to follow her. You have to move on, you’ve done it before.”

Ranma smiled at her, sadly. “I’ve lived a full life, and I’ve been happy for the past twenty five years.” He shrugged. “And don’t worry, Unit 01’ll still work if you need it to.”

Asuka growled. “Damn it, Saotome! You’re not gunna do this…” She stopped, however, as he started to disappear. He’d long since mastered the abilities that his merging with the EVA had given him, and making his physical body vanish into the air was an easy enough task. The last thing he saw was Asuka screaming at him. Not precisely the best image, but it was kind of funny.

Within seconds, the angelic martial artist’s mind was back within the metal and flesh structure that truly contained it.

HR.

In the small control center that serviced the only Evangelion left under NERV’s control, the on duty technician looked up, surprised at a soft beeping noise.

Wheeling his chair over to the console that had made the noise, he blinked. Unit 01’s S2 engine was always active, to one degree or another. Now, however, its activity was falling off towards zero.

He reached over to call Dr. Ibuki, still watching the numbers fall, until they leveled out at just above the shutdown threshold.

“What the hell?” He wondered, as almost all of the EVA’s electronics spun down to a halt.

They didn’t move again for a long, long time.

END.

Alternate Ending - No more pain. Note: This Alternate Ending fits just at the end of Chapter 50.

As the power of the third impact surrounded Rei's body, she wished that she wouldn't have to experience the pain she had.

"Rei, are you all right?" Came Ritsuko Akagi's voice, snapping the first child out of a dazed state.

"Yes, Doctor. I am fine." Rei responded, shaking her head in the entry plug of Unit 00. Peering out into the test chamber, where everyone was anxiously watching her first activation attempt, she saw Commander Ikari standing at the window.

For a moment, she expected there to be someone else there, but she couldn’t remember who that was.

Special Features.

Misato: You are now entering a dimension not of sight, or sound, but of mind...

Weebee: Misato! I'm already violating enough copyrights as it is!

Misato: Erm, yeah... Welcome, readers, to the AOL scraps section, where we indulge our creator's... well, quite frankly, his insanity.

Weebee: Hey!

Axellrad: YAY!

Misato: (Shoots her gun off screen a few times.) When will that guy go away?

Omake 1, - Asuka.

Looking into Shinji's eyes, Asuka growled. She'd show the backup that she was a good kisser, even if she didn't quite know why this argument had started. Closing her eyes, she leaned forward, feeling something rubbing against her lips... but something was wrong.

The thing was hard, and cold. Letting her eyes widen again, Asuka stared into startled, red rimmed eyes.

"Wark?!" Pen Pen asked, confused. The second child started screaming.

Omake 2 - Photography blues.

The man slowly, carefully inched his way forward down the hall, trying his hardest not to be seen. The others hadn't been careful, and they'd been caught, but not him.

As he came closer to his goal, his hands started trembling. Just a bit closer, and the pay would be his. He'd get a vacation for this, at least!

As the man's hand closed around the handle to the door, he felt something tap him on the shoulder.

With a sick sense of dread, he turned to see a boy with a black pigtail standing there, tapping his foot on the floor and giving him a glare that could melt rocks.

"Rei, we've got another one!" Ranma yelled, reaching down and quickly snatching the camera out of the man's hand. Rei Ayanami's head, and only her head, much to the man's chagrin, poked out of the door.

"Will you do the same thing as you did with the others?" She asked, calmly.

Ranma nodded sharply, grabbing the man by the collar of his shirt and marching into the living room. Opening the door, he tossed the GAINAX photographer out onto his behind.

"...damn..." The man muttered. It's been so hard to get pics of Rei ever since she moved in here...

THE END. Really, Seriously. It’s over. THE END!

Well… even if this epilogue isn’t up to par, it still marks the end of an era for me. This fic took a VERY long time to complete. Almost 5 years, as a matter of fact, and I’m STILL working on a revision.

Will there be more?

Honestly, I don’t know. The revision may or may not come, and yes, I have plans for sequels and side stories that may or may not come to being. Regardless of that, this is the story complete. Any continuations will be their own individual projects, and may I say that it will be immensely satisfying to slap the ‘complete’ tag on this little bugger.

I know that you have no reason to review this now, since, well, you can’t inspire me to continue it, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d tell me how you liked it, or how you hated it.

I suppose I’ve rambled enough. Have a good day, and may you always find better fanfiction!