I don't want to forget - An Evangelion story, an homage to Shinji and Asuka.

All is right with the world

Asuka and Shinji slowly opened their eyes, still embracing each other, but took a moment to realize that they weren't inside of the train wagon anymore.

Their bare feet were being moisten by the soft and calm waves of the blue ocean. They were in a place that looked like a deserted beach. A beach in which they had been before, when they met for the first time after the...

Realization of what just had happened hit them both, as they quickly disentangled themselves from the embrace they were in, while also taking several steps backwards, in obvious embarrassment.

They stared at each other, like it was the first time that they've ever met.

The ponytailed boy was wearing a white shirt and black pants, with the water from the sea covering everything bellow his shin. He had grown up from his younger self, being now almost a full head taller than the girl that was staring at him.

Said girl was wearing a yellow sundress that was just on the verge of getting wet by the waves, with distinguished red hair ribbons on her braided hair. Her beauty was only partially impaired by some faint scar's marks on her left eye.

"Shinji... is that really you?" "Asuka, you're real"? – the two teenagers asked each other at the same time, which made them blush and added another layer to their embarrassment.

After a few moments, Shinji was the first to resume talking.

"Asuka, do you remember me? Do you remember ... everything?

"Of course, thir... Shinji. It seems like... we have been piloting the Evas again and then we were inside that train..."

"What just happened now... it was strange... it was different from instrumentality."

"Yeah. And it was different from the time when that angel invaded my mind too. It was more like... going into a stroll through my dreams. Kinda like seeing your life in movie and being able to have an insider's look about some" – she hesitated – "i-important memories."

"Y-yes... I think the same thing happened to me."

"It was... weird to see all those memories at once, in a way that puts everything in perspective and... wait, are you crying?"

The boy suddenly closed the gap between them and pulled the girl into a strong embrace, burying his crying face on her shoulder.

He was not acting by impulse. He knew that it was a bold move. One that could easily backfire. Badly. But he didn't care. Asuka was there in front of him. The real Asuka. The one that he thought that he had lost forever. He had only one certainty in his mind: no matter what happens, he wouldn't run away this time.

"H-hey what are you doing? We have a deal. You are still not allowed to touch me and...." – Asuka suddenly stopped talking and realized that she was scolding the boy solely by reflex.

But, in fact, the last thing that she would want at that moment was to get away from that embrace. An embrace that she longed for such a long time and she needed so much when she was younger.

The feeling of his touch, holding her, was... warm. Warmth. A sensation that she already had forgotten. His presence... being this close to him... was making her feel good... in fact, it was one of the best sensations that she felt in her entire life.

She felt safe. And glad. Even with his hardened façade and weird ponytail, and the fact that he was now taller than her, she could feel that nothing changed at all. He was the same boy that she met at the Over the Rainbow. The one that she learned to love and hate. The idiot that since that day was always on her mind, all of the time. And how she missed that. To be able to think about him.